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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d1ec3254e9a9f32d837385f9c47b5fc9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6e809312-7953-442c-a6b0-3d1d905c5113/retrieve","id":"-691947576"},"keywords":["Food loss and waste","Postharvest loss","Value chains","Climate change mitigation","USAID"],"sieverID":"a9e3a583-dc07-427f-a852-7690f737e279","content":"Reducing food loss in agricultural development projects through value chain efficiency. CCAFS Working Paper no. 204. Wageningen, The Netherlands: CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Available online at: www.ccafs.cgiar.org Titles in this Working Paper series aim to disseminate interim climate change, agriculture and food security research and practices and stimulate feedback from the scientific community. This work was implemented as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which is carried out with support from CGIAR Fund Donors and through bilateral funding agreements. For details please visit https://ccafs.cgiar.org/donors.A grand challenge of the 21 st century is increasing economic growth across the globe while dramatically decreasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions -decoupling two trends that have often moved in concert in the past. Along with economic growth and climate change, there is an urgent need to provide food security for a growing population. Sustainable agricultural development aims to address these challenges -and others -by increasing agricultural and economic productivity, helping farmers and herders adapt to climate change and variability, and decreasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural production and land use change. Collectively, these three areas -production, adaptation and mitigation--are the pillars of climate-smart agriculture. These emissions contribute nearly a quarter of GHG emissions globally (Smith et al. 2014), and therefore need to play a part in overall emission reductions.Reducing food loss (which commonly refers to a decrease in edible food early in the supply chain) and waste (which generally occurs at retail and consumer stages) addresses the grand challenges of future food security and climate change by simultaneously addressing productivity and GHG emission reductions. Roughly one-third of food is lost or wasted worldwide, representing large, potentially avoidable losses of land, water, and energy (Gustavsson et al. 2011). Reduced food loss or waste (FLW) would result in more food for sale, distribution and consumption, increasing food security, while reducing the demand for increased food production with its attendant environmental burden (Hiç et al. 2016). In addition, interventions designed to reduce FLW can improve small-scale producers' resilience to climate change and variability, which generally impacts global food systems positively.Reducing FLW increases food availability at the farm gate, leading to a higher percentage of food sold on the market and higher incomes (Stathers, Lamboll, & Mvumi. 2013).FLW occurs at multiple points along the food value chain, from upstream producer-dominated stages to downstream consumer-dominated stages (Porter & Reay 2015). Both developing and industrialized countries experience large amounts of FLW, although the point of loss or waste varies with production practices, value chain, and state of value chain development.Developing countries experience food loss due to limited infrastructure and little available capital in the food value chain (Beddington et al. 2012, Hodges 2012, Rosegrant et al. 2016).Most research in developing countries has considered mainly on-farm losses rather than losses further down the supply chain, for example during processing, storage, and transportation (Sheahan & Barrett 2016). More industrialized countries have more food waste due to lack of coordination among value chain actors and higher quality standards that cause rejection of food items for minor imperfections (Gustavsson et al. 2011).Definitions of postharvest loss (PHL) and food loss and waste vary among sectors. FAO (2011) defines PHL of agricultural products as any product loss caused by physical spilling and/or degradation during handling, storage, and transportation from the farm to distribution.FAO distinguishes food loss and food waste by the phase where the loss or waste occurs, e.g., food loss occurs pre-consumer and food waste occurs at the consumer phase. Porter et al. (2015) modified the FAO definitions to distinguish between \"lost food\" and \"wasted food\" in order to separate the political term of \"waste.\" The Global Knowledge Initiative (2014) melds food waste and loss into the term \"food wastage.\" Sims et al. (2015) states, \"wastage occurs mostly during agricultural production, PHL handling and storage, and consumption phases.\"Often, distinguishing between loss and waste reflects \"fundamentally different perspectives, underlying objectives, and policy concerns\" (HLPE 2014). In this paper, we follow the most common definitions in FLW literature; food loss occurs prior to food reaching the consumer, and food waste occurs at the consumer level. We refer to food loss and food waste collectively as FLW throughout this document.Estimating FLW is a challenging task. Many global-scale estimates of FLW are derived from a small assortment of primary sources, often including FAO's balance sheets, largely because it is challenging to collect and synthesize FLW information across countries (Affognon et al. 2015, Rosegrant et al. 2016). These challenges with large-scale synthesis stem from the fact that FWL data originate from diverse sources collected at varying geographic scales (global, regional, local) and along different parts of the value chain (production, processing, storage) (Sheahan & Barrett 2016). Even regional estimates often include a limited number of countries; for example, a PHL meta-analysis by Affognon et al. (2015) evaluates interventions in several categories (grains, vegetables, fruits, rootstocks, and animal products), and in six African countries. Overall, limited availability of comparable data sets has resulted in few research studies that collect FLW data on multiple crops across many countries. This paper describes the scope of FLW interventions and estimates the extent to which they reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in diverse systems. Reducing FLW can contribute to GHG mitigation via two pathways. First, reducing loss increases the efficiency of the food supply chain, resulting in increased efficiency of GHG emissions per unit of food produced (emission intensity). Total emissions decline when farmers combine FLW reduction with (a) reducing emissions in the supply chain through improved practices or technologies (such as more efficient energy use), or (b) reducing agricultural production, a strategy that is relevant where farmers are constrained by high input costs (e.g. fertilizer, livestock feed, electricity) or face limited markets for their products (Kendall, 2000). Lipinski et al. (2013) estimate that higher production needs due to FLW generate 3,300-5,600 million Mt of unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions annually. This theory is relevant when producers are financially strained by the cost of inputs or cannot produce sufficient amounts of food after FLW occurs.Second, decomposition of lost or wasted food releases methane, nitrous oxide, and CO2, so decreasing FLW may reduce emissions from this route as well. However, even if consumed, food decomposes in humans and ultimately produces carbon dioxide, methane and indirectly nitrous oxide, so the potential to reduce GHG emissions from decomposition of FLW is salient mainly when FLW decomposes in oxygen-poor conditions, as in a landfill, where methane emissions are much higher than they would be if food were consumed. This report considers GHG reductions resulting only from efficiency in the food supply chain the first of these two paths.Food loss and waste at each stage of the value chain leaves less food available in each subsequent stage, causing large cumulative reductions in food available for consumption. This cascade also affects actors all along the value chain (Figure 1). For example, losses at harvest leave fewer products for processors. All stakeholders in the value chain therefore share a profit motive to minimize loss (Sheahan & Barrett 2016).  Input choice. Interventions influencing producers' input choices strive to promote preharvesting decisions that lead to a reduction in losses at later stages (HLPE 2014). Farmers have many means of affecting production through input choice. Producers may reduce food loss by selecting seed varieties that: a) result in products that last longer after harvest (Pessu et al. 2011, Prusky 2011); b) yield a marketable product even under challenging growing conditions, including climate change (e.g. species or varieties that tolerate heat, drought or salinity); or c) attain or retain desirable quality attributes that increase the likelihood of consumption (e.g., color, texture, taste) (HLPE 2014). In animal production, input breed selection and genetic considerations can reduce incidence of disease or malformations, reducing food loss (Stear et al. 2001). Providing shade could also reduce heat stress or nutrient-rich food sources are also ways to affect animal health and productivity through input choices.Harvesting. Carefully designed planting and harvesting calendars can help farmers time harvest to maximize shelf life, such as using ambient conditions to reduce moisture in grains before harvest (Prusky 2011, Paulsen et al. 2015). Improved physical handling during harvest can reduce losses due to deterioration of produce. For example, mangos harvested with cutting poles reduced the frequency of latex burns on fruits (Bonicet 2013). Training field workers to reduce mechanical damages during harvest also reduces losses (Prusky 2011, Paulsen et al. 2015), so Paulsen et al. (2015) recommend that handlers attend seminars to hone their skills before operating mechanized equipment and processers. In the livestock sector, improved training of dairy farmers in milk handling practices reduces product contamination and microbial spoilage (Lore et al. 2005). Sorting recently harvested produce to separate damaged crops from undamaged crops also reduces loss (Pessu et al. 2011).Humidity gauges indicate optimal moisture levels for produce at harvesting time and can thus reduce the incidence of mold and rot (Hell et al. 2010).Processing. Processing includes transforming a product into a longer-lasting form (Lore et al. 2005), for example by converting milk to value-added products such as butter, yogurt, and cheese or drying produce to achieve moisture levels ideal for storage (Hell et al. 2010). Lore et al. (2015) explain the importance of training handlers in milk hygiene. For rice and beans, processing improvements include proper drying in preparation for storage (Rani et al. 2013).Reducing contamination during processing (Karlovsky et al., 2016) also reduces spoilage.Storage. The location and physical micro-environment of products during storage impacts FLW. Physical containers, such as plastic crates, off-ground basins, silos, and triple bags, reduce FLW by limiting contamination, product deterioration, and predation by pests (De Groote et al. 2013, Lipinski et al. 2013, Baoua et al. 2014). In many areas, storage conditions are poor, including the absence of appropriate refrigeration and cooling structures for dairy and meat products (Lore et al. 2005). Maintenance of the cold chain from harvest to retail reduces spoilage of fruits and vegetables (Prusky, 2011). Innovative cooling mechanisms, such as low-to no-energy refrigerators, require less mechanical input (Lipinski et al., 2013) and so should be considered in development initiatives. Finally, packaging improvements can reduce FLW by maintaining product quality through storage and shipment to retail (Opara & Mditshwa, 2013). Proper packaging can also contribute to hygiene during food handling and promote longer shelf-life of food products (Opara & Mditshwa, 2013).Transportation. FLW in the transport or shipping of products between PHL phases, and to retail, can be reduced through local infrastructure improvements such as feeder roads that connect markets and agricultural centers (Beddington et al. 2012, Bahadur et al. 2016).Another promising option is collection centers, centralized hubs where products or commodities can be consolidated for processors to pick up before retail (Lore et al. 2005).Modifying transportation procedures, such as hauling during the cool part of the day, can also reduce losses (Pessu et al. 2011).Reducing FLW is an under-used approach for combating climate change. A literature review conducted in late 2016 revealed only 23 studies that addressed GHG emissions resulting from either food loss or food waste or both. Some studies provided global estimates of all FLW, and others made regional-or country-level estimates for specific value chain phases (See Appendix 1). Only one article presented primary FLW data; the other 22 papers relied on preexisting studies or data. The single paper presenting primary data focused on two crops in one region in Brazil (Goldsmith et al. 2015). Seven of the eight studies with global FLW-driven GHG emission estimates relied on FAO country estimates, although the reworking and application of the data varied. The research team gathered estimates of FLW (or PHL since FLW and PHL were used interchangeably in some projects) from implementing partners during semi-structured interviews; the team did not make primary measurements. Individuals interviewed had significant experience working in the targeted value chains in these countries.USAID defines food losses as occurring from field to market (MacCartee 2013). When asked, interviewees emphasized the USAID definition, which includes production (harvest and input selection), processing, and storage losses. The research team asked managers to estimate the percentage of FLW ex ante with and without project interventions and to describe the practices involved in securing FLW reductions. In most instances, FLW data was collected through qualitative surveys and interviews and had already been shared in official project reporting to USAID. In a few instances, project managers developed quantitative surveys to measure reductions in FLW.In addition to conducting interviews, the project team reviewed and coded project documents, including work plans, websites, and annual and quarterly monitoring reports. This content analysis provided information on the breadth of FLW interventions and enabled identification of key terms for interventions based on phases, for example \"threshing\" is a processing intervention, and \"covered silo\" is a storage intervention.The team calculated the per unit impact of FLW interventions as the change in FLW with interventions compared to business-as-usual (BAU) (Equation 1). The total FLW in both cases is a function of the total yield and the percentage FLW, given the estimated amount of product lost per ha or per head of livestock per year.\uD835\uDC6D\uD835\uDC73\uD835\uDC7E \uD835\uDC8A\uD835\uDC8E\uD835\uDC91\uD835\uDC82\uD835\uDC84\uD835\uDC95 = (\uD835\uDC6D\uD835\uDC73\uD835\uDC7E \uD835\uDC70\uD835\uDC8F\uD835\uDC95\uD835\uDC86\uD835\uDC93\uD835\uDC97\uD835\uDC86\uD835\uDC8F\uD835\uDC95\uD835\uDC8A\uD835\uDC90\uD835\uDC8F \uD835\uDC99 \uD835\uDC9A\uD835\uDC8A\uD835\uDC86\uD835\uDC8D\uD835\uDC85 \uD835\uDC70\uD835\uDC8F\uD835\uDC95\uD835\uDC86\uD835\uDC93\uD835\uDC97\uD835\uDC86\uD835\uDC8F\uD835\uDC95\uD835\uDC8A\uD835\uDC90\uD835\uDC8F ) − (\uD835\uDC6D\uD835\uDC73\uD835\uDC7E \uD835\uDC69\uD835\uDC68\uD835\uDC7C \uD835\uDC99 \uD835\uDC9A\uD835\uDC8A\uD835\uDC86\uD835\uDC8D\uD835\uDC85 \uD835\uDC69\uD835\uDC68\uD835\uDC7C )Implementing partners of selected projects provided information, data, and estimates on adoption rates of improved agricultural practices and annual yields. The research team then estimated GHG emissions and carbon sequestration associated with the BAU and improved agricultural practices using the Ex-Ante carbon balance tool (EX-ACT) developed by FAO using tier 1 guidelines (Bernoux et al. 2010, Bockel et al. 2013, Grewer et al. 2016), or using other methods if they were more appropriate for that value chain (Grewer et al. 2016).Uncertainties associated with these estimates can range from 30-50%; for nitrous oxide emissions from fertilizer use the uncertainty can be as high as 300%. Despite these uncertainties, EX-ACT represents the accepted state of the science and provides a comparable tool to other regions or studies. EX-ACT was selected based on its ability to account for a variety of GHGs, practices, and environments. Additional details on the method for deriving emission intensity and practice-based estimates can be found in Grewer et al. (2016). When accounting for the emission implications of FLW, our estimates only included the GHG impact of production of the lost or wasted food, not emissions resulting from its decomposition. Further, FLW studies do not lend themselves to assessing long-term sequestration of carbon. This work, and most work in FLW, does not account for the possibility of increased emissions introduced by new processing methods, storage, or transportation interventions.This study surveyed the types of FLW interventions within selected projects to examine opportunities for low emissions development, and results reflect several methodological constraints. First, in most instances the estimates and intervention descriptions used are based on the expert judgment of the projects' implementing partners and were not independently verified. Second, the report reviewed only losses in the quantity of product -the physical decrease in product available, measured by weight or volume. Third, researchers did not provide a specific time horizon for storage to ensure uniformity of data. Finally, the study and interviews focused on climate change mitigation as a whole, the study focused on value chains with opportunities for significant GHG emission reductions (most often in the livestock, rice, and maize sectors) and carbon sequestration (perennials and agroforestry), rather than value chains with high FLW opportunities.In addition, GHG estimation methods used in this paper did not account for the possibility of increased emissions resulting from new processing methods, storage, or transportation interventions, which could offset emission reductions. For instance, improvements in the dairy cold chain could increase GHG emissions due to increased electricity usage, or an established cold chain could encourage and promote increased dairy production. Changes in handling and packaging could improve hygiene during food handling and promote longer shelf-life of food products, but they also may lead to more waste. Finally, this research did not attempt to quantify the GHG implications of transportation interventions.The team identified 13 Feed the Future projects that had the potential for GHG emissions mitigation through FLW (Table 1).  • ACCESO (Honduras) studied twelve varieties of yellow onions to determine which variety had the longest shelf life and exhibited most resistance to diseases.• LPIN (Bangladesh) hosted training events for livestock producers on techniques for selecting fit, healthy animals for slaughter.• MARKETS II (Nigeria) promoted farmer selection of cocoa varieties that have better disease and pest resistance qualities and characteristics desired by buyers.• RDCP (Rwanda) identified livestock genetic qualities and breeding decisions that promote productive and healthy animals. This intervention also considered financial sustainability, accessibility of knowledge and practices, and feasibility of implementing decisions.Harvesting • ACCESO (Honduras) promoted use of a planting and harvesting calendar to help farmers time their harvest to maximize revenue and shelf life.• Chanje (Haiti) promoted use of cutting poles during harvesting to reduce damage to mangos from latex burns on the fruits, thus decreasing the market rejection rate.• MARKETS II (Nigeria) supported use of wooden mallets instead of piercing knives for cocoa bean harvest to reduce beans' exposure to diseases and other contaminants. • AGP-AMDe (Ethiopia) improved the ability of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange to evaluate and grade the quality of green coffee beans and document product traceability.• Chanje (Haiti) supported new techniques to dry mangos and add value to other export-bound products, in partnership with the farmer association ADAIM.• CPM (Uganda) provided farmers with equipment needed for processing, including bean threshers, cleaning tools, and tarpaulins.• MARKETS II (Nigeria) developed interventions and techniques for fish processing at larger scales, including smoking and drying methods, based on recommendations and needs of fish producers and processors to scale-up their operations.• RDCP (Rwanda) developed potential areas of investments for dairy processing, including value-added products that process milk. • ADVANCE (Ghana) introduced training to demonstrate construction of improved storage silos that are made by hand using locally available, often natural, materials.• AGP-AMDe (Ethiopia) leveraged the accessibility of portable bag-stitching machines for processors to enable increased storage efficiency that minimizes waste.• Camel Milk (Ethiopia) provided containers for more hygienic milk storage.• Chanje (Haiti) promoted improved storage and transportation structures, such as plastic crates, to decrease bruising and blemishes of fresh products such as mangos.• FED (Liberia) hosted training sessions on the construction and feasibility of lowenergy refrigeration facilities and charcoal-based cool storage units.• FED (Liberia) supported training on pest control methods, including fabrication of rat guards to minimize disease, contamination, and product loss.• KAVES (Kenya) promoted a hermetic storage bag technology to store maize for personal use at home.Transportation. Many interventions in the transportation stage were also applicable at the storage stage, as it is economical and efficient for storage solutions to also be safe and efficient for transport. Some transportation interventions noted the importance of wellmaintained and accessible roadways and systems to connect various value chain stakeholders.A few interventions focused on strategically located collection and distribution centers, in order to facilitate access by a substantial number of producers, processors, and distributors.• Camel Milk (Ethiopia) identified a shortcoming of temperature-controlled storage and transport systems, denoting a need for cold-chain interventions.• Chanje (Haiti) introduced pack frames that safely store and protect products during transport on the backs of donkeys. This was especially useful in locations inaccessible to vehicles.• Chanje (Haiti) facilitated infrastructure development, including road restoration, with financial support from development partners.• KAVES (Kenya) supported collection centers that increased milk storage capacity.Data from interventions in dairy, maize, rice, vegetables, and other products show that the percentages of FLW and the impacts of interventions varied greatly by product (Table 2).Overall, most agricultural supply chains involved a range of FLW interventions (Table 3) with large reductions in overall FLW.• Dairy. Food loss reduction estimates varied greatly among the dairy projects in the study. As shown in Table 2, FLW estimates ranged from 5-50% in the BAU approach and declined 4-10% as a result of intervention. CMVCD and RDCP both estimated Although all four projects promoted practices to reduce FLW in multiple stages of the value chain (production, processing, and storage), CMVCD and RDCP estimated much higher existing levels of food loss than PIN and KAVES.• Maize. Projects estimated that existing FLW rates of 5-30% for maize could be reduced to 3-17% with project interventions. ADVANCE II estimated the largest change in FLW, a 20-percentage point reduction, partially due to improved storage from construction of new silos.• Vegetables. Projects estimated that BAU of FLW for vegetables ranged from 18-38%, and may be decreased to 5-20% through project interventions. Estimates varied widely, based on crop and level of market development. HARVEST estimated a 20% reduction in FLW due to dramatic improvements in PHL handling. Chanje and ACCESO aimed to reduce FLW of vegetables through improved storage and transportation.• Rice. Projects estimated that BAU for FLW of 13-30% in rice could be reduced to 3-22% due to project interventions. HARVEST estimated the greatest reduction (20%)in FLW, attributing it to interventions in storage and processing (drying). MARKETS II estimated little change (2.5%) in FLW as it focused on milling of rice as well as loss in other crops.• Market goods. The remaining products cover a variety of foods, including fruits, perennials, legumes, and grains. Estimated BAU of FLW ranged from 1-30% and are reduced to 0-16% through project interventions.     Agricultural development projects adopted FLW activities as part of a strategy to increase food security. Ex ante emission estimates suggest reducing FLW may offer a significant and under-utilized opportunity for increasing productivity and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, two pillars of climate-smart agriculture. Because reducing FLW leaves more food available for consumption and sale, while also reducing GHG emissions, it decouples trajectories of economic growth and GHG emissions.The Feed the Future projects examined by this study also illustrate how climate-smart agricultural development can increase food security -the primary objective for which these projects were designed -by increasing effective food or product availability after FLW and decreasing emission intensity. Our analysis also shows that market-based approaches can achieve both FLW and emission reductions. This study, as most FLW studies, does not account for the possibility of increased emissions introduced by new processing methods, storage, or transportation interventions that could be estimated with full life cycle analyses.Using a broader framework for FLW analyses could expand the range of project interventions, for example to efficiently cool and transport, while accounting for potential additions in emissions from increased fuel use. We expect that emission intensity from interventions will remain lower than the business-as-usual development trajectory, even in a life-cycle analysis perspective.Cost-effective reductions in FLW benefit actors throughout the value chain, beginning with the producers. Small changes in FLW can have large impacts on food security among smallholder farmers and dairy producers. At the regional and national scales, reduced FLW Agricultural Growth Project and trace the quality and grading of green coffee beans, which led to more profitability and higher revenue on the market. By partnering with over fifty wheat smallholder cooperatives, AGP promoted sorting and processing technology for wheat threshing which decreased the amount and frequency of wheat loss. Finally, the project leveraged the access to machines that can portably stitch bags for storage of the products"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3a6e99570113ac6ce162fc1adb8acdf2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/9da4499a-e119-4949-bf09-8355da9a87d1/content","id":"-1983969087"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8178c5e4-f9d1-4128-98b0-52b0067b2ab7","content":"Breeding material generated: 2521 F1 (simple and top), 8042 F2-F5 selected bulk pops, 89828 F6/F7 progeny rows, 30392 advanced lines, 9540 entries in yield trial (2 reps) and 1092 entries in yield trials (3 reps, 6 management) 2. Ten locations used in selection process: • Five in Mexico (Cd. Obregon, Toluca, El Batan, Aqua Fria and Mexicali) • Two in Africa (Njoro, Kenya and Kulumsa, Ethiopia) • Three in BISA, India (for phenotyping and selection by all national partners) 3. From above, nurseries and trials prepared and shipped to India for 2017-18 cycle I: Bread wheat improvement: high yielding, heat tolerant germplasm with other India relevant traits Germplasm provided in 2017-18 cycle No. of lines 283 277 157 136 1099 116 sets of international trials/nurseries having 1099 lines to 30 centres. All germplasm shared through ICAR-IIWBRGrain yield of 8.67 t/ha obtained in 2017 2.0 2.6 3.2 3.8 4.4 5.0 5.6 6.2 6.8 7.4 8.0 8.6 9.2 9.8 2.3 2.9 3.5 4.1 4.7 5.3 5.9 6.5 7.1 7.7 8.3 8.9 9.5 2.0 2.6 3.2 3.8 4.4 5.0 5.6 6.2 6.8 7.4 8.0 8.6 9.2 9.8 2.3 2.9 3.5 4.1 4.7 5.3 5.9 6.5 7.1 7.7 8.3 8.9 9.5 Pusa 0 50 100 2.0 2.6 3.2 3.8 4.4 5.0 5.6 6.2 6.8 7.4 8.0 8.6 9.2 9.8 2.3 2.9 3.5 4.1 4.7 5.3 5.9 6.5 7.1 7.7 8.3 8.9 9.5 2.0 2.6 3.2 3.8 4.4 5.0 5.6 6.2 6.8 7.4 8.0 8.6 9.2 9.8 2.3 2.9 3.5 4.1 4.7 5.3 5.9 6.5 7.1 7.7 8.3 8.9 9.5 Ludhiana 2.0 2.6 3.2 3.8 4.4 5.0 5.6 6.2 6.8 7.4 8.0 8.6 9.2 9.8 2.3 2.9 3.5 4.1 4.7 5.3 5.9 6.5 7.1 7.7 8.3 8.9 9.5 2.0 2.6 3.2 3.8 4.4 5.0 5.6 6.2 6.8 7.4 8.0 8.6 9.2 9.8 2.3 2.9 3.5 4.1 4.7 5.3 5.9 6.5 7.    "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3979439a35ff338451352f63c35ba86a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5f6a7c85-867a-41a7-9caf-2e6aba01c540/retrieve","id":"1224907282"},"keywords":["hermetic technologies","insects","maize landraces","seed germination","storage losses"],"sieverID":"823c8448-b517-4e0c-a606-cfa3adc67453","content":"In Mexico, smallholder farmers produce locally adapted maize varieties, generally called landraces, for food. They participate in the conservation of landraces by selecting and storing their seeds from one production cycle to another, but are facing challenges such as storage losses caused by insects (mainly Sitophilus zeamais and Prostephanus truncatus) and climate change. In the current study, the effectiveness of the conventional storage practices of farmers in the highlands of Mexico (polypropylene woven bags) in minimizing storage losses and maintaining seed germination was compared with hermetic storage technologies. After six and three months of storage, the percentage of insect damage and weight loss was highest in samples stored in polypropylene woven bags, reaching 61.4% and 23.4% after six months of storage. On the contrary, with hermetic technologies, storage losses were minimal, with maximums of 4.1% and 2.2% for insect damage and weight loss, respectively. Overall, the germination rate of samples stored in these airtight containers was greater than 90%. The results of this study demonstrate the potential of hermetic technologies in preserving the biodiversity of maize seed landraces and strengthening smallholders' food security.Mexico is a center of origin, domestication and diversity for maize, a major crop that contributes to the livelihoods of millions of people [1,2]. Maize landraces-heirloom varieties created through farmer selection over hundreds of years-are key to food sovereignty and cultural identity in Mexico and Latin America [3][4][5]. Smallholder farmers in Mexico grow landraces for food, as their grain quality is often preferred for popular dishes and they are sometimes better adapted to local environmental conditions and rainfed agriculture [5][6][7]. Farmers play an important role in preserving maize landrace diversity through their historical and cultural identification of maize as a primary crop, as well as their land use, selection of traits, and seed exchanges through social networks [8]. The in situ conservation of landrace diversity allows landraces to evolve in their original areas of distribution, influenced by farmers' selection and environmental factors [5].At the same time, maize landraces face serious threats, including global warming, low productivity, and high levels of postharvest loss under farmers' conventional storage conditions [9,10]. Losses in the quantity and quality of grain and seed under storage have been estimated to be as high as 60% in lowland conditions under common on-farm storage technologies, which include the use of polypropylene woven bags with or without aluminum phosphide tablets [10]. Postharvest insect pests are the main cause of losses in dry maize, particularly the maize weevil Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), the large grain borer Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae), and the Angoumois grain moth Sitotroga cerealella (Olivier) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) [11]. Hermetically sealed grain storage technologies, including hermetic metal silos and hermetic bags, can minimize losses from storage pests [10,12], constraining or killing the insects through oxygen depletion and a subsequent increase in carbon dioxide [13]. However, hermetic containers are generally not available for many smallholders. Odjo et al. [10] demonstrated the effectiveness of other sealed storage alternatives in Mexico, including recycled containers (plastic bottles or plastic barrels) that may be a good fit for smallholder farmers for preserving grain and seed quantity and quality [10,14]. In a following study, Odjo et al. [14] also demonstrated that hermetic technologies including recycled containers can preserve seed quality in Mexico by maintaining a low-equilibrium relative humidity and seed dryness, as well as limiting oxygen availability during storage and minimizing grain quality loss.The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has been promoting hermetic technologies for storage in smallholders' farming systems in Mexico within the framework of the Integrated Agri-food Systems Initiative (IASI) [15,16]. This approach, implemented through the innovation hub model, goes beyond introducing innovation and has a strong focus on knowledge exchange and co-creation with farmers to achieve sustainable and systemic change [17]. During interactions with farmers, a decrease in the germination of maize landrace seeds stored in hermetic technologies was reported. Some local experts suggest the percussion of seeds before sowing, or allowing the seed to \"breathe\" outside the container for anywhere from three days to two weeks before sowing to increase germination rate [18].A decrease in germination for seeds stored in hermetic containers has been reported for seeds with moisture content over 13% (wet basis). Adhikarinayake et al. [19] reported a decrease in seed viability in paddy rice stored under hermetic conditions at 14.1% moisture content, citing the combined effects of oxygen depletion and increased carbon dioxide and moisture content. Moreno-Martinez et al. [20] also reported lower germination in maize seed stored in hermetic containers at 15% moisture, citing the effect of low oxygen levels on seed embryos. Seed quality includes germination rate, viability, and longevity, and is generally affected by three main factors: seed moisture content, temperature, and the relative humidity of the storage environment. High oxygen levels are also associated with seed viability declines; mainly due to oxidative processes, particularly in seed stored at high moisture contents [21]. Storing low moisture content seed using hermetic technologies allows the preservation of seed quality by maintaining a low-equilibrium relative humidity and seed dryness, as well as limiting oxygen availability during storage [22][23][24][25]. However, there is a lack of evidence on the effect of different storage technologies, as well as the suggested seed treatments, on maize landrace seed germination.This study evaluates the effects of storage technologies (polypropylene woven bags vs. hermetic storage technologies) on maize landraces in the central highlands of Mexico, specifically, on major insect pests (S. zeamais, P. truncatus, and S. cerealella), kernel damage, and seed germination, as well as whether germination rate is affected by seed treatments (percussion and delaying sowing after opening hermetic technologies).On-farm storage experiments were established in 2019 at the experiment station of CIMMYT at El Batán Texcoco, the State of Mexico, Mexico (2282 m above sea level), for three and six months. Seeds of the four Mexican landraces used were sourced locally and grown on the station following identical agronomic practices (date of sowing, fertilization, pest managements, date of harvest). Harvested kernels were dried and stored as follows (Table 1): (1) polypropylene woven bags (PP) (farmers' conventional storage practices) and (2) hermetically sealed containers, either the GrainPro Hermetic SuperGrainbag ® Premium RZ (GrainPro Inc, Washington, USA; bags obtained from the official Mexican representative), a hermetic bag with a zip system, or plastic bottles. GrainPro hermetic bags are made of high-strength polyethylene plastic with barrier layers, while plastic bottles are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). These materials have low oxygen permeability in comparison with polypropylene woven bags. Michiels et al. [26] reported the rate of dioxygen permeability measured at a relative humidity of 50% and a temperature of 23 • C for polypropylene materials between 50 and 100 cm 3 .mm.m −2 .day −1 .atm −1 , while polyethylene plastics have values of dioxygen permeability between 0.5 and 5 cm 3 .mm.m −2 .day −1 .atm −1 . As reported by Odjo et al. [14], hermetic bags were used in combination with polypropylene woven bags as recommended by the provider for additional protection. Plastic bottles that were recycled water and soda containers were used for some of the varieties with low productivity, as farmers generally store 2 kg of seed. Both hermetic bags and plastic bottles were checked for any damage/perforation by inflating them. After filling with kernels, the hermetic bags were sealed with a zip system while the plastic bottles were sealed with their original cap wrapped with tape to minimize oxygen entry. The containers were randomly arranged on a wooden pallet platform with three replicates per storage technology for each storage time.The landraces used were of white, yellow, blue, and pink grain and with flotation indices (an indirect parameter of grain hardness determined by counting the number of floating grains after six strokes of mild stirring of 100 grains in a sodium nitrate solution with a specific density of 1.25 g mL −1 ) values varying from 34 to 80% (Table 1). Based on this parameter and the Mexican norm NMX-FF-034/1-SCFI-2002 [27], their endosperm hardness was intermediate (Magdalena and VC Rosado), hard (VC Amarillo) and soft (SJR Azul). Hermetic bags were used in comparison with polypropylene woven bags for Magdalena and VC Amarillo, while plastic bottles were used for VC Rosado and SJR Azul, since they have low productivity and farmers generally store around 2 kg of seed [28].Before storage, moisture content was measured using a hand-held grain moisture tester (John Deere Moisture Check Plus Grain Moisture, IL, USA), calibrated using the manufacturer's recommendations. Average moisture content varied between 10.0 and 12.6% on a wet basis (Table 1). After cleaning and before filling the storage containers, three representative samples of approximately 500 g were obtained to measure insect damage, referring to kernels with perforations or galleries caused by insect feeding. Insect damage before storage varied from 0.6 to 4.0% for the different varieties evaluated. The numbers of live insects that come from natural infestation in the field and were present in the samples were counted. The insect species considered are the most important in Mexico [11]: S. zeamais, P. truncatus, and S. cerealella. Generally, there was fewer than 1 live insect per 500 g of sample, prior to storage (Table 1).Three representative samples free of pests were also collected and stored at −18 • C for further seed analyses. After three and six months, the storage containers were opened, and three representative samples were collected from the top, middle, and bottom of each container using hand scoops. The seed moisture content and percentage of insect damage were measured using the method described above. The \"weight loss\" parameter, which refers to kernel loss during the storage period from insect feeding, was also estimated as per Boxall [29].Germination tests were performed on initial samples defrosted over one night at room temperature and samples without apparent damage collected after three and six months of storage, with or without percussion treatment. Samples without percussion were kept in open plastic jars at room temperature.Intended to create an abrasive effect on the seed pericarp and facilitate water imbibition, the percussion treatment was applied to approximately 100 g for 5 min just before the germination assay, using a device equipped with aluminum US standard testing sieve pans and adapted with a Power Electric motor, CPG1446RB1A (Mexico), at 1725 rpm, resulting in approximately 270 oscillations per minute. Germination assays were performed on the seeds obtained (no percussion, percussion) using the rolled paper towel seed germination test of CIMMYT [30] at 1, 3, 7, and 15 days after opening the storage containers. Fifty seeds without apparent damage were randomly selected and placed on the upper halves of moist filters or blotter paper towels (50 × 25 cm) and incubated in a seed incubator at 90% relative humidity, alternating between 12 h at 30 • C in light and 12 h at 20 • C in the dark, for 7 days, based on the 1985 recommendations of the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA). Germinated seeds were visually checked every day and \"normal\" and \"abnormal seedlings\" were counted by experienced lab technicians, meaning those that showed or did not show potential for continued development into satisfactory plants when grown in good soil under optimum conditions [30]. After 7 days, seeds that did not germinate were dissected longitudinally through the embryo and soaked in a 1% tetrazolium solution at 30 • C for 120 min as described by Warham et al. [30]. Through observation with an optical microscope, a seed is considered viable when at least 1/3 of the scutellum as well as the radicle are red-stained. The percentages of non-germinated viable and non-germinated non-viable seeds were determined with the counting of viable and non-viable seeds. All seed germination parameters (normal seedlings, abnormal seedlings, germination, nongerminated viable seeds, non-germinated non-viable seeds) were expressed as a percentage of all fifty seeds tested.Statistical analyses of data collected were performed using R version 4.0.3. Data were first summarized as means and standard deviations. For the count data (numbers of live S. zeamais, P. truncatus and S. cerealella), a 95% Poisson confidence interval of the mean was estimated using the R package (\"DescTools\").Beta regression was used to evaluate the effect of storage technologies, maize varieties, storage time, and their interactions on moisture content, percentage of insect damage, and weight loss, as well as to gauge the effect of storage technology, maize variety, storage time, seed treatment, number of days before the germination assay, and their interactions on the percentages of normal seedlings and abnormal seedlings [31]. All beta regressions were performed with the R package \"mgcv\" using the logit link as a link function. The parameters \"storage technology\", \"maize variety\", \"storage time\", and \"seed treatment\" were considered as factors. The reference factors considered for each model were the \"polypropylene woven bag\" for storage technology, which is the common farmer practice; \"Magdalena Texcoco\" for maize variety, with white landraces being the area's most popular maize variety; \"three months of storage\" for storage time and parameter, given that farmers store their harvests for at least three months [10]; and \"no percussion\" for the seed treatment parameter. Only two-way interactions have been considered within regression models to facilitate interpretation.Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed using the R package \"FactoMineR\" to evaluate relationships between postharvest parameters, including kernel moisture content and temperature at the end of the storage period, percentages of insect damage and kernels without damage, weight loss, numbers of live S. zeamais, live P. truncatus and live S. cerealella, and seed germination parameters (percentages of germination, normal seedlings, abnormal seedlings, non-germinated viable seeds, non-germinated non-viable seeds). Only final values for these parameters after 3 and 6 months of storage were used for the PCA.The main species of live insect counted was P. truncatus, followed by S. zeamais and S. cerealella. The highest numbers of insects were found in samples from the polypropylene woven bags, particularly after six months of storage. Magdalena and VC Rosado were the most highly infested maize varieties, particularly by P. truncatus, which was the most encountered living insect (Figure 1). The number of live insects of the three pest species in seed stored using hermetic containers varied between 0 and 2 insects per 500 g of seed, as shown by the 95% Poisson confidence intervals (Figure 1). In contrast, confidence intervals for seed stored using polypropylene woven bags were highly variable and depended on the maize variety and storage time. The upper estimates of the confidence intervals were as high as 9.5, 277.9, and 3.4 insects per 500 g of seed for S. zeamais, P. truncatus and S. cerealella, respectively (Figure 1).Kernel moisture content overall varied between 8.4 and 13.4% (Table 2). There were fluctuations between initial and final moisture content regardless of the storage technologies, particularly after six months of storage. Insect damage varied between 0.6 and 61.4%, while weight loss ranged from 0.2 to 20.1%, with heavy damage on kernels stored in polypropylene woven bags. Independently of the variety, insect damage was particularly severe after 6 months of storage and up to 14 times higher than after 3 months (and an average increase from 12.9 to 51.9% for polypropylene woven bags, with that increase in storage time). However, VC Amarillo, the variety with a hard endosperm, had the lowest insect damage and weight loss values after six months of storage using polypropylene woven bags while the most infested landraces were VC Rosado and SJR Azul. Kernel damage was particularly low with samples stored using hermetic technologies, whatever the variety or storage time, with weight losses from 0.2 to 1.2% and the same trend for insect damage. Hermetic storage minimized weight losses, whereas high weight losses occurred with polypropylene woven bags for all landraces, and particularly after 6 months of storage. Kernel moisture content overall varied between 8.4 and 13.4% (Table 2). There were fluctuations between initial and final moisture content regardless of the storage technologies, particularly after six months of storage. Insect damage varied between 0.6 and 61.4%, while weight loss ranged from 0.2 to 20.1%, with heavy damage on kernels stored in polypropylene woven bags. Independently of the variety, insect damage was particularly severe after 6 months of storage and up to 14 times higher than after 3 months (and an average increase from 12.9 to 51.9% for polypropylene woven bags, with that increase in storage time). However, VC Amarillo, the variety with a hard endosperm, had the lowest insect damage and weight loss values after six months of storage using polypropylene woven bags while the most infested landraces were VC Rosado and SJR Azul. Kernel damage was particularly low with samples stored using hermetic technologies, whatever the variety or storage time, with weight losses from 0.2 to 1.2% and the same trend for Percentages of normal seedlings after 3 and 6 months of storage 1 day after opening the containers varied between 6.7 and 87.7%, while percentages of abnormal seedlings varied between 11.3 and 86.0% (Table 3), with these two parameters presenting opposite trends and a significant effect of variety. In some cases, the percentages of normal seedlings after storage were higher in comparison with the initial values. Overall, increasing storage time from 3 to 6 months had a negative impact on the percentage of normal seedlings (and the opposite for the percentage of abnormal seedlings). However, storing seed in hermetic containers positively impacted the percentage of normal seedlings after 6 months of storage, compared to storage using polypropylene woven bags (Table 3). Overall, applying percussion as a seed treatment did not have a significant effect (Table 3), but applying it after 6 months of storage seemed to have a negative impact on the percentage of normal seedlings. Delaying germination and aerating seed for 3, 7 or 15 days did not significantly affect the percentage of normal and abnormal seedlings (Supplementary Table S1). The percentages of non-germinated viable seeds and non-germinated non-viable seeds were very low, except in two cases when percussion was applied for grain stored using polypropylene woven bags (Supplementary Table S1). In general, post-storage seed germination rates were high (average > 90%) for all the storage technologies and maize landraces, regardless of seed treatment (Supplementary Table S1). The PCA identified three components with eigenvalues > 1. The first two principal components accounted for 66% of the total variability in results (Supplementary Table S2). The first component, which explained 48% of the total variability, was highly and positively correlated with insect damage, weight loss, and final numbers of live S. zeamais, P. truncatus, and S. cerealella. The first component was negatively correlated with percentage of germination. The second component, which represented 18% of the total variability, was positively correlated with percentage of normal seedlings and kernel temperature, and negatively correlated with percentage of abnormal seedlings (Supplementary Table S2). The number of live S. zeamais, weight loss, and the number of live P. truncatus are the parameters that contributed most to the first component, while percentages of normal and abnormal seedlings are the ones that contributed mainly to the second component (Supplementary Table S2). Overall, the loading plot of variables used for the PCA, using the first two components (Figure 2), showed that postharvest loss parameters contributed the most to component 1, while germination parameters contributed mainly to component 2. The loading plot also highlighted a close association between postharvest loss parameters and the percentage of non-germinated viable seeds. Smallholder farmers in Mexico actively participate in the preservation of maize seed biodiversity through community seed banks [5,8,32]. Hermetic technologies can contribute to seed preservation by protecting the seed during the storage period. This study evaluated the effect of hermetic technologies on postharvest loss parameters and seed germination.There was little variation in kernel moisture content across storage technologies or storage periods, though some significant increases and decreases were observed, particularly after six months of storage. Overall, kernels stored in either hermetic bags or sealed plastic containers had lower moisture content variation than those stored in polypropylene woven bags. These results are similar to those from other experiments in the State of Mexico published by García-Lara et al. [33], who reported an increase in grain moisture content stored using polypropylene sacks. The same results have also been reported for experiments elsewhere [34,35]. These changes are associated with environmental humidity and the failure of polypropylene woven bags to protect grain from external conditions, potentially increasing moisture content or drying stored grain, depending on the environment [36]. The fluctuations in moisture content noticed in hermetic bags, particularly after six months of storage were reported by other authors [24,37] and could be explained by ambient air leaking into the system. Hermetic bags are not perfectly \"impermeable\" and the sealing system (a zip system) of the storage containers could also have an impact on oxygen and moisture fluctuations within the technologies [38]. Fluctuations of moisture content could also be explained by the perforation of bags by insects, particularly P. truncatus, and/or biological activity inside the containers that may lead to condensation due to temperature variation outside the containers [13]. The perforation of hermetic bags by bruchids has been reported in experiments carried out elsewhere [39][40][41] even though the impact on insect damage was not significant. Overall, hermetic technologies with low-permeability barriers help to limit insect damage in comparison with non-hermetic technologies.Samples stored in polypropylene woven bags were highly infested during storage, resulting in high levels of insect damage and weight loss, confirming previous findings for this region of Mexico [10,33]. Storage losses were due to the activities of the main pests, particularly P. truncatus, and favored by the availability of oxygen. However, VC Amarillo, the landrace with the hardest endosperm, seemed less infested by insects. The incidence of these pests in grain inside polypropylene woven bags depends on the landraces and their characteristics, including composition, kernel hardness and vitreousness, and pericarp thickness [42]. The endosperm characteristics are not the only mechanism involved in the resistance to storage insect pests. Previous studies have reported that maize resistance to postharvest insect pests is related to phenolic contents [43,44]. Maize kernel resistance to postharvest pests is based on complex interactions between anatomical, biochemical and genetic factors, and includes antibiosis and antixenosis (physical barriers and phytochemical repellents) effects [42]. Some Mexican landraces, particularly the ones of yellow, blue and pink colors, are known for their high polyphenol and anthocyanins contents [45]. These landraces with high resistance to the main postharvest pests have been identified and could be used to develop improved varieties [46]. However, since farmers' selection of maize varieties also depends on their home consumption strategies [6], it is important to find other strategies to avoid losses during storage. Hermetic technologies, including low-cost alternatives such as recycled containers, e.g., plastic bottles and barrels, minimize insect infestations and weight loss regardless of maize variety in smallholders' farming systems [10].As highlighted by the PCA, there was a negative relationship between increased postharvest loss (high percentage of insect damage, weight loss, and high numbers of live insects) and seed germination. However, post-storage germination data of the pest-free samples stored in polypropylene woven bags were very high, and there was no significant effect of maize variety, storage technology, or storage time. Similar results were found by Odjo et al. [14], who reported high percentages of germination of seed stored using non-hermetic technologies in temperate conditions (>2000 masl). These results could be ascribed to environment, including low relative humidity and ambient temperature [10]. As per Harrington [21], storage conditions including low temperatures and low relative humidity strongly favor increased seed longevity. However, storage in polypropylene woven bags resulted in a loss of seed quantity, as demonstrated by the percentage of insect damage and weight loss recorded, so polypropylene woven bags are not a viable storage strategy for seed biodiversity preservation. Hermetic storage had no detrimental effects on the percentage of germination and applying percussion or delaying the germination assay did not significantly improve it. These results corroborate the findings of García-Lara et al. [33] and Odjo et al. [14] in the central highlands of Mexico and experiments elsewhere [34,[47][48][49]. Hermetic technologies preserve the percentage of seed germination by limiting oxygen availability and maintaining low-equilibrium relative humidity for stored seed, which in turn slows oxidative reactions associated with decreased seed viability [50]. These results are valid over an extended storage time (up to 7 months), as demonstrated by Kuyu et al. [25]. Regarding special treatments, percussion treatments in this study tended to reduce the percentage of normal seedlings. No special treatments were required for a satisfactory germination rate in the case of the maize varieties studied.A decreased germination rate for seed stored using hermetic technologies has been reported and may be associated with the conditions of germination assays, particularly seed moisture content [19,20,51]. Singano et al. [51] reported a low percentage of seed germination (less than 15%) for samples stored using hermetic technologies and associated with high temperatures and moisture content and the airtight conditions. Water availability in hermetic storage can provoke fermentation in the seed, decreasing viability [52]. Seed moisture content at storage in the current study was below 13%, explaining the high germination recorded, and the data presented here confirm that storing dry seed in hermetically sealed containers will not adversely affect seed germination.The percentages of normal seedlings reported in the current study were low. Landraces are generally selected by farmers in Mexico based on ear corn and kernel characteristics for culinary qualities and cultural purposes [1,6]. Participatory breeding programs considering farmers' preferences could help in improving landraces' seed quality and overall productivity, and enhance their in situ conservation [5]. The percentage of normal seedlings for initial samples frozen at −18 • C were sometimes lower than normal seedling values obtained after storage, suggesting freezing injury. This phenomenon has already been described during the storage of high-moisture-content seeds (>15%) [50]. The results presented in the current study suggest that freezing injury could still happen at moisture contents between 10.0 and 12.6% (the moisture contents of the initial materials). Data on the effect of freezing on Mexican seed landraces quality is, however, scarce, and this warrants further investigation. A decrease in the percentage of normal seedlings of seed stored in hermetic containers was sometimes observed and, overall, storage time also had a negative effect on the percentage of normal seedlings. These results are unexpected and contrast with hybrid seeds' germination results from the same area presented by Odjo et al. [14]. This could be associated with seed moisture content, and the results presented in the current study suggest that an additional decrease in moisture content for the landraces studied is required. Seed preservation standards generally recommend drying seed to a critical moisture content below which desiccation injury could occur [53]. According to the results of Bakhtavar et al. [54], only seed with 8% moisture content stored in hermetic containers maintained a satisfactory germination level. Adsorption isotherm studies of these landraces could help to establish the best conditions for their storage. Overall, seed drying, a key preparation prior to storage in hermetic conditions, is important but could be challenging for smallholders, particularly in the highlands or during rainy seasons [55]. Sun drying, particularly at hot times of day, can also reduce seed germination. Low-cost seed dryers or shade drying can be used without detrimental effects on germination [56]. Solutions such as zeolite drying are also safer alternatives that can maintain maize seeds' high viability during storage. These drying solutions combined with the dry chain strategy have been promoted for Guatemala's community seed reserves to preserve seed viability [57].In the case of maize stored for use as seed by smallholder farmers, hermetic technologies can limit damage by postharvest insect pests and minimize storage loss. Quantitative damage was much higher with polypropylene woven bags with high infestation levels of S. zeamais and P. truncatus. Using hermetic technologies, including recycled storage containers such as plastic bottles, did not significantly affect germination rate, and there was no need for additional seed treatments to increase the percentage of germination. These technologies could be promoted for smallholder farmers in Mexico with the appropriate technical support, including properly drying seeds before storage. Facilitating the physical and economical access of smallholders to these technologies and practices so that they can dry and store seed in safe conditions is critical to preserve their seed biodiversity and strength their food security.The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https: //www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/insects13100878/s1, Table S1: Effect of storage technologies on the percentage of abnormal seedlings, non germinated viable seeds and non germinated non-viable seeds, determined by germination tests after three and six months of storage; Table S2: Eigenvalues, proportions and cumulative proportions obtained with the principal component analysis; variable correlation and contribution to the principal component. Funding: CIMMYT implemented this study as part of the Project \"MasAgro Productor/Cultivos para México\" funded by Secretaría de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural (SADER). This work is also part of the One-CGIAR initiative AgriLAC with support from W1&W2 donors, including national governments, foundations, development banks, and other public and private agencies. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the donors mentioned previously.Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bcadeb28fd1d21e7be91aa75f811d4ab","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5511eb84-d327-4300-9dae-c0566688ec5b/retrieve","id":"-1115647567"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7b1643f8-da6d-43ce-87ac-16ca8c9d87fd","content":"system., rangelands are \"land on which the indigenous vegetation is predominantly grasses, grass-like plants, forbs 1 or shrubs that are grazed or have the potential to be grazed, and which is used as a natural ecosystem for the production of grazing livestock and wildlife\" (Allen et al., 2011). As an ecological term, rangelands can include annual and perennial grasslands, shrub and dry woodlands, savannah, tundra, and desert., rangelands refer to the management unit of extensive livestock keepers. In this sense, rangelands can include a wider variety of ecosystems and other resource zones, such as forest, wetlands, and ecosystems that might be used only occasionally but may be critical for the survival of the whole system and the livelihoods it supports (Davies et al., 2015).The Rangelands Atlas, published in 2020, includes seven of fourteen 1 used in biology and in vegetation ecology, especially in relation to grasslands and understory.  2 . Rangelands are found mainly in arid and semi-arid regions, but are also found in less dry regions. They are dominated by herbaceous vegetation and include important woody biomass.Rangelands produce a wide variety of goods and services, including livestock forage, water, wildlife habitat, wood products, mineral resources, recreation space, and natural beauty. The people living in rangelands include pastoralists, agropastoralists, crop farmers and other groups who depend on natural resources for their livelihoods. Many rangeland societies are highly adapted to their environment and the cultures of the people living there are a part of our rich global heritage.Rangelands are home to one-third of the which are threatened. Rangelands store around one-third of all landbased carbon, with a large proportion below ground, including an unusually high proportion in the root-mass of rangeland plants. Onerangelands. Due to the scarcity of water in rangelands, water ecosystem et al., 2015). considered degraded, with some regions more heavily affected than others. Rangelands are affected by conversion of land to uses such as crop farming, and by land degradation through over-exploitation, for Rangelands are increasingly affected by anthropogenic climate change. Drivers of rangeland degradation include a growing human population, increased investment that drives over-exploitation, unsustainable management practices, gaps in policy that undermine traditional management practices, the widespread misunderstanding of rangeland ecology, and the adaptations that rangeland communities have made to local conditions. These adaptations include complex communal land management systems and herd mobility that have evolved over centuries.Rangeland management depends on applying knowledge of rangeland ecology such as using grazing management and other interventions to stimulate growth of desired plant species and to inhibit growth of undesirable species. A good understanding of rangeland ecology is therefore necessary to manage rangelands sustainably. For example, it is vital to understand the close relationship between grasses and grazers. Many grasses are highly adapted to the habits of grasses are out-competed by less well-adapted plants in the absence of grazing. Without grazing livestock, the existing ecological community will shift away from grasses toward increased woody vegetation.The two major risks to rangeland ecosystems are over-grazing and under-grazing.occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for Over-grazing reduces the usefulness, productivity, and biodiversity of means permitting the growth, quality or species Both terms are poorly understood, and this confusion contributes to land degradation. The term over-grazing is usually taken to mean the intensity of animal grazing, most often associated with the number of animals or stocking density. In fact, it is the timing of grazing as much as the total stocking density that is most likely to determine the health of a rangeland area. The management response is critical. Reducing the number of animals can be detrimental if no consideration is given to the health.resources, including soils, water, animals and plants, for the production of goods to meet changing human needs, while simultaneously ensuring the long-term productive potential of these resources and the maintenance of their environmental functions\" (UN Earth Summit, 1992). Sustainable rangeland management (SRM), in simple terms, is the management of rangelands to meet current human needs while ensuring their long-term productivity. Human needs vary across rangelands, hence, different management objectives are needed. For example, rangelands may be managed mainly for livestock production, for wildlife protection, or to protect a watershed. Although management often focuses on one objective as and sustainable management means ensuring an appropriate balance of ecosystem services.SRM plays a vital role in stopping, slowing, or reversing rangeland SRM practices are often promoted to reverse land degradation and restore or rehabilitate degraded lands, are guided by the management objectives of the users, and recognizes that different users may have different views on sustainability, and therefore rangeland degradation can be subjective. Sustainable management has to consider the production of a wide range of services both now and in the future, and promoting one service at the expense of others.To maintain and improve rangelands productivity, it is important to understand how they respond to ongoing environmental changes and anthropogenic pressure. This knowledge can guide conservation and restoration efforts in dryland rangelands, as biotic factors can be actively managed at the local scale to increase ecosystem resilience to global changes (Safriel, 2009).Before addressing rangeland management practices, it is often degradation. In particular, it is frequently necessary to address the decline in effective rangelands governance. In many countries, this requires a change in perceptions of pastoral herding practices, increased understanding of rangeland ecology, and an overall improvement in dialogue and trust between governments, other development actors, and rangeland pastoral communities. Above all, an increased recognition of the essential relationship between rangeland health and grazing management is urgently needed, together with the legitimization of herd mobility as a management tool.The primary rangeland managers in most countries are livestock keepers, often called pastoralists. Many pastoralists have a deep knowledge of rangeland ecosystems and effective herd management practices. This indigenous knowledge is a valuable asset in rangeland restoration. Although pastoralists are usually blamed for rangeland degradation, they often face many constraints in applying their management knowledge.Restoring effective management practices therefore requires addressing these underlying causes and constraints. This includes strengthening the representation of pastoralists in policy and investment dialogues in many countries.Despite technical advances, the scale of rangeland rehabilitation intervention is still small and lacks a holistic approach. Most projects focus on a single SRM practice, ignoring the myriad possible interventions that would guarantee achieving the desired rehabilitation status. This toolkit brings together current state-of-the-art knowledge about SRM practices known to contribute to sustainable rangeland management. Successfully applying these methods, tools, and approaches requires they be used together with improved rangeland assessment and monitoring and better data on rangeland ecosystem services. It also requires attention to policy gaps and failures, including legislation on communal tenure rights. Sustainable rangeland management ultimately requires a major increase in investment, which requires a deeper understanding of investment opportunities and the values of ecosystem goods and services.Participatory approaches -such as Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) -are a collection of approaches used by development actors to incorporate the knowledge and opinions of rural people in the planning and management of development projects and programs. Participatory approaches are typically used to improve decision-making, foster ownership by local communities, and enhance accountability in development projects. Participatory approaches are a process of empowering communities, or groups within these communities, and are central to natural resource governance in development context.Participatory Rangeland Management and Planning (PRMP) provides a framework for adapting participatory approaches to the unique context of rangelands. PRMP takes into consideration the spatial scale on which rangelands are managed, the diversity of stakeholders involved, and seasonal patterns of movement and resource use. The large scale on which rangeland landscapes are managed is a major challenge for coordination and necessitates participation on a similarly large geographic scale. PRMP provides the most effective framework of engagement considering the socioeconomic and natural resource dynamics.-4567589:;)<=)-!2-)Many participatory approaches exist and PRMP adheres to principles that are common to most of these approaches, including:that recognizes contested claims and aspirations for a given rangeland landscape and ensures different socio-economic, ethnic and other groups are engaged in relevant dialogue• in which stakeholders express their needs, wants, and interests and reach a consensus on future rangeland use and management that respects the values of all usersin which all stakeholders are represented and engaged in the relevant dialogue, planning and implementationand integrating or reconciling local• that builds on the current state of rangeland resource to provide a foundation for managing in futurewith a focus on developing action plans that shape how agreed strategic interventions will be implementedusing participatory tools to monitor and evaluate actions and to adapt management according to emerging lessons./#(-/)$&)-\"!#$.$-\"#%!3)!\"&+('\"&,)Many participatory tools can be adapted for rangeland management of the participatory process to ensure the approach is aligned to the unique conditions of the rangelands. The following guidance is organized to other participatory planning frameworks. />:8)?@)-A4>6:4;B58)CD59E56F)A6E);>AG:B<9E:4) :6FAF:H:6>Rangelands are social-ecological systems, often with a great diversity of resource users and rights-holders. Sometimes these stakeholders are absent seasonally or for long periods. Rangelands often fall through institutional and policy gaps as there may be several institutions with overlapping responsibilities for rangelands. Important consideration for stakeholder analysis should therefore include:1. involved in rangeland use and management, including communities (e.g. herders, crop farmers and others), women and youth as well as men, migrant labourers, and marginalized groups within pastoral societies, as well as relevant public institutions 2. Preliminary dialogue with stakeholders to agree on the challenge to be addressed and the scale of rangeland landscape for action.questions to address include:PRMP requires particular attention to include the , including indigenous peoples, women and youth. Women have unique responsibilities over rangeland resources and unique knowledge on their sustainable use and management. However, women are largely marginalised in many rangeland societies. Extra effort and attention needs to be made to ensure fair and meaningful participation. It is common to separate groups of men and women while conducting participatory needed to engage women of other groups.partners to ensure that relevant groups have not been excluded and to identify differences of opinion between stakeholder groups over their perception of rights and responsibilities over natural resources. This is a sensitive process, requiring local knowledge and cultural sensitivity to draw out disagreements that are likely to require future negotiations./>:8)I@)/5>DA>5<6)A6E)7<6>:J>)A6A9K;5;In Step 2, the characteristics of the rangeland landscape can be clearly described to capture the spatial scale and the variety of resources and rights holders. Rangeland landscapes are often managed on a large scale and people and institutions introducing localized interventions must be aware of their impact on larger scales, for example on a communal tenure system or a river basin.The situation analysis should include baseline studies to review relevant information to establish state and trends of rangeland health, policies and institutions. Large-scale assessment of rangeland can be accomplished through remote sensing. Step 2 allows the scale of landscape management to be determined, and guides planning under Step 3.  As part of the preparation activities, a baseline analysis is required to provide the context and the situation of the area where participatory mapping will be conducted. The baseline study describes the environmental and socio-economic conditions. This should combine information from both published and non-published literature. Information gathered should also cover the interconnectivity between the landscape at which planning is taking place in relation to the wider landscape. This will mainly depend on the target landscape for planning and the availability of money and time. Analysis of the baseline conditions could include biophysical conditions, socio-economic conditions, and the social and political context.Additional data such as topographic maps, climate data, and indicators of land productivity are outputs for this process. This will involve collecting and organizing existing remote sensing imagery on the selected landscape to produce an overview map on the status of rangeland health, using the maps generated to assess and understand the baseline condition of rangeland resources at a landscape level before participatory mapping, and, if resources are available, engage landscape maps during participatory mapping (FAO and IUCN, 2015)./>:8)L@)2A8856F)A6E)89A6656FNatural resource mapping is the cornerstone of participatory approaches and it is vital for effective rangelands management. However, the mapping process needs to be approached with an open mind, to learn from the way stakeholders mentally map their landscapes, and to ensure that pre-determined notions of scale and boundaries do not restrict local knowledge and understanding.Participatory tools have generally been developed for use at the village level, whereas a rangeland management unit may be many thousands of square kilometers, with rights shared by thousands of households. The stakeholders involved in participatory mapping must ensure clear accountability,and representation and differentiated rights and responsibilities must be accommodated across the entire landscape. This includes seasonal rights and responsibilities of some user communities as well as seasonally-differentiated gender roles. One solution is to involve well-informed and credible representatives of the key stakeholder groups, and ensure that they feedback on their involvement to the people they represent.Participatory mapping can be improved by deliberately involving local community experts. This selection should consider the diversity expertise, knowledge, responsibility, rights and gender, including women and youths. The representatives should be conversant with their rangeland production system(s) and should be able to contribute to the mapping by sharing their experiences about the state, use and management and trends of their rangeland resources. They bring along important knowledge on the social, environmental and rangeland use dynamics.Participatory mapping follows these steps:Overlaying handdrawn features on to a high-resolution map can help when digitizing information. Careful attention should be given to the complex spatial arrangements of rangeland governance.(e.g. 10 years hence): This vision can consensus on a desirable scenario for the rangelands from an ecological, productive and local governance perspective. The future vision should be guided by a combination of local knowledge and rangelands. This step can be combined with information gathered earlier through a rangeland health assessment. The visioning map provides the basis for identifying indicators to assess change in rangeland health and for identifying the type of rangeland governance desired by the range-users.Action planning should be made particularly sensitive to gender roles and responsibilities as well as seasonal resource rights. Action plans should the transformation pathway to move from the current status of the rangeland to the envisioned future, outlining the detail of responsibility, resources and how progress will be measured.1 Detailed guidance for strengthening governance can be found in the manual \"Improving Governance of Pastoral Lands\": http://www.fao.org/3/i5771e/i5771e.pdf:resource governance and land rights (particularly management rights). Participatory planning is an important preliminary step in understanding governance. The mapping exercise determines the rights and responsibilities of stakeholders over different rangeland resources. Steps for strengthening governance should be included as a sub-set of the Action Plan above, but a detailed discussion is needed to identify the acceptable measures for strengthening governance and rights. There should be clear description of what the best possible governance structure is expected to look like in the given context. Attention should be paid to the rights of women and other groups within society. Participants should consider the following questions 1 :• Who are the rights holders over different resources (e.g. access rights, use rights, management rights, right of alienation etc.)? • (e.g. customary, formal legal, constitutional)? • What measures -both formal and informal -can stakeholders take to strengthen their management rights over each resource?/>:8)M@)2<65><456F)A6E):NA9DA>5<6 of actions, measuring the impact of those actions on rangeland health and socioeconomics, and responding to a dynamic setting. Participatory changes in rangeland health, and evaluation of implementation of actions. Regular annual stakeholder meetings should be held to discuss progress in management and changes in resource conditions taking into consideration the short-term and long-term variability and projected future dynamics. Stakeholder meetings are ideally conducted by a community organization, and can be part of their annual planning cycle.Those organizations can develop their capacity to play a coordinating role in rangeland management, sometimes acting as a hybrid institution that includes both customary leaders and non-customary leaders.Monitoring and evaluating change in rangeland governance also requires evaluating changes in governance institutions, which is a sensitive task requiring careful analysis from community members. It can include monitoring policies, rules, and institutional arrangements and processes, as well as decisions made informally and implemented by the community. The effectiveness of the governance systems should be assessed in relation to resource use and management. One useful experienced by community members, through stakeholder stories and focus groups.What was planned (maps and plans developed during the first planning exercises)?What was achieved (review maps and plans originally developed by communities)?What was not achieved?Why was intended change not achieved?What will be done to address this?What are the revised targets (e.g. for the next 6 months or 12 months)?to the conservation of natural resources and has been used in the Arabian Peninsula for more than 1,500 years. The hima system has a set of guiding principles, is participatory in nature, and uses community knowledge and practices in setting up and managing protected areas. Implementing a hima system requires consideration of the land tenure system in place, the biodiversity on the site, and the socioeconomic and cultural context of the community. The hima system is a proven governance approach that allows land users to implement actions that preserve natural resources, conserve ecosystems, restore biodiversity, and support local communities. Pastoralists from other regions often practice analogues to hima.Access to a hima was forbidden by the individual or group that owned it.Later, its meaning evolved to signify a reserved pasture, a piece of land set aside seasonally to allow regeneration. The hima system is inclusive and designed to preserve and protect ecosystems for the sustainable use of resources by the people and for the people, while taking into account the social and cultural practices of the communities involved.The fall of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 1800s resulted in more control by smaller states that emerged in the region. During the twentieth century, political and socioeconomic changes in the Arab region led to the weakening of the hima system, exposing the environment to a multitude of anthropogenic transformations resulting in widespread degradation. Tribal land was nationalized and increased demand for export products led to the abuse of natural systems. Sustainable systems of land use and management declined and so did the diversity and health of habitats. Recent years have witnessed several campaigns to conserve nature and its resources, including a revival of the hima concept.The value of the hima approach lies in its ability to integrate food production with conservation goals. Protected areas often exclude local users and thereby miss out on important opportunities for tapping their local knowledge and the institutions that enable its use. The hima approach legitimizes Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas 1 as a way to achieve both sustainable land management and biodiversity conservation on land used primarily for food production. Healthy, productive rangelands offer a genuine win for agricultural production through livestock and biodiversity conservation. The hima model provides a key to unlock this potential by improving landscape connectivity and harnessing the role of domestic herbivores for ecosystem management.the hima approach, but in the context of rangeland restoration the main focus is on Category VI: Protected area with sustainable use of natural resources (Dudley et al. 2013).2:A;D4:;)A6E);>:8;)><):;>AC95;B)A)B5HA b e c o n s t i t u t e d b y a l e g i t i m a t e g o v e r n i n g a u t h o r i t y , be established to improve public welfare, not cause undue hardship to local people and not deprive them of resources they need for their subsistence, and realize more benefits for society than detriments.for restoring rangelands and reviving hima is to address social rather than technological constraints. Reviving hima is therefore a process rather than an action and while it is highly costeffective, it is also highly demanding of skills, particularly skills for negotiation, participation, and consensus building. Reviving hima requires extensive dialogue between communities, government, and other stakeholders to reach agreement over policies and shared governance of natural resources at local, national, and regional level.is typically carried out through participatory planning, beginning with a complete stakeholder analysis and rights, it is important that all stakeholder groups, and particularly women and marginalized groups, are involved in planning. Additional effort is often needed to build capacity of marginalized groups so they can participate on an equal footing with other community members. From the outset, the primary focus of the hima approach should be to empower local communities, identify and respond to their needs, and ensure their full ownership in the hima process and the actual hima site.It is highly recommended to embed the development of a hima in wider landscape restoration planning, given the communal nature of rangeland resources and the potential for off-site impacts (both costs will mean periods of rest and recovery when livestock will need to be moved to other areas. Maintaining connectivity between the hima site and the rest of the landscape, and between multiple himas within the same landscape will facilitate effective herd management. Participatory groups of resource users and rights-holders.Training on hima approaches, sustainable land management, community governance, and legal options for formalizing the hima.Preparatory meetings with local authorities to ensure political support for the process.Hima site identification within the landscape, including mapping and site visits.Development of a hima management plan, including livestock management arrangements, environmental and biodiversity management considerations, land rehabilitation options, and a monitoring plan.Agreements for legal documents, community practices or bylaws depending on the legal context and options to formalize the hima.Development of associated incentives such as livelihoods development options for hima communities.Detailed stakeholder analysis and participatory planning at landscape scale. Strengthen land stewardship and communal tenure.Create an enabling environment of policy and institutional support and address the cross-sectoral nature of hima.Strengthen community organizations for hima governance.Ensure that hima management is aware of and sensitive to the socio-ecological landscape within which it is situated.Build capacity and awareness in public institutions and communities, with a particular focus on the skills of participation, empowerment, and monitoring.Develop incentives and rewards for the multiple and diverse benefits of hima.Strengthen scientific and economic evidence and local knowledge to provide systematic monitoring for quality assurance.  Water scarcity is among the main problems to be faced by several countries around the world as demand for domestic, agricultural, industrial, and environmental uses continues to increase (Khanal et al., 2020). Socioeconomic development, technological innovation, and environmental degradation, particularly climate change, are further intensifying the pressure of global water shortages (Wu et al., 2020).Climate change is one of the main factors affecting the availability of water resources (Haque et al., 2015). Climate change is predicted to cause a high climatic variability in semi-arid environments, leading to an increase in the frequency of droughts and heavy rainfall events (IPCC, 2012). When there is a high rainfall event on steep land and on soils water crisis is projected to worsen due to population explosion and the higher food demand (De Fries and Rosenzweig, 2010). The growing population and the increasing demand for agricultural products are putting pressure on limited grazing and rangeland resources, especially in arid environments.Many rangelands are found in arid and semi-arid lands where biomass production is constrained by moisture availability. Furthermore, when these lands are affected by land degradation, the soil moisture content often declines, due to reduced capacity to hold moisture as well as to biomass production in rangeland ecosystems. This means that production is possible only when additional water is made available for cultivation. With water scarcity placing heavy pressure in many arid regions, alternative methods, such as soil and water conservation, are of paramount importance in recent decades. Water harvesting is one such technology and is based on the direct collection of rainwater, which can be stored for direct consumption or can be recharged into the groundwater (Khanal et al., 2020). Numerous countries have supported the implementation of such practice to overcome the water demand harvesting can be carried out for multiple purposes, including to provide domestic water, water for livestock, and water to enable restoration. The most suitable water harvesting technology will depend on the purpose of harvesting as well as the biophysical properties of the location.In addition to water scarcity, arid environments face challenges sustaining or raising production levels without effective management interventions.Water harvesting in rangelands can help increase the production of forage shrubs and herbs, followed by a more general improvement in soil fertility and may be the most feasible option for raising productivity for these large areas. Distribution of water is an important consideration when managing the access and use of rangeland sites. Water harvesting that accounts for forage use within and between different growing seasons can support livestock that contribute to maintaining of water resources has been strongly associated with the degradation of rangelands because animals tend to overgraze around watering holes.of surface water. In arid areas, 70-80% of rainwater falling early in the the available nutrients in the form of organic matter. Thus, it is important to capture and preserve it through various manually constructed structures.In arid areas, most rain falls occur during a short period, and sometimes even then only sparsely. Thus, the water must be collected when available.As water scarcity increases with increasing population, conserving and harvesting water is critical in arid environments. Degraded soils are germinated seeds from emerging.  #B:4:)A4:)>B4::)C5<8BK;57A9) 7<H8<6:6>;)56)A99)SA>:4)BA4N:;>56F) ;K;>:H;@• Play a vital role in supporting the rural population in water-scarce areas.• Facilitate vegetation production in areas that would otherwise lie fallow due to lack of water. • Improve water availability for livestock. The water harvesting structure cistern is the best option for storing rainwater for livestock watering. • Improve soil fertility as runoff water contains silt, manure, and organic matter. • Reduce soil erosion and siltation downstream.• Enhance soil moisture and also prolong the wetting and softening of crusted soil surfaces, allowing seeds to germinate and emerge.• Increase seedling survival for the most drought-sensitive species.• Capture atmospheric carbon dioxide through increasing biomass production. • Reduce the use of groundwater, which is a valuable water source and needs energy for its exploitation. • Contribute to the recharge of groundwater tables.A variety of surface structures have been used, but earthen dykes, berms, bunds, and dams are popular because of their simplicity, effectiveness, and relatively low cost of installation and maintenance.!\"##$%&'()\"*(+%'\")(,*)\"#-$>)5;)5H8<4>A6>)><)D6E:4;>A6E)>B:) 7BA4A7>:45;>57;)<=):A7B);>4D7>D4:T);D7B) A;)5>;@The catchment area that receives rainfall and channels runoff downstream. Catchments can vary in size.moves the water from the roof surface to the storage. Field conditions such as slope, soil properties, land use and land cover need to be assessed before choosing and constructing a structure..<HH<69K)D;:E);>4D7>D4:;)A6E)>B:54)7BA4A7>:45;>57;)A4:)E:;745C:E)56) #AC9:)?UIdeal for gentle slopes and low hills with 300 mm mean annual rainfall. Based on a catchment area of 500 m 2 , supplying additional water to a series of downstream plots enclosed by small earth bunds (about 20 cm) and connected by spillways for discharging excess water. Meskat systems are often used for watering trees.Meskat micro catchment System (Ahmed, 2003).Diamond-shaped basins surrounded by small earth bunds with an infiltration pit in the lowest corner of each. Runoff is collected from within the basin and stored in the infiltration pit. Micro catchments are mainly used for growing trees or bushes.This technique is appropriate for small-scale tree planting in any area which has a moisture deficit.Besides harvesting water for the trees, it simultaneously conserves soil.Nigarim micro catchment System for trees (Critchley et al., 2013).Trapezoidal shaped earth bunds capturing runoff from external catchment and overflowing around wingtips. This technique is used to enclose larger areas (up to 1 ha) and to impound larger quantities of runoff which is harvested from an external or \"long slope\" catchment.Trapezoidal Bunds for crops (Critchley and Reij, 1989).Constructed with stones along the contours of slopes with a 2-5% gradient. Bund height should be 65 cm with a base width of 80-100 cm and a shallow trench on the upper side 15-30 cm deep to trap runoff and sediment.Photo: Critchely and Siegert, 1991.Made of soil or stone, diameter of 1-7 m and 50 cm high, tips are set on the contour line facing upslope. Slopes up to 20% in areas with rainfall as low as 100-150 mm per annum. Soils should be at least 1.5 m but preferably 2 m deep. Photo: Mounir Louhaichi Natural or (hand) dug open reservoir to store water collected from elsewhere (Lasage and Verburg, 2015). The permeability of the pond can be reduced by using lining (concrete or plastic).Sizes vary from 30 m 3 (individual household use)to 20,000 m 3 (community use).Photo: Mounir LouhaichiWater harvesting structureContour bunds are effective methods to conserve soil moisture in watershed for long duration. They slow down runoff and improve water infiltration in the soil. Contour bunds can be continuous or intermittent.A special tractor-pulled plow that automatically constructs water-harvesting catchments, ideally suited for large-scale reclamation work.There are two types of modified tractor plows: the 'train' and the 'dolphin'. Used in microbasins 4-5 m long, 0.4 m wide, and 0.4 m deep. Applicable on areas 100-600 mm and on slopes between 2-10%.Photo: Mounir LouhaichiThis practice is widespread in areas receiving an average annual rainfall greater than 250 mm in Tunisia. The hill reservoirs contain tens of thousands to 1 million m 3 of water collected from small catchment areas of a few hectares to a few km 2 . The hill reservoirs built have a definite impact on the rural population by providing them with readily available water for their use. These reservoirs have also contributed to improving the environment, recharging the water table and protecting downstream infrastructure against flooding and siltation.Photo: PAN-LCD, TunisiaA contour trench and pit are an excavated ditch/pit along a uniform level across the slope of land in the top portion of catchment to trap runoff water.Photo: Mounir LouhaichiCisterns: means of collecting rainwater for drinking water supply. This is a very old rainwater collection system in North Africa. It is designed with the objective of supplying the household with water for various domestic uses, including irrigation and watering of livestock in arid and semi-arid environments. The collection of rainwater by cisterns is done from an impluvium which must be clean, sanitary and impermeable. The rainwater storage tanks can be of various shapes and geometry, storing water collected from a surface plot, capacity 5 m 3 -100 m 3 (Lasage and Verburg, 2015).Photo: Mounir Louhaichi Consists of a dam, terrace, and catchment area.The dam is made of stones and can be up to 200 m in length in wide valleys. The height of the dam can vary between 0.5 and 5 m. Runoff water is collected up to a height of about 20 cm or more before it is discharged downstream via the spillway.Photos: Mounir Louhaichi Small ridges constructed downslope (1-25%), reinforced with vegetation or stones to stabilize and break long slopes into smaller, less steep slopes.Spread water by slowing the flow of floodwater and distributing it over land to be cultivated, thus allowing it to infiltrate. Ideal on even topography or 1% slopes receiving 100-350 mm annual rainfall.Water-spreading bunds FAO, 1991 The following factors should be considered during the planning phase:• Water harvesting is not recommended for areas where slopes are greater than 5% due to uneven distribution of runoff and large, uneconomic investments in terms of machinery. Depending on the slope of the catchment area and the reason for water harvesting, mechanical water harvesting techniques are effective in upper • fertility, while sandy soils should be avoided to reduce loss of water  Water harvesting is used in greening projects to conserve rainwater, a precious commodity in arid regions. An effective water supply to the soil-vegetation complex will increase the likelihood that rangeland restoration projects will succeed. Determining which water harvesting techniques have the best performance and choosing which ones to promote and scale up requires consideration of biophysical, technical, and socioeconomic factors.By increasing water retention and soil moisture, water harvesting techniques will affect important processes such as evaporation, transpiration, air humidity, air and soil temperature, soil microbial activity, soil organic matter build up, and decomposition. Raising awareness, promotion, and training will facilitate the adoption, adaptation, and spread of water harvesting practices among landowners. However, effective community participatory initiatives are still needed to promote the adoption of these techniques.  action of the hooves of grazing animals. In the past, this was facilitated by the behavior of grazing wildlife which, when chased by predators, would stampede and break up the soil surface. However, nowadays, with domestic livestock grazing calmly at a slow pace, the impact of the herd is negligible, especially when the soil surface is already capped or crusted. There are certain practices that can mimic predator-induced behavior such as the use of a mobile watering facility or additional feeding and/or mineral supplementation (for example, salt in a granular form).Crusted or capped soils are common in arid or semi-arid degraded rangelands, either occurring naturally or as a result of poor management.Without measures to improve soil conditions, rangeland rehabilitation efforts often result in unacceptably low seed germination and/or seedling performance. Success rates may be improved by human intervention, and chemical processes within the soil that enhance plant survival and growth.to enhance ecosystem processes. Soil respiration is improved, water can penetrate faster, the germination and emergence of seeds are is commonly used to ensure successful regeneration of vegetation either through natural rehabilitation or by direct seeding.  compacted the soil is, how hard the crusted layer is, and whether rocks rippers, or other devices capable of disturbing the upper 5-10 cm of the crusty soil. Cultivators consist of a frame, tines with reversible shovels, and heavy-duty springs. The teeth work on the soil surface to loosen the soil without inversion.(==:7>5N:)5H89:H:6>A>5<6 • The drag chain harrow is a simple, quick and effective way to break crust while keeping the soil healthy and can help reduce the risk of erosion, while also helping with moisture retention• Cautionary note-there could be limitations according to soil depth or the risk of wind erosion. Land managers should assess the overall conditions of the site (slope, soil texture, soil depth) to make sure tools used are appropriate. Direct seeding reduces the time and labor required, increasing resource a method recommended in the lowlands and landscape depressions (Marab) that receive additional amounts of rainwater from runoff because the extra soil moisture improves seedling emergence and establishment. Furthermore, under intensifying climate change and increasing soil degradation rates, direct seeding without disturbing the soil (no-tillage) is becoming more appealing. Such practice helps the soil retain moisture and maintain more organisms that break down organic matter into vital nutrients, increasing the potential for nutrient recycling, leading to healthy soil.$H84<N56F)>B:)5H8A7>)<=)E54:7>);::E56FThe limit on the success of direct seeding in drylands is due to drought, soil surface crusting and compaction, slow permeability, low available water capacity, and seed mortality due to heat and predation by birds or insects. Direct seeding is feasible on drylands if well-adapted species and recommended seeding methods are used. Outcomes can be improved through better site selection and ground preparation through drilling and pitting seeds to enhance germination and survival. Drills and pits can be created by hand or machine, and they contribute to protecting the seeds and improving moisture capture in arid areas.Furthermore, a rest period is needed to allow species to emerge and avoid plant being uprooted or compacted.Rangeland degradation resulting from unsustainable human activities and climate change is a serious threat to natural resources in arid and semi-arid areas. Changes in rangelands use, and management practices are urgently required to slow down and even reverse degradation.There are several solutions available to tackle rangeland degradation.One of the most rapid and cost-effective options is direct seeding, which than transplanting seedlings nurtured elsewhere.Due to the low cost of direct seeding, large-scale degraded rangeland whether to restore rangelands with native or exotic species, we must ,54:7>) ;::E56F) A6E) 5>;) H:45>;) A;) A) 4:;><4A>5<6)Direct seeding is currently receiving much attention as a method of rangeland improvement. Direct seeding is suitable for small or large areas where the terrain and cost of transplanting seedlings prevent natural regeneration or planting. It is an age-old practice that has regained favor due to the high costs associated with alternative methods of planting and transporting seedlings from nurseries for transplanting. Another direct seeding technique is depth and covering them with soil. In this method, sowing tools are used for placing the seeds into the soil. Several options are available, such as mechanical seed drillers and pitting machines. The latter is towed by an ordinary two-wheel-drive pickup making it popular and achievable with of inclined metal disks just before the rainy season. Seeds are placed in each pit either by hand or through a seed hopper mounted on top conditions for emergence and growth.is usually practiced. Dibbling entails making small holes in the ground for seeds using a pointed stick or a long piece of wood, then dropping seeds into the holes and covering them with soil, all by hand. Some pastoral communities in West Asia have developed the practice of using livestock to distribute seeds. Seeds are harvested by hand and placed in a pouch that is punctured with holes and strung around are widely distributed. This is an example of low cost local technology that partially replicates the role livestock play when they graze desired species and distribute seeds in their dung.For remote and inaccessible sites, is an option. It is often used to spread seeds to large land areas that need vegetative cover after severe degradation that has depleted the soil seed bank.(6BA6756F);::E956F):H:4F:67:)A6E) :;>AC95;BH:6>Seed pretreatment methods such as mechanical and chemical factors. Seed pretreatment also speeds up seedling emergence and enhances seed survival. Sowing at the right time and the proper depth is critical to the success of direct seeding..B<<;56F)>B:)C:;>);8:75:;)=<4)E54:7>);::E56F the biophysical and socio-economic condition of the target site and its community. In general, plants that grow naturally in the same habitat have the greatest chance of success. Exotic species such as fodder shrubs may also perform well under direct seeding once their ecological demands in the target site are met.Given the nature of rangeland landscapes, the most common method of direct seeding is -sprinkling the seeds by hand. It is the easiest and cheapest method, requiring less labor compared to seedling transplantation. In most cases, this intervention is usually against birds and other predators. \"ENA6>AF:;)<=)E54:7>);::E56F@• Rapid and cost-effective method for large-scale restoration of degraded rangeland• Seeds are easier and cheaper to transport and store than seedlings• Large areas can be covered with direct seeding because of its relatively low transport costs, while storage of seed is straightforward and cheaper than for seedlings• Requires less time and labor than transplanting• Plants develop deep, robust root systems that allow them to establish themselves quickly to withstand drought and wind, unlike transplanted seedlings• treatments, and rainy season• Able to access rough and distant terrains through aerial seeding• Promotes vegetative growth in less accessible areas, such as hillsides, rocky, and uneven terrain (Though more success can be achieved in lowlands)• Better root growth in preparation for harsh conditions such as drought or overgrazing• A higher level of seed germination in the years following the original sowing (depending on biophysical conditions).A new approach in direct seeding is planting pellets stuffed with combinations of fertilizer nutrients and pesticides to enhance the establishment of vegetation cover by aerial seeding in semi-arid regions.The seeds are coated with materials that will not disintegrate when in contact with moisture on the soil surface, and the pellets absorb enough moisture to cause germination through the coat.Another potential solution to land degradation is the use of biodegradable materials such as geotextiles that hold moisture, allowing seeds to germinate and establish roots even during low rainfall. This method can also control erosion and sediment.(==:7>5N:)4<<>):;>AC95;BH:6>)A6E);::E956F) HA56>:6A67:• Selection of suitable sites and appropriate pre-sowing treatments is vital for successful direct seeding• Always assess remnant vegetation, soil, risks, and opportunities along with the purpose of the revegetation• A mixture of seeds (including shrubs and herbaceous species) can be sown simultaneously to increase the chance of at least one species establishing even in case of prolonged drought • Sowing at the right time, generally at the beginning of the rainy season to ensure optimum soil moisture, increases success• Sowing at the right depth for species seed size is vital to root establishment• The sowing rate should be based on seed viability (not total seed) and adjusted density compared to the original and reference rangeland ecosystem. This ensures adequate seeding rates are met in case the seed germination rate was low• For successful root establishment, seed quality should be checked• Certain species require pretreatment to break seed dormancy (mechanical or chemical treatment)• If the seeds are too small, mixing them with sand makes a bulky mixture easier to handle• Respect plant association and try to balance species composition accordingly to avoid plant competition over limited resources• A high seeding rate increases overall seedling emergence and establishment• Avoid incorporating the seed too deeply, especially in heavy soils (clay) or where soil surface sealing is a problem as the plants are less likely to establish themselves. Direct seeding is a fast and cost-effective method to revive rangeland vegetation. It is also well suited for a large-scale degraded environment due to its reduced costs (no need for nursery and seedling transplantation). However, the micro-environment of the developing seedling is an important factor. Therefore, selecting groups of species with similar habitat requirements at the establishment phase will improve species establishment and increase restoration success. Timing of sowing and using methods to enhance seed germination should be considered, such as seed pretreatment techniques and seeding depth.for rehabilitation of degraded arid and semi-arid rangelands. Range Management and Agroforestry. 35(2): 182-187.  To ensure successful rangeland rehabilitation, the choice of species native species. Extra caution should be always taken against the risk of invasive alien species. In arid and semi-arid areas, common fodder shrubs include Atriplex halimus (Mediterranean saltbush), A. leucoclada (orache), A. nummularia (old man saltbush), Bassia prostrata (desert bush), Salsola vermiculata (Mediterranean saltwort), and Haloxylon aphyllum (saxaul). Ceratonia siliqua L. (carob tree), a long-living evergreen tree native to the Mediterranean, is commonly used to provide shade for livestock during hot summers. Certain shrubs/trees contain anti-nutritional factors (secondary chemical compounds or toxins) which reduce the overall digestibility and palatability of their forage quality.Care must be taken to select highly adaptable species suited to the low rainfall and salt conditions of arid environments.The degradation of rangelands is induced by overgrazing, over-gathering Over-exploitation results in negative effects leading to soil erosion and the reduction of forage biomass for livestock. To alleviate the spread of rangeland degradation, planting shrubs provides a large amount of natural resource conservation.$H8<4>A67:)<=);B4DC;V>4::;Shrubs/trees reduce solar radiation and soil temperature, conserve moisture, and enrich the soil nutrient content. In providing ecosystem goods (especially forage for livestock and carbon sequestration), shrubs in arid zones boost poverty alleviation strategies and contribute to reducing food insecurity. The integration of shrubs through alley cropping utilizing a piece of land, thus improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers./8:75:;)A6E);5>:);:9:7>5<6Select shrubs/trees well-adapted to conditions of individual planting sites. The choice of species will depend on the annual rainfall amount, soil, topography, runoff, water harvesting potential of the site, and the likelihood of environmental stresses such as drought, salinity, and cold. Species selection is also guided by rangeland development objectives, control. .<HC5656F);B4DC)89A6>56F)S5>B)SA>:4) BA4N:;>56F)>:7B65WD:;When seedlings are planted on steep slopes, water harvesting such as semicircle structures or intermittent contours, shrub planting improves erosion control, forage quality and availability, and plant and animal micro-habitat conditions..BA99:6F:;)ED456F);B4DCV>4::)89A6>56FThe high cost related with the establishment and the maintenance of shrubs/trees presents the main challenge for smallholder farmers with low incomes. Another common issue faced by most shrub/tree planting programs is the availability of suitable species for the target ecosystem at the appropriate time. In most cases, supplementary irrigation is needed right after planting to secure strong roots and soil contact.Alternative feed resources to supplement livestock are most often in high demand in dry areas. This increases the risk of predation on transplanted shrubs as animals prefer the young succulent seedlings to the older and more mature plants.(;>AC95;BH:6>)A6E)HA6AF:H:6>Shrub/tree establishment and growth often suffer heavy plant losses due to intense lack of soil moisture.Several techniques are used to aid seed germination, such as seed overall productivity once established, rotational browsing/grazing of the rangeland will aid in reducing soil erosion, depletion of soil nutrients, prevalence of weeds/invasive species, and more uniform soil fertility levels. Before establishment, shrubs/trees should not be browsed as this reduces their growth and survival potential. such as soil erosion and also in creating microhabitats for vertebrate and invertebrate fauna. The establishment and management of shrubs/ trees requires that they receive a long enough period for them to recover lost biomass after a browsing and pruning event. Grazing pressures can have both positive and negative impacts on plant species. Grazing management requires these impacts to be balanced in order to optimize productivity over time. Grazing management is the process of grazing and browsing animals to accomplish a desired levels of livestock production coupled with maintaining quality wildlife habitat and ample recreational space. When managing grazing, both the plants and animals need to be considered.If the rangeland is grazed too intensively, particularly for sustained periods, both plant and animal production will be reduced. However, if the grazing pressure is too light forage use will be low, forage quality may decrease and animal production per unit area will be low.-4567589:;)<=)F4AY56F)HA6AF:H:6>The fundamental principle of grazing management is to control the frequency and severity of defoliation of individual plants. The principle point of time. Grazing management is a tool to optimize the capture and use of energy in grazing systems that enables maximum quality forage production, optimum harvest and the conversion by animals of that energy into a marketable product by animals. Timing of grazing and maintaining plant vigor, especially after-grazing events, are key factors to consider in controlling frequency, intensity and duration of grazing.production. Root respiration and nutrient acquisition are reduced.Root elongation ceases.The soluble carbohydrates within the roots rapidly decline.1 2 3 4 66 67PB:6)><)F4AY:ZGrazing optimization is often determined by the management objective of the production system. A land manager could be interested in maximizing sustainable yield from grazing and producing a valuable product for the market, promoting better ecosystem functioning by enhancing vegetation heterogeneity, or a range of objectives in between.Determining when to graze relies on knowledge of plant species physiology abundance and quality as forage, site characteristics including soil fertility, animal types and classes and their forage requirement and economic and management factors. Many range forage plants are highly nutritious and palatable during the early growing period then they steadily decline in quality and quantity over time. Understanding the forage growth cycle of the key forage species is essential to determine the optimal timing and duration of grazing.the productivity of the more nutritious and palatable plant species more nutritious and palatable plant species. Intensive grazing during the early growing season using livestock that are less selective to grazing has the potential to achieve this objective since plant growth relatively rapid and the forage resources are homogenously green. This also works well because the less desirous plants do not disperse their seeds and propagate.Higher biodiversity in supports a wider a wider variety of plant and animal species because they contain a structural complexity that provides heterogeneity in landscapes increases biodiversity, enhances ecosystem goods and services and provides long-term sustainability of ecosystems. This is particularly effective for the conservation of the functionality of large-scale ecological rangeland processes as in pastoral systems. In such a scenario, the grazing management would entail using different types and classes of livestock to graze on different environmental patches of the landscape to maintain heterogeneity.[:K)7<H8<6:6>;)<=)F4AY56F)HA6AF:H:6>The main components of grazing management include supply of forage, forage demand, degree of grazing use, and timing. The supply of forage depends on abundance, vigor, condition of the desirable plant species, and climate conditions. Forage demand is a function of the number of animals, forage intake by animal, which is correlated with metabolic body weight and number of grazing days, number of grazing days. Degree of use and timing of grazing are controlled by the grazing system (graze and rest periods), including the periodicity including periodicity and seasonality. Manipulation of these components is easier grazing or transhumance systems, although seasonal herd movements in transhumance systems can provide similar grazing management water. Grazing utility of land goes hand-in-hand with water provision and distribution within grazing blocks landscapes, but water is a leading factor in the degradation of pastures if it allows animals to remain too long in any one area. Water is often a challenge to consider especially areas where access to surface water including stream, rivers or lakes is not readily available.(==:7>5N:)F4AY56F)HA6AF:H:6>Timing is the most critical factor for effective grazing management.as well as mitigate any risks associated with grazing during rest periods, which will put pressure on rangeland plants. Effective grazing managementshould consider the timing rather than the overall grazing pressure. If pastures are being actively managed, and grazing pressure is avoided during rest periods, then high grazing pressure can be supported for short periods during the appropriate phase in the growth cycle of the pasture. The following principles should be taken into consideration in grazing management planning:systematically grazed and rested according to seasonal demands and the characteristics of both the vegetation and the environment. On private lands this is commonly practiced through rotational grazing and dividing the land into paddocks. On communal lands, it requires a high degree of agreement and coordination to implement effectively.Grazing management on communal lands can be controlled controlled by limiting access to water.Most grasslands have coevolved with grazing animals (ungulates) and balance. Grazing management depends on careful timing, both in terms of how long and how often grazing occurs. Plants are overgrazed as a periods between defoliations.Effective management means allowing time for full plant recovery before re-grazing when grass growth and nutritional value are at their maximum. Plant growth follows a sigmoid curve, growing at a slower rate when young, then accelerating, before slowing again towards maturity.Nutrient value starts to decline with seeding, so the optimal grazing time -in terms of both biomass and nutritional value -is soon after maturity. Usually re-grazing should not be allowed until grass species have matured and reproduced.Most grasslands consist of a community of valuable plants that mature at different rates, and and some may include both herbaceous and woody species. Timing, therefore, depends on a detailed local knowledge of both plant growth cycles and the desired combination of plant species for livestock production. The balance of plant species is determined by the livestock species (and the combination of species) as well as the livestock production objectives. Effective grazing management is is effectively applied through the local the local knowledge of herders.Grazing management plans are designed around periods of grazing and recovery of pasture areas. Plans are informed by the resting periods required for different plants, including the most desirable grasses and legumes. Decisions about moving animals from one pasture area to the next are based on the amount of forage available, size of the area, and the estimated seasonal growth rates. A key objective is to avoid repeated, severe defoliation of plants and allow for planned recovery periods.Grazing management faces the challenge of seasonal forage availability, with seasons of abundance and seasons of scarcity. Many pastoralist societies move their herds over great distances between seasons to exploit pasture zones with different grazing characteristics. Managing grazing patterns withinthese different areas can be challenging, particularly when each grazing area has a different group of users.Grazing management plans therefore need to be adapted to the social arrangements around pasture use, and management planning is usually dependent on identifying zones where the users have the right and the ability to enforce grazing rules.Continuous grazing, the most common grazing system in the world, often results in overgrazing and an increase of less-desirable or invasive invasive plant species. When livestock graze without restriction, they without allowing time for their roots to recover and leaves to regrow, they will die. Plants not eaten by livestock -the less desirable species -will mature, reproduce and thrive. $H8<4>A67:)<=)4A6F:9A6E)56N:6><4K56FT) H<65><456F)A6E)A;;:;;H:6> is to collect, gather, analysis, and interpretate natural resources data to characterize the ecological site and provide potential information for planning or other purposes following certain procedures. Site inventory data describes site biophysical, hydrological, and ecological features in addition to vegetation and animal resources, habitat assessments for wildlife and other variables that are relevant to the required planning goals. This data allows for comparison with other study sites.is the gathering of the ecological information that describes changes in rangeland attributes status using systematic and repeatable methods, usually to evaluate the response to certain intervention at the rangelands site.Data and results developed from repeated rangeland inventories can be used to produce the basis to compare responses and to support the site monitoring in order to assess the state of rangeland health according to that provide rapid, accurate, cost-effective, and robust measures of rangeland health and ecological trend.provides range lands manger and stakeholders with a communication tool regarding the status of ecosystem properties and processes on a site and how well they are functioning helping to develop clear adaptive restoration management.describes the current state of the vegetation compared with that of the climax or original vegetation for the range site. Range condition is used to measure deterioration or improvement in the plant community.condition.Before taking measurements, detailed properties of a site and vegetation toolkit has a separate section describing in greater details the information needed for developing the action plan based on site potentiality. In short, an ecological site description would include the following:• Coordinates of the target site, area, plot locations and transect starting points (where required) using GPS should be recorded.• distinguished by the dominant species• Soil type (sandy, silty, loamy, clay loam, limestone and sand dunes), in general rangeland soils are extremely diverse and different soil types may occur within the study site• Geomorphology: refers to the nature of the terrain (plains, hills, mountains, wadis, etc.)• Slope: usually expressed in percent or degrees• Climate: is the average weather conditions for the region (humid, semi-arid, arid, desert, etc.)• Meteorological data (rainfall, temperature, wind…) including their historical average and current average• Tenure systems (private, communal, public, protected, etc.)• Current state: natural reserve (park), rested (age of resting, implemented strategies, who supported the project), rotational grazing, continuously grazed, etc.)Figure 1. Measuring vegetation characteristics is essential in rangeland monitoring 76• Grazing patterns: stable grazing systems, seasonal, transhumant grazing, etc.)• Number of the main types of livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels or a mixed herd)• Distribution of water points./>AG:B<9E:4):6FAF:H:6>@)A)G:K)56F4:E5:6>Note: For a full description of this sub-section including stakeholder and grassland ecosystem health.Stakeholder engagement is particularly recommended at the following stages in rangeland assessment:Participatory indicator selection is usually combined with selection of pre-determined indicators, particularly when rangeland assessment needs to be carried out for comparison between different landscape managements (e.g., as part of a national methodology and monitoring they can also show differences in perceptions and understanding, and analysing how indicators diverge can be informative (Figure 2).• Changes to total vegetation cover (species density, bare ground, stony surface and rocky outcrops)• Change in the balance of herbaceous and woody vegetation• Change in total vegetation diversity • Presence of palatable species and other economically important species• Presence of invasive plants and undesirable species• Change in diversity of wild animals, birds, insects and other native species• Changes in topsoil properties (loosening, crusting, erosion)• Loss of soil nutrients, including soil organic carbon• Changes in seed stocks in the soil.2:>B<E;)<=)4A6F:9A6E)H<65><456F)\\)A;;:;;H:6>)There are numerous methods for monitoring and assessing rangelands.and on assessing rangeland conditions by determining vegetation cover, density, biomass, forage production, and plant diversity in each plant community to evaluate its status.provide detailed information for assessing the health of rangelands.Cost, however, often limits monitoring locations to a few key areas or random plots that observe a small fraction of the land they are intended to represent. There are many indicators that use plot-based methods for including:is the relative area covered by single plants, a group of individuals of a single species, or all species of plant community. It is expressed as a percentage of the total area of the plant community. Vegetation cover is estimated by the point intercept method. A metal pin or stake is inserted vertically next to the measuring tape at 50 cm intervals (100 points). The intersection at each point is recorded (vegetation, litter, stone, crust, recording measurements from at least three transects laid out in either the spoke or parallel design. The layout of transects may vary depending on landscape-scale. Parallel transects must be evenly spaced.  8). However, the geographic extent of drone imagery products is often limited to a few 1 cm) due to image collection and processing constraints.Digital cameras monitoring vegetation cover has an important role by conventional vegetation monitoring. In fact, digital vegetation charting technique (DVCT) is one of the most reliable technique for the monitoring of vegetation under different physiographic conditions (Louhaichi et al., 2018). It is less subjective and easy to use while providing high frequency and resolution data. The analysis of the color of images taken by high-resolution allow the detection of vegetation cover using software such as VegMeasure ® to create meaningful classes through quantifying the red, green, and blue (RGB) color channels of each pixel (Louhaichi et al., 2019) (Figure 9). However, the low height pictures taken by the human makes this technique suitable to monitor the vegetation cover of annuals and small size shrubs but not the tall ones or trees. proportion of milk product, and providing valuable animal protein in many countries that suffer from malnutrition and food insecurity.Thirty percent of rangelands and grasslands are estimated to be degraded worldwide, although the estimates range widely, depending that more than two thirds of their rangelands are degraded. Rangeland and grassland degradation create social, environmental and economic threats. They contribute to food and water insecurity, poverty, and grassland health assessment is therefore crucial for identifying land degradation and monitoring efforts to restore those lands and to address the associated social, environmental and economic risks.Global assessments of rangeland degradation invariably use remote sensing data that gives an indication of biomass productivity, but provides little insight into the desirability of that biomass. The risk of misdiagnosis of rangeland degradation becomes more serious when these methodologies are used for assessment at the national and sub-national level. There are numerous examples of misdiagnosis of rangeland degradation or health that have led to harmful investments or missed opportunities. Historically, this is perhaps most notoriously and barren lands of no value that are waiting to be put to good use. .BA99:6F:;)><)4A6F:9A6E)B:A9>B)A;;:;;H:6>)Grasslands and savannahs are the most widespread biomes within rangelands. The composition, structure, productivity, and diversity of these ecosystems are governed by a combination of climate, geography, topography, geology, and soil. Many rangelands and grasslands ecological communities.The unique factors that create rangelands and grasslands also create challenges to objectively assessing their health. Foremost among these challenges is the non-equilibrium nature of drylands, which transition between stable states in response to different forces acting on multi annual and decadal time scales. For example, a savannah may rest in a grass-dominated state for many decades, then transition to a tree-dominated state, perhaps due to a drought-induced reduction in natural herbivory, only to transition back to grass-dominated decades it is challenging to agree on a baseline against which degradation or restoration processes can be evaluated.A second challenge to rangeland and grassland health assessment of all rangelands globally are used for livestock production, most of it low-pressure and extensive. The healthy state of these lands can therefore be a subjective judgement based on the desired objectives of the managers. For example, an African grassland may be particularly desirable to a cattle herder but less desirable to a camel herder. The same land could transition to shrub-dominated, meeting the production objectives of the camel herders but viewed as degraded by the cattle herder. Wildlife managers face a similar challenge since most rangelands are highly heterogeneous, providing many different habitats that support different assemblages of species, some of which depend on grasslands and others on shrublands or woodlands.Rangelands have been described as \"land on which the indigenous vegetation (climax or sub-climax) is predominantly grasses, grasslike plants, forbs or shrubs that are grazed or have the potential to be grazed, and which is used as a natural ecosystem for the production of grazing livestock and wildlife\" (Allen et al., 2011). Faber-Langendoen et al. (2012) place grasslands and rangelands into two natural formation classes: i) Shrubland and Grassland and ii) Desert & Semi-Desert.However, other actors view rangelands as a socio-economic system, according to ecological criteria. In this view, rangelands can include a combination of pasture lands, woodlands, wetlands, oases, riparian zones, and other resource areas and habitat types. The diversity of resources that are implied in a typical rangeland system, as well as monitoring rangeland health.(9:H:6>;)<=):==:7>5N:)4A6F:9A6E)B:A9>B) A;;:;;H:6>The following elements have proven to be required for effective assessment of rangeland health. These elements do not necessarily take place in the order listed. the responsibility of a public institution and the scale may be determined by institutional boundaries, while the indicators may be determined by the relative infrequency of monitoring. Restoration action is sometimes their management system -often extending beyond administrative boundaries -while they may use a wide range of indicators to track short term changes in rangeland condition. While restoration action may require support to build the capacities of pastoral communities to assess rangeland health, restoration planning may require different actions to institutionalise assessment and monitoring, and to ensure indicator sets and methodologies are affordable, scalable and replicable.A common problem with rangeland health assessment has been encountered at the preliminary stage of agreeing the goal of the assessment. Different actors require different information to support decision making and there is a tendency to address multiple assessment goals simultaneously, leading to collection of more information than may be required or manageable. This can overwhelm the assessors with information that is beyond their capacity to analyse and interpret.Heavy methodologies that incorporate large numbers of indicators may sometimes be useful for projects that are designed to deliver many results, but they are at risk of remaining within a project and not being institutionalised for long term use. In the PRAGA methodology (referenced at the end of this document) IUCN recommends focusing on the minimum number of indicators to strike a balance between costeffectiveness (and capacity-effectiveness) and adequacy: indicators that are robust but feasible.$E:6>5=K)>B:)9A6E;7A8:)=<4)A;;:;;H:6>)A6E)>B:) 4:9:NA6>);>AG:B<9E:4;)56)>BA>)9A6E;7A8:In many cases, the landscape for assessment has been determined before the assessment has been conceived. Nevertheless, it is important Some groups may have a vested interested in disenfranchising other stakeholders and the stakeholder analysis should be through and independent. Although pastoralists are often marginalised within their country, other ethnic groups may be marginalised within a pastoral territory. Stakeholder analysis should examine gender roles and responsibilities in different rangeland communities and should ensure that the rangeland assessment is gender responsive.Stakeholder analysis should examine public institutions and private business interests within the landscape. Rangelands frequently fall between multiple public sectors and decision making has implications for ministries of livestock, forests, wildlife, water and others. Meanwhile the assessment should be informed of the expectations of different business interests, including private landowners, mining concessions, conservation organisations and others.+A>B:4)4:9:NA6>)CA7GF4<D6E)56=<4HA>5<6Background information, from secondary data sources and local informants, can be compiled to characterise the target landscape and to gather available environmental and socio-economic data. Background information is useful for identifying potential challenges of access to the access -such as the lack of roads or seasonal accessibility -can be addressed through careful planning, while barriers created by insecurity need to be taken seriously. Rangeland assessments can be undermined by access constraints, since access will determine how areas in a landscape are used and therefore what condition they are in. Depending on the purpose of assessment, and the rangeland management system, economic data may also be gathered, including data on income and assets, and livestock production and health data. However, relating this to rangeland health assessments in most communal settings has proven to be challenging and not particularly informative.-A4>5758A><4K)56E57A><4)E:N:9<8H:6>There are a number of stages of rangeland assessment where participation with stakeholder is required, although participation may not be required at all stages and may impose an unnecessary burden on rangeland users. Participation is particularly recommended at the following stages in rangeland health assessment:1. Identifying and mapping the target landscape and determining management objectives and uses of different landscape patches according to the agreed management objectives 3. Interpretation and validation of the assessment results.some key community representatives, both to provide local knowledge and to ensure security, participation of a meaningful number of community members in data collection is usually not feasible and can be an unwanted burden. Participatory approaches to indicator selection are not discussed in detail here, but can be reviewed in the PRAGA manual.Participatory indicator selection is usually combined with selection of predetermined indicators, particularly when rangeland assessment needs to be carried out for comparison between landscapes (e.g. as part of a national methodology and monitoring system). While local indicators in perceptions and understanding, and analysing how indicators diverge can be informative. A thorough understanding of local ownership and rights, including seasonal rights, should inform site selection. Bias at this stage of selection can be construed as recognising the rights of one claimant cases, Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) may need to be sought before engaging in participatory assessment.• Coordinates of the target site (using GPS), plot locations, transect• Vegetation communities distinguished by the dominant species • Soil type (rangeland soils can be extremely diverse)• Geomorphology (plains, hills, mountains, rivers, water pans, wadis etc.)Slope and tendency (e.g. north or south facing)• Climate data and climate change projections• Tenure systems (private, communal, public, protected, etc.) and current primary and secondary uses of different resource areas• Grazing patterns (e.g. stable grazing systems, seasonal, transhumant grazing, etc.)• Number of the main types of livestock (sheep, goats, camels or a mixed herd)• Distribution of water points Socio-economic data may be required to help interpret the rangeland health assessment and to interpret drivers, pressures, state, impact and responses to land degradation. In some cases, rangeland health assessment will be aligned with other national assessment and reporting mechanisms. For example, some countries have applied the 5 UNCCD Impact Indicators as the minimum-standard for cross-comparability between sites. These indicators have the added value of strengthening reporting on UNCCD commitments while being an established indicator set, and therefore a low cost option for ongoing impact monitoring. ,A>A)7<99:7>5<6)A6E)84:95H56A4K)A6A9K;5;Data collection often begins during a participatory workshop, where rangeland stakeholders are asked to map their landscape in its current state, and map their vision of the landscape after a period of improvement. Rangeland maps should be developed at the appropriate element above. These maps can be drawn overlaid on a printed digital map, allowing features, plots, transects etc. to be digitised for future analysis.Remote sensing data is often introduced after this mapping exercise, to cross-examine trends observed using satellite data and trends observed through local knowledge and experience. Remotely sensed maps are some stakeholders. Site sampling is often best performed during these mapping workshops, For example, local communities may differentiate different aridity zones, different seasonal grazing areas, or altitude zones. Sampling sites can be pre-selected in each of these zones to ensure adequate coverage.The data collection team is often assembled to include representatives from key stakeholder groups and institutions, including community members. The numbers are typically limited by access to vehicles and other practical considerations. It is usually desirable to include a balance Data is usually collected on data sheets, and increasingly makes use of mobile phone apps that allow geolocation and photographs in each sample site. This accelerates the data management and analysis as well as the consistency of responses between different groups that may be sampling different sites and locations.$6>:484:>A>5<6)A6E)NA95EA>5<6)<=)4:;D9>;)Most IUCN rangeland assessment use the DPSIR framework for analysis: drivers, pressures, state, impact and response. Underlying drivers of rangeland degradation -such as population growth and economic development -need to be understood to guide long term rangeland development planning. More attention is needed to reach agreement on the pressures that driver rangeland degradation, such as inappropriate crop and livestock production, of poor location of water resources, which can be contentious. The assessment can be used to develop consensus as far as possible, or to identify areas of disagreement that can be addressed through follow-on activities.Results of rangeland assessment should also be interpreted through the prism of climate change, projecting likely trends and responses to climate change scenarios. This includes projected changes in water availability and severity of weather events. Climate analysis can also draw on secondary background information collected earlier in the assessment, including data and key informant perceptions of observable climate changes Validation of the results of rangeland assessment is the third of the recommended stages where a participatory approach is recommended.implications for rangeland management, and recommended responses.Ideally this validation exercise is a step between assessment and action, enabling stakeholders to take ownership of the response measures.The validation exercise is also a critical opportunity to examine practical solutions for addressing rangeland degradation and develop support for collective action where necessary, for example through the development of community rangeland management plans. Before deciding on the type of SRM practice(s) a thorough diagnostic is conducted for each selected site:• Site name, county, state, country .95HA>57)A6E)H:>:<4<9<F57A9)4:7<4E; • Relevant projects and NGOs located in the area The most important aspect of rangeland management is to use the appropriate methods of restoration consistent with the status of a particular area and the goals and priorities of the restoration project. Wellresponses of fundamental ecosystem processes and allow managers to select the most appropriate combination of practices and to adapt themFor sustainable rangeland restoration, several steps should be considered including a clear description of the target site (Figure 1). Site characterization is an important technical element of adaptive rangeland management practice. The other technical elements are i) assessment, ii) monitoring and iii) making proper and timely decisions.Site characterization includes compiling data to develop an understanding of the properties and characteristics of the location and the projects that could be implemented. The design of each target site is based on a characterization that includes:Lessons learned from collected information and recommended best practices for a planned project should be reviewed to avoid known pitfalls.For example, what should be included in a detailed characterization of a degraded rangeland site? How successful have past initiatives been?with an assessment of the consequences of various actions. Once the site characterization is completed, objectives, goals, and performance measures can be developed and agreed upon among all concerned stakeholders.This case study illustrates a site characterization and the effective use of practices aligned with Tunisian arid rangelands (Figures 2 and 3). Baseline data collection should cover some or all the topic listed below as appropriate.Some or even much of the required data may already be available in government ministries and departments, UN agencies operating in the region, local NGOs, and graduate student dissertations. A great deal of time and money can be spent duplicating the work of others, time and money better spent on implementation and action on the ground.Available **Maps: administrative boundaries, soil, terrain, land use, vegetation, watersheds, agro-ecological zones, roads etc. Human population (socioeconomic data)  #B4:;B<9E;)=<4)7<6>4<9Arid rangelands in Tunisia are known for their variety, with ecosystems such as steppes, mountains, hills, wadis and various types of soil. In their current state, arid rangelands may not meet pastoralist needs for managing livestock production, wildlife, or ecosystem health and the effects of grazing pressure vary depending on different systems (Figure an important role in arid rangeland rehabilitation in sandy soils and depressions. Native plants can be reintroduced through direct seeding, transplanting seedlings, or both (Figure 10). This management technique is recommended during the rainy season to guarantee seed emergence and plant growth.When the ground is sloped, crusted and stony, all the variables that cause stormwater runoff can be mitigated with proven practices for conserving water and improving landscape management. Some of these practices double as effective landscape features. For example, microcatchment water harvesting and dams are the common forms of water harvesting and erosion control for sloping land and give a pleasing order and symmetry to the landscape (Figure 11). On milder slopes, semicircular bunds and Vallerani water harvesting These also form visually pleasing lines in the landscape and double as suitable beds for plants.A micro-catchment water harvesting system is simply a ditch constructed berm prevents it from continuing downhill. The water will then percolate into the ground, and any sediment that it may contain will be deposited in the base of the berm. Sometimes, seeding or transplanting forage shrubs in micro-catchment berms is recommended as a method of improving degraded rangelands. Historically, the Artemisia rangelands in Karnabchul were the primary grazing lands providing reliable feed resources for the sheep, goats, and cattle of the local population for centuries. The most critical factor affecting Artemisia rangelands is the high and mismanaged sheep number of small ruminants has increased during the past 20-25 years. Due to the extensive development of livestock husbandry and human pressure, these valuable ecosystems are facing an increasing and detrimental anthropogenic stress. As a consequence, more 50% of through overgrazing and fuel wood harvesting. The vegetatoin is being replaced with weedy, poisonous plants such as Peganum harmala and unpalatable Iris songarica.Ecological monitoring and assessment of the current condition and historic degradation trends of Artemisia ecosystems is a major concern in Karnabchul to prevent further degradation and to undertake conservation and restoration measures. Thus, a site characterization of Karnabchul rangeland is the key to understanding the causes of degradation and developing appropriate conservation and restoration measures.    In rangeland areas, the decline of underground water and increase in salinity is common *Incidence of water borne diseases and pollutants Sources: Health sector and water authorities.Not available     7).At present, rangeland degradation covers large spatial and temporal scales. According to estimates, 50-70% of rangeland areas are affected by different levels of degradation. However, the exact spatial and temporal extent and the trend of this degradation is largely unknown due to the absence of a comprehensive framework for the assessment of rangeland conditions.#B:)&::E)=<4)-A4>5758A><4K)!A6F:9A6E) 2A6AF:H:6>The most severe rangeland degradation in Uzbekistan occurs around settlements and villages and is largely due to mismanagement. This happens because of the weakness or absence of participatory governance systems (planning and management) in rangeland areas.A production-oriented management philosophy has dominated rangeland management across Uzbekistan for the last century  Going forward, rangeland research should focus on applying rangeland health indicators, conceptual ecological models and threshold theories, which have been developed and widely applied in other rangelanddominated countries. Current methods are easy to adapt can be used to organize existing knowledge into a conceptual framework (Briske et al., 2005). They are an effective tool for improving our understanding of the current state and dynamics of rangeland ecosystems.Applying these methods also allows for developing realistic strategies for better management of resources and can be effectively applied and scaled out in Uzbekistan.!A6F:9A6E)7<6E5>5<6)A;;:;;H:6>  Based on these indicators and their quantitative changes along the of degradation. In addition, reversible and irreversible transitions of vegetation states were established. Most important, this framework allowed planners to differentiate healthy and degraded rangelands measures needed for an adaptive grazing plan. Assessing the available rotational schemes are integral steps in the developing of adaptive rangeland management and its successful implementation.(7<9<F57A9)4:;><4A>5<6 native functions and services of rangeland ecosystems. Based on the level of alteration in species composition and their richness, the duration of grazing exclusion will be different.Using the indicative properties of vegetation and quantitative criteria for condition assessment, various levels of rangeland degradation can be differentiated and a series of treatments implemented to promote desirable native species. Vegetation treatments can include mechanical control of noxious species and direct seeding of perennial semi-shrubs such as Artemisia spp. without tillage. In severely degraded rangelands with strong turf layers of Poa bulbosa and Carex pachystylis, limited tillage is recommended to break up the compacted turf layer for Artemisia to promote the growth of vegetation after direct seeding. When seeding, Native species must be used when seeding. Alien species are not recommended.Treatments can be repeated based on the rate of restoration. The restoration area must be protected as until it has returned to its native condition. As soon as evaluations suggest the restored area is healthy, adaptive grazing plans can be developed and implemented Figure 9).The Jordan Badia constitutes 80% of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Al-Tabini et al., 2012). The steppe rangelands of the Jordanian Badia are continuously being degraded, many indigenous plant species have disappeared, and their productivity has been halved over the last two decades. Productivity has fallen to a disturbingly low level-less than rangelands.With the rapid deterioration of rangelands and increasing climate change impacts, pressure grew on the government to resolve these problems.At the beginning of 2000, the government responded to this crisis with urgency. Their strategy comprised important measures such as rangeland management and restoration, for example, shrubs planting, strategy has been well received as it offers technical solutions. However, it remains challenging for pastoral communities to own the process. This change in behavior needs time to be fully embraced.Based on recent as well as historical data, it is clear that the rangeland condition of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is declining. Rangelands must be healthy, productive and diverse to meet the needs of rural communities and society today as well as those of future generations.will better support the social and economic needs of the population.Climate condition, soil type, land use type, livestock, population density, distribution, and change, along with the demographics of the project area, are useful attributes for rangeland rehabilitation projects. These attributes also provide an understanding of how rangeland rehabilitation could affect the livelihoods of people living in the project area. They are called the Ecological Site Characteristics, include:Site characterization reports also include information about what the site is best suited for, such as 1) wildlife and livestock uses, 2) hydrologic functions, 3) other products the site may produce. Using this information, land managers can evaluate the suitability of their land for various purposes, set realistic goals and better predict the outcomes of management practices.  Baseline data collection should cover some or all topics listed below as appropriate.Some or even much of the required data may needed may already be available in government ministries and departments, UN agencies dissertations. A great deal of time and money can be spent duplicating the work of others, time and money better spent on implementation and action on the ground.  !A6F:9A6E)4:;><4A>5<6The primary goal of restoration projects in the Badia rangelands is livestock production. However, the multiple-use of rangelands also includes soil and water conservation, especially in watersheds. For a plan. For example, in many areas of water shortage, water harvesting is necessary for strengthening efforts to ensure the success of any restoration program. Potential solutions to restore and rehabilitate degraded rangelands in Badia vary across locations, soil surface, degree of slope, and the degree of rangeland degradation.PB:6)4A6F:9A6E)84<ED7>5N5>K)E<:;)6<>):J7::E) >B:)E:F4AEA>5<6)>B4:;B<9E This degradation leads to slight degeneration of vegetation and soil surface erosion. These changes represent a light disturbance that allows vegetation to recover when intervening to rehabilitate. When the vegetation cover is higher than 20%, natural restoration of vegetation they can undergo natural recovery without human intervention. Grazing exclusion can be used to implement seasonally deferred grazing practices. During favorable climatic periods protection from grazing on rangeland health (Louhaichi et al., 2021). Instead of abandoning rangelands due to their advanced degradation status, there are certain actions which could reverse trend or at least slow it including:Exclude grazing and leave rangelands as they are.Soil surface scarification and direct seeding can play an important role in the rehabilitation of relatively flat rangeland.Prohibit all human activities that can hamper vegetation development so that the local species could colonize the rangeland.Native plants can be reintroduced through direct seeding, transplanting seedlings, or both.1 2 3 4.<6;5E:4A>5<6;The degradation hazard of some species may be insensitive to a decrease reduce litter accumulation on soil surfaces, disruption of nutrient cycles, formation of soil crusts, disruption of nutrient cycles that retard or impede germination on microsites, and altered species composition (Archer, 1989). Given these circumstances, the availability of microsites should be developed to serve as useful factors of changes in the vegetation cover.disturbance of the soil surface to permit deeper water penetration and provide microsites for seedling establishment.of the soil surface to enhance seeding success is frequently advocated as a mechanism to create a favorable microsite and retain soil moisture for germination and seedlings survival./>::8^;9<8:E)4A6F:9A6E;Increased grazing pressure, often on steep slopes, results in rangeland degradation until abandoned once they became denuded which exacerbates the grazing pressure on other existing rangelands. To ensure that the productive potential of rangeland and sustainability of livestock production is maintained in the long term, implementing adaptive rangeland management should be required.In arid environments, rainfall is one of the most limiting factors associated with the failure and the success of rangeland management projects. Rainwater harvesting practices are usually combined with shrub plantation and direct seeding and protection from grazing for successful rangeland rehabilitation. Therefore, rainwater harvesting techniques are considered a part of the solution to improving arid rangeland productivity. Rainwater harvesting systems can be constructed in several ways that are easy, versatile, and adaptable to a wide range of conditions. They can be used anywhere in rural areas, and local people can be easily trained to install them. This lowers costs and promotes community engagement, ownership, and sustainability. the needs of the vegetation recovering by planting and seeding. The amount of water collected from such watersheds depends on the size of the area, the constructed catchment, the intensity of the precipitation, and soil permeability.For small areas, using semi-circular bunds and V-shaped micro catchments are an appropriate practice for rehabilitation of degraded rangeland.The sizes of semi-circular bunds vary from small structures (2 m) to very large structures (30 m). Bunds are constructed by digging out soil from within the area to be enclosed and supporting it up to form the bund. They are easy to construct and reduce soil erosion and catch water to insure good storage for the shrubs. The bunds should be established along a contour line in a matched arrangement so that water, will be caught and collected by those two main tips. Semi-circular bunds are suitable on gentle slopes areas. One or two shallow holes are dug in the lowest part to help concentrate micro catchments are well suited for hand construction, they cannot easily be mechanized. These micro catchments are mainly used for growing trees or shrubs in arid and semi-arid areas.For large areas, contour bunds are best suited for rainwater harvesting. They are suitable on the sloping ground of low rainfall areas where runoff can be impounded by constructing bunds along the contour of equal elevation. Contour bunds may be continuous contour furrows or intermittent contours.Contour furrows are small soil banks that run along a contour. A furrow should be established next to each bank on the upper side of the slope. The distance between the ridges varies depending on the rainfall and the slope. The aim of contour furrows is to concentrate moisture into the ridge and furrow area where the plants are placed by trapping runoff water from the catchment area. This also reduces the erosion risk. To maximize the runoff between the two ridges, the catchment area should be left uncultivated and clear of vegetation.To prevent the destruction of the contour bunds, intermittent contours are useful for erosion control. Contour scale rehabilitation. The optimal distance between two contours depends upon the slope of the area, where steeper grounds require less distance.148 149 !A6F:9A6E)F<N:46A67:Rangelands governance is the process by which all stakeholders negotiate, make, and enforce binding decisions about rangelands resources management, use, and conservation. It could include public and local institutions, groups and associations, land tenure and infrastructure and other capital investments in the region and its implications./>AG:B<9E:4;_)56N<9N:H:6>Rangeland management governance mechanisms, which include stakeholders, tackle rangeland-related issues and implicate other sectors that interact with rangelands. At the local level and to deal with governance processes, a rangeland council or association can be established where all stakeholders can consult on rangelands management issues.The involvement of all stakeholders in rangeland assessment is one of the best practices in their management. This requires starting by identifying, mapping and evaluating the role of each stakeholder, its responsibility as well as the degree of implications on rangelands management activities. The analysis of social aspects and factors affecting rangeland management can be carried out by relying on social surveys, interviews, and rural appraisal methods. The involvement and cooperation between stakeholders should be both horizontal intra and inter communities and local authorities but also vertical between the local communities and the central institutions. The establishment of rangeland associations or councils at the local level is very useful for management consultation. These associations will play key roles in the implementation of support programs related to rangeland management originating from the central government. Once rangeland is rehabilitated through combined practices such as management is an effective tool for sustainable management of these harsh ecosystems. Grazing management is a tool to balance the capture of energy by the plants, the harvest of that energy by animals, and the conversion of that energy into a marketable product. Timing of grazing and growth rate of plants after-grazing events are key factors in controlling frequency, intensity and duration of grazing. These factors improve livestock production.These rehabilitation practices make it viable for pastoralists to increase livestock production by increasing their herd sizes. They also increase the economic and environmental conditions, such as improving the food security status in drought years and reducing grazing pressure on the natural rangelands from the increased vegetation cover.#B:) HA6AF:H:6>) <=) >B:) 5H84<N:E) 4A6F:) ;5>:;T) A=>:4) >B:) 4:;>) A6E) 4:BAC595>A>5<6T) ;B<D9E) 7<6;5E:456F) >B:) E5N:4;5>K) <=) >B:) :6N54<6H:6>A9) 7<6E5>5<6;) <=) >B:) 4A6F:) ;5>:;) A6E) 95H5>) ><) >B:) H565HDH) >B:) 7BA6F:) 56) >B:) D;DA9) HA6AF:H:6>) H:>B<E;U) #B:) =<99<S56F) 7<6;5E:4A>5<6;) A4:) 5H8<4>A6>@The sites will be subject to rest technique (including those to be rehabilitated) for two years to increase the chances of rehabilitating their stock in seeds and / or strains of the most important pastoral plants and those seriously affected by mismanagement In the third year, the rested areas will be open to grazing only once during the vegetative dormant season to enhance the cumulative forage units (FUs) and take advantage of the animal impact (burying short duration during the vegetative growth season (preferably at the during the dormant period of the main pastoral species but of longer duration (until almost total use of the annual grass cover). The duration of this second grazing period and the stocking density will depend on the fodder supply (carrying capacity), the availability of water for watering the herd and the size of the herds entitled to access the perimeter in question, but roughly, the animals can stay if the breeders wish, subject to the following conditions: Not to take more than 60% of the consumable biomass offered by perennials (all of the biomass offered by annuals can be consumed at the latest) All animals using the site must leave it the same day and before At the end of the dormant period, grazing will be excluded until the following spring and the cycle will begin once again. 2A6AF:H:6>)<=)F4AY56F)A65HA9;Among the problems that face rangeland manager is the non-uniform distribution of grazing animals on the surface area of rangelands resulting in some patches exploited more than others do. Therefore, a higher uniformity in the distribution animal on rangelands is preferred.The nature of the dominant vegetation cover will dictate the use of sheep if it is herbaceous. In case of shrubs, bushes, and spiny vegetation, goats and camels are more favorable. The management plan to improve adjust the species composition. In case of grazing by different animal species, it should be noted that even if camels and small ruminants have different preferences rangeland types, it is essential to avoid grazing by small ruminants before camels. Both types of animals must graze the range at the same time. Camels refuse, in fact, to graze after the small ruminants. Furthermore, grazing annual plants in spring, essential for camels, should be favored in case of mixed grazing. In contrast, small ruminants are not embarrassed to graze in the areas frequented by a determining factor.Several accompanying measures may guarantee the uniform distribution of grazing animals on rangelands. A good distribution of watering points and shelters (shady areas) and services center (for concentrates and storage of food, veterinary treatments, …) may help in adapting and implementing a rotational grazing system. An assemblage of plants occurring together at any point in time, while denoting no particular successional status. A unit of vegetation.The interaction between organisms as a result of the removal or reduction of a common, required resource from the environment. Resources may include water, nutrients, light, oxygen, carbon dioxide, food and shelter. throughout a year or for that part of the year during which grazing is feasible. The term is not necessarily synonymous with yearlong grazing, since seasonal grazing may be involved. A preferred term is continuous stocking.A plowed or listed strip, commonly 8 to 18 inches deep and wide, made parallel to the horizontal contour for the purpose of water retention and reduction of soil erosion.Syn. prescribed burning.(1) The plant or plant parts, living or dead, on the surface of the ground. Vegetative cover or herbage cover is composed of living plants and litter cover of dead parts of plants. Syn. foliar cover (2) The area of ground covered by plants of one or more species. cf. basal area.For a given plant community, those species that decrease in practice.objective. A strategy aimed at providing time for plant reproduction, establishment of new plants, restoration of plant vigor, a return to environmental conditions appropriate for grazing, or the accumulation of forage for later use. cf. deferred grazing, rotational deferred.Species which contribute positively to the management objectives.Planting seed directly into the soil with a drill in rows, cf. broadcast seeding.Organisms together with their abiotic environment, forming A transition area of vegetation between two communities, having characteristics of both kinds of neighboring vegetation as well as characteristics of its own. Varies in width depending on site and climatic factors. cf. edge effect.A genetically differentiated subpopulation (race) that is ecotypes are observed only when different ecotypes are tested in a common environment, 2. ecotypes are generally subdivided into races, e.g., edaphic, climatic (termed cline), geographic (termed variety).Refers to the soil.Grazing management that utilizes relatively large land areas per animal and a relatively low level of labor, resources, or capital. cf. intensive grazing management.The animal life of a region. A listing of animal species of a region.(1) The plant species of an area. (2) A simple list of plant species or a taxonomic manual.(n.) Browse and herbage which is available and may provide food for grazing animals or be harvested for feeding . (v.) To search for or consume forage. cf. (v.) browse, graze.The weight of forage that is produced within a designated period of time on a given area. The weight may be expressed production. emergency use.An index to the grazing use that may be made for forage species that will maintain economically important forage species or to achieve other management objectives.Any broad-leafed herbaceous plant other than those in the Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Juncaceae families. cf. legume.Land on which the vegetation is dominated by grasses, grass like plants, and/or forbs (cf. dominant). Lands not presently grassland that were originally or could become grassland through naturalThe maximum stocking rate that will achieve based on total nutrient resources available, including harvested without deterioration of the ecosystem. A description of the grazing capacity should include stocking rate, grazing method, targeted animal performance and nongrazed nutrient resources.Dispersion of livestock grazing within a management unit or area.The percentage of material, other than bare ground, covering the land surface. It may include live and standing dead vegetation, litter, cobble, gravel, stones and bedrock. Ground cover plus bare ground would total 100 percent.A furrow, channel or miniature valley, usually with steep sides or snow melt. cf. arroyo and coulee.The collective area which one plant association occupies or will come to occupy as succession advances. The habitat type is environment. The concept was developed by Rexford Daubenmire. Habitat type is similar in concept to ecological site. The difference A perennial plant with a woody base whose annually produced stems die each year.A physiological condition of seed in which some viable seeds do not immediately absorb water or oxygen and germination is delayed when a favorable environment is provided. Non-synonymous with seed dormancy.A hardened soil layer in the lower A or in the B horizon caused by cementation of soil particles with organic matter or with materials such as silica, sesquioxides, or calcium carbonate. The hardness does not change appreciably with changes in moisture content, and pieces of the hard layer do not crumble in water. cf. caliche.A comparative term which indicates that the stocking rate of a pasture is relatively greater than that of other pastures. Often erroneously used to mean overuse. cf. light and moderate grazing.1. Non-woody plant growth. 2. A term often used to describe Holistic Management is a practical, goal-oriented approach to the management of the ecosystem including the human, use of a management model which incorporates a holistic view of land, people and other resources. Holistic Management is now the correct name for the approach formerly called Holistic Resource Management. https://www.iucn.org/theme/protected-areas/about/protected-areacategories For a given plant community, those species that increase in practice.(1) Species that indicate the presence of certain environmental conditions, seral stages, or previous treatment. (2) One or more plant species selected to indicate a certain level of grazing use. cf. key species.A body of knowledge built up. by a group of people through generations of living in close contact with. Nature. Indigenous: Born, growing, or produced naturally (native) in an area, region, or country. Cf. endemic.The rate of movement of water from the soil surface into soil.Grazing management that attempts to increase production or utilization per unit area or production per animal through a relative increase in stocking rates, forage utilization, labor, resources, or capital. Intensive grazing management is not synonymous any one or more of a number of grazing methods that use relatively more labor or capital resources. Cf. extensive grazing management.The weight of a substance after it has been dried in which, if continued, will result in range deterioration. cf. overgrazing.(1) A grazing area that is a subdivision of a grazing management unit, and is enclosed and separated from other areas by a fence or barrier. (2) A relatively small enclosure used as an exercise and saddling area for horses, generally adjacent to stalls or stable. cf. grazing.The relish with which a particular species or plant part is consumed by an animal.Horizon or layer in soils that is strongly compacted, indurated, or very high in clay content. cf. caliche, claypan, hardpan.Grazing use of current growth usually expressed as a percent of the current growth (by weight) which has been removed. cf. degree of use.An assemblage of plants occurring together at any point in time, thus denoting no particular successional status. A unit of vegetation.Species that are preferred by animals and are burning.The rate of conversion of solar to chemical energy through the process of photosynthesis.A state of ecological stability or condition existing in the absence of direct disturbance by modern man.Any part of an organism, produced sexually or asexually that is capable of giving rise to a new individual.The act of continuously obtaining proper use.Placing a number of animals on a given area that will result in proper use at the end of the planned grazing period. Continued proper stocking will lead to proper grazing.An index to the grazing use that may be made of that will maintain the economically important forage species, or achieve other management objectives such as maintenance of watersheds, recreation values, etc.(a) a generic term relating to present status of a unit of range in be stated. (b) the present state of vegetation of a range site in relation to the climax (natural potential) plant community for that site. It is an expression of the relative degree to which the kinds, proportions, and amounts of plants in a plant community resemble that of the climax plant community for the site. This term is being phased out. Preferred terms are successional status and range similarity index.The process that leads to an irreversible reduction in capability of an ecological site to produce vegetation.Any activity or program on or relating to rangelands which is designed to improve production of forage, change vegetation composition, control patterns of use, provide water, stabilize soil and water conditions, or provide habitat for livestock and wildlife.A distinct discipline founded on ecological principles and dealing with the use of rangelands and range resources for a variety of purposes. These purposes include use as watersheds, wildlife habitat, grazing by livestock, recreation, and aesthetics, as well as other associated uses.Spots containing unusually large quantities of salts in the soil where animals consume the soil to obtain salt.(1) Synonymous with seasonal grazing, (2) Seasonal preference of certain plant species by animals.Mechanical or acid treatment of seed-coats to improve water absorption and enhance germination."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"39cbf375fd82734719644f0a44e6df1a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/f229dedc-fa26-4930-b019-31bfa84f7447/content","id":"-1278116084"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7eb1f9c6-4f4d-4b3c-9ece-5c306fbb3740","content":"The thirteen principles of agroecology span the scientific, social policy and institutional landscape. The slow progress towards AEI can be traced in many cases, not to lack of policies, but effective coordination and implementation gaps. In this six-part bibliographic survey, we review the global landscape on policy coordination issues and related policy theories of change, institutions for agroecology, elements of food systems transformation, agroecological transitions, farming innovations for agroecologically sensitive production, and finally some examples from Africa. The review brings forward at least two critical gaps in the policy intention-implementation gap. The need for overarching agroecological policy theories of change to help coordinate individual policies as well as achieve inter-sectoral coordination.The Need for Agroecology Policy Coordination 1. The challenge of policy coordination https://doi.org/10. 1080/25741292.2018.1437946 Most of the issues, like climate change, that require much involvement of the government, call for coordination. There is no clearcut way of dealing with coordination concerns since its success or failure depends on the context, varying across countries and policy areas. Furthermore, some political systems may place more emphasis on coordination than others, depending on their approach. Policy coordination prevents unnecessary duplication, which could be more costly, and avoids contradicting steps among various organizations. For example, environmental agencies may want to reduce intensive agriculture for the sake of the environment, while the Ministry of Agriculture's target could be increasing productivity. These two moves could at some point be found contradictory despite having good political will. Moreover, policy coordination also ensures that the various changing needs and concerns, such as population growth and climate change, are well taken care of (Peters, 2018).https://doi.org/10.1080/25741292.2018.1540378 Hudson et al. (2019) identified the following causes of policy failure: unrealistic expectations, lack of proper coordination among stakeholders during the making and implementation of policies, and the unpredictability of the political system. Nicholls and Altieri (2018) discovered that the major challenge is the broadening of the gap between promising policies and their implementation towards solving realistic and urgent issues in agroecological transition. Implementation support was found to be crucial since the experiences of the front-liners are brought on board as they are more knowledgeable than national policymakers (Allcock et al., 2015) on the challenge of policy implementation gaps. Capacity building is important as it empowers stakeholders with skills and capabilities to ensure sustainability in countering future implementation challenges (Hudson et al., 2019).https://doi.org/10. 1080/21683565.2018.1499578 Most of the research towards promoting agroecology focuses on social and policy aspects. The major challenge is practising the agroecological principles for soil, water, and biodiversity management to improve productivity and resilience. For agroecological economic sustainability, these principles have to be complemented by policies and harmonized market institutions (Nicholls & Altieri, 2018). However, there is no single policy that fits all, hence combination of complementary policies is necessary to incentivize agroecological transition (Nicholls & Altieri, 2018). Consequently, these policies can create unseen dependencies that may reduce the uptake of agroecology. For example, since credit access may encourage agroecological practices, it may result in more usage of agrochemicals. Nonetheless, there are effective policies that have proven to promote agroecology and Brazil's National School Feeding Program (PNAE) is of such kind. It brought about an economic incentive to small-scale farmers since the policy outlines that 30 percent of food that is procured for schools must be produced by these farmers (Wittman & Blesh, 2017).https://doi.org/10. 1080/13501763.2019.1617334 The extent and degree to which policies are integrated are influenced by how levels of government coordinate (May et al., 2006;Peters, 2015;Tosun and Lang, 2017). Many Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) usually constitute agriculture (FAO, 2017). Inasmuch as ministries play a vital role in policymaking, the Ministry of Agriculture has its own political interests and therefore does not participate in formulating climate policies because it is not consulted. Page (2003) argued that getting solutions that promote every ministry's agenda could enhance coordination between and amongst them. Making coordination look attractive to all the involved ministries is important (Peters, 2015), and if applied in this case, the involvement of the Ministry of Agriculture in making climate policies will promote the agri-climate idea (Schmidt, 2019).Framing the Transition:Policy Theories of Change 1. Large Leaps / Punctuated Equilibrium Theory https://resources.peopleinneed.net/documents/23-pathways-for-change-6-theories-about-how-policy-change-happens.pdf Baumgartner and Jones (1993) hold that right conditions can lead to a huge change from the current situation, although these conditions don't necessarily guarantee change. These conditions can be achieved when: the existing methodologies are questioned in trying to define a problem in a different way or trying to get other aspects of it; there is involvement of different actors; and the problem at hand gets more attention from the public and media. When all of these happen simultaneously, then a large-scale change happens.https://resources.peopleinneed.net/documents/23-pathways-for-change-6-theories-about-how-policy-change-happens.pdf This theory suggests that individuals have basic or primary beliefs which are common to all of them. It suggests that the knowledge of the urgency of the matter at hand, its cause and the people's ability to provide a solution is common to them all. As a result of shared concerns, coordination among these people would bring about policy change. This theory assumes that it is almost impossible to change policies if the group proposing the change doesn't have power (Sabatier & Jenkins-Smith, 1993;Sabatier & Jenkins-Smith ,1999).https://resources.peopleinneed.net/documents/23-pathways-for-change-6-theories-about-how-policy-change-happens.pdf According to Kingdon (1995), whether a matter gets attention or not depends on how the problem is defined, the kind of proposed solutions to the problem and the political environment, and each of these operates independently. The theory suggests that problem definition determines the urgency or priority it receives. People's values and beliefs determines their perceptions of problems.https://resources.peopleinneed.net/documents/23-pathways-for-change-6-theories-about-how-policy-change-happens.pdf Tversky and Kahneman (1981) research revealed that people make choices depending with how the options were framed or presented. Consequently, these choices can be inconsistent-can be of less benefit or riskier than anticipated-depending with the available information.https://resources.peopleinneed.net/documents/23-pathways-for-change-6-theories-about-how-policy-change-happens.pdfThe theory suggests that the power to influence policy change is held by the elites who are always a handful. They may consist of the politicians, leading professionals, religious leaders, senior civil servants and leaders of mass organisations. Therefore, identifying the right people who have the necessary influence for the particular policy matter and building rapport with them is very important to the process of policy change (Domhoff, 1990;Mills, 2000).https://resources.peopleinneed.net/documents/23-pathways-for-change-6-theories-about-how-policy-change-happens.pdf In his book Rules for Radicals, Alinsky (1989) challenges the power elites theory by proposing that power is dynamic and can therefore change, it is not just in the hands of the elites only. Supporters of this theory believe that the affected people, through collective action, can create power. Such effort is usually directed towards changing the existing policies (Alinsky, 1989).https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcz081According to this theory, institutions do influence political and policy outcomes such that examining past contexts and events can give a reason for the failure or success of a policy change (Skocpol, 1995;Hall and Taylor, 1996). Historical institutionalists explain institutional and policy change as being path dependence. This means that current policy developments are influenced by what policymakers established in the past. This path is often rigid and therefore, any subsequent policy changes can't divert from it but can only be built on it. However, some scholars argue that major disruptions could lead to major institutional hence policy changes, away from the path, but would eventually stabilize (Koning, 2016).https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcz081The theory suggests that the power to influence policy change is held by the elites who are always a handful. They may consist of the politicians, leading professionals, religious leaders, senior civil servants and leaders of mass organisations. Therefore, identifying the right people who have the necessary influence for the particular policy matter and building rapport with them is very important to the process of policy change (Domhoff, 1990;Mills, 2000). Policy makers then become instruments through which the elites push for their interests.https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcz081 This theory holds that policy changes are possible with social movements consisting of mass members. Furthermore, policy change requires collective action and therefore it involves working with communities on the ground and helping them form or join groups. This theory suggests that these movements are mostly shaped by political opportunities and challenges around them. The movements bring together and use resources and professional expertise to ensure success in changing policies (McAdam, 1999;McCarthy and Zald, 1977).https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcz081 This theory proposes that disruptions from an uncooperating social movement can cause changes in policies. However, exercising this kind of power is not so easy because it is usually characterised by the breaking of rules and regulations. This theory contrasts with the resource mobilization theory in that it involves disruptions whereas the latter involves good organization. These social movements defy the status quo causing the power elites to concede and give in to their demands. This is not the case with resource mobilization theory as social movements seek the expertise of elites amicably. Furthermore, this theory is mostly applicable to the marginalised groups (Piven, 2006).The Bog Picture:Institutions for Agroecological 1. Institutionalizing Agroecology in France: Social Circulation Changes the Meaning of an Idea https://doi.org/10.3390/SU10051380 Bellon and Ollivier (2018) demonstrated that the agroecological idea varied in its definition across educational, civic, scientific, policy and economic fields and how this variation affected the institutionalisation of agroecology in France. They defined institutionalisation as the process of making collective action feasible through connections and liaisons between different actors towards a shared concern. This paper concluded that institutionalization of agroecology resulted from the following: presence of actors who had been working in the South; differences between actors and meanings of agroecology; and activities to promote discursive strategies. The implementation and institutionalisation of policies supporting agroecological transition in Brazil, for example, the Brazilian National Plan for Agroecology and Organic Pro-duction (PLANAPO), has of recent gained international attention (Borsatto, Souza-Esquerdo, & Duval, 2022). However, the introduction of a policy paradigm as a result of political changes brought about a dismantling of some of the existing policies whose support towards agroecological transition had yielded meaningful results (Niederle et al., 2022). Just as Bellon and Ollivier (2018), this study recommends the creation of relationships and associations that would promote the reformation of institutions advocating for agroecological policies.https://doi.org/10.1002/uar2.20010The impoverished and food-insecure populations of South African metropoles are a growing concern, and studies reveal that any serious agroecological transition depends on the willingness and means of the state to regulate food systems (Collier & Lakoff, 2015). This dependence relies on premeditated discussions between the government and agroecological movements. Kroll (2021) revealed that the capability of the state to foster agroecological transition is hindered by the disintegration of institutional structures, which is one of the biopolitical techniques to impact the behavior of the population. The study argues that these institutions are full of bureaucracies and is in agreement with (Govender & Reddy, 2015). Food security is under the jurisdiction of national, provincial, and local departments, resulting in priority competition. Moreover, locally, this mandate is left to poorly funded departments that are understaffed and full of political uncertainties. This eventually limits coordination efforts between the levels of governance.https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10091447This review, which covered two countries-Benin and Burkina Faso-sought to find out the political, economic, individual, institutional, and social factors influencing agroecological production in these nations. The study revealed that regional agricultural policies significantly influence national policies. These two countries, being members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), have agricultural policies influenced by 'The Agricultural Policy of the Economic Community of West African States' (ECOWAP) (Salifou, 2020). Although these regional policies strive to avoid duplicating efforts in pursuing shared objectives (Salifou, 2020), they don't support agroecology. ECOWAP, for example, prioritizes intensifying agriculture and the intensive usage of chemical inputs (CEDEAO, 2006), and its influence on the formulation of national policies may result in a lack of institutional support for agroecological activities. Despite inadequate support, agroecological initiatives in Burkina Faso and Benin are developing and diversifying and are led by farmers' organizations, NGOs, and research and training faculties. Furthermore, the formation of the Alliance for Agroecology in West Africa aimed to coordinate various stakeholders in the agroecological transition (Tapsoba et al., 2020).1. Understanding Farm Diversity to Promote Agroecological Transitions https://doi.org/10.3390/SU10124337The study was conducted on farms located in Zona da Mata, Minas, Brazil, featuring a diverse range of farmers. Over the past 30 years, various stakeholders have been engaged in agroecological transitions in this region. Brazil is often linked with negative externalities such as social exclusion and rural poverty (Reydon, Fernandes & Telles, 2015). Existing evidence indicates that the progress of agroecological practices is contingent upon farmers having secure land rights (Rosset, 2013).The study delved into the diversification of farms and its implications for agroecological transition. The findings revealed that farmers' management techniques, practices, and principles exhibit variations during agroecological transformations. The acknowledgment of peasant information is crucial in supporting agroecology. Agroecological farmers were found to be affiliated with networks comprising NGOs, farmer's organizations, and universities. The study suggests that merging quantitative and participatory approaches can yield more accurate and meaningful assessments of agroecological transformations. Additionally, agroecological farms have the potential to provide a variety of ecosystem services, as they are associated with increased crop diversity (Teixeira et al., 2018). The recent institutionalization of agroecology into some countries' national policies can be seen as a step towards agroecological transition (Bacon et al., 2014). Studies have identified technological, political, and financial factors that either support or hinder agroecological transition, but there has been limited analysis of their interactions (Silici, 2014). This paper aims to address this gap by examining the progression of agroecological systems through a set of actors and institutions that interact in the field of technology, thereby contributing to the creation, circulation, and application of innovative technology-a system referred to as Technological Innovation Systems (TIS). This approach was employed to identify barriers to the diffusion of agroecology in Nicaragua.The findings indicate that some hindrances to agroecological transition include policy mismatches, insufficient capacities and resource mobilization, and the inadequate development of markets. These factors weaken entrepreneurial opportunities and experimentation (Schiller et al., 2020).https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-021-00688-x.The study aimed to investigate the impact of farm management practices on income and working conditions of farms at different stages of agroecological transition. Indicators of income, working conditions, and ecological management were assessed in both agroecological and conventional tobacco farms. The study revealed higher yields in diversified agroecological farms compared to their counterparts. This finding aligns with the results of Ponisio et al. (2015) and Dainese et al. (2019), who observed a positive relationship between farm diversification practices and productivity. In cases where sufficient support systems and policies were in place, there was potential for improved working conditions and increased profits, leading to higher household income in farms undergoing agroecological transitions. This improvement was attributed to reduced costs and access to diversified markets (Stratton, Wittman & Blesh, 2021). The paper sought to explore the ways in which farmers in Bikita, Zimbabwe, engaged in agroecological farming. These farmers were characterized by a lack of resources, relying on the natural environment, local information, and social networks. Moreover, crop diversity, agroecological techniques, and income from primary sources distinguished these farmers from their counterparts. These farmers recognized that crop diversification led to improved food and nutrition security, aligning with the findings of Mango et al. (2018) and Waha et al. (2018). Additionally, agroecological farmers employed sustainable irrigation practices, reducing environmental degradation, increasing productivity, and conserving water to a greater extent. However, the study identified the main challenge facing these agroecological farmers in Bikita as inadequate capacity to sustainably adhere to agroecological principles. Furthermore, existing support mechanisms such as institutions and policies did not recognize agroecological farming, leading to constant resistance (Mapfumo et al., 2022).https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2015.1130765Gliessman (2016) identified five levels of agroecological transition. The first step focuses on improved resource efficiency by reducing or completely eliminating the use of costly and environmentally degrading inputs. The second level is referred to as input substitution, whereby external input-intensive and environmentally degrading products and practices are replaced with those based on natural products and are more environmentally friendly, for example, organic farming. However, the agroecosystem at this level remains unaltered and therefore is very likely to face the same problems encountered in levels one.While levels one and two are incremental, levels three to five are transformational (HLPE, 2019).Level three involves redesigning the agroecosystem to eliminate the recurring problems in levels one and two. This would include practices like agroforestry and multiple-cropping. Level four encompasses reconnecting producers and consumers through farmers' markets or fair trade in food products, resulting in social equity and responsibility. Lastly, level five builds a new global food system based on participation, localness, fairness, and justice. This level is no longer about transitioning but transforming.https://doi.org/10.3390/land9060205The assumption that agroecological farming is more fulfilling than conventional farming, based on the independence of workers, requires reconsideration. This is because most existing labor channels portray farm laborers as technical demonstrators (Sachet et al., 2021) rather than drivers of change. This result is due to the implementation of organic standards that are not properly coordinated and reliance on foreign aid. Pressure on the laborers is further worsened by deteriorating climatic conditions and the fact that the Senegalese agricultural sector has been neoliberalized. The study suggests that agroecological initiatives should be tackled more holistically by institutionalizing safeguarded markets. This should happen even as farmers participate in governing the agroecosystem, establishing contractual agreements such as fair trade and organic certifications, and gaining access to land and other natural and productive resources.Furthermore, engaging in a participatory approach in creating agroecological knowledge while considering peasant information would also play a role in agroecological transitioning. This is in agreement with Teixeira et al. (2018), who discovered that recognizing peasant information is fundamental in supporting agroecology. Moreover, advocating and politicizing agroecology through NGOs and farmers' associations could also be a step towards a just agroecological transition in Sub-Saharan Africa (Bottazzi et al., 2020). Making strong political choices and negotiations is unavoidable when it comes to agroecological transitioning (Côte et al., 2019).  2019) also propose new performance indicators to capture the contribution of these transitions to sustainable development goals and to measure the ability of the applied systems to reduce inequalities and create employment opportunities. Sachet et al. (2021) propose that, to promote agroecological transition, the scope of agroecological research in addressing the processes of these transitions in Africa needs to be broadened using participatory action research and other participatory and empowering approaches.In India, women-run farms face unequal access to productive resources such as land, labor, and inputs due to poverty and unequal distribution of resources as a result of gender discrimination. Formation of women-only farming groups has helped alleviate this problem through labor-pooling, collectively speaking against exploitations and sharing capital investments (Agarwal 2010). Support from NGOs has seen these women groups purchase or lease land to improve food security through agroecological practices. Such inclusivity has led to a change in food systems beyond small-scale farms (Agarwal and Herring, 2013) Food Systems Transformation (as a transitional pathway)1. Transforming food systems with agroecology https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn%2Fnqab315Majority of those who advocate for food systems transformation agree that it has to promote availability, accessibility, affordability of a sufficient, nutritious, desirable, and safe diet for the population (Fanzo et al., 2021). Such should come from resilient and sustainable food systems (von Braun et al., 2021). Availability means that staple foods rich in nutrients are available for everyone and as they efficiently move along the food chain, they are made more accessible to people. There needs to be a change in eating behaviour by embracing more healthier diet options which should be more affordable and sustainable with food system transformation (Fanzo et al., 2021 andKennedy et al., 2020).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2020.09.021Boer et al. ( 2021) conducted a study on research and innovation as a catalyst for food system transformation. The paper provided insights into the complexities in food system transformation, the kind of research and innovation required for food system transformation, the challenges of current research and innovation strategies, and connecting food research and policy. The complexities in food system transformation call for the development, implementation, and evaluation of integrated governance strategies. Multi-level governance is necessary to develop integrated food policies that can alleviate the negative tradeoffs and, at the same time, increase collaborations between diverse sectors and policy domains (Moragues-Faus et al., 2017;Parsons & Hawkes, 2018;). The paper suggests a need for transdisciplinary research approaches that bring together both academic and non-academic actors whose combined knowledge (Luederitz et al., 2017) helps in understanding systems for change implementation (Fazey et al., 2018). In addition, this approach incorporates underrepresented actors and their perceptions (Abson et al., 2017). Strong R&I frameworks based on holistic and participatory approaches involving all stakeholders may help to identify opportunities but also vulnerabilities nested in the system, which are vital starting points from which to formulate resilience strategies (FAO, 2014).https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-018-0519-1Most agricultural policies focus on food supply, and this paper suggests that the policies should also align with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Caron et al. (2018) proposed a comprehensive food system transformation. The first part is related to food consumption behavior, which requires support through advantageous food ecosystems for its sustainability (HLPE, 2017b). The second part of the transformation included the support of inclusive, nutrition-sensitive agricultural production, processing, distribution, and marketing, and sustainable food value chains. Thirdly, the transformation was supposed to deal with climate change by employing Climate-Smart Agriculture (FAO, 2013) to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (Lipper et al., 2014). Last but not least, the transformation was to foster a reawakening of rural territories so that people are empowered to develop their visions and implement useful activities toward sustainable development. This would definitely result in a food and nutrition-secure society, creation of decent jobs, steady economic growth, and a decrease in community conflicts (Mercandalli & Losch, 2017).One size doesn't fit all: regional differences in priorities for food system transformation https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-021-01222-3A study by Dengerink et al. (2021) shows that different regions have different priorities and strategies concerning food system transformation. In the Near East and Latin America, food safety and sustainability are the prioritized challenges, respectively. While food availability is the most critical challenge in East and Southern Africa, the Asians in Asia identify nutritional quality as the most urgent food system challenge. However, the affected groups were found to be similar across the regions: small-scale farmers, women, and low-income cadre. The strategies adopted to resolve these challenges also vary across regions. Increasing productivity is perceived to be the game-changer for food availability, just as making healthy diets accessible addresses the nutritional needs of the population (Dengerink et al., 2021). However, recent developments in food system transformation focus on those strategies that bring about availability and access to healthy diets (FAO, 2020; IFAD, 2021), resilient food systems (Béné, 2020;De Steenhuijsen et al., 2021;Savary et al., 2020), and a change in consumer behavior (Webb et al., 2020;WEF, 2020). In addition, they propose a combination of social and technical innovation as another strategy to effect a transformation in food systems (Barret et al., 2020;Pereira et al., 2020;Reardon et al., 2019).https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biw052 Schipanski et al. (2016) outlined several strategies that together enhance the resilience of food systems across levels. The first strategy is the integration of social justice and gender equity into food systems transformation. This is because of the contribution of women in food production and ensuring the nutritional needs of their families. This strategy would, therefore, enhance food security. The second one involves replacing the use of external chemical inputs in farms with ecological processes. This would ensure sustainability (Godfray & Garnett, 2014;Ponisio et al. 2015) through the restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem functionality. The third proposed strategy is regionalizing food distribution linkages. Such diversification will ensure little to no disturbances of food availability in the occurrence of shocks. In addition, such regionalization could also increase innovation (Ostrom, 2010). Although still on a small scale, the Deccan Development Society (DDS) and women's groups in India have community grain bin initiatives to cushion the community against disruptions in distribution and production systems (Agarwal 2010).More emphasis on food productivity has exerted pressure on the use of resources (Steffen et al. 2015). Addressing this challenge could mean that agricultural policies be informed by goals of the public health sector, hence to some extent, human behavior. Such an approach pays attention to the type of food produced, by whom, and for whom, which results in both increased productivity and human health (Schipanski et al., 2016). For example, in supporting the integration of agroecology and human health in Malawi, through the Soils, Food, and Healthy Community Project (SFHC), farmers tested the effectiveness of intercropping legumes as an alternative to external fertilizers (Msachi et al. 2009). Elisabeth and Martin ( 2022) carried out a study on the effects of perceptions on how farmers in Burkina Faso adopt and intensify agroecological methods. The major goal for households in Burkina Faso is to meet their food needs (Sawadogo et al., 2022), which is often not easy to meet due to poverty and unfertile soils. The research found out that farmers view agroecology as a means to increase food adequacy. In addition, the experience of farmers reinforced agroecological practices. However, it was discovered that agroecology was less practiced in large cultivated areas. The study suggested that in promoting agroecology in Burkina Faso, it is important to emphasize on the ability of agroecological practices to meet the food needs of the population since that it is what their goal is.https://afsafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/water_harvesting_zimbabwe.pdf Even though maize is the staple crop for Zimbabwe, it is dependent on rain which makes it highly susceptible to droughts. Efforts by the government to integrate crops and livestock have not been successful due to the existing land use structures that are not flexible. However, a case study done on one of the farmers revealed a success story of adapting agroecological practices. The farmer discovered ways of harvesting and controlling water in his land and in so doing, he not only controlled soil erosion but also ensured that every rainfall drop was used maximumly. Furthermore, the farmer planted both indigenous and exotic trees, employed intercropping and crop rotation techniques. For the sake of sustaining nitrogen levels in the soil, he incorporated legumes. Consequently, the farmer witnessed an increase in the productivity and resilience of his farm (Oakland & AFSA, 2019). This shows the efforts towards agroecological transition. A case study conducted in Adjumani and Amuria Districts of Uganda revealed that women only had secondary rights to the use of land. Lack of information concerning their rights resulted in their vulnerability to land grabbing. It was realized how unlikely it was for these women to practice sustainable agroecological methods. Eastern and Southern Africa Small Scale Farmers Forum (ESAFF) and Oxfam have been educating and equipping women farmers on the importance of securing access to their land.During the study, one of the respondents had this to say, \"If I don't own the land, why do I invest time in improving or protecting the soil? They will take it away from me anyway.\" Therefore, gender equality in land rights has proven to promote agroecological practices, hence increased productivity and food security, since ownership comes with independence in decision-making. This study demonstrates the role of institutions in advocating for land rights, hence promoting agroecological transition. Women farmers in Casamance face various constraints, including lack of access to capital, illiteracy, lack of inclusivity in national agricultural policy formulation, and pressure by the government and private sector to incorporate farming techniques that involve hybrid seeds and associated inputs. Women, therefore, form women groups and associations, as part of their community efforts to find solutions to their challenges. Consequently, women who could not access capital can now get grants, enabling them to farm on large farms and engage in value addition to their products. They have also lobbied for inclusion in district councils and local institutions to participate in formulating agricultural policies (Oakland & AFSA, 2019). This study portrays an example of how policy coordination and collective action through institutions can accomplish significant resultshttps://afsafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/cipcre.pdfThe use of chemical inputs has, for a long time, drained the soil of its moisture and nutrient content, hence its fertility. As a result, food insecurity crops in. Funded by Bread for the World (Germany), the Project for Adaptation to Climate Change (Pada-Clim-Benin) has teamed up with farmers to discover sustainable farming techniques that are resistant to climate change, bringing about prolonged droughts. The project targets family farms and trains them on crop rotation techniques, how to make and use biopesticides and biofertilizers, water conservation for dry seasons, and agroforestry in a bid to increase productivity. The fact that women farmers are the principal actors in the project ensures gender equality (Zossou, 2020). This study is a successful example that agroecological transition is possible amidst climate change and could offer a solution to the same. This study's focus was on Multi-purpose Cooperative Institutions (MPCI), which are community-based and come in handy in supporting small-scale farmers. The goals of MPCIs include ensuring sustainable ways of addressing food insecurity, increasing the production of cash crops and food, and promoting the sustainable management of resources. They provide an avenue through which various stakeholders interact to come up with hybrid initiatives. These institutions are characterized by a bottomup network system, which makes it easier for members to identify and collectively tackle constraints like labor shortage. They also distribute agricultural inputs and promote the best farming techniques in the bid to enhance food security. However, their operations and activities are hindered by elites and government agencies whose influence on the food system transformation is much more (Manlosa et al., 2022). This study, therefore, confirms the importance of institutions in the transformation of the food system.CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to transforming food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis. Its research is carried out by 13 CGIAR Centers/Alliances in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations and the private sector. www.cgiar.orgWe would like to thank all funders who support this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund: www.cgiar.org/funders.To learn more about this initiative, please visit this webpage.To "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"12776b1e298c8523270d42961b7eadb2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b2a85800-be8b-4dad-bbd8-7a231b590609/retrieve","id":"-191950892"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"976e8585-221b-4606-8860-b067a529515c","content":"CIP publications contribute important development information to the public arena. Readers are encouraged to quote or reproduce material from them in their own publications. As copyright holder CIP requests acknowledgement and a copy of the publication where the citation or material appears. Please send a copy to the Communications Department at the address below.Summary of key findings and recommendations for improving the seed potato value chain in Rwanda Table 2. Average land (ha) dedicated to potato production in the major agro-ecological zones (AEZ) during the period of 2017 to 2022 and the contribution (%) of each (AEZ) for the three growing seasons .................. Table 3  6. Current status of public and privately owned potato tissue culture laboratories in Rwanda ................ Table 7. Number   8. List of available public and private owned screenhouses used for minitubers production in Rwanda. Table 9. Seed potato production trends for the period 2018 Direct transfer This is a rapid method for the production of pre-basic seed potato achieved by directly transplanting in-vitro plantlets under field conditionsSeed directly controlled by the plant breeder whose production complies with the plant breeding principles from which all other seed classes are produced (Seed Law, 2016).A product of plant tissue culture. It is a starter planting material for seed potato production. The plant tissue culture or micropropagation serves to multiply disease-free planting materials (Seed Law, 2016)A progeny tuber produced from in vitro-derived plantlets or microtubers. These microtubers are characterized by their size, being smaller than conventional seed tubers but larger than in vitro microtubers cultivated under aseptic conditions on artificial media. Minitubers may be produced in conventional, aeroponics, or sandponics screenhousesSeed of the generation directly derived from breeder seed under the direct control of the plant breeder or his duly accredited representative (Seed Law, 2016).Approved progeny of pre-basic seed produced by seed growers authorized by the competent authority (Seed Law, 2016).Seed tuber is produced from the multiplication of basic seeds whose quality has been approved through a legally recognized certification process (Seed Law 2016).A product of formal breeding programs that have undergone testing and a formal release process.Seed tubers produced from basic or certified seed, are declared by the producer as being in conformity with technical, identity, and quality standards governing seed production and approved by the competent authority after the verification of the quality (Seed Law, 2016). This usually happens when a registered seed field is downgraded for failing to meet all the requirements for certified seed.Quality seed potato is the most important agricultural input that determines the final tuber yield and drives the productivity of other agricultural inputs in potato production systems. Rwanda currently produces less than 5% of the required disease-free seed potato, creating a substantial seed availability gap of over 95%. Much of the yield gap currently constraining productivity in the country is attributed to poor seed quality. The low yields have largely been attributed to high prevalence of seed-borne pests and diseases, notably late blight, bacterial wilt, nematodes, and viruses.This study presents a valuable review of the current situation of seed potato production, including key stakeholders' roles in the current production of different seed generations, the capacity to produce different seed classes, and the provision of support services to seed producers. The findings of the needs assessment study conducted between June and August 2023 informed the development of a five-year seed potato plan (2024-2028) for synchronizing seed potato production of different actors through sector coordination to match the supply and demand of seed potato.Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to collect data. Desk review of seed potato-related policies, strategies, regulations, publications, and reports. Key informant interviews (KII) involving government officials, private sector representatives, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to gain supplementary insights on the factors influencing the efficiency of the seed potato value chain. Structured and semi-structured questionnaires for individual interviews with seed potato producers, ware potato farmers, and ware potato traders, while focus group discussions (FGDs) were organized to validate the results obtained from individual surveys.The study revealed strong government support to the seed potato sector as evidenced in high uptake of seed potato technologies in terms of the number of rapid multiplication technologies (RMT-aeroponics, sandponics) by both the public and private sectors, alongside the establishment of early generation seed (EGS) facilities-67 screenhouse in the country used for minituber production. The number of improved varieties officially registered in the county as wells the seed potato storage technologies notably diffused light stores-54 DLS in the country and one cold storage. This extensive network of storage EGS and storage facilities plays a crucial role in the seed potato value chain, ensuring that high-quality seeds are available for agricultural purposes.Compared to the neighboring countries, Rwanda is leading in the adoption of these seed potato technologies.Similarly, the number of private seed potato multipliers in the country-40 registered comprising of organizations (17.5%), Cooperatives (15%) and individual farmers (67.5%) is a good indicator on the value proposition of seed potato business. Currently the country boasts a surplus production of in vitro plantlets, serving as the foundational material for seed production. Most of the potato traders interviewed, 87% reported that varieties with red skin color such as Kinigi, Gikungu, Kerekezo are mostly preferred by consumers compared to potato varieties with white skin color. Due to its short dormancy period and tolerance to disease and acidic soil, Cruza variety was reported by 69% of ware potato farmers interviewed to have gained preference in the potato growing districts of the southern part of the country.In Rwanda, the public sector dominates EGS, while the private sector dominates certified seed potato production. There are five (2 public and 3 private) tissue culture (TC) laboratories in the country used for the production of in-vitro plantlets, and RAB is the main producer of in vitro plantlets, with a share of 70% of total plantlets production since 2019. The study showed a low operational capacity for privately owned TC laboratories. For example, the TC laboratories owned by INES-Ruhengeri and Agriseeds African Ltd are currently operating at 13% and 8% capacity, respectively.The focused group discussion (FGDs) revealed that the low operational capacity for private TC laboratories is mainly due to flow demand for in vitro plantlets. The private plantlet producers raised a concern that plantlets from RAB are subsidized while plantlets produced by the private TC laboratories are not subsidized, resulting in higher unit prices. Whilst the subsidy program is beneficial to smallholder farmers by enhancing accessibility to certified seed thereby increasing the use of quality seed leading to increased productivity farm incomes and food security, the subsidy has adverse effects on the sustainability of the seed potato industry particularly if the subsidy does not cover the private sector. According to the FGDS, the seed sector should be private sector led.There is a total of 67 facilities used for minituber production in Rwanda, owned by both public (7) and private sectors (60). Different seed production systems are used in these screen houses: 5 have adopted sandponics technology, 6 have installed aeroponics systems and the remaining 56 uses conventional methods for minituber production. However, only 46 (69%) of these facilities are currently operational: 5 sandponics, 5 aeroponics facilities, and 36 conventional screen houses. The remaining 21 (31%) facilities are nonfunctional. During the face-to-face interviews, the owners of the 21 non-functional screenhouses attributed this to the high cost of inputs, low demand for an unstructured market for minitubers, and a lack of funds for rehabilitation.A gap analysis revealed low productivity along the seed potato value chain from EGS production through to certified seed. The average minituber productivity is 6 and 35 minituber/plantlet under conventional and aeroponics production systems respectively. This production is far below the expected production of 8 -10 and more than 50 minitubers/plantlet under good conventional and aeroponics management with varietal differences. Thus, there is a need to optimize the production of EGS to close the EGS gap and in the subsequent seed generations.Similarly, the average production of pre-basic, basic, and certified seed potato as reported by a majority, 88% of 24 the seed producers interviewed reported 10 tons/ha, 12 tons/ha, and 15 tons/ha, respectively, way below the attainable yield of 20-30 t/ha recorded by some progressive smallholder farmers. The seed producers attributed the low productivity to inefficiency in the seed production systems coupled with inadequate knowledge and skills. Although most of the seed potato producers reported to have attended training from various organizations including RAB, MINAGRI, and NGOs, these trainings are poorly interlinked thereby missing out on synergies and layering.The study revealed that of the total volume of seed potatoes produced between 2018 and 2023 as per the RAB and RICA annual reports, merely 7% comprises certified seed, while the larger proportion consists of QDS and PS. This indicates that a significant portion of the Early Generation Seed (EGS) is not utilized for certified seed purposes, but rather downgraded to quality declared seed (QDS), or it is used to produce positively selected seed (PS) or end up as ware potatoes.While QDS holds legal recognition and significantly enhances seed accessibility for farmers, the overarching objective remains to augment the prevalence of certified seed within the country. Certified seed surpasses all quality standards, whereas QDS represents a lower tier of certified seed due to partial compliance with these requirements. Considering that superior seed quality substantially enhances yield potential, the adoption of certified seed is highly commendable.The discussion during the FDGs revealed a lack of harmonized training and graduation mechanisms for seed potato producers. Further, the study revealed the absence of joint planning and/or implementation of seed potato-related activities between public institutions (RAB, RICA, RSB) and other organizations. In some cases, this resulted in overlapping /duplication of activities, and this makes it difficult to assess the impact of some of these interventions.The National Seed Association of Rwanda (NSAR) and Potato Consortium are the two main forums for coordinating the seed industry for all crops in the country. Seed potato producers are expected to be members of the two fora. However, only 38.5% of the seed potato producers interviewed reported to be members of the NSAR. This means that most of the seed potato producers miss the opportunity to work together in joint planning and coordination, market linkages, and collaborative planning.In terms of compliance with seed inspection and certification standards, the study revealed a high level of rejection of seed potato fields. Whilst the price of seed potato is jointly set by seed potato stakeholders through a participatory process, and all seed potato agro-dealers adhere to the price set for each seed category, in some cases, the price of seed potato is lower than the price of ware potatoes. Over 70% of seed potato producer's respondents affirmed that the price of ware potato is sometimes higher than the price of the seed and in some isolated cases, a few seed potato producers sell their seed as ware potatoes.Concerning marketing, the study revealed unstructured market linkages among seed potato actors. The channels for information sharing and receiving feedback from farmers, seed potato producers, and agro-dealers are nonexistent. The FGDs indicated that most EGS producers fail to get clients because of the absence of this communication channel among actors.Based on these key findings, strategic recommendations aimed at enhancing the seed potato industry in Rwanda across various thematic areas have been formulated as summarized in Table 1.Thematic Area Key Findings -Constraints and Gaps Recommendations• There is limited involvement of potato value chain actors in designing the breeding objectives leading to:• Development of varieties with non-farmer preferred traits • Low adoption rate.• Increase funding for potato breeding programs.• Involve end-users of potatoes in breeding programs to develop marketed preferred potato varieties meeting the market demand and increase the adoption rate.• There are five (2 public and 3 private) tissue culture (TC) laboratories in the country used to produce in-vitro plantlets.• RAB is the main producer of in vitro plantlets, with a share of 70% of total plantlets production since 2019.• Low operational capacity of privately owned tissue culture laboratories e.g. TC labs of INES-Ruhengeri and Agriseeds African Ltd currently operate at 12.5% and 7.5% capacity, respectively, while the laboratory of The University of Rwanda is not functional.• Dysfunctional screenhouses are attributed to high operation costs and an unstructured market for minitubers.• Increase investment in TC facilities.• Support the rehabilitation of non-operational TC facilities to ensure their full operation.• Embrace new technologies and innovations.• Encourage/support private sector engagement.• Encourage public-private partnerships to increase the availability of TC plantlets• Less than 5% certified seed availability in the country locking out most of the smallholder farmers who have to rely on an informal seed system.• Low productivity along the seed potato value chain from EGS production through to certified seed.• 70% of the 67 facilities used for minituber production in the country are currently operational.• Increase investment in EGS facilities while embracing new technologies and innovations.• Encourage/support private sector engagement.• Establish and support public-private partnerships that increase the availability of market-preferred varieties.• Strengthen the technical capacity and business skills of seed multipliers to optimize seed potato production across the seed categories.• Non-functional screenhouses (30%) are attributed to the high cost of inputs, low demand and unstructured market for minitubers, and lack of funds.• A meager 7% of the total volume of seed potato produced between 2018-2023 comprise certified seed.• The larger proportion consists of QDS (33%) and PS (60%)• This indicates that a significant portion of the Early Generation Seed (EGS) is not utilized for certified seed purposes, but rather downgraded to QDS.• Support rehabilitation of non-operational minituber facilities and/or introduce/deployment of new rapid multiplication technologies.• Create awareness/promote the use of quality seeds and good agricultural practices.• While QDS holds legal recognition and significantly enhances seed accessibility for farmers, the overarching objective remains to augment the prevalence of certified seed within the country.• Adoption of certified seed should be promoted.• Over 20% of the registered seed potato fields are rejected which in turn reduces the volume of certified seeds and loss of income to seed producers.• Disease prevalence (Late blight and bacterial wilt) are major causes of field rejection.• Limited trained staff for regulating and enforcing quality standards.• Lack of post-certification and traceability system• Increase investment in the institutional capacity of RICA in potato pest and disease, diagnostics skills, field inspection and certification.• Finalize and operationalize the new seed potato inspection and certification protocols -harmonized protocols and Standards• Create extensive awareness of the seed potato certification protocols and benefits of certified seed.• Strengthen the technical and regulatory capacity of seed multipliers on good seed production practices, disease.• Design capacity-building programs and set out graduation mechanisms for seed potato value chain actors (seed producers, agro-dealers, distributors processors, extensionists, stockiest, etc).• Strengthen /establish and support a seed forum for sharing information, ideas, and practices, and provide feedback mechanisms on GAPs and quality control.• Support seed multipliers to build an internal quality control program.• Digitised seed potato registration and inspection services.• Build capacity of seed inspectors in diagnostics and inspections.• Improve the regulatory environment to better support the seed potato value chain.• Low adoption rate of newly released potato varieties.• low adoption rate is attributed to weak extension services and their low participation/involvement in a variety of development and selection.• Encourage participatory breeding to allow farmers to have a say in the development of market-preferred varieties. Conduct participatory adaptative and marketing trials on new varieties in different climatic zones under different agronomic practices and disease management.• Awareness creation of new potato varieties and good agricultural practices through field demonstration plots, field days, and other extension approaches.• Strengthen and support agricultural extension staff and other stakeholders on seed production including promoting eextension.• Lack of well-established distribution channels and marketing structure.• Weak market linkages between producer's ad users of seed • Limited seed storage structures.• Lack of information-sharing channels/platforms.• Lack of data on effective seed potato demand for each category of seed potato.• Unregulated potato seed market. It's difficult to differentiate certified and non-certified seeds on the market.• Increase investment for establishing /strengthening marketing and distribution channels for seed potato.• Strengthen the agribusiness and marketing skills of seed potato actors (agro-dealers, distributors processors, extensionists, stockiest, and others).• Strengthen /establish and support a seed potato marketing forum for sharing information on seed demand and supply and providing feedback mechanisms on seed quality.• Promote/increase access to appropriate storage technologies.• Create extensive awareness of the benefits of certified seed potatoes.Access to credit and finance service• Low access to credit and finance for seed potato business development which in turn has led to low investment in sector• Increase access to affordable finance -partners with financial institutions to design and promote affordable financial products tailored to seed potato business.• Strengthen/support seed multipliers to form saving groups for internal funding• Lack of structured, formalized, and centralized seed potato forum for stakeholder engagement and sector coordination: including sharing data and information and joint planning• Low membership of seed potato producers in industry forums (NSAR and Potato Consortium).• Strengthen linkages and collaboration through stakeholder engagement, to guide the sector, mobilize resources, promote synergies, and minimize duplication.• Establish and support a seed potato forum for information management and sharing, stakeholder engagement   2.Potato commercial production in the country's Eastern province is slowly gaining momentum. This area is becoming a food store of the country due to the availability of large parcels of land for agricultural activities making it possible to adopt farm mechanization under irrigation systems. Maize, beans, and soybean farmers and seed producers in the Eastern province have started to adopt potatoes as a rotation crop in their production system. In this regard, there is a need for the development and/or promotion of potato variety adapted to these merging zones to maximize potato productivity and profitability.  Much of the yield gap currently constraining productivity in the country is attributed to poor seed quality.Rwanda currently produces less than 5% of the required disease-free seed potato, creating a substantial seed availability gap of over 95%. Thus a vast majority of potato farmers relies on seed sourced from informal systems, including farmers' on-farm saved seed, tubers from ware potato markets, or neighboring farmers (RAB 2023).Remarkably, even with these low yields, potato farmers currently realize an average of RWF 1,200,000/ha (970 USD/ha) as profit, indicating the high inherent value of the crop (RAB, 2022). This highlights the possibility of a 2-4-fold increase in profit if the sector can overcome its challenges. Doubling yields with ~40% of farmers would result in a 0.4% increase in potato value. Importantly, there is increasing demand for fresh potatoes in the county and from the neighboring countries. A study conducted by Selinawamucii (2023), revealed a substantial demand for potatoes from neighboring countries like Uganda and Tanzania. Currently exports of potato products are minimal, representing less than 1% of total production.Whereas potato is a priority crop under Rwanda's production system, its optimal production is constrained by many challenges: limited supply of quality seed, small and fragmented potato production land, poor market Approximately 90% of potato varieties grown in Rwanda have been developed by RAB with the support of CIP.These varieties are known for their robust traits such as high tuber yield, climate-resilient, resistance to disease and pest, heat and drought tolerance, early maturity and good processing qualities.Combined, the efforts by various organizations over time have improved the potato value chain including expansion of production area, increase in annual tonnage of potatoes produced and increased in number of improved potato varieties available for farmers among others. However, the performance of the potato value chain is still below its optimal in terms of productivity (about 9 t/ha). Much of the yield gap currently constraining productivity in the country is attributed to poor seed quality. The low yields have largely been attributed to high prevalence of seed-borne pests and diseases in seed from informal sector, notably late blight, bacterial wilt, nematodes, and viruses.To The survey was conducted between June -August 2023. The methodology employed incorporated both primary and secondary data collection methods. The major steps undertaken included gathering and reviewing secondary data, conducting interviews, engaging stakeholder consultations, cleaning, processing, data analyzing the data, and report writing, a detailed method used in this study is found in Annex 1.To collect data on the seed potato industry in Rwanda, the following methodologies were employed:Secondary data was collected through a desk review of various documents from different sources, including but not limited to government entities, statistics institutes, international organizations, NGOs, publications, and online resources. The major sources of this documentation included the Ministry of Primary data was gathered through interviews, stakeholder consultations, and focus group discussions (FGDs); interviews targeted seed potato actors like producers, dealers, and ware potato stakeholders (Annex 2 and 3).Individual Interviews: Forty-eight (48) seed potato actors were sampled and interviewed using a questionnaire/survey tool containing different sections depending on the structure and information needed. The various sections in the study tool included: a questionnaire covering areas such as seed categories, production facilities, training, technologies, marketing, financial resources, challenges, and proposed solutions. The seed actors were categorized into 9 groups: Seed producers, Agrodealers, Potato breeders, Researchers, Farmers, Extension agents, Government agencies, Seed companies, Traders, and Processors (Table 3). Sample size calculation was performed following the formula of following the formula of Krejcie and Morgan (1970) with a 95% confidence level.Focus Group Discussions: Five (5) Focus Group Discussions (FGDs-) one in each target district) were conducted using a guiding tool; Annex 4 guide was prepared and used to complement the data collected from interviews. The FGDs gathered seed potato producers, farmers, extensionists, and marketers, with each supply chain actor represented based on its contribution to the supply chain. The FGD guide was designed to collect data related to seed potato performance, gaps, and a well-functioning model to improve the adoption and use of improved seeds. One FGD was organized in each project operating district (Annex 4).Stakeholder Engagement: Thirteen (13) stakeholder consultations were conducted according to roles within the seed potato supply chain using the Key Informant tool, Annex 4. A consultation guide tool outlined data to collect, and key informants shared insights on seed quality, supply trends, policies, institutions, challenges, and opportunities. The roles of key stakeholders consulted, and the information gathered during these consultations are detailed in Table 3.A SWOT analysis of the seed potato value chain involved a wide array of data from participants representing different facets of the seed potato industry in Rwanda. These participants included seed producers, agro-dealers, potato breeders, researchers, farmers, extension agents, government agencies, seed companies, traders, and processors. The SWOT analysis utilized a multi-pronged approach which involved data collection through surveys, interviews, and extensive research, aiming to gather insights from each participant category. The gathered data were subsequently analyzed to identify the internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats influencing the seed potato value chain in Rwanda.The quantitative data collected from individual interviews were analyzed using SPSS and Excel. The qualitative data collected through consultations with various actors across the seed potato supply chain were analyzed using the content analysis technique. All results from the above analyses were triangulated to understand the seed potato quantity needed for each growing season in Rwanda, the current situation of seed potato in Rwanda, and gaps and challenges in the seed potato supply chain. This analysis provided the basis to produce this report and to develop a 5-year seed plan for synchronizing seed potato production of different actors through sector coordination to match the supply and demand of seed potato.  There are several seed potato value chain actors in Rwanda engaged in production of various seed classes starting with pathogen-free invitro plantlets/healthy mother plants form TC laboratories mainly by RAB and a few private sector (INES, UR, Agriseeds) through to certified seed Table 4. Each seed actor plays a critical role along the chain as it moves the seed to the next generation ending with ware potato farmers with RICA providing the mandatory inspection and certification services. There are three seed potato production systems in Rwanda:1) The formal or the legally recognized system that undergoes seed certification by RICA., Certified seed is produced either from minitubers or from healthy mother plants transplanted directly to the field condition often referred to as direct transfer. Public institutions under RAB and private companies are engaged in production of minitubers and mother plants. Registered seed multipliers buy the basic seed from Early generation seed (EGS) producers mainly from RAB and a few private sectors and carries out field multiplication to a certified seed potato class under RICA. Seed classification in the formal system is categorized into four seed generations, Table 5.2) The semiformal seed system is legally recognized and is responsible for producing Quality Declared Seed (QDS) by registered seed multipliers. This usually happens when a registered seed field is downgraded for failing to meet all the requirements for certified seed. Though QDS is not certified, it is seen to be healthier than farmsaved planting material or other sources from the informal market.3) The informal seed system involves farmers using seed from their own farms, from neighbors, from local markets, or from ware potato traders. Unfortunately, the informal seed system is mainly responsible for the low yields due to poor quality planting materials used by farmers. In Rwanda, the public sector dominates early-generation seed (EGS) potato production, while the private sector dominates certified seed potato production. Currently there are five (2 public and 3 private) tissue culture (TC) laboratories in the country used for the production of in vitro plantlets, and RAB is the main producer of in vitro plantlets, with a share of 70% of total plantlets production since 2019.The study showed a low operational capacity for privately owned TC laboratories. For example, the TC laboratories owned by INES-Ruhengeri and Agriseeds African Ltd are currently operating at 13% and 8% capacity, respectively, while the TC laboratory at the University of Rwanda (UR) located at the College of Agriculture, Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (CAVM), Busogo Campus is not functional, Table 6. The plantlets produced in Musanze TC lab are mainly utilized for research, seed production at the station, and sales to the private sector. For example, out of the 1.2 million invitro plantlets, produced during the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 production cycle, only ten percent were used for research, while the majority, 70% were used for seed production at the RAB research stations, and the remaining 20% sold for seed production to private seed producers for seed production (Table 7). These statistics underline the relatively low engagement of private seed multipliers in utilizing in vitro plantlets for minituber production.Thus, there is a need to involve the private sector in seed commercialization, from EGS production to certified seed distribution and marketing. This will free resources at public institutions for breeding research, germplasm varietal maintenance, quality control, knowledge-sharing technology transfer, and consumer protection. Concerted efforts are necessary to increase the capacity of private seed multipliers and encourage their involvement in minitubers production. There is a total of 67 facilities used for minituber production in Rwanda, owned by both the public (7) and private sectors (60). Different seed production systems are used in these screen houses: 5 have adopted sandponics technology, 6 have installed aeroponics systems and the remaining 56 uses conventional methods for minituber production, (Table 8). However, only 46 (69%) of these facilities are currently operational: five sandponics, five aeroponics facilities, and 36 conventional screen houses. The remaining 21 (31%) facilities are nonfunctional. During the face-to-face interviews, the owners of the 21 non-functional screenhouses attributed this to the high cost of inputs, low demand for an unstructured market for minitubers, and a lack of funds for rehabilitation.A gap analysis revealed low productivity along the seed potato value chain from EGS production through to certified seed. The average minituber productivity is 7 and 30 minituber/plantlet under conventional and aeroponics production systems respectively (Table 7). The annual production of minitubers in 2023 year is about 1,024,025 and 1,622,695 minitubers from private and public institutions, respectively (Table 8).This production is below the expected production of 50 minitubers/plantlet under good aeroponics management.Hence there is a need to optimize the production of EGS to close the EGS gap. It is worthwhile to mention that production in aeroponics is dependent on variety. For example, Kirundo produces between 35 and 45 minitubers per plant, while Gikungu produces 25 to 30 minitubers per plant.Similarly, the average production of pre-basic, basic, and certified seed potato as reported by a majority, 88% of 24 seed producers interviewed is 10 tons/ha, 12 tons/ha, and 15 tons/ha, respectively, way below the attainable yield of 20-30 t/ha recorded by some progressive smallholder farmers. The seed producers attributed the low productivity to inefficiency in the seed production systems coupled with inadequate knowledge and skills.Potato Plants for minituber production under the Aeroponic production system (left) and under the Conventional production system (right) at RAB -Musanze Station. Photo credit; Clement Urinzwenimana, 2023Much of the yield gap currently constraining productivity in the country is attributed to poor seed quality. Rwanda currently produces less than 5% of the required disease-free seed potato, creating a substantial seed availability gap of over 95%, Table 8. Thus a vast majority of potato farmers relies on seed sourced from informal systems, including farmers' on-farm saved seed, tubers from ware potato markets, or neighboring farmers (RAB 2023).It is pertinent to note that what is sold in the seed market as \"seed potato\" in most cases is either certified seed, quality declared seed (QDS), or positively selected seed (PS). The study revealed that of the total volume of seed potatoes produced between 2018 and 2023 as per the RAB and RICA annual reports, merely 7% comprises certified seed, while the larger proportion consists of QDS and PS, Table 9 and Figure 3. This indicates that a significant portion of the Early Generation Seed (EGS) is not utilized for certified seed purposes, but rather downgraded to QDS or farmers used it to produce PS seed.While Quality Declared Seed (QDS) holds legal recognition and significantly enhances seed accessibility for farmers, the overarching objective remains to augment the prevalence of certified seed within the country. Certified seed surpasses all quality standards, whereas QDS represents a lower tier of certified seed due to partial compliance with these requirements. Considering that superior seed quality substantially enhances yield potential, the adoption of certified seed is highly commendable.  Both the public and private registered seed potato producers are engaged in various seed categories, from EGS to certified seed. The public sector dominates the production of EGS (in-vitro plantlets and minitubers) through to basic seed potato generation with RAB taking a leading role producing approximately 95% of invitro plantlets and minitubers and the remaining 5% produced by the private sector. In contrast, the private sector which comprise of the local seed companies, cooperatives, and individual seed potato multipliers is solely responsible, 100% for production of certified seed potato. Given that RAB has the national mandate to develop agriculture and animal resources through research, agricultural extension, and animal resources extension there is a need to encourage more private sector involvement in seed potato sector.Private sector led seed potato value chain is expected increase production of EGS and certified seed and provide support on commercialization, distribution, and marketing channels. The current arrangement of having RAB taking the lead in EGS production could limit availability and accessibility of certified seed to all farmers.Seed potato initiatives and intervention -Approximately 40% of the interviewed seed producers stated that they receive external support to enhance their seed potato businesses. Notably, the government has played a significant role in investing in the value chain, collaborating with development partners and international NGOs. Key contributors to this support include AGRA, USAID/Feed the Future, the Netherlands Embassy, CATALYST, and international research institution-International Potato Center (CIP), among others.The support ranged from financial support for establishment of seed production facilities such as screenhouses for minituber production, and storage structures, supply of laboratory consumables and farm inputs, and training/capacity strengthening. Supporting soil remedy practices through supply of lime and availing public land to farmers' cooperatives and private companies for seed production. All these supportive initiatives are directed towards enhancing the availability of high-quality seed potato in Rwanda.Awareness creation -More than 70% of seed potato companies, cooperatives, and associations utilize extension agents to enhance farmers' understanding of the importance of quality seeds. This is achieved by establishing learning farms and/or demonstration plots to showcase the benefits of quality seed potato in combination with good agricultural practices (GAPs).Communication channels -Among the seed potato multipliers interviewed, 68.7% indicated that they receive feedback from their customers, who are primarily ware potato farmers and agro-dealers. The feedback is communicated through diverse channels with phone call, SMS and WhatsApp groups being the topmost communication channel as illustrated in Figure 4. Additionally, farmers visit seed multipliers, engage in meetings, attend training sessions, and provide feedback through radio and TV channels. Production cost -Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) revealed that production costs in the seed potato sector are dynamic due to the price volatility of ware potatoes. According to certified seed multipliers interviewed, starter materials were identified as the most expensive production item, followed by certification costs, agrochemicals, and labor. The average production costs for various seed categories over the past five years are outlined in Table 10.Data from the latest cropping season (2022A) indicated that the benefits of seed potato production increase from Early Generation Seed (EGS) at 0.02 USD per plantlet and peak at certified seed at 0.12 USD per kilogram (Table 10). Farmers are the most important stakeholders in the sustainable development of the seed potato sector. However, 71.6% of ware potato interviewed farmers report to low farmer participation in the designing and implementation of breeding and variety development program. Consultation with key informants indicated that in most cases, the objectives of the breeding program are influenced by government policies or projects resulting in releases of supplydriven varieties that lack alignment with demand-driven varieties. This has drawback effects on the new variety adoption by end-users. A majority of the active seed potato multipliers (75%) procure initial planting materials, including minitubers, prebasic and basic seed from RAB. Nineteen percent (19 %) obtain starter material from fellow seed multipliers, while the remaining 6% procure their starter material from large seed companies such as SOPYRWA, INES, and EGSP-Imbuto.The Rwanda Agriculture Board and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) is the only public institution that currently produces seed potato in the country. There are five RAB stations: Rwerere, Musanze, Gishwati, Tamira, Gakuta, and Nyamagabe, that are located in potato agro-ecological zone and are engaged in the production of both pre-basic and basic seed potato. (Table 11). The total land available for seed potato production in the five RAB stations is 85 ha/ season, but on an annual basis (i.e., for both seasons A and B) though over 100 ha of land is dedicated to seed potato production in the five RAB stations. For example, in 2023, a total of 38 ha was dedicated for pre-basic seed and 50 ha was used for basic seed production for both season A and B (Table 11). Consultation with RAB seed officials indicated that on average produce 380 tons of pre-basic seed potato and 600 tons of basic seed potato per season are produced in the five RAB stations.The RAB stations have leased some land to private seed companies to encourage private sector involvement in seed According to RAB annual reports for 2018-2020 and RICA annual reports for 2021-2020, 37 ha, 182 ha, and 551 ha was dedicated to pre-basic seed potato, basic seed potato, and certified seed potato production, respectively (Table 12). Out of the 31 potato varieties officially released in Rwanda by RICA, only nine varieties are widely adopted and often preferred by both the ware farmers and the consumers. This includes three varieties -Kinigi, Cruza, and Kirundo, released in 1983-1989, and Gikungu, released in 1992 -1996. The adoption of potato varieties newly released in 2019-2020 is on the increase, with five varieties, namely Kerekezo, Ndamira, Nkunganire, Kazeneza, and Twihaze,showing an increasing trend in their preference.According to RAB, the demand for in vitro plantlets for these varieties from RAB, Musanze station by other RAB stations, and private seed multipliers is increasing (Figure 5). The study noted that some of the varieties released in 2020 that were developed by HZPC Holland B.V breeding company and have not yet multiplied in Rwanda. These varieties were mainly released in Rwanda to increase the number of potato varieties with processing quality.During the focus group discussion, seed potato value chain actors listed reasons for low adoption of the recently released varieties. About 80% of the potato farmers ranked low farmer participation during varietal development and performance evaluation as the topmost reason for low adoption rate. Although field trials are conducted in farmers' fields, the farmers and marketers are not engaged from the initial stage of breeding activities. Other reasons are lack of seed systems for some varieties, (e.g. varieties developed by HZPC Holland B.V) and insufficient extension services.The respondents also reported that the market price of ware potatoes from specific varieties positively affects farmers' adoption. Over 80% of ware potato farmers plant varieties with high market prices. For example, Kinigi, Gikungu, Kirundo, Kerekezo and Kazeneza varieties are preferred by many farmers because of their high-quality tubers (21%) and marketability (21%).Cruza variety was reported to be preferred by farmers due to storability (17%), disease resistance (17%), early maturity (13%), multiple shoots (8%), and acidic soil tolerance (4%). Other varieties adopted by farmers include Rwangume, Peko, Rutuku, Rwasaki and Kurusenke farmer selected varieties that are not officially released. RAB should collaborate closely with these farmers to ensure that these farmer-selected varieties are registered, and their seed systems are established. The consultation with RAB showed that the current development of export and processing of potatoes in Rwanda leads to a high demand for varieties with specific attributes such as storability, and high dry matter content.Interviewed ware potato farmers reported that Some of the approaches, used to create awareness on new varieties include demonstration plots, training, farmer field schools, field days, media (radio and TV).The certification process involves field inspection of the seed potato field at various growth stages and at the storage facilities, sampling and testing of soil and tubers, harvesting, sorting and grading into various seed classes, packaging and labeling, distribution, and marketing. According to RICA reports for the fiscal years 2021-2023, the annual average area of seed potato production that was inspected was 231 ha, (Table 13). Out of this, the average area accepted was 181ha, while 50 ha of seed potato was rejected. Notably, the average rejection rate across these fiscal years was 22 %.Despite having received training and in field technical backstopping from RICA seed inspectors 13% of the seed potato multipliers reported having experienced rejection of their seed potato field. Out of these, only 20% attributed the rejections to bacterial and viral disease infections, but the majority, 60%, did not know the reasons for rejections.Notably, 92% of seed potato multipliers respondents are implementing measures to prevent future rejection of their seed potato production fields. Some of the prevention measures listed by the seed multipliers include:i. Engaging an agronomist responsible for quality control,ii. Practicing seed production GAP and pest and disease control.iii. Conducting pre-planting soil testing/analyses, iv. Stringent crop rotation practices, When asked about sustainability of seed supply, the seed multipliers proposed the following interventions in the seed potato sectors:i. Increase the number of potato breeders to develop climate-resilient potato varieties.ii. Increase the number of seed inspectors to ensure timely inspection and certification process.iii. Support the rehabilitation of non-operational screenhouses and/or introduction new RMT Timely access to essential agro-inputs through private sector involvement.iv. Expansion of training programs to strengthen the skills and knowledge of seed potato multipliers in GAP, seed regulations, marketing and business skills.v. Maximize productivity of the EGS facilities through public-private partnership.vi. Introduce subsidy and crop insurance programs to private seed potato actors.vii. Facilitate access to financial credit.viii. Strengthening the capabilities of district chambers of seeds; and ix. Demarcate land dedicated for seed potato production. Seed-potato storage is important in ensuring timely access to quality and well-sprouted seed potatoes, thereby producing stable potato for national food security. Seed storage is essential for maintaining the quality of seed tubers between harvest and the next cropping season. With proper ventilation and appropriate storage conditions, seed tubers can be used for the targeted period with minimized weight reduction and keeping quality. The storability of potato (both ware and seed) is a complex process of avoiding rotting, preventing infestation, and maintaining quality.Seed potato can be cold stored either in an ambient cooling storage facility, in a cold storage facility, or in rustic storage structures such as Diffused light store (DLS) developed by the International Potato Center (CIP). DLS technology is a low-cost storage structure effective in reducing storage losses and results in better quality seeds and the growth of short, robust sprouts instead of long, thin, and weak ones.In Rwanda, all the seed producers have ambient or DLS facilities. However, no small-scale seed multipliers currently has a cold storage facility. Major seed potato companies including Seed Potato Fund Joint Ventures Ltd (SPF-IKIGEGA), EGSP-Imbuto (Early Generation Seed Potato), and \"Project de Développement de la Région du Nord (DERN)\" have seed potato stores in the main potato-producing districts of Gicumbi, Burera, Rulindo, Musanze, Nyabihu, Rubavu, Ngororero, Rutsiro, Karongi, Nyamagabe, and Nyaruguru (Table 14). The individual seed potato multipliers also own seed storage structures, which they use to facilitate seed distribution and sales to other seed potato multipliers and to ware potato farmers in Rwanda.To promote public-private partnership (PPP), MINAGRI transferred its seed storage facility in Musanze, Nyabihu, and Rubavu districts to SPF-Ikigega. There are 55 seed potato stores, including one cold storage facility and 54 Diffused Light Stores (DLS) in the country with a cumulative storage capacity of 8,440 tons of seed potatoes. This extensive network of storage facilities plays a crucial role in the seed potato value chain, ensuring that high-quality seeds are available for agricultural purposes. Regarding the satisfaction levels on the services received from public breeders (RAB/, MINAGRI) and seed inspector (RICA)s, 73% and 94% of seed potato multipliers are satisfied with the services rendered by RAB breeders and RICA seed inspectors, respectively.A majority, (over 80%) of the seed multipliers have good knowledge of RICA's contribution to the quality assurance for seed potatoes, including the measures adopted to mitigate or reduce the occurrence of seed potato field rejections. According to the seed multipliers, technical advice and recommendations provided during seed potato inspections, timely and routine visits by seed inspectors, the traceability of planted seeds, the establishment of comprehensive rules and regulations governing seed potato production in the country, and the training initiatives are some of the most appreciated services offered by RICA.Approximately 47% of the seed multipliers who procure starter material from RAB cited the undersupply of their seed orders as the main challenges they faced, disrupting their plans. Another 46% of the seed multipliers highlighted delays in delivery of their seed orders, and in some cases, seed orders are supplied out of season (Figure 6). These findings underscore the need for seed companies to align their seed potato production schedules with the actual growing season.According to the study, over 60% of seed potato multipliers interviewed are not members of the National Seed Association of Rwanda (NSAR) or Potato Consortium. During Focus group discussions, seed potato multipliers cited several reasons, including a lack of awareness about these associations and platforms due to lack or poor sensitization. Among the seed potato multipliers who are members of NSAR or the Potato Consortium, 45% ranked the timely services offered by the forum as the most influencing factor that determines their willingness to join the forum, (Figure 7).Stakeholders recommend that NSAR and the national seed potato consortium should jointly mobilize funds to improve the services. This will encourage other seed potato producers to join the consortium. A vibrant seed potato value chain is characterized by good coordination with the supply of seed by each group of actors in the chain closely matching the requirements of the next group who uses it. The flow of information on planting dates, quality, quantities, and varietal preferences by ware potato producers is essential for its success.There are several seed potato value chain actors in Rwanda engaged in production of various seed classes starting with pathogen-free invitro plantlets/healthy mother plants from TC laboratories mainly by RAB and a private sector Qualitative data collected from participants representing different facets of the seed potato industry in Rwanda was used to do a SWOT analysis. The participants included seed producers, agro-dealers, potato breeders, researchers, farmers, extension agents, government agencies, seed companies, traders, and processors.The data were analyzed to identify the internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats influencing the seed potato value chain in Rwanda, Table 16. The SWOT analysis sheds light on the key factors that will influence the future trajectory of this essential agricultural sector.The surveyed ware farmers highlighted the considerable obstacle posed by the high cost of seed potato, making it challenge in optimizing their potato productivity. A substantial majority, comprising over 80% of the interviewed ware potato farmers, emphasized the cost linked to procuring high-quality seed potato. An in-depth analysis further reveals that the cost of certified seeds fluctuates between 700 to 800 Frw (equivalent to 0.55 to 0.68 USD).Consequently, a vast majority of smallholder ware potato farmers in the Country end up sourcing low-quality seed potatoes from the informal seed system even when there is adequate of quality seed potato since eth high cost renders them inaccessible to smallholder farmers. A noteworthy observation is that 60% of ware potato farmers engaged in the practice of recycling their farm-produced seed potatoes for subsequent growing season.Unfortunately, these farmers often do not consider the yield penalty of recycling tubers to be high enough compared to the benefits of using certified seed. Thus, for many smallholder farmers, yield and profit gain from using certified seed is masked by lack and limited knowledge of its benefits.  In addition to the prevalent challenges such as the high cost and limited availability of seed potatoes, ware potato farmers identified various other obstacles. Notably, 21% of surveyed ware potato farmers reported a restricted choice of varieties, particularly emphasizing the need for climate-resilient varieties. The high cost of agro-inputs was identified by 13% of respondents, while 12% expressed concerns about delays in seed delivery. Additionally, 8% highlighted a shortage of storage facilities, and 4% pointed out the scarcity of suitable land as challenges affecting their potato farming business, Figure 8. When asked about potential solutions, ware potato farmers interviewed presented the following seed potato interventions: 27% advocated for an increase in the capacity of seed production, 23% emphasized the importance of strengthening the linkages among stakeholders in the potato value chain while 18% prioritized the need for the timely availability of both quality and quantity of seed potato. A similar respondent, 18%, called for the development of climate-resilient potato varieties and region-specific adapted varieties and 14% underscored the significance of capacity building initiatives for ware potato farmers as a key solution.Ware potato marketers interviewed identified key challenges they faced when marketing ware potatoes with 33% expressing concern about the fluctuation of ware potato prices, 27% highlighting the perishable nature of potato tubers, and 20% listed a lack of communication mechanisms among key actors in the potato value chain. Additional challenges reported include low potato production (13%) and a shortage of seed for farmers (7%) as reported by their suppliers, Figure 9.In response to these challenges, ware potato marketers ranked the following interventions -33% of the respondents mentioned the need for consistent supply of ware potatoes from the producers to meet consumers preference, an increase in the quantity and quality of seed (27%), ensuring the full maturity of potatoes before harvesting (20%), promoting inclusive participation in potato forums (13%), while 7% emphasized the need for synchronizing planting schedule with the onset of cropping season. In evaluating satisfaction levels regarding the quantity, quality, and timeliness of seed received by potato farmers, timeliness received the highest ranking, with 60% of respondents expressing satisfaction (Figure 10). However, this finding underscores the necessity for improvement in both the quantity and quality aspects of seed potato production and distribution to meet the desired standards. The initial five-year (2016-2020) national seed production roadmap focused on key priority crops including Irish potatoes (RAB, 2016 Seed Road Map). Formulated in 2015 by RAB/MINAGRI, its primary objective was to tackle the scarcity of high-quality seed potatoes. The ambitious plan aimed to augment production to meet at least 10% of the total seed demand, amounting to 15,574 metric tons, by end of 2017. This target was anticipated to escalate to 25%, equivalent to 125,000 metric tons, by the year 2020. The 25% target was seen as the ideal condition is presupposed that farmers would recycle their own farm-saved seeds for four seasons before acquiring new seeds in the fifth season.Despite some notable achievements during the initial implementation of this seed roadmap, the intended outcomes were not fully realized. Notably, the production and utilization of certified seeds remain suboptimal. Rwanda currently produces less than 5% of the required disease-free seed potato, creating a substantial seed availability gap of over 95%. Much of the yield gap currently constraining productivity in the country is attributed to poor seed quality. The low yields have largely been attributed to high prevalence of seed-borne pests and diseases, notably late blight, bacterial wilt, nematodes, and viruses.The 10% and 25% target for utilization of certified by potato farmers was derived based on the following assumptions:1) The main growing potato Agro-ecological zones are Buberuka highlands (Gicumbi, Burera, and Rulindo districts); Virunga Agro-ecological zone (Musanze, Nyabihu, and Rubavu districts); Congo Nile Watershed divine (Ngororero, Rutsiro, Karongi, Nyamagabe, and Nyaruguru districts).2) The total land under potato cultivation is approximately 84,000 ha, 37,204 ha, 37,809 ha, and 8,638 ha in season A, B, and C, respectively.3) The rate of 2.2 tons of seeds for certified and basic seed production per hectare.4) 42,000 minitubers in pre-basic seed production cover one hectare.5) One Screenhouses accommodates 6,000 in vitro plantlets; and6) The productivity is 15 tons/ha, 12 tons/ha, 10 tons/ha, and 7 minitubers/plant for certified seed, basic seed, pre-basic seed, and minitubers, respectively.7) This estimation was used to determine the needed infrastructures for seed potato production.The existing seed potato gap based on 10% and 25% utilization of certified by potato farmers.Similarly, a gap in the seed potato supply chain remains evident based on 25% of land under potato crop being planted using certified seed, (Table 17). This gap increases from one seed category to next category, reaching its maximum (97.3%) for certified seed. The observed gap in basic seed, pre-basic seed and minitubers current production is estimated at 91%, 75%, and 32%, respectively (Table 17). It is pertinent to highlight that there is currently no discernible deficit in the production of TC plantlets; in fact, there exists a surplus of approximately 32%.The assessment of the requirement and existing resources for the production of certified seed potatoes, covering either 10% or 25% of the total potato-growing land indicates shortfalls in various areas. Specifically, there is a deficit of 1,385 ha, 239 ha, and 43 ha of land, along with a shortage of 33 screen houses dedicated to certified seed, basic seed, pre-basic seed, and minituber production. Notably, there is no deficiency in vitro plantlets, as the available potato tissue culture laboratories exceed the current demand, as outlined in Table 17.However, a significant disparity is observed in the inadequacy of screenhouses for minituber production and the insufficient land dedicated for prebasic, basic, and certified seed production in comparison to the requirement to cover either 10% or 25%. Public facilities at present are incapable of bridging these gaps. Consequently, it is imperative to engage the private sector to address and fill these identified gaps effectively.The comparison of the need and available facilities to produce certified seed potatoes to cover 25% of the total land of potato for one season in main Rwandan potato-growing agro-ecological zones revealed a gap of 1,385 ha, 239 ha, and 43 ha of land and 34 screen houses for certified seed, basic seed, pre-basic seed, and minitubers production, respectively. No gap was noticed in vitro plantlets; the available potato tissue culture laboratories have a substantial capacity compared to the demand (Table 18). However, the screen houses for minitubers production and the land for prebasic, basic, and certified seed production are severely lacking compared to the demand. The current public facilities are insufficient to address these gaps.   This extensive network of storage EGS and storage facilities plays a crucial role in the seed potato value chain, ensuring that high-quality seeds are available for agricultural purposes. Compared to the neighboring countries, Rwanda is leading in the adoption of these seed potato technologies.Similarly, the number of private seed potato multipliers in the country-40 registered comprising of organizations (17.5%), Cooperatives (15%) and individual farmers (67.5%) is a good indicator on the value proposition of seed potato business. Currently the country boasts a surplus production of in vitro plantlets, serving as the foundational material for seed production.However, the study revealed that of the total volume of seed potatoes produced between 2018 and 2023 as per the RAB and RICA annual reports, merely 7% comprises certified seed, while the larger proportion consists of QDS and PS. This indicates that a significant portion of the Early Generation Seed (EGS) is not utilized for certified seed purposes, but rather downgraded to QDS or farmers used it to produce PS seed.These findings have been instrumental in shaping the development of a strategic five-year plan for seed potato production (2024-2028). The primary objective of this plan is to synchronize the efforts of different actors within the seed value chain, fostering coordination to ensure that efficiency along the seed potato production chain to maximize productivity and effectively align with the supply and demand dynamics of the seed potato market. The study unveiled a multitude of factors and challenges that significantly impact the seed potato value chain including but not limited to: to -97%), highlighting significant gaps and loopholes through the chain. Eighty-eight percent of seed producers interviewed reported an average yield of 12 t.ha (average for prebasic, basic and certified seed) way below the attainable yield of 20-30 t/ha recorded by some progressive smallholder farmers and over 40 t.ha at research stations. Ideally seed producers should get higher yields.The lack of adequate knowledge and skills among seed multipliers hampers the adoption of best practices and innovative approaches in seed potato production. For example, over 60% of seed farmers who experienced rejection of seed field did not know the reasons for rejections making it difficult to correct the status. planning and decision-making processes for stakeholders. About half, 47% of the seed multipliers who procure starter material from RAB cited the undersupply of their seed orders as the main challenges they faced, disrupting their plans. Another 46% of the seed multipliers highlighted delays in delivery of their seed orders, and in some cases, seed orders are supplied out of season.Addressing these multifaceted challenges will necessitate coordinated efforts and targeted interventions across the seed potato value chain to foster sustainability, resilience, and competitiveness in the sector.Based on the findings of the seed potato needs assessment, a comprehensive set of recommendations has been developed to effectively address the challenges identified and foster the growth and sustainability of the seed potato industry in Rwanda. These recommendations include: Bolstering pest and disease management, adopting good seed agronomic practices and appropriate input management and promoting appropriate storage facilities among other enhance productivity measures. The focus should be from minituber production upwards as there is currently no gap in the production of invitro plantlets.5. Support Regulatory Framework and Quality Assurance: Establish standards for requirements for quality control for early generation seed (EGS) starting with pthe roduction of iin-vitroplantlets in the tissue culture (TC) laboratory, production of minitubers from screen houses (conventional and aeroponics technology) as well as specific technical regulations to support the enforcement of those standards. To achieve this, there is need to:• Finalize and operationalize the updated seed potato inspection and certification protocols and create extensive awareness of the protocols and benefits of certified seed.• Support regulators to fully enforce seed law and other regulations -providing budgetary and technical support, advocating for required changes in seed potato structure including engaging more seed inspectors.• Streamline the quality assurance services to ensure easy certification services delivery in line with international standards and protocols will significantly improve the competitiveness of seed potato industry.• In addition, a program to build/strengthen the capacity of seed quality assurance staff with reference to ISTA and OECD best practices is a critical intervention.• Mandatory training for all the registered seed multipliers should be rolled out.6. Awareness creation: Most ware potato farmers and marketers lack awareness of newly released varieties that offer high yield potential, disease and pest resistance, climate resilience, and good processing qualities. This low adoption of new varieties leads to missed opportunities for farmers to benefit from genetic gains, resulting in low productivity and farm income from potato cultivation. Despite the potential for seed potato dealers and sector agronomist to bridge this gap by disseminating information to farmers, the study revealed that they lack up-to-date information and technologies accompanying new varieties. To address this issue, it is crucial to provide budget support to RAB and relevant department to assist seed producers, agro-dealers, and sector agronomists in:• Designing promotion messages and delivery models to increase awareness of emerging potato technologies and innovations.• Implementing best practices for setting up and conducting variety demonstrations and field days/open days to showcase the benefits of new crop varieties.• Utilizing local FM and television channels, as well as social media platforms, to deliver messages to a wider audience and enhance outreach efforts.• By employing these strategies, stakeholders can facilitate the adoption of new crop varieties, leading to improved productivity and income for potato farmers.The assessment revealed that local seed potato companies/producers face challenges such as weak institutional and technical capacity, a shortage of skilled personnel, absence of short-and long-term business plans, reliance on government support, inadequate infrastructure for producing quality commercial seeds. Failure to comply with quality assurance standards, and a lack of mechanisms for exchanging information with clients. To address these issues, it is essential to enhance the capacity of these companies/producers by supporting them to:• Develop business and marketing strategies to foster sustainability and growth.• Establish feedback mechanisms to improve communication and address client needs.• Ensure compliance with quality assurance standards to enhance product reliability and trust.• Facilitate exposure to advanced seed companies' managerial systems through exchange visits to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness in the seed business• These will enhance their competitiveness, improve their sales, and contribute to the overall development of the seed industry.The absence of promotion strategies, coupled with high rejection rates of declared seed fields and storage-related damages, highlights a deficiency in knowledge and entrepreneurial skills within the seed potato business ecosystem, including producers, agrodealers, distributors, processors, extensionists, and stockists. The lack of a graduation mechanism and a unified training program further hinders the development of adequate seed potato skills. Consequently, this situation impedes the adoption of seed-related technologies such as GAPs, post-harvest handling, dormancy management, storage, and distribution. To address these challenges and foster a resilient seed system, it is imperative to enhance the capacity of all actors within the seed value chain. This requires the implementation of a harmonized capacity-building program with a graduation mechanism, aimed at improving both technical and operational expertise and skills among seed value chain actors. 9. Digitize seed potato sector: The lack of structured, formalized, and centralized seed potato data and information management systems poses challenges for seed potato actors, as data is scattered across relevant Ministry Departments and private companies/multipliers. This fragmentation hinders collective data management, including collection, analysis, and sharing, which in turn affects awareness of availability, accessibility, and priority investment areas. To address this, support is needed to design and implement a digital system for coordinated data collection, analysis, and sharing. This system will provide accurate insights into the status of seed potato and facilitate informed decision-making for current and future interventions in the seed potato sector.The assessment revealed that most of the seed-related platforms suffer from internal dysfunction due to a lack of operational capacity, low membership coupled with low satisfaction levels by current members, and limited advocacy power; hence these weaknesses result to low participation in seed coordination and planning activities. Adequate support is required to enhance the operational capacity of platforms to play a considerable role in national planning, providing seed related information, and advocating for the members and seed sector. Strengthened platforms will be the key players in creating resilient private-led seed potato industry.The overarching objective remains to augment the prevalence of certified seed within the country. Certified seed surpasses all quality standards, whereas QDS represents a lower tier of certified seed due to partial compliance with these requirements. Considering that superior seed quality substantially enhances yield potential, the adoption of certified seed is highly commendable.12. Actionable five-year seed potato roadmap: Based on the findings of the seed potato need assessment, an We are carrying out a Seed Potato Needs Assessment Study. As an esteemed seed potato stakeholder, your company / business has been selected to participate in this study. Your participation is voluntary. The information we obtain from you will be treated confidentially. We won't record your name; your business' name and your responses will be completely anonymous. We will take precautions to ensure that the information you provide to us is not shared with anyone outside the research team. All information will be stored in password-protected devices.The findings of this study will help us to develop a model for sustainable seed potato supply chain at country-level, synchronizing all steps in the multiplication process considering targets in land availability, seed production tonnage, and quality assurance.You can choose to answer or not answer any questions and you are free to withdraw from further participation in this interview at any time. In case you decline/withdraw, your lack of participation will not have any negative consequence on the activities that are being undertaken by CIP and our partners to improve the potato sector.We would, however, really appreciate your participation and completion of the interview, and your honest answers to the issues we shall discuss. You can ask questions before and during the interview, and if after the interview you have any further questions or complaint about this study, you can directly contact Clement URINZWENIMANA by email (uriclement@gmail.com). When the results of this research are ready, we will send you an invitation to participate in a validation meeting where the findings will be presented, and feedback provided to all participants.The final need assessment report will be shared widely, and it will be freely accessible.The interview will take about 30 minutes to complete.  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"af26795e112aa06dc61de14c8f188855","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a19a94a3-1055-44c1-ac5f-5f1e42841fcc/retrieve","id":"1033260970"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a8f9afcf-9d66-431d-9149-357f9fdcee16","content":"The rearing of the calf starts right after the most suitable sire has been selected and the cow has been fertilized. The correct feeding of the in-calf cow is the right start in rearing the calf.The gestation period of a cow is about 280 days, depending on the breed.Two months before the expected calving date, the cow should be dried off. During the \"dry\" period, the foetus increases its weight considerably (Friesian breed): The last 2 to 4 weeks before the expected calving date, the cow should be given a \"steaming\" treatment (the practice of commencing to feed extra rations, especially of grain and concentrates, to late pregnant cows in an attempt to promote maximum milk production from the very beginning of the lactation. Feeding usually commences about 4 weeks before the due date).As calving time comes near, the ligaments around the tail head and pelvis relax and sink. The vulva swells and mucus discharge is common. The udder becomes rapidly bigger (fuller) and udder oedema (swelling) may develop. Shortly before birth the uterus begins contracting, mildly at first. This may go on for as long as 24 hrs (average about 4 hrs), during which time the cow becomes increasingly restless.The foetus is pushed against the cervix causing it to open. Also during this time the foetus assumes its birth position, lying on its stomach with the forelegs extended and the head resting on them. Powerful contractions of the uterus begin and these are supported by voluntary contractions of the stomach muscles. The result is that the foetus is pushed through the birth channel within a few hours, under normal conditions. As the calf's head passes down the vulva, it curves downwards. This helps the rest of the calf pass through the pelvis more easily. In its normal birth position the calf assumes its smallest diameter. This is necessary to make the birth possible without too many difficulties. As a rule the calf will be born within an hour after the front begins to show in the vulva.If the calf has not been born after an hour or two, an examination should be made. If the calf is in its normal birth position some assistance may be given by pulling a rope that has been attached carefully to the forelegs.Always pull downwards in the direction of the udder rather than straight out of the cow. Pull only when the cow strains and do it in a careful way. Before giving assistance, clean water with a disinfectant (e.g. detol) should be used to wash the vulva and surroundings area. The person given assistance should clean his hands and arms thoroughly. Also the pulling rope should be disinfected.Abnormal positions of the calf occur sometimes. Veterinary assistance may be needed then. Some abnormal positions include:• only one front feet protrudes• the forelegs appear but without the head• the hind legs appear first• the tail appears first.In these cases the calf must be repositioned most of the times before it can be delivered.Other abnormalities that can occur during parturition include:• uterus contractions are not strong enough• foetus is too big; in this case surgery (caesarean) may be necessary to deliver the calf.In normal delivery the foetal membranes usually rupture about the time the forelegs pass through the vulva.Normally the calf is delivered free of the foetal membranes, which are still tightly attached to the placenta to assure a good oxygen supply to the calf during birth. The umbilicalThe in-calf cow ILRI Pakistan Factsheet 5 July 2015cord (navel cord) usually breaks when the calf passes through the vulva. At this time the calf must start breathing since it can no longer obtain oxygen from the mother.After birth, oxygen is the first requirement for survival. Make certain that the nostrils are free of membranes and fluids. Breathing can be stimulated by blowing air into the nose or by tickling the nasal cavity with a straw. This can make the animal sneeze thus cleaning the nostrils. After birth the calf must receive colostrum as soon as possible (at least within two hours after birth)After the calf is born, uterine contractions continue which free the foetal membranes from the uterus and expel them. This is the afterbirth. It should be disposed of as soon as it is expelled. If the afterbirth is not expelled within 12 hours after parturition, it is considered retained.When the placenta is retained and the cow is sluggish, has a poor appetite and appears to be sick, veterinary attention is needed. When the cow is eating and behaving normally, most of the times a bolus (antibiotics) is placed in the cervix. Normally the afterbirth will come off a few days later. It is bad practice to remove the afterbirth with force.The afterbirth is never removed completely in this case and serious damage to the uterus may be done resulting in sterility of the cow.Some fluid, containing blood and bits of tissue are usually found in the uterus after calving. This fluid is normally expelled during the first days after calving.This does not necessarily mean there is an infection. However uterine infections do occur regularly after calving.A good indication of the beginning of an infection is the odour of the discharge. The bloody discharge that occurs the first days after calving should not have a strong, foul smell. If there is a foul smell and pus, prompt attention is needed. Treatment is possible by placing an antibiotic (bolus) in the cervix.One day before calving, the cow should be brought into a disinfected, hygienic calving box (remember that a large paddock is much better than an infected, dirty calving box!)• sometime before birth the udder starts swelling (1-2 weeks)• about 12 hours before birth, the body temperature of the cow will go down a little "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6ff7e659095fcb65908e1b9095ad6e29","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1f0ea991-21d5-4225-b083-3ae995b957b9/retrieve","id":"1433205263"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0259cd30-bbb4-4ef7-b4e6-d5ef4ab76556","content":"It is abundantly clear that the threat of water insecurity, and the dangers it holds for people, economies and ecosystems, is coming into increasingly sharp focus. Changing risks of extreme precipitation, destructive floods, drought and aridification are apparent across many parts of the world, and not just from global datasets and the scientific literature, or the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, but in bold-faced media headlines and urgent appeals for action and investment.It is encouraging that, in spite of the alarm bells ringing for water security, IWMI has made successful steps forward in ensuring it is able to better support responses in the communities and countries where the Institute works, and better contribute to the partnerships that are critical to transforming water systems.At the global level, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2021, IWMI joined more than 30 partners at the first-ever Water and Climate Pavilion to communicate a clear and urgent message to climate negotiators, partners across sectors, investors, businesses and funders: Transforming water systems to build water security is central to climate action and must serve as the foundation for a climate-resilient future.With this message resonating in Glasgow and with stakeholders at national, regional and global levels -and in preparation for the United Nations Water Conference to be held in March 2023 -the challenges motivating the IWMI Board of Governors and staff are clear: How do we deliver water security for the most vulnerable people? How do we use action on water security to adapt to climate change, build food system resilience, and advance gender equality and inclusion? How do we come together across nations, sectors, partnerships -and, indeed, research domainsto build water security as the climate changes?As this report demonstrates, IWMI makes a unique contribution to meeting these challenges. As the world's only international organization dedicated to conducting research on water management, IWMI's work builds on a rich, almost 40-year legacy of research, innovation and learning. In 2021, we marked the end of the IWMI-led CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE), and showcased results that will guide water-sensitive, sustainable economic development for years to come, and help to create a more climate-resilient and environmentally secure future for communities around the world. IWMI's Strategy 2019-2023 has proved to be a vital guide to the Institute's organizational development in the challenging and rapidly evolving global context we face. In 2021, we launched a series of new partnerships and projects, while continuing to develop IWMI's contributions to the ongoing reform of CGIAR. This reform -known as One CGIAR -is deepening the integration of governance and management across the CGIAR system, while broadening CGIAR's mission to embrace science and innovation to advance the transformation of food, land, and water systems and support climate action. Amidst such change, we ended the year on a growth footing -financially stable with a growing bilateral portfolio and strongly positioned in the emerging new cross-CGIAR Research Initiatives.With the support of our Board of Governors, we took steps to ensure that IWMI's vision for a water-secure world became more firmly embedded within the mission of One CGIAR as its transformation evolves. In doing so, our goal is to promote synergies across CGIAR and coordination of CGIAR's water-related research and programming in the years ahead.Alongside our contributions to One CGIAR, we are putting in place stronger, more strategic partnerships that we hope will strengthen the global institutional architecture for water. We are exploring a strategic alliance with the Global Water Partnership to use our clear complementarities to create joint programs to advance SDG 6 and the vision we share of a water-secure world. We also put in place the foundations for a new partnership platform, the 'Alliance for a Water-Secure World', with the goal of catalyzing investments in major new programs and partnerships for water security.As we reflect on 2021, we are deeply thankful to our staff, partners, IWMI's host government in Sri Lanka and our host communities around the world for their shared commitment and solidarity in weathering and navigating yet another year of the Covid-19 pandemic. While vaccines played a vital role in keeping the virus at bay, it was our collective endurance, resilience and resolve that made possible the progress and results featured in this report.We recognize that IWMI's many achievements in 2021 reflect extraordinary effort across the Institute, and we are enormously grateful to all IWMI staff for the exceptional hard work and dedication that made this possible.We invite you to learn more about our work in this annual report, which profiles some of IWMI's most impactful projects and shines a spotlight on our global engagement. As you will see, our vision for -and our determination to achieve -a water-secure world remains resolute and unchanged. Dr. Aditi Mukherji, Principal Researcher, IWMI, was a Coordinating Lead Author of the Water Chapter of Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). She was also part of the core writing team of the AR6 Synthesis Report. In 2021, IWMI hosted a webinar to present the findings of the IPCC AR6 Working Group 1 Report, and to discuss the implications of the latest climate change findings on Asia and Africa, where IWMI has been developing and implementing water management solutions to improve climate resilience. IWMI contributions to the IPCC reports are crucial to translating climate science into effective, comprehensive policy. Working Group II's Water Chapter was released in early 2022.Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) led regional (in Southern Africa and Central Asia) and national (in Pakistan and Egypt) Independent Dialogues, and participated in pre-Summit events centered around the links between water and food. These dialogues helped identify local challenges and solutions to ensure a sustainable water supply to local and regional food systems. The dialogues focused on ways to sustainably transform food systems, while promoting inclusion and equity within the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus, and protecting ecosystems. Insights from these Independent Dialogues fed into the UN-Water-led global dialogue titled Water: The game changer for food systems and helped shape the UNFSS agenda.   Major trends shaping IWMI's strategic and operational context in 2021Water, Growth and InclusionSmallholder farmers produce at least one third of the global food supply. However, in developing countries, 80% of these farmers live in water-scarce regions, despite being the main source of food production.In 2021, the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted food distribution channels, led to layoffs, restricted physical access to food markets, slowed transport, and diminished the capacity of institutions that support social safety nets for food security. Inclusion strategies are now a growing focus of development solutions, and gender empowerment is becoming more urgent in development solutions worldwide.Despite the global mobility limits which resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2021 World Migration Report revealed a dramatic increase in internal displacement due to disasters, conflict and violence. Although remittances dropped slightly in 2020, the number of international migrants continued to increase the following year, especially in Europe and Asia. Migration continues to be a major factor in development and change.Almost half of the world's population still has no access to the internet. This digital divide predominantly impacts women, rural populations and vulnerable communities living in developing regions of the world, where fewer than one in five people are connected to a mobile or internet network.Knowledge gaps, including the lack of data on water services, and the fragmentation of water science data, are slowing the implementation of comprehensive policy solutions. Nevertheless, new initiatives to render data and the internet more accessible have reached unprecedented numbers.Photo: Muhammad Usman Ghani / IWMIWater, Food and EcosystemsConnecting producers to markets with farmer-led irrigation development:Harnessing the power of water and energy for foodThe benefits of solar-based irrigation have long been recognized in countries where there is low access to the power grid. Once assessments of groundwater conditions show that increased irrigation can be achieved in a sustainable manner, next steps involve getting the right technologies to the right clients. This is often complicated by weak supply chains, high costs and a poor understanding of local market needs. IWMI is working to better scale the use of solar-based irrigation and as a result help strengthen food security and climate change resilience.A recent IWMI study suggests that solar photovoltaic pumps offer an economically and environmentally sustainable alternative to fossil fuel pumps. Private sector companies are eager to capitalize on this potential by expanding the market for small-scale solar-based irrigation. For these companies, serving small-scale irrigators, who have traditionally been perceived as high risk, can be profitable if the right business models are applied. However, the use of solar-based irrigation remains limited. IWMI and partners are working on new approaches to expand farmers' access to solar-based irrigation that are appropriate in cost and scale.With the abundance of sunshine in Ghana, solar-based irrigation offers smallholder farmers a promising alternative -but only if they can afford the initial investment. IWMI and its private sector partners co-developed and evaluated three possible business models that could address how farmers in Ghana's Northern Region can cope with the high upfront costs of buying a pump.In the first model, farmers purchase solar-powered pumps to access water for irrigation and other needs such as livestock watering, home gardening and domestic uses. Farmers can also sell water to neighbors. To make the pumps more affordable for this model of outright purchase, Pumptech Limited, a distributor of solar pumps manufactured by the German company LORENTZ, offers a pay-as-you-own credit scheme. This allows farmers to use the equipment while making regular payments until the total cost of the pump is paid off. Payments may be monthly, quarterly or scheduled around harvest times when cash flow is highest.The second model is an alternative to individual ownership -a shared model where a group of farmers jointly own a solar-based irrigation system. Group members share the costs and risks as well as the benefits. For the model to work, the group must be cohesive, with clear rules on water-sharing mechanisms, maintenance responsibility, financial management and conflict resolution.Under a third model, the solar system is owned, operated and maintained by a supplier or other third party. With the help of low-cost loans, partial grants and other financial incentives, entrepreneurs own and operate solar systems that provide irrigation water services to farmers for a fee. Entrepreneurs then use the fees from water sales to repay the loan.Data-driven tools are helping solar irrigation companies target their products and services to the right people, in the right way.Making innovative water management and irrigation technologies available to farmers on a massive scale is crucial if we are to meet growing food demands and respond to climate change impacts. However, scaling efforts often fall short because they do not sufficiently consider the factors that determine whether a farmer will adopt these technologies. Solar irrigation companies can target their products and services by identifying and segmenting customer groups.IWMI has been working to customize solar suitability maps to enable companies to identify where their marketing efforts should be directed. These maps pinpoint areas where smallholder farmers can invest in solar irrigation without depleting water resources. IWMI has refined the mapping framework to produce an online interactive tool for all of Africa.IWMI has been working with solar manufacturing and distribution companies to demonstrate how the maps and tools can be customized and incorporated into companies' sales zoning and marketing strategies. One of these companies, PEG Africa, used the maps to identify areas with the highest potential for its pumps, based on water resource type and depth, and adapted its marketing strategy to focus on these areas. In Mali, IWMI has been initiating customized solar mapping with other companies.A new toolkit assists in systemic, adaptive scaling of farmer-led irrigationEfforts to scale solar irrigation can often fall short because they do not sufficiently consider the complex realities of 'softer elements' such as people, supply chains, markets, policies and power relations.In collaboration with the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Small-Scale Irrigation (ILSSI) and the Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) projects, IWMI developed a toolkit to operationalize agricultural innovation scaling processes as an integral part of a systemic and adaptive approach to innovation.The toolkit includes tools for enabling environment analysis, solar suitability mapping, engaging and matching to form the scaling partnership, market segmentation, client assessment, demand-supply linkages, multi-stakeholder dialogues, and private-sector-driven capacity development.Aimed at implementers and private sector entities, the toolkit guides users in designing and facilitating partnerships and investments in scaling solar-based irrigation. For example, the enabling environment analysis tool guides a series of structured steps that lead to a clear understanding of the sets of policies, informal institutions, support services and other conditions that are important for irrigation systems. Based on a list of suggested questions, the analysis produces a country-specific report containing the information necessary to make recommendations for policy, successful scaling programs, and alternative scenarios to scale water solutions.The tool was developed in tandem with the World Bank publication titled The Farmer-led Irrigation Development Guide: A What, Why and How-to for Intervention Design.Farmer-led irrigation development (FLID) -in which farmers take the lead in establishing, managing and improving irrigated agriculture -is widespread, but FLID growth is constrained and inclusion is limited. There is significant potential for interventions to catalyze FLID processes, and thereby transform food and water security and promote sustainable livelihoods. Solar irrigation could be a possible game-changer in FLID, and now with IWMI's new toolkit, implementors can be deployed in a faster and smarter way.Measuring environmental flows at global and regional scalesIt's all about balance and trade-offs. Natural ecosystems need water to survive and thrive, but people are dependent on ecosystems and water for agriculture, drinking and many other purposes. When water resources are limited, how do you make these resources available to communities while protecting biodiversity and the environment at the same time?IWMI is pioneering new approaches to determining environmental flows (e-flows). E-flows are the quantity, timing and quality of water flows required to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems and the human livelihoods and well-being that depend on these ecosystems. E-flows seek to strike a balance between water resources development and the protection of freshwater-dependent ecosystems. They tell us how much water we can use and how much we need to leave in the ecosystems.Recognizing the importance of e-flows, the United Nations created Indicator 6.4.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to track how much freshwater is being withdrawn by all economic activities, compared to the total renewable freshwater resources available. Indicator 6.4.2 is a measure of water stress at national level. It takes into account e-flow requirements as a measure of how much water should be left in ecosystems.IWMI developed an online, publicly available, interactive tool called the 'Global Environmental Flow Information System (GEFIS)'. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) adopted GEFIS as the official global tool so that countries can insert the e-flow estimations into the water stress formula within the framework of the SDG.In 2021, IWMI and FAO published a guideline on how to make use of GEFIS for SDG reporting. IWMI has now drafted two more reports which will substantiallyassist FAO in their use of GEFIS for SDG reporting. One report provides guidance on the measurement of the Environmental Management Class, making e-flows locally reflective of environmental conditions, while the other report deals with the contribution of groundwater to e-flows.From global to regional GEFIS is a valuable tool at a global level, but needs to be paired with tools that take into consideration local nuances and accurately incorporate local ecological conditions, making the estimation of e-flows much more meaningful.As part of the Resilient Waters project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), IWMI is working with partners in the Limpopo River Basin of Southern Africa to provide the necessary data to secure e-flows. The project is helping to provide a framework that will enable communities and ecosystems become more resilient to changes in streamflow.The rural communities of the Limpopo River Basin are highly vulnerable to any adverse impacts caused by climate change and excessive upstream water use. The basin has a high diversity of endemic and unique aquatic biota and important ecosystem processes that help to support more than 14 million people who live in the basin and depend on its resources. The water resources of the basin are limited and overused.IWMI scientists and partners conducted a risk assessment for the basin using the PROBFLO method, a holistic e-flow assessment tool that incorporates regional-scale ecological risk assessment methods in a robust, tested approach to determine e-flows with high confidence.It helps scientists evaluate the social and ecological consequences of altered flows at multiple spatial scales.The IWMI team described the relationship between river flows and the river ecosystem, and quantified the flows necessary to keep the ecosystem in its present or better condition. The study found that the percentages of total water required to protect e-flows vary considerably, ranging from 49% in some of the smaller upstream tributaries to only 16% in the lower reaches of the river.The IWMI team also highlighted the risk to ecosystem services provided by the basin when flows are altered. If e-flows were implemented, the condition of the river would be significantly improved, even though the overall e-flow is substantially less than the total present-day flow. Timing is key as e-flows can contribute to flows during the dry season when, at present, the river stops flowing in many places due to upstream abstractions. As a result, the risks to users of the ecosystem would be reduced in many parts of the basin. Local vulnerable communities would benefit from e-flows and be more resilient to climate shocks.Researchers acknowledge that there are socioeconomic costs associated with the implementation of e-flows in the Limpopo River Basin. However, the multiple benefits, and the long-term costs of operating the system in an unsustainable state, will outweigh any immediate costs of protecting the ecosystem.Strengthening resilience in the face of future droughtsDroughts are a natural part of the water cycle and, across time, have always challenged human civilization. Since humans first started recording climate trends, drastic drops in precipitation levels and arid cycles, which on average last around 300 years, have forced populations to move or adapt. However, today, the rising frequency, severity and unpredictability of droughts are impacting food and nutrition security for one in three people around the world who are already subjected to water scarcity of some form and therefore even more widely impacted.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports, with high confidence, that the likelihood of drought is projected to increase in many regions over the 21st century, even with strong climate change mitigation interventions in place. This increase is expected to be even more severe if no action is taken to avert the climate crisis.It has now been proven that climate change will not only induce more intense drought events, but also make them harder to predict. For decades, scientists have been able to rely on the past as a guide to plan for the future, but that is no longer possible. Scientists are now armed with new technologies such as map-based monitoring and early warning systems to help decision makers take timely action to manage drought.IWMI's work on drought is based on three pillars of integrated drought risk management centered around interconnected, multidisciplinary and multi-institutional activities. These pillars are (1) developing drought monitoring and early warning systems; (2) conducting impact and vulnerability assessments; and (3) elevating the importance of drought mitigation, preparedness and response.Each pillar is fundamental in promoting proactive drought management measures. The pillars are dependent on one another and essential to strengthening drought resilience.Tackling drought in the world's most water-stressed regionThe Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is the driest in the world with only 2% of the planet's renewable water supplies. It is home to 12 of the world's most water-scarce countries. Soaring temperatures and evaporation rates, in addition to decreases in precipitation across the region, are creating extreme challenges to water and food security. At the heart of the MENAdrought project was the development of an interactive map by IWMI researchers that shows satellite data on rainfall, land surface temperature, soil moisture and vegetation health -all compiled into an enhanced Composite Drought Index (eCDI). The color-coded maps allow decision makers to quickly identify an emerging drought, even before its effects can be seen on the ground. National partners are involved in the entire process, making use of satellite data to direct early mitigation efforts to the areas in greatest need, and helping stave off some of the more severe impacts of drought. For example, partners in Morocco are able to review monthly drought maps which are produced within eight days of the new month. These maps are publicly available to universities and policymakers. In Jordan, the government also uses maps to track drought and make payments to the farmers affected, while in Lebanon, the Ministry of Energy and Water works with MENAdrought to forecast droughts and better plan its responses.Like the MENA region, Afghanistan also suffers from unpredictable water scarcity. In 2018, the worst drought in a decade prompted the Government of Afghanistan to launch its Early Warning, Early Finance and Early Action Project. The AF-DEWS tool has been online since 2020, providing weekly updates of rainfall and temperature forecasts for a four-week period. In addition to forecasts, drought indicators are also given for specific locations, so that steps can be taken to minimize risks.With the incidence of severe drought on the rise, governments must provide faster and better-targeted resilience-building and relief measures. By using satellite images and remote measures of ground vegetation to assess the extent of the drought, IWMI developed the South Asia Drought Monitoring System (SADMS), an index that integrates information on vegetation, soil moisture and temperature. In 2020, IWMI received the Geospatial World Excellence Award 2020 for its development of SADMS.SADMS provides a weekly map of drought conditions in South Asia. Numerous drought indices, including the Integrated Drought Severity Index, Standardized Precipitation Index and Soil Moisture Index, have been developed to provide advanced drought monitoring and assessment information. In tandem, these indices not only paint an accurate picture of any particular drought episode, but also provide invaluable content for decisionmaking and application.The satellite data underpinning SADMS is used to identify conditions of various stages of drought and levels of soil moisture. The system has three components: monitoring and forecasting; vulnerability and impact assessment; and mitigation and response planning through drought contingency plans.The vulnerability and impact assessment component of SADMS helps authorities to assess risks and vulnerability before droughts occur.IWMI and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) have shared these weekly drought maps with agricultural extension services and state authorities. These maps assist with the preparation of drought contingency plans which help farmers manage drought risks and access insurance payouts.IWMI's work in the MENA region, Afghanistan and South Asia paves the way to improved drought monitoring in other parts of the world struggling with water scarcity.Drought is now becoming an important part of national and regional development planning in many droughtaffected regions, and is being recognized as a chronic problem rather than a series of ad hoc emergencies. IWMI's work is vital because proactive drought management to help nations deal with the devastating impacts of drought and build resilience is less expensive than crisis-led responses, it helps prevent these debilitating damages and casualties from happening, and because accurate forecasting models at scale are essential for better planning and preparedness.Natural disasters such as floods and droughts are not selective in who they target. However, it is the marginalized and vulnerable people who suffer the most when natural disasters decimate their livelihoods. These disasters are now occurring with increasing frequency, so IWMI has been working to make Weather Index Insurance (WII) broadly available among affected farmers in Sri Lanka to ensure they are properly compensated in the event of losses.In theory, WII can increase the ability of vulnerable farmers to recover financially from climate shocks with the compensation they receive, enabling them to resume cultivation in the following season. Using mainly satellite images to help predict damage and assess losses, WII facilitates faster compensation payouts to farmers by avoiding time-consuming verification of the damage caused at field level. This can result in low transaction costs and allow WII to be more affordable for smallholder farmers. When bundled with agricultural inputs and crop/climate advisory services, such as weekly rainfall forecasts and advisory on crop management practices, WII can expand the potential reach of insurance coverage to remote areas previously considered uninsurable.However, in practice, WII programs struggle to attract the people most in need of protection, particularly marginalized women and men. Reaching remote and diverse communities with technically complex index insurance products is an enormous challenge.Social and cultural divisions, combined with illiteracy and the lack of information and awareness about WII and its benefits, mean that small and marginal farmers that need support the most are often the first to be left out of WII schemes. These challenges can be compounded if the resources and time required to explain the complicated technicalities of WII to farmers and assist them to meet the eligibility criteria are not available. If those who need WII the most are not enlisted, existing inequalities will be Photo: Samurdhi Ranasinghe / IWMI reinforced and opportunities to promote pro-poor and gender-sensitive development will be missed.There are other vulnerable and socially underprivileged groups in Sri Lanka that have not benefitted from WII.Traditional norms favor men's privileges, resulting in additional constraints to women's equitable access to land and capital. These challenges are in fact similar across much of the developing world.Sri Lankan farmers emphasized that before adopting WII packages, they need to be able to assess the costs and benefits based on understanding how key elements of the product work. This highlights the importance of investing in awareness raising through a combination of print, verbal and visual tools that make complex products understandable to stakeholders with low levels of literacy.IWMI researchers assessed the effectiveness of WII bundled with real-time climate and agronomic advisory services provided to farmers in Sri Lanka via mobile phones. The study concluded that partnering with local organizations can be a cost-effective way of gaining the social science skills and local networks needed to engage with target communities. Such partners can bring prior knowledge of community structures and political economies, and the requisite skill sets and trust of people to the process.In response to the need to address the challenges posed by complex social contexts to include the most vulnerable farmers, IWMI has developed a framework which provides a road map that allows different stakeholders involved in all stages of developing and implementing WII schemes to address issues of inclusion in a systematic way. This framework takes a process-oriented approach that ensures actions supporting inclusion and equity run through the entire process of WII design, implementation and post-implementation. It further recognizes that inclusion and equity considerations should dictate who is involved in WII design and implementation.IWMI held dialogues on actions to improve inclusion in WII with government representatives, insurers, practitioners, academics and civil society representatives mainly within the South Asia region. The dialogues and IWMI's fieldwork highlighted that meaningful actions to enhance social inclusion will have to overcome several structural and system barriers.Government policy and rules now need to be developed that can clarify the potential multiple policy objectives of WII and set standards (e.g., equity) to be met by future WII programs.IWMI remains committed to moving this agenda forward and has closely collaborated with other CGIAR Research Centers. A community of CGIAR scientists will provide advice to the CGIAR Research Initiatives that have WII components. This will help ensure the initiatives address the nuances in WII that will set examples of how more inclusion of the particularly vulnerable can be created in these programs.Photo: Nabin Baral / IWMIWater security without gender equality will not workFor decades, IWMI's research has shown that we will not be able to achieve key development goals unless water systems investments, innovations and interventions support gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), especially in rural areas. As the multiple challenges of food, land and water systems sustainability converge, combining innovation with gender equality is a must to ensure systems deliver key benefits over time.In a project supported by Water for Women and Australian Aid, IWMI has explored how gender relationships and power dynamics influence the sustainability and functionality of domestic water supply systems in Nepal.Despite having the responsibility for ensuring household water supply, women usually do not have substantial decision-making power in the design, operation and maintenance of water supply systems.Nepal has shifted to a decentralized framework of governance and has used a GESI approach to ensure 40% representation of women across federal, district and local governance levels. Nevertheless, IWMI's research in Nepal shows that beyond their representation, much remains to be done to achieve effective engagement of women in water and sanitation governance. Attitudes and mindsets have not changed, and elected male leaders perceive women's representation to be tokenistic. Women who have been elected as representatives are invited to attend meetings, but their voices are rarely heard.Research conducted by IWMI in the rural municipality of Gurans in Dailekh district highlighted the challenges to transformative change. It revealed that before women can have greater representation, there must be stronger coalitions and coordination of women leaders to enable a more collective presence, voice and agency.Photo: ICRAF Building up women's collective power over community water security will play a central role in ensuring future system sustainability and, ultimately, the resilience of rural communities affected by the climate emergency.More than 2.2 million South Sudanese have fled their homes in recent conflicts and live as refugees in Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya and Uganda. Many carried seeds, including okra, with them as they escaped their home areas. Okra is a nutritious part of their diets and culturally important in maintaining a sense of food and identity. However, settlements and camps where the refugees find sanctuary are frequently in areas where the soils are poor and water for cultivation is limited.IWMI and World Agroforestry (ICRAF) are leading a resource recovery and reuse project to support households in the reuse of domestic wastewater on new home gardens in six refugee settlements and their surrounding host communities in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. In the Rhino Camp of northern Uganda, for example, refugee households can generate 14 liters per person per day of greywater, which is sufficient to keep a small okra patch thriving during the dry season.This project underscores how water reuse has the potential to address the intimately connected issues of gender, food and nutrition in complex refugee situations. With these communities consisting largely of refugee women and children from many cultural backgrounds, our work pays particular attention to ensuring a genderresponsive approach across the project life cycle. Lessons learned on the dynamics of gender integration in displaced and vulnerable communities have resulted in a gender integration approach that can be applied across diverse programs.IWMI implements the ReWater MENA project in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to support safe water reuse practices that can improve food safety, health and livelihoods. As more farmers rely on water reuse for irrigation, there is an alarming inconsistency in the quality of treated drainage water. The gendered implications of these challenges remain poorly understood.Gender-based social norms in the MENA region exclude women from water governance, management and decision-making processes. In collaboration with Jordan's Royal Scientific Society, the project conducted focus group discussions in Iraq al-Amir, in the North Jordan Valley. These discussions assessed the attitudes, perceptions, beliefs and experiences of both women and men regarding treated wastewater reuse. During the dialogues, women expressed a clear need and interest to be more effectively engaged in wastewater access, use and decision-making.Building on these findings, in Jordan, ReWater MENA is working with partners to improve women's access to essential information, including procedures and protocols for wastewater reuse. The project is exploring new ways of employing women in the water reuse and sanitation sectors. This opens opportunities for women to be part of identifying and deciding on appropriate water reuse options, and ensuring full compliance with reuse rules in order to protect themselves, their households and the environment.ReWater MENA, with support from the CGIAR GENDER Platform, also conducted research in Kafr El Sheikh, Egypt, to analyze the gender-power dynamics at the tail end of irrigation networks. Focus group discussions and in-depth case studies demonstrated how an increase in women's work in irrigated agriculture enables persistence of patriarchal structures including control over access to resources. The case studies document how landless women use water reuse practices to irrigate fields through sharecropping arrangements. Yet, the women rarely make any profits, are excluded from water decision-making, and are exposed to multiple health risks.The case studies recommend more inclusive irrigation practices, which put the health, social and well-being of the poorest groups of farmers at the heart of new investments, innovations and interventions. This recommendation aligns with the current national initiative Haya Karima, which recognizes the need to put human well-being, dignity and the rights of Egyptian citizens above all other goals.IWMI places gender equality and the empowerment of women center stage in transforming lives and livelihoods. We see gender equality and long-term water security as intimately connected -one is not possible without the other. Working closely with local partners, the findings of our research will continue to push for actions that lead to truly gender transformative change.IWMI Annual Report 2021Hybrid water law for historical justice in South AfricaThough apartheid in South Africa officially ended in 1994, vestiges still remain. Despite some post-apartheid water laws, the distribution of water resources remains highly unequal. IWMI is working with partners to identify options that can help decolonize statutory water law through a hybrid approach, finally helping those 90% of small users to get their equitable water share.Injustices due to the existence of dual, race-based legal systems were painfully visible during apartheid. A tiny minority grabbed the best land and water resources.In 1994, the new democratic state made discrimination illegal, while South Africa's government proposed new water policies and laws to achieve racial and gender justice.The National Water Act (NWA) of 1998 strived for a progressive, distributive approach to water but its interpretation and implementation have actually created greater inequalities. Under the NWA, water uses that were lawful under earlier legal regimes could remain as 'Existing Lawful Uses' (ELUs), a clause that powerful white users administratively exploited by hoarding such entitlements. After 1998, anyone wanting new access to water needed to obtain a permit.The second-class collective ELUs in former homelands have not been elevated yet. Because the needs of smallscale users have not yet been recognized as ELUs, they still have to apply for a permit to legally gain access to water resources. For post-1998 users, the process of getting permits is often costly, lengthy and bureaucratic for smallscale users. These users are then criminalized without a permit. Micro-scale water users are exempted from the obligation to apply for a permit but are then marginalized because exempted uses have a weaker legal standing than permitted water uses.The most common point of contention in South Africa regards the monetary value of water entitlements. Highimpact users have used ELUs, gained through racist laws, to claim high monetary values when transferring entitlements to this public resource to other users (as water trade) or through surrendering to the government (for compensation).Photo: Graeme Williams / IWMINow there is a path to ensuring historical justice in South Africa. For countless generations, living customary water rights regimes have governed water rights for millions of small-scale and micro-scale users in Africa's informal rural economies.IWMI is working with South African partners to encourage the use of 'hybrid water law', which is a suite of legal tools that are fit-for-purpose in different contexts across the African continent. Hybrid water law aligns legal tools from statutory law with customary legal systems. It combines state-managed and customarily managed water regulation.This hybrid approach recognizes that permitting is a useful tool for regulation of high-impact users. However, for all other users, different legal tools are needed. The approach is administratively lean, recognizes customary law and protects the most vulnerable. Instead of being entangled in concerns of getting a permit or not, hybrid law focuses on determining the ultimate goals that communities and states want to achieve through the regulation of precious water resources, and how best these can be realized.IWMI is trialing an alternative hybrid approach to achieving historical justice in the Inkomati-Usuthu Water Management Area (IWMA) in the north-eastern part of South Africa. Like elsewhere in South Africa, powerful users deprive the most vulnerable of water even for basic livelihoods, with just 7% of all those registered using a vast 83% of all registered volumes.IWMI is collaborating with the Water Research Commission (WRC) and the water authorities concerned -the Department of Water and Sanitation at national level and the decentralized Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Management Agency (IUCMA) -to develop an implementation plan for the Inkomati Catchment.The project team is piloting different tools for legal recognition, protection and prioritization of collectivelyheld water resources in former homelands vis-à-vis upstream and downstream users. The team is also exploring a reserve for core minimum volumes to meet constitutional rights to water and food, and administrative justice in permitting. As part of the effective curtailment of high-impact users, WRC, IWMI and IUCMA are also assessing realistic crop water requirements, so that water allocations are based on factual use instead of total land areas, whether cultivated or not.With these changes ongoing, finally one of apartheid's major injustices can be redressed enabling a fairer rights regime for smallholder farmers in South Africa. Climate change will exacerbate the scarcity of and competition for water. As rainfall declines and temperatures rise, the availability of water becomes uncertain. Because agriculture can be waterintensive, irrigation is often our best bet to offset these uncertainties, and feed the growing global population. However, to ensure the sustainable use of water resources for irrigation, researchers and practitioners must be very clever about how they develop novel irrigation systems of the future to meet the needs of farmers.IWMI is pioneering digital innovation tools that can leapfrog existing technologies and have the potential to be game changers. These tools will play a key role in the transition to irrigation systems that are productive and profitable while being resilient and well adapted to climate change. The tools capitalize on new technologies and big data to sustainably manage both the supply of and demand for water resources. Tools developed in publicprivate partnerships will give farmers, water planners and managers more efficient ways to manage water resources and build resilience to climate change.Farmers in Amhara, Ethiopia, have access to water via the Koga Irrigation Scheme, but that water has not been used efficiently. IWMI is providing smallholder farmers with tools that allow them to assess whether their crops should be irrigated or not.WaPOR is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) portal to monitor Water Productivity through Open access of Remotely sensed derived data. WaPOR assists countries in monitoring water productivity, Photo: Sanjiv de Silva / IWMI identifying water productivity gaps, proposing solutions to reduce these gaps and contributing to a sustainable increase in agricultural production. IWMI scientists are working with partners to build their capacity in the use of WaPOR data. WaPOR uses satellite data to monitor agricultural water productivity at different scales. This database provides the information necessary to generate solutions to local challenges linked to water and land productivity as well as water demand management.At the farm level in Ethiopia, and with the support of partners and donors, IWMI scientists are drawing on WaPOR data to work with farmers, national researchers and private companies in the introduction of low-cost sensors to improve irrigation scheduling and use water more efficiently while improving productivity of the land.One such tool is the Wetting Front Detector (WFD), which is an ingenious plastic tube that tells the farmer when sufficient water has accumulated in the root zone by pushing up a flag. By installing these at different depths, farmers can monitor irrigation flow until the soil has been sufficiently wetted.Another tool, the Chameleon Soil Water Sensor, connects via wires to a soil moisture sensor installed at different depths. It translates a plant's uptake of water into a simple color. The colors blue, green and red correspond to very wet, moist and dry, respectively.IWMI worked with farmers and national researchers in Koga to assess the efficiency of WFDs and Chameleon Sensors in the field. The results were very promising. According to key farmers, they reduced their water consumption by 35%, which helped extend the irrigation cycle from the local storage reservoirs. The decrease in irrigation water did not mean a smaller harvest. In fact, wheat yield increased from 10% to 20% according to farmers' estimates.The farmers noted that improved water demand management resulted in a faster rotation among water users in the same group, and resulted in a decline in water-related conflicts. The water saved was used to extend the area under cultivation within the blocks, and to also reduce water deliveries from main scheme operations to night storages.IWMI research has indicated that there is untapped and sustainable groundwater potential in many regions of Africa. However, use of that water must be monitored to ensure that recharge is managed and the resource is sustainable.Solar irrigation pumps (SIPs) offer a sustainable solution to groundwater extraction. However, with near zero operational costs, it is easy for irrigators to overuse the scarce water resources. IWMI researchers are investigating the land that is most suitable for solar irrigation, and how SIPs will impact groundwater resources and the connected water, agricultural, energy and environmental systems.IWMI has developed the Solar Irrigation Information System, a prototype platform that uses near real-time data from Futurepump, a private sector provider of solar pumps equipped with data loggers which measure the amount of energy used. The data derived from individual pumps allow managers to aggregate data to identify different patterns of use in real time. This helps future design, needs and operations of pumps to support design teams. The data also provide information on rates of abstraction of shallow groundwater reserves, which ultimately allows us to identify when and how much water is being abstracted and if this is sustainable, or how it could be better managed in relation to rainfall recharge.Farmers can use the resulting data to better understand where they can sustainably use solar irrigation, and policymakers can use it to better manage groundwater resources.Around 40% of the world's food is produced using irrigation. Yet, many irrigation schemes seem to follow a Build-Neglect-Rehabilitate cycle, which overlooks maintenance and infrastructure needs.IWMI developed an irrigation asset tool called Systematic Asset Management Software (SAMS). SAMS is an open-source and user-friendly application which captures irrigation infrastructure investments in a database and tracks performance and predicts when maintenance is needed. This innovative process will enable stakeholders to audit investments and keep track of maintenance.IWMI started a new project in 2020 titled 'Targeting investments in medium-to large-scale irrigation schemes'. Under this project, IWMI is furthering the development of SAMS to use remote sensing to digitally manage irrigation infrastructure and assess irrigation performance. The project is developing integrated tools that enhance the manager's capacity to carry out a quick assessment and make an investment decision that will increase the performance of irrigation schemes.Irrigation is only one of the ways in which practitioners, researchers and decision makers can engage in sustainable water management practices. Nevertheless, in many places, its potential remains untapped. Innovations with a long-lasting impact WLE's legacy lies with the practical and science-driven innovations that countries and farming communities can adopt to address development challenges and transition to more productive, sustainable and resilient food systems. These examples are just a part of the significant legacy that WLE is leaving for CGIAR and the wider world of research for development.WLE developed affordable and inclusive index-based flood insurance for flood-prone farmers. The insurance uses flood modelling data to estimate flood depths and duration, and satellite data to help assess flood damage.The approach removes the need to verify claims via field visits, speeds up the payment of compensation from insurers and helps ensure that premiums remain affordable. Another innovation is a bundled insurance product that provides compensation along with improved seed varieties of drought-tolerant wheat or flood-resistant rice, agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, and information on appropriate agronomic practices.Solar irrigation pumps have received significant attention during the past decade. They are a more affordable, reliable and climate-smart alternative to conventional diesel pumps. Efforts to increase uptake are not sufficiently 'pro-poor' and instead favor well-connected farmers with the means to invest in these solar pumps.With the help of IWMI, WLE researchers developed and refined farmer-centric business models that incentivize efficient water use and enhance smallholder access to the benefits of solar-powered irrigation without exacerbating groundwater depletion.Farmers are struggling with depleted soils, water shortages and climate uncertainty. At the same time, urban areas are becoming vast sinks for organic waste. The way forward is to mimic natural cycles by adopting the model of a circular economy -processing organic food waste, wastewater and human excreta to extract energy, nutrients, organic matter and water for agricultural use. WLE identified opportunities for resource, recovery and reuse using numerous technical and institutional solutions. Recognizing that many of these solutions remain inaccessible to small-scale entrepreneurs and other stakeholders, WLE innovated a business model approach tailored to these groups that can drive circular economies.Top-down approaches to restore increasingly depleted soils and water resources have had limited success because of a mismatch between the landscapes and recommended solutions, a lack of monitoring and maintenance and, crucially, poor adoption by communities lacking training or institutional support. WLE-supported work to restore degraded landscapes focused on understanding and engaging communities to obtain their buy-in. By demonstrating the potential economic benefits to communities, and securing their agreement and material contribution, restoration activities have been successfully implemented. These activities include landscape restoration and water harvesting practices; contour bunds to conserve water and reduce soil erosion; rehabilitation of traditional water tanks; mechanized micro-water harvesting packages; and weirs to capture nutrients and improve agricultural productivity.Poor soil health is a major cause of decline in agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. While WLE has ended, it is clear that its impact will continue to resonate and help strengthen our collective response to the climate crisis and the needs of climatevulnerable communities across the Global South. This award recognizes researchers and aspiring researchers who are committed to transforming agri-food systems. Eight finalists were selected from over 80 entrants for their pioneering approaches and potential to create a better food future for all.Photo: World Food ForumUnited Nations Food Systems Summit 2021: Water Dialogue Ahead of the United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021, a global water dialogue explored the fundamental interconnections between food systems and water systems, and their relation to other areas that are essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. At the event titled 'Water: The Game Changer for Food systems', it was concluded with consensus that water has unmatched utility to support the necessary transformation of food systems. Participants, including six senior IWMI experts, agreed that water plays a critical role in future proofing food systems against climate shocks and pandemics. This will make food systems more inclusive and healthier, which will help to end hunger and malnutrition, and safeguard the health of our planet.Resillience (SoLAR) -Webinar WeekThe IWMI-led Solar Irrigation for Agricultural Resilience (SoLAR) project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), organized a series of six webinars during the period February 1-5, 2021. The SoLAR project aims to generate knowledge to sustainably manage water, energy and climate interlinkages through the promotion of solar irrigation pumps (SIPs). The goal of the project is to contribute to climate-resilient, gender-equitable and socially inclusive agrarian livelihoods in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan by supporting government efforts to promote solar irrigation. The six-part SDC-IWMI webinar series explored some of the big questions around energy transition and SIPs in four South Asian countries. The webinars were open to the public and gathered speakers from all four countries as well as those from outside the region.The IWMI reported an increase on its total grant revenue in the financial year 2021 of more than 25% with a total revenue of USD 31.13 million and achieved a surplus of USD 0.48 million. IWMI received an unmodified audit opinion on its 2021 annual financial statements and 21 project audits were carried out during the financial year to comply with grant agreements.In December 2021, the System Council approved the first group of 19 CGIAR Initiatives to launch from January 2022 and the 2022-2024 Portfolio and Designated Financing Plan.The Institute continues to review its policies, procedures and processes to further strengthen internal controls. IWMI is currently working with other CGIAR centers on the One CGIAR transition. Once the new One CGIAR transition is completed, all CGIAR centers, including IWMI, will have a further improved internal control system. The Institute also ensures that it strictly follows the clauses in the grant agreements and in compliance with donor regulatory requirements. For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 (in US Dollars '000)"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8c6e4a0c4e788557e504258c04a9d247","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/19c517e2-39cf-459f-9e5d-fc4e0741407d/retrieve","id":"-1530277747"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"60989fe8-38a6-4be3-86cf-8bd6391d7fd3","content":"Bovine brucellosis is endemic in India and imposes major health and livelihood burdens. In Bihar, India there is no state-run brucellosis control programme. Therefore, it is important to design an effective producers' education programme to reduce transmission of the diseases in people and animals. However, their perspective of the disease is not well understood and therefore, a study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of smallholder dairy producers in the state.• Cross-sectional survey of 3 districts of Bihar, India in autumn 2015. In each district, 1 rural and 1 urban area selected, from each 38-44 households: in total, 292 households (HH). • All selected HH were interviewed using a structured questionnaireKnowledge about brucellosis is very scarce, almost negligible among smallholder dairy producers in Bihar. Therefore, a customised education programme may be designed and implemented among the dairy producers to make them aware about the disease. More participatory research will be required to understand the attributes that determine the prevailing knowledge, attitude and practices and factors that might motivate dairy producers to change.• Only 6% of the producers were aware about brucellosis • Less than 3% of the producers were aware about the symptoms of brucellosis. • Less than 2% of the producers reported that brucellosis could be transmitted to human. • 2% of the producers knew it could be transmitted from animal to animal. • 53% of the producers threw away an aborted foetus; 44% buried the aborted foetus. • 48% producers used to take bath after disposal of aborted materials, 40% washed hands with soap and 10% washed clothes. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4697ee548b0266b59e86816591ed2bdc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/ab5eec50-e27d-492b-b391-219194030808/content","id":"-651181726"},"keywords":["Triticum aestivum L. Puccinia striiformis f. sp. Tritici","herencia de resistencia","genes menores"],"sieverID":"113751dd-3172-47ca-8c9b-fc36c7510aae","content":"La roya lineal amarilla del trigo (Triticum aestivum L.) causada por Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici es una enfermedad de creciente importancia en los Valles Altos de Mexico, pues lIega a causar perdidas en el rendimiento mayores a 60 % y deteriora la calidad del grano. Las variedades de trigo harinero 'Juchi F2000', 'Nahuatl F2000' y 'Tlaxcala F2000' fueron Iiberadas por el Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agricolas y Pecuarias en el aiio 2000 para siembras de temporal 0 secano, que mostraron diferentes grados de infeccion por esta enfermedad. Para determinar la genetica de la resistencia a roya amarilla de las tres variedades, estas se cruzaron con la variedad susceptible 'Avocet-YrA'. Los progenitores y 148 familias F3 por cruza se evaluaron durante el Verano 2002 en Toluca, Estado de Mexico, bajo una incidencia natural de roya amarilla. Con los resultados de las familias F3 se determino que la resistencia de planta adulta a roya amarilla en 'Juchi F2000' esta regalada por tres genes menores de efectos aditivos, y que en 'Nahuatl F2000' y 'Tlaxcala F2000' esta condicionada por tres 0 cuatro genes de la misma naturaleza. Un gen en comun en las tres variedades fue Yr18, que confiere resistencia parcial de planta adulta a roya amarilla. La progenie de 'Nahuatl F2000' manifesto mayor nivel de resistencia, 10 que indica fue contiene mas genes 0 genes diferentes y mas efectivos; por ello, a traves de una cruza triple entre las tres variedades podria aumentarse el nivel de resistencia a roya amarilla.the disease In order to determine the genetics of the resistance to yellow rust in these three varieties, they were crossed to the susceptible variety 'Avocet-YrA'. The parents and 148 F3 families per cross were evaluated at Toluca, Mexico during the Summer 2002 under a natural incidence of yellow rust. The results of the F3 families allowed to infer that the adult plant resistance in 'Juchi F2000' was conditioned by three minor genes of additive effects. In 'Nlihuatl F2000' and 'Tlaxcala F2000' three to four genes of the same nature were identitied. A common gene in the three varieties was Yr18, which confers partial adult plant resistance to yellow rust. 'Nlihuatl F2000' progeny showed higher levels of resistance, thus indicating that it has a higher number of resistance genes. The intercross of these three varieties may allow to increase the level of yellow rust resistance.Index words: Triticum aestivum .Puccinia striifomUs f. sp. tritici, inheritance resistance, minor genes.En los Valles Altos de Mexico, que comprenden regiones templadas de los Estados de Mexico, Tlaxcala, Hidalgo, Puebla, Durango y Morelos, se siembran mas de 150 mil hectareas de trigo (Triticum aestrivum L.) de temporal 0 secano durante el verano (SlAP, 2008). En estas areas temporaleras se presentan condiciones favorables de humedad (mayor de 70 %) y temperatura (15-20 0c) para la incidencia de roya amarilla (Puccinia striijormis f. sp. tritici) , enfermedad que cuando ataca de manera severa en variedades susceptibles llega a causar perdidas del rendimiento mayores de 60 %) y deteriora fuertemente la calidad del grano (Huerta y Singh, 2000).El mejoramiento genetico para lograr resistencia a esta enfermedad ha sido el metodo mas eficiente en su control (Singh et al., 2002). Biffen (1905), uno de los primeros investigadores que estudi6 la genetic a de la herencia de infecci6n al ataque de roya amarilla, report6 que dicha resistencia es monogenica y de canicter recesivo. Con el redescubrimiento de las leyes genetic as de la herencia y el descubrimiento de que la resistencia a royas es un canicter de herencia simple, se han realizado numerosos trabajos sobre la herencia de la resistencia a roya amarilla, principalmente para identificar genes mayores. La mayorfa de variedades resistentes a roy a amarilla han tenido como fuente de resistencia a genes de herencia simple, pero la perdida continua del efecto de estos genes 0 de sus combinaciones, ha obligado a buscar alternativas en el manejo de la resistencia no especffica a este hongo, debido a que este pat6geno tiene la capacidad de mutar y evolucionar hacia mayor virulencia, 10 que ocasiona que se rompa nipidamente la resistencia.Una alternativa para lograr mayor durabilidad de la resistencia a roya amarilla es mediante la formaci6n de genotipos de trigo que posean resistencia durable, basada en genes que confieren resistencia de desarrollo lento de la enfermedad (slow rusting); el efecto de un gen de resistencia de desarrollo lento en el progreso de la enfermedad fluctua de pequeno a moderado, pero la combinaci6n de dos 0 mas genes de efectos aditivos resulta en un alto nivel de resistencia (Singh y Rajaram, 1994). Las variedades de trigo presentan genes de planta adulta, cuyos efectos son menores pero de acci6n aditiva (Singh y Dubin, 1997;Singh et at., 2002). Segun Milus y Line (1986a y 1986b), las variedades de trigo invernal 'Gaines', 'Nugaines' y 'Luke' exhiben resistencia durable a Pucdnia striijormis f. sp. tritid mas efectiva en planta adulta y a temperaturas mayores a 25°C que a temperaturas menores a 15°C, que es 10 mas comun; estos autores concluyeron que en cada variedad la resistencia fue condicionada al menos por dos 6 tres genes menores de efectos aditivos.Los estudios de herencia realizados en los ultimos anos en variedades mexicanas de trigo indican que los niveles moderados de resistencia en 'Penjamo T62', 'Lerma Rojo S64', 'Nacozari M76' y 'Tesia F79' estan condicionados por la acci6n monogenica del gen de planta adulta Yr 18 que confiere resistencia parcial (Singh y Rajaram, 1994). Singh y Dubin (1997) y Singh et al. (2000) encontraron que las combinaciones de Yr 18 mas dos 0 tres genes de la misma naturaleza inducen niveles aceptables de resistencia, y que a mayor numero de genes de efecto aditivo la resistencia es mas estable en cualquier ambiente que presente roya amarilla. En variedades como 'Pav6n F76' y 'Huites F95' que no poseen el gen Yr18, tambien es posible reducir los niveles de infecci6n mediante otros genes que igualmente inducen este tipo de resistencia, como Yr29 y Yr3 (Singh et al., 2001(Singh et al., , 2003)).Se ha reportado que no existen efectos negativos en el rendimiento al acumular mayor numero de genes menores de acci6n aditiva, de forma que se pueden conjuntar resistencia a roya amarilla y a roya de la hoja con alto potencial de rendimiento (Huerta y Singh, 2000). En Mexico la primera variedad de trigo liberada para siembras de temporal con este tipo de resistencia fue 'Zacatecaz VT74 , , seguida de 'Romoga F96' cuya resistencia permanece efectiva aun cuando se manifiesten varias razas de roya amarilla. Otras variedades para siembras de temporal como 'Zacatecas VT74', 'Pav6n F76' y 'Mexico M82' han mantenido niveles aceptables de resistencia, pero no asf las variedades 'Temporalera', 'Galvez M86' y 'Batan F96' que actualmente son susceptibles. Las variedades de trigo para siembras de temporal 'luchi F2000', 'Nahuatl F2000', Y 'T1axca1a F2000' mantienen resistencia a las diferentes razas de roya amarilla que se encuentran en el pafs, pero se desconoce el numero de genes que determina esta resistencia. En estas tres variedades• se ha postulado la presencia del gen Yr 18 y otros genes menores de efectos aditivos, pero no se tiene la certeza si Yr 18 se encuentra presente y cuantos mas 10 acompanan (Villasenor et al., 2003).Para lograr resistencia durable a roy a amarilla en las futuras variedades es necesario conjuntar de cuatro a cinco genes de efectos menores de acci6n genica aditiva, 10 que se conoce como resistencia cercana a la inmunidad. La manera de conjuntar este numero de genes es a traves del mejoramiento genetico (Singh et al., 2000). El objetivo de esta investigaci6n fue determinar la herencia de la resistencia de planta adulta a roya amarilla de las tres variedades de trigo para temporal, 'luchi F2000', 'Nahuatl F2000' Y 'Tlaxcala F2000' .El trabajo se efectu6 durante los veranos del 2000 al 2002. Se hicieron tres cruzas entre el progenitor susceptible 'Avocet-YrA' (AOC-YrA) con cada una de las variedades resistentes 'luchi F2000', 'Nahuatl F2000' y 'Tlaxcala F2000', empleadas como progenitores masculinos. En el Cuadro 1 se muestran los genotipos y sus progenitores. Las cruzas se hicieron durante el Verano 2000 en el Batan Texcoco, Estado de Mexico. La generaci6n Fl de cada cruza se sembr6 en campo de forma mateada durante el ciclo Otono-Invierno 2000-2001 en Ciudad Obreg6n, Sonora. De cada cruza se cosecharon cinco plantas al azar, tres de las cuales dieron origen a la generaci6n F2 y las dos restantes se guardaron como reserva. Las progenies de cada planta F 1 fueron sembradas en forma mate ada en el Verano 2001 para cosechar en forma aleatoria 50 plantas F2 de cada una de las tres plantas que conformaron a cada cruza. Para la obtenci6n de las familias F3, las poblaciones F2 de cada cruza se inspeccionaron visualmente, y cuando no habia discrepancia en las progenies de las tres distintas plantas F I se cosecharon al azar 50 plantas individuales de cada una de las tres plantas por cruza, para la obtenci6n de 148 familias F3.Cuadro 1. Cruza e historia de selecci6n de las cuatro variedades de trigo utilizadas en el estudio durante el verano de 2002 en Toluca, Estado de Mexico.Variedad-YrA-30Y Fuente: Villasenor et al. (2003) y Huerta-Espino et al. (2002).Durante el desarrollo de las poblaciones todas las cruzas y generaciones se protegieron con la aplicaci6n del fungicida Tebuconazol (Folicur®) para controlar la enfermedad y evitar la perdida de plantas susceptibles. Las familias F3 de cada cruza se evaluaron en el Verano 2002 en un campo experimental en Toluca, Estado de Mexico. Los progenitores y cada una de las 148 familias F 3 de cada cruza se sembraron en surcos dobles de 1 m de largo separados a 80 cm; se emplearon dos repeticiones para minimizar escapes, pero en el amilisis de datos s610 se uso una repetici6n porque no hubo diferencias significativas entre repeticiones.El amilisis genetico se bas6 en la frecuencia de familias resistentes, susceptibles y segregantes en un tipo de herencia cualitativa 0 mendeliana. Para lograr alta incidencia de la enfermedad, el experimento se rode6 con un bordo de la variedad susceptible 'Morocco', la cual actu6 como fuente de inoculo; al final de cada parcela, en franjas alternas tambien se sembraron surcos de la misma variedad. La evaluaci6n y c1asificaci6n de las familias F3 por su respuesta a la roya amarilla se efectu6 bajo incidencia natural del hongo. Para registrar la respuesta a la roya amarilla en las familias se hicieron dos evaluaciones de la enfermedad, la primera cuando el progenitor F3 susceptible alcanz6 de 90 a 100 % de severidad en la hoja bandera, y la segunda 7 d. despues. En todas las familias de cada cruza se estim6 el porcentaje de severidad en la hoja bandera, de acuerdo con la escala modificada de Cobb (Peterson et al., 1948); para las familias heterocig6ticas, identificadas por su segregaci6n, se estim6 el promedio de infecci6n de cinco hojas, mediante la misma escala. Tambien se evalu6 la FI de cada cruza de la misma forma que las familias F3. Sin embargo, en la FI se tomaron tres lecturas para observar el desarrollo de la enfermedad (Cuadro 2). Una vez hecha la evaluaci6n, las familias F3 de cada cruza se c1asificaron en cuatro grupos. En el Grupo 1 se inc1uyeron familias homocig6ticas con respuesta similar al progenitor resistente; en el Grupo 2 se ubicaron a las familias homocig6ticas con respuesta similar al progenitor susceptible; en el Grupo 3 se incluyeron las familias heterocigoticas que segregaron plantas resistentes como el progenitor resistente, hasta un porcentaje de severidad de nivel intermedio pero sin plantas similares al progenitor susceptible; y en el Grupo 4 se clasificaron las familias heterocigoticas que segregaron plantas con resistencia semejante al progenitor resistente, plantas con resistencia del tipo intermedio y plantas tan susceptibles como el progenitor susceptible. Con las frecuencias observadas y esperadas en ambas evaluaciones, se realizaron pruebas de X 2 .Las condiciones de temperatura (10 a 25°C) y humedad (mayor a 70 %) fueron favorables para el desarrollo de la enfermedad, la cual alcanz6 altos niveles de infecci6n en la hoja bandera (100 % de infecci6n) en el progenitor susceptible, 10 que permiti6 la evaluacion y c1asificaci6n de la F I, de las familias F3 y de los progenitores. La F I de las cruzas entre variedades resistentes y el progenitor susceptible indic6 que la resistencia a roya amarilla fue parcialmente dominante, como se muestra en el Cuadro 2. Al analizar el comportamiento de las familias F3 respecto a los niveles de infeccion, y al c1asificarlas en resistentes, segregantes y susceptibles, no se observo una distribuci6n discreta de c1ases que pudiese indicar la presencia de genes de resistencia de efectos mayores 0 factores de resistencia de dominancia completa; 10 que se observo fue una variacion continua de las familias F3. En la Figura 1 se muestra la distribucion de familias F3 en cada cruza. Figura 1. Distribuci6n de familias F3 de las cruzas entre el progenitor susceptible 'Avocet-Yr'A con las variedades resistentes: a) 'Juchi F2000', b) 'Nahuatl F2000', y c) 'Tlaxcala F2000 'AOC-YrAI Tlaxcala F2000' 50MS 60MS 70MS(1) Reacci6n de la planta a la enfermedad: S = Susceptible; MR = Moderadamente resistente; MS = Moderadamente susceptible; R= Resistente, El criterio para determinar el numero de genes se baso en el numero de familias homocigoticas susceptibles, las cuales son mas faciles de identificar en campo. Bajo el supuesto de que la virulencia del patogeno es recesiva y que la resistencia en la planta es dominante (Roelfs y Groth, 1988), el numero de genes implicados en la resistencia se determino con base en las frecuencias observadas de las familias clasificadas en el Grupo 2. Entonces, si la resistencia estuviera controlada por dos genes la frecuencias esperadas de familias homocigoticas susceptibles seria de (6.25 %) 1/16; si fuera condicionada por tres genes, la proporcion seria de 1/64 (1.6 %), y si estuviera controlada por cuatro genes, la proporcion seria de 11256, equivalente a 0.4 % (Cuadro 3). Cuadro 3. Frecuencias esperadas (%) en los cuatro grupos de clasificacion de familias F3 en cruzas susceptibles por resistentes, cuando la resistencia esta condicionada por genes men ores de efectos aditivos.Nllin. Grupo Familias homocig6ticas resistentes; Grupo 2 = Familias homocig6ticas susceptibles; Grupo 3 = Familias heterocig6ticas con plantas resistentes y plantas intermedias; Grupo 4 = Familias heterocig6ticas con plantas resistentes, plantas intermedias y susceptibles.Con base en las frecuencias esperadas y observadas (Cuadro 4), mediante la prueba de X 2 se determino que tres es el numero minima de genes de efecto aditivo que control an la resistencia en las tres variedades. Como en la van \" Nahuatl F2000\" se incremento la frecuencia de familias de tipo intermedin 0 Grupo 3 con respecto a las familias del Grupo 4, probablemente en esta variedad el numero de genes sea mayor (Figura 1). Lo anterior se evidencia tambien en el mayor nivel de resisteneia en la Fl. Lo anterior se ha observado en genotipos euyo numero de genes de efecto aditivo es mayor, con niveles de resistencia en la F 1 que en algunos casos es similar al progenitor resistente (Singh et al., 2000).Singh et al (2000 y 2002 en trigo; ademas, se confirma que para alcanzar mayores niveles de resistencia es necesario acumular mayor numero de genes de efecto aditivo, como en 'Nahuatl F2000'. En las tres variedades se ha postulado la presencia (Huerta-Espino et al., 2002) del gen Yr18/Lr34 ligado 0 pleiotropico a la necrosis de la punta de la hoja (leaf tip necrosis =ltn) , gen que reduce los niveles de infeccion de la enfermedad pero cuya accion individual es insuficiente porque los niveles de desarrollo de la enfermedad son mayores a 70 %. En el presente estudio fue evidente la necrosis de la punta de la hoja, por 10 que se confirmo que Yr 18 es uno de los genes presentes en las variedades 'Juchi F2000', 'Nahuatl F2000' y 'Tlaxcala F2000'. Este gen se considera de naturaleza durable y con efecto sinergistico al interactuar con otros genes de efectos aditivos, pues puede mejorar el nivel de resistencia en forma individual; estos genes en un tiempo se denominaron complejo Yr18 (Singh y Rajaram, 1992, 1994;Singh y Dubin, 1997).Al analizar los progenitores (Cuadro 1) se puede deducir que en 'Juchi F2000' el gen Yr18 proviene de 'Romoga F96', variedad que fue evaluada durante 10 afios (1986 -1996) Y desde entonces mostro nivel aeeptable de resistencia a roya amarilla, aun cuando la freeuencia de poblaciones del patogeno ha cambiado a formas mas virulentas. Este progenitor, al igual que 'Zacatecas VT74' posee el gene Yr 18 por 10 que en la cruza 'Zacatecas VT74/Romoga F96' este gen se encontro en estado homocigotico al igual que en la variedad 'Tlaxcala F2000'. En 'Nahuatl F2000' 10 mas probable es que Yr18 provenga de la var. 'Opata', aunque otros progenitores implicados en la cruz a , como 'PAM' y 'HaRK', tambien poseen el gen (V illasefior et al., 2003).Cuadro 4. Distribucion y frecuencia relativa de familias F3 en cuatro grupos de las cruzas entre el progenitor susceptible CAvocet-Yr'A) y los progenitores resistentes CJuchi F2000', 'Nahuatl F2000' y 'Tlaxcala F2000') en Toluca, Estado de Mexico durante el Verano 2002.Num. de  La presencia de mas de tres genes de resistencia a roya amarilla en las variedades liberadas durante el 2000 indica que es posible conjuntar alto potencial de rendimiento y buenos niveles de resistencia, con calidad de grano y otras caracteristicas agron6micas deseables. Ante una poblaci6n de roya amarilla que se mantiene en cambio constante, la mejor forma de asegurar la sustentabilidad del trigo de temporal es mediante el uso de variedades con resistencia durable y evitar el uso de variedades con resistencia especffica, para 10 cual es importante que en el mejoramiento genetico se enfatice en el uso de resistencia no especffica 0 resistencia de desarrollo lento de la roya, que ha probado ser de tipo durable. Es necesario entonces diversificar las fuentes de resistencia para recombinar diferentes genes y aSI alcanzar una resistencia mas estable en los diferentes ambientes.Los resultados de las cruzas en Fl y de las familias F3 indica que al menos la variedad 'Nahuatl F2000' posee mayor mimero de genes que las otras dos variedades; no obstante, es necesario analizar si las tres variedades poseen genes diferentes, 10 cual requiere cruzarlas entre sl y confirmar que las tres poseen el gen Yr 18, ademas de determinar cuantos genes son diferentes. En caso de que haya por 10 menos un gen de diferencia entre ellas, entonces se puede incrementar el nivel de resistencia al entrecruzar estas variedades, y mantener como base al gen Yr 18. El entrecruzamiento 0 la combinaci6n de estas tres variedades pueden conjuntar no solamente mayores niveles de resistencia, sino tambien mayor rendimiento y calidad, puesto que individualmente las tres variedades son de alto potencial de rendimiento y buena calidad (Villasenor et aI., 2003).Con base en los resultados de las familias F3, se concluye que la resistencia de planta adulta a roy a amarilla en la variedad 'Juchi F2000' esta determinada por tres genes de efectos aditivos. En las variedades 'Nahuatl F2000' y 'Tlaxcala F2000' se identificaron entre tres y cuatro genes. El gen Yr18 es uno de los genes de resistencia que poseen estas tres variedades de trigo harinero de temporal liberadas durante el 2000. Se considera que al menos 'Nahuatl F2000' posee mayor mimero de genes 0 cuando menos un gen diferente que Ie confiere mayor nivel de resistencia, 10 que permitiria alcanzar mayor resistencia durable a roy a amarilla en otras variedades que se cruzaran con ella.Al CONACYT (Proyectos 34715-B y 12163) por el financiamiento otorgado para la realizaci6n de la presente investigaci6n. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6c318f7704048b97032087b46427235d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/448839f8-9e14-475e-8ee2-51b6c3ac1547/retrieve","id":"2010750580"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"49b05d4b-4897-495c-990d-dccae9fe4818","content":"también a los agricultores de San Dioniso, Nicaragua en cuyos terrenos se realizaron los experimentos, entrevistas y estudios de caso que constituyen el entorno participativo en el que se desarrollaron las diferentes actividades del proyecto CIAT -Laderas e'1 Latinoamérica Se reconoce, también la excelente colaboración de Las Alcaldias y Autoñdades Locales donde se ha validado, Yorito-Sulaco.Instrumentos Metodológicos para la Toma de Decisiones en el Manejo de los Recursos Naturales La Figura representa el coníunto de los instrumentos metodológicos de la serie. En el centro se encuentran ocho instrumentos que se pueden agrupar de la manera siguiente: en color verde, Método Participativo para Identificar y Clasificar Indicadores Indicadores Locales de Calidad del Suelo a Nivel de Microcuenca; Análisis de Tendencias de uso de tierra; Mapeo, Análisis y Monitoreo Participativos de los Recursos Naturales en una Microcuenca, son los instrumentos que permiten identificar, analizar y priorizar los componentes biofísicos, o sea, los recursos naturales a nivel de finca, microcuenca y subcuenca.De color azul, al instrumento para Metodología de Análisis de Grupos de Interés para el Manejo Colectivo de Recursos Naturales en Microcuencas y el que se refiere a Identificación de Niveles de Vida para la Construcción de Perfiles Locales de Pobreza Rural, son herramientas que permiten identificar relaciones entre distintos usuarios de los recursos naturales. La identificación de niveles de vida permite clasificar los componentes socioeconómicos a nivel de veredas, pueblos y comarcas.De color amarillo, Atlas de Yorito y Sulaco, Yoro (Honduras), es el instrumento que tipifica la integración, análisis y presentación por medio de mapas de los datos generados por los instrumentos representados por los colores verde y azul.De color naranja, Identificación y Evaluación de Oportunidades de Mercado para Pequeños Productores Rurales y Utilización de Modelos de Simulación para Evaluación Ex-ante, son los instrumentos que facilitan el diseño de escenarios alternativos para planificar la producción a nivel de finca y microcuenca.Englobando estos ocho instrumentos y de color mora, Desarrollo de Procesos Organizativos a Nivel Local para el Manejo Colectivo de los Recursos Naturales, es la herramienta que permite: (a) definir el uso colectivo de los otros instrumentos, y (b) divulgar los resultados que se obtienen de la aplicación de éstos. Es el instrumento útil para la organización de la comunidad en orden a mejorar la toma de decisiones sobre el manejo colectivo de los recursos naturales a nivel de cuenca..I/JodoPaa, Ao,..,.\"''-. yClaiIJe. tJGit 1 r •• Loel'll deCllllfllltltlelSuelo . . . . . JaaeUMua.A medida en que se intensifica la producción agrícola para satisfacer las necesidades de la creciente población mundial, aumenta la presión sobre los recursos naturales como el suelo, el aire y el agua. La degradación del recurso suelo está ocurriendo a un ritmo alarmante, con casi mil millones de hectáreas de suelos agrícolas afectados por degradación grave o moderada. Aunque esta degradación generalmente se presenta a largo plazo, también puede ocurrir rápidamente a raíz de tormentas y deslizamientos de tierra. Sin embargo, la recuperación del suelo degradado es siempre un proceso lento y costoso. Por consiguiente, los usuarios del suelo y aquellos encargados de formular políticas necesitan indicadores no sólo para hacer un seguimiento del recurso suelo sino también para usar como diagnóstico temprano de que el proceso de degradación está comenzando. De esta manera se pueden tomar decisiones oportunas que permitan revertir el proceso de degradación o evitar que continúe.El suelo es considerado un recurso vivo y dinámico cuya condición es vital tanto para la producción agrícola como para el funcionamiento del ecosistema. Debido a su papel regulador en los ciclos bio-geoquímicos de nutrientes, como modulador de la disponibilidad de agua y su calidad, así como su rol en el filtraje y descomposición de contaminantes, el suelo es un recurso natural clave para nuestra supervivencia en el futuro. Necesitamos manejar este recurso básicamente no renovable (al menos durante el tiempo que dura una generación) con mayor habilidad y previsión para evitar una degradación adicional y la pérdida del potencial de producción agrícola.La sociedad ya dispone de indicadores y niveles críticos para la calidad del aire y del agua pero se ha descuidado el suelo como recurso natural. Por lo tanto, la necesidad de indicadores de calidad del suelo (leS) ha sido reconocida por la comunidad científica y por aquellos encargados de formular las políticas.La calidad del suelo se ha definido de mucha maneras. Aquí usamos la definición de Doran y Parkin (1994), donde \"la calidad del suelo es su capacidad para ser funcional, dentro de los límites del ecosistema y del uso de la tierra, para mantener la productividad biológica, mantener la calidad ambiental y promover la sanidad vegetal, animal y humana\". La salud del suelo, a veces usada de modo intercambiable con la calidad del suelo, se define aquí como \"la capacidad continuó de funcionar como un biosistema vital, dentro de los límites del ecosistema y del uso de la tierra, para mantener la productividad biológica, promover la calidad de los entornos atmosféricos e hídricos y mantener la sanidad vegetal, animal y humana\" (Doran y Safley, 1997). Para diferenciar entre los dos conceptos, se sugiere usar el término \"calidad del suelo• cuando se especifica el uso del suelo (Pankurst et al. , 1997). Fundamentalmente el término \"salud del suelo• difiere de \"calidad de suelo en que (1) incluye una función de tiempo y (2) reconoce que el suelo es un biosistema vital.Debido a que el suelo mantiene un equilibrio único entre factores físicos, químicos y biológicos, los ICS deben estar compuestos también por combinaciones de estos factores, especialmente en aquellas situaciones en que pueden identificarse parámetros que integren los tres factores y sus funciones. Un ejemplo sería la tasa de infiltración de agua que depende de la estructura física del suelo (especialmente textura), la química de los suelos (relaciones entre las superficies del suelo, especialmente arcillas) y la porosidad del suelo (que puede ser afectada por la actividad de la biota del suelo). Los indicadores biológicos o bio-indicadores por naturaleza son integrativos ya que reflejan simultáneamente cambios en las características físicas, químicas y biológicas del suelo. Esta condición les permite captar leves cambios en la calidad del suelo y por lo tanto tienen un gran potencial para diagnósticos tempranos.Según Doran y Safley (1997) y Beare et al. (1997), para que los ICS puedan ser útiles para una gran gama de usuarios, incluyendo agricultores, agentes de extensión investigadores y formuladores de políticas, deben:1. Ser relativamente fáciles y prácticos para que los agricultores, los agentes de extensión, los especialistas y los científicos puedan usarlos en condiciones de campo. 2. Ser relativamente precisos y de fácil interpretación. 3. Ser relativamente económicos. 4. Ser los suficientemente sensibles para reflejar los efectos de las prácticas de manejo y del clima en los cambios a largo plazo pero no tan sensibles que los patrones meteorológicos a corto plazo los afecten. 5. Integrar las propiedades y los procesos físicos, químicos y biológicos del suelo y servir como insumos básicos para la estimación de propiedades o funciones del suelo que son más difíciles de medir en forma directa. 6. Presentar una buena correlación, con procesos del ecosistema, con la productividad vegetal y animal, y con la salud del suelo. 7. Ser idealmente componentes de las bases de datos que existen sobre suelos.La selección de un conjunto apropiado de ICS y el desarrollo de su uso en un sistema de seguimiento (Sistema de Seguimiento de la Calidad del Suelo o SSCS) requiere de las siguientes actividades (Beare et al. , 1997) :1. Identificar les apropiados.2. Desarrollar un sistema de seguimiento respecto a la calidad del suelo.3. Lograr la aceptación del SSCS por los usuarios. 4. Hacer un seguimiento de sistemas agrícolas y de su sostenibílidad.Esta \"guía' se centra principalmente en la primera fase de este proceso, es decir, en la identificación de indicadores de la calidad del suelo que sean apropiados para ser usados por agricultores, técnicos y educadores.Al momento de escoger los ICS más adecuados es importante identificar las principales limitaciones bio-fisicas del sistema agrícola bajo estudio. La lista de les potenciales que se deriva de este estudio puede incorporarse en un sistema de seguimiento de la calidad del suelo (SSeS), junto con las mediciones básicas o estándares, como densidad aparente, pH, profundidad del suelo y de enraizamiento, contenido de agua, temperatura del suelo, e y N total, conductividad eléctrica y N mineral (Dorany Parkin, 1994). La sección de los parámetros técnicos o científicos dependerá del tipo de suelo y los procesos relevantes bajo un tipo particular de uso y clima predominante.Si el objetivo final es desarrollar un sses que pueda ser usado por los mismos usuarios de la tierra, se debe procurar incorporar Indicadores Locales de Calidad de Suelo en el sistema de seguimiento. La mezcla de parámetros autóctonos y científicos variará según los objetivos del seguimiento, por ejemplo, si se trata de agricultores, agentes de extensión o formuladores de políticas. Es probable que los ICS de tipo integrador sean mas útiles para los usuarios de la tierra que una medición, por ejemplo, del N inorgánico del suelo debido a que muchos de los indicadores usados por los agricultores también son de tipo integrador, por ejemplo, color de suelo, estructura del suelo, rendimiento del cultivo, presencia de especies específicas de malezas. También se debe prestar atención a la inclusión de indicadores que pueden usarse para aumentar progresivamente la escala de aplicación de los resultados, desde el nivel de parcela, campo o finca hasta el nivel de cuenca, región, y nación. Algunos ejemplos de estos indicadores pueden ser los rendimientos de los cultivos y las tendencias de rendimiento, la cobertura de la tierra, la inlensidad de uso de la tierra y los balances de nutrientes (Pieri et al. , 1995).Los pasos para establecer un sses incluyen:1. Definir las pautas para establecer un sistema de seguimiento; identificar los socios colaboradores, los agricultores y los grupos comunitarios y llegar a un acuerdo sobre la lista de ICS apropiados para las condiciones pertinentes.Recopilar información sobre las propiedades del suelo, los valores críticos y los intervalos de los parámetros del indicador. 3. Elaborar descripciones sencillas de los métodos incluídos para cada indicador. 4. Dar pautas para interpretar los resultados de cada indicador. 5. Dar recomendaciones sobre prácticas de manejo que permitan detener o revertir la degradación del suelo.Indicadores de Calidad del Suelo para las Zonas de Laderas de Centro y Sur América Las laderas andinas y centroamericanas albergan una gran proporción de la pobreza rural y son fuente de agua para las poblaciones urbanas y las actividades agrícolaslindustriales. También contribuyen a la producción de alimentos a través de sistemas agrícolas de baja productividad y eficiencia limitada del uso de nutrientes. Uno de los principales objetivos del Proyecto Laderas consiste en enfoques En la experiencia de los investigadores que desarrollaron esta guía una de las limitaciones más grandes para lograr la plena participación de los productores en el desarrollo del conjunto de prácticas de manejo sostenible necesarias para una región, es la deficiente comunicación existente entre técnicos y agricultores. En particular, la falla de un lenguaje común y de instrumentos metodológicos que permitan recabar el conocimiento campesino acerca del recurso suelo e integrarlo al acervo de conocimiento técnico aportado por las ciencias del suelo. Esta guía presenta un esfuerzo en lograr una mayor participación de los productores en la resolución de problemas de manejo de recursos naturales.La presente guía de capacitación se compone de las Siguientes secciones. La primera parte presenta una concepción técnica del suelo, nuestro recurso natural más valioso, como un cuerpo natural continuo a través de un modelo simplificado de la formación de los suelos (MSFS). La segunda explica la metodología para identificar y priori zar indicadores locales de calidad del suelo (ILeS). En la tercera se realiza la integración de los conceptos de propiedades diagnósticas y los indicadores locales de calidad de suelo, etapa que se consolida a partir de una feria del suelo. Todo lo anterior permite hacer una clasificación técnico -local de suelos con base en propiedades diagnósticas modificables y permanentes a nivel de finca y microcuenca, así como evaluar el impacto del cambio de uso y manejo del suelo a diferentes escalas espaciales.La serie de nueve Guías sobre Instrumentos Metodológicos para la Toma de Decisiones en el Manejo de los Recursos Naturales está dirigida a dos tipos de usuarios específicos.El primero, está compuesto por profesionales y técnicos que trabajan en organismos e instituciones de los sectores público y privado, dedicados a la investigación, el desarrollo y la capacitación en el manejo de los recursos naturales renovables. Este nivel de usuarios puede aprovechar las guías para apoyar la planeación, ejecución, seguimiento y evaluación de sus iniciativas en esos tres campos de acción. Pero, sobre todo, se espera que este grupo, una vez capacitado en la aplicación de las metodologías, ejerza un papel multiplicador para cientos de profesionales, técnicos, voluntarios y productores en la promoción, análisis y adaptación de dichas metodologías al manejo de los recursos naturales en los ámbitos local, regional y nacional.El segundo grupo de usuarios está conformado por los habitantes de las cuencas y subcuencas de América Tropical, quienes en última instancia son herederos legítimos de las propuestas para el manejo de los recursos naturales generadas a través de la investigación y presentadas en las guías. Estos, a través de la capacitación, asesoría y apoyo de una variedad de organismos no gubernamentales y agencias del estado, podrán apropiarse de los métodos y estrategias que aquí se ofrecen para participar activamente en el manejo y conservación de los recursos naturales.Este material tiene una especiál dedicación para los docentes de las facultades y escuelas de ciencias agrarias, ambientales y de los recursos naturales que forman profesionales y técnicos, quienes en el futuro inmediato acompañarán a las comunidades agrícolas en la ardua tarea de mantener o recuperar los recursos naturales.II_Pall1 \"''0 __ ... ya ..... 1\"'\" , f.\"\"\"'. ClllldMldIII S -.. NIveI.~ -Profundización -Actitudes para la -Refuerzo toma de decisiones La serie de Guías de Capacitación sobre Instrumentos Metodológicos para la Toma de Decisiones está basada en un modelo didáctico fundamentado en el aprendizaje a través de la práctica. Este modelo propone a los usuarios inmediatos de estas guías'--capacitadores y multiplicadores-un esquema de capacitación en el cual los insumos de información resultantes de la investigación en campo sirven de materia prima para el desarrollo de habilidades, destrezas y actitudes requeridas por los usuarios finales para la toma de decisiones acertadas y relacionadas con el manejo de los recursos naturales.Los usuarios de estas guías observarán que sus componentes metodológicos se diferencian de otros materiales de divulgación de tecnologías. Cada una de las secciones en que se dividen las guías, contienen elementos de diseño que le facilitan al capacitador ejercer su labor de facilitador del aprendizaje.Las Guías están orientadas por un conjunto de objetivos que le sirven al instructor y al participante para dirigir los esfuerzos de aprendizaje. Este se lleva a cabo a través de ejercicios en el campo o en otros escenarios realistas, en los que se practican los procesos de análisis y toma de decisiones, usando para ello caminatas, simulaciones, dramatizaciones y aplicación de diferentes instrumentos de recolección y análisis de información.6 l , cpmponentes incluyen las sesiones de información de retomo, en las cuales los participantes en la capacitación, junto con los instructores, tienen la oportunidad de revisar las prácticas realizadas y profundizar en los aspectos que deben ser reforzados. La información de retorno constituye la parte final de cada una de las secciones de la guía y es el espacio preferencial para que el instructor y los participantes lleven a cabo la síntesis conceptual y metodológica de cada aspecto estudiado.En resumen, el modelo consta de tres elementos: (1) la información técnica y estratégica, que es producto de la investigación y constituye el contenido tecnológico necesario para la toma de decisiones; (2) la práctica, que toma la forma de ejercicios en el sitio de entrenamiento y de actividades de campo y que está dirigida al desarrollo de habilidades, destrezas y actitudes para la toma de decisiones; y (3) la información de retomo que es un tipo de evaluación formativa que asegura el aprendizaje y la aplicación adecuada de los principios subyacentes en la teoría que se ofrece.Las prácticas son el eje central del aprendizaje y simulan la realidad que viven quienes utilizan los instrumentos para la toma de decisiones presentados en cada guia. A través de los ejercicios los participantes en la capacitación experimentan el uso de los instrumentos, las dificultades que a nivel local surgen de su aplicación y las ventajas y oportunidades que representa su introducción en los distintos ambientes de toma de decisiones en el ámbito local o regional de cada país.Los ejercicios que se incluyen en las guías fueron extraídos de las experiencias locales de investigación de los autores en microcuencas de Honduras, Nicaragua y Colombia. Sin embargo, los instructores de otros países y regiones podrán extraer de sus propios proyectos de investigación y de sus experiencias en el campo excelentes ejemplos y casos con los cuales reconstruir las prácticas y adaptarlas al contexto de su localidad. Cada instructor tiene en sus manos guías que son instrumentos de trabajo flexibles que pueden adaptar a las necesidades de distintas audiencias en diferentes escenarios.Es importante que los usuarios (instructores, multiplicadores) de estas guias conozcan el papel funcional que brinda su estructura didáctica para que la utilicen en beneficio de los usuarios finales. Son ellos quienes, van a tomar las decisiones de introducir los instrumentos presentados, en los procesos de desarrollo a nívellocal.Por ello, se hace énfasis en el empleo de los flujogramas por los instructores a quienes les sirven para presentar las distintas secciones; las preguntas orientadoras, que les permiten establecer un diálogo y promover la motivación de la audiencia antes de profundizar en la teoría; los originales para las transparencias, los cuales pueden adaptarse a diferentes necesidades, introduciendo ajustes en su presentación; los anexos citados en el texto que ayudan a profundizar aspectos tratados brevemente dentro de cada sección; los ejercicios y las prácticas sugeridos, los cuales, como se dijo antes, pueden ser adaptados o reemplazados por prácticas sobre problemas relevantes a la audiencia local; las sesiones de información de retomo, en las cuales también es posible incluir datos locales, regionales o nacionales que hagan más relevante la concreción de los temas y los anexos didácticos (postest, evaluación del instructor, evaluación del evento, evaluación del material, etc.) que ayudan a complementar las actividades de capacitación, Finalmente, se quiere dejar una idea central con respecto al modelo de capacitación que siguen las guías: Si lo más importante en el aprendizaje es la práctica, la' capacitación debe disponer del tiempo necesario para que, quienes acuden a ella tengan la oportunidad de desarrollar las habilidades, destrezas y actitudes que reflejen los objetivos del aprendizaje, Sólo así es posible esperar que la capacitación tenga el impacto esperado en quienes toman decisiones sobre el manejo de los recursos naturales.MétodiíPiriJe¡p\"tIvó ¡ia\",-RleñíIfféM ~YlñriléiidOiii¡'I:liéiI'iiS díi\"ca1liJaiI d'!Il SUfiJci;.  El esquema anterior muestra los diferentes componentes de la guía y las relaciones que existen entre ellas. A continuación se ofrece una breve explicación.En la primera sección se hace una presentación técnica del suelo como un cuerpo natural contínuo a través de un Modelo Simplificado de la Formación de los Suelos (MSFS).En la segunda sección se explica la metodología para obtener y prioriz:ar los conocimientos locales, en forma de indicadores locales de calidad de suelo (ILCS) para luego compatibilizarlos con el conocimiento técnico con el fin de facilitar la comunicación entre productores y técnicos. Se presentan ejemplos basados en los trabajos realizados en Honduras y Colombia, pero los principios generales son aplicables en otras regiones.En la tercera parte se presenta la metodología de integración teórico -práctica de los conceptos sobre propiedades diagnósticas técnicas e indicadores locales de calidad de suelo, mediante la realización de la Feria del Suelo. Este es un evento de carácter participativo en donde productores y técnicos interactuan con el fin de compatibilizar conceptos y desarrollar indicadores locales de la calidad de los suelos (ILeS). De donde se parte hacia una clasificación técnico -local de suelos con base en propiedades diagnósticas modificables y permanentes a nivel de finca y microcuenca. Esta estrategia permite enfocarse hacia un manejo sostenible de los suelos y su impacto en otros componentes del ecosistema como lo son la vegetación nativa y el agua.Los resultados de este proceso repercutirán positivamente en el conocimiento técnico al nutrirlo con la demanda y percepción local. Las experiencias exitosas de iniciativas hacia un manejo sostenible de recursos naturales en agro-ecosistemas aumentaran considerablemente al tener la sólida base proporcionada por la relevancia local. Por otro lado, también tendrán impactos positivos en el conocimiento local al proveer una vía para su amplia comprensión, valoración y uso, así como el empoderamiento generado al ser copartícipes del conocimiento técnicolocal.,El instructor que emplea una metodología partícipatíva en la capacitación, inicia la misma con un pequeño cuestionario que le permite a los participantes (a) enterarse de los temas centrales que se tratan en la guía y (b) explorar qué saben acerca de los mismos.Para administrar la autoevaluación:• Entregue a cada participante o a grupos pequeños de participantes las preguntas que aparecen a continuación • Conceda unos 20 minutos para contestar • Comparta con los participantes las respuestas formuladas en la información de retorno • Permita una breve discusión de cada pregunta, sin profundizar en ninguno de los temas Preguntas 1. ¿Qué es para usted el suelo?2. ¿Cuál cree usted que es la importanCia del suelo como un recurso natural?  5. ¿Cuáles son algunas de las propiedades no modificables de los suelo$?6. ¿Que métodos conoce para evaluar la calidad de un suelo?!\"'.,:~ .... ~,..,._KlIInw ya-_ _ Loc:aI8sdec.o/ldeddel_. _dell~Orientaciones para el Instructor Discuta con los participantes cada una de las respuestas, para esto puede pedir la opinión de tres participantes por cada pregunta, esto previo a la presentación de cada respuesta correcta por el instructor.Considere que las respuestas pueden ser muy abiertas, por lo tanto cada opinión es muy vallosa y debe ser enfocada a orientar sobre los temas a tratar. También al final realice una síntesis de todas las respuestas, teniendo como objetivo el de inducir a los participantes a lo que se pretende desarrollar con los objetivos y resultados de la preser.te gu í a.El suelo es el producto de la descomposición de las rocas en partículas muy finas combinadas con materiales orgánicos que constituyen un medio apto para el crecimiento de las plantas y favorable a la actividad biológica.El suelo constituye la base de la producción de fibra y alimentos para la humanidadLos suelos poseen propiedades que los distinguen de las rocas. Dichas propiedades se dividen en externas e internas. Las primeras se refieren a las características del entomo del paisaje donde el suelo se ha formado (por ejemplo, pendiente, clima, organismos, tiempo). Las segundas se refieren a las propiedades del perfil de suelo las que se dividen en físicas, químicas y biológicas. Algunas de las propiedades físicas de los suelos son: textura, estructura y color. Entre las propiedades químicas se encuentran el pH o condición de acidez lalcalinidad, y los contenidos de los elementos requeridos por las plantas. Entre las propiedades biológicas más importantes se encuentran el contenido de materia orgánica y la actividad de los organismos del suelo. La calidad de los suelos es un concepto rell:'tivo que involucra la evaluación tanto de las características externas como las internas. Por ejemplo, un suelo en un relieve de montaña a pesar de ser menos apto para la agricultura puede tener una mejor calidad para la silvicultura que un suelo en relieve plano.Materia orgánica, pH, contenido de nutrientes, presencia de organismos Pendiente, clima, textura.La evaluación de fa calidad de un suelo requiere de la medición de sus diferentes propiedades en función de la actividad agrícola a la que se desea someter.El participante, al finalizar el estudio de esta Guía, será capaz de integrar los indicadores locales de calidad de suelo con propiedades diagnósticas técnicas de los suelos.Los participantes o usuarios de esta guía estarán en capacidad de aplicar la metodología para la obtención, priorización, y clasificación de indicadores de calidad de suelo que son reconocidos por la comunidad y los técnicos a nivel local.,/ Diferenciar los factores y procesos que intervienen en la formación de un suelo utilizando un modelo simplificado.,/ Describir los factores y procesos de formación del suelo.,/ Elaborar una lista de indicadores locales de calidad del suelo de la zona en estudio para determinar la calidad de suelos.,/ Determinar propiedades físicas (textura, color, estructura, profundidad) y químicas (pH, contenido de nutrientes, materia orgánica) y biológicas (organismos) del suelo relacionadas a los indicadores locales de calidad del suelo priorizados por la comunidad.,/ Compatibilizar los indicadores locales de calidad del suelo y las propiedades diagnósticas técnicas de los suelos utilizando las destrezas adquiridas en las sesiones prácticas (feria del suelo).A través de la aplicación de la metodología descrita en esta guia se obtendrá una matriz de indicadores de calidad de suelo utilizados por miembros de la comunidad para el reconocimiento de los diferentes tipos de suelo dentro de una región dada. Cada indicador local se integra con propiedades diagnósticas técnicas debidamente clasificadas en propiedades penmanentes y propiedades modificables. El cuadro integrado de indicadores contiene los elementos básicos para el ordenamiento de los suelos a nivel de las comunidades en donde se aplica la metodología (nivel finca o microcuenca) .Este proceso penmitirá identificar indicadores locales como guías de prácticas de manejo del suelo que faciliten así la adopción y evaluación de nuevas opciones tecnológicas.Originales para TransparenciasEl participante será capaz de integrar los indicadores locales de calidad de suelo con las propiedades diagnósticas técnicas de los suelos.• Determinar las propiedades físicas (textura, color, estructura, profundidad),químicas (pH, contenido de nutrientes, materia orgánica) y biológicas (organismos) del suelo relacionadas con los indicadores locales de calidad del suelo, priorizados por la comunidad .• Compatibilizar los indicadores locales de calidad del suelo con las propiedades diagnósticas técnicas de los suelos.ILCS+4  Al finalizar el estudio de esta sección, los participantes estarán en capacidad de:.¡ Diferenciar entre los factores y los procesos de formación de suelos mediante el conocimiento del modelo simplificado (MSFS) ..¡ Describir los factores y procesos que afectan la formación de un suelo ..¡ Identificar propiedades físicas, químicas y biológicas de los suelos y diferenciar las propiedades permanentes y modificables de los mismos.Preguntas Orientadoras1. ¿Cómo se forma un suelo?2. ¿Qué es un factor de formación del suelo?3. ¿Qué es un proceso de formación del suelos?4. ¿Qué es una propiedad permanente y una modificable en el suelo?1.1 Importancia del Suelo como Recurso NaturalPor qué el suelo es un recurso natural valioso?• Constituye la base de los recursos naturales renovables (flora y fauna)• Proporciona alimentos para la población y constituye el recurso base para la subsistencia de los más pobres. • Es un filtro para los desechos de la actividad humana así como reservorío de agua para los cultívos. • El suelo no es un recurso natural renovable.El suelo es un producto de la naturaleza cuya valoración difiere según la apreciación personal de sus diferentes usuarios. De acuerdo con Brady (1974) la evaluación de los conceptos modernos del suelo involucra dos fuentes básicas del conocimiento sobre este recurso natural. En primer lugar, el conocimiento práctico acumulado por los agricultores a través de los años constituía la única información disponible antes del advenimiento de la ciencia moderna. Este conocimiento por parte de los agricultores no ha sido suficientemente valorado, aunque constituye una valiosa fuente alternativa de información sobre los suelos y su manejo. En segundo lugar, se encuentra el conocimiento adquirido a través de la aplicación del método científico mediante la edafología o estudio de las propiedades del suelo y su relación con la producción, y pedología o clasificación del suelo.En esta guía se promueve el conocimiento del suelo mediante ambas visiones: la técnica y las experiencias del agricultor. Para lograrlo se plantea un marco teórico utilizando un modelo simplificado de la formación de los suelos, que aplica conceptos modernos de la pedología y edafología, para que el productor y el técnico puedan compartir sus conocimientos con el fin de entender y analizar el orígen, la evolución y la distribución de los suelos.1.3 ¿Cómo se forma el Suelo?Se debe entender por factor de formación a cada elemento, parte o agente que propicia un resultado. En este caso se entienden como factores de formación de los suelos aquellos elementos que intervienen como agentes causales en su desarrollo y son el clima, el material parental, el relieve, los organismos vivos y el tiempo.Estos factores se expresan en mayor o menor medida dependiendo del tipo de suelo y de las características del entorno ambiental. Por ejemplo, en un clima árido y frío, y topografía quebrada, la evolución del suelo estará limitada por el relieve, la disponibilidad de humedad y las bajas temperaturas que condicionan un substrato menos propicio para el desarrollo de organismos, incluyendo plantas y animales. Otro ejemplo lo constituyen los suelos que se han formado en relieves planos donde la característica principal que condiciona la evolución del suelo está marcada por la tendencia a la acumulación de sedimentos provenientes de las partes altas como resultado de procesos erosivos.Se puede considerar como el factor más determinante de la formación y evolución de los suelos. Entre los componentes del clima, la temperatura y la precipitación tienen la mayor influencia al controlar las tasas de los procesos físicos, químicos y biológicos. En general, se considera que si el clima es muy variable y contrastante se convierte en el factor de mayor influencia y tiende a dominar la formación de un suelo. La influencia del clima también se expresa a través de otros factores, por ejemplo, sobre el control que tiene sobre el tipo de vegetación que se desarrolla en una rsgión determinada.El paisaje determina, hasta cierto punto el potencial de desarrollo de un suelo. La topografía del terreno tiene efectos directos, bien sea acelerando o retrasando los procesos de formación de un suelo. Por ejemplo, el desarrollo del perfil del suelo en zonas con relieve montañoso de relieve en colinas condiciona cierto grado de erosión, que puede llegar a detener el desarrollo de suelos profundos. Por otro lado, en tierras planas los excesos de agua y la falta de drenaje pueden condicionar transformaciones de los minerales arcillosos de la roca que afectan directamente el tipo de suelo que se forma.Este constituye el sustrato o roca madre del cual se forman las diferentes fracciones minerales que constituyen el suelo. El material parental está constituído por los 1-1 minerales originales y los productos de los procesos de intemperismo, tanto físicos como químicos, que difieren en su composición y resistencia a la degradación. El material parental tiene una profunda influencia en las características físicas y químicas del suelo. Por ejemplo, las texturas arenosas en muchos suelos están determinadas en gran medida por la composición del material parental. Asimismo, la presencia de carbonatos de calcio en el material parental en una región húmeda retrasa el desarrollo de la acidez, no obstante pueda ser este un proceso promovido por dicha condición climática. Finalmente, el material parental tiene una influencia marcada en el tipo de suelo que se desarrolla a partir de las arcillas presentes en un perfiLLas plantas constituyen un fador de formación de suelos debido a su contribución a la materia orgánica del suelo lo que diferencia a los suelos de la roca finamente dividida. En algunas regiones las plantas son determinantes de las características del suelo superficial así como de su evolución. Por ejemplo, en zonas de praderas los pastos por su sistema radical tienden a distribuir la materia orgánica en forma más homogénea dentro del perfil de suelo que en aquellas zonas donde predominan otros tipos de vegetación. Los organismos del suelo tambien ejercen una marcada influencia en la formación de los suelos debido a su rol en la descomposición de la materia orgánica, la redistribución y ciclaje de nutrientes y la transformación de estos nutrientes a formas necesarias para la nutrición vegetal.El período de tiempo durante el cual adúan los procesos de intemperismo sobre los minerales del material parental afeda directamente las características del suelo resultante. Por ejemplo, los suelos desarrollados en depósitos aluviales o lacustres en general no han tenido el tiempo suficiente para evolucionar como ha ocurrido en suelos desarrollados en otros paisajes. Asimismo, muchos de los suelos de las zonas húmedas del trópico han evolucionado bajo condiciones de intemperismo extremo de los materiales originales, lo que causa una condición de intenso lavado que se manifiesta como suelos de baja fertilidad.Son aquellos condicionantes que pueden hacer que un mismo grupo de fadores de formación evolucionen hacia diferentes tipos de suelos. Los procesos de formación se pueden clasificar en las categorías:La contribución de cada uno de ellos en la formación de un suelo dependerá de la medida en que los factores de formación interactúen entre sí. Por ejemplo, un suelo formado en un relieve muy escarpado típico del paisaje de montaña, en general estará dominado por los procesos de pérdidas de las capas superiores por acción de la gravedad. Consecuentemente, esta pérdida se convertirá en ganancia en las regiones bajas en las cuales se forman los depósitos aluviales típicos del paisaje de los valles.Los procesos de pérdida en la formación de los suelos ocurren principalmente por efecto de lavado y erosión. La erosión es, quizá, el proceso de pérdida más conocido. Puede ocurrir de maneras diferentes y por agentes y mecanismos muy variados; entre los que se encuentran el agua, el viento y la gravedad, que pueden provocar desde una pérdida casi imperceptible por erosión laminar hasta los movimientos en masa incluyendo deslizamientos masivos, solifluxión, replación, flujos de lodo y derrumbes.El lavado de los compuestos o elementos presentes en el perfil del suelo depende principalmente de la solubilidad de los mismos y su relación directa con el régimen de humedad. Otro ejemplo de los procesos de pérdidas es la acidificación de un suelo como consecuencia del desbalance de los elementos bases como calcio, magnesio, sodio y polasio.El suelo es un depositario por excelencia. Puede recibir todo tipo de residuos tanto benéficos, como aquellos que alteran su buen desarrollo. Estos residuos pueden ser líquidos, gaseosos o sólidos y en formas minerales o biológicas. Es importante, por tanto, que de ellos analicemos los aportes minerales y orgánicos.Este proceso se define como la modificación de los materiales inorgánicos (fracciones minerales) por medio de la meteorización química y del intemperismo; y las transformaciones que se efectúan en los materiales orgánicos (materia orgánica y humus).Las translocaciones son procesos que conllevan un movimiento físico de los constituyentes del suelo y que ocurren al interior del perfil del mismo. Un ejemplo ampliamente reconocido de este proceso es el movimiento de las arciffas de los horizontes superficiales con su consiguiente acumulación en fos horizontes inferiores, proceso que se conoce como iluviación.Las propiedades o indicadores de la calidad de los suelos que determinan la aptitud de uso y manejo del suelo, se dividen en físicas, químicas y biológicas. Estas Se usan para describir los atributos y características de un suelo en función del conocimiento de su forma (morfología).Las propiedades físicas de los suelos de acuerdo con su determinación y con los fenómenos relacionados con ellas pueden ser divididas en dos grandes grupos; -Físicas fundamentales: textura, estructura, color, consistencia, densidad y temperatura. -Derivadas: porosidad, capacidad de retención de aire, capacidad de retención de agua, compactación y profundidad efectiva.Esta característica de los suelos se determina por el porcentaje de cada uno de sus componentes minerales (arcilla, limo y arena). La textura es responsable entre otras condiciones de la fertilidad potencial, la aireación, la permeabilidad, la humedad, y la profundidad efectiva, grado de evolución, tipo genético, y características quimicas asociadas de los suelosEs la forma de agregación de las partículas. Es afectada por la descomposición de los materiales orgánicos, los óxidos e hidr6xidos de hierro y las mismas fracciones 1 I , j i arcillosas, de tal manera que se presentan diversas condiciones entre las cuales se identifica la forma, y el tamaño de 10$ agregados.Tiene una relación directa con la temperatura, la humedad, el clima, los organismos. Se utiliza comúnmente como indicador de la fertilidad de los suelos. El color cambia dependiendo del contenido de humedad y de la cantidad de materia orgánica.La consistencia se define como la resistencia que ofrece a la deformación una masa de suelo bajo condiciones especificas de humedad. Es un indicador de la calidad de los suelos muy relacionado con la textura, contenido de materia orgánica, naturaleza de la arcilla, y contenido de humedad. Además, tiene una incidencia notoria sobre el laboreo del suelo y la profundidad de enraizamiento.En los trópicos temperaturas muy altas y muy bajas, así como los cambios relativamente rápidos de temperatura durante el día constituyen factores de intemperismo que actuan durante la formación de los suelos especialmente en zonas montañosas.Se considera que el 50% del volumen del suelo se encuentra ocupado por la fracción porosa, la cual dependiendo del tamaño de los poros, está utilizada por aire, agua disponible y micro-organismos. Por lo tanto, la fracción porosa afecta la difusión de los gases, la penetración radicular, :a regulación de la temperatura y la actividad biológica en el suelo.Esta propiedad de los suelos está determinada por la cantidad de macroporos (0.05 mm), presentes en el espacio poroso y que facilitan el movimiento de los gases que intervienen en la actividad de los organismos vivos en el suelo.• Capacidad de retención de aguaEs el rango de humedad entre agua retenida por el suelo que está disponible para uso por las plantas (capacidad de campo) yagua retenida que no está disponible para ser usada por las plantas (punto de marchitez permanente). Esta propiedad es afectada directamente por el tipo de espacio poroso presente en el suelo.La compactación eS el resultado de la alteración del espacio poroso de los suelos, provocada por el uso inadecuado de prácticas agropecuarias en los sistemas de producción.Esta indicador se refiere a la profundidad que pueden alcanzar las raíces sin encontrar impedimentos físicos o químicos. Constituye una de las propiedades más importantes e indica el potencial del suelo para la producción de cultivos.Las propiedades químicas de los suelos permiten conocer los contenidos de los componentes orgánicos e inorgánicos en el suelo y su influencia en la producción y productividad de los cultivos. Entre las propiedades más importantes se encuentran:• pH Indica el grado de acidez o alcalinidad que presenta un suelo, y tiene una influencia directa en las características físicas, químicas y biológicas (actividad microbiana), Determina en gran parte, la disponibilidad de nutrientes en el suelo.• Contenido de materia orgánica Los compuestos orgánicos depositados sobre la superficie y en el interior de los suelos se descomponen de forma más o menos rápida por acción biológica con la consiguiente liberación de elementos minerales y gaseosos. Esta reacción produce nuevas sustancias que se asocian con los componentes minerales para formar parte de las fracciones finamente divididas del suelo. Esta propiedad afecta de manera marcada la retención del agua, la estructura, el color y la temperatura de los suelos.Además del pH y el contenido de materia orgánica, es importante el contenido de macronutrientes (nitrógeno, fósforo, calcio, potasio, magnesio y azufre) y micronutrientes (boro, zinc, etc). La disponibilidad de estos nutrientes para la planta está condicionada por una serie de factores entre los que se incluyen: la concentración y forma química del elemento, el régimen hídrico, la capacidad de intercambio catiónico, etc.1.4.3 Propiedades biológicas las propiedades biológicas del suelo están relacionadas con la actividad de los organismos que lo habitan. Los organismos del suelo (ej. lombrices, termitas, hormigas, hongos, bacterias etc.) juegan un papel muy importante en la descomposición de los resíduos orgánicos en el suelo al fragmentarlos, ingerirlos, excretar los y afectar sus características fisico-químicas. La actividad biológica que se observa facílmente es aquella realizada por los organismos de mayor tamaño (turrículos de lombrices, nidos de hormigas, etc.), mientras que en la mayoría de los casos la actividad de los mícro-organismos no es tan fácil de observar. Sín embargo existen micro-organismos benéficos como el rizóbio que viven asociados con las raíces de plantas leguminosas, tienen efectos positivos en el crecimiento de la planta y cuando están presentes y activos generan la formación de estructuras redondeadas (nódulos) facilmente detectables en las raíces de la planta. los procesos biológicos son afectados directa o indirectamente por otras propiedades del suelo como la temperatura, la humedad, la aireación, el pH, la materia orgánica y la disponibilidad de nutrientes. La actividad de los organismos del suelo y de las plantas tiende a ser mayor en condiciones de temperaturas altas y humedad que con temperaturas bajas y sequía.Una forma alternativa de agrupar las propiedades indicadoras de la calidad del suelo es el cambio de ellas a través del manejo agrícola, pecuario ylo forestal. Las propiedades se pueden clasificar en permanentes y modificables:Una propiedad permanente es aquella que ha sido determinada por los materiales parentales (factores de formación) y que en la práctica no es posible cambiarla. Por ejemplo, la textura del suelo se considera como una propiedad permanente, ya que no es posible cambiar la distribución relativa del tamaño de las partículas que conforman la fracción fina « 2mm). De igual manera, es difícil cambiar la pendiente pronunciada de las tierras de laderas, a corto plazo.Una propiedad modificable es aquella que es susceptible de ser alterada en forma apreciable a través de acciones de manejo regularmente aplicadas en un suelo. Un ejemplo es la disminución del contenido de materia orgánica de un suelo en su parte superficial (0-15 cm), el cual puede ser modificado a través de la estimulación de una mayor mineralizaron por prácticas como quemas periódicas, lat-oreo contínuo, erosión, etc.El conocimiento tradicional campesino se deriva de una integración intuitiva de la respuesta de los sistemas agrícolas a través del tiempo a factores que afecten la producción (manejo, fertilidad,clima,plagas, etc) (Barrios et al., 1994;Barrios. 1995).El conocimiento del suelo por el campesino es un valioso recurso que se esta perdiendo cada día. La meta consiste en combinar lo mejor de la ciencia de suelos con lo mejor de los conocimientos locales por parte del campesino. La palabra mejor aquí se refiere tanto a los métodos para resolver problemas y al conocimiento básico como a los avances tecnológicos específicos. El objetivo consiste en usar los dos sistemas de conocimiento para prevenir y resolver problemas locales de manejo del suelo, logrando así una mayor efectividad que la alcanzada por cada uno de los sistemas en forma individual.De lo anterior queda claro que la integración de la experiencia de los agricultores con el conocimiento técnico -científico permite a ambos grupos de actores un mejor entendimiento del recurso suelo y de esta forma será posible tomar mejores decisiones para su manejo.Existen muchas prácticas de manejo que el agricultor-usuario que conoce, experimenta y vive del suelo, puede adoptar para asegurar y aumentar los rendimientos de sus cultivos. La comprensión de la importancia de estas prácticas y su adopci6n será mayor si es posible una comunicación efectiva, a través de un lenguaje común, entre el agricultor y el técnico.Durante el estudio de las secciones 2 y 3 de esta guía será posible rescatar e integrar los conocimientos local y técnico para determinar las propiedades permanentes y modificables de los suelos. Esto permitirá tomar mejores decisiones de manejo a nivel de finca al estar más cercanos a la realidad del agricultor. Una mejor comunicaci6n técnico -agricultor promovería una mayor adopción de nuevas opciones tecnológicas disponibles.Ejercicio 1.1 Identificación de los Factores y Procesos deObjetivo -/ Al finalizar los ejercicios los participantes estarán en capacidad de idenlificar los procesos y factores que intervienen en la formación de los suelos,1. Dependiendo del número de participantes forme grupos de cuatro a seis miembros y entregue a cada grupo una copia del instructivo para realizar el ejercicio.2. Conceda 30 minutos para que el grupo pueda discutir y analizar las preguntas y posibles respuestas. Solicite a los participantes que refieran sus ejemplos a sus parcelas o a su microcuenca, 3, Solicite que nombren a un coordinador para que exponga sus respuestas, Pueden hacer uso del papelógrafo, retroproyector o cualquier aIra ayuda que esté disponible.4 Al final de las exposiciones proporcione ejemplos y sugerencias que ayuden a los grupos a ampliar sus conocimientos sobre el tema.• Hoja de instrucciones pera cada uno de los grupos • Papelógrl:.lfo y papel • Proyector • Acetatos y marcadores lavables A partir de los conocimientos adquiridos por usted en esta capacitación, anote según corresponda una X en los espacios para cada uno de los factores y procesos de formación de los suelos que pueda identificar. Es decir, señale cuales son factores y cuales son procesos. Tomando como referencia los dibujos que se encuentran en la margen izquierda de esta hoja de trabajo, escriba en la línea debajo de cada dibujo el factor de formación de suelos con el que usted lo asocie; luego escriba en la tercera columna, tres o más elementos que intervengan en ese factor de formación identificado.Factores de Formación  Tomando como referencia los dibujos que se encuentran en la margen izquierda de esta hoja de trabajo, escriba en el cuadro situado a la derecha de cada dibujo el proceso de formación de suelos con el que usted lo asocie; luego escriba en la tercera columna, tres o más elementos que intervengan en ese factor de formación identificado, Procesos de Formación    En esta práctica se trata de capacitar a los participantes en el desarrollo de habilidades, destrezas y actitudes, para conocer en forma práctica y de una manera sencilla, algunas propiedades físicas, químicas y biológicas de los suelos. Esto con la finalidad de que los productores puedan tratar de conocer su parcela desde una perspectiva más amplia y darle un manejo adecuado.El suelo es el medio donde se produce el desarrollo de las plantas .. Su formación es el producto de una larga, compleja y muy dinámica interacción de todos sus componentes tanto orgánicos como inorgánicos (ver Sección 1.1 l.Como todo organismo el suelo tiene sus características ñsicas, químicas y biológicas que permiten predecir la cantidad y calidad de los componentes y nutrientes presentes para la producción agrícola.Las características químicas se utilizan frecuentemente para medir la fertilidad de los suelos, y dependen en forma directa de las propiedades físicas y biológicas. En consecuencia la producción o productividad de un suelo depende de la relación entre ellas.En esta guía no se pretende hacar un profundo estudio de las características del suelo, sino más bien se trata de introducir a los participantes conceptos e ideas para que puedan ínterrelacionar de manera global los indicadores locales de calidad del suelo con las características permanentes y modificables del mismo.Al finalizar la práctica, el participante estará en capacidad de:./ Evaluar las diferencias de textura en los suelos de la localidad ../ Identificar las diferentes formas de la estructura de los suelos ../ Aplicar la metodología práctica de campo para identificar la estructura de un suelo ../ Identificar el color de suelos locales como una ayuda para determinar su calidad.,/ Identificar la importancia de la consistencia como una característica física en su relación con la calidad de los suelos.,/ Evaluar la velocidad de infiltración de agua en suelos de la localidad.,/ Identificar mediante una metodología sencilla las variaciones en pH que puedan presentar los suelos locales.,/ Identificar mediante una metodología práctica de campo las variaciones en contenido de materia orgánica que puedan presentar los suelos locales.,/ Identificar las variaciones en el contenido de carbonatos libres que se presentan en los suelos.,/ Identificar la acción de los macro -organismos en la estructura del suelo (lombrices),/ Identificar estructuras (nódulos) en raíces de plantas leguminosas como resultado de la relación simbiótica con micro -organismos del suelo (rizÓbio).1. Cada técnico facilitador será responsable del orden en la mesa de trabajo.2. Verifique al inicio del taller que lodo el material y el equipo se encuentren en cantidad y calidad suficientes para desarrollar eficientemente la practica.3. Consulte con el coordinador general cuando se presente algún inconveniente.4. Fotocopie con anticipación el número adecuado de las orientaciones para cada participante.5. Divida al total de los participantes en grupos de cinco personas.6. Distribuya al grupo el material necesario para el desarrollo de la práctica.7. Cada sesión de práctica por grupo de participantes durará 20 minutos.8. Proceda a la autoevaluación de conocimientos de los participantes sobre el tema. Pídales que contesten las preguntas que se encuentran en sus instructivos (puede hacerlo en voz alta y en forma general).9. Desarrolle cada ejercicio o práctica de acuerdo con su auditorio.10. Si en la mesa van a utilizar reactivos químicos advierta del peligro a cada participante. 12. Haga una demostración de la práctica.13. Motive a cada participante a realizar la práctica inmediatamente.14. Verifique que cada uno de los participantes tenga en su momento la asistencia adecuada para el desarrollo de la práctica.15. Asegúrese de que el participante anote en su cuadro de resultados y en el cuadro general de resultados del instructor la información obtenida de su suelo.16. Asegúrese de explorar el impacto que produjo la práctica sobre la manera de pensar de los participantes, (tome como referencia las respuestas a las preguntas al inicio de la practica). 17. Identifique fortalezas y debilidades en el conocimiento adquirido.Instrucciones para el Instructor Antes de! inicio de cada práctica encontrará una serie de preguntas que le servirán como indicador del conocimiento previo que sobre el tema tiene la audiencia.Es importante que le haga entender a la audiencia que esto no constituye un exámen, sino un método usado para saber el punto de partida para optimizar el tiempo de capacitación, y al finalizar, tener un parámetro con el cual evaluar el aprovechamiento obtenido por los participantes durante la práctica.Las preguntas se proporcionan por escrito para que seleccione el método más conveniente para presentarlo ante la audiencia. Por ejemplo, puede presentarlas en voz alta, entregarlas para ser contestadas en forma grupal (recuerde que ellos cuentan con estas preguntas en el material de trabajo), u organizar una discusión plenaria para conocer las respuestas que el grupo dé a las preguntas, o cualquier otra forma que crea se adapte con m~s conveniencia a la audiencia.Anuncie que en una sección plenaria se compararán estas respuestas con las que usted ha preparado a cada pregunta.A continuación se incluyen las preguntas que se presentan en todos los ejercicios, seguidas por las respectivas respuestas. Es la característica física de los suelos determinada por la cantidad de cada uno de sus componentes minerales: arcilla, limo y arena.Fracción más gruesa de los componentes minerales del suelo, pueden encontrarse arenas desde muy gruesas (no mayores a 2.00 mm) hasta muy finas (no menores a 0.02 mm), según la escala ISSS (Sociedad Internacional de las Ciencias del Suelo).Fracción intermedia de los componentes minerales del suelo, (menor a 0.02 mm, pero mayor o igual 0.002 mm de diámetro)Fracción más fina de los componentes minerales del suelo, con un diámetro menor que 0.002 mm. Es la fracción con mayor responsabilidad en la respuesta a los procesos ñsicos, químicos y biológicos del suelo.Práctica 1.2 . Determinación de la Estructura del Suelo Respuestas Para la pregunta 1Se le llama de esta manera a las variadas formas en que se agrupan los diferentes componentes de los suelos, está influenciada por la descomposición de los materiales orgánicos, por los óxidos e hidróxidos de hierro, y las fracciones arcillosas.Es la mínima fracción que determina la estructura de un suelo.Para la pregunta 3Es aquella estructura del suelo alargada que presenta todas o la mayoría de sus caras planas.Práctica 1. El color negro indica la presencia de materia orgánica, el rojizo indica la predominación de óxidos de hierro, y el amarillento la predominancia de óxidos de aluminio.Práctica 1.4 Determinación de la Consistencia del SueloLa consistencia se define como la resistencia a la deformación ofrecida por una masa de suelo bajo condiciones específicas dE< humedad,Es la característica de la consistencia que se determina en un suelo húmedo y que se identifica por la capacidad de los suelos para adherirse o pegarse a otras superficies,Característica de los suelos que consiste en la posibilidad de tomar diferentes formas al ser moldeados en condición húmeda,Facilidad de perturbación que presenta un suelo en condición seca, Práctica 1.5 Velocidad de Infiltración de Agua en el SueloEs la rapidez con la que el agua añadida pasa a través del suelo,El tipo de uso y el manejo del suelo al influenciar la actividad biológica afecta la porosidad.1-38 S _ _ Recurso _ _ -- Son aquellos organismos observables a simple vista como las lombrices, escarabajos y hormigas que habitan el suelo.Fragmentan los residuos orgánicos en pedazos más pequeños los cuales a su vez son ingeridos por estos u otros organismos, que luego los excretan. Las excretas resultantes pueden a su vez ser fragmentadas de nuevo, ingeridas y excretadas por otros organismos y esta cadena de eventos se repite muchas veces.La capacidad fragmentadora de muchos de estos organismos reduce el tamaño de los residuos orgánicos y permite que se descompongan más rápidamente. La actividad de las lombrices puede reducir la susceptibilidad a la erosión de los suelos y además su movimiento en el perfil del suelo promueve un aumento en la aireación y la infiltración de agua en el suelo. Son aquellos micro-organismos que no pueden observarse a simple vista como las bacterias y la mayoría de los hongos.Existen micro-organismos benéficos y dañinos para la producción agrícola. Entre los micro-organismos benéficos tenemos bacterias encargadas de convertir nutrientes orgánicos provenientes de la materia orgánica en nutrientes inorgánicos utilizables por los cultivos. También hay hongos y bacterias que generan enfermedades y pérdidas en los cultivos. El manejo biológico de la fertilidad del suelo persigue aumentar el ímpacto de los micro-organismos benéficos y reducir el de los dañinos.Esta es una relación de mutuo beneficio donde tanto la planta como el microorganismo viven mejor juntos que separados. Este es el caso del rizobio (bacteria) y de las micorrizas (hongo) los cuales son capaces de suministrar nutrientes adicionales a los cultivos a cambío de ser hospedados en las raíces de la planta.1-411. En este momento usted se encuentra en la mesa de inscripción e información.• Lo identificarán con un gafete que indique su nombre, comunidad (por el color del gafete) o institución. • Le proporcionarán las instrucciones correspondientes a su participación esperada.• Le entregarán un sobre con: papel, programa, lápiz y ficha de registro.• Recuerde que cuando usted lo necesite, en ésta mesa le proporcionarán información en relación con las actividades generales de esta capacitación.2. Mesas de ejercicios y prácticas:• Usted formará parte de un grupo de participantes que rotará por cada mesa de trabajo, hasta completar todas las prácticas. • En cada una de ellas encontrará un instructor el cual le guiará en la práctica o ejercicio que corresponda. • Atienda las instrucciones con relación a las actividades que deberá usted presentar en cada área de trabajo. • Al dirigirse a su instructor hágalo de manera cortés, de igual manera lo hará él.• Cualquier duda con respecto a la práctica expresela con confianza a su instructor.• Las prácticas que usted realizará, número de mesa y el nombre de sus instructores son los siguientes:  Orientaciones para el Participante 1. Tome una muestra de suelo del I/olumen de una medida de una cucharada sopera.2. Colóquela en su mano izquierda.3. Con el dispensador agréguele agua en forma lenta (gota a gota). Con su mano derecha manipúlelo hasta que tome consistencia pegajosa, con la cual usted formará una bola con 2 a 5 cm (1 a 2 pulgada) de diámetro. Para que usted pueda identificar la clase textural a la cual pertenece el suelo, compárelo con el cuadro y las figuras que aparecen a continuación:  Para finalizar:1. Marque con una 'X: en la hoja de trabajo del agricultor la categoría a que corresponde el suelo analizado.2. Marque de igual manera en el control que lleva su instructor. ./ Identificar y clasificarla la estructura de una muestra de suelo.• Dispensador con agua ¿Qué se entiende por estructura de un suelo?2. ¿Qué es un agregado?3. ¿ Qué significa estructura prismática?Orientaciones para el Participante 1 , Tome en sus manos una porción de suelo, procurando mantenerlo con la forma original hasta que proceda a manipularlo.2. Presiónelo ligeramente al principio y agréguele poco a poco mayor para permitir que se rompa, de tal manera que deje al descubierto la forma original de los agregados.3. Cuando el suelo haya cedido, usando la cartilla identifique la estructura de este suelo a través de: • La forma que haya tomado • El tamaño y de la forma obtenida • La dureza 1-49  Agregados diferenciados y bien formados. moderadamente duraderos y visibles.Agregados duraderos y evidentes en suelos no alterados; se adhieren débilmente entre si.i admiten desplazamientos y se separan fáCilmente en suelos alterados. .1. Marque con una 'X' en la hoja de trabajo del agricultor la categoría a que corresponde el suelo analizado.    • Tome una muestra de suelo de 5 cm (2 pulgadas). Si es parte de un terrón determine el color en parte de la muestra que estaba adherida al terrón (la parte que ha estado expuesta puede estar afectada), • Determine el color del suelo utilizando directamente la tabla Munsell, • Anote el color en la hoja de resultados • Anótelo también en el cuadro de su instructor,Práctica 1.4 Determinación de la Consistencia del Suelo Objetivo ,¡' Reconocer la consistencia de un suelo como una característica físíca que tiene relación con su calidad.• Dispensador con agua Instrucciones para el Participante 1. Medición de la consistencia en suelo seco al aire.• Tome un terrón de suelo seco y trate de romperlo manualmente.• Por este medio usted medirá la dureza de los suelos.• Anota en su hoja de resultados cualquiera de las condiciones que se cumpla a continuación:El terrón es débil, se rompe fádlmente y se desmenuza en polvo o gránulos.El terron es débilmente resistente a la presión y fácilmente quebradizo duro entre los dedos pulgar e índice.El terrón es muy resistente a la presión, puede ser quebrado con las I Duro a muy duro manos con dificultad, pero no podrá ser quebrado con la presión de los dedos índi.::e :t: [!u!ll:ar. I 2. Medición de la consistencia en suelo húmedo.A. Si su muestra está seca.• Para lograr la humedad recomendada agregue agua gota a gota. Permita que la película de humedad desaparezca de la superficie de la muestra, y luego proceda a determinar la consistencia. • Tome un terrón de suelo húmedo y trate de romperlo manualmente.• Anote en su hoja de resultados cualquiera de las condiciones que se cumpla a continuación:El terron se desmenuza fácilmente bajo una ligera presión de los dedos pulgar e índice.El terron se desmenuza bajo moderada presión entre los dedos; débilmente resistente a la presión y fácilmente quebradiza entre los dedos puklar e índice, pero se distillllue claramente su resistencia.El terrón es muy resistente a la presión, se desmenuza con dificultad.• Anótelo también en el cuadro que su instructor tiene disponible.B. En caso de que su muestra esté húmeda, proceda como en el caso anterior a partir del inciso 2.i Medición de la consistencia en suelo mojado Para lograr la humedad recomendada, agregue agua gota a gota sobre la muestra con la cual a estado trabajando, luego proceda a medir la consistencia.• Tome el terrón de suelo mojado y trate de frotarlo entre sus dedos pulgar e índice de manera repetida. • Con esto, usted estará midiendo dos parámetros conocidos como adherencia y plasticidad de los suelos. • Anote en su hoja de resultados cualquiera de las condiciones que se cumpla a continuación:No adherente El suelo no se adhiere a 105 dedos pulgar e índice.El suelo al manipularlo se adhiere entre 105 dedos.El suelo al manipularlo se pega con facilidad a los dedosEl suelo no toma fonna cuando se manipula.El suelo forma un cordón que se rompe al presionarlo moderadamente entre los dedos.Se forma el cordón y requiere de mucha presión para defonnar la masa de suelo al manipulano.• Anótelo también en el cuadro que su Instructor tiene disponible.Práctica 1.5 Determinación de la Velocidad de Infiltración de Agua en el Suelo Objetivo Que el participante pueda verificar mediante una metodología sencilla las diferencias en infiltración de agua de los suelos.• Cilindro de lata o PVC (15 cm de altura x 15 cm de diámetro)• Tabla de Madera ¿Qué factores influencian la infiltración de agua en el suelo?Instrucciones para el Participante 1. Graduar un extremo del cilindro con una marca a los 5 cm usando la regla graduada 2. Introducir el cilindro en el suelo hasta 5 cm Poner la tabla de madera en un extremo del cilindro y con la ayuda del martillo clavar verticalmente el cilindro hasta la marca de 5 cm. Deben quedar 10 cm del cilindro fuera del suelo. Agréguele una medida de agua (25 mi) procurando que no se derrame fuera del frasco.Agite la solución durante 2 minutos utilizando la varilla de vidrio.Introduzca en la solución por unos segundos la cinta de color que le proporcionará su instructor.Práctica 1.7 Determinación de la Materia Orgánica del Suelo Objetivo Que el participante pueda identificar variaciones en el contenido de materia orgánica de una muestra de suelo mediante una metodología práctica.• Gotero con agua oxigenada al 35% Preguntas orientadoras para iniciar la práctica 1, ¿Qué es la materia orgánica del suelo?2, ¿Qué es la descomposición de la materia orgánica?3, ¿Qué funciones tiene la materia orgánica en el suelo?Instrucciones para el Participante Advertencia:Los reactivos son peligrosos y pueden quemar la piel, por lo que se deben usar con precaución y siempre en presencia del instructor.1, Tome una muestra de suelo (ún terrón de aproximadamente 5 cm/2 pulgadas), 2, Aplíquele con su gotero un par de gotas de agua oxigenada, 3, Observe el grado de efervescencia (burbujeo), 4, Clasifique la muestra de suelo siguiendo la tabla que aparece a continuación.1-71, -NegativoEl suelo no presenta efervescencia (burbujeo) + Leve El suelo presenta muy poca efervescencia (apenas algunas burbujas)El suelo presenta moderada efervescencia (se pueden ver muchas I I burbujas)+++ Severo 1 El suelo presenta mucha efervescencia (se pueden ver gran cantidad de I burbujas)1.Anote el resultado en su ficha.Que el participante pueda identmcar las variaciones en el contenido de carbonatos libres presentes en los suelos.• Frasco con ácido clorhídrico al 10% y gotero Advertencia:Los reactivos son peligrosos y pueden quemar la piel, por lo que se deben usar con precaución y siempre en presencia del instructor.Tome una muestra de suelo (un terrón de aproximadamente 5 cm /2 pulgadas).Aplíquele con su gotero un par de gotas de ácido clorhídrico al 10%.Observe el grado de efervescencia (burbujeo) y determine la presencia de carbonatos, de acuerdo a la tabla siguiente.-Negativo El suelo no presenta efervescencia (burbujeo) + Leve El suelo presenta muy poca efervescencia (apenas algunas burbujas)El suelo presenta moderada efervescencia (se pueden ver muchas burbujas)El suelo presenta mucha efervescencia (se pueden ver gran cantidad de J burbujas)~-Anote el resultado en su ficha.Anótelo también en el cuadro que su Instructor tiene disponible~ Práctica 1.9 Estimación de la Actividad de Macro-organismos del SueloPreguntas orientadoras para iniciar la práctica 1. ¿Qué son los macro-organismos del suelo?2. ¿Qué hacen los macro-organismos del suelo?3. ¿Qué importancia tienen los macro-organísmos del suelo?Identificar un suelo rultivado adyacente a un suelo de bosque o pastura establecida y utilizarlos como ejemplo de suelo perturbado y no perturbado respectivamente. a) Actividad 1La presencia y actividad de lombrices de tierra puede estar asociada con el número de turrírulos dejados en la superficie del suelo adyacentes a la salida de sus galerías. Cabe señalar que esta medida puede variar considerablemente de aruerdo a los tipos de lombrices predominantes. Por ejemplo, hay lombrices que no depositan turrírulos en la superficie del suelo sino en sus galerías, pero hay otras que depositan turrículos en la superficie cada vez qJI! están activas (com. pers.P.Lavelle). De esta manera el conteo de turrículos por unidad de área permite tener una primera idea del tamaño y actividad de las poblaciones de lombrices en suelos bajo un uso dado.1. Colocar una cuadrata de 50 x 50 cm al azar sobre el suelo y contar el número de turrículos de lombrices dentro del área. Realizar esta operación cinco veces en el suelo perturbado y no perturbado respectivamente.b) Actvídad 2La remoción rápida de un monolito (terrón) de suelo y su posterior desagregación permite tener un contacto más directo con los macro-organismos y las estructuras producidas por su acción en el suelo (Lavelle. 1988;Anderson & Ingram, 1989, Feijoo el al, 1999).1. Identificar tres puntos al azar en cada tipo de uso del suelo.2. Remover rápidamente monolito (terrón) de suelo de 25 cm de largo y ancho por 30 cm de profundidad. Se facilita la operación si inicialmente se crea una zanja alrededor del monolito para maniobrar mejor la profundidad requerida y evitar se escape algún macro-organismo.3. Ubicar el monolito sobre una lámina de plástico extendida sobre una mesa 4. Con un machete cortar tres capas de 10 cm de profundidad y ubicar en bolsas plásticas rotuladas 0-10 cm. 10-20 cm y 20-30 cm.5. Vaciar en una vasija plástica, rotulada de la misma forma que las bolsas, los contenidos de las bolsas respectivas.. 6. Proceder a fragmentar cada capa por separado.7. Recoger con cuidado todos los macro-organismos en frascos de vidrio con formol (5%) para lombrices y con alcohol (70%) para otros organismos.- 2. ¿Qué hacen los micro-organismos del suelo?4. ¿Qué es una relación simbiotica?Identificar un área de suelo en cultivo de frijol y donde preferiblemente fue aplicado poco o ningún fertilizante nitrogenado.1. Escoger 10 plantas al azar en la parcela y marcar con un cordel blanco para fácil identificación.2. Con ayuda de un azadón remover un monolito (terrén) de suelo de 30 x 30 cm y 30 cm de profundidad que incluya a cada una de las 10 plantas marcadas en el paso 1 yel volúmen de suelo que contenga sus raíces.3. Ubicar cada monolito (terrón) en recipiente plástico con agua y dejar por 10 minutos. Remover cuidadosamente con agua el suelo restante en las raíces.4. Identificar la raíz principal, las raíces secundarias y verificar la presencia de nódulos (formaciones cilíndricas pequeñas adheridas a las raíces) 5. Contar el número de raíces que presenta nódulos así como el número de total de nódulos en toda la raíz.EI_~ _ _ NmnI\"\"_ -Diferenciar entre factores y procesos de formación de suelos mediante el conocimiento del modelo simplificado de formación de suelos (MSFS).• Describ¡r los factores y procesos que afectan la formación de un suelo.-Identificar propiedades diagnósticas de los suelos y diferenciar propiedades permanente,~'f y propiedades modificables de los mismos. ~.'Conocimiento Técnico Conocimiento Local /1, .  'Í. ¿Qué es un factor de formación de suelo?~ ¿Qué es un proceso de formación de suelos? \" ¿Qué es una propiedad diagnóstica permanente y una modificable? .,. -.í Los participantes priorizan los indicadores del calidad de suelo que han sido previamente identificados1, ¿ Cómo se describen las diferencias entre un suelo bueno y uno malo?2,¿Cómo se conoce si un suelo es excelente, regular o malo para producir?3.¿Consideran que en sus parcelas existen diferentes tipos de suelos?4,¿Podrían describir los límites de los tipos de suelo de su finca?Identificación y Prlorizao/ón de Indicadof9S Locales de Calidad del Suelo 2-5Indicador es un parámetro que se usa para medir algo. Un descriptor puede tener varios indicadores (Hünnemeyer, 1997). Para cada descriptor se buscan uno o varios indicadores que miden el cambio. Un ejemplo de un descriptor es el uso de fertilizantes en relación con la productividad agrícola y el indicador es el uso de fertilizantes por hectárea.Es posible determinar indicadores locales de la calidad del suelo a partir del conocimiento tradicional campesino. Este enfoque permite conocar el estado del recurso suelo (conjunto básico de indicadores) tal como lo percibe el agricultor y así poder definir conjuntamente el mejor uso que se le pueda dar.Un indicador de calidad del suelo es una característica que permite definir el estado de las propiedades físicas, químicas y biológicas que hacen que un suelo sea apto o no para determinadas labores de producción.La descripción técnica de indicadores de calidad del suelo corresponde a un lenguaje científico, que se emplea por personas con formación académica en ciencias del suelo.Los indicadores locales corresponden a un lenguaje que ha sido adoptado en forma tradicional por los productores de una comunidad para describir características del suelo, usando palabras entendibles por ellos mismos.La concertación entre indicadores técnicos y aquellos localmente descritos es un objetivo de la metodología presentada en esta Guía. Se trata de compatibilizar el lenguaje técnico -cientifico con el lenguaje local para que tanto los investigadores y los extensionistas como los productores compartan un mismo lenguaje sobre el recurso suelo y su manejo.Esta metodología permite identificar y priorizar los indicadores que usan localmente los agricultores en sus parcelas para evaluar la calidad del suelo. También a través de este proceso se identifican los criterios utilizados para juzgar los suetos y determinar cuáles factores o indicadores son más importantes.A continuación se presenta el proceso metodológico desarrollado por Burpee y Turcios (1997). En síntesis, son dos pasos: una lluvia de ideas en la que los productores tienen la oportunidad de juzgar sus suelos, para establecer las diferencias entre un suelo bueno y uno malo y la priorización de los indicedores locales identificedos.Se solicita a los agricultores presentes en la reunión, que mencionen los indicadores o características que conocen para determinar sí un suelo es bueno, regular o malo para los diferentes usos que le dan a la tierra. Seguidamente se agrupan como descriptores de una misma característica todos aquellos indicadores que se expresan con distintas palabras (indicador local) pero que significan lo mismo. Posteriormente, cada indicador se escribe en tarjetas de cartulina.Para este paso, se pueden utilizar dos procedimientos. El primero es el de la matriz de dos entradas (Geilfus, 1997), como la que aparece a continuación.Se aguachinaIndicador\"Indicador Frecuencia Orden de priorización -------Se aguachinaEl procedimiento para llenar la matriz es el siguiente:-Explicar a los agricultores que lo que se propone es determinar entre todos los indicadores identificados, cuáles son los más importantes y obtener un listado de indicadores priorizados.-Preparar una matriz de dos entradas con el mismo número de líneas y de columnas que de indicadores identificados. Escribir en la primera línea y la primera columna un indicador por celda, siempre en el mismo orden. Repetir el ejercicio comparando todos los indicadores uno con otro. Al final, se tendrá la mitad de la matriz llena.~ Para cada indicador se debe contar cuántas veces aparece en la matriz y así se podrán ordenar por orden de frecuencia. El indicador que aparezca más veces es el más importante. Esta comparación por pares es menos subjetiva que otros métodos de priorización. Un ejemplo de análisis de frecuencias basado en la tabla anterior pOdría ser:Indicador I Frecuencia Orden de priorizacjón Tierra lavada O 3Se aguachinaSe sugiere emplear este método con grupos de agricultores que tengan un bajo nivel de escolaridad, debido a que como se verá más adelante, la metodología alternativa requiere de un mayor dominio de la lectura y la escritura._cJón yPrlodz1ld6n H ~ t.<1CIIÚIS de caJIdad HI SueloClasificación por tarjetas 1. Se divide a los agricultores en grupos de tres a cinco dependiendo del volúmen de la audiencia.2. Como en la metodología anterior se obtienen los indicadores de los productores y se anotan en tarjetas de 7.5 x 12.5 cm (3 x 5 pulgadas).3. Cada agricultor separa las tarjetas en tres grupos, según la importancia que se le conceda a cada indicador (alta, media y baja) (Figura 2.1). -Luego cada agricultor valora individualmente cada indicador dentro de los grupos de tarjetas y le aSigna un orden de alta a baja importancia, colocando la más importante encima y debajo las que le siguen en orden de importancia (Figura 2.2).4r----.2 Valoración de cada tarjeta y asignación del orden de importancia según el concepto de los productores.-A continuación el relator asigna números de orden a cada indicador, de acuerdo con el orden de importancia señalado por el productor. La información generada por cada agricultor se registra en la matriz que aparece en el Cuadro 2.1.Cuadro 2.1 Matriz de priorización de indicadores por agricultor dentro de cada grupo.Relator:1• Valor promedio = Total entre número de puntajes por hilera.En este paso el instructor explica al grupo y en especial al relator como debe llenarse el Cuadro 2.1.a. Se debe tomar el grupo de ta~etas de alta importancia y se anota el orden de priorízación que se dio individualmente a cada indicador, y b. se toma el grupo de tarjetas de importancia medía y en este punto el relator continúa con el número de príorízación que le sigue al último que pertenE:lce a las tarjetas más importantes.Si el grupo de tarjetas de alta importancia contiene ocho indicadores, lógicamente el ultimo indicador priorizado tendrá el lugar octavo. Al tomar las tarjetas de importancia media ya priorizadas, el indicador que tenga el lugar número 1 le corresponderá el lugar de príorización noveno. Si el total de tarjetas en este grupo es de cinco, la última le corresponderá el lugar trece de príorización. Para el último grupo de tarjetas se utiliza el mismo criterio .. Cada cuadro contendrá la información específica de cada indicador. Con esta base se establece el promedio de puntajes, que surge de la suma de los puntajes en cada hilera dividido por el número de puntajes.Finalmente, se presenta la matriz con todos los indicadores para validarla en sesión plenaria con todos los productores. Se trata de averiguar si todos están de acuerdo con la priorización a que se ha llegado y con los indicadores presentados.Un ejemplo de las respuestas de varios agricultores se muestra en el Cuadro 2. -Después que el relator anota en la matriz el número da la priorización que la corresponde a cada indicador por agricultor consultado, estos valores se suman en la columna Total. El número en esta columna se divide entre el número de agricultores del grupo (para el ejemplo se dividió entre tres) para obtener el valor promedio de priorización de este indicador y para este grupo.La última columna a la derecha en el Cuadro 2. a metodología de estudios de caso ha sido creada con el objetivo de permitir rofundizar en aspectos de mayor interés. En este caso el interés se centra en los dicadoms locales de calidad de suelo y el contexto en el cual son usados.na vez realizadas las actividades 2.2.1 y 2.2.2 seleccionar agricultores que hayan ostrado interés, conocimiento y capacidad de servir como informantes claves para alizar estudios más detallados a través de una guía de estudios de caso sobre el onocimiento local de los suelos y su manejo (Anexo 6.1 ) (Barríos et al., 1998). sta guía está diseñada para ser utilizada a lo largo de un día de campo en la finca e cada agricultor seleccionado cuando a través de conversaciones informales se coge la información mencionada en la guía (Gracia, 1989). Es importante revisar idadosamente la guía antes de visitar al agricultor e incorporar fluidamente los ¡mas de la guía en la conversación .a guía recoge los siguientes aspectos:1. Información sobre la finca: Tiempo de uso, tenencia, área, etc.2. Mapeo participativo de la finca: Elaboración de un mapa dibujado por el agricultor y/o entrevistador resaltando tipos de suelo y sus limites, historia de uso y uso actual en relación a la pendiente, etc. Esta información es corroborada en los siguientes pasos al utilizar el mapa recien realizado para ubicar los suelos identificados y su uso histórico y actual.3. Conocimiento de Suelos: Persigue identificar las propiedades descriptivas de cada tipo de suelo. 4. Prácticas de Manejo de Suelos: Persigue identificar la distribución de cultivos, preparación, abonamiento, prácticas conservacionistas, etc. 5. Organismos del Suelo: Persigue identificar organismos beneficiosos y dañinos para promover o limitar su presencia respectivamente. 6. Factores que guían la toma de decisiones de manejo: Persigue identificar indicadores integrativos locales (p.ej. color del suelo, plantas nativas predominantes), que provean información importante en la toma de decisiones de manejo.7. Aspectos Generales: En esta sección se presentan ejemplos imaginarios que incorporan varios aspectos mencionados en los puntos anteriores simultáneamente, como ocurren en la naturaleza. A través de esta sección se pueden corroborar datos previamente recogidos. 8. Muestreo de Suelos asociado a cada estudio de caso: Se recogen muestras representativas de los tipos de suelo descritos por el agricultor, (georeferenciar si es posible)Cabe resaltar que el mapeo participativo a nivel de finca, que permite definir los usos históricos y actuales del suelo en relación a su posición en la pendiente, es de gran importancia para el estudio de microcuencas hidrográficas. Esta actividad complementa y se nutre de la información generada en las guías 2 (Análisis Foto-Topográfico) y 3 (Mapeo Participativo de Microcuencas). El impacto de la disposición de los usos del suelo con relación a la pendiente en el funcionamiento de la microcuenca no ha sido ampliamente estudiado. Esta propuesta metodológica persigue un enfoque sistematico que permita evaluar el impacto de nuevas opciones y arreglos espaciales I temporales en el manejo de los recursos naturales a escala de microcuenca.Ejercicio 2.1 Identificación y Priorización de Indicadores Locales de Calidad del Suelo Objetivo En una situación de simulación, los participantes obtendrán y priorizarán los índices locales de la calidad del suelo en fincas de un grupo de productores.Orientaciones para el Instructor 1. Elija un grupo de participantes que hará el papel de técnicos y otro que hará el papel de 'productores', en una proporción de un técnico por cada cinco productores 2. Entregue al grupo de agricultores la agenda respectiva de trabajo. Los técnicos no deben conocer la agenda de los productores 3. Proporcione a los técnicos las instrucciones para realizar el trabajo siguiente:Realizar 'la lluvia de ideas', como se describe en el texto -Agrupar los indicadores que tienen un mismo significado, de acuerdo con las propiedades del suelo que se describieron anteriormente. Elaborar las tarjetas con los indicadores y seleccionar el método para la priorización Realizar la priorización -Obtener los promedios de cada grupo y del grupo totalValidar en sesión plenaria con productores los indicadores y la respectiva priorízación.Explicar las relaciones entre los indicadores locales y las propiedades del suelo.• Tarjetas de cartulina de 7.5 x 12.5 cm ( 3 x 5 pulgadas)• Marcadores de punta gruesa (diferentes colores)• Hojas de papel para rotafolio • Rollo de cinta adhesiva ('masking tape')• Hojas de trabajo: Matriz de priorización de indicadores por agricultor en cada grupo (Cuadro no.1) Matriz final de priorización de indicadores !)or grupo (Cuadro no. 2) listado de participantes Tiempo sugerido: 60 minutos. Usted ha sido seleccionado para hacer el papel de productor durante este ejercicio. Siga las instrucciones que aparecen a continuación:1.Usted forma parte de un grupo de cinco productores que saben leer y escribir.2.  El instructor, en la información de retomo mostrara a los participantes un caso de obtención de indicadores como el de la comunidad de San Antonio, Sulaco, (Honduras), mediante información como la siguiente:listado de indicadores surgido de una lluvia de ideas con los productores ~-en las aldeas 1_ Suelo profundo o grueso 2. Color negro: variable con dos clases: la que 'aguachina' la tierra (se llena de agua y el maíz se queda tullido (suelo que se ende)3. Producción con buenos rendimientos.4_ Tierras sueltas 5. Un suelo es bueno de acuerdo con la maleza, no es mala maleza: 'quilete', chíchíguaste, verdolaga.  • El puntaje de cada celda es el resultado del ejercicio previo de la clasificación de las tarjetas en baja, media y alta importancia en forma Individual por cada agricultor y anotada en la matriz del Cuadro 1. b Es la suma de las filas, correspondiente a cada indicador. Es el total entre número de puntajes obtenidos en cada indicador.•,¡-'tu \"t1'j he • Los participantes elaborarán una lista de indicadores que ellos mismos utilizan para determinar la calidad de suelos a nivel local.• Los participantes priorizan los indicadores locales de calidad de suelo que han sido previamente identificados.i ¿Cómo describen ustedes las diferencias entre un suelo bueno y un suelo malo?'i ¿Cómo saben ustedes que un suelo es excelente, regular o malo para producir?~ ¿Consideran que en sus parcelas hay diferentes tipos de suelos?1-¿Podría usted describir los límites de cada suelo en su finca?Indicador Ys. Descriptor• Indicador: -Parámetro que usamos para medir -Eiemplo: El uso de fertilizantes por hectárea• Descriptor: -Est:. formado por varios indicadores y un indicador puede servir para varios descriptores -Eiemplo: El uso de fertilizantes en relación con la productividad agrícola¿Qué Enledemos por Indicador? • Se agrupan indicadores (locales) baio el mismo concepto para elaborar una lista.Priorización de Indicadores a. Matriz de dos entradas ,/ Los participantes en colaboración con los técnicos compatibilizarán los elementos del lenguaje local con el lenguaje técnico.,/ Los participantes diferenciarán entre los indicadores locales de calidad de suelo que son pennanentes y los indicadores locales de calidad de suelo que son modificables.1. ¿Sabe usted qué es la textura del suelo?2. ¿Sabe usted qué es la acidez o alcalinidad de un suelo?3. ¿Cómo se le conoce localmente a las siguientes condiciones de suelo (tenninología local)?• Suelos que se encharcan frecuentemente • Suelos que son fáciles de labrar • Suelos buenos la 'feria del suelo' se hace con el objetivo de que los productores desarrollen destrezas para determinar, a través métodos sencillos y simples, propiedades físicas, químicas y biológicas de los suelos y poder relaciOnarlas con los conocimientos de carácter local que ellos han adquirido en el mane;o del suelo de su parcela.La primera decisión que hay que tomar es nombrar un coordinador. Esta persona estará a cargo todo lo que compete a la logística y el material que se necesitará.También será necesario la selección de los representantes (productores) de las comunidades donde previamente ya han sido identificados los indicadores locales de calidad del suelo. Esto lleva a la elaboración de un programa a desarrollar el día de la feria, Qué propiedades y con qué métodos se determinan en la feria las propiedades: ~-_._-------+_...:..c.:;\"\"\"---'--------------\":=------------'-----i• Actividad Biológica: • Macro-organismos • Conteo de Turriculos (Lombrices),--~ _ _ _ ~_~•_M_i_cro-_o..:rg:..a_n_ism_os _ _ -LI _\" _Conteo de Nódulos (Rizobio)• LogísticaEl evento debe estar planificado para realizarse en un día y debe durar alrededor de 8 horas, De estas se dedica a/reGedor de un 25% a la capacitación teórica y el resto lo constituyen las practicas. La experiencia con productores indica que el evento se debe realizar preferencialmente un sábado. Otros aspectos logísticos se describen a continuación.a. Se agrupan los participantes por comunidad y cada uno recibe su respectivo material de trabajo, donde también se encuentra una ficha para anotar los resultados de cada propiedad de suelo determinada.b. Previo al desarrollo de los ejercicios se debe tomar en cuenta que para cada propiedad o característica del suelo a determinar es necesario un técnico, una mesa con su silla respectiva, el afiche donde se menciona el nombre de la propiedad que se determina, el rango de los posibles resultados que puederl obtenerse y el equipo y materiales, e, Seguidamente los participantes rotan mesa por mesa hasta completar la ficha de trabajo. Por su parte el técnico anota en el afiche de su mesa de trabajo los resultados individuales de cada agricultor, d..Finalmente las fichas de trabajo de cada agricultor y los resultados en cada afiche son correlacionados y transcritos a un cuadro para que en una plenaria sean presentados a los agricultores, 3.2 Relación de las Propiedades Diagnósticas con los Indicadores Locales de Calidad del Suelo (ILeS)En esta sección se analizan los indicadores locales de calidad del suelo desde el punto de vista de propiedades permanentes y modificables,Esta compatibilización se desarrolla a través de la integración de las secciones(1) el suelo nuestro recurso natural más valioso y (2) identificación y príorizaci6n de indicadores locales de calidad de suelo, por parte del técnico que dirige la obtención y priorización de los indicadores, Una de las dificultades en el proceso de obtención de ILeS robustos que permitan la extrapolación del conocimiento local sobre el manejo del suelo a otras zonas estriba en que se requiere de un nivel mínimo de compatibilización del conocimiento local utilizado por los agricultores con los términos técnicos utilizados rutinariamente por los profesionales de la ciencia de la pedología y la edafología. Este proceso puede entenderse en su forma mas simple como la elaboración de un diccionario de sinónimos o equivalencias entre los conceptos emanados del conocimiento local y aquellos que han sido técnicamente descritos.El marco teórico para la compatibilización de indicadores locales con indicadores técnicos está basado en la premisa de que el suelo es un cuerpo natural organizado como un continuo a través del paisaje y no como una unidad discreta a nivel de parcela o finca. Este concepto es fundamental para entender cómo las propiedades intrínsecas de un suelo están más directamente relacionadas al entomo ambiental en el cual dicho suelo se ha formado y evolucionado (Factores y Procesos) que con el manejo y uso agronómico al cuál este haya sido sometido por periodos variables de tiempo. Si se considera el suelo como un producto resultante (ver modelo simplificado de formación en la Sección 1.) Y se agrupan sus propiedades en permanentes y modificables, se facilita el proceso de compatibilización del conocimiento local con el conocimiento técnico de suelos. Lo anterior se basa en que los atributos y características heredadas de los factores de formación en un suelo tienden a convertiste en propiedades permanentes mIentras que atributos condicionados por el ambiente (por ej., procesos de pérdidas o ganancias de nutrientes) tienden a convertirse en propiedades modificables. Por ejemplo, la pendiente es frecuentemente reconocida por los productores a nivel local como un atributo que condiciona la calidad del suelo. La pendiente de una unidad de suelo en términos generales es un atributo heredado por la fisiografía del paisaje en donde ese suelo evoluciona (laderas vs plano) el cual no es factible cambiar fácilmente. Por otro lado, la fertilidad de un suelo también es regularmente reconocida a nivel local como un atributo de calidad (tierra uberrima vs tierra lavada) y de hecho a modo general la fertilidad de un suelo es un atributo que se considera que se puede cambiar a través de enmiendas (por ej., fertilizantes, incorporación de abonos verdes).La discusión anterior propone un sistema sencillo para lograr la integración del conocimiento local con atributos y propiedades reconocidas técnicamente. Este sistema se aplica una vez finalizado el proceso de priorización de indicadores locales detallado en la sección 2. En esta etapa, tanto el conocimiento local como el técnico, deben coexistir en igualdad ya que se trata de compatibilizar el conocimiento local con el lenguaje técnico y no viceversa. Este proceso se puede visualizar en dos pasos que se realizan por parte del grupo técnico en colaboración con informantes clave seleccionados a partir de los talleres. Este proceso es liderado por el técnico y los informantes clave actúan como colaboradores.El primer paso: Elaboración de la matriz de indicadores locales y propiedades técnicas del suelo para cada una de las comunidades entrevistadas.Dentro de este se deben clasificar tentativamente las propiedades en permanentes o modificables. En el Cuadro 3.1 se presenta un ejemplo de dicha matriz que resultó del trabajo de campo desarrollado en la Cuenca del Río Tascalapa, Yoro (Honduras). Para efectos de capacitación solo se presentan los indicadores locales que ocuparon los primeros cinco lugares en cada comunidad.El segundo paso: Integración y ranqueo de cada grupo de indicadores priorizados Esta etapa se define en función de si el atributo se puede cambiar (modificable) o no (permanente), en términos prácticos a través de acciones que rutinariamente se hacen en una parcela o en una finca (por ej., labranza, fertilización, irrigación). En el Cuadro 3.2 se presenta el ejemplo de la integración y ranqueo de cada grupo de indicadores priorizados que se genera a partir del Cuadro 3.1. Se selecionó la columna que corresponde a la Comunidad de Santa Cruz.   Finalmente el conjunto de indicadores permanentes (Cuadro 3.3.) priorizados por parte del grupo de informantes clave constituye la materia prima que determina el potencia! base de utilización del suelo a nivel local sin modificaciones externas. En otras palabras, estos indicadores son determinantes de la calidad del suelo debido a los factores de formación y se denominan indicadores permanentes. Ejemplos d e . estos son la pendiente, la profundidad del suelo y la clase textura!. La priorización de ~: este grupo de indicadores a nivel local se debe entender como un proceso iterativo ~ entre informantes y el técnico hasta llegar a un conjunto mínimo de indicadores cuya ,,;característica príncipal es que no se pueden prácticamente alterar con métodos :t' sencillos. El ranqueo relativo de estos obedece a la percepción que los informantes tienen de su papel individual en determinar la calidad del suelo.El conjunto de indicadores modificables (Cuadro 3.4.) se debe priorizar en forma separada y ordenarlos en función del intervalo de tiempo necesario para ejecutar un cambio en el corto, mediano y largo plazo. Estos indicadores constituyen el potencia! de cambio en función del manejo. Por ejemplo, la presencia de lombrices de tierra y la actividad biológica alta en un suelo puede ser entendida como una propiedad modificable en función del manejo ya que es posible cambiarla. Dicha acción se puede realizar en el corto plazo mediante adiciones de materia orgánica, aportes de nutrientes y cobertura vegetal necesarios para el desarrollo de estos organismos.Otras propiedades modificables tales como la acidez o alcalinidad de un suelo tienen un marco de tiempo diferente, Finalmente, existen propiedades modificables como el color y la estructura del suelo las cuales requieren de intervalos de tiempo aún mayores. El cambio de color del suelo es el resultado de varios procesos actuando simultaneamente a través del tiempo, Las adiciones de residuos orgánicos, acompañados por una mayor actividad biológica y cobertura del suelo promueven un cambio del color del suelo a largo plazo. De esta manera, es posible observar un oscurecimiento del color del suelo por el aumento en el contenido de materia orgánica, Cuadro 3.4 Conjunto de indicadores modificables para la comunidad de Santa Cruz.Orden x :• Este orden de impor1ancia se obIlene de la matriz d<> prioriza<:ión d<> indícadores por agricultor dentro de cada grupo, donde se calcula el promedio individual de cada Indieador. por lo tanto el indicador con menor valor es el más importante (primer lugar) ~ar.l. comunidad y .si .............. ente.Propiedad permanente 'Propiedad modificable a corto plazo 'Propiedad mod_. _no piazo • Propieded modificable a largo plazo El resultado final de la compatibilízación del lenguaje técnico con el lenguaje local en términos de tLeS lo constituyen estos dos grupos de indicadores para cada comunidad y tipo de suelo, Se espera que este proceso aproveche el conocimiento local y adapte el conocimiento técnico potencial izando la comprensión de técnicos y productores a cerca del suelo.• Usos Potenciales -Ordenamiento -Monitoreo -Planificación -Clasificación -Elabora planes de acción .. Conservación de suelos yagua -PASOLAC -Proyecto LUPELos indicadores biológicos tienen el potencial de captar cambios en la calidad del suelo por su naturaleza integrativa. Ellos reflejan simultáneamente cambios en las características físicas, químicas y biológicas del suelo.En la matriz del cuadro 3.1 que recoge la experiencia del trabajo de campo en la Cuenca del río Tascalapa ( Honduras), fue evidente el importante rol de las plantas nativas como indicadoras de la calidad del suelo. Dos trabajos adicionales (de Kool, 1996, Barrios y Escobar, 1998), enfocados hacia indicadores biológicos de la calidad del suelo en la cuenca del río Cabuyal, Cauca (Colombia), también resaltan la importancia de las plantas nativas como indicadoras de la calidad del suelo.La Figura 3.1. resume el proceso de generación de conocimiento local sobre plantas nativas como indicadoras de la calidad del suelo. En los suelos pobres predominan ciertas plantas y las comunes a lodos los suelos se desarrollan con dificultad. En los suelos fértiles hay el predominio de otras plantas y las comunes a todos los suelos crecen vigorosamente. La observación por parte del agricultor de este fenómeno en varios suelos y fincas a través del tiempo constituye su experiencia directa y forma la base de su conocimiento en este tema.Es importante introducir en este momento el concepto ecológico de la sucesión natural. Los ecosistemas naturales y agroecosistemas responden similarmente a los procesos degradativos y regeneratívos a través de la sucesión natural.Durante estos procesos, las plantas y organismos del suelo mejor adaptados gradualmente reemplazan a los menos adaptados a través de la selección ejercida por cambios en las características del suelo (p.ej. durante la degradación o regeneración de la fertílidad del suelo). El conocimiento local recoge observaciones de los cambios en poblaciones de plantas generadas por cambios en la calidad del suelo.-, . El siguiente enfoque conceptual y metodológico persigue consolidar una metodología que permita la sistematización de la información generada a partir de plantas indicadoras de la calidad del suelo.La profundización de aspectos etnobotánicos relevantes relacionados con el _ conocimiento local sobre el uso de plantas nativas como indicadoras de características del suelo pueden abordarse a través de informantes claves usando la guía de estudio de caso (Apéndice 6.1). Resultados usando esta metodología en Colombia permiten generar una primera lista de plantas indicadoras (cuadro 3.5). Esta actividad permite captar el resultado de historias de uso de la tierra y al mismo tiempo priorizar y corroborar la información que será generada en el siguiente paso metodológico. El uso de la dinámica de las malezas como medida integradora de cambios en la calidad del suelo se basa en el concepto de seleCCión natural mencionado anteriormente. Las malezas, en general, son plantas pioneras que proliferan en suelos de muy diversas calidades y las poblaciones predominantes suelen asociarse con un conjunto de características físicas, químicas y biológicas del suelo. A medida que las condiciones del suelo cambian, para bien o para mal, la composición y abundancia de las malezas que componen estas poblaciones también cambia.Como mencionamos anteriormente el conocimiento local sobre plantas nativas como indicadoras de la calidad del suelo se basa en la experiencia acumulada de los agricultores. De esta manera, el seguimiento sistemático de estos cambios en el tipo y cantidad de malezas a la vez que se siguen los cambios en propiedades físicas, químicas y biológicas del suelo permite establecer una relación práctica y concreta entre los indicadores locales y los indicadores técnicos.Se utilizan cuadratas de madera o metal de 1 x 1 m lanzadas al azar sobre el área a ser estudiada para determinar la diversidad y abundancia de malezas. Esta operación se realiza 2-4 veces al año. La información generada aquí es complementada por la información sobre el conocimiento local de plantas indicadoras.Cuando se evaluan parcelas grandes se puede utilizar el método destructivo donde se cortan tadas las malezas a ras del suelo y luego se agrupan por tipos y se cuentan. En caso de parcelas pequeñas utilizar métodos no destructivos que a pesar de algo laborioso, permiten remuestrear en las mismas áreas a través del tiempo.1. Para estimar el número mínimo de cuadretas por parcela se calcula el área mínima representativa de la siguiente manera. En la primera fecha se recorre la parcela en zíg-zag y se realiza muestreos utilizando la cuadrata y contabilizando únicamente el número de especies. A partir de la segunda cuadrata solo se anotan las especies nuevas que no aparecieron en la primara cuadrata y así sucesivamente hasta llegar a una cuadrata en la cual no se encuentran nuevas especies. El número de esa cuadrata corresponde al número de cuadratas necesarias para tener una muestra representativa de la población de malezas del lugar.2. Lanzar cuadrata al azar en la parcela a evaluar, contar especies presentes y arrancar planta luego de registrada. Dejar marca visible y permanente en el lugar de muestreo de manera de no muestrear la misma localidad en el futuro.3. En caso de muestreo no-destructivo inicialmente contar las plantas de cada tipo sin arrancartas. Es práctico subdividir la cuadrata de 1 x 1 m en 4 sub-cuadratas de 0.50 x 0.50 m, con un cordel para facilitar el conteo.4. En caso de no conocer la planta presente, se le atribuye un número de identificación en la hoja de datos e igualmente se cuentan los individuos.5. Una vez estimado el número mínimo de cuadratas requeridas el muestreo se distribuye al azar en zig-zag a través de la parcela y se registran las especies y su número en la hoja de dalas.6. Posteriormente se calcula la frecuencia relativa = número de parcelas en que se registra la especie x 1001 número total de parcelas.7. Finalmente se calcula la abundancia relativa'\" número de individuos de cada especie x 100 I número tolal de individuos contabilizados de ladas las especies en cada parcela La combinación de ambas fuentes de información, la dinámica de malezas y el conocimiento local sobre plantas indicadoras, ofrece la oportunidad da validar la relación encontrada entre plantas indicadoras por los agricultores y la calidad del suelo definida a través da parámetros físicos, químicos y biológicos. La generación de un conocimiento híbrido, sistematizado y validado, se convicta en una poderosa herramienta para el agricultor al guiar su toma de decisiones de manejo agrícola.Los indicadores de calidad de suelo tienen como objetivo final identificar momentos críticos en el ciclo agrícola que requieren de una acción de manejo. El uso de plantas indicadoras, pertenecientes al conocimiento local, y su relación con acciones de manejo facilitaran la adopción de nuevas tecnologías mejoradoras de la calidad del suelo. Este enfoque permitirá usar plantas indicadoras del mejoramiento de la calidad del suelo y con las que el agricultor está familiarizado.La necesidad de evitar la especificidad de sitio y de hacer que los resultados locales sean válidos para areas más amplias requiere trabajar simultáneamente a varias escalas. Esto implica que los estudios a nivel de parcela deben detecta .. cambios en el suelo inducidos por la introducción de nuevos sistemas de producción y que el impacto de la adopción de estos sistemas de producción, a su vez, sea detectable a escala de microcuenca (Barrios 1998).El uso de microcuencas hidrográficas como unidades de estudio es útil pues estas generalmente tienen límites físicos claramente demarcados y el efecto de cambios en el uso del suelo pueden ser medidos en el agua. La calidad del ague (ej. contenido de pesticidas, nitratos, ate.) se convierte en una medida integradora del uso que se de al suelo a través de sistemas agrlcolas dentro de la microcuenca.Esta capacidad de monitoreo con una medida integradora permite la identificación de una línea base asociada con el tipo de uso que se esté dando a la microcuenca. Una vez determinada la estabilidad de esta línea base, con relación a algún parámetro de calidad del agua, es posible identificar el impacto de la introducción de nuevas opciones tecnológicas a la microcuenca en procesos que afectan al parámetro considerado.Los estudios sobre sistemas alternativos de producción que permitan una intensificación ecologicamente aceptable de la producción agrícola se basan en el aumento de la eficiencia de uso del espacio, agua y nutrientes. La diversificación y combinación estratégica de componentes en el tiempo y el espacio permite un uso más eficiente del recurso suelo (eIAT, 1994). Un ejemplo consiste en la combinación, en la misma parcela, de cultivos que utilizan diferentes profundidades del suelo. Por otro lado, el uso de sistemas que promuevan el aumento de la materia orgánica del suelo puede generar efectos múltiples al promover la estructuración de suelos desagregados o •polvosos•, aumentar la capacidad de retención de agua y por lo tanto duración de la disponibilidad hídrica para los cultivos, y también al incrementar la disponibilidad de nutrientes.El uso de sistemas de barbechos mejorados y de abonos verdes persigue acelerar el proceso de recuperación de la fertilidad en suelos degradados y el aumento de la disponibilidad de nutrientes. El aumento en la eticiencia de uso de nutrientes está basado en la sincronización de la disponibilidad de nutrientes con la demanda por el cultivo lo que implica mínimas pérdidas al ambiente. De esta manera, el impacto de la adopción de sistemas alternativos de manejo del suelo de este tipo pueden tener un efecto medible en la calidad del agua.Los indicadores de calidad de suelo usados en la actualidad y aquellos en desarrollo deben estar ligados a 108 valores de calidad de agua de tal manera que puedan proporcionar un diagnóstico temprano a escala de parcela representativa/sistemas de producción de la magnitud de potenciales problemas a escala de la microcuenca.~eiiIn_\"'~_~DIa~ eoplosh_LoeaItIII_Calldadda 3-17 Este enfoque parte de la base que los cambios generados en el suelo por los sistemas de producción dentro de una microcuenca pueden ser detectados a escala de parcela a través de ICS pero el efecto de los usos del suelo en la microcuenca puede ser detectado en la calidad del agua. El reto consiste en establecer correlaciones suficientemente robustas entre los ICS y los indicadores de calidad de agua corno manera de evaluar la calidad del suelo a escala de microcuenca.Ejemplo de uso del enfoque:Basado en datos generados a través de múltiples encuestas realizadas en la subcuenca del río Cabuyal (aprox. 7000 ha) es posible presentar un escenario típico para utilizarlo corno ejemplo del enfoque. Idealmente, se hace un mapeo del uso del suelo en las fincas dentro de la microcuenca (ver sección 2.2.3) para establecer su relación con la línea de base del parámetro medido en el agua. Las estaciones de monitoreo de agua están ubicadas en puntos críticos que permitan medir la calidad del agua que integra el uso dado al suelo en distintas partes de la microcuenca  (Figura 3.3). Las medidas a realizar incluyen el caudal y la calidad del agua a través de parámetros como: concentración de pesticidas, nitratos, etc. En este caso asumiremos que el parámetro medido es el nitrato, el cual está asociado al uso excesivo de gallinaza (estiercol avícola, usado por >80% de los agricultores de la zona) en la producción agrícola. Como tenemos dos temporadas lluviosas/ciclos de cultivo esperaríamos encontrar dos picos de concentración de nitrato en el agua durante el año asociados con la aplicación de gallinaza (p. Ej. 100 unidades/m' como valor hipotético). Este valor representa la línea base que integra el uso actual de la tierra donde 5% del área presenta bosques, 65% cultivos y 30% barbechos naturales o descansos. Un tiempo después de la adopción de barbechos mejorados (p. Ej. 20%) Y sistemas de barreras vivas doble-propósito (p. Ej. 30%), los cuales promueven el reciclaje de nutrientes y la reducción de pérdidas, se evalúan nuevamente los contenidos de nitrato en el agua (Fig. 3.4). Se observa que los picos de concentración de nitrato son menores a pesar que siguen asociados con los momentos de lluvia y se han reducido a la mitad de la concentración inicial (p. Ej. 50 unidades m'). Esta reducción puede relacionarse con cambios en el patrón de uso de la tierra donde se ha duplicado el área bajo bosque (ahora 10% del total) posiblemente como resultado de una menor demanda de leña de los bosques ribereños ya que puede ser parcialmente suplida por la adopción de barbechos mejorados con árboles leguminosos de rápido crecimiento. También podemos ver un aumento en el área cultivada, a 70% del área total, posiblemente como reflejo del efecto de los barbechos mejorados en disminuir el área anual bajo descanso. Cabe resaltar que una proporción considerable del área bajo cultivo, 30% del área total, ha incorporado barreras vivas doble-propósito permitiendo un mayor reciclaje de nutrientes en las fincas. Por otro lado, las áreas bajo barbecho natural se han reducido como consecuencia del uso de barbechos mejorados de carla duración, los cuales requieren de menor tiempo para regenerar la fertilidad de los suelos y por lo tanto hay más área disponible para la agricultura.Figura 3,4. Reducción de pérdidas de nutrientes y su detección en el agua en microcuenca bajo manejo que incrementa el reciclaje. Fuente: Barrios, (1998).En este momento es posible realizar una evaluación del impacto, entre otros factores, de la incorporación de sistemas de barbechos meíorados y de barreras vivas doble-propósito resultando en una reducción del 50% de la concentración de nitrato en el agua (Fig. 3.5). La adopción de sistemas de barreras vivas/barreras de captura de nutrientes (30% del área total) y de sistemas de barbechos mejorados (20% del área total) resultó en * Reducción apri. 50% del nitrato en el agua Figura 3.5. Estimación del impacto de adopción de sistemas de producción que generan menores pérdidas al ambiente a través de su efecto en la calidad del agua. Fuente: Barrios (1998).A pesar de que este ejemplo es una versión imaginaria y simplificada de la realidad en el campo, se ilustra el enfoque a medida que nos movemos de escenarios simples a otros más complejos. También asumimos que los rendimientos se han mantenido o mejorado a través del uso de tecnologías más eficientes en el uso de nutrientes y por lo tanto generado un aumento en la rentabilidad agrícola y el bienestar del agricultor y su familia. El contínuo monitoreo de los rendimientos de los cultivos a través del tiempo son evidentemente parte de las actividades de este enfoque. ./ Relacionar los indicadores locales con las propiedades del suelo;./ Compatibilizar los elementos del lenguaje local con el lenguaje técnico;./ Diferenciar entre los indicadores locales de calidad de suelo que son permanentes y los indicadores locales que son modificables.1. Retome el ejemplo y los resultados que obtuvo en la Sección 2. Presente a los participantes el listado de indicadores priorizados, y pida su aprobación antes de iniciar el ejercicio. ;a Este orden de im;:tortaneta se obtiene de la matriz de prioriZaci6n de indicadores por agricultor dentro de cada grupo, donde se calcula el promedio individual de cada indicador, por lo tanto el indícador con menor valor es el más importante (primer lugar)~ara la comunidad '1 asi sucesivamente.Propiedad permanente e Propiedad modtfieable a corto plazti • Los participantes serán capaces de relacionar los indicadores locales con las propiedades diagnósticas técnicas.• Los participantes en colaboración con los técnicos compatibilizarán los elementos del lenguaie local con el lenguaie técnico. ¿CÓIllO lo Logralllos?• Se agrupa a los participantes por comunidad y se les entrega la ficha de trabaio.• Previo al desarrollo de los eiercicios, es necesario un técnico, una mesa y su silla, el afiche que describe la propiedad que se determina y el rango de los posibles resultados, así como el equipo y materiales.¿CÓIllO lo Logralllos?• Las comunidades rotan mesa por mesa, completando la ficha de trabaio, el técnico anota en el afiche de su mesa de trabaio los resultados individuales de cada agricultor.• Finalmente las fichas de trabaio de cada agricultor y los resultados en cada afiche son correlacionados y transcritos a un cuadro consolidado para que en una plenaria sean presentados a los agricultores.Relacion entre Propiedades Diagnósticas e Indicadores. Locales De Calidad de Suelo• El obietivo es lograr un nivel mínimo de compatibilidad entre el conocimiento local manejado por los agricultores con los términos técnicos utilizados rutinariamente por los profesionales de las ciencias del suelo •• Esta compatibilización se desarrolla a través de la integración de las secciones \"el suelo nuestro recurso natural más valioso y la identificación y pr;orización de indicadores locales de calidad de suelo\".ILCS-3.8De Calidad de SueloLocal Técnico 1 1 -----1 ~.\" , ' j , ¿CÓIllO se Integra?-El primer paso:-Elaboración de la matriz de indicadores locales y propiedades diagnósticas técnicas para cada una de las comunidades entrevistadas.-El segundo paso:ILCS-3.10  La adopción de sistemas de barreras vivas/barreras de captura de nutrientes (30% del área total) y de sistemas de barbechos mejorados (20% del área total) resultó en La mejor manera de medir los objetivos planteados en esta guia, es poder establecer la diferencia en cuanto a destrezas, habilidades y conocimientos que los participantes ganaron despues de pasar por el proceso de cada una de las secciones y confrontarlo con las preguntas de autoevaluación que se aplicaron antes del envío al desarrollo de esta Guía, Antes de la aplicación de la evaluación final de conocimientos, el instructor debe tomar en cuenta lo siguiente:1, Que esta evaluación puede perfectamente ser cambiada, por lo que la presente evaluación de esta Guía solo es para orientación, 2. Debe tomar en cuenta que por cada sección lo que evaluamos es el cumplimiento de cada objetivo planteado y focalizado hacia el logro de resultados.3, Goma instructor compartirá las respuestas que ha fonmulado en cada pregunta con los participantes, Por lo tanto usted debe aclarar con ellos algunos aspectos que pueden aún no estar claros, A-5Evaluación Final de ConocimientosA continuación se le presenta una serie de preguntas referentes al contenido de esta Guía. Su propósito, es medir el grado de habilidades, destrezas y conocimientos adquiridos durante el desarrollo de cada una de la secciones. No se pretende calificar rigurosamente. Solo queremos establecer la diferencia en su grado de avance después de haber estudiado la Guía.Tenga presente lo siguiente:1. Lea completamente la evaluación y trate de tener una vision integrada de su contenido.2. En las preguntas de encerrar solo existe una respuesta.3. Tenga en cuenta que al tenninar de contestar, el instructor compartirá con usted las respuestas que él ha fonnulado en cada pregunta. Por lo tanto usted tendrá la opurtunidad de aclarar con él y con sus compañeros algunos aspectos que pueden aún no estar definidos.Marcar con un 'X' la respuesta correcta. .Relacione cada una de las columnas que se presentan a continuación y coloque en el parentesis el número correspondiente.1. Falsa, Los indicadores locales corresponden a un lenguaje que ha sido adoptado por los productores de una comunidad, en forma tradicional, para describir características del suelo, usando palabras entendibles por ellos,Verdadera, La identificación y clasificación de las propiedades permanentes de un suelo nos permite orientar mejor la planificación y manejo de este recurso, Ya que nos definen el marco potencial del mejor manejo y uso que se le puede dar al suelo,Falsa, La textura de un suelo no es una propiedad modificabl~.  Una propiedad modificable es aquella que es susceptible de ser cambiada en forma apreciable a través de las acciones de manejo regularmente aplicadas a un suelo. Un ejemplo de una propiedad modificable es el contenido de materia orgánica de un suelo en su parte superficial, puesto que en términos práctiCOS es factible modificarla, aumentarla a través de adición de enmiendas orgánicas o disminuirla a través de la estimulación de una mayor mineralizaron por el habito de practicas quemas continuadas, exposición directa de los elementos del suelo mediante la labranzaFalsa. El conocimiento campesino sobre los suelos nunca es tomado en cuenta para la planificación y manejo.El conocimiento campesino es un recurso valioso que se esta perdiendo cada día. La meta sería combinar lo mejor de la ciencia de suelos con lo mejor de los conocimientos locales. La palabra 'mejor' aquí se refiere tanto a los métodos de resolver problemas y al conocimiento básico como a los avances tecnológicos específicos. El objetivo es usar los dos sistemas de conocimientos para prevenir y resolver problemas locales de manejo del suelo, de manera más efectiva y apropiada que lo realizado por cada uno de ellos individualmente.De lo anterior queda ciaro que la integración de la experiencia de los agricultores con el conocimiento científico permite a los dos grupos de actores un mejor entendimiento del recurso suelo, y de esta forma poder tomar las mejores decisiones para manejo en relación con el estado de degradación que se encuentre.Al mismo tiempo, hay mudhas prácticas que un agricultor usuario que, conoce, experimenta y vive del suelo puede hacer para asegurar y aumentar sus rendimientos en el futuro. Esto es posible si en su lenguaje, diferente al técnico, sabe bien la condición de los suelos en sus diferentes parcelas, como cambia su condición bajo diferentes cultivos y usos, y como debe manejar el suelo para mejorar la calidad. I J .. 1. Temperatura, precipitación, velocidad del viento y nubosidad 2. Fertilización, encalado, minerales, incorporación de rastrojos.3. Perdidas, ganancias, translocaciones, transformaciones.4. Constituye el basamento de los recursos naturales renovables.5. Es el lenguaje que los agricultores han manejado para identificar la calidad de los suelos.Para la pregunta 1(4) El suelo( 5) Indicador local de calidad de suelo( 1 ) Son factores de formación de suelos.( 3) Son procesos de formacion de suelos.( 2) Son la ganancias que forman parte de los procesos de formacion de suelos.Los atributos y características heredadas de los factores de formación en un suelo, tienden a convertirse en 'Propiedades permanentes'.~ Son factores de formación de los suelos: Clima, relieve, material parental, organismos, tiempo.Cuales son las propiedades diagnósticas de los suelos: Físicas, químicas, biológicas.Los atributos condicionados por el ambiente, tienden a convertirse en 'Propiedades modificables' .A-11  Orientaciones:1. El formulario de autoevaluación puede distribuirse entre 10 o más participantes para que observen y evalúen el desempeño del instructor.2. El instructor recoge los formularios y tabula 10$ resultados. Luego traslada los puntajes al perfil de desempeño para establecer la diferencia entre el puntaje observado y el ideal.Tabulación (Respuestas SI)observado Ideal Perfil de desempeño .90 100Para establecer los puntajes y el perfil, se procede así:1. Sumar las tabulaciones en cada casilla y anotar la suma en la columna 'puntaje observado'.  A continuación aparece una serie de descripciones de comportamientos que se consideran deseables en un buen instructor. Estas han sido recogidas de la literatura educativa con respecto a las características que describen un buen docente o una buena capacitación.Con este instrumento se pueden analizar cuatro dimensiones del desempeño del instructor: (1) organización y claridad, (2) conocimiento del tema, (3) habilidades de interacción, y (4) dirección de la práctica. Para cada una de estas dimensiones se incluyen descriptores frente a los cuales la persona que se autoevalúa puede marcar si el comportamiento descrito fue ejecutado o no por ella, durante la capacitación.Marque una X en la columna SI cuando usted esté seguro de que ese comportamiento estuvo presente en su conducta, independientemente de la calidad con la cual podría evaluarse su ejecución.Marque una X en la columna NO cuando usted esté seguro de que no se observó ese comportamiento.El proceso de autoevaluación tiene dos momentos: (1) cuando se está preparando para la capacitación, el instructor hace una revisión de cada ítem para recordar todos los aspectos que debe tener en cuenta para que su desempeño sea exitoso; (2) inmediatamente después de la capacitación, para reconocer los desempeños que no tuvieron lugar durante la misma, por diferentes causas.Cada instructor, en forma individual, es el primer beneficiario de la autoevaluación. Este instrumento le ayuda a mejorar su desempeño en futuras actividades de capacitación.Este formulario también puede entregarse a algunos de los participantes en la capacitación para que consignen sus percepciones acerca del desempeño del instructor. Luego, se recogen los formularios y se tabulan las respuestas usando la hoja de tabulación (A-16).   b. ¿Cuando decide que debe dejar un lote en descanso? ¿Menos fertilidad, menos dinero, menos tiempo? ¿Indicadores: malezas (cual, cuanto), estructura del suelo, color? ¿Cuánto tiempo la deja descansando? ¿Qué le indica que el suelo ya esta descansado y puede ser cultivado nuevamente? ¿Cómo estima la edad de la vegetación o descanso? c. ¿Qué tipo de plantas pueden asociarse juntas en una parcela? ¿Por qué?Planta#? y planta#? ¿Tienen efectos positivos mutuos? Repetir para tratar de definir posibles relaciones alelopáticas o de beneficio mutuo.d. ¿Tiene bosque natural en su finca? ¿Cuanta área? ¿Qué utilidad le ve al bosque? ¿Tiene bosque sembrado? ¿Qué cantidad? ¿Para qué han sembrado bosque (árboles)?e. ¿Existen momentos en el año en que la falta de agua afecta a las cosechas? ¿Cuando? ¿Puede hacerse algo para reducir el efecto de la falta de agua? ¿Usted lo hace? ¿Cómo funciona? ¿Por qué?f. ¿ Qué cultivos son sensibles a la falta de lluvias? ¿Cuáles cultivos tienen raices profundas o superficiales? ¿ Qué plantas nativas tienen raíces profundas o superficiales? ¿ Qué dependencia tienen los animales de suplemento animal durante la época seca? ¿Qué importancia tienen los cultivares tolerantes a la sequía?9 ¿Cómo sabe cuando van a comenzar las lluvias, y los mejores momentos para quemar, plantar, etc.? ¿Existen algunas constelaciones, plantas o animales que le sirvan de indícadores del clima de este año? General a. En un año sin problemas de clima (lluvia y temperatura), de cada 100 semillas que pone en el suelo cuantas nacen? (no nace, disparejo, todas nacen). El crecimiento de los cultívos o árboles es rápido o lento? Vigorosos? Se observa amaríllamiento, rayas o manchas de las hojas de los cultívos o árboles? Resistencia a la sequía, plagas y enfermedades? Rendimíento?b. ¿ Cuáles son los suelos más pobres en su finca y que conocen en la zona y donde están ubicados? Necesitan fertilizante obligatoriamente o no responden ni siquiera al fertilízante.c. ¿Cuáles son los suelos más ricos en su finca y que conocen en la zona y donde están ubicados? Suelos que se pueden sembrar sin fertilizante.d. ¿Puede identificar dos perscnas que conozca que utilizan poco o ningún fertilizante y manejan bien el suelo (buenos rendimientos)?e. Puede identificar dos personas que conozca que utilizan bastante fertilizante y manejan bien el suelo (buenos rendimientos)Muestreo de suelos asociado a cada estudio de caso:Preparación de muestra compuesta: Ubicar la región central de cada tipo de suelo descrito por el agricultor. Trazar en el suelo una línea de 5 m. Con ayuda de un machete o palo. Trazar otra línea de 5 m perpendicular a la anterior de forma de crear una X. Tomar muestras en los extremos de la X y en la unión para un total de 5 muestras por cada profundidad requerida. Finalmente mezclar bien las 5 muestras correspondientes a cada profundidad para obtener así una muestra compuesta por profundidad de cada de suelo identificado. (En caso de poder georeferenciar este muestreo utilizar el punto de encuentro de las dos líneas para tomar la lectura del GPS)1 Tomar muestra compuesta (0-5,5-10, 10-20,20-4Ocm) en los tipos de suelo identificados por el agricultor como representativos de la región. 2. Tomar muestra compuesta (0-5,5-10, 10-20, 20-40cm) en los suelos identificados por el agricultor como más pobres en su finca y en la zona. [3][4][5][5][6][7][8][9][10][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] en los tipos de suelo identificados por el agricultor como más fértiles en su finca y en la zona.A-29"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/0107784278.json b/main/part_2/0107784278.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2e8a96a5923da993e618203f6db1d1e0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e0a38329-04bc-4488-a624-561667152fad/retrieve","id":"62841690"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"38fefdf5-3859-43c8-996e-d74c16db49e0","content":"• Technical advisory grants (TAG) from IFAD Rome usually a few countries, regional/technical focus cross country, learning, innovation, piloting -3 years (€1-1.5m)• Other Rome -Regional learning, KM and innovation -One-off evaluations (contribution to project design)• • Frustrating!• Can we make the partnership more meaningful?CGIAR and IFAD today  We can accelerate AR4D to impact at scale"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/0121739858.json b/main/part_2/0121739858.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ffc204457f2d7b77e40c7ff574bcd5e3af4e98ae
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6d0e75e5c01d5282fec87052547bddc9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f21c8344-9cae-41a5-bf2f-98d146179fe3/retrieve","id":"2055175052"},"keywords":["Abiotic stress","Andean potatoes","Genebank","Genetic resources collection","PVS2","Solanum spp"],"sieverID":"37f46439-8e3d-4446-9e42-617ad5f370c5","content":"The effect of cold and sucrose pretreatment for increasing tolerance to cryopreservation was evaluated with eight diverse genotypes, six cultivars belonging to the cultivated species, Solanum tuberosum spp., S. tuberosum subsp. andigena, S. x juzepczukii and S. x ajanhuiri, and two genotypes from the wild species, S. commersonii. In vitro plantlets were cultured at either 6 or 22 °C in media supplemented with either 0.07 or 0.3 M sucrose prior to droplet PVS2 cryopreservation. The sucrose pretreatment appeared to have no positive effect on post-cryo survival. The cold-hardening pretreatment increased significantly post-cryo recovery in drought and frost tolerant cultivars. When 755 accessions, representing 10 taxa, were cryopreserved after cold-hardening, 96 % responded with at least one shoot recovering and 63 % showed a high recovery rate (40-100 %). Therefore this method is recommended for the long term conservation of diverse accessions of potato germplasm.Potato has the richest genetic diversity of any staple crop (Messer 2000). In the Andean region, currently more than 4,500 potato landraces belonging to seven Solanum species exist. Around the world, there are hundreds of improved varieties, derived mainly from Solanum tuberosum spp. tuberosum. This wide diversity needs to be preserved to secure food security for future generations. These varieties are indeed a rich reservoir of genetic characteristics to improve potato varieties and increase food supply. Cryopreservation is thereby an important tool to ensure the safe preservation of this diversity.Research on potato cryopreservation was initiated in 1977 (Bajaj 1977) and over time several methods have been developed and assessed demonstrating the advantage of cryopreservation for long-term germplasm conservation. In comparison to in vitro conservation, cryopreservation decreases material handling during storage. Therefore it minimizes labor and risks of losing samples due to human errors. Consequently there is less contamination risk. An efficient cryopreservation procedure allows plant tissues to tolerate the ultralow temperature of -196 °C of liquid nitrogen (LN) and, to withstand this LN storage for an unlimited time period; and it allows the subsequent regrowth of true-to-type plants.For the safe long-term conservation of important staple clonal crops such as potato, banana, cassava, sweetpotato, yam and other Andean root and tuber crops, international genebanks (Benson et al. 2011) are conducting research on the development of improved cryopreservation methods and the establishment of cryo-banks as part of a global strategy to securely preserve genetic resources into perpetuity. In potato cryopreservation techniques like the PVS2 droplet vitrification and the DMSO droplet method are routinely used. The PVS2 droplet method is used at the International Potato Center (CIP), Lima, Peru, where the largest global in vitro potato collection is maintained, comprising Andean cultivars belonging to ten diverse potato taxa. The Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) in Gatersleben, Germany, is currently cryopreserving its potato collection with the DMSO droplet freezing method (IPK 2013). The IPK collection comprises mainly European commercial improved cultivars belonging to the species Solanum tuberosum subsp. tuberosum. The National Center for Genetic Resources Program in the United States (NCGRP) (ARS 2013) and the National Agriculture Center (NAC) in the Republic of Korea (Kim et al. 2006) also apply the PVS2 droplet vitrification method to cryopreserve potato. Finally, the Crop Research Institute (CRI) in the Czech Republic is cryo-preserving potato using an alternative ultra-rapid freezing method (Kaczmarczyk et al. 2011).The aim of the present study was to improve the PVS2 droplet vitrification method in use at CIP (Panta et al. 2006) by testing varying pretreatments that could influence potato tolerance to dehydration and freezing. Literature reviews on potato cryopreservation propose several methods to induce tolerance to dehydration and freezing (Gonzales-Arnao et al. 2008;Wang et al. 2008;Benson et al. 2011;Kaczmarczyk et al. 2011). To enhance plantlet hardiness, cold and sugar treatments have been applied during the culture of mother plantlets from which the shoot tips are excised. In this research, a cold-pretreatment of mother plants is termed ''cold-hardening''.Cold-hardening treatments at 4 °C, applied for 3 weeks (Hirai and Sakai 2000) and 1 week (Halmagyi et al. 2005) potato plantlets showed no significant improvement in comparison with the PVS2 vitrification without coldhardening. However improvement was observed when alternating temperatures [21-22/8 °C (day/night)] were applied for 1 week to improved European potato varieties following the DMSO droplet freezing method (Kryszczuk et al. 2006;Kaczmarczyk et al. 2011).Sugars (sucrose, glucose, mannitol and sorbitol) have also been applied in the shoot tip culture medium preceding exposure to vitrification or dehydration. Sucrose is the most commonly used to induce cryo-tolerance. Halmagyi et al. (2005) successfully demonstrated increased tolerance to cryopreservation by applying 0.5 M sucrose pre-culture for 24 h at 24 °C. Folgado et al. (2014) demonstrated as well an improved recovery of meristems following an elevated sucrose treatment (0.3 M) during the 2 weeks of coldhardening of mother plants.In this study, the culturing of shoot-tip-donor plantlets at a low temperature (6 °C) on a culture medium with or without high sucrose concentration (0.3 M) was evaluated using eight genotypes with a different response to abiotic stresses (frost, drought and salinity) and belonging to different species and ploidy levels (Table 1). Since, tissues are subjected to dehydration, osmotic stress and freezing during cryopreservation, we hypothesize that the cryopreservation response is linked to abiotic stress tolerance and that a better understanding of the basis of such tolerance will allow the development of more efficient cryopreservation procedures applicable to a wide range of potato accessions (Panta et al. 2014).Recently, the Andean cultivated potatoes and their wild relative S. commersonii were biochemically and molecularly studied to understand the physiological mechanisms linked to abiotic stress tolerance (Schafleitner et al. 2007;Mane et al. 2008;Vasquez-Robinet et al. 2008;Pino et al. 2013). Information from these studies is useful to improve potato cryopreservation methods.The potato clones used in this study were obtained from the in vitro collection maintained under slow growth conditions at CIP. The medium contained 4 % sorbitol, MS salts (Murashige and Skoog 1962), 2 mg/l glycine, 0.5 mg/ l nicotinic acid, 0.5 mg/l pyridoxine, 0.4 mg/l thiamine, 2 % sucrose and 0.8 % agar (SIGMA A-7002). Storage of the cultures took place at 6-8 °C under 22 lmol m 2 /s illumination with a 16 h photoperiod. Eight genotypes with differential responses to abiotic stress (drought, frost and salinity), were selected (Table 1). Plantlets were multiplied using single-node cuttings cultured in Magenta Ò GA-7 vessels containing MS propagation medium (MPM) [MS salts supplemented with 2 mg/l glycine, 0.5 mg/l nicotinic acid, 0.5 mg/l pyridoxine, 0.1 mg/l thiamine, 25 g/l sucrose and 2.8 g/l Phytagel (SIGMA P-8196)] and held at 22 °C with 45 lmol m 2 /s illumination and a 16 h photoperiod. For experimental treatments, shoots were multiplied by culturing 20 apical cuttings (*0.5-0.7 cm length) per GA-7 vessel.Apical cuttings (*0.5 cm) were excised from 3 week old in vitro plantlets. Leaves were removed and the stem was trimmed until an apical shoot tip (1.8-2.5 mm long) comprising the meristematic dome plus 4-5 primordial leaves was dissected. When the shoot tip was larger than 2.5 mm, the tip of the largest primordial leaf was cut reducing the shoot size to the desired length. Sixty to onehundred-twenty shoot tips, depending on the number of samples required for the experiment, were excised and placed on pieces of sterile filter paper (1.5 cm 2 ) on potato meristem medium (MMP: MS salts supplemented with 0.04 mg/l kinetin, 0.1 mg/l gibberellic acid, 0.07 M sucrose and 2.8 g/l Phytagel). Ten shoot tips were placed per filter paper in a randomized way when excised to avoid any bias from the length of time post excision (all shoot tips were excised within 1 to 2 h). Samples were incubated at room temperature for about 1 h before the application of the osmoprotective treatment.The shoot tips were rinsed off the filter paper in 5 ml loading solution (LS) (2 M glycerol and 0.4 M sucrose), and incubated in the LS for 15 min at room temperature. The LS was then removed with a Pasteur pipette and replaced with 2 ml ice-cooled filter-sterilized PVS2 (30 % glycerol, 15 % ethylene glycol and 15 % DMSO, dissolved in MS salts with 0.4 M sucrose, pH adjusted to 5.8) for 50 min on ice. Two minutes before the end of the PVS2 treatment period, 10 shoots were transferred to a PVS2 drop (10-15 ll) on an aluminum foil strip (0.5 9 2 cm). All manipulations of the strips were done in a Petri dish placed on ice to obtain a temperature of around 0 °C following the method developed for banana (Panis et al. 2005) and adapted to potato (Panta et al. 2006); the strip holding the shoots was then rapidly plunged into a LN filled cryotube.After one hour storage in LN, aluminum foil strips holding the shoot tips were removed from the LN one by one and rapidly dropped into 4 ml of the Sakai's unloading solution (RS) [MS salts enriched with 1.2 M sucrose (pH 5.8), sterilized by filtration] (Sakai et al. 1990) in a glass vial. Shoots were rinsed and the RS was replaced with fresh RS (*4-5 ml) and incubated 15-20 min at room temperature in the dark. (3) MS medium, at 6 °C; and (4) MS medium ? 0.3 M sucrose, at 6 °C. After 3 weeks, shoot tips were dissected and processed following the cryo-protocol outlined above. LNexposed and non-LN exposed controls of each accession were processed. Two replicates of 10 shoot tips per treatment were evaluated in three independent experiments. Survival and recovery rates were recorded 60 days after warming.Between January 2007 and March 2012, 755 potato accessions were cryo-processed in CIP's genebank applying the PVS2 droplet method using a hardening treatment at 6 °C and a 0.07 M sucrose medium. Twenty out of the frozen samples (70-100) were thawed and their viability evaluated. These together with 20 non-frozen samples were cultured following the protocol described previously but using a modified MMP [MS medium (Murashige and Skoog 1962) with 10 ml/l coconut milk, 20 g/l sucrose, and 2.8 g/l phytagel]. Survival and recovery were recorded 60 days after thawing.Viability rates, explant survival (survival) and plants recovered (recovery), were evaluated by counting the number of explants showing a green color, and explants growing into green shoots, respectively. The recovered shoots size was about 0.5 cm or longer. Results were recorded 60 days after thawing.Results are presented as mean percentage. The experiment for measuring the cold and sugar effect after cryopreservation was analyzed following a completely randomized design (CRD). Using R and Excel programs, statistical differences between mean values were assessed by ANOVA, LSD or Kruskal-Wallis tests, according to the data normality and variance homogeneity. Survival and recovery were proportional values expressed as percentages. Since proportional data are binomially distributed, they were transformed with arcsin to reach a normal distribution. Prior to transforming the proportional data, values of 0 % were substituted by 1/4n and 100 % by (100-1/ 4n), where ''n'' is the number of units on which the percentage data was based. Arcsin formula utilized was y' = arcsin (y/100)1/2 multiplied by 180/p, to convert data to angular grades.Under cold conditions rooting and shoot growth were reduced. With the 0.3 M sucrose treatment, plantlets showed a reddish color and were elongated; leaves did not fully expand. The cv. Wila Yari was the most affected, as the rooting and growth was the lowest (data not shown).The pretreatment at 6 °C in combination with 0.3 M sucrose medium produced almost no roots. Again plantlets were reddish and leaves not fully expanded. Shoots survived after cryopreservation with significant effects of cultivar (P \\ 0.001) and temperature (P \\ 0.05) (Table 2); however the response to the two sucrose concentrations was similar, overall mean was 69 and 66 % for 0.07 and 0.3 M sucrose, respectively (data not shown). In contrast, for shoot recovery, cultivar, temperature, and also sucrose were highly significant (P \\ 0.001). Moreover a significant interaction of cultivar with temperature was observed (P \\ 0.01). Analysis of this interaction showed that hardening at the low temperature had a positive or non-significant effect on recovery; overall recovery was 48 % with 6 °C and 36 % with 22 °C pretreatment (data not shown).Results from the individual treatments (Fig. 1) showed that both S. commersonii genotypes were highly tolerant to cryopreservation with no significant effect of either cold or sucrose hardening. The cultivars Ccompis, H-1, and Pin ˜aza showed more than 50 % recovery with cold-hardening. The cv. Pin ˜aza was significantly affected by the sucrose (0.3 M) treatment. Without cold treatment, Desiree and Wila Yari were more sensitive to cryopreservation irrespective of the sucrose treatment. Tacna showed the lowest recovery rate and none of the treatments increased its recovery, indicating this cultivar was very sensitive to the cryo-procedures applied or not responsive to cold-hardening. These results suggest that a pretreatment with a high sucrose (0.3 M) concentration had no or a negative effect on recovery. However, with cold treatment and 0.07 M sucrose, overall recovery was 52 %, significantly higher than the 40 % obtained with the control treatment (22 °C and 0.07 M sucrose) (data not shown). Moreover, we observed that on average 26 % of the samples (data not shown) survived cryopreservation but failed to re-grow into whole plants.Based on the results of these experiments a cold-hardening (6 °C) culture phase was included as part of the standard PVS2 droplet vitrification protocol that will be used at CIP. This method that was successful for the most genotypes tested is schematically presented in the Fig. 2.From the beginning of 2007 up to the first quarter of 2012, 755 potato accessions representing the diversity of Andean potato accessions were processed for cryopreservation. For this, the PVS2 droplet method developed previously (Panta et al. 2006) was applied with a cold-hardening treatment at 6 °C in combination with 0.07 M sucrose medium. Results (Table 3) show that 96.4 % of accessions, belonging to 10 potato taxa, responded with at least one shoot recovering after cryopreservation; 50-80 samples of surviving accessions were cryo-stored for the long term. Shoots re-growth was always direct without intermediate callus formation. The overall survival and recovery rates were 75 and 51 %, respectively. Hence, the percentage of surviving shoots that were not able to re-grow into plantlets was 24 %; a rate that is similar to our previous experiments (see above). When the frequency of accessions showing a recovery of 0, 5-39 and 40-100 % was calculated, results showed that 62.9 % of the accessions responded with a shoot recovery higher than 40 %. Accessions belonging to S. tuberosum subsp. tuberosum and two species of known frost tolerance, S. chaucha and S. xjuzecpzukii, showed the highest recovery rates of 76, 65 and 64 %, respectively. However the number of accessions processed for these groups is low due to the low number of accessions in the CIP collection. The most represented species in CIP's collection, S. tuberosum subsp. andigena showed 51 % recovery and the lowest rate (41 %) was observed for the improved varieties (Solanum spp.). In all species, excepting Solanum spp., more than 50 % of accessions showed recovery of 40-100 %; and again to S. tuberosum subsp. tuberosum and the frost tolerant species, S. chaucha and S. xjuzecpzukii,comprised the highest percentage (81-86) of accessions with high recovery. Research has demonstrated that the addition of cryoprotectants alone often do not provide enough protection against lethal cryo-damage. Both cold and sucrose hardening treatments, either alone or in combination, have been shown to have positive effects on cryopreservation tolerance in grass, hops, yams and potato (Chang et al. 2000;Reed et al. 2003;Leunufna and Keller 2005;Folgado et al. 2014). This study has shown that a pretreatment of potato shoot-tip-donor-plantlets at 6 °C, followed by droplet PVS2 vitrification is efficient for increasing recovery after cryopreservation in most cultivars tested. The effect of cold pre-culture in PVS2 droplet vitrification has previously been studied in potato (Halmagyi et al. 2005;Hirai and    Sakai 1999). These authors used a pre-culture temperature of 4 °C and the results did not show a significant improvement in comparison with control treatments. The cultivars tested in these studies were improved varieties with no or low acclimation ability. Other studies, using preculture at alternating temperatures have demonstrated that cold pre-culture of 7 days at 21 or 22/8 °C (day/night temperature), resulted in an improved recovery rate (Kryszczuk et al. 2006;Kaczmarczyk et al. 2008) when a DMSO droplet method is applied. We tested cold and sucrose hardening treatments either alone or in combination on accessions of known drought, frost and salinity tolerance such as the frost tolerant cultivars H-1, Pin ˜aza, Wila Yari and two genotypes belonging to S. commersonii, the most frost hardy wild potato species known (Bamberg et al. 2005). Also Ccompis, a cultivar that is highly utilized in the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes and of known drought tolerance but from which the reaction towards frost is not clear and the two improved drought tolerant cultivars, Desiree and Tacna, that are unable to cold acclimate, were tested.It was expected that the frost tolerant genotypes would respond positively to cryopreservation and that the sucrose treatment would enhance this response regardless their cold-acclimation ability. Both the S. commersonii frost tolerant genotypes showed a high capacity to recover from cryopreservation regardless the pre-culture temperature or sugar doses applied, suggesting that the ability for tolerating cryopreservation is due to their genetic characteristics instead of the hardening treatments. Studies have demonstrated that fully acclimated S. commersonii genotypes can withstand -10 °C (Bamberg et al. 2005) and hence it is not surprising to see such a high cryo-tolerance of this species.The frost tolerant cultivars, H-1, Pin ˜aza, and Wila Yari always responded better following the cold treatment  Regarding the sucrose effect, our results were different to the positive effect recently reported by Folgado et al. (2014). Authors attribute these differences to the different culture techniques utilized for applying the sucrose treatment. In this study cultures were subjected to the cold and sugar stress immediately after stem cuttings are excised while Folgado's method applied the sucrose treatment in plantlets on 1 week cultures without an excision phase thus preventing an additional cutting stress that can result in the production of stress proteins such as ASRs (Henry et al. 2011).Cold-acclimation is used in frost tolerance studies and sugar treatments have been applied in drought tolerance research. Plant response to frost and drought implies biochemical and molecular changes. Changes in the amount and composition of membrane lipids may protect against freezing-induced injury. A drought response is mainly related to the synthesis of solutes needed for osmotic adjustment such as soluble sugars, proline, and glycine betaine. In potato, several studies have revealed the stress protecting role of the lipids in cell membranes (Palta 1994), the accumulation of several sugars and osmoprotectant substances (Mane et al. 2008;Evers et al. 2010), as well as genes and proteins for osmotic adjustment (Schafleitner et al. 2007;Carvallo et al. 2011;Pino et al. 2013), and membrane stability and oxidative homeostasis (Vasquez-Robinet et al. 2008;Folgado et al. 2014).Research on S. commersonii and an improved cultivar ''Red Pontiac'' of S. tuberosum, demonstrated that freezing tolerance in the non-acclimated stage and capacity to cold acclimate are following different physiological mechanisms (Palta et al. 1993;Palta 1994). Lipids associated with freezing tolerance in the non-acclimated state are different than those associated with increases in freezing tolerance during cold acclimation. Recently, we have shown that linoleic acid content is positively correlated to cryotolerance in freeze tolerant genotypes (Panta et al. 2009).The present study clearly highlights the large difference between survival and recovery rates. In all cases the recovery rate was much lower compared to survival rate with an overall decrease from survival to recovery of about 25 %. This emphasises the need for the development of cryopreservation protocols based on shoot recovery rates and not solely on tissue survival.Cryopreservation recovery in 80 % of the cultivated potatoes by using a cold pretreatment, paves the way for testing and applying cold acclimation on a larger scale (Panta et al. 2011). We tested this optimized method on 755 accessions and observed that the overall recovery rate was 51 %. Only four cultivars did not respond to the cryopreservation procedure, and the best response came from genotypes belonging to frost tolerant species.We demonstrated that the droplet PVS2 vitrification method preceded by a pre-culture treatment at 6 °C is suitable for application of cryopreservation for the longterm conservation of a wide diversity of potato genotypes. We also concluded that the potatoes with cold-acclimation capacity or frost tolerance are more able to respond positively to cryopreservation."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/0126990938.json b/main/part_2/0126990938.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..874802eb7e3af94efcae5262ca979e7bef5b3a4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/0126990938.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"56fa7b5f65e3e7184c56ec51e3c72e4a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4cb6333e-e0a1-41af-b3df-19e806ccdcd0/retrieve","id":"-2142124854"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"25a7cf6e-cf0b-4cee-b527-ac5ff6bc1371","content":"Poor people in LMICs have greater exposure to zoonoses through livestock keeping; living in agricultural communities; interactions with peri-domestic and wild animals; less access to clean water; and, greater vulnerability to climate shocks. Although their consumption of animal source products is low, the quality of these products is poor. In addition to human health burdens, zoonoses reduce livestock productivity and are important barriers to trade in livestock products, as well as causing more difficult to quantify harms such as spillover to wildlife populations."}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"16a73439-d905-4824-8d03-52a5e4007f75","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/0147920242.json b/main/part_2/0147920242.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..634146b2d139bbaaee74160e779db22e04c2bd9e
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+++ b/main/part_2/0147920242.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"06a7be5364eb8ad237eedda05053b80a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b736ad5d-15b0-4fd2-98bc-b549c6187c9c/retrieve","id":"-1580038017"},"keywords":["Exchange","In-vitro","Germplasm","CBSD and CMD"],"sieverID":"bc5199de-4384-4870-aa52-c9196f2ac5ba","content":"Cassava varieties resistant to cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) are needed for the food and income security of the rural poor in eastern and southern Africa (ESA). The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture led five national cassava breeding programs (Malawi, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) in virus-cleaning and exchanging elite cassava germplasm resistant to both diseases. This paper documents the experiences and lessons learned from the process. Thirty-one clones (25 elite, two standard and four national) were submitted by the five breeding programs to the Natural Resources Institute and Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services for virus cleaning and indexing. Subsequently, ca 75 invitro virus-indexed plantlets per clone were sent to Genetic Technologies International Limited (GTIL), a private tissue culture (TC) lab in Kenya, and micro-propagated to produce ≥1500 plantlets. After fulfilling all the formal procedures of germplasm exchange between countries ≥300 plantlets per clone were sent to each partner country. National check clones susceptible to CMD/CBSD were sent only to their countries of origin. In each country, the in-vitro plantlets were acclimatized under screen house conditions and transferred to clean isolated sites for field multiplication. All the clones were cleaned of the viruses, except Tomo. The cleaning process was slow for F19-NL, NASE1, and Kibandameno and TC micro-propagation at GTIL was less efficient for Pwani, Tajirika, NASE1, and Okhumelela than for the other clones. Difficulties in cleaning recalcitrant clones affected the timeline for establishing the multi-site evaluation trials in target countries. The initiative is the one of the kind to successfully clean and exchange elite germplasm as a joint action to combat CBSD in ESA. Adequate preparation in terms of infrastructure and personnel are critical to successfully receiving and adapting the indexed in-vitro plants as new germplasm.Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is one of the most important food staples in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), ranked as the number one root crop followed by yam and sweetpotato (FAOSTAT 2017). With over 140 MT of annual root production (FAOSTAT 2017), cassava is the major source of carbohydrates in the diet of millions of people in SSA and is grown as a famine reserve crop owing to its tolerance of harsh environmental conditions (Jarvis et al. 2012;Nassar and Ortiz 2007). Moreover, the crop has enormous potential to graduate into an important economic driver within the agriculture sector in different SSA countries where entrepreneurs have started to exploit its industrial business potential to produce high quality flour, starch, beverages and animal feeds.However, the crop is threatened by two viral diseases: cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) and cassava mosaic disease (CMD), and these are currently the principal biotic factors affecting production in East and Southern Africa (ESA) (Alicai et al. 2007;Legg et al. 2011). While CMD is of economic importance across SSA, CBSD remains localized in ESA, although there is a high risk of the disease spreading to West Africa unless contained (Legg et al. 2011). CBSD is caused by two virus species, Cassava brown streak virus (CBSV) and Ugandan cassava brown streak virus (UCBSV) in the family Potyviridae, genus Ipomovirus (Mbanzibwa et al. 2009). Here, we refer to these collectively as cassava brown streak ipomoviruses (CBSIs). In addition to the two species groupings, several strains of each species have been reported (Mbanzibwa et al. 2009;Mohammed et al. 2012;Ogwok et al. 2015). These interact with the host differently (Mohammed et al. 2012;Kaweesi et al. 2014;Legg et al. 2015) and produce symptoms of varying severity that complicate the evaluation and selection processes in developing resistant varieties. A further important factor in the epidemiology of these viruses, causing CBSD and CMD, is the relative abundance of the whitefly vector, Bemisia tabaci (Maruthi et al. 2005). Whiteflies occur in greatly varying abundance in the regions where both diseases occur (Jeremiah et al. 2015), and this in turn results in significantly different levels of inoculum pressure for the two diseases. Consequently, it is essential to evaluate cassava germplasm that is potentially resistant to both CBSD and CMD in a wide range of agro-ecologies.Collaborative efforts with different national cassava breeding programs have identified germplasm resistant or tolerant to CBSD/CMD. However, these have been evaluated so far under a narrow range of conditions of environment, virus species/strains, and vector abundance (Legg et al. 2011). The exchange of germplasm between countries enhances the diversity of germplasm available to partner countries. It provides breeders with fresh opportunities to evaluate and release new varieties as well as to use them as parents in efforts to breed new genotypes resistant to CBSD and CMD.Past experiences of CMD pandemic management have underlined the significance of identifying and deploying host resistance as well as the importance of joint action among partners in the affected countries through elite germplasm exchange (Ntawuruhunga et al. 2013). Open quarantine was used effectively in efforts to manage the CMD pandemic (Mohamed 2002), but this is appropriate only under emergency conditions and where introduced germplasm is carried just a short distance over the border into the receiving country. The approach has risks of introducing other diseases/pests into new unaffected areas (Ntawuruhunga and Legg 2007). Sharing of botanical seeds is less risky, but the high level of genetic variability among individual seeds means that more time and funds are required at national level to develop promising varieties (Ntawuruhunga et al. 2013). Virus-indexed tissue culture (TC) plants are the form recognised by quarantine regulators for the exchange of elite germplasm among countries (Frison 1994;Lebot 2009;Ntawuruhunga et al. 2013). Their use also ensures that fair comparisons can be made among clones that are planted in evaluation trials without propagule-borne virus infection.Breeding for dual resistance is currently being pursued as the most cost-effective and sustainable way to manage the devastating effects of the viral diseases in ESA. Although high resistance for CMD has been found, only limited success has been documented for CBSD. The desired goal of the breeding efforts is stable genotypes with resistance to both viral diseases. Work described in this paper has helped partner countries to access clean in-vitro stocks of a diverse set of resistant germplasm as vital precursor to coordinated regional trials aimed at identifying new resistant variety options to mitigate threats of CMD and CBSD. The work was undertaken in the early stages of the project BNew Cassava varieties and Clean Seed to Combat CMD and CBSD^(5CP), and aimed at exchanging elite germplasm among the five countries most affected by CMD and CBSD for adaptability breeding.Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda (Fig. 1) are the countries most severely affected by both CBSD and CMD and agreed to share their five best cassava clones with respect to resistance to both diseases.The targeted germplasm (Table 1) included 25 elite clones contributed by partner countries, two standard regional susceptible check clones, i.e., Kibandameno, a CMD susceptible check from Kenya, and Albert, a CBSD susceptible check from Tanzania. The elite clones were selected for exchange based on resistance to CMD and CBSD, their root yield and dry matter content. Four other clones were included as national checks as follows: Tomo (susceptible to CBSD) from Mozambique, Mbundumali (susceptible to CBSD and CMD) from Malawi, and Kiroba (susceptible to CMD) and Mkombozi (susceptible to CBSD) from Tanzania. Four main steps (Fig. 2) were undertaken in the process of exchanging and managing the elite germplasm in the target countries. Figure 3 illustrates the timelines.Between August and December 2012 each country freely agreed to submit to NRI and KEPHIS ca 25 stem cuttings obtained from asymptomatic plants of each of the best five clones (Table 1) for virus cleaning. The asymptomatic plants were used mainly to ease the task and cost of the cleaning process. To minimize chances of within-clone variation (mericlones), stem cuttings of a given clone were collected from one plant stand by breeders who had wide knowledge of the clones' agronomic performance as well as their reaction to the diseases. The two laboratories served as a backup to each other in the role of virus cleaning and indexing. Apart from short delays in the delivery of the elite clones by some countries, no major challenge was experienced during this step of the process.At each laboratory, the stem cuttings were sprouted and grown in pots under quarantine for about 3 months while being observed for virus disease symptoms. At NRI, the asymptomatic plants were separated from the symptomatic (data not presented), and leaf samples from the former were subjected to virus diagnostics using PCR procedures (Aloyce et al. 2013) for cassava mosaic begomoviruses (CMBs) and real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT PCR) procedures (Adams et al. 2013;Tomlinson et al. 2013) for CBSIs. The virus negative plants of each clone were initiated into TC and micro-propagated to raise over 50 plantlets. Meristems were used to initiate TC plants for those clones with only virus positive plants. These were incubated under thermotherapy conditions and left to grow for 8-10 weeks before being reintroduced to the quarantine glasshouse to confirm the absence of the viruses using the diagnostic methods indicated above. At KEPHIS, meristem tips of asymptomatic plants were initiated into TC and later diagnosed for viruses. As at NRI, the virus negative plants were micro-propagated to raise over 50 plantlets. Virus positive plants were incubated in the thermotherapy chamber at 38 °C for 21 days before meristems were chosen for TC initiation. Upon establishment, the plants were tested again for viruses, and the cycle was repeated for the positive plants until negative plants were obtained and micropropagated to produce over 50 plantlets.Fig. 1 A map showing partner countries that exchanged elite cassava germplasm and sites for regional trialsThis step involved five activities: micro-propagation, verification of genotype purity and virus-free status, capacity building, mock shipment and shipment of TC plants to partner countries. a) Micro-propagation: This was done by GTIL a private TC laboratory in Nairobi, Kenya, to increase the number of clean plantlets per clone available to partner countries.From NRI, approximately 75 TC plants per clone were sent to GTIL and micro-propagated (Photo 1a) to produce more than 1500 plantlets per clone, which were sufficient to provide at least 300 plantlets per clone per country.Figure 4 shows the rates of progress of micropropagation at GTIL. While most clones responded positively to the protocols and yielded the required quantities by sub-culturing cycle 5 or 6, others such as Pwani, NASE 1, Tajirika, and Okhumelela were recalcitrant and required media improvement. The recalcitrant clones caused delays and held back the timelines for delivery of the plants to partner countries (Fig. 3) b) Verification of genotype purity and virus status of the clones: It was considered critical for independent parties to ascertain the genotype purity and virus-free status of the clones before shipment to partner countries. About ten sample plants were acclimatized at GTIL (for materials cleaned by NRI) and at KEPHIS from which later samples of different plant parts (leaves, stem and meristem) were taken and tested for CBSIs and CMBs by Mikocheni Agricultural Research Institute (MARI) in collaboration   the partners to receive the materials, as well as of identifying possible challenges during shipment. Two cuboid plastic containers (Photo 1a) each with a maximum of 150 plantlets of one clone were sent by courier to Uganda, Tanzania, and Malawi. Permits for both export and import accompanied the shipment as required by regulations. Two challenges were experienced during mock shipment and recommendations were made to GTIL for the actual shipment. Firstly, 150 plantlets per container were overcrowded with intertwined roots that resulted in both root and plant damage during removal from the media. A total of 75 TC plants per container was recommended for the actual shipment. Secondly, all countries reported plant damage resulting from the semi-solid media becoming loose and mixed with plants during shipment. GTIL was asked to use a more solidified medium to ensure that plants would be kept in position during shipment and to improve the placement of the containers in the big boxes.The mock shipment experience also led to GTIL being advised to ensure that consignments were projected to arrive in target countries early in the week for easy clearance and to avoid shipments being held up over weekends. Also, improvements were made to the system used to alert recipient countries about the expected timetable for dispatch of the TC shipments from GTIL and incountry arrival. This enabled national partners to make adequate preparations for receiving the material through liaising with authorities involved in the clearing process.  e) Shipment of TC plants: This is the activity that marked the exchange of the germplasm, between partner countries. The first and major shipment was undertaken by GTIL. Using cylindrical or cuboid plastic transparent containers, GTIL planted in the medium a maximum of 75 plantlets per container, labelled them, allowed two weeks for roots and shoots to develop, sealed, packaged, and sent the plantlets to the partner countries. The containers were placed in bigger boxes and surrounded with shockabsorbing materials. The boxes were also marked fragile and an 'up' arrow sign was used to ensure proper handling during transit. The plants were transported by road to Uganda and Tanzania or as cargo with international airlines to Malawi and Mozambique. Kenya, unlike other countries, received hardened plants from GTIL. To facilitate quarantine authority clearance at entry points, all the shipments were accompanied by copies of import permits that were obtained from plant protection offices in respective countries and phytosanitary certificates from KEPHIS. At the point of entry, the consignments were cleared by officials from the national plant protection organizations (NPPOs) of the respective countries and received by the national cassava research teams.The second shipment was made by KEPHIS, where 5 to 10 TC plantlets per clone in single glass test-tubes were shipped to partner countries. The purpose of these plantlets was to be conserved as back-ups for immediate post-flask management needs and also for future clean stock needs.a) Post-flask management: Upon arrival in each country, the TC plantlets were checked for contamination and physical damage, and registered. The plantlets were kept for two to seven days in TC laboratory growth rooms or under normal room temperature conditions to recover from transit stress. They were then carefully separated from the medium, introduced into individual small cups filled with vermiculite or forest soil/sand mixture, and placed in nutrient-enriched water baths. Each potted plant was covered with a transparent polythene bag to create micro-humid conditions. In Tanzania, the potted plants covered with polythene bags were additionally placed in a bigger humidity chamber. After one week, the polythene bags were cut open at one end and fully opened after two weeks (Photo 1b). The tender plants were sprayed with fungicide and insecticide and irrigated with nutrient-enriched water. After a month, the plants were transplanted into bigger polythene bag containers (also used in potting tree and flower seedlings) filled with sterilized soil. By the end of the second month the plants were ready for transplanting into the field for multiplication. Different rates of survival were registered by the different countries (Table 3). Uganda (79.4%) and Mozambique (80.9%) registered the highest survival rates with fewer losses than Malawi, Kenya. and Tanzania.There had been heavy losses in the first batch of delivered plants but survival improved with the second batch. b) Field multiplication: The fields used for multiplication were located in areas with very low CBSD and CMD pressure. Hardened plantlets were established in one multiplication field (Photo 1c) in all countries except Tanzania where two fields were used in different parts of the country. The management practices varied with countries. For example, irrigation was done during periods of drought in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique. In Malawi, the severe cold period between June and October 2014 delayed further establishment of the multiplication field to avoid plant losses to frost. In Uganda, field multiplication was rain fed and no fertilizer application was made. To minimize any virus infection, the multiplication fields were isolated by being at least 200 m from any old cassava crop and continuously rogued. c) Macro-propagation: To mitigate the challenge of plant losses during post-flask management and ensure sufficient numbers of hardened plantlets for field multiplication, two-to three-node cuttings were taken from the few surviving plants and planted for further multiplication. In the screen houses, these were hardened plants between two and three months old and ready for transfer to the field. In the multiplication fields, these were plants at four to six months after establishment. In both cases, the cut plants sprouted with multiple shoots in addition to three or more plantlets from stem cuttings. Through this technique, the countries that suffered early plant deaths during acclimitization were able to increase the number of plants of the affected clones. The technique helped to save time and reduce costs of acquiring and acclimatizing new sets of TC plants from GTIL by the affected countries. It also ensured that there were sufficient stem cuttings of at least 20 elite clones for regional trials to be established by the end of 2015 in all countries. This technique can also be helpful in multiplication of hardened virus-indexed cassava plants under insect-proof screen houses for pre-basic seed production under cassava seed systems (IITA 2014). d) Regional multi-locational trials: The immediate purpose of exchanging the elite germplasm between countries as discussed in this paper was to test and validate the clones' adaptability and tolerance to CBSD and CMD across five partner countries all severely affected by CBSD and CMD. Using stem cuttings obtained from the multiplication field discussed above, field trials were established in a total of 33 sites across the partner countries (Fig. 1). The sites were characterized by varying levels of CBSD and CMD pressure, climatic and soil conditions. With the exception of Kenya, the countries successfully established trials with all the 25 elite clones and standard susceptible checks (Albert, a susceptible check for CBSD and Kibandamendo, a susceptible check for CMD). In Kenya, only 23 clones were established in the trials and four clones (N'ziva, Okhumelela, Shibe, and Albert) were omitted owing to plant losses during the post-flask management stage. Comprehensive data were collected for agronomic traits, viral disease incidence and severity at different stages of crop growth (including harvesting), whitefly abundance, and yield components. The data will be analysed in the near future and are expected to help in understanding the genotype by environment interactions for CBSD/CMD resistance. Also, the data will be helpful in identifying superior clone/varieties and environments for the evaluation of resistance to CBSD/CMD. e) In-vitro conservation: The clean plants received from KEPHIS in all countries were meant to be conserved as in-vitro back-ups to serve both immediate needs to replace plantlets of any clone lost during the acclimatization process and long-term needs for clean stocks for pre-basic seed production systems of identified varieties in each country.Apart from Uganda and Kenya, the countries reported the loss of all or the majority of the clones (Table 4). Erratic power supplies faced by most NARS in TC facilities and the lack of TC reagent supplies were reported as the main causes of plant losses for the clones. Additional investments in tissue culture facilities in the countries where these losses occurred will be required in future in order to allow for long-term TC-based germplasm conservation.There were three major acheivements under the intiative reported here. Firstly, up to 30 clones (25 elite, two standard checks and four national checks) were successfully virus-cleaned and indexed, and 27 clones were exchanged among target countries. The other three were returned to their respective mother countries as national checks. The particularly unique aspect of this initiative was the sourcing and pooling of germplasm from five countries, the cleaning, and returning of the expanded pooled set. Additionally, the germplasm presented a unique opportunity to identify varieties with high levels of resistance to both CBSD and CMD under the diverse range of virus/virus vector/environmental conditions in these five countries of ESA. In addition to offering potential for use as parents to generate superior progeny with a background of high resistance, the clean stocks represented a great for initiating extension programs for the multiplication and dissemination of high quality pre-basic 'seeds'. Hitherto, most of the target countries have had no access to field-based stocks of high quality virus-tested planting material.The second achievement is the strong partnership built between breeders and virologists in national and international institutions (Fig. 2; Photo 1d) that has ensured the successful exchange of elite germplasm. It represents a joint action to reverse the devastating effects of the two deadly viral diseases. The partnership also allowed cross-learning between partners at all levels of the process. It has presented a unique opportunity for breeders and virologists to work together to combat these diseases through elite resistant germplasm and clean seeds. Legg et al. (2014) previously highlighed the importance of concerted multi-partner efforts to tackle the twin threats of CBSD and CMD to Africa's cassava production. The current initiative represented a significant achievement along the road map proposed for the 'War on Cassava Viruses' that was described in this publication. However, a key question is whether the partnership will continue after the project. Partner institutions will need to make concerted efforts to ensure that these linkages are sustained, and furthermore, that the lessons learned from the approach are shared with others who are faced with similar challenges affecting vegetatively propagated crops.The third achievement was the successful implementation of the trials across the countries. Following analysis, the collected data are anticipated to elucidate the magnitude of genotype by environment interactions for CBSD/CMD resistance, superior clones, and environments. Although these trials are still in progress, preliminary results are already helping to guide stakeholders on which varieties are likely to be most appropriate in which agro-ecologies and CBSD/CMD disease pressure conditions within the eastern and southern African region. Moreover, these preliminary data and the germplasm exchange approach described here are currently being used to inform the implementation of new CBSD mitigation programs in Burundi, Rwanda and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.& Cleaning from virus infection was relatively easy for about 85% of the cassava clones. These were cleaned in the 'first cycle' of the virus indexing program and were thereafter ready for micro-propagation. This success was possibly due to the selection and use of stem cuttings obtained from asymptomatic plants by the breeders. The remaining 15% of the clones took about three cycles, i.e., three treatments of chemotherapy, thermotherapy, and tissue culturing, before becoming clear of viruses. These clones were Tomo, F19-NL, NASE1 and Kibandameno; all were symptomatic after sprouting at NRI/KEPHIS. Only Tomo, a check clone from Mozambique, could not be cleaned at KEPHIS despite several repeated cycles. Starting a virus clean-up process such as this with visually clean plants directly influences how quickly the target clones can be cleaned of viruses. However, specificity in the response of cassava genotypes to the cleaning and indexing protocols has been reported (Sesay et al. 2016).Future initiatives attempting similar work should recognize that a small proportion of plant genotypes are likely to be recalcitrant to virus eradication. & Responses of clones to micro-propagation protocols were varied at GTIL (Fig. 3). Although the majority responded positively to the protocols and yielded the required quantities by sub-culturing cycle 5 or 6, others such as Pwani, NASE1, Tajirika, and Okhumelela were recalcitrant and optimization of the medium was needed. The recalcitrant clones also caused delays and held up the timelines for delivery of the plants to countries (Fig. 2). TC recalcitrant behaviour among clones has previously been reported in cassava (Acedo and Corazon 2008). Further investigation is needed to establish the optimal protocol for micropropagation of most of the genotypes. & Extreme temperatures adversely affected the plants while being acclimatized. For example, extremely cold night temperatures in Nairobi either slowed growth or killed the plants in Kenya. On the other hand, hot screen house conditions scorched some of the plants to death at Kibaha and Maruku in Tanzania. These experiences suggest that temperature conditions are important in selecting a station where acclimatization of cassava plants should be conducted. Specifically, the choice is recommended of shaded cool or fresh environments with no extreme temperatures (FAO 2010). In Tanzania, the extremely hot conditions were overcome by introducing a shade net inside the screen house but this could also be overlaid on top of the white insect-proof net. & Bulk packaging of the TC plantlets (75 per container) at GTIL was cost-effective but presented several challenges. Firstly, the plantlets were exposed to contamination during shipment owing to ineffective sealing of large containers. Secondly, the plantlets were vulnerable to damage during removal for hardening. The roots of the plantlets grow and intertwine into a network, making it difficult to separate them without root or plantlet damage. Thirdly, for some clones (e.g., Tajirika) the plantlets in the middle of the container tended to be slow in developing roots resulting in plantlets with no roots or underdeveloped roots that had a high chance of early death during acclimatization. Single test-tube TC packaging is the commonly used method and is associated with limited contamination and damage during removal. However, testtubes can be expensive and bulky. & It was critical to have skilled and committed personnel to monitor the acclimatizing plants carefully and constantly, closely observing the progress of each plant. Therefore, training and supervision of personnel are vital. Best results were achieved in countries where the monitoring tasks were assigned to one committed technician. & We experienced variation across countries in capacities for in-vitro conservation of elite germplasm. During the course of the initiative, most partner countries except Uganda and Kenya (where plants were kept at KEPHIS) lost more than half of the in-vitro back-up plants from infrastructural difficulties such as the lack of reliable and stable electricity as well as of reagent supplies. Future initiatives should therefore pay particular attention to minimising the likelihood of infrastructural constraints having a negative impact on the work. & The coordination role played by IITA (Fig. 2) contributed greatly to the success of the entire exercise. The project leadership ensured effective communication, and the preparation of the different partners. Prior alerts of shipment schedules and departures to recipient countries were helpful in clearing the materials through plant health inspection offices at entry points and avoiding possible delays, as well as for country teams in making all the needed preparations.This initiative is the first of its kind in successfully facilitating the exchange of a large number of clean virusindexed elite germplasm clones to combat CBSD and CMD. However, the success achieved was the result of extensive preparation of infrastructure and trained personnel to manage the different sub-processes in the framework of an effective partnership. This could have been achieved only within the context of a large project, which in this case was supported through a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Even where such project support may not be available in future years, the approach has provided a valuable model for other national, regional, and international stakeholders in African agricultural development that may have an interest in supporting similar initiatives in future. Although the programme achieved its goals, some important challenges were identified. In particular, it was noted that a small proportion of cassava genotypes were recalcitrant either to virus cleaning or micro-propagation, and these slowed down the overall process. However, more than 80% of the genotypes used responded well to all stages of the process and by the end of the exercise, one of the most extensive cassava germplasm evaluation trials ever undertaken was underway at more than 30 locations in the five target countries of ESA. The trial will allow the region's cassava researchers to assess the performance of this elite set of varieties under a diverse set of agro-ecological conditions, and to characterize varietal responses to the viruses causing CBSD and CMD under each of these conditions. This in itself will be a unique undertaking, and should provide a lasting legacy for cassava development and efforts to combat these diseases in one of the most important cassava-growing regions of Africa. In view of the importance of cassava to Africa's food security given the threats posed by future climate change (Jarvis et al. 2012), this represents a very significant contribution."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"076a1ef33c6671830c077bd5b5409428","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/58cc66bc-c30d-4e51-8d87-b178c9dcf18a/retrieve","id":"391901252"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c7b17ad2-fc5a-4d83-a1d7-76f699683308","content":"CIAT é''S una organi~acjón sin ánjmQ de lucrQ, dedicada al desarrollo agrícola V económico de las tH;traS bajas tropicales. El Gúbtetno de Colombia proporciona su apoyo como país sede del el AT V el terreno en qu.e Se encuentrall localizadas sus principales instalaciones, un\" tinca experimental de 522 hectareas cerca de la (;IU-di1d de Cali. StJ. lIellan a cabo proyectos cooperatrvo$ con el Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario OCA), I nnclpalmente en los Centros Experimentales de Turipaná y Can magua. El el A 1 está 1inanciado por .... mas miembros institucionales del Grupo1/ Su produecllll¡. mundial es de 87 millones de toneladas, aproximadamente -. América \" 2/ Latilla prOduce el 37 por ciento de la producción mtmd1al -.La yuca !le cultiva como producto comerclai pero también como medio de subIllatanela en una buena parte de la ZOD& tropical, especialmente en fincas pequellas. Po-\\ slblemenle la ~or parte de la prOduoeión es destinada al consumo humano. Se oonsume prtnclpaImente en cipo formas: fresca y seca. Su ñpldo deterioro y su bajo valor UlI1tarIo dificultan su \"'1OOso a los grandes centros de acopio e inducen al productor a utlliurla en forma intensiva dentro de la flnoa.La elevada cantidad y excelente calidad de carbohlóratos en la yuca, hacen de esta un importante alimento energético para la alimentación de animales dom6stioos.Una de las formas de Incrementar el uso de la yuca en las fincas puede ser su conversión en carne de cerdo, expecie animal que tiene la caracterfstlca de requerir cantidades apreciables de energía, con relación a las cantidades de protelha en su perfodo de ceba.• Este trabajo fue posible gracias a la gentilesa de los Integrantes del Programa de Porcinos del !.CA, quienes proporcionaron la Información de dos experimentos realisados por ellos y qu8\"a!1'Vieron de baile para éste anAlisla eoon6mioo.Agradezco especialmente la colaboración del Dr. G. GómeB en la parle descriptiva de loe experimentos. asr como a los Dres. P. Pinstrup-Ande..-. J.H. Msner y A. Valdl!s.•• fuvestigador A_lado, Economista, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, CIAT, Apartado Aé.-67-13, Call, Colombia, S.A.!! Gutiérrez, N. y P. PInstrup-Andersen \"La importancia relativa del fríjol, marz, arroB y yuca en la zona tropical\". eIA T, Departamento de ECOnomfll Agrfoola. Call, 1972. p.17,V ldem p.17.l,a producción de cerdos compite con alimentos utilizados en la diete hUlllJl.tlS., especialmente granos de cereales. Por lo tanto, una forma de aumentar la producción de cerdos en las zonas tropicales, serta la intensifiCación del use de prodcctos relativamente abundantes en las regiones agrfcolas marg1nales~ como es la yuca, ya sea en forma fresca o como subproducto (harina).Varios trabajos experimentales sobre el empleo de la yuca en la alimentación de cerdos han sido realizados conjuntamente entre el Instituto Colombteno Agropecuario (ICA) y el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (ClA '1). Parte de estos resulisdos y una exhanBtlva descripción del valor nutrlcional de la yuca en la a.' imentación de cerdos han sido informados por Maner !I .El objetivo del presente trabajo es examloar la convenienilia de rell:lplazar ma!Z comán por yuca fresca o barina de yuca en la alimentación de cerdos en las etapas de crecimiento y acabado. Para este fin se han utilizado los resultados de dos experimentos con los cuales se han estimado las posibles ganancias monelsrlas bajo diferentes precios rela.tivos de la yuca con respecto al precio del maíz camón.En 108 estadios experimentales que a continuación se describen, se usaron mezclas de rarees de diferentes variedades de yuca, normalmente utilizados para el consumo hu.mAno, que fueron obtenidas de la Estación Experimental del ICA en palm!ra.La yuca fue cosechada dos o tres veces por seIlUlllS con el fin de prevenir el proceso normal de necr\"\" .. miento y fermentación y asr asegurar un alimento aceptable por los cerdos. Luego de cosechada, la yuca fue lavado y picado diariamente. En el caso del neo de harloa de yuca, la yuca fresca, luego de picada fue secado al sol o al horno (aire forzado} a una temperatora de 82\" e por 24 a 36 horas. La yuca seca fue prevtsmente molida antes de incorporarla en las raciones experimentales.En el primer experimento y , 15 cerdo. Duroc, con un peso inictal promedio de sexo y camada. Cada grupo fue mantenido en confinamiento en corrales con piso de concreto y el agua y sl1mento fueron ofrecidos a voluntad en bebedero. y comederos automáticos. Los tratamientos experimentales fueron los slgutentes, 1) Diete control a bue de mafz, torta de soya, torta de s1god<In. harina de hueso.y una premezcls de mlnerale. y vitaminas.2) Yuca fretoca, picada a voluntad, mas un suplemento protelllJco ofrecido también s voluntad.3) Yuca fneea, picada a voluntad, mas el suplemento protellUco ofrecido en cantidades IlUftcien!.es para cubrir los requerimientos mfnlmos.La yuca pieIIda que no consumieron 108 cerdos en 24 lloras fue recogida, pesada Y descartad.. ~ composici6n de la diet& control y del suplemento protefnico usado. se Pnleeota ea el Cuadro 1.cuadro l. Composlcl6n de la dteta oontrol y del suplemento prol.efnlco.Torta de s1god<InMafZ !la.rlns de hueso.Premezcla. de yltam1nl. Los resultados obtenidos en eate experimento se presentan en el t:uadro 2. La ganancia de peso del grupo alimenlsdo con la dieta control y del alimentado con yuca fresca nuls suplemento protelD1co a voluntad, fUeron muy simUares, 0.843 y 0.834 kg de ganancia diaria de peso, respectivamente. La eficiencia de conversión aliménticia fUe igualmente .!mUar para ambos grupos. El grupo alimentado con yuca fresca nula una cantidad controlada del suplemento protefnico consumió menos yuca fresca y un promedio de s610 0.73 kg diario del suplemento cuando se ofrec16 a voluntad. Las gananoias de peso fueron menores, pero la eficiencia alimentioia fUe superior (Cundro 2) al de los olros dos grupos. De acuerdo a estos resultadoa cualquiera de las dos formas de suplementar la yuca fresca da resultados satisfactorios, aunque la suplemeniación diaria oontrolada implica mayor necesldnd de mano de obra.Una forma nula pr4ctica de utilizar la yuca en la alimentaci6n da cerdos podrfa ssr 1ncluyéndola en las dieias en forma de harina. '!J Total expresndo sobre un 10% de humedad, aproximadamente.!-/ idem, leA. Programa de Porcinos, Palmira. Experimento P-P-2-2-10 corporación de harina de yuca en lIíetas balanceadas oon el objeto de medir su valor 00-nu¡ fuente energGt1cs y como un substituto del malZ, en raciones de cerdos durante los per1'odos de crecimiento y acabado. La harina de yuca substituyO el 33 • 66 Y 100 por atento del maIZ de la rackln control con un contenido total de 16 por ciento de protetbs.cruda. EIlI1vel de torta de slgcd6n fue mantenido constaste, 7 por ciento de la dieta, para evitar, problemas de toxicidad de goslpol, Puesto que la harina de yuca tiene una c<Íllll!Stencla polvorienta. les mismo. tratamientos fueron repetidos ccn la adlckln de 10por ciento de melaza. La ccmpoeIc!6n de las dietas experimentales se presenta en el Q¡adro 3.Cuarenta y ocbo !)ardas destetos, con un peso promedie inicial de 18.5 kg, fueron dls-tr1buIdoa de acuerdo a peso, IIGD Y \"\"mada y ocho grupos experimentales. Los cerdos fue\"\"\", \"\"_&8 en con«uaml\"\"to sobre piso de concreto y reclbleron agua y dieta a wluatad darsnte lea 111 <HIts del período experimental.Cuadro 3. Composiokln de dietas experimentales ccnt.m1eodo diferentes nlvsls.de 'harina de yuca. ---Totales 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100;00 100.00 100.00!/ Secada en horno de aire forzado a S2\" c.y Contribuyó con la misma concentracl6n de vltamlnae y minerales trazas como en la premezcla del Cuadro 1.El resumen de los resultados obtenidos en este experimento se presenta en el Cuadro 4. Cada aumento en el nivel de yuca seca resultO en una disminución de la ganancia diaria promedio de peso con o sin la adici6n de.10 por ciento de melaza. La adición de 10 por ciento de mela>:a aumentó el consumo de alimento y se tradujo en prácticamente un 10 por ciento más en las gananclas'de peso, a! compararlas con los grupos correspondientes sin melaza. Los resultados de ente experimento demuestran la factiblblldad de uso de harina de yuca en rempla>:o parcia! o total del mal'2 en dietas balanceadas y su poslbilt6ad de empleo en raciones comerciales.Análisis estadfatlc.Se empleó awUIste de varianza para establecer si hablll diferencia significativa en la respuesta entre los tr_ento. en cade uno de los dos experimentos.En el Experimento 1 se toínó la variable incremento de peso como variable dependiente y como fuente de variación las tres dietas. Se observó que no IOXistfa diferencia este6fstlca significativa en la ganancia de peso entre las tres dietas. En el Experimento n, se plantesron tres modelos para el anállsls de varianza, de acuerdo oon el dlse-Cuadro \\. lnfluencia del ntvel de harina de yuca en el comportamiento de cerdos en crecimiento y acabado !I !I Seis cerdos por tratamiento; duración del experimento, 111 dra.; poso promedio inicia! 18.5 kg; peso promedio final 1 0 •. 8 kg.iIo del experimento y: el primero inCluyó las dietas como la llnic\" fuente de variación. al segundo.., le agregó la variable SlIlW y al tercero se le incluyO en término de Interacción entre sexo y dieta. Se obsertó que sr había difarencla estadística significativa entre s\"\"o y la variable Incremento de peso para las cuatro dietas del experimento;el término 4e Interaccl6n no resultó slgn!flcativo.No debe ol'i'Idarse sin embargo que se trata de dos experimentos en que el m!mero de repetIelonea f'ue probablemente insufloiente, condicionado por las instalaciones y el pre-.supueato 41spomb1e en la época de los experimentos.Au4l1sis EooDómico De ..... de comprobar si exis1fa o no difarencis slgnlflcstiva en tos inCrementos de peso entre loa tratamientos i en ambos experimentos. se procedió a evaluar la eficiencia eoonómlca de cada una de las dietas por medie de un sencillo modelo económinC.Se trató de establecer la ga;oa:DCia monetaria relativa de oada dieta definida como la diferencia entre los tngre_ adiol.ollales (desde la elspa de creobniento) y los costos parciales de cada dieta.El Ingreso adicional ro se detarmiD6 porel aumento de peso, dado el precio del cerdo en la época de venta.(1) 1 ~ (Wf -W ~ Pe en dondo 1 representa Ingreso adioional, W f es peso finsl en kilos, W I es peso Inicial en kilos, y P representa el precio del cerdo por kilos. e En el El\\perlmento l. coD;lO no se encontró diferencia significativa entre la. ganancia. de peso de los tres tratamientos. se optó por tomar un promedio Igual para las tres dietas.La diferencia en costo paroial de alimentos (CV) de las dietas lsoprotéicas alternativas (consel'VaIl<io teóricamente el mismo valor alimenticio) proviene de la sustimción  No se consideraron aquellos gastos comunes y constantes para todos los experimens, esto es gastos fijos principalmente y parte de las dietas, ya que ellos no inciden en comparación entre 105 tratamientos en cuesti6n.La ganancia relativa para cada tratamiento (U) Be mide entonces por la diferencia ene los Ingresos adicionales y loo costos parciales de los alimentos.(Dado los precios Pe y Pi' constantes para todos 108 tratamientos t se puede calcular uál es la dieta en .cada experimento que genera la mayor ganancia monetaria. asultados En el Cuadro 5 se presentan las estimaciones de las ganancias relativas de los exerimentos 1 y II. Con el objeto de medir la sensibilidad de los resultados ante vartaones en la raz6n de precios yuca: maíz !I, se calcul6 la ganancia (U) para un rango e raz6n de precios que va de 20 a 150 por ciento.El Cuadro 5 muestra, por ejemplo, en la primera columna, que cuando el precio mitarlo de la yuca fresca equivale .al 20 por ciento del mafz, todo 10 demás constante, :1 tratamiento de mayor ganancia relativa es el nt1.mero 3 en el experimento 1, en que le emplea solamente yuca fresca y suplemento controlado. Esta situación se mantíele hasta que el precio de la yuca fresca alcanza el 49 por ciento del valor del maíz; de ,hI en adelante, resulta mejor emplear mafz solamente, como en la dieta nt1.mero 1.-,os valores negativos de los cuadros indican pérdidas relativas.!./ Excepto para harina de yuca el resto de los ingredientes fue valorizado a los pre-  !I Para seleccionar la dieta óptima el lector debe pr!mtro Ident1f1car en la parte Su-..periar la relación esperada de precios; luego, comparar veriicalmente cwU tratamiento genera m.&3Or utilidad.En la parte inferior del Ccsdro 5 puede observarse el comportamiento de las gananel .... relativas con la Introduccl6n de harina de yuca (ElqIerimento II). El tratamiento 8 resultó ser el mejor h .... ta cuando el precio de la harina de yuca equivale al 90 por ciento oiento del precio del mafz. luego es mejor usar la dieta m1mero 6, que tiene menor contenido de harina de yuca, hasta e1130 por ciento, de este precio en adelante e8 mejor emplear la dieta nUmero 5 a base de maíz solamente.De los resultados experimentales y del ani1lisis econÓmico puede preverse un magnf-¡¡co futuro de la utilización de yuca para la allmentación de cerdos. Se obtuvieron ganancias relativas mayores con el \"\"'pleo de este producto que con el empleo de marzo La yuca fresca más suplemento proteico ofrecido en cantidades slÚicientes para cubrir los requerimientos mínimos, reemplaza econ6micamente a la dieta a base de mafz y suplemento proteico, solamente si el precio de la yuca equivale al 49 por ciento o menos del precio del mafz (a precios de 1973)1. Mlentra. el precio unitario de la harina deYUC¿t sea iguel o infer~r al precio unitario del marz, éste puede ser económicamente reempiazedo por harina de yuca.A los precios vigentes en el Valle del Cauca, durante el mes de agosto de 1973, la relaci6n de precios yuca fresca: mal'l< alcanzó el 20 por ciento. Por esta razón, el tratamiento ndmerc 3 del E>:perlmento 1 en el que s610 se empleó yuca fresca, genera la mayor ganancia relativa. Considerando barios de yuca (E>:perlmento II) resulta una relaclOn de precios de 60 per ciento. con una mayor ganancia relativa para el tratamiento nl1mero 8, en el que tampoco se utUlz6 malZ.Para febrero de 1974 las relaciones de precios cambiaron al 30 y 90 por ciesto respectivamente sin cambiar los tratamientos óptimos. Esto es, a la relaciOn de precios .vigentes en agosto de 1973 y febrero de 1974 en el Valle del Cauca, emplear yuca da una ración de menor costo, por unidad de ganancia de peso que el marzo Adems, puede concluirse qu~ a dicha razón de precios, emplear yuca fresca es relativamente más rentable que emplear barios de yuca. Esto varlarfz con la razón de precios.Con el uaO de esta técnica de análisis. el productor puede encontrar las proporciones de mezcla más e;onOmica para una dieta cuande dispena de dos alimentos sustitutos.!I Este resultado es válido bajo las condiciones que existieron al momento de hacer el anillsi •."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b96dc055e9f8defa6280cb93fa369f14","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cab50643-ccd7-4b88-931a-15c77e4c1b03/retrieve","id":"972760207"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"407ec921-61f6-4b09-b276-62f10bda2b46","content":"Grasslands are important sources of livestock feed and form a major part of the vegetation cover in Ethiopia. Community grazing land management can contribute to sustainable use of grazing lands, alleviate feed shortage problems and contribute to the integral maintenance of the environment with efficient use and conservation of grassland. However, these communal grasslands suffer from overgrazing, competition, conversion to other land uses (croplands and tree plantations), and lack of responsible bodies, resulting in severe degradation.Through the Environment Flagship of the Livestock CRP, ILRI works to improve community-based natural resource management, particularly focusing on communal grassland management. The work in the Ethiopian highlands started with characterization of communal grasslands to address the exitance of general knowledge gaps around planned grazing, restoration and other management strategies.This report assesses (i) questions of access (who can use highland grasslands?) (ii) the use of highland grasslands and their roles in local livelihoods (iii) grassland management and (v) market linkages and links to animal disease.Though there is variation across communal grasslands, the major livelihood resources are herbaceous plants (grasses, legumes and forbs), stones and sand for house construction and selling, dung for fuel, spice plants for household consumption, clay for pottery, water for livestock and people, salt licks, fuel wood, and food from fruits and leaves.Beekeeping is practiced mostly in Abergele. These resources of communal grasslands could be accessed by all community members (men, women and youth). There was no difference between women and men in accessing and using most of these resources. In a few communal grasslands, pottery is practiced only by women and beekeeping only by men. Stones and sand for construction are mainly used by youths and people with disabilities through cooperatives. In some communal grasslands, special benefit was given for the youth by giving them land for crop production. There was also some youth who have no private land but practiced sheep breeding and fattening (in Menz) using the communal grazing land.All communal grassland resources contribute to the livelihood of farmers who keep livestock for fattening, milk production and general feed for animals. In some communal grasslands, and though not similar across the grasslands, there is income generation from selling resources like dung, stone, honey and some pottery.In almost all communal grasslands, there is moderate market linkage for livestock and livestock products. This could be because of price fluctuation, brokers disturbance of the market between farmers and traders, lack of sustainable demand and market at all time.There was no disease related to communal grasslands, but sometimes from June-November there could be disease outbreak in general. This did not prevent animals from grazing in communal grasslands.In most of the communal grassland, there was no management institution and governance structure that is responsible for communal grassland resources. However, there are a few users of communal grasslands that practice different strategies to protect the land from illegal usage, destruction, privatization and enclosures during rainy seasons. These practices are usually done through informal committees and traditional associations. For most of the communal grasslands, there was no rule/law established for communal grasslands management. From 21 communal grasslands, only two have legal certificate of ownership for the users. Most of the communal grasslands have no management plan and use. The status of productivity in terms of vegetation was low and biophysical degradation was high. As a result, the communal grasslands are dwindling in terms of area and productivity that might result in feed shortages.There could be significant opportunity for improving the management and governance of communal grasslands through adaptation of participatory rangeland management that is being implemented in the lowland pastoral areas of the country, restoration efforts by working with local communities, as well as establishing effective monitoring and evaluation systems so that changes can be better documented.1 IntroductionGrasslands are one of the major vegetation formations in Ethiopia. In the highlands of Ethiopia, community grazing land management can contribute to sustainable use of grazing lands and alleviation of feed shortage problems. Communal grazing lands are important sources of livestock feed (Haileslassie et al. 2012) and contribute to environmental protection through the efficient use and conservation of grassland. However, communal grasslands are suffering from overgrazing, competition, conversion to other land uses (croplands and tree plantations) and lack of responsible bodies, resulting in severe degradation of grazing lands (Yadessa 2015 andTesfaye 2010).There is little documentation about the status, management and governance of communal grasslands in the Ethiopian highlands. Through the Environment Flagship of the Livestock CRP, ILRI works to improve community-based natural resource management, particularly focusing on communal grassland management. The work in the Ethiopian highlands started with characterization of communal grasslands to address the exitance of general knowledge gaps around planned grazing, restoration and other management strategies. Hence, the objective of this report is to highlight the characterization of communal grasslands in terms of access to these resources, importance of the resources, management and governance status and challenges.2 MethodsThe study was conducted in North Shewa zone of Menz and Waghimra zone of Abergele in Amhara region, and Tanqua-Abergele woreda of Tigray region.Menz is found over the Central Highlands (1669-3563 masl) of North Shewa zone of Amhara region, where agriculture is mainly characterized by mixed crop-livestock production systems (Gebre 2009). The mean temperature ranges from 6.7-17oC and mean annual rainfall is 896 mm. Despite enduring efforts, intensive crop production is constrained by frost, poor soil fertility and unreliable rainfall in the higher altitude zones (Gebre 2009). This shaped the degree of dependency on livestock and crop enterprises. In the study areas, farmers are limited to barley and sheep production. Sheep is the major component of the livestock herd composition in Menz Gera and Menz Mama.Tanqua-Abergele is found between 12°-15° N latitude and 36°30'-40°30' E longitude in a tropical, semi-arid climate. Mean annual rainfall is between 488 and 645 mm/year-1 with an average of 562 mm/year-1. Mean minimum temperature ranges from 11-17°C and mean maximum temperature ranges from 26-34°C. The rainy season usually occurs between June and September with a growing period of 60-90 days. Mixed crop-livestock farming is the backbone of livelihoods in the study site. Exclosures range from 6-21%, and communal grazing lands range from 2-18% (Mekuria and Yami 2013).Abergele is one of the woredas in Wag Hemra zone located at 13°20' N' latitude and 38°58' E' longitude with 1150-2100 m.a.s.l altitude. The area's annual rainfall ranges from 250-750 mm. Mixed crop-livestock system is the main source of livelihood in the area.The research unit was \"communal grassland\" 1 and the users 2 who access it. About 21 communal grasslands across the study sites (11 from Menz and 10 from Abergele) were selected with the involvement of agriculture experts from woreda and respective kebeles. This report used data from a combination of field observation and focus group discussion (FGD) and key informant interviews (KII) with farmers (8-11 members from different communities) for each communal grassland selected. Synthesis of report used descriptive analysis of data to present the general information and information on access right, management, legal status and governance of communal grasslands.1. It is the unit of the study where data collection was based. One or two communal grasslands were selected from each kebele based on availability.2. The community member who uses each communal grassland. This may include a village or kebele based on the size of area.3 ResultsMost of the communal grassland resources are herbaceous plants (grasses, legumes and forbs), stones and sand for house construction and selling, dung for fuel, spice plants for household consumption, clay for pottery, water for livestock and people, salt licks, fuel wood, and food from fruits and leaves. The availability of these resources varies across communal grasslands and study sites. The most commonly found resources across the communal grasslands are grasses and stones.The grazing system is similar across all communal grasslands apart from two in Abergele of Tigray region that practice enclosure from July-September. For those not enclosed, grazing takes place by all livestock species (cattle, sheep, goats and equines) throughout the year without any rest, but the intensity of grazing differs across the year. Most of the grasslands are grazed during rainy seasons because productivity of communal grassland increases during this season. Other land uses such as crops and woodlots are protected from interference of livestock. Around all communal grasslands, the important livelihood strategy is both livestock and crop production with varying degrees of importance in different communal grasslands. About 10 FGDs indicated that livestock production ranks first as a source of livelihood and nine FGDs indicated that crop production ranks first. Livestock species found around these communal grasslands are cattle, sheep, goat and equines. Their dominance and importance differ across communal grasslands. Most of the FGD participants in Menz said sheep are the most important livestock in terms of importance but those in Abergele ranked sheep, goats and cattle equally.In most of the communal grasslands, there was access to credit services for the community but not specifically for communal grassland improvement. The community used these credit services to buy inputs like fertilizers and seeds, livestock and for petty trading. There are no organized extension services particularly focusing on communal grassland improvement, except for a few grassland communities that receive advice on grassland management from local agriculture offices.In Menz, respondents estimated that the size of communal grasslands ranges from 2-200 ha and the number of users could be 15-800 households (one village to three kebeles) (Eba and Sircely 2020a). In Abergele, the estimated area covered by communal grasslands ranges from 15-300 ha with 90-500 user households (many villages to a woreda) (Eba and Sircely 2020b). As the area increases the users also increase. As estimated by respondents in Menz, communal grasslands contribute 10-20% of feed resources while crop residues cover 40%. Hay and private grazing take about 38%. In Abergele, the contribution of communal grasslands for feed resources ranges from 17.5-50% next to crop residues. In Abergele, almost all feed resources come from crop residues, communal grasslands and hay making. This indicates that the communal grazing lands are declining whether in terms of productivity and/or size.In most of the communal grasslands in Abergele, respondents indicated that the biophysical status in terms of regeneration, availability and quality of vegetation is decreasing significantly. This could be because of heavy grazing, shortage of rainfall, increasing number of livestock, loss of fertility of soil due to erosion and invasive species that are harming important grasses. As result, there is severe degradation in communal grasslands. Milk yield in these areas decreased significantly, whereas body condition of livestock for meat slightly improved around some communal grasslands (management practices related to feeding improved) and slightly decreased around others (where management practices did not improve). Around all communal grasslands, the number of livestock has increased significantly. Goats (in Abergele) were among livestock species that increased in terms of number (Eba and Sircely 2020b).In all the communal grasslands assessed in Menz, the area under grasslands is decreasing from time to time due to land given to youth for cultivation, planting eucalyptus trees and taken under watershed programs. In very few communal grasslands, the area under grasslands has remained the same within the last ten years although the availability, quality and ability of vegetation to regenerate on communal grassland have decreased significantly. This is because of the continuous growth of livestock population, grazing without rest, lack of appropriate management and monitoring, and stone digging in some communal grasslands. Because of this, most respondents said communal grasslands are in poor condition (Eba and Sircely 2020a).In Menz, respondents said there is moderate erosion in the area although there was severe degradation of pasture quality and productivity. In one communal grassland, a respondent said, '10 years ago, there were only 10 households who had access to the communal grassland; but now there are 21 households for the same communal grassland. This significantly decreases the regeneration of vegetation, and the quantity and quality of vegetation on the communal grassland'. Livestock productivity, like milk yield, has decreased, but condition of livestock, especially sheep, has improved because of improved management practices (fattening practices). Generally, the number of livestock in the area has increased, with sheep (in Menz and almost all communal grasslands that are linked to market access) having the highest number.Access rights and purposes of communal grassland resources All resources of communal grasslands are accessed by all community members equally (men, women and youth). There was no difference between women and men in accessing and using the resources of communal grasslands. Communal grasslands resources are used by the community with number of users ranging from occupants of just one village to three kebeles in Menz, and up to woreda level in Abergele. The main usage of communal grasslands is for grazing. Livestock are kept in the communal grazing areas during the day throughout the year, the grasslands serving as waiting areas. Most of communal grassland are used for grazing, stones and sand for house construction and selling, dung for fuel, spice plants for household consumption, clay for pottery, water for livestock and people, salt licks, fuel wood, and food from fruits and leaves. All communal grasslands are used for livestock production like fattening, milk production, and for ploughing oxen as source of feed (Abergele of Tigray region).Stone and sand extraction on the communal grasslands are done by cooperatives mainly made up of youth and people with disabilities. In some communal grasslands, irrigation benefits were given to youth for crop production within the communal grasslands. In Menz, some youth who have no land are using the communal grasslands for sheep breeding and fattening.In some communal grasslands in Menz, cow dung can be sold near towns in addition to its use as fuel in households.All community members who have interest can collect dung from communal grasslands and sell it in markets. In a few communal grasslands, grasses that are specifically used for thatching houses and making household equipment. Pottery and beekeeping are practiced in some communities.In most of the communal grassland the resources, especially grazing, can be shared with neighboring communities if it's big enough. Where the size of communal grasslands is small and used only within one village, there was no sharing of grazing land.All respondents said they have access to woreda markets, which takes them about 0.2-5 hours of walking to reach, but only some of the communal grasslands in Menz have access to the kebele market. In Abergele, almost all users of communal grasslands don't have access to kebele markets. In almost all communal grasslands, there is moderate market linkage for livestock and livestock product. This could be because of price fluctuation, brokers disturbance of the market between farmers and traders, lack of sustainable demand and market at all times. There was no disease related to communal grasslands, but sometimes from June-November there could be disease outbreak in general at woreda level. This did not prevent animals from grazing in communal grasslands.For most of the communal grasslands, there was no management institution or governance structure responsible for communal grassland resources. However, some communal grasslands are using different strategies to protect the land from illegal usage (Table 1). For example, some communities use \"edir\" 3 for communal grassland management. The community selects two people that are members of their edir to protect the communal grassland from destruction and privatization.The two selected people represent the community to manage the communal grassland. If certain issues are beyond the two persons selected, they bring the matter to the general meeting of the edir for decision.In all communal grasslands, resources were not controlled and there are no formal mechanisms of giving permission for usage of and access to resources. For example, when the government wants to give part of the grassland to youth groups for crop production, the decision is made based on the decision of the majority of users. There is considerable lack of planning and management on communal grassland resources to ensure sustainable use of resources. In some communal grasslands such as in Menz Mama woreda, some conservation activities such as planting trees and watershed management can be seen.There was no rule/law established for management of communal grasslands. Only in one communal grassland on the Tigray side of Abergele, they have a bylaw formed at kebele level with social law affairs which was implemented with the involvement of user groups. This bylaw specifically focused on protecting communal grasslands from livestock during rainy seasons. There is another bylaw at the woreda level specipically targeted at protecting trees (Table 1). In all villages, there are committees who only protect trees on communal grassland and are responsible for issuing penalties. Legal status, existing institutions and governance of communal grasslands and government policies pertaining to their management Almost in all communal grasslands, there was no legal governance and institution for communal grassland management. There are informal institutions established at village levels in some communal grasslands, such as edirs and church committees, to prevent abuse of resources and privatization of grazing land. In one communal grassland in Abergele-Tigray, the users have a bylaw formed at kebele level with social law affairs where the decision-making body (committee) is registered at kebele level. The main function of this committee is to protect grazing land from livestock interference during rainy seasons.During the land redistribution in Amhara in 1997, communal grasslands were left for communal grazing for members of different villages. Some communal grasslands owned by government (woreda/kebele level) are used by the surrounding communities. There were only two certificates of ownership among communities in the study area; one was given by the kebele (Menz Gera) and the other from woreda (Menz Mama). As a result, in Menze Gera, 90% of communal grasslands assessed have no certificate of ownership. The certificate of ownership given by the kebele has the names of two people representing 42 users of the communal grassland in Menze Gera woreda. In case somebody marries in to the users' lineage, they have the right to use the communal grassland. Respondents said that after the community got the certificate, they have developed a sense of ownership and confidence as no one can take away their land and give it to other uses and they can avoid conversion of the grazing land to other land uses. Respondents also said that having certificates also helps to plan on how to use communal grasslands. In one of the kebeles, the respondents refused to participate once we started to discuss about communal grassland. This was because once, the woreda forest enterprise tried to convert the communal grasslands to other land use through a similar discussion. The respondents suspected that this was a similar scenario.Government provides advice on how to use the communal grasslands and that free grazing should be avoided. A kebele leader who participated in the key informant interview said that those who have no certificate of ownership on communal grasslands have no guarantee that the communal grassland won't be used for other purposes by the government, whereas those who have a certificate retain ownership of the communal grassland even if the government imposes new policies.In some communal grasslands, the community asked the kebele to get a certificate of ownership but have not received response. Participants said that lack of ownership is worsening the already poor condition of communal grasslands.In most of the communal grasslands, there was no legal enforcement regarding the management of communal grasslands.There are only mutual understanding among users that the communal grasslands are to be protected from conversion to cultivation land for private ownership. Any member of the user group graze at any time, but no one controls it and no payment is made to use all resources. The users are not allowed to cultivate communal grasslands and if someone violates this rule, they are reported to the kebele land administration and ordered to leave the cultivate land.All respondents of FGDs in this study indicated that communal grasslands can be improved if the community can get support in better management techniques, better planning for resource usage and methods of controlling unwanted weed plants. So far, no interventions have been done to improve the productivity and quality of the pasture in the communal grasslands assessed for the purpose of this study except in a few areas in Tigray where enclosures for three months during rainy seasons have been practiced.The degree and types of challenges vary across communal grasslands. Some of the challenges are high degradation of grazing land, grazing without rest, lack of full ownership on communal grasslands, no rules/law for management of grassland resources, dwindling size of communal grassland area, lack of usage plans, lack of management plans, illegal use of the resources, crop production and tree planting inside communal grasslands and poor land security. All these result in feed shortage.Communal grasslands across the study areas are mainly used for grazing. In some areas, they are used for stone digging to be used for house construction and selling, collection of dung for fuel and marketing, collection of fire wood, drinking water sources for livestock and people, spice plants for household consumption, wild fruit and leaves for human food, and clay for making pottery.All resources are accessed by all community members (men, women, and youth) with no difference between women and men in accessing and using the resources with the exception of beekeeping practiced only by men and pottery practiced only by women. Communal grasslands provide many resources in all of the areas assessed in this study but their use for grazing and stone extraction take the leading place. Most users use communal grasslands for grazing of their livestock that are left wandering most of the time regardless of pasture availability. Respondents indicated that land productivity in terms of vegetation was low and biophysical degradation was high.Most of the communal grasslands have no management and governance system; they are mostly left open for all the local population with livestock to use without resting. A few communal grasslands have established informal committees and traditional associations. Except for these informal structures formed by users, there were no formal institutions of management and governance that have legal status. Unlike individual lands in the area, landholding certificates are not provided for most communal grasslands. From 21 communal grasslands, only two have legal certificates of ownership for the users, resulting in poor security for tenure in most of the communal grasslands. There are efforts underway to include communal grasslands under watershed programs, planting trees and encouraging unemployed youth by giving them land for crop cultivation and mineral extraction. Most of the communal grasslands have no management plan and use. As a result, the communal grasslands are dwindling in terms of area and productivity.There is significant opportunity for improving the management and governance of communal grasslands through adaptation of participatory rangeland management that is being implemented in the lowland pastoral areas of the country, restoration efforts by working with local communities, as well as establishing effective monitoring and evaluation systems so that changes can be better documented."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b60939cd08b884377febb5bb74512723","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/34474f28-074e-4fd2-a17c-d9ee6fecbb34/retrieve","id":"1694953363"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5aa7a778-e1d1-45ce-8250-0392196e3fdb","content":"Outbreaks of Rift Valley fever (RVF) occur periodically in eastern, southern and western Africa with human and animal health burdens and socioeconomic losses. The zoonotic disease is caused by a virus which is transmitted by various species of mosquitoes. The disease mainly affects cattle, sheep, goats, and camels, leading to abortions and mortality in young animals. Humans can be infected if they contact infected tissue or are bitten by infected mosquitoes.Outbreaks occur following periods of above normal and persistent precipitation and flooding which establishes good breeding grounds for mosquitoes.Of all the available control measures, livestock vaccination is considered the most promising for preventing human and livestock RVF cases when used appropriately. There are at least three types of RVF vaccines that are available in the sub-Saharan Africa. Whereas vaccines can be effective in the prevention of RVF, strategies for their deployment have been suboptimal. Veterinary departments, for example, maintain a tight control on the distribution of the vaccines. The private sector often has limited access to these vaccines even in high potential areas where it could support their deployment. More importantly, multiple barriers limit the uptake of the vaccines at the community level. These barriers include cost, access to information on vaccination campaigns, and time/ability to drive animals to vaccination points.The project has three components:• Gender: Testing gender-responsive modifications to an RVF vaccination campaign with the goal of reducing barriers for women who want to vaccinate their livestock.• Nutrition: Predicting the impact of RVF outbreaks on nutrition using dynamic models, to demonstrate potential benefits which an RVF control measures would offer.• Business plan: Capturing costs of vaccination and identifying stakeholders and incentives which could be used in horizontal and vertical scaling.Isiolo County, KenyaIsiolo County Government Department of Veterinary Services, KenyaJanuary 2022 -December 2023 (Phase III)The initial project began in September 2019.$600,000 USDUnited States Agency for International Development (USAID), grant number 720BHA22IO00221.Bernard Bett b.bett@cgiar.org Project PI Zoë Campbell z.campbell@cgiar.org GenderEsther Omosa e.omosa@cgiar.org Nutrition Francis Wanyoike f.wanyoike@cgiar.org Business planPage 1: ILRI/Adan Abdi ILRI thanks all donors and organizations which globally support its work through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund.The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is a non-profit institution helping people in low-and middle-income countries to improve their lives, livelihoods and lands through the animals that remain the backbone of small-scale agriculture and enterprise across the developing world. ILRI belongs to CGIAR, a global research-for-development partnership working for a food-secure future. ILRI's funders, through the CGIAR Trust Fund, and its many partners make ILRI's work possible and its mission a reality. Australian animal scientist and Nobel Laureate Peter Doherty serves as ILRI's patron.You are free to use and share this material under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence .better lives through livestock ilri.org"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8e1b2751efb72883ef94ec1e1b397d3d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/453d981e-449a-4013-92d2-5e0e3d7948d5/retrieve","id":"-1485540834"},"keywords":["Andes-Amazon foothills","fragmentation","connectivity","fragstats","conefor","SPS Citation: Argote, K.","Rodríguez-Sánchez, B.","Quintero, M.","Francesconi, W. One Tree at a Time: Restoring Landscape Connectivity through Silvopastoral Systems in Transformed Amazon Landscapes"],"sieverID":"d1f10dac-92d0-496a-8c0a-0a6c4b985d89","content":"Due to the continued expansion of pastures and illicit crops, the Andes-Amazon foothills in Colombia are one of most threatened biodiversity hotspots in the country. Halting and restoring the connectivity of the landscapes transformed over the last 40 years and now dominated by extensive cattle ranching practices, represents a challenge. Silvopastoral systems (SPSs) have been proposed as a strategy to help conserve the biodiversity by improving landscape connectivity. However, understanding the contributions of SPSs to biodiversity conservation still requires additional research. At the farm scale (here called farmscape), we compared different landscape fragmentation and connectivity metrics under two SPS conditions (with and without). Overall, the adoption of SPSs increased the probability of connectivity (PC) index in all cases. However, the contributions of SPSs to landscape connectivity were not linear. Greater PC increases were observed in highly degraded farmscapes (ΔPc = 284) compared to farmscapes containing patches that were better connected and had larger habitat areas (ΔPc = 6). These variables could play a fundamental role in enhancing the landscape connectivity through restoration activities that seek to improve biodiversity conservation. Even if they are relatively small and scattered, in highly degraded cattle ranching systems, SPSs could significantly improve the landscape connectivity, which in turn could improve wildlife conservation.Colombia ranks among the top most biodiverse countries in the world [1]. Yet, the country is facing some of the highest losses in humid primary forests (1.69 Mha lost from 2001 to 2020, corresponding to 36% of its total forest cover loss during the same time period) [2]. As a result, we are witnessing the accelerated habitat destruction of a large number of species across taxonomic groups, from reptiles such as the Amazon river turtle (Podocnemis expansa), amphibians such as the golden frog (Phyllobates terribilis), birds such as the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja), to mammals such as bats (Diphylla ecaudata), the titi monkey (Callicebus caquetensis), the jaguar (Panthera onca) and the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus), all of which considered critically endangered (CR) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) [3]. The Andean-Amazon foothills are a transition area between the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes and the Colombian Amazon. The region provides a clear example of how forest fragmentation and deforestation have greatly reduced the flow of organisms and their genes between ecosystems and populations [4]. According to Colombia's national environmental institute IDEAM, 57% of this transitional area has been converted from natural habitats to agriculture [5]. From 2000 and 2017, the average deforestation rate was approx. 63,000 ha/year, and cattle ranching is the preferred (80%) agricultural activity in the region [5]. The loss of natural habitat puts at risk one of the most important ecological corridors in the continent, which connects four national protected areas: Picachos, Tinigua, Sierra de la Macarena, and Chiribiquete.In the midst of the Colombian post-conflict era and during the last 5 years (2017-2022), after the national guerrilla group known as FARC (which in Spanish stands for Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces) left the territory, the situation for Colombia's biodiversity is even more uncertain. The expansion of grasslands for cattle ranching and monoculture agriculture continues to increase at an alarming rate and at the expense of native forests and other species-rich ecosystems [6,7]. The development and implementation of post-conflict economic plans in the region are contributing to increases in deforestation [8]. Many of these plans are based on the exploration and extraction of minerals and hydrocarbons [9,10]. The stable generation of financial resources and income for local communities is also a key objective in the region. While the plans are meant to bring development into what has been an impoverished region, the problem may lay in the poor transition between government administrations, to make these plans sustainable in nature [11]. What's worse, is that new armed groups have emerged and are invading the region. These groups are carrying out illegal activities, such as growing illicit crops, and illegal mining and logging. The complex and multidimensional factors in the Andes-Amazon foothills has and continues to make the implementation of appropriate sustainable development and biodiversity conservation strategies very difficult in the region. Putting forward options for maintaining and improving landscape connectivity is one of the challenges for biodiversity conservation in highly fragmented landscapes [12]. As a main deforestation driver, cattle ranching in the Andes-Amazon foothills is characterized by poor water and soil management, resulting in very low grass productivity (0.62 head ha -1 ) [13]. An attractive alternative would be to work with the local communities to increase their environmental awareness and become land stewards through the adoption of silvopastoral systems (SPSs) [14]. SPSs are multifunctional agroforestry practices that intentionally combine cattle ranching production with grasses, legumes, and trees, to produce fodder and forage, as well as timber and fruits or nuts in some cases [14][15][16]. Hence, compared to conventional pastures dominated by monocultures, SPSs optimize land productivity and contribute to conserving water, soil, and nutrients. SPSs could integrate their components in a mutually beneficial way, by providing nutrient recycling and by enhancing productivity, animal welfare, soil retention, and carbon sequestration, which results in greater income and well-being for farmers. Thus, these systems benefit producers and society as a whole at the local, regional, and global scale [17,18].The above-mentioned benefits of SPSs have been well documented in the literature [18,19]. However, understanding the contributions of SPSs to biodiversity conservation still requires additional research [20,21]. It would be valuable to identify the criteria that could optimize the impacts of SPSs in increasing landscape connectivity for biodiversity conservation. We hypothesize that the contributions of SPSs to structural connectivity vary as a function of fixed-variables (i.e., size, location, shape) that could be manipulated during the design of SPSs. In other words, site-specific planning and implementation of SPSs could potentiate the impact of these to increase the landscape connectivity for conservation purposes. The research intends to better understand the potential conservation benefits of livelihood practices that work in synergy with the interests and preferences of farmers.To address the hypothesis, we conducted a three-level research approach to: (i) understand the deforestation trends in the Colombian Amazon ecoregion during a twenty years period (2001-2021) (1st Level), (ii) estimate the landscape fragmentation changes in the Andean-Amazon foothills of Colombia (2nd Level), and (iii) compare the landscape connectivity and the fragmentation metrics under two SPS conditions (with and without) at the farm scale (3rd Level).The study was carried out in one of the most deforested areas of the Colombian Amazon (1st level), located at the transition between the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes and the Amazon. This area is characterized for its biodiversity and high levels of endemism, as well as by its cultural significance. At the same time, it is one of the most threatened areas due to habitat degradation, loss of biodiversity, disruptions to the water cycle, social pressure on natural resources, and forest fires [22]. The deforestation frontier in this region has been rapidly advancing from the Andes Mountain to the deep Amazon.By 2020, deforestation in this ecoregion has reached 11,519 km 2 [23].Within this area, we selected a 41 x 54 km window (2214 km 2 ) located in the Andean-Amazon foothills to the northwest region of the department of Caquetá, between 1°05' N, 76°02' W and 1°27' N, 75°33' W (2nd level). Finally, we selected 12 analysis sub-windows of 3 x 3 km (9 km 2 ) containing 24 farms where SPSs had been implemented (Figure 1). The selected study area is a predominantly agricultural landscape connected through a network of roads and small urban areas. Within this target region, habitat restoration was proposed through the implementation of the Sustainable Amazon Landscapes (SAL) project, an initiative that engaged and co-designed the restoration of cattle ranching pastures, in partnership with farmers and local environment organizations. The project promoted wildlife conservation through the adoption of silvopastoral systems in combination with the conservation of valuable natural areas such as forests, secondary vegetation, and water bodies within farms. In 2018, SPSs were implemented in a total of 24 farms. Each SPS system was designed according to the type of farm, their natural areas, their water accessibility, their land uses, and production activities, among other variables.As part of the SAL project, not only living fences and scattered paddock trees were established as SPSs, but practices such as: paddock rotation, forage banks, protection of secondary forest areas, and bodies of water to promote natural regeneration, were promoted along with other sustainable practices co-designed between experts and farmers.Two types of silvopastoral systems were established on these 24 farms. One system was the so-called intensive system composed of plots of Brachiaria decumbens in association with Kudzu (Pueraria phaseoloides) mainly, interspersed with strips of timber trees inside and around the edge of the plot, mainly shade trees, such as Chilco (Miconia elata), Madura-plàtano (Jacaranda copaia), Nogal (Cordia alliodora), and shrub species such as the Boton de oro (Tithonia diversifolia). The second system was a simpler SPS, composed of a strip of timber trees, such as Fono (Eschweilera andina), Lacre (Vismia baccifera), Melina (Gmelina arborea) planted at the edge of the plot (living fence) and interspersed strips of Tithonia diversifolia and Brachiaria decumbens. In both cases, the lines of trees were planted at a distance of between 6 m and 8 m (depending on the species or combination of species used) [24]. Native tree seedlings produced by the nursery of the Centro de Investigaciones Amazónicas Macagual at the Universidad de la Amazonia (project implementing partner) were used for planting. The survival rate of the seedlings depended on the species chosen in the design of the silvopastoral system on each farm, but on average, this value ranged between 70 and 80%. Additionally, larger plants (height between 60 cm and 90 cm) were transplanted to increase their probability of survival in the field. The silvopastoral systems on all farms were planted during the same period (between October and December 2018).Our methodology is made up of three types of analysis at three different scales, going from broad to focus (Figure 2):1. The first level analysis provides the contextual information about deforestation trends between 2001 and 2021, using the annual maps of deforestation areas for the entire Colombian Amazon ecoregion.2. The second level analysis corresponds to a temporal analysis of the landscape fragmentation, using the land use/land cover maps (LULC) for 2002 and 2018, generated by the Amazonian Institute of Scientific Research (SINCHI) [25,26].This analysis was carried out on a 2214 km 2 window located in the Colombian Andean-Amazon foothills.3. The third level analysis compares the probability of the landscape connectivity in 2018, under two SPS conditions (with and without the implementation of silvopastoral systems). This analysis was carried out at the farm level (here called farmscape) on 12 sub-windows each of 3 x 3 km. The Colombian Amazon ecoregion covers about 6.8% of the entire Amazon rainforest biome in South America. In Colombia, the ecoregion is located in the southeast of the country, representing 42.3% of the national territory. Yet, only 12% is protected under the country's National Park System, and about 46% of this percentage is designated as indigenous territories [27]. In Colombia, the Amazon ecoregion covers 10 of the 32 departments in the country, including Amazonas, Guaviare, Caquetá, Vaupés, Guainía, and to a lesser extent, Vichada, Meta, Putumayo, Nariño, and Cauca. To gain insights into the deforestation trends in the ecoregion, we used annual deforestation maps produced by the GLAD laboratory [2].Among the GLAD products, annual forest cover loss maps (here called forest cover loss) are generated using a supervised learning algorithm that processes Landsat (TM/ETM+) satellite images at a 30m spatial resolution. The classifications were implemented at per-Landsat pixel level, with a minimum mapping unit equivalent to 0.09 ha. The forest loss is mapped as a single dynamic class using a supervised bagged classification tree algorithm. The training data served as the dependent variable and the 1985-2000-time interval metrics as the independent variable in the tree model. The lab applies the classification trees yielding a map depicting the forest loss between 2001 and 2021. GLAD defines forest loss as the disturbance or complete removal of the tree cover canopy (below 25% tree canopy cover) [2]. This means that any conversion of natural forests, be it plantations, selective logging, or shifting the cultivation practiced by local communities, would be considered forest loss. The model accuracy represented by the commission error (false alerts), ranged from 95.5% ± 1.8 to 97.2% ± 1.7 in primary and secondary forests, and the omission errors (missed alerts), ranged from 82.6% ± 21.5 to 57.5% ± 8.3 in primary and secondary forests [28,29].These data were downloaded for each year between 2001 and 2021, and using QGIS [30], were cut for the Amazon ecoregion. Areas in the raster reported annually as new alerts of primary or secondary forest cover loss, were calculated. Additionally, and in order to improve the accuracy of the model by reducing the number of false deforestation alerts, the official national forest/non-forest 2001 layer for Colombia, generated by IDEAM, was used as a mask. All alerts reported outside of this area were removed.To reduce the heterogeneity within the 2214 km 2 analysis window, the area was subdivided into landscape units. These units shared similar characteristics in: relief, geopedological features, climate, biome, and physiography [31]. This was accomplished using the QGIS software by merging all of these geographic layers into a single layer. The input data were downloaded in vector format scale 1:100,000 from the WFS (Web Feature Service) of the Agustin Codazzi Geographic Institute of Colombia (IGAC) [32].Finally, using the resulting landscape units' polygons, the 2002 and 2018 land cover maps were cut using QGIS in order to create the inputs layers for FRAGSTATS. The fragmentation analysis in FRAGSTATS was run by landscape.Fragmentation metrics At the landscape level, a temporal analysis was conducted in the 2214 km 2 window for the four landscape units identified above. We used the software FRAGSTATS Version 4 [33], to quantify and evaluate the changes in the structural attributes, comparing fragmentation in 2002 vs. 2018. The fragmentation analysis was based on 12 metrics, but only those with the largest changes were reported in the results. The 12 metrics were grouped into the following three different categories, based on the type of information assessed:• Area-shape metrics: total area (TA), mean patch area (Area_MN), largest patch index (LPI), landscape shape index (LSI), mean shape index (shape_MN).Fragmentation metrics: number of patches (NP), patch density (PD), effective mesh size (MESH).Connectivity metrics: landscape division index (DIVISION), splitting index (SPLIT), patch cohesion index (COHESION) and Euclidean Nearest Neighbor Distance (ENN_MN).Generally, forest-non-forest layers are used as input for landscape fragmentation analyses [33]. However, not in this case since we are talking about highly fragmented areas, with a very low percentage of forest and where the dominant land use is pastures. Thus, in these degraded landscapes, not only primary forests could have a high ecological value, but also secondary forests, gallery and riparian forests, secondary vegetation, and established silvopastoral and agroforestry systems. Under this assumption, for the fragmentation and connectivity analyses, the LULC maps by the SINCHI Amazon Research Institute at a 1:100,000 scale [25,26] were used to prioritize not only the forest areas but also the areas that could be used as habitat for wildlife. The available LULC maps of the Colombian Amazon, for the years 2002 and 2018, were also used to compare the landscape's fragmentation changes over the 15-year period. Land covers and land uses that could be used as habitat by native species (defined as \"crucial areas\") were used as foreground, and other land-use types, such as pastures and crops, were assigned as the background. In order to rank the coverages, the concept of naturalness defined by Machado was used. Machado's (2004) naturalness index (NI), was used to define the level of naturalness of the different land cover classes [34]. The NI uses a 0-10 ranking system to define a minimum to a maximum relative degree of naturalness for a particular site (Table 1). In the present study and based on Machado's ranking, land cover/land use patches with a NI equal or greater than 4 (NI ≥ 4), were assumed to provide habitat to native species, hence contributing to their conservation within the landscapes. Cultural assisted system that combine tree growing, forages, and shrubs/trees with the production of livestock. Presence of wild native species and possible extended presence of exotic invader species. Natural elements intermixed with artificial ones, as managed wooded pastures, in patches or corridors.Active management of the water cycle.Highly intervened system: permanent areas with agricultural production. Natural biodiversity is severely reduced; its elements are isolated (intense fragmentation). The third level analyses were carried out at the farmscape level. A total of 12 subwindows (3 x 3 km) were created within the prioritized landscapes (Figure 1C). The subwindows represented real farm and surrounding landscape conditions to carry out the landscape connectivity analysis simulating the implementation of SPSs in 2018. The location of the sub-windows was defined based on the location of the 24 farms where the SPS interventions were carried out through the SAL project initiative. For each of the 24 farms participating in the initiative, the plot areas for the SPSs were planned and mapped in a participatory manner. Basically, the farmers decided where and how to implement the SPS interventions in their farms. The location and extent of the SPS polygons were measured on site with a Geographic Positioning Systems device. Three types of SPSs were adopted by farmers: (i) living fences, (ii) pastures with scattered trees, and (iii) densely planted patches (<0.5 ha) with shrubs and trees with edible foliage to feed cattle, known as forage banks. Among these, only living fence areas and pastures with scattered trees were considered for analysis. Forage banks were not considered due to their small patch size (<0.5 ha).Using Machado's land cover classification, the SPS areas were considered \"managed wooded pastures\" and ranked with a naturalness index of four (NI = 4). As land cover areas with NI ≥ 4 were considered important in providing habitat to wildlife, the SPS areas were added to the 2018 \"crucial habitat\" layer developed in the previous landscape fragmentation analysis (2nd Level). The probability of connectivity (PC) index was estimated using CONEFOR [35] for the \"crucial areas\" layer with and without the SPS polygons in each of the sub-windows. The PC is defined as the probability for two animals located at random in the landscape, to be found in habitat areas that are connected. The PC (1) is measured using the following equation:where, the PC index is the sum of the probability of interconnections (pij) among the number (n) of habitat patches \"i\" through \"j\", and the areas of those patches \"ai\" and \"aj\", over the total landscape area (AL). The total landscape area comprises both habitat and non-habitat patches [36].Following the method described by Saura and Rubio in 2010 [35], the value of each patch in increasing connectivity (i.e., the dPC value) was divided into three components to distinguish habitat availability and connectivity as follows:As illustrated in Equation ( 2), dPCintra represents the surface area of a patch, dPCflux represents the area-weighted dispersal flux between patches, and dPConnector represents the contribution of a patch as a connecting element or a stepping stone which allows to maintain the connectivity between patches [37].The impact of SPSs on landscape connectivity will be specific to the habitat conditions found in each sub-window. To mitigate the variability caused by the unique distribution and the availability of \"crucial areas\", and to simplify the analysis of the potential contributions of SPSs under different farmscape conditions, the 12 sub-windows were grouped based on the results from the PC index and landscape fragmentation metrics. Six variables were used to conduct a K-Means cluster analysis. All analyses were performed using R Statistical Software (v4.1.2) [38]: (i) change in PC (ΔPC): difference in dPC index in each sub-window between the two conditions, with and without SPSs; (ii) change in the number of patches (ΔNP): difference in the NP by sub-window between the two conditions, with and without SPSs; (iii) change in the total habitat area by the sub-window (ΔCA): difference in the valuable area in the sub-windows (crucial areas) between the two conditions); (iv) size of the largest patch (ΔLP) in 2018 with SPSs by the sub-window; (v) change in the average of patch crucial-areas; (vi) Naturalness value by the sub-window in 2018. A silhouette coefficient was calculated to determine the optimal number of clusters. Finally, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted using the sub-window clusters to compare the impacts of SPSs under different landscape conditions.As seen in Figure 3, the deforestation in the Colombian Amazon tripled in the last two decades. In 2001, the annual rate of forest cover loss in the Colombian Amazon was 74,000 ha per year. Despite the fact that a historical low was reached in 2003 with 34,000 ha/year, by 2007 deforestation doubled the 2001 values and quadrupled those in 2003 with 129,000 ha/year. By 2008, forest cover loss decreased and stabilized at an average annual rate lower than 60,000 ha/year. In 2018, Colombia reached a historical high of 250,000 ha of forest cover loss in the Amazonian ecoregion. More recent deforestation values continue to be high, surpassing 180,000 ha/year (data for 2021 is only for the first half of the year). As seen on the map (Figure 4A), four landscapes units were identified: i.Mountain Landscape: corresponds to the highest and most mountainous parts of the Amazon at the foot of the Andean region with slopes of 25-50%. Its forests have ecological and ecosystem characteristics of great importance, presenting high levels of diversity of fauna and flora species. This landscape is dominated by dense highland rainforest, fragmented woods, secondary vegetation, and small agricultural areas. ii.Mountain foot Landscape: represents a transition between the Andes and the Amazon plain, with slightly wavy reliefs and slopes >25%. Loamy-sandy and loamy-clay soils with good drainage and low fertility. Entisols, Inceptisols, and Ultisols dominate. This landscape is dominated by clean pastures and recent oil palm monocultures. iii.Lowland Landscape (lomerio Landscape): have plain to wavy reliefs with slopes of 3-7% and 12-25%, drainage ranges from imperfect to excessive. Soils formed by sedimentary rocks of the tertiary, moderately deep, well drained, clayey texture, low fertility, very acidic, low saturation base, low content of organic matter. Dominance of Oxisols and Ultisols. This landscape is dominated by pastures, mosaics of pastures with agriculture and secondary vegetation. The main economic activity is extensive livestock raising. iv.Floodplain Landscape: are part of the floodplain of rivers that are born in the Andes mountain range. Flat relief, with slopes of 0-3%; they suffer occasional floods every 3 or 7 years. Clay soils with a dominance of Entisols and Inceptisols with poor drainage; superficial and limited by the water-table; fertility is average. This landscape is dominated by pastures and crop-fields. Following the identification of the landscape units, the landcover maps from 2002 and 2018 were cut for each landscape polygon area. A detailed description on the landscape units and land cover/land use areas can be found in Supplementary Materials (Tables S1 and S2).Fragmentation metrics Here we describe the most relevant landscape fragmentation results from the FRAGSTATS temporal analysis, comparing the changes in the structural attributes, between two periods (2002 vs. 2018) in the four defined landscape units. Yet, all results by land-cover and by landscape can be found in Supplemental Materials (Tables S3 and S4):• Area-shape metrics: In the lomerio landscape, the number of patches classified as \"secondary vegetation\" in 2002, increased by 31% compared to 2018. In contrast, the number of patches classified as \"dense highland forests\", decreased by 58%. In mountain landscape, 71% of forest types (\"dense highland forests\", \"fragmented forest\", and \"riparian forest\") reported in 2002, were lost in 2018. With a lower percentage, in the foothill landscape, 35% of all forest types were lost.Fragmentation metrics: The mountain landscape was the most fragmented area during the 15 years of analysis. In this landscape, the Effective MESH Size metric decreased by 48% between 2002 and 2018 in the landcover classified as \"dense highland forest\", and by 99% in the landcover type called \"fragmented forest\". Similarly, in the lomerio landscape, the Effective MESH Size metric decreased by 75% in the landcover classified as \"dense highland forest\". This indicates that the primary forests (\"dense highland forest\") were considerably reduced between 2002 and 2018, both in the mountain landscape and in the lomerio landscape. Two landscapes with completely different dynamics and drivers of change.Connectivity metrics: The Euclidean Nearest Neighbor Distance (ENN_MM) metric increased in several forest covers in all landscapes. For example, in floodplain landscape, this metric increased in the riparian strips by 40% and in the fragmented forest, by 43%.In the same way, in the lomerio landscape, the same metric, increased by 34% in the \"dense floodplain forest\". In the mountain landscape, the ENN_MM metric increased by 46% in the \"dense highland forest\" and by 67% in the \"fragmented forest\". Last, in mountain foothill landscape, the ENN_MM metric increased by 16% in the dense highland forest and by 91% in the fragmented forest.The results show that across landscapes, the degree of isolation (distance between landcover patches within each landscape) has increased in all forest areas. However, the two most fragmented landscapes during the 15-year analysis were the lomerio and the mountain landscape.The results for the CONEFOR-estimated PC index are available in Table 2. The table shows the sum of the PC values for all of the habitat patches in each of the 12 sub-windows (farmscapes).Table 2. Results of the dPC index in the two analyzed conditions (with and without SPSs) by sub-windows of 3 x 3 km grouped by cluster. dPC corresponds to the sum of dPCIntra, dPCflux, and dPCconnector. The other variables in the table correspond to the descriptive variables of the sub-windows such as: CA (the crucial total area in the sub-window), NP (total number of patches in the sub-window, and Shape area (average patch area in the sub-window). As can be seen in the table, in all of the sub-windows, the dPC values increase when including the SPS implementations (with SPSs). This was expected, as the probability of connectivity in the landscape will increase if new habitat patches are introduced. However, according to the results, the specific contributions to the landscape connectivity by SPSs will vary depending on: the number of patches that are introduced, the arrangement of these patches within the landscape, and the habitat amount.Using the selected landscape connectivity (PC Index) and the relevant fragmentation metrics from the previous assessments, the k-means cluster analysis and the silhouette score, identified four groups (Figure S1A). The total variance in the data set was 78.2%, and the within cluster sum squares by cluster, was 0, 6.01, 2.65, and 5.71, for clusters one to four, respectively. Yet, according to the one-way ANOVA analysis, each cluster was significantly different to the others in terms of the six landscape connectivity and fragmentation metrics compared: (1)   S1B).Here we describe the observable characteristics for each cluster:• Cluster 1 was composed by only one sub-window (A03) and identified as an outlier.The sub-window has a large patch of secondary vegetation in what would be a pasture dominated matrix. By implementing two SPS patches (of 4 and 5 ha), the PC index increased by 18%.Cluster 2 was composed of four sub-windows (A04, A07, A11, and A12) (Figure 4B). Their average forest habitat with the SPS implementations was 15%. The sub-windows grouped in this cluster are characterized by having a low percentage of crucial areas, but with different values of naturalness (secondary vegetation, fragmented forest with pastures and crops, fragmented forest with secondary vegetation, rivers, dense highland forest, and riparian forest). The average change in the landscape connectivity (PC index) within each sub-window increased by 3%, when comparing before and after the implementation of SPSs.Cluster 3 was composed of three sub-windows (A09, A01, and A10) (Figure 4B) with an average of 22% crucial area habitat without SPS implementations. The farmscape of this cluster are characterized by having a large crucial area patch, with an average size of 44.5 ha and made up of secondary vegetation. In each farmscape, a total of four SPS plots were adopted, each measuring about 4 ha. The change in the landscape connectivity (PC index) with the implementation of the SPS plots was an average increase of 6%.Cluster 4 was composed of four sub-windows (A 02, A05, A06, and A08) (Figure 4B). The amount of crucial area habitat without the SPS implementation was on average 10% per sub-window. This group contains the farmscapes with the least amount of crucial areas. The average change in the landscape connectivity (PC index) within the sub-windows with the implementation of SPSs was an increase of 5%.The four clusters identified, showcase the variability that exists in the landscape in terms of habitat fragmentation and connectivity. Cluster 2 was characterized by an average isolation and an average habitat amount, where the addition of the SPS plots greatly contributed to the landscape connectivity. Cluster 3 was characterized by a low isolation and a high initial habitat amount, i.e., a landscape with a low fragmentation and well-connected remaining patches. In this case the SPS implementations did not have a relevant influence on the connectivity of the landscape, as the landscape was already well connected. In Cluster 4, the landscape was characterized by highly isolated patches and a low amount of habitat.Finally, the change of connectivity (ΔPC) comparing the two conditions (with and without SPSs) varied between clusters. For example, in Clusters 2 and 4, characterized by the establishment of small implementation areas in the sub-window (SPS lots < 5 ha), few new patches (between one to three lots in the whole sub-window), and a distance between the SPS areas and the crucial areas of a maximum of 0.5 km, the increment in the dPCflux and dPCconnect was slightly lower than in cluster 3.In contrast, Cluster 3, where the distance between patches does not exceed 300 m and where the number of large crucial habitat patches doubled (approx. 37.5 ha new areas in each sub-window, with an average SPS plot size of 12 ha), there was a greater increase in the DPCFlux. An increase in DPCFlux means that the flow between the patches improves. Basically, that there are more patches available to contribute to the dispersal of species. Likewise, an increase in the DPCconnector was observed (increases on average 72% in the sub-windows of this cluster), which indicates that these new patches are contributing as new connection areas (stepping stones) in the landscape. According to the results in the sub-windows A09, A01, and A10, the new silvopastoral implementations have the capacity to increase not only the flow but also the strength of the connections between the patches, helping facilitate the dispersal of species.During the last two decades (2001 to 2021), forest areas in the Colombian Andean-Amazon ecoregion have been reduced by more than 60%. This rate of deforestation is alarming as it disrupts the connectivity between two important biomes, the Andes mountain forests and the Amazon basin forests. From the results, it is clear that after the peace agreement was signed between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) in 2016, deforestation rates increased reaching a historical high of 250,000 ha in 2018. This was likely a consequence of both, (i) the non-implementation of territorial management agreements in the peace agreement by the incoming government (period 2018-2022), and (ii) the illegal occupation of disenfranchised FARC dissidents (non-signatories of the peace agreements), lawless criminal bands and large-scale cattle ranchers with strong political connections, as well as newly engaged coca producers [39]. The observed socio-political restructuring and socio-ecological dynamics in the region have already been reported following the peace agreement signing. [40,41].Habitat loss in the Colombian Amazon ecoregion has been characterized by a reduction and fragmentation of natural areas such as the dense highland forests, the riparian and gallery forests, and the secondary forests and vegetation. As a consequence, landscapes dominated by pastures are evident today. Habitat destruction and fragmentation have driven many animal populations into remnant patches of varying size and isolation. Within this region, the mountain landscape (i.e., the Andes-Amazon corridor) was the most affected by habitat loss and fragmentation. In this landscape, the dense highland forests located in the transition area between the Alto Fragua Indiwasi protected area and the lomerio landscape, have been the most affected by increasing their patch isolation and reducing their patch size. These forests were reduced in terms of total area, patch area, increased perimeter, and porosity. Consequently, it increased the edge effect and reduced the total area available as habitat for wildlife. The combined impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation has severe consequences to wildlife and forest specialist species become more exposed and vulnerable to predation and hunting following habitat fragmentation [42].Moreover, in the lomerio landscape, the loss of crucial areas has led to patches more isolated, smaller in size, with larger perimeter vs. core proportions, and less connected to each other. The lomerio landscape is dominated by highly degraded pastures, yet there are a significant number of secondary vegetation areas in the process of natural regeneration. Some of these secondary vegetation areas are protected by farmers involved in different conservation projects in the region. However, this commitment to conservation is always made voluntarily, and due to various circumstances, especially cultural and economic, farmers end up burning or cutting down these areas of vegetation for the implementation of pastures or crops [43,44]. By demonstrating the benefits of intensification practices in agricultural production and through the diversification of income sources and practices, little by little, or one tree at a time, the benefits of restoration and conservation activities may become more apparent to farmers, in order to reduce additional deforestation and to promote the regeneration of forest areas within productive landscapes.It is clear that the introduction of arboreal areas in a degraded landscape can increase connectivity. Based on different authors [21,22,45], we know that the presence of living fences in pastures and agricultural areas can help reduce soil erosion, provide habitat to a variety of animal groups, and facilitate bird movement across the fragmented landscape, including several forest specialist species, such as the plain-brown woodcreeper (Dendrocincla fuliginosa). However, how other variables, such as the amount of habitat, patch size, distance between patches, or patch quality (its \"naturalness\" as per Machado's ranking [35]), can influence the probability of connectivity of a landscape. Our results provide evidence on how each of these variables influence the landscape connectivity. We found that small implementation areas with a large distance between the patches will lead to a smaller increase in the flow of the system, that is, the capacity for the patches to receive and disperse species. Furthermore, these characteristics will result in patches with less capacity to serve as stepping stones and connect crucial areas in the landscape. By contrast, the implementation of larger patches in the landscape, which are also arranged at shorter distances from the crucial areas, will result in an increase in the flow of the system, and therefore, in a greater probability of connectivity of the landscape.According to Calle, 2020 [14], the implementation of SPSs seems to be most favorable in landscapes with a high degree of fragmentation and a low habitat amount, i.e., landscapes such as the lomerio landscape in Caquetá, where the SPSs were implemented in our research. Our results would agree with this study. However, neither in Calle's investigation nor through this research, was an undegraded control area established. This is one of the limitations of the present study, which could be considered in future studies. In addition, it is important to be clear that this work is a geographical simulation of the potential of SPSs to increase landscape connectivity, but not an actual quantification of the connectivity increases, following the implementation of SPS systems in the degraded landscape. While silvopastoral systems based on the implementation of scattered trees in pasture plots and living fences is far from representing the restoration of a forest ecosystem, the PC index showed encouraging differences when comparing the two conditions simulated in GIS (with and without SPS implementations). This suggest that in cattle ranching landscapes, silvopastoral systems are a promising alternative to gradually introduce ecological restoration activities in regions where farmers have more than 40 years of conventional cattle ranching experience.Land cover conversion from native vegetation to extensive and poorly managed pastures, negatively impacts the structural connectivity of the landscape, leading to ecosystem degradation. Combining cattle ranching and trees in SPSs has shown to be valuable in restoring highly fragmented landscapes. For farmers, these systems provide an opportunity to increase productivity and improve their well-being. This study examined the potential of SPSs to decrease habitat isolation and restore functional connectivity through the evaluation of the state of fragmentation and structural connectivity, before and after their adoption. This assessment was possible due to the availability and accessibility of the geographic data and robust free access software, such as FRAGSTATS, CONEFOR, and QGIS. While the true impact of SPSs on functional connectivity and biodiversity conservation can only be confirmed through field monitoring data, the present study provides spatially explicit insight on the effects of their implementation in improving the structural connectivity of the landscape.Our findings suggest that the contributions of SPSs to landscape connectivity are not linear. There are other variables that must be considered, which could play a fundamental role when planning landscape restoration activities to enhance biodiversity conservation. According to the farmscape characteristics within the SPS implementation sub-windows, some of the main variables to estimate the potential impacts on connectivity include: the amount of initial habitat, the distribution of habitat patches, and the distance between habitat patches. In other words, the strategic adoption and implementation of SPSs could be co-designed to maximize pasture productivity for cattle ranching, while optimizing environmental benefits, such as biodiversity conservation.In conclusion, connectivity and fragmentation assessments could be utilized in decision making and prior to the implementation of conservation actions, to increase benefits. The evaluation approach described here could contribute to evidence-based policy development, by providing information on priority sites to increase connectivity through the implementation of new areas of SPSs or agroforestry systems, that could ultimately lead to faster positive conservation impacts. It is key to engage local communities, and co-design with them conservation agreements to protect natural habitats within their properties and throughout the landscape. As a final recommendation, it is important to align landscape-based initiatives with other existing conservation programs in the region, both from NGOs and from the government, and in the Andes-Amazon ecoregion, those initiatives that will be developed within the framework of the peace agreement implementation.The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/d14100846/s1, Table S1: Landscape unit's composition in the 2200 km 2 analysis window; Table S2: Landcover areas by landscape unit in the 2200 km 2 analysis window; Table S3: Area-edge, Subdivision, and Aggregation metric results of FRAGSTATS, by"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"70a6a55734a47b782dc98661c0cd68a9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/77a02690-b001-4835-997e-7d8f2b0ee788/retrieve","id":"-1218052998"},"keywords":["household surveys","market data","livestock","Tanzania"],"sieverID":"c0829ac6-c661-4e2e-9f25-25b572b4cfd4","content":"Linking farmers to markets is widely viewed as a milestone towards promoting economic growth and poverty reduction. However, market and institutional imperfections along the supply chain thwart perfect vertical and spatial price transmission and prevent farmers and market actors from getting access to information, identifying business opportunities and allocating their resources efficiently. This acts as a barrier to market-led rural development and poverty reduction. This paper reviews and analyses household information, and the major livestock market and marketing data available in Tanzania, in relation to market-led development possibilities. Household-level data collected by the Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics and market data collected and disseminated by the Livestock Information and Knowledge System of the Tanzania Ministry of Industry and Trade are reviewed and utilised together. Both types of data help identify market opportunities for livestock producers, but only their joint use could provide policy makers with the information needed to design and implement policies that facilitate access to markets for livestock producers. Options to promote integration of household-level data and market data are discussed, which would facilitate the implementation of the Tanzania Statistical Master Plan and contribute to the implementation of the Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics.Linking farmers to markets is widely viewed as a milestone towards promoting growth of agriculture and poverty reduction in the developing world. The 2008 World Development Report 'Agriculture for Development' identifies 'Enhance smallholder competitiveness and facilitate market entry' and 'Improve market access and establish efficient value chains' as milestones to support an agriculture-for-development agenda (World Bank, 2008). In sub-Saharan Africa, Pillar 2 of the Africa Comprehensive Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) titles 'Market Access', and most governments in the continent have been developing policies and programmes aimed at linking farmers to domestic, regional and international markets. Any cursory review of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, Agricultural Development Strategies and CAADP Compacts endorsed by African governments reveals that access to markets and supply chain development are priority areas of interventions.Available agricultural data and statistics, however, are insufficient for governments and private investors in sub-Saharan Africa to design and implement interventions which efficiently and equitably link farmers to agricultural markets: 'Many countries, especially in the developing world, lack the capacity to produce and report even the minimum set of agricultural data necessary to monitor national trends' (World Bank, 2011). Improving the quantity and quality of agricultural data available to decision makers, including both public and private sector actors, is thus a precondition for formulating effective agricultural and rural sector investments, which help farmers tap into market opportunities.There are a variety of initiatives in place which aim at enhancing the quantity and quality of agricultural data, the major one being currently the Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics, endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission in February 2010 (World Bank, 2011). The strategy builds around three pillars: (i) the establishment of a minimum set of core agricultural data that countries should provide to meet current and emerging data needs; (ii) the integration of agriculture into the National Statistical Systems; (iii) governance and statistical capacity building of the National Agricultural Statistical System. This paper focuses on livestock sector data in Tanzania, with the objective to recommend ways to improve systems of livestock data collection and use so as to support the implementation of the Tanzanian Statistical Master Plan and, more in general, that of the Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics. In particular, the paper focuses on issues and challenges related to the joint use of different sources of livestock datawhich falls into the second pillar of the Global Strategy, i.e. integrating agriculture into the National Statistical System. Integrating different sources of data is in fact critical to support the implementation of the Tanzania National Strategy of Growth and Poverty Reduction: there are currently no datasets available that allow, on their own, to design and implement investments that help farmer access profitable markets, a requirement for sustainable growth and poverty reduction.The next section briefly presents prospects for livestock sector growth in Tanzania and related data issues. Section three and four review two major systems of livestock data collection, namely the Tanzania National Panel Survey (TZNPS) administered by the National Bureau of Statistics, and the Livestock Market Information Network and Knowledge System (LINKS) implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Section five attempts to infer some policy recommendations from the joint use of TZNPS and LINKS data, and then makes some proposals to facilitate the integration of the two data systems. Section six draws some conclusions.The Tanzania Second National Strategy for Growth and the Reduction of Poverty II (NSGRP II or MKUKUTA II in its Kiswahili acronym) 'is a framework to rally national efforts during 2010/11 -2014/15 in accelerating poverty-reducing growth by pursuing pro-poor interventions and addressing implementation bottlenecks' (MFEA, 2010). MKUKUTA II targets agriculture as one of the main sectors to develop to reduce poverty, as the majority of the population live in rural areas where poverty incidence is the highest (39 percent of rural households are estimated to live below the 'basic needs' poverty line, vis-à-vis about 26 percent of urban households). MKUKUTA II aims at increasing the agricultural growth rate from 3 percent in 2009 to 6 percent in 2015 (MFEA, 2010).MKUKUTA II plans to address 'the usual constraints to agriculture and rural development', such as limited access to inputs and extension services by farmers (MFEA, 2010). 'In order to have impact, emphasis needs to be on interventions that address bottlenecks along the value chains of strategic agricultural produceselected crops and livestock' (MFEA, 2010). MKUKUTA II will thus prioritize interventions that relax / remove those constraints which prevent farmers both from being efficient and from accessing lucrative agricultural markets, thereby contributing to a marketdriven and sustainable growth of agriculture.The development of the livestock sector is anticipated to contribute to the objectives of MKUKUTA II as livestock provide livelihood support to a total of 1,75 million households (37%) out of 4,9 million agricultural households (NBS et al., 2010) LSDP involves interventions all along the livestock supply chain, from input supply to husbandry practices to marketing, which only would ensure that livestock keepers be able to produce some surplus meat, milk and eggs to sell in domestic, regional and international markets. However, available data to implement the LSDP are scant at best. A recent review of the status of livestock data conducted by the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development reads:'A lot of livestock data are inadequate to varying degrees as they lack consistence through time and between sources; and are not complete as they possess a lot of gaps. In addition, most of the data are unreliable due to lack of culture of data collection and data provision. There is general lack of responsibility of data verification for the purpose of ascertaining their adequacy at all levels. On the other hand, often livestock data are not readily accessible to users for a variety of reasons and available data are not always put to optimal use by data users as they are not made available in a timely manner, are not in the form required and are not disaggregated to appropriate levels' (MLFD 2010).The Tanzanian Statistical Master Plan 2009/10 -2013/14 (TSMP) aims to 'strengthen the NSS [National Statistical System] in Tanzania so as to enable it to produce quality statistics for decision makers in an objective timely and cost effective manner' (NBS, 2010a). It identifies five areas of interventions to improve statistics, including agriculture (and livestock) data. These are: human resource development; development of statistical infrastructure; data development and dissemination; physical infrastructure and equipment development; programme management and coordination. In coordinating the implementation of the Master Plan, the National Bureau of Statistics is expected to ensure that agreed 'statistical standards are used so as to facilitate the integration and comparison of the statistics produced both nationally and internationally' as well as 'to avoid duplication of efforts in the production of statistics' (NBS, 2010a). Comparability and integration of different sources of data is in fact critical to build an efficient agricultural NSS, which is consistent with the Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics that provides guidance to country governments to implement 'a coordinated data collection program to produce timely and accurate data that are coherent and comparable; and a strategy for data dissemination to ensure accessibility' (World Bank, 2011).Integrating different data systems to generate statistics which are comparable requires not only identifying strengths and weaknesses of different data systems and common elements for integration, but also appreciating the value added that combining different data systems can generate, particularly with a focus on the implementation of the poverty reduction strategy papers and major agricultural development programmes and policies. In other words, integration of different data systems should not be pursued for the sake of integration, but on the evidence that the joint use of data from different sources provides better information to decision makers to formulate and implement public and private sector investments. In what follows, two major systems of livestock data collection in Tanzania are described and briefly analysed; opportunities for improved integration are then identified, which is critical for the successful implementation of both MKUKUTA II and the LSDP.Living Standard Measurement Surveys (LSMS) are multi-topic household questionnaires designed to assess household welfare, understand household behaviour and evaluate the effects of various interventions on the livelihood of the population. Accordingly, LSMS surveys collect data from a nationally representative sample of households on their characteristics and many dimensions of their wellbeing, such household size and composition, education and assets, food consumption and health (Grosh and Glewwe, 1995).The Tanzania National Panel Survey (TZNPS) is part of a series of LSMS-type surveys and collects information from a sample of households sufficient to generate statistics which are nationally representative as well as representative at the level of macro-zones, including North, Central, Eastern, South, Southern Highlands, West and Lake. The main objective of the TZNPS is 'to provide high-quality household-level data to the Tanzanian government and other stakeholders for monitoring poverty dynamics, tracking the progress of the National Strategy for Growth and Poverty Reduction, and evaluating the impact of other major, national-level government policy initiatives' (NBS, 2010b).The first wave of the TZNPS was conducted over twelve months from October 2008 to October 2009 by the Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The survey was implemented by six mobile field teams, each composed of one supervisor, three enumerators, one data entry technician, and one driver. The survey, administered to 3,280 households (2,064 households in rural areas and 1,216 urban areas), consisted of a Household Questionnaire, an Agriculture Questionnaire, and a Community Questionnaire. 1 The Household Questionnaire comprises over 20 sectionse.g. on household education, on food expenditure, on household assets, etc.which allows for the construction of a full consumption-based welfare measure. The Agriculture Questionnaire contains 13 sections relative to household agricultural activities, such as on plots, crops, livestock and access to extension services. The Community Questionnaire includes 9 sections on physical and economic infrastructure and events in the surveyed communities. Respondents of the Household and Agriculture questionnaires are the household members most knowledgeable about each section; respondents of the Community questionnaire are the Village/Block Chairperson, the Village/Ward Executive officer, and several sub-village chair-people (NBS, 2010b).The Agriculture Questionnaire contains 21 questions on livestock on ownership / changes in livestock stock over the past 12 months due to sales/purchases, thefts, diseases and slaughtering. Noteworthy is that information is collected on cattle breeds, differentiating between local/indigenous and improved/exotic breeds. It also includes some basic questions on labour force used for tending livestock, on fodder and on animal diseases / vaccination. A final section is on the production and sale of major livestock products. On the consumption side, the Household Questionnaire contains questions on the consumption of different types of animal source foods.Overall, TZNPS questionnaires contain more (crop and) livestock-related questions in comparison with most LSMS-type questionnaires administered in developing countries.Analysis of the TZNPS data provides critical insights for implementing MKUKUTA II and the Livestock Sector Development Programme (LSDP). TZNPS data are appropriate to characterize rural households, appreciate livestock-livelihood relationship and may also help identify determinants of livestock production and productivity, thereby assisting in the design of investments that promote 'market developments, comparative and competitive advantages and domestic capacity to supply the markets' (MFEA, 2010). Livestock keepers are market-oriented and sell a large part, if not the majority of their livestock / livestock production, which is hard to store. Over a year, households in the bottom quintile sell about 67 percent of their livestock / livestock production, while those in the third and top quintiles sell about 49 and 35 of their livestock / livestock production respectively.  About 58 percent of households sell alive animals, while only about 4 percent slaughtered and sold some livestock during the past 12 months. 7 percent of households sell some milk and 11 percent eggs. Overall, sales of live animals contribute to about two-thirds of livestock derived income.Majority of households, i.e. about 60 percent, market their livestock through traders / intermediaries, but many also sell live animals / livestock products in the marketplace (25%) or to some neighbor (27%). Farmers sell their livestock in local markets and only about 2 percent have travelled to sell their animals in markets in other regions.Beyond insights on ownership, production and commercialization of livestock / livestock products, TZNPS data also provide information on the consumption of animal foods. Table 3 below presents some descriptive statistics on the consumption of livestock products by households in different expenditure quintiles, while table 4 presents estimated income-expenditure elasticities for major animal foods, i.e. the ratio of the percentage change in expenditure on animal food to a percentage change in income.About 59 percent of all households consume some meat, milk or meat (i.e. 41% of them do not eat at all livestock products). This proportion goes up to 68 percent among livestock keeping households, and down to 51 percent among non-livestock keeping households, which is suggestive that livestock ownership could be associated with better nourishment of household members, given the bioavailability of protein, iron and vitamin A in meat, eggs, and milk.With a per capita of 5.3 kg/year beef is the most consumed meat, followed by poultry (3.1 kg/year), eggs (2.3 kg/year) and goat meat (3.1 kg/year). About 11.4 liter/year of milk are consumed by the 'typical' Tanzanian. As expected, households in the bottom quintiles consume less livestock products than those in the upper ones, with the exception of goat meat.Beef is the most purchased meat: 32 percent of households, including in both rural and urban areas, reported to have purchased some beef in the week prior to the interview, a proportion higher than that for all other livestock products.  The value of the beef purchased by the typical household (i.e. about TzSh 70,175/year) is between 74 (milk) and 98 percent (goat meat) higher than expenditure for all other livestock products, suggesting the Tanzanians, when it comes to purchasing animal foods, primarily spend their money on beef products.The income-expenditure elasticities are positive for all animal foods but for goat meat, and are particularly elastic for beef. Expenditure for the latter is estimated to increase more than proportionate to a change in income for households in the second, third, fourth and top expenditure quintiles.A cursory look at the TZNPS data suggests that there are both supply and demand opportunities for a development of the livestock sector, which can contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction. On the supply side: (i) majority of rural households keep some livestockprimarily goats, cattle and chicken; (ii) the share of households keeping livestock, the average herd size and contribution of livestock to household income increase with welfare, as measured by expenditure quintiles; (iii) livestock-keeping households are market oriented and primarily market their live animals through traders / intermediaries. On the demand side: (i) beef, poultry, eggs and milk are the most consumed livestock products and their consumption is anticipated to increase with growth in real per capita income; (ii) the demand for beef is expected to grow faster than that for any other animal food; (iii) given that daily per-capita income is lower than US$ 5 for the largest majority of consumers, demand will be largely for relatively low-quality low-processed food items (McDermott et al., 2010). A rapid appraisal conducted by the Tanzania Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries in July 2011 highlights, for instance, that the largest majority of consumers purchase mixed cuts of beef in open-air markets and local butcheries (Pica-Ciamarra et al, 2011).Overall, TZNPS data provide critical insights into prioritizing investments for livestock sector development. However, 'due to the limits of the sample size it is not possible to produce reliable statistics at the regional or district level' (NBS, 2010), which are needed to design and implement investments on the ground. It is thus necessary to complement TZNPS data with other sources of data to fully exploit their potential.The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) of Tanzania is mandated to 'facilitate the development of sustainable industry and trade sectors through creation of enabling environment and provision of improved services ' (www.mit.go.tz). With the aim to 'facilitate the development' of the livestock sector, since 2005 the Ministry of Industry and Trade has been operating, initially with support from USAID, the Livestock Information Network Knowledge System (LINKS), which collects, processes and disseminates livestock market data.In Tanzania there are currently over 400 primary, 12 secondary and 10 border livestock markets for cattle, sheep and goats, but none for pigs and poultry. Primary markets are under the jurisdiction of Local Government Authorities, and their functioning is often limited because of inadequate marketing infrastructure. Secondary and border markets are managed by the Central Government and are bigger and with better facilities than primary markets (MLFD, 2011). Most markets are held once per week while some are held twice per week. LINKS collects information from 53 livestock markets, of which 41 are primary markets and 12 are secondary markets in 18 out of the 21 mainland regions. 4   A so-called 'market-monitor' collects livestock market information on behalf of MIT every market day. S/he collects price information from buyers on concluded transactions for four types of animals, with details on breed, age, gender and grade. Livestock type: cattle, goats, sheep and donkeys.  Breeds: e.g. Ankole, Boran, Danakil, Exotic and other for cattle.  Age group: immature, mature, mixed, young.  Gender: female, male, castrate.  Grade: grade 1 to grade 4.For each type of animal, market monitors (are expected to) collect price information from five different buyers, while they obtain information on the total volume of exchanges from the relevant market authorities. Market monitors are local government officers with no direct reporting responsibilities to MIT. The Ministry of Industry and Trade, however, provides them with a mobile phone and some air-time, which market monitors use to send a coded text message to MIT, with average prices and total volume of exchanges for the various animals. To incentivise the data collection process, all market monitors are invited by MIT once a year to participate in a major meeting to discuss pressing issues / concerns and identify options for improvement.Market monitors send price and volume data to MIT every week. The data are first checked and validated. If inconsistencies are revealed, the relevant market monitor is contacted to ensure validity of the information. 'Weekly Summary Livestock Market Information Reports' for cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys are then prepared and disseminated by MIT, with information on average prices and total volume of exchanges from the different markets in the country. Details are given on breed, age, gender and grade of animals and the reports are released every Friday afternoon. A 'Monthly Livestock Market Information Report' is also released, which presents a comparison with previous-month-price and volume levels.Livestock weekly reports are disseminated through English and Swahili newspapers, such as the Guardian, the Citizen, the Mwananchi and the Majira, either weekly or daily. Data are also disseminated through Radio and TV programmes and market boards in the Community Information Centres. Price and quantity data are publically available through the LINKS website (www.lmlstz.net), with a search query that allows downloading information on selected markets and periods.LINKS dataset provides useful information about market size and trends in prices / volume of exchanges for major live animals, i.e. on trends in business opportunities for livestock keepers. What follows reviews LINKS monthly data available for cattle markets for the period January 2010 to December 2010, as TZNPS data showed that cattle are widely owned by Tanzanian rural households and that beef is the most consumed meat in the country, with its demand anticipated to growth fast in the next coming years.Out of the 53 markets monitored by LINKS, 45 reported market data for cattle during 2010. Cattle markets record an average volume of almost 1,400 heads of cattle purchased/sold per month and a median volume of about 1,125 heads. The biggest markets, with a volume of over 2,000 heads of cattle purchased/sold per month, are located in the northern regions (Arusha, Kagera, Kilimanjaro, Morogoro, Mwanza and Shyinyanga), which record a high density of cattle per sqkm (from about 10 TLU/sqkm in Arusha region to over 55 TLU/sqkm in Mwanza). The only large market outside of the Northern part of the country is Pugu market in Dar es Salaam, the capital city, where per-capita consumption of beef is the highest Tanzania. In 2010, only two breeds of cattle were traded in LINKS markets, including the Tanzanian short-horned Zebu (> 99% of heads sold/purchased) and the Ankole cattle (< 1%). The Tanzania short-horned Zebu is the most common indigenous cattle in the country and comprises a number of strains, such as Iringa Red, Maasai, Mkalama Dun, Singida White, Mbulu, Gogo, Chagga and Pare (Rege and Tawah 1999). Ankole is an indigenous breed largely kept throughout Eastern Africa, including Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Both Tanzania short-horned Zebu and Ankole cattle are kept as draught ox, dairy and beef cattle, as well as for by-products such as hides and dung for fuel and manure.The Tanzanian grading system for live animals is based on a variety of parameters (e.g. weight, dentition, etc.) and allows differentiating livestock into four uniform groups, from Grade 1 (G1) to Grade 4 (G4). G1 cattle are the best ones, while G4 cattle are the less valuable. mature males of grade G2 and G3 are the most traded animals. Mature males are used for breeding and beef, while mature females mainly for milk and re-production. Trends in volume traded and prices are unclear and LINKS data, at least for 2010, do not provide indications on if/where there are growing market opportunities for cattle keepers.Figure 2 shows average trends in volume (cattle head/month) and prices for G2 and G3 mature male and female cattle in LINKS markets.A quick review of price and volume data for the six markets which have reported data for all months in 2010, as well as for Pugu market in Dar es Salaam (data available from January through October 2010), provides some additional insights. First, there is hardly any correlation between volumes traded and prices of the different cattle in the various markets.Second, in all markets there appears to be more variability (as measured by the coefficient of variation) in the volume of cattle traded than price variability. Third, there is more price variability between markets than within markets. Overall, these findings suggest that markets are largely local, with limited inter-regional trade of live animals, and that cattle are considered more as investment rather than a consumption good by farmers, i.e. market price fro live animals reflects the present value of future monetary and non-monetary income stream that livestock are anticipated generate. A look at LINKS market data for 2010 shows that cattle markets are relatively small and that mature female and mature male cattle of grade G2 and G3 are the most traded animals. The price difference between animals of different grades appears significant, suggesting that investments that help farmers improve the quality of their animals could generate positive returns. As expected, the largest markets are located in the Northern regions and in Dar es Salaam, the capital city. An interesting finding is that trends in price and volume are uncorrelated, at least for 2010, and that there is limited correlation between cattle prices in the different markets. The often high difference in price for the same animals in different markets represents a major business opportunity for livestock keepers as well as for traders. Benefits for cattle keepers can be generated, therefore, if both policies are designed to enhance the grades of the animals farmers sell, as well as to facilitate inter-market trade and trade towards Pugu market in Dar es Salaam (and possibly other major urban centres).Overall, LINKS data provide critical insights into prioritizing investments for livestock sector development in terms of production and consumption areas. However, neither do they help identify bottlenecks along the livestock value chain nor they provide indication on how to design and formulate livestock sector interventions that benefit livestock producers, as they do not convey information on the (dis)incentives that influence cattle keepers' behaviour.Making joint use of TZNPS and LINKS data could assist policy makers in designing better policies which link farmers to markets. In particular, the two datasets may be used to identify bottlenecks and market imperfections along the value chain: they both provide information on price of live animals but at two different points along the value chain, i.e. at the farm gate (TZNPS) and in market places (LINKS). The agriculture questionnaire of the TZNPS contains in fact the following three questions:1. Have you sold any livestock alive in the past 12 months? 2. How many have you sold alive in the past 12 months? 3. What was the total value of the sale? Female mature, G3 Male mature, G2Male mature, G3Table 7 compares TZNPS and LINKS average prices for different types of live animals. Note that in the TZNPS dataset live animals are differentiated by gender and agei.e. mature male cattle (bulls) and mature female cattle (dairy cows)but not by grade. Figure 3 and 4 display LINKS and TZNPS prices for bulls and dairy cows in 14 and 12 regions respectively. LINKS prices are average annual prices of mature male and mature female cattle sold/purchased in the different livestock markets in the region at hand. TZNPS prices are farm-gate prices reported by individual households living in the selected region (TZNPS households are geo-referenced).Prices for live animals at the farm-gate and in the market place appear in most cases significantly different, with market prices being up to 220% higher that the price received by households, with the exception for animals of grade 4. The same trend is evident at the level of regions: for instance, in Arusha region, the average difference between farm-gate and market price for bulls is over TzSh 161,000, i.e. US$ 90; in Shingaya, a major cattle producing region, market prices for dairy cows are, on average, 76% higher than farm-gate prices. Inefficiencies in the market for live animals appear to exist in Tanzania, as the difference between farm-gate price and market pricerecall that data refer to the same animal at different points in the value chainappears particularly high in most regions. This finding is hardly surprising but, since based on two sources of data which are hardly comparable, should be taken with caution. However, if some formal integration were made between LINKS and TZNPS datasets, not only the same conclusion could have policy relevance but additional inferences could be drawn to design interventions that help farmers better tap into livestock market opportunities. Both TZNPS and LINKS data collect price data for live animals, but cattle are differently named or defined in the two datasets. Bulls, cows, steer, heifers, male claves and female calves are found in the TZNPS Agriculture Questionnaire; immature, mature female and male animals of different grades as well as mature castrate and young animals are found in LINKS.A common list of animals is a pre-condition for the joint use of TZNPS and LINKS data.Tanzania is one of the few developing countries where a grading system for live animals exists. The price difference between cattle of different grades is noteworthy, and LINKS data suggests that investments that assist farmers in improving the grade of their animals may generate handsome returns. The TZNPS questionnaires do not include any reference to animal grades: some additional questions on grades would facilitate the joint use of TZNPS and LINKS data.The TZNPS Community Questionnaire includes a question on the existence of a primary livestock market, either in the village or in the vicinity, a question on transport cost to the market and a question on the name of the market. The data released by NBS, however, do not include the name of the market, which makes it impossible to identify households selling in LINKS markets. Ensuring that the information on market name is collected and/or that the released TZNPS data include all information which has been collected would facilitate joint analysis of TZNPS and LINKS data. The same question asked to sellers, including of whether the seller is a trader or a farmer, would help appreciate transport cost for farmers and margins for traders, two pieces of information which are critical to design interventions that facilitate farmer access to markets. This would also facilitate comparison with TZNPS data, which allow identifying farmers selling to traders / intermediaries and those directly selling their live animals in the marketplace.Overall, some relatively small changes in both TZNPS and LINKS may help integrate the two data systems and better identify if and where there are bottlenecks along the livestock value chains which prevent farmers from tapping into lucrative market opportunities. The issue is about the feasibility of the proposed changes.First, TZNPS is a multi-topic survey aimed at measuring welfare / well-being and assessing ex-ante / ex-post selected policy interventions; neither does it have nor it is supposed to have a specific focus on livestock, i.e. additional questions on livestock may generate extra workload on enumerators and analysts which may generate negative externalities on the overall quality of the data. Second, there could be political economy issues in increasing the number of livestock-related questions in the TZNPS questionnaires, as stakeholders from different domains (e.g. gender, environment, etc.) may then ask that questions be added to respond to their specific needs and concerns. Note also that 2010/11 TZNPS agriculture questionnaire was already expanded to include additional questions on livestock, thanks to a partnership between NBS, the Living Standards Measurement -Integrated Surveys on Agriculture Project of the World Bank and the Livestock Data Innovation in Africa Project of the World Bank, the FAO and the International Livestock Research Institute. Third, LINKS' aim is to provide information on market prices and, whilst MIT is committed to improve LINKS, market monitors are local government officers who already find difficulties in regularly reporting to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, i.e. asking them to collect and report additional information maybe unfeasible. Fourth, if LINKS and TZNPS data were made comparable, a question is about who will make joint use of the two databases. Presumably, only if TZNPS data were processed and market indicators generated and uploaded on the LINKS website, which is user-friendly and targets the general public, there could be some chances that regular policy-oriented rather than sporadic research-oriented analysed be done by combining the two datasets.Linking smallholders to markets is widely viewed as a milestone towards promoting economic growth and poverty reduction, but rarely developing country governments have access to reliable data and statistics to design effective investments which promote a market-driven development of the agricultural sector. This paper focused on livestock sector data in Tanzania and reviewed two major systems of livestock data collection, including the Tanzania National Panel Survey (TZNPS) and the Livestock Knowledge and Information System (LINKS): it showed how their integration would be of value for policy makers and recommended some steps towards their integration.Both TZNPS and LINKS data provide critical information on market functioning but, on their own, neither is sufficient to design policies which help smallholder access livestock markets. TZNPS data help appreciate household's behaviour, including production and consumption of livestock products, i.e. to identify investment opportunities for livestock sector development. However, due to the limits of the sample size it is not possible to [use TZNPS data to] produce reliable statistics at the regional or district level' (NBS, 2010b), which are needed to design and implement investments on the ground. It is thus necessary to complement TZNPS data with other sources of data to fully exploit their potential. LINKS collects weekly livestock price and volume data from primary and secondary markets in almost all regions of mainland Tanzania, thereby providing useful information about market size and trends in volume / prices of major live animals, i.e. on trends in business opportunities for livestock keepers. Both TZNPS and LINKS collect information on price of live animals, TZNPS at the farm-gate through interviewing livestock producers and LINKS through interviewing buyers during market days. Ensuring comparability of the price data collected by TZNPS and LINKS would help identify bottlenecks along the supply chain for live animals and draw policy relevant recommendations. This would require some changes in both TZNPS and LINKS, including having a common list of animals, adding some marketrelated questions in the TZNPS questionnaires and ensuring that LINKS collects information from both buyers and sellers of live animals. Political economy issues and resource constraints, however, could make it difficult to implement those recommendations.The major lesson out of this paper, in terms of implementing the second pillar of the Global Strategy to Improve Agricultural and Rural Statistics, i.e. integrating different data systems, is however the following: joint analysis of existing datasets is critical to understand if and how it makes sense to integrate different data systems. While the basics of data integration are knowne.g. the development of a master sample frame for agriculture as indicated in the Global Strategy -it is the details that matter, and those differ from country to country. Institutional changes to integrate different datasets can be best identified when some analyses are done using different sources of data, with the explicit objective to arrive at some practical recommendations for policy makers and private investors. Given scarce resources, it is in fact critical to prioritize integration of those data systems whose joint use can generate information valuable for decision makers to design investments that contribute to economic growth and accelerated poverty reduction."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"65695621680ac2a8d34a36649cc0afa2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/090ad055-bfaa-4d98-95b2-8bcd375310f0/retrieve","id":"-486157532"},"keywords":["technologies (production","markets","waste) • Capacity sharing (universities","cities","enterprises)"],"sieverID":"35a0f04c-fb27-4454-9adf-6a251ddbf66f","content":"• Interests/incentives of partners can be diverse but need to be 'connectable'• Catalytic role of CGIAR (not doing 'scaling') "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"16ae886b821f4be7726621ac93d7ca4d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/afdefb6d-73fe-40e7-9ed8-71250309242d/retrieve","id":"-2077341921"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"45d17d9c-972e-4827-8c38-ca238ccdc558","content":"There has been growing concern for policy level initiatives and investment priorities required for scaling climate smart agriculture practices (CSAPs). Over a period of 5 years (2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017), science based evidence has been generated on key scalable climate smart agriculture under the CCAFS flagship project on CSA in collaboration with CRPs on Wheat, Maize, Rice agrifood systems as well as range of partnerships (NARS, NGOs, Private Sector, Farmer organizations etc). CIMMYT-CCAFS in collaboration with number of sub-national, national and international stakeholders informed the key policy planners, Governments and development agencies on these CSAPs through several consultations, communication materials (policy brief, video, research articles etc), organizing several events (field days, travelling seminars, workshops, policy dialogues, training programs etc) and generated awareness among the different stakeholders. These systematic efforts have led to up scaling of CSAPs through their mainstreaming in investment programs to address the issue of natural resource degradation, environmental pollution and climatic risks. This document provides evidence base on policy level engagement process, partnerships and events for outscaling CSAPs by the sub-national governments and other key stakeholders.1. Sharing the evidence base with stakeholders/policy planners:Several stakeholder consultation were organized to inform the policy planners and other stakeholders including Government development departments, private sector organizations, farmer organizations, NGOs etc on CCAFS science based evidence on CSAPs. These consultations/stakeholder engagements led to policy level impacts for mainstreaming CSAPs in sustainable development plans. The key events/consultations organized are listed below-There are workshops organized at multi-level partnerships to generate consensus over the  Using the CCAFS science based evidence generated from the Flagship project on CSA/CSVs, several policy briefs, videos, media reports etc (listed below) were developed and shared with key stakeholders specially policy planners, which led to large investments by the national as well as sub-national Government.Agriculture continues to be an engine of inclusive and accelerated economic growth and livelihood opportunities for the millions of smallholder farmers. Agriculture in North-West India (Punjab, Haryana), having made significant strides in food production and contributions in national food pool and Indian economy is now facing enormous challenges. However, the present day agriculture in the food bowl is confronted with daunting problems of hydrological imbalances, soil degradation, labour shortage, inefficient input use, decline in factor productivity, and high production costs, resulting in low returns to farmers. Agriculture has also emerged as a major contributor to air pollution, creating significant health hazards. The adverse effects of climate change and deterioration in quality of resource base (soil, water and biodiversity) as well as environment (especially air and temperature) poses new threats for the long-term sustainability of agriculture. Therefore, despite significant success on all fronts, it is increasingly being realized that the strategies adopted in the past for agricultural growth now need to be adjusted to address the country's emerging development challenges and opportunities in a comprehensive manner.To address some of the critical issues related to climatic risks and agricultural air pollution, the evidence on scalable and sustainable solutions generated by CCAFS and partners have led to a major policy impact and large investments by the Governments.Validating the success of CSAPs farmers were motivated at scale to adopt the technology. Successfully addressing the concerns of the farmers, the evidence base was used to convince policy makers in integrating agricultural development investment in their investment portfolio."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"95cc6336fdc985dd4d89522e11f18efb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/21a84377-a1ba-42f2-bca5-3eb75ca05aaa/retrieve","id":"-194403596"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"87ebaae0-44d0-41f3-b2dc-40232740bbf1","content":"IWMI encourages the use of its material provided that the organization is acknowledged and kept informed in all such instances.Front cover photograph shows two women watering a spinach plot with wastewater in peri-urban Hyderabad, India (photo credit: Priyanie Amerasinghe).The publications in this series cover a wide range of subjects-from computer modeling to experience with water user associations-and vary in content from directly applicable research to more basic studies, on which applied work ultimately depends. Some research reports are narrowly focused, analytical and detailed empirical studies; others are wide-ranging and synthetic overviews of generic problems.Although most of the reports are published by IWMI staff and their collaborators, we welcome contributions from others. Each report is reviewed internally by IWMI staff, and by external reviewers. The reports are published and distributed both in hard copy and electronically (www.iwmi.org) and where possible all data and analyses will be available as separate downloadable files. Reports may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgment.IWMI's mission is to improve the management of land and water resources for food, livelihoods and the environment. In serving this mission, IWMI concentrates on the integration of policies, technologies and management systems to achieve workable solutions to real problems-practical, relevant results in the field of irrigation and water and land resources. Urban wastewater management has become a challenge in India as infrastructural development and regulations have not kept pace with population growth and urbanization. Annually, more and more people are moving into cities, and the figures are expected to reach about 600 million by 2030 making India more peri-urban than rural. Already, there is enormous pressure on planners to provide utility services, and water supply is a priority, especially where peri-urban water is exported formally or informally to fulfill city requirements. At the same time, the urban return flow (wastewater) also increases, which is usually about 70-80% of the water supply. This study attempted to analyze the current status of wastewater generation, its uses and livelihood benefits especially in agriculture, based on national data and case studies from Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Kanpur and Kolkata.The challenge of the growing Indian economy is that, in many cities, the wastewater generated is a mixture of domestic and industrial wastewater which makes risk mitigation and reuse recommendations a challenge. Lack of systematic data on the different discharges makes it difficult to estimate the volume and quality of wastewater discharged and the total area under (usually informal) wastewater irrigation. Data from more than 900 Class-I cities and Class-II towns (with the population of each over 1 million and between 0.5 and 1 million, respectively) showed that more wastewater gets collected than eventually treated. In general, wastewater generation is around 60-70% over the established treatment capacity which varies from city to city. Governmental efforts to reduce surface water pollution remain jeopardized by the untreated wastewater fraction as well as by India's estimated 160 million latrines and septic tanks which contribute, according to Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), to 80% of the pollution of the national surface waters. The way forward will have to be built on further investments in treatment capacity for septage collected from on-site sanitation units, and in particular for industries to avoid interference in domestic and industrial waste streams. Reuse could offer business opportunities for cost recovery, while in smaller towns options like riverbank filtration, reed bed technologies and phytoremediation should also be explored to turn the waste stream into a resource. From the data set used for this study, it is evident that over 1.1 million ha could be irrigated if rendered safe for use.The major users of wastewater in the study sites include growers of cereal (like rice), horticultural and fodder crops and aquaculture (mostly in East Calcutta Wetlands [ECW] and also in Delhi), and to a lesser extent floriculturists. In Delhi and Kanpur, treated water was issued by farmers for agricultural production. However, with time the quality of wastewater had deteriorated, especially in Kanpur and it was no longer suitable for crop cultivation. In Hyderabad, although the government did not support the use of partially treated wastewater for irrigation, the farmers used it as it was the only source of water downstream of the city. Industrial pollution was highest at Kanpur and Ahmedabad so that both water quality and crop quality were affected at the heavily polluted sites. Data from the selected sites show that the financial benefits associated with wastewater farming were higher than those associated with freshwater-agriculture for cities where domestic wastewater does not mix with industrial sewage. Also, adverse health and environmental impacts were lower in such cities. The highest gains were reported from the ECW, where sewage farming has been practiced for over a century. However, a more holistic analysis which includes all household expenses like health, food, etc., and considers both direct and indirect costs and benefits would be required to calculate the net benefits. Particular attention is required to assess the effects of hazardous contaminants on water, soil and crops. Health risk assessments from most cities showed that wastewater farmers were more vulnerable than others to certain diseases and environmental hazards. However, site-specific health risk assessments are needed to investigate the short-and long-term health impacts of wastewater, so that effective remedial measures could be adopted.Given the increasing peri-urban character of India, this study showed that wastewater management needs much more attention than it has received so far. This is required from the perspectives of both health and water resources management. With nearly 70% of the population projected to live in cities, and water scarcity being reported from many parts of the country, planners need to have a strategy on how best to utilize the various water resources, including untreated, partially treated and fully treated wastewater, for different productive purposes. Monitoring and data collection are increasing in India but they must be carried out in a systematic manner. Institutionalizing the proposed data collection template which links into an extended AQUASTAT database could help collect uniform data sets for strategic planning.I n d i a ' s u r b a n c e n t e r s a r e w i t n e s s i n g unprecedented growth, propelled by new economic reforms. Its population, which is over one billion, is now fast converging on cities in search of opportunities and a new way of life. According to recent projections, India's urban population of 380 million ( 2008) is expected to increase to 590 million by 2030, twice the current population of USA (MGI 2010), with regional cities expanding at a faster rate than the larger cities. Increased migration of people to cities already exerts enormous pressure on city planners, especially for provisioning utility services. Already, many cities can be now considered as 'sponges' absorbing water from peri-urban and rural areas through formal and informal channels (Van Rooijen et al. 2005;Molle and Berkoff 2009;CSE 2012). In general, public services and infrastructural development are not keeping pace with urbanization, and indeed they may become a constraint on economic growth. Feeding the cities will also become a major challenge, where more and more food supplies will have to be brought from distant rural places, increasing costs and food prices (Hanjra and Qureshi 2010). On the other hand, the increasing urban 'return flow' is posing health challenges as well as production opportunities for feeding the cities.Sectoral demands for water are reaching new heights where irrigation, household supply, energy and industry seek increased volumes to meet growing needs. The 2050 projections for India report that it will reqire 1,447 cubic kilometers (km 3 ) of water of which 74% is identified for irrigation, while the rest is for drinking water (7%), industry (4%) energy (9%) and others (6%) (CPCB 2009). However, with rapid urban growth in its 498 Class-I cities and 410 Class-II towns (CoI 2001), the demand for drinking water is also rising and has a high priority, competing with rural water needs, including irrigation. The current water supply to these cities is estimated at about 48,000 million liters per day (mld) and is projected to increase further with the increased demand for different sectors (CPCB 2009). A large number of these growing cities are located in major river basin catchments, taking freshwater away and discharging wastewater back into the catchments and thus polluting irrigation water as well as posing major challenges for urban and rural planners, especially with regard to urban wastewater management. In fact, the density of the emerging cities makes India today more periurban and urban than rural (Figure 1). That the urban return flow is seen not only as a hazard but also as an asset was just recently documented in the struggle between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for Bangalore's wastewater (Raghunandan 2012).Despite the keen interest of the government, infrastructural development for sewage and wastewater treatment has not kept pace with wastewater generation. As a result, vast amounts of polluted water are being discharged into natural waterways, with poor-quality water and pollutants above the permissible levels being released into  2005). Proactive adaptation to water-quality issues increases the cost of production while suboptimal crop choices reduce benefits of livelihoods to these farmers. With many components of the water cycle being affected for years and the increasing water demand for cities, there is a sense of urgency to explore sustainable water management strategies, while looking into the multiple uses of wastewater and alternative tanks constitute one of the most common forms of urban sanitation facilities in India. The major part of urban India has not been connected to a municipal sewer system which makes people dependent on the conventional individual septic tanks. Access to improved sanitation in urban India has risen but the management of on-site sanitation systems such as septic tanks remains a neglected component of urban sanitation and wastewater management. There are around 100 million septic tanks and 60 million latrines in India (World Bank 2006) without treatment facilities for the generated septage which contributes to 80% of the pollution of the national surface waters (CSE 2011(CSE , 2012)).Based on water pollution, five different classes of water quality have been identified (Table 1). Data show that, from a 45,000 km length of Indian rivers, 6,000 km had a biological oxygen demand (BOD) above 3 milligrams per liter (mg/l), making the water unfit for drinking. Matters relating to sewage treatment as well as the drinking and industrial water supply are dealt with at state level while the municipal authorities of cities are responsible for providing these services. The regulatory standards are overseen by the state pollution control boards, which are linked to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Currently, only the networked sewage systems are targeted for treatment, while the vast non-point source discharges go undetected and untreated. Therefore, the pollution loads in rivers are highly variable, depending on the season, modulated by rainfall, sewage and solid waste management practices in towns and cities, and types of industry in the proximity. While the regulatory mechanisms have been outlined, uncontrolled industrial discharges contribute to heavy environmental pollution and potential health hazards (Rawat et al. 2009).wastewater treatment technologies (Lorenzen et al. 2010).In many Indian cities, the wastewater discharges comprise domestic and industrial wastewater, and are often mixed and not separately accounted for. Lack of systematic record-keeping of the different discharges makes it difficult to arrive at reasonable estimates of the wastewater discharged and its quality (Heggade 1998;Misra 1998). For the period 1947-1997, a sixfold increase in wastewater generation was recorded in Class-I cities and Class-II towns. Current generation for Class-I cities and Class-II towns is above 38,000 mld, out of which only 35% is treated (CPCB 2009).Conservation, augmentation and recycling of urban water are major foci in India's national water policy. The policy also advocates the reuse of treated sewage in view of the looming waterscarce future. Thus, the policy support for reuse of treated wastewater, primarily from sewage treatment plants (STPs), is inherently embedded in the overall water policy of India, although in practice, multiple factors affect its implementation at state level. The Ganga Action Plan (GAP) was one of the first restoration plans for water bodies, which commenced in 1985 and led to a larger program bringing the entire country under the National River Action Plan. In this program, the identification of pollution sources, interception or diversion and treatment were planned for 157 major cities along the main rivers. However, fast urbanization and industrialization have outpaced the installation of STPs and regulatory processes and, therefore, only marginal improvements are observed.Domestic sewage and industrial waste are the major causes of deterioration of water quality and contamination of lakes, rivers and groundwater aquifers (CPCB 2009). Septic On the reuse side, the primary users of wastewater are smallholder farmers living in cities and peri-urban areas. Generally, they do not seek wastewater but use the water their streams and rivers carry. This can be water with different degrees of pollution, or wastewater of different degrees of dilution or natural cleaning or, raw sewage, especially in the dry season. In many situations wastewater is the only available or reliable water source (Buechler and Mekala 2005;Qadir et al. 2010). While the number of farmers dependent on wastewater is not well documented, more livelihoods are likely sustained through informal than formal wastewater-related activities (Raschid-Sally and Jayakody 2008). An inventory of wastewater-dependent livelihoods is however lacking in order to assess the wastewater-driven economies within India.Against the backdrop of water scarcity and climate change, it is important to examine issues related to wastewater reuse more holistically, and to investigate the challenges and opportunities for its safe and efficient reuse. Many studies within India have documented site-specific contamination pathways and levels, as well as health risks, but they fall short of information on risk reduction and remediation along critical control points.The goal of this study was to assess the scope of wastewater generation and reuse challenges in India. Specifically, the objectives were to provide estimates of wastewater generation and treatment, synthesize existing data on agricultural use of wastewater, and assess the related benefits and economic value, as well as the potentially adverse environmental and humanhealth impacts. The study is based on primary and secondary data. In order to assess the wastewater generation across the country, secondary data were collected from relevant national-, stateand city-level institutions. Qualitative data were also collected from key informants including policymakers and institutional heads, using semi-structured interviews. To look at livelihood benefits and health impacts of wastewater use, five cities were selected as case studies. Availability of research data, infrastructure for wastewater treatment and access of wastewater to communities engaged in wastewater agriculture were the key criteria used for selection of the cities.Based on the above criteria, Ahmedabad (in the Sabarmati River Basin), New Delhi (Yamuna River), Hyderabad (Musi River), Kanpur and Kolkata (both Ganga River) were selected (Table 2). For questionnaire surveys and focus group discussions, households were randomly selected from village communities near wastewatercarrying water bodies covering different castes, landholding statuses (leased or owned), and gender categories, so that different types of responses and perceptions were included. Focus group discussions and participatory rural appraisal methods were used to collect qualitative data and perceptions on livelihoods, health and environmental degradation. Data were collected on family size, literacy levels, wastewater irrigated crops and cropping patterns, input use, cost of production, crop productivity, irrigation practices, livestock holdings, health problems, extent of wastewater use and treatment, livelihoods supported, and economic aspects associated with the use of wastewater in livelihoods. Data were also collected on surface water/groundwater irrigated crop production within the vicinity, which served as a counterfactual for comparison. Laboratory studies on water quality, and secondary data from the case study sites were also used for comparison. The data collected were used for assessment of current wastewater generation and treatment, livelihoods, health impacts and costbenefit analysis of agricultural production. Wastewater generation across selected Class-I cities (n=498) and Class-II towns (n=410) has been assessed by institutions involved in water supply and sewage treatment (municipal corporations, state water boards, municipalities, public health engineering department, pollution control boards and other concerned agencies) (CPCB 2009).Estimates show that about 80% of water supplied is returned as wastewater, without accounting for losses due to evaporation, percolation, and groundwater recharge, i.e., the actually available volumes will differ (CPCB 2009). The results show that, with the expansion of cities over time, wastewater generation has correspondingly increased while investments in treatment capacities have varied significantly. Although several cities could show an increase in treatment capacity, the majority struggled to keep pace with urban growth as data from more than 900 Class-I cities and Class-II towns showed (Bhardwaj 2005;CPCB 2009). In 2007, total urban wastewater generation was around 38,000 mld which was three times the existing treatment capacity of about 12,000 mld (CPCB 2009). However, the survey also revealed that nearly 39% of the treatment systems were not performing to their capacity due to lack of connectivity to the sewage network systems, and/ or other priorities and availability of funds of the respective municipalities. Figure 2 shows not only the share of collected wastewater across the 100 largest cities which varies from nearly 0 to 100%, but also the gap between collection and treatment. To meet the 2050 projected wastewater generation estimates of 122,000 mld for the country (Bhardwaj 2005) its strategies for wastewater treatment will need to have clear goals and investment plans in the years to come.Three interrelated water acts address issues of pollution of water bodies in the country, and include the Water Act, 1974 (Prevention and Control of Pollution), the Water Cess Act, 1977 (Prevention and Control of Pollution) and the Environment Act, 1986 (Protection). According to the law, pollution of water bodies is prohibited; however, enforcement of regulatory measures and infrastructural capability of the government as well as of the private sector (especially the small industries) fall short of achieving the desired standards. The CPCB sets the discharge standards which are expressed as effluent discharge concentrations with parameters set as minimum acceptable standards for selected parameters such as BOD (3 mg/l), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) (250 mg/l) and Total Suspended Solids (100 mg/l). As part of their environment planning action for the country, the CPCB has also prepared a district-wise zoning atlas (spatial environmental planning) depicting industrial areas and industries, and environmentally sensitive areas (http://www.cpcb. nic.in/, accessed on January 24, 2013).The river conservation plans fall under the jurisdiction of the National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD), which is under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. It is responsible for coordinating several river conservation plans. Its main mission is to set up sewage management and treatment facilities for mitigation of pollution (domestic and industrial) through setting up of Individual or Common Effluent Treatment Plants. The GAP was one of the first activities commissioned by the directorate to address the pollution issues linked to major cities in the Ganga Basin. However, only 65% of the targeted wastewater volume was treated, and diverse issues prevented reaching the ultimate target set out by the GAP. These experiences led to the formation of the NRCD expanding the pollution abatement activities to a number of states.Monitoring of water quality is carried out at three levels as part of the Global Environment Monitoring System, Monitoring of Indian National Aquatic Resources System and Yamuna Action Plan. Twenty eight parameters are being tested including trace metals and 22 pesticides. Currently, 1,019 river sampling stations are monitored regularly including 592 rivers and 321 wells, as well as lakes, drains, tanks and creeks. In the latest assessment, the highest BOD levels were recorded as 714 mg/ml, in the Sabarmati River in Gujarat (Table 3). Three states, namely Gujarat, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh had some of the most polluted rivers. Overall, 64% of the 1,019 control points indicated BOD levels less than 3 mg/l, 18% between 3 and 6 mg/ml and 18% over 6 mg/ml. Fecal coliform concentrations in 21% of the stations exceeded 5,000 MPN/100 ml, and 53% showed levels less than 500 MPN/100 ml. Fecal coliform concentrations were highest in certain stretches of the Yamuna River (MPN 5.2 x 106 to 3.7 x 106). The STP discharge standards for fecal coliform (MPN/100 ml) are 500 desirable and 2,500 maximum permissible, and for BOD 3 mg/l or less (CPCB 2008), a value not met in any of the river sampling points listed in Table 3.While concerted efforts are made to monitor the water quality of large surface water bodies and groundwater, with the involvement of many ministries and institutions at state level, water quality in man-made stormwater canals and drains is not measured. The water from these drains is used for urban and peri-urban agriculture, as well as for other activities in many cities and, therefore, monitoring all types of water sources would help plan for reductions in pollution loads reaching the open waterways.Activities related to abatement of water pollution range from simple sedimentation to more capital-intensive STPs, most of which utilize conventional technologies with activated sludge processes (ASP) and the Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket being common technologies (CPCB 2009). The systems are often not operating to their full capacity and treatment is hampered due to various reasons, such as lack of trained staff and inadequate supply of spare parts. There is a growing interest in adopting new technologies for water recycling within cities among which are bank filtration (Lorenzen et al. 2010), reed beds, natural wetlands, constructed wetlands (Mittal et al. 2006) and soil aquifer treatment systems (Kumar 2009). Successful natural treatment systems are exemplified by the ECW, which have been in existence for hundreds of years, natural treatment ponds with aquatic plants in Pune, and numerous constructed wetlands in other cities of India (CPCB 2002).The value of wastewater can be expressed in many ways. Wastewater is a reliable water supply for crop production (cereals and vegetables) where freshwater is scarce; high nutrient content helps reduce input costs; it provides an ideal medium, e.g., for aquaculture, and can replenish groundwater reserves. Where trees or fodder are produced, land application provides at least a lowcost, but productive, way for sanitary disposal of municipal waste. Use of wastewater for irrigation and aquaculture is a common practice in India, but Valuing Wastewater Use in Agriculture is usually part of the informal sector which does not receive much recognition from the government (Buechler et al. 2002;Buechler and Mekala 2005).Assessing the economic value of sewage farming is facing many challenges (e.g., where does diluted wastewater end and polluted freshwater start?) affecting estimated areas under irrigation and related indicators (Weldesilassie et al. 2011).With increasing urban water demands, and realization that wastewater irrigation is a common reality, the economic value of municipal wastewater is being gradually recognized. In addition, Water Boards of different municipalities started exploring the possibility of revenue generation from the by-products of wastewater treatment (CPCB 2007;WABAG 2012). In an assessment done by CPCB, for coastal Class-I cities and Class-II towns, the annual value of the N, P and K loads from a total of about 5,000 mld of wastewater was estimated at INR 1,091 million (wastewater, INR 76 million; nutrients, INR 1,015 million) (CPCB 2009), not counting the environmental damage it is causing. This computation is of course theoretical but sets an important signal towards resource recovery and environmental conservation.With the available data for Class-I cities and Class-II towns and other studies, we attempted to estimate the area irrigable with wastewater, which can be used for farming directly from treatment plants or indirectly (wastewater discharged to rivers). When water channels were directly used for irrigation, accounting for the irrigated areas with wastewater (treated and untreated) was possible. However, when large volumes of surface water (rivers and ponds) containing wastewater were channeled and lifted for irrigation, calculating the wastewater irrigable land became more complicated, challenging also any related economic assessment. Some assumptions made in arriving at the estimates were soil types, wastewater ratio and application rate per hectare. Crop varieties were not considered due to limitations on data availability. For direct use, it was assumed that the wastewater was partially treated, and the volumes were calculated using the design capacity of the sewage channel or treatment plant. For indirect use, wastewater applied was calculated as a percentage of the water supply to the city (following Van Rooijen et al. 2005). The estimates of wastewater-irrigated area for direct use were about 6 hectares (ha) per mld, and for indirect use 39 ha per mld. The area under indirect use accounts for mixing with non-wastewater sources of irrigation. Using these volume-area relationships, the data for Class-I cities and Class-II towns indicate that the potential irrigable land can be estimated to be around 1.1 million hectares (Mha) (Table 4).A more detailed analysis for all India and beyond is currently underway by IWMI using remote sensing (RS) and hydrological modeling. It will extend the FAO AQUASTAT database which distinguishes between treated and untreated wastewater use but, so far, considers only the direct use of collected and treated wastewater. It is suggested to build any data collection on the larger AQUASTAT data format (treated and untreated wastewater) to develop strategies for its treatment and/or appropriate use, especially for agriculture.The format proposes a participatory method of data collection to the extent possible, so that the same terminology is used across institutions, and country and all input sources are integrated into the calculation and data management process.The upper part of the FAO template (Figure 3, wastewater production) could be expanded, as shown in Figure 4, to take into account the different sources of water supply for the cities, and it attempts to record the different streams of water inputs that eventually contribute to the total wastewater volume generated in a city. Together with the FAO framework, it can cover the different treatment options the cities might have, and attempt to assess the quantities discharged into the ecosystem. Water quality assessments and treatment capabilities, coupled with studies on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) (Box 1) can support an assessment, which can provide a better understanding of the potential uses and area under wastewater irrigation. Variable not present in the AQUASTAT database but information, if available, included in the metadata.   Variable not present in the AQUASTAT database but information, if available, included in the metadata. GIS-based irrigated area mapping was carried out in selected sites in Hyderabad, India, and Faisalabad, Pakistan, to assess the extent and the different sources of irrigation. The study investigated the health and food safety issues from rapidly expanding wastewater irrigation in these two locations. GIS layers of soil quality, irrigation water typology, land use patterns, water quality, prevalence of infections, and other demographic information produced a rich contextual visualization of agronomic, health, environmental and economic implications related to wastewater use in the area. While all of these individual data sets could be analyzed in their own right, additional layers of information helped link the different components of the study, bringing together different stakeholders to discuss a common issue. The example of a GIS map given in Figure 5, shows the sources and the extent of water used for irrigation in two zones (peri-urban and rural) along the banks of the Musi River, Hyderabad India. Such maps can be overlaid with other indicators like soil and water quality or disease incidence to visualize their spatial distributions and possible associations with wastewater irrigation.In particular, data on crops grown during the year in different plots, crop yield, input use including wastewater, input costs, labor days, outputs, markets and prices, etc., as well as disease incidence and treatment cost and preventive expenditure can be overlaid to estimate the economic value of water for each crop and use.Source: Philipp Weckenbrock and Axel Drescher, University of Freiburg, Germany.T h e u r b a n w a s t e w a t e r c h a l l e n g e s w e r e investigated looking at the water supply to selected cities, wastewater generation, sanitation c o v e r a g e , s e w a g e t r e a t m e n t s c e n a r i o s , wastewater use, water quality and perceived health impacts. Secondary and primary data together with livelihood analyses of 289, 80, 50, 193 and 432 farmers from Ahmedabad, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kanpur and Kolkata, respectively, formed the basis for the analyses. These cities were considered as a representative cross section of the country.Current wastewater generation figures are an estimation based on the water supply to the cities. In all five cities the drinking water supply was met by surface water and groundwater sources in different proportions, with surface water being the primary source (Table 5). The data have to be used with caution as there are indications of much greater groundwater exploitation within cities, but without data to support these indications. City water supplies have increased over the years as demand has grown and water is lifted from more distant sources with the consequent estimated wastewater generation. Percentage treatment capacities varied widely between the cities, and the current treatment capacities have been increased in keeping with the increase in water supply in cities like Hyderabad (Van Rooijen et al. 2010). However, the waterways are still polluted, due to sewers ending in streams, indiscriminate disposal of non-networked wastewater drainage and industrial discharges, and also because a new treatment capacity does not imply households are already connected.Wastewater treatment has improved in some cities like Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, but has fallen far behind the requirements in cities like Kanpur and Kolkata, which is not surprising given the rates of urbanization and decadal population growth in the cities and government development plans (Table 6). It should be noted, however, that the figures in Table 6 are continuously changing, linked to population growth, reporting and infrastructural development. Thus wastewater generation and treatment values given in different publications of the CPCB often do not match. An example is Hyderabad where about 585 mld of wastewater were generated in 2008. This exceeds the current treatment capacity by far, but with new treatment plants getting commissioned the capacity will soon be at the same level. However, this will again not be enough to catch up with the increased population at that time (Van Rooijen et al. 2010). Ahmedabad has today four STPs with a capacity to treat 633 mld, sufficient to cater to all wastewater, but infrastructural development lags behind and the plants run below capacity. Under the GAP three treatment plants were set up in Kanpur; however, even the treated water is reported not to reach the basic standards of irrigation water quality as defined by FAO (Pescod 1992). In short, it is very difficult to get reliable data, and even if there are data, they might not tell what is really on the ground.Irrigation with wastewater was practiced in all five cities, but varied in terms of area, types of crops, and the quality of water used (Table 7). The major users of wastewater in the study sites were farmers growing cereals (rice), horticultural   and fodder crops, aquacultural businesses (mostly in the ECW and Delhi), and to a lesser extent floriculturists. In Delhi and Kanpur, wastewater irrigation was supported by the municipalities where treated effluent was discharged into specified locations for a fee, so that the farmers could cultivate crops. In Delhi, 22 major drains and STPs (Keshopur and Okhla) provide partially treated and untreated wastewater for agriculture, and the survey revealed that 71% of market produce in Keshopur and Okhla areas was met by the crops grown in these two sites. In contrast, in Hyderabad, only 1-2% of the wastewater-grown vegetables contributed to the market, and the municipality discouraged using wastewater for agriculture (IWMI 2008;Amerasinghe et al. 2009). Over time, the farmers have observed that the quality of wastewater has deteriorated due to the mixing of domestic and industrial wastewater, and many downstream users complain that vast areas of agricultural land that previously received clean river water are now irrigated with increasingly saline water. Since there is no alternative source of water, users have adapted themselves to the situation (by changing the crops) and have continued to use the water available, irrespective of its quality. Low-cost technologies like riverbank filtration are also being tested for their relative merits (Lorenzen et al. 2010), and their wider use can be expected in the future.In general, community reflections on the past and present uses of wastewater, and the related advantages and disadvantages were similar to those stated by wastewater farmers of many other countries, but the responses were mixed for the same location, reflecting the individual experiences (Table 8). The most common response was that wastewater provides a reliable water supply, despite concerns of water quality. In Ahmedabad and Delhi, for some, the high nutrient content boosted vegetable production (Table 9), but for others the soil fertility had declined and impacted agricultural productivity. The latter attributed it to poor water quality affecting the soils. Some used less fertilizer, and felt that it was profitable, while those who received treated wastewater noted that the soil quality is being restored gradually and the income generated was significant (Table 10). Livestock-rearing was a popular livelihood activity in the study villages, but some reported that the health of livestock was affected due to wastewater consumption. In Kanpur, income was higher among the farmers using wastewater than those who used groundwater for fodder (Table 11). In the same city, staple crops like paddy and wheat appeared to have had a better profit margin than fodder or floriculture (roses), when wastewater was used for irrigation (Table 12). In Hyderabad, over 13 types of vegetable crops were grown with wastewater to supplement the household income, especially by women farmers living in the peri-urban regions (Jacobi et al. 2009). However, the landscapes were changing with vegetable farms being gradually pushed further afield, to accommodate the new city limits. The pattern these data show is that there is no clear-cut answer for how far and where the use of wastewater (or highly polluted stream water) is perceived as an advantage or disadvantage. There is a high degree of variability between soil and crop responses and water quality (Weldesilassie et al. 2011).The ECW ecosystem is a well-known example where wastewater is made an asset. These ecosystems support four principal r e s o u r c e -r e c o v e r y a n d r e u s e p r a c t i c e s namely, vegetable farms (using urban waste), wastewater-fed fishponds, paddy fields using fishpond effluent, and sewage-fed brackish water aquaculture. The wetlands cover an area of around 12,742 ha (water bodies: 4,728 ha; degraded water bodies: 1,124 ha; agricultural area: 4,960 ha; (urban waste) farming: 603 ha; and settlements: 1,327 ha) where up to 1,300 mld of wastewater are absorbed (IWMED 2004). The total area of sewage-fed fisheries is around 3,900 ha, with around 308 ha of fisheries managed by private concerns (93%), cooperatives (6%) and the State Government (less than 1%) (IWMED 2004;Kundu et al. 2005). In 1999-2000, estimated production for the ECW was 12.8 million kg of paddy, 6.9 million kg of fish and 69 million kg of vegetables (Chattopadhyay 2001), supporting a population of around 60,000. The     revenue generated was impressive, especially under vegetable cultivation (Table 13). The gross revenue across paddy, vegetables and fish of INR 266 million resulted in net returns of INR 80 million (Chattopadhyay 2001). However, the revenues were not used at all to improve the sanitation service chain as those benefiting from the wastewater are not linked to those responsible for its management.Wastewater carries many biological and chemical agents that pose hazards and can impact environmental and human health. Wastewaterrelated health impacts could be direct or indirect, manifesting as short-or long-term illness episodes. Most studies tend to look at potential health risks by identifying contaminants in water rather than actual crop contamination and human exposure during farm work or consumption of contaminated food. The well-known agents of wastewater-associated health hazards (biological and chemical), routes of infection and their relative importance are listed in Bos et al., 2010. The state-level Pollution Control Boards in India have the capacity to test a range of these parameters in their routine water-quality monitoring, including physical, chemical and biological parameters such as heavy metals and a variety of pesticides and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (CPCB 2008). The soil and agricultural products are not monitored routinely although they could be tested on request.Wastewater used for agriculture in the four cities is contaminated with sewage, and hospital and industrial wastes at different degrees, and the possible health impacts will depend on the pollution load, irrigation history and level of exposure on the respective sites. The water and soil-quality studies in all four study sites (Table 14) clearly showed the presence of elements that can have potential health impacts. Ahmedabad and Kanpur have a larger number of industries than the other three cities, and the impacts were evident in the water-quality parameters.There is plenty of evidence in the literature that particular chemical hazards have to be expected. Water, soil and grain analysis in sites close to Sabarmati River (Ahmedabad) showed elevated levels of some metals (Cd, Cr, Cu) in the river water and chromium and copper in the well water. High levels of lead were found in wheat irrigated with groundwater which was also contaminated (Table 14). Heavy metals (Cd, Pb and Zn) were a serious concern in and around Delhi, as several studies showed elevated levels (above the Indian standards under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act) (Awasthi 2000) in commonly eaten vegetables like spinach, okra, and cauliflower (Marshall et al. 2003;Singh and Kumar 2006). In Kanpur and Delhi, the surface water and soils were contaminated with a variety of metals (Cu, Cd, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn), discharged by small-scale industries which are not monitored stringently (Rawat et al. 2003(Rawat et al. , 2009)).However, Kaur and Rani (2006) found that in peri-urban farming lands of Delhi, bioavailability of metals like Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Pd in the soils and surface water/groundwater was within permissible limits, with the exception of one or two samples showing elevated levels, and the geological, soil pH, overirrigation and leaching characteristics of metals bringing out differential   occurrences of metals at specific sites. This shows that the contamination can be site-specific, and containment and abatement strategies need to map areas of actual pollution for realistic action plans.In general, data on short-and long-term illnesses due to wastewater handling were not available. Hospital-based data on wastewaterrelated diseases are in general difficult to separate from other exposures. Even more challenging are consumer surveys as in markets, where produce from different farms (safe irrigation water, poorquality water) gets usually mixed. The responses to illness episodes were therefore gathered from survey questionnaires and key informant interviews of health personnel in the cities.Responses to the questionnaire revealed that in Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad farmers complained of skin irritations, apart from the \"smell\" that caused breathing problems, but they did not consider it a major problem. Kolkata farmers were aware of the deteriorating water quality, and were taking precautionary measures to safeguard their skins when engaging in wastewater-related activities, using natural herbs and oils. Both Ahmedabad and Kanpur sites were cities with heavy industry, especially tanneries and, thus, their complaints were more pronounced, with visible ulceration, callous tissue formation, heavy skin irritations and dark finger nails. Public health concerns were raised over the high prevalence of helminth ova in commonly consumed vegetables like mint, lettuce, spinach, celery and parsley (Gupta et al. 2009). Increased risks of hookworm infections were observed in farmers (Hyderabad) engaging in sewage farming with high levels of helminth eggs (Asacris lumbricoides: 70 ova/l; hookworms: 76 ova/l; and Trichuris trichura: 4 ova/l) increasing the risk of nematode infections among wastewater farmers while further downstream of the Musi River waterrelated risks decreased significantly (Ensink et al. 2008). Significantly higher morbidity rates were also observed among wastewater farmers in Hyderabad compared to the morbidity rates of the control group that used groundwater for irrigation (Srinivasan and Ratna Reddy 2009). Although the communities did not complain, the health officials in the hospitals stated that dysentery/diarrhea, worm infections and skin problems were common among the communities, and a good majority did not seek treatment at government hospitals. Therefore, private practitioners and local quacks play an important role in treating these communities. As a result, these episodes never get into the overall health statistics. Epidemiological and microbiological investigations along with health economics studies are required to assess the health risks and economic costs associated with wastewater farming in the communities.I n s e v e r a l c a s e s , p r o d u c e g r o w n with contaminated water and soils showed contamination with heavy metals, and worm and bacterial agents. While a risk assessment of Pb and Cd in rice and fodder grass along the Musi River did not show critical levels (Simmons et al. 2007), a study in Varanasi (Sharma et al. 2009;Singh et al. 2004) reported heavy metals (Cd, Pd and Ni) in vegetables at the production and market sites, partly however due to dust deposition. A risk assessment study in Kanpur developed a risk quotient (RQ) for selected contaminants (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Pb), taking into account the daily intake via the medium -water, food grains, vegetables, milk, etc. -in which each toxicant would be transported into the human body and compared with the acceptable daily intake to study the health impacts. Setting the positive risk at an RQ of 1.0, none of the elements exceeded values above 1, although the contaminant levels were above the permissible values for vegetables. Long exposure to heavy metals is known to cause a number of neurobehavioral disorders (fatigue, insomnia, decreased concentration, depression, irritability, and gastric, sensory and motor symptoms), and farmers exposed to wastewater and contaminated sludge had significantly higher scores for neurobehavioral functions tested, than the controls (Table 15). Urine and blood samples of residents working in the wastewater sites of Kanpur had heavy metals and pesticide residues so that long-term impacts can be expected unless exposure is minimized (Singh et al. 2004).The threshold values of biological as well as chemical hazards associated with wastewater use in agriculture were the foci of previous 1989 WHO guidelines while the newer guidelines adopted a more holistic approach, including a multi-barrier approach and health-based targets for reduction of health risks (WHO 2006). Risk minimization along the exposure pathway from producer to consumers of wastewater irrigated produce offers more opportunities where lowquality water is used than reliance on farm restrictions (Scheierling et al. 2010;Drechsel et al. 2010).Disease burdens associated with wastewater cannot be studied in isolation, as sanitation infrastructure, general hygienic behavior and socioeconomic factors contribute to the overall health status of a community. Low socioeconomic status, poor housing and lack of access to basic amenities like clean water can further confound findings. Cross-sectional and longitudinal health surveys, as well as market surveys for contamination and economic analyses are needed to assess the real health impacts of wastewater use in agriculture (Hanjra et al. 2012, Forthcoming).This study attempted to look at the overall urban wastewater challenges in India (generation, its uses, livelihood benefits and health impacts). It shows that wastewater management in India is becoming an enormous challenge, as urbanization and economic development are outpacing the required infrastructural development. In an attempt to keep up with the demand, municipal authorities are giving high priority to accessing drinking water, to the extent that large volumes of water are being transported from long distances (150 km) that are part of the rural agricultural waterscape. With concerns over high costs of lifting water, energy prices, river pollution, impacts on groundwater and, above all, water scarcity, a renewed interest is generated in looking at wastewater as an asset. However, much needs to be done to explore its full economic potential as direct and indirect reuse of untreated wastewater dominates formal reuse by far. Clearly, this study shows that wastewater needs to be considered as an important component of the water cycles within catchments, if meaningful water management plans are to be implemented within the country. In each landscape, water augmentation has to be considered in conjunction with different wastewater treatment strategies for multiple uses, and should be supported by public policy and social incentives. It can then potentially not only safeguard the downstream users but also provide economic opportunities for alternative uses of wastewater within cities and support the ecosystem services that constitute an integral part of all forms of life. A countrywide approach for wastewater use in agriculture could capture the diversity seen in the Indian context, and could best be done at state level, by identifying nodal agencies for systematic data collection. Indeed, all states must look at the alternative uses of wastewater for their cities, emphasizing the regional priorities, so that effective wastewater management plans can be developed to face the future with less freshwater. The ongoing dispute between states within India for freshwater as well as for wastewater-turned-freshwater shows the urgency of this matter.Assessments of wastewater generation and treatment in the country have improved within the last 10 years although there are still many sewers ending without treatment plants in rivers as well as with treatment plants with a large enough sewer network to reach treatment capacity. The wastewater generated needs to be treated in order to protect the groundwater and ecosystems, and reduce downstream impacts where many livelihoods are supported (CPCB 2009). However, treatment levels can also be designed to meet the requirements of end users but this requires adequate discussion at locations where wastewater is to be used. If at sectoral level, categories of treatment for end use can be agreed upon, and it can be part of the municipal development plan, making effective use of wastewater generated in the cities. Moreover, if annual assessments are made at the city/state level, based on an agreed format, CPCB can perform nationwide projections more effectively, and in a timely manner. With advances made in the IT sector, India could well afford to develop an information management system that connects the entire country. However, capacity-building and the infrastructure have to be developed side by side for an overall positive outcome.Assessments on wastewater irrigated agriculture and livelihood benefits of wastewater are complex. Estimates of potential irrigable land using simple or complex methods have been attempted (Raschid-Sally 2010;Van Rooijen et al. 2010). Using a crude method of calculation, this study found that over 1.1 Mha of land could be irrigated with wastewater generated from Class-I cities and Class-II towns across India. Where wastewater supplies for irrigation are provided through dedicated channels and infrastructure, calculation of potential irrigable land is easier than when wastewater is mixed with, and supplied via, natural waterways. This is because dilution changes the water quality, and estimations may require a different modeling approach altogether as currently underway by IWMI. More methods can be developed by using water-quality parameters, crop types and soil conditions. Modern tools like RS/GIS and more precise mapping of drainage networks can also provide better overall outcomes that can help assess the nutrient loads leaving the city. The urban planning sector which is currently embarking on GIS-based mapping of municipal areas can make land-use mapping as part of their program of work, to develop baselines, upon which future studies can be modeled. Wastewater irrigation can be a dynamic process in the periurban areas, and land-use patterns can change with development and socioeconomic change; therefore, assessments need to involve robust methods to capture this dynamism, spatially and temporally.Benefits in terms of income generation from wastewater use for marginal farmers were more than evident from the case studies. For many, wastewater agriculture was a primary or secondary income source. Case studies showed that wastewater farmers spent less on inputs, and where the nutrient sources could be balanced the outcome was more positive (Delhi, Kanpur and Kolkata) in terms of cost savings and economic returns. This was only based on agricultural production, and a more holistic economic analysis needs to be done to capture the net private benefits to the households and social benefits to the communities.Wastewater agriculture is however not without negative externalities, and health impacts on farmers and consumers are of significant concern as reported above. From an Indian context more studies are required in the areas of wastewater irrigated agriculture, health and food safety, and health economics, specifically at the farm and consumer levels, to capture the diverse settings in which the problems exist. Risk assessment tools like Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) and Quantitative Chemical Risk Assessment (QCRA) can be used to assess the potential risk, which should then be addressed through multiple barrier approaches with health-based targets for risk reduction (WHO 2006). In contrast to the African situation, in India, more emphasis needs to be placed on wastewater treatment processes that remove heavy metals, which appear to have much higher levels than in most parts of Africa (Raschid-Sally and Jayakody 2008).This study suggests a data collection and collation template for assessing the wastewater generation and use within the country. It requires inputs from many sectors and can be further developed at sectoral level, to identify the gaps and include the required institutional capabilities. Such a template will also help strategize on treatment scenarios for respective cities together with economic aspects of wastewater treatment and reuse in India (Mekala et al. 2008a(Mekala et al. , 2008b)). Further, decision makers may find it useful for developing a more holistic national approach for wastewater use in agriculture, with the advantage of feeding national data straight into international databases.Wastewater management and treatment cannot be planned in isolation. They have to be a core part of the strategic plans for water supply and sanitation, irrigation and drainage, energy, and environmental services and other uses (World Bank 2004). Moreover, it becomes very important to consider these aspects in light of water availability for cities, and to highlight the need for continuous inter-sectoral dialogue and action plans to address the ever-increasing water demands (World Bank 2010). Integration of water resources development with water services can provide more support for agricultural water management. India being today more urban and peri-urban than rural, it is time safe wastewater use for agriculture was made a priority in its water development agenda."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6c2652c605769d91cc8f176a06d8448e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H_11971.pdf","id":"1439510380"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"33bd3f1a-dade-4907-9bb4-fd061814dde2","content":"This Progress Report on the Project \"Managing Irrigation Systems to Minimize Waterlogging and Salinity Problems\" covers the half yearly period ending December 31, 1992.During the Report Period fielc research activities a t the established research locales on the Upper and Lower Gugera Branch canal of the Lower Chenab Canal (LCC) system and on the Fordwah Sadiqiia Canal System were completed for the Kharif (summer) season and extended, with modifications, for the following Rabi (winter) season.The analytical work based on the field data, focussed on the identification of management interventions which could improve the canal operations in conjunction with groundwater use and also mitigale the adverse impacts of emerging secondary soil salinization. The result of this work were presented in substantive papers presented at IIMl's 1992 IPR (IIMI Internal Program Review).The management intervention: taken up with the Punjab Irrigation Department (PID) in one Division of the LCC were extended t o another Division of that system and proposals were drawn up for initiating similar work on the Fordwah Branch from early 1993. Progress was also made with the development of Decision Support \"Tools\" t o be used in managing the irrigation systems.The use of GIS was advanced 3y developing base maps at different scales and with progressively greater detail down to the tertiary level for the areas for which field research data had been collected.A number of reports were biought out during the report period and work progressed on the forthcoming publications. This Progress Report, following the format of the earlier Reports, describes all the above activities in greater detail.The field research activities Llnder the Project, complementing other IIMI-Pak research activities, were continued a t the three established locations in the Punjab. These consisted of the follow through of the Kharif season program and the initiation of the activities for the following Rabi season starting from October 1992. In addition, special research activities were carriad out at the main system and tertiary levels. A brief description of these activities is given in the following sections.In the data collection program laken up for the Rabi season for the Upper Gugera and Lower Gugera sites, the collection of irrigation application data was terminated except for the Kharif crops yet t o be harvested and at the main system level the focus was shifted t o canal performance. A1 the watercourse level in the Upper Gugera area, continued monitoring of the tubewclls was restricted to four watercourse on the Mananwala distributary. Watercoursi? level work in the Lower Gugera was confined t o the monitoring of groundwater levels only and collection of rainfall data.The data on canal performance, which would relate to the on-going interventions, includes the measurement of the water surface elevations and flow velocities at selected locations on the distributaries including a complete hydraulic survey of the Pir Mahal distributary.In addition t o this data collectioi program a Rapid Appraisal t o extend the results of earlier research findings, has been proposed for the Mananwala distributary which will involve a tubewell census and a surface salinity survey. This is expected t o refine RA techniques for wider application in Punjab. As mentioned in the previous Report, the analysis of the data pertaining t o the role of tubewells in a conjunctive environment was carried forward, with additional data covering the Karkan Minor of the Marianwala distributary. In this work, apart from the physical aspects of groundwater de telopment as related to the availability of canal supplies (tubewell characteristics, densities, usage, water quality) attention was also directed t o the socio-economic facto1.s and in particular t o water markets. Secondary information on cropping patterns and cropping intensities was collected for this purpose. While the preliminary analysis did not establish clear trends, it was apparent that tubewell water quality was a maior determinant of tubewell operation timewith lower usage rates related to groundwater of higher salinities. Similarly, the results indicate that both the availability of ttie irrigation water from the canals and the quality of groundwater determine the extent of water trading. The results of this work would be reported in early 1993 after all thl? analyses are completed.The analysis of canal water otiservations for Mananwala distributary (4 years) and its minor Karkan (2 years) was concluded and an internal report was prepared by Erik van Waijjen entitled: Performance of Mananwala Distributary and Karkan Minor. This paper discusses in detail the observed trends along the canals of (variations in) water levels and outlets discharges, cising many graphs to show the results of different ways of aggregation and analysis of the data. Several factors are identified that affect the amount and variability of the wEter supply to the outlets, such as outlet design, siltation of the canals and diverse interventions such as temporary pipes, cuts by farmers, breaches of 'ghat' points, etc:., and their relative importance for different canal reaches are discussed.Apart from the continuing Kharif data collection activities, a data collection program for Rabi, similar in scope t o lhat at the other field sites, was taken up. A t the main system level, the canal perform,mce of the Fordwah Branch was included and at the watercourse level the focus W E S on the monitoring of tubewells in 5 sample watercourses and a tubewell censiis for three distributaries. In addition, it was proposed to monitor water tables along the Chistian Drain in collaboration with WAPDA Planning (Central).In continuation of the work executed by 2 groups of research associates from Delft University in Rabi I99011991 and Rabi 199111992. reported upon in previous progress reports, a study was initiated on the performance of the Fordwah Branch and its off-taking secondary canals in Kharif 1992. Because the system is non-perennial, hydraulic conditions and requirements are distinctly different in both seasons. Clearly the stress on the system is greater in Kharif than in Rabi as the main canal in Rabi carries only 30% of the average discharge of Kharif. The results of this study were presented at IIMl's Internal Programrrle Review IIPR) in Colombo, Sri Lanka in a paper entitled \"Irrigation Management in the Fordwah Branch Command Area South East Punjab, Pakistan\" by Marcel Kuper and Jacob W. Kijne. The abstract of this paper is attached as Annex 111. The authors found that the information on which operational decisions by the system managers are made are not reliable and even fictitious in some cases. Gauge readings often reflect the official situation rather than actual conditions. Operations are often not transparent, both for the operating agency and for the farmers. As a consequence operating instructions are often contradictory. farmers put pressure on personnel at various levr!ls of the ID and ID does not have the data to counter requests from influentials.Another finding is that while operating staff appears very independent, guidelines t o operate the various structures in the system by the system managers are very limited, resulting in a high variability in the discharge throughout the system and a declining amount of water delivered to secondary canals going from head t o tail due t o limited local objectives of staff. On to/) of this it was found that most structures in the study area do not have rating tables or have rating tables that are outdated. Finally it was established that farmers are irrigai ing very efficiently with Relative Water Supplies between 0.8 and 1 .O both in Kharif 1991 and in Kharif 1992.Early in 1993, a collaboration will be initiate with the Irrigation Department on a number of issues that were raised in this paper. A management intervention, focussing on the information systerri, will be designed with the Irrigation Department to assist in improving the performmce of the irrigation system. Along with that, modelling of the Fordwah Branch will continue to assess the impact of present operational practices and to forecasl the effect of management interventions.The Discussion Paper No. 6 (the Appropriateness of Canal Water Supplies: the Response of the Farmers1 has highlighted the importance of water trading in the 5 watercourses studied by IIMI. To gain a better understanding of water markets, further data analysis was undertaken since the last Progress Report. The first draft of a forthcoming Discussion Paper on water markets was prepared.It seems very important now to go further into the analysis of these water markets. Data collected by IlMl in o:her field stations has shown that water markets are common but quite diversified ac1:ording to the quality of the groundwater or the supply of canal water. Of first impotance will be t o understand the impact of water markets on the allocation of water o f different qualities within watercourses, on the process of salinization and eventualllr on the agricultural production.The progress on the continuing special activities mentioned in the last Progress Report is detailed hereunder:The study that was mentioned in the last progress report, on the processes of planning, coordinating and implemenl ing the maintenance and repair (M&R) activities during the annual canal closure perioc, was finalized. The results were reported in the form The Study of the land reclamstion operations of the PID undertaken by the Department jointly with the Directorate of Land Reclamation (DLR), through the provision of 'reclamation shoots' was initiated before the onset of the operational Kharif season, as brought out in the last Prcgress Report. The study was intended to bring out the organizational and operational constraints of the DLR and PID which detract from the realization of the fullest tienefits from the additional irrigation supplies sanctioned for the reclamation of sali7e soils. It was expected that the study would help t o define management interventions which could be undertaken cooperatively to address the problems of emerging secondary soil salinization manifested by the past IlMl work.This study covering both the institutional and physical aspects, was taken up jointly by the IlMl Irrigation Management Specialist and the Principal Irrigation Engineer, in close collaboration with the staff of the DLR.Relevant information was collected from a sample of 20 watercourses on the Upper Gugera, Lower Gugera and Burala Branches of the LCC, where the 'reclamation shoots' were operational in different stages of the 3-year cycle or where they had been terminated earlier. Flow conditions on the 7 channels on which 'reclamation shoots' were operational were monitored at the head and tails during the operational period July to mid October through periodic measurements to relate discharge with the sanctioned amounts. The respective! roles of the DLR & ID staff at different levels in the sanctioning, installation, operai:ions and closure of the 'shoots' and for the distribution of the additional supplies were determined through interviews. Interviews with farmers and in particular with resource persons were conducted t o collect information on the actual conduct of the reclamation operations through the 'shoots' and their imDact.With the completion of the ficld work the analysis of the data was taken up which would be reported in early 1993. The preliminary analysis so far undertaken has indicated many areas where improvwnents may be possible. Some of the relevant findings are:-Although originally intended lor lands with salinity, based on visual annual surveys, classed as Thur Juzvi (land salt affected t o be extent of 20%) and Thur Nau (land gone out of cultivation during preceding five years) reclamation operations in practice cover all types of land.-Against the officially prescribecl period ( 1 6th April to 15th October), reclamation supplies are restricted t o a period of only 3 to 3 1/2 months from July 1 t o Oct 15, with water allocation of 1.56 litlslha in perennial and 1 . I Glitlslha in nonperennial canal commands.-Although the DLR prepares a comprehensive documentation for the selected watercourses for the reclamation of about 45 acres (in a compact block owned by one farmer, or scattered) tcl qualify for a pipe outlet of I c l s capacity, the selection process is subjective znd not strictly related t o the salinity status of the soils.-The superior role of the PID staff in sanctioning and installing 'reclamation shoots' results in deviations frcim the plans developed by the DLR.--'Reclamation shoots' are genc!rally given in the upper half of the channels which impacts adversely on the equity in water distribution.The farmers are keen t o get 'reclamation shoots' sanctioned for their lands as they contribute t o greater agricultural production and improvement of the lands.On the warabandi study initiated by the Manaqement SDecialist two field visits were made by the Senior Field Resesrch Economist, 6 the Punjab sites, and a detailed questionnaire was prepared for colltction of more field data through the field teams. Meanwhile, data already collected by the field teams in connection with the normal field activities were reviewed on the corisideration that fresh data collection may not be necessary if the existing data base could be optimally used. This data base was scrutinized t o find out which aspects of it could be used. This involved the identification of a common set of watercourses between those to which available data relates and those on which crop yield data had been collected for earlier studies, isolation of data that correspcnded to the same period as for earlier study, identification of the institutional variables included in this whole data set irrespective of the categorimtion given above, so that they can be used appropriately in the waraband I study.The objective of the warabandi study includes an assessment of the potential of farmer-managed water distribution a1 the watercourse level with a view to finding out ways in which farmers can be involved in solving salinity related problems. Another important issue under investigation is the operation of equity criterion embodied in the warabandi system as the inequitable water distribution is seen as a major cause of exacerbating the salinity problem at :he tail-end command areas.Based on the review of the existing data, it has been established that additional data will have to be collected from the field for which a programme would be launched in Jan. 1993.The work on the study of Saliqity Prevention Flows which was to be initiated during the report period, could not be taken up, due t o the engagement of the Irrigation Specialist o n other more pressing assignments. This work would n o w be taken up from early 1993. During the report period activiiies related to the development of an operational Geographic Information System (GI31 progressed t o a stage where the ability of generating value-added maps specific to irrigation concerns was satisfactorily established. Given the variety of data sets collected from the field pertaining to the physical performance of the irrigation system and associated farmers' practices, the task of spatial and temporal representations across a wide range of map scales was t o be an important prelude to the geographic synthesis of GIS-related archives. As such, much of the initial work focussed on map-entry from originals as disparate as Survey of Pakistan map sheets, PID, irrigation system command maps, and SPOT Panchromatic satellite imagery.Following operational set up of the GIS facilities at Lahore office, there was an early need (and expectation) within the IIMI-Pak Staff regarding some demonstrable utility of spatially-attributed irrigation-specificconcerns, especially in respect of the data collected from a host of IlMl Field Staiions. Prior t o any such undertaking, the primary requirements for geographical referencing for variables of interest had to be satisfied. Selection of appropriatevariables for mappedloverlay representations had to encompass the following constraints: level of detail for a given variable of interest varied considerably amongst field sites; i * some sampling sites were too few and far between; watercourse plans for sampl ng sites required updates for their respective boundaries; coordinate referencing ( t h r o u ~~h Survey of Pakistan top0 map sheets) was unavailable for a geographic aiea covered by a field station (Hasilpur); irrigation system plans for soine of the distributary commands had not been updated for over 50 years, and ones that did exist lacked geo-referencing and contained scale anomalies; * * the rigorous nature of detail (lathered from some watercourses necessitated minimum mapping unit of sizt! of Ca. 1 acre, which when compared across Mauza (village maps) resulted n discrepancies of alignments and identification (according to irrigation revenue scheme) These, and many other constraints conditioned choices of initial mapped products. Much work focussed on t7e collection of PID irrigation system plans, the aggregation of tabular data specific t o the mapping units, and selection of control points for georeferencing PI0 maps for subsequent digitizing. The choice of inputs for the mapped inventory was inclusive <if the following: x 40 K m came from interpreted SFOT satellite imagery at a of 1:40,000. The coordinate referencing was against the 1:50,000 scale Survey of Pakistan sheets. The essential hydrologic parameters were, in turn, used to correctlupdate the PID command maps of Lagar and Mananwala distributaries. For Lagar distributary in particular, the ccimplete tubewell census data (399 tubewells) was georeferenced for interpolation on silanificant physical and chemical parameters. Also as part of the support activity for the Rabi season 1992-93 data collection program, the preparation of watercourse-level maps was taken up so that the collected data sets could be absorbed within a spatial framework. Previously collected information on Lagar and Mananwala distributaries will also be referenced accordingly.As an initial step in the spatial analysis of the variables of interest, a Case Study was undertaken for the Fordwah-Eastern Sadiqia System both a t the distributary and watercourse level. This involved the preparation of working base maps using information from different sources and interpolating the point source information for spatial representation. The results, of this study were reported by the IIMI-Pak Consultant, Ms. Nanny Gijsen in a paper entitled; \"Geographic Information System -Perspective for //MI-Pakistan\" This study also indicated the approaches to be used for extending the utility of GIS by carryirig out rapid appraisals to capture the variables of interest impacting on the cropping and soils through variation in irrigation water quantity and quality.As part of projection of IIMI-Pak's emerging GIS capability and achievements t o date, a Pakistan Corner was arranged at the inauguration in December 1992 of IlMl Headquarters at Sri Lanka. Poster displays were set up which depicted the irrigation system layout and its performance iri the context of IIMI-Pak's field operations in the Hasilpur and Farooqabad Field Statioii coverages.In line with IIMl's theme on Improving Public Irrigation Organizations and Operational Management of Water delivery and Disposal, the Watercourse Monitoring and Evaluation (WM&E) Directorate of WAPDA approached IlMl for technical assistance in the adoption of GIS technology for the Fordwah/Eastern Sadiqia (South) Irrigation and Drainage Project. The Project ha:; as its objectives t o remove severe water supply constraints in the area by improving delivery efficiency besides lowering of the water table through surface drainage. The objective of the TA component, spread over 5 years, is to enhance WM&E's monitoring and planning capabilities, and with its operationalizing, a cooperative progi'amme of GIS applications is foreseen in the near future.Relating to management intervention of Delivery Accountability, the joint IIMI-ID program of discharge measurements and calibration of submerged structures was completed successfully in Lower Gugera Canal Division of LCC East Canal Circle during April, 1992 as reported already in the last Progress Report. As per decisions taken in Working Group meeting of IIVII-ID, held at Lahore on 23 June 1992, a seminar was arranged at the PID's Faisalabacl Zone headquarters on 30 July 1992. A total of 38, ID professional (SE, XEN , SDO) and semi professional staff participated in the proceedings of the seminar.The utility of the data for addressing the operational problems was fully explained to the participants of the seminar. The Executive Engineer Lower Gugera Division was requested to develop an Action Plarl according to which the inventory of all control points in the Lower Gugera Canal was to be completed as early as possible and t o be followed with the calibration of remaining structures. ID was also requested to assess the needs of structural remodelling.ID completed inventory of remgining control points in Lower Gugera Division b y the end of October 1992 and the same was submitted to IlMl for review in the first week of November 1992.It was clearly mentioned durirlg the execution of Stage I and Stage II of joint discharge measurements that the ID has to purchase a set of current meters for utilizing the built up capability and to calibrats the system as a whole. As the ID had t o face procedural difficulties, IlMl decided :o procure a complete current meter for loan t o the ID. With the availability of the i l o w measuring equipment the follow-up on the activity of calibrating all the control points in Lower Gugera Division, was scheduled t o be decided in a meeting with the Exeixtive Engineer and his Sub Divisional Officers in early Jan 1993.As per decision taken by the llbll-ID working group to extend the program in LCC West Circle, a reconnaissance of the channels along the Jhang Branch of Faisalabad Division, West Circle was carried out on 29 July, 1992. A detailed visit of the control points in Faisalabad Division was caried out for t w o days, from 5 October to 6 October, 1992. The list of contrA points for calibration and the selection of participants for training was finalized during this visit. The start of the activity in Faisalabad Division was fixed for 11 November through 13 November. This was however, not possible because of sudden transfer of the Executive Engineer. The revised program is to be chalked oui in consultation with the new Executive Engineer.It is planned it would be started immediately after the end of annual canal closure of 1993, from the 1st week of Febiuary 1993.As mentioned in the Seventh Progress Report efforts were under way t o select only one model for both Main and Secondary Canals. Accordingly, during the period under report, the use of SIC software was tested the CRBC Canal and Lagar Distributary. This model like RAJBAH is a simulation model which has been used for many irrigation canals worldwide (CIEMAGREF-1990). The main feature of the model is to represent the canal hydraulics while at the same time possessing an interface that is user friendly. The model can provide answers t o practical problems that the canal managers face.The application of the softwarci consists of three modules: a topographic module; a steady state module and an unsteEidy module. The application of this model t o both CRBC main canal and Lagar distriliutary indicated that the model would require modifications/ additions for general use t o Pakistan Canals such as proper structural representation of offtakes etc.The operational aspects of Main Canal and optimal benefits of limited maintenance for the distributary were taken up for study using SIC model. Activities under taken during the period comprised of the following: 1.The SIC model was used for studying the design limitations of the CRBC, a system intended for crop-based operations.The SIC model was applied to Lagar distributary for testing of different operational and maintenance options. The model verification and calibration were completed and thereafter desiltation as a management option was tested. The preliminary results indicated that the impact of desiltation as a management activity can be fully simulated in terms of full desiltation from head to tail or partial desiltation with varied depth of excavation. The resulting improvement in tail supply and reduction in discharges of outlets in headreach can be monitored easily on the basis of which the final maintenance option can be selected.Every year during Kharif seiison the Irrigation Department allows some temporary outlets along the distributary for reclamation. The present practice is t o allow these temporary outlets without any regard to their effect on tail supply. With the use of the niodel the flow distribution along distributary could be simulated by adding the proposed temporary outlets providing a rational approach for the authorization of these outlets, The use of the model was taken up for the large Pir Mahal Distributary simulating the maintenance options. The paper describes preliminary results of SIC model applications for t w o different canal systems, a main canal system designed for crop based irrigation (CRBC) and a supply driven distributary system designed t o distribute available water equitably. Simulation scenarios for the first system were related t o the study of hydraulic evaluation, design limitations and operational problems while for the second system simulation technique was used t o prioritize the maintenance requirements.In the workshop the IIMI-Pak Pakistan team actively participated in group discussion which covered different aspects of the subject; e.g. the data requirements of mathematical models, their field calibration and cost effectiveness. In IlMl Research area, ID during annual closure of 1992 desilted t w o main channels namely Lagar and Pir Mahal from head to tail with heavy investment. IlMl Pakistan therefore, decided to underlake a special research activity t o determine the impact of this maintenance on the pwformance of the channel and also to know the rate of deterioration with time. maintenance but also for making effective use of maintenance investments.The research methodology consisted of monthly measurements of velocity at various points along the length of i e channel. The tail gauge was also monitored simultaneously. The preliminary analysis of data collected has provided a good insight as to the locations where the actual silt deposition is taking place. It is proposed t o extend this activity following the canal closure at the end of the year. First and foremost is the continuatiori and strengthening of collaboration with system managers of the Irrigation Department in the implementation of management changes. These activities follow directly from the work done in preceding years o n 'management interventions', particularly on accouiitability within the system with respect t o the amount of water received and passed on to the next (sub-) division, and on the collaborative development of a decision support package for making management decisions on maintenance and operation of the systems. These activities include among others, the establishment of formal workplans with the SDO's and XEN's in charge of the systems where these activities take place, in order to gain a degree of commitment from the concerned irrigation staff.Another element of the same item clf the Workplan is an assessment of the data need of system managers. In other words, what is the minimum set of data needed t o operate rather than t o administer the system. This would include listing of essential control points t o be calibrated for distribution of flows in accordance with the objectives as specified by the system manager. The research question we aim t o answer through this set of activities is whether it is possible to effect a management change that would lead t o an alteraiion of water distribution and allocation within the system.The second main part of the Workplan for 1993 is to synthesize the results of various studies of salt and water balances cirried out at watercourse, farm and field level, The underlying question that needs t o be answered to the extent that the available data allow, is: h o w do current managemf nt practices affect the development of secondary salinity, and what are the expectelj benefits and costs of suggested management changes. There is an obvious link with the work described in section 2.2.2, the collaborative study with the Directorate of Land Reclamation. From the results of this field study it is apparent that improvements in the management of reclamation flows could be attained. Strong data on the impact of current water management practices at farm level on the incidence and dlwelopment of secondary salinity are expected to help bring about a desire t o make changes in the management and allocation of reclamation flows. An economic analysis of expected benefits and costs is an essential component of the study for 1993.Another element of the same set of activities under this part of the Workplan is a study of the water distribution at watercoLrse level, the so called warabandi. The objective of the study, which will be brought i o closure during 1993, is to assess the potential of farmer involvement in the water distribution at watercourse level in order to mitigate the development of soil salinity. In theory, water distribution among farmers on the same watercourse is equitable, in prclportion to the land holding, but in reality it is not. Power and influence are often decisive in the allocation of water. The resulting inequitable water distribution is seen as a major cause of secondary salinity in tail reaches of command areas. An impoitant objective of the study, therefore, is t o assess the effect of restoring equity of distrilJution through organized farmer behaviour on the development of soil salinity.The next main area of the Workplan is the implementation of a rapid appraisal of the occurrence of profile salinity and wat8?r quality of pumped groundwater in areas whereIlMl has not set up detailed field studies. The methodology for the rapid appraisal has been developed based on measuring techniques and data analysis of the detailed studies done in IIMI-P's research arf!as. It is expected that the results of the rapid appraisal study will help to understaiid the spatial distribution of the salinity effects. This knowledge is essential in dealing with sector-level management issues. In other words, sector-level institutions (provincial irrigation department, or federal agencies such as the Ministry of Water and Fower and WAPDA) should react differently t o a perceived threat to the sustainability of irrigated agriculture from secondary salinity if it occurs incidentally, or when it is widespread.An additional study of IIMI-P. is t o review the irrigation goals in Pakistan. The purpose of the activity is t o document and critically examine the hierarchy of goals which presently govern irrigation operatioris and investment in Pakistan. The activity is central t o a more comprehensive and systematic assessment of irrigation performance in the country. One of the componerits of the review is t o the goals for the water resources, irrigated agriculture, and irrigation subsectors. This part of the review deals separately with (a1 official public goals, such as equity of distribution mentioned above, and (b) the interpretation given these goals by irrigation system managers.These can be regarded respectively iis formal and operational goals. The operational goals might contain also some personal goals which do not have official sanction or legitimacy. The study is carried out ointly with staff of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and it is cxpected that the findings of the review will be presented at a workshop during the !;econd half of 1993.Another study by IIMI-P., also jointly undertaken with IFPRI, which has relevance for the salinity project, is a study of wzter markets. Preliminary work was done during 1992, and it is hoped that more exteisive field work can be undertaken during 1993.It has been observed that informal water markets exist in Pakistan, mainly with respect t o pumped groundwater, but some instances of a water market of canal water have also been recorded. While there is considerable interest from the Government of Pakistan and from donors in greater piivate sector involvement t o stimulate agricultural production, not much is known about how water markets work, nor h o w they affect the quality of irrigation services, agricultural production, and environmental sustainability. Obviously, informal markets of pumped groundwater could compensate for inequity in water distribution and allocation of canal water, but not without a cost in terms of the quality of irrigation water. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7b7f7ed942408341ec61a8276305ed47","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9e2ffc8e-8f48-4980-bf0e-25eb498e01de/retrieve","id":"87856687"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a594311b-eb88-4292-ac58-b5664f205615","content":"with its partners, leads the implementation of the WISER project \"Enhancing Climate Change Resilience in East Africa (ECREA),\" funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO). This two-year initiative directly targets 400,000 bean farmers and indirectly impacts 3 million bean value chain actors across Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.Through ECREA, bean crop farmers in these countries, particularly women and youths, will gain access to crucial climate and weather information and advisories. This empowerment will enhance their adaptive capacities and resilience against climate shocks, leading to increased productivity for food security and income generation. These sentiments were expressed by ECREA project partners and stakeholders during the official kick-off and launch workshop held at Hotel des Mille Collines, Kigali, from November 29th to 30th, 2023.The kick-off and launch workshop convened stakeholders and implementing partners, including National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), National Meteorological and Hydrological Systems (NMHS) from the four target countries, ICPAC, media houses, UK Met Office, FCDO, Rwanda Water Board (RWB), and Rwanda Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI). The workshop's objectives were to officially launch the ECREA project, understand, review, and design project activities, work plans, approaches, budgets, timelines, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL), Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI), and facilitate cross-learning of best practices from each country's bean production hub.Africa (ECREA) Project, an initiative of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) through the WISER program. As we continue to face the profound impacts of climate variability and change, particularly in regions like Eastern Africa, it is more crucial than ever to strengthen our resilience and adaptability.The ECREA Project was conceived in response to the pressing need for improved Weather and Climate Information Services (WCIS) in East Africa, where smallholder farmers face significant challenges due to unpredictable seasonal climate conditions. Our primary objective is to enhance the quality, accuracy, user responsiveness, and reach of WCIS in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania. By doing so, we aim to close the critical gaps that currently undermine climate resilience for bean value chain actors at various levels.A key aspect of our project is the focus on both the supply and demand sides of WCIS. We are working closely with local and international partners to ensure that the information provided is not only scientifically robust but also accessible and actionable for those who need it most-our smallholder farmers. The anticipated outcome is to empower these farmers and other stakeholders to make informed decisions that will mitigate the risks associated with climate variability and enhance their overall resilience.The Project officially launched with a kick-off workshop held at Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali, Rwanda, from November 29th to 30th, 2023.The workshop brought together key stakeholders and implementing partners, including representatives from National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), National Meteorological and Hydrological Systems (NMHS) from the four target countries, ICPAC, media houses, the UK Met Office, FCDO, Rwanda Water Board (RWB), and Rwanda's Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI)Subsequently, we have conducted Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) trainings in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. These trainings are instrumental in equipping our stakeholders with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively utilize climate information in agricultural decision-making. Through PICSA, we are building the capacity of farmers and extension workers to interpret and apply climate data to enhance agricultural productivity and resilience.The ECREA Project is more than just a response to climate challenges-it is a commitment to building a resilient future for the people of East Africa. We are excited about the journey ahead and look forward to working with all of you to achieve our shared goals.Thank you for your continued support and collaboration.Scientist & Project Leader Enhancing Climate Change Resilience in East Africa (ECREA) Project Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT Dear Partners and Stakeholders, of the ECREA project will be enhanced WCIS utilized to inform plans, policies, and decision-making at regional, national, and local levels.Why ECREA?ECREA is a regional project spanning four countries in East Africa, with a primary focus on bean farming systems. Why beans? Because, as Livingstone, the ECREA Project Coordinator, pointed out, \"most households in East Africa are engaged in bean production, and every bean farmer also cultivates other crops within the bean farming systems.\" ECREA builds upon the previous work of PABRA by targeting various bean production hubs (Figure 1), where the majority of ECREA's target farmers derive their food, income, and sources of proteins and carbohydrates. However, bean research leaders from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda participating the ECREA project launch asserted that the production of beans in these hubs does not reach its full potential due to various stresses, including abiotic and biotic factors, with the effects of climate change being particularly detrimental to bean production. Timely and tailored provision of weather and climate information in these bean production hubs could enhance farmers' resilience. Unfortunately, the current reach of Weather and Climate Information Services (WCIS) provided by government-funded National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS) does not meet expectations.Livingstone emphasized that ECREA will contribute to supporting existing efforts in bean production hubs by empowering vulnerable farmers with access to contextualized information and the capacity to interpret and utilize it effectively in their farming activities. This sentiment was reiterated by John, the coordinator of WISER in East Africa, who emphasized that ECREA targets beans because they are one of the most crucial food crops grown by vulnerable smallholder farmers in the region, prone to climate shocks. Additionally, beans offer numerous nutritional and financial benefits, thereby contributing to increased household incomes. \"During the launch of the ECREA project, John noted, \"ECREA will collaborate with NMHS from the four countries for the provision, translation, delivery, and utilization of WCIS. It will engage in coproducing agro-advisory services for the bean value chain actors across the four countries.\"Why ECREA Embraces a Multidisciplinary Approach?During the ECREA launch, it was emphasized that leveraging PABRA's bean production hubs enables ECREA to seamlessly integrate its Agro-Climate Advisory Committees (AACs) into established bean production hubs across Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Participants at the launch workshop were informed about the necessity for the ECREA project to employ multiple approaches to directly disseminate agro-climate advisory services to 400,000 bean farmers and indirectly reach three million bean farmers. The project aims to achieve this through three main strategies: a. Strengthening the institutional capacity of National Meteorological and Hydrogeological systems to deliver co-produced Impact Based Early Warning Systems (IBEWS) and Weather and Climate Information Services (WCIS) products in formats and delivery modalities that enhance uptake and inclusive use by farmers and value chain actors in the bean sector.b. Enhancing the institutional capacity of National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) to effectively translate and deliver Agro-Climate Advisories to bean value chains. This will be achieved by operationalizing regional WCIS/IBEWS fora, promoting knowledge sharing, and guiding the development of effective regional strategies and approaches towards national adoption.c. Employing Agro Advisory Committees (AACs), Radio Listeners clubs (RLCs), Participatory Integrated Climate services for Agriculture (PICSA) methodology, and both digital and non-digital tools to empower and capacitate farmers (including women and youth) to demand, access, and utilize a co-produced suite of WCIS and IBEWS.The project team lead and other workshop facilitators at the ECREA launch dedicated time to emphasize the crucial role of innovative approaches in propelling the dissemination plan of the ECREA project. Here are three key initiatives: Livingstone further explained to the plenary in the workshop that the above innovative approaches work together with usage of digital platforms and regional forums. This will be achieved in a close collaboration in the implementation of the ECREA project with national stakeholders from public institutions including NARS, NMHS, Rwanda Water Resources Board and private institutions including Shamba Shape Up and iShamba, private mass media (e.g. Radio Huguka), regional agencies such as ICPAC, as illustrated in the figure on the next page.ECREA aims to address gender disparities related to women's vulnerability to climate shocks by prioritizing their inclusion across all levels of ECREA's activities.During the project launch, CIAT gender expert Eileen Nchanji elaborated on the roles of gender and sex, highlighting how their interpretations evolve over time. Eileen emphasized the importance of collecting data on the roles of men and women and decisionmaking processes for effective gender inclusion in ECREA. This will enhance women's participation in planning meetings and provide increased access to technologies and information.ECREA seeks to reach, benefit, empower, and transform the lives of marginalized women. The project lead ensured that ECREA has clear activities to empower women with technologies and capacities to access, translate climate information, and make informed decisions. ECREA commits to inclusivity by ensuring that 50% of participants in the training of trainers on PICSA are women and youth. This initiative will enable 250 extension agents to train 400,000 farmers, with a target of 50% women and youth.Livingstone emphasized that Agro-climate Advisory Committees will be pivotal in empowering women and youth, ensuring that quality and accurate WCIS reach predominantly women in the bean value chain. The ECREA project team will implement a continuous, in-built Performance, Accountability, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (PAMEL) system. The Project Manager, along with project staff, will periodically monitor project implementation and collect data (in line with the PAMEL plan) to track progress of activities and outputs towards outcomes and impact. This data will also be used to inform decisions on adjustments that may be needed to ensure that the desired objectives and impacts are achieved. Monitoring measures will capture feedback from end users (the immediate target group) of the project deliverables. Risk monitoring will also be included in this process to monitor identified and new risks and mitigation strategies to minimize potential impact.ECREA will utilize various techniques for stakeholder feedback collection for Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) purposes, including:• Utilizing the 5Q Approach for two-way feedback loops (using Weather and Climate Information) at national and subnational levels. The ECREA project stands as a vital initiative addressing the pressing challenges faced by bean farmers in East Africa. With a comprehensive approach spanning Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, ECREA aims to directly impact 400,000 bean farmers and indirectly benefit 3 million individuals within the bean value chain. The project's focus on providing crucial climate and weather information to these farmers, particularly women and youths, underscores its commitment to strengthening adaptive capacities against climate shocks. By bridging critical gaps in Weather and Climate Information Services (WCIS), ECREA strives to empower farmers with the knowledge and tools necessary for informed decision-making, ultimately enhancing productivity, food security, and income generation.Notably, ECREA's multidisciplinary approach, employing innovative strategies such as AACs, RLCs, and PICSA, demonstrates a commitment to inclusivity and effective knowledge dissemination. These methods, bundled with digital platforms and regional forums, are poised to revolutionize WCIS and Impact-Based Early Warning Systems (IBEWS) delivery, benefiting millions across the region.Gender inclusion is at the forefront of ECREA's agenda, recognizing the unequal impact of climate variability on women and their vital role in agriculture. The project will empower women and youth through tailored training programs and inclusive co-production, ensuring their active involvement in climate initiatives. Moreover, ECREA's sustainability approach emphasizes capacitybuilding within existing networks and institutions, fostering long-term resilience by integrating innovative tools and empowering stakeholders. The Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) framework incorporated into ECREA will ensure continuous feedback loops, enabling the project to track progress, identify challenges, and make informed decisions for optimized outcomes.In essence, the ECREA project represents a significant step towards sustainable agriculture, resiliencebuilding, and inclusive development in East Africa. By leveraging partnerships, innovative approaches, and a strong focus on inclusivity, ECREA sets the stage for transformative change, benefiting both current and future generations of bean farmers in the region.Participants at PICSA lite Masterclass in Namulonge, Uganda.A WISER approach for Enhancing Bean Farmers Decision-Making in East Africa  ). This project is one of the Weather and Climate Information Services Africa programme (WISER) funded project that aims to improve the adaptive capacity and resilience of people from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda (Figure 1) to prepare for and respond to the effects of extreme weather, seasonal events and longer-term climate change.\"ECREA project is part of a suite of activities that the UK is engaged in with Rwanda and also with governments across the East Africa region to take action on climate (challenges). This is also in line with the work at the central government working on climate finance architecture in governance. This process can support mobilize sufficient resources and ensure we have the projects in the pipeline to spend those resources on, on adaptation and other issues in climate effective countries\". Added Anna.John Mungai, the East African region WISER project coordinator highlighted \"One of the reasons ECREA project is deemed important is that it addresses every crucial area of food security in East Africa and beans are major source of proteins for the people in this region\".In her remarks, Anna commended the ECREA project's actions against climate change including early warnings, building resilience and adaptation. She highlighted this vis-à-vis to the 2023 devastating floods in Rwanda and extreme weather events around the world that are becoming too common. Anna further mentioned that climate change issues are not something we can tackle through one project, it is however something we need to look at in all of our work and to mainstream across all our activities and requires action from partners across governments, private sector, academia, civil society. John further stated that ECREA project is being run by experts in the agricultural sector. ECREA project brings together National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), farmers, digital and mass media and other bean value chain actors.John stresses that \"these partners come together to co-design and co-produce weather and climate services that are impactful to the bean farmers. We Through, the ECREA project, bean crop farmers especially women, youth, and other vulnerable groups are set to gain access to vital climate and weather patterns information that will help them in increase of productivity and reduce post-harvest losses.Livingstone, the ECREA project coordinator said the project will bring together all stakeholders and partners who are going to be implementing this project together across four countries in East Africa to transform the agricultural systems, with special focus on beans.\"We focus on beans because that's where we find most of our households engaged in bean growing. You find in these countries we are focusing on having different bean hubs where most of our farmers are gaining their resources, incomes, and nutrients as they are the main sources of proteins and carbohydrates,\" Livingstone said.He points out that governments have invested significant funds in bolstering the meteorological department's capabilities. However, they have found that the communicated information is not meeting expectations due to poor outreach.\"We aim to explore methods of influencing families by providing them with contextualized information, empowering them to interpret and utilize it effectively in their bean farming endeavors\". Livingstone added. Desire, the project team leader at the Alliance Bioversity and CIAT, emphasizes that the project specifically targets beans as a commodity, acknowledging its profound importance in East Africa. Beans play a critical role in nutrition and provide essential support for the financial stability of small-holder farmers. By prioritizing beans, the project aims to enhance household incomes and strengthen food security across the region.Desire outlines the collaborative approach of the project, which involves working closely with national meteorological and hydrological institutions across the four countries. This collaboration will facilitate the provision, translation, delivery, and utilization of climate information services tailored to the needs of bean value chain actors. The project will engage in coproducing agro-advisories for these actors, ensuring that every stakeholder in the bean value chain is involved in the process. This approach highlights the project's commitment to ensuring that climate information and advisory services are accessible, relevant, and actionable for all stakeholders involved in bean cultivation and distribution. By fostering collaboration and co-production, the project aims to maximize the effectiveness of climate resilience strategies within the bean value chain across East Africa.Pascaline from the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD), acting as the ECREA project focal person in Kenya, highlights the importance of the project in providing valuable services to farmers, particularly bean growers in rural areas. She emphasizes that climate change has altered traditional rainfall patterns, rendering historical indigenous knowledge unreliable for farmers. Consequently, farmers who rely solely on this outdated information risk crop failure. However, with support from the ECREA project in delivering tailored climate information, farmers can make informed decisions, enhancing their chances of successful crop cultivation.Pascaline's insights align with the experiences of the WISER program, where collaborative efforts among organizations and stakeholders have facilitated the timely dissemination of information to farmers, aiding adaptation efforts. Anna, reflecting on the WISER program's impact, notes the reduction in climate-related losses due to the provision of timely information. She expresses anticipation for staying updated on the ECREA program's activities, recognizing the importance of anticipation, resilience-building, and access to appropriate information in addressing climate challenges effectively. This underscores the critical role of initiatives like the ECREA project in supporting agricultural communities in adapting to climate change and improving resilience.Eileen, a Gender Equity Social Inclusion (GESI)expert, highlights the disproportionate impact of climate change on women compared to men, exacerbated by discriminatory social norms that limit women's resilience capacities. She emphasizes the importance of addressing gender inequality in agriculture, noting that existing communication channels often overlook the needs of women, who are disproportionately affected by climate change impacts. Livingstone emphasizes the need to prioritize women, youth, and other marginalized groups in climate change initiatives, ensuring their inclusion in decision-making processes and access to relevant information.GESI is a fundamental pillar of the WISER program, recognizing the need to address gender disparities and ensure inclusivity in all aspects of its activities. John emphasizes the importance of GESI principles in fostering equal participation from all segments of society, including women, the disabled, youth, and others. He underscores the commitment of UK-aided projects, including the WISER program, to ensure that no one is left behind, emphasizing the importance of inclusive approaches in achieving collective progress. The event in Kigali ended with the official launch of the ECREA project. It drew participants from implementing partner institutions from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda where ECREA project will operates. Presentations embarked on the understanding of ECREA aims, goals and objectives, MEL and GESI considerations in project implementation, guidelines on project work plans and activities, collaboration in the co-production of WCIS, required capacities to co-produce WCIS. Activities included cross-learning and finalization of work plans and activities and cross-sharing of the best practices. Also, participants learned and shared experiences and devoted themselves to collaborating for the project success.Eileen Nchanji, Desire Kagabo, Livingstone Byandaga, Patrick Mvuyibwami, Patrick Gatsinzi, & Nasson Ntwari Women as drivers of climate information in their communities?Including women in climate action projects is paramount to improving not only women's resilience and livelihoods but also that of households and communities. Women are more vulnerable to climate change than their male counterparts, as their livelihood depends mainly on rainfed subsistence agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. Women are often the first to experience severe climate shocks like droughts and floods, though they are expected to provide food, energy and water for the households. Often, men leave their spouses and migrate for better livelihoods leaving them to provide for the household. But information on climate often does not reach their vulnerable group, nor are they part of the decision-making processes that define what (information is needed), by whom, when (timely) and how it is used.To address these women's challenges, the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), in collaboration with its implementing partners and stakeholders, launched the Enhancing Climate Resilience in East Africa (ECREA) Project on 30 th November 2023 in Kigali. The project aims to reach 400,000 farmers (direct beneficiaries), including 50% vulnerable women and youths with climate information co-designed and driven by women and youth farmers.During the launch, the gender and social inclusion expert Eileen Nchanji said we need to be intentional in including women and youths not only as beneficiaries but also as co-designers and drivers of climate information at the household, community and regional levels. She called for increased women's leadership and participation and the need to not just reach women but make sure they are empowered, can make decisions and influence policy and institutional change. She further advised that for effective gender inclusion in such a project, data has to be gender disaggregated to understand better the needs of all genders and address them.decisions is what ECREA is about. According to Desire Kagabo, the ECREA Project team leader, the ECREA will ensure that women are empowered with the technologies and capacities to access and translate climate information and make appropriate decisions that significantly improve and transform their agricultural livelihoods. The ECREA project would address multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) like SDG 5 (gender equality) and 13 (climate action). Our focus will be on supporting and enhancing women's effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decisionmaking to enhance the improvement of food security and income generation as a result of accessible and timely climate information customized for diverse farmers.The ECREA project targets bean producers of which about 80% are women. According to Livingstone, the ECREA Project Coordinator, the agency and voice of 50% of women and youths in the bean sector will be enhanced through coproduction and use of Weather and Climate Information Services at the farm and household levels. We shall ensure that women and youth are included in the training of trainers on participatory and integrated climate smart agriculture (PICSA), which will enable 250 extension agents to train 400,000 farmers (50% women and youths) so that they can implement accurate early warning systems. Furthermore, women and youths will be leaders in the Agro-climate Advisory Committees to co-design, adapt and pilot innovative tools and approaches that enhance farmers' digital adoption. \"We envisage that through enhancing the quality, accuracy, user responsiveness, and reach of WCIS across the aforementioned countries, women and other farmers in the bean chain will be empowered and resilient against the increasing climatic shocks.\" Noted Livingstone.Notably, \"It is clear you can't achieve poverty reduction and the sustainable development goals without action on climate change and we need to pursue action on climate change in a way that supports everyone and that tackles inequality and poverty globally in a sustainable manner\", highlighted Anna Willson, Development Director of the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) in Rwanda, Kigali. Other speakers during the ECREA project launch emphasized more concerted partnerships; access and delivery of accurate, timely and contextualized climate information to demystify indigenous climate information, which is most trusted by local farmers; downscaling climate information services to empower vulnerable farmers' agricultural decision making; and using the Monitoring, evaluation and learning approach to monitor the progress and address challenges in the implementation of the ECREA project in each regional bean production hub.The expected ECREA project outcome will be enhanced by enhanced and usable WCIS by the community for the community, driven by women to inform plans, policies and decision-making at the community, local, national, and regional levels. An empowered woman has the capacity to access information and resources; make appropriate decisions to improve their livelihood; solve conflicts, own resources and income; and participate in decision making that impacts society.Livingstone Byandaga leading participants group discussion during PICSA lite Masterclass Kenya.What Constitutes MEL?According to Chris, MEL is a system that constitutes the MEL plan which is a tool that supports management of project activities during implementation to achieve the desired results (outputs and outcomes leading to impact). Project implementers have to understand how each component interlinks. That is why MEL is participatory function that calls for close engagement between implementing partners when it comes to interventions implementation. In addition, MEL during implementation entails planning, controlling, monitoring, evaluating, and learning as a cross-cutting function within project activities dictated by the scope. Further, the MEL plan comprises of approaches as tools not limited to project description (goals and objectives), M&E frameworks, indicator matrix and reference sheets, roles and responsibilities, data flow management, analysis, and reporting, as well as plans for data use and dissemination.During the ECREA Project kick-off and launch workshop that took place on 29 th to 30 th November 2023 in Kigali, the bean production hub leaders were equipped with MEL capacities to successfully implement the Project. These leaders were among the workshop participating partners. They came from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda. Chris, the MEL expert from the Alliance of Bioversity International-CIAT was the main MEL facilitator. He provided effective MEL techniques and instruments that will be crucial for the project implementation in each bean production hub. \"MEL plan helps to track and assess the results of the interventions throughout the life of a program in an efficient, within scope and timely manner\" asserted Chris. Eileen, a CIAT Scientists and Gender and Social Inclusion Expert expressed that MEL is very crucial to monitor and evaluate how gender roles in making decisions are interpreted, and played so that gender conflicts are detected and avoided.Alignment of implementing partners work plans with MEL.Workshop participants during cross-learning sessions aligned their work plans with the project results as per the logframe. Each bean production hub worked in groups, aligned their project activities and outputs to and targets and timelines in a standardized MEL plan template. Then they presented their MEL activities implementation planning along with approaches that will lead to desired results.Participants were equipped with knowledge on how the ECREA MEL system works, MEL plan that will be adopted during implementation, MEL instruments, MEL learning approaches, MEL dissemination approaches, how to use MEL in executing project work plans Besides, they were able to know each project staff role as well as what, when and how to report. It is expected that using the MEL system will facilitate adequate monitoring function to reach the 400,000 target project beneficiaries.Partners from radio Huguka-Rwanda, during PICSA lite Triaining in Karagwe, Tanzania Success of the ECREA Project with the PICSA Approach in Strengthening Bean Farmers' Climate Resilience in East AfricaIn the diverse agricultural landscapes of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda, the Enhancing Climate Resilience in East Africa (ECREA) project is revolutionizing how farmers access and utilize vital agricultural and weather and climate information. Central to ECREA's success is the Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) approach, a comprehensive strategy that leverages multiple platforms to deliver bundled services, ensuring farmers are well-equipped to manage the effects of climate and variability as well as improving their productivity.The Multifaceted PICSA Strategy PICSA's approach is built on a foundation of participatory engagement and multi-platform dissemination, creating a robust support system for farmers across East Africa. To ensure the success of PICSA approach, the following mechanisms and systems are worth mentioning:Bean Production Hubs: These hubs are specialized bean production regions within which bean farmers can receive tailored information on bean cultivation, which is crucial for food security in the region. By focusing on specific crops, these hubs ensure that farmers get precise, actionable advice to enhance their yields. Wilber Ssekandi, a Research Officer at the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCCRI) of the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) in Uganda said that \"We have selected bean hubs from eight districts in Uganda, known for their bean production, to ensure that all our bean farmers benefit from training in weather and climate information. This will enhance their resilience to climate variability and improve food security in Uganda.\" Digital Tools: Embracing the digital revolution, PICSA utilizes mobile applications and online platforms to provide real-time weather updates, agricultural advice, and decision-support tools. These digital resources ensure that farmers have timely access to critical information, enabling them to make informed decisions.A key element of PICSA's success is its participatory approach, which actively involves farmers including women and youth in the entire process. Farmers are not merely passive recipients of information but active participants who shape the content and delivery of climate information services. This engagement ensures that the services provided are relevant and effective, fostering a sense of ownership and empowerment among farmers. The PICSA approach is strengthened by the involvement of key stakeholders and technical experts. Organizations such as the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources (RAB), and Uganda National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) provide invaluable expertise. Additionally, meteorological departments like the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD), Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA), Meteo Rwanda, and Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA) ensure that the advice and information disseminated are grounded in scientific research and practical experience.Participants engage in an onsite learning during the PICSA Lite Master Class held that was facilitated by NARO-NaCCRI, at Namulonge in Uganda from 24 th -28 th June 2024.The involvement of high-level government officials has been crucial to the success of ECREA's PICSA approach in East Africa. County Executive Committee Members, such as Edwin Seroney from Elgeyo Marakwet and Leonard Bor from Nakuru, have shown strong commitment. In addition, Henritta William, Acting District Executive Director of Karagwe District, and Mr. Kanali Evance Malasa, District Commissioner of Kankoko District in Tanzania, have also supported the initiative. Their support will facilitate the integration of PICSA strategies into community development plans and increase farmer participation. This high-level endorsement has been instrumental in scaling up the approach, ensuring its sustainability, and maximizing its impact on enhancing climate resilience among bean farmers in the region.The success of PICSA in these four countries is a testament to the power of collaborative, multiplatform approaches in addressing agricultural challenges. By fostering a participatory culture and leveraging diverse dissemination channels, PICSA is building a resilient agricultural community across East Africa. This approach not only equips farmers to better manage climate risks but also enhances their overall productivity and livelihoods.The PICSA approach, integral to the ECREA project, is making significant strides in empowering farmers across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda. Through its multifaceted strategy and participatory engagement, PICSA ensures that farmers have access to the knowledge and tools they need to thrive in the face of climate change and variability. As this initiative continues to grow, it promises a brighter, more sustainable future for agriculture in East Africa, driving collective action and resilience in the region's agricultural sector. Additionally, the scalability of PICSA's approach offers potential for implementation in other African contexts, further extending its positive impact on agricultural resilience across the continent. Enhancing Climate Resilience for Beans in East Africa through a High-Level Governments' Participation Approach Through our ongoing cascading series of workshops in East Africa, we have trained over 300 farmers and extension officers face to face on the PICSA tool as part of the Enhanced Climate Resilience in East Africa (ECREA) project. These workshops were supported and endorsed by key agricultural and meteorological institutions, as well as high-level government officials, demonstrating significant buy-in and ownership. They focused on utilizing weather and climate information to enhance resilience to climate change and variability. This initiative aims to promote sustainable agricultural practices for the better livelihoods of actors in the bean value chain.\"In the picturesque Kagera and Kigoma regions of Tanzania and Nakuru, Machakos, Elgeyo Marakwet and Homabay counties of Kenya, regions known for being bean production hubs, agriculture is not just a means of livelihood but a way of life. Here, farmers are the backbone of the economy, working tirelessly to cultivate the land and provide for their families. However, like many agricultural regions in Sub-Saharan Africa, these areas face significant challenges due to climate variability. Addressing these challenges requires more than just technical In the period between April -June, a series of workshops were held in Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania respectively. These workshops aimed to equip local bean farmers with weather and climate information services and other agro-advisory services to enhance their resilience to climate change and variability. So far, in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania, over 300 farmers and extension officers have received a face-to-face training using the PICSA approach which will enable them to cascade the trainings to 400,000 farmers In Tanzania, the PICSA training workshop was led by the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI). The training began with a courtesy call to the offices of the Acting District Executive Director of Karagwe District, Henritta William and Kanali Evance Malasa, the District Commissioner of Kankoko District respectively.The involvement of the government representatives significantly bolstered the credibility of the PICSA Master Class which is a training of Trainer of Trainers (ToTs). When high-level government officials actively participate in such initiatives, it sends a powerful message to the community. Their presence underscores the importance of the project and demonstrates the government's commitment to supporting local farmers. This endorsement is crucial for gaining the trust and buy-in of end-users -the farmers themselves.Enhanced Awareness and Visibility: The presence of government officials at the workshop heightened awareness and visibility of the initiative. It attracted attention from the farmers and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector. This increased visibility is essential for the project's success, as it encourages more widespread participation and support. For instance, during his welcoming remarks, Kanali Evance Malasa, the District Commissioner of Kankoko District emphasized, \"Our commitment to this initiative underscores the importance of building resilience among our farmers. By supporting these efforts, we are ensuring sustainable agricultural practices and improving the livelihoods of our communities.  of this project and are ready to provide logistical assistance whenever needed during your stay here.Mainstreamed Policy Support and Integration: The support of high-level officials facilitates the integration of agricultural initiatives into broader policy frameworks. This alignment with government policies ensures that the programs are sustainable in the long term. It also helps in scaling up successful models and replicating them in other regions. During the welcoming remarks, Henritta William, Acting District Executive Director of Kankoko District, emphasized, \"By aligning these initiatives with our existing policy frameworks, we ensure their sustainability and pave the way for scaling successful models to other regions, thereby strengthening our agricultural sector and enhancing food security for all.\"  \"Administrative support in increasing farmer engagement is of utmost importance. We thank the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT for partnering with government agencies organizations to enhance weather and climate information services awareness in our country.\" This was said by David Karanja, Bean Research Team Lead at KARLO as he was making his presentation during the training that was held in Kenya. The speeches by government representatives underscored even further their recognition of the challenges faced by farmers and emphasized the government's steadfast support. This assurance is crucial for building community cohesion and motivating farmers to utilize weather and climate information services for informed decision making in agricultural activities and other livelihoods. This collaboration demonstrates the power of direct interaction with farmers which helped demystify meteorological data and fostered trust among farmers regarding the reliability of climate information provided to inform their agricultural decision making. Rehema, a farmer from Karagwe, expressed her newfound confidence by saying, \"Since I was born, I have never met anyone from the Tanzania Meteorological Authority. Seeing them here and getting firsthand information on how they produce the weather forecasts gives me a lot of confidence that the information is correct and from now on, I will utilize it in my day-to-day decisions at my farm. Another farmer, Bendetter from Machakos, said, \"I'm grateful for learning how to access and use climate information to make better decisions about planting, crop varieties, and how to take care of my plants which will greatly increase my yield and reduce climate risks.\"The presence of these reputable institutions adds credibility to the initiatives. Farmers are more likely to trust and adopt practices recommended by recognized authorities, leading to better implementation and outcomes. \"As a farmer, I feel more confident in adopting new practices when they are recommended by reputable institutions like KALRO whom we have worked with for a long time. Their expertise and support give us the assurance that we are on the right track to improving our productivity and resilience.\" Reiterated Eunice Sakong, a farmer from Elgeyo Marakwet during the workshop.The involvement of the government agencies, alongside scientists from the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT brought a wealth of technical expertise to the table. The collaboration enriched the workshop's content by offering farmers reliable and actionable information, ensuring that advice and data were based on scientific research and practical experience. This comprehensive technical support ensured farmers received top-notch guidance for improving agricultural practices and resilience to climate change and variability using the PICSA approach.The collaborative model involving government bodies, research institutions, and meteorological services paves the way for sustainable agricultural practices. It also creates a framework that can be scaled to other regions, ensuring broader impact and long-term resilience. Additionally, this model opens opportunities for farmers who are direct partners in this project, as well as private sector entities such as community radios (FADECO and Huguka) who are already partnering with the ECREA project to engage in profitable businesses. Farmers can leverage the insights and resources provided through these collaborations to enhance their productivity and profitability. For community radio, the increased listenership and improved quality of radio content can lead to higher trust and credibility across all levels. This, in turn, may motivate the owners to invest further in Weather and Climate Information Services (WCIS), recognizing the business potential.In Tanzania, where agriculture sustains livelihoods, the impacts of climate change and variability, such as recent prolonged drought spells and extreme floods experienced across East Africa, are increasingly felt by farmers. These extreme weather events threaten both crop yields and food security, highlighting the urgent need for localized and accurate climate information to help farmers adapt and thrive.Like their counterparts in other East African countries, Tanzanian farmers often struggle with access to relevant weather and climate information, hindering their ability to effectively manage risks associated with bad or poor weather in a cropping season for better agricultural production. Drawing inspiration from the success of a similar initiative in Rwanda, where over 100,000 farmers are being reached with Weather Climate Information Services (WCIS), the Enhancing Climate Resilience in East Africa (ECREA) project is pioneering a transformative approach to disseminating WCIS in Tanzania through Radio Listeners Clubs (RLCs). At the forefront of this initiative is Radio Huguka from Rwanda and FADECO radio, a community radio station with an audience of over 7 million in Tanzania.Radio Listeners Clubs Boost Engagement and Feedback, Enhancing Climate Resilience for Bean Farmers in Tanzania By: Joseline Kiogora, Desire Kagabo, Livingstone Byandaga, Patrick Mvuyibwami, Chris Ngige Recently, during a Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) workshop in Karagwe and Kigoma region, FADECO radio, a key partner in the ECREA project, benefited from the interactive workshop training sessions held on the sidelines of the main event. Participants from FADECO radio were trained by their counterparts from Radio Huguka on establishing Radio Listeners Clubs (RLCs) across the Great Lake Victoria region of Tanzania. These clubs will feature multidisciplinary members and ensure gender inclusion. Other activities are scheduled for implementation in the subsequent quarters to enhance discussions and co-produce content tailored to local needs.ECREA is leveraging the successful model piloted in Rwanda, where Radio Listeners Clubs (RLCs) harness the combined reach of broadcast media and participatory processes. In this model, 225 RLCs were created, and Farmer Promoters/Champions were trained to lead weekly village meetings where they listened to and discussed climate information service radio programs. They actively participated in live call-in shows, shared and recorded their action plans based on their learnings, and disseminated this information within their communities. This approach is being adapted to enhance climate information dissemination and resilience efforts in Tanzania.Brigitte Uwamariya, Deputy Director of Radio Huguka, Rwanda, training her counterparts at FADECO Radio, Tanzania, on how to establish Radio Listeners Clubs while at the same time emphasizing the role of RLCs in raising farmer voices and increasing climate awareness.RLCs approach includes an editorial committee tasked with producing content tailored to the local context of the listeners for broadcast. This committee features multidisciplinary representation from the National Meteorological and Hydrological Systems (NMHS), National Agricultural Research Institutions (NARS), agricultural extension services, and other project partners. Their role is to translate weather and agricultural advisories into accessible formats, customizing them for various contexts and ensuring timely discussions relevant to different activities and seasons. This approach ensures that RLCs effectively disseminate information that is practical and pertinent to local farming communities, enhancing their resilience to climate change and variability.The collaborative model involving government bodies, research institutions, and meteorological services ensures sustainable agricultural practices and creates a scalable framework for other regions. This approach promises a broader impact and long-term sustainability, especially through the Radio Listeners Clubs (RLCs). By integrating farmers and private sector entities like community radios (FADECO and Huguka) into the ECREA project, the model supports profitable business opportunities and enhances farmers' productivity and profitability. For community radio stations, increased listenership and improved quality of content boosts their trust and credibility. This, in turn, motivates station owners to invest further in climate information services, recognizing their significant business potential.RLCs play a crucial role in raising the voices of farmers and increasing climate information awareness, which is essential for building climate resilience. A prime example of this impact was the electrifying live talk show at FADECO Radio in Tanzania, which captivated a massive audience. Invited by the director of FADECO Radio, Joseph Sekeku, the show featured the ECREA project team led by Project Lead Desire Kagabo, alongside officials from the Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA) and Tanzania Agriculture Research Institute (TARI). This collaboration highlighted the critical role of radio in disseminating vital agro-climate advisories to farmers.During the broadcast, community members actively called in to express their willingness to attend the PICSA Lite workshop. They also showed great interest in accessing and learning how to use weather information. This enthusiastic response highlighted the community's eagerness to engage with climate information and training opportunities. The live show boosted ECREA project awareness and showcased radio's effectiveness in disseminating vital agricultural climate advisories. For instance, Evaria Leonidas, a farmer from Karagwe, called in during the live show and shared her experience: \"This opportunity provided by Radio FADECO to speak directly to representatives from the Tanzania Meteorological Authority is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. It has given me the chance to access weather information firsthand.\" Additionally, farmers were provided with contact numbers for TMA officials, enabling them to directly inquire about location-specific weather information. This initiative has facilitated better communication, addressing a significant challenge, and has greatly improved the availability of weather information for farmers. James Elias, another caller, said, \"I can't believe that I am now able to call the authority and get all the weather information I need to make sound decisions for my farm.\"More than 100 callers responded during the broadcast, providing valuable feedback, although only a few could be accommodated due to time constraints. Nonetheless, this overwhelming response underscored farmers' eagerness to engage with agro-climate advisories through radio broadcasts. This interactive platform ensures farmers are not passive recipients but active participants in dialogue, fostering a more informed and resilient farming community. At the heart of ECREA project lies the recognition of the pivotal role played by the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in African households. Beans have evolved from a traditional subsistence crop to a vital staple and market-oriented commodity, thus becoming instrumental in enhancing food security, gender roles, and income generation across the region. As such, the bean sector serves as the primary testing ground for the project's interventions.Central to the project's approach is co-production, which prioritizes inclusive partnerships with women, youth, and marginalized groups to ensure that WCIS are diverse, accessible, and responsive to the needs of all stakeholders. Through a multi-faceted strategy encompassing capacity-building, institutional strengthening, and knowledge-sharing, the project aims to empower smallholder farmers to navigate the complexities of climate change with confidence and resilience. This project is not merely about disseminating information, rather, it's about fostering a culture of resilience, collaboration, and empowerment that transcends borders and generations. Patrick Kesiem, the Institute Director, KALRO Katumani emphasized the importance of equipping farmers with the knowledge and tools they need to thrive in a changing climate. The Kenya Meteorology Department also played a crucial role, with the deputy director-Technical Services, Kennedy Thiong'o reiterating their commitment to providing accurate seasonal forecasts that inform farmers' decisions. Supported by regional and national coordination mechanisms as well as County Governments, research institutions, and governmental departments, the PISCA approach is paving the way for a more resilient and sustainable agricultural sector. Together, this partnership is empowering farmers and communities alike to thrive in the face of climate change. Integrating women and young people in climate action projects is crucial for enhancing resilient agriculture. This approach improves not only the livelihoods of women but also of their households and communities.According to Gender and social inclusion expert Eileen Nchanji, women are more vulnerable to climate change than their male counterparts because their livelihoods depend mainly on rainfed subsistence agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. They are often the first to experience severe climate shocks such as droughts and floods, yet they are expected to provide food, energy, and water for their households. Many men leave their spouses behind to seek better income opportunities elsewhere, leaving women to provide for the remaining household members and make decisions on resource use. However, weather and climate information often does not reach this vulnerable groups, nor are they part of the decision-making processes that define what information is needed, by whom, when, and how it is used.According to estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), women are responsible for more than 50% of food production worldwide, including up to 80% of food production in Africa. This highlights the critical need to include women in climate information services to improve their resilience and ensure the sustainability of food production and community wellbeing. Gender and social inclusion expert Eileen Nchanji, together with the implementation team, has been at the forefront of ensuring that women and young people are not only beneficiaries but also codesigners and drivers of climate information at the household, community, and regional levels. The team has emphasized the need for increased women's leadership and participation, ensuring that women are empowered to make decisions and influence policy and institutional change. To achieve effective gender inclusion they have advocated for the collection of gender-disaggregated data to better understand and address needs.Integrating women and youth in climate action projects is crucial for enhancing agricultural productivity. This approach improves not only the resilience and livelihoods of women but also those of households and communities.Women are more vulnerable to climate change than their male counterparts, as their livelihoods depend mainly on rainfed subsistence agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. They are often the first to experience severe climate shocks like droughts and floods, yet they are expected to provide food, energy, and water for their households. Men leave their spouses to seek better income opportunities, leaving women to provide for the household and make decisions on resource use. However, Weather and Climate Information often does not reach this vulnerable group, nor are they part of the decision-making processes that define what information is needed, by whom, when, and how it is used.According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates, women are responsible for more than 50% of food production worldwide, including up to 80% of food production in African countries. This highlights the critical need for including women in climate information services to improve their resilience and ensure the sustainability of food production and community well-being. To address these challenges, the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), in collaboration with its implementing partners and stakeholders, has been implementing the Enhancing Climate Resilience in East Africa (ECREA) Project in four East African countries: Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania. By June 2024, the project has reached 400 Lead farmers and extension workers (direct beneficiaries), including 50% vulnerable women and youths, with face-to-face training on Weather and Climate Information Services (WCIS) co-designed and driven by women and youth farmers. Additionally, the training has been part of the project's efforts on interventions to ensure gender equity and social inclusion is realized among women and youth bean actors.Gender and social inclusion expert Eileen Nchanji, along with the entire implementing team, has been at the forefront of ensuring that women and youths are not only beneficiaries but also co-designers and drivers of climate information at the household, community, and regional levels. The team has emphasized the need for increased women's leadership and participation, ensuring that women are empowered to make decisions and influence policy and institutional change. To achieve effective gender inclusion, they have advocated for the collection of gender-disaggregated data to better understand and address the needs of all genders.Youth and women farmers participating in the PICSA Lite Master class in Karagwe Tanzania \"The ECREA project is ensuring that women are empowered with the technologies and capacities to access and translate climate information, enabling them to make appropriate decisions that significantly improve and transform their agricultural livelihoods, \" said Desire Kagabo, the ECREA Project team leader. \"Our project addresses multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). We focus on supporting and enhancing women's effective participation and providing equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making. This approach aims to improve food security and income generation through accessible and timely climate information customized for diverse farmers.\"The ECREA project targets bean producers in East Africa, of whom about 80% are women. According to Livingstone Byandaga, the ECREA Project Coordinator, the agency and voice of 50% of women and youths in the bean sector has been enhanced through the co-production and use of Weather and Climate Information Services at the farm and household levels.Women and youth are included in the Training of Trainers on Participatory and Integrated Climate-Smart Agriculture (PICSA). This initiative has equipped 400 extension agents and lead farmers to train 400,000 farmers, ensuring that 50% of the trainees are women and youth. The ECREA project has already begun to show promising results. With training sessions conducted in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania, 200 women and young farmers have been included and empowered to lead their communities in adapting to climate challenges. The enhanced and usable Weather and Climate Information Services (WCIS) driven by women inform plans, policies, and decision-making at the community, local, national, and regional levels. An empowered woman has the capacity to access information and resources, make appropriate decisions to improve their livelihood, solve conflicts, own resources and income, and participate in decision-making that impacts society.By focusing on gender and social inclusion, the ECREA project is not only addressing the immediate challenges posed by climate change but also laying the groundwork for a more resilient and equitable future for all.Further reading https://alliancebioversityciat.org/stories/radiolisteners-clubs-engagement-feedback-climateresilience-bean-farmers-tanzania https://alliancebioversityciat.org/stories/enhancingclimate-resilience-beans-east-africa-high-levelgovernments-participation https://alliancebioversityciat.org/stories/empoweringeast-african-farmers-weather-climate-informationservices"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e116ae225b1a92f24c98c9c833abbfb9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/56e7993a-9170-40a3-b4b9-4a099c64af1c/retrieve","id":"-619060267"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"828e7589-487d-426c-a2e4-62ab88e2e50c","content":"ii ©2022 This publication is copyrighted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).It is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. To view this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. Unless otherwise noted, you are free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format), adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) for any purpose, even commercially, under the following condition:ATTRIBUTION. The work must be attributed, but not in any way that suggests endorsement by ILRI or the author(s).For any reuse or distribution, the licence terms of this work must be made clear to others. Any of the above conditions can be waived if permission is obtained from the copyright holder.Nothing in this licence impairs or restricts the author's moral rights.Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above. The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used.Editing, design and layout-ILRI Editorial and Publishing Services, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. To develop the capacity of researchers in genetic evaluation and animal ranking using BLUP, and how to optimize the ongoing breeding programs 17-20 May 2022 Debre Berhan, Amhara Region, Ethiopia Tesfaye Getachew (International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, ICARDA) Aynalem Haile (ICARDA) Berhanu Belay (ICARDA) A total of 41 participants from 29 in Ethiopia, the Livestock Development Institute (LDI), the Water and Land Resource Center (WLRC) and research centres. Two of the participants were women.The course covered pedigree and performance data preparation using Excel and R software, genetic analysis using Wombat software, interpretation of results, economic value estimation for traits, index selection and breeding value estimation in uncertain sire scenarios. Some of the data management and analysis training sessions in Debre Berhan, Ethiopia (photo credit: ILRI-ICARDA/Tesfaye Getachew). Tesfaye Getachew: T.Getachew@cgiar.org Sustainable Animal Productivity for Livelihoods, Nutrition and Gender Inclusion (SAPLING) This work was conducted as part of the CGIAR Initiative on Sustainable Animal Productivity. CGIAR research is supported by contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund. CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future dedicated to transforming food, land and water systems in a climate crisis.CGIAR's Sustainable Animal Productivity for Livelihoods, Nutrition and Gender inclusion (SAPLING) is working in seven countries focusing on livestock value chains to package and scale out tried-and-tested, as well as new, innovations in livestock health, genetics, feed and market systems. SAPLING aims to demonstrate that improvements in livestock productivity can offer a triple win: generating improved livelihoods and nutritional outcomes; contributing to women's empowerment; and, reducing impacts on climate and the environment. Its seven focus countries are Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Nepal, Tanzania, Uganda and Vietnam."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c8d474e2db294f5bc078ccc5c94c6dba","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0929a2b8-01e0-442f-bcbb-e9e849a0a564/retrieve","id":"1970086836"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cd4d9692-38e1-4d50-896f-2939b9fdbe76","content":"In the late 1930s, the leader of Thailand introduced the dish to his country in an effort to define a national identity and improve nutrition. The Thai government distributed the recipe and encouraged vendors to sell it throughout the country. Ironically, the dish's iconic chiles aren't very tied to Thailand.The not so Thai Pad Thai THE ORIGINS OF FOOD Darker regions on the map indicate where more ingredients in pad Thai originate. Native to Mexico and Central America, the chile peppers used in pad Thai are common in many Asian dishes. Sources: Origins of ingredients: Khoury et al. (2016) Proc Roy Soc B 283(1832): 20160792. Highlighted areas are world geographic regions where the plants and animals in food ingredients were domesticated. Calories: USDA Food Composition Databases (2018), www.nutritionix.comContribution to calories Sugar (shown), vinegar, and fish sauce are combined to make the sauce.Palm oil (shown) is commonly used in cooking pad Thai. Butter and other vegetable oils are also used.Each map shows the origins of common ingredients found in the dish."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"896f186e132c0cfdcc5820ddf058b6d3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/027d0e83-a1d2-4997-8e48-5ddaaf0009b7/retrieve","id":"1652440893"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cac3f83b-f3ff-426b-a0b5-830fdbe56dde","content":"In its commentary on the original version of CRP5, the ISPC recognized the fundamental importance and potential of this CRP to fill a critical gap in the CGIAR research for development portfolio. The rationale remains compelling for a coordinated international research effort on water scarcity, land degradation and threats to ecosystem sustainability related to agriculturefocusing on research and outputs at the landscape to river basin scale. While the original proposal identified questions to be pursued and the outputs and outcomes expected from on-going projects, not enough was said about new science and innovative approaches that take advantage of the new CGIAR and its partners. The CRP appeared to be a collection of existing research activities placed into a Strategic Research Portfolio (SRP) without benefit of a prioritization framework to guide the amalgamation and resource allocation process. As such, the eight SRPs proposed were seen as largely independent and self-contained. The original CRP also had not provided the critical analysis, theory and narrowing of issues and hypotheses that could support a prioritization framework for the SRPs and the overall research agenda. Other issues raised in our commentary dealt with the logic of the SRP structure, variable quality of science in some SRPs, the weak IPG content of research outputs, justification of budget, and the proposed management structure. In short, the ISPC felt that a more coherent and compelling proposal could be developed, and recommended that the proposal be substantially revised and re-submitted paying particular attention to eleven key areas (summarized list below).The revised CRP5 proposal has been substantially re-written, and is now a much tighter and much improved document. CRP5 partners have taken the concerns and issues cited above seriously and have, for the most part, addressed them satisfactorily. We agree with the proponents that the revised proposal is more focused, has a better integrating framework and proposes a set of clearer targets and deliverables. The revised proposal is also markedly different in that more emphasis is given to new directions rather than a continuation of wellestablished research projects. It is particularly satisfying to learn that the process of revising the document has greatly enhanced cooperation between the major partners in the CGIAR such that there is a genuine sense of common intent and focus.Although a few concerns remain-as discussed below under each of the -Must Haves‖-the ISPC considers that the CRP5 partners have taken into account the bulk of the recommendations made in the initial review process in a conscientious and adequate fashion. The result is a more cohesive overall research focus and stronger logical structure developed through a smaller number of SRPs.The ISPC recommends that the revised CRP 5 proposal be approved subject to minor revision taking into account the following commentary, with particular attention given to:  While the link to the ‗cause-effect' thinking stated as the overall research aim of the Program is clear in some SRP components, it still needs strengthening in others and in many of the specific projects.  A more ‗hypothesis-driven' approach is being taken throughout the proposal; a remaining concern is that some of the hypotheses being formulated are pre-assigned beliefs for which information will be sought to provide justification, rather than undergoing rigorous, objective testing.  The ecosystem services perspective permeates the proposal, but elements of this perspective and respective analysis are absent in problem sets in some SRPs.  Productivityecosystem services trade-offs are explicitly mentioned at the ‗overall aim' level of the proposal but are sometimes missing conceptually at the lower, project level.  The Rainfed System SRP is better presented, but is not yet better integrated and could easily be a standalone CRP; it remains weak in terms of focus and likely impacts, and also in its IPG content. The links between the work on pastoral systems and relevant work in other CRPs should be strengthened at the design stage.  The degree of independence of the steering committee is questionable given the Lead Center DG as a cochair and the use of the word ‗implementing' in relation to the prioritization process which goes further than ‗strategic oversight'.Below is the ISPC's assessment of how the revised proposal responds to each of the 11 ISPC -Must Haves‖. In all but a few instances, the proponents have added key gap-filling sections, or re-written or re-structured the proposal to address these concerns in a comprehensive and satisfactory manner. Because there was quite a bit of coincidence and overlap between the -Must Haves‖ from the ISPC and the FC members commentaries (especially in terms of the need for a more coherent structure, for conducting innovative research and avoiding the status quo, comparative advantage issues, and the need to revise the governance structure and to provide authority to an oversight body), the FC -Must Haves‖ have not been listed here separately. For the most part, we believe that they too have been addressed satisfactorily.Adequately addressed: A compelling set of challenges for the program and for agriculture in the developing world is presented. Additional literature is reviewed in Chapter 1 and in the Appendices, which provides a sound basis for selection of specific natural resource management (NRM) issues to be included in CRP5 and provides the motivation for new research on water, land and ecosystems. The stated overall research aim of CRP5 is strong, innovative and vital for the evolving direction of research in developing country agriculture to address questions such as ‗how changes in production systems affect ecosystem services?' and, ‗how to measure and use information to improve policy and management at the basin and landscape scales?'The prioritizing framework (Chapter 2) is based on global visioning of the key issues (water scarcity, land degradation and ecosystem decline) surrounding agricultural intensification and their environmental impacts. Regional consultations and strategic reasoning underpin the definition of the researchable problems that can be dealt with in the next 5-10 years. More emphasis is now given to how solutions can be developed to deal with NRM and ecosystem services constraints on sustainable intensification and a number of major ‗problem sets' have been defined based on theories of change and research questions (hypotheses).The choice of the eight sets of river basins in section 2.8 reflects the need to capitalize on past and current work by the CGIAR and its partners. There is little doubt that the basins chosen are major river basins with a total population approaching one billion, and that the long-term nature of NRM work makes it desirable to fully exploit past research activities. It is therefore not surprising that the selected basins are those where Centers and the CPWF have been working until now. The motivation for the research to be undertaken is adequately described in the presentation of these basins (p38-55).CRP5 gives every indication of being a great opportunity to explore the ‗cause-effect' relationships between production systems and the full suite of their outcomes: one of these is the ecosystem services outcomes but also of significance (and importance in understanding incentives for up-take) are the financial (especially the impacts on farm costs and revenuesand thus profits) and social (gender and equity issues) impacts. In most of the research projects proposed, there is a link to this ‗cause-effect' thinking, and hence the overall research aim of the Program. However, it is not sufficiently well developed in some elements of the SRPs and in many of the specific projects.It is pleasing to see a more ‗hypothesis-driven' approach being taken throughout the proposal. That together with the development of research priorities through more evaluation work and the inputs of the Steering Committee should see a more ‗science-based' and ‗policy-driven' research agenda. A remaining concern is that at times the hypotheses being formulated appear to be based on beliefs for which information will be sought to provide justification. This is possibly a function of the way the CRP5 proposal sets out the anticipated outcomes of the research work. By its nature, research is a process of enquiry in which the hypothesis should be the target of falsification not justification. Nowhere is this more (potentially) problematic than in the research agenda for groundwater. In Problem Set 3 (p75) the focus is on the ‗over-draft' of groundwater in South Asia. 1 The proposition is put forth that the problem has been the result of subsidized electricity prices. The solution to the problem is envisaged to be through the electricity sector (rather than on other options such as conservation agriculture or choice of different crops). Yet in the fourth problem set that focuses on the Ganges Basin, it appears that the envisaged solution is to subsidise electricity supplies. Why is the solution in one system described as the problem in an adjacent basin? A preferable way of framing the research is to propose numerous management strategies as options and test them against a base of doing nothing. The common property nature of the groundwater resource is not addressed in either case, yet alternative management strategies could be framed around that condition.In this light, it would be constructive to ensure that each component research project has a sound hypothesis that relates back to ‗cause-effect' theory and that research methods are designed explicitly to seek the falsification of the hypothesis. In each case, this process should be focused on the specific issue / problem to be considered, the establishment of a range of potential solutions, the testing of those alternatives in the context of the overall ‗cause-effect' aim of the CRP, consistent with a specific hypothesis and the drawing of conclusions that are relevant to the established issue / problem. In a similar way the goal expressed on p143 that River Basins can be managed ‗to maximise the value of ecosystem services and benefits' seems to miss the point that there are trade-offs involved. These trade-offs are explicitly mentioned at the ‗overall aim' of the proposal but are sometimes missing conceptually at the lower, project level. For instance, it is not necessarily desirable to seek maximum ecosystem services from a basin when that means losses in financial and social benefits. The critical question that the overall CRP5 is addressing is how to come up with resource management solutions that maximise social well-being, given that this comprises ecological, financial and social contributions. Put simply, the overall aim of CRP5 is laudable but it has yet to be sufficiently ‗infused' throughout all levels of the SRPsto the problem sets and the individual research projects.The ISPC hopes that the above considerations are taken into account during the prioritization process (described in Chapter 3) where, it is understood, the Steering Committee will guide selection of future problem sets over the next six months, and also in the implementation phase, at which time the specific activities to be undertaken will be delineated in detail.Adequately addressed: This is achieved primarily through development of the specific problem sets to be tackled in the first five years. Problem sets are defined through analysis of previous work in the area, the specification of theories of change, research hypotheses to be tested, partnership strategies and outputs, outcomes and contributions to the SLOs of the CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework. A concern is that key problem sets that are established underneath the overall goal of the CRP are sometimes disconnected from it. This is particularly the case for SRP1 where hardly any mention is made of the linkages between production and ecosystem services. A good test for the CRP5 proponents would be to require every problem set and every research issue to show how it addresses the overall CRP aim.1 Questionable research structures are also apparent in other problem sets. For example: On p105: ‗we will help pastoralists secure rights and access to resources'. Why do the rights of pastoralists trump the interests of others? The issue should be one of investigating the consequences (or effects: financial, ecosystem, social) of alternative rights allocations (the cause). And on p146 it is ‗decided' that groundwater use is to be increased by 30% in SSA. Why is this the ‗answer'? Rather, alternative strategies for groundwater use should be investigated (cause and effect) and the analysis so undertaken should be used to provide policy advice regarding the development of the groundwater resource. Again, are there ecosystem services implications, along with financial and social impacts?Generally, however, the narratives in Chapters 4-9 describe the activities to be undertaken in adequate detail, and provide justification for the problem sets chosen under each of the SRPs-presumably selected in the consultation, vision and strategic thinking process described in Chapter 2. In Chapter 4 on Irrigated Systems, five problem sets are listed for the first five years. It is hard to argue about the relevance of the problem sets chosen, given the vast experience of the CGIAR Centers working on this topic. Impact pathways are more clearly delineated, and the specification of levers of change and uptake strategies (Table 3.1) is a very positive development in this proposal. However, uptake strategies will need further development and detail (e.g., ‗sit at the table with policymakers' is itself a major milestone... how to ensure CRP5 gets a seat at the policymaker's table is also an issue. The only criticism, which is problem set dependent, is that research outputs are often quite modest relative to the ambitious nature of the goals addressed in the write-up. For example, see Table 4.2 on the expected outputs for ensuring the success of irrigation in Africa. Other problem sets are more focused and have more tangible outputs, such as the one on the role of energy in managing groundwater overdraft.The proponents emphasize that annual work plans will keep the work focused and on track with respect to time. In addition, the priority setting processes and more detailed listing of deliverables and critical operational aspects (e.g., interactions with the other CRPs; identification of indicators, etc.) will be specified during the implementation phase.Adequately addressed:The revised CRP5 gives considerably more attention to the critical question of whether or not we can intensify and expand agriculture without significant environmental consequences. The program also introduces the concept of using ecosystem services to monitor agricultural impacts. The proponents do acknowledge that the proposal builds (rightly) on past work of the Centers and CPWF, but at the same time introduces innovative approaches and integration between Centers and partners. Thus, while the program builds on IWMI and CPWF work on river basin management, it will integrate soil and water information in a manner not yet attempted in the CGIAR. It also builds on other successful initiatives such as the African Soil Information System, IWMI's water productivity and drought assessment work, ICRISAT's watershed studies and ICARDA's water harvesting work. CRP5 plans to integrate some of this single Center type activity into new projects to deliver greater value. In theory, this program should provide a single point of access for all CGIAR water, land, soil, ecosystem and environmental information, which in combination with the FAO, will enhance the CGIAR's capability to deliver authoritative global and regional resource and environmental assessments related to the impacts of agriculture.The choice of the five SRPs and decision to mainstream ecosystem services perspectives across all SRPs are generally consistent with the conceptual framework and responds adequately to specific suggestions of the ISPC, though not completely. The SRP structure is not actually a nested one with Basins as the highest order, but the Irrigation and Groundwater SRPs and the Dryland and Pastoral Systems SRPs were merged, and the Information and Resource Use and Recovery are stand-alone. The CRP 5 partners have made an effort to integrate the work on ecosystem services across CRP5 by developing some guiding principles. The criticism that the SRP may remain largely independent and self-contained is addressed in section 2.5, where a number of examples are provided to highlight the possible interactions among SRPs. Such interactions are plausible but will only occur if there is a coherent program, driven by a Steering Committee with sufficient authority to foster cooperative work among the SRPs. CGIAR scientists working on NRM understand that research alone is not enough, and this point is well highlighted in 2.6, which describes -research to impact philosophy‖ and the scope of the Program.CRP5 is now built around a series of river basins and these make sense as priorities. The SRP that is still an outlier is SRP2 on rainfed systems. Although this SRP is now much better presented, it is not better integrated and it could easily be a stand-alone CRP. Landscapes are barely mentioned and so the link between landscapes and basins is not evident, which leaves considerable potential for overlap and duplication with other CRPs. The clear distinguishing features to avoid such overlap is that the other CRPs should address onfarm productivity issues in rainfed farming, while CRP5 should focus at the landscape level.Adequately addressed:The ecosystem services perspective, broadly speaking, permeates the proposal. Chapters 2 and 3 in particular give adequate attention to the definition of ecosystem services (supported by Appendix 1). However, because elements of this perspective and analysis appear to be absent in some SRPs and problem sets, it would be useful, as suggested above, to test to see that every problem set has adequately addressed the trade-offs between productivity and environmental services in an appropriate fashion.Not adequately addressed:The Rainfed System SRP is still the weakest in terms of focus and likely impacts. The IPG element is also fairly weak although the revised proposal indicates that tools and methods will be the IPGs. Some of the activities, however, such as providing supplementary irrigation to farmers are clearly not IPGs.Five problem sets are defined in this SRP. The first one addresses the restoration of the fertility of African soils and the reduction of land degradation. It focuses solely on the nutrient limitation and the access to fertilizers. Research outputs are quite general and vague (Table 5.2). The next two problem sets are also quite undefined and lack focus. The one on revitalizing productivity of responsive soils proposes to identify soils of high production potential that are not fully exploited. Here is an opportunity to develop and concentrate on innovative approaches for yield gap analysis, an issue that is mentioned as one of the research outputs but that deserves considerably more attention in the work planned in this proposal. The third problem set aimed at increasing agricultural production while enhancing biodiversity is even more general than the previous one, and is based on the hypothesis that it is possible to increase agricultural output and enhance biodiversity in rainfed areas through improvements in soil and water management practices. The activities planned here are too general. The last two problem sets are more specific and have a clear focus. One of these deals with availability and access to water and land for pastoralists, while the other expands on past successes in extending supplemental irrigation into rainfed areas. Both are well defined and have a clear pathway to impact.Overall, the earlier criticisms of the Rainfed SRP are only partially resolved. Because CRP5 concerns land and water, the overall focus should be the management of both rainfed and pastoral systems. It is imperative to address the water and soil components of rainfed agriculture to raise the very low efficiencies of resource use, and to protect the fragile ecosystems. Two of the five problem sets are quite diffuse and the proponents have been less successful in defining relevant problem sets than in the irrigated systems. It is puzzling that the concept of conservation agriculture (even the term) is not mentioned. Is it because it is covered under a different CRP, or that the subject is not amenable to a landscape-level analysis? Given that conservation agriculture proponents often exaggerate its benefits, it is an approach that cannot be ruled out for productivity enhancement and resource conservation in some situations, including some in small-holder agriculture.Beyond the farm level, there are issues at the landscape and higher levels that need to be researched.This SRP has the largest share of the budget -40% of the total CRP program budget ($28.5m out of a total of $71.6 m in 2011) and retains that share (with total budget rising) over the 3 years. Curiously, in the original proposal, the combined Rainfed + Pastoral Systems SRP budget was only 31% of the total, so the relative importance here has grown. The proponents are apparently open to revisiting the resource allocation but it is now locked into special project funding. In any event, as it is such a large program, it deserves a very much stronger and more compelling research program than currently described.Not adequately addressed: Section 5.7 provides some discussion on the links between the work on pastoral systems and other CRPs, but generally the response is disappointing. The ISPC recognizes the difficulties of describing in detail the links between CRPs while most are still at an early planning stage, but the text in section 5.7 emphasizes use of results from one CRP in another, whereas it might be more effective to engage in joint planning of research. In fact, interacting at an early stage to ensure that the results will add value to respective CRP outputs seems a better bet. The question raised above about conservation agriculture may be answered by the planned cooperation with CRP1.1.Adequately addressed: Connections with sentinel sites are now addressed adequately. In their response on this issue, the proponents indicate they are currently engaged with World Agroforestry and other CRPs to ensure that this happens.Reference is also made to expecting guidance on methods and monitoring opportunities from outcomes of the ISPC NRM workshop in Beijing in October. At the same time, the ISPC agrees with the proponents' suggestion that leadership from the Consortium Board and Office would be useful here.It would also be useful for the overall aim of the CRP5 to be better linked to those of the other CRPs. How do ‗cause-effect' relationships explored in CRP5 manifest themselves as inputs to the other CRPs? For instance, such inputs would be particularly appropriate as considerations in CRP 2 (policy) as they would in CRP 6 (climate change). In short, the overall aim of CRP5 is very powerful and could be more explicitly linked across to the other CRPs and down to the project level within CRP5.Adequately addressed: This issue is adequately covered in the revised proposal as a specific problem set under the Irrigated Systems SRP.Adequately addressed:The description of the partnership strategy at the program level is more focused and there is evidence within each SRP of a more focused (and strategic) approach to new partnerships than was apparent in the original version. The partnership strategy is built around the concept of having core research partners, implementing partners and outreach partners. Each SRP lists existing and potential partners by region. The Irrigation, Resource Recovery and Reuse, Basins, and Information SRPs include specific examples of how partnerships will work in terms of roles and responsibilities.Partly addressed: Figure 13.1 (p187) illustrates a good response to the first 2 points in this recommendation. The Steering Committee, now merged with the advisory committee, has a long list of responsibilities including oversight of strategic direction and partnerships and developing and implementing the prioritisation process. It will be cochaired by the Lead Center DG and an independent member, reports to the Lead Center Board and only appears to be scheduled to meet once per year-which would seem too infrequently. It will provide ‗independent scientific advice and strategic oversight' for CRP5, but its independence is questionable given that the Lead Centre DG is a co-chair and the use of the word ‗implementing' in relation to the prioritisation process goes further than ‗strategic oversight'. Surely implementation should be left to the Management Committee? Also, the composition of the steering committee should include scientists of international reputation that are not involved in ongoing programs, such as CPWF. This will not be easy given the wide involvement of the scientific community in CPWF and IWMI research, but it should be attempted. In summary, a strong and independent Steering Committee is a prerequisite for such an ambitious CRP.The description of monitoring is expansive and includes the setting up of a Monitoring, evaluation and learning unit to provide support to managers across the program. Reference is made to the importance of ‗learning' and providing ‗an adaptive environment, but there is not an explicit statement of how and who will be responsible for adjusting research design and focus within projects in response to the results of monitoring."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3a1c85862610db60a3fa3f8d7585e0a5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/2134b17c-c675-4c88-a78d-5f4c50b1799d/content","id":"410468015"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"72795627-8098-488a-8d41-97f3e8eb3f12","content":"The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is an internationally funded, nonprofit scientific research and training organization. Headquartered in Mexico, the Center is engaged in a worldwide research program for maize, wheat, and triticale, with emphasis on food production in developing countries. It is one of 13 nonprofit international agricultural research and training centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). which is sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The CGIAR consists of 40 donor countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations.CIMMYT receives support through the CGIAR from a number of sources, including the international aid agencies of Australia,The practice of growing varieties, lines, or Summary hybrids resistant to attack by insects, and their subsequent effectiveness in reducing pest populations and corresponding crop losses, is well documented for several agricultural crops and pest species.The development of many of these resistant cultivars has resulted from or been facilitated by ( 1 ) many years of study of the insect pests, (2) the development of techniques to mass rear the insects, artificially infest the crop species, and screen the germplasm of the species (or their wild relatives) for resistance, and (3) the successful application of appropriate breeding procedures for improvement of the resistance characteristic over succeeding cycles or generations of population improvement (Guthrie, 1974(Guthrie, , 1980)).The basic components necessary to identify or develop germplasm with resistance, or with higher levels of resistance than present cultivars utilized by farmer/producers, include:(1) A colony of the insect species, which exhibits the vigor and vitality of the damaging pest population within the geographical area that is affected.(2) The capability to efficiently mass culture the species, including the rearing facility, trained personnel, natural, meridic, or defined diets, and rearing procedures and containers.(3) Germplasm resources that are representative of the genetic variation within the crop and/or its closely related species.(4) Methods for uniform artificial infestation.(5) Methods for assessing resultant damage, or lack of damage, to the plants subjected to deliberate infestation (rating scales to determine classes or categories of resistance or suscep. tibility).(6) Screening to determine whether adequatB levels of resistance exist within suitable agronomic types (equivalent or better 1lmlThis bulletin presents the techniques developed at CIMMYT and used over the past six years for the efficient mass rearing and infestation in screening and improving host plant resistance to the corn earworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie), in maize. (The species of He/iothis occurring in Mexico can be seen in Figure 1.) The techniques described show promise of adaptation to other pest species, crop species, and screening/breeding initiatives in other parts of the world.These techniques include the establishment of the insect colony and provision of the basic requirements for efficient mass rearing. The latter focuses on the rearing facility, diet, containers, and procedures for the various life stages (Figure 2). A method of efficient field infestation is presented along with a description of the rating scales used to evaluate re:;ultant damage and aid in the identification of resistant genotypes.Guidelines established and recommended by some entomologists who have developed crop cultivars with resistance (Guthrie, 1980), and proven by experience under CIMMYT conditions, are followed to maintain a healthy, vigorous H. zea colony.As there is only one crop and infestation cycle per year in the tropical highlands of Mexico, the earworm colony is replaced or rejuvenated by using ( 1) progeny of larvae collected from a lateplanted trap crop of sweet corn (Figure 3), or (2) progeny of adults captured in a light trap in spring at the beginning of the rainy season (Figure 4). The colony is replaced or genetically mixed with wild stock at least every ten generations.   2The basic requirements for successful insect colonization and rearing were listed by Needham et al. (1937), and include (1) food, (2) protection from enemies, (3) a suitable physical environment, and (4) fit conditions for reproduction.The components necessary in an efficient mass-rearing operation include (1) the physical facility, (2) diet(s), (3) rearing containers, (4) rearing procedures or management of the various life stages of the insect (Figure 2), and (5) qualified trained personnel.Rearing facilities. In many countries, physical facilities may consist simply of a room or two, a few boxes and cages, electrical power, and perhaps some means of temperature and humidity control. In some of the most developed countries, insect \"factories\" exist. Leppla and Ashley ( 1978) have compiled a valuable reference on the types of physical facilities which are presently being used for insect rearing, from small chambers to grand scale, semi-automated production. Anyone contemplating starting or expanding rearing programs should consult this reference for ideas which may apply to their conditions.The physical facility should be simple, practical, and functional. Entomologists with experience in rearing the insect or species desired should be involved in the design or modification of the facility as applicable to their situation. If the entomologist has not had a great deal of experience in mass rearing those species, he should visit one or more facilities where the species are being successfully reared. In most cases, he will gain ideas on how he might design or modify his facility to make it more efficient. He should, however, be aware that not everything he observes will be appropriate for his conditions, and that he may need to modify or adapt existing techniques to his circumstances.The rearing facility that serves the CIMMYT maize program is a simple, inexpensive structure which satisfies the most basic requirements for insect rearing. It has undergone many changes and modifications, as necessary, and this process is expected to continue. Most of the changes which have been made since its establishment fall into three categories: improvement in general sanitation, in storage facilities, and in making it more independent from other facilities.Insect rearing is a seven-day-a-week job at CIMMYT. Four or five species are produced twice a year for field infestation at appropriate plantgrowth stages over two-month-long periods. Therefore, the laboratory has to be independent of other units which operate only five or six days a week. This includes separate facilities for electrical power, refrigeration, water, storage, and general supplies.One useful component in the CIMMYT facility that many rearing facilities do not have is a small workshop. It has the necessary tools and materials for basic maintenance of much of the physical facility and for the construction of rearing dishes, cages, or any spur-of-the-moment necessities. This small facility makes the rearing operation much more efficient.Diet. Singh ( 1977) lists seven meridic diets which have been used successfully for rearing H. armigera Hubn., and 16 diets which have been used for either H. virescens (Fabricius) or H. zea (Boddie) or both. The adults of these He/iothis species are illustrated in Figure 1.The diet used at CIMMYT for rearing CEW is presented in Table 1. Use of the checklist-register (see Appendix) is recommended in order to avoid errors in diet preparation and for use as a record to identify material lots that may coincide with  problems encountered in rearing. The only item unique to this diet is dried, sterilized maize tassel powder used at the rate of 20 g/kg of diet. (The tassels are collected and processed prior to pollen shed.) In tests under CIMMYT conditions, better larval establishment, shorter larval period, larger pupae, and better oviposition were obtained from insects reared on the diet with tassel powder than those on the standard diet.  Guthrie et al. ( 1969) found that Ostrinia nubilalis larvae could survive to pupal stage on only maize pollen, indicating that it is a nutritious food source. Trials at CIMMYT indicate that it acts as a feeding stimulant and/or makes the diet more palatable. It has been used with consistent results for the past four years in their diets for rearing five lepidopterous species. And since maize is continually undergoing improvement at CIMMYT, tassel powder is a low-cost diet ingredient.Prepared commercial diets for rearingHe/iothis sp. are now available from several sources in the USA. CIMMYT experience with these, however, has shown that they need a few ingredients, mainly supplemental vitamins and microbial inhibitors, for successful use in the rearing facility. They have the advantage of saving time and effort in preparation, while providing the necessary quality assurance. Walker et al. (1966) list• criteria for diet suitability: (1) high larval survival, (2) vigorous adults with high reproductive capacity, (3) normal rate of larval development, (4) low-cost ingredients, (5) easy preparation from readily-available ingredients of uniform quality, and (6) good keeping quality. No one diet exists, however, which will measure up to all these criteria for mass rearing a given species under all conditions or at all locations. However, after testing several diets that have been used successfully by other scientists, and after experimentation with various concentrations of ingredients, it is possible to develop a suitable diet.New information on diets, diet ingredients, suppliers, and rearing techniques is available in the \"FRASS Newsletter,\" (Anon. 1981), pub- rearing insects in 27 countries. It is provided free of charge to interested scientists and is a valuable reference.Rearing containers. Containers suitable for rearing Heliothis sp. range from individual glass or plastic vials or cups (Sparks and Harrell, 1976), Hexcel units (Roberson and Noble, 1968;Raulston and Lingren, 1969), polystyrene light diffusion cell blocks (Raulston and Lingren, 1972), and cell webs processed and infested by a modified in line formfill-seal machine (Sparks and Harrell, 1976).Figure 11. The eggs are then rinsed under tap water to wash off the sodium hypochlorite.Figure 12 The rinsed eggs are then decanted into a graduated cylinder to estimate production. There are approximately 2,000 eggs per milliliter.Any of the above may be utilized efficiently in a mass rearing program. Choice may be dictated by the size of the rearing operation, the cost and amount of labor available, and the supply, availability, and durability of a given container. The ultimate and most efficient system would appear to be the lnline form-fill-seal machine and system. However, at CIMMYT and in many other locations in the world, it is probably not the best choice, because of the cost of the initial unit and subsequent materials and the problems likely to be encountered in its operation and maintenance. In fact, because of high costs associated with such production, a study was done to see if H. zea could be produced more economically on maize plants in field cages (Sparks et al., 1971) .CIMMYT has adapted the system used by Raulston and Lingren (1972) to meet its needs (Figure 5). The cell grids are made from polystyrene light-diffusion louvers available in Mexico, the boxes are made locally from 3 and 6 mm Plexiglas, and the cap for the unit is a layer of paper toweling, a 50-mesh bronze screen, and a sheet of the polystyrene grid, held in place by inexpensive large rubber bands. To minimize problems with microbial contamination, the units are sterilized by soaking in a 1 Q.percent sodium hypochlorite solution, and the boxes and grid blocks are surface treated by spraying with a 5-percent sorbic acid/5-percent methyl parabenalcohol solution. This treatment does not affect insect growth and aids in confining any chance contamination to a few cells within the box.Hot diet is poured into the dishes and the grids are forced into the diet manually. The unit is exposed to UV radiation prior to infesting to further minimize microbial contamination.Adult stages. When CIMMYT first began rearing H. zea in 1975, colonies were frequently lost because of sterility. Callahan (1962) reported that one of the major problems in rearing H. zea involved their unpredictable mating habits in the laboratory; consequently, he obtained a higher incidence of mating by using large cages containing host plants, with controlled temperature and humidity, and a 10-percent honey solution for adult nutrition.Since 1977, a similar mating cage (Figure 6) has been used with continued success. It consists of a 0.5 x 0.5 x 1.0m Plexiglas cage with screen on two sides so that the moths can hang and rest easily. A pot containing several whorl stage maize plants is placed within the cage; a dish containing cotton moistened with a 10-percerit sugar solution is also provided. Moths are left within the cage for 48 hours before they are transferred to oviposition cages.Oviposition cages used at CIMMYT consist of a simple wire frame support and a bag of nylon mesh (Bridal Illusion) material (Figure 7). This system has been found to be superior to cotton cheese cloth either placed over paper ice cream cartons (Burton, 1969;Raulston and Lingren, 1972), or on the front or sides of other style cages (Callahan, 1962;Knott et al., 1966). Its advantages include ease in changing oviposition substrate without adults escaping, ease in cleaning, maximum oviposition surface area, no need for cage liners, and no problem with hatching larvae since the entire cage walls are replaced daily.Changing the cage (Figure 8) is accomplished by simply placing a new bag over the mouth of the egg-laden one. As the egg-laden bag is pulled off, the new one is pulled over the frame. A small Figure 15. A mixture of sterilized corn cob grits and first instar H. zea larvae is applied to the rearing container until there are ap. proximately 5 larvae per cell in the grid.Figure 16. Infested boxes are capped with a layer of paper towelling and a fine mesh bronze screen. Rubber bands and a section of the plastic grid seal the cells during larval J growth to pupation.8 plastic box with cotton, moistened wit h a 10-pecent sugar solution, is placed inside fo r food.Egg stages. Egg-laden bags are placeasmall, inexpensive portable wash ing mach• agitated for 2-3 minutes in a 0.2-percent hypochlorite solution. Egg-laden water • decanted onto a fine mesh screen , and thee immersed in a 10-percent sod ium th i solution and then rinsed with water. (Figures 9--_ Eggs are washed onto a paper towe l, the e moisture is removed, and they are placed i s plastic dishes for incubation.Once larvae have hatched (0-8 hours old • they can be stored in a refrigerator (at 1QOC 1 for up to five days, or used immediately to re infest diet or plants in the field.Larvae. At CIMMYT, newly-hatched larvae (< 12 hours old) are used for infesting diet to maintain the laboratory colony.Infestation of the rearing boxes is accomplished easily and rapidly: 100-200 cc of sterilized corn cob grits are placed in the dish containing larvae, and the dish is rotated gently to mix uniformly. The mixture is transferred to a simple shak•r jar (Figure 14) and shaken over the boxes containing diet and the cell grid unit until there are 2-5 larvae per cell (Figure 15). After capping, the rearing boxes are moved to shelves in rearing rooms at 70-80 percent R. H. with temperatures ranging from 20-320C, depending on how quickly the next generation is needed.Depending on temperature, larvae mature and begin pupating in 18-30 days. The developmental stage can be easily checked through the clear Plexiglas box. Boxes are not opened until the pupal stage. Only one larva per cell survives to pupate (Figures 16,17). Other rearing programs (Raulston and Lingren, 1972;Burton, 1969;Sparks and Harrell, 1976) use eggs for infesting diet and rearing containers because they are more appropriate to their systems.Pupal stage. Many rearing operations, particularly those where much or all of the procedure is mechanized, have developed various machines for pupal extraction (Harrell et al., 1968;Raulston • and Lingren, 1972;Harrell eta/., 1974;Sparksand Harrell, 1976).CIMMYT, by modifying the polystyrene cell unit into a split unit (three layers glued and one layer below), eliminated the need for any special machine for pupal collection. Nearly all pupae are encountered below the surface of the diet in the boxes. The split cell unit, when removed, splits the diet layer and the pupation cell so that the pupae can be gently dumped from the dish. If desired, the few remaining pupae which pupated above the diet plug can be removed by hand or simply discarded.Pupae are placed one layer deep in boxes or dishes of various sizes, depending on the quantity desired, and provided with a screen so that newlyemerged adults can hang and spread their wings (Figure 18). These containers are then put inside the mating cages when the first adults have emerged (Figure 6).infestations with He/iothis sp. have been done with both eggs and larvae (newly hatched, second instar, and third instar). Manual infestation with newly-hatched larvae (using a camel's hair brush) was first done over forty years ago (Blanchard et al., 1942). It was an effective method (Josephson et al., 1966), but very inefficient because of the time and labor involved.  Figure 19. Plants with fully .. merged, fresh silks to be infested ere tagged with date of infestation for later identification. This is done prior to infestation to avoid ' dislodging the l1rv1l grits mixture. 10 More efficient methods in use today include (1) infesting with eggs suspended in a 0.2 percent agar solution and applied to the plants in controlled amounts (hypodermic syringes or pressure applicators) or uncontrolled amounts (squeeze bottles) (Wiseman et al., 1974), and (2) infesting with uniform numbers of newly-hatched larvae, using the Bazooka applicator. The second technique was developed by Mihm and colleagues at CIMMYT in 1976(CIMMYT Review, 1977). The use of the technique and its advantages for use with several lepidopterous species are described in detail by Ortega et al., 1980. Infestation of maize with H. zea larvae is illustrated in Figures 19, 20.Larval infestation is more efficient than othe means of infesting because it is more rapid, uses fewer insects per plant, and is more effective (fewer escape plants) than other techniques. The Bazooka, in original or modified versions (Wiseman et al., 1980), has been used efficiently and effectively for field infestation with at least 11 species of lepidopterous insect larvae (Diatraea saccharalis, D. grandiose/la, D. lineolata, Ostrinia nubilalis, Chilo partel/us, Sesamia cretica, S. calamistis, Busseo/a fusca, He/iothis zea, H. virescens, and Spodoptera frugiperda) and one leafhopper (Dalbulus maidis) in three crop species-corn, sorghum, and cotton. To use the technique in cotton, the plants were simply sprayed first with water (Hall et al., 1980). If done after rain or heavy dew, infestations in cotton would be even more efficient as it would then be unnecessary to spray the plants.For infesting corn in the whorl stages, the larval-corn cob grits mixture is simply dispensed into the whorl. For infesting developing maize ears, the mixture is dispensed onto the fresh silks. Care must be taken not to disturb the plant for a few minutes after infestation, so the larvae have time to attach themselves.If corn cob grits are not readily available, other materials may be used in preparing the larval mixture; corn meal (Hall et al., 1980), millet seed (Pers. comm.), and sorghum meal have been used successfully. Other materials will likely be reported as they are tried.Rating scales are generally used to quantify the resistant (or susceptible) performance (Figure 21) of the plant(s) after infestation in the field or greenhouse.For corn earworm damage in whorl stage corn, a scale similar to the one devised by Wiseman et al. ( 1976) is generally used. It is a 0-10 scale, where 0 is no damage and 10 is a completely destroyed plant. For damage to ears, the revised centimeter scale (Table 2 and Figure  22) developed by Widstrom ( 1967) is recommended as the most effective in indicating plants with heritable resistance. The techniques and experience described in this bulletin for efficient mass rearing and infestation show promise of adaptability to other pest and crop species and to screening and breeding initiatives in other parts of the world. The final objective in the application of these techniques to any program of efficient mass rearing and infestation is to identify resistant genotypes for immediate use in farmers' fields or to identify the most resistant genotypes (plants) for use in a breeding program. Varieties with improved resistance can serve as one of the major components in the effort to manage the Heliothis sp. pest populations.references Anon., 1981    "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ced06ec1d352954fa86231a7b4411a41","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/dd46bccf-861c-4898-9e71-db0cc91b808a/retrieve","id":"2136604595"},"keywords":["P616 -Activity 2.4.1: Animal Health Service provision","P608 -Activity 2.2.2: Establish protocols for survey of antimicrobial use and for monitoring AMR","P607 -Activity 2.2.1: Development and evaluation of herd health packages","P782 -Activity 5.2.4 Gender Methodologies OICR: Outcome Impact Case Report"],"sieverID":"dc947f2d-8793-4788-a15e-82a09dbb84de","content":"Community conversations, developed jointly by ICARDA and ILRI, have resulted in successful behavior change and transformation of gender relations at household and community levels amongst 1,600 farmers in Ethiopia. Local service providers, local government and a large-scale development program have expressed interest in adopting this participatory tool. A training of trainer module that includes livestock health management, gender and zoonotic disease risks has been developed to expand and facilitate uptake of community conversations into the national extension system.Women in rural households in developing countries play an important role in livestock health management, however their role is often not fully recognised. To address this, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) developed a gender transformative participatory tool called community conversations, consisting of training modules to guide discussions amongst rural farming communities focused around livestock health management, gender and zoonotic disease risks. The modules were tested with 1,600 farmers in Ethiopia, held from 2018 to 2019 amongst five communities in the highland and lowland regions in Ethiopia. Knowledge and practices of participants were recorded before and after the trainings. In open community discussions, men and women farmers offered different perspectives and solutions to common issues. Commitments were recorded, then monitored. An evaluation study showed that concrete changes in attitudes and behaviour had taken place. Some of these include the adoption of safety practices when handling sick animals, improved access for women to farming information, more equitable sharing of responsibilities in the homestead, inclusion of women in non-traditional income-generating activities, increased awareness of the risks of anti-microbial resistance among community members and a better understanding of responsible anti-microbial use amongst local animal health service providers. The impact of community conversations and their successes in changing the behavior of livestock producers have attracted the interest of service providers and local government representatives, who are keen to embed the approach in their national extension system. ICARDA and ILRI researchers have since developed a training of trainer (ToT) module, to facilitate uptake and expansion of the tool. The ToT has been tested and is now embedded in the 4-year EU-funded development program HEARD (Health of Ethiopian Animals for Rural Development) launched in 2019 and aims to strengthen the quality of veterinary services, improve food safety and control zoonotic diseases in Ethiopia. Future activities include the addition of more topics and to fully integrate the approach in the extension system in Ethiopia.Contributing Flagships:• F5: Livestock Livelihoods and Agri-Food Systems • F2: Livestock Health Contributing Regional programs: <Not Defined> Contributing external partners: <Not Defined> CGIAR innovation(s) or findings that have resulted in this outcome or impact: Herd health interventions (such as Innovation 746) developed to address animal health constraints identified and documented in the flagship in the past years required a suitable training approach. We had also clearly shown the need for gender sensitive approaches -hence community conversations which faciliate dialogue across communities, inlc. men and women, were identified as a promissing option.• 573 -Community conversation as a gender transformative approach in livestock health management (https://tinyurl.com/2hq5mm99)• 746 -Community based gastrointestinal parasite control in small ruminants in Ethiopia (https://tinyurl.com/2oxv8yex)Gender inequalities and zoonoses are concerns in livestock production systems worldwide with especially huge impacts in low and middle-income countries. Livestock keepers are at a high risk of zoonotic diseases due to direct contact with their livestock. Risky practices include home slaughter, poor sanitation, handling sick animals, attending births, handling and preparing animal source food and the consumption of such food when raw or undercooked. Gender differences in roles, access to and control of resources and power relations influence the perceptions and practices to manage risks of zoonotic disease transmission. Using participatory action research, ICARDA and ILRI researchers tested the effectiveness of a transformative approach -community conversations (CCs) -in shifting gender relations and practices that expose livestock keepers to zoonoses in 3 districts in rural Ethiopia. A total of 583 women and 1,005 men in Doyogena, Menz and Borana districts participated in CC sessions. Findings from an evaluation study in Doyogena and Menz covering the first 4 modules showed that CCs are an effective approach to shift mindsets and practices regarding unequal gender roles, access to and control of resources and power relations as well as handling sick animals and the consumption of animal-source foods to minimize zoonoses (1). Researchers found significant attitude and behavior changes throughout the process of CCs. Changes occur through a social learning and reflective process whereby community members first recognize and analyze the problem, reflect collectively on their perceptions and how they inform their day-to-day practices, make shifts in mental models and then commit to action (2). The change process is influenced by social structures, networks, institutions, complementary activities, and facilitation processes. The level of engagement by the communities in the CC activities and the ensuing community transformations has attracted the interest of extension agents, official veterinarians and other service providers. A training of trainer module (3) has since been developed to increase the uptake and expansion of the CC tool across the country. To date a first batch of development and local researchers was trained in how to run the modules independently, with an action plan for trainings developed and enacted (4)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1896ee2b5e98736200ec14cda1dfa3d7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d1dbfa86-98a0-4e1c-9532-e343f3940db8/retrieve","id":"403495234"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1b0c7125-81c0-4fc9-8aee-40143ac0bb1e","content":"For a dairy industry to function effectively and efficiently all actors, whether producers, market agents or consumers, need good information on a variety of subjects (table 1). Facilitating the flow of such information presents a particular challenge in Kenya, where the dairy industry is a major source of livelihood and is predominantly based on small-scale production and marketing.A comprehensive review of the knowledge system of the complex smallholder dairy subsector was conducted by the Smallholder Dairy Project (SDP) between November 2002 and May 2003 (box 1).Table 1. Some types of information important for the dairy sector ■ Access to information is a constraint for many actors in the smallholder dairy subsector, and uncertainty exists regarding the quality and reliability of the information that is available.In a liberalized dairy sector the respective roles played by public and private sector actors in information dissemination need to be clarified and coordinated.■ Professional associations and industry bodies could take a lead in improving accountability and quality of information, to the benefit of all in the industry.Groups play a critical role in the sector, and need better support and information on effective group management.■ Particular benefit could be gained from addressing the information needs of small-scale milk traders.A network of information centres could improve access to information by all actors.The survey used the rapid appraisal of agricultural knowledge systems (RAAKS) method, a participatory methodology for understanding information flows in complex systems 1 . The method involves working with multiple actors to describe and understand how they generate, access and pass on relevant information. Findings are used to facilitate action planning to address constraints and utilize opportunities found in the system.A series of workshops and interviews was held at national level and in three districts -Nakuru, Vihiga and Kiambu. Workshop participants identified a wide range of actors to be interviewed (table 2). Various RAAKS tools were used to explore the roles, objectives, linkages and impacts of different actors from their own perspectives. Feedback meetings of the study teams clustered findings and brought out key areas of constraint and opportunity.These were explored in further key informant workshops to verify the findings and to start working towards action plans for improvement.Key policy-relevant findings of the study are presented below, and illustrated with some specific examples.A large number of private, civil society and public actors are involved in generating and making available information. Linkages between actors are complex but are presented in a simplified manner in figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 presents information flows between actors at a local level (including the local extensions of national groups); figure 2 presents information flows between high-level actors at a national level, indicating where information feeds through to local level actors. Information flows are classified by colour (see key); more important flows are represented by thicker arrows. In some instances (for example informal milk traders in figure 1) internal flow among individuals in some actor categories is also represented.Linkages between these actors are often weak, and almost all actors in the study had problems accessing and passing on information 2 . Particular constraints were identified as follows:■ Lack of awareness of sources: Several actors, such as small-scale farmers and traders, were unaware of where or how to access information. Licensing of small-scale traders, who play a crucial role in the dairy sector, may help them to access information, and this issue is now being addressed by the Kenya Dairy Board and non-governmental organizations, supported by SDP research 3 . ■ Inability to access sources: It is difficult, for example, for individual farmers to link with the wide range of actors who could provide technical information on milk production and handling. Public researchers and extension workers have limited resources or opportunities for accessing and passing on information.Information gaps: There is a lack of information provision in such areas as markets and prices, credit, finance and legal services, business services and effective group formation and management.Weak links in the chain: Formal public research-extension linkages exist but are often ineffective 4 . Some of the most effective sharing of information was based on informal links between individuals, including spread of information between farmers. Problems may arise when both public and private sector actors provide information within a recently liberalized dairy sector: ■ Inconsistent quality of information from private sector: Private suppliers of feeds and drugs provide information on their products to farmers. However, farmers have no means of judging the accuracy of this information. In addition, there is little effective regulation of the quality of this information through enforced advertising standards.Lack of information on animal health: Private animal health workers (vets and artificial insemination practitioners) are generally viewed as service providers rather than sources of information. They often lack support from their professional organizations towards providing a service in which information is valued.Low appreciation of the value of information: Dairy farmers show greater willingness to pay for inputs and services than to pay for information. This may be because of limited farmer capacity to convert information into tangible benefit; or because it is felt that information should be provided free. Private and public sector roles are not clearly differentiated by actors. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b094d95d75a66cc1b9606b94e2474ce3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8515f0ee-eef9-4455-976e-342f5aeeff18/retrieve","id":"1905568236"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0340db7a-a4e7-409b-81bd-03894b4dc79c","content":"Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense Tropical Race 4 (Foc TR4), the causal agent of Fusarium wilt of banana (FWB), is currently the major threat to the banana industry worldwide (Dita et al. 2018).Restricted to South Asia for more than 20 years, Foc TR4 has spread in the last years to the Middle Further analyses to identify the presence/absence of full sequences for the putative effector genes (Secreted In Xylem -SIX) and their allelic copies, also revealed that the SIX genes profile of the strains isolated from Querecotillo matched with previously reported Foc TR4 isolates (Czislowski  "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/0300511052.json b/main/part_2/0300511052.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a7bf9982a2d90a6b6a76995f1ad68d0e360daff0
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"24c12e8471d49f398ba4630382b73eff","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b76db559-3630-48c3-bda2-6aa27330eaaa/retrieve","id":"625835763"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6d879a96-8c20-404a-8ac6-4b4ddf56eb5d","content":"Emerging evidence suggests that working towards multiple objectives, including those related to mitigating and adapting to climate change, increasing gender equity and youth inclusion, and improving nutrition increases the chances of interventions to achieve their goals and the likelihood that they have long-lasting positive impacts across a range of development objectives (Tallis et al. 2019, Yavinsky et al. 2015). Conversely, interventions that do not follow a more integrated approach may miss tradeoffs across well-being outcomes, exclude vulnerable groups, or even increase the marginalization and vulnerability of others and ultimately might fall short of their objectives. To address this problem and favor the integration of the mainstreaming themes in IFAD operations, a team of researchers at the International Food Policy Research Institute developed a conceptual framework for understanding the linkages between climate change, gender, youth, and nutrition within the larger context of resilience for development drawing on different bodies of literature on these topics (Figure 1). Resilience is particularly suited to develop a coherent, inclusive and rigorous method to plan for interventions and to analyze on-going interventions that work at the intersection of multiple disciplines. Resilience is integrative by construction; it facilitates collaboration among experts of different disciplines and combines relations among human and natural systems.Central to the concept of resilience are people's capacities. This puts an emphasis on how interventions and programs can support the building of capacities for different groups of people to achieve specific well-being outcomes. People's capacity to respond to shocks and stresses and to negotiate for their preferred solutions determines the range of viable responses. Existing capacities also influence the type of impact that interventions have on households' wellbeing and the potential for people to fully take advantage of interventions.Gender and age are critical social distinctions that influence vulnerability, capacities, impacts, and the feasibility of interventions. In particular, women and youth often have different needs and preferences from others in the community or other individuals in the household and typically have less bargaining power and control over resources. Other social distinctions also strongly influence resilience and capacities, including ethnicity, class, race, caste, and sexual orientation among many others.Figure 1. The Climate Change, Gender, Youth and Nutrition integrated analysis framework Drawing on this framework, the IFPRI mainstreaming team has engaged with IFAD missions in four sub-Saharan African countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi and Uganda) to generate lessons for the mainstreaming of climate change, gender, youth and nutrition in IFAD's operations. The IFPRI team engaged with IFAD missions at various stages of the project cycle to test the applicability of the framework to the mainstreaming process.In July 2019, the IFPRI mainstreaming team joined an IFAD mission in Uganda for the design of the National Oilseeds Project (NOSP). The goal of this engagement was to facilitate the inclusion and integration of the mainstreaming areas in the project design and implementation plans. This experience made clear the importance and advantages of a mainstreaming team to work embedded in the project planning phase. This report situation analysis that the team used to support recommendations on entry points for more integrated mainstreaming of climate change, gender, youth and nutrition in the design of the NOSP.Uganda experiences relatively humid conditions and moderate temperatures throughout the year, with mean daily temperatures of 28 °C with the average monthly temperatures ranging from a minimum of 15 °C in July to a maximum of 30 °C in February. The highest temperatures are observed in the North, especially in the North-East, while lower temperatures occur in the South.Historical data indicate that during the period the 1975 to 2009 average temperature during the two rainy seasons (March-June and June-September) has warmed more than 0.8 °C. This transition to an even warmer climate is likely to amplify the impact of decreasing rainfall and periodic droughts and will likely reduce crop harvests and pasture availability. A significant warming has been measured in Uganda for instance the Uganda's National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) cites an average temperature increase of 0.28 °C per decade in the country between 1960 and 2010, being January and February the most affected by this warming trend, averaging an increase of 0.37 °C per decade.The frequency of hot days in the country has increased significantly while the frequency of cold days has decreased.The annual rainfall totals vary from 500 mm to 2800 mm; mean annual rainfall ranges between less than 900 mm in the driest districts to an average of above 1,200 mm per year in the wettest districts located within the Lake Victoria Basin, eastern and the north-western parts of Uganda (37,38). Precipitations have a bimodal distribution in the south to central parts of Uganda, with two rainy seasons (March-June and October-January), while northern-easterly region experiences one long rainy season. Floods and droughts are the most frequent weather hazards. For instance, the cattle corridor, located in the dry-land region, is prone to drought, while the northern region is especially vulnerable to both floods and droughts.Time series indicate that rainfall, on average, has been decreasing. Several analyses find an overall decrease in average rainfall of about 12% during the past 34 years in Uganda, with the greatest decreases in the regions of central and western Uganda. Furthermore, during the period 2000-2009 rainfall has been, on average, about 8 percent lower than rainfall between 1920 and 1969.Climate projections based on data from Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) using Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 scenarios indicate the possibility of an increase in the country's average temperature in the order of +2.5 °C in the next 50 years (Figure 3, panels e-h). Projections for the next 80 years point to a possible increase of 4.5 °C.Many climate models predict an increase in short rains (September -November) as global temperatures rise (Figure 3, panels a-d). However, the Horn of Africa region has become observationally drier during the 20th century. This drying trend against the projected increase in rainfall place East Africa into an apparent climate paradox which is generally considered as an indication that more accurate model simulations and an improved understanding of the geophysical processes governing the rainfall over East Africa is necessary. Given these inconsistencies and the errors in climate models' ability to simulate the current climate, whether or not the future climate in East Africa will become wetter as a result of climate change is an open question. Keeping in mind the existing uncertainty in climate projections, we analyze the projected effects of climate change on some of Uganda's major crops. Figure 4 reports the projected changes in yields for eight crops and four different climate models. Even though we do not have projections for sesame, we can use the effects on millet and sorghum as rough proxies. According to GFDL projections sesame could be not negatively affected by climate change but all other climate models show a decrease in yields. Groundnut is negatively affected under all climate scenario while soybean fairs better than all other crops. Given the climate projections of GFDL and MIROC, yields appear to increase but using the other two climate models (HADGEM and IPSL) yields are expected to decrease. One of the main challenges being faced by the oil seed producers is the late on set of rains and late cessation of the first season that results in replanting in some cases or late planting and harvesting of the produce. The late harvesting results in drying challenges and thus increased post-harvest losses. Farmers also complained about the increasing risk of droughts and prolonged dry spells that adversely impact their yields. The rainfall variability is compounded by the low accuracy of the climate information being disseminated to the framers.The priority reflected in Uganda's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) is adaptation. The country aims to reduce vulnerability and address adaptation in agriculture and livestock, infrastructure and water sectors, among others. The strategy to build climate change resilience includes the scaling-up of sustainable land management and climate smart agriculture.Given the particularly uncertain climate outlook for this region of Africa, it is essential that farmers are given the necessary support and information to develop flexible adaptation and contingency plans. A range of technologies are already being promoted and implemented in the country. Among these are: integrated soil fertility management, agro-forestry, crop diversification, conservation agriculture (crop rotation, mulching, green cover crops and low-or no-till), intercropping legumes with other crops, water management practices and adaptable planting times. These practices, which are climate smart agriculture practices already indicated as viable adaptation option in the country's NDC, must be evaluated considering crop specific performance given soil and other local conditions. Furthermore, to ensure crop performance and to protect farmers' livelihoods and the implementation of important instruments like crop insurance, the availability of climate information and early warning systems is necessary.The priority actions that NOSP can contribute to in the agriculture sector include expanding climate information services and early warning systems, climate smart agriculture practices, expanding value addition and post-harvest handling and storage, encouraging agro-forestry and water use efficiency.Uganda intends to follow a climate resilient and low carbon development pathway. The priorities for mitigation include the forestry and wetlands sectors.Agriculture is the main occupation of women in Uganda-72% of all employed women and 90% of all rural women work in agriculture, compared to 53% of rural men (Garcia 2006). Women play a prominent role in planting, weeding, harvesting, post-harvest processing, storage and food preparation, while men focus on land clearing and marketing of high value crops. Food crops (such as plantains and tubers) are typically controlled by women while men tend to have greater control over cash crops and income (Kasente et al. 2001;Garcia 2006). Other studies confirm that women are at a disadvantage in terms of crops sold in formal markets that generate higher revenues, while maintaining more control over lower-revenue crops (Njuki et al. 2011). Moreover, Peterman et al (2011) find persistent lower productivity on female-owned plots and among female-headed households, after controlling for a range of socio-economic variables, agricultural inputs and crop choices with important differences based on crop choice, agroecological zone, and biophysical characteristics. De la Ocampos et al. ( 2016) attribute differences in productivity largely to differences in crop choice and factors of production, including women's labor constraints, and lack of access to agricultural inputs and extension.Promotion of non-traditional exports, such as oilseeds, is considered an important agricultural development strategy for the country, given risks of over-reliance on world markets for traditional cash crops like coffee, tea and cotton (Kasente et al. 2001). However, investments in value chains for nontraditional exports, like oilseeds, have important gender implications given women's more limited involvement in cash crop farming. In particular, there are inherent risks to women's empowerment with commercialization of traditional food crops that they control, like groundnut and sesame.Constraints. While women are increasingly involved in the cash crop production, including in the oilseed sector, they lack control over income and benefits from it given men's control over marketing activities (Garcia 2006;Vorley et al. 2015). Other constraints to women benefiting from oilseed production relate to their lack of ownership of land, greater risk aversion, lack of access to inputs (like seed), and labor burden. Production of certain crops, such as soybean, and post-harvest processing practices using traditional methods are particularly labor intensive (Kasente et al. 2001;Vorley et al. 2015). Women's priorities to increase their participation in oilseed value chains include access to labor-saving technologies, access to finance, and group formation and strengthening (Vorley et al. 2015). Women also tend to lack access to agricultural information as well as information on climate change and climate-smart practices compared to men (Katungi et al. 2008;Kisauzi et al. 2012), which can limit their successful participation in commercial oilseed production.Data shows that 31 % of households across the country are female-headed and the rate is only slightly lower in rural areas at 30 % (UNHS 2017). Female-headed household often have particular vulnerabilities related to lack of access to family labor for agricultural production, weaker social networks, and limited access to resources and information (Katungi, et al. 2008). Widows in Uganda are considered to be particularly vulnerable due to social norms, which limit their control over physical and financial resources (UNHS 2017). Married women often have more access to resources and family labor but may be at a greater disadvantage in terms of other aspects of empowerment such as decision-making and mobility.In terms of access to and decisions on credit, 66 % of women report having access to credit from any source, with the most common sources being friends or relatives (41.3 %) and group-based micro-finance (31.8 %). Most women have input into the decision to borrow (69.4 %) and how to use the loan funding (73.3 %) across all loan sources. Reasons for taking loans were similar across men and women, according to UNHS data (2017). Primary reasons for both men and women include: to smooth consumption (reported by % of men and 25 % of women who borrowed), to pay education expenses (26 % of men and 23 % of women), and to purchase inputs/capital for non-farm enterprises (19 % of men and 18 % of women) (UNHS 2017).Women Empowerment in Agriculture Index. The Feed the Future baseline survey conducted in 2012, showed an overall WEAI score of 0.86. The measure of individual empowerment without considering the gap in scores between men and women (the 5DE) shows that 57.8 % of women achieve empowerment (5DE score of 0.80 or above). Among women who did not achieve empowerment, access to and control over productive and financial resources (credit), time burden, and community leadership appear as the domains where women have the lowest scores. Women are much more likely to achieve adequacy in the domains of production decision-making and control over income. Sixty-one percent of women achieve gender parity with the main adult male decision-maker in the household. Baseline WEAI data were analyzed in relation to other development outcomes. Findings show that women in households with moderate to severe hunger are significantly less likely to achieve adequacy in autonomy in production, ownership or control of assets, control over the use of income, and satisfaction with leisure time, while women in households with moderate to severe hunger are significantly more likely to achieve adequacy with respect to access to and decisions on credit. The correlation between hunger and access to and decisions on credit is likely related to credit being used to smooth consumption among the most vulnerable agricultural households rather than for productive purposes. Women with higher decisionmaking scores have statistically lower levels of wasting of children under 5 years.Similarly, with respect to decisions on the use of income from these activities, results show that women that participate in cash crop farming report having input into most or all decisions related to income from this activity (91.8 %). These results suggest that increasing women's involvement in cash crop farming would lead to other gains in terms of decision-making over production and income. DHS data from 2016 show similar results with 91 % of currently married women participating in decisions about the use of their earnings (53 % make decisions on their own, and 38 % make decisions jointly with their husband).In terms of specific decisions related to agricultural production and expenditures, WEAI data show that the majority of women are involved to a medium or high extent in decisions related to getting inputs for agricultural production (79 %), the types of crops to grow (85 %), whether to take crops to market (75.8 %), minor household expenditures (90 %), major household expenditures (65.6 %), own wage or salary employment (86.9 %). DHS data show that currently married women (age 15-49) participate in household decisions either alone or jointly with their husbands on their own health care their own health care (74%) and visits to their family or relatives (72%) than in decisions about making major household purchases (64%) (FtF FEEDBACK, 2015).While the results for Uganda related to women's participation in production decision-making and income decisions are promising, women's actual influence in production and income decisions may vary by crop and the level of profitability. More disaggregated analyses at the crop level and at various stages of commercialization are needed to understand gender roles in and benefit from cash crop value chains, including oilseeds.Given that there are various dimensions of women's empowerment in agriculture, interventions in the sector are likely to have different impacts on these various aspects. Commercialization of oilseeds is no exception. In particular, positive and negative impacts are expected to occur. Hypotheses include:1) Commercialization of oilseeds traditionally controlled by women as food crops (i.e. groundnut and sesame) will reduce the share of household income and assets that women control.Similarly, commercialization of oilseeds may reduce women's involvement in decisions related to production of and income received from these crops. The use of the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) should mitigate this negative impact to some extent.New labor-saving technologies and services introduced by service providers will save women's time-particularly for those women already involved in oilseed production and processing. Women not previously involved in oilseed production may see their labor burden increase if they are adding new activities to their existing workload.Incentives and capacity building to increase women's active participation in and leadership of farmer organizations and service provision (agronomists, machine operators etc.) will increase women's leadership roles in the community.Agriculture and related jobs are likely to dominate the employment opportunities for rural youth for the foreseeable future, making the welfare of youth closely tied to trends in agricultural development. Environmental risks related to climate change, land fragmentation and degradation, therefore, pose considerable risk to young people whose livelihoods will depend on agriculture (Brooks et al. 2019). Investments in agricultural research and development and agricultural infrastructure are essential to mitigate these risks and protect rural livelihoods into the future (ibid). Wage labor in the agri-food system will also become an increasingly important source of employment for youth (Dolislager et al. 2019).Young people under the age of 35 are also more likely to migrate for reasons including: following family, income, marriage, and education (UNHS 2017). Increasing land scarcity due to high population growth will likely drive employment and migration decisions of rural youth into the future (Yeboah et al. 2019). Therefore, policies are needed to increase youth access to land and security of tenure in order to sustain agricultural productivity growth and drive rural transformation (ibid). Educational attainment is increasing over time, suggesting that young people are being educated at higher rates than in the past. Between 2012/13 and 2016/17, the percentage of persons aged 15 years and above that lacked any formal education dropped by 9 percentage points from 21% to 12% (UNHS 2017). The main reason for leaving school was lack of funding/not affordable (68% for boys and 65% for girls). Ten percent of both boys and girls left school because their parents decided to take them out or they had a calamity at home. Four percent of girls also left due to pregnancy. Overall, only 6% of both boys and girls left school because they reached their desired education level (UNHS 2017).It is often argued that youth present opportunities for agricultural transformation given special characteristics, qualities, motivations, and abilities. While these claims are widely made, there is currently no research to support the notion that youth are more innovative, creative, and more likely to adopt new agricultural technology like improved seeds, fertilisers, irrigation and mechanisation; engage with value chains, integrate ICTs into their livelihood activities, or seize new business opportunities as service or input providers (Sumberg and Hunt, forthcoming).Despite limited evidence about the economic or transformative benefits of investing in rural youth, addressing the needs of this large and growing demographic is essential from a social equity and longterm sustainability perspective. Agricultural value chains both on-farm and off-farm could offer promising career opportunities for young Ugandans, if appropriate information and start-up resources were available for rural youth.Investment priorities for rural youth depend on the level of transformation of the country and the existing opportunity structure (Arslan et al. 2019). Opportunities for rural youth vary by local context depending on the natural resource base, market access, social norms, and preferences, as well as household characteristics (RDR 2019;Sumberg et al. 2019). In countries, like Uganda, with low levels of rural transformation, investments should focus on building the capacities of rural youth through investments in infrastructure and education and on increasing the productivity, connectivity, and agency of youth in agriculture (Arslan et al. 2019;RDR 2019;Sumberg et al. 2019). Commercialization should increase the rural opportunity structure for youth to participate in and benefit from agricultural transformation.Programs targeted at increasing the opportunities for rural youth should consider gender differences in constraints and needs by young men and women. Young women and men experience the transition to adulthood differently depending on the level of structural and rural transformation of the country (Doss et al. 2019). Research using sex-disaggregated data across 42 countries shows young women are more likely to have transitioned into domestic and reproductive roles and less likely to be in school or employed, and less likely to own land (ibid).The NOSP offers an opportunity to assess youth opportunities and engagement in the process of commercialization. During field visits, smallholders in the NOSP areas described education as the most important thing for the youth and were concerned about consistent ability to pay school fees and disruptions to their education. Some youth groups visited was not explicitly or predominantly made up of youth and thus did not likely address their particular needs or priorities. The older generations were maintained as group members with the justification that they pass on knowledge and provide guidance to other members who are youth. Youth farmer groups have been formed at schools as part of GoU guidelines. These groups consisted of young girls and boys who were trained in agriculture and farming techniques and engaged in practical demonstrations and field work. VODP2 also conducted trainings and field work as a pilot in two schools and reported generating positive results in informing young farmers about benefits and production/harvesting techniques of oilseeds and in increasing their interest in agriculture sector.The UNHS 2016/17 Report provides per capita estimates of calorie consumption by food group based on household consumption estimates. Figure 2 shows that total calorie consumption and the shaded orange area of the figure shows the food energy gap for each sub-region, which is the gap between average population dietary energy requirement (ADER) for Uganda, which is 2091 calories per person per day, and per capita consumption in that sub-region. Most sub-regions face significant estimated food energy gaps. Only Teso and West Nile are just above the cut-off, though it is likely that some proportion of their populations do fall below. For those with higher calorie consumption, the share of calories from staples tends to be higher. Table 2 breaks down estimated per capita calories consumption by food group within each sub-district. Overall, staple food consumption makes up a higher than optimal share of the diet, and nutrient rich foods are greatly under consumed. The Uganda Nutrition Action Plan 2011 sets a target of 75% of calories coming from foods other than staples. Only Bugishu/Elgon meets this target, but it also has the lowest per capita calorie consumption across all food groups. Of interest to NOSP, the share of calories from nuts and pulses is very low. For most sub-regions considered, improving diets will require increasing the amounts of nutrient-rich foods while maintaining the quantities of staples consumed. While for Lango and Bugishu/Elgon, improving diets will require increasing consumption of all food groups. While increased production of nutritious foods like oilseeds may increase supply and decrease prices, participation on high-value supply chains can also disincentivize consumption as people prefer to sell for profit, such as in the example of quinoa among indigenous Peruvian communities (McDonell, 2016). The inadequacy of diets of children from six months to two years in Uganda is a major challenge. An alarming 15% of children overall received both sufficient diversity and meal frequency to yield a minimum acceptable diet in 2016 (UBOS & ICF, 2018). This rate falls to an alarming low of 2.5% of children under-2 receiving a minimum acceptable diet in Acholi, where stunting is also very high. Other sub-regions with high prevalence of stunting and wasting also have very low rates of adequate child feeding, except for West Nile which is above the national average for minimum diet adequacy but still suffers among the highest rates of stunting and wasting, suggesting that non-diet factors like health shocks may be exacerbating child nutrition outcomes.Stunting and wasting. Based on the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (2018) data collected in 2016, national stunting prevalence is 29% nation-wide. In Uganda, stunting is associated with rural residence and low levels of mothers' education. In the target areas, Bugisu, Karamoja, Acholi and West Nile experience higher stunting rates than the national average by between 2 and 7%.Wasting is higher than the national average in all NOSP targeted sub-regions except for Teso, by between 2 and 7%. In particular, Bugisu, Karamoja, Acholi, and West Nile all have wasting rates of 9-10%, which is extremely high. In particular, in Karamoja and West Nile the prevalence of severe wasting is nine times higher than what would be expected in a well-nourished population (UNICEF-Uganda, 2018). Furthermore, in West Nile, wasting increased from 6.2% to 10.4% from 2011 to 2016. While in Karamoja, wasting increased from 7.1% to 10% from 2011-2016(UBOS & ICF, 2012, 2018;UNICEF-Uganda, 2018).These statistics suggest that these areas have experienced major population-wide health or income shocks, and national-wide analysis finds that wasting is correlated poverty (UNICEF-Uganda, 2018). In Karamoja during this same time period (2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016), the proportion of the population relying on subsistence agriculture increased from 6% to 51%, highlighting the need to better understand the vulnerabilities associated with shifts in livelihoods approaches (UNICEF-Uganda, 2018).Drivers of food and nutrition insecurity. Some national studies provide additional insights on the potential drivers of food security and nutrition problems in the North. In particular, the source of household income and women's role in food production and marketing play a role in nutrition outcomes (Azzari et al., 2015;Kirk et al., 2018;Whitney et al., 2018). For instance, women's control over which crops are produced supports them to deliver diverse diets for the family (through own consumption) and fulfil cash needs (through small-scale sales) (Whitney et al., 2018). While animal foods are an important part of a healthy diet, only ownership of small ruminants appears to influence nutrition outcomes in Uganda (Azzari et al., 2015). And finally, non-agricultural self-employment (in contrast to wage labor) seems to support better nutrition outcomes (Kirk et al., 2018).The IFPRI team joined the Uganda mission and design team to support mainstreaming in the NOSP. Through this engagement, the IFPRI team helped the IFAD mission by applying a mainstreaming lens to the process of stakeholder engagement, preparing the project's SECAP, and by suggesting components, project activities, and indicators for monitoring and evaluation to be included in the project plans. The IFPRI team identified clear entry points for mainstreaming activities and suggested a series of activities that weaved mainstreaming in the project operations (see the appendix for details). Specific areas of engagement included:• Situation analysis for each mainstreaming topic • Develop a protocol for stakeholder engagement/assessment using checklist linked to framework • Meet each component lead to define mainstreaming activities (shown in Figures 2-4 • Conduct a social diagnostic assessment within each hub to identify social dynamics that should be addressed in the design and implementation of the project. Through this assessment high risk communities with a critical gender imbalance will be identified and intervention approaches will be tailored to mitigate these risks.• Ensure social inclusion in farmer organizations as part of the stakeholder platforms as well as trainings, information/extension, demonstration to farmers. This may include specific targets for women-led groups in areas where women's active participation in mixed groups is limited and where women prefer this approach. All facilitators/brokers should be trained in gender dynamics to solicit input from women and youth and other marginal groups in mixed groups to ensure that their priorities are reflected in investment plans and selection of services.• Use of Household Methodologies (GALS and HH Mentoring) to ensure women's participation in household expenditure decisions. The GALS also includes nutrition and climate change. The methodologies will enable farmers to identify common areas of gender inequality limiting women's and youth's development specifically in value chains and household/community progression.• Provide incentives to increase women's and young people's participation in and benefit from service provision, including mechanization. Increasing the participation of women in the provision of the services envisaged, either as auxiliary or technical, will build the capacity of women along the value chain to participate in and benefit from the commercialization effort.• Promote good agricultural practices and technologies that are environmentally sustainable, and nutrition-and gender-sensitive. Promotion of renewable energy such as dryers that use crop residues instead of fuel wood to avoid deforestation, precision fertilizer application to increase resource efficiency, integrated soil fertility management and crop rotation and diversification.• Provide equipment and training to support greater aflatoxin control and awareness. In field practices aflatoxin control measures include selection of drought tolerant seed varieties and good agriculture practices to reduce crop stress. Managing moisture levels post-harvest with appropriate drying technology, such as simple drying racks, and improved storage facilities would also limit further contamination.• Improve access to nutrition knowledge and health food culture through nutrition trainings and other awareness raising activities. This can be done through partnerships with existing programs to address challenges high levels of stunting, wasting and micro-nutrient deficiencies.• Build capacity of facilitators/brokers in climate risk mapping/vulnerability assessments. Using downscaled future projections the existing adaptation strategies can be improved and options provided through the NOSP advisory services.• Invest in the development of climate information services and R&D on drought tolerant varieties.The project can also promote different climate smart agriculture practices to contribute to the NDC priorities by scaling up practices such as minimum tillage, mulching and other soil and water conservation measures and improved water use efficiency and farm management.• Ensure the design and construction of rural roads is informed by climate risk analyses. The downscaled climate risk models will be used in the risk mapping and integrate measures such as water harvesting structures and improved drainage.• Incorporate sites for the land degradation surveillance framework and their operationalization to monitor the health of the soil and land use changes.• Adhere to the SECAP and national environmental regulations in the development of the roads infrastructure. The impact assessments will have to be included in the budgets for the infrastructure development and approvals obtained from NEMA.• Appoint dedicated staff for social inclusion and environment and climate change at management as well as implementation levels."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2471b9d6571a3b6af8cf21e4817f268d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1d6fe332-8ca1-4442-ba1b-de9d2492b5d8/retrieve","id":"-750570386"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cd576c56-4ec5-45d4-80ae-c624184b98a8","content":"Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above. The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used.As in many southern African countries, cattle is the traditional indicator of wealth in Swaziland and, since prestige is derived from the number of cattle owned rather than their quality or commercial value, overgrazing is rife. There is however an opportunity for smallholder livestock keepers to increase their income from livestock sales as national and regional demand for meat is increasing and there are unmet export quotas for Europe (European Union and Norway).Extensive production systems are common for cattle producers with little investment as capital is limited to buy inputs and adopt new technologies in order to increase productivity and improve the quality of their animals. The above and dependency on rainfall, have been making formal lenders hesitate to disburse loans to farmers to boost productivity. However, increased access to irrigated land through various rural development programs such as the Lower Usuthu smallholder irrigation project (LUSIP) offers new opportunities to farmers. There is a potential to start grass/forage based fattening of animals which will significantly reduce the production costs and improve quality.The research conducted looks into cattle producers, fatteners and traders' production and marketing behavior and access to credit in two areas of Swaziland in order to inform the development of a financial instrument (a loan) that will help producers, fatteners and traders improve their competitiveness.The initial study (focus group discussions) was conducted between October 2013 and February 2014 followed by individual in depth interviews that lasted up to June 2014. In total one hundred and eleven persons were interviewed: fifty three cattle producers, thirty six cattle fatteners and twenty two cattle traders. The average age of cattle producers is 50.3 years, and 51.3 years for cattle traders. Cattle fatteners have the lowest average years (45.4), and mostly females (44%) compared to the producers and traders groups. The collected data was coded and entered into excel and analysed using STATA version 13.0.Main findings are:• Sales of beef cattle are the main source of income for all three groups, although this is of least importance for cattle traders. Traders obtain more than one third of their income from other agricultural activities such as livestock production, fattening, transport, etc. The high percentage of revenue derived from livestock by producers and fatteners is because many of them are unemployed and have no other source of income, selling a head of cattle will pay for household expenditures including school fees. About one third of cattle producers interviewed had not sold cattle in the past two years. Revenues from sugarcane farming contribute 30 to 35% for producers and fatteners. Around half of the producers, almost all fatteners and two thirds of traders interviewed were part of an association. • The area surveyed falls under Swazi national land. The average land size for cattle producers, fatteners and traders interviewed was 3.5, 2.3 and 3.8 hectares respectively. This land is mainly used for vegetables, maize and cotton farming. During the off-season, cattle are allowed to vii graze in the fields. Apart from land and cattle ownership, farmers own a number of assets such as vehicles, plough, and permanent houses. • All three groups deal with multiple livestock species (cattle, goats, sheep, pigs and chickens).Forty-one per cent of cattle producers own less than ten animals. For cattle fatteners, livestock ownership is almost evenly distributed for herd size of up to 50 cattle. Almost all the traders have been involved in cattle trading activities with different intensities during the past 12 months. Herd composition varies; more than half of the herds of producers are cows older than 4 years. Fatteners have mostly animals less than 24 months of age for both sexes. • Extensive systems are the most common for cattle producers and cattle fatteners. Twenty-five per cent of fatteners has indicated the exclusive use of stall-feed system (zero grazing), while other cattle producers and cattle fatteners indicated relying mostly on grazing supplemented in the dry season. Only 7% of the fatteners use commercial feed. The use of sugarcane tops still very low among farmers albeit this residue of the sugarcane industry is abundant in the region. • The average number of cattle sold during the last 12 months by cattle producers is 3.47; traders sold 37 and fatteners 18. The two main market channels for all groups are butchers and Swaziland Meat Industries (SMI). For producers, selling to other producers is also important. Producers are the most important cattle suppliers. There is a preference to purchase animals up to 2 years, although purchase of 3-5 year male cattle and old cows during the last 12 months does also happen. About half of the traders indicated that the quantity of animals on offer was less than in previous years, while the others thought it had remained the same or even increased. Seventy-three per cent of traders operate only in the Lubombo region. For producers, the mean selling price of cattle is SZL4382.68/animal. Cattle fatteners mostly sell animals on the basis of live weight (in Emalangeni per kilogram), the mean price being 20.51 SZL/kg (USD2/kg). • All existing agreements among the different groups are verbal and the following aspects are considered: time of sale, price, body condition, weight, age, animal health, regime followed, conditions and timing of payments and transport of animal at the time of sale. The majority of respondent groups are willing to be on a written contractual fattening agreement with the other stakeholder. Almost two-thirds of both cattle fatteners and cattle traders accepted to bear these operational costs. The majority of cattle producers prefer sharing the benefits with the traders rather than asking for a fixed amount. • Access to extension services is below 40% and knowledge on the use of suitable feed resources to fatten the animals is limited or inexistent among respondents. Access to market information is high (over 64%); for other farmers, extension services and buyers are important sources of information. • Almost all cattle fatteners and traders have a bank account compared to 70% of producers. Only around half of all respondents have access to credit for livestock/farming activities mostly due to lack of collaterals. Informal sources of credit such as friends/relatives were the most sited source of borrowing money for cattle producers and cattle fatteners. Almost two thirds of the traders declared preferring getting the loan individually and directly from the financial institution.Beef consumption is rising throughout the southern Africa region, providing opportunities on local, national and regional markets (IAASTD 2007;World Bank 2007). A variety of export initiatives, increased consumer income, population growth, and urbanization of southern African countries (growing influence of supermarkets), have increased the demand for quality beef, differentiated by grades and requiring formal slaughter and inspection (Katz and Boland 2000;McDermott et al. 2010;Scoones et al. 2010). This increase in demand should ideally translate to increasing income for cattle farmers including smallholders. However, as production is not market oriented incomes from livestock are low and irregular for many smallholders in the region.The increased demand for livestock and livestock products -livestock revolution (Delgado et al., 1999) in the European Union (EU) markets has also brought about opportunities for countries in southern Africa. The region was able to negotiate a deal with the EU for export of boneless beef under a generous reduced tariff, thus opening new markets and enabling the payment of premium prices to farmers (Scoones and Wolmer 2008). Some southern African countries such as Namibia and Swaziland have been allocated quotas for beef exports to the EU under the Lome's Convention (Sartorius Von Bach et al. 1998).Under this trade agreement, commercial beef producers have been gaining premium prices while smallholder farmers were excluded because inferior quality animals due amongst others to lack access to financial markets, land, irrigation, and production chains. Developing countries have initiated policies that promote, develop and encourage smallholder cattle farmers to produce into a more market oriented way.New opportunities have risen for Swaziland as recently the quota allocated to the country to supply boneless beef to the EU and Norway markets was increased (by 90% for the Norway market), and local demand for livestock products remains high. Furthermore, Swaziland Meat Industries (SMI), the country's only exporting abattoir, is adding more production lines that will focus on processed meat products. This will result in value addition in this industry and will reduce importation of these products. This is another development that may encourage farmers to engage more in commercialization.On the supply side, there are also a number of developments happening that may encourage increased cattle production and commercialization. The Swaziland the Livestock Development Policy provides the policy framework for smallholder farmers to improve their social and economic status through improved cattle production and commercialization. Access to irrigated land by smallholder farmers allow for improved production through growing of forages as well as the use of crop residues for animal feeding from the sugar cane industry. This area is still very under developed with most cattle farmers keeping their animals in extensive systems without supplementation.In 2011 Lidwala Insurance Company introduced an agricultural insurance package targeted at both the small and large commercial farmers. The package includes a comprehensive livestock policy which covers various livestock species. This access to insurance has encouraged commercial banks and microfinance institutions to invest in agricultural production although no particular financial products have been made available to date.As in many southern African countries, cattle is the traditional indicator of wealth in Swaziland and, since prestige is derived from the number of cattle owned rather than their quality or commercial value, overgrazing is rife. Many of the cattle are grazed on communal Swazi nation land (SNL), and there is therefore no incentive to preserve pastures and avoid overgrazing. As a result, Swaziland has one of the highest density grazing rates in Africa, one beast to each 1.6 hectares (Vilakati, 1994). This situation is further aggravated by the continuously expanding areas dedicated to sugar cane production reducing the available grazing area.The subsistence nature of livestock rearing in the country characterized by weak and low investments in the sector and poor linkages of most farmers to formal markets and value addition chains has led to low cattle off-take. According to data from 1998 (FAO), off take is 6.3% for smallholders on SNL which is similar to figures for the communal areas in South Africa (6%) (Scholtz and Bester 2010). Cattle production, and more particularly the beef industry value addition, is of little interest to investors and to the financial sector beyond a small number of large scale producers with strong links to or also owning slaughterhouses, processing and retailing facilities.Farmers generally need working capital to buy inputs and adopt new technologies in order to increase their agricultural productivity and improve the quality of their produce. Access to formal credit from financial and/or microfinance institutions is a key point. Dependency on rainfall and poor farming systems, have been making formal lenders hesitate to disburse loans to farmers for large-scale investments to boost productivity. In addition, a land title is one of the essential prerequisites for loan qualification set by the lending institutions, but which has been denied to most small-holder farmers. Smallholders in Swaziland are located in SNL, thus do not possess a land title.Despite various interventions of supplier-led approaches to credit, limited success has been achieved in improving access to credit, and Swaziland is still searching for better ways to improve access to credit for smallholder farmers. If the aim is to reduce poverty of smallholder farmers and to promote rural economic development, a shift in paradigm to a demand-driven approach in rural financial market is the way forward (Manganhele 2010). In Swaziland, there has been a renewal of interest in improving access to agricultural credit especially for sugarcane and vegetable farmers (Msibi 2009). Cattle farmers are still lagging behind as the livestock sub-sector is engulfed by poor animal husbandry practices, and limited market incentives.Few comprehensive attempts have been made to analyse Swaziland's credit policy for smallholder farmers in order to improve smallholders' access to credit. In Swaziland, smallholders have been targeted in a large number of projects with multiple pro-poor development objectives. In some cases these have been strongly technical and organizational in impact, with somewhat limited power to integrate the value chain to deliver business models that sustain the associated income streams (Wetengere and Kihongo 2012). Many attempts to support the establishment of feedlots or organizing livestock auctions in dry areas have failed mostly because they were not economically viable (grain-fed fattening systems are expensive) or due to the low prices paid to farmers (Msibi 2009).This study is part of an International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) funded project implemented by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) which aim is to enhance smallholders' cattle famers' access to credit form formal lending institutions through the implementation of a viable lending scheme directed to cattle producers, cattle fatteners and cattle traders. The main objectives of this study are to: i. characterize the type of producers, fatteners and traders involved in the beef value chain as well as their production systems and marketing channels; ii. determine the current credit access status of smallholder cattle producers, fatteners and traders; and iii. assess cattle producers and fatteners' willingness to adhere to a contractual fattening scheme with cattle traders and the different modalities that such contracts should include.The study was conducted in the Swaziland Water and Agriculture Development Enterprise (SWADE) project areas, as shown by the green colour in Figure 1, in the Lubombo District about 300 km from Mbabane (Capital city of Swaziland) and in the Hhohho District about 170 km from Mbabane. The study area is located in the lowveld which is one of the ecological zones in Swaziland. This area was chosen because of various SWADE implemented projects: LUSIP; Lower Usuthu smallholder irrigation project-Global Environment Facility (LUSIP-GEF) and the Komati downstream development project (KDDP).These projects allow smallholder rural farmers to have access to irrigated land for sugarcane farming and other agricultural activities and at the same time being able to conserve natural resources and the environment.The mean annual rainfall ranges from 440 mm to 570 mm and the mean annual evapo-transpiration is 2,057 mm. About 70% of the annual rainfall within the hot summer rainy season is from October to March. The mean annual temperature in winter ranges from a minimum of 5°C to a maximum of 20°C.As mentioned in the introduction section, three types of stakeholders participating into the beef value chain in Swaziland have been targeted:• Smallholders, either facing grazing constraints in dry or remote locations (graziers). These are referred hereafter as cattle producers.• Smallholders with access to fodder/feed who are located in irrigated areas 1 but do not have capital for livestock purchase (potential fatteners). Some of these stakeholders have already been involved in cattle fattening activities. We will refer to this group as cattle fatteners , and • Rural cattle traders and those developing small enterprises for rural economic development.Exhaustive lists from the three types of stakeholders have been elaborated from individual data provided by SWADE, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and local committees. Table 1 reports the different locations, districts, and the type of actors involved segmented by the gender.From the above list of stakeholders, a stratified random sampling procedure was applied. Random selected samples were obtained from each type of actors leading to a total one hundred and eleven (111) numbers of interviewed stakeholders and composed as: fifty three (53) cattle producers, twenty two ( 22) cattle traders and thirty six (36) cattle fatteners. In few cases some farmers 2 were not available or it was not possible to contact them, in that case they have been replaced by other respondents from a \"reserve\" random list. Socio-demographic characteristics of sampled farmers are summarized in Table 2. Most individuals who own cattle are males this especially the case of cattle producers and cattle traders (this trend is also observed in other developing countries in Africa). Women are more presents when it comes to cattle fattening activities. The average age of cattle producers is 50.3 years, and 51.3 years for cattle traders. Cattle fatteners have the lowest average years (45.4), and mostly females (44%) compared to the producers and traders groups. The term \"farmers\" will refer hereafter to the three types of actors: cattle producers, cattle fatteners and cattle traders.Fifty-eight per cent of cattle producers had formal education and 9% had informal education while almost one third were illiterate (respondents older than 60 years). Cattle fatteners had the highest percentage of secondary school education (36%). Out of all the cattle farmers, cattle traders (14%) had tertiary level of education with 6% of cattle fatteners while cattle producers had none. On average cattle farmers were in-between informal and primary school education level. Data was collected from both primary and secondary data sources. Focus group discussion (FGD) with cattle producers, fatteners and traders were first conducted during the period of October 2013-February 2014 to collect general information on cattle famers' husbandry practices as well as the relationships between the different actors involved in the value chain. In a second step, the information collected through FGDs was complemented by face-to-face interviews with the three types of stakeholders during the period of April-June 2014. Both open-ended and closed ended questions were used in the questionnaires because of the nature of the data that had to be collected from each group of stakeholders. Data that were collected through the questionnaires comprises of each stakeholders' socio-economic characteristics, cattle production and marketing practices, income received from cattle trading and other activities, involvement in contractual agreements and, access to credit. The questionnaires for cattle producers/fatteners and cattle traders are reported at the end of this document in Appendix 1 and 2 respectively.Secondary data were obtained from the MoA, Department of Veterinary and Livestock Services, SWADE, GIS unit from the LUSIP information management system (LIMS) department and the internet using published and unpublished documents.The collected data was coded and entered into excel and analysed using STATA version 13.0. Descriptive analysis was mainly used to analyse the data accompanied in some cases by graphics and figures to a better visualization of the results. For specific variables, cross-tables were estimated to assess possible correlation between these variables.As expected, cattle husbandry is the main business activities for the majority of cattle producers (91%), while for cattle fatteners, cattle production is the main source of income for two thirds of the respondents, and only 41% of cattle traders confirmed that cattle trading is their main business activity.Cattle farmers are generally involved in other agricultural and/or non-agricultural activities (Figure 2). Taking into account that the respondents were sampled from the LUSIP and KDDP areas where sugarcane and vegetable production are the main agricultural activities, 30% and 36% of cattle producers and cattle fatteners respectively depend on sugarcane farming. Due to diversification, 30% of cattle producers depend on other agricultural activities, such as vegetable and maize production. In addition to cattle trading, cattle traders are also involved in other activities such as farming and retailing (mainly as meat retailers).From a list of different items, respondents were asked to specify exactly which type of livestock and other agricultural related activities they are engaged in. Results (Figure 3) confirm the previous ones and what was expected. In fact, livestock producers are mainly concerned with livestock production and cropping, with few of them who are also providing slaughtering services. Almost the same pattern is observed for fatteners who are mostly involved in two types of activities: livestock production and As expected, traders are involved in many livestock and agricultural activities which enable them to reduce risk by diversifying their activities and generate additional incomes and liquidity. These activities vary from livestock production, fattening, transport, slaughtering, up to meat processing and retailing. Almost a fifth of the respondents from the traders' group also indicated that they are involved in cropping. Respondents were asked to rank the three main types of livestock species they are involved with in production and or/marketing activities (Figure 4). The first result is that, as expected, all cattle producers and cattle traders indicated cattle among the ranking of the three important species. This is not the case of fatteners where only 69% of them ranked cattle among the three main important species. In fact, in this group some fatteners have abandoned cattle fattening activities from many years because it was not economically viable. It's important to highlight that all traders as well as almost all producers ranked cattle as the first most important species, while for fatteners this proportion goes down to 72% (from the total number of fatteners' respondents who are currently involved in livestock activities).  The second result from the analysis is that more than two-thirds of cattle traders are also trading other livestock species especially poultry, goats and pigs. This proportion is even higher (three-quarter) in the case of cattle producers who also rear poultry or goats, and less (slightly more than half) for cattle fatteners who are also involved in poultry or piggery activities.The mean level of monthly income in other business activities for both cattle producers and fatteners, and cattle traders ranges between SZL1,000-2,000 and SZL2,001-5,000 3 , respectively. The share of income from cattle trading for cattle traders is 40% of their overall income. The high percentage of cattle producers (72%) deriving their income from beef cattle is attributed to the fact that most cattle producers are unemployed, they sell cattle for household income and to pay school fees. But this does not mean that they are involved in beef cattle production commercially. About 28% of cattle producers interviewed had not sold cattle in the past two years. This has led to the encouragement of cattle producers to commercialize livestock production in order to derive more income from the business and improve the economic status of livestock production in the country.Land is the most important asset as the majority of the respondents derived their livelihood from farm-based activities. The area surveyed falls under SNL, which is held in trust for the nation by the King through Chiefs who allocate usufruct rights to individual Swazi families or inherited from relatives. From the results, it can be gathered that the average land size for cattle producers, fatteners and traders interviewed was 3.5, 2.3 and 3.8 ha respectively. This land is mainly used for vegetables, maize and cotton farming. During the off-season, cattle are allowed to graze in the fields. A minority of the cattle farmers interviewed either share land with other family members or members of their association for farming (sugar cane or vegetable production). Assets' ownership of cattle farmers are reported in Table 3. Apart from land and cattle ownership, farmers own a number of assets such as vehicles, plough, and permanent houses. Only minority of cattle farmers from SNL own rental buildings in urban areas. Assets play a crucial role when it comes to access to credit as they are considered as collateral. From the survey results cattle farmers do not have assets that can be considered as collateral when taking up a loan for livestock production because their permanent houses are located in SNL (not considered as collateral), and most of their vehicles are imports (insurance companies do not insure this category of cars).In general, livestock keeping forms part of the Swazi tradition and is still considered a source of social status. From the survey results, all cattle farmers interviewed own livestock such as, cattle, goat, sheep and chicken. For cattle traders, trading activities (number of cattle purchased and number of cattle sold during the last year), was documented and results indicated that almost all the traders (95%) have been involved in cattle trading activities with different intensities. Figure 5 shows cattle distribution among cattle producers and fatteners. Farmers interviewed owned cattle ranging from 2 to 74. The number may not necessarily represent the actual number of cattle owned by the farmer as some respondents were reluctant to reveal their real cattle numbers. The government of Swaziland through the Swaziland Revenue Authority is investigating and exploring ways on how cattle farmers can start paying tax (Times of Swaziland 2014). Cattle ownership distribution is skewed with 41% of cattle producers owning less than 10 cattle while at the other extreme, 2% have more than 60 cattle. The rest of cattle producers fall within this continuum. For cattle fatteners, livestock ownership is almost evenly distributed for herd size of up to 50 cattle. Only 3% of cattle fatteners own more than 60 animals. The composition of the herd size is reported in Table 4. The mean herd size for cattle producers and fatteners are 17.4 and 18.4 respectively with high standard deviations, which confirms the disparity of cattle ownership within both groups. More cattle producers have female cattle than male cattle.  Forty per cent of cattle producers own male cattle older than four years (Min=1; Max=9; Mean=3.4), while 22% of cattle fatteners own this category of cattle. Results also indicate that most cattle farmers own young cattle than old cattle, which could points out to a possible increase in cattle fattening activities and a possible slightly higher propensity of farmers to sell their animals.Results in Table 5 indicate that extensive systems are the most common for both cattle producers (all respondents) and cattle fatteners groups (two-third of respondents). As indicated earlier, most cattle are grazed on SNL, which is confirmed by the survey's results. This is also the case for almost 90% of cattle fatteners.Seven out of 28 fatteners (25%) has indicated the exclusive use of stall-feed system (zero grazing), while other cattle producers and cattle fatteners indicated the use of a mixed system where grazing prevail when pasture is available with supplementation of crops residues, fodder and feed during the dry season. Only very few, seven out of 36 cattle fatteners use of industrial feed. This has 2 important implications: first, the daily weight gain per animal will be very low resulting in a longer fattening period; second, it indicates that commercially available feeds are expensive which discourages cattle fatteners to opt for stall-feeding system. This is also confirmed by the low success of the fattening contracts programme established between SMI and cattle fatteners in the past.As previously indicated, sampled farmers are located in regions where access to irrigation water is available, which explains that 60% of cattle producers and cattle fatteners use also crop residues for animal feeding. Sixty per cent of cattle producer and cattle fatteners use also crop residues for animal feeding which mostly entails letting the animals into the cropping areas after harvest or feeding them residues from legume production. There is very limited crop residue conservation taking place. (Table 5). The use of sugarcane tops still very low among farmers albeit this residue of the sugarcane industry is abundant in the region. Cattle producers in Swaziland, as stated earlier are reluctant to sell their animals. This is confirmed by the average number of cattle sold per year by cattle producers which is 3.47 (Table 6). As expected, cattle traders have the highest number of cattle sold per year (more than 37) but the standard deviation indicates that the data is widely spread among the group. Cattle fatteners occupy the second position with around 18 head of cattle sold per year. This could be considered as relatively a low average taking into consideration that fattening activity represents the main source of income for an important proportion of the sampled fatteners. However, the high standard deviation indicates that cattle sales vary significantly within the group of fatteners. Cattle producers generally sell different types of cattle ranging from 1-2 year steers/bull up to old cows, while cattle fatteners mainly sell mature male cattle (3-5 year) which they consider the best animal age/weight to market. Less frequently, cattle fatteners do also sell weaners and young cattle (1.-2 year steer/bull). On the other side, cattle traders' sales vary from weaners up to mature male cattle. They also sell old cows but less frequently.Almost 53% of cattle fatteners did not sell any cattle the previous year, as some of them ceased feedlotting in the year 2009. Almost a third of cattle producers (28%) have not sold any cattle during the last 12 months, said reasons were either stock building or there was no need to sell. Only one cattle trader never sold cattle the previous year because of lack of capital. Cattle producers market their animals through mainly two channels: butcheries or selling cattle to other producers. A smaller proportion of producers market their animals to processors/abattoirs (Figure 6), however butchers remain the first ranked customers for cattle producers. The trend is somehow different in the case of fatteners who also mainly work with two types of buyers: SMI and butchers. Although this result was expected, it's important to highlight the difference between both marketing channels when it comes to the first ranked customer. In fact, around 44% of the sampled fatteners indicated that SMI is their first client, while only 19% of the respondents reported that butcheries are their first customer. This highlights the impact of the contractual fattening programme between SMI and the fatteners. These contracts are verbal agreements that may also exist between fatteners and butchers.As expected, traders have more diversified marketing channels where for the majority of them butchers are among the important customers. A more focused look on the ranking of these buyers indicates that producers (36%) and SMI (32%) are ranked as the first customers for cattle traders which once again highlight the important role of SMI as cattle buyers during the last years.The mean price of selling cattle for producers is SZL4,382.68/animal; this is an average price including all types of cattle being sold by the producers. Cattle fatteners mostly sell animals on the basis of live weight (in Emalangeni per kilogram), the mean price being SZL20.51 /kg (USD2/kg).Traders were also asked about their main purchase channels for cattle. Results indicated that all respondents (those who bought animals during the last 12 months) indicated cattle producers among their suppliers, followed by collectors/traders (47%), and then brokers (21%). Again, if we only focus on the first ranked cattle supplier, almost all respondents (95%) indicated that cattle producers are their main supplier. This result shows the importance of cattle producers within the beef value chain in Swaziland and how vital to get them more market oriented and more involved in cattle business activities. This could be probably further improved if market infrastructure would exist as currently all transactions take place at the dip tanks.Table 7 indicates the type of cattle purchased by cattle traders from cattle producers and the reasons/purpose for purchasing, changes in number of cattle being purchased and reasons for the changes. Almost two-thirds of traders purchased weaners, almost half of them purchased 1-2 year steers/bulls, and one-third purchased 3-5 year male cattle, while only one-fifth (23%) purchased old cows during the last 12 months. A majority of cattle traders indicated that they sell the animals soon after purchase acting as brokers or intermediaries, and more than half of them fatten the animals for later sale (adding value through fattening activities). Cattle trading in Swaziland is not operated as a commercial business, for this reason contractual arrangements are rare and if done it is usually under verbal agreements. From the interviewed value chain actors around 43% of cattle producers, 65% of cattle fatteners and 52% of cattle traders are engaged in verbal/purchasing agreements.Farmers (producers, fatteners and traders) who indicated having verbal agreement with their buyers were asked to indicate with whom they have such agreements (Figure 7). Cattle producers have verbal agreements mainly with butchers and other cattle producers, which in some way confirm the previous results on the main marketing channels (Figure 6). As expected, fatteners are mainly verbally/written engaged with SMI, and some of them have also verbal agreements with butchers. The case of traders is different from the other stakeholders. In fact traders are for some reasons less proponent to have contractual written/verbal agreements with their clients and if it's the case, they'll prefer to stick to few of them. This is indicated by the relatively low proportion of traders who have verbal agreements with butchers: only 45% from the sub-group of traders who have contractual agreements with their customers while previously (Figure 6) it was shown that 82% of the traders are selling beef meat or live animals to the butcheries. that cattle buyers and/or cattle sellers are looking for when buying/selling the animals. Cattle buyers (such as, butchers, SMI, abattoirs , traders and farmers) and cattle sellers (producers, fatteners, traders) agree on the following important modalities before transacting: season (time of year), price, body condition of animal, weight of animal, age of animal, animal health regime followed, conditions and timing of payments and transport of animal at the time of sale. These are the general trends observed for the three studied cattle value chain actors; however it's important to highlight that in few cases, the importance of specific agreements varies among the farmers. For instance, the feeding regime followed is in general an important aspect for cattle fatteners and not important for a high proportion of producers.Generally the following aspects are not very important for the three groups of actors when negotiating the verbal contract: the animal breed, transport and supply of feed (except for fatteners), supply of any other livestock/cropping services or inputs by buyer, agreements surrounding labor or wage, exchange of any consumer goods and transport of animals at any time during growth. It's interesting that results from cattle fatteners are relatively different compared to the two other groups of producers and traders. In the latter case, there is somehow unanimity of responses from cattle producers or cattle traders (the proportions generally range between 70 and 100%) while in the case of fatteners for many responses it's possible to observe quasi-equal proportions (40 to 50%).  As the main objective of this project is to provide producers, fatteners and traders with loans to buy cattle and also to pay for operational costs, we were interested to check whether cattle producers and cattle fatteners were able to collaborate with the traders on the basis of a contractual agreement which specifies the technical and operational requirements for the fattening. Table 9 reports the different modalities discussed. First it's important to highlight the fact that the proportion of farmers involved in fattening activities is very low (less than half) and none of the producers reported that he has been involved in such livestock activities. Almost one third of traders have been involved in cattle fattening.The majority of fatteners' respondents started their activity recently (5 years ago) and almost all of them have feedlot premises with varying capacities.The three famer groups have provided approximately the same information about their preferred characteristics for weaners to be fattened and the fattening period. However some differences do exist and it's worthy to highlight them. First, it seems that fatteners prefer buying younger animals (15.2 months on average) compared to traders (17.9 months) and producers (18.3 months). The former are also willing to pay slightly a higher price compared to the two other groups, and prefer selling the fattened animal at around 450 kg weight which is higher compared to the targeted average weight of the other groups. This probably indicates the expertise and experience of the fatteners compared to traders and producers. Interestingly, it's the traders' group who are proposing the highest selling price this is probably due to their experience in cattle trading and the availability of potential buyers for quality beef.When assessing the average daily weight gain (the ratio between the average weight gain during the fattening period by the average number of days of the fattening period) from the results in Table 9, fattener (1.436 kg/day) and trader (1.421 kg/day) groups present the highest average indicators compared to the producer group (1.263). This was expected since that the former groups have some experience in fattening activities. However, these daily weight gains are very high compared to other experiences in Africa and in other developing countries. For instance, in Nigeria, Ayoola and Ayoade (1991) found that feeding a two-year cattle with crop residues supplemented with agro-industrial byproducts (cottonseed cake (CSC), brewers' dried grains (BDG) and molasses) for 120 days resulted in a daily weight gain of 0.67Kg/day. The same pattern was recorded in the case of Vietnamese cattle producers who have grown fodder (forage grasses) and used concentrate feed from farm-grown ingredients (such as cassava and rice bran) to fatten thin cattle provided by the traders and reached acceptable weight gain of 0.775 kg/day for a 3 month period of time (IFAD 2011).The majority of respondent groups are willing to be on a written contractual fattening agreement with the other stakeholder. Two-thirds of cattle producers and more than 80% of cattle fatteners accept to sign fattening contract with traders. Almost three-quarters of the traders are also willing to contract cattle producers/fatteners for fattening activities. These results indicate that the important enabling condition of partners' willingness to collaborate on a contractual and clear basis exists.Cattle producers are on average willing to fatten around five animals per year. Fatteners are willing to fatten on average 10 animals/year while for the traders' group the average is around 22 animals/year (the standard deviation is very high and the median is 10 animals). Generally the three groups prefer growing weaners and/or 1-2 year old steer/bull, although a slightly higher proportion of fatteners (45%) prefer weaners and higher proportions of traders (44%) and of producers (54%) prefer 1-2 year old steer/bull.When asked if they would agree to bear the operational costs of animal feeding, animal health and transport, less than half of cattle producers accepted. Almost two-thirds of both cattle fatteners and cattle traders accepted to bear these operational costs. The majority of cattle producers prefer sharing the benefits with the traders rather than asking for a fixed amount. In the former case, on average producers want to almost equally (48%) split the benefits with the traders after deducting operational costs. Nearly the same proportion of fatteners is willing to share on average 38% of the benefits with the traders. The latter stated that on average they are willing to share 27% of the benefits with the producers/fatteners after bearing the operational costs.These differences in profit sharing were expected since every group of actors tries to allocate the highest profits and also because this type of contract scheme is innovative/new for the different stakeholders involved. In a similar study in Vietnam (IFAD 2011), traders contracted loans from development bank and allocated cattle to producers for fattening. Feeding and labour costs were bear by the producers/fatteners. The agreement stated that the farmers would receive 90% of the benefit of the increased live weight gain during the fattening period. The trader would benefit from trading and receive 10% of the value of the weight gain generated to compensate him for his time and cost of loan (IFAD 2011).Almost the majority of respondents from the three groups indicated that they prefer monitoring the different production and fattening activities related to growth rate, feeding levels and types, and animal health and vaccination. This indicates that both contracted parties are concerned by the fattening activities and want to be involved in order to decrease the risks of financial losses due to poor fattening programme and animal health issues. However when it comes to taking responsibility of animal death, the responses differ among the three groups. A high proportion of cattle fatteners and more than half of cattle traders agree that if the animal dies within one month of the start of the fattening programme, it is the trader who is responsible. If the animal dies after one month it will be the responsibility of the fattener. For the producers' group, the majority of respondent stated that the trader is always held responsible for the cattle death. If the animal is stolen again the majority of fatteners and traders stated that it will be the responsibility of the fatteners, while the majority of cattle producers indicated that the trader will be held responsible of the stolen animal.Interestingly, a high proportion of producers and fatteners accept to share repaying the loan if the fattening activity was not successful. They generally prefer to agree with the trader on a specific amount that will be paid cash. When the three cattle value chain actors were asked what they will do if they have a better offer, more than half of respondents indicated they will stick with the actual contract.Others indicated they will renegotiate the contract and only one-fifth of the producers indicated they will abandon the contract.To conclude, from the results on this section, the general perception of establishing fattening contracts between cattle traders and cattle fatteners or cattle producers is positive and very promising. The majority of respondents are willing to take part to this scheme and want to be involved and monitor the fattening activities to increase the chances of success.Tables 10 and 11 provide information on access to extension services, market information, training and credit which play a vital role in the promotion of livestock production and marketing, thereby improving farmers' income and human capital. According to the survey results in Table 10, the proportion of cattle producers who have access to extension services is relatively low (29%), and slightly higher (42%) in the case cattle fatteners. Access to extension services is one of the factors for successful fattening and cattle production as farmers need the relevant expertise to improve their production skills. Results show that farmers are still unable to access these services. The provision of extension services to farmers in Swaziland is mainly the government's role. SWADE has taken over some of these services as government extension officers have difficulties in accessing the remote areas (limited support in terms of transport).The survey results indicate that cattle farmers have access to a selection of market information sources (Table 10). On average, 64% and 81% of cattle producers and cattle fatteners respectively have access to market information, such as market price information, type of animals to purchase/sell, type of buyers and quality of animals. For cattle producers, the main sources of information are other farmers (including traders), butchers, extension officers (government). While for cattle fatteners government extension officers are the most cited source of information followed by butchers and farmers.Training is an important factor in production and marketing of livestock in any developing country; however, a number of smallholder farmers are still unable to access training as a service. This service is mainly provided by government and non-governmental organizations. As shown in Table 10, almost half of cattle producers and cattle fatteners received cattle production training mainly on the following: record keeping, beef cattle marketing, beef cattle health, general farm management, pasture/rangeland establishment and management, and beef cattle feeding. Access to credit is one of the factors for successful livestock production and marketing as farmers need credit to improve their investment in new and improved technologies and purchasing of cattle. Inability to access credit inhibits production and hence there is a need for the improvement of credit availability. But to access credit from a commercial bank for instance; you need to have at least a bank account. The results from the sampled farmers indicate that the majority of cattle fatteners and cattle traders (around 91%) have a bank account (Table 11). These accounts were savings, investments and transmission accounts. The proportion of cattle producers with a bank account is lower (70%) compared to the other two groups; however, this is still higher compared to other cattle producers in developing countries.Almost half of cattle producers and cattle traders contracted a loan from a bank or a financial institution, and it is also the case for 70% of cattle fatteners. The latter who usually have written purchase agreement with SMI (or other meat processors) are logically more disposed to get the loans. Interestingly the Swaziland Development Finance Corporation (FINCORP), which is a private bank, is the main loan provider for cattle producers (almost two-third of cattle producers who contracted a loan) and cattle fatteners. Almost half of cattle traders who had contracted a loan declared that Swazibank (also a private bank) was their provider. Surprisingly, the majority of the financial institutions named by the three types of respondents are private banks. The role of micro-finance institutions as loan providers for the livestock sector seems very limited.  Generally, the loans contracted by cattle producers, cattle fatteners and cattle traders are for livestock and farming activities, although in few cases farmers could contract loans for other non-agricultural activities. Almost half of cattle producers and 55% of cattle fatteners and cattle traders indicated that they got access to credit for livestock/farming activities. But in addition to these formal money borrowing institutions, informal ways represent also an important source of credit. In fact, friends/relatives were the most sited source of borrowing money for cattle producers and cattle fatteners.Traders were also asked if they prefer getting directly an individual loan from a financial institution or if they prefer to get the loan from a traders' association after allocation from the bank. Almost two thirds of the traders (64%) declared preferring getting the loan individually and directly from the financial institution. The rest of respondent preferred borrowing the money from the traders' association.Establishment of farmers groups registered as farmer companies are encouraged in the LUSIP and KDDP area, as this will maximize the outreach of the project. According to the survey results (Table 12), 55% of cattle producers, 92% of cattle fatteners and 64% of cattle traders are members of an association. The main type of association that cattle farmers are involved in is sugarcane farmers association as this was the purpose of the SWADE projects.In addition there are feedlot farming association, maize farmers' association, and savings and credit cooperatives. It is evident from the results that the main benefit of being in an association or cooperative is that of improved income, access to credit, acquisition of new technologies and ideas, collective action and access to piped water for farming and production. Even though there is a national farmers' association called Swaziland National Agricultural Union (SNAU), the cattle farmers suggested that there is a need for a beef cattle farmers association if beef production will happen in a more market oriented way. The aim of this study was to assess smallholder cattle producers, fatteners and traders' access to credit and strengthening vertical coordination for cattle production and marketing in Swaziland. Specifically the study characterized cattle farmers' production and marketing activities, their access to credit, and their involvement into a beef value chain contractual agreement with other actors of the chain.Cattle production and trading plays an important role in the livelihood of cattle producers, cattle fatteners and cattle traders. For cattle producers it's a source of income and it also provide draught power for crop farming. Cattle traders are generally also involved in many others agricultural and nonagricultural activities which enable them to reduce risk and generate additional income and liquidity.Extensive systems using SNL is the predominant production system for the sampled populations, which has not only environmental implications (overgrazing and land degradation), but also affects animal growth as without supplementation it will only produce low quality animals. The existence of irrigation systems, acceptable plot sizes and crops should be better valued by cattle producers and fatteners, by growing fodder and using crop residues as feed resources for cattle.A large majority of cattle producers, cattle fatteners and cattle traders have limited or inexistent knowledge on the use of suitable feed resources to fatten the animals. Although the Swazi government is providing extension services, the proportion of cattle producers and cattle fatteners who have access to these services are low. More work is needed to reach a higher number of beneficiaries.The recent experience of fattening scheme contracts between SMI and cattle producers or cattle fatteners was not successful because of the feeding programme mainly based on grain intakes (high production costs) and also because of the monopolistic position of SMI. Lessons should be learnt to avoid such failures.Written fattening and/or selling contracts are very rare in Swaziland. However, value chain actors have verbal agreements (between buyers and sellers) which specifies the date of selling, the price, etc. The majority of respondents who were involved in this study are willing to be sign written contractual agreement between traders and producers/fatteners specifying the number of animals, who pays the operational costs, the profit share, the payment mode, etc. Surprisingly an important proportion of cattle producers/fatteners accept to share repaying the loan contracted by the trader if the fattening activity is not successful. This is of good notice for further possible implementation of written fattening contacts.The majority of producers, fatteners and traders have a bank account, but less than half of them were able to access credits from the banks or any other financial institutions. The lack of collaterals is the main constraint because the majority operates on SNL which is held in trust of the Swazi nation by the king. Swazi government and the private banks should agree on acceptable solutions that overcome this constraint. In other countries, private banks accept to consider animals as collateral. Currently, informal credit sources such as friends and relatives represent the most accessible lenders. However this is not a long term sustainable solution if there is real willingness from the Swazi government and the other value chain actors to develop and improve the beef sector."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"17713974159501b8cce9096d9a0d87a9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b4180084-30b4-43c1-b867-6d820ee5a933/retrieve","id":"-1317737154"},"keywords":["tropical forages","improved forages","cultivated forages","agroecology","mixed crop-tree-livestock systems","environmental co-benefits"],"sieverID":"1472bbaf-1107-430f-893d-30b822b4ce03","content":"Improved Forages and Agroecology scale to fully understand the role of forages in the sociological and process aspects of agroecology. We make the case for further genetic improvement of cultivated forages and strong multi-disciplinary systems research to strengthen our understanding of the multidimensional impacts of forages and for managing agro-environmental trade-offs. We finish with a call for action, for the agroecological and livestock research and development communities to improve communication and join hands for a sustainable agri-food system transformation.Livestock are critical for incomes, livelihoods, nutrition and ecosystems management throughout the global South. Livestock production and the consumption of livestock-based foods such as meat, cheese, and milk is, however, under global scrutiny for its contribution to global warming, deforestation, biodiversity loss, water use, pollution, and land/soil degradation. This paper argues that, although the environmental footprint of livestock production presents a real threat to planetary sustainability, also in the global south, this is highly contextual. Under certain context-specific management regimes livestock can deliver multiple benefits for people and planet. We provide evidence that a move toward sustainable intensification of livestock production is possible and could mitigate negative environmental impacts and even provide critical ecosystem services, such as improved soil health, carbon sequestration, and enhanced biodiversity on farms. The use of cultivated forages, many improved through selection or breeding and including grasses, legumes and trees, in integrated crop-tree-livestock systems is proposed as a stepping stone toward agroecological transformation. We introduce cultivated forages, explain their multi-functionality and provide an overview of where and to what extent the forages have been applied and how this has benefited people and the planet alike. We then examine their potential to contribute to the 13 principles of agroecology and find that integrating cultivated forages in mixed crop-tree-livestock systems follows a wide range of agroecological principles and increases the sustainability of livestock production across the globe. More research is, however, needed at the food systemEven though the role of animal based proteins as part of a sustainable twenty-first century food system is a highly debated topic (Meybeck and Gitz, 2017), the livestock sector currently plays a key role in food and nutrition security, particularly in developing countries. Livestock products (meat, milk and eggs) contribute 15% and 31% of the global per capita calorie and protein supply, respectively (Godde et al., 2021). Large regional differences characterize the nutritional contributions of livestock, with low intakes of animal-source food in the Global South compared with excesses in the Global North (Meyfroidt, 2018). Livestock are kept by more than half of rural households (FAO, 2018(FAO, , 2021)), with more than 844 million people worldwide receiving some income from agriculture, and the livestock sector contributing about 40% of the value-added in agriculture (Gontijo de Lima et al., 2015).In general, family farming-often by smallholders cultivating less than two hectares-is still the predominant form of livestock production in the global South, in terms of numbers as well as occupied area (Lowder et al., 2021). On these family farms, livestock production mainly occurs in mixed crop-livestock systems (Herrero et al., 2010), where livestock has a multitude of functions, ranging from the provision of food, nutrition, income and risk reduction to farmers as well as the contribution of essential nutrients and draft power to reduce drudgery and improve crop productivity. The farms are further connected to-mostly local, regional, and national-markets where they generate a plethora of other jobs along livestock value chains (Lie et al., 2017;Bravo et al., 2018;Enciso et al., 2018).In response to increasing demand for livestock products, these traditionally mixed systems increasingly intensify and are thereby replaced by specialized livestock production systems with spatially decoupled crop and livestock production and high levels of resource depletion and/or environmental pollution (Garrett et al., 2017a;Jin et al., 2020). For instance, about 51% of total feed nitrogen (N) in China was imported in 2015, greatly increasing energy requirements for transport, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions abroad, and causing nutrient surpluses in China (Du et al., 2018;Zhang et al., 2020). The spatial decoupling of crop and livestock production is further associated with smaller fractions of manure returned to cropland and larger losses of manure N to surface and ground waters and GHG emissions (Bai et al., 2018). Hence, specialized crop production systems increasingly rely on synthetic fertilizers, and have higher environmental costs per unit of crop product (Zhao et al., 2017). Lastly, the proportion of grain-based feed ingredients and thus direct competition with human nutrition typically increases in the specialized livestock production systems. At the same time, their dependence on antibiotics and growth promoters is harmful for public health (antibiotic resistance, foodborne, and zoonotic diseases) (Peterson et al., 2020).Globally, the livestock sector has a huge environmental footprint. It is responsible for emitting 14.5% of the total anthropogenic GHG emissions (Adegbeye et al., 2020), 33% of the total reactive nitrogen emissions (Mueller and Lassaletta, 2020), and is utilizing 30% of the total ice-free land area (Havlík et al., 2012). While large regional differences exist, many of the current livestock production systems in the tropics are responsible for undesirable environmental effects. Expansion of grazing land for livestock is a major driver for deforestation especially in Latin America, leading to about 57% of pasture land replacement with forests over the last decades (Graesser et al., 2015). Overgrazing in pasture and rangelands has resulted in severe soil degradation through compaction and erosion (Martinez and Zinck, 2004), especially in the drylands, with SOC losses creating a large carbon deficit in soils globally (Sanderman et al., 2017). In addition, livestock production is associated with biodiversity loss and high water use (Alkemade et al., 2013;Heinke et al., 2020) Among the most recognized and studied side effects of livestock production related to environmental damage in the tropical areas are: GHG emissions contributing to global warming, deforestation, biodiversity loss, high water use, and land/soil degradation (Martinez and Zinck, 2004;Alkemade et al., 2013;Chirinda et al., 2019;Boddey et al., 2020;Butterbach-Bahl et al., 2020). Widely publicized recent reports, such as EAT-Lancet (Willett et al., 2019), prompted a wave of media outreach arguing that one of the main solutions to the climate change and human health crises, globally, is to eat no or little animal-source foods (Paul et al., 2020a). Although we concur that the growing demand for livestock products presents a threat to environmental sustainability, we question the notion that stopping livestock production altogether is the most suitable or feasible option. Firstly, the political will is lacking and the necessary behavioral change of the majority of consumers is unlikely to occur (Winders and Ransom, 2019). Under these circumstances, it is important to have complimentary strategies that do not eliminate livestock but instead transform its production to reduce the environmental damages from the livestock sector. Secondly, livestock is not only of vital importance for low-income societies in socioeconomical terms, but-when managed well-also plays various complex and often positive environmental and social benefits (Paul et al., 2020b). To reduce the consumption of animal source food could be a valid option for the Global North where diets show an excess in protein and energy consumption, but not for low and middle income countries where most people are under recommended nutrition standards. There, it is, thus, critical to identify sustainable management strategies. These strategies should be applicable to the local context, socially-acceptable, economically viable and avoid the environmental degradation that in the long-term undermines their existence.Agroecology has been put forward as a solution to modern crises such as climate change and malnutrition, contrasting with the dominant industrial agricultural model based on the use of external inputs (Wezel et al., 2020), while improved forages have been proposed as an important entry point for the sustainable intensification of livestock production systems (Rao et al., 2015). This paper takes a closer look at and links up both these proposed solutions. It explores the benefits of including improved forages in integrated crop-livestock-tree systems and investigates the role of such forage-based systems in agroecological transformation. We thereby specifically focus on mixed cropping systems and cultivated forages in the tropics, i.e., crops that are specifically grown as animal feed, be it for grazing or cut-and-carry purposes; and exclude from our analyses the native and naturalized pastures and rangelands.Based on a review of literature and expert opinion, we aim to demonstrate the importance of cultivated tropical forages, with their emerging environmental co-benefits, for ensuring sustainable livestock production based on agroecological principles. In section The Agroecological Framework, it starts by briefly introducing agroecology as (i) a science, (ii) a practice and (iii) a movement supporting the application of 13 principles-and their underlying values-to the design of farming and food systems. The next section, section Ensuring System Sustainability Through Integrating Improved Forages in Mixed Crop-Tree-Livestock Systems in the Tropics, summarizes how cultivated forages have been put into practice by farmers in the global south and how this provides benefits across different sustainability domains and barriers to further adoption at scale. Section Contributions of Improved Cultivated Forages to Agroecological Transformation proceeds by (i) outlining through which pathways and mechanisms this practice is in line with each of the agroecological principles and (ii) assessing to which extent applying these principles is covered in the scientific literature about forage-based livestock production systems in the tropics. Based on field experience and literature review, we summarize our understanding of the mechanisms and pathways through which the integration of forages in animal production systems can contribute or has shown to contribute to each of the 13 agroecological principles. Based on this understanding, search strings were developed for agroecology as a whole and separately for each principle. They were combined with a general search string capturing the integration of cultivated forages in smallholder mixed crop-tree-livestock systems in the tropics (see Supplementary Material). We report the number of hits in Web of Science as a metric for the availability of evidence of this contribution from the perspective of the scientific community. After reviewing the science at the forage-agroecology nexus, section Future Outlook finally identifies critical knowledge gaps and recommends the next steps for scaling up the contribution of cultivated tropical forages to the agroecological transformation of agri-food systems.The principles of agroecology have evolved in history, from agriculture-centered to a holistic food system approach (Gliessman, 2018;Wezel et al., 2020). The most common definition of agroecology, \"the application of ecological concepts and principles to the design and management of sustainable agroecosystems, or the science of sustainable agriculture, \" has recently evolved into an integrated concept bringing the three dimensions of sustainability-ecological, economic, and social-to all parts of the food system. The approach is grounded in ecological thinking where a holistic, systemslevel understanding of food system sustainability is required (Gliessman, 2018). An agroecological perspective on agri-food systems links the nutritional value of food and dietary choices to the environmental and social impacts of food production (Lamine and Dawson, 2018). Hilbeck et al. (2015) write that \"agroecology is neither a defined system of production nor a production technique. It is a set of principles and practices intended to enhance the sustainability of a farming system, and it is a movement that seeks a new way of food production. Scholars thereby agree that the term incorporates three components (IFOAM EU, 2019). First, it is a scientific discipline, studying the ecology of agricultural systems. Second, it has evolved into a set of agricultural practices. Finally, it has turned into a movement that incorporates social justice, food sovereignty and the preservation of cultural identities (Méndez et al., 2013). As such, it operates at different levels and engages different stakeholders ranging from scientists to farmers and communities in the context of the sustainable agri-food systems.As happens with multi-dimensional concepts, operationalization often ends up focusing on one or a few components and fails to maintain a holistic approach. While promoting unidimensional agroecological practices, often mainly technical, still contributes to an agroecological transformation, these approaches are less sustainable as they often lack the sociopolitical support needed e.g., to reverse the power balance with conventional agriculture (Le Coq et al., 2020). Practically, neglecting the multidimensionality of the agroecology concept results in confusion with other concepts like organic agriculture, conservation agriculture, nature-positive agriculture or the more recent regenerative agriculture. Organic and conservation agriculture are based on simple principles around soil fertility management at plot level, aiming at avoiding the use of agrochemical and protecting the soil through permanent soil cover. The two differ in their market orientation, with organic agriculture strongly driven by product certification. Regenerative agriculture proposes a more holistic approach, trying to reconcile agroecology and sustainable intensification under the same banner, but seems to generate just more confusion (Giller et al., 2021). Nature-positive solutions, in turn, are less specific and englobe anything where nature works to address societal challenges, in agriculture or other sectors (Seddon et al., 2021), which includes the agroecology concept. The difference would be that nature-positive agriculture focusses on practices, whereas agroecology focusses on processes. But a common feature between all these different concepts is their meager integration of the livestock component. Until 2015, only 5% of indexed studies concerning agroecology dealt with livestock (Soussana et al., 2015).As the concept gains prominence as a way to sustainably transform agriculture and food systems, particularly in a post-COVID world (Altieri and Nicholls, 2020), attempts to recognize all its dimensions and make it operational have culminated recently with the development of a clear framework and evaluation tool (FAO, 2018(FAO, , 2021;;Mottet et al., 2020). The framework is composed of ten interlinked and interdependent elements: (i) diversity, (ii) synergies, (iii) efficiency, (iv) resilience, (v) recycling, (vi) co-creation and sharing of knowledge, (vi) human and social values, (vii) culture and food traditions, (viii) responsible governance, (ix) circular, and (x) solidarity economy. The first five describe common characteristics of agroecological systems, the sixth and seventh describe foundational practices and innovation approaches, and the last three describe context features and enabling environment (FAO, 2018(FAO, , 2021)). These 10 elements imply a series of requirements for farming system management that can be articulated in 13 principles: recycling, input reduction, soil health, animal health, biodiversity, synergy, economic diversification, co-creation of knowledge, social values and diets, fairness, connectivity, land and natural resource governance, and participation (Wezel et al., 2020). A farming system that scores high in these principles can be seen as transitioning toward a sustainable food system via agroecological transformation. Figure 1 presents a schematic overview of the different agroecological principles at play in a mixed crop-treelivestock farm.In section Contributions of Improved Cultivated Forages to Agroecological Transformation, we assess the role of improved tropical forages as a potential catalyst for enabling livestock systems to contribute to the 13 principles and support an agroecological transformation. As a background, the next section defines improved forages, summarizes documented uptake, the multi-dimensional impacts of this uptake and barriers to more wide-spread uptake.Livestock production in the global South takes place in a variety of livestock production systems. The grassland-based systems, in which crop-based agriculture is minimal, cover the largest areas (Robinson et al., 2011), while most production (i.e., meat, milk, eggs) occurs in mixed crop-livestock systems (Herrero et al., 2010). Cultivated forages include a wide variety of sown or planted grasses, herbaceous legumes, trees and shrubs (mostly legumes) that are integrated in a variety of mixed systems, including intensive or extensive mixed agricultural systems with grazing or cut-and-carry systems, agro-pastoral and silvopastoral systems (Rao et al., 2015). In Latin America and the Caribbean, permanent pastures are the most common use of forages, while in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia cut-andcarry systems prevail.There exists a large diversity of forages allowing adaptation to various production contexts. The so-called genetic improvement of tropical forages is relatively recent and was for several decades relying heavily on the agronomic selection of wild relatives. The agronomic/genetic evaluation of forages has been focused not only on productivity and feed quality but also on tolerance to biotic (insects, diseases) and abiotic (low soil fertility, aluminum toxicity, drought, waterlogging) stress factors. Through this selection from the wild it was possible to identify superior germplasm which resulted in substantial and sustainable productivity gains (per head and per unit area) as well as enhanced resilience (e.g., Peters et al., 2013;Rao et al., 2015;Schultze-Kraft et al., 2018). Recently the importance of bred forages has increased (Jank et al., 2014) and this has allowed attention to specific constraints, where diversity in the natural populations reached limitations in identifying productive, nutritive and stress-tolerant materials. For example, in well-drained environments in Latin America and the Caribbean with a wide distribution of Urochloa (previously known as Brachiaria; Cook et al., 2020) decumbens, resistance to a major insect, spittlebug, became an issue to be addressed by the breeding efforts, while for waterlogged environments there remains a scarcity of high-quality forages (Argel et al., 2007). Bred forages with a combination of desirable traits (e.g., productivity, quality and resistance to biotic and abiotic factors) are also attractive to seed suppliers for targeting specific agro-ecological niches, allowing a greater market differentiation providing incentives for development of the forage seed sector. For example, in the case of crop-livestock systems in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), we see expanding demand for forages requiring soil fertility management and greater attention to environmental concerns. There is also an increasing demand for shade-tolerant forages for silvopastoral systems with high resilience to vulnerable climates with extreme and unpredictable weather conditions. Throughout the rest of this paper we will use the term \"improved forages\" when we refer to forages that have gone through a process of agronomic selection from wild relatives or breeding and selection leading to genetic gain in desirable traits.At first sight, such improved forages seem similar to the high yielding crops such as wheat and rice, widely promoted by the international agricultural research centers in the 1960s and 1970s and adopted as part of the Green Revolution (Byerlee and Lynam, 2020). We do, however, not expect the well-documented drawbacks, such as high input prices, environmental pollution and increased inequality, of the green revolution to re-occur with improved forages. First, the technology in itself differs significantly, with the improved forages not requiring intensive application of pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers. On the contrary, many have been selected or are specifically bred for their capacity to perform well in marginal areas facing climate variability and change, low fertility or acid soils, water logging, and for pest and disease resistance. In addition, they are being promoted as a component of mixed cropping systems to improve the overall system performance and efficiency in using local resources. Finally, a wide variety of forage species and varieties, including indigenous trees and so-called neglected or orphan crops, are considered for system improvement.Decades of efforts to promote cultivated forages for their productivity and environmental benefits have contributed to widespread adoption, particularly grasses in LAC (White et al., 2013;Baptistella et al., 2020, REDE ILPF ref). It is worthwhile to have a closer look at some successful scaling examples. Maass et al. (2015) estimated that the adoption of hybrid Urochloa cultivars in East Africa was about 1,000 hectares (20,000 households). Labarta et al. (2017) and ISPC (2018) reported that adoption of improved Urochloa cultivars in Colombia, Peru, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras occurred on approximately 7.9 million hectares. According to White et al. (2013), Stylosanthes varieties (from the CGIAR genebank) have been adopted on at least 200,000 hectares. Valentim and Andrade (2005) estimated the early adoption of Arachis pintoi for the Amazon region of Brazil to have reached 1,000 cattle producers and to have generated a gross profit of US$ 4,000 per year per producer. Wunscher et al. (2004) and Lascano et al. (2005) reported a successful early adoption of Arachis pintoi in Colombia and Costa Rica.The benefits of integrating improved forages in livestock production systems have previously been described as part of the LivestockPlus concept (Rao et al., 2015). The authors describe how the sustainable intensification of forage-based systems, combining genetic, ecological and socio-economic intensification processes, increases the efficiency of the systems, has the potential to improve livelihoods, and yields a range of environmental co-benefits-including improved soil health, reduced erosion, reduced GHG emissions and improved GHG balances (emissions vs. carbon accumulation/life cycle), and improved adaptation to climate variability and change. Figure 2 illustrates how forages can be integrated in mixed crop-treelivestock systems and summarizes how this positively impacts on livelihoods and the environment.The relatively wide adoption of improved tropical forages in LAC has convincingly demonstrated their capacity to increase productivity while reducing livestock-related GHG emissions per unit product. On one side, their ability to increase soil carbon sequestration has been demonstrated (Fisher et al., 1994) while the ability of certain grasses (e.g., Urochloa and Megathyrsus) to modulate the rhizosphere interactions through biological nitrification inhibition has proven to reduce soilborne N 2 O emissions up to 60% (compared to similar genotypes without this ability) either after fertilization or urine deposition (Subbarao et al., 2009;Byrnes et al., 2017). Another strategy is the improvement of cattle diets through supplementation with forage legumes, which has the potential to reduce up to 67% cattle enteric CH4 emissions based on a legume (i.e., Leucaena) inclusion proportion of 36% when compared to a grass alone diet (Gaviria-Uribe et al., 2020;Montoya-Flores et al., 2020).In addition to these environmental co-benefits there is a huge body of evidence about their economic benefits. Zooming into forage grasses, the implementation of improved foragebased cattle production systems in Latin America, for example, increases the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) 1 by 10-100% compared to traditional grazing systems (Seré and Estrada, 1982;Seré et al., 1993). The implementation of improved Urochloa brizantha cultivars in Colombian beef cattle systems is expected to reduce the producer's risk of obtaining economic losses and lead to economic benefits of US$ 11.3 million at the national level (2022-2048) from which 62.5% would fall on the producer and 37.5% on the consumer. Supplementation by 35% with the forage oats (Avena sativa AV25T cv. Altoandina) in a Kikuyu grass dairy system increases the net present value (NPV) 2 by >100% when compared with a Kikuyu monoculture and leads to an 1 The IRR is a financial indicator for estimating the profitability of potential investment projects. Although the IRR calculations are based on the same formula used for estimating the Net Present Value (NPV) of an investment project, it does not estimate the actual dollar value of the project but the expected annual return. Those potential investments with the highest IRR are generally the ones most desirable. 2 The NPV is an economic indicator that describes the difference between the present values of cash in-and outflows over a defined period of time and is used in investment planning for analyzing the profitability of a potential investment. The NPV considers the time value of money, is used to compare different investment alternatives, and relies on a discount rate related to the cost of required capital for making the investment. Investment options with a negative NPV are most likely not profitable and should be neglected.IRR of 49.9% (Rivas and Holmann, 2000). The implementation of spittlebug-resistant Urochloa hybrids was estimated to have potential benefits equivalent to 43% of Colombia's beef and dairy production volume of 2003 (Rivas and Holmann, 2004a,b). The implementation of different planted forages in West Africa during the period from 1977 to 1997 was estimated to result in an social internal rate of return 3 on investments of 38% over 20 years (Elbasha et al., 1999).Examples also abound around the dual economicenvironmental benefits associated with forage legumes. The introduction of forage legumes in the crop-livestock systems of Nicaragua has proven benefits to tackling degradation and restoring land and soil health. When introduced into the smallholder traditional crop-livestock production system of the Nicaraguan hillsides, Canavalia brasiliensis derived on average 69% of its N from the atmosphere by symbiotic N 2fixation, and increased the soil N balance when used as green manure (Douxchamps et al., 2010). In this case, 12% of the N from Canavalia was recovered in the subsequent maize crop (Douxchamps et al., 2011). However, when used as forage to increase milk yields and annual net income, Canavalia bears the risk of triggering soil N depletion, unless animal manure is recycled. Therefore, biophysical and socioeconomic tradeoffs must be carefully balanced at the farm level to maximize nutrient use efficiency and ensure a sustainable farming system intensification (Douxchamps et al., 2014). Pastures on highly weathered soil in forest margins in Caquetá, Colombia increased dry matter and N/protein yield in farmers pastures containing legumes; because of additional N input via symbiotic N 2 fixation; greater P uptake in productive grass-legume than grass-alone pastures in spite of low plant available P in soils, which likely resulted in greater P recycling (Villegas et al., 2020). Furthermore, the inclusion of the legume Arachis pintoi in grasslegume associations in the same study area doubles beef and milk production and leads to an IRR of between 19.3 and 21.1%, which is significantly higher than for a traditional production system (Rivas and Holmann, 2000). For Costa Rica, grass-legume associations with Arachis pintoi and Cratylia argentea (Rivas and Holmann, 2000) lead to an estimated 30% reduction in production costs per kilogram of milk (Peters et al., 2001). Profitability evaluations in Costa Rica, Michoacán (Mexico) and the Colombian Caribbean region report an IRR that oscillates around 33% for a Leucaena leucocephala-grass association (Jimenez-Trujillo et al., 2011;González, 2013;Murgueitio et al., 2015). The inclusion of Leucaena diversifolia in a Urochloa brizantha cv. Cayman hybrid production system in Colombia is financially profitable and improves all risk and performance indicators when compared with Cayman as a monoculture. This legume increases the Net Present Value (NPV) and the IRR and decreases the minimum area required for generating two basic salaries, the payback period and the risk of obtaining economic loss (Enciso et al., 2020). Also in south-east Asia, forage legumes have proven to play multiple roles, supporting at farm level an increase of N recycling intensity, of N balances and of land productivity. However, the magnitude of the effects there depends strongly on the type of farming system, with more important effects where potential for improvement was high (Epper et al., 2019). While in Queensland, Australia, Leucaena leucocephala has been identified as the most productive and profitable legume, doubling the gross margin (expressed per unit of area), when compared with perennial grasses. At the regional level, economic benefits from the adoption of L. leucocephala have been estimated to be more than US$ 69 million/yr for 2006 in a planted area of 150,000 ha (Shelton and Dalzell, 2007;Bowen et al., 2016).Also tree-based forage species have been demonstrated to have multiple benefits. Pilot sites in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, for example, show that more successful restoration outcomes are achieved when combining slow-growing indigenous trees or shrubs with fast growing native fodder species for livestock (Sacande and Berrahmouni, 2016). Fodder species have been used to incentivise restoration for example in Burkina Faso (Vinceti, 2020) leading to more resilient restoration outcomes and great adoption of restoration by farmers. Dry forest species can provide critical reserves during extreme drought offering important food and fodder for communities (Valette, 2019). Early effects of silvopastoral systems with improved forages also show improved soil health and increased abundance and diversity of soil macrofauna as documented by e.g., Barros et al. (2003), Lira et al. (2020), andVazquez et al. (2020). Mixed systems with a strong tree component are thus gaining prominence because of their true multiple environmental wins: increased soil quality, GHG emission mitigation, higher biodiversity and improved water use efficiency.As a final example, cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) is gaining increasing interest across the globe because of its unique features that could help alleviate hunger in arid regions thanks to its ability to survive in harsh conditions. This spineless species is not invasive and is used as livestock feed that can improve meat and milk production for cash earnings, while helping to reduce groundwater use through its high-water use efficiency (species with CAM photosynthetic pathway). Furthermore, its evergreen cladodes can provide \"at any time of the year\" high palatable green fodder with a high Ca to P ratio. Despite its low crude protein and fiber content, the cactus pear cladodes are high in water, sugars, ash and vitamins A and C representing a digestible energy-rich feed when incorporated into livestock diets (Rocha Filho et al., 2021). Because of their high-water content, cactus pears also reduce the need for livestock watering. In fact, cactus pear is a very versatile, resilient crop. It is very easy to establish and able to grow on lands where no other crops can grow. Cactus pear is a multi-functional plant that can be utilized to restore degraded land, control soil and water erosion, regulate climate through carbon sequestration, and its fruits and cladodes are consumed by humans (Inglese et al., 2018;Hassan et al., 2019).Even though the research on gender and social benefits has started later, good evidence on positive impacts in that dimension of sustainability is also emerging. A case study from Kenya shows that the adoption of improved planted forages in dairy systems leads to additional roles of women in feed and dairy production and thus more control over the derived incomes from the production system, but also to higher labor burdens, which might affect technology adoption (Lukuyu et al., 2021). Ba et al. (2013) report an average of 50% reduction in amount of labor and time spent by smallholder farmers in supplying forages to their animals in south Central Vietnam. The adoption of Urochloa hybrids and other improved forages in Ugandan pig production systems has led to time savings among male and female farmers (reduced time for collecting feed) and thus made it possible for the producers to engage in other economic activities (e.g., farming, small-scale enterprises). It also changed the decisionmaking structures in the households and empowered women to join their husbands in the decision on which forage to adopt and how to grow and manage it (Lukuyu et al., 2020). In Ethiopia and Kenya, women and youth are increasingly starting to engage in forage businesses, from which they retain income, and which is a promising pathway for women's economic empowerment (Njuguna-Mungai et al., under review).Despite the growing evidence on the multiple benefits of integrating cultivated forages in mixed crop-tree-livestock systems and some successful scaling examples, overall the adoption rates of improved forages remain relatively low, especially outside Brazil and Latin America. Many of the determining factors for the adoption of forage technologies have been studied and include risk factors (perception of risk about future returns from implementing the technology, risk aversion of the producer) (e.g., Marra et al., 2003;van Winsen et al., 2014;Trujillo-Barrera et al., 2016), the availability of commercial seeds, forage establishment costs, the availability of technical information on the establishment and management, the promotion and availability of knowledge about potential benefits and risks (CIAT, 2004;Wunscher et al., 2004;Lascano et al., 2005), labor requirements (Kaimowitz and Angelsen, 2008), farm size and farm management, the proximity to input markets (ISPC, 2018), the growth of output markets (Kaimowitz and Angelsen, 2008), as well as the general access to productive inputs (e.g., fertilizer, manure, pesticides), capital (e.g., credits, payments for ecosystem services, product differentiation) (e.g., Charry et al., 2019), and extension/technical assistance (Ruiz et al., 2016;Bravo et al., 2018;Enciso et al., 2018;Charry et al., 2019), social capital, and membership of farmer groups (Oulu, 2020). Likewise, structural conditions can influence the adoption of improved forages, such as the prevailing extensive nature of the cattle production systems, low land prices (which can lead to an expansion of area instead of intensification) (White et al., 2001), land tenure rights (Kaimowitz and Angelsen, 2008), land speculation (Smith et al., 1997), political violence and warfare (ISPC, 2018), and missing regulatory and monitoring frameworks. When it comes to promoting the adoption of forage technologies, it is also important to analyze and understand how livestock producers make their decisions and how their decisionmaking process is influenced by factors such as trust (in the information provided or in its sources), social networks and socio-cultural contexts (e.g., Jones et al., 2013;Martínez-García et al., 2013;Rossi Borges and Oude Lansink, 2016;Ambrosius et al., 2019;Hidano et al., 2019).As partly demonstrated in the previous section, integrating improved forages in mixed crop-tree-livestock systems is associated with a wide variety of practice changes. These changes include agronomic and animal husbandry practice change, awareness creation, capacity building, and multi-stakeholder engagement approaches to actions associated with the broader food systems, such as waste reductions and dietary shifts. As amply described in the scientific literature (see Table 1), they thereby align well to all 13 agroecological principles.The first principle, recycling, prescribes to use local renewable resources as much as possible and close as far as possible resource cycles of nutrients and biomass. Forages take up nutrients available in the system, including from deep soil layers, and make these available to livestock. This results in improved nutrient use efficiency. More options to close nutrient cycles through animal manure also exist. In terms of input reduction, the second principle, forages are associated with a reduced need for external inputs, such as feeds, agro-chemicals and water. First, they are associated with a reduction of the need for commercial feed/supplements/concentrates through higher feed efficiency and quality. Well-managed high-quality forages can eliminate or minimize the need for concentrates by moderate producing animals, because intensive utilization of forages (cutting or grazing at the right moment of the phenology) increases the production of metabolizable energy and protein per unit of area. Second, they often are associated with a reduction of the need for off-farm manure or chemical fertilizers. This is facilitated through symbiotic N 2 fixation by forage legumes and the use of forages (partly/fully) as green manure. In addition, there is higher availability of on-farm animal manure because of increased livestock productivity (through higher stocking rates and betterfed animals) and increased availability of crop residues for soil amendments as they can be replaced by forages in the feed basket. Third, the use of forages as a cover crop reduces the need for weeding and chemical weed control, while the use of forages with TABLE 1 | Key references describing the contribution of tropical forages in mixed crop-tree-livestock (MCTL) systems to the 13 agroecological principles described by Wezel et al. (2020).Recycling Andriarimalala et al., 2013;Epper et al., 2019;Paul et al., 2019;Dias et al., 2020;Dahlin et al., 2021 A. Reduction of the need for commercial feed/supplements/concentrates through higher feed efficiency and quality: Snijders et al., 2011;Lukuyu et al., 2013;Silva et al., 2017 B. Reduction of the need for off-farm manure or chemical fertilizers: Nyambati et al., 2006;Douxchamps et al., 2010Douxchamps et al., , 2014;;Schultze-Kraft et al., 2018;Boddey et al., 2020 C. Decreased use of chemical weed and pest control: Xuan et al., 2006;Njeru et al., 2020D. Decreased water requirements: Ríos et al., 2006;Nefzaoui et al., 2014;Mayer and Cushman, 2019;Rocha Filho et al., 2021 A. Improved chemical soil health: Fisher et al., 1994;Schultze-Kraft et al., 2018;Baptistella et al., 2020;Lira et al., 2020;Olaya-Montes et al., 2020;Vazquez et al., 2020B. Improved physical properties: Schultze-Kraft et al., 2018;Baptistella et al., 2020;Boddey et al., 2020 C. Increased below-ground biodiversity and biological activity:  Byrnes et al., 2017;Boddey et al., 2020;Vazquez et al., 2020 A. Improved animal nutrition: Hoste et al., 2012;Sousa et al., 2015;Améndola et al., 2016;Sordillo, 2016;Nwafor et al., 2017;Mangwe et al., 2019;Mayberry et al., 2020B. Increased animal welfare: García-Cruz et al., 2013;Cuartas et al., 2014;Lerner et al., 2015;Pezo et al., 2018 C. Positive indirect effects on human health:  Harvey et al., 2006;Moreno and Pulido, 2010;Rivera et al., 2013;Montoya-Flores et al., 2020Synergy Khan et al., 2008;Descheemaeker et al., 2010;Peters et al., 2012;Cheruíyot et al., 2020;Wan et al., 2020;Zahoor et al., 2021 A. Commercial livestock production: Rivas andHolmann, 2000, 2004a,b;Peters et al., 2001;Shelton and Dalzell, 2007;Murgueitio et al., 2015;Bowen et al., 2016;Schiek et al., 2018;Charry et al., 2019;Enciso et al., 2019Enciso et al., , 2020;;Chizmar et al., 2020;Ruden et al., 2020 (Continued)  Pezo et al., 2007;Nakamanee et al., 2008;Gontijo de Lima et al., 2015;Negassa et al., 2016;Charry et al., 2019;Creemers and Alvarez Aranguiz, 2019;Harrison et al., 2019;Mwendia et al., 2019;Burkart and Urrea-Benítez, 2020;Ntakyo et al., 2020;Ohmstedt, 2020a,b;Dey et al., 2021;Neres et al., 2021 Co-creation of knowledge Peters and Lascano, 2003;Pezo et al., 2007;Bautista Solís, 2012;Geng et al., 2017;Dumont et al., 2019;David et al., 2020 Social values and diets Rudel et al., 2015;Gupta, 2016;Charry et al., 2019;Shapiro et al., 2019;Ruden et al., 2020Fairness Calle et al., 2009;Broom et al., 2013;Cibils et al., 2015Connectivity Chakoma et al., 2016;Lie et al., 2017;Lema et al., 2021 Land and natural resources governance Kaimowitz and Angelsen, 2008;de Oliveira Silva et al., 2016;Garrett et al., 2017b;Tapasco et al., 2019Participation Ayele et al., 2012;Lie et al., 2017Lie et al., , 2018;;Bravo et al., 2018;Enciso et al., 2018;Tapasco et al., 2019;Burkart and Urrea-Benítez, 2020 genetic tolerance against certain pests and diseases or the use of forages in the push-pull system replaces chemical pest control measures (e.g., against stemborer and striga). Fourth, forages are associated with decreased water requirements. Increased soil water retention and infiltration is observed as a result of forages used as a cover crop or green manure to improve soil structure and limit run-off and in the case of improved forages established in areas previously covered by degraded pastures. Drought-tolerant and water-saver forages reduce dependence on water for irrigation compared to currently used forages grown in similar conditions.Integrating cultivated forages in the systems enhances different dimensions of soil health, the third principle. The chemical soil health is improved through root exudation or forages used as green manure, through the stimulation of nutrient cycling, soil organic matter (SOM) accumulation, increased soil carbon stocks and sequestration. The physical soil properties are improved as a result of increased soil aggregation, improved soil structure and aeration, increases in particulate organic matter in soil, roots remaining in soil after harvest/grazing, forages as green manure or cover crop, or the use of forages to prevent soil erosion. Below-ground biodiversity and biological activity is increased through increased soil microbial diversity and activity, presence of rhizobia. Diverse pastures (mix of various species) of diverse functions (secondary compounds, root system) improve the conditions for biological activity at deeper horizons, while increased use of tree-based forages can improve soil quality through improved mycorrhizal networks. The integration of forages, with their capacity to sequester and store carbon in the soil and to inhibit biological nitrification, finally, can significantly enhance the climate change mitigation function of the soil.Different mechanisms are at play for improving animal health and welfare, the fourth agroecological principle. High-quality forages (incl. legumes) in the systems improve the overall quality and quantity feeding and thus animal health, amongst others through enhanced immunity and resistance to pathogens. The conservation of forages (e.g., hay, silage, pellets) thereby increases the availability of feed during seasons where scarcity of feed leaves the animals most vulnerable to disease. Forages from diverse pastures (a mix of various species) complement each other in their contents of critical nutrients for the animal and secondary compounds. Some can, for example, be more efficient in utilizing P or pumping Cu or Mg, providing balanced nutrients and secondary compounds (antibloat, antiparasite agents), while recent results indicate that bioactive tanniniferous plants represent a valuable option as an alternative to commercial drugs for the control of gastrointestinal nematodes. Animal welfare is increased in silvopastoral systems. The trees/shade create more favorable microclimatic conditions and reduce heat stress, which has in turn been associated with more stable social/hierarchical behavior. In addition to animal health and welfare, also positive indirect effects on human health have been documented. Improved plant health, including those of forages, under minimal use of agrochemicals improves animal and human health through reduced exposure to chemical residues. Well-fed animals require less antibiotics thus reducing the need for antibiotics and risk of antimicrobial resistance. Well-fed and healthy animals cause a lower pathogen load in manure that can be transmitted through the food chain and feeding healthy forages can reduce feeding of feeds with high aflatoxins such as maize in East Africa.The fifth agroecological principle, biodiversity, can be enhanced by increasing biodiversity across the landscape. Enhancing land productivity, through high-yielding forages, can spare land for biodiversity conservation and prevent the need for further land conversion to agriculture. The introduction of alternative forage species increases the diversity of species and genetic resources at farm and landscape level as compared to grass monocultures or degraded/intensivelymanaged pastures. This can include the use (and in-situ conservation) of local/neglected species. The broader variety of forage species in combination with reduced use of chemical weed/pest control is likely to attract/maintain wider diversity of e.g., pollinators and below-ground fauna. such well-managed pastures increase the natural introduction of native plant species with desired feeding value and resilience to extreme environmental conditions. In silvopastoral systems, the presence of shrubs and trees has been demonstrated to have a positive impact on biodiversity by creating complex habitats for wild animals and plants and harboring a richer soil biota as compared to conventional grazing systems. Cultivated forages enhance positive ecological interactions and complementarities among system components at the interface between the system's soil, plant, and animal components and thus align well with the sixth agroecological principle of synergy. Using for example tree-based forages can help to increase on-farm above and below ground carbon storage, leading to additional climate mitigation benefits. Different mechanisms contribute to economic diversification, the seventh principle. In first instance, forages enable further commercialization of livestock production. Feed represents the highest cost of production in any livestock system and cultivated forages can substantially reduce the feed input costs. In combination with enhanced productivity, this results in increased rates of return and opens opportunities for income diversification with cattle fattening or commercial milk production. Also the forages in themselves allow for income-diversification. Incomegenerating opportunities along the forage value chain include forage seed supply, marketing and distribution, the sale of hay, silage, pellets and timber or fruits in the case of forage trees.Approaches that encourage co-creation of knowledge and horizontal learning used in research and development efforts around cultivated and improved forages include: on-farm variety trials and participatory monitoring and evaluation, capacity building and knowledge exchange activities such as field days and farmer exchanges. These approaches promote farmer-tofarmer contacts as well as more equal relationships between farmers and researchers. This encourages sharing knowledge and skills and triggers innovation in combination with encouraging community-level seed production and \"passing on the gift, \" the existing technology (and associated management practices) scale out quickly.In terms of social values and diets, principle number nine, animal sourced foods (ASF) are an important source of proteins and readily available micro-nutrients, especially important for improving the nutritional status of especially young children and pregnant and lactating women. Integrating cultivated forages in livestock production systems can increase both the quantity and quality of ASF production. The forages also enable the production of sustainably produced ASF, with simultaneous social, economic and environmental benefits.Efforts to ensure the affordability of quality and environmentally-friendly animal products and the creation of opportunities for smallholders, including for women and youth align well to principle ten, fairness. Forages support dignified and robust livelihoods along the livestock value chains. In line with connectivity, the eleventh principle, local feed, seed, and ASF production allow re-embedding food systems into local economies. Actors along the forages and ASF value chains have more proximity and confidence and are better connected to markets. Principle twelve, land and natural resources governance, prescribes to strengthen institutional arrangements to improve, including the recognition and support of family farmers, smallholders and peasant food producers as sustainable managers of natural and genetic resources. Forages create a need for land-use planning and offer opportunities for development of new resource management strategies, for instance to mitigate soil degradation (e.g., fanya juu terraces). Participatory land-use planning processes can ensure the optimal use of land areas that would not be suitable for crops, use in rotation/intercropping/life barriers/under trees and at times promote land use options for carbon-neutral agriculture. In line with the last principle, participation, the Forage community has started to apply a wide array of participatory approaches. Through participatory system dynamics modeling and participation in multi-stakeholder innovation platforms or round-table discussions, farmers can be included in the design of livestock and forage sector strategies. These approaches promote equal relationships and balanced powers between farmers, researchers and policy makers.Between 2005 and 2021, a total of 1,183 peer-reviewed publications addressed the use of cultivated forages in smallholder systems. The most studied principles concerning the forages are economic diversification, social values and diets, biodiversity, and recycling, all illustrated by more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, mostly at farm scale. Animal health renders 126 hits, then the other principles with less than a hundred. Connectivity was the least represented, with only five hits. These results show that the most evident agroecological impact of forages, according to the scientific community, can be observed in terms of market opportunities and income diversification. The high number of hits for social value and diets illustrates how high the topic of animal-source food and vegetarianism is currently on the global agenda. The principle of biodiversity includes particularly papers reporting options to include forages in rotation or intercropping with different types of systems and pastures' diversity. Finally, the capacity of forages to provide options to close nutrient cycles at the farm level was well-documented. The scientific community's interest in these topics has evolved: social values and diets are high on the agenda since 2012, recycling emerged a bit later in 2015, while economic diversification and biodiversity display a sawtooth but generally increasing interest (Figure 2). Besides connectivity and participation, which are both only sporadically addressed, the documentation of the other principles increased during the period 2005-2020, with some promising peaks for animal health and synergy. More research is needed at the food system scale to fully understand the role of forages in agroecology, particularly on sociological and process aspects, which are both at the core of the four principles less documented. This also indicates a yet to be filled opportunity for forage experts to engage more with the agroecological movement and make forages part of sustainable agri-food system transformation. The finding that despite the existence of scientific literature about cultivated forages and each of the agroecological principles, only 38 out of the 1,183 publications in our WoS search explicitly mention agroecology corroborates this action gap.As illustrated in sections Ensuring System Sustainability Through Integrating Improved Forages in Mixed Crop-Tree-Livestock Systems in the Tropics and Contributions of Improved Cultivated Forages to Agroecological Transformation, there is increased research interest and understanding of the economic, social and agroecological dynamics related to improved forages and their integration in mixed crop-tree-livestock systems. However, several knowledge and technology gaps still exist. At the actual technology level, it is important to continue the genetic improvement and identify or develop forage varieties tolerant to a wide range of biotic and abiotic stress factors. Supported by state-of-art genomics and phenomics, this can be done more efficiently and rapidly than before (Chang et al., 2019). Ensuring genetic diversity at forage level provides an insurance with respect to the impact of biotic and abiotic stress factors on yield and quality (Finckh, 2008). Livestock production, however, does not only take place in heterogeneous agro-climatic conditions, but also in a wide diversity in farm systems, and socioeconomic or policy contexts (Umunezero et al., 2016). To guide the choice of forage species and their integration into farming systems more systems agronomy is needed to produce robust socio-ecological niches for various systems that can be scaled (Paul et al., 2020c). This must be combined with increased research investments in the forages-soil health nexus which seem to have remained stable but low, with <100 WoS hits in total (Figure 3).Further research is also required to strengthen our understanding of the multiple interacting impacts of improved forages at the food system level. An increased understanding of particularly the social dimension has a lot to offer, also in terms of understanding the drivers, underlying causes and impacts of changes linked to the productivity, economic, environmental and human dimensions (Rietveld et al., 2021), while our WoS search results show a low coverage of these issues in the scientific literature. Based on empirical data, foresight analyses and farming systems modeling can be used to estimate multidimensional impacts of forages and for reducing agro-environmental trade-offs (Groot et al., 2012;Paul et al., 2020c). In addition to developing context-specific data on the potential trade-offs associated with integrating forages in mixed crop-tree-livestock systems, a better understanding of what drives uptake of improved forages, especially within agroecological initiatives, is needed for guiding large-scale investments and supporting the decision-making processes around that.At a more immediate action level, to ensure agroecologicalbased farming sustainability, there is a need for demand for the resultant products driven by sufficient public attention. To achieve the level of attention that results in changes in policy and consumer demand, there is a need for influential communication targeting policymakers and the different publics. Raising awareness at different decision-making levels should aim to differentiate, label and promote livestock products derived from agroecosystems based on agroecological principles. Concurrently, cultivated forages should be promoted as a versatile and multi-purpose crop through public campaigns (social media, workshops, leaflets, lobbying) (Louhaichi et al., 2018). However, from the literature search (Figure 2) these aspects seem to be understudied which would imply limited innovation in awareness raising. Yet, by highlighting the evidence-based benefits of integrating cultivated forages in agroecosystems, we can increase the visibility of crop-livestock systems and inform the flow of scaling-up investments. In addition, promotional and educational activities, along with results from further research involving farmer participation, in combination economic incentives, such as payments for ecosystem services and the development of inclusive business models, should be further explored (Schultze-Kraft et al., 2018).The environmental and social consequences of the prevailing agri-food system have sparked a lively societal discussion on how to feed an increasing population in a socio-ecologically sustainable and equitable way. In response, agroecology has been presented as a practice, scientific discipline, and socio-political movement that applies ecological concepts in the sustainable management of agricultural systems. Although some literature highlights the important role livestock play in sustainable food systems and specifically agroecology, the prevailing narrative, especially so in the popular media, argues that one of the leading solutions to climate change and human health crises is to eat no or little animal-source foods.In this paper, however, we point out that the narrow climate/diet framing misses the valuable role livestock can play, especially for family farmers in the south. Integrated systems present an opportunity to improve livestock production, support livelihoods, enhance and protect biodiversity, close nutrient loops etc. and forages play a key role in catalyzing this transformation. Scientific literature and documented practice change by farmers indicate that integrating cultivated forages in mixed crop-tree-livestock systems follows a wide range of agroecological principles and increases the sustainability of livestock production across the globe. We, therefore, have reason to believe that livestock production in the tropics based on improved forages can boost the sustainability indicators of this system, moving toward an agroecological transformation of the food system. It is, however, clear that a lot of this promise is yet to materialize and calls for an urgent coming together of the agroecological and livestock research and development communities. The specific role of the scientific community is therein to generate and use nuanced evidence on what is possible and what is not (taking multi-scale trade-offs into account). As part of the overall movement, they can help ensuring that forages gain more prominence in agroecological initiatives and that more investments are made in sustainable agri-food system transformation with explicit livestock and forage components. from the CGIAR Fund to Donors and bilateral funding agreements (https://www.cgiar.org/funders)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"eda5efc8693f27e44b3bfe56955be8c2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4bcc5382-df03-46c1-b024-4e407bed4b2a/retrieve","id":"1079755498"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"02412c6b-088c-4019-9f2f-474cadd1d5a3","content":"Cattle play significant social and economic roles in the subsistence production systems of the East African highlandas a store of value, measure of wealth, and source of cash flow, fuel, food, draught power and manure. However, the productivity of indigenous breeds is relatively low, with milk offtake rarely exceeding 300kg for a lactation period of about 7 months. Currently indigenous cattle constitute some 77% of cattle in Kenya, but are more than 98% of the total Ethiopian cattle population. Low productivity is due to relatively late ages at maturity, low genetic potential, heavy parasite burden, seasonal variation in feed and little policy emphasis on livestock development. In recent years, however, policy environments for dairy production have improved, including liberalisation of dairy markets. Encouraging intensified dairying is one strategy of the Ethiopian and Kenyan governments to address the low productivity problem of indigenous cattle and to enable resource-poor smallholder mixed crop-livestock farmers to raise incomes.In periurban Addis Ababa, market-oriented smallholder dairying (MOSD) is based on the use of crossbred cows (CBC) that are fed crop-residues such as barley straw, and natural grass and hay, and locallyproduced wheat bran and oilseed cake. While some CBC's are kept on mixed crop/livestock farms, many animals are kept in the urban centre, and are confined to backyard stalls. Milk is mainly marketed directly to consumers by the producers themselves.In the Central province of Kenya, MOSD is based on the intensification of smallholder mixed farming systems through the close integration of CBC's into the mainly maize-based farms. Cows are fed planted fodder (Napier grass), maize stover, weeds and grass, and grain millings or compounded dairy feed. In many cases where landholdings are small, cattle at not allowed to graze at all, but are instead stall-fed. An important element of this system is the heavy use of the manure to fertilise food and cash crops, allowing sustained multiple cropping on the small landholdings (usually less than 2 acres).MOSD increases dairy production and sales of dairy productsespecially liquid milk, i.e. the milk is treated as a \"cash crop\" resulting to greater market orientation of smallholder farm households (Shapiro et al., 1998). Intensification of dairy production has been shown (Pankhurst 1996) to potentially raise milk production and income, especially where demand and infrastructure are favourable (Staal et al., 1997). Further, since milk consumption globally is seen to grow with income levels, it thus has the potential to improve incomes of smallholder farm households in an economically sustainable manner. Because milk is sold daily throughout the year, more regular daily cash incomes enhance dairy households' ability to purchase needed food items during food shortage periods and hence smooth consumption throughout the year.Under some circumstances in relatively extensive farming systems, the use of CBC as draft animals eliminates the need for draft oxen (and their replacements) required for only a few weeks in a year (Zerbini et al., 1996). Fewer but more efficient animals on the farm could reduce stocking rates and overgrazing, thus contributing to the establishment of a more productive and sustainable farming systems. In other circumstances in more intensive farming systems, where much of feed resources are imported from offfarm and animals are not grazed, MOSD leads to higher stocking rates, yielding more manure and so more rapid cycling of nutrients, again contributing to more productive and sustainable systems.Farmers in the highlands of East Africa have a comparative advantage in dairying intensification because of the relatively low animal disease incidence and conducive climate for cattle rearing. As a result, the region has the largest number of both indigenous and CBC cattle in the continent, good traditional animal husbandry skills, and high demand for animal products.As indicated, intensified dairying has been shown to potentially raise milk production and household incomes. However, the consequences on different household membersparticularly women -are not well understood. In particular, the implications on women's labour contribution to the dairy activity, women's dairy income share and control, and female dairy operators' access to productive inputs have not been well established. In both the Kenya and Ethiopia cases, intensive dairying means greater reliance on cut-andcarry of fodder to stall-fed animals, thus requiring a greater labour input per milk unit produced. Understanding women's dairying responsibilities, access to resources and control of proceeds (products and income) from intensified dairying enterprise is crucial in the sustainable development of MOSD and dairying technologies. This paper therefore seeks to identify the consequences of MOSD on East African (Kenya and Ethiopia) women's wellbeing. We focus on their labour contribution, control of benefits, and access to productive resources and then discuss the implications of these to the sustainable development of MOSD.Data were gathered in Holeta, Ethiopia (some 40 kms outside of Addis Ababa) dairy research project involving the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organisation (EARO), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and the Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute (EHNRI). One of its goals is to develop technologies that enable resource-poor mixed crop-livestock farmers to participate in MOSD. Data from 120 farm households were collected beginning in 1996 from both households with introduced crossbred cows (CBC) and households with locally bred cows (LBC), with gender disaggregation where appropriate. With the CBC's were also introduced complementary dairy technologies. Those farmers with introduced CBC are encouraged to plant fodders such as oats, vetch, and Napier grass, and were trained in improved hygiene and restricted grazing. Veterinary and breeding services were also provided.The data from Kiambu, Kenya (centred some 25kms from Nairobi) was gathered in 1996 as part of a collaborative dairy research project between the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), the Kenya Ministry of Agriculture and ILRI. Some 365 households of all types were randomly interviewed during a characterisation survey, out of which 260 were found to be dairy farmers and owned CBCs. Unlike those in Ethiopia, these dairy farms were not project-established. From the identified dairy farms, a sub-set of 27 households was selected to conduct a more detailed interview on gender-differentiated roles and resources related to the dairy activity.From the same KARI/MoA/ILRI collaborative project, data from eight districts in Kenya covering Central, Eastern and Rift Valley provinces is also used mainly for comparison purposes. These derive from a larger characterisation undertaken in early 1998. The eight districts selected represent a wide range of levels of dairy productivity potential and market access within the Nairobi milkshed.Results from the survey carried out in Kiambu (Kenya) indicate that 70.4% of dairy operators are women and 29.6% are men, underlining the traditionally important role of women in milk production in Kenya. In the male-headed households (MHH), 66.7% of the total of 365 sampled, 61.1% of the dairy operators are women and 38.9% are men. In the female-headed households (FHH) (33.3% of the sample), 88.9% of the dairy operators are women and 11.1% are men. In the larger dairy characterisation survey in Kenya (1998), adult females are more involved in such dairy activity tasks as collecting and processing feed, milking, and marketing of milk in comparison to adult males, children and hired labour as shown in Table 1. However, marginally more men are reported involved in the spraying and dipping task than women are. The above numbers suggest that women are the dominant dairy operators in the intensive, mostly stallfeeding MOSD system of Kenya. These results compare to those reported by Mullins et al. (1995), who found that women supplied 48% of the labour input in dairy farms Coastal Province of Kenya. This corresponds both to women's traditional role as the agriculturalists in Kenyan farming communities, and as the milkers in its pastoral communities. Mullins et al. also reported that although women's' overall work load increased with under MOSD, women consistently stated that they were nevertheless better off due to income increases and stability.In contrast, as evident from Table 2, intensified dairying apparently does not significantly increase women's dairy-related labour in Ethiopia, as a result of which their labour supply to other activities is not likely to change. The monitoring survey in Holeta showed that women's' labour contribution to dairy was only 5.5% in the CBC households, compared to 5% in those with indigenous cattle, a difference which may not be significant. While the household's children provide most of the labour in the LBC households, hired men and children provide much of the additional labour required for intensified dairying. Differences in the traditional roles of women in agriculture and cattle keeping mainly explain the variation in women's labour contribution to MOSD in Kenya and Ethiopia. As is suggested in Table 2, women are not generally responsible for cattle keeping in Ethiopia. Differences in the type of dairy technology employed also explain some of the differences. The stall-feeding dairying technique practised in Kenya is labour intensive, requiring animal feed and water to be carried to the cow. In Ethiopia, on the other hand, MOSD technology includes open grazing, with herding tasks traditionally designated to children (the Holeta site does not include urban stall-feeding farms). The results indicate that adoption of MOSD does not necessarily raise the labour burden to women in the household, depending on traditional roles in cattle keeping and on the specific MOSD technology employed.Earlier studies (Pankhurst, 1996;Walshe et al., 1991;Sanders et al., 1996;Shapiro et al., 1998, Baltenweck at al., 1998) of income impacts of MOSD indicate that cash incomes increase as a consequence of higher milk production and increased market-orientation. The Holeta data indicate that men and women in households with introduced CBC had 14 and 4 times higher dairy incomes than men and women in households with LBC, respectively. Thus, although both women and men benefit from MOSD in Holeta, men's cash incomes rise significantly more as a result, compared to those of women.In Kenya, results from the dairy characterisation survey indicate no significant differences in the net cash flows from the dairy enterprise per household per annum by household headed type i.e. FHH and MHH. This implies that dairy production has the same opportunities for both household types. This appears to be a significant result, in that it indicates quite strongly (with a sample of over 1,300 households) that the income-generating potential of MOSD is equally available to women, in spite of their apparent restricted access to many resources (discussed below). At least in this cultural setting where women are the agriculturalists, MOSD technology offers them important opportunities.The important question to be answered is whether the introduction of intensified dairying causes women to lose control over the income generated. Income growth from intensified dairying is expected to improve households' purchasing power, as well as change expenditure patterns. Such changes are governed by household needs, intrahousehold resource allocation, and gender division of labour and responsibilities. It is therefore important to examine whether intra-household changes in income control exist, and if it does whether it adversely affects women's responsibilitiesparticularly food expenditures.In traditional dairy production practices in Ethiopia, women via the processing and sale of butter and cheese earn 69% of the dairy income. Whalen (1983) notes that Ethiopian women maintain control of this money and spends it to purchase household items. Men and women use the incomes they control to meet different objectives. For example women, by virtue of being responsible for food preparation, spend more money in food purchases than men (Quisumbing et al. 1995). The data from Holeta show that women in households with CBC spend only 4% more on food compared to women in LBC (while their incomes were 4 times higher, as above). On the other hand, men in households with MOSD technologies spend 28% more on food than men in households with traditional dairy production practices. Thus women's incomes increase under MOSD in Holeta, and while they do not appear to spend more on food for the household as a result, men do. The higher expenditure by men on food may reflect their greater effective control over the dairy income in this setting -women's control over that income is apparently low.The detailed survey in Kiambu, Kenya showed women solely control the dairy income in 50 % of interviewed MOSD households, with husbands and wives jointly controlling income in another 25 % of the cases. In male-headed households, wives control dairy income in 41%, husbands in 23%, and both husband and wives in 35 % of the cases. In FHH, dairy income is controlled by either the wife or the children. Even in the MHHs, therefore, women have at least some control of the dairy income in 76% of households, and sole control in 41%. These results confirm earlier studies (Mullins et al, 1996;Maarse 1995 ) that indicate that women do indeed gain an important, if not majority, share of the income generated from intensified dairying. The apparent differences in this regard can again be attributed to differences in traditional gender roles towards cattle keeping in Ethiopia and Kenya. In central Kenya, where women do traditionally have a role in milking of cattle, intensification has led to higher incomes not only for their households, but for their own uses. It may be important to note that, at least in this case, the common scenario of commercialisation leading to more male control of activities and incomes is not apparently occurring.Female dairy operators in Kiambu stated that they would have been more productive, if they had access to financial resources to purchase more feed and feed supplements and also more land to grow forage. This section focuses on women's access to productive inputs and highlights resources essential for improvement of dairy production, not available in sufficient quantities and quality in the East Africa Highlands.The main sources of funds to start stall-fed dairying in Kiambu were through savings and sales of assets in 54.2% and 25.0% respectively, in all the sample farm households. Farmers in Holeta-Ethiopia, were given pregnant high milk yielding heifers at a subsidised price to be repaid over a specified period of time. Farmers in both Kiambu and Holeta do not utilise formal loans because of high interest rates, unavailability and required collateral. Another reason for not taking loans from formal institutions is because of the uncertainty of raising money from dairying with CBC in sufficient quantities to repay the loans. Risks associated in dairying with CBC are animal diseases, unstable dairy product prices and payments, scarcity and costs of feed, etc. The risks of loan defaults include forced sale of land and other valuable asset. Women dairy operators thus do not have the cash to invest in productivity-increasing dairying technologies. Also, female dairy operators typically lack secure title to property that eliminates them from obtaining credit from formal financial institutions, even if it is available. Since women are the main dairy operators in Kenya, their inability to obtain necessary cash and credit may be a constraint expanding MOSD production.The detailed survey in Kiambu found that the average farm size of FHH is 1.86 acres compared to MHH who have 2.26 acres of land. The larger survey over 8 districts found, however, no significant difference between the land size per household by gender of the household head, with mean size of 6.2 and 6.7 acres for male and female headed households respectively, though the standard deviations are greater than the means. This is far much higher than what is reported in Kiambu, where there are higher intensification levels.An important factor that enhances women's dairy productivity is the extent to which they have access to education and training (Overholt et al., 1985). Studies (Lloyds and Niemi 1979;Cloud, 1985) show positive effects of education and training on agricultural productivity. Yet in Kiambu-Kenya, where women are the main dairy operators, 26% had no formal education, 57.8% had primary education and only 15.7% had secondary school education. In comparison, 75% and 25% of the male dairy operators in the same area had primary and secondary schools education respectively. This is also true for the dairy characterisation survey results where 23 % of the female-headed households do not have formal education in comparison to 8 % of the male headed households.Traditional gender differences in household and farm roles largely explain the variations observed in impact of smallholder dairy production on women's labour input and control of resulting income. In Kiambu, Kenya, it was reported that MOSD both increased women's labour input, which was in turn compensated through women's control of most of the income from dairying. In Holeta, Ethiopia, in contrast, women's labour input did not apparently increase when MOSD was introduced, and their income from dairy activities similarly remained small, although in percentage terms it increased. Some of these differences can also be attributed to the different technologies employed in the two locations under study, with the stall-feeding Kenyan system requiring a larger labour input.Evidence from Kenya also shows that access to resources may be a constraint to women's participation in smallholder dairying, even in this setting where women are the main dairy operators and control most of the income from dairy sales. Women will benefit more from MOSD, if they have more access to land for fodder production, credit to purchase needed veterinary services and supplements, and advice of the extension agents on the management skills required for profitable operations of the dairy enterprises. Inspite of the fact that women have resource constraints, dairying with CBC is still profitable. Comparisons of income from dairying between MHH and FHH show no significant differences.The high demand of women's time for MOSD in Kenya may have negative effects on their other responsibilitiescrop production, childcare, household chores and other non-farm activities etc. This hypothesis requires further examination.The hypothesis that market-orientation of smallholders will result in women losing control over income to men is not supported by data from MOSD in the East African Highlands. This is in contradiction to findings from other smallholder commercialisation processes (von Bruan and Kennedy,1994).Clearly, the development of smallholder dairying offers opportunities to improve the livelihoods and welfare of smallholder households and the women among them. Although constraints remain, there does not appear to be the threat to women of losing livelihoods to men through commercialisation, in those cases where women's role is traditionally linked to agriculture and milking. In areas where women's roles are primarily in the household, more change may be necessary before women can capture a greater share of the opportunities offered by MOSD."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7a7efffed617e276d98811dcf0691c72","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a2d024f3-a78d-4bc1-9bc7-dfd316e84e9b/retrieve","id":"-1032240365"},"keywords":["genomic prediction","adversarial validation","feature selection","leave one family out","within family genomic prediction"],"sieverID":"080ba2c0-058f-452b-be01-5c71ceb201bf","content":"Genomic selection is revolutionizing plant breeding. However, its practical implementation is still very challenging, since predicted values do not necessarily have high correspondence to the observed phenotypic values. When the goal is to predict within-family, it is not always possible to obtain reasonable accuracies, which is of paramount importance to improve the selection process. For this reason, in this research, we propose the Adversaria-Boruta (AB) method, which combines the virtues of the adversarial validation (AV) method and the Boruta feature selection method. The AB method operates primarily by minimizing the disparity between training and testing distributions. This is accomplished by reducing the weight assigned to markers that display the most significant differences between the training and testing sets. Therefore, the AB method built a weighted genomic relationship matrix that is implemented with the genomic best linear unbiased predictor (GBLUP) model. The proposed AB method is compared using 12 real data sets with the GBLUP model that uses a nonweighted genomic relationship matrix. Our results show that the proposed AB method outperforms the GBLUP by 8.6, 19.7, and 9.8% in terms of Pearson's correlation, mean square error, and normalized root mean square error, respectively. Our results support that the proposed AB method is a useful tool to improve the prediction accuracy of a complete family, however, we encourage other investigators to evaluate the AB method to increase the empirical evidence of its potential.Addressing the demands of a rapidly growing global population requires a focused effort on bolstering food production. However, achieving a substantial production increase is a complex endeavor, given a host of challenges. These encompass the depletion of natural resources, the scarcity of arable land, and the unpredictable shifts in climate patterns. Consequently, innovative strategies, such as the genomic selection (GS) methodology introduced by Meuwissen et al. (2001), have become indispensable for driving genetic advancements in vital crops such as wheat, rice, and maize. The application of GS holds the potential to fortify yield stability, increase productivity, bolster disease resistance, and enhance the nutritional and quality attributes of these essential crops (Crespo-Herrera et al. 2021).Genomic selection stands as a transformative paradigm within both plant and animal breeding, capitalizing on high-density markers that span the genome's entirety. Its central premise revolves around the idea that genetic markers can (1) be in linkage disequilibrium with quantitative trait locus (QTL) responsible for a specific trait (Meuwissen et al. 2001) and (2) capture relationship patterns (Habier et al. 2010(Habier et al. , 2013)). Genomic selection is redefining breeding practices through an array of innovative mechanisms, encompassing (1) proactive genotype identification, (2) heightened selection precision, (3) resource optimization, (4) accelerated variety development, (5) intensified selection efforts, (6) assessment of complex traits, and (7) enhanced selection accuracy. In sum, genomic-assisted breeding selection represents a paradigm shift in both plant and animal breeding, reshaping the landscape through predictive analysis and precision driven selection; its versatility and merits position GS as a potent instrument propelling progress and ingenuity in agricultural enhancement endeavors.The challenge of achieving accurate genomic predictions stems from the intricate nature of genomic data and the intricate interplay between genes and traits. While GS holds the potential to revolutionize breeding strategies, the precise prediction of complex traits based solely on genetic markers presents a formidable complexity. The polygenic nature of numerous agricultural traits adds to the complexity, as multiple genes with subtle effects collectively contribute to the phenotype. Additionally, the accuracy of predictions is intricately tied to the quality and representativeness of the training population used to construct prediction models. Inadequate or biased data can lead to suboptimal predictions and hinder breeding progress. Genetic interactions and environmental influences further complicate genomic predictions, as these interactions often remain incompletely understood or challenging to incorporate into predictive models. Consequently, ongoing research, advancements in data analysis techniques, improved genotyping technologies, and a deeper understanding of genotype-phenotype relationships are pivotal to address these challenges and fully unlock the potential of genomic prediction within agricultural breeding programs.In the search to enhance the prediction accuracy of the GS methodology, various modeling approaches have been proposed. These ranges from Bayesian frameworks encompassing the Bayesian alphabet (BayesA, BayesB, BayesC, and Bayesian Lasso, etc.) to machine learning methodologies such as random forest, support vector machine, gradient boosting machine, and deep neural networks for genomic prediction. Nonetheless, mixed models remain prevalent in genomic prediction due to their reliable performance in terms of prediction accuracy, computational efficiency, interpretability, and straightforward tuning processes.However, despite the considerable promise held by GS and the diverse modeling approaches explored so far, translating these concepts into practical implementation remains a complex challenge. This complexity arises from the multitude of factors that must be optimized to achieve high prediction accuracies. The simultaneous optimization of these factors introduces intricacy, often yielding unforeseen outcomes. Consequently, the successful integration of GS into real-world scenarios calls for ongoing research, robust methodologies, and a comprehensive understanding of the intricate interactions underlying these contributing factors. Addressing these challenges is imperative to fully realize the potential of GS and facilitate its seamless integration into breeding programs and agricultural practices (Montesinos-López et al. 2022).Precisely predicting family performance is a cornerstone of effective plant breeding, enabling the maximization of genetic gains, efficient allocation of resources, strategic parental selection, and the tailoring of breeding strategies. Furthermore, it enhances disease resistance, adaptability, end-use quality, and consistency in crop varieties. Accurate family prediction empowers breeders to channel their efforts toward superior families, leading to the development of enhanced and resilient crop varieties with desirable traits.When crossing two diploid organisms, each offspring inherits one allele from each parent, and the selection of which specific allele an offspring inherits occurs through a stochastic process. This process creates genetic diversity within a family, a phenomenon referred to as Mendelian segregation variance or within-family variance. In statistical terms, the genetic value of a quantitative trait in an offspring is composed of the four alleles contributed by the two parents, guided by a Mendelian variable from each parent. Wang and Xu (2019) proposed a mixture model that allows for the dissection of the total genetic variance into between-family variance and within-family variance. With no inbreeding, the genetic variance is evenly split between-family variance and withinfamily variance. When inbreeding is present, there is an increase in the overall genetic variance due to an increase between-family variance at the expense of the within-family variance (Foulley and Chevalet 1981).However, predicting family performance within plant breeding is fraught with complexities stemming from factors such as pronounced genetic diversity, intricate trait architectures, limited family sizes, erratic environmental variations, genotype-byenvironment interactions (GE), data quality and quantity challenges, trait trade-offs, and extended breeding cycles. Overcoming these challenges requires advanced methodologies, refined technologies, expansive datasets, and a profound understanding of intricate trait genetics. Despite these challenges, accurate family prediction is pivotal for the development of superior crop varieties and to address global agricultural challenges.The interplay of genetic diversity, recombination, genetic segregation, population-specific variation, incomplete data, environmental elements, and statistical intricacies collectively underscore the challenges associated with genomically predicting full siblings resulting from a single cross. While advancements in genomics and statistical methodologies continue to enhance prediction accuracy, achieving precise predictions of genetic relatedness remains a multifaceted endeavor, particularly when working with limited data from a single cross. Predicting full siblings from a single cross requires the handling of intricate relationships and uncertainties, further intensifying the complexity of the analysis and prediction processes.As such, innovative methodologies to enhance family prediction accuracy are indispensable. In this pursuit, we explore the fusion of the adversarial validation (AV) approach proposed by Montesinos-López, Kismiantini et al. (2023) with the Boruta feature selection method, as examined by Montesinos-López, Crespo-Herrera et al. (2023). Although the AV method adeptly detects training-testing mismatches and optimizes training sets, its efficiency may diminish when dealing with smaller training sets or moderate to high mismatches. Conversely, the Boruta method, a feature selection technique, effectively mitigates prediction errors by selecting a fraction of the most important features, but may not consistently elevate selection accuracy, since when the selected variables are not optimal, decreases prediction accuracy.Thus, in this research, we introduced the AB method, which leverages the strengths of both AV and Boruta. The AB method primarily functions to mitigate disparities between training and testing distributions without reducing the training set and original inputs. This is achieved through the attenuation of weights assigned to markers that manifest the most substantial differences between the training and testing sets. In the AB method, a binary classifier is trained for each family using a combination of original and shuffled markers. Feature importance scores for the original markers are computed, and these weighted markers are employed to construct a genomic relationship matrix (GRM). This weighted GRM is then incorporated into the genomic best linear prediction model (GBLUP), forming the core of the AB method.We hypostatize that the AB method holds the potential to enhance prediction accuracy and mitigate prediction errors, particularly in cases where a substantial disparity exists between the training and testing sets. Conversely, in scenarios where such a discrepancy is inconsequential, the AB will not affect the prediction performance. This assertion is grounded in the contention that the AB method addresses a notable limitation of the AV method (Montesinos-López, Kismiantini et al. 2023). Specifically, the AV method struggles when confronted with small datasets, either failing to identify an optimal training set or, when the dataset is so diminutive, adversely impacting prediction performance. In contrast, the AB method using all original inputs with appropriate weighting, circumvents these issues. By eschewing the selection of a mere sample or fraction of inputs, as seen in variable selection methods (Boruta method), the AB method sidesteps the pitfalls associated with a suboptimal sample of inputs, which can detrimentally affect prediction performance. We assess the AB method against conventional GRMs without weights (GBLUP), utilizing 12 real-world datasets.The model used in this study can be represented aswhere Y ij denotes the response variable in the environment i and genotype j. E i are the fixed effects of environments, g j , j = 1, . . . , J, denotes the random effects of lines, gE ij denotes the random effects of the genotype-by-environment interaction modeled through a compound symmetry structure, and ϵ ij denotes the random error components in the model assumed to be independent normal random variables with mean 0 and variance σ 2 .Furthermore, it is assumed that g = (g 1 , . . . , g J )where Z E is the design matrix of environments of order n × I, ⊙ denotes the Hadamard product, and Z g is the design matrix of genotypes (lines) of order n × J, G is the genomic relationship-matrix computed using markers (VanRaden 2008). Let X denote the matrix of markers and let M, be the matrix of centered and standardized markers. Then G = MM T p (VanRaden 2008), where p is the number of markers. The implementation of this model (1) using the computed G was done in the Bayesian Genomic Linear Regression library of Pérez and de los Campos (2014).The Boruta algorithm was developed to identify covariates that have significant relevance to the response variable, whether strong or weak. Specifically designed for high-dimensional datasets with noisy features, Boruta addresses the challenges of feature selection in such datasets (Kursa and Rudnicki 2010). Its operation involves the creation of a shadow (permuted) feature set, which is a replicated version of the original feature set with values randomly permuted, i.e. shuffled. These shadow features act as controls to assess the statistical significance of the original features. The determination of the relevance of the original features is based on whether their importance scores significantly surpass the importance scores of their corresponding shadow features.In datasets containing numerous noisy features, where conventional feature selection methods may face difficulties, Boruta proves to be an efficient solution. However, it is important to note that it can be computationally intensive and requires careful parameter tuning to achieve optimal results (Kursa and Rudnicki 2010).The Boruta algorithm operates through a series of well-defined steps for effective feature (marker in our application) selection. The process is as follows:Step 1: A shadow feature set is generated by randomly permuting the values of each feature in the original dataset.Step 2: A random forest model is trained using both the original feature set and the shadow feature set. This model serves as the foundation for assessing feature importance.Step 3: The feature importance scores for each original feature are calculated by comparing them to the importance scores of their corresponding shadow features.Step 4: The maximum importance score is determined for each feature based on the results obtained in Step 3.Step 5: The Binomial test is employed to evaluate the statistical significance of each feature. If a feature's importance score is deemed statistically significant, it is marked as \"important\"; otherwise, it is labeled as \"unimportant.\" The Binomial test is a statistical evaluation used in Boruta to compare the observed number of successes (e.g. instances where a feature's importance score exceeds a certain threshold) with the expected number of successes under a null hypothesis. This test determines whether the observed results are statistically significant or merely due to chance. In Boruta, the Binomial test is applied to assess whether the feature importance scores are significantly higher than those of the shadow features, thereby indicating the relevance of the original features (Kursa and Rudnicki 2010).Step 6: The process outlined in Steps 1-5 is repeated for a predetermined number of iterations to ensure robustness and consistency in the feature selection process.Step 7: Finally, the features are ranked based on their importance scores. Within Boruta, features are categorized as \"Confirmed\" if they are considered important, \"Rejected\" if they are deemed unimportant, and \"Tentative\" if further investigation is required or if they are considered less important. This categorization provides valuable insights into the relevance and contribution of each feature to the predictive model.Step 1. We assume that we have a multi-environment or single environment data set in which there are at least 2 families and for each family there are some lines. Since our goal is to predict a complete family, the information of this family constitutes the testing set { X tst , y tst }, and the information of the remaining families is the training set { X trn , y trn }. Then, in the original dataset { X trn , y trn , X tst , y tst }, we remove the original response variable column { y trn , y tst }, and add a fictitious (new) response variable column { y f trn , y f tst } that replaces the source of the data by 0 (that is, y f = 0) for samples (observations) on the training set and by 1 (i.e. y f =1) for the samples in the testing set (Montesinos-López, Kismiantini et al. 2023). In other words, the fictitious response variables with 0 s correspond to the remaining families and the 1 s for the family we want to predict.Step 2. We then implement the Boruta algorithm with inputs { X trn , y f trn , X tst , y f tst } and we extract the variable important scores (IS) for each marker.A marker weighting approach | 3 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/g3journal/advance-article/doi/10.1093/g3journal/jkad278/7469083 by guest on 08 January 2024Step 3. The next step is to compute the inverse of the IS as Inv_IS = 1/IS, then compute the final weights as w = Inv_IS ×p /sum(Inv_IS), where p denotes the number of markers.Step 4. Each row of the standardized matrix of markers ( M) is then multiplied by the vector of weights (w), in matrix notation we build the diagonal matrix of squared weights, as D = Diag( w 2 1 , w 2 2 , . . . , w 2 p ), and finally, with this weighted matrix, a weighted GRM is computed as G * = MDM T p . The implementation of model (1) using the weighted GRM (G * ) is what we call method AB. It is important to point out that the GBLUP and AB methods were implemented in the R statistical software (R Core Team 2023).The AB method works primarily from its capability to minimize the mismatch between the training and testing distributions. This is achieved by diminishing the weight assigned to markers that exhibit the most pronounced differences between the training and testing sets. In simple words, the weights resulting from the AB method originate from a binary classification model and reflect the significance of each variable (marker) in distinguishing between training and testing sets. By assigning a value of one to observations belonging to the testing set and zero to those from the training set, the weights indicate the relative importance of independent variables (markers) in this differentiation process. In essence, higher importance scores associated with certain variables imply a more substantial contribution to the ability to differentiate observations between the training and testing sets. Also, it is important to point out that the proposed AB method is not restricted only to family prediction, since it can be used for any type of prediction where there is a significant mismatch between the training and testing distributions.Details of the 12 data sets are shown in Table A1 (Appendix).The cross-validation approach used in this study involved leaving one family out. In each iteration, the data from a single-family served as the testing set, while the data from all other families constituted the training set (Montesinos-López et al. 2022). The number of iterations was equal to the number of families to ensure that each family was used as the testing set exactly one time. This method was employed to assess the model's ability to predict information from a complete family using data from different and diverse families.To assess the predictive efficacy of the proposed AB method in contrast to the GBLUP model, three metrics were employed. Initially, the mean square error (MSE) was utilized to gauge the model's prediction accuracy by measuring the squared deviation between observed and predicted values on the testing set. Subsequently, the average Pearson's correlation (COR) was calculated to ascertain the strength and direction of the linear relationship between the observed and predicted values on the testing set. Additionally, the normalized root mean square error (NRMSE), serving as another metric for prediction error, was computed. To derive this metric, we first calculated the square root of the MSE and then divided this value by the average of the observed values in the testing set. These evaluation metrics provided valuable insights into the performance of the proposed AB method relative to the GBLUP method in predicting information across an entire family.In addition, we computed the relative efficiency (RE), in terms of MSE, NRMSE, and COR of each model with the following expressions:where M GBLUP and M AB denote the models compared, the GBLUP and the AB model. The RE for COR was computed as:Across the three measures of relative efficiency (RE_MSE, RE_NRMSE, and RE_COR), a value greater than one signifies a superior performance of the AB method. Conversely, a value <1 indicate the GBLUP method's superiority. A value equal to 1 suggests equivalent performance between the GBLUP and AB methods.The results are organized into 5 sections. The 4 first sections present the results for Data 1 (GDM), Data 2 (Maize_1), Data 3 (Maize 2), and Data 9 (Soybean_4), while section 5 presents the results across all data sets under study. For each data set, we compared the results between the GBLUP and the proposed AB method in terms of MSE, COR, and NRMSE. The results for Data 1-3 and Data 9 and across data sets are shown in Figs. 1-5 and Tables 1-5, respectively. Supplementary Material contains results for the rest of the data sets, Data 4-8 (Maize_3, Maize_4, Soybean_1, Soybean_2, Soybean_3, respectively) and Data 10-12 (Maize_Bi_2018, Maize_Bi_2019_D, and Maize_Bi_2019_O, respectively), are presented in Supplementary Tables 1-8, respectively, and displayed in Supplementary Figs. 1-8, respectively.Note that for simplicity purposes, Supplementary Materials only show the description of results from Data 4-8 and of Data set 10 (Maize_3, Maize_4, Soybean_1, Soybean_2, Soybean_3, and Maize_Bi_2018, respectively) given in Supplementary Tables 1-6 and Supplementary Figs. 1-6. Although results from data sets Data 11 to 12 (Maize_Bi_2019_D and Maize_Bi_2019_O, respectively) are shown in Supplementary Tables 7-8 and Supplementary Figs. 7-8, respectively, they are not discussed in the text of Supplementary Material.In this section, we compared the GBLUP and AB methods for each family across traits for the \"GDM\" dataset. The comparison was done using three metrics (MSE, COR, and NRMSE) and for each metric, the RE was computed, comparing the GBLUP and AB methods (Fig. 1 and Table 1).In terms of MSE we found that in 11 out of the 13 families the RE > 1, this means that the AB method outperformed the GBLUP method in 11 out of the 13 families. However, across traits and families we got an RE = 1.061, meaning that, on average, the AB method outperformed the GBLUP method by 6.1% in terms of MSE (Table 1 and Fig. 1).Furthermore, in terms of COR, we found that the AB method was better than the GBLUP method in 12 out of 13 families, since in 12 of these families, the RE, in terms of COR, was greater than 1. Meanwhile, across traits and families, the gain of the AB method regarding the GBLUP method was 1.6% since the RE = 1.016 (Fig. 1, Table 1).Finally, in terms of NRMSE values, Fig. 1 and Table 1 show that 12 out of 13 of the RE values are larger than 1, which means that the AB method outperformed the GBLUP method in 12 out of 13 families. Across traits and families, we found an RE = 1.033, which means that the AB method gains the GBLUP method by 3.3% in terms of prediction performance. In sum, across traits, RE > 1 means that the AB method outperformed the GBLUP method, RE < 1 means that the GBLUP method outperformed the AB method and RE = 1 means that both methods performed equally. In this section, we conducted a comparative analysis of the GBLUP and AB methods across traits for Data 2. The same three metrics (MSE, COR, and NRMSE) were used to measure the performance of both methods. The results are presented in Fig. 2 and Table 2.Regarding MSE, we observed that the AB method outperformed the GBLUP method in all six families, with RE values >1. This indicates that the AB method displayed superior predictive capability in all instances. Across all traits and families, the overall RE of the AB method was found to be 1.315, representing an average improvement of 31.5% over the GBLUP method in terms of MSE (Table 2 and Fig. 2).Similarly, in terms of COR, the AB method displayed a better performance than the GBLUP method in all six families, as evidenced Fig. 3. Data 3 (Maize_2). Relative efficiency (RE) between the proposed method (AB with Boruta for variable selection) and the GBLUP method for each family and across family (AF) in terms of a) mean square error, MSE; b) average Pearson's correlation, COR; and c) normalized root mean square error, NRMSE. RE > 1 means that the AB method outperformed the GBLUP method, RE < 1 means that the GBLUP method outperformed the AB method and RE = 1 means that both methods performed equally. Relative efficiency (RE) between the proposed method (AB with Boruta for variable selection) and the GBLUP method for each family and across family (AF) in terms of a) mean square error, MSE; b) average Pearson's correlation, COR; and c) normalized root mean square error, NRMSE. RE > 1 means that the AB method outperformed the GBLUP method, RE < 1 means that the GBLUP method outperformed the AB method and RE = 1 means that both methods performed equally. Fig. 5. Across datasets. Relative efficiency (RE) between the proposed method (AB with Boruta for variable selection) and the GBLUP method for each family and across family (AF) in terms of a) mean square error, MSE; b) average Pearson's correlation, COR; and c) normalized root mean square error, NRMSE. RE > 1 means that the AB method outperformed the GBLUP method, RE < 1 means that the GBLUP method outperformed the AB method and RE = 1 means that both methods performed equally.  by RE values >1 for each family. The overall gain of the AB method relative to the GBLUP method, considering all traits and families, was 20.8%, with an RE value of 1.208 (Fig. 2 and Table 2). Additionally, when considering NRMSE values, we again observed that the AB method outperformed the GBLUP method in all 6 families, with RE values consistently above 1. The overall RE across traits and families was 1.126, indicating a 12.6% improvement in prediction performance for the AB method compared to the GBLUP method.In this section, we conducted a comprehensive comparison between the GBLUP and AB methods across traits for the Maize_2 dataset with the same metrics. Regarding MSE, our analysis revealed that the AB method outperformed the GBLUP method in all six families, as evidenced by RE values >1. This indicates a consistent superiority of the AB method over the GBLUP method within each family. When considering all traits and families together, the overall RE value was 1.553, indicating an average improvement of 55.3% in favor of the AB method in terms of MSE (Table 3 and Fig. 3).Furthermore, in terms of COR, the AB method displayed a higher performance compared to the GBLUP method in all 6 families, as indicated by RE values larger than 1 for each family. Across all traits and families, the AB method achieved an RE value of 1.339, representing a 33.9% gain over the GBLUP method (Fig. 3 and Table 3).Similarly, the NRMSE values exhibited a consistent pattern of improvement for the AB method. In all six families, the AB method outperformed the GBLUP method, with RE values surpassing 1. When considering all traits and families collectively, the overall RE value was 1.203, indicating a 20.3% performance gain of the AB method over the GBLUP method.Regarding the MSE metric, our findings indicate that the AB method outperformed the GBLUP method in 8 out of the 10 families,  Prediction accuracy in terms of mean square error (MSE), average Pearson's correlation (COR), and normalized mean square error (NRMSE). The metrics that end with_GBLUP denotes the results under the GBLUP, while those that end with _AB denotes the AV method with variable selection using the Boruta algorithm. Relative efficiency (RE) denotes the RE for each metric, RE_MSE and RE_NRMSE were computed dividing the MSE_GBLUP by the MSE_AB, and the NRMSE_GBLUP by the NRMSE_AB, while the RE_COR was computed dividing the COR_AB by the COR_GBLUP. RE values larger than one indicate that the AB method outperformed the GBLUP method. Prediction accuracy in terms of mean square error (MSE), average Pearson's correlation (COR), and normalized mean square error (NRMSE). The metrics that end with_GBLUP denote the results under the GBLUP, while those that end with _AB denote the AV method with variable selection using the Boruta algorithm. Relative efficiency (RE) denotes the RE for each metric, RE_MSE and RE_NRMSE were computed dividing the MSE_GBLUP by the MSE_AB, and the NRMSE_GBLUP by the NRMSE_AB, while the RE_COR was computed dividing the COR_AB by the COR_GBLUP. RE values larger than one indicate that the AB method outperformed the GBLUP method.with an RE value >1. Across all traits and families, the average improvement achieved by the AB method vs the GBLUP method was 39.2% (RE = 1.392, Table 4 and Fig. 4).Similarly, regarding the COR metric, the AB method displayed a higher performance in 9 out of 10 families, as indicated by RE >1. Across all traits and families, the AB method showed a modest gain of 2.7% compared to the GBLUP method (RE = 1.027, Fig. 4, Table 4).Additionally, the NRMSE metric analysis revealed that in 8 out of 10 cases, the RE values exceeded 1, highlighting the advantage of the AB method over the GBLUP method. Overall, across all traits and families, the AB method displayed a 9.0% improvement in prediction performance, as evidenced by an RE value of 1.090.Regarding the MSE metric, our findings across data sets and families indicate that the AB method outperformed the GBLUP method by 19.7% (RE = 1.19.7, Table 5 and Fig. 5). Turning our attention to the COR metric, the AB method displayed a higher performance with a gain of 8.6% compared to the GBLUP method (RE = 1.086, Fig. 5, Table 5). Additionally, in terms of NRMSE, the AB method exhibited an improvement of 9.8% over the GBLUP method, as indicated by a RE value of 1.098 (as depicted in Fig. 5 and Table 5).In sum, our findings consistently found AB method superior to the GBLUP method across diverse datasets, traits and family categories. These results indicate that the AB method is indeed effective in predicting untested families when trained on tested ones.Family prediction in breeding programs is of paramount importance, since it is essential to optimize the use of resources, accelerate the breeding cycle, reduce environmental impact, and produce new plant varieties with improved traits. Family prediction allows breeders to identify and select superior genotypes based on their genetic potential. By predicting the performance of entire families rather than individual plants, breeders can make informed decisions about which families are likely to exhibit desirable traits such as higher yield, resistance to diseases, and improved quality.Family prediction is very important since enables breeders to allocate their resources more efficiently by focusing on families with the highest predicted performance. This targeted approach accelerates the breeding process, allowing for the identification of promising plant varieties more quickly. As a result, resources such as time, manpower, and field space are utilized more effectively, leading to the development of improved crop varieties in a timelier manner. This efficiency is crucial in addressing global challenges such as food security, climate change, and evolving pest and disease pressures.Challenging family predictions in plant breeding can arise due to several factors, which can complicate the process and impact the accuracy of predictions. Some of these challenges include (1) genetic variation within families, (2) quantitative traits and polygenicity, (3) epistasis and gene interactions, (4) recombination and linkage disequilibrium, (5) limited sample size, etc. Addressing these challenges requires a combination of advanced statistical methods, cutting-edge genomic technologies, robust experimental designs, careful consideration of environmental factors, and iterative model refinement. Although genomics and statistical modeling continue to improve the accuracy of family predictions in plant breeding, it is likely that these challenges will continue to be important.For this reason, in this research, a novel method was proposed that integrates the strengths of the AV method and Boruta method and it is called the AB method. This method trains binary classifiers for each family with a fictitious response variable. The fictitious response variable is labeled as 1 (testing set) when the input belongs to the family of interest, while the inputs of the remaining families are labeled as 0 (training set). During the training process with the Boruta method, each original marker and its permuted (shuffled) version is used as input. This process helps determine marker importance. Original markers are then weighted using the inverse of their computed scores, and with these weighted markers, the weighted GRM is computed. The GBLUP model is then implemented using this weighted GRM. From our results we speculate that the AB method is simply picking up the SNPs segregating on the test set. In which case, a quality control process on the SNP set could be used to tailor the model to specific families. The proposed AB method was compared to the GBLUP model that uses a GRM without weights on 12 real datasets.We found the AB method outperformed the GBLUP method between 0% (Data 12, Maize_Bi_2019_O) and 55.3% (Data 3, Maize_2) in terms of MSE, between 0% (Data 12, Maize_Bi_2019_O) and 33.9% (Data 3, set Maize_2) in terms of COR and between 1.1% in Data 12, Maize_Bi_2019_O) and 33.9% (Data 3, Maize_2) in terms of NRMSE. On average across data sets, traits and families, we observed that the AB method outperformed the GBLUP method by 8.6, 19.7, and 9.8% in terms of COR, MSE and normalized root MSE. These results are very promising, since they provide empirical evidence that the proposed AB method can help to significantly increase the prediction performance of complete families.The power of the AB method mostly is attributed to the fact that it reduces the mismatch between the training and testing distribution by reducing the weight of those markers that most differentiate the training from the testing set. This adjustment is possible to be carried out due to the hybrid nature of the AB method that uses the AV approach proposed by Montesinos-López, Kismiantini et al. (2023) for the context of plant breeding to quantify the magnitude of the mismatch between the training and testing sets, followed by the Boruta method to identify those markers that are more important in the differentiation between the training and testing set. Then with the inverse of the importance scores a weighted GRM is built that is used coupled with the GBLUP model with the goal of improving the prediction performance. Our results are encouraging since we not only reduced prediction error (with MSE and NRMSE) but also increases predictive ability (as Pearson's correlation between predicted and observed values) which is one of the most popular metrics used in GS, and that guarantees a better selection process of the best (top or bottom) candidate genotypes. Also, it is important to point out that the proposed AB method is not restricted to only hybrid predictions since this method can be applied to any prediction problem in which exist a significant mismatch between the training and testing set, also the size of the training and testing set have not restrictions, that is, the percentages of observations in the training and testing can be quite different.However, even though the results are very promising, in some data sets we did not find a significant improvement in the prediction accuracy of some families, which in part can be attributed to a not significant mismatch between the training and testing sets and in other to difficulties of building robust statistical machine learning methods for complete family predictions since, as mentioned above, many factors that interact in complex ways affect A marker weighting approach | 9 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/g3journal/advance-article/doi/10.1093/g3journal/jkad278/7469083 by guest on 08 January 2024 the family performance. Also, it is hard to predict some families because the heritability for a single family within a single environment is very low, unless this family happens to be segregating to a major QTL and in these cases, the test is too noisy to validate the methodology.For example, the number of individuals per family (family size) is key to improving the prediction accuracy of a complete family, since the larger the family size, we will have more information to train the genomic prediction model efficiently. In addition, it is key to have many families in the training set since, in this way, the probability that the family to be predicted has more similar families in the training set increases.Also, the size and structure of the training population affect the accuracy of genomic prediction models (VanRaden et al. 2009;Daetwyler et al. 2010;Habier et al. 2010;de Bem Oliveira et al. 2020). Furthermore, incorporating more than 10 individuals within each family will diminish the sampling variability of both allele frequency and phenotypic mean, ultimately leading to enhanced genomic accuracies (de Bem Oliveira et al. 2020). However, we are aware that not even the family can predict itself well because of factors such as G × E (Alencar 2021).For the situation mentioned above, it is crucial to highlight the significance of genome-wide family prediction in breeding practices, particularly considering that numerous species are cultivated within large full or half-sibling family populations, often serving as commercially viable populations with varying degrees of relatedness, as seen in certain forage species such as alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) (Annicchiarico et al. 2015;Biazzi et al. 2017) and ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) (Fè et al. 2016). Within these species, the family unit, whether composed of full or half-siblings, constitutes the fundamental entity for phenotyping, typically performed at the plot level to measure attributes like yield, as opposed to the individual plant level. This approach is required by the allogamous nature of their mating systems (Poehlman 1987). Notably, individual plants hold limited significance, given that commercial varieties are essentially homogeneous populations comprising heterozygous individuals (Poehlman 1987).Significantly, the application of genome-wide family prediction has already been reported in crops that are intentionally bred and cultivated as family pools, particularly in cross-pollinated forage species (Fè et al. 2016;Annicchiarico et al. 2015;Biazzi et al. 2017). For this reason, the proposed AB method is a promising tool that helps to improve the prediction performance of complete families, but still further research is required to be able to improve the modeling process in family predictions in such a way that, it is highly probable that we can guarantee a high prediction accuracy of each family, in any trait and in any data set. The application of the AB method generally improves the prediction accuracy or, in case this does not occur, the genomic prediction accuracy will not be negatively affected by the application of the AB method.Due to the need to improve family prediction accuracy in plant breeding programs, we proposed the AB method that integrates the AV method with the Boruta method. The former detects the presence and magnitude of the mismatch between the training and testing set using a binary classifier using the original features (inputs) and a fictitious response variable, while the Boruta computes feature importance, also using the same fictitious response variable, then with the inverse of the feature importance scores the original features (markers) are weighted, and using them, a weighed GRM is computed. Finally, the GBLUP model is used with the weighted GRM. We found that the proposed AB method outperforms the GBLUP by 8.6, 19.7, and 9.8% in terms of Pearson's correlation, MSE, and normalized root MSE across data sets, traits, and families. The proposed AB method was shown to be efficient in most data sets under study, but for cases in the AB method did not produce any increase in genomic prediction accuracy, the AB method did not produce any decrease in the accuracy of the prediction. Certainly, more empirical evaluations are welcome to support our findings. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e4ba85cf54d27d941a0619fcf7c4d71d","source":"gardian_index","url":"http://www.tropenbos.org/file.php/1344/5_historical_co2_emissions_agus_et_al.pdf","id":"-913318029"},"keywords":["Land use change","CO2 emissions","peat oxidation","low-carbon shrubland rehabilitation"],"sieverID":"06173a91-4d30-4749-b3a1-fbef72cae210","content":"The CO2 emissions from land use change (LUC), peat fires and peat oxidation due to the establishment and operations of industrial oil palm plantations were estimated for the major palm oil producing regions of Indonesia (Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua), Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah) and Papua New Guinea. Measurements of oil palm expansion were based on the visual interpretation of Landsat images from 1990, 2000, 2005, and 2009/2010 that produced a 22 x 22 LUC matrix, which was used in conjunction with emission factors calculated from the differences in the mean value of published reports for above ground carbon (AGC) for each land cover class (e.g., 189 Mg C ha -1 for undisturbed forest, 104 Mg C ha -1 for disturbed forest, 30 Mg C ha -1 for shrub land, 36 Mg C ha -1 for oil palm plantations). The emission factor for peat oxidation for oil palm plantations operating on peat soils (43 Mg CO2 ha -1 yr -1 ) was based on a review of the scientific literature, while the emission factors for peat fires were based on the assumption that fires were used historically to clear land when establishing oil palm plantations in swamp forest (333 Mg CO2 ha -1 ) and swamp shrub land (110 Mg CO2 ha -1 ).The total area of oil palm plantations increased from 3.5 to 13.1 Mha between 1990 and 2010 at a mean annual rate of approximately 7%. Over this 20 year period, the direct conversion of natural forest preceded the establishment of approximately 3.5 Mha (36.6%) of new oil palm plantations, with the remainder resulting from the conversion of moderate to low biomass vegetation types, including 1.7 Mha of shrub and grassland habitats (17.6%) and 3.5 Mha of land cover types (37.5%) that had been converted previously to field crops, agroforest or other types of plantations, and 0.9 Mha of other land cover categories (9.5%).The net emissions of CO2 from oil palm plantations in the study area resulting from changes in AGC due to LUC, peat fires and peat oxidation increased from 92 to 106 to 184 Tg CO2 yr -1 between the first (1990 -2000), second (2001 -2005)  and third (2006 -2009/10) temporal periods. The proportion of CO2 emissions that originated from AGC due to LUC decreased between the first and second temporal period, but increased in the third (55 to 42 to 67 Tg CO2 yr -1 ); the emissions from peat fires linked to LUC tracked those of AGC (12 to 8 to 29 Tg CO2 yr -1 ). In contrast, the emissions from the oxidation of peat from plantations operating on partially drained peat soils increased steadily over all three temporal periods (26 to 56 to 88 Tg CO2 yr -1 ). Emissions from AGC due to LUC and peat fires are one time emissions that occur at the time of plantation establishment, but peat oxidation results in long-term, annual recurring emissions. By 2010, plantations on peat constituted 18% (2.4 Mha) of the spatial footprint of palm oil, but emission from peat fires and peat oxidation were the source of approximately 64% (118 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) of the total emissions from land use linked to industrial scale oil palm plantations.Finally, we compared the CO2 emissions from oil palm with the emissions from AGC due to LUC and peat oxidation from other types of land use; emissions from peat fires were excluded due the lack of data on the incidence of fire in other land use categories. We estimate that oil palm was responsible for approximately 13% of the total of these two types of emissions between 2000 and 2005 and 18% between 2006 and 2009/2010, based on total estimated emissions of 698 and 792 Tg CO2 yr -The palm oil industry has grown from providing less than 5% of the global supply of vegetable oils in 1970 to providing approximately 35% of the global market demand (Teoh, 2010). The rapid growth in the production of palm oil reflects the success of a highly efficient plantation system and the inherent productive capacity of the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis). The palm oil industry is expected to expand in the near to medium term in response to the demand for vegetable oil as food in emerging economies and developing countries, and potentially, as a biofuel feedstock in North America and Europe. The plantation model of production is widespread and has existed for more than a century in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia (Corley & Tinker, 2003), but it has reached its most sophisticated level of operation in Malaysia and Indonesia, which together produce approximately 85% of global supplies of palm oil. Indonesia is expected to expand the area under cultivation by about 50%, from approximately 8 million ha in 2010 to 12 Mha by 2020 (Teoh, 2010), while Malaysia is expected to increase its oil palm plantations by only 28% due to the limitation of available land resources (Dompok, 2011). Other areas, particularly Papua New Guinea, Thailand, West Africa and South America also are expected to increase oil palm plantations in response to the demand from world markets.The rapid expansion of oil palm plantations has generated a heated debate about the environmental impacts of palm oil production, particularly as it relates to impacts on climate change, biodiversity and the use of pesticides; social conflicts associated with land disputes and the loss of access to forest resources by local communities have also generate controversy (Panapanaan et al., 2009). The environmental disputes are linked to the widespread assumption that a large proportion of palm oil plantations have been created as a direct consequence of forest clearing. This assumption is challenged by the palm oil industry that asserts that most existing oil pam plantations have been established on lands that were degraded forest, shrub land and rubber plantations (Smith, 2011). Recent studies from Indonesia provide evidence that land cover is dynamic and complex. Deforestation has been associated with the expansion of plantation estates and cropland; however, agroforest landscapes where coffee, cacao, citrus and timber are grown as part of a diversified smallholder production system have decreased gradually since 1990 and so are also likely to be involved. Simultaneously, the loss of forest cover has been linked with the increase in shrub land between 1990 and 2000, presumably due to forest degradation, but this type of land cover decreased between 2000 and 2005, as it was converted to more productive types of land use including oil pam (Ekadinata & Dewi, 2011).Several studies documenting deforestation have been completed for both Malaysia and Indonesia (Stibig & Malingrea, 2003;Hansen et al., 2009;Miettinen et al., 2011Miettinen et al., , 2012a) ) and both governments provide periodic reports to the global database on forest resources (FAO, 2010). However, detailed studies that quantify land use change (LUC) specific for the palm oil sector are nonexistent or incomplete. In Indonesia, Ekadinata & Dewi (2011) analyzed land cover changes for two temporal periods: 1990 -2000 and 2001 -2005, but treated all types of industrial plantations as a single category, including oil palm, pulp and paper and rubber. Similarly, the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry (MoF, 2008) analyzed land use change for 2000 -2003 and 2004 -2006 and likewise grouped all plantation types into a single category (see WRI, 2008). In Malaysia, a variety of government institutions have tracked forest cover and land use change and have provided detailed information on the expansion of oil palm plantations and changes in forest cover; unfortunately, those studies use different data sources and classification methodologies and lack consistency in the definition of forest between temporal benchmarks making the palm industry in Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea Reports from the Technical Panels of the 2 nd Greenhouse Gas Working Group of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) 67 estimates of change between oil palm expansion and deforestation difficult to verify (Rashid et al., 2013 -this publication). The most widely cited estimate of deforestation attributed to oil palm plantations is based on a reinterpretation of the national reports provided by government ministries to the Forest Resource Assessment program of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, 2010) covering the period between 1990 and 2005.This information has been reinterpreted to provide an estimate that approximately 55 -59% of oil palm expansion in Malaysia and Indonesia has occurred at the expense of forests (Koh & Wilcove, 2008). It is important to note, however, that this conclusion is based on secondary sources unverified by remote sensing studies, and the FAO database is not considered to be reliable for many tropical forest countries by some remote sensing scientists (Grainger, 2007;Olander et al., 2008).The controversies surrounding CO2 emissions and land use are compounded by the uncertainty in the dimensions and variability of above and below ground carbon stocks in natural, degraded, and anthropogenic landscapes. This uncertainty is a function of the variability inherent in any natural ecosystem (Saatchi et al., 2011) and the temporal changes that occur as one class transitions into another (Lambin et al., 2003). Land use change may be abrupt in the case of the conversion of forest habitat to a plantation estate or gradual when primary forest is logged, logged again, and exposed to wildfire prior to its conversion to agriculture. Moreover, the identification of transitional categories is subject to the time span used for the study; for example, a temporal comparison spanning a decade or longer will often document a transition from undisturbed forest to plantation, but a multi-temporal study with shorter periods might reveal that undisturbed forest first become degraded forest and then shrub land, prior to its conversion to some form of productive activity. In addition, the selection of carbon stock values can greatly impact the estimates of net CO2 emissions, particularly in light of the capacity for plantation landscapes to capture and store significant amounts of carbon (Wautersa et al., 2008;Henson, 2009).Another major controversy is related to the conversion of coastal peat swamps to plantation estates; this type of production strategy requires the partial drainage of these wetland habitats, which leads to the oxidation of peat and the emission of CO2. Drainage and oxidation causes the peat soils to subside and reduces their capacity to regulate the surrounding hydrology; if the process continues, the underlying mineral soil layer will eventually become exposed or, more likely, the subsidence will approximate the level in adjacent coastal water bodies that are often chemically saline (Hooijer et al., 2010). The dimensions of CO2 emissions from drained and converted peat swamps are subject to numerous uncertainties and have been a source of contention over the last decade. Estimates of the emission from peat oxidation vary widely, ranging from a low of 26 Mg CO2 ha -1 yr -1 (Jauhiainen et al., 2001) in agricultural land to a high of 100 Mg CO2 ha -1 yr -1 in oil palm plantations (Hooijer et al., 2012;Page et al., 2011). The uncertainty in these estimates is related to both the physical nature of tropical peat and a lack of studies that adequately address the natural sources of variability, as well as disagreements among soil scientists on how to directly measure CO2 emissions and the components of a modelling approach that estimates emissions in the absence of direct measurements (Melling et al., 2005;Hooijer et al., 2010;2012;Agus et al., 2012).This paper seeks to clarify some of the uncertainties outlined in the previous paragraphs and provide a more robust estimate of CO2 emissions linked to land use change caused by the palm oil sector. To do this, we documented the full trajectory of the conversion of forest landscapes to oil palm plantations, as well as evaluating how other land cover types have contributed to the expansion of the oil palm plantations. Our primary goal is to provide an objective estimate of the CO2 emissions from the establishment of new oil palm plantations and to model the emissions from plantations established on peat soils. As part of that process, we provide estimates of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions linked to other productive sectors and place the emissions directly linked to palm oil in the broader context of land cover and land use change.This paper represents a synthesis of information that comes largely from two different sources:1) An original analysis of land cover and land cover change for two decades for the principal palm oil producing regions in Indonesia (Sumatra and Kalimantan) and Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak), as well as the regions most likely to be the focus for future palm oil expansion (Indonesian Papua and Papua New Guinea) (Gunarso et al., 2013 -this publication). 2) A review of the published literature of carbon stock values for above and below ground biomass for these same geographies and a critical evaluation of the range of values reported for CO2 emission from peat and the underlying assumptions that are used when estimating them (Agus et al., 2013 -this publication).The spatial extent and expansion of oil palm estates was documented for three temporal periods (1990 -2000, 2001 -2005 and 2006 -2009/2010) based on a visual interpretation of Landsat satellite images (Gunarso et al., 2013 -this publication).The land cover stratification is composed of 22 classes, which was based on a harmonization of two similar systems used by the Ministry of Forestry (21 classes) and the Ministry of the Agriculture (23 classes) of the Republic of Indonesia (Table 1). The same system was used for the Malaysian states and Papua New Guinea to ensure uniform criteria for all regions (see Table 1 - Gunarso et al., 2013 -this publication). Experienced GIS technicians visually identified similar groups of pixels based on spectral attributes, geometric patterns, and landscape context to digitally trace polygons on the computer screen. Land use change between each of the different land cover categories was documented and summarized via a 22 x 22 land use change matrix for each temporal period and for each sub-region included in the study. The results were pooled using aggregate categories to facilitate the communication of the results (see first column in Table 1). Above ground carbon (AGC) can be either a source or sink of atmospheric CO2 depending on the difference between the carbon stock of the land prior to and after land use change (LUC). The emission factors from changes in AGC due to LUC are the differences between the mean values of published reports of the carbon stocks for each of the 22 land cover types listed in Table 1 (see review by Agus et al., 2013 -this publication). The variability in the above ground carbon of forest and shrub land vegetation types is due to the interactions of biodiversity and ecological processes, as well as human disturbance from logging and fire. In contrast, crop land and plantation estates are characterized by simple vegetation structure and uniform planting density. Nonetheless, published reports for the carbon stock of oil palm plantations vary by as much as 50%, because different studies include or exclude below ground biomass, ground vegetation, litter and persistent leaf bases that represent short-term carbon pools. The value of 36 Mg ha -1 adopted in this study is the mean of several studies that estimate the time-averaged carbon stock of an oil palm plantation that starts near zero to reach more than 155 Mg C ha -1 for a 25-yr old plantation (see Agus et al., 2013 -this publication). In the case of bare soils, a transitional category of uncertain origin, we use a value of 36 Mg ha -1 as default carbon stock value in order to avoid introducing artifacts into estimates of oil palm emissions. Similarly, obvious errors in land cover classification that produced illogical land use change outcomes (e.g., apparent conversion of water bodies to oil palm) were excluded from the analysis. The decomposition of peat, also known as peat oxidation, is the most important source of CO2 emission in oil palm plantations operating on peat soils. Upon partial drainage and conversion, the functional attributes of peat soils change from being a net sink to become a net source of CO2 (Hooijer et al. 2006;Agus & Subiksa 2008;Agus et al., 2012). The rate of emission is primarily a function of the depth of drainage, but other factors such as local climate and peat maturity also influence the rate of decomposition. Estimates of CO2 emissions from peat oxidation under different conditions remain uncertain, in part due the difficulty of distinguishing between the autotrophic respiration from roots and the heterotrophic respiration from the soil biota that mediates decomposition (see review by Agus et al., 2013 -this publication). We used as a basis the emission factor of 0.91 Mg CO2 ha -1 cm -1 (Hooijer et al. 2010), but modified that value by a coefficient of 0.79 to correct for the root-related emission based on the studies by Jauhiainen et al. (2012). In our model, we assume that oil palm plantations on peat soils have a mean water table depth between 50 and 70 cm, which generates emission estimates between 36 to 50 Mg CO2 ha -1 yr -1 with an average value of 43 Mg CO2 ha -1 yr -1 .Peat fires are another major source of CO2 emissions linked to the cultivation of oil palm on peat. Although the use of fire is on the decline, it was a common management practice throughout the temporal periods described in this study (Schrier-Uijl et al., 2013 -this publication). Peat soils must be drained prior to plantation establishment, but the depth of the water table and the degree of soil dryness varies widely across years: When peat soils are dry, they catch fire and burn. The depth of peat fires range from more than 50 cm during severe drought, such as the mega El Niño event of 1997/98 (Page et al. 2002), to zero during unusually wet years. We assume that when swamp forest is converted to oil palm, an average of 15 cm of peat is consumed by fire and, because fire is less intense when shrub land is cleared, an average of only 5 cm of peat is lost. In both cases, we assume that peat has a mean carbon content of 0.06 Mg m -3 . This combination of peat depth and carbon density were used to calculate an emission factor of 330 Mg CO2 ha -1 for plantations established on forest landscapes and 110 Mg CO2 ha -1 on shrub land (Agus et al., 2012;2013 -this publication). We assume that fire has not been used and there were no emissions when oil palm plantation were established on cropland, agroforest, other types of plantation or any of the miscellaneous land cover categories. In the case of bare soil, in those areas where this land cover class was documented as being an integral part of the oil palm land use dynamic (Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak), we treated that proportion of bare soil area as oil palm plantations according to the relative area of bare soils that had been planted to oil palm in the previous temporal period.The estimate of the net carbon emissions was based on IPCC ( 2006):Activity data is the area under specific land use or undergoing land use change (LUC) within a defined period of time. The Activity data is based on the 22 x 22 LUC matrix for each subregion for each period at national or sub-national level. Emission factor is the change in carbon stock in every major pool or emission rate in case of peat oxidation. The net emission can be calculated as:where E is net CO2 emission, Ea is emission from AGC due to LUC, Sa is sequestration of CO2 from the atmosphere into crop biomass of the succeeding land uses, Ebo is emission from below ground soil organic matter decomposition (peat oxidation), and Epf is emission due to peat fire.Emissions from AGC due to LUC are calculated based on carbon stock change: The coefficient 44/12 or 3.67 is the conversion factor from C to CO2, based on atomic weights of C and O of 12 and 16, respectively, t is the period (number of years) of analysis and A is the activity data or area of land use. Quantitative information are expressed using the standard prefixes of the International System of Units (SI): a metric ton is Mg (g x10 6 ), a million metric tons is Tg (g x10 12 ) and a million hectares is Mha (ha x10 6 ).The total land surface dedicated to the cultivation of oil palm has increased dramatically in Southeast Asia expanding from 3.5 Mha in 1990 to more than 13.1 Mha in 2009/2010 (Table 2); much of that expansion has occurred at the expense of forest. When summed over all regions and for all three temporal periods, forest landscapes were the source of approximately 36.6% of all new oil palm plantations: 25.4% from upland forest and 11% from swamp forests, including both undisturbed and disturbed forest (see Gunarso et al., 2013 -this publication). The comparison of soil and land cover maps show the proportion of all oil palm plantations on peat soils at approximately 2.4 Mha in 2009/2010, representing about 18% of all plantations in the study area (see Gunarso et al., 2013 -this publication). The mean rate of expansion has increased from approximately 373,000 in the 1990s to more than 735,000 ha yr -1 in the last temporal period, maintaining an annual growth of approximately 7% over two decades (Figure 1). The development and early expansion of the industry occurred first in Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra prior to 1990, but expanded over the next two decades to include both the Indonesian and Malaysian regions on the island of Borneo (Gunarso et al., 2013 -this publication). Growth in Malaysia has been more or less constant, but slowed slightly in the last temporal period, and shifted from Peninsular Malaysia to the states of Sabah and Sarawak over time. Indonesia surpassed Malaysia as the world's largest producer of palm oil in 2007 due largely to expansion in Sumatra; however, growth of new plantations in Kalimantan predominated between 2006 and 2009/2010. In the last five year period, expansion slowed in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, and Sumatra, but increased dramatically in Kalimantan, while holding steady in Sarawak, Papua and Papua New Guinea (Figure 1). The trajectory of land use change is fundamentally different in each of the three countries. In Papua New Guinea between 2001 and 2010, only 3% of total deforestation (800,000 ha) was the result of oil palm plantations; nonetheless about 54% of all new oil palm plantations (42,600 ha) originated due to deforestation (see Gunarso et al., 2013 -this publication). In Indonesia, the land use change trajectory is more complex and the forest degradation process is often compounded by wildfire, particularly in Kalimantan, which has led to the development of large areas of quasi-natural habitat dominated by shrubs and grasses (Figure 2). Oil palm plantations have expanded into these so-called \"degraded lands\" in approximately equal proportions as compared to forest when considering both upland and swamp forest habitats.  In Malaysia, the establishment of new plantations tends to be a more straightforward process: Forests are first degraded by intensive logging and although there may be a time lag between logging and conversion, these disturbed forests are then converted directly into oil palm plantations (Figure 3).In Indonesia and Malaysia, large areas of existing agricultural land and other types of plantation estates were converted to oil palm between 1990 and 2010; at the same time, the agricultural frontier continued to expand at the expense of natural forest landscapes. The total area of the other types of plantations and agroforest decreased, however, because more of these two land cover types were converted to oil palm than were replaced by the conversion of forest (see Figures 2  and 3). The area dedicated to annual crops remained constant in Malaysia, while increasing by about 46% (3.6 Mha) in Indonesia (see Table 6 - Gunarso et al., 2013 -this publication). Land use and land use change is best described as dynamic and complex. Different types of agriculture and plantation production systems are responsible for the conversion of natural forest. A large but variable fraction of deforestation is due to the establishment of new oil palm plantations, which is displacing simultaneously other forms of productive land use. In almost all cases, all forms of agriculture and plantation forestry follow forest degradation, which presumably is initiated by logging and aggravated by wildfire.The relative proportion of land allocated to oil palm varies among regions. In Malaysia, there is a clear preference to establish oil palm plantations rather than other forms of agriculture and plantation forestry; at the national level, approximately 47% of all productive land (11 Mha) is dedicated to oil palm, a preference that is even more marked in Sabah where 67% of all previously deforested lands (2.3 Mha) are occupied by oil palm (See Figure 4). This trend is reflected also in the land cover category identified as bare soil. Although it is not possible to identify precisely the source and eventual end-use of this land cover type, trends identified in the land use change matrix indicate the preference for oil palm. For example, in Peninsular Malaysia about 9% of bare soil originated from forest landscapes between 2006 and 2009/2010, while 49 % originated from agroforest and other types of plantation landscapes; simultaneously, 6% of bare soils in 2005 were part of the oil palm estate in 2009/2010, a number in line with a replanting cycle of 25 years. In contrast, the previous land cover for bare soil in Sarawak was largely forest habitat, including upland (27%) and swamp habitats (48%). Approximately 50% of all bare soils were eventually planted to oil palm in Malaysia; consequently, the emission estimates for Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak have been adjusted accordingly (see Supplementary Material). In Sumatra, Papua and Papua New Guinea, the category bare soil was employed to identify non-productive land cover types, such as beaches, rock slopes and similar areas, while the bare soils category was not used when classifying land cover in Kalimantan. In the three regions of Indonesia included in this study, approximately 24% of productive land cover types dedicated to some type of intensive agriculture, agroforest or plantations estate (32 Mha) have been allocated to oil palm plantations, due mainly to the more diverse productive landscapes that characterize the island of Sumatra (Figure 4). An additional distinguishing characteristics of land cover in Indonesia when compared to Malaysia, is the abundance of quasinatural non forest habitat categorized as shrub and grassland. These land cover types are often referred to as \"degraded lands (Fairhurst & McLaughlin, 2009;Fairhurst et al., 2010) and in 2009/2010 covered an estimated 20% (10.5 Mha) of the total surface area of Kalimantan compared to 5.4% (2.9 Mha) occupied by large scale oil palm plantations (Gunarso et al., 2013this publication).The conversion and drainage of peat soils for the production of palm oil also varies across the region. Sumatra has the largest area of peat soils and the largest area that has been converted to oil palm production (Figure 5). palm industry in Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea Reports from the Technical Panels of the 2 nd Greenhouse Gas Working Group of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) 75 Although the overall rate of growth of oil palm in Sumatra decreased in the last temporal period, the rate of conversion of peat swamps increased with an annual rate of conversion that grew from 44,000 in the 1990s to almost 77,000 ha yr -1 between 2006 and 2009/2010 (Gunarso et al., 2013 -this publication). Sarawak has the largest proportion (41%) of its total peat swamp area converted to plantations with about 476,000 ha, which also happens to be about 36% of the total oil palm plantation area in the state. Plantations on peat expanded at 59,520 ha yr -1 in the last temporal period, translating into an annual loss of 7% of the remaining peat forest habitat in Sarawak (see Supplementary Material, Gunarso et al., 2013 -this publication). Kalimantan converted relatively small areas of peat soil prior to 2005, but converted more than 307,000 ha in the last temporal period, a 10-fold increase in area that represented 11% of all the oil palm plantations on the Indonesian sector of Borneo Island in 2009/2010. Only about 2% of all oil palm plantations in Papua occur on peat, although between 6 and 8 Mha of peat soils have been reported for the region (Wahyunto et al., 2011).Only small areas of peat soils have been reported for Papua New Guinea and there are no reports of oil palm plantations occurring on any of them.Net annual emissions from land use change and emissions from peat soils linked to the expansion of oil palm plantations in the study area were estimated at approximately 92 Tg CO2 yr -1 in the first temporal period, which increased to 106 Tg CO2 yr -1 in the second, and then increased markedly to 184 Tg CO2 yr -1 in the most recent period (Figure 6). In the three regions of Indonesia included in the study, total net annual emissions from land use in the oil palm sector for the same periods ranged from 58 Tg CO2 yr -1 in the first period, 65 Tg CO2 yr -1 in the second and 127 Tg CO2 yr -1 in the last period. In Malaysia, total net annual emissions for oil palm and land use for the same periods ranged from 33 Tg CO2 yr -1 in the first period, 40 Tg CO2 yr -1 in the second and 57 Tg CO2 yr -1 in the last period. Emissions from Papua New Guinea were estimated at 0.5 Tg CO2 yr -1 between 1990 and 2000, which increased to 0.6 Tg CO2 yr -1 between 2000 and 2010.The relative importance of the emission source varied over the twenty year period (Figure 6). Between 1990 and 2000 emissions from above ground carbon due to land use change (AGC due to LUC) represented about 60% of total emissions, but emissions from peat oxidation represented 53% of total emissions by the last temporal period. Deforestation as a source of land for the expansion of oil palm became more important in the last temporal period; nonetheless, the incremental emissions originating from existing plantations operating on peat had come to dominate the emission profile. Emissions from peat fires varied over the three temporal periods, essentially tracking land use change on peat soils.As expected, the total emission profile varied among regions and over time. Sabah, Papua and Papua New Guinea were all characterized by emission profiles dominated by above ground carbon due to land use change, although Sabah's were large when compared to those of Papua and Papua New Guinea (Figure 7). In contrast, the largest source of emissions in Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra were due to the oxidation of peat, the consequence of declining rates of land use change, but also due to the incremental expansion of oil palm plantations operating on peat soil. Low rates of land use change have stabilized the emissions profile in Peninsular Malaysia, but in Sumatra the relatively large incidence of peat fires indicates that emissions from peat oxidation will continue to increase in the near future. Sarawak and Kalimantan both had emissions profiles that changed over time: AGC due to LUC was the major source of CO2 emissions in the first period, but the importance of peat oxidation increased as plantations expanded on that soil type. As in Sumatra, the large component of estimated emissions from peat fires is an indication that emissions from peat oxidation will increase over the near term in both Kalimantan and Sarawak (Figure 7).  To evaluate the relative importance of oil palm as a source of CO2 emissions in the land use sector, we compared emission estimates for oil palm plantations to similar emission estimates for other major land use categories in Malaysia and in the Indonesian study area (Figure 8). This comparison was restricted to emissions from AGC due to LUC and peat oxidation; the impact of peat fires was excluded because of lack of data and a logical framework for developing a model to estimate those emissions. Similarly, only the second and third temporal periods are considered, because we lacked data on land cover change for the other sectors between 1990 and 2000.Over all, emissions in Indonesia increased from 562 Tg CO2 yrin the second temporal period to 679 Tg CO2 yr -1 in the third, with oil palm plantations representing approximately 11% (61Tg CO2 yr -1) and 16% (107 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) of the total from AGC due to LUC and peat oxidation. The largest source of CO2 emissions came from AGC due to forest degradation with 226 Tg CO2 yr -1 (40%) between 2000 and 2005 and 277 Tg CO2 yr -1 (41%) between 2006 and 2009/2010. The second largest source was peat oxidation from disturbed swamp forests and shrub land, which typically have lower water tables than undisturbed swamp forests due to the construction of canals built to extract timber; our model showed these emissions decreased between the second and third temporal periods from161 Tg CO2 yr -1 (29%) to 152 Tg CO2 yr -1 (22%), a decline that can be attributed to the conversion of these areas to oil palm plantations, a type of land use change that essentially transfers pre-existing emissions to the palm oil sector (Figure 2). Mean annual emissions from agroforestry and other types of plantations represented about 8% in both periods (43 and 53 Tg CO2 yr -1 ), while those from intensive agriculture increased from 7% (42 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) to 11% (74 Tg CO2 yr -1 ).Over all, emissions in Malaysia decreased from 136 Tg CO2 yr -1 in the second temporal period to 112 Tg CO2 yr -1 in the third, with oil palm plantations representing approximately 21% (29 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) and 32% (36 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) of the total amount from both AGC due to LUC and peat oxidation combined. Changes in AGC due to forest degradation were the source of 32% (43 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) of total emissions between 2000 and 2005, but decreased to about 8% (8.5 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) between 2006 and 2009/2010. Emissions from peat oxidation on degraded swamp forest and shrub habitats decreased from 16 Tg CO2 yr -1 (12%) to 14 Tg CO2 yr -1 (13%); the consequence of these land cover types being converted to oil palm plantations. Annual emissions from agroforestry and other types of plantations declined from 34 Tg CO2 yr -1 (25%) to 27 Tg CO2 yr -1 (24%). The emissions from the AGC due to LUC and peat oxidation linked to intensive agriculture decreased from 0.8 to 05 Tg CO2 yr -1 .The impact from peat oxidation on the emission profile of oil palm production is becoming increasingly important. Unlike emissions from peat fires and AGC both of which track land use change (Figure 7), the increase in emissions from peat oxidation has been consistent, linear and unidirectional (Figure 6 and 7). The impact of peat oxidation is particularly evident in the case of Sarawak, where it represented less than 11% (0.9 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) of total palm oil emissions in the first temporal period, but represented 40% (12.5 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) by 2009/2010. Moreover, these statistics do not include the future emissions from an additional 98,000 ha of bare soils on peat documented in the last temporal period (Gunarso et al., 2013 -this publication); historical patterns predict that approximately 80% will be planted to oil palm plantations. Once these lands are incorporated into the oil palm estate, our models predict that emissions from peat oxidation will increase by approximately 30% in Sarawak. Sumatra has an even greater legacy of long-term CO2 emissions from peat oxidation, which represented 77% (56 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) of total emissions linked to oil palm plantations for the island by 2009/10.In Peninsular Malaysia, where approximately 8% of oil palm are operating on peat soils (Gunarso et al. 2013 -this publication) they are now the source of about 84% (9 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) of the emissions profile of oil palm linked to land use, a statistic that is not likely to change significantly over the short term. In the case of Kalimantan, AGC due to LUC remains the predominant source of emissions, but emission of peat oxidation will increase in the short term. Only Sabah shows consistently low levels of emissions from peat oxidation, due to the relative scarcity of peat soils in that state. Over all seven regions, plantations operating on peat soils occupied about 18% (2.4 Mha) of the spatial footprint of large-scale oil palm plantations, but peat oxidation from these plantations represented 48% (88 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) of the total emission profile in 2009/10.This report provides the first sector-wide estimate of CO2 emissions linked to land use and land use change for the palm oil industry in the geographic region that produces 85% or more of the world supply of palm oil and palm oil products (Teoh, 2010). The primary objective of this report was to estimate the sources, dimensions, and trends of emissions over the past twenty years; as a secondary objective, we compared these emissions in the broader context of emissions caused by other types of land use. Previous reports of CO2 emissions linked to land use and palm oil have either been based on bottom up models that estimate emissions as a function of palm oil mass or unit of energy (Reijnders & Huijbregts, 2008;Wicke et al., 2008) or on landscape-scale analyses that do not provide a global estimate of emissions, nor capture the geographic variability characteristic of the industry (Uryu et al., 2008;Koh et al., 2011;Carlson et al., 2012a;2012b;Miettinen et al., 2012aMiettinen et al., , 2012b)). This report provides detailed information on the historical emissions linked to the expansion and operations of oil palm plantations stratified according to land cover source, soil type, geographic region, and temporal period. This information is essential for establishing the industry's baseline emissions and for developing future scenarios to evaluate the impact of different development options (see Harris et al. 2013 -this publication).Like all studies that document the complex phenomenon of land use and land use change, our study addressed the challenges linked to the quality of available data and the difficulties of interpreting dynamic processes that change over time. These challenges, and the decisions on how to manage them, are sources of variation and uncertainty inherent in a study of this nature. For example, the stratification of land cover types into undisturbed forest, disturbed forest, shrub land and grassland is an approach used by ecologists to qualitatively describe a continuous gradient; however, deciding where one category ends and the next begins is imprecise, and sometimes arbitrary, particularly when relying on satellite imagery covering large heterogeneous areas characterized by varying levels of human activity. Many academic studies choose to manage this challenge by using automatic classification techniques based on the spectral signature of image pixels (Hansen et al., 2009;SarVision, 2011;Broich et al., 2011;Carlson et al., 2012b;Miettinen et al., 2012a;Margono et al. 2012), but that approach limits the number of categories that can be discriminated and excludes useful information that can be reasonably interpreted from the landscape context. Moreover, as the number of strata increase, automatic procedures require extensive human editing, which in terms of labour and objectivity, are not unlike visual recognition techniques. Fortunately, oil palm plantations are easy to identify in satellite imagery and the results from Gunarso et al. (2013 -this publication) are similar to other studies that have been conducted on shared landscapes (see below). The same cannot be said for the ability to distinguish among other natural, quasi-natural and human-derived land cover types, however, and the level of confidence in the transitions among these different land cover types is less robust. To improve accuracy and facilitate communication, we aggregate similar types of land cover categories based on edaphic attributes (upland vs. swamp), vegetation type (forest vs. shrub and grassland), and land use (plantation and agroforest vs. agriculture).One of the largest sources of uncertainty in estimating the emissions from land use change linked to oil palm plantations is the variability in carbon stock estimates in above ground carbon for the different land cover types. The source of this variability has three origins: 1) natural spatial variability of AGC in forest and non forest land cover types, 2) the impact of logging and fire on above ground carbon in intact but disturbed forest habitats, and 3) the temporal period which is used to calculate emissions from land use change.For forest, shrub and wetland categories, we use the mean value of all published reports from Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, while values for agriculture, agroforest and other plantation categories were based on scientific and technical publications (see Agus et al., 2013 -this publication). Agroforest, which is sometimes referred to as mixed tree crops in the Indonesian classification system, is a heterogeneous category of different land use intensities, including secondary forests, small farms, pastures, coffee and cocoa, and even small-scale oil palm plantations. The border between agroforest, disturbed forest and shrub land is subject to interpretation and, consequently, a source of uncertainty in emissions estimates.The estimates of the carbon stock in oil palm plantations, which represent a uniform cropping system and a species with simple allometry, have also been the subject of discussion among workers who seek to estimate the GHG footprint of palm oil as part of a life cycle analyses. For example, a fully mature 25-yr old plantation can have as much as 155 Mg C ha -1 , while time-averaged estimates range from 23 to 50 Mg C ha -1 (Dewi et al., 2009;Khasanah et al., 2011). The timeaveraged value adopted in this study (36 Mg C ha -1 ) does not account for differences among new high yielding dwarf varieties or short rotation cycles favored by some companies, nor low stand densities in poorly managed plantations, senile plantations on peat soils, or smallholder's crops that might have a low carbon stock value.Soil type and climate influence plant growth and lead to differences in AGC in humid, semi-humid and dry forest formations (Saatchi et al., 2011). Carbon stocks are also influenced by species composition and the Dipterocarpaceae, a plant family that dominates many forests in Southeast Asia, is characterized by tall trees with high wood density which endows undisturbed forests in the study area with unusually high values for above ground carbon (Slik et al., 2009). The relative abundance of this family, which is also known for its high quality timber, also influences logging intensity; and timber extraction rates in Borneo have been estimated at 230 m 3 ha -1  an order of magnitude greater than is common to Amazonian forests (Butler, 2009). This level of logging intensity reduces the carbon stocks in a standing forest, and is a major cause of forest degradation that is magnified by conventional logging practices (Sist et al., 2003). In spite of the loss of above ground carbon, the logged forests in Southeast Asia retain much of their original biodiversity and as many as 75% of the original complement of birds and dung beetles persist in disturbed forests (Edwards et al., 2010). The innate value of this biodiversity, coupled with the inherent capacity of these forests to regenerate and restore carbon stocks, motivate some ecologists and environmental advocates to refer to these disturbed forest as \"natural forests\" or \"intact tropical forests\" or \"primarily intact forests\" or even the oxymoronic \"degraded primary forests.\" Some ecologists and many foresters use the term \"secondary forest\" to describe disturbed and degraded forests; this term has its origin in classic ecological theory that describe how ecological processes mediate a succession of vegetation types following severe disturbance (Clements, 1916). The terms \"secondary forest\" and \"degraded forest\" are used by advocates of the palm oil sector to emphasize that palm oil expansion has not occurring at the expense of \"primary forests,\" an affirmation supported by the land use change study that underpins this report (Gunarso et al., 2013 -this publication). This view emphasizes the economic advantages of palm oil production in the context of the low residual economic value of intensively logged forests, the contribution of palm oil to national GDP and its benefits to rural livelihoods (Cramb & Cury, 2012).We avoid these pitfalls in terminology by using the terms \"disturbed\" and \"undisturbed\" forest, as well as document the transition from undisturbed forest to disturbed forest, and then to shrub and grassland, with separate categories for both upland and wetland habitats (Table 1). In addition, we relied on five year temporal comparisons to capture the intermediate stages that distinguishes our study from others that used longer temporal periods (Koh & Wilcove 2008;Carlson et al., 2102b; see Discussion in Gunarso et al., 2013 -this publication). Unfortunately, we were not able to fully document the changes in land cover change between 1990 and 2000 in Indonesia when both logging and forest conversion were at their highest (Hansen et al., 2009); nonetheless, evidence from the two subsequent periods shows that the oil palm sector is not responsible for the loss of the largest part of the carbon stocks of the original forest cover in these regions (Figure 9). Forest loss via degradation was greatest in Kalimantan where 40% of forest loss between 2006 and 2009/2010 was caused by the degradation of approximately 0.9 Mha of forest to shrub land and the release of 155 Tg CO2 yr -1 , almost 52% of total emissions for the region excluding all emissions from peat fires. The historical emissions from above ground carbon due to forest degradation, presumably due to logging and wildfire, were more than four times greater than emissions from above ground carbon due to land use change caused by the establishment of new oil palm plantations in the same temporal period (32 Tg CO2 yr -1 ).Emissions from peat oxidation and peat fires have increased in both absolute and relative terms over the 20 year period and now represent a total of 64% (118 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) of all emissions from land use and land use change linked to the palm oil sector. If the one-time emissions from peat fires are excluded, then emissions from peat oxidation represent 48% (88 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) of total emissions. Moreover, CO2 emissions from peat oxidation are not subject to the temporal fluctuations linked to land use change and the establishment of new plantations. Unless these plantations are abandoned and restored as wetlands, they represent a long-term attribute of the palm oil production system (Schrier-Uijl et al., 2013 -this publication). Although the direction and trend of CO2 emissions from peat oxidation are clear, the actual dimensions of these emissions remain uncertain. This uncertainty is the consequence of four factors: 1) the spatial extent of peat soils, 2) the depth of drainage, 3) the rate of oxidation of peat, and 4) the incidence of fire at the time of plantation establishment (see Agus et al., 2013;Schrier-Uijl et al., 2013 -this publication).The spatial data used to model emissions in this and other studies are based on soil maps derived from satellite imagery, and thus are subject to the uncertainty linked to that technology. Gunarso et al. (2013 -this publication) had access to two sources of information on the distribution of forest wetland: a peat soil map distributed by Wetlands International for Indonesia (Wahyunto & Subagjo, 2003;Wahyunto & Suparto, 2004;Wahyunto et al., 2006) and data from the Harmonized World Soil Database for Malaysia (FAO 2009). However, a more recent study for Sumatra and Kalimantan has reduced the spatial extent of peat swamps by approximately 15% (Wahyunto et al., 2011), while a study using official soil maps developed for Malaysia reported that peat formations were 5% greater (Omar et al., 2011). Since the emissions from peat are dependent on a model that uses data derived from these information sources, improvements in the accuracy and precision will impact estimation of emissions from peat fires and peat oxidation.Assumptions made regarding the depth of drainage impacts the outputs from models that estimate CO2 emissions due to peat oxidation. According to better management practices recommended by the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil, the recommended depth of drainage is 60 cm, a level which both maximizes plant productivity and minimizes CO2 emissions. In many plantations, water table depths are not actively managed and often fall below 80 cm during the annual dry season, particularly during periods of severe drought (Lim et al., 2012). Since the models used to estimate emissions from peat oxidation are simple linear correlations, the mean level of drainage used in those equations will directly impact emissions estimates.The heterotrophic respiration linked to the degradation of the peat, here referred to as peat oxidation, is perhaps the most uncertain of all the emission factors used to model emission estimates from oil palm plantations. Studies conducted over the past decade have generated estimates of heterotrophic respiration that range from 20 to 95 Mg CO2 ha -1 yr -1 (see review in Agus et al., 2013 -this publication). The differences stem from methodological challenges associated with the two main experimental approaches employed to measure peat oxidation. One approach correlates soil subsidence with peat oxidation, a method that can confound soil compaction with peat degradation and, consequently, requires research protocols that document bulk density (weight per volume) and carbon density (% carbon content). The other approach directly measures CO2 flux on the soil surface using closed chamber systems; however, this method must discount for autotrophic respiration from plant roots, which produce CO2 while consuming carbohydrates produced by photosynthesis in the leaves of living plants. Failure to adequately account for autotrophic respiration will inflate estimates of CO2 emissions from peat oxidation. The selection of 43 Mg CO2 ha -1 yr -1 was based on a review of recent studies and is near the median value of the range of these values (see Agus et al., 2013 -this publication); other recent studies have based their models on a substantially higher emission factor of approximately 95 CO2 ha -1 yr -1 (Uryu et al., 2008;Koh et al., 2011;Carlson et al., 2012a;2012b;Miettinen et al., 2012aMiettinen et al., , 2012b) ) Peat fires are an important source of CO2 emissions in Southeast Asia and the haze linked to those fires is an important transboundary issue within the region. Estimation of historical emissions from peat fires has high uncertainty, because of the difficulty in documenting the intensity, depth and spatial extent of fire data collected by satellite sensors. For example, modeled estimates of CO2 emissions during the unusually severe El Niño event of 1997/98 produced values between 2.9 and 9.4 Pg CO2 when extrapolated across all of Indonesia (Page et al., 2002). A similar approach that included fires in both mineral and peat soils reported emissions of 3.5 Pg CO2 for the same event, as well as estimating annual emissions from fire in Southeast Asia that fluctuated between 0.09 and 1.3 Pg CO2 between 2000and 2009(van der Werf et al., 2010). We did not calculate region-wide estimates of peat fire emissions due to lack of data on the distribution and severity of peat fires across all land cover types. Our modeled estimates of historical emissions from peat fires for oil palm plantations are based on the assumption that differential amounts of peat are consumed by fire at the time of plantation establishment from forest and shrub (see Agus et al., 2013 -this publication). Our estimates of emissions from peat fires on oil palm plantation correspond to 2% of total mean annual fire emissions between 2000 and 2005 (481 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) and 6% between 2005 -2009/2010 (467 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) (van der Werf et al., 2011 and Supplementary Material).Taken individually, the variability of any single emission factor can lead to relatively large differences in the final estimate of the CO2 emissions; taken together, these uncertainties become multiplicative and lead to very different estimates of the carbon footprint of palm oil (Reijnders & Huijbregts, 2008). Based on published reports, the range of potential carbon stock values in forest land cover types is from 74 to 360 Mg C ha -1 , the emission from peat oxidation may be half as much smaller or twice as large, and the potential depth of burning can vary from zero to as much as 50 cm depending on the severity of seasonal drought. The values selected for the modelled estimates presented here are based on the mean value of all published peer reviewed studies (above ground carbon), a critical evaluation of peer reviewed studies (peat oxidation) and recommendations from informed individuals (peat fire depth).A comparison of a subset of our results based on land use change data from Kalimantan (Gunarso et al. 2013 -this publication) with a similar study focusing on palm oil and CO2 emissions from the same region (Carlson et al., 2012b) provides an opportunity to evaluate how different emission factors, land cover stratification methodologies, and temporal perspectives impact model outputs. Both studies were based on land use change data derived from similar satellite imagery covering two decades between 1990 to 2009/10. Both are in close agreement as to the rate of growth of oil palm plantations (293% for Gunarso et al. vs. 278%,for Carlson et al.). Both have similar estimates of the spatial footprint of oil palm plantations in 2009/10 (2.9 vs. 3.2 Mha), and both arrive at similar estimates of the total area of oil palm plantations established on peat soils in 2009/10 (307,000 vs. 402,000 ha). However, the two studies have very different emission estimates (Table 3). Understanding the source of these differences is essential for organizing emission monitoring protocols that will allow the palm oil sector to accurately quantify its CO2 emissions, as well as identifying strategies to reduce those emissions. In the first temporal period, the expansion of oil palm plantations on peat soil was relatively small; consequently, the difference in the emissions estimates is due largely to assumptions regarding how land cover classes were defined and how land use change was quantified. Carlson et al. (2012b) recognized two forest classes, agroforest and non forest, while Gunarso et al. (2013 -this publication) recognized four forest types and four non forest types, as well as separate agroforest and plantation categories. The relative abundance of these categories and their associated carbon stock values was the source of 91% of the variance in the emissions profiles between the two studies (see discussion in Gunarso et al., 2013 -this publication). There is an element of subjectivity to any land cover classification, particularly when attempting to stratify a continuous gradient, which in this case is a transition from undisturbed forest to grassland. In that context, Carlson et al., (2012b) recognized more area as forest along that gradient, while Gunarso et al. (2013 -this publication) recognized more area as shrub and grassland.An alternative methodology is to use pixel-based estimates of carbon density that reflect the variability of ecological gradients (Saatchi et al., 2011). In a companion study, Harris et al. (2013 -this publication) used this type of information to model future emissions scenarios for different oil palm development strategies. As part of that effort, they used the polygons developed by Gunarso et al. (2013 -this publication) in combination with the pixel-based data from Saatchi et al. (2011); their objective was to train the forward looking model using historical land use change data between 2000 and 2010 (see Table 4 in Harris et al., 2013-this publication). That training exercise revealed that the AGC stock values selected for the four forest habitats were similar to the mean values derived from the pixel-based map of carbon density (see Table 4, Harris et al., 2013 -this publication). In contrast, the mean values selected for AGC for shrub categories were about 50% lower for upland habitats and 25% lower for swamp habitats. If we had used mean carbon stock values for shrub land similar to those derived from pixel-based values, the modelled emission estimate from above ground carbon due to land use change in Kalimantan would have increased by about 35 Tg CO2 yr -1 (a 40% increase) between 2000 and 2005 and 86 Tg CO2 y -1 (a 50% increase) between 2006 and 2009/10. Nonetheless, these modified values would still be less than 50% of the modelled estimates reported by Carlson et al. (2012b) (see Table 3).In the temporal period spanning 2001 to 2009/2010, the source of variance is more complex with 65% of the difference attributed to AGC due to LUC with the remaining variance originating from the use of different emissions factors for peat: 17% from peat oxidation and 18% due to peat fire. In the case of peat oxidation, the major factor was the selection of an emission factor of 95 Mg CO2 ha -1 yr -1 by Carlson et al. (2012b) versus a value of 43 Mg CO2 ha -1 yr -1 recommended by Agus et al. (2013 -this publication). Similarly, Carlson et al. (2012b) assume that on average 203 Mg C ha -1 are lost during a fire event on peat soils, while Agus et al. (2013 -this publication) recommended values of 90 Mg C ha -1 lost from peat soil fires from forest conversion and 30 Mg C ha -1 from peat soil fires on shrub land. The difference in the modelled estimates are the consequence of the assumption made concerning the depth of peat fires: Carlson et al. (2012) assumed a mean burn depth of 33 cm based on studies documenting the impact of fire during El Niño drought years (Ballhorn et al., 2009), while Agus et al. (2013this publication) assumed that on average 15 cm are lost when forest is cleared and burned and 5 cm when shrub land is cleared and burned.Finally, the time frame in which the comparison is made is an additional factor that can influence the estimation of CO2 emissions and, subsequently, allocating those emissions to the appropriate economic or social actor. Between 2000 and 2010, Gunarso et al. (2013 -this publication) stratified LUC into two five year periods (2000 to 2005 and 2006 to 2009/2010), while Carlson et al. (2012b) evaluated change between 2000 and 2010. As the authors point out in the supplementary information of their article: \"Due to the 10-year interval between the land cover product and the oil palm coverage, our analysis likely overestimates the amount of intact forest converted to oil palm\" (see Supplementary Information, page 7 from Carlson et al., 2012). The adoption of two five year periods allowed Gunarso et al. (2013 -this publication) to document the sequential degradation of undisturbed forest to disturbed forest and then to shrub land prior to its conversion to oil palm plantations (see Figure 10, Gunarso et al., 2013 -this publication). The recognition that land is degraded and partially depleted of carbon stocks prior to its conversion to oil palm plantations should be taken into account when estimating the CO2 emission profile of palm oil. At least some of those historical emissions are more properly allocated to the forest sector due to the intensive logging regimes that characterize the region (Putz et al., 2008) and the impact of forest fires on peat soils that are a combination of bad luck due to drought and the difficulty in fighting wildfires in remote regions of Indonesia (van der Werff et al, 2010).The rate of expansion of oil palm plantations has been remarkably constant at approximately 7% per annum from 3.5 to 13.1 Mha between 1990 and 2010. The growth in the spatial extent of oil palm plantations has been accompanied by a concomitant increase in the CO2 emissions, which including all CO2 emissions from AGC due to LUC, peat oxidation and peat fires, has grown from 92 Tg CO2 yr -1 between 1990 and 2000 to 106 Tg CO2 yr -1 between 2001 and 2005 and 184 Tg CO2 yr -1 between 2006 -2009/2010. In the third temporal period, 67 Tg CO2 yr -1 (36%) originated from AGC due to LUC and about 90% of these emissions came from deforestation, which has been the source of about 3.5 Mha of the land that has been used for the establishment of new plantations. A smaller area of approximately 3.3 Mha originated on landscapes classified as agroforest or other types of plantations, while 1.7 Mha was developed on land that had been covered by forest in 1990, but which had been degraded to shrub and grassland prior to its conversion to oil palm plantations between 2000 and 2010.The documentation of this land use trajectory, which includes the transition from undisturbed forest to disturbed forest to shrub land and eventually grassland, dominates the historical CO2 emissions of the region. Forest degradation, presumably due to intensive logging and its subsequent conversion to shrub land due to wildfire, contributed approximately five times greater emissions (285 Tg CO2 yr -1) between 2006 and 2009/2010 than the AGC due to LUC component of the palm oil emissions profile (55 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) for the same period. This explains, in part, why our estimates of oil palm emissions from AGC due to LUC are less than a third of other studies whose models assume that oil palm plantations are established on forests landscapes of high carbon density. The results from a companion article (e.g., Gunarso et al., 2013 -this publication) show that the land cover types used for oil palm plantation expansion has varied over time and among geographic regions; emissions from AGC due to LUC, not surprisingly, track those differences. Emissions from AGC due to LUC can be reduced by promoting oil palm plantation expansion on landscapes with low to moderate levels of AGC, such as the approximately 9 Mha of shrub and grassland in Kalimantan and 8 Mha of agroforest in Sumatra (see Gunarso et al., 2013 -this publication).Plantations on peat soils now represent about 18% of the spatial footprint of the palm oil industry (2.4 Mha), but represented almost 64% (118 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) of the total CO2 emissions profile in the last temporal period. About 16% (29 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) are linked to peat fires, while almost 48% (88 Tg CO2 yr -1 ) originate from peat oxidation from existing oil palm plantations operating on peat soils. The emissions from peat fires are one-time events that occurred in the past when forests and shrub land were cleared for new oil palm plantations; these fires are now illegal and unlikely to contribute to future emission profiles. In contrast, emissions from peat oxidation will continue to grow in absolute terms as oil palm companies develop new plantations on existing concessions on peat soils in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sarawak. Even if the industry acts to halt new development on peat soils, the existing oil palm plantations on peat soils will continue to emit CO2 at approximately these levels for the foreseeable future. Emissions from peat oxidation can only be terminated by restoring the natural hydrological and ecological conditions that cause peat to form in the first place. Similarly, enforcing the ban the use of fire for land clearing will significantly reduce emissions, especially on peat land.Just as CO2 emissions from AGC due to forest degradation are greater than those linked to land use change from the palm oil sector, emissions from peat oxidation from degraded swamp forest with altered hydrological regimes are greater than similar emissions from oil palm plantations (166 vs. 88 Tg CO2 yr -1 ). Emissions from degraded swamp forests have declined in the last temporal epoch, in part because logging of remnant swamp forests already has declined, but also because this land cover type is being converted into oil palm plantations. Consequently, CO2 emissions from degraded swamp forests are being transferred from that category to the oil palm plantation sector.Finally, by comparing our results with other recently published studies, we show that the uncertainties in estimating CO2 emissions are subject to the methodological approaches and assumptions used to model emissions from land use and land use change (see review by Agus et al., 2013 -this publication). In spite of the differences in the dimensions of the CO2 emissions between our models and those employed by other studies (see Carlson et al., 2012b;Page et al., 2011), the overall trends are nearly identical. The rapid expansion of palm oil sector over the last two decades has been responsible for the emissions of several gigatons (Pg) of CO2 from land use and land use change.Understanding the sources of these emissions, which have been variable in time and space, is a necessary first step in identifying strategies for reducing, eliminating or even reversing the net CO2 emissions of the industry."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"108e83a2cce736111d89d3e591fdb0bd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/72ed9618-b58d-4ffa-8d7e-4b7cd457af43/retrieve","id":"1898471101"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a70b4438-891e-4707-a23e-a6d07c74526e","content":"The application of biotechnology tools has made it possible to make significant advances in the detection of pathogens and in the study of the genetic variability of pathogen populations. As a result, adequate disease management strategies can be planned, and disease resistance markers for plants as well as DNA regions associated with resistance can be identified. Diseases, mainly those caused by microorganisms that cannot be cultivated in artificial media such as phytoplasmas, can be diagnosed using PCR. The bacterium Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis (Xam) can be identified using a specific probe and the identification of Ralstonia solanacearum in the soil is also facilitated by PCR. Species of Phytophthora can also be identified, phytoplasmas classified, and pathogen diversity established by using PCR-RFLP, thus improving the understanding of action mechanisms and how they co-evolve with the host. Other techniques such as RAPD, AFLP, and RAMS have made it possible to study the genetic variability of pathogens such as Sphaceloma manihoticola, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, C. acutatum, Sphaerotheca pannosa, Ceratocystis paradoxa, and X. axonopodis pv manihotis. The identification of QTL markers associated with resistance to different species of Phytophthora in cassava has helped elucidate the genetics of resistance, whereas the identification of SSR markers associated with resistance to Xam is a tool that facilitates the selection of resistant genotypes. Functional genomics tools such as microarrays will give initial insight on the molecular basis of cassava's defense response to X. axonopodis pv manihotis. Also, the identification of resistance genes and resistance gene analogs in cassava contributes to the genetic improvement of this crop. Biotechnology is evolving continuously, offering modern tools that help solve plant health problems.La aplicación de las herramientas que ofrece la biotecnología, han permitido lograr grandes avances en la detección de patógenos, adelantar estudios de variabilidad genética de poblaciones de patógenos, lo cual permite planear estrategias adecuadas de manejo de enfermedades, identificar marcadores asociados a la resistencia de las plantas a las enfermedades e identificar regiones de ADN asociadas con resistencia. Mediante la Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa (RCP) se pueden diagnosticar enfermedades, principalmente las causadas por microorganismos que no se pueden cultivar fácilmente en medios artificiales, como los fitoplasmas. Mediante una sonda específica es posible identificar la bacteria Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis. La identificación de Ralstonia solanacearum en suelo se facilita mediante PCR. Mediante PCR-RFLP es posible identificar especies de Phytophthora, clasificar fitoplasmas y establecer la diversidad de patógenos, los cuales permitirán un mejor entendimiento de los mecanismos de acción y su co-evolución con el hospedero. Otras técnicas como RAPD, AFLP y RAMS, han permitido estudiar la variabilidad genética de patógenos como Sphaceloma manihoticola, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, C. acutatum, Sphaerotheca pannosa, Ceratocystis paradoxa y X. axonopodis pv manihotis. La identificación de marcadores QTLs asociados a la resistencia a diferentes especies de Phytophthora en yuca, han contribuido a dilucidar la genética de la resistencia, mientras que la identificación de marcadores SSR asociados a la resistencia a X. axonopodis pv manihotis es una herramienta que facilita la selección de genotipos resistentes. Herramientas de genómica funcional como los microarreglos permitirán una comprensión de la base molecular de la respuesta de defensa de la yuca a X. axonopodis pv manihotis.In the tropics, many diseases cause severe crop losses but their causal agents are not yet identified. Biotechnology tools are useful for efficiently detecting pathogens. Below we describe the detection and identification of the pathogens causing or associated with the following diseases in specific crops: lethal wilt of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), frogskin disease and superelongation disease of cassava (Manihot esculenta), phyllody of lulo (Solanum quitoense), crispiness of coffee (Coffea arabica), and anthracnose of soursop (Annona muricata). Also discussed are pathogens that can affect several crops such as Phytophthora spp. (cassava, cacao, and Heliconia sp.) and Ralstonia solanacearum, which affects plantain (Musa AAB), Heliconia sp., tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), hot pepper (Capsicum sp.), potato (Solanum tuberosum), eggplant (S. melongena), and canna (Canna indica).Plant diseases caused by bacteria can be severe, especially in warm, humid zones. Cassava bacterial blight (CBB), caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis, is a major constraint for cassava production, causing losses of the entire crop. X. axonopodis pv. manihotis can be detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), on amplifying an 898bp fragment. Using a specific probe, Verdier and Mosquera (1999) detected the bacterium in affected leaf and stem extracts, fruits, and sexual seed.Bacterial wilt is caused by different races of Ralstonia solanacearum. It is a serious soil-borne disease of many economically important crops, including tomato, potato, tobacco, banana, plantain, and eggplant. The pathogen can also be transmitted through contaminated irrigation water, equipment, or personnel, and spreads very easily by transplanting infected plants and propagules. Bacteria in plant tissues and soil can be accurately detected by PCR, using specific primers that amplify a 288-bp fragment on a 16S rRNA gene (Martins, 2000). CIAT (2004a). reported, and registered at the GenBank database sequences obtained through PCR from different crops affected by different R. solanacearum races (Table 1).Phytoplasmas are bacteria that have no cell walls. Being plant pathogenic, they are associated with diseases in more than 300 plant species. Because culturing them in vitro is not yet possible, their detection and identification have been based largely on their molecular characteristics. Furthermore, preliminary classification of unknown phytoplasmas can be accomplished through RFLP analysis of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA groups. Some phytoplasmas have been found to cause diseases previously considered to be viral.Based on the similarity of observed symptoms and reported diseases caused by phytoplasmas, researchers at CIAT amplified DNA fragments of phytoplasmas from oil palm, cassava, lulo, and coffee, using nested PCR. Moreover, these phytoplasmas could also be classified, using RFLP (CIAT 2002(CIAT , 2004b;;Álvarez et al. 2003a, 2003b, 2004).In addition, CIAT (2004b) confirmed the association of a phytoplasma with cassava frogskin disease through DNA amplification with specific primers. This pathogen was detected in affected roots and leaves by nested PCR and transmission electron microscopy. A total of 320 DNA samples were obtained from infected plant tissues and another 80 from healthy tissues (Table 2). DNA sequencing of PCR products and banding patterns obtained after digestion of the amplified products with the enzymes AluI, RsaI, TaqI, and MseI enabled us to identify the products as belonging to the 16SrIII group (or X-disease group). Of the methods used in this study, PCR was the most sensitive for detecting, identifying, and classifying phytoplasmas.The first report of a phytoplasma being associated with lethal yellowing disease of oil palm was described by CIAT (2004b). A protocol was developed to identify the phytoplasma through nested PCR and DNA sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA region obtained from oil palm, glands and intestines of insect vectors, and weeds. Likewise, DNA sequence analysis revealed that X-disease group phytoplasmas were associated with coffee crispiness (Galvis et al. 2003) and \"machorreo\" of lulo (Álvarez et al. 2003a).Fungi and pseudo-fungi (Cromista, Oomycota) cause diseases that result in serious yield losses in many crops around the world. One such disease is Phytophthora root rot (PRR), which attacks the roots, stems, and sometimes leaves of cassava crops grown in many different agroecological areas of Africa, Latin America, and Asia.Sequence-based identification of fungi is actually based on an rDNA gene complex, which is present in all microbial pathogens. Fungi carry three genes (18S, 5.8S, and 28S), which have spacers (ITS1 and ITS2) located between the genes. Within the rDNA gene complex are (1) highly variable sequences that provide unique signatures that identify species, and (2) conserved regions that contain genomic codes for the structural restraints present within organism groups. The ITS regions contain the major variability and, under most circumstances, these regions are useful for species recognition.Knowledge of an unreported Phytophthora species, P. tropicalis, and P. melonis in cassava was generated by a DNA sequence analysis of the ITS region of the 18S rRNA gene. An alternative technique, the PCR-RFLP, was also applied, using amplification with ITS1 and ITS2, or ITS4 and ITS6, and digestion with the enzymes AluI, TaqI, and MspI. Phytophthora palmivora from cacao and P. cryptogea from heliconia were also identified by ITS-region sequencing (Table 1) (CIAT 2004b).Superelongation disease of cassava (SED), caused by Sphaceloma manihoticola, is an important foliar and stem disease, causing crop losses of more than 80% in different areas in South America and the Caribbean. PCR fragments, obtained with ITS4 and ITS5, were isolated, cloned, and sequenced (CIAT 2004b), the sequences reported in the GenBank database (Table 1). PCR fragments, obtained with ITS1 and ITS4 from DNA of Glomerella spp. isolated from soursop were also cloned and sequenced (CIAT 2004b), and the sequences reported in the GenBank database (Table 1).The successful identification of pathogens through molecular tools such as PCR and DNA sequence analysis will help improve host resistance and accelerate the identification of potential insect vectors and alternative hosts. Thus, it will encourage the development of new and effective practices for controlling these diseases.Once we have identified a pathogen, we can conduct genetic diversity studies to enable us to better understand it, its mechanism of action, and its co-evolution with its hosts. With such knowledge we can direct management strategies towards increasing crop productivity through disease resistance to that pathogen. That is, we can develop plants that resist targeted populations of the pathogen rather Manzana 20 20 0 0 -a Total number of samples processed from plants obtained from the field and grown in the greenhouse and screenhouse. P = leaf petioles; MR = leaf midribs. b The same number of samples was taken for both greenhouse and screenhouse. P = leaf petioles; MR = leaf midribs. c Moderately infected. d Severely infected.than fulfill a specific objective. Thus, we can prevent the potential economic imbalances that so often negatively affect the poorest farmers, who are the main producers of many important crops such as cassava.We now describe some of the genetic diversity studies carried out by CIAT researchers on several pathogens causing major crop diseases such as CBB, SED, powdery mildew, anthracnose, and bud rot.By characterizing Xanthomonas axonopodis pv manihotis's genetic diversity, we can select a set of strains to search for resistance factors in cassava varieties targeted for an area carrying a given X. axonopodis pv manihotis population. Through RFLP and AFLP analyses, pathogen diversity was found to be limited in Africa but broad in South America, cassava's center of origin. High genetic diversity was also found in Brazil, Venezuela, and Colombia, with different pathotypes specific to each ecozone. The very high genetic diversity is possibly related to the also very high levels of genetic diversity observed for the host plant (Verdier et al. 1993;Restrepo et al. 1996;Restrepo 1999;CIAT 2002). The X. axonopodis pv manihotis isolates also showed that the structure of bacterial populations is also shaped by the spatial and temporal distributions of their diversity.Using molecular techniques such as RAPDs, AFLP, and RAMs, Álvarez et al (2003c) detected variability in isolates of Sphaceloma manihoticola from south-central Brazil and Colombia, although genetic variation in the Brazilian population was narrower than that of the Colombian population. The RAPD analysis revealed high polymorphism, that is, considerable intraspecific genetic diversity, indicating that the pathogen may be able to adapt readily to changes in the environment, overcome resistance of new cassava varieties, or develop to fungicides. The groups of isolates identified by genetic and pathogenic characterization of the pathogen showed no strong correlations, although high correlations existed between geographic origin (country and municipality) and genetic variation, hence indicating a possible center of diversity.For Brazilian isolates, we could distinguish between isolates of S. manihoticola from cassava and those from milkweed, and also between S. manihoticola and S. krugii. In addition, RAPD analyses clearly differentiated among the levels of genetic variation among the host-plant populations of S. manihoticola. One study (Álvarez and Molina 2000) of Colombian isolates collected from cassava plants affected with SED and from Euphorbia heterophylla (a Euphorbiaceae species like cassava) showed how useful molecular markers are to better understand the movement of pathogen populations between geographically isolated regions and the effectiveness of host resistance (Álvarez et al. 2003c). These results would have been difficult or impossible to obtain on the basis of morphology alone.Powdery mildew is caused by the fungus Sphaerotheca pannosa var. rosae, and is a major constraint to rose production. In Colombia, this disease is widely distributed, affecting the quality of Rosa spp. grown in greenhouses and causing serious economic losses. Molecular and pathogenic characterization of isolates generates information on the pathogen's genetic structure, thereby helping to make the most appropriate and durable crop management decisions.Using RAPD and RAMS techniques, DNA polymorphisms were detected among isolates obtained from six rose cultivars grown on farms located in Cundinamarca (Colombia). Molecular analyses revealed considerable genetic diversity among the populations of S. pannosa var. rosae. The relationship between origin and genetic diversity suggests that different disease management practices will be needed according to farm and environment. The genetic variability observed with the analyzed primers proved that the pathogen is able to mutate and, depending on the environment in which it is found, can adopt several forms by which to survive in different tissues of the rose plant (Álvarez et al, 2000).Broad genetic variability was detected by AFLP and RAMS in isolates of Colletotrichum acutatum and C. gloeosporioides, collected from citrus and soursop (Annona muricata), respectively. In soursop, these results showed a relationship of the variables \"pathogenic variability\" and \"colony diameter\" with \"genetic variability\". The genetic variability observed with this technique was high. If we consider that sampling was restricted in terms of the study area, then we can deduce that (1) high variation exists among the pathogen's populations in different agricultural and climatic regions with geographic isolation, and (2) high variation exists within groups of isolates selected previously for their morphological traits such as colony diameter. This suggests that a broader, more systematic sampling must be planned to answer doubts arising from this preliminary study of Colletotrichum populations (Ospina y Álvarez, 2003).To evaluate genetic variation in C. acutatum, the causal agent of citrus anthracnose, isolates were collected from a wide range of citrus species under varying conditions and from different geographic zones of Colombia. We used AFLP to analyze them and found considerable genetic variation, but no consistent relationship between the groups and host species or collection zones. These results confirmed the variability, both phenotypic (i.e., morphological traits) and genetic (molecular traits), that exists within the causal agent of citrus anthracnose. The results also confirmed that different species of the pathogen are associated with the disease (Ospina, 2002;CIAT 2003).Isolates of Ceratocystis paradoxa and related fungi were collected from oil-palm plantations and other crops in Colombia and characterized. Morphological comparisons, mating systems, and phylogenetic analyses (including the use of molecular markers) revealed a complex of five different taxa: C. paradoxa (banana), C. radicicola (date palm), C. fimbriata (cacao), C. paradoxa sensu stricto (oil palm) and a clearly distinct species in its ITS sequence and morphology (oil palm) intermediate between C. paradoxa and C. radicicola that should be described as new (CIAT 2000). These findings demonstrated that a disease may result from the activities of a complex of pathogens. Another eX. axonopodis pv manihotisple is the Phytophthora-Pythium soft rots that attack oil palm. Disease management strategies should therefore be oriented towards dealing with such complexes.Molecular markers also comprise an important tool for breeders. In cassava, for example pv manihotis, they were studied to identify their association with genetic resistance to cassava bacterial blight (CBB). More than 400 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were evaluated, leading to the identification of one SSR marker. This was associated with CBB resistance in a segregating cassava backcross family under field conditions (Hurtado 2004).Another example is QTL mapping for resistance to root rot in cassava, which was performed in family K, using simple marker analysis. We detected and mapped nine QTLs associated with P. tropicalis resistance, two QTLs with P. palmivora, and two with P. melonis (Álvarez et al, 2002;Llano 2003;Loke 2004). The QTLs were located on different linkage groups. Some QTLs would be expressed in one crop cycle but not in another, depending on the environmental conditions for crop development. The low phenotypic variance explained by the identified QTLs support the hypothesis of minor genes controlling Phytophthora resistance, as suggested by Llano et al. (2004).The presence of conserved domains permitted grouping of resistance genes (R genes) into at least four classes and to propose their possible function in the defense response as part of signal transduction pathways. R genes are clustered in the genome of several species and different genes within the same cluster can determine resistance to diverse pathogens. Based on sequence similarity between R genes, Llano et al. (2004), using degenerated primers designed from resistance genes of different crops, obtained four resistance gene analogs (RGAs), corresponding to NBS candidate genes, whereas Hurtado and Álvarez(2003) obtained 10 RGAs (NBS, Pto, kinase, amd LRR). One RGA showed association with CBB resistance in a segregating cassava population. The sequences were reported in the GenBank database.Identifying genes associated with defense responses is a highly critical step, leading to the elucidation of disease-resistance mechanisms in cassava. Soto-Suárez et al. (2004b), using subtractive hybridization, identified genes differentially expressed during CBB pathogen attack. From two resistant varieties, 1536 clones were isolated. Sequence analysis of these showed that 16 cDNA clones shared homology with plant genes involved in defense responses. Another 70 clones were either homologous to plant genes of unknown function or showed no homology, thus representing potentially new genes involved in cassava's defense responses.Soto-Suárez et al. (2004a) performed microarray hybridization, using as treat ent cDNA from resistant cassava plants collected at different times after infection and, as control, cDNA from healthy plants. Functional genomic tools such as the cassava microarray provided a preliminary comprehensive overview of the molecular basis of the cassava defense response to the CBB pathogen. It will help in the future understanding of the defense mechanisms used against other important pests and diseases.A PCR approach was used, with specific primers for the Xa21 gene (which confers resistance to Xanthomonas in rice), to isolate a 900-bp fragment (PCR250) in cassava cultivars showing high resistance to X. axonopodis pv manihotis (López et al, 2004). The PCR250 fragment showed 56% similarity with the Xa21 gene, and was located in the linkage group X and associated with a QTL that explained 13% of resistance to X. axonopodis pv manihotis (Jorge et al. 2000). The PCR250 fragment was also used by López et al. (2004) to screen a BAC library. The complete sequence of cassava Xa21 homologue gene was identified and named RX. axonopodis pv manihotis-1. It was 3600 bp long and contained an ORF of 1181 amino acids. This gene was induced 72 h after infection by X. axonopodis pv manihotis."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3e890d7a3f4b783e77fe1196c6a7cf55","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4db476a9-5798-4b83-8330-f5f5fe331b52/retrieve","id":"-801008277"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b56703b8-826c-47ed-ba86-58501a801bb4","content":"Young people in agriculture: the key to strengthening Africa's future Across Africa, young and innovative entrepreneurs are channelling their energy into a vast array of agricultural initiatives. Their goal is clear: to create new economic opportunities and to contribute to the development of their communities. Yet because these agripreneurs often work out of public view, their contribution is not always fully appreciated by their communities.To inspire other young people, in 2016 CTA supported the creation of Agribusiness TV following a call for projects launched as part of its ARDYIS programme. The objective was not only to promote the development of the businesses of young agripreneurs, but also to showcase their experiences and encourage young Africans to consider agriculture as a vocation.I am pleased to report that Agribusiness TV has been a resounding success. The stories published in this book show that it has helped to promote young entrepreneurs and enable them to reach new clients and establish themselves in markets that were still unexplored, while at the same time reaching other young Africans. Through these video stories, some were able to talk to entrepreneurs and find ways to overcome the challenges they faced, while others simply embarked on the great adventure of agripreneurship by drawing inspiration from shared experiences. As a sign of its success, Agribusiness TV has received many international awards, including the 2017 WSIS Forum Prize from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the Prix francophone de l'innovation dans les médias (Francophone Award for Innovation in the Media) from Radio France Internationale and the Agence internationale de la Francophonie (International Organisation for the French-Speaking World). This publication comes from CTA's desire to further highlight the methods and achievements of a number of entrepreneurs to inspire others, and bring them to a wider audience of both young people and those involved in agricultural entrepreneurship.This publication comes from CTA's desire to further highlight the methods and achievements of a number of entrepreneurs to inspire others, and bring them to a wider audience of both young people and those involved in agricultural entrepreneurship. Supporting young people in this sector is a CTA priority, which can only be effective if we better understand the fundamental aspirations of this generation, the challenges they face and the strategies they choose to implement. Beyond highlighting the entrepreneurs and charting their individual paths, each story raises questions as varied and as crucial as access to finance, the impact of the activities carried out, relations built with other young people, and the use of digital technologies in agripreneurship.Youth is one of CTA's three areas of intervention, and we therefore implement a number of programmes to develop agricultural entrepreneurship among this group: AgriHack Talent, PEJERIZ in Senegal and Mali, VijaBiz in Kenya, and DAIRY Profit in Eastern Africa. By focusing on the new generation, CTA is helping to accelerate the fight against underemployment and youth unemployment, while strengthening the agricultural sector.All these programmes are already bearing fruit, but a huge amount of work remains to be done. It is essential for all partners to collaborate, together with young people, to give them every opportunity to make the greatest impact, locally, nationally and globally. CTA is ready to contribute. Enjoy this booklet!Director PREFACE Over the next decade, 11 million young people are expected to enter the workforce in Africa every year, yet only 3 million formal jobs are created annually.Millions of young people therefore run the risk of being unemployed or underemployed. At the same time, urban areas continue to attract young people from rural areas, while not always being able to create enough job opportunities.For many African countries, however, agriculture is and will continue to be the main source of employment and income for the foreseeable future.Agriculture represents around 60% of employment on the continent, making it a fundamental sector, not only for food security but also for economic growth.The wider agricultural sector remains an important source of employment in rural areas, of course, but also in peri-urban and urban areas. It is particularly important to increase agri-food processing initiatives aimed at reaching out to a changing urban clientele, and to increase opportunities for the creation of non-agricultural economic activities in the technology and services sector.In spite of its potential, many young Africans are not attracted to agriculture because of its poor image, insecurity, and lack of competitiveness and support. The average age of farmers is currently over 50, so it is vital that younger generations join a sector that is so essential to the economies and to the food and nutritional security of the entire continent. Halatou Dem is a 32-year-old Malian entrepreneur.With a degree in finance, in 2011 she took over management of Danaya Céréales, an agricultural processing and marketing company founded by her mother in 1992. With regional and international markets in her sights, the company is in the process of obtaining ISO certification. The couple is also working to help other young agripreneurs by connecting them with distributors and providing them with advice.Ollasset Djoro Ahoua, 29, has a degree in tropical agriculture. In 2009 she launched her career in organic market gardening in the town of Agnibilekrou, in eastern Côte d'Ivoire.Elizabeth Gikebe is a 27-year-old Kenyan. A graduate in commerce and information technology, in 2016 she founded Mhogo Foods, an agri-food For many African countries, however, agriculture is and will continue to be the main source of employment and income for the foreseeable future.THE ENTREPRENEURS processing company specialising in gluten-free cassava production, based in Banana, in Kiambu.Grâce-Marlène Gnintoungbe is a 30-year-old Beninese entrepreneur. Her agricultural company, Les Jardins Chez Marlène, which is based in the town of Abomey-Calavi, specialises in organic fruit and vegetable production.Mohamed Ouedraogo is a 38-year-old entrepreneur who works in the commune of Kaya in Burkina Faso.In August 2012 he started producing and processing products using moringa, a shrub known for its high nutritional value, before creating his own company, Yeepaoum Production. Awa Caba is a 30-year-old entrepreneur from Claude Arsène Savadogo is a 32-year-old from Burkina Faso, with a master's degree in rural economics and agri-food business strategy, and another in economic and financial engineering of projects and public policies. In 2011, he created Bioprotect, a company producing and marketing organic inputs and pesticides, based in Fada N'Gourma. Imported goods are often cheaper and better presented, so convincing consumers to eat local products developed by agripreneurs is a real challenge.Young people are vulnerable as they work to build their reputation, they have few assets and struggle to build key partnerships to access profitable markets or capacity building.Taxation is often a heavy burden for start-up businesses, which also face ineffective agricultural support. Women in many communities often also struggle with accessing land.For a sector that relies so heavily on the weather, the impacts of climate change are a real risk for already fragile youth agribusinesses.Across Africa, farming has a very poor image; too often seen as a career for those who have not been to school. Education systems often do not encourage young people to take risks but instead seek the comfort of the civil service, or simple private-sector employment. Agripreneurs are unanimous: \"Our education system plants the seeds of discouragement: in primary school those who failed to move up to the next grade were sent back to their families and told they might as well go and farm the land.\"As agripreneurs work to make their businesses a success, the role of their family, friends, teachers and colleagues is decisive. In many cases, family and friends do not understand the potential of agriculture and do everything they can to convince them to give up their farming project.\" Young entrepreneurs face many challenges in developing successful businesses.A lack of financing, human resources, expertise, technology and access to markets are just some of the 10 challenges the 24 agripreneurs have highlighted, along with some strategies and solutions they devised to overcome them.The agripreneurs all agree that the best way to prove to family and friends that investing in agriculture is the right choice is to get training and carry out research to gain a full technical understanding of the field in which you want to invest. Agripreneurs need to be dedicated and take their enterprise seriously, and when success happens family and friends are usually convinced and their support follows.In many cases family is the primary source of funding allowing a young agripreneur's business to expand, so it is therefore important to avoid head-on conflict with parents, and to find the right approach to explain the value of the decision.Women agripreneurs face an additional problem in crossing very significant cultural barriers, especially when they opt for a production activity which requires access to land: \"In our culture, women cannot inherit land, so this is an additional problem for investing,\" Ollasset from Côte d'Ivoire recalls.\"Personally, I had to leave my village and move far away from home to rent some land, because tradition wouldn't allow me to have land at home.\" The agripreneurs' advise finding technical and commercial solutions to diversify sources of revenue, and increase the profitability of products:• Tomato producer Jean-Marie from Cameroon works around three annual growing cycles to maximise his turnover.• Ismaël from Togo is working to develop a new product from fresh tomatoes, targeting the broader population in order to increase his profits.• Ollasset from Côte d'Ivoire has chosen to target off-season market gardening, which means she faces less competition at harvest time.• Richard from Burkina Faso has successfully diversified by breeding rare poultry.• In Senegal, Souleymane built his company on originality, as he was the first to grow strawberries, creating a niche that gives him a significant advantage.Financing is critical in the development of a business. Interestingly, the 24 agripreneurs found ADDRESSING CHALLENGES that it is not so much the initial capital that is important -because this can be built up gradually -but the investment needed once the company has proved its technical ability, market demand is well established and the time has come to scale up. This is the point when increasing production capacity requires mechanisation, which means significant investments and specialised knowledge. Access to finance is also essential for businesses that require preliminary investment in research and development.Yet despite their innovative and promising ideas, entrepreneurs are often denied access to credit by banks. Roméo from Côte d'Ivoire faced this challenge when trying to develop his organic fertilisers using earthworms and cocoa waste.Young agripreneurs have developed a wide range of strategies to finance their businesses and make them profitable:• Looking for funding (gifts or loans) among friends and family: known as mobilising 'love money', or 'Family, Fools and Friends', this can provide a first investment to help launch a business.This was the approach adopted by Caroline from Côte d'Ivoire. • Turning to 'business angels': a kind of sponsor or financial partner who will provide financing and technical advice to young agripreneurs.• Appeal for sponsorship from private companies.• Keep a salaried job or consultancy work in order to ensure a stable or regular income that can be invested in the business: this was the path followed by Richard from Burkina Faso, who has a paid job at an NGO, and Awa from Senegal who does occasional consulting work, including for the United Nations.• Join a local tontine, where each member pays a monthly subscription which then provides regular annuities that can be used for investment in the company, as in the case of Stéphane from Cameroon.• Take part in competitions for the chance to win awards that generally take the form of grants (like Awa from Senegal); however, focusing too much on competitions could be harmful to the long-term development of the business.• Bring in an associate to invest in part of the business, like Régis from Benin.Nevertheless, the best strategy to get funding and develop a young enterprise is undoubtedly to offer quality products and efficient services that clients are prepared to pay a reasonable amount for on a regular basis. This should generate profits that can be reinvested when a company goes through harder times. Ismaël is currently working on an even more ambitious project which will require about 250 million CFA francs (€380,000). \"I plan to work with tomato growers, but in order to guarantee basic supplies, I want to start my own greenhouse production that will belong to the company,\" Ismaël explains. He also wants to improve the packaging of his product, offer other products that are more accessible for low-income consumers, and set up a tomato farm to ensure a basic supply for the company. To access the necessary funding, Ismaël has engaged in discussions with various institutions.Finding available, skilled and motivated human resources is a major challenge when it comes to starting a business. By itself, the motivation of the entrepreneur is not enough. As the business grows, an entrepreneur needs to be able to rely on a committed and responsible team. Qualified human resources are very expensive, and many agripreneurs opt to hire young people with few qualifications, whom they train as they go along.The agripreneur must also be careful not to be the only one who knows all the ins and outs of the business, leaving them unable to delegate when necessary. Trust in team members, employee supervision techniques and retention strategies, can all be significant challenges. With poor uptake of products and access to markets such common challenges, the 24 agripreneurs have developed extensive ways of overcoming these issues:• Make friends and family your first customers. • Become a processor as well. \"One solution in order not to be so dependent on prices imposed by traders on perishable vegetables is for the producer to become a processor,\" proposes Grâce-Marlène from Benin.• Develop partnerships. In order to be able to offer her customers a wide range of vegetable products, Grâce-Marlène has also entered into partnerships with other vegetable farms specialising in agro-ecology.• Stand up for yourself. \"You have to know how to stand up for yourself and not allow supermarkets and mini-markets to walk all over you with their system of sale on consignment,\" advises Halatou from Mali.from their client before confirming any order.\"• Engage in direct sales. \"We chose to market our products mainly through direct sales (85%), and we refuse to accept sale on consignment,\" reveals Ismaël from Togo. \"As a result, we now have about 40 serious sales outlets in Togo.\" (See box, Promoting tomatoes through social media and 'ambassadors').• Using social media to promote your product is the best option for new companies. According to Richard from Burkina Faso, \"You have to be aware just how important social media is in getting consumers interested in your product. To do so, be eloquent in describing your product in order to inspire people.\"• Take part in fairs or organise specific marketing events. \"Since 2016, Sooretul has been organising tasting and sales sessions in companies and institutions to convince middle-class customers of the benefits of using our platform to source quality local products,\"explains Awa from Senegal. \"During these sessions, we present Sooretul and the products that are available;we give advice on how to prepare certain products, and we offer direct sales. We have developed basket formulas that include an assortment of products from the female processors that we work with, alongside a system of registration and immediate discounts on delivery: it's a way of promoting the product. We've also established another kind of more 'selective' event -Sooretul nibbles -where we invite our customers and prospective clients to an after-work meeting, at which a nutrition expert presents the benefits of one of our products -fonio for example -and we have tastings of fonio-based dishes produced by the female processors.\"• With regard to the promotion of natural fertiliser products, agripreneurs have developed a strategy of guided visits to farms, where they explain how the products are used and the impacts that farmers can expect from them; a farmerto-farmer sponsorship system has also been developed, for example by Samuel from Kenya, who encourages producers to talk to others about their product, in exchange for discounts.For a sector that relies so heavily on the weather, the impacts of climate change are a real risk for agripreneurs. Ollasset from Côte d'Ivoire revealsTanko Timati has never used radio or television for marketing, only social networks -Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp. We have several marketing strategies: first, we took advantage of a government programme with the national employment agency that provided us with three interns who carried out a communication campaign on the ground.We also have a sponsorship system, through which we offer free products to clients appointed as 'ambassadors' whenever they manage to convince another customer to take our products. The peak tomato production period is from August to October, so we offer a promotion during that period when the price of a bottle goes down from 500 CFA francs (€0.75) to 200 CFA francs (€0.30) per unit. As our packaging is in glass bottles, we try to collect returns as much as possible, and direct sales makes this easier; moreover, we provide incentives to our sales representatives to collect empty bottles by rewarding them according to the number of bottles collected and the number of new customers they have gained. Finally, and this is a crucial element, we are really trying to create a community and become a 'love mark': so every last Saturday of the month we organise a tomato race with a coach recruited for this purpose.Ismaël, founder of Tanko Timati, TogoADDRESSING CHALLENGES that in her first year of organic market gardening, drought destroyed almost all of her produce. She came close to giving up but held on, and her aim now is to be able to control her water supply by using drip irrigation, as soon as she is able to access the necessary funds.10. Poor public policies on entrepreneurship and agriculture As agripreneurs work to make their businesses a success, the role of their family, friends, teachers and colleagues is decisive.PASSING THE BATON… Boubacar Diallo, GuineaThe 24 young agripreneurs featured in this publication have not only dared to innovate and create wealth in their countries, while transforming the agricultural sector, but they have also become role models, coaches and creators of opportunities for other young people.Creating jobs for other young people In addition to providing employment, successful agripreneurs often inspire other young people to follow suit.PASSING THE BATON...In Burkina Faso, Claude Arsène's company By itself, the motivation of the entrepreneur is not enough. As the business grows, an entrepreneur needs to be able to rely on a committed and responsible team. Given that its main target audience is young people, who are ever more connected to the internet through their phones, Agribusiness TV has been designedspecifically for mobile viewing. The videos are available via mobile applications that can be downloaded for free, or they can be shared via Bluetooth where internet connections are poor.In addition, since young Africans are very active on social media, Agribusiness TV also has aFacebook page, a Twitter account, a LinkedIn page and an Instagram account. Facebook statistics show that 80% of page visitors connect via mobile phone.Agribusiness TV has produced more than 100 videos, which have been viewed more than 7 million times.Agribusiness TV's Facebook page has more than 168,000 likes and its YouTube channel and Twitter account each have more than 10,000 followers.Find out more http://agribusinesstv.info/en/"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"14b55e4aafe7ed393fc7cd06696b4a2c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/decb0a62-659b-4f54-8e8a-a41f7a8a14b4/retrieve","id":"1980219695"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"122d84e1-b0e5-4896-8c23-35975481f11d","content":"~ ' \" o z , \\ FlgrHfJ ..J. Charcaa! rOf :ít mature f.eid-grown beans Qften extends :;) l~fJ pods resI.Jltmg Ir mfec!lOn ':>f the se€td 'S 45 Kenya 6,0 Relltstant 743.7 :.(Deutaromycetes: Coelomycetes} IS found throughout t\"le troolCS and subtroplcs and has a wide host rMge Together with most 01 tila legume crops, Ihe col'nrnon bean (phaseofus vulgaris) is a goad nost for the fungus which causes a ranga 01 symptoms, dependlng on environmental conditJOns and age oí the p¡ant. In addltlcr :0 charcoa! rot, which is a s1em or stal\" rot disease. the pathúgen alSÚ causes damping-<tff and seedling. blight in oeans, Char:::oal fO! JI; the mature plant is associated w¡th senescence which!s accelerated by water stress. The disease is mosl damag'ng in afeas of un\"ehable rainfall ano high tempera1ure. In Kenya. beans 8!'€ us~ally grown In míxed stands with maize, sorghulT, or mille: POpl,.;latlon pressure has led to the culttvation 01 beans on land pro'le to crought M. phaseolma is ene of the most importan: pathogens affectlng al! the main crops of the iarming systems In the semi-arld areas of eastern Kenya and resistance to charcoal rot lS a pnerity ¡f besns are to be mcreasmgly grown in these areas The paper reviews Ihe literature 00 charcoal rot of beans and on other crops where sHn¡lar work has not beso reported specH¡cally tor beans, 1. Inlroducllon Charcoal rot 01 beans (PhaseoJus vuigaris) is caused by Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Gojd. (Deuteromycetes: Coelomycetesj. The pathogen ís widely distributed in the tropics and sub-trapics and has a host range which ¡neludes more than 300 plant .pecíes (Cottíngham. 1981). The lungus can cause seedling disease in legumes and other crop species and is responsible tor stalk rots in cereal craps as well as root and stem diseases in numerous crop specles. These diseases are known variously as charcoal rot, black rot and ashy stem, depending on the host. For the sake 01 consistency the disease will be referred to as ehareoal rot in this review.The fungus causes economic losses in areas with a ho: climate where crops are exposed to periods of moisture slress (e. g., Dhíngra and Chagas, 1981). II is quoled as tne single mast important pathogen of cowpeas, sorghum and mung beon in the Bay regían 01 Somalía (Gray el al ., 1990) and IS the maín disease affecling legumes in the sem¡~arid areas of Nigería (liTA, 1984), Charcoal rot is important on beans in the warmer areas of produetion in the USA (Hagedorn, 1991). L.lin Ameríca (Díaz-Franco, 1984). Indl. (Salí.ch.ndra el al., 1979), the Carribean (Echavez•Bedeland Beaver, 1987) and Atrlca (Emeehebe andMcDonald, 1979: CIAT. 1981).In Kenya, íncreasing population pressure has led te the cultlvation of tood crops tn eastern parts of the country, prevrously regarded as unsuitable for crop production owing to their unreliable rainfalL The semi-arid areas of Kenya, whlch include most ot Eastern Provmce (Figure 1). contributa 35% of the country's total bean production (Gítu and Ngalyukia, 1989), Wíth their continued cldtlvation in increasingly drier environments, there is a need to produce bean varíeties with improved drought tolerance and resis~ tance to Maerophomina (Muigai and Rano, 1990),Having a worldwide distribution and wide host range, there ig a large literature on M. phaseaJina. The Internahonal Centre for Research lO the Semí-Arid Troplcs (ICRISAT) has publlshed a bibliography of Iiteralure up to 1987 (Síngh el al .. 1990) and the bioiogy and pathogenicity of the fungus was reviewed by Dhingra and Sinclaír {1978}, The purpose of this paper was to revlE~w the literatura concerning M_ phaséoJina on beans, in relation to conciusions drawn from work on other crops and to emphasize its importance in the semi-arid regions of eastern Kenya. 2, Symptoms M. phaseoJina causes seedling disease ¡n bean as well as the more cOflspicuous ashy stem or enareoal rot symptom in older plants. AI1hough they are manifestatlons of the same syndrome, the nature of the aetiologlcal link between seedling disease ané chareoal rot IS not clearThe first visible symptam on the seadliog is a sma!! dar\\( brown ¡asioo en the cotyledon which spreads down cnto tha hypocotyl (Figure 2) or, sometimes, the lesion may appear first at the base 01 the nypocotyL Early infection results in pre-emergenee damping-off Or seedling mortalíty, soon atter emergence (Figure 3), In established seedlings, ¡esions spread down the hypocotyl, girdle it and cause the plant to collapse. If the lesion develops late or the plant has some reslstanee, the hypocotyl ls not comp~etely glrdled and the plant may recover from the rnfection. Plants which surVlve the first 2-3 weeks aftar sowing usuaJly survive until1lower~ ing when the first symptoms of the ehareoal rot phase of disease appear at the base of the stern as grey, necrotic areas, bearing numerous smal! black sclerotia, As senescenee progresses, the infeclion spreads up the stem and selerotia may eventually appear on the pods (Figure 4), ieading to seed ¡nfecHon. Plants which develop charcoal rot symptoms relatively early in their growth exhibit signs 01 accelerated senescenee, such as foliar chlorosis and fewer seeds reach maturrty.  Macrophomina phaseofina (synonym: Macrophomina phaseoli, AhlzoctOntB batatícofa, ScJerotium bataNco/a) can be readily 'so(ated fmm mfected host tissues on standard medIa. It has a ~lgh optima! !emperawre tor mycei¡aJ growth 0132-34 C. covenng a 9cm Petn dish or potato dextrose agar (PDA! ¡n 480 Young hyphae are colourless, becornmg :¡ght brown wíth age. Within a few days of growth on PDA. abundant sclerotja are produced which range rrom 100 to 300 ¡1m In diameter. These are smooth or ¡rregular i:1 shape, black In colour and r:ch in O¡IS (Hol!íday and Punítha¡¡ngam. 1970. Dhmgra ane SinclalL 1978). Sc'erotia constitute the pnncipa. propa-gu¡es for dlssemination and are resístant to extremes 01 temperature and humldity. Within ',he mfected host sc!erotia appear in large numbers when the tissues beg1n :0 senesce i Siack, globose pycnidja are $ometlmes sean on the host and can be induced jn culture (Watanabe, 1972). They are 100••••20011m in diameter anct contain smgle-ce!led fusiform cOnldla (Dhingra and Sinc!alr. 1978),Macrophomina phaseoJina 15 a plJnvorous pathogen ana isO lates from one plant spec¡es are aften found to ,nfect a ranga of other hosts (Ho¡¡¡day and PLJnithalingam. 1970). ;\"ee et al. (1986) for instanc8, found that Isolates trom bean. cotton and groundnut were al! pathogenic on cotton, Similarly. Diourte (198?) reported that isolates from sorghum, growildnut, bean and cotton all cross•moculated each of the other hosts although there was a trend towards greater virulence on the host from which each strain was initlally isolated.However, there r$ some evtdence that certain Isolates exhibit a degree of host specíflcity. Isolates causing ashy stem of cQwpea in Botswana also ínfected beans. bul not sorghu m (Burke el al., 1986). Care must be exercised in ínterpreting this result as 1t is easier to induce symptoms on legumes, following artificial ¡noculatian, than on the cereal5 which are so dependent on pred!sposítion. Further support tor the occurrence of host specificity ís to be found in the work of Chohan and Kaur (1977) who found that three tBolates of  and Smclalr, 19730), exhibit wide vanation in cultura! anó morphologtcal characters Such as growth rate, sclerotia! proouctlon, sclerot!al size and ab¡ltly to produce pycmdia (Watanabe, 1972, Ch,damberam andMatnur, 1975), However, these differences hava not been IlOked to host specialization or to aggressiveness.Under warm. mOlst conditíons, fo!lowing a long dry season and In the presence of higt1 inoculum levels of M, phaseolina. seedling mortality 10 legume crops can be high\" For Instance, in 1983 in southern Nigeria the fungus was responsible for 70 Q /o cowpea seedlíng mortahty {liTA. 1984;. However, seedling loss is not normally as h!gh and the survíving plants, especJally among the long season va,..iet¡es, have sorne capacity to compensate tor early stand loss. Loss estimates tor Africa are not available but yield losses of up to 65% have occurred in bean crops grown in the USA (Zaumeyer and Thamas, 1957),Although the disease has been known in Kenya for many years (J. M. Wa!ler,personal communica1ion) it has become more prevalent in recent years wíth the cultivatlon of land in progressively drier areas. M. phaseofina was observed on sorghum, causing extensive lodging in the crop produced on the short ralns (Oct.-Jan.) near Makuen 1 in Machakos District (see fígure 1} (Waite et al., 1984). Mukunya el al., {1983) reported serious incidences of the dlsease at spedfic locations in the semi-arid area 01 Kenya. SeedJ¡ng mortality ot 10-14'% has been observed in beans grown in experimental plots and farmers' fíelds in Machakos Otstrict (W. Songa. unpublíshed). The disease has since been observed aU over eastern Kenya on many crops inctuding beans (Stoetzer er al., 1984). Tabla 1 shows a list ot lsolates collected •in eastero Kenya by Songa (1995) and the crop spec,es ¡rom which they     Songa. unpubl'lshed). A recent report r€cords charcoal rot as en important cause oi yteld 105S in beans grown in the semi~arid areas of Kenya with losses oUen exceedmg 300 kg ha-1 (Wortmann and Aller:. 1994).Tn€ pathogen surviv€s in the soii m crop residuas jn the form 01 sc!erotl8 and the ínítla! infection derives either from so¡¡~borne inoculum or from tne plantlng of ínfected sead íS!ngh and Singh, 1982), The pathogen is known to be seed-borne In a number of hosts including soybean (Gangopadhyay el al\" 1970) and camman beans (Abawi and Pastor-Corrales, 1990a) and can be carried within the seed coat (Dhingra and Sinclair, 1978). The fungus was detectad tn 30% 01 cowpea seed samples collected from markets In northern Ntgeria (Emecnebe and McDonald, 1979).Dry conditions favour surviyal oÍ sclerotia in the soí! but mycehal growth and ¡nfection raQuire mols1 condttions and are favoured by a temperature above 27\"C (Hageoorn, 1991). Provided there ís sufficient soil moisture tor fungal growth and high mocuJum levels. seedling lOS ses jncrease with increaslng temperature up to 45 •C. While 5eedling 1055 ;n beans 15 dependent on hlgh inoculum potenUal, adequate soil moisture and temperatures aboye 27 C. symptom expression in the mature plant is not related directly to soil inoculum but is depenaent on the physiological predisposition of the host (Songa, 1995). Predisposition í5 tríggered by flowering afld subscQuent oosel of sene:scence, provlded this occurs at oigh temperatura (above 32•C). Moisture stress at flowenng seems to be an important predisposing critenon, at least ín sorghum (Edmunds, 1964). It is still uncertam whether this is due directly to the physiological eftects of moisture stress, or, beca use drought condltions lead to early senescence. In beans. plant mortality increased from 9;% under ideal soil moisture conditions to 64%' after 18 days of water defic¡t (Magalhaes el al., 1982).The exact nature ofthe aetiologica¡ link between seedling JnfectlOn and symptom express!on in the mature plant is not fully understood. The evidence from work with cowpea (Bourne, 1992) is that infection of the root and crown region may occur at any time during the life of the plant. The pathogen appears to invade the base of the stem, then remains dormant untll the plant becomes predisposed to infecrion after toe onse:t of flowering. Demooy and Burkeld {1990} reported that lesians on cowpea hypocotyl could ramain cormant tor up to 1 month befare becoming activated by drought or senescence,There is littla reported work on the aetiolo-gy of Macrophomina infection in beans, more has been published on the subject with respeet to other crops but some of the reports are contradictory. The apparent contradictions exist because of the faHur€ to distinguish between infecHon and symptom expression or te d¡stingufsh between seedling djsease and mature plant d¡sease~ Charcoal rot seventy in eottan (GhaHar and Erwln. 1969, Thakar, 1984) and in sorghum (Edmunds, 1964, Odvody andDunkle. 1979) tS tnversely correlated with soll mOlsture leve!s. However, Bruton et ar (1987) showed that ¡nfechon of cantaloup vines was favoured by wet conditions which led later to hi.gh levels of disease.The stage of development at which a plant is most Ilkely tú exhibít symptoms 01 Macrophomina tnfectlon varies to soma extent with hos! species. Legume crops tend to De more susceptible at the seedling stage than are the cereal crops. However, here again the distinction needs to be made between the optímum time far ¡nfecHon and the main penad of sympfOm development which are cften temporal1y separated, Norton (1958) consldered that the pathogen can invade sOíghum root5 at any stage, but no further development oeeurs untB the plant becomes drought stressed, The alternatlve v!ew ís that drought stress lS a prereGut51te for root penetratlon (Edmunds, 1964. Odvody andDunkle, 1979). Some have argued that root invasion only occurs at physlologleal matunty, even if dry condittons preva!! at an earlier stage 01 erop development. However, Cloud and Rupe (-:994) found that sorghum roots were invaded by the fungus well befare flowerLng, during a períod ot crop moisture s1ress, Ycung and Alcorn (1984) were also able to isolate Macrophomina trom 1~month-o¡d plants 01 Euphorbia lathyrys aUhough symptoms did not become evident until 7 months later. In soybean, plant maturity was found to be the only factor affeetlng sclerotial production whicn was independent of mOlsture stress and temperature. The main factor required tor severe disease was senescence whlch was enhanced by moísture stress. F!ower remova! has been shown to delay or orevent the appearance al charcoal rot symptoms (Wyllie and Calvert, 1969).Macrophomina has a pcor cornpetitive saprophytlc abllity and is very responslve to changes ¡n soll lungistas!s.Reductlon of bacterial populations has been correlated wlth increased sclerotial germination. while increased microbial activity can decrease sclerotial viability (Filho and Dhingra, 1980), Rhlzobium strains indigeneus te Pakistan were reported to ínhlbit growth of M. phaseofina in culture (Zaki and Ghaffar, 1987). Aspergillus flavus, a common soí¡~ inhabiting fungus. has besn reported to decrease ¡nfecHon by M. pnaseolina in peanu! kernels (Jackson. 1965).Nematodes may al50 have sorne potenhal to íncrease susceptibility to Macrophomina, either through íncreased root invasion or by enhancing the effects 01 water stress AI-Hazmi (1985) has demonSlraled increased rool rol of bean in the presence 01 root-knot nematoce íMeloidogyne incognfta). Ths fsaion nematode Pratylenchus zeas and M, phaseolina act synergisHcally ta reduce plant growth ¡n sorghum (Bee-Rodriguez and Ayala. 1977). Norlon (1958) reported similar results with P. hexincJSus. Root~knot nematodes cause serious yield losses of beans Jn sorne parts of Kenya (Ngundo and Taylor, 1974) and leslon nematode 15 more or less ubiQuitou$ in the country's malze-based cropplng systems and the common bean is a gQod alternative host for p, zeae (Jones and Hillocks, 1995). The rOle of the nematode complex 10 eastern Kenya ;n predisposing beaos to charcoal ro! (aquires further research~ 8, Control 8, 1 . Crop management systems that raduce Inoculum levels and conserve soil moisture are effective in reduc:ng :he incidenee of stalk roL Stalk rot incidef1ce in sorghum was decreased from 39% to 11 % In minimai tillage compared with conventional tillage (Doupnlk el al., 1975). Sow¡ng date can also be manipulated in sorne areas to ensure that the crop is less Ilkely to mature during periods of hlgh temperatura and unreliable rainfalL Intercroppmg has been reported as a method of reducmg charcoa! ~ot inc!dence. Disease Iflcidence in eotton was decreased :)y ¡ntercToPPlng Wlt~ Phaséo!us aconitifolia due tú tne son cover provlded and consequent lowering oí soll temperatura (Rajpurghlt. ~983).In Kenya however, beans are usually grown as an ultercrop {Njungunah et al .. 1981) with maize or sorghúm, both of which are good hosts for the pathogen. Sorghum grown as a mixed crop ras been reported to suffer !es$ damage trom charcoal rot than sole erap sorghum (Khune et at, 1980). Crop rotation may be useful in decreasmg dlsease mCldence If asusceptlble erap is grawn after a Ie-ss suscept!ble crop (e.9\" Frankie el aL. 1988), A contrasting view was expressed by Short el al., (1980) who found that viable sclerotta persist aver a 2-year fallow penad and thei( numbers ínerease rapidly when a susceotiDle host IS grown. They conclude that rotatlOn is unlikely to be effective as a control measure.There are few reports of fungícides being usad tú control charcoal rot on beans. However, there has been sorne mterest Ir. their use tar this purpose on soybean. In order of efflcacy, benomyL thiophanate methyL thiram, thiabendazo!e, tnforine and captan deereased viability of sclerotia in soil and in soyoean stem pieces (!Iyas et al\" 1976) Seedling infe::tlon was controlled best by Denomyl and thiabendazole (lIyas el alq 1975). The use of fungicide applled to the seed rnav be effective in decreastng losses to M. p(¡aseo{ma in crO:JS which are partlcular!y vulnerable at the seedllng stage In toe case ot ¡ute tor instance íChattopadhyay el al .. 198;\\. significant contro,1 al seedhng disease was obtamed wltb carbendazim and pentachloronitrobenzene íPCNB). Aoawl and Pastor-Corrales {1990b) state that seed trea:ment vvnh benomyl or éarboxm is eftectlve in controllmg charcoai \"ot 01 beans during the seediing stage. In India. carbendazlm was no! effective as a seed !reatment to control root rol on beans but PCNB and captan gave sorne control (Satischandra et al., 1979). Soil fumigation with methy! bromide decreased the number oi viable sclerotia and controlled infectlon 01 pino seediings (Watanabe el a'\", 1970). However. In the case of sorghum, where the e ¡seas e ís more prevalent atter flowerlng, PCN8 djd not control the dlseasc in {he f¡eld despite giving 87% inhlbitior. 01 fungel growth in vdro (Anahosur et al .. 1983) The eftect 01 organic .sorl amendments or pOf;ulatíon levels 01 M. phaseolina, depends On the carbon to n¡trogen ratio 01 the resldues, A decline in sol! popuiatlOn 01 the pathogen foilowed the applicat;o~ of resldues of vanous crops or of glucose~sod¡um nitrate. However. pOQ'Jlatlúns ¡ater increased in sail treated with wheat or com straw Out not in soil treated with glucose sodium nltrate ar wíth nitrogenenriched straw (Filho and Dhingra,19S0}. Treatment wfth Trichoderma harzianum oecreased dls~ ease incidenls by 37 % in beans grown in pots and decreased charcoal rot of maize in the fleld by 28'% (Elad et ar.,,Root rot 01 mung bean and other crops caused by Macrophomina was controlled after seed was dlppec In a suspenslon of Rhlzobium stralns (Zakl and Ghaffar, ~987) Similar results were reported lor soybean by CnakrabGrty and Purkayastna (1984) who concluded that the effect \\Nas due to the fungitoxie action 01 rhizobitoxlne.Soil solarization was found to decrease the populatlon ot viable sclerotia of M, pnaseoJina bLt many rernaíned viable due to the high temperature tolerance 01 the tungus (M¡hail and Aleorn, 1984).Resistane€ to Macropnomina has been identi11ed in some bean varieties such as •Negr¡to • (Oruogra and Sínclair, 1978). The beao improvement programme at CIAT (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical} has developed metnods to screen for resistance to charcoal rot {Abawi and Pastor- Corrales. 1986). Using these methods a number of lines witn sorne resistance to the disease haya been fdenti1ied {Pastor-Corralesand AbawL 1988).10 sorne cases resistance is linked to drought toleranee {CIAT, 1983). Sean lines resistant to Macrophomina are avallable trom the CIAT germplasm collection and are IIsted by\" Abawi anó Pastor-Corrales (1990b). The fines A70 and A474 are particularly susceptible and are useó as susceptible standards In screening tests.Avila et ai. (1982) founo sorne correlation between resistance and seed coat colour and recammended the use 01 blackseeded types on heavily infestec soils. Abstraet Studies were conducted in eastcrn Kenya 10 determine lhe common legume crop and weed hosts of Afacrophol1lino phaseolino (Tassi) Goid .. the inciter of charcoal rol dlsease. The cfreet of maize. sorghurn. bean. and cO\\\\'pea 011 lhe soil inoculum leyel \\\\as also investigated after field inoculation. Al! the legume crop~ and \\veeds tested \\\\'ere found 10 be infected by the pathogen after artificial inoculation. C0111mon bean. soybean. cowpea \\\\ ere the 1110S1 susceptible while pigconpea. green gramo and hyaCl11lh bean wcre moderately susceptible. Groundnut. chickpea. Cas.\\ia spp. and C/'ow!al'ia spp. were least susceptible after artificial inoculation. Monocropp1l1g 01\" sor,ghullL maize. cowpea and C01111110n bean for three consecutive crop scasons increa~ed ;\\1. P/w.\\('o/úw soil 1Il0culu111 in a::.cending order. Alacropho111i1w phaSl 'o!inll. the eharooal rot di::.ease pathogen. has a wide host range exceeding 300 planl species illcluding legume and cereal erap plants (Reichert andHellinger. 1947: Ohingra andSinclair. 1977). In legumes. infection is evident from the seedling lo mature plant stage \\\\'hile in cereals infection is usually observed after onset of anthesis. At the seedling stage infection usually occurs during moist conditions and at te111peralures above 27 e (Hagedorn. 1991) while al lhe mature planl stage physiological predisposltion of the host precedes infection. Predisposition may be trig,gered hy droughl stress (Anonymous, 1985: Sehwartz. 1989). ftowering and subsequent onset of senescence. provided this occurs at high temperature (above 32 e). In beans.plant monality was found to increase from 9% under ideal soil moisture conditions to 64% after 18 days of waler deficil (Magalhaes el al .. 1982). Oisease evalualion in legumes can be easi!y done at both seedling and mature plant stages.The plurivorous nature of ll1. phaseolina enables this pathogen to survive on many alternative hosts in the absenee of crop hOS1S. Although this natore of lhe pathogen limits the effectiveness of sorne cultural management melhods sueh as crop rotalion, the manipulation of cropping systems to reduce the inoculum level in soils is stiJl promising (Singh el al., 1990: FrancI et al.. 1988). erop species vary in their reaction to M. phaseolina depending on their inherent resistance. The more susceptible crop speeies suceumb 10 lhe palhogen earlier and enable lhe pathogen lO mulliply on them and inerease lhe levels of inoculum in the soi!.Phosl'o/us bean is one of the favoured legume crops grown in the maize-based cropping systems of eastern Kenya. It is. however. highly susceptible to M. p/lUseolinCl. The objectives of this study were to compare the reaction of common bean and other alterna ti ve legume crops to M. phaseolina. The effecl of monocropping lwo legul1)e and two cereal crops for three seasons on soil inocuium levels of Macrophomilla phaseolina, and charcoal rot dlsease incidence in a subsequent bean erop was ,,150 inves~ tigated,Legume crup und irl!l!d hosls o/M. phaseolina \"ine Iegume CTOpS ¡¡nd níne !eguminous weeds common in charcoal rot disease 'hol SpOIS' were used In ¡he sludy, The legume eraps were: common bean (P!wseo/us L'u(qans L¡. cowpea (Vigila unquiclI/tlla (L) Walp). grecn ¡¡ram IViql10 radiaw (LJ Wilcz, Soybean (G/ni\"e lIIax (L) Merr.), chickpea (Cicer ariefÍnum L), hyaeinlh bcan (Dolic[¡os lab lah L). garden pea (Pisam salifa\", L Sens ampl,). pígeonpea ICajanas cajan (L) evlillsp.l \"od grouod nUI (Arachis hvpogea L), The germination of the weed seeds was not uniform and only three species whleh had good germination were eventually used in inoculatioo tests. Two of lhe se¡ected weeds were Crota/\"rf\" spp. and ooe was a Cassia spp. Of lhe two Crola/aria spp_ one \\Vas early tlowering and the other late.The ,!Ud, 01' legume erop and weed hosts 01' J/_ pilaseolinu \\Vas (arded out in a greenhouse maintained at ! 8-30 C. Fise secds 01' each legume erap aod weed were planted per po! in four replications. Inoculation was done using rice grains colonized by M. plwseolilla (Abawi and Pastor-Corrales, 1986: Songa, 1995) iso!ate WS !7 from common bean. A single planl was removed from eaeh 01' ¡he pOI' al 15, 30, aud 60 d\"y' after emergence for determination of the presenee 01' t he fungus in the rool, lower 'lcm alld upper stem. The procedure for isolation of the pathogeo was as follows: nine pieees were cut from eaeh ofthe plant parls ¡¡ud washed thoroughly in dislílled water, slerilized in 05% NaOCl for I min and then rinsed m distllled waler. The plan! tÍssue pieees were lhen dried on blottrng paper and plated on POA. Three tissue pieees from eaeh plam pan were plaled per Petri dish in lhree replicati011s_ Observations fOl growth of JL plwseolllla were made after mcuhation at 33 e for 6 days_ Eralualion uf/ere! oIM, phaseolina in mO!locropped 1'101\\\" by iso/afion /ron1 lite ¿mil The :C\"d of ,cleratia m the soil at the beginning oi' ¡he experíment was found to be on average 11.2 s(.•lerotw per g of soi!. Significant dífferences (P 0_05) were found betwee~ plOIS with diff.:rent crap treatment, in the level of sclerotia at each sampling (Fig. 1). There was 11 general tendency for the :'.clerotta le\\\"el to increa::.c JI1 the soil from harH;,sting lO the planting 01' the next crop. Cowpea ~md comman bean plots had signifieantly (P = 0_05) higher average number oi' sc\\erotia per g of ::;oil than 50rghum and falJow control plots after three seasons of monocropping (Table 2). The ,clerolia levels in the maize ánd sorghurn plats were not signifieantly !p = O.05} different   ' - 3,09•~eum w¡th toe same [CHef nol slgmncantly (p = í).Ú)) dltfcrent.but \\Vere significantly higher than in the control plots.There was no sigmficant (p (W5) difference in lhe number of scferotia isolated from different deplhs in lhe monocropped plors of the same erop spl3cies.El\"atufltioH oOerel (~f'rvL phaseolina in p/ots lising commolI bean Tile number ol' germinaled bean plant, in the different previously monocropped plots was nOl signíftcantly diíferent I P 0.05), The plots previously monocropped \\\\ jth commoll bean had significuntly (P = IlJ15) higher bean seedling infection than those monocropped wilh malle. sorghum and fallow (Table 3). There was no sigmlicant difference (p ~ 0,05) in the number of infected bean seedlings in plots previously monocropped with r.:ommon bean ami eowpea but there was a significant difference between these plots and (he lallow control plOlS, The number of infected plams at harvest did not significanllv (p ~ (W5) dilfer by monoeropping, The nwnber vf plants al harve,t was signíficantly IP = 0,05) lower in p!ots prcviously monocropped with eommon beall ;:han \\vith cowpeu. maize, sorghum and fallow. -, , ---HO!>ll' nf _ti\"\" I to carry out more studies on eomman weed species to determine those \"eed, that maj be susceptible and conlributing to ¡nnease leveh; or íno<.:ulum in the soil.Monocropping \\\\'lth commOn bean.c()\\vpea, maize and sorghum inCTea~ed charcoal rot diseasc incidence compared with fallo\\\\ plot,. The increase \"as more ir. the plots monocropp~d with common bean and cowpea. The number of infected seedlings. lhe llumber of mfecled planlS al harveSI and number of plan!s al harvesl appear lO be good paramelers for indicating lhe level ofinoculnm in the 5011. The significant negalive correialion between Ihe number ofmfecled seedlings and Ihe number of plants at harvest suggcSls that most infected seedlíngs do not survivc tú maturi(~, Comnwn bean and cowpe~-J. mature earJier than malze or sorghum. This probably permits early formation of sclerOli\" on tileso erap residues. Wyllié and Calven (l96q 1 showed flowéring aod pod formalian !O be the eondil1oning factor> for sclerotla formation. This may explain ¡he obsened tendenc)' of sclerolíal propagules to increast;: in the ':ioil after harvestíng, especialIy the susceptíbie Iegumes.It \\Vas interesting to observe that the plo!s Illonocropped witÍl legumes resulted in signlficanll)' (P = 0.05) more disease incidenee lhan those lJ1onocropped with cereals. This was unexpected since majze and sorghum have more dry maner and provide more organic substrate for the pathogen•s lJ1ultiplication. 11 could be tha! due to thelr late muturil\\• M. plla.leaNlla is not able to colonize the malze and sorghum erop debri, effectively due 10 the ver)\" dry condilions usualI) experienced at the end of the seasol1. 1n addiüon the hlgher organic maneI' content from the crop debri, in these pIOIS may encourage olher competitive micro-organisms like bacteria and actinomycetes which reduce colonÍzalion b~ Al. plwscolinll when soil mOlsture conditions improve fGhafTar el aL 1969: Dhingra el al .. 1976). Inoculum level5 were increa sed by common bean. cowpea. maize and sorghum in lhat order. Francl el al. (1988) also reponed thal soybean-sorghum rotalions were slightly better than soybean-com rotations in jowering;\\4. phaseolil1G in the soil.These results suggest that crop rotation among hosts of M. plzaseolina ma\\' s¡ill be a good charcoal rol managemenl option. Work on longer elfeCIS of crop species and popu~aüon dynamics of the associated micro-organisms in the sollls required. 50\",4,. Seeds from plants with no disease symptoms were 2.5°j\" Infectad while seeds from severely lniected piants had UP to 13.5% mfectlon. Survivat of too pathogen In crop rasIDua was investigated 10 fie!d so!! in eastern Kenya. Up to 3tY?ó ot sclerotla were found 10 be vIable atter 21 mon1hs in ñeJd $oil. SoU molswr€ and temperatura did not influence survlval up 10 a depth of 20 cm.The mes1 serious disease of common bean (Phaseolus vulgans L) in semi-arid easlem Kenya is charcosl ro! (Songa and Hillocks. 1996a,b) caused by Macrophomina phaseolína (Tassi) Goid. Yield loss lo charcoal rot has besn estlmateo to be up lo 300 kglha (Wortmann and Allen, 1994). The incidence of charcoal rot disease has increased in recent years because of increasing cultivation 01 marginal land due to population pressure (Songa and Hillocks, 1995b). Ssedlíng mortality of 10-14% ís common in experimental plots and farrners' fields (Songa and Rano. 1995). M. phaseolina is a soll•lnhabillng fuogus that grows poorly in soil and survives as sclerotia which provida Ihe inrtial inoculum (Smith, 1969;Walanabe et al., 1970).This pathogan 1$ also seedbome (Andrus, 1938: Gangopadhyay el aJ., 1970;Abawi and Paslor•Corrales. 1990). Sinee the level of sead Inlection depends on severity 01 plant Infeelion, selecllon of seed from symptomless plants ís expeclad to reduce the initlal imaclían. Infected seeds are distortad. blemíshed and carry sclerotia and pycnidia of the pathogen. Five percent reduction in seed weígh1 and as much as 600/(, reduction in emergence fmm diseased ssed has been reported in susceptible varietles (Gangopadhyay el al .• 1970). Andrus (1938) found natural seed transmisslon of M. phaseolina In Hendersoo Lima bean sead to be approximately 85% in unsteritized seed and 57% in surlace~ sterilized seed, indícating that the fungus is found not only on the surtaee but also beneath lhe ssed coal. Gangopedhyay el al. Severe infechon early in the season results in more seed infection due to high inoculum levels on Ihe planl and soi!.Conditions favouring ear1y ¡ntectton, such as warm temperaturas or low soil moisture, will encourage systemic seed infection, whereas moiS! condítlons towards the and of the growing season would be expected to encourage pod infectlon. This natural seed infection may account ter ssrious outbreaks of the dfsease occasionally observad in farmers' fields, The majonty of smallscale farmers who produce common bean use their own seed from the previous crop tor cuUivation in the next season (Rono and Shakoor. 1990). The use 01 clean dlsease-free seed would reduce the ¡n¡tital inoculum and lower the severity ot me dlsease. In arder. theretore, to develop effectíve control measures tor charcoal rot di5ease basad on cultural control practicas, it is essential to delerrmne the role 01 seed and erop debris in the survival of (he pathogen. In fulfilment of 1his requirement, this study haO the lollowlng oblecllves:1, To determine the extent 01 common bean seed inlec!Ion in relalion to seventy 01 plant inlection,To determine the extent 01 intemal inlactlon and surlaea ¡nlestation 01 saed.3. To determine the ellect of storage on viabilíty 01 sclerotia. 4 To Cletermone the survival 01 M phaseolína sclerotia in bean residue al vanous depths.Common bean genotype GlP 1004 was planted in a ehareoa! rot 'hot spaf at Kiboko ;n eastem Kenya. The trial was malntalned following recommended production practices including :ertiiizer application, ¡nsed control and weeding, A1 r.arvest the plants were harvested In ¡hree categolies depend~ ing on the :evej of infectioo. The categol1es were:(1) plants with no ashy stem symptoms.(2) plants wíth ashy stem symptoms but pods w,thout symtoms, and(3) plant. with ashy stem symptoms and pods bearing M phaseolina scleratia.Seeds lrom each category o! planls were tested for lhe presence ot the pathogen wíthout surface sterílization and after surlace stetilizaúon as ctescribed below. T o test the effect ot stOf\"dge on the pathogen. enough seed was reserved and keot in Kilner jars at room temperatura and the expeliment was repeated 6 months later.Fifty unstenlized seeds rrom each category were placad on múlst filter paper placad on plastlc trays previously cleaned and wipad with alcohol and enverad. Them were tour replícations in a campietely randomized design. The trays were incubated al 33 e with a 12 h dL. 12 h D lighl reg,me. The trays were maintained moist by adding distllUed waler when they became dr)'. Obs€lVation lar the presence of M. phaseolina was done using a binocular microscope from 3 to 7 days after jncubation at 33 C. The number of seeds that produced colonies of M. phaseolina on the seed coat, characterízed by numerous black sClerotia, were notad, Seeds wlth other fungal growth W9m lransferred 10 PDA for identificatioft The expeliment was repea1ed once.The procedure trere was as descnbed above tar unsleri!ized seed and the only difference was that the seed was surface sten!lzed by Irnmefslng 111 1% NaOel (10°.-;, dilutíon of commer~ c,ally available solution diluted with distilled water) lor 5 -B min and thoroughly rinsad in distilled water (Mihail and Alcom, 1982). Ona percenl NaOCI kills M. phaseolina \",ycelia lhat may be on lhe seeds and reduces sign<!icanlly lhe viability 01 .elerolia (Papavizas and Klag. 1975).An experiment to determine the longevity 01 M. phaseolina In bean debris was conducted at Kiboko research station in eastern Kenya where charcoal rot dlseasa iS prevalent. The soll 15 a wel! drained sandy clay loam overlaying a sandy elay (tabla 1). About SOO 9 01 bean debris (root and stem segments measunng 6~8 cm), heavdy intested with sclerotia of M. phaseofina were placed in nylon net bags and bulied in the soil al lour depths (0-5. 5-10. 10-15. 15-20 cm). There were eighl samples butied lor each deplh in three replícations. A tabelled wire peg was insertad at each point where a sample was burlad ta facilitate retrievaL The experimental design was a randomized complete block. The lield plo! was kept lallow and W8S mamtalned to keep the labanad wire pegs Visible. Sojl moistU(9 ánd temperature measurements were taken as descrlbed below. The experiment commenced in ADnl 1993 and ended in December 1994, covenng a :olal penod 01 21 monH,;s.The sclerotia vlabillty at the begll\"lnrng of the experiment was determined by plating 100 sclerotra from infectad erop debrís on selectiva medium PDA•DOPCNP (basal medium comaming p-(dimethy!amino) benzenediazo sodjum sulpho~ nate [DASS, Dexonj, oxga!L and pentachloronitrobenzene [PCNBí al SO. 2.000 and 100 mgíl respectvely) (Papavlzas and Kiag, 1975). The debris retrieved from the soil was air dned and ground using a caffee grindec The debris was transferred to 177 !Im and 44 ,Hrn Sleves ;f'¡ tandem and wet sH?ved using dis;iI!ed water. The ccntents of the 44 ¡1m slsve were transferred to a beaker contaíning 0.5°•;:. NaOe! for 5-8 mln and the contents oi the 177 um sieve were discarded.The contents of the beaker were transferred back to the 44 um Sleve and rinsed thorough!y with distllled water, The coments of the $ieve con1aining sclerotla were carefully tansferred 10 a mter funnel fittad w,!h f'lter ::lape! uSlng a wash bottle Wlth distilled water. The scle:olla on the filter papG( were picked out using a stenlized pm under a binocular microscope and plated 071 the selectiva medium, Observa110ns for M. phaseo¡ina COIOnles were made afier 6 days' incubation at 32 e, Percentage gem:lnatlon was taken  , 1981), The fungus can cause disease in seedlings and mature legume plants and it is responsible for stalk and root rols in cereal crops, In hot areas prone to moisture stress the fungus causes economic losses (Dhingra and Chagas,198/), Increasing population pressure has led to the cultivatíon of food erops in the castern parts of Kenya previously regarded as unsuitable for erop production due to the unreliable rainfall (Gitu and Ngalyukia, 1989;Songa and Ronno, 1995;Songa and Hilloeks, 1996). These arcas experience severe chal'coal rot incidence and sustainable management of M, phaseolintt is vital ífbean production is to inerease in the regíon, An integrated approach to the management of diseases and other pests is tPreSf'nt addres¡;: Kenya Agrkuhural Res:earch Institute, Nacional Dryland Fanning Research Centre, Katumani, PO:&x 340, Machakos:, Kenya. preferred because it relies on several methods for control. Host plant resistanee, where available, usually assumes a central position in the integrated disease management approaeh. This is because it is easily adopted, requires few inputs and is therefore economically advantageous. Common bean is reported 10 have resistance 10 ivl. phasealina (Pastor-Coralles and Abawi, 1988;Echavez-Bedel and Beaver, 1986;1987). Pastor-Corrales andAbawi (1988) developed an international charcoal rot bean nursery of 40 accessions based on greenhouse and field data. However, resistan ce to disease may vary depending on the environment and the cultivar (Beebe and Pastor-Corrales, 1991). For this re aso n it is important for each country to screen germplasm and develop resistant varieties which are adapted to the environmental and climatic conditions that prevail within a given country. Screening for resistance to M. phasealina was done at charcaal rot 'hot spots' at Kiboko and Katumani in eastern Kenya (Songa et al., 1992;Songa and Hillocks, 1996). In addition, early maturing (drought escaping) genotypes were compared with late maturing genotypes for resistance to M. phasealina under field conditions. The objectives of the work in this paper were therefore: l. To screen common bean germplasm for resistance to M. phasealina. 2. To develop a common bean charcoal rot nursery for use in bean improvement programmes in the semi-arid areas of eastern Kenya and other areas of eastern Africa. 3. To test the hypothesis that a drought escape mechanism may confer resistance to M. phasealina.Screening common bean germplasm for resistance to M. phasealina was conducted at KARI centres, Kiboko (960 m asl) and Katumani (1575 m asl) in eastern Kenya. The inoculum used for field inoculation consisted of a mixture of isolates of M. phasealina from eastern Kenya. It was prepared as follows: whole grain rice seeds in beakers covered with aluminium foil were sterilized by autoclaving with water in a one-lO-one ratio (1 g rice seeds to 1 mI water) at 121°C for 15 minutes and then caoled. A 0.8-cm disc, cut from a seven-day-old culture of M. phasealina on patato dextrose agar (PDA) was transferred into each beaker containing rice seeds and incubated at 30-32 oC for 15 days. The fungus colonized the rice seeds within 14 days. The colonized rice seeds were used for inoeulation al planting by placing three rice seeds per bean seed before covering with soil. This rate ofinoeulation was found suitable in preliminary experiments in this study (Songa, 1995).A IOtal of 313 cammon bean accessions eonsisting of local, improved and introduced germplasm were evaluated for their reaction to M. phasealina. They were evaluated in batches over three seasons. Eighty, 101 and 162 accessions were evaluated during lhe long rains, March-July 1993, the short rains, October 1993 toJanuary 1994, and lhe long rains, ~arch-July 1994, respectively. Orthe 313 accessiom evaluated ínitially, 30 accessions were evaluated a second time. The susceptible líne A 464 from CIAT was used as a control in each 01' the evaluatíon trials. Each accession was planted in two rows, each 2 m in length per replication.Each row was planted with 30 seeds. One of the twa rows for each accession was inoculated and the other was left as a control. Inoculation was with AJ. phaseolinacolonized rice seeds as described eadier. The experimental design waS a randomized complete block with three replicatíans. The parameters measured were plan¡ stand count al 14 days aner emergence, number of infected seedlings, number ofinfected plant' at harvest, total number of plants al harvest, grain yíeld (kg ha -)) and percentage charcoal rot incidence. The accessions that performed at least three times better than lhe susceptible control, A 464, with respect lo the number of infected plants at harveSl, yield and good agronomic characteristics, were selected la constitutr lhe charcoal rol nursery. Lines with good adaptabilíty but marginal performance in the aboye mentioned parameters were re-evaluated.Reactions of early-and late-maturing accessions lo !v!. pha.reolína were compared 10 determine if time to maturity influenced resistanee to the pathogen. Field experiments were eonducted at lhe KARI centres, Kiboko and Katumani. Ten early-and ten late-rnaturing aecessions were used in the sludy and the early-and late-maturing lines reached 50% flowering between 25--37 and 38-45 days after emergence respectively. Each aceession was planted in two rows (30 seeds per row) of which one was inoculated using rice seed colonized by the pathogen and the other left as !he control. The early and late maturing accessions were planted alternately in a randomized complete block design in three replicatíons. The susceptible line A 464, which is early maturing, was included as a control. The parameters measured were number of emerged plants, disease incidence at 14 days after emergence, number oC days to 50% flowering, disease incidence and number of plants at harvest. Due to the difference in malurity lhe parameters taken at harvest had a time difference of ten days.The 313 accessions evaluated varied in their rcactions tú M. phaseolina at both !he Kiboko and the Katumani screening sites. The disease incidence was usually higher at Kihoko than at Katumaní (Table 1). Significant differences in emergence count, number of infected plants at harvest, stand eount al harvest and seed yield were abserved between accessians (Table I and :1;. Charcoal rot incidence ('lo) and seed yield (kg ha -!) were lhe most indicative of the overall response af common bean accessioIlS lo !v!. phaseolina (Table 2) Sorne accessions, for example V 8025 and BAT 1651, appeared susceptible at lhe end of the season, but the seed yield was still satisfactory. No significant differenee in charcoal rot  inódence withín accessíons was observed between inoculated and uninoculated plols. The susceptible control, A 464, was also useful as an indicator of !he uniformity ofinoculum in the field. Based on ¡he field data collected, a nursery of 54 accessions (Table 2) is now lo be lested against infeclÍon by M. phaseolína in difrerent bean growing areas of eastern Kenya.Early maturing accessions had sígníficantly more seedling ínfeclion and more ínfected plams al harvesl Ihan the late maturing accessions. The numher of seedlings ¡ha¡ emerged and the number of plants al harvest were no! sígnificantly difrerem for ¡he two maturily groups (Table 3.). The early maturing accessions were observed lo have more ínfectíoll and wíltíng than the late maturing accessíons al both Ihe seedling and post-flowering slages at Kiboko (Table 3 43316, 43335 and GLP 1130 were found to be relatively more susceptible íTable 4_;. The average numbers of days to 50% flowering in the early-and latemaluring accessions were 33.3 and 4.0.1 respectively at Kiboko and the average ternperatures at the time of flowering \\Vcrc 25.5 oC and 23.5 oC for the early-and late-maturing accessions respectively (Fig. 1). No significant difference was observed between inoculated and uninoculated rows for any of lhe parameters measured.Several bean accessions were found to be resistant to Al, pilaseatina and the field evaluation procedure was effective in separatíng bean accessions into two general groups according to their reacdons, oamely, promising material for further evaluation and highly susceptible accessiollS. The absence of significant differences between the inoculated and uninoculated plots indicated adequate levels of inoculurn in the plots which had been used to grow beans for several seasons. This was confirmed by the susceptible control, A 464. The reactions of susceptible cultivars wcre evident soon afler germination, Emerged seedlings of these accessions showed ¡he typical dark sunken lesions on the cotyledons caused by M. phaseotilla infection. The lesions often expanded and killed the seedlings wilhin 14 days. High levels of seedling infection usual!y resulted in lower stand counts al harvest (Table 3). These observations agreed with Gangopadhyay el al. (1970) who reported severe damping-off of soyabean seedlin¡,'S with plant losses up to 77 %. M ost of the accessions with good resistanee had low levels of seedling infection and smal! numbers of plants infected at harvest. However, sorne accessions, such as EAT 165 J, V 8025 and BA T 1669, had about 50% or more of lhe emerged plants infecled al harvest but stiU had satisfactory seed yield (Table 2). In these acce5sions the fungus was evident only on ¡he plant 5tems in advanced senescence and the lines were still selected for possible high toleranee to the pathogen, Late infections were more obvions after flowering during periods of high temperature and rnoisture stress especíally at Kiboko, This observation supported the severe infectíons of charcoal rot reponed ar high temperatures during períods of moislUre stress (CIAT, 1983;Dhíngra and Sinclaír, 1977).Infected plants were chlorotíc and less vígorous in growth. It was encouragíng to find thar sorne of the ímproved accessions for semí-arid arcas, such as GLP 1206, GLP 1092, GLP 914, E 10, :;¡ 36, N 1 I and :;¡ 43, performed well. Thís was partícularly so [or accessíons from the Uníversity ofNairobi bean programme that had also been found resistant to several foliar diseases (A, \\V. Mwang'ombe, Universíty ofNairobi, personal communication).With a few exceptions lhe early-rnaturing lines were significantly more infected at both lhe seedling stage and at harvest (Table 3). Early-maturing GLP 967 and lale-maturing GLP 41 appeared lo be susceptible at the seedlíng stage but were re,islam at lhe mature plam stage. Both had 6.0-6,6 seedlíngs infected but only 1.8   Iines, 43316 and K23¡45A had a high incidence of seedling infectíon and also large numbers of infected plants at harvest. Sinee drought-to1erant accessíons may be late maturing, these observations did not lend much support to lhe view ofPastor-Corrales and Abawi (1988) who found that drought-tolerant cultivars were also highly resístant to lvf. pkasealina.The reactions of the early-and late-maturíng accessions tú 1'11, phaseatina at Katumani were generally similar to those observed al Kíboko bul much less bevere (Tahle 4), Sorne aecessions fOf example GLP 65,43316, GLP 1130,43335, and 43309 had almos! egual numbers of infected plants at harvest at both sites. These accessíons were al! oflate maturíty and were the most susceptihle at Katumani, lt appeared therefore, that early maturing accessions escaped ¡nfectíon al Kalumani due to less favourable cOllditions Jor the pathogen early in the scason, A! Katumani Iloweríng occurred between one and e¡gh! days later than at Kiboko dependíng 011 the accession. Delayed Ilowering al Katumani was particularly obviaus for Ihe accessíolls GLP 768, GLP 1130, K23¡45A, N 13 and 43309 which look 43.2, 43.0, 43.2, 43.0 and 44.8, and 39.6, 40.1,40.5, 38.5 and 36.8 from emergence to flowering at Katumani and Kiboko respectively (Table 4). These observations were expected sinee Katumani is higher in altitude (1575 m asl) and the mean temperature is lower lhan al Kiboko (960 m asl). The lower temperalures al Katumani may have been responsible for lhe lower incidence and seventy of lhe disease al this site. Sderotia ¡ormation has been linked mainly with flowering (Wyllie and Calven, 1969). The early-flowering accessions would probably be earlier in displaying susceptibilily and at a time when the temperature was still relatively high and more conducÍve to the pathogen. The general trend for temperature was to decrease gradually [rom the beginning to the end of the scasan before increasing again al the beginning of the next scason as índícated in Fig. 1.as an index oí viabílity. During subsequent samplings. a mmimum 01 30 sclerotia from each sample refrieved every 3 months were pletOO on Ihe selecliva medium and observed tor germination,A single aluminium access tube with an internal diameter of 50 mm was installed In the middle of each plot repllcate to a depth of 40 cm al Ihe lime lile infected crop debris was buried. Using a soil moisture neutron probe (Didcot Instruments, Abingdon, UK) readings were taken al 0-5, 5-10. 10-15 and 15-20 cm twlce a monlh during the fírsl and lasl week 01 each month tm the duration of the experiment. The following ealibration equation was obtained from fjeld measurements at 10 cm depth:where O is the percentage volumetric mositure content and {:i is the neutron proba eount expressed as a fracUon of the eount in waler ( Sell. 1976). SIX and eight soll samples were used lo determine bulk density anrl gravimetric soil water contenl respect\\ve\\y. The volumetric water content was then calculated from average bulk density and gravimetric water content.Soil temperatura was measured at the tour depths at which the infested crop debris were bunad in the plots. The measurements were taken daily at 3~h ¡n'ervals trom 06.00 h lo 18.00 h using portable soil thermometers (EL504-024) rn rugged brass cases wtth stems graduated al 5. 10. 15, 20. 30 cm to enable measurement at various depths. The temperature was not laken in aaeh replicate bu! randomly wrthin the plOIANOVA was used to compare the seed Infection and jnfestatlon 01 surface sterilized and unsterilized see<:!. The Least Significanl Dmerence (LSDj test was usad to separate group means where ANOVA indiealed significanl differance (P=O.05). ANOVA was also usad to compare sclerotial survwal at different depths in the soll.Seeds Ihat produced colonias oí M. phaseolína were soon eoverOO willl blaek sclerolia and were easily rdentiliOO. ANOVA showed signiffcant dlffarence F: 38.21; dt:2.36: P:0.05) in seed ínfection and infestation batween surtace steriljzed and unsteri/ized seed o, the thrae categories of seed. LSD test for mean. <¡Qm¡la(¡SQ(\\ showOO no signifIcan! difference (P= 0.05) between surtace sterilized and unsterílized seed ot category one, in the number of seeds that produced M phaseo/ina at harvest and 6 monttls later (table 2). However, there was a significan! difference (P=0.05) between slenlized and unster• ¡¡izad seed of category two and three fn the number of seeds infected wi!h M. pIlaseolina at ha\"'as!. Category three had a signifieantly higher number of seeds infectad comparad wnh categories one and two for unsterilizs,. seed (table 2), Afier 6 monlhs 01 storage there was no signlflcant diffarence (P = O .05) be1ween category two and three in the number of seeds infected wlth the pathogen and for the unsterifized seed, this was signfficantly (P= 0.05) lower than at harvest. 80th categories two and Ihree seed hád signihcanlly higher inlected seed Ihan calegory one. 6 monlhs after ha \",es!. Olher lungi found lo be assoclated with the infected and Infestad bean seeds were Aspergi/lus niger van Tiegh.   ,,.  . 1938;Abawi andPastor•Corrales. 1986. 1990). However. previous authors did not consider the etfect of s'orage on the viability 01 the pathogen. Abawi and Pastor•Corrales (1986)    other fungi isolated from the bean seed and have oeen reported to reduce M. phaseoiina rnfection 111 pe-anut kernels (Jackson, 1965). This phenomenon needs further investigation and suggests the potenrial use 01 biocontrol agents in seed treatments.At the beglnning of 1he experiment 96<Vo (n= 1 DO) sc\\erotia taken from infected crop debns and plated on the selectlve medlum PDA•DOPCNB germina1ed. Survíval of sclerotia there~ after declined wlth time) as shQwn In figure 1, The depth at wh!ch the sclerotia were bUrled dld not slgnificantly (P;;;;; 0.05) influence survival (jable 3). Soíl tamperature decreased with Ciépth. as shown in figure Th€ results in thís study mdlcate that up to 30C:•'Ó of M, phaseoJina sc!erotia ín bean crop debris were stlll viable aíter 21 months in the soi!. Théy suggest that crop rotations w!th non• hosts or lallow periodo 01 less than 2 years are unlikely to be effective in reducmg charcoa! rot drsease in ínfested fíelds, Our studyalso indlcates tt1a~ sclerotial survival was not influenced by soU moisture, sol! temperature or depm of bunal in 1he present study.The average soi! temperatura during the day was lowest at 29°C al Ihe 15-20 cm deplh and h.goes! at 3S•C a! 0-5 cm deplh (figura 3). These .emperaturas are wíthin the optimal range lor good growlh 01 M. phaseolina ISmith, 1969;Dhingra and Sinclair, 1975) and this could explain jn part the absence of significan1 difference in the survival Of sclerotia with depth.Soil moisture was 6% and 20%, VWC a1 the 0-5 and 15-20cm depths respectively. Satischandra el al, 11979) observed that saprophytic activity was hlghes1 1m M. phaseolina at 2oo/Q MHC and was reduced tour times at 80% MHC. The diflerence in moislure con!ent at Ihe deoths lnvestigated was probably not large enough to inf!uence SClerolia survívaL This pathogen does not survive tor long under anaerobic conditions (Satischandra et al., 1979) and too moislUre effects would be more obvious in pooriy dralned soils. Tne soil lex!ure 01 the s!udy fteld (table 1) ¡ndlcales Ihal ¡t is welr drained and anaerobrc conditions would not easily oceur even after very héavy erratlc rajns that are typical of this region. Too Insignificance (P\"\",O.05) of depth on survlva! (table 3) suggests Iha! deep ploughing \",tended lo bury crop debris would n01 control charcoa! rot dlsease Removal and burning mfestad crop debris wouid be a more useful cultural contrOl practice."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9cf5d3c40d295ea671f22615e9a076b0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/24bd0ed3-40db-49b7-8652-a91e34889008/retrieve","id":"792087366"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b607c52b-918f-458e-af7f-3edebd702ecb","content":"This paper presents results of a workshop on partnerships in agricultural research for development (AR4D) organized by the Institutional Learning and Change (ILAC) Initiative of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The workshop brought together members of the ILAC Learning Laboratory to discuss a wide range of issues related to partnership, including how and why partnership is important for their work, the types of partner they engage with, the various roles played by partners in achieving common objectives, and the types of relationships developed over time. They also discussed obstacles and issues that need attention to enable more effective partnering. Drawing upon these discussions, the workshop participants produced this paper, which summarizes their experiences and draws out common themes and lessons. It presents an overview of the role of partnership in AR4D and summarizes experiences with partnership in the Learning Laboratory, including success factors and areas requiring further attention. Beyond documenting the experiences of the Learning Laboratory members, the paper aims to stimulate dialogue about the use of partnership and improvements needed in the way organizations participate in and manage partnerships in AR4D.In September 2009, several collaborative agricultural research for development (AR4D) programmes came together under the umbrella of the ILAC Learning Laboratory to explore their experiences with organizing and managing partnerships. Partnerships are fundamentally important to collaborative research and are of increasing importance to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). In fact, partnership management has emerged as a critical issue in the ongoing reform process in the CGIAR.In the context of AR4D, a partnership is a collaborative relationship with mutually agreed objectives and the exchange or sharing of resources or knowledge for generating research outputs or fostering innovation. These partnerships include networks, alliances, consortia and similar forms of multiorganizational collaboration. The Learning Laboratory meeting included working sessions and plenary discussions where the participants addressed such topics as:• experiences in partnership management • the added value of partnering and the costs in terms of time and effort • learning objectives of partnerships • key lessons learnt • the most critical ways of addressing themThe experiences were synthesized into major success factors for AR4D partnerships.After the workshop, a small writing team organized the information produced during the workshop, and added information on the participating programmes (e.g., their aims, organizational features, membership, and evolution since establishment). Examples from the programmes were included to illustrate the main points made in the paper. This paper is therefore the result of the Learning Laboratory workshop and its follow up, building directly on the experiences of Learning Laboratory members.On behalf of the ILAC Initiative, I would like to thank the programme representatives, who enthusiastically participated in the workshop and the later development of the paper, the staff of Pico Team Southern Africa, who facilitated the meeting and documented its results, and Kay Sayce, who edited the paper.We hope that readers will find this summary of experiences with partnership in a range of contexts useful for informing their own work and that it will stimulate further discussions about the organization and management of partnerships in AR4D. The ultimate aim of the paper is to contribute to improving the role of partnerships in making agricultural research more relevant, effective and user oriented. Jamie L. Watts, ILAC Co-ordinator 1. IntroductionOrganizations throughout the world are working in partnership to address complex social, economic, and environmental problems. Partnership arrangements (co-operative relationships between people or groups who share responsibility for achieving common goals) include such entities as networks, alliances, consortia and partnership programs (Horton et al., 2009). Partnership has become central to the modus operandi of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and other organizations concerned with international agricultural research for development (AR4D) -research carried out by international, regional and national organizations that aim to produce development results in the medium term (in 5-10 years).In the 1970s and 1980s, research networks were commonly used to test potential new crop varieties, implement regional programmes and strengthen research capacity. Since then, declining donor support and local funding for national agricultural research institutes (NARIs), increasing recognition of the importance of market forces in driving technological change and the emergence of innovation systems approaches have all stimulated the development of partnerships to promote agricultural innovation, reduce poverty and achieve other development goals. Partnerships frequently emerge when organizations are faced with complex socio-economic and environmental problems and realize they lack the capacity to address them on their own. The R&D partnerships that have been used for many years to generate and test agricultural technology have generally engaged agricultural researchers from different disciplines or organizations, to the exclusion of other potential actors in innovation systems. In contrast, AR4D partnerships that address broad social, economic or environmental problems typically involve a much more diverse set of actors, which might include not only researchers but also policy-makers, extension agents, market agents and representatives of universities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), farmer organizations, community-based organizations and other civil society organizations (CSOs).In the context of AR4D, some partnerships aim to produce high-quality research outputs; others focus on 'downstream' objectives, seeking to improve a situation (e.g., reducing poverty) or to change behaviour (e.g., encouraging the uptake of new farming practices). Many partnerships span the continuum from research to the application of new knowledge and sharing lessons from experience. The specific objectives of a partnership might include:• increasing knowledge of under-used or threatened plant or livestock genetic resources, and identifying opportunities for their use to improve the livelihoods of the poor • enhancing opportunities for the exploitation of high-value agricultural and forest products by the poor • developing options for the sustainable management of water, land and forest resources upon which the poor depend • improving policies and facilitating institutional innovation to increase support to the poor Partnerships in AR4D tend to emphasize collective knowledge generation and the adaptation of new information or technology by users to site-specific situations. Because of imbalances among partners in terms of their access to resources, information and power, AR4D partnerships also commonly emphasize capacity building and empowerment in order to establish the conditions and relationships for effective collective action.Although partnerships are central to AR4D, few organizations working in this field have taken stock of their experiences with partnerships or have thoroughly reviewed the knowledge about partnerships that has accumulated in other fields. Additionally, few agricultural research organizations have developed and implemented formal partnership strategies, policies or guidelines that embody lessons from experience, promote consistency and coherence across their partnership work, and enhance the impact of research on development.This paper aims to provide professionals who are engaged in, or support, AR4D with actionable information on the organization and management of partnerships in international AR4D. It summarizes the partnership experiences of the managers of six AR4D programmes. We developed the paper based on a meeting of the ILAC Learning Laboratory held in Nairobi, Kenya in September 2009.The ILAC Initiative aims to strengthen the capacity of collaborative research programmes to facilitate propoor agricultural innovation. Central to ILAC's strategy is a Learning Laboratory in which professionals from collaborative AR4D programmes come together to share knowledge and experiences, experiment with new approaches for facilitating pro-poor innovation, and evaluate the results. The current Learning Laboratory programmes are:• African Highlands Initiative (AHI), in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda (www.cgiar-ilac.org/content/african-highlands-initiative-ahi) The paper has five main sections. After this introductory section, which provides background information, Section 2 discusses what partnerships are and why individuals and organizations engage in them. It also identifies various dimensions of partnerships and four broad types of partnerships in international AR4D.Section 3 describes the Learning Laboratory programmes in more detail, including the context, history, objectives and organization of their partnerships. Section 4 presents the main lessons for organizing and managing partnerships, illustrated with practical examples from the programmes. Section 5 presents ways forward for the programmes and for ILAC that address unanswered questions and concerns.The Annexes include a list of the authors of this paper (the participants in the 2009 Learning Laboratory workshop), useful websites and references (including those cited in the paper), and summaries of each of the six Learning Laboratory programmes.Partnership has been defined in many ways in different contexts. In the business world, a partnership refers to a type of business entity in which partners (generally individual owners) share in the profits or losses of a business. In AR4D, however, when people refer to a partnership, they are usually thinking of a collaborative relationship involving people from two or more organizations pursuing common objectives.In the context of the ILAC Learning Laboratory, we define partnership as a collaborative relationship among individuals, groups or organizations who pursue mutually agreed objectives and exchange or share resources or knowledge for the purpose of generating research outputs (i.e., new knowledge or technology) or fostering innovation (i.e., the application of new ideas or technology for practical ends).This definition is broad enough to cover many types of informal and formal arrangements that seek to promote the generation of knowledge and its practical application in AR4D, ranging from loose knowledge-sharing to more integrated collaborative arrangements. It includes public-private partnerships and those that involve individuals and organizations from only one sector (e.g., researchers in the public sector), but it excludes teamwork that does not cross organizational boundaries, as well as contract work or outsourcing where there is a strictly commercial exchange of resources, rather than a sharing of resources and knowledge.The central feature of a partnership is the sharing of resources, benefits and risks. Typically, it is also characterized by a tendency or aspiration to develop enduring inter-personal or inter-organizational relationships. Another common feature of partnerships is that they tend to change and evolve over time. In some cases they begin as arrangements hosted and managed centrally and evolve into more horizontal arrangements with broader decision-making and mutual accountability. In other cases, they begin as the 'grassroots' initiatives of researchers or development professionals and then evolve into more formalized arrangements. Examples of both of these patterns of evolution are found among the ILAC Learning Laboratory programmes.Partnerships inevitably involve costs associated with communication, negotiation, participatory decisionmaking and collective action. In view of these costs, which are seldom inconsequential, one must ask: 'Why partner'? Three reasons are commonly identified in the literature on partnership. One reason is to gain access to resources (including knowledge) that are not available within a single organization. A second reason is to improve knowledge management across the boundaries separating organizations that share similar long-term goals (e.g., sustainable poverty reduction) but traditionally work in isolation. 2 A third reason is to build the capacity to influence policies or economic activity by participating in social networks. The experience of the Learning Laboratory programmes suggests that there is a fourth reason, which is to create a safe and nurturing space for learning and innovation that is not present within one's own organization.Relationships that fall under the broad umbrella of partnership vary in many ways, such as:• degree of formality of the relationship In the ILAC Learning Laboratory, we have found it useful to think in terms of four broad types of partnership in AR4D, categorized according to their overall objectives:• Research partnerships aim to produce research outputs in the form of public goods. The members of the partnership are usually researchers in either public or private organizations. The degree of formality ranges from highly informal, in the case of professional communities, to highly formal, where the participating organizations sign letters of understanding that detail issues of budget and intellectual property rights. • Partnerships for capacity development and knowledge sharing aim to develop the capacity of partners to share and use new knowledge, rather than produce new knowledge per se. Such partnerships typically involve partners with distinct but complementary knowledge bases (e.g., 'learning alliances', as described by Lundy et al., 2005) or those with different levels of capacity (e.g., North-South partnerships). • Partnerships for market-or value-chain development aim to strengthen market chains or their support systems (e.g., local governing councils or regulation bodies) in ways that benefit poor producers, traders or consumers. Such partnerships tend to involve diverse members, all of whom have a stake in the development of the market or value chain in question. Typically, an R&D organization initiates this type of partnership to improve communication and mediation among market-chain actors in order to stimulate innovation within the market chain. Leadership might later be transferred to one or more of the participating market-chain actors and become institutionalized within the partnership itself. These partnerships are often thought of as 'innovation platforms' (Thiele et al., 2009). • Advocacy partnerships aim to influence public opinion and policies. They involve diverse partners in order to improve communication among them and strengthen the capacity of researchers, CSOs and economic actors to influence public opinion and policy-making. Such partnerships often draw ideas and principles from networks and use a wide range of communication and networking strategies to achieve these goals.Although it is useful to think in terms of these four types of partnership, they are seldom found in practice exactly as described. Frequently, the different types are combined in a single partnership, or the main thrust of a partnership evolves over time, as progress is made on one front (e.g., research) and the main constraint to development shifts from knowledge production to knowledge sharing, market-chain development or policy influence.The Learning Laboratory has brought together six AR4D programmes to share their knowledge and experiences, experiment with new approaches for facilitating pro-poor innovation, and evaluate the results. This section describes these programmes from the perspective of their experiences with partnering, to show the environment in which the partnerships have operated and lessons have been drawn.The programmes represent both 'mature cases', with a track record with several years of research or propoor innovation, and more recently established 'emerging cases'.All the Learning Laboratory programmes aim to reduce poverty and engage resource-poor actors (e.g., farmers and informal traders) in the R4D process. They use different entry points and modes of farmer engagement to achieve these goals (see Table 1). Three of the programmes are regional in scope and three focus on areas within one country (see Table 2).The geographic scope of the partnerships affects management and operations. For example, in multicountry partnerships there is likely to be considerable language diversity. Even with collaborations within a single country, at the level of farmer participation a partnership can be linguistically complex where there are many sub-regions or cultural groups with their own language.Differences in policy and objectives among countries can also make it difficult to identify common ground for collaboration. Although UPWARD and KIA are presented here as single-country partnerships, they are linked to international efforts. UPWARD Philippines is part of UPWARD's Asia-wide networking programme for participatory research and KIA is linked with other countries through informal practitioner and advocacy networks. Each partnership has its own history and expectations. The oldest partnership is MUSALAC, which has operated for 22 years. UPWARD and SDP have operated for 20 years and AHI for 14 years. All these programmes have been able to retain the interest of the partners and to attract resources for their activities, usually from donor agencies. CA and KIA are more recent initiatives that are still developing their modus operandi.The issue of expectations is often complicated by the fact that the participants generally would like the partnership to continue for several years, but this often depends upon obtaining external donor resources. For example, CA currently has funding for its operations for only one more year, but the participants hope to obtain new funding for further work. Similarly, AHI has funding for 4 years, but hopes to continue beyond 2010. SDP expects to continue operating for several years, with the partners tackling emerging challenges and opportunities as they arise. MUSALAC, the most formal multi-country partnership arrangement, also expects to operate for several more years by obtaining a series of short-term grants. Table 4 presents the categories of partners involved in each programme. AHI and SDP have partners in all categories, and CA and UPWARD have partners in six of the seven partner categories. This is consistent with the objectives of these four programmes to bring about change by helping to create new products and increase the engagement of resource-poor farmers in the market system. KIA involves CSOs, donors, extension, policy and research, but does not engage directly with farmers or market agents. MUSALAC involves only researchers, representing a broad range of within-country partners, but with its new project focused on increasing the links between smallholder banana producers and researchers, it is becoming engaged with a wider range of partners along the production-to-market continuum. The partners in the Learning Laboratory programmes play a range of roles (see Table 5). Advocacy is pursued by CSOs, donors, extension agencies and policy-makers. Technology development is an activity in which donors, extension agents, policy-makers, producers and researchers are involved. Donors, extension agents and researchers usually carry out the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities. There is often an effort to involve resource-poor farmers and other marginal groups in programme decisionmaking and M&E.Different types of partners play different roles. The groups that have played most diverse roles in the programmes are donors, researchers and CSOs. Donors not only provide resources, but also engage in policy support, M&E, technology development, capacity development, and advocacy. In the KIA programmre, the donor facilitated dialogue and knowledge sharing by establishing a Google Group. The diverse roles played by researchers include policy support, M&E, technology development, capacity development, management and governance. CSOs have also played roles related to policy advocacy, technology development, capacity development and governance. In the KIA case, they have also contributed to value addition, insofar as this term includes extending the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) to other crops, such as wheat and finger millet.The specific partner contributions are listed in Table 6. Over time, each partner's contributions (including leadership) might change as the partner's circumstances change and as the partnership itself evolves.   All the Learning Laboratory partnerships, apart from one, have some level of engagement with CGIAR centres. In five of them the level of engagement is high. One partnership considers that it has an adversarial relationship with the CGIAR centre with which it is engaged; this cannot be considered a partnership and therefore is not included in Table 7. The CA and MUSALAC programmes involve partnerships with more than one CGIAR centre.These centres play a variety of roles in the partnerships. In four programmes the CGIAR partners play more than one role. These include research (4 programmes), capacity strengthening (3), facilitation (2), management (2) and governance (1). Research roles include technology development, technology assessment, evaluation and generation of information for policy processes. We have identified a number of factors that we believe have influenced the success or failure of the Learning Laboratory partnerships. These can be grouped into eight broad areas related to partnership establishment and management and two areas related to the environment in which the partnership operates (see Table 8). The first group of factors can be viewed in terms of a 'management and learning cycle', with different factors assuming importance at different times during the life of a partnership. Factors that relate to the management and organization of the partnership itself, shown as the small blue circles in Figure 1, are affected by the organizational and external environments (the larger circles) in which the partnership operates.In this section we discuss these success factors, how they relate to one another and how they influence the performance of partnerships. Section 5 discusses gaps in our knowledge and priorities for future work in this area.  In MUSALAC, the Bioversity International regional scientists combine technical expertise with administrative and facilitation support to the network, working with the president of the network steering committee who is elected every 2 years. The regional scientists' leadership is strengthened by access to information and experiences from other regions and to the experiences of advanced research partners.In UPWARD, the partners are recognized as leaders in their own field of expertise. For example, experts at the Tarlac College of Agriculture (TCA) with field experience lead the Farmer Field Schools on integrated crop management and the production of clean planting materials, while local government representatives lead targeting and extension work. The UPWARD co-ordinator leads the institutional learning processes.In the SDP partnership, a leadership mechanism was established that ensured that each of the lead partners -the Ministry of Livestock Development, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and ILRI -contributed to the project decision-making processes. Formal processes (through a well-structured and systematically interacting steering committee) and informal processes (where the lead partner representatives consulted each other regularly) were used to inform the decisions taken.The KIA case shows that leaders do not necessarily have to be experts. One of the partners, the Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar (XIMB), created a 'learning alliance' to encourage the flow of information between government departments, CSOs, farmers and researchers, many of whom were working independently on the new SRI way of growing rice. The XIMB soon assumed a leadership role in organizing learning alliance meetings that brought together these actors and used its own research on scaling up SRI to encourage dialogue among them at a meeting in Orissa State. The meeting included people from outside the State and the country, as well whose presence helped take the discussions beyond regional considerations and introduced a culture of sharing and innovation. This institutional innovation of State-level learning alliances has since been taken up in SRI work in other States in India.To ensure partners' commitment to the partnership and the coherence of its activities, a common vision and agenda needs to be developed based on shared interests and goals. It is important to recognize that each partner comes to the table with distinct interests, priorities and agendas that need to be understood and respected. The challenge is not to try to change these positions and values, but to identify common ground on which the partnership can develop a shared vision, goal and agenda. This requires discussing the positions and values of all partners in the initial stages of developing the partnership. Once these are well understood, it is more likely that an effective and shared vision, goal and agenda for the partnership, which respects individual interests, will be developed.As the priorities and interests of partners change over time, along with the external environment, it is important to revisit the partnership's vision, goals and agenda in order to sustain partner interest and commitment.In the MUSALAC partnership, country representatives raise issues of national interest, while the Bioversity International regional scientist and network advisor add an inter-regional and global perspective. Priorities are identified for short-and medium-term action. Since 2007 MUSALAC has been mobilizing national, regional and private sector interests on greater quarantine vigilance on Fusarium Tropical Race 4, a potentially devastating new disease. Other priority issues are addressed through multi-country grants for AR4D.In UPWARD, the partners considered it important to trace back to own-institution goals, and connect them to the goals of the partnership. The new Sweet Potato R4D Phase 2009-2012, for example, benefited from a series of workshops that reviewed past activities and individual institutional agenda. These were brought forward when partners held a meeting to establish a common vision, goal and agenda on enhancing research involvement in improving the livelihoods of sweet potato farmers in disaster-prone communities.The SDP had a binding goal that respected the individual missions of each partner -poverty alleviation among livestock-dependent households, which required, as a first step, creating a policy environment that accommodated millions of resource-poor dairy farmers, informally operating small-scale milk traders and associated dependants. These organizational objectives were shared among the partners. When the regulations were changed to accommodate resource-poor actors in the dairy industry, the priority shifted to increasing the benefits they derive from participating in specific market chains.Establishing a common vision and agenda in the CA partnership was difficult in the initial stages because of the different institutional backgrounds of the partners. For example, the impact evaluation component involved both researchers and evaluators, who had different objectives and evaluation criteria, and there was disagreement between researchers and development practitioners about the future orientation of the project and the time needed for changes in behaviour and knowledge to become evident. The impact pathway model had to be used for the programme in order to determine a clear vision of the future and establish a working agenda. Within this pathway, the partners found common ground that reflected their own visions and agendas and were able to formulate the theory of change for each participatory methodology. This made the planning process easier and the specific contributions more evident, especially in terms of their evaluation.In KIA, open and frequent sharing of information has played an important role in shaping the partnership vision and goals. An e-group originally meant for the partners has sought the participation of social science research institutes such as XIMB. The nascent SRI community now has more than 350 topics under discussion in this virtual space, tackling such issues as appropriate agricultural tools, pest management and how 'organic' the practice of SRI can become. In complex environments, such open spaces do help to create the vision, goals and agenda for network-based alliances and in many cases can also help in policy dialogue and interventions.Forming an effective partnership involves 'knowing your partner' and attracting partners (both organizations and individuals) who not only have the resources and capacities needed to achieve the partnership goals, but who are also strongly committed to the partnership and its goals. Potential partners need to negotiate what each intends to 'give' (resources and capacities) and what each expects to 'take' (the potential benefits of partnering). Productive and committed partners have appropriate resources to contribute to the partnership and they also derive significant benefits from partnering.The important point to stress is that partners should make deliberate contributions to the partnership and should derive benefits from it. Individuals or organizations might join a partnership for the wrong reason. If they engage in joint activities mainly to obtain funding, rather than to achieve a common objective, their participation can become a burden. On the other hand, if their expectations are unrealistically high, they might become disillusioned and lose interest in the partnership. Potential partners also need to understand the risks of joining a partnership. Working with a group tends to slow down decision making, and if one partner 'drops the ball' this could affect the commitment of the others.Often, insufficient time and skill is put into assessing the knowledge and other resources of potential partners, or their expectations of the partnership. This can result in including individuals or organizations who have little to offer to the partnership or who feel they are not getting enough out of it to justify the costs of their participation. Lack of attention to partners' competencies can also result in a failure to tap valuable skills and resources that do exist within the group. Lack of attention to expectations and commitment can lead to turf wars and self-promotion that damage group morale and hinder dialogue, learning and joint activities.The factors involved in assessing and engaging partners and managing the diversity among them highlight the importance of cultural competence in partnership management. An especially difficult issue is how to handle significant imbalances among partners in their access to resources or their commitment to the partnership. Resource imbalances can sometimes be reduced over time through training and other capacity-building strategies. Lack of commitment can be contagious and it requires quick action, either to rebuild commitment or to arrange the 'graceful exit' of an uncommitted partner.Levels of commitment, enthusiasm and energy fluctuate over time, pointing to the need for a continuous process of partner assessment and dialogue around issues of costs and benefits.In addition to the annual and bi-annual face-to-face meetings of the partners, MUSALAC also organizes training and scientific exchanges alongside network meetings, provides multi-country grants for AR4D, organizes technical assistance missions on emerging problems and produces specialized publications. Although all partners are not guaranteed the same benefits, they do all have access to some benefits.In the initial stages of the SDP and during the regular project review meetings, the roles of each partner and their contribution to planned activities were reviewed, along with how the their strengths could be exploited and their weaknesses compensated for, in the context of achieving the partnership goals .When AHI activities are being implemented, workshops are held to enable partners to talk about their expectations of the partnership and their potential contributions to it. This indicates which partners will be appropriate in addressing the various issues in the project. A strategy for achieving the partnership goal is then jointly drawn up, and is subsequently reviewed and updated regularly to ensure commitment and the ongoing relevance of activities to the partnership as well as to the partners themselves. AHI also organises regular capacity-building efforts for the partners and mobilizes multi-country grants to share with the partners according to their roles in the partnership.When significant funds are available for a programme, there is always the possibility that some partners will be involved mainly to have access to the funds. To avoid this, the CA programme developed a scoring model matrix that features partner attributes that contribute to programme objectives as well as potential benefits for the partners. Higher values are given to partners that make a significant contribution to the partnership (via skills, competences, resources, etc.), as well as to those who stand to benefit most from the partnership. Appropriate and committed partners tend to be those who benefit most, as they usually find a way to contribute more in order to maintain the partnership.Process facilitation is needed to stimulate and channel dialogue, prevent conflicts, build trust and balance competing interests in a partnership. As dialogue and joint decision-making are central to partnering, it is important that leaders be active listeners who ensure that all interests are heard and taken into consideration. Leaders also need to cultivate open and frank discussions, knowledge sharing among partners, and transparent and participatory decision-making. A challenge for many partnerships is to cultivate awareness of the value of professional group facilitation and to mobilize the resources needed for facilitation.With the support of ILAC, MUSALAC engaged a facilitator to help the group reflect on achieving greater impact in the forthcoming decade, with special regard to achievements to date. For a partnership activity focusing on plantain production, processing and added value, the inaugural workshop used a participatory planning approach, Participatory Impact Pathways Analysis (PIPA), in order to move beyond individual research outputs and look at cumulative research and uptake in pilot communities.In explaining the CA initiatives to policy-makers in Bolivia, a young female policy analyst was used as the facilitator and proved invaluable to the process. In a context where there is a large gap between institutions and the public sector, she was able to present research evidence neutrally, thus avoiding mistrust. Her non-threatening image and her good understanding of the interests of both sides enabled her to act as a bridge between actors who later found common ground for collaborative work.The roles and responsibilities of individuals in a partnership need to be clearly defined and based on an understanding of and respect for individual interests and capabilities. A common problem with partnerships is the poor understanding of partners' roles and contributions. Early in the establishment of a partnership, it is useful to 'map' the potential roles of partners, and then enable them to 'try on' their new roles and responsibilities to see how well they fit with their work in their 'home organizations'. A common error is to assume that individuals from different organizational settings (e.g., research organizations and NGOs) need to change their 'paradigm' and work together in a totally new way. In many cases, however, successful partnering involves linking up the activities of different organizations more effectively, rather than changing what each organization considers its core activities.In UPWARD, the current sweet potato R4D partnership benefited from collaborative proposal development, particularly in setting the goals and agenda. The partners then set down the specific activities they would undertake to achieve the goals, allowing them to clearly identify where they could make a clear contribution and add value to the partnership. They pieced their views together to form a comprehensive plan of action with clearly delineated roles for each partner. This was a critical step for the partnership because some partners initially had seen themselves as competitors rather than collaborators.The case of AHI is similar. AHI engages in collaborative proposal development in which the roles of the partners are clearly spelt out. This is followed up by a joint effort to create work plans and specific activities where partner contributions to common goals are determined.In the CA partnership, linking the impact assessment component with the implementation component has been crucial in determining responsibilities during the M&E studies (e.g., who should collect the information, and who should make judgements and reach conclusions).An important recommendation from the Learning Laboratory workshop was: \"Never leave your partner behind, always keep them informed and engaged.\" Appropriate mechanisms and processes are needed to promote effective communication, knowledge sharing and joint learning, with time and resources available for this at the initial planning phase and throughout the duration of the partnership. Partners need 'safe spaces' in which to voice constructive criticism and share experiences. Individual and, in particular, group accomplishments also need to be acknowledged.Much of the knowledge that needs to be shared within a partnership is 'tacit knowledge' that is best communicated through face-to-face interactions, preferably in a field environment. Collective learning is a particular challenge. As one participant noted: \"Someone needs to seriously hold up the learning flag.\" A clear learning strategy needs to be developed and implemented.All these observations highlight the importance of effectively facilitating interactions to ensure good levels of knowledge sharing and collective learning. In addition, non-controversial entry points for learning are useful. For example, systematic evidence on progress and goal attainment is a useful starting point for discussions in the planning stage on the clarity of goals and the effectiveness of strategies and theories of change. This highlights the potential value of M&E, an area that has received little attention to date.Face-to-face encounters are, however, not enough. It is also important that key information and lessons be converted into 'explicit knowledge' (e.g., in the form of text, photographs, videos and other media) that can be shared widely and contributes to the institutional memory.MUSALAC usually follows a pattern of intense interaction during the face-to-face biennial meeting and then a quieter period. Electronic communication has greatly facilitated ongoing interaction between meetings, with some partners being very active but others rarely heard online. The network has discussed the value of new electronic tools, but has not yet expanded their use to any great extent.In UPWARD, the sweet potato R4D partnership holds learning workshops that encourage knowledge sharing. These include the UPWARD network meetings of the past and the less formal workshops of more recent years. The basic elements of these workshops include a review, a reflection and a course of action to take, with specific tasks allotted. Efforts are made to link these workshops, or at least to recall them in subsequent ones order to provide follow-up as well as learning.All the major SDP review events (e.g., logframe revisits) are held in up-country retreats away from distractions and the strong influences of the individual partner organizations.In the CA partnership, joint learning activities on empowerment and market articulation were established; they included virtual learning modules as well as online and face-to-face discussions. Some partners were able to link adequately, but others, particularly those with many technicians in the field, suffered from poor connectivity and frequently missed the events. The methodology therefore had to be changed and more field visits were organized in order to use face-to-face meetings as joint learning opportunities. Particularly important are the annual planning meetings, because they provide an opportunity to co-ordinate and share perspectives and goals.In AHI, the partners are establishing a knowledge-sharing and communication plan in which all the partners state how they can contribute to the common goal, based on their core goals and interests and on the mode of communication to be used to disseminate different knowledge materials to different partners, depending on their needs, capacity and interests. The AHI partners also benefit from frequent face-to-face interactions through workshops and meetings to plan, monitor and review activities.As noted earlier, for partners to remain committed to a partnership, the benefits they derive need to outweigh the costs they incur. On a broader scale, for a partnership to 'add value' to an AR4D effort, the total benefit it generates for individual partners as well as other (intended or unintended) beneficiaries should exceed the costs incurred by the partners in establishing and maintaining the partnership. Too often, these costs are not adequately anticipated in the partnership design, or partners join with false expectations of the likely benefits, leading to disillusionment and loss of commitment. Even when partners join the effort well aware of the potential costs and benefits, maintaining their commitment over time requires the partnership deliver benefits to them over time.Experience shows that for a partnership to be sustained over time, it needs to deliver significant benefits above and beyond those flowing to the individual members. In strong partnerships, the synergy of individual and social objectives results in overall benefits that significantly exceed the costs. Recognition of collective or social benefits helps to energize the partnership and renew the partners' commitment to it. The benefits might not always be equal, but they need to be equitable.A recent activity completed by MUSALAC partners focused on soil and root health. An earlier symposium had raised the issue for scientific debate and FONTAGRO funded a 3-year project on the subject, covering four countries. During the project, the countries benefited through capacity building and site-specific research results useful to targeted groups of growers. There were collective benefits from the cross-country comparisons and from the greater capacity of partners to attract additional funding. A system of homologue zones has been set up to facilitate the extrapolation of results from countries participating directly in the donor-funded projects to other countries that are in the network but not involved in the projects.In UPWARD, the effort to link sweet potato farmers in the Philippines to markets builds on the principles of collaboration described by Bernet et al. (2005). The partnerships develop out of individual interests in making the market chain work both for actors and for support institutions such as research institutes, although they are also aware of the potential collective benefit -demonstrated impact on household incomes due to help from research.In the SDP partnership, staff from partner organizations (regardless of academic level or professional status) were encouraged to use emerging project information to develop and produce knowledge products (papers, reports, news or book articles, etc.), and these were promoted for use as reference materials. Resources were made available for the staff to make presentations in workshops and conferences in order to communicate emerging knowledge, but also to build the staff's professional careers.In the CA programme, the challenge of how to evaluate participatory methodologies was the starting point for those involved in the impact assessment component (including researchers from universities, professional evaluation networks, and agricultural research organizations) to discuss experiences and approaches. The work began with an intensive phase of debates and the preparation of glossaries, guides and theories of change. Later, evaluation methods were developed and tested, and the results were published. The work has generated both individual and collective benefits, with each participant having shared experiences and acquired new learning.Critical management tasks vary depending on the stage of development of a partnership. For example, in the start-up phase particular attention needs to be paid to partner selection. Later on, more attention needs to focus on establishing adequate mechanisms for communication, managing joint activities and maintaining partner commitment. Later on still it becomes important for partners to take stock of their accomplishments and shortcomings and consider revising their goals and strategies.But partnering seldom follows such a neat three-stage model. Partnerships are complex and inherently unstable arrangements that can take unpredictable courses. External or internal shocks might occur at any point, requiring adjustments in activities or strategies, or even transitions to new institutional arrangements.Over time, partnership priorities are likely to evolve and the activities and output should evolve as well.For example, a partnership that initially focused on research might later need to engage in capacitybuilding or other development-related activities. The circumstances in which partnerships operate also shift, sometimes dramatically. In some cases (e.g., CA and UPWARD), partnerships are established with donor support and it can be a major challenge to sustain the partnership when the initial funding ends. UPWARD provides a good example of how this can be achieved. Since the AR4D domain supported by UPWARD reflects the core institutional mandate of the partners, the commitment is not limited by a shortterm project. In addition, UPWARD has nurtured personal relationships that have sustained interactions beyond the project setting. In all cases, partners can be expected to come and go over time, and as their interests and priorities change so should their roles and the relationships among them. These dynamic elements of partnering highlight the fact that managing change is central to effective partnership management.MUSALAC began as the Latin American and Caribbean Network (LACNET), which brought together prominent banana scientists with the emphasis on genetic resources. This reflected the high priority being given at the time to breeding, new cultivars and genetic resource conservation. In the late 1990s, however, the agenda for banana expanded and the regional network was re-organized based on country representatives. More recently, a change in donor funding to shorter-term targeted projects has led to a shift to biennial meetings, with greater use of electronic communication.The objectives of the SDP programme have changed considerably over 20 years. These changes were influenced by the frequent reviews of the project's progress goal based on information from the dairy industry and on observations by external actors, especially the donor, on how the project could achieve the greatest impact. Initially, the project sought to develop technologies to enhance production at farm level.Mid-way through it, the focus shifted to exploring milk marketing and engaging all types and levels of partners to address what was emerging as the major constraint -access to appropriate and effective markets.The project finally focussed on using information generated over its lifetime to inform policy formulation, especially on the importance of the dairy industry to the country's economy and the constraints inherent in the marketing regulation framework.AHI has undergone an adaptive learning process, responding to changes in its external environment and taking account of the views of it partners. It is currently in its fourth phase since inception. Initially, AHI was organized around regionally determined technical priorities (e.g., characterization and diagnosis, integrated pest management, and improved soil productivity). It then shifted its approach to participatory research with an integrated systems perspective and multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary teamwork. It funded work at pilot benchmark sites as a way of testing and demonstrating the value of new technologies and modes of working. It later linked farm-level work to improve productivity with collective action to address issues at higher levels. Over time, action research approaches and participatory M&E have been introduced, and AHI now focuses on promoting the use of integrated natural resource management (NRM) approaches, including self-led institutional change (where institutions realize the need to modify and adapt to changing situations as a result of learning) and the development of farmer institutions (supporting capacity building to improve leadership, management and governance). It also empowers farmer institutions to exercise their rights and engage in pro-poor policy development and landscape governance (management of natural resources at landscape level through participatory by-law formulation).The effectiveness and benefits of working in partnership depend not only on the management and relationships within the partnership itself, but also on the culture, policies and procedures within the partnering organizations and on socio-economic, political and other factors in the broader external environment.The ways that partnerships operate and the results they produce are strongly influenced by the culture, policies and operating procedures that prevail within the partner organizations. If, for example, a partner organization values individual achievement over teamwork, then individuals from that organization might be discouraged from engaging substantially in the co-production of outputs through a partnership.Similarly, if a partner organization has strict rules on intellectual property rights, this could also discourage partnering.If an organization wishes to work productively in partnership with others, it therefore need to examine its own culture, policies and management practices and, where necessary, make changes to encourage and facilitate partnering behaviour. Management elements that typically require special attention include: human resources (e.g., performance assessment criteria), administration and finance (e.g., procedures for letters of understanding, contracts and audits; and IPR rules that cover the co-production of outputs), planning and M&E (ensuring partners' needs and views are reflected) and assessment of partnership processes.A common challenge in partnerships is that each partner has its own bureaucratic processes, and these need to be respected. Organizations with hierarchical and rigid structures and procedures can have difficulty operating effectively in a partnership. Bringing about changes in such structures requires support from the highest level of management and, even where this exists, making procedures more partnership friendly requires a change process in the organization that elicits the support and active involvement of middle-level managers.In a multi-country project that brought together partners from MUSALAC, one partner (a national coffee institute run by growers' organizations) designated its involvement to an organization in another country (a university looking for research opportunities for young professors and students) due to the latter's greater research capacity.In UPWARD, a lot of time and effort has gone into sorting out project reporting, fund disbursement and reporting, management and co-ordination of a multi-agency sweet potato research activity. These factors were addressed through explicit provisions in memoranda of agreement (MOA), while existing umbrella MOAs and memoranda of understanding (MOUs) were reviewed. What could and could not be undertaken by the different partners, and how others could fill the gap, dictated operational details. Transparency in all areas of the partnership was found to be essential to maintain trust among the partners.In the SDP programme, the three major implementing organizations differed considerably in their accounting procedures, and none was willing (or able) to change their procedures to be more compatible with those of the other partners. To address this, at the beginning of the project the partners developed a unique accounting system for the SDP, which satisfied the donor's reporting requirements, suited the fieldwork and met other accountability requirements. This system was then implemented and hosted in a partner institution (ILRI) that could accommodate separate accounting processes.Partnerships operate in a macro context affected by political and socio-economic currents. In some cases, these favour the partnership mode, in others they do not. When establishing and managing a partnership, it is important to be sensitive to shifting currents in the macro context that can affect the partnership. Where partnerships cross national boundaries, they need to be aware of national issues and trends that influence individual partners' priorities and room for manoeuvre (e.g., one country's national policies might favour market-chain development over small-farm organization, whereas another might favour the opposite; a regional partnership ignores such differences at its peril).Three specific challenges that the participants in the Learning Laboratory meeting identified were: how to recognize and manage the diversity of partners' contexts; how to build and maintain partnerships in unstable environments; and how to manage the effects of an unstable political environment.In a current multi-country MUSALAC project, three of the four partner research institutes are experiencing a period of instability due to personnel changes in the management team, national elections and a rumoured dissolution of the institute. In two cases, the situation is temporary, with little impact on the proposed work, but in the third case a major overhaul of the partnership might be necessary.The SDP mission was to be implemented in the context of strong socio-economic and political currents and its success depended on a thorough understanding of this context. This was achieved in two ways: carrying out a study of the policy environment and framework that affected the dairy industry (SDP, 2004); and working with representatives who were insiders in the country's policy structures. The Project Steering Committee had representatives from the Ministry of Livestock, KARI and the Kenya Dairy Board who were all senior government officials who were well informed about the country's policy dynamics and, to some extent, influential in the direction it would take.In the Andean region, while Peru and Colombia favour market-chain development and the decentralization of public policies, Bolivia and Ecuador focus on food sovereignty, recovery of indigenous knowledge and community development. These differences have led CA to be a partnership with different types of institutions in each country working differently according to the context. Having partners with different strengths and perspectives was possible because, despite the different approaches, they were all focused on development and poverty alleviation.The participants in the Learning Laboratory meeting identified a number of areas where partnering work could be improved, three of which stand out: partner organizations' policies and management practices in support of partnerships, capacity development in partnership management, and evaluation of partnership processes and results (for both learning and accountability).As indicated in Section 4, the policies and management practices of organizations can strongly influence the ways in which they partner with other organizations. Only one of the participating organizations in the Learning Laboratory programmes, ILRI, has developed a partnership strategy and management system, and this has been only partially implemented (ILRI, 2008). Other organizations involved in AR4D could usefully review their policies and management procedures and make needed adjustments in such areas as: priority setting and planning processes; financial management; legal procedures for developing and managing agreements involving partners; performance assessment procedures (for organizations and individuals); human resource policies (including incentives for individual and team achievements, and recognition of the diverse roles of researchers in partnerships); and management of intellectual property.Working in partnership requires a wider range of skills and abilities than is usually in place in agricultural research organizations. In addition to technical competencies, professionals working in partnership require new skills in management, knowledge sharing, communication, mediation, facilitation of group decisionmaking, and policy influence. One advantage of working in partnership is that individuals need not develop all the skills needed to achieve a complex task, but can draw on the skills of their partners. To do so, however, requires leadership and management.In support of the capacity development needed for effective partnering, ILAC offers training in facilitation, policy influence and social network analysis. Much more work, however, is needed in these and other areas if there is to be a significant impact on the capacity of AR4D organizations to work effectively in partnership.There was a broad consensus among the participants in the Learning Laboratory workshop that improvements are urgently needed in M&E to support both accountability and learning in partnership programmes. Improved M&E is needed in two main spheres: the evaluation of partnering processes (the types of processes outlined in Section 4) and the evaluation of the results of partnering (the value added by partnering, both for the individual partners and for society in general).The participants highlighted the need for improvements in estimating the costs and benefits of partnering.Prior to committing to a partnership, individuals and organizations would like to have better estimates of the costs, including both monetary costs and time required (for partnership meetings, administration, etc.). The partners and external stakeholders would also like to have better ways of gauging the benefits or 'value added' of partnering (the net benefits of partnering compared with other ways of working). Special attention needs to be given to assessing the intangible benefits. All this information would help potential partners in their decision-making, and would also help to justify and legitimize the involvement of individuals and their organizations in partnership work.Working in partnership generally involves doing different things and doing things differently. Traditional evaluation methods are better at judging the merits of the former than the latter. Working in new ways in partnership with others produces intangible benefits (e.g., knowledge sharing, capacity development and institutional innovation), which are difficult to evaluate. Having better documentation and evaluation of such benefits would be useful for comparing the potential and actual costs and benefits of working in partnership. Another evaluation concern relates to impact pathways. It is seldom clear how partnering activities and outputs lead to socio-economic and environmental outcomes and impact. Clarification of the impact pathways could help planning partnerships and documenting their results.Among the Learning Laboratory programmes there are few examples of good practice in this area. Some of them are experimenting with new approaches to partnership M&E. For example, the CA programme is experimenting with a methodology for participatory M&E in the Andean Region in which farmers and other stakeholders in a development initiative evaluate the initiative and propose alternatives for its improvement. The programme also has developed an impact assessment component based on practical methods for evaluating the effects of interventions on changes in stakeholder attitudes and practices. In its future activities, the SDP intends to support improving the capacity for participatory evaluation among resource-poor dairy farmers and other market actors. Thiele et al. (2009) have developed an approach for participatory evaluation in the context of a partnership or network; known as Horizontal Evaluation its aim is to foster knowledge sharing, learning and programme improvement.In 2010, the ILAC Initiative will begin methodological work on impact evaluation for pro-poor, collaborative research programmes which will address these and other questions.What have we learned from the Learning Laboratory workshop that was not already documented in previous reports and publications on partnership (as reviewed by Horton et al., 2009)?One important thing is that there is substantial diversity in partnership experiences in AR4D programmes, reflected in the six programme experiences that we reviewed in the meeting. Some partnerships focus on research, others on value-chain development and yet others on stimulating policy dialogue. Reflecting these different goals, the types of partners engaged range from researchers alone to highly diverse groups, including extension workers, policy-makers, market agents, small-scale farmers, donors and CSOs. The geographical scope of the partnerships varies, from focusing on one region in one country to working across 12 countries, and the duration of the partnerships ranges from 2 years to more than 20 years. The degree of formality of the partnerships and the management arrangements used vary greatly. For example, participation in MUSALAC is governed by written agreements and formal governance mechanisms, whereas the KIA learning alliance in India is highly informal in its operations. The level of engagement of partners also varies across the partnerships and over time.An important implication of this diversity, in just our six programmes, is that universal guidelines for partnership management are unlikely to be helpful. Nevertheless, we did identify several common concerns and a set of factors that appear to have influenced the performance of the partnerships. These factors related to the processes of partnership establishment and management and to the external environment in which the partnership operates. Within these two broad groups of factors we identified more specific success factors:• Factors related to partnership establishment and management: -Leadership -Vision, goals and agenda -Partner commitment -Process facilitation -Roles and responsibilities -Communication, knowledge sharing and joint learning -Individual and collective benefits -Change management • Factors related to the environment in which a partnership operates -Partner organizations' culture, policies and procedures -External socio-economic and political environment Although we have not identified universal guidelines for managing successful partnerships, and believe that the main challenges and locally appropriate solutions need to be identified in each case, we suggest that this list of success factors could serve as a checklist for those engaged in partnership design and management.We also learned that there a few common priorities for improving partnering work, which fall into three main areas: organizational policies and management practices that support partnering, capacity development for partnership management, and the evaluation of partnership processes and results. We believe that these three areas merit attention within the CGIAR and throughout the AR4D community to strengthen the role of partnerships in achieving development goals.A final point we would like to make is that the findings presented in this paper have emerged from discussions that took place over a few days in a single workshop, based on our personal experiences with partnerships in six AR4D programmes. The findings should therefore not be viewed as hard-and-fast conclusions based on thorough study, but rather as propositions to be validated, revised or rejected on the basis of further study. As noted by Huxham and Vangen (2005), we believe the best way to enhance knowledge in this area is through systematic action research on the organization and management of partnerships in AR4D. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f7b5771039721aae32922e7c606c888c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/33220377-328b-4212-ade0-b86f8b651e3a/retrieve","id":"1721981091"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"64aca991-a30b-4d8b-8093-0fd00a88a49c","content":"Description of the innovation: Multidisciplinary framework that identifies entry points for the design of potential food systems innovations, highlighting potential synergies, feedback, and tradeoffs within the food system."}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"e7e925bb-f62c-4bef-b270-7ade324253b0","content":"tencia horizontal, la discusi6n sobre el tema tuvo el objeto de recoger sugeren­\ncias e ideas que permitieran enfocar las investigaciones de los fitomejoradores \npor vfas más seguras y prácticas. Se sugirilS que en los centros internacionales \ne instituciones nacionales se dé prioridad a la identificaci6n de: a) fuentes de ré­\nsistencia horizontal; b) técnicas que permitan aislar, en las poblaciones segre­\ngantes, las plantas con resistencia horizontal; y c) técnicas para inducir, bajo \ncondiciones de campo, buenas infecciones de piricularia, especialmente en el \ncuello de la panfcula. \nSe sugiri6 que la metodologra más adecuada podrra ser la prueba del material \ngenético directamente en el campo en condiciones de secano, seleccionando las \nplantas menos afectadas en el área foliar y descartando aquellas que muestran In­\nfecci6n en el cuello de la panrcula . \nInvestigaci6n Colaborativa sobre Piricularia en América Latina \nSe discutieron varios aspectos relacionados con la prueba de material genéti­\nco para evaluar la resistencia a piricularia. Se discutió la posibilidad de pro­\nbar el material en condiciones de campo y descartar las pruebas en camas de \ninfección, pero el consenso general fue que, mientras no se conozca el mé­\ntodo más adecuado para la evaluaci6n del material, se deben seguir utilizando \nlas camas de infeccilSn para determinar la reacci6n del material en estado de \nplántula; los programas que tengan las facilidades, pueden sembrar el mate­\nrial en condiciones de campo para evaluar la reacci6n en estado de planta a­\ndulta (infecci6n en el cuello de la panrcula). \nCon el fin de que el CIAT y el ffiRI puedan ayudar más efectivamente a solu­\ncionar el problema de piricularia en América Latina, se solicitó a los técnicos de \nlos programas nacionales que indicaran el tipo de materiales que desean reci­\nbir. Con excepción de Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay y Surinam. los delegados \nmanifestaron el interés de continuar recibiendo el germoplasma por medio del \nvivero de piricularia y/o material segregante y avanzado. Algunos delegados \nsugirieron que en el vivero de piricularia se incluyan las variedades comer­\nciales de la r egi6n y las variedades diferenciales. El delegado de Brasil su­\ngirió la inclusi6n de material precoz y adaptable al cultivo de secano. En el \nCuadro 20 se indica la clase de material que fue solicitado para evaluar la \nreacci6n a la piricularia y aislar el germoplasma con resistencia para utili­\nzarlo en cruzamientos o promoverlo a ensayos de rendimiento. \n56 \n01 ..., \nCuadro 20. Germoplasma solicitado en la Tercera Conferencia del ffiTP para América Latina \npara evaluar la reacci6n a piricularia. \nPaIses 11 \nG e r m o E 1 a s m a \nViveros-ª/ \nVIPAL ffiBN Material Segregante 11 Material avanzado 11 \nBrasil X X X \nColombia X \nCosta Rica X X \nCuba X X X \nEcuador X X X \nEl Salvador X \nHonduras X \nGuatemala X \nGuyana X X \nMéxico X X X \nNicaragua X \nPanamá X X \nParaguay X \nPero X X X \nRep. D:>minicana X \nUruguay X \nVenezuela X X \n11 Los paIses de América Latina no incluidos, no desean por el momento material para \npiricularia, \n11 VIPAL; Vivero Internacional de Piricularia para América Latina que despachará el \nClAT. \nffiBN ; Vivero Internacional de Piricularia que despachará el mRI. \ny Material que despachará el ClAT. \nParticipantes en la Tercera Conferencia \ndel IRTP para América Latina \n1. Wolfgang Jetter* \nEstaci6n Experimental INTA \nCasilla de Correo N° 57 \nCorrientes, Argentina \n2. Francisco paz Antelo \nCIAT \nCasilla 247 \nSanta Cruz, Bolivia \n3. Eulalio Garcra \nMinistry of Agriculture \nandLands \nBelmopan, Belice, C.A. \n4. Peter G. Lee \nMinistry of Agriculture \nand Lands \nBelmopan, Belice, C.A. \n5. Nguyen Van Tan \nIICA/EMBRAPA \nCaixa Postal 179 \nGoiania, GoiáB, Brasil \n6. \n7. \n8. \n9. \nPaulo Serg10 Carmona \nInstituto Rio Grandense \ndo Arroz \nCaixa Postal 1927 \nPorto Alegre, RS \nBrasil \nSidnei Bicca da Rocha \nInstituto Rio Grandense \ndo Arroz \nCaixa Postal 1927 \nPorto Alegre, R. S. \nBrasil \nDerly Machado de Souza \nInstituto Agrooomico de \nCampinas \nCaixa Postal 28 \n13.1000 Campinas, SP \nBrasil \nArlindo Bonifacio \nGerente Nacional \ndo Projeto Arroz \ne Drenagem e Irriga930 \nEMBRATER \nSEP /Norte-W3-Q515 \nLote 03 \nBrasilia, DF, Brasil \n* Lrderes de Programas nacionales que cancelaron su participaci6n. \n68 \n10. Jairton Almeida Diniz 17. Benjam!n Rivera \nEMBRATER ICA - Turipaná \nSEP /Norte-WJ-Q515 Apartado Aéreo 206 \nLote 03 Monter!a, Córdoba \nBrasilia, DF, Brasil Colombia, S.A. \n11. Selson Almir Melo Cruz 18. Alberto Dávalos \nEMBRATER !CA - La Libertad \nSEP /Norte-W3-Q515 Apartado Aéreo 2011 \nLote 03 Villavicencio, Meta \nBrasilia, DF, Brasil Colombia, S.A. \n12. Dierson Farias Novaes 19. Hernando Suárez \nEMBRATER \nFEDEARROZ \nSEP /Norte-W3-Q515 \nApartado Aéreo 52772 \nLote 03 \nBogotá, D. E. \nBrasilia, DF, Brasil \nColombia, S.A. \n13. Valdemir Moura Oliveira Lima 20. Rafael Robayo \nEMBRATER ICA - Nataima \nSEP /Norte-W3-Q515 Apartado Postal 02 \nLote 03 Espinal, Tolima \nBrasilia, DF, Brasil Colombia, S,A. \n14. César P. Martfhez R. 21. Gustavo Villegas V. \nICA FEDEARROZ \nApartado Aéreo 233 Apartado Aéreo 52772 \nPalmira, Valle, Colombia Bogotá, D.E. \nColombia, S.A. \n15. Darro Leal Monsalve \nICA - La Libertad 22. Patricio Vargas \nApartado Aéreo 2011 ICA/FE DEARROZ \nVillavicencio, Meta Apartado Aéreo 233 \nColombia, S.A. Palmira, Valle \nColombia, S. A. \n16. Edmundo Garc!a Quiroz 23. Kitty Cardwell \nICA ICA - La Libertad \nApartado Aéreo 233 Apartado Aéreo 2011 \nPalmira, Valle Villavicencio, Meta \nColombia, S.A, Colombia, S. A. \n59 \n24. \n25. \n26. \n27. \n28. \n29. \nPeter R. Jennings \nCIAT \nApartado 55, Coronado \nProvincia de San José \nCosta Rica, C.A. \nJosé l. Murillo \nMinisterio de \nAgricultura y Ganaderfa \nApartado 10094 \nSan José, Costa Rica \nManuel H. Carrera \nMinisterio de \nAgricultura y Ganaderfa \nApartado 10094 \nSan José, Costa Rica \nRolando Gonz:!lez \nMinisterio de \nAgricultura y Ganaderfa \nApartado 10094 \nSan José, Costa Rica \nGustavo Veitra Montero \nMinisterio de la Agricultura \nCalzada de Rancho Boyeros \ny Crucero Armada \nMunicipio Cerro \nCiudad Habana, Cuba \nAlfredo Gutiérrez \nMinisterio de la Agricultura \nCalzada de Rancho Boyeros \ny Crucero Armada \nMunicipio Cerro \nCiudad Habana, Cuba \n60 \n30. José Roberto Alvarado \nINIA \n31. \n32. \n33. \n34. \n35. \n36. \nEst. Exptal. QUILAMAPU \nCasilla 426 \nChill1ln, Chile \nFrancisco Andrade \nINIAP \nApartado 7069 \nGuayaquil, Ecuador \nJulio Delgado \nINIAP \nApartado 7069 \nGuayaquil, Ecuador \nLoyd Jolmson \nINIAP \nApartado 7069 \nGuayaquil, Ecuador \nWashington Peñafiel \nINIAP \nApartado 7069 \nGuayaquil, Ecuador \nA. Vivian E. Chin \nGuyana Rice Board \n1 & 2 Water Street \nGeorgetown, \nRep11blica de Guyana \nLeroy Small \nGuyana Rice Board \n1 & 2 Water Street \nGeorgetown \nRep11blica de Guyana \n37. Luis Alberto Guerrero* \nMinisterio de \nAgricultura y Ganadería \nCENTA \nSan Salvador, El Salvador \n38. Walter Ramiro Pazos \nICTA \n5a. Av. 12-31, \nZona 9 \nEdificio \"El Cortez 11 \n2° nivel \nGuatemala, Guatemala, C.A. \n39. Carlos Alburez \nJCTA \n5a. Av. 12-31, Zona 9 \nEdificio \"El Cortez\" \n2° nivel \nGuatemala, Guatemala, C.A. \n40. Claude Grand-Pierre \nService de Recherches \nAgrícoles \nDARNDR-DAMIEN \nPort-au-Price , \nHaití \nn. Napoleón Reyes' \nMinisterio de Recursos \nNaturales \nD. A. R. 113 \nSan Pedro Sula, Cortés, \nHonduras, C. A. \n42. .Leopoldo Crivelli \nMinisterio de Recursos \nNaturales \nD.A.R. 113 \nSan Pedro Sula, Cortés, \nHonduras, C. A. \n61 \n43. . Leonardo Hernández Arag6n* \nINIA \nApartado Postal 11 12 \nZacatepec, Morelos, \nMéxico \n44. José Manuel Bravo B. \nInstituto Nicaraguense de \nTecnologra Agropecuaria \nApartado 2648 \nManagua, Nicaragua, C. A. \n45. Ezequiel Espinosa \nUniversidad de Panamá \nFacultad de Agronomra \nEstafeta Universitaria \nPanamá, Rep. de Panamá \n46. Carlos Reyes \nUniversidad de Panamá \nFacultad de Agronomra \nEstafeta Universitaria \nPanamá, Rep. de Panamá \n47. Rolando Lasso \nIDIAP \nApartado 6-4391 \nEstafeta El Dorado \nPanamá 6, \nRap. de Panamá \n48. Jorge Esteban Rodas \nMinisterio de \nAgricultura \nEstación Experimental \nCaacupé, Paraguay \n49. José Hernllndez Leyton 55. Benito Rodrfguez \nMinisterio de Depto. de Recursos Externos \nAlimentaciÓn Secretarfa de Estado de \nCRIA TI Agricultura \nApartado 116 Centro de los Héroes, \nChic1ayo, Pero Santo Domingo, \nRepdblica Domtn1cana \nAlberto Jiménez \n56. José Miguel Cordero M. \n50. ELANCO \nUniversidad Nacional Santo Domingo \n\"Pedro Ruiz Gallo\" Repdbltca Dominicana \nLambayeque, Pero \n57. Mohamed J. Idoe \nRice Research and Breeding \n52. Rafael Olaya Station \nMinisterio de P.O. Box 26 \nAlimentaciÓn New Nickerie, Surinam \nCRIA n \nApartado 116 \nNicolás Cbebataroff Chic1ayo, Pero 58. \nCentro de InvestigaciÓn \nAgrfcolas \n\"Alberto Boerger\" \n51. Victorino Saavedra Estación Experimental del Este \nMinisterio de 33 Ute 23, Uruguay \nAlimentaciÓn \nCRIA n \nApartado 116 59. Anibal Rodrfguez Herrera \nChic1ayo, Pero ClARCOjFONAlAP \nEstación Expe r1rnental \nAraure \nApartado 102 \n53. Manuel E. Castillo M. \nAraure, \nSecretaña de Estado de \nEstado Portuguesa \nAgricultura \nVenezuela \nEstaciÓn Experimental Juma \nBonao, Repdbltca Dominicana 60. Alberto Salih \nFONAlAP \nEstación Experimental \nCalabozo \n54. Yin-Tieh Hsieh Apartado 14 \nMisiÓn Técnico-Agrfcola Calabozo, \nEstaciÓn Experimental Juma Estado Guárico \nBonao, RepdbUca Dominicana Venezuela \n62 \nI / \nj \n• Luis L6pez \nPrograma Delta \nCVG \nApartado 2224 \nCaracas, Venezuela \n62. Harold E. Kauffman \nIRRl \nP.O. Box 933 \nManila, Filipinas \n63. J. P. Crill \nlRRl \nP.O. Box 933 \nManila, Filipinas \n64. Héctor Weeraratne \nCIAT \nApartado Aéreo 6713 \nCali, Colombia, S. A. \n65. Sang-Won Ahn \nCIAT \nApartado Aéreo 6713 \nCali, Colombia, S.A. \n66. Joaqufn A. González, F. \nCIAT \nApartado Aéreo 6713 \nCali, Colombia, S. A. \n67. Manuel J. Rosero \nCIAT/IRRl \nApartado Aéreo 6713 \nCali, Colombia, S. A. \n68. Fernando Femández \nCIAT \nApartado Aéreo 6713 \nCali, Colombia, S.A. \n63 \n69. Alexander Grobman \nCIAT \nApartado Aéreo 6713 \nCali, Colombia, S. A. \n70. B. A. C. Enyi \nWARDA \nP. O. Box 1019 \nMonrovia, Liberia \n71 . Jean Loop Notteghem \nlRAT \nBP 604 \nBovake, Costa de Marfil \n72. lván Buddenhagen \nIITA \nP.M.B. 5320 \nIbadan, Nigeria \n73. Pablo Buriticá \nlCA \nApartado Aéreo 151123 \nBogotá, D. E, \nColombia, S.A. \n74. J. C. Lozano \nCIAT \nApartado Aéreo 6713 \nCali, Colombia, S.A. \n75. David R. MacKenzie \nThe Pennsylvania \nState University \nCollege of Agriculture \nDepartment of Plant \nPatology \n211 Buckhout Laboratory \nUniversity Park, Penn. 16802 \nU.S.A. \n76. Carmen de L6pez \nPrograma Delta CVG \nApartado 2224 \nCaracas, Venezuela \n"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/0472610325.json b/main/part_2/0472610325.json
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6c1defef9b40b5bf0a77f2bea0cabeb4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3fc49cf6-a13b-4b6a-90bc-ce3a39390555/retrieve","id":"825571294"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1b3773fc-3fb3-4bdf-bb3d-84a8483e9a74","content":"RESUME ' Cet article appuy6 sur une enqu6te socio-ticonomique 6tudie la productivit6 du bananier plantain en association et les con' traintes pour une production d grande 6chelle i partir des m6thodes pratiqu6es en cultutes associries ; on montre que ce dernier s]'steme produit prds de quatre fois plus. Ceci s'explique par I'application 16' gulidre de d6chets domestiques, une attention suivie du paysan et le ben6fice alimentaire retir6 par les plantains des arbres complant6s pr6rennes i enracinement profond. l.es limites du systime sont li6es i la fourniture de matirlre organique et au volume du march6. On peut accroitre la production pour la p6riode ereuse de juin d septembre et aussi en vue de la conqu6te des march6s 6loign6s grdce d de bons emballages.In the high rainfall areas of Eastern Nigeria plantain ranks high as a carbohydrate source. Although fairly large quantities are produced, it is not commonly found in the shifting cultivation systems in which most popular food crops are found. The bulk is produced in small intensively managed village cornpound gardens. These gardens are higNy productive when compared with plot in shifting cultivation or large scale commercial field lnterestingly, village compound garden plantains do not suffer from the rapid decline phenomenon obseryed in other fields. BRAI-DE and WILSON (l) concluded that the high productivity of the village compound garden plantain was the result of organic matter in the form of household refuse and kitchen waste applied regularly to these gardens that are usually close to the house and the kitchen.Important as these gardens are, they are not well understood. There have been cursory investigations into the biological factors, but the economics remain unknown. This report represents preliminary findings of investigation into the economics of plantain production in village compound gardens and their contribution to household income. The report is based on a sample survey of smallholder plantain producers in southeastern Nigeria conducted from January to December 1985. The objective was to describe the snallholder plantain production prac-tices and assess the value of resources used in it.  Mar. 1988, vol.43, no 3, p.161-166.ABSTRACT -This paper, based on a socio'economic survey, investigates the productivitl' of compound plantain production and consriaints to ^large scale production on the basis of the compound p::riuction .\"1hud.. The paper shows that production under the c\",rpound svstem results in nearly four times as.much yield as in non\"ornpornd system. This is ahributed to regular application of kitchen ind other compound wastes, close cultural attention given by the farmen, and to nutrient recycling to the benefit of the compbund plantains from deep tooted perennial tree crops interplanted' i',arge rale production employing the compound methods is limited by iupply of organic matter and by available market for plantains' Availablo markei can be expanded by increased production during the slack period of June to September when output is low and by packaging to reduce damage in transit to take advantage of distant markets.-hq',**.;.,'u*r'*\" Fruitsvol. 43,no3,lggg  Harcourt road. Every.household in this communrty had plantain mats (Fig. l) in the .o.pouud-unal t , also had some plantain mats in locations a titomet.r-o, ,*o uruy from the compound. Et\"u.n .o.fornJ'Of\"rr.,\" producers were purposely selected for the survey. The selection basis was the willingness of the farmers j affow free access to their compound farms to the enurnerator who collected the farmers compound plantain proaucti,on information, All non-compound plantain _plots in ,lre ;;, three in all, were also included in the studv for cornparatJe pLrrposes.The study was in the forrn of direct observatlon of the plantain production activities of the farrners ln their exist_ rng compound or nonrompouncl plantain for a period of l2 calender months. This was ,...;r\";;;;;use trre farmers did not keep records.Informat.ion including yiel<i rate attained ; and labour, organlc matter. and stake inputs were obtained by direct observation by the enurnerator on daily basis. At the end of each day during the l2 monthr p.rlfJ\"llrnuary I to December 31. i985 the enumerat\"; ;l;;.;'\", ,o nour.holds with a weishins.balance una u ,,ru.,r*rJ protbrmer. During the visit he ieterrnined ttr. urnrl.r-of plantain bunches harvested that day, the weigtrt oi each bunch, and whether the bunches were to be sold or eaten at home. He determined hours of labour ,rJ;i;;;;iJus prantain production operations such as tluru.rting, ,tutlni, *..aing, organrc matter appiication, etc. on tiat Aay.. Ue notes whether or not organic matter was applied, *n.ifl., .\"v plantain plant staked, and whether uny'pt*tuin plant fell over as a result of storm or other causes.In addition, retail market prices of plantain bunches were collected on weekly basis in tfre rurat martet, Eke Umuagwo, where the same farmers ,ofO. if,.'ft.e infor_ mation was also collected by direct meth;; u', follo*, , the enumerator bargained for and ,.ign.J a numUe, of bunches individually and bought on\". p];r.fruring ,orn. of the ,commodity was necessary so that the enumeraror would be regarded as a customer to whom competitive pnces would be quoted. In this *.uf .u.t.t l, ,n most other Nigerian markets commodities such as plantain bunches did not carry fixed p\".\". it.V-*\"ie sotO arra \"Tltn,t .by subjective apprarsat and haggling. Thrs necessrtated the bargaining process of gettin!\" -t-t? p.r.. information.The sample size was. srnall, but, in studies of this nature involving frequent collection \"i';f;;;;; by direct observation over extended period, iurr. ,u'rpr., *oufd prove too expensive. However, in'traa]tionat agriculture production practices pro d u ce rs in -,,.,u,,. uJi'r, r::';1' t_ jl1i,]I, :'#J:T\" ;T;i of accuracy of increa cant. .fhere ,u... no,r. rn sample size may not be signifi_ ,,,,. *..u I ;;;.;;_#:rJ#;::il:T::,l::ff: rely to highlight the producti\"itv \"iir,. i\";;;;ro sysrem.SMALLHOLDER ?LANTAIN PRODUSON PRACTICES .ln the compound, plantains are not grown in layed out fields or gardens. plar I o c a t e d \" t ;.,i;; \" ; ;;::l.U:n, X# :l \" X': J#:il':: ;:: trmes within compound *fr\".rop gurd.n. Cinr\"quently, the size of compoundplantain ;.;r;;;;r-;ay not be estimatable in terms of land area iut i; ;;;.; of number of mats. The eleven compound producers had an average of 44 mats each with a range of 12 to ll2. lna laid out plantain production system one hectare will take I 600 mats. The compound production system ls-,re;;;; \"\" a small scale and there is a wide ringe of uariurlo\"n-ln the scale from household to household depending on -iro* rnu.f, space was available in the compound ; h-ow many people in the household were need of the household :l:::::]:-d in owning mats ; the pound tree crops.Ior-numerous other possible com-The plantains wereerstimated to have been planted between 1971 and, 1980. The .ornrn;;;;;.tly\"\"*r, u rar. horn type known locally as <Abagba>. Most of them were interplanted with arable sia esculenta). All were ,:l:lj, :l:h, as. cocovam (coloca' ::.h u: o,r pui\",' (;;-,;\"';i::::;i Tli,irT#::H1;(Tr e c u tia afr i c a na), .o.onu i tco.r3,', \", ij)rri,' oir,.u, oru. (Dacryodes edulis), kolanut (Cota aiuriirini, orune\", (Citrus sinensis), and uon^, Gti)oc\"o^\"iii\"ii,,). Some of the plantains were originally pf.ni.J in\",J#ougn pits from where soit was taken ior h;r; ;;;r;r;;filo\"n. Ho*.u.., at the time of the study most of them stood o0-refuse mounds built up bv conlinuour or.pirg-.\"Ji tl,n.. rrr. most common items in the refuse *.r\" Z\"rr*a'peels and r Fruitrvol. 43ffi, 1988 -163 kitchen wastes especially wood ash. The corms of the plantains were covered with a mulch of applied organic matter from household wastes.Weeding was done occasionally because frequent appli_ cation of refuse suppressed weeds. Staking to prevent falling over of plants carrying bunches was very common. frr average of about l07o of all stands was staked each rnonth during the fruiting period.Two of the non-compound plantaii fields were established in 198 I and the third in 19g2.'The cultrvar used Vas the same as that used in the compound gardens. In all three, the fields were laid out in garden fashion with spac_ ing of 3 m x 3 m. The mean area for the three fields was 0.ll ha and hence they were at small scales. The owners were mere part time plantain producers. They all engaged in other agricultural and even non-agricultural activities. One owner had pineapple and another cassava intercropped with plantain on half of the fields. One field received a large quantity of poultry manure at planting. The others d1d-.not receive any special applicatior=pf organic marrer. All three fields had good weed control. Inorganic fertilizer was not applied in either the compound or non_compound plantains.  I shows estimates of yield and value parameters tn both compound and non-compound plantains. Bunch yield in terms of both number per hectare equivalent (1600 mats) and weight per bunch appear significantly higher in compound than in ,ron.ornporrrd plantains. This resulted in total yield per hectare being nearly four times as much in the compound as in the non_compound plantains (Table I ).The difference in yield could be attributed to the difference in production practices. O.ganic matter from household wastes was. applied on the iu..\"g, nearly 300 days in compound and less than 30 days in n?ncompounO plantains out of the 365 days of tfre ituJv ifrUt\" Z). tn other words, most compound plantains recelvea organic matter daily.While the corms of most compound plantains were completely covered with the organic mattei the corms of non<ompound plantains were in most cases exposed to adverse conditions. This could be responsible for severe attack by plantain weeviJ (Cosmopolites sordidus) in the biggest of the three non-compound helds in March and April. That incidence reduced yields significantly in that field.Labour input was also higher in compound than in non-compound plantain (Table 2). While in non_compound plantain the relatively limited labour input was used for weeding, harvesting and staking ; labour input in com_ pound plantain was used mainly for harvestingand staking. Consequently rate ofstaking was higher (TaUte 2t and stand losses lower in compound than in non{ompouncl plantain. The rates of stand losses, fallen over of plintain trees due to storm or other causes, were 24g plants per hectare equivalent in compound and 354 in non<ompound plantatns during the study period.Most of the cornpound plantains were under the shade of the other perennials also grown in the compounds. As deep rooted trees some of those perennials might have recycled nutrients to the benefit of plantains which are shallow rooted. Most of the noncompound plantains studied were not interplanted with such perennials.The plantain production in the area was mainly market oriented. As much as g0% of total output in both the  cempound and non-compound plantains was solcl for cash ; about 20% in either case was consumed at home. The value of production per hectare equivalent per year (E) was nearly N10,000 (N1.00 is approximately US g 0.25) in compound and less than N3,000 in non_compound plan_ tains (Table l).Most of these retums were Gross Margin because most of the inputs were obtained from household sources. Apart from the largest of the three non-compound producers who employed hired labour on monthly wage basis none of the producers studied purchased inputs during the study period. Stake was cut from the bush with family labour, and or_ ganic matter used in the compound plantain came from household wastes.At such a rate of retum it might be surprising that the compound production was still on small scale. The average compound farmer who owned 44 mats and made only N220 in cash and had N55 worth of plantain consumed at home could have made more if he froduced on a bigger scale. However, production on a larger scale may not be efficient given the constraints of the farmer.The compound which had an area of about 0.2 ha. also carried in ad<iition to houses, perennial crops which besides their direct benefits to the farmer may -hive en_ hanced plantain-production by aiding nutrient recycling. On the average,.lFe I I compound producers studied had, in addition to the 44 plantain mats, three oil palm (Elaeis guinensis), one African breadfruit (Treculia africana), Fruits _ vol. 48, nog, lggg three African pears (Dacryodes edulis), two cola (f,elo acuminata), two coconuts (Cocps nucifera), five Citrus (Citrus sinensls), and one <Ohi> (pterocapus soyauxii) trees all in the compound.The supply of organic matter is also regarded as a ma;or constrarnt to expaasion of production in the compound garden situation. Exact figures on the amount of organic matter to maintain high productivity in these gardens has not been determined. The potential of inorganic ferti_ Iizer in compound gardens is also not known, bui inorganic fertilizers do not maintain production under field conditions (l). Inorganic fertilizers do not supply mulch which appear to be a major factor causing the high yield of compound plantains.But as important as resource limitations to expanslon ,of compound plantain production in the area is aggregate demand limitation. Figures 2 and 3 show that yield was seasonal and followed the rainfall pattern. The total rainfall for Owerri in 1985 was about 2g00 mm. However, that was not evenly distributed over the 12 months, falling mostly between May and October. November to Februarv were the dry months. The major harvest season began in October and continued through May when bunches formed during the rains matured. The bunch took about thJee months to mature (2). Bunches that developed during the rainy months were more robust .than those that developed during the dry rnonths because of more favourable soil moisture dr.rring the rainy season (4).  -165 December was almost 60%. T-his situation would suggest that the market was easily saturated. The market could absorb expanded production, especially along present seasonal distribution of supply, only at give away prices and hence at capital losses to the producers. The market could however, absorb more output if the supply could be increased during the rainy months when output is at present low. Such a redistribution of supply may require irrigation which the small scale producers cannot afford.There is also possibility for expansion of available market in Nigeria when packaging and transporting are improved to allow the product to be presented in good condition in distant placesi Plantain bunches are bulky and perishable and hence expensive to transport to distant non-producing areas. It is estimated that an average piantain finger consists of 30% peel (3) which is not consumed by humans.Figure 5 shows the price differential between the village market in the study area and Oweri urban market only 20 km apart. The market price differential between the two locations over the study period was about l0%. This , could be considered substantial in reiation to the Limited distance between the two market centres. It might not all be due to differences in demand but also due to transportation costs especially because the Owerri urban consumers frequently made their purchases in the village market.;Plantain production in compound gardens in the Owerri area of Nigeria is. profitable, but expansion of production is constrained by limited resources and agggegate demand during the main season. The potential for expansion exists if supply jFn bg increased during.the off season which I occur during middle of the rainy season or when packaging and transporting are improved to alloi the pro'cluct to be presented in good condition in distant places. ,l llt 1. BRAIDE (J.) and WTLSON (c.F.). 1980. Plantain decline : a look at possi-ble cause. Paradisiaco, 4.5-7.2. NDUBIZU (T.9,c.1 and oKAFoR (E.r.  Fruits,Mar.19g8,vol. 43,no 3, RESLIMEN -Rste articulo apoyado en una encuesta socio.econ6mica estudia a productividad aef pi6tano \"n ^o.i.\"'i;\" -V ii.\"'\"riar.\"ionJ para una pmduccidn a gran eicata \" p\".ui a\"-.Jiodo.'!'r.iti.\"do, .n cultivos asociados ;se orueba qie €ste tiltimo sistema pr'oduce casi cua. tro veces m6s. Esro se i*pri\"a ior i\" alil;;\"-\".#i.ii?ii*\"r,o, ao.mesticos, una atenci6n sesuida re r ra a o io;io!\"pi;;il;f ; rX :,TH :fi ',n #:,bT|\"ffi \"1'T:l,T: mizamiento profundo. Los limites del .iste;; -;6n \"iig;i;, \", ,rrni. nistro de materia orgdnica v al :::\".,{;::_;;;,\",6\".;;:;#r:::iT\"Tr\"';'1.::; .i' "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/0476055222.json b/main/part_2/0476055222.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f4564c94668471a31b0868b6f28fc1cdc00246ca
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1290cdccf12ef9272e47f18849f94d5c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/fa5cd6d9-c414-474b-8742-0dc4306724a0/content","id":"720190757"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9055a5ff-4b2f-444d-8428-4e37fa1ddf48","content":"Desarrollo del cultivo de maíz en algunas parcelas, se observa poco desarrollo vegetativo, con poca oportunidad para generar grano y forraje, San Marcos Monte de León, Villa de Chilapa de Díaz Productor Fernando Santiago Velasco, de la comunidad de San Bartolo Soyaltepec, estableciendo la mezcla de forrajes en el sistema milpa tradicional Mezcla de canola y ebo, intercalada con maíz, en Villa de Chilapa de Díaz (Izq.), y Heroica Ciudad de Tlaxiaco (Der.), para mejorar la cantidad y calidad de forraje para el ganado, sin disminuir la superficie de siembra del maíz Cultivo de Frijol Ayocote en e perímetro de la parcela para facilitar el manejo del cultivo principal (maíz), el ayocote ayuda a disminuir la erosión del suelo, genera grano para consumo humano y biomasa para enriquecer el forraje para el ganado. San Isidro, Heroica Ciudad de Tlaxiaco (Izq.), San Marcos Monte de León, Villa de Chilapa de Díaz (Der.).Mezclas de forrajes para mejorar la nutrición del ganado, en la región mixteca de Oaxaca. Avena-triticalecebada (arriba), Sorgo-Ebo (abajo), evaluados en la plataforma de investigación de Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán Técnico Raúl Ramírez, realiza revisión de muestras de los forrajes producidos en las diferentes unidades agrícolas, San Marcos Monte de León Aprovechamiento de lo forrajes establecidos en las unidades de producción agrícolas mediante el ensilaje con bolsas plásticas herméticas, para conservarlo y utilizarlo en etapas criticas de escases de alimento para los animales, San Marcos Monte de León."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/0481987526.json b/main/part_2/0481987526.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..887ad34d36f8c7f7d710added37c646fda1c218f
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e6f7d4f7586703be5774484667e4fc5a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d6cb0da9-aa0b-4b7b-b9f2-cc96b762845b/retrieve","id":"-808779769"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8d714dac-665c-429b-9c62-e615bfd09770","content":"• We define migrants as those who have sent remittances to a rural area within the last 12 months • 14 percent of youth migrate (15.5 percent female and 12.3 percent male) • Among young females that migrate 75 percent are married • Among young males that migrate 33 percent are married Big differences between young males and females in Groundnut Basin in terms of employment opportunities, education and land access Increased climatic variability is associated with a decrease in population and decrease in young male/female ratio• Improving soil quality through sustainable programs in agriculture may increase yields and keep some of the rural residents in agriculture • Seek ways to keep youth employed not only in agriculture but also in other jobs across the groundnut value chain THANK YOU!!"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/0527981926.json b/main/part_2/0527981926.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..895f5e8859aaf2324e0c6823985d6561a65df44f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/0527981926.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0434af66fed6e6de25d86aded2fbcd5a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/765c3d93-74c9-4b0b-8ade-264e4683b971/retrieve","id":"734115681"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1eac5622-5ea7-43f8-832e-864270bcb649","content":"Women constitute nearly sixty percent of the world's one billion poor. Of one-third billion people living in absolute poverty, over seventy percent are women. Over the last two decades of the twentieth century, the number of women living in absolute poverty has risen by fifty percent (in contrast to thirty percent for men).As the world population doubles the need for food will more than double, and world agricultural output per unit of labor will need to increase by a factor of ten, mostly in the Third World (Marris,1999). FAO estimates show that women account for more than half the labor required to produce the food consumed in the developing world. In Africa -where female farming is of paramount importance, nearly seventy percent of the staple food in the continent is produced by women farmers and is of increasing importance as more men migrate from rural areas in search of work (Saito et al.1990;World Bank 1989) This makes women in the Third World an important group not only as beneficiaries of poverty alleviation but as contributors to the economic growth required to end poverty.The different roles, rights and resources that men and women have in society are an important determinant of the nature and scope of poverty. This is especially (though not uniquely) the case among rural populations in the Third World, where there is a central relationship between the capacity of rural households to produce enough income or food year round to meet their basic nutritional needs and the control women have over inputs and outputs in the food production-to-consumption system. This paper examines the dimensions of poverty and the relationship between gender and the poverty of rural people in the Third World. This analysis is applied to formulate a proposal for the application of science and technology to improving food production and environmental protection, an agenda of central importance to rural women in the Third World.Between 1965 and 1992 according to Marris(1999) global poverty was reduced by about one third to the extent that half a billion people came out of absolute poverty. Nonetheless by the year 2000 there will be 1.5 billion people in absolute poverty in the world.Absolute material deprivation is one dimension of poverty. The UN Human Development Report (1997) for example, uses five statistical indicators all of which affect men and women differently, and are pertinent to describing gender-differentiated deprivation: life expectancy; malnourishment under five years of age; illiteracy; access to safe water and health services. These indicators help to signal a degree of deprivation below which material survival is severely threatened, but cannot tell us much about a number of other dimensions of poverty which are especially important to women.Income is a key aspect of poverty because in the absence of any other material assets, it reflects the capacity of the individual or household to obtain the minimum amount of goods needed to survive in society by sale or exchange of their labor. For example, the United Nations classifies a Third World person as poor if they are trying to live on less than $1 per day (adjusting for international differences in price levels ). For the poor who lack material assets (the \"laboring poor\"), their income depends on the value of their labor . One interpretation is that unemployment, under-employment, low paid work and unpaid work necessary to the maintenance of social lifeand performed largely by women, subsidizes the cost of wage labor in the market and provides a pool of cheap labor when required, thus keeping down overall wages and production costs. Thus efforts to reduce the poverty of low wage people, and in particular women, through income generation need to take into account the possibility that poverty based on the low value of their labor is a functional component of global as well as local market structures. Alleviation of this kind of poverty over the next half century will depend on increased overall economic growth, population control to keep the supply of labor from growing faster than demand, and a demand for labor that exceeds supply (Marris, 1999). This has some important gender implications explored in the next section.Any discussion of the dimensions of poverty needs to go beyond the measurement of income needed to provide the minimum amount of goods needed to survive. A useful framework for analysing the gender dimensions of poverty differentiates four dimensions which complement each other: starvation, subsistence, social coping and participation (Dean, 1999:8, after George andHowards, 1991). Relative poverty is as important as material poverty once starvation is overcome or basic physical survival is achieved. Inequality therefore, remains an important dimension of poverty even when we consider subsistence, which has socially defined standards that vary from one culture to another. By the end of this century the richest countries of the First World (about one tenth of World population), with over half of world GDP will be more than ten times better off than the poorest countries of the Third World (Marris, 1999). Some analysts show that wealth is becoming more concentrated. According to a United Nations report, the world's 358 billionaires in 1996 were wealthier than the combined annual incomes of the poorest 45 percent of the world's population(2.3 billion people). Whereas the richest 20 percent of the world's population were 30 times better off than the poorest 20 per cent in 1960, by the mid-1990ties they were 61 times wealthier (cited in Dean, 1999). Sen (1997) provides a concept of relative poverty very pertinent to analysing the gender dimensions of poverty based on the individual's capacities or capability to do many of the things valued in the society . This is similar to Runciman's (1966) concept of relative deprivation and Peter Townsend's (1979:31-57) concept of relative poverty, defined as the \"lack of resources to obtain the types of diet, participate in the activities, and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary, or are at least widely encouraged and approved , in the societies to which they belong.\" An important contribution by Townsend was to define the poverty line as a situation in which people are excluded from participation in key aspects of the public life of ordinary citizens, a concept which has been built on by others (eg Scott 1994) to interpret poverty in terms of either participation in or \"social exclusion\" from the ordinary things which other members of the public enjoy.The high degree of global material inequality at the end of the twentieth century influences what it means to be poor in relative terms. An example is the emergence of a privileged group in the labor force and among consumers who have access to personal computers from childhood, are highly computer skilled and are internet literate. Their influence in the global economy can make access to computers and computer skills an important element of relative deprivation and social exclusion and ultimately, determine the value of the labor of vast numbers who have not aquired these skills.The concept of social exclusion is important for our purposes because it provides a framework for understanding poverty in terms of different dimensions of participation, whether privileged participation or deprived participation. Jordan (1996) distinguishes between communities \"of fate\" and communities \"of choice\" as dimensions of poverty or wealth. Communities of fate are entrapped by a particular set of social and ecological circumstances, including coercion and subordination, both very relevant dimensions of the poverty of women in Third World societies as discsussed in more detail in the next section. Communities of choice in contrast, have the freedom and the power to define and accrue to themselves forms of social exclusion and privilege.Powerlessness is therefore a key dimension of a definition of poverty, although it is poorly operationalized in research. One way to conceptualize poverty in terms of powerlessness is to analyse the social distribution of risk or opportunity. At the negative end of this powerlessness spectrum might be the risk loss of control over one's own body (eg. of being sold into slavery or prostitution). At the positive end of the spectrum might be the opportunity to migrate to wealthier and higher-wage societies.Understanding poverty in terms of powerlessness has to be related to lack of resources as well as social exclusion from participation or levels of income. For this reason the concept of asset accumulation is an important one. Assets may be material capital (land, usufructory rights of important natural resources, savings, jewelery, livestock or other kinds of physical capital); human capital (education and skills); or social capital (organization ). Different categories of impoverishment can be identified from the crossclassification of income with asset accumulation. For example, people with relatively high income but low asset accumulation will be more vulnerable to unemployment or business downturns that pitchfork them inrto poverty, than people with lower incomes but enough assets to tide them over. Asset accumulation is therefore, particularly important to identifying poverty in terms of exposure to the risk or vulnerability.In summary, a number of dimensions of poverty can be usefully defined for analysing relationships between gender and poverty related to starvation (or absolute material poverty), subsistence, social coping and participation.Income levels and in the absence of other assets, the value of labor are essential determinants of absolute material well-being as well as the capability to achieve the minimum goods defined by the society in question, as necessary for subsistence. Beyond material survival, socio-ecological factors (race, gender, geographical location) can be as important as income in determining access to or exclusion from the things that society defines as important for well-being, as well as degrees of participation and powerlessness. A factor in the capability of individuals to cope with hardship and to manage risk is asset accumulation.The different roles, rights and resources that men and women have in society are an important determinant of the nature and scope of their poverty. These differences are culturally constructed and historically determined; they are supported by social organization and economic systems. As such they can change; and it is a widely held thesis that the allocation of work and the valuation of women's labor has to change if poverty is to be eliminated.The relationship between poverty and gender is especially important because of the positive effect that increasing women's incomes and education has on nutrition, child survival and, as child survival rates improve, on declining birth rates. When unwaged household production is valued , women's contribution is estimated at between 40-60 percent of total household income ( Goldschmidt-Clermont, 1987). This means that efforts to control population growth and provide employment for the poor must build on the provision of decent incomes and education for poor women.Different types of women experience different degrees of poverty or wealth in society. Third World rural women may be unpaid or paid family laborers, they may be wage laborers outside the household, independent or joint entrepreneurs involved in a small business or in trading, they may be landowners in their own right or jointly with relatives.It is therefore, erroneous to discuss Third World women and poverty as if there were one generic situation common to all women. Unfortunately however, there is a dearth of comparative studies which relate different types of women to corresponding levels and types of poverty taking into account the several dimensions of poverty discussed in the previous section, and also compares their poverty with that of men. This is a serious gap in the research.At present therefore, the best we can do is to draw together a series of observations based on individual studies, each of which offer some insights for the overall picture of gender-related poverty and inequality.A number of studies conducted in the last decade show that poverty and food availability depend women's income, because men and women spend income under their control in different ways. The level of women's income is substantially and positively related to household calorie availability, child health and survival. Women typically spend a high proportion of their income on food and health care for children. Men use a higher proprtion for their own personal expenditures(studies by von Braun and IFPRI). For example one study in Guatemala estimates that average yearly profits from nontraditional export crops would double household food expenditures if they were controlled by women rather than their husbands.Women's assets, participation and poverty.Unequal rights and obligations , heavy time pressure to do multiple jobs, lack of access to land, capital, and credit, low levels of participation in agricultural extension support programs, education and collective organizations all prevent women from achieving the same levels of productivity as men. Many studies show that plots of land controlled by women have lower yields than those controlled by men, because of lower access to technology and inputs like fertiliser as well as labor. The potential for growth and food security that could result from improving women farmers access to resources, technology and information are as large or larger in some cases than the gains the expected from breeding \"superplants\". For example, some estimates show that reducing the time burdens of women could increase household cash incomes by 10 %. Estimates of how much women farmers' yields could increase just by giving them the the same level of inputs and education as men farmers range from 7-24 percent .Technology transfer aimed at women has been largely restricted to a few of women's existing activities, in particular traditional work related to housekeeping and childcare (Carr,1993). For example, cooking stoves have received a vast amount of attention worldwide. There have been several large-scale initiatives, such as the UNIFEM global 'WAFT\" program, along with a vast number of projects attempting to provide improved technology to women in their traditional productive work, but \"the transfer of larger and more complex technologies to women has been virtually non-existent\" (Everts, 1998). At the same time, the record is mixed with respect to the unintended or indirect effects of new agricultural technologies on women; in some cases women have succeeded in adopting new varieties and other production technologies; in other cases women have been unable to process high yielding varieties developed without attention to postharvest qualities; in other cases, women laborers have been displaced by the introduction of high yielding varieties together with less labor intensive or more male laborusing technologies.The violence which affects the lives of poor women in the Third World is better documented now than it used to be and shows the many facets of their powerlessness in the most elementary respects: millions of female babies destroyed at or soon after birth such that there is a big \"population gap\" in female vs male births in the Third World (Chambers, 1996); the sale of young girls into forced labor, prostitution or as child brides; the ritual mutilation of female sexual organs; and physical violence used to control women's labor in the household. Other forms of social violence include abandonment of mothers to cope in female-headed households, denial of property rights.Poor rural women are highly vulnerable to deprivation in terms of nutrition, health, education, asset accumulation, skill building and participation in collective organization because they tend to provide the \"safety net\" which protects their children and household against catastrophic poverty. The foundation of this safety net function is the division of labor which allocates a disproportionate share of un-waged or under-waged household and family maintenance work to women. UNDP estimated the value of this type of work at $16,000 billion of global output, of this $11,000 billion worth was carried out by women (UN, 1995).Third world women's un-waged work includes activities that make it possible for laborers, small farms and businesses to work and produce at lower returns to labor and capital than would otherwise be possible: for example, cooking meals, fetching water and firewood, caring for the sick. One example illustrates this process: we costed the labor family women put into a single activity--cooking for field workers--in the course of production of a field crop at what it would cost the male head of household to hire a non-family member to do this task. The cost of hiring made the production of the crop unprofitable; and the conclusions of the economic analysis were borne out by the decisions of male producers in the community not to produce this crop if they did not have a family member to cook for the field workers (Ashby and Guerrero, 1985).A detailed case study carried out in Kenya illustrates a situation of which there a multiple examples: women are increasingly the sole providers of labor on farms, because men migrate to higher wage opportunities, and women's labor is of lower value in the labor market. The added pressure on women's time led to low labor productivity on farm, particularly in femaleheaded households where women neglected on-farm taks in order to hire out their labor to obtain income to meet the immediate food needs of the household (Mutoro, 1997) Another study suggests that women's small enterprises such as food processing and trading provide a similar \"safety net\" function. Most of the enterprises owned by women are very small (maximum 25 employees), have low profit margins, are part-time or seasonal and are frequently run from the home so as to be combined with household responsibilities. Female entrepreneurs often do not increase investment in one specialized activity in order to maximize growth in their business; instead they diversify to minimize risks to stabilize income which guarrantees basic food security. This safety-first orientation is often a response to the more risky strategies undertaken by other family members which are underwritten by the women's provision of a safety net (Downing,1991). This finding that innovators' risk taking in poor households is underwritten by the family, and in particular the provision of basic food security by women, is similar to the results of a study which examined the family background of poor farmers introducing risky new agricultural technologies and found that the early innovators were more likely to belong to extended families. The individual innovators were young men who did not own much land and who worked as sharecroppers or farm laborers, but who belonged to an extended family unit with asssets of land and household labor which enabled them as a group to absorb losses and cushion the individual from economic catastrophe. Young women did not have access to this pattern of familial support for agricultural innovation (Rivera and Ashby, 1985).The low value of women's time and women's work is an important reason why development efforts which provide technologies and income earning opportunities directed at women's traditional activities have to a very large extent, failed to have a significant impact. Unless there is an activity with a higher return to labor, which generates additional income and which does not undermine the \"safety net\" function of women's economic contribution to the household, there is no incentive for women to save time in traditional activities especially if this requires expenditure on new technology.Therefore one of the key interventions needed in poverty eradication is the identification of new opportunities for income generation which have superior returns to labor compared with women's traditional work. These need to be combined with support mechanisms for the \"safety net\" functions for the household provided by women's work and income.Several actors in the international development effort to eliminate poverty have taken important steps towards mainstreaming attention to gender and impact on poor rural women over the past three decades: in 1979 the UN Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women was adopted; in 1989 the declaration on violence against women followed; the Bejing declaration and platform for action formulated in 1995 at the Un Fourth World Conference on Women was another milestone. Other important commitments are stated in the World Bank since the publication of its paper \"Enhancing Women's participation in Economic Development\" in 1994, the OECD with its position statement \"Gender Equality: Moving towards Sustainable People-Centered Development made in 1995, and the European Union policy statement \"Integrating Gender Issues in Development Cooperation \" also issued in 1995. However, action lags far behind the statement of good intentions. For example, the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research, a $360 million consortium supported by the same donors who issued the above statements, integrated gender analysis as a program in its mainstream research agenda in 1996. A head count of the number of research studies considering gender reported shows a rise from 140 studies in 1995 to 227 in 1998. There is no reason for complacency about this steady improvement. An analysis of these studies shows that only 11 or 14% of the studies reported were specifically developing technology to benefit rural women.The full integration of gender analysis and the participation of men and women farmers as partners in international agricultural research and technology development requires a three pronged strategy that consists of:• catalysing collaborative research with the centers and partners, to generate sound evidence on the benefits in terms and impact of differentiating the needs of men and women as users of technology, and recognising their different contributions as participants in research ; • supporting capacity building with the Centers to increase skills and knowledge to use gender analysis effectively and appropriately • promoting information dissemination and exchange about best practices and lessons learned . Key elements of a proposal. If we are to take the phrase \"empowering women in agriculture\" as more than a cheap slogan, then we have to work from the foundation relationship between gender and the several dimensions of poverty outlined earlier.Mainstreaming gender into the existing research agenda will not be enough, if that agenda is systematically failing to take into account the sources of income and the assets that women in poor households depend on. Moreover, the effects of globalization which creates a pressing need to find alternative sources of income in situations where traditional means are no longer economically viable, require us to go beyond adjusting technology to fit with the traditional responsibilities and constraints faced by poor men and women farmers. We need to be actively looking at new alternatives in the global economy and the gender-differentiated needs for technology,skills and information required for a frontal attack on poverty.Strengthening the capacity of global agricultural research to take on this task has at least three important elements: 1. Link research institutions with existing sources of information and expertise so that researchers and client groups can readily access and make use of the large body of information on gender, agriculture and technology for women already in existence . These linkages need to focus on strong interactions between technology designers, technology producers (such as small scale artesans, some of whom may be women in the Third World) and technology users (see for an example, Everts, 1998) 2. Identify new livelihood opportunities for the poor in relation to a changing demand for agricultural technology which is analysed separately for men and for women.A coordinated diagnostic research initiative is needed to identify rapidly the priority geographical areas and populations in which genderdifferentiated research and technology development has potential for high payoff in combating poverty. This diagnosis needs to include:• Development of a GIS minimum database, using available data with expert input to identify areas of the world where women's special needs require priority attention • Design sample of areas using the GIS minimum data base to define priority geographic area for rapid appraisal of gender differentiated opportunities and needs.• In sampled areas, network with grassroots organizations and NGO's to select promising technology innovation opportunities for rural women 3. Research for technology development• Select priority entry points where research is needed to promote the development of innovative agricultural technology by and for rural women in selected areas, and the policy interventions needed to ensure access • Institutionalize regular technology evaluations by a network of gender differentiated user groups, as feedback to research on technology design.• Establish an interactive, user-friendly database on evaluations of technologies for women with appropriate institutions • Support regular review and exchange of results • Establish a regular consultation to update the diagnosis of needs and the evaluation of technologies, monitoring and evaluation of impact of gendered research.• Protecting women's traditional rights to land and other resources, including water, forest and grazing are essential. Often this requires participation in effective collective or community based organization . • In general women's access to collective organization for resource management, health and child care, credit, information, marketing and small enterprise development needs strong support. • Formal education and access to informal education and skill building is an essential ingredient of the effort to build women's access to secure non-traditional sources of income with forward linkages to improving child survival rates and decline in the birth rate."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1e2a78d5585d8a472813d754b8278448","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/82caac16-3fac-40fe-819f-be82a37d3feb/retrieve","id":"457384916"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d314cdcf-db26-47a1-97d3-5b31ec213b85","content":"The Alliance Bioversity-CIAT and The Latin American Fund for Irrigated Rice-FLAR have contributed to improving the quality of rice germplasm to strengthen rice production across Latin America. In Ecuador, the main variety adopted comes from the FLAR breeding program. Its adoption has been associated with lower production costs, greater probability of adopting other technologies, and better use of inputs.Contributing CRPs/Platforms:• Rice -Rice Contributing Flagships:• F1: Accelerating impact and equity • F5: New rice varieties Contributing Regional programs: <Not Defined> Contributing external partners:• FLAR -Fondo Latinoamericano para Arroz de Riego Improved varieties of rice have been shown to increase production and diminish the cost of production, as well as provide stress-tolerance traits like resistance to weeds, pests, and diseases, or climate uncertainty, among other stress factors [1]. Nonetheless, identifying potential germplasm that develops into successfully improved varieties and their further dissemination is sometimes constrained by diverse bottlenecks. The public-private partnerships (PPP) represent an alternative to conduct participatory research and represent an opportunity for the development of the agricultural sector.Ecuador has become a dynamic experiment that presents an interesting case study of PPP initiatives that have achieved significant benefits for rice producers [2]. FLAR, with the Alliance as a strategic partner, and its partners INIAP and PRONACA, developed the SENACA FL09 and SENACA FL11 rice varieties in 2009 and 2011, respectively. In Ecuador, rice is the 3rd most important crop in relation to the total area cultivated, representing 12.7% of arable land in 2018. Regarding the varieties sowed, SFL 09 was used by 1 in 3 producers in 2014, while in 2019 SFL 11 occupied 61% of the sown area. According to the producers who used these varieties, one of the reasons for planting them was the high commercial demand, being preferred by the industry. In this regard, there are several determinants for the adoption of new varieties such as the area of cultivation and family work. Women's participation in decisions regarding crop production increases the likelihood of using improved varieties, as do other factors such as farm size, educational level, and household size."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"170ae4efec784ed2c1974f64eaa147b6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/973b9251-308c-41fc-b5a1-4563dc3c9ee6/retrieve","id":"723202820"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e36bc66a-969c-4cec-b1a6-7bde409cccfa","content":"CGIAR Technical Reporting has been developed in alignment with the CGIAR Technical Reporting Arrangement. This Initiative report is a Type 1 report and constitutes part of the broader CGIAR Technical Report. Each CGIAR Initiative submits an annual Type 1 report, which provides assurance on Initiative-level progress towards End of Initiative outcomes. The CGIAR Technical Report comprises:• Type 1 Initiative and Impact Area Platform reports, with quality assured results reported by Initiatives and Platforms available on the CGIAR Results Dashboard.• The Type 3 Portfolio Performance and Project Coordination Practice Change report, which focuses on internal practice change.• The Portfolio Narrative, which draws on the Type 1 and Type 3 reports, and the CGIAR Results Dashboard, to provide a broader view on portfolio coherence, including results, partnerships, country and regional engagement, and synergies among the portfolio's constituent parts.The CGIAR Technical Report constitutes a key component of the CGIAR Annual Performance Report (APR).Score 1: Significant: The activity contributes in a significant way to any of the three CGIAR climate-related strategy objectives -namely, climate mitigation, climate adaptation, and climate policy, even though it is not the principal focus of the activity.Score 1: Significant: The activity contributes in a significant way to any of the three CGIAR climate-related strategy objectives -namely, climate mitigation, climate adaptation, and climate policy, even though it is not the principal focus of the activity.Score 2: Principal: Gender equality is the main objective of the Initiative/project and is fundamental in its design and expected results. The Initiative/project would not have been undertaken without this gender equality objective.https://www.cgiar.org/initiative/26-her-harnessing-equality-for-resilience-in-theagrifood-system/ *The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) markers refer to the OECD DAC Rio Markers for Climate and the gender equality policy marker. For climate adaptation and mitigation, scores are: 0 = Not targeted; 1 = Significant; and 2 = Principal. The CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform has adapted the OECD gender marker, splitting the 1 score into 1A and 1B. For gender equality, scores are: 0 = Not targeted; 1A = Gender accommodative/aware; 1B = Gender responsive; and 2 = Principal. These scores are derived from Initiative proposals, and refer to the score given to the Initiative overall based on their proposal.The CGIAR Initiative on Gender Equality had a strong start in April 2022, with work initiated on boosting women's empowerment and resilience to climate change. Though a new Initiative for CGIAR, a team came together from nine CGIAR Centers (the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, CIP, ICARDA, IFPRI, IITA, ILRI, IRRI, IWMI and WorldFish)1 and collaborated on researching and identifying leverage points to provide tools, methods, and evidence for CGIAR's stakeholders on social, technological, economic, and governance approaches.In 2022, we implemented work at global, regional, and country levels. Our work cut across Eastern Africa, Middle Africa, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, Southern Asia, South-Eastern Asia, and Western Africa. Results were generated in the five focus countries of Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and India. We also began collaborations with partners in Malawi, Egypt, Tanzania, and The Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.The Gender Equality Initiative is uniquely placed within the CGIAR Initiatives because it is the only one dedicated to gender research. In 2022, we built the foundation for leading the way to find out how to stem the growing gender inequalities as a result of climate change -providing new conceptual framings, research results, insights, and solutions.Through improved production practices and breeds promoted by World Vision Ethiopia through the SPIR program, Metebe received training on poultry management, constructed a low-cost pen and purchased 12 improved breed chickens; she has begun earning a steady income from the egg sales, as well as consuming more eggs within her household. Photo credit: Aklilu Kassaye/World Vision Ethiopia Our theory of change (TOC) is based on research to reduce formal and informal barriers to equitable food systems, while enhancing the individual capacities, as well as ensuring the systems support the ability of women to thrive and contribute to vibrant communities. It is this understanding, which requires a consolidated approach at different levels, that is unique.With this conceptual framing in mind, 2022 was dedicated to initiating work in each of the four Work Packages of the Initiative. Because this Initiative wants to move the science into action, we also focused on setting up research on solutions. From the perspective of policies and governance systems, 2022 was dedicated to understanding how we can increase the voice and agency of women in decision-making and in developing solutions to climate change (Work Package 4). Recognizing that there are formal barriers for individual women often meant ensuring women could have access to resources and build their assets, as was done through research on making social protection more gender sensitive and effective (Work Package 3). Regarding informal systems, looking at how they can hold back the ability to grow and be empowered meant initiating innovative work within CGIAR on how to build sociotechnical innovation bundles (STIBs) that will empower women in the face of climate change (Work Package 2). Lastly, we started research on how gendered social norms limit empowerment and economic resilience in the context of climate change (Work Package 1).Progress on science is on track across all four Work Packages. In Work Package 1, work began on an evidence synthesis on restrictive social norms within food systems, and on developing a set of tools for qualitatively assessing norms in three value chains (cassava, chicken, and fish) which may limit women's ability to benefit from them. This is feeding into the Initiative's development of an index of multi-dimensional social norms in agrifood systems (AFS). This is important for future work across value chains and understanding how to ensure women benefit from food-systems transformations. In Work Package 1 we also worked on developing guidelines with a range of partners about how to measure gender-transformative change when testing gender-transformative approaches (GTAs) in agriculture and other domains. This is timely work, as more implementors embrace GTAs; being able to measure the change is a fundamental precondition to understanding it.Because a core area of work for CGIAR is developing innovations, in Work Package 2 we concentrated on identifying, designing, and promoting the uptake of context-specific, climate-smart STIBs to support women and youth empowerment. Research on the link between STIBs, empowerment, and resilience is new, and most studies have focused on production and productivity. This required a review of literature and evidence on STIBs, and the development of a TOC on the pathways that result in empowerment or resilience building through the use of STIBs. To support that, a protocol for generating an evidence gap map on the impacts of STIBs on women's empowerment and resilience was developed. Using the resilience and empowerment indicators developed for this output, we identified 85 socioeconomic datasets and tools related to bundling relevant sociotechnical innovations in different contexts. We are also excited about the research that was started in four 'living' labs to understand the way STIBs are combined and how they can lead to empowerment.Under Work Package 3, we worked on building a collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach to investigate which social-protection strategies and programs can support rural women in responding to climate change. This included progress on a conceptual framework and a strategic evidence review to identify promising program design features and high-priority evidence gaps. Work is underway on three quantitative case studies (in Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Mali) on gendered impacts of social-protection programs in the context of climate change. Preliminary results show that social-protection programs can help protect well-being and support climate responses for extremely poor women and their households following extreme weather events. Through Work Package 1, lessons on GTAs were shared across the Initiative, leading to development of guidance on how GTAs can be incorporated into social protection.Because ensuring increased decision-making is a core solution to climate change, Work Package 4 investigated how to strengthen women's voice and agency in climate-related agrifood-systems governance at the community level. In 2022, our study in India highlighted how climate change can adversely affect women's voice and agency, and how women's representation can mitigate these effects. We have done the preparatory work for four randomized controlled trials of programming and policy approaches for increasing women's voice and agency -to be done in Nigeria, India, and Malawi. This will provide an informative basis for future projects on women's voice and agency. We also launched a conceptual framework for measuring women's empowerment in agrifoodsystems governance (WEAGov). Strategic evidence reviews on public and private-sector policies supporting women's resilience to climate change informed an additional evidence map. Finally, we analyzed the gender-responsiveness of privatesector voluntary sustainability systems in the agrifood sector and engaged with International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling (ISEAL) Alliance members and their network to help them adopt governance approaches that increase women's agency.To engage partners and challenge the Initiative to remain relevant, we convened a high-level dialogue in October 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya, to deliberate about solutions for gender equality and climate resilience in Africa. Participants included Gender Equality Initiative leadership and researchers, representatives from government, international non-governmental organization (NGOs), the United Nations (UN), donors, and other CGIAR researchers. Key messages included:• The need to gather data to provide evidence on gender dimensions of exposure to climate events, and adaptation and mitigation strategies.• The importance of focusing on gender equality during periods of economic and social transition.• The importance of women's voice and agency wherever decisions are made.• The role of large-scale programs in supporting women's ability to respond to climate change.• How evidence must shape priorities for financing for climate resilience.A woman works to prevent the inevitable ravages of flooding that arrive every year in Bangladesh. Teams from CGIAR's three Action Areas -System Transformation, Resilient Agrifood Systems and Genetic Innovation -worked to develop an improved set of Action Area outcomes in October 2022. Since this was near the end of the reporting cycle for 2022, it was decided not to update the theories of change based on these new Action Area outcomes. The exception to this is Genetic Innovation -for this Action Area, as the new outcomes had already been widely discussed among the relevant Initiatives, and with its advisory group of funders and other stakeholders, the decision was made to update their outcomes in time for the 2022 reporting cycle.In Nigeria, 18 stakeholder groups from national agencies, civil society organizations, the private sector, farmer associations, and academic institutions have gained a better understanding of normative constraints in the cassava, chicken, and fish value chains. In Tanzania, the same types of stakeholders will be targeted for capacity strengthening in 2023. This is a foundational step toward identifying leverage points and levers to intervene in the local AFS to address normative constraints, and to design and pilot GTAs in the two countries.The   2The annual progress aligns with the Plan of Results and Budget. Outputs 2.1-2.4 are the foundation for output 2.5 and will be completed in Q1/Q2 2023. This is the basis for generating outputs 2.6-2.9.3The annual progress aligns with the Plan of Results and Budget. Output 3.1 will be completed in Q1/Q2 2023 rather than Q4 2022. This does not impact other outputs. The other outputs will be completed in 2023 as per the initial timeline.The annual progress aligns with the Plan of Results and Budget. As originally planned, outputs This section provides an overview of 2022 results reported by the Gender Equality Initiative. These results align with the CGIAR Results Framework and Gender Equality Initiative's theory of change. Further information on these results is available through the CGIAR Results Dashboard.Results by region  The Gender Equality Initiative is unique as one of the first collaborative, multi-center, independently funded gender-research projects within CGIAR -so we made a conscious decision to work with external partners we had already collaborated with, and to take the opportunity to identify and work with new partners during 2022. Both strategies have been very successful. By the end of the year, we had collaborated with 31 organizations outside CGIAR to deliver our outputs. These ranged from international and national research organizations and universities, NGOs, and local government, to UN agencies. This section illustrates some of the key partnerships.Since understanding norms is knowledge intensive, the Work Package 1 team on GTAs and norms reached out to a long-standing knowledge partner, KIT Royal Tropical Institute. In addition, it also expanded the partnership to include FHI 360, because they are experts in measuring norms and have country offices in Tanzania and Nigeria. This was important to design and pilot GTAs. To ensure links with policy-level actors, Work Package 1 partnered with the JP GTA partners from the Rome-based Agencies (the FAO, WFP, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development).Under Work Package 2 on empowerment through STIBs and the four living labs, four new partners were identified for the range of technologies they develop. These included two other CGIAR Initiatives and two external partners -WorldVeg and ICAR-IVRI.For Work Package 3, the team continued collaboration with long-standing partners WVI and Dadimos Development Consultants PLC to test a new approach to promoting women's engagement in sustainable land-management practices, within the Strengthen PSNP5 Institutions and Resilience program in Ethiopia. The Gender Equality Initiative's team is represented on WVI's research advisory council (Food Security and Livelihoods). Work Package 3 also expanded its outreach to key stakeholders interested in evidence on the intersection of social protection, gender, and climate, including the WPF, FAO, ILO, the World Bank, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and UNICEF.Work Package 4 worked with a long-standing partner, ActionAid Nigeria, to leverage their expertise in civic education and community mobilization -together we developed curricula on community decision-making and their subsequent dissemination. To expand the sphere of influence beyond CGIAR, Work Package 4 also started building a partnership with APRNet in Nigeria (an NGO network with a broad membership of agricultural research policy stakeholders) and with the ISEAL network (who want to better understand how gender is integrated in their members' sustainability standards for agriculture and food sectors).Section 5 Impact pathway integration -External partners Section 6 Impact pathway integration -CGIAR portfolio linkages Portfolio linkages and Gender Equality's impact pathways Regarding the internal collaborations, the Gender Equality Initiative made a very conscious decision to identify a limited number of Initiatives to work with. This was because there was a sense among other Initiatives that by working with Gender Equality Initiative, they would be able to say that they had \"covered\" doing gender research. This approach allows for the Gender Equality Initiative to be the gender-strategic research project of the CGIAR. In line with this, the Initiative is collaborating with the GENDER Impact Platform on GTAs. We are also collaborating with the CGIAR Initiative on Livestock and Climate, and the CGIAR Initiative on Low-Emission Food Systems as one of the learning labs under our Work Package 2, to understand how to ensure their STIBs will empower women. For  Effective partnerships between research and implementation teams play a crucial role in developing high-quality research, providing evidence to improve programs for better outcomes. This is well illustrated through our long-standing collaboration with WVI in Ethiopia, where the Gender Equality Initiative's researchers have contributed to the evidence base on how multisectoral graduation model social-protection programs can reduce poverty, improve livelihoods and well-being, and strengthen women's and youth empowerment.The Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) in Ethiopia is the country's flagship social safety-net program, providing seasonal food and cash transfers to poor households directly or after the people participate in public works projects. The Strengthen PSNP4 Institutions and Resilience (SPIR) Development Food Security Activity in Ethiopia was a five-year program (2016-2021) led by WVI that supported implementation of the fourth phase of PSNP. In addition, SPIR provided additional multisectoral 'graduation model' programming focused on improving livelihoods, nutrition outcomes, women's and youth empowerment, and climate resilience. IFPRI -under the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Marketswas the lead research partner for SPIR and conducted the program's impact evaluation.As a follow-on to SPIR, the SPIR II Resilience Food Security Activity was officially launched in late 2021 as a five-year program funded through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and led by WVI (see reference 2). This program supports implementation of the fifth phase of the PSNP in the Amhara and Oromia regions, and includes renewed targeting focused on the extreme poor. SPIR II has the same core complementary programming delivered under SPIR, but with many revamped approaches -particularly relating to improving maternal and child nutrition, and improving women's capacity to mitigate climaterelated risks. Based on the successful past collaboration and the strength of the SPIR evaluation, WVI asked the Gender Equality Initiative, through IFPRI, to join SPIR II as a learning partner.In 2022, the collaboration continued, and Gender Equality Initiative's researchers provided evidence on how social-protection programs could be designed to increase women's participation in sustainable land-management practices. The Initiative's researchers worked with WVI to design and evaluate an intervention to increase women's participation in these practices, and strengthen their resilience to climate-related shocks. We conducted a formative qualitative study on gender and participation in sustainable land-management practices under SPIR II. The key findings included understanding households' adoption of the practices, barriers to women's participation, and the potential for scaling up income generation through those activities (see reference 3). For example, the study suggests that fruit-tree cultivation and composting are promising sustainable land-management technologies, but that high labor requirements are an obstacle to women using them.Going forward, WVI wants to use the evidence the Initiative generated to inform its future programming. These findings will ground the approach taken by WVI, so that they can makeA list of abbreviations and acronyms used throughout the report can be found here.Gender-transformative approaches evidence-based decisions and design interventions that maximize the benefits of sustainable landmanagement public works activities for women (see reference 4). These activities will be administered as part of the SPIR initiative and will be extended initially to over 2,000 households, with plans for potential future scaling up. It is expected that this new intervention, designed using the findings of our formative study, will lead to sustainable outcomes that will help improve the well-being of Ethiopian communities in the future.\" This mutually beneficial relationship will serve to generate evidence on gender dimensions of climate-related shocks and evaluate promising gender-sensitive adaptation strategies. The evidence generated through this collaboration will inform the implementation of the SPIR II project and future graduation model social-protection programs in similar contexts. \"Michael Mulford, Chief of Party of SPIR II, WVI Ethiopia"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"62c02616a27f4fb0c6a6cdba819dff0d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7dcff053-9c42-4745-aaea-e7ccdc14bc6b/retrieve","id":"1644160134"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d1c2a3b8-359f-499e-95bb-b1c2cd0822f6","content":"For distribution to Village Information Centres (VICs) in bean growing areas in eastern, central and southern Africa. UI'lICA .' Di: I 1 O .. MACION y Dv\\.UMlIIIACIONAgriculture (SUA) and some private companies (e.g., Kibo Trading Ca.) (Table 1).Participants included farmer groups from nearby participating villages, llon-participating farmers  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ddf30a233b0803a75d28fdce8afc91e6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/772ee7d0-440b-4251-a9f3-7ff052d06068/retrieve","id":"-127287539"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d0aa465b-5043-4fc6-afc0-aa57e9642c80","content":"Eleven whitefly species are reported attacking cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) from Latin America, Africa and Asia They cause damage to cassava as direct-feeding pests and vectors of plant viruses. There are three major species attacking cassava: Aleurotrachelus socialis, Aleurothrixus aepim and Bemisia tabaci (Bellotti et al, 1999) A. socialis and A. aepim cause considerable direct-damage yield losses in the northem part of South America and Brazil. A . socialis is predominant in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, while A. aepim is found in high populations, causing yield losses in northeast Brazil. These areas are dominated by small cassava farmers with limited resources. Bemisia tabaci, the vector of African Cassava Mosaic Disease (ACMD), has a pantropical distribution, feeding on cassava throughout Africa, several countries in Asia, and more recently in the neotropics.Host Plant Resistance (HPR) offers a sustainable solution for reducing whitely damage; however, whitefly resistance in agricultura} crops is rare. A recent review of the literature indicates that whitefly resistance has been evaluated across a wide range of crops including vegetables, fruits, legumes, cotton, melons, tabacco, potato, squashes and alfalfa Results show that only low levels of resistance, often expressed as crop or varietal \"preference vs. non-preference,\" ha ve been observed.The higb levels ofresistance that we are finding in cassava germplasm are unique. The research on HPR at CIAT, with support from New Zealand's MFAT as part of the CGIAR Systemwide Whitefly IPM Project, is an invaluable contribution to achieving and understanding the mechanism ofwhitefly resistance in agricultural crops. This unique research on the genetics ofthis resistance could lead to important advances in achieving HPR, not only in cassava, but also other important agricultural crops.Over the last 4 years, CORPOICA, the Colombian Institute of Agronomy, has been evaluating high-yielding, whitefly-resistant hybrids developed by CIAT at CORPOICA field researcb stations. The hybrid CG 489-31 is a progeny of a MEcu 72 (Resistant) x MBra 12 (Tolerant) cross (See 1999 Progress Report; MF AT), which combines high yield, whitefly resistance, and excellent eating quality. lt will be released to farmers in Colombia during 2001. The hybrid is presently being multiplied so that sufficient planting material (stakes or cuttings) will be available to farmers.The CIAT cassava germplasm bank contains 6000 landrace varieties collected mostly from farmers' fields across the neotropics, the origin of Manihot esculenta. More than 5000 varieties have been evaluated for whitefly resistance at severa! sites in Colombia. Approximately 13 varieties have been selected with moderate to high levels of resistance, and form the basis of our whitefly resistance breeding program (See Table 1 ). MEcu 72 continues to be our most resistant variety.An outbreak of the :frog-skin virus disease at CIAT and other regions of Colombia rendered evaluations ofthe remaining varieties (approximately 1000 varieties) difficult during 2000. Frogskin infected varieties cannot be moved off of the CIAT station and must be destroyed. Nonetheless, during 2000 approximately 450 cassava cultivars were field evaluated for whitefly resistance and the results are included in this report. Many of the cultivars are hybrids from the cassava germplasm development program. In spite of high whitefly populations and heavy selection pressure, approximately 7% (30 cultivars) had very low damage ratings and more than 20% (91 cultivars) displayed low to moderate levels of resistance. These results indicate that whitefly resistance is being successfully introduced into cassava germplasm, and eventually will be available to small farmers in developing countries where cassava is a major staple.   Dueto the importance ofthe whitefly as a pest and virus vector, it is necessary to know about the nature of genes that confer resistance to whiteflies. Therefore, the Fl segregation of crosses made with MEcu 72, the resistant genotype, using molecular markers, would help isolate and identify resistant genes. Two hundred and eighty two seeds from a MEcu 72 and a MCol 2246 (susceptible) cross were planted in pots and evaluated in the greenhouse. Simple sequence repeats (SSR's ) are being used to find markers associated with resistance for mapping and ultimately cloning ofresistant genes. The SSR's are random repeat sequences across all eukaryotic genome. SSR's show bigh polymorphism, are locus-specific and multiallelic; they exhibit a Mendelian inheritance and are also codominant. A high percentage (>60%) of polymorphism was found between parents MEcu 72 and MCol 2246 and 130 polymorphic SSR's have been obtained from the parents. Segregation from the SSRs and greenhouse evaluation will contribute to the construction of a linkage map for whitefly resistance in cassavaThis research is critica! to understanding the mechanisms ofwhitefly resistance, and combined with a knowledge of the genetics of resistance, will pro vide the basis for incorporating HPR for whitefly into agricultura! crops.Efforts are now underway to combine the resistance to the viral disease, such as ACMD, with resistance to the whitefly in cassava. ACMD free, virus resistant, gennplasm has been brought to CIAT from liTA. Crosses are being made with whitefly resistant germplasm at CIAT. Progeny can be evaluated for whitefly resistance at CIA T, however materials will ha ve to be sent to Africa for evaluation of virus resistance.In addition, liT A scientists ha ve now requested whitefly resistant germplasm from CIA T to introduce into African varieties. Resistant germplasm is presently being prepared in tissue culture form for introduction into Africa. Introduction Whiteflies, considered one of the world's major agricultural pests, are particularly damaging to crops in the tropical regions ofthe world. Eleven species are reported on cassava: A/eurotrachelus socia/is, Tria/eurodes variabilis, Bemisia tubercu/ata, Aleurothrixus aepim, Bemisia tabaci, Bemisia argentifo/ii, Trialeurodes abutiloneus, Aleurodicus dispersus, Paraleyrodes sp., Aleuronudus sp. and Tetra/eurodes sp. The whitefly complex reported from other crops, such as vegetables, fruits, cotton and legumes, is too extensive to list. However, important species coUected from the Andean region of South America include Bemisia tabaci and Trialeurodes vaporariorum.B. tabaci has a pantropical distribution, feeding on numerous crops throughout the tropical regions of the world. If feeds on cassava throughout Africa where it is the vector of ACMD (Africa Cassava Mosaic Disease, caused by severa! geminiviruses), and is also reported from India and Malaysia Since the early 1990's a new biotype (B) of B. tabaci, considered by sorne a separate species (B. argentifolil) has been found feeding on cassava in the neotropics. Recent reports, and personal observations, indicate that B. tabaci is feeding on cassava in several areas of Brazil, Northem South America, Central America and the Caribbean. Although ACMD has not been reported from the Americas it is considered that ACMD now poses a more serious threat to cassava production, as most traditional cultivars in the regions are highly susceptible to the disease. In addition, the B. tabaci biotype complex is the vector of severa! virus of crops, especially vegetables and legumes, that are often grown in association with cassava, posing a potential threat for these viruses to move to cassava.Whiteflies cause direct damage to cassava and other crops by feeding on the phloem of leaves (Photo 1), inducing chlorosis and leaffall, which can result in crop loss. Yield losses ofthis type are common owing to A. socialis and A. aepim, feeding on cassava in Colombia, and Brazil respectively. There is a correlation between duration of wbitefly attack and root loss; losses o ver 70% have been reported from Colombia, and over 40% from Brazil.Two cassava viruses are known to be transmitted by wbiteflies. ACMD is caused by several geminiviruses transmitted by B. tabaci ACMD is reported causing crop losses of 28-40% (159, 160) from all African cassava producing countries. Resistance to ACMD has been introduced into cassava germplasm; however outbreaks ofthe disease still occur in regions of Africa Severe crop losses dueto ACMD have occurred in recent years in East Africa, especially in Uganda. Bemisia tubercu/ata is the reported vector of cassava frog-skin disease in the neotropics. Tbis disease is causing considerable yield loss in northem South America, especiaUy in Colombia The combination of direct whitefly feeding damage and its threat as a vector of virus diseases, both resulting in considerable crop losses, justify a continued strong research effort on whiteflies of cassava.Complementary to the research in cassava to determine and employ resistance to wbiteflies, a project was designed to determine the complex of indigenous South American parasitoids and other natural enemies. After nearly three years of surveys (in severa! countries such as Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela) numerous parasitoid species (more than 10) have been identified. Severa! ofthese are new or unrecorded species and are being identified by taxonomists. In addition studies are in progress to determine the efficacy of these parasitoids and their interaction with whitefly resistant germplasm. The results ofthese surveys for natural enemies are not included in this report but they are available upon request. Photo l. Wbitefty (A. socialis) adults feeding on tbe under suñace ofyoung, apical cassava leaves.Whitefly populations on cassava during the 1999-2000 growing season continued to remain high at CIA T. As studies during 1999 (Photo 2) (See IP3 Annual Report, 1999) indicated, the predominant species is A/eurotrache/us socia/is, which accounts for 98.5% of the population. Bemisia tuberculata and Trialeurodes variabilis account for the remaining 1.5%. Whitefly populations were so high and extensive (all cassava plots/fields were heavily infested) throughout the CIAT farm that it was impossible to carry out experiments on other pests or almost any other type of cassava experiments (i.e. agronomic or physiological). In addition, the species B. tuberculata is reported as a vector of cassava frog skin virus disease. This disease is also endemic at CIA T, with high incidence and most varieties/fields being infested.The combination of high whitefly populations and frog skin disease has rendered cassava field research at CIAT impractical. Land outside of CIAT, in areas where there is scarce cassava plantings and low whitefly populations, has been obtained to produce pest and disease free cassava for entomological experimentation. Clean cassava plants are required for host-plant resistance mechanism studies with A. socialis and B. tabaci and for the maintenance of pest and parasitoid studies with mealybugs and whiteflies and predator research with mites.Whitefly population eruptions and epidemiology is not well documented and understood. A. socia/is has been observed and collected on the CIA T furm for more than 25 years. However it is only in the past 5 years that populations have reached epidemic proportions. This could be due to several factors, sorne not well understood:w Most cassava germplasm planted at CIA T is susceptible.w Cassava has been continually grown at CIA T for more than 30 years., Environmental conditions, especially adequate to high rainfall, are favorable for whitefly population increases.\"'The staggered planting pattem followed at CIAT, where cassava plantings are programmed almost continually throughout the year, provides a continuum ofyoung, vigorous foliage that is preferred for oviposition and feeding.\" Pesticides use in the Germplasm Bank and on other experimental fields may have caused an unbalance in the pest-natural enemy relationship.\"' A new \"biotype\" of A. socia/is, that is particularly aggressive and with a high reproductive capacity may have been inadvertently introduced into the region.The third factor; the high rainfall pattem of recent years is considered to be the major factor for increased populations. Number 6, the introduction ofa new biotype is least favored ofthe reasons indicated.Photo 2. The popal stage of the whiteOy species Aleurotrachelus socialis and Trialeurodes variabilis on cassava leaves.There is conflicting information in the literature on sorne aspects of A. socialis biology. This is especially true for female ovipositional rates whicb are reported at 116 eggs per female tbrougbout its 12 day adult duration.A. socia/is eruptions and extremely higb populations, observed in recent years at CIA T and otber localities, indicate tbat ovipositional rates may be higber than reported.A small experiment was designed to try to more accurately measure female A. socialis oviposition. A 9x 1.5cm (diameter x heigbt) plastic petri disb, witb a perforated lid (to prevent moisture build up, wbich can cause adult wbitefly mortality) was filled with agar to within 2mm ofthe top. Upon cooling, a cassava leaf portion (Var. MCo1 1468) was placed on the agar. A pair of recently emerged wbitefly adults was introduced into each petri dish, in the laboratory (25±2°C & 70±5%RH). Three hundred replicates of each treatment werc evaluated for oviposition for 30 days.Females oviposited (Photo 3) for a maximum of 18 days. Previous report indicated a 12-day adult duration. Maximum and mínimum ovipositional rates varied considerably indicated by tbe high standard deviation. Accumulated oviposition reached a high of244 eggs, an average of 181 anda mínimum of t 55 (Table 2) (Figure 1 ). These results show that A. socialis oviposition is higher than previously recorded (1 16 eggs per female) and partially accounts for the rapid population builds-up we observed in the field.  In recent years, B. tabaci, the vector of African Cassava Mosaic Disease (ACMD), has been collected feeding on cassava in the neotropics. ACMD has not been observed in the Americas, and it has been speculated that its absence may ha ve been related to the inability of its vector, B. tabaci to feed on cassava. Since the early 1990' s a new biotype (B) of B. tabaci (considered by sorne investigators to be a separate species, B. argentifolii) has been found feeding on cassava in severa! areas ofthe neotropics, including Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and several countries in the Caribbean region. ACMD, therefore, now poses a more serious threat, as most traditional varieties in the neotropics are susceptible to the disease.During 1999 (See Previous Report) we were able to confirm, with greenhouse studies that the B biotype of B. tabaci will feed and reproduce on cassava. However it was difficult to establisb the colony since B. tabaci was being collected from beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), a species very distant from cassava It was therefore decided to establish a colony on Poinsettia (Euphorbia palcherrima). Poinsettia was chosen since, in addition to being a reported host of B. tabaci, it is of the Euphorbiaceae Family and shares commonalties with cassava.A working colony was established on poinsettia by placing pupae from the bean colony onto poinsettia lea ves in 1m x 1m nylon mesh cages in the greenhouse. Using this technique it was possible to establish a now flourishing colony on poinsettia. In collaboratlon with the virology unit, and using the RAPD's-PCR technique, it has been possible to generate molecular markers for whitefly biotype identification. The B. tabaci colony from poinsettia readily took to J gossypiifolia plants and a colony was quickly established. This colony will be allowed to complete at least two cycles on J gossypiifolia before transferring it to cassava. Preliminary observations indicate that this J gossypiifolia colony will more easily establish on cassava.As part ofthe MFAT whitefly resistance project a student from a local Colombia University has been contracted to do on MS degree thesis to evaluate B. tabaci feeding, oviposition and development on whitetly resistant (to the species Aleurotrachelus socialis) and susceptible cassava cultivars.Cassava germplasm from several sources was evaluated for whitefly resistance during the 1999-2000 crop cycle at CIA T. Due to the heavy infestation of :frog skin disease in CIAT germplasm, it was not possible to introduce this germplasm into the CORPOICA, Nataima station for evaluation at that site. Germplasm evaluated included core collection, crossing blocks, multiplication and yield trial materials. All were planted in collaboration with the cassava germplasm improvement project, sown at CIA T and subjected to high field populations of A. socialis. Emphasis was given to those varieties/cultivars that had not been previously evaluated, had few evaluations or had received very low damage ratings in previous evaluations. Approximately 450 materials were evaluated.A considerable portion of the germplasm evaluated were hybrids (CM & SM) while others were :from the core collection, mostly MBra (Brazil), MCol (Colombia), MEcu (Ecuador), MGua (Guatemala), and MMex (Mexico ). The hybrids evaluated were developed for severa! ecosystems, such as the lowland tropics, acid-soil savannas and inter-andean valleys and also include materials for genetic mapping, whitefly resistance mapping, post harvest root deterioration and phytophthora and bacteriosis rnapping.Periodic evaluations for plant damage and whitefly populations were made throughout the crop cycle. A 1 to 6 damage scale ( 1 = no damage, 6 == severe damage) (Photo 4) is used to measure whitetly damage, anda 1 to 6 scale is also used to measure whiteíly populations (Table 3).Pboto 4. Cassava leaf damage symptoms caused by wbitefly (Aieurotrachelus socialis) Damage scale 1 = no leaf damage 2 = young leaves still green but slightly flaccid 3 = sorne twisting of young lea ves, slight leaf curling 4 = apicalleaves curled and twisted; yellow-green mottled appearance 5 = same as 4, but with \"sooty mold\" and yellowing of lea ves 6 = considerable leaf necrosis and defoliation, sooty mold on mid and lower leaves and young stems.Results show that whitet1y populations at Cli\\T were cxtremely high and caused considerable selection pressure on the cassava clones. Of the 449 clones evaluated, more than 50% had a damage rating above 4.0, and 86% above 3.0 (Figure 2). However, in spite of the high selection pressure, 30 cultivars (6.6%) presented no damage symptorns, and 35 cultivars had low damage ratings (between 2.0 and 3.0) on the 1 to 6 damage scale. Ninety-one cultivars hada damage rating below 3.5, indicating that they will be re-evaluated in subsequent planting cycles.In general the hybrid clones presented very low damage ratings (Table 4). This table includes those clones and cultivars that received a damage rating below 3.5 and will be re-evaluated. Approximately 64% of these are represented by hybrids (SM -47, 51.6% and CM = 11 , 12%) of the germplasm accessions, MCol represents 15% and MEcu and MPer 6% each. These resultsindicate that there is a good basis for resistance to whitellies in Andean germplasm, a phenomenon that has been noted in previous evaluations. These results also reinforce previous observations that the cultivar MECU 72 continues to display high levels of resistance, even undcr high levels of whitefly selection pressure (Photo 5).  Sterile male 3.0 3.0 Pupae on lea ves of mid 1/3 of plan t. 2 Pupae on lea ves of lower !tí of plant.Photo 5. WhiteOy (A. socialis) populations on two cassava varieties; ME cu 72 is the resistant variety with few whiteOy adults and immatures is compared witb a susceptible variety.The research for resistance to cassava whitetlíes (especially the species Aleurntrachelus sorialis) has been an important segment of the cassava research program for several years. This research has heen successful in identizying numerous cultivars wíth resistance to whitetlies (whitefly resistance in agricultural crops is rare) and in developing commercial hybrids with resistance.From 1992 to present, 5363 genotypes have been field evaluated for whitetly damage/resistance at four different sites in Colombia (Figure 3). The bulk of these screening have been at two sites, CIAT and the CORPOICA station in Nataima, Tolima. The results of these evaluations, which include both plant damage and whitefly population ratings, are contained in a database and available to researchers. In the case of numerous (most) clones, more than one evaluation has been made; the highest score received is considered the most important and frrst that appears in the data bank.Of the 5363 genotypes screened, 3897 (73%) have received a damage rating above 3.5 (1 = no damage, 6 = severe damage) and are considered susceptible (Figure 3). No further evaluations are planned for these materials. The remaining 1466 genotypes (27%) with damage ratings below 3.5 are considered \"promising\" and will continue to be evaluated. Emphasis will be given first to those materials with damage rating below 2.0 (479 or 8.9%). Most of these are prohahly escapes, i.e. selection pressure was not su:fficiently high enough to get an accurate evaluation.Approximately 44% of the materials evaluated are hybrids (Figure 4). This figure has increases considerably in recent years as more crosses and subsequent hybrids are being produced by the germpJasm development project and many ofthese are screened for arthropod resistance, especially whiteflies, mites and tbrips.Germplasm (landrace varieties) fro m severa l other countries have also been screened and can be appreciated in Figures 4 and 5. Based on present results, since much of the whitefly resistant germplasm has originated in the Andean zone, increased emphasis will be given to accessions from Ecuador and Peru.Landrace varieties have been collected from numerous countries, especially in the neotropics and these ha ve been included in the CIA T germplasm bank. These accessions ha ve also been systematically screened. The highest number are from Colombia 1030 (33.6%) of the 3038 accessions screened (Figure 4). Colombia is followed by Brazil (167 or 5.5%), Venezuela (118 or 3.9%) and, finally, Ecuador (115 or 3.8%).  To determine the life cycle duration of A. socialis on 7 cassava genotypes. 2.To evaluate whitefly behavior, genotype interaction. 3.To measure whitefly survival (mortality) on resistant vs. susceptible cassava genotypes.These studies were done at CIAT in growth (environmental) chambers where temperature (Average 27°C), humidity (68% RH) and photo period (12:12, daylight/night), were controlled throughout the experiment.The cassava varieties selected fo r the evaluation were MEcu 72, MEcu 64, MPer 317, MPer 611, MPer 415, MPer 335, all resistant to A. socialis and the susceptible control variety CMC 40. Four potted plants of each variety were infested with whiteflies from the CIAT colony. lnfestation was accomplished by attaching small (2.5 cm diameter) clip-cages (five per plant) to cassava leaves. Ten whitetly (A. socialis) females were introduced into each cage and allowed to oviposit for 24 hours after which cages and adults were removed. The whitetly infested plants were maintained in the growth charnber and watered regularly.To study the hiological cycle, 50 whitefly eggs per plant were selected and an ''infestation map\" was designed so that daily evaluations of eggs, nymphal instars and pupae could be easily accomplished. A total of 1400 whitefly individuals on 7 cassava varieties were constantly observed and evaluated throughout the experiment. Daily evaluations were made by observing the leaf undersurface with the aid of a stereo-rrucroscope. In order to minimalize leaf damage and not disturb nor injure whitefly imrnatures, a method was devised to least disturb developing nymphs.The potted plants are inverted on an iron support ring attached to an iron rod that allows upward/downward movement for optimal positioning for observance with the stereo-microscope.A rubber plate inserted at the hase of the plant stem at the soil line, prevents soil loss or plant movement and injury when the potted plant is inverted.Daily observation noted changes in instars (molting) at each stage ofwhitefly development as wel1 as individual mortality and the possible cause of mortality.The totallife cycle of egg to pupae of A. soda/is on the 7 cassava varieties ranged from 33 .9 to 37.4 days (Table 5).  7). Mortality was most severe during the nymphal stages, but also occurred during the egg stage and pupae (IV instar). In most cases, the highest mortality occurred during the frrst instar and lowest during the egg stage. The primary feeding stages are 1st through 3rd instar and all of the resistant clones, with the exception of MPer 611 , highest mortality occurred during these three instars. There was relatively high pupal mortality observed on MEcu 64 and MPer 611 (Table 7). On varieties such as MEcu 64, MEcu 72 and MPer 415, frrst instar nymphs express difficulty in \"'fDdng\" themselves to the leafundersurface to initíate feeding. These nymphs quickly dry up and fall from the leaf surface.These trials will he repeated on sorne of the aforementioned varieties a~ well as other varíeties. ln addition, trials will be designed to measure whitetly feeding and survival over severa! generations on the same clone. The fact that mortality was considerably higher on the resistant clones than on Activity VI. ldentificat ion of genomic regions responsible for conferr ing resistance to wbiteOy in cassava Different sources of resistance to white tly have heen reported (CIAT, 1995). The most important source of resistance genes was a genotype MEcu 72. Due to the importance of the whitefly as a pest and virus vector, we have initiated genetic studies to understand the inheritance of the resistance to the whitefly in genotypes like MEcu 72 and to tag the resistance gene (s). For this purpose we are analyzing the Fl segregation of cross the MEcu 72 (resistant genotype) x any very susceptible genotype, using molecular markers. This would help to accelerate selection of resistant materials to whiteflies and also to isolate resistant genes.An F 1 population of 282 individuals from the cross MEcu72 X Mcol2246 were used for this study with the former being the identified source of resistance to white fly and the latter the susceptible parent. In addition, Mcol2246 though being susceptible to whitefly infestation is resistant to other pests like mite and thrips and also flowers quite copiously.Genomic DNA from these 282 F 1 individuals was isolated from fresh young leaves using a slightly modified method adapted :from Dellaporta et al. (1983). Tissue from these young leaves were macerated in liquid nitrogen and 0.3g of this put in a l.Sml eppendorf tube containing lrnl of lOOmM Tris-HCl, 50mM EDTA, 500mM NaCI, 1.25% SOS and 0.38g/ml Sodium Bisulphite. This mixture was incubated for 45 minutes at 60°C followed by the addition of 0.4ml of 5M Potassium Acetate and subsequently placed on ice for 30 minutes. This was followed by centrifugation in a Sorvall Table top Centrifuge maintained at 4°C at 4000rpm for 1 O minutes. The supernatant was decanted and the nucleic acids then precipitated by the addition of one volume of isopropanol and 1/ 10 volume of Sodium Acetate (pH 5.2). An incubation period of 15 minutes at -80°C followed . A:fter this low temperature incubation, the mixture was again centrifuged ata temperature of 4°C in a Sorvall Table Top Centrifuge at 12000rpm tor 5 minutes and the supermtant decanted. The pellets were then washed in 70% ethanol, which was also decanted. The pellets were re-suspended in lOOJ.!l TE buffer. The integrity ofthe DNA was confirmed by agarose gel electrophoresis ofthe aliquots.Seeds from these 282 F1 individuals were planted in plastic dishes filled with sterile soil and left to grow for 6 to 8 weeks under greenhouse conditions with the temperature maintained at approximately 30°C. The seedlings were then transferred to the field for multiplication.For the greenhouse evaluations, the planting materials were rapidly multiplied in vitro in order to generate enough propagules in a short time, approximately 3 months. This is a significant reduction from the 6 months it normally takes to obtain stakes for planting from cassava stems when grown in the field. Also, this helped to obtain relatively cleaner planting materials.In vitro propagation methodology developed by Esco bar ( 1991) will be u sed in the present work. This methodology is based in cutting plant tips, which are transferred to the lab, disinfected first by washing them with sterile deionized water, ethanol 70%, hypochlorite 0,25% and fmally washed three times with sterile deionized water. The tips are cultured in 4E medium (Roca, 1984) in 16 ml assay tubes. The calculated growing period will be from 60 to 80 days. .FoUowing this period a second in vitro propagation in 4E medium in 100 mi small flasks will be performed for increasing the material amount per clone. 1\\fter this we will cut the tips of each clone for culturing in 17N rooting medium (Roca, 1984), during 30-40 days. Finally the plants will be transferred to the greenhouse.Pboto 6. Greeobouse screeoing of potted cassava plaots to evaluate wbitefly (A. socialis) feediog damage aod ovipositioo.This methodology will allow the conservation of material under optimal health conditions, and it will supply sufficient material in a reduced space.The parents MEcu 72, MCol 2246 and their offspring will be evaluated in the greenhouse with the \"clip cage\" methodology which consist in two polyethylene cylinders of different height joined by forceps. Both cylinder bases are covered by muslin, and thc highest cylinder has a small hole through which tlies are introduced. With this evaluation we pretend to identífY the gene segregation in the offspring and select the resistant and susceptible materials.We are using Simple Sequences Repeat SSR to find markers associated to resistance for mapping and ultirnately cloning the resistant genes. The SSR are random repeat sequences across all eukaryotic genome. These simple repeats can range from two to six base pairs (bp). SSRs show high polymorphism, are locus specific and multiallelic, they have a mendelian inheritance and also are codominant. We are using silver staining to visualize the allelic segregation of the markers.Genomic DNA of282 individuals offspring was isolatcd from (resh, young tissue of cassava leaves powdered with liquid nitrogen, according to Dellaporta et al. (1983) method modified (Figure 6). Both parents Ecu-72 and MCol2246 were evaluated with 343 cassava SSRs including 157 cDNA SSRs recently developed (Mba et al, submitted). Approximate 60% ofthe SSRs were polymorphic. (Figure 7, Table 8). "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7304a18116c1acf231f007dbb7e20e8f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/46dfa39f-2c6c-4fd4-af05-d0f427611aed/content","id":"1105537159"},"keywords":["4R","agriculture","balance","emissions","management","N 2 O","rice","subtropical","yield"],"sieverID":"8e80165c-6c5f-40c7-965d-05ba5f74df4d","content":"Nitrogen (N) is an essential nutrient in crop production that supports current and future human population. With the advent of the \"Green Revolution\" in the 1960s, crop yields-especially for cerealsincreased substantially to support rising global food demand. This increased production was made possible through the introduction of high yielding crop varieties, accompanied by the availability anduse of inorganic fertilizer, irrigation, and advanced mechanization (Zhang et al., 2015). For example, the world's population increased from 3 to 7.5 billion during 1960-2016, and fertilizer N consumption during this period increased by almost 10-fold to an annual average of approximately 110 Tg N year −1 (Battye et al., 2017;Benbi, 2017).By 2008, inorganic N fertilizers fed up to 50% of the world's population (Erisman et al., 2008). Although N fertilizers have immensely contributed to human dietary needs, large areas of global cropland still lack sufficient available N for food and nutrition security (Ciceri & Allanore, 2019). Furthermore, with limited land available for agricultural expansion, more than 90% of future production growth is expected to come from higher yields and increased cropping intensity (FAO, 2009). With population pressure and increasing demand for animal-based protein, future demand for N is expected to grow substantially to ensure sufficient food for more than 9.7 billion people by the middle of the 21st century (FAO, 2017).This large addition of reactive N to the global ecosystem comes, however, with unintended environmental consequences since only about half of the global N fertilizer inputs are recovered in harvested yield (Lassaletta et al., 2014;Martinez-Feria et al., 2018). The other half of the fertilizer N applied to crops remains in the environment, where it can contribute to climate change and water quality issues along with other environmental and human health externalities (Lassaletta et al., 2016). Surplus N may be lost from the soil-plant system by denitrification in the form of dinitrogen (N 2 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O), and nitric oxide (NO), by ammonia (NH 3 ) volatilization, or via nitrate (NO −3 ) leaching and runoff (Bouwman et al., 2013). Of these, N 2 O emissions are of particular concern as it is an important greenhouse gas with global warming potential 265-298 times higher than that of CO 2 in a 100 year-time horizon, and it also influences stratospheric chemistry, depleting the ozone layer (IPCC, 2013;Yue et al., 2018). Agriculture is responsible for approximately 78% of global anthropogenic N 2 O emissions (Mbow et al., 2017), corresponding to 5%-6% of global greenhouse emissions (Smith et al., 2007).Projections of growing population and food demand, particularly in regions with current N shortages that will require greater N supply, suggest that without significant changes in the agriculture and the food system, agricultural emissions of N 2 O will continue to increase (FAO, 2017). A world kept within livable limits thus depends on scientists, farmers, and their partners to solve this challenge.Numerous studies have shown that N 2 O emissions from agricultural soils increase with the application of N (Bouwman et al., 2002;Halvorson et al., 2011;Hoben et al., 2011). Excessive N fertilization reduces nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), as defined by N removed per unit of N applied, where the increase in surplus N is one of the most important causal factors for increased N losses (Billen et al., 2013;Bouwman et al., 2013). Fertilizer management practices such as the \"right\" source, timing, and placement (referred to collectively with the \"right\" rate as the \"4Rs\") play a varied role in improving NUE-and reducing fertilizer-induced N 2 O emissions (Fixen, 2020).Meta-analyses of multiple field studies find that optimizing fertilizer N rate, source, and timing can reduce N 2 O emissions in maize (Zea mays) systems by up to 50% (Eagle et al., 2017). However, weather, soil, and other factors affect complex N cycling dynamics-which limit the evidence for consistent functional relationships among management practices, NUE, and N 2 O. For this reason, incentive programs and protocols for N 2 O emission reductions have generally focused on rate adjustments alone (Casellas et al., 2009;Eve et al., 2014;Millar et al., 2010;Niles et al., 2019). Prescriptive fertilizer rate reductions may not, however, maintain or improve productivity for field crops of high yield potential; acknowledge individual field and farm differences in climate, soil, equipment, and other resources; or encourage creative nutrient management problem-solving by producers and their advisors.Assuming steady-state conditions in soil organic matter, a partial N balance (PNB) has been proposed as a robust proxy for the amount of N at risk of loss to the environment (McLellan et al., 2018). This PNB can be calculated from the same components as NUE (i.e., N outputs and N inputs), using basic yield and fertilizer data well known to producers. Reductions in excessive N balances can be achieved by rate adjustments or yield improvements that depend on good nutrient management. For example, Omonode et al. (2017) reported that optimal rate and timing of N fertilizer applications reduced N 2 O emissions most consistently under management that led to lower N balances through an increase in plant N uptake and grain N removal in North American maize-based systems.Therefore, gains in plant N uptake or recovery efficiency will reduce the N balance, increase NUE, and contribute to reduced N 2 O emission during crop production (Omonode et al., 2017). On the other hand, the global increase in N inputs in crop production has been mostly coupled with a decrease in NUE, and a growing population and food demand in Asian and African regions with historically low input use and crop yields provide impetus to ensuring that future production gains simultaneously minimize negative environmental impacts (Zhang et al., 2015). While individual studies have observed improved yield, N recovery efficiency, and NUE with optimized N placement and timing in subtropical wheat (Triticum aestivum) and rice (Oryza sativa) cropping systems (Bijay-Singh et al., 2015;Singh et al., 2014;Yadvinder-Singh et al., 2015), evidence for optimal 4R management is particularly scanty and scattered for tropical and subtropical agroecosystems of Asia and Africa. Therefore, research efforts are needed to synthesize data on N management, metrics, and environmental outcomes to inform intervention for the cropping systems of these regions.Our research objectives were to (i) relate changes in fertilizer management practices to yield and plant N uptake and (ii) then link these outcomes to N 2 O emissions from cereal and vegetable crop systems. Using up-to-date peer-reviewed research evidence for Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, we examined the relationships among N management strategies, crop yields, and N 2 O emissions. We used a multilevel regression approach to model yield and N 2 O observations coming from different cropping systems, soil regimes, 4R management, and climates (Eagle et al., 2017). From these functional relationships, we calculated increases in yields as well as reductions in seasonal N 2 O emissions due to adjustments in fertilizer management and/or enhanced NUE. The results establish that performanceindicators such as PNB and partial factor productivity (PFP) are robust, integrative, and relevant to management of N 2 O emission in programs of crop yield improvements in under-represented regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.We based our analysis on two databases. The first was a publicly available N 2 O database (https://sampl es.ccafs.cgiar.org/n2odashb oard/) that underpins other previous analyses (Albanito et al., 2017;Yue et al., 2018). This first dataset is primarily focused on N 2 O emissions and has a global geographic extent, but it is limited in (i) yield and plant or grain N data and (ii) its representation in tropical and subtropical Asia and Africa. To fill these research gaps concurrently, we conducted a systematic review for this region prioritizing fertilizer management, yield, and N uptake data with and without measured N 2 O emissions. We then utilized the global dataset as a reference to assess the generalizability of our interpretations of climate, edaphic, and management impacts on N 2 O emissions which was important considering not all N management studies measure emissions (e.g., the degree to which the results of our study can be applied to a broader sample assembled independently).Following the approach outlined by previous meta-analyses (Eagle et al., 2017;2020), we conducted advanced literature searches in the Web of Science database to identify soil science and agricultural articles related to N fertilization (using search terms for \"agricult*,\" \"nitrogen,\" and \"fertili*). Specifically, we aimed to identify articles summarizing the findings from studies conducted in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa published from 2000 until August 2019.In this broad search, we retrieved 2895 publications. We then refined our search function to narrow down the list of papers using three approaches. In the first approach, we filtered sub-searches for studies with \"nitrous oxide\" and \"yield\" topics from papers published from an exhaustive list of countries falling within Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Second, not restricting studies to those reporting N 2 O emissions, we refined the search results to fertilizer management factors, including the \"rate,\" \"time,\" \"place,\" \"source,\" \"form,\" \"4R,\" \"split application,\" \"basal,\" \"timing,\" \"top-dress,\" \"sidedress,\" \"subsurface,\" \"surface,\" \"broadcast,\" \"injected,\" \"fertilizer pattern,\" \"incorporation,\" \"fertilizer schedule,\" \"fall application,\" \"spring application\", and \"NUE.\" In our final approach, we refined the search to \"N 2 O\" and agronomic terms but did not restrict the search results to the exhaustive list of countries, and instead inspected the abstracts individually. In total, we imported 757 unique papers into an EndNote (Clarivate, Philadelphia, PA) library, from which we assessed the titles and abstracts. We discarded 394 papers that (i) did not contain original research (e.g., literature review);(ii) were not field-based (e.g., greenhouse experiments, model simulations); (iii) did not pertain to N fertilizer management (e.g., no comparisons of rate, source, timing, or placement of fertilizer); or (iv) were not conducted in Asia or Africa. We then further examined the experimental design and the data for the remaining 363 papers. We compiled data from 160 studies that met the following criteria: (i) reported seasonal crop yield, crop N uptake, or cumulative direct N 2 O-N emissions; (ii) included at least one comparison across treatments; (iii) reported application rates of inorganic and/ or organic N; (iv) did not average across years unless the statistics indicated a lack of treatment and time interaction; and (v) did not sum multiple crops. Nitrogen input from biological N fixation was omitted due to being beyond the scope of the study. Additionally, N deposition was excluded as an input due to its lack of data reporting. Finally, we manually transcribed the data from tables or digitally retrieved values from graphs using the WebPlotDigitizer 4.0.0 software (Rohangi, 2020).In total, we gathered 2661 data points/observations from 160 publications. We refer to this data from Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa as the \"Asia-Africa\" dataset (Table S1). The Asia-Africa dataset has 133 unique locations (Figure 1), where a single location may serve as the site for more than one publication as indicated by the reported location or latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates. Certain publications also reported these data from more than one geographic location. In total, our final Asia-Africa dataset contained 181 unique publicationlocation combinations, and 224 unique publication-location-crop \"clusters\". Of these, the majority (67.4%) of the clusters were located in China. The rest were located in South Asia (22.3%), Sub-Saharan Africa (6.3%), Southeast Asia (2.7%), and remainder in Japan, Iran, or Syria (1.3%). The majority of the clusters were located in the subtropics (54%), followed by those in the tropics (13%) and temperate regions (32%  China (<24% of the clusters). It is also important to note that only one of the 31 studies reporting all three variables (i.e., N 2 O, dry matter yield, and N uptake) was conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa, representing a large regional data gap.We recorded additional metadata (when available) pertaining to crop, edaphic, climatic, management, and methodological factors.The crop factors included crop type, previous crop, residue management, and rotation. Edaphic factors (typically sampled within a 30 cm depth) included soil texture, soil pH, soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration, and total soil N concentration. Climatic factors included mean annual temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP), seasonal experimental mean temperature, and seasonal experimental precipitation. Management factors included irrigation, tillage practices, and fertilizer management. For fertilizer management, we transcribed the N source (e.g., inorganic and/or organic; microbial inhibitors), timing (e.g., number and timing of applications), and placement (e.g., method of application). Urea was the primary source of synthetic fertilizer for more than 86% of observations, and so inorganic fertilizer categories were not disaggregated further.We also recorded the application rates of N fertilizer from synthetic sources as well as N rates associated with organic sources. Finally, we also noted methodological factors, such as replication, plot size, as well as N 2 O measurement method, duration, frequency, placement, and area.We only included studies in the database in which researchers explicitly defined and observed all data with the following exceptions: First, we estimated missing longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates based on location descriptions. Second, we extracted long-term MAP and MAT and other bioclim data for specific location coordinates from the WorldClim database (Fick & Hijmans, 2017) using the Raster and sp packages in R (R Core Team, 2020). Third, we converted soil organic matter concentrations to SOC by dividing the former by the conversion factor of 1.72 (Van Bemmelen, 1890) and added 0.75 to adjust pH values measured in CaCl 2 instead of water (Sanchez, 2019;Weil & Brady, 2017). Finally, we assumed yields were reported on a dry matter basis if the moisture content was not specified.After filling in missing data, we grouped the observational-level data into categories of crop, edaphic, climatic, management, and methodological factors (Supporting Information 1 part A, S1-A).After categorization, we undertook data cleaning steps. First, we categorized one banana (Musa acuminata) study with \"other row crops\" because it did not fall within cereal or vegetable categories.We also removed two studies that reported the average of maize and wheat yields. In addition, we removed four unusual outliers with negative cumulative N 2 O emissions reported in a single study, considering that negative emissions were extremely rare in the dataset and likely attributable to instrumental noise rather than microbial processes (Cowan et al., 2014). Finally, we removed one study after geographic coordinates revealed that the study was conducted in Australia, which was outside our regional scope.One limitation to the generalizability of the Asia-Africa database compiled from peer-reviewed literature is a bias toward cropping systems in China and the subtropics. To overcome such a limitation, we accessed a publicly available global N 2 O database (https://sampl es.ccafs.cgiar.org/n2o-dashb oard/) to compare and contrast our model results, which draws from multiple sources and may help to reduce this bias. We call this data the \"Global N 2 O\" dataset (Table S2).We did not perform the systematic review of the literature nor data entry, and search criteria and filtering protocol are found elsewhere (Albanito et al., 2017;Yue et al., 2018). First, we filtered this dataset to select only row-crops, cereals (including rice), and vegetable crops grown in mineral soils with additions of fertilizer not exceeding 1200 kg N ha −1 year −1 . Next, we performed the same data categorization and cleaning steps as previously discussed for Asia-Africa dataset. In total, the Global N 2 O dataset contained 2247 annual (rather than seasonal) N 2 O observations from 259 studies ( 296unique publication-crop-location clusters). More than half of the clusters (55%) were located within Asia and Africa, predominantly in China (42% vs. 13% from Africa and other Asian countries). The rest were located in Europe (22%), North America (18%), South America (2.7%), and remainder in Australia (2%). The majority of the study sites were located in temperate regions (58%), followed by those in the subtropics (32%) and tropics (8%). Papers reported yield for less than 37% of clusters, and plant N uptake in even fewer clusters (7%). Experimental years, if reported, ranged from 1974 to 2015, and more than half of the observations were collected between 2007 and 2015. The Global N 2 O dataset included 37 studies in the Asia-Africa dataset (Table S2), which resulted in an overlap for 39% of the clusters reporting N 2 O emissions in the Asia-Africa dataset and an overlap for 23% of the clusters in the Global N 2 O dataset. Notably, our systematic review did not capture two suitable studies (both conducted in China) resulting in a 95% recovery rate.We utilized a multilevel regression modeling approach to assess the impact of crop, edaphic, and management variables on the observed biological responses (e.g., N 2 O emissions, plant N uptake, or yield). Multilevel regressions are mixed-effect models, which enable researchers to examine observations derived from different cropping systems, soil regimes, management, and climates (Eagle et al., 2017;Qian et al., 2010). At the observational level (i.e., level 1), the model can analyze the biological response to multiple continuous and/or categorical independent variables (i.e., predictors). Multilevel models also allow for random effects, permitting practitioners to cluster observations (i.e., level 2) for a given study that would otherwise violate the assumption of independence (Qian, 2017). Simply, we used a multilevel regression to allow for varying y-intercepts among clusters, and then to quantify the coefficients for each predictor assuming a constant slope among clusters based on similar response functions at individual sites (Supporting Information 1-B). Multilevel models can also handle unbalanced data (e.g., varying observations among clusters) by adjusting the the weight of clusters to account for variance or sample size.A multilevel model can also include predictors at the observational level (level 1) and cluster level (level 2). The crop, soil, and climatic data generally vary among rather than within sites and studies (i.e., clusters, level 2). This distinction is important for management factors, which can vary both within and among studies.Therefore, we undertook additional categorization steps to distinguish between fertilizer management factors within a cluster (level 1, i.e., \"treatments\" or \"within subject\") and among clusters (level 2, i.e., \"fixed experimental elements\" or \"between subject\") to properly interpret the model coefficients. In all of the analyses, we confirmed with the intraclass correlation statistic that multilevel modeling is a valid and appropriate approach (Supporting Information 2-1).We designed our statistical procedure to address three main objectives, detailed in an analytical flowchart (Supporting Information 1-C). Our first objective was to identify important climate, soil, and management factors to predict N 2 O. We performed all analyses on natural-log transformed N 2 O data to satisfy the assumptions of a linear regression, which was evidenced by the large difference between the mean and median values. We did not mean center predictors given that we were not interpreting y-intercepts in our analysis. We performed a backwards selection procedure using the step function in the lmerTest package (R Core Team, 2020) to identify significant level 1 or level 2 predictors for N 2 O emissions, yield, and plant N uptake. Predictors included crop type, latitude, MAT, MAP, irrigation, tillage, soil texture, clay percentage, soil pH, SOC content, measurement period (i.e., timeframe over which measurements were collected), and frequency of N 2 O measurements. We selected MAP as the predictor for precipitation because our preliminary indicated the other bioclim variables such as precipitation in the driest month, wettest month, coefficient of variation, wettest quarter, driest quarter, warmest quarter, and coldest quarter did not provide additional clarity to the model (Supporting Information 2-1). We visually inspected each significant predictor in the final model always controlling for N rate (Supporting Information 2-1).When we evaluated the model, we observed non-normal residuals and heteroscedasticity that violate the assumptions of a regression analysis. Therefore, we present data modeled with the rlmer function in the robustlmm package in R (R Core Team, 2020). This function is similar to the lmer function (lme4 package), but provides less biased estimates for skewed variables in order to overcome observed issues in our response variables such as long-tailedness (Tanadini & Mehrabi, 2017). For robustness testing, we compared the rlmer modeling results with an lme (nlme package) function that allows for unequal variance across clusters to account for potential issues related to heteroscedasticity, but we settled on the rlmer approach because of the long-tailedness of the residuals. We reran the final backwards-selected model (Supporting Information 2-1) to confirm that all selected predictors were significant in the robust model (i.e., rlmer).Once we developed our base model, our second objective was to assess the response of seasonal N 2 O emissions (kg N ha −1 season −1 ) to inorganic and/or organic N application rate (kg N ha −1 season −1 ), PNB (kg N ha −1 season −1 ), or PFP of N (kg yield kg N −1 season −1 ). PNB can be expressed as a difference (Eagle et al., 2020) or index (Fixen et al., 2015) of crop N output from or to fertilizer inputs, which may or may not include straw N (EU Nitrogen Expert Panel, 2015; Omonode et al., 2017). In this study, we defined PNB as Equation(1), which has been used to estimate N surplus (van Groenigen et al., 2010) and factors in plant N uptake at harvest (as either reported by authors or calculated from stated above-ground biomass and N concentration). We defined PFP by Equation (2) (Fixen et al., 2015).We compared the models by assessing marginal pseudo-R 2 (mR 2 ), or variance explained by fixed effects; and conditional pseudo-R 2 (cR 2 ), or the variance explained by both the fixed and random effects (Nakagawa & Schielzeth, 2013). Because the robust model does not correspond to likelihood, criteria to compare models such as Akaike information criterion are unavailable (Supporting Information 2-2).We further tested the effect of fertilizer management factors on N 2 O emission and crop productivity (Supporting Information 2-3).Due to the diversity of experimental designs, and therefore missing data, we assessed fertilizer management factors individually on data subsets. Specifically, we tested the effects of fertilizer additives (i.e., enhanced efficiency fertilizer or EEF), the addition of organic fertilizers (i.e., animal manure or compost) with or without synthetic fertilizers, fertilizer placement (broadcasted or incorporated), and fertilization frequency (number of applications) on natural log transformed N 2 O emissions, crop yield, and plant N uptake. We then utilized the robust linear mixed model (rlmer) to assess the interactive effect of crop yield, N rate, and crop type on the natural log transformed N 2 O emissions. Finally, we regressed the predicted yield against the predicted N 2 O emissions controlling for N rate. However, we interpreted this last relationship as conceptual given missing N 2 O data in some studies.For ease of interpretation, N 2 O emissions and modeled parameters were back-transformed for the Figures (Supporting Information of 46% or less (Figure 2). In contrast, experimental clusters (i.e., our random effect) explained 43%-58% of the variance due to unquantified or random differences between studies and sites, resulting in cR 2 ranging from 88% to 95%. Of the 11 site-level predictors, only crop system type (i.e., paddy rice) and SOC were consistently significant in increasing N 2 O emissions while controlling for N rate, in the Asia-Africa dataset (Figure 2a) and the Global N 2 O dataset (Figure 2b). In the Asia-Africa dataset, rice systems had 71% lower N 2 O emissions than maize systems while emissions increased by almost 5% per unit increase in SOC (%) for a given N rate. Comparatively, rice systems had 57% lower emissions than other cereals in the Global N 2 O dataset while emissions increased by 19% per unit increase in SOC (%).Each dataset also had factors that were significant but not generalizable. MAT and MAP were significant in the Asia-Africa dataset but were positively and negatively correlated with emissions, respectively (Figure 2a). In contrast, absolute latitude and study duration (e.g., N 2 O measurement period) were significant predictors for the Global N 2 O emissions that were also positively and negatively correlated with emissions, respectively (Figure 2b).Fertilizer N rate was a significant predictor of N 2 O emissions, which had similar impacts on N 2 O emissions in both the Asia-Africa and Global N 2 O datasets (Figure 2a,b). Our analysis estimated that N 2 O emissions increased by approximately 0.4% for each additional 1 kg of N ha −1 . Our comparisons between N rate versus PNB (Figure 2c,d) and N rate versus PFP metrics (Figure 2e,f) in the Asia-Africa dataset indicated that these metrics were also significant factors and performed as well or better as N rate at predicting N 2 O emissions.Specifically, N 2 O emissions increased with increasing PNB but decreasing PFP. More N 2 O variance was explained by models that included PNB (mR 2 = 46%) or PFP (mR 2 = 42%) as fixed factors rather than N rate (mR 2 = 44% and 37%, respectively). However, this advantage did not persist when including random effects (cR 2 ). Of particular interest, the predicted regression models for PNB and N 2 O emissions were more similar among vegetables, maize, and wheat crops (Figure 3b) than estimates based on N rate (Figure 3a), which Predictors such as fertilizer management significantly impacted N 2 O emissions when controlling for N rate and other significant factors.We examined fertilizer management on the observational-level(level 1, i.e., management varied within clusters) and site-level factors (level 2, i.e., management varied between clusters). Fertilizer management was only consistently significant on the observational level (Supporting Information 2-3), and so we present data for our level 1 analysis. EEFs decreased N 2 O emissions by 24% for a given N rate in the Asia-Africa (Figure 4a) across maize, rice, vegetable, and wheat season (Figure 4b). These results were also observed in theGlobal N 2 O dataset (Figure 4c) for annual cropping of rice, other cereals, row crops, and vegetables (Figure 4d). The addition of organic or integration of organic/mineral fertilizers (largely through the application of manure) resulted in a significant 7.5% increase in N 2 O emissions in the Asia-Africa dataset (Figure 5a) compared to mineral fertilizers alone, but this effect was small in magnitude (Figure 5b) with no differences detected in Global N 2 O emissions (Figure 5c) across the various cropping systems (Figure 5d). Non-surface placement did not have a significant effect in the Asia-Africa dataset but increased N 2 O emissions in the Global N 2 O dataset (data not shown, Supporting Information 2-5).Nitrous oxide emissions increased with increasing number of fertilizer applications in the Asia-Africa dataset (Figure 6a). Upon with EEFs or organic amendments; Figure 6b). Fertilization frequency had little to no effect on emissions when the same type of fertilizer was added more frequently in both datasets (Figure 6c). Thus, only when the frequency of applications and type of fertilizer were confounded, N 2 O emissions significantly increased with more frequent applications of largely untreated N fertilizers or synthetic fertilizers alone (Figure 6d). We observed the same patterns in the global dataset (Figure 7a-d). These findings are particularly salient in our efforts to isolate the impact of 4R management and highlight the need for meta-analyses to specify whether (i) management comparisons co-varied rate, timing, source, and/or placement; and (ii) 4R management differed within studies or among studies when assessing impact of management on N 2 O emissions (i.e., observational level or site level).Due to data limitations in the Global N 2 O dataset, our productivity analysis was restricted to the Asia-Africa dataset. Based on the nonlinear relationship between N rate and productivity (Supporting Information 2-4), we selected a quadratic function to fit the data.We found that crop yields and plant N uptake increased with EEFs, N rate, and more frequent fertilization (Figure 8) as well as nonsurface placement (data not shown) until reaching a maximum prior to a potential decline. Thus, our analysis highlights potential synergies and trade-offs between N 2 O emissions and crop productivity. We observed co-benefits for the use of EEFs, where N 2 O emissions decreased (Figure 4) while increasing yields (Figure 8a)and N uptake (Figure 8c), thereby reducing PNB. In contrast, we observed little co-benefits-or even potential trade-offs-for the number of applications (Figure 8b,d). Specifically, more frequent applications of fertilizer had a very small but significantly positive effect on yields and plant N uptake, which did not correspond with reductions in N 2 O emissions (Figures 6 and 7). Furthermore, non-surface placement of fertilizer also increased yields and plant N uptake (Supporting Information 2-4) despite having inconsistent and largely insignificant effect on N 2 O emissions (Supporting Information 2-3). These findings highlight the challenges to teasing out overarching impacts of narrowly focused fertilizer management decisions (i.e., focus only on a single \"R\") and may even expose potential trade-offs related to pollution swapping if reductions in N 2 O emissions are not coupled with an increase in N uptake by plants through a holistic, adaptive 4R management approach that target multiple loss pathways. We observed a significant interaction between N rate and productivity on N 2 O emissions in the Asia-Africa dataset (Supporting Information 2-4). In the model that allowed for the interaction between crop and N rate, higher yields were associated with a lesser N 2 O losses for a given rate of fertilizer, as N 2 O emissions increased with N rate (Figure 9, n = 967, 96 clusters). This is particularly apparent at higher N rates (>200 kg N ha −1 season −1 ), which for lower yielding cereal crops likely represent excessive fertilization. The tension between N management and productivity on N 2 O emissions is conceptually illustrated in Figure 10, where we regress predicted yields and predicted emissions using the model coefficients from the N 2 O (Figure 4) and yield (Figure 8) models based on significant predictors (allowing for missing N 2 O emission data). The predicted N 2 O emissions increased exponentially as yields approach their maxima. With regard to N rate, this relationship implies that emissions increased as yield gains declined with each incremental increase in N input due to growing inefficiencies of N use. However, in this range, EEFs appear to \"shift\" the curve to achieve greater yields and lower emissions than crops fertilized with non-EEFs (Figure 10   (Albanito et al., 2017;Cayuela et al., 2017;Eagle et al., 2020;van Lent et al., 2015;Liu et al., 2017;Rochette et al., 2018;Sapkota et al., 2020;Stehfest & Bouwman, 2006). Other than N rate, some of these previous studies identified that fertilizer source also influences N 2 O emissions. In our analysis, N rate (and its derivatives), crop type, and SOC were the only generalizable factors to consistently explain the variance in N 2 O emissions. These findings were expected (Eagle et al., 2020).For instance, NH 3 (and methane) emissions are a greater concern in flooded systems given that urea or manure (or another ammoniumbased nutrient source) is the preferred for plant uptake (Wang et al., 1993) in environments with slow rates of nitrification and higher risk of denitrification losses in anaerobic zones.Although additional factors were important in other studies (Eagle et al., 2020;Liu et al., 2017;Stehfast & Bouwman, 2006), the effects of other factors were at times not significant, not generalizable, or even unexpected according to theory. Furthermore, we also found no clear agreement on other minimal parameters needed to explain the majority of variance in N 2 O emissions. Instead, we attributed the majority of the variation in emissions to undetermined randomness associated with experimental-location differences. This lack of consistency among predictors is common in the literature, highlighting the difficulties to adequately account for variability of N 2 O emissions across contrasting locations and systems in our models (Albanito et al., 2017).Given that climate and soil factors impact N 2 O emissions, such discrepancies expose the limitations of global and intercontinental datasets based on hundreds of studies to develop localized estimates. First, it is possible that the quality of the predictor data, as well as differences across studies, may impact the variance explained by these predictors. For instance, we used MAP in the analysis to fill missing data and standardize across sites. However, predictors that incorporate seasonal precipitation Many countries within tropical and subtropical regions rely on the IPCC Tier I protocol for N 2 O inventory which assumes that N 2 O emissions increase by 0.01 kg N 2 O-N per kg of N fertilizer applied.While this is the dominant paradigm, our findings demonstrate that a PNB indicator performs as well or better than N rate when predicting N 2 O emissions in a wide assemblage of agroecosystems. Importantly, the N balance approach incorporates productivity, and our analysis provides new evidence that increasing N uptake is associated with reducing N 2 O emissions for a given N rate. This is likely because greater plant N recovery decreases the amounts of inorganic N available to nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. The N balance approach may act as an integrating metric to evaluate suites of adaptive 4R practices that work together to tighten the N cycle in a cropping system-certainly including but not exclusive to N rate adjustments. We recommend the broader use of this metric beyond North America and in other production systems of other regions.However, we acknowledge one caveat to this approach is the availability of the information with which farmers have to calculate their application rates, yields, and N concentration. Despite PNB being the predictor of N 2 O emissions, only 31 of the 100 N 2 O studies provided enough data to calculate PNB based on N uptake (and even less for harvested N). In the absence of plant or grain N data, PFP may be a more widely measurable indicator. Second, while a relatively lower PNB or higher PFP is indicative of better agronomic performance, a negative N balance is undesirable to prevent soil nutrient mining.Thus, PNB and PFP must be interpreted within the context of inputs and yield.An alternative approach may be to assign N 2 O emission reduction coefficients to specific 4R nutrient management practices. Aside from N rate, fertilizer source is often considered an important predictor of N 2 O emissions (Albanito et al., 2017). However, a clear understanding of other fertilizer management considerations, such as where nitrification inhibitors alone or combined with urease inhibitors reduced N 2 O emissions by 8%-100% (Eagle et al., 2017;Lam et al., 2017;Li et al., 2018;Qiao et al., 2015;Snyder et al., 2009;Thapa et al., 2016;Xia et al., 2017). Unlike other predictors, EEFs F I G U R E 9 Examining the impact of improved agronomic performance (e.g., higher yields) on N 2 O emissions for a given level of N application (n = 967, 96 clusters). Lines represent predicted values from fixed effects in multilevel regression models (ignoring random effects) for the Asia-Africa dataset, and shaded area represents 95% confidence bands not be always effective at reducing N 2 O emissions (Akiyama et al., 2010;Li et al., 2018;Thapa et al., 2016).With regard to organic fertilizer inputs, we found that the in-  , 2019). Another meta-analysis determined that substituting manure for synthetic fertilizer had no impact on N 2 O emissions (Xia et al., 2017), while a third study measured no impact of manure on emissions at the same N balance (defined as N fertilizer minus grain N offtake) when controlling for SOC (Eagle et al., 2020). Therefore, our analysis adds more complexity to the literature, and questions the generalizability of specific emission factors based on organic versus synthetic sources.The impacts of fertilizer timing and placement on N 2 O emissions remain inconclusive in our analysis, and thus we cannot recommend universally prescriptive timing and placement for N 2 O emission reduction. This finding underscores that 4R management is an adaptive management framework that considers the site-specific efficacy of the selected practices for a range of relevant sustainability outcomes, and thus should not be reduced to specific timing and placement options (Fixen, 2020). While we found that increasing the number of fertilizer applications (controlling for N rate) did not necessarily reduce N 2 O emissions despite small but significant improvements in yield, we also identified a major caveat in 4R meta-analyses.Many of the experiments in both datasets were not designed to isolate the impacts of timing, and treatment designs often confounded source and timing. For instance, researchers often apply polymer coated urea once versus a split application of urea. We found that In their meta-analysis, Fernandez et al. (2020)   2017) found that emissions were higher with later side-dress applications. Thus, rather than focus on specific fertilizer management strategies, we can instead select from a suite of practices that reduce high N balances (Omonode et al., 2017).Our results highlight the need to consider potential trade-offs among N loss pathways. In our analysis, subsurface placement of fertilizer did not mitigate N 2 O emissions in agreement with observations in North American maize-based systems (Eagle et al., 2017).This finding may be surprising because subsurface application increased yields and is generally considered a best management practice (Nkebiwe et al., 2016) may also be driving these observed relationships (Drury et al., 2017), especially considering that a previous meta-analysis reported that deep placement of fertilizer reduced NH 3 volatilization (Huang et al., 2016). This pathway may be particularly important in the Asia-Africa dataset given that urea was the primary fertilizer source.Furthermore, trade-offs between these two loss pathways have also been observed with the use of nitrification inhibitors despite consistent yield improvements (Li et al., 2018;Pan et al., 2016;Qiao et al., 2015). Presumably, a reduction of NH 3 volatilization could lead to greater N 2 O emissions (or other downstream losses if the inorganic N is not immobilized by microbes or plants), particularly if rates are not adjusted in response to increased N use efficiencies.A novel aspect of our study is that we explored the relationships between N 2 O emissions and yield with increasing N rate, which is largely lacking in the literature. Our findings support the development of locally adapted suites of 4R practices that reduce PNB (and reduce losses). We found that (i) N rate reduction and (ii) the use of EEFs are both critical 4R strategies to optimize PNB. This is because any N applied in excess of crop removal is at risk of loss, with  et al., 2018). Therefore, understanding the management differences could help growers identify changes that may improve productivity and fine-tune N rates on a field or sub-field scale while also reducing N balances. In other words, we should aim for reducing N balance either by reducing N rate with the same yield level or by increasing the yield with the same N rate.In regions with low N use, negative N balances, and high yield gaps due to imbalanced fertilization, we recommend holistic strategies that improve yields but prevent high N balances (and N 2 O losses) with system improvements that must include increasing N inputs. The avoidance of excess N is critical given that increasing fertilizer N rates from 50 to 150 kg ha −1 season −1 is projected to increase N 2 O emissions in the tropics by 30% (Huddell et al., 2020) and by as much as 55% in our regional assessment of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Ultimately, in the N-limited scenario, optimization of N rate relative to yield and fertilizer management is critical. Conceptually, N 2 O emissions increase exponentially once some productivity threshold is attained (Figure 11). This finding is in accordance with the law of diminishing returns, where N 2 O emissions increased as yield gains declined with each incremental increase in N inputs. In this conceptual model, the application of EEFs increased yields (and N uptake, data not shown) but decreased N 2 O emissions. In lower yielding systems, EEFs resulted in lower N 2 O emissions for a given level of productivity. As productivity increased, yield gains continued under lower N 2 O emissions for crops fertilized with EEFs, thus \"shifting\" the exponential increase in N 2 O emissions to higher yield levels. Further yield gains through crop selection and irrigation can continue to \"shift\" and improve NUE in higher yielding systems via concomitant increases in both yields and NUE (Zhang et al., 2015).Therefore, we conclude that fertilizer management strategies that increase NUE, and thus optimize N balance, will be particularly critical to abate or even avoid the exponential increases in N 2 O emissions as yields approach optimization with adequate N supply. This where more rapid plant growth may partially reduce excessive levels of inorganic N in soil available for microbial transformation to N 2 O in higher-producing systems. Therefore, we recommend adopting an N balance approach toward selecting a combination of fertilizer management practice and technology packages (e.g., breeding, fertilizer, irrigation, etc.) to increase food production while minimizing pollution (Pingali, 2012) such as N 2 O emissions. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ec7f152d630a21848dc355de88c3e637","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9e590e33-3b48-4477-bbe4-ca4c710d5ce6/retrieve","id":"-1486175294"},"keywords":["breeding","carotenoids","genetic gain","genomic prediction","Manihot esculenta","vitamin A deficiency"],"sieverID":"38f8e65e-85fb-4d6d-b9a8-95f6f313781f","content":"Global efforts are underway to develop cassava with enhanced levels of provitamin A carotenoids to sustainably meet increasing demands for food and nutrition where the crop is a major staple. Herein, we tested the effectiveness of genomic selection (GS) for rapid improvement of cassava for total carotenoids content and associated traits. We evaluated 632 clones from Uganda's provitamin A cassava breeding pipeline and 648 West African introductions. At harvest, each clone was assessed for level of total carotenoids, dry matter content, and resistance to cassava brown streak disease (CBSD). All clones were genotyped with diversity array technology and imputed to a set of 23,431 single nucleotide polymorphic markers. We assessed predictive ability of four genomic prediction methods in scenarios of cross-validation, across population prediction, and inclusion of quantitative trait loci markers. Cross-validations produced the highest mean prediction ability for total carotenoids content (0.52) and the lowest for CBSD resistance (0.20), with G-BLUP outperforming other models tested. Across population, predictions showed low ability of Ugandan population to predict the performance of West African clones, with the highest predictive ability recorded for total carotenoids content (0.34) and the lowest for CBSD resistance (0.12) using G-BLUP. By incorporating chromosome 1 markers associated with carotenoids content as independent kernel in the G-BLUP model of a cross-validation scenario, prediction ability slightly improved from 0.52 to 0.58. These results reinforce ongoing efforts aimed at integrating GS into cassava breeding and demonstrate the utility of this tool for rapid genetic improvement.Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), grown on approximately 18 million hectares in Africa, offers great potential to end extreme hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition, if proven varieties are unconditionally accessed by producers and consumers (Kolawole et al. 2010). However, nutritionally cassava is deficient in essential micronutrients such as provitamin A carotenoids (Montagnac et al. 2009), which renders diets that heavily depend on the crop vulnerable to vitamin A deficiency (VAD). Indeed, VAD is a widespread nutritional challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, with women and children being the most affected (Gegios et al. 2010;Stephenson et al. 2010). For this reason, cassava varieties with elevated levels of provitamin A carotenoids are being developed and promoted (Pfeiffer and McClafferty 2007) as a cost-effective and sustainable approach to help communities burdened by VAD (Bouis et al. 2011;Talsma et al. 2013). The significant variation for total carotenoid content (TCC) (ranging from 1.02 to 10.4 mg g À1 ), of which >90% is constituted by ß-carotene, a provitamin A carotenoid, reported in large collection (>2400 clones) of cassava accessions (Cha ´vez et al. 2005;Nassar et al. 2007) could facilitate the effective breeding of nutrition-sensitive varieties.A major drawback in our endeavors to breed cassava varieties with elevated provitamin A carotenoids has been the undesirable tendency of low dry matter content (DMC) in most provitamin A cassava clones (Njoku et al. 2015;Esuma et al. 2016a). Another worrisome and unique challenge to cassava breeding in East Africa is the menace of cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) caused by two Ipomoviruses: Ugandan cassava brown streak virus and Cassava brown streak virus (Alicai et al. 2016;Kawuki et al. 2016). Collectively, these conundrums of low DMC and CBSD that directly affect root quality hamper speedy development and dissemination of provitamin A cassava clones in eastern Africa. It is for such situations that tools for implementing efficient crop improvement programs to address intricate breeding obstacles are being optimized (Ahmar et al. 2020).For example, the rapid advances in next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have enabled the use of genome-wide markers for implementing genomic selection (GS), a tool that can significantly enhance the efficiency of crop breeding (Bhat et al. 2016). Essentially, GS aims to increase the speed and accuracy of selection in breeding programs by predicting the genetic value of individuals or lines at an early selection stage, or for individuals that cannot be directly phenotyped (Crossa et al. 2017). One of the salient features of GS is the use of high-density markers for prediction, which relies on genotyping at a high marker density to ensure most causal loci are in linkage disequilibrium (LD) with at least one marker (Jannink et al. 2010). By using dense markers to quantify Mendelian sampling, GS avoids the need for extensive progeny phenotyping, which saves cost and time by reducing the length of a breeding cycle, while enhancing genetic gain per selection cycle (Desta and Ortiz 2014). Consequently, GS can facilitate rapid crop improvement for relevant agronomic and enduser traits, as witnessed in different crops (Xu et al. 2018(Xu et al. , 2020)).A broad review of GS in plant breeding, detailing requirements for training population and features of prediction models, has been elegantly provided by Desta and Ortiz (2014). In fact, response of GS in crop improvement may be affected by factors such as model performance, sample size and relatedness, marker density, heritability and genetic architecture of traits, and the extent and distribution of LD between markers and quantitative trait loci (QTL) on the accuracy of genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) (Zhong et al. 2009). Thus, predictive accuracy varies among GS models depending on their assumptions and treatments of marker effects (Ornella et al. 2012).Indeed, results from both simulation and empirical studies have illustrated the efficacy and limitations of GS for several crops, including maize (Bernardo and Yu 2007), rice (Xu et al. 2018), barley (Nielsen et al. 2016), and wheat (Kristensen et al. 2018). Wolfe et al. (2017) reported some promising results depicting prospects for GS in cassava, with higher prediction accuracies for DMC (0.36-0.48) and cassava mosaic disease (CMD) (0.26-0.40) than those for fresh root yield attributes (<0.1). Relatedly, Kayondo et al. (2018) evaluated the accuracy of seven genomic prediction models using empirical data from 1301 cassava clones and reported predictive ability of 0.31-0.42 for CBSD severity in roots, indicating GS as a useful tool for CBSD resistance breeding. Furthermore, Ozimati et al. (2018) reported increased genomic prediction accuracies for CBSD resistance arising from optimized training populations and the prospect of East African training sets to predict CBSD in West African cassava germplasm.Motivated by these promising results from the pioneering efforts on the application and use of GS in cassava breeding, our study was aimed at exploring genomic prediction as a strategy for the rapid development of carotene-rich cassava product profiles suited for the growing conditions in East Africa. Broadly, this study was part of an ongoing effort to optimize and integrate GS into the provitamin A cassava breeding scheme in Uganda for rapid genetic improvement. The provitamin a cassava breeding pipeline currently utilizes locally adapted germplasm (Esuma et al. 2016a), with occasional introductions and introgression from the West African germplasm, where remarkable success has been achieved in cassava biofortification. Thus, we evaluated genomic prediction ability within the base population for provitamin A carotenoids and assessed the effectiveness of this population to predict performance of subsequent breeding cycles and that of West African germplasm. Specifically, we tested (i) the predictive ability for TCC, DMC, and CBSD across different statistical models and (ii) the utility of QTL markers in genomic prediction for TCC.Three sets of germplasm were used in this study. First, a panel of 280 clones segregating for root quality and agronomic attributes were selected from a cassava breeding population at National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI), Uganda. This panel constituted the training population, hereafter referred to as Cycle 0. Second, a subset of 50 Cycle 0 clones with the highest breeding values for carotenoid content was identified (through cross-validation described hereafter) as progenitors and planted in a crossing nursery at Namulonge to generate cycle one (Cycle 1) population, during the period 2016/2017. Following seed germination and preliminary screening at nursery and seedling stages, 352 Cycle 1 genotypes were cloned and evaluated in 2018. Third was a set of 648 clones derived from 80 progenitors introduced from West Africa (WA) through International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA); this population segregated for carotenoids and DMC.The Cycle 0 population was evaluated at two locations, Namulonge (0.52166458 N, 32.608997564 E) and at Serere (1.4994 N, 33.5490 E) during the 2017/2018 cropping season in Uganda. Both locations are characterized by high prevalence of CBSD causing viruses and high whitefly vector populations (Alicai et al. 2019) known to transmit such viruses. Cycle 1 and WA populations were evaluated at one location (Namulonge), due to the limitation of planting material. Trials were laid out in augmented design with $25-30 plots per block and four checks. Each plot was represented by a single row of 10 plants spaced at 1 Â 1 m. In all trials, CBSD susceptible cultivar TME 204 was planted as spreader rows to provide source of virus inoculum.At harvest (12 months after planting), all plants in a plot were uprooted. Total carotenoid content was assessed by visually scoring the intensity of pigmentation of the root parenchyma on a qualitative scale of 1-8 ( Sa ´nchez et al. 2006). We used the visual color scale for carotenoids content as it was the available high throughput phenotyping method the time of data collection and previous reports have indicated a strong positive correlation between carotenoid content assessed visually and quantitatively (Esuma et al. 2016a). Furthermore, all roots harvested per plot were pooled and screened for CBSD necrosis severity using a scale of 1-5 described by Hillocks and Thresh (2000), where: 1 ¼ no necrosis, 2 ¼ 5% of the root is necrotic, 3 ¼ 6-10% of the root is necrotic, 4 ¼ 11-25% of the root is necrotic and mild root constriction and 5 ¼ >25% of the root necrotic and severe root constriction. DMC was estimated from approximately 200 g of fresh root samples that were oven-dried into a constant weight at 105 C for 24 hours. Subsequently, DMC was computed using the formula:where DSW ¼ dry sample weight and FSW ¼ fresh sample weight.Leaf tissues were collected from all test clones evaluated and sent to Intertek and Diversity Array Technology Pty Ltd. (http:// www.diversityarrays.com/) for DNA extraction and genotyping, respectively. Briefly, DArTseq technology relies on a complexity reduction method to enrich genomic representations with single copy sequences and subsequently perform next-generation sequencing using HiSeq 2500 (Illumina, USA). Further detail of the DArTseq genotyping process has been described by Kilian et al. (2012).In our case, sequences of the genomic representations were aligned to cassava reference genome v6.1. Eventually, 13,675 high-quality single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were selected using the following quality control parameters (Kilian et al. 2012): (i) the reproducibility of 100%, (ii) the overall call rate over 95%, and (iii) the polymorphic information content between 0.3 and 0.5. Genotypes were coded as 0 (homozygous for reference allele), 1 (heterozygous), and 2 (homozygous SNP). Genotype data were imputed to a panel of 23,431 SNPs using the Beagle 5.0 algorithm (Browning et al. 2018) and a reference panel of 20,733 mostly East African cassava haplotypes, derived from a combination of genotyping-by-sequencing and DArTseq-LD. The data are available here: ftp://ftp.cassavabase.org/marnin_datasets/ nextgenImputattion2019/.Phenotypic dataset for each trial was considered independent and analyzed separately using a two-step genomic prediction approach. In the first step, we fitted linear mixed models accounting for each trial's design and extracted the best linear unbiased predictions (BLUPs) of the clone effects for TCC, DMC, and CBSD root necrosis using the lme4 package for R statistical software (Bates et al. 2015). For Cycle 0 that was evaluated in two locations, we fitted a model ywhere vector b was the fixed effect for grand mean and location, with the corresponding incidence matrix X; vector c and corresponding incidence matrix Z g was the random effect for clones (g) such thatc $ N 0; Ir 2 c À Á ; vector b with its corresponding incidence matrix Z block(l) represented random effect for blocks nested in locations (l) such that b $ N 0; Ir 2 b; vector l and incidence matrix Z g.l represented random effect of genotype-environment interaction; and ewas the residual such thate $ N 0; Ir 2 e À Á . For Cycle 1 clones and the West African introductions, each evaluated in one location, we fitted a linear mixed model ywherey was the vector of raw phenotypes, b was a fixed effect of grand mean, and Z block b represented the random effect for blocks.Variance components were extracted from the models for estimation plot-based heritability (H) as:where r 2 c was the clone variance, r 2 cl was the variance attributed to genotype by location interaction (excluded for trials conducted in one location) and r 2 e was the model residual variance. Furthermore, we used the mixed.solve function in R to fit a singlestage genomic best linear unbiased prediction (G-BLUP) model, with the grand mean and location as fixed effects and clone effects treated randomly. Eventually, SNP-based heritability (h 2 Þwas computed as:where r 2 a clone was the additive genetic variance and r 2 e was the residual variance.The total genetic value of each individual was estimated as BLUP extracted from the mixed linear models following the procedure described by Garrick et al. (2009). To avoid applying shrinkage to the same data twice (at the first step and subsequent genomic prediction step), the BLUPs were de-regressed as:where PEV represented the prediction error variance for the BLUPs and r 2 c was the clone variance. The de-regressed BLUPs were used in subsequent genomic prediction analyses.To assess population structure, we used 23,431 polymorphic DArTSeq markers filtered to keep only SNPs with minor allele frequency (MAF) ! 0.01. Using the A.mat function built in the rrBLUP R package (Endelman 2011), we constructed a realized genomic relationship matrix (K) from SNP data. Finally, principal component analysis (PCA) was done on the genomic relationship matrix, using the prcomp function in R. The first two principal components (PC1 and PC2) were used to visualize population structure.We used the BLUPs in a fivefold cross-validation scheme, with 10 replications, to evaluate prediction ability for TCC, DMC, and CBSDrs across four parametric GS models: (i) genomic BLUP (G-BLUP), (ii) BayesA, (iii) BayesB, and (iv) Bayesian Lasso. The main features of these genome-wide prediction models have been reviewed by Desta and Ortiz (2014). To perform cross-validation with G-BLUP, the A.mat function in the R package rrBLUP was initially used to construct a genomic realized relationship matrix from SNP marker dosages and GEBVs obtained after fitting a linear mixed model using the mixed.solve function in the same package. Cross-validations for Bayesian models were computed with the BGLR package (Perez and de los Campos 2014), with model parameters nIter and burnIn fixed at 10,000 and 1000, respectively.To achieve cross-validation for each fold in a replication, the total number of genotypes in a population was divided into five equal proportions such that four groups at a time formed the training set to build the prediction model, while the fifth group was the test set. For example, when cross-validation was performed for Cycle 0 (n ¼ 280), 224 genotypes were used as training set while the remaining 56 individuals were used as validation set. This process was repeated for each of the five folds across 10 replications. Prediction abilities were computed as Pearson's correlation coefficients (r) between GEBVs predicted for the test set and the corresponding BLUPs obtained from the first step of the analysis.The purpose of GWAS analysis was to identify chromosome markers associated with each phenotype and use such information to design kernel-based cross-validation schemes. Thus, we surveyed for QTL for all the three traits using genome-wide association study (GWAS), using 632 individuals (constituted by Cycle 0 and Cycle 1) and 23,431 polymorphic markers filtered at MAF >0.05. To avoid any potential upward bias of prediction abilities, we performed GWAS in the training set of each fold across 10 replications of the cross-validation scheme, such that kernel-based predictions were done in the test set of the respective fold. For example, for each fold, $506 genotypes (training set) representing 80% of the 632 individuals were used for GWAS and the remaining $126 (test set) used for kernel-based predictions.Specifically, GWAS was implemented using a linear mixed model in the R package rrBLUP following the modified methodology described by Isidro- Sa ´nchez et al. (2017). The linear mixed model fitted included a kinship matrix and the first three principal components to account for population structure. We generated quantile-quantile and Manhattan plots generated with the R package qqman (Turner 2014) and used them to evaluate the association mapping model and chromosome-wise association signals such that SNPs with P-values less than the 5% Bonferroni threshold were considered to be significantly associated with phenotypes.Based on DArTseq markers used in this study, GWAS results for DMC and CBSD did not show significant association signals.However, we identified one QTL for TCC on chromosome 1, which was consistently the same for each of the five folds across the 10 replications, with $49 markers meeting the Bonferroni threshold of association significance (Supplementary Figure S1). Subsequently, we designed four GWAS-guided cross-validation schemes for TCC: (a) single-kernel with significant QTL markers on chromosome 1, (b) single-kernel with all chromosome 1 markers, (c) single-kernel excluding all markers on chromosome 1, and (d) multi-kernel model that included the significant QTL markers and the rest of the markers fitted as independent kernels in G-BLUP model (Morota and Gianola 2014). Finally, we performed GWAS with all the 632 individuals and used the output to predicted TCC in the West African population along the four prediction scenarios.Total carotenoids content had the highest broad-sense, varying between 0.68 and 0.73, while CBSDrs had the lowest estimates (0.36-0.50) (Table 1). We did not record DMC in Cycle 1 clones due to insufficient quantity of roots arising from small plot sizes. Similar trends were observed for narrow-sense (SNP-based) heritability estimates, with the highest values (0.61-0.71) recorded for TCC and lowest (0.29-0.40) for CBSDrs (Table 1).PCA was used to describe population structure in the genetic materials analyzed. Grouping clones by the first two PCs (PC1 and PC2) showed no clear-cut differentiation among the three populations (Figure 1), with the PCs explaining 28.2 and 15% of the total genetic variation, respectively. Nonetheless, some WA clones tended to drift from other populations along PC2 (Figure 1).We performed cross-validation under three scenarios: within (a) Cycle 0 (n ¼ 280 genotypes), (b) Cycle 0 combined with Cycle 1 (n ¼ 632 genotypes), and (c) the West African population (n ¼ 648 genotypes). Distribution of predictive abilities across the five folds and ten replications is presented in Figure 2, with an overall trend showing the highest predictive ability for TCC and the lowest for CBSDrs. For the cross-validation performed within Cycle 0, we recorded the highest mean prediction ability for TCC across all models, varying from 0.35 for BayesB and Bayesian Lasso to 0.44 for G-BLUP (Supplementary Table S1). Across all traits, G-BLUP had the highest mean predictive ability compared to the rest of the models tested across all three traits.In the second cross-validation scenario that combined Cycle 0 combined with Cycle 1 clones, mean increase of 12.1% in predictive ability was recorded for TCC, with the highest increase (20%) recorded for Bayesian Lasso (Supplementary Table S1). In this scenario, the highest mean prediction ability of 0.52 was recorded for TCC with G-BLUP while the lowest value of 0.39 was noted for the trait with BayesB. Similarly, increase in training population size resulted into an increase of prediction ability for CBSDrs, except for BayesB that had no appreciable (0%) change.Cross validation within the West African population showed similar trend, with the highest predictive ability 0.47 recorded for TCC with G-BLUP. For this population, predictive abilities for CBSDrs were remarkably low compared to values recorded in Cycle 0 and with Cycle 1.We predicted each of the three traits across the four models under the following scenarios: Cycle 0 to predict performance of Cycle 1 and West African (WA) clones and a combination of Cycle 0 and with Cycle 1 to predict WA clones. First, we noted generally higher cross-population predictive ability for TCC than for other traits across all models, with the highest values recorded with G-  BLUP. For example, the highest predictive ability of 0.43 was recorded for TCC when using the Cycle 0 to predict the performance of Cycle 1 (Table 2). However, when the Cycle 0 and Cycle 1 were combined to predict TCC in WA population, the predictive ability was relatively low (0.27) compared to the value of 0.34 obtained when the prediction was performed with Cycle 0 alone. A similar trend of low predictive ability in the WA population was noted for TCC across the other three models, with the lowest value (0.16) recorded with Bayesian Lasso in the scenario.Predictive abilities for CBSDrs were particularly low in all scenarios. For instance, the highest predictive ability (0.12) was only recorded when Cycle 0 was used to predict CBSDrs in Cycle 1 with G-BLUP; other models had negligible predictions for CBSDrs (Table 2). In fact, when Cycle 0 was used to predict CBSDrs in WA, all results were close to zero, with the highest predictive ability recorded was 0.05 for G-BLUP (Table 2). Lastly, we only tested the scenario of Cycle 0 predicting DMC in WA, as this trait was not assessed in Cycle 1. In this case, the highest predictive ability was 0.34 with G-BLUP and the lowest was 0.25 from Bayesian Lasso (Table 2).All marker-trait associations for DMC and CBSDrs were nonsignificant (data not shown). GWAS for each training set per fold consistently revealed one QTL for TCC on chromosome 1, with $49 markers meeting the Bonferroni threshold for genome-wide association signal (Figure 3 and Supplementary Figure S1). Subsequently, GWAS-based prediction for TCC was performed in the respective test sets for each fold using cross-validation scheme with G-BLUP, which presented the highest prediction abilities compared to other models tested. The mean predictive abilities for the four scenarios of GWAS-guided cross-validation were 0.56 for single-kernel containing all chromosome 1 markers, 0.54 for single-kernel with significant chromosome 1 markers, 0.48 for single-kernel excluding all markers on chromosome 1, and 0.63 for the multi-kernel model that included the significant QTL markers and the rest of the markers fitted as independent kernels (Figure 4 and Supplementary Table S2). These scenarios led to better predictions than the case with naive model i.e., without segmentation of chromosome markers, with the exception where single kernel excluding all chromosome 1 markers was  used. Narrow-sense heritability estimates were proportionately higher for scenarios of predicting with markers on chromosome 1 and the multi-kernel approach than for the case of excluding chromosome 1 (Figure 4). When the GWAS-guided approach was used to predict TCC in WA, we noted similar pattern of the highest predictive ability (0.64) with multi-kernel scenario and the least (0.25) for single-kernel excluding chromosome 1 markers (Supplementary Table S2).The rapid increase in the global human population, predicted to reach 10 billion by 2050 (Bongaarts 2009;Henderson and Loreau 2019), highlights the urgent need for deployment of high yielding, resilient and nutritious crop varieties to vulnerable societies (Ray et al. 2013;Hickey et al. 2019). The nutritional impacts of biofortification evidenced through staples like orange-fleshed sweet potato (Jenkins et al. 2015) provide motivation for development of cassava enriched with provitamin A carotenoids as nutritious staple in sub-Saharan Africa. Collectively, TCC, DMC, and CBSD resistance are must-have traits for product profiles targeting deployment of provitamin A cassava varieties in eastern Africa. Breeding efforts, including our current results, have indicated moderate to high broad-sense heritability (0.56-0.73) for TCC and DMC, implying the possibility of making meaningful genetic gains for both traits through phenotypic recurrent selection (Ceballos et al. 2013;Esuma et al. 2016b). Indeed, the high heritability for TCC has already facilitated the identification of cassava cultivars with high levels of ß-carotene, which constitutes the bulk of carotenoids in cassava, with some varieties released for on-farm production in West Africa (Ayinde et al. 2017;Eyinla et al. 2019). However, the high costs and drudgery associated with phenotyping cassava roots for TCC and DMC (Ceballos et al. 2013), the apparent negative correlation between TCC and DMC (Njoku et al. 2015;Esuma et al. 2016b), and the unique challenge of CBSD in eastern and southern Africa (Alicai et al. 2016(Alicai et al. , 2019) ) were a major motivation for testing the prospects for GS as a tool for improving these traits in our provitamin A cassava breeding pipeline.We found relatively low broad-sense heritability (0.36-0.50) for severity of CBSD root necrosis, which relates to the trait's quantitative nature (Kulembeka et al. 2012;Masumba et al. 2017) strongly influenced by environmental factors, which complicates selection (Pariyo et al. 2015). However, heritability estimates above 0.5 have been reported by Kayondo et al. (2018) and Ozimati et al. (2019) for CBSD necrosis in populations evaluated for GWAS (1300 clones) and GS (922 clones), respectively. As expected, we noted lower estimates of SNP-based heritability for the three traits compared to the respective broad-sense heritability (Table 1). This could be attributable to under-tagging of causal loci by markers in our analysis (de los Campos and Toro 2017). Ozimati et al. (2019) observed similar trends for SNP-based heritability for several agronomic traits in a panel of >1000 clones evaluated for GS.Based on the cross-validation results, predictive abilities were largely consistent across traits and prediction models. First, we noted a downward pattern for predictive ability TCC > DMC > CBSDrs across all models, and for both scenarios of small and increased size of training set. TCC is largely a qualitative trait (Welsch et al. 2010) for which genomic prediction is expected to be an effective tool (Zhang et al. 2019). Mean predictive abilities for DMC were generally low, ranging between 0.21 and 0.33, similar to the range of 0.29-0.34 reported by Wolfe et al. (2017) and Ozimati et al. (2018). Interestingly, in the same report, Wolfe et al. (2017) showed high predictive ability for DMC (0.63-0.67) in a cassava breeding population of IITA. The discrepancies in predictive abilities for DMC across breeding populations may relate to variation in heritability arising from differences in phenotyping methods of using specific gravity and oven-drying method and/or genetic differences of clones evaluated. Subsequently, efforts are being made to optimize high throughput methods like near infrared spectroscopy for efficient phenotyping of root quality traits (Belalcazar et al. 2016;Ikeogu et al. 2017), which could improve reliability of GS for improving such traits.Predictive abilities for CBSD resistance were generally low for all models tested in our analyses (mean of 0.20 for G-BLUP). Kayondo et al. (2018) highlighted GS as a promising tool to increase genetic gains for CBSD resistance in cassava, especially for nonparametric models like Random Forest and reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces regression, which capture both additive and nonadditive effects. It should be noted that Kayondo et al. (2018) used 1301 clones from NaCRRI's white-fleshed cassava breeding population phenotyped in at least three environments, which probably presented robust data for genomic prediction. Nonetheless, introgressing CBSD resistance into the provitamin A cassava breeding population could increase the genetic merit of these clones for CBSD resistance and their use in developing varieties relevant for production in farmer's fields.When we explored prospects of cross-population predictions, we noted higher predictive ability across Uganda's populations than in situations of predicting performance of WA clones. In evaluating the potential of East African training populations for genomic prediction of CBSD resistance in West African cassava germplasm, Ozimati et al. (2019) reported low predictive ability for the trait. Previous studies have indicated higher reliability of genomic predictions in populations that share ancestry with training sets than in situations of diverged genetic backgrounds where marker effects are likely to be different (De Roos et al. 2009;Lee et al. 2017). Indeed, a diagnosis of the second axis of PCA plot presented in Figure 1 shows an apparent drift of WA clones from the Ugandan clones, which is a manifestation of genetic difference. Nonetheless, this study revealed some possibility of predicting TCC and DMC in WA population using our cassava breeding population, with mean of 0.4 and 0.34, respectively, with G-BLUP. In this case, it would be possible to identify WA clones with superior GEBVs for TCC and DMC for further recombination with provitamin A cassava clones, which is a clever strategy to update a training set with useful alleles from external gene pools without disrupting genetic gain (Berro et al. 2019).Figure 4 Prediction abilities for GWAS-guided scenarios for total carotenoids content for within-sub population cross-validation scheme. SM ¼ scenario of predicting with significant QTL markers on chromosome 1 as single-kernel; CHR1 ¼ scenario of predicting with all chromosome 1 markers as singlekernel; CHR2-18 ¼ scenario of predicting with markers on chromosomes 2-18 only; WK ¼ scenario of predicting with significant QTL markers on chromosome 1 and the rest of the markers as independent kernels.However, the low-predictive ability for CBSDrs in the WA population could indicate low genetic merit of using WA cassava germplasm for CBSD resistance breeding, which reinforces the need for CBSD pre-emptive breeding as a precautionary measure for the accidental introduction and spread of CBSD in WA.Motivated by success attained by selection programs that exploit GWAS-aided prediction (Li et al. 2019), we assessed the suitability of this method for our GS scheme for provitamin A cassava. In this case, we noted increased predictive ability for TCC by incorporating its QTL as an independent kernel in the genomic prediction model. The QTL for TCC identified in this study is within the genomic vicinity of Manes.01G124200.1, a gene which encodes enzyme phytoene synthase known to catalyze accumulation of ß-carotene in plant tissues (Welsch et al. 2010;Kandianis et al. 2013). In our study, the QTL represented biological information in the form of large-effect SNPs, which can enhance genomic prediction when fitted as an independent kernel. In this case, partitioning genomic markers into two relationship matrices, one kernel comprising the QTL markers associated with TCC on chromosomes 1 and the rest of the markers as the second kernel, led to better estimation of GEBVs (Morota and Gianola 2014). Li et al. (2019) reported increase in prediction accuracies of GS models resulting from increase in the number of most significant SNPs fitted as fixed effects in a maize breeding population. The apparent increase in predictive ability in our scenario of fitting effects of significant QTL markers on chromosome 1 and the rest of markers as independent kernels signifies the advantage of GS over traditional marker-assisted selection in utilizing whole-genome markers to account for phenotypic variance unexplainable by markers linked to QTL.Taken together, the moderate to high predictive ability achieved for DMC and TCC in this study underpin the transformative ability of GS when adapted and integrated as a cassava breeding tool. We remark that GS offers a promise for rapid improvement of cassava for provitamin A carotenoids and DMC, especially when prediction models are properly chosen and tuned. In parallel, concerted efforts are required for further enrichment of provitamin A cassava breeding population with CBSD resistance alleles to make genomic prediction an effective tool for increasing gains for the trait. Results presented in this study complement ongoing efforts aimed at integrating the use of GS in cassava breeding programs."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e50000694154085ff4f647468e9056de","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H049713.pdf","id":"70959996"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0e1ac36e-50bf-439d-a502-b4cda3d7b034","content":"The world is not on track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 on clean water and sanitation by 2030. SDG 6 does not start off from the near achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, but rather from a newlowerbaseline that reflects more comprehensive and ambitious targets related to integrated water resource management, water quality and wastewater, water use efficiency and ecosystems.To achieve the vision of SDG 6, we need to rethink the underlying economics, engineering and management paradigms that guided water policy and investment in the past.The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by UN member states in 2015, challenges us to change the way we think about and manage water. SDG 6, which is dedicated completely to water, looks beyond targets related to drinking water supply and sanitation, and includes aspects of water quality and wastewater, water use and efficiency, ecosystems and integrated water resources management, among others. The broad spectrum of water-related targets reflects an increasing recognition that, if the world is to achieve sustainable development, then a set of challenges related to water resource management, resilience and governance need to be tackled as well. SDG 6 includes eight global targets, covering the entire water cycle. Targets 6.1 and 6.2 relate to the provision of drinking water and sanitation and hygiene services respectively. Target 6.3 covers treatment and reuse of wastewater and water quality and Target 6.4 water-use efficiency and scarcity. Integrated Water Resources Management including of transboundary waters is at the centre of Target 6.5, while protection and restoration of water-related ecosystems are covered in Target 6.6. Two additional targets for international cooperation and capacity-building (6.a) and participation (6.b) have also been set.Before SDG 6, internationally agreed global targets on water mostly focused on drinking water supply and sanitation. These include the efforts of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990), the New Delhi Statement (1991-2000), and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) (2001-2015). Within the MDG framework, water issues were viewed only in terms of extending access to drinking water supply and sanitation. Target C of MDG 7 on 'ensuring environmental sustainability' aimed to halve by 2015 the share of the world's population without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. The MDG target for drinking water was met, while the one for sanitation was missed 1 . The MDG monitoring approach, however, only measured access to improved water sources, without actually measuring whether or not these sources were 'safe' (i.e., free from contamination), as specified in the target. Improved sources are not always safe, meaning that if drinking water safety had been monitored alongside improved access, the MDG's drinking water target would have not been met 2 .The MDGs' experience had implications for the SDGs. First, the critiques related to some of the indicator definitions and monitoring approaches helped formulate the more ambitious SDG drinking water supply and sanitation targets. The MDGs' focus on coverage masked other aspects of service delivery, such as reliability, quality and affordability, which effectively impact water access. In order to account for these aspects, SDG 6.1 and 6.2 set targets and related indicators to provide universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water, sanitation and hygiene.Second, and more importantly, the MDG experience demonstrated the limitations of separating access to water and sanitation from water and wastewater management and governance. The MDGs' focus on water access reflected a world where the limiting factors to delivering water services were related to infrastructure, capital or management, not governance and the scarcity (both in terms of quality and quantity) and variability of the water resource. Although aspects related to water scarcity and wastewater were included in Agenda 21 adopted at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, they were not captured in the subsequent MDGs. This reflected a narrow view of water and sanitation, which viewed only its access aspects, without paying due attention to the equitable, sustainable and efficient use of freshwater resources and the proper treatment and re-use of wastewater.Today's reality of inequality, fragmented institutions, climate change, and environmental degradation means that now governance and water resource constraints are key determinants of our ability to extend and maintain access to drinking water and sanitation services and achieve sustainable development. This becomes even more pertinent as we need to consider the multiple demands for water, including environmental flows. This is why SDG 6 adopts a much broader set of water-related targets which extend well beyond improving access to drinking water supply and sanitation.Transitioning from the MDGs' focus on supply and sanitation at the turn of the millennium to the much broader framing of 'sustainable water and sanitation for all' of the SDGs poses numerous challenges.These include definitional and monitoring issues, which involve identifying indicators and measurement methods appropriate for different contexts, but also barriers to implementation arising from financing, capacity and governance issues 3 . Moreover, the SDGs' broader ambitions to leave no one behind and achieve transformative change mean that water policy efforts towards SDG 6 need to fast-track progress for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged 4 and to be integrated with a systemic action agenda 5 . Finally, the transition from the MDG to the SDG world implies a retreat from the near achievement of the water MDGsnoting that still about 2 billion people lack access to basic sanitation services such as latrines and, of these 2 billion, at least 673 million still practice open defecation. The SDGs start off from a lower baseline compared to the MDGs, encompassing more comprehensive and ambitious targets of water supply and sanitation and new targets related to integrated resource management, resilience, and governance.Transitioning from the MDGs to the SDGs also requires recognizing their importance for governance.Compared to the MDGs, the SDGs frame a universal sustainable development aspiration that was developed through an inclusive participatory process, rather than a narrow set of goals for meeting basic needs in lowincome countries. In doing so, they posit 'clean water and sanitation for all' not just as an issue of the 'developing world' but as a global priority. This is important for governance, as it causes a normative shift 6 : from water policy and investments to meet basic needs towards a global aspiration for sustainable water management for everyone, everywhere. In addition, the SDG's ambitions are engrained in a wide set of quantitative indicators that try to encompass all aspects of sustainable development, and not just a selected few as in the MDGs. This focus on numbers and benchmarking is important for governance because it contributes to more effective communication, setting of priorities and mobilization of attention and participation of stakeholders. Yet, governance by numbers can also create perverse incentives to over-focus on target achievement, while not all aspects can be measured numerically, and at the expense of other policy objectives as well as a host of practical measurement challenges 7 .The way forward: ambitious targets require ambitious solutions 89 The world's progress so far has not matched this substantive increase in the ambition and scope of the global water policy agenda. In 2018, the UN published the report: \"Sustainable Development Goal 6 Synthesis Report on Water and Sanitation 2018\" which reviewed progress towards SDG 6 at global and regional levels. The report found that, although progress has been made, the world is not on track to meet SDG 6 by 2030. Beyond this headline finding, the report also highlighted indicator issues, both in relation to their value in supporting the targets and the availability of data to measure and monitor them, and the importance of capacity development and of taking research into policy and practice to enable progress Unless the ambition of SDG 6 is matched by an equally ambitious set of actions and solutions, we won't be able to achieve clean water and sanitation for all in the next decade. Technological, information and data science advances offer tremendous opportunities to speed progress towards SDG 6. New membranes and materials enhance the potential for water recycling water accounting using earth observation, ground monitoring and models provides detailed information on evolving water status and use to underpin water allocation decisions, and data storage and processing improve humanitarian efforts in water-related disaster relief.However, technology alone won't solve the world's water issues and rise to the challenge posed by SDG 6. The potential for these disruptive technologies to 'solve water' can only be fully captured by changing some of the underlying paradigms that have guided global water policy in the past. Here we outline three water policy paradigmswater economics, water engineering and water managementand describe how they need to be revised to achieve SDG 6.The water economics paradigm of the 20 th century treated water as an abundant resource, paying little attention to its scarcity value, its opportunity costs and the costs of pollution (i.e., economic externalities).The focus was on minimizing the financial costs of delivering water (treating capital as the key scarce resource) rather than on the value of the water itself (recognizing it as a scarce resource). Water is an increasingly scarce resource and needs to be treated accordingly. Yet most countries today still significantly subsidize water, which encourages overuse and disproportionately benefits upper-income groups in developing countries where the poor have more limited access to water 10 . Economic and regulatory policies that signal water scarcity are therefore an important partbut not allof the solution. The human right to water and sanitation, the critical water needs of the environment and unique cultural characteristics of water make it imperative to identify and navigate potential non-economic trade-offs between equity and efficiency. This will ensure access to all households including the poor and the more vulnerable, and sustain aquatic ecosystems and their environmental services and, increasingly, their rights 11 . In order to sustainably maintain the resource and halt unsustainable use, more attention needs to be devoted to the incentives, behaviors and political economy of water resource allocation and management 12 . This will be particularly crucial for achieving SDG 6 in rural areas, where poverty is most prevalent and where progress towards global water targets has been slower 13 .Changing the water economics paradigm also means extending the traditional approach to the evaluation of water investments. Economic valuation based on cost-benefit analysis needs to consider the multiple values attached to water (e.g., environmental and socio-cultural values), better account for natural capital (e.g., wealth lost through groundwater depletion and degradation), and to broaden the notion of benefits to include potential and indirect benefits of water investments (e.g., enhancement of ecosystem services through resource recovery from sanitation). Moreover, water investments need to be evaluated over longer time periods to avoid optimizing for short-term needs and discounting uncertainty about resource availability, climate risks and the costs of learning (i.e., maintaining additional options until more information is available) 14 . A renewed and broader view of the costs and benefits of water investments is aligned to the broader scope of SDG 6 compared to the MDGs, when investments were typically appraised using a few metrics of direct benefits to certain users.The traditional approach to water engineering also needs to be revisited. In the 20 th century, water systems were designed to often transfer water over long distances, for it to be used and then discharged back to the environment in most cases without proper treatment. This linear and often centralized approach to water engineering has served society well with, for instance, major achievements related to public health, food production or flood protection. However, its shortcomings are well-know: it is typically energy intensive, ecologically damaging, excessively reliant on capital intensive projects and often not inclusive. Research and practicehave shown that this approach misses the opportunities linked to better demand management, decentralized solutions, nature-based solutions and circularity (e.g., resource reuse and recovery).Water engineering in the Anthropocene means designing systems that recycle wastewater and differentiate between 'waters' of different sources, costs, qualities, and reliabilities, each utilized for specific needs and purposes. It also entails diversifying supply sources and capturing the opportunities offered by nature-based solutions that use, or mimic, natural processes to cost-effectively deliver water security for all. 15 Traditional water engineering is based on the concept of stationarity, which assumes that the long-term probability distributions of relevant hydrological variables are time-invariant and plans water resources systems to be reliable up to a given probability. Under a changing climate and other environmental and societal changes, however, this assumption is no longer valid. This requires moving beyond the concepts of reliability and optimality, which evaluate engineering designs over a narrow set of objectives and possible future conditions, to focus on robustness and flexibility in the face of uncertainty and change.Finally, water management needs to become better capable of dealing with trade-offs and uncertainty. In an uncertain world, adaptive and integrated water management needs to substitute approaches that do not consider interconnections, complexity and change. Integrated approaches help to identify and minimize trade-offs, unraveling unexpected impacts of water policies on other sectors and SDGs. They also promote inclusive water management, by bringing together different sectors and stakeholders at all scales from local to transboundary. Although the adaptive and integrated water management paradigm has been promoted with mixed success for decades, the advent of new data sources, tools and frameworks means that water managers are now able to implement these approaches to systematically consider interactions across scales and among sectors and stakeholders 16 .To achieve SDG 6, we will need to revisit these paradigms and reconsider the way we think about and manage our water. We can no longer treat clean water as an overly abundant resource available for the taking. We will need to bring tremendous ingenuity, research and innovation to develop solutions that safeguard and develop water resources sustainably and to use water wisely and equitably. Unfortunately, we are 'off-track' to achieve this. We must all redouble our efforts for a sustainable water future."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5dad5ddccea25bfec0238715ea769286","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a291b781-62f1-4af5-a026-2057911d6f4f/retrieve","id":"-700064487"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"50c94b05-bd26-4895-a17b-59944cd28b20","content":"P1327 -Building foresight portfolio for WHEAT AFS, including synthesis, gap analysis and new studies, as input in conducting priority setting for WHEAT AFS"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4054d6df33b061255b337a973318fe09","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b84cad02-b1f4-4d2d-af0a-51f745fe24d8/retrieve","id":"-1101958045"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9239298b-55cc-4b5c-9d38-84f30c7692d8","content":"• The advance time of irrigation was recorded at different furrow gradients and discharge rates. Four furrow gradients (0.5 %, 1 %, 2 %, and 2.5 %) were chosen at different sites. The furrow discharges were selected out of the recommended discharge sizes in the feasibility study. Three discharges (0.3 l/s, 0.6 l/s and 0.8 l/s) were considered.• Three adjacent furrows of length 90-110 m are prepared. The central furrow was used as an experimental furrow while the two adjacent furrows receiving equal discharge with the center furrow were used as buffers.• Two measuring RBC flumes were placed at the beginning and end of each center furrow. The application was terminated when the stream flow through the furrow outlet remains at steady flow.• The travel time of water advancing through the furrow (advance time) was recorded at 10 m interval for the whole furrow length using stopwatch. The advance time was examined in two irrigation cycles, first irrigation period (February) and second irrigation period (April).• The advance time vary greatly among the discharge rates when the furrow length increases. For longer furrow lengths (90-110m) the advance time was very slow and become difficult to establish appropriate irrigation operation rule and optimize the irrigation management for the whole scheme. However, in most of the test sites, the advance time was more or less similar within 30-40 m furrow lengths except at 0.3l/s.• In the 1 st irrigation, the respective advance time to cover 30 and 40 m length was on average 17-28 min and 28-56 min per furrow at 0.6 l/s and 16-18 min and 25-30 min at 0.8 l/s discharge rate (Fig. 1). • In the 2 nd irrigation, the advance time to cover 30 and 40 m length became short, ranging from 14-18 min and 24-32 min per furrow at 0.6 l/s and 14-18 min and 20-28 min per furrow at 0.8 l/s discharge rate (Fig. 2).• Therefore the discharge rate that requires shorter application time is preferable as far as its erosive capacity is low. It is thus feasible to suggest 0.6-0.8 l/s application rate for slopes up to 2-2.5 %.• The advance time of water to cover 90-110 m furrow length at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 2.5 % field slopes was 213, 173, 150, and 369 min at 1st irrigation, and 134, 182, 221, and 97 min at 2nd irrigation respectively (Fig. 3).• The effect of slope results in great variation of advance time at any point along the furrow length.• The inconsistency of advance time against field slope was due to the irregularity of the field and non-uniform surface roughness, for instance, at 2.5% field slope, the advance time is extremely slow at 1st irrigation.• Comparing the 1st and 2nd irrigation cycles, the advance time become shorter when the field gets smoother as a result of further tillage operation in the 2nd irrigation cycle.• The existing operational furrow length at Koga is extremely long which lead to very low application efficiency•With the given furrow length, irrigation application time per furrow is long and under such design it is difficult to establish appropriate irrigation operation rules among users for the whole scheme.•The advance time by furrow length graphs revealed that optimum furrow length at different sites can only be possible at short advance or application time.•In order to maximize application efficiency and minimize the losses, examining and determining an optimum furrow length before the operation of the whole scheme is essential•Irregular surfaces significantly affect the furrow length, optimum discharge, the application time and then application efficiency. It implies that land leveling work needs due attention so as to improve the overall efficiency of the irrigation scheme.Gizaw Desta Gessesse 1 (desta.gizaw@yahoo.com), Menelik Getaneh 1 , and Amare Tsigie 2Furrow irrigation is the recommended method for the distribution of water to the fields at Koga irrigation scheme, found in Western Gojam, Mecha wereda. However, most surface irrigation systems have inherent inefficiencies due to deep percolation on the upper end and runoff at the lower end of the field.A properly managed surface system can attain efficiencies of 60% or better. In a study conducted by Kassa (2003) at Melka Werer, with a furrow length of 200 m and different inflow rates, the maximum attainable application efficiency is 62 to 64%.The strategies to improve furrow irrigation efficiencies is by reducing runoff and deep percolation losses. These losses depend on furrow length, furrow gradient, discharge, and cutoff time which need to be optimized by irrigators to improve efficiency. This paper presents the advance time of furrow irrigation based on field data from Koga under different discharge rates and furrow gradients. We acknowledge Koga consultancy office for granting the research "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e64efa4fde8cf2c34eb0f122c8ba65f1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/c2ddaae2-1e06-437b-be5f-7f00c348caed/content","id":"-672261607"},"keywords":["Subjects: Agriculture & Environmental Sciences","Soil Sciences","Food Chemistry Inorganic fertilizer","maize","profitability","smallholder farmers","survey Citation information"],"sieverID":"eb2590b5-62c1-48ca-b2ea-6e5a40e52aad","content":"Inorganic fertilizer is one of the key technologies that could enhance crop productivity. However, farmers are still using lower than the recommended rates and yet there are a lot of farmers who are not using fertilizers at all. In this study, we analyze determinants and profitability of fertilizer use using a survey data collected from 174 randomly selected maize producers in NonoBenja District, Ethiopia. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Heckman's two-stage model, net profit analysis, and Kendall's coefficient of concordance. Results show that the sampled respondents on average applied 142.8 kg/ha inorganic fertilizer (NPS+Urea) which is only 71.5% of the recommended rate. Age of household head, farm income, and use of input credit affected the probability of fertilizer use positively. Education level of household head, livestock holding and frequency of contact with extension agent positively influenced both the probability and intensity of fertilizer use whereas perception on cost of production influenced both the use and intensity of use negatively. Off-farm income positively influenced the intensity of fertilizer use. Farmers applying the recommended and above the recommended rates of inorganic fertilizer in maize production were more profitable than those applying lower than the recommended rates. Results imply that smallholders Mideksa Dabessa Iticha ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mideksa Dabessa joined the research system in Ethiopia in 2016. Since then, he has served as researcher and lecturer with capabilities. He has worked as Agricultural expert from 2009 to 2016 in the Ethiopia and then he join University. He did his MSc on the determinants and Profitability of inorganic fertilizer use in maize production in Ethiopia. This particular manuscript is one output of his MSc research project. His involvement and significant contribution resulted in capacity building and research specially adoption of agricultural new technologies (mainly common inorganic fertilizer, soybean, and improved forage). He also authored several publications in journal articles and review proceedings. Mideksa has been awarded for such outstanding accomplishment. Currently, he is served as lecture and researcher atOromia region in Ethiopia is endowed with diverse agro-ecologies that are suitable for different farming systems found in the region. Mixed crop-livestock production is the typical farming system in Oromia region of Ethiopia. Maize is the main crop produced through the country. Inorganic fertilizer use in Maize production among the cereal crop is adapted by farmers in Nono Benja District of Oromia region in Ethiopia. However, despite importance of inorganic fertilizer use in improving the soil fertility through nutrient balancing and increasing yield, only very limited research and development efforts have been made to improve its use and intensity of use in Ethiopia particularly in Nono Benja District. Ascertaining constraints along the use and intensity use of inorganic fertilizer is important not only to use it as baseline information to setting up recommended national inorganic fertilizer use in maize production improvement programs, but also it ensures farmers profitability.Poor agricultural productivity is one of the main challenges to achieve food security and to reduce poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa and particularly in Ethiopia. Considering the fact that soil fertility is one of the biggest challenges, an obvious strategy is to increase inorganic fertilizer application at recommended level and to promote good agronomic practices to enhance productivity (Rashid et al., 2014). Although maize is one of the most productive crops in Ethiopia, it is not playing the expected potential role in ensuring food security due to various factors like poor soil fertility (lack of nutrient), low external input use and poor agronomic management (Abdulkadir et al., 2017).In general, land degradation due to up slope cultivation, deforestation, flooding, soil acidity, and limited use of technologies are some of the major factors slowing agricultural productivity in Ethiopia. Low agricultural productivity combined with highly increasing population would put Ethiopia under a series challenge of food security. To tackle this and associated challenges, the government of Ethiopia put enhancing and sustaining agricultural productivity at the center of Ethiopia's development strategies. The country has consistently allocated more than 10% of its public spending on the agricultural sector (Mogues et al., 2008). In addition, more public spending was invested heavily in rural infrastructure and agricultural intensification with special attention to the extension services and fertilizer use (Byerlee et al., 2007;Mogues et al., 2008).Despite the unreserved efforts of the Ethiopian government and other development organizations supporting agricultural transformation in the country, agricultural productivity growth remains low and majority of smallholder farmers practice low-input low-output production systems. Use of yield enhancing purchased inputs like fertilizer is very low (Fufa & Hassan, 2006). Studies show that only 30-40% of Ethiopian farmers use fertilizer and those who do use apply on average only 37-40 kg/ha(NPS+Urea), which is below the recommended rate (Hailu, 2016;Spielman et al., 2013). However, it is generally agreed that optimum use of fertilizer at farm level have the tendency of improving soil fertility leading to rise in agricultural productivity and the profitability of a given technology (Abubakar, 2014).Improving productivity and profitability of smallholder farming is the main pathway out of poverty in using agriculture technology (World Bank, 2008). Improved agricultural productivity for smallholders can reduce poverty and improve household welfare (Abraham et al., 2014). However, in Ethiopia increased fertilizer prices and the concomitant decrease in output prices have been the most important factors associated with use of fertilizer (Fufa & Hassan, 2006).In Ethiopia, majority of fertilizer is used for cereals production, mainly teff, maize, wheat, barley and sorghum. According to CSA (2015) estimates, 90% of fertilizers were applied to those first three major cereal crops. Teff holds the largest share in fertilizer use among the cereals (32%), maize (29%), and wheat (25%).Several studies have been conducted to explain factors affecting the adoption and intensity of fertilizer use in Ethiopia at different places and times by using different models (e.g., Beshir et al., 2012;Ketema & Kebede, 2017;Negera & Bashargo, 2014;Yirga & Hassan, 2013). However, the currently available knowledge about the low adoption and low intensity of fertilizer use is not sufficient due the fact that the determinants are different from place to place. Also, previous studies could not show the relationship among use and intensity of fertilizer use in crop and its profitability (Ketema & Kebede, 2017). This paper extended to fill this gap. NonoBenja is known for maize dominated cropping system, with heterogeneous farming community to get sample households with and without fertilizer use. This study is, therefore, aimed at assessing the determinants and profitability of fertilizer use in maize production among the smallholder maize farmers in NonoBenja district.The remaining sections are structured as follows. Section 2 presents methodology including sampling procedures and method of data analysis. Results are presented and discussed in section 3, and section 4 presents conclusion and policy implications.This study was conducted in NonoBenja district, Jimma zone, Oromia region, in Ethiopia. The district is located 156 km North of Jimma town and 263 km South West of Addis Ababa. The district experienced minimum and maximum mean temperatures of 14°C and 30°C yearly, respectively, and relative humidity between 80% and 90% that falls to about 40% in the dry season. The rainfall pattern is unimodal and it ranges from 780 to 2000 mm. The soil of the district was fine-textured heavy and loamy soil type with a pH of 6.0. Based on CSA (CSA (Central Statistical Agency), 2013), the total household of the district was 9909 (9641 male-headed and 268 female-headed). The economic base of the residents is mixed farming. Individual smallholder farmers are the sole and dominant production units. The agricultural sector is highly dependent on rain-fed cropping system.A two-stage sampling technique was used to select sample respondents. First, by considering maize production uniformity in all kebeles of the district and taking into consideration the time, budget and human resource necessary for the study, from the total of 19 rural kebeles, 4 kebeles namely; Abiyu Gibe, Wayu, Gurifat, and Ilu were randomly selected. In the second stage, a list of all smallholder maize farmers in the four kebeles were obtained and stratified into users and nonusers of fertilizer in maize production. Then, 174 households (114 users and 60 non-users of inorganic fertilizer in maize production) were randomly selected from total 1899 households in these sampled kebeles in the district.Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from primary and secondary sources. The primary data were collected through structured interview schedule, focus group discussion and key informant interview. The quantitative data were collected using structured questionnaire implemented by trained enumerators who could speak the local language. The questionnaire was pretested on 20 similar farmers with the sampled household, but who were not included in the final survey. Finally, the questionnaire was translated from English to AfaanOromoo (local language of the study area) and implemented. Additional primary data were collected from key informants including district administrative bodies, experts from agricultural offices and cooperative offices; as well as from four focus groups (one from each kebele), each consisting of eight farmers. Secondary data were collected from published and unpublished materials.In non-experimental data, where samples are selected randomly after the population in the sampling frame made their own decisions to participate in a program or not (i.e., self-selected themselves to participate or not), one cannot rule out self-selection bias of the program participants in the estimations to be made using these data. Thus, we use Heckman's selection model to control for the selection bias problem. According to Heckman (1979), sample selection bias may arise in practice for two reasons: first, there may be self-selection by an individual or data units being investigated; second, sample selection decision by analysts or data processors is much the same fashion as self-selection. In this study due to the first reason, we are forced to use Heckman's two-stage model. Some adoption studies in Ethiopia and East Africa used the Heckman's selection model to identify the probability and intensity of different agricultural technologies in different locations (Atupokile, 2016;Jaleta et al., 2013;Yirga & Hassan, 2013).Heckman's selection model follows two step estimation procedure where in the first stage, an \"adoption equation\", attempts to capture factors affecting the adoption decision and Inverse Mill's Ratio (IMR) is obtained. In the second stage, the intensity of adoption is estimated using the IMR as one of the explanatory variables to correct for selection bias. The probability of adoption was estimated using Maximum Likelihood Probit model, from which the IMR was computed to control for selfselection bias into adoption. The specification for Heckman's two-step model is stated as follows:The adoption equation: The Probit model is specified as:where y � i is the latent dependent variable which is not observed and y i is a binary variable that assumes 1 if the i th household used chemical fertilizer, and 0 otherwise.β i is a vector of unknown parameters to be estimated in adoption equation, X i is a vector of explanatory variables in the probit regression model, and ε i is a random error term that is assumed to be independently and normally distributed with zero mean and constant variance. From the adoption equation, Lambda (λ i ), which is the conditional probability that an individual household decides to adopt (given a set of independent variables), is determined by the formula.where λ i is the Inverse Mill's Ratio (IMR), f(Xβ) is the standard normal probability density function and F(Xβ) is the cumulative distribution function for a standard normal random variable. Then, λ I is used in the outcome equation to account for the potential self-selection bias.Outcome model is specified as:where Y i is the intensity of fertilizer use,α i is a vector of unknown parameters to be estimated in the intensity of fertilizer use equation,Z i is a vector of explanatory variables determining the intensity of fertilizer use, μ is the parameter that helps to test whether there is a self-selection bias in the use of fertilizer,λ i is the IMR and η i is the error term.Before running the Heckman's model, all the hypothesized explanatory variables were checked for the existence of multicollinearity problem. There are two methods that are often suggested to test the existence of multicollinearity: Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) for association among the continuous explanatory variables and Contingency Coefficients (CC) for dummy variables. Following Maddala (1992) and Gujarati (1995), both VIF and CC were applied to the multicollinearity test and no problem was identified for the variables used in the model.The dependent variables in this study are \"inorganic fertilizer\" use, which is a dummy variable, and \"intensity of fertilizer\" use, which is a continuous variable. For the continuous dependent variable, the values potentially range between 0 and 200 kg/ha, i.e., the maximum recommended fertilizer use in maize production in the study area, 100 kg NPS (nitrogen (N) phosphorus (P) sulfur (S) fertilizer), and 100 kg Urea per ha. In this study, user/adopter is defined as smallholder maize producer who applied any amount of chemical fertilizer component in maize production during the survey period. Intensity of adoption refers to index indicating farmer's level/extent of fertilizer use in maize production at the period of the survey.Non-adopter is defined as a farmer who did not use any amount of inorganic fertilizer component in maize production during the survey period. For multiple practices, there are two options of measuring adoption; (i) adoption index: measures the extent of adoption at the time of the survey or (ii) adoption quotient: measures the degree or extent of use with reference without taking time into consideration. In this study, the first option was employed. Accordingly, adoption index which shows to what extent the respondent farmer has adopted the whole set of packages was calculated by employing the formula following:where e 1 is the extent of NPS use, e 2 is the extent of Urea use, p 1 and p 2 are the potential (recommended) doses of NPS and Urea, respectively.In the first stage of the Heckman's selection model, a dichotomous household level fertilizer use in maize production (1 for users and 0 for non-users) is used in estimating the probability of fertilizer adoption. In the second stage, household level intensity of fertilizer use in maize production is used as a dependent variable in the OLS regression.Depending on different literature on use and intensity of use of improved agricultural technologies, key explanatory variables that are expected to determine the use and intensity of fertilizer use in maize production at study area are summarized in Table 1.Following earlier studies assessed the profitability of technology use in cereal production (Gedefa, 2016;Takele, 2010)) we adopted net profit analysis method where all inputs and expenses required to produce the specific crop (in our case, maize) were considered and costs are estimated based on market prices. The unit of analysis is a hectare of crop land. Revenue from crop production is obtained using market prices and actual crop production data collected for each surveyed plot. Net profit is given as:Where TR and TC are total revenue and total cost per ha, respectively, P is farm-gate price of maize (Birr/kg), 1 Q is household level average maize productivity (kg/ha), w i and X i are the unit price and amount of input i used in maize production, respectively.The main constraints hindering the use and intensity of fertilizer use in maize production at the study area were identified and grouped into 12 categories through focus group discussion. Following farmers' ranking in terms of their importance as a challenge in intensifying maize production, the constraints were arranged from severe to mild constraint: high cost of fertilizer, lack of credit service, high interest rate on credit, low return on fertilizer use, lack of uniform rain fall distribution, perception of having fertile land, absence of choice packaging amount, inefficient distribution of fertilizer, distance of residence from fertilizer marketing, late arrival of fertilizer, poor quality of fertilizer, and lack of knowledge on fertilizer. This subsection used the Kendall's Coefficient of Concordance (W) in determining whether there is an agreement in the respondents' ranking of the constraints associated with the use and intensity of fertilizer use among the maize-growing smallholder farmers in the study area. Following Salaam (2016), the Kendall's Coefficient of Concordance (W) analysis is statistical technique that is used to rank a given set of identified constraints from the most critical to the least critical one and measures the degree of agreement between these constraints. The constraint with the least sum score or mean is ranked as the most critical while the one with the highest sum score or mean is ranked as the least critical. The formula for Kendall's Coefficient of Concordance was used to test the degree of agreement among smallholder maize farmers on the constraints identified. The formula is specified as follows:Where, W is Kendall's Coefficient of Concordance, T is the sum of ranks for constraints being ranked, m is the total number of respondents, n is the total number of constraints being ranked (Anang et al., 2011).H o : There is no significant agreement between the rankings of constraints of use and intensity of fertilizer use among smallholder maize farmers in the study area Figure 1. H 1 : There is asignificant agreement between the rankings of constraints of use and intensity of fertilizer use among smallholder maize farmers in the study area.Table 2 presents the results of descriptive statistics and compares the inorganic fertilizer users and non-users based on different factors. Accordingly, about 87.4% of the sample households were male headed. More than 67% and 54.5% of the male and female headed households, respectively, were chemical fertilizer users. The sample households on average utilized 82.8 kg/ha of NPS and 60.1 kg/ha of Urea in maize production. The result indicated that fertilizer application in maize production in falls below the recommended rate. The result of this study is in line with the findings of Ketema and Kebede (2017).The overall average age and education of the sample respondents were 44.5 and 1.6 years, respectively. There is no significant difference between the mean age of non-users (45.2 years) and users (44.1 years) whereas users were more educated than the non-users (i.e., 2.1 and 0.8 years of schooling, respectively). The average family size was 5.2 in adult equivalent, which is equal for users and non-users (Table 2).The average farm size and livestock holding of the respondents were 3.46 ha and 6.5 TLU (Tropical Livestock Unit) respectively. Users hold significantly larger farm size (3.64 ha) than nonusers (3.11 ha). Similarly, users hold large number of livestock (7.5TLU) than non-users (4.6TLU). The average annual farm and off-farm income were 7,907.3 and 1,280.6 Birrper household, respectively. The mean farm income was larger for users (10,130.7 Birr) than that of the nonusers (3,682.8 Birr). Likewise, the average off-farm income was also larger for users (1,894.58 Birr) than for the non-user (114.08 Birr). The average frequency of contacts with extension agents was 1.7 days per month during production season. Users contacted extension agents more frequently (2.05 days per month) than non-users who contacted extension agents for only 1.02 days per Source: Adopted from GIS month. On the average, a farmer walks 1.15 hours to reach the nearest market which is 1.1 hours for users and 1.23 hours for non-users with no statistically significant difference (Table 2).Ninety-five percent of the non-users and 72.8% of the users had perceived that the cost of maize production was high. The chi-square (χ 2 ) test indicated that there was statistically significant difference in perception on cost of maize production among fertilizer users and non-users at 1% level (Table 3).Table 3 shows that only 14.37% of the total respondents prepared and applied compost to their farmland. Slightly more proportion of non-users (18.33%) prepared and applied compost than the fertilizer users (12.3%), but the difference was not statistically significant. It is better if the users and non-users are prepared and apply compost in maize production. About 40% of the sample respondents were member of any form of cooperative. Only 35% of the non-users and 44.74% of users were members of a cooperative without any significant difference between the two categories. About 62.6% of the respondents did not use credit for agricultural production. Only 6.7% of the non-users and 46.6% the users used input credit. The chi-square (χ2) test shows statistically significant association between using input credit and using inorganic fertilizer at 1% level (Table 3).Table 4 presents the estimation results of the Hackman's selection model for the factors affecting household's inorganic fertilizer use in maize production. Results show that age of the household head was found to be positive and significantly (p < 0.093) influenced the probability of adopting fertilizer. The result indicates that, as the average age of the household head increases by one more year, the probability of using fertilizer in maize production increases by 0.5%. Older farmers might gain knowledge and experience of input use. Moreover, older farmers may accumulate more wealth than younger and so older ones may still be intensive fertilizer users even as they grow older. The result of this study was consistent with the findings by Beshir et al. (2012) and Debebe (2016).Education level of household head was found to be positively and significantly influencing the probability of fertilizer use in maize production at 1% (P < 0.000) level. The result indicated that the increase in the number of years of formal schooling of the household head by one more schooling year would lead to increase in the probability of fertilizer use in maize production by 4.01%. This implies that, education improves the ability to use information, process and interpret about agricultural technology. Our finding is consistent with the findings in Negera and Bashargo (2014).Livestock holding was found to be positively influencing (at 1% P < 0.005) the probability to use fertilizer. The result shows that, as livestock holding increases by a TLU, the probability that a farmer uses fertilizer in maize production increases by 2.6%. This implies that as the number of livestock increases smallholder farmers usually become more wealthy and able to purchase fertilizer. The study is consistent with the findings of Ketema and Bauer (2011) and Yirga and Hassan (2013). Farm income has positive and significant influence on the use of fertilizer in maize production. Accordingly, an increase in 1000 Birr of farm income leads to a 1% increase in the probability of fertilizer use in maize production. The result of the study implies that smallholder farmers who got income from their annual agricultural production could invest some proportion of the income to buy fertilizer as well as to purchase other agricultural inputs. The result of this study is consistent with findings of Ketema and Kebede (2017).Perception on cost of production had a negative and statistically significant, at 1% (P < 0.005) level, effect on households' use of fertilizer. The result implies that, the more the farmers perceive that cost of production is high, is the less likely they use fertilizer in maize production. The result of this study was consistent with the findings of Fufa and Hassan (2006).Frequency of contact with extension agents has a positive and statistically significant, at 1% (P < 0.006) level, influence on the likelihood of farmers' fertilizer use in maize production. The result revealed that, as frequency of household head's contact with extension agent increases by a day per month, the probability of using fertilizer in maize production increases by 4.4%. This result implies that contacting extension agents frequently could enhance farmers' exposure to new and improved technologies and practices in crop production, and also increases acquiring updated information on the agricultural technologies. A result in this study is consistent with finding of Derso et al. (2016).Use of input credit has a positive and statistically significant influence, at 5% (P < 0.014) level, on the probability of farmer's fertilizer use in maize production. The result indicated that famers who used input credit have higher probability of fertilizer use in maize production by 10.5%. The result implies that credit is key in relieving capital constraints faced by smallholder farmers. This result was consistent with the findings by Ketema and Bauer (2011) and Jaleta et al. (2013).The parameter estimates of Heckman's two-step models for intensity of fertilizer use in maize production are given in Table 5. Results show that six variables were found to be significant determinants of the intensity of fertilizer use by households in maize production.Inverse mill ratio: According to the model output, inverse mill ratio (Lambda) for the intensity of fertilizer use was significant, at 5% (P < 0.034) level, indicating that selection bias would have affected the intensity of fertilizer use had it been calculated without taking into account the decision to use fertilizer. Hence, this justifies the relevance of using Heckman's two-step procedure. The positive sign suggests that the error terms in the adoption equation and intensity of adoption are positively correlated. This shows that those unobserved factors that determine households' use of fertilizer in maize production are likely to be positively associated with household intensity of fertilizer use in maize production.Education level of household head: It had a positive and statistically significant, at 1% level (P < 0.000), effect on intensity of fertilizer use by households in maize production. The coefficient of variable shows that as the household head gets one more year of formal education, the intensity of fertilizer use in maize production increases by 4.94 kg, keeping other variables constant. This presumably arises from a better understanding of the usefulness of fertilizers and it may also imply better crop management. The result of this study is in harmony with the findings of Tedla (2011) and Yirga and Hassan (2013).Livestock holding: It had a positive and statistically significant, at 5% level (P < 0.017), influence on intensity of fertilizer use by households in maize production. The coefficient of the variable shows that as the household head's livestock holding increases by one TLU, the intensity of fertilizer use in maize production increases by 1.87 kg, keeping other variables constant. This implies that, households with larger livestock holding may have the opportunity to get financial ability by selling their livestock. The result of this study was consistent with the finding of Ketema and Kebede (2017).Perception on cost of production: It is shown that it has negative and statistically significant, at 1% level (P < 0.002), effect on intensity of fertilizer use in maize production. The negative relationship indicated that the more a household perceives the cost of production is high, the less amount of fertilizer it uses in maize production. This result is in line with the findings of Muthyalu (2013).Off-farm income: It has positive and statistically significant, at 5% level (P < 0.049), influence on intensity of fertilizer use in maize production. The coefficient of the variable indicated that as the average income a household earns from off-farm activities increases by 1Birr, the intensity of fertilizer use in maize production increases by 0.002 kg, keeping other variables constant. Cash generated from off-farm activities increase the farmers' liquidity to purchase yield enhancing agricultural technologies. The result is consistent with the findings in Beshir et al. (2012).Frequency of contact with extension agent: This variable has a positive and statistically significant, at 1% (P < 0.000) level, influence on the intensity of fertilizer use in maize production. The coefficient of the variable indicated that as the frequency of extension agent contact with the head of household increases by one more day per month the intensity of fertilizer use in maize production increases by 6.5 kg, keeping other variables constant. The result implies that frequency of contact with extension agent for technical advice and information enhances the intensity of fertilizer use in maize production. The result of the study is in line with the finding by Yirga and Hassan (2013).Table 6 presents the results of Gross income from maize production, cost of maize production, and net profit from using inorganic fertilizer. The result shows that the average maize yield for fertilizer users was 2.9 ton/ha and the average gross income generated by these farmers was 14,471.87 Birr/ha. This average maize productivity is below the national average for the same year, i.e., 3.66 ton/ha (CSA, 2016/2017). The results also indicated that the average total cost per hectare used for maize production was 12,254.92 Birr/ha. Labor cost (wage value of labor) accounts for the highest share of the total cost (34.3%) followed by material input cost (22%) and animal draft power cost (17.2%). Opportunity cost of land takes the least share (12.1%) of the total cost and other costs account for 14.4% of the total cost of production. The finding reveals that the total revenue earned by the sample respondents who use inorganic fertilizer in maize production was 14,471.87 Birr/ha whereas their total cost incurred for maize production was 12,254.92 Birr/ha. Therefore, after covering all the costs incurred in maize production, the average net profit of inorganic fertilizer use was 2,216.95Birr/ha. This result implies that the use of fertilizer in maize production in study area was profitable. In the study area, even though the existing maize productivity and price level makes the use of fertilizer in maize production profitable, the net profit obtained by sampled producers was low.On the other hand, Figure 2 gives the Kernel density estimates of the distribution of inorganic fertilizer user respondents by their respective profit per ha of maize produced. The figures indicate that most of the user respondents were profitable and distributed at the profit area and some farmers were more profitable from fertilizer use in maize production. This might be due to high productivity achieved by those farmers relative to others. Although farmers on average make positive profit, fertilizer use is not always reflecting a profit as some considerable farmers are still making some loss in maize production. Therefore, the low or negative profit arises due to improper use of inputs like fertilizer and improved seed, poor agronomic practice, and low price of maize grain.In Table 6, the average maize productivity without using fertilizer was 1.2ton/ha and the average gross income generated from this was 5,967.78 Birr/ha. This shows that low productivity of maize without fertilizer use implies a negative profit (−3,807.78Birr/ha).Table 7 presents the result of the Kendall's coefficient of concordance, which was 0.680 (68%). Hence, the result shows that the respondents were in agreement with each other on the ranking of the constraints in the study area. Thus, we rejected the null hypothesis (H o ), which states that there was no agreement among the respondents over the ranking of the constraints of use and intensity of fertilizer use. Hence, H 1 was accepted and there was agreement among the respondents on the ranking of the constraints. Therefore, the main constraints put into the following orders based on the identification and rankings by the sampled respondents.High cost of fertilizer was ranked at first and found to be the most important constraint to use and intensity fertilizer use in maize production followed by lack of credit, high interest rate on credit, lack of return on fertilizer use, lack of uniform rainfall distribution, perception of having fertile land, absence of choice of packaging amount; inefficient fertilizer distribution, distance of fertilizer marketing from residence, late arrival of fertilizer, poor quality of fertilizer and lack of knowledge on fertilizer application in order of importance (ranked from second to twelfth).Use of inorganic fertilizer is essential in cereal-based systems to enhance agricultural production and productivity. This study analyzed determinants of fertilizer use and its profitability in maize production using data collected from a total of 174 farmers randomly selected from NonoBenja district. Results revealed that farmers who used inorganic fertilizer applied 142.8 kg/ha, on average, which is far below the recommended rate (200 kg/ha). Results also showed that age and education of the household head, farm income, livestock holding, frequency of contact with extension agent, use of input credit and perception on fertilizer cost were found to be significantly determining the use of fertilizer while variation in education level of household head, livestock holding, frequency of contact with extension agents, perception on cost and off-farm income were found to significantly influencing the intensity of fertilizer use in maize production. Net profit analysis indicated that fertilizer users made a positive profit, 2,217 Birr/ha, after covering all costs incurred in maize production. It can be concluded that inorganic fertilizer use increases the profitability of maize production in the study area. However, given that high cost of fertilizer and factors hindering farmers' access to inorganic fertilizer are raised as the main constraints for inorganic fertilizer use. Thus, it is important to design a mechanism that eases farmers' access to inorganic fertilizer in the study area. The extent of inorganic fertilizer use in maize production is still lagging behind the due to different factors recommended rates. Therefore, farmers should be encouraged to use fertilizer and intensify their use in order to enhance crop productivity and protect soil fertility lose. Also, the farmer should have to give more emphasis on the use organic fertilizers. Furthermore, the study revealed the importance agricultural extension services in advising and distributing fertilizers to farmers in various maize producing districts. This can further maximize the benefit obtained from the application of inorganic fertilizer. Furthermore, it is recommended to strengthen farmers' training centers to enable them to properly demonstrate technologies and at the same time to capacitate farmers on technology utilization through trainings."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f6b598861945016be7ab2ffcc09a471d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e163d0b2-a835-4357-97e3-99426ab7070a/retrieve","id":"-1006930360"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c4ae966f-4f3a-4a55-8713-513555221dcb","content":"This Labor Management Procedures (LMP) has been developed by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) to guide mitigation and response to project risks relating to working conditions and occupational health and safety (OHS) of workers and community members during the implementation of the Accelerating Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project activities in Zambia.The environmental and social screening conducted on AICCRA project activities in Zambia identified some potential risks on labor working conditions and occupational health and safety (OHS). Therefore, this LMP is a guiding instrument for IWMI and all other grant partners implementing activities on AICCRA Zambia.Based on this LMP, individual grant partners may be required to prepare separate labor management plans proportionate to the labor related risks on their project activities. This LMP also sets the basis for providing clear understanding to grantees and project workers on AICCRA Senegal of what is required on any specific labor issue.The implementing partners on AICCRA Zambia include the Alliance Bioversity-CIAT (ABC), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the International Research Institute (IRI), the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), WorldFish, the Zambia Metrological Department (ZMD), and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).The purpose of this LMP is to facilitate the identification of different types of workers that are likely to be involved in the project and set out the ways in which those workers will be managed in accordance with the requirements of Zambia labor laws and the objectives of the World Bank Environmental and Social Standard 2: Labor and Working Conditions (ESS2).The LMP will also provide a methodical and coherent approach to dealing with the labor-related issues, impacts and risks likely to emanate from the implementation of this project. And at the same time, facilitating the identification of diverse types of project workers likely to be involved in the project.Consistent with ESS2, this LMP seeks to:• Promote safety and health at work.• Promote the fair treatment, non-discrimination and equal opportunity of project workers.• Protect project workers, including vulnerable workers such as women, persons with disabilities, children (of working age, in accordance with this ESS) and migrant workers, contracted workers, community workers and primary supply workers, as appropriate. • Prevent the use of all forms of forced labor and child labor.• Support the principles of freedom of association and collective bargaining of project workers in a manner consistent with national law. • Provide project workers with accessible means to raise workplace concerns.It is important to note that this LMP is a living document and would be updated as and when the scope of work for AICCRA Zambia and its related labor requirements change.The AICCRA project is a World Bank supported project that seeks to strengthen the technical, institutional, and human capacity needed to enhance transfer of climate-relevant information, decision-making tools, and technologies in support of scaling efforts in International Development Association (IDA) eligible countries in Africa. It supports critical knowledge creation and sharing, and capacity building activities to enable regional and national-level stakeholders to take Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) innovations to scale. It will achieve this by further strengthening partnerships between CGIAR and regional and local research institutes, universities, civil society organizations, farmer organizations, and private sector. AICCRA will facilitate the development of Climate Information Services (CIS) and promote the adoption of bundle CIS and CSA solutions across sub-regions within Africa that are extremely vulnerable to climate change. The project will also support on-the-ground activities in selected countries in Western, Eastern and Southern Africa where CGIAR science has the greatest chance of success in delivering catalytic results, which can be adopted by other countries in the region through spillover effects, and regional engagement.The Project Development Objective is to strengthen the technical, institutional, and human capacity needed to enhance transfer of climate-relevant information, decision-making tools, and technologies in support of scaling efforts in IDA-eligible countries in Africa. Based on this overall objective the project is structured into four components:Component 1 -Knowledge generation and sharing: Supporting generation and sharing of knowledge products and tools designed to address critical gaps in the design and provision of agricultural climate services, enable climate-informed investment planning, and contribute to the design of policies to promote uptake of CSA and CIS at the regional, sub-regional and national levels.Component 2 -Strengthen partnership for delivery: Strengthening the capacities of key regional and national institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa along the research-to-development continuum for anticipating climate change effects and accelerating identification, prioritization, and uptake of best-bet adaptive, and mitigation measures.Component 3 -Validating Climate-Smart Agriculture Innovations through Piloting: Supporting testing, validation, and equitable scaling (including gender and social inclusion) of CSA and CIS technologies in research stations and in farmers' fields; linking of validated bundled CSA and CIS packages to technology transfer systems; and improving their access by farmers and other value chain actors to climate-informed agricultural advisory services to inform decision-making about choice of technology and enterprise management.Component 4 -Project management: Supporting day to day implementation, coordination, supervision and overall communication and management (including, procurement, environmental and social risk management, financial management, monitoring and evaluation, auditing and reporting) of Project activities and results, all through the provision of goods, consulting services, non-consulting services, training and workshops, operating costs, and payment of staff salaries for the purpose.The AICCRA-Zambia team develops services and innovations to help Zambian farmers and communities safeguard their livelihoods in the face of climate change.In Zambia, climate change is threatening existing crop and livestock systems, impacting agriculture businesses, and undermining livelihoods. It is increasingly urgent for Zambian farmers and livestock keepers to be able to anticipate climate-related events and take appropriate preventative actions.AICCRA-Zambia aims to improve water, food and energy security through access to knowledge, technologies, and decision-making tools, to strengthen climate resilience in Zambia's agriculture and food systems in the face of a hotter and drier climate. AICCRA-Zambia works with Zambian partners by scaling actionable Climate Information Services (CIS) and Climate-smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies such as sustainable financing for off-grid solar irrigation; integrated aquaculture-agriculture systems; addressing drought through climate smart seed varieties; and diversified chicken/goats-legume systems, all of which are meant to promote gender and social inclusion.The project aims to strengthen local capacity by training intermediaries to communicate climate services; as well as by implementing a local internship program; providing accelerator grants for SMEs/entrepreneurs; and assessing challenges in the enabling environment for startups. It also seeks to inform policy and enhance investment plans by identifying suitable financing mechanisms, using fiscal tools to de-risk private sector investments in food value chains.The key activities of the cluster are cited below:  The Project workers as it relates to the applicability of the ESS2 refers to workers who will be employed or engaged under the project, whether as a full-time, part-time, temporary, seasonal or as a migrant worker. The ESS2 categorizes project workers into four broad categories: a. Direct Workers: People employed or engaged directly by the Borrower (in this case Alliance Bioversity-CIAT) to work specifically in relation to the project. b. Contracted Workers: People employed or engaged by contractors (in this case workers of grant partners) to perform work related to core activities of the project, regardless of location. c. Primary Supply Workers. People employed or engaged by the project's primary suppliers 1 of goods and materials for core project activities. d. Community Workers: People employed or engaged in providing community labor 2 .The AICCRA Zambia project will engage both direct workers and contracted workers but will not engage the services of primary suppliers or community workers.The national and international staff of the Alliance Bioversity-CIAT (ABC) assigned to implement certain project activities under the AICCRA Zambia project will be regarded as direct workers. This is because, ABC is the lead client and overall coordinator of AICCRA project activities. ABC staff on AICCRA Zambia will remain subject to the terms and conditions of their existing employment contracts, which are governed by ABC polices. ABC has prepared and disclosed a separate LMP for the management of its staff. The project may occasionally engage consultants to undertake key research and evaluation studies and prepare other essential dissemination documents in the second and third year of project implementation. Terms and conditions of these consultants will be guided by national labor legislations, and this LMP.Government Civil Servants: ZMD and ZARI are government institutions and the staff assigned to work on AICCRA activities are all government civil servants. The staff of these grant partners will remain subject to the terms and conditions of their existing public and private sector employment, which are governed by the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia, the Employment Code Act No. 3 of 2019, and other labor laws.There will be no legal transfer of their employment or engagement to the Project. Nonetheless, these sub-grantees are required by the terms of their contract to implement project activities in accordance with the occupational health and safety measures contained in this LMP and prohibitions placed on forced and child labor as well as measures on SEA/SH.The scope of AICCRA Zambia project does not provide for engagement of security forces and migrant workers. In compliance with national laws, persons under 18 years will not be permitted to work on the project as key project activities may exceed their capacity. The project will have no community workers as defined under ESS2. The use of migrant and seasonal workers is not expected under the AICCRA Zambia project. Unskilled farm labor that may be required to clear weeds at the demonstration sites will be recruited from nearby host communities. These unskilled laborers will be engaged and managed as contracted workers. They will be contracted through short-term contractual arrangements consistent with the requirements of Zambian Labor Laws and World Bank ESS-2. A contract with code of conduct will be issued to such workers.Female Workers. Currently 21 out of 40 staff members are female, representing 52.5% of existing workers on AICCRA Zambia. Despite this good balance, more priority will be given to women during recruitment of consultants and new workers to fill vacant positions on the project. This will be done with the overall aim of seeking to promote qualified women entry and advancement in agriculture.Further details on contracted workers engaged to work on AICCRA Zambia are provided below.13 Key direct and contracted workers required for the implementation of AICCRA Zambia activities have been engaged. These workers will continue to work on the project activities through implementation up to closure. Unskilled laborers that may be needed on the project will be engaged in the project second year and the numbers to be engaged will depend on the number of demonstration sites to be set up. In addition, the project may occasionally engage consultants to undertake key research and evaluation studies and prepare other essential dissemination documents in the second and third year of project implementation.This section provides assessment of key labor and OHS related risks and the extent to which they relate to the AICCRA Zambia activities. In summary, the key labor risks for this intervention include: There are concerns that workers may be subjected to poor working conditions including lack of PPE when working on demonstration sites, which could result in eye injuries from pesticides use, sand or rock particles, leg injuries from reptile bites and other hazardous on-farm conditions. Partners that will operate CSA demonstration sites will be required to procure and provide PPE for all workers and visiting farmers to safeguard against injuries.The use of pesticides is foreseen as very limited possibility and would be part of the Integrated Pest Management Plan. Decisions on the quantity, timing and mode of fertilizer application will be made to achieve high fertilizer use efficiency, and limited loss in the forms of nitrate, nitrite and nitrous oxide emission at each site.Blanket fertilizer recommendations will be avoided. The intended use of both pesticides and fertilizers on demonstration sites could cause both occupational exposure of workers and nonoccupational exposure of nearby residents to the harmful effects of these chemicals. Poor disposal of pesticide residues and containers could also contaminate the soil and water bodies. The neighboring populations may also be exposed to phytosanitary products due to the drift of products sprayed with the wind, and to non-compliance with safety deadlines in chemical applications before harvesting of food crops. The use of chemicals on AICCRA Zambia would be part of an integrated pest management plan that will be outlined in an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) to be prepared. The pest management plan will focus on options other than pesticide applications, and only use synthetic chemical pesticides as a last resort. Managing these risks also requires adequate training for farm workers. Therefore, adequate training in pesticide storage and safe use will be provided to all farmer workers to reduce the risk of accidental exposure and wrongful disposure.The violation of workers' rights could occur through inadequate compensation of consultants and contracted workers to be engaged, requirement for direct and contracted staff to work for long working hours and denial of holidays or leave requests. Through pre-contractual due diligence, the project will ensure that staff of all partners working on AICCRA Zambia have working conditions and rights consistent with Zambian labor laws.Likely causes for labor disputes could include labor wages rates and delays of payment; disagreement over working conditions; and health and safety concerns in the work environment. Invariably employers may retaliate against workers for demanding legitimate working conditions, or raising concerns regarding unsafe or unhealthy work situations, or any grievances raised, which could further lead to labor unrest.6. Forced and Child Labor: Forced and child labor risk is unlikely as the project is required to work only with institutions without risks of forced and child labor. The AICCRA project maintains strict prohibitions on forced and child labor. Under the AICCRA project, all grant partners are screened to establish that they have no historical practices on forced and child labor before contracts are signed with them.There are concerns of vulnerable female staff of grant partners being harassed by their supervisors and colleagues. Other abuse may also be experienced by female farmers that would be selected to participate in knowledge transfer sessions of the project. Project workers could ask for sexual favors from women farmers before allowing them to be included in studies at the CSA demonstrations. Project staff that are visiting farming communities may also demand for sex from community members in exchange for money.It is also likely that separate latrine, and other sanitation facilities for both men and women may not be provided at the demonstration sites, which could lead to violation of sexual privacy. There could also be the absence of specific grievance mechanism for females to share their concern about the working environment including concerns on SEA/SH.Mitigating SEA/SH at work spaces of AICCRA Zambia is critical for all partners. IWMI will coordinate to ensure strict compliance with all SEA/SH mitigation measures contained in the overall project action plan on SEA/SH mitigation and response. In so doing, the project will conduct sensitization on SEA/SH and require workers to sign a code of conduct with key prohibitions on SEA/SH. Safe and confidential grievance channels easily accessible to all stakeholders will also be provided for all project stakeholders.Multiple levels of interactions between project staff, farmers, and other stakeholders during project events could increase the risk of COVID-19 transmissions. To mitigate these risks, workers will attend awareness raising sessions, be provided with relevant PPE, and be required to enforce and maintain adequate distances and use masks during meetings, training sessions, and other project activities.  The Part III of Zambia's Constitution covers \"Protection of fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual\". Article 11 recognizes equality regardless of gender, skin color, creed or belief, political party, origin, and race. It also recognizes the freedom of assembly, association, expression, etc., and takes into account the rights of children and protection from expropriation. Article 14 states that \"1. No person shall be held in slavery or servitude; 2. No person shall be required to perform forced labor.\" Article 15 covers protection from inhuman treatment. Cruel treatment and torture are prohibited in Zambia. Article 21 gives provisions about the protection of freedom of assembly and association. Section 1 states that \"Except with his own consent, no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of assembly and association, that is to say, his right to assemble freely and associate with other persons and in particular to form or belong to any political party, trade union or other association for the protection of his interests.\"The Article 23 (2) states that \"no person shall be treated in a discriminatory manner by any person acting by virtue of any written law or in the performance of the functions of any public office or any public authority.(3) In this Article the expression \"discriminatory\" mean, affording different treatment to different persons attributable, wholly or mainly to their respective descriptions by race, tribe, sex, place of origin, marital status, political opinions color or creed whereby persons of one such description are subjected to disabilities or restrictions to which persons of another such description are not made subject or are accorded privileges or advantages which are not accorded to persons of another such description.The Article 24 is about Protection of Young Persons from Exploitation. The section 1 prohibits employment of young person (under the age of fifteen years) in any occupation or employment which would prejudice his health or education or interfere with his physical, mental, or moral development. Section 2 and 3 give protection for young persons against physical or mental ill-treatment, all forms of neglect, cruelty or exploitation and traffic in any form.Further, Article 261 states that \"A person holding a public office shall act in accordance with a code of conduct and ethics, as prescribed for that office.\"The Employment Code, under the provisions of section 22(1), makes it mandatory for a contract of employment whose duration is for a period of six months or more to be in writing. However, oral contracts are recognized by section 18 of the Employment Code Act.With respect to employees under an oral contract of employment, the employer has a mandate to ensure that a record of the contract of employment is prepared and maintained. This is provided for under section 18 of the Employment Code Act. Section 21(1), states that an oral contract for a period of one month will be deemed to have been extended for a further period of one-month subject to the same terms and conditions.The Employment Code provides that where an employer does not notify the employee in writing of the confirmation, it will be presumed that the employee has been confirmed in the position from the date of the expiry of the probation period.Young children (a person under the age of fifteen years) and young persons ( a person who has attained the age of fifteen years, but is below the age of nineteen years) are protected under the Employment Code Act in the following ways:I.Employers are prohibited from employing a child in a public or private industrial undertaking or any branch of the industrial undertaking. II.Employers are prohibited from employing a young child or young person in work which by nature constitutes a \"worst form\" of labor.Employers are prohibited from employing a young person to work at night in an industrial undertaking.The section 8 of Part I of the Employment Code states that a person shall not engage or subject another person to perform forced labor.Section 66 of Part IV relates to \"protection of wages\" it stipulates that an employer shall pay the wages of an employee (f) in accordance with the terms of the contract of employment. The wages of an employee shall fall due and be paid at regular intervals not being later than the fifth day following the date on which they fall due under subsection (1). ( 4) An employer shall on the termination of a contract of employment, pay an employee all wages additional to basic pay including overtime pay and allowances on the date of termination of the contract of employment. Methods of payment of wages are specified in the section 67.(1) \"An employer shall pay an employee the wages in the currency of the Republic, except that where an employee so requests, in writing, or if the provisions of any collective agreement or conditions of service applicable to the employee.\" Article 68 -69 show provisions for authorized and unauthorized deductions.The Employment Code Act, under the provisions of section 41, provides for 14 weeks' maternity leave. In the event of a multiple birth, the maternity leave will be extended for a further period of four weeks.A female employee who remains in employment with the same employer for a period of 24 months preceding the beginning of the leave is entitled to full pay where the maternity benefits are not payable under the contract.The provisions of section 41(4) of the Employment Code Act states that where a female employee has more than one employer or third-party scheme from which the employee is entitled to claim maternity benefits, an employer who pays the maternity benefit is entitled to recover from the other employer or third-party scheme, as a civil debt:a. in the case of another employer, a contribution which shall bear a proportion to the amount of the maternity benefit paid to the employee as the number of days the employee worked for the other employer; or b. in the case of a third-party scheme, the reimbursement of the maternity benefit as may be prescribed.On expiry of the maternity leave, the female employee is entitled to return to the job she had held before the maternity leave, or to a reasonably suitable job with terms and conditions not less favorable than those which had applied to her before the maternity leave. This is provided for under section 41(7) of the Employment Code Act.Notwithstanding having taken her maternity leave, the female employee is entitled to annual leave as stipulated under section 41(10) of the Employment Code Act.Further, the female employee nursing her un-weaned child is entitled, each working day, to two nursing breaks of 30 minutes each, or one nursing break for an hour. It is imperative to state that the nursing break period shall be six months from the date of delivery, and the said break will not be deducted from the number of paid hours of the female employee.Paternity leave is available to an employee who remains in continuous employment with the same employer for a period of 12 months and such leave shall be for at least five continuous working days. The leave should be taken within seven days of the birth of a child and a birth record of the child should be submitted to the employer. This is provided for under section 46 of the Employment Code Act.Section 40(1) of the Employment Code Act allows an employee who has worked for a period of six months or more to be entitled to leave of absence, referred to as family responsibility leave, with pay for a period not exceeding seven days in a calendar year to nurse a sick spouse, child or a dependent. An employer, before granting this leave, may require the employee to produce a certificate from a medical doctor certifying that the spouse, child or dependent is sick and requires special attention.Section (1) of Article 74 of Employment Code relates to hours of work. It stipulates that \"the normal days' work of a full-time employee (a) shall consist of eight hours of actual work; and (b) may begin on any day of the week, including a public holiday, where that employee works on a public holiday\". (2) An employer and an employee, other than a part-time employee, may agree that the employee works in excess of the stipulated hours without added remuneration if the number of hours covered in a week does not exceed forty-eight hours or a lesser number of hours that may be specified in a contract of employment or collective agreement.Weekly rests are taken into account in Article 76. Section (1) stipulates \"An employee is entitled to a rest day of at least twenty-four consecutive hours in every period of seven consecutive days\". According to section (2), the weekly rest day under section (1) shall be any day in respect of which the employee is not required to work under the employee's contract of employment. Subject to agreement, an employer shall grant to the employee on each working day meal and health breaks.Under section 36 of the Employment Act, employees have a minimum of 24 annual leave days, which is paid. Consequently, employees put on annual leave will receive full pay during this period. Similarly, other benefits under contract, and law, continue to accrue.Section 37 of the Employment Code provides for the formula to be used when computing Annual Leave benefits. Similar to the non-applicability of section 36, section 37 provides for the computation of how annual leave is to be paid but this is not enforceable as employers are exempt from paying the same to their employees.Section 75 of the Employment Code provides for the manner in which an employer is expected to pay their employees overtime. Subsection (1) stipulates that \"an employer shall pay an employee who works in excess of forty-eight hours in a week, one and half times the employee's hourly rate of pay\".Part IX of the Zambian Employment Code relates to \"Disputes and Breaches of contract\". Section (1) of Article 121 gives the conditions under which an aggrieved party may report a matter to an authorised officer. It may include:a) an employer or employee neglects or refuses to comply with the terms of any contract of employment; b) any question, difference or dispute arises as to the rights or liabilities of a party to the contract or as to any misconduct, neglect or ill treatment of the party; c) an injury to a person, or damage to property of the party occurs; or d) an allegation of discrimination under section 5 is made by an employee or prospective employee.Employees belonging to a trade union may first take their complaint against the employer through a trade union representing them to an organization representing employers, in the hope of settling the claims amicably.Section 108(2) of the Industrial and Labor Relations Act permits the employee to file a complaint within 30 days of the event which led to the discrimination before the High Court under the Industrial Relations Division.The section 108(2) provides for an extension of the 30-day period for a further three months, in order to allow the employee to exhaust all administration channels available.Employers are at liberty to settle claims at any time before trial. The courts encourage the parties to settle the matter amicably through its mediation rules incorporated in its procedure rules.Section 121(2) relates that \"An authorized officer shall e) take steps that the authorized officer may consider to be expedient to effect a settlement between the parties and, in particular, shall encourage the use of collective bargaining facilities, where applicable; and f) where an authorized officer fails to effect a settlement between the parties, the authorised officer may recommend that the aggrieved party refers the matter to court\".Section 52(4) An employer shall not terminate a contract of employment of an employee based on reasons relating to (a) union membership or participation in union activities outside working hours or, with the consent of the employer, within working hours.According to the provisions of section 53(1) of the Employment Code, an employee whose contract of employment is intended to be terminated is entitled to a period of notice or compensation in lieu of notice where the employee is not guilty of misconduct or any act which would trigger the employment relationship to terminate. Furthermore, the Employment Code Act provides for default notice periods where the contract of employment does not provide for the same.However, while section 53(1) permits the employer to terminate the contract with compensation in lieu of notice, section 52 of the Employment Code Act restrains and prohibits an employer from invoking a termination clause without giving valid reasons and section 52(1) of the Employment Code Act provides as follows: \"(1). A contract of employment terminates in the manner stated in the contract of employment or in any other manner in which a contract of employment is deemed to terminate under this Act or any other law, except that where an employer terminates the contract, the employer shall give reasons to the employee for the termination of the employee's contract of employment.\"Discrimination may be said to be unlawful where an employer discriminates against a female employee on the grounds of her gender or marital status by denying her access to opportunities for promotion, training or any other benefits or facilities, or where the recruitment policies only privilege men despite their unsuccessful applications and interviews.Article 23(3) of the Constitution of Zambia, Chapter 1, Volume 1 of the Laws of Zambia defines Discrimination as follows: \"Discrimination' means affording different treatment to different persons attributable, wholly or mainly, to their respective descriptions by race, tribe, sex, place of origin, marital status, political opinions, color or creed whereby persons of one such description are not made subject or are accorded privilege or advantages, which are not accorded to persons of another such description.\"Section 5 of the Employment Code places an obligation on the employer to promote equal opportunity in employment and eliminate discrimination in an undertaking.Further, section 108(1) of the Industrial and Labor Relations Act prohibits an employer from terminating the services of an employee or imposing a penalty or disadvantage on an employee on the basis of race, sex, marital status, religion, political opinion, affiliation, tribal extraction or status.The following are the grounds upon which discrimination is prohibited:a. grounds of color, nationality, tribe or place of origin, language, race, social origin, religion, belief, conscience, political or other opinion, sex, gender, pregnancy, marital status, ethnicity, family responsibility, disability, status, health, culture, economic status; and b. discrimination in respect of recruitment, training, promotion, terms and conditions of employment, termination of employment or other matters arising out of employment.Part VII of the Employment Code is about Employee Welfare. It is the duty of an employer to ensure that every worker employed by him or her works under satisfactory, safe and healthy conditions. The compulsory of the employer are:a. to provide an adequate supply of water and sanitation facilities at the undertaking. b. to provide an employee with medical attention and medicines and where necessary, transport to a health facility during the illness of the employee. c. to ensure that there exists in the undertaking an employment policy, procedure and code, including an HIV and AIDS policy, a health and wellness policy, harassment policy, performance management policy, grievance procedure and code of conduct.It is the obligation of every worker to use the safety appliances, and personal protective equipment provided by the employer in compliance with the employer's instructions. The employer is not kept responsible in case the injury is caused solely by non-compliance by the worker of protection measures.The World Bank recently approved an Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) which consists of ten standards and are aimed at preventing and mitigating undue harm to people and their environment in any development projects involving the Bank. The relevant standard of this framework to the LMP is ESS-2 Labor and Working Conditions.The World Bank through the ESS2 promotes the fair treatment, non-discrimination, and provision of equal opportunities for workers engaged on projects it supports. It strongly encourages protection of all project workers, including vulnerable groups such as women, persons with disabilities, children (of working age) and migrant workers, contracted workers, and primary supply workers, as appropriate. It sets out certain requirements that the project must meet in terms of working conditions, protection of the work force (especially the prevention of all forms of forced and child labor), and provision of a grievance mechanism that addresses concerns on the project promptly and uses a transparent process that provides timely feedback to those concerned. It requires borrowers to:• Develop and implement written labor management procedures applicable to the project.• Provide workers with information and documentation clear and understandable regarding their terms and conditions of employment.• Provide fair treatment, non-discrimination and equal opportunity to workers. Decisions relating to the employment or treatment of project workers should not be made on the basis of personal characteristics unrelated to inherent job requirements.• Protect the work force by defining the minimum age for employment and prohibiting forced labor.• Provide an efficient Grievance Mechanism for all direct workers and contracted workers (and, where relevant, their organizations) to raise workplace concerns.Conduct risk assessment to understand the likelihood and magnitude of OHS risks associated with project based on: whether the project will involve hazardous materials or processes; the potential consequences to workers, communities, or the environment if hazards are not adequately managed, which may depend on the proximity of project activities to people or to the environmental resources on which they depend.The table below shows comparison of the Zambia Employment Code and its implementing texts with key elements of the ESS2. The AICCRA project will applied provision on the Employment Code.The Zambian Constitution and Employment Code affords all persons the right to freedom of association, which includes freedom to form or join trade unions or other associations.ESS 2 makes provision for borrowers to legally establish workers' organizations and legitimate workers' representatives.Both give workers the right to freedom of association.The AICCRA project will applied provision on the Zambian Employment Code.The institutions working on AICCRA project shall recognize and respect the right of employees to freedom of association and collective bargaining.The Zambian Employment Code contains provisions that allow workers to resolve disputes in the event of disagreement between employer and employee through conciliation procedures or Labor Courts.ESS2 recognizes that a sound grievance mechanism shouldbe provided for all direct workers and contracted workers to raise workplace concerns.ESS2 includes more provisions on GM AICCRA project will elaborate, implement and disclose a GM in accordance with provisions in ESS2. Implementing partners will be required to induct their employees on the grievance procedure.Zambian laws EES2 requirements Identified gaps Action required raised and progress on resolution.The Zambian Employment Code generally precludes employers from deducting any amount from the remuneration of their employees except in some cases defined in the Code.ESS2 gives provisions for payment deductions in line with national law or the labor management procedures.EES2 refers to national law for salary deduction AICCRA Zambia project will follow provisions in the Employment Code to make salary deductions.This section identifies the people who, within the project, that are responsible for certain activities including the recruitment and management of agents and contractors, occupational health and safety, and handling of grievances.This LMP will be operationalized by IWMI through the leadership of AICCRA Cluster Lead for Zambia with assistance from the Safeguard Focal Person for the AICCRA Zambia Cluster. The AICCRA Senior Safeguard Specialists will provide additional oversight to ensure the application of this LMP to mitigate and respond to issues on occupational health and safety. Detail level of oversight and responsibility are provided in the table below. IWMI and all AICCRA Zambia partners are committed to managing project activities in a manner that safeguards the welfare, health, and safety of their employees, and consultants. In accepting this responsibility, the centers are committed to following the policies and procedures outlined under this section to avoid, mitigate, and respond to the potential labor and OHS related risks identified under section 3.0.• All implementing partners will maintain fair terms and conditions guided by the Zambian Employment Code for all employees and consultants working on the AICCRA project. • Decisions relating to the employment or treatment of project workers will be made in accordance with the requirements of the job. The recruitment of project workers will be based on the principle of equal opportunities and fair treatment, and there will be no discrimination in recruitment and hiring, remuneration (including wages and benefits), working and employment conditions, access to training, assignment of a position, promotion, termination or retirement, or disciplinary practices. However, because women representation on AICCRA project is low and the project seeks to promote women entry and advancement in agriculture more priority will be given to women during consultants and new workers to fill vacant positions on the project.• The contractor will be also required to comply with the national Labor law on gender equality in the work place, which will include provision of maternity leave and nursing breaks and sufficient and suitable toilet and washing facilities, separate from men and women workers.• To avoid labor disputes, fair terms and conditions will be applied for project workers in under AICCRA Zambia.• The project will respect the workers' right of labor unions and freedom of association, as set out in the Labor code. • The project will maintain a grievance mechanism for all project workers to promptly address their workplace grievances. Further details are provided in Section 11.0• Forced labor will not be permitted on the AICCRA project, this is strictly prohibited by the Zambian Employment code, the project Environmental and Social Risk Management (ESRM) guide and the World Bank ESS2.• For the reference of partners, this may also include excessive limitations of freedom of movement, imposition of recruitment or employment fees payable at the commencement of employment, loss or delay of wages that impede the workers' right to end employment within their legal rights, substantial or inappropriate fines, physical punishment, use of security or other personnel to force or extract work from project workers, or other restrictions that compel a project worker to work in a non-voluntary basis.Unannounced visits by AICCRA's E&S Safeguard Team and relevant technical services will effectively identify cases of forced labor and refer such cases to the criminal justice system. A review of lessons learned from the experiences of CIAT projects and its implementing partners in Zambia highlights the absence of forced labor. However, a specific monitoring procedure will be put in place by the AICCRA Zambia cluster in close collaboration with the ministry in charge of labor and the interested parties.All project implementing partners under the AICCRA project will be required to:• Comply with national legislation on occupational health and safety • Communicate these policy statements and procedures to all workers working under the AICCRA Zambia Cluster. • Provide OH&S training and enable workers' attendance of such training • Regularly screen all project sites to identify potential hazards and set out measures to eliminate them. • Procure and provide relevant PPEs for staff working on demonstration sites, visiting farmers and other stakeholders as and when needed. This will include farm safety boots, protective googles, hand gloves, air purifying disposable/washable masks, neoprene gloves, chemical resistant hats, and coveralls. • Ensure proper storage and disposal of pesticides as instructed on the product label and recommended actions in the pest management plan to be prepared. • Ensure availability of emergency first aid box at demonstration sites and provide a card that displays an emergency numbers. • Document all occupational accidents and incidents and report severe and serious (as per WorldBank incident classification at Annex 2) incidents to the World Bank through the AICCRA Senior E&S Specialist with 48 hours after the occurrence of such major accidents and provide a full detail report within three weeks. Conduct root cause analysis to inform corrective actions required. • Maintain effective collaborations with CGIAR Centers, sub grantees and employees to investigate cause of accidents at workplace. Relevant information should be gathered and provided in written format with incident investigation form provided at Annex 3 and subsequent details report produced with the aid of the outline provided at Annex 4. • Inspect all farm equipment with the view of ascertain it safety status before use.• Provide workers and visiting farmers with access to toilets and potable drinking water • Properly dispose of solid waste at designated permitted landfill sites allocated by the local authorities.• Ensure that all drivers to be used on AICCRA activities have undertaken training in defensive driving, enforce maximum speed limits on roads and ensure adequate insurance cover for vehicles.• Overall, all implementing partners under AICCRA Zambia Cluster are required to adhere to and implementing measures contained in the project SEA/SH mitigation and response action plan. All partners under the AICCRA Zambia Cluster shall be required to provide a working environment that minimizes spread of COVID-19 among project workers and stakeholders. In so doing, these minimum measures will be followed accordingly.• Ensure social distancing at the workplace and offer a flexible working schedule for workers as and when necessary, include telecommuting. • Provide accessible sanitation areas with water, soap, and sanitizers at entrance to offices and other venues for project activities. • Provide all workers with appropriate hand sanitizers and face masks and require mandatory wearing of face masks at official premises and other work locations. • Ensure that all workers have adequate and updated information on COVID-19.• Establishing measures and a referral pathway including linkage with the Ministry of Health for workers who get infected with COVID-19 during line of duty. • The following emergency numbers will be available for reporting suspected cases of COVID-19.Partners must contact 999 or link up with local district health authorities for immediate evacuation or medical help. The Covid-19 Toll-free hotline is 909.• Provide adequate support to workers who get exposed to the virus at the work place.The Safeguard Focal Person for AICCRA Zambia will regularly monitor compliance of workers, consultants, and service providers to the above policies and procedures and provide biannual report to the AICCRA project management unit. All partners shall provide quarterly reports to IWMI on the status of ensuring compliance to the above policies and procedures.This LMP will be shared with all partners and project workers. The policies and procedures will further be disseminated to workers during scheduled training.The Zambian constitution and employment code prohibits the employment persons under the age of 15.It is also forbids employment of children under the age of 19 for certain hazardous work and for work requiring night shifts. In compliance with these national standards, persons under 19 years will not be permitted to work on the AICCRA Zambia Project as key project activities may exceed their capacity. IWMI will ensure that all sub-grantees adhere to this requirement.Age of potential new workers will be verified before engagement. The National Identification Card (ID), Passport, birth certificates or national driver's licenses will be used as proxy documents for verifying workers' age. In the absence of one of those forms of IDs, the project will apply and document an age verification process. The age verification process will consist of alternative methods including copies of academic certificates, testimony/affidavits from officials of the schools attended, a medical examination, statements from family members and locality/village officials/local authorities.In addition, all documents will be cross-referenced and subjected to a verification process to ensure the validity of the documents. In instances where the documents are thought to be falsified the project will conduct the same process to ensure their authenticity. In all the processes, the attendant care will be provided to ensure that the applicant or employee's data are protected and their right to privacy is guaranteed. All copies of the IDs and documents pertaining to the applicant's age and other supporting materials will be kept in files with the human resources personnel.The Zambian Employment Code sets the statutory terms and conditions for all employment arrangements in Zambia. Drawing from this Code, the table below provides an outline of terms and conditions that will inform management of all workers under the AICCRA Zambia project. • Salaries can be established by collective agreement. In the absence of a collective agreement, salaries are set by professional category. The minimum wage is determined on an hourly and monthly basis. • The salary scale and consultancy fees band of CGIAR centers will also provide a framework for setting salaries and fees of new employees and consultants based on inherent job description and grade without discrimination.• The hours of work of a worker shall be a maximum of eight hours a day or forty eight hours a week except in cases expressly provided for in this Act. • Where a worker in an undertaking works after the hours of work fixed by the rules of that undertaking, the additional hours done shall be regarded as overtime work.• A worker shall be given a rest period of forty-eight consecutive hours, in every seven days of normal working hours. The weekly rest day shall be any day in respect of which the employee is not required to work under the employee's contract of employment. • Workers shall also be entitled to rest on public holidays recognized as such by the Republic of Zambia. Annual leave• Under section 36 of the Employment Act, employees have a minimum of 24 annual leave days, which is paid. All partners will be required to comply with this statutory requirement. Maternity Leaves • A woman worker, on production of a medical certificate issued by a medical practitioner or a midwife indication the expected date of her confinement, is entitled to a period of maternity leave of at least fourteen weeks in addition to any period of annual leave she is entitled after her period of confinement.• No deductions other than those prescribed in labor laws shall be made hereunder or any other law or collective labor agreement shall be made from a worker's remuneration, except for repayment of advances received from the employer and evidenced in writing. Medical treatment of injured and sick workers• At minimum, all sub-grantees shall be required to enroll their workers on social welfare institutions. • Employees of CGIAR centers will be required to continue to benefit from existing medical insurance arranged by their respective research institutions.IWMI and CGIAR centers are committed to providing transparent and easily accessible grievance mechanism for all workers under the AICCRA Zambia project to report complaints relating to disagreement on working conditions, health and safety, discrimination, bullying, sexual harassment and abuse.Two major grievance mechanisms are currently available for all workers working on the AICCRA project to report labor related grievances including SEA/SH (i) the CGIAR grievance mechanism and (ii) the project grievance mechanism provided in the AICCRA Zambia SEP. All workers will be informed of the grievance mechanism at the time of their engagement on the project including measures put in place to protect them against any reprisal for its use. The mechanism will also allow for anonymous complaints to be raised and addressed through providing options for people reporting a grievance to not mention their names, positions or place or work station. Individuals who submit their complaints or grievances may request that their names be kept confidential and this must be respected.• Should the whistle-blower/reporter still feel either victimized or disadvantaged following the report and subsequent investigation, they may choose to escalate the issue to the next level in the form of an appeal to the next level of authority. Should the issue raised be with reference to the People and Organizational Development Director, then the whistle blower/reporter shall raise it with the Director General. In the event that the matter is with regards to the Director General, it may be raised with the Chair of the Board and subsequently in cases where the matter refers to the Chair of the Board, the staff member may raise it directly with the Director of the CGIAR Internal Audit Unit.• The Project workers' grievance mechanism will not prevent workers to use conciliation procedure provided in the Employment code. • If the complainant remains dissatisfied with the mediation effort of the project grievance committee, the complainant has the option to pursue appropriate recourse via judicial process of choice. The AICCRA project will allow any aggrieved person the right of access to Court of law. Courts of law will be a \"last resort\" option, in view of the above mechanism.The AICCRA Zambia grievance mechanism outlined in the cluster SEP constitutes an alternative pathway for project workers to report grievances including cases linked to SEA/SH. The mechanism provides for several channels for lodging complaints including emails, phone calls, texts, letters, and toll free line that will also be accessible to all workers. Information on this grievance will be made available to all workers to ensure that all workers have adequate knowledge on how to lodge a complaint and receive resolution through the mechanism.Given that most GBV cases at workplace are not reported because of the fear of victimization, anonymous reporting channels have been provided as part of AICCRA Zambia grievance uptakes points to encourage reporting of SEA/SH related cases. When such a case is reported, the complainant would be provided with information about the available services including confidentially appropriate medical and psychological support, emergency accommodation, and any other necessary services as appropriate including legal assistance. The Safeguard Focal Person will refer all SEA/SH survivors to relevant GBV service providers at Annex 6. When a case of that nature is reported, the Safeguard Focal persons will record the case with the following limited information the nature of the incident, the age and sex of the complainant, and whether the survivor was referred to a service provider.The AICCRA Zambia Grievance committee will review all cases referred to it to determine and agree upon course of action for handling and resolving the case. The appropriate institution that employs the perpetrator will be required to review the case and take disciplinary action in accordance with the employer's code of conduct and national legislation. Disciplinary actions may include informal warning, formal warning, additional training, loss of salary, suspension, or termination of employment. A survivor may continue to receive support from the appropriate GBV service providers while the case is being handled by the employer.The AICCRA Zambia Cluster will follow the project implementation manual (PIM) and ESRM guide to oversee management of grantees. In accordance with these documents the following measures and procedure will be followed.As and when the need arises for the cluster to engage a grantee that may engage contracted workers, IWMI shall make reasonable efforts to ascertain that the grantee is legitimate and reliable entity that will be able to comply with the relevant requirements of this LMP. These requirements shall be included in the Terms of Reference (ToR) or the Request for Proposals (RFP) document.As part of the process to select grantees that will engage contracted workers, IWMI will review business registration and permits, labor and OHS performance on previous projects. The potential grantees will also be required to complete an environmental and social screening form to confirm the absence of any unresolved OHS and SEA/SH cases, establish the grantees existing OHS system including HR polices and OHS guidelines, labor management records, and the expertise to implement the project activities in accordance with this LMP.All grantees' contracts are issued by ABC and consistent with existing practices, ABC shall incorporate agreed labor management requirements in all sub-agreements as specified in PIM and the ESRM guide. A summary of this is provided at Annex 5. The provision will also include appropriate non-compliance remedies such as suspension of grant disbursement and cancellation of grant project.Sub-grantees shall be required to provide quarterly reports to the AICCRA Zambia Safeguard Focal Person on the status of implementation of measures in this LMP. The AICCRA Zambia Cluster Lead, Country Coordinator and Safeguard Focal Person shall exercise direct oversight in monitoring the performance of grantees in relations to this LMP. The monitoring role will include inspections, spot checks of project locations or work sites and/or labor management records and reports compiled by the grantee. Grantees labor management records and reports that would be review would include the following:• Representative samples of employment contracts and signed CoC;• Records of training provided for contracted workers to explain occupational health and safety risks and preventive measures.• Grievances received from workers and their resolution;• Reports relating to fatalities, incidents and implementation of corrective actions; and• Records relating to incidents of non-compliance with national Labor Code and the provisions of the LMP.• Attend and actively partake in training courses related to SEA/SH and VAC as requested by the project. • Treat women, children (persons under the age of 18), and men with respect regardless of race, color, language, religion, political or other affiliation, nationality, ethnicity, or social origin, property, disability, birth or nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other status. • Not use language or behavior towards women, children or men that is inappropriate, harassing, abusive, sexually provocative, demeaning or culturally inappropriate. • Not engage in sexual exploitation, which is defined as any actual or attempted abuse of position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially, or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. • Not engage in sexual abuse, which is defined as the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. • Not engage in sexual harassment, which is defined as any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favor, verbal or physical conduct or gesture of a sexual nature, or any other behavior of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offense or humiliation to another, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment, or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment. • Not participate in sexual contact or activity with children-including grooming or contact through digital media (community members married to minors, even if legally done, will not be hired).Mistaken belief regarding the age of a child is not a defense. Consent from the child is also not a defense or excuse. • Not have sexual interactions with members of the host communities (NB: an exception applies to a locally hired worker already married to an adult member of the community). This includes relationships involving the withholding or promise of actual provision of benefit (monetary or non-monetary) to community members in exchange for sex-such sexual activity is considered \"non-consensual\" within the scope of this Code. • Consider reporting through the Grievance Mechanism or to my manager any suspected or actual SEA/SH or VAC by a fellow worker, whether employed by my company or not, or any breaches of this Code of Conduct.• Wherever possible, ensure that another adult is present when working in the proximity of children.• Not invite unaccompanied children unrelated to my family into my home unless they are at immediate risk of injury or in physical danger. • Not use any computers, mobile phones, video, and digital cameras or any other medium to exploit or harass children or to access child pornography (see also \"Use of children's images for work related purposes\" below). • Refrain from physical punishment or discipline of children.• Refrain from hiring children below the minimum age of 15, for domestic or other labor which places them at significant risk of injury, as specified by the national law • Comply with all relevant local legislation, including labor laws in relation to child labor and WorldBank's E&S standards on child labor and minimum age. • Take appropriate caution when photographing or filming children (see details below).• Before photographing or filming a child, assess and endeavor to comply with local traditions or restrictions for reproducing personal images. • Before photographing or filming a child, obtain informed consent from the child and a parent or guardian of the child. As part of this I must explain how the photograph or film will be used. • Ensure photographs, films, and videos present children in a dignified and respectful manner and not in a vulnerable or submissive manner. Children should be adequately clothed and not in poses that could be seen as sexually suggestive. • Ensure images are honest representations of the context and the facts.• Ensure file labels do not reveal identifying information about a child when sending images electronically.I understand that if I breach this Individual Code of Conduct, the grant partner will take disciplinary action which could include:• Informal warning.• Formal warning.• Additional Training.• Loss of up to one week's salary.• Suspension of employment (without payment of salary/contract fees), for a minimum period of 1 month up to a maximum of 6 months. • Termination of employment.• Reporting to the police if warranted. I understand that it is my responsibility to ensure that the environmental, social, health and safety standards are met. I will adhere to the occupational health and safety management requirements and avoid actions or behaviors that could be construed as SEA/SH or VAC. Any such actions will be a breach this Individual Code of Conduct. I do hereby acknowledge that I have read the foregoing Individual Code of Conduct, do agree to comply with the standards contained therein and understand my roles and responsibilities to prevent and respond to OHS, SEA/SH and VAC issues. I understand that any action inconsistent with this Individual Code of Conduct or failure to act mandated by this Individual Code of Conduct may result in disciplinary action and may affect my ongoing employment. Root causes…………………………………………………………………………………………… 2. Preventive Action taken………………………………………………………………………….Further Recommendation Preventive actions……………………………………………… Signature…………………………………………….Date……………………………………………….Project coordinator: Comments and Actions to be taken or recommended to higher authority:Signature…………………………………………….Date………………………………………………. even disciplinary measures. Workforce management procedures describe measures to prevent and combat harassment, bullying, and/or exploitation in the workplace.e. The Contract Party shall notify the AICCRA Cluster Safeguard Focal Person as soon as possible and no later than 24 hours after learning of any incident or accident related to the AICCRA Project which has, or is likely to have, a significant adverse effect on the environment, the affected communities, the public or workers. In addition, a report shall be provided to IWMI within 20 days of the occurred incident or accident. The report shall provide sufficient detail regarding the incident or accident, indicating immediate measures taken or that are planned to be taken to address it, and any information provided by any contractor and/or supervising entity, as appropriate. In the case of the incidents link with sexual abuse, exploitation and harassment, the Contact Party shall notify IWMI within 12 hours upon receipt of such allegations. f. The Contract Party shall sensitize all project staff and stakeholders about the AICCRA Zambia Grievance Mechanism (GM) and encourage them to lodge all complaints relating to the AICCRA project through the grievance uptake points provided.g. The contract party shall develop or adapt the code of conduct at annexure 4c for all consultants and employees engaged to work on AICCRA activities."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1100d5107dc037e612c3000114864769","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b9bfc482-94b7-48bd-9aa2-87fe87862438/retrieve","id":"512827290"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"49a9edf9-d60d-44af-8936-e7423841c169","content":"The European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN) is a collaborative programme among European countries aimed at ensuring the effective conservation and the sustainable utilization of forest genetic resources in Europe. It was established to implement Resolution 2 of the Strasbourg Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe. EUFORGEN is financed by participating countries and is coordinated by IPGRI, in collaboration with the Forestry Department of FAO. It facilitates the dissemination of information and various collaborative initiatives. The Programme operates through networks in which forest geneticists and other forestry specialists work together to analyze needs, exchange experiences and develop conservation objectives and methods for selected species. The networks also contribute to the development of appropriate conservation strategies for the ecosystems to which these species belong. Network members and other scientists and forest managers from participating countries carry out an agreed workplan with their own resources as inputs in kind to the Programme. EUFORGEN is overseen by a Steering Committee composed of National Coordinators nominated by the participating countries.The geographical designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IPGRI or the CGIAR concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Similarly, the views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of these participating organizations.Participants from 15 countries attended the meeting (see List of Participants). They were welcomed by J. Van Slycken, Director of Instituut voor Bosbouw en Wildbeheer (Institute for Forestry and Game Management) in Geraardsbergen. J. Turok, EUFORGEN Coordinator, thanked the host of the meeting and wished the participants a fruitful meeting. He mentioned the current activities in other Networks and described briefly the recent international developments in the area of forest genetic resources.F. Lefevre, Chair of the Network, then opened the meeting. He suggested that the most important objectives of the meeting were: (i) to evaluate outputs from the previous joint tasks, (ii) to closely involve the participants from all newly attending countries, and (iii) to initiate the development of in situ conservation strategies which should also result in practical work with shared responsibilities. The agenda of the meeting was approved (see Agenda).• to maintain populations with a broad genetic diversity to ensure adaptation to changing environmental conditions and that breeding programmes are provided with new genotypes.To achieve these objectives, eight EU member countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and United Kingdom) prepared a list of tasks which the following river systems: Danube, Drome, Loire, Rhine, Elbe, Ticino, Ebro, Rhine/Waal, Maas, Usk and Dee. The following tasks will be undertaken:1. Standardization of methods 2. Adaptation of molecular technology 3. Determination of cytotypes with chloroplast DNA analysis 4. Isolation of microsatellites 5. Assessment of diversity within and between natural river populations 6. Verification of existing genebanks 7. Life history traits of black poplar stands 8. Evaluation of data 9. Synthesis.The project will start on 1 March 1998 for a period of 3 years. The total budget is estimated at ECU 2100000 (with the contribution of the EU amounting to ECU 1260000).Possibilities of joint meetings, publications and a linked Internet home page with the Network will be explored, to provide maximum benefits of the results achieved for black poplar conservation in European countries. It was agreed that progress made by the EUROPOP Project will be briefly reported at each Network meeting. S. de Vries kindly offered to ensure the information flow with the Network.The methods are closely linked with each other, e.g. restoration schemes often become in situ conservation stands.The main responsibility for in situ conservation of P. nigra is with the national, regional or local authorities concerned. An international network will be built up on the basis of stands designated and managed at national level.The suggested network of in situ populations (stands) should cover the natural distribution range of the species, with regard to latitude, longitude, altitude, biophysical and environmental factors. Common criteria for choosing a site which should be included in the network are:• protection status; ownership; management • potential for natural regeneration • large size.To promote the establishment of a network of in situ populations, the P. nigra Network will:1. Conduct an inventory and produce a synthesis of existing knowledge on the effects of ecosystem management on dynamic processes in P. nigra populations -S. de Vries and 1.1. Popivshchy. 2. On the basis of a literature survey, prepare draft recommendations (including research needs) for the restoration of riparian ecosystems (use of genetic material for planting, etc.) -B. Heinze and M. DubskY. 3. Review possible indicators for monitoring the evolution of diversity in riparian ecosystem -F. Lefevre and D. Kajba.These three tasks will be developed for the next Network meeting; background documents on each of the tasks will be circulated one month before the next meeting (to be held in September 1998). The participants will send literature and written inputs to the coordinators of the new tasks of the Workplan by the end of the year 1997.The draft list of descriptors developed and circulated by N. Alba was reviewed. All participants will send additional comments and suggestions to N. Alba by 1 November 1997. N. Alba will send the final version for inclusion in the Report of the meeting to J.Turok by 1 December 1997. Missing diagrams and environmental descriptors will be prepared jointly by N. Alba, J. Van Slycken and P. Tabbush (in collaboration with existing relevant projects).Participants from countries with ongoing in situ conservation programmes will bring a sample list of stands already designated, following the new list of descriptors, for discussion during the next meeting of the Network. Optional (voluntary) descriptors, in addition to the common minimum list, are encouraged and should cover specific needs and conditions in each country.The synthesis was prepared and presented by S. de Vries. An update will be produced, including as many countries as possible from the distribution range. All participants will check the information on their respective country and send modifications to S. de Vries by 1 November 1997. S. de Vries will send the new version/table for the Report of the meeting to J. Turok by 1 December 1997. J. Turok will contact countries not participating in the Network (southern and eastern parts of the distribution range), to inform them about ongoing activities and ask for input by 15 October 1997.EUFORGEN core collection S. Bisoffi presented the status of the collection (see Reports of previous Network meetings). The multiplication of the collection has been delayed because of technical problems with cuttings received at the host institute in Casale Monferrato (see report of Italy in this volume). It was proposed to employ intensive multiplication techniques and duplicate the collection in a cooler climate at IBN-DLO in Wageningen (S. de Vries). The collection will also be made available for EUROPOP research.Certain clones need to be re-sent. S. Bisoffi and J. Turok will contact participants in countries which should re-send clones or send new material (from countries in the distribution range not participating in the Network). A reminder /invitation letter will be distributed by 1 December 1997. All material should be sent to both Casale Monferrato and Wageningen. Instructions for shipment should be followed carefully. Passport data according to the Network's list must accompany all clones.The database contains 1960 entries (as of October 1997; see report of Italy in this volume). Passport data for the clones in the core collection have been included, but some relevant information is still missing for individual clones. S. Bisoffi distributed sheets with these missing data directly to Network members, asked them to update the information on the core collection and send it back to him by 1 November 1997. He illustrated the importance of the missing data with examples of conflicting data for clones held at different institutions, and to detect possible duplicates. Belgium proposed to test such clones for which there is confusion about identity with genetic fingerprints. On the technical side, some database fields have been enlarged, and a new field added at the end (presence in the EUFORGEN core collection). S. Bisoffi stressed the importance of including the geographical coordinates with some examples.All participants received the data file on diskette (DOS/Windows, ExcelS, compressed with Pkzip). J. Turok will ensure that the updated file replaces the older version on the Internet home page of the Network, by 1 November 1997. New data as well as regular updates, including the supply of previously missing data, the correction of wrong data, or the deletion of clones no longer held in collection, should be done by the Network members and sent to S. Bisoffi on diskette by mail, or directly bye-mail by the end of the year 1997 and regularly afterwards. The next uploading on the Internet will be made earlier than 1 June 1998.A review presentation was given by B. Heinze on biochemical and molecular methods available for investigating introgression, genetic variation and clone differentiation in P. nigra. Chromatography of leaf and bud phenolic compounds, isoenzymes and DNA techniques were covered. Studies in P. nigra and other Populus species were compared and some thoughts for the use of suitable markers for different problems given. A working draft was distributed. Participants will supply further information and references to B. Heinze by 1 November 1997. The draft will be updated and sent by B. Heinze to J. Turok for inclusion in the Report of the meeting by 1 December 1997.A questionnaire was also distributed with a request for information on laboratories concerned with the application of molecular techniques to Populus species. Participants will contact such laboratories in their countries and send the questionnaire back to B.Heinze by 1 November 1997.The information received will be collated and supplemented with the list of EUROPOP participants, included in the Report of the meeting (to be sent by 1 December 1997). Contacts and possibly Internet home page links will be established with the Poplar Molecular Network based at the University of Washington, USA (B. Heinze and J. Turok).The Network's collection of slides was reviewed. S. de Vries mentioned the importance of receiving slides from all countries. The following areas are still not covered and should be supplemented before the next Network meeting:• wood patterns/burls • fodder for animals • pollen • mixed-species riparian stands • particular landscape: North Africa • drawings from the Identification Sheet.It was confirmed that a CD-ROM would be produced by IPGRI at a later stage.It was noted that the Report of the previous meeting (800 copies) had been widely distributed according to the mailing lists provided by the Network members. Network members are encouraged to send instructions/ addresses for further distribution in their countries to J. Turok by the end of the year 1997.• Literature review (addendum for 1997) was provided and participants will send additional references to F. Lefevre by 1 November 1997 in the format specified earlier; see Reports of the previous Network meetings).• Exchange of reference clones: requests for cuttings should be addressed to J. Van Slycken before the end of the year. • Leaf morphology: D. Kajba presented results of a recent study in Croatia (see this volume) and will prepare an overview for the next Network meeting.Following a short discussion among the participants, it was agreed to slightly broaden the scope of the Network and include Populus alba on the agenda in the future. This decision was made in light of the increasing efforts of the Network towards in situ conservation strategies in riparian ecosystems. The Network expressed its strong concern about the continuing uncertain situation of the Istituto di Sperimentazione per la Pioppicoltura (Poplar Research Institute) in Casale Monferrato, Italy and recommended that every effort be made to ensure the maintenance of the unique collections and the scientific experience available at this Institute.It was suggested to hold the next, fifth Network meeting in conjunction with the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO) Poplar and Willow Breeding and Genetic Resources Working Group, in September 1998, in Orleans, France. 2  A tentative schedule suggests that Network meeting participants join the IUFRO excursions planned for 16-17 September 1998, as well as indoor sessions on 18 November 1998, and then continue for two days (19-20 September) with the actual Network meeting. This arrangement would enable Network members to attend both meetings, inform IUFRO Working Group members about the Network activities and jointly discuss several aspects of poplar conservation and genetic resources management.It was agreed that exchanging and updating information on the activities in countries play an important part of the Network's tasks. The progress reports from countries, briefly discussed during the meeting, are presented below in alphabetical order. They describe the period between the two Network meetings (October 1996(October -0ctober 1997)). The information provided typically includes mention of research, field inventories, practical implementation and public awareness activities.In addition, the report from Moldova summarizes the results of a study conducted within a project on geographic variability of black poplar in the former USSR. An interesting contribution from Malta, included for the first time in this Network, suggests that white poplar (P. alba) be given more attention in the future activities.Poland, Ukraine and FR Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) participated for the first time in a Network meeting as well and their introductory country reports are included at the end of this section. They bring the total number of countries which contributed information about the status and the national gene conservation activities on P. nigra to 20 countries (see Reports of previous meetings).Institute of Forest Genetics, Federal Forest Research Centre, 1140 Vienna, AustriaInvestigations in our own laboratory focused on markers for chloroplast and nuclear genes for the investigation of introgression of P. nigra with P. x euramericana. Chloroplast DNA can be readily distinguished with PCR tests by analyzing appropriate regions on the chloroplast genome (Heinze 1998). One nuclear DNA marker has been investigated that is also amenable to quick screenings of plants (Heinze 1997). By combining both tests, and applying further nuclear gene markers more recently developed, some introgression was found that was unnoticed phenotypically, in plants between 2-10 years of age. The magnitude of this introgression was roughly between 2 and 10%, depending on the population.More data were collected on residual populations and single trees. The Austrian participant for the common research project EUROPOP, the Austrian Research Centre Seibersdorf (K. Burg, S. Fluch) is ready for the start of the project.A meeting on international collaboration matters was held in Vienna in April 1997 which served as an introduction of the Networks to Austrian decision-makers (mainly in administration) and tried to clarify the relationships between the different conventions and international agreements concerning biodiversity and conservation. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) organized a meeting on rare and endangered tree species which included P. nigra. A number of articles were published in local forestry-related journals.The National Park of the Danube Floodplains east of Vienna which was opened last October brought with it a discussion on management plans which now address the black poplar vs. hybrid poplar problem. Local foresters within the National Park started P. nigra propagation from seeds in the nursery. The WWF, one of the landowners within the National Park, started a floodplain restoration programme by opening up side arms and waterways for frequent flooding. Experience with this project will be especially interesting in the light of the great flooding that occurred in eastern Austria in July 1997.There is very active support of the Network from the Salzburg and Styria regional governments with active help in surveying trips and an interest in black poplar trees as bird sanctuaries. The certification of the first Austrian P. nigra seed stand is pending which wo~ld allow the trading of seed and seedlings for forestry purposes without caseby-case permissions.Collecting of clones was carried out by the Institute of Forest Genetics in the areas of Styria, Lower Austria, parts of Salzburg and Upper Austria. Around 300 clones were collected, 200-250 of which successfully rooted and tested positive for 'purity' in laboratory. This lot, supplemented with a few more clones already collected and a few seedlings from previous years, will form the future Austrian core collection of P. nigra.Institute for Forestry and Game Management, 9500 Geraardsbergen, BelgiumThere are no young stands or natural regeneration of Populus nigra occuring in Belgium so far. Populus nigra is only found as relict trees, almost exclusively on private properties in the neighbourhood of farms. The trees were planted and propagated several decades ago around meadows and farms for the production of firewood. They were mostly kept, together with willows, as pollarded trees. This makes the in situ conservation of black poplar very difficult, as it depends on the goodwill of the farmers.In situ conservation, however, is possible by local authorities through legal protection as a nature monument. This procedure has been used until now by one municipality (Oosterzele) .Many of the trees are old and show damage from cattle or lightning, as well as by the increase in the scale of farming activities. This makes the ex situ conservation of P. nigra in Belgium very important.During the last year further surveying of relict trees has been undertaken. The work aims at locating the relict trees, evaluating their vitality (phytosanitary state, dimensions, etc.), enhancing and rejuvenating the ex situ collection, and updating the database. The location of each tree is registered by differential GPS (Global Positioning System). Trees already included in the database and conserved in nature, as well as new individuals, were collected. Owners, mostly farmers, were informed as much as possible about the rarity of black poplar in Belgium and about the current conservation programme.The activities undertaken in 1996 resulted in 23 new accessions in 11 different locations. For the first time, relict trees of P. nigra were found along the Meuse, the largest river in Belgium (Leten, Maasmechelen). Three new locations of P. nigra were found in the Dender Valley (Elst, Gages, Castiau), seven in the Yzer Valley (five of them were found in the same village of Woesten, two in Oost-Vleteren) and one in the Schelde Valley (Antwerpen). This brings the national ex situ collection to a total of about 130 trees in 40 different locations. We expect that this collection contains a certain number of genetically identical individuals due to vegetative multiplication by farmers which was, and still is, a common way to propagate poplars. For the screening of the genetic diversity of the ex situ collection, fresh young leaves from each individual of the ex situ collection were taken and are kept at -80°C. This material will be used in the future for extraction of DNA and genetic diversity studies at the DNA level.Duplicates of the newly collected material were exchanged with the Forest Research Institute at Gembloux (Walloon Region), so that in the near future the ex situ genebank will be maintained in two places in Belgium.Apart from collecting new material of P. nigra, the regeneration programme of the existing genebank, i.e. ex situ plantations of parents and offspring from intraspecific crossings made in the past, was given high priority. This programme started in 1994.Surveying of the relict population will continue. More attention will be paid to the morphological and genetic diversity of the ex situ collection. From each individual, a DNA fingerprint analysis will be made using the AFLP technique (Vos et al. 1995) and a database of the fingerprints will be set up. This will make the exclusion of identical genotypes possible and will facilitate the management of the ex situ collection.The study of the genetic diversity in the collection and among the different populations (Dender Valley, Yzer Valley, Schelde and Meuse Valley) is planned for th~ near future. The relationship between relict trees in Belgium and adjacent countries will also be studied. This will offer important information for nature development projects where re-introduction of black poplar along the main river courses is considered. These efforts are made possible through the participation of the Institute for Forestry and Game Management in the EU-funded EUROPOP Project.Furthermore, our Institute will study the genetic diversity of the Hungarian ex situ collection in the context of a Flemish-Hungarian cooperation project funded by the Flemish Community.Ante Krstinic and Davorin Kajba Faculty of Forestry, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia During 1997, selection of black poplar trees in the territory of the Republic of Croatia and the adjacent Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was continued. In the area of the upper river Sava, 18 trees in total were selected and propagated. The success of autovegetative propagation ranged between 15 and 67%, depending upon the clone. In the central part of river Sava, 12 trees in total were selected, and 10 were successfully propagated vegetatively. The success of rooting per clone ranged from 4 to 96%. With the assistance of colleagues from the Faculty of Forestry in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), in the areas of Sarajevo, Kakanj and Zenica, 54 trees were selected and 50 trees were propagated. Rooting success of cuttings of these clones varied from 4 to 60%, with their very marked plagiothropic growth.The poplar clonal archive established in spring 1995 by the Mura river (Cakovec, Podturen) was completed this year with 27 new clones of black poplar, bringing the number to 61 clones. In spring of 1998 it is planned to complete the clonal archives with 28 additional new clones. In the Osijek area, by the Drava river, the establishment of another clonal archives is anticipated. So far, in the tree nursery ViSnjevac, near Osijek, 50 clones have been propagated for the purpose of establishing this new clonal archive.For the coming year we also plan to make a selection of the black poplar trees in the area of Eastern Slavonia and Baranja, along the Danube river. As a UNTAES zone, this area has been inaccessible until now, but its reintegration is just taking place. In this area, the best conserved specimens of native black poplar in Croatia can be found.There are two research institutes involved in the conservation of Populus nigra genetic resources in the Czech Republic, the Research Institute of Ornamental Gardening (with three research projects concerning conservation of genetic resources, genetic analyses and selection of new clones with good yield properties) and the Research Institute of Forestry and Game Management (with one research project concerning conservation of genetic resources and the central clonal archive maintained as a stool-bed). Since the last Network meeting we have continued the activities which were mentioned in the introductory country report last year.We described 12 new plus trees in the Central Labe Basin, 6 of which were vegetatively propagated. In spring 1998 we plan to describe an additional 12 plus trees in the Vltava Valley and 21 trees from extreme sites (uplands with altitude 400-600 m), which have already been vegetatively propagated (Table 1). Surveying and designating of plus trees will also continue in the valleys in South Moravia and in the Odra Valley in North Moravia.By surveying plus trees we discovered areas with natural regeneration. Altogether eight areas were registered, but only one is in natural conditions at a site which is sporadically flooded. Others are linked with human activity due to earthmoving works. In 1997 a stand of 0.5 ha was established with seedlings from controlled crossings as well as clones in the river Morava Basin. Next year we plan to establish a 1.5 ha stand in the Vltava Valley with seedlings from controlled crossings carried out in 1996 (Table 2). This year we carried out controlled crossings with two objectives: one is to conserve genetic resources of regional populations, the other is to obtain clones with good yield properties. For this purpose, we used plus trees from various areas from lowlands to uplands, where we expect to find genetic variability due to different selection pressure. The seedlings will be used for planting additional research plots. Genetic analyses Enzyme systems for easy identification P. x euramericana (6-PGD, LAP, PGI), P. x berolinensis (AeO) and P. trichocarpa (PER) were chosen. These enzyme systems were also tested for identification of introgression between P. nigra and P. x euramericana and P. nigra and P. x berolinensis from controlled crossings. The knowledge obtained was used for analyses of young populations of P. nigra (two populations from areas with natural regeneration, three populations from open-pollinated progenies). In these populations 0-10% of introgressive hybrids were detected.Fran~ois Lefevre INRA Unite de Recherches Foresm~res Mediterraneennes, 84000 Avignon, FranceThe National Commission for the Conservation of Forest Genetic Resources has prepared a 'charter' to be signed by all partners involved in the conservation of forest tree genetic resources. This document defines the general scope of the programme and operational organization. The conservation of P. nigra is included in that national programme.The collection of clones, initially set up by INRA, has been transferred to the administrative nursery of Guemene Penfao and a new stool-bed of 251 accessions was planted according to Network's guidelines (de Vries 1996). A new populetum (conservation adult tree plots) was also planted in Bourret, with 215 accessions.The collection is now split into (1) active collection, and (2) complementary collection. The active collection in conserved both in stool-beds and as adult tree plots, submitted to evaluation process in the nursery and through laboratory techniques. It presently contains 262 clones, and it will be increased to 500 clones in the coming years. The sampling strategy allows 1 to 5 clones per collecting site, according to the original population size. The active collection will be maintained at 500 accessions, but adjustment will be allowed either to include new origins or to improve the representation of some origins according to new information on the organization of genetic diversity. The complementary collection is only conserved as adult tree plots, and may be used as a 'reservoir' of genetic resources in the future.Cultivated hybrid poplars can interact with wild P. nigra in different ways. One is the introgression process, another interaction possibly involves parasites. Melampsora rust populations are evolving rapidly, following the evolution of the set of cultivated clones with race-specific resistance (Pinon and Frey 1997). From another point of view, the natural co-evolution processes with P. nigra led to different Melampsora rust populations in the wild riparian sites. In a collaboration between pathologists and geneticists, we studied the diversity of both P. nigra and Melampsora in eight natural stands along four rivers. The rust populations differed in terms of species or pathotype content. However, the poplar populations were not different, neither at isoenzyme markers nor for genetic components of partial resistance to different rust races. Quantitative components of partial resistance were under genetic control, and quantitative clone-race interaction was significant. It was concluded that differences among rust populations in wild riparian sites could not be attributed to genetic differences of the host populations, although rust can represent a significant selection pressure at within-stand level, due to the highgenetic variation for resistance and the quantitative clone-race interactions (Louveau 1997).BeZa T6thl, Sandor Bordacs 2 , Ern6 Gabnai2, Zoltan Gencsi Field description of P. nigra stands or subcompartments registered in the national forest inventory has been continued, but at a less than necessary rate because of the lack of financial means. The conclusion drawn so far is that only a small part of P. nigra stands registered in the management plans are true P. nigra occurrences.The Ministry of Agriculture founded a Council for Plant Genetic Resources. Its tasks are as follows:• organizing the genebank works according to international standards • development of guidelines for the management of gene reserves in Hungary. In the frame of the above-mentioned Council, a forestry taskforce is aiming at forest gene conservation including that of P. nigra. In 1997 the activity of ISP included the maintenance of the P. nigra collections, as well as updating the Network's P. nigra database.Almost all the clones included in the ISP collection (532 genotypes) were propagated in a stool-bed in the Mezzi farm in Casale: about 30 cuttings per clone were planted.All the cuttings obtained from the material received last year (from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and FR Yugoslavia) for the constitution of the 'core collection' were propagated in a new stool-bed in 1997 together with the cuttings obtained from the reference clones. About 800 cuttings were planted altogether.Also the cuttings received this year from Romania and Ukraine and those re-sent from Austria, Czech Republic and the Netherlands (about 200 cuttings) were included in the same stool-bed.The stool-beds established in 1996 were maintained so that it will be possible to collect cuttings planted in both years in 1998.A collection was planted with 179 clones to complete the duplication of the ISP collection as adult tree plots in another locality (near Rome).Considering the great number of genotypes, no more than four plants per clone were planted with a spacing of 4 x 3 m; two trees per clone will be removed after several years so as to widen the spacing.An experimental plantation was established at Roaschia, a locality near Cuneo in the Piedmont Region, using some of the genotypes selected from the nursery tests conducted several years ago, where certain genotypes were used as parents in the artificial crossings (50 genotypes altogether). ' J. Pourtet', the only P. nigra clone registered in Italy for commercial use, was used as reference clone.Populus nigra genotypes were used in two different kinds of crossings during 1996 and 1997.Some of the genotypes selected as best parents from progeny tests and some of the genotypes selected from nursery tests were used as parents in intraspecific crossings planned in the P. x euramericana breeding project. Five different families with more than 100 seedlings were obtained. Some artificial crossings were carried out with genotypes highly resistant and highly susceptible to Marssonina, Melampsora and Phloeomyzus passerinii, to evaluate the behaviour of progenies towards diseases and insects both in the field and in the laboratory (with molecular markers). Six different families with over 200 seedlings were propagated in the field.In addition to the information about the ex situ collections in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey, data regarding the clones maintained in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, United Kingdom and FR Yugoslavia were included in the P. nigra database during 1997 (1960( entries in October 1997)).Similarly the information regarding the clones sent to ISP for the constitution of the core collection was included in the database.Although for most of the clones in the database a lot of the information (passport data) is available, for some genotypes only the name and the country of origin are known.Three genotypes of P. nigra of Piedmont origin (about 50 plants) and some genotypes of P. alba (about 120 plants) were planted together with some other riparian species for the re-establishment of a riparian forest within the Park of the river Po.No specific legislation about P. nigra was proposed, but some recent regulations regarding rivers and poplar cultivation might be relevant to P. nigra conservation.According to the national Law n.37 approved in 1994 (Regulation for the environmental protection of rivers, torrents, lakes and other State waters), the right of pre-emption on the use of land abandoned by rivers as a consequence of river dynamics was shifted from the owners of the adjacent land to public authorities or consortia provided they use the land for nature conservation, environmental restoration or other nature protection purposes. Land use for other purposes (including poplar cultivation) is subject to the approval by a provincial commission.A plan regarding fluvial areas was approved in 1996 by the Po river Authority. This plan classifies fluvial areas into three zones on the basis of the risk of flooding. As for the first zone, i.e. the area next to the river and subject to regular flooding, a proposal is at present under discussion which would put severe restrictions on poplar cultivation along several tributaries of the river Po.Ivan 1. Popivshchy and Andrey E. Prokazin Russian Tree Breeding Centre (CENTRLESSEM), 141200 Pushkino (Moscow), Russian FederationAs a tree of lowlands, black poplar grows in the European part of Russia between the rivers Severnaya Dvina in the north and Terek in the south, and Seversky Donets in the west and the Urals in the east. Its northernmost border at 63°N latitude is of particular interest (according to V.H. Sukachev, see Lositsky 1955). In Siberia black poplar reaches 64° latitude in the lowlands of the Enisei river. The northern border of the black poplar range in Europe recently has been defined more precisely by Skvortsov and Gadirca (1986). The northernmost black poplar occurrence has been discovered on one of the islands on the Severnaya Dvina river. It seems strange that in the most inclement climate, black poplar can almost reach the White Sea, but in the west, it sharply deviates to the south. It is assumed that the northern border of this species' range from northeast to southwest coincides with the contour of the so-called Wurm glacial cover.In spite of many useful properties and incidentally undertaken protection measures, there has never been a special gene conservation programme for black poplar in Russia (see Report of the previous meeting). Generally, some unfavourable tendencies are currently recognized: areas under black poplar stands are reducing; the stands are threatened by pests and diseases; the productivity is declining.In 1955 Prof. K.B. Lositsky wrote that black poplar was one of the most disease-free and pest-resistant species. In the area of the middle Volga river, the mean growing stock of black poplar mature stands reached 824 m 3 /ha (Table I), an annual increment of nearly 20 m 3 /ha. Black poplar was considered to grow from 1.5 to 2 times faster than aspen. The situation has worsened since the end of the 1960s (Kargov 1968). Black poplar stands have been increasingly declining. Their areas, stock, mean stand density stocking, prevailing site quality classes and overall phytosanitary condition were lowered (Shatalov et al. 1984).One of the main causes of black poplar decline is the regulation of river flow (see Table 2). Many poplar stands existed only because of additive flooding. The regulation of flooding led to an increase of natural aridity. On the other hand, many poplar stands disappeared owing to man-made hydroelectric power station dams. For example, the Republic of Mari-El lost all poplar stands for this reason. Because of river flow regulation, the period of winter flooding in the zones of low-level black poplar stands is doubling, having a negative impact on the stands (Nevidomov 1993).1. Changed flood dynamics due to hydroelectric power stations 2. Increase of the total aridity because of flow regulation 3. Decrease of sediment particles in the water (due to their accumulation in dam ponds), decline of alluvial process 4. Doubling of winter flooding period in the zone of low-level black poplar stands as a result of flow regulation 5. Air pollution 6. Global climate changes.Other reasons for black poplar decline are air pollution and climate change. As a result of all these factors, according to our latest data, black poplar stands in 14 regions of European Russia have been completely lost, and in others are greatly reduced (Table 3). Inventories of natural resources of black poplar would be the first step for providing an insight of the level of threat to the species. Such an inventory must be planned for some regions and subregions at the level of local administration, national parks, reserves, forestry departments and divisions. The distribution of black poplar in the plains of European Russia offers an ideal possibility to study and preserve its diversity along the geographic gradient (clinal patterns) from north to south.It is necessary to maintain populations of the species with considerable morphological variation (burl forms, flushing, etc.) in the areas of Volga, Don, Terek and other rivers. Methodical training and instruction of collaborators for field surveying and identification of black poplar stands are very important. The exploration of introgression and its consequences are also of great importance. Black poplar was actively used in Russia and the former USSR in breeding programmes as a parent of some hybrid varieties, such as 'Pioneer', 'Russky', Michurinets', selected by acad. A.s. Yablokov and others. Many experimental plantations and genebanks have been established in breeding institutions (stool-beds, adult tree plots and others). A revision of the plantations and genebanks network as ex situ conservation units is needed.A particular problem is the regeneration of old collections. It may be necessary to establish protected areas, especially for black poplar, and take legal and technical measures to restrict the plantation of other poplar species and hybrids in the vicinity of such protected areas. The scientific programme of black poplar conservation must include studies of its population genetic structure, geneflow, vegetative versus sexual reproduction of native stands in different environments, and others. However, all of the above measures require corresponding funding.An example to illustrate the scattered distribution and the difficulties faced can be given from the Volgograd region, where black poplar grows in 33 forestry enterprises. Every enterprise includes from 10 to 15 divisions. Each of these forestry divisions comprises several hundred compartments, where black poplar is represented by 1 to 10 units. The area of one compartment ranges from 0.1 to nearly 50 ha, depending on relief, landscape and other local peculiarities. For example, in one such forestry division belonging to the Sredne-Ahtubinsky forestry enterprise, black poplar grows in an area of 706 ha in 301 compartments.A general programme of black poplar conservation is lacking in Russia. The breeding institutions fulfil their specific breeding tasks. Therefore, at a national level, we first need to coordinate funding, inventories and research on the amount and structure of genetic diversity of the species. The minimum task is to identify and preserve an adequate sample of this diversity.The project on the conservation and reproduction of black poplar was continued. During the year, 27 plus trees were selected in the lower part of the river Morava, in the central V iih region and in the East Slovakian lowland. Reproductive materials taken from the plus trees were rooted in the poplar nursery.A subpopulation from intraspecific hybridization P. nigra '5' x P. nigra '74' was evaluated for qualitative and quantitative parameters. The results will be published in 1998.Inventory of an experimental plot with high representation of P. nigra (0.5 ha) was conducted which is part of a larger gene reserve. The possibilities for natural regeneration were investigated in the lower part of the river Hron. A central stool-bed in Gabcikovo was inventoried.Nuria Alba 1 f L. Plana 2 and Carmen Maestro 2 1 Area de Selvicultura y Mejora Genetica, INIA, 28080 Madrid, Spain 2 Unidad de Recursos Forestales (SIA-DGA), 50080 Zaragoza, SpainDuring the last year our activities with regard to surveying of new materials focused on the Ebro Valley in the autonomous province of Navarra where there are approximately 170 ha of Natural Reserves of riparian forest type. Populus nigra grows within these Reserves.Surveying in the autonomous provinces of Castilla-Leon, and particularly in the Duero Valley, has shown a very different scope. Throughout this area, the riverbank forests are practically disappearing because of the prolonged human activities. Nowadays, these areas have been replanted with new clones and very often P. nigra grows mixed with other cultivated poplars. We catalogued a few reduced stands with P. nigra in spite of the scarce surface of riverbank forest stands and the difficulties in identifying the clones.We continued with the collecting. Twenty-three clones from the newly surveyed area in Duero Valley were collected.At the SIA-DGA nursery, the activities aimed at ex situ conservation were continued. During the last year, a stool-bed was established with 42 clones from the existing collection that maintains a total of 110 clones. The remaining clones will also be used for the establishment of stool-beds later.In collaboration with a LIFE Project to restore riparian areas, some clones were propagated in a nursery to be used in the re-establishment of the riparian vegetation.There is no conservation in situ in the strict sense of the word. At the most there are Natural Protected Areas, which protect the wildlife and particularly the birds; however, any management is excluded. Some trees are catalogued as singular individuals, but no special regulation for their protection has been applied.Paul Tabbush Forestry Commission, Alice Holt Lodge Station, Wrecclesham-Farnham, Surrey, UKClone collections established at three sites in East England and Wales contain a total of 76 clones. In the winter of 1997, efforts will be made to ensure that all the clones are established at all the sites. As soon as sufficient material is available, a stool-bed collection will be established at Alice Holt. It is clear that there is much duplication in this collection and, as soon as sufficient information is available from DNA studies, the collection will be rationalized to maximize the number of distinct genotypes.Cottrell et al. (1997) used RAPD markers to study 36 accessions from this collection and found only 17 distinct genotypes. Genotypes were local in their distribution and genetic diversity was low. These authors also concluded that there had been so much interference by humans that there are unlikely to be distinct Eastern and Western types. In a more concentrated study of black poplar in the Upper Severn area, Winfield et al. (1998) used AFLP analysis to examine genetic diversity in 146 individuals and 3 individuals considered to be non-betulifolia poplars. Genetic diversity was low, confirming the results of Cottrell et al. (1997). There was a general correlation between geographic proximity and genetic similarity. They concluded that it was possible to identify a small number of individuals showing maximum diversity for inclusion in a replanting/conservation programme.Of the 36 trees sampled by Cottrell et al. (1997), only 6 were female, and DNA analysis of these revealed that there were only two distinct genotypes, despite the fact that they were sampled from a wide geographic range.The ERMAS I programme was established in 1992 to increase our understanding of the processes controlling the structure and function of European river margin ecosystems through a Europe-wide network. ERMAS II focuses on the role of biodiversity in determining the sensitivity of river margin ecosystems to environmental conditions, particularly temperature and hydrology (see Tabbush this volume).A group of researchers and interested parties from local authorities meets once per year to consider the national strategy and to coordinate the research. A national database of in situ preserved trees has been established and is being maintained through the Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI). Trees are selected on morphological characteristics by a BSBI referee. Large, old trees are most likely to be selected as true black poplars.Since many of these old trees are in imminent danger of collapse, the main conservation measure is to take cuttings, to preserve the genotype. However, this programme is not well resourced, and is often only recorded at local level. There is a danger that knowledge of the existing distribution and variability of these trees will be lost.The initial press campaign resulted in much local interest and this has enabled the collection of data about the distribution of the existing trees. There is a high level of awareness about the importance of the old trees, at local and national levels, but as yet this has not been translated into funding for a concerted campaign to study and conserve the genetic diversity of the remaining resource.Black poplar grows rapidly and mature stands reach the productivity of about 28-32 m 3 /ha annually. Mature stands are generally considered to be 20-25 years old. From this point of view, the economic importance of black poplar is obvious.Black poplar extends over a very broad geographic area. We investigated different populations from the Arctic Ocean to the Caucasus. We presumed that there is an ecogeographic variability correlated with climatic conditions in this area. This contribution summarizes the results of a study conducted within a comprehensive project on geographic variability of black poplar in the former USSR.The study used bibliographical data and different herbaria from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Arkhangelsk, etc. In accordance with data studied, the first information about black poplar in the eastern limit of its area is from the middle of the 17th century, from the end of the 19th and first part of the 20th century. We studied black poplar in the following geographic regions:• Arkhangelsk, Severnaya Dvina river A comparative trial with the different provenances was created at the Great Botanical Garden (Moscow). Over a period of 3 years we studied the adaptation of black poplar in these conditions.Only the populations which grow in the conditions of inundation were studied. We observed that the natural regeneration from seeds had occurred only in one case, on the bank of the Hoper. Generally, natural regeneration of poplar is very rare but represents a special interest because the forests which grow from seeds always have better development.We carried out a special investigation of black poplar in the northeastern part of the distribution area, in the Arkhangelsk region and the Republic of Komi. The northern limit in which black poplar grows was defined more precisely. At the same time we observed that black poplar grows satisfactorily in northern conditions, even at 62-64° latitude.The geographic variability was studied by analyzing the comparative trial established in homogeneous conditions at the Great Botanical Garden.In 1983 we planted material from four geographic regions. Better growth was reached with the plants collected from the centre of distribution (Ulianovsk) as seen in Table 1. The levels of variation in all cases are relatively uniform. In 1984 we planted materials from all geographic regions. In general, the second experiment confirms the results of the first experiment (see Table 2). During our investigations it was observed that the plants collected from the south were partially damaged by frost. Therefore, we carried out a supplementary study of the structure of vegetative buds of plants which developed from cuttings and from seeds.A special study was dedicated to sexual dimorphism, but no differences between female and male plants in relation with the vegetative traits were observed.Black poplar was studied in a vast area of about 2300 km wide with rather uniform geomorphological conditions. This gave an ideal opportunity to study the geographic variability correlated with the changes of climate. The investigations led to the following conclusions:1. The plants collected from the south, being introduced to central regions and hence moved to the north, were damaged by frost. The plants from the north finish their vegetative cycle earlier and have a slow growth; the best growth performance was shown by the local genotypes. 2. The variation observed has a normal distribution. 3. The vegetative buds of plants which grow form cuttings are more sensitive to unfavourable winter conditions than buds of plants grown from seeds. 4. Black poplar grows satisfactorily under extreme conditions. This may be confirmed with the state of some natural populations from the northeastern margins of the distribution area. 5. In accordance with our investigations it was impossible to determine sex in relation to the vegetative traits.Populus alba L.Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Agriculture and Research Development Centre, Ghammieri, Marsa, MaltaIt is believed that the ancient Maltese dedicated this tree to Hercules, but after their conversion to Christianity in AD 60, poplar (luq in Maltese) was looked upon as a sign of gaiety and happiness. In fact, historians of the Middle Ages describe how on Mnarjathe farmers' festival held annually in Buskett woodland -the menfolk used to pluck branches of poplar from this woodland to take away with them. Mnarja, broken down from the Italian word \"luminaria\" or \"lume\" (in Latin) meaning illumination was socalled because of the number of bonfires the revellers made for cooking and for lighting the night festivities. The populace was allowed in this woodland only once a year on the eve of St. John's feast, which falls on 29 June, by the ruling Order of St. John, better known as the Knights of Malta.The tenacious poplar There are no natural stands of Populus nigra in Malta, although a few specimens were imported and cultivated. However, there are a few small stands of P. alba growing in the valleys as true natives. The largest colony is at Buskett in a valley carrying the name of the poplar in the vernacular, i.e. wied il-Iuq. As is expected, poplars are found in areas where the soil is rather deep (as in the case of silt and soil washed down into the valley from higher ground, due to soil erosion) and where water is available for most of the year. The ability of the white poplar to sucker freely has enabled it to service our heavily populated country (1037 persons/km 2 excluding the annual 1 million tourist arrivals). Moreover, its ability to sucker freely after a fire has ensured its survival on an island, situated in the middle of the Mediterranean, from Phoenician times to this century. Invaders, conqueror pirates, slave traders and mercenaries all have two things in common, i.e. the sword and fire. Burning away what could not be pilfered had its effect on Malta's woodlands. Grazing of goats, the poor mans' cow, also took its toll on poplars, but since the Buskett woodland was \"out of bounds\" to the population for several hundred years, the ribbon stands of poplar along the valley embankment thrived well.Seedlings of poplar raised from cuttings, and from suckers taken from these stands in winter over the last 30 years or so by the Department of Agriculture for propagation purposes, have extended the poplar population to various streets, housing estates and other urban plantations, where tall, fast-growing trees were needed to screen or scale down tall buildings. This species is also included in afforestation schemes involving valleys. Its qualities of bright, shimmering leaves in summer, bark colour and fast growth are being exploited more and more by the landscape gardener. Lack of knowledge of the capabilities of this species and particularly its vigorous growth sometimes leads to problems with services, e.g. water pipes, sewage, etc. Attention is paid to avoid planting stands close to agricultural land because of the suckers which may intrude into the fields, thus drawing complaints from farmers.The Structure Plan for the Maltese Islands (1990) followed by the Environment Protection Act of 1991, offer a basis of protection for, among other things, the poplar stands growing in the wild.Moreover, the proposed \"Trees and Woodlands (Protection) Regulations\", awaiting endorsement through Parliament, have listed P. alba and P. balsamifera under Schedule I for strictly protected trees.Malta proposes that this Network extend its work to cover P. alba. Much work has already been carried out on this species by various countries in the 1950s. However, there is scope for streamlining and updating this work as has been done for in situ and ex situ conservation of P. nigra. The economic value of this species is well known, but one must also see to the preservation of the genetic diversity within the existing stands. The tissue culture facilities available in the countries participating in the Network could be included in conservation work in favour of this species. The black poplar, an Eurasiatic species with a very broad range of distribution, occurs in almost all parts of Poland. The northern limit of its range passes across Poland. Black poplar can be found in many places beyond this limit, but its natural stands are distributed in southern and central parts of Poland along major rivers such as the Vistula, Bug, Odra, Warta and their tributaries, but not eastern and western Pomerania. It grows along river banks, very often on flooded alluvial terraces together with willow, creating the characteristic forest association Saliceto-Populetum. Up to now, smaller and larger areas of a poplar-willow forest are preserved in groups and as single trees. In the Vistula valley, especially in its central part where the river is still almost wild, P. nigra is better preserved than on the river Odra, which is a more regulated river.Along the Vistula valley, old clumps of the species meet old riverside forests on backwaters and islands. Small and large clumps occur near Ostomecko, \"Tokarska\" near Plock. From these natural stands the black poplar trees spread onto neighbouring land where they are cultivated, sometimes mixed with other poplar species and hybrids on meadows, banks, along roads and in villages and towns. The distribution of black poplar in Poland is described in many floristic papers, but primarily in the\" Atlas of distribution of trees and shrubs in Poland\" Part 8 \"P. nigra\" by K. Borowicz and M. Gostynska-Jakuszewska (1969).Ecotopes of poplar stands are continuously under transformation by natural processes (changes of courses of unregulated rivers) and civilization pressure (control of rivers, expansion by farming and forest plantations, urbanization, river transport, etc.). These transformations in Poland, however, are at a lower level compared with western Europe, mainly due to economic problems and opposition to the regulation of rivers by nature conservation movement. Many plans for regulating the Vistula, such as building reservoirs, dams, polders and cascade systems, have not yet been carried out, but are planned to prevent flooding and to keep water to the correct deficit in the future.It is necessary to preserve black poplar, in its natural ecotopes. Up to now there are no special collections of P. nigra as representatives of populations. Towards the end of the 1970s, the surveying, selection and registration of trees in natural stands was conducted by the the author. Many of them are still preserved to this day. Of the fast-growing tree species, black poplar (Populus nigra L.) and its hybrids are the promising source of pulpwood and other timber products. In the Ukraine, only 14% of which is covered by forests, this species has been used in breeding programmes for a long time.Populus nigra occurs as scattered individual trees or small groups of trees over the whole territory of the Ukraine, excluding mountain regions. There are pure and mixed stands of black poplar located along the rivers on plains.Over the last 10-15 years, systematic surveys of poplar stands have been made by collaborators of our Institute. Over 8200 ha of poplar stands including more than 3500 ha of P. nigra stands were surveyed. Unfortunately, pure natural P. nigra stands were not found. Most of the poplar stands are artificial plantations; the origin of the rest is unknown. The stands are on average 25-35 years old. They were planted during the campaign which was carried out in the 1960s. These plantations belong to the commercial forests, and thus most of them have already been felled. The rest of the stands are, on the whole, in a poor state. Most of the trees show pronounced damage and there are many epicormic shoots on the trunks.At the same time, about 30 plus trees were chosen within the stands. These trees were propagated vegetatively to the clonal archives and some of them were propagated by seeds in the collection plantations.Much prominence was given to obtain the productive resistant individual trees, which were used for planting. This large programme was carried out in the 1950s and 1960s under the supervision of Prof. N. Starova. In 1959 the breeding programme, composed of 10 breeding centres and 17 variety-testing points, was organized (Starova 1962(Starova , 1980)). This system covered almost all the climatic zones of the Ukraine. Its tasks were:1. to find, select, propagate and test native productive and resistant forms of poplar species and their spontaneous hybrids 2. to obtain, test and propagate productive artifical hybrids.According to the first task, about 250 plus trees were chosen including more than 40 trees of P. nigra.The main activity concentrated around the second task because interspecific hybrids often have more valuable features than their parents. During a 10-year period, over 460 crossings were made and more than 600 000 hybrids were obtained, from which about 900 plus trees were chosen. These trees were tested in preliminary trials and over 40 varieties were selected, more than 10 with P. nigra as one of the parents. A part of these clones has been included in the Register of certified varieties of plants of the Ukraine. The rest are being tested.Simultaneously, studies of flowering and fructification were carried out. Forming of flower buds, stamens, pistils and ovules, micro-and megasporogenesis, male and female gametophytes, pollination, fertilization and fructification were investigated, as well as inheritance and early diagnostics of sex. As one of the outputs of these studies, the sexual dimorphism of seeds and seedlings was recognized. The male plants grow from lightpink seeds (colour is estimated using a binocular), female plants grow from light-yellow seeds. The analogous pattern is also shown for colour of hypocotyles. Similarly regular patterns were recognized for Populus tremula, P. alba, P. canadensis and P. pyramidalis (Vasylenko 1970(Vasylenko , 1971)).The Ukraine has no specific legislation for the protection of poplar stands. A part of poplar stands is included in protected forest communities (water-protective forests etc.). The majority of poplar stands are in managed forests. Natural regeneration of poplar forests is common practice.At the same time, a substantial genepool of plus trees is stored in clonal archives. Such plantations were created at each breeding centre or at each testing point. Unfortunately, financial support for these units is now drastically decreased. Thus, we risk the loss of these units owing to the financial constraints, the selection of new plus trees is also reduced. Now the main task of our activity is to maintain these units with rninimallosses.Sas a Orlovic Poplar Research Institute, 21000 Novi Sad, F.R. YugoslaviaThe group of 'European black poplars' in Yugoslavia includes several described species: Populus nigra L., P. pubescens (ParI.) Jov. et Tuc., P. pannonica Kit. et Bess., P. metohiensis Tuc., and occurrences of spontaneous, simple and complex hybrids also have been recorded. All these species occur in Yugoslavia naturally, the former three species in the north (Vojvodina Province), and the fourth in the south. The area of distribution of domestic black poplars is smaller and narrower than that of aspens and white poplars. Black poplars build pure stands (Populetum nigrae) and they also form part of the Slavonian oak, white poplar and white willow forest types, as well as of a large number of shrub willows in the pioneer stage of development of these communities (Herpka 1963;Jovanovic and Tucovic 1965). The distribution of black poplar is connected with the distribution of sandy alluvial soils on which poplars have no competition. Pure and mixed young stands usually inhabit the higher reaches of sandbanks, and only rarely the lowest parts of alluvial deposits, where young growth of black poplar occurs in a mixture with white poplar and willows (Herpka 1963). In Yugoslavia, only a small portion of European black poplars has been preserved. There were better and more handsome specimens in stands that existed up to the 1970s. Today, the stands of domestic black poplars have been greatly reduced in favour of Euramerican poplar, or else they have been destroyed in the course of the river regulation works, or during the development of water storage facilities. In addition, European black poplar is slowly disappearing because of its susceptibility to bark diseases (Dotichiza populea) and leaf diseases (Melampsora spp. and Marssonina brunnea). Under natural conditions, they mostly reproduce by seeds, which results in frequent occurrences of spontaneous hybrids.The works on the conservation and development of the genepool of European black poplar (P. nigra) in Yugoslavia were parallel to the programme of poplar breeding, namely the creation of new poplar cultivars, carried out by the Poplar Research Institute in Novi Sad. In this programme, European black poplar genotypes were used as male partners in controlled crossings, mainly with the genotypes of Populus deltoides.The main focus of the programme is ex situ preservation. Within this goal, 60 trees have been selected since 1993. The cuttings were planted in lines. Thirty-nine genotypes were successfully propagated and they have been maintained in genetic collections (Table 1). These genotypes were examined for their susceptibility to leaf diseases (Melampsora spp. and Marssonina brunnea). The results showed great variability in this respect, i.e. that the collections include genotypes ranging from very susceptible to resistant. The research performed by Orlovic (1996) shows that European black poplar genotypes have a stable behaviour pattern regarding several anatomical, physiological and morphological characters in various sites, which has an enormous significance for further breeding.It has been planned to establish plantations from these genotypes with a significant potential for seed production, i.e. the source of new combinations.In Yugoslavia the total area of poplar plantations is about 31000 ha. About 400 ha are natural areas of European black poplar and white willow. The largest areas of European black poplar suitable for conservation in situ occur in the northern part of Yugoslavia (river Danube, region of Apatin). This is an area of about 200 ha covered by natural populations of this species. Activities have been started to protect this region completely and to exclude it from regular commercial management.In setting about the genetic conservation of forest trees, it is perhaps surprising to find that black poplar has been seen as a good place to start. Reasons for seeking to conserve it are:• its natural habitat -the floodplain forest -has been lost to agriculture over large areas of Europe, and is still being eroded • it is easy to propagate by cuttings • it is one parent of the commercially important hybrid Populus x canadensis (syn. P. euramericana) (P. deltoides x P. nigra) • it is highly resistant to bacterial canker (Xanthomonas populi) and shows some resistance to other important diseases of poplar • on a European scale, poplar is highly significant economically.Existing populations therefore certainly contain genes of commercial value, but there is also a wealth of genetic variation of which we are unaware, and which may be used one day by tree breeders to counter adverse environmental changes, or new pests and diseases.Relict populations which no longer reproduce sexually will contain less genetic wealth than populations which continue to evolve naturally and continue to be subject to selective pressure. The natural habitat of poplar is in the highly dynamic riparian ecosystem in which successful genotypes will have developed strategies to deal with fluctuating water tables, silting and flooding. If such systems could be conserved, they would offer the best place to look for adaptive traits as a source for tree breeding.Relict populations remain threatened by competition for land use (White 1993). The introduction of cultivars and hybrids, over almost two centuries, means that young specimens may contain genes which are foreign to the local type. Therefore, one strategy is to take cuttings from older individuals to keep in ex situ genebanks either as stool-beds, or to grow into mature trees.Where actively breeding populations still exist, relatively free from genetic pollution from imported stock, it may be possible to establish an in situ reserve of much greater value, in that new successful combinations of genes through natural selection and new mutations are still emerging.In the absence of clear information about the genetic make-up of a given population, and about the origins of these genes, it is difficult to be clear about whether the population is \"native\" or not. Using analysis of chloroplast DNA, Ferris et al. (1997) were able to distinguish an East Anglian population of pedunculate oak from the many introduced specimens, and also found a marker which distinguished eastern and western European populations of both species of oak. This also showed that a number of very old oaks in Britain were in fact introductions from eastern Europe. Thus it is difficult to define the boundaries of a block of genetic material which is to be conserved, unless we can be clear about its taxonomic boundaries based upon molecular genetic information.Riparian systems are characterized by enormous ecological gradients along their length, and by rapid and dramatic changes in environment caused by flooding or by changes in the course of the river, by snow melts and by debris carried down by the river. This is the habitat to which poplars are specifically adapted, regenerating on elevated shingle-bars and mudflats in the braided streams of meandering rivers. The intense selection pressures of this environment have moulded the genetic structures of the poplars which ultimately the river leaves behind in the relatively stable environment of the floodplain forest.An excellent description of this progression is given in Peterken and Hughes (1995). These authors subdivide floodplain woodlands into four types:1. Pioneer stands of fast-growing poplar and willow on recently deposited sand and shingle. 2. Alder-dominated mixtures in peaty depressions in extinct channels and backswamps. 3. Mixed elm, oak, ash and alder with scattered poplar and willow on well-drained mineral soil, sometimes flooded in winter. 4. Oak, hornbeam and lime woodland on the floodplain margins.Evolution of diseases, disease resistance and biocontrol agents, and adaptations to site and climate make these systems a rich source of genetic material for biological study or as a source for tree breeding.\"River margin ecosystems offer a dynamic interface between terrestrial and aquatic systems where biological processes and biodiversity tend to be maximised. Recent evidence suggests that river margin ecosystems are highly sensitive to global, regional and local environmental changes\" (introduction to ERMAS II). If we learn how to monitor dynamic processes in riparian ecosystems, this might give us a sensitive barometer with which to assess the effects of climate change.The priority for conservation will be to conserve actively reproducing populations, in a habitat which is as 'natural' as possible, that is an in situ population subject to the selection pressures of an uncontrolled river system. In the following table, value to genetic conservation declines from types 1 to 4:In situ 1. Natural stands 3. Relict populationsWe begin with a relatively poor understanding of the genetic diversity of black poplar. The origins of the taxon are unclear, and we have little understanding of how the subspecies have differentiated, and hence where to look for the extreme genotypes within the species. Did populations of black poplar become isolated during the last ice age? Is subspecies betulifolia in Britain distinct from the same subspecies on the continent? To what extent is betulifolia distinct from subspecies typica?The dynamics of poplar populations has been considered by Robert Farmer in Chapter 2 of liThe Biology of Populus\" (Stettler et al. 1996). He contrasts opposing processes of genetic drift and genetic 'communication' over long distances. Poplar is specialized for rapid genetic adaptation because of the following traits:• dioecious sexual system • small, effectively wind-distributed seed/pollen borne in high crowns • early sexual maturity.It exhibits strong clinal patterns of variation for photoperiodism with latitude, for frost hardiness and for drought tolerance, for example. Farmer concludes:• geneflow has been sufficient to prevent genetic drift -geographic variation is not usually the result of geographic isolation • adaptations are rapid and large • studies such as that showing the adaptation of aspen to damaging low-level ozone (Berrang et al. 1986(Berrang et al. , 1989) ) point to dynamic processes that could not be elucidated simply by assessing variation in genebanks or by molecular genetic surveys. It is necessary to study dynamic processes in action in sexually reproducing populations.Modern molecular methods for analyzing genetic material now offer means for examining genetic diversity and defining relationships between individual taxa. Legionnet (1997) used isoenzymes to examine genetic diversity and population biology in P. nigra growing in France and found that there was more genetic diversity within rather than between stands. As a consequence, it would be more efficient to conserve more individuals from a small number of stands than vice versa. Cottrell et al. (1997) used RAPD markers to study 36 accessions of black poplar broadly sampled within Great Britain and found only 17 distinct genotypes. Genotypes were local in their distribution and genetic diversity was low. These authors also concluded that there had been so much interference by humans that there are unlikely to be distinct eastern and western types. In a more concentrated study of black poplar in the Upper Severn area, Winfield et al. (in prep.) used AFLP analysis to examine genetic diversity in 146 individuals and 3 individuals considered to be non-betulifolia poplars. Genetic diversity was low, confirming the results of Cottrell et al. (1997). There was a general correlation between geographic proximity and genetic similarity. They concluded that it was possible to identify a small number of individuals exhibiting maximum diversity for inclusion in a replanting/conservation programme.Of the 36 trees sampled by Cottrell et al. (1997), only 6 were female and DNA analysis of these revealed that there were only two distinct genotypes, despite the fact that they were sampled from a wide geographic range.The ERMAS I programme was established in 1992 to increase our understanding of the processes controlling the structure and function of European river margin ecosystems through a Europe-wide network. ERMAS II focuses on the role of biodiversity in determining the sensitivity of river margin ecosystems to environmental conditions, particularly temperature and hydrology. There are three main tasks:• to understand the role of biodiversity in maintaining the structure, function and stability of ecosystems • to analyze ecosystem processes with particular reference to the organic matter cycle • to determine and compare interactions and links between ecosystem processes and physical processes in contrasting situations, defined on two scales: climatic region and patch.The study sites range from 64°N to 43°N, with a climatic gradient from subpolar to maritime temperate, Mediterranean and temperate continental. Partnership details for this and the following EU shared-cost project can be obtained from the Internet via CORDIS (on-line information service about the activities of the European Community concerning research and development).The full title of this project is \"Floodplain biodiversity and restoration: hydrological and geomorphological mechanisms influencing flooplain diversity and their application to the restoration of European floodplains.\" The main objectives are:• to contribute to the development of a scientific methodology for determining the flow needs of riparian plant communities on selected European floodplains • to create effective links between the scientific understanding of the functioning of riparian ecosystems and the institutional mechanisms by which river management for conservation and restoration occur.The main activities are: 1. To identify and quantify hydrological and sedimentological conditions favoured by riparian species for their establishment and growth. Using black poplar in the UK and France, and alder and willow in Sweden, field and laboratory experiments are investigating species' response, e.g. to waterlogging and drought. 2. To link contemporary floodplain patterns to our understanding of past climatic and land-use changes at a catchment scale and over a range of time scales. Archival studies of river flows and management practices will be linked to studies of catchment-scale riparian vegetation patterns and land-use practices. 3. To investigate the institutional framework within which river restoration projects take place and the degree to which knowledge of the functioning of floodplain ecosystems influences their implementation. An inventory of restoration projects across the European Community will be made, and the institutional frameworks involved and their knowledge of the functioning of floodplain ecosystems will be studied in the UK, Sweden and France.Against this background, it is possible to identify two broad areas of research need:1. Studies of genetic diversity and genetic origins of black poplar, designed to guide ex situ conservation strategies, and in particular to increase the efficiency of those strategies by identifying individuals to conserve. 2. Studies of adaptation and ecological dynamics in in situ populations, concentrating on breeding populations subject to the selection pressures in dynamic river systems. For instance, it will be important to decide how large such populations need to be to conserve the ecological and genetic processes which give rise to valuable new genetic combinations.NuriaAlba Area de Selvicultura y Mejora Genetica, INIA, 28080 Madrid, SpainA code to identify the stand starting with the acronym of the Institute. The conservation of genetic resources requires a detailed knowledge of the underlying genetic variation that causes the diversity we observe in a species. We need to know, for example, whether populations that we find in the field are very diverged from each other or not, or whether individuals within one population are very similar to each other or not. Practical measures of conservation can be based on this information, e.g. which clones to include in collections of P. nigra, how to restore close-to-nature poplar stands, and so on.While the assessment of visible traits is often straightforward, we do not always know about their inheritance. Genetic markers as revealed by biochemical techniques, on the other hand, allow the direct study of genes of the species. An overview on DNA marker technologies has recently been given by Karp et al. (1997), and in more detail by Westman and Kresovich (1997). Hayward and Sackville Hamilton's (1997) chapter deals with the interaction of population structure, as measured by molecular markers, and conservation matters. In this short overview, laboratory tests for inherited traits that (i) distinguish between P. nigra and other Populus species and hybrids (introgression), (ii) allow an assessment of genetic diversity within P. nigra, and (iii) distinguish different clones, will be discussed.Genes and their alleles -encoded in chromosomal DNA -influence phenotypic traits by directing the production of RNA and proteins within the cells. Besides the chromosomes, mitochondria and chloroplasts in plants also contain a small amount of DNA. Flavell and Moore (1996) have recently given a very useful introduction to the organization of plant DNA and the components of plant genomes. Genes are strings of on average a few thousand DNA building blocks (nucleotides). There are four different nucleotides. To be translated into protein sequence, each triplet of nucleotides of the 'coding' parts of a gene codes for a specific amino acid (or a signal is given to the translation machinery of the cell), so that the DNA sequence determines the protein structure by way of determining the exact amino acid sequence of that protein. Allelic variants of a given gene differ by a small number of changes in nucleotide sequence that sometimes cause a different amino acid to be incorporated into the protein. This subtle change may alter the protein's physiological behaviour, or its metabolic properties, or simply its mobility in an electrophoresis gel. As there is redundancy in the coding of amino acids by nucleotide triplets (different triplets code for the same amino acid -there are 64 possible triplets, but only 20 different amino acids), the variation may only be present in the DNA, but not in the protein.To analyze which genetic variants are present in an individual, one could in principle look at (i) the metabolites produced by the proteins encoded by a given gene, (ii) the proteins, or (iii) the chromosomal DNA, (iv) the chromosomes. Below, examples of such analyses in Populus, especially P. nigra, and their respective merits and problems will be mentioned.Chromosomal DNA inheritance follows Mendel's laws. This implies that alleles of both poplar parent species will be present in first generation hybrids, but segregation will occur in later generations and backcrosses. In contrast, chloroplasts and mitochondria seem to be inherited from the female mother tree in most angiosperms.In this paper, 'biochemical markers' will refer to metabolites of the cell other than DNA, RNA and proteins, while the term 'molecular' will refer to the latter three classes. Boritz (1962) analyzed leaf juice of pure Papulus species and hybrids on large paper chromatograms. He was able to differentiate sections and species, but there was insufficient resolution in the P. x euramericana clones. His observations were semiquantitative for several compounds, which makes their application in introgression studies more complicated. He also introduced two-dimensional chromatograms for enhanced resolution. A number of papers report on hybrid classification using paper chromatography. For instance, Eckenwalder (1982) established the hybrid contribution of P. nigra to some spontaneous trees in North America using similar methods. Malvolti et al. (1991) were able to differentiate between species and some groups of hybrids, but not between clones, in a study of controlled crosses of P. delta ides x P. nigra. Again, twodimensional chromatograms were involved. Greenaway et al. (1991) have published extensively on the use of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for Papulus hybrid identification. A list of references on analyses of leaf and bud exudates is available from the author.Summarizing these studies, it was often possible to differentiate hybrids and pure species, although it was not always possible to find the correct parents for a given hybrid. While there was some variation within species, hybrids with identical parent species often could not be distinguished from each other on the basis of the chromatograms. Moreover, none of the authors attempted to assign single phenolic compounds to the action of particular genes. However, the methods are quick and convenient, and no sophisticated instrumentation is needed for paper and thin layer chromatography.Isoenzyme analysis has been applied in a number of Papulus studies (Table 1). A number of staining protocols are available that have permitted the analysis of up to 30 loci in some studies. They served for studying clone distinction, species distinction, introgression and genetic variation within a species. However, different purposes may require the application of different enzyme systems (Table 1).Comparing results from different laboratories reveals important discrepancies in some cases -for instance introgression analysis with P. delta ides (Table 2). In several cases, authors directly contradict each other -GOT-4/ AAT-B, 6PGDH, PGM and MDH are examples. Sometimes this may be due to limited numbers of individuals of one species available. In most cases, laboratories in North America have access only to a limited number of P. nigra clones (Raj ora 1989a), while European laboratories are not able to sample P. deltaides extensively. Consequently, rare variants in one of the species may be missed, and wrong conclusions about mutually exclusive alleles may be drawn. This dilemma, in principle, applies to any marker type (see Discussion). Nevertheless, from Table 2 it appears that authors agree on the usefulness of locus LAP-A(l) for introgression analysis. At this locus, JanBen (pers. comm.) has recently detected additional alleles, including a null-allele. Other loci that have not been tested as widely include ACO-2(b) and DIA-a(2). For locus PGM-1(A) it appears that gel resolution in Rajora (1989a) was insufficient while mutually exclusive allelic bands at this locus were resolved by JanBen (1997) on starch and by Malvolti et al. (1991) on polyacrylamide gels. There is no consensus on the use of the 6PGDH enzyme system. PospiSkova et al. (1997) have also addressed the issue of introgression of the male ornamental hybrid 'Berolinensis' into P. nigra with isoenzymes.JanBen (pers. comm.) has analyzed offspring of controlled crosses among P. nigra and P. x euramericana for segregation of the variants in introgression constellations.Frequencies in accordance with Mendel's law were obtained. This means that with a limited number (4) of markers available, a small proportion of offspring (6.25%) will show P. nigra markers only, although derived from a P. nigra with P. x euramericana mating. Legionnet and Lefevre (1996) raised the possibility of selection against introgressed seedlings in later years, so that gene frequencies may shift away from theoretical predicted ones over time.Analyses of genetic variation within a single species, and the use of isoenzymes to differentiate between clones, are less controversial. A number of enzyme systems and loci have been found useful (Table 1). For instance, Rajora and Zsuffa (1989) found identical genotypes for 31 loci for the two clones, 'Ostia' and 'Canada Blanc'. For the origin of 'Canada Blanc', they cite \"selected in Spain\". 'Ostia' provoked some doubt in the extensive morphological analyses conducted by R. Muller before 1962 in Germany (Muller andSauer 1957-1961). It was concluded that 'Ostia' was indistinguishable from the Spanish clone 'Pinseque'. From this it appears that indeed 'Canada Blanc' was a selection from the original 'Pinseque' clone in the same way as 'Ostia', which was brought to Germany by a forester, on pilgrimage in Rome, visiting Ostia, in the Holy Year of 1925 (Muller andSauer 1957-1961). Rajora (1990a) and Muller-Starck (1992) tested for linkage among isoenzyme loci in controlled crosses. While Rajora (1990a) was unable to detect any linkages in the material available, Muller-Starck's (1992) crosses revealed linkage groups GOT-A with GOT-B, NADH-DH-A with PGM-A, and IDH-B and 6PGDH-D with PGI-B. Among the latter, two loci called GPI(=PGI)-2 and IDH-1 also formed a weakly linked group in the basket willow (Salix viminalis L.; Thorsen et al. 1997). Linked loci may prove versatile in introgression studies, for instance with var. 'Italica', because in case of a significant contribution of its pollen to P. nigra offspring, linkage disequilibrium is expected among linked loci.In conclusion, isoenzymes are useful for both introgression analyses and the study of genetic diversity in Populus. Comparison of results between laboratories remains controversial as far as banding patterns are concerned, while derived parameters of genetic diversity are on a comparable scale (Legionnet and Lefevre 1996).Historically, one of the first techniques to study relationships between related species with DNA was DNA-DNA hybridization. DNA was extracted from both species, heated up to separate the two DNA strands of molecules, then both species' DNAs were mixed and slowly cooled down again. The closer the species were related, the quicker the double strands formed again, which can be monitored by a change in absorbency in a spectrometer. While this method is outdated nowadays, it might be interesting to use with the hybrids and backcrosses in P. nigra, because not just single genes but the whole genome would be assessed. One practical difficulty is the need for standardization of the relative amounts of chloroplast and chromosome DNA in the samples (chloroplast DNA is presumably more similar between both species than nuclear DNA).  1981;2=Rajora 1989a2=Rajora , 1989b2=Rajora , 1989c2=Rajora , 1990a2=Rajora , 1990b;;Rajora and Dancik 1992a;3=Malvolti et al. 1991;4=JanBen 1997;5=Pospfskova et al. 1997;6=Weber and Stettler 1981;7=Liu and Furnier 1993;8=Legionnet and Lefevre 1996;9=Muller-Starck 1992. A similar modern approach is slot blot hybridization. DNA to be tested is made single stranded and bound to a nylon filter in spots. DNA from pure species is labelled with radioactivity or with a colour-producing marker chemical, then incubated with the filter. Darkening of a photographic film or colour development indicates how much of this labelled DNA has been bound by the DNA on the filter. The relative amounts of signal from the pure species may be compared with the overall contribution of the parent species to a hybrid's genome. While this kind of analysis has been applied to other hybrid problems, it has never been applied in Populus. Again, the chloroplast DNA -nuclear DNA ratio would have to be standardized.Chloroplasts can be separated from nuclei by density gradient centrifugation, and subsequently, pure chloroplast and chromosome DNA fractions can be obtained. Such chloroplast DNA can be cut into defined pieces by restriction enzymes, which cut DNA only at specific base sequences of 4-8 nucleotides. These pieces of DNA can be separated in an electrophoresis gel (agarose) and made visible. Different species will show different patterns. The same type of analysis is not possible with chromosome DNA because after restriction with commonly used enzymes, there are so many different fragments of similar lengths that single restricted DNA fragments cannot normally be separated by current electrophoresis techniques.To make such single fragments visible among the whole background of other sequences, or to do chloroplast analysis without chloroplast isolation, techniques called RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) and Southern hybridization are used. The whole load of fragments which appears as a smear after DNA electrophoresis is transferred to a nylon filter and incubated with a defined piece of DNA. This DNA carries a radioactive or colour-producing marker again. The DNA will stick to the smear only where it finds a complementary sequence among the DNA restriction fragments. Dark spots in the case of radioactivity or a coloured band in the other case show how far this matching fragment had moved.The source of the probing DNA can be single, separated DNA molecules from the species (chloroplast, nuclear, mitochondrial) which are multiplied in bacteria. Most often, further information from these sequences is not available. Sometimes the functions of these sequences are known, e.g. they are known genes that code for certain proteins. One can also try and use sequences with known identity from other, related species. For instance, many probes developed from one Populus species will work in many others as well; some probes will work across different genera.A recent discovery in molecular biology is that DNA can be multiplied in a way similar to what happens in cell division, without using living cells, but only a single enzyme. This polymerase enzyme uses short pieces of DNA that bind complementary to a longer strand and supplies further nucleotides to elongate the missing strand of DNA from the starter (\"primer\") onwards. Primers can be synthesized chemically. If primer sites are known within a relatively short distance from each other, on the opposite strands of a DNA double strand, the enzyme will copy both strands. These can be separated from each other again, and primers may bind again. The enzyme will copy again, and this time, there will be (almost) 4 times as many DNA fragments as in the beginning. Further rounds of copying will yield so much of this single sort of DNA that it can be visualized in an electrophoresis gel without the use of probes and radioactivity or dyes. This is called the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCRr The procedure is simple: all necessary reaction components are mixed in a reaction tube, and the tube is put into an automated heating block that drives the amplification reaction by. shifting between appropriate temperatures for DNA double strand separation, primer binding, and enzyme activity for 25-50 cycles. Anonymous or known genes or DNA fragments can be analyzed depending on which primers are selected: ones that bind specifically only to one or a few spots on the DNA, or ones that bind in a more random fashion and yield more fragments.Isolation and digestion of pure chloroplast or mitochondrial DNA is hardly being carried out anymore. However, it helped in establishing the approximate size of the Papulus chloroplast DNA molecule -150-156 kilobasepairs (Sabsch 1992), and that both cell organelles are inherited from the mother in species hybridizations (Mejnartowicz 1991;Sabsch 1992). Chloroplast and mitochondria isolation requires a lot of work and would present an obstacle if large numbers of plant samples are to be analyzed. This kind of analysis has been replaced by RFLP-Southern hybridization analysis because the latter does not require the isolation of cell organelles. Such chloroplast studies were done by a number of authors in Papulus (Table 3). Smith and Sytsma (1990) and Rajora and Dancik (1992b, 1995a, 1995b, 1995c) used cloned chloroplast fragment of Petunia as probes. Smith and Sytsma (1990) found no interspecific variation, neither between P. nigra var. 1talica', P. nigra var. 'betulifolia' (Pursh) Torr. and two other clones, nor between P. delta ides subsp. manilifera Eckenw. and P. deltaides subsp. delta ides (1 clone each). They also calculated that the P. nigra chloroplast genome was more closely related to P. alba, which challenges currently accepted taxonomic treatments. They invoked hybridization and chloroplast capture as a possible explanation. Mejnartowicz (1991) tested controlled crosses involving clones 'Muhle Larsen', 'Androscoggin', 'Oxford' and 'Columbia River'. She could establish the maternal inheritance of chloroplast DNA in these crosses. She later extended the investigations and provided data for a phylogenetic comparison (Sabsch 1992). She found intraspecific variation at a low level in P. trichacarpa. Her dendrograms show completely differing results in dependence of the enzymes used: EcoRV and PstI place P. nigra and P. deltaides next to each other, but when the whole data set is included, a specific artefact of the clustering technique ('chaining', Dunn and Everitt 1982) makes the two mentioned species appear basal to the balsam poplars. Rajora and Dancik (1992b) confirmed maternal chloroplast inheritance for P. delta ides x P. nigra and P. deltoides x P. maximawiczii crosses and extended the work to intraspecific crosses in P. deltaides. Again, chloroplast DNA of offspring was identical to the maternal parent. Vornam et al. (1994) and Rajora and Dancik (1995a, 1995b, 1995c) compared P. nigra and P. deltaides more comprehensively. Vornam et al. (1994) found a specific marker that distinguishes between the two species' chloroplast types. No intraspecific variation was found. Seven out of 26 mature trees presumed to be P. nigra showed P. delta ides chloroplast types. Rajora and Dancik (1995a) established clearly that there are indeed intraspecific chloroplast DNA variations for both P. nigra and P. delta ides, and also for P. maximawiczii. They attributed this to 'varieties' of different geographical origin. In P. deltaides var. 'deltoides', variation was found between clones of the same variety. In P. nigra, var. 1talica' was different from the other clones. Interestingly, despite the fact that the probes used in Rajora and Dancik (1992b, 1995a, 1995b, 1995c) cover the region of the psbC-psbD probe used by Vornam et al. (1994), the reported fragment sizes do not match for enzyme XbaI which produced the polymorphism in Vornam et al. (1994).Rajora and Dancik (1995b) analyzed 17 P. x euramericana clones which had chloroplast types indistiguishable from or similar to P. deltaides var. 'deltoides', suggesting that the latter variety served as maternal parent in the 'ancient' hybrid poplar clones in Europe. A  1990) Mejnartowicz (1991) Sabsch (1992) Rajora and Dancik (1992b) Vornam et al. (1994)   Rajora and Dancik (1995 a,  1995b, 1995c The high degree of sequence conservation of the chloroplast genes between different plant species has enabled the design of PCR primers that can be used in many species, almost 'universally' (Taberlet et al. 1991;Demesure et al. 1995;Dumolin-Lapegue et al. 1997). Such primers are often placed in such a way that the spacer DNA stretches so that separate genes are amplified. Spacers are not under the same high selection pressure as the genes, so they show a higher mutation rate. DNA sequence variation in these regions can be revealed by observation of length differences in electrophoresis, by mutations at restriction enzyme recognition sites, or by a combination of both (Demesure et al. 1996). Many small length differences can be analyzed in simple agarose gels, making the method amenable to analyses of large numbers of samples.We have analyzed approx. 18 kbp (10 regions) in P. nigra (up to 60 clones), P. deltoides (up to 10 clones), two artificial crosses between the two species, and commercial hybrids including members of section Tacamahaca (up to 110 clones). For some spacers, up to 11 restriction enzymes were tested. Many spacer regions were monomorphic. In the polymorphic spacers (three regions), four restriction site mutations mostly corresponded with length-variable stretches of DNA. One region (ORF62-trnG) was particularily polymorphic, with inter-and intraspecific polymorphisms and a nearby length variation in var. 1talica' clustering together (Heinze 1998;the var. 1talica' polymorphisms were also observed by F. Lefevre, pers. comm.). The analysis of another region (trnT-trnD) is now used routinely as one test for hybrid poplar introgression with P. nigra.To achieve a coverage of the whole chloroplast genome with the PCR method, many single analyses are necessary: for approx. 150 kbp (containing a repeat of approx. 25 kbp) analyzed in pieces of 1.5 kbp at a time, between 80 and 85 reactions. However, it is not necessary to analyze the genes themselves, so this number may actually decrease. Furthermore, if a number of spacers known to be more polymorphic are analyzed, a high degree of resolution may be achieved. Mainly because of its amenity to large sample numbers and automatization, in the long run this method will replace RFLP-Southern hybridization analysis at least for chloroplasts, and maybe also for mitochondria (Demesure et al. 1995;Dumolin-Lapegue et al. 1997).Ribosomes, structures in living cells that are the site of protein synthesis, consist mainly of a number of ribosomal RNAs. These are encoded in special genes (rRNA genes or rDNA) that are highly conserved in structure and sequence. The 18S, 5.8S and 25S RNA genes are arranged in one block. Up to several hundred such blocks are tandemly repeated, separated by an intergenic spacer (IGS). These big gene complexes are found at either one or more than one chromosomal location. In the latter case, loci of different 'size' (repeat number) may be present. Major rDNA loci are associated with the so-called nucleolus-organizing regions. The SS RNA is also tandemly arranged, but in different blocks. Evolutionary mechanisms that are important for the rDNAs include unequal crossing-over which creates variation, and gene conversion and homogenization of sequences within and between loci which counteracts and slows down evolution. Some of the copies may become nonfunctional pseudo-genes which then have higher mutation rates. The overall number of rRNA genes in a genome can vary over the generations in response to environmental effects. Because of all these features, genetic interpretation of rDNA variation is not straightforward. Rather, rDNA lends itself to taxonomic studies. In other plant genera, variation in the IGS region, sometimes also within the genes, has been utilized to construct a phylogeny of the species. . . , . Smith and Sytsma (1990) reported on rDNA RFLP analysis in Papulus which allowed them to compare phylogenies for nuclear rDNA and chloroplast DNA. Procedural difficulties reduced the size of their data set: incomplete restriction digestion with Pst I occurred, and length variation in IeS had to be ignored. Length variation (insertions/ deletions), however, is often correlated with restriction site mutation, for instance in the poplar chloroplast DNA (Heinze 1998). Their main finding is that P. nigra assumes a position between section Leuce and a cluster made of P. delta ides and two balsam poplars.No restriction map is given in the paper. In the light of later findings of several rDNAs in one species as discussed below, their analysis would need revision.D 'Ovidio et al. (1990'Ovidio et al. ( , 1991;;D'Ovidio 1992) studied the structure of rDNA in eight Papulus species. They found variation between and within species. The ribosomal RNA genes made up approximately 2.4% of the DNA of a cell. Therefore, observation of certain fragments directly on agarose (after restriction with enzyme SstI) allowed an assignment of clones to species, or identification of parental species in some hybrids. Major and minor variants of rDNAs were observed within species. Hybrids inherited the variants from both parent species. Faivre-Rampant et al. (1992) also constructed restriction maps for several rDNAs of five Papulus species, using some restriction enzymes identical to those in the former studies. The restriction maps for the 18S-5.8S-25S unit coincide, but new variants are reported for the IeS regions. While the authors constructed a phylogenetic tree for the different gene variants on the basis of these data, this cannot be taken as a clue to poplar taxonomy because of gene conversion and homogenization which increase the number of reversals of character states (i.e. different rDNA loci or genes within a species do not necessarily evolve independently). A simple test -EcaRI digestion and probing with a whole rDNA unit -correctly identified P. nigra, P. deltaides and first generation hybrid clones. Stoehr and Singh (1993) published a restriction map of P. balsamifera which largely coincides with the former maps in the coding regions. They also report on length and possible methylation variation in a population sample of P. balsamifera. From their Figure 4 (Stoehr and Singh 1993) it appears that more than two alleles may be present in an individual.An explanation for the complicated patterns of inheritance of rDNA in Papulus was presented by Prado et al. (1996). They hybridized rDNA probes with chromosomes on microscopic slides to detect the number of rDNA loci within several species. One major and one minor locus were found for both P. nigra and P. delta ides, but their hybrids had one major and two minor loci. This suggests that the minor loci of the two species are not situated at corresponding chromosomal positions. Papulus balsamifera showed two major and one minor locus, P. alba only one locus. Two loci were found for the 5S rDNA in all species.'Universal' peR primers have also been described for the rDNA genes (White et al. 1990); however, these amplifiy the spacers within the unit and not the more variable IeS (which for many plant species is too long for routine peR amplification).DNA quality and quantity requirements may hamper the broad application of the methods outlined above for quick detection of variation within and between (introgression) species. Further studies are necessary to pinpoint peR primers to the regions of the rDNAs that account for the variability.The following other sources of DNA probes have been used in Papulus: anonymous fragments from poplar cloned in bacteria, heterologous probes from other species, and specific poplar genes of known function. Keim et al. (1989) used the first kind of probes in a study that could prove unidirectional introgression in a P. angustifalia -P. fremantii hybrid swarm. Bradshaw et al. (1994) constructed a genetic linkage map of a P. delta ides -P. trichacarpa pedigree with all three probe sources.Establishing genetic control and allelism for the variants is usually not complicated in this kind of RFLP analysis. Keim et al. (1989) could establish species-specific markers in their study. Estimates of genetic diversity can also be derived provided that allelism is clarified, which is the case for most single-locus and also some other probes. In most cases, all the variants will be visible in the analysis (complete codominance). The drawback again is the workload for studies involving the screening of many (50+) individuals.peR of anonymous sequences RAPD (random amplified polymorphic DNA) has become very popular shortly after its introduction in 1990 (Welsh and McClelland 1990;Williams et al. 1990). PCR is applied with a single short 10-base primer. At low stringency conditions for primer binding, a number of DNA fragments are amplified from genomic DNA. After electrophoresis, some of these fragments are absent from some individuals on genetic causes. RAPD consequently detects 'presence' and 'absence' alleles for a locus characterized by the size of a DNA band. 'Presence' is dominant over 'absence', hence low-frequency 'absence' alleles remain undetected.The procedure is quite simple and quick. DNA isolations can be rather crude compared with RFLP analysis (Heinze 1994), but poor DNA quality may lead to artefactual variation. In RAPD analysis, a small quantity of this DNA is subjected to PCR with one or more short RAPD primers, and the resulting fragments are resolved on agarose gels (polyacrylamide gels may be used if higher resolution is desired).For the interpretation of results (comparisons of banding patterns), classical genetic parameters used in isoenzyme and RFLP analysis are only applicable after imposing some assumptions on the data mainly because of the dominance problem: primers should not be pre-selected (Clark and Lanigan 1993), and large population samples are necessary to correctly estimate underlying allele frequencies (Lynch and Milligan 1994). Seemingly monomorphic fragments may disguise low-frequency 'absence' alleles in the sample, so the number of individuals required to represent a population is quite high (Lynch and Milligan 1994). Alternatively, other ways of estimating diversity from RAPD data can be tried, for instance the (statistical) comparison of the distribution of genetic distances calculated within different populations from RAPD data (Triest et al. 1997), but these may not allow a direct comparison with isoenzyme analyses. The AMOVA method (analysis of molecular variance) of Excoffier et al. (1992) partitions genetic variation into betweenand within-population. components. It was developed for haplotype data, e.g. mitochondrial RFLP types, and RAPD data do not correspond to some of the basic assumptions. Huff et al. (1993) nevertheless found it useful in RAPD data analysis. An adaptation of the method for RAPD data was introduced by Stew art and Excoffier (1996). They assumed Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and corrected for a degree of selfing in the population estimated with other data (e.g. isoenzymes). Liu and Furnier's (1993) estimates of RAPD genetic differentiation in aspens (P. trernuloides and P. grandidentata), assuming Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, differed markedly from those using isoenzyme or RFLP data. Tuskan et al. (1996) based their analysis of P. trernuloides populations on a similarity index and clustering. Clustering is a much-used way of analyzing RAPD data. The clustering process, however, reduces the complexity of the data set, which may lead to loss of information and artefacts. For example, clustering is dependent on the choice of similarity index, choice of clones or species studied, selection of bands (monomorphic ones sometimes excluded) and other factors. A common phenomenon is 'chaining' where similarity values at the extremes of a continuous distribution form nuclei of clustering that may lead to erroneous results (Dunn and Everitt 1982). In hybridization and introgression studies, the application of clustering suffers from some theoretical drawbacks: what is the expected outcome of a clustering study involving hybrids and both of their parent species? First generation hybrids, in theory, should exhibit equal average distances to both parents, which hampers the use of a cluster dendrogram as a 'relationship tree'.Populus nigra in particular has not often been studied by RAPD up to the present. Castiglione et al. (1993) included one clone (l Pourtet,) in an exploratory analysis of several important breeding clones. Wang et al. (1996) used this method to discover genomic changes in plants derived from tissue culture and after genetic transformation.Studies in other Populus species described clone identification (Un et al. 1994), estimation of genetic variation within and between populations (Uu and Furnier 1993; Chong et al.  1994; Yeh et al. 1995; Tuskan et al. 1996), the identification of genotypes in P. tremula stands (Bueno et al. 1997) and phylogenetic relationships (Su et al. 1996). The use of RAPD analysis for phylogenetics is highly controversial (Backeljau et al. 1995;van de Zande and Bijlsma 1995). In breeding programmes, Bradshaw et al. (1994) and Bradshaw and Stettler  (1995) included RAPD markers in a genetic linkage map of P. trichocarpa x P. deltoides hybrids. Villar et al. (1996) identified RAPD markers useful in pinpointing a genomic region involved in rust resistance in the same cross.Strengths of the RAPD assay include that only minute DNA quantities are necessary, although DNA quality is rather important. No prior information (e.g. DNA sequences) or prior work (e.g. DNA probe isolation) is required, and handling is rather simple. The high number of studied loci usually possible in RAPD often compensates for some of the shortcomings in a sense that more loci give a more accurate representation of the whole genome. The most important application in Populus genetic variation studies is clone differentiation. Patterns of multiple bands in a lane make up a kind of 'genetic fingerprint' characteristic for individual clones. One caveat is that such an analysis should be done as a side-by-side comparison. Artefactual variation inherent to the RAPD procedure will make database comparisons of banding patterns problematic. AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism, Vos et al. 1995) combines some of the strengths of RFLP and RAPD analyses. Genomic DNA is cut with restriction enzymes. To the end of the fragments, short pieces of DNA are 'glued' (ligated). The sequence of these short adaptors is complementary to PCR primers that then amplify a subset of the restriction fragments. Careful choice of restriction enzymes, primers and detectable labels on the primers reduces the complexity of fragments seen on an electrophoresis gel. Large polyacrylamide gels are necessary to resolve the many bands that appear. AFLP analysis, similar to RAPD, yields a number of polymorphisms from a single analysis run. Sometimes, heterozygotes are identified by bands of half the intensity of homozygotes. Still, it is not yet completely clear whether the method works as well for diverse genetic backgrounds as it does in pedigrees. Cervera et al. (1996a) identified three AFLP markers tightly linked to Melampsora resistance in a P. deltoides x P. nigra cross, and described applications in poplar breeding (Cervera et al. 1996b).Storme and Boerjan (pers. comm.) have collected material from a number of trees of var. 1talica' and compared their AFLP fingerprint patterns among them and in comparison with other P. nigra clones. While most of the var. 1talica' clones group together in cluster analysis by showing identical patterns, some trees show a lower congruence of patterns (approx. 90% only in some cases). This may be due to either somatic mutations accumulated in var. 1talica', or to procedural causes (a low-level reproducibility error rate). Winfield et al. (1998) have addressed this problem directly by including five duplicate samples in their study of AFLP diversity in P. nigra in the Upper Severn area (UK). Congruence between patterns in the duplicate tests was between 93 and 100%. A similar level was observed when sampled trees from the same field were . compared, so the conclusion is that these trees belong to the same clone (and that overall genetic diversity in the study area is very low).Some of the RAPD problems like bands originating from unrelated loci with similar electrophoretic mobility, or long-term reproducibility, may be less important in AFLP. The level of expertise required is a little higher than for RAPDs. Bradshaw et al. (1994) have determined partial DNA sequences from RFLP probes. PCR primers were designed on that basis. These primers amplified defined DNA fragments in .PCR which, after treatment with appropriate restriction enzymes and sometimes even without restriction, showed genetic polymorphisms in their P. delta ides -P. trichacarpa pedigree. They also demonstrated that several of the primer pairs are useful in amplifying defined DNA fragments from other poplar species. This approach is sometimes called 'sequence tagged sites' or STS. Legionnet et al. (1997) applied nine of these primer pairs in their study of sexual and asexual reproduction in P. nigra. Using several restriction enzymes, 44 polymorphic bands were revealed. These allowed the recognition of 50 different genotypes in 118 trees from a single stand.Faivre-Rampant et al. (1995, and pers. comm.) applied these markers to the study of phylogenetic relationships of P. nigra and P. deltaides. From their data, eight restriction fragments (bands) show highly differentiated distributions in P. nigra and P. deltaides, respectively: for instance, fragment 757a was absent only in one out of 206 P. nigra, while present in none of 11 P. delta ides clones analyzed. On the other hand, there were four bands typical of P. delta ides present in a single P. nigra individual, while absent from the remaining 205. Similarly, I have tested P. nigra, P. deltaides and a range of hybrids for the banding patterns of win3, one of the primer pairs developed by Bradshaw et al. (1994). The typical P. delta ides allele can easily be distinguished from the one typical for all other poplar species (P. nigra, P. trichacarpa, P. maximawiczii) analyzed to date, on agarose gels (Heinze 1997). The marker behaves in a Mendelian manner in controlled backcrosses to P. nigra. Presence of the P. delta ides allele in a few P. nigra seedlings is taken as an indication of low-level introgression.Concerning the use of these markers for introgression analysis, the same dilemma as stated for isoenzymes applies: the low-frequency or apparently absent alleles as described above may be products of ongoing introgression, but they may also be present at a very low frequency among 'true' members of the species in the form of polymorphisms. Wang et al. (1996) have used a microsatellite of P. nigra to analyze regenerants from tissue culture. The DNA sequence that amplified a product of approx. 140 bp showed extensive length variation. Recently, Rajora (1997) has introduced the analysis of microsatellites in P. tremulaides. Three microsatellite sequences could be amplified with primers designed from a total of 20 DNA fragments that hybridized to short tandem repeats. He could also show that these primer sequences are capable of amplifying DNA from P. nigra species. Microsatellites would serve best for the purpose of clone identification because the expected variability is higher than in any other marker type. It may be possible to compile databases for lab-to-Iab comparisons as the respective allele sizes alone (i.e. numbers) are all that are needed for comparisons.Papulus species have a nuclear DNA content of approx. 1.1 pg/nucleus (Wang and Hall 1995). Direct observation of chromosomes under the microscope does not normally reveal any polymorphisms; however probing chromosome spreads with appropriate DNA sequences have allowed the identification of the loci coding for the ribosomal RNA genes (see above; Prado et al. 1996). The hybridization patterns are useful in studying poplar hybrids as numbers and locations of these genes differ between species.There is no single ideal method for the genetic analysis of P. nigra. Different questions may demand the application of different methods of analysis. A systematic dilemma, however, concerns the application of markers for introgression studies: how to distinguish between rare genetic marker variants occurring in a species and introgression? In the words of Legionnet and Lefevre (1996): \"indeed the difficult point about distinguishing introgressed trees is that once an allele is rare in a species and common in the other, it is impossible to know if it belongs to the normal polymorphism of the first species or if the genotypes displaying this allele are introgressed\".We can only observe the status quo -rare or introgressed alleles or markers -and cannot wind back time to find out if this allele has always been there in a species or whether it has been introgressed only recently.Following is a simplified 'decision tree' that may serve useful for colleagues that intend to start up new studies. First, the aims of a study have to be clear. • What methods could be tried in one's own laboratory?• Are there other laboratories around for collaboration on more demanding analyses?What are the limits in cost and time?• Is there a necessity for start-up development or is it possible to start with a 'cookbook'? • Some methods require more financial input than others, some require more time, and some, both -what is the best in one's own particular situation?Is the study a one-time effort or is it planned to continuously analyze samples? Some methods require a side-by-side comparison which is not practical for long-term studies. In the latter case, methods that allow the compilation of databases (isoenzymes, STS, microsatellites) for comparisons are preferred.For pilot studies, isoenzymes are first choice. Protocols are easily adapted to different laboratory situations, and the body of literature on isoenzyme variation in plants allows a quick comparison of data.In-depth study: Also for studies involving higher sample numbers, isoenzymes serve well because of relatively low costs and the possibility to streamline and even automate some of the steps in the protocol. A sufficiently high number of loci should be studied (around 10 or more). Microsatellites, once they are available, would have the additional advantage of higher information content, but the start-up development and the higher level of expertise needed are major drawbacks. These are partially avoided in the analysis of known PCR fragments (STS), and in RAPD and AFLP analysis. The latter two methods, however, yield dominant markers, and additional information or assumptions on the biology of the species are necessary to arrive at parameters comparable to other studies. For instance, inbreeding cannot be estimated with dominant markers like RAPDs.Pilot studies: Analysis of phenolic compounds in leaves and buds is a very quick and simple technique which may answer many of the questions raised by possible hybridization, without involving sophisticated laboratory equipment in the case of thin layer chromatography. Application of a few isoenzyme or PCR markers, chloroplast and nuclear, serves the same purpose. RFLP methods for chloroplast and nuclear DNA, and genomic in situ hybridization, are still reasonably effective with lower number of plant samples to analyze.In-depth study: Detailed studies of introgression need to employ more than just a few markers. In fact, as many as possible should be applied, and nuclear and chloroplast markers should be combined appropriately. Most other techniques may prove too time-consuming for large sample numbers.Pilot studies: For a rough grouping of a limited number of individuals, isoenzymes may be employed, but RAPD is more effective in this kind of studies.In-depth study: If many plants are to be analyzed, AFLP and microsatellites may be more suitable than either of the two methods above because of the higher level of resolution, which in turn is paid for by increased handling requirements. Practically, once sample numbers beyond 100 are considered, this was where RAPD approached its limits in Legionnet et al. (1997) study. The low-level error rate of AFLPs (around 95% reliability) presents a theoretical drawback, but in practice, if a high ratio of the number of AFLP polymorphisms and the number of plants analyzed is maintained, a 95% similarity can safely be considered as identity.Pilot studies: If one or a few plants of unknown clonal identity are to be compared with a few known clones for identification, isoenzymes and RAPD will often yield the desired level of resolution. AFLPs will provide sufficient information with substantially less runs necessary.In-depth study: The more clones and plants involved, the more sophisticated markers have to be utilized. A combination of isoenzymes and PCR analysis of known nuclear DNAs may be useful in establishing a database for future reference. The suitability of AFLP markers for 'databasing' is as yet untested. Also, there is currently no way of distinguishing between somatic mutations and procedural errors in AFLP. Alternatively, microsatellites, once available, will serve the same purpose.Combinations of different methods may come closer to the ideal situation than just choosing one method that has its strengths in only one of several aspects of the planned study. For example, to resolve the genotypes present in a P. nigra stand, Legionnet et al. (1997) sequentially applied PCR of known fragments and then RAPD analysis because the first method alone could not give the desired answer due to lower discriminating power, but applying RAPDs to all the samples would have increased the workload substantially. Therefore, RAPD was only employed to differentiate genotypes not resolved by the first type of analysis.The University of Washington (Seattle, USA) is maintaining a computer site for Populus genetics which includes a lot of information on molecular biology, the Poplar Molecular Network. It can be reached over the Internet at: http://poplar2.cfr.washington.edu/. There is also an electronic mailing list where questions regarding poplar breeding and genetics can be sent to a large expert audience (for information, contact Carl G. Riches at the following address: poplar1.cfr.washington.edu). A hardcopy newsletter is distributed by Marc Villar of INRA Orleans (E-mail: vinra.fr).In the past, the black poplar natural populations (Papulus nigra L.) in Croatia were represented along the Mura, Drava, Sava and Danube rivers. By interventions in the environment, as well as by uncontrolled cutting, the populations of this species have been reduced to fragments, namely to individual trees. Nevertheless, even today along the main streams, the black poplar natural regeneration occurs. To what degree it is a pure European black poplar and to what degree the progeny has been \"contaminated\" by the genes of P. deltaides Bartr. is what this paper aims to discover on the basis of the morphological leaf characteristics in the generative progeny. During the past 80 years, intensive establishing of plantations of the poplar hybrids (P. x eurarnericana (Dode) Guinier) took place. In particular, the hybrid clone '1-214' was planted on large surface areas. This being a female clone whose flowering is synchronized with the domesticated Lombardy poplar male clone (P. nigra var. 1talica' (Duroi) Mnch.), a spontaneous hybridization between these two clones, as well as that of the clone '1-214' with the autochthonous European black poplar male trees, can be expected. A reciprocal, backcross interspecific hybridization is less likely to occur because the cross between P. nigra and P. delta ides is very difficult in the case where the European black poplar functions as a female parent but also because of a small number of male hybrids of Euramerican poplars present in the plantations. The progeny could also develop by spontaneous intraspecific hybridization of the autochthonous black poplar. It can be expected that the progeny of the '1-214' hybrid and the domesticated clone P. nigra var. 1talica', by its morphological characteristics, will be closest to the European black poplar with a phenotypical expression of rare properties, which will characterize P. deltaides as well. The variability of this type would suggest a hybrid character of the youngest populations of European black poplar.An attempt was made to determine the existence of introgression into the European black poplar natural populations on the basis of the modified leaf morphology in its progeny, with the simultaneous use of biochemical analyses (Ronald et al. 1973;Eckenwalder 1982Eckenwalder , 1984;;Hu et al. 1985;Rood et al. 1986;Rajora and Zsuffa 1990;Greenway et al. 1991;Bisoffi and Cagelli 1992). According to the research carried out so far in Europe, the European black poplar was found to be contaminated by the P. delta ides genes and therefore, to preserve its genetic resources, the selection and reproduction of autochthonous old trees was started (Bisoffi et al. 1987;Krstinic and Kajba 1994a, 1994b, 1996).The objective of this research was also to determine the efficiency of in situ conservation, as well as the possibility of selecting 'plus' individuals with superior performance in the generative progeny. According to the transgression variability, the progeny would present superiority for some economically important properties in relation to the European black poplar, also with better adaptation to site conditions. By cloning superior individuals, positive properties of parental species can be maintained.Leaf variability in black poplar was studied within individual adult trees by means of morphometric analysis of leaves from short and long shoots. As within one tree the leaf dimorphism has been determined, for the leaf variability analysis in the generative progeny we took leaves from the short shoots only. The analyzed material was compared with the leaf measurements on the short fertile shoots from one European black poplar tree (Papulus nigra) of about 200 years of age, one eastern cottonwood (P. delta ides Bartr.), a '618' ('Lux') clone, a '1-214' hybrid clone (P. x euramericana), as well as with measurements on the Lombardy poplar clone P. nigra var. 1talica'. Leaf samples were taken from a 3-year old generative progeny of black poplar in three locations close to the Sava river (Jarun, Zapresi6 1 and Zapresi6 2). The analysis included only sound, fully developed leaves, collected in mid-July. From each of the individual adult trees 50 leaves were analyzed, while the generative progeny sample represented 165-260 leaves taken from 33-52 plants per population. The properties measured were maximum leaf blade length, maximum leaf blade width, petiole length, leaf blade width at 1 cm from the leaf tip, distance between the leaf base and the leaf widest part, and a angle between the first lateral vein and the horizontal (Fig. 1). For the P. nigra, P. nigra var. 'Italica', P. delta ides and the clone P. x euramericana 'Neva', observations were made for the number of teeth on a length of 3 cm, from the leaf blade widest part to the leaf tip. In addition to these parameters, some of the typical leaf properties, namely shape of the leaf base, petiole colour and glands at the leaf blade base, were observed.  t a = leaf blade length; b = leaf blade width; c = petiole length; d = angle between the first lateral vein and the horizontal; e = leaf blade width at 1 cm from the leaf tip; f = distance between the leaf's widest part and the leaf base; g = number of teeth on 3 cm of leaf margin length. \" SD = standard deviation, CV = coefficient of variation.Small leaf dimensions of generative progeny in three populations can be explained by the hypothesis that the male parent was the clone Lombardy poplar (P. nigra var. 1talica'), which has smaller leaves than the autochthonous black poplar. The extremes of variability range in the populations and in the Lombardy poplar were of 54 and 55 mm, respectively, in relation to P. nigra (75 mm), P. deltaides (95 mm) and P. x euramericana (84 mm).Papulus delta ides has the smallest mean angle value (28.8°), P. nigra has an angle of 52.3°, P. nigra var. 1talica' 51.8° and the 1-214' clone 43.4° (Table 1). Mean values for progeny populations are also higher than those for P. nigra, the populations Zapresi6 1 and 2 being again very homogeneous (57.3° and 57.7° respectively), while the Jarun population has a slightly lower mean value (56.0°). The lowest variability is shown by P. nigra (CV=9.6%) and P. nigra var. 1talica' (CV=10.5%). The CVs of progeny populations range from 13.9 to 14.5%."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"96544f80d21fd1eb1d7b101a5fcfba19","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e9a8e7aa-2484-4960-b106-fb92691ba180/retrieve","id":"-202854331"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"11b153a3-9710-4cf3-aba4-7ee930c840a0","content":"Macedonian pine (Pinus peuce Grisb.) is a tree reaching up to 30-35 m in height and up to 50-60 cm in diameter, but certain individuals may reach a height of 42 m and a diameter of 1.20 m. The tree height of this species diminishes strongly near the upper forest limit and may even obtain shrub sizes.In stands, the crown is narrow, pyramid-like, with comparatively short and slightly ascending branches situated in whorls, of good self -pruning. Up to the age of 40-50 the bark is smooth, darkgreen or greenviolet, becomeing plate-like fissured and grey to grey-brown afterward. The branches are relatively thick, greenish while still young and later they become grey. The brachyblasts contain five fine needles each. These needles are grayish-green, 50-70 mm long and 1 mm wide.The male reproductive organs are aments of a cylindrical shape, on average 13 mm long and up to 3.5 mm wide, and yellow in colour. They are situated in groups of 10-15 at the bases of growing shoots. The cones have a two-year cycle of development. In the beginning they are green or greenish-violet with their scales closed and covered with resin granules. They mature in September -October of the second year when they reach lengths of 7 -18 cm and widths of 3-4 cm. The seeds are ovate, grey-brown, from 4.7-8.9 mm long and from 3.4-6.4 mm wide.In the beginning a Pinus peuce tree develops a wellformed, spindle-like, central root but its lateral root system gradually develops intensively thus penetrating deep into the soil and providing a high stability.These Technical Guidelines are intended to assist those who cherish the valuable Macedonian pine gene pool and its inheritance, through conserving valuable seed sources or use in practical forestry. The focus is on conserving the genetic diversity of the species at the European scale. The recommendations provided in this module should be regarded as a commonly agreed basis to be complemented and further developed for local, national or regional conditions. The Guidelines are based on the available knowledge of the species and on widely accepted methods for the conservation of forest genetic resources.Alexander H. The cold mountain climate and high air humidity are the most suitable conditions for Pinus peuce.Though it occurs naturally from 800-900 m up to 2300-2400 m altitude, its optimum is most often from 1600-1900 m altitude.Pinus peuce often occurs on mainly silicate terrains and, less often, on carbonate ones. Its wood is soft, light -with average specific gravity of 440 kg/m 3 , of homogenous structure, tight and durable. Pith is pale-yellowish and strongly resinous, core is reddish. Pinus peuce wood is highly valued in construction, furniture production, wood-carving and cooperage. It is extremely durable, as trees and logs which have been earthed up by torrential currents and have then remained in the ground for 10, 20 and even more years, are still good for usage.The resin of Pinus peuce provides high quality derivatives, Taking crown habit as a criterion, the following forms are determined:1) With spindle-shaped crowns (f. vermiculata); 2) With cone-shaped crowns (f. conica); 3) With column-shaped crowns (f. columnaris). According to branching habitat, three forms are distinguished: f. horizontalis, f. pyramidalis and f. pendula. Analogous to the other pine species the forms of Pinus peuce ,determined according to this feature, they have morphological characteristics that have resulted from continuous adaptation to particular ecological conditions.According to bark cracking, the following forms are determined: smooth-barked, scalebarked, with spruce-like-cracked bark and with longitudinally plate-like-cracked bark.According to the coloration of the strobiles, three forms can be observed: var. chlorocarpa, var. erythrocarpa and var. dichlora.According to morphology and natural range, two forms (ecotypes) are distinguished: var. typica (western part of Vardar River) and var. vermiculata (eastern part of Vardar River).Successful inter-specific hybridization has been carried out between: Pinus peuce x Pinus strobes L., x Pinus parviflora Based on the needle terpene profile some Pinus peuce populations from Serbia and Montenegro are more similar to those from Greece and Kosovo.Macedonian pine is generally considered to belong to the group of species which almost do not suffer from insect pests and fungus diseases. However, this statement exaggerates its generally good health status. In fact, this pine is more resistant to such factors, as compared with the other conifer species. A substantial reason for this resistance is the severe climatic conditions in the high parts of the mountains where it is spread, as these conditions do not favour the development of a number of diseases and pests. Another reason is the high resinousness/ resin content of its wood, buds and cones which is also a limiting factor because of the resin's toxic properties.The insects which attack Pinus peuce are bark beetles Ips amitinus Eichh. and Ips sexdentatus Boen., which impact mainly felled stems, Pityogenes chalcographus L., Pityogenes bidentatus Hrbst., Pityogenes bistridentatus Eichh. and Pityogenes quadridens Htg. which attack mainly young trees. Pissodes notatus Fabr. and Pissodes pini L. are secondary pests which impact the lower parts of the stems. Hylobius abietes L. is a mass pest which attacks mainly seedlings by gnawing their bark but it also feeds on needles. Availability of Myelophilus minor Hartm. and Myelophilus piniperda L. has been reported on the mountains of Pelister and Kozyak. Considerable resistance to Pissodes strobi Peck has been reported.Wood is damaged by Acanthocinus aedilis L. and Monochamus galloprovincialis Ol., which make galleries mainly in felled stems.The fungus diseases of Pinus peuce, even though less numerous than the insect pests, deliver more impact but of comparatively low degree. Macedonian pine is attacked by Heterobasidium annosum (Fr.) Bref., Phaeolus schweinitzii (Fr.) Par., Cenangium ferru g inosum Fr., Armillaria mellea (Vahl.) Karst., Trametes pini Fr., Polyporus sp., Stereum sp. and others. Considerable resistance to Cronartium ribicola J.C. Fisch. has been reported.With respect to air pollution, Pinus peuce growing in forest plantations and parks in different parts of Europe has been categorized by different authors as resistant to slightly resistant, the opinion about its relative resistance being the dominant one. According to the scale of gas resistance under acute impact of sulphur dioxide, Pinus peuce is related to the species of outward, slightly visible damage but of decreased productivity.This species forms as pure, so mixed stands most often occur with Picea abies (L.) Karst., Pinus sylvestris L., Pinus mugo Turra and less often with Abies alba Mill., Pinus nigra Arn., Pinus heldreichii Christ., Fagus sylvatica L. and other species.The contrasting bio-ecological peculiarities of Pinus peuce and Picea abies, of Pinus peuce and Abies alba and some other species have been combined very well in mixed, two-storeyed stands. That is why striving to establish such stands is reasonable from both the biological and ecological points of view.The natural regeneration of Pinus peuce depends on a number of factors such as altitude, type of forest, rate and periodicity of seeding, crown closure, relief, application of corresponding felling, etc. The state of most of the Pinus peuce forests requires the processes of regeneration to be directed by foresters with a view to preserving, taking care of and propagating this species.The in situ conservation method includes mainly the national and nature parks, reserves, seed stands and plus trees. By the ex situ method the genetic resources of Macedonian pine are preserved mainly through euce Pinus peuc Threats to genetic diversity Guidelines for genetic conservation and use eMacedonian pinePinus peuceMacedonian pinePinus peuceMacedonian pinePinus p provenance testing plantations, progeny trial plantations, seed orchards and genebanks for seeds. Assessing the advantages of the two methods for conservation of genetic resources, in situ seems to be more reliable. The autochthonous populations of Pinus peuce in Pirin Mt., Pelister Mt. and Prokletije Mt. present valuable genetic resources for the introduction of this species in many countries of the Northern Hemisphere.The area of Macedonian pine seed stands in Bulgaria is 693 ha and that of the seed orchards 10 ha, in Macedonia FYR -respectively 110 ha and 6 ha and in Serbia and Montenegro 10 ha of seed stands.The high grade stands in which trees with spindle-shaped crowns and shallow-scaled bark fissuring prevail should be preferred for the purposes of breeding. The existence of two edaphotypes -silicate and carbonate -should be taken into consideration.While selecting plus and candidate elite trees, individuals with narrow crown, fine and short branches of first order disposed approximately perpendicular to the stem should be selected. Citation : Alexandrov A.H. and V. Andonovski. 2011. EUFORGEN Technical Guidelines for genetic conservation and use of Macedonian pine (Pinus peuce). Bioversity International, Rome, Italy. 6 pages.Drawings: Pinus peuce, Claudio Giordano. © Bioversity International, 2004. ISBN 978-92-9043-826-7 "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"78778f8be4b92df10b7a133e5e1b6686","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fda3a90b-8e9e-4951-95df-db98a64841a2/retrieve","id":"721339735"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"51dfd179-b370-42c8-8fd2-d9cfb9a09f16","content":"En varias zonas secas del planeta, se anticipa una fuerte competencia entre las zonas urbanas y los cultivos modernos por un recurso sencillo pero imprescindible: el agua. Luego que la energía fósil facilitó mucho el establecimiento de infraestructuras de riego, luego de muchas imprudencias resultando en la salinización de los suelos de perímetros bajo riego, vuelve otra vez el interés hacia los cultivos oriundos de zonas áridas. En las Américas, estos cultivos no son tantos, ya que las zonas desérticas no ocupan tanta extensión territorial, o que los pueblos pudieron establecerse en zonas más húmedas. Uno de los cultivos originales de Aridoamérica (Nabhan 1985) es el fríjol teparí, antes extendido desde Arizona hasta Yucatán y Guanacaste, hoy bajo clara regresión histórica por el auge del riego fácil (Debouck 1992). Sin embargo, es una opción demasiado buena (precocidad, heterosis, tolerancia al calor, sequía y salinidad) para dejarla perder.Esta investigación (Muñoz et al. 2006) dejó en claro varios resultados, todos fascinantes y esperanzadores a la vez. Primero, aunque el fríjol teparí cultivado es de baja diversidad genética, existe un acervo genético secundario para teparí, es decir una especie cercana adicional en la sección Acutifolii (Freytag & Debouck 2002), aparte de la especie cultivada y su progenitor silvestre. Una situación semejante ocurrió en el pasado con fríjol común que se consideraba aislado de las demás especies (Hucl & Scoles 1985), y luego la lista de los Phaseoli se agrandó (los taxa reclamados de esta sección fueron confirmados en esta investigación). Segundo, la identidad de los Rugosi, otro grupo sobresaliente por su tolerancia a condiciones extremas alrededor del Golfo de California, viene confirmada. Tercero, llama la atención las distancias genéticas entre varios grupos de teparí silvestre, parecidas a las distancias que separan los acervos genéticos dentro de Phaseolus vulgaris y P. lunatus. Pueden ser el resultado de una temprana diferenciación de las poblaciones aisladas en condiciones desérticas, con poca probabilidad de flujo génico por su cleistogamia. A pesar de la regresión histórica y de un muestreo incompleto, existe amplia variación en el teparí silvestre para el mejoramiento del teparí cultivado . Completar el muestreo permitiría de ampliar aún más la base genética, y realizar más el potencial de los marcadores moleculares, para resolver la pregunta sobre una única o doble domesticación inicial."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/0850259036.json b/main/part_2/0850259036.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..284ff39decf18a811e2d2a452778d205bdd560d1
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4f5125d55fb8a99c29aeee9d425f402d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ea9e7825-09b7-4a56-9907-83108cf22ad8/retrieve","id":"-1449350538"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"783f0a11-209a-43fb-aa4b-7f1940931e79","content":"The Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) is funded by the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF). It aims to improve the resilience of rural livelihoods in the Ethiopian highlands through a landscape approach to rainwater management. It comprises five linked projects examining: 1) Learning from the past; 2) developing integrated rainwater management strategies; 3) targeting and scaling out of rainwater management innovations; 4) assessing and anticipating the consequences of innovation in rainwater management systems; and 5) catalyzing platforms for learning, communication and coordination across the projects.The NBDC is implemented by a consortium comprising theThe 'Nile 3' project of the Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC -http://www.nilebdc.org) has developed feasibility maps, this are maps that combine biophysical suitability with willingness of adoption, both for single rainwater management practices as well as for combinations of practices at landscape scale. The biophysical suitability is based on suitability condition identified through experts and literature, whereas willingness of adoption is computed based on actual data from a farm household survey (IFPRI) from 2005.To validate these maps, the project needs to understand adoption and non-adoption of rainwater management practices and strategies. A multi-scale approach to capture dynamics from farm and landscape scales was chosen. To capture the farm scale, 600 farmers in 7 different watersheds of the Ethiopian Blue Nile were chosen (2 from the NBDC project). In the 4 new watersheds (Gorosole watershed (Ambo) and Laku watershed (Shambu) were chosen in Oromia as well as Maksenit watershed (Gonder) and Zefie watershed (Debre Tabor) in Amhara region), focus groups were run to capture the landscape scale. These focus group discussions brought together key informants from the community and asked them to imagine the best possible rainwater management strategy for their watershed and then discuss what hampers the implementation of that strategy.This report brings together the information collected during the focus group discussions and transect walks and serves as reference for the validation process 1 .The landscape approach We wanted to understand why farmers do not adopt some rainwater management strategies despite of their potential benefits. Under rainwater management strategies, we understand a combination of rainwater management practices that increases water infiltrations in the up-slope of a landscape, soil and water conservation in the mid-slope, and water productivity in the down-slope. Rainwater management practice is understood in very broad terms and goes beyond water harvesting to include a whole range of practices affecting crops, livestock and trees.A range of practices was selected, making sure that all the zones and land used were covered. The selection was made based on GIZ major activities in Ethiopia. The modeled practices were soil/stone bunds, terraces, gully rehabilitation/check dams, multipurpose trees, orchards (apple and mango), river diversion, wells, water harvesting/ponds, grassland management (enclosure, limiting animal movement, over-sowing).Four watersheds were selected by OARI (Oromia Agricultural Research Institute) and ARARI (Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute) using the following selection criteria:Making sure to encounter all the modeled practices at least in one of watersheds  Having watershed with strong NGO intervention and watershed with little NGO intervention  Size and slope of the watershed: the watershed should be relatively small, i.e. manageable by one or two communities and therefore fit our concept of landscape within a short distance  Existing connection through OARI and ARARIBased on these criteria, Gorosole watershed (Ambo) and Laku watershed (Shambu) were chosen in Oromia as well as Maksenit watershed (Gonder) and Zefie watershed (Debre Tabor) in Amhara region (see Figure 1). Transect walkEach watershed was first assessed with a transect walk, allowing to all the supporting staff of the focus group discussion to understand the boundaries of the watershed, as well as the different landuses and already existing practices adopted in the area.Focus group discussions based on the 'happy strategies' gameThe focus group discussion itself is based on three different steps:1. Participatory mapping exercise in separate groups for men and women; 2.A adapted form of the 'happy strategies' game in separate groups for men and women; 3.A group mixed discussion (men and women together).Preliminary to the whole focus group discussion, an extended introduction made sure that the farmers understood the purpose of the exercise including our broad definition of rainwater management and the no wrong expectations are raised.The participants were given pencil and rubbers as well as flip chart paper and were asked to draw the border of the watershed, the rivers, the roads and the settlement. When everyone agreed on these features, the border was marked in black, the roads in read, and the streams in blue.In a second stage, different land-use/land cover can be indicated with colored post-it: green for forest, pink for degraded land, grey for grazing land, yellow or what is left over (white) represents crop land.Initially the game was conceived for stakeholders and scientists to validate our database of practices and come up with a rational on how to combine practices into strategies. The game consists of cards that describe about 30 rainwater management practices in terms of purpose and feasibility. In its initial form, participants are ask to select a practice and to find other participant to form a 'happy strategies' (inspired by the game known as 'happy families') around a given landscape 2 .For the focus group, these cards were translated into Oromo and Amharic. In a first step the participants were asked to name all rainwater management practices they know of. It not mentioned the 8 modeled practices were explicitly asked for. Participants could then choose their favorite practice independently and come back into the discussion group. Each participant placed the card in the location on the map where it would be most suitable and reached a consensus with the other participants. If a participant had a card that had already been discussed, she/he could change the card.After the first round, one can go for a second round with the 'second favorite practice' until no new practices are suggested. The game contains innovation cards that are empty practice cards that can be filled if the suggested practice is not part of the game. Along the discussion around placing the cards, people can discuss the suitability conditions, the benefit of the practices, if it was adopted, what type of support were available, if not adopted, why and what hampered the adoption. These limitations are captured on the 'intervention cards', which describes support needed for the implementation of the strategy which goes beyond farmer's individual decision making. Finally, beneficiaries and upstream-downstream effect can be discussed when the selected combination is discussed in more general terms.In a final step of the focus group, both group present each other's work and discuss the differences. In this way, the work of each group can be validated and differences discussed.Validating feasibility maps with real observations from the ground is tricky. Indeed, one might find locations in which a given practice is suitable but has not been adopted. This does not automatically imply that the suitability or the feasibility conditions are wrong. It might be that on those locations adoption is hampered by an external issue that could not be captured correctly in the adoption model. Indeed, many factors simply cannot be and might never be represented in a spatially explicit manner, as for example, religious believes, lack of collective action, lack of access to the necessary input or lack of access to relevant and high quality training and advice cannot be mapped out. Also in the Ethiopian context, a practice can be adopted on a non-suitable location. Indeed a practice might have been promoted through a governmental campaign may oblige farmers to adopt practices on not suitable locations. Therefore a practice observed on the ground is not automatically a proof that suitability conditions have been met.In order to identify if the suitability/feasibility maps are built on wrong assumptions or if adoption has been hampered by a constraint that it not 'mapable' (implying that the location is suitable even if no farmer has adopted the practice), the focus group discussion focuses on the practices farmers would like to have regardless of having adopted it or not. In this way, a farmer can indicate that the area is suitable and suggest the intervention needed in order to enable the adoption. Also when a practice has been adopted on a non-suitable location, farmers can be asked about the reason of adoption and perceived benefit.The Gorosole watershed is crossed by the road from Ambo to Bako. The watershed has clearly defined boundaries. It has a hillside on both side and in the middle there is a perennial river fed by non-perennial streams. The up-slope is covered by forest. It is a densely used landscape. Very little soil and water conservation can be seen. The few that are there are not well spaced, are not built correctly, or have not been correctly maintained. Despite that, some good practices can be seen such as keeping some crop residues in the fields.The landscape has gullies that are vegetated and look relatively well maintained. It seems that the vegetation in the gullies is natural, and no big intervention was needed to maintain them, except restricting cutting of the trees in the gully. On one side of the watershed, the fields have spare farm trees, mainly acacia. Also some woodlot of natural forest can be found on religious locations. There is no communal grassland, and livestock intensity seems to be important and therefore access to fodder a real challenge. One of the villages is at the edge of the watershed, only very few settlements can be found in the watershed.Discussion from the women's groupParticipants started with drawing the main river called Kile, then the perennial affluent (blue line) and then the non-perennial affluent (doted blue line).Then they drew the border (black line) and finally they draw the asphalt road (red line) crossing the middle of the basin and the seasonal paths (doted red lines).Then they placed the land uses. They started with the forest (green papers), placing them on the right locations and indicating the name of each location.Then they looked degraded land and grazing land.They mentioned that there is only very little grazing land which is a problem for the community.Table 2 shows the practices proposed by women in the Gorosole watershed as well as their location.Apples were proposed in the up-slope, because they are suitable in the highlands and are perceived as potentially high income generating because apple price is high.Around the perennial rivers, traditional river diversion can be found. On locations around the river where diversion are not feasible, a motor pump could be used for irrigation. On the degraded land, gully rehabilitation including check-dam and tree planning is suitable and has been implemented. Better community mobilization would be needed to maintain the structures.Sesbania is a nitrogen binding fodder tree that can be found in many cropland areas in the watershed.Finally the women mentioned that livestock intensity is a big problem in the watershed and there is not sufficient grazing land.  Orchards: Fruit trees are not grown in the watershed. Women would like to have apple trees, as they can expect some cash income from the apples. They cannot plant apples tree because they don't know where to obtain the seedlings.Roof rainwater harvesting, ponds, wells: Water harvesting is not perceived as necessary, as there is sufficient water the whole year round in the watershed.Gully rehabilitation: Women indicated that the degraded land were very degraded and needed to be rehabilitated. In the upland this has been done by planting sesbania. More could be done in terms of gullies in the lowlands.As there are enough stones in the watershed, it is a relatively easy practice. But as it is very labor intensive, the women expect that those should be built in some kind of community action.The plots that are irrigated thanks to river diversion are used to grow onions. The river diversions are traditional diversion weirs constructed by the farmers themselves. Women perceive that river diversion has been adopted wherever possible. Other areas could be reached if they would have access to a pump. Unfortunately a pump is too costly, as well as the access to the pump and to its spare parts its difficult.Limiting animal movement and destocking: Livestock is very intensive and in seen as a polluting factor in the community. Therefore women think animal movement should be limited and numbers of livestock reduced.The women's group proposed three practices that were not adopted. Apple trees are not planted despite their suitability. Smallholders think that apple trees could improve their livelihoods as apples have a high market price. The reason for non-adoption is the lack of access to seedlings.Livestock intensity is very high in the watershed and fodder is a limitation. Therefore they would like to over-sow their grazing land both communal and private in to produce better quality forage. This practice has not been adopted because they lack access to the seeds. The women also mentioned that even if they get the seeds, they would need some training to exploit them. Finally the women proposed to use a motor pump for irrigation around the perennial river where river diversion is not possible. But a motor pump in out of reach, as it is not possible to access it in the area, even if they could afford it. They would consider this if there would be access to the pump and to credit. Women mentioned that with the river diversion and the proposed pumping downstream, farmers might not get sufficient water anymore.Discussion from the men's groupFarmers preferred to start the sketch mapping by drawing the main river called Kile (in Blue). The main river helps the group as a reference point. Then, the boundary of the watershed that lies across two kebeles Chancho Obi and Kile Borodo was mapped with contributions from all participants. An allweather road and various paths across and along the watershed were subsequently drawn. Settlement and land use/cover were also denoted on the sketch map with relative precision. During the process, farmers commented that virtually all parts of the watershed are characterized by terrain feature or step slope. On top of this, they pointed out that the watershed is largely occupied by crop production. In most cases only pockets of grazing land that seasonally are put under fallow and then back to crop production are privately owned by the farmers. In addition, there are also pieces of grazing land found scattered on the river side and marshy area. Almost all the grazing reserves are privately owned though free grazing during the off season gives access to all. At the end the group categorized the watershed in to three different zones (Z1-Z3) based on the altitude and agro ecology, and also affixed legend for the watershed. This initial exercise ultimately simplified playing the happy strategies game.During the process of describing the preferred landscape, farmers were asked to mention all the rainwater management practices. Farmers in the group mentioned numerous conventional and modern rain water management technologies/practices in their area, including:  Table 3 shows the list of practice that the farmers have selected for their watersheds. During the first round of the game, farmers selected and allocated cards both for the innovation and from existing practices. As an entry to the individual exercise/ game, farmers selected large scheme irrigation (river diversion) in groups as an innovation with which they kicked off the game. Associated interventions like financial support were needed to upgrade the scarce and scattered irrigation endeavor limited to a few farmers. Hence, farmers envisaged the need to outreach the existing benefit to more currently non-benefiting farmers. To this effect the farmers need materials (cement) and technical support l in layout, design and development of the diversions.As a follow-up of the game, practices like highland fruit (apple and peach), grass strips, cut off drain (2), check dam, contour hedge/life fence (2), conservation agriculture, drainage ditch and stone/soil bund were initially opted in that order and allocated by the farmers to the respective sites where the benefit can be accrued if properly implemented by the resident farmers. Large scheme irrigation (river diversion): On the sketch map farmers located the scheme development on the northwest part of the watershed at the bottom side of the main asphalt road. If large scheme irrigation develops in that direction they believe it can command a large area of land and make large community beneficiary. Though they have tried to divert using sandbags during the dry season, rainfall and large volume of river flow collapsed every effort so far. As a result, farmers gave up the efforts because of its unsustainability. Besides, financial and technical shortages were also seen as constraints. The stony nature of the land also hinders the progress.A farmer chose high value crops like highland fruit particularly apple as an innovative practice for zone 2 (midland) and zone 1 (highland). He justified that the agro ecology is ideal for growing apple. Besides, his access to irrigation water would help him to manage the crop efficiently. Another farmer also selected peach as innovation practice to be implemented in similar areas. However, planting material (seedlings) supply from concerned development promoters be it NGO or GOs is welcomed by the farmers as intervention.Grass strips: Grass strips first introduced to the upstream (zone 1) of the watershed by the NGO. Its benefit could also be expanding to the gentle slope area of the middle and lower part of the watershed. Apart from the use for cut and carry system for livestock feed, a farmer described the importance of grass strips for various land management practices. Particularly, reduction of soil erosion and downstream siltation, mentioned among others.Cut off drain: This is largely recommended by the farmers for the upstream and midstream (zone 1 and 2) steep slope area where there is erosion. The implication is that the structure reduces runoff and safeguards the soil structure and fertility by arresting the erosion impact.Check-dam: According to a participant, erosion is a serious problem in the midland (zone 2) of the watershed. The volume of the runoff is largely increased in this area. Hence, landslide and gully formation is aggravated. Therefore, a check-dam is very important to arrest the expansion of gullies.Land slide and expansion of the mouth of the river is also common in this part of the zone extending to zone 1 (upstream) area. To reduce the impact of expansion farmers plow their farmland a bit far away from the damage area to avoid landslides entering in to the heart of their farmland.Multipurpose trees (MPTs) particularly Sesbania were considered as component of contour hedges. Such plantation is favored everywhere in the watershed particularly around the homestead. Introduction of MPTs has been made by the office of agriculture in the mid to lower area and by an NGO particularly on the upstream area of the watershed. Farmers suggested they are using MPT for wind breaks, fencing, animal feed and for fuel wood.Conservation agriculture: CA is largely favored by the farmers in the three watershed zones. Some of the beneficial contributions of conservation agriculture are:  Supply more soil organic matter  Improve soil fertility and crop productivity  Reduce runoff  Improve soil water retention capacity.However, the practice is not yet popularized in the watershed. Stone/soil bund: Bund making was discovered as an ideal practice for all part of the watershed. TheStep slope nature of the watershed attribute for the widespread need of bund. However, stone bund was first introduced in the upper watershed similar to the grass strip and MPTs by the NGO.Currently, however, soil bund targeting the degraded and largely vulnerable area has been implemented on the upper side of the watershed (z1 &z2). From our observation, however, although it is not technically appropriate we have also visited soil bund in the downstream of the watershed. Development agents have assisted the introduction of the practice at larger scale.According to the farmers, the watershed in which they are currently living has been gradually evolving to have more negative features and associated consequences. This implies that the features and the benefits it offered in the past have been completely changed. Elders tried to see the hindsight to recall and relate what the watershed looked like in the old days. Less crop land but higher yield per unit area, more forest cover and massive biodiversity pool, uniform rainfall intensity and distribution, green land, etc., were suggested. Currently, however, the rainfall pattern has become more erratic, reduced crop production and productivity and other climate and land use related anthropogenic calamities are escalating. As a result, several threats confront agricultural production.In contrast, farmers anticipated a positive future as a dream or ideal watershed that could replace the existing one. The dream could become a reality by integrating appropriate rainwater management practices in to the existing system. In such a way the ideal watershed feature mimics the past watershed where the ecosystem was resilient and very less disturbed and ideal to obtain reliable production and ecosystem functioning. Therefore, farmers envisaged the future as the place where food security was ensured while conserving natural resource bases. Among the major expectation list under the dream watershed are green area, food secure community, increased ground water level, reliable rainfall and its distribution, reliable and friendly weather, access to adequate and clean water for both human and livestock.Based on their perception, four practices were not sufficiently adopted in the watershed: improved river diversion, highland fruits (apple and peach), over-sowing, and grass strips.River diversion could be improved, with better design and concrete material. Both the access to the material and to the needed finances hampers the development of better irrigation schemes. Highland fruits are like in the women's group seen as a high potential to improve incomes. Non-adoption is linked to the lack of access to seedlings. Grass strips are adopted only in the up-slope. Smallholders think that it would be appropriate to have them on other locations also, but lack access to grass seeds. Similarly, over-sowing private and communal grazing land was suggested, but cannot be implemented as long as it is not possible to access the right seeds.According to the participants, if all the selected practices are integrated and properly implemented, every farmers residing in different part/zone of the watershed will benefit. However, farmers believed that actions should begin in the upstream (zone1) of the watershed. In line with this, a farmer told us a local saying 'once the water touches the head, it never fails to reach the foot.' Similarly, both the positive and the negative impact of the watershed management equally reach all other zones of the watershed. Explicitly, positive consequence that begins in the upstream would gradually extend down to reach the downstream. Hence, farmers envisaged tradeoff among the integrated watershed management practices. Accordingly, all farmers become beneficiaries of the proper implementation. However, if the practices fail to integrate or are improperly implemented the middle and lower watershed area are highly vulnerable to runoff and siltation. Hence, they would become losers.The suitability map for Ambo district suggested that we should find apple trees, river diversion, grassland management, soil bunds and terraces. All of them were mentioned in the focus groups.Apple trees as well as grassland management were not adopted due to the lack of access to seeds and training but could in principle be adopted with the correct interventions.Final mixed discussion, participant's reflectionAt the end of the exercise, participants reflected on the day. A farmer starts with the statement 'our period is the time to make choice between either to live or not to live'. As crop production is highly vulnerable to climate uncertainty, the future is full of gloom and despair. Hence a country like Ethiopia could only develop if there is integration/sharing of resources and knowledge like this one. Hence, they would be able to think about resilient crop production system that safeguards the natural resource base. On top of this, he added that the lesson they were offered during the exercise is part of the knowledge sharing effort that enable them to have broad insight about the present and the future in terms of rainwater or land management so as to ensure sustainability of the system. They were largely impressed by the exercise and highly grateful for that. Men and women came up with very similar landscapes. The men's group mentioned more practices that are not part of the game cards but were adopted in the watershed, suggesting good knowledge of the area. Women seemed to have a less good knowledge about the watershed, reflected by the less detailed map and the much longer discussion about the maps. Also they have not mentioned practices that have been adopted but were not in the game. Nonetheless they came up with more non-adopted but suitable practices for the watershed, namely the livestock related practices and the motor pump.Shambu watershed can be split into 3 zones, upland midland and lowland. Each can be considered as a landscape with an up-slope, mid-slope and low-slope. The highland area corresponds to our classical landscape where the low-slope is a flat area with grazing land; the mid-slope has agricultural production year-round due to a river diversion, combined with apple trees. The up-slope is forest. The midland has a forested up-slope, soil and water conservation on the mid-slope and no lowslope. The lowland has an important slope and is mainly sparse forest; it has no low-slope at the outlet. Farmers in the upland on the mid-slope, have river diversions that allow them to cultivate around the year, especially high value crops during the dry season. We visited a farmer that had apple trees, irrigated all his land through a river diversion, had modern beehives, a storage room for fodder and collected manure in one place so he could spread it on his land. This farmer seemed very well educated as he understood the questions in English and answered in Oromo. There is no NGO active in the watershed and all the initiatives taken in this watershed is bottom up, supported by the DA and extension service.Many farmers live in the two settlements Laku and Shambu. Both settlements have access to electricity.Discussion from the women's groupIn a first step, the key informants drew the boundary of the watershed and then, after sketching the major river stream, found the watershed. The group selected one active woman farmer who led them during the map sketching. Using different markers and colour cards, the women's group identified in their resource map the upper, mid and the lower streams, the roads (seasonal and all-weather), seasonal rivers, crop land, forest land, degraded land, grazing land. During the focus group discussion, the participants/ key informants also included the most relevant community development institutions found in the watershed. These included the village administration, primary school, cooperatives and farmers training center. The women's group started with defining the mountain that border the watershed.Once they agreed on the watershed boundaries, they added the rivers, perennial and non-perennial (blue dotted line) as well as the gravel road (red line) and walking path. The women's group came up with a landscape composed of the practices found in Table 4. Orchards (Apple and papaya): On the map, farmers put the orchards (apple tree and papaya) at the upper side of the watershed. Farmers perceived these soils as more suitable for planting apple rather than crops, due its high slope/steep. On top of that farmers understood that planting apple on sloping area can reduce high water runoff and increase water infiltration. In other words, it decreases soil erosion when the technology is properly planted on the steep slope of the watershed. Though they have tried to allocate this practice at upper side of the watershed, most farmers have not implemented this practice on their farm due to poor availability of seed, lack of awareness on the benefit of this technology and shortage of finance.River diversion: During the focus group discussions, the women group recommended river diversions for the lower as well as for midlands of the watershed area. The reasoning is that these two zones of the watershed contain most of the crop land and several river streams. The topography in these zones is also suitable for irrigation schemes. Farmers mentioned that the existing irrigation scheme is not efficiently used by the community and they produce only a few horticultural crops. Limited water availability for irrigation during the winter season and poor maintenance of the schemes are the major constraints faced the farmers.The key informants allocated gully rehabilitation to the upper and mid lands of the watershed where there is serious soil erosion due to overgrazing by livestock and frequent ploughing. The land on the upper side of the watershed is more degraded as compared to the mid land of watershed due to high runoff water and overgrazing. Grazing land management: Forage grass is one of the most important rainwater management practices used by farmers in the watershed. During the focus group discussion, farmers selected and allocated this practice for the mid land and upper levels of the watershed. This is mainly due to the suitable land availability in these zones. Overall however, there is a shortage in availability of the improved forage technology in the watershed. In general, in order to increase fodder, grazing land management should come with over-sowing, area enclosure, cut and carry system, and limiting of animal movement.Soil bund/ stone: Thanks to the government campaign this year, many farmers in the watershed have started to make stone/ soil bund on their farm land. Due to this, farmers were already aware about this technology and they easily allocated the practice at the mid and upper levels of the watershed which have steep slopes.Multipurpose tree (Sesbania): Farmers preferred to allocate multipurpose trees, particularly sesbania, to the mid and lower levels of the watershed, specifically around their homestead. This is because the tree is mainly used for forage purposes and as a fence around the homestead. Improved dairy breeds: Farmers allocated this technology to the mid and upper levels of the watershed, because these areas have ample grazing lands with suitable quality type of grass and easily accessible to roads to buy feed and sell products. Farmers living in the upper level of the watershed have already adopted improved dairy technology. However farmers reported that the milk productivity of this breed is not attractive due to limited concentrate feed availability in the area.Fertility management (Crop rotation, intercropping): Farmers allocated technology to the mid and lower levels of the watershed. Farmers justified this according to the suitability of the cultivable land found in these zones. Farmers practice crop rotation several years and they also know the benefit of this practice, though intercropping is not used by farmers in the watershed. This may be due to lack of awareness on the economic and agronomic benefit of the intercropping practices. Crop productivity is declining from year to year mainly due to dominant mono cropping and serious soil erosion in the area. Farmers adopted improved cereals crop like tef, wheat, barley and also horticultural crops like potato and apple to improve their livelihoods. Wells: One farmer owns a well near to the grazing land.Improved seeds: Farmers mentioned they would like to have improved seeds, but they don't have access to them.Many rainwater management practices have been promoted in this watershed regardless of sitespecific biophysical, socio economic and institutional environments, yet their adoption is low. During the focus group discussion farmers reported that the existing natural resources found in the landscape are deteriorating over time. In other word the trends of crop productivity, natural resource conservation (particularly forest, soil and water conservation) and livestock productivity were continuously declining over time. The distribution of rainfall and pattern of rainfall have also changed. Land degradation is another factor aggravated by mono-cropping, deforestation and overgrazing of the land. In the future, farmers wish that appropriate implementation of rainwater management technologies can change these scenarios.Sometimes it is difficulties to get practices that can work across the whole watershed -due to socio economic, biophysical and institutional factors, improper implementation of practices or a lack of integration among the technologies. Some groups benefit from the new technology, while others groups are technology losers. Due to the scarcity of natural resources, conflict may exist between the people living in the upper and lower sides of the watershed. For instance in the Gorosole watershed, farmers perceived that if the river diversion is allocated at the mid lands, the lower side may not benefit as much as the upper. Interventions need to be integrated to benefit all groups. Discussion from the men's groupThe men's group started to draw the boundaries from the west, using mountains and settlements as reference points. Later on they added the secondary school. After the boundaries and mountain and settlements where set, they draw the rivers, starting with the perennial ones and then passing to the non-perennial ones. They identified the forest areas and differentiated between natural forest and planted forest. Then they identified the degraded land and the causes of degradation. The degradation on the left river bank is mainly due to deforestation, whereas the degradation on the right river bank is erosion mainly due to wrong soil management. Finally they identified grazing land and indicated if it is private or communal. Private grazing land in the upland seems to be used as communal grazing land. Farmers identified one non-seasonal road (non-asphalt) from Shamboo town to Sekela and one seasonal road to Gitilo, the highest part of the watershed (red line). Moreover, two main paths (on foot) also cross within the watershed (red dotted lines). One crosses the watershed from Sekela to Shambo and from Gitilo to the same town. Although Lakku River is the main perennial river, there are also nine small tributary (perennial) rivers which flow to the main river and have only one outlet, called chancho. Farmers also identified seasonal tributary rivers. They identified that most of the rivers in the watershed like Lakku, Deju, Aba ingida, Getahun, homi kuro and Gucho offer potential for river diversions. Settlement (around Shambo town and Lakku village) and land use/cover were also denoted on the map.Group members also classified the land as cultivated land, grazing land, degraded land and both plantation and natural forest land. According to their classification, most land is for crops in all zones. There is common and private grazing lands at the upper (shifted from forest land to grazing land due to over grazing and deforestation) and along riverbanks. Farmers complained among one another on the issue of common grazing land. Farmers who have enough land have equal rights to use common grazing as those with very limited land. Occasional conflict happens due to competition on common grazing land. They also categorized some parts of the area, particularly along rivers, to be degraded land due to continuous deforestation and intensive cultivation. Almost all the farmers were aware of rainwater managements options like soil and stone bunds, river diversion, ponds, wells, cut-off drains, cut and carry system, use of multipurpose trees, gully rehabilitations, uses of improved breeds of livestock, poultry production, area closure, conservation tillage (residue managements), different fruit production (like apples), motor pumps and live fence as contour planting. Farmers have also been trained and have experience largely from development agents, agricultural experts from district office and even NGOs.In the game, one farmer selected improved breeds of poultry production as the innovation since it is easy to intensify on small plots of land and needs less initial capital. According to the farmer, poultry production is suitable in the middle parts of the watershed as it has suitable weather condition. He argued that this technology definitely ensures income generation, particularly for households who don't have enough land to produce their annual food requirements. To this effect, the farmers need improved breeds and materials, like incubators and other technical and financial support. The farmers also called for improved access to improved breeds of livestock and seeds, particularly wheat, barley, beans and linseeds.As the game continued, practices like highland fruit (apple), cut off drains, check dams, contour hedge/life fence, conservation agriculture (residue managements), ponds, motor pump, cut and carry system, area closure, stone/soil bund, wells and over sowing on crop land (innovation) were initially chosen and allocated by the farmers to the various watershed zones. The selected technologies and purpose (suitability, benefits and interaction) were:Highland fruit (apple): Even though some farmers practice apple productions in the watershed area, a farmer chose this high value crop mostly for mid land and even for upper land if there is good soil condition and soil depth. His justification is that the agro ecology is ideal for growing apples. Besides, access to irrigation water and mulching practices are other opportunities to grow the crop efficiently. Demand of planting material (seedling), supply of different improved varieties, strong market linkages are the main areas where the farmers need support. Contour hedge (life fence): Multipurpose trees particularly vernonia, Sesbania (but not common) and other bush types which are characterized as co-friendly with crops are considered as life fence/hedge rows. Such is common everywhere in the watershed around the homestead. They indicated that such types of trees are used for animal feeds, to improve soil fertility, life fence, for construction and even for wind breaks.Conservation agriculture (residue management): Conservation agriculture was mainly selected and even practiced in the middle and lower parts of the watershed. They want this particularly on degraded land because of its multiple benefits, which improve more soil organic matter of degraded land, improve soil fertility and crop productivity, reduce runoff and improve soil water retention capacity. High competition for residues by livestock is the main bottleneck to ensure sustainable residue incorporation in the area. A farmer suggested that the main solution is diversion of overstocking livestock production to cut and carry systems using improved breeds and intensification of poultry industry to reduce residue competition. Conservation agriculture improves soil moisture and fertility and contributes to other technologies like fruit and feed production.Stone/soil bund: Both stone and soil bunds were started some time ago though not sustainably practiced. Currently soil bunds targeting the degraded and largely steep areas have been implemented on the upper and along some river sides of the watershed.Cut off drains: These are largely recommended by the farmers for the upper level or steep slope areas where erosion is accelerating in the middle and low slope areas. Most farmers who live in the upper areas believe that cut off drains significantly reduce and save the soil biophysical characteristics and impact on soil erosion.Motor pump: A farmer preferred this technology in the lower parts of watershed areas since there are potential rivers for irrigation. He preferred motor pump as a solution because of the nature of the river, which is in a deep valley and is difficult to divert. However, the farmer needs both technical and financial support for effective utilization of the technology.Ponds: According to the participants, ponds are suitable in middle parts of the watershed since they can easily capture run-off and for irrigation purposes. Though the farmers know the technology, they did not so far practice it in the watershed due to limited awareness and lack of materials, financial problems and even no technical supports.As per the farmers' suggestion, erosion is a serious problem in the middle and upper levels. They prefer to implement check dams in the middle parts. Check dams effectively reduce the speed of soil water erosion, improve soil fertility and increase infiltration rates. This technology has positive effects for other interventions, particularly fruit production, it increases the biomass of feeds, increases spring sources, and it enhances water availability in the watershed. Some farmers explained that they have been constructing such dams in gully areas using wood (woodlot check dam). However, they need additional technical support and inputs for construction of the check dam.Poultry farming: Famers suggested that increasing their amount of chicken would give them good additional income. This would allow them to overcome the losses of livestock needed to decrease the pressure on the land. Destocking would be much easier.The farmers also preferred this technology for middle parts of the watershed areas since there is potential availability of underground water at 12-15 meter depth. Over sowing improved forage crops on crop land: Though some participants who do not have enough crop land reserved themselves, sowing of improved forage varieties on cultivated land is one of the main solutions to reduce the shortage of animal feeds. It is suitable in every watershed area around the homesteads and on good soil so that it is easy to protect from animals. However, the farmers did not get enough improved forage varieties for intensive production in the watershed. Financial and technical support is what they seek.Area closure: This technology was preferred by the participants in the upper mountain where bushes are very common and where diversity of trees and bushes can be regenerated if well-protected. Participants regretted their previous deforestation practices on natural forest that resulted in land degradation. They were eager to close the areas (upper parts) where bushes are very common. They also need to interplant fast growing trees in the closed areas though there is limited access to such trees. According to the farmers, the current watershed has been gradually degraded with negative consequences. Most of the crop lands are less productive, overgrazing and deforestation of the natural forest are also causing soil degradation. Farmers indicated that in the past there was dense natural forest and the soil was very productive. But now, it is declining at alarming rates due to their mismanagement. Consequently, less production per unit area, continuous soil erosion, shortage of animal feeds due to shortage of land, high variability of rain fall are currently observed in the watershed. However, farmers predict future positive consequences on the watershed landscape if all selected water management options are implemented in each watershed area. High production and productivity, improved feed availability and hence high livestock productivity, ensure sustainable land resource managements, more forest cover will be the positive effect if all selected components are practiced at each selected site. One farmer argued that implementing all the selected technologies will make the country green.Though farmers in Lakku watershed are familiar with some of the practices, other options which were not so far practiced include over sowing of improved forage crops, area closure, cut and carry systems, motor pump and ponds. Lack of collective action, particularly for river diversion and motor pump is the main issue that should be in addressed. Diversifying into poultry also seems an interesting option.Participants had two contrasting ideas on the issue of winners and losers (trade-off). Some members explained that if all allocated technologies are well practiced in each watershed slope, farmers who are living in lower area will benefit more than those in the upper ones. In contrast, some farmers believe that if all selected practices are well done in integrated approaches and properly implemented, every farmer living in different altitudes of the watershed will equally benefit. As a general conclusion, most farmers will benefit if integrated water management is successfully implemented in each watershed part. Participants also suggested that if the proposed practices are not implemented in a very good manner, all farmers living in the watershed are also similarly losers since deforestation ( in upper parts), soil erosion and gully formation ( middle and lower parts) and overflows and siltation( in the lower parts) will be aggravated.The project-developed maps in Shambu woreda perform relatively badly. The only prediction for this area is all types of bunds (soil, stone and fanya-juu). The map does not predict apple trees, suggesting that the suitability for apple trees has to be reviewed. Also no river diversions are predicted, because the river map used does not indicate any perennial river in the whole district.Participants generally compared the current feature of the landscape with last three decades. Unwise land use systems resulted in unproductive land, deforestation and uncertain rainfall. They trusted that if they implement all integrated rain water management in the watershed, land resources will recover and become productive. Finally, they promised to teach their neighbors what they have learned during the strategy game.The women's group faced difficulties in mapping the watershed, and the mapping was mainly taken over by the DA. The women were therefore less active, something that was addressed explicitly in the Amhara focus groups. The male group was a great success. The group of farmers seems to have really enjoyed the exercise. They came up with creative solutions and were very keen to learn.Maksenit watershed with its 6000 ha is the largest of the four watersheds and lies at the border of Maksenit town (Southeast of Gonder). It is also one of the driest watersheds we looked at, with 700-800 mm rainfall annually. Its structure is complex, as it is formed by several micro-catchments. In the highlands, there are two ranges of mountains covered with shrubs. There is very little mid land and a large lowland plain. The two mountain ranges make the border of the watershed complex, and only expert eyes can recognize the borders. Only the low land is cultivated.Near to the outlet around the perennial rivers, river diversions allow for double cropping. In other locations around the river the topography does not really allow for diversion. In these locations, farmers sometimes irrigate with motor pumps. One farmer has a pump and rents it out to the others. River diversions can also be found near to the non-perennial rivers. These allow irrigating the plots long enough to have two or three crops. The cash crop is mainly garlic during the dry season. As the plain keeps soils moisture well, sometimes after the main crop, farmers manage to crow peas with the residual moisture. In the non-perennial rivers, micro reservoirs are built in the river bed to capture some water. Wells are also found in these river beds. We met a rich female-headed household which was building a house in Maksenit for rental purposes. This household own 4 hectare of which one is in the lowland and is irrigated the whole year round.The major income comes from garlic, but also honey and from a mobile tree nursery.On what could be recognized as mid land, one farmer had a papaya orchard. Mango is not suitable because it gets attacked by termites. Also in this mid land, we found a nursery for pepper. The farmers carry the water for about half a kilometer from a small reservoir in the river bed. In this watershed, ICARDA is active. Five model farmers have received a rainwater harvesting pond. One farmer got a treadle pump and a drip irrigation system. With this he can irrigate a plot of 30x18 m during the dry season and overcome dry spells with supplemental irrigation. Another farmer uses a simple bucket to irrigate during the dry season from the ponds. After one year, his income has increased significantly. Also ICARDA has built measurement gauges to assess the sediments of a treated and an untreated micro-catchment. Finally ICARDA installed a treadle pump near the bed of the non-perennial river, allowing access to the underground stream for domestic use.On the way to the outlet, but outside the watershed, there is a state run tree nursery that grows multipurpose trees and gives the seedlings away for free. Many farmers also have small mobile tree nurseries where they grow their own tree seedlings. We also found a private tree nursery that was attacked by termites and all the work was lost.Discussion from the women's groupThe sources and sub water sheds of both kebeles are discussed and identified. According to the participants, Bisnit, Welenbay, Chemena and Ayaye are sub-watersheds in Dinzaz kebele. But Ayaye watershed is bordered to both Degola Chinchaye and Das Dinzaz kebeles.   Improved soil nutrient input (organic and inorganic fertilizer): They use both methods and mentioned its use increases crop production, improves livestock feed, improves human feed etc. But they believe that organic compost is very useful in the long run. The reasons why it is not used very widely are lack of awareness, no credit service, lack of labour and due to less number of animals. But one woman said that I have no animals at home but am still using home waste and residues for organic compost.Bunds: uses for soil conservation, keeps water resources, improve crop production.Flood diversion (spate irrigation): It increases crop production, increase cash income. We can plant vegetables (like onion, potato, etc…), crops like barley, chickpea and others. Therefore we can have production of 3 times in a year.Afforestation: Would be needed to recover degraded lands of Degola and Enkre Medhane Alem but did not happen yet Home garden: they prefer home gardens to lowland orchards (papaya, coffee, gesho, …) combined with pepper. These gardens can be a cash income especially for women. Lack of water is a reason why they don't have more home gardens. They should therefore be combined with other practices that give access to water during the dry season, namely wells or ponds.Water tanker, hand dug wells and pond construction: These technologies are adopted by some people. Most of us are carrying water from very far away. Women are always staying around their homes and if we get water we can plant vegetables, fruits, etc… and get a number of uses out of it.Fattening: it would help them us to get additional income but it is difficult to get improved breeds mainly because of the lack of funds and credit opportunities.Beehives: We all have traditional Ethiopian beehives but we need the modern bee keeping technology, planting flowering trees and vegetables around as well as having sufficient water resources. This practice should be combined with the home gardens.Women mainly focused on what happens around their house. They wish to have more home gardens that allow them to feed their families on diversified food and get some additional income. With the home gardens, which have more flowers, they could have beehives and more income. The bottleneck of their perfect landscape is access to water during the dry season and therefore linked to any water harvesting technology such as ponds and tanks as well a wells and motor pumps (to access water from perennial rivers or from the wells).In this watershed Enkri Got (Upstream) have been more users than Aba Kaloye Got (Downstream).The solution which is made by the got judge is to use water in shift basis. Therefore the decision by the kebele judge reduces conflict and makes both users. The water amount is very small to increase technologies/practices. They first put the fords on the relatively exact place along the road before drawing the rivers. The nine fords were very helpful to draw the rivers and manage the connection distance between the rivers crossing the watershed. They put major features like churches, settlements and schools in the watershed. Generally, the members' visualization and interaction was astonishing.There are natural forests scattered mainly in the upper part of the watershed: Tsehay forest (State), Belew Seged forest (communal and enclosed in 2010), Kulkuwal forest (communal and enclosed in 2010), Tila forest (Private), Agmas forest (State). The forests are mainly composed of similar tree/shrub species like Olea europaea (Woyira), Albizia gumifera (Kachona), Dodonea angustifolia (Kitkita), Carissa ed ulis (Agam), Rhus glutinosa (Embus), etc.There are also degraded lands in the watershed. These are owned by the community and concentrated in the central part of the watershed. Deforestation was the main reason for the degradation indicated by the focus group. Actually there are few scattered farmlands in those land covers still being tilled though not productive enough. Free grazing is the main feature of degraded lands in the watershed. A couple of these areas are being enclosed since 2010 for restoration and rehabilitation. Enrichment through tree planting is also being undertaken for the enclosed ones.Grazing lands are another major land cover of the watershed. There are remnant trees scattered over the grazing fields. These are situated in the upper part of the watershed called Agamye and Abozina. Cattle herds coming from inside and outside the watershed freely graze in these areas. Its degradation level is somehow moderate due to its less accessible by people around the area.The rest part of the watershed is covered by agricultural fields and settlement areas especially from middle to the lower part of the watershed.The farmers came up with the following preferred landscape: Stone terraces along the mountain and hill sides has constructed through campaign as of 2004 offseason.Two degraded areas are enclosed since 2012 for rehabilitation. Tree planting has been planted as a means of enrichment. There are also different soil and water conserving structures like micro-basins constructed on the top of newly planted seedlings. The community is also preparing to enclose other degraded areas. This is because people started to observe the multiple benefits of keeping the animals and human beings out.Irrigation practice is expanding from time to time using diversions.Around 37 farmers are using motor pumps. But they raised the recurrent failures of the motors as a serious problem. As a result the maintenance cost is high. They wish durable water pump motors to be delivered. Group members indicated bureau of agriculture should take the responsibility for the delivery of durable ones. Multipurpose tree/shrub and grass species are used as feed and for soil and water conservation. Ficus thonningii, Sesbania sesban, Elephant grass, cowpea were mentioned by the focus group members. Lack of seedling provision is a bottleneck. Multipurpose tree/shrub/grass species plantation is put as a solution for grazing land shortages.Wood lot mainly composed of Eucalyptus species due to its fast growth and high value is a common practice being exercised by the watershed community.Hand dug wells are present in the watershed. But the infrastructure is not enough to support the people and livestock in the watershed. Increasing the number of hand dug wells is a challenge: The rock bed is too near and the wells dry out before the supposed time. Technologies able to penetrate bed rocks should be used to have water wells producing year round.Water harvesting structures for supplementary irrigation is introduced by ICARDA and being implemented. The focus group assured there is huge interest to expand the practice, however the costs hindered the community to take over the practice.Large scale irrigation scheme is a desired practice by the focus group farmers. Constructing a reservoir around the middle of the watershed is suggested as an intervention. There is a large amount of command area down there. Its expensiveness to construct is a major problem. Government, NGOs and projects like ICARDA are listed to fill the gap.Gully restoration was considered as a mandatory practice while not done so far. Cemented and gabion enforced check-dams in the gullies is wished by the focus group. But due to lack of capacity to afford cement and gabion, they couldn't construct the check-dams.The focus group recommended apiculture to be practiced in the watershed. The community didn't adopt the technology due to continuing deforestations and introduction of herbicides. Enclosure, nursery establishment and manual and/or mechanical weeding are suggested interventions to be promoted by the bureau of agriculture in the watershed.Papaya, Banana, Mango, Orange, Coffee productions are the wished practices. Though a big interest and potential, lack of seedling provision, water and termite problem accounted for not implemented by the community. Nursery establishment to produce the above plants by bureau of agriculture and developmental projects is suggested as an intervention.Small poultry farms at household level are wished by the group members. Diseases and lack of medications are the hindering factors. The group recommended delivery of such services by bureau of agriculture.Mill services for grain in the watershed are wished by the farmers. Now they need to go to town. Electricity is needed as an intervention for the mill.The men's group came up with a certain amount of practices that are not yet adopted but they wish to have. Most of them are relatively big infrastructure for which the government or NGOs need to be involved, such as large scale irrigation schemes or gully stabilization with concrete check dams.Obviously the ICARDA experience shows them that it is possible to dream big.Despite modern bee hives being found in the watershed, apiculture seems to be underdeveloped due to the lack of flowering trees. Also farmers indicate that they lack seedlings for those trees. This despite the relative proximity to the governmental nursery, suggesting that the nursery does not produce the trees wished, or that the farmers are not aware of the tree nursery.Farmers would like to have more hand dug wells, and also dig some new wells but face the challenge to reach the water.There are a prospective winners and losers when the optimal watershed gets realized. Use of herbicides would be forbidden when apiculture get started. So farmers who wish to use herbicides will be losers. Honey producer farmers will also be favored.Enclosing a proposed degraded land to be rehabilitated would offend nearby farmers. These neighboring farmers are used to send their cattle to those places. So when enclosure is effected, these farmers would be obliged to keep their cattle off the place. Such upset could be considered as a loss whereas the vast community would benefit from the restoration of the areas and be considered as winners.The focus group recommended area closure around Agamye area. The people who were collecting fuel wood would lose due to the enclosure. The largest Agamye area and of course the watershed community generally do benefit from the intervention recommended.The mixed discussion was relatively short, because the focus group discussion took a very long time and everyone was tired. Each group presented its work and then the group split up. In terms of selection of practices female farmers seemed to be very individualistic following their own interests rather than representing their community. Each woman wanted to have a pump on her specific farm, rather than discussing that the community needs more pumps around the rivers, and to discuss other options for the community. It seems that with the ICARDA experience this community has just learned to ask for things rather than develop and optimal landscape.The game did not work very well, probably due to the lack of training of the facilitator, who found it difficult to handle the cards. The male group finally went through the discussion without using the cards. The necessary data was collected, but it took much longer time to go through the wished landscape, and participants seemed to have much less fun than participants in Oromia.An interesting fact is that most of the farmers in this watershed make their livelihoods from garlic, which is irrigated though a traditional river diversion scheme near to the outlet. Farmers did not mention this at all. This might be the result from not being able to play the happy strategies game correctly.than eight years old. I have got training by regional women's EPRDF conference. We are trying to work in a better way to improve our livelihood.Improved livestock breeds: Not adopted. It is not widely introduced in the area but there are very few in numbers. We know the use but thinking that there will be feed problem for them. There is also economical problem to have improved livestock breeds and manage.Orchards: I just planted apple this year and will see the use in future. We have got lesson from EPRDF conference. In this watershed there are some farmers who have apple fruit ready for sell now.Check dams: We have been doing this practice for the last three years in highlands and midlands. The lowlands are still need it but not used yet. There is an improvement which we can see on soil and water conservation in addition to soil fertility. The practice was trained by EPRDF conference.Community pond: Especially in the upland area we need community pond. It can help us for both humans and livestock. We can plant also potato, onion and other vegetables. We know the practice but do not have money.Pedal pump: It has different advantages. We can use it for vegetables and spices production. It is also less labor need and can be managed by women's. Three practices have not been adopted yet, namely improved livestock breeds, community pond and pedal pumps.Improved livestock breeds are not adopted for two reasons. Firstly it is difficult to access the improved breed variety. Secondly the improved breeds need better quality and more fodder. The watershed at this stage cannot provide sufficient high quality fodder and therefore some fodder oriented practices need to be implemented first. The women imagined a community pond in the up land and allowing farmers to irrigate their fields through a river diversion. Nice idea, but not feasible, as it is not clear where the water would come from to fill the pond. Second, with the river diversion system, most of the water is likely to be lost on its way. Clearly this was a creative idea from one of the women and not an idea pushed by the government. Unfortunately it is not a realistic option.Pedal pumps to pump water from the well are also still missing.Discussion from the men's groupThe farmers started the mapping exercise by identifying the North direction and used the school as bench march. Then they continued to map the Argenit river, then the Zefie river then the Alekit river. In terms of land use they identified the Zefie Forest (1-green) that is composed of Eucalyptus.Fridrew forest (2-green) is a community forest of eucalyptus. It has been planted for rehabilitation of the areas and livestock is kept out of the areas. Tilik meda forest (3-green) is a state owned eucalyptus forest and Kolew mareja (4-green) is a privately owned eucalyptus forest. There is a nursery established by an NGO that produced seedlings for endogenous trees. In terms of degraded area, they identied Zingero gedla (1-pink), despite of the fact that some people still make use of them, the land is very degraded and unproductive both for crop and grazing as well as Chebrew (2-pink) and Nadew (3-pink).In terms of grazing area, Eyensen god (1-grey) is a communal grazing land, where also the tree nursery is located. Model bed (2-grey) is a grazing area which during the rainy season is closed and cut and carry system is applied. claim that they cannot have more chicken, because it is too cold and lots of fecund eggs do not survive. They think that they need an incubator, which does not really help if there are power cuts and no back-up system. There might be option to get more chickens without an incubator, by keeping more chickens together during the breeding. Also as soon as the chicken population increases, disease control in needed. Expert knowledge and training would be needed to enable them to get more healthy chickens at very little costs.Like in Shambu, poultry has been mentioned in Maksenit and the same rationale applies. In addition, the home gardens combined with beehives seems to be a promising practice, as more tree are planted and income of the farmers can be diversified. For those farmers who have access to water during the dry season, the major hampering factor is the access to tree seedling other than the multipurpose tree (which they produce themselves). Cooperation should be sought with the governmental tree nursery and with ICARDA for practices that increase water access during the dry season.In Zefie, similarly to Maksenit, a combination of fruit tree with beehives is a promising combination of practices. Apple trees are already in the watershed and the knowledge is available, but no one is producing seedlings. One could approach Tana-Beles and propose that the new tree nursery also produces apple trees.For both poultry and the tree, it is not sufficient to make sure that the farmer can supply the products but also that they have sufficient market linkages. If too many fruits or chickens come on the local market, the price is likely to fall. Therefore making a functioning market linkage is crucial among the promotion of the practice. The Shambu case showed that it is relatively difficult to sell the apples, despite of their high prices in the major Ethiopian cities.Adapting the happy strategies game for farmers This focus group discussion was the first trial of the happy strategies game with communities. In general the approach went well. The mapping exercise went very well for all the focus group discussions. In Oromia region, involving women and get them actively involved was difficult. Facilitators in Amhara were asked to involve women more actively which worked well. Also women are more likely to be illiterate, making it more difficult to read the cards. After the Oromia experience, women where therefore allocated a card (whereas men could choose their cards). Every card was explained for every woman making sure that she knows what card she has. This worked better than letting them choose the cards.The game worked better in locations where farmers had a clear vision of where they want to be in 5 years from now. As such, the happy strategies tool could be a very interesting tool to involve communities as part of a longer process, if a vision building exercises is implemented beforehand.Finally, working with young people with little experience and variable level of motivation made it sometimes very difficult to implement the focus group. This also explains the difference in quality in the reporting from the different sites. But every person that contributes to the focus group in a second round, made progress. Therefore these focus group discussion should also been seen as a capacity building to our partners and our own staff in facilitation and participatory approaches. Getting a pool of facilitators who know how to implement the happy strategies game for communities could ensure better quality data collection in future."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fef86720a6211ce9cb5d72f60b24adb8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3a812d28-3cd0-4825-9e46-d8a4945a47c8/retrieve","id":"218583197"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"37775f7e-d29f-4e27-82c1-ae3daa448d82","content":"• CGIAR conducted a rapid assessment of the climate smart agriculture (CSA) impact potential on mitigation, adaptation, and productivity of five agri-food companies in three business segments, improved seeds; integrated poultry services; alternative solar energy, supported by the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) -a leading development organization working to reduce rural poverty and promote resilient communities and job creation in Africa.• The assessment demonstrates the investment viability of sustainable food systems by identifying CSA business models with the potential to implement and scale climate mitigation and resilience practices across several food production systems and to encourage investor matchmaking to catalyze more funding to the sector.• The current average performance of all five companies shows that most CSA KPIs' \"impact significance\" ranges from \"low-medium\" to \"medium\". As AECF support is further deployed, the significance of impacts is projected to increase 20%-65%, bringing all KPIs to \"medium\" level of significance. Productivity and adaptation show the largest improvements. Major interventions driving these changes are:o Adaptation: Climate information services (CIS), water management, and improved seed varieties. o Mitigation: Agroforestry systems, efficient use of fertilizers, and use of renewable energy sources. o Productivity: Improved agronomic practices and reduction of food losses (improved storage).• Although a significant increase in CSA impact is expected as a function of AECF support, results show that there are several opportunities to further enhance companies' CSA impacts. Supporting the implementation of these practices is especially important considering the identified potential climate hazards across AECF's portfolio, such as changes in crop suitability locations, reduced precipitation, and increased temperatures.• Further enhancing CSA impacts within the AECF portfolio can be achieved by implementing the following principles: ( 1) avoid land use change; (2) implement soil conservation practices; (3) enhance production diversity; (4) use improved crop varieties and livestock breeds; (5) efficient use of water, energy and fertilizer; (6) efficient use and conversion of feed in livestock production; (7) avoid food loss and waste; (8) use renewables; (9) use weather information; and (10) promote the participation of women and youth in value chain activities.• To support cost-effective implementation of CSA practices across the AECF portfolio of investments, we recommend the fund consider the following aspects: (i) instituting technical methodologies early in transaction selection process, (ii) clear CSA and CIS integration within business models to improve operational efficiency and reduce risk, (iii) use of climatic risk modelling for targeted technical assistance, (iv) expanding data collection and monitoring, and (v) cross-sell portfolio synergies.• This assessment provides a baseline for future comparison and identifies opportunities for reducing climate change impacts and enhancing food security across AECF's portfolio of investments in Africa.The transformation of agricultural value chains through the implementation of climate smart agriculture (CSA) practices is an important pathway for meeting global demands for food security and climate change (CCAFS, 2020). CSA practices deliver productivity, adaptation, and mitigation, which are identified as the three interlinked pillars necessary for achieving these goals. However, achieving the required systemic changes through large-scale adoption of CSA remains a challenge, especially for smallholder farmers in developing countries. Smallholder farmers need sufficient finance, technical assistance, and skills to implement and maintain improved production practices.By supporting over 375 businesses in 26 countries over the past 13 years in Sub-Saharan Africa, impacting more than 30 million lives, creating over 27,000 direct jobs, and leveraging US$ 771 million in matching funds, the African Enterprise Climate Fund (AECF) can serve as a critical driver of CSA-oriented agricultural transformation on the continent. To date, the potential to harness climate change and food security co-benefits in the AECF portfolio has not been analyzed comprehensively. Understanding the investment impacts of current activities and the key factors affecting those impacts could help increase and scale up support for farmers to mitigate and adapt to climate shocks as well as enhance food security impacts in future investments.CGIAR conducted a rapid assessment of CSA's impact potential on 1) the mitigation, adaptation, and productivity key performance indicators (KPIs) of five agri-food companies supported by AECF in West and East Africa; 2) the major climate hazards; and 3) the financials of the five companies (Figure 1).The objective was to provide a rapid assessment of the potential impacts of AECF's portfolio of investments on (i) agriculture productivity, mitigation and adaptation of representative samples of commercial agriculture companies and selected value chains; (ii) identify key agriculture mitigation and adaptation options appropriate to the investments; (iii) support learning among companies on agriculture priorities and opportunities for reducing climate impacts and enhancing food security; and iv) encourage investor matchmaking in the region by identifying CSA business models with the potential to implement and scale climate mitigation and resilience practices across several food production systems.The selected companies' business models were clustered in the following three areas:• Improved seeds: The three commercial seed companies assessed specialize in the production, processing and supply of improved/hybrid maize, legume and vegetable crop seeds for smallholder farmers, operating in Ghana, Malawi and Mozambique. The seed companies sell climate-resilient seeds (mainly drought-tolerant varieties) in addition to other improved varieties such as bio-fortified seeds (high in vitamin-A) and pest and diseaseresistant seeds. In addition to their seed products, their package includes technical assistance on the use of improved seeds and good agricultural management practices.• Integrated poultry services: One company specializes in the provision of integrated poultry services in rural Tanzania, mainly through the commercialization of day-old chicks, maintaining parent stock farms, feed mill operations and providing extension and veterinary services for smallholder farmers. Its package includes dayold chicks, animal feed, vaccinations, vitamins and antibiotics for poultry, equipment (feeders and drinkers) and a guidebook for appropriate livestock management. Its feed mill operations consist of buying poultry feed from aggregators based in Tanzania, Kenya, and Malawi. The company plans to start contract farming for its own feed production.• Alternative solar energy: A solar irrigation technology company offers added value services such as sales, financing, delivery, installation, after sale service and software. The current markets are in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. It is implementing climate adaptation and resilience through solar-powered irrigation technologies, growing more on the same area, moving to high value crops, improved quality, and increasing water usage efficiency. The company also offers advisory services, technical support to its product end users and technical training on renewable energy resources as bundled products. With irrigation, the farmers are no longer dependent on unreliable rainfall, hence they can move from one to three seasons per year and diversify their crops from low value to high value.This rapid assessment technique is intended for contexts where aggregate data is available on agricultural land use and management practices. The method indicates the directions of CSA effects among companies' interventions, cropping systems and value chains. As such, the results provide evidence on companies' trends in the selected value chains, rather than a comprehensive or precise mitigation, adaptation, and productivity footprint of the company's operations. An in-depth due diligence assessment would need to be performed on the selected entities to further determine their financial performance under the instituted CSA activities and hence their attractiveness for investment.The CSA impact of selected companies was estimated using the CGIAR CSA Screening Tool.Through key multiple-choice questions, the Excel TMbased tool qualitatively assesses the potential impact on adaptation, mitigation and productivity KPIs, considering current actions and future interventions of agri-food companies. This results in an overall score as follows:• High: By implementing the proposed climatesmart interventions, the investee is likely to achieve significant impact on the KPIs. • Medium: By implementing the proposed climate-smart interventions, the investee is likely to achieve moderate impact on the KPIs. • Low: By implementing the proposed climatesmart interventions, the investee is likely to achieve low impact on the KPIs.These key questions relate to the level of implementation of interventions on:• Mitigation (greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction: use of farming inputs (e.g., fertilizers), land use change, soil tillage, crop management, and energy. • Adaptation: climate information services, climate hazards, water use and management, job creation and soil management. • Productivity: increase in productivity and management of food loss and waste.Due to a lack of existing field data, the primary method of data collection was based on interviews with all five companies.Climate hazard analysis was performed on a single representative company selected from each of the clustered areas of improved seeds, integrated poultry services and alternative solar energy solutions.For the selected company in the improved seeds cluster, projected monthly temperature (average of minimum and maximum temperature) and precipitation values from an average of three different global circulation models (GCMs; MRI-ESM2-0, CanESM5 and MIROC6) for the 1970-2010 and 2021-2040 time periods under the SSP245 scenario, were used as the input to compute the suitability for the crop for the 2021-2040 time period and for the 1970-2010 time period (Ecocrop -Regional Agronomy). (This is a Shared Socioeconomic Pathway, wherein the assumption is that global social, technological, and economic trends will not The suitability values for the 1970-2010 period were resampled using a bilinear approach to align the spatial resolution of each pixel with that of the suitability values derived from the 2021-2040 period.Once the spatial resolutions were aligned, a differential value of suitability for each pixel was computed using the 2021-2040 suitability value compared with that of the 1970-2010 suitability value.For the integrated poultry services case, administrative units (\"locations\") where poultry feed is cultivated and where the poultry is maintained were obtained. Similarly, for the alternative solar energy solutions cluster, locations where the solar energy solution is sold were obtained. Monthly temperature (an average of minimum and maximum temperature) and precipitation differentials were computed by calculating the difference between projected climate for 2021-2040 period compared with that of 1970-2010 period.Like the improved seeds cluster, the projected climate for the 2021-2040 scenario was obtained by averaging the outputs from three different global circulation models (GCMs/MRI-ESM2-0, CanESM5 and MIROC6) under the SSP245 scenario from the CMIP6 project. The temperature and precipitation differential values were computed for each pixel (spatial resolution of 4.5 square kilometers at the equator) of the selected administrative units. An arithmetic mean for each administrative unit was calculated by averaging the differential values of each pixel belonging to the respective administrative unit.As part of the assessment, the capital structures of the entities were analyzed to determine the mix of concessional capital to commercial capital. Where possible, the financial performance was assessed to determine whether the business models are financially sustainable and thus attractive for commercial investors.The assessment also allowed CGIAR to analyze whether previous expenditure went towards CSA interventions and, where possible, if this had an impact on the entity's financial performance in the context of mitigating the impacts of climate hazards.The analysis was done based on past three-year financial performance and complemented with company interviews.The average performance of all five companies shows that the current CSA impact significance ranges from low-medium to medium-high across the CSA pillars. As AECF support is further deployed, companies are projected to increase the significance of their CSA impacts by 20%-65%, leading all KPIs to \"medium\" level of significance, with productivity and adaptation having the largest improvements (Figure 2). The provision of climate information services (CIS), water management, conservational tillage, improved varieties, and increase in jobs (to benefit morelivelihoods with additional income) were significant drivers of enhanced climate adaptation. For mitigation, the implementation of agroforestry systems, efficient use of synthetic fertilizers and management of livestock as well as implementation of renewable sources of energy were used. Reduction in food loss and waste (improved storage) and use of improved seed varieties have also been reported as major interventions increasing agriculture productivity.Interestingly, none of the companies interviewed has a system in place to monitor CSA impacts from operations and only two knew how much their services and products affect crop productivity.Although a significant increase in CSA impact is expected as a function of AECF support, results clearly show that there are several opportunities to further enhance the companies' CSA impacts (Figure 3). The implementation of these CSA practices is especially important considering the identified potential climate hazards these value chains are projected to face in the coming years, such as changes in crop suitability locations, reduced precipitation, and increased temperatures.The analyses and recommendations for each of the company clusters to improve their likelihood of achieving higher CSA impacts along with economic returns are presented in the next sections.Cluster 1: Improved seedsCurrently, the seed companies' interventions are likely to have promoted ''low to medium'' impact significance across the productivity, adaptation, and mitigation CSA KPIs (Figure 3). Mitigation is the CSA pillar with the highest level of impact significance (medium), followed by productivity (low) and adaptation (low). With AECF support, the significance of the impacts tends to increase and balance out across the CSA KPIs (medium-high) because of both additional practices and expansion of current practices.Mitigation: The major CSA interventions driving the estimated impacts on mitigation are related to the adoption of agroforestry (one company in less than 30% of the area of influence), restoration of degraded lands (practiced by three companies), followed by the protection of forest ecosystem and avoided conversion of natural landscapes (practice by two companies), and the use of renewable energy sources adopted by two companies. These interventions and their level of adoption are likely to have promoted a medium to high mitigation significance impact on this pillar (Table 1).The protection of natural landscapes avoids GHG emissions through carbon sequestered in trees and soils, especially in high-carbon landscapes, whereas the use of renewables usually displaces fossil fuels (e.g., diesel), avoiding the GHG emissions from transportation and combustion of fossil fuels (IPCC, 2006;2019).Additional mitigation has also been potentially achieved with the adoption of agroforestry and improved animal feeding using crop residues (Table 1). The adoption of agroforestry and land restoration have the capacity to remove carbon from the atmosphere and sequester it in above-and belowground biomass (Feliciano et al., 2018). Animal feeding tends to optimize feed quantity and quality, increasing food conversion (productivity), consequently reducing losses of carbon and nitrogen and GHG emissions per unit of product (Herrero et al., 2016).In the coming years, companies expect to additionally (i) expand actions to improve animal feeding (one company with above 30% herds) and (ii) implement soil analysis to support fertilizer use by up to 70% of the business area for two companies.  Soil analysis data can help balance soil nutrient inputs to match crop nutrient requirements to improve productivity without compromising environmental quality. This practice may reduce over-application and increase the effectiveness of fertilizer application, especially nitrogen, that may otherwise lead to N2O emissions, a powerful GHG (IPCC, 2006). The single most important practice for minimizing N2O emissions is the right rate. These additional practices should enhance CSA impacts significantly to medium-high (Figure 4).Adaptation: The CSA interventions supporting adaptation to climate change relate to the adoption of improved soil management practices (e.g., implementation of cover crops), followed by access to climate information services and identification of climate hazards (e.g., weather forecasting as observed for three companies. In the future, with AECF support (Table 1), the job creation potential for the three companies will be higher than it is currently.The use of irrigation (two companies) and promotion of product diversification have also been mentioned as interventions promoted by companies. Although many activities have been taking place, the extent of these is still limited (less than 30% across the area of influence), resulting in a low impact significance on the adaptation pillar (Table 1; Figure 4).With AECF support, the adaptation impact significance can increase to medium as companies are likely to expand the adoption of those practices, especially irrigation, soil management (from less than 30% to more than 70% of the business area), diversification of production/income, and adoption of water management practices, such the implementation of rainwater harvesting. These expected interventions will likely generate an increased number of jobs (over 70%) along the value chain (Table 1).Improved agri-advisories, weather forecasting and water use and management, especially on improved irrigation systems such as drip irrigation are promising interventions for climate adaptation. These practices and interventions have the potential to support producers to manage climate risks over the coming years by helping inform decisions by farmers, agri-businesses, investors, and policy makers with implications over a range of timeframes, from short-term tactical to long-term strategic (Howden et al., 2007).Irrigation is especially important during dry spells.Sustainable water management will guarantee future crop irrigation needs using appropriate irrigation technologies. Improved water management can also improve water quantity, quality and availability for industrial (manufacturing and packaging) and general societal use.Productivity: Current practices have increased crop productivity by less than 30%, but with additional practices, it is expected that productivity will increase more than 30%, especially with the use of improved seed varieties. In addition, two companies reported having measures to avoid food loss and waste using improved storage, but in less than 30% of the business area; and only one company is likely to expand those measures in the short-term.Post-harvest losses can occur at every point along the value chain (e.g., during storage, processing, and transporting). Such losses decrease the amount of available food, and also waste the resources used to produce the lost food that emits GHG (CCAFS, 2020).Although several CSA interventions have been supported and planned by the improved seeds companies, there are still significant opportunities to deliver further CSA impacts (Table 1; Figure 4).Promising opportunities for companies working on improved seeds to cope with climate hazards and enhance their CSA impacts include expanding interventions related to agroforestry (mitigation) and access to CIS and water management (adaptation) (Table 1).These interventions could help promote higher carbon sequestration in trees and soils (Feliciano et al., 2018;IPCC, 2006), improve farmers' ability to manage climate risks and make decisions (Howden et al., 2007), support better water use and irrigation management, especially during off-seasons of low rain, and enhance productivity.In designing further adoption of CSA practices, companies should also take into consideration the potential climate variability in the region.According to the climate hazard analysis, it is expected that due to projected climate variability, future suitability of crops across locations may change. The crop suitability analysis for each crop revealed a reduction in suitability across large parts of cultivated areas for maize, groundnut, pigeon pea, mung bean and sesame due to the combined effects of temperature and precipitation changes. This therefore warrants finding new and improved varieties that can tolerate abiotic stresses.The scale in the suitability maps (Figure 4  The suitability maps (figure 4) could be used to validate possible expansion strategies and identification of potential customer segments to improve existing business models. Other critical variables such as solar irradiance and water table levels will be incorporated in the upcoming version of the assessment tool.All companies' financial structures are composed of a mix of grants, debt (both senior and mezzanine) alongside equity, mostly shareholder based. The observed 3 year capital structure of the three companies had a maximum of 10% equity, 20-30% grants, and 60-70% debt. The average number of years of company operations was 6.5 years. Revenue of the three companies for the past 3 years have plateaued while costs have increased year on year at an average rate of 13%.The financial performance of the three companies remained subdued from a profitability and cashflow standpoint. Competition within the operating geographies has increased, reducing the gross-profit margin. Based on our assessment, improved production and efficiency can result in a positive impact on financial performance and reduction of cashflow variability. This can be achieved via targeted inclusion of certain CSA practices, especially related to the productivity pillar (such as a reduction in food loss waste through storage) and monitoring the identified climatic hazards to mitigate future risks and unintended losses in production that could negatively impact future cash flows. Usage of appropriate seed varieties coupled with appropriate planting approaches and correct fertilizer and insecticide application could lead to increased yields. Efficient water management via irrigation could further reduce the variability of yields and in turn, improve the financial performance of the companies.Cluster 2: Integrated poultry servicesCurrently, the integrated poultry services company's interventions are likely to have promoted low to high impacts across the productivity, adaptation, and mitigation CSA pillars.Mitigation is the CSA KPI with the highest impact significance (high), followed by adaptation and productivity (low). With AECF support, these pillars tend to increase their impact significance to lowmedium and high, as additional interventions and the expansion of current practices take place (Figure 5).Mitigation: The current medium impact on mitigation is attributed to the company's technical assistance to improve livestock (poultry) and manure management (chicken waste for compost), recovery of degraded lands, and implementation of agroforestry systems (fruit tree planting and home gardening in 30% to 70% of the area). Renewable energy adoption, although not significant, is also a mitigation intervention that has been supported by the company.With these interventions, the company has promoted higher carbon sequestration in trees and soils and reduced emissions due to more efficient livestock management (Feliciano et al., 2018;Herrero et al., 2016;IPCC, 2006).Potential negative impacts on mitigation may result from the company's insufficient knowledge on its impact on land use change. Therefore, improvements in impact monitoring are especially important for guiding future actions and investments, which are now focused on the adoption of soil analysis for fertilizer application for up to 30% to 70% of the area and expanding livestock and manure management as the business rolls out across the country.Using soil analysis to support the use of fertilizers is critical to avoiding the over-application of fertilizers and applying the right rate, especially nitrogen, which may mitigate emissions of N2O (IPCC, 2006).Adaptation: The current low-medium impact on adaptation is attributed to the CIS interventions that are building resilience to non-climatic hazards (e.g., disease resistance through poultry vaccinations and antibiotics included in the package) and climatic hazards (e.g., supporting tree planting to mitigate heat stress for poultry). These interventions have potentially improved farmers' ability to manage climate risks and make decisions (Howden et al., 2007).  2). Productivity: Although the company has the potential for having a high impact on productivity by providing poultry vaccine products and veterinary extension services, which could substantially decrease animal mortality and improve productivity, the current lowmedium significance impact on productivity corresponds to the company's lack of information on this impact.Although several CSA interventions have been supported by the company, there are still significant opportunities to deliver greater CSA impacts (Table 2; Figure 6). Promising opportunities to cope with climate hazards and enhance CSA impacts include adopting interventions related to nutrient management and renewable energy (mitigation), water and soil management, and irrigation (Table 2).These interventions would help reduce CO2 emissions resulting from using fossil fuels for energy generation, N2O emission by over-fertilization of crops, and support better irrigation management during seasons of low rainfall, thus also protecting water sources.The company has potential to further increase its impact on mitigation by supporting renewable energy adoption, for example, by using chicken waste for biogas production. Implementing water reutilization techniques could also minimize eventual negative impacts of the increase in water use for farmers (because poultry farming being waterintensive).The adoption of irrigation and conservation agricultural practices may also help farmers to produce more food and enhance soil quality. Furthermore, implementing a system to monitor CSA KPIs impacts seems especially important for the company.In designing further adoption of CSA practices, companies should also take into consideration of the potential climate variability in the region, i.e., the potential temperature variability expected in the region in the coming years.Climate hazard analysis shows that in comparison to 1970-2010, locations where either poultry is maintained or where poultry feed is produced are projected to experience an average increase in temperature by ~1.3 degrees centigrade and precipitation by ~3.5 millimeters in 2021-2040.Within location comparisons reveals that one specific location is projected to experience much more spatial variability in projected temperature and precipitation values in comparison to the other. Therefore, poultry genotypes that have improved tolerance to high temperatures, and can adapt to changes in feed, would be more suitable in future scenarios. Guidance on improved CSA pathways relevant to the investments is discussed in the next chapter.The company's financial structure is composed of a mix of grants, debt (both senior and mezzanine), and equity, mostly shareholder based. The capital structure was heavily skewed towards concessional capital, but over the past three years, the company has raised commercial debt, both in the form of short-term working capital and a long-term facility.The long-term facility currently has a principal moratorium which expires in the next two years. The importance of this is that, given the subdued financial performance over the past two years, coupled with significant cashflow variability, the company can increase sales of day-old chicks while reducing the cost of production by focusing on two critical areas: (i) improved hatching efficiency via adoption of renewable powered modern incubators to replace traditional incubators; and (ii) maintaining an efficient feed mix ratio.To improve egg production, the components of their feed mix which they seek to grow inhouse will need to be implemented in conjunction with specific CSA practices to ensure reliable yield throughout the year in planting geographies that experience significant climatic hazards such as heat stress and limited water availability.Cluster 3: Alternative solar energyAll CSA pillars have a similar level of impact significance as depicted in the alternative solar energy company (medium). With AECF support, impacts are expected to increase their significance slightly, especially mitigation (medium-high), as additional interventions and the expansion of current practices are implemented (Figure 6). Mitigation: Besides implementing a renewable source of energy that replaces diesel generators and pumps and avoid emissions of CO2, the company reported building the capacity of clients to recover degraded lands, implement agroforestry systems through fruit tree planting and home gardening, and improve animal management through rotational grazing and increasing livestock feed.As this company rolls out its services, additional practices will focus on forest protection, recovery of degraded lands, and nutrient management, which will likely increase the mitigation significance potential of the company to medium-high.Adaptation: The CSA interventions that have favored adaptation in this cluster relate to diversification of production and increased income sources, increased employment, and irrigation enhancement, followed by access to CIS and identification of climate hazards (e.g., weather forecasting) and improved soil management practices (e.g., implementation of cover crops).With the support of AECF, the adaptation impact significance under CIS, diversification of production and incomes, irrigation, and job creation opportunities for the company may be unchanged or show a slight increase as the company is likely to adopt additional interventions, especially in water and soil management (from less than 30% to about 70% of the business area) (Table 3).Productivity: Current practices have increased productivity in at least 30% of the area. An additional opportunity for higher productivity is measures to avoid food loss, for example, with the implementation of improved harvesting, transportation, and storage systems.Although several CSA interventions have been supported or planned by the alternative solar energy solutions company, there are still significant opportunities to deliver further CSA impacts (Table 3; Figure 7). Promising opportunities to cope with climate hazards and enhance resilience include expanding interventions related to agroforestry and nutrient management (mitigation), access to CIS and water management (adaptation), and food loss measures (Table 1). Current score Future score  et al., 2018;IPCC, 2006), improve farmers' ability to manage climate risks and make decisions (Howden et al., 2007), and enhance productivity. However, in designing further adoption of CSA practices, the company should also take into consideration the potential climate variability in the region.Climate hazard analysis reveals that locations where the solar powered water pumps are being sold are projected to experience reduced precipitation (by ~2 millimeters) and increased temperatures (by ~1.45 mm) in 2021-2040 in comparison to 1970-2010. This suggests that these locations are well suited for the sale of solar powered water pumps.The capital structure of the company had debt and grants as its main components, with debt accounting for 40-50% and grants for 35-40% on average for the past three years. The balance was composed of equity ranging from 10%-25%. Financial performance of the company improved over the past two years due to increased uptake of solar powered irrigation units by farmers in Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Uganda. The current business model relies on farmers using harvest sales to repay the loan advanced to purchase the irrigation kit. Low production for farmers continues to cause cash constraints and poor servicing of the loan facility if used to procure the solar irrigation units. To address a possible situation where farmers are unable to pay for the units due to poor harvests, it is crucial for the company to actively participate in ensuring the CSA practices advised by the extension workers are executed.There are several options to enhance CSA impacts across the AECF portfolio of investments in agri-food systems. Figure 7 above shows core, economically feasible agriculture value-chain interventions that may enable future AECF investments to enhance CSA impacts.These interventions will simultaneously provide cobenefits across multiple dimensions, such as soil health, water quality, GHG mitigation and productivity. However, CSA practices are context specific and usually applied in tandem so that no single practice can guarantee impacts on all CSA pillars.Therefore, we recommend that improved CSA pathways relevant to the investments be initiated through the use of checklists applying the following principles:• Avoid land use change.• Implement soil conservation practices.• Enhance production diversity.• Use improved crop varieties and livestock breeds. • Efficient use of water, energy, and fertilizer.• Efficient use and conversion of feed in livestock production. • Avoid food loss or waste.• Increase use of renewables.• Use of weather information.To support cost-effective implementation of CSA practices across the AECF portfolio of investments, we recommend the fund consider the following six actions: (i) instituting technical methodologies in transaction selection, (ii) clear CSA and CIS integration within the business model to improve efficiency and reduce risk, (iii) use climatic risk modeling combined with CSA and CIS technical assistance, (iv) expand data collection and monitoring, and (v) cross-sell portfolio synergies (Table 4). A significant opportunity exists where companies within AECF's portfolio could provide CSA based solutions to other companies in need of them. We identified four critical cross selling opportunities that could be harnessed for the companies Improving understanding of AECF companies' CSA impacts requires further improvements in data collection for different value-chain levels, especially on-farm data. None of the companies interviewed has a system in place to monitor CSA impacts from its operations and few know how much their services and products are affecting crop productivity.In this context, for better planning and decisionmaking, AECF reporting could be designed to capture more climate-relevant information, particularly for land use change, management of crop and pasture areas (e.g., soil management), level of farm inputs (e.g., energy and nitrogen fertilizer), and energy and water use.Finally, increasing the capacity to gather quantitative information would allow the use of more sophisticated approaches to achieve CSA impacts and produce recommendations.To institutionalize the recommendations outlined in Table 4, it is recommended that investors modify the existing investment screening and due diligence process to incorporate climate risk modelling and CSA impact assessments. This will help identify, early on, appropriate risk-mitigating interventions and align portfolios with climate goals by ensuring impact and risks are measured and monitored over time.Furthermore, this could improve exit strategies for investment portfolios by demonstrating evidence of impact and thereby attract larger sources of climate finance.Figure 8 below outlines the additional steps that we recommend incorporating into a typical investment decision-making process.The rapid assessment of the potential CSA impacts of five companies operating in West and East Africa shows that AECF support is likely to be enhancing farmers' crop and livestock production while reducing the emissions of GHG and better adapting them to climate change.Furthermore, there are several opportunities to further enhance companies' CSA impacts. A deep dive into the interventions supported by the fund is recommended for improving the certainty of estimates and better guide future decision-making of future investments.from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank. IDA helps the world's poorest countries by providing grants and low to zerointerest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people's lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world's 76 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Annual IDA commitments have averaged about $21 billion over circa 2017-2020, with approximately 61 percent going to Africa."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"058f013471c0f06b86272e94e83ceb31","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7722ebaa-bd11-4932-b732-1cf4d5c850aa/retrieve","id":"1144638227"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"50cd8f0c-a4b3-40b8-98cd-9f635d901080","content":"This work is based on the presentation Cases of successful adoption of agricultural water management interventions: What can we learn?' by Barron et al., at the Third International Forum on Water and Food, held from November 14 to 17, 2011, in Tshwane, South Africa, and the review by Douxchamps et al. (2014) Taking stock of forty years of agricultural water management interventions in smallholder systems of Burkina Faso. Ultimately, we seek to address a knowledge gap on what technologies are in use, and what large-scale impacts on yields can be explained by this technology uptake.Figure 1: Map of the study area Figure 2: Classification of agricultural water management (AWM) technologies Figure 3: Distribution of small reservoirs according to date of construction Figure 4a: Proportion of fields using SWC in 1993 Figure 4b: Proportion of fields using SWC in 2006 Figure 5: Small reservoirs and SWC Figure 6a: Yield (kg/ha) by region, for major cereal crops Figure 6b: Cultivated area (ha) by region, for major cereal crops Figure 7: Total cereal production per capita Figure 8: Comparison of rain-fed cereal yields with SWC adoption Figure 9: Comparison of rice yield with number of small reservoirs Figure 10: Proportional (%) change in poverty and AWM Figure 11: Rate of coverage of food needs (%) per region Figure 12: Impact pathway for the various aspects of the evolution of AWM projects Figure 13: Distribution of small reservoirs against population density Tables Table 1: Characteristics of recorded reservoirs in Burkina Faso Table 2: Growth of storage volume in small reservoirs Table 3: Summary of the area of SWC measures in use Table 4: Adoption of SWC by region Table 5: Trends in major cereal yields Table 6: Trends in major cereal production per capita Table 7: Characteristics of the trends in cereal yield and SWC adoption Table 8: Characteristics of the trends in rice yield and reservoir construction Table 9: Poverty level and AWM expansionSince the 1970s, significant investments have been made in the Volta basin to develop and promote a range of agricultural water management (AWM) technologies in order to improve food productivity, food security and farmers' income in the face of extreme rainfall variability and severe droughts (Douxchamps et al. 2012(Douxchamps et al. , 2014)). Substantial experimental evidence is available at the field scale showing high potential to increase crop production and productivity (e.g., Zougmoré et al. 2000aZougmoré et al. , b, 2003Zougmoré et al. , 2004Zougmoré et al. , 2005Zougmoré et al. , 2010;;Kaboré and Reij 2004; Barry et al. 2008;Sawadogo 2011). At the same time, a growing body of regional research on the \"greening of the Sahel\" suggests widespread improvement in biomass production, and that this improvement is possibly linked to the uptake and adoption of AWM technologies (e.g., Haglund et al. 2011;Bégué et al. 2011;Olsson et al. 2005;Herrmann et al. 2005). Yet, fundamental data gaps persist, e.g., have smallholder farmers adopted agricultural water management technologies to scale? 1  Whereas it is fairly easy to access information on the amount and locations of land degradation (e.g., the GLASOD project, ISRIC 2013), it is less straightforward to find evidence of where farmers already practice specific AWM technologies to scale. The location and rate of specific AWM technology adoption to scale is neither well understood nor systematically documented. This knowledge gap can lead to various misunderstandings on needs for research and investments in technology out scaling, both by researchers and development agents. The objective of this study is to determine whether evidence can be found at an intermediate scale between the field and the sub-continent for the past and current expansion and impact of AWM technologies. This study is targeted to one level below national, which in Burkina Faso is the administrative unit of regions.The two questions addressed in this study are;i) What is the evidence of the adoption and spread of various AWM technologies among smallholder farmers (in areal extent) over the past 30 years? Can adoption be located in space and quantified over time?ii) Can any impacts on crop production (yield) and/or secondary impacts on rural poverty be discerned in relation to the expansion of AWM technologies?In Section 1, a review approach is applied to address the above mentioned questions, focusing on northern and central Burkina Faso. Section 2 describes the data processing carried out and assumptions made. Sections 3 and 4 present the results of the expansion of AWM technologies and the temporal development of key cereal yields, poverty rates and food security indices in the study area. A discussion follows in Section 5, and a summary and recommendations are presented in Section 6.This study used a comparative approach to establish preliminary relationships based on the available evidence and to assess the state of the data to determine what is required for a more rigorous analysis. The scope of the study was guided by the convergence of greening studies on the northwestern part of Burkina Faso, and a typology of AWM interventions used in the Volta Basin. Data on AWM use, crop yields and poverty indicators was collated or derived from secondary sources and then analyzed for relationships between AWM adoption and impact on the well-being of farmers.The study area was informed by the convergence of results from greening studies highlighting a 'hotspot' of greening in northwestern Burkina Faso, an area covering parts of the Nord, Plateau-Central, Centre-Nord and Mouhoun regions. The practice of zai and stone rows as soil and water conservation (SWC) interventions is said to have been particularly successful in this area too (Kaboré and Reij 2004;Atampugre 1993). The final study area was expanded to cover the semi-arid area of Burkina Faso, where agricultural water management is an important strategy for enhancing smallholder farmers' income generation and food security (D'haen 2012). The spread of AWM adoption has also been suggested as substantial in this area (Douxchamps et al. 2014). The study area was defined as the regions with more than half their surface area receiving between 400 and 800 mm rainfall per year, according to the mean rainfall isohyets described in Ouedraogo et al. (2006) for the period 1971-2000. The regions, therefore, included in this analysis are Sahel, Nord, Centre-Nord, Mouhoun, Est and the Plateau-Central (see Figure 1). The total surface area studied is 161 865 km 2 .  small electric/diesel pumps for smallholder irrigation iii) soil and water conservation (SWC) Small reservoirs were defined as dammed reservoirs with a capacity of <1 million m 3 (Cecchi et al. 2009;De Condappa et al. 2008a). Small reservoirs are used for multiple purposes, including irrigation, fishing and livestock watering (Sally et al. 2011). Smaller, ephemeral ponds, which are elusive to record, are particularly important for complementary irrigation during the post-rainy season period. In 2001, there were a total of 881 geo-referenced small reservoirs with a known volume in Burkina Faso. An additional 440 reservoirs are recorded in the database with no known volume. It was suggested by De Condappa et al. ( 2008a) that these reservoirs are most likely small reservoirs. Thus, results of this study are based on the minimum amount of stored water and therefore likely to underestimate the impact of small reservoirs on livelihoods. Note that Venot et al. ( 2012) suggested serious discrepancies in the locations of small reservoirs captured in different data sets, so these records can be considered a \"best estimate\".Source: Douxchamps et al. (2012) Soil and water conservation (SWC)Soil and water conservation (SWC) interventions incorporate a range of technologies for reducing soil erosion and improving soil moisture infiltration for crop and plant growth, including the zai (halfmoons), various reduced-tillage practices and tied ridging, earth/stone rows and vegetation strips (live hedges), which are commonly used in the Volta basin (see Figure 2). Two SWC interventions, i) stone bunds (Atampugre 1993) and ii) the revived traditional practice of planting pits known as zai (Reij et al. 2009) in particular, have been substantially promoted in externally-funded projects. AWM interventions using mineral (soil) material and live hedges at the micro-catchment (in-field) level were also included in this study.The three principal sources of data that were used in the study to synthesize The analysis of small reservoir development used a database of reservoirs in Burkina Faso, compiled by Cecchi (2008) as part of the Small Reservoir Project and based on data supplied by Direction Générale des Ressources en Eau (DGRE) and Ministère de l' Agriculture, de l'Hydraulique et des Ressources Halieutiques (MAHRH). This database holds records of dates of construction, total capacity and other characteristics of 1,453 dammed reservoirs (in total), across Burkina Faso that were built up until 2001 and that vary in size from 9.7 million m 3 to 15 m 3 . The database is available on the BFP Volta Data Disc (De Condappa et al. 2008b). A valuable analysis of the database and the small reservoir context was obtained from Cecchi et al. (2009) andVenot et al. (2012).Consistent quantitative data about soil and water conservation (SWC) adoption by farmers across the country is available from the annual national agricultural survey (Enquête Permanente Agricole, EPA), which records, for each agricultural household sampled, the number of fields on which farmers utilize any form of anti-erosive measures, including stone barriers, earth dams, zai (half-moons) and hedging (live or dead). The proportion of fields utilizing SWC measures provides an indicator for estimating regional adoption of SWC. Statistics for the provincial level (% of fields) are published for 1993 (INSD 1994).The yield (kg ha -1 ) produced and the area planted for major cereal crops were reproduced from the AgriSTAT database series for 1984-2004(DGPER 2008) ) and the INSD regional series for 1995-2008(INSD 2013a, 2012c)). Millet, sorghum, maize and rice were selected as being the main staple crops produced in the region for food and income.Poverty indices have been published for 1994for , 1998for and 2003for , based on national household surveys (MEF 2000;;INSD 2012b). To complement each poverty index, ownership of agricultural equipment and animal draft power was collated from household and agricultural surveys for 1993for , 2003for and 2007for (INSD 1994for , 2003for , 2007)), following Moll's (2005) analysis of livestock as insurance, financing, a savings mechanism and a status symbol.A second complementary index of poverty is food security. In addition to D'haen's research (2012), Botoni and Reij (2009) found that villagers' perceptions of their own poverty level were often defined by characteristics of food security. Regional food security data, estimated by the Institut National de la Statistique et de la Démographie (INSD) as the proportion of cereal demand (in %) met by production and published in regional periodic reports (INSD 2012a), is analyzed for the period 1992-2006.Soil and water conservation (SWC) adoption for 2006 (% of fields using SWC measures) was calculated from raw EPA survey data (MAHRH and DGPSA 2007). Provincial level adoption was calculated as the number of fields using any form of anti-erosive measure as a proportion of the total number of fields surveyed in 2006/7. Regional level statistics for both 1993 and 2006 were calculated as the area-weighted average of the provincial statistics, using available provincial level cropland area from the Ministère de l' Agriculture et des Ressources Animales (MARA) agricultural survey reports for the closest year (1993( : INSD 1994;;2004/5: MAHRH et al. 2006)).Academic journal databases (Scopus, Science Direct, ISI Web of Science) were searched for supplementary studies reporting independently surveyed areas of agricultural land (in hectares) on which SWC technologies have been or are still being implemented to complement the national overview of SWC adoption. We used the keywords \"zai\", \"stone bunds\", \"soil and water conservation\", \"anti-erosion\" and \"Burkina Faso\". Of the 75 articles found, most report the results of field trials (see Appendix A2) and do not have a record of the adoption of agricultural water management (AWM) technologies by farmers. Excluded articles were related to work in countries other than Burkina Faso or were not explicitly related to SWC. The project reports published by international organizations responsible for promoting SWC measures since the 1970s (PATECORE 2004;Atampugre 1993;IFAD 2004) provided the number of hectares of agricultural land treated by the projects, although the overall areal extent encompassed by a particular project was not always clearly defined. Using the information available, we derived an estimated percentage of coverage by calculating the hectares treated as a percentage of the total area cultivated with cereals and using available regional level data from the agricultural survey reports for the season closest to the publication of the reports (MAHRH et al. 2006). In project-treated areas covering several regions, the percentage apportioned to each region was area-weighted by the cultivated area. It should be noted that these estimates do not account for any adoption beyond the project's direct intervention and therefore could be underestimates. Nonetheless, the statistics provide a counterpoint to the national statistics presented.The yield (kg ha -1 ) was calculated at the regional level from the average total production (t) and average total crop area (ha) of the provinces within each region. Cereal production per person was calculated using regional population statistics for 1996-2006(INSD 2013b)). For all agricultural statistics, a 5-year moving average was calculated, and then the time series was normalized to the first year of the series,before comparing it to the small reservoir and SWC development trends.Of the 1,453 reservoirs recorded in the Cecchi (2008) database, 881 are small reservoirs with a storage capacity of less than 1 million m 3 ; 74% of those have less than 300 000 m 3 . Although accounting for the majority of reservoirs by number (61% of the 1,453), small reservoirs only hold 3.5% of Burkina Faso's total storage volume (Table 1a) and only 3% of the total storage volume in the study area (Table 1b).Overall the dataset is still incomplete, with 30% of reservoir entries not having information on volume. Moreover, cross-referencing between remote-sensing, field surveys and national reports revealed the difficulties in collecting a comprehensive inventory of reservoirs, with the location of reservoirs being at most 30% consistent between the sources of data (Venot et al. 2012). Nonetheless, the dataset provides a general guideline and the best current estimate of small reservoir development over the past 50 years. In the study area, the rate of development of small reservoirs increased rapidly after the droughts of the 1970s (Table 2, Figure 3). On average, over 85% of small reservoirs were built after 1970, with intense development occurring on the central plateau during the 1980s in particular when 50% of small reservoirs in Nord, Centre-Nord and Plateau-Central were built. The Est region had an early period of higher development (1950s-1960s) in addition to the 1980s boom, which continued into the 1990s. In Sahel, small reservoir expansion started later and continued until more recently, into the 1990s.Mapping the locations of the small reservoirs reveals that they are concentrated mainly on the central plateau of Burkina Faso, matching the areas of higher population density (>25 people per km 2 , CIESIN et al. 2011; see Figure 13 in Appendix A1). A higher density of reservoirs is also evident in the arid, northern Sahel region (Figure 3). Figure 3 differentiates the distribution of small reservoirs over time, according to the decades of intense reservoir building: up to 1979 (green); 1980-1989 (red); and 1990-2001 (blue).  Data source: Cecchi (2008) The increase in reservoir development on the central plateau in the 1980s mirrors the promotion of soil and water conservation measures on the plateau, which will be discussed in the following section.Results from the national agricultural surveys show a marked increase from 1993 to 2006 in the proportion of surveyed farmers' fields having at least one SWC measure in place (Figures 4a and 4b; Table 4), particularly in Sahel -the driest region in the study area. It is important to note that often farmers use a combination of measures, which has a greater impact than using one in isolation (Magombeyi et al. 2014;Zougmoré et al. 2003Zougmoré et al. , 2005)). However, this initial study did not disaggregate the data by practice, but instead it categorized fields simply by presence or absence of any SWC intervention. The relatively high 1993 levels of SWC in Nord, Centre-Nord and Plateau-Central reflect the intensive investment in projects focused on that central region since the 1980s, and their continued improvement up to 2006 suggests that the projects and other promotional efforts were successful in increasing SWC adoption. The tripling of SWC presence in Sahel suggests spreading and diffusion of SWC from the central region. Mouhoun and Est, the two regions with large areas in the 800-900 mm rainfall zone, show a lesser increase in the adoption of SWC. The lower proportion of arid and semi-arid areas in these two regions may contribute to explaining the reason for minimal SWC adoption in the locality.Analyzing the adoption rates at the provincial level reveals some interesting trends (Figure 4a and 4b). For example, in the provinces that lie within the 600-700 mm rainfall zone in Mouhoun and Est, the share of cultivated land where SWC practices were used increased to 16-18% and 11-15%, respectively, in 2006 while there was no increase (7%), or even a decline (down to 0%), in the provinces receiving more than 700 mm of rainfall per annum. In general, SWC coverage increases across the 400-800 mm rainfall zones. Provinces in the southern parts of Mouhoun and Est, as well as many other southern provinces, show a decrease in SWC coverage from 1993 to 2006. At the provincial level, the highest rates of SWC coverage in 2006 were 35% and 36% in Bam and Sanmatenga, respectively (both Centre-Nord, see Appendix A3 for provincial statistics).Figure 4a: Proportion of fields using SWC in 1993, as a percentage of total fields sampled and villages where SWC measures have been recorded. An examination of peer-reviewed publications and grey literature for estimates to supplement the national surveys showed few quantitative evaluations of adoption. Most peer-reviewed literature relates to experimental field studies observing the impacts of SWC measures in particular fields. All reported locations of zai or stone bunds having been adopted, from both peer-reviewed and grey literature, are depicted in Figures 4a and 4b (reference details in Appendix A4), highlighting tthat international projects have focussed on the Nord and Centre-Nord regions. Most references to SWC adoption, either in general or specifically zai and stone bunds, are qualitative rather than quantitative and suggest that the technology is \"widespread\" (Batterbury 1996, p15) and that \"every household\" uses it (Sawadogo 2011, p123).Some attempts to quantify the total area treated with SWC measures suggest that zais are used on 30,000-60,000 ha in northwestern Burkina Faso (Sawadogo 2011) and that some measure of SWC is used on more than 200,000 ha of agricultural land in central Burkina Faso (Reij et al. 2009). Local adoption rates of 49-60% have been recorded within the Yateng Province (Barbier et al. 2009). However, quantifying adoption at the regional level, for each region, proved challenging. Often project evaluation reports provide the total area treated, for example with stone bunds, but the publications refer to differing and ill-defined areal extents (e.g., Yatenga versus northwestern Burkina Faso), making it difficult to consistently contextualize the reported coverage, and hence it is challenging to compare statistics across years and publications. Therefore, data on documented area of SWC use was extracted only from publications with precise location references (e.g., Yatenga) for which total areas are available. As summarized in Table 3, the area with documented SWC use roughly relates to the total area of cultivated agricultural land in the relevant region, as reported for the agricultural season closest to the publication year of the reference source. Assuming the documented areas per project are complementary, and not overlapping with figures reported for other projects, the combined quantified proportion of cropland using SWC measures adds up to roughly 150,000 ha and 5-20% of the cropland per region by 2004, compared to 8,000 ha and 4.5% of cropland in 1990. These data refer to only the area where projects implemented SWC measures and do not include future spread (or abandonment) of those SWC measures. The literature results are therefore expected to be an estimated minimum, assuming that the literature has not documented all instances of adoption. These literature results are comparable to the adoption rates derived from the national statistics, although lower, especially for Nord province (Table 4). To summarize the expansion of AWM technologies in the study area, the increase in small reservoirs has been complemented by a similar trend in the adoption of SWC (Figure 5).  Data sources: Small reservoirs from Cecchi (2008); SWC from INSD (1994), DGPER (2008). Note: The disconnected point on the reservoir curve represents the total number of small reservoirs recorded including those with no date of construction.CPWF June 2014Field studies and a few village-level case studies have shown that agricultural water management (AWM) technologies can increase yields by more than 100% (Sawadogo 2011;Botoni and Reij 2009); improve soil quality by reducing runoff, sediment loss and nutrient loss (Zougmoré et al. 2010(Zougmoré et al. , 2009)); and possibly improve groundwater levels (Reij et al. 2005). The following section analyzes socioeconomic indicators at the regional level for evidence of AWM impact.Both yield (kg ha -1 ) and crop area planted, viz. with main cereals, have been highly variable over the 25year time series available , but a trend of increase is more or less evident depending on the crop and the region (Figures 6a and 6b, respectively). In general, a normalized time series of the major cereal crops smoothed with a 5-year moving average produce trendlines with a gradient of around 0.03 (3% increase per year) (Table 5). The r 2 values indicate that millet and sorghum yield has had less inter-annual variation than maize and rice, suggesting that this trend is more reliable and that millet and sorghum yields are more stable. Although very erratic, rice yields have increased dramatically since the 1980s, a result of strong increases in both area cultivated and total production. For the rain-fed cereals (i.e., not including rice), Nord and Centre-Nord show high rates of increase most consistently in their trendlines, i.e., 3-4% per year. These are two regions where SWC promotion also has been concentrated.In terms of evaluating the impact of AWM technologies on improving the yield, it is important to know how much of the perceived increase is due to expansion into new cropland. In central Burkina Faso, the potential for expansion is limited due to its historically high population pressure (Barbier et al. 2009;Marchal 1977). In Plateau-Central and Centre-Nord, cropland expansion has not exceeded 150% of cropland in 1984, except for rice (Figure 6b). However, in the other regions, such as Nord and Sahel rainfed crops (millet and sorghum) have expanded dramatically, i.e., 200-350%. In general, Mouhoun, Est and Sahel, being the regions with lower population density and more land availability, have the highest expansion results. The expansion of the area cultivated for rice, although still small in absolute terms, is an order of magnitude higher than the other crops, suggestive of an initial expansion after introduction, particularly in Sahel. It is interesting to note that the area cultivated has inter-annual fluctuations of up to 100,000 hectares or more. In Centre-Nord in particular, the area planted with sorghum has risen and fallen by 60,000-100,000 hectares several times over the 20-year study period. However, it appears that the fluctuation is to some extent due to the alternation of crops, i.e., sorghum with millet, which is more evident in Centre-Nord than in other regions.    While absolute yield improvement is necessary, the improvement must keep up with population growth and surpass it in order to realize a noticeable improvement in local food security and possibly in farmingdependant livelihoods. Analysis of total cereal production per capita (Figure 7, Table 6) shows that there has only been a consistent rise in production per person for rain-fed cereals (millet, sorghum and maize) in Nord and Mouhoun. In Sahel and Centre-Nord, the series varies periodically, with a first peak around the early 1990s and a second rise toward 2006 (end of the dataset). Nord, Centre-Nord and Sahel also have the highest AWM adoption rates, along with Plateau-Central. Rice production rises slowly and consistently only in Sahel and Plateau-Central; in Mouhoun and Est, per capita production is more periodic and declines toward the end of the time series. Production has not kept up with population and has even declined in Plateau-Central and Est for rain-fed cereals, and in Nord and Centre-Nord for rice. However, all regions were producing more than the minimum cereal requirement per capita by 2008. In summary, these results suggest that food security will improve in Nord; will be relatively stable in Centre-Nord; will be potentially rising but variable in Sahel and Mouhoun; and will be potentially decreasing in Plateau-Central and Est. Systematically higher per capita production in both Mouhoun and Est reflects their lower population density. Table 6: Trends in major cereal production per capita (kgcapita-1, with 5-year moving average).  Millet and sorghum are typically rain-fed crops and therefore more likely to be affected by SWC adoption than by the building of small reservoirs due to direct in-field improvements in soil moisture availability. Comparing millet and sorghum yield with the national survey statistics for SWC shows similar gradients for yield and SWC trendlines (Table 7, Figure 8). All series were smoothed using a 5-year moving average to allow any trends to be seen more clearly and normalized by setting the first data point as 1. Thus, similar gradients imply that the changes in the variable are of a similar magnitude, suggesting a possible relationship that could be further tested when more data is available. With r 2 values mostly greater than 0.5, all regions except Plateau-Central show concurrent increases in yield and SWC over the period of development (though this is not the case for sorghum in Sahel). As highlighted in Table 7, Nord, Centre-Nord and Mouhoun all have very similar gradients of between 1% and 6% increase per year. For the remaining regions, SWC adoption has increased far more (10%-20%) relative to yields (1%-4%). While this simple analysis is not able to differentiate the impacts on yield of SWC versus land expansion, Figure 6b showed that land expansion is least significant for millet, which also has the most consistent improvement in yield and therefore the millet results may be more strongly related to SWC adoption. However, land expansion is an important confounder and should be included in further analyses, particularly in relation to sorghum and in general for Mouhoun, Est and Sahel, which have greater possibility for expansion. Rice benefits more from small reservoirs expansion than SWC adoption, due to the increased irrigation potential. Nonetheless, there are instances of initial experiments using half-moons to cultivate rain-fed rice (Zougmoré, pers. comm.). Small reservoir development was, therefore, compared with normalized, 5-year moving averages of rice yields (Figure 9). As in Figure 8, positive trends of increasing yield can be seen, ranging from around 0.2% per year in Mouhoun to 3% in Plateau-Central and Est and up to 11% in Sahel (Table 8). The most closely comparable rates of increase in reservoirs and rice yields, confirmed by a quick regression, are found in Nord, Centre-Nord and Sahel.   Burkina Faso has a total population of just over 15.2 million (INSD 2013a), of which the rural population is 11 million (72%). 80% of the working population is employed in the agricultural sector (MEF 2000).Poverty analyses of the 1994 and 1998 household surveys show regional poverty levels for the study area remaining the same (40-60%), except for Plateau-Central, where poverty increased from 50 to 55% (Table 9), reflecting the influence of Ouagadougou's higher urban poverty. Recalculations for the national level show that poverty, in fact, declined (Grimm and Günther 2007;World Bank 2014) or at least stabilized (Lachaud 2004) over the study period. However, the econometric methodologies used to produce the national poverty statistics are based on household assets and access to services that are mostly relevant to urban areas -electricity, piped water, electrical appliances, concrete, etc. Testing an alternative, i.e., a non-econometric analysis of poverty that is based on food sufficiency and a food poverty line, D'haen (2012) found that in urban areas nation wide, poverty decreased from 2003 to 2007, but rose slightly in 2005 due to higher food prices brought about by very poor harvests across the country. D'haen (2012) shows that incorporating food sufficiency as a central indicator of household well-being reflects poverty levels more comprehensively across rural and urban areas than is the case of econometric analyses. Food security is therefore explored in more depth below in Section 4.3.An additional indicator of rural wealth can be cattle or livestock ownership, representing investment of excess income (Moll 2005;Sidibé 2005). An analysis of ownership of ploughs and livestock for draft power suggest that all regions were much better off in 2007 than in 1993 (Table 9), as there has been a marked increase in agricultural assets, which may be reflecting improved income due to AWM adoption. More data points, particularly between 1993 and 2003, would confirm whether the increase is a result of a consistent linear trend, or whether, for example, 2003 and 2007 are representing considerably higher than average values, due to experiencing an exceptionally good harvest in year 2003 (D'haen 2012).Table 9: Poverty level and AWM expansion over a short period (1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007). Data sources: i) National poverty incidence (%) by region (MEF 2000(MEF for 1994(MEF and 1998;;INSD 2012bINSD for 2003;;MEF 2009MEF for 2006)).ii) An indicator of rural poverty -Proportion (%) of households possessing agricultural equipment (INSD 1994(INSD , 2003(INSD , 2007)).iii) Estimated adoption of SWC measures (National agricultural surveys: INSD 1994; MAHRH and DGPSA 2007) iv) Total number of small reservoirs recorded (Small Reservoirs Database: Cecchi 2008). Note:* There has been discussion over the calculations used to produce these numbers (see Grimm and Günther 2007;Lachaud 2004), saying they should be lower.  (1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007), drawn by the author from the data in Table 9.A rigorous analysis of poverty impact resulting from AWM expansion has not been possible with the limited data available, considering also the number of other influences on poverty/wealth, including nonagricultural income sources, improved infrastructure and access to markets, varying demands on income and external shocks. Attributing impact is discussed further in Section 5. However, it is still useful to place the AWM expansion in the context of available indicators of poverty. Rural wealth as indicated by draft ownership has consistently improved alongside AWM expansion (Figure 10) for the period with overlapping data (1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007). However, the relative degree of improvement in wealth compared to AWM expansion varies across the regions. For all regions except Mouhoun, wealth has increased by more than 75% of 1993 values, while the proportional change in SWC ranges from 20 to 70% increase from Note: National poverty incidence data was inverted so that a positive change in national poverty refers to a reduction in poverty incidence (i.e., an improvement).1993 values. Only in Sahel, Plateau-Central and Est do SWC adoption show similar, though lower, rates of change to rural wealth (50-70%). The change in small reservoirs is generally low over the comparison time period (<15%), as most reservoir expansion had already occurred in the 1980s, except for Sahel where 32% more reservoirs were still to be built after 1993. As the comparison time period captures only the tail end of small reservoir expansion (for the current dataset), it is difficult to make comparisons to wealth, because the impact may have occurred before 1993. Although the national statistics for poverty incidence should be viewed with caution, pending more information on the underlying calculations used, the data suggest at least a 25% improvement in all regions except Mouhoun between 1993 and 2003 or 2006. From the small, current dataset, there is no clear correlation between AWM expansion and wealth; longer and more detailed, overlapping time series are required.Monitoring food security (INSD 2012a) shows that the northern provinces are mostly able to meet their food requirements (190 kg of cereals per capita) through domestic production, although it fluctuates dramatically from year to year (Figure 11). Overlying the year-to-year variation, larger fluctuations can be seen as minimum and maximum figures decrease from 1993/4 to about 1997/8. Since 1998/9, the minimum rates of coverage appear to have been increasing. This general upward trend is particularly noticeable in the Nord region, which also appears to have a smaller range of fluctuation than the other regions. Centre-Nord has somewhat less inter-annual fluctuation as well, apart from the period 1997-2000.Potentially, this is a crude indicator that the higher intensity of SWC promotion carried out in Nord and Centre-Nord, compared to other regions, has resulted in a slight buffer against seasonal variations in these regions. It should be noted that until 2001, Plateau-Central included Kadiogo, the district containing the capital, Ouagadougou. Therefore, its food coverage for that time is depressed compared to the period after 2001, when Kadiogo was no longer included in the Plateau-Central region. Similarly, it is clear from the data that Mouhoun is one of the \"granaries\" of Burkina Faso, producing on average 170% of the country's cereal requirements each year. Despite a wealth of research on the potential benefits of various agricultural production technologies for smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa, there is limited data available on the actual adoption rates and extent of use of these technologies. Hence, there is limited knowledge on their actual impact on smallholder livelihoods. In this report, we focus on two key agricultural water management (AWM) technologies that have generated substantial research and development investments over the past 40 years (Douxchamps et al. 2014) in northern and central Burkina Faso, as identified in an initial study made to address the knowledge gap.From the Small Reservoir Database (Cecchi 2008), which holds records of most reservoirs built up until 2001, it is clear that small reservoir development accelerated in the 1980s, with over 60% of the current stock being built in the 1980s in most regions, and progressed into the 1990s in Sahel and Est.The highest density of small reservoirs occurs mainly on the central plateau (the most densely populated region) and in the northeast of the Sahel region (the driest part of the country). The summary of statistics from the database highlights that despite accounting for at least 60%, and up to 90%, of all reservoirs recorded in Burkina Faso, small reservoirs only carry around 3% of the total volume of stored water. This has important implications for potential upscaling and restoration of small reservoirs as some studies suggest small reservoirs have marginal impact on the overall basin water balance (e.g. De Condappa et al. 2008a), but enable significant benefits to livelihoods and human wellbeing (Venot et al. 2012).In terms of the impact of small reservoir expansion on livelihoods, productivity changes in irrigated cereals (rice) for the same available time period (1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001) suggests a strong increase in rice productivity.Reservoir development is suggesting expansion of rice in the region, particularly in Sahel, Plateau-Central and Centre-Nord. This result is to be expected as the reservoirs are often built for the purpose of initiating or servicing rice irrigation schemes. The closest correlations in rice are found in the highly populated Nord and Centre-Nord and in the arid Sahel, which realized a 6-11% per year productivity increase, albeit still producing small overall quantities. A case study of such a rice irrigation scheme (de Fraiture et al. 2014) documents the development of additional small-scale, informal market gardening that is occurring concurrently, which highlights the importance of the reservoirs for supplemental irrigation. Their multiple-use function is especially important for livelihood diversification as a coping strategy in highly populated areas where land availability is limited as well as in dry areas where water is scarce. A detailed multiple regression analysis of the additional benefits of supplemental irrigation in comparison to other crops was not possible in this study. Nevertheless, it is essential for evaluating and establishing the best management strategies to ensure sustained benefits from small reservoirs.Only a brief comparison between small reservoirs and poverty-related indicators (poverty levels, ownership of agricultural assets and food security) was possible in this review, because the overlap in time between the respective datasets was insignificant (less than 10 years and only two data points for poverty). The most significant reservoir development occurred in the 1980s, which is before the time period covered by the poverty indicators (1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007). Hence, any immediate impacts on poverty would not have not been captured. However, in Sahel, the one region which had significant reservoir expansion after 1990 (about 25% between 1993 and 2001), both national statistics and ownership of agricultural capital (draft animals and equipment) suggest similar or greater improvements in wealth from 1993 to 1998. Nonetheless, this comparison is based on only two data points for poverty, i.e., in 1993 and 1998. Currently it is assumed that there will be large potential benefits from the expansion of small reservoirs in improving water accessibility to smallholder farmers, without having any significant impact on the overall water balance (Venot et al. 2012). However, the benefits must be balanced against reservoirs' hydrological (in)efficiency and the negative impacts of mismanagement and siltation (Venot et al. 2012).It is therefore critical to access better time series that allow a more accurate assessment linking small reservoir development to more sustainable livelihoods.The wide-scale dissemination of soil and water conservation (SWC) technologies began on the central plateau in the 1980s. By 2006, SWC practices had successfully expanded, with evidence of adoption rates (the percentage of cultivated land where SWC is in use) of at least 25% in Plateau-Central and Sahel; 28% in Nord; and 38% in Centre-Nord. Outside of this central area, which has been the core of SWC promotion projects for 30 years or more, and within the remaining study area that receives less than 700 mm rainfall per year, adoption rates were a modest 10-20%. These adoption rates are a minimum estimate derived from the use of anti-erosion measures, predominantly stone and earth bunds, zai pits and windbreaks, in fields surveyed for the annual agricultural survey and represent the proportion of cultivated land enhanced with SWC. The increase in the peripheral provinces, though modest (10-15% adoption), is heartening as some doubled their 1993 rates. The Sahel region, in particular, has by far had the largest increase from around 5% up to 25% adoption. Such a large expansion of SWC measures in an arid environment, particularly if used to rehabilitate degraded land (e.g., Reij et al. 2009), would agree with and explain the evidence of \"greening of the Sahel\" that has been analyzed through remote sensing (e.g., Haglund et al. 2011). Therefore, we speculate that the government support and emphasis on promoting SWC to counter erosion, with the help of the large international projects, has been successful beyond the original geographical scope of the projects. There is also clear evidence of a drop in rates of uptake across the 700 mm threshold of annual rainfall. In the southernmost provinces of Mouhoun and Est, which receive 700-900 mm of rainfall per year, adoption has remained minimal (Appendix A3), which is a consequence of SWC being less productive in higher rainfall regimes where the in-situ rainwater harvesting technologies (stone bunds, zai) retain too much water and cause waterlogging (IEG 2011; Barbier et al. 2009;Roose et al. 1999). Crops may be lost from flooding in more seasons than they benefit from the rainwater harvesting. However, vegetative barriers, as opposed to mineral barriers, are suggested as a means of benefitting from SWC in higher rainfall regimes as they are porous and will use excess water, although they can still cause waterlogging (Spaan 2003;Zougmoré et al. 2009). Vegetative barriers were excluded from this study as competing for water in semi-arid and arid regions, but warrant further study.Comparing SWC adoption to yield changes, poverty and food security proved somewhat more relevant than for small reservoirs, as the time series overlap well (1980s-2006). Unfortunately, the concrete data on SWC adoption is limited to two data points (1993 and 2006), which limits the potential of the analyses.Obtaining access to more data points to fill out the SWC time series is key to confirming the initial findings made in this study. Regional yields of major rain-fed cereals have improved over the period 1984-2008, indicating a 1-4% increase per year for normalized 5-year moving averages. Millet presents the most coherent improvements, almost doubling in yield across the study area, as does sorghum in Nord, Centre-Nord and Sahel where SWC has been most widely adopted. Furthermore, yield per capita has increased consistently in Nord. Comparing the magnitude and timing of increases in millet and sorghum yields with SWC adoption suggests closely comparable rates of increase in Nord, Centre-Nord and Mouhoun, which supports the hypothesis that the introduction, adoption and uptake of SWC is successful in improving yields and ultimately livelihoods. Although still increasing together in Sahel and Plateau-Central, the expansion of SWC adoption has far outstripped yields, growing 10% -12% per year compared to yields (1%-4%). Firstly, yields in these two regions are more variable than in the rest of the study area, which depresses the average rate of increase. Furthermore, these two regions are the most constrained for land (Plateau-Central) and water (Sahel), and thus lower yields could be expected. Further data, to extend the time series as well as to fill in gaps, will be important for producing a detailed multiple regression analysis that illuminates how SWC adoption interacts with yield, together with other constraining and enabling factors.The available measurements of regional poverty levels, ownership of agricultural equipment and food security suggest overall improvements over the past 20 years. However, greater detail in the time series is still required to assess how significant these improvements have been and whether a strong relation can be determined in relation to the normalized yield and outscaling of AWM technologies such as small reservoirs and SWC. Although the SWC statistics do overlap with the poverty statistics, both datasets are only represented by a few data points (1993, 2003, 2005/6), presenting snapshots rather than trends. For example, both 2003 and 2007 yielded very good harvests, whereas in 2005 late rains led to very poor harvests nation wide and low food sufficiency (D'haen 2012, p69), a fact reflected in the worsening of poverty indicators. Greater detail in both time series would allow an assessment to be made as to whether areas with higher SWC adoption were buffered against the crisis in 2005 or not. However, the limited data available suggests that a positive linkage exists. This indicates that, while AWM adoption is intuitively important to poverty reduction, the link between improved yields and reduced poverty levels is very complex and indirect. Hence, more data and analysis is required to shed light on the interaction at the regional level. The benefits of AWM have been proven in field trials. However, more data is required to conclusively link widespread regional AWM adoption to improved regional yield.Outside the core area of Nord and Centre-Nord, Sahel, in particular, has higher and more consistent yield improvements in rain-fed cereals and rice compared to the other regions. This may be an indirect benefit of both small reservoirs and SWC measures retaining water in a landscape with highly temporal variation of rainfall and thereby contributing to groundwater storage. However, this is an issue for more detailed, future research.This study provides a starting point for exploring the link between improving agriculture (AWM adoption) and achieving widespread impact on livelihoods, in the form of regionally improved food security and poverty reduction, via increased yields. However, the study has only analyzed the startand end points in the outcome-impact pathway (Figure 12). It has also only covered a limited number of aspects of the pathway. Douxchamps et al. (2014) explain how achieving sustainable impact from AWM uptake and outscaling is contingent on the successful achievement several other components, beyond simply introducing the AWM technology. Complementary \"levers of change\" by a range of actors include reinforcing the knowledge base, providing institutional support and using best practices in implementation approach -all set within a conceptual understanding of landscape approaches, with active communication and integration between actors. Furthermore, AWM adoption is one strategy among many factors contributing to enhancing yield, food security and income. For example, rainfall variability is an overriding determinant of actual productivity, with short-term and long-term periodicity clearly evident in the yield data. Moreover, adopting AWM interventions is only one of several options for changing the management of the cropping system to achieve better yields; others include adding fertilizers, managing pest and weeds, using hybrid varieties of seeds and implementing best and most timely mix of crop management strategies. Examples of the drivers of AWM adoption from the other components beyond the technology itself (its effectiveness for improving yield) include the significant external investments, in the order of USD 641 million, which have been allocated over the period 1970 to 2009 toward agricultural water management projects, including SWC, in conjunction with long-term, government-driven programmes (Sidibé 2005;Douxchamps et al. 2014). Similar support may be driving fertilizer distribution or microcredit promotion in particular regions, which needs to be investigated in association to AWM adoption to scale. Are the multiple system interventions enabling yield impact to scale? Or can AWM adoption as a single intervention alone be the contributor to the yield gains? Similarly, as in Botoni and Reij (2009) and Douxchamps et al. (2014), nonfarm income (e.g., remittances), population dynamics, national politics and infrastructure development, including changes in access to markets and information, are all part of the other necessary components for sustainable impact. Roads accessible during all seasons are critical for providing access to markets and their absence therefore hinders the sale of excess production and access to inputs to improve production (e.g., Fan et al. 2004).Full exploration of the contribution to specific development goals by AWM adoption at a societal scale would require multiple regressions analyses with a more substantive datasets. This was out of the scope of this study due to the lack of consistent data on development as well as on AWM adoption across regions. Such an analysis is a critical next step in gaining a better understanding of how to achieve sustainable impact on livelihoods from agricultural development and investments. The purpose of this study is to synthesize evidence on adoption of AWM interventions and the contribution to development goals such as yield increase, food security and poverty alleviation. It aims to develop proof of the often assumed causalities between AWM development and yield improvements to scale, to complement the case study literature (e.g., Sawadogo 2011;Reij et al. 2005) that shows, at the field-scale, how successful AWM technologies can be at farmer and community scale. The study set out to provide a sub-national overview of AWM adoption and its impact on yield and poverty in Burkina Faso.The preliminary study has shown that• Soil and water conservation (SWC) technologies have expanded substantially in the study area of north central Burkina Faso between 1980 and 2005 in provinces receiving 700 mm mean annual rainfall or less, with evidence of adoption rates of at least 25-40% coverage of cultivated area in Centre-Nord, Nord, Plateau-Central and Sahel, and a minimum of 10-20% in the rest of the study area• There has been a gradual increase in regional yields of around 3% per year from the 1980s to 2008, leading to a 150%-200% increase in absolute yields over 30 years until 2010• Rates of increase between rain-fed cereal yields and SWC adoption in Nord and Centre-Nord are particularly aligned, and there is a close correlation between rice productivity and small reservoir expansion in Nord, Centre-Nord and Sahel• Poverty and food security indicators suggest improvements in the well-being of farmers since the 1990s with an average 25% reduction in poverty incidence across the study area and an estimated 4% per year increase in food security in Nord and Plateau Central• To attribute AWM adoption to the outcomes in development is likely an oversimplification. AWM adoption should be further analyzed, taking at least rainfall patterns, crop/seed use and fertilizer management into account over the same time, controlling for co-benefits in yieldsAchieving impact on food security and poverty alleviation via AWM uptake and outscaling is a product of multiple inter-dependent components (technology, knowledge, approaches, institutions, concepts) and just one of many strategies to achieving livelihood improvement. More data and long-term analysis is needed to illuminate the AWM impact pathway at provincial and regional scale to clarify levers of change and \"best bet\" investments in rural development. Further analysis of the regional yield trends and more detailed time series for household wealth and food security indicators is needed to further explore the causal evidence of AWM development and rural food security gains or poverty alleviation effects at a subnational scale. This review, therefore, provides a starting point for future work."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d4ac9dedb127738957cd56cdb5e0e341","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1f4a75da-95c1-42d7-b4fb-d918ab39b70e/retrieve","id":"611850588"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"31ec4fdd-0b6d-4b6b-a5fc-e76092005290","content":"En Nicaragua el café ocupa el tercer lugar de la superficie cultivada (11%) y, después del maíz y del frijol, es el rubro agrícola que más contribuye al PIB (10%). El 96% de las fincas cafetaleras están en manos de pequeños productores (menos de 20 manzanas 1 ), los cuales representan un 50% del área cultivada del café. Alrededor del 95% del café en Nicaragua se produce bajo sombra y utiliza diversas variedades como Caturra, Borbón, Maragogipe, Catimor, Típica y Cautilla. El café es una fuente muy importante de empleo en el sector rural. Se estima que esta actividad genera un 53% del empleo agrícola y el 14% del total de todo el país. Alrededor del 85% de la producción total de café se vende en el mercado externo y un 15% se consume localmente. Una gran parte de la exportación se realiza a través de intermediarios: solo un 46% de la producción exportable viene directamente del pequeño productor. Existen grandes inequidades dentro del sector del café en Nicaragua, donde grandes empresas concentran gran parte de los ingresos. Nicaragua cuenta con 44.000 productores que cultivan café como rubro principal como parte de un sistema integrado. Esto quiere decir que además de café, cultivan maíz, frijol, hortalizas y musáceas, cítricos, y raíces como la malanga. De ellos, unos 30.000 son pequeños productores que cultivan áreas de entre tan solo 0.5 y 5 manzanas y a los que les resulta muy difícil acceder al financiamiento, tecnologías y apoyo técnico necesarios para modernizar su producción. Los productores medianos y grandes, por otro lado, tienen acceso o al menos cuentan con los recursos suficientes para poder pagar los servicios que les facilitan mejorar su producción.1 Una manzana son 0.7 hectáreas.Fotografía: Balli, Guatemala. Biodiversity International.Además de la alta volatilidad de los precios del café a nivel internacional, el cambio climático contribuye a la vulnerabilidad de los caficultores de Nicaragua. Modelos climáticos desarrollados por el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) en los últimos años estiman que la temperatura media anual en Mesoamérica subirá de 2 a 2.5ºC, siendo Nicaragua uno de los países que probablemente experimentará un incremento más importantes junto con Honduras y México (Läderach et al., 2011). Los modelos predicen también reducciones de precipitación anual en la mayor parte de Mesoamérica, siendo Honduras y Nicaragua los países que sufrirán los cambios más dramáticos, con disminuciones de la pluviosidad entre un 5% y 10%. Se espera además que el sector agrícola nicaragüense se vea afectado por posibles pérdidas de suelo en las zonas de ladera provocadas por fenómenos climáticos extremos, pérdida de nichos climáticos y de adaptabilidad de los cultivos y variaciones en la presencia de plagas y enfermedades.Con respecto al cultivo del café, concretamente, se espera que debido a las nuevas condiciones climáticas, algunas áreas dejen de ser aptas para el café (en los municipios de San Ramón, Tuma La Dalia, Matagalpa). Otros municipios como Jinotega, Nueva Segovia y Madriz, seguirán siendo aptas para el cultivo de café, pero su producción probablemente implicará la adopción de nuevas prácticas agronómicas. Por otro lado, un incremento en la variabilidad de las lluvias podría tener un impacto significativo sobre el rubro, cuyo ciclo de producción es muy dependiente de los patrones de lluvia. Adicionalmente, una mayor variabilidad interanual de las condiciones climáticas, incluyendo un aumento en la frecuencia o la duración de los eventos del Niño, podrían dar lugar a mayores fluctuaciones en cantidad y calidad de la cosecha de café así como la aparición de nuevas plagas y enfermedades de comportamiento cíclico que se presentan en el cultivo, lo que podría afectar la capacidad de los agricultores y de las cooperativas de participar y cumplir los contratos de venta a largo plazo. La esperada consecuente alteración del crecimiento de los frutos y de los ciclos de floración y maduración podrían resultar asimismo en menos granos, más pequeños y de menor calidad, lo que supondría menos ingresos en las familias, con un consecuente incremento de los costos de producción de la cosecha.Una de las soluciones que se avistan como más promisorias para hacer frente al cambio climático es la de adaptar las practicas agronómicas y cultivos a las nuevas condiciones para poder seguir cultivando en las zonas que a pesar de los cambios esperados seguirán siendo aptas para el cultivo del café. Tanto a nivel local como nacional, existe un amplio espectro de herramientas que pueden ser utilizadas para promover e incentivar la adopción de este tipo de medidas. Ejemplos de ellas son el desarrollo y la adopción de nuevas variedades de café, el cultivo de otras especies agrícolas, control de la erosión y el fuego, opciones de producción orgánicas y la mejora del manejo de tejidos y de la sombra.Limitantes como tecnificación escasa, la amplia dispersión de los caficultores en el territorio y la débil organización de los mismos, los altos y generalizados niveles de pobreza, la ausencia de garantías prendarias por poseer áreas mínimas de producción, y la ausencia de préstamos a bajo interés aumentan la vulnerabilidad de las familias productoras de café, especialmente en el caso de los pequeños caficultores dada su escasa capacidad de inversión en sus unidades productivas. No obstante, durante los últimos años, los pequeños productores se han organizado en cooperativas de servicios a través de las cuales tienen acceso a una red de entidades financieras no convencionales y a proyectos sociales que permiten al pequeño agricultor obtener créditos y garantías hipotecarias que pueden equipararse a las que ofrecen los bancos. En el momento de realizar este estudio, existían en Nicaragua unas 54 organizaciones trabajando con 240 grupos de productores de café. Los pequeños productores no organizados normalmente venden su cosecha a intermediarios informales, mientras que muchos de los pequeños productores organizados enNoviembre, 2016 cooperativas tienen vinculación directa con mercados de nicho y con importadores y tostadores en los principales mercados de Estados Unidos y Europa.En este contexto, y en el marco de un proyecto denominado \"Planes de Inversión en Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima\" implementado por CEDECO, HIVOS, Bioversity Internacional, el Centro Mundial de Agroforestería (ICRAF) y la Universidad de Vermont, Bioversity International llevó a cabo un estudio sobre el marco político e institucional que rodea la producción del café por pequeños productores en Nicaragua. Los objetivos del mismo fueron entender y documentar cómo las políticas públicas que regulan la caficultura en Nicaragua así como el modo de funcionar de las cooperativas agrícolas influyen en las prácticas agrícolas de los pequeños productores de café en Nicaragua, y en particular su capacidad para adoptar medidas que les permitan adaptar la producción cafetalera a los efectos del cambio climático. Este estudio se basó en una revisión bibliográfica inicial suplementada y contrastada con investigación original realizada a través de encuestas a expertos involucrados en la producción del café en Nicaragua. El estudio se complementa además con un mapeo de los actores involucrados en las cadenas de café en Nicaragua desarrollado por HIVOS bajo el mismo proyecto. El presente documento presenta los resultados principales del estudio y propone una serie de medidas que podrían mejorar el apoyo de las políticas y organizaciones públicas, así como de las cooperativas agrícolas, al pequeño productor de café en Nicaragua. Las Leyes que rigen la caficultura en Nicaragua son principalmente la Ley No. 368 del café y la Ley No. 853 para la transformación y desarrollo de la caficultura. Aparte de estas leyes, existen otras más genéricas como las de comercio u otras que tienen incidencia en el sector agropecuario y que, sin ser específicas, también afectan al sector. Otra ley relevante es la Ley No. 499 de las cooperativas, que otorga y regula la facultad de los productores a reunirse si así lo desean. El cuadro 1 muestra una lista de las principales leyes que influyen de algún modo la caficultura nicaragüense.La Ley del café constituyó el Consejo Nacional del Café (CONACAFE) como única entidad gubernamental dedicada a la caficultura en Nicaragua. El cuadro 2 presenta los actores principales en la cadena productiva del café nicaragüense. Según lo establecido por la Ley del café, CONACAFE debería financiarse exclusivamente a partir de la adquisición de 0,50 centavos de dólar por quintal de café exportado. Esta cantidad debía ser recaudada por los exportadores del café, responsables a su vez de ingresarlos en el banco encargado del fideicomiso para las actividades de CONACAFE. Sin embargo, desde que dicha ley entró en revisión en 2013, es el gobierno quien da apoyo financiero directamente a la institución. Recientemente, CONACAFE promovió la creación del Programa Nacional para la Transformación y Desarrollo de la Caficultura, aprobada mediante la Ley No. 853 \"Ley para la Transformación y Desarrollo de la Caficultura\", aprobada en Diciembre de 2013. Con el fin de implementar dicha ley, el gobierno instaló oficialmente el 31 de julio de 2014 en el Banco Central de Nicaragua la Comisión Nacional de Transformación y Desarrollo de la Caficultura (CONATRADEC). Esta comisión está conformada por ocho miembros del sector privado, cooperativas y asociaciones, más los integrantes del Sistema Nacional de Producción, Consumo y Comercio, y representantes de la banca. Entre sus funciones destacan el desarrollo de planes de acción para modernizar la caficultura, atender diversas demandas del sector como prevenir y subsanar los efectos de la roya y otras plagas del café, y disponer de financiamiento y apoyo técnico para los productores.Fotografía: Samarkanda, Nicaragua. Biodiversity International.Noviembre, 2016 Política de Seguridad y Soberanía Alimentaria y Nutricional desde el Sector Público Agropecuario y Rural. Publicada en 2009 por el Ministerio Agropecuario y Forestal (MAGFOR), promueve la producción y el consumo de granos básicos (maíz, fríjol, sorgo) por pequeños y medianos productores a través de medidas relacionadas con la tenencia de la tierra, acceso a nuevos mercados, acceso a crédito, infraestructura para el comercio agropecuario, oferta a insumos y estabilidad de precios. Ley No. 717: Ley Creadora del Fondo para Compra de Tierras con Equidad de Género para Mujeres Rurales. Aprobada en 2010, establece la creación de un fondo para otorgar créditos a mujeres con el fin de mejorar la calidad de vida del núcleo familiar, el acceso a los recursos financieros, priorizando a aquellas mujeres cabezas de familia, de bajos recursos económicos. Ley No. 368: Ley del Café. Aprobada en el año 2000 con el objetivo de fomentar y desarrollar el sector cafetalero a través de una serie de ventajas fiscales. La ley establece además la creación del Consejo Nacional del Café (CONACAFE). Estrategia para la Reconversión y Diversificación Competitiva de la Caficultura Nicaragüense y Seguridad Alimentaria. Diseñada en 2004 por el MAGFOR y el CONACAFE con el fin de movilizar fondos públicos y privados para desarrollar distintas actividades y reactivar la producción de café. Programa Nacional de Transformación y Desarrollo de la Caficultura. Presentado por MAGFOR en Junio de 2012 con la finalidad de apoyar a los pequeños y medianos productores que han experimentado daños por la roya a través de la ampliación de la oferta y facilitación del acceso al crédito y asistencia técnica para las actividades fundamentales del proceso productivo del café. Noviembre, 2016En el momento de realizar este estudio, la CONATRADEC acababa de ponerse en marcha: el consejo había sido estructurado, las prioridades se habían establecido y se le había dado coherencia al Programa Nacional para la Transformación y Desarrollo de la Caficultura, el cual tiene como principal objetivo \"la transformación y desarrollo de la caficultura que conduzca a una mayor producción, productividad e ingresos de manera sostenible en armonía con el medio ambiente, con el concurso de todos los agentes que participan en la actividad de la caficultura para contribuir a mejorar el nivel de vida de sus familias, así como el ordenamiento de todas las actividades de producción, beneficiado, procesamiento, industrialización y comercialización del café producido en el territorio nacional\" (Ley 853, Gaceta oficial Nicaragua 2013). A grandes rasgos, lo que el programa prevé es el establecimiento de un mecanismo de creación y administración de un fondo para financiar el programa. El fondo será constituido con los aportes en dólares que se obtengan por cada quintal exportado de café durante cada año calendario, con un mínimo de 1 dólar cuando el precio sea menor o igual a U$140, y hasta un máximo de U$4 cuando el precio del café supere los U$185. En un principio, los primeros productores en ser atendidos por el programa serán los pequeños, aunque se espera que progresivamente los medianos y grandes productores se beneficien igualmente del mismo. La CONATRADEC prevé, con el tiempo, incrementar la asistencia técnica en el territorio, desarrollando las capacidades de los técnicos, promoviendo la alfabetización entre los agricultores y el establecimiento de un laboratorio disponible para todos los caficultores y cuyo uso siga contribuyendo al fondo.Noviembre, 2016Cuadro 2. Actores principales en la cadena productiva del café en Nicaragua* Ministerio Agropecuario y Forestal (MAGFOR). Rector de las políticas públicas agropecuarias y forestales. Implementa el Programa Nacional de Transformación y Desarrollo de la Caficultura entre los pequeños agricultores y los aspectos de este programa relacionados con el cambio climático. Ministerio de Economía Familiar Comunitaria, Cooperativa y Asociativa (MEFCCA). Está a cargo de definir e implementar las políticas públicas orientadas al desarrollo de la \"de agricultura climáticamente inteligente\" (CSA por sus siglas en inglés) a nivel nacional. -Programa NICADAPTA financiado por FIDA implementa actividades relacionadas a la adaptación al cambio Climático en el sector café y cacao. Ministerio de Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (MARENA). Sus competencias incluyen la reforestación y la protección de recursos naturales en paisajes cafetaleros a nivel nacional. Ministerio de Fomento, Industria y Comercio (MIFIC). Elabora e implementa políticas públicas para el fomento industrial agropecuario (promueve el valor agregado en el café). Centro de Trámite de las Exportaciones (CETREX). Facilita el proceso de exportación del café. Comisión Nacional del Café (CONACAFE). Coordina los esfuerzos de todos los actores del sector cafetalero para el cumplimiento de la Ley No. 368 del Café.Establecida en seguimiento a la Ley de Transformación y Desarrollo de la Caficultura para la implementación de la Ley y los programas desarrollados bajo esta ley. Organismo Internacional Regional de Sanidad Agropecuaria (OIRSA). Apoya los esfuerzos de los Estados miembros, para lograr el desarrollo de sus planes de salud animal y sanidad vegetal y el fortalecimiento de sus sistemas cuarentenarios.. Actualmente coordina el programa regional de apoyo al control de la roya del cafeto. Consejo Agropecuario Centroamericano. Es un organismo del Sistema de Integración Centroamericana (SICA) encargado de proponer y ejecutar acciones, programas y proyectos regionales en el campo agropecuario, forestal y pesquero, tanto en materia de políticas de sanidad vegetal y animal como aspectos relativos a la investigación científica y la modernización productiva. Comité Regional de Recursos Hidráulicos del Istmo Centroamericano-Es un organismo técnico intergubernamental del Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana (SICA), especializado en los campos de la meteorología y el clima, la hidrología y los recursos hídricos e hidráulicos. Su objetivo principal es promover el desarrollo y la conservación de los recursos derivados del clima, principalmente los hídricos y su utilización sostenible, incluido en la producción del café. Instituto Nicaragüense de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Genera y promueve soluciones científicas y tecnológicas para la caficultura nicaragüense.Noviembre, 2016 Fundación para el Desarrollo Tecnológico, Agropecuario y Forestal de Nicaragua (FUNICA).Promueve servicios tecnológicos que mejoran la competitividad de la cadena del café -entre otrasy la seguridad alimentaria mediante la investigación articulada con las universidades públicas, empresas privadas y organizaciones de productores/as. Brinda asistencia técnica y capacitación y promueve el mercado de tecnologías. Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE). Instituto de investigación de cobertura regional que genera y transfiere conocimientos en el área de la agroecología y adaptación al cambio climático. Asociación de Cafés Especiales de Nicaragua (ACEN). Fomenta la producción de café de alta calidad y el desarrollo del mercado de café especial. Asociación de Exportadores de Café de Nicaragua (EXCAN). Gremio representativo a nivel nacional y miembro del Consejo Superior de la Empresa Privada (COSEP). Defiende los intereses del sector ante impuestos, trámites de exportación, exceso de burocracia, etc. establecido por el gobierno. Asociación de Productores y Exportadores de Nicaragua (APEN). Fortalece la cadena de valor del café y lo posiciona de una mejor manera en el mercado internacional. Asociación de Cooperativas de Pequeños Productores de Café de Nicaragua (CAFENICA). Organización representativa de los productores y productoras a nivel nacional  Central de Cooperativas de Servicios Múltiples (PRODECOOP). Central que aglutina cooperativas de base de productores/as de café convencional y orgánico. Central de Cooperativas Cafetaleras del Norte (CECOCAFEN)-Cooperativa de segundo piso que representa a cooperativas de caficultores/as de café orgánico y tradicional. Unión de Cooperativas Agropecuarias de Jinotega (SOPPEXCCA). Central que aglutina cooperativas de productores/as de café orgánico y convencional.Noviembre, 2016Son numerosos los esfuerzos e iniciativas realizados desde las distintas instituciones descritas anteriormente para fomentar el desarrollo y mejora del sector café en Nicaragua. Sin embargo, el impacto que éstos han tenido a nivel del pequeño caficultor ha sido limitado debido a deficiencias en la implementación de las distintas políticas y leyes y de los pocos recursos con los que cuentan los organismos públicos para hacerse más presentes en el campo. Diferentes ejemplos ilustran estas deficiencias: Hay una percepción general de que la ley del café nunca se ha llegado a implementar; asimismo, el fondo para la compra de tierras por mujeres establecido por la Ley No. 717 nunca llegó a aplicarse (La Prensa, 2016) y el Plan de Adaptación a la Variabilidad y el Cambio Climático, desarrollado por el Gobierno en 2013 con apoyo de varias organizaciones de investigación y otras ONGs y el cual ha recibido muchos elogios a nivel internacional, todavía no se ha traducido en medidas concretas (La Prensa, 2016). En los últimos años se ha incrementado la preocupación de que la CONATRADEC, que se ha configurado como un programa promisorio para la caficultura nicaragüense, no tenga los medios económicos y técnicos necesarios para llegar de modo efectivo a todas las familias cafetaleras.Los aspectos anteriormente descritos afectan directamente la participación de organizaciones de investigación y desarrollo de Nicaragua en iniciativas a nivel regional e internacional que requieren la participación de agencias gubernamentales para su implementación. Sin embargo, también existen oportunidades sobre las que el sector cafetalero nicaragüense podría apoyarse para su mejora y desarrollo: Precios preferenciales pagados por la calidad del café producido en Nicaragua; Clima propicio para el desarrollo del cultivo; Fuerte arraigo de la cultura cafetalera en Nicaragua; Ganancias ambientales asociadas al manejo del cultivo; Apoyo de entidades internacionales como el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, el Fondo Internacional de Desarrollo Agrícola (FIDA), o el Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica (BCIE) que están interesadas en el desarrollo de una caficultura competitiva y sostenible; Gestión gubernamental en colaboración con ONGs para la implementación de programas y proyectos regionales como el Programa Centroamericano de Gestión Integral de la Roya del Café (PROCAGICA) y el Programa Cooperativo Regional para el Desarrollo Tecnológico y Modernización de la Caficultura (PROMECAFE); Asistencia técnica a pequeños productores a través de la red de técnicos del Instituto Nicaragüense de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), mediante el modelo de Fincas de Investigación e Innovación Tecnológica; Existencia de canales de comercialización consolidados que facilitan la comercialización; Existencia de gremios de productores organizados con capacidad de gestión y de formulación de estrategias y políticas; Existencia en el país de centros de investigación y universidades orientadas al sector cafetalero.Noviembre, 2016A pesar de que algunas de las iniciativas públicas aquí presentadas están lejos de una implementación efectiva, su mera existencia demuestra un interés de garantizar apoyo público al sector del café.Ante la complejidad del contexto institucional referente a la caficultura en Nicaragua, el rol de las cooperativas se hace fundamental para el pequeño agricultor. Una cooperativa es, según la Ley No. 499 o Ley general de cooperativas, \"una asociación autónoma de personas que se unen voluntariamente para hacer frente a sus necesidades y aspiraciones económicas, sociales y culturales comunes por medio de una empresa de propiedad conjunta y democráticamente controlada\". El Instituto Nicaragüense de Fomento Cooperativo (INFOCOOP) tiene la autoridad y la responsabilidad de aplicar esta ley y su reglamento.El cooperativismo cafetero en Nicaragua ha sido objeto de estudio por numerosos autores (por ejemplo Mendoza et al., 2012). Los comienzos del mismo se sitúan en la década de los 80 con la reforma agraria y la constitución de las cooperativas de base. En la década de 1990, las cooperativas se encontraron con crecientes dificultades para acceder al crédito, asistencia técnica y a los mercados como consecuencia de las incipientes políticas de liberalización del mercado, las cuales se tradujeron en una creciente privatización y una retirada de las intervenciones estatales. Con el fin de hacer frente a los nuevos retos, las cooperativas de base se fueron uniendo en organizaciones de segundo nivel (cooperativas de cooperativas), pasando así desarrollar servicios de exportación y procesamiento del café dirigido a mercados diferenciados. Cuando las cooperativas se reconocieron como entidades jurídicas en la Constitución y en la Ley nacional de cooperativas los pequeños productores comenzaron a ver en las cooperativas la oportunidad para acceder a la tierra, asistencia técnica, financiamiento, procesamiento del café y mercados, todo lo cual era muy difícil de lograr de manera individual. Progresivamente, las organizaciones de segundo nivel fueron articulándose en organizaciones de tercer nivel.Las cooperativas podrán ser: de consumo, de ahorro y crédito, agrícolas, de producción y de trabajo, de vivienda, pesquera, de servicio público, culturales, escolares, juveniles y otras de interés de la población, sin que esta enumeración se considere limitada.Son las que se constituyen para los fines siguientes: a) Explotación de las tierras pertenecientes a los asociados. b) Adquisición de abonos, plantas, semillas, maquinaria agrícola y demás elementos de la producción primaria y fomento agrícola o pecuario. c) Ventas, exportación, conservación, elaboración, transporte o mejoras de productos.En la década de los 2000 se creó CAFENICA como cooperativa de tercer nivel. Al momento de desarrollar este estudio, CAFENICA estaba integrada por 11 cooperativas que en conjunto aglutinaban alrededor de 10,337 pequeños caficultores (24% de los pequeños productores de café de Nicaragua) y un considerable porcentaje de la producción y exportación del café de Nicaragua. Todas sus cooperativas son certificadas \"Comercio Justo\". Asimismo, una gran parte del café orgánico certificado en Nicaragua está concentrado en las organizaciones asociadas a CAFENICA. El cuadro 3 presenta el ejemplo de una de las cooperativas de segundo grado integradas en CAFENICA y de los servicios que ofrece a las cooperativas de base que forman parte de ella.Noviembre, 2016Cuadro 4. PRODECOOP: Ejemplo de cooperativa de segundo grado La Central de Cooperativas de Servicios Múltiples tiene como misión contribuir a mejorar la calidad de vida de las familias de pequeños/as productores y productoras asociados/as a sus cooperativas de base, y de las comunidades en Las Segovias. El apoyo de PRODECOOP ser articula en torno a los siguientes elementos: Servicios de calidad en toda la cadena de valor del café, miel de abejas y otros productos orgánicos y no orgánicos, con énfasis en la producción, transformación y comercialización. Principios y valores cooperativos, de comercio justo, equidad de género y generacional, adaptación al cambio climático y seguridad y soberanía alimentaria, con estructura eficiente de dirección democrática; y gerencia comprometida con el desarrollo. Y el compromiso, capacidad y experiencia de sus colaboradores en gestión de recursos financieros, técnicos, materiales, y la capacidad de incidencia política; en favor del desarrollo organizacional de sus cooperativas de base.Algunos datos de interés:  PRODECCOP es una cooperativa de segundo grado: central de cooperativas integrada por 38 cooperativas de primer grado. Estas cooperativas de base están constituidas por entre 20 hasta más de 300 productores, dando lugar en conjunto a más de 2300 productores de café de los cuales alrededor del 30% son mujeres y 1096 productores de café orgánico. PRODECOOP es una organización cooperativa certificada, el 100% de los socios trabajan con el Comercio Justo. En promedio exporta 60,000 sacos de café, de los cuales el 50% del volumen total es orgánico. Los productores y productoras se ubican en diferentes comunidades y zonas cafetaleras de los departamentos de Estelí, Madriz y Nueva Segovia, al norte de Nicaragua. PRODECOOP integra además a otros productores de granos básicos, siendo sin embargo, condición fundamental que produzcan también café entre sus cultivos. Cada una de las cooperativas miembras tiene su propia junta directiva, junta de vigilancia, etc. así como sus propias reuniones mensuales y se van financiando con la venta de café. Brindan servicios tales como comercialización, desarrollo cooperativo que incluye asistencia técnica, capacitaciones, crédito, fortalecimiento institucional de las cooperativas, mejoramiento de la calidad del café y proyectos sociales. PRODECOOP ha establecido además un fondo para la compra de tierras para esposas e hijas de los socios, \"Fondo de emergencia\" que fue aprobado en 2012 a partir de la crisis de la roya, \"crédito para la compra de tierra solo para mujeres\" que tiene como principal objetivo incentivar que estas se independicen, créditos para el beneficiado húmedo, para apicultura, para combatir hongos (control de plagas: broca), para el establecimiento de silos metálicos. Los créditos otorgados por PRODECOOP están principalmente destinados a los socios de las cooperativas de base, rara vez a las propias cooperativas. Los requisitos para que un agricultor pueda ser beneficiarios del crédito es que 1) esté certificado como socio, 2) produzca café y 3) que tenga capacidad de pago.Noviembre, 2016La unión de las cooperativas en organizaciones más complejas ha permitido que éstas hayan adquirido progresivamente capacidad y competencia para abordar temas de género, capacidad institucional, asociación y gestión empresarial. Asimismo, ha permitido la inversión en beneficios húmedos, investigación tecnológica, incidencia en políticas públicas y creación de mejores canales de comercialización. Cabe destacar los esfuerzos que desde las cooperativas se están haciendo hacia la inclusión de mujeres y jóvenes en las mismas (mediante, por ejemplo, el apoyo a la participación de la mujer en proyectos, acceso a créditos, participación en órganos dentro de sus cooperativas y que estas tengan un comité de género).Las cooperativas también han trabajado mucho hacia la diversificación de productos y actividades económicas en el mundo rural y en el establecimiento de alianzas con empresas privadas. Las cooperativas han jugado un papel fundamental a la hora de conectar al pequeño productor con agencias de cooperación y organizaciones internacionales interesadas en el desarrollo del sector.En la última década algunas cooperativas vienen haciendo esfuerzos para combatir el cambio climático. Actualmente muchas cooperativas ponien mucho énfasis en promover la mejora de las prácticas de manejo del café mediante la promoción de sistemas agroforestales y el buen manejo de la sombra. Se han desarrollado talleres sobre el uso responsable de agroquímicos y del agua y sobre el tratamiento de las aguas mieles. PRODECOOP, por ejemplo, promueve entre sus miembros la diversificación productiva mediante el apoyo a los agricultores en la producción y comercialización de miel. Coordina también varias iniciativas que buscan garantizar la seguridad alimentaria de los caficultores mediante el cultivo de huertos de patio y otras que apoyan la realización de obras para reciclar el agua.En particular, desde CAFENICA se está tratando de trabajar además en la sensibilización de los caficultores sobre el concepto de \"cambio climático\", todavía muy abstracto para muchos de los pequeños caficultores. En este sentido, con fondos de donantes internacionales, CAFENICA ha establecido estaciones meteorológicas automatizadas con el fin de poder relacionar las condiciones meteorológicas con la productividad de los cultivos de café, contribuyendo así al conocimiento de los impactos reales del cambio climático y a la definición de estrategias para amortiguar los efectos del clima en el rubro. Además, se ha hecho entrega a los caficultores de teléfonos móviles para que ellos mismos documenten y envíen a diario a CAFENICA datos sobre las condiciones meteorológicas, con el fin de formar otra base de datos adicional.Las principales dificultades a las que se enfrentan las cooperativas son la escasez de recursos financieros y las complicaciones derivadas de la situación política e institucional del país con respecto a la caficultura: cambios de gobierno, cambios de leyes, numerosos impuestos y numerosos trámites para la comercialización del café no ayudan a las cooperativas a alcanzar sus objetivos. La opinión más extendida entre las cooperativas es que el gobierno les debe prestar una mayor atención para que el sector café se modernice y se desarrolle. Dicha atención podría traducirse en mejores oportunidades y garantías financieras y en la eliminación de posibles trabas y cargas burocráticas que limitan el apoyo de las cooperativas a las organizaciones que forman parte de ellas. Una medida concreta propuesta en el curso del presente estudio es revisar la Ley de equidad tributaria, la cual establece un impuesto para las exportaciones brutas cuyo valor supera los 40 millones de córdobas, y que por tanto afecta considerablemente a las cooperativas, encargadas de la exportación del café de un gran número de caficultores.En relación con el papel actual y potencial de las cooperativas en los esfuerzos de adaptación al cambio climático la principal limitación de las cooperativas es que carecen de los recursos financieros y técnicos suficientes. Además de favorecer la transición hacia una producción agrícola más respetuosa y adaptable a los cambios, las políticas públicas de Nicaragua deberían facilitar el fortalecimiento de las cooperativas en este frente, a través de apoyo técnico y financiero por parte de las agencias gubernamentales y en colaboración con entes internacionales.Muchos de los pequeños caficultores en Nicaragua son completamente dependientes de la producción del café para su subsistencia, lo que les hace especialmente vulnerables ante factores externos como el precio del café en el mercado, y el cambio climático.El potencial del café nicaragüense para ingresar en los mercados de calidad y de especialidades, que reciben un mejor precio en el mercado, ha sido reconocido como uno de los más altos comparado con el resto de países productores de café del mundo (Varangis et al., 2002). Un aumento de la competitividad del sector podría tener consecuencias económicas y sociales positivas en el mundo rural de Nicaragua. No obstante, a día de hoy, las políticas públicas no han conseguido hacer avanzar al sector café en esta dirección y Nicaragua demuestra ir por detrás de otros países de la región en cuanto a la competitiva de su sector cafetalero. La principal conclusión que puede extraerse de nuestro estudio es que las iniciativasNoviembre, 2016públicas en Nicaragua carecen de recursos y capacidad suficientes para llegar de forma individual, directa y en el momento preciso a todos los caficultores, y más concretamente al pequeño caficultor.En este contexto, las cooperativas ofrecen una red institucional que puede apoyar de manera efectiva y directa al agricultor. Como consecuencia, el fortalecimiento de las cooperativas podría constituir una de las medidas más efectivas para garantizar un más y mejor desarrollo de la caficultura nicaragüense en general y de la producción por el pequeño caficultor, en particular. Las áreas en las que las cooperativas de primer nivel deben seguir haciendo esfuerzos para mejorar su apoyo a los pequeños caficultores incluyen promover la agrupación de los mismos e incrementar la asistencia técnica y mejorar la información sobre el mercado y el acceso a los mercados. Las organizaciones de segundo nivel deberían centrarse en ofrecer una investigación y extensión más sistematizadas; fortalecer las organizaciones existentes en las distintas comunidades a las que pertenecen las cooperativas miembros y promover su integración en las redes locales de intercambio de información. Finalmente, las cooperativas de tercer nivel deberían fortalecer los mecanismos de gestión de riesgos de producción y de mercado, estar más presentes en las plataformas nacionales de concertación y toma de decisiones relacionadas con la caficultura e incrementar su nivel de integración y colaboración con grandes productores para gestionar en bloque la modernización, investigación y financiamiento del sector.El apoyo de las cooperativas en la gestión de riesgos de producción y riesgos de mercado por los pequeños productores es especialmente relevante en un contexto donde las variaciones en el clima pueden aumentar considerablemente los riesgos. Este apoyo puede traducirse en diseminar el conocimiento sobre el cambio climático entre los pequeños productores y ayudarles a definir estrategias de adaptación diferenciadas, acordes a las condiciones socioeconómicas, ambientales y los retos específicos de cada lugar. En este sentido, las cooperativas ubicadas en las diferentes zonas cafetaleras del país deberían apoyarse en los numerosos estudios existentes, desarrollados por los diferentes centros de investigación nacionales e internacionales, y de esta forma determinar e implementar las medidas de adaptación con mayor efectividad. El apoyo en la gestión de riesgos puede asimismo traducirse en instrumentos financieros y de mercado que permiten al pequeño productor protegerse ante fluctuaciones en la cosecha y el precio del café. Algunas de las medidas que se pueden explorar son los seguros de precios y los contratos garantizados.Una fuerte capacidad institucional dentro de las cooperativas es esencial para el éxito de un programa de gestión de riesgos que combine mejoras agronómicas con estrategias de mercado. Las cooperativas de segundo y tercer grado pueden jugar un papel crucial en el desarrollo de las capacidades institucionales de las asociaciones más pequeñas.Las políticas públicas podrían apoyar la acción de las cooperativas brindándoles un mayor apoyo técnico y financiero, facilitando la colaboración entre las distintas iniciativas de desarrollo que estén teniendo lugar en las distintas áreas del país y promoviendo la inversión internacional en proyectos que promuevan la investigación y producción de café sostenible. Otras medidas que podrían fomentarse desde las instituciones públicas incluyen la generación y transferencia de tecnologías sobre el café en un contexto de cambio climático. Además, para el fomento de la competitividad dentro del sector o la diversificación de la economía rural mediante la producción de otros cultivos y el desarrollo de otras actividades productivas, el rol del gobierno es importante a la hora de facilitar información e infraestructura.Noviembre, 2016Las cooperativas, por su parte, deben definir sus planes operativos y estratégicos en línea con los planteamientos establecidos en las políticas de desarrollo nacionales, entre las que se pueden mencionar el Plan de Adaptación a la Variabilidad y el Cambio Climático del año 2013 y el Plan Nacional de Desarrollo humano 2012-2016. La calidad y el potencial de estos planes han sido reconocimos a nivel regional e internacional. Su efectiva implementación por los entes gubernamentales pasa por el compromiso y la participación de todos los actores implicados.El Programa de Investigación de CGIAR en Cambio Climático, Agricultura y Seguridad Alimentaria (CCAFS), liderado por el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), reúne algunos de los mejores investigadores del mundo en la ciencia agrícola, investigación para el desarrollo, las ciencias del clima y de la tierra, para identificar y abordar las interacciones más importantes, las sinergias y disyuntivas entre el cambio climático, la agricultura y la seguridad alimentaria. www.ccafs.cgiar.org Bioversity International genera evidencia científica, prácticas de manejo y opciones de política para salvaguardar y utilizar la biodiversidad agrícola y forestal del mundo, con el fin de alcanzar y mantener la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional. www.bioversityinternational.org Bioversity International is a CGIAR Research Centre. CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. www.cgiar.org"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f5ad392550c9b76f6d3fc4933028cdaf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/be5ef89c-40d3-43ed-83c8-3fe944659268/retrieve","id":"769179628"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"afefc681-1ac0-486a-94f0-ec56bbb8fd04","content":"por facilitar mi participación en la realización de esta actividad. También expreso mi agradecimiento a M. Carmen de Vicente (Generation Challenge Program, antes Bioversity International) por su gestión, empeño, estímulo y apoyo para la ejecución de todas las actividades involucradas en el desarrollo de este trabajo; a Molly Jahn (University of Wisconsin, antes Cornell University) por su hospitalidad y por ofrecer las instalaciones de su laboratorio de Cornell University; a Heiber Cárdenas (Universidad del Valle) por la supervisión y constante interés en la conclusión cabal de este estudio; y a Shanna Moore, Mary Kreitinger, Sherry Roof y Michael Mazourek (Jahn Lab en Cornell University) por su disposición de ayuda y apoyo durante la realización de esta actividad. Asimismo, manifiesto mi gratitud a todas aquellas personas que fueron guarda y custodios de este trabajo y de su autor. v TABLA DE CONTENIDO Pag.Pag.Tabla 1. Lista de los genotipos usados en este estudio. Las columnas presentan la especie botánica, la abreviatura usada en los análisis de datos, el grupo resultante del análisis de conglomerados, el nombre del genotipo o el número de la entrada y el grado de picante. 25Tabla 2. Condiciones de amplificación y electroforesis para los 21 SSR evaluados. TE: tiempo de electroforesis en minutos. 28Tabla 3. Datos sobre el número de alelos, número de alelos raros, número de genotipos con alelos raros y múltiples, rango del tamaño alélico, frecuencia alélica más alta y contenido informativo polimórfico (PIC) observados en los 42 genotipos de Capsicum para los 21 microsatélites. Crom.: cromosoma. 30 Figura 1. Relaciones genéticas de los 42 genotipos evaluados, obtenidas con los 208 alelos de los 21 SSR usando el coeficiente de similitud de Dice y el método UPGMA. 33Figura 2. Distribución espacial de los grupos de genotipos, obtenida con el análisis de correspondencia múltiple. 34El potencial genético del germoplasma de ají (Capsicum) está subutilizado y merece más investigación. La selección cuidadosa de marcadores moleculares es un paso esencial para estimular la comparación mundial de germoplasma de Capsicum y para promover su uso y conservación adecuados. Durante este trabajo se evaluó un conjunto de 21 microsatélites, que fueron diseñados para Capsicum, empleando un grupo diverso de 42 genotipos de ají que representaron 12 especies de este género. Se detectaron 208 alelos en los 21 loci evaluados. El nivel de polimorfismo entre los 42 genotipos se evaluó calculando el contenido de información polimórfica (PIC) para cada loci. Los valores del PIC estuvieron entre 0.546 (Ng20) y 0.906 (Ng18), con un promedio por marcador de 0.788. En general, se observaron más alelos raros en los microsatélites que detectaron un mayor número de alelos por locus. La evaluación de las relaciones genéticas entre los genotipos a partir de una matriz de datos binarios, a través de un análisis de conglomerados, permitió la agrupación de los genotipos en grupos que se diferenciaron por su grado de similitud genética y que correspondieron a las diferentes especies taxonómicas. Los análisis permitieron concluir que los 21 microsatélites podrían usarse como una herramienta estándar para la evaluación mundial de la diversidad real del germoplasma de Capsicum que se conserva tanto en colecciones ex situ como in situ. Esta es la primera vez que los marcadores microsatélite son usados para evaluar simultáneamente la diversidad genética de 12 especies del género Capsicum.Palabras clave: Microsatélites, diversidad genética, germoplasma, distancia genéticaLos frutos del género Capsicum son valorados en el mundo entero como especia y hortaliza.Por ejemplo, durante 2005 en los Estados Unidos los ajíes campana y pimienta, los cuales sólo representan una porción de los frutos producidos por las especies de este género, tuvieron en el mercado en fresco un valor superior a los 600 millones de dólares. Esta cifra convirtió al ají en la cuarta hortaliza más comercializada de este país, después del tomate, la lechuga y la cebolla (The National Agricultural Library, <http://www.nal.usda.gov> consulta: Marzo de 2007).Una de las características más sobresaliente del fruto del ají es su sabor picante. Esta condición es conferida por una familia de compuestos alcaloides denominados capsicinoides, la cual es distintiva del género Capsicum (Bosland, 1999). La necesidad de ajíes con niveles diferentes de picante va en aumento debido a la creciente demanda del mercado por productos que contengan capsicinoides. Actualmente se requieren ajíes muy picantes para la preparación de las oleoresinas utilizadas en sustancias de defensa (p.e., para controlar motines) y como repelente de animales (Mathur et al., 2000), también para usarlos como insecticida eficaz en la agricultura orgánica. Igualmente, el mercado demanda ajíes que presenten resistencia a patógenos y variantes en características de color, forma y tamaño. Sin embargo, un prerrequisito para producir variedades nuevas y mejorar los cultivares existentes es poseer un conocimiento amplio del germoplasma existente.El género Capsicum es nativo de América del Sur y América Central (Walsh & Hoot, 2001) e incluye cinco especies domesticadas y unas 25 especies silvestres (IBPGR, 1983)  (Eshbaugh, 1993). La mayoría de los ajíes explotados comercialmente en el mundo pertenecen a la especie C. annuum. El interés por las otras especies está limitado a los mercados locales de las regiones donde son producidas (Eshbaugh, 1993).A pesar de su importancia mundial, la clasificación taxonómica de Capsicum permanece confusa dentro de especies o entre ellas, a lo cual contribuye la utilización de vocablos diferentes (Eshbaugh, 1993)  (Andrews, 1996).Las especies silvestres de Capsicum no han sido muy estudiadas. Estas especies a menudo presentan una distribución geográfica restringida a zonas consideradas ecológicamente amenazadas; sin embargo, su germoplasma es de interés para los mejoradores porque contiene genes potencialmente útiles para la resistencia a enfermedades y la tolerancia al estrés abiótico (Bosland & González, 2000). Según el IBPGR (1983), el germoplasma andino de Capsicum es una fuente imprescindible de resistencia a las enfermedades que afectan a los ajíes cultivados y un surtidor importante para aumentar el picante y variar el color del fruto. Por lo tanto, puede considerarse que el potencial del germoplasma silvestre de Capsicum, que representa una fuente de diversidad genética importante, está subutilizado y merece más investigación.Una colección ex situ debe mantener el máximo número de alelos y ser tan pequeña como sea posible para favorecer su conservación eficaz. Sin embargo, el germoplasma es conservado a menudo sin la evaluación de su variabilidad genética, lo cual ha conducido a la formación de colecciones grandes que contienen duplicados de muchas entradas (Hayward & Sackville Hamilton, 1997).Actualmente existen algunas colecciones grandes de germoplasma de Capsicum, entre las que se destacan las mantenidas por el Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos (USDA, por su sigla en inglés; aprox. 3000 entradas) y el Centro Asiático de Investigación y Desarrollo de Hortalizas (AVRDC, por su sigla en inglés; aprox. 7000 entradas). Además, universidades y otras instituciones de 21 países de América Latina y el Caribe tienen bancos que conservan colecciones más pequeñas de germoplasma de Capsicum (Knudsen, 2000). No obstante, sólo algunas de estas colecciones han sido parcialmente caracterizadas mediante caracteres morfológicos. Además, ciertas especies de Capsicum no están representadas en las colecciones y tal vez nunca serán incluidas, debido a que el desarrollo agrícola y el crecimiento poblacional están reduciendo sus hábitat naturales (Bosland & González, 2000).Las características morfológicas se han usado tradicionalmente para clasificar las especies; sin embargo, éstas no siempre son suficientes para la clasificación adecuada de una entrada específica en una colección ex situ. Por otro lado, este tipo de caracterización requiere gran cantidad de recursos; p.e., espacio y tiempo (las plantas deben crecer hasta la etapa de floración o fructificación), así como de habilidad para determinar la forma del polen (IBPGR, 1983).Alternativamente, los marcadores moleculares se han convertido en herramientas importantes para hacer selección en labores de mejoramiento, en la identificación de genotipos y en estudios de evolución y organización de los genomas vegetales (Dettori et al., 2001). El análisis de la estructura genética puede revelar que un banco de germoplasma contiene entradas duplicadas o proporcionar información útil para tomar decisiones acerca del mantenimiento de las entradas morfológicamente similares (Hayward & Sackville Hamilton, 1997).Entre las herramientas moleculares, los marcadores microsatélite o repeticiones de secuencia simple (SSR) se han convertido en un marcador de ADN usado exitosamente en numerosos estudios; p.e., en la genotipificación de individuos y protección de variedades de olivo (Cipriani et al., 2002), en evaluación de redundancia genética en una colección ex situ de sorgo (Dean et al., 1999), en estudios de genética de poblaciones en mangle (Rosero-Galindo et al., 2002), en análisis de la diversidad genética en variedades comerciales de arroz (Siwach et al., 2004), en estudios filogenéticos de maíz (Matsuoka et al., 2002) y en flujo de genes en arroz (Song et al., 2003), por mencionar algunos. Esta técnica molecular es ideal en el diseño de estrategias para la conservación de recursos genéticos y formación de colecciones núcleo (de Vicente, 2002).Durante este trabajo se evaluó un conjunto de microsatélites, que fueron diseñados para Capsicum (Nagy et al., 1998;Lee et al., 2004), empleando un grupo diverso de genotipos de ají. El objetivo de este trabajo fue seleccionar un subgrupo de estos marcadores como herramienta de caracterización molecular para hacer posible la comparación de colecciones de germoplasma de Capsicum por grupos de investigación en cualquier parte del mundo.Este estudio incluyó 42 genotipos que representan 12 especies del género Capsicum (Tabla 1).El germoplasma fue obtenido de variedades comercialmente disponibles y de la Red deInformación sobre Recursos de Germoplasma (GRIN, por su sigla en inglés) del USDA. Al menos tres semillas por accesión fueron puestas a germinar en invernadero bajo condiciones estándar (16 horas de luz y ocho horas de oscuridad con fertilización semanal) entre seis y ocho semanas, aproximadamente.Se colectaron hojas jóvenes y frescas para hacer la extracción de ADN siguiendo el protocolo de Doyle & Doyle (1987). El tejido foliar de todos los individuos pertenecientes a un mismo genotipo se mezcló para extraer el ADN. La calidad del ADN extraído se evaluó mediante electroforesis en geles al 1% de agarosa usando tampón TBE 0.5X (Tris borato EDTA) y tinción con bromuro de etidio. El gel fue expuesto a luz ultravioleta y fotografiado. Cada ADN fue diluido a una concentración final de 2.0 ng/µL y almacenado a -20ºC hasta su uso.Inicialmente se evaluaron 54 pares de cebadores de microsatélites. El número de fragmentos amplificados, el polimorfismo y la resolución de las bandas fueron los criterios empleados para elegir los 21 microsatélites que luego se utilizaron para evaluar la diversidad molecular de los 42 genotipos incluidos en el estudio (Tabla 2).Los 15 SSR designados en la Tabla 2 como Ng fueron reportados por Nagy et al. (1998) y sus reacciones de amplificación se realizaron en un volumen total de 15.0 µL que contenía 5.0 ng de ADN, 0.5 µM de cada cebador, 0.125 mM de cada dNTP, 1.5 µL de tampón 10X (0.1 M Tris pH 8.3, 0.5 M KCl, 7.5 mM MgCl 2 , 0.1% gelatina) y una unidad de Taq polimerasa. Los seis SSR de la Tabla 2 que están nombrados como Bd fueron reportados por Lee et al. (2004) y su amplificación se hizo en un volumen final de 10.0 µL con 6.0 ng de ADN, 0.3 µM de cada cebador, 0.1 mM de cada dNTP, 1.0 µL de tampón 10X (0.1 M Tris pH 8.3, 0.5 M KCl, 7.5 mM MgCl 2 , 0.1% gelatina) y una unidad de Taq polimerasa.Todas las amplificaciones se realizaron en un termociclador programable PTC-225 (MJ Research Inc., Waltham, MA, USA) utilizando las condiciones mostradas en la Tabla 2.Algunas amplificaciones se realizaron haciendo ciclos en cascada para disminuir la amplificación de productos no específicos (Don et al., 1991). Las reacciones de amplificación con ciclos en cascada empezaban en una temperatura de hibridación alta que iba disminuyendo en 1ºC por cada ciclo hasta llegar a las respectivas temperaturas de hibridación de los cebadores (Tabla 2).La electroforesis de los productos amplificados se realizó en geles desnaturalizantes con poliacrilamida al 4% con 7 M de urea y tampón TBE 0.5X. A cada producto de la amplificación se le adicionó 6.0 µL de tampón [95% (v/v) formamida, 20 mM EDTA pH 8.0, 0.05% (p/v) azul de bromofenol y xilen cianol FF], y luego se cargaron 5.0 µL de esta mezcla en los pozos del gel.Las muestras se dejaron migrar (2000V, 75W, 50mA) e inmediatamente después se tiñeron con nitrato de plata. El tiempo de electroforesis para cada marcador se muestra en la Tabla 2.Después de la tinción con plata se observaron grupos discretos de dos a cinco bandas (lo que se suele llamar \"tartamudeo\") en la mayoría de los marcadores. El \"tartamudeo\" se refiere a productos de la PCR que difieren en tamaño de la banda (alelo) principal haciendo que cada alelo (banda) observado en el gel parezca ser más de una banda (Litt et al., 1993).Veintisiete muestras se añadieron en cada gel como control para evaluar la reproducibilidad de los patrones y comparar bandas entre geles. También se escogieron al azar 15 genotipos que se amplificaron separadamente y se corrieron varias veces en geles diferentes.Para cada microsatélite se determinó el tamaño (medido en número de nucleótidos) de la banda amplificada más intensamente, con base en su migración relativa a la de los marcadores de peso molecular (escaleras de ADN de 50 pb y 10 pb, Roche Diagnostics Corporation, Indianapolis, IN, USA).Las bandas se registraron manualmente en estado presente (1) o ausente (0) y se generó una matriz de datos binarios. El contenido de información polimórfica (PIC), el cual representa la probabilidad de diferenciar dos genotipos con un SSR, se calculó como; donde p i y q j son las frecuencias relativas de los alelos i-ésimo y j-ésimo en un marcador dado, y n es el número total de alelos detectados por el marcador.A partir de la matriz binaria se efectuó un análisis de similitud genética usando el coeficiente de Dice (Dice, 1945) [2a/(2a + b + c)] para hacer todos los pares de comparaciones de genotipos; donde a es el número de bandas presentes simultáneamente en los dos genotipos, b es el número de bandas con presencia exclusiva en un genotipo, c es el número de bandas con presencia exclusiva del otro genotipo, y el factor dos permite diferenciar genotipos con niveles bajos de similitud. La ventaja que ofrece este coeficiente para el análisis de los datos es que cuenta el porcentaje de bandas compartidas entre dos genotipos, dándole más importancia a aquellas bandas presentes en ambos, y excluye las bandas ausentes en ambos genotipos, ya que éstas no necesariamente contribuyen a la similitud. Posteriormente se formaron grupos de individuos por su distancia mínima promedio con respecto al grupo empleando el método de la unión media (UPGMA) (Sneath & Sokal, 1973). El resultado de este análisis de conglomerados se representó en forma de dendrograma, utilizando la opción SAHN Clustering del paquete NTSYS-pc 2.02i para taxonomía numérica (Rohlf, 1998).El anterior análisis de agrupación se complementó realizando un análisis de correspondencia múltiple (ACM) a partir de la matriz binaria. El ACM utiliza el patrón de bandas de cada genotipo para representar en un espacio métrico tridimensional las relaciones entre los individuos. La gráfica resultante muestra la ubicación de los individuos en el espacio, permitiendo apreciar su dispersión y la estructura poblacional de la muestra estudiada. Los cálculos se realizaron con el procedimiento Corresp. Anal. del paquete NTSYS-pc 2.02i para taxonomía numérica (Rohlf, 1998).Se detectaron 208 alelos en los 21 loci evaluados. El promedio del número de alelos por locus fue 9.9, con un rango desde cinco (Ng20; Bd70) hasta 16 alelos (Ng17). La Tabla 3 presenta la descripción cualitativa de los 21 microsatélites según el número de alelos detectados. Los alelos de menor peso molecular (aprox. 82 pb) y de mayor peso molecular (aprox. 800 pb) fueron detectados por los microsatélites Bd22 y Ng15, respectivamente.Los alelos que fueron observados solamente en uno o dos de los 42 genotipos evaluados (<5%) se consideraron alelos raros. Se registraron 102 alelos raros en 20 loci (Tabla 3). La cantidad de alelos por locus y el número de alelos raros mostraron una correlación lineal positiva significativa (r = 0.90; P < 0.0001). Los microsatélites Ng6 (78%) y Ng7 (73%) detectaron el mayor porcentaje de alelos raros.La ausencia de amplificación para una combinación particular genotipo-marcador indicó la presencia de genotipos con alelos nulos en el locus en cuestión. Los alelos nulos son alelos que no son amplificados durante la PCR debido, tal vez, a polimorfismo en los sitios de hibridación de uno o ambos cebadores (Dakin & Avis, 2004). Los ensayos que detectaron alelos nulos se repitieron un mínimo de dos veces para asegurar que la ausencia de amplificación no se debía a un error experimental.Trece de los 21 loci presentaron entre dos (5%) y 10 genotipos (24%) con alelos nulos (Tabla 3). Los dos genotipos de C. rhomboideum mostraron alelos nulos en estos 13 loci; además, estos genotipos fueron los únicos que exhibieron alelos nulos en siete (54%) de los 13 loci. A pesar de la conocida prevalencia de los alelos nulos, su dinámica evolutiva y modelo de variación en las poblaciones no han sido examinados analíticamente; por lo tanto, actualmente se desconoce cuál es su verdadero impacto sobre la estimación de la diferenciación poblacional.Cualquier combinación genotipo-marcador que produjera dos grupos de bandas sugería que el genotipo presentaba heterogeneidad (mezcla de alelos o alelos múltiples). El 62% de los loci evaluados detectaron genotipos con alelos múltiples. En promedio, para cada locus 1.6 genotipos presentaron alelos múltiples (Tabla 3). Los loci Ng4 (6), Ng7 (6) y Ng12 (5)presentaron la mayor cantidad de genotipos con alelos múltiples.En promedio, en un locus determinado el alelo común fue compartido por el 31% de los genotipos evaluados (Tabla 3). La Tabla 3 muestra que hubo una variación considerable en la frecuencia del alelo más común. El número de alelos por locus y la frecuencia del alelo más común en el locus estuvieron negativamente correlacionados (r = -0.66, P = 0.0011).El nivel de polimorfismo entre los 42 genotipos se evaluó calculando el contenido de información polimórfica (PIC) para cada loci. Los valores del PIC estuvieron entre 0.546 (Ng20) y 0.906 (Ng18), con un promedio de 0.788 por marcador. Estos valores mostraron una correlación lineal positiva significativa con el número de alelos (r = 0.77; P < 0.0001) y una correlación baja con el rango del tamaño de los alelos (r = 0.13; P = 0.5835), indicando que los microsatélites que detectaron más alelos fueron los más informativos, sin importar las diferencias de tamaño entre los alelos que revelaron.Los 21 SSR usados en el estudio permitieron distinguir los 42 genotipos evaluados. Por otro lado, el análisis de las relaciones genéticas entre todos los genotipos sugirió la existencia de siete grupos principales que reúnen a 33 de los genotipos evaluados (Figura 1). Al truncar el dendrograma en el 50% de similitud, los conglomerados corresponden principalmente a: A) C.  & Fulton, 2003). Los 21 microsatélites usados en este trabajo permitieron observar un total de 208 alelos, con un número promedio de alelos por locus de 9.9. La correlación lineal positiva significativa (r = 0.77; P < 0.0001) del valor del PIC con el número de alelos por SSR indica que los marcadores que detectaron más alelos serían mejores para hacer genotipificación y análisis de diversidad. Esta correlación significa que cualquiera de estos dos estimadores es útil para determinar el valor de un marcador en estudios de diversidad. El promedio del valor del PIC de este trabajo fue similar al promedio reportado para trigo (0.71) y Brassica rapa (0.71) (Prasad et al., 2000;Suwabe et al., 2002).Los alelos raros son altamente informativos para la genotipificación de variedades (Jain et al., 2004). Ellos pueden ser indicadores de la presencia de variantes genéticas únicas o de poblaciones diferenciadas. Por otro lado, la deriva genética conduce rápidamente a la pérdida de estos alelos. Sin embargo, esta susceptibilidad a sufrir los efectos de la deriva genética convierte a los alelos raros en un instrumento útil para la evaluación de la erosión genética que ocurre durante el manejo de las colecciones de germoplasma. Por lo tanto, varios de los microsatélites evaluados en este estudio podrían ser útiles en la identificación eficaz de variedades o especies del género Capsicum, debido a que detectaron alelos raros; además, ayudarían en la toma de decisiones sobre la forma más eficiente de propagar y mantener colecciones ex situ de germoplasma de Capsicum.El nivel de polimorfismo de los 21 microsatélites, evaluado a través de los valores del PIC, fue muy alto (valor promedio = 0.788; rango desde 0.546 a 0.906). Lo anterior significa que el polimorfismo de estos marcadores microsatélite sería útil para descubrir entradas duplicadas en las colecciones ex situ de germoplasma de Capsicum y en la resolución de disputas relacionadas con la propiedad de semillas. Asimismo, los altos valores informativos y la capacidad de distinguir los genotipos empleados en el estudio, como lo muestran el análisis de conglomerados y el ACM, refuerzan la utilidad potencial que tendrían estos microsatélites para ayudar a diferenciar especies o variedades del género Capsicum.Más del 60% de los microsatélites evaluados detectaron genotipos con alelos múltiples (Tabla 3). Este polimorfismo podría ser: i) el resultado de una heterocigosidad remanente en algunos genotipos o ii) el producto de la heterogeneidad producida por la mezcla involuntaria de semilla. La heterocigosidad residual podría ser el resultado de alogamia y sería una característica previsible en materiales que no hayan sido mejorados para obtener líneas puras.Capsicum es considerado como un cultivo que se reproduce por autopolinización (Allard, 1971). Sin embargo, las tasas de alogamia que presenta sugieren que debería ser considerado una planta con fecundación por polinización cruzada facultativa (Tanksley, 1984). En este trabajo, la heterocigosidad no puede distinguirse claramente de la heterogeneidad, debido a que el tejido vegetal de tres muestras se mezcló para extraer el ADN. Sin embargo, la presencia de variantes alélicas tiene gran valor para encontrar marcadores propios de un genotipo.La mayoría de los genotipos evaluados en este estudio (genotipos 1 al 30) han sido multiplicados por autopolinización en los invernaderos de Cornell University (grupo de trabajo de la Dra. Molly Jahn) durante varios años para obtener semillas que se usan en los programas de mejoramiento. Aunque no se pueden descartar los errores involuntarios durante la manipulación, lo anterior permitiría asumir una probabilidad baja de que hayan ocurrido mezclas de semilla durante el manejo de estos genotipos; en consecuencia, los alelos múltiples detectados en algunos genotipos manejados en Cornell University (p.e., Jalapeño 3575, Jalapeño 1493, PapriQueen y Praetermisum) sugieren que los microsatélites evaluados en este trabajo serían útiles para descubrir nueva variabilidad o variantes alélicas que puedan usarse como marcadores propios de un genotipo.Los genotipos restantes fueron obtenidos del USDA (genotipos 31 al 42); sin embargo, se desconoce de qué forma se han manipulado estos materiales durante su conservación en esta institución. Esto significa que los genotipos con alelos múltiples de este subconjunto (p.e.;53chi, 54chi y 55chi) tal vez están indicando que hubo mezcla involuntaria de semilla durante el manejo del germoplasma o algún error en la asignación del número de introducción (PI) en el banco de germoplasma del cual se obtuvieron inicialmente los genotipos. Por lo tanto, este estudio presenta varios marcadores que se podrían utilizar en los bancos de germoplasma como una herramienta para detectar errores inconscientes que se cometen durante el manejo del germoplasma.La conservación de los recursos genéticos se justifica fomentando la utilización de las colecciones ex situ; sin embargo, el cumplimiento de este objetivo se dificulta debido a que los investigadores de los sectores privado y público tienen necesidades diferentes. Además, los procedimientos experimentales para encontrar marcadores polimórficos pueden variar entre laboratorios y la comparación de los datos puede ser problemática. Por lo tanto, la cooperación entre los bancos de germoplasma es indispensable para alcanzar la máxima eficiencia en el manejo de los recursos genéticos. Tal cooperación implica el intercambio de metodologías y tecnologías para investigar, documentar, manejar y utilizar los recursos genéticos. Debido a que la diversidad genética de las especies conservadas ex situ está distribuida en los bancos de germoplasma, la comparación de diferentes colecciones es importante para determinar cuánta diversidad de un cultivo está siendo conservada y cómo está distribuida entre distintos bancos.Este trabajo presenta un grupo de marcadores microsatélites que son útiles en la evaluación de la diversidad genética del género Capsicum. Debido a su polimorfismo, estos microsatélites pueden usarse para evaluar cambios en la estructura genética de las colecciones ex situ de germplasma de Capsicum. Obtener información cuantitativa sobre las frecuencias alélicas serviría como punto de partida para tomar decisiones adecuadas en la conservación de germoplasma de Capsicum con variantes alélicas de frecuencia baja, en la genotipificación de variedades, en la búsqueda de fuentes de diversidad genética y para analizar la historia reciente de una variedad comercial o del germoplasma propio de un área geográfica.Usar estos marcadores para adquirir conocimiento sobre las colecciones de Capsicum permitirá incrementar el uso del germoplasma ex situ empleado en el desarrollo de variedades mejoradas que se adapten con éxito a diferentes condiciones ambientales y que presenten tolerancia a las plagas y niveles superiores de productividad. Adicionalmente, el conocimiento obtenido servirá para establecer modelos y prioridades en los métodos de conservación de los recursos genéticos a través de la identificación de vacíos y de la evaluación de la representatividad de las colecciones ex situ.Esta es la primera vez que los marcadores microsatélite son usados para evaluar simultáneamente la diversidad genética de 12 especies del género Capsicum. Por lo tanto, el presente trabajo es un punto de partida para la escogencia de marcadores microsatélite que puedan usarse en la caracterización de germoplasma de Capsicum y en la selección asistida por marcadores. Asimismo, este estudio puede ser tomado como la base de futuros trabajos que incluyan más especies y más entradas por especie, con el fin de encontrar más marcadores que permitan tener un conocimiento amplio de la diversidad genética del género Capsicum.  Figura 2. Distribución espacial de los grupos de genotipos, obtenida con el análisis de correspondencia múltiple."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d6ee136fdbddfbdc4e8db97d270f00b9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/00ac67a4-3220-4023-a92f-44c139b42a8e/retrieve","id":"-1711784589"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3b8b65c6-ef6a-46e8-9279-bdf13041ed54","content":"Bioversity International would like to thank all those organizations and individuals who contributed to the development of the illustrated guide on \"Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking banana\" by sharing their knowledge and experience, providing constructive feedback and contributing high quality pictures during the development of this guide.The development and production of this guide available in four languages (English, French, Spanish and Arabic) was supported by financial contributions from the Austria Development Agency, the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas and USAID through the TARGET project.capitulo 1: ¿Es importante la calidad del material de siembra para la productividad de las plantaciones de las musaceas?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking banana Chapter 1: Is the quality of planting material important for banana productivity?This illustrated guide summarizes the key practices for producing clean planting material of banana with a high yield potential for smallholders, depending on the pests and diseases which are present.The guide is also designed to contribute to better planning of the propagation of planting material for rural development and disaster relief projects. A simpler version of this manual is available as grower fact sheets well-illustrated with photographs. The legends and explanations for the appropriate methods can be translated into local languages.Dessert bananas, plantains and cooking bananas 1 are an important smallholder crop in the tropics and subtropics, providing food security, dietary diversity and income to millions of rural households. Every year rural households plant or replant fields of bananas, using more than 20-30 billion suckers or some other form of vegetative planting material.A simplified version of this manual is available for producers in the form of well illustrated field sheets with photographs. Descriptions and explanations of the different methods may be translatedin local languages or dialects if necessary.chapteR 1: Is the quality of planting material important for banana productivity?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking banana 6Each sucker is an opportunity to improve the yield and the quality of smallholder production, but each sucker can also contribute to an unproductive plant. As with all vegetatively propagated crops, poorly selected planting material can transmit insect pests, fungal and bacterial diseases and viruses. Planting material infected with pests and diseases can result in yield losses in the first harvest of 20-100% depending on the problem and can reduce the number of harvests by half or more.Obtaining sufficient clean planting material is a big challenge to smallholders, because each year they may need not just five or ten suckers, but hundreds to thousands. If only 10-20% of the planting material is infected, pests and diseases readily pass to healthy plants, reducing both bunch size and the number of harvests. Some diseases, such as banana bunchy top virus and Fusarium wilt, are lethal and new plantings with infected suckers will produce nothing.For smallholders with a diverse backyard garden, suckers free of pests and diseases are very important, although they may prefer a diversity of cultivars that produce a few bunches each month for home consumption (GO).capitulo 1: ¿Es importante la calidad del material de siembra para la productividad de las plantaciones de las musaceas?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking banana 7 chapteR 1: Is the quality of planting material important for banana productivity?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking bananaEach sucker which is planted has the potential to produce a bunch, the size and characteristics of which depend on the mother plant. Over thousands of years, farmers have selected individuals with special characteristics to plant and replant, thereby generating the world's banana diversity. East African farmers have over 200 cultivars of their AAA Highland banana type. Today the challenge for each household is to plant suckers with a slightly higher yield potential at each new planting, by selecting suckers from the best mother plants and eliminating the least productive plants.Smallholders producing for the market and for home consumption concentrate on one or two cultivars and are interested in long lived plantations producing several harvests. They should use planting material without pests and diseases. Through careful selection of mother plants they can also improve the yield potential of their plantation at each new planting or replanting (CS).chapteR 1: Is the quality of planting material important for banana productivity?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking banana 8In addition to disease and pest transmission and yield potential, the quality of the planting material also contributes to the timing of the harvest. Suckers of many different sizes planted in the same field will produce their first bunches during a much longer period than suckers or other planting materials which are highly uniform.For home consumption, production spread over a long period is useful, but in producing for markets more bunches in a shorter time period may be a more profitable strategy. Highly uniform planting material can be used to target production to specific periods of the year.High input, high density annual plantings can be used to concentrate harvests in a short period of time when prices are high. Such systems demand clean planting material of very uniform size with high yield potential (LP).capitulo 2: ¿Cuáles son las principales plagas insectiles y enfermedades transportadas por el material vegetativo de siembra?capitulo 2: ¿Cuáles son las principales plagas insectiles y enfermedades transportadas por el material vegetativo de siembra?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking bananaChapter 2: What are the primary pests and diseases transmitted in vegetative planting material?Many different insect pests and diseases are found in suckers or other planting material and these may be moved from the old field where they originate to the new field where the material is planted. These different pests and diseases can be grouped into three categories according to how easy they are to manage by farmers and by other production services agencies.1) Nematodes and banana weevils: these pests which occur quite frequently can be easily managed by growers with little risk.2) Bacterial and fungal wilts and banana streak virus in plantains (AAB): this set of problems requires special management on-farm, although some risk must be faced.3) Banana bunchy top virus, banana streak virus in AAA dessert bananas, and other viruses: these disease problems can only resolved by specialized off-farm propagation techniques.Note: Bunchy top virus, bract mosaic virus, Fusarium wilt Tropical race 4 and bacterial wilts (Xanthomonas and Ralstonia) are only found in certain regions. International and national quarantine aims to reduce the spread of these diseases to new uninfected areas. Consult your local authorities to learn whether the diseases are present in your country or area.chapteR 2: What are the primary pests and diseases transmitted in vegetative planting material?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking bananaSeveral plant-parasitic nematodes and the banana weevil are transmitted through infected planting material, but simple on-farm practices can produce relatively clean planting material.Nematodes are small worm-like animals living in plant roots and the soil. They are not visible to humans, but the damage they cause warns the farmer that they are present. They weaken roots and plants frequently fall over when the bunch is still very small. When the attack is severe, plants without bunches may also topple (PC).Root gall nematodes produce roots which are deformed (IPB).Burrowing and root lesion nematodes cause reddish-brown lesions to healthy roots which are normally white. Roots turn black with more severe damage (CS).chapteR 2: What are the primary pests and diseases transmitted in vegetative planting material?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking banana Key practices for pest problems easily managed on farm:1) select planting material from plantations free of the problem or with low infection rates, such as young, vigorous plantations in their first production cycle; 2) pare and/or boil suckers to minimize nematodes or weevils present on the suckers.Discard suckers with excessive brown or black corm material; 3) apply sucker sanitation practices (paring and/or boiling) close to where suckers were extracted. This avoids contamination of the field to be planted with infested roots or discarded corm parts; 4) store sanitized suckers distant from any banana plantation; 5) ensure clean substrate in nursery bags (free of plant parasitic nematodes) if macropropagation techniques are used.The larvae of banana weevils feed on banana corms and pseudostems, forming a network of tunnels lined with black dead tissue. This feeding weakens the corm and plants often snap off at the corm (PC).(PC) (PC) (PC)Banana weevils are present in banana fields in three life stages. The adults live among banana residues and move into tunnels formed by the larvae. They lay eggs on the corm which hatch into larvae which feed on the corm and pseudostem.chapteR 2: What are the primary pests and diseases transmitted in vegetative planting material?Bacterial wilt causes yellowing and wilting of the older leaves, leading to plant death. Suckers should never be taken from plants with these symptoms or any neighbouring plants, since the bacteria are also carried in water or insects. Fields with bacterial wilt infections generally should not be used as a source of suckers (OB).Plants with Fusarium, a fungus, show progressive leaf yellowing, starting with the oldest leaves, followed by a wilt and collapse of leaves (PC).Erwinia, a bacterium, can be detected by the presence of soft, water soaked tissue which is quickly invaded by other organisms causing tissue rot (PC).Good multiplication practices should be used to reduce nematode and weevil transmission in all banana planting material. Additional practices are needed on farm or in local nurseries to reduce the risks of transmission of bacterial and fungal diseases in planting material.Fusarium Tropical Race 4 is a particularly lethal fungal strain appearing throughout Asia, since it attacks a wide group of bananas.Banana streak virus (BSV) is found commonly in the B genome of plantains (AAB) and a few hybrids having the B genome where it makes up part of the gene sequence. These sequences are usually silent, resulting in normal production in plantain (AAB) plantations originating from suckers. Abiotic stress such as cool temperatures or drought, as well as tissue culture multiplication procedures, can activate the BSV sequence and result in plants with symptoms and reduced production. Practices on-farm, primarily the elimination of plants with symptoms, offer the best option for reducing the impact of BSV. Molecular tools are available to detect if plantain material has dormant viral sequences, but these are not commonly employed commercially. BSV in other cultivars (principally AAA) is described in the section on \"Pest and disease problems requiring specialized off-farm propagation techniques\".chapteR 2: What are the primary pests and diseases transmitted in vegetative planting material?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking bananaBacterial and fungal diseases can sometimes be detected in the stem cross section. A healthy stem cross section should be white with no discolouration.When bacterial wilts are present, brownish liquid or ooze appears on the stem cross section often associated with discolouration in the pseudostem (PC).Outer leaves of the stem look water soaked, with off-colour brown tissue, as the problem spreads inward (PC).The fungus invades the roots and vascular system of the plant and brown threads (fungal mycelia) can be seen extending along the pseudostem (PC).(TL)BSV in plantain (AAB) is evidenced by narrow, thick, distorted leaves with chlorotic streaks or blotches which later become necrotic.Stem splitting is common. The presence of BSV also produces breakdown of the leaf whorl at bunch emergence and distorted bunch formation.chapteR 2: What are the primary pests and diseases transmitted in vegetative planting material?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking banana Key practices for pest and disease problems easily managed on farm:For bacterial and fungal wilts:1) do not extract suckers from contaminated fields; 2) if no wilt-free fields are available, extract suckers only from plants distant and upslope from sick plants;3) extract suckers from plants close to harvest, when symptoms may be more clearly expressed. Avoid plants with suspicious symptoms and their neighbouring plants; 4) to prevent dissemination of bacterial wilts, debud all flowering stems as soon after bunch formation as possible; Do not extract suckers from plants with suspicious symptoms and their immediate neighbours; 5) to prevent the spread of bacterial wilts from sucker to sucker through tools, disinfect machete/knife and other tools after each new sucker has been extracted and/or pared. Disinfection is not as useful or effective for fungal wilts; 6) discard any suckers with suspicious discoloration in the stem cross section; 7) pare and select suckers close to the field where they were extracted. This avoids contamination with damaged roots and corm parings of the new field to be planted.For BSV in plantain (AAB):1) avoid extracting suckers from plants with BSV; 2) extract suckers from plants close to harvest, when symptoms may be more clearly expressed; 3) rigorously rogue off-types and plants with BSV symptoms at each stage of multiplication and plantation establishment; 4) replant in areas close to the original plantation to avoid spreading BSV to new, clean areas.Certain types of viruses have a very severe impact on yield. If these viruses are commonly present in planting material in a region, farmers cannot use planting materials obtained from their own or neighbours' plantations. Virus-free tissue-cultured plants or vitroplants must be multiplied in specialized laboratories with virus testing and cleaning protocols.In plants with banana bunchy top virus (BBTV), emerging leaves grow upright and have a stunted, bunched appearance. Each new leaf emerges smaller and narrower with brittle, yellow edges. An important diagnostic characteristic is dark green streaks found on the central midrib, secondary veins and the pseudostem. Dwarfism in banana plant is also significant (CS).Banana bunchy top disease can appear in the suckers, although the adult plant does not present symptoms. The virus is present before the typical symptoms of leaf narrowing and yellowing occur (CS).Plants with BSV often demonstrate stem splitting (P-YT).Banana streak viruses (BSV) in bananas AAA are of several types with common symptoms: chlorotic streaks evolving into necrotic blotches. BSV symptoms described here look very similar to those described earlier for plantain AAB (JCR).Other known viruses include cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and banana mild mosaic virus (BMMV). When occurring alone, these viruses generally cause minimal damage. However, they can cause more serious yield losses if infecting a plant at the same time. CMV may also be more severe if other infected host plants such as watermelon, cucumber and squash have been intercropped.Banana bract mosaic virus (BBrMV) cannot be visually detected in suckers. BBrMV produces mosaics on the leaves which can disappear within 48 hours and a yellow or white-red mosaic may appear on the pseudostem. Reddish brown streaks or discolouration on the male bracts help to identify the presence of this virus (CS).Key management practices for pest and disease problems requiring specialized off-farm propagation techniques:1) in regions with BSV in bananas (except AAB plantain) and BBTV, use vitroplants only from tissue culture laboratories with complete virus-screening facilities; 2) when obtaining vitroplants from regions with BBrMV (primarily in Asia), accept vitroplants only from tissue culture laboratories with complete virus-screening facilities. Risk can also be reduced by obtaining vitroplants only from laboratories located in countries free of BBTV; 3) when buying vitroplants, ensure that other viruses such as CMV and BMMV have been cleaned from shoot tips before multiplication; 4) if vitroplants are being used as planting material for macropropagation, use multiple isolation techniques to prevent infection of plants with viruses or bacterial diseases; 5) if using vitroplants for plantain (AAB), rigorously rogue off-types and plants with BSV symptoms at each stage of plant multiplication and plantation establishment.capitulo 3: ¿Qué tan uniforme necesita ser el material de siembra?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking bananaChapter 3: How uniform does the planting material need to be?Many different types of planting material can be extracted from an established banana plantation. Almost any shape or type of sucker or the main corm can be used, either intact or cut into pieces, to plant a new plantation.While many different types of planting material are useful for producing a bunch, some planting materials have a shorter time period from field planting to harvest. A large maiden corm has the shortest interval from field planting to harvest followed by larger and then smaller sword suckers. Peepers, water suckers and new sprouts from buds on the mother corm have a longer interval from field planting to harvest.A mat which has already produced a first harvest may have suckers of different sizes.Even water suckers and quite small suckers known as peepers can be extracted and grown into viable plants in a nursery. Large pseudostems can also be uprooted before flowering or after the bunch has been harvested (PC).Uprooted maiden corm (PC).Large sword sucker (PC). Small sword sucker (CS).chapteR 3: How uniform does the planting material need to be?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking bananaIn addition to the size and age of planting material, there may also be some variability in the Musa type and cultivar. Depending on their objectives, farm households may prefer a diverse plantation for home consumption or a highly uniform plantation to harvest large quantities of a single type in a short period of time.To plant a new field, farmers may need from a few hundred to thousands of suckers or other planting material. The more uniform the planting material is in terms of size and age, the more concentrated will be the harvest over a period of 2-5 months or more. If planting material consists of many different sizes or the field is planted over one to three months, then the harvest will also be spread out.Water sucker (CS). Peepers (PC).capitulo 4: ¿Podemos mejorar el rendimiento potencial a través de la selección de las plantas madre?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking bananaChapter 4: Can we improve the potential yield through the selection of mother plants?The world currently has hundreds of cultivars of dessert bananas, plantains and cooking bananas. For thousands of years farmers in Asia, Africa and the Pacific have been observing their fields and fallows and have been selecting plants with special characteristics.Each of our current cultivars has certain features which make it distinguishable from other cultivars -bunch and finger size and shape; taste, texture and fragrance of fruits; and leaf and stem colour and form. However, each cultivar is also characterized by variability in some of the same features mentioned above. This variability provides an interesting opportunity for small farmers to improve the productivity of their banana fields.Simply stated, planting material should only be taken from plants which have above average performance for important traits such as number of fingers, size of fingers, plant stature, bunching interval and rooting sturdiness. This has a two-way multiplication effect -reduction in plants with inferior traits and increase of plants with superior traits.The export banana companies identify a few elite plants with preferred characteristics in their many plantations. After testing, these are multiplied in tissue culture labs to generate monoclonal lines with many, many plants having very uniform growth and bunch characteristics. This not only increases the yield potential, but also allows planting at a higher density, since all plants have a similar size and fewer plants are shaded by their taller neighbour plants.chapteR 4: Can we improve the potential yield through the selection of mother plants?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking bananaPrinciples for the selection of superior mother plants• identify important characteristics to be targeted in the selection process;• determine minimum or maximum for the characteristics subject to selection;• throughout the year, mark plants at harvest which have the desired characteristics;• select only from plants which are located under normal soil conditions.• avoid plants which are on the field borders or other locations which favour exceptional growth;• avoid plants which have abnormal plant characteristics or show symptoms of prevailing pests and diseases.Suckers selected in this way can be planted or multiplied using diverse techniques.The Taiwan Banana Research Institute has used mass selection to identify plants with a greater tolerance to Fusarium wilt. Each year Taiwanese banana growers replant their banana fields with tissue culture plants, a strategy initially designed to avoid crop losses to typhoons. Since the appearance of Fusarium wilt, scientists and farmers have been selecting plants which continue to grow even though all the neighbouring plants have been affected by Fusarium. Through this strategy new lines of dessert banana (AAA Cavendish) have been identified with tolerance to Fusarium Subtropical Race 4, even though it is generally considered that this group is susceptible to this disease.capitulo 5: ¿Cuáles son los métodos de propagación más comunes?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking bananaChapter 5: What are the most common methods for propagating plants?Five methods are commonly used to obtain planting material for the establishment of new banana plantings. Each method has specific requirements in terms of facilities and equipment, generates planting material at a characteristic rate and has particular risks of pest and disease contamination. The methods range from a few suckers extracted from backyard gardens, to small seedbeds of a few hundred seedlings distributed at the local level to the production of several million vitroplants per year for international export.The simpler techniques are described and illustrated below. In later sections the good practices for different stages of plant multiplication are described.Suckers must be extracted from a mother plant with appropriate techniques to avoid weakening its supporting root system (PC).A banana plant produces suckers which arise from buds on the mother plant. These suckers can be extracted and replanted to establish a new field (CS).capitulo 5: ¿Cuáles son los métodos de propagación más comunes?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking bananachapteR 5: What are the most common methods for propagating plants?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking banana2) Suckers reproduced in sucker multiplication plotThe sucker multiplication plot is established with good quality, pest and disease free suckers planted at a high density on quality soils, rich in organic matter (JC).When plants initiate flower formation well before flower emergence, plants are decapitated to stop further flower or bunch development and stimulate sprouting of abundant suckers. False decapitation or bending of the pseudostem can also be used, which impedes flowering, but maintains the mother plant, while also stimulating the sprouting of suckers (PC).These suckers can then be extracted for planting into a commercial plantation with adequate practices to minimize pest and disease transmission (JC).Decapitation stimulates the emergence of 10-20 suckers per stem (PC).chapteR 5: What are the most common methods for propagating plants?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking bananaBy the end of 6-8 weeks, plants reach an appropriate size for transplanting into the field. Plants can be grouped by height and number of leaves to ensure more uniform growth and time to harvest (CS).Small cone-shaped suckers of 200-300 g are extracted from a field in production or a sucker multiplication plot (PC).Since all plants are healthy and vigorous in their growth, the new plantation suffers few gaps in the population (PC).Suckers are pared, treated with surface disinfectant and then planted into small nursery bags filled with clean substrate (CS).chapteR 5: What are the most common methods for propagating plants?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking banana 24 4) Propagation from axillary buds Sprouts are planted in nursery bags filled with clean substrate to be grown out for 1-2 months in preparation for transplanting into the field (TL).Suckers are covered in a bed of wet sawdust for several weeks inside a high humidity chamber made of plastic sheeting (TL).Sprouts are carefully cut free from the sucker which is placed back in the chamber for the growth of another set of sprouts. These sprouts are also removed.A single sucker can produce 15-60 shoots during 4-5 months (TL).Leaf sheaths from medium sized sword suckers (200 -500 g) are stripped away individually to expose axillary buds found at the base of each leaf sheath. The primary sprout is destroyed with a X cut across the top of the sucker (TL).Suckers should preferably be extracted from a region free of diseases, subject to quarantine, tested for disease presence and then cleaned, if necessary. The resulting shoot tips are disinfected before being introduced into the sterile lab (YM). Chapter 6: How does the presence of pests and diseases affect the propagation method to be used?In earlier sections three categories of pests and diseases were described -easily managed on farm, requiring special management onfarm and requiring specialized off-farm techniques.In the table below the risk of transmission of eight important pests and diseases is estimated for the most common multiplication methods. This estimate of risk is valid only if certain key practices are employed with skill and care for each method. The key practices for each method are described in Section 7 in the following pages. Please pay close attention to the key practices as you plan the preparation or purchase of planting material. Of course, if any of these pests and diseases are not present in your areas, for example BBTV in Latin America, the risk is reduced, unless you are bringing planting material from another continent or a another zone with the pest or disease present.(*) If pest or disease is not present in region or country, then risk declines substantially.capitulo 7: ¿Cuáles son las prácticas clave de multiplicación para cada método que garanticen la calidad del material de siembra? capitulo 7: ¿Cuáles son las prácticas clave de multiplicación para cada método que garanticen la calidad del material de siembra?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking bananaChapter 7: What are the key multiplication practices from each method to guarantee quality?Farmers are keen to use low cost techniques whenever possible in their crop production. However, using poor quality planting material contaminated with pests and diseases may have a negative impact on both yields and on profits. Plantlets from specialized laboratories are often sold as both clean and of high genetic quality. However, this so-called modern technology does not reduce the risk of producing non-compliant variants nor the risk of contamination by viral and bacterial diseases, if certain procedures are not followed. Growers need to know the key practices for alternative multiplication methods to make good choices in their production planning. Here we do not describe all the details for multiplying plant material. We identify the key or most important practices that influence the quality of planting material.Key practices for selecting healthy superior mother plants:1) extract suckers only from fields free of symptoms of BBTV, BBrMV, BSV and CMV ; 2) extract suckers only from fields free of bacterial and fungal wilts; 3) extract suckers only from fields with a minimal presence of nematodes and weevils; 4) throughout the year, mark plants with big bunches as a source of suckers when the bunch is harvested. Once the harvest is past, it may be difficult to recognize these superior productive plants; 5) throughout the year, mark plants with healthy, abundant leaves, firm rooting, stout trunk and below average height as a source of suckers; 6) if selecting suckers for multiplication in a tissue culture laboratory and even through propagation of axillary buds, carefully select mother plants with best the characteristics and no faults. If these elite mother plants are not well chosen, then the materials multiplied will not offer the full advantage of the high multiplication rate; 7) materials taken from mother plants for tissue culture multiplication should be quarantined and tested for the presence of viruses and bacterial wilts. DO NOTS in the selection of mother plants:1. DO NOT extract suckers from old fields or unproductive fields; 2. DO NOT select suckers from plants without observing the bunch; 3. DO NOT select suckers from fields with bacterial or fungal wilts, BBTV, BBrMV, CMV or BSV.chapteR 7: What are the key multiplication practices from each method to guarantee quality?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking bananaKey practices for extracting and preparing suckers for direct planting:1) Use practices described in the section on selecting healthy superior mother plants; 2) select cone-shaped sword suckers that reach 1 metre in height before broad leaves are produced, although peepers and corm pieces from harvested corms or maiden corms can also be used.3) Use paring or boiling water treatment to sanitize planting material.For paring:• pare suckers in the field where they were extracted until only white flesh is showing; • discard any sucker for which much of the corm has been cut away, for which the corm has brown-black discoloration, or for which off-coloured spots or ooze are found in the stem section; • immediately move pared suckers to a new location distant from banana plantations to avoid recontamination from weevils which are attracted by the odour of freshly cut banana tissue.Acceptable planting material (DC)Preferred planting material (PC). Acceptable planting material (PC)chapteR 7: What are the key multiplication practices from each method to guarantee quality?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking bananaWell pared sucker (PC).Weevil galleries remaining NOT acceptable (PC).Off-coloured stem section NOT acceptable (PC).Off-coloured ooze NOT acceptable (SM).chapteR 7: What are the key multiplication practices from each method to guarantee quality?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking bananaFor treating suckers in boiling water:• select suckers with healthy white corm material, rejecting all suckers with very small corms, off-coloured stem section or ooze, or much of the corm damaged by galleries. However, complete and thorough paring is not necessary; • immerse suckers in boiling water for 30 seconds;• immediately move boiled suckers to new location distant from banana plantations to avoid recontamination from weevils.Suckers after boiling water treatment (PC). 1) use practices described in the section on selecting healthy superior mother plants; 2) use practices described in the section on extracting and preparing suckers for direct planting, including paring or boiling; 3) select field for planting which has not been planted to bananas for at least one year and which is distant from established banana fields; 4) rogue any off-type plants or plants with suspicious symptoms and do not use the field as a source of planting material if plants with symptoms of BBTV, BSV, BBrMV, bacterial wilts or Fusarium wilt are found; 5) eliminate flower before emergence (decapitation, 'false decapitation').Decapitation serves to eliminate the growing point before flower emergence and stimulate sucker formation (JC).False decapitation also serves to stimulate sucker formation by inhibiting flower emergence (OB).Suckers should be harvested as soon as they reach the minimum useful size to allow space for remaining suckers (JC). chapteR 7: What are the key multiplication practices from each method to guarantee quality?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking bananaKey practices for growing out microcorms: 1) use practices described in the section on selecting healthy superior mother plants; 2) use practices described in the section on extracting suckers for direct planting; 3) pare suckers to a size ranging from 200-500 g and sort by size; 4) follow key practices for weaning nurseries. DO NOTS in growing out microcorms:1. DO NOT use unpared suckers; 2. DO NOT crowd plants without sorting, especially after two weeks.chapteR 7: What are the key multiplication practices from each method to guarantee quality?Key practices for propagating plants from axillary buds:1) use practices described in the section on selecting healthy superior mother plants; 2) use practices described in the section on extracting for direct planting; 3) pare suckers to a size ranging from 200-500 g to expose only white tissue; 4) strip leaves one by one to expose axillary buds at the base of leaves and cut deep X over main growing point at the centre of the stem section; 5) prepare deep bed of well moistened sawdust within humidity chamber which is partially shaded; 6) eliminate any main shoots which sprout, since these will inhibit the sprouting of axillary buds; 7) carefully remove sprouts with roots, maintaining the bulb at the base of stem intact; 8) return suckers to well moistened sawdust for additional sprouting; 9) follow key practices for weaning nursery.Suckers are first pared and then leaves are stripped one by one to expose axillary buds (TL).Suckers are placed into a bed of moistened sawdust within a high humidity chamber. The chamber should be shaded to about 50% natural sunlight (TL).Sprouts of the main shoot should be eliminated as soon as they appear, since they will inhibit the sprouting of the axillary shoots (TL).Shoots originating from axillary buds should be carefully cut away for transplant into bags in a weaning nursery (OB).The bed of sawdust should be moistened frequently. If droplets of water do not condense on the inside walls of the humidity chamber, the sawdust is too dry (GB).Suckers can be returned to the humidity chamber to stimulate additional sprouts which can also be removed (TL).chapteR 7: What are the key multiplication practices from each method to guarantee quality?Propagating quality planting material to improve plant health and crop performance: key practices for dessert banana, plantain and cooking bananaPoorly prepared suckers will produce few sprouts from axillary buds NOT acceptable CS).The growth of the main sprout will suppress growth of axillary buds NOT acceptable (CS).1. DO NOT allow the main sprout to grow undisturbed; 2. DO NOT damage axillary buds when leaf sheaths are being removed; 3. DO NOT leave excess leaf sheath covering axillary buds; 4. DO NOT allow the temperature in the humidity chamber to elevate excessively or allow the chamber to dry out.chapteR 7: What are the key multiplication practices from each method to guarantee quality?Vitroplants may perform poorly in the nursery and the field due to contamination by bacteria or fungi in the laboratory (TL).Viruses can be introduced through vitroplants if virus testing is not rigorous (MLC).Key practices for purchasing vitroplants:1) request certification that superior mother plants of the desired cultivar for the climatic conditions of the production zone were used; 2) request certification of mother plants from zone free of bacterial (Ralstonia and Xanthomonas), viral (BBTV and BBrMV) and fungal (Fusarium TR4) wilts; 3) request certification of virus testing of mother plants for BBTV, BSV, BBrMV, CMV and other viruses. For BSV in plantain AAB, IC-PCR indexing should be used; 4) request certification of vitroplants free of bacterial (especially Ralstonia and Xanthomonas) and fungal (especially Fusarium Tropical Race 4) infections; 5) request certification that a maximum of 1000 plants are generated from a single shoot tip; 6) request guarantee that off-types will not be greater than 5%. If the percentage is greater than 5%, replacement plants should be provided at no extra charge.DO NOT for purchasing vitroplants:1. DO NOT purchase vitroplants without certification of quality of mother plants, of virus testing procedures and of lack of contamination of bacteria and fungi.chapteR 7: What are the key multiplication practices from each method to guarantee quality?Key practices for growing out microcorms, plants from axillary buds and vitroplants in weaning nurseries:1) select a well drained site with easy access to clean uncontaminated water for irrigation; 2) to reduce the risk of infection of plants from nearby banana plantations, especially by insects, including ants, screening should be used and the surrounding area of 10 meters width should be kept free of any vegetation; 3) plan for a maximum shade of 50% which can be gradually reduced and then eliminated just prior to transplant; 4) prepare a clean substrate rich in organic matter and adequate nutrients for initial vigorous plant growth and free of nematodes and possible contamination with bacteria and fungi; 5) at regular intervals, eliminate off-types, plants lacking vigour and plants with disease; 6) increase the space between nursery bags as plants grow larger and leaves begin to overlap.The nursery site should be well drained with good air circulation and easy access to water (IVDB).The substrate should be free of contaminating pests and diseases, but also rich in organic matter and nutrients (LP).All off-type, unhealthy or slow-growing plants should be eliminated (QDPI).  The use of locally-produced suckers for direct planting, sucker multiplication plots, microcorms or plants from axillary buds represents a very high risk of multiplication of certain diseases which may be present. The only options available depend on in vitro multiplication with clean shoot tips thoroughly indexed free of virus. The initial emphasis in these multiplication programmes should be on diseasefree material, but over a period of 5-10 years, the selection process should also include the identification of superior clones with a high and uniform production potential.Option 1 (see table 1 next page) is more applicable where vitroplants are inexpensive and the re-infection rate is high. This approach is used in Taiwan under threat from Fusarium wilt, and in the Philippines where BBTV pressure is very high. Under such conditions the use of sucker multiplication plots represents a high risk of re-infection before plants from axillary buds can be implemented.Option 2 (see table 1 next page) is demanding in terms of the protective measures during several stages, but may be applicable where the risk of re-infection is lower, where tissue culture plants are more expensive or lab facilities are limited and when the cultivar is primarily of local interest.  Alternative programmes when serious diseases requiring off-farm methods are absentIn regions where diseases often subject to quarantine are absent, there are numerous options to produce clean planting material. The primary challenge is to reduce nematodes in planting material as well as other diseases mentioned earlier. The major challenge in such regions is developing superior clones with a high and uniform production potential. The use of in vitro multiplication is not illustrated among the options below, but may be very effective once superior clones have been identified.Options 3 and 4 are most applicable when there are already abundant areas of the desired cultivar (Table 2). When the source of mother plants is more limited, then a longer time period is required as shown in Options 5 and 6 (Table 3). When very few suckers are available to multiplication, an even longer time period is required to reach the target of 50,000 plants as shown in Options 7 and 8 (Table 4).   When a disease such as BBTV is present and spreading, the challenges are numerous simply to avoid catastrophic losses. BBTV is present is Australia, Philippines and the Democratic Republic of Congo, countries with widely varying infrastructure and human resources to implement solutions. Australia is currently trying to eradicate BBTV after many decades of limiting its impact and spread.Philippines is currently developing a clean, BBTV-free seed programme for important local market cultivars based on a highly efficient tissue culture sector which serves primarily the export banana farms. An earlier attempt to provide virus-free planting material through university tissue culture labs had limited impact, but universities are key players in training technical staff and farmers. In DR Congo BBTV has spread across the country into the remote fields of small farmers over several decades, during which time public and private sector services were collapsing due to civil strife. Australia and Philippines have different expected outcomes with different information delivery to different stakeholders. DR Congo is only beginning to mobilize public sector agencies to discuss the need for action.To address improved planting materials for farmers, public and private sectors in Australia and Philippines have key services, materials and human resources such as virus testing laboratories, private tissue culture companies, virologists and field plant quarantine officers. DR Congo, on the other hand, faces two challenges: to determine the additional services, materials and human resources that are needed to provide BBTV-free planting material and then to implement a strategy beginning in zones with the lowest cost and highest likelihood of success.This illustrated guide has drawn on decades of research and development on more efficient and effective planting materials. However, the implementation of effective programmes which facilitate farmer use of higher quality planting material still offers a considerable development challenge beyond the details and key practices of the different multiplication methods."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5989c0d03245cafa9f7206e05db5715d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/0826dfce-3630-44f5-8ade-ece9c47cbc2e/content","id":"1103280153"},"keywords":["Drought resistance","Cereals","Maize","Plant production","Food security","Food supply","Community involvement FO1","F30 ican film","gmbh","Switzerland"],"sieverID":"dd410846-f9f9-4ec2-8ad3-8c408229bb96","content":"The Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Project is jointly being implemented by CIMMYT and the IITA, and is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Howard G. Buffet Foundation. The project is part of a broad partnership also involving national agricultural research and extension systems, seed companies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), and advanced research institutes, known as the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Initiative. Its activities build on longer-term support by other donors, including the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Eiselen Foundation. The project aims to develop and disseminate drought tolerant, high-yielding, locally-adapted maize varieties and to reach 30-40 million people in sub-Saharan Africa with these varieties in 10 years.While maize is the most important agricultural commodity in Kenya, its production often falls below requirements whenever there is drought. The main aim of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project is to address such shortfalls in maize production through developing and disseminating drought tolerant cultivars.The DTMA Project (http://dtma.cimmyt.org) is jointly being implemented by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Howard G. Buffet Foundation. The project is part of a broad partnership also involving national agricultural research and extension systems, seed companies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), and advanced research institutes, known as the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Initiative. Its activities build on longer-term support by other donors, including the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Eiselen Foundation. The project aims to develop and disseminate drought tolerant, high-yielding, locally-adapted maize varieties and to reach 30-40 million people in sub-Saharan Africa with these varieties within 10 years.Community surveys were undertaken for this project in Machakos and Makueni districts to provide baseline socioeconomic information. Objectives of this survey were to: acquire information to facilitate the analysis of the socioeconomic and bio-physical environment in which the DTMA varieties would be adopted and their performance evaluated; to provide the context for the design, conduct, analysis and interpretation of household surveys; and to integrate community level information with production and price data, and information from other sources, to facilitate the characterization of household livelihoods, cropping systems, farm produce and inputs markets, and to gain insights into the constraints faced and available opportunities.The findings of the community survey portrayed two communities faced with shrinking land holding sizes and degradation of the natural resource base through loss of nutrients and erosion of soil, biodiversity and grazing resources. The communities face challenges including declining amounts of seasonal rainfall, increased frequencies of drought and increased risk of crop failure. While improvements in the road transport infrastructure were identified, along with improvement in the reach and densities of farm inputs distribution, the majority of smallholders have not benefited from this due to high access costs. Farm productivity in general, and maize productivity, in particular, are declining. This decline in productivity of maize was attributed to factors such as continued reliance on low-yielding and risk-prone varieties, lack of extension services and unavailability of credit. The general assessment was that more than two-thirds of households were food insecure most of the year. Despite marked improvements in the number and quality of service providers now available in the area, health status was considered to have deteriorated over the previous 10 years. The level of poverty (already higher than the national average) was considered to be increasing.The findings of this survey indicate that attributes of DTM varieties such higher yields, better drought tolerance and shorter maturity periods relative to the currently marketed varieties currently in the market, are likely to lead to their more widespread adoption. The survey identified a fairly dense network of farm inputs suppliers which would facilitate seed distribution. Seed distribution is also likely to benefit from the network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) whose typical activity portfolios include aspects of agricultural development. Given the high levels of poverty in both Machakos and Makueni districts, widespread adoption of DTMA varieties is unlikely to occur in the absence of policies which address provision of incentives to farm inputs traders. Another reason for poor adoption is the difficulty that farmers face in accessing cash, as well as the aversion to risk of losing their investment in the maize crops in case of drought. The study identified a number of financial institutions and an existing cooperative movement in the two areas. At the time of the survey, lending for agricultural purposes was a low priority for these institutions. Another key finding was that adoption of DTMA varieties is likely to result in greater empowerment of women.Although the qualitative methods employed for this study were strong, in interpreting the findings, conclusions and policy recommendations proposed by the authors, the reader should remember that limitations to the approach exist. Carefully designed adoption studies to facilitate statistical or econometric modeling of causeeffect relationships among household characteristics, variety attributes, institutional factors, drought risk and the likelihood of adoption must be implemented to complement the findings of this survey. Taken together, results of such surveys can greatly aid in establishing variety development objectives, evaluation or adaptation experiments and, most of all, in designing strategies to make the varieties available to the majority of farmers. Kenya has a population of 28,241,000 (GoK 2007a.) and a land surface area of 582,646 km 2 . The country has five main agro-ecological regions: a narrow, humid to sub-humid coastal strip; bush-covered plains in the interior; high-lying scrublands in the northwest; fertile grasslands and highland forests in the south-west; and the Great Rift Valley in the west, where some of the country's highest mountains, including Mount Kenya (5,199 m) are situated, as well as Lake Turkana. Except for the temperate highlands, the climate is hot and dry. Coffee, tea, petroleum products, cereals, and fresh vegetables, fruits, and flowers are the chief exports. Large numbers of cattle are pastured in the grasslands. Industry, which is expanding, includes oil refining, food processing, and the manufacture of consumer goods, cement, and textiles. Agriculture, dominated by smallholder farming, directly contributes 26-27% of Kenya's gross domestic product (GDP). The range of agricultural commodities includes cereals and pulse crops, horticulture and floriculture, roots and tuber crops, industrial crops, dairy production and ranching (Jaetzold and Schmidt 1983). The staple commodities are maize and sorghum (cereals), beans, cowpeas and pigeon peas (pulses), potatoes and cassava, meat, milk and an assortment of fruits and vegetables.The main tenets of the agricultural policy are food security, income generation, employment creation and poverty alleviation. While maize is the most important agricultural commodity, production often falls below requirements due to drought, necessitating massive imports. This project proposes to reach a greater number of poor farmers in SSA with open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) and hybrids that have higher drought tolerance thus reducing farmers' vulnerability, increasing their food security and improving their livelihoods in drought years.The community surveys developed in Kenya for this project were undertaken in the Machakos and Makueni districts. Qualitative and quantitative information at district and community level was collected to characterize the maize production systems facing drought risk. The information captured:Drought risk experiences, and perceptions and attitudes, • Livelihoods diversity and strategies for coping with drought and related institutional factors, • Adoption, non-adoption, and dis-adoption of improved maize varieties since 1997, • Farmer evaluation of traditional and improved maize varieties in relation to drought (e.g. yield • increments; food security: reduction in hunger months; cash income; etc.), andMaize production constraints, including improved maize seed suppliers operating in the area. •The study was guided by three main objectives: Acquiring information (not obtainable through household surveys at reasonable cost) to facilitate a • qualitative analysis of the socio-economic and bio-physical environment in which the DTMA varieties are likely to be adopted.Providing the context for design, conduct, analysis and interpretation of household survey results and a • basis for triangulating the community level information with data from the planned household survey.Integrating community level information with production and price data, and information from other • sources to facilitate characterization of household livelihoods, cropping systems, farm produce and inputs markets, and to gain valuable insights into constraints faced and available opportunities.Community focal group discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews (KI) and a variety of secondary sources uncovered detailed information about the agricultural production systems within Machakos and Makueni districts where maize is the main food and cash crop. The community survey also yielded information for use in characterizing drought risk, a significant feature of farming in the two districts. The areas of focus of the DTMA survey were Kangundo Division in Machakos District and Kaiti Division in Makueni District. 1Kangundo and Kaiti divisions where the community surveys took place now fall within the newly established Kangundo and Makueni Districts respectively. Since the new districts have yet to establish key administrative, institutional and functional structures of their own, district-level insights from key informants and secondary sources reported in this document refer to Machakos and Makueni districts before they were sub-divided, unless otherwise stated. Table 1 shows the study sites, their global positioning system (GPS) coordinates and the number and gender of participants. A total of 12 focal group discussion (FGD) sessions were conducted-five in Machakos District and seven in Makueni District, as shown in Table 1. The sites were selected so as to capture the range of agro-ecological variation that is experienced at the community level. In both districts, participation was drawn from farmers, farm input suppliers, extension service providers, students and community leaders. A fair representation by gender of participant was achieved (30% and 35% of participants in Machakos and Makueni, respectively, were women). Checklists were used to guide discussions at the FGD and KI interviews. Both exercises took place between June and August 2007. It is widely believed that much of the farm land in Machakos and Makueni districts is prone to frequent droughts (Tiffen et al. 1994). Government statistics (e.g., GoK 2005) indicate that during periods of drought, shortfalls in maize production occur. As maize is the main staple in the region, a sizeable proportion of farm households encounter severe hardships as they strive to meet their food requirements following drought episodes. In attempting to provide a sustainable solution to this problem, 78 maize varieties have been released between 1964 and 2004. Most of these varieties were developed by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and more recently, universities, and private and public sector seed companies. Out of these 78 varieties, about 20 were bred for the growing conditions found in the dry mid-altitude (DM) and dry transitional (DT) agro-ecological zones.A drought resistant variety, Katumani Composite B (KCB) was released in 1968, and this was followed by release of Dryland Composite 1 (DLC1) in 1989. A number of other varieties have been developed since, mostly, by the CIMMYT/KARI Africa Maize Stress (AMS) project. To complement the plant breeders' effort, KARI has developed farmer recommendations for fertilizer use, weed management, and pest and disease control for these varieties. While the Kenyan farmer in wetter areas has benefited from significant yield improvement, households in drought-prone areas have not. The DTMA project intends to develop varieties which should perform well even under drought conditions.Machakos District stretches from latitudes 0º45´S to 1º31´S and from longitudes 36º45´E and 37º45´E; its total area was 6,281 km 2 with a population of 906,644 persons according to the 1999 Population and Housing Census (GoK 2007a). The district has a high population growth rate since it is preferred by large families, and has high urbanization rates in Machakos, Athi River, Tala-Kangundo, Matuu, and Masii towns. There is an increased rate of settlement in areas of marginal agricultural potential (GoK 2002a;GoK 2007a), and this trend is widely reported to have characterized the pattern of settlement in the two districts for more than a century (O'Leary 1975;Tiffen et al. 1994).Makueni District stretches from latitude 1º35´S to 3º01´S and from longitude 37º10´E to 38º30´E. The district had a total area of 7,965.8 km 2 , out of which 474.1 km 2 and 724.3 km 2 formed the fabulous Tsavo West National Park and Chyulu Hills Game Reserve, respectively. The district had 771,545 persons according to the 1999 Population and Housing Census (GoK 2007a). There are several upcoming market centers such as Wote, Kathonzweni, Matiliku, Kibwezi, Mtito Andei, Makindu and Mukuyuni, which offer investment and employment opportunities for the residents of the district (GoK 2002b). While the highest concentration of the population is in the hilly areas, excess numbers are extending the settlement margin further into land of low to very low agricultural potential. By 2001, there were 30,000 declared squatters in the district (GoK 2002b).Administratively, Kenya is divided into eight provinces (Nairobi, Central, Eastern, Coast, Rift Valley, Nyanza, Western and North Eastern) for the purpose of co-ordination of government functions. Each province is divided into several districts, and each district is further divided into one or more administrative divisions. Within this hierarchy, one or more locations may comprise a division. Each location is further divided into one or more sub-locations. At the base of this pyramid is the village, also referred to as area or sub-unit. Operationally, the hierarchy is managed by the Provincial Administration, the field arm of the Office of the President. Machakos and Makueni districts fall within Eastern Province. While the two districts are populated predominantly by the Kamba community, some of the other 41 communities which make up Kenya's population, notably, the Kikuyu and Luo, are represented in varying degrees.Machakos District was divided into 12 divisions, 62 locations and 225 sub-locations. The district had six parliamentary constituencies and five local authorities with a total of 51 electoral wards. Each constituency was represented by a Member of Parliament. At the time of the study, the district had 186,297 households averaging 4.9 persons. Makueni District had 17 administrative divisions, 63 locations and 187 sub-locations. The district had five parliamentary constituencies and 69 electoral wards for local authorities. There were 144,320 households, averaging six persons.The centre of Machakos and the north of Makueni mainly consist of hills and small plateaus rising between 1,800-2,100 meters above sea level (masl). Machakos District is surrounded by a large plateau that rises to about 1,700 masl in the west and slopes to 700 masl in the south east. The mean elevation is, however, 1,357 masl in Machakos and 1,047 masl in Makueni. This undulating plain is broken by isolated mountains in the north-west, the volcanic out-flow of the Yatta Plateau in the east and Chyulu Hills in the south-east. Figure 2 shows the typical layout of the landscape. Total annual precipitation ranges from 500-1,300 mm/year, or 100-450 mm/ short rainy seasons and 80-530 mm/long rainy season.The major land formations in Makueni District include the volcanic Chyulu Hills in the south and in the north, Mbooni and Kilungu Hills which rise to 1,900 masl. Apart from the Chyulu Hills, the south of the district is largely a low-lying grassland (averaging 600 masl) which receives little rain but has potential for ranching. Athi River (and its tributaries, i.e., Kambu, Kiboko and Mtito Andei) form the major drainage system for the two districts. Aspects of elevation and precipitation for both Makueni and Machakos districts are highlighted in Table 2. Source: Jones (1988) database cited in Corbett (1998).Rainfall distribution in the two districts occurs in two seasons-the short rainy season which typically begins during October/November and ends during January/February; and, the long rainy season which begins in March and ends during August/September (see Table 2 for annual precipitation). Other agro-ecological data are presented in Tables 3 and 4. The mean monthly temperature varies between 18°C-25°C, with the hottest months being February and October, and the coolest being July (Jaetzold et al. 2006;GoK 2005). According to information obtained from the Machakos DSDO, the entire district had a total of 11,815 groups registered between 2002 and 2005. Out of these, 1,348 were in Kangundo Division. The majority of these groups were organized around the self-help concept. In Makueni District, a cumulative 14,103 groups had been registered between 1992 and 2006. Among these, 4,045 were women groups. The Makueni DSDO indicated that only about 1,000 groups were active. It was learnt from the DSDO that groups are formed for particular purposes and dissolve after the original objective behind establishment of the group has been met. Given that the year 2007 was an election year, the DSDO anticipated a surge in the number of applications for group registration. There were nine NGOs in Machakos and 11 in Makueni. Promotion of Rural Initiatives and Development Enterprises (PRIDE), Kenya Rural Enterprise Program (K-REP), Christian Children's Fund (CCF), World Vision and Maendeleo ya Wanawake were active in both districts. Most of the NGOs (70%) active in the two districts were international; mainly involved in capacity-building and conducting field demonstrations on agricultural or farming techniques (e.g., German Agro-Action) in areas of their specialization. The functions of most of these NGOs were broadly similar. Nearly all undertook activities related to building capacities of members of households for participation in development initiatives within the communities they served. Agriculture based NGOs (e.g., German Agro-Action) were also involved in relief seed distribution and demonstration of better farming techniques. The most active NGOs in the two districts are listed in Table 7. In 2006, total membership in the various types of cooperative societies in Machakos District stood at 100,839 persons. With a share capital of KShs 1.4 billion (about US$ 20 million), the contribution of societies and unions in the economy of the district is indisputable. Naikoni Kumini (horticulture), Kambuthu Farmers Cooperative Society Ltd (coffee) and Wamunyu Farmers Cooperative Society Ltd (dairy marketing) are some of the cooperative societies that were affiliated to the giant Machakos District Cooperative Union. Savings and credit cooperative societies (SACCOs), however, had the largest share of membership. The number of SACCOs was rising while that of coffee-based societies was declining, perhaps because of rising costs of production coupled with unstable prices within the coffee industry. Many societies and unions exhibited low levels of activity but the Ministry of Cooperative Development was making efforts to eliminate the major constraints to increased productivity of the cooperative movement.There were 20 cooperatives in Makueni District, distributed as follows: seven dairy; three coffee; one beekeeping; seven horticulture; one multi-purpose and one SACCO. Cooperative societies tended to focus on the main income-generating activities in the district, such as dairy, coffee and horticulture. Development of the maize enterprise did not appear to be benefiting much from the cooperative movement. There were, however, a few cases in which fertilizer and maize seed were offered to cooperative society members as in-kind credit. The Swedish Cooperative Centre (dealing with capacity-building and market linkage in dairy, cereals, and horticulture and cotton sectors) was the one of the most important cooperative unions in Makueni District.Some indicators of the quality of life and welfare indicators were considered in depth at the FGDs. Between 1997 and 2006, the cost of farm inputs rose despite falling prices for farm produce and reduced access to output markets, resulting in lower household income. At the household level, health problems have increased despite increased numbers of health facilities. Although the number (and quality) of health service providers has risen over the years, only the well-off who have the means to pay for these services have benefited. High levels of poverty in the area have effectively put these services out of reach for the majority of households. Over the same period, the frequency, incidence and severity of droughts increased, resulting in further poverty in the community.Machakos had 59% of residents generally classified as poor, while Makueni District had poverty rate of 73.5%, with the overall poverty level for the same year being 58.6%. Migration to towns in search of employment or business and trade opportunities had increased.Distribution of health facilities in Eastern Province in which Machakos and Makueni fall, rose from 308 in 1990 to 804 in 1999. The bed-and-cot capacity in the hospitals rose by 41%, from 4,769 to 6,736 (Mwabu et al. 2002).While the assessments at the FGDs were that the state of health is not improving, key informants and secondary sources indicated that the two districts have a fairly dense network of health facilities. In 2006, Machakos District had 274 facilities and out of these, 53 were in Kangundo Division. Most of these facilities were provided and operated by private investors or religious organizations. Public sector facilities typically offer services at a lower cost especially in the sparsely populated but impoverished remote areas. However, according to the District Medical Officers of Health (DMOH) of Machakos and Makueni, constraints on their budgets have led to some of the facilities in the outlying areas not being operational. Focal group discussions (60%) revealed that access to quality health care services has declined despite increased numbers of such facilities. This view is consistent with the Kenya National Human Development Report (KNHDR 2006) which states that many people had poor access to qualified doctors in Machakos (81%) and Makueni (55%).The FGDs expressed satisfaction with the state of nutrition, except child nutrition in both districts-the proportion of underweight children below 5 years was 24% in Machakos and 16.9% in Makueni. The proportion of people expected to survive beyond age 40 was marginally higher (34% in Machakos and also 34% in Makueni) than that of Kenya (33%) (KNHDR 2006).In the 10 health facilities where 1,166 people were tested for HIV/AIDS, prevalence was higher for females (13%) than for their male counterparts (6%). Mwabu et al. (2002) estimated the prevalence rates for Makueni and Machakos for 2000 at 12.4% in each of the districts.In Makueni, the major market centers are Wote, Kathonzweni, Mukuyuni, Kola, Nunguni, Emali, Kambu, Mtito Andei, Makindu, Kalawa and Tawa. In Machakos, some of the major market centers are Machakos, Athi River, Tala-Kangundo, Masii, Mwala and Matuu. Both districts have a fairly well-distributed network of farm inputs suppliers. There were 75 farm input distribution points spread among 15 market centers in Makueni District, serving 144,320 households. Farm produce marketing is generally undertaken by individual smallholders, either at the farm gate or at the nearest market centre. Most of the FGDs indicated that the farm inputs had become more accessible but were expensive. In a few cases, long distances to the input markets (upto 68 km in Machakos and 117 km in Makueni) were reported. Not surprisingly, however, the FGDs were more concerned about high prices than the distances to supply points as constraints to farm input acquisition. As noted by O' Leary (1975), for instance, members of the Machakos and Makueni communities have a long tradition as long distance travelers in the East Africa region.Low levels of investment in human capital development are widely considered to be a major impediment to economic growth and eradication of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa (Kabubo-Mariara 2007). Placed at 62% in Makueni and 64% in Machakos, compared to 69% in Kenya, the two districts appear to have low literacy levels (KNHDR 2006). Taking primary school enrolment as an indicator of community access to education, both districts had rising trends in enrolment between 1997 and 2005. In Machakos, enrolment rose from 223,366 to 273,593 pupils while that of Makueni rose from 203,127 to 255,275 pupils during the same period (GoK 2006, MoE unpublished data). Following the introduction of free primary education in the country in 2003, about 1.5 million children joined primary school nationally. However, there were still many children of school-going age who were out of school. The gross enrolment rate for 2003 was 104% while the net enrolment was estimated at 77% (Vos et al. 2004). In a recent analysis, Kabubo-Mariara ( 2007) identified several factors influencing school enrolment: boys are more likely to be enrolled in school than girls; the more educated the parents are, the more likely is the enrolment of a child in school; and mother's employment is an important determinant of enrolment.The government has been establishing measures such as the National Poverty Eradication Plan (NPEP) expected to be implemented over the period 1999-2015. The NPEP is tied to the new budgeting system, the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). Three types of poverty are explicitly recognized in government documents (GoK 2002a, b), i.e., food poverty, absolute poverty and hard core poverty. Households whose food expenditure falls short of what is needed to purchase sufficient grain to supply FAO/WHO recommended intake of 2,250 calories per head per day are termed as food poor. The total expenditure of poor people is less than the minimum basic needs, which is estimated at KShs 1,239 in Kenya. The hard core poor cannot afford to pay for the minimum recommended calories even if they spend all their income on food. The proportion of overall poor persons in 1997 in Machakos and Makueni districts was estimated at 59% and 73.5%, respectively. By 2002, these proportions had risen to 82.7% (an increase of about 6%) and 62.9% (3.9% increase) in Makueni and Machakos districts respectively (Mwabu et al. 2002;Manda et al. 2001;GoK 2007a).Machakos District has three types of roads-bitumen (408.8 km); earth (709.4 km); and gravel (658.5 km). Over 1,400 households and 35 enterprises are connected to the mains electricity supply, while 1% of rural homes use solar power. At least 2010 households and 1,400 enterprises are connected to the land-line telephone service and there are 214 public telephone booths. Mobile telephone services are widely available throughout the district.Makueni District is relatively well-endowed with transport and communications infrastructure. The road network comprises 254 km bitumen road, 551 km of roads paved with gravel, 760 km of earth roads and 4500 km of other road types. This road network supports transport between major population centers and the rest of the country by motor vehicle. Within the district, travel or transportation by local taxi (matatu) and other forms of vehicular transportation is common. Most parts of the district are accessible by lorry/pickup truck, bicycle and where the tsetse fly 4 menace is not pronounced, donkey or ox-cart. In addition, 225 km of railroad traverse the district and there are four airstrips. Only 950 households in Makueni District have their electricity supply connected to the national grid. All the 17 divisions had mobile telephone coverage by one or two service providers (Safaricom and Zain [Celtel]) but within each division, reliability of the network signal is variable. At least 16 of the trading centers had working landline telephone services.About 85,000 ha and 4,000 ha were planted with maize and sorghum, respectively, in Machakos District (GoK 2005). In addition, there were 12,000 ha of beans, 4,000 ha of cowpeas 36,000 ha of pigeon peas, 1,500 ha of cassava, 2,000 ha of sweet potatoes and 3,500 ha of arrow roots. Corresponding acreages for Makueni District for 2006 were 46,955 ha (maize), 6,764 ha (sorghum), 19,130 ha (beans), 26,711 ha (cowpeas) and 21,199 ha of pigeon peas. At a mere 1,049 ha, cassava was a relatively minor subsistence crop. The range of crops identified at the FGDs is listed in Table 8. Typically, fields are intercropped (Figure 3). One field may have up to 10 different crops at any one time. Maize, however, was the main staple food crop, usually consumed in combination either with beans, cowpeas or pigeon peas, in varying proportions. Coffee and horticultural commodities were the major cash crops.FGDs indicated that only small amounts of maize, beans, cowpeas and pigeon peas are sold when surpluses were obtained. FGD participants had difficulties in discussing their relative profitability, perhaps because the quantities involved were small and did not enter market transactions. Profitability and \"risky crop\" assessments are shown in Table 8. Although stockists would list as many as 20 improved varieties of crop (Bett et al. 2006), farmers at the FGDs mentioned only seven (six in Makueni district). As shown in Table 8, the pace of adoption of improved varieties has been slow. Dis-adoption rates (as declared at the FGDs) of established varieties such as DLC1 and KCB were high. Dis-adption rates for local varieties were low though distinct.Adoption rates for improved varieties ranged between 6% for H513 and 51% for Pioneer in Machakos District; and, between 2% for DK8031 and 7% for Pioneer in Makueni District. The reasons for low rates of adoption were that the varieties had only been introduced recently, and were being evaluated, and that seed price was very high. Another reason was that some of the new varieties have not addressed the main concerns of farmers such as risks. FGDs identified production risk as affecting maize, beans, and pigeon peas. Farmers who grew maize and other varieties would face price and marketing risk. Farm households in the two districts consume a significant proportion of Kenya's maize crop, and attempt to produce enough to meet their own requirements and some surplus for sale each season with varying degrees of success. District level statistics show that mean acreage 1997-2005 was 147,000 ha for Machakos and 81,200 ha for Makueni. Over the same period, mean yields were 488 kg/ha for Machakos and 405 kg/ha for Makueni. These low average yields reflect near crop failure seasons (long rains [LR] 1998;LR 1999;LR 2000;LR 2004 and short rains [SR] 2005) when yields ranged from 0-75 kg/ha.Figure 4 illustrates the types of maize crops grown in the area during July/August 2007. The top left picture shows a drought stressed crop near Wote, the Makueni district center. The top right picture shows a more typical maize field sown to a local variety. In this instance, neither spacing nor fertilizer recommendations were followed. The District Agricultural Officers (DAO) in the two districts estimated that about 55-65% of the farmers follow this practice, and that grain yield obtainable on such fields would be about 300-700 kg/ha, depending on the season. The picture on the bottom left of Figure 4 illustrates a local variety crop that was planted with no attention to spacing, weeding and fertilizer recommendations during a season with good rainfall and no pest or disease outbreak. Only about 100-200 kg/ha is expected from such crop management, estimated to be practiced by 5-10% of the farmers in the two districts. The picture on the bottom right shows performance of a crop sown to Duma 41 hybrid, in a good season, with most of the agronomic recommendations followed. The DAOs estimated that grain yields of up to 4 tons/ha plus another 4 tons/ha of stover for animal feed will be harvested.The FGDs regarding the varieties grown, production constraints yield and price attributes for maize are presented in Table 9. Six varieties were identified for Machakos and eight for Makueni. Duma and Pannar varieties were comparatively new, while the Dryland (DH) and Pioneer hybrids have been grown in the area for more than five years. However, as Bett et al. (2006) have shown, over 20 maize varieties were kept by seed stockists in Machakos and Makueni. Duma series and PHB 3253 were ranked as the fastest selling varieties by the stockists. It was found that PHB 3253 was the most common maize variety grown in both Machakos and Makueni districts.  The average yields of local varieties calculated from all FGD averages ranged from 590 to 980 kg/ha, and 851-1,202 kg/ha for improved maize varieties. Maize prices reported in government statistics ranged between KShs 5 and 10 per kg.Subjective assessment of the frequency of occurrence of drought in the two areas at \"one out of eight seasons\" was largely consistent with published sources, e.g., GoK (2001); Downing et al. (1989) and Barrow and Mogaka (2007). The 1972-2006 period saw at least 10 incidences of drought, with varying in severity and consequences in Kenya. . Incidences of plant pest and disease attack were reported to occur at a frequency of once in four years.Strategies to cope with the effects of drought included men migrating in search of employment especially in the construction, farm labor, and hotels industries. Women partake in informal trading e.g., selling vegetables and second-hand clothes. All the shocks identified were considered to affect maize production. More than 80% of the focus groups said the business of farming has become more difficult and risky over the past 10 years. Figure 5 illustrates the use of maize in the local livestock industry. The photo to the left shows livestock grazing in a maize field in which the farmer has lost all hope of getting substantial grain due to drought in July 2007. Maize stover is often harvested and carefully stored for either normal dry season feeding or during feed shortages caused by drought as illustrated in the picture on the left (Figure 5). They cited reasons such as inaccessible extension services, 5 high cost of inputs (such as seed and fertilizer), financial constraints, unaffordable transport to the market, reduced rainfall, reduced farm size, and invasion by pests. Those who said farming has become less difficult cited reasons such as being able to access a wide range of varieties and inputs. Growing maize has also become more difficult, as mentioned by majority of the FGDs. Reasons given were inaccessible credit, lack of output market, unpredictable climate, reduced farm size, financial constraints, and occupation of the farm by other crops. Those who said growing maize has become less difficult/risky cited the availability of many modern seed varieties in the market and easy access to output market. However, many farmers in the FGDs expressed their dismay with emergence of fake seed in the market; a finding reported by Bett et al. (2006). This has impacted negatively on the adoption trend of improved varieties in the area.Men and women are users and managers of resources but with different roles, responsibilities and opportunities in accessing and making better use of those resources at the household and community levels (Rocheleau et al. 1995). Gender is central to positioning both men and women vis-à-vis institutions that determine access to land and other resources. Women control the purchase of particular crops or seeds such as bananas, cassava, pigeon peas, beans, maize, millet, vegetable seeds (particularly cabbages), tomato seeds, cow peas, sweet potatoes, fruits, pumpkin, and arrow roots. However, maize was cited as a crop for both men and women. Except for beans, vegetables and fruits, women control the income of all other crops without having to consult with their spouses.In addition, they control income from sorghum and Irish potatoes. However, women have special responsibility for all crops (Table 11). It was gathered from FGDs that some men undertake off-farm employment and participate in social activities, leaving little time for crop management. The FGDs revealed that the price of maize grain ranged between KShs 8.1-12.3/kg in Machakos and 7.3-13.9/ kg in Makueni. The price range for green maize was KShs 5-10/cob, while that for residue was higher at KShs 60-120/bundle. The weight or volume of the bundle was not specified. These are prices for the 2006/7 seasons. Nominal price changes between 1997 and 2007 ranged from KShs 5-15/kg (grain); from KShs 5-10 per cob (green) and from KShs 20-120 per bundle (residue).The stockists' retailing price for a 2-kg packet has been rising annually as shown by the price trends: KShs 249 in 2002;KShs 354 in 2003;KShs 356 in 2004;KShs 359 in 2005;and KShs 363 in 2006. However, the stockists' buying price (from distributors) did not follow any clear trend: KShs 329 in 2002;KShs 331 in 2003;KShs 323 in 2004;KShs 328 in 2005;and  Although there were a number of financial institutions in both districts, only about half of the FGDs reported easy access to credit. Those who found it difficult mentioned various constraints such as lack of collateral (some did not have title deeds, especially in Makueni). In addition, they mentioned production and market risks, lack of awareness and information, reduced extension service, and lack of cash crops to help them repay the loan. In Machakos, there were five banks, 34 SACCOs and four micro-finance institutions. In Makueni, there were three micro-finance institutions, one bank and one other type of financial institution (Kenya Women Finance Trust) as reported in the respective District Development Plans for 2002-2008(GoK 2001)).According to the FGDs, there were 80-200 mutual support groups in the area. These are run by members supporting each other though cash donations and in-kind contribution. In-kind contribution typically includes labor, meeting expenses for social events such as funerals, weddings, education and purchase of household goods. Among the mutual support groups, some operated like micro finance institutions and CBOs. While most micro finance institutions did not have farming activity as their focus, some supported informal trade. In 2006, for instance, 75% of the households in some villages received credit from the micro finance institutions. The interest rate charged was on average 20% per month. Kenya Rural Enterprise Program Bank (K-REP) was one of the main lending institutions in the area whose activities were deeply rooted in the community. In comparison with other institutions, its interest rate was as low as 3% per month. Specifically, K-REP Bank through its Farmers Savings Association (FSA) outlets provided credit in-kind and cash. The requirement for K-REP credit was that beneficiaries must be members of a group. The credit provided was meant for a wide range of activities such as business, education, household goods and purchase of livestock, in addition to paying bride wealth.Among the major types of organizations in the study area, women groups are the most frequent. According to the FGDs, 20-75% of the households had at least one member belonging to one or more of these organizations. The core purpose of such organizations was the provision of mutual assistance on a revolving basis. This arrangement works in such ways that members support each other, with every member receiving the benefit(s) in turn, on a rotational basis. The assistance they provide to each other varies from group to group but the resources pooled could provide capital for an informal business. Women groups were found to be very helpful in the community. Some of the direct benefits included helping members buy household goods or pay for their children's education. Although slowly emerging, youth groups had not yet become as established in the study area as women groups had. However, as shown in Table 12, women constituted a small percentage of the members. According to members of the community, youth groups were seen as very helpful as they kept the members busy, in addition to providing them with income generation avenues such as tree nurseries and brick-making. Malefemale groups (where membership and participation is not based on gender) were a new dimension in formation of social organizations. However, it appeared that women constituted the minority (30%) in these organizations. Men-women groups were considered to be very helpful as members provided labor exchange among themselves (Table 12). Agriculture contributes about 75% of income while rural and urban self employment accounts for 15% and 8%, respectively. Crop production was the main livelihood sustaining activity in which 95% of people were involved (Table 13), including men, women and children. Other activities are construction (70%), employment in government (55%), petty trade (46%) and livestock production (30%). As indicated, petty trade was mainly done by women. Other minor activities were collection of natural products, sale of firewood and casual labor.Firewood is sold predominantly by women. All the FGDs indicated that communities or households in the study area considered themselves to be in a state of food shortage whenever rains failed or were inadequate, and when this situation led to low crop production or total failure. Shortage of staple food crops in the local grain markets was also considered an indication of famine. Some FGDs stated that whenever there was non-adoption of modern agricultural technologies, it was an indicator of food shortage. Households that suffered from hard core poverty experienced food shortages whenever there were no food donations from the government and donors. FGDs assessed the prevalence of food-insecure households in Machakos and Makueni at 67%. Members of the community devised coping strategies for times of food shortage by working off-farm, selling livestock (small animals and cattle) and receiving food donations from the government and well-wishers.Mainly due to unreliable rainfall, households in Machakos and Makueni districts experience frequent food shortages leading to perpetual reliance on food donations from the government and other donors. In 2004/5, Machakos experienced a severe food shortage, necessitating distribution of relief food on a massive scale. In four months alone (August, October, November and December), 1,620 and 1,550 tons of maize and beans, respectively, were distributed by the government in the affected divisions of Kalama, Yathui, Katangi, Masinga, Ndithini, Central and Kathinai (GoK 2005). The district had 6,996 and 1,028 tons of maize and beans, respectively, in reserve (KangundoDistrict Agricultural Extension Officer [DAEO 2005]). In Kaiti Division, the food situation was different from that of the other parts of the district as food was readily available in the market centers. However, due to the low purchasing power of some farm families in locations such as Kyuasini, Utaani, Iuani and Kivani, there was a food shortage (Kaiti DAEO 2005).In both Makueni and Machakos districts, FGDs identified changes in the state of natural resources and in the environment over the past 20 years. Most of the changes experienced have been negative such as reduced rainfall, drought, soil erosion, dwindling water sources, and bare land. These negative changes were mainly attributed to destruction of vegetation through cutting down of trees for wood and charcoal-making. Another reason for destruction of vegetative cover was to facilitate new human settlements, farming and grazing of livestock. The few positive changes experienced in some areas have been attributed to improved vegetation cover through planting exotic trees, mainly sourced from South Africa. This has led to the revamping of the water sources resulting in some streams flowing with water. Sinking of boreholes has also improved the water situation in some areas. Lack of adequately safe water is a global problem, with more than 1 billion people lacking access to safe water. KNHDR (2006) indicates that a large proportion of people in Machakos (62.1%) and Makueni (58%) do not have access to safe drinking water. These are higher percentages than the national average (42.3%) and that of Eastern Province (55.7%). Despite the fact that Kangundo and Kaiti divisions lie on hilly land, most members of the community depended on temporary wells sunk in dry river beds to access water.Machakos District has a long history of settlement mainly on account of more favorable growing conditions for crops and livestock. Makueni District, on the other hand, was settled relatively recently. The communities in the two districts have a common ethnicity and shared local institutions for managing access and use of common resources such as water and forests (Table 14). In both districts, the community forest and water resources were the two common resources whose availability seemed to be decreasing over time. The forest has only been spared total destruction through government legislation, as it is government-owned. However, community water resources are controlled by informal regulations set by members of the community themselves. All members of the community have only limited access to the forest simply for fear that they might destroy it.  Due to scarcity of water, as shown in Figure 6, wells are often sunk, as shown in the second picture, and members of the community have to compete for resources. In order to access water, one often has to queue at the water points. The community survey described here has facilitated the analysis of the socio-economic and biophysical environment in which new DTMA varieties will be adopted. The study also provided the context for the design, conduct, analysis and interpretation of household surveys conducted subsequently in 2008. The study integrated community level information with production and price data and information to characterize household livelihoods, cropping systems, farm production and inputs markets, and it generated insights into the constraints faced by farmers as well as opportunities available to them. These objectives were pursued through 12 focal group discussions and key informant sessions in Kangundo (Machakos) and Kaiti (Makueni) in Kenya, during June-July 2007.The findings of the community survey portrayed two communities faced with shrinking landholding sizes and degradation of the natural resource base through loss of nutrients and erosion of soil, biodiversity and grazing resources. Through FGDs, the communities in the two districts voiced their awareness of the challenges they face. These challenges included declining amounts of seasonal rainfall, increased frequencies of drought and increased risk of crop failure. While FGDs identified improvements in the road transport infrastructure as facilitating improvement in the reach and densities of farm inputs distribution, the majority of smallholders have not benefited due to high access costs. Assessment by most of the FGDs was that farm productivity in general, and maize productivity, in particular, were declining. This decline in maize productivity was attributed to factors such as continued reliance on low yielding and risk-prone varieties, lack of extension services and unavailability of credit. The general assessment was that more than two-thirds of the households were food insecure most of the year. Health status was considered to have deteriorated over the preceding 10-year period, despite the marked improvement in the number and quality of service providers now available in the area. The level of poverty (already higher than the national average) was considered to be increasing.The findings of this survey indicate that if DTMA varieties with higher yields, better drought tolerance and shorter maturity periods than the varieties currently in the market were available, adoption would likely occur.The survey identified a fairly dense network of farm input suppliers who would help facilitate seed distribution. Seed distribution is also likely to benefit from the network of NGOs (8 in Machakos and 11 in Makueni) and CBOs whose typical activity portfolios include aspects of agricultural development. Given the high levels of poverty in the two areas, however, widespread adoption of DTMA varieties is unlikely to occur in the absence of policies which address incentives to farm inputs traders on the one hand, and, on the other hand, farmers cash constraints as well as aversion to the risk of losing their investment in the maize crops, in case of drought.The study identified a number of financial institutions and also the cooperative movement in the two areas. At the time of the survey, lending for agricultural purposes was a low priority for these institutions. FGDs assessed maize production as a farm activity for which both men and women share responsibility for resource allocation as well as benefits. Widespread adoption of DTMA varieties is likely to result in greater empowerment of women.While bearing in mind the strengths of the FGD and key informant interview methods employed for this study, in interpreting the findings and conclusions proposed by the authors, the approach displays limitations. Carefully designed adoption studies to facilitate statistical or econometric modeling of cause-effect relationships among household characteristics, variety attributes, institutional factors, drought risk and the likelihood of adoption are needed to complement the findings of this survey. The results of this type of survey can aid in establishing objectives for maize variety development, evaluating or adapting experiments and, not least, designing strategies to make the varieties available to majority of farmers."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"73d06c7a706c2150ec31fb78e09cc695","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/538e3c0b-daea-4567-809d-755b031c646f/retrieve","id":"-1307978850"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"06a6ab7c-0214-4f3a-921f-d8dca418356d","content":". Evaluation of three hydrological models (forced with WATCH and EWEMBI) using annual discharge data for Amudarya and Syr Darya rivers   This study examines the climate vulnerabilities of Central Asia's water, agriculture, and energy sectors at province level, using an index-based approach that quantifies their exposure, sensitivities, and adaptive capacities. As a climate exposure metric for the water and agriculture sectors the study uses projections of river discharge and agricultural productivity under RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5, which are viewed here as 'optimistic' and 'pessimistic' climate scenarios respectively. The sensitivity indicators reflect the degree to which an affected resource is integrated into the economic activity of a province. The energy sector assessment takes into account the challenges associated with meeting projected increases in electricity demand, as well as a global imperative to achieve carbon neutrality by the middle of the century. As a universal barometer for measuring adaptive capacity for all three sectors across the provinces, the study uses proxies of their economic and institutional performances.The findings suggest that climate change will likely impact water resources in Central Asia, with varying trends across the provinces. The projections indicate that river discharge may decline in the southern river basins of the region, while it may increase in the northern river basins of the region. During the vegetation season, when water is most needed for irrigation in the southern half, river flow shifts may be more dramatic under both climatic scenarios.Central Asia's strong dependence on water resources is one of the key reasons for its high sensitivity to climate change. This dependence stems from low water productivity, particularly in the southern regions. Transboundary river systems bind downstream countries to the streamflow of upstream countries. Most parts of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and southern Kazakhstan already face water stress, thus any further gap between water availability and demand would exacerbate water scarcity.The countries should prioritize increasing water use efficiency across the sectors as a means of reducing their sensitivity to the adverse impacts of climate change. This is especially relevant for agriculture, which is by far the largest water consumer. Given the current high level of economic reliance on water resources, promoting alternative, less water-intensive sectors of the economy could be a promising additional adaptation approach. Apart from being a general requirement in the development context, this imperative would also strengthen the structural resilience of local economies to anticipated water stress.Future variations in water resource availability may have far-reaching effects on other sectors, with agriculture being the main recipient of the respective risks. Climate change will likely have heterogenous impacts on major crops grown in the region, with some crops seeing reduced yields and others may have the potential for an increase in productivity. Nevertheless, even the potential benefits for some of those crop types would be largely inaccessible in the southern part of the region: crop productivity here will be constrained by the projected decline in water for irrigation.Overall, in many provinces the climate impacts will be magnified by the relatively higher importance of agriculture in the local economy, in terms of share of population engaged and contribution of the sector to regional GDP. Diversification of the economy and the consequent decline in the sector's relative socioeconomic importance may become other important adaptation strategies on a macro scale.The higher sensitivity to climate impacts is also determined in some subregions by excessive monocropping patterns, when agriculture in a province is dominated by one or a few crops that have either negative prospects under climate change or are water-intensive. Reducing reliance on monocropping and crop structure optimization could diminish the sensitivity of the local agricultural sector to climate change. This needs to be complemented with careful selection and alignment of crop varieties to the changing local climate conditions. The drought-resistance of crop cultivars may become one of the important criteria in cropping decisions.The transboundary nature of water resources distribution across Central Asia predisposes the countries to a high degree of interdependence and sensitivity to compound risks, when climaterelated impacts on water resources transfer the risks to other sectors. Transboundary linkages are particularly strong in south of the region, where the majority of river runoff originates in the highlands of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, while the majority of withdrawals occur in irrigated farmland in downstream Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and south Kazakhstan. While the regional coordination of transboundary water management reduces seasonal and annual water supply uncertainty for downstream provinces, it also reduces their sensitivities and increases overall capacity in the region to adapt to long-term changes in water availability.All countries in the region face a common challenge of maintaining a long-term balance of power demand and supply, given that power consumption is expected to grow by more than half of present generation levels by the middle of the century. The Paris agreement puts an additional burden of GHG emissions reduction, particularly on Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, where power generation is far more carbon-intensive. This race for power security is compounded in the majority of countries by the high-energy intensity of GDP. While the southern areas of the region are more sensitive to long-term mismatches in power supplydemand, the findings show that many provinces in Kazakhstan are equally vulnerable.High energy and carbon intensity of the Central Asian economies therefore poses risks to longterm electric power security. Improving the economic efficiency of energy use appears to be a cost-effective first step. Many provinces in the region should also prioritize development of less energy-hungry economic sectors. Nonetheless, albeit costly one, large-scale adoption of renewable energy sources appears to be an unavoidable necessity.Long-term electric power security of the countries could also substantially benefit from multiple advantages emerging from regional cooperation, in terms of the lower economic cost of electricity and a greater flexibility to curb GHG emissions. As exemplified, cooperation improves the diversity of power supplies on a regional scale, which is another important element of energy security. It could also establish favorable conditions for exploiting the yet untapped potential of renewable sources in the region, which includes the large hydropower potential in the south.The study used GNI per capita and the government effectiveness (GE) index as proxies for adaptation capacity across Central Asian countries and provinces. Because of the high costs associated with both the adaptation to and mitigation of climate change, lower-income provinces in the region will bear a disproportionate share of the economic burden. Therefore, international development finance will be necessary to strengthen the climate resilience of the Central Asian states. However, resource mobilization alone is unlikely to be sufficient for adaptation. Both the central and local governments should continue to build their capacity in designing and implementing sound sectoral policies.In 2020 the Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation Institute (CAREC Institute) concluded a study 'Climate Insurance, Infrastructure, and Governance in the CAREC Region,' which evaluated the main climate change challenges in the CAREC region through the lens of water-energy-food nexus, economic and financial aspects, and governance. One of the deliverables of the project included a framework developed for the assessment of climate vulnerability on a regional level across the CAREC members, which was applied to estimate disparities among the countries in climate-induced water stress. This section summarizes key findings from the project's first phase and updates them with new insights about the region's interconnected water, agriculture, and energy issues in the Central Asian states-namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. In this way, the section outlines the main imperatives for the further development of the multisectoral vulnerability assessment in the region.Water and agriculture sectors of Central Asia in the face of climate change Central Asia is a global hotspot for long-term climate trends, having experienced a substantial increase in temperature over the last century (Haag, Jones, and Samimi, 2019). However, it is projected that the region will see more significant seasonal and geographic variations in temperature and precipitation, affecting a variety of natural and climatic factors upon which the socioeconomic systems of the region currently rely.The expected climate impacts will exacerbate the water scarcity already observable in the southern part of the CAREC region, and may intensify the intrasectoral competition over water resources in and among the Central Asian states even further. Magnified by increased water withdrawals provoked by such factors as growth of population, increasing higher irrigation water requirements, the water supply-demand imbalances will likely prevail across a larger part of the region, putting most of the CAREC states in the list of high and extremely high water stress countries in the world. Most types of agricultural activity in the region will be at the frontline of expected climate impact. CAREC Institute (2020)In particular, climate change may dramatically alter hydroclimatic conditions, whereas the water resources underpin a wide variety of economic activity throughout Central Asia. Agriculture appears as one of the most directly impacted sectors, which employs at present between 8.2 percent and 65 percent of the population (Turkmenistan versus Tajikistan) and contribute to between 5 percent and 23 percent of GDP (Kazakhstan versus Tajikistan) (ADB, 2017a). Given the extent of anticipated climate change and their greater importance to national income and employment, the water and agriculture sectors are among the most vulnerable in the CAREC region to climate change (CAREC Institute, 2020).Challenges to assure power electricity security in the long term Central Asia is endowed with abundant fossil fuel deposits, yet these reserves are distributed inequitably throughout the region. Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are important oil and natural gas exporters, while Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan rely heavily on their hydropower potential. This gap in primary energy resources also results in a significant divergence in the energy intensity of the respective economies. Until now, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have been among the world's top countries in terms of energy consumption per GDP, which, among other factors, also indicates low efficiency of energy use (Shadrina, 2019).Despite disparities in primary energy resources, fulfilling the ever-growing demand for electricity in a sustainable and cost-effective manner remains a shared concern for all five Central Asian countries. To a greater extent, this increase in power demand is thanks to population growth and the promotion of new manufacturing sectors, which exceeded the pace of infrastructural upgrades (ADB, 2013). Most generation capacity in the region has beyond 40 years of operation, and power transmission is characterized by comparatively high loss.Except in Kazakhstan, electricity tariffs in all the countries hardly cover generating and transmission costs, jeopardizing the sector's financial viability and impeding technical upgrades and expansion (Boute, 2019).Nonetheless, it is expected that the power demand in the region will continue to grow rapidly in the long term. The projections show that the total regional electricity production in Central Asia will have to increase by 66 percent by 2050, although this increase will not be homogenous across the region (IEA, 2021b). Climate mitigation becomes a complementary concern for Central Asian countries in terms of maintaining a long-term energy demand-supply balance. Each of the five states is a signatory to the Paris Agreement and has established national targets for carbon reduction. This implies considerable capital expenditure for power system transition, particularly in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan (ADB, 2017b), where existing power generation capacity is mostly reliant on fossil-based thermal power plants.Water-agriculture-energy nexus in Central Asia and regional cooperationDuring the Soviet era, the Central Asian nations were connected by a shared water-power system, in which water and electricity supplies from upstream states were compensated for by energy supplies from downstream states during the vegetative season. This cooperation has been largely interrupted in recent decades as countries pursued self-sufficiency strategies in water and energy, which eventually resulted in disagreements about equitable exchanges. As a result, the region's total energy trade fell by more than half during the 1990s and countries began looking for ways to export seasonal electricity surpluses rather than import them (Figure 1).Source: (KOREM, 2020; IEA, 2021b)Overall, this situation deteriorated the electricity demand-supply balance, particularly in upstream states, while jeopardizing the water security of downstream states. All prior technical studies conducted by independent parties and multilateral development organizations emphasized the critical role of regional cooperation in ensuring the water and energy security of the Central Asian states (Xenarios, Shenhav, and Abdullaev, 2017;CAREC, 2021;IEA, 2021a). Additionally, increased regional cooperation would result in lower power generation costs and avoid capital expenses for redundant power capacity, as well as giving better options for GHG emission reductions and favorable conditions for the use of intermittent renewable energy sources (World Bank, 2017;Shadrina, 2019).The benefits of regional cooperation also extend to food security aspects, as food security is not defined simply by crop self-sufficiency on a national level but rather by the ability to meet the demand for food adequately, regardless of where the supply originates from. International trade has been shown to be an important determinant of food security in countries where cropspecific farming is hampered by certain circumstances, such as meteorological conditions (Baer-Nawrocka and Sadowski, 2019). Thus, it is suggested that countries would be better off concentrating their efforts on high value added agricultural production of crops in which they have a comparative advantage owing to climatic and institutional conditions (Lombardozzi and Djanibekov, 2021), while compensating for the deficient production of other crops through international trade.Source: Simoes and Hidalgo, 2011 Central Asia is a net exporter of agricultural crops and commodities covered by the study, owing mostly to Kazakhstan's relatively significant grain production and Uzbekistan's cotton production. To a greater extent, this includes cross-border trade in wheat and wheat products, with Kazakhstan being the greatest net exporter. Additionally, trade of other crops such as maize, rice, and vegetables increased throughout the region (Figure 2).Addressing the outlined imperatives, this study aims to:• Extend the climate vulnerability assessment framework to the agricultural and energy sectors of the five Central Asian states: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan • Downscale the assessment to smaller geographic units (province level) • Account for the interconnectedness of water, agriculture, and energy issues in the region and integrate the impact of regional cooperation among the statesThe vulnerability index approach for the agriculture sector takes into account the diversity of agricultural activity in the countries (rainfed crop production versus irrigated agriculture), the climate challenges associated with these types of agricultural activity, and the varying degrees of socioeconomic dependence of a province on agriculture.Given the multifaceted nature of energy systems in the region, as well as the discrepancy in fossil fuel endowment between the Central Asian states, the vulnerability assessment of the energy sector focus on power electricity. Long-term power supply security is a shared challenge for all countries in Central Asia and is a primary focus of the CAREC program as well as other multilateral development organizations engaged in the region.The study employed the methodological approach based on the IPCC framework for assessing climate vulnerability. Accordingly, vulnerability is defined as the degree to which a system is susceptible to, or unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and extremes. Vulnerability is determined by the kind, amount, and rate of climate variation to which a system is exposed, as well as the sensitivity and adaptive capacity of the system (IPCC, 2007). In broad terms, vulnerability can be expressed as a function of potential impacts, as measured by exposure and sensitivity, and a system's adaptive capacity to withstand anticipated impacts. Figure 3 illustrates the structural composition of the framework suggested for the assignment.The exposure component quantifies the characteristics and amount to which a sector is exposed to significant climatic change. For example, the water sector evaluation focuses on climate-induced water stress, with long-term predicted water supply serving as the primary indication of projected change. Agriculture's vulnerability score considers projected changes in yields of primary crops farmed in the region (wheat, cotton, maize, oil crops, and rice). The energy sector assessment encompasses challenges to meet a projected increase in power electricity demand, given the climate implications for the water and agriculture sectors as well as the stated carbon reduction targets of the Central Asian countries. This study employs projections generated from the latest hydrological and crop modeling research under the two climate scenarios, where RCP 2.6 is regarded as 'optimistic' and RCP 8.5 is considered as 'pessimistic' pathways (see Annex 2).The sensitivity component determines the degree to which a system is affected by climaterelated implications. The extent to which expected variations in wheat yields influence a country or a province depends on whether grain production accounts for a sizable portion of a province's economic activity. This can be quantified in terms of the contribution of wheat farming to regional domestic product or the proportion of the population engaged in agriculture, which we consider here as reliance indicators. In turn, dependency indicators represent the extent to which a country/province is dependent on external systems for a certain resource. For instance, the majority of water resources accessible to the downstream states originate in upstream countries, which may be quantified and factored into the vulnerability assessment using the water dependency ratio. Similarly, intensity indicators quantify the degree to which a resource is integrated into a country's/key province's economic activity. For example, energy consumption per capita or per unit of GDP serves as a proxy for sensitivity to disruptions in the power demand-supply balance. On the other hand, overall improvements in energy efficiency reduce the sensitivity to projected changes in energy supply.The adaptive capacity refers to the system's ability to adapt to the expected climate implications. For all three sectors, the study universally used the same indicators that measure economic, institutional, and human capacity to absorb adverse effects and/or capitalize on any favorable prospects. The economic capacity is represented by GNI per capita as an indicator measuring the state of development and as one of the main criteria reflecting the adaptive capacity of the Central Asian countries. Institutional and human capacity is approximated by using the GE index, which reflects the ability of the states to provide quality public services, to maintain quality civil service, and to design and implement sound policies, and the credibility of government commitment to such policies.One of the primary tasks for the projected climate vulnerability index is to provide a regionally distributed overview of vulnerability in order to account heterogeneity of its key components on smaller geographic scales. This was largely accomplished by either utilizing spatially disaggregated data or interpolating country-level estimates to province level as applicable. Thus, the majority of the key variables within the exposure and sensitivity components are estimated at province level (see Table 1). Nonetheless, certain indicators remained aggregated at national level in cases when spatial disaggregation was complicated owing to an absence of supporting data or when the indicators do not conceptually imply spatial distinctions within a country.Annex 1 and 2 provide an expanded description of the index-based methodological approach and the projections used for estimating changes in water availability and agricultural productivity in the region.The set of indicators of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity for each targeted sector are provided in Table 1. Annex 3 provides detailed information on data sources. To estimate the impact of climate change on water availability, this analysis examines the relative change in discharge of Central Asia's major rivers (Figure 4) by 2040-2069 with respect to the 1975-2005 baseline. The global hydrological projections employed by the study suggest that under RCP 2.6 the annual discharge in most considered rivers will likely remain near normal (Figure 5), with the exception of the most southern rivers Murghap and Tedzhen, which may see a decrease, and the most northern basins of Ishym and Tobol, which will likely see a slight increase. The disparity between northern and southern basins in terms of annual discharge may widen under RCP 8.5, although the wider spread of hydrological projections also implies relatively higher uncertainty. According to the RCP 8.5 projections the higher number of rivers located in the domain's southern to central regions may experience a decline in annual river flow.The projected changes in annual discharge indicated in Figure 5 would not, however, occur evenly throughout the months/seasons within a year. The projections indicate that the seasonal distribution of runoff in the majority of rivers in the region will also likely change, with peak flows shifting to earlier months. It is worth noting that irrigated agriculture is the major consumer of water in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and southern Kazakhstan and that, in this sense, it is more important to consider water availability during the vegetation season, which typically lasts from April to September in this part of the region.   The overall sensitivity to the projected changes in water supply differs significantly between Central Asian countries, owing to their varying degrees of reliance on water resources (Figure 8). With relatively fewer water-intensive sectors and generally more abundant water resources, particularly in the north, Kazakhstan has the region's lowest water withdrawal ratio. On the other hand, owing to the scale of irrigated agriculture in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, annual water withdrawals exceed the total annual renewable surface water available. This sensitivity is heightened by the fact that the most of the water resources available to Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan originate from outside these countries. Although the picture is relatively more heterogenous at province level, water intensity per unit GDP follows a similar south-north pattern (Figure 9). Water withdrawals per GRP 1 are considerably higher in most provinces in the south of the domain owing to a greater domination of water-intensive sectors and relatively lower economic output levels.Source: Based on country statistics (GRP) and estimates on total water withdrawals from WaterGAP2c modelFigure 10 illustrates the spatial distribution of relative vulnerability hotspots across provinces in Central Asia in light of expected changes in water availability and their economic reliance on water resources. As a result, the region is correspondingly susceptible in practically all provinces of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, both as a result of expected declines in seasonal water availability, as well as higher withdrawal availability and water reliance rates in these countries at present. While Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have slightly lower vulnerability scores, they are still expected to face moderate to strong water stress as a result of their inferior adaptive capacities to deal with possible climatic hazards. The south of Kazakhstan, also located downstream of transboundary rivers, appears to be as vulnerable as the regions in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The overall distribution of vulnerability hotspots by 2050 does not change significantly across the climate scenarios, with the southern half of the domain continuing to face considerably greater risks under both RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5.The vulnerability component of agricultural output in Central Asia was determined using the most recent available yield predictions from the global crop modeling experiments. This comprised the yield projections for wheat, maize, and rice from Jä germeyr et al., 2021 and cotton yield projections from Jans et al., 2021 (see Annex 2). These estimates indicate that wheat yields in Central Asia may increase in the future owing to increased CO2 concentrations, while maize and rice yield expectations remain largely gloomy (Figure 11). Cotton yields may similarly improve as a result of the CO2 fertilization effect, albeit with a greater degree of uncertainty owing to the use of a single crop model. However, one important feature behind the crop yield projections is that they were determined under the assumption of no water constraints in the future. Crop production in the region can be classified into two distinct water-use zones: most of the northern part of the domain is predominantly devoted to rainfed cereal production, while the arid climate in the southern portion of the territory limits crop production to irrigation (see Figure 12). It is worth emphasizing here that the majority of southern provinces already experience water scarcity; this is far worse in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (CAREC, 2021). As illustrated previously, climate change may magnify water scarcity in this part of the domain in the future under both scenarios. Considering the existing crop pattern across the provinces and predicted changes in water availability, future increases in agriculture productivity in the southern provinces may therefore be hampered by growing water scarcity (Figure 13). While the present crop structure in Central Asia is generally heterogenous, certain provinces in the region place an overwhelming emphasis on growing specific crops. For instance, in 2020 rice accounted for approximately 50 percent of the total cropped area in Kazakhstan's Kyzylorda province. Similarly, cotton accounted for more than 40 percent of the cropped area in Uzbekistan's Syrdaryo, Bukhara, and Khorezm provinces. For the Kyzylorda province, this reliance on monocropping threatens the local agricultural sector on two fronts: a decline in anticipated rice production and increased water scarcity. Despite some benefits of higher growth temperatures and CO2 fertilization on cotton yields, these potential gains will likely be offset by declining water availability in the majority of the provinces of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.The exposure to expected changes in agricultural productivity by province will be either magnified or nullified by the importance of the agricultural sector to the local economy. At present in some provinces, the sector accommodates more than half of total employment and contributes to 50 percent of the GRP output (Figure 14). The share of agriculture in total employment is notably higher in most provinces of Turkmenistan, except the Balkan province   The exposure component of the energy vulnerability index combines two issues that Central Asian countries face in ensuring a long-term balance between electricity supply and demand.The former is associated with predicted increases in electricity demand, whereas the latter is associated with the requirement to reduce GHG emissions as part of a country's commitment to the Paris agreement. Owing to continued population expansion and economic development, energy outlooks show that power demand in Central Asian countries by 2050 will likely increase by at least 50 percent from current levels, and possibly by almost 90 percent in Kazakhstan (Figure ). On the other hand, the countries' compliance with the global climate agreement requires that any incremental increase in generation capacity should come largely from renewable sources. While all Central Asian countries have made their climate pledges under updated INDCs for 2030, they have also noted that they consider achieving carbon neutrality by 2050-2060. The carbon neutrality target is thus employed as one of the study's underlying assumptions on the primary challenges that the countries must address.Source: IEA, 2021bAchieving long-term electricity generation while reducing the sector's carbon emissions will not be an easy feat for the states. This is especially challenging for Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, where the electricity industry at present is substantially dependent on fossil fuel combustion (Figure ). This stands in stark contrast to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, which rely on hydropower for more than 90 percent of total electricity production and have some of the lowest GHG emissions per kWh produced in the world. Another significant aspect that predisposes the region's sensitivity to possible power demand-supply imbalances in the future is the region's relatively low economic efficiency of electricity use (Figure ). In comparison to the European Union, for example, some Central Asian states use multiples of the amount of electricity per GDP, with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan having particularly high levels of consumption. The study used gross national income (GNI) per capita as an indicator measuring the state of the development and as one of the main criteria reflecting the adaptive capacity of the Central Asian countries. Besides that, the adaptive capacity was also approximated by using the GE index, which reflects the ability of the states to provide quality public services, to maintain quality civil service, and to design and implement sound policies, as well as the credibility of the government commitment to such policies. Figure 14 illustrates the distribution of the GE index and estimated GNI per capita in the region. With regard to the GNI per capita, there is a large disparity between the countries, with most provinces in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan having the lowest levels in the region, followed by Uzbekistan.Additionally, it is assumed that the countries can improve their energy security by maintaining an adequate structure of their power systems, which can be accomplished by diversifying their supply sources and prioritizing low-carbon generation technologies (IEA, 2020). In this context, the power diversity index was chosen as an extra element for estimating the sector-specific adaptive capacity. It assesses the diversity of primary resources employed in generation. The power diversity index demonstrates that Central Asian countries rely on a narrow spectrum of primary energy sources to meet their needs in electricity. Most of the generation in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan is based on natural gas thermal power plants. Kazakhstan has a relatively more diverse fuel mix, thanks to the availability of coal, oil-fired, and natural gas power plants. As previously stated, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan rely heavily on hydropower for the majority of their electricity, placing them at a slightly lower level in terms of the power diversity index (see Figure 19).  As indicated in the introduction, the region's water resource utilization is highly transboundary, placing considerable reliance on countries located downstream of the respective river basins for the timely release of water from large hydroelectric dams upstream. These transboundary links are especially strong in the south of the region, where the majority of river runoff originates in the highlands of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, while the bulk of river withdrawals occur in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and southern Kazakhstan. The reliance on water resources across the upstream and downstream states in the region has contrasting patterns. Owing to the absence of fossil fuel reserves, for upstream states water is the primary resource for electricity. On the other hand, water is a critical resource for crop production in downstream countries, which is only possible here through irrigation. The seasonal cycles of these two needs do not coincide (Figure 21), implying a substantial need for regional collaboration in Central Asia's water-agriculture-energy nexus.Source: adapted from KESC, 2021 (electricity demand); Conrad et al., 2013 (cotton crop water requirement) According to the underlying assumptions of the study, a strong reliance on inflowing water resources contributes to the sensitivity of the downstream states to changes in water discharge owing to climate change. However, with sufficient cooperation among governments on integrated water resource management, transboundary water dependency may become a much more negligible component. Figure 22 illustrates how vulnerability hotspots alter when the water dependency indicator is omitted from the experimental settings of the study. Because crop production in this water-stressed region is highly dependent on timely water releases from upstream systems, the agricultural sector also benefits from greater transboundary cooperation. The reduced magnitude of water availability risks, in particular, may partially alleviate constraints on agricultural productivity in impacted provinces. This is especially relevant for wheat and cotton, which (as previously shown) may have the potential for higher yields in this part of Central Asia based upon increased CO2 fertilization and an adequate supply of irrigation water. For crops that have negative prospects under increasing temperatures-such as rice, maize, and soybeans-water cooperation could help to avoid the additional risks associated with water irrigation deficits.Cooperative management over the transboundary water resources in the region entails stronger collaboration on electricity exchanges between the countries. Figure 23 illustrates disparities between electricity demand and supply in Tajikistan on a monthly scale when its hydroelectric facilities operate in a manner that benefits timely water availability for the downstream states. Joint water resource management thus implies that the upstream countries have more flexible possibilities to offset seasonal shortages and surpluses through transboundary electricity trade. Thus, cooperative water resource management presupposes that the upstream countries have the ability to compensate for their seasonal electricity shortages and surpluses via transboundary electricity exchange.Source: based on IEA, 2021aHowever, the overall benefits of regional cooperation are far greater than simply offsetting seasonal imbalances in power supply and demand, since it also results in lower power generation costs and avoids capital expenses for redundant power capacity, as well as giving better options for GHG emission reductions and favorable conditions for the use of intermittent renewable energy sources (World Bank, 2017;Shadrina, 2019). Additionally, it contributes to a higher diversity of power supplies and the primary energy sources upon which they are based (Figure 18), which is another important component of the energy security concept.Figure 18. Power diversity index in Central Asia on a country versus regional levelThis study examines the climate vulnerabilities of the water, agriculture, and energy sectors in the Central Asian provinces. Using an index-based approach, the study quantifies and juxtaposes major climate risks, corresponding socioeconomic sensitivities, and adaptive capacities for the water resources and agriculture sectors in the provinces. For the energy sector, the study examines long-term electricity security in light of rising demand and the compelling need to reduce associated GHG emissions.The findings suggest that climate change will likely alter water resources in Central Asia with contrasting trends across the provinces in the region. Although subject to relatively higher uncertainty on an annual scale, the projections used in this study indicate that river discharge may decrease in the river basins that are a part of the larger Aral Sea basin in the south of the region, whereas river discharge may increase in the north. The shifts in river flows may be more pronounced in the future under both climate scenarios during the vegetation season, when water is most needed for irrigation in the southern part. Given that most rivers in the region are subject to high interannual runoff variation, improving the early warning systems to existing variability is a good initial and win-win step towards achieving long-term resilience.Excessively high dependence on water resources is among the main reasons for high susceptibility across Central Asia to climate change impacts. This dependence is also rooted in low economic productivity of water use, especially in the southern provinces. Most provinces in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and southern Kazakhstan already suffer from high levels of water stress; therefore, any further gap between water availability and demand would have excarnating implications for water-intensive sectors. The countries should prioritize increasing water use efficiency across the sectors as a means of reducing their sensitivity to the adverse impacts of climate change. This is especially true for agriculture, which is by far the largest water consumer. Given the current high level of economic reliance on water resources, promoting alternative, less water-intensive sectors of the economy could be a promising additional adaptation approach. Apart from being a general requirement in the development context, this imperative would also strengthen the structural resilience of local economies to anticipated water stress.Projected shifts in water availability may therefore have a far-reaching consequence for other sectors, with agriculture being the major recipient of the transferred water-related risks. Climate change will likely have heterogenous impacts on the production of major crops grown in the region. Yield projections from the recent global crop modeling experiments suggest that maize, rice, and soybeans will likely see a decrease in productivity, while wheat and cotton crops may potentially benefit from the rising temperatures and higher carbon fertilization. Even so, the potential benefits for cotton and wheat would largely vanish in the southern part of the region: crop productivity here will be deteriorated by the projected decline in water for irrigation. Reducing reliance on monocropping and crop structure optimization could diminish the sensitivity of the local agricultural sector to climate change; it needs to be complemented with careful selection and aligning of crop varieties to the changing local climate conditions. The drought-resistance of crop cultivars will likely become one of the important criteria in cropping decisions.As a result, most provinces in the southern half of the region may see a decline in agricultural productivity. This would be exacerbated in certain provinces by excessive monocropping, when agriculture is dominated by one or a few crops that have either negative prospects under climate change or are water-intensive. These impacts will be magnified by the relatively higher importance of agriculture in those provinces, in terms of the share of the population engaged and the contribution of the sector to regional GDP. In this regard, the diversification of local economies and consequent decline in the sector's relative socioeconomic importance may become one of the few viable adaptation strategies in such provinces.All Central Asian countries face a common challenge of maintaining a long-term balance of power demand and supply, given that power consumption is expected to grow by more than half of present generation levels. The global climate agreement places an additional burden of carbon reduction-particularly on Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, where electricity generation is significantly more carbon-intensive. This race for power security is compounded in most countries by a high energy intensity of GDP. While the southern areas of the region are more sensitive to long-term mismatches in power supply-demand, the findings show that many provinces in Kazakhstan are equally vulnerable. Improving energy efficiency appears to be an important and cost-effective step. Many provinces in the region should also prioritize the development of less energy-hungry economic sectors. Nonetheless, although costly, the large-scale adoption of renewable energy sources is unavoidable.The study uses GNI per capita and the GE index as proxies for adaptation capacity across the Central Asian countries and provinces. As a country's vulnerability to climate change is proportional to its economic development, developing countries are generally more sensitive to negative climate change impacts than industrialized countries. Owing to the high costs associated with both the impacts of climate change and adaptation to these impacts, lowerincome provinces in the region will bear a disproportionate share of the economic burden. In addition, an appropriate institutional framework enables the preparation for and adaptation to climate change. The capacity of countries to deliver public services and establish and implement sound policies is viewed as a necessary element for improved development outcomes. All Central Asian countries, on the other hand, are characterized by relatively weaker government effectiveness, which may impede adaptation attempts.Given that many provinces in Central Asia's adaptation capacity are confined by their relatively low economic performance, international development finance will be necessary to strengthen their climate resilience in the face of climate threats. However, mobilizing resources alone is unlikely to be sufficient for adaptation success. Both central and local governments should continue to build their capacity for designing and executing effective policies.The transboundary nature of the distribution of water resources across Central Asia predisposes that the countries have a high degree of interdependence and sensitivity to compound risks when climate-related impacts on water resources transfer to the agriculture sector.Transboundary ties are particularly strong in the south of the region, where the bulk of river runoff originates in the highlands of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, while most withdrawals occur in the irrigated crop production of the downstream provinces. While regional collaboration on transboundary water management alleviates current uncertainties about water supply for downstream provinces, it also minimizes sensitivities and strengthens the adaptation capability of countries to long-term changes in river flow.The long-term electricity security of the countries can also benefit substantially from the multiple advantages emerging from regional cooperation, in terms of the lower economic cost of electricity and greater flexibility to curb GHG emissions. As exemplified, cooperation improves the diversity of power supplies on a regional scale, which is another important element of energy security. In addition, it could establish favorable conditions for exploiting the yet untapped potential of renewable sources in the region, including the great potential for hydropower in the south.This assessment used an index-based approach, to estimate vulnerability as a function of potential impacts, measured by exposure and sensitivity, and a system's adaptive capacity to withstand anticipated impacts:Vulnerability index = (exposure*sensitivity)/(adaptive capacity), where:The exposure component quantifies the sector's key challenges associated with climate change. For example, the water sector evaluation focuses on climate-induced water stress, with the long-term predicted water supply serving as the primary indication of projected change.Agriculture's vulnerability score considers projected changes in yield of primary crops farmed in the region (wheat, cotton, maize, oil crops, and rice). The energy sector assessment encompasses challenges to meet a projected increase in power electricity demand, given the climate implications for the water and agriculture sectors as well as the stated carbon reduction targets of the Central Asian countries.The sensitivity component determines the degree to which a system is affected by climaterelated implications. To what extent expected variations in wheat yields influence a country or a province depends on whether grain production accounts for a sizable portion of a province's economic activity. This can be quantified in terms of the contribution of wheat farming to regional domestic product and the proportion of the population engaged in agriculture, which we consider here as reliance indicators. In turn, dependency indicators represent the extent to which a country/province is dependent on external systems for a certain resource. For instance, most of the water resources accessible to the downstream states originate in upstream countries, which may be quantified and factored into the vulnerability assessment using the water dependency ratio. Similarly, intensity indicators quantify the degree to which a resource is integrated into a country's/key province's economic activity. As an example, energy consumption per capita or per unit of GRP serves as a proxy for sensitivity to disruptions in the power demand-supply balance. On the other hand, overall improvements in energy efficiency reduce the sensitivity to projected changes in energy supply.The adaptive capacity refers to ability to adapt to the expected climate implications. For all three sectors, the study universally uses the same indicators that measure economic, institutional, and human capacity to absorb adverse effects and/or capitalize on any favorable prospects. The economic capacity is represented by GNI per capita as an indicator measuring the state of development and as one of the main criteria reflecting adaptive capacity of the Central Asian countries. Institutional and human capacity is approximated by using the GE index, which reflects state ability to provide quality public services, to maintain quality civil service, to design and implement sound policies, and the credibility of government commitment to such policies.The following four steps illustrate the approach for estimation of vulnerability, using as an example the agriculture sector in Namangan province in Uzbekistan and the projections under the RCP 8.5 scenario:Step 1: Estimation of the province level exposure:-Estimate relative change in productivity of the four crops for spatial domain of target province from the global crop projections -Using actual crop structure in the province determine the coefficient of change in province-aggregated agriculture productivity -If a targeted province is irrigated, combine the coefficient of projected agricultural productivity with coefficient that reflects projected change in seasonal discharge  Projected change in seasonal discharge for the Namangan province = -19 percent  Projected change in agriculture productivity for the Namangan province = +16 percent (two-thirds of the total crop area in Namangan are under wheat and cotton)Step 2: Determination of the province level sensitivity and calculation of the potential impact:-Estimate share of agriculture in GRP and in total employment in a target province -If the province is in the downstream and crop production is irrigated, sensitivity indicators also include water dependency ratio -Sensitivity is determined by averaging the sensitivity indicators -Overall potential impact is a product of exposure and sensitivity coefficientsStep 3: Estimation of the adaptive capacity:-Adaptive capacity is determined by averaging a country's GE index and estimated GNI per capita in the province (normalized between 0 to 1 using max and min values across all provinces)Step 4: Calculation of the vulnerability indexThe vulnerability index is calculated by juxtaposing the resultant score of potential impacts with the adaptive capacity score:"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"28cad13b918a8e617c598a80f35a9a37","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/61bc8f1b-bff7-44b8-821d-d27dfa356ef2/content","id":"-615390493"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b78fd869-1947-42b2-93e6-c4c1efecb045","content":"Qf tl~~Qan~I~QliQ~tiQna iQ~R~a~g~Qh and E~t~naiQn PARC/CIMMYT pater No.86/6 and D.Byerlee et al. ~iggnQaing R~~~g~gh ~£iQ£iti~~fQ£ Q~gil ~~~~£~~tlgi~~in th~l£~ig~t~g Q~gt Ygll~PARC/CIMMYT paper (forthcoming).The agricultural system in North West Frontier Province has embarked on a programme to strengthen outreach activities that emphasise active participation of farmers in the development and dissemination of improved technology. From 1984, social scientists and maize scientists have conducted a number of surveys which describe and analyse farmers' maize production systems, diagnose factors limiting productivity and suggest technological improvements that will have the largest chance of success in improving productivity.l These survey results were synthesised in a workshop in Hingora in early 1985 in which a series of experiments to verify improved maize technolo~y were planned.The results presented in this paper are the direct outcome of that workshop.In the 1985 kharif season, some 27 sample trials with four treatments were planted and managed by farmers in Swat using designs and inputs provided by maize researchers. The researchers have also followed through and with the collaboration of a rural sociologist, they assessed farmers' opinions and acceptance of the maize technology after the completion of the verification trials.These \"farmer managed trials\" provided researchers a great deal of additional information about farmers' management and the performance of improved maize technology under their management.I commend the dedicated efforts of CCRI maize scientists to reach out to farmers and appreciate the active collaboration of the PARC/CIHMYT programme in these efforts. On the basis of a diagnostic survey in 19B4 and results of previous onfarm experiments, a series of twelve verification trials were planted in the Swat Valley (average altitude of 1000 m.a.s.l.) in 1985. These trials were completely managed by the farmer and compared three \"improved\" technological components, (1) the recommended variety (Azam), (2) phosphorous use and (3) early thinning (target density of 60,000 -70,000 plants/ha at three weeks after emergence), to the farmers' normal practice. The same set of trials were also cc~ducted in rainfed mountain terraces at an average altitude of 1700 m.a.s.l.These were regarded as exploratory, given the lack of prior information on the mountain areas. Three months after harvest, all cooperating farmers were i,terviewed. to obtain their assessment of trial results.-In the irrigated valley, yields were generally high o\"'~raging 5.0 t/ha even thou~h farmers' non-recommended p~dctices of broadcast planting at a high seed rate with continuous thinning throughout the season for fodder was employed. The only treatment giving a consistent and significant yield response was Azam variety which yielded 600-BOO kg/ha more than the farmers' variety. There was no overall yield response to phosphorous use or early thinning. Other factors explaining yield differences were shaftal as a previous crop (positive), grain moisture percent at harvest and lodging (negative) .Initial experiences from the rainfed mountain terraces indicate that this zone is a dtstinct recommendation domain. Compared to the irrigated valley, variability between fields and within-fields was very high, the incidence of drought, hail, insect and disease problems was much greater and farmers used quite different maize production systems. As on the plains, Azam variety outyielded the farmers' variety but suffered serious smut di'~~ase attack.There was no response to the other technological components. Other factors significantly affecting yields were early season insect attack, altitude and grain moisture percent at harvest (all negative effects) .In the irrigated valley, farmers' assessment of the yield response was generally consistent with trial results and most farmers' intended to plant Azam variety in the next cycle. However, in the mountains, farmers' assessment bore little relation to trial results, possibly because of lack of measures of land area, and high variability.Implications for further research and extension are identified, particularly the high pay offs to making good seed available to farmers.It is also concluded that farmer managed verification trials offer many advantages over traditional experimental methods in developing and verifying appropriate production recommendations for farmers. ixOn the basis of a diagnostic survey in 1984 and results of previous onfarm experiments, a series of twelve verification trials were planted in the Swat Valley (average altitude of 1000 m.a.s.l.) in 1985. These trials were completely managed by the farmer and compared three \"improved\" technological components,(1) the recommended variety (Azam) , (2) phosphorous use and (3) early thinning (target density of 60,000 -70,000 plants/ha at three weeks after emergence), to the farmers' normal practice. The same set of trials were also cc~ducted in rainfed mountain terraces at an average altitude of 1700 m.a.s.l.These were regarded as exploratory, given the lack of prior information on the mountain areas.Three months after harvest, all cooperating farmers were i,terviewed. to obtain their assessment of trial results.-In the irrigated valley, yields were generally high o\"'~raging 5.0 t/ha even thou~h farmers' non-recommended p~dctices of broadcast planting at a high seed rate with continuous thinning throughout the season for fodder was employed. The only treatment giving a consistent and significant yield response was Azam variety which yielded 600-800 kg/ha more than the farmers' variety.There was no overall yield response to phosphorous use or early thinning. Other factors explaining yield differences were shaftal as a previous crop (positive), grain moisture percent at harvest and lodging (negative) .Initial experiences from the rainfed mountain terraces indicate that this zone is a d~stinct recommendation domain. Compared to the irrigated valley, variability between fields and within-fields was very high, the incidence of drought, hail, insect and disease problems was much greater and farmers used quite different maize production systems. As on the plains, Azam variety outYielded the farmers' variety but suffered serious smut di~3ase attack.There was no response to the other technological components. Other factors significantly affecting yields were early season insect attack, altitude and grain moisture percent at harvest (all negative effects) .In the irrigated valley, farmers' assessment of the yield response was generally consistent with trial results and most farmers' intended to plant Azam variety in the next cycle. However, in the mountains, farmers' assessment bore little relation to ~rial results, possibly because of lack of measures of land area, and high variability.Implications for further research and extension are identified, particularly the high pay offs to making good seed available to farmers.It is also concluded that farmer managed verification trials offer many advantages over traditional experimental methods in developing and verifying appropriate production recommendations for farmers. In Swat, the largest maize producing district of Pakistan, extensive trials and demonstrations were laid out in farmers' fields in the Swat valley in the 19'10s. The program was again revived in 19B3 when newer varieties and additional components such as herbicide weed control were tested.In addition, in 1983 a series of farm level surveys were initiated to better define the circumstances and constraints of farmers in maize production. These surveys. conducted over a three year period, 1983-85, provided substantial new insights into farmers' management and led to a reorientation of the maize onfarm research program in the 1985 season (Stevens et al. 19B5;Byerlee and Hussain, 1986).In particular, it was recognized that improved maize technology was being tested in onfarm experiments under practices which were quite different from farmers' management. Trials were planted in lines at recommended seed rates, while Swat farmers invariably planted by the broadcast method at seed rates two to four times the recommended rate.Thinning in experiments was done at the three leaf stage while farmers began thinning much later and continued thinning up to harvest in order to provide fodder for animals. Seed, insecticide treatment and weed control by hoeing as used in onfarm experiments were also not commonly practiced by farmers.With the onfarm survey data in hand, many of these recommended practices (e.g. insecticide and line planting) were dropped from the list of priority recommendations (Stevens et al. 1985). However, the large differences between researcher and farmer management also raised doubts about how other components of the recommended package, such as variety and recommended fertilizer doses, would respond under farmer management.This situation led to the design of a set of farmer managed verification trials in which a few priority technological components were \"superimposed\" on farmer management over a relatively large number of sites.Although researchers supplied improved seed and fertilizer in the trials from planting to harvesting farmers performed all operations. Researchers observed these operations and also recorded yields in a sample of the plots at harvest time.This represents a rather radical departu~e from traditional experimental approaches used in Pakistan where researchers manage all operations and farnlers have little or no participation in the experimental plots. In Swat, the largest maize producing district of Pakistan, extensive trials and demonstrations were laid out in farmers' fields in the Swat valley in the 19'10s. The program was again revived in 19B3 when newer varieties and additional components such as herbicide weed control were tested.In addition. in 1983 a series of farm level surveys were initiated to better define the circumstances and constraints of farmers in maize production. These surveys, conducted over a three year period, 1983-85, provided substantial new insights into farmers' management and led to a reorientation of the maize onfarm research program in the 1985 season (Stevens et al. 1985;Byerlee and Hussain, 1986).In particular, it was recognized that improved maize technology was being tested in onfarm experiments under practices which were quite different from farmers' management. Trials were planted in lines at recommended seed rates, while Swat farmers invariably planted by the broadcast method at seed rates two to four times the recommended rate.Thinning in experiments was done at the three leaf stage while farmers began thinning much later and continued thinning up to harvest in order to provide fodder for animals. Seed, insecticide treatment and weed control by hoeing as used in onfarm experiments were also not commonly practiced by farmers.With the onfarm survey data in hand, many of these recommended practices (e.g. insecticide and line planting) were dropped from the list of priority recommendations (Stevens et al. 1985). However, the large differences between rcsearcher and farmer management also raised doubts about how other components of the recommended package, such as variety and recommended fertilizer doses. would respond under farmer management.This situation led to the design of a sct of farmer managed verification trials in which a few priority technological components were \"superimposed\" on farmer management over a relatively large number of sites.Although researchers supplied improved seed and fertilizer in the trials from planting to harvesting farmers performed all operations. Researchers observed these operations and also recorded yields in a sample of the plots at harvest time.This represents a rather radical departu~e from traditional experimental approaches used in Pakistan where researchers manage all operations and far.nlers have little or no participation in the experimental plots.The specific objectives of the farmer managed trials were as follows;(1). To verify that selected priority technological components were superior when tested under farmer management and therefore should be extended to farmers in the target area.(2). To monitor farmers' practices over the production cycle and thereby obtain more precise information on farmers' management than had previously been available from sing!e visit surveys.(3). To test the appropriateness of the methodology of farmer managed trials as an integral part of an onfarm re5e~rch program.A good deal of survey and experimental data was available from the irrigated Swat Valley and this information was the basis for selecting technological components to be included in Ul(ṽ erification trials. These trials were planted in both the irrigated valley bottom and also on mountain terraces (see next section) although very Ii tt.le was known about the mount.ain production systems.The three technological components included in the trials were:(1). Improved Variety; The research and demonstration program of the 1970s focussed much of its effort on the dissemination of seed of improved varieties.These varieties, specifically Zia and Changez, became widely used in the Swat valley but after termination of the program in 1977, very little seed of improved varieties was distributed.Meanwhile, two new varieties released by CCRI, Sarhad White and Azam, have been tested in onfarm trials. It was found that Azam, a medium maturity variety, (developed from CIMHYT Population 30 x Zia) performed very well in onfarm trials in the Swat valley in 1984 (Khan and Saleem, 1985).In addition, farmers expressed a strong preference for earlier maturity; Sarhad White was in fact later maturing than the farmers' variety (Byerlee et al, 1987). At the same time, it was recognized that under the high fertility, high yielding conditions of maize production in the Swat valley, improved variety represented a priority opportunity for increasing productivity.Hence, Azam variety was selected as one of the treatments.(2). Phosphorous; Experimental and survey data indicate an economic optimum dose of around 100 kg/ha of nitrogen and in fact most farmers on average used only slightly less than this amount.However, experimental data on phosphorous response was less conclusive. Overall, a response to phosphorous has been recorded but with considerable site to site variability. At the same time, farmer surveys showed that less than one half of farmers were using phosphorous on maize and that phosphorous users did not have significantly higher yieldn (Hyerlee et al., 1987). It was, therefore, decided to include phosphorous as a treatment in order to determine response over a larger sample of fields.(3). Early Thinning; A controversial issue in maize production in NWFP has always been the high seed rate used by farmers and their practice of delayed plant removal for fodder. An experiment was designed for the experiment station to estimate the benefits and costs of this practice compared to recommended practices of a lower seed rate and early thinning at three weeks after emergence (see Khan, 1986) However, after considerable discussion it was decided to include a treatment in the verification trial to compare the effect of early thinning (three weeks after emergence) to the target density of 60,000 to 70,000 plants(ha with farmers' practice of continuous thinning throughout the production cycle. Some researchers felt it would serve as a demonstration to farmers of the benefits of early thinning.Others viewed it as a way of comparing the increased yield from early thinning with the value of the fodder foregone.The final design was then a simple four treatment trial with stepwise changes in technology as follows:(1). Farmers' practice with farmer variety.(2). Improved variety (Azam) under farmer management.(3). Improved variety (Azam) with phosphorous (50 kg/hal under farmer management.(4). Improved variety (Azam) with phosphorous (50 kg/hal and early thinning at three weeks after emergence to 65,000 plants/ha.The verification trial was designed for the irrigated Swat valley bottom where all previous research has been concentrated. Two villages, Kabal (elevation 875 m.a.s.l) and Chalyar (elevation 1085 m.a.s.l.) were selected and five and seven verification trials laid out in each village, respectively (Figure 1).These two villages essentially belong to the same recommendation domain -irrigated plains of elevation 850 m to 1200 m.a.s.l.The only significant difference is that farmers in Kabal hoe their maize while in Chalyar they have changed to the \"seel\" method of postemergence cultivation with bullocks (see Byerlee and Hussain, 1UU5 for details).In the course of working in the valley it became apparent that a significant and increasing share of maize was being grown on mountain terraces at elevations ranging from 1300 to 2200 m m.a.s.1. 1  This zone has been completely neglected in past research and extension efforts and hence it was decided that an onfarm research program should be initiated in the mountains. At the time of planning the research programme, ...... almost no information on production systems as well as varietal, fertilizer and density responses was available for this zone.It was recognized that these mountain terraces, were potentially in a different recommendation domain with different problems and priorities.However, as an exploratory exercise it was decided to implement the same experimental program, including the verification experiments. Some 1b verification trials were laid out on the Malam Jabba road across an altitude sequence at elevations ranging from lbOO t o ' 1850 m.a.s.l. At the same time diagnostic survey of maize production systems in the mountain was planned for the 198b season in order to orient further research efforts.The plot size averaged about 500 m 2 but was varied in order to fit logically into the size and shape of fields.On the mountain terraces this required considerable imagination on the part of researchers due to the irregular shape of fields and presence of large rocks.Inputs were weighed in the field after determining plot size, and applied by the farmer.A basal dose of 100 kg N/ha was applied to the whole experiment.The farmer was also responsible for thinning early for treatment four.Farmers' were shown the plant to plant di5tance that would approximate a density of 65,000 plants/ha. They were requested to perform this operation at three weeks after emergence, although in practice they were often reluctant to cooperate in this treatment and sometimes delayed the thinning well beyond three weeks.Plant densities and other observations on insects, weed problems, drought etc. were recorded on visits to the field at 10 to 14 days intervals. At harvest time, three samples of size,,4 m x 2 m, were located randomly in each plot and harvested.Plant density, barren plants and fresh weight of ears and stover were recorded. A sub-sample of ears (about 10) and 1 kg of chopped stover was then sun dried to determine moisture content, and the ears were shelled to obtain the shelling percentage.Conversions were made as follows: Three months after harvest, one of the authors, a rural sociologist, revisited each farmer to assess farmers' opinion and perceptions about the technological components being , tested. This visit was timed so that farmers had had a chance to evaluate the cooking and storage qualities of Azam variety. A short questionnaire administered in an informal setting was used to elicit farmers' comments (see Appendix A).Data analysis was done on an Apple lIe micro-computer using the package, AIDA to facilitate across-site and treatment comparisons.Before analysing treatment responses, it is instructive to look at the overall results of the verification trials, and particularly the differences between the valley and mountain terraces. These are summarized in Tables 1 to 3. The main pointn shown by these results are as follows;(1). Because of the cooler temperature at higher altitudes, maize is planted one month earlier than in the valley, resulting in an increase in the maturity period of one month for the same variety.(2). All maize on the mountain terraces was rainfed while all maize in the valley was irrigated.(3). Host farmers on mountain terraces produced one crop per year and hence maize was usually planted after fallow. In the valley, maize followed either \"shaftal\" a leguminous fodder (Trifolium resupinatum) or wheat.(4). Farmers in mountain terraces lived by their field and applied farm yard manure (FYM) on a continuous basis. Farmern in the valley lived in the village and generally applied FYH to shaftal in Rabi cycle.(5). Host of the selected farmers were not growing a true local variety. Limited distribution of seed in previous years by the Agricultural Development Authority (ADA) and by the onfarm research project itself, had introduced Sarhad White to each village. However, in most cases this seed was already mixed with local varieties by cross pollination in previous cycles. Harvest data reflected some of these differences (Table 2). Average grain yields were 40 percent higher in the valley. Stover yields were approximately the same in each area so that differences in total dry matter yields were less pronounced. Yields were harvested at a significantly higher moisture content in the valley, and in fact most fields were harvested before reaching physiological maturity.Note particularly the relatively high-between-field and within-field variation in yields in the mountain terraces.Both types of variability were due in part to differences in age of terraces and consequently, the weathering of soils and build up of fertility through organic and chemical fertilizer application.However, yields and variability in yields in mountain terraces also reflect a number of problems that affected maize in 1985. Early season drought and insect attacks were particularly sovere in many sites in 1985 (Table 3).Hail damage also affected some fields late in the season.As a result, harvested densities were low in many plots.In contrast, the only hazard experienced by valley farmers in 1985 was lodging due to late season storms. hese data clearly indicate that the Swat valley and mountain terraces are two quite distinct recommendation domains since maize production practices and research opportunities are very different for the mountain terraces. The design of the farmer managed trials which was based on diagnostic surveys and onfarm experiments in the valley was not very appropriate for farmers of the mountains.In 1985, a diagnostic survey was conducted to try to correct these deficiencies. Because of these problems, and also because of the high variability in the results from the mountains, this report focuses more attention on the analysis of data from the valley.The results from the mountain terraces should be regarded as exploratory only. The design of the farmer managed trials which was based on diagnostic surveys and onfarm experiments in the valley was not very appropriate for farmers of the mountains.In 1985, a diagnostic survey was conducted to try to correct these deficiencies.Because of these problems, and also because of the high variability in the results from the mountains, this report focuses more attention on the analysis of data from the valley.The results from the mountain terraces should be regarded as exploratory only. Table 4 shows treatment effects on grain yields. For all sites harvested, there were no significant treatment effects. although the farmer practice with his variety (Treatment 1) gave the lowest yield. There were however. highly significant site effects.In order to conduct more indepth analysis, two sites were eliminated from further consideration. One site, the lowest yielding. was flooded by a broken canal early in the season and plant stand was generally very poor and uneven. The second site eliminated was also very uneven. After planting, it was found that one plot was planted after shaftal and the farmer generally managed this plot for grain and left other plots for fodder.The results over the remaining 10 sites are shown in Table 4. The F-ratio for-treatments is significant at the 15% level. However, partitioning of the ANOVA shows that Treatment 1 with farmer management of his variety gave significantly lower yields than the other treatments combined. That is. Azam outyielded the farmer variety by about 0.5 t/ha.There was.however. no apparent response to phosphorous or early thinning. An interesting result is the much lower variation in yields (shown by the, CV in Table 4) of Azam variety compared to the farmer variety, which in most cases was a mixture of local and ir..;lroved germplasm, especially Sarhad Whito., 1 These results, while not showing many statistically significant responses, arc important in two respects.First. yields under farmer management, especially with broadcast planting at high densities are quite high and are close to the yields generally observed in experiments conducted in farmers' fields that are line planted using recommended seed rates. Hence. the use of line planting and low seed rates is not likely to have much impact on yields and at the same time farmers would incur significant costs in terms of planting labour and reduced supply of green fodder 1 .Second, the improved variety, Azam, performed well under farmer management. Table 5 compares harvest data for Azam and the farmer variety2. Stover yields of Azam were somewhat higher than for the farmers' variety, an important criteria for farmers' selection of variety in this area. Azam was harvested at slightly higher moisture content for grain, although stover moisture content 1 The high seed rate does however, have a major disadvantage if farmers are to be encoraged to use high priced improved seed. 2 The superiority of Azam over the farmer variety appears to be due to genotype rather than seed quality. There was no apparent difference in seedling emergence and vigor between the two varieties. 10 however, no apparent response to phosphorous or early thinning. An interesting result is the much lower variation in yields (shown by the, CV in Table 4) of Azam variety compared to the farmer variety, which in most cases was a mixture of local and ir..;,roved germplasm, especially Sarhad White. These results, while not showing many statistically significant responses, are important in two respects.First, yields under farmer management, especially with broadcast planting at high densities are quite high and are close to the yields generally observed in experiments conducted in farmers' fields that are line planted using recommended seed rates. Hence, the use of line planting and low seed rates is not likely to have much impact on yields and at the same time farmers would incur significant costs in terms of planting labour and reduced supply of green fodder 1 .Second, the improved variety, Azam, performed well under farmer management. Table 5 compares harvest data for Azam and the farmer variety2. Stover yields of Azam were somewhat higher than for the farmers' variety, an important criteria for farmers' selection of variety in this area. Azam was harvested at slightly higher moisture content for grain, although stover moisture content was less than for the farmer variety. Farmers may have nelected their variety to have some \"stay green\" quality for fodder. Azam had a significantly higher shelling percentage, which reflects farmers' often expressed complaint of low shelling percent for 5arhad White. 1 Despite similar harvest densities, Azam had a somewhat higher percent of fertile plants than the farmers' variety.Finally, the degree of lodging of Azam was only one third of that of the farmers' variety. The farmer managed trials enabled 'more indepth measurement of farmers' plant stand management. a controversial issue in maize research. Farmers actually employed two management strategies.In Kabal village, they used somewhat lower seed rates, hoed fields for weed control and did all thinning manually. In Chalyar village, farmers employed the more common practice of a high seed rate followed by a \"seel\" -a post-emergence cultivation which removes many plants and controls weeds. They also thinned manually later in the season.The reasons for these differences in prac•tices are not clearly understood but seem to relate to a greater supply of labour in Kabal.The effects on plant density over the cycle are seen in ¥igure 2.In both cases initial stands were much lower than the potential if all seeds germinated. (Germination rates were not significantly different between varieties). Many seeds were buried too deeply for germination because of the practiee of broadcasting of seed and covering with a desi plough.After the seel operation, plant stands in Chalyar were similar to those in Kabul where lower seed rates were used.The early thinning of treatment four was practiced reluctantly by farmers.However, densities after thinning were close to the target density of 75,000 plants/ha, compared to over 100,000 plants/ha in the farmers' traditional mana~ement (~igure 3). Variability in early densities correlates closely with seed rates (r = .61 and .46 between seed rate and densities at knee high and silking, respectively) but not with harvest density. As the season progressed, farmers' management through plant removal was more important than seed rate in determining densities.The treatment of early thinning had no effect on grain and stover yields, but did reduce the yield of green fodder. Overall. plant density does not seem to be a major factor determining yields under the management conditions of this sample of farmers (Table 6).Both the degree of lodging and barrenness of plants were significantly and positively correlated with harvest density, but there was no effect on the yield of either grain or stover (Table 6).These results are consistent with the results of an experiment to carefully measure the benefits of farmers' plant stand management with that recommended by researchers (Khan, 1986). A more detailed analysis of density and yields for a large sample of survey farmers is given in Byerlee et ale 1987. Relationship between Grain and Stover Yields:Stover yields are an important component of economic benefits of maize production in Swat. Dry maize fodder selis for Us. 1000 -1500/acre, or about Us. 20 per 40 kg after harvest. In this trial, there appeared to be no conflict between Rrain and stover yields.In fact, stover yields were positively and significantly correlated to grain yields (r = .44**>.The major factors determining the number of days from plaflting to harvest were location and variety ('fable '{).At Chalyar which is 200m higher than Kabal, maturity was delayed by about b days.In both cases farmers who planted a Sarhad White mixture harvested about five days after farmers who used a pure\" local variety. On average, farmers appeared to harvest at very high moisture levels.Table 8 indicates that moisture levels were measured in excess of 50%, in some cases. Azam was harvested on the same date as the farmer's variety, and generally at higher moisture levels.This was true even for sites where the farmers' variety was Sarhad White or a mixture. Sarhad White is a later variety than Azam, but cross-pollination (Sarhad White x local material) and farmer selection may have made it earlier.  9. Clearly the major factor determining harvest moisture was the number of days from planting to harvesting. High moisture content at harvest leads to low shelling percentage and lower yields. 1  However, these findings on high grain moistur~content at harvest should be qualified by the fact that our harvesti~g methods differed signif icantly from the farmers' methe Io'armers normally cut the maize and then leave. it to dry for some days before removing the ears. This period may allow some additional opportunity for the grain to mature.To estimate yields in thp verification trials, we cut the maize at the same time as the farmer, but then removed the ears immediately to estimate grain yield.Interestingly, moisture content of the grain and the stover did not correlate strongly. Stover yields were higher with high grain moisture at harvest as expected if maize is harvested before physiological maturity. Generally the moisture content of stover was much less variable than for grain.In the case of the farmers' variety, the grain yield was also negatively correlated with moisture content at harvest (r = -.37) but other correlations that were exhibited for Azam did not hold, probably because of the considerable variation already noted in the farmers' variety. The above data have shown that a number of factors related to site charateristics, management and treatment, affected yields in the farmer managed plots. These effects can be best synthesised in a multiple regression analysis of differences in yields across plots.For simplicity and because of a relatively small number of observations only linear models were fitted. No significant interactions were found between independent variables. Two alternative models are shown in Table 9.The treatments of phosphorous and early thinning were omitted from these models after consistently failing to identify significant yield effects l .The coefficients of the linear model are easily interpreted.In Model 1, for example, Azam variety increased yields by 261 kg(ha, shaftal as a previous crop by 622 kg/ha while each one percentage chanp.e in moisture content decreased yields by 121 kg/ha, and so on.Hodel 1 explained 65% of the variation in yi~lds (RZ = .tib).All coefficients are of the expected sign, except possibly density, which in this case shows a positive effect on yield. All coefficients are significant at the 5% level, except that for Azam variety.The largest single effect on yields is the extent of lodging. Since lodging is highly correlated with the use of local variety and with higher density (Table 6), the coefficients for the variables, density and improved variety, are biased. Hodel 2 shows the results if the variable for lodging is omitted.The effect of Azam is now 785 kg/ha and highly significant.However, density has no effect on yields. Thus, yields tends to increase with higher densities but this effect is cancelled by an increased tendency to lodge.  Results presented above demonstrate three important issues with respect to variety development and dissemination.(l). There are high returns to providing seed to farmers of improved varieties such as Azam. Given current prices, the marginal cost of improved seed over farmer seed is Rs 1.0/kg. With a conservative estimate of the yield increase due to improved seed of 500 kg/ha and a net price of maize (after susbtracting harvesting. shelling and marketing costs) of Rs 1.6/kg, the return to improved seed even at farmers' high seed rates is 800%. Few other innovations will provide such high rates of return 1 .1 A recent report (CIMHYT, 1986) shows that Pakistan has the lowest price of improved maize seed relative to the price of maize grain in the world. Even if the price of improved maize seed were to double to provide incentives to produce more seed, the returns to farmers from using improved varieties would still be very attractive.(2). Lodging is an illll\"J1\"La'IL factor reducing yields and efforts should be contlIluod to increase stalk strength of improved varieties without sacrificing stover yields.(3). Farmers would probably increase grain yields by delaying harvesting to grain maturity. ~'urther work is needed to measure yield losses from farmers' harvesting methods (i..e., drying on the stalk after cutting the plants) and to fully understand farmers' criteria for early harvest.Early harvesting most probably relates to the desire to preserve fodder quality. Incorporation of the \"stay green\" characteristic, which allows ears to dry relatively more quickly than the stover J would have potential benefits to farmers.Table 11 summarizes grain yield responses by treatment from the mountain terraces. Over all trials, there were no significant differences between treatments, althouf~h yields increased with each treatment level, except for Trea~menL 4 (early thinning).However, given the high level of variability in the mountains these results are not surprising. Differences between sites were highly significant. 1n ordor to provide a more meaningful compar i SUIl, :; i 1.0:\\ were grouped into low yielding fields « 2.5 t/ha) and high yielding fields (> 2.5 t/ha). In addition, one site was dropped from further analysis because of its extremely high intra-field variability (ev= 51%). which was caused by being located next to the farm house where organic manure was very irregularly applied. The low yielding sites were characterized by rocky unweathered soils which also compounded the problem of drought. There was a visual response to phosphorous application at two of these sites and acute phosphate deficiency symptoms in treatments 1 and 2.In the high yieldin~s ites, average yields were more than double the yields in low yi~•:l .ling sites but still somewhat lower than observed in the __ igated valley.There was ignificant between-site variation in yields.There was also a non-significant response of about 0.6 t/ha to the use of the improved variety Azam.Table 12 compares harvest data for the farmers' variet.y and for Azam at the high yielding sites.Stover yields of Azam were significantly higher (at the 10% level) and Azam also tended to have a lower percentage of barren plants and a significantly higher shelling percentage.These results arc consistant with the relative performance of varieties in the valley (Table 5). However, unlike in the valley, moisture pcrc 0 ntage of both grain and stover of Azam was somewhat lower than for the farmers' variety. Most farmers grew a Sarhad ~lite-type variety which is later than Azam.Infestation of loose smut, which was not present in the valley, significantly reduced the yield of the variety Azam, relative to the farmers' variety (Table 12). The yield loss due to smut can be assumed to be directly proportional to the number of diseased ears since yield was zero in these ears. By this method the loss in yield of Azam due to smut was estimated at .2\" t/ha, compared to the loss in the farmers' variety of .12 t/ha. (There was also some evidence that if farmers used seed derived from Sarhad ~lite smut infestation wa~more than for the true local variety). Smut infestation was significantly correlated with altitude (r = .40). Selected correlations for harvest data show most of the expected components of yield (Table 13). Grain and stover yields were significantly correlated for Azam variety. Stover yields were strongly correlated with harvest density. while grain yields showed no association.This supports the hypotheses of Byerlee and Hussain (1986) that farmers will not want to risk low densities even if grain yields are not affected, since they will suffer a significant loss in stover yields.As expected. the proportion of barren plants was closely associated with higher densities. but this did not seem to affect grain yields.Densities in the hills were severely reduced by the attack of cutworms early in the season (Figure 4). Hence in this situation a high initial plant stand was regarded as an insurance against insect attack. Some of the plots that had been thinned early and then subjected to insect attack had very low densities at harvest time, a point which farmers were quick to make when discussing implementation of treatment four.  As in the valley, harvesting at high moisture content seems to be an important constraint on higher yields.In this case it was not possible to isolate factors such as altitude, variety and days from planting to harvesting that were hypothesised to affect maturity. It may be that the various drought. insect and fertility stresses had more impact on maturity.However. as expected. total dry matter yields highly ne~atively correlated with days from planting to harves ti nit.As in the irrigated valley. a simple multiple regression was fitted to the data set in an attempt to explain yield differences in yields in the eleven high yielding sites .. Regression coefficients for insect score. moisture percent of grain and altitude were significantly different from zero at the one percent level.The following equation summarizes these effects: YIJ:t:LD = 13014 + 244 AZAM -41ti lNSJ:t:C'l'SC (t-values are given in brackets. *** significant at the 1 percent level).All signs of the regression coefficients are in the expected direction.The t-value for AZAM is low and the effoct (244 kg/ha) is less than in the valley. The low coefficient for AZAH and-the negative effect of increasing ALTITUDJ:t: may reflect a decline in yield associated with an increase in the incidence of smut attack.If the potential yield (adjusted for smut infestation is used as the dependent variable, the regression coefficient for AZAM increases to 488 kg/ha (t-value = 1.4) and the coefficient for ALTITUDE falls to -1.70.These results from the mountains have several implications for further work;(1). Variability in the hills, both between fields and within fields is extremely high.This calls for more efforts to stratify farmers and fields into more homogeneous groups and probably a larger number of experimental sites, or different sampling procedures. maturity.However. as expected, total dry matter yields highly neaatively correlated with days from planting to twrvcs ti nIt. As in the irrigated valley. a simple multiple regression was fitted to the data set in an attempt to explain yield differences in yields in the eleven high yielding sitos .. Regression coefficients for insect score. moisture percent of grain and altitude were significantly different from zero at the one percent level.The following equation summarizes these effects: YIJ:t:LD = 13014 + 244 AZAM -41ti lNSJ:t:CTSC (t-values are given in brackets. *** significant at the 1 percent level).All signs of the regression coefficients are in the expected direction.The t-value for AZAM is low and the effect (244 kg/ha) is less than in the valley. The low coefficient for AZAH and-the negative effect of increasing ALTITUDJ:t: may reflect a decline in yield associated with an increase in the incidence of smut attack.If the potential yield {adjusted for smut infestation is used as the dependent variable, the regression coefficient for AZAM increases to 488 kg/ha (t-value = 1.4) and the coefficient for ALTITUDE falls to -1.70.These results from the mountains have several implications for further work;(1). Variability in the hills, both between fields and within fields is extremely high.This calls for more efforts to stratify farmers and fields into more homogeneous groups and probably a larger number of experimental sites, or different sampling procedures.(2).No treatment was sufficiently superior to warrant. a recommendation for improving maize production in the area.(3). As in th~valley, harvesting at high moisture content of grain seems to be an important yield reducing factor (with the same qualification on the difference between researchers' and farmers' harvestin~methods as we made above in discu55ing this problem for the valley) (4). Insects were a major problem in 19t1~and research efforts are needed to find efficient ways to control insect5. ospecially cutworm.(5). Yields of Azam variety were significently reduced by loose smut and head smut. Breeding programs should give attention to screening for smut resistance.An important part of researeh in farmers• fields is to solicit farmers' active involvement in order to benefit from their experiences and opinions.From the post-harvest survey of cooperating farmers. a number of valuable insights were gained for planning the following years' activities.In all. 24 of 27 cooperating farmers participated in these interviews.The interviews were conducted by a rural sociolo,~i5t skilled in farmer interview techniques but not part of the research team who laid out the trials.This we hoped would provide some objectivity to farmers' responses.Nevertheless, despite these precautions, there may be some positive response bias by farmers who had built a close relationship with the maize researchers.Farmers' were asked to compare Azam variety with their own variety with respect to a number of characteristics such as yield and maturity (Table 14). With respect to yield, there was no clearcu~favourite. Farmers in valley environments slightly preferred Az.am while farmers in the mountains favoured their own variety.¥~rmcr5' ranking of the varieties with respect to yield was also compared with the actual results from the trial.A difference of 0.5 t/ha (about 10%) in the experiment was assumed to be needed to clearly rank one variety over the other.On this criterion, two out of eleven farmers in the valley were in error in their yield assessment.In the mountains however, seven of the thirteen farmers ranked the varieties in reverse order to t l . ~outcome of the experiment.A number of reasons might explain T... i 5 anomaly. Firstly, farmers may have difficulty measuring anlO jl~ging the relatively small yield differences due to variety al0ue. Secondly, the substantial within-field variability in the mountains means that it is difficult for both researchers and farmers to measure real yield differences. Farmers on terraced mountain lands also have very poor measures of land area, and hence will have difficul ty comparinl~yields. 'l'hirdly, farmer~in tho n\\()Untnin5 may have been react.ing against other perceived nCt~ative aspects of Azam variety discussed below.Additional evidence that farmers' have difficulty qlJ\"'lIt.ifyin~differences betwccn varietic~i s shown by Un: dat.a for stover characteristics in Table 14. Clearly, farmers in t.he hi l.ls overwhelmingly believed that Azam gave lower stover yields, while overall in the experiment Azam gave 26% hi~her stover yields (significant at the 6 percent level).~'arm'ors j n the mountains also preferred the stover quality of their O~l variety. Azam, of course, is somewhat shorter and less lcafy than the farmers' variety and this may account for this perception.Simildr problcms of farmers' comparisons of ~t.raw yields for two different wheat varieties have been recorded by Hussain (1986).It'armers' ability to assess yield dif f orcnGCS is an \"important researchable topic.A small research project, should be designed to test farmer perception of yield differences since this has potentially important implications for extension.It'or example more emphasis might be placed on farmer field days at harvest where the grain yield and stover yield are measured in the presence of farmers. In the mountains, Azam was almost unanimously ranked as the earlier variety and several farmers saw this as an advantage in their efforts to increase cropping intensity. On the other hand, farmers in the mountain had clearly noted the hiRher smut incidence in Azam and this was regarded as a serious problem with this variety.There seemed to be little difference in farmers' ranking of the varieties with respect to chapati making quality.In an open ended question, farmers were asked to name other advantages and disadvantages of Azam.Most farmers' in the valley noted its resistance to lodging, a fact which was also clearly shown in the experimental data. Several farmers also appreciated characteristics of Azam as a green fodder; some complained, huwever, of the thick stalk size of Azam when compared with their own variety.The final test of variety acceptance is whether farmers grow the variety the following year.Table 1b shows the breakdown by farmer intentions for the 1986 season. Most farmers intended to plant both Azam and their own variety in spite of having sufficient seed of Azam to meet their full requirements. Only one farmer intended to change completely to Azam.r'armers seemed to want to test Azam at least one more year before either accepting or rejecting the variety. However, it is clear that the bulk of the maize area for cooperating farmers in the valley will probably be planted to Azam in 1~86 while in the hills only a small amount will be planted, probably where an early variety is needed in the wheat-maize rotation.In wheat demonstrations sown with the same group of farmers after maize, all farmers intended to follow wheat by maize but sown at later than the normal planting date. fe'armers op inion of (,•arly thinning was also assessed. Most farmers agreed Lhat earLy thinning was beneficial for grain yields but in the trial they were reluctant to execute t.his as required by 'l'reatmont four.Given the importance of fodder in the valley and in5ect damage in the mount.ains, early thinning does not seem a major priority to pursue in further research.Although we have shown 'that maize was generally cut before physiological maturity, farmers' themselves believed that harvesting of the verification plots was initiated at the opportune time for grain yields and some farmers in the mounta•ins even felt that Azam was too dry! l'urther information is required to understand farmers' reasons for early harvesting and research should focus on how farmers decide when to harvest and yield losse~) in ~:rain and st.over from farmers' harvesting methods.In the valley, Azam seems to be generally favoured by farmers and can be recommended in this area.Hare work by breeders on \"stay green\" characteristics and tolerance to higher densities seems justified.Continued emphasis on lodging resistance is also warranted.In the mountains, farmers' assessment of Azam variety generally supports the results of the experiments. ¥urther research work is, however.needed before a recommendation for variety can be made in the mountains.Furthermore, breeders need to screen varieties for smut resistance and also need to look for an early maturing variety to fit potential cropping patterns in thJ..s area, especially maize following wheat.1n the mountains, farmers have now started growing wheat on a fairly wide scale because of: (1) the introduction of fertilizer and earlier wheat varieties and (2) the substitution of wheat for maize in home consumption.Research is needed on alternative maize-wheat combinations such as a late wheat variety (e.g. Pak 81) with an early maize variety (Shaheeu), or an early wheat variety (Sonalika) with a mid-maturity maize variety (e.g. Azam).Careful assessment of the risks in wheat and maize production will help to determine which crop will dominate in the crop rotation.Phosphorous response was noted in only a few trials bu~ne~rly half the farmers claimed to have noted a response and intend to apply more phosphorous this year. ¥armers were also observed to use phosphorous in quite variable amounts and frequencies. Site history of phosphate usage should be recorded carefully in future research work on phosphate response.ft'armer5 op inion of ('>arly thinning was also assessed. Most farmers agreed Lhilt earLY thinning was beneficial for grain yields but in the trial they were reluctant to execute t.his as required by 'l'roalmont. four.Given the importance of fodder in the valley and insect damage in the mount.ains, early thinning does not seem a mlljor priority to pursue in further research.Although we have shown l..hat maize was generally cut before physiological maturity, farmers' themselves believed that harvesting of the verification plots was initiated at the opportune time for grain yields and some farmers in the mounta•ins even felt that Azam was too dry! },t'urther information is required to understand farmers' reasons for early harvesting and research should focus on how farmers decide when to harvest and yield 105505 in grain and stover from farmers' harvesting methods.In the valley, Azam seems to be generally favoured by farmers and can be recommended in this area.More work by breeders on \"stay green\" characteristics and tolerance to higher densities seems justified.Continued emphasis on lodging resistance is also warranted.In the mountains, farmers' assessment of Azam variety generally supports the results of the experiments. ¥urther research work is, however.needed before a recommendation for variety can be made in the mountains.Furthermore, breoders need to screen varieties for smut resistance and also neod to look for an early maturing variety to fit potential cropping patterns in thlS area, especially maize following wheat.In the mountains. farmers have now started growing wheat on a fairly wide scale because of: (1) the introduction of fertilizer and earlier wheat varieties and (2) the substitution of wheat for maize in home consumption.Research is needed on alternative maize-wheat combinations such as a late wheat variety (e.g. Pak 81) with an early maize variety (Shaheeu), or an early wheat variety (Sonalika) with a mid-maturity maize variety (e.g. Azam).Careful assessment of the risks in wheat and maize production will help to determine which crop will dominate in the crop rotation.Managed TrialsFarmer managed verification trials should be continued during 1986 in both the Swat valley and mountain environments. In the valley. major factors to be included should be variety and phosphorous.Since farmers' in the valley use quite high levels of nitrogen, the marginal pay-offs to phosphorous use should be compared to that in nitrogen.In the mountains. two varieties should be included in the trials -Sarhad White for rCRular planting and New Shaheen for late plantinn. Phosphorous response should also be tested, and a treatment aimed at insect control should be devised.Survey work should be an integral part of the research program.At present, major priority should be placed on the mountain zone to better understand the evolving farming systems, risk hazards and production practices.In addition, small research projects should be initiated to understand farmers' harvesting methods and their criteria for harvesting at high grain moisture and also to statistically test farmers' ability to discriminate between yields of treatments in large plots.For the latter, two treatments only should be included in the trial -with and without phosphate, or two distinct varieties.At the same time, the maize breeding program has a number of new selection criteria to ponder -\"stay green\", disease resistance (smut) and early maturity.On the basis of the results of the verification trials, we are confident that farmers in the Swat valley will accept Azam variety if improved seed is available.In the absence of a formal seed industry, extension should work with leading farmers and farmer groups to help demonstrate Azam variety and multiply seed at the village level.Methods for maintaining seed purity by selecting seed ears from the center of the field also need to be demonstrated to farmers.The provision of improved seed will add 500-750 kg/ha to yields and provide a high payoff to an extension and local level seed multiplication campai~l.In the mountains, a similar campaign to promote the use of the improved variety may also be justified, if seed is treated to prevent smut infestation (eg. using Vitavax).The verification trials, however, provide no basis for widespread recommendation of the other technological components -phosphorous and early thinning -although we suggest continued research on phosphorous response.Experimentation in Pakistan. even when it takes place ill farmers' fields. is usually managed by the researcher.'fhe u~periences in Swat show that a great deal can be learnt from farmer managed experiments with quite simple designs. Statistical niceties of experimental design and significance levels may have to be sacrificed. but this is more than compensated by the larger number of trials that can be executed by the research programme and the information obtained from farmers' ~articipation in the trials. More importantly. data generated are directly applicable to farmer circumstances. Follow-up surveys to assess farmers' opinion should be an integral part of the methodology.Indeed, this moni torinl~of farmers should be initiated at planting time and greater efforts made to record farmers' operations and plot history.This study has also demonstrated the special problems of working in mountain environments. The high level of variability characteristic of these environments suggests that more resources will need to be invested in the survey part of the program in order to•analyse factors responsible for this variability and stratify farmers and fields accordingly.Even then, the large within field variability means that researchers will have to either plant more experiments to give the same amount of information as in other environments, or they will have to settle for lower confidence in their recommendations and farmers' themselves will playa greater role in adapting recommendations to their specific needs. The need then is to extablish principles to guide extension and farmers in deciding on whether a particular technological component is relevant in a specific situation.Follow-up survey of cooperators for farmer managed verification trials, Swat, 1986. In one plot, we requested that you thin the mai ze carl y (<.at. J weeks after germination) to reduce plant density. ._------"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ed50391a355d1b9f04a34fad5546be6e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/Publications/PDFS/CIFOR-ICRAF-Annual-Report-2020-FR.pdf","id":"-1347656731"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"40959aba-a288-4b97-a17b-4eab00184795","content":"À l'aube de l'année 2020, personne ne pensait qu'une pandémie allait transformer le quotidien des populations de la planète. Cependant, si aucun pays n'a été épargné par le COVID-19, tous ne l'ont pas vécu pareillement.Au CIFOR-ICRAF, nous étions très bien placés pour rechercher l'origine de ce virus. Nos experts sur la viande sauvage ont été réactifs pour répondre aux appels pressants qui réclamaient l'interdiction de la vente en gros. En s'appuyant sur des données factuelles, ils ont plaidé la cause des populations pour lesquelles les protéines et les nutriments apportés par le gibier sont indispensables. Cet exemple montre, qu'en dépit des restrictions imposées par la pandémie, nos chercheurs n'ont pas relâché leurs efforts en poursuivant leurs travaux scientifiques de haut niveau sur les forêts et les paysages, ce qui nous permet de maintenir notre rang dans la communauté internationale de la recherche de pointe. Les pages qui suivent présentent d'autres exemples éloquents, notamment sur l'amélioration des semences d'arbres et les actions de restauration en Éthiopie, l'agroforesterie en Asie du Sud-Est et un nouveau modèle d'utilisation durable du bois de chauffe dans les camps de réfugiés.Lorsque les principales conférences internationales sur le changement climatique et la biodiversité ont été repoussées à une date ultérieure, nous avons pu continuer les échanges grâce à divers événements en ligne, Dans le même temps, nous avons balisé l'action de notre nouvel organisme né de la fusion de deux entités, en harmonisant nos processus internes et en affinant notre vision et notre mission. Notre nouvelle stratégie sur dix ans expose tout l'intérêt des arbres, de l'agroforesterie et des forêts dans lesquels résident des solutions pour affronter cinq grands enjeux : la déforestation et le recul de la biodiversité, l'accélération du changement climatique, les chaînes de valeur et les filières non durables, la nécessité de transformer les systèmes de production alimentaire et les graves inégalités dont souffrent les femmes, les peuples autochtones et les communautés rurales vulnérables.Dans le courant de l'année 2020, de nouveaux axes à visée globale ont été créés pour apporter des solutions pertinentes et concrètes au bénéfice des populations et de la planète : les Plateformes de partenariat pour l'avenir (Transformative Partnership Platforms), les Paysages d'action (Engagement Landscapes) et les Initiatives phare (Flagship Products). Il s'agit d'approches inédites qui rassemblent nos partenaires pour concevoir et faciliter la mise en oeuvre de solutions transformantes en vue d'un véritable impact « sur le terrain ». C'est également en 2020 qu'un programme innovant a vu le jour, celui sur les Paysages résilients (Resilient Landscapes) qui est destiné à transformer radicalement l'utilisation des terres et les filières agricoles en se positionnant au carrefour de la science et du monde économique, de la finance, des gouvernements et de la société civile pour tout ce qui concerne les paysages forestiers et agroforestiers.Malgré les vicissitudes de l'année passée, le personnel du CIFOR-ICRAF a réalisé un travail remarquable, en restant productif et performant, et en témoignant soutien et empathie aux collègues, à nos partenaires et à nos bénéficiaires.Après une année 2020 qui s'est terminée sur la promesse de nouveaux vaccins porteurs d'espoir à l'horizon, nous regardons droit devant avec optimisme et détermination pour « reconstruire en mieux pour l'avenir », et pour commencer, tout au long de cette décennie des Nations Unies pour la restauration des écosystèmes. Tout ce que nous souhaitons, c'est un avenir plus résilient grâce à la vitalité des arbres, des forêts et des paysages qui peuvent empêcher la propagation des zoonoses, atténuer le changement climatique, renforcer la biodiversité et la productivité agricole, et enfin promouvoir la santé et le bien-être des populations.   Voir les dernières évolutions de ces initiatives en 2020 à la page 16 et aux suivantes.  La restauration des terres peut être une piste à exploiter pour parvenir à la sécurité alimentaire et améliorer les moyens de subsistance de certaines populations africaines parmi les plus vulnérables vivant en milieu aride. Mais alors que nous entrons dans la Décennie des Nations Unies pour la restauration des écosystèmes, il est évident que, si l'on veut généraliser la restauration, il faudra adapter les interventions en fonction des populations et des lieux, car une solution unique ne pourra pas convenir partout.Financé par l'UE et le FIDA, un projet quinquennal vient de démarrer sur la reconnaissance des agriculteurs comme agents de changement : ces intendants des terres sont en effet constamment dans l'innovation. Par conséquent, en leur donnant des moyens pour tester et comparer différentes formules de restauration, comme la diversification des cultures, l'agroforesterie et des méthodes adaptées de conservation de l'eau et des sols (démarche appelée « options by context », c.-à-d. les solutions selon le contexte), il serait possible de les aider à résoudre les problèmes dès qu'ils surviennent.Permettant à des partenaires très divers de travailler ensemble dans un cycle de coapprentissage (des secteurs public et privé, de la recherche et de la formation, du monde économique et des institutions de gouvernance), ce projet a débouché sur la mise en place de communautés de pratique qui ont pu optimiser leurs ressources pour restaurer les terres dégradées. Ce sont plus de 100 000 personnes qui en ont bénéficié directement ou indirectement au Niger, au Mali, en Éthiopie et au Kenya. Au Kenya, la survie des arbres sur les exploitations agricoles est passée de 30 % en 2016 à plus de 80 % en 2019.  Malgré un consensus scientifique sans ambiguïté, les effets du réchauffement climatique sur les écosystèmes et la santé humaine continuent de s'amplifier. Pour remédier au dérèglement climatique, le CIFOR-ICRAF présente des solutions fondées sur la nature en les analysant à la lumière des données scientifiques. Il s'agit de la gestion durable des forêts et des zones humides, de l'agroforesterie et de la restauration des paysages.C'est en 2020 que s'est achevée la troisième phase de l'étude comparative mondiale sur la REDD+ (GCS-REDD+) qui portait sur l'évaluation de la conception des politiques et sur l'impact des actions destinées à « réduire les émissions issues de la déforestation et de la déforestation et la dégradation des forêts » (REDD+). Grâce à une série d'ateliers virtuels pour les parties prenantes nationales organisés dans le cadre de l'étude GCS REDD+, des instances de décision, des praticiens, des chercheurs et des bailleurs de fonds se sont réunis pour évoquer les dernières connaissances scientifiques sur la REDD+ et réfléchir aux moyens de les traduire en actes.Au Pérou, le CIFOR-ICRAF a travaillé avec le Service des aires protégées du pays (SERNANP) pour coproduire l'outil « Où en sommes-nous ? (¿Como Vamos?), qui permet une réflexion et un suivi participatif des forums multipartites. Au Vietnam, nos scientifiques ont été invités à se joindre à un groupe de travail national pour élaborer la stratégie de développement forestier du pays  Les régimes alimentaires de base sont traditionnellement complétés et diversifiés grâce aux arbres qui procurent des fruits, des légumes, des graines, des noix et des huiles. Quand ils sont intégrés aux systèmes agroforestiers, ils peuvent contribuer de manière substantielle à la sécurité alimentaire et à la nutrition des petits exploitants, parfois même sur plusieurs générations. En Afrique de l'Est, le projet Food Trees, financé par l'Union européenne, le FIDA et GIZ, a permis de codévelopper sur mesure avec des agriculteurs des « assortiments d'arbres comestibles » afin de résoudre les problèmes de disponibilité saisonnière et de déficits en micronutriments, en particulier en vitamines A et C, en fer et en acide folique. Ces assortiments comportent des espèces d'arbres localement disponibles et acceptables pour l'alimentation sur le plan culturel dont la récolte s'échelonnant sur toute l'année permet de nourrir la population.Par des enquêtes et des échanges avec les agriculteurs, les chercheurs ont constaté qu'il était difficile de s'alimenter et qu'il y avait des déficits en nutriments à certaines périodes. Les assortiments peuvent être adaptés à différents lieux présentant des conditions agroécologiques diverses, ainsi qu'à la variabilité de l'adéquation des espèces, à la phénologie des arbres fruitiers et aux préférences des agriculteurs.des émissions de gaz à effet de serre résultent de la production alimentaire des produits alimentaires se gâtent ou sont gaspillés« Les données spatialisées nous ont permis non seulement d'enregistrer la dynamique socioécologique de la diversité de la production alimentaire chez les petits exploitants, mais aussi d'exploiter les informations sur la consommation individuelle afin de mieux cerner les déficits de production et en nutriments pour les résorber.  Quand a éclaté le tollé exigeant l'interdiction dans le monde entier des marchés de produits frais, de la chasse au gibier, du commerce et de la consommation de viande sauvage, les scientifiques du CIFOR-ICRAF sont montés au créneau, données factuelles à l'appui. En mars 2020, ils publiaient un éditorial dans Forests News pour exposer que cette interdiction ferait peser le spectre de la malnutrition sur des millions de communautés, dont de nombreuses populations autochtones, qui ne disposent d'aucune autre source abordable de protéines.La consommation non durable de viande sauvage est l'un des principaux facteurs du recul de la biodiversité, mais le vrai problème est la migration en Enfin, en octobre, le Partenariat de collaboration sur la gestion durable de la faune sauvage et la FAO ont publié une déclaration commune présentant quatre principes pour réduire le risque de zoonoses au moyen de « plans de relance fondés sur la nature ». des produits de supermarché contiennent de l'huile de palme 50 %Bien que le secteur privé clame haut et fort son engagement en faveur de la déforestation zéro et des chaînes de valeur durables, les signes d'un véritable changement se font attendre, tandis que la consommation mondiale de produits issus des forêts est en hausse constante. Le CIFOR-ICRAF aide à transformer une production durable en revenus, ce qui met en évidence les effets positifs du commerce et des investissements dans les divers produits issus des arbres et des forêts sur les conditions de vie en zone rurale, tout en limitant le préjudice pour l'environnement.  « Nous promettons de nous engager à long terme auprès de nos partenaires, notamment les entrepreneurs et les populations locales dans les paysages dans lesquels nous travaillons. Nous n'avons pas de recette magique pour transformer le non durable en durable, mais en faisant partie du tissu social local, nous pouvons travailler ensemble vers des buts communs et plus durables. » Paolo Cerutti, scientifique senior et chef par intérim du bureau régional de NairobiIl est toujours difficile pour les femmes et les personnes des communautés rurales et autochtones de satisfaire leurs besoins fondamentaux personnels et d'avoir une activité qui leur permette de subsister. Par ailleurs, on s'attend à ce que les conséquences économiques de la pandémie du COVID-19 poussent un demi-milliard de personnes dans l'extrême pauvreté. Le CIFOR-ICRAF s'emploie à remédier à ces inégalités et à encourager des modes de gouvernance porteurs de changement positif. Pour atténuer les impacts environnementaux des déplacements de populations en Afrique subsaharienne, le CIFOR-ICRAF a créé un « paysage d'action » (Engagement Landscape) pour tester puis mettre en oeuvre grandeur nature ce modèle et d'autres alternatives. « Ces modèles peuvent être adaptés à chaque contexte dès que les déplacés commencent à arriver, pour empêcher la survenue rapide de la déforestation, de la dégradation et de conflits sociaux », a expliqué Abdon Awono, scientifique qui dirige les activités au Cameroun.  Paysages résilients (Resilient Landscapes) est une initiative innovante du CIFOR-ICRAF, qui vise à exploiter le potentiel de la science et de la recherche pour développer les investissements dans les solutions fondées sur la nature afin de lutter contre le changement climatique, la déforestation, le déclin de la biodiversité et la dégradation des terres. L'idée est de promouvoir les partenariats publicprivé grâce au montage de projets en commun, au partage des bénéfices et à des mesures fiables de la performance pour générer des dividendes pour les investisseurs et les entreprises à partir du capital financier, social et naturel.Dans les paysages et les chaînes de valeur, la vocation de l'initiative Paysages résilients est d'amplifier les investissements ciblant les solutions fondées sur la nature en faisant la promotion de cas de référence étayés par la science, en mobilisant des investissements financiers, en facilitant les partenariats public-privé et en veillant à la conformité sur les plans environnemental, social et de la gouvernance (ESG).Cette initiative permet d'offrir un ensemble inédit de produits, de services et de relations grâce aux données scientifiques qui alimentent l'analyse et la conception, et ceci dans le cadre de partenariats ou de contrats à divers échelons avec différents acteurs publics, privés et de la société civile.L'initiative Paysages résilients permet d'évaluer les projets sur cinq critères interdépendants : faisabilité technique, viabilité financière, mise en oeuvre opérationnelle, acceptabilité sociale et politique, durabilité environnementale.À travers Paysages résilients, le CIFOR-ICRAF s'appuie sur ses partenariats de longue date avec les gouvernements, les bailleurs de fonds, les institutions multilatérales, le monde universitaire, les ONG, les communautés locales, les agriculteurs, et enfin les groupes de jeunes et de femmes.  Le Forum mondial sur les paysages (GLF) a enregistré une croissance sans précédent sur le plan numérique au cours de cette année 2020 marquée par la pandémie du COVID-19. Toujours avec une longueur d'avance, il a lancé en juin la première conférence environnementale totalement en ligne destinée à toute la planète afin de combler les déficits de connaissances et de faire progresser la science.En 2020, le GLF a organisé deux grands événements numériques, qui ont été suivis par plus de 10 000 personnes et ont intéressé des millions d'internautes :» Le GLF de Bonn 2020 : Avec plus de 300 intervenants, des centaines d'organisations, 235 000 interventions sur les médias sociaux, 22 000 messages plus 2 500 articles échangés par les participants, « L'alimentation en temps de crise », première conférence environnementale du genre, a mis en évidence la nécessité des plateformes comme le GLF pour continuer à se faire l'écho de divers « porteurs de savoir » de tous les coins du monde.» GLF Biodiversité : « Un monde, une santé » a mobilisé des dizaines de millions de personnes, braqué le projecteur sur la restauration des écosystèmes et contribué à la prochaine feuille de route mondiale pour la biodiversité. Cet événement s'est inscrit dans l'élan international pour « reconstruire en mieux » par la recommandation d'un ensemble de sept mesures.La décennie des Nations Unies pour la restauration des écosystèmes -Le GLF a été nommé partenaire officiel de la préparation de la décennie des Nations Unies pour la restauration des écosystèmes 2021-2030.Le programme d'impact sur les systèmes alimentaires, l'utilisation des terres et la restauration (FOLUR) -contribution à la communication et à la gestion des connaissances stratégiques sur cette plateforme instaurée par la Banque mondiale.Les jeunes dans les paysagesimplication de plus de 60 000 jeunes dans la restauration des paysages. Cette année, l'initiative a lancé le programme des délégués à la restauration (Restoration Stewards), qui prévoit de financer en Afrique, en Amérique latine et en Asie six projets de restauration pilotés par des jeunes bénéficiant d'un mentorat.Apprentissage -séances de formation de niveau professionnel sur Landscape Academy, plateforme gratuite en ligne (portant sur les cinq thèmes du GLF) suivie par plus de 18 000 apprenants à ce jour.GLFx -rassembler une communauté mondiale, GLFx, pour susciter et accélérer l'action vers des paysages plus durables.Finance durable -partenariat avec le Luxembourg pour inscrire la finance durable à l'événement « GLF Luxembourg Investment Cases ».  Photos : Couverture : Terrasses créées à la suite de tremblements de terre répétés dans le Sichuan en Chine Liu Qiankun ; p. 3 : Villageoise portant des légumes à Yangole en RDC. Axel Fassio/CIFOR ; p. 6 : Restauration des terres au Tchad dans le bassin du lac Tchad. TerrAfrica Partnership ; p. 7 : Éléphants pâturant dans les tourbières de la réserve de faune de Padang Sugihan. Rifky/CIFOR ; p. 8 : Vue aérienne de la forêt amazonienne près de Manaus, capitale de l'État brésilien d'Amazonas. Neil Palmer/CIAT ; p. 9 : Cueilleuses de thé dans le Nord-est de l'Assam en Inde. Amit Ranjan/Unsplash ; p. 11 : On trouve fréquemment de la viande sauvage en vente sur les marchés des tropiques, comme ici dans le Nord du Ghana. Axel Fassio/CIFOR ; p. 12 : Transport de grumes sur la rivière Katingan dans le Centre du Kalimantan. Sigit Deni Sasmito/CIFOR ; p. 13 : Production de cacao au Cameroun. Ollivier Girard/CIFOR ; p. 14 : Femmes portant du bois de feu près du camp de réfugiés de Gado-Badzéré au Cameroun. Arnauld Chyngwa/CIFOR ; p. 15 : Femme et son enfant près de la ville de Sumbawa Besar sur l'île indonésienne de Sumbawa. Aulia Erlangga/CIFOR ; p. 16 : Dans les rizières en terrasse au Cambodge. Pixabay ; p. 17 : Ouvrière de la pépinière de cacaoyers dans le village de Sokoru en Éthiopie. Ollivier Girard/CIFOR ; p. 18 : Benki Piyãko, chef autochtone venu d'Amazonie, chante dans sa langue lors de la clôture de l'événement numérique de deux jours sur la santé de la biodiversité et de la planète. Pilar Valbuena/GLF ; p. 19 : Plantation de gnetum à Lekié dans la région du Centre du Cameroun.Citation : CIFOR-ICRAF. 2021. Rapport annuel 2020 du CIFOR-ICRAF : Reconstruire en mieux pour l'avenir. Bogor, Indonésie : Centre de recherche forestière internationale (CIFOR) et Nairobi, Kenya : Centre international de recherche en agroforesterie (ICRAF). 20 pp."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2c03cf675b9a78388e0f4caf955d2ff1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a8dc503e-e341-4915-804c-2c3cacf1db20/retrieve","id":"-1732080325"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"859b8de4-5dee-4d73-9295-7c0ee64d2348","content":"In the north, the main source of water is glacial snowmelt from the Himalayas and rainfall; and in peninsular India, the annual monsoon. India's population has increased from about 343 million in 1947 to 1,181 million in 2008. More than half of the population is active in agriculture. Total water demand will equal water availability by 2025, but industrial and domestic water demand are expected to rise drastically at the expense of the agriculture sector, which, in turn, will have to produce more food with less water.India has the second largest irrigated area in the world, but due to the rapid expansion of irrigation, with its emphasis on new construction, irrigation performance and the sector's increasing management needs have not received adequate attention. The development impact of irrigation is well below its potential, and deficiencies in implementation have accumulated over time.At the grassroots level, farmers are turning to groundwater. Unless policymakers can come to grips with the current anarchic situation, India could well be facing a groundwater crisis in the near future.Public sector irrigation is failing to live up to its potential, which is largely due to underinvestment in the maintenance of infrastructure. Rehabilitation requirements represent an increasing part of construction investment and environmental problems are mounting. Major investments are also needed to improve management capacity.IWMI's work in India focuses on research-backed insights for improved policies and practices to help India address its water challenges now and in the future.With nearly 25 million diesel and electric pumps at work, the supply and regulation of energy is an important factor in managing water resources. The Jyotigram Yojana scheme in Gujarat State is a landmark example of how effective policy can be in regulating groundwater extraction and creating equitable water markets. Based in part on the research IWMI conducted with local partners, the government invested US$250 million in the scheme, which has helped farmers increase their incomes and reduce groundwater extraction and electricity use by as much as 50%.In the water-scarce Krishna Basin, IWMI researchers and local partners are implementing activities aimed at improving water productivity. This includes mapping the water-land-poverty nexus in the Lower Krishna Basin to improve basin-scale productivity through integrated hydrologic, water resources and economic research, looking at the implications of different water-allocation scenarios for food production and long-term resource sustainability in the basin.With little control on groundwater extraction, the country faces serious groundwater depletion (Credit: Aditi Mukherji, IWMI).The IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program (ITP) was founded in 2000 and is jointly supported by the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and IWMI. The program is providing data and information of use to policymakers at central, state and local levels and helping them to address issues in sustainable groundwater management, water scarcity, rural poverty and livelihoods, by translating research findings into practical policy recommendations. Under the ITP, IWMI works in close cooperation with a range of partners across India to identify, analyze and document relevant water management approaches and current practices to improve future policy.Impact of different water management technologies and their adoption levels are being analyzed in order to outline the technologies that are suitable for different regions and farms.Impact of climate change on agricultural production is being analyzed in the Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery river basins. Several adaptation strategies both at farm and community level are outlined.The fragile ecosystems are facing water shortages. The fragmented farm holdings need appropriate and affordable technologies. Gravity-based micro-irrigation technologies are implemented in selected states such as Uttarakhand.Since its inception, IWMI has been working with the Indian Government and local partners on solutions to some of the most complex and pressing water management problems anywhere on Earth. IWMI is seeking partners and funds for the following research projects.Nearly 90% of the Indian population live in basins with some form of water scarcity or food production deficit. One of the key factors directly affecting the poor is inequity in irrigation water distribution, further aggravated by inequity in landholdings. This situation underpins the need for more focused pro-poor options to increase returns to poor farmers in low productivity areas.Groundwater is a key research area in India. There is arsenic contamination of groundwater in most areas, and groundwater overdraft threatens India's long-term food security goals. Managed Aquifer Recharge programs on a basin-scale may provide a solution.Closely connected with groundwater use is the issue of irrigation. The sector needs renewed investment in both physical infrastructure and human capacity along with new directions in policy. The feasibility of large-scale river linking and water transfers need careful consideration in light of potential alternatives. Irrigation of food and fodder crops with urban wastewater is a reality in India but gets scant attention as a potential resource. India must set targets for increasing the productivity of water across the entire agriculture sector. This will entail new technologies such as drip and sprinkler irrigation on a larger scale as well as smarter policies.The impact of a warming climate is already visible in more frequent extreme weather events. Indian agriculture can adapt to floods and droughts if policymakers can be convinced that water must be managed at the basin and landscape level.Nearly 90% of the Indian population live in basins with some form of water scarcity or food production deficit (Photo credit: Paul Pavelic, IWMI)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ad072c6b74f4a6af18611a0bf073cf58","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7ed1f609-b38f-4ac1-9ea7-a3ae7f020067/retrieve","id":"-1428647223"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"53568f48-9eec-4763-a15b-885696f7be31","content":"Meghdoot app has shown steady growth and expansion since the beginning. At the time of its launch, it provided agro-metrological advisories to only 150 districts in India. However, the Meghdoot app has expanded its reach to 717 districts in the country. This achievement comes along with the development of a multilingual strategy to cater to the non-Englishspeaking community in India and provide the information in 12 languages which includes Hindi, Telugu, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Mizo, Bengali, and Punjabi, which has tremendously increased the reachability of the app. The app has also seen significant uptake with around 294,000 downloads and installations as of December 2023. This data underscores the significant advancement and widespread usefulness of Meghdoot in disseminating vital agro-meteorological advisories to farmers and stakeholders nationwide.Meghdoot app is evolving, and continuous upgrades and features are added periodically.Below are few of them:1. Offline mode: The app now features an enhanced offline mode which allows users to access downloaded advisories even when they are not connected to the internet. This feature ensures that the farmers in remote locations with limited internet connectivity can still benefit from the personalized crop advisories and weather information.The users will now receive push notifications as soon as a new crop advisory is added to the app for the selected locations. This alert system ensures that the farmers are updated on the latest information and can take timely action to protect their crops and optimize their yields.The app now includes seamless integration with social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp allowing users to easily share valuable information with their friends and peers.The Android version of the app has been upgraded to support the latest Android 13. This update ensures a smoother user experience for all Android users by bringing bug fixes and performance optimizations in addition to new features and improvements.To address the challenge of limited database storage and ensure timely updates of new advisories, a scheduler has been introduced. This scheduler automates the process of updating advisories in the app's database, ensuring that users always have access to the most current information without experiencing delays or interruptions.A visually engaging dashboard has been developed to provide AAS staff at IMD with insights into app usage and adoption at both the district and state levels. This comprehensive dashboard offers valuable analytics and data visualization tools, empowering policymakers, and stakeholders to make informed decisions and allocate resources effectively.To enhance the quality in terms of content and reduce the time required to develop crop advisories and weather summaries, we are exploring the utilization of OpenAI. A technical report on a pilot project has also been created. This pilot utilizes OpenAI architecture for natural language processing and a Random Forest regressor for predictions. A pilot study has been conducted at 3 locations in India and the results have been promising.Improvements are being explored in terms of adding new features to the Machine Learning (ML) model as well exploring the possibility to use techniques like noisy labels as well as the use of expert knowledge to improve the training data to improve the performance of ML models. A separate concept note has also been prepared to explore the potential funding from Government of India as well as through other donors is also being explored. Eventually, the objective is to expand this model to cover all locations and crops within the Meghdoot app."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e81aaa750591fcc62939e659db7ad62e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9f4c24e4-70a9-459c-aafe-e6a018133dfa/retrieve","id":"2142453634"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b369c5ee-0d79-4266-9de3-e4ce40d723b2","content":"This Common Framework about Financing Rural Extension has been drawn up by an informal group of representatives of bilateral and multilateral cooperation agencies and institutions involved in agricultural development in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere. The \"Neuchâtel Initiative Group\" was formed in 1995 and comprises representatives of the cooperation agencies of Austria, Denmark (Danida), France (MAE), Germany (GTZ), the Netherlands (DGIS), Sweden (Sida), Switzerland (SDC), UK (DFID) and the USA (USAID), as well as representatives of the FAO, the IFAD, the European Commission (EC/DGVIII), the CTA (Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation) and the World Bank.In a \"Common Framework on Agricultural Extension\" (1999), the Neuchâtel Group agreed on six principles and six commitments for reforming extension services to rural communities in developing countries. Later it was decided to carry out a more in-depth work on financing mechanisms to complement the common vision on rural extension. Results of different field studies done in Africa and Latin America have been discussed in the annual meeting of Neuchâtel Group in November 2000. Joint reflection then resulted in the elaboration of a draft version of this common framework on financing extension. This was discussed at the annual meeting of the Neuchâtel Group in November 2001, and issues and concerns raised were integrated into the present final document.This document takes into account not only the reform of national extension agencies but also the global context of the transformation of the rural services landscape. It offers some principles and options for innovative financing mechanism based on context-and policy-specific priorities. The new mechanisms aim at mobilising diverse sources of funds (private/public) and at improving governance of extension systems towards more demand orientation and pluralism. This framework is not a \"one size fits all\" set of recommendations. It should be used as a guideline for discussions and negotiations among the stakeholders involved in extension in the developing countries, in order to devise innovative and/or adequate schemes. This international point of view of decision-makers should also be the object of discussions and negotiations with the producers' organisations at the local level.A second document, \"Guide to Decision Making for Financing Extension\", complements this framework. It presents practical details and examples of innovative financing mechanisms.Unsatisfactory effectiveness and efficiency: Quality, effectiveness and efficiency of extension services are often questioned. Quality of services means that the extension organisation can readily identify, and respond to, the needs of users (farmers as well as other client and stakeholder groups), communicate well with users, and so be of maximum utility to users. However, whether extension is effective in bringing about real improvements in agricultural production and land use systems depends also on decisions made by users to effect changes at local, farm and even field level, and on a favourable policy environment. Good quality services are therefore a pre-condition for effectiveness, but quality alone cannot guarantee effectiveness. Efficiency requires extension services to achieve the objectives of quality and utility at reasonable cost, but many current extension systems do not encourage efficiency.Financial constraints: Currently by far the largest part of extension services for agriculture and natural resource management in developing countries is funded from public sources (this includes donor funds as well as public funds from the respective countries). This is the case for public extension services as well as for set-ups of NGOs and producer associations. Donors are no longer willing to bear the running cost of these organisations, and governments cannot afford to do so; consequently many extension organisations are far from being financially sustainable.In many developing countries policy changes which impact on the livelihood of rural people and the land use systems are underway. The role of the state is reconsidered. Decentralisation, liberalisation, privatisation and democratisation are key directions in this process. These policy changes influence agricultural extension.The financing of extension for agriculture and other areas of natural resource management is frequently discussed by development planners and practitioners in the South and the North due to a number of concerns, like unsatisfactory effectiveness, financial constraints and changing policies, in particular with respect to the role of the state.In the context of the concerns mentioned above, it is increasingly questioned whether it is justifiable to invest public resources in extension services. Some people view extension as serving the private interests of producers, and thus think that market forces regulate supply and demand for extension services satisfactorily. However, we consider that there are in many situations public interests related to agricultural extension which make public investment in extension -from donor as well as national sources -not only justifiable, but a necessity.Extension constitutes an important element of modern development strategies, that can bring about a substantial impact of government and donor engagements. The challenge, however, is to design useful and effective services, to invest public funds in the most helpful ways, and to mobilise private funds where desirable and justified.Well designed extension services contribute to improving agricultural production and land use systems, to reducing rural poverty 2 , and to fostering political and social stability by more equitable economic development, through:• accompanying the diversification of economic activities of rural households,• facilitating access to markets for farm products,• supporting the sustainable management of natural resources,• enhancing the management capacities of producers, rural communities and other agricultural sector players.In this way extension services help rural people to take advantage of opportunities, and thus contribute to livelihood security, while ensuring the conservation of the natural resource base 3 .Currently, extension systems are changing in many ways. This concerns organisational settings as well as the focus of the services. Previously the affair of national public institutions only, advisory services are now increasingly provided by a range of organisations (producer organisations, NGOs, private enterprises, central and decentralised public bodies), in diverse institutional and financial arrangements. National public extension organisations undergo reforms like decentralisation and privatisation. Often new local extension set-ups are built. The producers become clients, managers, owners or partners of the advisory services rather than mere beneficiaries. The involvement of producers in an extension set-up fosters quality and relevance. The services are more and more demand-oriented. Demands are not only voiced by producers, but in some instances also by other players in commodity chains. Moreover, consumers and the broader society raise demands related to the quality of farm products or ecologically sound management of natural resources.In this context new financing mechanisms and new set-ups for extension are experimented with. It is sought to achieve more sustainability by combining financial resources and competencies of various players (producers, Foto Helvetas private enterprises, local and national public bodies, donors and international public bodies). More emphasis is placed on involving private sector actors.One has to distinguish between who finances a service and who delivers it. It is well possible that public funds are used to finance services provided by private sector extension organisations, and public extension organisations can complement the public funds with private funds by asking for payment from the clients for specific services. In the case of private delivery, particular attention must be paid to the impartiality of the services which should be controlled by independent bodies.The primary purpose of this common framework for financing extension is not to conceive mechanisms which reduce public expenditure through cost recovery, but to design financing mechanisms in a way that:• guarantees effective and demand-oriented services,• empowers clients and other stakeholders, in particular those whose voices tend to be not heard,• invests public funds to secure public interests,• promotes a market of diverse providers in the extension service delivery landscape,• promotes environmentally sustainable land use practices,• contributes to better livelihood security for the poor and prevents marginalisation of vulnerable groups.Certainly the financing mechanisms alone cannot ensure better extension, but they are an important part of the design of extension systems, and they impact on the quality and the effectiveness of the services to a major degree.This framework attempts to outline the key points to take into consideration and to guide the decisions when designing financing mechanisms for extension set-ups.There are two distinct but interacting levels at which financing mechanisms need to be designed: the \"funding level\" and the \"service delivery\" level.The \"funding level\" is the level where decisions regarding the investment of public funds from international and national sources are taken, and where large amounts of funds are administered and allocated. It largely concernsThe following elements are combined to make up a financing mechanism.Involved actors. These can be grouped according to their roles. Note that the same actors can take on different roles, depending on the situation, often even at the same time.• Funding sources (national and international donors, national public bodies, local public bodies, but as well producers, producer associations and subsector organisations, private companies)• Extension service providers (public organisations, NGOs, producer organisations, sub-sector organisations, private companies)• Users or clients (producers and their organisations, sub-sector organisations, local communities)• Indirect beneficiaries (consumers, national public, international public)Flows of finance and services. Funds are moving between the involved actors in exchange for services and other actions. Mechanisms for the collection and allocation of funds are key issues in this respect.Attached to the flow of funds and services are usually rules and conditions governing how funding is to be obtained, how funds are to be used, and how involved actors and institutions relate to each other.Every extension set-up and thus every financing mechanisms is embedded in an environment which is shaped by policies, socio-economic and agrarian conditions, degree of producer organisation, capacity of extension service providers etc.interactions between donors, higher government levels and implementing agencies/programmes 4 .The \"service delivery level\" is the level of interaction between local implementers and administrators of funds, service providers and clients/users.This common framework focuses on the service delivery level. The funding level is addressed as far as it influences the service delivery level, but issues like the choice between budget and programme support by donors are not dealt with. In fact, funding level issues are largely not specifically related to extension, but to broader development financing.Principles for the financing of extension 1. Use financing mechanisms which promote empowermentThe link between financial participation and empowermentThe one who pays commands. This is also the case with extension services. Financing mechanisms are a powerful tool to promote empowerment of producers, their organisations and rural communities, if they are designed in an appropriate way.Participation of producers/users in financing extension, even to a modest extent, is essential if they are to be heard when they ask for good quality services responsive to their needs.Any extension service provider tends to seek the recognition of the actors by whom he/she gets paid, which is in many cases a donor, an NGO administration or a central government institution. If (part of) the payment comes from the users, then the service provider is compelled to seek 2In the left diagram payment comes only from a public funding source ➪ accountability is towards that source. In the right diagram clients contribute to paying for the services ➪ the extension organisation looks also towards the clients for recognition and can be held accountable by the clients.recognition from that side, in particular if a substantial part of the payment depends on user satisfaction with the services delivered. This means that with financial participation the service providers are not only accountable to their main source of funds but also to their clients.With the legitimation of their financial participation producers can define the contents of extension services, appraise the quality of services, and sanction advisers. Practically this can be achieved by involvement of the users in the governance of the extension organisation (e.g. in producer organisations' own extension services or through representation of producers on supervisory boards), but also by fostering competition between different service providers among which the clients can choose.The principle of financial participation can easily be put into practice with farmers who are to some extent involved in market production, and live in economically dynamic areas. But financial participation can also be implemented in more remote areas and/or for more vulnerable groups.Usually farmers -also poor ones -are willing to pay for extension services, if they are sure to obtain an added value which exceeds the cost, within a reasonable period of time.It is the farmer's perception of value and cost which is relevant for the willingness to pay and not the more obvious monetary facts, or the public or private nature of services. Willingness to pay is strengthened when producers perceive to be in control of the services, when the payment arrangements have been negotiated and are transparent, and when the services to be paid for are attractive and more profitable compared to the usual free services.Farmers' willingness to pay differs between different kinds of services. Willingness to pay is usually greater for tangible services and services related to cash crops, and rather lower for facilitation or longer-term knowledge generation.Payment for services by the clients not only empowers the clients, but also the service providers who gain professional status by having something valuable to offer to their clients.There are different ways in which the financial participation of users can be organised:• direct payment for services,• indirect payment through membership fees of producer organisations,• indirect payment via levies on produce processed or marketed e.g. by a sub-sector organisation or a private company,• out of tax revenues raised from agricultural produce, such as export taxes and octroi taxes (i.e. local taxes on the movement of produce).The concept of hot and cold money is helpful in explaining the relation between the organisation of financial participation and empowerment. The notion refers on the one hand to the origin of funds (the more directly the payment comes out of the pockets of individuals the hotter it feels), and on the other hand it reflects the feeling of ownership.With hot money users perceive their financial participation as direct and real payment for services. The perception of hot money is achieved best with direct cash payment for services. If there is transparency and awareness, indirect payment through membership fees in producer organisations and levies on products are also perceived as hot money.External funds (foreign aid, general tax money) are often perceived as cold. For instance, users perceive the funds of centralised public extension set-ups usually as fairly cold.Financing mechanisms can foster processes of warming up money, for instance when users are really involved in the governance of service delivery institutions that are financed by levies on produce. But financing mechanisms can also cool down money, for example when membership fees or direct contributions of users are mixed in a global budget, or when the service delivery institution has no functioning accountability mechanisms.In many cases only partial financial participation of clients is practical and desirable. A major part of the service cost is still financed from public sources (donor countries, international donors, national and local government budgets). In such a situation the financing mechanisms can be designed to promote empowerment as well, if the public fund share is not paid directly to the supplier of services, but transferred to the users who then pay the extension organisation with this money. Such mechanisms are called demand-side financing (because the public funds are channelled via the demand-side) or transfer-of-purchasing-power mechanisms (because funds to purchase services are transferred to clients who would otherwise not have sufficient purchasing power to use them).Public funds can also be channelled via the demand-side if funds from further private sources like processing or commodity export enterprises are involved. This strengthens the farmers position vis-à-vis those powerful players.Ownership empowers: extension services provided by producer organisationsIn the case of extension services belonging to producer organisations, the empowerment potential is particularly strong because member farmers are not only clients but the real owners of the service, and have maximum control over services and service providers. This remains the case also when a large share of donor or public funding is involved. Participatory and democratic functioning of producer organisations is a crucial factor for realising the empowerment potential of ownership of services. Control of the producer organisation and the extension service by a few influential and better-off members is a threat to such systems. Experience shows that such a governance drift is common.Foto Brigitta Stillhardt, CDE, Bern, SwitzerlandThis principle implies a) that funds from different sources of finance need to be combined, and b) that it needs to be determined which actors derive benefits from a service, directly and indirectly, and on this basis the financial contribution of each benefiting actor is negotiated. The outcome of such negotiation processes can only partly be based on technical considerations, and political considerations are likely to play a major role.There are diverse sources of funds which can be mobilised to finance extension. These sources coincide with the actors concerned with extension and can be grouped largely into private and public. It is necessary to combine different sources of funds and capture more of the available private sources. This has the advantages a) that the national and international public funds can concentrate on financing services to which a high degree of public interest is attached, and b) that free (i.e. publicly funded) services for private interests are avoided (provided that the system functions transparently and without corruption).It is important to recognise that a certain level of public funding for extension will always be necessary if public interests around extension are to be taken care of. Even in the highly commercialised agriculture of industrialised countries only a varying portion of the cost of extension are borne by farmers. In addition, the farmers of industrialised countries continue to enjoy comfortable subsidy levels of which poor farmers in developing countries cannot even dream.The table below gives an overview of the players which can act as sources of funds and different modes to collect the funds:In many cases not only the immediate client of an extension service benefits from it. Other, more indirect benefits may result:• consumers benefit if producers use pesticides correctly,• a whole community benefits if pastures are not overgrazed,• a micro-finance institution benefits if its clients make profit from the businesses for which they take loans,• a processing firm benefits if farmers deliver good quality produce,• a country benefits if farmers produce commodities for export,• the society of a whole country or even the international community benefits if more poor farmers earn a decent living,• and the international community benefits if biodiversity is preserved.Thus, often several stakeholders -from individuals, families and local communities to the national and global public -benefit to some extent from the same extension service. All those who benefit from a service should participate in financing it. Which player finances what share in a service must be negotiated. The basis for negotiation is the extent to which a player benefits from a service. It may also be negotiated at which level the public interest is located: whether it is (e.g.) at a local level or at the national or international level.Contributions to the cost of the service should then be made from the appropriate level. In some cases, for instance in services for natural resource management, local, national and international interests can be closely linked: here a contribution made up of funds from different sources would be required.Services which result directly in increased profits of farm households (with the exception of very poor households) are largely in the private interest of the concerned household. Among these would be e.g.• training in the production of commercial crops,• assistance in the elaboration of a business plan to obtain credit,• vaccination of livestock.Services which generate both, benefits in terms of profit for individual farm households and benefits for a broader public, are of mixed interest, e.g.• training and coaching in the production of commercial crops for very poor farm households,• promoting market integration of remote areas,• vaccination of livestock against highly contagious diseases,• economic and marketing innovations, and new forms of organisation etc.,• production increases for export crops which are taxed and thus contribute to fiscal resources of a country.Services which result mainly in benefits for a broader public (nationally or internationally) are e.g.• promotion of sound pesticide use (reducing water pollution, pesticide residues in crops),• facilitating conservation of biodiversity or forest resources,• production increases in staple crops for national or global food security.If the relevant level does not have the necessary funds, a solution consistent with the principle of empowerment enunciated above, would be for the external provider of funds to channel money to the demand-side, i.e. to the body representing the public at the respective level (e.g. community organisations, local government councils), rather than directly to a service provider) and for that body to then pay the service provider(s).The degree of financial participation of users. The share of cost to be paid by the clients must be determined in a transparent way, by negotiation, and should not be imposed arbitrarily. It should be based on the actual cost, the value which users attach to a service, the actual benefits, and the degree of public interest in that service.Financial participation of other stakeholders. If there are other stakeholders who benefit, they should contribute to financing the respective service in accordance with the level of benefit.Financial participation, demand-side financing, and different forms of private extension services all tend to encourage the provision of services that result in quick economic benefits to the clients and, in the case of private commercial firms, in higher profits to the service providers. Services with a longer-term perspective, for poor client segments and disadvantaged areas, and services that promote ecologically sound practices do not fall into this category. Therefore when introducing empowering financing mechanisms, the representatives of public interests must keep a watchful eye on the effects of the new financing mechanisms and pay special attention that their public interests are taken care of.It is sometimes questioned whether poor and vulnerable groups benefit from extension services at all. In general it can be said that they can benefit in many ways provided that the services offered take into account their particular needs and constraints. E.g. training women in vegetable growing has improved the nutritional status of many children in Bangladesh, training farm labourers in specific skills can help them to secure higher wages.The introduction of financial participation raises the complex issue of access to extension services of poor and vulnerable groups and in remote, low-potential areas. In societies and states which consider equitable opportunities and the reduction of regional imbalances a goal and thus a public interest, it is justified to finance a major part of the cost of extension for disadvantaged groups and regions with public funds. They should be preferably channelled via the demand-side.Financing extension in disadvantaged areas may require broad public funding, whereas in more dynamic regions the public funding can be targeted specifically to the disadvantaged groups. This requires that the poor and vulnerable groups are identified and strengthened in their capacity to formulate demands and negotiate the services they need.It is often said that poor people cannot pay for extension services. However, experience in different places shows that for services which are truly and obviously useful, poor and vulnerable people are willing and able to pay a certain amount in many cases. The empowering effect of financial participation is so great that it is worth to apply it also in case of poor and vulnerable groups.The arrangements and the degree of financial participation have to be adapted to the capacity of these client groups. Payment for services deferred until harvest time, payment in kind, or payment in instalments, or group services to spread costs are options which help to ensure that the cost of extension does not lead to increased vulnerability or deter disadvantaged people from using services. Within set-ups of producers or sub-sector organisations financial participation indexed according to the volume of produce or landholding size is an option to distribute cost in an equitable manner among producers of different economic size.On the other hand the designers of financing mechanisms have to be aware that financial participation may exclude certain poor people from access to extension services, and that financial participation for extension can compete with increased financial participation in other services like health and education. Specific measures to mitigate negative effects of financial participation on disadvantaged groups may need to be designed.Linking new financing mechanisms and poverty reduction requires redistribution of resources from better-off sub-sectors, regions and categories of producers to disadvantaged ones, not only within the agricultural sector but also from other sectors to the agricultural sector. Such redistribution can take place only with the support of a state concerned with equitable opportunities.The new financing mechanisms which favour services with quick economic benefits bring about the risk that the promoted practices are ecologically and economically not sustainable. There should be a local, national and international public interest that farming and natural resource management practices are sustainable in the long run, i.e. that they do not deplete the resource base. Therefore, when introducing new financing mechanisms, Foto B. Minder, Switzerland measures should be taken to counteract this tendency. This may happen through legislative means and their enforcement by impartial bodies, and by publicly funding services which promote sustainable practices, and increase knowledge and awareness about ecological problems.Paying farmers for actions contributing to ecological sustainability which benefit their local or the global community (environmental services) is a very effective means to support farmers in marginal areas, and to foster their self-esteem as providers of environmental services to the wider society. Such services may for instance be soil conservation measures on slopes to prevent silting of downhill water supply schemes, or giving up logging and hunting in a protected forest area to conserve biodiversity.Some important financing mechanisms and situations in which they are feasible are presented in the following. Note that in practice, often different financing mechanisms are to be combined 5 .This form of payment is suitable for services that are mainly in the private interest of the user. The service provider can be from the private sector or a public extension organisation. The users are very much in the role of clients. Direct payment for services, even if it covers only part of the actual cost, strongly fosters accountability of service providers to the users, since no user will pay for bad services.Individual advice may be too costly for individual producers, in particular if the payment is supposed to be a major part of the extensionists' income. Cost spreading mechanisms, e.g. group extension events or training courses, are a way to reduce cost for the individual and at the same time allow reasonable cost recovery.It is acceptable that the payment for services does cover only part of the actual cost when there is a certain degree of public interest in the service.Foto SDC However, if the service is purely in the private interest, then too low prices mean unfair competition with private sector service providers which are not publicly subsidised.Members of producer or sub-sector organisations pay an annual membership contribution. These funds are used to finance the operation of the organisation. Extension and advisory services may be included in their services to members. Financing through member contributions promotes real ownership, provided that the organisation functions in a democratic and transparent manner.The strength of extension arrangements of producer and sub-sector organisations is that they can really represent the interests of producers and other sub-sector players. However, they are bound to neglect public interests where they do not coincide with the interests of the members. Therefore, if such arrangements are funded partially with public funds, the representatives of the public interest have to pay attention that the extension set-up remains accountable to the public to a reasonable extent. This is achieved by attaching adequate conditions to funding.Financing through levies means that the cost for extension are deducted from the price which the farmers get for their produce.Levy financing is possible for any organisation or enterprise which markets or processes farm products, e.g. producer organisations, processing companies, contract farming arrangements etc. A pre-condition for such an arrangement is that all the produce passes through a bottleneck somewhere along the commodity chain where the levy can be collected.Levy systems are sometimes operated purposefully in an obscure manner, which makes producers feel exploited. A transparent levy system where farmers are well aware of what they pay is empowering. Well organised farmers have better chances to ensure fair levy arrangements than small scattered contract growers of a large agroindustrial company.The choice of the institution (a producer organisation, a private company or a para-statal body) responsible for managing the levy system can strongly influence the confidence of the producers in the setting and their perception about the quality of its functioning.Levies on produce are usually used to finance extension around the product for which they are collected. However, levies can be also redirected to less favoured sub-sectors and regions to finance extension activities there. For instance levied funds may be directed towards an agricultural development fund. In this way levies become a tool that allows redistribution of resources towards more equity.Export taxes, trade or road taxes collected by a public body can be earmarked for the financing of extension. Such a system needs to be transparent if producers are to appreciate that they in fact finance extension and have the right to have a voice. Of course, earmarked taxes can be used as a redistribution mechanism in the same way as levies.A government contracts extension organisations and mandates these to offer specified services to a specified clientele (this may be a specific area or a specific population segment). Such service mandates are usually concluded with private organisations -forprofit enterprises, NGOs, producer associations or community-based organisations. Service mandates are also possible between the public administration and independently operating public extension organisations, e.g. in decentralised settings. Service mandates allow the use of public funds for services in the public interest (e.g. the promotion of environmentally sustainable practices, poverty reducing activities) without maintaining a public delivery system. They also can promote more effectiveness and efficiency of public extension organisations.Service mandates are particularly suitable for services with a relatively high degree of public interest. For services with a high degree of private interest a financial contribution of the clients needs to be included. With service mandates, like with any contracts between public institutions and the private sector, the risk of corruption is a concern.Demand-side financing (channelling public extension funds via the users) fosters demand-orientation and effectiveness. It is appropriate in the case of services with a rather high degree of private interest in addition to the public interest involved, like for instance production or marketing advice for poor farmers. It has an empowering effect on the clients and ensures accountability of extensionists to producers. It has little distorting effects on market relations, and on financial relations between farmers and extensionists.There is no crowding out of potential private commercial suppliers, and the development of a market for extension services is promoted.Demand-side financing must include some financial participation and have a good control system in order to motivate for effective use of the funds and minimise corruption incentives.Certain issues have so far limited the use of demand-side financing:• As the funds must be distributed to a vast number of places, the administration and control of such systems is fairly complex. It is much easier to channel donor funds to one or two rural development NGOs and control their use, than to several dozen local level organisations.• Along with the purchasing power, other powers are also transferred to producers, and donors as well as governments may feel uncomfortable with the loss of control associated with demand-side financing.There are different mechanisms to put demand-side financing into practice.The most important ones are demand-side grants and voucher systems.Demand-side grants. Producers or their organisations conclude a contract with a source of public funds for the financing of specific services and activities. With the funds the producers then purchase the services of an extension organisation to get professional support. It is also possible that the extension organisation and the producers jointly elaborate a project and then apply for funding. Agricultural extension or development funds, for example, usually operate in this way.Voucher systems. Vouchers are another way to put the concept of demand-side financing into practice. The clients obtain vouchers from the public funding source which entitles them to specified extension services from an extension organisation. They pay with the voucher for the services obtained. After service delivery the extensionist submits the voucher to the government and gets paid. Often the admissible extension organisations are shortlisted or licensed.Empowering financing mechanisms can only unfold their potential if producers can articulate their service requirements and if extension service providers are able to offer services answering these requirements precisely. These capacities are in many places insufficient. Thus new empowering financing mechanisms must often be accompanied by substantial investments in capacity building among the producers, their organisations, the extensionists and the extension organisations, as well as the supervisory and regulatory government institutions.Well organised producers and rural communities are in a better position for negotiations with government and other relevant players. Rural development activities are facilitated if they can be implemented in partnership with capable local organisations, and with democratic local governing structures. This requires producer organisations with good organisational and management skills, which are able to gain access to useful information and knowledge.Foto HelvetasThus, governments and donors should invest in training and capacity building of producer organisations and support for local democratic processes.More generally, efforts are needed to improve the dialogue among actors. Such efforts are often underfunded, even though they are crucially important. They include e.g. strengthening of farmers' capacities to formulate demands vis-à-vis extension organisations, and to lobby for favourable policies and regulations vis-à-vis higher level decision makers.Mutual trust is a condition for successful collaboration between donors and producer organisations. If donor funds are channelled through institutions in which the producers have little trust, the trust in the donor agency is at stake. Therefore donors must choose an implementing agency for their programmes which is generally trusted by farmers.Innovative financing mechanisms can achieve their objectives only if there is a sufficient number of competent and self-confident extension service providers available. They must be able to understand the farmers' realities and requirements well, and have the competence to design and offer services that respond precisely to these requirements. With increasing market integration, also of small farmers, extensionists require more and more competencies beyond production technology, e.g. in marketing, organisational development, environmental issues, process facilitation and coaching. The diversity of contexts, services and organisational forms demands that the pluralism in extension service providers must be accompanied by pluralistic financing mechanisms. However, although the financing mechanisms operating in a location may be diverse, they should be compatible with each other, in order not to sabotage the functioning of some of them. Donors often finance functions and activities for limited time, after which the financial responsibility is handed over to government or other local institutions which are then often unable to carry on with the funding. This threatens the sustainability of the changes achieved by interventions.Donors should therefore fund functions:• which are needed only for a certain period of time. During an intervention many functions are carried out that help to change things, which do not need to be performed anymore once changes have been achieved.• whose longer-term financing from local sources is secured. Various experiences show that it is very unlikely that functions which have been introduced with subsidies continue to be performed once subsidies are stopped. Generally the respective activities just disappear.• which are intended to show new ways of doing things (pilot activities). In this case donors have to bear in mind the fact that their initiatives may not be adopted by the local decision makers.• in which there is a long-term interest on the side of the donor or the international public. In such cases long-term funding commitments from donors are necessary, and there is no point in insisting to hand over the financial responsibility to national and local actors.Functions which are to be funded from national or local public or private sources must be financed by the respective source as soon as they are beyond an experimental stage. Otherwise, it is likely that they will never be financed by these sources!Changes in systems require a higher level of financial resources during the transition period. For successful changes it is necessary to invest in slow transition processes which allow for an adaptation of approaches to local conditions. Building demand-driven, financially viable extension systems requires iterative learning and change processes. Also scaling-up of successful extension approaches needs the replication of learning processes rather than just replication of the set-up. These change processes need competent process coaching and methodological assistance. Once the transition is complete the level of funds required goes down to normal. Therefore, transition processes lend themselves for donor funding.Foto SDCInvesting in extension alone -even if optimally adapted to the needs of the clients -is not enough. Extension cannot be effective unless a set of frame conditions is in place:• international and national policies which impact on agriculture and land use systems must be adequate,• a research system which is able to facilitate the development of adapted innovations must operate,• producers must have access to means of production and markets,• adequate education opportunities for future agricultural professionals as well as producers are necessary.Where these frame conditions are not met, public investment to enhance them needs to complement investments in extension. In some situations, a sector-wide approach may be useful for guiding and co-ordinating donor and in-country public investment, not only for extension but for all relevant sector functions. Through a series of case studies and joint reflections, this 'Neuchâtel Initiative Group' is helping to bring a measure of convergence to thinking on the objectives, methods and means of support for agricultural extension policies."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fe3b226fcf5aa4c29b0e355ab0a34380","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f6800e1e-775a-4abc-8898-082626539b46/retrieve","id":"-284059278"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3800c5fc-6992-4dc6-9c44-b29d1436c876","content":"Swee/-Po/ato Variety Selee/ion in Garu/, West Java, indonesia Pipombi (WO 1 098) was chosen with eight flags because the size is uniform, il has smooth skin color, and it can be sold fresh. Farmer Eneek will be responsible for multiplying Ihis sweet pOlato as a souree of planting material.The importance of agroecological dornams can be found in earlier work on defining and delineating . recornrnendation dornains (RDs), whích is c10sely associated with the farrning systerns research of the late 1970s (Wotowiec, Poats, and Hildebrand 1986). Initial work on RDs concentrated on a few relatively easily identifiable factors (bíological variables), such as land and soil types, agro ecological zones, and erop types and rnanagernent (Harrington and Tripp 1985). The exercise on RD was híghly complex sinee the process was to identify farrning households, based on the sirnilarity in their practiees, rather than farrns. But the delineation of agroecological domains was rnueh less eumbersorne with rice because rice is very sensitive to changes in agroecological conditions and its adaptation is Iirnited, as compared lo sorne other crops such as maíze. Moreover, rice is the rnost important cereal crop in the regíon, so farrners have an in-depth knowledge ofrice-growing environrnents and varieties suitable to different agroecological dornains.The current endeavor on refining the definition of agroecological dornaíns for rice in parts ofNepal is the case of\"sharpening the focus\" fur better targeting of participatory plant breeding (PPB) work, including diversity deployrnent, eonservation of landraees in different dornains, and planning strategic erop rnanagement research. The methodology adopted is quite simple and can be replícated in other areas for wider use by the researchers and deve10pment workers. Field exercises for delineating agroecological domains have largely been influenced by the methodologies on RDs advocated by Collinson (1980), Franzel (1985), and Vaidya and Floyd (1997).Ihey emphasized the use of secondary sources of information, followed by preliminary surveys supplemented later by a formal survey lo refine the domains. However, later views on the subject hold lha! the refining process should take place only after researchers have a clear understanding of the variabílity inherent in the local farming systems (Cornick and Alberti 1985). The current study embodies the thoughts from both the methodologies for delineating domains and associated rice landraces/varieties.In the process of delineating agroecological domains, two group meetings were organized in the Kachorwa and Begnas eco-sítes. The first meeting was held with field-based staff; the second, with farmers from the project area. Ihis was followed by a transect walk by researchers and farmer representatives lo jointly validate farmers' statements. Ihe exercise took about two days, including field visits in each site.Sínce field-based staff are stationed in villages, it was expected !hat they would have a fairly good understanding of the agroecological domains and the farming systems of their respective eco-siles.Hence, the first level of group discussions was organized in field offices, with the field officer, technical assistants, and motivators part.icipating.Afier discussions, the participants were able to come up with four major agroecological domains, mainly defined on the basís of water regímes. They also broadly classified the soíl type and fertility status of soils from each domaín, based on scientific knowledge of soil classification and characterization. Participanls were also asked to estímate the size of each domain and place different landraces/varieties in their right domains. Estimating tbe relative size of each domain was straíghtforward because tbe pok:harilman occupied only a limited area within the eco-site. But placing each landrace/variety in its right domain proved more difficult. The team could place tbe majority of landraces/varieties in their domains, but the number of landraces/varielies per eco-síte was too large for them to rernember aH the names and tbeir right enviromnents. The process was also complicated by the fact lhal sorne of the landraces/varieties are grown in more than one domain.The whole process was reviewed by the participants, and once they were satisfied with the sleps and outputs, the field officer was asked lo facilitate tbe same process for tbe farmers' group discussion.A group discussion was held with farmers witb the specific objective of delineating agroecological domains. Fíeld officers/sile coordinators facilitated the discussion and tbe whole exercise was repeated witb farmers' groups. Both female and male farmers participated in the discussion and put forward tbeir opinions.Farmers identified four agroecological domains within the eco-site (ucha, samta/, nichaJkhalar, and pokharllman), based on the major criteria of moisture regime and fertility status/gradient (tables 1 and 2). They could easily identifY the relative size of each domain, but there were disagreements among about soil c1assification. Perhaps this reflected the variability of the soíl types and soil fertility slatus in each domain. Placing landraces/variety in the domains initiated a lively  debate among the members. However, they were able lO agree upon the major domains for each landrace/variety. They also reported that sorne oflhe landraceslvarieties were grown in more than one domain but Ihe cases were limited.In Kachorwa, of Ihe four domains identified by the farmers, two--ucha and pokharí/man-were extreme cases (dry land and rainfed; wet-Iand conditions, respectively). No modem varieties were grown in Ihese areas. Only landraces were found growing under such conditions, and the number of landraces (cultivars) was relatively small compared to other domains. Samtal and nícha represented better growing environments, wilh a grea!er number of landraces and modem varieties growing Ihere. Samtal represented Ihe major domain in terms of area. There was considerable area under uccha bu! no! much area was under nicha and pokahri. Severallandraces and modem varieties (MVs) were common lo both samtal and nicha. These two domains were more productive in terms of crop production as well.Similar results were found when Ihe exercise was repeated in Ihe Begnas eco-site under mid-hill conditions. However, Ihe domain delineation was less c1ear-cut Ihan ít was in Kachorwa because several of Ihe landraces and MV s were found in more than one dornain. Here again, landraceslvarieties were no! repeated in more than two dornains, and lha! in adjacent domains only. Jumping of domains by certain landraces/varieties was not observed in eilher of Ihe exercises. Allhough several ofthe landraces and MV s were found in two domains, Iheir performance was judged as best only in one domain. Based on Ihe information generated from Ihe discussion wilh farmers, it could be deduced that a landrace/variety fits best only in one domain. It exists in olher domains because Ihere ls no competitive variety to replace it.Having achieved a high degree of agreement between farmers and researchers in Ihe defmition of agroecological domains, it was decided to field-verif)' the definitions through a transect walk and to look for consistency in Ihe field implementation. A representative group offarmers made a transect walk of Ihe eco-site along wilh researchers. They identified domains and located landraces/varieties on different farms. The exercise helped in relating different agroecological domains and Iheir characteristics with Ihé landraceslvarieties being grown Ihere. Thus, Ihis exercise needs to be conducted when the rice crop ls mature or when Ihe crop is standing in Ihe field.Based on the analysis oflhe characteristics of different agroecological domains and Ihe distribution oflandraces/varieties within domains, an attempt lo develop a conceptual model of agroecological domains for rice was made (figure 1). In Ihe following subsections, Ihe characteristíc features of the domains have been explained. Nevertheless, Ihe model needs verification in a larger context and further refinement for wider applicability.Local farmers can provide very reliable inforrnation on Ihe agroecological domains for rice. Similarly, farmers can provide detailed features of each domain in terms of soíl type, drainage, fertility status, production potential, cropping patterns, and so on.The size of agroecological domains varies, with more extreme environments (domains) being relatively smaller as compared to more favorable ones. This follows normal distribution curve. How- Doma!n 4 ever, depending upon fue geographic location (high-potential production systems or marginal growing envíronrnents), the size of each domain will vary. For instance, in marginal environrnents for rice, fue extreme domain will be relatively larger as compared to ofuer domains; whereas, in favorable environrnents, the míddle domains will be relatively larger.Until fue distribution oflandráces/varieties across domains, the features of domains, and fue traits of cultivars are analyzed, one cannot appreciate fue complexity of farroers' strategies to manage plant genetic resourees to meet fueir multiple needs. From the analysis, it is apparent that one landrace/variety is best suited or most competitive in only one domain, though farroers might grow the same cultivar in more fuan one domain. This implies that fue cultivar competes wifu ofuer cultivars trom within the domain, and that there is less competition between cultivars across domains, except when fuere is an overlap of cultivars. Overlap signifies the presence of transitional zones between dornains, which explains fue presence of landraceslvarieties in two different but adjacent dornains. Within dornajns, fue area and number of households growing different landraceslvarieties is explained by rnarket forces, farrocrs' socioeconomic status, cultural factors, preferences for specific traits, and ofuer abiotic and biotjc factors.Alfuough landrsces/varieties rnay overlap in adjacent dornains, no case was registered where a landrsce/variety was found in more fuan two dornajns. This suggests fuat landraces/varietíes have very specific adaptatíons. In ofuer words, it reinforces fue idea that a cultivar is most cornpetítive in only one dornaín.Landraceslvanetíes falling wíthin the sarue domaín are more likely to be similar in their genetic cornposition as cornpared to landraces/varietíes frorn dissimilar dornains. The logic behind is that they have been put under similar managernent condítions have been selected over time fo! adaptation. However, this hypolhesis needs lo be proved from laboratory analysis of sorne of the saruples frorn each domaín. If it proves tme, then there ís a strong case, from a conservation point ofview, for disaggregating genetic materials across agroecologícal domains. Nevertheless, this process still holds true where diversity deployrnent is the prime objective of the project.The distribution oflandraces/vaneties in different domains is the result of farmers' experimentation with those landraces/vaneties over years. In other words, they are the \"best fit\" under farmers' rnanagement conditions. Therefore, researchers definítely need to know the characteristics of each dornain, as well as the specific traits of the landraces/vaneties in each domain and their distribution across dornains in order to make any intervention in the present system. The anaIysis of agroecological domains is worth the money and time invested in collecting and analyzing the information.Planning conservation strategies for landraces ldentifYing landraees that are grown in small areas by a limited number of farrners and devising ways and rneans of conserving them might seem to be a straightforward task for conserving endangered landraces. Sornetirnes, weighted diversity, as well, might be computed for facilitating Ihe decision-makíng process in choosing which landraces to focus on for conservation when there are numerous landraces falling in the endangered category. However, all these processes and steps consider the diversity oflandraces at the aggregatedllandscape (cornmuníty) level and thus ignore the influence of agroecological domains in deterrniníng the position oflandraees in different dornains.The need for micro-Ievel analysis emerges from the faet that landraces are conditioned over years by their continued growth and selection over time in specific dornains. As a result, Ihey have developed adaptive traits, wruch are uníque 10 landraces falling in that domain. Therefore, analysis of landrace diversity at the aggregated level fails 10 appreciate the position oflandraces in specifie dornains, which in faet might be harboring genes of irnportanl traits. Selecting landraces frorn an aggregated list rnight exclude, certaÍn strategically important landraces from conservation.PPB has been used as one rneans 10 conserve useful genes in landraces through crossing with modem vaneties. However, there could be number of landraces withín a domain that might require sorne forrn of conservation (through breeding and nonbreeding means). Understanding Ihe features of domains and the distribution oflandraces in them will facilitate decision rnakíng about selecting landraces for conservation. Failing to do this could result in selecting landraces with similar genetic traits for conservation (vía PPB) from jusI one or two domaÍns. This would lead lo the neglect of sorne and overrepresentation of olhers.Diversity deployrnenl in simple terrn means \"províding farmers wilh options of genetie materials 10 choose frorn.\" The introduction ofnew genetic material results in temporal disequilibrium because of competition between existing and new genetic material. The competition is for space in farmers' fields, for farm labor, for capital inputs, and so on. As time elapses, Ihe new entrant finds its rightful"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ed6a92c0a11b2d9b92fb39ba3e0e293d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e7703501-c582-4e66-8000-aeb21bb32650/retrieve","id":"-451994897"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"55f05e2f-c73d-4493-b134-0efa460c47b3","content":"El arroz es 1..n rubro prioritario en Panamá si se toma en cuenta que este cereal es el de más alto consumo por parte de la población tanto urbana como rural, situación que ha dado lugar a que ocupe el primer lugar en lo que a superficie ser-brada y volúmenes de producción se refiere, as! como en el monto de inversiones que se hacen para su cultivo, beneficio y comercialización dentro del sector agropecuario. El arroz representa la principal fuente de calorías (33% del total) y proteína (24%) en la dieta panameña Algunos de panamei\"a son los los aspectos que caracterizan a la producción arrocera siguientes (a) se siembran anualmente poco má' de 100 000 hectáreas, (b) más o menos en la mitac de la superficie sembraca se siguen métodos de cultivo mecanizado, pero de este tipo de explotaciones se obtiene más del 85% de ls producción nacional, (e) más del 90% de la superficie sembrada se ubica en el ecosistema de secano aunque las explotaciones bajo riego se han incrementado en los últimos años, (d) en la actualidad el pab es autosuficiente en arroz, pero debido a que los costos de producción son al tos, los precios pagados por el corsumidor también son altos en relación al precio internacional y se dificulta e <portar los excedentes, (e) los rendimientos unitarios e ni' el nacional son relativamente bajos, sin embargo, en las explotaciones más técnificadas se obtienen rendimientos altos, (f) las sequías que ocurren durante el desarrollo del cultivo, la incidencia de enfermedades y plagas, las malezas y los problemas de suelos son los limitantes tecnológicos que más limitan la producción, (g) factores económicos como la limitación del crédito, el alto costo de maquinaria y los insumes y distorsiones en la comercialización del grano también afectan la producción Hacer una amplia evaluación de las progenies avanzadas, producto del programa de selección, mediante parcelas de observación, ensayos de rendimiento y pruebas de laboratorio de calidad para identificar las mali promisorias Esta fase del proyecto se realiza en estaciones y campos experimentales que representan tres ecosistemas diferentes (riego, secano favorecido y secano menos favorecido) 3 Realizar pruebas regionales y de validaciones a nivel de fincas para hacer una evaluación más efectiva y amplia de los materiales gen~ticos que resulten sobresalientes en los ensayos de rendimiento y en las pruebas de calidad Esta fase del proyecto se realiza en muchas localidades en fincas de agricultores y con la participación de fitomejoradores, extensionistas y productores 4Poner a disposición de la Unidad de Semillas, la semilla \"gen~tica\" y \"básica\" de las nuevas variedades para que esta entidad tome a su En esta localidad se utilizaron dos campos uno ubicado en suelos inceptisolea de origen aluvial, de textura franca, buena retención de humedad, de reacción ligeramente ácida (pH 5 5) y de buena fertilidad, a excepción de un bajo contenido de fósforo El otro campo estuvo ubicado en un suelo ultisol de textura franco-arcillosa, buen drenaje, reacción extremadamente ácida (pH 4 5), alto contenido de aluminio y deficiente en fósforo En esta localidad la precipitación pluvial durante los meses de mayo a diciembre de 1985 fue de 2 308 mil!metros y las lluvias estuvieron bien distribuidas durante ese periodo (Cuadro 1)La incidencia de enfermedades fue alta, particularmente de piricularia (Pyricularia oryzae) El Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones Agropecuarias de Tocumen (CEIAT) está ubicado en la zona costera oriental de la provincia de Panamá y a 15 kilómetros al este de la Ciudad de Panamá, el suelo es de textura franco-arcillosa, con drenaje imperfecto, reacción ligeramente ácida (pH 5 8) y de mediana fert1lidad ya que el análisis qulmico muestra de mediano a bajo contenido de fósforo y materia orgánica La precipitación pluvial durante los meses de mayo a diciembre de 1985 fue de 1 511 mil1metros y las lluvias estuvieron bien distribuídas durante esos meses En esta localidad, a diferencia de otros años, fue relativamente baja la incidencia Metodologia utilizada en el establecimiento y manejo de los ensayos En el programa de selección se trabajó con poblaciones massles (F2), con familias F2 y con progenies segregantes (FJ-F6) La semilla de estos materiales se mezcló en partes iguales con semillas de las variedades Fanny y B-40 que son susceptibles a Piricularia Esto se hizo con el fin de obtener una presión alta y uniforme Las poblaciones F2 se sembraron en parcelas de JO surcos de 10 metros de longitud y 30 centimetros de separación, las familias F2 en parcelas de 1 surco de 10 metros de longitud y las progenies segregantes en parcelas de 1 ó 2 surcos de 5 metros Cada 20 surcos, se sembró un surco de una mezcla de variedades comerciales (CICA 8. CICA 7. CICA 4. CR 111J, TOC 5430, Metica 1 y Oryzica 1) con el fin de tener fuentes de inóculo de las diferentes razas de piricularia que atacan dichas variedades Este material se sembró además en los bordes exteriores de las parcelas experimentales y en las calles TambU!n se intercalaron surcos de las variedades CICA 4 (susceptible) y Oryzica 1 (tolerante) como testigos Los testigos se comportaron en la forma esperada y su reacción fué consistente a través del campo experimental. lo cual indica que la presión fue uniforme En el programa de evaluaciones de progenies avanzadas en parcelas de observación se utilizaron parcelas de 4 surcos de 5 metros de longitud y 30 centfmetros de separación. sin replicaciones, y en los ensayos de rendimiento se utilizó el diseño experimental de bloques completos al azar con tres repeticiones y unidades experimentales de 6 surcos de 5 metros de longitud y JO cent{rnctros de separación Entre parcela y parcela se sembraron dos surcos de la mezcla de variedades Las pruebas regionales consistieron de parcelas de 14 surcos de 7 50 metros de longitud y 30 centímetros de separación, con dos replicaciones La siembra, en todos los casos, se hizo manualmente con semilla seca y la fertilización se efectuó de acuerdo con el análisis químico del suelo de     ... .   . .    ----------------------~     "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"24072788a8cb23aa724d551d0fb36943","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/eedfd0f6-c8f9-4a1b-ad76-715b562a3425/retrieve","id":"-58291790"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5500c8ec-0871-4a07-809a-b1aa71c764c3","content":"CIP publications contribute important development information to the public arena. Readers are encouraged to quote or reproduce material from them in their own publications. As copyright holder CIP requests acknowledgement and a copy of the publication where the citation or material appears. Please send a copy to the Communications Department at the address below.Champion: Someone who sees value in an outcome trajectory and engages with decision-makers to strengthen it.A theory of change that describes, from the peer-reviewed literature, in a general sense, how the policy change process works.Initiative: Coherent sets of activities such as breeding, dissemination, policy engagement and technical support that may or may not be project-related.Outcome: A change in behavior (practices, relationships) or policies (that influence behavior) of individuals, groups, organizations or institutions.Outcome evidencing approach: An adaptation of outcome harvesting in which a case for a program is built and challenged as to whether it has contributed to one or more outcome trajectories.The pattern of interactions and causal links between actors, technologies and institutions that maintain and scale a coherent set of outcomes over time (e.g., the control of purple top disease).The generic theory of change which is made specific to the instance of policy change being studied.viiBackground and context. Since their inception in 2012, the CGIAR research programs (CRPs) on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) and Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) have been generating innovations, testing interventions, and providing science-based evidence and advice to policy and decision makers at local, national and supra-national levels with the expectation that this advice will contribute to policy changes that in turn helps create an enabling environment for agri-food systems innovations. In 2019, the two CRP leadership teams commissioned a systematic assessment to validate four significant policy outcomes to which they had contributed.This outcome relates to the development of a cassava seed certification system in Tanzania that has led to the passing into law of cassava seed standards for all seed qualities, from pre-basic to Quality Declared Seed (QDS). The development of the cassava seed certification system has been supported by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) with activities included under the RTB framework.Purpose and scope. The purpose of this case study is to generate evidence and lessons learned on the contributions of CGIAR to stimulate policy changes to create an enabling environment for agri-food systems innovation by pursuing four objectives:1. To determine and document how and in what ways CGIAR interventions contributed to the development of a cassava seed certification system in Tanzania; 2. To identify other major actions/factors that contributed to the cassava seed certification system trajectory;3. To generate findings to strengthen CGIAR contributions to the cassava seed certification system trajectory; 4. To contribute to a synthesis document that compares and contrasts the ways in which CGIAR actions have influenced policy in four cases.Methods for the review. This case study has been carried out as a CRP-commissioned independent evaluation using a version of outcome harvesting called outcome evidencing. Outcome harvesting is 'backward looking' that starts with an achieved outcome and works backwards to identify and understand the outcome trajectory that generated the outcome. Outcome trajectories are understood as the patterns of interactions between people, institutions and technology that contributed to produce the outcome, over time. This approach seeks to identify the contribution made by CGIAR and other stakeholder institutions to the outcome trajectory.This assessment is made by building a timeline of the outcome trajectory to help specify and test an existing theory -the Policy Window theory of change -that describes how policy changes may have happened. The timeline and theory of change are used to answer the evaluation questions agreed at the start of the evaluation, after first being validated in a virtual workshop by interviewees and other key stakeholders. The draft report then went through two rounds of review to check facts and inferences with stakeholders.The evaluation questions are:1. How can the Policy Window theory of change be made more specific to the Tanzania cassava seed certification system trajectory?2. What are the main outcomes resulting from the cassava seed certification system trajectory and how did CGIAR contribute to them?3. Has CGIAR contributed to integration/consideration of gender in the cassava seed certification system trajectory and, if so, how?4. Is the cassava seed certification system trajectory likely to be sustained and scaled over the long term?Findings relevant to Evaluation Question #1 Africa and are a threat to food and income security for more than 30 million farmers. 1 Dealing with the threat is a political priority because cassava is the most important subsistence and food security crop in Tanzania, providing protection against hunger when less drought-tolerant staple crops fail. It is also a burgeoning commercial crop with interest from processors and export demand from countries such as China.Finding 2: Research on CBSD and CMD has risen in response to serious outbreaks, highlighting the need for good phytosanitary practices combined with making disease-resistant and high-yielding varieties available.Between 2007-2009, three large initiatives worked on cassava seed systems in Tanzania, two supported by BMGF and one by the EU. From this work, and in particular from the Great Lakes Cassava Initiative (GLCI), it became well understood that good phytosanitary practices needed to be underpinned by locally-adapted, implemented and enforced regulations governing quality control. From 2013, TOSCI and TARI, with support from IITA and MEDA and funding from BMGF, developed a cassava seed certification and inspection protocol.Regulations to support the protocol were signed into law in 2017 as amendments to the 2003 Seed Act. As of 2020, quality declared seed (QDS) regulations covering all crops including cassava have been included and gazetted.Finding 3: While significant progress has been made providing farmers with certified disease-resistant cassava planting material, challenges remain. Currently, 30% of cassava production in Tanzania comes from certified clean seed. Increasing this percentage will require farmers to become more willing to pay for clean planting material, and for seed suppliers to make it available close to their farms to minimize transport costs. In the last eight years, the 5CP project has helped TARI release high-yielding disease-resistant varieties. TARI and TOSCI are working together with IITA and MEDA to develop and test a decentralized network of seed entrepreneurs to meet future needs.1 https://www.iita.org/news-item/project-brings-ray-hope-fight-cassava-viruses-africa/ based on Legg et al., (2006)   ix Finding 7: The support base for developing and implementing cassava seed certification has been strengthened in three ways.1. IITA/RTB and MEDA, with BMGF funding, have been pushing for a more market-led cassava value chain so farmers are motivated to purchase clean seed and can pay for it. The government has helped by signing a deal with China to export thousands of tonnes of cassava a year, while the private sector has helped by setting up a cassava plant in Lindi.2. The BEST Cassava project advocacy team has used the results of scaling work at District level to advocate 'bottom up' that more funds be sought from donors to support the cassava seed system.3. The MMB and BEST Cassava projects have set up and supported the Cassava Seed Growers' Association to help seed entrepreneurs to coordinate the testing of their fields by TOSCI and to help access credit, both of which make of a more enabling environment for the seed standard trajectory.Finding 8: The generic policy windows theory of change was made more specific and relevant by identifyingand describing what strategies contributed in practice to the model's three main outcomes -shifts in social norms, changes in capacity, and strengthened support base. The main structural change is to recognize that the three main outcomes are linked to each other and form a self-reinforcing loop that drives the outcome trajectory.Finding 9: The main outcome from the cassava seed standards trajectory has been establishment of laws requiring cassava seed standards applied to all seeds, from pre-basic to QDS. IITA/RTB has played a central role in creating, shaping and moving the trajectory forward, helped by strong and consistent working relationships with staff from TOSCI, TARI and MEDA, all of whom played a necessary role without which the trajectory would have been very different, and likely far less successful. The four organizations have formed a de facto coalition funded by the BMGF through a series of projects, beginning with the GLCI in 2009 and set to continue until 2024. IITA/RTB has contributed to the trajectory technically, for example by upgrading TOSCI's testing laboratory and training staff, and through keeping the coalition together.xFinding 10: IITA/RTB has not yet contributed to the integration of gender in the cassava seed certification trajectory. MEDA and IITA are planning a gender assessment of the Tanzania cassava seed system and gender targets are being set for new projects.Finding 11: It is likely that the cassava seed certification trajectory will be sustained and scaled over the long term because:• Of the importance of cassava in Tanzania and the political support this brings, in particular initiatives to stimulate demand for cassava;• Of shared understanding of the need for a seed system that provides clean planting material;• Of the strength of a coalition of researchers from TARI, TOSCI, IITA and MEDA that are pushing the trajectory forward;• Of sustained financial support to the coalition from BMGF that will continue for the next four years;• The necessary seed standards have been written into law;• Capacity to implement the seed standards has been built among TOSCI staff, seed inspectors and seed entrepreneurs; and• The seed entrepreneur business model has been piloted and is working for 400 individuals, supported by an association and SeedTracker to link demand to certified supply of clean seed.Future success will depend on continuing to simultaneously build the market for cassava, the availability of clean planting material and farmers' willingness to pay for it. Seed entrepreneurs need to be certified, for which a payment method is required that avoids seed entrepreneurs paying seed inspectors directly.The Policy Window theory of change has helped understand how IITA/RTB contributed to the seed certification system trajectory. IITA, and later IITA/RTB, has a long history of research on cassava in Tanzania and the region. This has helped frame and clarify the impact of CMD and CBSD and the solution of making available to farmers clean planting material of high-yielding and disease-resistant varieties. IITA/RTB has also contributed to capacity development and creating an enabling environment for a sustainable seed system to take root and flourish. Perhaps IITA/RTB's greatest contribution to the trajectory has been to build and sustain a coalition of key stakeholders beginning in the Great Lakes Cassava Initiative, with strong support from the BMGF, which is set to continue until at least 2024.One objective of the Tanzania seed certification system trajectory has been achieved with seed standards passed onto law. Good progress has also been made in creating a sustainable cassava seed system that meets the standards in building capacity to grow, test and certify clean planting material by seed entrepreneurs and seed inspectors, respectively. Progress has also been made in increasing the market for cassava.At the national level, the coalition helped generate ownership of the trajectory by key individuals from key institutions such that overt advocacy for establishing a cassava seed certification system was not necessary. IITA/RTB is leading an advocacy initiative for a greater market orientation in the cassava value chain that indirectly supports the use of the cassava seed standards.xi Conclusion 4: The scaling and sustainability of a market-led cassava value chain depends on farmers' motivation levels and being able to buy planting material that meets cassava seed standards. This depends on a number of factors that need to co-evolve including: increasing the market for cassava; training of, and a payment system for, inspectors; certified seed entrepreneurs aware of the standards and able to meet them;and, farmers sufficiently trusting in the seed system to use it. The co-evolution is happening and will be supported by a second phase of the BEST Cassava project -BASICS II.Since their inception in 2012, the CGIAR research programs (CRPs) on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) andAgriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) have been generating innovations, testing interventions, and providing science-based evidence and advice to policy and decision makers at local, national and supranational levels with the expectation that this advice will contribute to policy change that in turn helps create an enabling environment for agri-food systems innovation. The study was carried out between April and October 2020 and followed a series of steps shown in Figure 1.The people interviewed and who participated in a virtual validation workshop are listed in Appendix 2.Three methods were used to develop the outputs: document review, interviews, and a verification workshop.The people interviewed and who participated in the verification workshop are listed in Appendix 2. The theory of change of the seed certification trajectory is based on a 'formal' theory from the literature selected to be the best fit to participants' understanding of how change happened in the first case study carried out -on biofortification -and then applied to the other three. The theory is used to help focus the development of a timeline of key processes, activities and events that constitute the trajectory. The material the timeline draws upon is the rich, thick descriptions of aspects of the seed certification trajectory captured in interviews, and available documentation. The first evaluation question is how the theory of change is manifest in the historicaltimeline. The answer is used to make the formal theory of change, which is necessarily generic, specific to the seed certification trajectory. The specified theory of change is then checked with stakeholders in a virtual workshop before being used to help answer the remaining evaluation questions.The evaluation questions are:1. How can the chosen generic theory of change be made more specific to the cassava seed certification system trajectory?2. What are the main outcomes resulting from the cassava seed system certification trajectory and how did the CGIAR contribute to them?3. Has the CGIAR contributed to integration/consideration of gender in the cassava seed certification system trajectory and how?4. Is the seed certification trajectory likely to be sustained and scaled over the long term?The outcome claim that this case study explores is that IITA/RTB contributed significantly to the development of seed certification for cassava in Tanzania.The generic theory of change chosen is the Policy Windows theory that comes from Political Science, developed by Kingdon (1995). The model proposes that policy changes during windows of opportunity which help advocates successfully connect two or more components of the policy process. The components are: the way a problem is defined; the policy solution to the problem; and, the politics surrounding the issue (Stachowiak, 2013; Sabatier and Weible, 2007). Windows of opportunity are moments when progress can be made. They can be created by natural events such as pandemics, droughts or earthquakes, for example, the latter is an opportunity to change building regulations. They can be man-made events like spikes in air pollution that lead to changes in clean air regulations. They can also be changes in government, budget cycles or landmark meetings and summits held as part of on-going national, regional and global processes. Policy windows are often short in duration and may be predictable or unpredictable. Stachowiak (2013 p. 7) made a number of qualifying statements with respect to the theory of change:• Often there are many competing ideas on how to address problems. To receive serious consideration, policy solutions need to be seen as technically feasible and consistent with policy maker and public values;• The way a problem is defined makes a difference as to whether and where the problem is placed on the agenda. Problem definition also has a value or emotional component; values and beliefs guide decisions about which conditions are perceived as problems;• Advocates can attach their solution to an existing problem that has gained prominence on the agenda, even if that prominence is independent of their efforts;• To effectively recognize and take advantage of open policy windows, advocates must possess knowledge, time, relationships and good reputations;• Policy is translated into action plans and implemented.The main limitation to this evaluation is that COVID-19 has prevented any field visits or face to face interviews -all the interaction with key informants has been virtual. A second limitation is that the resources available to carry out the study have been relatively modest. Thirdly, given that this is a learning-focused evaluation, and the assumption that the change process is complex, the evaluation does not attempt to value contributions made. Systems theory suggests that when outcomes are driven by interactions of people, institutions and knowledge, one is dealing with a non-linear phenomenon for which it is not possible to know the exact worth of one entity's action compared to another. In 1998, the virulent form of CMD was found in Tanzania. In response, the Tanzanian government approved open quarantine to import CMD-resistant cuttings from Uganda.From 1936 to 2004, CBSD was restricted to low-altitude areas 7 along coastal East Africa and lakeshore districts of Malawi. From 2004 onwards, CBSD emerged further inland, in areas around Lake Victoria and then spread to many East and Central African countries, causing high yield losses.Given that cassava is largely grown for home consumption and provides farmers with some security against drought, the disease has become an important threat, in particular to subsistence farmers, in a number of countries including Tanzania. 8Finding 2: Research on CBSD and CMD has risen in response to serious outbreaks, highlighting the need for good phytosanitary practices together with making disease resistant and high yielding varieties available.Starting in 2007 to 2009, three large initiatives worked on cassava seed systems in Tanzania, two supported by BMGF and one by the EU. From this work, in particular from the Great Lakes Cassava Initiative (GLCI), it became well understood that good phytosanitary practices need to be underpinned by locally adapted, implemented and enforced regulations governing quality control. From 2013, TOSCI and TARI, with support from IITA and MEDA and funding from BMGF, developed a cassava seed certification and inspection protocol.Regulations to support the protocol were signed into law in 2017 as amendments to the 2003 Seed Act. As of 2020, quality declared seed (QDS) regulations covering all crops including cassava have been included and gazetted.In the 1990s and 2000s, the number of research papers on CBSD doubled and doubled again from 75 in 1990to more than 350 in 2010. 9 This reflects an exponential increase in research on the causes and nature of CBSD and other cassava diseases including CMD. This growth was motivated by the severity of outbreaks and the areas affected such that both diseases increasingly became seen as a major threat to food security, particularly for subsistence farmers. Cassava, because of its tolerance to drought, is planted as a famine reserve crop, particularly in Tanzania.The research established the importance of both breeding resistant varieties and phytosanitary health to prevent the spread of disease in infected cuttings and roots. It was the increasing realization of the importance of healthy cuttings and the need to control the movement of possibly-infected planting material that provided the main push for the development of a cassava seed certification system.Early progress towards standards was made in 1997 when IITA and the Ugandan National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) developed a quality management protocol (QMP) to make sure that cassava planting material distributed to farmers was disease free. This work was carried out as part of a USAID-funded ACDI-VOCA 10 project.The need to provide cassava farmers with clean planting material of disease resistant varieties continued. In Finding 3: While significant progress has been made providing farmers with certified disease-resistant cassava planting material, challenges remain. Currently, 30% of cassava production in Tanzania comes from certified clean seed. Increasing this percentage will require farmers to become more willing to pay for clean planting material, and for seed suppliers to make it available close to their farms to keep transport costs down. In the last eight years, the 5CP project has helped TARI release high-yielding disease-resistant varieties. TARI and TOSCI are working together with IITA and MEDA to develop and test a decentralized network of seed entrepreneurs to meet future need.Researchers from IITA and TARI working on GLCI began to increasingly advocate for clean seed systems for cassava leading to BMGF funding three projects to work on the topic after GLCI ended in 2012. 15 The first project was Cassava Varieties and Clean Seed to Combat CBSD and CMD (5CP) project that had two components responding to the need for both improved and disease-free planting material. The first component was to carry out a 5-country multi-locational trial with five CBSD-resistant varieties from each of the participating countries (Malawi, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda). With the help of the project, TARI has released six cassava varieties (TARICASS 1 to 6) as of December 2019.The second component of the project was to build a cassava clean seed system for Tanzania, including a seed inspection and certification protocol. One piece of learning incorporated from the GLCI project was that insisting on planting material being completely disease-free is an unrealistically high expectation. This learning means that when certification guidelines are developed, the starting point is an allowable level of disease of several percent rather than zero. Many countries still officially have zero tolerances in their laws for seed production. This demonstrates they are not using those laws, as if they were, virtually all of their farmers' fields would fail inspection making it impossible for seed to be sold.The second project, named the MMB project, was led by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA)to develop commercially sustainable cassava seed systems in Tanzania. This project complemented the second component of the 5CP project by carrying out pilot development of commercial approaches to selling cassava planting material. The social norm that the project was trying to change was that farmers expect to source cassava planting material for free or very cheaply from their own farm, from neighbors or for free from NGOs in the case of crop failure. Farmers are not used to paying for planting material which makes setting up commercial cassava seed enterprises challenging. MEDA implemented the project with TARI and IITA.The third project on community phytosanitation tested whether it was possible to replace all planting material in a village with clean resistant seed. Technically the experiment was a success, but the approach was expensive and proved to be logistically and socially difficult to implement. BMGF decided not to scale up the pilot.In 2013, Tanzanian Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), IITA and MEDA began engaging with the Tanzanian Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI) to require seed certification for cassava, potato and sweetpotato.The Tanzania Seed Act, passed in 2003, made provision for a National Seeds Committee to oversee the establishment of a seed certification and enforcement system for, ultimately, all seed sold commercially. As of 2013, the committee, which is convened by TOSCI, had passed regulations for the main commercially-grown crops such as maize and cotton, but not for vegetatively-propagated crops. TOSCI began organizing meetings to develop regulations in consultation with the key stakeholders including NGOs, commercial seed producers and farmers' representatives. TARI, IITA and MEDA supported the work. TOSCI convened a technical committee to draft a cassava clean seed inspection and certification protocol that was approved by the National Seeds Committee and published in January 2017. In the same month, seed regulations for cassava, sweetpotatoes and potatoes were gazetted. This included a description of how inspections and certification should happen, including fees to be charged by TOSCI inspectors.As of October 2020, 80 extension officers were gazetted by the Ministry of Agriculture and received their IDs to support seed inspection by TOSCI, 16 64 men and 16 women. A further 25 extension officers had been trained awaiting a second gazettement, of which 20 are men and 5 are women.The regulations covered pre-basic, basic, certified-1 and certified-2 seed, but not quality declared seed (QDS).The technical committee developed a QDS protocol to cover all crops including cassava which was gazetted in 2020. A change in Minister of Agriculture in 2018 meant that some parts of the approval process needed to be redone.QDS allows registered trained small-scale farmer or a group of small-scale farmers producing seed for their own use or for sale to the neighboring farmers within the District where the QDS is produced. 17 QDS is important as it provides the regulatory framework in which cassava seed entrepreneurs being supported by the BEST Cassava project will operate. The BEST Cassava project's objective is to establish to establish a market-led cassava seed system in Tanzania for smallholder farmers to have timely access to quality-assured, disease-resistant and higher yielding cassava seed varieties in right quantities at an affordable price. The project aims to set up more than 430 seed entrepreneurs by 2021 that will pay for inspections according to gazetted rates, to provide clean seed to more than 29,000 cassava farmers out of several million. 18 The seed entrepreneurs operate under QDS and purchase clean seed from certified producers.According to two respondents, an agreement signed with China to purchase thousands of tons of dried cassava in 2017 has led to an increased demand for clean, disease-resistant and high yielding planting material in anticipation of increased demand. A respondent estimates that about 1% of cassava production in Tanzania makes use of clean planting material. 19 Finding 5: The BEST Cassava project is advocating that District Councils use funds allocated to them to support the production, processing and commercialization of cassava. This has involved a project advocacy team training 'champions' at District level. Less emphasis may have been put on advocating for seed certification than warranted because of a prohibition on 'lobbying' for legislation placed by the donor BMGF on its grantees, and a lack of clarity on the difference between 'lobbying' and 'advocating.'The BEST Cassava project is currently working with a network of district champions to promote the production, processing and commercialization of cassava in Tanzania. 22 District Councils receive development funding from government which they decide how to spend. A cassava advocacy team, made of up representatives from the project implementing organizations -MEDA, TARI, TOSCI and IITA -meets with District Council members to advocate for greater support to strengthen the cassava value chain in their District. The team identifies 'champions,' often lead farmers, and train them on ways to make more money from cassava, including the use of clean planting material. The team pick individuals who are \"believers\" in the potential of a more market-led cassava value chain to help improve rural livelihoods and who will advocate for this among their peers and will also follow up on funding commitments made by their respective District Council. The cassava advocacy team has covered 78 cassava-growing districts in 11 regions. 23 Despite good progress made, one respondent reflected that the BMGF projects may not have given sufficient priority to champions and advocacy because of the donor's stipulation that its projects should not engage in 'lobbying.' 24 According to a BMGF document available on the Web: \"The funds or resources of BMGF must not be used to influence legislation (\"lobbing\"). Violation of this rule subjects the foundation to penalties, public disclosure and possible loss of charitable status.\" 25According to one respondent, the difference between lobbying and advocacy, which is allowed, is that the latter is not political. 26 Advocacy involves promoting technical and institutional solutions that are objectively beneficial which as a result are not likely to become party-political issues. 27 This can be somewhat of a grey area.Finding 6: Other capacity development carried out by IITA/RTB and MEDA has played a major part in progress along the seed certification trajectory. This includes building the capacity of TOSCI to diagnose cassava diseases both in the laboratory and by 60 seed inspectors in farmers' fields. It also includes training more than 400 seed entrepreneurs to produce and sell planting material to meet quality standards for basic, certified and quality declared seeds.The 5CP, MMB and BEST Cassava projects have all had a large capacity development component. The 5CPproject has trained TARI staff in clean basic seed production. The project also helped upgrade TOSCI's laboratory to test for CBSD and CMD and staff to carry out the procedures. This has been part of a broader IITA/RTB strategy to build the capacity of national seed certification and inspection institutes that have traditionally been chronically underfunded. 28 The MMB and BEST Cassava projects have trained and supported seed entrepreneurs and seed inspectors. Training provided to more than 400 seed entrepreneurs involved building their ability to maximize production of cassava stems through improved agronomic practices. The BEST Cassava project has also trained 60 seed inspectors in a course that IITA/RTB developed with TARI. This proved resource intensive because the course needed to cover other crops that seed inspectors inspect. 29EQ1.3 How does the 'strengthened support base' outcome manifest itself in the outcome trajectory?Finding 7: The support base for developing and implementing cassava seed certification has been strengthened in three ways. Firstly, IITA/RTB and MEDA, with BMGF funding, have been pushing for a more market-led cassava value chain so farmers are motivated to purchase clean seed and can pay for it. The government has helped by signing a deal with China to export thousands of tons of cassava a year, while the private sector has helped by setting up a cassava plant in Lindi. Secondly, the BEST Cassava project advocacy team has used the results of scaling work at District level to advocate 'bottom up' that more funds be sought from donors to support the cassava seed system. Thirdly, the MMB and BEST Cassava projects have set up and supported the Cassava Seed Growers' Association to help seed entrepreneurs to coordinate the testing of their fields by TOSCI and to help access credit, both of which make of a more enabling environment for the seed standard trajectory.As just discussed, the sustainable seed system, of which seed regulations are an integral part, depends on their being a market for cassava such that farmers can afford to pay for clean seed and in turn seed producers can pay for certification and inspections. Strengthened market-orientation of the cassava value chain was given a major boost in 2017 when the Tanzanian Government signed an agreement with the Chinese Government to sell thousands of tons of cassava a year. 30 In 2018, the Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Trade, Industries and Investment and the Ministry of Agriculture to form a special committee to identify and resolve impediments to farmers selling cassava to the Chinese market. 31 In 2019, the Prime Minister also inaugurated a high-quality cassava mill in the coastal region of Lindi with a capacity to produce more than 6000 tons of flour per year, representing a major private sector investment. 32 According to one respondent, this has led to greater demand for high yielding varieties and clean seed in anticipation of greater demand. 33 At national level, the BEST Cassava project advocacy team made key officials aware of progress in pilot Districts and the demand to expand the work to others. The team relate the broader work of TOSCI, TARI, MEDA and IITA to the National Agricultural Sector Development Strategy II 34 which stresses the importance of improved seed and stronger value chains among other priorities. The team made a case for the national government to provide letters of support for project proposals sent to country and multilateral donors, including BMGF and DfID. 35 In 2016, the MMB project, the precursor to the BEST Cassava project, began setting up and supporting the Cassava Seed Growers' Association operating in there agroecological zones under the Ministry of InternalAffairs. One objective of the Association is to help seed entrepreneurs to coordinate the testing of their fields by TOSCI to bring the cost per entrepreneur down to affordable levels. Seed entrepreneurs have been able to 29   The evaluator used the findings from the three questions above to adapt the generic policy window theory of change to be more specific about how cassava seed standards were developed and signed into law (Figure 4).The boxes contributing to the main outcomes are strategies carried out by a coalition of key stakeholders from IITA/RTB. TOSCI, TARI and MEDA who have been working on the seed standard trajectory since 2012. The exception is the box \"Government measures to expand the market for cassava, e.g., deal with China.\" e) The existence of a functioning and sustainable cassava seed system leads to higher cassava yields and the impact that this bringsThe evaluator found evidence to support the first four causal assumptions, at least by inference.The specified theory of change shows the strategies that contributed to achieving the main outcomes. Table 1 provides examples of the strategies used, drawn from the descriptions of the cassava seed certification system trajectory.Table 1:  Cassava seed standards results are shown in Table 2, together with the contribution made by IITA/RTB to achieving them. The main outcome has been the signing into law in 2017 of regulations governing cassava, sweetpotato and potato planting material as an amendment to the Seed Act. A second outcome has been another amendment made in 2020 laying out regulations for QDS for all crops, including cassava. Together, the standards are expected to provide the regulatory framework for a functioning and sustainable cassava seed system. The experience in Tanzania has been used by Rwanda to help pass similar amendments.Table 2 shows that IITA has substantially contributed to the cassava seed certification trajectory since 1997 when IITA worked with NARO in Uganda to develop a quality management protocol for cassava seed that was the precursor to the regulations signed into law in Tanzania in 2017. IITA/RTB staff have been part of a de facto cassava seed system program including researchers and leaders from TOSCI, TARI and MEDA. The coalition began as part of GLCI and added members when it was able to persuade BMGF to fund three projects to continue work on building a clean and sustainable cassava seed system in Tanzania. When the three projects ended in 2017, the seed system work continued under the BEST Cassava project, also funded by BMGF. The project is led by MEDA with IITA, TOSCI and TARI as partners, in other words, allowing the de facto coalition to continue to move the trajectory forward. The support to the coalition is set to continue in second phase called BASICS II which will see BEST joining forces with the Building an Economically Sustainable, Integrated Seed System for Cassava in Nigeria (BASICS) project led by IITA/RTB. The cassava standards outputs and outcomes (Table 1) have documents associated with them. The evaluator reviewed these documents to establish the extent to which gender and social inclusion has been integrated, in particular:• Cassava Seed Inspection and Certification Protocol• Seeds (Amendment) Regulations for cassava, sweetpotato and potato• 5-year Action Plan for Cassava Seed Certification• QDS regulations published in the Gazette of The United Republic of Tanzania.No mention of gender was found.MEDA carried out a gender assessment in 2018 to be aware of gender dynamics in the cassava seed system in Tanzania. MEDA and IITA are planning an up-to-date gender assessment for the second half of 2020, leveraging MEDA's Gender Specialist based at headquarters in the US and IITA's Gender Specialist based in Tanzania. Currently, 20% of the seed entrepreneurs that the BEST Cassava project is working with are women and the target for new projects is 50%. 40 One respondent reflected that previously gender researchers in RTB have tended to want to carry out strategic research on issues such as how social context shapes agency. This took them to levels of high abstraction fromwhich it has proved difficult to map back to answer practical questions that could help shape cassava seed certification policies and regulations. 41EQ 4: Is the cassava seed certification trajectory likely to be sustained and scale over the long term?Finding 11: It is likely that the cassava seed certification trajectory will be sustained and scaled over the long term because:• Of the importance of cassava in Tanzania and the political support this brings, in particular initiatives to stimulate demand for cassava;• Of a shared understanding of need for a seed system that provides clean planting material;• Of the strength of a coalition of researchers from TARI, TOSCI, IITA and MEDA that are pushing the trajectory forward;• Of sustained financial support to the coalition from BMGF that will continue for the next four years;• The necessary seed standards have been written into law;• Capacity to implement the seed standards has been built among TOSCI staff, seed inspectors and seed entrepreneurs;• The seed entrepreneur business model has been piloted and is working for 400 individuals, supported by an association and SeedTracker to link demand to certified supply of clean seed.Future success will depend on continuing to simultaneously build the market for cassava, the availability of clean planting material and farmers' willingness to pay for it. Seed entrepreneurs need to be certified, for which a payment method is required that avoids seed entrepreneurs paying seed inspectors directly. 40 Respondent 5 41 Respondent 16The Policy Window theory of change has helped understand how IITA/RTB contributed to the seed certification system trajectory. IITA, and later IITA/RTB, has a long history of research on cassava in Tanzania and the region. This has helped frame and clarify the impact of CMD and CBSD and the solution of making available to farmers clean planting material of high-yielding and disease-resistant varieties. IITA/RTB has also contributed to capacity development and creating an enabling environment for a sustainable seed system to take root and flourish. Perhaps IITA/RTB's greatest contribution to the trajectory has been to build and sustain a coalition of key stakeholders beginning in the Great Lakes Cassava Initiative, with strong support from the BMGF, which is set to continue until at least 2024.Conclusion 2: One objective of the Tanzania seed certification system trajectory has been achieved with seed standards passed onto law. Good progress has also been made in creating a sustainable cassava seed system that meets the standards in building capacity to grow, test and certify clean planting material by seed entrepreneurs and seed inspectors, respectively. Progress has also been made in increasing the market for cassava.At national level, the coalition helped generate ownership of the trajectory by key individuals from key institutions such that overt advocacy for establishing a cassava seed certification system was not necessary. IITA/RTB is leading an advocacy initiative for a greater market orientation in the cassava value chain that indirectly supports the use of the cassava seed standards.The scaling and sustainability of a market-led cassava value chain depends on farmers wanting to, and being able to buy planting material that meets cassava seed standards. This depends on a number of factors that need to co-evolve including: increasing the market for cassava; training of, and a payment system for, inspectors; certified seed entrepreneurs aware of the standards and able to meet them; and, farmers sufficiently trusting in the seed system to use it. The co-evolution is happening and will be supported by a second phase of the BEST Cassava project -BASICS II."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c1baed042caf6babf0ce9acad6a415c5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/32428d8a-39c5-4540-96de-695f1b25cad1/retrieve","id":"-1539555693"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c95da64f-5f8b-44a3-a625-b41c830216d8","content":"Recent research presented at a seminar in Paris co-organized by CCAFS, ISSC and FutureEarth produced five key policy messages for supporting women farmers in a changing climate: 1. New technologies and practices for climate change will be adapted more successfully when they are appropriate to women's resources and demands; 2. Extension and climate information services need to serve women and men; 3. Institutions need to take into account women's priorities and support their adaptive capacity; 4. Women's capacity as farmers and innovators needs to be recognized and supported; and 5. Climate policy processes should go beyond numerical representation of women to create mechanisms for their active participation to express opinions, take initiatives, and influence decisions.Gender-responsive climate policies and programs include: a) A gender component in the qualifying criteria for accessing international funding b) Design that is informed by needs assessments that distinguish women's and men's needs and priorities. c) Monitoring and assessment indicators of real change in gender and social inclusion.Climate change demands new approaches to agriculture: farmers' practices will need to change in order to adapt to and mitigate changing conditions. Gender is central to this change. Agriculture is a fundamental part of women's livelihoods globally, most markedly in least developed countries, where four-fifths of economically active women report agriculture as their primary economic activity (FAOSTAT, cited in Doss 2011). More women are moving into agriculture as men move out to seasonal or paid labour elsewhere. At the same time women farmers have less access to productive inputs and resources to improve returns from their farming activities and to meet the challenges of climate change (FAO, 2011).Policies, institutions and services to help farmers develop new approaches to deal with climate change will need to produce results for women farmers as well as men. This brief provides five policy lessons to support this process, based on evidence from research in low-income and middle-income countries, and offers guidelines for crafting gender-responsive climate policy at global and national levels.New technologies and agricultural practices can help farmers meet the challenges of climate change. However, women and men do not always have equal access to assets, time and resources -such as secure access to land, water, information, or finances -that enable them to take advantage of new technologies or practices. They may also have different priorities in preferences or use of new technologies.Women and men have different on-farm tasks and responsibilities. For example, in many countries, women manage household kitchen gardens and small livestock, while men take responsibility for commercial crops and large livestock. Farms run by female-headed households tend to have less labour available for farm work, as these households are typically smaller, and because women have unpaid household duties that take them away from incomegenerating productive activities (Ashby et al, 2012). Women, especially those from poor households, are more likely than men to face time constraints that affect their ability to participate in community-based climate adaptation initiatives or other practices that increase their labour burden (Behrman et al 2014). Climate-smart agricultural practices that require higher labour inputs in the first year may thus pose a barrier to implementation by women farmers, regardless of benefits later. Further research is needed on the benefits and disadvantages to women of climate smart agriculture. The impacts on women of men's outmigration for work in terms of shifts in power and decision-making as well as agricultural production also need to be investigated.Women and men have different resources available to them and different constraints on their time. They also may have different priorities. Agricultural interventions to help farmers adapt to climate change must be appropriate to these resources and demands. Dillon and Gill, 2014 In Mali, the introduction of irrigation allowed men to increase the value of their total production and marketed surplus by almost enough to offset the negative impacts of climatic shocks. Women, however, had much lower access to the irrigation technology and therefore did not benefit from its offsetting effect. Similarly, certain farm assets (such as motorized tillers) have positive effects on men's agricultural production, but limited access to these assets locks women out of this adaptation strategy. Other assets, such as ploughs, are more equally shared and their effect on production is similar across both men's and women's farm plots. There is a need to understand access to assets and how this affects the adoption and impacts of new technologies. Maria Montenegro, Cecilia Turin, Brent Swallow, Sandeep Mohapatra, Victor Mares and Roberto Quiroz In the High Andes of Peru, women traditionally keep livestock on communal and private lands, a practice which is an important ingredient of their livelihoods and economic autonomy. With changing markets and support from the government, the cultivation of an Andean root crop, maca, is increasing in the region and displacing grazing from both communal and private lands. The crop, which has a high export value, renders soils uncultivable for up to a decade. It also may contribute to CO2 emissions through burning of vegetation and cultivation of carbon rich soils. Maca processing displaces women's grazing lands and creates jobs that mainly benefit men and young people.Agricultural extension and climate information services are crucial for agricultural development and food security in a changing climate (Tall et al 2014). Weather forecasts over different timeframes coupled with a choice of new options for farm management can support farmers to adapt to climate change and to make efficient use of inputs.Women tend to have much lower access to formal agricultural extension services (Swanson, Farmer, and Bahal 1990;Ragasa 2012). In part this is because extension services sometimes do not consider women to be farmers, and fewer women attend community meetings organized by extension services, or visit demonstration plots (World Bank and IFPRI 2010). Women also tend to have lower access to radio, mobile phones and other media and access information in different ways than men.Multiple channels may be appropriate to reach women more effectively. They can involve improving women's access to radio, extension events, SMS and voice messages, as well as community groups, health clinics and schools (Tall et al, 2014;McKune et al, 2014). Women may also value and take responsibility for different aspects of agriculture from men, and therefore need different information.Recommendation: Both the channels of communication and the content of messages need to be adapted for different audiences. In some cases ministries other than agriculture may have a greater reach (for example, through campaigns that focus on health through nutrition). Thus cooperation among different ministries, such as agriculture, health and environment, will help to get messages across. Partnerships with civil society, universities and CBOs will also expand the reach and accessibility of information. Tall et al. 2014) Research in Kenya and Senegal showed that climate information services, which provide weather forecasts linked to advice about climate-smart agricultural practices, were less likely to target or involve women than men. Women in turn were less likely to receive and use the advice than men. Messages that are tailored to different audiences, as well as multiple channels of communication (such as radio, mobile phone messaging, community groups) are needed to reach different socioeconomic groups.A study in India found that agro-advisory information delivered via mobile phone messages contributed to reducing the information asymmetry between women and men in farming families. The same mobile phone messages were sent to women and men. The listening rate (i.e. the proportion of the messages listened to) was equivalent between women and men. Participating women reported that the messaging had increased their knowledge of climatesmart technologies, helped them make more efficient use of inputs and strengthened their participation in decision-making at the household level, because they were better informed and recognized as such by their male partners. In some circumstances simply making information available to women increases their ability to take part in household decision-making.Institutions involved in climate change adaptation and mitigation in rural areas need to address women's concerns as well as men's. These may include a range of activities related to achieving food security under climate change that go beyond a focus on agricultural productivity, for example income generation, savings and loans, and other support services that improve women's access to food. National and international organizations working in agricultural development and food security tend to focus on increasing agricultural production and improving natural resource management. There is less emphasis on strengthening communities' broader adaptive capacity to meet the challenges of climate change.Women's community-based organizations (CBOs) are effective providers of information and services to women. They can fill the gap between the services that formal organizations provide and the issues that women prioritize. While women's CBOs can help build the adaptive capacity of communities to deal with climate change, care should be taken that the demands on women's time are not increased and the original missions of the CBOs not completely usurped.Recommendation: Institutions supporting farmers to improve their food security under climate change need to address broader priorities beyond agriculture that are relevant to women's and men's concerns. A key function of these institutions is to build women's adaptive capacity.A study across West Africa, East Africa and South Asia found that men were more connected to external, formal institutions (such as national extension agencies), which largely focus on agricultural production. Women tended to focus more on food access activities and utilization. They also tended to be more connected to local institutions and CBOs, which provide an important support and safety net function.Climate change presents challenges to farmers that demand innovative responses. Given space and opportunity, women can be effective innovators capable of identifying and designing new technologies -and adapting existing ones -to meet their needs. But capacity to innovate alone is not enough: an enabling environment must support women's innovation processes, providing access to facilities, services and incentives.As climate change impacts intensify, there will also be growing rural markets for products and services that support climate resilience. It will be important to understand and recognize women's participation in value chains and ensure that the private sector integrates gender concerns into market access and climate change insurance initiatives.Recommendation: Women farmers need to be recognized as effective innovators with specific priorities, interests, and should be partners in identifying and designing appropriate and labour-saving tools. Providing mechanisms that support and legitimize women's innovations in response to climate change is likely to improve outcomes for sustainable livelihoods.Zewdy Gebremedhin, Una Murray,Decolius Kalumo,Ashenafi Tariku,Wellam Kamthunzi,Tony Murray,Rowland Chirwa,Rodah Zulu,Paul Wagstaff and Charles Spillane (www.3d4agdev.org) In Malawi, participatory sessions with 16 innovator groups of women farmers were used to design, develop and test improved, labour-saving agricultural tools. The tools were prioritised, conceptualised and designed by the women farmers. Through the 3D4AgDev program, prototype tools were then tested against existing tools in on-farm trials, resulting in new and improved prototypes. The sessions revealed the significant capacity of the women's groups to identify, prioritise, propose and design improved, labour-saving tools and agri-processing technologies.Himalaya: an illustration of reducing the gender gap in a subsistence agricultural economy in a marginalized environment.In the marginalized mountain environment of the Kumaon Himalaya, subsistence agriculture is the main form of livelihood, driving a large proportion of the male population to out-migrate in search of employment. As climate change has put agricultural systems under stress, women have increasingly taken responsibility for making decisions about land and water management, and have developed their own abilities to innovate and adapt. Women have reintroduced traditional water conservation practices and developed their own indigenous rainwater harvesting system. As women's innovative adaptation measures build their resilience to climate change, men increasingly recognize them as legitimate land managers.Women are active land managers and are affected by climate change policies related to agriculture, forestry including, e.g., policies on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+), and land management. They own land, manage their husband's land, and participate in family and community decisions about land management.And yet, women's voices are not always evident in decision-making and policy processes in agriculture, and when women are present they tend to form a minority both within leadership and in consultative processes. National policies and laws do not always translate well to the local level. Reasons for this include sociocultural norms, low visibility of women's work, discriminatory laws, limits on education and income, and caregiving responsibilities (UN Women, 2015). Increasing women's voices at all levels of policy is likely to lead to more equitable distribution of the benefits and costs of climate change policies and programmes, while improving their efficiency, efficacy and sustainability.Recommendation: Agricultural policy, law and decision-making processes at all levels -from community groups to international processes -will be more effective and relevant if they include both women and men in leadership roles, include their voices and implement processes to translate laws and policy into practice.Pham Thu Thuy, Mai Hoang Yen, Maria Brockhaus, Moira Moeliono, and Esther Mwangi Gender is important in REDD+ processes. In the case of Vietnam, the need to ensure gender equity is noted in the National REDD+ Strategy and the Forest Protection and Development Law. However, in the absence of clear detailed guidance on how to implement this at national and sub-national levels, it has been difficult to implement, with the result that benefit-sharing mechanisms and processes for free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), which were developed under the National REDD+ Program, do not integrate gender.According to interviews in Vietnam with 52 local and national government and international organizations that are important in decision-making in REDD+ processes at all levels, women have been invited to, and consulted on, REDD+ processes. However, the National REDD+ Steering Committee itself, which provides strategic guidance on REDD+ implementation, included only one woman within its 15 members in 2014. Policy-making processes have yet to provide the space for and encourage active participation by women to express opinions, take initiatives, and influence decisions.UNFCCC should also institutionalize 'he for she' mechanisms, to encourage men to actively promote women's voices.In turn, the international community can and should work with national governments to incorporate gender equality into policies and programmes. This can include exerting pressure via climate change funding conditions and incentives. Research on scaling-up gender-sensitive approaches is needed to inform translation of policy into programmes.Gender considerations should be incorporated into at least three key areas of climate change policies and programmes: Inclusion of gender dimensions as part of the qualifying criteria for accessing international funding channels (such as REDD+, Green Climate Fund, Clean Development Mechanism, Adaptation Fund and NAMAs). Organizations and countries applying for such funds should be asked to identify how programmes and interventions will affect women, and how they will ensure that interventions will benefit women as well as men. Needs assessments that explicitly distinguish between women's and men's priorities and opportunities should inform policy and programme design. This should be a prerequisite for any national policy and programme that is carried out under the auspices of UNFCCC-mediated processes. Incorporation of gender indicators into monitoring and assessment of programme implementation and impacts. These need to be indicators of real change -increased control of productive assets, participation in decision making, knowledge, awareness, empowerment, and improved economic status for women and men. Gender indicators need to go beyond measuring the representation of women in climate change processes -women need to be actively involved in defining and monitoring implementation and impacts. 1The Green Climate Fund drew on wide consultations to put forward a gender policy and action plan in March 2015. The Fund's gender policy argues that a gender-sensitive approach will achieve more effective and equitable outcomes, mitigate project risks, and reduce the gender gap in outcomes from climate change. Accredited entities to the Fund are obliged to undertake a socio-economic and gender assessment to determine how a proposed project (adaptation or mitigation) can respond to the needs of women and men, identify key drivers of change in gender dynamics, design and budget for gender-specific activities, identify gender-relevant outcomes, and monitor progress including institutional arrangements. Gender-sensitive capacity building and knowledge generation on gender and climate change are also key components of the Fund's gender policy."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"06bee875b13febc0d3b6f4b0abb78e94","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/Factsheet/MSP-Infosheet06.pdf","id":"-24412085"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"506453ad-6d0b-4a8a-bd95-fa5a11041da5","content":"Designing meaningful, inclusive spaces for transformative change How to: Design to include women Multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) aim to field and include a broad range of perspectives in decisionmaking processes on land and resources. But women and particularly Indigenous and local community women often lose out on meaningful representation in these platforms.This happens for several reasons, including: Social norms: Embedded social structures discourage or even prohibit women from speaking in groups, especially in front of men.Gender roles: Women are often over-burdened with household duties, childcare and resource collection, leaving little time for meetings.Restrictions on mobility: Women either cannot travel because of household demands or lack of resources, or men will not let them.Lack of access to technology: This prohibits online engagement.Low literacy and education levels: Lack of information and capacity keep women from engaging in the issues and undermine their confidence.Low confidence: Many women stay silent through fear, even though they have important knowledge and opinions (Evans et al., 2021).Designing meaningful, inclusive spaces for transformative change To boost women's participation in MSPs, there are a number of steps that organizers can take (see Evans et al., 2014 andEvans et al., 2021), such as:• Identify and invite women leaders who represent a constituency and are considered legitimate by other women in the landscape • Meet with these representatives to strategize about how the MSP can better serve their interests and needs • Invite a critical mass of women to form a constituency in the MSP • Provide separate spaces for that constituency to meet, discuss and identify collective needs, including capacity building needs to participate more effectively in the platform • Facilitate networking between the constituencies and other participants in the platform who can serve as strategic allies• Provide resources for women representatives to report back to their constituencies • Consider holding meetings closer to the residences of these actors, such as rotating the location to facilitate participation • Choose times for meeting that are suitable to women's schedules During meetings, the following measures may be helpful (Evans et al., 2021):• Provide childcare. Making provisions for childcare -in a culturally acceptable way -is one of the most effective ways to improve women's participation. Not only does childcare free up women to participate, but it also sends the message that their participation is important • Use experienced, gender-sensitive facilitators • Ensure dialogue is carefully mediated to allow women to speak and influence decisions Beyond explicit efforts to include women in MSP processes, broader measures such as capacity development can also help to build the foundations for women's effective participation (CIFOR and ONAMIAP, 2020;Ratner et al., 2022), but those capacities needed should be defined with the women themselves. Investing long-term in the development of women leaders can be particularly significant -even with just one or two dynamic women leaders, the environment can change.Working with men to encourage them to become allies is equally important (Evans et al., 2021).It's also crucial to monitor how well your attempts to promote gender inclusivity are working -see 'How are we doing?' (Sarmiento Barletti et al., 2020) for more ideas. Another useful tool is the Gender Avenger Tally app -it's an interactive way to monitor in real time how much speaking time women, men, and other groups get in meetings.A member of the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve MSP (Madre de Dios, Peru) prepares for the implementation of How are we doing? Photo by Pavel Martiarena/CIFOR"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5a796ae8cd386fb979ba952bae5c8f9b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9fc2e4c5-1cfb-4a2c-9245-91f5964b69e5/retrieve","id":"-908228505"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1878f2b3-8e74-4cef-b8bb-5cd0739819d7","content":"The Finance and Audit Committee is composed of four Trustees who are appointed by the Board. Its duty is to review and audit, from time to time, the accounts and financial condition as well as the management and operating systems and procedures of the Institute. It also reviews periodically the Institute's guidelines and procedures pertaining to human resources development, finance and budget, and other administrative matters, and exercises the powers and performs the duties delegated to it by the Board. For the Institute's audit and accounts, the Committee discharges its functions in consultation and coordination with the external auditors, the internal auditors, and appropriate consultants of the Institute.The Chairperson of the Finance and Audit Committee, who is customarily appointed by the Board at the time when the Board appoints members of the Committee, shall preside over all meetings of said Committee.In hidher absence or disability, the Vice Chairperson shall act as the Chairperson for that meeting.The Finance and Audit Committee shall meet at least once a year. Special meetings may be held upon call by its Chairman or upon request of at least one member.A vacancy in the Finance and Audit Committee is filled from among other members of the Board through election by the Board or election by the remaining members of the Finance and Audit Committee. Any person so elected by the Committee serves only until the next meeting of the Board.The Finance and Audit Committee is authorized to investigate any activity of the Institute within its terms of reference and all employees shall be directed to cooperate with any request made by the Committee. The Committee shall be empowered to retain persons having special competence as necessary to assist the Committee in hlfilling its responsibilities.IRRI registered a total revenue of $29.690m vis-a-vis $30.655m in the preceding year representing a drop of $0.965m (3%).Operating results before non-recurring items rose by about 134% from a deficit of $2.908m in 2002 to a surplus of $1.013m for the year under review. The net operating surplus after non-recurring items of USS2.264rn (2002:US$2.721m) was US$3.277m vis-a-vis a deficit of US$.187m in 2002.The major thrust of the Institute's financial management operations during the year was the objective of working towards a balanced budget by 2004. In pursuance of this, a budget restructuring exercise which included staff retrenchment was undertaken towards the end of 2002. The retrenchment exercise paid off as indicated by a reduction in total staff cost from $16.222m in previous year to $12.795m in 2003. This coupled with the fall in the value of US dollar against some of the major currencies has helped IRRI get closer to achieving the goal of a balanced budget by 2004. The Institute continues to make in roads into new areas of research in response to the demands by the rice producing developing countries. Such  JRRI's financial position continues to be strong. IRRI did not operate an overdraft with any of its bankers during the year. The current ratio as at 2003 December 31 is 3.5:l compared to 3.4:l in the preceding year. The working capital as days' of expenditure excluding depreciation was 404 days (2002: 291 days). The financial stability index which measures the number of days of expenditure of unrestricted net assets excluding investment in fixed assets stands at 523days (2002:397 days).All these indications are well above the CGIAR norms.The ratio of liabilities (current and long term) to unrestricted net assets is 1:3.Financial risks are part of a broader spectrum of risks that IRRI manages. The continued unpredictability of the level of grants available to IRRI is a key financial risk. IRRT has made every effort to replace lost traditional grants with new competitive grants through the Challenge Programs. A total of $1.692m in Challenge Program funding is expected to come to IRRI in 2004. This source of funding is becoming valuable to IRRI. The financing plan target of $31.0m set in the Medium Term Plan is expected to be achieved during 2004. Meanwhile, IRRI's unrestricted net assets level provides the Institute with the necessary flexibility to deal in the short run with any unexpected negative impact on our operations. The Board as part of its risk assessment management role will continue to monitor and manage these net assets for the maximum benefit of Institute's work.In general, the Board oversees the operations of the Institute in the interest of donors and stakeholders and in awareness of its responsibilities towards employees, communities and the environment in the countries in which we operate.I would like to express my sincere best wishes to h4rs. Angeline S. Kamba, Dr. Mike Gale, and Dr. Jian Song who left the Board during the year.The Institute benefited from their hard work and dedication. I would like to extend a warm welcome to Prof. Baowen Zhang, Dr. Ruth K. Oniang'o and Dr. Ronald L. Phillips who have been appointed to the Board of Trustees. I am certain that their vast experiences will be invaluable to the Institute.On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I would like to thank the management and staff for their dedication and perseverance in facing the challenges during the year under review. We would like also to record our appreciation to our donors and investors and C G M partners for their continued support and cooperation.The accompanying financial statements of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), are the responsibility of management and have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. IRRI management also claims responsibility for the substance and objectivity of the information contained therein.Our financial reporting practices follows the \"Accounting Policies and Reporting Practices Manual -Financial Guidelines Series No. 2\" of the CGIAR. IRRI maintains a system of internal control designed to provide reasonable assurance that assets are safeguarded and transactions are properly recorded and executed in accordance with management's authorization.A system of reporting within the Institute present the management with an accurate view of the operations, enabling us to discern risks to our assets or fluctuations in the economic environment of the Institute at an early stage and at the same time providing a reliable basis for the financial statements and management reports.The Board of Trustees exercises its responsibility for these financial statements through it's Finance and Audit Committee.The Committee meets regularly with management and representatives of the external auditors to review matters relating to financial reporting, internal controls, and auditing. The Board of Trustees International Rice Research InstituteWe have audited the accompanying statements of financial position of International Rice Research Institute (a nonstock, nonprofit organization) as of December 3 1,2003 and 2002, and the related statements of activities, changes in net assets and cash flows for the years then ended. These financial statements and the supplementary schedules referred to below are the responsibility of the Institute's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements and supplementary schedules based on our audits.We conducted our audits in accordance with International Standards on Auditing. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.As explained in Note 2 to the financial statements, the Institute's financial statements are prepared on the basis of accounting practices prescribed for international agricultural research centers under the auspices of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of International Rice Research Institute as of December 3 1, 2003 and 2002, and the results of its activities and its cash flows for the years then ended in conformity with the CGIAR guidelines.Our audits were made for the purpose of forming an opinion on the basic financial statements taken as a whole. The supplementary schedules of grant revenue, operating expenses and the calculation of indirect cost rates for the years ended December 3 1,2003 and 2002 and the supplementary schedules of temporarily restricted agenda and challenge program fundings, and property and equipment for the year ended December 3 1,2003 are presented for purposes of additional analysis and are not a required part of the basic financial statements. The information in such supplementary schedules has been subjected to the auditing procedures applied in the audit of the basic financial statements and, in our opinion, is fairly stated in all material respects in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole.A Member Practice of Ernst 8: Young Global April 2,2004SGV & Co is a member practice of Emst 6 Ywng Global l Rl l l l l l s 1 1 1 l l l l nl l l l l l l l l l l l l l l 1l l l l l l l l l l l l l l ul l l l l l l l l l l See accorrrparrvirrg Notes IO Firrarrcial Statenrerrts.International Rice Research Institute (the Institute) was established in I960 to undertake basic research on the rice plant and applied research on all phases of rice production, management, distribution and utilization with the objective of attaining nutritive and economic advantage and benefit for the people of Asia and other major rice-growing areas.The Institute was conferred the status of an international organization in the Philippines under Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1620.As a nonstock, nonprofit organization under Republic Act No. 2707 and an international organization under PD No. 1620, the Institute was granted, among other privileges and prerogatives, the following tax exemptions: a) exemption fiom the payment of gift, franchise, specific, percentage, real property, exchange, import, export, documentary stamp, value-added and all other taxes provided under existing laws or ordinances. This exemption extends to goods imported and owned by the Institute, leased or used by its staff; b) exemption from payment of gift tax: all gifts, contributions and donations to the Institute are considered allowable deductions for purposes of determining the income tax of the donor; and c) exemption from payment of income tax of non-Filipino citizens serving on the Institute's technical and scientific staff on salaries and stipends in United States (US) dollars received solely fiom, and by reason of, service rendered to the Institute.The Institute receives support from various donor agencies and entities primarily through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). CGIAR is a group of donors composed of governments of various nations and international organizations and foundations.On May 19, 1995, an international agreement that recognizes the status of the Institute as an international organization was signed. The said agreement allows the Institute to have a juridical status to more effectively pursue its international collaborative activities in rice research and training.The accompanying financial statements and supplementary schedules of the Institute were approved and authorized for issue by the Board of Trustees on April 2.2004.The accompanying financial statements, expressed in US dollars, are prepared on the basis of accounting practices prescribed for international agricultural research centers under the auspices of the CGIAR. These practices conform with International Financial Reporting Standards.In November 2003, the CGIAR revised the \"Accounting Policies and Procedures Manual -Financial Guidelines Series No. 2\" (the Guideline) to be used in preparing the financial statements beginning January 1 , 2004. The Institute opted for early adoption in 2003.Grants are recognized as revenue upon the substantial fulfillment of the conditions attached to them, regardless of the period when it is intended to be used, or when the donor has explicitly waived the conditions. Grants are classified according to the type of restrictions attached to them.Restricted grants and challenge program are grants received in support of specified projects or activities mutually agreed upon by the Institute and donors, and labeled as permanently or temporarily restricted. Revenue is recognized to the extent of expenses actually incurred. Excess of grants received over expenses, representing grants applicable to succeeding years, is shown as \"Accounts payabledonors\" account in the statements of financial position.Unrestricted grants are grants received which the Institute may freely use for its mandated activities.Grants in kind are recorded at the fair value of the assets received while cash grants are recorded at its US dollars equivalent.Cash and Cash Eauivalents Cash includes cash on hand and in banks. Cash equivalents are short-term, highly liquid investments that are both (a) readily convertible to known amounts of cash and (b) so near maturity date that they present insignificant risk of changes in value.Accounts receivable are carried at its gross amount less an allowance for any uncollectible amounts. Allowance for doubtful accounts is based on past experiences and on continuing review of receivable aging reports and other relevant factors.When accounts receivable-donor is deemed doubtful of collection, the Institute provides an allowance for doubtful accounts during the year in which they are deemed doubtful.Any receivables or portion of receivable adjudged to be uncollectible are written-off. The write-off of receivables is done after all efforts to collect have been exhausted.Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost, which includes the purchase price plus cost of freight, installation and handling charges, is determined using the moving-average method.Property and equipment acquired prior to 1991 are camed at cost or estimated value; acquisitions starting 1991 are stated at cost. Capital expenditures with a minimum cost of USS500 or its equivalent and with an estimated life beyond one year are capitalized. The cost of an item of property and equipment comprises its purchase price and all other incidental cost in bringing the assets to its worlung condition for its intended use. Depreciation of all assets which are owmed by the Institute is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the related assets: Depreciation is made in the month the asset was placed in operation and is continued until the asset has been fully depreciated or it was discontinued for use.Foreign currency denominated transactions are translated to US dollars for reporting purposes at standard bookkeeping rates which approximate the exchange rates prevailing at the dates of the transactions. Exchange differences arising from (a) the settlement of foreign currencydenominated monetary items at rates which are different from which they were originally booked; and (b) the translation of balances of foreign-currency denominated monetary items are credited or charged to operations during the year.The Institute maintains a noncontributory provident fund for the benefit of its nationally recruited staff. Monthly contribution to the fund is computed at 10.5% of an employee's monthly basic salary. The plan provides for lump-sum payment to qualified employees/members, upon their separation from the Institute, under certain conditions.Starting 2003, provision is recognized only when the Institute has (1) a present obligation (legal or constructive) as a result of a past event, (2) it is probable (i.e.. more likely than not) that an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits will be required to settle the obligation: and (3) a reliable estimate can be made of the amount of the obligation. Provisions are reviewed at each balance sheet date and adjusted to reflect the current best estimate.In prior years, provisions for contingencies were accrued when it is probable that a liability had been incurred at statement of financial position date and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Otherwise, the loss contingencies were disclosed.The pooling of direct and indirect costs is based on the principle of attribution and assignability. Expenditures are pooled to different resource user units (cost centers) by direct identification. Expenditures that are common to the different cost centers are allocated on the basis of resource drivers. Non-operating and non-recumng expenditures are excluded in the computation.Direct and indirect costs exclude capital expenditures, but include depreciation in the case of core projects. For restricted agenda projects, the indirect cost rates may include capital expenditures depending on the terms and conditions of the relevant agreements.The method of calculating the indirect cost recovery rate is prescribed in the CGIAR Financial Guidelines No. 5 .Post-year-end events that provide additional information about the Institute's situation at the statement of financial position date (adjusting events) are reflected in the financial statements, if any. Post-year-end events that are not adjusting events are disclosed in the notes when material.This account consists of: The total cost of Property and Equipment as of December 3 1 , 2003 and 2002 does not include the cost of assets in custody amounting to US$4,845 thousand and US$4,20 1 thousand, respectively.On September 7,2001, the Institute renewed its lease agreement for research facilities with the University of the Philippines System (University). The new lease agreement, which took effect on July 1 , 2000, is for a period of 25 years up to June 30,2025, and is renewable upon mutual agreement of the parties. Under the terms of the agreement, the following provisions apply:a. The Institute will pay a rental of one peso every year for the parcels of land used as sites for its laboratories, office and service buildings and housing. In addition and continuing the past practice of providing the equivalent in cash of the approximate value of agricultural products that otherwise could be grown on this land, the Institute provided a lump-sum, and non-reimbursable financial assistance to the University in the amount of US$375,000.b. For the duration of the lease, the Institute will also contribute to the cost of development and maintenance of the University road network, utilities, other infrastructure, health services, sanitary landfill management, security, etc. outside the leased land, in the amount of US$12,500 per year. Upon signing of the agreement, the first 10-year payment (US$125,000)was paid as a lump-sum, and the remainder will be paid in annual installments starting in the 1 1 th year of the lease.Pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Institute, all the physical plant, equipment and other assets belonging to the Institute shall become the property of the University when and if the Institute ceases its operation.In support of any expansion of the agricultural research program of the Institute and the University, the Philippine Government authorized the University to acquire, by negotiated sale or by expropriation, certain private agricultural property under PD No. 457.The Institute leases land and other properties from third parties for project experimental sites with periods ranging from one to five years.The Institute owns an administrative office in Makati City, Philippines.Depreciation expense amounted to US$l,976 thousand and USS2,127 thousand in 2003 and 2002, respectively.This account consists of: As of December 3 1,2003 and 2002, the long-term investments include USS3.5 million pertaining to callable principal protected notes (PPNs) with a foreign bank. These PPNs consist of zerocoupon bonds with 5-7 years duration combined with a call option investing on a particular equity index or set of indices. These bonds appreciate to 100% of par during the investment period ensuring return of the principal at maturity, and the option provides a share of any appreciation in the equity index.As of December 3 1,2002, the long-term investments also include a three-year commercial bond which pays a guaranteed interest of 7.5% per annum and will mature on January 7.2004. The principal is linked to the Euro Stoxx 50 index. The bond provided that if the index falls by less than 25% from the strike level on the day of purchase, the full amount of the principal will be recovered at maturity date. As of December 3 1,2002, the index had fallen by 50.70% and a provision for the decline in value of the principal amounting to USS1.522 thousand is recognized in 2002 statement of activities. As of December 3 1,2003, this account was included in the \"Cash and cash equivalents\" in the 2003 statement of financial position.This account consists of grants received in advance, which are applicable to succeeding years. This account consists of accumulated leave credits due to internationally and nationally recruited staff upon termination of services in addition to repatriation costs of internationally recruited staff and unclaimed wages of terminated staff.This account consists mainly of accrued project scientists' allowances and benefits, and training charges of research fellows and trainees, such as stipend, board and lodging and other direct expenses to be paid by the Institute. This account also includes funds provided by donors, which are managed by the Institute with ultimate beneficiaries other than CGIAR centers.12.This account consists of: The Institute has pending legal lawsuits and disputes. Management, however, believes that the ultimate outcome of these lawsuits and disputes will not materially affect the Institute's financial position and the results of its activities.The following accounts in the 2002 financial statements were reclassified to conform with the 2003 presentation:To Amount(US Dollars '000)Other assets Cash and cash equivalents 3,940Accounts payableothers World Bank "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"91c91bcfdb1b12ba83ef23ef7ab7b175","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/c4f605ba-8dac-4338-8bfb-6e779d2198d8/content","id":"-886903742"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"916d4203-99c5-4f22-8999-6c0834b1ebaa","content":"The DNA is the fundamental basis of genetic information, just as bits are for computers. Whenever computers are used to represent genetic data, the computational encoding must be efficient to allow the representation of processes driving the inheritance and variability. This is especially important across simulations in view of the increasing complexity and dimensions brought by genomics. This paper introduces a new binary representation of genetic information. Algorithms as bitwise operations that mimic the inheritance of a wide range of polymorphisms are also presented. Different kinds and mixtures of polymorphisms are discussed and exemplified. Proposed algorithms and data structures were implemented in C++ programming language and is available to end users in the R package \"isqg\" which is available at the R repository (CRAN). Supplementary data are available online.This analogy allows straightforward in silico representation of genetic polymorphisms by bits. On the other hand, a series of experiments have proved the value of synthetic DNA as an alternative for storage. However, any DNA-based storage system must own the capacity to retrieve the properties of the stored information (Erlich and Zielinski 2017). Computational representation of genetic data must also cater to depict the processes that drive the inheritance and genetic variability. This is especially important whenever computers are used for simulations.Simulations are invaluable to the genetic research, in which computer programs are used to abstract complex models and the replications of pseudo data incorporate an inherent stochasticity common to genetic mechanisms (Hoban et al. 2012). Even when numeric or analytical approaches cannot be accessed, the simulations can be employed for inference, prediction and evaluation of new methods (Peng et al. 2015). To do so, an efficient abstraction of computational representation of the genetic variability is required.Genetic information at sequence-level from various platforms is usually compressed by methods that are strongly linked to binary representation (Li et al. 2009). Methods for compressing genomic data into binary encoding are already being used by high-performance applications (Abecasis et al. 2002;Purcell et al. 2007). These representations, however, were designed with analytical purposes without taking account the DNA structure, i.e., the linkage phase between strands. It must be noted that simulations of meiosis, mutation and more recently, gene editing, are dependent on the strand base structure of the DNA.This paper introduces a new binary encoding of genome-level data that preserves the strand-based structure. Generalizations are provided to support a wide range of known polymorphisms. The algorithms to simulate the generation of variability are presented in terms of bitwise operations. The algorithms and data structures are available to users as an R package \"isqg\" which is available at the official R repository (CRAN).An oligonucleotide is a linear sequence of loci (l), each one indexed by a genome position (x), which may be associated with a physical or map coordinates. Thus, a binary representation of a DNA strands consists of a set of bits (l 1 ; l 2 ; . . . ; l i ) assigned to genome positions (x l1 ; x l2 ; . . . ; x li ). Each bit has only two states, while a collection of n bits expands to 2 n states. In this sense, a locus represented by a single bit is biallelic and may be seen as single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Therefore, a collection of bits associated with the same position may represent different kinds of polymorphisms.Homologous recombination over diploids is a universal mechanism in which sister chromatids pair with each other and undergo exchange of their contents. Considering two binary sets (a and b) as both DNA strands, the mosaic recombination (d) can be obtained by bitwise operations. To do this, another set (g) must be introduced, which works as a bit mask. This mask controls the flow of the content between both chromatids. It works as a logical conditional statement such as an if-else block and thus, allow the composition of the mosaic between both chromatids i.e., an 1 entry in g means the bit is taken from a, while a 0 implies it is taken from b. As a, b, d and g are binary sets, a single bitwise statement must be performed combining the operators AND (&), OR (j) and NOT ($), that is:(1)In the simplest case, with k biallelic loci, all 2 k masks are equally probable, i.e., the content in d is independently chosen between a and b with equal probabilities. To contemplate the linkage between loci close to each other, restrictions on the probabilities of the masks, conditionally on the coordinates, must be assigned e.g., through recombination models (Copennhaver et al. 2002, see references therein). Regardless the recombination model, given the positions where the events occur, binary operations allow building the corresponding mask. For each event, the locus with the smaller position, greater than or equal to the chiasma position, is found (upper bound). The index of this locus is used to right shift ()) a replete binary set, resulting in the bit mask for that event. A recursive chain of exclusive or (XOR/∧) assignments over those masks build the mask merging all events: Algorithm 1: Build bit masks for homologous recombination 1: procedure RECOMBINATIONMASK(chiasmata, map) 2: mask )zeros ; 3: if sizeðchiasmataÞ . 0 then 4: breaks)0 ; 5:for chiasma in chiasmata do 6: breaks)upperBoundðchiasma in mapÞ ; 7: event)ones ) breaks ; 8: mask)mask ∧ event ; 9:if getRandomðÞ ½0;1 . 0:5 then 10: mask) $ mask ; 11: return mask ; The independent assortment of chromosomes also contributes to the generation of variability. Equation 1 considers all loci belonging to the same linkage group. Therefore, when performing the segregation in each chromosome, the independence among them is ensured through a random process that flips the mask (g) beforehand, i.e., ones turn zeros and vice-versa, which is carried out by the NOT operator ($) (Lines 9-10 of Algorithm 1).The construction of bit masks is independent of any genetic content, using only the positions of the loci and chiasmata as inputs. This feature allows the individual to be stored only by its DNA strands. As gametes are requested, the masks are retrieved from the generator, common to all individuals. In this sense, any recombination models can be employed, and users are able to define their own model to support e.g., recombination hotspots (Figure 1).Species are often defined as a group of organisms in which any pair of individuals can produce fertile offspring. It can also define specie by identifying common DNA features such as the karyotype. In this sense, it is defined as \"specie\" the generator class of objects which holds the needed information to link different individuals that share the characteristics at the DNA level and can produce fertile offspring (Figure 1). The name given for this abstraction adhere to the biological definition and makes a straightforward relation between real and in silico information.In addition, as recombination depends only to the loci's positions, the linkage among a collection of bits assigned to the same position will never break, working as a single loci. This framework also supports a mixture of different types of polymorphism coexisting together, such as the one at the sequence-level or those with multiple alleles, which may unveil other understanding about the association of SNPs (biallelics) with complex quantitative traits driven by multi-allelic factors.Mutations and/or gene editing changing the state of locus i from parent to offspring can also be performed by binary operations. Given the index of the loci to be changed (edited or mutated), a right shift on an empty bitset results in a bit mask for this event. Then, an exclusive or (XOR/∧) operation between the mask and a DNA strand will toggle the bits where the event occurs. This procedure can be implemented analogously to Algorithm 1.Software are released under a public license (GPL-2); source codes and binary version of the software are available at the official public repository of R packages (CRAN): https://cran.r-project.org/package=isqg. The authors affirm that all data necessary for confirming the conclusions of the article are present within the article, figures, and tables. Supplemental material available at FigShare: https://doi.org/10.25387/g3.8162051.A detailed description of \"isqg\" can be found in its documentation. Below we present two case studies to highlight the \"isqg\" features. First, it is presented how users can define their own recombination process to be used over simulations. After, a more realistic quantitative genetic simulation is performed.Example 1 show a situation where after the package is loaded, the example data (ToyMap) is loaded and an specie is started. Then, two completely contrasting individuals are initialized and the F 1 , F 2 as well as recombinant inbred lines (double-haploids) are generated from the F 1 . Genotypic data from the simulated individuals are then retrieved as numeric or keeping the phase information.Example 1: Simple simulation of crosses and double-haploids with \"isqg\". library(isqg). data(ToyMap) . ## start specie given the map . spp ,-set_specie(ToyMap) . ## start some \"founders\" individuals from specie . AA ,spp$founder(code = \"AA\") . aa ,spp$founder(code = \"aa\") . ## making some crosses (cross, selfcross and dh) . ## are accessible by standalone function and R6 methods . F1 ,-cross(n = 1, AA, aa) # the hybrid . F2 ,-F1$selfcross(n = 1E3) # segregating population . RILs ,-F1$dh(n = 1E3) # inbreeds . ## retrieving the genotypic data . M ,genotype(RILs) # as numeric . N ,-F1$genotype(phase = TRUE) # as character (phased) By default, instances of the species are started giving as input the map with the genomic positions in Morgans (M) and the meiosis recombination is performed through a count location process (Karlin and Liberman 1978). However, other recombination models can be employed thus, users can extend \"isqg\" capabilities. To do so, when initializing species as in Example 1, a function implementing the recombination process must be provided. As an example the authors share as a supplemental material a couple of commented C++ implementations for recombination processes in which markers segregate independently regardless of their position in the map as well as where recombinations happen in hotspots.Having the extension code as a file e.g., \"Independent.cpp\", it can be seamlessly compiled and linked to R through the Rcpp package (Eddelbuettel and François 2011). Thus, users can simulated data according to any recombination model. Example 2 shows how users can check the behavior of the custom independent segregation in comparison with the standard count location process.Example 2: Including and using extension for custom user-defined recombination process. Quantitative Genetics Simulation Considering a breeding scenario where F 2:3 progenies are generated from two contrasting parents. One question that may arise is how different are the predictions of the breeding values when it is used the realized genomic kinship (matrix G), taking account the Mendelian samplig, or the resemblance between individuals (matrix A) i.e., the coefficient of identity by descent. To do so, a specie is initialized with a genetic map having fives chromosomes each one with 1000 equally spaced biallelic loci and a quantitative trait is defined with zero mean and additive effect of one for all loci. From this settings, two contrasting individuals and the F 1 are also initialized (Example 3).Example 3: Initializing structures and data for a simulation with \"isqg\". ## generating map: 5 chromosomes and 1000 \"genes\" per chromosome . map ,expand.grid(chr = 1:5, pos = seq(0, 2, length.out = 1000)). map$snp ,-paste0(\"s\", 1:(5 Ã 1000)). ## initializing \"specie\" and \"infinitesimal\" quantitative trait . spp ,-set_specie(map) . trait ,-set_infty(spp, m = 0, a = 1, d = 0) . ## initializing two contrasting parents and the F1 . P1 ,spp$founder(code = \"AA\") . P2 ,-P$mirror() . F1 ,cross(n = 1, P1, P2) After that, one may define an R function to simulated the above mentioned breeding scenario: i. generating inbreeding generations i.e., F 2 population with N individuals as well as F 2:3 progenies with P individuals each;ii. getting the true breeding values regarding the defined quantitative trait and simulating phenotypes adding random deviates accoring to the a desired heritability (h 2 ); iii. genotyping the individuals and obtaining the realized kinship matrix; iv. fitting the mixed models with both kinds of information (realized kinship and identity by descent); and v. collecting and delivering the estimated additive and residual variances."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"961f2f86ac6e833bc9b659dca102be17","source":"gardian_index","url":"http://ciat-library.ciat.cgiar.org/Articulos_Ciat/Digital/S589.7_I5_C3_International_Workshop_Integrated_Conceptual_framework.pdf","id":"222602156"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d92c3710-560b-4f3c-9809-e736846b3d68","content":"20 hs • Management goal(s) (20 min.) 13:20-13:50 hs • Range of management objective. (30 min.) 13:50-/4:30 hs • Indicator. lo as.ess progre.s towards objective. (40 min.) 14:30-15:/0 hs • Range of managemenl action. for consideration (40 min.) • Idenlification of actions a1ready being takenlconsidered by CIA T' s research 15: 10-15: 30 hs Coffee break (20 minutes) 15:30-15:45 hs • Time horiron and re.olulion (15 min.) 15:45-/6:00 hs • Spatial extenl and disaggregation (15 min.) 16:00-16:30 hs • System variables required 10 generate!he indicators (30 min.) 16:30 lis Rnd oC worksbop Workshop ParticipantsThis workshop, held on March 3 1997, was!he firsl of a series of workshops planned for !he ClA T-University of Guelph Project. These workshops will extend over!he \"ex! 2 years. In addition 10 !hem providing an integral par! of!he developmenl of our !heories and hypo!heses, !hey present us with !he opportunity lO involve local stakeholders in the research process. The sueces, of!he Project depends in large par! on !he genuine inclusion of!he multiple perspectives ofthose living in !he agroecosystem in which we are applying !he framework. This first internal elA T workshop served Ihree main funetion,:(i)We presented !he eoncepts and research approach of!he Project 10 o!her elA T scientists, discussed our currenl and proposed research aclívilíes and invited !heir comments and recommendalions.(ii) Since the Project is attempting to develop an integrated conceptual framework, we wished to evaluate how other elA T projects in !he region may help in !hat process, and where for example !heir data and o!her research activities may potentially feed into and strengthen our framework.(iii) In accordance wi!h the logical sequence of!he Project's research process, we conducted a short brainstonning session during which the ClA T scientists identified what !hey perceived to be !he key problems and issues facing !he region and !he appropriate management goals and cortesponding indicators. This provided a broader context in whích to situate ongoing projects as weH as making explícit sorne of!he basíc assumptions !hat are driving ClA T's research agenda.Since !he time of the workshop, ClA T has choseo to concentrate its efforts in !he Ucayalí regían, íncrease project collaboration and malee the region a benchmark síte which can poteotially províde important insights applicable to other forest margins areas in !he tropícs. The elA T -University of Guelph Project, wi!h its holistic and íntegrated approach, hopes to contribute to !his end. The au!hors contributing to this report ¡nelude; Gílberto Gallopfn, Tamsyn Murray, Ernesto Raez-Luna, and David Walmer-Toews.Presentation of (be CIAT -aDiversity of Guelpb Projed: DnelDpm,nt dIUl Application 01 GIl lntegrated Com:epllUll FlTIIfUfWorl: for Tropictll Agroeeos,sum R,searchBased on Complex SysUms TMorles GiIberW C. Gallopín, Land Managemeut, CIA T Thank you for your participation in !he First Inlemal WOIbhop of the ClA TIUG project The purpose of !his worlcshop ís to build up, by using our collective Imowledge and díverse víewpoínts, a firstapproximation conceptllalizatioo of the problematic of the Puca!lpa area in !he Peruvían Amazon, and 10 identify major gaps in understanding and additional expertise needed, Thís area has been selected as !he fírst c~study of!he project The currenl worlcshop will draw mainly upon lhe ínsights coming from CIA T's scientists. A second workshop will be held al Pucallpa, lo insure we include !he concems and Imowledge of Ihe social and institutional aclors directly involved wi!h !he development of the whole agroecosystem. Later this year, the First Intemational Workshop of!he projeet will be held at CIA T, wi!h !he participation of CIA Ts scientists, representatives from !he Pucallpa stakeholders, external experts for Ieey areas not yet covered, and researchers on complex systems !heories. It is expected !hat !he product of tilat workshop will be a reasonably adequate conceptual model of!he PucaIlpa agroecosystem as a complex system, plus critica! insights ínlO the basic dynamica! processes, in addition 10 a set of resean:h priorities.Hisrory of the CIA TIUG projedThe origins ofthe project can be traced 10 June 1994, when Dr. Davíd Walmer-Toews and myseJfmet in a Worlcshop 00 Agroecosystem HeaI!h held in Ottawa, We quickly discovered we had common interests, particularly abou! looking for new ways of addressing agroecosystem sustaíoability and heal!h. David was at Ihat time startiog a Canadian-wide projeet 00 Agroecosystem Heal!h, and we realized Ibat potentiaI for cooperation was hígh. The similarities and differences between temperate and tropical agroecosystems have beeo discussed at Iha! wOlbhop, and we perceived Ihe importance of including tropical agroecosystems in Ihe anaIysis. 00 !he olher hand, 1 had been involved in efforts lo put together an intemational group of scientists working on differenl aspects oC complex systems and sharing a common interest lo explore Ihe implications of complex systems theories for practica! poliey-and decision-making for sustaínable development. David was a member of this informal group.While we mel in differenl <XX:aSions for worlcshops and discussions, the first opportunity for serious cooperation arose when we leamed about Ihe new CGlAR.cANADA Unkage Fund (CCLFl sel up by _CIDA. We made a proposa! for!he fund in 1996, and il was approved in !he sarne year.Project support and execution:Supported by the CIDA CGlAR-CANADA Linkage Fund and executed by CIA T and Ihe University of Guelph Project Team:Overall coordination: Dr. Gilberto c. The problematic social, economic, environmental and productive issues faeing agriculture and agricultural communities are part of a complex sel of aetivilies involving fanners, fann organizations, rural communities, and nalional, regional and inlernational governments and inslitutíons.Environmental, social, and economic impaels have repercussions nol only for individual fanners where !hey live, bul for a!l aclors at al! hierarchieal levels in lhe agroecosystem.Constrainls and opportunities occur al eaeh level in !his hierarchy; e.g., the nature and variety of markets, soillypes and erosiono social ,truetures and nalional polides.Among many researchers and development experts tbere ís an increasing sense of un-ease witb tradítíonal scctoral and dísciplinary approaches, and a consensus Ihat il is importan! lO take a broad view when tryíng lO solve agricullural problems.It is increasingly obvious lhal Ihe quest for sustainable agricultura! development requires: To develop a conceptual framework for Ihe holislic understanding of agroecosystems as hierarchical systems. using Ihe new ideas heing derived from Complex Systems Iheories.  Based on the research fíndings, to develop teaching material s on complex systerns approaches lO the sludyand sustainable care of agroecosystems. We expect Ihat these materials will be used in Lalin America, Canada and elsewhere.To train young scientists in Ihe application of coneepts and methodologies derived from cornplex syslems theories 10 the study and evaluation of agroecosystems.The rapidly developing field of complex systems Iheories is helpíng províde new ínsights on the properties and hehavior of systems Ihat are characterized by a hígh degree of complexity. a complexíty thal is characteristic of any socío-ecological system such a, COMPLEX ADAPTIVE. The system ia able to changa its \"behavlor\" (changing the values 01 its variables) and \"physiology\" (moving between domaios 01 attraction) to survive in a changiog anvironment COMPLEX SELF•RENEWABLE. The system is able to cope with drastic changa and structural collapae by regenerating itseff with the same strueture.COMPLEX EVOLUTIONARV. The system is capable 01 ehanging its own stfUeture leading to improvements in the system's pertormance in a changing envirooment Structural changas may be progresslve or punctuated; extemally or intemally driven.COMPLEX SELF•AWARE. The system la able to observe itseff and its own evolution thereby opening new repertoirea 01 responses and conncctions. Among these are empathy , imagination and perspective 01 the other; and the ability to modulate responses exploring new situations and alternativa visions without 105$ of idenlity.Box 1 One common characteristic of complex 8ystems ís that they have more Ihan one stable stale or conditlon to whích the system will tend 10 go. If a system has only one 8table state it ís called globally stable; in !hat case, ir!hc system is moved away !rom !hc stablc state, il will tend 10 retum lo il, no mattcr bow far away or in wbat dírection il bas been displaced. This means Ibat aH perturbations are reversible; Ibe only concern is how long will !he system take 10 go back lO its equilibrium. Only simple systems ean be globally stable.If a system has more !han one stable state (or sel of ,tates) !hen it is no longer guaranteed !hat it will come back to !he original stable state if displaced away from il; il might go to another stable state, depending nol only 00 the síze of!he perturbation but more importantly on how near!he system state is to the boundary separating !he \"basin of attractíon\" of each stable state. This can be íllustrated graplúcally for the ease of a systcm whose state is defined by the values of only IWO variables, x and y. A ,tale of!he system at a given point in time is completely defined by a poin! in !he Iwo-dimensíonal space (x,y). Choice oC Pucallpa/Ucayali as case-study A yxThe Ucayali region of!he Peruvian Amazon has been chosen as !he tirst case-study for !he development and testing of!he conceplual framework beeause of the following reasons:l. The case is certainly complex enough to require an integrated framework. The process of development in Ucayali involves economic, social, ecological, agricultura!, and technologieal dimensions.2. A number of projeets are already going on. This ineludes CIAT's projects as well as projects developed . by other intemational, nalional, and local institutions. The project will benetit from the infonnalion and data gathered by those other projects; conversely, Ihe project eould help !he integrations of those activities.Rcsearch in lhe region is in an active state; new research and development activítíes are beíng planned. This means !ha! some of!he critical research questions ídentified by the project mighl be answered through those activities. The projecl may a1so help to set research priorities for the area.The goal of!he project is to develop an integrated conceptual framework including !he major factors and dimensions detennining !he behavior of !he agroecosystem (including both human and non-human clemenls). Sorne of !hese factors (such as land erosion, agricullural yields, population grow!h) are amenable lO quanlification, but o!her factors of no lesser importance, cannot be quantified (or are trivíaJized if quantification ís forced on them). Tltís íneludes many cultural, socíal and political factors. Moreover, the laws or rules gíving rise to many of those factors are unknown. Still, insofar as these factors are considered important in detenuiníng the behavíor of the system, they mus! be ineluded in the conceptual frameworlc.For the subsels of factors that can be quantified, the use of simulation models may be very effeclive in developing underslanding and exploring altemative hypothesis. In a very basic sense, a simulation model is an articulated sel of hypolhesis under Ihe fonu of variables and relations between variables, usually unfolding in time. The project is developíng a dynamic mathematical simulation model of land use in the Pucallpa area, which is still at the exploratury stage. A f10w diagram of Ihe first cut modells shown ín Figure 2. Despile its prelíminary nalure, the process of building Ihe model has already helped 10 idenlify crilical gaps in knowledge, gaps thal musí be filled ín oroer 10 anlÍcípate Ihe future trajeclories of land use in Ihe region.TIte model is run in the M environment, a modeling and visual interface developed by the National lnstitute of Public Health and Environmental ProleclÍon (RNM) of the Netherlands. M is available freely lO elATas a consequence of prevíou, cooperation agreernents, and it runs under Unix and under Windows 95 and NT. A sample output of Ihe model appears in Figure 3.The Pucallpa case study is also linked lO 3D intematíonal research project called the Resilience Network, a joint innovalÍve research project by the Beijer Intematíonal Institute for Ecologícal Econonllcs and Ihe University of Florida, through my participation as a member of the Networlc. TIte Pucallpa case has been accepted as a case study of the Resílience Network; this will add new dimensions to the project.   The objectives of ¡he AESH projecl seem simple enough. They were 1) To develop generic classes of indicators which can be used to characterize the heallh of agroecosystems.2) To understand!he dynamic relationships of AESH indicalors over space and time a) among dimensions (biophysical, socío-economic and community heallh) and b) in response to external stressors, partieularly policy.Our proposed research strategy was to combine an ecosystems approach wi!h an evaluative framework.This ,eemed, al Ihe time, to be a relatively straighlforward and simple approach. Before delving into what Ihal meanl in practíce, it is worth identifying some a~sumplions Ihal we made whieh, al !he time we started, were not well articulated or understood.These were !hal:1) a single systems description of agriculturallandscapes and aetivities is possible;2) measurable indicators of system status ean be identified; and3) professional investigative expertise is probably suffieien! lo address the issues.The first and !hird of !hese assumptions are mosl surely false, Tbe second is only partly true,The ecosystem approach to solving complex problems involves consideration of the following, whicb !list in no special order:1) Ecosystems (particularly agroecosystems) inelude people, and !hus bave socío-culturai and economic as well as biophysical dirnensions to !hem.2) Ecosystems can be viewed as nesled híerarchies which self-organize around attractors (such nested hierarcbies are tenned holarchies, wi!h each \"self-contained unil\" wi!hin the hierarchy being a holon).3) General pattems of ecosyslem behaviour can be discemed, bul exact causal pa!hways are ofien uncertaín and may resist analysís.Two problemalic i,sues immediately become apparent.Issue #1 (see Table 1). Agriculturai activities can be seen lo be nesled in al least two different ways -a social hierarchy from individuals lo families and on up to a global society, and an ecological hierarchy, starting al fields or plols and on up !hrough farros and watersheds lo the biosphere. One could spent a Iífelime tryíng lO find ways lo merge these hierarchíes. In fae!, for practical purpose, no such exacl mergíng is requíred. 11 ís possíble to !hink of layers tha! more or less overlap, particularly at !he farml famí1y level, and the ecodístrict or sub-watershed level and the communíty (Table 2).¡ssue #2 (Table 2), Gíven sorne kind oC workable merging of holarchies, we are stil11efi with!he problem of multiple perspectíves. A minírnum set would ¡nelude one Ihat ís grounded in ecology and one !hat ís grounded in human socíety, bUI Ihe possibilíties are almost endless. Our project began wí!h a set of three perspecti ves, one primarily economic, one primarily environmental, and one primarily rooled in cornmunity heallh. Two Ihíngs become apparent from thís:1) we are back lO our independent parallel uní verses and 2) we can begin lo create al least conceptual models of!he systems we are talking abau!.Allhough we did not come up with any fully íntegraled conceptual models at !his stage, it was possíble lO use some models heuristically across perspectives. Thus Holling's figure eighl (Figure 1) (Hollíng 1986) can be víewed at various scales. It is in facl Ihe kind of model farroers use: they enter certain kinds of ínfonnation (desírable seeds anó genetic information) and suppress other kinds (pests anó weeds); they harvest the produce that accumulates during whal in a natural system would be called succession; and then .re-organíze theír farro activities around new seIs of ínfonnation. One can see Ihis a1so in economic terms, anó use ít as a basis both for genetic biodiversity (lo keep open the options for futore development), economíc óiversíty (to keep open market options, etc) and social díversíty (to keep open a range of ideas! optíonsl ways of doing things, that will alto-.:/ the farro or community to adap! 10 changing times. DrawiIlg analogies across perspectives is interesting and useful, but ít docs no! address !he fundamental problem of a socio-economíc system being viewed as separate from ¡he ecological sys!em. This is still not the \"real world\" where these are c10sely interconnected. Nevertheless, íl ís a begínníng, and several researchers on ¡he Project developed other heuristically useful models.Having described Ihe syslem in one or more ways, we were stillleft with Ihe problem of evaluatíon. !t's al! very well tO describe the state of a system, bUI lo make decisions regarding managemenl, we need to have some way lO judge whelher things are gettíng better or worse. Thí, evaluation, it tums out, cannOI be done wíthoul referring to goals.Figure 2 displays a cube, in which we now have scale accounted for, and dimension, but lO which we have now added a third dimension which we called health. Heallh is al one and the same lime a simple coneept for whích most people have some intuilive sense, and a difficult concept which canDot be defined in any exaet way. For a1l practical purposes, ít come down lo somelbing we might call integrity or structure, which make a thing recognizable something (an animal vs a ruad-kili for instanee) and somelbing ca1led effectiveness, which refers lo what we want the syslem lo do.Among the many conlroversies which Ihis raises is Ihe question of who the \"we\" is in \"what we wanl the system lO do\". Scientists have nol developed a good language, nor widely accepled research melbodologies, with which lo study systems with people inside them. For one thing, normal scienee assumes Ihal anyone should be able 10 replicale an experiment; if people are inside, Ihen we musl exclude Ihem, sinee in experirnentíng on themselves, Ibey will change Ihe dynamics of lhe system. Thus, a fundamental tenel of seience is violaled. In the second place, we general assume Ibat natural systems evolve over lime through a combination of coded hislorical information (DNA, culture) and changing environmenls. People, however, also respond 10 perceived possible fUlures, and will change Iheir behaviour, and Ihe physical and socio-economíc dimensions of the system in which Ihey live, in response to an environment which docs nol yel exisl, and may never exis!. For Ibis reason, 1 once suggesled that the way lo sustainable agriculture mighl more líkely líe through belter poetry than through better tractors. How do we get around this?FunlOwicz and Ravett. (\\994) have proposed Ibat, in addition 10 basic science, which is a narrowly focused, self -directed aclivily 10 discover the \"truth\" abou! nature, we can ta1k about applied seience and professíonal consultancies, where suecess is deterrnined nol jusI by scien!ific peers who replicaled your experirnents, but by clients who judge whether or no! you have solved their problems. They have no particular interesl in complex syslems. They may wanllo know íftheir liveslock will survive. Furthermore, when we move inlo lhe realm of such things as environrnental and public health and agricultural poliey and management, we are faced with multiple perspectives, multíple compeling goals, and mulliple stakeholders. The scíence necessary to deal wilh Ihis complex, uneertaín situation has becn called poSI normal, ínteraclive or second order science (Figure 3).Normal science, as described by Thomas Kuhn in bis book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, involves puzzle solving based on an unquestioned sel of assumptions, which he ealled a paradigm. Proof in normal science is by formal deduction and values are unspoken. Furtherrnore, each discipline may have ils own paradigm, which requires scientific specialists lo truncate their view of the world so that, for instance, soil physieists can only ,ay lhings about soi! ,trueture, microbiologists .tudy microbes, and economists studyeconomic aclivities. We are here in the world of multiple parallel universes.Post normal seience, on the olher hand, involves the resolulion of problematic silualions based on \"communicalÍve rationality\" a term used by the philosopher Habermas, who described three kinds of rationality: instrumental ralionality was used by normal seience with the idea that we wish lo control nature through technology; s!rategic ralíonalíty has beeo used to describe evolutionary biology and economic activities, where winning ís the aim of the game; and communicative ralionality, in which negotiation, consensus-building and complex problem solving are the goals.Ellen Wall, a posl doctoral rescarcher, worked with me on considering how one might talk about communily health issucs using a post normal approach (Waltner-Tocws & Wall 1997). The central queslion we carne up with, it !Urns out, can be used for many kinds of complex evaluation issues relaled lo sustainabililY, includíng health, environmental and agricullure, The queslion is: Are the qualíty and quantily of intemal and external resources suffidenl, and is theír organization appropriate, for Ihe system to mee! il. goal,?What is quickly apparent is that, in order to answef the question, we not only need to define and measure resources and their organization -activities which can be carried out by normal scientísts -bu! that this is done in relatíon to agreed-upon, scale dependent goals. In this setting, partícipatory research methods become central for goal definitíon, and scíentific activity is in relation lo those goals. This ís a reversal of what we have come 10 expec! in the applied scíentists, where the experts most ofien define the goals. These goals, whích are another way of talking about effectiveness, can be thought of in more specific tenns as efficiency, adaptability, equity, aesthetics and the Hke. Sorne of these goals are in cornpetition with each other (eg efficiency & adaptability), a situation which is resolved througb negotiation between both internal and external stakeholders at various scales. Post normal scíence, then, puts cororounication and negolialion allhe centre of a process which ineludes the besl scíentific and índígenous knowledge availahle. In a sense, politics becontes polílical scíence, and open lO the same scrutiny, evaluation and pecrrevlew as another scientific activily.There is a clear need fOf considerahly more transdisciplinary research into the interactíons among environmental change, agricultutal practice, economic policies and public health. Such research should inelude both empirical, community-based sludies and further development of the theoretical and scholarly framework for such ínvestigations. Based on the work of the past three years, the Project concludes ¡he following:1) The combination of agroeeosyslems approaches for describing the complex realíty of agriculture with the evaluative concepts provided by health was demonstraled to be useful both in terms of stimulating innovative and importan! transdisciplinary research questions and for formulating the pursuít of knowledge and ílS outcomes in ways that are useful for decisíon-makers at a1llevels.2) Gíven a view of reality which ineludes nested hierarcmes and mulliple perspectives, ít is unlikely that any single model will capture a fuil description of agroecosyslems, and that an openness to rnullíple systems, each created for different purposes, is necessary, al leasl al this early slage in the research, and pemaps, on first principies, for the foreseeable future.3) While genetal attributes of health can be elucidated such as integrity and effectiveness, or resí lience and capacily for renewal, the indicators required to measure them may be context-specific, and some of them can anly be determined in consultation wilh stakeholders in the syslem.4) The i,&ues of scale, bom spatial and temporal. are fundamental !O any consideration of agroecosystem health. Any definitian of an agroecosystem, beyond Ihe mosl general theoretical one, requires specification •of spatial scale and extent. The Project recommends thal agroecosystems be studied al scales from Ihe ficld plot lO large regional ecozones, as well as globally, while recognizing the nested hierarchieai struclure implícit in such scaJe definilions. lt is necessary lo assess ¡he consíslency (or otherwise) in health evaluatíons from one scale to anolher, not jusI simply declare thal any piece of work on agroecasyslem health applies only lo the spatial scale al which it was undertaken.5) While much ofthe analysis has patentíal application for paliey developrnent and implernentation, researchers are stiH far from having a sufficíent seholarl)' basis for recommending poliey initiatives relative 10 agroecosystem health. rndeed, it is likely that many policies need to be developed in Ihe contexl of inleractive research with stakeholders, and ma)' be only partíally amenable to external, expert-driven evalualions and prescriptions. Thal ¡s, resolutions lo agroeeosystem health problems need to be negotialed, nol prescribed. This would be in keeping with the health approach, where ínternaUy-derived values are combined wíth external measuremenlS 10 arrive at decisions for managentenl. In the shorter term, a r-,,--<., • <. -, < 1\"\\ ~1? practical course of action might be to assess potential poJícy initiatives, including the deregulation underway in response to deficit concems and trade agreements, against sorne of Ihe more robust indicators of agroecosystem health developed in the Project.New approaches to understanding the world can be understood as going through a general cyc1e, from concrete experience to new ideas and hypotheses, to new conceptual maps, and finally, lo Ihe generatíon of new solutions. For the pasl several years, there has beco considerable effon expended on generatíng new ideas and concepts. For many of us, these concepts and even the models derived from them are insufficiently tested; wnat do they mean for decision-making? How do they contribule lO making a more congeníal, sustainable world -not just to undersland its difficulties? Whal is required is not only Ihe synthesis of the natural and social sciences and the humanities, bul a synlhesis of action rescaren with more conventional expert-dominated rescarch.In The CIA T project has CIDA funding and we are seeking additional funds from other sources. The Kenya project has been funded by IDRC. IDRC has also funded the preparatoryl pilot studies for the Nepal project. üther projects are also being explored in Uganda (a community with an AIDS-socio-ecological breakdown mess); Tanzania (a community with the highest rate ofplague in the world as the result ofa combination of íntematíonal agricultural markets and local socío-ecologícal changes); Ontarío (a community with parasitic water contamination); and perhaps soulhem Africa (in partnership with universities in S. Afriea and Sweden. Ullimately, 1 would like to see representatives of these communities leam from caeh other, facilitated by system scientists bul nol dictated to by Ihem. Heuristic models -synthesis by analogy -scale issueAt each scale (farm region) the consequences of collapse increase in magnitude and the risk of collapse increases as dependen ce on single sources of information (genetic, social, economic) increases  The primary goal of this project is to develop a framework that can guide agricultural research. Therefore we not only wish to provide new concepts and forms of analysis to better understand agroecosystems, but also develop a research process, a method, that will outline for future researchers the necessary steps to be taken to achieve a more complete understanding of the system. Figure I represents the first draft of such a proposed research method. We have identified a series a steps tbrough which both researchers and stakeholders progress. Although there is a particular sequence to tbe process, the whole process is iterative. As new information is discovered past stages are revisited and modified. The differing roles and responsibilities of the scientists and stakeholders must be explicit.Despite the fact tbat the project draws primarily on complex systems theory, there are a number of other approaches, ones that emphasize non-linearity, multiple steady states, hierarchy, and emergence, tbat have influenced tbe conceptual basis of the Project. They inelude: the ecosystem approach (Kay 1994;Slocombe 1993; Allen el al. 1993a); soft-systems metbodology (Checkland 1981;1990); adaptive environmental assessment (Holling 1978;Walters 1986); hierarchy tbeory (Allen el al. 1984; 1993b); post-normal science (Funtowicz & Ravetz 1994) and ecosystemlagroecosystem health (Rapport 1989;Costanza el al. 1992;Waltner-Toews & Wall 1997;Waltner-Toews & Nielsen 1995;Gallopín 1995).The following section ineludes brief descriptions of tbe different steps identified:There are two parts to this process. First the system of interest is defined and delimited, as not all aspects ofthe system can be ineluded. The boundaries both in time and space are identified, ie. what is the extent of the system and over what time period are we concemed. In addition we need to identify what type of system it is, ego agricultural, fisheries, or forestry system. This defines our perspective, elarifies what is of interest to the observer (trees, food, income). Second, the system is situated witbin a nested hierarchy and the key contextual relationships with higher and lower systems in this hierarchy are identified. In scaling we are able to begin to highlight the cross-scale interactions and the level at which important emergent properties become evident.In order to discover the dynamics of the system, repeating pattems, critical processes and cause-effect relationships, the history of the system needs to be reconstructed. In this project we separated key developments into ecological, economic, demographic, political and cultural dimensions. In addition we focused on changes in the pattem of organization ie. the configuration of relationships among the system's components that determines the system's essential characteristics, changes in structure and process.During this step the critical management goal s and objectives are identified. This helps to highlight the key issues or problems that are of interest to the stakeholders. Once the objectives are defined, the indicators that allow one to assess the performance of such objectives are identified.Problem(s) analysís leads naturaily on to the description of various subsystems models that detail Ihe dífferent system variables on ínterest. Focussing on subsyslems allows simplification of different processes across time and space, and allows one to clarify Ihe key interactions and influences in the system.At this step complex systems theories are applied. The application of complex systems theories should províde us with a dífferent understanding of system hehaviour. The following figures show in one way how CST provides an alternate ínterpretation. Figure 2 shows how an ecosyslem develops along a thermodynamic branch, a path in its state space, until it reaches an optimum operating poin!. Al this point Ihe disorganízíng forces in the external environment and the organizing thermodynamic forces are balanced. Thís point is temporary as the exlernal environmenl is constantly changing. Figure 3 shows what may happen when there is a perturbation in the environment. For example an ecosyslem subject to stress will shift to a lower optimium operating point. Maple forests subjecIed to acid rain are seen to shift lo a stale of lower productivily and lower biomass. However in this case if the external environmcntal conditíons retorn to their previous state, so will the optimum operating point shift hack. In Figure 4 the system is perturbed to the point where it follows a new thermodynamic path. In this case sorne new structures are added and sorne disappear. New pathways foc energy flow may connec! new components, however the ecosystem's organization will not be very differenl from the original. Such a change was observed in a marsh gut ecosystem in Florida that had heen stressed by warm waler affIuent. This resulled in an increase in the temperarure of the water and the loss of two top predators, two lower predators, Ihe addition of Ihree lower predators and herbívore species. There was also a change in the foodweb in terms of cycling and trophic positions. In Figure 5 the syslem moves 10 a different thermodynamic branch. In this case the syslem is so reorganized that il is c\\early recognized as being different from the original system. Even if the original external conditions retum Ihe system has no possíbilíty of relUming to íts original optimum operating point A classic example of this ís when savannah ecosyslems are irreversibly changed into woody vegetation througb overgrazing.Thus we may look at the agroecosystems in Ucayalí in ligbt of these differenl stable states that at certain points ate stressed and altered eilher reversibly or irreversibly. What is key ís the condítions or characteristícs of the system that allow ít to recaver or instead flip ioto a different and more degraded sIeady state.In the ínitial examination of the case study sile, Pucallpa, íl was hypothesiwd Ihat there may exist the condition in which certain degraded pastures do not renew themselves and do nol retum to secondary growth. Rather Ihey stay in a permanently degraded condition, one that requires intervention, ie. inputs or . mechanized cultivation, to move it from this sIeady stale. Complex system theory may he able to provide insighl ioto Ihis process wllereby the system bifurcates or flips inlo a different state. We can begin by looking at the conditions that result in this dífferent state, identify triggers and see whelher we can monitor them. Such conditions and triggers may inelude bolh ecological and socio-economic factors. The possible determinants may be grazing (timing and intensity are key) whích in tum causes compaction, reduced infiltration rates and weed invasíon. There may be a break in critica! cycles Iha! reduce the availability of nutrients or a decline in Ihe availability of sources of renewal, such as seeds or dispersors.Another important aspect ofCST is understanding Ihe \"human activity system\", providing insíght ínto the eore purpose of human activities in Ihe system. Checkland (1981) outlines a melhodology thal attempts lo encapsulare the fundamental natore of the human goal, and intentions. II exposes the viewpoint and rationale of Ihose defining and addressing Ihe perceived problems. Checkland describes six roo! definitions (CA TWOE) that allow us to understand that rationale. They inelude \"C\"dient of the system and analysis, for whom me system works; \"A\" -actors in the system, Ihose who do \"T\"; \"T\" -the transformation process, me measured change in state, conversion of input lO OUlpUI; \"W\"weltanschauung, world view Ihal make \"T\" meaningful; \"O\" owners, mose who can SIOP \"T\"; and \"E\" -¡he environment. Table 3 gives an example of how this approach could be applied to the different human activity systems wilh ¡be Ueayali region. Once all me root definítions are deseribed, we have a better understanding of me power structures and relations as well as the socio-political context of tbe system.• These interpretations, both the subsystem models and tite CST applications, are brought into the real world and sel against!he perceptions of what exists tltere. This could be done eitlter in eollaboration wi!h stakeholders or witlt otlter tools sueh as GIS and remote sensing. The purpose of tite comparíson is in par! to generate a debate wilh concemed people in tite region which will later aid in defining possible changes which are both desirable and feasible.These later steps are driven prímaríly by lhe stakeholders. Onee !hey are complete tite problems and crítical i,sues need to be reassessed.If one wished to think of !hese steps in terms of researcher-community interaction, we míght suggest that the scaling and historícal reconstruction is best done by CIA T researchers alone; problem analysis and subsystem models by CIA T researchers in consultation with stakeholder groups; re-cxamination using complex systems theory is done mainly by scíentists, the comparíson of developed models with reality and previous models is done by both scientists and stakeholders, whereas the last few stages, from identifying possible changes, instituting and then monitoring them are mainly stakeholder driven, with facilitation and advice from seient;sts.An equally importan! outcome of this process relates lo Ihe ability oC the crealed or modified stakeholder institutions lo susrain the process in addressing new problems. Participation in tltís process should be more Ihan a \"one-lime\" thing. We wish lo create institutions in which people can, and do. eontínue to participale in solving tlteir own problems long after the researchers are gane. This is tite ultimate sign of suecess.Finally, we empbasize Ibat Ibis process can be used to address many types of problems; il is bolb iterative and multi•faceted. There is no clear endpoint because agricultura! sustaínability, in an ever-changing global situation, involves nol just environmental conservatioo and ecooomíc viabilíty, but the creation of agricultural ínstitutions and managerneol practices which are responsive, adaptable, and can \"learn\" as they go.Case The following slides offer a geographic CONTEXT for the study site. Ucayali RegionThe 101l0wing slides offer an ecological and economic DESCRIPTION 01 the study site.l ___ \"~ ___________ \" \" \" _____ \" ______ \" Natural Landscape   Thousands (Perú) (Ucayali) 5 r-----~~~------------------------~~~  • Regien-Ieve! Susfainable Land Use Plans• Regional government (1)• Swiss cooperation I CDC-Perú• IIAP and ether --_ .... _ -_ .... _ -_ ..... __ . The proposed process lo follow in tbís workshop in order lo organize our colleclive knowledge implies slarting witb ¡he identification of the major issues (which could be problems bul al80 opportunities) for the Pucallpa area Those will help lo idenlify the major managemenl goals and objectives. Indicalors capable of showing decision-makers ¡he degree lo which tbe goalslobjective8 are being approached are defined nex!. The whole sequence is presented below, altbough it is nOI expected we will cover all of il in tbe limiled time avaílable. We need to cover the first steps, because Ihey are the ones that will define what to inelude or ellcJude in the characterization of tbe system. NOle that tbís procedure implies defining tbe variables and fuctors 10 be investigated insofar as Ihey are importan! for addressíng tbe issues, goals or objectives defined for the case. Those may or may not be the variables or factors traditionally considered important witbin each of tbe involved discipline; as a malter of fact, it often happens tbat some of tbe critical variables (systemwise) are overlooked by tbe disciplinary sludies. The complete sequence is:• Identificadon of major issues• Management goal( s)• Range of management objectives "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3eb7ab8ff81fbd51786272fc069f2680","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/83d95dcf-1cc0-4497-ba65-ef27c0ab7024/retrieve","id":"-1838700787"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2af98c87-7285-40b2-92a6-8cb73961a957","content":"While many have extolled the potential impacts of digital advisory services for smallholder agriculture, the evidence for sustained uptake of such tools remains limited. This paper utilizes a survey of tool developers and researchers, as well as a systematic meta-analysis of prior studies, to assess the extent and challenges of scaling decision support tools for site-specific soil nutrient management (SSNM-DST) across smallholder farming systems, where \"scaling\" is defined as a significant increase in tool usage beyond pilot levels. Our evaluation draws on relevant literature, expert opinion and apps available in different repositories. Despite their acclaimed yield benefits, we find that SSNM-DST have struggled to reach scale over the last few decades and, with strong heterogeneity in adoption among intended stakeholders and tools. For example, the log odds of a SSNM-DST reaching 5-10 % of the target farmers compared with reaching none, decreases by ~200% when a technical problem is stated as a reason for the tools' failure to be used at scale. We find a similar decrease in odds ratios when technical, socioeconomic, policy, and R&D constraints were identified as barriers to scaling by national extension and private systems. Meta-regression analysis indicates that the response ratio of using SSNM-DST over Farmer Fertilizer Practice (FFP) varies by non-tool related covariates, such as initial crop yield potential under FFP, current and past crop types, acidity class of the soil, temperature and rainfall regimes, and the amount of input under FFP. In general, the SSNM-DST have moved one step forward compared with the traditional 'blanket' fertilizer recommendation by accounting for in-field heterogeneities in soil and crop characteristics, while remaining undifferentiated in terms of demographic and socioeconomic heterogeneities among users, which potentially constrains adoption at scale. The SSNM-DSTs possess reasonable applicability and can be labeled 'ready' from purely scientific viewpoints, although their readiness for system-level uptake at scale remains limited, especially where socio-technical and institutional constraints are prevalent.Innovations in digital technology have benefited many scientific disciplines and economic sectors, including agriculture. This can be evidenced by the boom of initiatives such as Digital Earth (Guo, 1998), Digital Agriculture (Tang et al., 2002), Precision Agriculture (Cassman, 1999;Gebbers and Adamchuk, 2010;Zhang et al., 2002), Virtue Agriculture (Tang et al., 2002), Information Agriculture (Hornik, 1993), Smart Agriculture/Farming (Janc et al., 2019;Knierim et al., 2019) and Digital Farming (Bronson, 2019) since the 1990s. Digital agriculture, which is the application of digital tools and technologies in agriculture, offers multiple potential benefits to smallholders. First, it can assist in addressing the problem of location-specific yield gaps through the optimum allocation of mineral and organic fertilizers (Jat et al., 2013). Second, it can help to reduce the environmental impacts of agriculturenutrient leaching and greenhouse gas emissionsby matching nutrient inputs to plant nutrient requirements (Deichmann et al., 2016;Liang et al., 2013). Third, it allows the collection of site-specific biophysical and management data (Basso and Antle, 2020), with a potential to enhance consequent data-driven decision-making in smallholder systems (Chandra and Collis, 2021).Globally, digital agriculture has been applied, albeit with varying degrees of success, to guide fertilizer recommendations (MacCarthy et al., 2018), operationalize ecosystem services (MacCarthy et al., 2018), optimize soil nutrient management (Pooniya et al., 2015;Sapkota et al., 2021;Singh, 2019), understand trade-offs in climate-smart agriculture (Capalbo et al., 2018), adjust irrigation management (Wellens et al., 2017) and analyze the effect of climate change on inland fisheries (Lynch et al., 2015). We limit the current analysis to its application in the form of Site-Specific Nutrient Management Decision Support Tools (SSNM-DST). In the smallholder farming systems that are prevalent in developing countries, SSNM-DST have been applied predominantly in soil nutrient management (AfricaRice, 2014;Buresh and Witt, 2007;Johnston et al., 2009;Kaizzi et al., 2013;Prause et al., 2021). The concept of site-specific nutrient management integrates information from different scales to assist field-specific decisions (Chivenge et al., 2022;Pampolino et al., 2012). The greater success of SSNM-DST over farmers' fertilizer practices (FFP) is measured through improved yields (Bhatta et al., 2020;Chuan et al., 2013;Jansen et al., 2013;Pampolino et al., 2012;Rurinda et al., 2020;Saito et al., 2015;Xu et al., 2016), higher returns (Bhatta et al., 2020;Jansen et al., 2013;Pampolino et al., 2012;Saito et al., 2015;Zhang et al., 2018), and better environmental quality (Wang et al., 2020;Zhang et al., 2018) as a result of tailored advice provided by the tools. In Africa alone, nearly 400 different digital agriculture solutions have been on the market (World Bank Group, 2019). Nonetheless, the solutions reached only 6 % of an estimated €2.3 billion potential advisory market in the continent (Tsan et al., 2019).Uptake of SSNM-DST at scale in smallholder farming systems has been limited (Shepherd et al., 2020) despite claims of its numerous cobenefits (Chivenge et al., 2021) and in contrast to the fast rate of expansion of digital technologies in other sectors (Bhavnani et al., 2016;Goggin, 2006;Kaur et al., 2021;Mallat et al., 2004;Topol, 2019). One explanation could be the absence of combined efforts among technology developers, agronomists, socio-economists, behavior experts, tool designers, political economy experts, as well as the lack of involvement of scaling partners as has been found to be the case in other sectors (Woltering et al., 2019). Often times, algorithm developers in SSNM-DST do not have the required data and computational tools needed to convert intricate soil and plant geospatial information into appropriate crop management actions (Capalbo et al., 2018). Consequently, the SSNM-DST appear to suffer from incomplete understanding and misuse by end users, mainly agronomists and extension workers (Andersson et al., 2020), leading to limited chances for adoption at scale (Ayim et al., 2022). Furthermore, SSNM-DST are piloted in controlled project environmentsi.e., in trials, evaluations or pilotsthat do not reflect the realities of smallholders (Woltering et al., 2019). Another mentionable limitation is that SSNM-DST already on the market have been calibrated under data-scarce settings (Shepherd et al., 2020). There have been complaints about the tools being rigid and knowledge intensive (Andersson et al., 2020), making them difficult to be adapted to smallholder conditions. Most tools lack utilities that allow inclusion of site-specific soil and agronomic information while generating advice. Yet, they have been massively promoted in many countries of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), South Asia and Southeast Asia, although the level of adoption at scale for these tools has not been well documented.'Blanket' fertilizer advisories remain the main approach of choice in many places (Tefera et al., 2020), regardless of the large inter-and intraplot heterogeneities inherent in smallholder fields (Sida et al., 2021), underscoring the importance of site-specific approaches. Such systems suffer from low fertilizer use efficiency, low factor productivity and persistent food insecurity (Aleminew and Alemayehu, 2020). Digital agriculture has been established rapidly in large-scale, capital intensive agriculture (Kelley et al., 2020;Lindblom et al., 2017;Tang et al., 2002), although the drivers of adoption have not been firmly established, even in those systems (Nowak, 2021;Tey and Brindal, 2022). Although not at a similar rate to developed economies (DeGusta, 2012), accessibility of digital technology is destined to improve in developing countries (DeGusta, 2012;Duncombe, 2016). The recent explosion of mobile phone technologies and smallholders' relative ease of access to smartphone-based applications offer an opportunity to advance digital agronomy in smallholder systems. Nonetheless, drivers of (non)adoption, especially at the regional level, have never been explored.The current work aims to explore the level of scaling of SSNM-DST within smallholder farming systems, where we define \"scaling\" as a significant increase in tool usage beyond pilot levels. We aim to highlight why these tools have failed to be used at scale, regardless of their potential benefits. We combine survey and meta-analysis hybrid methods and seek to answer the following questions regarding the application of digital site-specific nutrient management decisionsupport tools.(1) How prominent are digital advisory tools for site-specific nutrient management and what is their current level of adoption in smallholder farming systems? (2) What are the main drivers of (non)adoption of site-specific nutrient management decision support tools under smallholder contexts?We made an inventory of site-specific nutrient management decision support tools (SSNM-DST) that are available (or under development) within the context of smallholder farming. We conducted two rounds of systematic literature search.In the first round, we searched major academic search engines Google Scholar, Scopus and ISI Web of Science for documents that reported about site-specific nutrient management decision support tools, using the search strings [\"decision support tool*\" AND \"site-specific nutrient management\"]. We limited our search to the period from to 2020. We focused on this period because the concept of site-specific nutrient management started to emerge in the 1990's (Dobermann and White, 1999;Reetz and Fixen, 1995) and use of decision support tools emerged slightly later (Betteridge, 2006). The literature turnout corroborates our assumption, as it shows that trials exploring SSNM-DST started to emerge in the late 1990's and publication of their results started to emerge since the early 2000's. It is important to note that we focused only on peer-reviewed literature, excluding any gray literature on this topic. This is because we were interested in only including manuscripts with robust study designs and that had passed through a rigorous revision process. However, we acknowledge that such parsimonious selections may downwardly bias the number of studies included in our analysis and potentially upwardly bias the types of studies that reject the null hypothesis, which arises from selective publication of positive results. The latter scenario is in line with our objectives since we are interested in understanding the challenges of scaling SSNM-DST, even when they are proven to be profitable (i.e., resulting in positive outcomes). The search at this round returned papers in total, reporting on the results of seven SSNM-DST (Table 1).In round two, we read the abstracts and scanned through each paper to identify the exact name of the SSNM-DST as compiled in Table 1. We then used these names as search terms to undertake more rounds of literature revision. We followed this stage to avoid any potential bias that may have occurred if we only selected studies that included the SSNM-DST by its name (e.g., Nutrient Expert) without explicitly mentioning the search terms 'site-specific nutrient management' or 'decision support tool' used in the earlier round. The tool-based searches identified 1257 documents. It is apparent that some SSNM-DST may not have been fully captured using the initial search. We merged this with results from the previous search, retaining a total of 1556 documents for further screening (Fig. 1). We removed duplicates and documented the papers for further screening using pre-set exclusion criteria. Following the screening workflow summarized in Fig. 1, we first screened the titles and the abstracts of the documents and excluded: (1) documents that were not dealing with any form of decision support system in soil nutrient management and (2) documents that discussed decision support tools, but that were not applied to smallholder systems. We retained 445 documents based on these criteria. Second, we explored the full texts of the retained documents and excluded irrelevant literature. The criteria for eligibility were: (1) the tool served farmers or service providers to assist in soil fertility management; (2) The developer clearly stated that the tool was for site-specific nutrient advisory purposes; (3) the tool serves to either optimize nutrient use efficiency or economic benefits from mineral and organic fertilizers; (4) The tool has been applied at least at performance trial levels; and (5) The study clearly compared the benefit of using SSNM-DST with Farmer Fertilizer Practices that are commonly recommended for the region of interest (FFP). Under conditions where both FFP and local recommendations were included in the studies, we selected the FFP for our analysis. We excluded studies where agronomic management or factors other than nutrient management differed between FFP and SSNM-DST plots. A total of 70 documents with 442 entries were included in our study. We summarize the details of the literature included for analysis in Table S1 (https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/GRYA0U) and the stages in Table S2 (https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/I7U8YY).We collected a variety of variables from the studies listed in Table S1, including details about the study location, measurement parameters, and study design. Additionally, we included information about the specific crops grown and the SSNM-DST utilized for soil nutrient management. Measured outcomes such as yield, nutrient use efficiency, and environmental impacts resulting from the tool application were quantified, along with corresponding values reported for FFP. When studies involved multiple treatment levels, locations, and SSNM-DST variations for a particular trial, we recorded data separately for all tools, crops, and sites. In cases where results were not presented in tabular form and were challenging to extract directly, we utilized the metaDigitise package in R to extract values from graph-based summary reports (Pick et al., 2019).In addition to measured values, we compiled data on potential covariates for the experimental plots, encompassing environmental factors (e.g., region, rainfall, temperature regime, soil properties), management practices (e.g., current and past crops, tillage methods), and input variables (such as the type and application rate of fertilizer, fertilizer cost).We acknowledge that identifying the exact stage and level of adoption for a technology is challenging. Consequently, we emphasize that our survey results reflect the views of tool developers, which may not always align with perspectives expressed by tool users. To appraise the current stage of adoption for the tools in Table 1, we compiled the email addresses of corresponding authors and co-authors from the literature identified in Table S1. Additionally, we created mailing lists of institutions, national systems, consortiums, and individuals working with the identified SSNM-DST.We then sent a questionnaire with customized messages to each stakeholder, addressing various aspects of the SSNM-DST, such as its type, application location, proportion of target farmers currently using the tool, uptake by the national extension system and/or the private sector, stage of adoption within the target region, and potential drivers for adoption trends. Approximately 414 customized emails were circulated (exact receiver count unknown due to inclusion of specialist group mailing lists with unidentified list sizes). Following three months of open survey with monthly reminders, we received 81 responses, which were used for analysis. While the response rate was approximately 20%, the survey results remain informative since the respondents were specialists on SSNM-DST. The number of experts per tool ranged from six (RiceAdvice) to 21 (NE), with an average response rate of 16 per tool.To analyze the adoption levels of SSNM-DST among various stakeholders, we employed multinomial logistic regression. We derived the dependent and independent variables for tool adoption from survey responses. The dependent variable in this study represents three adoption categories for farmers: <5% coverage (considered as no adoption, also used as the baseline), 5-10% adoption, and more than 10% adoption. Similarly, three adoption categories were defined for both national extension and private business systems: no adoption, partial adoption, and full adoption. Since all variables are categorical, we applied multinomial logistic regression (MNL) to model them. The variables identified as drivers of adoption level for all stakeholder groups (farmers, extension, and business) were classified into four categories: technical, socioeconomic, policy, and R&D. Technical variables encompassed aspects such as tool complexity, time requirement, required education level, and data needs. Socioeconomic variables included factors like phone access, telecom network coverage, farmer behavior, and extension-to-farmer ratio. Policy variables pertained to government strategy, extension services, advocacy level, and capacity building activities. R&D variables focused on proper calibration, tool consistency, stability, scaling readiness testing, and scaling approach.To estimate the multinomial logistic regression model, we employed the 'multinom' function from the 'nnet' package in R (Ripley et al., 2016). We fitted separate regressions for each stakeholder category using the logistic regression of the form presented in Eq. ( 1). The regression outcome facilitated the identification of the specific contributions of technical, socioeconomic, business model, and policy aspects in constraining the tool's adoption at scale.where, P(χ o )is the probability of choosing the baseline (non-adoption) category, P(χ i ) is the i th probability of choosing an outcome category other than the baseline category, τ i , ϕ i , ρ i , and ψ i are the i th responses in the outcome categories for technical, socioeconomic, policy and R&D variables, respectively, β 0 is the constant term of the regression, β 1 , β 2, β 3 andβ 4 are regression coefficients for the respective variables in the outcome category and ε i is the error term of the regression.We used the probability level of 0.05 to assess the significance of each effect size in the model, unless otherwise stated.Proportions of negative, neutral and positive yield, economic and environmental effects of using a SSNM-DST over the FFP were computed using Eq. ( 2).where δY i denotes the relative change in effect for the i th SSNM-DST, Y i(SSNM− DST) is the yield, economic and environmental values reported under the i th SSNM-DST, and Y i(FFP) is the value of these effects reported for a corresponding FFP. To assess the economic impact, we employed the marginal rate of return (MRR) on fertilizer investment. We evaluated the environmental impact by determining the partial factor productivity (PFP) of nitrogen fertilizer, which measures kilogram of grain yield obtained per kilogram of applied nitrogen. We considered lower values of grain yield per kilogram of nitrogen as a proxy for negative environmental effects. We categorized the values of δY i as negative, neutral, or positive. Relative change values between − 5% and 5% from the corresponding FFP values were labeled as neutral. Values below − 5% were considered negative, and values above 5% were considered positive. For the PFP of nitrogen fertilizer, we used a reversed rating where values lower than − 5% were considered positive, indicating a reduction in negative environmental consequences. Using this approach, we summarized the proportions of negative, neutral, and positive relative changes for each analyzed SSNM-DST in this study.In addition to exploring the drivers of adoption (or lack thereof) through the survey questionnaire, we hypothesize that variables aggregated from the meta-analysis results can reveal some drivers of scaling. Therefore, we utilized a random-effect model to determine the impact of using the tool-assisted strategy on crop yield under SSNM-DST compared with FFP. We calculated the effect size as the natural log of the response ratio (RR) between the two yields (Hedges et al., 1999), representing the effects of using the tools over FFP Eq. (3).where RR is the response ratio, Y T and Y F the crop yield, using SSNM-DST tools and FFP, respectively. A meta-regression was conducted modeling the RR as the dependent variable. The effect of using SSNM-DST in soil nutrient management was explored by controlling for all the other covariates relating to the experimental environment (e.g., region, rainfall, temperature regime, soil properties), management (e.g., current crop and past crops, tillage practices) and inputs (type and rate of fertilizer applied, cost of fertilizer). Due to inevitable experimental heterogeneity, we combined data using a random-effects model applied to sub-grouped covariates and conducted subgroup analyses to unravel the confounding effects of experimental environment, management, input and geographic features on the effect size of the response ratio. We identified the most important covariates using the AIC forward elimination using the 'olsrr' package in R (Hebbali and Hebbali, 2017) and performed meta-analysis using the 'metareg' function of the 'meta' package in R (Schwarzer, 2007) with the selected covariates. We conducted meta-regression analysis following the general model outlined in Eq. ( 4).where θi is the effect size of study i, θ is the fixed term and χ i is a vector of predictors (covariates) with β being a vector of regression coefficients.Unlike the conventional random-effects-model, the meta regression has two error terms (i.e., ε i and ω i ), where ε i is the sampling error through which the effect size of a study deviates from its true effect and ω i is the true effect size of the study that is only sampled from an overarching distribution of effect sizes.In addition, the size of the response ratio as a function of crop yield under FFP was assessed and visualized using quantile regression fitted to the 90th percentile of the pooled data with the 'rq' function of the 'quantreg' package in R (Koenker et al., 2018). The relationship was assumed to take a logistic functional form (y = a -b × x + c × 0.90 x ), where y refers to the natural log of RR, x to the yield under FFP and a, b and c to the instantaneous slopes (first degree derivatives) of the quantile regression curves.The popularity of SSNM-DST has been consistently increasing over the past 20 years, as shown by the growing number of experiments involving these tools (see Fig. 2). However, there has been a clear shift in the focus towards specific types of tools. Until the early 2010s, the dominant tools were Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD), Leaf Color Chart (LCC), and Generic tools. These tools were gadgets that helped make on-site decisions based on crop characteristics but were not fully developed into digital applications. Nutrient Expert (NE) appears to be the first tool to apply app-based advisory for site-specific nutrient management, and it became the most popular among SSNM-DST starting from the late 2000s. Other app-based tools like Fertilizer Optimization Tool (FOT), RiceAdvice, and Rice Crop Manager (RCM) emerged in the early to mid 2010s. Currently, the app-based tools are gaining popularity, while the earlier gadget-based tools are declining.Although the majority of the SSNM-DST have positive to neutral effects, there are some negative effects when comparing their application to traditional FFP. In terms of yield, the overall negative effect is only about 5%, with the biggest proportion of negative effect found in SPAD (15%). When considering the economic effect, measured by the marginal rate of return on investment, RiceAdvice shows the largest negative effect at around 14%. Overall, the negative effect for this indicator stands at 3.2%. SSNM-DST generally have few negative effects on environmental outcomes, with an overall negative effect of about 18% and overall positive environmental outcomes of over 70%. RCM has the largest negative environmental consequence, with 50% of the advisory incidences resulting in lower grain yield per kilogram of applied nitrogen (Table 2).Trends in the number of trials with digital SSNM-DST. For the explanation of the abbreviations, refer to Table 1.Proportion of negative, neutral and positive yield, economic and environmental effects for each of the SSNM-DST included in the current analysis. For every effect (yield, economic and environmental), values between − 5 disadvantage and 5 % advantage of using SSNM-DST over FFP were considered neutral, values that are more disadvantageous than − 5 % were considered negative and values with advantages of more than 5 % were considered positive. Economic effects were derived form marginal rate of return on investment for fertilizer, while environmental effects were derived from PFP of N fertilizer. The full description of the outcome variables is presented in Table S1  * Note: Fore the environmental effect, we used kg of Nitrogen from fertilizer per kg of grain produced under the corresponding advisory, also called PFP of Nitrogen; less kg of grain for more kg of N assumed to serve as a proxy for negative environmental effects.Fig. 3. The reported level of adoption for each of the identified SSNM-DS tools by farmers (a), national extension system (b) and the private business (c). For the explanation of the abbreviations of the tools, refer to Table 1.Despite growing interest and an expanding range of tools available (Fig. 2), the adoption of SSNM-DST has been limited (Fig. 3). There is variation in adoption levels among different tools and intended stakeholders. The most commonly adopted tools among farmers, such as generic tools, NE, and RiceAdvice, reached a maximum of only 20-30% of the target farmers (Fig. 3 a). However, <20% of respondents reported this adoption rate. Additionally, around 25% of responses indicated significantly poor adoption levels, with the tools reaching barely 1% of the target population. FOT had the lowest adoption rate, with nearly half of the respondents stating that it reached <1% of the target population.The adoption levels of SSNM-DST by national extension systems (Fig. 3 b) and private businesses (Fig. 3 c) were even lower. RiceAdvice and generic tools were adopted or partially adopted by national extension systems approximately 65% of the time (Fig. 3 b). For the other tools, there was no evidence of adoption by national extension systems in over 75% of the cases (Fig. 3 b). NE was reported to be partially adopted by the extension system in about one-third of the cases. The uptake by private businesses was mostly non-existent for most tools (Fig. 3 c). Only two SSNM-DST (NE at 5% and generic at 20%) were reported to be taken up by the business system. Partial uptake of NE, FOT, and generic tools was indicated about 30% of the time, while partial uptake of RCM by private businesses was reported in about 10% of the cases. RiceAdvice, SPAD, and LCC were completely disregarded by the private system.Attempts to apply SSNM-DST at scale in smallholder systems posed different challenges across stakeholders (Table 3). When a technical problem was cited as the cause of the tools' failure to be used at scale (Table 3 panel I), the likelihood of at least 5% of target farmers adopting SSNM-DST was significantly low. Likewise, reporting a technical problem as a reason for the tools' failure to be used at scale resulted in a 177% decrease in the probability of SSNM-DST reaching more than 10% of the target farmers, compared to reaching none.The chances of the national extension system partially picking up a SSNM-DST decrease significantly when technical, policy, and R&D reasons are cited as the reasons for their lack of adoption (Table 3, panel II). Similarly, the likelihood of the extension system fully embracing the SSNM-DST compared to not adopting it at all decreases significantly when socioeconomic issues are mentioned as a factor hindering widespread tool adoption. Lastly, when technical problems are highlighted as the reason for poor tool adoption at scale, the likelihood of the private business system fully adopting the SSNM-DST compared to its failure to adopt it decreases significantly.Fig. 4 presents the results of quantile regression applied to the natural log of the response ratio (RR) for grain yield (Fig. 4 a) and net marginal returns on fertilizer (Fig. 4 b) across different crops and regions under FFP. The RR tends to be lower when crop yield is high under FFP (Fig. 4 a), indicating that SSNM-DST is more beneficial for farmers with lower yields under their own practices. Both regression lines, one fitted to the data and another to the top 10% of data points, show an exponential decline in RR as the grain yield produced under farmers' own practices increases. For maize, the decline in RR is gradual for lowyielding farmers and steep for high-yielding ones. For rice and wheat, the decline in RR with increasing FFP yield is very steep from the beginning.In Fig. 4 b, we observe that the impact of an increase in RR on net marginal returns (NMR) on fertilizer under SSNM practice varies depending on the crop and is mostly negative. For maize, an increase in RR leads to a linear decrease in NMR, which is surprising as we wouldGeneralized logistic regression model results from the online survey data set. Dependent variables varied with the type of stakeholder (farmer, extension, and business). The question is whether a suggested reason is responsible for lack of uptake with baselines of uptake rate lower than 5% for farmers, no involvement at all for national extension and business systems. Values in the parentheses are the standard errors. usually expect returns to increase with higher response ratios. The trends for rice show no effect on NMR with increasing RR, and for wheat, the trends differ for low, medium, and high RR.The results of a meta-regression analysis in Table 4 (Multiple R 2 = 0.80, Adj. R 2 = 0.77, F-statistic: 46.2 on 31 and 350 DF, p-value < 2.2e− 16) indicate that the response ratio of using SSNM-DST over FFP is influenced by various non-tool related factors. These factors include crop yield under FFP, current and past crop types, soil acidity class, temperature and rainfall regimes, and the amount of input under FFP. For example, fields with higher yields under FFP tend to generate smaller RR when managed using SSNM-DST. A 15% increase in grain yield under FFP results in a statistically significant decline in RR when using SSNM-DST. The odds of a significant increase in the response ratio are approximately 1.5 times higher for maize, rice, and wheat compared to other crops when SSNM-DST is applied.The response ratio is significantly more likely to be higher when SSNM-DST is applied on highly acidic soils, with a 30% increase in RR for such conditions. On the other hand, response ratios are likely to decrease significantly when the tools are applied on slightly alkaline soils. Application of SSNM-DST is also more likely to significantly increase the response ratio under drier conditions (arid and semi-arid) compared to wetter conditions, with odds ratios of 16% and 9%, respectively, for arid and semi-arid conditions. However, the use of SSNM-DST on fields with a legume as the preceding crop significantly reduces the response ratio. The odds that the RR declines significantly under such conditions is 21 %.Interestingly, the application of higher rates of P fertilizer under FFP was found to increase the response ratio of using SSNM-DST significantly. Conversely, an increase of 1% in N fertilizer on FFP was found to reduce the response rate, which is expected as higher rates of fertilizer usually lead to increased yields under FFP, resulting in a reduced RR.In the 21st century, the widespread dominance of digital decisionsupport tools has significantly shaped various sectors across regions. In particular, we have observed a consistent increase in the development and promotion of digital and semi-digital tools in smallholder farming systems over the past three decades (Fig. 2). Previously, attempts were made to address the site-specificity of nutrient advisories through on-site diagnostics of plant characteristics (Thind and Gupta, 2010). It is important to note that soil heterogeneity, resulting from physical, chemical, and biological soil conditions, typically occurs at coarser scales (Goovaerts, 1998), although the applicability of such approaches beyond research settings has been contested due to documented soil heterogeneity over small spatial scales (Schut and Giller, 2020).With the prevalence of mobile phones even in smallholder farming settings (CABI, 2019), digital tools based on PC, web, and app platforms began to emerge in the site-specific nutrient management advisory domain. This development initially took place in south Asia and southeast Asia (Chuan et al., 2013;Pampolino et al., 2012;Pooniya et al., 2015) and later expanding to SSA (Rurinda et al., 2020;Saito   et al., 2015). These digital apps rely on observed field-specific variables, plot management history, and available inputs, which serve as proxies for soil fertility or nutrient responses. These factors play a crucial role in defining the application of these digital tools. Additionally, climate/ weather information is an essential element in determining site specificity. Notably, only NE, the most popular SSNM-DST, employs climate information in generalized terms, while the other tools do not utilize such data (Fig. 2 and Table 1). It is worth mentioning that certain apps, such as FOT, make site-specific fertilizer use recommendations based on the concept of economic optimization, focusing on better resource allocation, rather than nutrient optimization for improved agronomic use efficiency.Regardless of the increasing prevalence of SSNM-DST both in type and number (Fig. 2), the dominance of positive yields (Chivenge et al., 2021) and dominantly positive economic and environmental outcomes from application of the tools (Table 2), these tools have not been widely adopted (Fig. 3). The highest reported uptake of SSNM-DST by a target farmer community ranged between 20 % and 30 % (Fig. 3 a), and this was limited to just two advisory tools: NE and RCM. Similar findings were reflected in previous reports where the most adopted SSNM-DST, RCM, provided advise to about 30 % of the target farmers in the Philippines (Chivenge et al., 2021). Most of the expert respondents (65 %) estimated that the reach of these tools was either unknown or reached <5% of the target farming community. Despite minor variations among specific SSNM-DST, the overall scale of adoption has been low, with 54% of respondents indicating that these tools reached <1% of the target population of farmers (Fig. 3). Uptake of SSNM-DST has been minimal both for the private sector and government extension systems, suggesting a lack of interest from key stakeholders involved in scaling these technologies. Only 5-6 % of the experts reported full adoption of SSNM-DST by the private sector and government extension systems, while a substantial majority (72 -76 %) stated that these nutrient management advisory tools have not been integrated into either the private business or government extension systems. Some experts reported partial uptake of these tools by these systems, but overall, the adoption rates for SSNM-DST are remarkably low compared to other digital technologies used by smallholders (Asravor et al., 2021) or similar digital decision support tools in large-scale agriculture (Kelley et al., 2020).One of the main goals of this study was to investigate the factorsResults of meta regression from modelling the effect of selected covariates on the magnitude of the response ratio on a logarithmic scale. Probabilities with significant effects are presented in bold. ε i is the sampling error through which the effect size of a study deviates from its true effect, while ω i is the true effect size of the study that is only sampled from an overarching distribution of effect sizes. influencing scaling in SSNM-DST. The survey of experts revealed that technical issues related to the tools were significant constraints for scaling these tools (Table 3), indicating that the tools are not technically ready for large-scale implementation. As shown in Table 3, technical, socio-economic, and policy constraints have varying effects on different groups within the user-chain of SSNM-DST. Technical challenges were found to be the most limiting factor for farmers and private businesses in adopting SSNM-DST at scale. The lack of involvement from private businesses in SSNM advisory tools suggests that these tools will struggle to reach scale through purely commercial means. Therefore, active public support is necessary as an initial prerequisite for these tools to establish themselves in smallholder systems. Despite the importance of public support for scaling SSNM-DST, our results highlight that the constraints to scale these tools are even more widespread for national extension systems (Table 3). Typically, only extension workers have access to the tools to generate recommendations. Given that extension workers need to cover numerous farmers and fields each season, this poses additional challenges for the widespread adoption of SSNM-DST (Andersson et al., 2020). Our findings align with previous studies that have identified various barriers hindering the large-scale implementation of digital decision support tools in the smallholder context. These barriers include tools being too complex to use (Coggins et al., 2022), low levels of literacy and lack of skills (Chandra and Collis, 2021), limited access to smartphones or other electronic devices (Capalbo et al., 2018), inadequate assimilation of timely and relevant agronomic information (CABI, 2019) and poor integration with financial and input supply services (Vorotnikov et al., 2020). These findings suggest that SSNM-DST have been designed, developed, and deployed without adequately considering the needs and contexts of end users, primarily impoverished rural farming households, in terms of adoption and optimal implementation. It can be argued that these tools are still in their early stages of development and have the potential to mature in the future (Altunok and Cakmak, 2010). However, for such optimistic possibilities to become a reality, the demonstration, implementation, and promotion of these advisory tools should extend beyond experimental sites and selected 'client' farmers, as well as beyond project implementation periods. Complementing our results from the expert survey, detailed metanalysis of reported benefits of SSNM-DST (Table 4) reveal that non-tool-related covariates also determine the magnitude of response ratios. These differential responses arising from uncontrolled field, management, and environmental variations may contribute to the limited adoption of SSNM-DST.The results presented in Fig. 4 demonstrate that the yield advantages claimed for the use of SSNM-DST were not consistent across fields with varying initial productivity potentials. While the average yields may improve with the use of these tools, individual farmers experienced mixed results. Specifically, low-producing farmers benefited more from the tools compared to those who already had higher yields through their existing practices (Fig. 4 a). There could be several reasons for these findings. Firstly, low-producing farmers may have been using suboptimal fertilizer and field management techniques, which the tools help address. In such cases, adopting the tools can lead to significant improvements in both yields and returns. Secondly, high-yielding farmers may already be employing optimal fertilizer rates and effective field management practices, reducing the potential for further gains through the advice provided by the tools. Thirdly, farmers may tend to apply excessive fertilizer rates as a precautionary measure to mitigate the risk of crop losses when expecting high yields. These factors highlight that developing the tool in a site-specific manner alone may not be sufficient for widespread adoption among farmers with varying initial production potentials. Andersson et al. (2020) propose considering an 'investment-based' advisory approach to address such heterogeneities.This could create a situation where high-producing farmers, who gain relatively less from the advice, are less inclined to adopt SSNM-DST. On the other hand, low-producing farmers, who stand to benefit the most, may be constrained by limited resources, reducing their capacity to adopt the tool. This suggests that the farmers who would benefit the most from the advice are least likely to implement the tools due to resource constraints, while those who are more resourceendowed are less likely to adopt them as they stand to gain less from the advisories. Therefore, the context-specificity of SSNM-DST becomes essential in addition to their site-specificity. Advice provision should target farmers and fields based on their production potential, emphasizing the need for SSNM-DST to provide options rather than rigid, onesize-fits-all advice. Balancing the trade-off between resource constraints and the necessity of tool-assisted advice is crucial, at least, until the tools are scaled across the majority of the system.Moreover, SSNM-DST predominantly focuses on tailoring advice to heterogeneous biophysical conditions while neglecting heterogeneities among users. This can potentially leave out the poor and vulnerable farmers living in marginal places, and women farmers, reminiscent of the pitfalls in traditional extension systems (Fabregas et al., 2019). This can also raise the question of \"advice for whom?\" If the advice is primarily intended for extension agents who then convey it to smallholder farmers, we encounter the issue of limited coverage. In many countries where smallholder farming is predominant, the ratio of farmers to extension agents is already high (Davis et al., 2010). Under such circumstances, the use of SSNM-DST becomes more challenging as it stretches the already overburdened extension workers with the task of generating and providing site-specific advisory services. Multiple sitespecific advice is required even for a single farm, further hindering the possibility of scaling up these tools. In essence, the SSNM-DST have moved one step ahead compared with the traditional 'blanket' fertilizer recommendation by attuning to in-field heterogeneities in soil and crop characteristics, while remaining 'blanket' in terms of addressing demographic and socioeconomic heterogeneities among users, which potentially thwart adoption of the tools at scale.Although this work tries to explore the potential and challenges in scaling SSNM-DST, some limitations were inevitable. First, the performance of the SSNM-DST appraised here were taken from the claims reported mainly from tool developers. We did not perform any independent performance analysis. This itself was only done from the user perspective. Second, detailed technical appraisal requires exclusive access to the algorithms behind the tools, which is lacking under the current appraisal. Third, given the heterogeneities in the principles behind each of the tools, specific constraints will also vary. The current analysis focuses on aggregate level constraints, with less emphasis on tool-dependent constraints of scaling. Fourth, we could not include the experiences and viewpoints of stakeholders (e.g., extension, policy makers) who have been implementing these tools because of logistics and practical issues. Fifth, the current appraisal could not allow for caseby-case and country-specific variables potentially constraining the scaling of the SSNM-DST, although Jacobs et al. (2018) identify the majority of the bottlenecks in technology scaling to be institutional by nature. This is important because scaling of SSNM-DST can be constrained by enabling environments (i.e., in addition to technical issues), which are highly influenced by country/regional institutional and governance setups. Future appraisals that include those institutional, socio-economic and governance aspects may improve our outlooks.We have utilized a survey-meta-analysis hybrid methodology and systematically appraised the extent of and challenges to scaling decision support tools used for site-specific soil nutrient management in smallholder farming systems. Numerous such tools have been under promotion, and their application has been consistently rising, which is encouraging evidence that the concept of tool-assisted site-specific nutrient management has moved a long way from concept to practice. There is indication that SSNM-DST can improve crop productivity and economic return in smallholder production systems, although the scalability of these tools still needs extensive improvement. Application of these tools has been limited to 'project life cycles' mainly on experimental stations of research institutions and on farms of select 'client' smallholder farmers.This appraisal has clearly revealed that practical issues, including tool complexity and heterogeneous benefits across users, are important tool-and non-tool-related variables with the potential of limiting scalability. While addressing these challenges can improve the potential scalability of SSNM-DST, future appraisals that include institutional, socio-economic, and governance aspects are needed to fully understand and address their current low scalability.Capabilities that enable the tools to store data from previous advice and link it to subsequent advice, which are lacking in all tools appraised in the current work, can gradually enable the tools to serve as a source of data for the next advice. Although some of the tools (such as NE) can store data, the data are stored in formats that are not accessible by the tool during successive decisions. Such capabilities, where information flow becomes multidirectional between farmers and advice providers, assist easy knowledge exchange, documentation, and feedback. These data could be used for other purposes, especially if they could be stored on cloud-based servers where tool developers and other stakeholders can access them. Additionally, capabilities that allow access to legacy big data sources (such as soil maps, slope, climate, and land use maps) that could potentially be used to make decisions site-specific, are also lacking.While our appraisal primarily focuses on the benefits of SSNM-DST for higher crop yields and greater economic returns, it is important to note that profitability can be improved even with lower yields if the overall profit is higher. Producers may prioritize profitability over higher yields and, therefore, it is essential to consider this aspect in assessing the success and desirability of decision support tools. In addition, our study also underscores the importance of addressing technical challenges, securing public support, and considering the specific needs and contexts of end users in order to successfully scale SSNM-DST. Additionally, the impact of non-tool-related factors on the adoption of these tools should be considered. This holistic approach will provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact and effectiveness of site-specific nutrient management tools in supporting sustainable agricultural practices and improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2a4ac05425ef484ad0315f3ff22a0c12","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.fao.org/3/cb2488en/cb2488en.pdf","id":"-432460148"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ac973015-b795-4ef4-adbf-31fb1e023791","content":"The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Dashed lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned..The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO.At its 12th Session in 2009, the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (the Commission) requested the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to prepare The State of the World's Forest Genetic Resources. It stressed that the preparation of this global assessment should be based primarily on country reports on forest genetic resources (i.e. heritable materials maintained within and among tree and other woody plant species that are of actual or potential economic, environmental, scientific or societal value), supported by thematic studies and other available information and knowledge on these resources.Between 2009 and 2010, FAO, in collaboration with Bioversity International and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), informed and consulted the scientific community on the preparation of a series of thematic studies. Groups of experts were established for this purpose and the coordinators of the groups met twice in 2011-2012 to share information and to coordinate the work.The Commission considered a draft of the global assessment at its 14th Session in April 2013 and, based on its findings, agreed on the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation, Sustainable Use and Development of Forest Genetic Resources (Global Plan of Action). Subsequently, the FAO Conference adopted the Global Plan of Action at its 38th Session in June 2013. FAO then published The State of the World's Forest Genetic Resources (FAO, 2014a) and the Global Plan of Action (FAO, 2014b). In the same year, the expert groups also published the key findings of the thematic studies in a special issue of the journal Forest Ecology and Management (see Loo, Souvannavong and Dawson, 2014).Several of the thematic studies included more analyses and in-depth discussions on various aspects related to the conservation, use and development of forest genetic resources than was possible to publish as scientific articles. Moreover, it was not possible to present in The State of the World's Forest Genetic Resources the wealth of information from the country reports and the thematic studies. Therefore, the Commission requested, at its 15th Session in 2015, FAO to make the country reports and the thematic studies available on its website.This publication presents the thematic study on tree genetic resources and the livelihoods of rural communities in the tropics. It provides an overview of the significant benefits of harvesting non-timber forest products from natural and incipiently-or semi-domesticated forest landscapes. Furthermore, it discusses important products and services from a range of local and exotic trees, mostly semi-domesticated and under-researched, which are found growing in smallholders' agroforests. Finally, it also provides information on more widely researched woody perennial commodity crops that may be completely domesticated, are often exotic in their main production centres, and are grown by smallholders in agroforestry systems.The content of this publication is entirely the responsibility of the authors, and does not necessarily represent the views of FAO, or its Members. vii properly quantified. The geographic separation of origin and production centres for these commodity crops presents a dilemma for conservation, which also applies to other widely cultivated tree species.Although tree commodity crops play an important role in supporting rural livelihoods, it will be necessary to better understand the complicating factors that result in land being converted to monoculture production systems, and to understand the impact of singlesource incomes on a community's food and nutritional security. Commodity varieties that are highly productive in mixed farming systems are needed, making use of intraspecific genetic diversity to develop varieties that most favourably interact with the other components of the farming systems.The elemental role played by trees in rural livelihoods in the tropics is apparent in the many uses made of tree products in almost any community, for example, in construction, fencing, furniture, foods (edible fruits, nuts, leaves, gums, spices, oils, etc.), medicines, fibres, fuels and in livestock feed. Some tree products enter local, national and international markets, others are not sold but are used for subsistence and many are of particular cultural significance (Place et al., 2011). Some tree products, such as timber, have an investment role for smallholder producers, while others, such as edible fruit, have a security function, providing food during gaps in staple crop availability (Jamnadass et al., 2011). Similarly, the service functions of trees are readily apparent, such as the shade they provide for people, crops and livestock, and their soil stabilization properties that prevent soil erosion and protect rivers and streams. Tree-based production systems can also support biological, economic and social resilience under anthropogenic climate change (Thorlakson and Neufeldt, 2012).It is not surprising that over a decade ago the World Bank (2008) estimated that forests and treesoutside-forests contributed in some manner to the livelihoods of more than 1.6 billion people globally. The varying level of dependence of different communities and how this changes with time, however, is often not well described or adequately acknowledged in rural development practice (Byron and Arnold, 1997). Partly, this reflects the ubiquity of tree products and services and the numerous ways they have an impact on livelihoods. It also reflects the many different sources of tree products and services, spanning agricultural land and forests, which are characterized in different ways by national government departments of agriculture and forestry, making comparisons difficult (de Foresta et al., 2013). These difficulties help explain why the values of tree products and services for local people have often been neglected at a national policy level. In the cases where good data on value are available, these often refer to large industrial markets for a narrow range of products, such as roundwood, which bear relatively little relationship to local community value, except through limited employment opportunities (FAO, 2010).From a genetic perspective, tree resources exist at different levels of domestication of populations and species, while landscapes are themselves domesticated to a greater or lesser extent. A few forests may be considered completely natural. More often than not, some degree of human management has taken place to create anthropogenic forests (Clement, 1999;Belcher et al., 2005a). Some tree species, especially those producing fruit valued for human consumption, have undergone domestication within forest environments for several millennia and this process remains ongoing today. Wiersum (1997) proposed the use of the term \"the codomestication of forests and trees\" to describe the processes involved when traditional societies manage forests and forest components. The level of domestication and the system within which tree production takes place are clearly interrelated. It is important to consider both together to understand how rural communities benefit In this study, we present an overview of the value of trees for tropical rural communities in the context both of tree domestication level and management setting. The first section of our review is concerned with the significant benefits of harvesting non-timber forest products that generally grow in natural and/or incipiently-or semi-domesticated forest landscapes. The second part is concerned with important products and services from a range of local and exotic trees, mostly semi-domesticated and under-researched, which are found growing in smallholders' agroforests. The third section of the review is concerned with more widely researched woody perennial commodity crops that may be completely domesticated, are often exotic in their main production centres, and are grown by smallholders in agroforestry systems as well as sometimes by larger growers in plantations. This last category of commercially-grown tree commodity crops is not often given much attention in discourses on forests and tree genetic resources (even when the major genetic resources of these crops are still to be found in forests), but their value to smallholders is often greater and better characterized than those of other woody perennials. Their consideration illustrates important wider principles. Further information on the value of trees and tree genetic resources in these three contexts is given in Dawson et al. (2014).Chapter 2The benefits of non-timber forest product harvesting 3The category non-timber forest product (NTFP) is a broad one that covers any product of biological origin other than timber that is derived from forests and other wooded lands. It includes not only products from trees, with which we are concerned here, but products from other plants, animals and fungi. Three prominent examples of tree NTFPs -agarwood, gum arabic and shea butter -are described in Box 1, which illustrates their sometimes high value to local economies.At the time of their review, Pimentel et al. (1997) calculated very approximately that USD 90 billion worth of food and other non-timber forest products were harvested annually from forests and trees in developing countries. The Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) published in 2010 quoted a value of USD 19 billion for non-wood forest product (NWFP) 1 removals worldwide (based on 2005 figures), but data reported by countries and compiled for the FRA report were incomplete (FAO, 2010). Informal trade in unmonitored local markets, direct household provisioning, and the exclusion of wild-harvested resources from most large-scale household surveys (Shackleton et al., 2007;Angelsen et al., 2011;Shackleton et al., 2011a), are all reasons why the FRA figure is an underestimate. The FRA figure does not, for example, adequately capture the importance of the many traditional medicines derived from trees, upon which local communities in lowincome countries often rely for their healthcare needs (World Bank, 2001). The 2010 FRA report separately indicated a value of USD 17 billion annually for wood fuel (2005 figures), but again it is clear that this figure did not adequately capture the importance of tree-based traditional energy sources that enable perhaps two billion people worldwide to cook food (FAO, 2008). For example, in sub-Saharan Africa the use of wood fuel and charcoal are still increasing rapidly, despite attempts to move to alternative energy sources, with the value of the charcoal industry in the region estimated at approximately USD 8 billion in 2007 (World Bank, 2011). This compares with a wood fuel value given in the 2010 FRA report of only USD 1.4 billion annually for the continent of Africa (FAO, 2010).If NTFPs are incorrectly valued, this is not just of academic concern: mis-valuation leads to inappropriate policies that, while conceived to support rural communities, ultimately disfavour them with poorly targeted interventions (Belcher and Schreckenberg, 2007;World Bank, 2008). Systematic methods for quantifying NTFP value are required, which consider the costs of harvesting and the impact on the resource and on market prices of widening extraction (Sheil and Wunder, 2002). If national governments are not to over-or under-state the value of NTFPs for livelihoods, they need to better understand how to interpret existing valuations (Sheil and Wunder, 2002, who illustrate mis-interpretations of NTFP value based on two influential studies: Peters et al., 1989b;Godoy et al., 2000). Proper valuation also requires an understanding of the combinations of assets (social, physical, financial, etc.) required by local communities before they can build sustainable livelihoods (Scoones, 1998).More research attention has been given to the systematic review and meta-analysis of case studies of NTFP value (Belcher et al., 2005b, see also Table 1). This research indicates that the share of forest income from NTFPs as a proportion of total household income is often highest for the most marginalized households in societies, and that NTFPs are, for example, particularly important for women's incomes. The Poverty Environment Network (PEN, www.cifor.org/pen/) has gathered standardized quantitative socioeconomic data on the role of tropical forests in poverty alleviation. Data have been collected from approximately 8 000 households located in 24 low-income nations in Africa, Asia and Latin Agarwood (taken from Jensen and Meilby, 2008;Jensen, 2009, Dawson et al., 2014) Agarwood, a fragrant resin that is used for incense and perfume, is embedded in the trunks, branches and roots of some trees of the genus Aquilaria in Asian forests. By some estimates, it is the world's most valuable non-timber forest product, with a global retail value of between USD 666 million and 2.3 billion annually (2004 figures). One member of the genus, A. crassna, is considered critically endangered as a result of unsustainable harvesting of wild populations. The resin is produced in response to wounding and it is not easily evident from the exterior of a tree that its wood will contain the resin. It has, however, been reported that in the Lao People's Democratic Republic some people have been trained as resin collectors so they can better identify the small fraction of trees suitable for harvesting, thereby reducing unnecessary damage to tree populations. Touré, 2008) Gum arabic, an exudate harvested from wild trees of Acacia senegal and A. seyal across dryland sub-Saharan Africa, is used as an additive in the global food and drinks industry. The Sudan 1 , Chad and Nigeria are believed to be the biggest producers. The available data suggest that around 65 000 metric tons were exported from Africa in  Becker and Statz, 2003;Lovett, 2004;Masters and Addaquay, 2011) Shea butter, extracted from the kernel of the shea tree (or karité, Vitellaria paradoxa) that grows in the semi-arid parklands of sub-Saharan Africa, has been traded for centuries and is important both locally and internationally. It has been suggested that more than 150 000 metric tons of kernels are harvested from wild and semi-wild trees annually. The fat is used locally for skin treatment and cooking, with shea butter estimated to be a food of regional importance for over 10 million households. Shea kernels and shea butter are widely exported from Africa, with an annual export value from Ghana alone of more than USD 30 million in 2008. Exported shea butter is widely used in both confectionery and skin product manufacture.Three prominent non-timber forest products important to rural populations in the tropics: agarwood, gum arabic and shea butter America (Angelsen et al., 2011). Analysis revealed results consistent with the surveys described in Table 1, with detailed implications for policy interventions related to livelihoods, gender and tenure.Many tropical communities incorporate NTFPs into their diets to add variety to staple foods, and some are dependent on edible NTFPs outside staple crop production seasons (Arnold et al., 2011). Tree foods are often better sources of micronutrients, fat, fibre, protein, etc. than staple crops, and can play an important role in providing these key dietary components (Leakey, 1999;Vinceti et al., 2008). An analysis of wild food availability in 22 countries in Asia and Africa (36 studies covered) found a mean of 90 to 100 species with recorded food value per location, including many plant and animal products from forests and woodlands (Bharucha and Pretty, 2010). However, just because a wide range of wild food products are available, it does not follow that they will be consumed. For example, Termote et al. (2012) showed that although a wide variety of edible wild food plants were found around the city of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, these plants did not (with a few exceptions) significantly contribute to human diets, despite dietary deficiencies in the area. Lack of use in this case may have been due to the labour costs of collecting and processing the wild food plants, as well as limited community knowledge on the value of particular (potential) foods.Examples of reviews and meta-analyses of the importance of NTFPs for local communities (taken from Dawson et al., 2014). NTFP trade improved livelihoods, with the involvement of women having a positive effect on intra-household equity. However, trade sometimes increased inequality between households. Inability to make financial investments limited developments to increase product quality and quantity. Kusters et al. (2006)   Comparison of 10 different plant NTFPs harvested by 18 local communities in Bolivia and Mexico Supply chains provided economic safety nets, spread income across time and could provide stepping stones to a non-poor life. Harvesting was one of the few cash-generating opportunities for many women. Shifting from subsistence to commercial extraction sometimes reduced access to the poorest in society, due to harder-to-negotiate controls on harvesting.Collection of data on bamboo from 22 countries (5 Africa, 13 Asia and the Pacific, 4 Latin America)Total bamboo area was estimated to be more than 36 million ha, with India having the largest share. Almost a third of the bamboo area in Asia was reported as planted.Use was observed to be growing rapidly in Latin America and Africa. The annual export market for bamboo was observed to be USD billions. Volumes traded and used locally for building, furniture, food, fuel, etc. were expected to be much greater.* For individual case studies, see Kusters and Belcher (2004) for Asia, Sunderland and Ndoye (2004) for Africa, Alexiades and Shanley (2005) for Latin America.Mesoamerica and the Amazon have been centres for research on ancient forest management (Peters, 2000;Levis et al., 2012). Southeast-Asian forests have also been widely studied in this regard (Wiersum, 1997;Michon, 2005), but African forests less so (Maranz and Wiesman, 2003). Research indicates that humans have manipulated a range of trees and palms 2 for food through selective harvesting, managed regeneration and cultivation for several millennia (Clement, 2004). In the case of the Amazon, it appears that several tree species were completely domesticated long ago, while others were widely cultivated in ancient times but not fully domesticated (Clement, 1999). Amazonian fruit trees and palms for which changes associated with ancient human management have been observed (especially in western Amazonia) include abiu (Pouteria caimito), Amazon tree grape (Pourouma cecropiifolia), araza (Eugenia stipitata), biriba (Rollinia mucosa), peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) and sapota (Quararibea cordata) (Clement, 1989). Significant changes in fruit size, proportion of useable product and ability to be propagated in areca (Areca catechu), coconut (Cocos nucifera) and date (Phoenix dactylifera) palms are attributed to ancient human selection (Clement, 1992). An expanding list of global studies on ancient domestications includes many more food trees (Clement, 2004). After European colonial contact, Amerindian populations declined in the Amazon, resulting in an erosion of the rich tree crop genetic heritage they had previously established. Residual effects of pre-Columbian forest management remain in Amazonian forests, however, including high density aggregations of useful trees in apparently primary forests (Peters et al., 1989a). These aggregations are often close to ancient anthropogenic soils known as 'dark earths', originating from past 2 Palms are not true trees. However, as woody perennials that are often found in forests and as plants that occupy ecological niches similar to trees, they are classified as trees for the purpose of this review.habitation and field management (Clement and Junqueira, 2010; similar soils are also observed in Asian forests, e.g. Sheil et al., 2012). Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) provides the most famous example, with the trees being found in dense stands (5 to 20 trees per ha) in proximity to dark earths and to other areas of pre-Columbian landscape transformation throughout eastern and central Amazonia, but not uniformly in western Amazonia (Shepard and Ramirez, 2011). Levels of aggregation and genetic analyses suggest Brazil nut was distributed across Amazonia within the last few thousand years (Clement et al., 2010). The ancient human dissemination of germplasm of numerous Amazonian trees appears to have taken place both within the region and to locations outside it (Lentz, 2000).New insights into ancient cultivation and domestication that help guide future management come from molecular marker analyses of patterns of genetic variation in fruit and nut trees (Jamnadass et al., 2009). A review of such studies, as well as studies on other Amazonian crops, suggests that while the periphery of the Amazon Basin has had an important role in origins, centres of genetic diversity are generally located through the centre of the basin, along the major whitewater rivers where large pre-Colombian human populations developed (Clement et al., 2010). Taking this difference between the periphery and the centre into account is important in conservation programmes in the region. Molecular marker studies that compare and contrast tree stands in agricultural landscapes with those in forests can be particularly helpful in determining past human impacts and in providing recommendations for future conservation and use (Box 2).Further commercializing wild NTFP harvesting has been widely promoted by governments to support livelihoods and as an approach to support forest conservation. This is based on the theory that an increase in resource value provides an incentive to local harvesters to manage the particular resource and the associated surrounding forest more sustainably. Experience shows, however, that the contributions of NTFP commercialization to sustainable harvesting and biodiversity conservation in a forest setting are generally questionable (Newton, 2008;Sunderland et al., 2011). In fact, higher livelihood outcomes are generally associated with lower environmental outcomes that include the over-exploitation of natural NTFP stands (Homma, 1996;Schippmann et al., 2002). Normally, therefore, increased trade will not reconcile development needs and forest conservation goals (Kusters et al., 2006). A focus on NTFP commercialization primarily for forest conservation objectives is unlikely to be successful.It is better to focus on livelihood benefits while trying to minimize conservation concerns (Belcher and Schreckenberg, 2007).A pertinent example that has received wide attention is harvesting fruit from the wild argan tree (Argania spinosa), which is endemic to Morocco. Argan oil, extracted from the kernels of the fruit, is one of the most expensive edible oils in the world, sometimes selling for more than USD 300 per litre. Development agencies have aggressively promoted the win-win aim of simultaneously benefiting rural people and the health of the argan forest though further commercialization. However, while a booming market in argan oil has certainly contributed to the local economy and has led to better educational outcomes for school children, especially for girls, commercialization has also clearly contributed to forest degradation (Lybbert et al., 2011). One widely-quoted approach to alleviate pressure on natural NTFP stands in such situations is to promote cultivation as an alternative product source. As related below, however, the available evidence Archaeological data suggest that inga species have been subject to domestication since ancient times. In the case of Inga edulis, perhaps the most widely planted agroforestry tree in Peru, the species is grown for the edible, sweet sarcotesta found around the seed, as well as to restore soil fertility, to provide shade for crops and as firewood. Due to domestication for fruit traits, the pods of I. edulis trees planted in smallholdings in the Peruvian Amazon are frequently longer and thicker than those on trees in neighbouring natural forests. To assess past domestication, geographically proximate planted and forest populations at each of five sites in the region were tested with molecular markers. Results indicated that cultivated inga was genetically differentiated from adjacent forest populations and was, therefore, unlikely to have originated from them, while different planted populations had different genetic compositions, suggesting multiple external sources of germplasm.Existing recommendations for conserving I. edulis in the Peruvian Amazon region have promoted collecting seed from forests and planting these in neighbouring farms. Molecular data suggest, however, that due to differing genetic compositions this may be inappropriate, as it could result in the break-up of co-adapted gene complexes in both forest and farmland material. Although molecular markers also revealed that cultivated stands were less diverse than forest stands at each of the sites tested, farm stands were still relatively diverse. Inbreeding effects in farm stands, therefore, appear unlikely, and a valid conservation strategy in agricultural landscapes is, therefore, to focus on maintaining good collection and regeneration practices within existing stands without introducing new wild germplasm.Using molecular markers to determine cultivated tree origins: the case of Inga edulis in the Peruvian Amazon (taken from Hollingsworth et al., 2005;Dawson et al., 2008) indicates that planting will not necessarily prevent wild stands from being over exploited (and may indeed have the opposite effect; Dawson et al., 2013).In most cases of tree NTFP extraction, the links between the sustainability of harvesting and the population genetics of the tree have not yet been considered to any great extent, despite the importance of factors such as the method of collection, the type of breeding system and the level of between-individual connectivity in stands for supporting regeneration of the resource. When some consideration has been given (e.g. Alexiades and Shanley, 2005), the quoted impacts of harvesting on production through dysgenic selection, genetic erosion, etc. are mostly suppositions. How harvesting affects genetic diversity, and how this influences productivity in the short-, medium-and long-term, remain important topics for future research.Chapter 3The benefits of agroforestry practices Agroforestry -the integration of trees with annual crop cultivation, livestock production and other farm activities (Garrity, 2004) -is practiced by more than 1.2 billion people worldwide (Leakey, 2010). Agroforestry systems range from open parkland assemblages, to dense imitations of tropical rainforests such as home gardens, to planted mixtures of only a few species of trees and crops, with different levels of human management of the various components (www.worldagroforestry. org). Zomer et al. (2014) estimated that more than 900 million people, including many tropical smallholders, live in farm landscapes with more than 10 percent tree cover, where trees provide a variety of important products and services (Figure 1). When grown on farms, tree products are sometimes described as agroforestry tree products (AFTPs) to differentiate them from timber and NTFPs harvested from natural and anthropogenic forests and woodlands (Simons and Leakey, 2004). This distinction is useful because interventions to promote NTFP (and 'wild' timber) and AFTP use are clearly often different, although gradations between natural forests, anthropogenic forests and agroforests, etc. mean that sometimes there is no clear boundary between production categories (Byron and Arnold, 1997).Based on a compilation of information in the Agroforestree Database (AFTD) maintained by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), an overview of the extensive range of trees that can be involved in supporting local peoples' livelihoods is given in Table 2. The most frequent function listed in the  The number of tree species in the Agroforestree Database (AFTD) mentioned as providing various tree functions of importance to smallholders' livelihoods, and the known geographic distribution of these species (modified from Dawson et al., 2014). Based on the number of mentions summed across functions compared to the total number of species in the database (650), it is evident that many species perform several functions. Data illustrate that smallholders can use a wide range of both indigenous (I) and exotic (E) trees for a wide range of products and services. * The AFTD is an open-access resource (www.worldagroforestry.org/output/agroforestree-database) that contains data on a wide range of products and services provided by trees. Data are presented on the number of species given in the database and are used for a particular purpose that can be found in a particular geographic region, based on whether they are indigenous or exotic in origin to a region. # The AFTD contains global data on species distributions, summarized here into regions according to \"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_by_continent for Africa, Oceania and South America and to www.nationsonline. org/oneworld/asia.htm for South Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and Western Asia and the Middle East. A factor determining the higher number of total references to Africa is the greater attention given to the region during the compilation of the database.AFTD was trees for timber production, followed by medicine and then fuel. Most tree species were listed as having multiple uses, illustrating the range and flexibility of products and services that trees provide to support livelihoods and that potentially promote the resilience of production systems. Compilation indicates that both indigenous and exotic trees, in approximately equal proportions (in terms of the species in the AFTD), are important for smallholders. The value of indigenous trees is demonstrated well by the case of participatory tree domestication which is described below, while the value of exotics is seen clearly in the case of commercial wood production (Box 3), and in the cases of fodder provision and tree commodity crops (both explained further in the text below).Large commercial markets for wood produced by smallholders often depend on exotic trees, as illustrated by acacia and teak cultivation in Viet Nam and Indonesia, respectively.Acacia production in Viet Nam (taken from Fisher and Gordon, 2007;Griffin et al., 2011) In the 1980s, exotic acacias from Australia were tested in species and provenance trials across Viet Nam to identify fastgrowing materials suitable for industrial wood production. Provenances of Acacia mangium, A. auriculiformis and selected hybrid clones were chosen for wide planting, with hybrids now being the most widely grown material.By 2011, approximately 700 000 ha of exotic acacia plantation had been established in Viet Nam, with half managed by smallholders and the rest by forest companies and state enterprises. So many smallholders have adopted acacia because of the short rotation of pulpwood and small saw logs (as little as five years), the availability of suitable land for planting, land reforms conferring unambiguous ownership of trees, access to industrial wood markets, the wide availability of appropriate germplasm for planting and simple farm establishment requirements.Estimated annual returns to smallholders from wood sales of standing trees are approximately USD 100 million. Many smallholders have received substantial additional earnings from participating in wood harvest and transport. An estimated 50 percent of Viet Nam's 2010 hard wood chip export of 3.5 million dry metric tons was acacia, worth approximately USD 162 million. Value added by downstream wood processors, such as furniture manufacturers, has contributed strongly to employment and revenues. The cost of the research to identify and provide improved acacia germplasm to farmers has been rewarded many times over in the increased incomes earned by farmers and processors.Teak production in Indonesia (taken from Roshetko et al., 2012) Teak (Tectona grandis) appears to have been transferred from elsewhere in Asia to Indonesia as early as the second century AD. Indonesia is now the second largest producer of teak timber globally. A state-owned enterprise is the largest manager of plantations, but these satisfy less than one third of the industrial demand of more than 1.5 million cubic metres per year. An estimated 1.5 million smallholders on Java manage approximately 440 000 ha of agroforestry systems where teak is the dominant tree crop. These teak production systems provide on average 40 percent of total household income (including teak sales to furniture manufacturers, and sales of agricultural crops and other timbers produced with teak). In other parts of Indonesia, teak is a lesser component of production in an additional 800 000 ha of smallholder agroforestry systems.Teak trees planted by smallholders are generally of unknown provenance, with, for example, approximately 70 percent of farmers in Gunungkidul District, Yogyakarta collecting wildings for establishing new stands from poorly characterized existing local stands. Only around 12 percent of surveyed farmers in the district used higher quality germplasm, provided primarily by government reforestation programmes. As has been the case with acacia wood production in Viet Nam, substantial benefits to Indonesian smallholders would follow if they were able to access improved teak germplasm and if they adopted improved farm management practices.As with harvesting tree products from natural forests and woodlands, the livelihood value of smallholder agroforestry tree cultivation and management is often poorly quantified. In a review of the value of agroforestry in Africa, however, Place et al. (2011) indicated soil fertility replenishment and fodder provision for farm animals as key examples with large benefits. Significant yield benefits for staple crops have been achieved by planting leguminous, nitrogenfixing fertilizer trees to improve soil fertility, although the level of yield response varies by soil type and the particular agroforestry technology (Sileshi et al., 2008). As well as increasing average yields, planting fertilizer trees has been shown to stabilize crop production over drought years in southern Africa, and to improve crop rain use efficiency, both important for supporting food security in the context of anthropogenic climate change (Sileshi et al., 2011(Sileshi et al., , 2012)). An example of a soil fertility replenishment project in southern Africa is the Agroforestry Food Security Programme (AFSP) in Malawi, which has encouraged farmers to plant indigenous and exotic fertilizer trees. By 2011, the AFSP had reached approximately 180 000 farmers, leading on average (although not always) to improvements in maize yields, to more food secure months per year, and to greater dietary diversity (Figure 2; CIE, 2011). Improved green fertilizer technologies have wide relevance and appropriate approaches are being promoted through the tropics and elsewhere to substitute for or enhance mineral fertilizer application (Ajayi et al., 2011).In addition to planting trees, supporting their natural regeneration in agricultural land can result in significant yield benefits for staple crops. The case of farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR) of faidherbia (Faidherbia albida) and other leguminous trees in dryland agroforests (parklands) in semi-arid and sub-humid Africa is a good example. Faidherbia has an unusual (reverse) phenology in that it flushes in the dry season, providing animal fodder and shade at a crucial period of the year, and sheds leaves in the wet season, providing extra nitrogen to growing crops through leaf litter at the same time as minimizing light competition with crops (Bayala et al., 2011). Encouraged by a policy shift that has awarded tree tenure to farmers, as well as by more favourable weather, since 1985 in Niger FMNR has led to the re-greening of approximately 5 million ha (Sendzimir et al., 2011). Improvements in sorghum and millet yields, and positive relationships with dietary diversity and household income, have been observed (Place and Binam, 2013). Nitrogen fixation illustrates how important it is to understand the interactions between trees and microorganisms. Considerable gains are possible in smallholder production through appropriateMaize yields in five districts in Malawi with and without the intervention of the Agroforestry Food Security Programme. A review of the programme in five districts surveyed 283 households that were beneficiaries (participants in the programme who planted fertilizer trees) and 200 that were not. In four out of five districts, maize yields were on average higher for beneficiaries than nonbeneficiaries. Bars represent 95 percent confidence intervals: in three cases (Dedza, Mulanje, Salima) the difference between categories was statistically significant (figure provided by Gudeta Sileshi, ICRAF). Non-beneficiary inoculation with microorganisms in tree nurseries, and through other related measures, especially in heavily degraded lands and when tree species are introduced to new areas (Box 4).In the case of the key example of fodder provision, more than 200 000 East-African smallscale dairy farmers grow trees and shrubs as a supplementary animal feed in response to one initiative (Place et al., 2009). The increase in milk yield achieved by these farmers has allowed them to provide more milk to urban consumers and to raise extra revenue from milk sales that equates to more than USD 100 per cow per year. Networks of small-scale seed dealers have evolved to supply the increased demand for fodder tree seed in the East Africa region; dealers improve their livelihoods through seed sales, and are also often themselves dairy farmers, so they can benefit twice if they also grow tree fodder (Wambugu et al., 2011).Tree genetic composition has a significant impact on the amount of fodder produced and its feed utility. For example, in calliandra (Calliandra A wide range of positive interactions exist between trees and other plants and microorganisms, and these must be taken into account when considering the productivity of agroforestry systems (Cardoso and Kuyper, 2006;Andrews et al., 2010). Tropical trees form symbioses mainly with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, though there are also important ectomycorrhizal (ECM) associations. Nitrogen-fixing trees and shrubs are predominantly members of the Leguminosae, in symbiosis with the nodule bacteria rhizobia. However, leguminous tree species are also AM, and effective tree-AM-rhizobial associations can be formed. Important non-legume nitrogen-fixing trees such as beach she-oak (Casuarina equisetifolia) are actinorrhizal, forming root-nodule symbioses with the soil actinomycete Frankia (Sprent and Parsons, 2000).Many short-term studies have demonstrated that rhizobial and mycorrhizal inocula vary in their ability to promote tree growth; variation is also found between tree species and provenances in their dependence and responsiveness. When seedlings of six African trees were inoculated with four different ECM inocula, for example, a significant effect of inoculation on early height growth was observed for only one species, but the same species and an additional four showed significant effects of inoculation on root growth and total dry weight seven months after planting (Diédhiou et al., 2005). In another short-term study, Lesueur et al. (2001) identified a subset of six rhizobial and five AM isolates, from a wide range tested, with good potential for promoting growth in calliandra.Less common long-term studies have also revealed important features about tree-microorganism interactions. In West Africa, Sanginga et al. (1994) reported the persistence of rhizobial inoculants and their beneficial effects in terms of nitrogen fixation and biomass production 10 years after inoculation in a leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) based agroforestry system. In a three-year study of AM fungi in Mexico, Allen et al. (2003) showed that effects on tree growth depended on where inoculum was collected (soil from early or late successional forest) and the age of trees. Reddell et al. (1988) indicated that, in South Australia, inoculation of river she-oak (Casuarina cunninghamiana) seedlings with Frankia prior to planting out resulted in a doubling of wood production for two provenances (44 months later), while another provenance did not respond.Inoculating trees long after planting can also influence production. When 10-year-old gum arabic trees growing in a nitrogen-deficient soil with poor indigenous rhizobia were inoculated with rhizobia, enhanced gum yields and a higher proportion of gum producing trees were reported in the year after inoculation (Faye et al., 2006). The mean gum yield of inoculated trees was over 400 g compared to less than 300 g for trees that were not inoculated. The response to inoculation depended on sufficient rainfall prior to tapping.The importance of symbiotic associations between trees and microorganisms calothyrsus), a tree introduced from Latin America that is widely used for fodder in East Africa, leaf production varies widely among provenances, as does digestibility (Tuwei et al., 2003). During early modern calliandra introductions into East Africa in the 1970s and 1980s, little attention was paid to these attributes, as the tree was brought into the region primarily for wood fuel production. It was only later that the (more important) fodder application was widely recognized. Current widely-used calliandra germplasm in the region is, therefore, not optimal for fodder production; new seed introductions of improved fodder yield and quality would bring significant benefits for East Africa's dairy farmers (Lillesø et al., 2011). Genetic variation in fodder quality for most native African trees has not been studied, but significant provenance differences in leaf protein and the readily-digestible fraction of organic matter have been found when researched; for example, this is the case for the native African shrub combretum (Combretum aculeatum) (Fernandez-Rivera and Weber, 2000). This observation again illustrates the value of genetic selection when cultivating trees for fodder.The important role of smallholder cultivation of tree fruits in supporting food and nutritional security and incomes in sub-Saharan Africa was reviewed by Jamnadass et al. (2011). In Kenya, for example, a 2004 survey of more than 900 households found that over 90 percent grew fruits, with at least one-quarter growing banana (Musa spp.), avocado (Persea americana) and mango (Mangifera indica); over two-thirds of households that reported fruit production harvested from at least four fruit species, while over half sold some fruit (Frank Place, unpublished observations). Similarly, in a 2009 survey of more than 1 100 rural households in Malawi, at least half consumed mango and/or papaya (Carica papaya) and onethird consumed oranges (Citrus sinensis), among other fruits, most of which were harvested from their own farm trees (Ajayi et al., 2010).Despite the presence of fruit in farmers' diets, average consumption of fruit in sub-Saharan Africa is low, especially in East Africa (Ruel et al., 2005). One reason is that poor households that must buy food to meet basic energy needs focus on staples such as maize and rice that are relatively cheap sources of concentrated carbohydrate. As incomes increase, however, expenditure analysis shows that households purchase more fruits (Ruel et al., 2005). As incomes grow in sub-Saharan Africa due to economic development, domestic markets for fruit should, therefore, grow by about 5 percent per year over the next ten or so years, taking into account human population increases and urbanization (Jamnadass et al., 2011). The potential for farmers to boost their incomes by meeting this increased demand by consumers for fruit is high, but it requires more efficient production and delivery to consumers than currently occurs. Women farmers in particular could further benefit, since harvesting and processing fruit are often seen as activities that fit within their domains of activity. As fruit production becomes more commercially profitable, however, businesses may be co-opted by men, so specific interventions may be required to maintain the involvement of women (Jamnadass et al., 2011). Any extra incomes women receive are more likely to be used to purchase other foods for household consumption than are incomes received by men, thus better supporting children's food and nutritional security.Another opportunity to influence child nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa is through home-grown school feeding programmes that link schools with local agricultural producers of fruit, vegetables, etc. to promote diverse, nutritionally-balanced diets (WFP, 2009). Developing producer groups that can supply the rapidly-expanding supermarket sector in the region can support farmers and consumers, allowing farmers to better negotiate with retailers and meet supermarkets' quantity requirements and quality standards (Neven and Reardon, 2004).Special potential for cultivating fruit trees in tropical nations lies in the great biological diversity within (see below) and between indigenous species that are found growing in forests and that have to date been under-researched and under-valued by the scientific community, by governments (Jamnadass et al., 2011) and (sometimes) by local people themselves (see the case above of Termote et al., 2012). In the past, decisions on which tree species farmers should be encouraged to plant were based on researchers' and extensionists' own opinions of what was important. Now, systematic procedures for species priority-setting consider the views of local communities, market intermediaries, consumers and policy makers (Maghembe et al., 1998;Faye et al., 2011). These procedures consider the different interests of male and female producers and consumers, since gender is a key factor in determining which tree species, cultivars and products are deemed valuable (Assogbadjo et al., 2008). Another way to set priorities for cultivating food trees is to consider the nutritional gaps present in communities and then devise portfolios of locally-available food tree species that can counter these deficits. Portfolios are designed to provide important nutrients throughout the year based on the nutritional profiles and harvest times of the constituent tree components (as illustrated in Figure 3  A fruit tree portfolio consisting of nine species fruiting at different times of the year, based on indigenous trees in Malawi (modified from Jamnadass et al., 2011). Some of the constituent species of a portfolio might be cultivated, while others might grow wild on farms, forests and woodlands. At least one species in the given portfolio is ripe every month, including those traditional periods of hunger that occur when there is a lull in the production of staple crops (around January and February in Malawi). Comparing Figure 3 with Table 3, approximately 50 percent of the vitamin C needs of an adult man could be met by consuming 100 g daily of the fruit pulp of either of two species, Azanza garckeana (azanza) or Strychnos cocculoides (bush orange) during the period from November to March. Consuming only 25 g daily of the vitamin C-rich Adansonia digitata (baobab) fruit pulp would provide all the vitamin C required for the rest of the year, excluding October.Some examples of food tree species determined by systematic priority-setting to be important to promote in sub-Saharan Africa are listed in the Appendix; similar lists can be described for other tree functions and for other locations. As preferences sometimes change with time, priorities must be revisited periodically (every decade or so: Clement et al., 2004). Anthropogenic climate change is another important consideration in determining what trees should be planted where (Dawson et al., 2011;Alfaro et al., 2014). Current and future potential vegetation maps plotted under different climate scenarios help to make planting decisions by showing where particular tree species may be able to grow well both now and in the future (van Breugel et al., 2011).Consciously or unconsciously, human societies have selected for advantageous genetic variation in a range of trees over millennia (see above; Clement, 1992Clement, , 2004)). Choosing not only the right tree species to cultivate, but also the right genetic material, is important because genetic variation in production traits can be high within and between wild and semi-wild populations (White et al., 2007). The appropriate selection and capture for cultivation of suitable genotypes from this existing diversity can provide large genetic gains that might otherwise be achieved only through costlyVitamin A and C content in the fruit pulp of nine tree species native to Malawi that were found growing wild and cultivated in farmers' fields. The vitamin content varies greatly among species, with small quantities of some fruits able to provide recommended daily intakes. Around 50 million children are at risk of vitamin A deficiency in Africa, which is the continent's third greatest public health problem after HIV/AIDS and malaria. Vitamin C is also important in the absorption of iron (Black et al., 2008). A diverse range of appropriately chosen species can provide vitamins throughout the year (compare with Figure 3). All values shown are based on samples collected in Malawi (modified from Saka et al., 2008); however, vitamin content can vary significantly between trees of the same species (Stadlmayr et al., 2013). Recommended daily intakes (300 µg for vitamin A, 45 mg for vitamin C) are taken from WHO and FAO (2004) (for a male aged 19 to 65 years).and time-consuming breeding from a smaller gene pool of variation.The limited evidence collected from a range of African tree fruits of importance to rural communities illustrates the high level of variation in yield, fruit size, shape and composition that can still be found in natural and semi-natural populations (Jamnadass et al., 2011). For example, a more than four-fold difference in average seed yield per fruit was observed between trees within wild populations of one species of the edible oilproducing genus allanblackia (Allanblackia spp.) in Cameroon (Figure 4; Jamnadass et al., 2010). In semi-domesticated safou (Dacryodes edulis) in the same country, locally selecting the best types could result in a five-fold or more increase in the economic value of the fruit compared to currently widely planted types (Waruhiu et al., 2004). Similarly, greater than two-fold variation between trees in the vitamin C content of fruit pulp was found in wild East African stands of marula (Sclerocarya birrea) (Thiongo and Jaenicke, 2000). These observations suggest that the targeted collection of superior trees from wild and semiwild populations could vastly improve productivity. However, the extent of the genetic gain that can be achieved has to be confirmed in field trials that control for the environmental variation found within and between natural tree stands (Akinnifesi et al., 2008;Kalinganire et al., 2008).Cloning fruit trees can capture gains in multiple traits simultaneously, accelerate production, and provide the uniformity in product required by some markets (Leakey, 2004). Different combinations of fruit traits can be captured in clones depending on end purpose (e.g. large fleshy fruit combined with small kernels for clones to supply the fresh food market, low fruit flesh and large kernels when oil is to be extracted from kernels for the oil market; Leakey and Page, 2006). To avoid the Variation between individual trees in seed weight per fruit for Allanblackia floribunda (one of nine species in the genus Allanblackia). In this example, 40 fruits were sampled from each of 57 trees from a single population in Cameroon over a single season. The weight of the seeds varied substantially, suggesting the value of a targeted collection approach for selecting superior germplasm for farmers to plant (figure taken from Jamnadass et al., 2010). manifestation of incompatibility mechanisms that prevent the fertilization of genetically identical or highly-related trees and that lead to abortion and limited fruit set, clonal planting may require using a mix of clones rather than single clones (Leakey and Akinnifesi, 2008).Significant genetic variation in trees important for smallholders for a range of additional uses beyond fruit production, including for timber (Box 3, Sotelo Montes et al., 2006;Weber and Sotelo Montes, 2008), for fodder (see above) and for medicine (Kadu et al., 2012), has been observed (Ray, 2002;White et al., 2007;Mohan Jain and Priyadarshan, 2009). This genetic diversity is often exploited sub-optimally in small-scale production because growers are unable to gain access to improved germplasm (see more below; Lillesø et al., 2011). This limits yield, quality and profitability.A new way of domesticating trees, referred to in the literature as the participatory domestication approach, was developed in close collaboration between scientists and farmers. The approach involves combining scientific advances in germplasm collection, tree selection, clone propagation, food processing, etc. with local communities' experiences of the trees. It has been used to bring a range of valuable indigenous fruit and nut trees into cultivation (Leakey et al., 2005(Leakey et al., , 2007;;Tchoundjeu et al., 2006Tchoundjeu et al., , 2008)).Traditional knowledge is used in accordance with local benefit sharing under the Convention on Biological Diversity (Lombard and Leakey, 2010). By supporting the domestication of a range of different trees chosen by farmers who are guided in their choices by markets and other considerations, the approach is able to buffer the production and market risks that could result from focusing on an individual species (Tchoundjeu et al., 2010). An important aspect is the use of simple clonal propagation methods to reduce the time to maturity and provide fruit and nuts more quickly for farmers to consume and sell (Leakey, 2004).The participatory domestication approach is applied by farmers in their own farms and tree nurseries. Farmers are motivated to participate not by subsidies but by a desire to learn and apply new skills. The strategy is usually focused initially on satisfying the domestic needs of households and then grows by producing planting material for sale to other farmers, and by commercializing tree products. Significant impacts have been achieved when the method has been applied in the humid forest margins of Central Africa, where indigenous fruit and nut trees are highly valued in the local economy (e.g. Ayuk et al., 1999;Awono et al., 2002;Degrande et al., 2006;Schreckenberg et al., 2006), and where natural and semi-natural tree populations containing variable phenotypes are still found in forests and partially cleared forest land close to farms (Box 5; Tchoundjeu et al., 2010). The approach is extended through rural resource centres managed by local communities that: train farmers in how to propagate and manage trees; maintain stock plants for vegetative propagation; link with smaller nurseries to provide germplasm more widely; and provide fruit processing facilities and business training. Centres are also venues for farmers to meet and form associations that allow them to market their products and obtain services more effectively (Asaah et al., 2011).Cultivating and managing trees in smallholder agroforestry systems are often seen as means to conserve their inter-and intra-specific diversity. This role of smallholder agroforests in conservation is based on two assumptions: first, that the trees planted and/or retained in agricultural landscapes by farmers are an important reservoir of local biodiversity; and, second, that cultivating trees as an alternative source of product reduces extractive harvesting from neighbouring forests and woodlands (Dawson et al., 2013). Evidence for the importance of agroforests as reservoirs of local biodiversity (termed circa situm conservation) in smallholdings is strong. For example, Garen et al. (2011) identified a total of 99 tree species utilized, planted and/or protected in farmland in Los Santos and Rio Hato, Panama. One-third of these species were valued by farmers for human food and similar proportions for wood and living fences. Similarly, Marjokorpi and Ruokolainen (2003) identified more than 120 tree species in forest gardens in two areas of West Kalimantan, Indonesia; farmers indicated that approximately 30 percent of the species were used for edible fruit and latex and in other non-destructive ways, while around 50 percent were used for timber and were otherwise harvested destructively. Again, Sonwa et al. (2007) identified 206 tree species in cacao agroforestry plots in three sub-regions of Cameroon, where farmers indicated 17 percent of species were used primarily for food, 22 percent for timber and 8 percent for medicine; foodproducing trees were observed in higher densities in agroforests close to the urban centre of Yaoundé, indicating the importance of the sale of tree foods to urban populations. While some of the tree species in the examples above were of exotic origin and, therefore, their agroforest stands were not of much or any conservation value, in each of the above cases there were more indigenous than exotic species present (Dawson et al., 2013).The positive role that tree species diversity (and intra-specific diversity) has been shown to play sometimes in increasing both overall productivity and resilience in farming systems (Steffan-Dewenter et al., 2007) supports opportunities for circa situm conservation. Current levels of farmland tree species diversity may not, however, be sustainable. For example, Rolim and Chiarello (2004) and Sambuichi and Haridasan (2007) demonstrated that shade cocoa production systems transition to lower and less valuable (from a conservation perspective) farmland tree species diversity over time. Furthermore, Lengkeek et al. (2005) and Kehlenbeck et al. (2011) indicated that exotic species of limited conservation concern could dominate species-rich agroforests in overall abundance terms. In some circumstances, exotic trees can significantly threaten local biodiversity by invading cultivated and natural ecosystems, and this has to be weighed carefully against the Surveys of a programme promoting the participatory domestication of indigenous fruit and nut trees in Cameroon considered impacts on households' incomes, on farmers' health and nutrition, and on cultural and social well-being. Programme participants achieved increased incomes from the sales of fruits from locally-selected, clonallypropagated cultivars of species such as safou and bush mango (Irvingia gabonensis and I. wombolu), and from selling selected fruit tree nursery stock to other farmers for planting. Propagation methods taught for indigenous fruits and nuts were also being applied to exotic fruits. Revenues from some participating tree nurseries amounted to thousands of USD annually, depending on the size of the nursery and the length of time it had been in operation. Increased incomes were used to pay for school fees, health care and to help develop other small-scale enterprises. More fruit was evident in the diet of approximately 50 percent of local-adopters, while participatory domestication led to a reduction in human migration from rural to urban areas; this was because young people stayed in villages to engage in new farming activities and to benefit from new business opportunities. Farmers involved in participatory domestication gained respect in their communities, better communication skills and additional local responsibilities.Impacts of the participatory domestication approach in Cameroon (taken from Tchoundjeu et al., 2010;Asaah et al., 2011) benefits from planting (see, e.g. Richardson et al., 2011 for the case of the useful, but sometimes invasive, Australian acacias; Ewel et al., 1999).Another concern limiting the long-term conservation value of agroforests is the very low density of many tree species found within them. For example, of the 297 tree species identified in Central Kenyan farms by Lengkeek et al. (2005), more than 40 percent occurred at a density of less than 0.1 mature trees per ha. The presence of these (mostly forest-remnant) trees in the farm landscape is vulnerable to the decision-making processes of individual farmers on whether to cut or retain particular specimens, and their regeneration will be limited if cross-pollination is required but restricted by the absence of neighbours (Lowe et al., 2005).Domestication processes always result in shifts in distribution and/or losses in genetic diversity in the organism being domesticated (Box 6), but impacts depend on the domestication method adopted, with the participatory approach described above providing a good balance between immediate productivity gains for trees and conserving sufficient genetic variation to support their longer term use (Leakey, 2010). When bringing previously wild tree species into cultivation in farmland, it is essential to increase their yields through selection, since otherwise more productive staple crops will dominate the cropping system. Such an outcome does not support the agrobiodiversity or resilience of farms (Sunderland, 2011). For smallholders' agroforestry systems to better support circa situm conservation, they must take certain measures such as broadening access to high-quality planting material of indigenous trees and (to support regeneration) encouraging pollen exchange between rare trees (Dawson et al., 2009).The second proposition above, that cultivating trees provides an alternative source for tree products that then protects natural stands from To introduce several concepts important for his theory of evolution, Darwin (1859) opened his classic text On the Origin of Species with a discussion of domestication. He discussed \"unconscious selection\" and \"methodical selection\", the first practiced by local communities and traditional farmers, the latter now practiced by modern plant breeders. Darwin was fascinated by the increase in morphological variation in traits selected by humans, something quite evident in annual crops (e.g. brassica, maize, peppers, potato) and in domesticated animals (cattle, cats, dogs, etc.). We now know that such selection is accompanied by decreases in genetic variation measured as the number of alleles at loci across the wider genome, because each selection event samples only a small part of the total genetic variation present in a population. If the progeny of this selection event substitute the ancestral population, a significant loss of genetic variation results, as has been the case in modern plant breeding, where a genetically uniform variety can be planted across tens of thousands of hectares.In traditional farming systems, selection also results in the loss of underlying genetic diversity but planting any particular selection over a relatively small area ensures that overall diversity still remains relatively high (Louette, 2000). Genetic model analysis of a participatory domestication project with peach palm in Peru, for example, showed that the risk of genetic erosion in a regional context was low (Cornelius et al., 2006). Overall, losses of genetic diversity through village-level tree participatory domestication programmes are rarely likely to be significant, and losses could be much greater if domestication leading to increased productivity did not take place, as the alternative could be loss of the tree from the entire landscape in competition with other agricultural production options.over-harvesting, has been widely assumed (e.g. Lambert et al., 1997;Lange, 1998;Strandby-Andersen et al., 2008) and at first sight it would appear intuitive. With rare exceptions (e.g. Murniati et al., 2001), however, it is difficult to find evidence for cultivated stands supporting natural stand (in situ) conservation (Newton, 2008). There are several reasons why there may not be a positive link between cultivation and in situ conservation. One is that planting may result in placing less priority on sustainably managing natural stands. Clapp (2001), for example, reported that in Chile the timber plantations developed in the 1960s resulted in foresters viewing natural timber stands merely as 'stopgap' supplies that could be over-exploited while plantations were reaching harvest maturity. A second reason is that cultivation might stimulate the development of markets and infrastructure that unintentionally 'capture' wild resources (Cossalter and Pye-Smith, 2003;Angelsen and Kaimowitz, 2004). A third reason is that when it leads to a profitable business, planting trees could lead to forests and woodlands being (further) cleared to expand cultivation (see the case of tree commodity crops discussed below).Detailed research to establish when and where positive in situ conservation results can be realized through smallholder tree cultivation is required, for example based on the allanblackia tree that is currently undergoing domestication in smallholdings surrounding forests where itThe seed of allanblackia, a genus of nine species native to biodiversity hotspots in the humid forests of sub-Saharan Africa, yields edible oil with high potential in the global food market as a hard stock for producing spreads that are low in trans-fats (www. allanblackiapartners.org/). A private-public partnership is attempting to develop a sustainable allanblackia oil business that could be worth hundreds of millions of USD annually for local farmers. A supply chain for seed has been established in Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania based on harvesting by local communities in natural forests and from trees remaining in farmland after forest clearance. Currently, oil volumes are small (hundreds of metric tons) but export and incorporation into commercial food spreads has begun. At the same time, the tree, wild until now, is being brought into cultivation by improving seed handling and developing vegetative propagation methods, and by selecting superior genotypes (see Figure 4). Large productivity gains appear to be possible under cultivation and this may afford greater protection for allanblackia in the wild, as collecting the latter will be relatively less profitable, though this would then disadvantage the very poor in communities who can collect wild seed but do not have farms on which to plant the tree. So far, tens of thousands of seedlings and clones have been distributed to smallholders.Integrating allanblackia into small-scale cocoa (Theobroma cacao) farms is being promoted to support more biodiverse and resilient agricultural landscapes. As allanblackia trees grow, cocoa trees provide the shade they need; when they are grown, they in turn will act as shade for cocoa. The fruits of cocoa and allanblackia are ready for harvest at different times of the year and, when the allanblackia trees have matured, this will spread farmers' incomes. Whether or not the promotion of cultivation of allanblackia will take pressure off natural stands, by directing market demand for seed oil to planted sources, remains to be seen. If the production of allanblackia is co-opted by large commercial growers in plantations in locations outside the native range, it could, in theory, protect the natural resource base from harvesting, but local people would no longer benefit from cultivating the tree, countering development objectives. Trees in forests, woodlands, agroforests and elsewhere provide important environmental services 3 , including soil, spring, stream and watershed protection, animal and plant biodiversity conservation, and carbon sequestration and storage, all of which can ultimately benefit local communities' livelihoods (Garrity, 2004). Individual farmers can be encouraged to preserve and reinforce these functions in agroforests by payments for environmental services, but most methods of payment are inefficient (Roshetko et al., 2002(Roshetko et al., , 2008;;Jack et al., 2008). Of most importance in determining smallholders' tree planting and retention behaviour are the direct products and services they receive from trees (Roshetko et al., 2007a). An important advantage of smallholder agroforestry systems is that they can provide wider environmental services while directly supporting production (Leakey, 2001(Leakey, , 2010)). Obtaining products from trees by nondestructive harvesting that does not significantly reduce tree growth (e.g. by collecting fruit) provides particular opportunities to fulfil both environmental service functions and production functions.3 Or 'ecosystem services'; the terms are generally used interchangeably.One example of a market opportunity that has the potential to mitigate global climate change and enhance energy security is smallholders cultivating trees for biofuel (FAO, 2008). However, a major omission, in common with most other schemes for tree environmental service provision, has been the little attention given to the genetic quality of the trees planted. Tree species have frequently been considered as single entities without recognizing the significant genetic variation that could be harnessed for improving livelihoods and for better providing environmental services. A good example is the small tree jatropha (Jatropha curcas), which in the decade at the start of this millennium was heavily promoted in Africa, Asia and elsewhere for biodiesel production (oil extracted from the seed; Achten et al., 2008). Jatropha originated in Latin America. But instead of returning there to obtain germplasm, wide modern planting in mainland Africa relied on seed from sub-optimal stands (from a biodiesel perspective) first introduced into Cabo Verde hundreds of years ago (Lengkeek, 2007). Iiyama et al. (2013) demonstrated that yields from smallholder plantings of jatropha in Kenya were dismal compared to expectations, which was partly due to the use of inferior germplasm, as well as poor farm management and planting in inappropriate environmental conditions. They concluded that, without genetic improvement, jatropha should not be cultivated by smallholders as a commercial biofuel in Kenya. They determined that significant returns for Kenyan farmers, and a useful contribution to climate change mitigation, would only be possible with the coordinated introduction of more productive planting material that was environmentally matched to local conditions. At the same time, improved farm management methods would need to be disseminated and adopted.Ecological and social resilience can be increased when the different tree, crop, animal, etc. components of agroforestry systems, and the interactions between these components, respond in different ways to the changes experienced in and by rural communities (Steffan-Dewenter et al., 2007). Placing trees within agricultural production systems is a useful risk reduction strategy in response to anthropogenic climate change and is an important component of a 'climate-smart' agriculture (Neufeldt et al., 2012). Agroforestry soil fertility improvement technologies can, for example, stabilize crop yields under drought conditions that will become more prevalent in some regions under anthropogenic climate change (see above). In the Niger, farmers explain that they prefer to have a number of tree species for each tree function (fruit, fodder, wood fuel, etc.) as this insures them against 'function failure' by individual species in the driest years (Faye et al., 2011). In western Kenya, subsistence farmers practising agroforestry (to control soil erosion, to improve soil fertility and to provide wood fuel, etc.) identified more coping strategies when they were exposed to climate-related hazards than those farmers who did not (Thorlakson and Neufeldt, 2012). Kristjanson et al. (2012) explored the relationship between food security and farmer innovation in the context of a range of changing circumstances in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. A strong positive relationship was found between household food security and adopting new farming practices, although it was not possible to determine whether this was because innovative households are more food secure as a result of innovation, or if more food secure households are better placed to subsequently innovate. Many of the 700 households surveyed by the authors were practising agroforestry, but generally they were only planting small numbers of trees, which indicates a need to understand why there had not been wider uptake. Possibly, the relatively long investment period generally required before benefits are received from tree planting is an important factor. Efforts must be made to reduce this period and/or to otherwise finance planting.A diversity of trees in farmland and neighbouring natural forest fragments, where present, supports populations of pollinator species such as insects and birds that are essential for the production of many crops (Garibaldi et al., 2013). Many fruit trees cultivated widely by smallholders rely on insect pollinators for production (Klein et al., 2007), while diverse farms that provide an alternative habitat for pollinators can support the regeneration of food plants in neighbouring forests (Hagen and Kraemer, 2010). Since many pollinators of crops and trees are ectothermic, they will likely be affected by climate change, and if their phenologies change and range shifts occur, ecosystem functions could be impaired; however, a range of trees, crops and pollinators helps to insure against this risk.Although market data for tree products important to tropical rural communities is generally sparse, tree commodity crops are something of an exception, with data on the export value of several crops complied by national governments and FAO's Statistics Division (FAOSTAT). Total global export values for 12 tree commodity crops grown widely in the tropics are given in Figure 5, amounting to more than USD 90 billion in 2010.Approximately 90 percent of this value was made up of only five commodities: palm oil (derived from oil palm, Elaeis guineensis), coffee (primarily from Coffea arabica, values for green coffee only Chapter 4The benefits of smallholder tree commodity crop production  1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008  Global export values of a range of tree commodity crops over a 20-year period, 1991 to 2010. Data were extracted from FAOSTAT (www.fao.org/faostat/) and are combined figures for all nations providing information. Data for mangoes, mangosteens and guava are pooled in FAOSTAT. Given values include re-exports (i.e. import into one nation followed by export to another). Some commodities, such as coffee, cocoa and coconut, are exported in more than one form and total export values are, therefore, higher than those shown here (for each of these commodities only the most important form by export value is given). Domestic trade for a few of the commodities listed, such as mango and avocado, could be much greater than their international trade (Mohan Jain and Priyadarshan, 2009). The graph shows there was a significant increase in export values for crops during the decade leading up to 2010. The most notable feature was the sharp rise in the value of palm oil exports, reflecting a massive global expansion in palm oil production. are shown), rubber (from Hevea brasiliensis), cocoa (beans, from cacao, Theobroma cacao) and tea (primarily from Camellia sinensis). These five commodities are produced across the tropics, with Indonesia and Malaysia reported as the most important nations for palm oil, Brazil for coffee, Thailand and Indonesia for rubber, Côte d'Ivoire for cocoa and China for tea (Figure 6; UNCTAD, 2011). Indonesian figures for 2011 (Table 4) illustrate how each of these five tree commodities is grown to a significant extent by smallholders. Using national producer price data available for Indonesia in FAOSTAT databases and based on estimated production volumes, the total 2011 farm-gate value for Indonesian smallholders of palm oil, cocoa and coffee production were more than USD 2 billion, 1.5 billion and 1 billion, respectively. 4  Unfortunately, many countries do not differentiate between smallholders and larger scale plantation growers in the way that Indonesia does when they report tree commodity crop production. Illustrative data on particular crops, however, demonstrate the importance of small-scale production. For example, approximately 30 percent of land planted with oil palm in Malaysia is believed to be managed by smallholders (Basiron, 2007). Ethiopia has approximately 700 000 smallholder coffee 4 Our calculations, based on the 2007 producer price for palm oil, and the 2010 producer prices for cocoa and coffee. Chapter 4 -The benefits of smallholder tree commodity crop production growers and Kenya has around 400 000 (Place et al., 2011), while smallholders produce more than two-thirds of coffee worldwide (www.ico.org).The equivalent figure for cocoa is 90 percent and there are estimated to be six million cocoa farmers in the tropics (www.icco.org). Natural rubber has seen a trend toward smallholder production as large estates have switched to less labourintensive crops such as oil palm; some estimates suggest that more than three-quarters of rubber production worldwide between 1998 and 2003 came from holdings of less than 40 ha, with most from smallholdings of 2 to 3 ha (http://unctadstat. unctad.org/). Again, around 75 percent of tea grown in Sri Lanka and 50 percent grown in Kenya is reported as coming from smallholdings (http://unctadstat.unctad.org/). As production of the above tree commodity crops constitutes the most significant proportion of farm takings for tens of millions of tropical smallholders, investments in genetic improvement and better farm management of these crops have wide benefits (Mohan Jain and Priyadarshan, 2009). The successful promotion of higheryielding rubber clones and better managing plants to reduce input costs and retain some biodiversity in rubber agroforests have led to greater profits for many Indonesian smallholders (Wulan et al., 2006;Roshetko et al., 2007b). The rising price of cocoa in world markets has led to increased interest in upgrading smallholders' cocoa production methods in Indonesia, Côte d'Ivoire and elsewhere, through private-public partnerships involving the chocolate industry. Interventions have included delivering higheryielding varieties to replace or rehabilitate (through grafting) farmers' old cacao trees, improving farm management methods, and enhancing market access through group sales and certification (www.worldcocoafoundation.org).Tree commodity crops illustrate the importance of the international exchange of tree genetic resources to support smallholders' livelihoods (Koskela et al., 2014). Figure 6 indicates that palm oil is produced commercially primarily outside the centre of origin of the palm, which is West Africa, as also are coffee, rubber and cocoa compared to the plants' origins (originally from East Africa, Brazilian Amazonia and western Amazonia, respectively). Most tea is produced in the region where the plant originated (Asia), although it is also an important cultivated commodity in places Modern arabica coffee cultivars are derived from two base populations known as Typica and Bourbon that were transported from East Africa throughout the tropics in the early 1700s.The natural rubber industry in Southeast Asia was based on seedlings transferred to Sri Lanka and Singapore in the 1870s from the Brazilian Amazonia via Kew Botanic Gardens in the United Kingdom. Malaysia and Brazil collaborated on collections in the 1980s to supplement this material.Cacao was introduced into Indonesia by the Dutch from Venezuelan sources in 1560 and by the Spanish into the Philippines in 1600. The French introduced cacao to multiple locations from the midseventeenth century onwards, and the patterns of transfer and introduction thereafter were complex. Forastero cacao trees were apparently established from Brazilian sources on islands off the coast of continental West Africa from the 1820s onwards, before being transported to the mainland. Forastero types are now the most widely planted worldwide.International transfers of tree commodity crop germplasm: oil palm, coffee, rubber and cacao (taken from Mohan Jain and Priyadarshan, 2009) far from its origin (e.g. in Africa). The history of human transfer of oil palm, coffee, rubber and cacao germplasm is described in Box 8. Transfers initially occurred in large part during European colonial expansion in attempts to find new agricultural enterprises suitable for the colonies. Successful early cultivation in exotic locations was due in part to escape from pests and diseases that co-evolved with crops where they originated (Clement, 2004). However, founder material was often sub-optimal in performance because the crops were not well characterized when transfers were first made, sometimes hundreds of years ago (Mohan Jain and Priyadarshan, 2009).With most production taking place outside the regions where the crops originated, tree commodity crops are similar to many annual staple crops where production has been widely dispersed (Harlan, 1975). However, tree commodity crops have generally been subject to fewer rounds of formal breeding than these highly manipulated annuals (Mohan Jain and Priyadarshan, 2009).Extant highly genetically variable landrace, semiwild and wild resources of tree commodities (e.g. see Bekele et al., 2006 andLachenaud andOliver, 2005 for cacao; Montagnon and Pierre Bouharmont, 1996 for coffee;Cochard et al., 2009 for oil palm;Priyadarshan and Goncalves, 2003 for rubber) might, therefore, play a more important role in future crop development than is the case for annuals (Mohan Jain and Priyadarshan, 2009). Conserving these gene pools is, therefore, essential.Coffee is an example of a tree commodity crop whose genetic resources are severely threatened. Due to the conversion of forest to agricultural land, there remains only around 2 000 km 2 of high quality Ethiopian montane forest containing the wild coffee progenitors of modern coffee varieties. The introduction of cultivated coffee germplasm that may hybridize with and genetically dilute wild stock is also threatening wild populations of Ethiopian coffee (Labouisse et al., 2008;Aerts et al., 2013). Threats to Ethiopian wild coffee areThe economic value of wild C. arabica stands contained in the highland forests of Ethiopia, which represent the genetic base of coffee production worldwide, was estimated from their potential use in coffee breeding programmes. Their potential as sources of resistance to three coffee pests and diseases -coffee berry disease, Meloidogyne nematodes and coffee rust -which are among the worst pests and diseases affecting coffee production worldwide, were considered. Valuation also considered breeding for low caffeine content (thereby avoiding the costs of decaffeination) and for increased yields. Based on a 30-year discounting period, net present values of wild coffee genetic resources of approximately USD 1.5 billion and 420 million were obtained at discount rates of 5 percent and 10 percent, respectively. Even the lower of these values provides a strong basis for urgent action to halt the ongoing rapid deforestation of the Ethiopian highlands. Key uncertainties faced in estimating the option value of wild coffee for breeding included the length of time required to transfer valuable traits from wild plants into new cultivars, and the potential adoption rate by farmers of new cultivars. In the current case, a 15-year period for a successful breeding programme was assumed, and a 20 percent adoption rate applied for improved cultivar planting. Another uncertainty in valuing natural forest stands of coffee is the extent to which the important traits they contain have already been transferred to other parts of the world through establishing wild Ethiopian accessions in ex situ field gene banks in countries such as Brazil (i.e., to what extent are extant wild stands unique in conserving resources?).Costing the economic value of wild tree genetic resources to support future breeding: the case of coffee (taken from Hein and Gatzweiler, 2006; with further information from Reichhuber and Requate, 2007) 29Chapter 4 -The benefits of smallholder tree commodity crop production also presented by anthropogenic climate change: ecological niche modelling suggests a further loss of the wild coffee habitat in Ethiopia and a resultant high risk of natural stand extinctions by 2080 (Davis et al., 2012). Wild coffee seeds can't be stored long-term because the seed is recalcitrant, so conserving natural stands remains particularly important. The cryopreservation of seed and ex situ field gene banks are also possible conservation measures (Engelmann et al., 2007).Placing an 'option value' on the genetic resources of wild coffee, cacao and rubber is not easy. There are many unknowns when carrying out valuation, such as how genetic variation is structured within wild populations, and what the future needs will be for accessing wild resources for particular breeding purposes. Breeding needs will depend on, among other factors, new disease outbreaks that are hard to forecast, the extent of local temperature and precipitation alterations caused by anthropogenic climate change (which may or may not be considerable, depending upon the success of current climate change mitigation actions) and changing consumer preferences. As described in Box 9, however, valuation has been attempted for wild coffee. The exercise provided a strong case for the need of the coffee industry to introduce additional measures to protect Ethiopian wild coffee stands (Hein and Gatzweiler, 2006). But, although the case for action is strong, how can and should coffee growers in countries such as Brazil and Indonesia, which produce more coffee than Ethiopia, support conserving wild coffee stands in East Africa? The dilemma for conservation presented by the geographic separation of origin and production centres applies to many other tree species in addition to tree commodity crops.Although tree commodity crops provide smallholders with important revenues, this does not mean that they always play a positive role in supporting wider livelihoods; for example, their role in food and nutritional security is frequently questioned (FAO, 2012). The reasons for this questioning are manifold: one reason is that planting commodity crops often results in clearing natural forests that contain edible plants that are important foods to the very poorest people in rural communities who have no farmland. Another danger is that commodities are produced in monocultures that displace a range of foods from farmlands. Indigenous tree fruits may be one group of foods lost from farm landscapes in a trend to commodity monoculture, especially if these trees are only present anyway at low densities in farms (making them vulnerable to displacement and to productivity drops due to a lack of pollination, see above; Lengkeek et al., 2005). Widening oil palm cultivation is an example where a commodity crop causes both the loss of forest and of agrobiodiversity (Donald, 2004;Danielsen et al., 2009). Rubber agroforestry systems are compatible with habitat and biodiversity conservation (Wibawa et al., 2005;Beukema et al., 2007;Roshetko et al., 2007b), but they are, unfortunately, often a transient land use under pressure for conversion to less diverse agricultural systems (Ekadinata and Vincent, 2011). It has sometimes been suggested that intensive monocultures are on balance better than mixed production systems because they raise yields and hence reduce the amount of farmland needed for production, thus limiting the need to clear natural habitats for more agriculture. The issues are clearly complex and need to be understood in the context of trends in global and local food systems, including raising livestock and aquaculture as well as annual and perennial cropbased production (Khoury et al., 2014). There are, however, few quantitative data that support the view that 'land sparing' is more effective than 'land sharing' as a conservation approach (Balmford et al., 2012;Tscharntke et al., 2012). Buying food from the income received from a single commodity crop rather than cultivating food directly can also lead to food insecurity for farm households when commodity receipts are one-off, delayed and/or unpredictable in value, as observed for cocoa production in West Africa (Edward Millard, personal communication). Mixed agroforestry regimes integrating commodities into diverse production systems with food trees, staple crops, vegetables and/or edible fungi, etc. that increase or at least do not decrease commodity yields and profitability (Clough et al., 2011), and promote resilience, can help to avoid these negative effects.Chapter 5To improve rural peoples' lives through NTFP harvesting it is necessary to better understand how to manage the resource and how to ensure equitable relationships between the different participants in supply chains to consumers (Marshall et al., 2006). Interventions to benefit local communities include: technical support in harvesting and processing; business support for establishing social enterprises; providing market data; and advocating policies that support diversified livelihood strategies. Specialized market niches for products and processes (organic, ecolabelled, fair-traded, etc.) can capture different consumer preferences, can help protect against market substitution and can contribute to social equity. However, the costs of certification can place trade beyond the reach of many small producers and traders. The ecological implications and genetic aspects of NTFP harvesting, with regard to productivity, sustainability, etc., have received limited attention and require further research (Ticktin, 2004).To improve rural communities' returns from tree products, value chain analysis is one important approach. This characterizes the processes by which products are brought from production to consumption (Kaplinsky and Morris, 2002;Jensen, 2009). Through understanding how value is created and identifying constraints and opportunities to participation, value chain analysis can be used to help integrate rural communities into tree product markets (e.g. Facheux et al., 2007;Wambugu et al., 2011). A common mistake to be avoided is to begin by producing more of a tree commodity or product with the idea that a market will emerge on its own to absorb it; this often leads to surpluses that act as disincentives to investment. Another mistake is to focus on single commodities, as markets are changeable; diversification is needed to help ensure stable revenues (Russell and Franzel, 2004).Human-driven climate change and forest displacement by agriculture (FAO, 2010;Peres et al., 2010) mean that the tree products and services will in future increasingly be sourced from farms. With increased smallholder tree planting being encouraged to support livelihoods and conservation, it is necessary to better understand the consequences of cultivation and market development for alleviating poverty, malnutrition and hunger (Leakey, 2010), and for the conservation status of over-exploited forest resources (Dawson et al., 2013). Although a shift from forest harvesting to farm cultivation of NTFPs and timber can have desirable outcomes for smallholders, it can disadvantage the poorest in communities who do not have land for planting and, therefore, can only collect products from the wild (Page, 2003). Such effects need to be better understood.Key constraints to be addressed to improve tropical smallholders' livelihoods from tree planting are described in Box 10. Improvements are required in policies, in markets, and in developing and delivering appropriate high-quality planting material and farm management methods. As women tend to be involved in NTFP-and AFTPbased activities when there is less money at stake, producer associations for women need to be formed and strengthened (Shackleton et al., 2011b) to improve their situation. It is also important to improve women's access to information by training more women extension staff and holding separate meetings for women farmers, although care must be taken in such interventions to ensure men do not become resistant to the involvement of women (Kiptot and Franzel, 2012).Tree commodity crops play an important role in supporting rural livelihoods, but a better understanding is required of the complicating factors in converting land to monoculture production systems, and of the impacts that single-source incomes have on food and nutritional security. Commodity varieties that are highly productive in mixed farming systems are needed and breeding efforts should be prioritized accordingly (Mohan Jain and Priyadarshan, 2009). International purchasers of commodities are actively encouraging diverse production systemsPolicy plays an important role in successful agroforestry. There are three key areas in which constraints need to be overcome to distribute benefits more widely. First, farmers need land and tree tenure: where these are absent or contested, farmer involvement in tree planting and management is often limited, but when they are assured, greater interest in agroforestry is stimulated. Second, policies that support farmers' access to seeds, seedlings and clones of a wide range of tree species suitable for their various planting requirements are crucial. Current germplasm provision policies often slow adoption by discriminating against small-scale entrepreneurial seed and seedling suppliers. Current laws to control germplasm flows internationally have also unintentionally slowed smallholder access to appropriate planting material. Third, the current policy environment often does not recognize agroforestry options as attractive investments. For example, governments often subsidize artificial fertilizers to enhance staple crop yields, which discourages using green fertilizers that can increase staple production more cost effectively and sustainably.For many tree products, markets are poorly structured. This results in low and unstable returns to farmers and high prices for buyers, limiting consumption. The problems producers frequently cite include: the absence of collective bargaining systems; poor transport infrastructure; and the involvement of multiple intermediaries in supply chains, all of which act to reduce farm-gate prices. Smallholders and other small-and medium-scale enterprises often lack the information and equipment they need to properly store, grade, preserve, transport, etc., tree products. For perishable goods such as fruit, the result is high wastage and a failure to reach quality grades. Prevailing low returns mean farmers struggle to afford inputs to improve sub-optimal farm management practices. Traders also face many problems such as poor roads and corrupt officials.There has been underinvestment in developing new tree lines, cultivars, clones, etc. that have high yields and provide quality products under smallholders' production conditions. Until recently, for example, science mostly ignored the great potential for improving indigenous fruit trees, and there are still too few scientists working out how to cultivate them. For many indigenous food trees, only limited information is available on nutritional value, which can be expected to vary significantly even within species. Although the benefits of agroforestry systems for responding to climate change are recognized, the great diversity of agroforestry landscapes and the sometimes long life cycles of trees and production systems mean that the most effective combinations of trees, staple crops, vegetables, animals, etc., and how to manage these together in particular environments, are often unknown. Chapter 5 -Final considerations and recommendations through standards, certification and other means, but they are only appropriate for some commodities (Millard, 2011).In summary, we recommend that particular attention be given to the following points to better support rural peoples' tree-based livelihoods in the future:• Develop germplasm delivery mechanisms that better support smallholders' access to a wide range of high-quality tree planting material. This will involve supporting small-scale, local entrepreneurial tree seed, seedling and clone suppliers with business and technical training, and will involve supplying them with appropriate 'starter' germplasm. Lessons from the past 40 years demonstrate that national governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations that have traditionally been involved in tree germplasm delivery need to reorient their roles; instead of trying to take on the job of delivery directly, they should support local entrepreneurial suppliers to do so (Graudal and Lillesø, 2007). • Increase research capacity to promote domesticating new tree crops in smallholders' farms. This requires understanding what approaches to date for tree domestication have been most effective in improving incomes, food and nutritional security, health, etc. for smallholders, based on a more extensive quantification of impacts of past and present initiatives. The utility of the participatory domestication approach outside Central Africa, where it has to date been practiced most widely, should be evaluated carefully. Scaling up this approach could be the start of a second wave of plant domestications targeted to low-and middle-income tropical nations (Leakey, 2012a, b). Greater research capacity is also required to understand how to promote the resilience of agroforestry production systems in the face of climate change.• Undertake value chain analysis and supply chain development, including of postharvest processing, storage and packaging methods, with particular emphasis on domestic markets for tree products, considering especially rapidly growing urban markets. This will involve developing producer-trader-processor links that expand farmer opportunities, promote transparency and reduce inefficiency. • To better quantify the current importance of NTFPs and AFTPs for local communities, national statistical services should seek, with the assistance of FAO, to partition but crossstandardize the collection of data from onfarm and in-forest, and small-scale and largescale, product sources. The need for uniform, consistent data collection methods has been a common refrain over the last decades, but implementing such approaches remains a challenge (e.g. compare Byron andArnold, 1997 with FAO, 2010). The development of a more appropriate typology for estimating the extent and importance of trees-outsideforests will assist future characterization (de Foresta et al., 2013). • Undertake costings of the option values of wild stands of major tree crops. This is crucial for providing an evidence-based justification for in situ conservation of tree genetic resources. Such valuations will indicate which tree populations and areas of a forest are of most conservation concern. Because the economic value of tree commodity crops is high and since there is a high measure of international interdependence in their production, appropriate mechanisms by which 'producer' countries and their growers can properly support maintaining genetic resources in 'centre of origin' nations are required. • Determine the circumstances where commercializing the harvesting of tree products from natural forests and expanding smallholder cultivation can help to conserve tree species and genetic resources, both in the wild and in farmland. This will support more sustainable livelihoods for rural people. Case studies for research on this topic could involve species such as allanblackia (Box 7). The topic is the subject of ongoing research efforts involving CIFOR, Bioversity International and ICRAF (Manuel Guariguata, CIFOR, personal communication). • Define more effective measures to support and protect the innovations of poor farmers and local communities in low-income countries when, for example, they develop new tree cultivars through local domestications. Strategies are needed for managing the distribution of planting material of new tree crops such as allanblackia that may become the new commodities of the future. In such cases, should germplasm distribution be restricted to the country of origin, to the continent of origin, or be allowed worldwide (as applied in past centuries for cocoa, coffee, oil palm, tea, etc.)? And how will most smallholder producers benefit? Governments require support in making such decisions.Amarula Cream, while the oily kernels are consumed raw, roasted and in sauces. In addition to current use, archaeological evidence indicates that humans harvested the fruit as far back as 10 000 years ago.Njansang Ricinodendron heudelotii, a fast-growing tree that grows up to 50 m in height, is found primarily in Central and West Africa, often in secondary forests. A spicy sauce made from the kernels is widely used in stews, and the high oil content of the seeds makes them suitable for use in the soap industry. In Cameroon, it is valued for its medicinal properties and is used to treat constipation, dysentery, eye infections, female sterility and as a poison antidote. Export of the kernels from Cameroon to neighbouring countries was estimated at more than USD 1 million over 20 years ago.Safou Dacryodes edulis is a medium-sized evergreen tree found in the humid tropical zone of Central and West Africa. It has been cultivated by farmers in southern Nigeria and Cameroon for many years and is considered semi-domesticated in many areas, based on planters' selective seed sampling. Rich in vitamins and amino acids, the fruit has an oily texture like avocado and is eaten boiled or roasted. Fruit from improved trees are much more commercially valuable than fruit from unimproved trees.Chrysophyllum albidum, a longlived tree that grows to 35 m, is a canopy species of lowland mixed rainforest that is distributed from West Africa to western Kenya. The fleshy and juicy fruits are widely eaten and can be fermented and distilled to produce wine and spirits.Tamarind Tamarindus indica, a tree that grows to 30 m in height, is extensively distributed in the tropics. It is believed to have its origin in Africa, where it is found across dryland savannah regions. The species was cultivated in Egypt as early as 400 BC. The fruit pulp is used to prepare juice and jam, and is an ingredient in curries, chutneys and sauces. The ripe fruits of the sweet types are eaten fresh as a snack.Wild loquat Uapaca kirkiana, a small-to medium-sized evergreen or semi-deciduous tree, is found in the miombo woodlands of southern Africa. The fruit is highly regarded and is eaten fresh. It is also used to prepare jams and beverages. Harvesting the fruit from wild populations is an important coping strategy during times of extreme hunger. A study in Zimbabwe more than 15 years ago showed that households in several regions made between USD 10 and 40 annually per household from selling the fruit.For further information, see www. worldagroforestry.org/output/agroforestreedatabase.Products and services derived from trees in forests, on farmland and within other landscapes provide bene ts to hundreds of millions of people in the tropics. However, these products and bene ts from the trees and their genetic resources have not been well quanti ed. This is the case, in part, because trade of the products often takes place outside formal markets and because there are a multiplicity of species, product sources and ways in which trees are used. Furthermore, the value of genetic diversity within tree species is often not properly considered.From a genetic perspective, tree resources exist at different levels of domestication of populations and species. Some tree species, especially those producing fruit valued for human consumption, began to be domesticated within forest environments several millennia ago, and the process of their domestication remains ongoing today. Others, such as many timber tree species harvested from natural forests and trees that provide medicines, remain largely undomesticated.This study, prepared within the ambit of The State of the World's Forest Genetic Resources, reviews what is known about the value of trees for tropical rural communities. It focuses on non-timber products harvested from trees in natural and managed forests and woodlands, the various products and services obtained from trees planted or retained in agroforestry systems, and the commercial products of tree commodity crops. The role of intra-speci c genetic variation in determining the value of trees in supporting livelihoods is discussed in each of the three contexts. The study also identi es speci c points that should be given particular attention in the future to better support tree-based livelihoods of rural communities in the tropics."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ebbf2a1ec052caf62b3119b9cd47cf6f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/359ef092-ab49-494a-8684-5989ddaf2e18/retrieve","id":"-397527944"},"keywords":["Agro-ecological zones, Brachiaria cultivars, climate, livestock feeds, soil types AMOVA","breeding","fixation index","genetic conservation","private allele Accessions, agro-morphological characters, cluster analysis, principal component Dry matter yield, height, plant number, spread, tiller numbers Brachiaria grass, crude protein, dry matter yield, in-vitro dry matter digestibility, plant numbers Brachiaria, herbage yield, cutting frequency, nutritive value Brachiaria, cutting interval, dry matter yield, forage","nutrient","yield Brachiaria cultivars, dry matter yield, plot cover, plant height, tillers, spread Crude protein, cutting interval, dry matter yield, organic matter digestibility Dry and wet season, fertilizer, soil quality, shoots biomass Brachiaria, coastal lowlands, cultivars, farmer, participatory evaluation Drought tolerance, focus group discussion, Likert scale, pairwise ranking, variety selection Brachiaria grasses, Likert scale","pairwise ranking Criteria development","farmer assessment","pairwise ranking Acremonium, diversity indices, endophytes, phylogeny, species diversity ACC deaminase, anti-fungal activity, auxins, hydrogen cyanide, phosphate solubilization, siderophore production Brachiaria","Carbon sequestration","Chloris gayana","microbial biomass","Pennisetum purpureum Ammonium N, microbial biomass N, nitrate, soil organic matter, soil quality Macro-aggregates","micro-aggregates","microbial biomass","particulate organic matter","soil organic carbon Biomass","productivity","Brachiaria","soil carbon","climate change Jersey cows","milk yield","Mulato II","Napier grass, Piata","Xaraes","Chemical composition","crude protein","dry matter digestibility","livestock production","live weight gains Brachiaria grass","time to 50% flowering, phenology information","seed yield Brachiaria, cultivar, diseases, seed production, Brachiaria, ergot, incidence, leaf rust, leaf spots, pathogens, severity, smut"],"sieverID":"5036735f-b8fd-4059-9d2d-7e38247fc857","content":"The agricultural sector is the main driver of Kenya's economy and livelihood for the majority of Kenyans. The sector accounts for 65% of Kenya's total exports and provides more than 70% of informal employment in the rural areas. Livestock contributes about 30% of the agricultural gross domestic product. One of the research agenda of Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) is development of improved technologies for increased agricultural production. Therefore as the country focuses on poverty alleviation, employment creation and food security in the rural areas, improved livestock technologies contributes towards this goal. Improvement of livestock productivity through access to high quality feeds can significantly contribute to the Kenya's Vision 2030 through 'equity and wealth creation opportunities for the rural poor.' On the anticipation that Brachiaria grasses can be integrated into the agricultural systems to address increased livestock productivity, a collaborative research project was initiated between KALRO and Biosciences eastern and central Africa -International Livestock Research Institute (BecA-ILRI) Hub in 2012. Laboratory and field research were conducted simultaneously. The objective of the laboratory studies was to identify role of endophytes and associated microbes in enhancing adaptation of Brachiaria grass cultivars to drought and low fertility soils. The field research focused on the integration of the grasses into smallholder mixed crop-livestock system and assessing their contribution to milk and meat production. Studies were conducted in Kwale and Kilifi Counties in coastal lowlands, Machakos and Makueni Counties in mid-altitude eastern region, Nyandarua, Nyeri and Embu Counties in central highlands and in Trans-Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Elgeyo Marakwet and Busia Counties in western Kenya.At the end of the project, a workshop was held which brought together researchers from diverse backgrounds, from KALRO and BecA-ILRI Hub. The research findings presented in the workshop are important in; (i) elucidating roles of endophytes in enhancing adaptation of Brachiaria grasses to drought and low fertility soils, (ii) demonstrating the role of Brachiaria in enhancing livestock productivity in terms of milk and meat, (iii) assessment of contribution of the Brachiaria to soil health and mitigation of climate change, and (iv) evaluating the potential of Brachiaria seed production in Kenya.The information presented in these proceedings will benefit farmers, researchers and development partners in Kenya and East Africa. This document will have an instrumental role in promoting forage research and development programs in the region for sustainable development of the livestock sector.iForward ivLivestock contributes about 30% of the agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) and up to 10% of Kenya's total GDP. About 40% of the total labour force in the agricultural sector is employed in livestock production. Over 70% of all the livestock in the country are found in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) and the sub-sector employ 90% of population (7 million people) who live in these regions and contribute 95% of their income and livelihoods. In the humid and sub-humid areas where 80% of smallholder crop-livestock farmers are located, livestock are source of cash, provide milk, meat, manure and draught power in crop production.In the smallholder mixed crop livestock system, Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.), the most widely grown fodder for the cut-and-carry production system, is threatened Napier stunt and smut diseases. Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana L.), one of the cultivated pastures has a narrow genetic base and limited ecological adaptation. Crop residues principally maize stovers which are highly lignified form the bulk of livestock feed during the dry season. Their crude protein is generally low; below 7%, the minimum required for animal production and are not fortified with minerals or vitamins during feeding. In the extensive livestock production systems, common with the pastoral communities, within ASALs region, livestock subsist mainly on natural pastures that are of low quality and productivity decline rapidly during the dry season. Lack of adapted forages, frequent and prolonged drought and low rainfall are major factors contributing to inadequate quantity and quality of feeds. Increased population and opening of pastoral land for crop production and other non-agricultural uses has aggravated the situation on feed scarcity. In both mixed crop-livestock farming and pastoral systems, livestock are characterised by a low productivity.The rising interest in livestock development fueled by increased demands of animal products has led to the demand for productive and high quality forages to bridge feed deficit. Consequently, there is need for research to develop forage options to increase livestock productivity in order to meet the growing demand for livestock products. A collaborative research project between Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and Biosciences eastern and central Africa -International Livestock Research Institute (BecA-ILRI) Hub was initiated in 2012 with financial support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The aim was to explore superior feeds resources for increasing animal productivity and for generation of income from smallholder farmers through the use of Brachiaria grass.The total area of Kenya is approximately 582, 646 km 2 of which 11, 230 km 2 or about 1.9% is covered by water. Based on moisture index the country can be divided into seven agroecological zones (AEZ) (Sombroek et al., 1982) (Figure 1). Annual rainfall is variable in the different zones and ranges from <200 mm in the very arid zone to >2500 mm in the humid zones. Annual evaporation exceeds the amount of rainfall in all the zones except in the humid zone where rainfall is higher than evaporation. Annual evapotranspiration is higher in the very arid zones (2100 -2500 mm) than in the humid zone (1200 -2000 mm) (KARI, 2001). The altitude ranges from sea level in the eastern side to over 5000 m above sea level with the highest altitude in Mount Kenya.The arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) constitute 83% of the total land area while the rest is made up of the humid and sub-humid zones. The humid zones are mainly located in the highlands east and west of Rift Valley while the sub-humid comprises the Lake Victoria region, coastal lowlands and part of western Kenya. Due to high rainfall, (1000-2700 mm) the humid and subhumid zones are regarded as medium to high potential for crop production. Dairy cattle and other livestock farming account for utilization of 30% of the land in the humid and sub-humid zones (KARI, 2001). Rainfall in the ASAL is low (annual rainfall, 150 -900 mm) and erratic with a large part of the year being dry. Consequently, these areas have marginal to low potential for crop production. Nevertheless, livestock thrive in these zones and are important source of livelihoods. In 2009 census, the total population of ruminants (cattle, sheep, goats, camels and donkeys) stood at about 67 million (KNBS, 2010) with about 60% of all these livestock being in the ASALs. The sub-sector utilises about 81% of the ASALs, employs 90% of the 7 million inhabitants and contributes 95% of the family income and livelihood security. About 80% of the farming communities are smallholders, predominantly practising mixed crop-livestock farming, with livestock and crop production being an integral component of the sustainable system. The farming communities selected in the regions represented the mixed crop-livestock production system in Kenya. Livestock production is constrained by inadequate quantity and quality of feeds and thus integrating of Brachiaria grasses is likely to bridge this gap, improve ruminant livestock productivity and livelihoods. The focus of this paper is to provide background information on biophysical environment and farming systems of four regions where research on Brachiaria grasses was conducted. The regions targeted for integrating Brachiaria grass cultivars were; the coastal lowlands, mid-altitude eastern region, central highlands and north western highlands of Kenya (Figure 2).  The coastal lowlands (CL), that extends for about 30 km into the hinterland from sea is divided into five AEZ; CL2, CL3, CL4, CL5 and CL6 based on rainfall (Jaetzold et al., 2006). The annual rainfall ranges from 700 mm in CL6 to 1200 mm in CL3, with a bimodal pattern, the long rains season occurring from April to June and the short rains from October to December (Figure 3).Potential evapo-transpiration ranges from 1900 to 2300 mm per annum and exceeds annual precipitation, thus resulting in water deficit. Mean annual temperature ranges from 22 to 35 o C and relative humidity from 70 to 90%.The topography is low lying, from the sea level on the eastern side, rising to 300 m asl toward the hinterland on the western side. The Coastal plain, the foot plateau to the north, the Coastal Range and the Nyika Plateau are some of the key physical features dotting the region. Major soils include Ferralsols which are sandy clay, strongly weathered and red brown in colour, and Cambisols, which are shallow to moderately deep. They are deficient in nitrogen (N); phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) with soil P being below the critical level of 20 ppm (Njarui and Mureithi, 2004).Typically the mid-altitude eastern region is semi-arid and the mean annual rainfall is around 700 mm but in the hill masses it increases to about 1050 mm in the hill masses. The rainfall is bimodal with two distinct rainy seasons; the long rains occurring from March to May and short rains from October to December (Figure 3). Annual evapo-transpiration exceeds the amount of rainfall and ranges from 1200 to 1800 mm (KARI, 2001). Minimum mean annual temperature vary from 14 to 22 o C while maximum mean annual temperature vary from 26 to 34 o C.The region is characterized by low to medium altitude, rising from 800 to1800 m asl. The soils are derived from the pre-Cambrian 'basement-complex' rocks consisting of mainly granites, gneisses and sometimes schist's sandstones or phyllitic shales (Simpson et al., 1996). They are often shallow and contain low organic matter and high sand content (Kusewa and Guiragossian, 1989). The predominant soils are Luvisols, Acrisols and Ferralsols. Numerous other soil types occur but are of less significance in terms of the agricultural area they occupy.The central highlands also receive bi-modal rainfall, the long rains occurring from March to May with a maximum annual rainfall of 1600 mm and the short rains from September to December with annual rainfall of 700 mm (Figure 3). Temperature ranges from as low as 2°C to a maximum of 25°C. Night frosts are common in AEZ of Afro-Alpine highlands and Upper Highlands (Jaetzold et al., 2006). The main physical features is the Aberdare ranges which consist mainly of the Kinangop Plateau, Ol joro Orok Plateau and the Ol Kalou Salient which have slopes that are interrupted by low undulating hills. In most parts, the soils are of volcanic deposits, mainly basaltic lava are dominant. Major soils are the Nitosols, Andosols and Phaeozems (Jaetzold et al., 2006) which are highly fertile.The north western highlands experience primarily uni-modal rainfall distribution, which starts in April and continues through to October/November with peak in May and August (Figure 3). Rainfall ranges from 1200 to 2200 mm and the average annual temperature from 14 to 28 o C. The elevations range from about 900 m asl in the Kerio valley to 2700 m asl in the cool highlands of Elgeyo escarpment and Cherangani hills with some higher ridges of up to 3365 m asl on the eastern part. On the western boundary the extinct volcano, Mt. Elgon is an outstanding landmark which rises to 4000 m asl. Apart from the volcanic rocks of the Mt. Elgon area, most of the regions are underlain by acid to intermediate rocks of the basement system. The major soils are Humic Ferralsols in Trans Nzoia, Ferralic Cambisols and Orthic Ferralsols in Uasin Gishu (FAO- UNESCO, 1994). There are pockets of Acrisols which are not widely distributed. These soils have low fertility with a weak to moderate sub-angular block structure and are well drained with high moisture storage capacity.Figure 3 Rainfall in coastal lowlands, mid-altitude, central and north western highlandsA description of farming system of the coastal lowlands has been given in details by Njarui and Mureithi (2004). The rural households engage in diverse agricultural activities which include crops and livestock farming. Maize (Zea mays L.) and cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz.) are the main staple foods followed by cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp). They are almost always cultivated as intercrops under trees cash crops of coconuts (Cocos nucifera L.), cashew nuts (Anacardium occidentale L.) and horticultural crops such as mango ((Mangifera indica L.) and citrus (Citrus spp.) as reported by Njarui and Mureithi (2004). Crop yields are generally low due to low soil fertility and poor crop husbandry. For example, maize yield is less than 1 t/ha (Wekesa et al., 2003) compared with over 5 t/ha achieved from research (Mwamachi et al., 2005) and the situation has remained relatively the same. Livestock kept includes cattle, goats, sheep and poultry. Most of the cattle are the local zebus (Bos indicus) and are kept as a source of cash and security against crop failure.The farming systems are characterized by mixed crop-livestock production. Maize is the most important cereal and is commonly intercropped with beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), cowpea and pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.). Horticultural fruit trees such as citrus, mango, avocado (Persea Americana Mill.) and pawpaw (Carica papaya L.) are important source of cash. Maize, beans and cowpea are planted in both long and short rains while pigeon pea is planted only during the short rains. The yields are generally low because of low soil fertility, limited use of fertilizer and lack of adoption of recommended agronomic practices. Due to erratic and poor rainfall, crop failure usually occurs in 7 out of 10 seasons. Major livestock kept include cattle, sheep and goats. A large proportion of cattle kept are the Zebu (Bos indicus) mainly under extensive grazing system while in the wetter hill masses adoption of European breeds (Bos Taurus) of cattle is high.Farming is highly commercialized and is predominantly crop-livestock farming system. The main crops grown in Nyandarua County are wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), maize and vegetables which include potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.), peas (Pisum sativum L.) and carrot (Daucus carota L.). These crops are not exclusively meant for subsistence as they also provide significant income for most of the households. Nevertheless, pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium [Trevir.] Vis.), cut flowers and horticulture are the main cash crops grown in the County. Livestock farming is a major activity and the main animals reared are exotic European breeds and their crosses for milk production. Goats, sheep, rabbits and poultry are also important in the region.Economic activities in the north western highlands are characterized by mixed crop-livestock farming system. The agricultural sector varies widely from predominantly small scale (<10 ha) with low external inputs to highly mechanized large scale (>20 ha) farming with high levels of external inputs. However, small scale farmers account for more than 80% of the farming community and the number is increasing due to sub-division of large scale farms. The land is highly fertile and ideal for maize, wheat and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) production and due to high yield the region is regarded as the grain basket for the country. Horticultural crops grown include tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), mangoes and vegetables. The major cattle production system is the open grazing system where dairy cows are kept for commercial purposes. Zero grazing is also practiced in the small scale farms. In some farms, beef cattle are also kept for local market.Livestock play an important role in the livelihoods of rural households in all the regions. They are important source of food, milk, manure, draft power for crop production and are sold to for cash. They also provide investment, employment, and risk reduction opportunities. In semi-arid region animals represent a \"saving account\", providing an economic security against frequent crop failure (Muhammad, 1996). The major ruminant livestock kept include, cattle, sheep and goats. The cattle comprise of the local Zebu, European breeds mainly the Friesian, Ayrshire, Jersey, Guernsey and their crosses with local Zebu. Dairy cattle are not popular in the coastal lowlands compared with Zebu cattle because they are more susceptible to tsetse flies and tickborne disease (Maloo et al., 1994;MoLD, 2012). A recent study in coastal lowlands indicates that about 71.3% of the respondents owned Zebu compared with 34.3% who owned dairy cattle (Njarui et al., 2016). The exotic dairy cattle are widely kept in the other regions because of the high demand for milk and favourable milk prices. The small ruminants, sheep and goats are widely kept in all the regions because they are resilience to drought and can easily be sold off to provide cash in the event of crop failure. Livestock are either kept under stall feeding/zerograzing or grazing but the combination of the two systems is common. Grazing is more common in the coastal lowlands where farmers relatively large number of local zebu and do not have sown pastures.The dairy cattle are milked manually under the smallholder system usually twice per day; in the morning and afternoon. There are differences in milk production among the different region. Average daily milk production was reported to be about 11.8 litres/cow in central highlands (Muia et al., 2011), 6 -9 litres/cow/day in mid-altitude eastern region (Mungube et al., 2014) and 7.8 litres/cow/day in coast lowlands (Njarui et al., 2016). Low milk production has been attributed to poor nutrition and lack of supplementation with high protein feeds (Lanyasunya et al., 2006;Lukuyu et al., 2011). The Zebu also provide milk for household consumption but normally produces comparatively less milk (<4 litres/cow/day) than the dairy cattle. There are several marketing channels for milk which include catering services located in the urban centres, neghbouring households and well established milk processing factories while beef cattle are sold in local markets.Farmers normally depend on natural pastures, cultivated forages and crop residues from cereals and grain legumes after grain harvest (Figure 4). However in the coast lowlands the proportion of farmers with sown forages is low and livestock depend on natural pastures. Over 90% of farmers in mid-altitude region, central highlands and north western highlands grow Napier grass compared with 145 in coastal lowlands (Njarui et al., 2016). Napier grass is the most important forage crop for cut-and-carry feeding where animals are confined in stalls under zero-grazing system. It is preferred because it is high yielding and larger amount of herbage can be obtained from a relatively small area. However, the survival of Napier grass in central highlands is threatened by emergence of smut disease. The disease has been reported to cause yield loss of 25-46% (Mwendia et al., 2006). Browse legume species such as Sesbania (Sesbania sesban L.), Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala Lam.), Calliandra (Calliandra calothyrus Meissn.) and Gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium [Jacq.] Steud.) are planted but generally only a few trees are found in the farm. Farmers purchase small quantities of commercial concentrate and mineral supplements, particularly for high yielding dairy cattle. Kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandistenum Hochst.) is an important natural pasture for grazing in central highlands. Generally there is overgrazing and poor management of pastures which lead to low productivity. During the dry season, the grasses are deficient in minerals, crude protein (CP) and energy with CP dropping to less than 4% (Thairu and Tessema, 1987). On the other hand, the stovers are usually high in roughage, but low in nutritive value (3-5% CP) and do not provide adequate nutrients required for optimal production (Njarui et al., 2011).Figure 3 Main type of feeds used for feeding livestock by months across four regions (Source: Njarui et al., 2016) Seasonal fluctuation in feed availability is widespread with low feed availability being felt during the dry season across all the regions. The low and erratic rainfall and frequent drought has been attributed to seasonal shortfall of feed resources. Feed availability follow the rainfall pattern closely with relatively adequate feed reported during the wet season. In most of the regions, feed shortage occurs from January to May while in mid-altitude eastern region it is in July to October. The proportion of farmers who experience feed shortage is relatively high (79-99%) in this region (Njarui et al., 2016). Low availability of feed has a direct effect on performance of livestock productivity (meat or milk).Figure 4 Level of feeds availability by month (all type of feed considered); ≤3 inadequate and >3 adequate (Adapted from: Njarui et al., 2016).The biophysical and farming systems characterisation presented in this paper show a large diversity across the regions where the study was conducted. While the coastal lowlands is low lying from sea level and rising to 300 m asl in the other regions have the altitude ranging from 800 m to above 4000 m asl in the mountain areas. Soils are sandy and shallow in the coast lowlands whereas soil the in the highlands are fertile and deep. In all the regions, farming system is complex and farmers keep different types of livestock and cultivate a variety of crops.Livestock generally depend on natural pastures, cultivated forages and crop residues Napier grass is the most widely cultivated fodder due to its high yield. However, livestock feed scarcity is widespread and is attributed to low and erratic rainfall and frequent drought. While in the coastal lowlands there is limited cultivation of forages farmers have adopted methods of improving their livestock feed base in the other regions.Brachiaria grass is one of the most important tropical grasses distributed throughout the tropics especially in Africa (Renvoize et al., 1996). The genus Brachiaria consists of about 100 documented species of which seven perennial species of African origin have been used for pasture production in South America, Asia, South Pacific and Australia (Miles et al., 1996). It has high biomass production potential and produces nutritious herbage thus increase livestock productivity (Holmann et al., 2004;Jotee, 1988). Brachiaria is adapted to drought and low fertility soils, sequesters carbon through its large roots system, enhance nitrogen use efficiency and subsequently minimize eutrophication and greenhouse gas emissions (Subbarao et al., 2009;Arango et al., 2014;Moreta et al., 2014;Rao et al., 2014). Brachiaria plays important roles in soil erosion control and ecological restoration. Brachiaria species have been important component of sown pastures in humid low lands and savannas of tropical America with current estimated acreage of 99 million hectare in Brazil alone (Jank et al., 2014).Whole plant samples of 79 Brachiaria ecotypes were collected from five different parts of Kenya: Alupe, ILRI Campus, Kiminini, Kisii andKitui in 2013 and2014, andmaintained  The DNA was extracted using cetyl-trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) (Doyle and Doyle, 1990) method with slight modifications. About 150 mg of the young leaves were cut into small pieces, ground in liquid nitrogen and added with 800 μl of 2% CTAB buffer. The suspension was transferred into a clean microfuge tubes and incubated at 65 °C for 30 minutes, followed by incubation at room temperature for 5 minutes and centrifuged at 3,500 rpm for 10 minutes.After centrifugation, 400 μl of supernatant was transferred into new microfuge tubes and 400 μl of chloroform iso-amyl alcohol (24:1) were added to each tube and mixed by inversion for 10 minutes. Tubes were spun at 3,500 rpm for 10 minutes, and aqueous phase was transferred to clean microfuge tubes, and 400 μl of chloroform iso-amyl alcohol (24:1) were added again to each tube and spun for 10 minutes at 1,100 rpm and the process was repeated twice. After the final centrifugation, the DNA was precipitated in 300μl of cold isopropanol (100%) and inverted about 50 times to facilitate the mixing and precipitation, and incubated overnight at -20°C.The following day the microfuge tubes were removed from the freezer, thawed and spun at 3,500 rpm at 4 °C for 20 minutes. The isopropanol was decanted and the genomic DNA pellet was air dried. The DNA pellet was rinsed with 300μl of 70% (w/v) ethanol and dissolved in 100μlof low salt TE buffer containing 3μl of 10 mg/ml of 1% RNase solution and incubated in water bath at 45°C for 90 minutes. DNA quality and quantity were checked in 0.8% agarose gel (w/v) and NanoDrop Spectrophotometer. The genomic DNA was adjusted to the final concentration of 20 ng/μl and stored at 4°C for PCR amplification.The genomic DNA was amplified using AccuPower®PCRPreMix (BIONEER Negative dye). A reaction volume of 10μl containing 0.4 μl MgCl2 (final concentration of 2mM MgCl2), 0.4 μl each of forward and reverse primers labeled with different fluorescent dyes: 6-FAM (blue), VIC (green), NED (black) and PET (red), 2 μl template DNA (20 ng/μl) and 6.8 μl of sterile distilled water was used for PCR amplification. A total of 22 SSR markers (Table 1) initially developed for B. ruziziensis with the proven transferability to other species were used in this study (Silva et al., 2013). The PCR conditions were, initial denaturation for 5 minutes at °C followed by 35 cycles at 94 °C for 30 sec, 57 °C for 60 sec, 72 °C for 2 minutes and final extension at 72 °C for 10 minutes. The amplicons integrity was checked using agarose gel electrophoresis in 2% agarose gel (w/v) stained with 2.5 μl of GelRed solution. The agarose gel images were visualized under Ultra-Violet and the digital image was captured. The size of amplified fragments was estimated comparing with1kbDNAladder (Thermo Fisher Scientific). The SSR fragment sizes and allele variations in the repeats were assessed by capillary electrophoresis of amplicons and sequencing the amplified loci. The multiplexed PCR products were mixed with 8.87μlHi-Diformamide and 0.135 μl Fluorescent-labeled GeneScan™ LIZ size standard (Applied Biosystems, USA) in a 96-well microtiter plate. The mixed products were denatured at 95°C for 3 minutes and snap-chilled on ice for 5 minutes to avoid the formation of double strand DNA.The products were loaded to Applied Biosystems 3730xl DNA Analyzer (Applied Biosystems, USA). The allele sizes generated by all 22 SSR markers on 79 ecotypes and eight commercial varieties were scored using GeneMapper v4.1 software (Applied Biosystems, USA). ALS-Binary and Allelobin software (http://www.icrisat.org/bt-software-d-allelobin.htm) were used to convert allelic data to binary data (0, 1) where 0 and 1 represent absent and presence of an allele, respectively. Statistical analysis of allelic and binary data were performed using PowerMarker v.3.25 (Liu and Muse, 2005) to obtain total number of alleles per locus, allele size range, genetic diversity and heterozygosity, and frequency based genetic distances were calculated using shared alleles distance matrix. The population diversity indices e.g. number of allele, private allele, and effective allele per locus, Shannon Information index, observed and expected heterozygosity were calculated using GenAIEx v.6.5 (Peakall and Smouse, 2012). The same software was used to compute analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and matrix of genetic distance. The Dice binary similarity coefficient (Dice, 1945) was used to generate the Unweighted Neighbor-Joining tree (NJT) showing relationships among test genotypes in Darwin Software v6.0 (Perrier and Jacquemound, 2006).Descriptive statistics for all marker sets were computed (Table 2). The major allele frequency ranged from 0.2405 (Brz3002) to 0.8228 (Brz0076) with mean of 0.5184. The number of different alleles ranged from 3 (Brz0029) to 10 (Brz0130) with mean of 5.45. The genetic diversity averaged to 0.6225 with range of 0.3169 to 0.8021. Similarly, the polymorphic information content ranged from 0.3087 (Brz0076) to 0.8384 (Brz3002) with mean of 0.5825.The population diversity indices for five ecotype populations from Kenya were summarized (Table 3). The ILRI population had highest number of different alleles and the least for Alupe population. The number of private allele was highest for ILRI population and the lowest for Kisii population. The information index ranged from 0.408 to 0.887 with mean of 0.599. The observed heterozygosity was higher than expected for all populations. The percentage polymorphic loci ranged from 46.47% (Kitui) to 86.87% (ILRI).The pairwise genetic distance and population matrix of Nie genetic identity were calculated (Table 4). The genetic distance was highest between Alupe and Kitui populations (0.510) whereas the least between ILRI and Kiminini populations (0.307). Similarly, genetic identity was the highest between ILRI and Kiminini populations (0.636) and the lowest between Alupe and Kitui populations (0.235). The PCoA plot of ecotypes from five populations showed no distinct clustering pattern (Figure 1). The first two principal coordinate explained 18.27% of the total genetic variation within the test ecotypes. Specifically, the first and second coordinates explained 10.85% and 7.42% of the total genetic variation, respectively. However, an Unweighted Neighbor Joining tree of 79 ecotypes and eight commercial cultivars showed them into three distinct clusters (Figure 2).    The partitioning of the total variation in population at different levels was estimated with AMOVA (Table 5). Within the individual difference contributed highest (81%) to total variation followed by among individual difference (17%) and among population differences (2%). The fixation index (FST) and number of immigration per generation (Nm) for study populations were 0.021 and 11.585 respectively.   Brachiaria grass has shown a great potential as preferred forage option to supply quality forage to livestock especially during the dry seasons in East Africa. Current efforts are focused on repatriation in the form of hybrids and improved varieties developed mostly in South America and Australia. These repatriated materials have shown excellent performance in terms of biomass yields and livestock productivity but challenges of pests and diseases are observed in some varieties indicating potential threat of pests and diseases as acreage under Brachiaria continue to grow in Africa. Moreover, all repatriated commercial varieties were developed outside Africa in the absence of natural pests and enemies. Therefore upscaling of repatriated material requires caution and Africa based Brachiaria improvement program is imperative to develop varieties considering agro-climatic diversity of World's second largest continent and natural pests and disease. The genetic complexity, primarily apomictic mode of reproduction, and abundant natural variations in Africa urge for two pronged approach (selection and breeding) for improving Brachiaria grass in Africa. All-inclusive germplasm base with documented variations are prerequisite for the effective breeding programs. This study collected 79 Brachiaria ecotypes in Kenya and documented their genetic variations using microsatellite markers.The PIC values for 22 SSR markers averaged to 0.5825 suggesting markers were capable in differentiating 79 Kenyan Brachiaria ecotypes. The PIC value in this study is within the range reported by Silva et al. (2013), Jungmann et al. (2009a) and Vigan et al. (2011) but was lower than found by Jungmann et al. (2009b) and Pessoa-Filho et al. (2015). Similarly, the average numbers of allele detected per loci (5.45) was in the range reported by Silva et al. (2013), Jungmann et al. (2009a), andVigan et al. (2011) but was about half and one third of that reported by Jungmann et al. (2009b) and Pessoa-Filho et al. (2015), respectively. However, these comparisons may not be conclusive due to differences in markers and germplasm (in terms of type and number) and germplasm species compositions.The analysis of the distributions of alleles across populations is important for explaining genetic diversity and population relationships (Szpiech et al., 2008). Private alleles are important in plant breeding and conservation as they are present only in a single population among a broader collection of populations (Kalinowski, 2004). Five ecotypes populations of Kenya were different for private alleles with highest number of private alleles in ILRI population and least in Kiminini population. Such variations in the private alleles among populations moist likely was the effect of population size ranging from 3 to 60 individual per population. Although no information available on species composition of each population, it is likely the presence of multiple species resulting into high number of private alleles in some population. Irrespective of populations HO was higher than HE indicating some degree of gene flow in each population.It is consistent with the human involvement in moving planting materials and out crossing nature of some Brachiaria species for example B. ruziziensis.The study population varied for genetic distance and genetic identity coefficients. The highest genetic distance between Alupe and Kitui populations can be explained by the wider geographical distance between these two locations (675 km) but the genetic distance between other populations could not be associated to geographical proximity. Reports are available on forage research including seed production of B. ruziziensis in Kitale, Kenya (Boonman 1971;Boonman 1993), and involvement of Kenya Agricultural Research Institute and Kenya Seed Company in the past in production and trading B. ruziziensis seeds (Wandera 1997). It is likely that some of these Brachiaria seeds might have reached to farmers' field and other research stations in Kenya including ILRI and afterwards naturalized in the wild. If this hold true a low genetic distance (0.307) between ILRI and Kiminini (20 km away from Kitale) populations could be because of shared genetic materials in early days.The contribution of within individual difference to total variation was 81%, whereas among the individual and among populations differences contributed 17% and 2%, respectively (Table 5).These observations were in agreement with Vigna et al. (2011) and Pessoa-Filho et al. (2015), who reported high contribution of within the accession/individual differences to total variation in B. brizantha (84%) and B. ruziziensis (88%) populations. Similarly, Garcia et al. (2013) and Azevedo et al. (2011) reported 73% and 65% of total variation attributed to within species or cluster, respectively. However, Jungmann et al. (2010) reported 44% of the variation in B. humidicola accessions due to the subdivision of the germplasm into five groups. The FST and effective number of migrants per generation (Nm) values of 0.021 and 11.580 indicated relatively a negligible genetic differentiation among populations (Wright 1951) and relatively high level of gene flow among the Kenyan ecotypes populations (Vicetich and Waite, 2000) respectively. A low genetic differentiation among the study populations could be associated with apomictic mode of reproduction, variable ploidy causing meiotic anomalies leading to reduced pollen fertility and dispersal of seeds by migratory herbivorous and humans activities such as hay transportation and feeding animals (do Valle and Savidan 1996;Harrington et al., 2011;Leitch and Leitch 2008;Jungmann et al. 2010;Malo and Saurez, 1995;Vigna et al. 2011).Polyploid plants are effective colonizers that can occupy pioneer habitats and generate individuals that are able to exploit new niches or out-compete progenitor species, whereas apomictic polyploid plants can fix heterosis (Leitch and Leitch 2008;Jungmann et al. 2010;Vigna et al. 2011).This study represents among the very first studies of this century in sub Saharan Africa that involved collection of local Brachiaria ecotypes from different part of Kenya and examination of their genetic differences using microsatellite markers. The genus Brachiaria consists of over 100 species and 33 species have been reported in Kenya.The Eastern and Central Africa is the centre of origin and diversity of the Brachiaria grasses where they occur in natural habitat (Boonman, 1993). However, a few of the species have been selected for forage production and are widely cultivated in South America, Australia and South East Asia. The most common and extensively cultivated Brachiaria species for pastures are B. brizantha, B. ruziziensis, B. decumbens and B. mutica (Ndikumana and de Leeuw,1996). Some of the germplasms were collected in the 1940s in Africa and are held in gene banks across the world under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and have not been exploited for pasture production.Despite the diversity of Brachiaria spp. in Eastern and Central Africa, comparatively little information is available on their agro-morphological characteristics. In Kenya, past evaluations identified and selected Congo Signal (B. ruziziensis) for commercialisation in the Western region (Wandera, 1997). However, the demand for seeds was comparatively low compared with other preferred grass, such as Chloris gayana (Rhodes grass) and therefore, the seed production was discontinued. Other species, B. brizantha, B. decumbens, and B. humidicola were evaluated in small-plot agronomic trials in the 1990s (Ndikumana and de Leeuw, 1996) but none of them found its way into commercial uses.In recent years, there has been renewed interest in Kenya to develop high yielding and nutritious forages to support growing livestock industry using Brachiaria grasses. Grasses in the genus Brachiaria have advantage over grasses in other genera including adaptation to infertile acid soils and produce high dry matter (DM) yield (Rodrigues et al., 2014). The recent programme on pasture development in Kenya commenced with introduction of selected landraces improved cultivars and hybrids from South America and Australia to assess their adaptation and production in different agro-ecological zones. Unfortunately, some of these grasses have shown susceptibility to pest and diseases (Njarui et al., 2016). Consequently there is need to explore other germplasms either through collection or acquisition of material maintained by different research institutions and gene bank across the world.The Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) obtained several Brachiaria accessions from the Genetic Resource Program of International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). To exploit these germplasms for forage, it is important to understand the agro-morphological characteristics and variations that exist among them. Past evaluation of various plant germplasm has indicated considerable diversity in growth habit (Veasey et al., 2001;van de Wouw et al., 2009). Morphological and agronomical classification methods have been widely used to group accessions with similar characters (Pengelly et al., 1992). Successful classification has been carried out on large number of accessions of Buffel grass, Panicum and Indigofera (Jorge et al., 2008: van de Wouw et al., 2008;Hassen et al., 2006) using cluster and principal component analysis and identified distinct groups. The objective of the study was to characterise the variations Brachiaria grasses accessions obtained from CIAT and compare their diversity and morphological and agronomic traits which can be exploited for possible integration in different farming systems of Kenya.The experiment was conducted from December 2013 to August 2014 at KALRO-Katumani (37 o 28'E; 1 o 58'S), Kenya. The climate and soil characteristic have been described by Njarui and Wandera (2004). Elevation is 1600 m asl and mean annual total rainfall is 717 mm, with a bimodal pattern; the long rains occurs from March to May and the short rains from October to December with peaks in April and November, respectively. There are two distinct dry seasons; from January to February and June to September. Evapo-transpiration rates are high and exceed the amount of rainfall in all the months except in November in which total rainfall exceeds total evaporation. The mean temperature is 19.6 o C with March (21 o C) and July (16.6 o C) being the warmest and coolest months, respectively. The soils are chromic luvisols (Aore and Gitahi, 1991) and are generally low in nitrogen and phosphorus (Okalebo et al., 1992), with a pH of 6.5.Eighty accessions of Brachiaria grass were obtained from Genetic Resource Program of CIAT, Columbia. Most of these accessions originated from Eastern Africa countries; Ethiopia, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda and a few from central Africa, Zaire and Zimbabwe. The rest of the accessions were from Togo in West Africa and Oman in Asia. Information regarding the origin of nine accessions was not available.Individual seeds of all 80 Brachiaria accessions were sown in polybags in a greenhouse using forest soil, sand and manures at a ratio of 3:2:1. At about four weeks after seedling emergence, 12 uniform and health seedlings from each accession were transplanted to the field in December 2013. The seedlings were planted in single rows at spacing of 10 cm between seedlings. The row to row spacing between accessions was maintained at 2 m. The spacing between rows was 2 m while the space between different accessions within the row was 1 m. Triple super phosphate (TSP 46% P2O5) fertilizer was applied at a rate of 40 kg P/ha only during planting. The plots were kept weed free by hand weeding.Data was collected from 47 accessions comprising 8 species (Table 1) as the rest were lost due to termite damage and/or poor establishment. The data was collected on 22 agro-morphological characters (Table 2). The characters selected were based on their agronomic relevance and expected variation among the accessions. Twelve qualitative characters were recorded for 10 plants of each accession as suggested by van de Wouw et al. (1999b) in the middle plants leaving one plant on either side of the row to avoid any border effect. Other attributes were recorded from whole plot (Table 2). All plants were evaluated once at 50% flowering stage to minimize differences due to stage of growth.The correlations among the observed variables were calculated using the Pearson's correlation coefficient. When pairs of variables had a high correlation coefficient (r ≥0.7), one of these variables was omitted to avoid indirect weighting in cluster analysis according to criteria applied by Hassen et al. (2006) and van de Wouw et al. (2009). After standardizing the variables to a mean of 0 and a variance of 1, a principal component analysis was carried out using the program Statistical Analysis System (SAS) software (SAS Inc. 2001). Hierarchical cluster analysis was carried out using the complete linkage method according to criteria recommended by van de Wouw et al. (2009). Variations between the groups of accessions for the different characteristics were assessed by one-way analysis of variance considering groups as treatments and individual accessions within a group as replications. The principal component (PC) analysis revealed four components with eigenvalues greater than 1 (Table 3). The first principal component which explained 23.8% of the total variation was positively associated with agro-morphological characters: leaf width, plant height, days to 50% flowering, plant spread and flowering duration, and was also negatively associated with leaf ratio. The second PC which explained 20.2% of the total variation was strongly and positively associated with leaf length, inflorescence width and leaf ratio. The third PC which explained 14.5% of the total variation was positively associated with leaf width while the fourth PC which explained only 9.9% of the total variation was strongly and positively associated with culm thickness. The first and second principal components are plotted in Figure 1 and described 44% of the variation. They revealed separation of groups across the PC1 axis. Accessions with higher values for PC1 (16320, 6674, 6686, 6369, 6130, 26133, 6419, 667 and 660) had a prostrate growth habit, higher plant spread and were taller and late flowering. Accessions with higher values for PC2 had an erect growth habit, large leaflets (length to width ratio) and higher inflorescence width.  Most of the plant characters recorded showed significant (P<0.05) variations (Table 4). The difference in days to 50% flowering was large and varied from 91-194 days while difference in height was small and ranged from 53-86 cm. Difference in plants spread was large (115-216 cm) with plants in group V having the largest spread and those in group 1 with the lowest spread.On the other hand, the difference between groups on leaf width, leaf ratio, leaf sheath hairiness and inflorescence was small. However, groups were not different for leafiness, leaf length, growth habit, culm thickness and stigma colour. Cluster analysis based on agro-morphological characters highlighted five main groups as shown in the dendrogram (Figure 2). The first level of separation (Group V vs. others) was mainly on the basis of days to 50% flowering and flowering duration. The two accessions classified in group V, both from B. humidicola (6369 and 36083) were late in flowering (Table 4) and took 194 days to flower. The accession 36083 originated from Ethiopia while the origin for 6369 is not known. The next separation (groups IV and III) occurred due to plant spread, leaf width, leaf size (length to width ratio) leaf sheath hairiness, inflorescence width, and plant height. Accessions in group IV had higher spread, broad leaves and more hairiness while accessions in group III were taller and had higher inflorescence width.  The classification using agro-morphological technique is useful in defining group based on agronomic characters (Pengelly et al., 1992). In this study, 13 plant characters were selected from a total of 22 morphological and agronomical characters. The principal component and cluster analysis showed existing genetic variability among and between Brachiaria species. Approximately 60% of the accessions evaluated were B. brizantha and majority of these originated mainly from eastern Africa which is regarded as the centre of genetic diversity of Brachiaria. Ethiopia and Kenya accounted for about 51% of the origin of the tested Brachiaria accessions. A good number of accessions were from Burundi, Rwanda and Zimbabwe while the rest from Uganda, Zaire, Oman and Togo were poorly represented. The origin of the member of group was not limited to one country with materials from same region classified in different groups indicating great diversity among the Brachiaria grass. The 11 accessions originating from Ethiopia were distributed in 4 out of the 5 clusters while 13 accessions from Kenya belonged to 3 clusters. It is also possible that the different accessions which are genetically similar occur across different countries. However, genetically closely related accession can have a very different morphology and therefore a very different prospective use and agronomic value (van de Wouw et al., 1999a).The agro-morphological characters were variable in determining the groups with 50% flowering, flowering duration and plant spread being key determinant of the group. These characters are important and can form the basis of selection for different environment and utilization. Flowering data is important adaptive characteristics (Hassen et al., 2006). Early flowering ensure survival and sustainability in areas with short growing period. On the other hand, accessions 6369 and 36083 that flowered late would be useful in areas with long growing season. Those that have a wide spreading habit in cluster IV are useful for ground cover to reduce soil erosion while tall accessions which occurred in cluster III are suitable for cut-andcarry livestock feeding system.The variance accounted by the first and second component for agro-morphological data was 44%, a relatively low percentage of the total variation compared with >75% obtained by Hassen et al. (2006) and Veasey et al. (2001). This may not explain satisfactory the variability expressed by the individual accessions. Normally variation of >75% is required to satisfactory explain the variability expressed between individual accessions (Veasey et al., 2001). However it is important to note that most of the accessions originated from only eight countries in Africa and from each country only a few accessions were classified and this may not reflect the total Brachiaria diversity that exists within the region. Further, even within the country of origin the accessions were from similar agro-ecological zone. For example, all the 13 accessions evaluated from Kenya were collected from areas within the Rift Valley region. There is need to expand collection to cover wider agro-ecological zones in addition to exploring germplasm from other countries in Africa. Nevertheless, the results provided useful information on the diversity among Brachiaria accession. This information would be important for pasture development and future evaluation and collections of Brachiaria species in Africa.Forages play an important role in agricultural economy of developing countries by providing the cheapest source of feed for the livestock. In coastal lowlands of Kenya, one of the most important challenges to livestock production is scarcity of feeds during the dry season. The feed resources available in the smallholder mixed farms are inadequate in quantity and low in quality mainly due to lack of suitable grasses adapted to environmental conditions of the region. Farmers depend on natural pasture for livestock and more often give low priority to pasture establishment. Past attempts to improve dairy production focused mainly on promotion of Napier grass (Mureithi et al., 1998) and other grasses and legumes (Njunie and Ogora, 1990). Despite these efforts, cultivated forages account for less than 15% of dairy cattle feed in all the month within a year (Njarui et al., 2016). In addition, land sub-division has also contributed to feed shortage through limited available land for pasture establishment (Jones et al., 2004). To address the challenges of feed shortage in the region, there is need to select high quality forages that are adapted to the region.Brachiaria grasses are widely grown in South America with over 99 million hectares in Brazil (Jank et al., 2014). Brachiaria grasses are adapted to low soil fertility and grow in a range of environmental conditions and have potential to mitigate climate change (Miles et al., 2004). In Kenya, Brachiaria grows well in areas where annual rainfall is above 700 mm and mean temperatures exceeding 19 o C. It also requires well drained and deep soils (Njarui et al., 2015).There have been previous efforts to improve the productivity of these grasses (Ndikumana and de Leeuw., 1996), but however there is little information on the establishment and growth of these grasses in the coastal region. The objective of this study was therefore to assess the establishment and initial growth of Brachiaria grass cultivars in the coastal lowlands of Kenya.The study was conducted at the Kenya Agricultural Research and Livestock Organisation (KALRO), research centres, Mtwapa and Msabaha in coastal lowlands (CL) of Kenya. Mtwapa lies in CL 3 agro-ecological zone while Msabaha falls in CL4, (Jaetzold et al., 2006). The sites experience bimodal rainfall, the long rains (LR) occurring from March to August and the short rains (SR) from October to December with a short dry spell in January and February. The total rainfall recorded during the experiment period was 193.7 mm at Msabaha and 369.9 mm at Mtwapa. The mean temperatures in both sites was 28 0 C. Prior to commencement of the study, the soils were sampled at 0-20 cm depth and the chemical analyses determined. In Mtwapa, the soil pH was 6.7 (1:2.5 soil water), total 0.03%, organic carbon (OC) 0.3%, phosphorus (p) 18.3ppm, potassium (K) 0.22 (me) %, magnesium (mg) 0.95 and calcium (Ca) 1.5. In Msabaha, the soil pH was 5.3, total N 0.03%, OC 0.26%, phosphorus 15 ppm and magnesium Mg 0.55). Mtwapa as a control but not at Msabaha due to limited seeds. The treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The plot sizes were 5 m x 4 m with a 1 m path between plots and 1.5 m between replications. The seeds were drilled by hand in furrows of about 2 cm deep on a well prepared seed bed at the seed rate of 5 kg ha -1 with interrows spacing of 0.5 m and covered with a thin layer of soil. Triple superphosphate (TSP, 46% P205) fertilizer was applied in the furrows prior to sowing of seeds at a rate of 40 kg P/ha. The experiments were kept weed free during the experimental period by hand weeding.Plant number and growth parameters (plant height, plot cover, tiller number and plant spread) were recorded at 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks after seedling emergence (WAE) in both sites. At the end of establishment period, 16 WAE, the plants were harvested for dry matter (DM) yield determination. Plant numbers were determined by counting within 1 m x 1 m fixed quadrat frame placed randomly over two rows within the plots. Plant height was determined by measuring the primary shoots from the base of the plant to the topmost flag leaf of four tagged plants as described by Rayburn and Lozier (2007). The percentage plot cover was determined from a 1 m x 1 m quadrat sub-divided into 25 squares as described by Njarui and Wandera (2004). Tillers were counted for tagged plants while plant spread was determined by measuring the width of grass stool from one edge to the other for the four tagged plants. During the DM yield determination, the plants were cut to a stubble height of 5 cm in an area of 4 m 2 . Fresh herbage was harvested, weighed and a sub-sample taken, oven dried at of 65 o C to a constant weight and dry weights recorded. The values on growth parameters and dry matter yields were statistically evaluated by analysis of variance (ANOVA) using general linear model (GLM) procedure of Statistical Analysis System (SAS) package (SAS, 2001). Means were separated using the Tukey's HD test.Plant numbers increased slightly after 4 WAE and were highest at 12 WAE and then remained fairly stable for all the Brachiaria cultivars at both sites. However plant numbers were more at Mtwapa than at Msabaha (Table 2). Rhodes grass had more plant at Mtwapa in all the observations and were more (P < 0.05) than all Brachiaria cultivars at 4 WAE while in the other observations the plant numbers were not significantly (P < 0.05) different from some of the Brachiaria grasses. At Msabaha plant numbers were higher among the Brachiaria cultivars at 4 and 12 WAE and MG4, Basilisk, Llanero and Xaraes were the only Brachiaria grasses which attained ≥10plant/m 2 (Table 2).The average number of tillers increased gradually over time for all the cultivars in both sites (   At Mtwapa plant height increased steadily in all the Brachiaria cultivars from around 10 cm at 4 WAE to >50 cm at 16 WAE with Mulato II being the tallest both at 12 WAE (44.9 cm) and 16 WAE (92.5 cm) and was the only Brachiaria with similar height to Rhodes at 16 WAE. (Table 4). At Msabaha growth was relatively slow and by 16 WAE none of the cultivar had reached 50 cm in height. Basilisk and Llanero were the tallest while MG4 and Marandu had the lowest height. There was significant difference among the cultivars on plant spread at both sites (  Plot cover increased steadily from around 20% to over 55% at 8 WAE for most of the Brachiaria and thereafter the increase was slow (Table 6). The cv. MG4 consistently recorded the highest plot cover in all the observations although it was not higher (P < 0.05) than most of the Brachiaria cultivars. At Msabaha, all cultivars showed slow growth recording mean plot cover of 16.8 at 4 WAE and 57.4% at 16WAE. Xaraes attained the highest at 16 WAE (80%) and was higher that most of the other Brachiaria cultivars. The low cover attained at Msabaha could probably be due to the low rainfall recorded during the experimental period. Figures 1and 2 shows the dry matter yield of the cultivars at week 16. Generally DM yield for all the Brachiaria cultivars was higher at Mtwapa than at Msabaha. At Mtwapa, there were significant (P < 0.05) differences among the Brachiaria cultivars on DM yields in kg/ha. Xaraes (8700 kg/ha) recorded the highest yield followed by Marandu (7847 kg/ha) while Piata (5000 kg/ha) and Llanero (5300 kg/ha) had the lowest. Rhodes grass cv. Ex-Tozi had similar yield to Llanero and Piata but was lower than the other cultivars. At Msabaha, DM yield ranged between (1700 -3600) with Basilisk and MG4 having higher yield than the other cultivars. Surprising the difference in growth habit that would have contributed to difference in height and spread was not expressed. Llanero which has a prostrate growth habit was even taller than the other cultivars with erect growth habit such as Basilisk and Marandu. However it can be speculated that the high temperature influenced plant spread more than height. The difference in cover among the cultivars attributed to differences in seedling emergence and growth rate among the grasses. Marandu was slow to establish and therefore took time to build reasonable cover. According to Cook et al., (2005), Llanero has strongly stoloniferous growth habit that enables it to have higher cover than the other cultivars. Mulato II also showed a sharp increase in plot cover at 8 and 12 weeks enabling the grass achieve 80% plot cover.Llanero, Mulato II, Marandu and MG4 had higher tillering ability among the cultivars at Mtwapa. The tiller numbers increased the chances of survival for most grasses and that large number of tillers produced allowed grasses to attain relatively high DM at an early age. This concurs with Mganga 2009, reporting that tillering ability complements yield and resilience of grass stand under defoliation. The results are also in agreement with those of Cook (2005) who found out that tillering ability of Llanero is as a result of its growth habit. As grasses ages, forage yield is increased due to the increases in tissues of the plant (Minson, 1990). Wolfson (2000), also reported that shoots or tillers that remain undefoliated for long decline and mayLivestock feed scarcity is a salient feature in semi-arid regions of Kenya (Njarui et al., 2011) and it is a major constraint to livestock production during the dry seasons when the quality also declines. Seasonal fluctuation of feed availability is widespread among smallholder croplivestock farmers and between 79 -99% of experience feed shortage within a year (Njarui et al., 2016). The demand for productive and high quality forages to bridge feed deficit is high. The rising interest in livestock development fuelled by rising demands of animal products has led to research in identifying drought tolerant, more productive and persistence forages to support livestock productivity.Livestock farming is based on a few cultivated pastures species that have a narrow genetic base. Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana L.) which constitutes the main commercial pastures has limited ecological adaptation. On the other hand, Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.), the most widely grown fodder for dairy cattle in hill masses for cut-and-carry production system, is susceptible to stunting and head smut diseases. Napier stunt causes herbage yield reduction of 40-90% (Lusweti et al., 2004;Mulaa et al., 2004) and 35% milk reduction while head smut causes yield loss of 25-46% (Mwendia et al., 2006). Consequently, there is need for diversification of pastures species that are high yielding, have wide agro-ecological adaptation and for insurance against emerging pests and diseases triggered by recent climate change.Grasses in the genus Brachiaria have advantage over those in other genera including adaptation to infertile acid soils and produce high dry matter (DM) yield (Rodrigues et al., 2014). These grasses are the most widely grown forages in South America (Miles et al., 2004) with estimated acreage of 99 million hectares in Brazil alone (Jank et al., 2014), supporting a highly vibrant beef industry. Signal grass (Brachiaria decumbens cv. Basilisk) which was developed in Australia is adapted to a wide range of soil types and environments and grows at a range of altitudes, from 500 to 2300 m asl. It is a highly productive tropical grass that is widespread in South America, Australia, Indonesia, Vanuatu and Malaysia (Low, 2015). Brachiaria grasses produce high biomass, enhance soil fertility and reduce greenhouse gas emission (Peters et al., 2012) and contribute to carbon sequestration (Djikeng et al., 2014). Research efforts in South America led to development of high yielding and nutritious grasses and eventually release of several cultivars from Brachiaria genus. For example, Brachiaria hybrid cv. Mulato II was developed from three way crosses between B. ruziziensis (sexual tetraploid), B. decumbens and B. brizantha (apomitic tetraploid) (Miles et al., 2006). It has superior nutritive value to other warm season grasses and is suitable for grazing (Inyang et al., 2010a). Dry matter yield of up to 19 t/ha has been recorded from Mulato II over 8 months growth period (Argel et al., 2007) The study was conducted at Katumani and Ithookwe in the semi-arid mid-altitude tropics of eastern Kenya (Table 1). Katumani is located at higher altitude but mean temperature is lower than Ithookwe. Ithookwe receives higher mean annual rainfall (1010 mm) than Katumani (700 mm). The rainfall in both sites is bimodal, with the long rains (LR) occurring from March to May and short rains (SR) from October to December with peaks in April and November, respectively. Evapo-transpiration is high and exceeds the amount of rainfall except in November when rainfall is higher than evapo-transpiration. Total annual evapo-transpiration ranges from 1600 to 2300 mm (KARI, 2001). The soils are generally low in nitrogen and phosphorus (Okalebo et al., 1992). The soil chemical analysis determined using method of Horwitz and Latimer (2005) showed a pH of 5.9 (1:2.5 soil: water); total nitrogen (N), 0.12%; organic carbon (OC), 1.21%; phosphorus (P) 15.0 ppm; other minerals (me%) potassium (K), 0.36; calcium (Ca), 3.7 and magnesium (Mg), 5.77 at Katumani. In Ithookwe, the pH was 5.5 ; total N, 0.12%; OC, 1.14%; P, 10.0 ppm; other minerals (me %); K, 0.16; Ca, 2.0; Mg, 4.48 and Na, 0.16.The grasses evaluated were Brachiaria decumbens cv.  (CIAT 36087). These were compared with commonly cultivated forages; Napier grass cv. Kakamega 1 and Rhodes grass. The design of the experiment was a randomized complete block in a split-plot arrangement, with four replications. The main plots were grass cultivars and the sub-plots were the regrowth ages after cutting (6, 8 and 12 weeks). Plot sizes were 4 m x 5 m with a 1 m alley between plots and replications. The plots were established during the SR 2013 in November using a seed rate of 5 kg/ha except for Napier grass. The seeds were drilled in furrows at a depth of 0.5-1.0 cm on a well prepared seedbed with an inter-row spacing of 0.5 m and covered with a thin layer of soil. For Napier grass, a single split was planted per hole at a spacing of 1m x 1m apart. Triple super phosphate (TSP 46% P2O5) fertilizer was applied in planting furrows prior to sowing of seeds at a rate of 40 kg/ha P.A standardization cut was made in March 2014 at the start of the LR 2014 wet season in all plots to stimulate uniform plant growth. Calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN, 26% N) was applied at 100 kg N/ha per year in 2 splits, during the LR and SR seasons and commenced after the standardisation cut. The fertilizer was broadcasted in the plots and covered slightly using hand hoes, approximately one week after onset of each rainy season. The plots were kept weed free throughout the experimental period by weeding using hand hoes.The first wet season (SR 2013) was regarded as the establishment phase up to 16 weeks after seedling emergence and subsequent seasons as production phase. During the production phase, the data was collected on plant numbers, pest and disease damage and DM yield were recorded. Number of plants was determined by counting plants within a 1m x 1m frame, randomly placed over the 2 central rows at 4 weeks interval. The pest damage was rated on a 1-5 scale (0=no damage and 5=highest damage) every 4 weeks. The plants were repeatedly sampled at re-growth ages of 6, 8 and 12 weeks intervals to determine DM yield. At each harvest, an area of 2 m x 1 m was sampled and the plants were cut to around 5 cm stubble height using hand held sickles. For Napier grass harvesting was made after every 8 weeks since this is the recommended harvest regime and the plants were cut at 10-15 cm stubble height in an area of 2 m x 2 m (4 stools/plot). The fresh material was weighed; a sub-sample was taken where necessary then dried at 105 o C for 48 hours and weighed for DM determination. The herbage samples for forage quality analysis which consisted of all the stem and leaves harvested were dried at 65C for approximately 72 hours.Due to relatively high cost of analysis, only samples harvested during the LR 2014 season at Katumani were analysed. The herbage was ground to pass through a 1-mm screen in a Willey mill (Udy Corporation, Fort Collin, CO). Analysis was conducted for crude protein (CP), fibres, lignin, calcium, phosphorus and in-vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD). Ash was determined by heating the samples at 600 o C for 2 hours in a muffle furnace. Crude protein was determined using micro-Kjeldahl according to the method of the Association of Official Analytical Chemist (AOAC 2000). The neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL) were determined using the Ankom method of Van Soest et al. (1991). The IVDMD was determined according to the procedure of Goering and Van Soest (1970).Analysis of variance was carried out on plant numbers, DM yield and forage quality composition. The data for Humidicola were not included in the analysis due to poor plant population in all the plots. For the DM yield and quality composition of Napier grass, only the cutting interval at 8 weeks was used for comparison. The plant numbers for Napier grass were not included because only four splits were planted within the sampling area and this was expected to remain constant. The DM yield for each season was obtained by combining the harvest made in the respective seasons. At Katumani, plants died after the LR 2015 season and therefore, it was not possible to analyse data across sites and season. Consequently, an analysis was conducted separately for each site using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS, 1987) model;Where; A is the measurement (observation response), µ = overall mean, Ri is the effect of i th replicate (i = 1 to 4), Cj is the effect of j th grass cultivars (j = 1 to 9), Ek is the effect of k th cutting interval, (C*E)jk is the interaction between j th cultivar and k th cutting interval and ijk is the experimental error. The means of plant numbers, DM yields and forage quality composition were separated using the least significant difference (LSD) test at P < 0.05 (Steel and Torrie, 1981). #Rainfall and temperature during the experimental period (2014 -2015) and average the rainfall are given in Figure 1. At Katumani, rainfall was around the average in LR 2014 but in SR 2014 and LR 2015, it was below the average. At Ithookwe rainfall was above the average in all the seasons except in LR 2014 where it was below average. The temperature ranged from 17.8 -22.9 o C at Katumani and 20.3 -22.7 o C at Ithookwe.There was no significant (P > 0.05) interaction between the Brachiaria cultivars and cutting intervals on plant numbers in both sites. Significance difference (P < 0.05) on plant numbers occurred among the Brachiaria cultivars in both sites. At commencement of production phase, plant numbers ranged from 9 -19 plants/m 2 at Katumani, (   There was no significant (P > 0.05) interaction between the Brachiaria cultivars and cutting intervals on DM yield in all the seasons at Katumani. Significant differences (P<0.05) on yield occurred between cutting intervals and among the grass cultivars. During the LR 2014 season, yield ranged from 4382 to 7283 kg/ha with MG4 and Piatá attaining the highest yield while Llanero had the lowest (Figure 2a). Significant (P < 0.05) difference was recorded between cutting interval of 6 and 12 weeks (Figure 2b). In SR 2014, the yield declined to between 1521 and 3617 kg/ha (Figure 2c). During this season, the 6 and 8 weeks gave similar yields and were higher than at 12 weeks cutting interval (Figure 2d). In LR 2015 season, DM yield declined further to <2000 kg/ha for all the Brachiaria cultivars (Figure 2e). However increasing cutting interval from 6 to 8 weeks increased yield but at 12 weeks there was no further yield benefit (Figure 2f). The most productive cultivars in all the seasons were Basilisk, MG4, Piatá and Xaraes. The control, Napier grass had highest (P < 0.05) yield than all the Brachiaria cultivars in the first harvest (LR 2014 season) while in SR 2014 season, the yield was not different and in LR 2015 it yielded less than Basilisk and Xaraes. , had a significant effect on yield while in LR 2015 season only the cutting interval had a significant effect on yield. In LR 2014 season, yield ranged from 1738 to 5672 kg/ha with Xaraes, Piatá and Basilisk having the highest yield while Mulato II had the lowest (Figure 3a). The control, Napier grass produced more yield (12766 kg/ha) than all the Brachiaria cultivars while Rhodes grass out yielded Mulato II only. Increasing cutting interval from 6 to 8 weeks increased the yield but a further increase to 12 weeks was not significant (Figure 3b). In SR 2014 season, generally increasing cutting interval resulted to increase in yield for all the Brachiaria cultivars (Figure 3c). In LR 2015 season, increasing cutting interval from 6 to 12 weeks tripled the DM yield (Figure 3d). However, in SR 2015 none of the cultivar consistently produced higher yield than the others at all cutting intervals but yields were lowest at 6 week (1400 -4300 kg/ha) and highest at 12 weeks cutting interval (3500 -7100 kg/ha) (Figure 3e). Mulato II had poor yield at 6 and 8 weeks but production improved at 12 weeks cutting interval. Generally, Piatá, Xaraes, Basilisk, MG4 and Llanero tended to produce the highest DM yield whereas Mulato II had the lowest. There were significant interactions between Brachiaria cultivars and cutting interval on CP, fibres, ash, digestibility, Ca and P (Table 3). For the lignin only the main effect (cultivars and cutting interval) had a significant effect. The CP declined with increasing cutting interval from 6 weeks (CP 9.8 -12.9% of DM) to 12 weeks (6.1 -8% of DM). Mulato II had the highest CP content at both 6 and 8 weeks cutting intervals. The NDF ranged from 56.1 to 66.4% of DM and ADF from 32.7 to 48.6% of DM and increased with cutting interval. The control, Rhodes grass had higher NDF at each cutting interval. The ash was highest at 6 weeks (12.3-15.0%) and declined with increased cutting interval for all the grasses. Lignin content was highest at 12 weeks cutting interval with Marandu (3.0%) having the lowest and Mulato II (5.30%) the highest. The IVDMD ranged from 46.0 to 61.1% and declined with increased cutting interval. The level of Ca and P increased with cutting interval from 6 to 8 weeks while at 12 weeks they either remained the same, increased or declined depending on the cultivars (Table 3). The control; Rhodes grass had the highest Ca at 8 and 12 weeks (0.35 and 0.36%) while MG4 had the highest P (0.13%) at 8 week cutting interval.Insect pests were recorded in all the Brachiaria cultivars in most of the months except on Llanero and the control; Rhodes grass (Table 4). The common pests were the red spider mites (Tetranychus urticae Koch.), grass midge (Oscella frit L.) and to some extent sorghum shoot fly (Atherigona soccata Rondani). The red spider mites attacked the underside of the leaves while the grass midge and shoot fly attacked the young growing tillers. The damage from the spider mites was the most devastating particularly for Mulato II and Marandu which recorded a total index of 4.1 and 5.0, respectively (Table 4). The highest attack was in March, October and November with indices of 0.5 to 1.0, implying that between 50 and 100% of plants were damaged. Xaraes, Piatá, Marandu and Mulato II were susceptible to red spider mites while MG4 and Basilisk showed some level of resistance. When attached by the mites, Basilisk and MG4 produced some purple pigmentation (probably anthocyanin) on leaves limiting insect infestation. The diseases recorded were leaf rust, leaf spot and blight mainly at Ithookwe. Rust attack was widespread in MG4 and Rhodes grass and was concentrated on the old mature leaves. Blight infestation was minor on all the Brachiaria cultivars and occurred during the dry season between July and September only.  This study has provided important information on effect of cutting interval on the productivity of Brachiaria grass cultivars which could be applied as guidelines to maximise quality and yield in semi-arid tropics of Kenya.The Brachiaria cultivars had a high plant numbers and showed variation in adaptation to different environment within the semi-arid tropics of Kenya. The higher plant numbers for MG4 and Marandu than other Brachiaria cultivars was attributed to their high germination level (Nguku et al., 2015). These grasses are perennial but nevertheless the plant numbers continued to decline over time. Although they flowered, they did not produce seeds due to low rainfall thus there was no new plant numbers through seedlings recruitment. The control, Rhodes grass produced viable seeds resulting in increased plant numbers. The poor survival of the Brachiaria grass at Katumani was due to low precipitation and the prolonged dry season experienced from May -October 2015. Difference in amount of rainfall received has been attributed to grass survival in the same environment (Njarui et al., 2015). Increasing cutting interval from 6 to 12 weeks increased yield in the first harvest but in second and third harvest there was no significant yield gains at Katumani. These findings are similar to those of Hare et al. (2013b) who reported that DM yield of guinea grass cv. Mombasa increased from 9.8 to 12 t/ha by delaying cutting interval from 30 to 60 days but at 90 days the DM yield did not increase in Thailand. However, this trend was not manifested at Ithookwe where longer cutting interval of 12 weeks resulted in increased yield. Hare et al. (2013a) also observed increased herbage accumulation in Mulato II from about 11 to 20 t/ha in Thailand as regrowth interval increased from 30 to 90 days. Similarly, Inyang et al. (2010b) reported lower herbage accumulation at 2 weeks regrowth than at cutting at 6 weeks interval for the Mulato II. A study by Njarui and Wandera (2004) showed higher yield for Basilisk at longer cutting interval than at short cutting interval in the same region. The difference in yield due to cutting intervals was attributed to moisture availability. At Katumani, rainfall was low compared with Ithookwe and was not sufficient to sustain addition growth beyond 8 weeks. Moreover, evapo-transpiration is high in the semi-arid resulting in reduced moisture in the soil. Stewart and Hash (1982) recorded evapo-transpiration rate of 8.2 mm per day in the semi-arid. The poor performance of Mulato II and Marandu at 6 and 8 weeks cutting interval at Ithookwe was attributed to infestation by the red spider mites. However, it seemed to improve in SR 2015 under the 12 weeks cutting interval as population of mites tended to decline. Mulato II is hybrid developed from three species of Brachiaria for resistance against spittle bugs in South America but its susceptibility to native pests in the Africa was not a surprise.Overall, the CP and digestibility were reasonably high, for all the Brachiaria cultivars when cut at 6 and 8 weeks of growth which is an important aspect for livestock production. Though Mulato II had the highest CP at 6 and 8 weeks (9.8 -12.9%) it was lower than the values of 13-16% recorded by Vendramini et al. (2014) but were similar to values reported by Hare et al. (2009). Hare et al. (2009) recorded average CP over 3 years ranging from 9.8 to 11.8% (leaf) and 6.7 to 7.3% (stem) of several Brachiaria grasses including Mulato II, Marandu, Xaraes and Basilisk.Among the most productive cultivars, Piatá and Xaraes were more nutritious in terms of CP than Napier and Rhodes grass. Basilisk and MG4 and had similar CP, fibres and digestibility to Napier and Rhodes grass and thus can be regarded as equally nutritious. This implies that they can complement Napier and Rhodes grass as livestock feed and meet the minimum CP content of 7%, the critical for animal production. The decline of CP and INVDMD with increased cutting intervals is attributed to accumulation of fibres with time. Inyang et al. (2010b) reported higher nutritive value of Mulato II when harvested at 2 week re-growth than at 6 weeks.Cutting Mulato II at 30 days interval produced CP level of 3 -4% greater than cutting interval of 45 to 60 days interval (Hare et al., 2013a). In another study, Hare et al. (2013b) also showed that increasing cutting interval significantly reduced the CP and increased the fibres concentration in guinea grass.The Brachiaria cultivars evaluated differed in performance within the semi-arid tropical Kenya. They showed low adaptation at Katumani and failed to tolerate the dry season of 2015 implying that they are unlikely to survive in areas that receives less than 800 mm annual rainfall with dry seasons exceeding four months. The DM yield was highest in the first harvest and declined progressively with seasons at Katumani with Xaraes, Piatá, Basilisk and MG4 consistently producing the highest yield. At Ithookwe, yields were fairly stable across all seasons with Xaraes, Llanero and Piatá having the highest yield in most of the seasons. These top performing cultivars yielded as much as the controls; Napier and Rhodes grass thus could be considered as suitable grasses for inclusion in the local farming system. Although Mulato II had higher CP than the other cultivars, high DM yield is more appealing to farmers and due to its being susceptible to pest, it is not recommended for cultivation in the region. Cutting interval of 6 weeks had the highest CP and digestibility but had the lowest DM yield. On the other hand, the quality was low at 12 weeks but yield was highest although in some instances it was not significantly higher than at 8 weeks interval. In view of the fact that at 12 weeks, the nutritive quality declined considerably, it is recommended that the best option for harvesting be 8 weeks interval as the yield is high and the nutritive quality is not compromised. However, there is need to evaluate their feeding value to livestock.Napier grass and Rhodes grass are the major cultivated forage grasses in Kenya due to their relatively high herbage yield, ease of propagation and management. In the intensive market oriented smallholder livestock production systems of central Kenya, Napier and Rhodes grass constitute between 40 and 80% of forages used by smallholder dairy farmers (Romney et al., 2004). Although there are efforts to evaluate new more adaptive cultivars of Napier grass (Wamalwa, 2013) there has been limited research on other grasses to widen the genetic base of fodders for the region. In addition, the emerging lethal diseases such as Napier smut (Farrel et al., 2001) and Napier stunt (Jones et al., 2004) reduces the yield of Napier grass by 40 to 90% (Orodho, 2007) and therefore the urgent need to identify and promote other high quality forages that are adapted to cool sub-humid highlands of central Kenya.Brachiaria grasses are productive warm-season perennial grasses with superior nutritive value to other warm-season grasses (Vendramini et al., 2014), and can be used for grazing (Inyang et al., 2010a) or harvested and conserved for feeding when needed (Vendramini et al., 2010). Brachiaria grasses are indigenous to eastern central and southern Africa (Ndikumana and de Leeuw, 1996) and have revolutionized the livestock industry as the most adaptable and widely cultivated in South America (Miles et al., 2004). The potential of improved Brachiaria grass in its native land Africa remains largely unexploited and yet they offer opportunities to address the challenge of livestock feed scarcity.A few Brachiaria grass cultivars were introduced to improve forage production, broaden the range of adapted grasses, and ensure high nutritive value in Kenya. The introduction of new cultivars should be based on adequate understanding of physiological processes and growth potential under a range of management practices. Cutting frequency is an important management practice that affects herbage accumulation, nutritive value and persistence of warm-season grasses (Inyang et al., 2010). Hare et al. (2013) compared Mulato II, Cayman and BR02/1794 in Thailand and concluded that cutting at 30 days intervals would produce CP levels of 3 − 4% higher than cutting at 45 and 60 days intervals, but herbage accumulation was 20% lower than cutting at the longer intervals. Inyang et al. (2010b) studied the effects of regrowth interval and stubble height on herbage accumulation, nutritive value and persistence of Mulato II. While herbage harvested at 2 week regrowth intervals had greater nutritive value, herbage accumulation was less than observed for longer regrowth intervals, supporting results reported with other warm-season grasses. However, there is little information on herbage accumulation and nutritive value of these new hybrids in tropical regions and in particular Kenya. Consequently, there is need to understand the production of these grasses under different management option. The specific objective of this study was to determine the herbage yield and nutritive value of selected Brachiaria cultivars under different cutting frequency in the cool subhumid highlands of central Kenya.The experiment was conducted at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) Ol joro Orok Centre, in the cool central highlands of Kenya from December 2013 to March 2016. The site is located at latitude, 00 0 22' S and longitude, 36 0 46' W at altitude of 2393 m asl in Upper Highlands 2-3 (UH 2-3) agro ecological zone (Jaetzold et al., 2006. Average annual rainfall is about 950 mm is bi-modal with the long rains from March to May and the short rains from September to December. Temperature ranges from 8 and 22 °C with a mean of 13 o C. The soils are classified as verto-luvic and chromo-luvic Phaeozems (Sombroek et al., 1982). These are well drained with good permeability. Prior to initiation of the experiment, the pH was 4.7 (1:2.5 soil: water), 0.24% total nitrogen (adequate), 10 ppm phosphorus (low), 1.72 me potassium (adequate) and 2.4 % total organic carbon (moderate).The grass treatments were Brachiaria brizantha cvs. Marandu, Xaraes, Piata, and MG4, B. decumbens cv. Basilisk, B. humidicola cvs. Humidicola and Llanero and Brachiaria hybrid cv. Mulato II while Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) and Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) were included as control. The treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design in a split plot arrangement with four replications. The main plots contained the grasses while the defoliation frequencies, 6, 8 and 12 weeks formed the sub-plots. The plot size measured 4m by 5 m. Phosphorus was applied to the soil prior to sowing of the seeds at a rate of 40 kg P haˉ¹ in the planting rows. The grass seeds were drilled by hand in furrows about 1-2 cm deep in a well prepared seed bed with an inter row spacing of 0.5 m and covered with a thin layer of soil.The plots were kept weed free by hand weeding. All the plants were cut back to a 5 cm stubble height at the end of the establishment phase (20 weeks after seedling) to stimulate uniform growth. Plots were top-dressed with 50 kg N ha -1 per season and the application commenced after standard cut.Measurements were made on dry matter yield at 6, 8 and 12 weeks intervals during the wet and dry seasons per schedule in Table 1. Dry matter yield was determined from a net harvest area of 2 m x 2 m. The harvesting was done by cutting the grasses at a stubble height of 5 cm above the ground and the fresh herbage weights recorded and dried at 60°C to a constant weight for dry matter determination and forage quality analysis. The data on DM yield and nutritive value parameters were analysed using PROC MIXED General Linear model of SAS (SAS Institute Inc., 2001) with cultivars and cutting interval, year and their interactions as fixed effects. Block and its interactions were random effects. The means were separated using the least significant difference (LSD) test at P < 0.05 (Steel and Torrie, 1981).The rainfall received during the experiment period was below the medium term average of 11 years during the long rains (March -May) while during the short rains season it was around the medium term average (Figure 1). There was no significant (P > 0.05) interaction between the Brachiaria cultivars and cutting interval on DM yield in both seasons. However, significant difference occurred among the Brachiaria and the cutting interval in both seasons. During the wet season, Basilisk and Piata had the highest DM yield but were similar to Napier grass but higher than Rhodes (Figure 2a). Marandu, MG4, and Xaraes had similar yield to Rhodes. Llanero had the lowest yield followed by Mulato II. Increasing cutting interval from 6, 8 and 12 weeks resulted in increased DM yield (Figure 2b). During the dry season, Napier grass out yielded all the Brachiaria grass cultivars. Among the Brachiaria cultivars, Piata and MG4 were the most productive and had higher (P < 0.05) yield than Rhodes grass (Figure 2c). Llanero had the lowest yield and was the only cultivar that produced lower yield than Rhodes grass. Reducing cutting interval from 8 to 6 weeks and increasing cutting interval from 8 to 12 weeks resulted in increasing DM yield (Figure 2d). There were no significant interaction between the cultivars and the cutting interval on any of the parameters analysed for chemical composition. Significant effects occurred on both the main effects (cultivars and cutting interval). All the Brachiaria grass cultivars except Piata had CP similar to Napier grass (Table 2). The mean CP of 14% recorded among the Brachiaria grasses was higher than that reported by Hare et al. (2015) for Mulato II and Mendonca et al. (2013) for B. decumbens. All Brachiaria cultivars had similar NDF to Napier grass but were lower (P < 0.05) than Rhodes grass. The mean NDF of 64% among the Brachiaria grasses was higher than that reported by Hare et al. (2015). Napier grass had higher DMD than the Brachiaria cultivars except MG4 while Rhodes grass had similar DMD to all the Brachiaria grasses. Xaraes had highest Ca content and was more than Mulato II, Piata and Rhodes grass.The mean CP content at 6 to 8 weeks cutting interval was similar but further increase of cutting interval to 12 weeks resulted in decreased CP (12.6%) (Table 3). The decrease in CP with increasing cutting interval is consistent with findings by Vendramini et al. (2014) on Brachiaria hybrids. The CP of Brachiaria grasses, was about double the minimum CP concentration of 60 to 80 g kg -1 dry matter (DM) required for optimum rumen microbial activity (Minson and Milford, 1967), suggesting that the Brachiaria grasses could be used to supplement livestock feeding on low quality roughages. Varying the cutting interval did not affect dry matter digestibility and this could be attributed to low fibre content at both 6 and 12 weeks. However, increasing cutting intervals from 6 to 8 weeks resulted in declining Ca concentration in the herbage but on the contrary the P content increased significantly (P < 0.05).  Among the Brachiaria cultivars, Piata consistently produced high DM yield in both wet and dry season while Basilisk had high yield in wet season and MG4 in the dry season. During the wet season, the most productive Brachiaria had similar yield to Napier grass but during the dry season, Napier grass out yielded all the Brachiaria grass. The performance of Llanero was generally poor. The nutritive quality in term of CP for most of the Brachiaria was similar to Napier and Rhodes grass. It is important to examine the data for the other two seasons to conclusively determine the performance of the Brachiaria grass cultivars in the cool highlands of central Kenya.Seasonal feed shortage and inadequate nutrient supply are major constraints to livestock production in coastal Kenya (Mburu, 2015). Ruminant livestock are a predominant component of mixed farming in the region. Dairy production contributes to both improved household nutrition and income (Nicholson et al., 2002). Dairy cattle are mainly fed on natural pastures since Napier grass, the recommended fodder is grown by only 10% of the farmers (Njarui et al., 2016). Knowledge on the effects of harvesting frequency on foliage yield and quality is essential for development of successful livestock year round feeding strategies. The interval between harvests of grasses affects herbage production, nutritive value and re-growth ability. According to Ball et al, (2009), forage quality is influenced by forage species, stage of maturity at harvest, soil fertility and climatic factors. Young re-growth is characterized by high protein, low cellulose and lignin and high digestibility (Wijiphans et al., 2009). Various grass harvest intervals and intensity studies revealed that the cutting interval influence growth, yield and persistence of the sward (Probst et al., 2011). Slow re-growth of the forages was observed immediately after cutting as the plants had few leaves to intercept light for photosynthesis. To ensure improved and sustainable livestock production under the global influence of climate change, forage management strategies that optimizes the quantity and quality of fodder supplies is necessary. A study was therefore conducted to assess the seasonal dry matter (DM) production and nutritional value of seven ( 7) Brachiaria grasses under different cutting intervals in coastal lowlands of Kenya.The study was conducted at Mtwapa and Msabaha in the coastal lowlands. The location, detailed climatic condition and soil characteristics of these sites are given by Ondiko et al. (2016), in these proceedings.Seven (7) Brachiaria grass cultivars: B. brizantha cvs. Marandu, Xaraes, Piata and MG4, B. decumbens cv. Basilisk, B. hybrid cv. Mulato II, B. humidicola cv. Llanero were evaluated. Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) cv. ex-Tozi was included as a control. The experimental design was completely randomized block in a split plot arrangement with four replications. The main plots were cultivars and the sub plots were the cutting frequencies (6, 8 and 12 weeks). The plot size was 5 x 4 m with a 1 m path between plots and 1.5 m between replicates. The seeds were sown in November 2013 in furrows of about 2 cm deep on well prepared seed bed after ploughing and disc harrowing. The inter row spacing was 0.5 m, giving 10 rows in each plot. Triple super phosphate (TSP, 46% P2O5) was applied at the rate of 200 kg/ha prior to sowing of the seeds. The trials were kept free from weeds by hand weeding and slashing within the plots. A standardization cut was carried out in April 2014 at onset of rains which marked the end of the establishment phase. The nitrogenous fertilizer (26% N) was applied at the rate of 100 kg/ha which was done after the standard cut at the onsets of rains.The data recorded were number of plants, tiller number and dry matter at a regrowth period of 6, 8 and 12 weeks after standardization cut. The plot was sub-divided into three plots, and 2 inner rows were sampled leaving a guard row at each side. The number of plants per unit was determined by counting the plants within a 1 x 1 m frame randomly placed over the two rows.Four plants within the central rows were randomly selected for tiller number determination.Immediately after the measurements, fresh biomass production for the re-growth at 6, 8 and 12 weeks were harvested and weighed; sub samples were taken and oven dried at 65 o C to constant weight for DM determination.Crude protein (CP) was determined using micro-Kjeldahl according to the method of Association of Official Analytical Chemist (AOAC, 2000). The acid detergent fibre (ADF), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) digestibility and lignin were analysed according to Van Soest and Robertson, 1980. Ash was determined by heating the samples at 600 o C for 2 hours in a muffle furnace. Total P and Ca were determined according to the methods described by Okalebo et al. (2002).The forage DM yields were grouped into LR and SR seasons for each cultivar and the three harvesting intervals (6, 8 and 12 weeks). Data on plant population, tiller number and mean DM yield per season were statistically evaluated using analysis of variance (SAS, 2010). The means were separated using Tukey's HSD at 5% level of significance.Rainfall and temperature during the experimental period ( 2014  There were differences (P < 0.05) on plant numbers among the Brachiaria grasses in both sites. Generally, the Brachiaria cultivars had more plant numbers at Mtwapa than at Msabaha. At Mtwapa, Llanero had consistently the highest number of plants in all the seasons but differed (P < 0.05) from all the other Brachiaria cultivars only in LR 2014 (Table 1). In LR 2014 it had 40 plants/m 2 and declined to 20.5 plants/m 2 in SR 2014 and further to 13.3 plants/m 2 in SR 2015.Mulato II had the lowest plant numbers in all the seasons. At Msabaha, Llanero had the highest plant numbers in LR 2014 while in the other seasons none of the cultivars had consistently the highest plant numbers (Table 1). Like in Mtwapa plant number declined over time for all Brachiaria cultivars except Mulato II where they remained fairly stable. However, plant number declined with increasing cutting interval from 6 to 12 weeks at both sites (Table 2).  There was variation in the numbers of tillers among the Brachiaria grass cultivars in all seasons.Overall, the Brachiaria cultivars had more tillers during the LR seasons than in the SR seasons at both sites. At Mtwapa, Mulato II maintained the highest number of tillers in all the seasons (Table 3). Rhodes grass recorded lowest number of tillers compared with all the other Brachiaria grasses except in SR 2015. At Msabaha, Mulato II had consistently the highest number of tillers in LR 2014, SR 2014 and LR 2015 and was among the Brachiaria with the highest number of tillers in SR 2015 (Table 3). Piata and Llanero tended to have the lowest number of tillers in most of the seasons. There was no definite trend on number of tillers by increasing cutting interval from 6 to 12 weeks; the number either increased on declined in different season (Table 4).  There was a significant interaction between Brachiaria cultivar and cutting interval on DM yield at Mtwapa. The DM yield increased for all the Brachiaria cultivars with increased cutting interval from 6 to 8 weeks during LR 2014 season except for Xaraes and Rhodes grass where yield declined. At 12 weeks the yield remained relatively the same or declined marginally for some cultivars (Figure 2). In SR 2014 season, DM yield were highest at 6 and 8 week cutting interval and declined at 12 weeks cutting interval. In both LR 2015 and SR 2015, yield increased with increasing cutting interval from 6 to 8 weeks but at 12 weeks the yield either remained relatively the same or declined significantly for some of the Brachiaria grasses. None of the Brachiaria out yielded the others in LR 2015 but in SR 2015 Llanero had highest yield at 12 weeks cutting interval. Mulato II, Piata, MG4, and Marandu tended to have the attained the highest yield in most of the season.Seasonal DM yield (kg ha -1 ) of grasses at Mtwapa in coastal lowlands of Kenya.Like in Mtwapa, there was also a significant interaction between Brachiaria cultivars and cutting interval on DM yield at Msabaha. However there was no distinct trend on DM yield by increasing cutting interval across seasons. In LR 2014, there were large variation in yield among the Brachiaria grasses at 6 and 8 weeks cutting interval but at 12 weeks yield were almost similar (Figure 3). In SR 2014 yield tended to higher at 6 and 8 weeks cutting interval and declined at 12 weeks for all the Brachiaria grasses. In LR 2015, increasing cutting interval from 6 to 8 week resulted in increased DM yield for all the Brachiaria but at 12 weeks cutting interval, yield declined considerably. In SR 2015 yield were relatively low (<2000 kg/ha) for all the Brachiaria in all cutting interval. The crude protein was generally low (5.3 -7.7% of DM) and was similar among the Brachiaria grass cultivars and also to Rhodes grass and Napier grass. There were differences (P < 0.05) in ADF, NDF, digestibility, ash and Ca content. Rhodes grass had the highest ADF and NDF compared with the other the Brachiaria grasses but was only significantly (P<0.05) different from Mulato II (Table 5). Napier grass had the highest DMD (57.6%) but was only higher (P < 0.05) than Basilisk, Xaraes and Rhodes grass. Rhodes grass had higher Ca than Piata, MG4, Basilisk and Llanero. Increasing cutting interval from 6 to 12 weeks resulted in decreasing CP content and DMD but the fibres increased (Table 6).  The study demonstrated variation in tiller development and productivity among the Brachiaria grasses. Basilisk and Llanero produced high plant number among the cultivars in all the cutting intervals. The number of tiller increased with frequent cutting interval as observed by Onyeonagu et al. (2005a). The effect of rainfall on forage yields in the coastal lowlands was demonstrated with higher yield recorded during the LR season when the rainfall was high. The DM yields at Msabaha were 46% lower than those obtained at Mtwapa and this was attributed to the lower rainfall at that site. Msabaha is located in CL4 which receives less rainfall than CL3 where Mtwapa is located. The total rainfall at Mtwapa during the LR 2014 was 851 mm compared to 592 mm at Msabaha while in SR 2015 rainfall at Mtwapa (289 mm) was twice that of Msabaha (136 mm).Among the tested grasses Mulato II, Piata, Marandu and Xaraes showed outstanding potential as a forage plant in coastal lowlands since it has shown that it can grow under low rainfall maintaining high yields. More tillers were reported for Mulato II at Mtwapa and in Msabaha.The grasses at the 8 week interval have had developed stems and leaf photosynthetic area, resulting into higher dry matter production (Vinther, 2006). The current results are in agreement with Vinther (2006) who found that harvest interval affects productivity, partly through changes in their morphological development. DM production is thus related to harvest frequency.The CP content was general low in all the Brachiaria grasses (5.3 -7.7%) compared with mean of 7-10% reported by Nguku et al. (2015) in the semi-arid region of eastern Kenya. However, the CP of 7.7% content from Basilisk was relatively higher compared with that reported by Evitayani et al. (2004a). The high temperatures at Mtwapa could have contributed to plants having lower CP than expected as temperatures have been reporded to have effect of quality of grasses (Njarui et al., 2015). The ADF content of Rhodes grass was higher was less digestible than Brachiaria indicating that Brachiaria grasses are superior to Rhodes grass. As ADF increased, the DMD declined and this is consistent with work of Albayrak et al. (2011) who reported that as the ADF increases the digestibility of the forage usually decrease causing consumption of the forage by animal to decrease. However, the stage at which the grass is harvested may have positive or negative impact on quality. As reported by Bruinenberg et al. (2002), at a given harvest date, the differences in digestibility of DM of grasses may occur because of differences in the phenological stage.Based on this research, it can be concluded that the cutting intervals can affect the forage DM yield and nutritive values of Brachiaria grasses. Cutting 8 weeks interval could be the optimal level for harvesting Brachiaria grass since the quality forage is high and yield are not compromised. The forages should be fed to ruminant livestock to determine animal responses in terms of production of milk, meat and animal health.Dairy farming is an important enterprise for the livelihoods of many households in Kenya, as a source of income and employment (Thorpe et al., 2000). In western Kenya, cattle also play an important role, as a source draught power and provide manure for crop production.Unfortunately, in many small-scale farms in this region, inadequate and poor quality feeds are among major constraints to dairy production in the zero-grazing system (Orodho, 2007). In most cases particularly during the dry seasons, the cut and carry systems in the integrated croplivestock systems becomes unsustainable and cattle are left to graze freely. One approach to achieve increased livestock production in western Kenya where the soils have inherent low soil fertility (Okalebo et al., 2006) is through introduction of high quality forages. Such forages must be adapted to biotic and abiotic factors such as soil fertility, climatic conditions and resilience to continuous defoliation. Brachiaria grass a perennial grass native to East and Central Africa is widely grown in South America to sustain the dairy and beef industries (Maass et al., 2015). Improved Brachiaria grasses are exceptionally tolerant to aluminum toxicity due to acidity and drought (Miles et al., 2004) and could play a role in integrated crop-livestock systems in the humid highlands of western Kenya where soils are acidic.Previous studies reported by Njarui and Wandera, 2004;Nguku et al., 2016 on adaptability of Brachiaria cultivars in semi-arid regions showed that a number of Brachiaria cultivars produced more dry matter than commonly cultivated Rhodes grass. Elsewhere in Kiboko, Kenya, cv. Mulato-II was found to be superior to native range grasses such as Buffel (Cenchrus ciliaris) and horsetail grass (Chloris roxburghiana) in both primary dry matter production and subsequent regrowth under irrigation (Machogu, 2013). Additionally the grass had higher nutritive quality but was heavily infested by red spider mites. However, little information is available on their adaptability of this grass in the humid region of western Kenya. The objective of the study was therefore to evaluate the establishment and early growth of selected Brachiaria grass cultivars in the humid highlands of western Kenya.The experiments were conducted in three sites, Kitale, Alupe and Eldoret in the western region of Kenya. They lie in different agro-ecological zones with different rainfall and temperature regimes (Table 1). Rainfall in Kitale is unimodal and occurs from April to November while in Alupe and Eldoret is bimodal. The dominant soils in Alupe and Eldoret are classified as Rhodic Ferralsols that are well drained, shallow to moderately deep with very low water retention capacity (WRB, 2006). In Kitale the soil are characterized by weak to moderate structure, low fertility and low organic matter content (WRB, 2006). Selected initial physical and chemical soil properties in the study sites are presented in Table 2. The treatments consisted of seven Brachiaria grass cultivars; Brachiaria decumbens cv. Basilisk, B. humidicola cvs. Llanero and Humidicola, B. brizantha cvs. Marandu, MG4, Piatã, Xaraes and B. hybrid cv. Mulato II., Two commonly cultivated local grasses, Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) and Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum cv. Kakamega 1) were included as control. The treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Prior to sowing of the seed, triple super phosphate (TSP, 46 % P2O5) fertilizer was applied in the furrows at a rate of 40 kg P ha -1 . The grasses were sown in June 2014 in plot sizes of 4 m x 5 m. The seeds were manually drilled in the furrows at an inter row spacing of 0.5 m, at rate of 5 kg ha -1 while 3 root splits of Napier grass were planted in holes 15 cm deep at a spacing of 1 m within and between rows. All the plots were kept weed free throughout the experimental period by hand weeding. In this study, the establishment period was considered to be the 14 weeks after seedling emergence (WAE). Plant parameters (plant height, plot cover and plant spread) were recorded at 8, 12 and 14 WAE. The spread was measured from one edge to the other of the four plants using a meter ruler while the plant height was measured on the primary shoots from the base of the plant top-most leaf. Plot cover was determined using a quadrat of 1 m x1 m subdivided into 25 squares of 0.2 m x 0.2 m as described by Njarui and Wandera (2004) while Napier grass cover was determined using the dot method as described by Sarrantonio (1991). At the end of establishment period, the grasses were harvested for dry matter yield determination.Harvesting of plant was carried out from 2 m x 2 m net plots at a cutting height of 5 cm above ground. Samples of fresh shoots biomass were recorded, and approximately 500g subsamples were dried at 65°C to constant weight in forced-air drier and weighed.Data on height, plot cover, spread and dry matter yield were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine the effects of grass cultivars at different growth stages using a general linear model (SAS, 2003) separately for each site. The grass cultivars and replications were considered as fixed factors. Mean differences were evaluated by computing least signifcance difference (LSD). Pearson correlation was performed to determine the relationships between the shoots dry matter yield and growth parameters (tiller numbers, plant height, spread and cover) using statistix 10 package (Statistix, 2003).  The means of the growth parameters (height, cover and spread) during the establishment period in Eldoret are presented in Table 3. There were significant (p < 0.05) differences in spread, cover and height among the grasses. Napier grass recorded significantly higher mean plant heights, spread and cover than all the Brachiaria cultivars. Napier grass being a fodder crop and gigantic in nature would naturally show greater advantage in terms of growth characteristic than other grasses when the environment is favorable (Orodho, 2007;Nguku et al., 2016). However, plant height did not differ significantly (P < 0.05) among the Brachiaria grasses but Basilisk spread more than Xaraes at 12 WAE and had higher cover than MG4 at 12 WAE.The growth parameters (tillers, spread, cover and height) during establishment stage varied significantly (p<0.05) among the grass cultivars in Kitale. Napier grass recorded higher (P<0.05) plant heights and cover than all the Brachiaria cultivars (Table 4). At 8 and 12 WAE, Brachiaria cultivars gave similar plant heights which were not significantly different from Rhodes grass. However, at the end of establishment period, MG4 and Basilisk recorded significantly higher plant heights than Rhodes grass and most of the Brachiaria cultivars. The cv. Llanero had the lowest plant height (3.5 cm) and this was attributed to its spreading growth characteristic (Nguku et al., 2016) unlike the other cultivars that are more erect. The highest cover was recorded in cv. MG4 (51.1%) at 12 WAE and Xaraes (58.5%) at 4 WAE which and was significantly (p<0.05) higher than that of all the other Brachiaria cultivars. The cvs. MG4, Basilisk and Xaraes gave significantly higher cover than Rhodes grass while Marandu, Mulato II, Llanero and Humidicola recorded similar cover with Rhodes grass. The erect growth habit of MG4 and decumbent growth characteristic of Basilisk explains why they had greater heights and cover during the establishment.During the early growth stages (8WAE), the heights of all Brachiaria cultivars except Basilisk did not differ significantly with the height of Rhodes grass (Table 5). However, at 12 and 14 WAE all Brachiaria cultivars recorded significantly lower heights than Rhodes and Napier grass. The cvs. Llanero, Humidicola, Marandu and Mulato II recorded the lowest heights while Basilisk, MG4, Piata and Xaraes were the tallest. Plant spread differed significantly (p < 0.05) among the Brachiaria cultivars. Napier grass recorded the highest spread compared to all the Brachiaria cultivars at 8 and 12 WAE but at 14 WAE, plant spread in all Brachiaria cultivars except Xaraes and Mulato II were similar to that of Napier grass. Basilisk recorded the highest plant spread at 14 WAE while Rhodes grass recorded the lowest plant spread. At 8 and 12 WAE, Napier grass recorded significantly higher plant cover than all Brachiaria cultivars but at 14 WAE, the plant cover for Napier grass was not significantly different from that of Basilisk, Xaraes and Marandu. Piata, MG4, Mulato II, Humidicola and Llanero showed low plot cover during this period and were similar to that of Rhodes grass at the end of establishment period.   The mean DMY for the grasses are presented in Figure 2, 3 and 4. Dry matter yield varied significantly (p < 0.0001) among the grass cultivars in all the sites. In Eldoret, Brachiaria cultivars had significant (p < 0.05) lower DMY than Napier grass (Figure 2). The cv. Xaraes gave significantly (p < 0.05) higher DMY (2.54 t ha -1 ) than Marandu (1.56 t ha -1 ) and Piata (1.83 t ha -1 ).In Kitale, cv. MG4 had the highest DMY (3.7 t ha -1 ) while Mulato II had the lowest (0.37 t ha -1 ) but the yield were significantly lower than those of Napier grass (9.9 t ha -1 ). However, cv. MG4 yielded more than Rhodes grass (Figure 3). In Alupe site, Basilisk and Xaraes were the most productive grasses and yielded 4.7 and 3.9 t ha -1 , respectively. However DMY were not significantly different from that of Napier grass (5.2 t ha -1 ) but were higher than that of Rhodes grass (1.8 t ha -1 ) (Figure 4). The higher DMY in Alupe was attributed to a warmer (23.8 -30.7 o C), humid and high rainfall during establishment (97.5 -198.6 mm) between July -December 2014 during the establishment period (Figure 1). At Alupe and Kitale most Brachiaria cultivars showed upright growth characteristics, whereas in Eldoret the same cultivars showed a spreading growth habit which possibly had a positive effect on DMY production in Alupe and Kitale.A significant linear relationship (R 2 = 0.60 -0.96; P < 0.001) occurred between the plant height and DMY in Kitale and Alupe site while in Eldoret DMY was positively and strongly correlated with plot cover (R 2 = 0.94; P < 0.001). Mganga, 2009 andNguku et al., 2016 observed that pasture species which grow fast and tall are more efficient in utilization of resources and therefore, are more competitive and likely to have higher biomass production. Among the Brachiaria cultivars, Basilisk, MG4 and Xaraes were the tallest and had the largest cover (> 50%) at the end of establishment period. Basilisk has extensive roots system (Bulo et al., 1994;Guenni et al., 2002), aggressive growth habit, dense cover and utilizes nitrogen efficiently (Loch, 1997). Xaraes is reported to have greater leaf and stem elongation rates and higher leaf blade which results to higher biomass production since the stem is the structural component with higher weight than leaves (Rodrigues et al., 2014). The cv. MG4 spread more and this contributed to higher DMY. The low yield of Humidicola and Mulato II was attributed to the slow establishment. Several authors (Bauer et al., 2010, Mutimura andEverson, 2012;Nguku et al., 2016) have previously reported high DMY production in Mulato II and attributed it to large leaves sizes. However, the range of DMY of 0.4 -1.6 t ha -1 obtained in this study for Mulato II was far below the DMY (4.1 t ha -1 ) reported by Nguku et al., (2016) from trials in the semi-arid eastern Kenya.Observations made in all sites showed that Mulato II had higher incidences of spider mites attack as was previously reported in trials in Kiboko by Machogu, (2013). This infestation probably contributed to reduced biomass. Among the Brachiaria cultivars, Basilisk, MG4, Xaraes and Piata established successfully and attained the highest spread, cover and were tallest. The productivity of these grasses after establishment is presented elsewhere in this proceeding. Poor nutrition caused by inadequate quantity and low quality of feeds is a major constraint to livestock productivity not only in the semi-arid Kenya (Njarui and Wandera, 2004) but also in the humid regions of western Kenya (Amiani, 2011). Due to the high population in western Kenya (360 inhabitants km -2 ), land holding per household is declining and natural pastures are diminishing at an alarming rate (Amiani, 2011;De Groote et al., 2008). In addition, most soils in this region are acidic and highly deficient in plant nutrients (Kifuko- Koech et al., 2012) which when combined with fluctuating rainfall due to climate change negatively affect crop-livestock production systems (Amiani, 2011;GOK, 2013). With exception of few large scale farmers who graze their livestock on natural pastures, most small scale farmers have adopted cut-and-carry feed systems (Franzel and Wambugu, 2007). In Uasin Gishu and Trans Nzoia counties, the common practice is feeding ground maize stalks after the grains are harvested and this accelerates soil nutrient mining. Further, the quality of natural grasses (CP-2-4%) (Thairu and Tessema, 1987) and maize stover (4-7%) (Hancock, 2009) is below the reported minimum CP requirement of 6-8% for livestock maintenance (Minson, 1981). Napier grass which is the most commonly grown fodder grass by dairy farmers in western Kenya is at risk of Napier stunting disease which is causing a big economic loss (Orodho, 2006). Despite the challenges of limiting livestock feed in this region, most farmers are shifting to livestock production due to declining maize yields as a result of maize lethal necrosis menace (Mahuku et al., 2015). Therefore, to alleviate the problem of feed shortage, inclusion of alternative high quality grass cultivars with high dry matter production is key in enhancing livestock production in western Kenya.One such promising grass is Brachiaria which originate from African origin (Boonman, 1993). Despite Africa being the centre of origin and diversity, use of Brachiaria species in pasture improvement particularly in Kenya has been limited to few cultivars that are susceptible to biotic and abiotic challenges (Maass et al., 2015). Past studies have identified Brachiaria cultivars that are well adapted to semi arid agro-ecological zones and their best cutting strategies (Njarui and Wandera, 2004). However, productivity and persistence of some of these promising cultivars under different cutting regimes in humid regions of western Kenya have not been evaluated. The objective of this study was therefore to assess the effects of cutting frequency on, dry matter yield (DMY) and quality of Brachiaria cultivars in different agro ecological zones in western Kenya.The experiments were conducted at three sites; Kitale, Eldoret and Alupe in western Kenya. The geographical location, detailed climatic conditions and soils charateristics of these sites are given by Kifuko- Koech et al. (2016), in these proceedings.Eight Brachiaria grasses: Brachiaria brizantha cvs. Marandu, Xaraes, Piata, MG4, B. decumbens, cv. Basilisk, B. humidicola cvs. Llanero and Humidicola and Brachiaria hybrid cv. Mulato II were evaluated. They were compared with one control grass; Rhodes grass. The experimental design was completely randomized block in a split plot arrangement with four replications. The main plots were grass cultivars and the sub-plots were the cutting frequency (6, 8 and 12 weeks). Plot sizes were 4 m x 5 m with a 1 m space between plots and replications.A fine seed bed was prepared and furrows of about 2 cm for sowing seeds were dug using hand hoes. Triple super phosphate (TSP, 46 % P2O5) fertilizer was applied to the furrows at a rate of 40 kg P ha -1 . Thereafter, seeds were manually drilled in the furrows at a rate of 5 kg ha -1 with an inter row spacing of 0.5 m, giving 10 rows in each plot and covered with a thin layer of soil. The plots were kept weed free throughout the experiment by hand weeding. After standardization cut which was conducted at 14 weeks after seedling emergency, the plots were split into three equal portions and allocated the three cutting frequency at random i.e. 6, 8 and 12 weeks intervals. Data collection was conducted during two dry and one wet seasons (Table 1.) Plant number, tillers, height, spread and plot covers were monitored at all cutting intervals from 1 m x 1 m quadrant. In addition DMY was determined at all cutting intervals from an effective area of 2m 2 . At each harvest, samples of shoots biomass were weighed fresh, and a subsample taken and dried at 60°C to a constant weight and weighed. Dry matter yield for each season was determined by summing up all the harvest within each season for each cut, separately.At harvest, the herbage was analysed for nutritive quality. Subsamples were dried at 60•C for 48 h and ground to pass a 1-mm sieve. Ash was determined by heating the samples at 550 o C for 2 hours in a muffle furnace. Crude protein (CP) was determined using micro-Kjeldahl according to the method of Association of Official Analytical Chemist (AOAC, 2000). Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF), Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF) and Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL) were determined using Ankom method of Van Soest et al. (1991). The organic matter digestibility (OMD) was determined according to the procedure of Goering and Van Soest (1970).The DMY data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine the effects of grass cultivars and cutting frequency using a general linear model (SAS, 2001) with treatments and replications considered as fixed factors separately for each site. Mean differences were evaluated by computing least significance difference (LSD at P < 0.05). Pearson correlation was performed to determine the relationships between the herbage DMY and growth parameters using statistix 10 package (Statistix, 2003).    There was no significant interaction between grass cultivars and cutting frequency on DMY at Eldoret. However significant difference was recorded among the cultivars and on cutting frequency. Establishment of Rhodes grass was slow and no DMY was recorded during the first dry season. During the first dry season, Basilisk, MG4 and Xaraes gave comparable and significant higher DMY than Piata and Marandu. In the wet season, all Brachiaria cultivars except Mulato II recorded significant higher DMY (10.3-14.3 t ha -1 ) than Rhodes grass (7.6 t ha -1 ). Significant effects on cutting interval on DMY occurred in the second dry and wet seasons.Increasing cutting interval from 6 to 12 reduced DMY during the dry season (Figure 4). However, in the wet season, delaying harvesting to 8 weeks did not show significant gain but delaying further to 12 weeks resulted to increased DMY.There were significant interaction between Brachiaria cultivars and cutting interval on DMY in all the season. During the first dry season, yield of the Brachiaria cultivars were similar in all cutting interval (Table 3). However Rhodes grass produced more yield than all the cultivars at 8 week cutting interval. In the wet season, generally increasing cutting interval increased yield for all the Brachiaria cultivars. In the second dry season, increasing cutting interval from 6 to 8 week increased the DMY yield marginally for most of the cultivars and was not significant.Mulato II had the highest yield in all the cutting intervals.Like Kitale, there were significant interaction between Brachiaria cultivars and cutting interval on DMY in all the season. However, during the second dry season, Rhodes grass succumbed to drought and no DMY was recorded. In first dry season, there was no definite trend on cutting interval on yield while in the wet season and second dry season, increasing cutting interval increased the DMY marginally (Table 4). Llanero recorded higher DMY when cut at 8 intervals than other cultivars including Rhodes grass during the first wet season while Xaraes had the highest yield when cut at 12 week interval.    The relationships between growth parameters and total DMY in Eldoret are shown in Table 5.Total DMY was strongly and positively influenced by cover (R 2 = 0.60, p < 0.001) and height (R 2 = 0.59, p < 0.001). The total DMY was however weakly but positively correlated with plant tillers and spread while plant number had no effect on DMY. In Kitale, total DMY was positively and significantly correlated with plant spread (R 2 =0.48, p<0.001) and plant cover (R 2 =0.42, p<0.001).A weak but positive correlation between DMY with height and tillers was observed but plant number did not significantly influence DMY. In Alupe, total DMY was significantly and positively correlated with, cover, tillers and spread (R 2 = 0.43 -0.63, p<0.001) in order of importance while plant height had a significant but negative effect on DMY production. No significant relationship occurred between DMY and plant number.   There was no significant interaction between cultivars and cutting interval on the parameter analyzed for the nutritive quality. However, the CP, ADF, NDF and OMD differed among the cultivars. All the Brachiaria cultivars except MG4 had significantly higher CP content (12.9-16.2%) than Rhodes grass (10.3%) (Table 8). Mulato II accumulated the highest CP content while MG4 had the lowest. All the Brachiaria cultivars except Xaraes and Piata recorded significant lower NDF than Rhodes grass and consequently were more digestible than Rhodes grass.Increasing the cutting intervals to 12 weeks significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the CP and OMD concentrations (Figure 5). No significant differences on CP and OMD were observed when the harvesting was conducted at either 6 or 8 weeks intervals (Figure 5).  Total production over the year showed that most Brachiaria cultivars particularly in Eldoret and Alupe out yielded Rhodes grass which was an indication that the former is a good alternative to Rhodes grass in western Kenya. Rhodes grass was however well adapted to Kitale possibly due to the humid climate throughout the year. Most Brachiaria cultivars in Kitale and Eldoret gave total DMY within the range reported by Hare et al., (2009) in Thailand. Low DMY production in Alupe was attributed to poor distribution of rainfall, low inherent soil fertility (Nitrogen-0.12%, carbon-1.12%, Olsen P-2ppm P) and slow grass recovery after dry spells (Omondi, 2013). Crude protein for all Brachiaria cultivars was well above 7% which is considered critical for livestock production (Milford and Minson, 1966). This study clearly demonstrated that Brachiaria cultivars have higher nutritive value and are more productive relative to Rhodes grass particularly during the dry season.Effect of cutting frequency on DMY production in this study was variable. Whereas, cutting Brachiaria cultivars at shorter intervals (6 or 8 weeks) during the dry season resulted in significant higher DMY in Eldoret and Alupe, in Kitale prolonging the cutting interval to 12 weeks resulted in greater DMY accumulation. Due to close proximity of Kitale to Mt Elgon, the site receives rains in most parts of the year which ensures continuous growth of grass and this explain why increasing cutting intervals resulted to higher DMY during the dry season. During the wet season, increasing the cutting intervals to 12 weeks gave significant higher DMY irrespective of the sites. Results on effects of harvesting intervals on grass herbage accumulation have been variable in most parts of the world. In Florida, Vendramini et al (2014), while working on Mulato II and Cayman found no difference in herbage accumulation between 3and 6-week regrowth intervals in the first period but greater accumulation for 3 week than 6 week regrowth interval in the second period. In Thailand, Hare et al., (2013) while working with Brachiaria hybrids found that extending cutting intervals to 90 days greatly increased DM production but reduced CP concentrations. He further noted that cutting at 30 day intervals would produce CP levels 3 -4 percentage point higher than cutting at 45 and 60 days intervals. For many grasses, longer regrowth intervals result in greater herbage accumulation (Interrante et al., 2009) and results of this study therefore support conclusion of other authors (Hare et al., 2013;Njarui and Wandera, 2004).This study has demonstrated that the most promising Brachiaria cultivars are Basilisk, MG4, Piata and Xaraes across sites while Llanero performed well in Alupe. Generally, Mulato II had higher nutritive value than all Brachiaria cultivars in Kitale. Cutting Brachiaria cultivars at shorter intervals (6 or 8 weeks) during the dry season resulted to significant higher DMY in Eldoret and Alupe. In Kitale, extending cutting interval to 12 weeks gave higher DMY but reduced CP and OMD during the dry season. Cutting at 8 weeks intervals resulted in high proportions of CP and lower NDF. This study clearly demonstrated that Brachiaria cultivars have higher nutritive value and are more productive than Rhodes grass. To maximize production and quality, cutting Brachiaria at 8 weeks intervals is recommended.Livestock production is one of the most important agricultural land use systems in the world, with grasslands covering 25% of land surface and contributing to the livelihoods of more than 800 million people (Steinfeld et al., 2006). However, the Kenyan dairy industry is threatened by seasonal forage production of low nutritional quality. Excess forage production is experienced during the rainy season but more often, acute shortages occur in the dry season (Njarui et al., 2016). The abundant natural forages relied upon by farmers is not sufficient to satisfy animal requirements especially in the dry season when biomass production decreases by 25 -50% and crude protein levels reduce significantly (Penning de Vries and Djiteye, 1982). Soil nutrient depletion and improper management of improved forages exacerbates the problem leading to soil degradation and reduced livestock production.Forage grass production is influenced by the varietal potential including growth and development processes within the grass and soil nutrient availability. Grasses have a relatively high demand for nutrients. McKenzie (2005) for example reported that most hay grasses in Alberta removed an average of 14-18 kg nitrogen (N) and 1.8 kg of phosphorus (P) per ton of dry matter. However, the amounts of nutrients removal vary depending on the grass species and the seasonal conditions. High nutrient uptake and removal occur in the wet seasons due to increased nutrient availability in soil solution. Productivity of forages is limited by low soil fertility especially in the low pH and N and P deficient soils that are common in the north western highlands of Kenya. Nitrogen is an important element in grass production due to its role in photosynthesis and influence in the chlorophyll molecule (Oliveira et al. 2010). Where available N from soil is not sufficient for forage production, application of fertilizer N may provide immediate responses in forage grasses (Batista et al., 2014). Silveira et al. (2015) working with different N rates (0, 60 and 120 kg ha -1 per year) on Paspalum notatum for a period of three years, observed that the dry matter yields increased linearly with application rates of N. However, responses to P have only been reported in the season of application during grass establishment due to the role of P in roots formation but not in later seasons. Higher nutrient removal is reported in improved grasses than indigenous grass species though some grasses have also been bred for low soil fertility regions (Rao et al., 1993).Brachiaria grasses though indigenous to East Africa, have been recently introduced in Kenya. The introduction of these grasses into the smallholder farming systems of north western highlands, necessitates, proper soil fertility management and an understanding of its nutritional requirements for pasture management. Studies on the fertilizer needs of Brachiaria grasses in the low fertility soils in the region is therefore necessary in order to increase the production of feeds for higher milk and meat production per unit of area. In the previous studies, Miles and Lapointe, (1992) reported good performance of B. humidicola in infertile soils of Carimagua, while B. ruziensis performed better in relatively fertile clay loam soils due to its high N demand (Humphreys et al., 1988). The objective the study was to assess the effects of N and P fertilizers on the shoots and roots biomass of seven Brachiaria cultivars in north western highlands of Kenya. We hypothesized that the shoots and roots biomass of Brachiaria grasses is increased by N and P fertilization in nutrient depleted soils, and the response is also dependent on the season.The experiment were conducted in the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) Kitale and at the University of Eldoret farms, located in Trans Nzoia and Uasin Gishu Counties respectively within the north western highlands of Kenya. The KALRO Kitale site (1° 0′ 6.6´´N and 34° 59´ 10´´E) lies within the Upper Midlands (UM) 4 agroecological zone at 1890 m asl. The site has a cool and temperate climate with average annual temperatures ranging between 10 and 27 0 C and a mean annual precipitation of 1100 mm, making it reliable for rain fed agriculture. The rainfall is unimodal and starts from April to December. The soils are mainly humic Acrisols (FAO, 2008;Jones et al., 2013), which have low fertility, are deficient in N and P, have a weak to moderate sub-angular blocky structure and low organic matter. They are well drained with high moisture storage capacity.The University of Eldoret site lies between 1°0´6.6´´N and 34°59´10´´E at an elevation of 2073 m asl in the Lower Highland (LH) 3 agro-ecological zone which covers 58% of the county. Eldoret receives a unimodal rainfall between April and November with averages of 900 mm. Since the area has no distinct dry and wet seasons, the dry season in this study was considered as the periods with lower rainfall amounts (October to April). Temperature ranges between 7 and 29⁰C, making the area favorable for fodder and livestock production. The soils are underlain by murram, well drained, shallow to moderately deep and with dark red friable clay of petroplinthite. They are classified as Rhodic Ferralsols and are low in soil pH (<5.5), N and P contents, moisture storage capacity and prone to Al toxicity (Kisinyo, 2011;NAAIAP and KARI, 2014).Soil samples were collected prior to commencement of the trials using a soil auger. Samples were taken using a W-pattern from four depths: 0 -15 cm, 15 -30 cm, 30 -60 cm, and 60 -100 cm thoroughly mixed and a sub sample was taken from each depth for each block. After air drying, the samples were gently crushed to pass through a 2-mm sieve. Available P (Mehlick III), exchangeable K, Ca, Mg and total N were estimated after wet digestion with H2O2/H2SO4 as described by Okalebo et al. (2002). Total Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , and K + were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry and P measured as described by Murphy and Riley (1962). Soil pH was measured in water (soil: water ratio of 1: 2.5) using a pH meter with a glass and reference calomel electrode (Model pH 330 SET-1, 82362). Soils were vertically sampled using stainless steel rings (diameter 10 cm) for different depths; resulting in undisturbed soil samples for bulk density determination as described by Blake and Hartge (1986). The samples were dried at 65ºC to a constant weight to allow soil bulk density determination. All determinations were made in triplicate and expressed on a dry weight basis.The soils were deeper in Kitale (>100 cm) than Eldoret (up to 50cm). Soil depth is an indicator of volume of water storage and extent of root growth expected in the soil especially for deep rooted forage grasses (Bengough et al. 2016). Low soil depth coupled with low water storage capacity of Ferralsols (Jones et al., 2013) could hinder growth of grasses with extensive deep roots systems in Eldoret. The bulk density ranged from 1.34 to 1.49 g cm -3 and between 1.29 to 1.35 g cm -3 in Kitale and Eldoret, respectively. The bulk density were within the normal range (<1.5 g/cm 3 ) that doesn't restrict root growth in soil as proposed by Hunt and Gilkes (1992). Soils were generally medium acidic in both sites, but slightly more acidic in the 30 -60 cm depth in Kitale (Table 1). The soils were mainly deficient in N, available P and Zn with nutrient levels decreasing with depth in both sites. The soil are generally low in organic C ranging from 0.2 -0.3% in both sites. However, K, Ca, Mg and Mn were adequate in both sites. The seeds were drilled in a well prepared land at 5 kg ha -1 for Brachiaria and 10 kg ha -1 for Rhodes grass in 2 cm deep furrows and an inter-row spacing of 0.5 m. Root splits of Napier grass were planted at 1 m x 0.5 m spacing. Minimum tillage was practiced throughout the growth period to encourage maximum root growth. After full establishment phase (14 weeks after seedling emergence-WAE) a standardization cut was made to stimulate uniform plant growth. Subsequent harvests were carried out after every 8 weeks. During the harvest, the grass was cut at 5 cm above the ground within inner 4 m 2 using sickles. The fresh herbage was weighed, and a subsample taken, and then dried at 60°C to constant weight for determination of shoots biomass. The number of tillers from four (4) randomly selected plants within a 1 m x 1 m fixed quadrat frame was counted. Plot cover was determined by counting the number of fully covered subdivisions in a 1 m 2 quadrat (with 25 squares of 0.2 m x 0.2 m each) as described by (Njarui and Wandera, 2004) while in Napier grass, the plot cover was determined according method described by Sarrantonio (1991). Plant height and spread were measured in four (4) randomly chosen plants within a 1 m 2 quadrat. Spread was considered as the width of the widest point while height was taken from the base to the highest flag tip excluding inflorescence.At harvest (22 WAE), subsamples were taken for determination of shoots biomass and nutritive value. After oven drying (60 ºC for 48 hours) and milling, samples were analyzed for digestibility according to the procedure of Goering and Van Soest (1970). Crude protein was determined using micro-Kjeldahl according to the method of the Association of Official Analytical Chemist (AOAC, 2000).Roots biomass assessment was conducted at 22, 46 and 80 WAE, representing one complete season in the area. The roots were sampled using the soil-core method (Bohm, 1979). Four soil cores were randomly sampled using a stainless steel auger at 0 -15 cm and 15 -30cm depths from the intra-and inter-row spacing in each plot. To prevent edge effects, the samples were taken at least 1 m from the edges. The samples from each depth were thoroughly mixed, weighed to determine the total bulk soil weight and a sub sample was collected for moisture correction. The roots contained in the samples were recovered under a tap of running water at low pressure using 2.8 cm and 2 cm mesh sieves (Bohm, 1979). Samples were dried in an airforced oven at 65º C to constant weight and then weighed for determination of dry root weight.The roots biomass was calculated as a factor of the bulk density for each depth.Analysis of variance was undertaken to determine the effects of fertilizer N and P on the shoots and roots biomass of Brachiaria grasses using Statistix 10 package (Statistix, 2003). Means were separated using the Tukey's HD test. Where ANOVA was significant (P≤0.05), Pearson correlation was performed to assess relationships between the shoots and roots biomass and growth parameters including tiller numbers, plant height, spread and cover.During the dry season (October -April), a significant site (P<0.001) and cultivar effect (P<0.001) was noted. The grasses produced higher yields in Kitale (8.9 t ha -1 ) than in Eldoret (4.2 t ha -1 ) mainly due to differences in moisture. The soils in Kitale are mainly Acrisols which have a higher soil water retention due to high accumulation of clay in the lower horizons compared with the Ferralsols in Eldoret. Ferralsols have low water retention capacity, that may lead to stress during dry spells (Jones et al. 2013). Regardless of the sites, fertilizer NP treatments had higher biomass yields (6.8 t ha -1 ) compared to 5.8 t ha -1 in the unfertilized grasses.The shoots biomass were significantly influenced by the grass cultivars (P = 0.001) but not by fertilizer NP (P = 0.26) and no significant interaction between cultivars and fertilizer NP (P = 0.57) were noted during the dry season in Kitale. The lack of response to fertilizer NP during the dry season can be attributed to low nutrient uptake due to low moisture. Among the Brachiaria grasses, Basilisk, MG4 and Marandu accumulated the highest shoots biomass which ranged from 8.9 to 11.2 t ha -1 and was significantly higher (P = 0.05) than the commonly grown Rhodes grass while cvs. Llanero and Mulato II had the lowest shoots biomass (Table 2). However, Napier grass produced between 56 to 106% higher biomass compared with the highest yielding Brachiaria cultivars (Basilisk and MG4) during the dry season. In the wet season, Xaraes and MG4 had the highest biomass yields (16 t ha -1 ) followed by Basilisk > Mulato II > Piata> and Marandu (Table 2). All the Brachiaria cultivars except Llanero produced significantly higher yields than Rhodes grass, while Napier grass out yielded all the grass varieties in the wet season. NS NSWhere-SED-Standard error of difference at p≤ 0.05; NP-fertilizer applied at 40 kg P ha -1 and 50 kg N ha -1 per season; CV -cultivar, NS-Not significant at p≤ 0.05. Means followed by the same letter for a parameter are not significantly different at P≤0.05. Mean separation was done by Tukeys HSD test.During the wet season, all the treatments where N and P was applied produced significantly higher shoots biomass (P=0.05) than those with no fertilizer application (Figure 1). Generally, application of fertilizer NP produced 17% higher shoots biomass than the unfertilized treatments. Among the Brachiaria grasses, MG4 and Xaraes had the highest responses to fertilizer NP with 44.7 and 34.8% increase in yields due to fertilizer addition respectively. These cultivars developed chlorosis in treatments without NP fertilizer throughout the season, while the fertilized treatments showed N deficiencies two months after N application particularly during the high rainfall periods. This indicates that cvs. MG4 and Xaraes had higher N demand than the other cultivars which may not have been satisfied by the rate applied. The cvs. Mulato II, Basilisk and Marandu did not respond to application of NP, and were ever green throughout the season. In grasses, N has a major role in chlorophyll formation and increased vegetative growth, while P is important in roots development. The site had low initial soil N (Table 1); therefore, the grasses with little or no response to NP application could be more efficient in N utilization thereby requiring low N application. Xaraes and MG4 and require N and P fertilization in NP deficient sites to achieve increased production.Figure 1 Influence of fertilizer NP on shoots biomass of Brachiaria grasses during the dry and wet seasons in Kitale. Where: cv-cultivar; SED-standard error of difference at P<0.05Generally, the Brachiaria varieties had significantly higher crude protein than the control grasses (Table 3). Mulato II accumulated the highest amounts of crude protein, followed by Basilisk, Piata and Marandu. Cultivars Llanero and MG4 had the lowest crude protein and were comparable to Napier and Rhodes grass (Table 3). Although Napier grass yield was high in both seasons, its nutritional value was lower than that of the Brachiaria grasses. However, the nutritional values were higher than those reported elsewhere by (Paulino et al., 2011) probably due to the geographical location and environmental conditions for the site. Crude protein is higher, in fodder grown in high rainfall areas while structural carbohydrates (NDF) in the grasses is lower (Peterson et al., 1988).In Eldoret no significant fertilizer (P ≤ 0.05) effect on shoots biomass was noted in the dry and wet seasons despite the low N and available P content in those soils (Table 1). However, the biomass yields were significantly (P = 0.001) influenced by the grass cultivars in the dry season.All the Brachiaria cultivars except cv. Llanero produced similar yields that were significantly (P = 0.05) higher than those of Rhodes grass (Figure 2). Napier grass out-yielded all the grasses and accumulated between 2.4 to 6.5 t ha -1 more shoots biomass than the lowest and highest yielding Brachiaria grasses. During the wet season, the biomass yields were influenced by the grass cultivars, but no interaction between the grass cultivars and fertilizer NP occurred. The cvs. MG4 and Basilisk accumulated the highest shoots biomass (14 t ha -1 ), which was significantly (P=0.05) higher than that of other Brachiaria cultivars and Rhodes grass. However, cvs. Marandu, Piata, Xaraes and cv. Mulato II yielded shoots biomass that was similar to that of Rhodes grass, but higher than cv. Llanero (Figure 2). Napier grass out-yielded all the grasses during this season. The high biomass yield accumulated by cvs. MG4 and Basilisk in the dry and wet seasons in the Eldoret site suggest that these are the best bet Brachiaria cultivars.  Roots biomass is important in maintaining soil fertility due to its contribution to C and N sink and as a source of exudates for microbial growth resulting to increased microbial activity within the rhizosphere. Application of fertilizer NP had no effect on roots biomass in all sampling periods. The lack of fertilizer response in roots biomass is partly attributed to low NP rates (40 kg P ha -1 and 100 kg N ha -1 ) that may not have been responsive in these P deficient soils (Table 1). Other studies on effects of fertilization on roots biomass have noted similar results. Kibet et al. (2016) for example found no responses to fertilizer N by switch grass fertilized for 4 years, while Jung et al. (2011) reported increased above ground biomass due to N application but no changes in roots biomass of switch grass. In the current study, accumulation of roots biomass differed across the two depths sampled with 70% of roots biomass located in the 0-15 cm depth. Roots biomass increased with age but reduced with depth. The highest roots biomass was recorded at 80 WAE (Table 4).At 22 WAE, Basilisk, Piata and Xaraes had comparable roots biomass in the 0-15 cm depth, which was higher than that of Rhodes and Napier grass while cvs. Llanero and Mulato II accumulated the lowest roots biomass. The roots system of Basilisk consists of finer and longer roots than some other Brachiaria species providing superior uptake of P and N from the soil. Most of the grasses had very low biomass at the subsoil level (15 -30cm) at 22 WAE. Piata had the highest roots biomass at the 15 -30 cm depth which was between 80 -200% higher than the other grasses. Less abundant roots biomass accumulation was noted in Mulato II, Llanero, Napier and Rhodes grass at the lower depth (Table 4).At 80 WAE, no varietal or fertilizer differences were noted on roots biomass at both the top and lower level but generally, the grasses had higher roots biomass at the 0 -15 cm depth. Roots biomass was 10 times higher in the 15 -30 cm depth from soils sampled 80 WAE compared to those sampled 22 WAE, showing that as the growth period increased, more roots were distributed in the deeper horizons. By this period, the varieties may have attained near maximum lateral growth and utilized most of the soil area available for growth thereby investing more roots growth at the lower soil depths. This is important for C sequestration, since most of the C stored in the roots at the deeper horizons contribute to C sink and is better protected from degradation. At the 80 WAE, the Brachiaria grasses had higher roots biomass at the lower horizons than the controls, Napier and Rhodes grass, making Brachiaria a better alternative for soil fertility restoration.Roots biomass had a significant site x cultivar interaction (P<0.001) at the 22 WAE period in both depths. MG4 had the highest roots biomass in Eldoret (1445 kg ha -1 ) while Xaraes, Piata and Basilisk had higher roots biomass than other grasses in Kitale at the 0-15 m depth. The grasses differed in roots spread beyond the 15 m depth in both sites. At the 15-30 m depth, roots biomass ranged from 113 to 438 kg ha -1 in Kitale and 144 to 460 kg ha -1 in Eldoret. A significant varietal effect (P<0.001) was noted in roots biomass production in Eldoret. In general, all the Brachiaria cultivars had higher roots biomass than the control grass (Napier grass). At 22 WAE, Rhodes grass had not yet fully established due to slow germination and growth in this site, sampling was not done. The cv. MG4 accumulated the highest roots biomass (1445 kg ha -1 ) while Napier grass had the lowest roots biomass (345 kg ha -1 ) in this site (Figure 3). As was observed in the Kitale site, roots biomass in all cultivars decreased with sampling depth, and was higher in the 0 -15 m and lowest at the sub soil (15 -30 m). Beyond the 15 m depth, Xaraes accumulated the highest roots biomass while Mulato II and Basilisk had the lowest accumulation of roots biomass at this depth. Increased roots biomass is essential in plant productivity because in grasses, high roots biomass improves nutrient and water uptake (Bowman et al., 1998) particularly during periods of water scarcity. Xaraes, MG4, Piata and Basilisk had high roots biomass in both sites and accumulated higher shoots biomass than the other grasses especially during the dry season. Biomass investment in shoots and roots differed between Napier grass and the Brachiaria cultivars.Napier grass invested up to 20 times more biomass in shoots than roots in Kitale and nearly 10 times in Eldoret. The lower investment in Kitale would be due to sufficient moisture which encouraged higher shoots growth at the expense of roots. In Eldoret, soil depth and moisture was limiting leading to higher roots biomass to scavenge for water and nutrients. The Brachiaria cultivars had comparatively lower investment in shoots: roots biomass, which ranged between 1.2 to 2.1 and 2.5 to 5.0 in Eldoret and Kitale, respectively. In Kitale, shoots biomass was strongly and positively correlated with plot cover and plant spread (P=0.001) and was also positively but weakly correlated with plant height (Table 5).Cultivars that had wider spread and high plot cover such as Basilisk and MG4 accumulated higher biomass during the dry season. The number of tillers and roots biomass did not influence the shoots biomass in the dry season.The relationship between grass growth parameters and shoots yield in Eldoret are shown in Table 6. It was observed that during the dry season, shoots biomass was dependent on plant spread, height and cover but had no relationship with plant height, tiller density or roots biomass. A significant linear relationship (R 2 = 0.491; P = 0.001) was observed between plant spread and shoots biomass. Plot cover plays a major role in soil and water conservation. In this study, Basilisk, MG4, Xaraes and Piata were more decumbent, with high spread and plot over (60%) thereby accumulating higher biomass in the dry season. However, the erect grasses, Rhodes grass and Mulato II had low plot over (45%), and plant spread (24 m), which contributed to lower shoots biomass during the dry season. Mganga (2009) reported similar results, with Cenchrus ciliaris producing higher biomass among four local grasses due to increased horizontal spread. During the wet season, grass spread, cover and height were the most important growth parameters influencing shoots biomass, with spread and cover having the highest significant linear relationship with shoots biomass in Eldoret (Table 6). Therefore, the grasses that had more spread and higher plot cover accumulated more biomass including MG4 and Basilisk.  In general, results from this study show that shoots biomass varied considerably depending on the cultivar and the site. Fertilizer NP response was minimal despite the low soil N and P in both sites. The shoots biomass was mainly influenced by the spread and plot cover attributes both in the dry and wet seasons. Brachiaria cultivars out-yielded Rhodes grass, the commonly grown grass in the region and accumulated high roots biomass in early establishment phase.Basilisk and MG4 and may be considered as the best bet cultivars for the north western highlands region due to their superior biomass yields.Past efforts to introduce cultivated forages to farmers in coastal lowlands Kenya were reported in the forage adoption study by Mureithi et al. (1998)  (Njunie et al., 1995;Mwatate et al., 1998). Forage technologies' adoption was high immediately after promotion, but some farmers abandoned them after a few years (Nicholson et al., 1999). For example, the number of farms with pure stands of Napier grass and the amount planted per cow declined by nearly 50% from 1988 to 1993. In a recent study by Njarui et al. (2016b), natural pastures was the most popular feed in coastal lowlands, with over 98% of farmers using them to feed livestock. Utilization of cultivated forages for the region was low; with Napier grass contributing on average 10% of the feeds in most months. The low contribution of improved forages to dairy cattle feeding was partly because farmers gave less priority in the allocation of resources to forage cultivation (Mureithi et al., 1998). For example, Napier grass was planted in the least fertile part of the farm land and after maize. Napier grass plots were not weeded in time and most farmers were not able to return slurry to the Napier grass as recommended. The low priority farmers gave to the cultivated forages implies that they were more interested in crops. Past records indicate that there was little or limited involvement of farmers as co-researchers during forage technology development.In a programme to improve livestock production in East Africa, Brachiaria grass genotypes selected and improved in Latin America were re-introduced to coastal lowlands Kenya. Brachiaria species adapt to diverse habitats ranging from shaded to open areas and desert to swampy areas (Miles et al., 1996). Consequently, the grasses have great potential in the intensification of livestock production systems as sown forages in coastal Kenya. The programme sought to involve the farmers as co-researchers from the initial stages of technology development through participatory evaluation so that their priorities and views can be considered in selecting suitable forages for integration in their farming system. Participatory variety selection helps the farmers to select desired characteristics, as scientists obtain feedback from potential end users early in the technology development process.The grass cultivars for farmer evaluation were established at KALRO-Mtwapa, located 3 o 36'S, 39 o 44'E, 15 m asl. The site is in the coconut-cassava agro-ecological zone (Jaetzold et al., 2006).There are two distinct rainfall patterns in the area, a long rain season from April to June and a short rain season from October to December. The farmers were facilitated to develop criteria to be used when selecting grasses for planting on their farms. A multistage stratified sampling technique was used for selection of the farmers. Diverse sites where smallholder farmers practiced mixed-farming were identified within Kilifi County and visited by researchers for information gathering. Sites visited were Kaloleni and Chonyi (CL3), Gotani and Msabaha (CL4) and Tsangatsini (CL5). In each site, groups of 20 to 30 farmers were involved in focused group discussions (FGD). During the FGD, farmers were requested to suggest the things they considered important when selecting grasses to establish in their farms. The suggested criteria were clearly recorded by the research scientist and pair-wise ranking carried out as suggested by the farmers.Smallholder farmers were invited to KALRO Mtwapa centre, twice for participatory evaluation and selection of Brachiaria cultivars: in April, 2014 at the vegetative grass-growth stage and at maturity in July, 2014. Farmers were drawn from coastal lowlands (CL) agro-ecological zones 3, CL4 and CL5 (Table 1). Between 112-115 farmers participated in the evaluation (Table 1). There was equal mean representation of men and women (1:1) in the grass evaluation exercise. At the field site, each farmer was provided with an evaluation score data sheet. The farmers were trained on how to use the Likert scale of 1 -5 in the evaluation of each grass cultivar and record the data for each grass in the data sheet. They were then guided through a specific route within the experimental field, where they made their observations on each plot (grass cultivar) and recorded the information in the score sheet.Data was entered in MS excel spreadsheet and analysed using the general linear model of Statistical Analysis System (SAS, 2010). The mean scores for each evaluation criteria were separated using least significant differences (LSD) at P<0.05. The results are presented using descriptive statistics, charts and tables.Farmers identified 16 criteria they consider when selecting suitable forages for their livestock. These criteria were ranked based on their importance and are summarized in Table 2. Forages that are less hairy (LH), high yielding (HY), easy to establish and spread due to availability of planting materials (PM), with drought tolerance characteristics (DT), highly palatable when fed fresh (green) or at maturity (P) and with high re-growth ability after cutting (RA) would be most preferred by farmers. Criteria that were difficult to quantify or qualify were ranked lowest. High nutritive value of the foliage (NV), self-regeneration ability of the plants (SR), milk quality (less watery milk probably due to high butter fat in milk) (QM), palatability of dry grass (standing hay) and easily harvested due to firm plant anchorage in the soil (GA) were thus lowly ranked.Results of the farmer evaluation are summarized in Table 3. Humidicola failed to establish and therefore it was not included in the evaluation. All the Brachiaria grasses scored better (score >2.4) than Rhodes grass cv. ex-Tozi (score 2.1). Mulato II (score =3.3), Xaraes (score=3.2) had a higher score than Napier grass (score =3.0) while Marandu had similar score to Napier grass.Results show that both male and female farmers did not differ in their ranking of most the grasses (Table 4). The only exception was Xaraes which was ranked higher than Napier grass by men.The farmers in coastal Kenya sought after grasses that would be less hairy, produce large material for planting and productive even under low rainfall conditions. In cut-and-carry feeding systems, farmers preferred grass that does not irritate the skin when cutting and carrying to the feeding pens. Generally less hairy grasses are also more palatable. Farmers were conscious of the need to have plenty of planting materials for ease of establishment of forage crops. Consequently, grasses with many tillers would imply increase availability of planting materials as root splits or cuttings (Ramadhan et al., 2015). In a past survey, farmers identified lack of planting materials as a major constraint to fodder acreage expansion in the region (Ramadhan et al., 2008). Farmers' placement of \"drought tolerance' as among the most important criteria may be attributed to poor survival rates of previous cultivated grasses, especially Napier grass during prolonged drought periods. A survey in the region by Ramadhan et al. (2008) reported drought as the main factor affecting survival of Napier grass in coastal lowlands. Growth vigour, quick re-growth after cutting and yield criteria can be associated with increased fodder production per unit area. Inadequate feed was identified as a constraint to livestock production in the region (Reynolds et al., 1993;Njarui et al., 2016b). High palatability, soft and large leaves for ease of forage ingestion are desirable for increased feed intake. Milk yield and /or weight gain are closely related to feed intake (Orodho, 2006). Though not highly ranked, shade tolerance of the grass is important for coastal lowlands farming systems. The cropping system in coastal Kenya is dominated by tree crops, mainly fruit trees, coconut and cashew nuts (Jaetzold et al., 2006). Pasture development in this region is integrated with tree crops (Orodho, 1997). Farmers who participated in the discussions clearly identify areas under tree crops as a likely niche for planting grasses.The good performance of three Brachiaria grasses is of significance, considering that Napier grass is the recommended fodder grass for dairy production in the region (Mureithi et al., 1998;Nicholson et al., 1999). The better performing Brachiaria grasses could replace Napier grass in smallholder dairying systems. Furthermore, production of Napier grass especially in the highlands is threatened by Napier grass stunt disease which causes total loss of the crop in severe cases (Khan et al., 2014). Farmers have complained of poor survival of Napier grass onfarm resulting in low adoption of cultivated fodder in the region (Mureithi et al., 1998;Njarui et al., 2016a). The Brachiaria grasses offer alternative cultivated fodder to Napier grass and ex-Tozi in the region. Farmers indicated that they would prefer grasses that are easy to establish, productive, can tolerate drought, palatable and with high nutritive value. The Brachiaria cultivars that established well were all superior to Rhodes grass cv. ex-Tozi. Brachiaria hybrid cv. Mulato II and cvs. Xaraes were ranked higher than Napier grass.There is need for further evaluation of the best ranked Brachiaria cultivars to determine their nutritive value for milk and meat production on station and under farmer participation on farm.   There is limited adoption of improved forages among smallholder farmers in Kenya. One of the major factors limiting adoption is insufficient attention to farmers' priorities and perceptions while developing and promoting agricultural technologies (Ashby and Sperling 1995;Chambers et al., 1989). For example, forage research and development in many countries including Kenya in the past often involved a process where researchers evaluated forages and selected those which had higher yield potential without farmer participation. The selected forages were then given to extension agents to be passed on to farmers (Gabunada et al., 1997). Unfortunately, technologies selected through this approach often failed to fulfill their potential from research evaluations and this resulted in low adoption. Since 1990s, participatory approaches have become a driving force for agricultural research and rural development.One of the recently adopted approaches is the Participatory Varietal Selection (PVS) that has been found to be very effective in addressing the problem of inadequate adoption of new varieties in many crops in different countries of the world (Islam et al, 2008). The approach involves the selection by farmers on their own fields of finished or near-finished products from plant breeding programmes (Paris et al., 2011). Successful application of PVS in Sub-Saharan Africa include bean crop improvement in Rwanda, Tanzania, and Malawi, the adaptation of the New Rice For Africa (NERICA) varieties (Walker, 2006), the development of maize varieties for drought tolerance, low nitrogen and pest tolerance (Hugo and Siambi, 2002) and identification of Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) cultivars with farmer preferred traits in northern Tanzania (Sikumba et al., 2015). The first step in participatory varietal selection (PVS) is identifying the needs of farmers by discovering what crops they grow, and what traits they consider important when selecting varieties they grow within their agro-ecological and sociocultural environment (Witcombe, 1996;Paris et al., 2011). Further, participatory varietal selection is a means for social scientists to identify the varieties that most men and women farmers prefer, including the reasons for their preference and constraints to adoption.Analysis of participatory of CIMMITY research projects by Lilja and Bellon (2006) reported that some outcomes associated with participatory research include farmers' access to seed and faster adoption, awareness of new varieties and, provision of varieties with valued traits to farmers. Participatory evaluation and selection has been recommended as a key for improving of forages in Kenya (Mwangi and Wambugu, 2003). The objective of the study was to identify the selection criteria used by farmers to select forages and select suitable Brachiaria grass cultivars for integration in production system within semiarid environment of eastern Kenya.The Brachiaria grass cultivars were established at Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), Katumani during the short rains season of 2013. The site (37 ˚28'0''E, 1 ˚58'0''S) is located at 75 km south-east of Nairobi at an elevation of 1580 m asl. The mean annual rainfall is 717 mm, bimodal pattern and the dominant soils are chromic luvisols, which are low in organic C, highly deficient in N and P and to some extent Zinc (NAAIAP, 2014). The seven cultivars used in the evaluation were Brachiaria brizantha cvs. Marandu, Xaraes, Piatã, MG4, Brachiaria decumbens cv. Basilisk, Brachiaria humidicola cv. Llanero and Brachiaria hybrid cv. Mulato II. These were compared with Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana), a locally cultivated grass.The criteria used by farmers in the selection of grass cultivars were identified through focus group discussions (FGDs) following the procedure described by Krueger (2002). Groups of dairy farmers were purposefully selected from Upper Midlands 3 (UM3) and Lower Midlands 4 (LM4) agro-ecological zones in Machakos and Makueni Counties respectively. The farmers were randomly selected from a list of farmers who had participated in the baseline survey conducted earlier to identify niches for establishing Brachiaria grasses in the study area (Njarui et al., 2016b). With guidance of researchers and extension workers, farmers listed criteria they consider important for selection of forages for livestock. A pairwise ranking matrix was used to determine the most important criteria which were then applied in the evaluation and selection.Between 84 -89 farmers (Table 1) participated in evaluation and selection of Brachiaria grasses at Katumani at three separate occasions; March 2014 (wet season), June 2014 (end of wet season) and Oct 2014 (peak of dry season). Attributes that could not be directly observed in the field such as high milk yield, nutritionally balanced, palatability of forages etc. were dropped. The final criteria included drought tolerance, disease tolerance, soil erosion control, pest resistance, height at harvest and uses (suitable for grazing and for cut-and-carry). Green colour of the leaves was also included as a selection criterion. For each criterion, farmers' opinions on individual grass cultivars were recorded in an evaluation form using a Likert scale of 1 to 4 where, 1 =poor, 2=fair, 3=good and 4=very good. For each evaluation, the scores from each farmer were entered in Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and a mean score for each criterion calculated for each grass cultivar by gender. The mean scores for each criterion were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and where significant differences occurred, means were separated by the least significant difference (LSD) test using the statistical software Genstat 15 for windows (VSN Int., 2013). To determine the best grass cultivar the scores for each farmer on each criterion were averaged over the three evaluations and the mean scores subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).Farmers identified 14 criteria that are important when selecting forages for livestock production (Table 14). Forages that give high milk yield when fed to livestock were ranked first followed by nutritionally balanced forages and palatability. Forages that are nutritionally balanced and highly palatable influencing milk production in livestock hence they were highly ranked. Drought is prevalent in the semi-arid region and therefore drought tolerant is an important criterion and was ranked fourth. Besides attribute related to livestock, farmers also considered other benefits of forages such as erosion control. In the semi-arid crops and livestock are closely integrated in the farming system and forages are planted along the terrace banks for control of erosion and also provide feed for livestock. Surprising high yield was ranked last because farmers prefer forages that have stable yield even during the dry season.The order of ranking of the grass cultivars was similar and not significantly different between farmers from UM3 and LM4 in the three evaluations and therefore analysis of the combined results are presented. The average scores for the three evaluations are shown Table 3. There were significant differences (P<0.05) among the grass cultivars on all the 9 selection criteria. The cv. MG4 had the highest score in 8 out of the 9 selection criteria and consequently had the highest mean score (3.08). The cvs. Basilisk, Mulato II and Xaraes were ranked second, third and fourth best cultivars respectively. Drought resistance and colour had the highest mean score (>3.0) (Table 3), implying that they were important for consideration when selecting forages.Deep green colour is associated with high nutritional quality, with Mulato II, MG4 and Basilisk being highly ranked for this attributes. Results from chemical analysis showed these grasses had high crude protein, 9.-13% at 6 week growth and 8 -11% at 8 weeks growth (Njarui et al., 2016a). The ranking of the Brachiaria cultivars largely concurred with results from agronomic evaluation reported by Njarui et al. (2016a) where cvs. MG4, Xaraes, Piatã and Basilisk recorded highest dry matter. On-farm study on adaptability of improved Brachiaria grasses in low rainfall and Aluminum toxicity prone areas of Rwanda (Mutimura and Everson, 2012) showed that although cv. Mulato II was not the most productive grass; farmers preferred it due to its adaptability to low rainfall and acidic soil stress, and its production of green forage year round. Similar results were reported from trials in D.R. Congo (Katunga et al., 2014) where forage trees and shrub legumes chosen by farmers were, in general, the same as those from the agronomic evaluation which emphasis the importance of involving farmers during the evaluation. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) between female and male scores for the grass cultivars (Figure 1). However, scores for female farmers were generally higher than those for male farmers.Based on the criteria developed, the cultivars selected by farmers were found to be more productive and nutritious through the agronomic evaluation. Among the Brachiaria cultivars evaluated the cvs. MG4, Basilisk, Mulato II and Xaraes were ranked highly and could further be evaluated and up-scaled in other regions with similar environment. Participatory evaluation incorporates farmers view and preferred plant attributes and is likely to enhance adoption.   Feed is a major component of the livestock production systems in Kenya accounting for 60-80% of the total production cost in the intensive systems. One of the major source of feed for livestock in central highland of Kenya is natural pasture, which is low in quantity and quality and consequently livestock productivity is low (Njarui et al., 2016). Napier and Rhodes grass are the major cultivated forage grasses in Kenya due to their relatively wide ecological adaptability, relatively high herbage yield and ease of propagation and management. In the intensive market oriented smallholder livestock production systems, Napier grass constitutes between 40 -80% of forages used by smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya. Although there have been efforts to evaluate new cultivars of Napier grass (Nyambati et al., 2010) there has been limited research on other grasses to increase the genetic base of fodders for production in mixed crop-livestock smallholder farms. In addition, the emerging lethal diseases such as Napier smut (Farrel et al., 2001) and Napier stunt (Jones et al., 2004) threaten the production of Napier grass for livestock feeding.Brachiaria grass, an indigenous grass in eastern, central and southern Africa (Ndikumana and de Leeuw, 1996) has been widely adapted as livestock forage in South America and East Asia. Besides its use as livestock feed, Brachiaria is known to contribute significantly to carbon sequestration, ecological restoration and soil erosion control hence it plays an important role in reducing greenhouse gases and nutrient losses from soils. Although Brachiaria grasses, have revolutionized the livestock industry as the most adaptable and high yielding grass in south and central America (Miles et al., 2004), their potential in its native land Africa remains largely unexploited. Limited research has been conducted to evaluate the agronomic performance of improved Brachiaria grasses under different agro ecological conditions in Kenya. Furthermore, farmers' participatory approaches in forage technology development have been ignored and this has contributed to low adoption of technologies by the farmers (Nicholson et al., 1999). In a programme to improve livestock production in East Africa, improved Brachiaria grass genotypes selected in Latin America were introduced to the cool highlands of central Kenya. However, these cultivars are new and unknown to the farmers and their performance and response to biophysical conditions in the Central highlands of Kenya are not known. It was therefore imperative to incorporate farmers' views and priorities in the initial development and introduction of Brachiaria cultivars before up scaling the cultivars in the farming systems. The objective of the study was to evaluate and select promising Brachiaria grasses in the cool highlands of Central Kenya using a farmer participatory approach.The study was conducted at KALRO Ol Joro Orok from November 2013 to May 2014. The site is located at 0˚03'S, 36˚06'E, and lies 2393 m asl in Upper highlands 2-3 (UH2-3) in Nyandarua County (Jaetzold et al., 2006). Average annual rain-fall is 950 mm with weak bimodal distribution and temperature ranging between 8 and 22°C. The dominant soils at the site are classified as Verto-luvic and Chromo-luvic Phaeozems (Sombroek et al., 1982).Eight Brachiaria grasses: Brachiaria brizantha cvs. Marandu, Xaraes, Piatã, MG4, Brachiaria decumbens cv. Basilisk, B. humidicola, cvs. Humidicola and Llanero and B. hybrid Mulato II were evaluated. Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) cv. KARI-Kakamega 1 and Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana cv. Boma) were included in the evaluation as control. The plots were established in November 2013 and triple super-phosphate (TSP, 46% P2O5) fertilizer was applied at a rate of 200 kg ha¹ in the rows prior to sowing the seeds. The plots were kept weed free by hand weeding. The grasses were allowed to establish for 20 weeks before farmers were facilitated to perform a participatory evaluation and selection of the most promising cultivars.Twenty dairy farmers from three sub counties of Mirangine (UH2 and UH3), Nyandarua central (UH 3 and LH 1) and Nyandarua west (UH 2 and UH 3) participated in a one day workshop in April 2014 and developed farmer based criteria for evaluating the Brachiaria grasses. The farmers listed 12 criteria for rating the grasses. The criteria included the following Forage biomass (FB), Hairiness (H), Ground cover(GC), Plant height (PH), Soil and user friendly (SUF), Easy to store (ES), smell (S), Colour (C), Pest and disease resistant (PDR), withstand water logging (WL), Frost tolerant (FT) and Drought tolerant (DT). The twelve (12) criteria developed by farmers were further ranked and reduced to five (5) in order of importance using pairwise ranking. The five most important criteria were Forage biomass, Plant height, Ground cover, Hairiness and Pest and disease resistance.Participatory evaluation and selection of Brachiaria grass 60 (39 male and 21 female) farmers drawn from the sub counties of Mirangine -19 (10 male and 9 female), Nyandarua central -21 (14 male and 7 Female) and Nyandarua west-20 (15 male and 5 female) representing UH2, UH3, and LH 1 participated in a workshop in April, 2014 to evaluate the Brachiaria grasses. Farmers were trained on how to evaluate and fill the scores on the evaluation data sheet prior to the evaluation exercise. After the training, each farmer individually evaluated and rated the grass cultivars using a Likert scale of 1 to 5 (1=very poor to 5= very good) to rate each grass cultivar. Farmers individually recorded their ratings on each grass cultivar in the evaluation sheet.The data were analyzed using PROC MIXED of SAS (SAS Institute Inc. 2001) with grass cultivar as fixed effects. Means were separated using Fisher's protected least significant difference (LSD) at P<0.05. The means from farmer ranking were subjected to Pearson's linear correlation procedure to see the correlation significance. The results are presented using descriptive statistics.The results of farmers' most preferred criteria are summarized in table 1. Farmers evaluated the grasses using the following five (5) criteria forage biomass, hairiness, plant height at harvest, ground cover and resistance to pests and disease (Table 1). The forages which produced the most biomass and were less hairy were most preferred. Likewise, the tall forages with good ground cover were preferred also preferred by the farmers. Last but not least, farmers preferred grasses which would resist diseases and pests. The farmers' considerations implied that plant height and ground cover are among the important factors in determining forage yield. The results agreed with the findings of Tessema et al. (2003) who reported that increasing foliage height had a direct relationship with increased foliage biomass yield.The results of farmers' evaluation are summarized in Table 2. MG4 and Piata were the most preferred Brachiaria grasses. Brachiaria brizantha cv. MG4 was higher in forage biomass (P<0.05) compared to the other Brachiaria grasses. The most preferred Brachiaria grasses by the farmers were Piatã, MG4, Basilisk and Xaraes. However, the ranking of Brachiaria grasses were lower compared to both Napier and Rhodes grass controls. Basilisk was slightly lower than MG4 but was significantly higher than the other Brachiaria grasses. In a related study, Cook et al. (2005) reported decumbent growth habit in Basilisk which makes it to form a dense plant spread and cover which may have led to its high rating by the farmers. Specifically, according to the farmers evaluation, MG4 had a significantly higher (P<0.05) rating for ground cover compared to Basilisk but both were rated lower than Napier and Rhodes grass controls. Piatã and Basilisk had a similar rating. Llanero, Humidicola and Brachiaria hybrid Mulato II had the lowest rating (Table 2). MG4, Piatã and Xaraes and Basilisk were rated as having less hair compared with the other Brachiaria grasses but was rated (>0.05) lower than Rhodes grass control. Mulato II had the least rating in terms of hairiness followed by Napier grass control (Table 1). MG4 had the best rating for plant height and was significantly (P<0.05) taller than the other Brachiaria grasses. It was followed by Basilisk and Piatã in plant height. The two control grasses of Napier and Rhodes grass were similar in rating but were significantly rated higher (P<0.05) than Brachiaria grasses (Table 2). There was no significant difference between the Brachiaria grasses rating for pest and disease resistance. This could mean that farmers were not able to identify physical pests on the grasses. Llanero and Humidicola had the lowest rating in terms of forage biomass Napier control had the best rating followed by Rhodes grass (Table 2). There was a significant positive correlation between height (0.723, P<0.0001) and forage yield, suggesting that farmers rank estimate using height had a direct linear relationship to forage yield. Similar relationship was also observed between cover and forage yield (Table 4).The correlations between forage biomass and plant height and cover are in agreement with those reported by Munyasi et al. (2015), implying that height and cover could be used to assess biomass yield. Study by Skerman and Riveros (1990) also confirmed that pasture species which grow fast and tall are more efficient in resource use of and therefore more competitive and productive. In this study, the farmers indicated their preference for grasses that were tall, with high forage yield, resistance to pest and diseases, less hair and good ground cover. They selected MG4, Xaraes and Piata, and Basilisk as the most promising. However, they still preferred both Napier and Rhodes grass over the Brachiaria cultivars.Rhodes grass was however ranked highly and therefore the most preferred grass.The farmers indicated their preference for grasses that were tall, with high forage yield, resistance to pest and diseases, less hair and good ground cover. They selected Brachiaria brizantha cvs MG4, Xaraes and Piata, and Brachiaria decumbens cv. Basilisk as the most promising. However, they still preferred both Napier and Rhodes grass over the Brachiaria cultivars. Rhodes grass was however ranked highly and therefore the most preferred grass.  Sustainable intensification of livestock production driven by the adoption of improved fodder production technologies has potential to not only mitigate the effects of climate change but also enhance the resilience and livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Africa (FAO, 2010;Rioux et al., 2016). Recent studies show that improved Brachiaria grasses offer opportunities to address the challenge of feed scarcity, improve livestock production and livelihoods in African farming systems (Maass et al., 2015;Mutimura and Everson, 2012;Pizarro et al., 2013). For instance Ghimire et al. (2015) found considerable improvement in on-farm feed availability, body weight gain of cattle and milk yield increases owing to the recent re-introduction of Brachiaria grasses in Rwanda and Kenya. There is need therefore to promote suitable Brachiaria grasses for integration into smallholder farming systems to enhance uptake for livestock production in the East African region.Successful integration of the new Brachiaria cultivars to generate greater benefits for smallholder farmers would require precise fitting of the correct cultivars into different farming systems of Kenya (Maass et al., 2015). Farmer-centered research and development is recognised as an effective approach that enhances ownership, decision-making, uptake and scaling-out of improved technologies (KAPP and IIRR, 2015;Wanyama et al., 2003). Matching the promising cultivars to suitable socio-ecological contexts should carefully consider farmers' expectations driven by their needs and preferences as they are likely to influence adoption behaviour (Misiko et al., 2008;Wanyama et al., 2003). Yet it remains unclear what key attributes farmers expect the best Brachiaria grass to possess and which criteria they are likely to consider in selecting the most suitable cultivar for integration in the farming systems of North western highlands of Kenya.Participatory variety selection (PVS) is recognized as an effective and efficient participatory approach involving farmers as co-researchers to incorporate their input in selecting socially acceptable technologies that match well with their needs and environment (Horne and Stür, 1999;Nkongolo et al., 2008;Singh et al., 2014). It is an approach that facilitates the potential endusers to provide information on performance and acceptability of varieties, which then provides feedback to researchers to consider in their final recommendation of promising cultivars (Witcombe et al., 1996). This is essential because being conversant with farmers' preferences can enhance adoption prospects for a variety (Paris et al., 2011). The interactive learning process makes farmers more appreciative of the technology, enhances trust and builds ownership within the farming community thereby accelerating its wider dissemination and scaling-out.Despite its proven importance in successful varietal selection and wider uptake, PVS has mostly been applied in cereals and legumes such as maize, rice, wheat, sorghums, barley and beans (e.g. Ceccarelli et al., 2007;Misiko et al., 2008;Mitchell et al., 2014;Nkongolo et al., 2008;Nyende and Delve, 2004;Pandit et al., 2007;Paris et al., 2011) and hardly in forages like Brachiaria grasses (e.g. Mutimura and Everson, 2012;Phengsavanh et al., 2004). In Kenya, farmers have rarely been involved as co-researchers in selecting promising Brachiaria grass cultivars aligned with their needs and suitable for their farming environments. The current study therefore is an effort to fill this knowledge gap so as to accelerate the uptake and impact of promising Brachiaria grasses on livestock productivity and agrarian livelihoods in the country.The objective of the study was to consider farmers' criteria in the selection of acceptable Brachiaria grass cultivars for integration into the farming system of North western highlands of Kenya. Specifically, we examine farmers' development of choice criteria with special emphasis on gender preferences. This study documents participatory harmonization and ranking of priority criteria and test them in the actual farmer selection of the best Brachiaria grass cultivars.A sampling frame of farmers who were earlier interviewed during a baseline survey on delineation of niches for integration of Brachiaria grasses into the farming systems of North western Kenya was relied upon (Mutoko et al., 2015). Following Alreck and Settle (1985) methodology, the main sample of 215 households was drawn using stratified random sampling technique, from Upper Highlands (UH) 3, Midland Upper Midlands (UM) 4 and Lower Highlands (LH) 3 agro-ecological zones located across counties of Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo Marakwet. A proportionate sub-sample of 100 farmers was then randomly drawn for criteria development and participatory Brachiaria cultivars evaluation as shown in Table 1. About 69% were male and the rest female farmers. As suggested by Misiko (2013), we deliberately sampled the same farmers who participated in the baseline survey with a view to enhance consistency and eliminate the effect of 'impulsive buying' during Brachiaria cultivars selection. The selected farmers were invited to participate in criteria identification, prioritization and evaluation of Brachiaria cultivars at Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) Kitale. The site is located at longitude 1° 0′ 6.6´´N and latitude 34° 59´ 10´´E, at 1890 m above sea level. The site lies in UM4 agro-ecological zones with temperatures ranging between 10 °C and 27 °C and receives bimodal rainfall of 1000 -1200 mm per year. Soils are mainly humic Acrisols, which are deep and well-drained (Jaetzold et al., 2006). Participating farmers convened at KALRO Kitale in October 2014, where they were briefed on the need to develop the criteria they would use in evaluating and selecting the most suitable Brachiaria grass cultivars. To avoid gender bias and possible dominance in the process, participants were disaggregated by gender into three groups: men, women and youth. With the guidance of researchers and extension officers, each group listed and ranked 10 key criteria that they consider important while selecting suitable forages for their livestock. The identified criteria were presented in a plenary by the leader of each group.During the plenary, focused discussions were conducted to harmonize the identified criteria. These criteria were then ranked in order of priority using a pairwise ranking matrix. Each listed criterion was compared against the others in the set and farmers picked the preferred one for every pair. Entries of criteria were counted in the entire matrix and the criteria having highest score ranked first. Where criteria tied, farmers were requested to break the tie by comparing each pair and selecting the priority criterion between them.The current empirical study was conducted on a researcher-managed trial under controlled, uniform conditions. The study therefore minimized the effect of extraneous factors on farmer preferences and availed reliable information. Output from the participatory criteria development process informed the design of a simple evaluation tool with solely those criteria that farmers could observe and appraise in the experimental fields. Mean scores and standard errors were computed by county, agro-ecological zone and gender of the farmers. Chi-square (χ 2 ) test was applied to determine significant mean score differences between cultivars based on the key selection criteria. Mean scores were then used to determine the best farmer-acceptable Brachiaria grass cultivars. Data processing and analysis was done in SPSS version 20.Results from participatory criteria identification showed that farmers largely desired forages that increase milk production, are persistent and improves soil fertility (Table 2). Other attributes were palatability, high herbage yield and tolerance to drought, weeds, pests and diseases. Farmers' prioritized preferences indicate their expectation for forages that have multiple benefits to meet their needs and are tolerant to biotic and abiotic stresses as highlighted by Kidake et al. (2016). Identification of these preferences by farmers at the variety evaluation stage is essential for wider adoption of Brachiaria grasses. This is because consideration of farmer criteria would essentially ensure that recommended Brachiaria grass cultivars meet farmers' requirements and their opportunities, thus they have better prospects to adapt as earlier reported by Nkongolo et al. (2008) on sorghums in Malawi, Misiko et al. (2008) on soya beans in Kenya and Phengsavanh et al. (2004) on improved forages in Lao PDR.Results in Table 3 show differences in mean score among the seven Brachiaria cultivars and two local fodder checks based on key selection criteria. Basilisk, MG4 and Piata had significantly higher (p≤0.05) mean scores than Napier and Rhodes grass on pest and disease tolerance, forage amount and hairiness. There was however no significant; differences on maturity between the three most preferred Brachiaria grasses, cvs. MG4, Basilisk and Piata and Napier grass.  Napier grass had highest score (3.5) on height while Llanero has the lowest. This difference is attributed to growth habit. Llanero has a prostrate growth habit and spread by stolon while Napier is erect in it growth habit. Rhodes grass had significantly lower (p≤0.05) mean score than MG4, Basilisk and Piata across all the selection criteria except hairiness, which was comparable with MG4 (Table 3). The mean scores for Rhodes grass were only significantly higher (p≤0.05) than Mulato II and Llanero across all criteria. The mean scores for Marandu and Xaraes did not differ significantly (p>0.05) from Rhodes grass in most of the selection criteria except forage amount and tolerance to pests and disease (Table 3). This suggests that farmers would be indifferent between cultivating either Marandu, Xaraes or Rhodes grass for livestock feeding.Results presented in Table 4 show the mean scores disaggregated by county for each Brachiaria cultivar and the local fodder checks. Farmers from Trans Nzoia and Uasin Gishu counties reported comparable preferences although the former recorded relatively high mean scores. This is because the two counties have similar predominant agro-ecological zones, UM4 and LH3 (Jaetzold et al., 2009), thereby farmers from these counties face comparable biophysical conditions for adoption and adaptation of the preferred Brachiaria grasses (Paris et al., 2011)  Conversely, Basilisk and Piata were highly rated by farmers from Elgeyo Marakwet County, with cvs. MG4, Xaraes and Marandu tying up at third position. This significant difference (p<0.05) in the selection of cultivars could be attributed to the distinctive agro-ecological zone UH3, which prevails mainly in Elgeyo Marakwet County (Jaetzold et al., 2009). The result clearly indicates that farmers consider multiple criteria when selecting suitable forages for their livestock. This finding is consistent with Mutimura and Everson (2012) who found differences in farmer preferences for Brachiaria grasses between Nyamagabe and Bugesera districts in Rwanda. As recognized by Pandit et al. (2007) on PVS and scaling-out of wheat, farmers' context-specific needs coupled with adaptation potential of varieties to local biophysical conditions influence their choices of promising crop varieties.There was however no significant difference (p>0.05) across the counties for the least preferred Brachiaria grass cvs. Llanero and Mulato II, indicating that these cultivars do not meet farmers' expectations on performance in terms production attributes. These Brachiaria cultivars are therefore the least adaptable thus are unlikely to be adopted in the North western highlands of Kenya. This result contradicts Mutimura and Everson (2012) who found that cv. Mulato II was the most preferred Brachiaria cultivar by farmers from Nyamagabe and Bugesera districts in Rwanda, thereby signifying the importance of agro-ecological adaptation and context-specific farmer needs in the selection of acceptable Brachiaria grasses. Comparison with the local checks revealed that cv. MG4 had significantly higher (p≤0.05) mean score than Napier grass cv. KK1, whereas cvs. Basilisk and Piata were not significantly different from Napier grass cv. KK1 (Table 4). The overall mean score of 2.3 for Rhodes grass was significantly lower (p≤0.05) than the best four Brachiaria cultivars. Agro-ecological zonation had significant influence on farmer selection of Brachiaria cv. MG4 alone (Table 5). Which was rated cv. MG4 significantly lower (p≤0.05) by farmers in UH3 than their counterparts from UM4 and LH3. Although farmers from UH3 recorded lower scores for all Brachiaria cultivars except cvs.Mulato II and Llanero, the average scores did not significantly differ across the major AEZs in North western highlands of Kenya. This finding indicates good prospects for integration of the farmer-preferred Brachiaria grasses into the existing fodder production systems of North western highlands of Kenya. Disaggregation of data by gender showed similar preference trend between male and female farmers (Table 6). This result supports a recent study in Kenya, which did not establish significant gender disparity on farmers' preference of promising integrated soil and water management technologies in Northwestern Kenya (Esilaba et al., 2015). Across all Brachiaria cultivars however, female farmers recorded relatively higher scores than their male counterparts although it was not significant.Irrespective of gender of the farmers, MG4, Basilisk, Piata and Xaraes were the most preferred. This finding clearly points to universal farmer-preference of these cultivars and implies that they have good prospects for uptake when availed to both genders of livestock farmers in the study area. Comparison with Napier and Rhodes grasses showed a similar trend as reported for inter-county results and revealed no gender disparity. The study revealed that farmers in north western highlands of Kenya preferred MG4, Basilisk, Piata, Xaraes and Marandu. When the identified farmers' perceptions guide the promotion of these farmer-acceptable Brachiaria cultivars, wide adoption will enhance their resilience to the effects of climate change, improve livestock productivity and household food security as established by Rioux et al. (2016). Studies on accelerating uptake of improved rice varieties in Lao PDR (Mitchell et al., 2014), sorghum in Malawi (Nkongolo et al., 2008), wheat in Bangladesh (Pandit et al., 2007) and legume cover crops in Uganda (Nyende and Delve, 2004) provides scientific evidence that incorporating farmers' preference information to complement scientists' data ensures only the best cultivars possessing attributes preferred by most farmers are progressed for on-farm adoption and scaling-out. This is because active farmer participation in the selection of farmer-acceptable Brachiaria cultivars will enhance their adoption and adaptation within the local farming contexts, as found by Wanyama et al. (2003). Our findings therefore are relevant for targeted promotion of four better performing and most suitable Brachiaria cultivars for successful uptake in the farming system of North western highlands of Kenya.Results from this study have potential to boost farmers' ownership and decision-making on suitable Brachiaria cultivars to ultimately catalyse their diffusion to bring more benefits to many farming households in North western highlands of Kenya (e.g. IIRR, 2000; Paris et al., 2011)Recognizing farmers' expectations and being responsive to their preferences for a new technology or improved intervention is central to its successful promotion and acceptance in the farming community. Using farmers own identified criteria on forage amount, height at harvest, maturity period, hairiness and tolerance to pests and diseases, MG4, Basilisk, Piata, Xaraes and Marandu were the most preferred cultivars in western Kenya. Based on the findings from this study, we recommend for targeted promotion of these most farmer-preferred Brachiaria cultivars for successful uptake in the region.The genus Brachiaria from the tribe Panicaeae consists of about 100 documented species distributed across tropical and sub-tropical regions of both eastern and western hemisphere (Renvoize et al., 1996). Most Brachiaria species are of African origin, and Africa is the center of diversity for the genus Brachiaria (Parsons, 1972). Seven perennial Brachiaria species of African origin (B. arrecta, B. brizantha, B. decumbens, B. dictyoneura, B. humidicola, B. mutica and B. ruziziensis) are grown as forage, particularly in humid tropical regions of South America, Asia, South pacific and Australia (Argel and Keller-Grein, 1996;Pizarro et al., 1996;Stur et al., 1996). The Brachiaria are most probably widely grown forage grass species in the tropics with estimated acreage of 99 million hectares in Brazil (Jank et al., 2014). The widespread adoption of Brachiaria is attributed to several desirable agronomic traits such as tolerance to drought, shade and flooding; adaptation to low fertility and acid soils; high biomass production potentials; ability to sequester carbon into soils; increase nitrogen use efficiency and minimize greenhouse gas emission (Fisher et al., 1994;Fisher and Kerridge, 1996;Rao et al., 1996;Subbarao et al., 2009).Brachiaria are highly palatable and nutritious forages thus increase livestock productivity. Moreover, Brachiaria plays important roles in ecological restoration and soil erosion control.Most, if not all, plants in natural ecosystems are symbiotic with mycorrhizal fungi and/or fungal endophytes (Petrini, 1986). Fungal symbionts can have influence on ecology, fitness and evolution of host plants (Brundrett, 2006), shaping plant communities (Clay and Holah, 1999) and influencing community structure and diversity of microbial community (Omacini et al., 2001). Enhance water and nutrients uptake, greater stress tolerance, protection from pests and diseases, increased yields are among benefits from endophytes to plants (Clay and Schardl, 2002). Therefore, fungal endophytes have important roles in the adaptation, healthy and overall performance of host plants (Clay et al., 1989;Schardl, 1996;Cheplick et al., 2000;Clay and Schardl, 2002;Ghimire and Craven, 2011). However, some fungal endophytes are detrimental to livestock e. g. Neotyphodium x coenophialum and N. lolii cause fescue toxicosis in cattle ( Schmidt et al., 1982) and ryegrass staggers in sheep (Fletcher and Harvey, 1981) , respectively. Therefore, the relative importance of these endophytes in agriculture and natural ecosystems depend partly on their abilities to produce different types of alkaloids.Despite being native to Africa, it is not widely cultivated in the region. Its importance has been recently realized to support the growing livestock industries in Africa, and many institutions are currently involved in Brachiaria research and development in the region. Brachiaria are known to harbor an endophytic fungus, Acremonium implicatum with anti-mycotic properties against Drechslera sp., a causal agent of leaf spot disease (Dongyi and Kelemu, 2004). Despite importance of microbes on host adaptation and overall performance, current understanding of endophytic microbes of Brachiaria is very limited. Therefore, the objective of this study was to isolate fungal endophytes of Brachiaria grass from above and below ground tissues, and identify candidate fungi for re-introduction into Brachiaria cultivars for enhanced adaptation to drought and low fertility acid soils.Study Thirty whole plant samples of Brachiaria ecotypes consisting multiple tillers and 2 to 3 inflorescences were collected from ILRI Farm (1°16'S and 36°43'E), Nairobi whereas five plant samples of Mulato II were collected from KALRO-Katumani (1°35'S and 37°14'E) during July and August, 2013. The ILRI Farm is located at the altitude of 1795m ASL with annual rainfall of 900 mm, and mean minimum and maximum temperatures of 10°C and 24°C, respectively. The KALRO-Katumani is located at 1600 m asl with annual rainfall of 717 mm and annual mean minimum and maximum temperatures of 13.7°C and 24.7°C, respectively. Both sites have two seasons (wet and dry), and the differences between wet and dry seasons are minimal.The leaf, pseudo-stem and root samples were rinsed thoroughly in tap water to remove soil. Samples were cut into 3-4 cm pieces and surface disinfected in 70% ethanol for 60 sec followed by further disinfection in Tween-80 amended 1.2% sodium hypochlorite for 10 min for leaves and 20 min for stems and roots. Surface disinfected tissues were rinsed three times in sterile water, blot dried, cut into small pieces (1-1.5 cm) and plated on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) plates amended with antibiotics cocktail (Ghimire et al., 2011) Seed samples were processed as following the procedure of (Charlton et al., 2014). Plates were incubated in the dark at 24°C for up to two months and examined periodically for emerging fungal colonies. Emerging fungi were harvested regularly and purified through minimum of three rounds of subcultures and fungal cultures from repeated subcultures were used for DNA extraction and long-term storage.Fungal material for DNA extraction was harvested from 1 to 2 weeks old culture grown on PDA by scrapping edge of fungi colony (5-7 mm 2 ). The fungal material was suspended to 100 µl of PrepMan Ultra Sample Preparation Reagent (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA) in the microcentrifuge tube, vortexed for 30 sec. and incubated into boiling water for 10 min. Subsequently, the tube was allowed to cool at room temperature for 2 min, centrifuged at 12,000 rpm for 2 min. and 50 µl supernatant was transferred to a new tube. The supernatant was diluted ten times for subsequent PCR reactions or stored at 4°C and -20°C as necessary.The Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) regions of fungal ribosomal DNA (rDNA) are highly variable thus are extremely useful in distinguishing fungal species by PCR analysis (Martin and Rygiewicz, 2005). Fungal specific primer pairs ITS1F and ITS4 that amplify 18S rRNA gene (partial), ITS1, 5.8S rRNA gene, ITS2 and partial 28S rRNA gene (partial) were used in this study, and sequences generated using these universal primers are highly represented in the NCBI nucleotide databases. The PCR primers were used to sequence the purified PCR products as described previously (Puckette et al., 2009). Nucleotide sequences were trimmed, assembled and aligned using CLC Main Workbench 6.8.4 (http://www.clcbio.com). Manual editing was done on the sequences to ensure accuracy in the assembly. Sequences were then blasted on the NCBI server against the non-redundant database to assign taxonomy. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequences was performed using the maximum likelihood method based on the Tamura 3parameter model in MEGA version 6 (Tamura et al., 2013). The sequences of representative fungal taxa including variants of the same species were submitted to the NCBI and are published with accession numbers KU574663 to KU574721 and KU680347 to KU680417.The observed isolation frequencies for fungal taxa isolated from above ground (foliage and seeds) and below ground (roots) tissues of Brachiaria grasses were documented. The relatedness of each taxon to at different taxonomic levels (species, genus, family, class and phylum) was established and associated frequencies were calculated. The fungal diversity analysis was done using an online biodiversity calculator and EstimateS version 9.1.0 software (Colwell, 2013).The results presented in this study are based on the 18S rRNA gene (partial), ITS1, 5.8S rRNA gene, ITS2 and partial 28S rRNA gene (partial) sequences of 354 fungal isolates originated from surface sterilized asymptomatic above ground foliar and seeds tissues and below ground root tissues of Brachiaria grass. The 94 above ground (shoots and seeds) and 260 below ground isolates from roots belong to 45 and 44 taxa, respectively from phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota with Ascomycota constituting 98.8% of the whole fungal community. Grouping of the 94 aerial fungal isolates into different taxonomic levels revealed them into two phyla, six classes, 13 orders, 18 families, 31 genera and 45 distinct taxa. The 260 isolates from roots belonged to two phyla, five classes, 10 orders, 12 families, 20 genera and 44 distinct taxa. There were also 12 isolates with unknown identity (Figure 1 and Figure 2). Cladosporium, Microspaeropsis, Acremonium, Fusarium and Alternaria were the most frequently detected genera in the above ground community whereas Fusarium, Gibberella, Gaeumannomyces and Magnaporthe were the most frequently detected genera in the below ground community. To our knowledge this is the first study that documents the fungal community diversity in the symptomless aerial and below ground tissues of Brachiaria grass from Kenya and Sub-Saharan Africa.The phylogenetic relationships among the fungal isolates from above and below ground populations have been illustrated separately using 45 and 44 representative taxa, respectively. The phylogenetic tree for above ground taxa showed 9 major clusters (Figure 3). In addition, the relationships among diverse species identified including Acremonium isolates and the isolates of the genus Sarocladium, which was extended to include seven species that were formerly placed in Acremonium (Summerbell et al., 2011) has been shown in the above ground phylogenetic tree.The below ground phylogenetic tree (Figure 4) on the other hand, shows 6 clusters with a major clade of Fusarium isolates that sub-clusters into two groups comprising 59.2% of the below ground fungal community isolated.The Shannon Index value calculated (H'=5.17) for the above ground population and that of the below ground population, (H'= 4.06) showed that the Brachiaria fungal community is rich in the species diversity (Table 1a) supported by a high Equitability Index (EI) in the above ground community. A high EI value denotes an even species distribution that tends to 1 whereas unequal distribution tends to zero. Simpson's Index (SI) which focus on the most abundant species without considering the richness of that population showed the above ground population had higher species diversity denoted by a low index than in the below ground community since as the abundance index increases, the diversity is known to decrease implying they are inversely correlated (Magurran, 2004). Other indices like Menhinick Index (MI) and Margalef Richness Index (MR) which compensate for sampling effects by dividing the species recorded in each population by the number of individuals in that population (Magurran, 2004) further supported the results as indicated by low indices which depicted a much richer above ground community than in the below ground community.  Comparison between the two communities from the similarity indices showed quite dissimilar species between them. In a similarity index, a value of 1 means the two populations compared share all their species whereas a value of 0 means they share none. In this case, both Jaccard (J) and Sorenson's Classic similarity (SC) indices as well as Bray-Curtis similarity (BC) index which calculate similarity based on presence/absence or abundance data while Morisita-Horn index (MH) which is not influenced by species richness and sample size (Wolda, 1981) revealed very low indices (Table 1b) thus showing quite dissimilar species existing between the two populations. The results revealed only five shared species among them. These included members from the genera, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Periconia and Gaeumannomyces.The evolutionary history was inferred by using the Maximum Likelihood method based on the Kimura 2-parameter model. Evolutionary analyses were conducted in MEGA6 unequal distribution between the two populations. The genus Cladosporium (13.8%) was the most frequently detected in the above ground population whereas the genus Fusarium (59.2%) dominated the below ground population.Most of the taxa detected in the above ground community included Cladosporium, Acremonium, Alternaria and Epicoccum which have also been found dominant as non-systemic endophytes in most temperate grasses and also at their senescence stages of the above ground plant parts existing as latent saprophytes (Sanchez Marquez et al., 2012) but are not host specific. For example, endophytic mycobiota isolation from a perennial grass, Dactylis glomerata from both aerial and below ground communities, revealed 91 different species from 3 phyla, Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Zygomycota representing 63 genera with ascomycetes dominating represented by the genera Penicillium, Cladosporium, Acremonium, Phaeosphaeria, Fusarium, Epicoccum and some members of Epichloë (Sánchez Márquez, Bills, and Zabalgogeazcoa 2007). In addition, the fungal diversity of two coastal grasses, Ammophila arenaria and Elymus farctus from leaves and rhizomes identified 103 different species classified into 2 phyla, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota among which represented 62 genera with some of the most abundant being generalists such as Alternaria, Acremonium, Cladosporium and Epicoccum (Sánchez Márquez, Bills, and Zabalgogeazcoa 2008). In the below ground community of the Brachiaria grass, the most detected genera comprised Fusarium followed by few species of Gibberella, Gaeumannomyces and Magnaporthe and other 16 genera represented by singleton species.  While comparing the Brachiaria fungal community with other tropical grasses like the switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), the most frequently detected genera from both aerial and root tissues were members of Fusarium, Alternaria, Gibberella and Periconia (Ghimire et al., 2011) which were also isolated in this study. In cereal crops such as rice (Oryza sativa L.), the most frequently detected genera of fungal isolates were members of Cladosporium, Fusarium and Penicillium (Naik, Shashikala, and Krishnamurthy, 2009). Members of Penicillium as well as Aspergillus, and Trichoderma species are among the filamentous fungi isolated from different rhizosphere soils which have been tested to be associated with solubilization of insoluble phosphorus important for promotion of growth in plants (Saber et al., 2009;Yasser et al., 2014).In addition, (Danielsen and Jensen 1999) isolated endophytic fungi from aerial parts of 4 Costa Rican C4 grasses and local maize variety to screen for antagonism against the mycotoxins producer, Fusarium verticillioides. They found the most dominant genera were Fusarium and Nigrospora whereas Cladosporium, Penicillium, Phoma and Trichoderma were infrequently detected but were able to reduce necrosis of P. verticillioides infection on maize to some extent hence proved as potential biocontrol agents.Members of the genera Acremonium, Lecanicillium, Fusarium and Nectria spp. were detected in the aerial tissues of these Brachiaria grasses whereas Gibberella, Metarhizium, Trichoderma and several Fusarium isolates were detected in the root tissues belonging to the Order Hypocreales often reported as beneficial endophytes in grasses (Dongyi and Kelemu 2004;Ghimire et al., 2011;Sanchez Marquez et al., 2012). It is interesting to note that we did not detect any members of the family Clavicipaceae in our isolation, which accommodate the Epichloë species that also belong to the order Hypocreales (Summerbell et al., 2011). These have been detected in some grasses (Sánchez Márquez, Bills, and Zabalgogeazcoa 2007) and have been associated with livestock toxicosis (Fletcher and Harvey 1981;Schmidt et al., 1982).Members of genera Acremonium and Sarocladium were among a group of endophytes isolated from Brachiaria grasses in the above ground population. Both genera share similar morphological features but phylogenetic analysis has revealed genetic differences between them (Summerbell et al., 2011;Giraldo et al., 2015). Moreover, Sarocladium accommodate seven species (A. strictum, A. kiliense, A. zeae, A. basillisporum, A. bactrocepharum, A. ochraccum and A. glaucum) that were formerly placed under Acremonium (Summerbell et al., 2011). Some Acremonium/Sarocladium establishes endophytic association with plant and provides fitness advantages to the host. For example, Acremonium implicatum is an endophyte of Brachiaria spp. That is transmitted through seeds and provides protection against fungal pathogen Drechslera spp. the causal agent of leaf spot disease (Kelemu and Takayama, 1998;Dongyi and Kelemu, 2004). Similarly, Acremonium zeae has been considered as a protective endophyte of maize and displays antifungal activity against kernel rotting and mycotoxin producing fungi Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium verticillioides, and interferes with A. flavus infection and aflatoxin contamination of pre-harvest maize kernels (Wicklow et al., 2005). Our study demonstrated a substantial association of Acremonium spp. in the native Brachiaria populations. A. implicatum, a common endophyte of Brachiaria species in South America was not detected at all in Kenyan Brachiaria populations, and the only one A. implicatum isolated in this study was from the foliage tissue of second year crop of hybrid Mulato grown from the seeds imported from South America. Sarocladium spinificis that shows a close relationship to Acremonium species detected in this study was recently reported as endophyte of coastal grass Spinifex littoreus in Taiwan (Yeh and Kirschner, 2014). Endophytic fungi isolated from Brachiaria grasses were non-systemic, generalist grass endophytes as reported from several temperate and tropical grasses (Sanchez Marquez et al., 2012).Examples of beneficial endophytes isolated as single isolates were members of the genera Metarhizium, Lecanicillium Paecilomyces, Penicillium and Trichoderma that are useful in agricultural and industrial applications. Metarhizium anisopliae (M. flavoviride), Paecilomyces lilacinus, are wellknown entomopathogenic fungi that are environmentally friendly and used as biocontrol agents against insect pests and against other plant pathogens on the root rhizosphere of plants in integrated pest management strategies (Peveling and Demba, 1997;Kiewnick and Sikora, 2006;Anastasiadis et al., 2008). Trichoderma spp. have also been used as biological control agents together with other microbes in defense against plant disease causing pathogens using different mechanisms. For example, T. virens and T. harzianum work against pathogenic Pythium species and Rhizoctonia solani and also promote overall plant biomass growth and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses that affect general plant health (Howell, 2003). Penicillium spp. are ubiquitous fungi known, that are not only pathogenic but are also beneficial. They are not only mycotoxins producers, but also produce other secondary metabolites associated with antagonism against plant pathogens e. g. P. chrysogenum isolated from rice has been tested in dual cultures and shown to be antagonistic against other plant pathogens such as Rhizoctonia solani, Alternaria alternata, Phoma sorghina and Macrophomina phaseolina (Naik et al., 2009).In conclusion, Brachiaria fungal community was complex harbouring a wide range of fungi that potentially have varied relationships with the host. In an agricultural perspective, some are applicable as biological control agents, plant growth promoters, promote antagonism against plant pathogens as causal agents of diseases or enhancing plant resilience against drought and other stresses. Most endophytes detected in Brachiaria were generalist as observed in other C4 grasses with no Epichloë detected in this study. The rich diversity of endophytic fungi in the native Brachiaria grasses exhibited in this study is very important in improving their productivity and building resilience for sustainable forage availability in Kenya and Sub-Saharan Africa countries. Therefore, this being the very first study on fungal endophytes existing in these grasses in their native environment, this core collection of endophytes would be very important for identifying the most beneficial fungi for re-introduction into the grasses for their adaptation to abiotic and biotics stresses as we adopt them back to their native environments in Africa.Director of BecA-ILRI Hub for encouragement and support in this study. We are also thankful to Monday Ahonsi for input while planning of this study.Brachiaria grass is an important constituent of Savannah grassland ecosystem that supports millions of African herbivores for thousands of years (Kelemu et al., 2011). They consist of about 100 documented species and several of them are used as cultivated forage across the tropics. Brachiaria is the most extensively grown tropical forage in Latin America, Asia, South Pacific and Australia with an estimated acreage of 99 million hectares in Brazil alone (Jank et al., 2014).Recently, there has been considerable interest in Brachiaria grass in its native home of Africa, and several initiatives are on-going to promote Brachiaria as an additional forage option for sustaining the emerging livestock industry in the region; especially for dry season feeding (Maass et al., 2015). Brachiaria grasses has several desirable traits that include adaptation to marginal soils; water stresses and shade tolerance; high biomass production potential; ability to sequester carbon; increase nitrogen use efficiency through biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) and subsequently reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ground water pollution (Rao et al., 1996;Subbarao et al., 2009). The grass is highly palatable and nutritious forages thus increase livestock productivity. Moreover, Brachiaria is an important ecological agent with significant roles in soil reclamation and erosion control. Despite the plethora of desirable attributes and high annual biomass production potential of 30 t/ha, the on-farm productivity of Brachiaria in Africa is quite low.The global demand for livestock product is projected to increase by 70 percent in 2050 due to growing population; rising affluence and urbanization (www.fao.org/livestockenvironment/en). Forages are the main component of livestock feeds accounting for 60 to 80 percent of livestock production costs (Ademosun, 1976). The economic production of forages can be attained through minimizing the production costs and by closing the yield gaps. As for many cultivated crops there is substantial yield gap on forages since forage yields are highly responsive to expensive inputs such as water, fertilizers and other agro-chemicals (Lobell et al., 2013). There is need, therefore, for concerted multidisciplinary effort to increase the livestock productivity through the development of low input forage production systems that minimize the use of resources without compromising forage productivity.Endophytic and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are known to provide several fitness benefits to plant hosts. These benefits include nitrogen fixation (Bahulikar et al., 2014;James 2000), the production of auxins, cytokinins and gibberellins (García de Salamone et al., 2001;Gutierrez-Manero et al., 2001;Taghavi et al., 2009), suppression of the ethylene production by 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase activity (Taghavi et al., 2009;Zhang et al., 2011), alteration of sugar sensing mechanisms in plants (Taghavi et al., 2009), solubilization of mineral phosphorous to a form that is readily available to plants (Turan et al., 2012), and synthesis of siderophores (Rungin et al., 2012) and other low molecular mass compounds or enzymes that can modulate plant growth and development (Lamber and Joos 1989). Endophytic and PGPR also benefit host plants by preventing or suppressing plant pathogens by competing for niche and nutrients, by antibiosis, through the production of hydrolytic enzymes and through induced systemic resistance (Mendes et al., 2011). A model system involving plant bacterial association (poplar host and endophytic bacteria Enterobacter sp.) has been well recognized for variety of fitness enhancement on poplar and other plant species (Taghavi et al., 2010). Endophytic and PGPR seem to exist in most, if not all, higher plant species (Wu et al., 2012). The utilization of endophytes and PGPR bacteria is, therefore, a feasible strategy for enhancing the productivity of wide range of plant species but this is severely constrained due to limited understanding of these microbes in different hosts. The objective of the study was to enumerate cultivable bacterial endophytes and PGPR of important tropical forage Brachiaria spp. and to characterize them for functional roles in plants for potential applications in the commercial cultivation of Brachiaria grasses in sub Saharan Africa.Endophytic and plant-associated bacteria were isolated from leaves, roots and rhizoplane soils collected from thirty apparently healthy looking Brachiaria plants grown in wild at the farm of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi, Kenya. These plants are maintained in experimental plot at ILRI Campus after collecting samples for bacterial isolations.Bacterial strains were grown in 1/10 th strength 869 broth supplemented with 0.5 g per litre of Ltryptophan at 28 °C for 5 days at 150 rpm in dark. After growth the number of bacterial cells was estimated using a spectrophotometer at 600 nm. To detect and quantify IAA production, 1 volume of clarified culture supernatant added with two volumes of Salkowski reagent (Mayer, 1958) and incubated for 35 min at room temperature. Development of a pink color (indication of IAA production) was quantified by measuring absorbance at 535 nm.Bacterial siderophoregenesis was determined using Chrome-Azurol (CAS) media as described previously (Vellore, 2001). Briefly, bacterial strains were grown overnight at 28 °C on a shaker in two variants of Modified Fiss Minimal Media (5.03 g/L KH2PO4, 5.03 g/L L-asparagine, 5.0 g/L glucose, 40 mg/L MgSO4, 100 μg/L MnSO4, and 500 μg/L ZnCl2). Iron-restricted modified Fiss Minimal Medium and high iron Modified Fiss Minimal Medium were prepared by adding 139 μg/L FeSO4 (5 μM) and 5.56 mg/L FeSO4 (20 μM) to the final media respectively. Siderophore production was examined by loading 60 μl of clarified culture supernatant into wells made with a cork borer in the CAS media. Plates were incubated at 28 °C for 3-5 days. The development of yellow or orange halos around the inoculated wells is indicative of siderophore production.Bacterial ability to solubilize phosphate was determined by spotting 10 µl of fresh bacterial cells onto NBRIP media (Mehta and Nautiyal, 2001). Inoculated plates were incubated at 28°C for 2-3 days. Formation of clear halos around the colony is indicative of phosphate solubilization. The size of halo produced by each test strain was used as a measure of the strength of the phosphate solubilizing ability of each strain.Qualitative HCN detection was performed using Lorck's alkaline picrate assay (Lorck, 1948). Test strains were cultured in media supplemented with the amino acid glycine. HCN production was detected by placing Whatman No.1 paper discs soaked in alkaline picrate (0.5% picric acid in 2% sodium carbonate) solution a few millimeters above the surface of inoculated media in each well and incubation at 28 °C. Change in the color of filter paper from yellow to light brown, brown and reddish-brown was indicative of HCN production.Bacterial strains were tested for ACC deaminase production as described previously (Ali et al., 2014). Strains were cultured in Dworkin and Fosters ACC Minimal Salts supplemented with AAC as a sole source of nitrogen. Media without ACC and with a nitrogen source (2 g/L of (NH4)2SO4) were used as controls. The ability of a strain to grow in media with ACC was indicative of ACC deaminase production.Bacterial strains were tested for the ability to inhibit the growth of seven plant pathogenic fungal isolates: Aspergillus flavus isolate F06, A. flavus isolate F23, Fusarium equiseti isolate F05, Mangnaporthe grisea isolate MG01, Nigrospora oryzae isolate F25, N. sphaerica isolate F10 and Phoma herbarum isolates F20. Fungal inoculum was prepared by excising 25 mm 2 PDA block from a fresh fungal colony followed by grinding in 300 µl sterile water. A 100 µl of finely ground mycelial suspension was added to 100 ml PDA at 55°C, thoroughly mixed, poured onto 90 mm Petri-dish and allowed to set at room temperature. Thereafter, 10 µl of fresh bacterial cells of each bacterial test strain was spotted onto the plates and incubated at 28 °C for 7-10 days to allow the fungi and bacteria to grow together. Inhibition of fungal growth around the bacterial colonies is indicative of antifungal activity of test strain.Thirty of 84 bacterial strains with varied functional properties and water inoculated control were tested in a greenhouse for biomass production using a maize seedling system. Three maize seeds of variety H614 (KALRO/KSCO) were planted in pots filled with heat-sterilized virgin forest soil and each seedling inoculated with 2 ml of bacterial suspension (10 8 bacterial cells per ml) while control plants were inoculated with 2 ml of sterile water. Each treatment was done in two replications, and the experiment was repeated twice. Inoculated plants were maintained in a greenhouse (daily mean minimum temperature of 20.35°C, mean maximum temperature of 23.41°C and mean relative humidity of 51.32 to 66.9% and 12 hours day length) for three weeks. Plants were harvested, dried at 60°C for 72 hours and weighed for biomass. Roots and shoots biomass data was recorded and the effect of inoculation on maize seedling biomass determined by mean separation using standard errors of means.A total of 84 bacterial strains were successfully isolated from Brachiaria leaf, roots and rhizoplane soils. Bacterial strains from leaf, roots and rhizoplane soil constituted 32%, 31% and 37% of the total population, respectively. The 16S rDNA sequences were generated for all test strains and homology search in RDP and NCBI databases revealed three phyla, five classes, eight orders, twelve families and fifteen genera (Table 1). The sequences of 50 representative bacterial are available in NCBI Genbank ® Database with accession number KU725918 to KU725967.  The frequency of isolation and distribution of the sixteen identified bacterial genera are as presented in Figures 1 & 2. The three most frequently isolated genera were Pseudomonas, Pantoea, and Acinetobacter, representing 23%, 17% and 9% of the population, respectively. Pseudomonas and Pantoea were isolated from all the three sources while Acinetobacter was isolated from roots and rhizoplane soil only.Similarly, Bacillus, Microbacterium, Stenotrophomonas and Enterobacter had two different origins. Five genera (Arthrobacter, Burkholderia, Pectobacterium, Rhizobium, Variovorax and Xanthomonas) were isolated exclusively from roots samples whereas another three genera (Curtobacterium, Herbaspirillium and Shingomonas) were isolated exclusively from leaf samples (Figure 2).All 84 bacterial strains from leaf, roots and rhizoplane soils were tested for six biochemical characteristics: IAA production, siderophores production, phosphate solubilization, hydrogen cyanide production, ACC deaminase activity and antifungal activities (Figure 4). A total of 49 (58%) of the 84 bacterial strains were positive for IAA production (Figure . 4A). Majority of these positive strains were isolated from leaf (43%) and roots (40.8%). On the other hand the majority of the strains that tested negative for IAA production were from rhizoplane soils (65.7%). Fifty seven (51%) of the test strains were positive for siderophore production and these positive strains represented all three sources. The majority of the strains that tested positive for siderophoregenesis belonged to the genus Pseudomonas and was isolated from rhizoplane soil. Most of the strains that were negative for siderophoregenesis were from roots and leaf (Figure 4B). Twenty three (27%) of the test strains were able to grow in media supplemented with ACC as the sole carbon source confirming their ability to produce ACC deaminase (Figure 4C). The majority of these positive strains were Gram negative bacteria belonging to the genera Pseudomonas, Pantoea and Enterobacter. These strains tested positive for other plant growth-promoting properties.Forty seven (56%) of the 84 bacterial strains tested positive for the ability to solubilize phosphates (Figure 4D). This characteristic was evenly distributed among the bacterial strains isolated from the three different sources. Twenty two (26%) of the tests bacterial strains were positive for cyanogenesis with both the negative and positive strains distributed across the three sample sources (Figure 4E). The strains that tested strongly positive for cyanogenesis were mainly from the genus Pseudomonas, and to a lesser extent from the genus Microbacterium and Pantoea.Some bacterial strains were detected with antifungal activities against A. flavus isolate F006, A. flavus isolate F023, M. grisea isolate MG001, N. oryzae isolate F025 and N. sphaerica isolate F010. A total of 15, 12, 4, 2 and 1 strains showed antifungal activities to N. oryzae isolate F025, N. sphaerica isolate F010, A. flavus isolate F006, A. flavus isolate F023 and M. grisea isolate MG001, respectively. Some strains e. g. Pseudomonas spp. strain CSBB-072 and Pectobacterium carotovorum strain CSBB-046 showed antifungal activities against four and three pathogens, respectively (Figure . 4F-L). Majority (79%) of bacterial strains with antifungal activity were from rhizoplane soils and Brachiaria roots.Evaluations of the 84 bacterial strains isolated from Brachiaria grasses and rhizoplane soils for six plant growth promotions (PGP) properties showed that they possessed up to five properties beneficial for plant growth and development (Figure 5). Almost half (48.8%) of the strains had three or more PGP properties whereas only two strains were detected with no PGP activity.  The effect of inoculating 30 test strains on the total biomass of maize seedlings was evaluated in two separate experiments. In these two experiments eight test strains were found to consistently produce a positive increase of up to 39% in seedling biomass compared to the un-inoculated control seedlings (Figure 6). The bacterial communities of Brachiaria grasses were composed of many closely related strains, the majority (73%) of which belongs to the phylum Gammaproteobacteria; a result similar to that reported for endophytic bacteria from poplar and willow, rhizoplane bacteria from tree peony and rhizospheric bacteria of maize (García-Salamanca et al., 2006;Han et al., 2011;Taghavi et al., 2009). Gammaproteobacteria respond chemotactically to roots exudates and are very efficient in utilizing plant exudate products (García-Salamanca et al., 2012) therefore they are abundant in rhizoplane soils, roots and leaf samples. Members of the genera Pantoea, Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter constituted 23%, 17% and 9% of the microbial populations and were consistently isolated from rhizoplane soils, roots and leaves respectively. This is in line with the bacterial colonization of plants via roots as a form of continuum that starts from the rhizosphere to internal root tissues, to plant vascular systems and eventual colonization of above ground plant tissues (Kloepper et al., 1999).Analysis of the 16S rRNA sequences of 84 bacterial strains detected 50 OTUs belonging to 16 genera at variable frequencies that ranged from one to twenty three; an observation comparable to similar studies for poplar and willow (Taghavi et. al., 2009). The number of bacterial genera isolated from rhizoplane soil, roots and leaf of Brachiaria were 5, 12 and 5, respectively. Bacteria from roots were more diverse than those from leaf whereas rhizoplane soils had the least diversity at genus level. A low diversity in rhizoplane soil bacteria might have been attributed to the high affinity between selected bacterial species and roots exudates resulting in these bacteria out-competing the rest. Phylogenetic analysis of the strains revealed seven distinct clades; with all but one clade dominated by members of the phylum Proteobacteria. This is in agreement with the fact that Proteobacteria are morphologically, physiologically and ecologically extremely diverse accounting for over 45% of all cultured bacteria (Kersters et al., 2006).Endophytes and rhizobacteria are part of the natural microflora of healthy plants and may be considered to be important contributors to plant growth and biological control of pathogens and weeds (Hallmann et al., 1997). Fifty eight percent of the bacterial strains isolated in this study were able to produce the auxin IAA. Production of IAA has been reported for many bacteria and it is assumed that over 80% of the bacteria isolated from the rhizosphere are capable of synthesizing IAA (Khalid et al., 2004). Auxin plays a major role in the regulation of various plant physiological processes such as cell division and enlargement, cell differentiation and cellular response to physical factors like light and gravity (Meuwly and Pilet, 1991). The level of IAA in a plant has an effect on primary root length and formation of adventitious and lateral roots and this consequently influences water and nutrient uptake. A number of plant-associated bacteria have the ability to produce IAA and contribute to plant growth promotion by altering the plant auxin pool (Bharucha et al., 2013). More than half (51%) of the isolated bacterial strains in our study were positive for siderophore production. Siderophores are low molecular weight ironchelating agents secreted by bacteria in iron-limiting conditions to help them scavenge for iron from the environment (Neilands and Nakamura, 1991). The production of siderophores by plant-associated microorganisms stimulates plant growth by depriving the plant pathogens of iron which inhibits the growth of such pathogens (Costa and Loper, 1994). About 56% of test bacterial strains were able solubilize phosphorous; an important plant mineral nutrient that often occurs in abundance in soils but whose availability to plants is limited by the fact that it occurs mainly in the form of insoluble complexes that cannot be taken up by plants (Goldstein, 1986). Phosphate solubilizing microorganisms convert inorganic and organic phosphate complexes into bioavailable forms that can easily be taken up by plants therefore promote plant growth (Hilda and Fraga 1999). The use of such microbes can, therefore, be a sustainable approach for managing phosphorus deficiency in agricultural soils. Similarly, 26% test bacterial strains were able to produce hydrogen cyanide; an attribute that has been demonstrated as one of the mechanisms for biological control of weeds, nematodes and microbial pathogens (Kremer and Souissi, 2001). In bacteria, cyanogenesis has been reported mainly in the genus Pseudomonas (Ryall et al., 2009), a few Bacilli (Grover et al., 2009) and members of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Ryall et al., 2008).Twenty seven percent of the isolated bacterial strains were found to produce 1aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase. The hormone ethylene plays a role in various physiological processes in plants, including the breaking of seed dormancy, but sustained high levels in response to biotic and abiotic stress can inhibit root growth and induce senescence (Akhgar et al., 2014). Endophytic bacteria that can produce the enzyme ACC deaminase contribute towards the catabolism of the plant ethylene precursor, ACC, consequently decreasing plant ethylene level and enabling plants to better tolerate biotic and abiotic stresses (Glick et al., 1998(Glick et al., , 2007)). Microbial ability to produce ACC deaminase has been identified as one of the direct mechanisms of plant growth-promotion and has been linked to drought and salt tolerance in various plant species (Akhgar et al., 2014;Glick, 2005;Sgroy et al., 2009). Some bacterial strains from Brachiaria showed antifungal activity against five plant pathogenic fungi as has been demonstrated in several genera of bacteria (Kerr, 1999). Iron-deprivation through siderophores, cyanogenesis and antibiosis through the secretion of enzymes and volatile compounds have been describe as some of the possible mechanisms through which such bacteria effect antifungal activity (Cornelison et al., 2014;Frey-Klett et al., 2011;Minaeva et al., 2008).This study shows that the bacterial community associated with Brachiaria is quite diverse and include strains beneficial for plant growth promotion and suppression of plant pathogens. It is worth noting that an impressive majority (98%) of the isolated strains possess traits that are beneficial for the plant, with 49% of the bacterial strains testing positive for at least three traits beneficial to plants. Brachiaria are extensively cultivated tropical forages known for several desirable attributes such as drought tolerance; adaptation to low fertility soils; high nitrogen use efficiency, less input demand, high biomass production; carbon sequestration and resistance to several pests and diseases. It is fair to assume that some of the PGP attributes identified in the endophytic and rhizoplane bacteria of Brachiaria may have played a role, individually or in combination, in increasing the total biomass of test seedlings inoculated with some of the test strains. What makes Brachiaria so successful even under apparently harsh environmental and low input conditions has been a common cause of speculation among scientists and therefore our current findings on bacterial community composition, and the traits these microbes hold, will provide some evidence base on the role of these microbes for the adaptation and survival of the Brachiaria in such challenging environments.Soils in the semi-arid regions of Kenya are often low in organic matter content (< 1%) and deficient in plant-available nutrients, especially nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Any practice that increases the production of biomass carbon (C) via photosynthesis and slows down the return of C to the atmosphere increases C reserves in the soils through Carbon sequestration process. This would improve the soil quality and productivity (Smith et al., 2007) and make soils more resilient to climate change. One way to achieve this is to increase the amount of biomass C in soil where it is less susceptible to loss. This way the soil becomes a C 'sink' by absorbing atmospheric CO2 from circulation and locking it in organic C from in the soil. Brachiaria grasses are endaphytic and have a greater ability sequester and accumulate large amounts of SOC through their large and extensive roots biomass and survive in dry areas of low soil fertility (Clapperton et al., Fisher et al., 2007;Peters et al., 2012). This makes Brachiaria grasses a better option for livestock feed production and soil improvement.Soil organic matter is an important component of soil quality and productivity. However its measurement alone does not adequately reflect the short term changes in soil quality and nutrient status. Measurements of biologically active fractions of organic matter, such as microbial biomass C (MBC), N (MBN) and P (MBP) reflect changes in soil quality due to more recent (1-5yr) management and cultural practices (Hargreaves et al., 2003). These measurements are based on rapidly changing capacity of both C and N forms in the soils. Microbial biomass is part of the active pool of soil organic matter that plays focal roles in decomposition of organic matters, nutrient cycling and biophysical manipulation of soil structure. It is considered to be a labile reservoir of potentially plant-available nutrients, since it acts as a source and sink of plant nutrients (Brookes et al., 1984). Microbial processes are driven by the availability of decomposable organic C, which highlights the importance of sustaining and improving soil organic matter concentrations if large populations of microbes are to be active in the soil. Roots exudates are a major source of substrate for soil microorganisms. These compounds can be utilized by microorganisms immediately, increasing significantly the diversity, number and activity of microorganisms in the rhizosphere. It has been accounted that nearly 5 to 21% of all photosynthetically fixed C is transferred to the rhizosphere through roots exudates, which range from 20 to 50% of plant biomass (Jones et al., 2009).Organic amendments such as manure, plant residues and roots exudates are a major source of organic substrate in the soil. During the process of biomass turnover, the nutrients may be released slowly and taken up by the crop more efficiently (Brookes et al, 1984;Parham et al., 2003;Gichangi et al., 2010). These nutrients can be utilized by microorganisms immediately, increasing significantly the diversity, number and activity of microorganisms in the rhizosphere. This makes microbial biomass a fundamental component of nutrient cycling in agro-ecosystems and critical in determining soil quality (Belay et al., 2002). Soil microbial biomass is an important early indicator of long term changes in soil (Saffigna et al., 1989;Romaniuk et al., 2011;Lauer et al., 2011) and therefore can be used to determine the level of degradation or improvement of the soil following changes in management and cultural practices (Brookes 1995;Sparling, 1997). We tested the hypothesis that, cultivation of climate smart Brachiaria grasses improves soil quality through increased organic matter resulting from the large roots biomass. The objective of this study was therefore to quantify the amount of soil microbial biomass C, N and P as indicators of improved soil quality resulting from 2-year cultivation of Brachiaria grasses.The experiment was established in November during the short rains of 2013 at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) Katumani. The site is located (37 ˚28'0''E, 1 ˚58'0''S) 75 km southeast of Nairobi at an elevation of 1580 m above sea level. It receives mean annual rainfall of 717 mm in bimodal pattern with the long rains (LR) occurring from March to May and the short rains (SR) from October to December with peaks in April and November, respectively and a mean temperature of 19.6˚C. The dominant soils are chromic Luvisols, which are low in organic C and highly deficient in N and P and to some extent Zinc (NAAIAP, 2014).Soil samples were collected in November 2013 before establishing the experiment at depths of 0-15 cm, 15-30 cm, 30-60 cm, and 60-100 cm using a bucket auger for initial analysis of the soils at the testing site. Plant litter on the soil surface was removed before collecting the soil samples. A composite soil sample, consisting of 12 cores, was collected in a grid pattern from within the 25 × 10 m blocks. Samples from each block were air-dried, visible plant roots removed, and the samples gently crushed to pass through a 2 mm sieve. The fractions sample <2 mm were used for subsequent chemical and physical analyses. Total soil N, available P (Mehlick III), exchangeable K, Ca, and Mg were estimated following standard methods as described by Okalebo et al., (2002). Cations Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , and K + were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry and soil P was measured as described by Murphy and Riley (1962).Soil texture was determined by the hydrometer method. Soil pH was measured in water (soil: water ratio of 1: 2.5) using a pH meter and reference calomel electrode (Model pH 330 SET-1, 82362) after the suspensions were shaken for 30 minutes and allowed to stand for 1 hour. Organic carbon, was determined by the modified Walkley and Black procedure (Nelson and Sommers 1982. Cation exchange capacity (CEC) was based on the sum of exchangeable Ca, Mg, K, H and Al after extraction with ammonium acetate. Soil bulk density was determined according to Blake and Hartge (1986). Soils were vertically sampled using stainless steel rings (diameter 10 cm) at soil depths of: 0-15 cm, 15-30 cm, 30-60 cm, and 60-100 cm, resulting in undisturbed soil samples for bulk density determination. Soil samples were dried at 65ºC to a constant weight to allow soil bulk density calculation. All determinations were made in triplicate and expressed on a dry weight basis.Tables 1 and 2 below show the initial main soil characteristics of the experimental site. Soil pH was moderately acidic in all the depths (Table 1) and organic C content was low and decreased with depth. Similarly, N, P and Zn were low. Calcium, K and Fe levels in the soil were adequate (Table 1). Physical analysis of soil samples from the test site indicated that the soils were sandy clay loam in the 0 -30cm depth and clay in the lower depths (Table 2). Cation exchange capacity ranged from 20.2 to 27.8 me%, increasing with depth. This was expected as the clay content also increased with depth resulting to increased number of exchange sites (Table 2). Bulk density ranged from 1.32 to 1.45 g cm -3 and was greater than the ideal range of 1.1-1.3 g cm -3 for non-restricted plant root growth. Soil bulk density exceeding 1.46 g cm -3 for such soils would restrict root growth and could negatively interfere with soil aeration through reduced air-filled pore space (Landon, 1991). ] and a bare plot (as negative control). These treatments were evaluated in the plots with fertilizer (40 kg P ha -1 applied at sowing and 50 kg N top-dressed in each wet season) and without fertilizer application. The treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design in a split plot arrangement (fertilizer treatments as main plots and the grass treatments as sub plots) in three replications. The grasses were sown in November 2013 during the short rains. All the plots were kept free of weeds throughout the experimental period by hand weeding. The grasses were first harvested 16 weeks after establishment and later, on an 8-week interval harvestings during the wet seasons.Data for aboveground plant biomass was collected eight times on an 8 weeks interval after plants were well established. The establishment period was considered as 16 weeks after seedling emergence. Harvesting of plant shoots was conducted from 2 m x 2 m net plots at a cutting height of 5 cm above ground. Samples of fresh shoots biomass were recorded, and approximately 500g subsamples were dried at 65°C to constant weight in forced-air drier for determination of dry matter. Roots were sampled using the soil-core method (Bolinder, et al., 2002). In each plot, four soil cores were randomly taken with a 5 cm diameter stainless steel auger to a depth of 0-15 and 15-30 cm from the inter-row and intra-row positions and composited into one sample per plot for each depth. The sampling was carried out at least 1m apart from the edge of the plot to avoid edge effects. Sampling was conducted at 24 and 48 weeks of plants establishment. The roots from each soil layer were washed separately by hand with a 2.8 mm and a 2 mm soil sieve under running tap water. Root samples integrating both living and dead roots were then dried at 65°C to constant weight and roots dry weights were recorded.Soil samples for microbial biomass carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus analysis were collected in November 2015 twenty four months after the grasses had established. Four soil samples were carefully collected from a depth of 0-10 cm using an auger in each pasture plot and from the bare plot controls. In this study, only the top 10 cm soil was sampled which was assumed to contain the highest biological activity and most likely exhibit short-term changes in response to Brachiaria grasses cultivation. Soils from the four sampling positions of a plot were pooled to one sample and used in the subsequent analysis as described below.Microbial biomass C, N and P were determined on field moist soil (18-23% by weight) by the chloroform fumigation-extraction technique as described in Brookes et al. (1984Brookes et al. ( , 1985) ) and Vance et al. (1987). Briefly, 10 g dry weight equivalent of soil was fumigated with ethanolfree chloroform in a glass desiccator; and another 10g was incubated without fumigation at the same moisture content, time period and temperature for 24 h at 25°C. Both sets were extracted with 0.5 M K2SO4 (for C and N) or 0.5 M NaHCO3 (for P). Soil microbial biomass element content was calculated as the difference between the fumigated and un-fumigated samples and corrected for incomplete recovery using conversion factors of 0.45 for C (Wu et al., 1990), 0.45 for N (Jenkinson et al., 2004) and 0.40 for P (Hedley et al., 1982). All determinations were made in triplicate and expressed on a dry weight basis.The concentrations of the microbial biomass C, N and P were compared by 2-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) using GenStat statistical software (GenStat Release 4. 24DE, 2005). This was evaluated by running a full model (20 treatments, 19 df), which was further split into a fertilizer effect (1 df), cultivar effect (9 df), fertilizer*cultivar effect (9 df). Differences at p 0.05 were considered significant and means separation was done using Fischer's protected least significant difference (LSD). Regression analyses and Pearson correlation coefficient (r) were used to find models best describing the relationships between soil microbial biomass and other soil and plant properties.Although it is only a small part of soil organic C, the soil microbial biomass is regarded as one of the most sensitive indicators of ecosystem function. The effects of the different Brachiaria cultivars and fertilizer application on microbial biomass were significant (p≤0.05). Microbial biomass C was significantly higher (p < 0.01) in grass vegetated soils compared to bare plots (Table 3).The MBC ranged from 23.9 to 200.5 mg C kg -1 of soil and 12.9 to 107.9 mg C kg -1 of soil in the fertilized and non-fertilized treatments, respectively. The highest MBC in cultivated Brachiaria soils was recorded under Mulato II hybrid and lowest under MG4 (Table 3). The effects of the different treatments on MBC followed the order Mulato II hybrid > Basilisk > Marandu > Xaraes > Llanero > KK1 > Piatã > MG4 > KAT R3 > bare for plots that received N and P fertilizer. Microbial biomass C increased in the grass plots probably due to rhizo-deposition (Benizri et al., 2007). Rhizo-deposition may occur by roots exudation and root cell sloughing (Rasse et al., 2005). These compounds represent a source of labile C in soil, which is rapidly consumed by micro-organisms (Jones et al., 2009), thereby stimulating microbial biomass production (Benizri et al., 2007). Similarly, MBC had a higher range of values in fertilized plots. This small component of the soil organic matter has been shown to be more responsive to cultural treatments than is total soil organic matter (Jenkinson et al., 2004). There was a highly significant interaction effect (p < 0.01) of grass cultivars by fertilizer application on MBN (Table 4). Among the N and P fertilized treatments, the soils under cv.Marandu had the highest MBN (21.2 mg N kg -1 soil) whereas cv. Mulato II hybrid had the highest MBN (14.6 mg N kg -1 soil) in non-fertilized treatments (Table 4). However, the amounts of MBN of soils under cv. Marandu in the N and P treatments were statistically similar to those recorded from soils under cultivars Mulato II, Basilisk, KK1, Xaraes, Llanero, and Piatã (Table 4). The bare plot treatment had the least amount of microbial N (1.5 mg N kg -1 soil) and (1.1 mg N kg -1 soil) in the N and P fertilized and un-fertilized treatments respectively. This indicates that the cultivated grasses had greater contribution to the amounts of MBN recorded. The increases in MBN in the grasses plots due to N addition may be attributed to increased N availability to soil microorganisms. Gama Rodrigues et al. (2005) reported that only 40 to 60% fertilizer N is absorbed by plants, while 20-50% of the applied N is incorporated into the soil as organic N which contributes to the microbial biomass.Studies on the effects of fertilizer application on soil microbial biomass remain equivocal. For instance, Zhang et al. (2005) measured significant increase of soil microbial biomass after two year of N fertilization in deteriorated grassland in China. However, Sarathchandra et al. (2001) reported significant decrease of soil microbial biomass in a perennial pasture of New Zealand due N fertilization. Meanwhile, Johnson et al. (2005) found that no effect of N applications on soil microbial biomass in upland grassland in Scotland. The mechanisms behind the variations may depend on other soil features, such as soil moisture, soil organic grasses were comparable to the widely grown Napier grass (cv. KK1). During growth, Brachiaria grasses may also have encouraged higher microbial populations within their rhizosphere, which contributed to the increased MBP. Phosphate immobilization by microorganisms is an important sink, which contributes to microbial P pool. Addition of N and P fertilizers doubled the MBP in all the grass cultivars. The P concentration in the microbial biomass in this study falls within the range reported earlier (Brookes et al., 1984;Singh, 2007). It has been reported that incorporation of P into the soil microbial biomass is a mechanism that significantly increases the availability of P to plants and forms a significant pool of plant nutrients (Nziguheba et al., 1998). This pool play a key role in P dynamics in soils by immobilizing inorganic P which is later mineralized (Parham et al., 2003;Gichangi et al., 2009, Gichangi et al., 2010). For example, Nziguheba et al. (1998) reported increased soil MBP and decreased P sorption following incorporation of wild sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia) as green manure in an acid soil in western Kenya.A high microbial biomass may indicate greater accumulations of C, N and P in the organic pool, and could represent either a sink or a source of plant-available nutrients, depending on the soil management. The higher C, N and P in the soil microbial biomass under Brachiaria grasses in this study may be due to a higher capacity of nutrient immobilization by the microbes from the decomposing litter fall and roots residues in addition to the roots exudates released which serves as substrate for microbial growth in the soil. Roots exudates are a major source of substrate for soil microorganisms. These compounds can be utilized by microorganisms immediately, increasing significantly the diversity, number and activity of microorganisms in the rhizosphere. It has been accounted that nearly 5 to 21% of all photosynthetically fixed C is transferred to the rhizosphere through roots exudates, which range from 20 to 50% of plant biomass (Jones et al., 2009). Due to its highly dynamic character, the microbial biomass responds more rapidly to soil fertility than the physical/chemical properties, which change relatively slowly (Sparling, 1997) and this might explain measurable changes in microbial biomass in the N and P fertilized plots in this study. The amounts of roots in the plots with fertilizer were significantly higher than no fertilize plots (Figure 1). Increasing roots biomass influences soil organic matter: i) directly by increasing organic inputs to soil and ii) indirectly by influencing the location of roots and production of roots exudates that may stimulate mineralization (Jones et al., 2009). Roots exudates and other by-products are also more readily absorbed and protected by soil aggregates and where concentrated are more likely to persist in the particulate organic matter and humus fractions than shoots-derived soil organic C (Clapperton et al., 2003;Walker et al., 2003;Zhang et al., 2005). There were a number of significant correlations between microbial biomass and soil and plant properties (Figure 2; Table 6). Microbial biomass N and P showed a significant positive correlation with microbial biomass C (Figure 2). Multiple regression across all treatments showed that there were high coefficients of determination between MBC and MBN (r 2 = 0.83, p < 0.01, Figure 2a), MBC and MBP (r 2 = 0.85, p < 0.01, Figure 2b) as well between MBN and MBP (r 2 = 0.82, p < 0.01, Figure 2c). This results show evidence that soil C, N and P cycles are intimately related through the processes of mineralization and immobilization, suggesting a strong relationship that may exist between soil N and P transformations and soil C.Microbial biomass was significantly and positively correlated to soil organic carbon (r = 0.3139, p < 0.05); (r = 0.4596, p = 0.01) and (r = 0.2583, p = 0.05) for MBC, MBN and MBP, respectively and total N (r = 0.356, p < 0.05); (r = 0.5029, p = 0.01) and (r = 0.3521, p = 0.05) for MBC, MBN and MBP, respectively (Table 6). This indicates that microbial biomass is highly influenced by the concentration of soil nutrients. Positive relationship between microbial biomass C, N and P and soil organic C and total N in grassland has been reported elsewhere by Moore et al. (2000). Similarly, microbial biomass correlated, significantly and positively, to roots biomass measured at various stages of growth 24 and 48 weeks after plants had established (Table 6). However a stronger relationship was recorded for roots biomass measured 24 th week (Table 6). Roots are major C source in soil and can also stimulate SOM mineralization (Jones et al., 2009). The capacity to generate roots, in part explains why perennials and pastures are sometimes associated with increasing soil organic matter compared to annuals. In conclusion, soil microbial biomass C, N and P in this study varied in the different grass types and was higher in the N and P fertilizer treatments and were therefore useful parameters to elucidate the changes of organic matter in the different grass type's soils. The results showed a significant enrichment of the microbial biomass component of organic matter due to the cultivation of the grasses and which was further enhanced by applications of N and P fertilizer.  Microbial biomass is part of the active pool of soil organic matter which determines the part of labile organic matter that can easily be decomposed leading to nutrient mineralization. Soil microbial biomass comprises only 1 to 3% of the total organic carbon (C) in the soil but is a labile fraction of the soil organic matter (Jenkinson and Ladd, 1981). Changes in organic matter input or rate of decomposition are more readily determined from soil microbial biomass than the total organic matter (Powlson et al., 1987).The flow of C, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) through the microbial biomass is useful in assessing soil quality in farming systems (Sparling et al., 1991;Tangjang et al., 2010). Accumulation of soil microbial biomass (SMB) is affected by management systems employed in the soil. Human activities including tillage, conversion of agricultural land to forage grassland and fertilizer inputs can lead to alteration of biogeochemical cycles and nutrient enrichment or depletion especially N and P (Burger and Jackson, 2003). Assessment of soil microbial biomass gives an indication of management induced changes brought about by these activities.Generally, SMB is higher in grass systems than in open cultivated cropland because of the high turnover in pasture systems. However, while investigating the effects of different grass species in four separate soil types, Groffman et a.l (1996) found significant impact of soil type but small and infrequent differences in SMB and microbial activity due to grass species. Application of N and P fertilizers to grasslands can influence the root growth, shoots dry matter accumulations and therefore lead to increased microbial biomass especially in low organic matter sandy soils (Gichangi et al. 2016;Li et al. 2014). However, other authors have reported no differences in microbial C due to N and P fertilization (Li et al. 2010). Humid regions of Kenya are threatened by declining soil fertility and low soil organic matter due to continuous cropping and tillage. The introduction of high quality grass species with increased roots biomass may improve the microbial biomass and restore fertility of degraded lands. The study was conducted in the north western highlands to assess the effects of Brachiaria grasses on soil pH, available P and microbial biomass in a low fertility soil.The experiments were conducted at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), Kitale farm, located in Trans Nzoia County within the north western highlands of Kenya. The site (1° 0′ 6.6´´N and 34° 59´ 10´´E) lies within the Upper Midlands (UM4) agro-ecological zone at an elevation of 1890 m asl. The site has a cool and temperate climate with mean annual temperatures between 10 0 C and 27 0 C. The mean annual precipitation is 1100 mm, is unimodal and normally starts in April and continues through to October/November with peak in May and August. The soils in the study site are mainly humic Acrisols (FAO, 2006;Jones et al., 2013). Acrisols have low fertility, are mainly N and P deficient, with a weak to moderate sub-angular blocky structure, low organic matter (NAAIAP and KARI, 2014) and are well drained with high moisture storage capacity.Soil samples to assess initial soil physical and chemical properties were collected prior to commencement of the trials using a soil auger. Samples were taken using a w-pattern from four depths: 0 -15 cm, 15 -30 cm, 30 -60 cm, and 60 -100 cm thoroughly mixed and a sub sample taken from each depth for each block. After air drying, the samples were gently crushed to pass through a 2-mm sieve. Available P (Mehlick III), exchangeable K, Ca, Mg and total N were estimated after wet digestion with H2O2/H2SO4 as described by Okalebo et al. (2002). Total Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , and K + were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry and P measured as described by Murphy and Riley (1962). Soil pH was measured in water (soil: water ratio of 1: 2.5) using a pH meter with a glass and reference calomel electrode (Model pH 330 SET-1, 82362). Soils were vertically sampled using stainless steel rings (diameter 10 cm) for different depths; resulting in undisturbed soil samples for bulk density determination as described by Blake and Hartge (1986). The samples were dried to 65ºC to a constant weight to allow soil bulk density calculations. All determinations were made in triplicate and expressed on a dry weight basis.The bulk density ranged from 1.34 to 1.49 g/cm 3 in Kitale, which was within the normal range (<1.5 g/cm 3 ) that doesn't restrict root growth in soil as proposed by Hunt and Gilkes (1992). Soil pH was generally medium acidic, but slightly more acidic in the 30 -60 cm depth (Table 1). Deficiencies of N, available P and Zn were observed with nutrient levels decreasing with depth. Soil organic C ranged from 0.2-0.3% and these levels are generally considered low (Okalebo et al. 2002). Soil organic C is an indicator of soil quality, due to its contribution to microbial activity, soil structure and promotion of water storage and drainage. However, K, Ca, Mg and Mn were adequate. These treatments were arranged in a split plot and randomized in complete block design with either fertilizer application (40 kg P ha -1 and 50 kg N ha -1 per season) or no fertilizer in the main plot and the grasses as subplots and replicated four times. Phosphorus was applied at planting as Triple Super Phosphate (46% P205) while N was top dressed with Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN 26% N) each season. The bare plots were kept weed free throughout the experimental period by hand weeding. These treatments were tested in subplots of 4 m by 4 m. Seeds were drilled by hand in about 2 cm deep furrows at a rate of 5 kg ha -1 for Brachiaria and 10 kg ha -1 for Rhodes grass in a well prepared land. The inter-row spacing was 0.5 m. Splits of Napier grass was planted at 1 m x 0.5 m spacing. Minimum tillage was practiced throughout the growth period to minimize root damage. After establishment period (14 weeks after seedling emergence -WAE) the grasses were harvested at a cutting height of 5 cm above the ground in an effective area of 4 m 2 using sickles and removed from the plot to stimulate uniform growth. Subsequent harvests were made every eight weeks, to determine shoots biomass yields as this was recommended management practice for the grass (Kifuko et al., 2016, this proceedings).Roots biomass assessment was carried out after 24 months. Roots were sampled using the soilcore method (Bohm, 1979). Four soil cores were randomly taken using a stainless steel auger at 0 -15 cm and 15 -30 cm depths from the intra-and inter-row spacing in each plot. To prevent edge effects, the samples were taken at least 1 m from the edges. The samples from each depth were thoroughly mixed, weighed to determine the total bulk soil weight and a sub sample was taken for moisture correction. The roots contained in the samples were recovered under a tap of running water at low pressure using 2.8 cm and 2 cm mesh sieves (Bohm, 1979). Samples were dried in an air-forced oven at 65º C to constant weight and then weighed for determination of dry roots weight. The roots biomass was calculated as a factor of the bulk density for each depth.Soil samples were collected from 0 -10 cm in each plot at the intra-row and inter-row positions to target the rhizosphere soil under Brachiaria grasses two years after the grasses had established. The sub samples from each plot were thoroughly mixed, large plant material removed and samples packaged in sterile polythene bags and packaged in ice boxes for transportation to the laboratory. In the laboratory, the samples were stored at 4 o C until analysis of the microbial properties. The microbial biomass C (MBC) was determined by a fumigation extraction method according to Vance et al. (1987). The microbial biomass N (MBN) was determined using Brookes et al. (1985), while ammonium and nitrate N were determined as highlighted by Anderson and Ingram (1993). All determinations were conducted in triplicate and expressed on dry weight basis.Analysis of variance was undertaken to determine the effect of fertilizer N and P on microbial biomass, soil pH and available P using Statistix 10 package (Statistix, 2003). Means were separated using the Tukey's HD test. Where ANOVA was significant (P≤0.05), Pearson correlation was performed to assess relationships between MBN, MBC, shoots and roots biomass.The effect of Brachiaria grasses on MBC and MBN is shown in Table 2. No significant fertilizer NP differences (P > 0.05) were noted in either the MBC or MBN. The amount of MBC accumulated in this site was lower (79 -128 mg N kg -1 soil) than the ranges of 121 -200 mg N kg -1 soil reported elsewhere by Gichangi et al. (2016). Due to the low initial N and P in this site (Table 1), the nutrient rates applied were probably not sufficient to improve N availability. Organic C was also low and probably recalcitrant hence, with removal of shoots biomass, accumulation of C in the roots through roots exudates did not contribute to sufficient C for microbial activities. Soils without sufficient labile C may hinder microbial biomass as labile C provides a readily available energy source for microbial decomposition (Hoyle and Murphy, 2006). Nonetheless, Llanero, Mulato II, Marandu gave higher MBC and MBN while Basilisk and Rhodes grass had lower microbial biomass.NH4 -N and NO3 -N was significantly (P=0.034) influenced by the grass cultivars. The pools of NH4 + N and NO3 -N were higher in bare plot and Napier grass which also accumulated lower MBC and MBN. The high accumulation of NO3 -N in the bare plot is due to lack of plant uptake and increased nitrification. NH4 + N was the most dominant form of inorganic N in Llanero, Marandu and Piata. These cultivars also had lower NO3 -N, MBC and MBN an indication of either low nitrification rates or a high rate of NO3 -N uptake by plants. Nitrification is a biological process that converts NH4 -N to NO3 -N creating acidification in the process as noted in the bare, Mulato II, Napier and Rhodes grass plots (Table 2). There were no varietal differences in MBC, MBN since the nutrients applied were not sufficient to improve N availability in these low fertility soils. Piata and Llanero had high NH4-N:NO3-N ratio and may have lowered the nitrification processes. However, further studies are required to ascertain the role of the two grasses as potential biological nitrogen inhibitors.Soil aggregation is among the key short term indicators of soil quality associated with changes in land management. The aggregate stability of soils improve under certain crops, notably grasses and these improvements are frequently associated with increases in soil organic carbon (SOC) levels caused by plant residues (Lal et al., 2003;Marquez et al 2004;Denef et al., 2007). Low SOC, weak soil structural stability and degradation are common attributes of most semiarid soils of eastern Kenya (Gicheru et al., 2004). Agricultural practices that could improve SOC, coupled with increase in soil surface cover, would significantly increase soil aggregate stability and reduce the soil degradation. Soil aggregate stability, defined as the ability of the aggregates to remain intact when subject to a given stress, is an important soil property that affects the movement and storage of water, aeration, erosion, biological activity and plant growth (Spohn and Giani, 2011;Pohl et al., 2012). There exist complex interactions between SOC storage and aggregate stability. Soil organic carbon, can encapsulate within stable aggregates thereby offering protection against microbial processes and enzymatic reaction (Lal et al., 2003;Holeplass et al., 2004).The size of aggregates and aggregation state can be influenced by different agricultural activities that alter the content of SOC and the biological activity of the soil (Mills and Fey, 2003;Wick et al., 2009;Fonte et al., 2014). The article by Bronick and Lal (2005) provides overview of chemical compounds that are thought to be involved in the formation of soil aggregates, a list of factors that determine extent of this aggregation, and a description of the influence of soil structure on a wide range of soil processes. Over short periods, the stability of soil aggregates is modified under the influence of different cropping practices, probably being more related to changes in the organic constituents than to the actual total organic matter content (Reid and Goss, 1980;Milne and Haynes, 2004). Reid and Goss (1980) for example, demonstrated that after only 4 weeks growth the living roots of perennial rye grass (Lolium perenne) increased the aggregate stability of a sandy loam as measured by turbidimetric and wet sieving analyses which was most strongly associated with the larger aggregates. This effect was probably caused by organic substances released from the roots which either stabilized the aggregates directly or indirectly after microbial colonization (Leifeld et al., 2005;Franchini et al., 2007). However, over long periods of time, the stability of soil aggregates diminishes as the SOC content declines as a result of it being used as an energy source by the microorganisms in the soil (Mills and Fey, 2003). Loss of SOC will therefore reduce soil fertility, degrade soil structure and water holding capacity and ultimately, leads to land degradation. Grasses, present the greatest effect on the aggregation and aggregate stability due to their extensive roots system (Harris et al., 1996). Brachiaria grasses are endaphytic and have a greater ability sequester and accumulate large amounts of SOC through their large and extensive roots biomass and survive in dry areas of low soil fertility (Fisher et al., 2007;Peters et al., 2012). This makes Brachiaria grasses a better option for livestock feed production and soil improvement.The resistance of soil aggregates to breakdown from physical forces is a measure of coherence or strength of cementation between or within soil aggregates. Aggregate size is important in determining the dimensions of pore space in cultivated soils. The size of the pores in turn affects the movement and distribution of water and aeration that are major factors affecting plant growth. Soil organic carbon increases aggregate water repellence therefore minimising their disruption and breakdown when wetted through mechanical manipulation such as tillage (Chenu et al., 2000). Soil aggregation can be determined by mean weight diameter (MWD), geometric mean weight diameter (GMD) and aggregate stability (AS, %) index, which are obtained by fractioning the soil material into aggregate classes by wet sieving (Kemper and Rosenau, 1986).Disruption of soil structure is common in semi-arid zones of eastern Kenya, due to the inherent soil type that has weak structure, overgrazing, compaction, and poor land management, which have negative consequences on SOC storage and degradation of the soil structure. There is therefore a need to examine the potential effects of introduced Brachiaria grasses on aggregation and stability of aggregates in these fragile soils. The objective of this study was therefore, to investigate the short-term (2-years) changes in aggregate size distribution and the stability of soil aggregates following cultivation of Brachiaria grasses. We examined linkages between SOC, particulate organic matter (POM), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and roots biomass with aggregation by comparing Brachiaria cultivated soils verses commonly grown Napier and Rhodes fodders and not cultivated weed free soils. We tested the hypothesis that, cultivation of Brachiaria grasses improves soil aggregation through increased SOC and aggregate associated C resulting from large roots biomass.The experiment was conducted at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), Katumani farm between November 2013 and November 2015. The site is located (37 ˚28'0''E, 1 ˚58'0''S) 75 km south-east of Nairobi at an elevation of 1580 m above sea level. It receives mean annual rainfall of 717 mm in bimodal pattern with the long rains (LR) occurring from March to May and the short rains (SR) from October to December with peaks in April and November, respectively. The mean temperature is 19.6˚C. The dominant soils are chromic luvisols, which are low in organic C, highly deficient in N and P and to some extent Zinc (NAAIAP, 2014) and generally have poor structure.Composite soil samples from 12 sampling positions within a plot were collected in November 2013 before establishing the experiment at depths of 0-15 cm, 15-30 cm, 30-60 cm, and 60-100 cm using a bucket auger for initial characterization of the soils. Plant litter on the soil surface was removed before collecting the soil samples. Samples were air-dried, visible roots removed, and the samples gently crushed to pass through a 2-mm sieve. The sample was used for subsequent chemical and physical analyses. Total soil N, available P (Mehlick III), exchangeable K, Ca, and Mg were estimated following standard methods as described by Okalebo et al. (2002). Cations Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , and K + were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry and soil P was measured as described by Murphy and Riley (1962).Soil texture was determined by the hydrometer method. Soil pH was measured in water (soil: water ratio of 1: 2.5 w/w) using a pH meter and reference calomel electrode (Model pH 330 SET-1, 82362) after the suspensions were shaken for 30 minutes and allowed to stand for 1 hour. Organic carbon was determined by the modified Walkley and Black procedure (Nelson and Sommers 1982). Cation exchange capacity (CEC) was based on the sum of exchangeable Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , K + , H + and Al 3+ after extraction with ammonium acetate. Soil bulk density was determined according to Blake and Hartge (1986). Soils were vertically sampled using stainless steel rings with 10 cm diameter at depths of 0-15 cm, 15-30 cm, 30-60 cm, and 60-100 cm, resulting in undisturbed soil samples for bulk density determination. Soil samples were dried at 65º C to a constant weight. All determinations were made in triplicate and expressed on a dry weight basis.Soil characteristics of the experimental site are shown in Tables 1 and 2. Soil pH was moderately acidic in all the depths (Table 1) and soil organic C content was low and decreased with increasing depth. Similarly N, P and Zn were low. Physical analysis of soil samples from the test site indicated that the soils were sandy clay loam in the 0-30 cm depth and clay in the lower depths (Table 2). Cation exchange capacity ranged from 20.2 to 27.8 me%, and increased with depth. This is expected as the clay content also increased with depth resulting to increased number of exchange sites (Table 2). Bulk density ranged from 1.32 to 1.45 g cm -3 and was greater than the ideal range of 1.1-1.3 g cm -3 for non-restricted roots growth. Soil bulk density exceeding 1.46 g cm -3 for such soils would restrict root growth and negatively interfere with soil aeration through reduced air-filled pore space (Landon, 1991).  ] and a bare plot (as negative control). These treatments were evaluated in the plots with fertilizer (40 kg P ha -1 applied at sowing and 50 kg N top-dressed in each wet season) and without fertilizer application. The treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design in a split plot arrangement (fertilizer treatments as main plots and the grass treatments as sub plots) in three replications. The grasses were sown in November 2013 during the short rains. All the plots including the bare plots were kept weed free throughout the experimental period by hand weeding. The grasses were first harvested 16 weeks after establishment and later, harvestings were done eight times on an 8 weeks interval during the 5 wet seasons.Roots were sampled using the soil-core method (Bolinder, et al., 2002). In each plot, four soil cores were randomly taken to a depth of 0-15 and 15-30 cm, two each from the inter-row and intra-row spacing and composited into one sample per plot for each depth. The sampling was carried out using a 5 cm diameter stainless steel auger at least 1m apart from the edge of the plot to avoid edge effects. Sampling was conducted at 24 and 48 weeks after establishment, high roots accumulation was expected at these sampling periods. The roots from each soil layer were washed separately by hand with a 2.8 mm and a 2 mm soil sieve under running tap water. Root samples integrating both living and dead roots were then dried at 65°C to constant weight and roots dry weights were recorded.Particulate organic matter was separated from water-stable aggregate fractions by floatation and decanting after mechanical dispersion of the soil by agitation in water with glass beads. The collected organic size fraction was oven dried at 65 o C for 24 h and their weight determined. The soil POM was expressed in g kg -1 after adjusting for soil moisture using the weight loss of subsamples oven dried at 105 o C to a constant weight.Microbial biomass C was determined on field moist soil (18-23% by weight) by the chloroform fumigation-extraction technique as described in Vance et al. (1987) on soils sampled in November 2015 as described above. Briefly, 10 g dry weight equivalent of soil was fumigated with ethanol-free chloroform in a glass desiccator; and another 10 g was incubated without fumigation at the same moisture content, time period and temperature for 24 h at 25°C. Both sets were extracted with 0.5 M K2SO4 for microbial biomass C determination. Soil microbial biomass element content was calculated as the difference between the fumigated and unfumigated samples and corrected for incomplete recovery using conversion factors of 0.45 for C (Vance et al., 1987). All determinations were made in triplicate and expressed on a dry weight basis.Treatment effects on soil aggregate stability and POM were tested using an analysis of variance (ANOVA) as a split-plot with fertilizer NP as the main factor and grass type as the sub-plot factor using GENSTAT statistical software (GENSTAT Release 4. 24DE, 2005). This was evaluated by running a full model (20 treatments, 19 df) which was further split into a fertilizer effect (1 df), cultivar effect (9 df), fertilizer*cultivar effect (9 df). Differences at p 0.05 were considered significant and means separation was done using Fischer's protected Least Significant Difference test (LSD). Regression analyses and Pearson correlation coefficient (r) were used to find models best describing the relationships between soil aggregate stability and other soil and plant properties.The growth of perennial grasses enhance aggregate formation due to the production of large quantities of polysaccharide and phenolic binding agents by the large microbial biomass in the pasture rhizosphere (Milne and Haynes, 2004). Additionally, the fine grass roots and associated fungal hyphae physically enmesh fine soil particles into aggregates (Milne and Haynes, 2004).The results of aggregate size distribution and stability determinations are presented in Table 3.The effects of grass types on the proportion of aggregate size fractions 250-2000, 53-250 and <53μm were significantly (p<0.01) different. The small macro-aggregates (250-2000 μm) comprised the largest proportion, which accounted for 34.1 -64.2% of the total soil dry weight, and the fraction of micro-aggregates (53-250 μm) was the second largest, being 28.5-48.2% of whole soil dry weight. The large macro-aggregates (>2000 μm) and silt + clay (<53μm) fractions were the least components. The silt + clay fractions accounted for only 8.9-17.6% of whole soil dry weight (Table 3). In contrast, there were no significant differences (p≥0.05) in the distributions of water stable aggregates with aggregates sizes >2000 μm between the grass types intermediate in the decay continuum between fresh litter and humified organic matter has high sensitivity to management than total soil organic carbon (Grandy and Robertson, 2006;Todd et al., 2015). The POM fraction hosts a large concentration of microorganisms because it provides a substrate for their activities (Zhang et al., 2014). The POM and MBC are therefore important in maintaining soil structure in that the microorganisms associated with them in the decomposition process exude mucilaginous carbohydrate material which acts as a glue and helps cement soil aggregates together. For example, MBC has been shown to be positively correlated with aggregate stability, indicating the important role of MBC in aggregation (Milne and Haynes, 2004). The analysis of light organic fractions separated from wet sieved aggregates showed that POM differed between the grass types (Table 3). The POM concentration in 0-10 cm depth ranged from the minimum of 0.16 g kg -1 in the bare soil plots to the maximum of 0.93 g kg -1 in soil under B. hybrid cv. Mulato II (Table 3). The gains in POM within macro-aggregates shown here concur with the results of others that suggest macro-aggregates may be good predictors of potential C responses to changes in agro-ecosystems management (Grandy and Robertson, 2006;Todd et al., 2015). This also supports the findings of Six et al. (2002) who reported that soil aggregation was enhanced as soil organic matter increased, due to increased production of organic matter derived binding agents resulting from the activity of microbes on deposited residues in soils. While we found that total SOC did not vary among Brachiaria grasses over the short duration of the study (Table 3), changes in below ground C cycling were apparent through aggregates formation. Aggregation increased over the two years of this study in all grass types compared to the bare control treatment, with B. hybrid cv. Mulato II and B. brizantha cv. Marandu showing the largest proportion of small macro-aggregates and mean weight diameter (Table 3).The effect of grass types on roots biomass was significantly different with higher roots biomass recorded in treatments with cvs. Xaraes, Marandu, Piatã and cv. Basilisk (Figure 1). The amounts of roots recorded in the fertilized plots in this study were also significantly higher than where fertilizers N and P were not added for cv. Llanero, cvs. Piatã, Xaraes and B. hybrid cv.Mulato II) and Pennisetum purpureum cv. Kakamega 1 (Figure 1). Generally, the composition of POM consists mainly of roots fragments (Cambardella and Elliot, 1992) and therefore this affirms that significant differences in the levels of POM observed in this study were due to differences in the amounts of roots biomass among grass types. Reid and Goss (1980) for example demonstrated that after only 4 weeks growth the living roots of perennial rye grass (Lolium perenne) increased the aggregate stability of a sandy loam soil. Plant roots can increase aggregation by enmeshing small particles into stable macro-aggregates; by supplying organic substrates such as sloughed cells and mucilage and by influencing soil moisture content (Grandy and Robertson, 2006). According to Broersma et al. (1997), crops affect soil structure differently because of diverse rooting habits, type of organic matter and the rhizosphere processes. Increasing roots biomass influences soil organic matter: i) directly by increasing organic inputs to soil and ii) indirectly by influencing the production of root exudates that may stimulate mineralization (Jones et al., 2009). Roots exudates and other by-products are also more readily absorbed and protected by soil aggregates and where concentrated are more likely to persist in the POM and humus fractions than shoots-derived SOC (Clapperton et al., 2003;Walker et al., 2003;Hurisso, et al., 2013;Zhang et al., 2014). Depending on the roots turnover rates the amount of C stored in the soil can be determined from the roots biomass, plant residue and SOC. Commonly, roots mass and plant residue in the soil form between 3,400 (annual crop) and 17,000 (perennial grasses) kg ha -1 year -1 of the soil biomass (Harwood et al., 1998).Figure 1 Effects of cultivar and fertilizer N and P on roots biomass (0-15 cm depth) 1 year after the grasses were established Particulate organic matter and MBC all act as important binding agents for aggregation (Six et al., 2004;Bronick and Lal, 2005). Previous studies have reported that soil aggregate stability was strongly correlated with POM and MBC in different soils (Six et al., 2002). Regression of the proportional weights of the 250-2000 μm aggregates fraction and MWD with POM showed that POM explained 79.4% and 81.7% of the variations of the aggregates fraction and MWD, respectively (Figure 2). Similar results were also reported by Ashagrie et al. (2007) and Spohn and Giani (2011), who suggested that POM contribute to soil aggregation as it acts as nucleation sites for the formation of macro-aggregates . The proportional weights of the 250-2000 μm aggregates fraction and MWD in this study was found to be positively but weakly correlated with MBC (Figure 3) which however indicated that soil aggregation and stability increased with increasing levels of MBC in the bulk soil. Overall, POM made the greatest direct contributions to aggregate stability (Figure 2), suggesting that greater POM in Brachiaria cultivated soils enhanced aggregate stability and by extension improved soil structure was comparable to soils under Pennisetum purpureum cv. KK1 a commonly cultivated fodder in the region. Gartzia-Bengoetxea et al. (2009) also found a strong relationship between MWD and POM. Other previous studies using other sources of SOC have reported higher aggregate MWD with increased organic C in soils (Gulde et al., 2008;Min et al., 2003;Whalen et al., 2003). For example, Wortmann and Shapiro (2008) observed higher macroaggregates formation with composted manure application than unamended control. Similarly, Min et al. (2003) observed that livestock manure added at 32.7 Mg C ha −1 resulted in 30% higher aggregate stability than an unamended control.Small macro-aggregates fraction were found to be positively correlated with POM (r=0.9104, p=0.001), MBC (r=0.5474,p=0.01),and SOC (r=0.3654,p=0.05) and roots biomass (r=0.4977, p=0.01) but other fractions (>2000, 53-250 and <53 μm) were negatively correlated with the binding agents (Table 4). This agrees with other studies that have reported strong correlation of soil aggregate stability with POM in different soils (Six et al., 2002;Franchini et al., 2007) and due to the sensitivity of this parameter, POM has been used in previous studies as an indicator of changes caused by soil and crop management (Leifeld, et al., 2005;Franchini, et al., 2007). Recent work elsewhere has also shown strong positive links between roots biomass and aggregation suggesting that changes in roots biomass alters the structure of soil food webs, changing below ground C cycling and the mean residence time of different SOC pools (Reid et al., 2012). It is generally understood that formation of larger aggregates is enhanced by fine roots and fungal hyphae, while micro-aggregates are stabilized by long-chained organic compounds (e.g., polysaccharides) and fungal hyphae. In our study, correlations of roots biomass with MWD and the 250-2000 μm size fraction were significant and positive (Table 4) which supports the hypothesis that roots act as temporary binding agents which aid in stabilizing larger aggregates (Tisdall and Oades 1982). Larger size fractions (>2000 μm), micro-aggregates (53-250 μm) and the silt+ clay (<53 μm) fractions were negatively correlated with roots biomass. According to hierarchical theory of soil aggregation, binding of micro-aggregates into macro-aggregates occurs through the entanglement by roots and fungal hyphae, particularly vascular arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) hyphae (Tisdall and Oades 1982;Bearden, 2001). The production of mucigel, rhizo-deposition, increases of poly-cations in the rhizosphere, and soil water extraction by plant roots have been implicated in the formation of soil aggregates (Perfect et al., 1990). Roots and hyphal growth stimulate microbial activity and simultaneously promote the formation of macro-aggregates (Denef, et al., 2007). Aggregates up to <1000 μm are predominantly assembled by fungal hyphae, mechanically through entanglement of soil particles and chemically with glue-like metabolites (Bearden 2001). Pohl et al. (2009) found a positive and significant correlation between roots length density and soil aggregate stability. Similarly, Reid et al. (2012) have reported strong positive links between roots biomass and the abundance of nematodes and several taxa of mesofauna, suggesting that changes in roots biomass alters the structure of soil food webs, changing belowground C cycling and the mean residence time of different SOC pools.The direct influence of roots as the primary C source to soil and particularly to POM is reflected in the significance influence (50.3% relative importance) of roots biomass to changes in POM (Table 4). Likewise, roots biomass was positively correlated to changes in both MBC (68.3% relative importance) and small micro-aggregates (49.8% relative importance). The greater below ground roots biomass of the Brachiaria grasses likely increased microbial activity, stabilizing aggregates through increases in microbially-derived soil binding agents leading to increases in physically protected POM (O'Brien and Jastrow, 2013;Zhang et al., 2013;Zhang et al., 2014). In other studies on soil aggregate stability in agricultural systems, Milne and Haynes (2004), Pohl et al. (2012), Hurisso et al. (2013 andO'Brien andJastrow (2013) found highest percentages of large aggregates in systems with permanent pasture. The authors showed that the activity of the grass roots system, coupled with the absence of soil disturbance, effectively contribute to the formation of stable macro-aggregates. The authors also reported the importance of relations between the MWD and the organic C pools, confirming the statement of Christensen (2001) that, aside from the interactions between minerals, the interaction of MWD with SOC strongly affects the size of water stable aggregates. Soils with higher water stable aggregates are likely to have greater resistance to soil degradation and erosion.Aggregate stability in terms of MWD differed among the Brachiaria grasses and was highest in soils under Mulato II hybrid and lowest under cv. MG4. This was attributed to the presence of higher POM and MBC in Mulato II hybrid cultivated soils. While we found that SOC did not vary among Brachiaria grasses over the short duration of the study, changes in below ground C cycling were apparent through effect on aggregate formation and higher POM and MBC in Brachiaria cultivated soils. By significantly improving soil aggregation and associated C content, the potential of Brachiaria grasses for enhancing C storage was noted. A large part of the world's grasslands is under pressure to produce more livestock by grazing more intensively, particularly in Africa's rangelands, which are vulnerable to climate change and are expected to supply most of the beef and milk requirements in Africa (Reid et al., 2004). Previous research has documented that improved pasture management can lead to greater forage production, more efficient use of land resources and rehabilitation of degraded lands (Oldeman, 1994). Implementing grassland management practices that increase carbon uptake by increasing productivity or reducing carbon losses can lead to net accumulation of carbon in grassland soils sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide (Lal, 2009).Soil organic matter (SOM) a key regulator of ecosystem processes plays an important role in soil fertility and is critical factor for the reduction of soil erosion through aggregate stabilization (Gichangi, et al., 2016). In addition, the preservation of SOM in soil mitigates greenhouse gas emissions (CO2) into the atmosphere (Cole et al., 1996;Pan et al., 2006). Atmospheric carbon can be sequestered in long-lived carbon pools of plant biomass both above and below ground or recalcitrant organic carbon in soils. Apart from offsetting CO2 emissions and global warming, sequestration of carbon in soils also helps to improve soil quality by improving many physical, chemical and biological properties of soils such as infiltration rate, aeration, bulk density, nutrient availability, cation exchange capacity, buffer capacity, etc. Practices that sequester carbon in grasslands also tend to enhance resilience, and are thus likely to enhance longer-term adaptation to changing climates more especially in the semi-arid environments where soils are inherently low in organic carbon content. Therefore, practices that sequester carbon should be promoted to provide near-term dividends in greater forage production for enhanced producer income and better environmental protection.Perennial grasses hold promise for increasing belowground C storage, sequestering C in extensive roots structures (Norby and Jackson, 2000;Fornara and Tilman 2008;Dohleman et al., 2012) and accumulating SOC at rates averaging 40-100 g C m -2 y -1 (Chevallier et al., 2000;Anderson-Teixeira et al., 2009). Indeed, some pastures have higher soil C stocks than forests (Cole et al., 1996;Neill et al., 1996). Scharpenseel and Becker-Heidmann (1997) for example reported that the mean residence time of C derived from pasture was longer than for C derived from forest in an Australian vertisols. Roots are the major C source in soil (Matamala 2008;Frank et al., 2004 Fornara andTilman 2008), and can also stimulate SOM mineralization (Ladd et al., 1994). The C sequestration rates vary widely for tropical zones (0.03 to 1.7 Mg ha -1 yr -1 ) and could be increased knowing the potential of biomass production of those agroecozones (Bayer et al., 2006;Corbeels et al., 2006;Cerri et al., 2007).Brachiaria grasses are endaphytic and have a great ability sequester and accumulate large amounts of SOC through their large and extensive shoots and roots biomass and survive in dry areas of low soil fertility (Clapperton et al., Fisher et al., 2007;Peters et al., 2012). This makes Brachiaria grasses a better option for livestock feed production and soil improvement. The grass is widely planted in the tropics of South America to sustain livestock production (Miles et al., 2004). About 55% of the total area of pastures is composed by grasses of the genus Brachiaria.Brazil for example, has around 172 million hectares of grasslands that support a cattle herd of approximately 170 million heads. The objective of this study was therefore to quantify the amounts of plant shoots and roots biomass resulting from 2 years cultivation of Brachiaria grasses in the semi-arid region of Kenya. We tested the hypothesis that Brachiaria grasses have higher shoots biomass and allocate more C to roots resulting in greater belowground biomass particularly when N and P fertilizers are applied compared to commonly cultivate local grasses.The Soil samples were collected in November 2013 before establishing the experiment at depths of 0-15 cm, 15-30 cm, 30-60 cm, and 60-100 cm using an auger for analysis at the testing sites. Plant litter on the soil surface was removed before collecting the soil samples. A composite soil sample, consisting of 12 cores, was collected in a grid pattern from within the 25 × 10 m blocks. Samples from each block were air-dried, visible plant roots removed, and the samples gently crushed to pass through a 2-mm sieve. The fractions sample <2 mm were used for subsequent chemical and physical analyses. Total soil N, available P (Mehlick III), exchangeable K, Ca, and Mg were estimated following standard methods as described by Okalebo et al. (2002). Cations Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , and K + were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry and soil P was measured as described by Murphy and Riley (1962).Soil texture was determined by the hydrometer method. Soil pH was measured in water (soil: water ratio of 1: 2.5) using a pH meter and reference calomel electrode (Model pH 330 SET-1, 82362) after the suspensions were shaken for 30 minutes and allowed to stand for 1 hour. Organic carbon was determined by the modified Walkley and Black procedure (Nelson and Sommers 1982). Cation exchange capacity (CEC) was based on the sum of exchangeable Ca, Mg, K, H + Al after extraction with ammonium acetate. Soil bulk density was determined according to Blake and Hartge (1986). Soils were vertically sampled using stainless steel rings (diameter 10 cm) at soil depths of: 0-15 cm, 15-30 cm, 30-60 cm, and 60-100 cm, resulting in undisturbed soil samples for bulk density determination. Soil samples were dried at 65ºC to a constant weight to allow soil bulk density calculation. All determinations were made in triplicate and expressed on a dry weight basis.The soil characteristics are shown in Table 1. Mean surface (0-15cm) soil pH was moderately acidic and was 5.8 and 5.3 in Katumani and Ithookwe, respectively. The soil pH in Ithookwe was slightly below the range (pH 5.5-7.0) for good nutrient availability without toxicity problems (Landon, 1984). Organic carbon content was low in both sites and varied from 0.49 -1.16% with depth for the Katumani and 0.52 -0.83% for the Ithookwe (Table 1). Similarly nitrogen, phosphorus and zinc were low in both sites. Potassium levels were adequate at Katumani site but were generally low in soil samples collected from Ithookwe. According to Foster (1971), critical values for soil pH, organic matter, total N, P and K are 5.5, 3.0%, 0.18%, 5 mg kg -1 and 13.3 cmolkg -1 respectively. Calcium and iron levels were adequate in both sites (Table 1).Results of the physical soil analysis of samples collected from the test sites at 0-15 cm indicated that the soils were sandy clay loam in Ithookwe and sandy clay in Katumani (Table 2). Cation exchange capacity ranged from 16.1 to 18.6me% and 20.2 to 27.8me% in Ithookwe and Katumani, respectively and tended to increase with depth. This would be expected as the clay content also increased with depth resulting to increased number of exchange sites. Bulk density ranged from 1.32 to 1.49 g/cm 3 and for both sites was greater than the ideal range of 1.1 -1.3 g cm -3 for non-restricted plant roots growth (Landon, 1991). According to Landon (1991), soil bulk density exceeding 1.3 g cm -3 for clay soils could negatively interfere with soil aeration through reduced air-filled pore space. Silt and clay comprised over 50 % of the soil in both sites (Table 2).  during the short rains. All the plots were kept weed free throughout the experimental period by hand weeding. The grasses were first harvested 16 weeks after establishment and later, harvesting was done on an 8 weeks interval during the wet seasons.Data for shoots biomass was collected eight times on an 8 weeks interval after plants were well established. The establishment period was considered as 16 weeks after seedling emergence.Harvesting of plant shoots was carried out from 2 m x 2 m net plots at a cutting height of 5 cm above ground. Samples of fresh shoots biomass were recorded, and approximately 500g subsamples were dried at 65°C to constant weight in forced-air drier for determination of dry matter. Roots were sampled using the soil-core method (Bohm, 1979). In each plot, four soil cores were randomly taken with a 6.5 cm diameter stainless steel auger to a depth of 0-15 and 15-30 cm from the inter-row and intra-row positions and composited into one sample per plot for each depth. The sampling was carried out at least 1m apart from the edge of the plot to avoid edge effects. Sampling was conducted at 24 and 48 weeks of plants establishment. The roots from each soil layer were washed separately by hand with a 2.8 mm and a 2 mm soil sieve under running tap water. Root samples integrating both living and dead roots were then dried at 65°C to constant weight and roots dry weights were recorded. Total N and P in the plant samples were measured after digestion in a 1.2:1 H2SO4: H2O2 mixture at 360 o C after which total N and P were measured colorimetrically (Anderson and Ingram, 1993).Microbial biomass C was determined on field moist soil (18-23% by weight) taken from a depth 10 cm in the rhizosphere by the chloroform fumigation-extraction technique as described in Brookes et al. (1984Brookes et al. ( , 1985) ) and Gichangi et al. (2016). Briefly, 10 g dry weight equivalent of soil was fumigated with ethanol-free chloroform in a glass desiccator; and another 10g was incubated without fumigation at the same moisture content, time period and temperature for 24 h at 25°C. Both sets were extracted with 0.5 M K2SO4 and C in the extracts determined using the standard method as described by Okalebo et al. (2002). The Soil microbial biomass carbon was then calculated as the difference between the fumigated and un-fumigated samples and corrected for incomplete recovery using a conversion factor of 0.45 for C (Wu et al., 1990). All determinations were made in triplicate and expressed on a dry weight basis.Treatment effects on shoots and roots biomass were tested using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) as a split-plot with fertilizers N and P as the main factor and grass type as the subplot factor using GENSTAT statistical software (GENSTAT Release 4.24DE, 2005). Differences at p 0.05 were considered significant and means separation was done using Fischer's protected test (LSD). Regression analyses and Pearson correlation coefficient (r) were used to find models best describing the relationships between shoots and roots biomass with other soil and plant properties.The shoots biomass differed significantly (p ≤0.05) among grass cultivars and across experimental sites. The shoots biomass of the Brachiaria cultivars ranged from 3.0 to 11.3 t ha -1 and 5.5 to 8.3 t ha -1 at Ithookwe and Katumani, respectively in year 1 with the highest shoots biomass recorded from cv. Piata at Ithookwe and cv. MG4 at the Katumani (Figure 1a). Similar trends were recorded in year 2 growth, but the shoots biomass was much lower at Katumani (Figure 1b) than in year 1 growth (Figure 1a). However the yields were significantly lower than those recorded from locally cultivated Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum cv. Kakamega 1) for both periods. Generally, higher shoots biomass was recorded from the Ithookwe site than that recorded from the Katumani site (Figure 1) indicating that the Brachiaria cultivars are more suited to that site. The site has a higher annual rainfall with a long term mean of 1010 mm compared to 717 mm received at Katumani. There was a strong positive relationship between shoots biomass recorded with N and P uptake (Figure 2). Higher shoots biomass resulted to higher N and P uptake indicating better utilization of the fertilizer applied. Bonfim and Monteiro (2006) and Batista and Monteiro (2008) have previously reported that the combined application of nitrogen with phosphorus was more effective in maximizing the leaf area and the production of higher dry matter of grasses. Brachiaria cultivars; Marandu, Xaraes, Basilisk and Piata had higher roots biomass than the local checks (Napier and Rhodes grass) indicating greater potential for the Brachiaria grasses to sequester more carbon in the soil. A vigorous roots system increases plant growth rate, tolerance to water deficit, and ability to compete for soil nutrients and consequently, leads to an increase in pasture productivity. These results are in agreement with observations made by Peters et al., 2012 that Brachiaria grasses have greater ability to sequester and accumulate large amounts of organic carbon through their large roots biomass. Generally roots biomass was significantly higher from samples collected from Ithookwe than those obtained from Katumani (Figure 3). Grass type by sampling depth interaction was highly significant (P<0.001) for roots biomass with the highest roots concentration recorded in the upper (0 -15 cm) soil layer regardless of the grass type and sampling period (Figure 4). There was approximately 79% of dry roots matter in the 0 -15 cm soil layer and as expected, roots biomass, increased with age (Figure 4b). Among the Brachiaria cultivars, cv. Mulato II hybrid had the lowest amount of roots; 242.3 g m -2 and 409.9 g m -2 in the 0-15 cm depth 24 and 48 weeks after plants had established, respectively. The trend was similar in the 15 -30 cm depth (Figure 4). Grassland management that enhance production (through sowing improved species, irrigation or fertilization), minimizing the negative impacts of grazing or rehabilitating degraded lands can each lead to carbon sequestration (Follett, et al., 2001;Conant et al., 2001). In this study fertilizer addition significantly (p<0.001) increased roots dry matter of all grass types except cvs. Basilisk, MG4 and Mulato II 24 weeks after plants had established (Figure 5a). However, the fertilizer effects were significant in all Brachiaria cultivars at 48 weeks (Figure 5b). The cultivar x fertilizer treatments interaction was also significant for roots biomass. This confirmed that low nutrient availability, especially phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) supply are a major limitation to forage production in infertile soils of the region. Our results are in agreement to those of Conant et al. (2001) who reported that intensively managed and fertilized grassland had higher roots biomass than less managed grasslands. As forage production increases with fertilizer application, an ancillary benefit may lie in increased sequestration of atmospheric carbon. Indeed, Gifford et al. (1992) noted that improved pasture management is an important consideration when computing a national carbon budget. The synthesis by Smith et al. (2008) suggests that improvement of soil fertility could lead to C sequestration of between 0.42 and 0.76 t C ha -1 yr -1 depending on the region. Similar observations were also made by Follett et al. (2001) who reported that grassland management to enhance production through sowing improved species, irrigation and fertilization can each lead to carbon sequestration. The increased carbon allocation to the roots by the Brachiaria grasses resulted in net belowground sequestration of carbon as indicated by the positive correlation between roots biomass with microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and soil organic carbon (SOC) (Table 3) even though the changes in SOC were very small and not significant among the Brachiaria grasses. The results of this study indicate that the introduction of Brachiaria grasses in the semi-arid tropics of Kenya and in other similar environments would increase soil carbon stocks through their higher shoots and roots biomass that can aid in offsetting the adverse effect of climate change and have greater economic returns.A major biotic constraint to dairy production in Kenya is inadequate and low quality feed resources to meet year-round nutrient requirements for lactating cows (Reynolds et al., 1993). Natural pastures are the main feed resource mainly under free-grazing system in coastal lowlands (Muinga et al., 1998;Njarui et al., 2016). Milk production for local and exotic/crossbred cattle is low, ranging from 1.0 to 6.4 kg day −1 respectively (Ramadhan et al., 2008). Over several decades, Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.), was promoted for improving fodder availability (Mureithi et al., 1998). The grass which is one of the highest yielding tropical grasses, is versatile and grows under a wide range of conditions and systems. It is a valuable forage notably in cut-and-carry systems (FAO, 2015). Increased milk production has been recorded where lactating dairy cattle were fed Napier grass cv. Bana supplemented with forage legumes (Muinga et al., 1992;Juma et al., 2006). Despite past efforts to promote fodder technologies for dairy feeding in Kenya, Napier grass contributes about 10% of feed in coastal Kenya, 35-45% in North western highlands and about 50% in the central highlands (Njarui et al., 2016). In some parts of Kenya, Napier grass is challenged by the stunting disease and head smut (Kabirizi et. al., 2016)   , 2015). Brachiaria brizantha yield in Tanzania increased from 6 to 26.5 t/ha on nitrogen (896 kg/ha/year) application (Urio et al., 1988). Brachiaria grasses are among the most nutritious forages in the humid tropics. For example, B. brizantha contains about 10% (range: 5 to 16%) crude protein (CP) in dry matter, 66% neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and 58% in vivo organic matter digestibility (Heuzé at al., 2016). In Cameroon during the dry season, a decrease in CP from 15.6 to 5.4% and an increase in NDF and acid detergent fibre (ADF) from 34.2 to 48.6% to 70.5 to 76% respectively for B. ruziziensis, were recorded compared to the wet season (Pamo et al., 2007).Hardly any animal performance studies involving Brachiaria have been reported within the East African region. The current studies were therefore designed to evaluate Brachiaria grasses as basal feed for lactating cows, on-farm in mid-altitude eastern region and under controlled conditions on-station in coastal lowlands of Kenya. The potential of using Brachiaria grasses in dairy feeding as alternatives to Napier grass and other locally available feeds is reported.The study was carried out in Kangundo sub-County in mid-altitude eastern region of Kenya. Farmers in this sub-County (Machakos County) were introduced to Brachiaria in an earlier study to evaluate the performance of various cultivars. Typically the farmers have smallholdings where they practice mixed crop-livestock farming. They keep different species of livestock and dairy farming is an important livelihood strategy. About 69% of the farmers keep dairy cattle and the average herd size is 3.1±2.1 animals (Njarui et al., 2016).A meeting was held on 5 May 2015 where 60 farmers attended. They were given an overview of livestock feeding which included the different types of feeds which can be used as sources of basal diet, protein and energy. The session was interactive and farmers shared information freely. The lactation curve was highlighted to show early lactation where milk increased to a peak at about 2-3 months after calving (Figure 1).Cows after peak lactation when milk yield decreases, were selected for the feeding trial because an increase in milk yield during this period could be attributed to feed quality. Eighteen (18) farmers who indicated that they had planted more than 0.1 ha of any Brachiaria cultivar were included in the study. Out of the 18 farmers who registered for the feeding trial, only data from 12 farms were analysed. The other farmers did not have adequate amount of Brachiaria forage to cover the feeding period as indicated in the meeting. Farmers used four Brachiaria grass cultivars in the trial depending on what they had. These included: cultivars Piata, Xaraes, MG4 and Basilisk.Both the farmers, researchers and extension staff jointly participated in data collection. At the commencement of the study, milk yield of cows fed on local feeds was recorded for three consecutive days. This was followed by feeding the cows on Brachiaria grass for seven days. Milk yield for the last three days was compared with the initial three days milk yield for the period when cows were fed on locally available feeds. A total of 12 lactating dairy cows in mid lactation (3 and 6 months) were used for milk yield analysis.The mean milk yield per farm was calculated for the first three (3) days when the cows were fed on local feeds and for the last three (3) days when cows were fed on Brachiaria grass. The means were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using the statistical software Genstat 15 (VSN International, 2013) using the following model:Yij=µ + Ti +Fj + εij,Where: Yij=Observed milk yield for i th feed in j th farm µ=Overall mean Ti=Effect of i th feed (i=1, 2 for local feed or Brachiaria grass) Fj=Effect of j th farm (replicate), (j=1 to 12) εij=Random errorThe study was carried out at KALRO Mtwapa, at an altitude of 15 m above sea level, latitude 3 o 56′S, longitude 39 o 44′E, in the coastal lowlands agro-ecological zone 3 (CL3). The site is characterized by light sandy soils and a mean annual rainfall of 1200 mm. The relative humidity ranges from 65 -95% and the mean annual temperatures range from 24 to 29°C (Jaetzold et al., 2006). Napier grass established in gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium) alleys and pure plots of Brachiaria grasses (B. hybrid cv. Mulato II, B. brizantha cvs. Piata, Xaraes) were established in November 2014 at the recommended spacing of 50 cm between the rows. Normal cultural practices were carried out to optimize yield. The grasses were harvested daily and chopped with a motorized chaff cutter. Gliricidia was harvested and wilted a day before feeding the leaves and stems less than 5 mm diameter were fed to the cows.Sixteen lactating ( 16) Jersey cows with pre-experiment milk yield ranging from 4 to 5 kg/day and weighing 257±38 kg were used in the experiment. The cows were divided into four groups balanced for milk yield and live weight at the start of the experiment. The groups were allocated to four treatments (cvs. Mulato II, Piata, Xaraes and Napier grass cv. Bana), in a completely randomized design. Each cow was fed the recommended supplement of 8 kg fresh gliricidia and 3 kg maize bran in two equal amounts daily at milking. They were also allowed 60 g of a dairy mineral mix per cow daily and clean cool water was provided ad libitum. Refusals were removed and weighed every morning after which fresh feed was added. Data was collected on feed intake and milk yield. The cows were housed in individual feeding stalls and allowed a three weeks acclimatization period on the treatment diets. Data collection commenced on 7 th September, 2015 for 10 weeks. Composite samples of each feed (maize bran, gliricidia, grasses) taken at three stages (onset, mid and end of the experiment) were analysed.Feed samples were analysed for Ash, Nitrogen, Phosphorous (P) and Calcium (Ca) The total P and Ca were measured according to methods described by Okalebo et al. (2002). Ash was determined by heating the samples at 600 o C for 2 hours in a muffle furnace. Crude protein (CP) was estimated from Nitrogen x 6.5. Neutral detergent fibre (NDF), Acid detergent fibre (ADF), Acid detergent lignin (ADL) and dry matter digestibility (DMD) and organic matter (OMD) digestibility were determined through the method of Goering and Van Soest (1970). The analyses were carried out at KALRO Muguga (Food Crops Research Institute).Analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the General Linear Model was carried out using the following model: Yij = µ+ Gi + εij,Where: Yij =The jth observation on the ith treatment; µ = Overall mean; Gi= the effect of the ith grass treatment; εij= Random error.Means were separated using the least significant difference (LSD) at P=0.05 (SAS, 2003)Two distinct groups of lactating dairy cows were observed, the relatively high and low yielding (Figure 2). On average milk production increased from 4 to 4.6 litres/cow per day for low yielding animals, representing a 15% increase and 9 to12.6 litres/cow per day for the relatively higher yielding dairy cattle representing a 40% increase. This is an indication that Brachiaria is superior to the locally available feeds used by the farmers in the area during the study period. Therefore farmers should be encouraged to increase the acreage under Brachiaria which has potential to increase milk production. Gliricidia had the highest CP (24.4%) and lowest NDF (34.9%) which was different (P<0.05) from the grasses. Its dry matter and organic matter digestibility was however similar (P>0.05) to that of Napier grass, Mulato II and Piata and higher (P<0.05) than Xaraes (Table 1). Xaraes had the lowest CP and digestibility and the highest NDF but these values were similar (P>0.05) to those recorded for Napier grass, Mulato II and Piata. The grasses had similar ADF, ADL, Ca and P. The CP and OMD values of the Brachiaria cultivars in this study were lower than those reported by Nguku (2015) in Katumani. However, the CP and OMD values had a similar trend to those reported in a different study at Mtwapa by Ondiko et al. (2016). Their CP was 6.9, 5.8, 5.4 and 4.9% for Napier grass, Mulato II, Piata and Xaraes which was similar to values reported in the current study (Table 1). The cows ate all the supplement (8 kg fresh gliricidia and 3 kg maize bran) equivalent to 2.2 kg DM gliricidia and 2.7 kg DM maize bran. The daily basal grass diet DM intake was similar (P<0.05) for cows fed on Bana grass (5.7 kg) and those fed Piata (5.8 kg) and was different (P<0.05) from that of cows fed Mulato II (6.3 kg) or Xaraes (6.4 kg) (Table 2). Mean daily milk production for all the cows was low (4.3 kg cow -1 ) probably as a result of the late stage of lactation at the start of the experiment. Cows fed Piata (4.7kg) and Bana (4.6kg) had the highest milk yield which was not different (P > 0.05). However cows fed on Mulato II (4.4kg) and Xaraes (3.6kg) produced less (P<0.05) milk daily compared to those fed on Piata and Napier grass (Table 2). Cows fed on Xaraes had the highest DM intake and the lowest milk yield. The DM intake was equivalent to 2.5, 2.7, 2.3 and 2.1 kg digestible organic matter for cows fed on Bana, Mulato II, Piata and Xaraes respectively. Table 2 shows the calculated total DOM intake which was positively related to milk yield; thus Xaraes had the lowest DOM intake and lowest milk yield. It was noted from Figure 3 that, although the groups were balanced for milk yield at the start of the experiment, cows fed on Xaraes had the lowest milk yield (4.2 kg) by the start of the experimental period (at 3 weeks) compared to the other treatments (Piata 5.0, Bana 4.6, and Mulato 4.8 kg). From the current study, the crude protein, NDF and digestibility (except for Xaraes) of the Brachiaria cultivars were similar to that of Bana. Milk yield from cows fed Piata was comparable to that of cows fed Bana. Brachiaria therefore has the potential to replace Bana in dairy feeding especially in areas where it is threatened by head smut and stunting disease.Compared to the local feeds in Kangundo sub County, Brachiaria increased milk by 15-40%.Therefore farmers should be encouraged to grow more Brachiaria for increased milk production. There is however need to repeat the on station experiment to verify the results with more Brachiaria cultivars under controlled conditions where grasses are harvested at a similar stage of growth. Arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) cover 80% of Kenya's landmass (Mganga et al., 2010). These areas are characterized by low rainfall, high temperatures, poor quality feed resources, and high incidences of livestock diseases (Kahi et al., 2006). The ASALs support 60% of the livestock population and the largest proportion of wildlife (Ngugi and Nyariki, 2003). According to Mbogoh and Shaabani (1999) agro-pastoralism and pastoralism are the main economic activities in ASALs from which majority of the people attain their livelihoods. This is mostly based on cattle (the small East African zebu -SEAZ and Boran), goats, sheep and camels, and thus constitutes a major source of Kenya's meat (Herlocker, 1999).According to Njarui et al. (2011), the productivity of livestock in Kenya is strongly linked to feed availability. The reason for this is that; feed is the major input factor in livestock production systems and account for between 60 -70% of the production cost. The authors reported that, the productivity of ruminants is considered low due to inadequate and poor quality feeds. There is a feed resource deficit for about 4 -6 months in a year across many regions in Kenya particularly during the dry season when there is limited pasture growth. Livestock is considered one of the key assets for rural households in most parts of the world and it is a primary livelihood resource for most rural communities. According to FAO (2012), about 752 million of the world's poor keep livestock mainly to; generate cash income, produce food for subsistence use, manage risks and to build up assets for security purposes. Another limitation of livestock production is that there is lack of suitable fodder crops that can produce green forage throughout the year (Leeuw et al., 1992). This situation becomes even worse in the areas that are constrained by low rainfall.Most small ruminants in the ASALs suffer from nutritional stress (Bruinsma, 2003). Most of the grasses have low crude protein (CP) falling below 7% minimum level that is required for optimum microbial growth (Wambui et al., 2006). When this occurs, it prompts supplementation, which is not always possible for resource poor farmers (Gitunu et al., 2003).There is a need, therefore, for pasture species that can improve the quality of the natural pastures and significantly increase dry matter production to enhance livestock productivity. One of these pastures has been found to be Brachiaria (Machogu, 2013). Lascano andEuclides (1996) andBrighenti et al. (2008) reported that apart from the good adaptability, tolerance and resistance of Brachiaria species, the grasses have high forage quality and high dry matter production making them capable of meeting the nutritional requirements of animals especially during the dry season.Goats are found in many parts of Kenya and are an important source of income to many smallholder farmers. They are preferred to cattle as they can be converted to cash easily. They also provide a higher offtake compared to cattle because of their shorter generation interval and higher prolificacy (Ahuya and Okeyo, 2006). Galla goats also known as Somali or Boran goats are indigenous to the arid and semi-arid regions of northern Kenya and are kept mainly for meat (Ahuya and Akeyo, 2006). The full potential of the ASALs for livestock production can be exploited by expanding the forage resource base by introducing climate smart forage species to boost nutrient quality and quantity hence supplying the nutritive requirements of livestock. Studies on climate smart Brachiaria grass species developed elsewhere have shown that they could be the key to improvement of livestock production and also serve to boost composition and nutritive values of local Brachiaria cultivars. However, there are hardly any studies on goat feeding on Brachiaria grasses. The study was therefore carried out to determine its suitability on goat performance. The objective was to evaluate the growth of Galla goats fed selected Brachiaria grass cultivars.The feeding trial was conducted at the Sheep and Goat Multiplication Centre at Matuga (4 o 9'6'S; 39 o 32'40'E), in Kwale County, Kenya. The Centre is located at 60 m asl in coastal lowlands 3 (CL3) agro-ecological zone, also referred to as the coconut-cassava zone (Jaetzold et al., 2006).The average annual rainfall is 1100 mm while the relative humidity ranges from 70 -80% and an average temperature from 22 -30 o C.Sixteen Galla goat bucklings aged between 6-12 months and weighing 10-24 kg were selected from Centre herd. They were divided into four groups of four animals which were balanced for age and weight and randomly assigned to four dietary treatments. The goats were kept in well ventilated individual pens. Dry grass was used for bedding. Both the feeding and sleeping areas were disinfected before the goats were brought in. During the adjustment period, animals were dewormed against endo-parasites and sprayed weekly against ecto-parasites. The pens were cleaned every morning and beddings changed weekly.The Brachiaria cultivars used for feeding were Brachiaria brizantha cvs. Piata and MG4 and B. hybrid cv. Mulato II. Rhodes grass was used as the control. The cvs. Piata, MG4 and Rhodes grass were grown at KALRO-Katumani in the semi-arid region of eastern Kenya while Mulato II was grown at KALRO-Mtwapa in the coastal lowlands. The recommended agronomic practices were followed in order to provide good quality forage for feeding. During the harvesting, the grasses were cut at 5 cm above ground and allowed to dry, baled into hay and transported to Matuga.During the feeding, all the animals were supplemented with a 100g/day of maize germ that was purchased from a commercial maize miller to last for the whole experiment. The supplement was given before the basal diets were offered at 7.00 hrs. Water and a mineral supplement were provided ad libitum. The hay made up of stem and leaves were chopped using a motorized chaff cutter to approximately 5 cm length and mixed thoroughly to prevent selection. The feeds were offered for a 14 days adaptation period and 12 weeks experimental period from mid-April to July 2016. The grass basal diet was offered ad libitum by offering feed in the morning and adding during the day to ensure feed availability at all times. Any feed that was not consumed was removed and weighed the following day before fresh feed was added.A small amount of herbage was taken from each bale used for feeding and a composite sample of about 2 kg per treatment constituted for analysis. The samples were ground to pass through 1 mm screen. The samples were then analysed in duplicates for chemical composition at the Animal and Nutrition Laboratory at KALRO-Muguga. The CP was determined using the micro-Kjeldahl according to the method of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC, 2000). Neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), lignin, and digestibility were determined according to the procedure of Goering and Van Soest (1970). Ash was determined by heating the samples at 600 o C for 2 hours in a muffle furnace. Total P and Ca were determined according to the methods described by Okalebo et al. (2002).The nutritive quality composition (DM, CP, OM, Ash, NDF, ADF, ADL, Ca, P) and digestibility of feeds were analysed using the general linear model (GLM) procedures of the Statistical Analysis System (SAS, 2010). Values for feed intake and live weight gain were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) in a completely randomised design using GLM procedures of the Statistical Analysis System (SAS, 2010) based on the following model:Where Yij is the jth observation of the ith treatment; µ is overall mean; Ti is the effect of the feed of the ith grass treatment (1-4) and eij is the residual error. Means were separated by least significance difference (LSD) (Steel and Torrie, 1981).There were significance (P < 0.05) differences in the CP content, dry matter digestibility, ADF, ADL, ash, Ca and P content among the forages (Table 1). Piata had the highest CP content (12.6% of DM) while Mulato II had lowest (P<0.05). Similarly, MG4 and Piata were more digestible than Mulato II and Rhodes grass. All the Brachiaria cultivars had similar amount of Ca but were significantly (P<0.05) lower than that of Rhodes grass while P content was not different (P>0.05) among all the grasses.The goats ate all (100 g) the maize germ supplements offered. The average feed intake on weekly basis for the entire feeding period is shown in Figure 1. There was no difference (P > 0.05) in the basal feed intake in all the weeks among the goats. Generally the average daily feed intake increased over time and ranged from 513 -661 g/goat.Live weight increased marginally with goats fed on Piata and MG4 maintaining the highest weights during the entire period (Figure 2). Goats fed on Mulato II lost weight initially and gained from week 9. The average daily weight gain (ADWG) differed significantly (P<0.05) with bucklings fed on Piata (45.21g/day) and MG4 (41.28g/day) having the highest daily weight gain In this study, Piata and MG4 were found to be better sources of protein than Mulato II and Rhodes grass. They contained the minimum CP of 7.5% suggested as necessary for optimum rumen function and production by Van Soest (1994). Afzal and Ullah (2007) reported that crude protein (CP) and digestible dry matter are the most important components of a feed. Crude protein requirement for small ruminant maintenance is 9.6, 11.2 and 11.7% for pregnant ewes, does and kid finishing respectively (NRC, 2007). The CP content of Mulato II content was low compared with that reported by Nguku (2015) of 7-12.8% in a semi-arid region of Kenya, 15% in central Kenya (Nyambati et al. 2016) and 12-17% by Vendramini et al. (2011) in Florida, USA. The low CP of Mulato II was attributed to poor management of the grass at harvesting and baling. Further Mulato II was grown in the coastal lowlands and generally due to the high temperatures experienced in the region, the growth was fast and accumulated more fibre resulting to low CP and digestibility. On the contrary Piata, MG4 and Rhodes were grown in mid-altitude region where it is cooler resulting in slower growth.The DMD of Mulato II and Rhodes was lower than that reported by Ondiko et al. (2016) in coastal lowlands of Kenya. The digestibility of tropical grasses ranges between 50 and 65%, while that of temperate grasses is slightly higher and ranges between 65 and 80%. Coward-Lord et al. (1974) reported that the age of cutting forage crops has an influence on the o digestibility, and is a function of the chemical constituents of forages. These results agree with what Njarui et al. (2003) who reported that the proportion of potentially digestible components decline as the fibrous content increases.Bucklings fed on Piata and MG4 gained more weight on daily basis and had the highest total weight gain at the end of experiment. This weight gain was higher than that reported by Njarui et al. (2003) for Kenya Dual Purpose goats fed different forage legumes supplements and by Nyako et al. (2012) when fed on Pangola grass and supplemented with cotton seed cake. In another study by Wambui et al. (2006) on German Alpine crosses supplemented with Tithonia, Calliandra and Sesbania, the goats showed a high average daily weight gain of up to 82.7, 57.3 and 39.3 g/day, respectively. High weight gain for goats fed on Piata and MG4 is attributed to their high CP content, digestibility and low fibres. On the contrary bucklings fed Mulato II had the lowest gain due to low CP content.Piata and MG4 contributed to the highest growth of the Galla goats and were superior to Rhodes grass. Thus these grasses could replace Rhodes grass in the coastal lowlands as livestock feeds. Further research should be conducted on Mulato II taking into consideration its management to maintain high quality.Theme 5Seed Production and DiseasesThe Brachiaria grasses belong to the poacea family, are classified as C4 plants and the life cycle can be either annual or perennial. The genus Brachiaria includes about 100 species which are distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of both eastern and western hemispheres but mostly in Africa (Renvoize et al., 1996). The most common and extensively cultivated Brachiaria species for pastures are; B. brizantha, B. ruziziensis, B. decumbens and B. mutica, but recently B. humidicola and B. platynota have also received increased attention (Ndikumana and de Leeuw, 1996). The genus Brachiaria originated from Africa but is now widely cultivated in sub-tropical and tropical regions of Australia and South America (Parsons, 1972). An estimated 99 million hectares are planted in Brazil (Jank et al., 2014) and about 300,000 hectares in Asia, the South Pacific and Australia (Stur et al., 1996). In the Pacific region, over 10,000 hectares of Brachiaria hybrid cv. Mulato II pastures were established in Vanuatu since 2007, where it is primarily used for beef cattle grazing (Pizzaro et al., 2013). In USA, nearly 200,000 hectares of Mulato II pastures had been established by 2005 for both dairy and beef cattle grazing (Esteban et al., 2013). In Kenya a few cultivars of Brachiaria grass have been introduced to over 4000 farmers (Njarui, per comm.) while in Rwanda Mulato II was introduced to smallholder farmers (Mutimura and Everson, 2012). Feeding Brachiaria grass to dairy cattle showed increased milk production by 15 to 40% in Kenya (Ghimire et al., 2015). However, limited seed availability is the major constraints to increasing area under cultivation.All Brachiaria species can be propagated both vegetatively and from seeds. Vegetative propagation is simple but impracticable except in very small-scale farming (Hopkinson et al., 1996) necessitating the need for extensive seed production. Developing an appropriate method for harvesting Brachiaria seeds is important for producing high quality seeds to be commercially available to farmers at a reasonable price. A number of studies have been conducted to determine the most suitable methods for harvesting Brachiaria seeds. The work of Hare et al. (2007) found out that high seed yields are obtained from multiple, non-destructive manual harvests, with seed heads tied into living sheaves and the seed knocked daily into seednet receptacles. Normally in Thailand, seed is ground swept while in Laos it is harvested by knocking the seeds from seedheads (Pizzaro et al., 2013). In Mexico and Brazil, all the seeds are ground-swept using machinery (Pizarro et al., 2010). The Brachiaria seed industry in Brazil has grown to meet the large internal demand and an expanding export market placing it in competition, in terms of monetary value with major cereal crops (Santos Filho, 1996). Thus, if Brachiaria grasses seeds are made available to smallholder farmers in Kenya, they could boost the forage resource base and propel the livestock industry. Additionally, farmers would benefit through increased incomes from seed trade enterprises and contribute to growth of Kenya economy. The work reported in this paper was conducted to assess the seed production potential and understand the phenological and seeding characteristics of the Brachiaria grasses in central highlands of Kenya.The study was carried out at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), Embu which is situated 3 km north of Embu town. The centre lies at latitude, 0 0 30'S and longitude 37 0 27'E, at an elevation of 1492 m asl. The average annual rainfall is 1252 mm, is bimodal with the long rains occurring from mid-March to September and average 650 mm. The short rains occurs from mid-October to February and average 450 mm. The mean annual temperature is 19.5 0 C, with mean maximum and minimum of 25 0 C and 14.1 0 C, respectively. The mean annual potential evaporation is 1422 mm while mean annual evapo-transpiration is 950 mm. The site lies in the transition of Upper Midlands (UM) 2 and UM 3 agro-ecological zones.The soils are mainly humic Nitisols (FAO-UNESCO, 1994) and are derived from basic volcanic rocks. They are deep, highly weathered with friable clay texture and moderate to high inherent fertility (Jaetzold et al., 2006).The experiment was set out in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Plot sizes were 5 m x 4 m with a 1 m path between plots and replications. The seeds were drilled in furrows at about 1.5 cm deep on a well prepared seedbed with an inter-row spacing of 0.5 m,All Brachiaria cultivars established successfully and attained good vegetative plot cover within the first month after seedling emergence and complete plot cover at 50% flowering. The height attained by the different Brachiaria cultivars was closely related to the time they took to flower. Those cultivars that took longer to flower were comparatively tall and vice versa for the others. However, the difference in plant height is genetically controlled but the plants also differed in growth habit. Llanero has a prostrate growth habit while the other Brachiaria had erect growth habit.The variation in the number of days to flowering and to seed maturity (hardening of the caryopsis) was large. Based on day to initiation of flowering and seed maturity, the grasses can be divided in two groups. Basilisk, Cayman, Cobra, Mulato II and MG4 are early maturing while Piata, Marandu, Llanero and Xaraes could be regarded as late maturing. This classification is similar to that reported by Kamidi et al. (2016;this proceedings) for some of cultivars grown in north western highland of Kenya. They grouped MG4, Basilisk and Cayman as early maturing together with Piata. In another study at Kitale in western Kenya, B. ruziziensis flowered 147 days after seedling emergence while regrowth headed as early as 21 days after cutting (Boonman, 1971). Generally, seeds production was low in all the Brachiaria cultivars and this has also been reported in Thailand (Esteban et al., 2013;Hare et al., 2007). Esteban et al. (2013) reported seeds yield of 150 kg ha -1 from Mulato II and Cayman. Earlier work by Hare et al. (2007) reported less than 200 kg/ha of seed from Mulato II hybrid in Mexico and attributed the low seed yields to pollen sterility and poor caryopsis maturation. The different quantity of seeds produced by the various Brachiaria cultivars is attributed to the difference in genetic characteristics and environmental conditions. Although most of the grasses flowered profusely, this was not reflected in seed production due to failure to form seeds. Nevertheless, most of the tillers of Marandu did not produce any inflorescence and this contributed to low seed yield. However, it is important to point out that seed harvesting coincided short rains 2014 and long rains 2015 seasons. This had a negative impact on the seed recovery as most of the seeds were washed down by rain water and it was not possible to recover it from the mud. Thus, seed yields realised from this experiment from all the Brachiaria does represent the actual quantities of seed produced.Although most of the Brachiaria grasses flowered profusely, there was poor seed formation and consequently seed yield was low. On the basis of seed production, Llanero was the most promising. The experiment was conducted in one year and thus further monitoring would be necessary to ascertain seed production for longer period. In view of the fact reasonable quantity of seeds was not harvest due to wet season, there is need to identify suitable time for planting so that seed maturity does not coincide with rainy season.Agriculture contributes about 25% of Kenya's gross domestic product (GDP) (KARI, 2009) with the dairy sector contributing 14% of the agricultural GDP (Kiptarus, 2005). Farmers in the north western highlands of Kenya practice mixed farming in which maize and dairy are the main enterprises even though there is a trend to shift to dairy farming because of high production costs and poor prices for maize crop. A major constraint to livestock production in the region is the acute feed shortages that occur during the dry seasons and limited availability of forages of high nutritional quality (Ndung'u-Magiroi et al., 2016). The commonly cultivated forage, Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana), has limited adaptation. Napier grass, the commonly cultivated fodder by dairy farmers in region is susceptible to smut and stunt threaten its survival and production (Orodho, 2006, Maass et al., 2015). With the decreasing land sizes due to subdivisions and the need to produce more feed to sustain the dairy industry in the region, there is need to introduce other grass species that are more productive and with higher nutritional value.Brachiaria grass, a native of east and central Africa was introduced to Latin America, Southeast Asia and Australia where it has revolutionized grassland farming and animal production (Ndikumana and de Leeuw, 1996). The implementation of the Swedish funded research programme \"Climate-smart Brachiaria grasses for improved livestock production in East Africa has led to high publicity of the importance of Brachiaria grasses which has created big interest and high demand for seed among farmers across Kenya (BecA, 2014). The programme aimed at increasing animal productivity through enhanced feed availability using climate smart Brachiaria grasses. Brachiaria grass can be established using either seed or vegetative material.Establishment by vegetative material is labour intensive and is more expensive than establishment by seed, which can easily be mechanized (Kandemir andSaygili, 2015, Maass et al., 2015). Many Brachiaria cultivars reproduce through apomixis (Araujo et al., 2007) which is seed formation without fertilization (Kandemir and Saygili, 2015). The seeds produce plants that are identical to the mother plants (Hare et al., 2007) thus enabling production of seeds that are true to type.Seed production potential can be linked to environmental factors (Monteiro et al., 2016), and in the humid lowland tropics, especially near the equator grass seed production can be a big challenge (Maass et al., 2015;Phaikaew et al., 1997). Many species which grow well in such areas often do not produce seed and those that do such as Brachiaria decumbens cv Basilisk, the seed yields are normally very low (Hare et al., 2015). Hare et al., (2015) observed that altitude and latitude influence flowering and seed setting in Brachiaria hybrids. In Brazil and Thailand for example successful Brachiaria seed production is done in latitudes 20 o -22 o S and at elevations of 700-1000 m above sea level and is in latitudes 19 o -20 o N at 700-1200 m asl, respectively. Currently there is no commercial Brachiaria seed production in Kenya and the imported seeds from South America are expensive. Therefore, there is need to identify suitable regions where the seed can be produced locally to meet anticipated demand. The objective of the study was to evaluate the seed production potential of Brachiaria cultivars in north western highlands of Kenya.The study was conducted at Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) Kitale farm (1° 0′ 6.6´´N and 34° 59´ 10´´E), at 1890 m asl. The mean annual rainfall is 1140 mm and is unimodal occurring from March to November with peaks in May and August and with a distinct dry spell from December to March. The region experiences annual mean minimum and maximum temperatures of 12° C and 25° C, respectively (Jaetzold et al., 2012). The dominant soils are humic Acrisols (Jones et al., 2013) and are deficient in nitrogen and phosphorus.seeds. These results are in agreement with observations made by Boonman (1973) that early maturing cultivars of some tropical grasses produce more seed than the late maturing ones.The relationship between seed yield and days to 50% flowering There was a positive and significant relationship between seed yield and the number of tillers per plant (Figure 3a) and number of inflorescence per plant (Figure 3b). Cultivars MG4, Basilisk and Cayman, had higher (P < 0.01) number of tillers and inflorescence per plant than Piata, Cobra and Xaraes and tended to produce more seed. These results confirm earlier findings by Hare et al. (2015) who observed very few inflorescences in Xaraes and corresponding low seed production. Our results contradict the findings by Monteiro et al. (2016) who found no direct relationship between the number of vegetative tillers and seed yield in some tropical grasses.Although the seed yields obtained in this study were low, they are comparable to those reported elsewhere. For example, Gobius et al. (200I) reported yields ranging from 81 to 123 kg ha -1 for cv. Basilisk compared to 97 kg ha -1 obtained in this study. Pizarro et al. (2013) obtained seed yields of 150 kg ha -1 for Cayman which was lower than 192 kg ha -1 recorded in this study though the yields are lower than those recommended (600 -700 kg ha -1 ) for viable commercial production with competitive prices (Hare et al., 2015). Phaikaew et al. (1997) reported that seed production in the humid lowland tropics near the equator was difficult and this would explain the low yields obtained in this study where the site lies at 1 o N and 1890 m above sea level. Hare et al. (2015) found that in Brazil, successful Brachiaria seed production was possible in latitudes 20 o -22 o S at elevations of 700-1000m above sea level, while in Thailand production of seed is done in areas between latitudes 19 o -22 o N and at elevations between 700 to1200 m above sea level. Similarly, Andrade (2001) found latitudes 15 o -22 o S, with annual rainfall not exceeding 1500mm with a distinct dry spell during harvesting to be suitable for Brachiaria seed production. The seeds produced in this study failed to germinate when tested. Several factors may have contributed to the failure of the seed to germinate. Some of the seed may have failed to form caryopsis due to environmental factors as has also been reported by Araujo et al. (2007) and Hare et al. (2007), abscission that is quite common in Brachiaria (Hare et al., 2015). The seedsBrachiaria is one of the most important forage grass in the tropics and sub tropics (Keller-Grein et al., 1996). Among 100 documented species: B. brizantha, B. decumbens, B. humidicola and B. ruziziensis and hybrids (Mulato, Mulato II and Cayman) are of significant importance as they have been improved for quality, quantity and persistence and grown in large acreages across the world (Miles et al., 2004;Rao et al., 2011). The production of Napier grass, the most important forage grass in Kenya and other East African countries has been threatened by smut and stunt diseases urging the need for alternative forage species to fulfill demand of ever increasing livestock populations in the region. High biomass production potential, highly nutritive herbage, adaptation to low fertility and drought, high nitrogen use efficiencies and other environmental benefits makes Brachiaria grasses an ideal forage option. Basilisk, B. hybrid cv. Mulato II, B. humidicola cvs. Humidicola and Llanero) from South America were introduced and evaluated in multiple locations in Kenya for biomass production and adaptation to drought and low soil fertility. As the genetic materials developed in exotic environment were being evaluated in the sites within the centre of diversity of Brachiaria species priority was given to monitor response of these genetic materials to the diseases. As expected some of these cultivars were attacked by diseases.In the pasture production, diseases are major biotic constraint that reduces herbage and seed yields, lowers nutritive value and palatability of grasslands which eventually impact not only on animal health and productivity but also increase production costs (Pennypacker, 1997). Some Brachiaria diseases reported elsewhere include rust (Uromyces setariae-italicae), foliar leaf blight (Rhizoctonia solani), bacterial root rot (Erwinia chrysanthemi pv. zeae), leaf spot (Dreschslera sp) and sugarcane mosaic virus (Kelemu et al., 1995;Lenné and Trutmann, 1994). In tropical America, B. brizantha is susceptible to rust, foliar leaf blight and bacterial root rot (CIAT, 1992). In Brachiaria humidicola, rust can cause yield losses as high as 100% (Lenné, 1990). Therefore, this study was conducted to monitor diseases incidence and severity on improved Brachiaria cultivars planted in multiple locations in Kenya or and identify the causal agent associated with symptomatic Brachiaria plants using molecular technique. The information on the causal agent would be of great value in devising appropriate measures for the effective management of the diseases.  1. Detailed description of climate and soils of the sites are given by Njarui et al. (2006), in this proceeding.Disease symptoms were recorded; photographs were taken along with information on growth stage and crop types (first crop/regrowth). Disease incidence was recorded as percentage of plants with disease symptoms relative to the total number of plants. Disease severity was recorded as percentage of Brachiaria tissue covered by a specific symptom or lesion. The plant parts with disease symptoms were collected in paper envelopes and transported to the BecA-ILRI Hub for causal agent isolation and identification.The symptomatic plant parts were used for microbial isolation. The leaf with disease symptom was photographed, and cut along with healthy portion into ten pieces (0.4 to 0.6 mm 2 ). The cut pieces were surface disinfected with 1.2% sodium hypochlorite solutions (with Tween-20) for 10 minutes, rinsed three times with sterile water and dried in paper towel. Five leaf pieces were plated on 9 cm petri -dishes containing PDA amended with ampicillin (100 µg/ml), incubated at 25°C and monitored daily for emerging fungal colony. Fungal isolates were sub-cultured three times to obtain pure colonies for subsequent analysis. DNA was extracted using PrepMan kit following manufacturer's directions but with a 100 μl of PrepMan ultra sample preparation reagent instead of 200 µl. The final product was stored at 4 °C until further processing.DNA from previous step was diluted ten folds in sterile water. The PCR amplification was done using the universal fungal primer sets ITS1F (CTTGGTCATTTAGAGGAAGTA) and ITS4 (TCCTCCGCTTATTGATATGC) (Gardes and Bruns, 1993;White et al., 1990). PCR mix was prepared using 3 µl of diluted genomic DNA as template, 5 µl of PCR master mix, 2 µl of ITS1F, 2 µL of ITS4 and 28 µl of sterile reagent water in a total of volume of 40 µl, and reaction without template DNA was included as negative control. The PCR conditions were 4 min of denaturation at 94 °C, followed by 35 cycles of 94 °C for 45 s, 48°C for 45 s and 72 °C for 45 s, with final extension of 72 °C for 10 min. Three µl PCR product was run in agarose gel to confirm the presence of expected PCR products.The PCR products were purified using QIAquick PCR Purification Kit (QIAGEN) following manufacturer's instructions. Purified DNA products were sequenced with PCR primers sets using Sanger Sequencing at BecA-ILRI Hub.Maximum disease index (MDI) was calculated by multiplying score for maximum disease incidence (%) and maximum disease severity (%) for each disease recorded in each Brachiaria cultivar irrespective of type of experiment and survey event. The resulting score was divided by 100 to get MDI. For molecular identification, fungal sequence data were imported into CLC Main Workbench Software v7.5, trimmed and assembled. The sequence identities were determined using BLAST program of NCBI (blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). Criteria used for BLAST search were: e-value below 0.004, the highest identity (%), the highest query coverage and the possibility of a fungus identified by blast search being a plant pathogen as confirmed by literature search. A list of fungal taxa associated with symptomatic Brachiaria plant parts was prepared and the frequency of similar taxa in the population was calculated.Monitoring disease incidence and severityLeaf spots were characterized by black to brown spots on Brachiaria leaves (Figure 1a). Infected leaves had brown to black raised to flat rough irregular spots which in severe cases coalesced and killed the entire leaf. Some spots had dark irregular centers surrounded by a tan to oval margin. Leaf spots were more on upper leaf surface compared with the lower leaf surface. The spots mainly occurred on older senescing leaves in both first and regrowth crops.  The molecular identification of 240 fungal isolates obtained from symptomatic leaf, stem and seed heads of improved Brachiaria cultivars revealed 36 different pathogenic taxa at variable frequencies (Table 6). The top six plant pathogenic taxa were Phoma herbarum, Epicoccum nigrum, Fusarium equiseti, Nigrospora oryzae, Clasosporium cladosprioides, Nigrospora sphaerica, and Nigrospora sphaerica.Phoma herbarum was the most frequently isolated fungus (34.8%) from the Brachiaria tissues with leaf spots symptoms (Figure 1a). Phoma herbarum are reported as causal agents of leaf spots disease in pea (Li et al., 2011), stem canker on hemp (McPartland et. al., 2000) and tip dieback/or stem canker on forest nurseries (James, 1985). Phoma herbarum was among 15 Phoma species isolated from New Zealand grasses and pastures. Pathogenicity testing of these species showed P. medicaginis, P. lotivora and P. chrysanthemicola pathogenic on legumes, and other 12 species were weak wound parasites (Johnston, 1981). Besides pathogenic roles, P. herbarum has been considered a candidate for biological agent for weed control (Neumann and Boland 2002, Stewart-Wade and Boland 2004, Kalam et al., 2014).Fusarium equiseti was second most frequent fungus isolated from Brachiaria leaves. It is a cosmopolitan soil inhabitant (Saemi et al., 1999) capable of infecting seeds, roots, tubers, and fruit of several crop plants (Goswani et al., 2008). It is a common colonizer of senescent or damaged plant tissue (Leslie et al., 2006). Similarly, Epicoccum nigrum is a widespread and common saprophyte on dying plant organs but also a parasite on different hosts especially on seeds of cereals (Webster 1983). It produces colored pigments that can be used as antifungal agents (Bamford et al., 1961;Brown et al., 1987). In Kenya, the fungus was isolated from coffee, carnation, bitter lettuce, rice, and sugarcane (Kung'u and Boa, 1997). The fungus was isolated from Lablab bean as a cause agent of leaf spots (Mahadeva kumar et al., 2014).Nigrospora oryzae causes ear or cob rot in maize (Shurtleff, 1992) and leaf spot in Rosemary (Moshrefi Zarandi et al., 2014), and Dendrobium (Wu et al., 2014). Nigrospora sphaerica causes Nigrospora blight of turf grasses. Its primary hosts are Kentucky bluegrass, creeping red fescue, perennial rye grass and St. Augustine grass (Smiley et al., 2005). Others hosts includes Bermuda and bent grasses (Cho et al., 2000).The attack of ergot disease in Brachiaria raises some issues on 269 livestock and human health as the ingestion of ergot cause hallucinations, irrational behavior, convulsions and even death in humans and animals due to the poisonous ergot alkaloids (Tudzynski et al, 2001;Eadie, 2003). Besides health concerns, the infection of Brachiaria with ergot significantly reduces the seed quality and seed trades. This study with isolation of fungi from symptomatic plants of improved Brachiaria cultivars demonstrated the association of a wide range of fungal species. Phoma herbarum, Fusarium equiseti, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Epicoccum nigrum, Nigrospora oryzae and Nigrospora sphaerica constituted 70% of the fungal community. The current effort is a beginning of research on Brachiaria diseases and causal agents in Kenya. The future research on establishing relationships between these organisms and disease symptoms on host plant, confirmation of pathogenicity, yield loss assessment, and development of management methods for economically important diseases have been suggested for the effective and timely management of the important Brachiaria diseases in Kenya and neighboring countries. We also suggest further investigation on rust and physiological leaf disorder symptoms highlighted in this study."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e3fa1bb6e68a0ce43937619fb18c1bcb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/84cd23bd-a60d-4677-a390-031cf9400651/retrieve","id":"326144713"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e3e6f8bb-6b3a-4a59-9763-877e29aae34c","content":"THE ECONOMIC impact of bullock traction technology (BTT) on the farming systems in northern Ghana is assessed. Crop production data were collected in three villages during the 1982/83 cropping season from 12 hoe-using and 30 bullock-using households. Comparative analysis of the hoe and the BTT farming systems indicates that BTT is technically and economically superior to hand-hoe technology, and that it offers a solution to the low agricultural productivity in the region. Households using BTT realised higher crop production and higher income compared to those using hand-hoe technology.Northern Ghana is in the semi-arid zone of West Africa, and has one rainy season which normally begins in May and ends in September. It is dominated by smallholders who depend almost exclusively on the traditional hand-hoe technology for crop production, the majority of which is used for subsistence.The unimodal rainy season, combined with the predominant hand-hoe technology, is a major problem for smallholder crop production in the region. Even though labour is abundant, availability during the short growing period is a critical constraint. Seasonal labour shortages are one of the main factors which contribute to low productivity, the primary agricultural problem in the area (NORRIP, 1982).To increase the production of cash crops and at the same time solve the problem of seasonal labour shortages encountered by peasant farmers, BTT was introduced in the region around 1930 by the then colonial government (Kline et al, 1969). As in most parts of West Africa, the priority given to bullock traction technology for crop cultivation shifted with changes in agricultural policies. Shortly after Ghana won independence in 1957, the newly-elected Government decided that bullock traction technology did not fit its concept of modernising Ghana's agricultural sector through the use of tractors. Consequently, Government support for BTT stopped. This policy change hindered further spread of the technology. Farmers who had already adopted BTT had problems getting spare parts, and those who were interested in adopting it had difficulty procuring equipment. However, aid agencies which were promoting BTT in the region continued to supply farmers with traction equipment purchased from neighbouring countries, but were not able to satisfy the growing demand. After long years of somewhat frustrating experiences with tractors in the region, combined with a weak economy, new attention has been directed to BTT by the Government.Even though BTT has survived in northern Ghana since it was first introduced, and is apparently beneficial, no effort has been made to investigate its economic impact on farming systems in the region. This paper analyses data collected from farmers in parts of northeastern Ghana, and compares the traditional hand-hoe and BTT farming systems for both technical and economic efficiency. Although the data in this analysis are from a limited area, the information is valid for other areas using BTT.Crop production in much of the semi-arid and arid zones of Africa is affected by the unimodal rainy season and the predominant hand-hoe technology. In these areas, land preparation cannot take place during the dry season because the soils are too dry to be worked, and farmers must wait until the beginning of the rainy season before they can start land preparation.Because the rainy season is usually short, land clearing, seedbed preparation and planting must be accomplished quickly to ensure the highest production possible. Farmers invariably face labour shortages during the limited time they have for these operations. In households where the increased labour demand cannot be satisfied, planting can be finished on time by reducing the cropped area, or the required operations are completed late. In both cases, the economic performance of the household is negatively affected.Because bullock-using farmers can work faster on a given unit of land than the hoe households, they can use the time saved for new tasks, such as manuring, application of chemical fertilizers and thorough weed control, which are crucial to improving agricultural productivity. Moreover, they are in a better position to increase the number of crops grown on a single piece of land.As a result of improved agronomic practices, productivity is expected to be higher under bullock farming than under hoe farming (Jäger, 1984). In areas where arable land is abundant, the time saved through BTT can be used to expand the cultivated area. Crop production will rise because of the extra output from the additional land brought under cultivation. Other benefits of changing from hand-hoe technology to any form of animal traction are reduced labour requirements per unit output and increased cropping intensity.The data in this paper were collected in three villages (Nakpanduri, Sakogu and Gbingbalanchet) in the northeastern part of northern Ghana from April 1982 to March 1983 (Panin, 1986). These settlements are inhabited mostly by people from the Mamprusi, Bimoba and Konkomba ethnic groups. Unlike in many parts of northern Ghana, the population density in the northeast is high. Even though the exact figure is not available, there is an indication that the area is approaching population saturation (NORRIP, 1982), which is supported by Tripp (1982) who reported that the population density in some parts of northeastern Ghana exceeds 150 persons km -2 compared with 17 persons km -2 for the whole region (Central Bureau of Statistics, 1984).The climate of the area is similar to that throughout northern Ghana. The rainy season is from June to September, and the average monthly temperature is about 30° C, with a maximum of 33° C recorded in March. The vegetation of the area is characterised by grass and scattered trees.Farming technology is still traditional; most farmers till their land with the traditional hand-hoe, but the use of animal traction is familiar in the area. About 20% of the farming population uses BTT, but only for ridging (Panin, 1986). Bullocks are the main draught animals used by the farmers. Unlike in other parts of West Africa where animal traction studies have been undertaken, no animal traction project had ever been established in the study villages before the farmers adopted BTT for crop cultivation.In the study area, as well as throughout northern Ghana, farmers cultivate two types of farmland; the compound farm, which surrounds the house, and bush farms, which may be located up to several kilometres from the house. The compound and the bush farming systems are based, respectively, on the principles of permanent and shifting cultivation (Benneh, 1973;Diehl and Runge-Metzger, 1985). Chemical fertilizers are known to the farmers, but are rarely used for crop production because supplies are both inadequate and irregular.During the year of investigation, data were collected from 42 randomly selected farming households. Twelve of these households were classified as hoe farmers, since they did not own draught animals and almost exclusively used the hoe for seedbed preparation. The other 30 households belonged to the animal traction group. Each had at least one pair of bullocks which were used to prepare seedbeds for almost all the cultivated land. The sample was stratified into three groups according to the experience acquired from the use of the animal traction technology in order to evaluate the impact of this experience on farmers' performance (see Panin, 1986). For this reason, the animal traction sample was purposely over represented.The hoe sample was chosen from 492 hoe households from all the three villages. Similarly, the bullock sample was selected from 122 bullock households. Data were collected through direct measurement, observation, and formal and informal interviews. The frequency of the interviews depended on the nature of data required. During the survey period, each plot was mapped, measured, and the crops grown were recorded, as was daily labour. Household labour, nonhousehold labour, and farming operations performed by each category were recorded separately. The labour record did not include the time spent walking to and from the fields.Crop yield estimates were recorded in local units of measure (baskets, pans and bowls), as indicated by the households during the triweekly visits of enumerators. A sample of the containers was randomly selected and the contents were weighed to establish kg per container. Later in the analysis, total crop output of each plot was converted into kilocalories (kcal) to provide a common basis to measure the different crops grown on a plot. Yields of minor crops, and their share of total cultivated area per household, were excluded from the analysis. Minor crops were yam, cassava, sweet potatoes, okra, tobacco, aubergine and pepper.Household income and expenses were obtained through weekly records of sales and purchases. Income from non-farm activities was recorded monthly. In order to have uniform prices for the evaluation of food purchases and sales, prices of food crops were recorded every market day. Since food commodities were sold by local volume measures, the kg equivalent of these measures was established each time the price was recorded.Both hoe and bullock households were large, polygamous, and had a high level of illiteracy. Bullock households were larger, with an average of 14.5 members compared to 10.8 in the hoe households (Table 1). When the number of workers was compared, either in terms of adults (defined as persons aged 16-55 years) or total labour capacity, bullock households had a larger labour force than the hoe households. The total labour capacity of a household was derived by using a weighting system to convert all household members from the age of six into standard man-working equivalents. The respective mean differences of household size and number of workers between the two groups of households were highly significant (Table 1). In the bullock sample, the household heads were older. The adoption of BTT correlated with the age of the household head. In the analysis, the correlation coefficient, while significant (P< 0.05), was only 0.32. Age was a principal motive for 37% of the heads to shift from hand-hoe technology to BTT. Since cattle are kept more for security than for farming, it is most likely that the household heads, who control the cattle, release bullocks for cultivation only when they are too old to use the hoe for seedbed preparation.The average number of cattle per bullock household was 17.3 compared to 1.5 per hoe household (Table 1). While every household in the bullock sample owned at least one cow or ox, 75% of the hoe households had no cattle. With only one exception, bullock households owned cattle before adopting BTT for crop cultivation, which indicates that the first farmers to adopt BTT were those who already had cattle.The area cultivated per hoe household ranged from 1.4 to 7.4 ha, with an average of 3.7 ha. The average area cultivated per bullock household was 6.4 ha with a range of 1.3 to 10.5 ha (P<0.01). About 75% of the cultivated area of bullock households was ridged with bullock traction compared to only 8% of that of hoe households (Table 1).Any major increase in average cultivated area per bullock household is usually assumed to be an effect of BTT, but in many cases households using BTT have a larger labour force (Table 1), and thus the increased area may be due to a difference in scale. Because of differences in family size, the real impact of BTT on cultivated area is assessed using a land/resident ratio, i.e. a ratio that reflects the relative factor intensity of the production technology being used (Crawford, 1982).The average cultivated area is defined both in terms of hectares per household member and per adult (Table 2). Cultivated area measured both ways was greater for bullock households. On a per member basis, the bullock farmers cultivated 20% more land than the hoe farmers, but the mean difference was not statistically significant. Per adult, the bullock households cultivated only slightly more land (4%) than the hoe households, which again was not statistically significant. These figures compare closely to the findings of Barrett et al (1982). According to the analysis, BTT did not cause any significant change in the area cultivated per adult worker. This can be traced to the individual motives of the farmers for adopting BTT: only 27% said that the ability to farm more land was a motive, while the majority of the bullock farmers reported that larger farm areas increase the demand for labour to weed and harvest the crop if the technology package does not include weeding and harvesting equipment. The correlation between total cultivated area and the annual labour input in man-hours was 0.39 (P< 0.01) for weeding and 0.84 (P<0.01) for harvesting, which supports the farmers' views.Nineteen crops were grown in the study area. Based on the percentage of the total cultivated area planted with each crop, eight are considered major in both the hoe and bullock farming systems: millet (early and late), maize, sorghum, groundnuts, cowpeas, bambara nuts and nari (a sesame variety) (Table 3). Millet, maize and sorghum are the major food crops in the area, while the others are cash crops, of which groundnuts are the most important. Nari (sesame variety) 0.8 0.9Others 1 1.3 1.51 Okra, pepper, garden eggs (aubergine), tobacco, sweet potatoes and yams. The cultivated areas of these crops are usually very small.There was little difference between the two groups in the area planted to the major food crops, and in both systems these crops predominatedalmost 80% for the hoe households and 74% for the bullock households. The bullock households had 5.5% more land under cash crops. BTT had only a small effect on the cropping pattern and does not appear to put the staple food crops at risk.The 19 individual crops were usually grown in mixtures (Table 4). Bullock households allocated slightly more land to mixed crop enterprises than the hoe households. While farmers planted between two and five crops on a piece of land, the majority of the land (64% for hoe households and 54% for bullock households) was planted to only two crops. Of particular interest was the crop diversification in the bullock households. The bullock households allocated as much as 33% of their total cultivated area to mixtures of three or more crops, while the area covered by such crop mixtures in the hoe farming systems was only 17%. This relatively high level of diversification among the bullock farmers is consistent with one of their reasons for adopting the technology; 60% of the bullock sample said that diversification was a motive for BTT adoption. The bullock farmers were able to achieve greater diversification than their hoe-using counterparts because of per hectare labour time saved from ridging and planting operations.The effect of BTT on crop yield is not clear. Reports from experiment stations show that crop yields increase on animal traction farms (Eicher and Baker, 1982;Pingali et al, 1987), but evidence from farmers' fields indicates only modest yield increases (Lassiter, 1982). In this study, bullock households had average yields of 3327 kcal ha -1 , while those of the hoe farmers averaged 2861 kcal ha -1 , a 16% difference (Table 5: 0.01< P< 0.20). Regression analysis was done to determine the potential impact of BTT on crop yields at the plot level (Table 6). The analysis at this level also eliminates any underestimate of the BTT yield effect due to hoe farmers borrowing bullocks for ridging and/or to a failure of bullock farmers to ridge all their plots with BTT. Its results show that BTT had a positive impact on the level of crop yield (P< 0.01). This contrasts with most studies on animal traction which did not show any significant yield effect (Pingali et al, 1987). Total labour use per farm was greater in bullock than in hoe households (Table 7). On an average hoe-using farm, the total average annual labour input per hectare was 568 ME-hours, while on an average bullock farm it was 625 ME-hours. The mean difference was not statistically significant, but the result contrasts with those of similar studies (e.g. Barrett et al, 1982). The use of BTT significantly reduced the per hectare labour requirement for ridging from 42 MEhours under the hand-hoe farming system to 28 ME-hours (P< 0.05). Per hectare labour requirement for planting was also reduced, but the mean difference was not statistically significant. On the other hand, bullock farmers had higher clearing, weeding and harvesting labour requirements per hectare than the hoe farmers. However, none of the mean differences were statistically significant.The overall increase in labour-use intensity on the bullock farms should not be surprising, because besides ridging, which benefits most directly from the use of BTT, all the other operations are performed manually. The drop in labour input for planting is an effect of ridging, because planting or sowing is faster on ridged plots than on flat land.Increased labour requirements for clearing, weeding and harvesting may be explained as follows: The shift from hand-hoe to bullock traction technology requires that land be cleared more thoroughly. The usual practice in hoe farming is to burn the vegetation and leave the stumps and roots, whereas with BTT, stumps and roots must be removed to avoid potential damage to both implements and animals. The extra work initially increases the labour per hectare to clear the land, but this effect is likely to disappear after the first 2 years.  Deeper ridging enables both crops and weeds to grow faster, thus increasing the need for weeding on bullock farms. In addition, more diverse crops may also require more labour for weeding.  The higher crop yields achieved under bullock farming require more harvest labour.A linear regression analysis, which included farm size, household labour force, and the use of BTT (a dummy variable) as independent variables and labour intensity as dependent variable (Table 8), showed that overall, the use of BTT did not significantly affect the total labour input per hectare. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e4e67096f1c2064343cd9be84d97a83b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.netjournals.org/pdf/NJAS/2014/1/13-047.pdf","id":"2094493082"},"keywords":["Conventional seed system","local traditional seed systems","integrated seed systems","communitybased seed system","seed industry"],"sieverID":"295d6799-98f7-4e40-9701-50594ebf8fab","content":"This review gives key information about seed systems with the objective of helping countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to design appropriate strategies based on their own local realities. It starts with an in-depth assessment of the rice seed sector and emphasizes the factors that can influence its development. These factors may be associated with the biological characteristics of the rice crop, the complexity of farming systems, the policy environment, and the markets. The historical background of the seed sector in SSA is described in order to give a clear picture of the different attempts to find solutions in different countries and sub-regions. Five major strategic models and several alternative seed strategies are identified. However, local traditional seed systems will remain the primary source of seed supply for the majority of farmers for many years to come. These systems are based on farmer-saved seed and farmer-to-farmer seed exchanges, which are efficient tools in seed dissemination and food security. It is time to recognize local traditional systems and their contribution to the maintenance of seed quality and crop diversity and to develop tools for their better utilization. The community-based seed system (CBSS) is proposed as such a tool. CBSS encourages technicians to recognize local traditional seed systems and to build integrated seed approaches that take into consideration local realities and the socio-cultural dimension of seed within African communities. This will likely require a transition period of 5 to 10 years to build the fundamentals of sustainable seed systems through the structuring of the seed sector and the creation of appropriate conditions to ensure food security, enriched biodiversity and sustainable production. With climate change, local traditional seed systems, as well as integrated seed approaches, will likely play a more important role to improve the performance of agricultural systems while ensuring farmer autonomy.African agricultural productivity is generally low, especially among poor smallholder farmers. A range of factors explains this low productivity, including the infrequent availability of improved varieties that are well adapted to low input systems and the absence of appropriate policies to encourage the development of the seed sector and ensure the sustainability of farming systems. Indeed, national seed systems are unable to meet farmers' needs for quality seed of improved varieties for intensive agricultural systems.Most farmers regularly resort to using traditional local varieties and associated knowledge in seed production through farmer-saved seed, seed conservation, and seed diffusion. Usually, these varieties are not officially recognized. They are, however, efficient in maintaining diversity within the rice crop as a source of sustainability and adaptation to climate change. Röling and Wagemakers (1998) suggest that it is important to look at agriculture as one of the oldest ways in which humans modify ecosystems to produce the goods and services they desire. For them, agriculture plays a leading role in issues of land degradation, habitat loss, ecosystem loss, water scarcity, pollution, energy, and climate modification. Developing more sustainable agro-ecosystems will likely require seed systems that involve strong links between agriculture, ecology and society.The issue of appropriate seed systems has been raised many times during recent decades and came to the forefront specifically in 2008 when food prices soared and seeds of food crops were not available. Most Western and Central African countries tried without success to import seeds from East Africa, mainly from Uganda. Others initiated relief programs with assistance from donors and technical partners (including the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), African Development Bank, World Bank, West African Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and European Union. These actions are worthy but not enough to efficiently face farmers' needs in the long term.Interventions by the private sector are erratic and limited to hybrids and high added value crops (cash crops and vegetables). Cereals are, in general, covered by private companies only when government subsidies are available.It is, however, important to remember that seed is the first input in agriculture. Guaranteeing farmers' access to quality seed can only be achieved if there are viable seed supply systems to multiply and distribute the seeds that have been produced or preserved and if mechanisms to assist farmers in emergency situations have been established. To that end, agricultural policies must emphasize seed strategies that can ensure the availability of locally appropriate varieties to men and women farmers in a timely and affordable fashion.Rice is used as an example in this paper, as it is a food crop which is mainly cultivated in subsistence agriculture and, at the same time, as a cash crop. This means that different seed systemsboth local traditional and conventionalare used. To better address the issue, it seems necessary firstly to give a clear picture of ricefarming systems, secondly to call attention to positive impacts but also limits of conventional and traditional local seed systems, and thirdly, to raise questions related to integrated seed strategies and decentralized approaches.The evolution of the seed sector is in general tightly linked with the evolution of research and development approaches in Africa. Three major periods can be identified: (i) Before independence to the 1980sthe provision of seeds was state-managed; (ii) 1980 to 1990s the seed sector was liberalized and privatized; (iii) 1990Net J Agric Sci 12 to 2013the role of farmers' groups is increasing.During the first years of independence, African countries focused on the development of the state farm sector, communal villages and cooperatives. The period was characterized by the leadership of state-managed companies, which controlled the whole seed value chain from seed production to seed commercialization and seed distribution. This system applied to most cash crops, including cotton, groundnut, and vegetables. Seed was sold to farmers' cooperatives by private companies such as SOFACO, Callivoire, and Semivoire in Côte d'Ivoire, Pioneer in Nigeria, and CFDT 1 in Senegal. These companies were supported by research institutes in Belgium, England, France, USA and elsewhere.Governments gave strong support for the development of the seed industry in many countries in Western and Southern Africa through the creation of seed stations, conditioning units, and storage facilities. National seed rules and regulations were elaborated with the objective of helping to develop seed markets. Seed laboratories were also created. Seed inspectors and technicians were trained with assistance from FAO and foreign countries (e.g. Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the USA). Strategic seed security stocks were established in many countries in case catastrophes occur (e.g. rice in Nigeria, soybeans in Côte d'Ivoire, groundnut in Senegal, and maize in Zimbabwe).Regarding cereals, only irrigated rice and maize benefitted from state support, while rainfed crops, owned by the family farm sector, were more or less neglected and populations suffered greatly from seed shortages during the droughts of 1968 and 1974.This period corresponds with the liberalization/privatization of the seed sector. The process started at the end of the 1980s. The equipment that had been acquired by the states was sold and state-managed companies privatized. Private seed companies were encouraged to become established and to take positions of leadership (Cromwell, 1996). However, the process did not survive long and most seed companies collapsed. Markets were small because they were limited to irrigated zones within national boundaries.Moreover, the process of liberalization/privatization of the seed sector has also had a negative impact on the evolution of the national seed services and national seed policies. Consequently, in all countries national seed programs collapsed gradually.During this period, more responsibility was given to farmers and the private sector. Many seed farmers' groups and professional unions such as -interprofessions‖ (rice inter-branch organizations) were created. Local private seed companies emerged but many collapsed at an early stage of development because of narrow markets and lack of information on seed demands from farmers. With the exception of a few countries (such as South Africa where the commercialization of hybrid maize and vegetables is well organized), there is very little evidence of successful commercial seed sector development. However, since the 2008 food crisis, the situation has improved greatly. Several farmers' groups were able to access subsidized credit for seed in most western, eastern, and southern African countries. In particular, in countries of West Africa (e.g. Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali and Senegal), this opportunity was extended to long-term investments for tractors (and accessories) and seedprocessing machines. Harmonized seed rules and regulations were adopted in Regional Economic Communities. This environment has led to the development of many small-scale private companies and rural seed enterprises.Many factors have been identified as having key influences on the development of the rice seed sector. Among them the following factors were recorded as playing a key role in the development of the seed sector: (i) specificity of the biology of the rice crop; (ii) complexity of production/farming systems; and (iii) policy environment.The structure of floral organs and the brief period of receptivity of the pollen grains have allowed rice to become an autogamous and self-pollinating crop. Rice flowers are generally self-pollinated because of a number of limiting factors (length of style and anthers, structure of the stigma, limited pollen viability, brief period of opening of florets, and release of pollens (between 30 s and 9 min) (Morishima, 1984;Oka and Morishima, 1967;Oka, 1988). This characteristic is important as it favors the conservation of rice seeds with unvaried characteristics for several years because of the very limited rate of outcrossing. This can occur but does not usually exceed Bèye and Wopereis 13 0.05% for cultivated rice species (Oka, 1988). It has been reported that the outcrossing rate of wild species is higher. In the case of red rice biotypes, depending on the humidity level and the temperature, the outcrosses can be as high as 0.2% (Shivrain et al., 2009).The actual upland and rainfed lowland rice seed systems in Africa consist of the management and use of ownsaved seed and informal sharing in the good years when there are no problems, and sourcing seed from the local grain markets when there is a shortfall in farmers' ownsaved seed. These are individual transactions where the farmer usually knows the seed seller and is able to verify the origin of the seed being considered for purchase. The Communities' Trust makes grants to support seed exchanges and seed commercialization in this situation, representing a form of seed certification.Rice is grown mainly in four major agro-ecological systems: upland, hydromorphic, lowland and irrigated.The farming systems differ from each other in terms of constraints and potentials. Rice species are usually adapted to grow in at least two ecosystems. In some exceptional cases they are suitable for all four ecosystems but differ in productivity (from 1 to 8-10 metric tonnes per hectare) and in quality (e.g. protein content, palatability, and presence of aroma).Each crop variety may be adapted to a particular type of soil, climate and growing season. Its genes may endow it with traits needed by farmers: disease resistance, cold or heat tolerance, special taste or nutritional qualities, etc. These qualities provide farmers and plant breeders with raw materials to improve their crops and adapt them to the changing environmental conditions.Concerning seed production, two major ecosystems can be distinguished: irrigated and rainfed zones.Although Africa has large water resources with irrigation potential for 90 million hectares, crop land that is currently irrigated represent less than 10% of the existing potential, that is, much less than in India (26%), the Philippines (40%) and China (44%). Most of the irrigation schemes are located within the major drainage basins (e.g. Congo, Nile, Niger, Orange, Senegal and Zambezi) and lakes (e.g. Chad, Victoria, and Tanganyika). They represent only 3% of all cultivated areas in SSA (FAO, 2006a). As shown in Figure 1, each agroecological ecosystem is subject to its own particular constraints.Under irrigation, seed production is conducted under intensive conditions using in many cases the  conventional seed system. Irrigated zones are known for utilizing improved varieties because of their high value returns. Credit is available for farm inputs such as fertilizers and seeds. In the rainfed ecosystems, which cover roughly upland, hydromorphic, and lowland areas, farmer-saved seed is common. The environment is characterized by small and dispersed farmers' plots. Resource management practices are often complex and interdependent.In these systems, diversity is the norm and farmers cultivate a great number of rice varieties (up to 10 in some households in forest zones) in association with tubers and roots, maize, and legumes (Figure 2). By mixing crops, farmers reduce risk in case natural catastrophes occur (such as drought and flooding), reduce crop losses from pests and diseases, and make more efficient use of farm labor (Dixon et al., 2001).The policy environment relates to the existence of seed legislation, variety registration, the functioning of the national release committees and national seed services with real capacities to conduct seed certification, and access to credit and markets.Until recently, most African countries did not have a conducive policy environment. Agricultural policies adopted in the first years of independence favored collective farming and state farms. In countries like Côte d'Ivoire, for example, big state seed stations were opened in Touba and Odienne under the ‗Office des semences et plants'. In Touba, storage facilities were installed to store up to 3,200 tonnes of seed of soybeans and 1,600 tonnes of rice seed. A seed-testing laboratory (Laboratoire national des semences et plants) was created in Yamoussoukro with the objective of giving support to private seed companies. Indeed, all investments in the agricultural services were geared towards the development of the commercial farming sector.However, it should be mentioned that in general, seed testing, wherever it exists, is centralized and suffers budgetary constraints. Farmers are asked to pay for field inspections and laboratory controls and for technicians to travel to conduct field visits. Those who do not pay cannot benefit from seed controllers and their seed is not certified. Therefore, policy measures and guidelines emanating from governments concerning the seed sector do not address the real needs and problems of the smallscale or subsistence farmers.In the last two decades, FAO, in collaboration with the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) centers, sub-regional organizations (Southern African Development Community [SADC], Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa, and West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development), and European, American, and Japanese governments assisted most countries in Western, Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa to elaborate national legislation and to train national inspectors and laboratory controllers. In addition, harmonized regulatory frameworks and regional varietal catalogs were developed at regional levels (the examples of West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), Comité permanent Inter-Etats de Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). That means private companies can now evolve beyond national political frontiers. Henceforth, at least in theory, once a variety is released in a country, it is possible to sell its seeds in all the countries belonging to the same agro-ecological zones within the same sub-region.Indeed, the harmonized seed rules and regulations are still difficult to implement on the ground despite state approvals. Firstly, statutory seed standards adopted by the sub-regions seem to be high because they are extracted, without any deep adaptation, from existing seed standards derived directly from European standards. Consequently, they are relatively difficult to achieve by most small seed producers. Secondly, national seed boards and seed control infrastructures are still not operational in most countries. Thirdly, seed regulations are never a finished business. Alongside technologies, seed legislations need to be adapted. Seed Bèye and Wopereis 15 regulations targeting simple varieties are not the same as those covering hybrids or genetically modified organisms.In both Africa and Asia, rice is considered as a cash crop only in irrigated zones where it benefits from subsidies for seed and fertilizers, which are incorporated in the conditions for gaining access to credit. In rainfed zones, the situation is different. However, some successful experiences were recorded, mainly with maize (in Malawi and Zimbabwe), after the severe drought in the 1991/92 growing season, in the form of a -Starter Pack scheme‖ followed by the distribution of hybrid seed and fertilizer in subsequent seasons. The same good results were registered with maize in cotton-growing zones in Western and Central Africa.The development of the seed industry is weak in Western and Central Africa. Few private companies exist and they mainly focus on the production of maize and sorghum hybrids. Rice seed production is usually not attractive for the private sector due to its self-pollinated character. The value-added margin is very small. Once farmers get access to new varieties, they tend to use the seeds obtained for many years before renewing them. Despite this, it is important to mention that there are significant opportunities for the development of the seed sector. Seed is seen in all countries as the first input in agriculture. Farmers are constantly looking for new varieties. Especially with climate change, they look for varieties that are early maturing, tolerant of drought, iron toxicity, and acidity, or that are well adapted to flooding, bird damage or insect attacks.In these regions, the seed industry is well developed for most crops (maize, wheat, sunflower, and pulses) except for rice, which is dominated by the traditional local seed sector. However, some specificities can be underlined. In Tanzania and Zambia, for example, Quality Declared Seed (QDS) is widely used.In Tanzania, quality control is done on-farm by farmers, while the official seed certification authority performs spot-checking of the seed and occasional field supervision. The Tanzania Official Seed Certification Agency inspects only 10% of the crop.The QDS, developed by FAO, looks for less rigid seed legislations for countries that are not able to meet the International Seed Trade Association standards. According to Britt Granqvist, Denmark (2009), QDS is designed to assist the growth of the seed trade while encouraging the use of quality certified seeds.Truthfully labeled seed is also used. It is uncertified seed that meets minimum prescribed laboratory standards regarding the genetic purity, germination rate, and moisture content laid down for a variety. Through this, companies are allowed to do their own tests but are not authorized to carry official certification tags.In Asia, the seed industry benefited greatly from the effects of the Green Revolution in the 1960s to 1970s when parastatal agencies provided an institutional framework within which private companies could develop several seed activities including breeding, multiplication, processing, marketing, certification, and commercialization of seed of high yielding varieties.In particular, in South Asia (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh), private companies also benefited from seed processing units which were established with assistance from World Bank projects.Regarding policy issues, the optional seed laws on seed certification, together with the large market size, have helped India to develop a seed industry rapidly.In general, seed of self-pollinated crops like rice is subsidized both for private and public companies per kilogram of seed sold. Through this system, private companies are encouraged to provide farmers with rice seed. However, private companies target mainly hybrids while self-pollinated seed is under the responsibility of public companies.Private companies are encouraged to work at the level of provinces through incentives. Despite that, the replacement rate of self-pollinated seed per year is still lowaround 5% against 100% for hybrids (SeedNet India, 2002). Focus is then put on providing advice on production techniques such as seed sorting, germination rate testing, rouguing, on-time harvesting, and proper storage. Private companies are also authorized to provide seed processing and treatment services to farmers.Generally, three major seed systems and delivery models are registered in SSA countries:(i) The conventional seed system (ii) The traditional local seed systems (iii) The integrated seed system.Net J Agric Sci 16The conventional seed system includes both the public, or government, and private or commercial, seed sectors. Once a national release committee releases a variety, authorization to produce improved seed is given. At the beginning, just a few panicles (around 100) are planted to constitute Breeder seed (G0) from which Foundation seed (G1, G2 and G3), Registered seed (G4) and Commercial seeds (R1 and R2) are produced (Figure 3). The conventional seed system (also called the formal seed system) is intended to provide certified seed. The system is market-oriented and has uniform standards based on distinctness, uniformity and stability. The system is influenced by a large number of policies in research, variety release procedures, seed production, and trade rules and regulations with the objective on the one hand of protecting countries against the introduction of foreign pests (insects, diseases and weeds) and on the other hand, of organizing the functioning of the seed system at different stages, (e.g. identification of seed growers and their competences, field inspections and laboratory analyses, supervision of seed conditioning, regular visits to commercialization points). If a farmer is unhappy with the quality of the seed bought, cross-check analyses are conducted by national and, in some cases, international accredited seed laboratories and the bad seed batches are seized. Other administrative measures including legal actions can also be taken.The conventional seed system seems to be designed mainly for cash crops. Others crops particular to smallscale farming systems get little attention. They benefit from farmer-saved seed through farmer-to-farmer seed exchanges.The systematic promotion of uniform improved varieties has led to decreased genetic diversity, both within and between varieties and species. According to Hoisington et al. (1999), this is mostly due to the widespread replacement of genetically diverse traditional varieties or landraces by homogeneous modern varieties.It has been suggested that the resulting crop genetic homogenization is a threat to the sustainability of production systems, and several studies now emphasize the importance of both inter-specific (Altieri, 1999(Altieri, , 2001;;Lin, 2011) and intra-specific crop diversity (Macfadyen and Bohan, 2010).In spite of an increasing number of registered crop varieties since the 1960s, the majority of agricultural land in developed countries is now covered with a few -winning‖ productive varieties, with generally a single crop per field, so that the actual cultivated diversity is low (for examples from France, see FranceAgriMer and In Africa, several cases were recorded. Among them, one can cite:(i) The rapid evolution of the Cassava Bacterial Blight (Xanthomona saxonopodis pv. Manihotis) and the mealy bug (Phenacoccus manihoti) or the Cercospora of banana in the 1980s;(ii) The destruction by the groundnut rosette virus of part of the Bambey groundnut collection of seeds, in 1952;(iii) The destruction in Northern Nigeria by the groundnut rosette virus of 0.75 million hectares of groundnut that were cultivated under the variety 55 to 437 (Yayock et al., 1976).It is now accepted in the developed countries that crop genetic diversity has been decreasing steadily in the agricultural landscapes since the early 20th century (FAO, 1997; Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2006). The decrease of crop genetic diversity (also called genetic erosion) has also had a very negative impact on the existence of wild species and landraces that represent very important sources for food security but also, for plant breeding. These materials are frequently used in plant breeding with the objective of developing specific breeding programs for micronutrient-content improvement including wild species (Louwaars et al., 2003).Nowadays, many crosses are being made to enrich the genetic diversity of species. For example, at the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), many crosses were made between Oryza sativa and O. glaberrima (cultivated crops) with wild species like O. longistaminata, O. barthii and O. stapfii. These species offer many advantages in terms of adaptation to climate change and to different ecologies of upland, lowland, irrigated mangrove zones and deep water. They offer also made available to the target populations in order to improve their nutritional status and health, to children suffering from avitaminosis, and to diseased populations suffering from diabetics and high blood pressure.Since the structural adjustments that occurred in the 1980s in the developing countries, the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of public seed supply systems was recognized (Cromwell and Wiggins, 1995). In Senegal, for example, less than 80% of the seeds used by farmers in the 1970s were farmer-saved seed (Venkatesan, 1994); but this has increased drastically after the structural adjustments.From that period, many national development structures and seed services have been significantly reduced while the involvement of private companies has not been effective. Several companies tried to take over the vacant places left by national development structures but had to give up quickly. The market was narrow and not well structured. Recently, in the last two decades, alternative seed strategies for smallholder seed supply have been developed in several countries (Rohrbach, 1997;FAO, 2006b). An example is the QDS in Tanzania and Zambia.Other seed classes are used in some countries in Eastern Africa: Guaranteed Seed in Mozambique, Standard Seed in Botswana, Commercial Seed in Kenya and Uganda, and Approved Seed in Malawi. In West Africa, precisely in Senegal, private Authorized Technicians are accredited to conduct field inspections instead of State Inspectors.Alternative strategies to the conventional system are used in many SSA countries with the objective of improving farmers' access to improved varieties. They differ from one country to another but they all tend to transfer more responsibility to farmers. This is really interesting because farmers look all the time for different types of genetic materials including landraces, breeding lines and neglected species. In addition, farmers are the only ones who know what their own needs are.Traditional local seed systems are filling the large gap created by the poor performance of the public sector and the low interest from the private sector (Ntare, 2001;FAO/TCIW, 2002;TripleLine, 2008). These are mainly traditional, informal systems operating at the community level through seed exchange mechanisms. Farmer-saved seed is the most common way to obtain seed. Farmers also use other diverse seed supply sources. They get seed from friends, relatives, extension agencies, and research. They also from time to time purchase seeds from the local markets (Haugen, 2001).These systems offer a range of landraces, local cultivars and improved varieties that are accessible and are of acceptable quality. The systems are often described as operating at the local level. Therefore, they offer cheaper and more efficient ways of delivering seed to farmers especially at low or no transaction costs.Traditional local seed systems are also wonderful sources for the development and the maintenance of the diversity of crops within and between species and their wild relatives (Almekinders and Louwaars 1999;Jarvis et al., 2000). According to Cary Fowler (2008), -diversity is one of the most fundamentally important resources for human life. This diversity is awe-inspiring. It provides the natural, biological basis of our ability to grow the food required today, as well as to meet the challenges of population growth, changing climates and constantly evolving pests and diseases.‖The diversity of varieties is high. It comprises local Net J Agric Sci 18 traditional varieties, landraces, improved varieties, and breeding lines. This is mainly typical for rainfed upland rice cultivation. According to Haugerud and Collinson (1990), it is recognized that farmers select cultivars on criteria that go beyond the yield potential envisioned in conventional plant breeding schemes. Cultivars of different maturities are often required to accommodate early or late planting, variability in rainfall, or compatibility with intercrops or rotations; storage characteristics often assume greater importance for the farm household than for the plant breeder; local food preparation techniques and preferences often favor one cultivar over another; utilization of non-grain biomass (e.g. leaves, stalks) for fodder, fuel, or building and other uses. These factors are not ethnographic curiosities but rather form part of the rigorous selection criteria that farmers use in accepting, or rejecting seed of a new cultivar.As usual, in SSA, the diversity of the varieties is maintained by some families who are given the responsibility to take care of them on behalf of the communities (for example, ruling families in any traditional community). Whatever happens, the local communities have to respond altogether. In fact, seeds are vehicles of the civilization and the traditions and have to be made available to all members of the communities.In Casamance (south Senegal) for example, in the Diola ethnic group, the King has the duty to conserve all existing varieties for several generations, including varieties with special taste, nutritional values or important socio-cultural values linked with religious and cultural ceremonies (e.g. spreading of seeds of some selected varieties during marriage ceremonies as sign of fecundity, feeding of circumcised young boys with red 2 and black 3 rice). The King has also to ensure that everybody is able to plant the needed variety at the appropriate planting time.Although National Seed Strategies refer to the local traditional seed systems, the National Agricultural Policy Documents do not make reference to them. In countries like Senegal, these are called ‗Reserves personnelles'. Seed legislations do not recognize them and do not provide a way for them to be formalized. Consequently, local traditional seed systems are known as the ‗informal seed sector', which means -non official‖, or -out of law‖. However, local varieties sell well in local markets or through seed fairs and voucher systems (e.g. in Burkina Faso, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda).Traditional local seed systems are not market-oriented and consequently do not use the same norms as conventional seed systems. Seed certification is here done by whole communities who rely on field observations and on trust. This is called ‗social certification'. In reality, once a farmer has been deceived by the quality of the product given by a provider, all other farmers will boycott the provider forever. Farmers operate mass-selection, which is conducted each cropping season. Sometimes, varieties are developed through selection of new characteristics that appear spontaneously in the populations. This process of renewal is associated with -informal‖ seed exchanges, -local‖ or -traditional‖ social structures and systems of knowledge, which can in fact be very modern (in agroecological terms, for instance).Farmers' varieties are selected and produced most often for the producer's own consumption; the quality of farmer varieties obeys superior standards. This is typically true regarding nutritional values and taste. According to \"Seeds and Farmers' Rights\" (2011), this is not the case for commercial varieties, selected principally for their returns and adaptation to industrial production methods, mechanization, transport, longevity on supermarket shelves, and other characteristics.That means that selection is a continuing process with a dynamic interaction between nature (agro-biodiversity) and farmers' careful selection and breeding. Figure 4 shows how traditional local seed systems function. Once a farmer gets a variety, he will usually first check its purity and germination rate. Then, he will plant it and at harvest time collect the best seeds to be stored for the next season. If the seed comes from outside (mainly from the market), the farmer will ask for advice from his friends and relatives, and sometimes from the local extension technician. Here, trust will be decisive. Figure 4 also shows that ‗social certification' is done at any time and at all stages (growing plant, seed).The system operates seasonally through four major activities: mass-selection, farmer-saved seed, seed exchange, and social seed certification. It benefits also from a regular provision of diverse genetic materials coming from outside (e.g. landraces, local and improved varieties, breeding lines). Another particularity of local traditional seed systems is that usually there is no clear difference between the consumed grain and the stored seeds. For the farmer, they are both important. In addition, the seed is of variable quality (of different purity, and physical and physiological quality) (Almekinders and Louwaars, 1999). The steps in seed choice, multiplication, dissemination, and storage take place as integral parts of farmers' production systems and are guided by local technical knowledge and standards and by local social structures and norms (Sperling and Cooper, 2003). This way of acting prevents huge losses of seeds. However, traditional local seed systems are exposed to external catastrophes like natural disasters (drought, floods or pest outbreaks) and civil wars. Seed movements are intensive within the local communities and even beyond.While saving seed and even exchanging seed with other farmers for biodiversity purposes has been a traditional practice, these practices have become illegal for the plant varieties that are patented or otherwise owned by some entity (often a corporation). Under Article 28 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement), \"planting, harvesting, saving, re-planting, and exchanging seeds of patented plants, or of plants containing patented cells and genes, constitutes use\" and is prohibited by the intellectual property laws of signatory states (Vellve, 1992).Significantly, farmers in developing countries are particularly affected by prohibitions on seed saving. There are some protections for re-use, called \"farmer's privilege\", in the 1991 International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV Convention), but seed exchange remains prohibited. In contrast, in the USA the farmer's privilege is considered protected by the Plant Variety Protection Act and by case law stemming from Asgrow Seed v. Winterboer. American farmers may sell seed up to the amount saved for replanting their own acreage (The Crucible II Group, 2001).Farmers are good plant breeders. They constantly target the preservation and the maintenance of the diversity of species and varieties. They look for healthy and sustainable food systems for the benefit of their local communities, their economies, and environments. These concepts are different than those developed by the multinational companies which look for more profit through the monopoly of few varieties.According to Diamond v. Chakrabarty, companies may obtain patents for life forms while J.E.M. Ag Supply v. Pioneer, consider that seed saving is a patent violation (Mechlem and Raney, 2007). That situation has now evolved and farmers' rights are taken into account more and more.At the FAO Conference in 1989, member countries endorsed the concept of Farmers' Rights which was defined as -Rights arising from the past, present, and future contributions of farmers in conserving, improving, and making available plant genetic resources particularly those in the centers of origin / diversity‖. From that point, several developing countries defended farmers' rights as rights to: (i) Protect traditional knowledge; (ii) Share in the benefits of the use of genetic resources; and (iii) Participate in policy making relevant to genetic resources.Two interesting cases can be cited:1. In India: Farmers have the right to save, use, Net J Agric Sci 20 exchange, and sell farm-saved seed, but not on the commercial market. 2. In Ethiopia: Smallholder farmers have the right to save, use, exchange, and sell seed without restrictions. Commercial farmers may be allowed to save seed for food crops for national food security while export-oriented enterprises (horticulture) have to follow the international standard (no saving of seed).According to Louwaars (2012) These changes raise the hope that farmers' rights will be better preserved and farmer-saved seed recognized by researchers. Integrated seed systems conceal interests of both seed systems: conventional and traditional local systems.The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGR) adopted in 2001 offers opportunities for greater respect for farmers' rights by establishing an efficient and effective way of facilitating access to plant genetic resources while sharing the benefits from such a system in a fair and equitable way.The conventional seed system is known to be typically characterized by heavy and inefficient bureaucratic structures with classic seed regulatory frameworks and inadequate access to markets (Lipton and Longhurst, 1989;Tripp, 2001;De Boef et al., 1997).As mentioned earlier, the conventional system is market-oriented. That means the marketing component takes the lead in the chain. But in reality, this has not happened in SSA countries. The focus was put mainly on development aspects privileging breeding and seed production activities excluding commercialization for which the system is designed. That shift from marketoriented to development-oriented chains derives from the importance given by the private sector mainly to high value crops (cash crops and hybrids).In contrast, traditional local seed systems are more development-than market-oriented. Smallholder farmers operate in complex, risk-prone, and diverse environments. In such environments, it is difficult to use only one seed system. A diversity of approaches will be more consistent. However, the methodologies for seed regulation frequently constitute barriers for potential interactions between the conventional and the local traditional systems, other than those at the stage of germplasm collection and the commercialization of varieties (Tripp, 1997a(Tripp, , 1997b;;Louwaars, 1994a).In order to find appropriate solutions, several alternative schemes involving smallholder farmers were used by governments as well as non-government organizations (NGOs) in the 1990s (cases of Mozambique, The Gambia, and Zambia; Cromwell et al., 1992;Wiggins, 1992). Within those schemes, emphasis was usually put on seed production through contracts, supervision of the seed production, seed certification and seed processing. However, these schemes worked in parallel with local seed systems. They were also quickly captured by businessmen farmers, while stallholder farmers continued as usual to use farm-saved seed of both local and modern varieties.A new concept called Integrated Seed System Development (ISSD) was designed to support the development of programs and policies coherent with the local realities of farmers. The objective was to create a useful conceptual framework for developing coherence among seed practices, programs, and policies. The system is intended to integrate both the conventional seed system and local traditional seed systems at the technical and institutional levels (Louwaars, 1994b;De Boef et al., 1997).According to Louwaars and De Boef (2012), ISSD promotes two principles. The first principle leads to the facilitation of interactions between the conventional and traditional local seed systems by addressing the differentiation between development and market-oriented seed value chains in recognizing that no single public, private-, community-or NGO-based intervention can support seed sector development. The individual farmers themselves use different seed systems for different crops.The second principle considers that the seed sector development needs to be approached in a pluralistic manner, including public, private, community-based, or NGO stakeholders, each of them assuming specific responsibilities in dissimilar seed value chains.Through these approaches, ISSD has helped to better understand positive aspects as well as the limitations of conventional and local traditional seed systems. It accepts that all seed chains that play an important role in seed sector development, that is, instead of taking a linear approach (Douglas, 1980).Like ISSD, another scheme called the Community-Based Seed System (CBSS) was developed in 1997 by Africa Rice and the Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles. The system derives from lessons learnt from different seed sectors including cotton and maize, and other food crops, in-situ management of plant genetic Bèye and Wopereis 21 resources, and the socio-cultural dimension of the seed in African societies (Bèye and Bâ, 1998). CBSS aims to perfectly integrate the strengths and opportunities in both the conventional (for the production of Breeder and Foundation seeds) and the traditional local seed systems (for diffusion techniques of improved as well as traditional varieties). The system aims to help farmers to better meet their seed needs, and to become linked to the market (Bèye et al., 2009). It also promotes food security agro-biodiversity and reveals the sociological, ethnographic, and environmental values of farmer-seeds. Figure 5 shows interactions between the two types of seed systems. These interactions go beyond simple seed exchanges and adopt a pluralistic approach that promotes complementary seed sector development including: (i) The regular provision of improved genetic material (Breeder and certified Foundation seed of improved varieties) and (ii) The provision of quality seed of local cultivars and landraces (when needed).Figure 5 gives a clear picture of how the system functions at the community level and reveals four new functions of CBSS: adaptation of seed rules and regulations to local realities, enterprise development, decentralized quality control, and decentralized information gathering and diffusion. These four elements reflect the evolution of the system from its primary function targeting pure development-oriented prospects through awareness raising and training on production techniques to new functions targeting developmentand market-oriented and food security purposes.That shift has become compulsory when in 2004, as a result of the Africa Rice / Japan NERICA / CBSS-funded project; the farmer association COPROCOVIDA (Coopérative de Commercialisation des Produits Vivriers de Daloa) was unable to sell important stocks of seeds (600 tonnes of NERICA rice and 200 tonnes of maize of Acceptable Quality Seed). This situation has brought to mind that the implementation of the NERICA/CBSS project has boosted the productions of seeds, but has also created new problems for farmers who were not used to condition, store, and commercialize such large quantities of seeds. Moreover, the farmers had regularly to look for insecticides and to pay for missions of the national seed services (NSSs) whenever governmentfunded projects wanted to buy seed.This is an important step towards the recognition of farmers' role in the supply of seeds, the in-situ conservation of the agro-biodiversity and crop genetic diversity, farmers' knowledge and farmers' rights. This will also bring plant breeders and farmers together to work more closely in variety development, variety evaluation, and variety release. As mentioned by  Haugerud and Collinson (1990), apart from yield, farmers like grain quality, storability, suitability for intercropping, and the use and value of crop residues. These criteria may all influence their decisions about variety adoption. By adapting rules and regulations to local realities, policy makers will be helped to better consider the importance of the identification of farmers' needs, on-farm seed production and exchange, and the maintenance, development and registration of local varieties and landraces. Indeed, small-scale farmers perceive local varieties and landraces to be more adaptable to their agro-ecology, give stable yield, perform better under low soil fertility or low inputs, have good grain quality and are suitable for preparation of traditional foods (Bishaw, 2004).The development of a policy framework which favors the recognition of local traditional seed systems alongside with the formal one will surely be beneficial for all stakeholders while targeting food security and sustainability of agricultural systems.As related in -The CBSS Technician's Manual‖, Bèye et al. (2009) raised the question of specialization of individual farmers and farmers' associations in the production of quality seed. This will likely occur through: (i) The establishment of strong farmer groups which are capable of organizing seed production and seed commercialization activities including seed production planning, collecting and storing; (ii) The promotion of the quality seed of selected varieties for their specific characteristics; (iii) Working to increase resilience of farms, amongst other means by stimulating diversification of revenues and agro-biodiversity; and (iv) Connecting farmers to providers of inputs and credit.Enterprise development is also meant to strengthen farmers' organizational capacities and to help them become -seed enterprises‖. Enterprises are expected to work in close collaboration with other stakeholders mainly public-private institutions on common social, economic, and environmental issues in a stimulating and enabling environment.The concept of decentralized seed quality control is not new. It has been used with success in Western Africa, in Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire, and in Eastern and Southern Africa in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.In Senegal for example, Authorized Technicians (ATs) assist Inspectors and Regional Seed Officers by monitoring most declared seed fields. These are private agents who are trained to conduct field inspections. For Bèye and Wopereis 23 about 10 years, field inspections have been conducted in the Senegal River Valley by private agents for 60 USD per hectare per cropping season. In this way, seed producers from UNIS (Union Nationale Interprofessionnelle des Semences) are able to produce annually around 2500 tonnes of certified seed which is enough to cover more than 50% of local seed needs in the irrigated zones of the River Senegal and Anambe. The remaining seed is sold in Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, and The Gambia.In the case of CBSS, the seed quality control is totally decentralized. It is run by individual farmers and farmers' groups who are trained to produce quality seed. These farmers and farmers' groups are monitored by Quality Control Farmers (QCFs) and ATs who are trained and accredited by the NSS (where it is functioning) or the Directions of agriculture. QCFs monitor the traceability of the seed and conduct seed quality controls for three parameters: physical purity, germination rate and moisture content. This work benefits from support from ATs and supervision at distance from the NSS. All the collected information, after verification by the leaders of the farmers' associations, is sent by smartphone to the central website: www.semence.org.CBSS enables smallholder farmers to meet their seed requirements by improving their know-how for addressing basic seed production practices and the quality maintenance constraints. Consequently, it provides a good opportunity for farmers' organizations to improve the supply of quality seeds in their communities and to gradually develop into viable seed enterprises. Market aspects are monitored and promoted through cyber-seed centers which at any time give information including details of available seed stocks and their characteristics (germination rate, moisture content, physical purity, and, in some cases, the presence of weed seeds), and the proposed prices and trends of productions by variety (Bèye, 2008).A key element to improving agricultural production is the timely provision of accurate information in response to requests made by end-users of agricultural information (inputs, agricultural products).A number of initiatives have come up to address this problem such as the provision of market information system, agricultural advisory services, rural radio, and village phones. These initiatives provide farmers with agricultural information but in most cases they are not easily accessible by farmers to meet their specific information needs. Especially for seed issues, they are not well adapted. Therefore, new tools were elaborated based on the work done by QCFs through a decentralized data gathering system called the -Cyber-  seed network‖ (Figures 6 and 7).The major challenge is in making the appropriate information broadly available to farmers through the multitude of national and NGO programs in a form whereby they can absorb the most relevant elements into their own practices. The creation of Internet access centers in a cyber-seed network can help farmers and seed suppliers to communicate with traders outside of their immediate surroundings (Bèye, 2008). This goes in parallel with available other existing marketing and information tools.Nowadays, most farmers continue to manage and use a portfolio of varieties, often both local landraces and modern varieties.Local landraces continue to play a crucial role in many farming systems for two major reasons (Support for the Informal Seed Sector in Development, 2000):1. The seed of landraces is readily available, and 2. Landraces are usually adapted to the local growing conditions, the low-input cultivation practices, and the needs of the farm.Cyber-seed centers give relevant information about landraces and their importance for the communities (e.g. diversity of ecosystems, low-input systems, adaptation to the changing environment, disease resistance, health preservation, and nutritional elements).CBSS is used in many African countries as a solution to the lack of quality seed. However, often technicians from government and project-funded programs do not leave the system to run by itself. They focus on technical aspects of the seed production such as the respect of isolation norms, roguing of off-types, cultural practices. Organizational, commercial and institutional aspects that can favor the development of formal well-structured enterprises are not taken into account. In particular, the reinforcement of farmers' capacity building at the grassroots levels and social traditional aspects are neglected.Recognizing farmers' contribution can help upgrade the quality and the diversity of seed produced on-farm for onfarm use by individual farmers. Of course this will need adaptation of seed rules and regulations to local needs (Bèye, 2000;Bèye et al., 2009). The cases of Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal where the involvement of teams of ATs and QCFs in monitoring the quality of the seed are accepted represent good examples that need to be better explored. On that issue, Cromwell et al. (1993) call for the promotion of farmer-level seed production and the support of farmer-to-farmer seed exchange mechanisms.Several initiatives were also tested in Europe through the organization in networks like the -Réseau Semences Paysannes‖ in France and the -Rete Semi Rurali‖ in Italy (Bocci and Chable, 2009). Their members are farmers, consumers, and scientists working together in order to reconsider the scientific, technical, and legal aspects of seed production by establishing links between varieties with the terroir defined by its soil, its climate, its people, and their history.Starting from 1998, the European Union, concerned at the loss of agricultural biodiversity, proposed a new directive (98/95/EC) in which they envisaged the possibility of cultivating, exchanging, and selling varieties in danger of genetic erosion, known as ‗conservation varieties', as well as varieties adapted to organic agriculture, and mixtures of species and varieties. These new approaches will surely influence the development of the seed strategic models.Seed systems are run by using seed strategic models. The models are built based upon the roles of the different partners involved in the seed value chain and their knowhow but also the value chain orientation. In general, five strategic seed models are identified:(i) The seed sector is state-managed. (ii) The seed sector is run by research and extension institutions. (iii) The seed sector is run by private companies. (iv) The seed sector is run by smallholder farmers. (v) The seed sector is run by small-scale seed Bèye and Wopereis 25 enterprises.The seed sector is state-managed. Government interventions in the seed sector are favored mainly by the lack of a solid and well-organized private sector. The sector is usually subsidized at all levels (e.g. production, processing, certification, distribution). The focus on distribution, as opposed to marketing, does not facilitate the development of the seed sector. However, these interventions are worthwhile for a nascent seed sector and especially in countries emerging from civil wars or after disasters due to climatic catastrophes (e.g. droughts, flooding).The seed sector is run by research and extension institutions. This is a research-led approach. It makes seed of improved varieties available at farmers' level directly from plant-breeding plots through the production of Breeder and Foundation seeds. Through this approach, the whole seed system is controlled by the research and extension institutions. Local production and diffusion techniques are used (Jarvis et al., 2000). NSSs monitor seed production fields and seed stocks by spot-checking. Release aspects may face difficulties but can be improved during the experimental trials if participatory approaches (participatory varietal selection [PVS], on-farm field trials, demonstrations) are used efficiently by involving major partners (national seed and phytosanitary services), and end-users (farmers and the private sector).This model is used in all cotton-growing countries in Western and Central Africa. The model is interesting as it ensures a regular provision of Breeder and Foundation seeds and in some cases. Registered seeds are also covered. The approach can be used as a transitory mechanism (until the emergence of appropriate seed systems) if seed certification mechanisms are implemented especially at levels of Foundation and, sometimes, Registered seed.The seed sector is run by private companies. The model targets the development of a modern seed industry to African farmers through the development of national and regional competitive seed industries.As stated earlier, there are more and more seed companies that are interested in working on rice. In the past, these companies focused mainly on maize and sorghum hybrids and vegetables. Now, the situation for rice is improving because of the high demand for quality seed at national and regional levels. The harmonized rules and regulations in West and South Africa offer opportunities for the regionalization of the seed industries and the markets. ECOWAS and SADC regulations open a new avenue for variety release and seed trading in West Africa and South Africa.Harmonized seed laws will likely facilitate cross-border movement of seeds and provide a broader market for seed enterprises. It will also play a key role in seed security if space is opened to farmers who can then save, use, and market their seeds.The development of hybrid varieties may well open new areas of fruitful collaboration with smallholder farmers. It is expected that private companies will play a leadership role in the sector and will, at the same time, help to better structure seed production and quality control activities, operations related to information and marketing and food security.The seed sector is run by smallholder farmers. This is the case of local traditional seed systems, run by farmers themselves and partners that produce and market seeds, without direct control by government institutions that regulate commerce or seed activities. It is flexible and efficient for the diffusion of genetic materials.The model was extensively used by many NGOs and development agencies at the end of the 1990s. Several initiatives were undertaken including the provision of quality seed, fertilizers, and pesticides. Farmers' groups were also created. However, initiatives stopped at the end of projects. It seems that the real constraints of the model were not well addressed. In fact, few studies are conducted to understand how to improve the functioning of the model, which is more development-oriented than market-oriented. Social, cultural, and historical aspects should also be taken into account.The seed sector is run by small-scale enterprises. The provision of Breeder seed is part of the mission of centers' breeders -AfricaRice and National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS). However, NARS should be able to produce Foundation seed on request if they have sufficient financial resources and if regulatory procedures are respected (e.g. quality control and seed certification). In this case, they should make sure that the varieties are released according to the National or Regional regulatory procedures (harmonized rules and regulations are effective in West and East Africa).It is noted that in most SSA countries there is no functioning seed release board. In this case, it is recommended that the stakeholders (including farmers, Net J Agric Sci 26 the private sector, and technicians from the NSS) involved in the PVS and on-farm trials should give approval for the release and the diffusion of the selected varieties after submission of the passport data of the varieties by the research institutes. Both conventional and community-based seed systems can be used under this model for the provision of certified Foundation seed by research institutes and -Controlled‖ or -Seed of Acceptable Quality‖ seeds by small-scale enterprises. The approach offers good opportunities for smallholder farmers to get access to quality seed produced locally but also, to become better organized through the development of small-scale rural enterprises.Rural enterprises are close to farmers and can help them to play a more consistent role in food security and in the preservation of the agro-biodiversity.Agro-biodiversity provides a source of diverse materials that can help communities better face changing climatic conditions with their influence on the growth of (new) crop pests and diseases, soil erosion, changing market conditions, and increasing population pressure.The five strategic seed models are all useful and can be implemented solely or in combination, depending on many factors that take into account the complexity of production/farming systems, the policy environment, socio-cultural aspects and market opportunities.In countries where the seed sector is in the infant stage (as in most of the Central African Republic, Chad and countries recovering from recent civil wars -Liberia, Somalia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan), emphasis should be put on interventions from the governments targeting the development-oriented value chain (Model I).In countries where the farming systems are characterized by multiple cropping and intra-crop diversity (many rice varieties in the same plot combined with other crops) and the use of farmer-saved seed due to the self-pollination characteristic of rice, models I, II and III seem to be more appropriate. In particular, in rainfed ecosystems, integrated seed systems should be promoted. As stated by the USAID 4 study on seed value chain (USAID Economic Growth Project /Senegal, 2009), in such systems the added value is low, and it is preferable to first target the strengthening of local seed systems by empowering technical, organizational, and managerial capacities of smallholder farmers. Model IV also seems here appropriate as it promotes the leadership of the smallholder farmers. Successful results were obtained through this model in Burkina Faso and Mali for the production of maize seed.In areas with high irrigation potential and where real economic profits can be made in the rice value chain, model V promoting private seed companies can be explored (South Africa, Nigeria, Uganda, and Kenya). In those areas, focus should also be put on the development of the traceability, and market and information skills.Whatever happens, countries should be careful in not looking at the seed systems as business tools only but rather as vehicles of civilization integrating the past and the present of a selected community at different levels (scientific, historical, social, cultural and economic).Seed should be seen as a product of the civilization which is destined to ensure food security, the sustainability of agricultural systems and the enhancement of biodiversity. That means seed strategies should be designed to be central to farming systems rather than the simply adding value (Bèye et al., 2013).Seed systems should offer a range of possibilities that aim at making farmer seed available at the community level while conserving agro-biodiversity and promoting rural innovations that are in phase with socio-cultural dimensions.In the case of CBSS, seed systems are first analyzed at the grassroots level. From there, seed systems are built based upon the improvement of the local farming systems, the exploitation of modern as well as local traditional varieties, the reinforcement of traditional seed diffusion networks and their linkages to the terroir.The concept of terroir embraces different components that give value to the seed at different levels (agricultural, environmental, nutritional, historical, social, cultural and economic) and its role within the communities. This is not easy to capitalize but researchers should know that the sustainability of the seed systems depends on the level of integration between all these components. This, of course, goes beyond the seed value chain, which looks mainly at the economic and financial profitability and at the risks foreseen.The African community should realize that seed systems can be built only through a long process endowed with conducive policy and appropriate delivery mechanisms.The recent 2008 food crisis has led the international community via the Governing Body of the ITPGR to encourage countries to remove barriers to the saving, exchange or selling of seed by directly supporting farmers' seed systems. The African Union for its part has developed an African Model of Law which aims to protect breeders and, at the same time, farmers' rights.These initiatives are reminiscent of those taken by India in 2001 through the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Act which gives possibilities of protecting plant varieties while enabling farmers to save, re-sow, Bèye and Wopereis 27 exchange, and sell new plant varieties developed by farmers and breeders. The case of India is interesting as it favors: (i) close collaboration between farmers and breeders; (ii) the development of participatory approaches (participatory varietal selection -PVS, participatory plant breeding -PPB) and (iii) the release of varieties coming from these approaches. After more than 50 years of trial and error, perhaps it is now time to go for -crash programs‖ that will allow farmers to have access to quality seed. It is observed that in Europe as well as in Asia, the development of the seed sector was enabled first by a strong commitment of governments through adequate policies including subsidies, credits, and markets. It is obvious that for a crop such as rice, which is self-pollinated and easily reproducible, the development of the African seed sector will definitely need assistance from governments and the recognition of locally produced seed.It is clear that farmer-saved seed and farmer-to-farmer seed exchange will remain the primary source of seed supply for the majority of farmers for many years. According to Bay (1997), farm-saved seed is a common feature of agricultural systems worldwide, particularly in self-pollinated crops and/or those systems where hybrids are not used. He estimated that in the mid-1980s, more than 35% of seeds planted were farm-saved (in the USA, for example, about 75% of seeds of self-pollinated crops like wheat, barley, and oats were farm-saved, while in Europe similar figures could be found).Referring to the complexity of the issue that will need flexible seed policies, it is recommended that a transition period of 5 to 10 years should be observed. That period will be used to:1. Learn more about: (i) Local farming systems and their adaptation in this challenging climate change environment; (ii) Farmers' seeds and their role in ensuring food security and enhance the agro-biodiversity in SSA; (iii) Impact of international rules and regulations on the development of the seed sector in SSA; and (iv) What the threats to the lack of room for farmers to produce, multiply, use, exchange, and sell the seeds of plants cultivated in their own fields are. 2. Build fundamentals of sustainable seed systems through: (i) The structuring of the seed sector and the creation of appropriate conditions for incorporating local indigenous knowledge into the national regulations. It is disappointing that farmers' rights are not taken into account in SSA; (ii) Reinforce traditional seed diffusion mechanisms in small farmer communities (Cromwell, 1990); (iii) Create conditions for all the interested private operators to develop seed industries that respect farmers' rights including the rights to cultivate and sell their own local varieties enriching by the same time the agrobiodiversity; (iv) Ensure the foundation of food sovereignty.At the end, the most important action is to reinforce the capacities of the small-scale farming systems to become stronger and sustainable. That means more diversified production, more biodiversity, and more income at community level but also, more employment of young boys and women in the rural areas and in the long run, the establishment of food sovereignty though the autonomy of the local seed systems.The autonomy of the local seed systems will likely offer to the communities the possibility of self-regulation, through the progressive adjustment of cultivation practices to different regions and to climatic variations.Autonomy will also allow the adaptation of the cultivated biodiversity to socio-economic and cultural changes, and to the needs of the human society that tends to it (de la Perrière and Kastel, 2011). It will help to break the barriers between the different seed systems while facilitating the appropriation by farmers of the best technologies for themselves and their communities. A better comprehension of sociological, ethnographic, humanistic (gender, ethnicity and history), environmental, and economic aspects of seed issues will be fundamental to shape appropriate seed systems targeting sustainability of the farming systems and food sovereignty."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"84a10e15869a85fcee8d42f02f88a25b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/214a76f1-5465-4259-81b2-d391fbe5c048/retrieve","id":"-88461814"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"097706d6-f68c-4b9b-9de6-db3b01270042","content":"• Innovation: New, improved or adapted outputs or groups of outputs such as products, technologies, services and institutional arrangements with high potential to contribute to positive impacts when used at scale.• Innovation Packages: Combinations of interrelated innovations and enabling conditions that, together, can lead to transformation and impact at scale in a specific context.• Scaling Readiness: Metric that combines single or average innovation readiness and innovation use scores at innovation package or portfolio level.• Profile all CGIAR innovations developed under the pooled portfolio    Self-directed survey tool that collects info on:• Innovation (name, description, type, etc)• Geofocus (country)• Lead and contributing Initiative(s)• Partnerships• Impacts (Impact Areas and SDGs)• (Changes in) Innovation ReadinessWill act as the baseline, and annual follow up surveys will enable track progress over time• Innovation Readiness:• Builds on NASA technology readiness levels (TRL)• Broadened to \"innovation\" readiness to capture the nontechnological innovations that R&D organizations work on (e.g. policy, capacity and business model solutions) • Focusses on assessing the development/ maturity stage of an innovation (is the innovation is proven to work?) • 0-9 levels ranging from Idea to Proven Innovation • Going from 0->2 is just as important as going from 7->9  T h e in n o v a tio n is v a lid a te d fo r its a b ility to achieve a s pecif ic im p act u n der s em i-con trolled con dition sT h e in n o v a tio n is b e in g te s te d fo r its a b ility to achieve a s pecif ic im p act u n der s em i-con trolled con dition sT h e in n o v a tio n is v a lid a te d fo r its a b ility to achieve a s pecif ic im p act u n der fully-con trolled con dition sT h e in n o v a tio n is b e in g te s te d fo r its a b ility to achieve a s pecif ic im p act u n der fully-con trolled con dition s De t e r mi ne t h e l e v e l t h a t b e st f i t s t h e c u rr e nt r e a d in e s s o r ma t u r i t y st a g e of t h e innovation.Read the innovation readiness level descriptions.  • Innovation Use:• Moves away from simplistic more=better thinking • Applies a network approach to measure diffusion of the innovation in the agricultural innovation system (who is using the innovation?) • 0-9 levels ranging from No use to Common use by beneficiary • Only for packages with (for example) scaling readiness of >36 or high scalability potential• Prioritization at the Innovation Package level around the \"lowest staves in the barrel\" (bottlenecks)• Fit-for-purpose partnerships and (co-)investment to overcome strategic bottlenecks• Baseline for MEL and adaptive management• Monitor whether investments and partnerships have led to increased scaling readiness"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"63ade09fea66146c4d2ecc76fcab4518","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/dc46e287-7aa9-4b47-9add-b76baf632e9b/retrieve","id":"-64896564"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e6fddd0f-0d3c-402c-bbc3-3141d0fdd834","content":"community-based capacity for managing technological innovation in agriculture, and that this will be a very significant output of the project.CIA T expects that farroer participation will improve access to new technology for an estimated 1,600-3,200 farro families during the life of the project. Improved welfare of small farroers and farro communities will result from direct food and income benefits generated by adoption of locally-adapted technology.El¡pected outcmnes of the ProjectThe overall goal of this project is to improve the welfare of small farmers in poor rural communities by institutionalizing their active role, through participatory methods, in generating appropriate agricultura! technology for their community.The development of local leadership for farmer participation in agricultura! technology development requires the project to build skills, experience and confidence among a1l participants in arder for farmers to be recognized by the scientific community as . capable partners in adaptive technology testing.Implementing participatory methods for adaptive technology testing at the community leve! will generate documented experience and systematic methodology which the project • distills into training materials. These materials are the basis for disseminating and multiplying the approach.Another outcome of this project is the implementation of a community-based organizational strategy for farmer participation in adaptive technology testing, involving the creation of farmers' local agricultura! research committees. Setting up sustainable farmer committees for adaptive research in rural committees requires the project to construct a completely new methodology for the organizational model or \"blueprint\" for farmers' committees.This organizational model could be called a social technology which the project is developing. As such the organizational model can be (and indeed already is being) adopted by other institutions. Experience is suggesting that the organizational model is the indispensable or necessary condition for building a truly participatory and sustainableThe project proposed to create up to six farmers Local Agricultura! Research Comrnittees (Comités de Investigación Agricola Local-CIAL) in each of three types of institutional setting: informal groups !inked with NGO's; in local government structure; and   in local farmer associations or cooperatives.Six CIAL were initiated in member associations of a regional farmers' marketing organization, CORMAC, sponsored by the Coffee Growers Federation. Of these, two comrnittees did not continue because there was friction in the communities over control of the comrnittee. However, three other associations of CORMAC have since requested CIAL Five CIAL were proposed in informal groups of agricultura! NGO's. The regional development NGO, CORPOTUNIA, sponsored by the Carvajal Foundation of Cali (Colombia) set up a new program cal!ed \"Programa CIAL\" in mid-1991. lt undertook the formation of eight CIAL together with the project.In the local government setting the project has encountered complete resistance by farmers to the idea of linking their community CIAL to local government. lntead farmers want to form their own associations, and to sponsor a CIAL as a nuc!eus of this effort. The project formed CIAL with five communities on this basis, with an understanding with the Carvajal Foundation that the \"Programa CIAL\" might take on these CIAL if the communities so wish. It appears that this is not an auspicious time to test the CIAL with local government in the pi!ot site, and that this situation is not like!y to change in the short run.  The first stage ClAL worked on their own initiative and with project staff to develop a set of statutes. Functions and responsibilities for each of four committee members were elaborated: the leader, secretaiy, treasurer and extensionist. A mechanism for accountability and community control was established. We recognized that for the CIAL to depend one hundred percent on farmers' voluntarism was not viable, when key research activities such as planting and hiuvesting come at peak times of labor demand.The principies of a small (US $500) fund for each ClAL were therefore elaborated.With the establishment of a fund, the opportunity to link the CIAL with development of financia! management, cost control, and entrepreneurial skills for farmers became apparent.Farmers became enthusiastic about making their fund grow and decided to reinvest profits from experiments in the fund. With the Carvajal Foundation \"Programa CIAL\", the project is defining further principies for a self-sustaining fund which will be managed by a joint committee of ClAL representatives in the \"Programa CIAL\"The CIAL has progressed as a concept and in reality from a group of volunteers who meet to participate in an experiment for evaluating agricultura! technology, to something different. Perhaps the CIAL might evolve to look like a small enterprise that finances itself from doing technology testing for the community. While this is still a hypothesis (or a vision) which has yet to be fully formulated, and proven, this year's work has laid the foundation for this type of development.actiyities of the CIAL: participatozy technoloc;y testingOnce the ~st CIAL had debated and accepted the organization and statutes for the CIAL they drew up with the project, they began the first of six steps in participatory methodology. NGO staff supported by the project personnel visited each CIAL every two weeks from diagnosis to planting, monitoring, analysis of results and their verbal report to their cominunity. Similar work began with the second wave of CIAL which planted their experiments in September, 1991.A farmer-designed seed production stratec;y for beansIn the previous phase of this project, farmers participated in the selection of improved varieties, showing the importance of including their criteria in the breeding process. In the pilot area, farmers identified severa! varieties which they began to multiply for seed and produce on a comercial scale, new to small farmers in the area. In November 1991 the variety PV A 773, selected and multiplied by the farmers' seed business, SemillasPescadoL was released by ICA AS \"ICA Caucayá.\"In response to the seasonal difficulties of marketing beans as grain, a group of farmers who had been participating in the varietal selections, decided to experiment with producing beans for seed.The project continues to facilitate the participatory decision-making of this group of seven farmers in evaluating and adapting seed production technology, methods and machinery to their needs and resources. This activity is described in more detail in Roa et al, 1991. Table 2 shows the volume of seed and number of farmers supplied in 1990-91. The farmers' seed production has been a seminal experience for the project because their experience showed us the tremendous importance of generating organizational and business management skills in connection with participatory research. In addition to participatory technology evaluation with seed producers the project meets regularly with them to monitor costs, marketing strategy, production planning and the decisions involved in the gradual creation of a small business enterprise.Towards the end of the last phase the Carvajal Foundation set up a marketing• experiment with the project to assess whether small farmers could sell poor quality beans that middlemen would often not accept except at a discount price. Farmers and their families selected and bagged in 1 lb bags 1.5 tons of dry beans which were rapidly sold in poor urban neighborhoods at the beginning of the harvest season. However once a glut of beans arrived on the market, poor consumers could buy the better quality beans at a lower price; the small farmers' inferior quality beans could not be so readily sold; and farmers had to wait severa! weeks to realize a sale. In addition the selection and bagging of grains required more labor at a peak season of hard work. Farmers decided it was not worth the extra work given the slow sales, and now only sell to the experimental marketing outlet when they can get a quick sale.One conclusion of this experiment was that a storage technology is required, but farmers are sceptical, expecting that the beans will lose color, weight and appeal to the consumer if stored. A second conclusion of the project was the need for a marketing organization to realize the benefits of new technology for small farmers. The CIAL, like the seed producers group, can be expected to have a significant effect on the demand for new technology and so on increasing production. But small farmers must have sorne channels for selling their product which allow them to be price-makers, not just price-takers, as is the case at present with beans.  (1991).The project continues to con tribute to CIA T courses in which participatory methods have become a regular feature (see Table 3).A field training-action program was carried out in June-July of 1990 at the request of the NGO FUNDAEC (the Foundation of the Application and Teaching of Science) to evaluate their 5-year cropping system trials and orient their staff in IPRA methodology.CEI.ATER (a networking NGO) organized a course with IPRA to introduce participatory methodology to agricultura! NGO's working in the Cauca area of Colombia.In July a training action program was set up with the \"Programa CIAL\", Corpotun1a, Carvajal Foundation, which meets every two weeks for 2 days (1 theory, 1 practice).Support to Kellogg-Funded Cassava Project, Brazil.The project associate visited this project for two weeks in May. She taught a workshop on participatory methods for participants in the Kellogg-funded project, who  Tralnfng strategy ard trafnlng materfals (!LEJA). Seed Systems for Small Farmers  they fonnulate recommendations they wish to give to the community. These verbal reports are given by the CIAL to the community, with project observers.lt is too soon to say how the CIAL will irnpact on technology adoption or incomes.However, significant progress in this area has been achieved by the seed producers (who function A a CIAL specialized in seed).The Farmer participation has also stimulated the developrnent of appropriate rnachinery for small bean producers. A prototype thresher developed with Semillas Pescador and farmers in their area, is being sold in increasing numbers.The seed producers are now providing training to other farmers in bean production practices. This multiplier effect, put in place by the project, is increasing the demand for seed and the production of beans, rnaking the process sustainable without project intervention. However, the development of organized marketing channels will be critical to long-tenn viabili ty of this effort. A participatory diagnosis is a group analysis of a situation. It is designed to elucidate local knowledge and perceptions in a systematic way through group dynamics, so that the group improves its understanding of the situation. The results also help outsiders (who are not members of the group or community) to obtain a rapid appreciation of how the group perceives a given situation or topic, since the whole exercise takes from three to eight hours.The participatory diagnosis of soil conservation involved a group of thirteen farmers from eight different veredas in Caldono municipio in north Cauca. Farmers with small holdings (less than 10 ha) were invited to attend if they felt erosion and soil conservation was of interest to them. This was therefore, a self-selected group of farmers with an established concem with soil conservation. The objectives of the group analysis were defined by research and extension staff as follows: to explore how farmers saw the issue of soil erosion and conservation in the framework of the history of the area; to seek farmers suggestions about possible ways to control erosion; to present sorne proposals for erosion control practices (using drawings) and to invite their suggestions for changes to the proposed practices.Hlstorlcal Analysis: Farmers recalled that their latid was once more fertile and they did not need to use fertilizers. There was more woodland, more sources of water, and the rainy season was more clearly differentiated from the dry season. These days, they commented, after three crops the soil is powdery, the black topsoil has washed away. But they continue to plant cassava because it resists drought.Proposecl solutions: When solutions to the soil fertility problem were discussed by farmers in small groups, they mentioned that live contour barriers, and run-off channels were recommended for erosion control. However, farmers suggested new crop rotations, intercropping (beans with cassava); planting pastures with citrus fruit trees on steep slopes; planting pineapple in barriers; making stone barriers every 10-20 metres, as altematives they would like to try.The following suggestions were obtained when farmers reacted to drawings of different types of live contour barriers for soil erosion control in • cassava plots:for conserving relatively fertile soils, contour barriers of coffee bushes with fruit trees in between; live barriers of sugar cane were criticised because cane required fertilization in their soils.the women especially liked the idea of two rows of pineapple planted every 10-20 m., because they expected to get something to sell and not to fertilize the pineapple.Also it would not shade other crops.barriers of pasture (Brachiaria decumbens) were perceived as having potential for establishing pastures after the prior crop.farmers without cattle rejected the barriers of pasture grass because it was too invasive, and too much work to control.live barriers of cut-and-carry forage grasses were liked better than pasture grass ( especially Telembi}.farmers wanted to grow a hlgher value crop than cassava in plots where barriers were established, eg. beans or coffee.In snmmary the participatory diagnosis showed that a self-selected group of farmers recognized erosion as a problem, were informed about the technology available for soil conservation, and had a variety of ideas to propase for experimentation. None, however were actually implementing any of these ideas on their own initiative. Farmers' critiqued proposals for contour-skrip barriers in terms of the utility of the barriers' product, rather than its effectiveness in controling erosion. Another important criterion for farmers was the amount of work involved in maintaining, or controling the barrier. Finally, farmers were interested in the use of live barriers to conserve their more fertile soils (where beans could be grown or coffee could be established}, and the possibility of changing to a different cropping system or rotation, as an altemative to cassava, if live barriers were established.The survey questionnaire was administered to twenty-two farmers currently using soil conservation tecbniques. The respondents were purposively selected, and are the entire Farmers were first asked which farming problems they think are important, to assess the extent to which they spontaneously identify erosion among these. The interviewers were unknown to the farmers and the interviewer's purpose was not explained as connected with erosion, so there was no reason for farmers to expect this topic to be one of special interest.Although only four out of the twenty-two farmers using conservation practices identified erosion as one of their problems (Table 1) soil fertility was mentioned more frequently.However it appears that farmers perceive problems like lack of water and pests and diseases as more pressing concerns than erosion. The questionnaire asked each farmer to explain what the word \"erosion\" meant to him or her. Responses, shown in Table 3, demonstrate that most farmers were able to express the idea that erosion involves physicalloss of soil and affects fertility. When asked \"Does erosion have any importance for you,\" most farmers conveyed their sense that the loss of soil and declining fertility was a significant phenomenon for them (Table 4). lt is clear from farmers' assessments of the different practices on their plots, that they understood the purpose of these practices. For example the purpose of live contour barriers of forage grass a commonly established practice, was readily explained in terms of reducing soil loss, and building up soil behind the barrier (Table 5). The open-ended evaluation of this practice by farmers showed that there were mixed experiences: sorne found it easy to manage; others had difficulties in keeping on top of the need to cut regularly. Most comments on another type of live barrier were positive, but also related to the management aspects and the utility of the grass, rather than its effect on soilloss or fertility.Although these farmers understand the concept of erosion and the soil conservation function of the practices established on their plots, and although their evaluation of the practices is by no means negative, there is no evidence that these farmers are spontaneously undertaking soil conservation on their own initiative. The farmers interviewed constitute the entire population of users of soil conservation practices in the area studied; only two farmers (out of twenty-two) have a plot with a soil conservation practice established without either credit or extension assistance. However, nineteen plots are receiving technical assistance without credit, mostly those established upwards of two years ago.There are several possible explanations for this lack of spontaneous adoption, which were explored with key informant farmers after the survey was completed. One explanation is that the conservation practices are perceived by farmers as impossible to replicate without technical assistance, because laying out the contour strip seems complicated. Another explanation is that farmers don't consider that the benefits of the practices are worth the extra work involved. A third possible explanation is that because the extension strategy is aimed at recuperating badly-eroded plots, and at cassava plots (normally the least fertile on the farm), farmers see these soil erosion control practices as purely remedial.The participatory diagnosis discussed earlier, showed that fanners' preferences were to implement soil conservation practices on relatively fertile plots, with the hope that soil erosion control would help them to \"graduate\" to a higher-value crop (requring better fertility conditions) than cassava Perhaps the extension strategy aimed at recuperating badly-eroded soil or conserving less-fertile soils is not fomenting spontaneous adoption because it is out of step with these fanners' preferences. It may be that the recommended practices need to be redesigned by researchers, to include a more aggressive strategy for short-run improvement of fertility on a plot, enabling the farmer to upgrade bis or her cropping system, and so justify the additional work involved in maintaining the soil conservation practices.These are hypothesis, not recommendations. But they do suggest the need for to understand fanners' objectives and to develop strategies which are congruent with farmers perceptions and preferences, when designing soil conservation practices.A preliminary test was made of the hypothesis arising from the participatory diagnosis, that fanners' strategy is to use soil conservation methods to improve relatively more fertile plots, so as to shift to an alternative, higher value crop. Five fanners who volunteered to take part in trials of live contour barriers, were invited to choose the materials to be used in the barriers, the size and number of barriers, and the plots where these were to be located. After a visit to experimental trials where they viewed and discussed the array of conservation practices available, the fanners made the choices shown in Table 9. All farmers decided that they would establish soil conservation practices on plots where they plan to, or are already establishing coffee. Coffee is the cash crop with a secure market, and thus their \"premium\" crop which occupies their most fertile plots. All farmers except one decided to conserve soil on plots where they could intercrop beans, an indicator of relatively better fertility (compared to cassava plots). The farmer who chose establish soil conservation practices on a fallow plot which had had five successive cassava crops taken on it, decided to combine the live barriers with heavy fertilization at bis own expense, in order to upgrade the plot rapidly. This very preliminary test of small farmers'   What is the pux:pose of this practice?\"To stop the soil from washing away.\"''The soil builds up in the barrier, it doesn't wash away down below.\"\"lt ~eeps the soil and it's used to feed the cattle\" \"lt slows down the water running off the plot\" Source: Survey of 22 users, 1991. \"What adyantages or disadvamages has this practice?\" Imperial grass is not so fuzzy (unpleasant to cut) and doesn't grow too fast.Imperial is not so tough for the cattle to eat.Even after three or four cuttings it grows back and is always green.If y9u don't have animals you can sell it.You can sell the seed at Col $10.000 a sack.Imperial is easy to manage.It spreads a lot of seed which you have to keep weeding.If you cut it too late, then the animals won't eat it.If you let it flower then you have to cut it up with machete ( difficult to cut and for the animals to eat it).It needs a lot of work (to take care of it).After 1 cut it eight times, 1 had to replace it, it was finished by too much cutting.Source: Survey of 22 users, 1991. • What is its purpose?\"To protect the soil from eroding, so that the soil doesn't wash away with the water in heavily fainfall\" \"So that the rain doesn't wash away the seed\" \"Coptains the erosion, so that the soil can recuperate\" \"After planting (the barrier) in a cassava plot you can leave it to establish a pasture\"What adyantªces or disªdvantªces ha.s jt?\"You are cóllecting the soil available to establish apasture more quickly.You can get (vegetative) seed from the barrier.Its useful to feed the cattle.Uve barriers are more useful tan bamboo ones.You have to keep cutting it although you can take the cattle (to the barrier) to graze it before planting another crop in that plot.Source: Survey of 22 users, 1991.Table 8 Relationship between credit, agricultura! extension and the length of time soil conservation practices were used by farmers. Three municipios, north Cauca, Colombia, 1991. • 29 "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7dc6ad86f10993dda7c04580c4dad705","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/9c944c68-92de-41e1-a81b-0c1842e07f21/content","id":"1849015343"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"94db9f44-8473-4d09-91df-2a7cf4d21bdf","content":"It sets out simple suggestions for making sure women and menincluding youth, persons with disabilities, and other marginalized groups:• feel wanted and included in training events, • are fully informed about technological, production, or process options, • learn effectively, and • have the confidence to implement what they have learned.Over time, both women and men should be able to build on the training to innovate by themselves in response to changes in the wider environment and their specific resources and needs.Good training events need more than great content. How you train is vitally important.It is essential that both women and men are able to speak their minds and have opportunities to shape the training event for their own requirements.As future farmers, the needs of young women and men in farming households need special attention in order to encourage those interested to stay in the sector.The training is just the beginning. The key thing is that participants adopt and work with the new ideas, practices and technologies.• As part of the technical refresher, ask your participants how they have been adopting and adapting the technologies you trained them on. Have there been any special issues facing women, youth, and other target groups? What can be done about them? • Building in interactive discussions on these processes will help improve your own training events and make them even more technologically and socially relevant.• Recognized community level experts, such as older women, may be trained to mentor/coach younger women, for example, on the technologies.• Develop case studies or life stories of the adoption process to build into future training courses. Make sure these are anonymized. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"11e31554e9e887544b29a8d4479bf3e7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3a860d27-a395-43a2-b0ac-83111b9b57b4/retrieve","id":"-834940289"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"81cd1a17-c701-43cf-9fd0-5ae3fc6e0b3f","content":"The Genetic Resources Unit (GRU) of CIAT was established as such in late 1977, and inherited the bean collections from the breeders. In 1978-79, collections of tropical pastures were progressively passed to the GRU for their conservation and study. With world mandates for Phaseolus beans and lowland tropical forages, the GRU conserves mostly as seed collections 34,617 and 20,753 accessions of these crops, respectively (CIAT, 2005). Because germplasm activities -namely distribution -have been on since 1973 (surely on a formal basis since 1980) to date, some analysis of trends is possible.The signing of an agreement in October 1994 between the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and CIAT confirms further the curatorship role of GRU. Since 1995, distribution of germplasm to external users has been systematically done under the acceptance of a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA). In 1995-1996 the first designation to FAO (i.e. the sending of an electronic file about all accessions maintained in-trust by CIAT) took place, with subsequent updates every two years since. As per the last update in 2005, 61,311 accessions have been designated (for beans: 34,617; cassava: 5,941; and tropical forages: 20,753).Next to CIAT programmes are the national programmes of agricultural research: they have received more than 50% of distributed accessions, followed by universities with 20-36% of distributed accessions. NGOs, networks, other genebanks, and individual farmers represent less than 4% of distributed germplasm. Commercial companies have a share of 1-2% of total distributed. These distribution and related research activities have been supported by grants of CIAT core budget (with contributions of, namely, USAID and the EU), the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources, the Systemwide Programme on Information for Plant Genetic Resources, and the Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural of Colombia.Testing germplasm for yield and adaptation through agronomy trials has been the main purpose of external users to ask CIAT for germplasm (70 and 46% of the accessions distributed to external institutions, for forages and beans, respectively). Breeding is important for bean, but less so for forages. Basic research (e.g. phylogeny, studies of gene pools, gene mapping) and applied research (e.g. reactions to diseases and pests) are important purposes of external requests, particularly over the last decade. Training is an important purpose only for forages. On the other hand, the entry into force of MTAs since 1995 has not affected distribution rates in contrast with the reduction of network activities for germplasm evaluation (IBYAN for beans, RIEPT for pastures) due to financial constraints.Over the period 1973-2005 (Figures 1-4), CIAT GRU has distributed 482,668 samples (399,570 of beans to institutions in 98 countries, and 83,098 of forages to 104 countries), over 8.5 times the size of the collection. The main users of CIAT genebank have been the commodity programmes of the Centre (76 and 48%, respectively).In both beans and forages, the top five country recipients received less than 50% of distributed germplasm (46 and 47%, respectively), while the numbers of countries are significant (98 and 104, respectively), indicating that CIAT GRU is an important provider of genetic resources for those commodities. As reported by FAO (1998), the collections of this genebank rank first in size and diversity. Beyond doubt, countries in Africa could make wider use of such collections. Interestingly, the five accessions with highest distribution rate (wrongly called \"best sellers\" because this service is free of charges for recipient institutions) for both commodities represent a very small fraction of total distributed, indicating that the distributed material has been diverse. The sort of materials distributed has also been changing over time; for instance, the forage legume Cratylia of no priority in the 1970s was the No. 1 in distribution in 2005, and wild beans with almost no demand in early times have been increasingly studied recently.Pending on seed availability, CIAT GRU distributes to recipients small samples of seeds, once the following conditions are fulfilled: i) the user is identified, ii) the requested material is defined, iii) the purpose of the request is spelled out, iv) the user has agreed on the MTA, and v) the obligations as per the phytosanitary regulations are met. "}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"98e023b4-28d9-4aad-b8c0-7fe623d3c266","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"acf069d8f0b591eecb2458b2a2dfca78","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/7fd5853b-da9a-438d-8166-4e4de41506ad/content","id":"-295509769"},"keywords":["AD, anthesis day","BLP, best linear predictor","EH, ear height","FIRA, Fideicomiso Instituido en Relación con la Agricultura","GY, grain yield","HD, heading","LPSI, linear phenotypic selection index","MLE, maximum likelihood estimator","MOI, moisture content","PH, plant height","QT, quantitative trait","QTL, quantitative trait locus"],"sieverID":"d4bc4b9a-46ff-4e76-bf14-da67ba01fea9","content":"The profit function (net returns minus costs) allows breeders to derive trait economic weights to predict the net genetic merit (H) using the linear phenotypic selection index (LPSI). Economic weight is the increase in profit achieved by improving a particular trait by one unit and should reflect the market situation and not only preferences or arbitrary values. In maize (Zea mays L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) breeding programs, only grain yield has a specific market price, which makes application of a profit function difficult. Assuming the traits' phenotypic values have multivariate normal distribution, we used the market price of grain yield and its conditional expectation given all the traits of interest to construct a profit function and derive trait economic weights in maize and wheat breeding. Using simulated and real maize and wheat datasets, we validated the profit function by comparing its results with the results obtained from a set of economic weights from the literature. The criteria to validate the function were the estimated values of the LPSI selection response and the correlation between LPSI and H. For our approach, the maize and wheat selection responses were 1,567.13 and 1,291.5, whereas the correlations were .87 and .85, respectively. For the other economic weights, the selection responses were 0.79 and 2.67, whereas the correlations were .58 and .82, respectively. The simulated dataset results were similar. Thus, the profit function is a good option to assign economic weights in plant breeding.The linear phenotypic selection index (LPSI) is a linear combination of observable random trait phenotypic values (y, i.e., \uD835\uDC3C = \uD835\uDEC3 ′ \uD835\uDC66). According to Hazel et al. (1994), the LPSI allowsThe main LPSI objectives are to predict H, maximize the LPSI selection response, and the correlation between H and LPSI.When the population means of H and y are zero, the selection response is the conditional expectation of H given LPSI (Cerón-Rojas & Crossa, 2022;Cochran, 1951). The size of the estimated LPSI selection response and the estimated correlation between H and LPSI are the main criteria to validate and compare the efficiency of any LPSI in plant and animal breeding.The main assumptions of the LPSI theory are: (a) vector g is composed entirely of the additive effects of genes; (b) H is the total individual genotypic economic value; and (c), the y and H values have a joint multivariate normal distribution. Based on these assumptions, the LPSI is the conditional expectation of H given y (Cerón-Rojas & Crossa, 2022;Cochran, 1951), and to predict H we need to estimate the LPSI vector of coefficients (β) so that the estimated LPSI values may discriminate those individuals with the highest H values (Smith, 1936). Currently, a linear selection index can be a linear combination of marker scores and phenotypic values (Cerón-Rojas et al., 2008;Lande & Thompson, 1990), genomic estimated breeding values (Cerón-Rojas et al., 2015;Cerón-Rojas & Crossa, 2019), and phenotypic and genomic estimated breeding values jointly (Cerón-Rojas & Crossa, 2018, 2020a, 2022;Dekkers, 2007).The trait economic weight is the increase in profit (net returns minus costs) achieved by improving a particular trait by one unit while the others remain fixed (Charffeddine & Alenda, 1998;Blasco, 2021). It should reflect the market situation and the marginal benefit from one unit of improvement, as opposed to just preferences or simply arbitrarily fixed values (Magnussen, 1990). Strain and Nordskog (1962) proposed using a profit function to integrate the costs and benefits of a breeding program and compare the profitability of lines and crosses. Later, Moav and Moav (1966), and Moav and Hill (1966), used the partial derivatives of the profit function (evaluated in the trait's mean) as economic weights for within-line selection.The profit function depends on the traits of interest, the market prices of the traits, the production technology, and market conditions (Charffeddine & Alenda, 1998). An additional feature of profit functions is they may be linear or non-linear. Although a non-linear profit function can be a function of phenotypic values of individual plants or a function of population means, the linear profit function is one of the phenotypic trait values of individual plants or animals (Itoh & Yamada, 1988). Nevertheless, an LPSI can still be used for a non-linear profit function, although the optimum index depends on the selection intensity and the number of generations over which the selection response is to be maximized. According to Goddard (1983), an LPSI achieves the greatest increase in profit when the profit function and economic weights are not linear. Thus, an LPSI will always• LPSI is the best linear predictor of the net genetic merit . • The main LPSI objective is to predict the net genetic merit and maximize the selection response. • The profit function allows breeders to derive trait economic weights to predict H. • Economic weight is the increase in profit achieved by improving a particular trait by one unit.give the optimum selection response for linear and non-linear profit functions.Conditions for applying the profit function theory are: (a) changes in profit function should be due to changes in H and not to environmental conditions or changes in technology; (b) prices and costs are constants; and (c) because the genetic gains in each cycle are low, a linear approach to the profit function is recommended (Charffeddine & Alenda, 1998). In this context, the net genetic merit, the estimated LPSI selection response, and the estimated LPSI values should be interpreted in terms of economic gains and costs (Blasco, 2021).In this research, we describe a profit function to obtain economic weights in the maize (Zea mays L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) breeding context. Contrary to animal breeding, where the traits of economic interest have a specific price on the market, in maize and wheat breeding only grain yield has a specific market price, which makes it difficult to apply a profit function and obtain economic weights. For this reason, the proposed profit function is based on grain yield market price and on the regression coefficients of grain yield on all the associated traits. In this manner, the grain yield market price is distributed over the other traits as a product of price and the regression coefficient of each trait associated with grain yield. Using seven simulated maize datasets and one real maize and wheat dataset, we validated the profit function by comparing its results with the results obtained from a set of economic weights taken from published literature (Cerón-Rojas et al., 2015;Cerón-Rojas & Crossa, 2019, 2020a, 2020b). The criteria to validate the proposed profit function were the size of the estimated LPSI selection response and the estimated correlation coefficient between LPSI and H. For the simulated and real datasets, we found the profit function described in this work is a good option to assign economic weights in maize and wheat breeding.As we shall see later, the approach to the profit function theory described in this study is a mathematical formalization of Smith's (1936) idea to assign economic weights to the traits of interest in the wheat breeding context. Finally, the results obtained in this study are the first to use a profit function to derive economic weights in maize and wheat breeding. A short review of the LPSI theory is provided in the Appendix.Consider in a wheat selection program we consider the vector y' = [Y 1 . . . Y t ] of t traits, where Y 1 denotes grain yield, Y 2 baking quality, Y 3 resistance to flag smut, and so forth. We can evaluate Y 2 and Y 3 in terms of Y 1 as follows. Supposing an advance of 10 in the baking score is equal in value to an advance of one bushel per acre in yield, and that a decrease of 20% infection is worth one bushel of yield, then, taking \uD835\uDC4C 1 as a standard and units as indicated,w 1 = 1.0, w 2 = 0.1, and w 3 = −0.05 will be the economic values of each trait. This is the Smith's (1936) idea for deriving economic weight in wheat breeding programs. Now, let y' −1 = [Y 2 . . . Y t ] be a vector of t−1 traits that does not include Y 1 and assume that Y 1 is the dependent random variable, whereas y′ −1 is the vector of random explanatory variables. To derive economic weights for maize and wheat breeding, we will adapt the above-mentioned Smith's idea to the multiple regression context, that is, Y 1 = b 0 + b'y −1 + e (where e has normal distribution, null expectation, and variance, σ 2 \uD835\uDC52 ), using the profit function and the regression theory.Let a 1 , a 2 , . . . , a N be the N input prices or costs of the N input variables X 1 , X 2 , . . . , X N such as fertilizers, number of cultivated hectares, number of workers per hectare, worker wages per hectare, etc.; then, the cost function is:where C 0 is the fixed cost in the plant breeding program.The main objective for maize and wheat breeding programs is to increase grain yield (Y 1 ) and to decrease traits such as plant height, days to maturity, and plant diseases, and others. In these programs, only Y 1 has a market price, so we will define the profit function as follows: let π be the price of Y 1 in tons per hectare, and let N H be the number of hectares cultivated by the breeder; then, the profit function associated with Y 1 is:where N H πY 1 is the net economic return and N H C is the selection cycle cost of the breeding program. Equation 2 only includes Y 1 .The profit function for all traits under selection Suppose each random vector of t traits y' = [Y 1 . . . Y t ] (which include the grain yield, Y 1 , and all traits associated with Y 1 ) is independent and identically distributed as a multivariate normal distribution with vector of means μ' = [μ 1 . . . μ t ] and covariance matrix P, where matrix P indicates that the elements of y may be correlated and have different variance. We will include vector y' −1 = [Y 2 . . . Y t ] (which does not include Y 1 ) in Equation 2 through the conditional expectation of Y 1 given y −1 . Thus, let:be the multiple linear regression model where e has a normal distribution, null expectation and varianceis the covariance between Y 1 and y −1 , and S −1 is the inverse of the covariance matrix of y −1 (S) (Rencher & Schaalje, 2008). In addition, we assumed that the covariance between any pairs of e is 0. Therefore, with Equation 3, the conditional expectation of Y 1 given y −1 is:where μ 1 is the mean of Y 1 , m' = [μ 2 . . . μ t ] is the vector of means of y −1 , and b' = cov'(Y 1 , y -1 )S -1 = [b 2 . . . b t ] is the vector of regression coefficients. In Equations 3 and 4, the values of y −1 are not under the control of the experimenter and occur randomly along with Y 1 (Rencher, 2002). Thus, on each plant, we observe Y 1 and y −1 jointly.The maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) of Equations 3 and 4 iswhere Ŷ1 is the estimated BLP of Y 1 , whereas μ1and m, respectively (Rencher & Schaalje, 2008). Equation 5 is a function of y −1 alone and not a function of Y 1 (Christensen, 2011), allowing us to write an approximated profit function for t traits as:Crop ScienceIn Equation 6, the symbol \"≈\" indicates an approximation.Suppose C is fixed (Equation 1), the partial derivatives of Equation 6with respect to Y 1 and each trait associated with Ŷ1 (Equation 5) are, respectively, ∂ ∂\uD835\uDC4C 12 b\uD835\uDC57 , j = 2,3,. . . ,t, from where the estimated economic weights for Y 1 and Y j are:respectively (Goddard, 1983;Moav & Hill, 1966;Moav & Moav, 1966). Therefore, according to Equation 7, an MLE of the vector of economic weights and A2) is:where all the components of Equation 8 were defined earlier.According to Pawitan (2013, p. 45), the invariance property of the MLE says: \"If ŵ is the MLE of w and g(w) is a function of w, then g( ŵ) is the MLE of g(w).\" Thus, by this property and by Equation 8, we can assume that an MLE estimator of the LPSI vector of coefficients (Equation A3) is:where Ĝ and Pˆ− 1 are restricted MLE (Cerón-Rojas & Crossa, 2018) of the genotypic covariance matrix G (Equation A1) and the inverse phenotypic covariance matrix of P (Equation A3), respectively. Equation 9 implies the estimated LPSI (Equation A3) is:which should be interpreted in terms of monetary units when breeders predict H (Equations A1 and A2). The estimated LPSI selection response (Equation A4) is:where k denotes the selection intensity. Furthermore, becauseπ\uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B 2 appears on the numerator and denominator of the correlation (Equation A5) between LPSI and H, this last parameter is not affected by π\uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B 2 and can be estimated as:All the terms of Equation 12were defined earlier.For the set of economic weights taken from published literature (Cerón-Rojas et al., 2015) we estimated the LPSI parameter and we made selection with the simulated and real datasets using \"RIndSel,\" an R software for Index Selection (Alvarado et al., 2018;Pacheco et al., 2017;Perez-Elizalde et al., 2014). In addition, to apply the profit function described in this work, we made an R-code to estimate the economic weights and to make LPSI selection. RIndSel is an R software completely automated, thus, users only need to learn how to introduce their data into the program and how to interpret the results. This software, and a complete user manual, can be downloaded from https://data.cimmyt.org/dataset.xhtml? persistentId=hdl:11529/10854These datasets were simulated by Cerón-Rojas et al. (2015) with QU-GENE software using 2,500 molecular markers and 315 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for eight phenotypic selection cycles (C0 to C7), each with four traits (Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 , and Y 4 ), 500 genotypes, and four replicates for each genotype. The authors distributed the markers uniformly across 10 chromosomes and the QTLs randomly across the 10 chromosomes to simulate maize (Zea mays L.) populations. A different number of QTLs affected each of the four traits: 300, 100, 60, and 40, respectively. The common QTLs affecting the traits generated genotypic correlations of −0.5, 0.4, 0. We used one maize and one wheat dataset from CIMMYT breeders' experimental research. The maize traits (grain yield, GY in t ha −1 ; anthesis day, AD, in days; moisture content, MOI, %; plant height, PH, in cm; and ear height, EH, in cm) were evaluated in five sites. The number of maize genotypes was 68, each with two repetitions, whereas the environment was optimal. The economic weight for each trait was 5, −0.3, −0.3, −0.3 and −0.3, respectively. Likewise, the wheat traits (GY; heading, HD, days; and PH) were evaluated in one environment. The number of wheat genotypes was 100, each with two repetitions, whereas the economic weight for each trait was 5, −0.3, and −0.3, respectively. We compared the maize and wheat results using the selected top 10% (k = 1.755) of the estimated LPSI values. The real datasets are available by request at j.crossa@cgiar .org.  2015) simulated maize datasets described earlier, if the harvest corresponded to 1% of a hectare, that is, a plot or cultivated area of 10 by 10 = 100 m 2 . Note that 1 ha is equal to 100 by 100 = 10,000 m 2 ; therefore, to obtain the cost for the simulated datasets, we divided MX$38,392.75 by 100, where the cost for each simulated selection cycle was MX$383.93. In addition, the average of simulated grain yield for Cycle 1 was 161.88 kg; thus, because for 1,000 kg the price is MX$3,182.00, by using the rule of three, we found that for 161.88 kg the grain yield price is MX$515.101. We used a similar approach to obtain prices and costs for the other selection cycles.According to FIRA data, we used MX$3,182.00 for each ton of maize. Nevertheless, for each ton of wheat, the average price estimated by FIRA was MX$5,265.00. To estimate the vector of economic weights (Equation 9) for both real datasets, N H = 1.0 (1 ha).Note that Equation 6 can be written asThis means that when n = 1 we shall have Equation 2, and for n = 2 we shall have Equation 6. However, when n = 3 or n = 4, we shall have a profit function that assigns more weight to Ŷ1 than to Y 1 . Thus, by the above equation, breeders are free to assign weights to Ŷ1 and Y 1 according to their interest. can assume that the estimated LPSI vector of coefficients ( β = P−1 Ĝ ŵ, Equation 9) is MLE. The same is true for the estimated correlation between the estimated LPSI ( ρ\uD835\uDC3B\uD835\uDC3C ) and the net genetic merit (Equation 12; Table 1), as well as the estimated LPSI selection response ( R, Equation 11; Table 3).Cerón-Rojas and Crossa (2020b) have shown ρ\uD835\uDC3B\uD835\uDC3C and R are asymptotically unbiased estimators with minimum variance, and they gave methods to obtain confidence intervals for the expectations of R and ρ\uD835\uDC3B\uD835\uDC3C ; however, until now, the statistical properties of β = P−1 Ĝ ŵ have not been shown completely.By the above results, all the estimated parameters associated with the LPSI are maximum likelihood estimators with minimum variance, and they are asymptotic unbiased estimators for R and ρ \uD835\uDC3B\uD835\uDC3C .In the Introduction, we indicated some statistical properties of the LPSI when the phenotypic (P) and genotypic (G) covariance matrices are known. Let ϵ = \uD835\uDC3B − Î be the error of prediction of Î (Equation 10); then: (a) ϵ and Î are independent; (b) by the central limit theorem (Kollo, 2005), Î converges in distribution with the normal distribution(c) Î is an asymptotically efficient predictor. This last result allows us to construct a confidence interval for the conditional expectation of H [E(H|I)] as:where Î denotes the estimated LPSI values, Z α/2 is the upper 100 α 2 percentage point of the standard normal distribution, and 0 ≤ α ≤ 1 is the level of confidence. Thus, to establish a 100(1 − α) = 95% confidence interval for E(H/I), the value of \uD835\uDC4D α∕2 is equal to 1.96. To construct the above confidence interval, it should be convenient to omit the π\uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B 2 from the estimated LPSI parameters because π\uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B 2 increases the length of the interval. The same is true for the variance of the error of prediction. That is, the π\uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B 2 values increase the estimate of the prediction error variance. According to these results, the LPSI theory gives breeders a viable statistical method to make multi-trait selection.Numerical resultsTable 1 presents cost (Equation 1), grain yield price (π), and π times the number of hectares cultivated (N H = 0.01 or 1% of a cultivated hectare) and divided by 2 ( π\uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B 2 ; e.g., [(515.101)(0.01)]/2 = 2.576). Although the cost for each selection cycle was the same, the price changed, as this depends on the harvested grain yield in each selection cycle. Similar results were obtained for the π\uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B 2 values because this depends on π.According to Equations 7-9, the estimated economic weights presented in Table 2 ( ŵ1 to ŵ4 ) were the product of π\uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B 2 times the coefficient of grain yield Y 1 (1.0 or b1 ) and the estimated coefficients of regression of Y 1 on Y 2 , Y 3 , and Y 4 ( b2 to b4 ). For this reason, whereas the economic weight of Y 1 was equal to π\uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B 2 (Table 2), the economic weights for traits Y 2 to Y 4 were ŵ2 = π\uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B 2 b2 , ŵ3 = π\uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B 2 b3 , and ŵ4 = π\uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B 2 b4 , respectively. In addition, because the estimated regression coefficients b2 to b4 are MLE, by the MLE invariance property (Pawitan, 2013), the estimators ŵ2 , ŵ2 , and ŵ4 were MLE. This means we can assume the estimator of the vector of economic weights (Equation 8) was a minimum variance and asymptotic unbiased estimator.For k = 1.755 (top 10% of the estimated LPSI values), Table 3 presets the estimated selection response obtained when using the profit function ( R) and the estimated selection response ( R * ) when the economic weight were obtained from the published literature. In a similar manner, Table 3 presents   means that the estimated vector of economic weights (Equation 8) affected mainly the estimated LPSI selection ( R), as we would expect. By Equations 8 and 9, the estimated selection response (Equation 11) can be written as2 , k, and toNote that when π\uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B 2 andtend to zero, R tends to zero. Therefore, the higher value of R will be when 2 should be high. For breeding and economic objectives jointly, both parts should be high.The total average of the ρHI values was 0.820 (Table 3), meaning that the estimated LPSI values predict the H values with high accuracy. However, the total average of the ρ * HI values was 0.863 (Table 3), that is, the values of ρ * HI were higher than the ρHI values. In addition, because π\uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B 2 appears in the numerator and denominator of the correlation between the estimated LPSI and H values (Equation 12), the values of ρHI and ρ * For this dataset, the ton grain yield price was MX$3182.00, thus, for \uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B = 1.0, only affected R, this was higher than R * . Nevertheless, in this case ρHI was higher than ρ * HI .For this dataset, the ton grain yield price was MX$5265.00, then, for \uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B = 1.0, 2 affected only R, this was higher than R * , whereas the correlation coefficients were similar.The real maize and wheat genotypes selected with LPSI Table 4 presents the selected maize genotype (with k = 1.755), and the means of five selected traits (GY, AD, MOI, PH, and EH) using the economic weights obtained with the profit function and the economic weights 5, −0.3, −0.3, −0.3, and −0.3, respectively. In addition, Table 4 presents the total means of the selected traits, the population mean of the traits, and the selection differential (mean of the selected traits minus the population mean of the traits) for each trait. Table 5 presents the selected wheat genotype (with k = 1.755), the means of three selected traits (GY, HD, and PH) using the economic weights obtained with the profit function and the economic weights 5, −0.3 and −0.3, respectively, the total mean of the selected traits, the population mean of the traits, and the selection differential for each trait.The maize genotypes selected by our approach are different to the maize genotypes selected by the other approach (Table 4). However, six wheat genotypes (6,10,12,39,45,71) selected with our approach were the same as those selected by the other approach (Table 5). This means that when the number of traits increases in the LPSI, both approaches tend to select different genotypes, which does not occur when the number of LPSI traits is low, as in the wheat dataset. Likewise, although the maize and wheat estimated LPSI values obtained using the profit function economic weights were all positive (Tables 4 and 5), the estimated maize and wheat LPSI values obtained using the other economic weights described above were all negative. Thus, both sets of economic weights affect the estimated LPSI values in a different way, as we would expect. In addition, note that the traits mean selected with the LPSI using our approach were all higher than the traits mean selected by the LPSI using the other approach. This explains why, in general, the selection differential values for each trait obtained with our approach were mainly positive, whereas for the other approach they were mostly negative.Using a stochastics linear regression model and a profit function, we developed a methodology to enable plant breeders define economic weights for selection indices. Our aim was to obtain economic weights for selection indices that can improve selection decisions in plant breeding when several traits (GY, maturity, HD, PH, etc.) are simultaneously selected. The problem to construct a profit function in maize and wheat breeding is evident: only GY has a market price, as we have indicated in the Introduction of this study. Therefore, our approach is based on GY market price and on the regression coefficients of GY on all the other associated traits.Our results show that the profit function and the regression theory allow us to estimate the trait economic weights in the maize and wheat breeding context and select genotypes using the LPSI theory. For seven simulated datasets and two real datasets, the estimated LPSI selection responses were higher in all cases when we used the method described in this study to obtain the economic weights. This was not generally true for the estimated correlation between the LPSI and H, thus further research is necessary on this topic.When we compared the R values obtained in this study with the R * values (Table 3) obtained by Cerón-Rojas et al. (2015) and Cerón-Rojas and Crossa (2020b), who used the simulated datasets described in this paper and the LPSI to make selections, we found that in all cases the R values were higher than the R * values. The same was true for the maize and wheat real datasets. In addition, the estimated selection responses of this research have an economic interpretation, but this type of interpretation it is not possible for the R * values of the above authors. Thus, the profit function described in this study to obtain economic weights is effective for evaluating the profitability of plant breeding programs.T A B L E 4 Selected maize genotype and selected traits (grain yield, GY; anthesis day, AD; moisture content, MOI; plant height, PH; and ear height, EH) for k = 1.755 using the economic weights obtained with the profit function and the economic weights 5, −0.3, −0.3, −0.3 and −0.3, respectively, and estimated linear phenotypic selection index (LPSI) valuesResults As we would expect, the profit function (Equations 7 and 8) assigned more weight to Y 1 than to the other traits. In addition, because the economic weight of Y 1 is equal to π\uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B 2 , all the seven selection cycles coefficients of Y 1 ( b1 ) in Table 2 are equal to 1.0, whereas the values of the other traits' regression coefficients ( b2 to b4 ) differ from 1.0. This shows the method described in this study is an adaptation of the Smith (1936) idea to the multiple regression context using the profit function and regression theory.Note that Equations 7 and 8 are linked to the market situation and therefore the trait economic values are neither simply arbitrarily fixed values nor preference values. In addition,the regression coefficients, which are multiplied by π\uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC3B 2 to obtain the economic weights, are associated with grain yield effects. Thus, the proposed profit function is a good option for obtaining economic weights to make LPSI selection in plant breeding.Why use a linear approach to derive the economic weights?In the study of maize and wheat quantitative trait (QTs), it is assumed traits such as GY, PH, EH, etc., are the result of an undetermined number of unobservable gene effects distributed across the plant genome that interact among themselves and with the environment to produce the observable characteristic plant phenotypes (Cerón-Rojas & Crossa, 2018). This implies the QTs have continuously distributed phenotypes that do show a complex Mendelian inheritance (Hill, 2010). The QTs are difficult to analyze because heritable variations of these traits are masked by larger nonheritable variations that make it difficult to determine the genotypic values of individual plants (Smith, 1936).To analyze QTs, we assumed the traits of interest and the net genetic merit have joint multivariate normal distribution. Under this distribution, the means, variances, and covariances completely describe the index and trait values. Moreover, if the trait values are not correlated, they are independent; linear combinations of traits are normal; and even when the trait phenotypic values do not have normal distribution, by the central limit this distribution serves as a useful approximation (Cerón-Rojas & Crossa, 2020b;Rencher, 2002). In addition, under the multivariate normality assumption, the regression of the net genetic merit on any linear function of the phenotypic values is linear (Cerón-Rojas & Crossa, 2022;Kempthorne & Nordskog, 1959).Using histograms, quantile-quantile plots, and the Shapiro-Wilk and Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality tests, Cerón-Rojas andCrossa (2018, 2020b) showed that the estimated LPSI values, and the average values of traits such as GY, PH, EH, etc., in maize and wheat breeding, approached the normal distribution. One additional criterion to assume the QTs have multivariate normal distribution is based on the infinitesimal model theory (Barton et al., 2017;Fisher, 1918;Turelli, 2017;Walsh & Lynch, 2018). Under this model, (a) in the plant genome there is a very large number of loci, each with very small effects; (b) in a randomly mating population, under no selection, the genotypic distribution is normal, and (c) the genotypic distributions stay at least close to normal after selection (Walsh & Lynch, 2018).Under the foregoing assumptions, Equations 3-5 are linear. Moreover, any function that is expressible as Equation 4is linear even if the vector b depends on the joint distribution of H and the traits phenotypes (Cerón-Rojas & Crossa, 2022). Based on these reasons, using a linear approach to obtain economic weights in the maize and wheat breeding context seems correct. Finally, note in Equation 3, the independent and dependent variables are random variables, and the same is true for the residuals; then Equation 3 and 4 are stochastics linear model, no determinist model.Alternatively, Goddard (1983) has analyzed the profit function in the linear and nonlinear context and concluded the better approach to maximize the LPSI selection response is to use a linear profit function. In his research, Goddard (1983) presents examples of why breeders should use a linear profit function in the LPSI context to derive economic weights. Based on that, we believe our approach to obtain economic weights is optimal in the context of maize and wheat.The invariance property of the MLE is associated with the invariance principle of the likelihood ratio, which indicates \"in the likelihood function the information should be invariant to the choice of parameterization\" (Pawitan, 2013, p. 45). This means if we do not know where the parameter of interest is, then we should not know where its log is, or where its squared is, or its inverse value. That is, we should be equally ignorant regardless of how we model our problem. Pawitan (2013, p. 44) indicates \"the invariant property of the likelihood ratio should be seen only as a convenient axiom, rather than a self-evident truth.\"Economic weights are difficult to assign in plant and animal breeding programs, and some authors have described alternatives to the LPSI. For example, Elston (1963) described a free-economic weights selection index that does not require estimates of the phenotypic and genotypic covariance matrices. Likewise, other authors (Brascamp, 1984;Itoh & Yamada, 1986, 1987;Pesek & Baker, 1969;Yamada et al., 1975) described the desired gains index, which does not use economic weights because it does not predict H, rather it only estimates the expectation of g. In turn, Cerón-Rojas et al. (2008b, 2016) described the eigen selection index method, where w (the vector of \"economic weights\") is a linear combination of the first eigen-vector of the matrix of multi-trait heritability. Thus, these last three indices do not use a profit function (net returns minus costs) to obtain economic weights to evaluate breeding programs. However, in this study, we have showed it is possible to assign economic weights to maize and wheat breeding traits using a profit function.Finally, it is evident that there is the possibility to development non-linear profit functions to obtain economic weights, however, Goddard (1983) have showed that a LPSI will always give the highest selection response including when breeder uses non-linear profit function. Our research represents the first formal attempt to incorporate economic weights for selection indices that can improve selection decisions.Farmers and consumers are now placing strong emphasis on sourcing and sustainability, thus other criteria such as carbon footprints, water use, nitrogen emissions, and ecosystem services should be considered in addition to profitability. However, these issues are hard to capture in a simple selection index that attempts to improve few traits. Farms are more complex than simple profit and the need for cultivars that do not maximize profitability of the crop but of the system is an important factor that is not easily incorporated in a selection index.In addition, not all farmers are risk takers, and often plant high yielding hybrids at low density to avoid failure risks. This gradient in plant population densities used by farmers indicates there is a gradient in risk attitudes. The question is: what is the target group to make selections for? Simple models to account for risk attitude suggest the selection of different crops and cultivars within crops account for the risk aversion differences. The method proposed here for estimating economic weights to be used in a selection index to bring an economic dimension to selection indices is a step towards allowing the breeder to use economic information correctly. Further studies are needed to formalize and bring socioeconomic dimensions to selection decisions by using a framework that considers the many uncertainties and sources of variability among farms and the mixture of farms in the target population of farms.Assuming the traits and the net genetic merit have joint multivariate normal distribution, we have described a profit function for obtaining economic weights in maize and wheat breeding programs. Using the profit function and the linear regression theory, we obtained a profit function that extends the Smith's idea to assign economic weights in wheat breeding. In animal breeding programs, all economic traits of interest have specific market prices; however, in the maize and wheat breeding context, only GY has a specific price on the market. For this reason, the proposed profit function is com-posed of two parts: one associated with the GY and the other linked to the expectation of GY given the values of the other traits. Using the proposed approach, the average of the estimated correlation between the LPSI and the net genetic merit for the seven simulated selection cycles was 0.820, and for the maize and wheat real datasets were 0.87 and 0.85, respectively. Therefore, we concluded the profit function proposed in this study is a strong option for obtaining economic weights in plant breeding."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7f94ca2988bbfb18f9326047aefb339f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c9b25d97-16ee-4f0a-9de4-2b4240790fdc/retrieve","id":"386453607"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"87cb0e7c-3567-4e94-a395-1a5ef5905c59","content":") is an important staple food crop in Africa and South America; however, ubiquitous deleterious mutations may severely decrease its fitness. To evaluate these deleterious mutations, we constructed a cassava haplotype map through deep sequencing 24 diverse accessions and identified >28 million segregating variants. We found that (i) although domestication has modified starch and ketone metabolism pathways to allow for human consumption, the concomitant bottleneck and clonal propagation have resulted in a large proportion of fixed deleterious amino acid changes, increased the number of deleterious alleles by 26%, and shifted the mutational burden toward common variants; (ii) deleterious mutations have been ineffectively purged, owing to limited recombination in the cassava genome; (iii) recent breeding efforts have maintained yield by masking the most damaging recessive mutations in the heterozygous state but have been unable to purge the mutation burden; such purging should be a key target in future cassava breeding.For millions of people in the tropics, cassava is the third most consumed carbohydrate source, after rice and maize 1 . Even though cassava was domesticated in Latin America 2,3 , it has spread widely and has become a major staple crop in Africa. Although its wild progenitor, M. esculenta sp. falbellifolia, reproduces by seed 4 , cultivated cassava is notably almost exclusively clonally propagated via stem cutting 5 . The limited number of recombination events in such vegetatively propagated crops may result in an accumulation of deleterious alleles throughout the genome 6 . Thus, mutation burden in cassava is expected to be more severe than that in sexually propagated species. Deleterious mutations are considered to be at the heart of inbreeding depression 7 . Even in elite cassava accessions, inbreeding depression is extremely severe, and a single generation of inbreeding may result in a >60% decrease in fresh root yield 8,9 . In this study, we sought to identify deleterious mutations in cassava populations, with the goal of accelerating cassava breeding by allowing breeders to purge deleterious mutations more efficiently.We conducted a comprehensive characterization of genetic variation by whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of 241 cassava accessions (Fig. 1, Supplementary Fig. 1 and Supplementary Table 1). On average, more than 30× coverage was generated for each accession. To ensure high-quality variant discovery, variants from low-copynumber regions of the cassava genome 10,11 were identified to develop the cassava haplotype map II (HapMapII) (Supplementary Fig. 2), containing 25.9 million SNPs and 1.9 million insertions/deletions (indels) (Supplementary Table 2), of which nearly 50% were rare (minor-allele frequency <0.05) (Supplementary Fig. 3). The error rate of variant calling, i.e., the proportion of segregating sites in the reference accession, was 0.01%. The correlation between read depth and the proportion of SNP heterozygosity was extremely low (r 2 = 6 × 10 −5 ). Haplotypes were phased, and missing genotypes were imputed with high accuracy with BEAGLE v4.1 (ref. 12) (accuracy r 2 = 0.966) (Supplementary Fig. 4). Linkage disequilibrium was as low as that in maize 13 and decayed to an average r 2 of 0.1 in 3,000 bp (Supplementary Fig. 5).Cultivated cassava had lower nucleotide diversity (pairwise nucleotide diversity (π) = 0.0036) than did its progenitors (M. esculenta sp. flabelifolia, π = 0.0051). In addition, a close relationship between the two species was observed in a phylogenetic analysis (Supplementary Fig. 6). Both lines of evidence supported the hypothesis that cultivated cassava was domesticated from M. esculenta sp. flabelifolia 2,3,10 . To evaluate population differentiation of cassava, a principal component analysis (PCA) was performed and showed substantial differentiation among all cassava species and hybrids (Fig. 1a): cultivated cassava showed moderate genetic differentiation from its progenitors (fixation index (F st ) = 0.16) and high genetic differentiation from tree cassava (F st = 0.32) and wild relatives (F st = 0.44) (Supplementary Table 2 and Supplementary Fig. 7). However, PCA showed very little differentiation among cultivated cassava (Fig. 1b), and cultivated cassava within geographic subpopulations presented unexpectedly Cassava haplotype map highlights fixation of deleterious mutations during clonal propagation l e t t e r s low values of F st (0.01-0.05) even though these subpopulations were sampled from different continents (Supplementary Table 2). This result suggested that despite clonal propagation, there has been sufficient crossing to maintain cultivated cassava in one breeding pool.Sequence conservation is a powerful tool to discover functional variation 14,15 . We identified candidate deleterious mutations by using genomic evolution and amino acid conservation modeling. The cassava genome was aligned to seven species in the Malpighiales clade to identify evolutionarily constrained regions in the cassava genome. On the basis of the genomic evolutionary rate profiling (GERP) 16 score, nearly 104 Mb of the genome (20%) of cassava was constrained (GERP score >0) (Supplementary Fig. 8). The evolutionarily constrained genome of cassava (104 Mb) was comparable to that of maize (111 Mb) 17 in size, but was smaller than that of humans (214 Mb) 16 and larger than that of Drosophila (88 Mb) 18 . GERP profiling also identified a remarkably asymmetric distribution of constrained sequence at the chromosome scale (Supplementary Fig. 9). In addition to the constraint estimation at the DNA level, consequences of mutation on amino acids in proteins were assessed by using the Sorting Intolerant From Tolerant (SIFT) program 19 . Nearly 3.0% of coding SNPs in cultivated cassava were nonsynonymous mutations (Supplementary Table 2), of which 19.3% (57,952) were putatively deleterious (SIFT <0.05). Because the strength of functional prediction methods varies 14 , we combined the criteria of SIFT (<0.05) and GERP (>2) to obtain a more conservative set of 22,495 deleterious mutations (Supplementary Fig. 10).To estimate the individual mutation burden, we used rubber (Hevea brasiliensis), which diverged from the cassava lineage 27 million years (Myr) ago 10 , as an outgroup to identify derived deleterious alleles in cassava. The derived allele frequency (DAF) spectrum showed that cassava (4.6%, Fig. 2) appeared to have more fixed deleterious mutations than maize (3.2%, DAF >0.8) 20 when compared at the same threshold (SIFT <0.05). Across cultivated cassava, there were 150 fixed deleterious mutations. These deleterious mutations cannot be purged through standard breeding, which relies on recombination of segregating alleles, but they are potential targets for genome editing 21 . Together with the other 22,345 segregating deleterious mutations, the mutation burden in cassava was substantial. Given the several millennia of breeding in the species, why are these deleterious mutations still present in cultivated cassava, and how have breeders been managing them? We evaluated recombination, selection, and drift as the main processes controlling the distribution of deleterious mutations in cassava.Recombination is an essential process to purge deleterious mutations from the genome 22 . In vegetatively propagated species such as cassava, recombination is expected be less efficient in purging deleterious mutations. This hypothesis was supported by a weak correlation between the recombination rate and the distribution of deleterious mutations (Pearson's r = −0.066, P = 0.13, Fig. 3a). Deleterious mutations were nearly uniformly spread across the cassava genome (Fig. 3b and Supplementary Fig. 11) rather than being concentrated in low-recombination regions, as seen in humans 23 , fruit flies 24 , and maize 17 . Thus, recombination, which is presumably rare in a clonally propagated crop, does not effectively purge the mutation burden in cassava.Domestication is important in the evolution and improvement of crop species. The major domestication trait of cassava is the large carbohydrate-rich storage root. Cultivated cassava has a starch content 5 to 6 times higher than that of its progenitor 4 . Another domestication trait is the decreased cyanide content in roots 4 . Every tissue of cassava contains cyanogenic glucosides 25 . Ketones, cyanohydrin, and hydrogen cyanide are the key toxic compounds formed during degradation of cyanogenic glucosides 25,26 . These toxic compounds must be eliminated before human consumption. To identify the genomic regions under selection during domestication, the cross-population composite likelihood ratio (XP-CLR) 27 was used to scan the genome in Latin American cassava (LAC) accessions and the progenitor (M. esculenta sp. flabelifolia). We identified 203 selective sweeps containing 427 genes in LAC (Supplementary Fig. 12a). Genes in these sweep regions showed enrichment in starch and sucrose synthesis (3.8-fold enrichment; false discovery rate (FDR) = 7.2 × 10 −3 ) and cellular ketone metabolism (3.4-fold enrichment; FDR = 5.3 × 10 −3 ) (Supplementary Fig. 12b). The results suggested that selection during domestication increased the production of carbohydrates and decreased the cyanogenic glucoside content in cassava. Likewise, selection signatures of a recent bottleneck event in African cassava (AC) accessions were also evaluated. A total of 244 selective sweeps were identified, containing 416 genes. These genes were enriched in serine family amino acid metabolism (4.2-fold enrichment, FDR = 2.1 × 10 −6 ) and cellular response to stress (  A total of 9.1% genetic variance was captured in the first two principal components. LAC, Latin American cassava; ACC, Asian cultivated cassava; EAC, East African cassava; WAC, West African cassava; CWL, crosses between WAC and LAC. FDR = 4.9 × 10 −6 , Supplementary Fig. 12c,d). Because l-serine is involved in the plant response to biotic and abiotic stresses 28,29 , together with the functional enrichment in cellular response to stress, this result may reflect that disease-resistance accessions were selected for in a recent breeding program in Africa 9 . How was the mutation burden shaped in the selective sweeps? We found that LAC, compared with progenitors, showed 25% fewer (P = 0.009, Fig. 4a) deleterious alleles in sweep regions. Similarly, AC, compared with LAC, exhibited a 35% decrease (P = 2.1 × 10 −7 , Fig. 4b) in sweep regions. In addition to the comparison among populations, significant within-population decreases in deleterious alleles were observed by comparing sweep regions with the rest of the genome. For example, selective sweeps exhibited a 44% decrease (P = 9.7 × 10 −12 , Fig. 4c) in deleterious alleles in LAC and a 41% decrease (P = 8.7 × 10 −130 , Fig. 4d) in AC. This result suggests that haplotypes containing fewer deleterious alleles have been favored during selection.However, drift after domestication may have played a more important role in affecting mutation burden in cassava. Although LAC and AC, compared with their progenitors, had a similar number of deleterious alleles (P = 0.42, Fig. 5a), they exhibited a prominent increase in total burden by 26% (P = 9.1 × 10 −9 , Fig. 5a) and a shifted burden toward common deleterious variants (Supplementary Fig. 13). The increase in deleterious alleles during domestication has also been found in dogs 30 . The results suggest that the severe bottleneck in domestication and the shift from sexual reproduction to clonal propagation have resulted in a rapid accumulation of deleterious alleles in cultivated cassava.How have breeders been able to maintain yield, given the substantial increase in mutation burden in cultivated cassava? The answer became apparent when the homozygous and heterozygous deleterious alleles were compared. In cultivated accessions, compared with progenitors, the homozygous-mutation burden substantially decreased, by 23% (P = 7 × 10 −3 , Fig. 5b), regardless of the elevated frequency of deleterious alleles (Supplementary Fig. 13), whereas the heterozygous-mutation burden markedly increased, by 96% (P = 8.1 × 10 −7 , Fig. 5c), despite the decreased genetic diversity in cultivated cassava (π = 0.0036) compared with progenitors (π = 0.0051). In addition, we also compared the observed and mutation burdens under the assumption of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) in cultivated cassava. The relative depletion of the homozygous-mutation burden and the excess heterozygous-mutation burden would not have been present unless they were selected for and maintained. The results showed a decreased homozygous-mutation burden (LAC, 5.6% decrease, P = 0; AC, 10.3% decrease, P = 0, Fig. 5d) and an increased observed heterozygous-mutation burden (LAC, 3.5% increase, P = 1.5 × 10 −312 ; AC, 6.9% increase, P = 0, Fig. 5e), thus indicating a significant deviation from the HWE expectation. These results suggested that breeders have been trying to manage the recessive deleterious mutations in the heterozygous state to mask the harmful effects.Mutations with a large homozygous effect are more likely to be recessive 31 . We found that nearly 64.5% of deleterious mutations occurred only in the heterozygous state. Although the low allele frequency prevents effective tests for excess heterozygosity of these deleterious mutations, these mutations are more likely to be strongly deleterious, thus resulting in the significant yield loss in the first generation of selfed cassava plants 8,9 . These mutations were in genes (n = 7,774) exhibiting functional enrichment in primarily macromolecule catabolism and biosynthesis. In contrast, the deleterious mutations existing predominantly in the homozygous state (proportion of homozygotes >70%) were present in genes (n = 245) exhibiting functional enrichment in amine and ketone metabolism, as well as chemical and stimulus responses (Supplementary Fig. 14).Using deep sequencing from a comprehensive and representative collection of 241 cassava accessions, we developed HapMapII, l e t t e r s a valuable resource for cassava genetic studies and breeding. In this vegetatively propagated species, deleterious mutations have been accumulating rapidly, owing to limited recombination and a domestication bottleneck. Although breeding efforts have successfully maintained yield by selecting high-fitness haplotypes at several hundred loci and handling most damaging mutations in the heterozygous state, breeders have been unable to purge the mutation burden. Instead, they have shielded deleterious mutations by increasing the heterozygosity while screening thousands of potential hybrids (Supplementary Fig. 15). In the short term, this practice for managing mutation burden may produce gains in yield. In the long term, however, a mutational meltdown may be triggered by new mutations, decreasing genetic diversity in the breeding pool, and clonal propagation. Deleterious mutations should be important targets for future genetic research and breeding of cassava. In genetic research, mutations in fast-evolving regulatory regions must be evaluated by examining conservation from closely related species (divergence <5 Myr ago). In addition, dominance effects of deleterious mutations and the interactions among them must be qualified from populations; for breeding, dedicatedly designed crosses and selfing can be applied to eliminate deleterious mutations efficiently. Purging deleterious mutations from cassava, combined with genomic selection and genomic editing technologies 21 , should improve this globally important crop.  A bottleneck during domestication increased the mutation burden by 26% (P = 9.1 × 10 −9 ). Demography in Africa had no significant influence on the mutation burden in African cassava accessions (P = 0.42). (b) Homozygous-mutation burden in cassava populations. Domestication decreased the homozygous-mutation burden in cultivated cassava by 23% (P = 7 × 10 −3 ). (c) Heterozygous-mutation burden in cassava populations. Domestication increased the heterozygous-mutation burden in cultivated cassava by 96% (P = 8.1 × 10 −7 ). (d) Comparison between the observed homozygous-mutation burden (n = 10,000) and the expected homozygousmutation burden (n = 10,000) under the assumption of HWE in cultivated cassava. (e) Comparison between the observed heterozygous-mutation burden (n = 10,000) and the expected heterozygous-mutation burden (n = 10,000) under the assumption of HWE in cultivated cassava.Samples and whole-genome sequencing. To maximize the diversity and representation for cassava, all samples were selected on the basis of breeders' choice and diversity analysis from accessions included in Next Generation Cassava Breeding project (URLs). Whole-genome sequences were generated from 241 cassava accessions including 203 elite breeding accessions, 16 progenitors (M. falbellifolia and M. peruviana) 2,3 , 11 hybrid/tree cassava accessions and 11 wild relative cassava accessions (M. glaziovii and others) (Supplementary Table 1). Wild M. glaziovii has been extensively used in cassava breeding programs to transfer disease-resistance alleles to cultivated cassava (for example, in the Amani Breeding Program) 10 . Among 241 cassava accessions, 172 accessions were sequenced at the Genomic Diversity Facility at Cornell University. Standard Illumina TruSeq PCR-free libraries were constructed with an insert size of 500 bp. Sequences of 200 bp in length were generated with the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform, and sequences of 150 bp in length were generated with NextSeq 500 Desktop sequencers. The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center generated ~20× coverage sequences for 15 elite cassava accessions. Sequences for the remaining 54 cassava accessions were collected from HapMapI 10 , generated at the University of California, Berkeley.The cassava genome was found to have large amounts of repeat sequences. The 518.5-Mb cassava genome (v6.1) has ~51% repetitive elements with several common recent retrotransposons 10 . To exclude misalignment and to ensure high-quality variant discovery, these repeats were prefiltered by aligning the reads to a bait 10 containing repeat sequences and organelle sequences (Supplementary Fig. 2). The Burrows-Wheeler alignment with maximal exact matches (BWA-MEM) algorithm 32 was used to align and filter repeat reads. We set the --c parameter option to 100,000 to maximize the power to detect repeat reads. Remaining reads after prefiltering were aligned to the reference genome (v6.1) 10 with BWA-MEM 32 with default parameters. All alignment files were converted to BAM format 33 . To perform high-quality variant calling and genotyping, especially for rare variants, we developed an in-house pipeline, FastCall (URLs), to perform stringent variant discovery. The alignment records were generated from alignment BAM files with the mpileup tool in Samtools 33 . The following procedures were included in FastCall: (i) genomic positions with both insertion and deletion variants were ignored, because these sites were probably in complex regions with many misalignments; (ii) for multiple allelic sites, if the third allele had more than 20% depth in any individual, the site was ignored; (iii) for a specific site, if the minor allele did not have a depth between 40% and 60% in at least one individual when the individual depth was greater than 5, the site was ignored; (iv) a chi-squared test for allele segregation 13 in all individuals was performed. Sites with P values greater than 1.0 × 10 −3 were ignored; (v) On average, over 30× depth was used for individual genotype calls.The genotype likelihood was calculated on the basis of a multinomial test, as previously described 34 . To remove potential spurious variants arising from paralogs, an additional filter was applied to keep only variants with a depth between 7,500 and 11,500 (Supplementary Fig. 4b). The missing data composed approximately 4%. The genotypes were imputed and phased into haplotypes with BEAGLE v4.1 (ref.12) with a default window size of 50,000 SNPs.Error-rate estimates of HapMapII. The cassava reference accession AM560-2 is a S3-derived inbred 11 . Therefore, few genetic polymorphisms were expected in the reference genome. The percentage of polymorphic sites across the reference genome was identified as the false-positive error rate of cassava HapMapII (Supplementary Fig. 4a). To estimate imputation accuracy, a total of 10% of the known genotypes (with a minimum read depth of 10) were masked before imputation with BEAGLE. The correlation (Pearson's r) between the imputed genotype and the masked genotype was calculated to evaluate the imputation error.Population genetic analysis. SNP density, pairwise nucleotide diversity (π), Tajima's D and the fixation index (F st ) were calculated with VCFtools 35 (Supplementary Table 2). SNP density was calculated in 100-kb nonoverlapping windows, Tajima's D and F st were calculated in 5-kb nonoverlapping windows. Values of π were calculated with variant and invariant sites. PCA was carried out with a distance matrix generated in in Trait Analysis by Association, Evolution and Linkage (TASSEL) 36 . Phylogenetic analysis was performed with the Analysis of Phylogenetics and Evolution (APE) package 37 in R software (Supplementary Fig. 6).Recombination-rate analysis. Genetic-linkage-map positions were obtained from the cassava HapMapI source 10 and the International Cassava Genetic Map Consortium (ICGMC) 38 . Genetic-linkage-map positions (in centimorgans) were projected to HapMapII sites through simple linear interpolation between the markers.Genomic evolutionary rate profiling (GERP). Constrained portions of the cassava genome were identified by quantifying rejected substitutions (strength of purifying selection) with the GERP++ program 16 . Multiple whole-genome sequence alignment was carried out for the seven species in the Malpighiales clade of the plant kingdom, including cassava, rubber (H. brasiliensis) 39 , jatropha (Jatropha curcas) 40 , castor bean (Ricinus communis) 41 , willow (Salix purpurea) 42 , flax (Linum usitatissimum) 43 , and poplar (Populus trichocarpa) 44 . Whole-genome alignment was carried out with the Large-Scale Genome Alignment Tool (LASTZ) 45 . Phylogenetic tree and neutral branch length (estimated from fourfold degenerate sites) analyses were used to quantify the constraint intensity at every position in the cassava genome. Cassava genome sequences were eliminated during the site-specific observed estimates (rejected substitution (RS) scores) to eliminate the confounding influence of deleterious derived alleles segregating in cassava populations present in the reference sequence.Identifying deleterious mutations. Amino acid substitutions and their effects on protein function were predicted with the SIFT algorithm 19 . Nonsynonymous mutations with SIFT scores <0.05 were defined as putative deleterious mutations. SIFT (<0.05) and GERP (>2) annotations were combined to identify the deleterious mutations in constrained portions of the genome. These deleterious mutations were used to calculate the cassava mutation burden.The rubber genome was used as an outgroup to identify the deleterious alleles in the cassava genome. At a given position, if a cassava reference allele matched the rubber reference allele, the allele in cassava was categorized as an ancient allele. If a cassava allele was different from the rubber allele, the cassava allele was defined as a derived allele. If the cassava genome was not aligned to the rubber genome, or both reference and alternative alleles did not match the rubber genome, that particular site was ignored. Reference accession (inbred, generation S3) and introgression lines were removed during estimation of mutation burden for each accession.Identifying selective sweep regions. The cross-population composite likelihood approach (XP-CLR) 27 was used to identify the selective sweeps for two comparisons: Latin America cassava accessions (test populations) versus progenitors (M. esculenta sp. flabelifolia, reference population) for domestication events, and African cassava accessions (test populations) versus Latin American cassava accessions (reference population) to assess recent improvement in Africa. A selection scan was performed across the genome with a 0.5-cM sliding window between the SNPs with a spacing of 2 kb. A genetic map of cassava generated by the International Cassava Genetic Map Consortium 38 was used in the XP-CLR analysis. XP-CLR scores were normalized with Z scores and a smoothed spline technique in the R package (GenWin) 46 . Outlier peaks were selected if they were above the ninety-ninth percentile of normalized values. AgriGO 47 and REVIGO 48 tools were used for gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis.Mutation burden in cassava accessions. The numbers of derived deleterious alleles present in cassava accessions were counted to identify the mutation burden in cassava accessions in three models (homozygous-mutation burden, heterozygous-mutation burden, and total mutation burden). The homozygous-mutation burden is the number of derived deleterious alleles in the homozygous state. The heterozygous-mutation burden is the number of derived deleterious alleles existing in the heterozygous state.The total mutation burden is the number of derived deleterious alleles existing in an accession (2× homozygous-mutation burden + heterozygousmutation burden) 15,49 .A bootstrap approach (with replacement) was used to resample cultivated cassava accessions from both Latin American (24 samples) and African (174 samples) breeding pools. The process was repeated 10,000 times to generate the distribution of expected homozygous and heterozygous-mutation burden. For each resampling, where b ho is the expected homozygous-mutation burden under HWE, b he is the expected heterozygous-mutation burden under HWE, n is the total number of deleterious mutations identified (n = 22,495), and d i is the allele frequency of the ith deleterious allele in the sampled population. The observed mutation burden was calculated for each accession, as described in the section 'Mutation burden in cassava accessions' . The means of observed homozygous and heterozygous mutation were used for the comparison.Statistical tests. The significance of the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was determined by two-tailed Student's t tests. The difference between groups was tested by unpaired two-tailed Welch's t tests, assuming unequal variance between groups. n represents the sample size."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d0aa138fd4ceaabfedd7e242e08675a4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0421e612-0133-4ee2-a86d-785561d07a6e/retrieve","id":"-819649615"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6459d71d-5c6e-4bb3-8c0a-097fe34a74e7","content":"En la última década, las variaciones climáticas relacionadas con el fenómeno de El Niño y La Niña han traído serios retos para la agricultura colombiana, demostrando que muchos agricultores no tienen la capacidad de manejar efectivamente el riesgo y de adaptarse a fluctuaciones climáticas y catástrofes. El cambio climático antropógeno probablemente exacerbe esta situación. Los científicos proyectan aumentos en la variabilidad climática, temperaturas más altas y precipitación errática.En Colombia, el aumento promedio previsto de la temperatura promedio anual para el 2050 se estima que sea de 2.5 °C; y es probable que la precipitación aumente en un 2.5% a mediados de siglo. De hecho, sin adaptación acelerada, el cambio climático resultaría en: • Degradación del suelo y pérdida de materia orgánica en las vertientes andinas. • Inundaciones en las costas Caribe y Pacífica. • Pérdidas de nichos para el café, los frutales, el cacao y el banano. • Cambios en la prevalencia de plagas y enfermedades. • Descongelamiento de glaciares y estrés hídrico.Las proyecciones indican que para el 2050, en la mayoría (>60%) de las áreas actualmente cultivadas se verá impactado probablemente el 80% de los cultivos, y los cultivos perennes de alto valor sufrirán el mayor impacto. Estas proyecciones tienen implicaciones socioeconómicas significativas: el sector agropecuario es responsable del 40% de las exportaciones colombianas, y el 21% de la población depende directamente de la agricultura como fuente de empleo. El cambio climático, por ende, tendría efectos de amplio alcance en la agroindustria, las cadenas de abastecimiento y la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional.Adicionalmente, los efectos del cambio climático tendrán su mayor impacto en los productores de escasos recursos y de pequeña escala. Los pequeños agricultores representan la gran mayoría de los productores de alimentos en Colombia. Entre los cultivos de exportación (que generan el 41% del PIB agrícola), solo la caña de azúcar se cultiva principalmente en grandes plantaciones. Entre el 50% y el 90% de los productores de cereales, café, cacao y musáceas (banano y plátano) son pequeños agricultores, cada uno con fincas de menos de 10 ha.¿Qué nos espera?Se estima que para el 2050, la temperatura promedio anual aumente en promedio 2.5 ºC, alcanzando un máximo de 2.7 ºC en el departamento de Arauca y un mínimo de 2 ºC en los departamentos de Chocó y Nariño. El impacto en la agricultura posiblemente será severo en las regiones o cultivos que experimenten aumentos de temperatura superiores a los 2.5 ºC (Cuadro 1).Las temperaturas más altas vendrán acompañadas del descongelamiento de glaciares en los Andes (que tal vez habrán desaparecido para el 2030) y la desaparición de páramos importantes (quizás el 56% ya no existan para el 2050) -ecosistemas que hoy son fuente importante de agua. Entretanto, la variabilidad de la precipitación anualEl cambio climático probablemente tendrá impactos significativos en el sector agropecuario en Colombia, responsable de más de una décima parte del PIB del país y fuente de empleo para más de una quinta parte de su población. Los análisis indican que para el 2050 es probable que se presenten aumentos significativos de la temperatura, precipitación más errática y mayor prevalencia de plagas y enfermedades. Para atender las múltiples implicaciones socioeconómicas de estos cambios, el gobierno debe priorizar la adaptación, invirtiendo en evaluaciones regionales, investigación y desarrollo, y transferencia de tecnologías a los agricultores y capacitación en su uso. Los períodos más secos durante todo el año posiblemente serán menos secos, mientras que los períodos más húmedos se intensificarían. Las proyecciones indican un aumento promedio del 2.5% a nivel nacional para el 2050, con un mínimo de cambio de -1.4% en el departamento de Cesar y un máximo de 5.6% en el departamento de Huila. Las únicas excepciones son las regiones secas de la costa Caribe, donde las disminuciones de precipitación anticipada constituyen una mayor causa de preocupación.Los científicos proyectan que el 36% de los productos agrícolas enfrentarán aumentos de precipitación de más del 3% en, por lo menos, el 60% de las áreas cultivadas. Los cambios en los patrones de precipitación pueden alterar las fechas de floración; afectar los factores bióticos (plagas, enfermedades, malezas) en diferentes sistemas de producción, con el consecuente aumento de los costos de producción; y alterar la disponibilidad de agua en el suelo. Las lluvias intensas pueden resultar en inundaciones, erosión del suelo y grandes pérdidas de cultivos. Esta situación se puede ver exacerbada en la costa Pacífica, donde una elevación del nivel del mar puede causar inundaciones y salinización de los suelos.La prevalencia de plagas y enfermedades ya ha aumentado, y es probable que la situación empeore con la agudización del cambio climático. Los cultivos actualmente afectados incluyen las musáceas (bananos, plátanos) en áreas por encima de los 500 msnm, el café en áreas por encima de los 1500 msnm, la papa en áreas por debajo de los 2500 msnm, así como el cacao, el maíz y la yuca. La intensificación del control químico puede representar altos costos económicos para los pequeños productores y costos a largo plazo para el agroecosistema.El calor, las tierras degradadas, la escasez de alimentos para animales (debido a la disminución de plantas resistentes al cambio climático) y la escasez de agua probablemente tendrán impacto en la ganadería. Los intentos de intensificar la producción ganadera pueden conducir inadvertidamente a enfermedades infecciosas en el ganado, lo que a su vez podrían afectar a agricultores y consumidores de carne.A nivel de finca: Los sistemas silvopastoriles (SSP) son una alternativa a los sistemas ganaderos tradicionales en América Latina, los cuales se han visto relacionados durante años con deforestación, erosión del suelo y pérdida de la biodiversidad. Por el contrario, los SSP mezclan vegetaciones perennes de enraizamiento profundo al sistema de producción pecuaria. La diversidad de plantas en los sistemas silvopastoriles -que a menudo combinan gramíneas terrestres, leguminosas arbustivas y especies leguminosas o maderables para proporcionar sombra-ofrecen mayor resiliencia a la variabilidad climática. Las plantas pueden entonces servir de suplemento dietético y de forraje alternativo. Se ha encontrado que la producción de leche y carne aumenta en los SSP. Estos sistemas también proveen servicios ambientales (reciclaje de nutrientes del suelo, secuestro de carbono, corredores y refugios para la biodiversidad), al tiempo que proporcionan sombra, conservando la humedad del suelo y reduciendo la temperatura para el ganado.agricultores frente a la volatilidad del clima, la adversidad y la pobreza. • Otras herramientas de transferencia de recursos económicos, como los subsidios, para incentivar la adopción de variedades resistentes, y prácticas agrícolas adaptativas, como por ejemplo los sistemas silvopastoriles (ver recuadro).En vista del grado de incertidumbre en cuanto a los efectos del cambio climático, Colombia debe continuar invirtiendo en modelación climática en diferentes escenarios, a escala geográfica detallada y a largo plazo. Conocer el grado en que diferentes sistemas, regiones y cultivos se podrían ver afectados permitiría que los científicos y los formuladores de políticas desarrollen planes de adaptación apropiados. Entretanto, se necesita más investigación para desarrollar cultivos resistentes al clima, a las plagas y a las enfermedades (ver el recuadro \"Arroz colombiano\" como ejemplo). La preservación de la agrobiodiversidad y de los recursos genéticos es crucial para este fin.Cambios en la fenología del cultivo y el Cambios en fechas de siembra y cosecha. Cambios en Café, musáceas, arroz de secano, maíz, soya, consiguiente impacto sobre el flujo de los infraestructura para cultivos perennes (riego, drenaje). fríjol, árboles frutales productos hacia los mercados y cadenas de abastecimiento Inundación de tierras agrícolas debido al Reubicación de actividades de acuerdo con los nuevos Palma de aceite africana (costa Pacífica), aumento en el nivel del mar y la salinización planes de ordenamiento territorial. Construcción de musáceas (Urabá) y ganadería (costa Caribe) de aguas subterráneas diques y barreras para prevenir la salinización y proteger los ecosistemas costeros.Cambios en plagas y enfermedades: Investigación en razas resistentes o tolerantes. Café (por debajo de los 1500 msnm), musáceas aumento de la prevalencia y desplazamiento Implementación de sistemas de monitoreo y de alerta (por debajo de los 500 msnm), papa (por encima a nuevas regiones temprana para poder implementar el manejo sostenible. de los 2500 msnm), yuca, árboles frutales Intensificación de los procesos de Manejo agronómico sostenible y mejorado para Papa y yuca en las laderas andinas, ganadería en degradación y desertificación de la tierra aumentar la resiliencia del suelo. las tierras bajas (Amazonia, Llanos Orientales, costa Caribe)Aumento en la vulnerabilidad de los Creación de subsidios de adaptación y de un sistema de Todos los cultivos (se deben atender primero los pequeños productores a la variabilidad del seguros agrícolas para los productores de vertientes y sectores con dispersión significativa dentro del clima y al cambio climático para las áreas muy secas del Caribe. La industria y el país) gobierno deben invertir en investigación, extensión y transferencia de tecnologías para apoyar a los pequeños productores.Financiación e incentivos gubernamentales para Prioridad: razas nativas silvestres y cultivadas de recursos fitogenéticos que actualmente estimular la conservación de recursos fitogenéticos. árboles frutales, y muchos parientes silvestres de estén mal representados o no se los esté Análisis de zonas de alto riesgo. Colección de recursos cultivos, incluyendo yuca, fríjol, papa y tomate, conservando ex situ genéticos. Priorización de las actividades que requieren entre otros. mejoramiento genético (siguiente columna).Investigación en material genético resistente al calor y Caña de azúcar, café (por encima de los cultivos y pasturas, y disminución de la programas de fitomejoramiento para los cultivos más 1500 msnm), papa (por debajo de los productividad, incluyendo el abandono de vulnerables. Desarrollo de nuevas prácticas para sistemas 2500 msnm), musáceas (por debajo de los las tierras agrícolas actuales agrícolas que puedan soportar temperaturas más altas. 500 msnm), cítricos (tierras altas), ganaderíaUno de los mayores obstáculos para el mejoramiento del arroz en América Latina y otras regiones es el estancamiento del rendimiento potencial del cultivo, que el fitomejoramiento convencional no ha podido superar. Diversas plagas y enfermedades importantes, en tierras bajas y altas, y la prevalencia de suelos ácidos infértiles en las zonas altas son factores que explican esta brecha de rendimientos experimentales. Los investigadores están trabajando para cerrar esta brecha ampliando la base genética de la producción de arroz e incorporando características útiles a partir de los parientes silvestres. Por ejemplo, híbridos entre las especies silvestres de Oryza y las variedades mejoradas han dado progenie con rendimientos entre el 10% y el 20% superiores a sus parientes cultivados.También se están evaluando líneas de arroz con otras características, tales como arquitectura de planta, tipo de grano y resistencia a los estreses bióticos y abióticos. Específicamente, los científicos han usado el fitomejoramiento y la investigación en patología para desarrollar cultivos con resistencia durable a plagas y enfermedades. La diversidad de las cepas de muchos patógenos, que les permite mutar, diversificarse y duplicarse rápidamente, complica esta tarea y hace más difícil desarrollar cultivos con la resistencia adecuada.Entre 1967 y 2005, Colombia liberó 41 variedades de arroz, con beneficios económicos estimados en cientos de millones de dólares estadounidenses, gracias al aumento en los rendimientos y a la reducción de los gastos en pesticidas. Las variedades recientemente desarrolladas son resistentes a sogata, hoja blanca y añublo del arroz, tres de las plagas y enfermedades más destructivas de este cultivo.  El gobierno debe formular un Plan Nacional de Adaptación con objetivos claros que definan y asignen tareas, e identifique las necesidades de inversión y los flujos financieros El plan debe priorizar específicamente:1. Evaluaciones de impacto regionales, detalladas y comprensivas.2. Evaluaciones de vulnerabilidad de los sistemas de producción agropecuaria cruciales para las exportaciones nacionales y la seguridad alimentaria rural.3. Investigación e iniciativas de desarrollo, incluyendo modelación climática y fitomejoramiento.4. Capacitación de agricultores y transferencia de tecnología. La adopción puede requerir políticas que tengan en cuenta la escasez de recursos de los pequeños productores (por ejemplo, sistemas de seguros agrícolas, subsidios por la tierra).En todos los casos, los datos y la información deben ser públicos para facilitar tanto la investigación sobre el clima como el intercambio de conocimientos institucionales y tradicionales."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"240a19719f433b20b9c86630cb40f18c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fcd425d1-621f-4da8-bd69-cba25912afe3/retrieve","id":"336636105"},"keywords":["A, AGUAT, ANSM, ARIZ, ASU, BAA, BAB, BAFC, BM, BR, BRIT, CAS, CHAPA, CICY, COL, CORD, CPUN, CR, CS, CUZ, DAV, DS, DUKE, EBUM, ECON, ENCB, F, FI, G, GH, HAO, HNMN, HUT, IBUG, IEB, INB, K, L, LAGU, LIL, LL, LPB, M, MA, MEXU, MICH, MO, MOL, NA, NCU, NY, O, P, PH, PMA, POM, PRG, QCA, RB, RSA, SI, TEX, UC, UCR, US, USJ, USM, UVAL, WIS albescens, 2 racèmes, en floraison, j go. [MEXU","27-I-2011]. UCR75254. /// Plantas de México: Edo. de Colima. (Macroptilium) [barré]. Phaseolus lunatus L.. Rancho El Jabalí, aprox albescens, en go sèches, graines, 6 racèmes, B1 elliptiques étroites acuminées presque linéaires 5 mm long 1 mm large, qq go avec fines stries violettes. [MEXU","27-I-2011] Phaseolus. Bejuco herbácea, en malezas. /// Base de datos Phaseolinae [cachet à l'encre bleue]. /// Herbario Nacional (MEXU). Phaseolus albescens A. Delgado & R. Ramírez-Delgadillo, det. A. Delgado, 2008. /// DGD: albescens, 3 racèmes, en j go en transition à go vertes. [MEXU","27-I-2011] Phaseolus costaricensis, et c'est l'holotype","en floraison, 2 racèmes, jgo. [US","12-V-1997] costaricensis, isotype, 2 racèmes, en floraison, jgo. [UC","22-X-2003] costaricensis, en floraison, jgo, un seul très grand racème vigoureux","pas d'indication de site. [SI","22-IV-1988]"],"sieverID":"c6c2c8dc-433a-40a5-9b2d-9b2672cc177d","content":"was mutually agreed with the Editor of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas that the monograph should not exceed 300 pages. We had a lot of specimens that the two of us had seen and annotated together in Mayagüez, or separately. We agreed with the Editor that at least an identification list should be in the monograph (pages 291-294), so Curators of Herbaria would have identifications for the specimens they kindly allowed us to see. Since 2002 more Herbaria have been visited (see full list at the end of this explanatory note) by myself and more specimens have been annotated. Obviously few journals would accept the publication of these records in full. The publication of these 'note books of phaseology' on the web site of the genebank of CIAT where the largest collection of beans is currently maintained, was one way to put that information available to the public. This file is periodically updated as more visits to Herbaria increase the number of specimens of species belonging to this section.weedy forms, not to the beans grown anywhere on purpose by people). For each country, the alphabetical order of currently acknowledged departments/ provinces/ states is followed. Within each department/ province/ state the specimens are presented by alphabetical order of names of collectors, the first family name coming first when applicable. If there are many specimens by the same collector(s), the lowest collecting numbers will come first. When there are many specimens with the same collecting number, the alphabetical order of the Herbaria keeping these specimens is followed. The specimens used as types (with indications in red and in bold face about the kind of types) immediately follow the introduction of the species name. There are two reasons for this: for the taxonomist the type contributes to the validation of the species (and we know straight which species we are talking about), and if a user looks for the type(s) it will be faster to look for it (them) at a specific location in the files throughout the sections rather than to look for it (them) by geographical area. Logically the holotype comes first. The types of species put in synonymy will logically follow, in alphabetical order of the names of these species, unless they were not validly published, and in this case these specimens will be in the general list (as usually Curators of Herbaria proceed). In a few cases, the type specimens are followed by specimens for which there is no geographical information. In cases where only the country has been indicated, then the specimens will be at the top of the list before the first department/ province/ state listed alphabetically.All notes found on the voucher specimen on the day of visit are taken in the way they have been written (trying to respect the original to the extent possible), and written down along a time sequence starting with the oldest annotation (sometimes deciding which is the oldest annotation is an educated guess, but color of labels and inks and kinds of typewriters or printers help). For easy reference, the information starts with the number of the voucher with the acronym of the Herbarium visited when applicable. Please note that some Herbaria did not number their voucher specimens. In this case there might be only a stamp indicating the Herbarium where the specimen is currently kept. Each piece of information found on a label or written directly on the cardboard is separated from the next one by a slash sign repeated three times (///). Please note that a stamp might be included in the sequence of information, since it can provide useful information about the date of a specimen if not indicated in the main label. The most recent labels in the sequence usually refer to the identification of the specimen by taxonomists and are presented in chronological order, the earliest identification coming first. The sequence of sets of data finishes with the author's determination (introduced by author's initials), with a few notes about the specimen. In the notes, attention is drawn on the size/ richness of the specimens, usually through the number of racemes. In view of possible future collecting (e.g. matching with the date of collection), there is an indication about the phenology, whether the specimen was seen with flowers and/ or young/ green/ dry pods and/ or seeds. The notes end with the acronym of the visited Herbarium and the date (as day/ month/ year) when the specimen was studied (that date can be validated by consulting the records of visitors of each Herbarium); so the reader knows where that specimen can be studied/ asked for study. A specimen might have been seen on two visits, and thus two dates will be indicated in chronological order. The indication [x2] or [x3] means that the specimen exists as two or three sheets; if there is anything noteworthy, then the second or third sheet will be treated as another specimen.Because the coordinates could be critical for studies in phytogeography or in evaluation against abiotic stresses, if the coordinates were given on the (main) label, they are reported directly. If there none and if the location is precise enough, an estimate is provided, usually for the first collecting number; because it is an indirect data provided by the author, it will be written down in square brackets []. Similarly, given its importance in order to see the material one more time in its original habitat, if provided in abbreviated form or numerical form that could lead to confusion, the date might be reconfirmed in square brackets (in the format day/ month/ year), usually for the first collecting number. This confirmation is often possible because the author has explored the same area for the same species. Other notes such as appreciation/ interpretation of anything relevant on the labels will appear also in square brackets, so that the reader understands that this is not an original data. In some cases it was felt necessary to add [col.] to indicate clearly the name of the collector; similarly [det.] was added to indicate clearly the name of the taxonomist identifying the specimen. If both indications are without square brackets, it means that they were written as such on the label(s). Sometimes critical information, for example the name of the species or the collecting number might be missing and the author has seen a void space; this situation is reflected in the notes by [blanc] 'void'.For easy reference only, the name of the state/ department/ province will appear green (the black font of the original name has been turned green), and the name of the (main) collector and his/ her collecting number will appear blue (the black font of the original name has been turned blue). Note that the original black font can be reversed easily, so the user sees the original data as they were on the label(s). Similarly, all back slash signs could be eliminated to restore the original information found on the label(s).One should keep in mind that the author deals with specimens as individual cases and single sets of data, and on every visit as a novel case. This explains why specimens by the same collector(s) with the same collecting number are repeated in the list. The opinion of other taxonomists on the studied specimen is their, and the way Curators mounted plant parts and presented the labels is their too. That stated, the reader will notice some interesting convergences (or discrepancies) in the works of these different professionals.The reader will find the specimens seen by the author in alphabetical order of the species: P. albescens, P. costaricensis, P. debouckii, P. dumosus, P. persistentus and P. vulgaris. P. debouckii was included following the work by Rendón-Anaya et al. 2017 (in Phytotaxa 313 (3): 259-266). About P. dumosus the reader will find wild and weedy forms, the latter being found in wellestablished second growth forests (the records from South America), not from cultivated fields. P. persistentus was included into this section following the data given by A. Delgado-Salinas, R. Bibler & M. Lavin. 2006. Phylogeny of the genus Phaseolus (Leguminosae): a recent diversification in an ancient landscape. Syst. Bot. 31 (4): 779-791. P. vulgaris was treated as in the monograph without naming botanical varieties, focusing on wild forms, with the mention of a few weedy types (namely when found in the folders of wild forms in some Herbaria); cultivated types were excluded. In many cases, since the collector(s) does (do) not clearly state the biological status of the specimen at the collection site and on the label, the specimen is confirmed as wild ('sauvage') in the author's notes because this confirmation is critical for the future use of the data. updated 2/12/2019. Introducción a los 'Cahiers de Phaséologie'sección Phaseoli DC emend. Freytag.Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) AA 6713 Cali COLOMBIA; d.debouck@cgiar.org NOTA ACLARATORIAMientras con el Dr. George F. Freytag estábamos finalizando la monografía (Freytag, G.F. & D.G. Debouck. 2002. Taxonomy, distribution, and ecology of the genus Phaseolus (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae) in North America, Mexico and Central America. SIDA , se acordó mutuamente con el Editor del Botanical Research Institute of Texas que el texto final no debería sobrepasar el límite de 300 páginas. Teníamos muchos especímenes que habíamos examinado y anotado conjuntamente en Mayagüez, o de manera independiente. Acordamos con el Editor que por lo menos una lista de los especímenes con las identificaciones estuviera en la monografía (páginas 291-294), para que los Curadores de los Herbarios tuvieran las identificaciones de los especímenes que amablemente nos permitieron estudiar. Desde 2002 más Herbarios fueron visitados (véase una lista completa al final de esta nota aclaratoria) de mi parte y más especímenes fueron anotados. Por razones obvias pocas revistas científicas aceptarían de publicar estos registros de manera completa. La publicación de estos 'Cuadernos de Faseología' en el sitio internet del banco de germoplasma del CIAT donde se conserva actualmente la mayor colección de fríjoles, era una manera lógica de meter esta información al alcance del público. El presente archivo es actualizado periódicamente cuando nuevas visitas a los Herbarios aumentan el número de especímenes de las especies perteneciendo a esta sección.La lista de los especímenes examinados por el autor en los Herbarios viene organizada de acuerdo con las secciones del género Phaseolus tales como se las reconoce en la monografía (op. cit.). La razón detrás de esta organización de los datos es práctica, por los números de especímenes estudiados, especialmente para las secciones que incluyen el fríjol común (es decir los Phaseoli) o el fríjol Lima (es decir los Paniculati). Para dar una información actualizada a los usuarios, la fecha del documento (la cual se encuentra al final del archivo) es la fecha de la cargada de los datos de cualquier espécimen de esta sección estudiado en el último Herbario visitado. Directamente después del título se encuentra la lista de los Herbarios y Museos de Historia Natural que conservan especímenes de esta sección en sus colecciones; estos Herbarios y Museos vienen mencionados en orden alfabético con los acrónimos de 'Index Herbariorum'. Dentro de cada sección, la información se presenta por cada especie reconocida actualmente como válida, y en orden alfabético de las especies para esta sección. Para cada especie la presentación sigue el orden alfabético de los países donde esta especie crece naturalmente (este cuaderno trata únicamente de las especies y formas silvestres, no de los fríjoles sembrados a propósito por la gente en cualquier parte del mundo). Para cada país, se sigue el orden alfabético de los departamentos/ estados/ provincias actualmente reconocidos para este país. Dentro de cada departamento/ estado/ provincia, los especímenes se presentan en el orden alfabético de los apellidos de los colectores, considerando el primer apellido cuando aplica. Si se reporta varios especímenes de un mismo colector, el reporte arranca con los números de colecta menores. Cuando hay varios especímenes con el mismo número de colecta, estos se presentan en el orden alfabético de los Herbarios (por sus acrónimos) que conservan estos especímenes. Los especímenes que fueron usados como tipos (indicados en rojo reforzado y según la categoría de tipos, el holotipo siendo el primero) se presentan directamente después del nombre de la especie. Hay dos razones detrás de esta presentación: primero, para el taxónomo el tipo es parte de la validación de la especie (y por lo tanto se sabe de cuál especie se trata), y segundo, en el caso que un usuario busca un tipo, será más rápido buscarlo en un lugar preciso del archivo (y esto para todas las secciones) en comparación a una búsqueda por área geográfica. Los tipos de las especies que fueron puestas en sinonimia siguen, en orden alfabético de los nombres de las especies, a menos que no hayan sido publicados de manera válida. En este último caso, los especímenes se ubican en la lista general (de la misma manera como lo hacen los Curadores). En algunos casos, los especímenes tipo vienen seguidos por aquellos especímenes por los cuales no hay información geográfica. En los casos donde sólo aparece el nombre del país, entonces estos especímenes vienen al inicio (en espera de más información) antes del primer departamento/ estado/ provincia mencionado en orden alfabético.Todas las notas que se encontraron escritas sobre cada espécimen en el día de la visita fueron registradas de la manera más cercana al original, y vienen reportadas en una secuencia temporal arrancando con la anotación más antigua. Decidir cuál era la anotación más antigua no fue siempre fácil, pero el color de las etiquetas y de las tintas y los tipos de máquinas de escribir y de las impresoras ayudaron. Para una referencia rápida, la información arranca con el número del ejemplar con el acrónimo del Herbario visitado cuando aplica. Hay que mencionar que algunos Herbarios no numeran sus especímenes. En este caso puede haber sólo el sello del Herbario donde el espécimen está conservado. Cada elemento de información que se encuentra escrito en una etiqueta o directamente sobre la cartulina viene separado del siguiente por una barra oblicua repetida tres veces (///). Favor notar que un sello puede ser incluido en la secuencia de informaciones porque puede dar una información útil sobre la edad de un espécimen si ésta no viene indicada en la etiqueta principal. Las etiquetas más recientes en la secuencia se refieren usualmente a la identificación del espécimen por parte de los taxónomos, y vienen en orden cronológico, la identificación más temprana siendo la primera. La secuencia de grupos de datos termina con la identificación de parte del autor (introducida por sus iniciales), con algunas notas sobre el espécimen. En estas notas, se llama la atención sobre el tamaño/ riqueza del espécimen, usualmente mediante el número de racimos. Con miras a futuras colectas y en correspondencia con la fecha de la colecta, se da una indicación de fenología, si el espécimen tiene flores y/o vainas jóvenes y/o vainas verdes y/o vainas secas y/o semillas. Las notas terminan con el acrónimo del Herbario visitado y con la fecha (en formato día/mes/ año) del estudio del espécimen durante la visita (esta fecha puede ser comprobada consultando los libros de registro de visitantes de cada Herbario). En consecuencia el lector sabe dónde un espécimen preciso puede ser estudiado o solicitado en prestamo. Un espécimen puede haber sido estudiado en dos fechas, y en consecuencia dos fechas aparecen, en orden cronológico. La indicación [x2] o [x3] significa que el espécimen existe como dos o tres ejemplares; si existe cualquier detalle que amerita ampliación de notas, entonces el segundo o tercer ejemplar será tratado como cualquier otro espécimen.Porque las coordenadas geográficas pueden ser de importancia crítica para los estudios de fitogeografía o evaluación contra estrés abióticos, en el caso que las coordenadas fueron escritas en la etiqueta (principal), se las reporta directamente. Si no hay coordenadas y en el caso que el lugar de colecta esté suficientemente preciso, se dan unas coordenadas estimadas, usualmente para el primer número de colecta. Porque se trata de datos indirectos dados por el autor, estarán escritos entre corchetes cuadrados []. De igual manera, por su importancia para volver a ver el material en su sitio original, especialmente si ha sido dada de manera abreviada o en forma numérica que puede prestarse a confusiones, la fecha puede ser re-confirmada en corchetes cuadrados (en el formato día/ mes/ año), usualmente para el primer número de colecta. Esta confirmación ha sido posible en varios casos porque el autor ha explorado la misma área para la misma especie. Otras notas tales como apreciaciones o interpretaciones de cualquier palabra escrita sobre la etiqueta y que sea relevante aparecerán también entre corchetes cuadrados, de tal manera que el lector entiende que no son datos originales. En algunos casos se vio la necesidad de añadir la abreviación [col.] para indicar claramente el nombre del colector de la muestra; de igual manera a veces fue necesario añadir la abreviación [det.] para indicar claramente el nombre del taxónomo quien identificó el material. En el caso que ambas abreviaciones estén sin corchetes cuadrados, esta situación significa que fueron escritas como tales en la etiqueta. A veces una información crítica, por ejemplo el nombre de la especie o el número de colecta puede estar faltando y el autor ha visto un espacio dejado en blanco; esta situación viene reflejada en las notas con la indicación [blanc] 'blanco' donde corresponde.Para referencia rápida solamente, el nombre del departamento/ estado/ provincia aparecerá en verde (la letra original negra ha sido cambiada a verde), y el nombre del colector (principal) y su número de colecta aparecerán en azul (la letra original negra ha sido cambiada a azul). Favor notar que la letra original negra puede revertirse fácilmente, para que el usuario vea los datos originales tales como estaban en la(s) etiqueta(s). De igual manera, todas las barras en oblicuo pueden ser eliminadas para volver a la información original de la(s) etiqueta(s).Es importante guardar en mente que el autor trata los especímenes como casos individuales y como conjuntos de datos por separado, y en cada visita como casos nuevos. Esta aproximación explica por qué los especímenes colectados por el mismo colector y con el mismo número de colecta se repiten en la lista. La opinión de otros taxónomos sobre el espécimen estudiado les pertenece, y la manera como los Curadores montan la muestra y presentan los datos igualmente pertenece a ellos. Bajo este entendimiento, el lector observará unas convergencias (o diferencias) interesantes en el trabajo de estos diferentes profesionales.El lector encontrará los especímenes estudiados por el autor en el orden alfabético de las especies: P. albescens, P. costaricensis, P. debouckii, P. dumosus, P. persistentus and P. vulgaris. P. debouckii fue incluido siguiendo el trabajo de Rendón-Anaya et al. 2017 (in Phytotaxa 313 (3): 259-266). Con relación a P. dumosus, el lector encontrará formas silvestres y formas malezas, estas últimas creciendo en bosque secundarios ya establecidos (los registros para América del Sur), pero no en campos cultivados. P. persistentus fue incluido en esta sección de acuerdo con los datos de A. Delgado-Salinas, R. Bibler & M. Lavin. 2006. Phylogeny of the genus Phaseolus (Leguminosae): a recent diversification in an ancient landscape. Syst. Bot. 31 (4): 779-791. El tratamiento de P. vulgaris fue igual a lo aplicado en la monografía sin nombrar variedades botánicas, enfocándose sobre las formas silvestres y con la mención de algunas formas malezas (se dio esta situación cuando las muestras estaban en la misma carpeta en el Herbario visitado); los materiales cultivados fueron excluidos. En muchos casos donde el colector no aclara el estado biológico del material en el sitio de colecta y en la etiqueta, se confirmó en las notas del autor que el espécimen era silvestre ('sauvage') porque esta confirmación tiene gran importancia para el uso futuro de los datos.actualizado el 2/12/2019. Au moment de finir la monographie avec George F. Freytag (Freytag, G.F. & D.G. Debouck. 2002. Taxonomy, distribution, and ecology of the genus Phaseolus (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae) in North America, Mexico and Central America. SIDA , un accord avait été conclu avec l'Editeur du Botanical Research Institute of Texas que la monographie ne devrait pas compter plus de 300 pages. Il y avait cependant un grand nombre de spécimens sur lesquels nous avions des observations et des notes prises soit ensemble à Mayagüez, soit séparément. Nous étions d'accord avec l'Editeur qu'au moins une liste des identifications soit présente dans la monographie (pages 291-294), afin que les Curateurs des Herbiers puissent avoir les identifications des spécimens qu'ils avaient eu l'amabilité de soumettre à notre examen. Depuis 2002 j'ai eu l'occasion de visiter d'autres Herbiers (la liste complète se trouve à la fin de cette note explicative) et de prendre des notes sur un plus grand nombre de spécimens. Pour des raisons évidentes peu de revues scientifiques accepteraient de publier ces notes dans leur entièreté. La publication de ces 'cahiers de phaséologie' sur le site internet de la banque de gènes du CIAT où la plus grande collection de haricots est actuellement conservée, était une façon de mettre ces informations à la disposition du public. Ce fichier est mis à jour périodiquement quand de nouvelles visites aux Herbiers permettent d'augmenter le nombre de spécimens des espèces appartenant à cette section.La liste des spécimens étudiés dans les Herbiers par l'auteur est organisée en suivant les sections du genre Phaseolus telles qu'elles sont reconnues dans la monographie (op. cit.). La raison pour cette organisation des données est pratique, étant donné le grand nombre de spécimens étudiés, particulièrement pour les sections qui contiennent le haricot commun (c'est-à-dire les Phaseoli) ou le haricot de Lima (c'est-à-dire les Paniculati). Dans le but de donner une information actualisée aux usagers, la date du document (qui se trouve à la fin du fichier) est celle du transfert des données de n'importe quel spécimen de cette section après la dernière visite d'un Herbier. Directement après le titre se trouve la liste des Herbiers et Muséums d'Histoire Naturelle qui conservent des spécimens de cette section dans leurs collections; ces Herbiers sont signalés en ordre alphabétique par les acronymes signalés dans 'Index Herbariorum'. Dans chaque section, l'information est présentée pour chacune des espèces actuellement valide, et dans l'ordre alphabétique des espèces de cette section. Pour chaque espèce la présentation suit l'ordre alphabétique des pays où l'espèce croît naturellement (ce cahier se réfère seulement aux espèces et formes sauvages de haricot, et non aux haricots plantés à dessein où que ce soit par les humains). Pour chaque pays, l'ordre alphabétique des départements/ états/ provinces actuellement connu(e)s est suivi. Pour chaque département/ état/ province, les spécimens sont présentés dans l'ordre alphabétique des noms des collecteurs, le premier nom de famille étant considéré en premier lieu. Au cas où plusieurs spécimens ont été collectés par le(s) même(s) collecteur(s), les moindres numéros de collecte viennent en premier lieu. Dans le cas où plusieurs spécimens sont présents avec le même numéro de collecte, l'ordre alphabétique des Herbiers conservant ces spécimens sera suivi. Les spécimens qui ont été utilisés comme types (avec indication en rouge renforcé pour la nature des types) viennent directement après la mention du nom de l'espèce. Il y a deux raisons pour cette situation: pour le taxonomiste le type contribue à la validation de l'espèce (et par conséquent on sait directement de quelle espèce il s'agit), et d'autre part dans le cas où un usager cherche un type la recherche sera plus rapide si le type occupe un endroit déterminé dans les fichiers plutôt que de devoir le chercher par origine géographique. Logiquement l'holotype vient en premier lieu. Les types des espèces placées en synonymie viendront ensuite, dans l'ordre alphabétique des noms d'espèces, à moins qu'elles n'aient pas été publiées de façon valide, et dans ce cas les spécimens se trouveront dans la liste générale (comme le font d'habitude les Curateurs des Herbiers). Dans quelques cas, les spécimens type sont suivis par les spécimens pour lesquels il n'y a pas d'information géographique. Dans les cas où le pays est indiqué sans plus d'information, ces spécimens suivent l'indication du pays et sont placés avant ceux avec département/ état/ province connu(e), par ordre alphabétique.Toutes les notes trouvées sur chaque planche d'herbier le jour de la visite ont été enregistrées comme elles ont été écrites, en respectant l'original le plus fidèlement possible, et ont été présentées en séquence chronologique en commençant par la note la plus ancienne. Décider quelle était la note la plus ancienne fut parfois un choix difficile, mais les couleurs des étiquettes et des encres et le type de machines à écrire ou imprimantes ont aidé. Pour une référence facile, l'information rapportée commence par le numéro de la planche d'herbier avec l'acronyme ou le nom de l'Herbier visité suivant le cas. Il faut noter que certains Herbiers ne numérotent pas leurs planches. Dans ce cas il peut y avoir seulement un cachet indiquant l'Herbier où le spécimen est actuellement conservé. Chaque groupe d'informations sur une étiquette ou écrites directement sur la planche est séparé du suivant par une barre oblique répétée trois fois (///). Il convient de noter qu'un cachet peut être inclus dans la séquence d'informations, car il peut apporter une information utile sur l'âge d'un spécimen si ce renseignement ne figure pas sur l'étiquette principale. Les étiquettes les plus récentes dans la séquence se réfèrent généralement à l'identification du spécimen par les taxonomistes et cette identification est présentée dans l'ordre chronologique, la plus ancienne identification venant en premier. La séquence des groupes d'informations se termine par l'identification de la part de l'auteur (introduite par ses initiales), avec quelques notes sur le spécimen. Dans ces notes, l'attention se porte sur la taille/ abondance du spécimen, mesurée d'habitude par le nombre de racèmes. En vue d'une collecte future éventuelle et en correspondance avec la date de collecte, il y a une indication de phénologie, si le spécimen provient d'une plante en floraison, et/ ou avec des jeunes gousses (jgo), et/ ou avec des gousses vertes (go vertes), et/ ou avec des gousses sèches (go sèches) et/ ou avec des graines. Ces notes se terminent avec l'acronyme de l'Herbier visité et la date (en format jour/ mois/ année) de l'étude du spécimen (cette date peut être validée en consultant le registre des visiteurs de chaque Herbier). De cette façon le lecteur sait où un spécimen peut être étudié ou demandé en prêt pour étude. Un spécimen peut avoir été étudié au cours de deux visites, et par conséquent deux dates en ordre chronologique seront indiquées. L'indication [x2] or [x3] signifie que le spécimen a été trouvé monté sur deux ou trois planches; au cas où il y a quoique ce soit d'intéressant, la seconde ou la troisième planche sera considérée comme un autre spécimen.Comme les coordonnées géographiques peuvent être de valeur critique pour des études de phytogéographie ou d'évaluation pour les stress abiotiques, si ces coordonnées ont été écrites sur l'étiquette (principale), elles seront rapportées directement. Au cas où les coordonnées sont absentes et si le lieu de collecte est suffisamment précis, une estimation des coordonnées est fournie, d'habitude pour le premier numéro de collecte; comme il s'agit d'une donnée indirecte fournie par l'auteur, cette estimation des coordonnées sera écrite entre crochets []. Pareillement, étant donné son importance pour retrouver le matériel dans son site original, la date de collecte, surtout si elle se trouve sous forme abréviée ou sous une forme qui peut prêter à confusion, peut être reconfirmée entre crochets (dans le format jour/ mois/ année), d'habitude pour le premier numéro de collecte. Cette confirmation est souvent possible parce que l'auteur a exploré la même zone géographique pour la même espèce. D'autres notes comme des appréciations ou interprétations d'écritures sur les étiquettes figureront aussi entre crochets, de sorte que le lecteur comprend qu'il ne s'agit pas de données originales. Dans quelques cas il s'est avéré nécessaire d'ajouter l'abréviation [col.] pour indiquer clairement le nom du collecteur; pareillement l'abréviation [det.] a été ajoutée pour indiquer clairement le nom du taxonomiste qui a identifié le spécimen. Si ces deux abréviations existent sans crochets, cela signifie qu'elles ont été écrites comme telles sur l'étiquette. Parfois une information critique, comme par exemple le nom de l'espèce ou le numéro de collecte, est manquante, et l'auteur a trouvé un espace blanc à cet endroit; cette situation est reflétée dans les notes par l'indication [blanc].Pour la facilité de référence et détection, le nom du département/ état/ province apparaîtra en vert (la lettre originale en noir a été convertie en vert), et le nom du collecteur et son numéro de collecte apparaîtra en bleu (la lettre originale en noir a été convertie en bleu). La conversion à la lettre originale en noir est facile et permet de retrouver les données originales comme sur l'étiquette. Pareillement, toutes les barres obliques peuvent être éliminées pour retrouver les informations originales trouvées sur l'(les) étiquette(s).Il convient de se souvenir que l'auteur traite chaque spécimen comme un cas particulier et chaque groupe d'informations sur une étiquette comme un groupe indépendant, et à chaque visite comme un nouveau cas. Ceci explique pourquoi les spécimens trouvés par le(s) même(s) collecteur(s) avec le même numéro de collecte sont répétés dans la liste. L'opinion d'autres taxonomistes sur le spécimen étudié est leur opinion, et la façon dont les Curateurs présentent les étiquettes et montent les matériels leur appartient également. Ceci précisé, le lecteur constatera des convergences (ou des différences) intéressantes dans le travail de ces différents professionnels.Le lecteur trouvera ci-après les spécimens étudiés par l'auteur dans l'ordre alphabétique des espèces: P. albescens, P. costaricensis, P. debouckii, P. dumosus, P. persistentus et P. vulgaris. P. debouckii a été inclus suivant le travail de Rendón-Anaya et al. 2017 (in Phytotaxa 313 (3): 259-266). A propos de P. dumosus, le lecteur trouvera des formes sauvages et rudérales, ces dernières souvent établies dans des forêts secondaires (les registres pour l'Amérique du Sud), mais ne provenant pas de champs cultivés. P. persistentus a été inclus dans cette section suivant les résultats de A. Delgado-Salinas, R. Bibler & M. Lavin. 2006. Phylogeny of the genus Phaseolus (Leguminosae): a recent diversification in an ancient landscape. Syst. Bot. 31 (4): 779-791. P. vulgaris a été traité comme dans la monographie sans faire de distinction entre les variétés botaniques, en se concentrant sur les formes sauvages, avec la mention occasionnelle de quelques formes rudérales (notamment si ces spécimens se trouvaient confondus avec les formes sauvages dans les mêmes casiers des Herbiers); les plantes cultivées ont été exclues. Dans plusieurs cas, quand le collecteur n'a pas clairement défini le statut biologique du spécimen au site de collecte et sur l'étiquette, le spécimen a été confirmé comme 'sauvage' dans les notes de l'auteur du fait de l'importance de cette information pour l'usage ultérieur des données. actualisé 2/12/2019. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3fb088c94e73e600d413f1ffcd69d728","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7f6e9712-aa73-4aa7-bef5-895e902a1d47/retrieve","id":"-982964544"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"578a6328-3bdf-463f-917e-6d29c4b4e164","content":"From 1 to 5 October, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) organized a review and planning workshop for the East and Southern Africa Project of the Africa RISING Program with the intention to capitalize on early project activities, to produce a work plan, to form research teams and to garner feedback about the plans formulated from partners.In the first three days the participants heard about the 11 early win projects that took place in the first year of the program. They drew lessons out of these projects around partnerships, cross-cutting issues, market access, agroforestry and a few other areas. They listened to the key constraints enunciated by District Agricultural Officers from Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia and formed multi-disciplinary groups to develop research questions addressing these constraints. They finally reformed as groups working on interactions between crop, soil/water and livestock to formulate research hypotheses and activities that could form a program of action for year 2.On day 4, a field visit to Babati was organized, with stop-overs in two very diverse villages: Maramboi, a village dominated by pastoralists and Gichameda, a village benefitting from an irrigated scheme.On the final day, ten representatives of development partner organizations came to hear the plans and comment on them.The plans were not detailed sufficiently as they listed a number of research options from which to develop research teams. These ideas form the basis for the formulation of refined research action plans with tangible activities starting with the planting season in Tanzania in November. This report features the main discussion points, decisions, next steps and links to all presentations and documents shared during the meeting.From 1 to 5 October, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) organized a review and planning workshop for the East & Southern Africa Project of the Africa RISING Program.The workshop aimed to:1. Capitalize on early win projects to inform planning for the next year(s) 2. Develop an action plan for the next year (October 2012 -September 2013) 3. Form research teams 4. Receive feedback from a wider stakeholder group about the plans formulatedThe first three days gathered all research teams from the inception period, while the last two days brought together a wider set of development partners to review the plans elaborated in the first few days.The workshop was facilitated by Ewen Le Borgne from the International Livestock Research Institute. After introducing participants to one another and the workshop agenda, Irmgard Hoeschle-Zeledon presented a review of the first year of the Africa RISING project in the region.In her presentation, Irmgard Hoeschle-Zeledon presented a chronology of events that led to this review and planning event: This presentation was an opportunity to remind everyone that Africa RISING is a commitment for another four years. The core of the activities for the first year was however the early win projects, which were introduced in the next session.By batches of three or four projects, all early win project proponents presented what their project was about, what insights it brought forward as well as lessons learnt and other elements to take into account. After the presentations, participants got a chance to ask additional questions. The early win projects are listed in the table below. In addition to these early win projects, a grant was given to MSU to expand on some of their work in Malawi and on which Africa RISING is going to build its activities in future.At the end of the first day, participants were invited, in an Open Space, to identify areas that were important to draw lessons from and capitalize upon for the broader program to come. The following areas were identified: Day 2 -Grappling with researchThe second day of the workshop was dedicated to the research activities, building upon some pillars of the program: the research framework, monitoring and evaluation plans and the selection of action sites. Before this started, Ewen Le Borgne gave a presentation indicating the communication tools (see box 2) and channels created for the program. These tools and the teams present will support research work throughout the program.Participants asked questions about: how to deal with information (and communication channel) overload, document management, using the tools in low-bandwidth environments and using georeferenced pictures etc.These concerns will be addressed by the Communication team and where applicable the Project Coordination Committee in the next few months.Joseph  The research framework presentation finally touched upon a series of methods that could be used such as participatory rural appraisal, participatory technology development and randomized control trials (RCT) -and particularly proposed some steps to roll out the RCTs across the sites.In the Q&A, Joseph emphasized:-The fact that we have limited budget but have to be clear that we are intervening in some villages and not in others (e.g. the control villages). -The complexity of RCTs and the fact that other factors from the environment are integrated too.-The idea of looking into tradeoffs between market use and household consumption, as a hypothesis around which to customize RCTs.Naomie Sakana (IFPRI) presented the monitoring and evaluation plan, with a specific track for monitoring (the \"process of systematic collection and analysis of data on specific\") which will be handled by implementing partners -IITA, ILRI and collaborators -and for the evaluation (the \"periodic assessment of worth or significance of an activity, policy or program\") which will be led by IFPRI. M&E entails a number of components, activities and outputs, summarized in the figure 3 below.The presentation is available here and is complemented by another presentation about possible evaluation activities which was referred to but not presented at this workshop.Mateete Bekunda presented the final building block of the morning session. In his presentation, Bekunda introduced the selection of districts in Tanzania (Babati, Kiteto, Kongwa), which was based on the development domains for sustainable intensification (agro-ecological potential, population density and market access) and the need for co-location at the Nafaka project sites in Kiteto and Kongwa (see figure 4 below). Site selection was based on the stratification work undertaken by Chris Legg on behalf of IFPRI.This presentation was complemented by another very short presentation by Regis Chikowo from Michigan State University about the selection of districts in Malawi. In the Q&A, the conversation touched upon the following:-Randomization of villages, which should be extended; -The attribution of impact to Africa RISING versus other projects in the area -something which USAID has specific guidelines about to avoid double accounting/reporting; -The importance of maize-based systems, even when looking at dominant sorghum/millet systems (they still include maize); -The importance of market access among variables chosen for site selection; -The challenges of receiving good data for some of these sites, when national systems lack that information and capacity to generate it in the first place. Before the next session, Lava Kumar from IITA gave a presentation about new challenges in intensification, related to the outbreak of a fungal disease (see box 4 for more information).The outputs of the work to fight this disease might lead to the development of a strategy to mitigate pest and disease risks to intensification and intensification plans.The district agricultural development officers of Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia presented one by one the major challenges they are facing in the districts selected for Africa RISING.The Malawi presentation emphasized soil fertility, climate (rainfall) variability, inadequate resources and suggested using lead farmers, drought tolerant interventions, soil fertility improving cropping systems and harmonization of programs and resources.The Tanzania presentation emphasized soil fertility, access to improved seeds, climate (rainfall) variability, pest management, weak linkages between research/extension/farmers, inadequate agroprocessing/mechanization, insufficient knowledge about nutrition; and for livestock, unavailability of improved breeds, overstocking, pests and diseases, conflicts between livestock keepers and farmers; generally weak market linkages and poor transformation.The Zambia presentation emphasized climate change, soil degradation, unavailability of improved varieties, dysfunctional markets (and awareness about them), pests and diseases, limited draft power, coordination among partners, lack of processing equipment. Ways forward suggested: productivity, nutrition focus, capacity building of NARS. In order to guide the discussions, Irmgard Hoeschle-Zeledon reminded all participants (in a presentation) about important boundaries and principles of research. Boundaries define what we are not going to do while principles inform our approach.-We work on the selected sites in the three countries -We focus on the Research Framework and its four Research Outputs -We follow the Feed the Future Indicators -We remain within budget and time frame-Our intervention domain is the farm household -Sustainable intensification: we aim at producing more output from the same area of land while reducing negative environmental impacts and increasing contributions to natural capital and environmental services -We follow a stepwise approach towards SI -We aim at targeting different household typologies which have different resources and livelihood objectives -We constitute R4D platforms for cooperation and co-learning, including private and public sector actors needed to deliver on SI at scale -The critical entry points we identified: (i) technologies for productivity enhancement, for natural resources management (NRM), for income generation, for knowledge management, (ii) innovations related to social and institutional arrangements , (iii) combination.Three additional ethical principles guide our work: We develop a relationship with farmers and handle data provided by farmers anonymously; we ensure data ownership (shared by partners) and we take care of publication rights (shared by partners with acknowledgement of those who originally collected data).On the basis of the prioritization of challenges and the research boundaries and principles, five multidisciplinary groups were formed to develop a series of research questions, activities and approaches.Each of these groups ensured that all the main issues identified in the prioritization were included. The results of all groups are available here.All groups addressed the exercise by looking at the individual components rather than their integration, despite the multi-functional composition of the working groups. This resulted in a long 'shopping list' of research questions, ideas and approaches which cannot be easily summarized here. See the group work results for more information.The day ended with some reflections about defining the unique comparative advantage or niche of Africa RISING, i.e. the fact that it is about demand-driven integrated systems research for sustainable intensification.To reframe the debates, the third day started off with three presentations about a) the research framework b) the Africa RISING niche and c) the Nafaka project and how to align Africa RISING with it.The presentation by Bernard van Lauwe (IITA) about the research framework explained further what Joseph Rusike had presented the day before, with particular emphasis on specific aspects of each research output:1. Situation analysis and program-wide synthesis focuses strongly on characterizing and stratifying target communities so that promising interventions are identified. 2. Integrated systems improvement requires identifying existing sound practices within communities and will strive for the combination of innovations from multiple sources. 3. Scaling and delivery of integrated innovation states that even well identified and integrated innovations may need additional efforts to be scaled up and out. 4. Monitoring and evaluation hopes to firmly wrap the three previous research outputs in an integrated M&E framework and approach.He also briefly introduced the research framework of the Humid Tropics CGIAR research program (CRP), as it is very close to that of Africa RISING -as shown in figure 5 below. The same components of analysis, integration and scaling support the work. Asamoah Larbi (IITA) followed this presentation with one slide introducing the niche of Africa RISING, i.e. the areas where crop-, livestock-and soil-focused technologies or approaches coalesce (area 7 in figure 6). Where the combination of the three cannot be achieved, at least two of these interactions should be together (areas 4, 5 and 6 in the figure).After both presentations, the Q&A session emphasized a couple of important aspects:-In this region, due to the urgency of planting, research output (RO) 1 and RO 2 activities have to be implemented concurrently; we cannot wait for RO1 to be completed before starting RO2.-The graph above does not include markets, nutrition, gender etc. but these are all elements that support the overlapping circles and should indeed feature in the research work plans.Joseph Rusike and Joe Tindwa concluded the early morning session with a presentation about the Nafaka project. Tanzania Staples Value Chain (NAFAKA) is a $30 million USAID-funded program that integrates agricultural, gender and nutritional development approaches to improve smallholder farmers' productivity and profitability in maize and rice value chains. USAID has been asking both projects to explore cooperation options.Joseph Rusike explored various options for cooperation through e.g. joint mother and baby trials, postharvest work, joint work on markets, RCTs etc. Joe Tindwa reinforced the message that there was ample room for cooperation between the two projects.After these presentations, participants split themselves across five groups: one group to work specifically on research output 1 and four groups to work on interactions: two groups on crop-soil interactions, one group on crop-livestock and soil interactions and one final group working on rice-based integrated systems. All groups worked on the same assignment and template, namely to identify:1. What combination of technologies would potentially fit in this system (bearing constraints in mind)? 2. What tangible research activities should we undertake to test if our combination fits this system? What specifically to do NOW? (to be in the field in November) 3. Who should be part of the research team? 4. Who could we partner with? The groups worked for most of the day and came up with presentations. Notes from the presentations are available here. The presentations themselves are linked from the sections below.Bernard van Lauwe, Joseph Rusike, Irmgard Hoeschle-Zeledon, and Naomie Sakana were tasked to identify approaches, methods, and tools that could be used to effect research activities under Research Output 1 (RO1). RO1 entailed 8 activities around situation analysis and program-wide synthesis. Different approaches, methods, and tools were identified and summarized in table 2 below.The group revised key drivers for testing intensification that were initially used to stratify mega-sites into development domains. Key drivers included agro-ecological potential, market access, and population density. Van Lauwe proposed to replace broad development domains with production systems. The argument was that key production systems reflect agro-ecological potential (i.e. suitability for specific crop commodities and specific crop livestock systems) and both human population density and livestock density.Market access could be considered in terms of distance to terminal market. Major terminal markets for the research areas are: (i) Kibaigwa in Kongwa district for maize (ii) Dar-es-Salaam for legumes and (iii) Dodoma for cattle. Based on agro-ecological potential, human population and livestock densities, the group identified four major production systems: (a) maize-based (b) maize-confined livestock grazing (c) Maize-free grazing and (d) mostly livestock. Market access can be captured in terms of both distance to market and production orientation at household level during baseline survey.GIS and meta-analysis methods will be applied to secondary data from Living Standard Measurement Surveys (LSMS) to define SI dimensions along key production systems.Specific sites/villages will be chosen in each of key production systems for the implementation of SI interventions. Research sites should be selected to meet the criteria of treatment and control sites for rigorous evaluation whenever possible. Potential villages have already been selected for treatment. Control sites, however, are still to be validated by the implementation team in Tanzania.GIS techniques are used to propose action research sites. The selection can only be completed by field visits to validate the results of GIS analysis.Upon completion of site selection, households will be identified to affect the activities on SI intervention implementation in the field. Given the diversity in household assets and their farming systems, a farm household typology will be developed to simplify this diversity. Data will be collected using participatory approaches, focus group discussions, and baseline surveys. Secondary data will also be gathered from LSMS 2010/2012. A participatory approach will be used to cluster households into different wealth classes. Multivariate analysis such as Principal Components and Clustering analysis will be used to refine the standard classification scheme to functional farm household typologies. The group stressed the need to match farm households with four production systems.In order to identify interventions that could be implemented in the field, it is imperative to identify researchable issues to be addressed by SI interventions. Such issues can be organized around key entry points. Once entry points have been identified, these can be linked up to create pathways for research implementation. Different methods that include Delphi, expert opinions / estimates, households and experts surveys, scoring, congruence, econometric modelling (i.e. producer and consumer surplus), DALYS (specifically for valuing other outcomes on environment, nutrition, gender, and equity), and Sustainable Livelihoods guidance Sheets will be used to identify pathways entry points. Rusike suggested initiating collaboration with Dr. Alioune Diagne from Africa Rice Centre to learn from his expertise on the use of DELPHI methods.The implementation partners need to agree and document the suite of interventions that will be implemented and evaluated at each research site. The inventory informs the appropriate design for the baseline survey. The survey is needed to obtain baseline values of indicators the intervention might change. Different data sources will be used to gather information on potential innovations, including: (a) projects (b) CRP portfolios and (c) outcome of the Review and Planning meeting. Innovations will be categorized into four major groups: (i) on the shelves (ii) in pipelines (iii) in use by farmers and (iv) indigenous knowledge. These innovations will finally be characterized to suit farm household typologies that would be identified in each farming systems of specific development domains.Ex-ante evaluation analysis will be undertaken to guide the identification of potential technologies. Analysis results will allow comparisons between predicted technology preferences with actual technology uptake among different household types. Farming system models and decision support tools will be used to determine physical input/output relationships of the potential options. Sensitivity analyses will be performed to test alternative technologies and their implications for system productivity (production domains, farms, communities) and system resilience. Results of ex-ante analyses will be validated by stakeholders from R4D platforms.This activity entails the identification of options that will be used to better integrate interventions into typology-specific bundles. Simple approaches for integrating SI option will be developed to suit interventions with specific systems and household types. System comparisons in-situ and participatory experimentation processes will be conducted with households of different typologies. Methods will be complemented with comparisons of perspectives between male/female farmers on technologies within household types.The group did not elaborate on this last activity. Formal M&E process, results of hypothesis testing at program level were proposed to affect this activity. Methods such as outcome mapping will be used to measure the behavior change.These activities were discussed in a larger group to define roles and responsibilities, timeframe for delivery, and identify funding source for their implementation. Details on roles and responsibilities, timeframe, and funding sources are presented in the table for each activity. In its presentation, this group looked at three different agro-ecologies: humid, sub-humid and semi-arid and listed crops that can be found there. They suggest the following:-Varieties to choose: adapted varieties, grain legumes with high HI, climbing beans (high altitude). -Temporal and spatial crop arrangements: crop rotations, intercropping, doubled-up legumes, inputs from farmer groups, introducing systems from other regions. -Soil fertility and nutrient management: Diagnostic nutrient trials, targeted combination of nutrients for the cropping system and soil types. -Foliar application of micronutrients.-Responding to farm typologies and domains.-NRM: soil and water conservation, land rehabilitation.-IPM -Labour-saving technologies: mechanization for intensification, post-harvest technologies)The combination they recommend: Appropriate varieties + cultural practices + soil fertility management + IPM + labour saving technologies +post-harvest and safety oriented technologies.The group also recommended a number of research activities and identified research team members and potential partners around these activities:In its presentation, this second group working on crop-soil/water suggested a number of technology combinations:-Cropping system: Intercropping and rotation, (depending on agro-ecological zones with health advantages of legumes), spatial arrangements -CA/water harvesting with intercropping/rotation with grain and legumes -Erosion/Water management (subs-oiling, tillage, tied ridges, live hedges, etc.) -Soil health: Fertilization with inorganics/organics (manure, compost, green manures, residue retention) -Integration of tree shrubs on farm: Faidherbia, pigeon peas -Grain legumes into the system -Cover crops/weeds -New varieties for food grains and legumes -IPM -Systems modeling for climate change and predictionThe activities they suggested include participatory variety selection, assessing pests/diseases, assessing adaptability and performance of new varieties, local legume production of foundation seed, water management activities, combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers, mother/baby trials, conservation agriculture (intercropping and demo plots), soil characterization in the research sites and system modeling as well as a number of cross-cutting activities (capacity building, economic evaluation of grain storage options, farmer linkages with market information, ex-ante impact assessment on income and nutrition, assessing the resilience of technologies to climate variability).The group also looked at the expertise required to carry out this work, in total 14 different disciplines enumerated in slide 6 of this presentation.Finally the group identified partners in each of the countries including Nafaka, NARS, local authorities, local policy centers, private sector actors etc.In its presentation, the group emphasized the following combinations of technology:-Dual purpose legume crops and tree/shrubs for ruminant and non-ruminant animals -Village Level Poultry and Crop Production for Meat and Eggs -On-farm feed formulation using locally available crops and trees/shrubs -Pasture management for extensive systems In its presentation, the rice systems group focused on the major constraints they are facing in rice production and in vegetable production (e.g. weed/pest management, water, markets, harvest and post harvest, input access and soil fertility), upon which they prioritized five technologies addressing the gaps:-Community-based seed and seedling systems: improved cv's, good seeds, healthy seedlings, promotion of good planting methods. -Integrated crop management: timing of operations, cropping rotations, labor-saving technologies, small mechanization. -Water management: WUE-enhancing technologies (drip irrigation, aerobic rice systems, water harvesting/conservation). -Harvest and post-harvest handling: small mechanization, improved packaging, grading and standardization. -Markets: warehouse receipt systems, farmer organizations to improve market access, farmer access to dedicated markets, food quality and safety standards.From this they identified activities that could/should be undertaken, in the short-and long-term:After these presentations, Mateete Bekunda took a few minutes to thank everyone for the inputs and to explain what the inputs were. There are lots of ideas on the floor and not everything can be implemented due to resource restrictions. Who is doing what in details remains to be seen, however the ideas formulated will help generate terms of reference to develop the actual work plans.Some of the activities proposed will be undertaken this year -with the urgency of the planting season -while others will be undertaken the subsequent years.In order to give the project team a feel of the diversity of contexts in the Tanzania project sites, and to illustrate some of the challenges facing small-holder famers, a one-day field trip was organized to two villages in Babati district in Manyara region.This is a very dry part of the district. The main economic activity for community in the village is livestock keeping, mostly cattle and goats. Their main challenge is getting adequate water and pasture for the livestock.At the time of the field visit, the pastoralists' communities were digging shallow wells to get underground water for their livestock. The water was very muddy and the exercise was very tedious.The villagers explained that for the last ten years, they had not received any substantial rainfall. They also said some of the community members had travelled with their livestock in search of pasture and water.The second stop was at Gichameda village to see an irrigation scheme that was started in 2004 with funds from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) that was currently not being well managed and therefore not utilizing the resources well.The irrigation scheme was managed by the Mkombozi Water Users Association formed by the farmers. It had 167 members and covered 178 hectares. The farmers were growing rice, maize and vegetables. The members explained that the irrigation had increased their yield of rice production from 3.5 t/ha to 7t/ha.The farmers said their challenges included lack of modern farming implements such as weeders, rice harvesters and post-harvest processing machines, lack of market information and poor infrastructure. Pests and diseases were also spotted in some of the fields.-Progress in year 1 -Main lessons in year 1 (building on partnerships, entry points, logistics, opportunities) -Research framework and the three main research outputs -The importance of working with partners e.g. Nafaka, other Feed the Future projects.-Challenges in the action districts identified -prioritized -The niche of Africa RISING -Possible combinations of technologies and activities around various interactions -Who could be part of research teams for each set of interactions and who could be interesting partners for this work-This region works on RO 1 and RO 2 simultaneously to get ready for the planting season. RO 3 will be addressed later -All research teams are led by CGIAR scientists but include NARS, Universities etc.-The research teams focus on RO 1 (one team) and on various sets of interactions (cropsoil, crop-livestock, rice-based systems), following the niche of Africa RISING -Action sites selected are good and remain the same Lessons learned from the workshop Africa RISING is a complex program, begging the need to learn from ongoing activities. Here are some reflections about the content and process of the workshop:-The trans-disciplinary approach to group work was appreciated and helpful to develop research ideas -The niche of Africa RISING and its boundaries and principles have to be very clear to all people involved in developing action plans -it is important to spend time on this -Having representatives from other regions helps cross-pollinate and build upon lessons learnt from a region to the next -The stakeholder consultation day should be organized once clear action plans are ready to be presented, preferably a few weeks after the planning meeting (a useful lesson for year two) -Planning in details for such a complex project/program would be easier with a smaller group or with a group of people that have followed progress and conversations throughout the project -Africa RISING needs instruments to show progress made, decisions made and boundaries set so that not every aspect is re-explored/discussed/challenged after decisions have been made -Working on an integrated picture from the start is the way forward to elaborate activities, rather than identifying research questions, technologies etc. (otherwise everyone starts in their default operating mode) -Looking at planned activities for the next few years, rather than just year 2 would help prioritize key activities for each year and develop the sequencing -Systems thinking and integration of crop/livestock/soil interactions together with crosscutting elements (markets, institutions, capacity building, gender) is not straightforward and few people can readily elaborate working plans in such a fashion, it's a learning process for all of us"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c7982919f95acf1774b6f9d479df3da8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a1b69210-689e-48b8-919d-af39dfd67bc3/retrieve","id":"-1157926752"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"eb2c6e7d-b585-49be-b64c-69bc434a3075","content":"Through action research and development partnerships, Africa RISING is creating opportunities for smallholder farm households to move out of hunger and poverty through sustainably intensified farming systems that improve food, nutrition and income security, particularly for women and children and conserve or enhance the natural resource base. The three regional projects are led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (in West Africa and East and Southern Africa) and the International Livestock Research Institute (in the Ethiopian Highlands). The International Food Policy Research Institute leads the program's monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment.Africa RISING appreciates support from the American people delivered through the USAID Feed the Future initiative. We also thank farmers and local partners at all sites for their contributions to the program.We acknowledge the funding from the USAID in Washington to the Africa RISING project in the Ethiopian Highlands, the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank to the Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) and funders for the Mixed Farming Systems Initiative.The main target of this module are woreda level crop production and protection experts and young researchers who are expected to train development actors in implementing PVS on farmer fields and farmer training centres; quality seed production and scaling of food crops innovations cereal-legume mixed cropping system in Ethiopia. The module can also serve as a source of reference to supplement other modules available to train development agents, young researchers and other actors.The module has three sessions and each session has self assessment questions, learning objectives, overview, contents. Users of this module are advised to read assessment questions to gauge their current understanding of food crops innovations and their scaling to bring impacts at farm and landscape levels.After reading this module readers will be able to: Describe approaches to conduct on farm PVSs and identify farmer preferred varieties.List the current high yielding varieties of food crops available for validation, demonstration and scaling.Describe procedures of quality seed production through community seed production scheme.This module provides practical guidance to woreda crop production and protection experts and young researchers on how to validate and promote farmer selected innovations; and carry out community seed production and scaling of cereals and food legumes. Since the content is largely based on experiences from AR project implemented in Tigray (South Tigray), Amhara (North Shoa), Oromia (Bale) and SNNP (Hadiya), the approach and the concept can be used on similar or other agro-ecologies.The module covers innovations that can be adopted for validation, demonstration and scaling of cereals, food legumes and similar annual field and vegetable crops in rainfed production system. The innovations include quality seed production of better performing varieties of the selected crops through community or village based seed system; use of complementary agronomic, pest and disease management practices, promotion and capacity building through training and field days.The module is structured in three separate but interlinked sessions; each with specific session learning objectives, preassessment, session overviews and session contents. The module also includes references for additional readings.Community based seed production Scaling of food crop innovationsAfter reading this session, readers will be able to: a. Describe key PVS protocols that will be followed in selecting better performing food crop varieties.b. List key agronomic and consumer preference traits used for ranking varieties. In most cases, the national research systems variety development is based on limited on farm testing. To fill this gap, PVS is considered as one of the approaches used to select farmer preferred crop varieties with specific as well as wide adaptation PVS is linked to community seed production that creates opportunities of easy access of quality seeds. In this session, protocols followed in implementing PVS trials are described supported with examples from Africa Rising project.Defining PVS.Protocol for PVS of cereals.Protocol for PVS for food legume crops.PVS evaluation processes for cereals and food legumes.Ranking methods in PVSs.Food quality and consumer preference.PVS is a variety selection process that is carried out on farm with the participation of farmers.The recommendation is that the varieties to be tested under PVS to be recently released by the research system.Participatory varietal selection assumes that varieties exist that are better than those currently grown, but which farmers have not had the opportunity to test or adopt. The highlands of Ethiopia have varied ecologies and difficulties to address the innovation needs of farmers because of the limited number of research stations. Hence, PVS is very important to identify high yielding varieties adapted to a given agro-ecologies. The rational for PVS are:1. Existence of heterogeneous environments that require specific solution.2. Breeders may miss some important traits that are preferred by farmers.3. Extension officers and seed companies are keen to know farmers preferred traits of crop varieties to multiply seeds and market for scaling.4. Rapid and cost effective approach in identifying farmer preferred varieties.5. Male and female farmers are involved in evaluating PVS trials that can increase the chances of adoption. and 6. PVS is linked to community seed production and farmers can have quality seeds that derive scaling of crop innovations.1. List and prioritize key production and quality constraints smallholder farmers are facing.2. Make sure to have access of seeds of recently released crop varieties from research centres and other sources.3. Assemble materials (string, measuring tape, pegs, measuring scale) for PVS planting.4. Proper site selection with good soil fertility, no waterlogging, uniform slope, no shade and soil erosion.5. In a sloppy land, the alignment of plots should be across the slope.6. Sites should be accessible with moderate efforts.7. Farmer training centres and/or host farmers (3-4 representative sites) are recommended to implement PVS trials.8. PVS can be done in collaboration with research centres.1. Plot size: We recommend a plot size of 25 m2 (5 m × 5 m) per variety.2. Plant wheat and barley varieties with 20 cm between rows and drill the seeds.3. Make a clear demarcation between plots of different varieties (0.5 m) apart.4. We recommend minimum of 4 recently released varieties and one poplar variety in the area. 5. Seeding rate: 125 kg/ha for wheat, malt (100 kg/ha) and food barley (125 kg/ha).6. Planting date: Follow the recommended planting dates based on rainfall onset in your locality.7. Method of planting: Row planting is recommended.8. Fertilizer application should be based on recommendation for the locality. 9. Weed management as recommended (minimum two hand weeding and/or herbicides) for the locality. 10. Pest management: Pesticide spraying is not recommended for diseases and insect pests that can be controlled through host plant resistance. If the crop has no known resistance to a given disease or insect pest (e.g. Aphids), it is advisable to control the pest using pesticides.11. Fortnightly monitoring of trials.12. Collect data on key agronomic and related traits. 15. Summarize farmer evaluation and yield data and rank varieties and select the top 1-2 varieties for demonstration and community seed production.1. Proper site selection with good soil fertility, no waterlogging, uniform slope, not sprayed with herbicide in the previous season and no shade and erosion.2. In a sloppy land, the alignment of plots should be across the slope.3. Sites should be accessible with moderate efforts. 4. Make a clear demarcation between plots of different varieties (0.5 m) apart.5. We recommend a minimum of 4 recently released varieties and one popular variety in the area.  1. Organize farmers evaluations at crop maturity stages.2. Select young and old, male and female, as well as knowledgeable and experienced farmers and community leaders.3. Form separate male and female groups for evaluations.4. We recommend 5-7 farmers in each group.5. Each variety should be given a code not a name.6. Selection criteria are set by farmers involvement.7. The expert only facilitates the evaluation process and records score values using the recommended format.8. Organize field days after farmer evaluations.In this module we introduce two ranking methods. The first ranking is a 1-5 rating scale where 1 = Very poor, 2 = Poor, 3 = Good, 4 = Very good and 5 = Excellent. The 1-5 rating was used in AR project to rank varieties of cereals and food legumes as well as other crops.Since participating farmers do not give equal importance to all the traits, a weighted ranking is used for final selection. A variety with the highest total weighted score value of farmer evaluation together with yield data are recommended for demonstration and community seed production. The above selection process and ranking were used to select farmer preferred varieties for community seed production and scaling of cereals and food legumes in AR project (Tables 1 and 2).  Photo 1. Evaluating food barley and bread wheat PVS by male and female farmers.Photo credit: ICARDA.Photo 2. Evaluating faba bean PVS by male and female farmers.Photo credit: ICARDA.The second ranking of crop varieties is the use of Preference index (PI). At physiological maturity of the crops, male and female farmers are invited. The ranking is done by placing cards of different colours given to each farmer. The number of each colour equal to the number of varieties in the PVS. For example, if there are three varieties in the PVS, we can have three colours (green, yellow and red). If a farmer prefers a variety, he/she puts a green card inside an envelope prepared for this purpose. If the farmer hesitates about the variety, yellow card is used so that the variety will be reevaluated in the following season. If a red card is given, the variety is rejected. After the evaluation is completed, the number (N) of green, yellow and red cards are counted per variety and PI is calculated for male, female or both using the following formula:The PI ranged from 0 to 100%, with 0% meaning complete rejection and 100% meaning approval by all participants. If the two extreme values are not recorded, varieties with highest per cent PI values will be selected for next phase of evaluation. In addition, interviews with individual farmers (female and male) can be taken to know the reasons of selection or rejection.During variety selection it is advisable to include sensory evaluation by panels. The 9 point hedonic scale is the widely used method for scaling consumer preference and food acceptability. The values and their correspondent descriptions are: 9, like extremely; 8, like very much; 7, like moderately; 6, like slightly; 5, neither like nor dislike; 4, dislike slightly; 3, dislike moderately; 2, dislike very much; and 1, dislike extremely. It is recommended that crop varieties with a scaling of 9 and 8 can be advanced for production. If you missed one question from the above list, then this module is for you. We encourage you to read further to get the answers.Quality seed is one of the critical inputs in boosting crop productivity and production of cereals and food legumes. Access to sufficient quantity and quality seed at the appropriate time, place and price is a challenge through the formal seed system. In this module, concept of seed system and procedures of quality seed production through community seed production is explained. Community based seed production are many forms of semi-informal system other than organized regular public or private sector seed production where seeds of different crops are produced, marketed, exchanged and used by farmers for their different needs.Note: Four classes of seeds (breeder, prebasic, basic and certified) are recognized in Ethiopia seed system. Variety maintenance, production and distribution of breeder, prebasic and basic seed are carried out by the public breeding institutions or private seed sector whereas the certified seed is produced by public seed enterprises and private sector (companies, cooperatives, communities).National seed system, composed of formal, semi-informal, or informal sectors, should be context specific based on agro-ecology, farming systems, crops and farmers socio-economic characteristics and political constructs. There is no one seed system that fits all. Community seed production builds on farmers traditional knowledge and experience in seed production and seed trade or exchange at local level. It focuses on local demand for varieties and seeds; and serves as variety demonstration, seed production and promotion/marketing tool creating the awareness and building the confidence of the farmers.In Ethiopia, we find a mix of federal and regional public seed enterprises, small to medium domestic private seed companies and large-scale foreign private seed companies and a wide range of semi-informal licensed or nonlicensed small seed enterprises of different shapes and scales operated by cooperatives or farmer associations which are involved in seed supply. Evolution: develop into small, privately owned small-to medium-scale seed enterprises.ICARDA's seed section established the framework and critical steps for establishing and operating business oriented village based seed enterprises (VBSEs) and demonstrated their performance in terms of their technical feasibility and economic profitability which ensures long-term sustainability and their eventual transformation to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as they grow, diversify and expand their operations.In Ethiopia, seed producer cooperatives (SPCs) emerged as the major and most effective seed delivery partners where they need to be promoted and supported for gradual evolution into the SMEs. Introducing quality declared seed (QDS) provided greater space for meaningful contribution of SPCs to seed delivery particularly of legume crops.Similar to the formal system, any kind of successful seed business requires skilful management of physical, financial and human resources. Therefore, it requires the following to be conducted before hand: 1. Seed system analysis: The seed system analysis should be conducted before establishing VBSEs, to assess whether there is a seed demand or 'seed gap' through a multistage and multistakeholder consultation.Convene a multi-institutional and multistakeholder consultation meeting to identify who might have an interest in and would support VBSEs; build the consensus and determine their roles and responsibilities in supporting operations and implementations. Selecting farmers: Participating farmers must be interested in setting up seed production and marketing enterprises as alternatives to grain production; and must be selected based on the following criteria: reputation in the community, experience in farming and seed production, relatively bigger/better land holdings, possession of equipment, entrepreneurial skills and financial resources:1. Forming seed producer groups: Farmer participation and empowerment are key elements of the VBSE program. Farmers should take responsibility and leadership and elect their own leaders whereas partners facilitate, provide guidance and advice.The land selected must be suitable for quality seed production, better/fertile soils, reliable rainfall (or irrigation), low incidence of diseases, pests and parasitic weeds, proximity and accessibility to main roads/facilities.The business plan assesses all factors and serves as a guide to strategic planning which may affect the enterprise-business potential, strengths, weaknesses, risks, products (crops, varieties), potential markets, demand, costs, sales and potential profits. It also includes risk assessments and sets out details of ownership, management and legal structure, staff, equipment and the budget. The absence of infection/infestation with seedborne pests (fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, insects, weeds).1. Site and field selection to find suitable area or land for seed production. 6. Production arrangements using specialized growers. and 7. Maintaining seed quality by applying rigorous quality assurance systems.Seed production follows a generation system. In Ethiopia we follow the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) seed scheme which recognizes four seed classes (breeder, prebasic, basic and certified seed but also adopted the 'quality declared seed'). The later would provide an opportunity for farmer based seed production where conventional comprehensive seed certification would be replaced with more responsibility given to seed producers.Apart from agro-ecological and climatic adaptation, the area selected for seed production should be free from natural hazards like floods, drought, frost, salinity and diseases and insect pests, etc. to prevent any damage to the seed crops.Warm areas are preferable because warm weather favours flowering, pollination, seed setting and ripening. The area should be fertile, well drained and levelled. Areas with dry and cool weather conditions during ripening and harvesting are ideal for maintaining seed quality.Availability of irrigation facilities are key factors for selecting fields for seed production.Accessibility and proximity of the land for supervision and suitability for transporting the seed quickly and economically is also essential.Seed production is carried out by community members or under contract with specialized seed growers who are knowledgeable and experienced and have necessary facilities. They usually incur additional costs because of the extra care and attention required to produce quality seed (isolation, roguing); and therefore, should receive premium over the grain price to cover the extra costs for managing seed production.Selecting fields with the right cropping history and suitable crop rotation is necessary; and if possible, these two should be combined. The right previous cropping is necessary to avoid genetic, mechanical and pathological contamination in seed production, whereas crop rotation is mainly practiced maintaining soil fertility and control soil and/or seedborne diseases. A seed crop should preferably follow another crop species to avoid admixtures (e.g. cereals after legumes or vice versa). The land selected for seed production should be free from varieties of the same crop species for at least one or two years prior to planting unless the previous crop is of the same variety. A field used for seed production should also be free of noxious weeds and seed/soilborne diseases. This will help control volunteer plants (which may reduce varietal purity) and prevent buildup of seedborne diseases and noxious weeds including parasitic weeds such as striga and Orobanche depending on crop species.The practice of growing of a seed crop separately from all sources of contamination, is one of the fundamental seed production techniques. An appropriate isolation (in space and/or time) should be maintained to prevent contamination (admixture and/or cross pollination) based on the pollination habit of the crops, field size and presence of natural or physical barriers. Selfpollinated crops need small distances while crops with high percentage of outcrossing require long isolation distances (Table 3). 1. Off types of genetic variants of the same variety.2. The varieties of the same crop species.3. Other crops with similar growth habit and seed characteristics.4. Noxious weeds difficult to remove during cleaning. and 5. Plants infected with seedborne diseases.Roguing can be performed at various stages of crop growth, but the most effective stages are flowering, post flowering or maturity, when it is easier to see important morphological characteristics (inflorescence type, flower colour, ear shape) that will help differentiate between the variety and the rogues. During roguing, the whole plant with all lateral tillers should be removed, taken out of the field and burned. The roguing crew must be well trained to examine the seed crop carefully and remove contaminants.All farm machineries for seed production from planting (tractors, cultivators etc.) to harvesting (threshes, combiners) to transporting (trailers) as well as seed cleaning and treatment equipment should be cleaned between different operations to avoid varietal admixtures.The variety must be selected based on the results of PVS from a list of recommended varieties. Apart from its adaptation, the variety should have high yield potential, tolerance to biotic (fungal, bacteria, viral) and/or abiotic (cold, frost, heat, drought, salinity) stresses and have good marketability and consumer preferences to ensure wider adoption and demand for seed.Selecting source seed: Good quality seed from a known source, where the field is inspected and the seed is cleaned and tested. Basic seed purchased from the agricultural research centre or certified seed from the formal sector, is recommended, since it assures good quality seed with high varietal purity, physical purity and germination.Crop and pest management practices: Good agronomic practices should be applied to produce high quality seeds.The time of sowing depends on the variety and area of adaptation. A seed crop must be planted at its recommended time, otherwise growth and development may be affected, thus reducing seed yield. Matching varietal maturity to the sowing date is a key element for maximizing seed yields in dryland farming and it helps in reducing risks. Seed rates may also differ among varieties depending on seed size and the method and time of sowing. The recommended seed rate should be used when a crop is sown at normal time to achieve the right plant population for adequate competition with weeds and for better yield.Irrigation: Availability of irrigation water is important for a good seed crop. The irrigation regime should be scheduled according to the crop growth stages. The seed crop must receive ample water at two critical stages of crop growth, i.e. during establishment/vegetative growth and early phase of seed development. Moisture stress at these two stages will adversely affect the yield and quality of the seed. Less water during flowering promotes seed setting while ample water after flowering will ensure the development of the greatest possible number of seeds, thus increasing seed yield. On the other hand, irrigation at physiological maturity will delay harvest maturity. In Ethiopia irrigation in the dry season can be used to fast track early generation seed production. Harvesting: Whether the seed is harvested and threshed manually or mechanically, the most critical factors to be considered are the seed moisture content, mechanical damage and cleanliness (of equipment). The following instructions must be followed when harvesting high quality seed:1. Start harvesting when the seed moisture content is reduced to approximately 12%(cereals and legumes) to avoid mechanical damage and maximize storability.2. Set the concave clearance and speed of the threshing drum to reduce mechanical damage as much as possible. Mechanical damage influences physiological quality such as germination and vigour.3. Adjust the air and screening system to minimize losses and maximize physical purity.4. Harvest crops/varieties in a sequence that minimizes mechanical mixing between them.Cleaning includes the removal of inert matter; seed of weeds, other crops, other varieties and seeds of the same variety which are shrivelled, damaged, deteriorated or diseased, to improve and upgrade seed quality.Seed treatment: Seed infection may lead to low germination, reduced field establishment, severe yield loss, or a total crop failure. It is important to:1. Use seed treatment chemicals with a strong dyeing colour to discourage human consumption or use for animal feed.2. Use simple seed treatment machines, which can be properly cleaned between varieties.3. Adjust the rate and coating systems properly to ensure good pesticides application.4. Treat seeds in a sequence that minimizes mechanical mixing of varieties and crop.Seed packaging: Proper packaging is important for safe handling, storage, marketing and distribution. Using proper packaging material contributes to minimizing quantitative and qualitative losses.Cleaned and treated seed should be stored until it is marketed and distributed. Maintaining the quality of the seed during storage is important using proper storage management. The principle of cool, clean and dry (CCD) for storage facility and the first in first out (FIFO) of seed stock should be applied for storage management. Monitoring the storage temperature and moisture content of the seed as well as monitoring pest infestation and control need to follow.Managing seed storage: Adequate planning and management are essential to avoid losses and keep seed free from insect pests during storage. The following preventive and remedial measures should be taken to:1. Ensure that all seed storage structures are clean, cool and dry.2. Locate seed storage sites in cool and dry (low relative humidity) areas.3. Clean and spray all storage structures thoroughly with insecticides, followed by a regular spray of residual insecticide.4. Maintain proper sanitation in and around seed stores to deny insects any shelter for multiplication and to control rodents.5. Clean the seed and reduce its moisture content to a level that will allow safe storage for the required period.6. Use new bags to avoid both insect infestation and mechanical mixtures. Seed should be bagged in a thick weave cloth bag without loose weaves.7. Keep seed bags on wooden pallets at least 50 cm away from walls, with aisle space of 1 m, to ensure adequate aeration.8. Inspect seeds upon entry. They must be free from storage pests. Check stored seed at least once a week, for insects and if found, fumigate immediately. 9. Apply sound rodent monitoring and control program during seed storage.10. Store seed of high germination and vigour only.11. Immediately dispose of poor quality seed.12. Maintain seed identity by labelling each bag, keeping up to date records and using stack cards.Fumigation: Fumigants are insecticides used to control storage pests. In seed production, phostoxin (aluminium or magnesium phosphine) is widely used. It is popular because it is easy to handle, has no influence on germination and the seed can be fumigated repeatedly.Phostoxin is applied at the rate of 3-6 tablets per tonne of seed (2-4 tablets per m3). For larger stacks, under suboptimal conditions (i.e. low moisture contents), or when eggs or pupae must be killed, the exposure time should be extended. The relative humidity of the air should not be lower than 30% because no gas will be released from the tablets. At 30% RH, exposure time should at least be 10 days. In very dry areas, insufficient moisture may be present and it may be necessary to place a container of water under the fumigation sheet. To sum up, the factors determining the success of fumigation are:1. Hygienic conditions, 2. Proper dosage and exposure time, 3. Adequate sealing and 4. Correct temperature and sufficient moisture.Since farmers have difficulty assessing the physical or genetic qualities of seeds before they are planted and grown, certification of seed quality is essential to provide users with quality assurance and a means of redress if expectations are not met. A quality assurance system ensures that certified seed meets prescribed national quality standards. In Ethiopia, regional regulatory agencies provide seed quality assurance and certification. This includes documentation regarding seed sources, inspections of seed production fields during the growing season and laboratory tests of seed after cleaning. The main features are:Field and seed standards are maintained.Evaluating seed production.Enforcing quality standards during marketing.Field inspection: Regional regulatory agencies conduct field inspections through visiting seed production fields to ensure that it meets the field standards:Fields meet standards for cropping history, isolation distance and varietal purity;Evaluation for seed production fields for off types and other varieties, other crops, noxious weeds and seedborne infected plants.Laboratory seed testing: Regional seed regulatory agencies can take seed samples from cleaned seed and conduct laboratory testing for seed standards such as physical purity, germination, moisture content and seed health.Simple tests that are applicable for seed moisture tests are as follows:Bite test: Pinch seeds between the finger and bite. If the harvested seed is hard or cracks, then it can be stored. If the seed is soft then it needs more drying.Salt test: Fill a quarter of a clean dry jar with salt, add seeds to reach half of the jar close to the lid and seal tightly. Shake the jar well and leave for 10 minutes and if damp salt adheres to the inside of the jar, it indicates the seed needs further drying. If no salt adheres on the jar, the seed is adequately dried for storage.For physical purity tests you may follow the following procedures:Draw a working sample from a submitted sample according to the species.Weigh the working sample and separate the seed sample into three fractions: pure seed, other crop seed and inert matter.Weigh each fraction separately and calculate the percentage weight of each fraction.The percentage of pure seed fraction is the physical purity of the seed sample.The germination test you may follow the following procedures:1. Count 400 seed from submitted sample and divide them into 4 replicates of 100 seeds (eight replicates of 50 seeds).2. Moisten a paper towel so that it is damp but no dripping water when you shake.3. Place the seeds on paper towel in a line and in the middle not touching each other.4. Fold the paper over the seeds, roll the paper towel up loosely and place it in open plastic bag vertically.5. Put the rolls at room temperature or in a controlled room with 20-30°C and ensure that the paper towels do not dry out.6. In each replicate count the number of normal seedlings (with normal roots and shoots), abnormal seedlings, fresh ungerminated seed and dead seeds at the final count. Basic seed is generally multiplied to produce Certified seed 1 which can be further multiplied to Certified seed 2 (Certified seed 3 in some cases) which are used for commercial crop production.After reading this session readers will be able to:List the types of scaling methods used for promoting crop innovations.Describe how PVS is linked to scaling through community based seed production.Explain the potential of digital extension services in crop innovations scaling. What is scaling?Preparatory work for scaling.Mechanization.Scaling crop innovation includes upscaling, out scaling and downscaling. Out scaling refers to the spreading of cereal and food legume innovations in the target production system whereas upscaling refers to creating favourable enabling conditions to scale the innovation at higher levels. If the newly validated innovations become part of the national extension packages, we call the scaling as upscaling.Most of the released cereal and food legume varieties in Ethiopia are not in the hands of farmers for many reasons. Among the key factors are farmers are not aware of the varieties; limited adaptation of varieties and poor access to quality seeds.Scaling of crop is done to promote crop innovations. As a result, it will help to create awareness and enhance adoption and ultimately increase productivity.Scaling of crop innovation involves three major activities:Training of farmers, village based development agents and seed growers.Ensuring availability of quality declared seeds of farmer preferred crop varieties.Good land preparations.Applying recommended agronomic practices: applying the recommended fertilizer rates (inorganic and organic); applying recommended seed rate based on seed size; pest and weed management as well as mechanization if available.Using digital extension as part of group and mass extension. In general, four types of digital extension tools could be applicable for agricultural extension and advisory services: Photo credit: ICARDA."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"76e4cc39fc5519f9b4f099ef81821ced","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4d4f19bb-979f-446b-9934-8db18aa3692d/retrieve","id":"520316330"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0fd4565f-86a3-44ba-bdf3-55fb4e3caa4e","content":"The Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems Initiative aims to provide equitable, transformative pathways for improved livelihoods of actors in mixed farming systems through sustainable intensification within target agroecologies and socio-economic settings.Through action research and development partnerships, the Initiative will improve smallholder farmers' resilience to weather-induced shocks, provide a more stable income and significant benefits in welfare, and enhance social justice and inclusion for 13 million people by 2030.Activities will be implemented in six focus countries globally representing diverse mixed farming systems as follows: Ghana (cereal-root crop mixed), Ethiopia (highland mixed), Malawi: (maize mixed), Bangladesh (rice mixed), Nepal (highland mixed), and Lao People's Democratic Republic (upland intensive mixed/ highland extensive mixed).The Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems (SI-MFS) Initiative aims to provide equitable, gender-transformative pathways for improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in selected MFS, namely: Cereal-root crop mixed (Ghana), Highland mixed (Ethiopia), Maize mixed (Malawi), Rice mixed (Bangladesh), Highland mixed (Nepal), Upland intensive mixed and Highland extensive mixed (Lao). Through action research, this will be done by bundling innovations (e.g., good agronomic practices, improved varieties, and training) at different scales of analysis and implementation in close collaboration with a wide range of MFS actors. It aims to achieve this goal by establishing and nurturing strong collaborative partnerships across the entire research-development continuum for SI of MFS, including the CGIAR and other international research institutions, national research institutions, private business entities, relevant government ministries (departments), and nongovernmental organizations.SI-MFS is a holistic initiative that will work on diverse socio-technical and institutional innovations. Therefore, our sample selection will not target specific technology or technology package. There are two main learning questions where we want to implement Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs): (1) Which are the most scalable SI innovations that improve sustainability, resilience, and equity in the selected MFS? Which features of social and technical innovations (including those that are gendertransformative and socially inclusive) are projected to achieve the highest uptake and improvement of resilience, equity, and efficiency if bundled; (2) What potential market governance and institutional innovations can ensure the scalability of relevant, gender transformative SI strategies in MFS?To answer these questions, we will implement the following procedure to select the sample districts, villages, and households. In the first step, the districts will be selected purposively, from which MFS villages will be randomly assigned to intervention and control categories. Depending on the country context, villages will be stratified based on agroecological settings (e.g., length of growing season, production mix and pattern) and market access. The randomization will be done to capture villages in all strata in each sample. Villages in intervention areas will receive support from the initiative that increases farmers' access to improved (packages) of technologies and techniques, which are expected to improve sustainability, resilience, and equity among beneficiaries. Villages in the selected MFIs will be randomly assigned to four groups. One of the villages (say group I) will receive support targeting sociotechnological innovation only. These interventions are expected to impact livelihoods within the existing village-level institutional settings. Socio-technical innovations include improved crop varieties or animal breeds, improved crop management techniques and inputs, improved soil and water management techniques, and a combination of these which will be co-designed by partners with the participation of farmers. The second group of villages (group II) will receive support targeting institutional innovation only. These interventions are expected to impact livelihoods within the existing socio-technical settings of the villages. Institutional innovation includes new rules and organizational arrangements which will improve farmers' access to markets and information and enhance social equity. The third group of villages (group III) will receive support targeting socio-technical and institutional innovations. The fourth group (say group IV) will not receive support from the initiative; this is the control group. The RCTs will mostly be done at the village level only, and its application at the household level will depend on the nature of the innovation and its rollout process. For instance, treatment randomization will not be done at the household level if technologies already being rolled out (from earlier projects) follow explicit rules on household level observables. However, RCTs will be done at household level for selected studies targeting specific innovations to be identified in the course of time. Such studies will be nested in the bigger study targeting the entire intervention of the Initiative."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c81bb1a8bbfe704fb2bdd73ab368e988","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/768986a2-62dc-4297-9723-6f1e38e5ef8b/retrieve","id":"-1769030198"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"08dc76d1-dfd2-445b-a9c3-657d85f6f6aa","content":"Emphasis this year was on a study of disease presence, changes in severity and performance of cassava clones in each of five different environments. The identification of wide-type resistance to existing biotic problems as weU as its durability in these ecosystems is being investigated. The relationship between plant reaction to cassava bacteria! blight (CBB) in the greenhouse and field, and its stability through several continuous cycles was investigated. Field studies were begun to examine differences in the severity of CBB, superelongation and anthracnose in monoclonal and multiclonal plots at high and low inoculam levels. The sexual stage of the superelongation causal agent was found and its implication on pathogen-host interactions is being investigated.Diplodia root-stem rot was identified at CIAT-Palmira. This disease, CBB, the frog skin and other viral diseases constitute the most threatening diseases of cassava in the production and distribution of vegetative planting material. Etiological studies were undertaken on the characterization of the frog skin disease causal agent.Screeninc for durable resistance. Plant reactions to cassava bacterial blight (CBB) infection under controlled conditions (by the clip inoculation technique, CIA T Ann. Rept. 1975) and in the first cycle offield testing were very similar. The pathogen was found invading the stem 5 cm above ground in cassava genotypes rated susceptible, intermediate-resistant and resistant, but the rate of pathogen recovery from susceptible genotypes was greater than from both the latter ones. Although bacterial invasion throughout tbe vascular system was positively correlated witb the susceptible types as evaluated by extemal symptoms (r=0.914 for greenbouse reaction and 0.927 for field reaction, both significant at tbe 0. 1% level), several exceptions were observed.•Since the pathogen has poor pectinase activity, mature stem tissue may appear symptomless. Bacteria survivingin invaded xylem vessels of mature stems used as planting material spread systemically through young plants, whicb then serve as sources of inoculum in the next cycle. Consequently, tbe proportion of infected cuttings increases after several cycles of continuous cultivation of apparently intermediate-resistant or resistant genotypes when ratings are assigned after only one cycle of greenhouse or field evaluation. Using such \"resistant\" material continuously could result in a progressive decline in stand density dueto lack of gennination, decreased plant vigor dueto bacteria! root rotting, and earlier onset of more severe epidemics. This was corroborated witb results obtained after planting severa! genotypes at Carimagua for four cycles using planting material from that site (Fig. 1). Dueto poor soil fertility in this region, production ofplanting material decreased about 60% compared with CIA T -Palmira.However, resistant genotypes (group 1, Fig. 1) in which bacterial infection in the stem was very low or absent produced a constant numberof cuttingsduringa four-cycle period, while other resistant or intermediate genotypes only survived for two or three cycles (groups li and 111, Fig. 1). Susceptible genotypes were eliminated during the first or second cycles.The data indicate the great importance of tbe sanitary condition of planting material on genotype stability, the existence of durable CBB-resistant genotypes in Manihot esculenta, and the need to evaluate testing material in the field for several continuous cycles in CB~ndemic areas, to identify accurately durable CBB-resistant genotypes. Planting material for each successive cycle must be produced in an endemic test area. Final resistance evaluation should result from integrating data on plant reaction, cutting production and quality of propagating material. Epidemiology. Considerable yearly fluctuations in CBB attack bave been found in Carimagua and Media Luna. This suggests that continuous evaluations over a period of years may be necessary so as to identify sufficiently good levels of durable resistance.Causal agent. The sexual stage of the causal agent, Sphoceloma manihotícola. has been discovered and found to be abundant at a number of sites. Based on morphological studies of the fungus collected in Carimagua, CIA T -Quilichao, Media Luna and Mexico, it has been tentatively identified as a species of Elsínoe, a loculoascomycete. With one exception, all the known sexual stages of species of Sphaceloma are Elsínoe. A preliminary literature survey indicates that tbis may be an 20 undescribed species. Growth stages of the fungus are shown in Figure 2.Single ascospore isolations produced colonies typical of S. manihotícola and similar to those described for other members of the genus, Susceptible cultivars inoculated with these colonies showed characteristic superelongation symptoms and reisolation yielded S. maníhotícola. That this sexual stage is so common suggests that the pathogen may be pathogenically variable. Preliminary field observations and previous laboratory experiments support the existence of physiological races (see below and CIAT Ann. Rept. 1977), and a thorough investigation is being undertaken.Epidemiolou. A multiclonal experiment was begun in Carimagua to test the influence of mixing resistant varieties on disease epidemic development and yield (root and stake production). Eight varieties were planted nonrandomly so that no two plants of the same variety were adjacent. Both next to the multiclonal plots and 2 km away each variety was planted in pure plots for comparison. Since the data are preliminary and incomplete only a few of the most interesting results will be presented.Figure 3 shows that the varieties in the multiclonal plot had somewhat more superelongation disease than the same varieties had in pure plots. From field observations during the disease season, CMC 40 plants appeared to actas foci for sub-epidemics in the multiclonal plots. Thus interspacing a susceptible variety with more resistant varieties seemed to increase the totallevel of disease for all varieties rather than appreciably protecting the susceptible variety. This is contra. ry to what was expected based on epidemiological researcb with cereals. Investigations to clarify these results are being planned for the coming year. .... 1t is interesting to compare tbe disease levels in CMC 40 and otber varieties within the multiclonal site, between that si te and the si te 2 km distant where there was considerably more superelongation disease. At tbe multiclonal site, a1J varieties, which are considered resistant or intermediateresistant based on data from recent years, showed more disease than they did in the remote site. This was extreme for CMC 40 (Fig. 3). Considering the level of disease in susceptible varieties planted adjacent to CMC 40 and the other resistant varieties, the low disease levels in these plots could not be dueto escape. This difference in susceptibility within a clone under more or less uniform environmental conditions is consistent with the existence of physiological races within the pathogen. Causal agent. Severe outbreaks of diplodia root and stem rot were observed in Colombia's Cauca Valley. This disease has been reported as one of the most serious ones in Brazilian cassava plantations, and in Africa, India and Cuba. lts causal agent was isolated and identified as Diplodia manihotis Sacc., which could be synonymous with Botryodiplodia manihotícola Petr. Confumation' of this synonymy awaits further taxonomic study. The fungus produces clusters of picnidia on stromatal structures 22 located just beneath epidermal tissues of necrosed roots and stems. lmmature picniospores are hyaline, but mature ones are dark, two-celled with thick walls. They are released through the picnidium, opening mostly during rainy periods. Penetration, fungal establishment and iñvasion are being investigated.Epidemiology. There are two disease phases. The first is a root rot initiated by infection from infested soil or by using diseased cuttings taken from diseased plants. In this case, the fungus, which is a facultative parasite, could infest the soil and remain indefinitely as a saprophyte. lnfected plants show root deterioration, sudden wilt and death. Symptoms are similar to those induced by other root-rot pathogens.The second phase, a stem rot, is generally induced by systemic invasion from roóts or picniospore infection of the stem. The fungus invades most of the stem tissues producing gumosis, sudden wilting, dieback and phloem and xylem rotting. Picnidia are produced readily on the stem epidermis of infected stems. During this phase, roots and mature stems may remain symptomless. Systemically infected stems may exhibit no externa! symptoms and appear to be suitable planting material. Syrnptoms can be confused with those caused by anthracnose, Phoma arid superelongation dieback, CBB, drought stress, salinity, insects and spider mites. However, the fungus can be readily identified by the features of picnidia and picniospores produced.The fungus is disseminated over long distances by infected cuttings taken as planting material. Within a plantation, wind and • rain-splash dissemination of picniospores is probably most important, while land preparation machinery and irrigation water may also sometimes be importan t.This disease has been found in Colombia associated with a subterranean sucking insect (Cydnidae) which causes the initial injury ( other agents like nematodes can cause similar injuries and might initiate the same symptom development). This Cydnidae is described in the Entomology section of this report.The insect introduces its stylet through the root epidermis and cortex injuring the root tissues and inoculating them with soilbome microorganisms (mostly fungi). Severa! fungal species ha ve been isolated from these lesions. Artificial inoculations simulating the insect damage have induced similar symptoms (Fig. 4). These microorganisms degrade the infected root tissues causing initiallocalized rots which can invade the entire rootalong the vascular system. Y oung lesions are paJe to dark brown spots which sbow tissue degradations. Symptoms are most stríking and lesions are most frequent in swollen roots and during harvest periods. A zone which fluoresces light blue under UV light occurs adjacent to the lesions, suggesting that the mechanism of discoloration could be related to that occurring in post-harvest physiologicaJ deterioration. In 1980, characterization of the frog skin disease causal agent continued with emphasis on detection, transmission and isolation studies.A cytological study revealed considerable degeneration of the pbloem of young roots showing frog skin symptoms as well as the presence of massive inclusions blocking the phloem parenchyma in these tissues. Similar inclusions were occasionally detected in the phloem of petioles and midribs of diseased plants. No sucb inclusions were detected in the pbloem tissues of healthy plants. Based on these observations, mycoplasma-like organisms or a phloem-restricted virus have been suggested as probable causal agents.The possibility of a phloem-restricted virus such as those in the closterovirus class is currently being investigated.Preliminary results have shown the presence of long filamentous particles, similar to those of closteroviruses, in partially purified preparations from roots of frog skinaffected cassava plants. Whetherthese particles are indeed virions or artifacts is still unknown. The possibility of a mycoplasma-like organism as the causal agent of frog skin disease will be reinvestigated despite negative results in earlier tests.Preliminary field results suggest tbat the disease is efficíently transmitted (up to 62%) by natural root grafts whenever stakes are planted closer than 1 m. Natural root injury or the existence of soil vectors, however, have oot been discarded as possible transmissioo mechanisms.N o transmission via sexual seed was observed in 9month-old plants grown from seed produced by 46 different cassava clones affected with the frog skin disease. So far, an alternative host has not been found among 50 other plant species following conventional mechanical inoculation experiments.Fertilization with 200-200-100 kgf ba ofN-P-K increased symptom expression, especially in cultivar M Col 22.Screenin& for durable resistance to biotic problems. Germplasm evaluation in the past has shown that durable resistance to biotic problems of eacb environment exists although frequency is relatively low. Evaluations by Pathology and Entomology sections consist of growing accessions in each environmeot utilizing planting material produced in the same environment. Only those varíeties which survive the season and produce adequate healthy planting material are carried over to the next year.In Popayan, stable varieties could be identified afterthe fourth cycle, and in Carimagua, after the tbird. Up to the third cycle, the stability of the varieties has not been confirmed in Media Luna(Table 1 ). It is important to stress that resistance identified in these evaluations appears to include durable resistan ce to all biotic problems existing in the evaluation site and may also integrate resistance to abiotic problems. Cassava environment relationships. Environment studies begun in 1978 (CIAT Cassava Prog. 1979 Ano. Rept.) continued during the 1979-80 season, when plants from the first cycle were harvested. Cultivars which produced planting material were continued in a second cycle. AH diseases and pests identified during 1979 in each of the five target environment were present in 1980, with the exception of the ash disease which was first detected this year in Caribia and Media Luna(Table 2). However, anthracnose (caused by dÜferent Co/letotrichum spp. in each environment) was more severe in Caribia and Carimagua than tbe other environment tbis year; brown leaf spot was also very severe in Caribia and Media Luna, as was white leaf spot in Caribia.The lace bug ( Vatiga spp.), which was unimportant during the rainy season of 1979, caused severe damage during the same season this year at Carirnagua.Thrips were important at CIAT-Palmira, gall midges in Carimagua and scale insects in Popayan.The populations and severity of spider mites (Mononychel/us and Oligonychus species) have increased considerabfy in the CIAT-Palmiraenvironment.In general fluctuations in population dynamics and severities of disease and pest damage were observed for each environment between 1979 and 1980.Differences within and between tbe five environments were considerable for the characteristics shown in Table 3. Yield range at CIAT-Palmira was similar to that at Caribia but means in these environment were notably larger than in tbe otber three environments. Stake number and starch production also resemble yield in those respects.Differences in ranges and means for harvest index and ltCN content were similar in all environments. A wide range of deterioration susceptibilities was found only in CIAT-Palmira and Popayan; in the otber environments most cultivars were markedly resistant.In general, yield and especially the harvest index were well-<:orrelated between all environments excluding Popayán, although CIA T -Palmira correlated with Carimagua only for harvest index. HCN content correlations were generally low and susceptibility to physiological deterioration and stake number sbowed no relationsbips between environments, apart from between Carimagua and Media Luna.Popayan was obvio)lsly dÜferent from the other environments. The cultivars which did best in Popayan, namely local regional varieties, produced poorly in all other environments and especially so on tbe Colombian Nortb Coast (Caribia). The local cultivars from the Nortb Coast fared equally poorly in Popayan.On tbe basis of tbese relationsbips, CIAT-Palmira and Caribia have sorne similaritíes, as does Media Luna, with both Caribia and Carimagua, but the differences between the environments are still substantial, e.g., yield, starch content, stake number, general evaluation and root deterioration susceptibility in CIA T -Palmira sbowed no significant correlation with Carimagua. This demonstrates the importance of carrying out varietal selection at the environment level at the earliest possible stage of any breeding program. This is particular! y true for Popayan and Carimagua.Selection must continue until stability of yield and other selected traits has been achieved using planting material produced on-site. Nevertheless, the higb correlation between many characters in Media Luna and Carimagua suggests that similar material may be useful across these environments.    The two main areas of investigation this year ha ve been the study of the variation encountered in the field witbin and among cultivars regarding tbeir susceptibility to deterioration and the analysis of the biochemical processes which lead to the production of the blue-black pigments. Considerable progress was made in both areas.Repeated evaluations of susceptibility to pbysiological deterioration showed that within one cultivar a wide range of susceptíbílíties can be encountered (CIA T Cassava Prog. 1979 Ann. Rept.). In tbe cultivar most studied, M Co122, maximum and minimumdeterioration values (Det. %, where 100% is total and 0% is no deterioration, after tbree days) were 98% and i 8%, respective1y at CIA T-Palmira, while even lower values were found at other sites (0% at Popayan and Carimagua). Values obtaiiied from sorne other cultivars showed similar pattems.The wide range of susceptibilities witbin one cultivar at one si te makes the description of cultivars as \"resistant\" or \"susceptible\" tD physío1ogical deterioration difficult and of dubious validity.Pruning studies. Pruning plants prior to harvest has been shown repeatedly to reduce susceptibility to physio1ogica1 deterioration (CIA T Cassava Prog. 1979 Ann. Rept.). Experiments on M Co122 plants have shown that this effect occurs regard1ess of the removal or supression of new regrowth from the pruned stump, although initiaUy the 1oss of susceptibility is greatest in those treatments with Jess regrowth. The effect of pruning, regard1ess of regrowth removal, was also found to 1ast considerably longer than previously reported. P1ants still showed no signs of losing the resistance nine weeks or more after pruning. However, there is a 1oss of root qua1ity (reduced starch content) associated with pruned roots which must be taken into account.Environment studies. Eva1uations of Det. % were done on 25 cultivars in the five sites of the environment experiment. Cultivar differen~es between tbe sites were large, and environment corre1ations were not significant. In Carimagua, Media Luna and Caribia, a majority of cultivars showed marked resistance, regardless of theír susceptibility in CIA T -Palmira or Popayan, the two si tes which did produce the expected range of Det.% scores. The correlation of Det. % with the starch content of the roots (CIAT Cassava Prog. 1979 Ann. Rept.) was significant Plant defoliation caused by insects, diseases or water stress in the months preceeding harvest could bave the same effect as pre-harvest pruning, 1eading to an induction of resistance to physiologica1 deterioration. In the three environments where 1ow Det. % values were found, substantial defoliation due to both biotic and climatic factors had occurred prior to harvest. Controlled experiments are in progress to see ü resistance in the field is related to the severity of water stress and other factors.Examination of roots under UV light 24-48 hrs after harvest revealed the presence of a brilliant blue fluorescence in the parenchymal ússue which was not visible in freshly harvested roots. These fluorescent areas were the first to develop the vessel pigmentation characteristic of physiological deterioration. Roots with deteriorated vessels showed this blue fluorescence in tbe advancin¡ front of deterioration. Similar observations at CIAT and Tropical Products lnstitute, TPI (J. E. Rickard) have been made during a rnicroscopical study of primary deterioration in cassava roots.Chromatographic studies by J. E. Rickard at TPI have shown the blue fluorescing compound to have retention times identical to scopoletin, a coumarin derivative. lndependent studies at CIAT have agreed with tbis identification.Exogenous applications of high concentrations (500 ug ml-1 ) of scopoletin to freshly harvested root tissue induce rapid and intense vessel and parenchymal discoloration, identical to that found in naturaUy deteriorating roots. A range of related phenolic compounds had no effect. Applications of scopoletin to tissue from pruned roots produced an identical reaction to that of unpruned root tissue suggesting that resistance in pruned roots is not due to an inability to respond to scopoletin.Roots attacked by various fungi (Aspergi/lus sp., Fusarium spp., etc) also had areas of blue fluorescence and vessel discoloration around tbe infected area, suggesting that scopoletin accumulation is a general response to stress in the root tissue.."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9e812555be21f2f83e69568ef6167593","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8a51e9f6-ecf5-444a-92ed-89322b69f247/retrieve","id":"810080748"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cf9cac19-2d77-4697-9f2f-9550a924bf92","content":"What is 'CGSpace' 'Multi-tenant' use of a Dspace application  Shared admin, look and feel, publishing, content management, hosting, training, support Shared hosting, development, and learning [and server] Allows searching across collections open access + open standards + open licenses = enhanced visibility of research outputs Publications, journal articles, books, training materials, project reports, factsheets and links to digital audios,• Repository of outputs of people and projects (hosted at ILRI)• Publishing and alerting platform• Repository for projects, institutions, programs …• Gateway to Google and beyond  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"51aff0f3e7e6591027a09c1d041d80c7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8d7effc8-0910-4064-bc17-f38101f7a9a4/retrieve","id":"-1918381438"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"22f3f34d-db52-488f-a4ee-c6e5b5f6d7c7","content":"Welcome to the second newsletter from the CGP Tanzania Project, whose purpose is to provide specialized information to the project stakeholders on the implementation of the project.We welcome short articles from the research component teams for forthcoming newsletter. These articles are expected to cover some of the on-going activities within the components. We would also appreciate to receive comments from readers in order to improve this newsletter.T his project (Integrating Dairy Goat and Root Crop Production for Increasing Food, Nutrition and Income Security of Smallholder Farmers in Tanzania) was developed with the aim of improving food security and livelihoods of smallholder farmers through introduction and testing of breeding and management practices for dairy goats and root crops. Thus, the objectives of the project are to improve the livelihoods, food and nutrition security and incomes of poor agro-pastoral communities through integrated root crops and dairy goat farming. S ince its inception in March 2011, the CGP Tanzania project has been holding different forums with the objective to provide a learning environment for the research teams in the project to share the project research experiences and findings within the components in the project. One of such opportunities, which is worth noting here was a \"Research Workshop\" which was held at ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute) campus in Nairobi, Kenya, from June 18-20, 2013. Being the main objective, this workshop provided an avenue for faculty and graduate students to share preliminary research results and enable them continue developing project-based insights across all aspects of the project. In total, 20 presentations were shared among the workshop participants, which also included presentations from five ( 5) key presenters and experts on community-based animal and rootcrop production who were invited to these meetings; their insights helped to enhance and complement the learning objectives of the workshop.Creating a space for research learning within and outside the project Our camera inside the \"research workshop\" venueVolume 2, E ach study in the research component of the CGP Tanzania project has been designed to answer specific research questions within the project research sites. The areas of research are on dairy goats and root crops particularly on cassava and sweet potato improved varieties. Other research activities have been on household nutritional status, gender relations, livelihoods, the assessment of market chains and the environmental impact assessment of the project.During the project \"Research workshop\" in July 2013, our camera inside the venue at ILRI in Nairobi, Kenya, brought into focus several findings from the research activities above where the participants of the workshop witnessed presentations from fourteen ( 14) researchers who among them were five (5) postgraduate students researching on different research topics covering various project objectives. The following section in the following page highlights some of these research activities/findings.Photo: A round table of researches from and outside the project listening to the CGP Tanzania project Team leader T he introduction of dairy goats in the country has provided an alternative source of milk to households that cannot afford keeping large dairy animals. Therefore, it is imperative to improve productivity of livestock in rural areas to increase the availability of animal protein leading to improved food security and wealth creation by boosting livestock production. However, dairy goat production is constrained by poor husbandry, poor nutrition & lack of breeding stock, diseases (infectious & non-infectious), poor extension services and poor marketing system. Therefore strategies to increase productivity require evidence-based interventions.To improve the milk production potential of indigenous goats through crossbreeding, improved management and control of major diseases. ▪ Gastrointestinal parasite infestation prevail in the study area which calls for intervention through appropriate strategies for the control of these parasites in goats. However, the burdens are relatively small to justify mass deworming. Treatment of clinically sick animals is recommended. ▪ There are various health problems in goat farms in the project sites.▪ Respiratory diseases are an important cause of goat mortality in the study farms. Vaccination against CCPP and Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) were used as a preventive measure.▪ Close monitoring of health of animals by resident Livestock Field Officers and farmers, and timely reporting is required to minimize mortalities.Nutritional status of under 5 years old children in the 4 project The four research sites under the CGP Tanzania project are located in the 2 two region where despite the introduction of dairy goats and root crop production initiative, little is known on aspects of child nutritional status and gender relations among project beneficiaries. This problem led to a cross-sectional research on the nutritional status of children aged 5 years and below, which was conducted by Pamela Meena (a postgraduate student from Sokoine University of Agricultures in Tanzania).The overall objective of this study was to analyze child nutritional status and gender relations among project beneficiaries. Specific study objectives:▪ to assess nutritional status of the below five years children in selected households; ▪ to assess household dietary patterns ▪ to determine the existing gender relations of project beneficiaries.Project research sites were in Kongwa (Masinyeti and Ihanda) and Mvomero (Kunke and Wami Luhindo) districts. A total of 107 households were purposively selected whereby 107 adult respondents and 74 children below five years of age were involved.▪ The findings from this study indicate that chronic malnutrition is more pronounced in Kongwa district specifically in Masinyeti village. Location child live, child age, education level of mother and inappropriate feeding practices were associated with child malnutrition status. Most of decision making and ownership of household resources were taken by men; women seldom make decisions alone.This study recommends further studies at the household level on the: First, association between child nutrition and gender relations, second, Nutrition education and gender training are important for the community and, third, Improvement of adult education especially for women is also important is reporting from her research findings chronic malnutrition more pronounced in the study area specifically in Masinyeti village in Kongwa district Most decisions making and ownership of resources were undertaken by men thus, hindering women to make decision that may influence nutritional status of the family including the children.F rom May to October 2012, 4 members of research team from SUA and the University of Alberta, Canada conducted an environmental assessment with communities in the four CGP Tanzania project villages in Kongwa and Mvomero district in Tanzania that have been implementing a dairy goat and root crops project. Community Based Environmental Assessment (CBEA) is an approach used to collate information in order to identify and analyze the environmental impacts of planned, on-going and completed community development activities.The study attempted to address three key research questions: what are key environmental challenges in the project villages? ▪ What are the likely environmental impacts from this project? ▪ What could be the community-perceived mitigation and enhancement measures for such impacts?▪ Participatory Research Appraisal methods such as focus group discussions, participatory village resource mapping, transect walks and pair wise ranking were used to generate information.The communities revealed several environmental challenges and depicted a number of environmental impacts (both negative and positive) including: ▪ shortage of pasture, deforestation, conflicts between farmers and pastoralists and loss of biodiversity. Furthermore, the communities crafted the respective mitigation measures for the indentified project impacts.▪ In contrast to conventional regulatory environmental assessments that are required for larger scale industrial projects in many countries, this study offers experiences from a small scale development project where environmental impacts are assessed. Such methods could be applied to many other small scale development initiatives where positive or negative environmental impacts can be enhanced or ameliorated. "}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"e9f117eb-0c21-4b4a-9e0c-753a375af27a","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ed5e78f28e15852594f9b0f13f3ac7f5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4a01b65b-3fce-476a-a71e-b9cff18de06d/retrieve","id":"352308151"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"09c42c2a-c683-445d-b983-e58f445bb26b","content":"• The better-off benefit at the expense of the poor -> aggravate inequality and food insecurity• Women do not benefit as (much as) men -> aggravate gender inequalityNegative impacts of innovation and scaling• Expansion of intensive, commercial agriculture -> degradation of land and nature• Non-users have livelihoods displaced.Innovating and Scaling for Social Transformation 1. What is the content and extent of the challenges for AR4D actors to effectively innovate and scale towards positive social transformation? 2. Do Agricultural Innovation System frameworks and AR4D tools give sufficient attention to social theory, and if not, how can traditional social theory methods address frequent oversights? 3. Given common emerging themes, can we establish standard principles that AR4D actors can universally adopt, irrespective of the AIS framework or AR4D tool they utilize?Key concepts Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS)• A network of actors -individuals or organizations -which together with supporting institutions and policies in the agricultural and related sectors, bring existing or new products, processes, and forms of organization into social and economic use (FAO).-Conventional aims -Learn through survey Supply through pipelineLearn through surveyAdoption studies  Criteria: Frequent use or potential operationalization of these frameworks at multiple levels and scales of projects."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"304600eac5dfe9009ae9c6c57490bbb0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/82cab164-f860-4cfb-a8c0-057f4a34c09d/content","id":"418742971"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5c40ad3c-f759-4ac3-8376-0a5f0debb343","content":"Pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) is one of the serious global issues in wheat production. Identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL) and closely-linked markers is greatly helpful for wheat improvement. In the present study, a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from the cross of Zhongmai 578 (ZM578)/Jimai 22 (JM22) and parents were phenotyped in five environments and genotyped by the wheat 50 K single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array. Two QTL of germination index (GI), QGI.caas-3A and QGI.caas-5A, were detected, explaining 4.33%-5.58% and 4.43%-8.02% of the phenotypic variances, respectively. The resistant effect of QGI.caas-3A was contributed by JM22, whereas that of QGI.caas.5A was from ZM578. The two QTL did not correspond to any previously identified genes or genetic loci for PHSrelated traits according to their locations in the Chinese Spring reference genome, indicating that they are likely to be new loci for PHS resistance. Four kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) markers K_AX-109605367and K_AX-179559687 flanking QGI.caas-3A, and K_AX-111258240 and K_AX-109402944 flanking QGI.caas-5A, were developed and validated in a natural population of 100 wheat cultivars. The distribution frequency of resistance alleles at Qphs.caas-3A and Qphs.caas-5A loci were 82.7% and 57.1%, respectively, in the natural population. These findings provide new QTL and tightly linked KASP markers for improvement of PHS resistance in wheat.Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important staple food crops and is cultivated globally, right after rice (Oryza sativa) and maize (Zea mays) [1]. It serves as a source of carbohydrate, protein, vitamins and mineral elements, accounting for about 20% of the total protein and 21% of the calories worldwide [2]. Preharvest sprouting (PHS) is a precarious issue affecting numerous wheat production areas, frequently occurring globally in many principal wheat-producing areas including China [3][4][5]. It was induced by summer rainfall and high humidity [6][7][8], and early seed dormancy (SD) breakage under wet or humid conditions before harvest [9], leading to significant losses in the grain yield and quality of end-use products [10]. The annual economic loss caused by PHS on wheat production has been estimated to be 1.2 billion US dollars worldwide [5]. Developing wheat varieties with PHS resistance is the most effective way to reduce the loss caused by PHS [11], and identifying genetic loci of PHS resistance is very helpful for breeding resistant varieties through marker-assisted selection (MAS).With the advent of high-throughput genotyping platforms, such as next generation sequencing (NGS) and chip-based genotyping technologies, many QTL for PHS-related traits have been identified on almost all 21 wheat chromosomes [5,9,10,[12][13][14][15][16][17], among which the region on chromosomes 3A, 3B, 3D, and 4A are considered to be most important for SD and PHS [5,7,[18][19][20]. Moreover, several candidate genes have been isolated by homolog-based cloning, such as TaSdr on chromosome 2B [21,22], TaVp-1 on chromosome 3B [23][24][25], TaQSd1 on chromosomes 5A, 5B and 5D [26,27], TaDOG1L4 on chromosome 3A [28][29][30], and TaABI5 on chromosome 3D [31]. Several genes for PHS resistance also were isolated by map-based cloning, including mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 3 (TaMKK3) [32], TaPHS1 [33,34], PM19A1-A2 [11,35] and Tamyb10 [36,37].Zhongmai 578 (ZM578) and Jimai 22 (JM22) are two elite white winter wheat cultivars in the Yellow and Huai River Valleys Winter Wheat region, the largest zone of wheat production in China. ZM578 is characterized with good PHS resistance, whereas JM22 has relatively poor resistance. Therefore, a recombinant inbred lines (RIL) population generated from a cross between ZM578 and JM22 was used in this study, with the aims to: 1) identify genetic loci for PHS resistance, and 2) develop breeder-friendly efficient markers for MAS in breeding on improvement of PHS resistance in white winter wheat.A mapping population with 262 RILs derived from a cross of white grain winter wheat ZM578 and JM22 by the single seed descent method was used in this study. ZM578 that was selected from the cross of Zhongmai 255 and JM22, is a high-yielding variety with good tolerance to PHS (Fig. S1). The field trial for the RILs and parents was conducted in five environments including Xinxiang (34°53 0 N, 113°23 0 E) in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 in Henan province (defined as E1 and E2), Shangqiu (34°44 0 N, 115°65 0 E) in 2020-2021 (E3) in Henan province, Luoyang (34°32 0 N, 112°16 0 E) in 2020-2021 (E4) in Henan province, and Gaoyi (37°33 0 N, 114°26 0 E) in 2020-2021 (E5) in Hebei province. A randomized complete block design with three replications was used in all environments. Thirty seeds were sown in each row, with each plot comprising a 1.0 m row spaced 25.0 cm apart. A panel of 100 wheat varieties from Yellow and Huai Valley Winter Wheat region was used to validate the effectiveness of KASP markers, with the phenotypic data available in Zhang et al. [22].Pre-harvest sprouting resistance was evaluated based on the germination index (GI) value. Five spikes in each plot, were collected from each environment at physiological maturity by cutting the peduncle about 10 cm below the base of the spike, when a loss of green color occurred in the spikes [38,39]. Harvested spikes were air-dried for 5 d in a greenhouse at (25 ± 5) °C, hand threshed and the seeds were kept in a freezer at À20 °C to maintain dormancy until phenotyping [22,40]. All seeds were taken out from the freezer and air-dried again for an additional 2 d on greenhouse desks. One hundred healthy grains of each line were surfacesterilized with 5% NaClO for 15 min and washed three times with sterile water. The sterilized seeds were placed in a 90 mm Petri dish containing filter paper and 8 mL of distilled water, and incubated at 23 °C for 7 d. Germinated grains were counted daily and removed. The weighted germination index was calculated according to the following formula [41]:where n i is the number of grains germinated in the ith day; N is the total number of grains.The 262 RILs and parents were genotyped using wheat 50 K Infinium iSelect SNP arrays containing 55,224 SNPs outsourced from CapitalBio Corporation (https://www.capitalbio.com). The SNP data were processed by removing monomorphic markers, SNPs with more than 20% missing data or minor allele frequency (MAF) of < 0.3. The remaining high-quality polymorphic SNPs (9354) were further analyzed to remove redundant markers using the BIN function in IciMapping v4.2 [42] (https://www.isbreeding. net/). The resulting genotypic data consisting of 1501 nonredundant markers (bin markers) were used to generate a linkage map with JoinMap v4.0 software using the regression mapping algorithm. The linkage maps were drawn by the MapChart v2.32 software [43] (https://www.wur.nl/en/show/Mapchart.htm).The best linear unbiased estimation (BLUE) values of lines in each environment and across environments were calculated for subsequent analysis using the PROC MIXED function in SAS 9.4 software (SAS Institute Inc, Cary, NC https://www.sas.com). Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were conducted using PROC MEANS and PROC CORR functions. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed using PROC general linear model (GLM) function. Broad-sense heritability (H b 2) was estimated according to the following equation;e re where r 2 g , r 2 ge , and r 2 e are the variances of genotypes, genotype by environment interaction, and residual error, respectively, and r and e are the numbers of replications and environments, respectively [44]. Bar graph was used to perform multiple comparison for combining effect of stable QTL, and their distribution was indicated by GraphPad prism Version 8.0.1 (GrapPad Software, San Diego, CA, USA).QTL analysis was performed by the Inclusive composite interval mapping (ICIM) method with additive effect, using IciMapping v4.1 software [42]. The logarithm of odds (LOD) threshold for declaring significant QTL was 2.5 based on 1000 permutations with type 1 error (a = 0.05). The physical positions of mapped SNPs in the region of detected QTL were identified by blasting the SNP flanking sequences against reference genome sequences of the Chinese Spring (RefSeq 1.0, IWGSC, International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium, https://urgi.versailles.inra.fr/blast_iwgsc/). The QTL was named following the International Rules of Genetic Nomenclature (https://wheat.pw.usda.gov/ggpages/wgc/98/Intro. htm). QTL detected in two or more environments were regarded as stable.Sequences of SNPs flanking stable QTL for the pre-harvest sprouting resistance were converted to KASP markers. The KASP primers were designed using PolyMarker (https://www.polymarker.info/) following Li et al. [17]. The 384-well optically clear plates were read on PHERAstarplus SNP (BMG Labtech GmbH, Ortenberg, Germany) to detect the fluorescence, and data analysis was carried out using KlusterCaller (LGC, Hoddesdon, UK). KASP markers were validated using a panel of 100 wheat varieties.The additive effect of stable QTL was determined by categorizing the RIL or cultivars in the natural population into four different genotypic groups (1 R , 2 R , 1 S and 2 S ) based on the flanking markers of QGI.caas-3A and QGI.caas-5A. The two QTL were temporarily designated as loci 1 and 2 respectively, where R and S represent resistance and susceptibility alleles, respectively. The GI values of the The RILs and parents were evaluated for PHS using GI values across five environments. The mean GI value of ZM578 had a significantly lower value (3.7%) than that of JM22 (44.73%) at P < 0.001 and continuous distribution of GI in the RIL population was observed, indicating a typical polygenic inheritance (Fig. S2; Table S1). ANOVA revealed that GI was significantly influenced by the effects of genotype, environment, and genotype  environment interactions (P < 0.01) (Table 1), and broad-sense heritabilities ranged from 0.91 to 0.98 among the five environments, with a high mean value of 0.91 (Table S1). Also, among-environments, correlations of GI were significant and positive, with the values ranging from 0.52 to 0.76 (P < 0.001) (Table S2).A high-density genetic linkage map of the ZM578/JM22 population was constructed with 1501 bin markers on all chromosomes except 6B, spanning 2384.95 cM with an average distance of 1.59 cM per bin marker. The maximum number of markers was recorded in A genome (562), followed by B (545) and D (394) genomes (Tables S3, S4). In addition, SNPs were unevenly distributed among chromosomes, such as 7A (133) and 2B (132) having the highest number, while chromosome 6A had the lowest number of SNPs (11). No SNP was mapped on Chromosome 6B, suggesting that this chromosome might have a large similarity between the two parents. Six QTL for PHS resistance were detected on chromosomes 1D, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, and 5A, designated as QGI.caas-1D, QGI. caas-2B, QGI.caas-3A, QGI.caas-3B, QGI.caas-4A and QGI.caas-5A, respectively, explaining 29.84% of the total phenotypic variance, with LOD values ranging from 2.57 to 7.17. Among these, two were stably detected in at least two environments on chromosomes 3A (QGI.caas-3A) and 5A (QGI.caas-5A), respectively (Fig. 1; Table 2). QGI.caas-5A was detected in four environments and the BLUE value, explaining 4.43%-8.02% of the phenotypic variances, with the resistance allele contributed by ZM578. QGI.caas-3A was identified in two environments and the BLUE value, contributing for 4.33%-5.58% of the phenotypic variances, with the resistance allele derived from JM22.Four KASP markers, K-AX-109605367 and K-AX-179559687 for QGI.caas-3A and K-AX111258240 and K-AX-109402944 for QGI. caas-5A, were successfully developed, and their genetic effects were verified in a panel of the natural population with 100 cultivars (Fig. S3; Tables 3, S5, S6). Both of the genotypes with resistance alleles at both QGI.caas-3A and QGI.caas-5A have significantly lower GI values than those with both susceptible alleles in the natural population of 100 cultivars, with 82.7% of germplasm possessing the resistance allele of QGI.caas-3A and 57.1% having the resistance allele of QGI.caas-5A, respectively (Table 3).Using the flanking markers AX-111055367 and AX-179559687 of QGI.caas-3A, and AX-111258240 and AX-109402944 of QGI.caas-5A, 262 RILs were divided into four groups (1 R , 2 R , 1 S and 2 S ). The results indicated that the genotypic combination with both resistance alleles (1 R 2 R ) at QGI.caas-3A and QGI.caas-5A had a significantly lower GI value in all environments, as well as the BLUE value in comparison with the other three groups, whereas those with both susceptible alleles (1 S 2 S ) had a significantly higher GI value in all environments, as well as the BLUE value than the other three groups. (Fig. 2).Moreover, in the natural population of 100 cultivars, the genotypic combination with both resistance alleles (1 R 2 R ) at QGI.caas-3A and QGI.caas-5A showed a significantly lower GI value than the other three groups, whereas those with both susceptibility alleles (1 S 2 S ) had a significantly higher GI value than the other three groups (Table S7). Therefore, pyramiding the resistance alleles of QGI.caas-3A and QGI.caas-5A can effectively improve PHS resistance.PHS affects end-use quality and wheat production in many regions across the world; therefore, developing cultivars with good resistance is an effective way to minimize economic losses, and markers tightly linked to the identified resistance genes are helpful in accelerating the development of new cultivars. The current study detected two stable QTL, QGI.caas-3A and QGI.caas-5A, for PHS resistance. QGI.caas-3A was detected on chromosome 3A at 568.7-573.9 Mb based on the flanking markers AX-111055367 and AX-179559687. Liu et al. [45] and Liu and Bai [46] identified QPhs.pseru-3AS with flanking markers Xbarc12 and Xbarc321 located at 11.7-15.5 Mb. Shao et al. [5] detected two QTL at 11.7 Mb. Kulwal et al. [38] identified a major QTL for PHS linked with marker Xgwm155 at 703 Mb. Osa et al. [19], Nakamura et al. [33], and Mori et al. [47] reported a QTL QPhs.ocs-3A.1 for grain dormancy between markers Xbarc310 and Xbarc 321 spanning 7.1-11.7 Mb. Miao et al. [48] identified QPhs.caas-3AS.1 for PHS flanked by markers Xbarc294 and Xbarc57 at 7.9-10.3 Mb. Fofana et al. [49] reported a QTL for GI linked with marker Xcfa2 at 690.7 Mb. Himi et al. [36] found a QTL for PHS associated with a red grain color gene Tamyb10-A1 at 703.9 Mb, which is more than 100 Mb away from the QGI.caas-3A. Therefore, QGI.caas-3A appears to have a different position from these previously identified QTL on chromosome 3A (Table S8), indicating that it is probably a new genetic locus for PHS resistance. The reason for relatively low mapping resolution of QTL on chromosome 3A may lie in that the susceptible parent JM22 is one of the parents of ZM578. Therefore, the RILs of ZM578/JM22 used in this study have high genetic similarities, which make little polymorphisms in the genetic background, and the KASP markers developed in the study should be effective in testing the diversity panel. QGI.caas-5A was mapped at 17.1-17.2 Mb on chromosome 5A, flanked by SNP markers AX-111258240 and AX-109402944. Several previous studies have reported QTL associated with PHS and SD on the long arm of chromosome 5A [12,[50][51][52][53][54]. Borner et al. [12] identified a QTL for PHS linked with markers Xgwm186 and P7560-439, located at 471.7 Mb for the closest marker. Groos et al. [55] reported a QTL for PHS and grain color on the short arm of chromosome 5A flanked by markers Xbcd1871-Xgwm304, with the closest marker located at 105.5 Mb. Fakthongphan et al. [50] detected a QTL linked with marker Barc10 at 2.1 Mb using three RIL populations. Zhu et al. [51] reported a QTL linked with marker Xbarc 360 at 458.3 Mb using 260 wheat varieties and advanced lines. Martinez et al. [52] detected a QTL linked with marker IWB10250 at 540 Mb using a panel of white winter wheat cultivars and elite breeding lines. Zuo et al. [53] identified a QTL for PHS resistance linked with marker BS00036907_51 at 438.1 Mb, explaining up to 4.2% of the phenotypic variance. Lin et al. [54] reported two QTL linked with marker Bobwhite_4004_61 at 33.2 Mb and Excal-ibur_c54774_408 at 593.0 Mb, using 260 wheat varieties and advanced lines. Nakamura et al. [56] identified an ABA signaling gene TmERA3 on the centromere region of chromosome 5A at 343 Mb by in silico analysis. The position of QGI.caas-5A is located differently from all the reported QTL (Table S8), based on the wheat reference genome (IWGSC RefSeq 1.0), indicating that it is likely to be a new QTL for PHS resistance.It should be indicated that only two of the six QTL mapped in this study were found to be stable, and the phenotypic variance explained was not high, which may be attributed to the following two reasons: 1) PHS is a complex quantitative trait and controlled by numerous minor genes, and it is highly influenced by environments; 2) JM22 is one of the parents of ZM578, and theoretically near 75% of the genetic background of the RILs is originated from JM22, thus it is not possible to identify common PHS resistance genes in this RIL population. Therefore, it worth conducting further research using a population of ZM578 with some other cultivars rather than JM22, to find more PHS-related genes in ZM578. Moreover, we believe, from breeding point of view, many genes detected previously act as minor genes in the background of modern leading   wheat cultivars like JM22 and ZM578, which have combined with many favorable alleles of genes underling good agronomic parameters. It is much worthy doing QTL mapping or fine mapping in modern wheat cultivars, and the favorable alleles of QTL mapped can easily be used in wheat breeding program.The two stable QTL QGI.caas-3A and QGI.caas-5A identified in this study showed an additive effect on PHS resistance when combined, suggesting the genetic complex systems in regulating wheat PHS and the importance of pyramiding a specific combination of QTL. Zhongmai 578 contributed the resistance allele of QGI.caas-5A, and the resistance for PHS of QGI.caas-3A was contributed by Jimai 22. Therefore, tracing the pedigree for the favorable alleles will provide important information for future MAS and the developed KASP marker K-AX-111258240 (Table S6) tightly linked with QGI.caas-5A was successfully used to trace the origination. The result indicated that the favorable allele of QGI.caas-5A was inherited from Zhengzhou 761 through Yumai 49 to Zhongmai 255 (Fig. S4; Table S9), providing the marker for MAS on PHS when using Zhongmai 578 as a core parent in the future, as well as other cultivars in the pedigree such as Yumai 49 and Zhongmai 255 with excellent pan bread quality. It should be indicated that some favorable alleles in Zhongmai 578 inherited from Jimai 22 could not be detected in this RIL population because Jimai 22 is one of the parents of Zhongmai 578."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"25339e162cf39e2befe5ebefaf8bad55","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/38d44215-095e-49c7-9aa6-07f16b3e8102/retrieve","id":"-332735302"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e5acea0b-d5f7-40cc-b69f-8f2e5160f09e","content":"A middle path to seed systems development holds promise for farmers and consumers by promoting sensible regulations and improved information sharingThe absence of an effective regulatory system to govern seed systems for vegetatively-propagated crops (VPCs) Policy options for advancing seed systems include formal recognition of farmer-saved seed as seed class use of truthful labeling and seed traceability technologies to improve information flows; investment in early-generation seed production; and promotion of domestic seed production by foreign and domestic enterprises.IN VIETNAM, quality assurance of VPC planting material is largely informal: trust and reputation between buyers and sellers is a major pillar in exchanges of planting materials, thus limiting the market to very localized scales.In many Asian countries, seed systems for VPCs are governed by a regulatory blueprint for cereals. This approach tends to disregard the distinct biological characteristics of VPCs, thus limiting farmers' access to high-quality planting material and increasing the risk of pest and disease transmission. Clonal propagation offers several advantages, including low-cost and often rapid production of planting materials of identical genotypes. However, the quality of clonallypropagated planting material tends to degenerate across time with a build-up of pests and diseases on or in the material itself. Also, in the case of potato, seed potato is essentially the same plant part as ware potato. As such, seed potato is a credence good 1 , as seed quality cannot be assessed upon visual inspections.We focus on two VPCs: cassava and potato, the former of which is primarily used for industrial purposes, and the latter as primarily a cash crop, cultivated for the fresh and processing markets. The research drew together scientists from the International Potato Center (CIP), the Alliance of Biodiversity and CIAT, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and Michigan State University.The study was conducted in Vietnam in 2017, amassing data from different actors of the seed system value chain for VPCs through interviews. Through more effective policies aimed at seed systems for VPCs, access to high-quality planting material can be increased and risk of pest and disease transmission reduced.To promote more access to high-quality planting material for farmers in Vietnam, this study aimed to fill three objectives:• To analyze quality-assurance mechanisms adopted by key actors of the VPC value chain, and the suitability of existing policies and regulations governing the VPC sector, with a focus on the diversity of seed providers and farmer typologies in the cassava and potato sectors;• To discuss the tradeoffs and unintended consequences associated with the current policy framework in Vietnam; and• To explore the viability of alternative frameworks to improve farmers' access to quality VPC planting material.We argue that Vietnam's seed policy framework -the laws, rules, regulations, and guidelines that govern both the genetic improvement of crops and the production and exchange of planting material -are weakly adapted to the unique requirements of VPCs. This absence of effective policy and regulation may limit farmers' access to planting material of superior genetic and physical quality, thereby increasing the risk of pest and disease transmission and reducing expected gains in productivity of VPCs. However, we also recognize that a formal quality-assurance system that relies on certified seed production, inspection, and distribution may not be entirely appropriate or feasible in this context, at least not in the short run.The study mainly draws on primary data collection: a series of key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) conducted with seed system actors. The KIIs and FGDs were conducted in 2017 using semi-structured interview guides that were developed for each category of actorsas part of a larger crosscountry project on seed systems and markets for VPCs.The interview guides covered topics that ranged from quality-assurance standards and practices to viewpoints on the effectiveness of current policies and regulations. A total of 18 KIIs and FGDs were conducted in 2017 with 39 individuals from across 18 different types of stakeholders (e.g., farmers, consumers, traders) in the cassava and potato seed sector.The data collected through KIIs and FGDs yielded data that support two findings:1. Actors employed various quality assurance mechanisms to obtain clean seed, ranging from visual inspection of seed, seed surveillance and containment, to supporting the domestic production of quality-declared seed.2. In the absence of certification, trust and reputation between seller/producer and buyers are critical to assure quality of planting material.There also appear to be two primary approaches in Vietnam for increasing access to quality planting material. The status quo approach continues the government's allowance of uncertified seed sales with possible exceptions to seed imported through border points where phytosanitary inspection and quarantine are feasible. On the other hand, strict mandatory certification of planting material and rigorous enforcement of regulations is likely to have high expense to the government for implementation relative to what it currently spends to monitor VPC seeds. Given these options, we advise a middle-of-the-road approach for increasing access to quality planting material.This approach has five main pillars 1. Establish and recognize farmer-saved seed as its own seed class. Currently commercial trade of farmer-saved seed is illegal 2. Current seed sales are characterized by information asymmetries between seed sellers and buyers. This situation could be remedied by ideas such as \"truthful labeling, \" which is designed to provide buyers with information on variety name and origin, purity and germination rates to help buyers choose the appropriate product for their specific needs. \"Product traceability systems\" could allow farmers to validate the authenticity and quality of a seed package via a simple text message or a smartphone app. The technological options range from barcoded scratch cards on seed packages to blockchain technologies to store digitally unalterable information used in a market exchange.3. Investments in early-generation seed production facilities at research stations and universities could reduce costs of seed production while increasing production. The seed generated in these facilities could be used as a production input by private seed producers.Agricultural Economist, PhD m.gatto@cgiar.orgFull article: Policy options for advancing seed systems for vegetatively propagated crops in Vietnam (tandfonline.com)RTB blog post : https://www.rtb.cgiar.org/news/policy-options-to-improve-access-to-quality-seed-in-vietnam/ 4. Investment incentives and regulations might also be used to attract foreign crop-science and seed companies working in Vietnam to produce seed in-country rather than import their varieties. In the longer-term, this strategy could be used to transform Vietnam into a VPC seed production hub for Asia.5. Promote preventative pest and disease management by the use of quarantine and destroying infected crops in response to reported pest or disease incidences. Instead, require qualified inspectors to make frequent visits to identified hot spots and more closely monitor the planting material.Vietnam's Plan for Zero Hunger by 2025 calls for increasing access to nutritious foods and the diversification of diets throughout the country. Roots, tubers and bananas can play their part in achieving that goal. The contribution of VPCs depend largely on the access to affordable and accessible high-quality planting material and this access will significantly influence Vietnam's progress toward its goals. Moving from localized and informal seed systems based primarily on trust and reputation to seed systems that are scalable and resilient to climate change will require policy experimentation and innovation in seed system regulation."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b10a658f0b9ef93f81eade2642f5c24a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H040688.pdf","id":"883054146"},"keywords":["informal water economies","water institutions","institutional environment","irrigation management transfer","groundwater markets","groundwater recharge","energy","fishery","fluoride","India","China","Mexico"],"sieverID":"55c005db-b531-4c67-a834-b611ba0dab7c","content":"The past decade has witnessed a growing sense of urgency in reforming water sectors in developing countries like India faced with acute water scarcity. India, like many other developing countries, is still focused on building water infrastructure and services, and making these sustainable in all senses of the term. The new wave of ideas is asking it to move from this supply-side orientation to proactive demand management by reforming water policy, water law and water administration, the so-called 'three pillars' of water institutions and policies. But making this transition is proving difficult in India and elsewhere in the developing world. Here, making water laws is easy -enforcing them is not. Renaming regional water departments as basin organizations is easy -but managing water resources at basin level is not. Declaring water an economic good is simple -but using the price mechanism to direct water to high-value uses is proving complex. This chapter explores why.It distinguishes between Institutional Environment (IE) of a country's water economy, which comprises the 'three pillars', and the Institutional Arrangements (IAs), which refer to the humanly devised rules-in-use, which drive the working of numerous informal institutions that keep a vibrant economy well lubricated. The relative influence of IE and IAs varies in high-and low-income countries because the water economies of the former are highly formalized, while those in the latter are highly informal. In high-income countries' formalized water economies, IE has an all-powerful presence in the water economy; in contrast, in highly informal water economies of low-income countries, IAs have a large role with the IE struggling to influence the working of countless tiny players in informal water institutions. The emerging discussion exhorting governments to adopt demand-side management overestimates the developing-country IE's capacity to shape the working of their informal IAs through direct regulatory means, and underestimates the potential for demand management through indirect instruments.Demand-management reforms through laws, pricing and rights reforms in informal water economies are ill advised, not because they are not badly needed but because they are unlikely to work. The real challenge of improving the working of poor-country water economies lies in four areas: (i) improving water infrastructure and services through better investment and management; (ii) promoting institutional innovations that reduce transaction costs and rationalize incentive structures; (iii) using indirect instruments to work towards publicpolicy goals in the informal sectors of the water economy; and (iv) undertaking vigorous demand management in formal segments of the water economy such as cities and industrial water users. Facilitating these requires that water resources managers adopt a broader view of policy and institutional interventions they can catalyse to achieve policy goals.A recent review of institutional changes in the water sector in 11 countries by Saleth and Dinar (2000) deals with water law, water policy and water administration, as the three pillars of institutional analysis in national water economies. This focus on law, policy and organizations as central themes of institutional analysis has been the concern of many analysts and practitioners of water resources management (see, e.g. Bandaragoda and Firdousi, 1992;Merrey, 1996;Frederickson and Vissia, 1998;Holmes, 2000;Saleth, 2004). However, if institutional change is about how societies adapt to new demands, its study needs to go beyond what government bureaucracies, international agencies and legal/regulatory systems do. People, businesses, exchange institutions, civil society institutions, religions and social movements -all these too must be covered in the ambit of institutional analysis (see, e.g. Livingston, 1993;Mestre, 1997cited in Merrey, 2000, p. 5).The current chapter takes this broader view in attempting a preliminary analysis of water institutions in India and elsewhere (see Fig. 5.1). In doing so, it draws upon the vast emerging field of New Institutional Economics (NIE) whose goal is to 'explain what institutions are, how they arise, what purposes they serve, how they change and how -if at all -they should be reformed' (Klein, 2000). We begin by borrowing from North (1990) the notion of institutions as 'formal rules, informal constraints (norms of behaviour, conventions, and self-imposed codes of conduct) and the enforcement characteristics of both'; and also the notion that 'if institutions are the rules of the game, organizations are the players'. It is also useful to borrow the important distinction drawn in the NIE between institutional environment (IE) and institutional arrangements (IAs). IE refers to the background constraints or 'rules of the game'formal and explicit (constitutions, laws, etc.) and informal and implicit (norms, customs). Thus aspects that Saleth and Dinar (2000) include in their 'institutional analysis' represent, mostly, IE. IAs, in contrast, 'are the structure 66 T. Shah that humans impose on their dealings with each other' (North, 1990).In the Indian context, then, IE would include various government agencies at different levels that directly or indirectly deal in water, international agencies, governments' water policy and water-related laws and so on. And institutions or IAs -what Williamson (1985) calls 'governance structures' -refer to entities like groundwater markets, tube well cooperatives, water user associations (WUAs), Tarun Bharat Sangh's johad (small pond) movement in Alwar (Shah and Raju, 2001), groundwater recharge movement in Saurashtra (Shah, 2000), tank fishery contractors in Bundelkhand (Shah, 2002), emergence of defluoridation plants in the cottage sector in North Gujarat's towns (Indu, 2002), private lift irrigation provisioning on a large scale from Narmada canals in Gujarat (Talati and Shah, 2004) and from government reservoirs in the Upper Krishna basin in Maharashtra (Padhiari, 2005), and urban tanker water markets operating throughout cities in India and many other developing countries (Londhe et al., 2004) and so on.We begin with three propositions:• Water institutions existing in a nation at any given point in time depend critically upon the level of formalization of its water economy; by formalization, we mean the proportion of the economy that comes under the ambit of direct regulatory influence of the IE. 1, 2 • In this sense, water sectors are highly informal in poorly developed economies and become more formalized as national economies grow. • The pace of water sector formalization in response to economic growth varies across countries and is influenced in a limited way by a host of factors but principally by the nature of the 'state' 3 (i.e. how hard or soft it is) (Myrdal, 1968). How much difference these other factors make is unclear; what is clear is that India or Tanzania cannot have Netherlands' level of formalization of its water sector at their present state of economic evolution.The level of formalization of a country's water sector is best indicated by the low level of interface between its water IAs and its water IE -or by what North (1990) calls the 'transaction sector' 4 of the water economy. Informal water economies, where the writ of 'the three pillars' does not run, are marked by heavy dependence of water users on self-provision (through private wells, streams, ponds), on informal, personalized exchange institutions or on communitymanaged water sources. In contrast, in highly formalized water economies -as in Europe and North America -self-provision disappears as a mode of securing water service; all or most users are served by service providers -privatecorporate, municipal or others -who form the interface between users and the institutional environment. Volumetric supply and economic pricing are commonly used in highly formal water sectors for cost recovery as well as for resource allocation. Here, water emerges as an organized industry easily amenable to a host of policy and management interventions that become infeasible in informal water economies.Just how informal the water economy of a developing country can be was explored by a large nationwide survey (NSSO, 1999b, p. 46) carried out in India during June-July 1998. Based on interviews with 78,990 rural households in 5110 villages throughout India, its purpose was to understand the extent to which they depended upon common property (and government) land and water resources for their consumptive and productive uses. The survey showed that only 10% of water infrastructural assets used by survey households were owned and managed by either a public or community organization. The rest were mostly owned and managed by private households or owned by the government/community but not managed by either. 5  If receiving domestic water from a 'tap' is an indicator of getting connected to a formal water supply system, the same survey also showed that over 80% of rural households were not connected with any public or community water supply system: they self-supplied their domestic water needs. In urban households (sample = 31,323 households), the situation was the reverse: 75% were connected to a public water supply system.A somewhat different 2002 survey (NSSO, 2003) showed that, of the 4646 villages covered, only 8.8% had a public/community water supply system. People living in the rest of the villages depended on wells or open water bodies for domestic water supply. A strong imprint of economic growth was evident too. The proportion of villages with a public water supply system increases rapidly as we move from a poor state to a relatively rich one. In Bihar, one of India's poorest states, none of the 364 villages covered had a public/community water supply. In the somewhat richer Haryana state, over half the villages surveyed had a public water supply system and, in still richer Goa, every village surveyed had a public water supply system.The irrigation economy of India is equally informal. A 1998 survey of 48,419 cultivators around India showed that nearly 65% used irrigation for five major field crops cultivated by them. For nearly half of these, the source of irrigation was informal, fragmented pump irrigation markets (NSSO, 1999b, p. 42), which are totally outside the ambit of direct influence of the 'three pillars'. In a 2002 survey of 4646 villages around India (NSSO, 2003), 76% of the villages reported they irrigated some of the lands. However, only 17% had access to a public irrigation system: the rest depended primarily on wells and tube wells, tanks and streams.All these surveys suggest that rural India's water economy -both domestic and irrigation use -is predominantly informal, based as it largely is on self-supply and local, informal water institutions. It has little connection with public systems and formal organizations through which the 'three pillars' typically operate in industrialized countries. 6  Figure 5.2 presents a clutch of empirically verifiable hypotheses -a set of 'iron laws of economic development' 7 -about how the economic organization of a country's water economy metamorphoses in response to economic growth and the transformation of society that comes in its wake. It is difficult to find a country in, say, sub-Saharan Africa with a modern water industry of the kind we find in a European country. South Africa is an exception: white South Africa -inhabiting its towns or operating large, commercial farms in the countryside -is served by what approximates a modern water sector. In the rural areas of the Olifants basin, for example, only 0.5% of thisT. Shah formal sector -some 1600 registered users in a population of 2.5 million -uses 95% of the water resources (Cullis and van Koppen, 2007). The former homelands, where half of South Africans live, are served by a water economy even more informal than India's.Water institutions that exist in a country or can be expected to be successfully catalysed by external actors depend upon, besides several other factors, the stage of formalization of its water economy which, in turn, depends upon the overall economic evolution of that country as outlined in Fig. 5.2. Water IAs we found in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh -such as, say, pump irrigation markets or urban tanker water markets -are unlikely to be found in Australia or Spain because they would serve nobody's purpose there. Likewise, water IAs that are standard in industrialized countries -multinationals managing a city's water supply system -would not begin to work until Dhaka has a water service market evolved, at least, to the level of Manila or Jakarta. 8In understanding how societies adapt their institutions to changing demands, Oliver Williamson (1999) suggests the criticality of social analysis at four levels. At the highest level (say L1) of social embeddedness are customs, traditions, mores and religion, which change very slowly because of the spontaneous origin of these practices in which 'deliberative choice of a calculative kind is minimally implicated'. At the second level (L2), evolutionary processes play a big role; but opportunities for design present themselves through formal rules, constitutions, laws and property rights. The challenge here is getting the rules of the game right through better definition and enforcement of property rights and contract laws. Also critical is the understanding of how things actually work -'warts and all' in some settings, but not in others. However, it is one thing to get the rules of the game (laws, policies, administrative reforms in the IE) right; it is quite another to get the play of the game (enforcement of contracts/property rights) right.This leads to the third level (L3) of institutional analysis: transaction costs of enforcement of contracts and property rights, and the governance structures through which this is done.Governance -through markets, hybrids (like public-private partnerships), firms and bureaus -is an effort to craft order, thereby mitigating conflict and realizing mutual gains. Good governance structures craft order by reshaping incentives, which leads to the fourth level (L4) of social analysis -getting the incentives right.L1 and L2 offer possibilities for change only over the long term. 9 Sectoral interventions aiming to achieve at least L2 level changes 10property rights on water through a permit system or reorienting the bureaucracy -are not uncommon; but it is virtually impossible to enduringly 11 transform only the water bureaucracy while the rest of the bureaucracy stays the same. All things considered, L3 and L4 comprise the most relevant playing field for institutional reform in the short term.An important question that New Institutional Economics (NIE) helps us explore is: 'Why do economies fail to undertake the appropriate activities if they had a high pay-off?' (North, 1990). The response to this question depends largely on L3 and L4 levels of institutional analysis. India's water sector is replete with situations where appropriate activities can potentially generate a high pay-off and yet fail to be undertaken; in contrast, much institutional reform being contemplated or attempted may not work, in the current context, because, among other things, high transaction costs make them inappropriate to undertake.An institutional change creates a 'structure' of pay-offs with gains varying across different groups of agents and, therefore, inviting different 'intensities' of responses. A small group of agents each threatened with large loss may put up a stiff resistance to a change that is beneficial for the society as a whole, and vice versa. Likewise, different groups of agents in IAs as well as in IE may experience different levels of incidence of transaction costs attendant on a change. In NIE, transaction costs are seen to include: (i) costs of search and information; (ii) costs of negotiation, bargaining and contracting; and (iii) costs of policing and enforcement of contracts, property rights, rules and laws.Our key proposition in this chapter is: for a policy or institutional intervention, all these three increase directly with the number of agents involved as well as with the strength of their preference for or against the intervention.All three costs come into play in determining the 'implementation efficacy' of an institutional intervention because each depends on the number of agents involved in a transaction, which in an informal water economy is large. Just take the case of groundwater regulation in a country like Mexico which, in some parts, faces problems of resource over-exploitation similar to those of India and the North China plains. Mexico's new Law of the Nation's Water provided for the registration of all groundwater diverters and issue of 'concessions' to each, with an entitlement to pump a permitted quota of water per year. Nearly a decade later, the 'implementation efficacy' of this policy regime has varied across different segments of groundwater diverters: municipal and industrial diverters -all large, visible entities in the formal sector -have been promptly and effectively brought within the ambit of the new Law because these large diverters are few in number. Household wells -far too numerous, and each diverting small quantities -were wisely kept out of the ambit of the law; the transaction cost of regulating them was not worth the gains in 'implementation efficacy'. 12  The real problem was with over 96,000 agricultural tube wells, some of them abstracting up to 1 million m 3 of groundwater each per year. Having registered agricultural tube wells, Mexico's CNA (Comisión Nacional del Agua) found it impossible to police and enforce concessions with the staff and resources at its command. To reduce policing and enforcement costs, CNA created COTAS (Comités Técnicos de Aguas Subterráneas), assuming that farmers would police each other better. A slew of recent studies, however, have shown that Mexico's new Law of the Nation's Water, its national water policy as well as institutions like COTAS have had no perceptible impact on groundwater abstraction for agricultural use (Shah et al., 2004b).If Mexico is serious about groundwater regulation, it will need to either find effective ways to reduce policing and enforcement costs of tube well concessions or else allocate much larger resources to absorb the high costs of policing and enforcement of groundwater concessions on 96,000 tube well owners scattered over the countryside. And if India were to try a similar strategy, it would need to provide for policing and enforcement costs for some 20 million private tube well owners scattered over 600,000 villages.One core NIE idea -especially, of the Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) branch -is that economizing on transaction costs is a key determinant of the nature of IAs that economic agents evolve. Our proposition is that players in IE of sectoral economies too are sensitive to transaction costs in designing, implementing or abandoning institutional interventions. This implies that the state too indulges in transaction cost-economizing behaviour. This is indicated by the fact that water regulations in most countries exclude small users from their ambit. Mexico's Law of the Nation's Water does not apply to anyone who stores less than 1030 m 3 of water. Australia's water law excludes users who irrigate less than 2 ha (MacDonald and Young, 2001). Water withdrawal permits instituted in South Africa and many African countries in recent years exclude domestic users, homestead gardening and stock watering (Shah and van Koppen, 2005).One rationale for leaving these out is that these represent lifeline uses of water. But another equally important reason is that the inclusion of these would hugely increase search, information and policing and enforcement costs involved in implementing the new intervention. Under its new water law, China has instituted a system of water withdrawal permits to be obtained by each tube well owner. But, in reality, except in selected provinces such as Beijing, Hebei and Shandong where tube wells are deep and heavy duty, the permits are issued to the village as a whole. Doing this defeats the intent of the law but it reduces transaction costs (Shah et al., 2004a). When transaction costs of implementing an institutional intervention become prohibitive, players in IE relinquish it rather than enforcing it at any cost.Alternatively, IE players discover wellthought out approaches to drastically reduce transaction costs. Provincial and city water bureaus in eastern China have for long tried to regulate pumping of urban groundwater aquifers that are under great stress. An array of regulatory measures -imposition of a water withdrawal fee, increases in water price, sealing of urban tube wells, etc. -failed to control urban groundwater depletion. More recently, many cities have begun sourcing water from distant reservoirs and supplying it to urban water service providers. Alternative water supply assured, many cities have quickly brought urban groundwater diverters within the regulatory fold (Shah et al., 2004a).Another example of 'transaction cost economizing' behaviour of IE players is the Mexican government's decision of levying a penal charge for electricity use by tube wells withdrawing groundwater beyond the concessioned volume. Having failed to police and enforce groundwater abstraction concessions through COTAS, the CNA found the second best approach, whose key merit is that it imposed little 'incremental' transaction cost because metered electricity use already provided a good surrogate of volumes of abstraction (Scott and Shah, 2004).In analysing the Indian institutional experience in the water sector, then, our key propositions are embodied in Fig. 5.3. It suggests that several kinds of institutional reform tried or suggested in the Indian water sector have tended to have entailed either high transaction costs (quadrant 2), low pay-offs (quadrant 4) or both (quadrant 3). In contrast, institutional changes that have quietly occurred because pay-offs are high and transaction costs low (quadrant 1) are either ignored or thwarted or, at least, not built upon. In the following sections, we briefly analyse a sample of situations in each of these four quarters in Fig. 5.3 before drawing some general implications arising from this analysis.Efficacy (Quadrants 3 and 4)When policing and enforcement costs of an intervention are high, the tendency often is to design frivolous interventions without serious intention to implement them or to abandon an intervention even if designed with serious intent. International pressure has often led to a persistent demand for a modern legislative and policy framework for orderly and effective management of the water economy and sustainable husbanding of the resource. Conditionalities imposed by donors sometimes oblige developing-country governments to agree to interventions without a local buy-in.One possible reason they submit to such pressures is their dependence on them for financialReforming Informal Water Economies 71 resources; however, it may also be that donors can pressurize governments to make laws but not to enforce them. Even if governments had a genuine intent to enforce, in a predominantly informal water economy such as India's, the transaction costs of enforcing a 'strong' water law effectively are so high that these attempts often remain cosmetic, essentially setting 'targets without teeth'. Indeed, laws and policies are often written to minimize transaction costs by progressively removing clauses that bite and are likely to be extensively violated, thereby reducing the effective regulatory powers of a law. When this is not done, decision makers responsible for enforcement shy away.The Model Groundwater Law developed by the Government of India circa 1970 is a case in point; it has been tossed around for 35 years across state capitals but it has found no takers, not only because of the virtual impossibility of reasonable enforcement but also because of the invidious political economy of rent-seeking that it may create at the local levels. The Gujarat assembly passed the law but the Chief Minister decided, wisely, not to gazette the act in view of high transaction costs of enforcing it. 13  The chief ministers of some other Indian states were, however, less transaction costsavvy. So in 1993, Maharashtra made a law with a limited ambition of disabling irrigation wells within 500 m of a Public Water Source during droughts, with a view to protecting drinking water wells. Ten years after its enactment, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) commissioned a study of the enforcement of this law (Phansalkar and Kher, 2003). The law provides for stern action against violation but has a 'naughty' clause requiring that the law be invoked only when a 'gram panchayat (village council) files a written complaint' (which, at one stroke, reduces to a fraction the transaction costs as well as the potency of the law).The study found numerous cases of violations of the 500 m norm, yet not a single case of legal action has resulted because gram panchayats have failed to file a written complaint. It concluded that: 'There is a near complete absence of social support for the legislation. The rural lay public as well as the office bearers of gram panchayats appear inhibited and reluctant to seem to be \"revengeful\" towards those who are doing no worse than trying to earn incomes by using water for raising oranges.'Instead of invoking the law, supply-side solutions in the form of upgraded drinking water facilities and water tankers during droughts are preferred by people, gram panchayats as well as zilla parishads (district councils). IWMI also did a quick assessment of the Andhra Pradesh Water and Trees Act (Narayana and Scott 2004), 14 and concluded on a similar pessimistic note. A similar exercise has been the formulation of the official Government of India Water Policy of 1987 and 2002. Both these pieces are an excellent example of bland, almost tonguein-cheek, enunciations that are not designed to change anything in any manner. 15 As a result, they have low transaction costs, but also no pay-off.Other widely espoused proposals entail high transaction costs and promise doubtful benefits -at least in the prevailing circumstances. A good example in India is the effort to introduce volumetric pricing of electricity supply to groundwater irrigators after having given up on it decades previously. It was the high transaction costs of metering over a million irrigation pump-sets -which involved installing and maintaining meters, reading them every month, billing based on metered consumption of power but, more importantly, controlling pilferage, tampering with meters with or without collusion with meter readers, etc. -that obliged State Electricity Boards (SEBs) to switch to a flat tariff during the 1970s (Shah, 1993).A flat tariff, collected based on the size of the pump horsepower rather than on the metered consumption of electricity for pumping, succeeded in reducing transaction costs of serving a market where derived demand for electricity was confined to periods of peak irrigation requirements. It would have been a viable system if SEBs had learnt to ration power supply to agriculture and gradually raise the flat tariffs to break-even levels. However, neither happened; farmer lobbies have managed all along to prevent upward revision in the flat tariff while compelling the SEBs to maintain electricity supply to the farm sector. The invidious nexus between energy and irrigationwhich has contributed to the bankruptcy of the Indian power sector and rampant over-exploitation of groundwater -has been discussed by Shah et al. (2004c). We simply summarize its conclusion here.In the thinking of SEBs and multilateral donors about ways out of this imbroglio, a return to metering power is critical, even if it means taking on farmer lobbies. Several chief ministers have tried to bite the bullet in the past few years. But farmers' opposition has been so strong, swift and strident that they have been either felled or obliged to retract. Some, as in Punjab and Tamilnadu, have done away with farm power tariff altogether. Recommending metering farm electricity in today's setting is asking politicians to do hara-kiri.But even if a politician were to succeed in metering farm power supply, it would probably change little because, if anything, transaction costs of metered power supply are much higher today than they were in the 1970s. Most states have at least eight to ten times more irrigation tube wells today than they had during the 1970s; and farming livelihoods depend far more critically on electricity today than 30 years ago. If metering must work in the India of today, we must learn from the Chinese experiments, which always stuck with metering, and then focus on modifying the incentive structures to address many of the problems metering faces in India (see Shah et al., 2004a).Surprisingly, the electricity-irrigation nexus is not a subject of discussion in China at all. The Chinese electricity supply industry operates on two principles: (i) total cost recovery in generation, transmission and distribution at each level, with some minor cross-subsidization across user groups and areas; and (ii) each user pays in proportion to their metered use. Unlike in much of South Asia, rural electricity throughout China was charged at a higher rate than urban; and agriculture paid more than domestic and industrial use until a few years ago (Wang et al., 2004).Until 1997, the responsibility for operation and maintenance of the village electricity infrastructure and user charge recovery lay with the village committee. The standard arrangement in use was for the village committee and the township electricity bureau to appoint and train one or more local farmers as part-time village electricians with dual responsibility for: (i) main-taining the power supply infrastructure in the village; and (ii) collecting user charges for a transformer assigned to him/her based on metered individual consumption from all categories of users. The sum of power use recorded in the meters attached to all irrigation pumps had to tally with the power supply recorded at the transformer for any given period. The electrician was required to pay the township electricity bureau for power use recorded at the transformer level.This arrangement did not always work easily. Where power supply infrastructure was old and worn out, line losses below the transformer made this difficult. To allow for normal line losses, a 10% allowance was given by the township electricity bureau to the electrician. However, even this must have made it difficult for the latter to tally the two; as a result, an electricity network reform programme was undertaken by the national government to modernize and rehabilitate rural power infrastructure. 16  Where this was done, line losses fell sharply, 17 and among a sample of ten villages I visited in 2003, none had a problem tallying power consumption recorded at the transformer level with the sum of consumption recorded by individual users, especially with the line loss allowance of 10%.It is interesting that the village electrician in Henan and Hebei provinces in North China is able to deliver on a fairly modest reward of US$24-30/month plus an incentive bonus of around $24/month (Zhang, 2004), which is equivalent to the value of wheat produced on 1 mu (or 0.67 ha) of land. For this rather modest wage, China's village electrician undertakes to make good to the township electricity station the full amount on line and commercial losses in excess of 10% of the power consumption recorded on the transformers; if he can manage to keep losses to less than 10%, he can keep 40% of the value of power saved. This generates a powerful incentive for him to reduce line losses.In the way that the Chinese collect metered electricity charges, it is well nigh impossible to make financial losses since these are firmly passed on downstream from one level to the next. Take, for example, the malpractice common in South Asia of end-users tampering with meters or bribing the meter reader to under-report actual consumption. In the Chinese system, it is very unlikely that such malpractices could occur on a large scale, since the village electrician is faced with serious personal loss if he fails to collect from the farmers electricity charges for at least 90% of power consumed as reported at the transformer meter. And since malpractice by a farmer directly hits other farmers in the village, there is likely to exist strong peer control over such practices.In making metered power pricing work, China's unique advantage is its strong villagelevel authority structure. The village committee, and especially, the village party leader, is respected and feared. These factors ensure that the electrician is able to do his or her job. In comparison to China's village committees, India's village Panchayats are utterly devoid of power, as well as authority, as institutions for local governance.In India a similar experiment was tried out in Orissa, where private companies in charge of distribution first experimented with village vidyut sanghas (electricity cooperatives) by forming 5500 of them but are now veering around to private entrepreneurs as electricity retailers. Mishra (2004), who carried out an assessment of Orissa reforms for the IWMI-Tata programme, visited a number of these sanghas during 2003 and noted that: 'None of the village committees were operational.' These worked as long as the support organization hired to catalyse them propped them up with constant visits and organizational work; as soon as the support organization was withdrawn, the village vidyut sanghas became defunct. Mishra (2004) wrote: 'The situation today is quite similar to that [which] existed earlier before the interventions were made through the Committee.' Sanghas having failed, power distribution companies appointed three private entrepreneurs as franchisees on terms similar to those facing China's village electricians. These have resulted in sustained and significant improvements in billing and collection of electricity dues.The Orissa experiment and the Chinese experience suggest that, in principle, it is possible to make volumetric pricing and collection of electricity charges work if private entrepreneurs are given appropriate incentives. However, in Orissa, the electricity use in agriculture is less than 5%. If the same arrangement were to work in Punjab, Haryana or Gujarat or several other states where electricity use in the farm sector is 30% or more, farmer resistance would be greater and commensurate with the effectiveness of the volumetric pricing. And one thing that private power retailers in Indian villages would have to do without is the authority of the village party leader that helps China's village electricians to firmly pass on all costs to farmers. In the absence of such authority structures, private entrepreneurs would expect very high margins to assume the role of retailing power on a volumetric basis. This -as well as farmer propensity to frustrate metering -would raise transaction costs of metering to very high levels. If the ultimate purpose of volumetric pricing is to improve the finances of electricity utilities, I doubt this purpose would be achieved.In a recent paper (Shah et al., 2004c), we have argued that, in making an impossibly bad situation better, a more practical course available to SEBs and state governments is to stay with flat tariffs but to rationalize them through intelligent management of power supply. Farmers' needs for power are different from those of households or industries: they need plentiful power on 30-40 days of the year when crops face acute moisture stress. However, in most states, they receive a constant 8-10 h/day of poor-quality power supply throughout the year. If SEBs were to invest in understanding that their farmers are customers, it should be possible for them to supply 20 h/day of good-quality power to farmers on 30-40 days of peak irrigation need while maintaining 3-4 h/day supply on other days. In order for such an approach to work, the nature and capabilities of the power utilities have to change; so also does the thinking of donors and governments.In sum, in improving the working of India's water economy, many policy and institutional interventions -already tried and watered down, or on the discussion table -are of little value because its predominantly informal nature makes its policing and enforcement costs prohibitive. India is not alone in devoting energies and resources to these.In Africa several countries have, during recent years, experimented with demand management ideas such as pricing of water, instituting water withdrawal permits and restructuring regional water departments as river basin organizations. Although it may be too early to write a report on these, countries like Ghana are already having second thoughts. The concerns are of five kinds: (i) most reforms have remained largely unimplemented, especially in the informal segments of the water economy that encompass most of the users and uses; (ii) nowhere have the reforms produced evidence of improved performance of the water economy, except in countries with a large formal water economy; (iii) implementation of reforms has disrupted customary arrangements for water management that was robust enough to, at least, survive the test of time; (iv) when zealously implemented, reforms -especially water permits and water taxes -hit poor people in remote rural areas hard; and (v) 'demand management reforms' deflected national IE players from pursuing water sector priorities important to them, namely improving water infrastructure and services to their people (Shah and van Koppen, 2005).Rather than evolving organically from the unfolding situation on the ground -and therefore being demanded by stakeholders -many of the reforms currently being pursued in India, such as Irrigation Management Transfer (IMT), River Basin Management and metering of electricity are actually promoted aggressively by both researchers and funding agencies, 18 and are sometimes out of sync with the prevailing Indian context. By far the most frequent are situations where institutional interventions proposed would yield high productivity pay-offs if successful; but they rarely succeed because of high transaction costs.In independent India's history, the 'communitarian ideal' -the notion that villagers will instantly come together to take over the responsibility of participatory, democratic management of virtually anything (land, water, watersheds, forests, irrigation systems, river basins) -has been behind innumerable abortive institutional interventions. What has helped fuel this enthusiasm for participatory irrigation management (PIM) by farmers are occasional examples of such models having worked reasonably well either in the industrialized countries or in India itself, but under the tutelage of an inspired local leader or an industrious NGO. Its having worked in a few situations in exceptional conditions becomes the basis for designs of major programmes of institutional interventions, commonly bankrolled by a supportive donor.One classic example of ideas in this genre is PIM (or its cousin IMT) which has been, for the past four decades, the ruling mantra for improving the productivity of irrigation systems in India. What is extraordinary about this preoccupation with PIM (or IMT) is the sway it has continued to hold on players in water IE, despite virtually no evidence of it having succeeded anywhere else except on an experimental scale, that too with facilitation of nonreplicable quality and scale. 19  The idea of farmers managing irrigation canals is not new; the British tried hard in the late 19th century to get farmers from the Indus and Ganges areas to participate in irrigation management but without much success, except in enforcing warabandi (rotational methods for equitable allocation of available water) in the Indus canals (Whitcombe, 1984). More recently, since 1960, WUAs (Water Users' Associations) have been tried out on small irrigation systems. Uttar Pradesh tried sinchai samitis (irrigation committees) way back in the early 1960s on irrigation tanks and reservoirs; following that, Madhya Pradesh too tried it on thousands of its minor irrigation tanks.Other states have been trying to make pani panchayats (water councils) work. But sinchai samitis of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have disappeared without trace; and so have pani panchayats in Gujarat and elsewhere. Yet, Orissa recently made a law that transferred all its minor irrigation systems to instantly created pani panchayats. Gujarat introduced joint irrigation management programmes as far back as in 1983, but the 17 irrigation cooperatives lost money and became defunct. In 1991 it made another attempt, this time around with assistance from NGOs; 144 irrigation cooperatives were formed to cover 45,000 ha of irrigated area (Shukla, 2004); however, it is difficult to see precisely in what way these areas are better off than other command areas.Indeed, a core idea of Command Area Development Agencies (CADAs) in the early 1980s was to involve farmer organizations in the management of irrigation projects. But we see no trace of CADAs or their beneficiary farmers' associations (BFAs), even in Kerala where thousands of these were formed under a 'big bang' approach in 1986. An assessment by Joseph (2001) in the late 1990s suggested that, even in this land of strong traditions of local governance, good education and high levels of public participation, BFAs were a damp squib. 20  As in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh overnight transferred the management of all its irrigation systems to over 10,000 WUAs created by the automobile company Fiat and a World Bank loan; this 'big bang' approach to PIM has attracted all-round interest; however, now that the World Bank funds retailed to WUAs for maintenance are over, field observers are beginning to wonder precisely what the WUAs are doing better (Jairath, 2001). 21  The central assumption underlying PIM/IMT is that, once irrigation management is transferred from remote bureaucracies to WUAs, the financial viability of the systems would improve and so would the quality and reliability of irrigation. Physical and value productivity of water and land would increase. As a result, irrigation systems would better achieve their potential for food and livelihood security for farmers in their command. PIM/IMT programmes have belied many of these expectations, even in countries like Turkey, Mexico and Philippines where they are known to have succeeded. As a result, early expectations from PIM/IMT have been increasingly moderated and IMT is now considered successful even if it just 'saves the government money, improves cost effectiveness of operation and maintenance while improving, or at least not weakening, the productivity of irrigated agriculture' (Vermillion, 1996, p. 153). The drift of the IMT discussion then, in recent times, has been more towards getting irrigation off the back of the governments than towards improving the lot of the farmers and the poor, the original goal at which much public irrigation investment has been directed over the past 50 years. Some over-arching patterns emerge from a reading of the international experience. IMT has tended to be smooth, relatively effortless and successful where:• The irrigation system is central to a dynamic, high-performing agriculture. • The average farm size is large enough for a typical or a significant proportion of the command area farmers to operate like agrobusinessmen.• The farm producers are linked with global input and output markets. • The costs of self-managed irrigation are an insignificant part of the gross value of product of farming.These are the conditions -all of which enhance the pay-offs, reduce transaction costs or both -obtained in Mexico, the USA and New Zealand, from where emerge the resounding success stories we hear about IMT 22 (Shah et al., 2002). In South Africa the commercial farming sector, which satisfies all these conditions, took naturally to PIM through its irrigation boards; but the same logic when applied to irrigation systems serving smallholders in former homelands met with resounding failure because these met none of the conditions that irrigation boards satisfied (Shah et al., 2002).Even where all conditions are satisfied and PIM/IMT declared 'successful', researchers have presented a mixed picture of resultant impacts. For example, an exhaustive global review carried out for IWMI of IMT impacts by Douglas Vermillion, a pioneer in IMT research, showed that impacts are significant and unambiguously beneficial in terms of cost recovery in Turkey, Mexico, the USA and New Zealand. Fee collection has improved; agency staff strength has declined. But the impact of management transfer on agricultural productivity and farm incomes is far less unequivocal even in these countries (Vermillion, 1996, p. 153). In Philippines, the Mecca of IMT and PIM, recent studies show that productivity gains from PIM have not been sustained (Panella, 1999).None of the conditions outlined above are obtained in a typical Indian surface irrigation system. Most farmers in the command have small-holdings, subdivided further into smaller parcels. A typical major system has hundreds of thousands of smallholders, making it well nigh impossible to bring them all together to negotiate. Over 90% of the surface water irrigated area in India is under field crops yielding Rs 15,000-18,000 (US$325-400)/ha of gross value of output, compared with US$3000-7500/ha in high-value farming in industrialized countries. Irrigation systems are at the heart of the farming economy of command areas. However, the mushrooming of wells and tube wells, and booming pump irrigation markets in command areas and in the neighbourhood of irrigation tanks have reduced farmers' stakes in managing surface irrigation systems. Head-reach and tail-end farmers almost always have opposing motivations when it comes to management reform, with the former interested in preserving the status quo and the latter interested in change.All these, together, raise the transaction costs of implementing management reform through PIM/IMT-type interventions. The prospects become worse because, almost everywhere, the agency's purpose in promoting PIM is to get WUAs to assume arduous responsibilities -maintenance, fee collection, mobilization of voluntary labour for repair and maintenance works, etc. Moreover, farmers are generally quick to figure out that PIM often means increased water fees without corresponding improvement in service quality. These reduce the perceived pay-offs from reform.All in all, decades invested in the hope that PIM or IMT would spearhead productivity improvements in public irrigation are decades wasted. PIM has not achieved any significant success on a meaningful scale anywhere in India, and it will indeed be a great surprise if it does in the existing IE marked by hopelessly low irrigation fees, extremely poor collection and poor main system management.There are similar institutional misadventures in other spheres. In growing regions where fluoride contamination of groundwater is endemic, governments and donors have tried setting up village-based reverse osmosis-type plants or Nalgonda-type defluoridation plants to control the growing menace of dental and skeletal fluorosis. Again, the management model chosen is communitarian, and these have invariably failed. In Gujarat, out of dozens of such plants set up during the 1980s and 1990s, not one has operated for more than a few months.An older experiment with a communitarian model has been with inland fishery cooperatives. Numerous local water bodies controlled by irrigation departments, zilla panchayats, taluka panchayats (sub-district councils) and gram panchayats can potentially sustain a vibrant inland fishing enterprise and livelihood system. However, government policy has always been to give away monopoly lease rights to registered fisher-people's cooperatives. Thousands of such cooperatives are registered; but probably a very small fraction -in my surmise, less than 1 or 2% -operate as dynamic producer cooperatives as, for instance, the dairy cooperatives do in Gujarat.In South India, which has over 300,000 irrigation tanks, a decades-old concern has been about the breakdown of traditions of maintenance of bunds and supply channels, orderly distribution of water and protection from encroachment. Several donor-supported projects first aimed at 'engineering rehabilitation' and restored tank infrastructure to their original -or even a bettercondition. However, when rehabilitation of tanks again declined and needed another round of rehabilitation, planners found something amiss in their earlier approach. Therefore, in new tank rehabilitation programmes -such as the new World Bank project in Karnataka -an institutional component is added to the engineering component. But the institutional component invariably consists of registering a WUA of command area farmers. Except where such WUAs have been constantly animated and propped up by support NGOs -as in the case of the Dhan Foundation in Madurai, Tamilnadu -it is difficult to find evidence of productivity improvements in tanks because of WUAs on any significant scale (Shah et al., 1998).Besides the problem of high transaction costs of co-coordinating, negotiating, rule making and, above all, rule enforcement and improving the management of tanks -more in North India than in South India -face some special problems. One of them is of aligning conflicting interests of multiple stakeholders. Command area farmers have a direct conflict of interest with tank-bed farmers; and well owners in the neighbourhood of tanks are a potential threat to all other users because they can virtually steal tank water by pumping from their wells. Then, there are fishing contractors whose interests also clash with those of irrigators, especially during the dry season (Shah and Raju, 2001). Registering a WUA of command area farmers and hoping that this 'institutional intervention' would increase productivity of tanks is extremely naive. Improved management of public irrigation systems, tanks and fishery represents opportunities for high pay-off but has failed to be realized because the institutional models promoted have high transaction costs.Ignored (Quadrant 1)The core of New Institutional Economics is the notion that productivity of resources in an economy is determined by technology employed and institutions. And if 'institutions affect economic performance by determining transaction and transformation (production) costs', then the Indian water sector is brimming with institutional changes occurring on the margins that are doing this all the time, and yet are either glossed over (or even frowned upon) by the players in the IE. Most such institutions we explore in this section are invariably swayambhoo 23 (self-creating and spontaneous); they have come up on a significant enough scale to permit generic lessons. These invariably involve entrepreneurial effort to reduce transaction costs; they serve an important economic purpose, improve welfare and raise productivity; they are commonly faced with an adverse or unhelpful IE. Crucially, these constitute the instrumentality of the players of the game, and sustain as long as they serve their purpose. The emergence of tube well technology has been the biggest contributor to growth in irrigation in post-independent India; and the spontaneous rise of groundwater (or, more appropriately, pump irrigation service) markets has done much to multiply the productivity and welfare impact of tube well irrigation. The Indian irrigation establishment is probably out of touch with the changing face of its playing field: it still believes that only 38% of the gross cropped area is irrigated, 55% of it by groundwater wells. But concerning the reality of Indian irrigation at the dawn of the millennium, the tail has begun wagging the dog. 24 IE in the Indian water sector has little or no interface with either the 75% of Indian irrigation occurring through tube wells or with the institution of water markets.The working of groundwater markets has now been extensively studied (see Shah, 1993;Janakarajan, 1994;Saleth, 1998;Singh and Singh, 2003;Mukherji, 2004 for a good survey of the literature). These studies analyse myriad ways in which their working differs across space and time. But common elements of groundwater markets everywhere in the Indian subcontinent are the features we listed at the start of this section: (i) they are swayambhoo; (ii) they operate on such a large scale as to account for over one-quarter of the Indian irrigated areas; (iii) water sellers everywhere constantly innovate to reduce transaction costs and create value; (iv) water markets are the instrumentality of buyers and sellers of pump irrigation service, and not of society at large or the IE; (v) as a result, water markets are unrepentant when their operation produces externalities such as groundwater depletion or drying up of wetlands; and, finally, (vi) despite their scale and significance, the IE has been blind towards the potential of water markets to achieve larger policy ends. When they take notice of their existence and role -which is seldom -water policy makers are often unable to decide whether they deserve promotion or regulation.Much the same is the case with many other water institutions. In the previous section, I mentioned tens of thousands of fishermen's cooperatives that are lying defunct. However, pond fishery entrepreneurs have sprung up everywhere who use 'paper' cooperatives as a front for operating profitable culture fisheries. Why don't fisher cooperatives exploit the economic opportunities that these contractors are able to? The most important reason is the transaction costs of protecting their crop. Culture fishery is capital intensive but affords a high yield. In common property village or irrigation tanks with multiple stakeholders, in order to remain viable the fishermen should be able to meet many conditions. They should effectively defend their rights against poachers, and against irrigators who may want to pump tank water below the sill level during dry periods to irrigate crops, or against tank-bed cultivators who want to empty the tank so they can begin sowing.In South Asia, fisher communities are commonly from the lowest rung of the village society. They would not only have difficulty in mobilizing capital to buy seedlings and manure but also in protecting the crop from poaching from outsiders, from the local bigwigs as well as from their own members. Fisher cooperatives, as a result, always underinvest. Reserving fishing contracts for fisher cooperatives is therefore the best formula for sustained low productivity of the inland fishery economy.We discovered just how high the transaction cost of protecting a fish crop was when we studied who precisely the fishing contractors were in two separate studies in central Gujarat and Bundelkhand. We found that, in both the regions, the key characteristic of people who emerged as successful fishing contractors was a painstakingly cultivated image of a toughie, or a ruffian capable of enforcing his rights even by using violence. In Bundelkhand, 'Everywhere the fishing contractors involved stopped farmers from lifting water from the tank once the last five feet of water was left. They had invested in fish production and now were making sure they get their money's worth' (Shah, 2002, p. 3).In central Gujarat, fishing contractors often have to resort to violence and even undergo a jail term to establish that they meant business when it came to defending their property right. 25 Despite this unsavoury aspect, I would not be much off the mark in suggesting that the explosive increase in inland fishery in India during the past 40 years is the result of two factors: (i) introduction of new technologies of culture fishery along with its paraphernalia; and (ii) gradual emasculation by the fishing contractors of the idealized fisher cooperatives as monopoly lease holders on water bodies. Had the cooperative ideal been enforced vigorously, India's inland fishery would not have emerged as the growth industry it is today.How changing IE policy unleashes productive forces in an economy is best illustrated by the evolution of Gujarat's inland fishery policy over the past 30 years (Pandya, 2004). Following early attempts to intensify inland fisheries during the 1940s, Gujarat Government's Fisheries Department began supporting village panchayats to undertake intensive culture fishery in village tanks during early 1960. However, the programme failed to make headway, partly because of popular resistance to fish culture in this traditionally vegetarian state and partly because of rampant poaching from local fisher-folk that village panchayats, as managers, could not control. In a modified programme, the Fisheries Department took over the management of tanks from the panchayats to raise fishery to a produce-sharing basis; but the Department was less effective than the panchayats in checking poaching. In 1973, a special notification of the Government of Gujarat transferred inland fishing rights on all water bodies, including village tanks, to the Fisheries Department, which now set about forming fishermen's cooperatives in a campaign mode. The idea was to entrust the management to the community of poachers themselves.In the Kheda district of Gujarat, for example, 27 such cooperatives were formed to undertake intensive culture fishing. However, these were none the better when it came to controlling poaching -including that by their own members; and the gross revenues could not even meet the bank loans. Members lost heart and cooperatives became defunct, a story that has been endlessly repeated in various fields in India's history of the cooperative movement. While all manner of government subsidies were on offer, what made culture fishery unviable were three factors: (i) a lease offered for only 3 years, a period considered too short to recoup the investment made; (ii) only registered cooperatives could be given a lease and the process of registration was transaction-costly; and (iii) rampant poaching and the high cost of policing and preventing it.All this time, culture fishery productivity was steadily rising. Although fisher cooperatives were not doing well, culture fishery was, as entrepreneurs began using cooperatives as a front to win leases on common property water bodies. Doing this entailed significant transaction costs; office bearers of cooperatives had to be paid off, and gram panchayat leaders kept in good humour so that the lease would be renewed. Even then, whenever a gram panchayat leadership changed, the new order would terminate the contract to favour a new contractor. This dampened the contractors' interest in investing in high productivity.In 1976, the government began setting up fish farmers' development agencies in each district to implement a new Intensive Fish Culture Programme. Terms of lease began to undergo change: private entrepreneurs were, in principle, considered for giving away leases but there was a pecking order of priority where first priority was for a Below Poverty Line (BPL) family, followed by a local poor fisherman, then a local cooperative and, if none of these were available, to any entrepreneur who bid in an open auction.Earlier, the government had paid a puny rental to the gram panchayats for using their tanks for fish culture. Now that entrepreneurs were allowed, gram panchayats began quoting an 'upset price' derived as an estimate of the 'fishing value' of the tank, which was often 20 to 30 times the rental panchayats received earlier from the Department. Even so, as soon as leases were open to entrepreneurs, many came forward. A later change in policy gave cooperatives some discount in the 'upset price' and other benefits. In general, the IE's outlook constantly remained favourable to cooperatives and suspicious of entrepreneurs. In 2003, a series of new changes in the policy framework gave a further fillip to productivity growth: the lease period was extended from 3 to 10 years, which reduced the contractors' vulnerability to changes in panchayat leadership. It also made investment in productivity enhancement attractive. The new policy also removed the last vestiges of special treatment to cooperatives, and provided for a public auction of the lease after open advertisement.During 1971-1998, the inland fishery output of Gujarat increased sixfold from 14,000 mt (metric tons) in 1971 to over 80,000 mt in 1998-1999(Government of Gujarat, 2004). Considering that Gujarat had hardly any culture fishery before 1950, it must be said that the credit for this growth rightly belongs to the government's efforts. The government invested in subsidies, organizing inputs, bringing in new technology, extension and training and much else. All these played a role in expanding the fisheries economy. However, perhaps, the most important impact has been produced by two factors: (i) the changes made at the margins in the leasing policies of water bodies that have shaped the transaction costs of setting up and operating a profitable culture fishery business; and (ii) the high costs of controlling poaching, which has ensured that, besides several entrepreneurial qualities, successful fishing contrac-tors also have to acquire and deploy muscle power.Several less sensational examples can be offered of spontaneous institutions that operate on a large scale to serve purposes for which water establishments often promote copybook institutions such as WUAs. I briefly mentioned earlier how hundreds of defunct community reverse osmosis (RO) or defluoridation plants set up by governments and donors to supply fluoride-free drinking water to village communities have failed under community management. However, in North Gujarat, as a demand curve has emerged for fluoride-free drinking water, some 300 plants selling packed desalinated water have mushroomed in the cottage sector. Over half of these have been set up since 2001, mostly in mofussil (small towns) to serve permanent customers, as well as to retail water in polythene pouches. 26  The RO cottage industry of Gujarat was quietly serving a growing demand when the 'IE' caught up with it. In 2001, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) made it compulsory for cottage RO plants to achieve the ISI mark. 27 This entailed that each plant had to invest Rs 0.3-0.4 million ($6500-8670) in an in-house laboratory and pay an annual certification fee of Rs 84,000 ($1870) to the ISI. This single move immobilized the emerging RO water cottage industry; 200 operators had to close their businesses because the new announcement doubled their cost of production. Yet, setting up an in-house laboratory and paying an annual certification fee implied no guarantee of quality assurance because BIS inspectors hardly visit plants, if ever. Many customers (Indu, 2002) interviewed wondered if the ISI mark -like the AGMARK (standardized certification for agricultural food products) ghee and honey -can by itself guarantee quality unless BIS itself put its act together in the first place.Likewise, many state governments are struggling, in vain, to cut their losses from operating mostly World Bank-funded public tube well programmes by trying to transfer these to idealized cooperatives registered under the Cooperative Act. If the purpose of a cooperative tube well is to enable a group of farmers to mobilize capital, to install and operate a tube well for the mutual benefit of members, such tube well groups have existed for decades in North Gujarat. The difference is that, having been created to serve the purpose of their members, their ownership structure and operating rules are designed to minimize the transaction costs of cooperating on a sustained basis (Shah and Bhattacharya, 1993). The Government of Gujarat tried hard to transfer its public tube wells to idealized cooperatives but, thanks to the very high transaction costs relative to the pay-off facing potential entrepreneurs, the programme made no headway until 1998 when the terms of turnover were rewritten. 28  Basically, the requirement that a cooperative be registered under the Cooperative Act was dropped; the lease period was extended from 1 to 5 years; and changes were introduced that made it possible for one or few major stakeholders to assume the role of tube well manager and residual claimant. These minor changes suddenly gave a fillip to the turnover programme and, over a 3-year period, over half of Gujarat's public tube wells, some 3500 in all, were transferred to farmer groups. An IWMI-Tata study of turned-over public tube wells (Mukherji and Kishore, 2003) showed that, within 1 year of the turnover, the performance of turned-over tube wells, in terms of area irrigated, hours of operation, quality of service, O&M and financial results improved. Two years after the turnover, it improved dramatically.In opening this section, I talked about the significance of groundwater markets in India's irrigation. However, private provision of water services is also an important part of India's urban reality. In an IWMI-Tata study of six cities -Indore, Jaipur, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Chennai - Londhe et al. (2004) found that municipal agencies supplied only 51% of the demand calculated at 80 l per capita per day.In Chennai and Ahmedabad, formal organizations served only 10 and 26%, respectively, of the 'normative' demand, the balance being either self-supplied or served by informal sector players. 'Tanker markets' supply 21, 12 and 10% of the demand in Chennai, Indore and Jaipur, respectively. In Chennai, tanker operators have year-round operations and even have an association. In other cities, tanker markets emerge during the summer and quietly disappear as the monsoon arrives. Londhe et al. (2004) estimate that some 3000 tankers in the six cities operate a water trade worth Rs 203 crore (US$45 million)/year. Despite being key players in urban water sectors: 'There is no record with any government department about its size, scale and modus operandi. There is an absence of any government regulation on groundwater withdrawals. Except in Chennai, municipal authorities refuse to even acknowledge the existence of such markets' (Londhe et al., 2004).Tanker markets operate much like any other market, and serve those who can pay for their services. The IWMI-Tata study estimated that 51% of consumers in the six cities are from high-income groups, 43% from middle-income groups and only 6% from low-income groups. Contrary to belief that the poorest pay the most for water, the IWMI-Tata study showed that the poorest pay the least, even when transaction costs and imputed cost of labour and time in fetching water are factored in (Londhe et al., 2004).One more case of institutions that 'planners propose and people dispose' that I want to discuss briefly concerns the world-famous Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) on the Narmada river. SSP must be one of the world's mostplanned projects. One of SSP's key planning premises was that the Project would construct lined canals with gated structures going right up to the village service area (VSA), comprising some 400 ha of command. A WUA would be organized in each VSA that would simultaneously construct the sub-minor and field channels to convey water from the pucca (lined minor) to the fields. When SSP water was first released to some 80,000 ha of the command just below the dam in 2001, the Project managers registered, on a war footing, WUAs as cooperatives in some 1100 VSAs. When the water was finally released, however, the villagelevel distribution structure was not ready in a single village.And it will never be, as we learnt in the course of a quick assessment of farmer preparedness to receive Narmada irrigation (Talati and Shah, 2004). The perceived sum of the transaction and transformation cost 29 of constructing village distribution systems seemed by far to outweigh the benefits people expected of SSP. There was, however, a flurry of activity as SSP water began flowing into minors.According to our quick estimates, several thousand diesel pumps and several million metres of rubber pipes were purchased by water entrepreneurs to take water to their own fields and to provide irrigation services to others.The trend for new investments in diesel pumps and rubber pipes gathered further momentum in 2002 and 2003; and we found that village communities were none the worse for having violated the SSP planning assumption. The Government of Gujarat is, however, adamant on constructing a 'proper' village distribution system in the SSP commandnever mind whether it will take 50 years to complete the canal network. 30  The swayambhoo institutions I have discussed in this section are all driven by opportunism. However, large-scale swayambhoo institutions are often driven by more complex motives including long-term, collective selfinterest. The decentralized mass movement for rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge that the Saurashtra region of Gujarat saw from 1987 until 1998, when it became co-opted by the state government, is a good example of such an institutional development (Shah, 2000).The movement was catalysed first by stray experiments of 'barefoot hydrologists' in modifying open wells to collect monsoonal flood waters. Early successes fired the imagination of a people disillusioned with ineffective government programmes. Soon, well recharge was joined by other water-capture structures such as check dams and percolation tanks. With all manner of experimentation going on, a kind of subaltern hydrology of groundwater recharge developed and became energetically disseminated. Religious leaders of sects like Swadhyaya Pariwar and Swaminarayana Sampradaya ennobled this work in their public discourses by imbuing it with a larger social purpose. The gathering movement generated enormous local goodwill and released philanthropic energies on an unprecedented scale, with diamond merchants -originally from Saurashtra but now settled in Surat and Belgium -offering cash, cement companies offering cement at discounted prices and communities offering millions of days of voluntary labour.In neighbouring Rajasthan, Alwar was also undergoing similar mass action; but it was far more limited in scale, and was orchestrated by Rajendra Singh's Tarun Bharat Sangh, a grass-roots organization. Saurashtra's recharge movement was truly multicentric, unruly, spontaneous and wholly internally funded with no support from government, international donors or the scientific community -until 1998, when the Government of Gujarat became involved and proceeded to rid the movement of its quintessentially swayambhoo and voluntary character by announcing a subsidy programme (Shah, 2000;Shah and Desai, 2002).It is difficult to assess the social value of this movement, partly because 'formal hydrology' and 'popular hydrology' have failed to find a meeting ground. Scientists want check dams sited near recharge zones; villagers want them close to their wells. Scientists recommend recharge tube wells to counter the silt layer impeding recharge; farmers just direct flood water into their wells after filtering. Scientists worry about upstream-downstream externalities; farmers say everyone lives downstream. Scientists say the hard-rock aquifers have too little storage to justify the prolific growth in recharge structures; people say a check dam is worthwhile if their wells provide even 1000 m 3 of life-saving irrigation/ha in times of delayed rain. Hydrologists keep writing the obituary of the recharge movement; but the movement has spread from eastern Rajasthan to Gujarat, thence to Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Protagonists think that, with better planning and larger coverage, the decentralized recharge movement can be a major response to India's groundwater depletion problem because it can ensure that water tables in pockets of intensive use rebound to pre-development levels at the end of the monsoonal season every year they have a good monsoon.Table 5.1 offers a comparative view of a sample of six 'high pay-off-low transactioncost' institutions that have emerged in India's water sector in recent years. If we judge institutions by their contribution to increasing productivity and welfare, all six can be considered successful. Each can be found to operate on a significant scale, thus permitting generic lessons. One notable aspect is that each institution has arisen spontaneously and flourished as an instrumentality of its players, serving a purpose important to them though not necessarily of the IE players. Each has devised its own methods of reducing transaction costs and managing incentive structures. Finally, each is widely viewed in the IE -by government officials, NGOs, researchers, international experts and even local opinion leaders -as a subaltern or inferior alternative to the mainstream notion of an institution considered ideal but that has not worked on a desired scale or in a desired manner. As a result, far from recognizing the potential of these subaltern institutions to further larger social goals, the outlook has been to ignore their existence and social value, or even to emasculate them.The repertoire of institutional arrangements that operate on a large scale includes numerous 'successes' of varied types and scales produced by exceptional local leaders and industrious NGOs. By virtue of exceptional and highly scarce resources at their command -such as reputation, social status, allegiance of people, funds, goodwill, influence in the IE, skilled manpower -local leaders and NGOs are often able to drastically reduce transaction costs of fostering institutional change of a certain kind in a limited setting for a limited period. Out of hundreds of thousands of irrigation tanks in India that can produce large pay-offs from improved management, there are but a few hundred in which exceptional local leaders have established and sustained novel institutions for upkeep, maintenance, management and use of tanks to improve the welfare of the community. The IWMI-Tata Programme studied some 50 of these during 2002-2003(Sakthivadivel et al., 2004) ) and found that, while the architecture of institutions (as rules-inuse) varied from case to case, the common aspect of all successful tank institutions was a leader or a leadership compact which, by virtue of the sway they/it has over the community, is able to drastically reduce the transaction costs of enforcing an institutional arrangement that would neither work in their absence nor survive them.Successful NGOs similarly create islands of excellence by reducing transaction costs artificially and temporarily. The Sukhomajri experiment with watershed institutions in Haryana in the mid-1980s -Vilas Rao Salunke's pani panchayats in Maharashtra, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme's irrigators' association in Raj Samadhiala, Dhan Foundation's Tank User Federations, Development Support Centre's WUAs in Dharoi command in North Gujarat, community-managed tube wells that came up in Vaishali and Deoria in Eastern UP, Anna Hazare's Ralegaon Shiddi, Rajendra Singh's profusion of johads in Thanagazi, Alwar district, Chaitanya's conversion of irrigation tanks into percolation tanks in Rayalaseema -all these are examples. That the transaction cost reduction in all these was artificial is indicated by the absence of spontaneous lateral expansion/replication of these experiments despite the high pay-offs they are seen to have produced. That it was temporary is evident in that many of these institutions disappeared, stagnated or declined once the 'transaction cost reducer' was removed from the scene, as in Sukhomajri, Salunke's pani panchayats and others.A more important source of ideas -than the NGO-inspired islands of excellence -about what institutional change should occur and can sustain are the swayambhoo institutions that have already emerged and are thriving, as we explored earlier in the section under Vibrant Institutional Arrangements Ignored (Quadrant 1). These have found ways of reducing transaction costs in ways that are more natural, enduring and upscalable. This is evident in that these institutions multiply on their own, and are able to sustain and grow as long as they serve purposes important to the participants in the transactions. In my understanding, these offer six useful lessons (given under the following six headings) about how to make institutional change work in the Indian water sector.The first, and most obvious, is that institutional change which multiplies and sustains is invariably an instrument of the exchange of participants, and not of the players in the IE who often design institutional interventions. 'Opportunism with guile' is the driving force, even when high ideals and social goals are laboriously espoused as raison d'être. Trite as it may sound, design of incentive structures is amongst the most commonly ignored aspects in most institutional development programmes. Ideas like community-based groundwater demand management propose organizing cooperatives whose sole task would be to persuade their members to reduce their farming and incomes. Similarly, programmes to revive traditional community management of tanks commonly overlook the performance-based rewards offered to neerkattis (tank water distributors appointed by command area farmers) and focus primarily on generating voluntary contributions of time and effort for the greater good of the community. For institutional change to work it must serve a private purpose important to agents involved; otherwise, they will withhold participation or even work to defeat it.Institutions fail to emerge to take advantage of high-pay-off situations often because incentives are diffuse or even perverse, but the transaction costs of implementing change are concentrated in one or a few persons. In fishermen's cooperatives I discussed earlier, members faced perverse incentives: the cooperative stocked the pond but members stole the catch. The secretary had no incentive to make enemies by stopping poachers. When incentives became concentrated in the contractor as the residual claimant, he was willing to control poaching and invest in higher productivity. Gujarat's public tube wells had no takers until the opportunity arose for incentive concentration. That only a fraction of the surplus created by management improvement needs to be concentrated in the manager as a reward was shown 40 years ago by Amartya Sen (1966). In traditional tank institutions in South India, only a portion of the surplus output was offered to the neerkatti, who absorbed the bulk of the transaction cost of orderly distribution of tank water.This principle is at the heart of irrigation reforms in China. Except where traditional PIM/IMT is supported by a donor loan, China's strategy of making canal irrigation productive and viable consists of changing the incentive structure facing the 'ditch manager' (Shah et al., 2004a;Wang et al., 2005). A pre-specified volume of water is released into a reservoir and is charged for at a certain volumetric rate. The reservoir manager's remuneration includes a fixed component and a variable component, the latter increasing with the area irrigated from the same total volume of water. Like the Chinese village electrician who is able to perform a high transaction-cost role for a fairly modest reward, the ditch manager too is able to improve water productivity for a modest bonus, if recent studies are any guide (Shah et al., 2004a).Experimenting with the Indian equivalents of Chinese village electricians and ditch managers would be an interesting study. From the transaction cost viewpoint, however, there are two key differences between the Chinese and South Asian villages: first, the Chinese in general, thanks perhaps to the Confucian ethics, are more respectful to State authority compared with South Asians. Secondly, and more importantly, the village committees and the village party leader in a Chinese village enjoy far greater power and authority in the village society compared with India's gram panchayats and sarpanch. This has great implications for transaction costs. North (1990) suggests that: ' … institutional setting depends on the effectiveness of enforcement. Enforcement is carried out by first party (self-imposed codes of conduct), by second party (retaliation), and/or by a third party (societal sanctions or coercive enforcement by state).' Transaction costs facing an institutional change are determined by the ease of enforcement. A Chinese village electrician or ditch manager backed by the village committee and party leader can enforce the new rules by both retaliation and recourse to coercion through the party leader.In India, by contrast, Orissa's model of franchisees for rural billing and collection of electricity bills has attracted many entrepreneurs whose core competence is represented by their muscle power (Panda, 2002), because they have no effective local authority to either discipline them or to which they can turn to in order to defend their rights. For the same reasons, a typical culture fishery contractor has recourse only to retaliation to enforce his property right against a poacher. The high transaction cost of second-party enforcement of rules is perhaps the prime reason why entrepreneurs fail to come forward to make a business out of operating a canal or tank irrigation system.Catalysing effective local IAs is then a matter not only of designing appropriate incentive structures that entice entrepreneurs to undertake activities with a high pay-off but also of putting into place community sanction or authority structures that: (i) enforce his/her right to do so; and (ii) establish the boundaries within which he or she operates.Here is where a community organization has a role in providing legitimacy or sanction and boundary to a service provider, thereby reducing his/her transaction cost of self-enforcement of rules. It is difficult to overemphasize this point, which is commonly overlooked in programmes of creating participatory institutions. In the muchacclaimed traditional tank management institutions, all tank management was carried out not by the community but by the neerkatti, who had the sanction and legitimacy given by the community and a reward for services that was linked to the benefits they produced for the community. A self-appointed neerkatti would find it impossible to enforce rules of water distribution amongst ayacut (command area) farmers.A recent study of neerkattis by the Dhan Foundation shows that, for various reasons, many tank communities have begun withholding their sanction and questioning the legitimacy of the role neerkattis have played for centuries; as a result, the institution of neerkattis has begun to decline (Seenivasan, 2003). However, in those few tanks where we find traditional community management still working, it becomes evident that it worked through a clear specification of the 'governance' role of the community organization and the community-sanctioned, well-defined 'management' role of the neerkatti, a service provider whose rewards were linked to his performance. 31  The value of this lesson for improving the quality of 'social engineering' is evident in the Gujarat government's public tube well transfer programme; after getting nowhere for a decade, it suddenly took off the moment entrepreneurial service providers were offered concentrated incentives coupled with some legitimacy and sanction for undertaking service provision. On these counts, I predict that such service providers have failed to come forward to provide improved water distribution in surface irrigation projects because neither concentrated incentives nor legitimacy and sanction are on offer for local entrepreneurs who would contemplate taking up such roles. Equally, the entrepreneurial service provider model toosuch as the culture fishery contractor -operating without the sanction, legitimacy and boundary provided by a community organization is bound to be fragile.Finally, the IE can have a profound impact on what kind of IAs are promoted or discouraged, and what welfare and productivity impacts these produce (Mansuri and Rao, 2004); however, they do not have such impact because often they neither understand their working nor how to influence it. Informal pump irrigation markets, the fishing contractor and a decentralized groundwater recharge movement 32 are spontaneous and seemingly autonomous; but each of these is amenable to strong positive or negative influence from the IE.Gujarat's cottage RO industry fell in a single swoop of the Bureau of Indian Standards; and the working of pump irrigation markets can change overnight if policies related to electricity pricing and supply to the farm sector were to change (Shah et al., 2004c). Gujarat's Public Tube Well Transfer programme ploughed along without success for a decade and then suddenly took off because an actor in the IE changed the key rules of the game. And the culture fishery contractor faced drastic reduction in his transaction costs of doing business when the leasing policy for water bodies was changed at the instance of some actor in the IE. How well actors in the IE understand extant and potential institutions, their net welfare and productivity impacts and their backward and forward linkages determines how much they can influence or manage them.According to North (1990), institutional change is inherently incremental and path-dependent. It invariably grows out of its context; transposing institutional models that have worked in other, different contexts therefore seldom works in catalysing institutional change. India's state governments would probably have found it easier to manage metered electricity supply to farmers had they stayed engaged with the problems of metering rather than abandoning it the 1970s. Now that they face a huge groundwater economy based on the 'path' of flat tariff, their here-and-now options for change are tied to this path. The notion of 'path-dependence' has particular relevance to popular institutional notions, such as the Integrated River Basin Management, which have worked in highly formalized water economies in recent years. It is doubtful whether such models would work in the same way in the Indian situation, simply because by far the bulk of the Indian water economy is informal and outside the direct ambit of the IE.A reader who comes to this stage of this chapter will surely remark, as did John Briscoe, World Bank's Asia Water Advisor: 'But I find very little in the chapter that would help me if I am a Secretary for Water in Gujarat, or in the Government of India, for that matter …' This response is entirely understandable; however, on the contrary, this analysis does offer useful advice for action that should always focus on the 'art of the possible'. Allan (2001) has wisely suggested that: 'The mark of effective research, advice and policy making is the capacity of those involved to know the difference between what \"should\" be done, and what \"can\" be done. This can be expressed in another way as awareness of \"when\" what \"should\" be done, \"will be able\" to be done'.The upshot of this chapter is that all the things that a Secretary of Water Resources at the state or federal level is enjoined to do by the current discourse to promote improved demand management -imposing price on water resources (rather than water service), enforcing a groundwater law, making water the property of the state and stopping unlawful diversion from nature, instituting water withdrawal permits and assigning water entitlements, managing water at river basin levelwould be well nigh impossible to implement on any meaningful scale in a predominantly informal water economy such as that of India. Instead, governments of low-income countries should focus their effort on areas where they can produce significant impacts, which in my view are four (given under the following four headings):This already is a high priority and will remain so for a long time, even as opinion in the rich world is turning against investments in certain kinds of water infrastructure such as irrigation projects. There are several issues to be addressed such as mobilizing capital, improving the coverage of user households -especially from poorer classes, cost recovery, and so on. The point of attack, however, is the performance of public systems, which has tended to be abysmally low, be it irrigation systems or water supply and sanitation systems.Public systems' performance often responds strongly to demand for better performance not from users but from administrative or political leadership; however, such performance gains are transient, and become dissipated when demand slackens. To achieve sustainable performance improvements, institutional innovations are needed that restructure incentives and reduce transaction costs.In its enthusiasm for direct management of water demand -through pricing, rights and entitlements, laws and regulations -the current discourse is overlooking numerous opportunities to achieve comparable aims using indirect instruments. True, the Secretary of Water can do little to manage water demand directly. However, in the particular situation of India, the Secretary of Energy controlling the State Electricity Board can do a great deal for groundwater demand management, through pricing and rationing of electricity to tube wells.Finally, pricing and full cost recovery, tight water law and regulations, and water rights and entitlements are definitely indicated in the predominantly formal segments of the water economy. These are to be found in cities, excluding the slums and shanty towns; and in the industrial sector where users are large and easily identifiable. It will probably take Delhi and Mumbai years before they can establish a water supply and sanitation system that can match those of Abidjan or Tunis. However, given increasing political support for management reforms, India's cities -especially, high net-worth cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore -offer by far the most fertile ground for water IE and urban governance systems for the introduction of global best practices in urban water supply and sanitation systems. In summary, then, how formal a country's water economy is determines what kind of policy and institutional interventions are appropriate to it. In a predominantly informal water economy, where self-supply is the rule and water diversion from nature is everybody's business, regulating the actions of all water diverters is extremely costly in terms of search, information, policing and enforcement costs. As a water economy formalizes, self-supply declines and a few, visible, formal entities specialize in diverting, processing and distributing water to users; in such an economy, the range of things public policy makers can do to improve water demand management becomes much larger. The pace of formalization of a water economy is a natural response to overall economic growth and transformation of a society. This pace can be forced to a limited degree by an authoritarian state or by investment in water infrastructure and services management. However, unless this process keeps pace with what the market can bear, it will face sustainability problems.The current global water policy discourse focusing on direct demand management is misleading in two ways for developing countries like India with a highly informal water economy: (i) it is enjoining it to institute policy and institutional reforms that are good in principle but present insurmountable implementation difficulties; and (ii) in contrast, it is deflecting attention away from things that need and can be done with a better understanding of the working of the water economy, warts and all.1 Formal and informal economies are a matter of elaborate study in institutional economics. Fiege (1990) summarizes a variety of notions of informality deployed by different researchers.According to Weeks (1975), cited in Fiege (1990, footnote 6): 'The distinction between a formal and informal sector is based on the organizational characteristics of exchange relationships and the position of economic activity vis-à-vis the State.Basically, the formal sector includes government activity itself and those enterprises in the private sector which are officially recognized, fostered, nurtured and regulated by the State. Operations in the informal sector are characterized by the absence of such benefits.' According to Portes et al. (1987, cited in Fiege, 1990, footnote 6): 'The informal sector can be defined as the sum total of income-generating activities outside the modern contractual relationships of production.' According to Portes andSaassen-Koo (1987, cited in Fiege, 1990, footnote 6), in the formal sector activities are 'not intrinsically illegal but in which production and exchange escape legal regulation'. To most researchers, an informal economy is marked by the 'absence of official regulation' or 'official status'. 2 In most countries, the proportion of water use in the informal sector would move in tandem with the proportion of water users. However, in countries marked by high levels of income inequalitysuch as South Africa or Brazil -this would not be the case. In South Africa, for instance, 95% of the water diversion and use are in the formal sector but over 99% of the users are in the informal sector.T. Shah  North (1990) defines the transaction sector as:'that part of transactions that goes through the market and therefore can be measured' and, according to him, rapid growth in the transaction sector is at the heart of the transformation of a traditional economy into a modern one. 5 The survey estimated that approximately 36% of all rural households (which include farmers, farm labourers and households dependent on off-farm livelihoods) used some means of irrigation. Of these, 13.3% (i.e. 37% of irrigators) used their own source (well/tube well  11 A charismatic and energetic political or bureaucratic leader does often produce significant attitude and behaviour changes; however, these generally fail to last for long after the leader has been removed from the scene. In this sense, such change is not enduring. 12 Because the law did not apply to anyone who diverted less than 1030 m 3 of water/year. 13 Anil Shah, an illustrious former bureaucrat of the Government of Gujarat, fondly tells the story about Gujarat's groundwater bill, which was passed by the assembly in 1973. When the Chief Minister was required to sign it into the government gazette, he refused to do so because it required that every irrigation well be registered. His curt response to Mr Shah was: 'Can you imagine that as soon as this bill becomes a law, every talati (village-level revenue official) will have one more means at his disposal to extract bribes from farmers?' This is the reason there are no takers for the draft Groundwater Bill that the Ministry of Water Resources of Government of India has been tossing around to states since 1970. 14 The Andhra Pradesh law tried harder to come to grips with rampant groundwater over-exploitation in Andhra Pradesh by emphasizing the registration of wells and drilling agencies and stipulating punitive measures for non-compliance. 15 The 1987 Water Policy to Saleth (2004, p. 29) is '… such a simple non-binding policy statement'. 16 Although the Network Reform Programme is a National Government programme, the government contributes only a part of the resources, the balance being contributed by the village committee. Just to give an example, Guantun village in Yanjin County of Henan got a grant of Y60,000 (US$1.00 = Y8.33) under this project for infrastructural rehabilitation. To match this, the village also contributed Y60,000; of this, 60% came from the funds from the village collective, while the remaining 40% was raised as farmer contributions by charging Y80 per person. All the power lines and other infrastructure were rehabilitated during recent years under this national programme. New meters were purchased by the township in bulk and installed in users' homes on a cost-recovery basis. A system of monitoring meters was installed too. 17 The village electrician's reward system encourages him/her to exert pressures to achieve greater efficiency by cutting line losses. In Dong Wang Nnu village in Ci County, Hebei Province, the village committee's single large transformer that served both domestic and agricultural connections caused heavy line losses, at 22-25%. Once the Network Reform Programme began, he pressurized the village committee to sell the old transformer to the county electricity bureau and raise Y10,000 (partly by collecting a levy of Y25 per family and partly by a contribution from the village development fund) to acquire two new transformers, one for domestic connections and the other for pumps. Since then, power losses here have fallen to the permissible 12%. 18 Saleth (2004, p. 30)   Mansuri and Rao (2004) have reviewed a much larger body of evidence from several sectors to assess the extent to which community-based and community-driven development projects for poverty alleviation were effective, and have concluded that: (i) these have not been particularly successful in targeting the poor; (ii) there is no evidence to suggest that participatory elements and processes lead to improved project outcomes and qualities; (iii) community-based development is not necessarily empowering in practice; and (iv) 'There is virtually no reliable evidence on community participation projects actually increasing a community's capacity for collective action' (p. 31). 22 Even in middle-income countries, huge inequalities in landholdings seem to have helped IMT. In the Andean region of Colombia where IMT has succeeded, according to Ramirez and Vargas (1999), farmers 'mostly grow crops oriented to the external markets, mainly banana and oil palm'; and while 66% of the farms have 5 ha or less, 40.3% of the land is owned by 2.8% of large farmers owning 50 ha or more. In South Africa, numerous Irrigation Boards -WUAs par excellencehave managed irrigation systems successfully for a long time; but their members are all large, white commercial farmers operating highly successful citrus and wine orchards. In Turkey, 40% of the irrigated area was in 5-20 ha holdings with a strong focus on high-value commercial crops for export to Europe. Here in Turkey, it can be argued, IMT has succeeded because, as with South African irrigation boards, in many respects there was already a 40-year old tradition of farmer participation in the maintenance of the canal system through an informal, village-level organization. Equally, irrigation fees under self-management in Turkey were 2% or less of the value of production per ha, 3.5% or less of total variable cost of cultivation and less than 6% of gross margin (Svendsen and Nott, 1997). 23 Sanskrit for self-creating or spontaneous. 24 A large survey, covering over 48,000 farming households throughout India during January-June 1998, suggested that over 66% of India's Gross Cropped Area under the five most important field crops (which account for over 90% of the Gross Cropped Area) is irrigated; only one-quarter of irrigated area is served by government canals. Amongst other interesting things it suggests that every fourth Indian farming household probably owns a diesel or electric pump; and the area irrigated through groundwater markets is as large as the area irrigated by all government canals (NSSO, 1999b). 25 As North (1990) aptly notes: 'If the highest rates of return in a society are to piracy, the organizations will invest in knowledge and skills that will make them better pirates; if the pay offs are … to increase productivity, they will invest in skills and knowledge to achieve that objective.' 26 An IWMI-Tata study (Indu, 2002, unpublished report) surveyed a sample of 14 such plants that served 4890 households. Reverse osmosis (RO) water in 10 and 20 l cans is delivered daily at the customer's door step; charges are levied on an annual basis (Rs 1500 (US$33) for a 10 l can daily; Rs 2500 (US$55) for a 20 l can). Plant capacities vary from 500 to 2000 l/h. In addition, most plants also retail RO water in pouches at bus stops, railway stations and crossings and market places. Consumers of pouches are typically lowincome buyers; retailers are also poor youth working on commission. In sum, this institution serves a demand by transforming 800-2000 ppm TDS water into 150-300 ppm TDS water, and fluoride levels reduced to 0.25-0.50 mg/l. People had no way of ascertaining the quality, but 60 customers surveyed by Indu (2004, unpublished report) asserted that the taste of RO water was distinct. Many also claimed relief from the pain of skeletal fluorosis after adopting RO water. 27 The seal of the Indian Standards Institution (ISI), the national agency for quality control in all manufactured products.28 Registering a cooperative itself meant a great hassle and cost in time and money. The policy also required that two-thirds of the command area farmers submit a written no-objection declaration for the transfer; past defaulters on water fees must first pay up their dues. In addition, several conditions specified that the violation of any of those would qualify the government to reclaim the tube well. 29 Transformation cost would include the cost of labour and material in creating a lined sub-minor and field channels plus the cost of acquiring land.Transaction cost would basically involve persuading farmers to give up their land for making channels and to give right of way to carrying water to downstream farmers. 30 In the North Krishna basin in western Maharashtra, a similar groundswell of numerous private irrigation service providers has created an institutional dynamic that challenges orthodox notions of how irrigation systems should be designed. The Bachawat tribunal's decision on the division of Krishna water between Maharashtra and Karnataka made Maharashtra's share contingent upon the amount of water it could develop and use by 2006.To maximize its share, the Government of Maharashtra went on a reservoir-building spree.Strapped of funds, it chose not to build canal systems; instead, it encouraged private entrepreneurs to set up numerous lift irrigation systems.In the command of one such small reservoir, Padhiari (2005) found 1200 such private irrigation service providers serving an area larger than was originally designed to be commanded. These entrepreneurs resolved most key problems that canal irrigation faces in India: while most canal projects are unable to collect even 3-5% of the gross value of crop output they help farmers produce, private service providers in the Upper Krishna basin regularly collect 25% as irrigation charge. All in all, in the smooth management of the tank, the neerkatti plays the pivotal management role; he is the operating system of the institution; the CoE, mostly invisible and unobtrusive, vests in him the authority and sanction to play that role on behalf of all the members. A tank management institution without a CoE or the neerkatti would be a far lesser institution. 32 In the Vadodara district, several leases given to fishing contractors were withdrawn because the communities rejected the contractors. In one case, for instance, the contractor used dead animals as manure, a practice that offended the community. In another, the chemical fertilizers used by the contractor ended up in a drinking water well within the tank foreshore; when this was discovered, the village refused to renew the lease. Such aberrations would not occur if the contractor had to obtain the legitimacy and sanction of the community to operate.T. Shah"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"46a3006114bb981a1f79dd8c6444bd02","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/48653bef-c4d8-4c11-8f31-a95ead75991e/content","id":"-2026414769"},"keywords":["Comparative analysis","characterization","livelihoods","drought","production systems","varietal use","seed use AGRIS category codes: F01 Crop-husbandry","F02 Plant-propagation","F08 Croppingpatterns-and-systems","E10 Agricultural-economics-andpolicies","E15 Farm-organization-and-management","U40 Surveying-methods Dewey decimal classif.: 338.16676 ISBN: 978-970-648-183-2"],"sieverID":"326153b4-961f-4d14-8901-d16c1886e5a8","content":"Headquartered in Mexico, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (known by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYT) is a not-for-profit agriculture research and training organization. The Center works to reduce poverty and hunger by sustainably increasing the productivity of maize and wheat in the developing world. CIMMYT maintains the world's largest maize and wheat seed bank and is best known for initiating the Green Revolution, which saved millions of lives across Asia and for which CIMMYT's Dr. Norman Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. CIMMYT is a member of the CGIAR Consortium and receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks, and other public and private agencies.The Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project is jointly implemented by CIMMYT and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). It's funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. The project is part of a broad partnership also involving national agricultural research and extension systems, seed companies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), and advanced research institutes, together known as the DTMA Initiative. Its activities build on longer-term support by other donors, including the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Eiselen Foundation. The project aims to develop and disseminate drought tolerant, high-yielding, locally-adapted maize varieties and to reach 30-40 million people in sub-Saharan Africa with these varieties in 10 years.The CIMMYT Socioeconomics Program (SEP) Working Papers series contain preliminary material and research results from CIMMYT social scientists and its partners. The papers are subject to an internal peer review. They are circulated in order to stimulate discussion and critical comment. The opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of their home institutions or supporting organizations. For more information on this series contact the CIMMYT website. CIMMYT 2012. All rights reserved. The designations employed in the presentation of materials in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of CIMMYT or its contributory organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The opinions expressed are those of the author(s), and are not necessarily those of CIMMYT or our partners. CIMMYT encourages fair use of this material. Proper citation is requested.Selected characteristics of the study countries in eastern Africa. ........................ Table 2.Selected characteristics of the study areas in eastern Africa. ............................... Table 3.Sample characteristics in the drought prone study areas of eastern Africa. .........  Maize is the most important cereal food crop in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), particularly in eastern and southern Africa where it accounts for 53% of the total cereal area (FAO, 2010) and 30-70% of total caloric consumption (Langyintuo et al., 2010). Maize production in SSA is typically rainfed and drought prone. Drought has an overwhelming importance to SSA, affecting people's livelihoods, food security and economic development. CIMMYT (1990) initially estimated that some 40% of the maize area in SSA experience occasional drought (defined as causing yield losses of 10-25%) and 25% experience frequent drought (defined as causing yield losses of 25-50%). Frequent drought is particularly problematic for tropical and subtropical maize in SSA, and causes a 33% further maize yield reduction compared to less stressed areas (Heisey and Edmeades, 1999). Effective approaches to combat current impacts of drought are of utmost importance, more so as the situation is set to become even worse as climate change progresses (Cooper et al., 2008;Jones and Thornton, 2003;Thornton et al., 2009;Thornton et al., 2008).When recurrent droughts in SSA ruin harvests, lives and livelihoods are threatened, even destroyed.Developing, distributing and cultivating drought tolerant maize varieties in SSA is one highly relevant intervention to reduce vulnerability, food insecurity and damage to local markets due to food aid. But to succeed it needs to be embedded in local reality. Unfortunately for much of SSA basic descriptive statistics and data on farm livelihoods and practices that would inform such an intervention are not available. It is for this reason that rapid community assessments and detailed household surveys were conducted in drought prone areas of eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania) to characterize the maize producing households.The original country level studies provide detailed descriptive accounts of the household survey findings (Legese et al., 2010;Mugisha et al., 2011;Muhammad et al., 2010;Temu et al., 2011). The present report synthesizes the findings of these four parallel household surveys in drought prone regions of eastern Africa. This synthesis thereby revisits and reanalyzes the original primary data and focuses on the sub-regional contrasts, similarities and implications. The present study is complemented by similar synthesis of parallel household surveys in southern Africa (Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Angola, and Mozambique) and western Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Benin and Mali).The present report is organized into six chapters. The second chapter presents the drought prone study areas of eastern Africa and the methodology. The third chapter characterizes the households based on their livelihood assets whereas the fourth chapter characterizes the household livelihood strategies. The fifth chapter presents the technology use in crop production, with an emphasis on maize and maize seed. The sixth chapter concludes.The four eastern Africa study countries-Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzaniaencompass a total population of some 200 million living in an area of 2.9 million km 2 . At a country level, Ethiopia and Kenya have about average population densities, but Uganda is more densely populated and Tanzania least (Table 1). Only 12% of the area is considered arable (0.34 million km 2 ), although this share is about double in Uganda. In Kenya, agriculture contributes a quarter of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) compared to over a third in the other countries. There is still widespread poverty, particularly in rural areas, although indicators vary as to the depth of poverty (Table 1). Maize is an important crop in the region, annually planted on 7.3 million ha (corresponding to 21% of the arable area and 41% of land under cereals). However, there are some marked regional variations in relative maize area (Table 1), being highest in Kenya and lowest in Ethiopia where maize comes second after teff (Eragrostis tef). Ethiopia has also quite diverse and substantial areas under sorghum, wheat and barley. Regional maize yields average only 1.6 tons per ha (Table 1). The study focuses on the drought prone maize producing areas in these four eastern Africa countries. In each country, two maize growing districts were purposively selected from the medium drought risk zone, defined as having a 20-40% probability of failed season (Thornton et al., 2006). This indicator reflects the percentage of years in which an annual crop is expected to fail due to severe water stress based on simulated data using a weather generator and the estimated actual and potential evapo-transpiration and length of the growing period (Thornton et al., 2006).The selected study areas primarily fall in the dry-subtropical ecology (i.e. 900-1500 meters above sea level [masl] with < 1000 mm pa, CIMMYT, 1990) -Table 2. This dry subtropical ecology typically represents a substantial share of the maize area in the respective countries, although its share in the total production is typically more limited due to the incidence of drought and correspondingly lower productivity levels. The study areas are characterized primarily by small-scale mixed crop-livestock systems. Irrigation is largely absent, with maize being a major crop in the main rain season. In areas with bimodal rainfall, maize is also grown in the second rain season, albeit that the main season remains dominant in terms of maize area and production.The study areas in Ethiopia and Tanzania are centrally located and situated within or adjacent to the Rift Valley. In Kenya the study areas are in Eastern Kenya -east of the Rift Valley and Nairobi. In Uganda the study sites are located in the countries central-eastern parts, on opposite sides of Lake Kyoga, north of Kampala (Figure 1). With the exception of Uganda, the population densities in the study areas (Table 2) tend to be higher than for their respective countries (Table 1), reflecting that large swathes of the respective countries are even less favorable for agriculture. Note: 1 ATJK: Adami Tulu -Jido Kombolcha. In case of Kenya survey focused on a sub-district or constituency (name mentioned in brackets). In Tanzania Dodoma Rural district was divided in 2007 into 2 new districts -Bahi and Chamwino (http://en.wikipedia.org/), with the survey being implemented in the latter. Source: derived from country reports (Legese et al., 2010;Mugisha et al., 2011;Muhammad et al., 2010;Temu et al., 2011). Population density based on combined districts, except for Tanzania based on aggregate regional data (http://en.wikipedia.org/ accessed 26 Jan 2011). For Ethiopia rural population density for Adama was used. From the two selected drought prone maize producing districts, a multi-stage random sample of farm households was selected -with a number of random villages selected first (Annex 1) and from these, a number of random farmers. In the first batch of survey countries (Ethiopia and Kenya), the sample amounted to some 350 farm households with the survey being implemented mid-2007 (Table 3). The survey was subsequently extended to a second batch of survey countries (Uganda and Tanzania) with a sample size of some 150 farm households with the survey being implemented in mid-2008 (Table 3). The comprehensive questionnaire was basically the same across the four countries -albeit that some additional questions were added to the second batch of survey countries. 1 In each country, the survey was collected by dedicated enumerators during a single visit. The information collected reflects the respondents' responses, with no additional measurements from the surveyor side (except for global-positioning system coordinates where collected).The enumerators typically interviewed the household head (80% of cases), with on average 28% of respondents being female (Table 4). Ethiopia and Kenya however stand out: in Ethiopia female and non-household head respondents were virtually absent, whereas in Kenya these amounted to about half the respondents. Household heads are typically male.Having the non-household head as respondent was typically associated with the temporary non-availability of the household head (Table 4). The data was originally entered, analyzed and reported at the country level using a common data template and report outline (Legese et al., 2010;Mugisha et al., 2011;Muhammad et al., 2010;Temu et al., 2011). Since these are parallel studies, a synthesis based on the country reports alone is typically problematic (e.g. see Doss et al., 2003). For the purpose of this synthesis, the datasets were merged and standardized to allow for cross-site analysis. The data presented here may therefore differ somewhat from that reported in the original country studies in view of standardization of approach and data across the country studies.The data analysis presented here is primarily descriptive -substantiated by simple statistics to the extent possible. Variances were typically not equal over the countries. The analysis therefore uses the Welch statistic to test for the equality of group means (which is preferable to the F statistic when the assumption of equal variances does not hold); and Tamhane's T2 for a conservative pair-wise comparison test of means (based on a t test which is appropriate when the variances are unequal -SPSS 16). Principal component analysis is used to assess the households' resource endowments. Limited dependent variable models are used to analyze improved maize seed purchases.The present report aims to provide a comprehensive synthesis of a substantive survey. As such, all relevant variables for the four countries have been summarized in the numerous tables. However, to keep the report to a manageable length, the text tends to only summarize the pertinent findings. The interested reader is referred to the respective tables or underlying country reports for further substantiation.To facilitate comparison, all monetary values have been converted to US dollars using the bank exchange rate for the survey year (http://www.oanda.com/currency/converter/ accessed October 2010). 2The original survey collected information on maize and other crops grown by the surveyed farm households. For the purpose of the present report and underlying analysis, the information on these other crops is typically categorized into either other cereals, legume crops, roots & tubers or other crops. Maize is categorized as local, improved openpollinated variety (OPV) and hybrid based on the actual maize varieties reported by the surveyed farmers. However not all farmers are fully conversant with such categorization and the analysis thereby typically uses the prevailing categorization within the surveyed communities. Even so, this categorization remains indicative, for instance, the local category may include some of the older recycled improved varieties. The use of improved OPVs or hybrids also does not necessarily imply the use of fresh seed, as recycling of both categories is common.It should be recalled that the surveys targeted the drought prone maize producing areas, and are limited to only two districts per country. The study results are thus not representative for the country as a whole, but were intended to be representative for the target area. Care should thus be taken when interpreting references to specific countries in the tables or text, with most instances unless otherwise specified, referring to the drought prone study areas and not to the country as a whole. Furthermore, the present synthesis aggregates the two study districts per country. Within country differences are explored in the respective country reports.In the pursuit of their livelihood strategies, farm households in the drought prone areas of eastern Africa draw on a portfolio of assets. The present chapter characterizes the livelihoods assets of the farm households namely, human, natural, physical, financial and social capital. The chapter ends with a principal component analysis of the household asset base.The size of the surveyed rural households averages seven people, of which only half can be considered as economically active (i.e. being aged between 16-60 years) and the remainder primarily being children (i.e. less than 16 years old -Table 5). Households are typically male headed (90%) with households' head being married (87%), 46 years old and having completed only primary education (Table 5; Table 6).The surveyed rural households are typically small-scale family farms, drawing on the family as their main labor source. Each household comprises an average of 4.3 adult equivalents, which implies 3.3 adult equivalents per ha of farm land and 0.6 adult units per capita. An annual average of 51 months of family labor (including children) is reportedly dedicated to the family farm. The household head is the main decision maker for farming activitieseither solely (68%) or in consultation with other (27% -Table 5). Households are thereby somewhat constrained by the relatively limited educational level of the household headwith the household's educational status only being marginally better (i.e. when considering the highest educational status across household members), with an average of only 5 years of schooling per capita (Table 6).The sample averages mask some substantial variations between the countries surveyed (Table 5; Table 6). For instance, household size in the study areas was substantially higher in Uganda and Ethiopia (8) and lowest in Tanzania (5), the latter also having the highest incidence of female headed households (18%). The Kenya study area combined relatively aged households (as illustrated by average household age; limited share of children; oldest household heads) with the most decentralized decision making with respect to farming; whereas the Ethiopia study area combined relatively young households, male dominance and relative low educational attainment levels of particularly the household head.  Land and livestock are the main natural assets of the farm households, averaging 3 ha of land and 2.6 tropical livestock units, equivalent to about half a unit of each per capita. Land is primarily used for the cultivation of annual crops (2.1 ha), with only 0.2 ha under perennial crops and 0.6 ha under pasture/fallow (Table 7). These averages again mask substantial regional variation. The drought prone study areas in Kenya combine relatively small farms with a modest livestock herd -although this still implies relatively high livestock densities per unit farm area (Table 7). Farm and herd size was the largest in the Uganda study areas, but included a substantial area under fallow/pasture. Perennial crops were primarily limited to the Uganda study areas, linked inter alia to the more favorable rainfall regime (amount and bimodal distribution). Indeed, perennial crops were virtually absent in the study areas of Ethiopia and Tanzania with their limited and mono-modal rainfall. The rural households in these drought prone study areas are relatively poor, and the physical assets correspondingly limited (Table 8). Indeed, despite the importance of farming for their livelihoods (see next chapter) and the incidence of drought, investments in irrigation have been limited, and largely restricted to Kenya and small-scale vegetable cultivation. Only about half of the households have been able to upgrade their lodging in terms of having improved walls or roofs, although both of these are common place in the Kenya study areas (Table 8).Households were queried with respect to possession of specific physical asset types. On average about two assets were reported per household, although varying from less than one in Tanzania study areas to nearly three in Uganda (Table 8). The most common asset types are radio (64% overall, particularly common in Uganda and Kenya), draft animals (42% overall, particularly common in Ethiopia) and bicycles (40% overall, particularly common in Uganda). Mobile phones were owned by 22% of the surveyed farm households, but primarily concentrated in Kenya and Uganda (nearly 40%) and relatively absent in Ethiopia and Tanzania (5-7%, Table 8). The scarcity of funds reiterates the relative poverty of the rural households in these drought prone study areas (Table 9). The use of credit can help alleviate fund shortages, but was reported by only 15% of households, primarily for production purposes and for fertilizer. Credit use was primarily limited to the study areas in Ethiopia (28% of households reporting) and Uganda (21%). The non-use of credit was mainly linked to unavailability in the vicinity (39%) or lack of collateral (19%), whereas 31% reported not having sought credit (Table 9).The relatively limited use of credit implies a limited sample size for various specific credit indicators. The credit-using households reported a variety of credit sources, but government programs were relatively important in Ethiopia. Repayments are mainly done in cash. The reported credit amounts (for those receiving) were relatively limited, be it production credit (average US$ 176, n=79), input credit (fertilizer 128 kg, n=49; maize seed 42 kg, n=24) or consumption credit (US$ 273, n=11). Social capital provides households with important additional social entitlements that are however problematic to measure empirically. The questionnaire did include a number of institutional support indicators that can be used as a proxy (Table 10). About two-fifths of the surveyed farm households were members of a farmers' association/cooperative, although this was markedly more common in Ethiopia (associated with access to inputs) and relatively uncommon in Tanzania. About a third of the surveyed farm households reported having received some aid/relief, mainly in the form of food relief or seed relief. Some 28% attended selected agricultural extension activities (i.e. field days, field demonstrations and/or maize discussions), such activities mainly being organized by agricultural extension services. About half the surveyed farm households reported the extension service as a frequent source of agricultural information, with 19% reporting mass media (i.e. radio, newspaper, television) and 34% other sources, including other farmers (e.g. reported by 35% of households in Kenya). Interestingly, the extension service was near universally reported as information source in Ethiopia compared to less than a fifth in Kenya. About half of the surveyed farm households in Ethiopia and Uganda reported any interaction with extension agents during the survey year against a quarter to a third elsewhere. Overall, surveyed farm households in Tanzania reported limited institutional support in terms of relief or extension, particularly compared to Uganda (Table 10). The foregoing sections show that the surveyed farm households present different endowments in terms of the various livelihood assets. An asset based wealth index can be used to create a single cross-cutting indicator of the household's endowments. One way of creating such an index is the use of principal component analysis (PCA), which has been variously used to create wealth indices (Erenstein, 2011;Filmer and Pritchett, 2001;Langyintuo and Mungoma, 2008).PCA is a popular data reduction tool. It has however two limitations for the construction of wealth/asset indices (Howe et al., 2008). Discrete data are particularly problematic, and thereby inherently limit the choice of asset variables available for inclusion in the PCA. PCA wealth/asset indices also tend to use only the first principal component which actually explains only a low proportion of the total variation in the asset data. In the current study we thereby exclude discrete asset data and also present all principal components having an eigen value larger than 1.The PCA was applied to a set of eight non-discrete variables spanning the range of asset categories for the surveyed farm households both for the combined study areas (Table 11) and for each of the country specific study areas (Table 12). The number of principal components is two for the combined application (explaining 41% of variance) and threefour in the country specific applications (explaining 50-62%). The first principal component (PC) alone typically explains 21% to 33% of variance, but tends to be variously associated to the underlying assets. At the country level, the first PC is mainly associated with herd size (Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania), physical assets (Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya), farm size (Ethiopia and Uganda), family labor (measured as adult equivalent units, Ethiopia and Uganda) and schooling (Kenya and Tanzania).Based on the first PC alone and using zero as a cut-off point, some two-fifths of the households would be classified as well-endowed and the remainder as less-endowed in each study area. 3 At the regional level the first PC is most closely associated with herd size and physical assets. As a result, more than two-thirds of Ugandan surveyed farm households would be classified as relatively well-endowed based on the first regional PC alone, whereas Tanzanian households would be primarily classified as less-endowed. 4 The ease of interpretation of the PCs' could be enhanced by rotation, but this would reduce the explanatory power of the first PC.  The surveyed farm households in the drought prone areas of eastern Africa variously use their portfolio of assets reviewed in the previous chapter as building blocks for their livelihood strategies. The present chapter characterizes the livelihoods strategies pursued by the farm households, particularly in terms of crop production, livestock production and offfarm income. It subsequently provides profiles of reported household cash income and expenditures and summarizes the households' profitability and risk perceptions. The chapter ends with the outlook and implications for the farm households' livelihoods.Overall, annual crops average 83% of the farm area (Table 13). Fallow/pasture was reported by 36% of the households and occupying 13% of the farm area overall, albeit being more common in the Uganda and Tanzania study areas where the average farm size is relatively large. Perennial crops are relatively uncommon in the drought-prone study areas, reported by about a fifth of the households and occupying 4% of the farm area overall, and markedly concentrated in the Kenya and Uganda study areas (e.g. coffee:, 20% of households Kenya and13% in Uganda)The study was targeted at maize growing drought prone districts in eastern Africa. The survey confirms the importance of maize in the study area, with maize cultivation nearuniversal and the maize area averaging 1 ha per household corresponding to some two-fifths of the farm area (Table 13). Maize thereby occupies about half the annually cropped area. In Kenya, maize intercropping prevails and intercrops include legumes, other cereals and roots and tubers.Across the study areas, 75% of the surveyed farm households grow at least one legume, which account for 19% of the farm area. Legumes include:-Beans (61% of households overall, albeit variously reported -Kenya 93%, Ethiopia 69%, Uganda 23% and Tanzania4%);-Groundnut (17% of households overall, Uganda 77% and Tanzania 36%); -Cowpea (10% of households overall, Kenya 25%, Uganda 7%); and -Pigeon pea (Kenya 47%).About a third of the surveyed farm households reported other cereals and a similar share of roots and tubers, which respectively accounted for 11% and 8% of the farm area. Other cereals include:-Sorghum (9% of households overall, Uganda 29%, Tanzania 24%); -Millet (9% of households overall, Uganda 37%, Tanzania 17%); -Rice (2% of households overall, Tanzania 11%),-Teff (Ethiopia only, 55%); -Wheat (Ethiopia only, 3%). Roots and tubers include:-Sweet potato (26% of household overall, Uganda 71%, Ethiopia 36%); -Cassava (5% of households overall, kenya11%; Uganda 3%); and -Yam (UG 91%). Only 14% of households reported other annual crops accounting for 3% of the farm area, including vegetables (Kenya 12%; Uganda 4%), sunflower (Tanzania 28%), sesame (Tanzania 13%) and cotton (Uganda 12%). -Fallow/pasture 25 32 58 51 36 Notes: sd: standard deviation; n: sample size (=1019 unless otherwise indicated); all p's (Welch or Chi-square) highly significant (0.00). Data preceding different letters differ significantly -Tamhane's T2 (significance level: 0.10), within row comparison.The total cultivated area was determined by a combination of food needs, cash availability for inputs and seed availability (Table 14), with food needs being particularly common in Kenya and Tanzania. There was no clear trend in terms of the household's maize area in the study areas (Table 15). A constant maize area was primarily associated with a constant farm size, whereas rainfall was the prime determinant in case of maize area changes followed by resource availability indicators (Table 15).  Maize production is primarily dual purpose in the study areas: to meet household food needs and sale of surplus. Maize consumption is thereby near universally reported by the surveyed farm households, with 58% (overall) reporting maize sales (Table 16). The relative volume of maize consumed (61% of produce, over the four sites) is about double the maize volume sold (31%) with the remainder (8%) either retained as seed, gifted or lost (Table 16). Only in the Uganda study areas is maize consumption more limited with the bulk of maize production being marketed (Table 16). Production of other cereals, legumes and roots and tubers are generally also dual purpose -reiterating that these are primarily small-scale family farms. Maize is primarily sold to traders. In the case of Uganda and Tanzania, maize tends to be sold at the time of harvest from the farmer's home. In Kenya, and particularly in Ethiopia, farmers tend to take their maize grain to the market. Marketing patterns for other cereals are largely similar (Table 17). Grain prices are primarily determined by the buying agent, although in Tanzania prices tended to follow the government set prices and in Kenya prices were influenced by the neighboring markets (Table 17). Livestock are an important component of the livelihood portfolio of the surveyed farm households, with over 90% of the surveyed households reporting some livestock. With the exception of Tanzania (with only a fifth reporting), three quarters of the surveyed farm households reported having cattle (Table 18). Cattle are primarily local, with an average herd size of 4.5 heads per household -with the largest average number in Ethiopia and Uganda. Reported ownership and numbers of small stock as a group (goats, sheep and pigs) are similar to cattle (Table 18). Goats are the main small stock in these drought prone areas, with pigs primarily limited to Uganda and sheep being relatively more common in Ethiopia. As a group poultry was the most commonly reported across the study areas -being reported by at least half the surveyed households in each area. Transport animals (like donkeys) were primarily only reported in Ethiopia, where they averaged one per farm household (Table 18).Livestock play a varied role in the livelihood portfolio of the surveyed farm householdsincluding the provision of food and income (and cash), asset accumulation, diversification/insurance and services (e.g. draft for tillage, particularly important in Ethiopia). Nearly half (45%) of the surveyed farm households reported having sold some livestock during the survey year, with 18% having acquired and 39% having consumed some of their livestock units during the same period. The reported herd value averaged US$ 750 per surveyed farm household (Table 18). The surveyed farm households further complement their livelihood portfolio with off-farm income sources. Some 82% of the surveyed farm households reportedly had some of their household members engaged in off-farm income generating activities. Such off-farm income sources were markedly more common (near universal) in Ethiopia and Kenya, where they involved more than half the household members and most commonly related to farm labor (Table 19). Petty trading was the next most common off-farm income source based on household member activities, and actually the most commonly reported source in Uganda and Tanzania whereas it was virtually absent in Ethiopia. An array of other off-farm income sources was reported based on household member activities, particularly in Kenya and Uganda, including some relatively skilled and non-agricultural endeavors (Table 19). The foregoing off-farm indicators are based on the off-farm activities as reported for individual household members aggregated to the household level. The reported sources of household cash income (see next section) however provide a somewhat different categorization. Based on these reported cash income sources, two-thirds of the surveyed farm households (overall) reported some sort of off-farm cash income, and half the households (overall) reported any labor related off-farm cash income -such as petty trading, paid employment or self employed. Off-farm cash income sources were nearly universally reported by the surveyed farm households in Kenya, against about half elsewhere (Table 19).This study sought to establish cash income sources and expenditures of the surveyed farm households during the survey year. The monetary responses should however be interpreted with the necessary caution in view of the sensitivity of the data and the survey being a single visit survey. It should also be recalled that this relates to cash only, whereas a substantial share of household income is in-kind, particularly the self-produced crops which are to a large extent consumed over the year by the household to meet daily food needs. Still, the results provide rough indicators of annual cash income and expenditures and their breakdown over categories (Table 20; Table 21).As a category, crop sales were most frequently reported as a cash income source by the surveyed farm households (79% of households overall), followed by other farm sources such as livestock sales (42%) and fruit and vegetable sales (23% -Table 20). Overall, 91% of the surveyed farm households reported some cash income from their farm, whereas 65% of households reported some cash income from off-farm sources. Various off-farm cash income sources were reported at relatively similar rates overall, including remittances (25%), petty trading (22%), paid employment (22%) and self employed (19% -Table 20). The Kenya study site shows a marked deviation from the other study areas, with crops being least commonly reported, whereas the incidence of the various off-farm sources is markedly higher (Table 20).Annual reported cash income averaged about US$900 per surveyed farm household, with a marked regional variation: being less than US$ 400 (i.e. less than half the regional average) in Ethiopia and Tanzania, and US$1200-1500 in Uganda and Kenya (Table 20). Overall, sales of crop products (including fruit and vegetables) accounted for nearly half the reported cash income (48%), followed at a distance by a portfolio of other sources, including livestock sales (12%) and paid employment (12% -Table 20). The contribution of crop products was least for the surveyed farm households in Kenya (24%), where paid employment provided a similar share and with a more even spread over the various other income sources -off-farm income sources thereby contributing 65% of annual cash income (Table 20). Overall, the farm contributed 61% to annual cash income with off-farm sources contributing the remaining 39% (Table 20). The surveyed farm households reported a range of expenditure categories, typically including clothing, fuel and medical expenses (Table 21). Although these are farm households, food expenditures were similarly widely reported. Annual reported cash expenditure averaged US$640 per surveyed farm household, with a marked regional variation similar to income (Table 21). Overall, food expenditure made up the largest expense category (37% overall, and about half in Kenya and Tanzania), despite these being farm households. This was followed by clothing (15%), education (13%), medical (9%) and array of smaller categories (Table 21). Overall a third of the surveyed farm households thereby was a net food buyer (i.e. reported expenditures on food exceed reported on-farm cash income), whereas this amounted to three-fifths in Kenya and Tanzania study areas (Table 21).Somewhat less (29%) of the surveyed farm households reportedly were cash deficient (i.e. reported expenditures exceed reported cash income), although this amounted to two-thirds in the Tanzania study areas (Table 21). To enhance our understanding of the current livelihood portfolio of the surveyed farm households, we sought their perceptions of relative profitability and risk. These perceptions are summarized below, whereas in the next section we review the outlook and implications for their livelihoods.Overall, surveyed farm households generally rated improved maize (open pollinated variety [OPV] or hybrid) as relatively profitable and roots and tubers as least profitable, with local maize, other cereals and legumes in-between. There are however some marked regional variations (Table 22) -typically associated with the underlying cropping pattern. Profitability of local maize was generally rated relatively medium, but scored favorably in Kenya where it is widely grown (see next chapter). In contrast, improved OPVs scored relatively high in Uganda and Tanzania and hybrids in Ethiopia and Kenya, again in line with their use. The profitability of other cereals scored relatively high in Ethiopia, associated with teff cultivation. Notes: sd: standard deviation; n: sample size; all ps ( * ANOVA, Welch or Chi-square) highly significant (0.00) unless otherwise indicated (ns: not significant). Data preceding different letters differ significantly -Tamhane's T2 (significance level: 0.10), within row comparison.Overall, the surveyed farm households generally perceived a positive profitability trend for the various crop types (Table 22). An exception was the profitability trend for local maize, which was generally perceived as static and even as declining in Ethiopia. Increasing production was reported as the main plan to enhance crop profitability, followed by growing profitable crops, with less than a quarter reporting diversification or cost reduction (Table 22).Surveyed farm households were presented with a number of crop production scenarios and asked how they would respond (Table 23). Crop area was relatively inelastic in face of unfavorable conditions-low produce price, low yield, fertilizer unavailability-with only about a third of the households intending to reduce area in response (Table 23). Crop area was more elastic in face of favorable conditions-high produce price, high yield, fertilizer availability, credit availability-with some two-thirds intending to increase area (Table 23). In part, these responses reflect the dual purpose nature of crop production (particularly the importance of home consumption) and the limited alternative income generating options available-whereby crop production will thus persist even under unfavorable conditions. The farm household's asset portfolio provides an important buffer against crop production and crop price risks. Farmers thereby reportedly tend to accumulate such assets when conditions are favorable-higher yields, higher crop prices-whereas they may have to sell some when conditions are dire-crop failure, low crop prices (Table 23). The dual purpose nature of crop production also explains the relative importance of the selling price for crop sales. Over half the surveyed farm households would also increase input and credit use in response to favorable crop prices (Table 23). There are some regional variations in the reported responses, particularly in terms of the magnitude, but overall the direction of responses is relatively similar across study sites (Table 23). Overall, surveyed farm households generally rated roots and tubers (particularly sweet potato) as less drought susceptible and legumes as most drought susceptible (Table 24).Local maize and improved OPVs were also rated as relatively susceptible, whereas hybrid maize rated at par with other cereals. Except for hybrid maize, there are again marked regional variations (Table 24). Yield risk was rated relatively similar to drought susceptibility, with roots and tubers rated as the least risky in terms of yield and legumes and local maize as relatively risky (Table 25). Agricultural diversification was the prevailing coping strategy for yield risk among the surveyed farm households (70% overall), followed by asset accumulation (27%) and nonagricultural diversification (21% -Table 25). Other farmers were the main information source on yield risk (63%) followed by extension (36%) and the mass media (16% -Table 25).Price risk was rated relatively high for maize (especially local and improved OPVs) and relatively low for roots and tubers (Table 26). Asset accumulation was the prevailing coping strategy for price risk among the surveyed farm households (74% overall) followed by participation in government/NGO programs (18% -Table 26). For price risk, other farmers were again the main information source (65%) followed by extension (22%) and the radio (18% -Table 26).  Notes: n: sample size; all p's ( * ANOVA, Welch or Chi-square) highly significant (0.00) unless otherwise indicated (ns: not significant). Data preceding different letters differ significantly-Tamhane's T2 (significance level: 0.10), within row comparison.The study targeted the maize producing drought prone areas. It is therefore not surprising that the surveyed farm households nearly universally reported at least one crop failure due to drought during the last decade (>99% overall, with the lowest average being 96% Tanzania).The number of crop failures due to drought during the last decade averaged 3, with the lowest average being reported in Kenya and Tanzania (2.6-2.8) and the highest in Ethiopia and Uganda (3.3-3.7 -Table 27). What is more, the site selection thereby proved robust in each of the countries as the study targeted areas with a probability of failed season of 20-40%. Still, although the survey averages fell within the target range, individual responses oscillated widely (from 0 to 10). About half (46% overall) of the surveyed farm households had been compelled to sell off some assets during the survey year due to difficulties (i.e. for some reason or another, not necessarily due to drought), a fraction that was relatively similar across the study sites (Table 27). The need to buy food was the main reason (48% overall) for those that had to sell assets (Table 27).Somewhat more than half (58% overall) of the surveyed farm households considered themselves as food secure during the survey year (Table 27). The remaining 42% averaged four months without adequate food, a duration that was again relatively similar across the study sites (Table 27). The actual timing of food shortage varied, typically associated with the incidence of rains-e.g. falling during the main rains in the Ethiopia and Tanzania study sites. The surveyed farm households reported an array of food shortage coping mechanisms, the most frequent being reducing other expenditures (38% overall), working more off-farm (30%), selling small animals (27%) and selling cattle (24% -Table 27). Drought (71% overall) and food security issues (61%) also prevailed as the most widely reported threats to the livelihoods of the surveyed farm households (Table 28). Health issues were reported as a threat by half the households, followed by an array of other threats that include poverty (15%), pest and diseases (13%) and insecurity (10% -Table 28). Other weather related threats included erratic weather/rain/climate (including climate change, 6%), floods (4%) and excess rains (2%). Drought (17% overall) was also reported as a constraint to livelihood improvement by the surveyed farm households (Table 29). However, a number of other constraints were more widely reported, including health (36% overall), input issues (36%), market issues (32%) and agricultural productivity (23%). Other reported constraints partly associated with drought included erratic weather/rain/climate (11%) and crop failure/production risk (5%). The surveyed farm households were also requested to enlist the most serious shocks they had been affected by during the last decade (Table 30). As expected, these overlap in part with the reported threats to their livelihoods reported earlier (Table 28). Drought again prevailed as the most widely reported shock (89% overall), but this time followed by floods/excess rain (38%) and plant pests/diseases (34%). The health status and even death of the breadwinner/wife was another common shock (23% and 10% respectively). An array of other shocks was reported, including erratic rain (14%), price shocks (maize & input prices, 21% each), livestock shocks (death/loss and disease, 18% and 14% respectively) and damage to crops by animals (including wildlife) and birds (17% and 8% respectively -Table 30). Notes: n: sample size; all p's (Chi-square) highly significant (0.00), unless otherwise indicated (ns: not significant).Agriculture remains the pivot in the livelihood portfolio of farm households. Despite their location in drought prone areas, the large majority of the surveyed farm households (80% overall) thereby sought to increase agricultural production as their preferred strategy to enhance their livelihoods-with only a negligible few considering an exit from agriculture (Table 31). An array of complementary strategies was reported by the surveyed farm households with some regional variation, including increasing food security (50% overall, especially common in Tanzania), improving educational status (31%), increasing land ownership (26%) and improving health status (25% -Table 31). Notes: n: sample size; all p's (Chi-square) highly significant (0.00), unless otherwise indicated (ns: not significant).Crop and particularly maize production plays a pivotal role in the livelihoods of the surveyed farm households in the drought prone areas of eastern Africa as reviewed in the previous chapter. The present chapter characterizes maize production further with a particular emphasis on technology use in general and seed use in particular. The chapter ends with an analysis of the factors affecting improved maize seed purchases.Surveyed farm households enlisted 2.8 known maize varieties per household on average, including 1 local maize variety, 0.8 improved Open Pollinated Varieties (OPVs) and 1 hybrid (Table 32). This relatively even distribution across the three distinguished maize seed types however masks some marked regional variations. Particularly striking is the contrast between the surveyed households in Uganda and those in Kenya, with a marked contrast in terms of knowledge of OPVs and hybrids, in line with the prevailing seed availability in the respective countries. Knowledge of local varieties was relatively evenly distributed over the countries, although the surveyed households in Uganda also enlisted the most local varieties (Table 32).The surveyed farm households were asked about the perceived drought tolerance of the known varieties. Overall, the perceived tolerance was somewhat higher for known hybrids compared to known local maize varieties, with known OPVs in-between (Table 32). However, these perceptions again showed marked regional differences. Striking is that the perceived drought tolerance of known OPVs were rated highest in Uganda (particularly compared to known local there), but lowest in Ethiopia (Table 32). Surveyed farm households were queried as to what they perceived as the best known maize variety for local, improved OPV and hybrid (Table 33) and to make subsequent pair-wise contrasts for a number of attributes (Table 34). In line with expectations, (the best known) local maize was perceived to have the lowest seed price and lowest yield potential and (the best known) hybrid the highest on both accounts (Table 34). 5 The perceived seed availability showed a marked opposite trend; whereas cob and grain size showed similar contrasts as the yield potential. OPVs were markedly shorter duration than the two other types. OPVs were also reportedly better performing under low soil moisture, followed by hybrid and with local maize rated poorest. OPVs also performed better under low soil fertility, although hybrid and local swapped places, with hybrid now lowest, perhaps associated with the perceived need for chemical fertilizer. OPVs however ranked poorly in terms of the perceived resistance to pests and diseases, with hybrids being most prone to storage pests. Local maize was perceived to be particularly lodge prone. OPVs were also rated favorably in terms for various post harvest attributes, particularly poundability, thereby contributing to local maize having the lowest maize grain price (Table 34). Surveyed farm households were queried about the desired attributes of their ideal maize variety (Table 35). In line with expectations, yield potential was the most widely reported (69% overall). However next most common were early maturity (56%) and drought tolerance (43%), whereas performance under poor rainfall was reported by an additional 14%. Early maturity typically has a dual purpose-being associated with shortening the hungry season and being drought escaping. Drought thereby featured prominently, clearly associated with the study targeting drought prone areas. The factors determining maize varietal choice thereby were relatively similar, with yield potential being most prominent followed by maturity period and drought resistance (Table 36).  Reasons for not using any of the maize varieties known to the households typically revolved around grain yield (particularly prominent for non-use of local maize varieties), expensive seed (particularly for non-use of hybrids) and non-availability of seed (most common for non-use of OPVs, although also reported by a fifth to a fourth for the non-use of the two other seed types -Table 37). Notes: multiple response for household for known specific maize varieties not used during survey year; n: sample size.The surveyed farm households planted some 35 kg of maize seed per year overall, although this oscillated around the 20 kg for Tanzania and about 50 for Ethiopia (Table 38). Although the surveyed farm households knew 2.8 maize varieties on average, they actually only used 1.3 varieties in the survey year-an average that was similar in the two preceding years and somewhat higher in Uganda and Kenya (Table 38). Except in Ethiopia, the portfolio of maize varieties used by the surveyed farm households typically featured two-three prominent varieties in each study area (Table 39). In the case of Uganda three improved Longe varieties were most prominent, being grown by at least a quarter of the households, whereas in Tanzania local varieties were most widely reported. Kenya presents an interesting contrast, with the portfolio being dominated by one popular local maize and a third of the households reporting one particular hybrid. In Ethiopia, the most popular variety was only grown by 16% of the surveyed households, with the top spot being shared between a local variety and a hybrid, followed by a range of other varieties (Table 39). -Improved OPVs 2.3 c 0.3 a 1.6 b 3.5 c 2.0 (±1.9, 363)-Hybrids 1.8 b 0.5 a 0.4 a 1.9 b 1.0 (±1.6, 271)-Any maize variety 3.0 b 1.6 a 3.6 bc 5.7 c 3.2 (±5.1, 717)Notes: sd: standard deviation; n: sample size; all ps (Welch, * ANOVA or Chi-square) highly significant (0.00) unless otherwise indicated (ns: not significant). Data preceding different letters differ significantly -Tamhane's T2 (significance level: 0.10), within row comparison.Overall, improved and local maize varieties were about equally common among the surveyed farm households-be it in terms of households reporting their use (respectively 62% and 59% overall) or their share in reported seed use (49% and 51% -Table 38). However, local varieties are particularly widespread in the Kenya and Tanzania study areas, being reported by about a third of the surveyed households in Ethiopia and Uganda (Table 38).Interestingly, the Kenya study thereby combines the highest use rate of local varieties with the highest penetration of hybrids (41% of households) and a relative absence of (improved) OPVs. In contrast, the use of OPVs is widespread in the Ethiopian and Ugandan study areas (Table 38).Farmers have been growing the maize varieties they use for an average of five years -this being somewhat shorter in the Ethiopian and Kenyan study areas (Table 38). In line with expectations, local varieties have the longest durations of use (9.4 years overall), followed by OPVs and hybrids (Table 38). On average, surveyed farmers reported recycling their maize varieties for 3.2 years -this duration again being longest for local varieties as expected (Table 38). However, even hybrids were reportedly recycled for an average of one year, a practice particularly common in the Ethiopian and Tanzanian study areas (Table 38). OPVs were reportedly recycled for an average of two years (Table 38). Recycling of maize seed is indeed commonplace-with 70% of surveyed households (overall) reportedly retaining some of their maize harvest as seed, amounting to 4% of the maize produced on average (see earlier  Overall, 70% of the surveyed farm households reported having used improved maize varieties (OPVs or hybrids) during the five years preceding the survey, with about three quarters of users reporting continuous use (Table 40). Lack of money was the main reasons for those not using any improved varieties, followed by them being satisfied with existing varieties and not having heard/seen any better varieties (Table 40). Lack of money and satisfaction with existing varieties were also reported as the main reasons for not using improved varieties in the survey year (Table 40), whereas non-continuous use of improved varieties was primarily associated with non-satisfaction and again lack of money (Table 40).  -Other 5 0 0 3 0 9Notes: n: sample size; all p's (Chi-square) highly significant (0.00) unless otherwise indicated (nr: not relevant [empty cells]).The surveyed farm households started using improved maize seed varieties relatively recently-on average some five years before the survey (2002-03 across study sites). The maize varieties that were first used by the surveyed farm households are listed in Table 41many of which were still in use during the survey year (Table 39). The households were queried as to their sources of improved variety seed and related information (Table 42). 6 The main information sources were fellow farmers and the public extension-reported about equally overall but with a marked regional variation. Public extension is strikingly prominent in Ethiopia and Tanzania whereas fellow farmers are much more prominent in the Kenya and Uganda study areas. Improved maize variety seed was primarily acquired through purchases, mainly from agro-dealers. In the Ethiopia and Tanzania study areas it was relatively more common for farmers to acquire seed through public channels. A quarter of the surveyed farm households used saved seed and 16% seed from another farmer. About half the surveyed households reported availability as the main reason for the choice of seed source.   Notes: only for 716 households that used any improved variety during the 5 years preceding the survey. n: sample size [valid responses]; all p's (Chi-square) highly significant (0.00). Responses do not sum to 100% as multiple responses for household possible.About half (55% overall) of the surveyed farm households reported purchasing maize seed during the survey year, this being more common in the Kenya study site (63%) and least common in Tanzania (42% -Table 43). The maize varieties reportedly purchased by the surveyed farm households during the survey year are listed in Table 44. In line with expectations, the majority of the households that purchase maize seed, purchased improved varieties. However, a substantial number also purchase local varieties (32% of households overall), be it alone (20%) or in combination with improved varieties (12% -Table 43). Purchase of local varieties was most commonly reported in Kenya (54% of households), with the local Kikamba being the main maize variety being purchased in both major and minor seasons. For those that purchased, an average of 1.7 maize varieties were purchased, amounting to 30 kg of maize seed at an average cost of US$1 per kg-the reported seed prices being lowest in Ethiopia (US$ 0.4/kg) and highest in Kenya (US$ 1.6 -Table 43). The main time for maize seed purchases is in the run-up to the main season, although in Kenya and Uganda purchases for the minor season are also common (Table 43). This, in combination with varying rain seasons across the region, results in marked maize sales peaks per country, but with peaks spread throughout the year for the region as a whole (Figure 2).  Notes: % of households reporting the maize variety for households that purchase maize seed. Listed here are varieties that were named at least 5 times by country, with remainder lumped under others. Column % do not add up to 100% as multiple responses (up to 3 per season) possible across main and minor season. * Primarily reported as local varieties Maize is the major crop for the surveyed farm households. Maize seed alone thereby comprises half of the reported household's seed grain use (by weight -Table 45). Legumes accounted for the bulk of the remaining seed weight, with other cereals only contributing a fraction (Table 45). Whereas over half of the surveyed households purchased maize seed, purchases of other seeds was relatively uncommon (Table 45). Most common was the The use of animal manure and chemical fertilizers showed a marked regional variation, being largely limited to the Ethiopia and Kenya study areas (Table 47). Animal manure originated from the farm, with no purchases being reported. Chemical fertilizer use averaged less than 100 kg per surveyed household in Ethiopia and Kenya, with usage being somewhat more common in Kenya but application rates somewhat higher in Ethiopia (Table 47). Chemical fertilizer primarily included basal fertilizer, and to a lesser extent top dress. The chemical fertilizer cost averaged US$ 0.5 per kg, with the average transport costs amounting to an additional 10% (Table 47). In the case of the Kenya study areas, the use of chemical fertilizer and animal manure is primarily associated with maize production, with only limited application to other crops (Table 48). However, in the case of Ethiopia study areas the situation is mixed -animal manure being primarily applied to maize but maize only receiving a third of the chemical fertilizer and only a quarter of the surveyed households applying chemical fertilizer to maize (Table 48). Maize area also varies between the two study sites, and as a result the fertilizer rate in Ethiopian study sites only averages 12 kg per ha of maize, a fraction of the average 162 applied in Kenya (Table 48). Mechanization in land preparation for maize is limited (5% overall), and largely confined to a tenth of surveyed households in Ethiopia (Table 49). Sole manual land preparation still prevailed amongst the Tanzanian surveyed households, whereas the other study areas relied on a combination of animal traction and manual tillage, with animal traction being particularly prominent in Ethiopia (Table 49). Maize weeding was near universally reported, primarily using physical weeding practices, herbicide purchases being relatively uncommon amongst the surveyed households (9% overall), and largely confined to a fifth of surveyed households in Ethiopia. Insecticide purchases were reported by a tenth of the surveyed households, but largely confined to a quarter of surveyed households in Kenya (Table 49).The surveyed farm households nearly universally relied on family labor for maize production. About half the households used hired labor, although this was markedly more common in Kenya and Uganda study areas (Table 49). Communal labor and particularly shared labor were not commonly reported, with occurrences mainly in the Ethiopian study areas (Table 49). On average, family labor comprises at least three quarters of the labor used in the various maize production activities (Table 50). The contribution of other labor sources is highest for land preparation and weeding, with hired labor contributing about a fifth (Table 50).Weevils were the most common storage problem reported for maize grain and seed (87% overall), with less common problems including rodents (31%), moulds (3%, but largely confined to Uganda) and others (7%, including other insects -Table 51). The number of observations for storage problems of other cereals and legume (both grain and seed) are more limited, but in the case of legumes were similar to maize (mainly weevils, followed by rodents) whereas in the case of other cereals these two problems were equally common (Table 51). Farmers frequently used pesticides to combat the storage problems. Post-harvest losses of maize were reported by 29% of surveyed households (overall), although estimated losses amounted to only 1% of the maize produced on average (see earlier    The study also sought to establish surveyed farm households seasonal maize production patterns and areas planted during the survey year and preceding years. Maize yields were subsequently derived from these farmer reported estimates. The maize yield estimates should thus be interpreted with the necessary caution in view of the various potential measurement errors, including in terms of reported area, production levels and units and recall and enumeration error. Encouragingly though, the thus estimated yields compare reasonably with the regional average and country averages reported earlier (Table 1), also keeping in mind that the study targets the drought prone maize growing areas.Farmer reported maize yields averaged 1.4 ton per ha in the survey year, and 100-200 kg per ha less in the two preceding years (Table 52). Maize yields in the Tanzania study area were markedly lower (only 0.7 ton per ha), but were similar in the other study areas (1.5 ton per ha -Table 52). Average yields also varied by maize type: 1.2 ton per ha for local maize, 1.4 ton for OPVs and 1.9 ton for hybrids. A similar yield trend over maize types was apparent in each of the study areas, except for Tanzania where yields were similar for each maize seed type (Table 52). The particular case of the Tanzania study area is perhaps associated with its marked home consumption orientation of maize production and the prevailing maize management practices there, including prevalence of local varieties and non-use of chemical fertilizer. Only in the case of Kenya and Uganda is a seasonal contrast of maize yields possible, but whereas in Uganda yields for the two seasons are similar, they are markedly higher for the main season in Kenya, a reflection of maize production being markedly riskier in the minor season and management practices correspondingly less intensive (Table 52). The present chapter illustrates the diversity in maize varietal use in the drought prone study areas of eastern Africa. Although knowledge of maize varieties is widespread, the number of varieties actually in use is substantially less. Although improved maize varieties comprise about half the seed volume used, there is widespread and long-lasting seed recycling of both local as improved varieties. Improved maize varieties also show marked variation in terms of the relative importance of hybrids vs. OPVs. Finally, a substantial number of households purchase local maize varieties. In line with expectations, the various maize varietal indicators are positively associated with the household's resource endowment (Table 53). This particular classification of the household's resource endowment is however based solely on the first principal component, whereas it is variously associated with the various household assets depending on the study site. The present section provides a further exploration of the various factors associated with maize varietal use. Amongst the various seed use indicators, it focuses on the determinants of improved maize seed purchases. This was perceived as the most relevant and reliable indicator across study sites. Indeed, it was the sole indicator that showed a significant association with asset endowments across all study sites (Table 53). The factors associated with improved maize seed purchases can be variously analyzed, with limited dependent variable models such as Probit particularly popular (CIMMYT, 1993). Probit models were variously used here to explore the improved maize seed purchases by the surveyed farmers both for the eastern Africa study areas as a whole and for the individual study sites. To facilitate comparison the models use the same dependent and independent variables (Table 54). The dichotomous dependent variable represents whether the surveyed farm household purchased improved maize seed varieties during the survey year (0: no purchases; 1: purchases). As independent variables we used various uncorrelated structural variables that characterize the farm household. The regional model also includes country dummies whereas the country models contain district dummies. The district dummy takes a value of 1 for the first of the two districts in each country (as listed in Table 3). To correct for the survey sampling design the cluster option was used in Stata 11 (clustering by country at the regional level and by district at the country level). Overall, we expect asset and income indicators to be positively associated with the purchase of improved maize seed. We would however expect the incidence of drought to be negatively associated. Female headed ownership primarily reflects mobile phones and thereby a willingness of the household to invest in modern communication technology, which thus appears associated with the willingness to invest in modern maize production technology. Notes: See previous table for variable description. For regional model, model coefficients, standard errors, marginal effects and significance presented; for country models only marginal effects and their significance presented. Coefficients preceding * 's differ significantly from 0 ( *** significant at 1% level; ** at 5%; * at 10%). For dummy variables dF/dx is for discrete change from 0 to 1. a In case of Kenya access to credit predicts success perfectly and dropped from model estimation.The study targets drought prone maize producing districts. Still, the share of the farm allocated to maize was positively associated with the IMS purchases in four of the models except for Ethiopia. Reported drought incidence was however only significant and negatively associated with IMS purchases in Ethiopia, although it generally had a negative coefficient in line with expectations. When farm households attended agricultural related extension activities the likelihood of IMS purchases was enhanced at the regional level and in Uganda and Tanzania. Fallowing also enhanced the likelihood of IMS purchases in three models (regional, Ethiopia and Tanzania). Fallowing is associated with abundant land. Similarly households with abundant land (on a per capita basis) were more likely to purchase IMS (regional and Uganda). Abundant labor (on a per capita basis) was negatively associated with IMS purchases in Kenya and Tanzania, but positively in Ethiopia. This reflects the underlying household composition and factor scarcities. Amongst the study sites, Ethiopia combines the lowest average labor availability on a per capita basis with relatively young households. This suggests that Ethiopia farm households have many young dependants and may thus actually be labor constrained. In contrast, the Kenya study site has the highest labor to land ratios, suggesting surplus labor; whereas the Tanzania study site appears particularly capital constrained.IMS purchases are generally cash based and hence facilitated by cash availability. The positive sign of abundant cash income (on a per capita basis) across models is thus in line with expectations, but the coefficient was only significant in the regional and Uganda models. Similarly, access to credit enhanced the likelihood of IMS purchases at the regional level and was even a perfect predictor in the case for Kenya. Contrary to expectations, having an off-farm income source reduced the likelihood of IMS purchases in Tanzania. This is likely associated with the surveyed Tanzanian households being highly cash deficient and maize production being primarily consumption oriented (Tanzania having the lowest share marketed with the highest share consumed), whereby farm households may prefer to allocate resources to off-farm activities instead of maize production. This may partially also explain the earlier observed negative association between phone ownership and IMS purchases in Tanzania.The household head's years of schooling enhanced the likelihood of IMS purchases at the regional level and in Kenya. Having a female headed household head reduced the likelihood of IMS purchases in Kenya (likely reflecting resource constraints), but somewhat surprisingly enhanced the likelihood in Uganda. Having other assets enhanced the likelihood of IMS purchases, including draft animals (Ethiopia and Tanzania), livestock (regional), transport means (regional) and a radio and/or TV (Kenya). Only in Kenya was the district level dummy significant-i.e. the likelihood of IMS purchases was higher in Machakos district compared to Makeuni districts, associated inter alia with Machakos being closer to Nairobi, having a higher population density and a lower incidence of poverty (Muhammad et al., 2010). All the country dummies were negative and significant reflecting the higher average incidence of IMS purchases in the Ethiopia study site.The Probit models thereby reiterate the positive association between the farm household's assets and income and the likelihood of purchasing improved maize seed. This is in line with expectations. However, it also reiterates the challenge of disseminating improved maize varieties in general and drought tolerant maize in particular to the poorer strata of the farming communities in drought prone areas of eastern Africa.The study characterized farm households in the drought prone maize growing areas of eastern Africa synthesizing household survey data collected in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania (Legese et al., 2010;Mugisha et al., 2011;Muhammad et al., 2010;Temu et al., 2011). The study results are not representative for the respective countries as a whole, but were intended to be representative for the target area-maize growing areas in the medium drought risk zone having a 20-40% probability of failed season. From a methodological perspective, it was encouraging that the study site selection proved robust with the average number of crop failures due to drought during the last decade falling within this target range in each of the countries, although individual responses still oscillated widely (from 0 to 10). However, from a humanitarian and development perspective, such a prevalence of drought proves particularly challenging. Indeed, drought risk was both the most widely reported threat to the livelihoods of the surveyed households (76% overall) as well as the most serious shock that affected the surveyed households during the last decade (89% overall).The surveyed rural households in the drought prone study areas are typically small-scale family farms. Family labor is a key asset and the main labor source for farming activities; whereas land and livestock are the main natural assets. The rural households are relatively poor, and the physical and financial assets correspondingly limited. The livelihood asset base shows some marked variations between the countries surveyed. The Ugandan surveyed households combined the largest average family, farm and herd size and were relatively wellendowed compared to the other survey locations. Tanzanian surveyed households were relatively less-endowed; with intermediate classifications for the Kenya surveyed households (which combined the smallest average farm size with reasonable housing) and the Ethiopia surveyed households (which are relatively young and have relatively large families and herds). The household's asset endowment has a marked influence on the households' livelihood strategy, technology use and risk coping ability. A clear exponent is the positive association between the household's asset endowment and their use of improved maize varieties. 8The surveyed farm households are primarily mixed maize-livestock producers. Granted the study targeted maize growing districts, but the overarching presence of maize in terms of crop production was particularly striking. Maize cultivation in the sample was near-universal with an average 1 ha of maize per household, corresponding to some two-fifths of the farm area and about half the annually cropped area. Maize production is primarily dual purpose in the study areas: to meet household food needs and marketing of surplus. Overall, the relative volume of maize consumed is about double the maize volume sold; and only in the Uganda study areas do maize sales dominate consumption. Livestock are an important component of the livelihood portfolio of the surveyed farm households, ownership being near universal in the various study areas except in Tanzania; and primarily comprising cattle, goats and poultry. The surveyed farm households further complement their livelihood portfolio with off-farm income sources-with off-farm cash income sources nearly universally reported by the surveyed farm households in Kenya against about half elsewhere. Off-farm cash income thereby comprises 39% of annual reported cash income over all sites; with the highest cash incomes reported in Kenya followed by Uganda. Despite being farm households, food expenditure made up the largest expense category, with a third of the households being a net food buyer and only 58% considering themselves as food secure during the survey year. Indeed, after drought, food security issues were the most widely reported threat to the livelihoods of the surveyed farm households (63% overall). Some 29% of surveyed households were reportedly cash deficient-with Tanzanian households being particularly cash strapped. The precarious cash flow is illustrated by about half the surveyed households (overall) having had to sell off some assets during the survey year, most commonly so as to be able to buy food.Despite their location in drought prone areas, agriculture remains the pivot in the livelihood portfolio of the surveyed farm households with 80% seeking to increase agricultural production as their preferred strategy to enhance their livelihoods. Maize was rated as relatively profitable -but also as relatively susceptible to drought and to yield and price risk.The farm households rely on various coping strategies that typically revolve around agricultural diversification, asset accumulation and non-agricultural diversification. The dual purpose nature of maize production implies maize production is relatively sticky downwards-i.e. farmers stated their reluctance to reduce maize production. This suggests great scope for drought tolerant maize varieties as these would reduce the drought and yield risk while maintaining maize production as the central and preferred livelihoods activity.Drought tolerance and early maturity were indeed commonly reported as desired characteristics of the ideal maize variety and as influencing maize varietal choice, only being out-reported by yield potential. Although knowledge of maize varieties is widespread (2.8 varieties on average), the number of varieties actually in use is substantially less (1.3 varieties in the survey year), with non-use typically revolving around grain yield, expensive seed and non-availability of seed. Overall, 70% of the surveyed farm households reported having used improved maize varieties (OPVs or hybrids) during the five years preceding the survey. In the survey year the use of improved and local maize varieties were about equally commonbe it in terms of households reporting their use (respectively 62% and 59% overall) or their share in reported seed use (49% and 51%). However, local varieties are particularly widespread in the Kenya and Tanzania study areas. Improved maize varieties also show marked variation in terms of the relative importance of hybrids vs. OPVs. Interestingly, the Kenya study combines the highest use rate of local varieties with the highest penetration of hybrids and a relative absence of (improved) OPVs. In contrast, the use of OPVs is widespread in the Ethiopian and particularly in the Ugandan study areas.The surveyed farm households started using improved maize seed varieties relatively recently (on average 2002-03 across study sites). There is widespread and long-lasting seed recycling of both local as improved varieties. Lack of money was commonly reported as reason for not (continuously) using improved varieties, reiterating the prevailing cash constraints.Nearly half the farm households reported purchasing improved maize seed during the survey year; but a third also reported purchasing local varieties, something particularly common in the Kenya study site; whereas seed purchases for other grains are uncommon. Limited dependent variable models illustrate the positive association between the farm household's assets and income and the likelihood of purchasing improved maize seed. This is in line with expectations, but also reiterates the challenge of disseminating improved maize varieties in general and drought tolerant maize in particular to the poorer strata of the farming communities in drought prone areas of eastern Africa.Other external input use for maize production is relatively uncommon and limited. Soil fertility is managed by a varying combination of fallowing (particularly Uganda and Tanzania) and animal manure and chemical fertilizers (particularly Kenya and Ethiopia). Land preparation primarily relied on a combination of manual tillage and animal traction and weeding was primarily manual. Family labor comprised at least three-quarters of the labor used in the various maize production activities; with about half the households using some hired labor. Farmer-reported maize yields averaged 1.4 ton per ha in the survey year overall; albeit being markedly lower in the Tanzania study area. Overall maize yields averaged 1.2 ton per ha for local maize, 1.4 ton for OPVs and 1.9 ton for hybrids.The prevailing maize production practices and limited system productivity reiterate the great scope for drought tolerant maize varieties. Indeed, a greater drought tolerance will reduce productivity risk and enhance the expected returns to productivity enhancing investments. Still, the relatively extensive production practices and limited system productivity suggest a need for more comprehensive approaches that combine drought tolerant maize varieties with other productivity enhancing and risk reducing innovations. At the same time the prevailing poverty, the associated marked cash constraints and the dual purpose orientation of maize production call for a portfolio of improved drought tolerant maize varietal options. The Kenya study site is a case in point, whereby the farmers typically lack access to improved OPVs and buy hybrids and local maize varieties side by side. OPVs indeed provide a much needed option to drought prone areas with their inherent system constraints. Yet drought tolerant hybrids are also needed for those maize producing smallholders that are willing and able to invest in such seed. At the same time varietal options should extend beyond mere short duration or drought escaping. Medium duration varieties may provide viable and productive options provided they are drought tolerant.Enhancing the options of drought tolerant maize varieties available to farmers would have a number of implications. Such diversity offers new opportunities to maize seed companies, although it would also increase the number of their products and competition among products, increase transaction costs and perhaps reduce the scope of any single dominant product. It would also call for the strengthening of innovation pathways and information provision to the smallholder farming community. Many stakeholders, and particularly the less educated and poorer smallholders, already have difficulty in fully understanding the difference between OPVs and hybrids; between drought escaping and drought tolerance. It should thereby be acknowledged that farmers rely on a variety of information sources that often extend beyond the traditional public extension services, and increasingly rely on novel communication channels such as mobile phones.The present synthesis and underlying country studies were primarily intended as an initial characterization of the maize producing households in the drought prone areas of eastern Africa. This intended to provide the necessary context and enhance our understanding of the potential contribution of drought tolerant maize. Still, this only provides an initial piece of the puzzle. To address the complex challenges of realizing and enhancing the potential of drought tolerant maize in SSA this needs to be complemented by further socio-economic studies and interdisciplinary research. These will particularly enhance our ability to monitor, provide feedback and assess impacts and help facilitate enhanced research and development procedures and targeting of drought tolerant maize.The present study also allows us to draw some useful lessons for future characterization endeavors. By adhering to a common research approach, questionnaire and dataset, the synthesis and regional contrasts were greatly facilitated vis-à-vis earlier regional studies (e.g. Doss et al., 2003). Still, the synthesis would have benefitted from a stronger adherence to the common research approach for at least the core data-including sample selection and data entry. The study would also have potentially benefitted from a larger sample size (particularly for the second batch countries, but also for the first batch countries) and more nationally representative samples (i.e. beyond the two drought prone districts). This would have enhanced the potential relevance of the characterization data to achieve the secondary objective of using the same as a baseline for future impact assessment. The study would also have benefitted from a shorter questionnaire to collect the core minimal data, perhaps supplemented with additional modules as appropriate. Such proposed adjustments have the benefit of hindsight but also imply trade-offs (e.g. single vs. multiple visits). Indeed, research resources and particularly staff time are typically limited and thereby directly imply trade-offs of any adjustments. For instance, the underlying country studies were originally intended only in the first batch countries (Kenya and Ethiopia in the case of eastern Africa), but were subsequently extended to the second batch countries. This clearly was advantageous in terms of providing a broader geographic coverage and perspective, but at the same time diluted the available resources and delayed the completion of the present synthesis.Finally, it should be recalled that the present study purposively targeted the 20-40% probability of failed season (PFS) zone. For the characterization purposes of the present study, this proved adequate. The incidence of drought is however not limited to that area. Higher probabilities of failed season (i.e. 40-100% PFS) would correspond with even more frequent and severe droughts -but such areas become increasingly marginal for maize production and crop production for that matter. Some may argue that even the 20-40% PFS zone is not suitable to maize and that farmers would be better off cultivating other crops generally perceived as more drought tolerant than maize such as cassava and the array of semi-arid coarse cereals. However, such arguments miss the overarching rationale for growing maize in the first place -the widespread preference of the market and farm households alike for maize over other coarse cereals in large swathes of SSA. The drought risk in the 20-40% PFS target area thereby seems to affect how the maize is grown, not whether maize is grown. At the same time, a lower PFS (i.e. 0-20%) only implies a lower probability of failed season. Indeed, maize growing areas with higher potential also are subjected to random drought events. The most severe may lead to the occasional failed season, but even less severe drought can imply substantial maize production losses (also in view of the higher productivity levels and associated input use). Their lower probability and less visible incidence make understanding and quantifying the drought impact in such environments more problematic. Indeed, drought discussions with stakeholders and farmers tend to automatically gravitate towards situations where drought is tangible -such as the targeted 20-40% PFS zone and/or drier areas. It is therefore important to note that the potential contribution of drought tolerant maize varieties is not limited to the 20-40% PFS zone targeted here. Yet at the same time understanding that potential beyond the 20-40% PFS zone through household surveys and the like will be challenging. One may thus need to complement characterization studies such as the present with crop simulation endeavors to quantify the impact of drought in the more favorable areas."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1300899507.json b/main/part_2/1300899507.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..60fc5030b027036f403ce40cfcc6d72b30961431
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5ca31935c68d15b5d94e20293b920fe6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/835df5a3-7e61-4fc2-bbce-1215dd639d59/retrieve","id":"1983490765"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f6e4a4cc-50cc-48a1-9135-1add1954c2ec","content":"This document series compiles key indicators from the three levels of the baseline for each site. Indicators include: demography and basic site characteristics of each site, rainfall distribution, changes in farming practices and land management, income sources, food security and food sources, asset ownership by households and involvement in organisations and more.This CCAFS baseline indicator document was developed for the CCAFS site at Makueni/Wote, in Kenya.  Relative importance in the portfolio of organisations placed on climate or weather related activities"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1306522012.json b/main/part_2/1306522012.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..939d457e25005b295fce26707514e878db1c42c4
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+++ b/main/part_2/1306522012.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ec2249e9b7e190fd14f7593c61a2c9b9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/57227a0a-95e8-4551-b919-944084aabeab/retrieve","id":"-1613973188"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a1b364c7-8457-4c66-8875-14edf4ffbfa0","content":"More meat milk and eggs by and for the poor"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1316205653.json b/main/part_2/1316205653.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0758bb897c9a454ee7ad82d2713bf01d65e21a29
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"912c0b42583b0d251b0ad1ff2fe2c2c8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4fb39373-411f-4fa2-91f8-5e95683bd3ec/retrieve","id":"2092771093"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6a4d3499-1cc1-4890-9eb7-db76393c3889","content":"Community seedbanks and emerging networks of community seedbanks contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. Community seedbanks can secure improved access to and availability of diverse, locally adapted crops and varieties and enhance related indigenous knowledge and skills in plant management including seed selection, treatment, storage, multiplication and distribution.In July 2018, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Bioversity International, with the support of the Global Crop Diversity Trust and the Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), held two events in Rome, Italy, to highlight the contribution of community seedbanks and the emerging networks of community seedbanks to the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. 1 Eight representatives of organizations supporting community seedbanks from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America presented an overview of achievements, challenges, lessons learned and new opportunities in their countries. They also shared reflections on the prospects of community seedbanks and their networks. This brief presents a summary of their presentations and reflections.(adapted from https://www.archenoah.at/english/about-arche-noah) ARCHE NOAH was established in 1990 as an initiative of heirloom gardeners, farmers and journalists, concerned with the future of seeds and heirloom varieties. ARCHE NOAH responds to the loss of agrobiodiversity with a positive vision and numerous activities that contribute to more diversity, for example, through cultivation of threatened varieties in our gardens, through consumer awareness and political commitment. This attitude connects 13,000 members involved with ARCHE NOAH today. It is a vision of providing respectful care for nature as our number one provider. It is to look at our cultivated plants respectfully, to value gardening and farming as a cultural achievement, to consider ethically-motivated consumption as a contribution to organic and sustainable agriculture, and to make cooking a declaration of love.The Butia Palm Groves Route (Rota dos Butiazais, in Portuguese) is an innovative initiative that connects local practices and cultures with new knowledge generation and documentation to conserve and use sustainably an important biodiversity resource that offers ecosystem services and income generation. It represents a cultural network linked to the territories of the remnants of palm grove ecosystems in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. The Route aims to add value to Butia fruits, leaves and seeds and associated sociobiodiversity to promote social and economic changes that contribute to regional development and foster local and sectoral interests (e.g. tourism, livestock farming, organic agriculture and handicraft industry). In 2015, many people and institutions joined forces to establish a regional network of living community seedbanks to protect and promote the Butia. Butia palm groves consist of thousands of palms covering extensive areas. The palms are integral to the culture and history of the local people. Fruits can be consumed fresh or used as culinary ingredients for jelly, juice and liqueur. The leaves are used to produce many utilitarian and decorative objects such as baskets, hats, bags, purses and placemats. In the past, fibres from the leaves were widely used to produce mattresses. The community seedbanks receive support from the China Farmer Seeds Network (FSN). Established in 2013, FSN brings together more than 30 communities from 10 provinces, trains farmers in community seed banking, organizes exchanges among FSN communities and beyond, facilitates the establishment of community-based (often womenled) seed production units, promotes community-supported agriculture and ecological farming and links farmers to urban consumers for income generation. FSN uses a systematic and holistic seed systems approach to carry out these activities.CCAP and FSN are mobilizing policy and legal support to strengthen farmer seed systems. In China's recently completed Seed Law revision, they succeeded to maintain Article 27 (allowing farmers to save, exchange, produce and sell seeds locally) after law-makers had proposed to remove it. This success can be ascribed to the strong collective action of farmers and other stakeholders.In 1991, USC-Canada supported the establishment of the first community seed and tree seedling banks in the country in the village of Douentza Mopti and later in San and Tominian (Ségou) with the help of projects managed by the Genetic Resources Unit of the Institut d'Economie Rurale (URG/IER) and various national and international partners (among which, Bioversity International and FAO). The goal is to contribute to food security by means of the conservation and sustainable use of local plant genetic resources. The community seedbanks provide access to seed through decentralized seed production; they safeguard local diversity and related Future efforts aim to: strengthen links among community seedbanks at all levels through exchange visits and study tours; build their capacities; mobilize more policy support at national level; turn community seedbanks into agrobiodiversity innovation, sharing and learning centres combining traditional and scientific knowledge; and find financial resources to maintain community seedbanks effectively and sustainably.Mexico has 26 community seedbanks located throughout the country which exist since 2007. They are part of the strategy for the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture implemented by the National System of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (SINAREFI). The central objective of the community seedbanks is to support communities in case of seed losses due to natural disasters allowing the re-establishment of farmers' cultivation systems and the re-introduction of commonly used varieties. A second objective is to ensure the availability of seed for each planting cycle. The main activities carried out are: seed collection and distribution; participatory crop improvement; seed production; and education and awareness activities. The community seedbanks safeguard seeds of the so-called milpa system: the traditional system of maize, common bean and squash combined in the same field enriched with introduced crops such as wheat and oats. The seeds maintained include local varieties, improved old varieties, varieties derived from plant breeding and commercial varieties; the latter obtained more recently. The financing of the community seedbanks comes from the Ministry of Agriculture channelled to a number of public and private entities that take care of establishing and supporting community seedbanks at local level. The operations of the community seedbanks are carried out by the legal representative of the communities, interested producers, scientists, extension service agents and representatives of state governments (Mexico has a federal state system).The main lessons learned so far are: community seedbanks can be an effective part of a comprehensive strategy for the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture; producers must understand the principles of seed safeguarding under optimal conditions and apply these locally by making used of appropriate materials and practices; community seedbanks are crucial in areas of high Photo: At the Koumnatou seed fair, Bougouni, Sikasso, Mali. Credit: Institut d'Economie Rurale natural disaster risk, which should be carefully identified and prioritized for support; community seedbanks should be legally recognized and protected to guarantee operational viability and sustainability.Community seedbanks in Nepal have nearly 25 years of history. They were initiated with the support of NGOs who remain important supporters. In 2009, having observed a number of successfully-managed community seedbanks, the government of Nepal adopted the approach and piloted new community seedbanks in a few districts. Community seedbanks are included in recent agrobiodiversity and seed-related legislations. Community seedbanks focus on promoting the conservation and sustainable use of traditional varieties, increase access to quality seeds and planting materials of diverse crops and varieties and generate income for members associated with them. These activities contribute to realize farmers' rights as outlined in Article 9 of the ITPGRFA. Community seedbanks are  This served to rebuild the local seed systems and defend the rights of the indigenous communities. The community seedbank plays an important role to turn the Potato Park in a Noah's Arc where the largest in situ potato diversity in the world is conserved and where the crop can continue to evolve under environmental conditions and adapt to climate changes.Currently, the community seedbank holds 1,347 accessions, which Potato Park farmers are free to use at any time according to certain rules and regulations established by the Association of Potato Park Communities spelled out in an Intercommunity Agreement. The Potato Seed Guardians known as \"Arariwas\" manage the collection of the community seedbank on a dayto-day basis. Apart from conservation and exchange of seeds, the community seedbank also develops activities to add value to potatoes, such as the production of soaps and shampoos. Women are leading these activities. The community seedbank has an information system that documents and assists in the further development of traditional knowledge. Seeds are exchanged nationally and internationally during seed fairs and other events. With the support of ANDES, the communities have developed a biocultural protocol that defines how benefits generated from the conservation and sustainable use of potatoes in the Potato Park will be fairly shared.Community Technology Development Trust (CTDT), an NGO, has supported community seedbanks for more than two decades. CTDT considers supporting community seedbanks a critical strategy and mechanism to ensure on-farm conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture at the community level, in particular for neglected and under-utilized crops and plants. The facilities of a community seedbank empower farmers to own and control the means of production, the selection of ecologically adaptive crops, provide opportunities for crop diversification in the face of climate change, and facilitate seed and knowledge exchanges and support to farmer seed systems.In Zimbabwe, the CTDT-supported community seedbanks are linked with the national and regional crop improvement programmes, the CGIAR centres operating in the country, national genebanks, scientists, extension workers and policy-makers. They enable farmers to benefit from accessing a wide range of advanced and improved materials from the agricultural research institutions. This is important for enhancing agricultural productivity and improving food and nutrition security. The number of community seedbanks continues to grow.The way forward: some reflections• The diversity of community seedbanks around the world in terms of functions, activities, types and number of crops and crop varieties, governance and management modalities, reach and networking is remarkable and should be cherished.• Women seed custodians play important roles in the everyday management of community seedbanks but more could be done to recognize, reward and support them.  • Government support (political, financial and technical) can strengthen the operations and viability of community seedbanks and their networks.• There is a need to revise seed policies in many countries. These policies do not pay attention to community seedbanks and often hinder functions and activities, such as the production and marketing of farmer varieties.• Community seedbank networking at all levels can speed up learning and give community seedbanks a stronger voice.• Community seedbanks can be(come) centres of farmer innovation and play a role in the national innovation system.• A global platform to connect and strengthen community seedbanks would increase the visibility of community seedbanks, facilitate exchanges, support action research and learning, and advocate for policy and legal change and support.Correct citation: Vernooy, R., Clancy, E., Diulgheroff, S., Furman,  B., Gonzalez Santos, R., Guarino, L.,  Kajtna, B., Marino, M., Mushita, A.,  Shrestha, P., Song, Y., Egon Sosinski  Jr, E., Subedi, A. and Villacorta, J.  (2018). Joining forces to strengthen community seedbanks worldwide. Rome, Bioversity International, 8 pp.  "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1318189452.json b/main/part_2/1318189452.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..82645f0b71b713915cc3834dc0ea1d8f03118d09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/1318189452.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4270a13680872fc355600277708dc222","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/862c5761-72f5-4216-9b22-653fa6e15175/retrieve","id":"-49634698"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f5e6c97d-1290-4e86-acf1-6fda498983d5","content":"levels did not vary significantly across districts. However, Mbale had the highest average technical efficiency levels (51.84%) among bean farms, while Budaka had the least efficient bean farms with a mean of 41.44%.  In fact, there were differences between the lowest and highest technically efficient districts: the average technical efficiency levels between Mbale and Budaka were significantly different. This is attributed to Mbale having the highest bean productivity per ha, while Budaka was the least productive.Key results: Farm-specific efficiency scores across districts"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1321642310.json b/main/part_2/1321642310.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7c0d20df20cf4214ffae9a3226c8de1e35d93df0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/1321642310.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a82a09b94bf530864fb379b313b9c4b8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/855b29a9-9719-4105-ab7f-88758b958743/retrieve","id":"-918285880"},"keywords":["landraces","genetic diversity","population structure","West Africa","maize improvement","DArTseq markers"],"sieverID":"77235b2f-9e8a-4f42-abbe-18fe79600ae8","content":"Genetic adaptation of maize to the increasingly unpredictable climatic conditions is an essential prerequisite for achievement of food security and sustainable development goals in sub-Saharan Africa. The landraces of maize; which have not served as sources of improved germplasm; are invaluable sources of novel genetic variability crucial for achieving this objective. The overall goal of this study was to assess the genetic diversity and population structure of a maize panel of 208 accessions; comprising landrace gene pools from Burkina Faso (58), Ghana (43), and Togo (89), together with reference populations (18) from the maize improvement program of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Genotyping the maize panel with 5974 DArTseq-SNP markers revealed immense genetic diversity indicated by average expected heterozygosity (0.36), observed heterozygosity (0.5), and polymorphic information content (0.29). Model-based population structure; neighbor-joining tree; discriminant analysis of principal component; and principal coordinate analyses all separated the maize panel into three major sub-populations; each capable of providing a wide range of allelic variation. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that 86% of the variation was within individuals; while 14% was attributable to differences among gene pools. The Burkinabe gene pool was strongly differentiated from all the others (genetic differentiation values >0.20), with no gene flow (Nm) to the reference populations (Nm = 0.98). Thus; this gene pool could be a target for novel genetic variation for maize improvement. The results of the present study confirmed the potential of this maize panel as an invaluable genetic resource for future design of association mapping studies to speed-up the introgression of this novel variation into the existing breeding pipelines.Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most important cereal crops consumed in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and an essential component of livestock feed in the developed as well as developing world.We analyzed 208 maize accessions obtained from international and national gene banks in Africa (Supplementary Table S1). The maize panel comprised 190 landraces representing gene pools from Burkina Faso (58), Ghana (43), and Togo (89) (Supplementary Figure S1). The landraces from Burkina Faso and Togo were sourced from the gene bank at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria, whereas those from Ghana were provided by the Plant Genetics Resources Institute (PGRI) at Bunso, Ghana. The majority of these landraces were collected from farmers' fields in the 1970s and 1980s. However, the eco-geographical data of the collection sites of the landraces were not available. The study also included a diverse set (18) of drought-and heat-tolerant open pollinated populations (hereafter referred to as reference populations) developed by the Maize Improvement Program at IITA (MIP-IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria.For each accession, total genomic DNA was isolated from bulked leaf composites from 15 seedlings at two weeks old according to the DArT protocol (https://www.diversityarrays.com/orderinstructions/ plant-dna-extraction-protocol-for-dart/). The quality of each DNA sample was visualized by electrophoresis on 0.8% agarose gel, and the purified DNA was further quantified using a nano-drop spectrophotometer (Thermo Scientific, Wilmington DE, USA). Certified DNA samples were then sent to the Integrated Genomic Service and Support (IGSS) genotyping platform, Nairobi, Kenya, for genotyping. High-throughput genotyping was conducted in 96 plex DArTseq protocol, and SNPs were called using the DArT's proprietary software, DArTSoft, as previously described [22]. Reads and tags found in each sequencing result were aligned to the Zea mays L. genome reference, version AGPV3 (B73 Ref-Gen v4 assembly) [23].A total of 47,441 putative DArTseq markers were generated from the 208 maize panel. Prior to further analysis, the raw data set was filtered to remove markers with call rate <0.8, minor allele frequency (MAF) <0.05, and unmapped SNP markers. Thereafter, markers with no missing rate were retained using the TASSEL software version 5.2.12 [24]. The retained markers were subjected to various genetic diversity analyses including basic diversity statistics such as polymorphic information content (PIC), MAF, observed heterozygosity (H o ), and expected heterozygosity (H e ) using PowerMarker v. 3.2.5 [25]. The population structure of the maize panel was inferred using the Admixture model-based clustering algorithm implemented STRUCTURE 2.3.4 [26]. The adhoc number of clusters (k) was varied from 1 to 12, with 10,000 burn-in steps, followed by 10,000 Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations, as previously described [20,27]. For each k, ten independent iterations were implemented. The most likely number of k was determined by the ad hoc ∆ k statistics [28] embedded in Structure Harvester [29]. Accessions with membership proportions (Q-value) ≥80% were assigned to groups, while those with membership probabilities less than 80% were designated as admixtures [30]. The population structure of each gene pool (Burkinabe, Ghanaian, Togolese, and reference populations) were also estimated as described above. A discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) was carried out on the 208 maize panel using the first 40 principal components using the adegenet R package [31]. Membership probabilities of the individuals for the different gene pools were estimated using the \"find cluster\" function implemented in adegenet. Further, principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) was conducted to reveal the genetic relationships among the maize accessions using GenAlEx v. 6.503 software [32]. An unrooted neighbor-joining (NJ) tree was constructed by following the procedure of Nei [33] with 1000 bootstrap replicates in PowerMarker v3.25 [25]. The resulting NJ tree was visualized in Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis (MEGA) software version X [34] and edited using Figtree software v. 1.4.4 [35]. Genetic relationships within each maize gene pool were elucidated through construction of an unrooted NJ tree, as described above. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) was estimated in GenAlEx v. 6.503 [32] to partition components of genetic variance among and within the populations (k). Calculation of pairwise genetic differentiation statistics (F ST ) and haploid number of migrants (Nm) between gene pools was performed using GenAlEx v6.503 [32] with 999 permutations. F ST measures the amount of genetic variance that can be explained by population structure based on Wright's F-statistics [36], while Nm = [(1/F ST ) − 1]/4. An Nm value less than 1 indicates limited gene exchange among subpopulations [36].Out of the total 47,441 putative DArTseq markers, 5974 were retained after filtering. The GBS-DArTseq markers were unequally distributed across the ten chromosomes of the 208 maize panel. Chromosome 1 had the highest number of markers (905), while chromosome 10 had the least (422) (Supplementary Figure S2). H e , H o , MAF, and PIC values estimated for the entire maize panel (208 accessions) averaged 0.36, 0.50, 0.28, and 0.29, respectively (Table 1 The model-based simulation of population structure analysis of the maize panel (208 accessions) showed that the delta K values from the mean log-likelihood probabilities plateaued at K = 3 (389.43), followed by K = 4 (276.33), and K = 2 (273.07) (Figure 1a). At K = 3, the 208 maize panel was divided into three sub-populations (Figure 1b). Using an 80% membership probability threshold, 122 accessions (58.65%) were successfully assigned to the three subpopulations. In comparison, 86 accessions with a probability of associations less than 80% were designated as an admixed population (Supplementary Table S2). Subpopulation 1 was the most uniform (membership coefficient averaged, 90%), and it contained 53 landraces (49 from Burkina Faso, 3 from Togo, and 1 from Ghana). Subpopulations 2 and 3, which constituted 12.5% and 20.67% of the panel, respectively, were admixtures of Ghanaian and Togolese landraces, together with reference populations. Specifically, subpopulation 2 consisted of 26 accessions, 10 reference populations, and 11 and 5 Togolese and Ghanaian landraces, respectively. Subpopulation 3 comprised 24 and 15 landrace accessions from Ghana, and Togo, respectively, and 4 accessions from the reference population. The admixed group contained 60, 13, and 9 landraces from Togo, Ghana, and Burkina Faso, respectively, plus 4 reference populations (Supplementary Table S2). The additional smaller peaks observed at K = 4 (276.33) and K = 2 (273.07) implied the presence of subgroups within the three major groups (Figure 1). Therefore, an independent STRUCTURE run was performed for each gene pool. Sub-clustering of the Burkinabe and Ghanaian gene pools both yielded a sharp peak at K = 2 (Figure 2a,b). Sub-clustering the reference populations and Togolese landraces showed the highest peak at K = 3, and K = 9, respectively (Figure 2c,d). A substantial degree of admixture was observed for each gene pool (Supplementary Table S3).Genes 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 5 of 13and Ghanaian gene pools both yielded a sharp peak at K = 2 (Figure 2a,b). Sub-clustering the reference populations and Togolese landraces showed the highest peak at K = 3, and K = 9, respectively (Figure 2c,d). A substantial degree of admixture was observed for each gene pool (Supplementary Table S3).(a) (b) and Ghanaian gene pools both yielded a sharp peak at K = 2 (Figure 2a,b). Sub-clustering the reference populations and Togolese landraces showed the highest peak at K = 3, and K = 9, respectively (Figure 2c,d). A substantial degree of admixture was observed for each gene pool (Supplementary Table S3).(a) (b) Using the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) implemented in DAPC, a maximum of K = 3 was obtained, which corresponded to three groups of maize accessions in the panel (Figure 3). Estimation of the cluster membership revealed that cluster three had the highest number of accessions (94) followed by cluster two with 77 accessions, and cluster one with the smallest number of accessions (37). Of the 94 accessions in cluster three, 58 (61.70%) and 29 (30.85%) were landraces from Togo and Ghana, respectively, including six reference populations and the landraces from Burkina Faso (Supplementary Table S4). All the accessions in cluster two were landraces from Burkina Faso (57), Togo (17), and Ghana (3). Of the 37 accessions in cluster 1, 14 (37.84%) were Togolese landraces, 12 (32.43%) were from the reference populations, while 11 (29.73%) were Ghanaian landraces. Using the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) implemented in DAPC, a maximum of K = 3 was obtained, which corresponded to three groups of maize accessions in the panel (Figure 3). Estimation of the cluster membership revealed that cluster three had the highest number of accessions (94) followed by cluster two with 77 accessions, and cluster one with the smallest number of accessions (37). Of the 94 accessions in cluster three, 58 (61.70%) and 29 (30.85%) were landraces from Togo and Ghana, respectively, including six reference populations and the landraces from Burkina Faso (Supplementary Table S4). All the accessions in cluster two were landraces from Burkina Faso (57), Togo (17), and Ghana (3). Of the 37 accessions in cluster 1, 14 (37.84%) were Togolese landraces, 12 (32.43%) were from the reference populations, while 11 (29.73%) were Ghanaian landraces. Further investigation of the genomic structure of the maize panel using the PCoA indicated three subpopulations as per the STRUCTURE simulation and DAPC analyses (Figure 4). The total amount of genetic variation explained by the first two principal coordinates was 57%. The PCoA clearly separated subpopulation 3 (by PCo2), which showed a higher degree of admixture between Ghanaian and Togolese landraces, including six reference populations and a landrace from Burkina Faso. The other two subpopulations appeared to be distributed along PCo1. Although some degree of overlap among landrace gene pools was shown in subpopulation 1, located at the upper extreme of PCo1, ~75% were Burkinabe landraces. Subpopulation 2 distributed along the lower extreme of PCo1 was the most distant of the three, comprising the majority of the reference populations and four Ghanaian landraces.As per the STRUCTURE, DAPC, and PCoA results, the NJ phylogenetic tree also showed three sub-populations with higher degrees of admixture among Ghanaian and Togolese landraces, and reference populations (Figure 5). The neighbor-joining tree performed for each gene pool divided the Further investigation of the genomic structure of the maize panel using the PCoA indicated three subpopulations as per the STRUCTURE simulation and DAPC analyses (Figure 4). The total amount of genetic variation explained by the first two principal coordinates was 57%. The PCoA clearly separated subpopulation 3 (by PCo2), which showed a higher degree of admixture between Ghanaian and Togolese landraces, including six reference populations and a landrace from Burkina Faso. The other two subpopulations appeared to be distributed along PCo1. Although some degree of overlap among landrace gene pools was shown in subpopulation 1, located at the upper extreme of PCo1, ~75% were Burkinabe landraces. Subpopulation 2 distributed along the lower extreme of PCo1 was the most distant of the three, comprising the majority of the reference populations and four Ghanaian landraces.Burkinabe and Ghanaian gene pools into two main clusters (Figure 6b). The Togolese landraces and the reference populations were grouped into nine and three clusters, respectively (Figure 6b,c).  Cord.2 (21%)Cord. 1 (36%) As per the STRUCTURE, DAPC, and PCoA results, the NJ phylogenetic tree also showed three sub-populations with higher degrees of admixture among Ghanaian and Togolese landraces, and reference populations (Figure 5). The neighbor-joining tree performed for each gene pool divided the Burkinabe and Ghanaian gene pools into two main clusters (Figure 6b). The Togolese landraces and the reference populations were grouped into nine and three clusters, respectively (Figure 6b,c).Genes 2020, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 7 of 13Burkinabe and Ghanaian gene pools into two main clusters (Figure 6b). The Togolese landraces and the reference populations were grouped into nine and three clusters, respectively (Figure 6b,c).  The AMOVA revealed that 14% of the total variation was found among gene pools, while the rest (86%) was within gene pools (Table 2). The overall F ST value of the maize panel was 0.21, and the Nm value was 1.58. As shown in Table 3, the Burkinabe gene pool had the highest F ST value (0.28), and the Ghanaian and Togolese gene pools had the lowest (0.18, each). The pairwise F ST values ranged from 0.14 (Ghanaian vs. Togolese) to 0.31 (Burkinabe vs. reference populations). Similarly, Nm values between gene pools varied from 0.98 (Burkinabe vs. reference populations) to 2.83 (Ghanaian vs. reference populations). The Nm value between the Ghanaian and Togolese gene pools was 2.63.  A well-characterized and diverse germplasm is an essential requisite for genetic enhancement of crops. In this study, we applied GBS technology to explore the genetic diversity and population structure of a maize panel comprising landrace gene pools from Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Togo, plus a reference population from IITA-MIP. The results of the estimated diversity indices revealed ample genetic diversity within the maize panel indicated by average H e (0.36) and H o (0.5). The He obtained in this study was comparable to the 0.36 reported for provitamin A (PVA) quality protein maize (QPM) germplasm from IITA-MIP [21] but was higher than that reported for maize landraces from Eastern Africa (H e = 0.25), Western Africa (H e = 0.18), and Sahel Africa (H e = 0.24) [9] as well as tropical maize breeding populations (H e = 0.22) [27] including IITA early-maturing white inbred lines [20]. Characterization of the Burkinabe, Ghanaian, and Togolese maize pools showed different values for the estimated diversity indices. The results indicated that the Togolese gene pool (H e = 0.36, H o = 0.50) contained slightly higher diversity than the Burkinabe (H e = 0.30, Ho = 0.41) and Ghanaian (H e = 0.32, H o = 0.34) landrace pools. Further, the low variation in the genetic indices identified between the landraces as a group, and the reference populations showed that the two germplasm sets possessed similar genetic diversity (Table 1). These results agreed with previous findings that tropical maize germplasm is highly diverse with H e > 0.3 [37][38][39]. The mean PIC obtained in the present study, 0.29 using 5974 DArTseq SNPs for the 208 maize accessions was higher than the 0.19 and 0.26 reported for tropical early-maturing maize inbred lines using 15,047 [30] and 7224 SNPs for a sample size of 94 and 134, respectively [20,27]. The discrepancies between the results of our study and those of earlier researchers may be due to the use of different genetic materials, the sample sizes, and the number of SNPs used. Nonetheless, the mean PIC value in this study was like the 0.29 recently reported for tropical PVA-QPM maize germplasm using 8171 DArTseq SNP markers [21].The Evanno criterion employed for the model-based simulation of population structure identified the peak level of ∆K at K = 3 (Figure 1a), which depicted the presence of three genetically distinct subpopulations (Figure 1b). The proportion of admixed accessions (47%) in the maize panel, based on a membership probability threshold of 80%, suggested moderate genetic differentiation and gene flow. The DAPC, PCoA, and NJ phylogenetic analyses results all illustrated the existence of three subpopulations in the whole set of 208 maize accessions. Comparison of the results of the four complementary clustering methods (STRUCTURE, DAPC, NJ tree, and PCoA) revealed high consistency in the individuals assigned to each group, which reinforced the findings that the identified groups were indeed genetically distinct. The close proximity between Togolese and Ghanaian gene pools suggested high genetic relatedness of the two gene pools. This result was expected due to the geographical proximity of the two countries and the similarity of the climatic conditions. The Burkinabe gene pool largely diverged from all others, suggesting its adaptation to Sahel conditions, which is in agreement with its pattern of phenotypic diversity [12]. Multivariate analyses revealed high affinity of Ghanaian and Togolese landraces with the reference populations (Figures 1 and 3-5). It is likely that some of these accessions are not true landraces but, rather, old improved cultivars that were either recollected or wrongly classified, as farmers usually consider improved varieties cultivated over longer periods in a given area as landraces [40]. The grouping together of some landraces with the reference populations also suggested a pedigree relationship. Hence, it is possible that some of the landraces analyzed in this study were local varieties that were selected by earlier maize breeders in IITA, based on high grain yield, earliness, and resistance to the maize streak virus (MSV), and adaptation to the drought and heat stress as starting materials for the development of inbred lines that were later involved in cross-breeding (see http://r4dreview.iita.org/index.php/tag/maize-improvement/). The additional smaller peaks observed at K = 4 (276.33) and K = 2 (273.07) implied the presence of subgroups within the three major groups (Figure 1). Therefore, an independent STRUCTURE run was performed for each gene pool (Figure 2). The high degree of genetic admixtures within each landrace gene pool observed with ancestry share of <80% probably reflects considerable levels of gene flow or germplasm exchange. Results of previous studies have shown that such an admixture is not unusual in landraces from restricted geographical backgrounds [40].According to Frankham et al. [41], an F ST value greater than 0.15 can be considered as significantly differentiating populations. Thus, in the present study, the overall F ST value (0.21) supported the presence of significant genetic divergence within the maize panel. Wright [36] reported that an Nm value less than 1 indicated limited gene exchange among populations. In the present study, the overall Nm value of 1.58 (Table 2) indicated that moderate genetic exchange or gene flow may have occurred, leading to the moderate genetic differentiation between gene pools. This observation was consistent with the AMOVA results (Table 2), which indicated that 14% of the total variation was accounted for by gene pool variations. This result is consistent with the findings of previous studies [42]. According to the F ST values, the Burkinabe gene pool was the most differentiated (Table 3), in agreement with its divergence as revealed by the clustering methods (STRUCTURE, PCoA, DAPC, and NJ analyses). The divergence between the reference populations and landraces varied among the different gene pools. In particular, the low affinity of the Burkinabe gene pool with the reference population (F ST = 0.31, Nm = 0.98) suggested little involvement of the original Sahelian gene pool in the development of the modern maize varieties presently grown in the sub region. This observation is biologically and historically meaningful since in West Africa, the reference maize gene pool called Composite Y [43], which was developed through recombination of 145 flint landraces of West Africa savannah zone, contained only 2% each of the genetic materials from Burkina Faso and Niger, as well as 1% of those from Senegal [44]. In the analyses of the isozyme variability in West African maize cultivars, Sanou et al. [45] showed that Burkinabe landraces were distinct, even though some levels of gene flow between them and an elite open pollinated variety (SR 22) developed by IITA in 1984 from CIMMYT Pop 22 and widely adopted in Burkina Faso [46] was observed. Therefore, the Burkinabe gene pool, having been grown and selected by farmers over many generations under warmer and drier conditions, could harbor novel and favorable alleles for improving maize for tolerance to drought and heat stresses. It is notable that in our earlier work on this maize panel, the high degree of tolerance of the Burkinabe landraces to drought, heat, and the combined heat and drought stresses was unrivalled [47,48]. The high genetic similarity observed between the Ghanaian and Togolese landraces was supported by their low F ST (0.14) and high Nm (2.63) values. This result further reflected the gene flow via seed exchanges and local preferences towards a given agrotype owing to similar climatic conditions. These may have significantly shaped the distribution of the genetic diversity within Ghanaian and Togolese maize landraces, as was previously suggested [12]. The F ST and Nm values (Table 3) suggested that the Ghanaian gene pool was closer to the reference populations, in agreement with PCoA stratification (Figure 4). Indeed, the reference set analyzed in this study included two popular cultivars that are commonly cultivated in Ghana (Aburoheema and Obatanpa GH, coded IM1 and IM6, respectively). The deep knowledge of the genetic diversity and structure of Sahel and coastal West African maize landraces revealed in the present study provides an essential platform for efficient use of these valuable maize gene pools.In the present study, we explored the genetic diversity and relationships within and between a maize panel comprising landrace gene pools from Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Togo and compared each to a reference maize population. The analysis of genetic diversity parameters indicated ample genetic diversity in the maize panel. The four multivariate methods were consistent in dividing the maize panel into three distinct genetic groups, each capable of providing different sources of variation for maize genetic enhancement. The genetic divergence of the Burkinabe gene pool was particularly remarkable. It, therefore, clearly represents an invaluable genetic resource that should be exploited to address the overarching goal of improving maize for adaptation to different environments, ecosystems, and stress situations. Overall, the genetic diversity revealed in this study has provided an invaluable resource for future analyses of candidate genes for local adaptations using robust association mapping experiments.The following are available online at http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/11/9/1054/s1, Figure S1: Map of West Africa showing the countries of origin of the maize landraces analyzed in this study. Figure S2: Distribution of the 5974 DArTseq GBS makers across the 10 chromosomes of the 208 maize accessions. Table S1: Excel file with the description of the accessions analyzed in this study. Table S2 "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0d729229746f64f43b170275200967b6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/1e488750-4bd9-4dbf-a43d-05cf5707435e/content","id":"-1850175840"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"88396e58-a6ce-4e6d-b451-9a2e4753c627","content":"Race Ug99 (TTKSK) of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, detected in Uganda in 1998, has been recognized as a serious threat to food security because it possesses combined virulence to a large number of resistance genes found in current widely grown wheat (Triticum aestivum) varieties and germplasm, leading to its potential for rapid spread and evolution. Since its initial detection, variants of the Ug99 lineage of stem rust have been discovered in Eastern and Southern African countries, Yemen, Iran, and Egypt. To date, eight races belonging to the Ug99 lineage are known. Increased pathogen monitoring activities have led to the identification of other races in Africa and Asia with additional virulence to commercially important resistance genes. This has led to localized but severe stem rust epidemics becoming common once again in East Africa due to the breakdown of race-specific resistance gene SrTmp, which was deployed recently in the 'Digalu' and 'Robin' varieties in Ethiopia and Kenya, respectively. Enhanced research in the last decade under the umbrella of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative has identified various race-specific resistance genes that can be utilized, preferably in combinations, to develop resistant varieties. Research and development of improved wheat germplasm with complex adult plant resistance (APR) based on multiple slow-rusting genes has also progressed. Once only the Sr2 gene was known to confer slow rusting APR; now, four more genes-Sr55, Sr56, Sr57, and Sr58-have been characterized and additional quantitative trait loci identified. Cloning of some rust resistance genes opens new perspectives on rust control in the future through the development of multiple resistance gene cassettes. However, at present, disease-surveillance-based chemical control, largescale deployment of new varieties with multiple race-specific genes or adequate levels of APR, and reducing the cultivation of susceptible varieties in rust hot-spot areas remains the best stem rust management strategy.Hexaploid common wheat (Triticum aestivum) and tetraploid durum wheat (T. turgidum var. durum) are cultivated on more than 215 million hectares worldwide at a wide range of altitudes and latitudes, with a record estimated production by FAO of 725 million metric tons in 2014, up 7.6 million metric tons (or 1.1%) from the 2013 record level, providing approximately one-fifth of the calories and protein intake in humans (WHEAT 2014). The demand for wheat continues to increase at an annual rate of 1.6% and some estimates indicate that 60% more wheat will be needed by 2050 (WHEAT 2014).Stem rust, or black rust, caused by Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, can occur wherever wheat is grown (Roelfs et al. 1992). Although not the most widespread or common among the wheat rusts, stem rust disease has the potential to cause the most damage when an epidemic occurs (Dean et al. 2012). Severe wheat stem rust epidemics occurred in the United States in 1919, 1920, 1923, 1927, 1935, 1953, and 1954(Roelfs 1978). Average statewide wheat yield losses during these epidemics were 25.4% in Minnesota,28.4% in North Dakota,and 19.3% in South Dakota. In contrast, since 1954, only localized epidemics have occurred in the United States and the rest of North America. The prevention of widespread stem rust attacks is attributed to the deployment of cultivars with combinations of multiple resistance genes and the removal of the alternate host of P. graminis f. sp. tritici, barberry (Berberis vulgaris) near wheat-growing regions (Kolmer et al. 1991).Worldwide, stem rust is mostly found in regions with a continental climate where summer temperatures regularly exceed 25°C. The disease has caused wheat losses during different historical periods in Canada (Kolmer 2001), the Southern Cone of South America (German et al. 2007), continental Europe, the Indian subcontinent, Australia (Park 2007), South Africa (Pretorius et al. 2007), East Africa (Wanyera et al. 2006), and China (Knott 1989;Roelfs et al. 1992).In 1998, a new race of stem rust fungus with a notably unique virulence to resistance gene Sr31 was found in Uganda and subsequently named Ug99 (Pretorius et al. 2000). Race-typing experiments using urediniospore samples identified Ug99 to be the race that caused the 2004 epidemics in Kenya (Wanyera et al. 2006) and suggested that it was likely the cause of preceding epidemics that occurred after 2002 in the country. Following the North American stem rust nomenclature system (Roelfs and Martens 1988), Ug99 was designated as TTKS (Wanyera et al. 2006). Evaluations of international breeding germplasm and varieties through seedling tests in greenhouse and field screening revealed that the Ug99 race possessed broad virulence to stem rust resistance genes, especially those predominant in varieties and breeding germplasm (Jin and Singh 2006;Jin et al. 2007;Pretorius et al. 2000;Singh et al. 2006). Although the TTKS race code appeared to be unique, this designation did not reflect one of the most unique characteristics of Ug99 and overlooked its virulence to resistance genes Sr31 and Sr38. This necessitated a revision of the North American stem rust nomenclature system and resulted in the addition of resistance genes Sr24, Sr31, Sr38, and SrMcN into the differential set (Jin et al. 2008). This led to the redesignation of race TTKS to TTKSK, which recognized virulence to Sr31 and Sr38, one of the most significant and unique virulence combinations known in P. graminis f. sp. tritici populations worldwide.Recognizing its potential threat to wheat production, 1970 Nobel Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug raised the alarm and called for global action to fight the disease. The subsequent launch of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) in 2005 led to a concerted international collaborative effort to combat the emerging threat of wheat rusts. A key component of BGRI is surveillance and monitoring, which has successfully tracked the evolution and spread of important stem rust races (Hodson et al. 2012).A series of reviews by Singh et al. (2006Singh et al. ( , 2008Singh et al. ( , 2011a) have documented the significance, emergence, evolution, and geographical spread of the Ug99 race group at regular intervals. In each review, an update on the latest known status of the Ug99 race group and highlights of all major changes since 2010 are provided. New emerging stem rust threats are also featured, along with an assessment of the current status of global rust monitoring systems, which were established in response to the Ug99 threat. Seven races, phenotypically recognized as a lineage, were identified until 2010 (Singh et al. 2011a), and these were distributed across nine countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Currently, there are eight confirmed races in the Ug99 lineage and these have been detected in 13 countries (unpublished data), indicating that the pathogen has continued to evolve and expand in geographical range. All known races in the Ug99 lineage and their key characteristics are shown in Table 1.Based on virulence phenotypes, it became evident that Ug99 should be regarded as a race group. One of the most intriguing races in the Ug99 race group is TTKSF, a member that is avirulent to Sr31. TTKSF was first detected in South Africa in 2000 (Boshoff et al. 2002) and was distinctive from local races based on its virulence to Sr8b and Sr38. Race TTKSF or its theoretical ancestor race PTKSF can be regarded as the most likely candidates as originators of this lineage if the Ug99 race complex resulted from asexual mutations. However, sexual recombination may have contributed to the evolution of the lineage because B. holstii, known to be susceptible to P. graminis f. sp. tritici, is present in proximity to wheat production areas in the highlands of eastern Africa (Y. Jin, unpublished). Isolates of P. graminis have been recovered from aecial infections in Ethiopia (G. Woldeab and Y. Jin, unpublished), indicating that B. holstii can serve as an alternate host in Ethiopia, and P. graminis is able to complete its life cycle.The latest race to be identified within the Ug99 lineage is TTKSF+ (Pretorius et al. 2012). It was detected in samples collected from South Africa and Zimbabwe in 2010 and identified as the result of the susceptibility of the South African 'Matlabas' wheat. The gene affected by TTKSF+ was characterized as Sr9h (Rouse et al. 2014a). Race TTKSF+ could be a single-step mutation of the existing race TTKSF, which was first identified in South Africa in 2000, then Zimbabwe (2009) and Uganda (2012). Although TTKSF+ was first reported in 2010, recent recharacterization of older South African isolates has shown virulence to Sr9h in a TTKSF culture collected in 2003, indicating that virulence existed much earlier than reported (Z. A. Pretorius, unpublished). Virulence to resistance gene Sr9h brings the total number of stem rust resistance genes known to be ineffective against the Ug99 race lineage to 34, whereas at least 39 genes remain effective, including several newly described stem rust resistance genes (Table 2), which is a positive news for breeding resistant varieties.The geographical distribution of the Ug99 race group has also expanded and the changing distribution over time is illustrated in Figure 1. The countries where Ug99 race group members have been identified include Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iran, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, and Zimbabwe. Of these countries, Egypt, Eritrea, Rwanda, and Mozambique have confirmed the presence of Ug99 lineage races since 2010. Egypt is the most recent country to confirm detection. Since 2010, specific races have been identified in an expanded range. Notably, race TTTSK (Ug99 + Sr36 virulence) was detected in three additional countries, including Ethiopia, Uganda, and Rwanda, and race PTKST (virulent on Sr24) was also detected in three additional countries, including Eritrea, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. Detection of race TTKSF (avirulent on Sr31) in Uganda ( 2012) is also noteworthy because this race was previously identified only in southern Africa, which implies a connection between southern and eastern Africa epidemiological zones. Simple-sequence repeat (SSR) fingerprinting by Visser et al. (2009) showed that race TTKSF occurring in South Africa was significantly different from other existing non-Ug99 races; thus, it is a Race designation follows the North American nomenclature system described by Jin et al. (2008). Race TTKSF+ is given a temporary name because it exceeds the current North American 20-differential gene set.highly likely that the Ug99 lineage was a foreign introduction. In fact, the detection of TTKSF in Uganda once again supports the hypothesis of rust inoculum exchange between southern and eastern Africa. Additional samples of stem rust are currently undergoing analysis and it is likely that the pattern of continued evolution within the Ug99 lineage and geographical expansion will continue in the future.The global rust monitoring system established in response to the Ug99 threat is engaged in detecting and monitoring other races virulent to commercially important resistance genes, leading to the detection of various races with a broad geographic footprint. Those efforts led to the detection of RRTTF and TKTTF, two races with wide distribution throughout East Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia (Fig. 2). Race RRTTF was witnessed in Iran in 1997 and was still present in 2007 (Nazari and Mafi 2013). RRTTF is also present in Ethiopia (2007), Yemen (2007), andPakistan (2009). Admassu et al. (2009) reported a widely distributed race, RRTTR, in Ethiopia from stem rust samples collected during 2006 and 2007 based on a differential set described in Fetch and Dunsmore (2004) in which Sr24, Sr31, and Sr38 were not used. It is considered likely that the race reported by Admassu et al. (2009) was actually RRTTF hence this race was likely present in Ethiopia at least since 2006.Races similar to TKTTF occurred in Turkey in the 1990s and still predominate (Mert et al. 2012). They have also been detected in Iran (2010), Lebanon (2012), Ethiopia (2012), and Egypt (2013). This race group does not belong to the Ug99 lineage based on avirulences to Sr11 and Sr31 and molecular fingerprints (Olivera Firpo et al. in press). The presence of stem rust races with identical virulence profiles throughout this vast region implies that there are inoculum exchanges.In 2013, Ethiopia experienced localized but severe stem rust epidemics in the southern wheat production region and the epidemics continued into the 2014 crop season (Olivera Firpo et al. in press). Race analyses of samples from the epidemic regions detected race TKTTF to be the causal race behind these epidemics. Race TKTTF is highly virulent to the widely grown 'Digalu' wheat, which possesses resistance gene SrTmp that is effective against the Ug99 race group and ineffective against TKTTF. Through the global rust-monitoring system established by BGRI, not only was the causal race identified but also its dispersal patterns were elucidated and germplasm screening activities initiated to identify existing or new resistant cultivars.As discussed, available evidence indicates the strong likelihood of an origin and presence for race TKTTF in the Middle East region (Newcomb et al. 2013). The first confirmed detection of race TKTTF in Ethiopia was in August 2012 but the race remained at a low frequency and escaped further detection until early October 2013. By mid-November 2013, a severe epidemic on the most widely grown variety (Digalu) had started. This cultivar, despite resistance to the Ug99 race group and prevalent races of stripe rust, was highly susceptible to race TKTTF and suffered grain yield losses of up to 100% covered an area exceeding 10,000 ha. Despite an early warning, which led to a major national awareness campaign and extensive fungicide use, the absence of seed of varieties resistant to stem rust race TKTTF made effective control impossible in the 2014-15 growing season. Thousands of hectares were severely affected by the devastating epidemic. The enormous inoculum load poses a threat for future crops in Ethiopia and the surrounding region and also increases the risk of mutation and further evolution.Reports of stem rust in some fields of 'Robin', a variety released in 2011 and postulated to carry resistance gene SrTmp, emerged in the wheat crop sown in the 2014 off-season in Kenya. In the 2014 main crop season, some fields of Robin, especially those of small farmers, suffered significant losses, although losses to stem rust for large-scale farmers were limited due to the use of fungicides. Host reactions on International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) wheat breeding materials and checks possessing different resistance genes at Njoro indicate a likely evolution and selection of SrTmp virulence in the Ug99 lineage. Analyses are in progress to determine whether the stem rust outbreak on Robin in Kenya was due to race TKTTF or yet-to-be characterized variants of Ug99 with added virulence to SrTmp.Strong messages emerge from the Ethiopian TKTTF experience. The presence of a race in one region and incursion into a new region can have a devastating impact. The speed with which a stem rust epidemic can develop and spread is incredibly fast. Effective control of stem rust, especially under small-holder farming systems, is virtually impossible in the absence of resistant varieties. The current stem rust situation in Ethiopia reinforces the need for TABLE 2. Origin and usefulness of cataloged and temporarily designated Sr genes in conferring seedling or adult plant resistance to all Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici races belonging to the Ug99 lineage Stem rust resistance (Sr) genesTriticum aestivum a 5, 6,7a,7b,8a,8b,9a,9b,9f,9h,10,16,18,19,20,23,30,41,49,54,McN, Wld-1 15 a,b,c , 28 b , 29 c,d , 42 b,c , 48, 55 c,e , 56 c,e , 57 c,e , 58 c,e , Tmp (or Sha7) b,c , Huw234 b,c , ND643 c , Yaye c T. turgidum 9d, 9e, 9g, 11, 12, 17 2 c,e , 13 b,c , 14 effective global rust surveillance and monitoring, the critical need for the continued development and promotion of durable rust resistant varieties, and the diversification of varietal and cropping systems.A large proportion of the North American and CIMMYT durum wheat lines, selected for Ug99 resistance trials in Kenya in 2005, became susceptible when tested in a field stem rust nursery in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia, suggesting the presence of stem rust races that were virulent to the TTKSK-effective genes present in durum wheat germplasm. Race-typing studies identified two races, JRCQC and TRTTF, the latter also occurring in Yemen (Olivera et al. 2012). Both JRCQC and TRTTF possess virulence on stem rust resistance genes Sr13 and Sr9e, two genes constituting major components of stem rust resistance in North American and CIMMYT durum cultivars and germplasm. In addition to Sr9e and Sr13 virulence, race TRTTF is virulent to at least three stem rust resistance genes  in 2005, 2008, 2010, and 2014. that are effective to race TTKSK, including Sr36, SrTmp, and a temporarily designated resistance gene Sr1RS (Amigo) located on 1AL.1RS rye translocation. Race TRTTF is the first known race with virulence to the stem rust resistance gene Sr1RS (Amigo), which represents one of the few genes effective against Ug99 race group in winter wheat cultivars from the United States. The presence of these races in Ethiopia led to the establishment of screening wheat materials, especially durum wheat, at the Debre Zeit field site in Ethiopia under the BGRI to identify resistant sources that can contribute to durum wheat improvement.In the last decade, DNA-based tools have begun to be used for population genetics studies of P. graminis f. sp. tritici. SSR markers were developed (Szabo 2007;Visser et al. 2011;Zhong et al. 2009) and used to examine regional P. graminis f. sp. tritici populations in Ethiopia (Admassu et al. 2010), South Africa (Visser et al. 2009), and the United States (Stoxen 2012). SSR markers were also used to differentiate the Ug99 race group from other P. graminis f. sp. tritici lineages (Jin et al. 2008(Jin et al. , 2009;;Visser et al. 2011). However, these SSR makers have not been very useful in differentiating different members of the Ug99 race group.Recently, the genome sequencing of a U.S. isolate of P. graminis f. sp. tritici (Duplessis et al. 2011) and the resequencing of several additional isolates provided a powerful tool for genetic studies and development of molecular diagnostic tools. A preliminary study in which 70 P. graminis f. sp. tritici isolates were resequenced demonstrated that the Ug99 race group, with 18 isolates representing 7 races, represents a single genetic lineage that has evolved relatively recently (L. J. Szabo and C. A. Cuomo, unpublished data). Using the genomic sequence data from this study, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnostic method was developed for the Ug99 lineage (Szabo 2012). This assay is highly specific for the Ug99 genetic lineage and is able to discriminate between several of the members of the Ug99 race group (TTKST, TTKST, TTTSK, TTKSF, TTKSP, and PTKST/PTKSP). In addition, the development of this assay has identified multiple genotypes per race phenotype (L. J.Szabo, unpublished data). For example, four different genotypes have been identified within the race TTKSK. Currently, this assay is being used to monitor the movement and distribution of members of the Ug99 genetic lineage.The availability of an extensive single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) database for P. graminis f. sp. tritici has also facilitated the development of a high-throughput SNP assay (P. graminis f. sp. tritici SNP Chip) (L. J. Szabo and J. L. Johnson, unpublished data). This SNP assay was used to genotype isolates of race TKTTF collected from Ethiopia during the stem rust epidemic of 2013 to 2014 (Olivera Firpo et al. in press). Two distinct genetic types were identified within isolates of the TKTTF race group and it was discovered that these genetic types are part of the same genetic lineage that contains isolates of race RRTTF, a common race found in Ethiopia in recent years. However, the TKTTF/RRTTF lineage is very distinct from the Ug99 genetic lineage. At this point, the origin of the TKTTF genetic group is not clear, and genotyping of additional samples from Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia is needed for determining it.F. SP. TRITICI RACES Race-specific resistance genes. The broad virulence spectrum present in Ug99 and its derivatives has been implicated with partial to high susceptibility of numerous important wheat varieties sown on over 80 to 95% of total wheat area, as well as breeding materials, regardless of the originating countries (Singh et al. 2006(Singh et al. , 2008(Singh et al. , 2011b)). Virulences for resistance genes Sr24, Sr31, Sr36, and Sr38 were considered the most significant because these genes were providing resistance to other predominant P. graminis f. sp. tritici races and were present at a relatively high frequency in adapted wheat backgrounds. In all, 39 resistance genes continue to confer moderate to adequate resistance to the Ug99 race group; however, other races are known with virulence to 18 of these genes (Table 2). Moreover, several of the remaining effective genes were recently transferred to wheat from related genera and species that likely bring negative linkage drag present in the translocation. Development of successful commercial cultivars in the future will demonstrate their commercial utility. Genes Sr22, Sr25, Sr26, Sr33, Sr35, Sr45, and Sr50 are, at present, possibly the most useful race-specific resistance genes, provided that they are used in combinations. Some other temporarily designated genes (Table 2) that are common in highyielding wheat germplasm offer additional possibilities of gene combinations. If proper care in their deployment is not taken, then these genes are expected to lose effectiveness in eastern and southern Africa, where high populations of the Ug99 race group and other races exist each year. The \"boom-and-bust\" phenomenon was once again seen with the utilization of gene SrTmp (or SrSha7) in Digalu and Robin wheat in Ethiopia and Kenya, respectively. Recent studies (Ghazvini et al. 2012;Hiebert et al. 2011;Lopez-Vera et al. 2014a) have shown that Sr42, SrTmp, SrSha7, SrNini, and SrCad are colocated on chromosome arm 6DS; however, virulence to resistance gene SrTmp in Digalu and Robin shows that two different resistance genes, or alleles, are likely involved because temporarily designated resistance gene SrCad carried by Canadian 'AC Cadillac' wheat and breeding lines carrying SrNini remained resistant. Relationships between Sr42, SrCad, and SrNini need elucidation because all three map in the same region on chromosome arm 6DS.Adult plant resistance genes. Although adult plant resistance (APR) to stem rust has been known for a long time, Sr2 was the only well-studied gene. Sr2 and a linked or pleiotropic gene, Pbc, that conferred pseudo-black chaff (PBC) were transferred to hexaploid wheat 'Hope' and 'H44-24a' from tetraploid emmer wheat 'Yaroslav' by E. S. McFadden in the United States (McFadden 1930(McFadden , 1939). An independent transfer was also possibly made from 'Khapli' emmer by W. L. Waterhouse in Australia, who developed hexaploid wheat 'Khapstein'. Sr2 is known to confer modest APR that can be inadequate under high disease pressure; however, both semidwarf and tall wheat varieties with Sr2 and expressing high levels of resistance are also known (Hare and McIntosh 1979;McIntosh 1988;Njau et al. 2010;Rajaram et al. 1988;Singh and McIntosh 1986). Knott (1982) showed that an adequate level of multigenic resistance to stem rust was achieved by accumulating approximately five minor resistance genes of additive effects. This led to the use of the terminology \"Sr2-complex\" when a variety displays PBC in conjunction with high resistance levels because of the lack of genetic information on other contributing resistance genes. Increased emphasis on identifying and characterizing new sources of resistance to stem rust in the last decade led to various molecular mapping studies using biparental populations and association analyses. Yu et al. (2014) recently summarized results from various published studies, developed consensus maps, and identified several genomic regions that carry minor APR genes or quantitative trait loci (QTL). The most significant finding has been identifications of three pleiotropic APR genes-Sr55 (= Lr67/Yr46/Pm46), Sr57 (= Lr34/Yr18/Pm38/Sb1/Bdv1), and Sr58 (= Lr46/Yr29/ Pm39)-and a fourth gene, Sr56 (Bansal et al. 2014;Herrera-Foessel et al. 2014;Singh et al. 2012Singh et al. , 2013a)). Mapping studies using six CIMMYT semidwarf wheat varieties ('Kingbird', 'Kiritati', 'Pavon 76', 'Muu', 'Juchi', and 'Huiviris') with high levels of stem rust resistance in Kenya showed a continuous variation for stem rust severity in recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations and the presence of three to five QTL in each RIL population (Bhavani et al. 2011;Njau et al. 2013;Singh et al. 2013b). Interestingly, Sr2 was present in all resistant parents and was the most important APR gene conferring resistance to stem rust. Sr57 and Sr58 were also shown to confer APR along with other QTL. A recent study by Rouse et al. (2014b) using a biparental mapping population from the cross of durable APR-carrying but Sr2-lacking 'Thatcher' and Sr57carrying 'McNeal' showed the presence of three APR QTL on chromosome arms 3BS, 1AL, and 2BS in addition to Sr57 on 7DS. The 3BS QTL overlapped to the recessive seedling race-specific gene Sr12, a gene also transferred to hexaploid wheat from the tetraploid durum 'Iumillo' and known to be ineffective to the Ug99 race group. The Sr12 region was also implicated with APR in the Thatcher-derived U.S. 'Chris' wheat to an Australian P. graminis f. sp. tritici race (Singh and McIntosh 1987). However, whether Sr12 actually conferred APR, even though defeated, needs to be established, and the presence of a linked APR QTL cannot be ruled out.It is expected that accumulating multiple slow-rusting APR genes will result in wheat varieties that express high levels of durable stem rust resistance. This kind of resistance is especially important to curtail or reduce the evolution and survival of new virulent races in the East African highlands and other areas where wheat cultivation is continuous year round. High levels of APR to the Ug99 race group, identified in some semidwarf lines soon after the initiation of field screening in Kenya and Ethiopia (Njau et al. 2010;Singh et al. 2008), have allowed targeted breeding efforts to build this complex resistance in new breeding materials at CIMMYT.The emphasis toward phenotyping and breeding to identify and develop stem-rust-resistant wheat varieties increased during the last decade under the BGRI umbrella and supported by the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat (DRRW) project. Over 350,000 and 87,000 wheat accessions that include released varieties, breeding materials, genetic resources, and mapping populations from up to 32 countries in a single year have been evaluated in Kenya and Ethiopia, respectively, at field sites at Njoro, Kenya (operated by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, KALRO) and Debre Zeit, Ethiopia (operated by Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, EIAR) (Fig. 3). High emphasis is given to screening durum wheat at Debre Zeit due to the presence of races that overcome commonly present resistance genes in this species.A clear trend of increased resistance is evident in wheat germplasm screened at Kenya during the last 5 years (Fig. 4), with approximately 20% of entries showing good levels and another 20% showing intermediate levels of resistance on the average for all countries. To illustrate further, resistance to the Ug99 race group observed during the 2014 main season at Njoro field in wheat varieties and in advanced lines in registration trials from India, Pakistan, and Ethiopia indicated that 38.4, 56.7, and 69.4% of entries, respectively, showed high to moderate resistance (<30% disease severity) (Fig. 5). This level of resistance is expected to be sufficient for wheat-growing areas of India and Pakistan; however, for Ethiopia, 32.8% entries grouped under near-immune and resistant categories should be a better option for deployment because stem rust is present throughout the year in the highlands of East Africa, causing an early build up of diseases in favorable years.Resistance in wheat varieties and breeding materials from the United States of America. After the emergence of Ug99, a study by Jin and Singh (2006) assessed the level of resistance in U.S. wheat varieties to Ug99 and found that though 93 and 94% of the hard-red spring wheat varieties assessed were resistant to the two most virulent P. graminis f. sp. tritici races present in the United States, only 16% varieties were considered resistant to the original Ug99 race TTKSK. Resistant hard-red spring wheat varieties possessed stem rust resistance genes Sr24 or SrTmp and included 'Ember', 'Guard', 'Ivan', 'Keene', and 'Stoa', and were released prior to 2000. Since 2006, wheat breeders throughout the United States have assessed their advanced breeding lines for field stem rust response at the field site in Njoro, Kenya and for seedling stem rust responses to a select array of P. graminis f. sp. tritici races, including the Ug99 race group, at the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) Cereal Disease Laboratory (CDL). As a result of this work, two spring wheat varieties, 'Tom' (Anderson et al. 2012) and 'Linkert', released by the University of Minnesota in 2008 and 2013, respectively, exhibited APR to the Ug99 race group.Screening of 174 U.S. spring wheat varieties and breeding lines in 2013 indicated that only 4% were resistant as seedlings to race TTKSK (Fig. 6). When the same germplasm was screened with P. graminis f. sp. tritici races TRTTF and TKTTF, only two breeding lines displayed seedling resistance to all three races. Field screening at Njoro and Debre Zeit combined with the seedling responses indicated that 4.6% of the lines displayed susceptible infection types to race TTKSK and exhibited an average disease severity of less than 30% across the four seasons (Fig. 6).Stem rust has historically not caused severe yield losses in winter wheat in the United States. In total, 48% of hard red winter wheat and 27% of soft red winter wheat cultivars and breeding lines were demonstrated to be resistant to race TTKSK (Jin and Singh 2006). Genes conferring resistance included Sr24, Sr36, SrTmp, and Sr1RS (Amigo). The emergence of races TTKST and TTTSK in the Ug99 lineage with additional virulences to Sr24 and Sr36, in addition to race TRTTF with virulence to SrTmp and Sr1RS (Amigo), suggests that nearly all U.S. winter wheat is susceptible to at least one of the P. graminis f. sp. tritici races detected in Africa or Asia in the last decade.U.S. researchers have made substantial progress in developing molecular markers linked to available Ug99 resistance genes, identification of new Ug99 resistance genes, and facilitation of foreign disease-screening nurseries. However, U.S. wheat breeders appear to have not succeeded thus far in selecting Ug99 resistance, with few exceptions (e.g., Tom and Linkert). Emphasis on improving grain yield, abiotic stress tolerance, protein content, processing quality, and resistance to diseases or races that are already present in the United States are likely to be high priorities for U.S. wheat breeders.Breeding for stem rust resistance in CIMMYT's international spring wheat germplasm. The improved spring wheat germplasm developed each year by CIMMYT in Mexico is distributed worldwide annually through international trials and nurseries. These trials and nurseries are grown by cooperators in both public and private sectors and are used as sources of new genetic diversity for various traits of interest. National breeding programs in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and southern European countries also select adapted lines for direct release as varieties. This flagship breeding program was initiated during the mid-1940s by Dr. Norman Borlaug, who introduced shuttle breeding to shorten breeding time by growing segregating populations and other breeding materials twice each year at two distinct field sites, Ciudad Obregon and Toluca, in Mexico. This selection scheme also exposed breeding materials to two very distinct climatic conditions and multiple diseases of global importance and gave rise to widely adapted and input-responsive semidwarf varieties that triggered what subsequently became known as the \"Green Revolution\". In the post-Green Revolution period, new spring wheat germplasm developed in Mexico has resulted in several successful varieties grown in large areas in many countries (Lantican et al. 2005).  Wheat lines identified as resistant to Ug99 (Njau et al. 2010) in field screening since 2005 have been distributed worldwide since 2007 as sequentially numbered \"Stem Rust Resistance Screening Nurseries\" (SRRSN) after verifying the resistance through repeated field testing at Njoro and seedling phenotyping at biosafety greenhouses at the USDA-ARS CDL. Considering the continued importance of CIMMYT wheat germplasm in enhancing the productivity and sustainability of wheat in eastern Africa and other regions where Ug99 race group was identified and predicted to migrate through wind trajectories (Singh et al. 2008(Singh et al. , 2011a)), a targeted breeding effort was initiated in 2006 to develop highyielding spring wheat germplasm by utilizing a \"Mexico-Kenya shuttle-breeding scheme\" that allows growing and selecting segregating materials in Mexico and Njoro, Kenya twice a year (Singh et al. 2011b). Lines identified as Ug99 resistant in 2005 and 2006 and other sources of Ug99-effective race-specific resistance genes were used as donors of resistance and crossed with highyielding materials. A high emphasis was given to building APR because some wheat lines with high levels of APR could be identified soon after screening was initiated (Njau et al. 2010), and it also became obvious that Ug99 was evolving and continuing to add new virulences.Approximately 1,800 F 3 /F 4 generation populations are currently selected at Njoro, Kenya during the off-season (January to May) under high stem rust pressure. The resulting F 4 /F 5 populations are then sown again at Njoro in the main season for another round of selection. The advanced lines derived from these populations are brought back to Njoro from Mexico for phenotyping during three to four seasons. The most resistant lines are also phenotyped with Ug99 and other select arrays of races at the seedling stage by CDL. All data for various traits, generated over 2 years, are used in selecting approximately 600 of the best lines that are then distributed internationally through targeted yield trials and screening nurseries. The highest recorded stem rust severity data during the four seasons of screening is used to give a final resistance rating to wheat lines that carry APR, and we also postulate racespecific resistance genes effective against the Ug99 lineage in case distributed lines carry them. Seedling phenotyping data combined with pedigree and linked molecular marker (if available) information are used in postulating race-specific resistance genes in wheat lines distributed internationally.The first group of high-yielding wheat lines derived from targeted breeding was distributed internationally in 2011, and subsequent distribution has continued since then (Singh et al. 2011a,b). A summary of resistance to the Ug99 race group in 656 wheat lines to be distributed in 2015 as international yield trials and screening nurseries is given in Table 3. The ninth SRRSN, distributed for sowing in the 2014-15 crop season in various countries, included 235 of the most resistant lines based on three seasons of screening. Approximately half of the 656 lines possessed high to moderate levels of APR. Lines with \"near-immune resistant\" (NIR), \"resistant\" (R), and \"resistant to moderately resistant\" (R-MR) resistance categories (i.e., maximum recorded stem rust severities of 1, 5 to 10, and 15 to 20%, respectively) are better candidates for  grain-yield performance evaluation and further stem rust testing at field sites in the eastern African highlands for identifying varieties that combine high yields with high and stable APR. Some lines are already in advanced stages of national varietal performance testing (Fig. 5). In wheat-growing regions where stem rust is not endemic, wheat lines with resistance categories \"moderately resistant\" (MR) and \"moderately resistant to moderately susceptible\" (MR-MS), with highest stem rust severities of 30 and 40%, respectively, are likely to confer adequate resistance. Using these lines enhances the possibility of identifying varieties with increased yield potential, resistance to other important diseases, climate resilience, and preferred processing quality.The presence of various race-specific resistance genes was also postulated and found to be present in 21.5% of the lines (Table 3). Temporarily designated resistance genes SrND643, SrHuw234, SrYaye, and SrNini were mapped on chromosome arms 4AL, 2BL, 2BS, and 6DS (Basnet et al. 2015;Lopez-Vera et al. 2014b;Yu et al. 2014) but others need further studies to determine if they are different. These genes are associated with inconsistent seedling reactions and disease severities ranging from low to intermediate on wheat lines carrying them, indicating that their expression is enhanced in the presence of APR genes. This complicates their precise phenotyping in mapping populations; however, their combinations with APR genes could be developed by selecting plants with lower disease severities and reduced infection types. Resistance gene SrTmp was effective until 2014 off season to P. graminis f. sp. tritici races used for screening at Njoro. However, in the 2014 main season, virulence to SrTmp was well distributed in field nurseries and the reaction of several SrTmp-carrying wheat lines, including popular variety Robin, changed. In all, 61 lines, previously postulated to carry SrTmp, showed varying levels of APR in resistance categories R (2 lines), R-MR (4 lines), MR (7 lines), MR-MS (8 lines), MS (21 lines), MS-S (13 lines), and S (6 lines), supporting the previously reported results by Singh et al. (2011a) that APR genes enhance the expression of moderately effective race-specific resistance genes such as SrTmp (= SrSha7). Hiebert et al. (2011) reported the enhancement of field resistance conferred by SrCad in the presence of pleiotropic APR gene Sr57/Lr34 in Canadian AC Cadillac wheat. Therefore it is recommended that molecular-marker-assisted incorporation of race-specific resistance genes should be done in conjunction with field-based phenotyping.A relatively small but increasing number of rust resistance genes have been cloned from wheat and other plant species (Table 4). All race-specific rust resistance genes cloned to date encode proteins containing an N-terminal nucleotide-binding site (NBS) domain coupled to a C-terminal domain consisting of a series of degenerate leucine-rich repeat (LRR) motifs. An overly simplistic but nevertheless appropriate model of resistance protein function is that the LRR motif is primarily involved in pathogen recognition while the N-terminal domain is involved in activating a plant defense response. These NBS-LRR proteins are common to all land plant species and provide resistance to a diverse array of fungal, bacterial, viral, and insect pathogens (Yue et al. 2012).The six race-specific, NBS-LRR wheat rust resistance genes cloned (Lr1, Lr10, Lr21, Sr33, Sr35, and Yr10) confer a spectrum of resistance specificities even though they encode the same class of protein. Currently, there is insufficient information to predict whether an NBS-LRR protein will confer a broad or narrow spectrum of rust resistance or which rust pathogens species it will recognize based upon protein sequence. It is noteworthy that the Sr33 stem rust resistance gene is a homolog of the Mla powdery mildew resistance gene family first described in barley and later in the diploid A genome of wheat (Jordan et al. 2011;Seeholzer et al. 2010;Wei et al. 2002). It has been suggested that other members of the Mla/Sr33 gene family are also likely to encode Sr31 and Sr50 based upon genetic colocalization of Mla/Sr33 homologs and these two resistance specificities (Periyannan et al. 2013). Thus, it appears that diversification of a single NBS-LRR gene family in wheat and its relatives can provide resistance to at least two pathogen species, one of which is a rust pathogen. All six cloned, race-specific wheat rust resistance genes have related gene members elsewhere in the wheat genome or in at least one of the diploid progenitors of bread wheat. Whether some of these other NBS-LRR gene homologs also confer additional resistances like the Mla/Sr33 family is unknown.Lr1, Lr21, Sr33, Sr35, and Yr10 resistance specificities are each encoded by a single NBS-LRR gene; however, Lr10 resistance is conferred by a pair of adjacent NBS-LRR genes, each required for function (Loutre et al. 2009). Several disease resistances in other plant species are also encoded by two tandemly inverted NBS-LRR genes. The products of these gene pairs often interact by forming dimers, with one member involved in pathogen recognition whereas the other is involved in plant defense signaling (Cesari et al. 2014). With more than 150 rust resistance genes cataloged in wheat as race specific, it is likely that the majority of these genes will also encode NBS-LRR proteins. Sophisticated methodologies have been developed that enable all NBS-LRR genes present in a plant genome to be sequenced. When coupled with mutagenesis, these strategies are likely to greatly accelerate the discovery of additional wheat rust resistances that are encoded by NBS-LRR genes and, therefore, bypass tedious, conventional map-based cloning approaches (Jupe et al. 2013;Wulff and Moscou 2014).Unlike race-specific seedling resistances, various APR genes confer partial or slow-rusting phenotypes at the adult plant stage of development. Some APR genes are race specific while others recognize all rust pathogen races (i.e., race nonspecific). Two racenonspecific APR genes have been cloned from wheat, and the obvious difference in APR resistance phenotypes, compared with seedling resistance phenotypes, is paralleled by APR genes encoding entirely different proteins. The first APR gene to be cloned, Lr34/Yr18/Sr57/Pm38/Sb1/Bdv1 (hereafter referred to as Lr34), confers adult-plant race-nonspecific resistance to six pathogen species. The predicted Lr34 protein is a 12-transmembrane domain ABC transporter that transports an unknown substrate that presumably confers disease resistance (Krattinger et al. 2009).The protein encoded by the resistance gene differs from that of the susceptibility allele by just two amino acids; however, such apparently minor differences have been shown to result in significant changes in substrate transport of other ABC-transporter proteins.The second wheat APR gene to be cloned is the Yr36 gene. This gene, derived from T. turgidum subsp. dicoccides, provides partial APR to all wheat stripe rust pathogen races tested and, unlike Lr34, is associated with plant cell death at rust infection sites (Fu et al. 2009). The Yr36 protein contains a functional N-terminal serine-threonine kinase domain fused to a predicted steroidogenic acute regulatory protein-related lipid transfer (START) domain (Fu et al. 2009). This latter domain has been implicated in lipid trafficking, metabolism, and sensing, while binding of START domain proteins to sterols and ceramides causes protein conformational changes. The fusion of a kinase to a possible lipid receptor suggests that this protein may be involved in a lipid-based signaling response, although there is currently no evidence to support this model. Unlike Lr34, the Yr36 gene has not been used extensively in agriculture; therefore, its long-term durability is unknown.Colonization of plant cells by rust infection involves the insertion of haustoria into mesophyll cells. Many, possibly hundreds, of small secreted proteins called effectors are released from the fungal haustorium and enter the plant cytoplasm and are believed to suppress plant basal defense mechanisms and alter plant cell homeostasis for the pathogen's benefit (Giraldo and Valent 2013;Rafiqi et al. 2010). NBS-LRR proteins recognize, either directly or indirectly, the invasive action of a single, specific fungal effector protein (a recognized effector is known as an avirulence protein), whereupon a defense response is activated, often leading to a hypersensitive cell death response. The flax rust pathogen Melampsora lini is the only rust species for which effectors with demonstrated avirulence activity have been characterized and interaction with a cognate NBS-LRR protein demonstrated (Dodds et al. 2006;Ravensdale et al. 2011).A single pathogen effector protein is dispensable, presumably due to redundancy, which enables rapid changes in pathogen avirulence by mutation or loss of recognized effectors. Consistent with this molecular model of rapid pathogen avirulence loss is the inherent lack of durability of NBS-LRR resistance genes, particularly when deployed singularly. To counter rapid pathogen change, plant NBS-LRR proteins also evolve rapidly by sequence diversification and intergenic recombination (Michelmore and Meyers 1998). Therefore, a constant counter evolution of new pathogen races and new plant resistance gene specificities occurs in a molecular coevolutionary \"arms race\" (Maor and Shirasu 2005).The increasing number of cloned wheat rust resistance genes now makes stacking of multiple resistance genes together on a small chromosomal region in wheat a real possibility using plant transgenesis. These cis-gene stacks would greatly simplify future breeding efforts and prevent the single gene deployment of rustresistance genes. A second major advance that has potentially enabled production of cis-gene stacks in wheat is the development of a highly efficient Agrobacterium-mediated wheat transformation system (Ishida et al. 2014;Richardson et al. 2014). However, wheat rust resistance genes are generally large (8 to 16 kb), making the production of very large multigene constructs and subsequent transgenic plants technically challenging. Nonetheless, these experiments are being attempted and it is imperative that more wheat rust resistance genes are cloned to increase potential gene combinations available for cis-gene stacks.To maintain the durability of a cis-gene stack, it is essential that individual resistance genes within the stack are not deployed singularly, resulting in the erosion of the resistances present at the multigene locus. This caveat is probably more applicable to racespecific genes rather than APR genes. It is difficult to prevent deployment of single genes that are already present in wheat or which can be easily introgressed by conventional breeding. However, intellectual property protection can provide restrictions on the use of cloned genes in transgenic material. Consequently, future cis-gene stacks are likely to consist of trans-genes cloned from other plant species that are not sexually compatible with wheat and the only means of introducing these genes is via transgenesis. Potentially, these resistance genes may be derived from both hosts and nonhosts of cereal rust fungi (Bettgenhaeuser et al. 2014). The challenge of cis-gene stacks is not restricted to resistance genes and the increasing number of agronomically beneficial transgenes makes the development of gene-stacking technologies a biotechnological imperative (Que et al. 2010). a NBS-LRR = nucleotide-binding site leucine-rich repeat and START = steroidogenic acute regulatory protein-related lipid transfer.Continuing the understanding of the molecular basis of rust disease is also likely to lead to new disease resistance strategies. Very little is known about the host cell targets of cereal rust effector proteins. However, in other pathosystems, modifications of the plant components targeted by pathogen effector molecules can generate novel resistance. For example, the bacterial pathogen of rice Xanthomonas oryzae produces an effector that acts as a transcription factor that specifically targets and upregulates the endogenous rice sugar transporter gene OsSweet14. Modification of this endogenous rice gene with site-specific nucleases prevents effector binding to the OsSweet14 promoter and results in enhanced disease resistance (Li et al. 2012). However, this type of novel resistance strategy will require a much greater understanding of wheat rust effectors and their cognate plant targets for future development in wheat.The spread of the Ug99 race group of stem rust in Eastern and Southern Africa and beyond has brought stem rust research and development activities back onto the international wheat improvement agenda under the BGRI. Significant progress was made in pathogen surveillance, field screening of global wheat germplasm, identifying diverse race-specific and APR resistance genes, cloning of rust resistance genes, breeding rust resistant varieties, and training wheat scientists. Existing varieties with resistance were identified and new varieties with race-specific or APRs were released in various countries. A decade of breeding at CIMMYT has started to deliver new, high-yielding wheat germplasm resistant to races belonging to the Ug99 lineage and other important races identified recently in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Chemicals remain an option for emergency control and are being used in eastern Africa; however, their large-scale use by small farmers is neither feasible nor economical. Therefore, success in controlling stem rust is likely to be achieved in Africa when new high-yielding varieties with a high level of durable resistance are widely grown and susceptible varieties are simultaneously removed from farmers' fields. This will require a concerted effort by researchers working in different disciplines and agencies responsible for varietal releases, seed multiplication, and their distribution and promotion. International developmental agencies interested in food security and the income of small farmers in Africa can play a crucial role in achieving sustainable stem rust control by supporting the abovementioned activities, which should also help mitigate the stem rust threat in other wheat-growing regions."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4d023c53f3d6bf3318e9c066de55225a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/703d9888-0b01-4e84-8431-3663ed0f4701/retrieve","id":"1675459997"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"677bc541-e0f9-473f-8e91-dcc0ac0c35ea","content":"Se establecieron 6 escuelas de campo para formar a productores de papa en temas de manejo del tizón tardío y entrenamiento en el uso de la aplicación PlantVillage NURU. Las escuelas de campo Intibucá se establecieron con productores y productoras de AMIR (en Malguara), MISION TAIWAN Y DICTA (Pueblo viejo), JJ-AGRO (El Tabor, El Cacao, Chiligatoro y Manazapa). El programa de escuelas de campo desarrollado por CETC-IL en Intibucá estuvo compuesto por 5 sesiones en las cuales se registró la participación de 80 productores (41 hombres y 39 mujeres) que participaron en al menos 1 sesión de escuela de campo y de estos 45 productores (25 hombres y 20 mujeres) que dieron seguimiento continuo al participar en 3 o más de las sesiones de escuelas de campo.Se establecieron dos parcelas de escuelas de campo (Tabla 1) con la finalidad de que los productores participantes de las ECAs utilizaran la herramienta de apoyo a la toma de decisiones bajo los sistemas de manejo de sus parcelas. Estas parcelas se implementaron con AMIR (en Malguara) bajo un sistema de manejo semi orgánico y con DICTA y MISION TAIWAN (en Pueblo viejo) bajo un sistema de manejo convencional.Se establecieron dos parcelas experimentales en 4 localidades del municipio de Intibucá (Tabla 2). La parcela experimental 1 tuvo como finalidad evaluar la susceptibilidad al tizón tardío (Phytophthora infestans) de 6 variedades de papa (DICTA-Jicaramaní, DICTA-Purén, Fábula, Bellini, Soprano, y Faluka) frecuentemente utilizadas en Honduras. La parcela experimental 2 tuvo como finalidad adaptar una herramienta de apoyo a la toma de decisiones utilizando dos variedades de papa (Bellini y DICTA-Jicaramaní) para disminuir el número de aplicaciones en el manejo del tizón tardío bajo las condiciones locales. Los principales resultados de las parcelas experimentales de investigación se evidencian en las tablas 3, 4 y 5.Se colectaron 247 muestras de tizón en los departamentos de Intibucá, Lempira, Ocotepeque, La Paz y Francisco Morazán de las cuales actualmente se están analizando 200 en el laboratorio de fitopatología del Centro Internacional de la papa (CIP) en Perú. La finalidad de esta actividad fue colectar muestras de hojas infectadas por Phytophthora infestans, para transferir los micelios a tarjetas FTA para su genotipado.Se colectaron 200 fotografías de los síntomas causados por el psílido de la papa (Bactericera cockerelli) con la finalidad de incluir estas fotos en la base de datos de la aplicación PlantVillage NURU para que la aplicación ayude a diagnosticar la enfermedad de paratrioza.Tabla 1. Descripción de las parcelas de escuelas de campo establecidas por CETC-IL en Intibucá. Tabla 2. Descripción de las parcelas experimentales establecidas por CETC-IL en Intibucá. Tabla 3. Valores de escala de susceptibilidad obtenidas por variedades de papa cultivadas en Honduras en un ciclo de cultivo 2022. La herramienta de toma de decisiones controló el tizón tardío en la variedad Bellini con menos aplicaciones de fungicidas que la práctica común de los agricultores, lo cual implica una reducción de costos cercano al 50% en el uso de fungicidas, sin embargo, los cálculos de impacto ambiental indicaran el menor riesgo para los aplicadores, sus familias y la del medioambiente.Tabla 5. Comparación del manejo integrado del tizón tardío de la papa en la variedad DICTA Jicaramaní evaluado mediante la severidad (rAUDPC), y el número de aplicaciones de fungicidas empleadas en las parcelas experimentales de validación de la herramienta de toma de decisiones. Durante el primer año del proyecto CETC-IL en Honduras todas las actividades se trabajaron exitosamente con las organizaciones locales. El tizón tardío fue controlado por la herramienta de toma de decisiones con menor número de aplicaciones de fungicidas que la práctica común de los agricultores, sin embargo, los rendimientos fueron bajos en todos los tratamientos (datos no mostrados) debido a que esta variedad tiene un mayor ciclo fenológico y debido a su susceptibilidad demostrada en experimentos fue afectada en las épocas de formación de tubérculos. Esto conlleva a recomendar que los organismos nacionales puedan iniciar trabajos de adaptación de clones y variedades provenientes de programas de mejoramiento que tengan como características la precocidad, resistencia al tizón tardío y características para su uso en procesamiento industrial (papas fritas u horneadas).Adicionalmente, esta primera experiencia entrenando a productores en el uso de la aplicación plantVillage NURU en Honduras evidenció que se debe mejorar la inteligencia artificial de la aplicación a fin de que sea más precisa a la hora de identificar no solo los síntomas de la enfermedad del tizón tardío si no también los síntomas de otras enfermedades y plagas que afectan el cultivo de la papa. De igual manera para las siguientes fases del proyecto se recomienda involucrar en las diversas actividades de CETC-IL una cantidad igual de hombres y mujeres para dar espacio a una participación más equitativa en términos de género."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"123f44c3a22cf0d131da27f16d46ea9d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1ce0e7bd-6a54-46ad-9759-31629222f248/retrieve","id":"-265345486"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a287d65e-88ef-497d-bbdd-49297bcbcc9f","content":"With global prices soaring, alternatives to chemical fertilisers can be a big help for small farmers. Our authors present two schemes for locally sourced fertiliser in the State of Odisha in India.For years, small-scale producers around the world have been threatened by rising fertiliser prices. In 2020 there were supply chain disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and natural disasters. This year, consequences of the Russia -Ukraine crisis exacerbated the situation. Prices surged in the beginning of the crisis because exports of fuel and fertiliser were nearly at a standstill and the production and movement of nitrogen in Eastern Europe was significantly curtailed. In more recent months, prices have dropped due to a variety of factors. In July, the United Nations brokered a 120-day agreement called the Black Sea Grain Initiative between Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey that reintroduced food and fertiliser exports. Also, in reaction to the high cost of fertiliser, farmers around the world are delaying its purchase, which is driving demand down. Nevertheless, fertiliser prices are still higher than a year ago and remain unstable due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and uncertainties about the legalities of conducting business with Russia. The United Nations recently warned that \"the current crisis of affordability will turn into a crisis of availability\".One way for small-scale producers to mitigate the shocks in global fertiliser markets is to use locally sourced alternatives. Supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Odisha Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group Empowerment and Livelihood Project (OPELIP) in Odisha, India, is encouraging producers to do just that. Odisha is one of the poorest states in India. It is also home to the largest number of particularly vulnerable tribal groups. The agriculture they practice makes use of basic farming techniques, and they rely entirely on rain to feed their crops. Malnutrition is unfortunately common in the population, especially in children, and they experience high rates of related conditions like underweight and anaemia.OPELIP's goal is to empower and improve the livelihoods of these vulnerable tribal groups through a variety of interventions. One of them is the use of home gardens, which involves teaching participants how to grow vegetables and fruits in gardens next to their homes. As part of this intervention, OPELIP taught farmers how to make and use two alternatives to chemical fertilisers that can be produced locally, with just a few common ingredients. One, called Jeevamruta, is an organic manure and bio-pesticide that has been in use for centuries. It is made by fermenting cow dung, cow urine, jaggery (a traditional, unrefined sugar), pulses, flour, soil and water for one week. The result is a natural source of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and other micronutrients that is suitable for all crops. It also helps maintain the soil's acidity level, improves aeration and boosts plant growth and yield. The other, called vermicompost, takes longer than Jeevamruta to prepare, but it serves as a rich natural source of organic nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. A wide variety of biodegradable materials can be used as ingredients, but in OPELIP's case, participants were taught how to use a combination of food waste, water and bedding materials. Earthworms are then added to the mixture, which is processed for 40 to 50 days. The end result is a product called vermicast, which contains water-soluble nutrients ideal for plants. \"Previously, beneficiaries were cultivating in a traditional way, and they left the fields alone. Now, we are teaching them how to get more crop by applying Jeevamruta, Nimastra, and other organic pesticides for better yield and soil fertility,\" an OPELIP agricultural officer explains. \"Equipped with the right knowledge and practical experience, households from these tribal groups are now increasing their ability to cultivate fruits and vegetables for household consumption, improving their nutritional intake and creating income-generating opportunities through the sale of surplus crops.\"With fertiliser from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus accounting for about ten per cent of India's total fertiliser imports, prices across the country are expected to increase for the foreseeable future. But when small-scale producers are able to rely on their own knowledge and resources to produce alternatives, they are better equipped to both face short-term shocks like rising prices and build sustainable, resilient food systems over the long term. An OPELIP frontline worker teaching participants how to make Jeevamruta in Duipani village, Odisha, India.Photo: OPELIP"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"15b9c8a1bf4c42ade978efc1cce0b976","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e3b66aa9-f416-4369-8cbd-e656ac0b27ec/retrieve","id":"1562584143"},"keywords":["combining ability","drought","low soil nitrogen","stress tolerance","Striga hermonthica","testcrosses","Zea mays L Annor B","Badu-Apraku B","Nyadanu D","Akromah R","Fakorede MAB. Identifying heterotic groups"],"sieverID":"f46fdc07-87d0-4f91-a9eb-9d788a82eb5c","content":"Maize (Zea mays) is a major source of food for human consumption and livestock production. It is also used as a raw material for many agro-allied industries in the world (Undie, Uwah, & Attoe, 2012). In West Africa (WA), maize production has been increasing steadily over the years due to its wide adaptation and uses. However, its production is characterized by low grain yield (1.8 t/ha) compared with the yields obtained in other parts of the world (FAOSTAT 2008(FAOSTAT , 2012(FAOSTAT , 2016;;Sserumaga et al., 2014). This situation is partly due to the non-availability of high-yielding hybrids with tolerance to drought and low nitrogen (low N) in the soil, and resistance to infestation of Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth. Hybrids revolutionized maize production in developed countries during 1930-1950 but have not been widely adopted in most sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Adoption of hybrid maize by farmers in many developingcountries has been very slow, although it has now been increasing gradually in SSA.An important requirement for the development of high-yielding commercial hybrids is the availability of information on the heterotic groups and patterns of the available inbred lines in a breeding programme (Barata & Carena, 2006;Fan et al., 2018). Globally, inbred lines and the derived commercial hybrids resulting from them must be stress tolerant. Stresses common to all SSA countries include drought and low N and infestation by parasitic weeds such as Striga hermonthica, especially in WCA. Classification of inbred lines into heterotic groups under the different environmental conditions has been initiated by several researchers in SSA (Agbaje, Badu-Apraku, & Fakorede, 2008;Badu-Apraku, Fakorede, et al., 2015;Badu-Apraku et al., 2013;Menkir, Badu-Apraku, Thé, & Adepoju, 2003) but limited success has been achieved. Taking a cue from the experience and the standards attained over a long time by the USA maize breeders, heterotic grouping of inbred lines has to be a continuous exercise in maize breeding programmes. Heterotic groups and testers for the newly developed or introduced set of inbred lines in a breeding program must be determined (Barata & Carena, 2006;Fan et al., 2018;Fan, Tan, Yang, & Chen, 2004). Additionally, it is important for any successful or effective breeding programme aimed at developing outstanding drought, low N and Striga resistant hybrids to assess the heterotic groups under individual stress, non-stress (optimum), and across environments.The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan-Nigeria, in collaboration with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Kenya and with national programmes, has for years been developing and releasing OPVs in all maturity groups and hybrids in the late and intermediate groups but it is only recently that a few stress-tolerant/resistant early and extra-early hybrids have been developed and released in some WCA countries. However, maize researchers have consistently observed that the performance of early (90-95 days to physiological maturity) and extra-early (80-85 days to physiological maturity) yellow maize OPVs and hybrids lag grossly behind their white counterparts in SSA because for a long time research emphasis on maize had been on the white endosperm maize. However, recently, there has been increased research emphasis on the use of yellow endosperm maize because of the high demand for the poultry industry and for human consumption to address vitamin A deficiencies. The yellow maize is preferred for poultry feed because it imparts the yellow colour to the egg yolk and contributes to human nutrition. Therefore, it is imperative to identify the heterotic groups of the newly developed or introduced early maturing yellow maize inbred lines so that they could be successfully used for the development of high-yielding hybrids and synthetic varieties for commercialization in SSA. Hybrid maize varieties are preferred by progressive farmers in SSA due to the high yield compared to OPVs (Ayinde, Fola, & Ibrahim, 2011;Correjado & Magulama, 2008) and uniformity in growth and other agronomically desirable characteristics.Results of the attempts by maize breeders to identify the most efficient heterotic grouping methods have not been consistent. For example, Fan, Miles, Takahashi, and Yao (2009) and Badu-Apraku, Fakorede, et al. (2015) compared the specific combining ability (SCA) of several lines using molecular markers and the heterotic group's specific and general combining ability (HSGCA) methods and found the HSGCA method to be the most efficient based on the breeding efficiency (the average of the proportion of total inter-heterotic group hybrids that is due to superior high-yielding inter-heterotic group hybrids plus the proportion of total low-yielding intra-heterotic group hybrids that is due to the low-yielding intra-heterotic group hybrids). In contrast, Badu-Apraku, Annor, et al. (2015), Badu-Apraku, Fakorede, Talabi, et al. (2016) reported the heterotic grouping based on molecular markers as the most efficient in a study involving early maturing quality protein maize (QPM) inbred lines.The contrasting results reported have been attributed to the differences in the genetic materials used (Badu-Apraku, Fakorede, Gedil, et al., 2016). It is therefore of utmost importance to classify the newly developed early maturing maize inbred lines using the most efficient grouping method to identify the best set of new inbred lines for effective use in maize breeding programmes.Another important requirement of any successful maize breeding programme is the availability of efficient testers, which could effectively discriminate and classify inbred lines into appropriate heterotic groups for the development of high-yielding hybrids and synthetic varieties. An effective tester should be able to rank inbred lines correctly for performance in hybrid combinations and increase the differences between testcrosses for efficient discrimination (Rawlings & Thompson, 1962)   Note: (TZEI 11 × TZEI 8) S 7 inb 18-1/3-1/2-1/1 = TZEI 415 was developed from a cross between TZEI 11 × TZEI 8, taken through seven cycles of inbreeding (S 7 ) and was the 18th line selected after the first cycle (S 1 ) of inbreeding. This was followed by several cycles of repeated selfing and selection at the different stages of inbreeding.  1).The  S1). The low N fields at both locations were depleted of N by growing maize continuously at high density for several years and removing the biomass after each harvest. Soil samples taken from 0 to 15 cm depth before field preparation were analysed for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) contents at the IITA analytical services laboratory, Ibadan, Nigeria, following the Kjeldahl digestion and colorimetric methods (Bremner & Mulvaney, 1982). The Mokwa soil contained 0.033% of N, 4.11 mg/kg of P and 0.14 cmol/kg of K while that of Ile-Ife had 0.081% of N, 4.04 mg/kg of P and 0.23 cmol/kg of K. Nitrogen fertilizer (Urea) was applied at two WAP following thinning to bring the total available N to 30 kg/ha as indicated by the soil tests. Single superphosphate and muriate of potash fertilizers were applied to obtain 60 kg/ha each of P and K.Also, the hybrids were evaluated under optimal growing conditions during the 2015 and 2016 rainy seasons at Mokwa, Ikenne, Abuja (9°16'N, 7°20'E, 300 m asl, 1,500 mm annual rainfall) and during the 2015 rainy season at Ile-Ife (Table S1). The compound fertilizer, NPK (15:15:15), was applied to all the optimal trials at two WAP to provide 60 kg/ha each of N, P and K and top-dressed at four WAP with 60 kg N/ha. The low N, drought and optimal fields were kept weed-free by the application of atrazine and gramozone as preemergence and postemergence herbicides at 5 L/ha each of primextra and paraquat and later by manual weeding.The hybrids were evaluated under artificial Striga infestation at Mokwa and Abuja in 2015 and 2016 (Table S1). Ethylene gas was injected into the soil at two weeks before planting to stimulate suicidal germination of existing Striga seeds. The infestation withStriga was carried out using the method of Kim (1991). The Striga hermonthica seeds used were collected from sorghum fields in the preceding season, stored for at least six months and mixed with finely sieved sand in the ratio of 1 : 99 by weight. A standard scoop calibrated to ensure that about 5,000 germinable Striga seeds were placed in each planting hole was used for the artificial infestations.To Seeds of 41 early maturing maize inbred lines and the five lines used as testers were planted at IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria. Two weeks after planting, leaf samples were collected from 30 seedlings of each inbred in the field. The leaf samples were then bulked, lyophilized, carefully packaged, labelled and transferred to CIMMYT Mexico for DNA extraction and genotyping. DNA was extracted at the CIMMYT Mexico Bioscience laboratory using the CIMMYT protocol (http://www.gener ation cp.org/capco rner/chile_wksp_2005/manua ls/manual_01.pdf).The enzyme ApeKI was used for digestion and creating a genotyping by sequencing (GBS) library with unique barcodes for each inbred line as described by Elshire et al. (2011). The reads obtained from the GBS library were called in the GBS pipeline Tassel version 3.0.147 which is an extension to the Java program TASSEL (Bradbury et al., 2007). The sequences were aligned to the maize reference genome B73 RefGen v1 after filtering using the Burrows-Wheeler alignment tool (BWA) (Schnable, Ware, Fulton, Stein, & Wei, 2009). The procedure produced 51,009 SNPs covering all the ten chromosomes of the maize genome, out of which 3,508 SNP loci, having a minor allele frequency of more than 5%and no missing values, were selected using TASSEL version 5.0, and employed for analyzing the genetic diversity of the inbred lines in the present study. The pair-wise Rogers (1972) genetic distances were estimated among the inbred lines using PowerMarker version 3.25 (Liu & Muse, 2005).Data were recorded on all plots for days to silking, and days to anthesis, anthesis-silking interval (ASI), plant and ear heights, root lodging, stalk lodging, ear aspect, ear rot and ears per plant. In addition, plant aspect was recorded on the drought, low N and optimal plots, stay-green characteristic on the low N and drought plots as described by Badu-Apraku, Fakorede, Gedil, et al. (2016) andStriga-infested plots. Under optimal and Striga-infested environments, a shelling percentage of 80% was assumed for each plot.Grain yield was obtained from the ear weight and converted to kg/ha by adjusting the moisture content to 15%. For experiments conducted under low N and drought conditions, harvested ears from each plot were shelled to determine the percentage grain moisture. Grain yield in kg/ha adjusted to 15% moisture content was then computed from the shelled grain weight. The 80% shelling percentage was assumed for entries only under Striga infestation and optimal conditions because grain filling is usually normal under such conditions.Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed across environments (location-year combinations) with PROC GLM in the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) using a random statement with test option (SAS Institute, 2011). In the combined ANOVA, genotypes were considered as a fixed factor while environment, replication within environment and incomplete blocks within replication by environment were regarded as random factors.A line x tester analysis of variance was used to determine the statistical significance of GCA-line, GCA-tester, SCA-hybrid and their interactions with the environments as described by Amegbor, Badu- To identify the most efficient inbred tester across the four contrasting research conditions, data on grain yield mean values across the four research conditions adjusted for block and replication effects were subjected to genotype main effect plus genotype x environment interaction (GGE) biplot analysis (testers were used in the analysis in place of environments) as described by Yan and Hunt (2002).Analysis of variance of grain yield and other traits across contrasting environments.Significant (p < .05) mean squares of environments (E), hybrid (G) and hybrid × environment interactions (GEI) were observed for grain yield and most measured agronomic traits across environments (Table 2). Partitioning of the hybrid components of variation into GCA of line (GCA-line) and GCA of tester (GCA-tester)and SCA mean squares exhibited significant gains for GCA-line, GCA-tester and SCA for grain yield and most measured agronomic traits across environments. The GCA-line × E and GCA-tester x E interaction mean squares were also significant for most measured traits (Table 2). In contrast, the mean squares of the SCA × E interactions were not significantly different for most measured traits (Table 2). The efficiency of a tester was assessed by the average environment (tester) coordination (AEC) view of the GGE biplot (Figure 1) as described by Yan (2014) andAkinwale, Badu-Apraku, Fakorede, andVroh-Bi (2014).The thick single-arrow line is referred to as the average environment (tester) coordinate abscissa (AEC abscissa) while the double-headed arrow line is called the AEC ordinate. The efficiency is determined by the relationship among the testers and the length of the tester vector. In the biplot display, the cosine of the angle between any two tester vectors indicates the correlation coefficient between the testers. The smaller the angle between any two testers, the more closely related the testers are in classifying inbred lines into heterotic groups. In addition, in the biplot display, the rays connecting the tester label to the biplot origin are described as tester vectors and the vector length of a tester approximates the standard deviation, which measures the magnitude (discriminating power) of its ability to assess the grain yield of the crosses. Testers with shorter vectors provide little or no information about the entries evaluated compared to those with longer vectors. Based on these criteria, the ranking based on discriminating ability of the testers was as follows: TZE 23 (C)> TZEI 17 (B)> TZEI 10 (A)> ENT 13 (E)> TZEI 129 (D). Strong positive correlations (similarity) were found among the testers B, A, E and D (Figure 1) whereas tester C was found to be unique from all the other testers. Tester C was therefore identified as the most efficient early maturing yellow inbred tester across the four research conditions. Tester B was found to be the most efficient among the testers which were found to be similar, that is A, B D and E. Hence, tester B represented the four testers. Testers C and B were therefore the most efficient among the five testers based on the discriminating ability.Considering the fact that testers A, B, D and E were similar while tester C was unique, the HSGCA heterotic grouping method classified the 41 inbred lines into three heterotic groups across the research environments (Table 3). Twenty-two of the inbred lines were placed in heterotic group 1 (heterotic group of testers A, B, D and E), 15 in the heterotic group 2 (heterotic group of tester C) and four in the heterotic group 3 (heterotic group of inbred lines which were not grouped by any of the five testers) (Table 3).The heterotic grouping method based on the SNP markers also classified the inbred lines into three heterotic groups (Table 3). Group 1 TA B L E Mean squares of grain yield and other agronomic traits of early maturing maize hybrids and five checks across contrasting environments in Nigeria between and The HSGCA method identified 68 hybrids as high-yielding and 28 as low-yielding across research environments. In contrast, the SNP-marker-based method identified 63 hybrids as high-yielding while 11 were identified as low-yielding hybrids across research environments (Table 4). The HSGCA method recorded the highest breeding efficiency of 58.1% compared to the 42.2% of the SNPmarker-based method (Table 4).The significant mean squares of E, G and GEI observed for grain yield and most measured agronomic traits across environments suggested that the test environments were dissimilar and that there were adequate genetic differences among the hybrids for effective selection for the measured traits. The results also revealed that the expression of grain yield and most of the other measured traits were not consistent in the contrasting environments. This result underscores  TZEI 16,TZEI 415,TZEI 450,TZEI 173,TZEI 175,TZEI 470,TZEI 472,ENT 17,ENT 8,TZEI 124,TZEI 182 TZEI 160,TZEI 161,TZEI 24 TZEI 428,TZEI 430,TZEI 507,TZEI 474,TZEI 508,TZEI 483,TZEI 484,TZEI 432,TZEI 449,TZEI 486,TZEI 433,TZEI 520,TZEI 443,TZEI 522,TZEI 455,TZEI 515,TZEI 516,TZEI 518,TZEI 439,TZEI 441,TZEI 442,TZEI 461,TZEI 462,TZEI 464,TZEI 465,TZEI 494,TZEI 495 the need for extensive testing of hybrids across multiple locations before release and commercialization.The failure of the HSGCA and SNP-marker-based grouping methods to classify some inbreds into the heterotic groups of the five testers suggested that those inbred lines belonged to heterotic groups other than those of the five testers.The highest breeding efficiency obtained for the HSGCA heterotic grouping method compared with the SNP-marker-based method indicated that the HSGCA method was more effective in classifying the inbred lines into heterotic groups under the contrasting environments. This result confirmed that the HSGCA method was the most reliable for grouping the parental lines into heterotic groups for the development of productive and stable hybrids as well as synthetic varieties. Hence, crossing inbred lines from opposite HSGCA heterotic groups could result in more productive hybrids across drought, low N, Striga-infested and optimal growing environments. Furthermore, the inbred lines classified into the same heterotic group by the HSGCA method could be recombined to form heterotic populations that could be improved The HSGCA method had a higher breeding efficiency than the  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d81a0b5224b99e9082bd1e583a8afc3e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f86c748b-5000-4008-9e69-13b4f2d489a5/retrieve","id":"1900179098"},"keywords":["1. Cropping systems. 2. Climatic change. 3. Mixed cropping. 4. Agroforestry. 5. Livestock. 6. Crops. 7. Cereals. 8. Manihot esculenta. 9. Oryza sativa. 10. Forages. 11. Sustainable agriculture. 12. Soil fertility. 13. Agroecology. 14. Farmers. 15. Developing countries. Local Descriptors: 1. Eco-efficient agriculture. 2. Cassava. 3. Rice. Descriptores AGROVOC: 1. Sistemas de cultivo. 2. Cambio climático. 3. Cultivo mixto. 4. Agroforestería. 5. Ganado. 6. Cultivos. 7. Cereales. 8. Manihot esculenta. 9. Oryza sativa. 10. Forrajes. 11. Agricultura sostenible. 12. Fertilidad del suelo. 13. Agroecología. 14. Agricultores. 15. Países en desarrollo. Descriptores Locales: 1. Agricultura eco-eficiente. 2. Yuca. 3. Arroz","Seré C","Rosegrant M. 2010. Smart investments in sustainable food production: Revisiting mixed crop-livestock systems. Science 327:822-825"],"sieverID":"8cd396a2-0e6a-4499-a527-e234d3a175cb","content":"The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) -a member of the CGIAR Consortium -develops technologies, innovative methods, and new knowledge that better enable farmers, especially smallholders, to make agriculture eco-efficient -that is, competitive and profitable as well as sustainable and resilient. Eco-efficient agriculture reduces hunger and poverty, improves human nutrition, and offers solutions to environmental degradation and climate change in the tropics. Headquartered near Cali, Colombia, CIAT conducts research for development in tropical regions of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. www.ciat.cgiar.org CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food secure future. Its science is carried out by the 15 research centers of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. www.cgiar.orgDedicated to the memory of Anthony Bellotti (1937Bellotti ( -2013)), whose enormous professional accomplishments advanced the knowledge of cassava entomology from its infancy to maturity, opening the way for major contributions to improved livelihoods for cassava farmers.CIAT is launching a new publication series titled Issues in Tropical Agriculture, and the first item in the series is Eco-Efficiency: From Vision to Reality. At first glance, the term \"eco-efficiency\" calls to mind the oft-repeated, simplistic idea of \"producing more with less.\" But when viewed in relation to the challenge of what William Laurance and Jeff Sayer call the impending \"agricultural bomb,\" the importance of the eco-efficiency theme becomes clear.In fact, humanity is one drought away from massive famine. All it would take is an episode of dry weather, typical of past drought events, in the North China Plain, the US Corn Belt, or the Indo-Gangetic rice-wheat region. Indeed, the global food supply is on such a razor's edge that, as I was writing this foreword, a short heat wave without rain predicted for the US Corn Belt in the following week (24-30 June 2012) caused global maize prices to rise by 20% within just a few days. Since 2005, price spikes larger than this have occurred for rice and wheat, when drought or floods have occurred in a major crop production domain.But the agricultural bomb is not just a warning about the need to increase production, because we live on a spaceship with finite resources. Land and water of adequate quantity and quality to support agricultural systems for a human population of 9 billion or more by 2050 are already in short supply. While there is some additional land suitable for agriculture in remnant rainforests, wetlands, and grassland savannas, bringing this land into food production would incur unacceptable costs in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and loss of climate regulation and biodiversity.As a result, it is time to reach a global consensus on the explicit goal of meeting future food demand with the existing agricultural areaa goal that concedes conversion of an additional 100 million hectares of natural ecosystems to replace current crop land expected to be lost to urbanization and industrialization by 2050 (or about 7% of the current area used to produce annual crops).Likewise, the manner in which crops and livestock are produced on existing farmland can have devastating negative impacts on the environment, human health, and greenhouse gas emissions. So, the challenge is not only to raise yields fast enough on existing farmland but also to do so using methods that reduce the environmental footprint of agriculture. And the scale of reduction in negative environmental externalities must be substantial: Nitrogen and water use efficiencies must increase by more than 50% in some of the world's major crop production systems; farming systems must be improved to reverse current trends of soil degradation and to maintain or increase organic matter levels; and net energy yields must double.We are left with the realization that business as usual will not achieve a food-secure world on existing farmland without unacceptable loss of environmental services, because trajectories in crop yield advances and in the environmental impact of agriculture are simply not good enough. Hence, it can be argued that the single greatest scientific challenge facing humankind is generating the knowledge, technologies, and policies that can achieve the ecological intensification of agriculture that is required. This brings us back to the concept of ecoefficient agriculture. As defined in CIAT's Strategic Directions, the concept focuses on increasing productivity while decreasing negative impacts on natural resources through approaches that meet the economic, social, and environmental needs of the rural poor. It seeks to integrate the economic, environmental, and social elements of development, and strives toward solutions that are competitive, profitable, sustainable, and resilient in the face of an uncertain climate. The concept also takes into account the fact that increasing crop yields is necessary, but not sufficient, to avoid conversion of natural ecosystems; effective policies and good governance are also needed. Eco-efficiency further assumes that there are no silver bullets and that dealing with tradeoffs and using integrative and interdisciplinary approaches are essential. Finally, it recognizes that almost every future climate scenario already exists somewhere in the world today, such that helping develop eco-efficient solutions for poor farmers who struggle to feed their families in those environments is among the best research investments for adaptation to future climate change.The papers in this inaugural publication cover a number of promising technology packages and much exciting science aimed at making agricultural systems more eco-efficient. But it is also clear that a number of gaps and emerging issues remain.There is a critical need for robust, low-cost, reproducible metrics to quantify the impact of agriculture on environmental quality and human well-being. A new area of \"metrics research\" must emerge to provide the scientific underpinning for applying to complex issues easily measured, integrative parameters for monitoring impact from the field to the watershed and global levels.Likewise, there is a need for improved methods to anticipate and quantify tradeoffs at different spatial scales. For example, while organic agriculture may reduce the environmental footprint of agriculture locally, it may result in large negative impact at the global level. This could occur if organic systems are widely adopted and have lower yields per unit land area and time than conventional systems, which would encourage conversion of natural ecosystems and associated loss of environmental services and greenhouse gas emissions to meet future food demand.Therefore, one of the grand challenges for CIAT, and indeed for CGIAR and its partners, is to conduct research and support development efforts that lead to quantum leaps in the ecoefficiency of agricultural systems of greatest importance to the poor in developing countries. We are in a race against time, and there is no time to lose.The term \"eco-efficiency\" was first put forward by the private sector around the time of the 1992 Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It first entered CIAT's vocabulary in 2008, as the Center charted new strategic directions for the coming years. Management foresaw the need to identify an overarching concept that would differentiate our work from that of others and help explain our unique contribution to the strategic global research of the CGIAR Consortium, of which CIAT is a member.The eco-efficiency concept was chosen to serve that purpose, and it soon began to appear in CIAT documents and in discussions about our work. After a year or so, people began asking exactly what eco-efficiency meant for the Center's work. To some, it just sounded like another buzz word.Then, during a visit to CIAT headquarters, Derek Byerlee, former chair of the Standing Panel on Impact Assessment of the CGIAR's Independent Science and Partnership Council (ISPC), suggested a way to explore the ecoefficiency vision. His idea was to create a \"flagship\" publication series, whose first volume would deal with the notion in depth.We invited Derek and others -including Claudia Martínez, Rodomiro Ortiz, Nicolás Mateo, and Brian Keating -to form an editorial committee. Their efforts have resulted in this substantial scientific publication, which was first made available online (http://ciat.cgiar.org/ new-publications/) and which we are now happy to see in print.One especially noteworthy feature of this first volume in CIAT's new flagship publication series (named Issues in Tropical Agriculture) is that it involved authors from 18 other organizations, in addition to many CIAT scientists. So, ecoefficiency is not just CIAT's green paradigm but resonates with others as well.One clear message of the publication for CIAT is that taking the eco-efficiency concept seriously does not mean that we have to completely rethink our research approaches and re-engineer our programs. Most of the Center's research already matches one of the six pathways to eco-efficient agriculture described by Brian Keating in his introductory chapter. That and other chapters also make it clear that eco-efficiency is highly relevant to climate change and other major challenges for agriculture.This publication offers no simple solutions to those challenges but rather provides a set of guideposts for keeping research on track toward eco-efficient outcomes, which are important for CIAT's mission and that of CGIAR. Our challenge now is to apply the messages of this book earnestly in our work and to communicate them effectively with our partners and donors. This publication marks the culmination of much hard work by dozens of scientists at CIAT and in partner organizations. To all of them we owe a very large debt of gratitude. We also thank Ken Cassman, Chair of the ISPC, for contributing the foreword.In the long run the planet has the upper hand. In the short run humans act as if they do and as if this will continue to be the case (Hall, 2008) The concept of \"eco-efficiency\" originates from the field of natural resources research. However, in this chapter, while giving particular attention to natural resources, we adopt the more inclusive description used by CIAT and elaborated in its Medium-Term Plan 2010-2012, p.3. This states the following: \"Eco-efficient agriculture increases productivity while reducing environmental impacts. Ecoefficient agriculture meets economic, social, and environmental needs of the rural poor by being profitable, competitive, sustainable, and resilient. It harmonizes the economic, environmental, and social elements of development, and strives toward solutions that are competitive and profitable, sustainable, and resilient, and generate benefits for the poor. Eco-efficient agriculture cannot effectively address the needs of the poor without taking into account the particular needs of women.\"This definition follows suggestions of authors such as Park et al. (2010) to explicitly include social criteria as well as economic and environmental criteria in order to improve rates of uptake of eco-efficiency technologies, to promote practices that improve the effectiveness of hunger-reduction efforts, and to minimize environmental degradation. Chapter 2 of this volume goes into detail on conceptual foundations and frameworks for eco-efficiency.The seminal work of Meadows et al. (1972)-The limits to growth-impacted academia and society at large, although perhaps not so much the political process. Using what was then an advanced model of interactions between human population, industrial growth, food production, and ecosystems-World3-the authors warned that growth without limits would have serious consequences on earth's finite resources. Twenty years later the authors followed up with another significant piece, Beyond the limits (Meadows et al., 1992), in which they argued that humans were overshooting the capacity and availability of earth's resources. This research sparked, and has become a cornerstone of, the intense debate on sustainable development. More recently, Limits to growth: The 30-year update (Meadows et al., 2004) attempted once more to provide data and make a compelling case for a significant debate and urgent actions to limit and to make rational use of scarce resources.The experiences and lessons learned from the Green Revolution of the 1960s and beyond point to significant trade-offs in resource use. While there were ample benefits from targeted plant breeding and the application of external inputs in terms of increased productivity, income, and food production, this strategy placed significant pressures on natural resources and the environment.During the last 4 decades recognition of unsustainable resource use and the increasing concerns expressed by producers, consumers, and civil society have prompted the development and testing of approaches to optimize resource use, such as minimum tillage, precision agriculture, plant breeding for input use efficiency (water, nitrogen), marker-assisted breeding, and transgenic crops and animals. This volume highlights a number of these accomplishments as well as related experiences and lessons learned.Despite the advances in agricultural productivity, wasteful and contaminating systems continue to coexist with eco-efficiency-based approaches. Population growth, market forces, productivity levels, and incentives all impact on the balance between positive and negative forces driving agricultural innovation. Policies and incentives at the local, national, and international levels exert a strong influence on outputs and outcomes.We need to consider eco-efficiency beyond the farm, crop, or animal enterprise level, and extend the concepts to include the whole food chain. This will include the full life cycle of inputs to the farm and products leaving the farm, i.e., nutrient and energy flows that include transport and processing.While there are great opportunities for increasing eco-efficiency by adoption of mixed farming systems, particularly those involving both crops and livestock, the trend, particularly in developed countries, has been for increased specialization and separation of crop and livestock enterprises. Increasingly there may also be market opportunities based on consumer preferences for products from eco-efficient systems. Currently the proportion of food marketed as being from such systems is very small. Several authors (Pimentel et al., 2005;Hobbs et al., 2008;Horrigan et al., 2002) have made the case for moving high-input agriculture toward greater sustainability. The arguments for this include the beneficial effects of high levels of soil organic matter, which help conserve soil and water resources and are particularly beneficial during drought years; the unsustainability of current levels of use of fossil fuels, water, and topsoil; and the documented benefits to both the environment and productivity of direct seeding, conservation tillage, integrated systems, bed planting, and mulching.Ultimately, there will not be a simple, single solution to increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture. There are practical advantages for intensive agriculture and low-input agriculture to each adapt and adopt the best practices of the other. High-input agriculture should aim at becoming more eco-efficient, and low-input agriculture needs to aim at higher productivity, often based on more intensive practices. To meet the growing demands for food, feed, fiber, and fuels from agriculture in the long term, this combination of higher productivity and sustainability through eco-efficient practices is imperative.The question \"why worry about producing more food?\" needs to be considered from several angles.First is how much we are currently producing. Despite constraints in water availability, land, and fertilizers (particularly nitrogen), the world should be able to feed itself. According to The Economist (2011), allowing for the staggering amounts of food wasted and all the food that could be eaten but is instead turned into biofuels, farmers are producing much more food than is required-more than twice the minimum nutritional needs of about 2100 calories a day.The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimated that we need to increase food supplies by 70% by 2050 if we are to feed a population of 9 billion (FAO, 2009). This is a major challenge, and even more so with the constraints of available water, land, and fertilizer.Currently, every 9 months we consume what the planet's ecology can provide sustainably in any given year (Global Footprint Network, 2011). From that point until the end of the year, we meet our ecological demand by liquidating resource stocks and accumulating CO 2 in the atmosphere. This cannot continue.Another way to visualize this imbalance in resource use is humanity's ecological footprint. The Living planet report 2010 (WWF, 2010) reveals that this footprint has more than doubled since 1966. In 2007, the most recent year for which data are available, humanity used the equivalent of 1.5 planet earths to support its activities. Even with modest United Nations (UN) projections for population growth, consumption patterns, and climate change, humanity will need the capacity of two earths by 2030 to absorb CO 2 waste and keep up with natural resource consumption. The report illustrates the scope of the challenges humanity faces, not only for preserving biodiversity, but also for halting climate change and meeting basic human development aspirations, such as reducing worldwide hunger and poverty.The increased food insecurity and vulnerability of a large number of people worldwide point to a broken food production and distribution system. We need to look at the contribution agriculture should make not only to feed a growing population but also to impact less on the planet's resources. The future food supply equation needs to consider the current reality of lower growth rates for major crop yields in conventional agriculture, eco-efficient approaches to diminish impacts on natural resources, the climate change challenge, and the volatility of energy prices. Intensive, oil-dependent agriculture is reaching worrisome yield plateaus and water tables keep decreasing.The world needs a new paradigm for the ways that we use natural resources-a new set of tools and policies. Should we eat less? Should we eat smarter (e.g., less protein of animal origin, with its high demands for energy, land, and water)? Should we create incentives to use fewer resources and implement legal directives to push for eco-efficiency? Should we put in place measures to control population growth? Pimentel et al. (2008) demonstrate that use of fossil energy in the United States' food system could be reduced by about 50% if appropriate technologies were adopted in food production, processing, packaging, transportation, and consumption.Agricultural productivity must increase if we are to meet the increasing demands of a growing and more affluent population for food, feed, fiber, and fuels in the context of limited land available for expansion of agriculture (Hubert et al., 2010). Humans have always attempted to raise the efficiency of agroecosystems, aiming to harvest more per unit of input, mainly water, nutrients, energy, or agrobiodiversity (see Chapter 2 of this volume). Efforts to increase productivity should therefore consider crop breeding (particularly for maximizing input use efficiency and for host plant resistance for reducing pesticide use), eco-friendly husbandry, and the sustainable use of natural resources (especially agrobiodiversity), while enhancing ecosystem services. This volume explores many ways that this can be accomplished.Sustainable intensification of agriculture should reduce the need to expand into environmentally vulnerable areas, thereby sparing some lands from further degradation by concentrating production in others. However, the result of this approach is not always clear cut. Rudel et al. (2009) analyzed trends in area planted to 10 major crops between 1970 and 2005, with particular emphasis on the 1990-2005 period. The data suggest that agricultural intensification was not often accompanied by decline or even stasis in cultivated area on a national scale, except in countries that imported grain and implemented conservation set-aside programs. Thus, policies and innovations aimed at increasing land use efficiency must be carefully designed and monitored to assure they have the desired impact, rather than leading to uncontrolled land use expansion (Lambin and Meyfroidt, 2011).Humans face the challenge of managing trade-offs between immediate needs and maintaining the capacity of the biosphere to provide goods and services in the long term (Foley et al., 2005). Policy measures are needed that provide incentives for development and adoption of more diverse, eco-efficient farming; such measures include premium prices for products from eco-efficient systems, and price supports for the provision of their environmental services. Innovative education is needed on whole-system approaches that feature resourceuse efficiency and resilient farming systems to train a new generation of practitioners whose main aim will be ensuring productivity, profitability, and security of food value chains (Francis et al., 2011).There are numerous approaches for increasing agricultural productivity using eco-efficient production systems. For example, integrating livestock, crops, and forestry systems can lead to higher productivity and lower negative impact. In such integrated systems, livestock are reared mostly on grass, browse on nonfood biomass from maize, millets, rice, and sorghum and in turn supply manure and traction (Herrero et al., 2010). Wilkins (2008) argues that eco-efficiency can be increased either by altering the management of individual crop and livestock enterprises or by altering the land use system, for example by adopting mixed crop-livestock systems that incorporate biological nitrogen fixation and use of manure as fertilizer. Combining intensification, better integration of animal manure in crop production, and matching nitrogen and phosphorous supply to livestock requirements can effectively improve nutrient flows (Bouwman et al., 2011). Furthermore, a shift in human diets (e.g., poultry or pork replacing beef) can reduce nutrient use in countries with intensive ruminant production.Land use changes impact the quality and availability of soils, water, and biodiversity. Globally, croplands, pastures, plantations, and urban areas have expanded in recent decades, accompanied by large increases in energy, water, and fertilizer consumption, and significant losses of biodiversity (Foley et al., 2005). These changes can also lead to changes in atmospheric concentration of CO 2 , and may therefore be a contributor to climate change (see discussion below).As noted by Lambin and Meyfroidt (2011), Bhutan, Chile, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, India, and Vietnam managed to increase both agricultural production and the area of forests in their territories. In doing this, they relied on various mixes of agricultural intensification, land use zoning, forest protection, increased reliance on imported food and wood products, creation of off-farm jobs, foreign capital investments, and remittances. The authors conclude that sound policies and innovations can, therefore, reconcile forest preservation with food production.According to FAO (1993), there is an increasingly urgent need to match land types and land uses in the most rational way possible, so as to maximize sustainable production and satisfy the diverse needs of society while at the same time conserving fragile ecosystems and our genetic heritage. Land use planning is fundamental to this process. It is a basic component, whether we are considering mountain ecosystems, savannas, or coastal zones, and underlies the development and conservation of forestry, range, inland, and coastal resources (FAO, 1993). For example, land use allocation has contributed to protecting the Peruvian Amazon, in spite of recent increases in disturbance and deforestation rates (Oliveira et al., 2007). Likewise, protection of productive agricultural land has become a major priority in many regions of the world. Overgrazing and intensive agriculture on marginal lands are a major driver of land loss through degradation. Policies are in place in many countries to avoid this loss of production, but their effectiveness in the face of economic demand is often limited (Ellis and Pontious, 2010).The assumption that large-scale mechanized agriculture is more productive and efficient than small, family farms may be influencing agricultural development policy around the world. In several continents, developing countries are moving toward large-scale, corporate farming as a way to boost production and jump-start agricultural development (Landesa, 2011).In the case of Canada, Maynard and Nault (2005) propose to maintain both big and small farms, given the current situation where 2% of farms produce 35% of the food. The authors propose overall strategies to keep and expand the number of small enterprises, for example, maintaining vibrant rural communities, investing in research and extension, and implementing incentives, regulations, and indicators. Current regulations are not properly differentiated and tend to favor big farms. They also examine the term \"sustainability\" in the context of big and small farms and find that conclusions are difficult, as the term is open to multiple interpretations. The daily reality of farming asks the questions of tradeoffs between sustainability and profitability.The debate about the costs and benefits of biofuels (economically and environmentally) now focuses squarely on whether their use causes too much conversion of natural lands into crop and livestock production around the world. According to Babcock (2009), \"the worry is that the loss of carbon stocks on the converted land would more than offset the direct reduction in greenhouse gas emissions caused by lower gasoline use. The California Air Resources Board has concluded that corn ethanol causes such large amounts of land conversion that it does not qualify as a low-carbon fuel. In its recent analysis of greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that corn ethanol and biodiesel made from soybean oil cause enough land use changes to call into question whether these biofuels meet required greenhouse gas reductions.\" New technology, crop management changes, and renewable energy are playing important roles in increasing the energy efficiency of agriculture and reducing its reliance of fossil resources (Woods et al., 2010). Alternative renewable energy sources also bring diverse opportunities and challenges, such as how to integrate potential biofuel markets, deal with impacts on food security, alleviate poverty, and manage crop and natural resources sustainably (FAO, 2010). The agricultural systems used to produce feedstock for biofuels must use biomass sustainably, and partition it among energy, feed, food, and CO 2 fixation demands (Tilman et al., 2009). Hill et al. (2006) indicate that biofuels produced from low-input biomass plants grown on marginal land or from waste biomass, could provide much greater supplies and environmental benefits than staple food-based biofuels. Appropriate life-cycle analysis will therefore be needed to determine the use of land resources and estimate net carbon emissions of each suggested renewable energy technology (Vonblottnitz and Curran, 2007).There has been a dramatic rise in interest of investors in acquiring farmland, particularly in Africa, as a result of the escalating food prices at the end of the first decade of the 21st century. The focus of this interest has largely been on land with agricultural potential that is either uncultivated or producing less than its potential. This food crisis pointed to new players, challenges, and perhaps some opportunities associated with land use changes. This phenomenal development, if considered by the sheer size of the lands being acquired (some 56 million hectares in 2009), has prompted specific proposals on the ethics and principles that should be applied by all interested parties (Deininger et al., 2011). Three key principles that are closely related to the issue of land use change are:• Respecting land and resource rights.Existing rights to land and associated natural resources should be recognized and respected. • Responsible agro-investing. Investors should ensure that projects respect the rule of law, reflect industry best practice, are economically viable, and result in durable shared value. • Environmental sustainability. Environmental impacts of a project should be quantified and measures taken to encourage sustainable resource use while minimizing and mitigating the risk and magnitude of negative impacts.A recent report from the World Bank (2009) examines commercial agriculture in the Guinea savanna and elsewhere in Africa. The report claims that African agriculture continues to lag, as reflected in the decline in international competitiveness of many traditional African export crops during the past 30 years, as well as in the competitiveness of some food crops for which import dependence has increased. In contrast, over the same period two agricultural regions in the developing world have shown the way-the Cerrado region of Brazil (see Chapter 4 of this volume) and the Northeast Region of Thailand.Both have developed at a rapid pace and conquered important world markets. Their success defied the predictions of many skeptics, who had asserted that the two regions' challenging agroecological characteristics, remote locations, and high levels of poverty would prove impossible to overcome.Two recent developments have led to a change in thinking about the potential of African agriculture (The World Bank, 2009). First, during the past decade, strong agricultural growth has been recorded in many African countries, suggesting that the sector can indeed be a driver of growth when the conditions are right. Second, the steep rise in prices of food and agricultural commodities that occurred in 2008 has led to a realization that new opportunities may be opening for countries that are endowed with the land, labor, and other resources needed to respond to the growing demand for food.Although there may be a large regional variability, models suggest that changes in temperature and precipitation patterns due to climate change and increasing concentrations of atmospheric CO 2 will significantly affect agroecosystems and yields (Battisti and Naylor, 2009;Lobell and Field, 2007), reducing food availability and thereby jeopardizing food security and farm incomes (Lobell et al. 2008) (see also Chapter 3 of this volume). There will be shifts of plant distributions because some species will expand into newly favorable areas and others will decline in increasingly adverse locations. Climate change may increase global timber production as a result of changes of forestry locations (shifting from low-latitude regions in the short term to high-latitude regions in the long term as climate changes), whereas demand for forest products will rise slightly (Kirilenko and Sedjo, 2007).Agriculture contributes to carbon emissions through the direct use of fossil fuels in farming, the indirect use of energy in inputs that are energy-intensive to manufacture (e.g., fertilizers), and the cultivation of soils resulting in the loss of soil organic matter (Pretty and Ball, 2001). Agricultural management explains historic changes in regional soil carbon stocks. Agriculture is also a major contributor of atmospheric nitrous oxide (N 2 O), a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) commonly generated by the use of manure or nitrogen (N) fertilizers. In intensive wheat-cropping systems, common N fertilizer practices may lead to high fluxes of N 2 O and NO (nitric oxide). Several groups of heterotrophic bacteria use NO 3 as a source of energy by converting it to the gaseous forms N 2 , NO, and NO 2 . N 2 O is therefore often unavailable for crop uptake or utilization.Land use change contributes considerably to increases in atmospheric CO 2 . The IPCC (2007) estimates the land use change (e.g., conversion of forest to agricultural land) contributes 1.6 ± 0.8 gigatons of carbon per year to the atmosphere, compared with 6.3 ± 0.6 gigatons of carbon from fossil fuel combustion and cement production.The total biomass carbon stock of tropical forests is estimated to be 247 gigatons, with 193 gigatons stored above ground and 54 gigatons stored below ground in roots. Latin American, sub-Saharan African, and Southeast Asian forests account for 49, 25, and 26% of the total stock, respectively (Saatchi et al., 2011). Deforestation and degradation of tropical forests accounted for 12 to 20% of global anthropogenic GHG emissions in the 1990s and early 2000s. Reducing deforestation and forest degradation would thus both reduce GHG emissions and increase the potential of forests to remove additional carbon from the atmosphere. Expansion of cattle ranching has been identified as a major cause of deforestation and a major contributor to CO 2 emissions (see Chapter 10 of this volume). The carbon footprint of beef produced on newly deforested land in the Amazon exceeds 700 kg CO 2 equivalents per kilogram of carcass weight if direct land use emissions are annualized over 20 years (Cederberg et al., 2011). Enteric fermentation is also a major contributor to GHG emissions, particularly in the developing world, which accounts for almost three-quarters of such emissions (Thorpe, 2009). Intensive ruminantbased meat production systems consume large amounts of high-value feed but suffer from low feed conversion rates and long reproductive intervals, making them inefficient users of resources. Changing from ruminants to monogastrics could significantly reduce the contribution of livestock to GHG production (Steinfeld and Gerber, 2010).Adoption of eco-efficient practices would contribute immensely to solving land use and climate change challenges noted in the previous sections. Agriculture can sequester carbon when organic matter is built up in the soil or when above-ground woody biomass acts either as a permanent sink or is used as an energy source that substitutes fossil fuels. The mitigation effects of adoption of improved pastures, intensifying ruminant diets, changes in land use practices, and changing breeds of large ruminants could account for 4 to 7% of the global agricultural mitigation potential to 2030, or US$1.3 billion per year at a price of US$20/t of CO 2 equivalents (Thornton and Herrero, 2010).Expanding cropland onto areas under natural ecosystems reduces carbon stocks in natural vegetation and soils, with the amount of carbon released and crop yields differing markedly between temperate regions and the tropics (West et al., 2010): for each unit of land cleared, land in the tropics releases nearly twice as much carbon (~120 t/ha vs. ~63 t/ha) and produces less than half the annual crop yield as land in temperate regions (1.71 t/ha per year vs. 3.84 t/ha per year). However, high-input industrialized agriculture uses far more energy, in the form of nitrogen fertilizers, pumped irrigation, and mechanical power, than does low-input, sustainable agriculture, making it less energy efficient. Production of 1 ton of cereals or vegetables from high-input farming consumes 3000-10,000 MJ of energy, compared with only 500-1000 MJ using sustainable farming practices (Pretty and Ball, 2001). Van Wesemael et al. (2010) studied changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in soils in Belgium between 1960 and2006, and found a large reduction in SOC in grassland soils that had been drained after 1960, and large gains in croplands in sandy lowland soils due to manure additions. Cassman (1999) indicates that precise management and improvements in soil quality are needed to achieve high yields without causing environmental damage. Conservation agriculture, green manures, and cover crops contribute to organic matter and carbon accumulation in the soil, physically protect the soil from the action of sun, rain, and wind, and help feed soil biota. No-tillage systems result in accumulation of 0.3-0.6 t C/ha per year, but no-tillage combined with rotations and cover crops may double the amount of carbon accumulated, to 0.66-1.3 t C/ha per year (Pretty and Ball, 2001).No-tillage has revolutionized agricultural systems because it allows individual producers to manage larger amounts of land with fewer inputs of energy, labor, and machinery (Tripplet and Dick, 2008). Lal (2010) points out that not all conservation agriculture practices and other resource conservation technologies are applicable across all farming systems. However, he reports that increasing SOC in the root zone can increase grain yields (kg/ha per ton of C) of bean (30-60), maize (200-300), rice (20-50), soybean (20-50), and wheat (20-40). Such increases in SOC also improve soil quality, increase eco-efficiency, and enhance ecosystem services. Such soil sinks must become permanent if they are to contribute to mitigating climate change; if lands under conservation agriculture are ploughed all the gains in soil carbon and organic matter would be lost.Using the correct amount and timing of N application can halve NO 2 emissions in intensive irrigated agroecosystems without significantly affecting crop yields (Ruan and Johnson, 1999). Using a handheld optical sensor that calculates the normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI), thereby assessing yield potential as plants grow, can reduce unnecessary N-fertilizer inputs, saving farmers money and protecting the environment by reducing trace gas emissions. Some plants produce chemicals that inhibit nitrification in the soil, reducing loss of fertilizer N (Fillery, 2007). This ability, which is referred to as biological nitrification inhibition or BNI (Subbarao et al., 2006), seems to vary widely among and within species, and appears likely to be a widespread phenomenon in tropical pasture grasses (Subbarao et al., 2007).Nitrification inhibition enhances agroecosystem fertility in a sustainable way, especially under high nitrate leaching and denitrification fluxes, which may account for the ecological advantage of African grasses over indigenous grasses in South American pastures (Boudsocq et al., 2009). These deep-rooted grasses (e.g., Brachiaria humidicola) also sequester significant amounts of organic carbon deep in the soil and help offset anthropogenic CO 2 emissions (Fisher et al., 1994). Brachiaria humidicola, an African forage grass found from southern Sudan and Ethiopia in the north to South Africa and Namibia in the south, shows particularly high BNI capacity (Ishikawa et al., 2003;Subbarao et al., 2009).Local agrobiodiversity will be an important coping mechanism for climate change, especially for the most vulnerable people (Ortiz, 2011a). Agro-silvo-pastoral systems can also be designed to optimize agrobiodiversity and attain production benefits without adding pressure to convert natural habitat to farmland (Ortiz, 2011b; see also Chapter 4 of this volume). However, in some areas locally available agrobiodiversity may not able to adapt quickly to changing conditions, and therefore new crop cultivars, livestock breeds, or other species better suited to the new environments will be needed to cope with climate change.Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of agricultural systems can be increased by growing plant species or genotypes with high N uptake and utilization abilities (Fageria and Baligar, 2005). Whole-plant physiology, quantitative genetics, and forward-and reverse-genetics approaches are providing a better understanding of the physiological and molecular controls of N assimilation in crops under varying environments (Hirel et al., 2007). Crops are being bred for NUE because this trait will be a key factor in reducing N fertilizer pollution and increasing yields in N-limiting environments.Besides sophisticated approaches to make photosynthesis more efficient, a number of already well-developed biotechnologies such as plant micropropagation, virus-free planting materials, molecular diagnostics of plant and livestock diseases, and molecular markers to identify superior lines and populations in conventional breeding operations must continue to be improved and disseminated, particularly in those countries with limited research infrastructure and low rates of adoption. Production of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), undoubtedly the most controversial approach of the new biotechnologies, holds significant promise for contributing to ecoefficient agriculture, but there is an urgent need to focus investment on the needs of the poor (The World Bank, 2008). This is likely to require increased public investment in these technologies. It will also be necessary to increase the capacity to evaluate the risks and regulate these technologies in ways that are cost effective and inspire public confidence in them.However, conventional breeding, benefitting from techniques such as marker-assisted selection, is likely to be at the center of agricultural developments in the immediate future. Unfortunately, the number of plant and livestock breeders continues to decline. This will affect our capacity to improve crops and animals in the future, and urgent measures are needed to reverse this trend.Eco-efficient agriculture will only be adopted and implemented if conducive policies and incentives are in place. This will require that lessons be learned from prior experiences, alignment with market forces, clear communication and engagement with public opinion, development of public-private partnerships, and strong leadership.Any eco-efficiency approach must recognize and exploit the impact of multidimensional economic, environmental, and social interactions on the four components of the food system, i.e., availability, utilization, accessibility, and stability (Park et al., 2009). Failing to do so will impede uptake of adaptation and efficiency strategies.There is an urgent need to intensify, diversify, and integrate production systems to achieve eco-efficiency, but this will require more than just technical solutions. A new vision, combined with policies and incentives, needs to be part of the mix. Reverting to mixed farming will not be easy (Wilkins, 2008). Persuading farmers to do so will require evidence of clear economic advantages from linking crop and livestock systems, cost-effective ways of handling and incorporating animal manures, and systems that are managerially simple to operate. It may also require conducive policies and support payments. For example, the European Union's Nitrate Directive and the Water Framework Directive, by limiting inputs, have provided a very direct incentive for the adoption of eco-efficient practices, while support payments have promoted conversion of land to organic farming and maintenance of organic systems (Wilkins, 2008).The food requirements of the expected population levels in 2050 cannot be met exclusively by the intensive agriculture of today, simply because the natural resource base would either collapse or be placed under very severe stress. Likewise, less input-intensive, agroecological approaches-in particular integrated livestock, crop, and tree systemscould not be utilized everywhere due to limitations in labor, land, water, markets, and infrastructure. Technology, innovation, and policies are essential components of the mix in order to reach acceptable social, economic, and environmental outputs and outcomes in the future. Consumers exert significant pressure on the market and are ultimately one of the main drivers of the agricultural agenda (Gopalan, 2001).Policies and subsidies are sensitive and controversial issues. Developed-country agricultural policies cost developing countries about US$17 billion per year, a cost equivalent to about five times the current levels of overseas development assistance to agriculture, while subsidies in developing countries divert funds from high-return investments in public goods (The World Bank, 2008). Investment in infrastructure (irrigation, roads, transport, power, and telecommunications), markets, rural finance, and research would boost agricultural productivity in developing countries while being less distorting than price subsidies and incentives.How best to promote products from eco-efficient systems is an area that requires further research and more systematic analyses in order to guide both producers and consumers on food grown using eco-efficient approaches. For example, there are learning opportunities from the experiences of the organic markets and locally produced foodstuffs, as well as consideration of non-price incentives and the power of consumers to guide production towards a more eco-efficient path.Eco-efficient agriculture can deliver quality products that meet consumers' needs with a low ecological impact. However, to ensure that it does so equitably and sustainably it is imperative that assessments address social and economic performance as well as ecological criteria (Park et al., 2010).Research on and implementation of the concept and practices of eco-efficiency must be sensitive to gender issues. Women play a major role in agriculture, accounting for about 70 to 80% of household food production in sub-Saharan Africa, 65% in Asia, and 45% in Latin America, cultivating food crops and commonly contributing to production of commercial crops (The World Bank et al., 2009). Women are generally responsible for food selection and preparation and for the care and feeding of children. They are thus key to food security for their households (Quisumbing et al., 1995).Women also commonly play active roles as traders, processors, laborers, and entrepreneurs. However, many development policies and projects continue to assume that farmers and rural workers are mainly men (The World Bank et al., 2009). According to Deere and Leon (2003), about 70 to 90% of formal owners of farmland are men in many Latin American locations.A World Bank water and sanitation study (Fong et al., 1996) concluded that gender is an issue not only of equity but of efficiency, because involving both women and men enhances project results, increases cost recovery, and improves sustainability. A review of 121 rural water supply projects found that women's participation was among the variables strongly associated with project effectiveness in the sector. Women's participation serves both practical and strategic gender needs. The practical gender needs of women are needs based on existing divisions of labor and authority, whereas the strategic gender needs are those that require redress of gender inequalities and redistributing power more equitably.A closer look at women's roles in agricultural production (Table 1-1) illustrates the important part they play in every aspect of agriculture and food production, the significant challenges they face, and why gender-neutral strategies alone will not be sufficient to meet future needs and expectations.Both men and women play critical and often complementary roles, both at the farm-level in smallholder agricultural systems and downstream in more intensive production systems, where processing, packaging, and overall value-adding require the complementary abilities and knowledge of women and men. Interventions must address the specific needs and opportunities of both women and men, particularly the poorest, if they are to reduce inequalities, stimulate growth, and contribute to reducing environmental degradation (The World Bank et al., 2009). To achieve this it is vital to understand and change natural resource tenure and governance and address gender-based inequalities in access to and control over natural resources.The World Bank (2006) sums up the importance of addressing gender issues, stating that \"Gains in women's economic opportunities lag behind those on women's capabilities. This is inefficient, since increased women's labor force participation and earnings are associated with reduced poverty and faster growth. In sum, the business case for expanding women's economic opportunities is becoming increasingly evident; this is nothing more than smart economics and appropriate social policy.\"Eco-efficiency monitoring requires disciplined record-keeping and managed conservation to ensure long-term environmental improvement (Reith and Guidry, 2003).Life-cycle analysis (LCA) helps to assess potential environmental impacts along the value chain (McGregor et al., 2003). LCA quantifies inputs (e.g., water, nutrients, energy, and agrochemicals) and outputs (e.g., grain, stubble, flour, oil, waste), assesses the environmental performance relative to input use and outputs, analyzes and explains the environmental performance of the supply chain, and suggests where and what measures can improve performance. LCA helps the individual actors (farmers, food processors, farm suppliers, retailers, and end users) to manage their environment along the value chain, to set their own environmental performance goals and indicators, and to identify practical, cost-effective measures to improve environmental performance. It can also be used to improve the quality of extension services, increase the profitability of farms by green marketing, and support the regional transition to sustainable agricultural systems (Hayashi et al., 2007).In agriculture, water, energy, and land use intensity are used as resource intensity indicators, whereas NO x pollution, CO 2 , and CH 4 intensity are used to measure environmental impacts (United Nations, 2009). Wießner et al. (2010) introduced a set of practical indicators reflecting ecological and agronomic performance to describe the current eco-efficiency of sugar-beet cultivation,Those agricultural systems and practices that release less C to the atmosphere, conserve organic matter, utilize biological methods for disease and pest control, use clever rotations, pursue recycling opportunities by means of crop, tree and animal components and interactions, and use water rationally tend to be inherently eco-efficient. Humankind-given prospective demands and socio-economic, political and environmental challenges-will not be able to sustain and survive based solely on low-input agricultural systems. Intensive and high-input agriculture also has a key present and future role to play; however, it must attempt to do more with less and, as argued by several authors, it should aim at being more sustainable (Pimentel et al., 2005;Hobbs et al., 2008;Horrigan et al., 2002).In summary:• In view of the challenge to enhance productivity and counteract current yield plateaus in key crop and animal systems by means of eco-efficient methods, technology must be at the forefront of political, strategic, and investment priorities. • Policies and incentives should be also of high priority, in order to tilt the balance towards eco-efficiency, food security, food safety, and reduced waste. • Researchers and policy-makers need to consider the more-from-less, the more-frommore, and even the same-from-less scenarios to define priorities and goals at the national, regional, and local levels. In this context, eco-efficiency needs to be considered at wider scales than the farm or individual crop or animal production system. • The widely assumed notion that developed countries are the ones that tend to specialize in few intensive production systems no longer holds. A growing number of large and intensive crop and animal enterprises (in particular fruits, vegetables, poultry, and beef for the export markets) are nowadays commonly found in the tropical belt. • Generation and dissemination of ecoefficiency knowledge and adoption will greatly benefit from active participation of farmers in research and development, enhanced extension methods (including the new information technologies), and producer and consumer education. • The current and potential impact of climate change on achieving a higher degree of eco-efficiency needs to be better researched and understood. There are both challenges and opportunities that must be worked out, particularly in relation to how eco-efficiency may or may not impact diversification and systems adaptability. • Research and implementation of the concepts and practices of eco-efficiency cannot and should not be made with a gender-neutral approach. Lessons learned all over the world and abundant literature clearly show the advantages-smart economics as depicted by the World Bank ( 2006)-of considering and designing research and implementation of eco-efficient systems based on gender roles and inherent advantages.In the lines of thought outlined above the best possible outcome is for high-input intensive agriculture and low-input agriculture to come closer to each other. High-input agriculture should certainly aim at becoming more environmentally friendly and low-input agriculture should adopt, whenever possible, a more intensive approach leading to higher productivity Hill J; Nelson E; Tilman D;Polasky S;Tiffany D. 2006. Environmental, economic, and  The notion of \"efficiency\" has always been a force shaping the world's food and fiber systems.Hunter-gatherer societies sought efficiencies in direct time and energy into creative and practical activities beyond securing a sufficient food supply.As settled agriculture evolved, seeds were selected, land was cultivated, and crops were managed to further enhance the efficiency with which limiting resources were deployed. Human labor has been a dominant limiting resource for much of agriculture's history. Animal traction and, more recently, mechanization off the back of fossil fuels relieved the human labor constraint and the efficiency focus has shifted to the efficiency by which a complex set of land, labor, capital, energy, nutrients, and water resources are combined to produce economic products in a sustainable way.This paper proposes a conceptual and analytical framework to support the desired goals of enhanced eco-efficiency in agricultural systems and of economic and ecological drivers considered at a range of decision scales. While the challenges and opportunities to improve eco-efficiencies under the threat of climate change are considered, particularly for smallholder production systems, the paper focuses on the bio-physical dimensions of eco-efficiency. Social and political drivers strongly influence agricultural decision-making and so will influence the eco-efficiencies that can be attained in each agricultural system.Eco-efficiency in the context of agriculture grows out of the deep historical pursuit of efficiency in the world's food and fiber systems, but places particular focus on economic (productivity and profitability) and ecological (environmental sustainability) drivers of efficiency.The World Business Council for Sustainable Development claims first use of the term \"ecoefficiency\" in the lead-up to the 1992 Rio Earth Summit (WBCSD, 2000). In that setting, the intent was to develop synergies between the private sector or business world's focus on efficiency with wider concepts of sustainable development and ecological integrity. In simple terms, the focus was on \"creating more goods and services with ever less use of resources, waste, and pollution\" (WBCSD, 2000). The World Business Council saw eco-efficiency as a management philosophy that encouraged business to search for environmental improvements that yielded parallel economic benefits. They acknowledged that the term and concept did not capture all the issues relevant to sustainable development.An early application of eco-efficiency in an agricultural research context comes from CIAT in setting their research and development goals in terms of eco-efficient agriculture for the rural poor. CIAT's Medium-Term Plan (CIAT, 2009) states:\"Eco-efficient agriculture increases productivity while reducing negative environmental impacts. Eco-efficient agriculture meets economic, social, and environmental needs of the rural poor by being profitable, competitive, sustainable, and resilient. It harmonizes the economic, environmental, and social elements of development, and strives toward solutions that are competitive and profitable, sustainable, and resilient, and generate benefits for the poor. Eco-efficient agriculture cannot effectively address the needs of the poor without taking into account the particular needs of women.\" Keating et al. (2010) noted that eco-efficiency was not a tightly defined concept-instead it was highly multidimensional. As such, there is unlikely to be a single measure that characterizes the eco-efficiency performance of an agricultural system. Instead, a set of measures is likely to be relevant in particular circumstances and these are likely to change in relation to differences in the most limiting set of biophysical, economic, or human resources (Park et al., 2010).Any measure of eco-efficiency involves some measure of outputs (desired or undesired) related to some measure of inputs or alternative independent variables against which outputs are assessed. Figure 2-1 presents a set of outputinput relationships, nominally representing crop Desired-output measures might typically include some measure of harvested product, some measure of profit or return on investment, or some measure of the security of a food system. Measures could extend beyond food quantity and include measures of quality in meeting nutritional needs. A broader suite of \"ecosystem services\" can also be considered as desired outputs, such as services around biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, freshwater flows, pest management, or pollination services (Costanza et al., 1997). Markets are emerging for some such ecosystem services whereby they would represent direct opportunities for economic return (Herzog, 2005). This is most developed in the carbonsequestration domain (Hamilton et al., 2007). Other services are encouraged through nonmarket policies such as agri-environmental stewardship payments (Hajkowicz, 2009), while yet other services remain outside an institutional mechanism.Input measures typically involve a unit of land but equally importantly could be expressed in terms of nutrients, water, energy, labor, or capital investments (Figure 2-1). Production functions relate agricultural outputs to the level of resource and other inputs (Dillon, 1977) and, at one level, are a measure of eco-efficiency. In analyzing production response curves to multiple inputs, de Wit (1992) argued that the resources are utilized most efficiently when their supplies are all close to yield-optimizing levels.Importantly, while eco-efficiency carries the notion of \"more with less\" (Keating et al., 2010), there is the risk of this being misinterpreted to mean only higher outputs with lower inputs. This is too narrow an interpretation, as at least four different scenarios can be envisaged for raising eco-efficiency (Table 2-1).Input/output descriptor Explanation and example(s)More desired outputs and/or less undesired outputs with less inputs Reducing over-fertilization, such as N-fertilizer use on cereals in China (Ju et al., 2009), or over-irrigation such as with irrigation volumes on sugarcane in north-west Australia (Smith, 2008) A lot more with a little more Raising production levels through careful targeting of production inputs such as \"micro-dosing\" maize or sorghum with N fertilizer in southern Africa (Twomlow et al., 2008) More with the smarter use of the same Raising the effectiveness of current agricultural inputs through better targeting these inputs in space, such as via precision agriculture (Bramley, 2009), or time, for example with a seasonal climate forecast (Ash et al., 2007) Less with much less Lowering production in those regions or systems where inputs are not efficiently used (e.g., for climatic or soil reasons) and redirecting resources to areas of greater ecoefficiency (Oliver et al., 2010)  Agriculture produces a range of products (food, fiber, bioenergy, medicines, etc.) but not without broad and, at times, unsought consequences for land and society. Thus, alongside the desired outputs from agriculture are possible undesired outputs such as biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, nutrient or soil loss, and other forms of land degradation. These undesired outputs often are also a function of relevant input levels (Figure 2-1).The range of outputs from agriculture, both desired and undesired, can be assessed in trade-off relationships (Groot et al., 2007), often where production outputs are counterbalanced against the state of a system in environmental or social terms (Kelly et al., 1996). When represented graphically (Figure 2-2), an outer efficiency frontier can be drawn to represent the outermost desirable system outputs for the range of known (undesired) system states. Any point under the efficiency frontier represents room to move, with resultant wins and/or losses for both production and environmental outputs (Figure 2-2). An Eco-Efficiency Framework Keating et al. (2010) introduced an eco-efficiency diagnosis framework drawing on the types of relationships represented by production functions and trade-off relationships. A return-risk space formed the supporting analytical structure to assess system performance-mean economic returns are plotted against their associated variance, used as a measure of riskiness. An efficiency frontier of outermost points was envisaged where mean returns are maximized for any given level of variance in returns. This ecoefficiency diagnosis framework is represented in Figure 2  At the field and farm scale, the position of individual farmers relative to the efficiency frontier is largely determined by their attitude to risk and operational performance. To achieve the environmental potential or maximum possible output from a farm (Point A, Figure 2-3) necessitates acceptance of maximum risk, and thus a preference for risk-taking, as well as exemplary management. More likely, a region's best farmers choose acceptable-risk investments that return less than the potential (Point D). If farmers are operating close to the efficiency frontier, at their chosen level of production risk, they are achieving the expected level of return for the technologies deployed and the environmental conditions experienced. However, many farmers in a region would operate at positions below the efficiency frontier (Point B). These farmers invest as much in their production systems as the better farmers but achieve poorer returns by falling short in their agronomy and operational management.A first and most important pathway to improve system performance is to increase the number of farmers performing close to attainable best practices (Pathway 1: B D). Their transition to performing on a par with the better farmers will likely require both evidence of such inefficiencies and access to better agronomic advice. A second pathway is to encourage farmers to move along the current efficiency frontier to higher returns while acknowledging and addressing the added risks (Pathway 2: G D). This pathway largely consists of good farmers adopting the practices of those farmers operating further up the efficiency curve. Such farmers need to be convinced that the increased investment needed to achieve the returns of the best farmers justifies their higher risk exposure. In a case study of Australian wheat crops, Hochman et al. (2011) reported that 36% of crops failed to achieve close to their attainable yield at the rate of nitrogen fertilizer applied and a further 21% of crops were under-fertilized-opportunities for efficiency improvements along pathways 1 and 2, respectively.Under existing production systems and relevant efficiency frontiers, the third pathway for improved system efficiencies is to encourage farmers to reduce their investment in inputs where they are overinvesting (Pathway 3: beyond A D). Although uncommon, excess use of fertilizers is evident in some agricultural systems, as in nitrogen fertilizer use in China (Ju et al., 2009).Increasingly, more efficient resource use has been a mainstay of agriculture's response to the cost-price squeeze. For a region's better farmers, who currently operate on existing production frontiers, a real and ongoing requirement is to create new efficiency frontiers that generate similar returns for less investment and risk (Pathway 4: D C). Such technologies generally enable cost savings and have no impact on production potential. On this pathway, technologies are sought to increase productivity from the existing resource base by reducing biotic constraints or to improve efficiencies in nutrient, water, or labor use. Such technologies can be developed through both agronomic (Bramley, 2009) and breeding approaches (Fageria et al., 2008).A key role for agricultural research is to help discover the practices that will result in the next step-change in productivity and profitability. Thus, the fifth pathway is to create new efficiency frontiers by increasing the production potential and by helping farmers take this productivity step (Pathway 5: D F). Most see this pathway as the hope for genetically modified crops (Phillips, 2010). In reality, furthering the frontiers of productivity will likely evolve from the synergies between novel plant genetics and innovative management technologies. Moving farmers to new efficiency frontiers will require research into and delivery of new technologies that increase production for much the same level of investment.Maintaining current levels of productivity for a desired level of investment requires ongoing effort to prevent situations that could substantially limit productivity. The sixth and last pathway for investment in research, development, and extension is to protect against any loss of current production systems (Pathway 6: D ≠ E). Indeed, significant current effort is targeted either at preventing any breakdown in existing disease, weed, or pest management strategies, or at maintaining facilities to rapidly respond to future outbreaks of exotic diseases, weeds, or pests. Either threat could dramatically dampen the efficiency frontier prospects of farmers. Likewise, practices that threaten the natural resource base for agriculture will result in an unavoidable loss of productivity. Issues such as soil salinity, acidification, and nutrient rundown require research investment to ensure productivity levels are maintained. Keating and Carberry (2010) projected food demand out to 2050 and estimated likely increases in the order of 64-81%, with the variation dependent on assumptions of population growth, consumption increases, food wastage along the value chain, and food diversion to biofuels. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimated that food demand will increase by 70% between 2000 and 2050 (FAO, 2009). These increases will need to be achieved in the face of increasingly constrained and contested land, water, nutrient, and energy resources. The threat of dangerous climate change also means the food security challenge has to be met while reducing the GHG load on the atmosphere and in the face of uncertainties generated by the climate change that is already happening. These intertwined challenges necessitate an eco-efficiency imperative for global agriculture, where more food and fiber are produced with more efficient use of natural resources and less impact on the environment.The climate change challenge facing agricultural land use encompasses both adaptation to current and predicted new climates and the mitigation of GHG through both reductions in direct emissions and biosequestration of carbon. Globally, agriculture, including fertilizer production, directly contributes 10-12% of GHG emissions; and this figure rises to 30% or more when land conversion and emissions beyond the farm gate are added (Smith et al., 2007). The consensus on the climate science is that global GHG emissions would need to peak before 2015 and be reduced by something in the order of 50-85% (on 2000 levels) by 2050 if dangerous climate change (i.e., temperature rise > 2.4 o C) is to be avoided (IPCC, 2007). The relationship given as an example in Figure 2-2 depicts a trade-off between agricultural production and GHG emissions. A win-win outcome for agriculture and its emissions will require eco-efficient solutions that create new efficiency frontiers of reduced GHG intensities of food production. These new efficiency frontiers are required to generate similar outputs for less emissions risk (Pathway 4, Figure 2-3) or to increase production potential without emissions growth (Pathway 5).Agricultural production may have to intensify efficiently on a smaller land area in order to free up land, water, and other resources for carbon biosequestration and environmental services (Pretty et al., 2011). Nevertheless, there are indeed win-win outcomes through the synergies between agricultural productivity and GHG mitigation by increasing soil carbon (Lal, 2004), reducing livestock methane (Beauchemin et al., 2008), or better managing livestock and manure (Monteny et al., 2006). That said, Campbell (2009) points out that win-win outcomes will not be feasible in all cases and so winners and losers are likely in programs such as the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+).The challenge of adaptation to climate change has largely focused on ameliorating the negative impacts of climate that is likely to be drier and hotter, although the benefits of CO 2 fertilization and improved agroclimatic environments will be evident in some locations (Howden et al., 2007). Simple (negative) impacts of climate change are depicted in the production response functions shown in Figure 2-4 together with an indication of the likely effect of adaptation options identified by Howden et al. (2007) and others. Such adaptation actions aim to maintain current production outputs through management changes that better respond to the new environments (Pathway 6, Figure 2-3). However, in reality, all six pathways identified for efficiently increasing agricultural returns will contribute to the adaptation options for climate change-i.e., the long-held imperatives for increasing agricultural productivity through both incremental and transformational research and uptake will likely lead to appropriate responses to a future probable change in the climate risk. Thus, the imperative for research to help farmers to better deal with current seasonal climate variability will likely enable them to adapt to future climate change (Howden et al., 2007). The need for targeting transformational research specifically to adaptation to future climate change must pass the test of additionality; the notion that such added investment should be additional to what is already being done. Changes in frequency and magnitude of climate extremes, and thus agricultural systems crossing thresholds (Tubiello et al., 2007), may be the driver for such additional and specific response.Explicit treatment of uncertainties in a decisionmaking context is needed to ensure that adaptation action now does not get ahead of our confidence in locally specific expectations for the future. In smallholder tropical environments with large numbers of biophysical and institutional factors constraining development, it would be unwise to focus on adaptation to an uncertain future climate if it meant that certain current constraints to agricultural development were ignored. Building a longer-term climate change perspective into current efforts to raise agricultural productivity, sustain the natural resource base, and overcome rural poverty is, however, a wise counter to the risk of development proceeding down maladaptive pathways (Stafford Smith et al., 2011).In the generally low-input, low-output situations of smallholder farmers in the tropics, natural resources are co-opted to meet food production needs. Thus, while nutrient inputs may be used most efficiently for the first unit of addition in these systems (Twomlow et al., 2008), the coincident inputs of land, water, and labor are used inefficiently in many smallholder systems. Eco-efficiency needs to be an integrating concept, extending beyond single-factor production functions to a measure of the efficiency with which food production needs are met with the least environmental impacts.The six pathways for enhanced eco-efficiency (Figure 2-3) are relevant to smallholder farmers in the tropics. The large yield gaps identified in tropical systems (Neumann et al., 2010) testify to the prospects for moving overall farmer performance closer to the attainable efficiency frontiers (Pathway 1). However, given that smallholder systems are often low input, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, there is likely much to gain from encouraging farmers to move along currently attainable efficiency frontiers in order to increase returns to individual farmers and aggregate production from smallholder farming systems (Pathway 2) (Keating et al., 1991;Tittonell et al., 2008). Addressing farmer perception and management of the added risks from such practices is a critical endeavor for success in this pathway. Similarly, encouraging farmers to reduce their investment in unnecessary inputs (Pathway 3), as in nitrogen fertilizer use in China (Ju et al., 2009), will require comparable persuasive communication of the benefits of a significant change to established practices.Creating new efficiency frontiers that improve returns, lower risks, or both (Pathways 4 and 5) can benefit smallholder farmers by enhancing the incentives for adoption-the Green Revolution is the exemplar case of the impacts of these pathways for improved productivity (Evenson and Gollin, 2003). Certainly the needs of Green Revolution smallholder farmers in tropical Asia and Latin America now mirror the demands for productivity innovations from large-scale commercial farmers in developed countries. Agricultural productivity in the past can be pinned to the development and adoption of specific technologies and practices and it is critical today that new technologies continue to be identified, developed, and adopted over the coming years (Carberry et al., 2010).In contrast to Asia and Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa has not gained the same benefits from the Green Revolution. Despite the arguments for significant returns from Green-Revolution-type investments to improve smallholder productivity and infrastructure in Africa (Diao et al., 2008), it is difficult to see traction for such pathways (4 and 5) without prior priority given to improving basic agronomic performance and to changing perceptions of investment risk (Pathways 1 and 2). Here, the increasing role of the private sector and input/ output markets in Africa may hold hope for progress (Gabre-Madhin and Haggblade, 2004).Finally, the mitigation and adaptation challenges of climate change and their relation to the food security imperatives in tropical landscapes are a mix of synergies and trade-offs (DeFries and Rosenzweig, 2010). As argued previously, an eco-efficiency imperative utilizing all available pathways will need to be brought to bear.We have focused on biophysical issues around the efficiency with which natural and human inputs are transformed into desired food and fiber outputs and environmental services, with a minimum of undesired outputs such as natural resource degradation or GHG loads on the atmosphere. In the context of global or regional food security in the face of climate change mitigation and adaptation challenges, this serves as a useful framing for a key global challenge. However, social and economic circumstances are going to shape decision-making in a particular farming situation and efficiency optima are often going to be different for production, productivity, profitability, or risk tolerance criteria.In a broader view of eco-efficiency, spatial and temporal scales become important. In terms of spatial scale, what might be an eco-efficient solution at a local level may be ecologically inefficient at national or global scale if the production activity is less productive and more environmentally demanding at other locations. In terms of temporal scale, short-term efficiency in resource use that leads to longer-term naturalresource degradation will end as up ecologically inefficient due to the longer-term negative feedbacks to productive capacity.The proposed eco-efficiency diagnosis framework (Figure 2-3) allows these different perspectives to be contemplated in terms of pathways for change. The challenge for smallholder farmers in the tropics (and for this CIAT publication) is to turn these concepts into practice.Climate change is widely considered one of the major drivers of societal change in this century, and agriculture has been identified as particularly 1 International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Cali, Colombia.2 CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), Cali, Colombia. 3 Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science (ICAS), University of Leeds, United Kingdom. * Corresponding author: a.jarvis@cgiar.org exposed and vulnerable to its impacts (Lobell et al., 2008;Roudier et al., 2011;Thornton et al., 2011). In addition to crop losses from the increased incidence of natural disasters (floods, droughts, fires, etc.) (Sivakumar et al., 2005;Tao et al., 2009), agricultural systems will have to cope with changing rainfall regimes, geographical shifts in the occurrence of pests and diseases (Garrett et al., 2012;Jarvis et al., 2012), shorter growing seasons (Jones and Thornton, 2009), temperature stress (Challinor et al., 2007) and loss of climatic suitability (Jarvis et al., 2012). Global climate models 4 (GCMs) predict that while climatic variability is certain to produce both winners and losers, the losses will far outweigh the gains in many cases. The tropics, in particular, are expected to experience crop yield decreases in the order of 10-30% (Moorhead, 2009). Likewise, South Asia might well be too heat stressed to grow wheat by 2050 (Ortiz et al., 2008;Lobell et al., 2012). Both of these regions depend heavily on agriculture for rural livelihoods, making them especially susceptible to climate-change-induced pressures.Agriculture's position in the climate change equation is perhaps unique; it is simultaneously a highly vulnerable sector as the numbers above indicate, a highly culpable sector with regard to its significant contribution to anthropogenic emissions (Key and Tallard, 2012), and also a sector with enormous potential for mitigating anthropogenic climate change (Hutchinson et al., 2007;Tubiello and Fischer, 2007). Indeed, agriculture produces a disproportionate share of emissions of the high-impact gases methane (CH 4 ) (47% of global total) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) (58% of global total) (Pye- Smith, 2011). It is responsible for 30% of all greenhouse gas emissions when taking into account land use change and deforestation for agricultural expansion, fuel, fiber, and food (IPCC, 2007). On the other hand, carbon sequestration in agricultural soils could potentially offset 5-15% of global fossil fuel emissions (Lal, 2004), not to mention the mitigation power of deforestation reduction and fertilizer and irrigation optimization through sustainable intensification practices.These considerations make climate-smart agriculture a critical topic for discussion and rapid action. Changing conditions require transformations in agricultural systems towards higher productivity, but on a lower-emissions trajectory (FAO, 2010a). Climate-smart agriculture aims to achieve food security for a world of 9 billion people and successful adaptation to an increasingly variable climate, while reducing emissions and sequestering carbon. It includes practices such as agroforestry, mulching, water management, intercropping, and silvopastoralism, as well as technologies for climate risk management, such as more accurate weather forecasts and the development of improved food crop varieties (Cooper et al., 2012;Smith et al., 2011;The World Bank, 2011). Specific definitions for climate-smart agriculture can vary widely depending on the source. For the purposes of this chapter we will use the following definition for climate-smart agriculture: an agricultural system employing practices which (a) contribute to farmer adaptation to climate change by bolstering the security of food systems, or (b) help to mitigate climate change by sequestering or preventing the release of carbon emissions, while (c) ideally increasing agricultural productivity.Although climate-smart agricultural practices have been shown to be effective in matters of adaptation and mitigation, there remains the question of whether a climate-smart practice is necessarily an eco-efficient practice. When applied to agriculture, eco-efficiency describes a system that produces the most possible output with the least possible input, harmonizing economic, social, and environmental needs (see Mateo and Ortiz, Chapter 1 of this publication).But to what extent do eco-efficient practices overlap with climate-smart practices? Although climate-smart farming practices may be able to reduce emissions from agriculture, do they also constitute a system that uses resources effectively and efficiently for maximum yields?This chapter shows how climate and crop models can be used to anticipate future scenarios for agricultural development and support decision making for priority adaptation and mitigation interventions. Future projections are presented, which are then used to evaluate impacts on agricultural production and systems. The chapter then presents a case study of Colombia, where likely climate changes are quantified, impacts on agricultural systems are assessed, and the efficacy of different adaptation and mitigation options for the country is evaluated. This example is then used to discuss whether climate change presents a challenge or an opportunity for eco-efficient agriculture, looking at the impacts and potential responses in a broader political economy. Using the example, we address the following question: are the high-priority adaptation and mitigation options identified for Colombia necessarily ecoefficient as well?While GCMs are all based on the same underlying principles, they vary in their implementation. We rely on the comprehensive collection of GCM climate change data and statistics of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for the scenarios presented here.The IPCC used 24 GCMs in its Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) (IPCC, 2007) to show changes in climatic variables at various times in the future. The predictions depend on which of the various scenarios of economic and environmental development is assumed to occur, analyzed in detail in the IPCC's Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) (IPCC, 2000). Overall, annual mean temperatures are predicted to increase by 1-3° C by 2050 (depending on the SRES scenario), with mid-to high latitudes likely to warm at higher rates than the tropics. Changes in rainfall are varied and complex, ranging from -10 to +20% (again depending on the SRES scenario), with very high likelihood of increases along the Pacific coast of South America and in Eastern Africa, and decreases over South Asia (IPCC, 2007). More specifically, under the SRES A2 scenario (\"business as usual\"), global mean temperatures are predicted to rise by 1.6-8.4 °C by 2050, with winter temperatures at northern latitudes increasing most, while global average rainfall is predicted to increase as much as 1.9% by 2020 and 22.8% by 2050 (IPCC, 2007).Again under the SRES A2 scenario, the Mediterranean area of North Africa extending towards the Sahara is predicted to be drier throughout the year. Changes in rainfall in Asia are spatially variable, while in the Middle East, predictions show a decrease in overall rainfall [although with low certainty (IPCC, 2007)]. Changes in rainfall in the Amazon are highly uncertain, ranging from -10 to +15% by 2050.All of these changes are expected to have profound implications for world agriculture, but the impact will depend on: the crop grown, farmer adaptability to climate change, type and severity of the expected change, and the current system vulnerability. Coping with these changes requires reliable predictions of future climate, coupled with reliable impact models and knowledge of adaptation options that can be implemented at the individual farm level (Jarvis et al., 2011;Thornton et al., 2011).We cannot measure the response of the climate to natural or anthropogenic forcings in absolute terms, but we can represent it in GCMs. GCMs themselves, however, are based on imperfect approximations that cause inaccuracies and uncertainties. Inaccuracies occur when we do not reproduce observed climate patterns at the scales that they appear (i.e., predicted climates differ from observations). In contrast, uncertainties reflect the variability (i.e., spread) of GCM predictions and can arise from:• Disagreement on the future socio-economic behavior of the world's nations, leading to disagreement over which SRES scenarios to use • Lack of understanding of the response of the climate system to anthropogenic forcing • Inability to understand properly, and hence model, the different forcings in the climate system, which are then parameterized differently in the GCMs • Disagreement over GCMs' initial conditions (i.e., the fact that climate change experiments are initialized arbitrarily on the basis of a quasi-equilibrium control run) (Challinor et al., 2009).Often the conditions necessary to initialize GCMs in climate change experiments must be selected randomly (Gleckler et al., 2008;Taylor et al., 2012), which contributes to model spread. Uncertainties, therefore, are a range of predictions for any future time giving us a plausible range under which the impact of potential adaptation-or mitigation-oriented decisions can be analyzed (Moss et al., 2010;Webster et al., 2012). Quantifying these uncertainties is critical to understanding the future changes in climate and how agricultural systems will respond to them (Challinor et al., 2009;Moss et al., 2010).Given enough observed data, we can assess the predictive skill for any climatic variable prediction by the GCMs, but a variable that performs well in one instance (i.e., present-day climate) may not perform well in others (i.e., future scenarios) (Challinor and Wheeler, 2008). In addition, the uncertainty determined for one variable does not necessarily represent the uncertainty of all the others. That is, one variable's estimate of \"high uncertainty\" does not signify that the projection is highly uncertain in absolute terms. Quantification of uncertainty is critical for decisions regarding adaptation of agricultural systems to climate change (Smith and Stern, 2011;Smith et al., 2011). These decisions directly impact farmers' livelihoods and therefore need comprehensive analysis of current vulnerabilities and future uncertainties to avoid the risk of making faulty recommendations (Jarvis et al., 2011).Despite the inherent uncertainties in climate change projections, there can be no excuse for inaction on the policy front. On the contrary, decisions on adaptation strategies should be anticipatory, putting into place as much effective policy and infrastructure as possible in the near term to avoid possibly irreversible repercussions. Moreover, anticipatory adaptation has the additional benefit of reducing the potential costs that may result from maladaptation, particularly for decisions regarding long-lived and costly infrastructure or sector-level planning (Ranger et al., 2010).Climate change adaptation is by no means without risk. Decision makers may fail to appreciate the magnitude of a climate-related risk and not deliver a crucial adaptation, or there is the possibility of overestimation of risk and thus \"over-adaptation\" and waste of resources (Willows and Connell, 2003). Although we cannot predict with complete certainty how the climate will be in the future, it is possible to take steps to buffer negative effects with minimum levels of risk. That is to say, adaptation does not necessarily require a perfectly accurate prediction. A framework developed by Willows and Connell (2003) emphasizes the necessity of keeping open or increasing the options that could allow adaptation measures to be implemented in the future, when the situation may be less uncertain.According to Willows and Connell (2003), risk assessments should aim to identify \"no-regrets\" alternatives or immediately actionable options that should deliver adaptation benefits under any circumstances regardless of actual climate outcomes. For example, an early-warning system for natural disasters would be a suitable adaptation for any foreseeable future; it would constitute a \"no-regrets\" option (Ranger et al., 2010). Other plausible approaches include building flexibility into the adaptability measure, e.g., constructing infrastructure that could be modified in the future, if necessary, rather than rebuilt, or building flexibility into the decisionmaking process itself by taking no-regrets actions first and delaying more high-stakes actions until better information is available (Ranger et al., 2010). Doing so could help to avoid decisions that may become maladapted with time or limit further flexibility. Planned adaptation options may be the most appropriate in the face of low uncertainty, while generating adaptive capacity in a system might be a more appropriate strategy if there is high uncertainty of climate impacts. In any case, while uncertainty may complicate the decisionmaking process, it should not hinder it altogether. and no crop becoming more than 10% more suitable. Over half (26) of the crops were relatively insensitive to climate change (suitability changing less than 5%). Global changes in suitability may, however, vary from one region to another and 37 crops lost more than 50% of the area currently classified as suitable (Figure 3-1).Trends in crop suitability also differed geographically. North Africa lost an average of 80% crop suitability, while Europe made the most important gains with no crop losing more than 5% suitability on average. Latin America, the Pacific, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa lost about 35-40% suitability overall, even allowing the crop area to migrate. Important issues of food security arise when crop suitability decreases significantly, especially in subtropics of the Mediterranean and India (Challinor et al., 2007).Overall, the tropics become less suitable because critical thresholds of adaptability are exceeded in most marginally suitable areas (Figure 3-1). Predicted losses of more than 20% climate suitability will occur over 10, 15, 50, and 75% of the area currently growing cassava (Ceballos et al., 2011;Jarvis et al., 2012),We ranked the area harvested of the 50 most important crops reported by FAOSTAT (FAO, 2010b) and assessed their patterns of crop suitability using the EcoCrop model, following the procedure described by Ramírez-Villegas et al. (2011). The areas of each crop ranged from 26,290 to 2,161,000 km 2 , and each had a wide range of physiological responses to climate, for example, growing seasons (40-365 days), rainfall (200-8,000 mm/yr), and temperatures (2-48 °C). Within their environmental ranges (as indicated by EcoCrop), adaptation for a particular crop ranged from very marginal to highly suitable. We expected, therefore, to show the range of climatic response of each crop and estimate the likely effects of climate change on crop distribution.We found that if crops were assumed to migrate without limit, global crop suitability increased by 0.84%, with buckwheat increasing most (+9.7%) and wheat decreasing most (-15.1%). At the global scale, 16 crops were less suitable, with wheat, sugar beet, white clover, and coffee becoming more than 10% less suitable, bananas (Ramírez et al., 2011;Van den Bergh et al., 2012), potatoes (Schafleitner et al., 2011), and beans (Beebe et al., 2011), respectively. In contrast, black leaf streak, a major disease in bananas, is predicted to decrease by 3-7% in most banana-growing areas (Ramírez et al., 2011). Crop traits that the model flagged as important were: cold/waterlogging tolerance for cassava (Ceballos et al., 2011;Jarvis et al., 2012), cold/heat tolerance for bananas (Ramírez et al., 2011), heat/cold/drought tolerance for potatoes (Schafleitner et al., 2011), and heat/drought tolerance for beans (Beebe et al., 2011). Although cold tolerance may seem an odd trait when climate change predicts higher temperatures, at least some tropical crops may extend into the subtropics where cold snaps can damage sensitive crops (e.g., citrus in Florida).In the past, farmers have adapted their cropping systems to tackle adverse climates and to respond to other environmental pressures. It is likely that they will continue to adapt their systems as the climate changes by adopting new varieties -or even new crops altogether -and by changing agronomic practices such as time of sowing (IPCC, 2007;Krishnan et al., 2007;Srivastava et al., 2010). There is a clear need to develop strategies to alleviate the negative impacts and capitalize on the positive impacts of climate change, particularly in the most vulnerable regions such as the tropics and subtropics. Adaptation strategies to overcome reduced crop suitability include:• Changes in management to temporarily buffer negative climate change impacts • Changes in infrastructure and timing, including modification of irrigation and drainage amounts, frequencies, and system types • Modification of varieties in a well-defined regional breeding strategy, using both conserved genetic resources and molecular biotechnology to respond quickly to adaptation needs as they appear • Changes in the intercropping, e.g., crop migration, taking into account economic and environmental sustainabilityAnother possibility is changing one or more of the components of the cropping system. Changing crops might be the only option available to poor smallholders, who are the most vulnerable, least able to adapt to rapid change, and most limited in access to new technology. Crop substitution therefore appears to be a key issue when addressing adaptation pathways for negatively impacted areas. It will be a challenge to produce well-adapted varieties that also comply with the many entrenched socio-cultural traditions that might prevent their adoption, such as regional preferences for size and color of beans in Mesoamerica (Thornton et al., 2011), or fruit characteristics in commercial bananas (Ramírez et al., 2011;Van den Bergh et al., 2012). Substitution of completely new crops will be even harder to bring about.Given the significant shifts in the geographic suitability of crops, a considerable turnover in agricultural technologies and practices is likely to take place. The result could be more opportunities for piggy-backing change, both through appropriate deployment of technologies/practices and the creation of suitable incentive mechanisms that ensure that new agricultural systems deliver greater eco-efficiency. However, this poses the question: are climate change adaptation and mitigation measures always going to be ecoefficient?This section develops a concrete example of a climate change challenge and the possible response mechanisms to put to the test the hypothesis that eco-efficient agriculture is synonymous with climate change adaptation and on-farm mitigation interventions specific to the case of Colombia. First, climate impacts are assessed and the effects these have on crop suitability are quantified. Possible response mechanisms in the rice sector are then developed and tested economically and biophysically for their likely effectiveness in adapting to the various challenges.We extracted annual rainfall and mean annual temperature data for Colombia for two time slices -2030 and 2050 (Figure 3-2) -from 19 global climate models (GCMs) forced with IPCC SRES scenario A2 (IPCC, 2007). SRES A2 is one of the less optimistic, \"business-as-usual\" scenarios based on continued regionally oriented economic and industrial intensification. Atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) over the 10 years since the SRES was published broadly match the scenario's prediction. We emphasize that the predictions in the text that follows are derived from the GCMs and should be treated as such.Precipitation in Colombia will likely decrease in some areas and increase in others for both time slices [Figures 3-2(A) and 3-2( The largest predicted decreases in annual precipitation are in the departments of Atlántico, Norte de Santander, Cesar, Sucre, Arauca, and Magdalena, and the largest increases will likely be in Valle del Cauca, Amazonas, Cauca, Quindío, Nariño, Tolima, Huila, and Caquetá. Precipitation patterns in 2030 and 2050 may be very similar to current patterns, though differing in magnitude, with ranges of -3 to +3% in 2030, and -6 to +5% in 2050.Overall, mean annual temperatures are predicted to increase by 1.0-1.4 °C by 2030 and by 1.8-2.4 °C by 2050 (Table 3-1). Although mean annual temperatures will probably increase in all departments, the increase is likely to be greatest in Vaupés, Guainía, and Vichada for both 2030 and2050 [Figures 3-2(C)  and 3-2Colombia is projected to warm 1.4-2.5 °C by 2050, while precipitation is likely to vary between -6% and +5% in the current values. Distribution of precipitation is also likely to change, again varying by region. Temperature-sensitive crops may be affected by the higher temperatures and have to move to higher altitudes to avoid suffering significant losses of yield and quality. There will likely be trade-offs, e.g., with areas at or under 1,200 m altitude becoming less suitable for coffee than at present, while areas above 1,800 m become more suitable.Although the GCMs are based on current understanding of the atmospheric processes, they do not implement that understanding in exactly the same way, causing their outputs to differ. The global climate change community deals with this by expressing the variation (i.e., spread) in the output as \"uncertainty\". 5 Uncertainty is a property of the external world, not the model itself, and as such it arises from a lack of data and/or knowledge about the initial conditions of the system, including the impossibility of modelling at a very high resolution (Challinor and Wheeler, 2008;Hawkins and Sutton, 2009;Majda and Gershgorin, 2010).The uncertainties of the 19 GCMs for annual precipitation and annual mean temperature are shown in  The dispersion between models for precipitation is high (Figure 3-3), especially along the Colombian Andes. This outcome is probably due to the complex topographic gradients of the Andean region, which cannot be resolved with such coarse models. Hence, some models project large increases and decreases in precipitation in highland areas, but only small changes in the country's lowlands, such as the Eastern Plains and the Caribbean regions. The result is high uncertainty for regions in the center of the country (Table 3-1).The largest decreases in precipitation -up to 60 mm/yr by 2050 -are projected for the Caribbean region. The most pronounced increases are for the Amazon region and the coffee-growing zone: up to 130 mm/yr, although with relatively high uncertainty.Although the scales are different, the uncertainty for mean annual temperature is relatively low when compared with the uncertainty for annual precipitation (see also Hawkins and Sutton, 2009;2011 for a global analysis of 5 Although we are unable to represent exactly in a mathematical model how nature works, in this case the complex interactions of atmospheric circulation, there a number of different models that mimic the processes tolerably well. The results of these models can be expressed as a comparison between models (see e.g., Knutti et al., 2009;Meehl et al., 2007). There is an implicit understanding that the models used are approximations to what might be obtained from a thorough analysis if a fully adequate model of real-world processes were available. uncertainty). Both the differences between models and the standard deviation of their outputs vary longitudinally, increasing towards the east of the country, particularly in the Eastern Plains and the Amazon. The uncertainty in these two areas is also higher than elsewhere. The GCMs differ considerably -by up to 5 °C -in their projections for 2030 and 2050, although the mean of all models shows an increase of only half that by 2050. Differences between the GCMs, and thus their uncertainty, are relatively low in the southwest of the country.We cannot be certain which of the GCMs best represents the future climates. However, we can evaluate how well their output matches the baseline climates , i.e., present-day climates for which we have observational data.A simple way to evaluate the performance of We compared the results of each GCM with the readily-available climate databases WorldClim (Hijmans et al., 2005), Global Surface Summary of Day (GSOD) (Lott, 1998), Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) (Peterson and Vose, 1997;Lott, 1998), and Climate Research Unit (CRU) (Mitchell and Jones, 2005) following the methodology of Ramírez-Villegas et al. (2012) and Ramírez-Villegas and Challinor (2012) (Figure 3-4). We analyzed total rainfall and mean temperature over four seasons (Dec-Feb, Mar-May, June-Aug, Sept-Nov) and the whole year (ANN). For each model, the mean of all stations (GHCN and GSOD) or grid cells (WorldClim and CRU) was computed, GCM grid cells grouped, and the spatial consistency of the mean climate prediction assessed by calculating the coefficient of determination (R 2 ) between the observed data and the GCMs. This coefficient defines the skill of each climate model to represent the climate of the baseline period.The coefficient of determination (R 2 ) for the baseline of annual precipitation is medium-high for the majority of the GCMs, especially for the interpolated surfaces (WorldClim and CRU), but is lower for the station data (GSOD and GHCN) because of their geographic distribution and relative scarcity (Figure 3-4). The GCMs perform slightly better for annual data, but less well for seasonal data, especially in the second semester (JJA-SON). At least 40% of the seasons and GCMs perform poorly (R 2 <0.6) for precipitation, and only 20% perform well (R 2 >0.8). In contrast, R 2 for mean temperature is greater than 0.95 for all the models, both for the annual cycle and for seasons of the year (see also Ramírez-Villegas et al., 2012). We conclude that GCMs can generate data of mean future climates with moderately high precision for temperature and low precision for precipitation, although models still have a long way to go before they can predict Colombian climate variations accurately.We calculated the average change in climatic suitability for 25 crops selected for their importance in harvested area (ha) and production (t) in Colombia (Table 3-2), calculated averages for each department, and grouped them by region. We estimated the change in climate suitability using EcoCrop (Hijmans et al., 2001;Ramírez-Villegas et al., 2011) and applied the SRES A2 scenario for 2050 using data from 19 GCMs (Ramírez-Villegas and Jarvis, 2010). Current climate data were from WorldClim (Hijmans et al., 2005).Overall, and using ±50% as the cutoff, losses in climate suitability between now and 2050 were greater than the gains. Losses could be seen in up to 82.7%, or about 945,930 km 2 , of the country's total area (1,143,640 km 2 ), while the remaining 17.3% (197,710 km 2 ) should continue to have suitable climatic conditions for growing crops. The most critical regions are the Amazon, Caribbean, Pacific, and the Eastern Plains, where all departments are projected to have negative changes, although changes in several departments may be less than 15%. Changes will likely be positive in five of the seven Andean departments and all three of the coffee-growing region's departments: Caldas (3.8%), Risaralda (4.9%), and Quindío (12%).It is useful for planning purposes to determine how many of the 25 crops analyzed are likely to become more suitable for the climate (winners), and how many are likely to become less suitable (losers) . In this case, the threshold of climate suitability -that is, a crop's climatic aptitude (CA) -for a winner or loser is ±5%.In some departments in the Andean and Pacific regions (Antioquia, Boyacá, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Nariño, and Valle del Cauca), 7-10 crops covering 1.6 million ha could gain in CA. In the departments of La Guajira, Cesar, and Bolívar in the country's Caribbean region, 9-13 crops covering 440,000 ha could decrease in CA. About 72 million ha show uncertainty (coefficient of variability between models) less than 30%, mostly in the Andean and Eastern Plains regions, which represent most of the country's agricultural activity.Rice ranks first among short-cycle crops in terms of its importance to Colombia's economy.The country is the second largest rice producer in Latin America, and even so is a net rice importer. Rice is the primary source of calories for the low-income group, which accounts for over 37% of Colombia's population (The World Bank, 2012).The two predominant systems of rice production in Colombia are mechanized -which includes both irrigated and rainfed systems -and manual, with all production activities being undertaken with hand labor. In 2007, Colombia produced 2,471,545 tons of rice on over 400,000 ha of land (Fedearroz, 2007).An expert workshop on climate change at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) identified two potential climate-smart adaptation pathways for rice in Colombia: irrigation of traditional dryland rice and genetic modification for high-temperature tolerance. We also considered three mitigation measures for rice in Colombia: managing flooded rice to minimize CH 4 emissions, eliminating burning of crop residues, and optimizing the amount of applied fertilizer.Two important tools for selecting and prioritizing \"no-regrets\" adaptation or mitigation options are cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and cost-efficiency analysis (CEA). For adaptation purposes, the most relevant analysis is usually the CBA, which asks whether the returns (benefits, such as avoided damage/losses or extra developmental benefits compared with \"business as usual\") are greater than the costs (extra investment compared with \"business as usual\"), and by how much. CBA quantifies all costs and benefits of an intervention with monetary values, making it appropriate when economic efficiency is the only decision-making criterion (UNFCCC, 2011).The impact of climate change on crops can be quantified with modelling, as can the extent to which impacts can be avoided through one or more adaptation options. Thus the most effective adaptation option can be chosen based on a discrete comparison of the cost of implementing the adaptation measure and its resulting benefits (improvement in crop production, avoidance of economic losses). Elements of climate change mitigation, on the other hand, are not always so easy to express in monetary terms. For example, the benefits of reduced GHG emissions are not restricted to the site of the emissions but are global in their effects, making them difficult to estimate (it is not yet possible to estimate GHG emission damages by modelling at the specific local level and then extrapolating globally). Positive environment-, health-, or livelihoodrelated outcomes cannot be valued in a strictly monetary sense because they are not localized in the way that adaptation benefits are. CEA is useful for situations in which there is a concrete objective and where impacts are measurable but benefits are not (UNFCCC 2011), as is the case with many mitigation measures. The costs in a CEA can be valued in monetary terms, but the benefits must be expressed in \"physical\" units. It is then possible to construct a costefficiency curve that can be used to identify and prioritize those mitigation measures that are economically viable for achieving a well-defined physical target.Out of the area under rice production in Colombia, 256,295 ha (64%) are irrigated and 29,556 ha (36%) are dryland/rainfed (Fedearroz, 2007). The potential area for irrigation based on water availability and climate is estimated to be 6.6 million ha (AQUASTAT, 2010). Dryland rice will be vulnerable to yield losses from water stress caused by climate change, i.e., increased evapotranspiration due to higher temperatures and compounded by lower overall rainfall. Furthermore, the introduction of modern seed varieties has seen dryland rice lose competitiveness with irrigated systems; the average yield gap between irrigated and dryland systems can be more than 4 t/ha (Lang, 1996).We simulated the effects of climate change for dryland rice with the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) (Jones et al., 2003), using the variety and agronomy currently recommended by the National Federation of Rice Growers (Fedearroz, its Spanish acronym). We first simulated the effect of climate change without irrigation and subsequently its effect with irrigation. We estimated the costs of providing irrigation in terms of the initial investment required and the costs of operation and maintenance with a life span of 20 years. We calculated the benefits of the irrigation project as the difference between rice production with and without irrigation under the SRES scenario A2. We calculated operation and maintenance costs and estimated an increase of 1% annually, using an annual social discount rate of 12%. Analysis of the financial flow shows that building an irrigation system in the Colombia's Caribbean and Eastern Plains regions gives positive net present values (Figure 3-6), and in each case the development would be financially viable.The second adaptation measure that we tested was a research program to seek and develop, by 2030, new rice varieties tolerant of higher temperatures. The rising temperatures expected from climate change pose a threat to rice production by increasing the risk for spikelet sterility during development. However, rice germplasms exhibit great variability in their response to heat stress. Heat-tolerant cultivars have been shown to respond well to increased  Costs and benefits year by year for an irrigation system project in Colombia's Caribbean and Eastern Plains regions, and net present value (NPV) with a social discount rate of 12%. temperatures while still producing economic yield (Shah et al., 2011). Furthermore, improved cultivars could potentially offset stress from increased evapotranspiration by exhibiting better water use efficiency, greater harvest indices, and deeper/faster-growing roots.We used the costs of a 26-year research program (including researchers, assistants, field workers, materials, infrastructure, and operational and administrative costs) and simulated the yields in 2050 of the currently recommended variety and a synthetic variety less sensitive to temperature using DSSAT. 6 We calculated the benefit as the economic value of the difference in production between the current and the synthetic varieties. We assumed a progressively decreasing rate of adoption with a final level of adoption of 15% for the whole country and a discount rate of 12% annually.The cost-benefit analysis shows that it is highly desirable to mount a research program to improve the resistance of rice to high temperatures, giving a large net present value (Figure 3-7).CEA assesses the economic costs and the technical efficiency of different options to achieve some predetermined level of environmental quality. The analysis assists the decision-making process by allowing feedback from those affected by a proposed program or plan of action to revise the objectives as part of the process. CEA allows 6 DSSAT largely represents the effects of temperature on rice as its effect on the development rate, in which higher temperatures shorten the duration of the various growth stages. We arbitrarily altered the genetic coefficients in DSSAT to make a synthetic variety that was less sensitive to temperature by increasing the genetic coefficients P1 and P5 by 15%. Coefficient P1 is the time period [expressed as growing degree days (GDD) above a base temperature of 9 °C] from seedling emergence during which the rice plant is not responsive to changes in photoperiod. This period is also referred to as the basic vegetative phase of the plant. Coefficient P5 is the time period in GDD from the beginning of grain filling (3 to 4 days after flowering) to physiological maturity with a base temperature of 9 °C. the construction of curves of marginal cost, which are obtained by ordering all possible alternative actions according to their cost and their effect on the environmental factor under consideration. In the case of the reduction of GHG emissions in agriculture, the options can be modelled using the Cool Farm Tool (www.coolfarmtool.org/Home), a tool originally developed by Unilever and researchers at the University of Aberdeen to help growers measure and understand on-farm GHG emissions.Calculations of methane emissions reduction are based on empirical evidence collected from Colombian literature. Calculations of nitrogen/ yield relationships are based on modelling of potential yield under different treatments using the DSSAT CERES-Rice model. Quantifications of on-farm production in the different regions of Colombia are drawn from Fedearroz survey data.Data from the field have shown that flooded rice generates greater emissions of CH 4 than rice grown with intermittent irrigation (or irrigation interspersed with dry periods), which allows soil aeration and is unfavorable for the anaerobes that produce CH 4 . Flooded rice in Colombia is typically grown in the municipalities of Jamundí (Valle del Cauca) and Cúcuta (Santander). Substituting of intermittent irrigation for continuous flooding requires the following: (1) implementation of a system of monitoring and water use control at the level of the individual field; (2) training and field demonstrations of land preparation and the use of water budgeting balance; and (3) land preparation for more efficient water use. The cost to implement these measures is US$107/ha per year, which will reduce GHG emissions by 11.65 t CO 2 eq/ha per year in Cúcuta and 13.06 t CO 2 eq/ha per year in Jamundí. The estimated cost efficiency is $9.20/t CO 2 eq per ha per year in Cúcuta and $8.21/t CO 2 eq per ha per year in Jamundí. The maximum potential reduction of emissions is 197,050 t CO 2 eq/yr for Cúcuta and 66,810 t CO 2 eq/yr for Jamundí.Harvest residues are typically burned in the municipalities of Espinal (Tolima), Valledupar (Cesar), and Yopal (Casanare). Instead of burning, residues can be managed using minimum tillage and decomposition accelerators, which, including training, costs US$112 for Espinal and Valledupar, and $57 for Yopal. The reductions of GHG emissions are 0.95, 0.53, and 0.47 t CO 2 eq/ha per year for Espinal, Valledupar, and Yopal, respectively, with estimated cost efficiencies of $59, $104, and $120/t CO 2 eq per ha per year. The potential reduction of GHG emissions is 26,270 t CO 2 eq/yr for Espinal, 3,280 t CO 2 eq/yr for Valledupar, and 3,300 t CO 2 eq/yr for Yopal.There are many factors that affect rice's nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), or its ability to absorb and use nitrogen inputs. The result is often that more fertilizer is applied than can be used by the plant, or that not enough is applied to get maximum yields and economic returns. There are three possible approaches for increasing the efficiency of nitrogen fertilizer application to rice in Colombia, thereby reducing unnecessary inputs and decreasing emissions from crop fertilization (Figure 3-8). The first involves reducing overall nitrogen application, which increases NUE but entails reduction in rice yields (scenario A). The second requires no reduction or increase in nitrogen application, but requires more-effective management techniques so that what does get applied is used effectively by the plant (scenario B). The final approach involves both increasing nitrogen inputs and NUE through better management to arrive at optimum economic returns from the system (scenario C). All three scenarios are climate smart -they result in fewer emissions per ton of rice produced due to optimal N uptake -however we will only be analyzing scenario A for economic viability and relative eco-efficiency.It is possible to halve the rates of fertilizer applied to rice in two regions of Colombia: the Andean and Caribbean regions. The cost of this option is estimated using the following equation: where:  The estimated costs of this option in terms of foregone production are: Andean, US$113/ha per year, and Caribbean, $183/ha per year. The expected reduction of GHG emissions are: Andean, 1.0 t CO 2 eq/ha per year, and Caribbean, 0.2 t CO 2 eq/ha per year. Nevertheless, the estimates of cost efficiency are $109 and $170/t CO 2 eq reduced for the Andean and Caribbean regions, respectively. The maximum potential reduction of GHG emissions is 76,170 and 2,920 t CO 2 eq/yr for the Andean and Caribbean regions, respectively.It is important to keep in mind that the yield reductions caused by decreased nitrogen inputs have further repercussions for global food security. There is a possibility that reducing N application in one region or country could simply displace GHG emissions to another, which would have to produce more to make up for the decrease in yield, a factor which was not taken into account in this analysis.The data for the three mitigation options in various departments in Colombia are summarized in Figure 3-9.The priority adaptation and mitigation interventions identified for the rice sector all involve optimization of resource inputs and outputs, be it fertilizers or water, or improved use of \"waste\" products. The economic analysis demonstrates the cost-benefit ratios of these interventions from a climate change mitigation perspective, but equally could consider these from a competitiveness perspective, or prioritize them based on ecoefficiency principles.Although the practices described above are already considered climate smart, our definition of the term leaves room for the possibility that, though a strategy may be climate smart, it may not necessarily be economically viable, environmentally sustainable, or make good use of resources. As noted by Keating et al. in  Making use of some of the explicit measures noted by Keating et al. (Chapter 2 of this publication), we attempted to qualitatively evaluate the climate-smart adaptation and mitigation measures chosen for Colombia based on their relative eco-efficiency. A measure of eco-efficiency must be made with regard to the relation of inputs, such as labor, capital, nutrients, and water; with desired outputs, such as harvested product or economic profit. Table 3-3 gives a positive or negative value for the ecoefficiency measures to each of the 5 climatesmart practices; a negative value (red) is assigned when a practice requires more inputs (+) or results in less of the desired outputs (-), whereas a positive value (green) is assigned for a reduction in inputs (-) or increase in desired outputs (+).  shows that not all of the climatesmart strategies chosen for Colombia are highly eco-efficient, though some are more so than others. For example, the composting of crop residues in the field instead of burning appears to be highly eco-efficient -as it both reduces the amount of input required in terms of labor, water, and soil nutrients, and increases outputs in the form of ecosystem services. This inference is confirmed by the cost-efficiency analysis, which shows that eliminating residue burning it is capable of greatly reducing GHG emissions at a very reasonable cost to the farmer.Despite the built-in uncertainties of global climate models, there is a reasonable amount of evidence to support the prediction that global temperatures could rise anywhere from 1 to 8 °C by 2050. Precipitation patterns are less predictable, though certain scenarios can predict with high certainty a global average increase of almost 23% by 2050, along with major changes in spatio-temporal distribution. Circumstances at the country level are similar, with Colombia predicted to undergo temperature increases between 1.4 and 2.5 °C by 2050, shifting distributions of rainfall, and a range of regional precipitation changes (-6 to +5%). The implications of these changes for world agriculture could be profound, with some 37 of the most important crops predicted to lose more than 50% of area currently classified as suitable for their cultivation. Colombia could experience losses in crop suitability in up to 83% of the country's total area, especially in the Amazon, Pacific, Caribbean, and Eastern Plains regions. In these regions, adaptation strategies will undoubtedly be necessary to cope with the impacts of decreased crop suitability.Economic analyses of preferred adaptation and mitigation strategies for Colombian agriculture give encouraging results. Both the adoption of an irrigation system and the development of a research program for heat-resistant rice are economically viable, and, in the latter case, highly profitable in the mid-term. Mitigation strategies offer a more mixed bag: replacing flooded rice with intermittent irrigation reduces emissions at a relatively low cost. Using minimum tillage and decomposition accelerators instead of burning residues greatly reduces emissions, but at a higher cost.Climate change necessitates the implementation of adaptation/mitigation measures to ensure food security. The critical question is whether these climate-smart strategies and measures that meet the standards of ecoefficiency are mutually inclusive. To be sure, many of the resources that eco-efficiency aims to manage prudently (water, nutrients, labor, finances, etc.) are the same resources that must be managed for adaptation/mitigation purposes. For example, using minimum tillage and decomposers in Colombian rice fields instead of burning crop residues after harvest is eco-efficient because it greatly reduces the inputs of water and labor required for conventional puddled transplanting systems while leaving yields virtually unaffected (Bhushan et al., 2007). The practice advances mitigation goals at the same time; omitting tillage and burning considerably reduces carbon emissions.Qualitatively evaluating the eco-efficiency of the climate-smart strategies chosen for Colombia in terms of the balance of inputs and outputs indicates that, while most eco-efficient practices are by default climate smart, not all climate-smart practices are necessarily highly eco-efficient. Instead, climate-smart practices display a range of compatibility with eco-efficient measures. While some, like the more precise application of nitrogen fertilizer, could result in significant reduction of inputs (soil nutrients, capital, labor, etc.) while augmenting desirable outputs, others may imply more labor, greater financial risk, or even unexpected environmental costs. Accordingly, those options which are a win for both system types should be emphasized in climate change planning to avoid the possibility of adaptation/mitigation coming at the price of efficiency and food security. Furthermore, climate financing could provide a boost to eco-efficient agriculture, thus opening the door for economic incentives to transform low-efficiency systems.Demand for food is expected to continue to increase for at least the next 40 years (Godfray et al., 2010), and food production will need to increase by 70 to 100% by 2050 (The World Bank, 2008). However, this has to be done in the face of growing competition for land, water, and energy, and without harming the environment. The objective must therefore be sustainable intensification of agricultural production (The Royal Society, 2009).Brazil is one of the countries with the highest potential of farmland expansion to meet the growing demand for food and biofuel (Brown, 2004), especially in the Cerrado region. The Cerrado is characterized by a savanna-like native vegetation of low trees, scrub brush, and grasses. It covers approximately 204 million hectares (Mha), or 23% of Brazil's land area (Bustamante et al., 2006). About 62% of this area (127 Mha) is suitable for agriculture (Lilienfein and Wilcke, 2003). Cultivated pastures in the Cerrado region cover about 66 Mha (Sano et al., 2000). An estimated 50 Mha are subjected to a process of degradation by excessive grazing (Silva et al., 2004;Klink et al., 2008).The Cerrado biome is the second largest vegetation formation after the Amazon, and also the world's richest in biodiversity (Mistry, 2000). The climate is characterized by two well-defined seasons: dry winters and rainy summers. Average temperature of the coldest month is about 18 ºC. The dry season extends from April to September; the relative humidity is low, enabling the occurrence of fires. Even in the rainy season from October to March, drought spells often occur, varying from 1 to 2 weeks and sometimes causing considerable losses to agricultural production. Latosols predominate, with good soil physical characteristics (high water infiltration, moderate water retention, and easy mechanization). The majority of the soils are acid, with high aluminum saturation, strong phosphorus retention, and poor nutrient contents. Those characteristics inhibited the development of the Cerrado for agriculture until modern times.The Cerrado became the leading edge of the expansion of the agricultural frontier in Brazil in the 1970s. Before that, only a small portion of dusky red latosols and structured \"terra roxa\" were considered suitable for agriculture-a little more than 5% of the total. However, from 1975 a federal government development program known as \"Polocentro\" allocated resources to develop technologies for profitable and productive agriculture in the Cerrado soils (Bittar, 2011).Traditionally, beef cattle production is a major source of income for many farmers in the Cerrado region (Klink and Moreira, 2002;Diniz-Filho et al., 2009). However, poor herd management, overgrazing, and lack of adequate nutrient replacement to the soil have led to declining productivity and reduced profitability of the system (Landers, 2007).There have been many challenges to developing sustainable agricultural systems in the Cerrados, chief among them the soil constraints. Natural low soil fertility and aluminum toxicity limit root development and mineral nutrition. Further, limited root systems turn plants more susceptible to short drought periods during the summer wet season. Liming and organic matter incorporation were key input to alleviate aluminum saturation, raise water retention capacity, stabilize soil aggregates, and increase soil macro biota activity. Research also advanced in developing new varieties adapted to these environmental characteristics. These varieties typically possess deep root systems, have high tolerance to aluminum toxicity, respond well to fertilization, are adapted to mechanization; besides having high resistance to insect pests, diseases, and hydric stress.In recent years the increasing demand for ethanol biofuel resulted in leasing land for sugarcane production being more profitable than raising beef cattle or even growing crops such as soybean and maize (Koh, 2007;Koh and Ghazoul, 2008). Although profitable in the short term this monoculture brings with it risks such as increasing incidence of pests and diseases, degradation of soil and natural resources, and declining yields. It also exposes farmers to dependence on a single income source: the ethanol processing plant.With those technological advancements, the region became the principal growing agricultural pole. Today Cerrado agriculture broadly employs modern technologies, and system productivity continues to climb.Agriculture and livestock production in the Cerrado region generates 42% of the agribusiness share of GDP in Brazil. Currently agribusiness contributes about 30% of the country's GDP, employs around 40% of the economically active population, and accounts for a large portion of the country's balance of trade surplus. One third of the country's grain production (soybeans, maize, sorghum, rice, wheat, coffee, etc.), half of the meat and most of the cotton output come from the Cerrados. A big share of that production is for export.Nonetheless, managing agriculture in the Cerrado biome is an ongoing learning process. When the stabilizing effects of diversity were replaced by simple systems such as monoculture, destabilizing factors showed their destructive potential. Intensive cultivation without crop rotation resulted in low yields, due mainly to destabilization of soil physical quality, and pest and disease infestations.According to Cunha et al. (2008), soil degradation is the main ambient threat to sustainability of agriculture in the Cerrado region. A large portion of the soils is compacted and susceptible to erosion when facing strong rainfall. Under these conditions, traditional techniques such as contour planting may be inadequate. This challenge led to the adoption of no-till systems, which increased soil cover and brought additional environmental benefits. In the early 1990s, the area under no till in the Brazilian Cerrado represented just 9% of the total; by the 1995/96 cropping season that percentage rose to 33%. In the same period, the total no-till area in Brazil grew 3.5 times, but in the Cerrados it increased 17 times (Marouelli, 2003).In spite of huge advances in productivity of agriculture and our understanding of the environmental risks, Brazil has a long way to go to transform the Cerrados into a biome that will sustainably support crop, animal, and forest production, with acceptable levels of profit to producers and safe, economic food supplies for urban consumers. Research on eco-efficient systems will drive that transformation.The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply is promoting low-carbon agriculture as a means of reducing agricultural emissions of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). Besides offering financial support for farmers, the government promotes agricultural research through the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), and provides professional training to facilitate the diffusion of modern practices such as no till, use of biological nitrogen fixation, and technologies to revive degraded pastures.It is also promoting the Crop-Livestock-Forestry Integration System (CLFIS). CLFIS combines cropping, livestock, and forestry activities through approaches such as crop rotation, succession, double cropping, and intercropping, searching for synergistic effects among the components of the agroecosystems. One approach is to grow commercial crops such as soybeans, maize, or beans between rows of forest trees for the first 2 or 3 years after the trees have been planted. Thereafter, the area is planted with forages for livestock, in association with maize or sorghum. Once the pasture is established between the tree rows, it is grazed by livestock until the trees are ready for harvest. This diversification of economic activities minimizes the impact of climate or market changes on farm income. Integration of the system components minimizes use of agrochemicals, reduces the opening of new areas for crop or livestock production, and reduces environmental impacts, increasing biodiversity, reducing soil erosion, and improving soil structure and fertility, particularly in combination with conservation agriculture practices such as zero-tillage (Vilrla et al., 2003;Landers, 2007). Integrated crop, livestock, and forestry systems show particular promise in increasing the eco-efficiency of agricultural production (Wilkins, 2008), i.e., maximizing production while minimizing inputs such as land, water, nutrients, and energy (Keating et al., 2010).CLFIS is focused in the so called \"green agriculture\". This system combines cropping, livestock, and forestry activities to promote the recovery of degraded pastures. Each farm will have a varied production system, such as grains, fibers, meat, and milk and agro-energy. It also aims to improve soil fertility with the use of adequate cropping systems and techniques to optimize and intensify its use. Therefore, it allows the diversification of economic activities on farm, and minimizes income risks due to climate and/or market changes. The system consists in growing forest species simultaneously with commercial crops like soybeans, maize, or beans added for the first 2 or 3 years. After crop harvest, the area is planted with forages for livestock, associated with maize or sorghum. After grain harvesting, the pasture is already established between the tree rows, enabling grazing, until wood is harvested. Integration of different system components minimizes use of agrochemicals, reduces the opening of new areas for crop-livestock, and prevents environmental liabilities. It enables increases in biodiversity, and allows a better control of erosion through soil coverage. Integration, together with soil conservation practices such as no till, is an economic and sustainable alternative to raise yields in degraded areas. Other attributes of CLFIS are related to environmental compliance of the farm, maintenance and/or recovery of permanent preservation areas, and of 'legal reserves' (percentage of a forested property that needs to be set aside). The introduction of new technologies is aimed at eco-efficiencyminimizing environmental impact while improving production and profitability.A major challenge facing CLFIS is its dissemination and incorporation into the production chain and extension of benefits at the national level. It is necessary to invest in training, as well as to publish results for widespread knowledge dissemination.CLFIS should be: (1) technically efficient, using adequate management and inputs, and taking into account local conditions of the farms;(2) economically viable with a better use of land and other natural resources; (3) diversified; (4) socially acceptable, i.e., adaptable to any farm size, providing more consistent and higher income and improved agricultural competitiveness; and (5) environmentally fit through the use of soil conservation practices, and better land use.Intensification of production should not be synonymous for indiscriminate use of inputs; it should mean rational and efficient use of technologies to maximize profits, using natural resources rationally. For a certain level of production, resources (land, water, inputs) should be used with a minimal impact on the environment without sacrificing the bio-economic productive potential of the cropping-livestock activity. The efficient use of nutrients, agrochemicals, and energy along with the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission are key factors to enhance eco-efficiency of the system.A feasible alternative to effectively implement the CLFIS can be a partnership between grain producers and ranchers. Farmers who use sorghum and maize intercropped with Brachiaria spp. to obtain crop residues for no-till soil preparation could harvest that forage collected in the off season. To minimize capital costs in the purchase of animals, those farmers could establish partnerships with ranchers. Harvested grain residues could be used as feed supplement during the dry season, either in grazing or in confinement, besides using the forage obtained in the intercropping system.A common problem of intercropping forages and grains is competition for water and nutrients. Losses in crop yield and failures in pasture establishment may occur. There are alternatives to minimize that competition, such as delayed sowing of the pasture component and use of low doses of herbicides, as well as plant arrangement, to minimize the competition of the forage with the grain crop (Kluthcouski et al., 2003).Farms adopting the CLFIS may benefit from a better stability of forage production to feed the herd year around. During the wet season, pastures are more productive due to the higher soil fertility developed during the crop phase. During the dry season, crop residues and harvest byproducts, as well as the newly green established pastures are in adequate amounts and of good quality to provide weight gains. Weight loss is very common in the dry season on most farms of the Cerrado region.Good soil and ecosystems management practices are potentially capable of mitigating greenhouse anthropogenic gas emissions. In this sense the Cerrado region is capable of playing an important role in the carbon cycle equilibrium (see also Chapter 11 of this volume).Faced with this scenario, farmers are seeking alternative production systems that maximize the economic productivity of their land while minimizing risks. One such alternative is integrated crop, livestock, and forest production. This section presents a case study that evaluates and compares three different spatial arrangements of crops, livestock, and forestry.The study was located at Boa Vereda Farm, Cachoeira Dourada County, in the south of the State of Goiás (latitude 18°29'30\", longitude 49°28'30\") and average altitude of 459 m. The climate is typical of the tropical savanna type (Aw, according to Köppen classification), with welldefined wet and dry seasons. Annual average temperature is 24 o C, with an average annual rainfall of 1,340 mm, distributed from October to March. Soils are classified as dark red latosol, highly weathered, with low natural fertility.Much of Boa Vereda Farm consists of degraded pastures with low carrying capacity that are used to raise beef cattle. Income from livestock sales has been insufficient to invest in reclaiming the pastures.CLFIS demonstration plots were established on 17 ha in the 2008/09 cropping season and a further 27 ha in the 2009/10 cropping season. The land was cultivated twice using a disc harrow to incorporate lime and was then leveled, again using a disk harrow. Fertilizer was applied according to recommendations based on soil analyses. Weeds were controlled using herbicide and hoeing between tree rows up to the 12th month after planting. Pests were controlled using integrated pest management.In the establishment year (year 0), eucalyptus was planted in rows, and soybean was planted in the plots between the tree stands. In the following year (year 1), plots were sown with a maize/ Brachiaria grass intercrop, in accordance with the Santa Fe System (Kluthcouski et al., 2003). Cattle were introduced to the pasture 70 days after the maize was harvested. At this time (18 months after the plots were established), the eucalyptus was about 6 m tall with trunks 10 cm in diameter at chest height, allowing the entry of cattle without risk of damage to the trees. From this point on, the pasture was used for animal husbandry, particularly fattening beef cattle, until the eucalyptus was cut, which in this study was modeled as being between the fourth and the sixth year after planting.Three different planting arrangements were tested. Scenario 1 consisted of three rows of eucalyptus (stands), with 3 m between rows and 3 m between plants; the stands were spaced 14 m apart to allow for crops and pasture to be established between them. Thus, 62.5% of the land under scenario 1 was allocated to crop/ pasture and 37.5% to forest, with a tree density of 500 trees/ha. Scenario 2 consisted of four rows of eucalyptus spaced 3 m between rows and 3 m between trees, with 22 m between stands, giving 68% of the land allocated to crop/livestock and 32% to forest and a tree density of 430 trees/ha. Scenario 3 consisted of single rows of eucalyptus, with 1.5 m between trees within the row and 14 m between rows, giving 89% of the area allocated to crops/livestock and 11% to forest, with 476 trees/ha. The soybean cultivar used was BRS-GO 8360; maize cultivars were BRS 1030 and BRS 1035; and for the pasture Brachiaria brizantha cultivar 'Marandu' was used. Six clones of the Eucalyptus urograndis were used. Eucalyptus yield was estimated based on tree development in November 2010.The crossbred cattle used in the trial weighed an average of 242 kg when introduced to the plots. Supplementary concentrate feed was provided at a rate of 250 g/head per day in the dry season and 350 g/head per day in the wet season. Average carrying capacity was estimated at 2.1 animals/ha. With adequate management and fertilization, this stocking rate was assumed to be maintained until the eucalyptus was cut and the system reestablished. Prices for calves were set 10% higher than the price paid for adult animals, because the market pays more for young animals.The cost for pasture maintenance was based on the price paid locally for pasture rental (R$10.00/head per month; approximately US$18.40, February 2010 exchange rate). Other livestock production costs were purchase of supplementary feed and R$3.00/head per month for vaccines, labor, and veterinary supplies.Production costs were calculated up to harvest, including freight from the farm to the store.The opportunity cost for land was set at the value of ten 60 kg bags of soybean per hectare (US$168.48/ha), equal to the price paid by ethanol processing plants to lease land for sugarcane production.Data on farm operations and prices were collected in 2008/09 and 2009/10 cropping seasons from farmers and companies associated with agriculture. Net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and equivalent uniform annual net value (NUV) were calculated using an interest rate of 5.75%, the rate applied by banks run by the federal government.Production costs for scenario 1 are shown in Tables 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3, while Table 4-4 shows the yields achieved in all three scenarios.     a. Scenario 1 consisted of three rows of eucalyptus (stands), with 3 m between rows and 3 m between plants; the stands were spaced 14 m apart to allow for crops and pasture to be established between them. Scenario 2 consisted of four rows of eucalyptus spaced 3 m between rows and 3 m between trees, with 22 m between stands. Scenario 3 consisted of single rows of eucalyptus, with 1.5 m between trees within the row and 14 m between rows.Table 4-5 shows cash flow for scenario 1, including the value of lumber for energy from the trees cut in the sixth year. In years 1 and 2 the annual cash flow balance was negative: costs exceeded income due to the high cost of establishing the eucalyptus. From year 3 onwards cash flow was positive as a result of income from the cattle and low maintenance costs for the eucalyptus.Scenario 3, with one row of eucalyptus with 14 m between rows and 1.5 m between trees, gave the best economic performance (Table 4-6), with the highest NUV being achieved if the trees were harvested in year 5. In scenarios 1 and 2, NUV was highest when the trees were harvested in year 6. These findings are in keeping with reports of similar studies elsewhere in Brazil (Dube et al., 2002;Yamada and Gholz, 2002), and demonstrate that integrated crop, livestock, and forestry systems are economically and technically feasible in the Cerrado. The system is flexible enough to be adapted to meet local environmental, social, and economic circumstances, and offers the prospect of sustainable, eco-efficient agricultural production.Much of the Cerrado is underutilized or degraded, and integrated crop, livestock, and forestry production offers an opportunity for raising productivity without harming the environment. In addition to producing food of high biological value (meat and milk), cultivated pasture provides other important environmental benefits, including long-term ground cover, which reduces erosion and promotes water infiltration; carbon fixation; increases in the soil organic matter content; and reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases.In the search to produce more food and energy within the constraints of available water, land, and other inputs; eco-efficient, climate-smart systems like integrated crop, livestock, and forestry systems have a vital role to play.  The dry savannas of West Africa are undergoing rapid transformation of agricultural practices owing to the rapid human and livestock population growth, increase in agricultural intensification and accelerated climate change which has increased the incidence and severity of diseases, pests and drought. The major constraints to agricultural production in the savanna include poor soil fertility, pests and diseases of crops and livestock, parasitic weeds such as Striga hermonthica, drought, and competition between crops and livestock for resources. Inadequate policies, weak institutional mechanisms, and poor linkages among farmers, and researchers prevent adoption of improved agricultural technologies that can combat these constraints. The risk of continuous cultivation on these poor and fragile soils is huge. Integrating crop and livestock production offers ways to increase production while protecting the environment. Over the years, research and development institutions have generated several agricultural technologies to alleviate the majority of the production constraints in the West African savannas. However, most development organizations use traditional extension methods that result in poor adoption of the improved technologies. The integration of crop and livestock production is particularly desirable in intensively farmed and densely populated areas with access to urban markets. Proper integration of these practices will diversify smallholder income and increase food security. Integrated genetic and natural resource management provides the keys to improved eco-efficiency. This includes integrating pesticide use with cultural practices such as modified planting date and disease control; rotating/intercropping cereals and legumes; use of pest resistant\\tolerant cultivars to increase the effectiveness of pest control and reduce the need for pesticides; and improving soil fertility restoration/maintenance. Government and national institutions in West Africa are encouraged to scale out these technologies to wider areas for increased benefit to farmers through the use of proven extension methods.The lowland savannas of West Africa are characterized by elevation of less than 800 m, a growing period sufficient for most cereal and grain-legume crops, and a relatively high potential for livestock production. Agricultural production systems are intensifying across the region in response to increases in population pressure, demand, and opportunities for product marketing. In the dry savanna, defined as the area with a growing period of between  et al., 2003). Throughout the Guinea and dry savannas of West Africa, farmers increasingly combine crop farming with livestock production (Tiffen, 2004). The integration of crop and livestock production is particularly noted in intensively farmed and densely populated areas with access to urban markets (Franke et al., 2010).Alongside the increase in cropping intensity, livestock numbers are also increasing in response to an increased demand for meat, milk, and other products. Delgado et al. (2001) estimated that demand for animal products in sub-Saharan Africa would increase by more than 250% between 2001 and 2020, with much of the increase being in West Africa. Intensification of crop-livestock systems in the region has resulted in shorter fallows than in traditional farming systems, and fallow periods are becoming too short to restore soil fertility and reduce pest pressure. Consequently, cropping and grazing have expanded onto marginal lands, increasing competition between cropping and livestock production and increasing demand for crop residues as livestock feed.The major constraints to agricultural production in the savanna include poor soil fertility (including low soil organic matter (SOM) content in intensified cropping systems), pests and diseases of crops and livestock, parasitic weeds such as Striga hermonthica (Delile) Benth. (purple witchweed), drought, and competition between crops and livestock for resources. Inadequate policies, weak institutional mechanisms, and poor linkages among farmers, development agencies, and researchers prevent adoption of improved agricultural technologies that can combat these constraints. Most development organizations use traditional extension methods that result in poor adoption of improved technologies.Crop production in the West African dry savanna is limited by the inherently low fertility of most of the soils. In the past, farmers depended on fallow periods to restore soil fertility, but current fallow periods are not long enough to replace exported nutrients (Bado et al., 2012). Stoorvogel et al. (1993) estimated annual nutrient loss from sub-Saharan African soils is at 22 kg N, 2.5 kg P, and 15 kg K/ha in 1982-84, and 26 kg N, 3 kg P, and 19 kg K/ha in 2000. This underscores the extent of nutrient mining and the need to mobilize strategies to conserve soil fertility.SOM plays an important role in sustaining soil fertility by contributing to several soil properties, including cation exchange capacity, water-holding capacity, buffer capacity, and soil structure. Higher levels of SOM could also raise the efficiency with which mineral fertilizer is used by plants. However, SOM is very low in most savanna soils, averaging 6.8 g/kg (Jones, 1973), compared with 20-100 g/kg for most soils (Bot and Benites, 2005). Increasing SOM contents is therefore considered a prerequisite for increased crop production in the savanna. This can be achieved by growing crop varieties that produce large amounts of above-ground biomass, incorporating residues in the soil where the crop was grown, concentrating plant residues on a limited cropped area, and corralling livestock on crop fields so that they deposit urine and manure on the cropland (Bationo and Mokwunye, 1991;Powell et al., 2004;Valbuena et al., 2012).Nitrogen (N) is the most limiting nutrient in soil. In the savannas, considerable amounts of soil-available N are released with the onset of rains but its uptake by crops is insignificant due to the low N requirements of plants at early growth stages (Kamara et al., 2005). As a result, much of this N is lost through leaching. Phosphorus (P) is the second most limiting nutrient in the savanna soils of West Africa, and in some areas, plantavailable P may be as low as 2 mg P/kg (Bray 1) (equivalent to approximately 4 kg P/ha) (Kwari et al., 1999). Most of these savanna soils also contain large amounts of iron and aluminum oxides, which contribute to the removal of P from the soil solution. Because P is not a renewable resource, the soil P pools can be replenished only through external P inputs. In addition, the acidity that is generated through crop removal and leaching can lead to the loss of calcium (Ca), magnesium, and potassium (K), and toxic levels of soluble manganese and aluminum.Although mineral fertilizers can be used to replace nutrient losses, socio-economic constraints such as high prices and lack of credit limit their use. Smallholder farmers commonly apply too little fertilizer, either because they cannot afford more or because fertilizers are not readily available. Moreover, most fertilizers applied contain N, P, and K, albeit in inadequate quantities. Applying these fertilizers initially increases yields, but this accelerates depletion of other soil nutrients such as sulfur, copper, and zinc, ultimately reducing response to NPK fertilizer and reducing crop productivity (Kwari et al., 2009). Thus, both mineral fertilizers and organic inputs are required to improve soil fertility (Vanlauwe et al., 2002;Powell et al., 2004).Other problems include physical deterioration of soils, such as crusting (Oldeman, 1994), which reduces water infiltration, increases runoff, reduces oxygen diffusion to seedlings, inhibits plant growth, and reduces soil biological activity, and the breakdown of soil aggregates, which increases soil erosion. There is thus a great challenge to protect and manage land and soil resources to maintain their productivity and to contribute to food security.Increased use of organic and inorganic fertilizers, together with diversification of cropping to include legumes are important tools in restoring or sustaining soil fertility of the intensifying cropping systems of the dry savannas of West Africa (Vanlauwe et al., 2001;Sanginga et al., 2003;Franke et al., 2004). These so-called \"balanced nutrient management systems\" can be further enhanced through the use of improved cultivars that are drought tolerant and use available nutrients efficiently, such as maize cultivars developed at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nigeria (Kamara et al., 2005). This approach has come to be known as integrated soil fertility management (ISFM). ISFM is not characterized by unique field practices, but is rather a fresh approach to combining available technologies in ways that preserve soil quality while promoting its productivity (Sanginga and Woomer, 2009).Insect pests are a major constraint to legume production, particularly cowpea in the dry savannas of West Africa (ICIPE, 1980;Singh and Allen, 1980;Singh et al., 1990;Rusoke and Rubaihayo, 1994). Indeed, Jackai et al. (1985) assert that it is not feasible to grow cowpea commercially in the West African savanna without using insecticide. In a recent study, Kamara et al. (2007) reported that flower thrips [Megalurothrips sjostedti (Trybom)], the legume pod borer (Maruca vitrata), and a range of pod-feeding bugs were the major insect pests of cowpea in the dry savannas of West Africa. Thrips start to attack at flower initiation, causing flower bud abortion (Akingbohungbe, 1982). Pod borer larvae damage flower buds, flowers, green pods, and seeds (Singh and Jackai, 1985). Adults and nymphs of pod bugs remove sap from green pods, causing abnormal pod and seed formation (Singh and Jackai, 1985). High levels of insect resistance are not available in current cultivars (Oghiakhe et al., 1995), hence integrated insect pest management is key to successful cowpea production (Ajeigbe and Singh, 2006;Kamara et al., 2010).The most important diseases of cowpea in the dry savannas of West Africa are bacterial blight (Xanthomonas sp.), leaf spot (Septoria spp.), and scab (Sphaceloma sp.) (Emechebe and Florini, 1997;Hampton et al., 1997).In West Africa, groundnut yields are traditionally low, due to several constraints including pests and diseases. Aphids (Aphis craccivora) are a serious pest as well as a vector of virus diseases, such as the rosette, a major constraint to groundnut production, particularly in the dry regions. Groundnut rosette disease (GRD), early leaf spot (ELS), late leaf spot (LLS), and rust are the major biotic constraints responsible for low yield of groundnut in West Africa (Ntare et al., 2008). Groundnut rosette is one of the most important diseases that wiped out more than half of the groundnut cropped area in Nigeria in the mid 1970s. From 1992, ICRISAT and national partners in Nigeria embarked on a large hybridization program to develop early maturing rosette-resistant varieties that would fit into the Sudano-Sahelina savanna zones of Nigeria. From this program, a total of 44 new varieties with resistance to groundnut rosette were tested (Mayeux et al., 2003). Three varieties SAMNUT 21, SAMNUT 22, and ICGV-IS 96894 (SAMNUT 23) were formally released in 2001 and ICIAR 19BT (SAMNUT 24) was released in 2011.Infection by Aspergillus flavus on groundnut (and its products) is the main food safety concern. Aflatoxin contamination causes cancer to humans and animals and has thus adversely affected international trade in groundnuts in many producing countries (Ntare et al., 2008). Resistant cultivars provide the most appropriate means of control of diseases, especially for smallholder farmers. Therefore, development of rosette-and/or ELS resistant, high-yielding groundnut varieties with appropriate duration is important to enhance and stabilize productivity. Early planting and dense close spacing are effective cultural practices. Early planting allows plants to start flowering before aphids appear. Dense planting provides a barrier to aphids penetrating in from field edges, discourages population build-up of aphids and reduces incidence of \"rosette\" disease. Other diseases of groundnut include: bacterial wilt (Ralstonia solanacearum) and damping-off diseases (Pythium spp., Rhizoctonia solani). In some locations, termites are serious field and storage pests. Species of Microtermes and Odontotermes are the most damaging, while Macrotermes cause occasional damage. The small-sized Microtermes spp., in particular, attack and invade growing groundnut plants through the roots and stem near ground level, hollowing them out and causing the plants to wilt and die with a consequent reduction in crop stand. Stored groundnuts are attacked by moths (Ephestia cautella, Plodia interpunctella, Cadra cautella), and beetles (Caryedon serratus, Tribolium castaneum, Trogoderma granarium). The larvae of moths and the grubs and adult beetles bore into and damage seeds. Moths cause extensive webbing. The bruchid beetle Caryedon serratus is the major pest of groundnut in pod shell in West Africa. A good postharvest pest management program based on good storage practices is very important.Insect pests constitute an important factor limiting grain sorghum production in West Africa. Several species of insect pests attack sorghum at the different stages of its development. Several lepidopterous stem borers inflict considerable losses in sorghum. Intercropping cereals with legumes has shown to reduce stem borer attack and damage in sorghum (Amoako-Atta et al., 1983;Ampong-Nyarko et al., 1994) and has been recommended as a component of integrated pest management for small-scale resource limited farmers. Insect pests attacking panicles of sorghum and millet are especially damaging as they affect crop development at a late stage and have direct harmful quantitative and qualitative effects on grain yields. At this late stage of crop development, the main production inputs would have already been made, which maximizes economic losses and there is also little scope for the crop to compensate for damage done close to harvest. Sorghum midge (Contarinia sorghicola) is the most wide spread and damaging insect species attacking sorghum. It occurs almost everywhere that the crop is grown. Sharma (1993) reported that substantial progress has been made in utilizing resistance to midge. Millet head miner (Heliocheilus albipunctella) is the most important pest in West Africa. Nwanze and Sivakumar (1990) reported crop losses on farmers fields up to 41% with a mean of 20% based on field surveys in Burkina Faso, Niger, and northern Nigeria. Other important insect pests include shoot fly and aphids.Several fungi and viral diseases also attack sorghum and millet crops in West Africa. Grain mold caused by several fungal pathogens can reduce grain quality or destroy seeds. Stem rot and leaf diseases caused by an array of fungal and bacterial diseases cause spots or stripes on leaves which can result in death of the leaf (House, 1987). Downy mildew (DM) caused by an obligate parasite Sclerospora graminicola is quite widespread and economically the most important disease of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) in India and several countries in Africa (Thakur et al., 2008). Severely infected plants are generally stunted and do not produce ear heads. Resistant varieties and other cultural practices are the most important control measures under smallholder farming systems of West Africa.The major insect pest problems on maize in the West African savannas are the stem borers, (Busseola fusca and Sesemia calamistis); and army worms (Spodoptera exempta and Helicoverpa armigera). The stem borer attack is usually more serious in late-maturing maize than the early cultivars. They cause two types of damage to the plants. First is mechanical damage due to consistent feeding in the stem, weakening it, and thus rendering the stems susceptible to lodging and withering (dead-heart). Secondly, stem borers may cause characteristic perforations or windows on leaves called 'fenestrations' seen when the sheath opens, exposing the perforations (Bosque-Pérez and Schulthess, 1998). This type of damage reduces the photosynthetic area of the leaves resulting in poor cereal yield, especially during high infestation.In a survey for incidence and severity of diseases in both the northern and southern Guinea savannas of Nigeria, Adeoti (1992) reported the occurrence of common foliar diseases such as the rust induced by Puccinia spp, Turcicum blight, Curvularia leaf spot, and Maydis blight. Other important maize diseases occurring in the savanna ecological zones include smut (Ustilago maydis), downy mildews, maize leaf fleck, and maize streak.Integrated pest management-integrating biological control, cultural practices such as modified planting date, disease-and pest-tolerant cultivars, and pesticides where necessary-can increase the effectiveness of pest control and reduce overuse of pesticides. Manipulation of planting date with a judicious use of insecticides has been found to be profitable (Kamara et al., 2010). Efforts are being made to develop biological control methods to control insect pests (e.g., Wajnberg et al., 2001;Neuenschwander et al., 2003;van Driesche et al., 2008). However, further efforts are needed to develop crop cultivars that are resistant to or tolerant of the major pests and diseases of the West African savannas in order to promote sustainable, eco-efficient agriculture in the region.The major pests and diseases affecting livestock in the West African savanna region include anthrax, black leg, contagious bovine and caprine pleuropneumonias, dermatophilosis, ectoparasites, gastrointestinal parasites, heartwater, liverfluke, respiratory complexes, and trypanosomiasis (Perry et al., 2002). High prevalence of diseases and parasites causes high mortality in sheep and goats, especially in kids and lambs. Preweaning mortality of up to 40% has been recorded with kids and lambs in Nigeria, but levels may be higher under extensive systems (Ademosun, 1994). Parasites may aggravate other conditions, such as nutritional stress, and increase susceptibility to disease, especially in young animals.Livestock health can be improved in smallholder systems by application of simple, low-cost, and well-proven techniques. These include control of pests, parasites, and diseases using traditional or modern veterinary medicines or husbandry practices (see, for example, Okoli et al., 2010), tolerant breeds of livestock, improved feeding, and hygienic housing and handling facilities. The improvements in productivity achieved by implementing such approaches can be dramatic. Van Vlaenderen (1985;1989), for example, demonstrated increases in ewe productivity of nearly 300% (from 7.2 kg lamb/ewe per year to 28.7 kg lamb/ewe per year) through improved flock management, simple health control, mineral supplementation, and strategic supplementation at the end of the rainy season. However, encouraging widespread adoption of these improved husbandry practices will require investment in policies, markets, and extension services (McDermott et al., 2010).Parasitic flowering plants (Striga and Alectra spp.) pose a serious threat to cereal and legume production in the dry savannas. It is estimated that 40 million hectares of land are severely infested by Striga spp., while nearly 70 million hectares have moderate levels of infestation (Lagoke et al., 1991).Striga hermonthica (Delile) Benth. (purple witchweed) is one of the most severe constraints to cereal production in the dry savannas of West Africa (Oswald and Ransom, 2004), attacking millet, sorghum, maize, and upland rice (Oryza sativa L.) (Kim et al., 1997;Showemimo et al., 2002). In northeast Nigeria, over 85% of fields planted to maize and sorghum were infested with purple witchweed (Dugje et al., 2006). Striga infestation can result in total loss of the crop (Lagoke et al., 1991;Oikeh et al., 1996) and may force farmers to abandon their cereal fields. The increasing incidence of Striga has been attributed to poor soil fertility and structure, intensification of land use through continuous cultivation and an expansion of cereal production (Vogt et al., 1991;Rodenburg et al., 2005;van Ast et al., 2005).Striga gesnerioides (Willd.) Vatke (cowpea witchweed) and Alectra vogelii (Benth.) (yellow witchweed) cause substantial yield reduction in cowpea in the dry savannas of sub-Saharan Africa (Emechebe et al., 1991). In a survey of 153 cowpea fields in six countries in West Africa, 40% were found to be infested with Striga (Cardwell and Lane, 1995), while in northeast Nigeria, where cowpea is the most important cash crop, Dugje et al. (2006) found 81% of cowpea fields surveyed to be infested with Striga, leading to serious crop losses. Cowpea yield losses associated with cowpea witchweed has been reported to range between 83 to 100% (Emechebe et al., 1991;Cardwell and Lane, 1995). Both parasites are difficult to control because they produce large numbers of seeds and up to 75% of the crop damage is done before they emerge from the ground.The abandonment of long-term fallows as a result of increasing cropping intensity has removed one of the key traditional practices used to control parasitic weeds. The primary approaches to management of parasitic weeds now available are the use of tolerant or resistant cultivars, and agronomic practices such as crop rotation.Striga damage in cereal crops can be reduced by growing varieties of maize (Zea mays), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) that are tolerant of or resistant to Striga or by planting trap crops such as varieties of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), soybean (Glycine max), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), and sesame (Sesamum indicum) that stimulate Striga seed to germinate without providing a viable host (Carsky et al., 2000). Some studies have shown that applying N fertilizer reduces Striga emergence and population and boosts cereal grain yield (Kim et al., 1997;Showemimo et al., 2002;Oswald and Ransom, 2004;Kamara et al., 2009). Applying N fertilizer may not be feasible as a stand-alone solution to managing purple witchweed in cereals because of the high cost of fertilizer, but the combined use of N fertilizer and Striga-tolerant/resistant maize and sorghum varieties has shown promise in the West African savannas (Showemimo et al., 2002;Kamara et al., 2009). In addition, farmers have developed a range of coping strategies including hand-roguing, application of inorganic fertilizer, manures and composts, and crop rotations (Emechebe et al., 2004).However, control is most effective if a range of practices are combined into a program of integrated Striga control (ISC) that can provide sustainable control over a wide range of biophysical and socio-economic environments (Berner et al., 1997;Ellis-Jones et al., 2004;Franke et al., 2006;Kamara et al., 2008). Ellis- Jones et al. (2004) showed that growing Strigaresistant maize after a soybean trap crop more than doubled economic return compared with continuous cropping with local (nonresistant) maize. Franke et al. (2006) found that ISC that combined rotation of Striga-resistant maize, trap crops, and fertilizer application reduced the Striga soil seed bank by 46% and increased crop productivity by 88%, while Kamara et al. (2008) showed that these practices reduced Striga infestation and damage on farmers fields and increased productivity by more than 200%. The latter also found that the use of a participatory research and extension approach improved community and group cohesion and relationships between farmers and extension agents, resulting in farmer-to-farmer transfer of knowledge and widespread adoption of ISC.A range of technologies have been tested for controlling Striga and yellow witchweed in cowpea, including cultural practices, chemical control, biological control, and host plant resistance (Singh and Emechebe, 1997). Among these, the use of resistant varieties is the most feasible, sustainable, and appropriate solution. Several cowpea varieties resistant to Striga and yellow witchweed have been released to farmers in Africa, including IT89KD-374 (Sangaraka) and IT89KD-245 (Korobalen) in Mali; IT90K-76, IT90K-82-2, and IT97K-499-35 in Nigeria; and IT90K-59 in South Africa (Singh, 2002).There is a clear trend of decreasing rainfall and increasing temperatures in the dry savannas of West Africa (Dai et al., 2004). According to projections by van den Born et al. (2000), by 2050 temperature in West Africa will be 1.5 to 2.5 °C higher than at present and precipitation 100 to 400 mm/yr lower. Current vegetation zones will shift towards the South, as will aridity. Jagtap (1995) showed that annual rainfall in Nigeria declined between 1961-70 and 1981-90, with delays in the onset of the rainy season and reduction in early rainfall, which shortened the growing season by nearly one month. There were fewer wet days and higher rainfall intensities in most of the country. The rainfall series showed prolonged dry periods, especially since 1970. The rainfall decline is unprecedented in duration, spatial, temporal character, and seasonal expression. Some 21% of the maize area in sub-Saharan Africa often suffers from drought stress (Heisey and Edmeades, 1999). Drought is also the main abiotic constraint responsible for low and unstable yields in groundnut. Drought also increases the probability of aflatoxin contamination on groundnut and its products. In the dry savanna zone of West Africa, the probability of drought is highest at the start and end of the growing season, but the timing of deficits is unpredictable. Because of this, the effects of drought cannot be avoided by either genotype maturity or planting date. Decreasing the susceptibility of a crop to drought, while maintaining or increasing yield in good rainfall years, would increase and stabilize rural incomes, reduce the chronic food shortages that plague these areas prior to harvest, and lessen the risk of farming.There is growing consensus that restoration of soil fertility and conservation of soil and water resources are the starting points for agricultural transformation and development in West Africa (Rockström et al., 2010;Vanlauwe et al., 2010;Bationo et al., 2011;Oduol et al., 2011). Several strategies have been developed for the conservation of soil and water to maintain productivity in West Africa, including rainwater harvesting, live barriers, supplementary irrigation, minimum tillage, mulching, bunded basins, and tree planting (Drechsel et al., 2004).A central approach to increasing crop production in the dry savanna is planting well-adapted cultivars at the optimum date. The short growing season and frequent droughts in the dry savanna require early-and extra-earlymaturing crop cultivars with drought tolerance. Breeders at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and partner institutions have developed maize, cowpea, and soybean cultivars that are early maturing; tolerant to drought, high temperatures, and low soil nutrient contents; and are resistant to pests and diseases (see, for example, Badu-Apraku et al., 2005;Kamara et al., 2005;Menkir et al., 2009).Among the tremendous challenges facing agriculture in the dry savannas of West Africa, is the need to generate enough food for people and feed for animals without destroying the natural resource base. Traditional farming systems are breaking down under human and livestock population pressure. Competition is increasing between crops and livestock, particularly for land and labor (Okoruwa et al., 1996). In subhumid ecological zones, rangelands are rapidly being converted to cropland (McIntire et al., 1992) with consequent shrinkage of traditional livestock grazing areas. As a result, livestock increasingly depend on crop residue for feed. Also, as savanna zones are progressively transformed from the traditional extensive fallow systems to continuous cropping, yields of crops and land productivity are declining and sustainability is threatened. Integration of crop and livestock offers a viable approach to sustainable intensification of land use (Ajeigbe et al., 2001), since cultivated areas can support more livestock during the dry season than non-cultivated areas if the crop residues are judiciously used. Van Raay (1975) reported that in the semi-arid areas of northern Nigeria, cattle resident in farming areas are better able to meet their protein requirement than transhumant cattle. However, as shown in Table 5-1, the use of crop residues as fodder removes soil nutrients (Powell and Williams, 1995), as does the harvesting and removal of grain and fodder (Mortimore et al., 1997).Livestock have a vital role to play in maintaining or increasing the yields of cereals and certain cash crops in the dry savannas of West Africa, through provision of animal traction and organic fertilizer and diversification of production systems (Harrison, 1991;CIRAD, 1996;Smith et al., 1997;Brock et al., 2002;Williams et al., 2004;Franke et al., 2010). CIRAD (1996) noted that a farmer who works his or her land by hand can cultivate only 0.4 ha, but can cultivate 5 ha with the help of two oxen. Dual-purpose (food and feed) cowpeas, groundnuts, and other leguminous crops can provide food for humans, feed for livestock, and supply of nitrogen to the soil (Singh et al., 2003). Singh and Ajeigbe (2007) and Ajeigbe et al. ( 2010) documented the benefits of an improved cereal-legume-livestock system adopted by 20,000 farmers in the savanna zone in Nigeria and Niger. Stall-feeding sheep and goats with cereal and legume stover during the dry season increased liveweight gains and animal fertility, increased the quality of manure that the farmers could collect and return to their fields, and allowed closer monitoring of animal health, increasing the overall productivity of the system. The system also resulted in positive residual soil N contributions to following crops, boosting crop yields (Sanginga et al., 2003).In the past decade, it has been recognized that farmers in mixed crop-livestock systems sometimes value the crop residues as much as the grain owing to their importance as a feed for livestock, particularly in the dry season (Blümmel et al., 2003;Blümmel and Rao, 2006). Breeding programs for these crops are increasingly being adapted to include breeding for residue quality without compromising grain yield.Utilization of crop residues as livestock feed is, however, not without implications for crop production (Giller et al., 2009;Valbuena et al., 2012). For example, Kang (1993) showed that crop-residue management could affect cowpea grain yield. Use of crop residue as mulch together with application of fertilizer gave significantly higher grain yield than fertilizer without crop residue. Where crop residue and weeds are collected and used as fodder, the resulting animal manure should be returned and used as fertilizer. Singh and Ajeigbe (2000) showed that row planting of two rows of cereal interspersed with four rows of cowpea produced more grain and better-quality fodder than the traditional system of alternating rows of cereal and legume. This so-called \"strip cropping\" allows the two crops to be cultivated independently but provides for them to interact agronomically (Ajeigbe et al., 2005).Clearly, there is a continuing need to develop improved integrated crop-livestock systems that minimize competition for scarce resources (particularly land and labor) and maximize the synergies between the components (Figure 5-1).Many technologies have been developed that have the potential to increase agricultural production in West Africa, but their adoption by farmers remains limited (Bationo and Baidu-Forson, 1997;Diouf et al., 1998;Ndjeunga and Bantilan, 2005). Researchers have identified a range of technical, socio-economic, institutional, and policy constraints to technology uptake, including weak extension services, weak markets for both inputs and outputs, and poor infrastructure. For instance, extension recommendations are sometimes inappropriate or ineffective. The promotion of manure application without warning that it may reduce yields under limited rainfall is a case in point (Affholder, 1994). Likewise, use of mineral fertilizers is widely promoted by research and development organizations as a blanket recommendation irrespective of zonal, climatic, and geological diversity (Diouf et al., 1998). Often a technology that worked well on station has not been adapted to farmers' conditions.Poor communications among farmers, extension agents, and researchers has often led to poorly targeted research or to the poor adoption of promising options generated by research. Extension workers are expected to disseminate agricultural knowledge and technologies to rural communities, which include production, postharvest, and livestock issues, yet they do not possess adequate knowledge in all these areas. The lack of continuing education opportunities is a drawback to extension workers' performance. This poor performance of extension efforts calls for fresh approaches (Mercoiret et al., 2003). For example, farmer-participatory research and participatory learning have been adopted to make research results more understandable and useful to target groups (Farrington and Martin, 1988;Chambers et al., 1989;van de Fliert and Braun, 2002).Participatory extension models, such as farmer field schools and local agricultural research committees, make agricultural technologies quickly available and easily accessible in farming communities and enable participating organizations to gain experience in developing researcher-farmer-extension partnership (Braun et al., 2000).Crop-livestock systems are intensifying in the dry savannas of West Africa because of increasing population pressure. Despite the high potential for crop and livestock production, the intensification of land use systems faces increasing biotic and abiotic constraints. Poor soil fertility, parasitic weed infestation, drought, pests, and diseases are major constraints to food and feed production in the dry savannas. Over the years, research institutions have developed and disseminated component technologies that can improve system productivity when deployed in an integrated manner. Government and national institutions in West Africa are encouraged to scale out these technologies to wider areas for increased benefit to farmers. Agricultural intensification is a necessity in the densely populated areas of sub-Saharan Africa and certainly so in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa, the operational domain of the Consortium for Improving Agriculture-based Livelihoods in Central Africa (CIALCA). The integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) paradigm has been accepted by the research and development community, including the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), as a viable set of principles to foster agricultural intensification. In this paper we first describe the production environment of CIALCA's mandate areas and its impact on livelihood characteristics and constraints on enhanced productivity.We then develop the definition of ISFM and evaluate its relation with eco-efficiency principles. ISFM components are illustrated with data from various cropping systems in the mandate areas and specific reference is made to issues of dissemination and the creation of an enabling environment for the uptake of ISFM technologies. We found that ISFM principles are relevant for increasing system productivity within the Great Lakes region but that unfavorable conditions for their uptake are a major impediment to their potential impact. CIALCA and future initiatives should simultaneously invest in the development and evaluation of ISFM practices and the creation of an environment that favors their uptake. and Rwanda. This paper focuses on the seven areas located in the highlands of Burundi, Rwanda, and South Kivu Province in eastern DR Congo (Figure 6-1A). These areas lie at altitudes varying between about 850 meters above sea level (masl) in the Rusizi Plains near Lake Tanganyika to over 2000 masl in some of the higher parts of Gitega (Burundi) and South Kivu (DR Congo). These areas have some of the highest population densities in Africa, with the average ranging between 238 people/km 2 in Kigali-Kibungo (Rwanda) and 514 people/km 2 in Gitarama (Rwanda) (Figure 6-1B).All mandate areas contain highland perennial systems following the farming systems classification of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (Dixon et al., 2001). More than half of the farmers in the mandate areas grow banana, maize, cassava, and bush or climbing beans (Ouma and Birachi, 2011). The length of growing period varies  As a result of these biophysical features, farms in the mandate areas are relatively small, contain a diverse range of crops, are labor limited, have varying but low numbers of livestock, and use very few external inputs such as improved varieties, fertilizer, or pesticides (Table 6-1). Only in Gitega does a considerable proportion of households use fertilizer (Table 6-1). Utilization of improved crop varieties is limited, with improved banana varieties used by 0-19% of households, improved groundnut and soybean varieties by 0-6% of households, improved cassava varieties by 0-16% of households, and improved maize varieties by 0-24% of households (Ouma and Birachi, 2011). The only exception is improved bean varieties, which are used by 5-91% of households in the mandate areas. Most households (50-85%) sell their agricultural produce at the farm gate or in local markets (Ouma and Birachi, 2011). Only in South Kivu do 20% of the households visit a regional market. Between 60 and 90% of the households sell fresh food products, while 10-25% of households sell processed products (Ouma and Birachi, 2011).In many densely populated areas of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), fallow periods are no longer an option and organic resources are scarce. This has commonly resulted in large variability in soil fertility between fields within a single farm. These \"soil fertility gradients\" are created by the position of specific fields within a soil-scape (Deckers, 2002), by the selective allocation of available nutrient inputs to specific crops and fields, and by improved management (e.g., time of planting, weeding, etc.) of plots with higher fertility (Tittonell et al., 2005b). In the CIALCA mandate areas, large differences in crop productivity over relatively short distances can be observed. For instance, in East Province of Rwanda, bean yields without inputs varied between less than 50 kg/ha and more than 2000 kg/ha (Figure 6-3A).An important consequence of the production environment and its many constraints, as described above, is substantial food insecurity. Between 38% and 72% of all households often have too little to eat and more than 80% of the households consume a maximum of two meals per day (Table 6-2). Over 70% of the households consume vegetable protein on a daily basis, over 80% of households consume animal protein only once a week or less often (Ouma and Birachi, 2011). Since agricultural outputs are limited, 29% to 73% of the adult population is involved part time or full time in off-farm activities, resulting in substantial off-farm income for most households. Literacy levels are relatively high, with between 52 and 84% of the household heads having completed at least primary education (Table 6-2).In terms of gender relationships, women contribute significantly to agricultural activities (Table 6-2). Both men and women are involved in crop management, though dominance of one gender is evident in certain enterprises in some mandate areas. In most cases, women dominate management of staple crops such as beans and cassava that are largely targeted for home consumption. Gender dominance in banana management is not evident, except in South Kivu where it is male dominated. In some of the mandate areas, banana cultivation is largely male dominated while harvest activities are dominated by women.   The poor security environment and inefficient government structures during the past few decades have forced farmers to support one another, and this is reflected in substantial levels of social capital as illustrated by household membership of a farmer group (14-45%) or a credit and savings group (3-46%) (Table 6-2).In most communities in SSA, access to resources is not homogeneous, with some households having greater access to, for instance, land, labor, livestock, and capital, than others (Tittonell et al., 2005a). This is also the case for the farming households within the CIALCA mandate areas (Ouma and Birachi, 2011). Households with greater resource endowment commonly have a wider range of options to improve productivity and are less risk averse (Shepherd and Soule, 1998). This needs to be considered when identifying best soil management practices. Major constraints to eco-efficient intensification can be identified for various system goals:  • Enhanced equity: Women manage most of the household food security crops, while men most often manage cash crops. Men take most decisions on investments in agriculture and control income from sales, while women implement most labor-intensive field activities.These constraints are exacerbated by the lack of effective extension systems, the lack of a conducive policy environment, and the lack of conditions that enable farmers to move from subsistence to commercial agriculture. The main exception is Rwanda where, over the past 15 years, institutional and policy-related changes have created a production environment that is well-placed to tackle constraints through investments in input value chains for improved seeds and fertilizer, provision of access to credit, initiatives to increase cattle ownership and to empower women, and the creation of an effective extension system.The Green Revolution in South Asia and Latin America boosted crop productivity through the deployment of improved varieties, water, and fertilizer. However, efforts to achieve similar results in SSA largely failed (Okigbo, 1987). The need for sustainable intensification of agriculture in SSA has gained support in recent years, especially in densely populated areas where natural fallows are no longer an option, as is the case in the African Great Lakes region. There is a growing recognition that farm productivity is a major entry point to overcoming rural poverty. A recent landmark event was the launching of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) (Annan, 2008). Since fertilizer is an expensive commodity, AGRA has adopted integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) as a framework for boosting crop productivity through reliance on soil fertility management technologies, with emphasis on increased availability and use of mineral fertilizer.We define ISFM as \"a set of soil fertility management practices that necessarily include the use of fertilizer, organic inputs, and improved germplasm combined with the knowledge on how to adapt these practices to local conditions, aiming at maximizing agronomic use efficiency of the applied nutrients and improving crop productivity. All inputs need to be managed following sound agronomic principles\" (Vanlauwe et al., 2011). The goal of ISFM is optimized crop productivity through maximizing interactions that occur when fertilizers, organic inputs, and improved germplasm and the required associated knowledge are integrated by farmers (Figure 6-4).The definition focuses on maximizing the efficiency with which fertilizer and organic inputs are used since these are both scarce resources in the areas where agricultural intensification is needed. Agronomic efficiency (AE) is defined as incremental return to applied inputs:where Y F and Y C refer to yields (kg/ha) in the treatment where nutrients have been applied and in the control plot, respectively, and F appl is the amount of fertilizer and/or organic nutrients applied (kg/ha).Note that maximal AE also leads to maximal value:cost ratios since both indicators are linearly related for specific input and output prices.In terms of response to management, two general classes of soils are distinguished: (1) soils that show acceptable responses to fertilizer, or \"responsive soils\" (Path A, Figure 6-4) and ( 2) soils that show little or no response to fertilizer due to other constraints besides the nutrients contained in the fertilizer, or \"less-responsive soils\" (Path B, Figure 6-4). In some cases, where land is newly cleared or where fields are close to homesteads and receive large amounts of organic inputs each year, a third class of soil exists where crops respond little to fertilizer as the soils are fertile. The ISFM definition proposes that application of fertilizer to improved germplasm on responsive soils will boost crop yield and improve AE relative to current farmer practice, which is characterized by traditional varieties receiving too little and poorly managed nutrient inputs (Path A, Figure 6-4). Major requirements for achieving production gains on responsive fields within Path A (Figure 6-4) include the use of diseaseresistant and improved germplasm; crop and water management practices; and application of the \"4R\" Nutrient Stewardship Framework-a science-based framework that focuses on applying the right fertilizer source, at the right rate, at the right time during the growing season, and in the right place (IFA, 2009).Organic inputs contain nutrients that are released at a rate determined in part by their chemical characteristics or organic resource quality. However, organic inputs applied at realistic levels seldom release sufficient nutrients for acceptable crop yield. Combining organic and mineral inputs has been advocated for smallholder farming in the tropics because neither input is usually available in sufficient quantities to maximize yields and because both are needed in the long term to sustain soil fertility and crop production. An important question arises within the context of ISFM: Can organic resources be used to rehabilitate less-responsive soils and make these responsive to fertilizer (Path C in Figure 6-4)? In Zimbabwe, applying farmyard manure to sandy soils at relatively high rates for 3 years resulted in a clear response to fertilizer where there was no such response before rehabilitation (Zingore et al., 2007). In southwestern Nigeria, integration of residues from Siamese senna (Senna siamea), a leguminous tree, reduced topsoil acidification resulting from repeated application of urea fertilizer (Vanlauwe et al., 2005).As previously stated, soil fertility status can vary considerably within short distances with substantial impacts on fertilizer use efficiency.Three broad classes of fields can be distinguished that occur across a range of agroecologies:(1) fertile, less-responsive fields, (2) responsive fields in which a strong response to fertilizers is found, and (3) poor, less-responsive fields. Figure 6-4 illustrates examples 2 and 3, above. In addition to fertilizer and organic input management, other measures for adaptation to local conditions include application of lime on acid soils, water harvesting techniques on soils susceptible to crusting under semi-arid conditions, or soil erosion control on hillsides. Lastly, adaptation also includes considering the farming resources available to a specific farming household, often referred to as farmer resource endowment. The status is related to a specific set of farm typologies. In other words, ISFM options available to a specific household will depend on the resource endowment of that household. CIAT equates eco-efficient agriculture to more productive, profitable, competitive, sustainable, resilient, and equitable agriculture. Although this definition is primarily quantitative, it also allows qualitative assessment of the ISFM paradigm relative to current agricultural practices.ISFM aims at eco-efficiency in various ways. The definition of ISFM itself embeds the concept of eco-efficiency through its focus on maximizing the agronomic efficiency of inputs, with enhanced productivity and profitability and minimized losses to the environment as direct consequences. Intensifying agricultural production can also reduce the pressure to open up new land that is often poorly suited to crop production but valuable in the context of other ecosystem functions. The concept of local adaptation embedded in the definition requires consideration of not only soil fertility gradients but also resource endowment of farming families, thus promoting increased equity among households.The rehabilitation of less-responsive sites is a special case, as immediate returns to investment are not expected to be high. Implementing ISFM options restores productivity through a gradual increase in soil fertility resulting from moreeffective use of improved germplasm, fertilizers, organic inputs (crop residues, farmyard manure), or even biofertilizers. Rehabilitating such soils enhances eco-efficiency at the farm level since more of the land area will be using agricultural inputs more efficiently.A main issue related to sustainability is whether applying fertilizer can generate the required crop residues and other organic inputs that are needed to optimize the AE of fertilizer and sustain the soil-based ecosystem functions and services, governed by the soil organic-matter pool. There are indications that it can. Bationo et al. (1998) found that where fertilizer was applied to millet, sufficient residue was produced to meet both farm household demands for feed and food and the management needs of the soil in terms of organic-matter inputs and protection of the soil from wind erosion.Principles embedded within the definition of ISFM need to be applied within existing farming systems. Based on the main principles underlying ISFM and the specific production environment of the African Great Lakes region, specific entry points have been identified covering the various dimensions of ISFM (Table 6-3). Rehabilitation of non-responsive soils is not included in the table because it is unlikely to be a major short-term entry point towards ISFM. Some of these potential entry points are further developed in the following sections, based on results obtained within the CIALCA mandate areas and following the ISFM stepwise approach.For a significant improvement in eco-efficient crop productivity, an enhanced supply of nutrients has to go hand in hand with a greater demand by the crop. Applying fertilizer to germplasm that is unresponsive, not adapted to the environment, or that is affected by pests and diseases will result in low AE values. In South Kivu, DR Congo, for example, improved, open-pollinated maize varieties yielded more than local varieties without fertilizer but some varieties also had a higher response to fertilizer application, resulting in higher AE values (Figure 6-5). Similarly, replacing mosaic-virus-susceptible cassava varieties with tolerant varieties resulted in a substantial increase in cassava response to fertilizer (unpublished data from authors).Step 2: Organic matter x fertilizer interactions Pypers et al. (in preparation) observed a significant effect of previous cropping on maize yields both with and without fertilizer in field demonstrations in South Kivu, DR Congo (Figure 6-6). Yields of maize following soybean or climbing beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) were 27-57% higher than that of maize following maize. Rotational benefits were also greater when improved, dual-purpose legume varieties with a low harvest index were grown. These legumes gave similar grain yields to local varieties (not shown), but grain yields following maize crops were 20-34% higher than those of maize following local legume varieties. These yield improvements were related to greater biological nitrogen (N) fixation in the improved legumes, which derived a Fertilizer response and the effect of combining inorganic and organic nutrient resources were also evaluated in cassava systems. The most common fertilizer, NPK 17:17:17, was applied with or without green manure made from Tithonia sp. or Chromolaena sp., and effects on storage root yield evaluated in two locations with differing soil fertility status (Figure 6-7) (Pypers et al., 2012). Control yields were similar at the two sites (12 t/ha fresh roots), but response to fertilizer differed between the sites: storage root yields reached 40 t/ha at Kiduma but only 20 t/ha at Mbuela. A much larger response to Tithonia sp. green manure was also observed at Kiduma, which was likely related to the higher quality and nutrient contents of the green manure grown at that site. Combining organic and inorganic nutrient resources did not result in positive interactions. No significant differences in yield were observed comparing sole application of fertilizer or green manure added to the control, relative to yields obtained with combined application of both nutrient sources (Figure 6-8) (Pypers et al., 2012). In maize-based systems, positive interactions between organic and inorganic fertilizers often arise from better synchrony in N release and N uptake by the crop. In cassava systems, where K is more often the most limiting nutrient, such a mechanism is likely to be less relevant. Potassium is mostly retained on the exchange complex, and has little affinity for organic matter.Response to fertilizer also varies according to specific local conditions. For example, bean yields increased between 0 and 1 t/ha (Figure 3A). AE averaged 2 kg of grain per kilogram of diammonium phosphate fertilizer applied, but On sloping land, anti-erosion measures are necessary to conserve the fertile topsoil and sustain long-term crop productivity. Without such measures, soils will degrade and become unproductive. One technique often promoted is progressive terracing using Calliandra calothyrsus hedgerows combined with earth embankments whereby the soil is deposited above a furrow dug along the contour (fanya juu in Kiswahili). However, these measures often have few short-term benefits and reduce the area available for cropping. In addition, hedgerows may compete with the crops, and earth embankments may bring up less fertile subsoil. A trial was conducted in South Kivu to evaluate the trade-offs between crop production and soil conservation in these systems. Yields were highest on plots without any anti-erosion measures (Figure 6-9) (Pypers et al., in preparation). Plots with both fanya juu and Calliandra hedgerows yielded only half as much as the control plots in the first year. In the fourth year, yields in the systems with anti-erosion measures were only 17-33% lower than from the control plots. After 4 years, more than 30 kg of soil had been lost per square meter of the control plots, which implies that about 3 cm of topsoil had eroded away. Fanya juu embankments were more effective in protecting the soil than were Calliandra hedgerows, and the two measures combined resulted in a five-fold reduction in soil loss. While anti-erosion measures are obviously necessary to maintain soil fertility, there are few short-or medium-term benefits for farmers. Application of fertilizer and large quantities of organic matter to the terraces may accelerate soil fertility restoration, but an external incentive and communal action may be required if these measures are to be implemented (Pypers et al., in preparation).The gradual increase in complexity of knowledge as one moves towards complete ISFM (Figure 6-4) has implications on the strategies used to promote widespread dissemination. The operations of each farm are strongly influenced by the wider rural community, policies, supporting institutions, and markets. Not only are farms linked to the off-farm economy through commodity and labor markets, but the rural and urban economies are also strongly interdependent. Farming households are also linked to rural communities and social and information networks, which provide feedback that influences farmer decision-making. Because ISFM is a set of principles and practices to intensify land use, uptake of ISFM is facilitated in areas with greater pressure on land resources.The first step towards ISFM requires fertilizer and improved varieties. An essential condition for their adoption is access to farm inputs, produce markets, and financial resources. To a large extent, adoption is market driven as commodity sales provide incentives and cash to invest in soil fertility management technologies, providing opportunities for community-based savings and credit schemes. Dissemination strategies should include ways to facilitate access to the required inputs, simple information flyers, spread through extension networks, and knowledge on how to avoid less-responsive soils. Such knowledge can be based on farmers' experiences since most local indicators of soil fertility status are linked to the production history of particular fields (Mairura et al., 2008). A good example of where the seeds and fertilizer strategy has made substantial impact is the Malawi fertilizer subsidy program. Malawi became a net food exporter through the widespread deployment of seeds and fertilizer, although the aggregated AE was only 14 kg of grain per kilogram of N applied (Chinsinga, 2007). Such AE is low and application of ISFM could at least double this, with all consequent economic benefits to farmers.As efforts to promote the seed and fertilizer strategy are under way, activities such as farmer field schools or development of site-specific decision guides that enable more-complex issues to be tackled can be initiated to guide farming communities towards complete ISFM. This may require improved management of organic matter and local adaptation of technologies. The latter will obviously require more intense interactions between farmers and extension services and will take a longer time to achieve its goals. Farmer adoption of ISFM may be further accelerated by implementing campaigns that address all of these aspects by offering farmers information, technology demonstrations, product exhibits, financial incentives, and opportunities to develop their skills within their own farms.CIALCA's experience shows that the need for intensive farmer facilitation and training increases rapidly with increasing complexity of knowledge. This demands considerable investment in farmer training and knowledge-support resources. The CIALCA Knowledge Resource Centre was established in the African Great Lakes region to identify and leverage new impact pathways for ISFM technologies. By working closely with extension agents and outreach partners, targeted information tools can be developed to support adoption of practices by farmers in specific settings. A particular challenge is to develop innovative knowledge products that take into account the low rates of adult literacy and formal education prevalent in the region. Rural radio is one tool that offers a wide reach, and is very useful for raising awareness around a particular issue. However, it is less suitable as a training tool, particularly as knowledge complexity increases. It is therefore important to stress the need for integrated, multipronged communications approaches using a mix of tools when attempting to achieve impact of ISFM at a large scale.Policies towards sustainable land use intensification, and the necessary institutions and mechanisms to implement and evaluate these, also facilitate the uptake of ISFM. Policies favoring the importation of fertilizer, its blending and packaging, or smart subsidies are needed to stimulate the supply of fertilizer. Specific policies addressing the rehabilitation of degraded, nonresponsive soils may also be required since investments to achieve this may be too large to be supported by farm families alone. In recent years, several initiatives have been set up in the CIALCA area to facilitate access to fertilizer. In Rwanda, for example, the Crop Intensification Program has invested in training agro-dealers (small-scale agricultural supplies traders), the development of specific fertilizer recommendations for the major crops, and smart subsidy schemes. In DR Congo, the CATALIST (Catalyze Accelerated Agricultural Intensification for Social and Environmental Stability) project successfully lobbied for the removal of import duties on fertilizer and persuaded private-sector partners to invest in fertilizer supply, resulting in 60 t of fertilizer being imported during the February 2011 planting season, a first for eastern DR Congo.A set of enabling conditions can favor the uptake of ISFM. One factor that is expected to catalyze uptake of productivity-enhancing technologies in CIALCA is linkage to defined markets.CIALCA's market intervention seeks to achieve three objectives: (1) improve the economic livelihoods of men and women in rural areas;(2) create sustainable market linkages and relations for actors; and (3) enhance adoption and raise scale of production. CIALCA has intervened in markets by working with farmers' organizations to achieve a marketable production scale. Capacity building on collaborative action, marketing and business planning skills, and management of credit and finances has ensured that farmers are now able to bulk their produce, wait for better prices, and earn higher incomes from their produce. Besides the farmers, training also targets the institutions and organizations that support the farmers' organizations, such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and national research staff, to ensure post-project sustainability. For instance, farmers in South Kivu were able to raise their sales revenues by 50% through strategic storage facilitated by inventory credit schemes (warrantage in French): farmers did not have to sell immediately after harvest but were able to store their produce collectively, awaiting better prices for their products. Through group efforts, farmers were also able to acquire credit for their ISFM-based farming activities and, because they had targeted production to key markets, were able for the first time to borrow funds without collateral. In addition, farmers working in groups have been able to initiate mutual savings schemes that supplement other sources of finance, particularly for investment in new technologies. Farmers' production projections (captured in business plans) are based on the expected application of specific ISFM technologies to achieve projected yields. This creates a direct link between the ISFM technologies and the intended livelihood improvement through incomes expected to be generated.Another factor that may facilitate the dissemination of ISFM involves the promotion of improved nutrition. CIALCA's baseline studies indicate that the primary underlying cause of malnutrition in the mandate areas is poor-quality diets, characterized by high intakes of food staples but low consumption of animal and fish products, fruits, and vegetables. Staple foods (overwhelmingly cassava, maize, and banana in this example) account for 80% of total per capita energy intake. As such, most of the malnourished are those who cannot afford to purchase highly nutritious foods and also lack access to agricultural technologies and knowledge to grow these foods. By incorporating legume-based products into local diets and demonstrating impact of improved dietary intake on nutrition, CIALCA is encouraging communities to adopt ISFM technologies. While dissemination and adoption of complete ISFM is the ultimate goal, substantial improvements in production can be made by promoting the greater use of farm inputs and improved germplasm within market-oriented farm enterprises. To minimize conflict between food security and income generation, an interdisciplinary approach is used to integrate expertise in farming systems analysis and agronomy, human nutrition, and development economics. Strategic partnerships are forged with a wide range of development partners including health-based NGOs, farmers' groups and community-based organizations to facilitate technology dissemination and uptake.The main principles underlying ISFM have been shown to be applicable to maize-and cassavabased cropping systems in the African Great Lakes region. Combinations of different ISFM components have resulted in substantial added benefits through higher resource-use efficiencies. Nonetheless, responses to ISFM interventions were variable, highlighting the need for local adaptation and identification of interventions best suited for a particular production environment and household resource endowment.The seed and fertilizer approach is providing substantial increases in productivity in Central Africa, and initial efforts should be directed towards increasing farmers' access to these inputs and associated information on how best to utilize them (e.g., avoidance of non-responsive soils). As productivity increases, approaches can gradually shift towards more complex interventions, but this will certainly require more intensive interaction with farming communities. Investment in input supply chains and engagement of farming households in output value chains are crucial to large-scale impact. Such investments are best underpinned by activities aimed at strengthening the ability of farmers' associations to work collectively in purchasing inputs and marketing their produce, increasing access to credit, and strengthening the abilities of farmers to manage financial and other resources.Policy has a crucial role to play in delivering ISFM practices by facilitating access to agricultural inputs and credit, establishing an effective extension system, upgrading rural infrastructure (including feeder roads and local storage facilities), empowering women farmers or female-led households, and investing in national agricultural research capacity. Governments also have a role to play in ensuring that development organizations do not spread contradictory messages within farming communities; a number of such organizations are still advocating against the use of fertilizer and strongly promoting organic agriculture, which, based on ISFM research, is less likely to raise productivity following eco-efficient principles.Lastly, monitoring and evaluating the performance of specific interventions under farmer-managed conditions is crucial to better understanding the relevance of these interventions and eventual adaptation of the processes of technology identification and dissemination. This can only be achieved in a meaningful way through investments in capacity building and community participation. The Indo-Gangetic Plains cover some 700,000 km 2 in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan and are home to nearly one billion people. Narang and Virmani (2001) divided the IGP into five subregions, based on physiographic, climatic, and vegetation patterns (Figure 7-1). Subregions 1 and 2 (northwestern IGP) have a semi-arid climate with 400-800 mm annual rainfall. The land is gently sloping or flat. The topography is dotted with saucer-shaped depressions with poor drainage, locally named as chaurs. These create flood-plain lakes or wetlands with 50 to 400 cm water depth during the peak rainy season. They are more abundant in the eastern than in the western part of the IGP. In coastal areas, these depressions form the marshy/ swampy lands. They are used as community fishing ground in the wet season, and for winter (boro) rice, maize and vegetable crops after the water recedes. Soils are alluvial and calcareous with some alkaline soils in pockets. The groundwater is mostly depleted or of marginal quality. Mean farm size is 3.55 ha, mostly irrigated and mechanized (Table 7-1). Some parts are intensively cultivated, with liberal application of chemical inputs, while agriculture in other areas is rainfed with limited use of inputs (Singh et al., 2009). Surface water and groundwater are used for irrigation and many farmers take full advantage of improved technologies to enhance crop yields and profit (Erenstein et al., 2007;Erenstein and Laxmi, 2008;Singh et al., 2009). Wheat and basmati and non-basmati long-grain rice are the main crops in subregion 1, while the main crops in subregion 2 are basmati and long-grain rice, wheat, maize, black gram (Phaseolus mungo L.), green gram or mung bean [Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek], sunflower, potato, sugarcane, cowpea, and dhaincha (Sesbania aculeata Pers.) grown for green manure in rice-based systems (Gupta et al., 2005). The annual land use intensity (LUI) is relatively low (182%) (Singh et al., 2009).In the central IGP (subregion 3), the climate is hot subhumid, with 650-970 mm of annual rainfall. The topography is mostly saucer-shaped (see description above for subregions 1 and 2). Soils are alluvial with pockets of alkaline soils on the plains and acidic soils on the hills. Major crops cultivated include rice, sugarcane, wheat, maize, soybean, cotton, potato, and pigeon pea in rice-or maize-based systems, with an annual LUI of 191%. Mean farm size is 0.94 ha (Table 7-1), with limited farm mechanization and adoption of resource-conserving technologies (RCTs) (Singh et al., 2009). Eastern IGP (subregions 4 and 5) has a hot subhumid climate with a mild winter (5.4 °C in January) and higher rainfall (1000-1800 mm per year) than other regions. The land is gently sloping with alluvial, calcareous/alkaline, and acidic soils that are poorly drained. Flooding is a serious problem in this area. The rich groundwater resource is contaminated with fluoride and arsenic in some pockets. Half of the irrigated area is supplied with surface water and half using groundwater. Rice is the dominant crop, followed by potato, wheat, maize, sunflower, onion, jute, and lentil in rice-based cropping systems. Cropping intensity is quite high (LUI of 233%) (Singh et al., 2009) and mean farm size is only 0.59 ha (Table 7-1). Farmers are relatively poor, and use power tillers for land preparation and seeding (Singh et al., 2009). Farmers supplement their income with other activities such as working as laborers on other farms or in local industries, services, and businesses (Erenstein, 2009). Migration for off-farm employment is also common in other subregions.Two or more crops are grown each year in most parts of the IGP. Rice followed by wheat (R-W) is the predominant cropping system in the IGP in India and Nepal, while double-cropping with rice (R-R) is the predominant cropping system in the IGP in Bangladesh, and cottonwheat (Cot-W) is predominant in Pakistan (Table 7-2). Maize cultivation has increased in recent times both in terms of area and production in the eastern IGP because winter maize is more productive and profitable and requires less water than winter (boro) rice (Timsina et al., 2011). Cereals may also be alternated with other crops, such as potato, lentil, chickpea, mustard, or sunflower in winter; and jute, fodder maize, rice, mung bean, or cowpea during the spring season.The area under R-W on the IGP trebled and production increased fivefold from 1960 to 2000 (Saharawat et al., 2009). Now, however, the cereal systems in subregions 1-3 are becoming more and more unprofitable and less sustainable due to yield stagnation, a 50% decline in total factor productivity, increasing production costs (high cost of land, labor, and chemical inputs), and declining returns from additional inputs (Ladha et al., 2003;Singh et al., 2009). Despite this, farmers continue to intensify R-W systems and are reluctant to diversify to crops with lower water requirements, mainly because of high subsidies for power, fertilizer, and irrigation water, and well-developed production and marketing systems for rice and wheat in the region (Erenstein, 2009;Saharawat et al., 2009). In the eastern IGP (subregions 4 and 5), rice and wheat are produced in traditional, labor-intensive systems on small (average 0.59 ha) farms. Frequent droughts, flooding in the monsoon season, late rice harvests which delay planting of wheat, and limited use of inputs are common and lead to low productivity and returns (Gupta and Seth, 2007). However, LUI is high (233%) because of year-round cropping (Erenstein, 2009;Singh et al., 2009).The problems of both regions of the IGP can be addressed through adoption of eco-efficient agriculture that enhances and sustains productivity and profitability of the rice-, wheat-, and maize-based systems while minimizing the adverse impact on the environment.It is estimated that demand for food and non-food commodities is likely to increase by 75-100% globally between 2010 and 2050 (Keating et al., 2010;Tilman et al., 2011). The increase in demand in South Asia is expected to be at least as much. As there is little scope for expanding the area under cultivation in South Asia, there is thus an urgent need to further intensify land use and increase productivity of cereal systems to meet the growing demand. Projections indicate that production of rice, wheat, and maize will have to increase by about 1.1%, 1.7%, and 2.9% per year, respectively, over the next four decades to ensure food security in South Asia (O. Erenstein, pers. comm.). National mean yields of all three cereals in South Asia are below global averages (except for maize in Bangladesh) and yield gaps of 50% or more exist in all the three crops (Table 7-3) (Aggarwal et al., 2008;Lobel et al., 2009). Thus, there is a great potential to increase the yields of major cereals in South Asia (Ladha et al., 2009;Timsina et al., 2011).Energy use is generally high in intensive cereal production systems. Of the total energy used for crop production, fertilizer and chemical energy inputs comprise 47% for wheat, 43% for rice (Khan et al., 2009b), and 45% for maize (Kraatz et al., 2008). About 60% of this is due to nitrogen (N) fertilizers alone. In the R-W system in northwest IGP, most of the energy is used for land preparation-wet tillage and puddling for rice and preparatory tillage operations for wheat, pump irrigation, and combine harvesting. Conventional tillage is not only fuel-and cost-inefficient, it also contributes to a larger carbon footprint through increased emission of CO 2 (Grace et al., 2003).The liberal or excessive use of natural resources and external inputs such as N fertilizers and other agrochemicals in the western and central regions of IGP has caused environmental and ecological degradation-soil degradation (salinity and alkalinity, soil erosion), depletion of soil organic matter due to oxidation of soil carbon under conventional tillage, depletion of groundwater in large areas, pollution of surface and groundwater, and leakage of reactive N into the environment (Bijay- Singh et al., 2008).Power subsidy to farms leads to inefficient use of electricity, particularly for pumping water. For example, in 2007, 7.5 billion units of electricity (28% of total power consumed in the state) were used for tube-wells in Punjab alone, in addition to the diesel consumed (Anonymous, 2008).As a result of excessive exploitation of groundwater, the depth to water table has increased steadily in many areas (Hira and Khera, 2000;Hira, 2009;Rodell et al., 2009), for example, by 0.2 m/year between 1973 and 2001 and by 1 m/year between 2000 and 2006 in Punjab (Humphreys et al., 2010). The rates of groundwater depletion were greatest in the northwest Indian IGP: in 2009, groundwater was overexploited in 103 out of 138 administrative blocks in Punjab and 55 out of 108 in Haryana (Humphreys et al., 2010). With the continued decline in water table, power consumption for tube-well irrigation will double by 2023 and the cost to farmers of maintaining pump infrastructure and replacing failed pumps will escalate. Moreover, saline groundwater is intruding into fresh groundwater aquifers (Humphreys et al., 2010). Fluoride and arsenic contamination of groundwater is also a problem Potential yield 5.2(M); 3.8(F) 8.8(M); 6.5(E) 6.6(E); 5.9(F) 6.1(M); 6.6(E) 5.5(M); 6.1(E) 5.4(E); 7. in some areas of the IGP. Fluoride in groundwater above the safe limit of 1.5 mg/liter has been recorded in five districts of Bihar, two districts of Chhattisgarh, four districts of Jharkhand, and seven districts each of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Similarly, occurrence of arsenic above the safe limit of 0.01 mg/liter in groundwater from the intermediate aquifer at a depth of 20 to 100 m has been observed in 12 districts of Bihar, five districts of Uttar Pradesh, and one district each of Chhattisgarh and Assam (Anonymous, 2008;Hira, 2009).Agricultural systems in northwest and central IGP also produce large amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs), particularly from flooded rice fields (Pathak et al., 2002;Pathak et al., 2003;Bhatia et al., 2010;Pathak et al., 2011). While emission of methane (CH 4 ) from flooded rice systems can be reduced by adopting different water and crop management strategies (Adhya et al., 2009;Gupta-Vandana et al., 2009), such changes, plus increased N fertilizer use, in intensive cereal systems would be likely to increase production of nitrous oxide (N 2 O), another GHG (Pathak et al., 2007;Wassmann et al., 2009). This trade-off between CH 4 and N 2 O emissions is a major limitation in devising an effective strategy for mitigating GHG emissions from the R-W system (Ladha et al., 2009). Burning of rice residues to clear the land for wheat also releases large amounts of CO 2 into the atmosphere (Ladha et al., 2003). Farm machinery, including the pumps used for irrigation, emitted 283-437 kg CO 2 -C/ha of rice and 33-58 kg CO 2 -C/ha of wheat in a R-W system (Pathak et al., 2011).Clearly, new approaches are needed to develop agricultural production systems that are productive and sustainable, both economically and ecologically. Eco-efficient agriculture offers such an approach.Eco-efficiency is concerned with the efficient and sustainable use of resources in farm production and land management. It can be increased either by altering the management of individual crop and livestock enterprises or by altering the land use system. Conceptually the eco-efficiency seems to be similar to the concepts of ecological intensification (Cassman, 1999;Dobermann et al., 2008) and conservation agriculture (CA) (Hobbs et al., 2008), while encompassing both the ecological and economic dimensions of sustainable agriculture. In addition to the economic aspect, evolving social, institutional, market-, and policy-related pressures will determine the extent of development of ecoefficient agriculture (Keating et al., 2010).At the farm level, eco-efficiency might be represented in terms as diverse as food output per unit labor, the biodiversity benefits provided by retention of natural habitat per unit food production, or the aggregate food output per unit water or fertilizer applied (Keating et al., 2010). Production increases of the last 50 years were achieved at significant cost to the natural resource base (degraded soils and ecosystem impacts, including habitat fragmentation threatening biodiversity) as well as the global environment. Future production increases must come from stabilizing yields in areas where yields are already high and increases in production in areas where yields are currently low, while promoting ecological sustainability. The agricultural revolution over the next 40 years has to be the eco-efficiency revolution, with 50 to 100% increases in the efficiency with which scarce resources of land, water, nutrients, and energy are used. Importantly, this greater output and efficiency has to be achieved while maintaining or restoring land, water, biodiversity, and agroecosystems.Practices that have been shown to increase the productivity and eco-efficiency of agriculture at the farm level include resource-conserving technologies (RCTs) such as laser land leveling and direct seeding (Hobbs and Gupta, 2003;Ladha et al., 2003;Sharma et al., 2005;Gupta and Seth, 2007;Harrington and Hobbs, 2009;Ladha et al., 2009), integrated crop management (ICM) (Nguyen, 2002;Balasubramanian et al., 2005), integrated crop and resource management (Ladha et al., 2009), integrated farming systems (Hesterman and Thorburn, 1994), and integrated soil-crop system management (Chen et al., 2011).These and other components of eco-efficient agriculture are discussed in more detail below.Integrating laser leveling with other best management practices has been shown to increase productivity of R-W systems by 7-19% and reduce water consumption for irrigation by 12-30% in on-station and farmer-participatory trials in India, increasing net returns by US$113-US$300/ha per year (Jat et al., 2009). This has been reflected in a rapid increase in the number of laser units employed in the northwest Indian IGP between 2001 and 2008, from zero to 925 and in the laser-leveled area from zero to 0.2 m ha (Jat et al., 2009;Ladha et al., 2009). The laser-leveled area in Pakistan increased from zero to 0.18 m ha during the same period (Harrington and Hobbs, 2009;M. Ahmed, pers. comm.).Zero-tillage (ZT) wheat has been the most successful technology for reducing resource use in R-W systems, particularly in the Indian IGP. The prevailing ZT technology in the IGP uses a tractor-drawn zero-till seed drill to drill wheat directly into unplowed fields with a single pass of the tractor. The ZT drills are made domestically at a cost of around US$400 (Thakur, 2005). Alternatively, wheat seed can be broadcast on a saturated soil surface before or after the rice harvest (Erenstein and Laxmi, 2008). This is ideal for poor farmers, requiring no land preparation or machinery, but its use is still largely confined to low-lying fields that remain too moist for tractors to enter, particularly in the eastern IGP.ZT as applied to the R-W systems in the IGP has three characteristic features that separate it from related systems elsewhere (Erenstein, 2003). First, ZT is typically applied only to the wheat crop in the double-cropped system, with the subsequent rice crop still intensively tilled. Second, ZT wheat after rice does not necessarily entail an increased reliance on herbicide, as the paddy rice fields are relatively weed free at harvest time. Third, ZT wheat does not necessarily imply the retention of crop residues as mulch. In fact, the prevailing Indian ZT seed drills are relatively poor in trash handling, but this has not been a major issue in view of the limited biomass remaining in R-W systems after the rice crop (Erenstein et al., 2007).Combining precision land leveling, ZT, and drill seeding wheat with leaving crop residues on the soil surface quadrupled farmer income compared with reduced-till or conventional-till wheat, mainly due to higher yields resulting from timely planting and reduced tillage cost (Gupta and Seth, 2007;Jat et al., 2011). Smallholders in the eastern IGP have also increased yields and reduced costs by adopting ZT for broadcast seeding of wheat (Gupta et al., 2003). It is estimated that 20-25% of the wheat area in northwest IGP is now under zero or reduced tillage, with or without crop residues left on the soil surface (Erenstein, 2009).Similarly, direct seeding of rice has the potential to provide several benefits to farmers and the environment over conventional practices of land preparation such as puddling and transplanting. Recently, Kumar and Ladha (2011) reviewed the benefits of direct seeding compared with transplanting into puddled soil, which typically include reduction in irrigation water use (12-35%), labor (0-46%), and cultivation costs (2-32%); higher net economic returns, and reduced methane emissions. However, yields are lower in some cases, especially with dry seeding combined with reduced/zero tillage, as a result of uneven and poor crop stand, poor weed control, higher spikelet sterility, crop lodging, and poor knowledge of water and nutrient management. Most rice varieties are bred and selected for transplantation into puddled land. Risks associated with a shift from puddle transplanting to direct seeding include a shift toward hard-to-control weed flora; development of herbicide resistance in weeds; evolution of weedy rice; increases in soil-borne pathogens and pests such as nematodes; higher emissions of nitrous oxide-a potent GHG; and nutrient disorders, especially N and micronutrients. Grain yields and net income were lower from reduced-till and zero-till direct-seeded or bed-planted rice than from conventional rice, despite significant savings in water use (Ladha et al., 2009;Gathala et al., 2011;Jat et al., 2011). This was because of increased weed infestation. Further research is needed to develop suitable weed control technologies for direct seeded rice systems (Kumar and Ladha, 2011).Thus, direct seeding of rice will be adopted only once an integrated package of technologies has been developed, including improved weed control and cultivars that perform well under these conditions.As already noted, water consumption can be significantly reduced by directly seeding rice into dry soil instead of transplanting into puddled soil (Bhuiyan et al., 1995;Bouman, 2001;Cabangon et al., 2002;Sharma et al., 2002), and by growing rice on raised beds (Borrel et al., 1997). However, yields on raised beds may be reduced by 15% or more compared with traditionally-grown rice (Sharma et al., 2002;Vories et al., 2002;Gathala et al., 2011). Similarly, other water conservation techniques, such as crop-need-based water application, alternate wetting and drying (AWD), aerobic rice culture. Would both increase water use efficiency and irrigated crop area (Cabangon et al., 2002;Bouman et al., 2005;Bhushan et al., 2007;Gathala et al., 2011). For example, AWD irrigation of rice transplanted into puddled soil reduced water use by 25% with little impact on yield (7-year average of 7.8 t/ha compared with 8.1 t/ha) (Gathala et al., 2011). Some of the water conservation technologies have positive impacts on resource use and the environment, such as increased water infiltration leading to groundwater recharge, lower energy use due to less pumping of water, enhanced soil quality, reduced methane emissions, and shortterm carbon sequestration in soil due to retention of crop residues instead of burning (Jat et al., 2011).Farmers in the IGP are being encouraged to grow high-value crops, such as vegetables, fruits, and cut flowers, and to expand production of fodder crops and livestock/dairy farming for both local and export markets. In the central and eastern IGP, farmers following the R-W system leave land fallow for about 60-70 days in the pre-monsoon (pre-kharif) season, after the wheat harvest. Growing short-season pulses, such as mung bean (green gram), black gram; green manure crops, such as Sesbania, vegetables, or other high-value crops during this period would diversify the R-W cropping system, improve soil quality, and increase farmers' income (Gupta and Seth, 2007;Singh et al., 2007).Integrated crop-fish/poultry/duck/livestock systems also would diversify farm income, improve food and nutritional security, enhance land and water productivity, and preserve ecosystems (Ayyappan et al., 2009).Efficient N use is central to eco-efficiency in agriculture (Keating et al., 2010). The term nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) relates only to applied fertilizer N, although crops absorb N from other sources. Four agronomic indices are commonly used to measure NUE in crops and cropping systems: (a) partial factor productivity (PFP N ), expressed as the total grain yield per unit of N applied; (b) agronomic efficiency (AE N ), expressed as the increase in grain yield over that of the zero-N control per unit of N applied; (c) apparent recovery efficiency (RE N ), defined as the percentage of applied N absorbed by the crop in aboveground biomass; and (d) internal or physiological efficiency (PE N ), defined as the increase in grain yield over that of the zero-N control per unit of N acquired by the crop (Novoa and Loomis, 1981;Ladha et al., 2005).Two key factors that influence crop yields and RE N in cereal cropping systems are the spatial and temporal synchronization of applied N with crop demand and use of N-efficient crop cultivars (Tilman, 1998;Balasubramanian et al., 2004;Ladha et al., 2005;Balasubramanian, 2010). For example, application of N in transplanted rice in the IGP (551 farms) based on need indicated by a leaf-color chart (LCC) increased grain yield by 0.24 to 0.75 t/ha and net income by US$41 to US$49/ha (Regmi and Ladha, 2005;Varinderpal-Singh et al., 2007;Ladha et al., 2009). Takebe et al. (2006) demonstrated that applying the correct N dose at full heading stage increased the wheat protein content to more than 120 g/kg.Balanced fertilizer use is also critical. For example, Norse (2003) has shown that application of fertilizer with unbalanced N-P 2 O 5 -K 2 O ratios (e.g., 100-36-19 in China, 100-37-12 in India, and 100-35-45 in USA) may diminish plant utilization of applied N and thus reduce NUE. Deficiency of calcium, magnesium, sulfur, and micronutrients reduce plant response to N and hence reduce NUE (Aulakh and Bahl, 2001;Aulakh and Malhi, 2004;Mosier, 2002). Thus, deficiency of nutrients other than N must be corrected to get an optimal response to N (Ladha et al., 2005).Soil organic matter (SOM) is a key component of soil health and acts as a temporary storehouse of nutrients. It is reported that more than 50% of crop N is obtained from SOM in most soils except coarse textured sandy soils (Dourado-Neto et al., 2010). Crops use applied N more efficiently in organic-matter-rich soils than in organic-matterpoor soils.Maintenance of SOM is critical for increasing eco-efficiency in farming, especially in tropical soils. Fertilizer N added to soil plays both a constructive and a destructive role in the maintenance of SOM (Ladha et al., 2011). Application of fertilizer N increases production of biomass, part of which is added to soil to enrich SOM (Sisti et al., 2004). However, fertilizer N also increases mineralization of SOM. Oxidization of SOM is also promoted by conventional tillage, removal of vegetation cover, and exposure of the soil to the sun's radiation (Khan et al., 2007;Powlson et al., 2010).Overall, practices such as ZT, maintenance of permanent groundcover, and crop rotation help increase SOM levels and thus maintain soil health and crop productivity (Ladha et al., 2009;Jat et al., 2011).SOM levels can also be increased by applying organic materials, including crop residues, green manure, and animal manure, and biowaste, such as byproducts from food processing and city/ municipal biowastes (Yadvinder-Singh et al., 2005;Sidhu et al., 2008), as can crop productivity and fertilizer use efficiency (Ladha et al., 2011). However, organic materials such as crop residues and animal manures have competing uses (fodder, fuel, roofing material) and thus their availability for use as a soil amendment is limited (Erenstein, 2009). Also, conventional practices of organic amendment, such as incorporation and composting, are labor intensive. Therefore, in-field cycling of available crop residues is likely to be the most effective and least expensive option for the farmers (Yadvinder- Singh et al., 2011).The ideal approach for eco-efficient agriculture is integrated nutrient management (INM), or optimum use of all available nutrient sources-SOM, BNF, crop residues, manures, and mineral fertilizers. The integrated soil fertility management in Africa (Vanlauwe et al., 2004), site-specific nutrient management in Asia (Dobermann and White, 1999;Dobermann et al., 2004;Buresh, 2010), and integrated plant nutrient systems (Bruinsma, 2003) are some of the efforts to promote the efficient use of various nutrient sources. INM can save 5-30% of fertilizer N and increase grain yield by 10-15% (Vanlauwe et al., 2002;Balasubramanian et al., 2004;Dobermann and Cassman, 2004;Ladha et al., 2005;Bijay-Singh et al., 2008;Buresh, 2010). Stress-tolerant crop varieties, when combined with INM systems and ICM, increase grain yields and NUE even under stressful conditions (Havlin, 2004;Ortiz et al., 2008;Ribaut et al., 2009;Ali-Jauhar and Santlaguel, 2011).Globally, the demand for food and agricultural products is projected to double by 2050 (Keating et al., 2010). Given that only 7 to 12% of the projected increase in food production between 2010 and 2050 is likely to come from expansion of arable land area (Fischer et al., 2005), most of the increase will have to come from intensification of existing production systems -13-15% from increased cropping intensity and 75-76% from increased yields (Fischer et al., 2005(Fischer et al., , 2007)). This can be achieved sustainably only through ecoefficient agriculture. Here we present three examples of eco-efficient agricultural systems operating successfully in the IGP that could be replicated in other similar agroecological zones.Intensive irrigated cereal production systems of the northwest and central IGP combine CA practices with efficient water, nutrient, and pest management. Land management, crop establishment, and crop management practices employed include land leveling, ZT, direct/drill seeding, deep placement of fertilizer N, residue mulch, and diverse crop sequences/rotations. The systems achieve land productivity of 70-90% of site yield potential for major crops; water productivity of 0.8 to 1.0 kg grain/m 3 water for rice and 2.0-2.5 kg grain/m 3 water for maize and wheat; agronomic N use efficiency of 20-25 kg additional grain/kg N applied for rice and wheat and 25-30 kg additional grain/kg N applied for maize; crop N recovery efficiency of significantly more than 50%; reduce farm energy use by 40-50%; reduce methane and N 2 O emission by 40-50%; and increase soil organic matter to 2-3% in most soils except in sandy soils. The systems are thus highly productive and profitable, efficient in resource use and conservation, enhance ecological efficiency and climatic resilience, improve soil quality, preserve biodiversity, and have minimal environmental footprints (Gupta et al., 2003;Gupta and Seth, 2007;Harrington and Hobbs, 2009;Ladha et al., 2009). Such systems currently occupy some 4 million hectares of land in the IGP.Integrated farming systems (IFSs) are a natural resource management strategy advocated by the Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI), Cuttack, India. The objective is to achieve economic and sustainable production of diverse products to meet farm families' needs and to cater to local market demands, while preserving the resource base and maintaining environmental quality (Hesterman and Thorburn, 1994). Generic IFS models developed by CRRI integrate cropping with horticulture, fish, poultry, ducks, pigs, sericulture, mushroom culture, bee-keeping, farm woodlots, depending on agroclimatic and socio-economic conditions (Table 7-4). A micro watershed (15-18% of the farm area) is used to drain excess water from rice fields during floods in deepwater ecosystems, and to provide one or two supplementary irrigations for field crops during periods of drought. All crop residues and other farm wastes, including animal droppings, are recycled or composted and returned to the land. Initial cost of earth works for land shaping ranges between US$2900 and US$3300/ha.IFSs have been shown to stabilize crop production (especially in rainfed ecosystems); enhance resource recycling; ensure efficient use of all inputs; generate year-round employment; improve farm income, cash flow, and family nutrition; and maintain healthy ecosystem services in the face of biotic, abiotic, and environmental stresses and climate-changeinduced extreme weather events in the lowlands (Srivastava et al., 2004;Mangala, 2008). The benefit/cost ratio increased from 1.89 for rice alone to 2.27 for rice plus horticultural crops, 2.80 for rice plus horticultural crops and fish, and to more than 3.00 if ducks were added to the system (Srivastava et al., 2004). The IFS model for rainfed medium lowland has been adopted on 100 ha of land in Orissa State, India, and the model for deepwater areas on 40 ha. These IFSs could be expanded to the eastern IGP, but this would require financial assistance to help with the costs of initial land shaping, training of and technical support to farmers during the first year of adaptation and adoption, and development of market access for the multiple products produced in the IFS.Incorporating grain legumes in the R-W system has the potential to increase farm income, improve soil fertility, and thus enhance the sustainability of the farming system. For example, farmers in Bangladesh planting mung bean, during the short fallow period between winter wheat and monsoon rice, earned more than US$600/ha more than those who left the land fallow (A. Sarkar, pers. comm.). Improved shortduration, salt-tolerant crop varieties (e.g., BARI mung-6 in Bangladesh, hybrid pigeonpea in India) could intensify or diversify crop production in the IGP (Dahiya et al., 2002;Khan et al., 2009a).Intensive eco-efficient farming has an important role to play in addressing existing and emerging problems of intensive cereal production systems in the IGP.In the water-poor northwest IGP, changes envisaged include enhancing eco-efficiency in intensive cereal production systems and replacing rice with crops with lower water requirements. In the rainfall-and groundwater-rich eastern IGP, viable options include integration of irrigated boro rice, maize, and annual crops, such as sugarcane and banana, inclusion of grain or green manure legumes in the R-W cropping system, and intensification of rice-based cropping systems and crop-livestock systems. Generic IFS models have been developed that employ land leveling and micro watershed to grow rice, upland crops, fruit trees, timber trees, produce fish and poultry, and support bee-keeping and sericulture. However, although the system has been shown to stabilize crop production, enhance resource use efficiency and recycling, generate year-round employment, improve income, cash flow and family nutrition, and maintain healthy environment, farmer adoption is still limited.Improving the productivity of farm-scale eco-efficient agriculture to the level achieved on research plots will be a challenge as it requires transfer of complex and knowledge-intensive principles and practices to millions of smallholder farmers. This will require massive concerted efforts in six areas: Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important food legume in tropical Latin America and East and Southern Africa. Beans originated in the mid-altitude neotropics with moderate soil fertility conditions. Typically, they are not well adapted to extreme climatic and edaphic environments. Climate change will alter distribution and intensity of biotic constraints to bean production, and more intense droughts will adversely affect important production regions in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and Southern Africa. In the tropics, the crop is cultivated largely by poor farmers, often on soils that are deficient in nitrogen and phosphorus. Both climatic and edaphic constraints cause severe yield losses. They are widespread, often intense, and occur every year in the case of heat and soil problems. Developing the right root system to cope with root rots, drought, and soil problems in each production environment will be a major research challenge. Genetic improvement for resistance to major biotic and abiotic constraints will have significant and wide impact. Fertilizers that improve plant vigor, root growth, and access to soil moisture, or irrigation to counter drought, are seldom viable options for small-scale farmers. While programs to subsidize such inputs merit consideration, crop improvement through plant breeding will probably be the cornerstone of adapting beans to climate-smart production systems in the tropics. The secondary and tertiary gene pools of common bean cover a range of environments from cool moist highlands to hot semi-arid regions, and will be important resources for the genetic improvement of common bean as it must increasingly confront extremes of heat, drought, and excess moisture. Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is a traditional crop of the neotropics, where it was domesticated several thousand years ago (Freytag and Debouck, 2002;Chacón et al., 2005). In Central America it formed an essential part of the diet as one of the \"three sisters\"-maize, beans, and squash. Its central role in the livelihoods of the original inhabitants of the American continent is illustrated by its frequent representation in artwork. It continues to be an essential part of the diet in tropical America, as well as in East and Southern Africa, where it was introduced about 400 years ago (Greenway, 1945), and many other parts of the world.Many of the issues of adaptation of the modern cultivated bean can be traced to its wild ancestor. Knowledge of this wild ancestor and its native environments can elucidate patterns of adaptation of the cultivated bean and identify some of the challenges that breeders and agronomists face in confronting environmental stress.The wild bean is a vigorous annual liana of 6 to 10 months duration that depends on its vegetative vigor to outcompete surrounding vegetation. It originated in a subhumid premontane forest, typically at mid-altitudes of 1200 to 1800 meters above sea level (masl) and with moderate temperatures (Toro et al., 1990). Soils in this environment typically are organic with reasonable drainage and moderate fertility. Weather patterns are characterized by well-defined wet and dry seasons and abundant total rainfall, but often with a dry period of 2 to 4 weeks or longer in midseason between peaks of bimodal rainfall. Thus, with the possible exception of the dry highlands of Mexico where drought is endemic and occasionally intense, the wild ancestor was not often exposed to extreme environments of soil, temperature, or drought. This fact influences the adaptation range of the species and of cultivated beans, and represents a particular challenge to efforts to adapt the crop to more challenging environments, especially as these evolve under the influence of climate change.The cultivated bean was domesticated in its mid-altitude environment both in the southern Andes and in Mesoamerica, resulting in two contrasting gene pools that have been subdivided into races (Blair et al., 2009). The Mesoamerican gene pool has been subdivided into four genetic groups or races (Beebe et al., 2000), while three races have been defined in the Andean gene pool based on plant morphology and adaptation range (Singh et al., 1991). From these regions, beans were carried into environments with stresses that were different from what they likely confronted in their wild state. The cultivated bean has thus been adapted to wider environments, either by empirical selection by plant domesticators and farmers or through systematic selection by plant breeders (Beebe et al., 2011a).Primitive bean varieties in Mexico, Central America, and the Andes were vigorous climbers and were planted with maize for physical support in altitudes from 1200 to 3000 masl. Semidomesticated types might have been collected from the wild with little or no human intervention during the growth cycle (Beebe et al., 1997b). Subsequently, less aggressive plant habits were selected for cultivation as semi-climbing beans in a relay system with mature maize stalks as support, or between rows of maize, cassava or other crops, or as a sole crop.As beans were moved into still-lower altitudes, they confronted less favorable environments. In Central America and Brazil, they are frequently cultivated between 400 and 1000 masl with much higher temperatures than the wild ancestor experienced. In Brazil, currently the largest single bean producer in the world, bean is grown on the drought-prone sandy soils of the northeast and acid infertile soils of the Cerrados (Thung and Rao, 1999).The crop was probably introduced to Africa by Portuguese traders early in the 17th century, where it met with great success in the Great Lakes region. Highland Africa is now regarded as a secondary center of diversity for the common bean and the crop is an important contributor to food security in the region (Asfaw et al., 2009). In Africa bean has found its niche in a similar mid-altitude environment as it occupies in the Americas, occasionally interplanted with maize or other crops such as cassava, banana, and pigeon pea (Wortmann et al., 1998). Bush bean varieties are adaptable to various cropping systems due to their short growing cycle, while climbing varieties have been cultivated in the highlands of East Africa for many years at elevations of 2000 masl or higher. In the mid-1980s, CIAT introduced Mesoamerican climbing beans with adaptation to altitudes of 1500-1800 masl. Beans have now been pushed into the dry eastern hills of Kenya and northern Tanzania, into environments that represent frontiers of adaptation for the common bean and a challenge for breeders and agronomists to improve adaptability.In modern times in Latin America, it is more common to find beans planted as a sole crop than as an intercrop. Even in the traditional systems with maize in Central America, most farmers prefer to plant varieties with bush growth habits that require less labor to harvest than the traditional association or relay systems where the bean must be untangled from the maize stalk. In Argentina, Brazil, on the Pacific coast of Mexico, and in the USA, beans have become a commercial crop with high inputs and mechanization. Modern varieties have upright plant habit with an eye to direct mechanical harvest. In these commercial systems, bean cultivation responds to market demand and competes with other commercial crops, especially soybean and maize. In Africa, beans are gaining an important place on the export market and are considered an important source of household income.Table 8-1 lists the major production constraints to common bean production, including biotic (fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases; insect pests) and abiotic (drought, heat, nitrogen [N] and phosphorus [P] deficiency; acid soil) stress factors. This topic has been reviewed by Singh (1999), Rao (2001), Miklas et al. (2006), and Beaver and Osorno (2009).Diseases and pests are universal constraints to bean production, especially fungal pathogens (Schwartz and Pastor-Corrales, 1989;Wortmann et al., 1998). Diseases may cause 80-100% yield loss while pest damage, especially during the early seedling stage and pod formation, also causes severe yield losses. Anthracnose, rust, and angular leaf spot are widely distributed, while rhizoctonia web blight and ascochyta blight can be locally intense in warm-moist and cool-moist environments, respectively. In the past few decades, root rots have emerged as a greater problem (Abawi and Pastor-Corrales, 1990), especially those caused by Pythium spp. and Fusarium spp. Intense cultivation under increasing population pressure, without fallow periods or adequate crop rotations, results in declining soil fertility or soil compaction, or both, and in build-up of pathogen inoculum in the soil (Wortmann et al., 1998). Reduced soil quality inhibits root growth and the potential for plant recovery after infection. Fusarium spp. are a major constraint in Mexico (Navarrete-Maya et al., 2002) and Rwanda, and Pythium spp. in the moist highlands of Uganda (CIAT, 2007). Several species of Pythium have been isolated from infected beans in Uganda, some of which also infect sorghum. While rotation with cereals is a widely accepted practice to reduce inocula in the soil, this practice may not be as effective with pathogens that infect both beans and cereals.Common bacterial blight is the most important bacterial disease, while halo blight can occur occasionally in cool climates. Although yield losses of up to 40% have been recorded in managed trials, and common blight can be intense in production systems in Argentina and Brazil, in most small-scale farming systems, losses seldom reach this level. Rather, common blight is more of a threat in seed production, since the pathogen is seed borne and results in rejection of seed lots. Infection of pods will discolor grain, especially of white seeded types, and reduces commercial quality.Viruses can be especially devastating. In lowland Americas gemini viruses are almost universally present (Anderson and Morales, 2005). Bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) is a seedborne potyvirus and is distributed throughout the bean-growing world. Its close relative, bean common mosaic necrotic virus, is prevalent in parts of Africa and appears locally in the Americas.Insects are occasional problems. In Central America the bean pod weevil, Apion godmani and A. aurichalceum, is the most important pest (Schwartz and Pastor-Corrales, 1989), while in East Africa the bean stem maggot (Ophiomyia spp.) is a serious limitation (Wortmann et al., 1998), as are aphids and pod borers. In Mexico the bean beetle causes serious damage. Leafhoppers (spp.) cause serious damage in drier climates.Climate change will undoubtedly alter patterns of disease and insect incidence and intensity. Equatorial regions of the northern Andes and the East African highlands are expected to receive more rainfall on average as a result of climate change, although extreme rainfall events induced by the La Niña phenomenon will be the major problem (Yadav et al., 2011). Excess rainfall will exacerbate existing problems with many of the fungal pathogens, particularly soil-borne pathogens and foliar pathogens such as angular leaf spot and anthracnose (Beebe et al., 2011a). Excess rainfall and medium to high temperature will increase the incidence of web blight and angular leaf spot at elevations between 50 and 1400 masl. On the other hand, disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum and Macrophomina phaseoli can be more severe on drought-stressed crops, and could also become more limiting in Mexico and other countries. Most root-rot pathogens need some soil moisture to support infection. However, once disease has been established in a drought-stressed plant, the damage may be much greater than in plants in a non-drought situation. Macrophomina is a major problem under conditions of terminal drought (Frahm et al., 2004), whereas Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium spp. are major root pathogens in regions where intermittent drought occurs (Navarrete-Maya et al., 2002).Drought conditions will affect disease by making the environment more or less favorable for infection, disease development, and/or disease spread. Although droughts occur when there is a lack of rainfall, humidity may not be lacking and dew is likely to form if the air is humid and night temperatures fall below the dew point. Dew on leaves creates a favorable environment for some pathogens, and damage from some leaf diseases may be extreme in drought-stressed plants. Dew on leaves often provides enough moisture for the rust pathogen (Uromyces appendiculatus) to infect plants. High humidity provides a favorable environment for the infection and development of powdery mildew as well.Pests such as the bean stem maggot, whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci) that transmit bean golden mosaic virus, and aphids that transmit BCMV (Aphis fabae and Aphis craccivora) are very important in drought conditions. High incidence of BCMV is expected at elevations between 50 and 1400 masl and during drought periods and at high temperatures. Rising temperatures will likely broaden the geographic range of Bemisia spp. and will carry the viruses into higher elevations (Beebe et al., 2011a).Soil constraints per se are probably the biggest single cause of a persistent yield gap between potential and realized productivity, particularly in developing countries in the tropics (Wortmann et al., 1998;Thung and Rao, 1999). General symptoms of mineral deficiency or toxicity include poor emergence; slow growth; seedling and adult plant stunting; leaf yellowing, chlorosis, and bronzing; reduced overall growth and dry-matter production; delayed and prolonged flowering and maturity; excessive flower and pod abortion; low harvest index; reduced seed weight; deformed and discolored seeds and severe yield loss (Singh et al., 2003). Root growth may also be adversely affected (Fawole et al., 1982;Cumming et al., 1992).The wild ancestor of the common bean originated in soils that were typically high in organic matter and that were seldom critically deficient in nutrients. The wild bean is more sensitive to low soil P availability than its cultivated counterparts, suggesting that domestication and selection have actually improved adaptation to P-deficient soils (Beebe et al., 1997a). However, adapting bean to nutrient-poor soils continues to be a challenge. P and N are the elements most often limiting in tropical soils. Legumes are especially limited by poor P availability; K is limiting only occasionally. Often fertilizer is not applied to the bean crop, but rather to the companion cereal crop, either in association or rotation, and the bean crop benefits from residual fertility. Micronutrients are constraining in some soils, especially those with alkaline pH. In Iran, for example, iron and manganese can be critically limiting.Low soil fertility is particularly a constraint for bean production in Africa. In Central and Eastern Africa, the major soil fertility-related problems include low N and P availability, low availability of exchangeable bases, and soil acidity (Wortmann et al., 1998). In this area, P is deficient in 65-80% of the cultivated area and N in 60% of the area. Although beans are produced primarily in areas where median soil pH is between 5.0 and 6.0, over 23% of the production in Eastern Africa occurs in areas where soil pH is below or equal to 5.0.Beans can fix modest to good amounts of N if conditions permit (Hardarson et al., 1993), and climbing beans can actually contribute substantial amounts of N to the system. However, low P availability, high temperatures, or root diseases usually do not permit bean to maximize its N fixing potential. Rising temperatures will represent an even greater limitation on N fixation.Apart from nutrient availability, various soil physical constraints also limit yields. Soil degradation is severe in Central America and Haiti, and is advancing in Africa (Ayarza et al., 2007;Sanginga and Woolmer, 2009). Erosion and loss of soil organic matter (SOM) is associated with lower availability of plant nutrients, declining soil structure, and reduced waterholding capacity. The vast Mexican plateau boasts a million hectares of beans and is characterized by soils that are frequently thin and with low SOM. The bean root system does not penetrate compacted soil well and can be severely limited by soil physical structure.Drought affects up to 60% of bean production regions (Beebe et al., 2011b) and is endemic in Mexico, Central America, parts of the Caribbean, Ethiopia, northern Uganda, eastern Kenya, Tanzania, and Southern Africa. Some regions are expected to become progressively drier under climate change, especially Mexico, Central America, and parts of northeast Brazil and Southern Africa (Yadav et al., 2011). However, it will be the extreme climatic events that will be most limiting and the most threatening to food security, especially those associated with El Niño events.As a consequence of their mid-to high-altitude origin, beans are generally sensitive to high temperatures (Porch and Jahn, 2001). Night temperatures in excess of 20 °C can seriously reduce pollen fertility and pollination. However, current analyses suggest that nocturnal temperatures still seldom reach critical levels and that day temperatures may actually be more limiting (Yadav et al., 2011). Regions where bean is currently cultivated at the margins of its temperature adaptation range and that could soon suffer significant losses due to higher temperatures include lowland Central America and central Brazil Eco-efficiency interventions should be considered throughout the value chain, from farm to consumer. However our analysis suggests that the most successful interventions to favor ecoefficient agriculture will occur in the production arena. Host plant resistance (HPR) as a first line of defense against diseases and insects is a primary goal of plant breeders working at CGIAR centers.In the case of beans, HPR combines several eco-efficiency attributes, especially reduction of pesticide abuse. Breeding for disease resistance is well advanced in the case of dry beans. Nonetheless the use of interspecific crosses with P. coccineus and P. dumosus should be broadened, especially in breeding for resistance to soil-borne pathogens for which resistance is incomplete and that may become more severe under population pressure and more intense cultivation. In Latin America, pesticides are readily available to farmers and pesticide abuse is common, especially on high-value crops such as snap beans (Cardona et al., 2001). High demands for very specific quality traits have slowed progress toward genetic resistance to diseases of snap beans. More intense rainfall will necessitate renewed effort to develop cultivars that are resistant to diseases, especially anthracnose, angular leaf spot, and Ascochyta blight.DNA markers have enormous potential to improve the efficiency and precision of conventional plant breeding via marker-assisted selection (Collard and Mackill, 2008). They are increasingly being used in breeding for resistance to a number of important diseases of the common bean. Several markers have been identified that are linked to genes conferring resistance to angular leaf spot, anthracnose, common bacterial blight, BCMV and its necrotic strain, bean common mosaic necrosis virus, pythium, and Fusarium root rots (Miklas et al., 2006). SCAR (sequence characterized amplified regions) markers have been developed for some of these genes, principally for resistance to anthracnose, BCMV, common bacterial blight, angular leaf spot, and Pythium root rot (Miklas et al., 2006).Extensive work has been done on charcoal rot and one major source of resistance, BAT477, has been studied (Mayek-Pérez et al., 2001;Hernández-Delgado et al., 2009). Quantitative resistance conditioned by four quantitative trait loci (QTLs) with relatively minor effects (13-19%) was reported in the Dorado/XAN 176 mapping population (Miklas et al., 1998). Two of the QTLs with larger effects that expressed across environments were located within resistance-gene clusters on linkage groups B4 and B7 (Miklas et al., 2000).Fertilizer use efficiency per se has not received much attention in breeding programs, although attention has been directed toward adaptation to infertile soils. Such adaptation could be based on either efficiency of nutrient uptake (acquisition efficiency) or on efficiency of use per unit of  et al., 2004), exudation of organic acids to solubilize soil nutrients (Ramaekers et al., 2010), or greater root length density in superficial soil strata where nutrients are concentrated (Liao et al., 2004;Beebe et al., 2006;St. Clair and Lynch, 2010). Substantial mechanistic work has been carried out in common bean in this regard, although trait-based selection has seldom been implemented in breeding programs.Alternatively, adaptation to infertile soils can be manifested as efficiency in production of grain per unit of nutrient taken up from the soil (nutrient use efficiency). Genotypic variability in this trait has been observed in common bean when grown in low-P soils or aluminum-toxic acid soils (Rao, 2001;Beebe et al., 2009;Table 8-2).Although studied to date in the context of low native fertility of soils, increases in either nutrient acquisition efficiency or nutrient use efficiency would contribute to the increasing efficiency with which added fertilizer inputs are used as well. This would be one of the most important contributions to increasing yield in common bean in an ecoefficient way. In cropping systems where beans benefit from residual fertility following application of fertilizer to a cereal crop, either strategy would make better use of existing inputs and prevent mining the soil in the long run. In tropical soils with high P-fixing capacity, it is important to recover applied P before it is irretrievably fixed by iron and aluminum oxides (Rao et al., 1999). This implies an efficient root system that aggressively accesses soil nutrients. Combined with conservation agriculture, this could have great practical impacts. Symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF) received ample attention in CIAT's research program in its early years, in genotype selection and especially in the search for efficient rhizobial strains (Graham, 1981;Kipe-Nolt et al., 1993). While Rhizobium etli typically gives better fixation in optimal conditions, R. tropici is more tolerant of heat and acid soil, and R. tropici strain CIAT 866 has been widely employed in inoculation studies (Hardarson et al., 1993;Graham and Vance, 2000). The quantity of N fixed is normally in direct proportion to the length of the crop cycle. Climbing beans have a longer growth cycle than bush beans, and are a good option for improving soil quality and contributing to the associated or subsequent maize crop yields (Pineda et al., 1994;Sanginga and Woolmer, 2009). In contrast, bush beans often present a negative N balance, removing more N from the system than they contribute. However, in optimal conditions of moderate temperature, adequate P supply in the soil, and modest starter N, even bush beans can fix up to 50 kg N/ha (Hardarson et al., 1993). However, such optimal conditions seldom exist, and bush beans therefore seldom contribute significant N to the system. Nitrogen fixation is one of the most sensitive plant processes to environmental stress and is reduced dramatically by P deficiency (Vadez et al., 1999) or drought (Serraj and Sinclair, 1998).That said, significant progress has been made in recent years in improving tolerance to several of the physiological stresses that limit fixation, including drought (Beebe et al., 2008); aluminum (Beebe et al., 2009;Table 8-2); low P (Singh et al., 2003;CIAT, unpublished data), and combined stress factors of drought and low P (Table 8-2). It is therefore timely to revisit the issue of N-fixation capacity of common bean, to determine if alleviating other stresses through genetic improvement has had a beneficial effect on N fixation in suboptimal conditions. This could also be an opportunity for studies on gene expression. The very high sensitivity of SNF to environmental factors suggests that the plant is actively shutting down its N fixation in the face of other limiting factors. Understanding this plant reaction could lead to selection criteria to recognize genes that are less prone to react negatively to external factors and to maintain fixation activity.Agronomic management is clearly necessary to improve bean yields, and conservation agriculture offers important opportunities for increasing production of common beans. Beans respond well to improvement in soil structure with enhanced SOM. The root system of beans is less aggressive than that of cowpea, for instance, and heavy soils or soil compaction can be serious impediments of its root system. Conservation agriculture improves soil structure, water penetration, root development, and plant nutrition and therefore deserves more attention in a systems context, such as in the maize-bean system in Central America (Castro et al., 2009) or the mixed maize system in East Africa where bean is a common component (Hyman et al., 2008). For example, crop water productivity (kilograms of grain produced per cubic meter of water used) of common bean was higher in a slash-and-mulch agroforestry system than in the traditional slashand-burn agricultural system (Castro et al., 2009).The most energy-demanding process in the whole market chain is probably cooking. Even in the USA, where agriculture is almost entirely mechanized and production consumes large amounts of energy, 48% of energy in the food chain is spent in industrial processing and home cooking, compared with 21% used in production and 13% in transportation (CSS/UoM, 2011). Cooking common bean has a particularly high energy requirement because of its relatively long cooking time. Short cooking time regularly emerges as a consumer-preferred trait in studies in the developing world. There is ample variability in cooking time among bean lines, and exploiting this variability systematically would be both a contribution to energy efficiency and a welcome improvement among bean consumers.In recent years, there has been a move toward consumption of locally produced foods. While this movement is based on multiple motivations, an important one is to reduce the carbon footprint along the food chain. For common bean, this could imply increasing production close to important urban centers that absorb large quantities of beans moved over long distances, including Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Kinshasa, Nairobi, and Johannesburg. The southern region of Mexico, although a traditional bean-producing area, is not self-sufficient in beans and imports beans from other parts of Mexico and from abroad. Local production would seem to be an attractive option, but further studies are needed to determine the competitiveness of different production regions and the yield levels needed on a local level to compete with beans carried over long distances.We have referred to the likely effects of climate change, including changes to the distribution and intensity of biotic constraints; exacerbating effects of drought; and reducing yields due to higher temperatures in low-lying areas of Central America, Brazil, and Africa.While soil conditions are similar year after year and temperatures vary within certain limits for a given site and time of year, drought, pests, and diseases are sporadic problems that make predictions of expected yields difficult. Investments that could raise yields, e.g., fertilizer, labor, or capital improvements, are unattractive in the face of such sporadic risks. Thus, while reducing risk may not affect average yields dramatically, it is a primary step toward other improvements in a system. Resilience of a system is reflected in its ability to adapt to and recover from adverse conditions. Soil quality is an important determinant of the resilience of a farming system. Soil quality, and especially enhanced SOM, permits better root development, increasing accessibility of moisture, soil water-holding capacity, and availability of nutrients. Greater access to moisture will in turn permit the crop to transpire more, which cools the canopy and allows the key processes of leaf expansion and grain development to continue in the face of high air temperatures. While these effects would benefit all crops, beans would benefit in particular given their sensitivity to shortages of water and nutrients. Such systembased interventions are typically adopted more slowly than simpler interventions such as improved seeds or fertilizer, given their complexity and the fact that they often require capital investment. System interventions that benefit multiple crops will likely have a better chance of adoption by farmers than those that benefit only a single crop.While common beans are relatively more sensitive to abiotic stress than other legumes such as cowpea, considerable progress has been made in breeding for tolerance to various abiotic stresses. For example, drought tolerance has been improved through intraspecific crosses, employing the naturally occurring variability within P. vulgaris (Beebe et al., 2008). However, interspecific crosses with sister species of the genus Phaseolus offer prospects of further progress. The genus Phaseolus originates in a remarkably wide range of ecologies, from tropical rainforest to arid desert (Freytag and Debouck, 2002), and species that are cross compatible with common bean cover most of this range. The secondary gene pool, including cultigens P. coccineus (runner bean) and P. dumosus (year-long bean) and wild species P. costaricensis and P. albescens, is readily crossed with common bean. The secondary gene pool is adapted to cool, moist environments and is a source of traits for environments that will likely receive excess moisture. At the other extreme, P. acutifolius (tepary bean) and its wild relative P. parvifolius evolved in semi-arid or arid environments and are a source of traits for hot, dry climates.Drought tolerance has been the object of bean genetic improvement for at least 3 decades in CIAT and other institutions. Early work suggested that deep rooting was a critical tolerance mechanism (Sponchiado et al., 1989). Singh (1995) found superior drought tolerance in crosses that combined the genetic diversity found in the Mesoamerica and Durango bean races. This formula has continued to produce materials that perform well under drought stress.Enhanced remobilization of photosynthate to grain under drought stress is another important mechanism of drought tolerance (Beebe et al., 2011b). The wild bean appears to suppress reproductive development in the face of stress (Beebe et al., 2011b). In the wild, this strategy is effective under a bimodal rainfall pattern, where late rains permit resumption of reproductive development. However, in a short-season cultivar, this strategy results in poor yields. Improved yield under stress is associated with maintaining reproductive development and photosynthate transport to seed. This trait also appears to be beneficial under favorable conditions and to a certain extent in conditions of low soil-P availability (Beebe et al., 2008).Continued progress in breeding for drought tolerance will likely require accessing genetic variability in sister species of common bean. For example, tepary bean is reported to possess multiple drought-resistance traits, including dehydration avoidance (Mohammed et al., 2002). It has fine roots with high specific root length (Butare et al., 2011) and it expresses rapid root penetration to access moisture at deeper soil levels. Although crosses with common bean normally require embryo culture to obtain viable plants, intensive intercrossing has led to enhanced genetic exchange (Mejía-Jiménez et al., 1994), and a stock of introgression lines exists in CIAT (Muñoz et al., 2004) that can be mined for useful traits.Although runner bean would seemingly not be a promising source of traits for drought tolerance, given its origins in moist environments, in fact it displays a unique root system with traits that could be valuable in some circumstances. For example, it is highly tolerant of toxic levels of soil aluminum and has a coarse root system that might be able to penetrate compacted soil more readily than that of common bean (Butare et al., 2011).Our experience suggests that poor soil fertility is a serious constraint on the expression of drought tolerance. A crop that is poorly nourished will have a limited root system and will not have the vigor to resist additional stress from drought. Addressing soil fertility is a critical component of any strategy to combat drought.Climate change will result in some bean-growing regions receiving more precipitation than at present. Waterlogging and associated root rots may increase in East-Central Africa and the northern Andes. Restricting the amount of oxygen roots receive inhibits both symbiotic N 2 fixation and N uptake, reducing root growth and nodulation. Tolerant genotypes may have various adaptive responses (Colmer and Voesenek, 2009). More adventitious roots and/or larger aerenchyma in roots, nodules, and the base of the stem may enhance tolerance of waterlogging. Rapid, reliable screening methods are needed to evaluate waterlogging tolerance.Beans are grown over a wide range of latitudes with mean ambient temperatures ranging from 14 to 35 °C. Temperatures of more than 30 °C during the day or more than 20 °C at night result in yield reduction. High night temperatures at flowering (and to a lesser degree, high day temperatures) cause flower and pod abortion, reduced pollen viability, impaired pollen-tube formation in the styles, and reduced seed size. Acclimation to occasional high night temperatures may be a genotypic resistance mechanism. A pollen-based method developed to evaluate heat tolerance in soybeans might be used to screen common-bean genotypes for tolerance to nocturnal heat stress (Salem et al., 2007).To date there has been limited activity to identify tolerance to heat stress in common bean. Work has been carried out in controlled conditions at Cornell University (Rainey and Griffiths, 2003) but this has not been extended systematically to dry beans in the tropics. There is active interest in improving heat tolerance in Central America (Porch et al., 2007). Evaluation under high temperatures of advanced breeding lines developed for bean golden yellow mosaic virus resistance has been carried out in Central America, and the variety CENTA Pipil developed by the Pan-American Agricultural School of Zamorano, Honduras, has proven to be relatively tolerant in El Salvador. While incremental quantitative progress may be made with further efforts, tepary bean may be a promising source of heat tolerance in the long run. Some interspecific lines of tepary and common bean have been evaluated in Central America and in Puerto Rico, and while some appear to be promising, it remains to be seen if they represent an advantage over available genetic diversity within common bean germplasm. Nonetheless, mining the diversity of tepary bean would seem to be high priority for the future.Bean diseases will be exacerbated in some regions as a result of climate change. Efforts to breed for resistance may need to resort to sister species for broader genetic variability. Runner bean has long been employed as a source of resistance for such difficult diseases as white mold caused by Sclerotinia spp. (Abawi et al., 1978) and Fusarium root rot caused by Fusarium solani (Wallace and Wilkinson, 1965). More recently progeny of crosses between runner bean and common bean have proven to be resistant to both Fusarium spp. and Pythium spp. (CIAT, unpublished data). While using runner bean or year-long bean as a source of resistance is not novel, the utility of interspecific progenies has always been limited by their poor agronomic quality and low harvest index. A recent study suggests that the quality of crosses with the secondary gene pool can be improved by using common bean with enhanced remobilization of photosynthate to grain (Klaedtke et al., 2012). Such parents can \"tame\" the excessive vegetative growth of these sister species and result in superior progenies.While specific agronomic interventions can be made to address the impacts of climate change, broader-based solutions may involve transformation of the whole cropping system. For example, high daytime temperatures might be addressed by adopting a cropping system that provides partial shade to the bean crop. Some such cropping systems already exist; for example, the bean-banana system of Uganda and northwest Tanzania (Wortmann et al., 1998). Beans could be intercropped with coffee to provide shade after pruning of the coffee and while the coffee plantation returns to production. Alley cropping, especially with profitable tree crops such as mangos or other fruits, offers some promise. Such a system could be better exploited if shading tolerance were enhanced in the bean crop.One option that has emerged in past years and that is likely to expand in response to higher temperatures is the use of alternative planting dates. In Central America bean production has expanded dramatically on the Atlantic coast of the isthmus, in the cool, dry, winter season when the crop survives on residual moisture. In Brazil, the cool dry season has seen the expansion of highinput production under center-pivot irrigation. Given that such changes have been largely the result of pressure on land resources or to produce when beans are normally scarce and prices are high, the attraction of producing in a season with more-favorable temperatures will only enhance this tendency.A modeling exercise was carried out to estimate the distribution and relative importance of climatic constraints to bean yields, and the potential value of genetic improvement (Beebe et al., 2011a;Figures 8-1 and 8-2). Breeding drought tolerance into bean could improve suitability of some 3.9 million hectares of land where bean is currently grown (the equivalent of 31% more land classified as highly suitable) and would allow the crop to be grown on another 6.7 million hectares currently not suitable. Heat tolerance could increase the suitability of 7.2 million hectares of land where bean is currently grown. Drought tolerance would also improve productivity on some of this land and could increase the area designated as highly suitable by some 54%. Thus, both drought tolerance and heat tolerance are important objectives for genetic improvement. Although heat tolerance may offer wider impact, drought causes great year-to-year yield variability and must also be given priority.In rainfed agriculture, water use efficiency will be a useful parameter to identify eco-efficient bean genotypes (Table 8- 3). In trials at the CIAT-Palmira (Colombia) testing site, several breeding lines were identified to be superior to the checks.Phosphorus use efficiency will be a useful parameter to identify bean genotypes for use on P-deficient soils or those suffering from aluminum toxicity (Table 8-2). Some breeding lines performed better than the check lines under combined stress conditions of drought and low P and under aluminum toxicity (Table 8-2).On small-scale farms with minimal use of fossil fuel, energy input is in the form of work done by humans and animals-calculation of which would be irrelevant for the world's energy balance but highly meaningful to the farmer. Similarly, reduced cooking time would make a miniscule contribution to reducing CO 2 emissions but would be highly significant for the people who must search for firewood, usually women and children. Reducing the amount of energy expended in transport by promoting local production could be measured by cost differentials between local and imported products. Such a differential would in fact reflect multiple factors but transport cost per ton can readily be obtained. Translating this cost into carbon emissions would require an added level of assumptions.Impact from seed-based solutions would follow from the models of seed dissemination that have been used for standard agronomically improved materials. Recent years have seen a diversity of models emerging, from formal revolving seed models, to decentralized seed production, to small packets of seed and fertilizer and seed loans. Nonetheless, no novel system will alter the fact that long-term adoption will depend on the farmer appreciating added value in the new materials. In the case of germplasm that is resistant to the effects of climate change, farmers will likely be able to see the value of drought tolerance or disease resistance within 2 or 3 years where these stresses are endemic. Tolerance to high temperatures may be more difficult to appreciate, as its effects will be felt more gradually.Agronomic solutions are typically more difficult to deploy. Participatory research should be practiced from the outset, given the complexity of incorporating what are often system-level interventions.Soil-management practices cut across the entire farming system and go far beyond individual crops (Sanginga and Woolmer, 2009). The contribution of a particular crop could be in generating synergistic benefits that make the system more attractive for adoption. For example, climbing beans are far more productive than bush beans, and anecdotal reports suggest that agroforestry was more readily adopted where it served as a source of staking material for climbing beans. Similarly, planting beans among trees during the establishment phase of plantations was reported to have made planting of trees more attractive to farmers by creating a source of income in the short term, and to have aided tree establishment by encouraging weed control. These cases have not been documented, but such potential interactions should be sought.Experience in breeding for drought tolerance suggests that stress tolerance does not necessarily imply a yield penalty (Beebe et al., 2008(Beebe et al., , 2009)). However, the greater the degree of stress that we encounter, the greater will be the demands on obtaining adequate levels of tolerance. Once again, dealing with average conditions will not be nearly so challenging as dealing with extreme events of drought, excess rainfall, and high temperature. Breeders would benefit from more-precise estimations of the frequency and intensity of these extreme events.The genus Phaseolus spans a wide range of stressful environments, offering the prospect of finding the necessary genes for stress tolerance. Tolerance to heat and drought can be found in the tertiary gene pool, for example, and tolerance to excess rainfall can be found in the secondary gene pool. Interspecific crosses, by their very nature, require long-term effort, with the need to overcome negative genetic linkages and/or poor chromosome pairing and slow introgression. These are obstacles that are best overcome with time and patience rather than a frenetic investment of research funds on a 3-year project time scale. Thus, such crossing should receive more systematic attention as of now, albeit at a modest level.If at some time gene expression can be manipulated, then studies of other Phaseolus species might reveal which genes will confer tolerance, and these can become targets for enhanced expression or for gene cloning and eventual transgenesis. Efficient transformation remains a challenge in common bean, and the development of an efficient and effective system is yet another area of research.Little is yet understood about what might be the effects of higher CO 2 concentrations in the atmosphere. Crop experiments conducted in different parts of the world suggested that a doubling of CO 2 from current levels will lead to approximately a one-third increase in grain yield of C 3 crops such as common bean. However, more recent field studies on CO 2 enrichment indicated that this may be an overestimate (Long et al., 2006;Ainsworth and Ort, 2010) and a more realistic estimate is about half of that, i.e., a one-sixth increase. One study on common bean suggests that different genotypes will react differently to higher CO 2 , with seed yield at high CO 2 levels ranging from 0.89 to 1.39 times that at ambient CO 2 (Bunce, 2008). There may be opportunities to exploit this dimension of climate change to the benefit of the crop and possibly the system. However, research is lacking in the tropics to determine the impact of higher CO 2 in cropping systems that are limited by other factors. For example, does CO 2 have a positive effect when the crop is simultaneously limited by low soil P availability and/or drought and high temperature? In this respect and others, agricultural research in the tropics must be more integrative (Thung and Rao, 1999;Keating et al., 2010;Chen et al., 2011) and less reductionist so that farmers as end users can benefit from research to improve their livelihoods.productive with low inputs, or even with crop and soil mismanagement. It is for this reason that cassava is sometimes cultivated on sloped lands without due protection against erosion, or on soils with declining fertility status and organic matter. The solutions lie in a combination of new ecoefficient technologies, education, policy, and improved market conditions so that farmers have fact-based advice and can afford to apply the appropriate inputs. Breeders, agronomists, and plant protection specialists should focus on technologies that support farmer income and food security through efficient use of inputs, natural resource management, and optimizing the genetic variability in genebanks to develop eco-efficient varieties.In early 2012, a press release picked up by several major media outlets announced that cassava is the \"Rambo of the crop world\" for its ability to stand up against the projected heat and drought stresses that will affect large areas of the tropics in the coming decades. The story was based on a special issue on cassava in the journal Tropical Plant Biology [vol. 5 (1)]. This is hardly news to anyone who grows cassava or has been involved in its research for any period of time, but it was an important wake-up call for policy makers, research and development (R&D) agencies and donorslooking for opportunities to make agriculture more \"climate change ready.\" Most people in the developed world have never heard of cassava, in spite of its status as the fourth crop in importance in the tropics, just behind rice, maize, and wheat.In sub-Saharan Africa, it is second behind maize as a food security crop.The impending effects of climate change on crops are steadily gaining urgency for scientists and policy-makers. But climate change is only one of many forces that play out in the daily challenges that cassava farmers face. Ecoefficient cassava-based systems can contribute to multiple development goals aimed at some of the world's most vulnerable people living in hotspot environments.The people who rely on cassava to provide a significant part of their income or nutritional needs are typically among the world's poorest (Table 9-1). They are often farmers who earn their living cultivating degraded and marginal lands, or urban poor who subsist on the lowest-cost sources of calories. At the same time, rapidly expanding new markets for cassava products -especially in Asia, but increasingly in Africa and the Americas -are providing unprecedented opportunities for farmers to improve their income and well-being, and to better supply the needs of multiple markets. These changes are creating both opportunities and challenges across an array of system components. This chapter explores the key roles that research on eco-efficient production, processing, and marketing can play in improving farmers' and consumers' livesthrough income generation, improved food security, better nutrition, and a healthier environment.By far the most important product of the cassava plant is the starchy roots. They may be peeled, boiled, and eaten directly, or may be processed into a wide array of products for food, feed, and industry. The roots are typically about 85% starch, on a dry-matter basis (Sánchez et al., 2009). Their principal nutritional value is calories. Leaves are consumed in some countries, especially in Africa, and they are very nutrient dense, especially in protein.A range of evolutionary, agronomic, and commercial factors define where cassava is grown, how it is grown, how it is used, and the challenges growers face. The crop originated in the Americas, and was widely distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics of the western hemisphere before the arrival of Europeans in the 15 th century (Allem, 1990;2002;Allem et al., 2001;Olsen and Schaal, 2001;Nassar and Ortiz, 2008). Traders carried it to Africa relatively quickly after Columbus. While the introduction to Asia is not well documented, it appears that Spanish traders introduced the species from Mexico to the Philippines in the 19 th century, and independently from Africa to India.While about 100 countries grow cassava (FAOSTAT, 2012), production is skewed toward a relatively few major ones (Figure 9-1). Four countries harvest almost half of global output of fresh roots: Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Thailand; and three-quarters of production come from just ten countries. Over half the production area is in Africa, but only one of the top four producers is located there. The remainder of production consists of about 30% from Asia and 16% from the Americas.The species is uniquely tropical. Its long growing cycle of about eight months to a few years (average is about a year) and high susceptibility to frost limit its production to warm climates. In the subtropics, especially in southern Brazil, farmers often cut back the stems at the onset of winter, and the crop continues growth again in the spring, allowing harvest at about 18 months.Cassava roots can be \"stored\" in the ground for many months as part of an intact growing plant; there is no well-defined maturity period, although root quality may vary over time due to plant age and environmental factors. However, after harvest, roots begin to deteriorate quickly, often from a day to a few days (Beeching et al., 1993;Reilly et al., 2007). Over millennia, this rapid post-harvest deterioration stimulated the invention of many types of treatments and processing techniques to convert the roots into less perishable products. The main primary processes involve one or more of the following: Grating or grinding and drying to produce flour; slicing or chipping and drying; and starch extraction. Variations include fermentation before or after grinding; forms of compressing to remove water; sun or artificial drying; and toasting or baking. Secondary processes include the production of a wide array of pellet-, flour-, and starch-based products for food, feed, and industry (Cock, 1985). The primary processes not only convert a perishable product into one that can be easily stored, but also they greatly reduce the poisonous component contained at lower or higher levels in all cassava varieties -cyanogenic glucosides that enzymatically break down to release HCN when cell structure is compromised (Du et al., 1995;McMahon et al., 1995;Wheatley and Chuzel, 1993;Andersen et al., 2000;Mkumbira et al., 2003). Roots that are boiled and eaten without additional processing need to be from types with low cyanogenic potential.While every cassava-producing continent encompasses a wide array of production systems and uses for this crop, some broad generalizations apply. These system characteristics impact the design of eco-efficient research strategies. In Africa, cassava is mostly grown on small farms (often less than one hectare) and intended for human food. Areas where fresh consumption is common include Ghana and Uganda. The leaves are an important source of protein, vitamins, and several minor nutrients, most notably in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo). Production in Asia is also mainly by smallholders, with a few exceptions such as some large plantations for starch production in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), and others. Uses are highly diversified within and across countries. India, Indonesia, and the Philippines produce mainly food products. China, Thailand, and Vietnam produce mainly animal feed and industrial starch; and China is also moving aggressively into biofuels from cassava. In the Americas, Brazil is by far the largest producer. Production systems range from the large plantations (up to a few thousand hectares) in the south to the small landholdings for local markets in most of the rest of the country. In most other countries of the Americas, production is on small farms. In all continents, the vibrant market situation of recent years is attracting new, large investors. Often there is inadequate planning for the management implications of scaling up quickly in large plantations, and many of them have experienced early difficulties in production (Table 9There are several reasons why cassava tends to be a crop of the poor, and these have strong implications for the kinds of eco-efficient research interventions that can lead to positive changes, from both socio-economic and environmental perspectives.• The crop is better adapted than many others to the harsh agro-environments where the rural poor tend to be concentrated, e.g., where rainfall is uncertain and drought stress is common; on soils with multiple production constraints, such as high acidity/high Al content and low native fertility; and on sloped lands where soils are prone to erosion and mechanization is difficult. • It is a crop that will in many cases produce reasonable yields with few or no purchased inputs, such as fertilizers, pesticides, or irrigation. Its vegetative multiplication means that farmers do not need to purchase seeds. The planting material is usually produced on-farm or shared among farmers. There are few commercial initiatives to produce planting material. • Production practices are difficult to mechanize, although there has been considerable recent progress. Therefore, its cultivation can be a comparative advantage for farmers whose principal input resource is family labor. • In many environments, cassava can produce nearly year-round (no specific maturity period, plus ability to store roots in the ground as part of the growing plant). Thus it has appeal to the poor, who may lack resources to pay for and manage storage facilities, such as might be required for a grain crop. It can be harvested when farmers need it. In Africa, even where cereals are the main crop, cassava plays a key role as a back-up crop when cereal production fails.Although cassava is mostly cultivated under low-input and suboptimal soil and environmental conditions, in fact the crop has a very high production potential when provided optimum conditions. Both hypothetical models and field data show that cassava has a yield potential on the order of 80-90 t/ha per year (El-Sharkawy, 2012;El-Sharkawy et al., 1990). With a global average yield of about 12 t/ha, it is easy to see that there is a large yield gap that needs to be addressed to bring cassava's potential benefits to producers and consumers.It is common to find references in the early literature to cassava's \"rustic nature,\" or its ability to produce a crop under difficult conditions. Historically many scientists considered it a crop with few pest or disease problems, and easy to grow with minimum inputs and little care. At the same time, it has developed a reputation as a crop that, more than most, causes environmental degradation, especially soil nutrient depletion and erosion. While there are elements of truth that underlie all of these assertions, none accurately reflects reality on a broad scale. Growers face a range of biotic and abiotic constraints, which vary by region, cropping system, and season. Research organizations need to pay considerable attention to developing eco-efficient approaches to managing production constraints.More than 200 arthropod pests and pathogens affect cassava (Bellotti, 2002;Bellotti et al., 1999). Most do not reach economic threshold levels of damage; however, they are living organisms with the capacity to move across regions and national boundaries, and to evolve and adapt to new conditions and new hosts. Climate change especially opens new possibilities for distribution and adaptation in new areas where these organisms may not have existed, or they may increase due to more-favorable conditions for their etiology (Ceballos et al., 2011;Herrera-Campo et al., 2011).One of the main features of the cassava crop that distinguishes it from the majority of annual crops is its long growing season. Pests and pathogens may complete many generations during the growing cycle. Furthermore, if host material is available in the field throughout the year, these pests and pathogens have no natural break in their cycle to limit their epidemiology. In this sense, cassava is an annual crop that has many of the features of a perennial crop, from the perspective of pest and pathogen dynamics.The historical belief that cassava was not vulnerable to pests and diseases came from a period when most of the crop was cultivated on small and isolated plantations, often in intercropping systems, and before there was extensive international travel that readily carried pests and pathogens among regions.Yield losses from pests and diseases are now understood to be common and widespread (Bellotti, 2002;Bellotti et al., 1999;Calvert and Thresh, 2002;Hillocks and Wydra, 2002). Nonetheless, the estimates of yield losses are generally on an experimental or localized level, and it is difficult to quantify losses on a broad scale. CIAT's Cassava Program attempted to develop realistic yield loss estimates for a broad range of constraints, including pests and diseases (Henry, 1995).In the Americas, where the crop evolved, the pests and pathogens co-evolved and attained their greatest genetic diversity. Additionally, the natural enemies of pests also co-evolved and became a fundamental part of the means for pest suppression. This combination of crop genetic diversity, pest/pathogen diversity, and natural enemy diversity has, for the most part, resulted in a reasonable suppression of the biological constraints in the Americas under traditional cultivation systems. The exploitation of these biological control agents can be one of the most eco-efficient approaches to pest control.In Africa, now with a history of some 500 years of cassava cultivation, there have been both the time and the means to introduce many cassava pests from the Americas. The cassava green mite (Mononychellus tanajoa), cassava mealybug (Phenacoccus manihoti), and cassava bacterial blight (Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis) are major constraints in Africa, originally introduced inadvertently from the Americas. Others have arisen indigenously either as newly evolved species or through some form of adaptation from other crops to cassava. Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) are both caused by viruses that appear to have arisen indigenously in Africa. To date they have not been reported in the Americas, but a variant of CMD is present in India and Sri Lanka.In Africa, green mites and mealybugs were quickly able to colonize cassava and spread across national borders. Without the genetic diversity of germplasm having some degree of host plant resistance, and without the presence of the natural enemies that helped suppress the same pests in the Americas, these pests spread virtually uninhibited throughout large areas of the African cassava belt in the 1970s and 1980s. CBSD is now raising similar concerns as it spreads widely within East Africa.In Asia, cassava was able to escape some of the most destructive pests until very recently. Growers in most areas did not have many concerns about pest and disease attacks, except in India (as mentioned above) where a variant of CMD from Africa has been a serious yield constraint since the first half of the 1900s. This is changing. In 2009, Thailand reported the presence of the cassava mealybug, and within a few years it was causing yield losses up to 80% in some fields. In 2010, on a national basis, yield losses were reported at 30%. Cassava is Thailand's second most economically important crop after rice, and the impact on the country was a wake-up call, both internally and for neighboring countries, facing the possibility of movement throughout the region.There are several broad lessons from our experience with biotic constraints in cassava, which inform eco-efficient approaches to their management. We will expand on these strategies in subsequent sections.• Cassava is host to a wide range of mites, insects, bacteria, fungi, phytoplasms, and viruses. While a limited number are currently highly destructive, and usually on a limited regional basis, many others can evolve into economic pests if conditions are right. There is no room for complacency in any cassava growing area. • Pests and pathogens can move globally in spite of existing quarantine regulations and the precautions of the scientific community. Most of the destructive pests and pathogens in Africa and Asia were introduced from the Americas via unauthorized movement of planting material. • Pests and pathogens can move from other crops and evolve into major problems to cassava. They may also evolve to overcome existing resistance mechanisms. Fortunately, there have been few instances of the latter, probably in part as a result of breeding for multi-genic, multi-mechanism resistance. • Experiences with intensified production give clear warning that changes in management can set the stage for pest and disease problems to change -often to become more severe unless integrated pest management strategies are incorporated in the production package. • There is emerging evidence that climate change will broadly affect pest and pathogen dynamics (Ceballos et al., 2011;Herrera-Campo et al., 2011;Jarvis et al., 2012). Rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns will affect insect/pathogen distribution and development.In many areas, cassava tends to be a second choice for farmers. If growers have better land, or have access to inputs that will improve growing conditions, they will often plant higher-value crops. It is part of the phenomenon that makes cassava a crop of the poor and one that faces a host of abiotic constraints. However, this is changing in some areas of strong market growth for cassava products, especially in Southeast Asia, where cassava prices have risen sharply in the past few years.Soil conditions. Cassava production predominates on acid and less-fertile soils (Howeler, 2011a). It has the well-known ability to tolerate high soil Al concentrations and soil acidity without lime amendments. In fact, where there is economic response to lime, it is often as a result of response to Ca rather than response to soil pH (Howeler, 2011a). This adaptation to soil acidity favors cassava production across large areas of the cassava belt of Africa, in the southern cone of South America, the savannas of Colombia and Venezuela, in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean, and in southern China.Cassava is especially adapted to soils with low P availability. The association with root mycorrhizae allows the plant to very effectively extract P from soils with very low levels. In fact, without the mycorrhizal associations, cassava grows poorly even where P levels are moderately high (Howeler, 2002).Cassava production is also common in sandy soils with low water-holding capacity. In these soils, many crops suffer quickly from short dry periods. Crop failure can result from longer dry periods. Risks in these soils are often not so much related to total annual rainfall as to the likelihood of dry periods during critical phases of crop ontology such as flowering time in cereal or grain-legume crops. Cassava has no critical growth phase after establishment. Also, these soils tend to be leached and have low nutrient status because of the low organic-matter status.Rainfall. Rainfall and soil conditions are highly interrelated in their effects on crop growth and development, as noted above. Cassava is adapted in the tropics and subtropics from some of the driest (e.g., 400 mm annual rainfall) in the Sertao of Northeast Brazil, to some of the wettest agricultural environments (e.g., 4000 mm annual rainfall) in the Pacific coast region of Colombia. Cassava uses several complementary mechanisms to tolerate long dry periods, including deep rooting to access subsoil moisture reserves; stomata that respond quickly to low ambient humidity, thereby reducing transpiration when water is limiting; and the ability to draw on carbohydrate and water reserves in the starchy roots (El-Sharkawy, 2012). Some of these mechanisms come at the expense of optimum yields, but they do allow the plant to survive and produce something where other crops may fail completely.Cassava is intolerant of flooding. Relatively short periods of submersion, of only a few days or less, can destroy a plantation. In heavy soils and in poorly drained soils, cassava often suffers from root rots and generally performs poorly.Certainly not all cassava growers are linked to markets; some are subsistence farmers, who grow only for family use. For these farmers, food security is often the first concern. However, increasingly, cassava farmers grow at least part of their crop for sale. Entry into the marketplace generates income to improve the family's ability to obtain a diversified and healthy diet, as well as broadly improve livelihoods. Access to markets is a critical part of food security for cassava growers. There is now a widespread interest, even for those countries where cassava's role is mainly for food security, to gradually transform it into a cash crop.Value addition of cassava, to bring benefits to growers, is currently a key objective in many countries in Africa, most notably in Nigeria. This transformation should result in poverty alleviation, rural development, and strengthened links between producers and their markets (Nweke et al., 2002).Nonetheless, in much of the cassava-growing world, and especially in Africa, most production is traded locally and is less influenced by global markets. Farmers who are connected to markets may face both the advantages and the disadvantages of a crop whose market prices are not closely linked to global grain markets.Lack of synchronization between production and market demand, especially in emerging markets, often creates wide fluctuations in farm-gate prices. But even in countries with a long-established market tradition in cassava products, such as Thailand, the rapid market diversification is driving changes in the way the crop is grown, processed, and marketed. Where there is greater market diversity, there is greater chance of stable demand and more-stable prices. The mature markets of Asia include animal feed, starch for food and industry, biofuels and processed products for human food. While any one of these markets may experience considerable fluctuation in demand and prices, together they stabilize the prices that farmers receive. Stable markets encourage farmers to adopt new technologies (varieties, use of fertilizers, and soil conservation measures), which result in enhanced productivity and ultimately in more competitive prices, which in turn consolidate the competitiveness of these markets.Typically large farms have advantages over small farms in marketing their products. This is especially a challenge for cassava, since small farms remain the norm around the world even as industrialization of the crop progresses. The move to more intensive, industry-oriented production has not necessarily meant a move toward large farms in the case of cassava. Southern Brazil and Northeast Thailand present two contrasting cases in this regard. Southern Brazil produces cassava mainly for the starch market, based on large farms, often over a thousand hectares. It is an environment where large farms have been the norm for many years, and cassava production and processing have been adapted to this land tenure system. In Thailand and Paraguay, on the other hand, cassava farms remain small, usually a few hectares or less. Large centralized processing plants need to coordinate and aggregate the production from many farmers. Also typical in cassava processing plants is their location near the production areas because of the bulkiness and perishability of the roots. This is an important way for their operations to contribute to rural development. Nonetheless, there are increasingly examples of interest by companies buying or contracting large land areas for industrial use of cassava, e.g., in Cambodia, Colombia, Guyana, Indonesia, and Nigeria. Organizations focused on development-oriented support to cassava research will need to closely monitor the impact of such trends and the implications for target beneficiaries.Increasingly, food security and improved livelihoods will be associated with the ability of farmers to sell their products in the marketplace. The association between capacity to improve income and expansive markets is clear worldwide. Farmers adjust their choice of crops, the way they are grown, and how they are marketed based on access to markets. Few farmers, when given the choice, will remain poor subsistence growers, enduring long hours of backbreaking fieldwork, if there are available markets to sell their products at a profit and make their lives more comfortable and prosperous.Market development for cassava has certainly evolved in most parts of the world, to one degree or another. But in Africa and in much of the Americas, these remain limited local markets, subject to easy saturation and price fluctuations. More robust, broader-scale markets typically need some initial support from public-private partnerships.Market expansion and market development often depend as well on new products, and these new products may need new varietal traits and new processes. The intricate linkage between production, processing, and marketing is not automatic at the outset, especially in most of the situations where new cassava markets are needed, i.e., where farmers are small scale and poor, infrastructure is limited, and credit for development is poor or non-existent. Research for development (R4D) organizations need to bring these initiatives into the context of an integrated and comprehensive project, in partnership with government agencies and the private sector. From the outset, such projects need to have a plan for reduced dependence on public subsidies and greater reliance on the marketplace for sustainable success.An analysis of the potential markets for cassava and its products in each cassavaproducing country is well beyond the scope of this paper. Both Latin America and Africa can learn considerably from the experiences of Asia, but clearly local conditions will dictate different products and different pathways. The free market tends to be a rather effective regulator of supply and demand in mature industries, but until that situation is reached, there normally needs to be some intervention to balance the push and pull factors along the value chain development. Bringing the poorest farmers and small landholders into the equation for successful market development can be especially difficult, but that is precisely what is needed if cassava is to contribute its potential to raising the standard of living of the poor who rely on it.An important lesson can be drawn from Vietnam. Cassava productivity in Vietnam in 1990 was almost the same as the average for Africa. However, as markets expanded there was a sharp surge of productivity that in few years almost doubled the levels of 1990. This is a clear indication of the beneficial effects of strong markets for cassava products. Where there is a market, farmers will seize the opportunity, invest in the crop, and increase their income. Another interesting example is cassava productivity in Thailand during the transition period when exports to the European Union (EU) were gradually phased out and before domestic markets in Asia developed. The upward trend in productivity reversed for few years. Only after the 1990s, yields started to increase and at a very healthy rate.The case of Vietnam offers another lesson. An important bottleneck in the development of markets is that they require cassava to reach a competitive price, which in turn depends on farmers investing and using proper technologies and inputs. There is always a subtle and difficult step to break a vicious cycle: There is no market because there is no cassava at a competitive price, and cassava does not reach the markets at competitive prices because the lack of markets does not encourage farmers to invest in inputs and technologies. Although it is difficult to demonstrate that this was the case, it is tempting to hypothesize that in the case of Vietnam the vicious circle was broken because initially there was on-farm processing. Farmers did not sell their cassava but used it to feed pigs, which was their final product. This on-farm processing (not capital intensive) generated enough motivation for farmers to adopt new technologies that eventually allowed the conditions for the emergence of local processing plants (mostly for starch production or drying yards).Already in the early years of cassava research by international centers CIAT and IITA, it was understood that the Green Revolution approach to improving cassava was not broadly applicable. The high inputs of fertilizer and irrigation, and dwarf architecture that had brought high yields to wheat and rice were not appropriate for cassava in most of the areas where it is grown (Kawano and Cock, 2005). Production and marketing systems, policy, and the nature of the crop were all very different from the cereal grains, and different approaches were required. This was not universally understood or accepted, however, and there was a number of programs that attempted to apply high-input practices to cassava, most of which were unsuccessful. The reasons for lack of success were a combination of socio-economic, agronomic, and genetic factors.Up to recent times, few cassava farmers anywhere in the world had access to purchased inputs to improve production, e.g., fertilizer, irrigation, chemical pest and weed management; or mechanization for land preparation, planting, or harvesting. There were, however, some important exceptions, such as in India, where farmers achieved high yields with moderate fertilizer inputs and irrigation. Because of its long crop cycle, cassava may be exposed to a wide range of pests and diseases over many months, such that successful chemical control of pests often needs to be repeated many times, and thereby is often costly. Because of the crop's drought tolerance, it is often not cost effective to invest in irrigation systems. Even though cassava typically responds to soil fertility improvement, access to fertilizer and credit are typically out of the reach for cassava growers.Current buoyant demand for cassava and its by-products is motivating farmers, industry, and policy-makers to seek solutions to the problems that limit yield and income improvement from cassava production. The following sections review some of the eco-efficient alternatives that farmers and national, international, and private sector programs have developed and implemented.Soil fertility maintenance is a fundamental component of successful crop agriculture. Crops extract nutrients from the soil, and without their replenishment, yields in most soils will decline over time. Low soil fertility may be the single most pervasive constraint to high and sustainable cassava production worldwide. But it is highly amenable to improvements through eco-efficient intervention. Results from many cassava soil fertility trials have demostrated that (1) yields steadily decline without soil amendments, and (2) yields can be stable when appropriate amendments are made. Substantial improvements to crop productivity usually include the application of exogenous nutrients in organic or inorganic form (Howeler, 2011a).There are compelling reasons to work toward soil fertility solutions based on crop nutrient demand and optimized economic response. Fertilizer costs continue to rise worldwide, and their inappropriate application is frequently associated with nutrient runoff into water systems or seepage into groundwater. This creates imbalances in aquatic ecosystems and raises human health hazards from drinking water contamination, and wastes money for producers.In addition to practices that may be more broadly applicable to many crops, there are several innate characteristics of cassava that allow us to design eco-efficient agronomic management approaches. As already mentioned, the root association with mycorrhizae allows a very efficient extraction and uptake of soil phosphorus. The fungus exists naturally in virtually all cassava-growing areas, and usually no special management is required to achieve good root infection for efficient P absorption. In some situations, where cassava is newly introduced into an area where it has not previously been planted, there may be an economic advantage to inoculation (Howeler et al., 1987).There has been limited research on the selection of more efficient biotypes of the fungus, but there are indications that this could be a productive line of research (Howeler et al., 1987). The main constraint to testing and selection of efficient biotypes is the difficulty of managing the inoculant, e.g., artificial production, controlling native populations, and cost-effective inoculation procedures. Because of these difficulties, there has been little commercial use of mycorrhizal inoculations in cassava.Development and application of crop management practices should avoid interference with the effectiveness of native populations. While the effect of agronomic practices on native systems is poorly understood, cassava researchers should be aware of, and test for, any deleterious effects that new inputs could cause. For example, systemic fungicides or herbicides should be especially monitored for their effect on mycorrhizal associations.CIAT has carried out multi-year germplasm screening for efficiency of nutrient use, especially emphasizing potash (K 2 Cl), which is used in relatively large quantities by cassava (reviewed by El-Sharkawy, 2012). There were large differences among genotypes, and probably these could be exploited through breeding. However, establishing selection systems that take into account nutrient use efficiency is an expensive and complicated addition to the many other selection criteria that breeders need to include in their program. As an alternative to a complex system that evaluates nutrient use efficiency by comparing response to low and high nutrient levels, CIAT has routinely selected under low nutrient levels, to allow the more-efficient types to express their favorable traits. This is a research area with potential to benefit from development of molecular markers and the use of marker-assisted selection or genome-wide selection.Cassava is in the field for long periods, and it has no post-establishment critical period of drought vulnerability. This means that drought tolerance becomes very difficult to define. Drought can be comprised of a wide range of variables, e.g., total rainfall during the growing season; length of period(s) with low or zero rainfall; and the growing phase during which drought stress occurs (e.g., early, mid-, late season). While there would be clear advantages to better understanding of the mechanisms involved and the genetic control of tolerance to water deficits, this understanding will require much more research than is possible under natural and variable conditions.CIAT physiologists have extensively studied genetic variation and mechanisms for drought tolerance and water use efficiency in cassava. One of the key approaches has been to compare varietal responses under irrigated and nonirrigated conditions in dry environments. There appears to be wide genetic diversity (reviewed by El-Sharkawy, 2012). Several mechanisms come into play that confer a high degree of drought tolerance to cassava compared to many other species. Water use efficiency is largely the combination of stomatal sensitivity to low atmospheric humidity (stomata close and conserve water when humidity falls), deep-rooting systems, and high photosynthetic activity. Some varieties also appear to tolerate drought by an excessive leaf area index under favorable conditions, which is reduced to ideal levels (about four) under drought stress, thereby maximizing yield.Breeders have capitalized on this genetic variation through various strategies, but mainly by planting breeding nurseries under drought stress conditions. This strategy has some advantages and disadvantages. The advantages include simplicity of management, and the possibility to simultaneously select different mechanisms through exposure to conditions that are representative of where new varieties will actually be grown. Disadvantages include the fact that the specific conditions of drought tend to be highly variable from year to year. This means that in any given year, it may not be possible to target the specific desired varietal traits. CIAT, for example, has had a few experiences of \"drought\" trials in environments with historical severe drought stress, where the trials have been destroyed by flooding (LA Becerra 2011, pers. comm.).Because of cassava's relatively slow early growth, canopy closure can take up to three months or more, leaving the crop vulnerable to weed infestation. Weeds can be a serious constraint to crop growth and yield, and their economic control a major challenge. Typically, manual weed control requires about 40% of labor inputs to produce a cassava crop. Weeding is often done by women, especially in Africa and Asia.Research on eco-efficient weed management has received relatively little emphasis to date. In part this is because most weed management in cassava is still by hand hoeing, especially in Africa. However, this is changing as farmers look for more ways to reduce the high labor inputs and cost of growing cassava. Chemical weed control is possible, and herbicide use is rising, but mainly in Asia and in larger plantation systems elsewhere. Mechanized weeding is somewhat difficult in cassava except during the earliest stages of growth. Researchers face multiple challenges to integrate effective and economical weed control, with eco-efficiency principles, and gender-sensitive approaches. It is a research area that will become increasingly important and will require greater research emphasis.Herbicide-resistant cassava could be a popular option for farmers, as it has been for crops like maize, soybeans, and canola. Technically it will probably not be very difficult to incorporate resistance (e.g., to glyphosate) through transformation protocols. But the licensing, regulatory, and socio-economic issues (e.g., gender implications; consumer acceptance) will likely mean that any such technology is many years from widespread use.Weed control is often the costliest input to cassava production, and it is imperative that science aggressively contribute to eco-efficient solutions as a means to reduce costs of production and increase farmer profits while protecting the environment.Because cassava is among the most tolerant of crops in marginal conditions, it often occupies lands that are prone to erosion. This is true worldwide, but is particularly an issue in the Andean zone of South America and in Southeast Asia. Slow early growth and relatively wide spacing among plants mean that canopy closure can take 2-3 months -a period when the soil remains exposed to the heavy rains which typically occur near planting time. This situation can lead to severe soil erosion with devastating environmental and social consequences. Soil erosion in cassava systems is one of the most urgent problems for the long-term sustainability of cassava-based farming systems to support smallholder farmers.Erosion control can be accomplished through soil preparation practices (e.g., ridge planting; conservation tillage, which leaves soil-protecting residues on the surface and soil-holding roots below the surface); strip cropping; intercropping; terracing; live barriers; practices that allow good ground cover (mulching; use of herbicides instead of hoeing); and practices that promote rapid canopy closure to protect exposed soil from direct rainfall impact (e.g., high early-vigor varieties; fertilization to promote rapid early growth).One of the most successful technologies is planting of vetiver grass barriers (Howeler, 2011b). However, farmers often are reluctant to invest in practices that do not provide short-term payback, especially if land is rented or, otherwise, not securely available for the long term.Very little research has been done on conservation tillage systems for cassava. Clearly there are challenges, namely, the need to plant a large stem piece instead of a small seed, the inevitable soil disturbance that takes place at harvest, and the scarcity of good weed management systems without soil disturbance. Nonetheless, the potential payoff in lowering costs of production, in soil conservation, and in energy conservation makes this a research area worth pursuing.Advances in small-plot mechanization may make no-till planting technologically feasible. Selection for herbicide-resistant varieties would also facilitate no-till technology, but is not a prerequisite for its success. Demonstration plots using farmerparticipatory approaches have been widely used in Asia to highlight the risks of soil erosion and the benefits of implementing preventive measures.The bottom line is that in spite of all these practices being well known at the research level, their adoption worldwide has been limited. The solution is a combination of opportunities provided by the marketplace, education, policy, and research into new avenues for erosion control.When market prices rise, farmers will be more easily convinced to invest in inputs that increase their productivity and profitability. In general, the market for cassava products has been buoyant over the past several years, giving hope that farmers will have greater motivation to invest in long-term sustainability of their systems through eco-efficient technologies.The impact of erosion control is often not immediately evident to farmers, nor easily quantified. Their concept of long-term income loss may not be based on real, field-level data over time. This is also a management area that will depend almost wholly on the public sector initiatives; there are, in a broad sense, few options that can be offered that will be brought about through a profit motive of the private sector. This gives the public sector a heavy responsibility to thoroughly research eco-efficient erosion control methods, to educate growers, and to educate policy-makers on the need for policy support.Eco-efficient pest management systems focus on three main solutions: Host plant resistance, crop management, and biological control. The combination of these approaches can be effective for most pests and pathogens of economic importance in cassava. Use of chemical control has a low priority for research, with the exception of highly targeted applications such as for planting material (stakes) treatment or infestation focal points.Selection for resistance. Cassava evolved under pressure from many pests and diseases, and as a consequence genetic resistance co-evolved and was further brought into play by the conscious or unconscious selection by farmers. In many of the major crops, plant breeders protect nurseries with pesticides generation after generation, such that many resistance genes were probably lost due to genetic drift. In the case of cassava, this has rarely happened. First, cassava breeding has been practiced on a limited scale and for a limited time worldwide. Secondly, most cassava breeders allow natural infestations of pests and pathogens as a way of selecting for resistance. These strategies have allowed a remarkable opportunity for capitalizing on host plant resistance in cassava, without breeders having to use exotic material or wild species in lengthy pre-breeding programs. Host plant resistance is a clear and successful example of the development of eco-efficient practices. Nonetheless, as new pest challenges arise, especially as a result of climate change, there is greater likelihood of the need to delve further into germplasm collections and engage in pre-breeding to extract new resistance genes.Breeders have made excellent gains in developing resistance to several key pests and pathogens, including cassava bacterial blight, CMD, superelongation disease (Sphaceloma manihoticola), Phoma leaf spot, thrips, cassava green mite, and whiteflies (Jennings and Iglesias, 2002). In recent years, molecular tools have begun to aid in selection, specifically with CMD in Africa. A molecular marker for a single-gene resistance not only allows speeding up the breeding process, but it has allowed the selection for resistance in Colombia, where the disease does not exist. Breeders now have a greater ability to combine desired traits from the Americas with the virus resistance needed for adaptation in Africa (Okogbenin et al., 2011). While molecularassisted selection is so far very limited for cassava, this is likely to change quickly in the next few years as the costs of sequencing and of various -omics technologies decline rapidly.Crop management. The long growth cycle of cassava is conducive to the build-up of many types of pests and pathogens. This creates challenges, but also opens up many opportunities during the crop's long period in the field, to introduce variable management packages for suppressing pest and pathogen damage. Some of the common practices that can contribute to pest suppression include adjusting planting date, plant spacing, and intercropping. Early trials in the Eastern Plains of Colombia showed that planting near the end of the rainy season was a viable strategy for reducing losses from bacterial blight and superelongation disease (CIAT, unpublished). One of the challenges of using management practices to control pests and pathogens is to assure that any changes in management do not reduce yields even more than the pest under standard crop management. Biological control. Biological control is one of the most eco-efficient practices possible for pest management. The development time can be relatively rapid (in contrast to the long lead time for developing resistant varieties, for example); there is virtually no trade-off in yield or quality with the application of biocontrol methods; and in many cases, the control can be long lasting without the continued need to reintroduce the organisms.In the Americas, biocontrol agents (parasites and predators) evolved along with the crop during many millennia. However, when traders introduced cassava to Africa and Asia, most of these beneficial organisms were left behind. When new pests were introduced, they were often able to spread uninhibited by the natural enemies they faced in their evolutionary homeland. There have been several examples of the introduction of natural enemies to successfully control mites and insects. In Africa, the cassava mealybug caused devastating losses until Anagyrus lopezi (a parasitic wasp) -an effective natural enemy -was introduced in the 1980s, saving billions of dollars in potential crop losses (Zeddies et al., 2001).The same predator was introduced to Thailand in 2010 after the cassava mealybug appeared there. By 2012, monitoring studies showed that A. Lopezi had become established throughout nearly the entire cassava-growing area where the mealybug was found, and is effective in control (Chariensak 2012, pers. comm.). It is hoped that the parasite will establish widely in other countries as well, following the mealybug spread in the region, to reduce population densities to economically insignificant levels.The cassava green mite also became a serious introduced pest of cassava in Africa by the late 1980s. Many different phytoseiid predators (also mites) act as biological control agents against the green mite. They probably account for the absence of major outbreaks of the green mite in the Americas (Bellotti et al., 1987). CIAT and IITA introduced many of these phytoseiid predators into Africa but Typhlodromalus aripo was most successful, reducing populations of the green mite by 35-60% with a parallel increase in fresh-root yield by 30-37% (Bellotti, 2002). Implementation of the biological control by T. aripo depends on the morphology of the apex and on the volatiles emitted by the plant host. Both characteristics are determined by the cassava genotype. This is a promising case of genotype-by-biological control interaction, hypothetically representing an opportunity to breed for a cassava plant that will favor the establishment and survival of the predator for a more efficient control of the green mite.Biological control never results in complete control, which leaves open the potential for fluctuations in levels of pest populations (similar to most types of host plant resistance as well). In some years and in some locations, economic damage levels may be significant. Like other types of pest management, biological control must be accompanied by constant monitoring, preparation for additional releases, and preparation for supplemental management within an integrated pest management system.Despite cassava's global importance, the research investment has historically been far below that for other crops of similar importance. One of the reasons is its cultivation almost exclusively in developing countries. While there has been more public and private sector interest in recent years, there is not by any means a level of research funding that allows research institutions to carry out the kind of comprehensive research agenda possible for rice, wheat, maize, or potatoes, for example. This means that we need to be especially creative to find solutions with the most output per unit of input.Research needs to begin by understanding the combinations of biotic and abiotic stresses and pressures that farmers face now and may face in the future. Only then can we offer an effective means to find the right balance of traits and practices to optimize economic yield for the grower, while protecting the environment. One of the most effective strategies over some 40 years of research at CIAT has been the identification of research sites that are representative of broad target regions, in terms of soils, climate, pests, and pathogens. This has allowed effective development of integrated variety development and management systems that balance the needs for adaptation in the agroecological zone, along with yield potential and root quality. As techniques are developed or new genes identified, they can then be incorporated into the system to fine-tune the adaptation and resistance features.Cassava is exposed to a wide array of stresses during its growth in most parts of the world. Breeders and agronomists do not have the luxury of a long history of research to adequately understand mechanisms and the genetic basis for eco-efficient responses. Therefore, until now we have mainly relied on the plant response in selection environments and with management practices that place the crop under conditions that farmers will typically encounter, or can reasonably and economically create through use of inputs. In this way, without the deep understanding of physiology or genetics of each trait, we have developed varieties and management practices that contribute to eco-efficient production. Additional investment, an ever more precise set of measurement tools for plant response, and genetic tools for crop manipulation should provide greater progress.In the arena of cassava technology development, some of the world's greatest assets are the germplasm collections around the world. CIAT holds the largest of these as an in vitro collection at headquarters in Cali, Colombia. The CIAT genebank holds about 5500 landrace accessions, along with another approximately 600 advanced varieties and breeding lines. The collection is available to all interested parties, under the conditions of exchange and use of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA).The genebank probably represents most of the genetic diversity that exists in cassava, although the actual tests of this hypothesis have yet to be carried out. With the decreasing costs of sequencing and molecular marker development, the time is right to begin the genome-wide characterization of cassava genetic diversity and to fill gaps in the collection (see also next section). Nonetheless, based on the coverage of collected areas, we can probably make a reasonably safe assumption that the existing diversity is adequate to continue to make progress in genetic improvement for many years to come. On the other hand, there are known gaps in the collection that need to be filled before valuable diversity is lost. CIAT's collection has limited representation from Central America or Bolivia, and no accessions from Suriname or French Guyana, for example.In addition to cultivated cassava, there are some 100 wild relatives that are poorly collected and poorly evaluated. Many populations are at risk in their native habitats due to urbanization and expansion of agriculture. It is imperative to extend the collection of these species for their future potential contributions to eco-efficient production solutions.Africa has had limited exchange of germplasm with the Americas or with Asia due to the presence of some viruses in Africa that do not exist elsewhere, and several viruses in the Americas that also do not exist in Africa or Asia. Modern molecular methods now allow a very high level of security for the detection and cleaning of viruses, but it is still very difficult to exchange vegetative material between Africa and the Americas. Exchange between Asia and the Americas has been relatively straightforward.The CIAT genebank is an engine for ecoefficient technologies -a resource that has already been extensively tapped to produce incomegenerating technologies for farmers worldwide.But it has much more to offer in the future as the need for new traits expands, and as our ability to find those traits improves. The coordinated phenotyping and genotyping of the cassava genetic resources held in genebanks will be a core strategy toward development of eco-efficient technologies to improve people's livelihoods from cassava while protecting the environment.The development of molecular marker techniques for genetic analysis has increased our knowledge of cassava genetics and our understanding of the structure and behavior of the cassava genome. While microsatellites have been the basis for most work in cassava genetics, other valuable markers have also been used -including random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers -to produce cassava genetic maps.The availability of a cassava genome sequence since 2006 has allowed the identification of thousands of candidate simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers which may be used for genetic mapping and marker-assisted selection. However, the sequencing of multiple genotypes (including wild species) would provide the cassava community with a much greater density of markers in the form of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). These SNPs can be used to construct improved genetic maps and look for trait associations; the high density of SNPs will increase the likelihood of identifying markers tightly linked to loci encoding traits of interest such as drought tolerance or whitefly resistance.The combination of sequences from both wild species as well as cassava itself will give researchers the opportunity to discover genomic regions and individual genes which have played a role in the domestication of cassava. Having whole genome sequences allows the exploration of copy-number variations (CNVs) and genomic rearrangements which may be related to different characteristics of interest. While use of SNP markers can focus the search for causative trait loci, having a large number of genomic sequences from a variety of genotypes for a given region provides the wider genomic context and will enhance genomics-assisted breeding in cassava, boosting our breeding activities to develop desirable breeding lines in a shorter term.Molecular technologies have evolved at astonishing speed. The cost and efficiency of genotyping have advanced so much that the phenotyping that is often required along the molecular work is now the real bottleneck. Deficient field data and unreliable phenotypic information constrains the applied uses of molecular markers in cassava genetic enhancement. Plans are underway to sequence a large sample representing nearly the full range of cassava genetic diversity, set to begin in late 2012 and 2013.Cassava conversion to marketable products can involve a wide range of processing techniques and some of them produce large amounts of waste that can contribute significantly to environmental pollution and depletion of water resources (FAO, 2001). Into the early 1990s, much of Thailand's cassava was chipped and dried on large patios, a process that was essentially pollution free and relied primarily on sun energy for drying (plus use of tractor power for turning and collecting the chips). With the rise of the starch industry throughout Southeast Asia, and the ethanol industry in China, waste management is a growing concern, and many creative new technologies and systems are being developed to minimize environmental impact and increase profitability.The main issues are: The treatment of effluent waters is a major issue in the process of starch extraction. It results in major economic costs (if the effluents are not properly recycled or otherwise managed) or environmental costs (if effluents are dumped into the surrounding environment). CLAYUCA Corporation has developed technology to efficiently produce high-quality flour that can substitute for starch for many uses, but whose processing has far less impact on the environment. Water is used only in the whole-root washing, while the flour is extracted simply by grinding dried root.Cassava markets will continue to change quickly. Eco-efficient production and processing technologies are closely linked and need to be developed in parallel. This can be quite challenging, given the lead time required for many types of technology, and especially for the breeding of new varieties.Two examples of production technologies that impact eco-efficiency of processing involve variations in starch functional properties:• The identification of a natural mutation of amylose-free starch in cassava (Ceballos et al., 2007) has generated a keen interest and investment by the starch sector. This mutation will allow industry to develop certain starchbased products without the chemical modification that is currently required, with potential benefits to both the environment and human health. • A different starch mutation (Ceballos et al., 2008) was generated through mutagenesis, resulting in the production of small starch granules (about 1/3 the normal size) with rough surfaces. This mutation would be ideal for the bioethanol industry as the starch is more easily degraded into simple sugars, a necessary step before fermentation can be initiated. This should result in lower energy use in the conversion process.A FAO study (FAO, 2001) concluded that cassava processing can have negative -mainly site-specific -effects on the environment, by producing unpleasant odors and an unsightly display of waste. However, the long-term and broad-based impact on the environment is generally minimal and can be corrected by proper waste treatment with technologies that are presently available or under development.Moreover, there is ever greater economic incentive to make use of the by-products from the development process of marketable value-added products. The residue from starch factories can be used in animal feed rations, to reapply to fields as a crop nutrient, or as a substrate for the culture of mushrooms, for example. While policy will be an important element for limiting environmental impact from cassava processing, the moreeffective strategies will be based on methods that generate greater income for processors.As mentioned at the outset of this chapter, there is an emerging consensus that cassava is among the most promising options of tropical crops in the context of rising temperatures and increasingly uncertain rainfall patterns. Achieving an ecoefficient response to climate change represents one of the great challenges of agricultural research, and cassava presents unique opportunities.Climate change may have direct effects on crop growth and development (temperature, rainfall, CO 2 levels) or indirect effects (soil organic matter, soil erosion, pest and disease patterns), and therefore the needed response through ecoefficient solutions can be complex and far-ranging.Climate maps combining temperature and rainfall parameters specific to cassava's growth responses (Figure 9-2) indicate that cassava will probably continue to be grown in nearly all areas where it is currently adapted. This is largely because of its combined high temperature and drought tolerance, even in some areas where these changes will create severe stress for other crops. In fact, cassava is likely to expand into new areas of the subtropics that become more suitable as temperatures rise, and into areas where more-sensitive crops decline or disappear.On the whole, cassava is tolerant of very high temperatures compared to many crops. This is in part because there is no critical stage, such as flowering, when brief periods of high temperatures will cause drastic yield losses. Increasing temperatures may not have a large direct effect on cassava production. On the other hand, areas that become too hot for other crops could create new growing areas for cassava to fill the gap. Some climate models show that India could be especially affected by rising temperatures, with broad shifts away from grains and pulses in some areas (Ceballos et al., 2011).Possibly the most significant effect of temperature rise on cassava's adaptation will be to allow it to move into higher-altitude and higher/ lower-latitude regions. Currently, cassava's limit at the Equator is at about 2000 masl, and this just for a narrow range of germplasm accessions from the Andean zone of the Americas, especially Colombia. These extended new highland areas for cassava are likely to be most important in East Africa, and in the Andes of Colombia and Ecuador. Currently cassava can be grown in latitudes near the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Global warming may extend this range, as winters become milder. This is of particular interest in China, which is looking for options to expand planted area but has a relatively limited region within the subtropics that is suitable for cassava. This is not to say that global warming will have overall positive effects on agriculture, but there will be opportunities for farmers to adapt with new crops and new practices if science can provide the appropriate technological support.Drought promises to be one of the most widespread negative impacts of climate change on crop production in general. Lower overall rainfall and greater uncertainty both come into play in climate change scenarios. Therefore, it is logical that breeding programs in many crops have begun to take into account major efforts to select for drought tolerance. Cassava models appear to indicate a different strategy.First, cassava will likely move into areas where other crops are constrained, especially grain crops, with their susceptibility to drought during certain development stages, such as flowering and early grain filling. But cassava is broadly drought tolerant already, so it will do quite well in areas where other crops cannot succeed. But the question remains about the advisability of stressing selection for drought tolerance in traditional cassava-growing areas that are already dry, and will become drier with climate change. Although breeding for drought tolerance has been limited, there are clear indications from physiological studies that selection for even better tolerance could succeed. So it is a matter of comparing returns on investment from alternative breeding goals. Climate change models and crop models suggest that other constraints brought about by climate change, and especially the effects of pests and diseases, are likely to be more severe, and often more amenable to management through breeding for resistance/tolerance than is drought.The other side of the rainfall issue is excess water. Cassava typically does not tolerate waterlogging. Root rots can become common if soils are waterlogged even for relatively short periods of time. Breeding has shown little promise, and in most cases management practices are probably more appropriate as an adaptation strategy. Global cassava suitability will increase 5.1% on average by 2050, while many areas of Latin America will suffer negative impacts Atmospheric CO 2 is one of the major causes of climate change and has increased by 40% from a pre-industrial revolution baseline. Confinedenvironment studies indicate that increases in atmospheric CO 2 concentration could result in a reduction in root production. Concentration of cyanogenic glucosides in the roots was not affected by increases in CO 2 . On the other hand, there was a large increase of glucosides in the leaves of plants grown in higher CO 2 concentrations (Gleadow and Woodrow, 2002;Gleadow et al., 2009). These results contradict earlier ones reported by Imai et al. (1984). Free-Air CO 2 Enrichment (FACE) methods allow field evaluation of crops under elevated CO 2 concentrations which simulate the predicted levels for the decades to come (El-Sharkawy, 2009). These studies suggest that photosynthetic efficiency would increase more in C 3 (like potatoes and cassava) than in C 4 crops (like maize and rice) (Long et al., 2004;2006). Modeling and FACE results could guide the molecular optimization of the photosynthetic apparatus to maximize carbon gains without increasing crop inputs (Rosenthal and Ort, 2012).There are several reasons why risks are increasing for introduction and spread of pests and pathogens into new areas. These include:• More international travel • Greater interest in introducing new materials by uninformed travelers, e.g., businessmen or women managing cassava plantations or processing plants • Greater potential for introduced pests or pathogens to encounter host plants (increasing area planted to cassava globally, e.g., larger contiguous cassava plantings that allow pests to spread quickly) • Climate change that transforms less suitable environments into more suitable ones for introduced pests or pathogens • The interest in new crops, such as Jatropha (also a member of the Euphorbiaceae family) which can be a reservoir of pests and diseases that can also affect cassava. The recent interest in this crop has resulted in vast and unregulated exchange of germplasm.The first defense against pest and pathogen spread to new areas is the double-pronged approach of education and regulation. The principle audience needs to be the general public -about the risks of moving uncontrolled plant materials and agricultural products across national borders. This is not to downplay the importance of official channels. Most countries have strict quarantine regulations on the books, but lack personnel and budget for enforcement. Understanding the risks is the primary motivation for investing in better enforcement.Climate change modeling, layered with pest adaptation maps, illustrates the potential spread to new areas in the context of climate change. This allows the application of resources in hotspot areas for monitoring, diagnosis, and management. It is expected that pests affecting cassava will evolve into more dynamic patterns, particularly as a result of increased temperatures that reduce the relevance of diapause and/or shorten their life cycle (Ceballos et al., 2011).Figures 9-3 and 9-4 illustrate areas where cassava green mite and whitefly, respectively, are likely to increase or decrease in severity due to climate change by 2020. For both species, there will be widespread effects in the Americas and Africa, but less so in Asia.Effective pest and pathogen monitoring and diagnosis systems are essential to early detection and effective management. Fortunately, such systems may be implemented across a number of crops, and do not need to be re-invented for each individual crop. The PlantWise system of CABI, for example, may be a good model to incorporate cassava data and take advantage of a system that is applicable for a broad range of crops. A pilot system is being established for Southeast Asia, which should develop into globally applied systems for information exchange about pests and diseases.   Some of the new soil-related challenges likely to be exacerbated by climate change are: More rapid loss of organic matter due to higher soil temperatures; planting in areas more vulnerable to erosion (e.g., further up hillsides as temperatures rise); and greater nutrient leaching in areas where rainfall has increased.For cassava in an era of climate change, one of the great challenges for sustainable soil management is in areas where the crop expands to replace species that are less adapted to drier conditions. Unless this expansion into new areas is accompanied by appropriate management and technologies, there is a risk that growers without the experience of growing the crop will use practices that exacerbate erosion. Certainly there should also be attempts to introduce diversification programs, such as the planting of perennial crops/ pastures/trees in the most vulnerable areas.Conservation tillage or no-tillage systems have had relatively little application in cassava. Alternatives to conventional tillage will be important both in areas of reduced and increased rainfall. In reduced rainfall, conservation tillage conserves soil water. Under heavy rainfall, it reduces erosion and improves soil structure for better drainage. These advantages need to be weighed against the possibility of sacrificing yield or income as a result of adoption of these practices. The development of herbicide-tolerant genotypes would greatly facilitate the adoption of reduced-tillage practices. Technically, this should be relatively easy through transgenic methods, but the licensing, regulatory, and consumer acceptance issues would be huge hurdles to ultimate success. There need to be intensified efforts at the discovery of herbicide tolerance that is not transgenic. The most likely approaches are through screening of a broad genetic base of progeny from selfed genebank accessions, and through mutation and selection at the cellular level.Little is accomplished in isolation. Science and its successful application require partnerships among a range of public and private organizations. There is a need for concerted capacity building and interchange to assess and develop eco-efficiency goals and methods for cassava technologies (see Chapter 14, this volume). The new CGIAR structure takes a step in that direction through capitalizing on the potential synergies among centers working on several vegetatively propagated crops, and by bringing together the wide range of partners that can collaborate toward common goals. This new CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (CRP-RTB) continues many of the same goals and activities as previously carried out by CIAT and IITA for cassava. However, there is now greater emphasis on linking research to development outcomes and on realizing the synergies among the various root, tuber, and banana crops and the centers that work on them (see www.rtb.cgiar. org/). The long history of collaboration between CGIAR centers and other entities working on cassava will be further enhanced under the new system.There is a wide contrast on the use of cassava ranging from a key element in subsistence farming in Africa to mostly a cash crop to be used by different processing industries in Southeast Asia. CIAT is aware that in many cases wellintentioned interventions result in undesirable unforeseen impacts. A major thrust in our research is toward the gradual transformation of cassava from subsistence farming into incomegenerating crop. However, it has to be acknowledged that whenever this occurs, some gender-related issues may arise. In many resource-limited farming households, it is women who stay in the farm attending to the different chores, while men go to the villages in search of income-generating activities. If cassava becomes a cash crop, it is likely that the role women and men play will change. Many social scientists have expressed their concern that some of these changes may be negative, but also could result in positive trends, such as \"the return of men to the farm for a reunited family.\" The impact of turning cassava into a cash crop from the gender perspective is difficult to predict, not to mention to modulate, from a research position. It is important, however, to monitor them and make whatever intervention may be required to maximize the positive impacts while minimizing the negative ones.Researchers need to monitor potential genderrelated impact. Moreover, we actively search for potential areas where gender plays an important role. For instance, it has been recognized for many years that it is typically women who are in charge of weeding cassava fields in many regions of Africa. This implies that very often, women will invest the first two months of the crop in weed-control activities. Development of herbicide tolerance is therefore one such issue. It is envisioned that, in principle, this trait should benefit women as they could redirect their effort to other more-productive endeavors. Whenever the trait is identified or induced, however, careful analysis of its expected advantages will be tested through participatory approaches to make sure that the technology is well appreciated by the women we are targeting to benefit.Another activity typically linked to women and children is the peeling of cassava, for example, in the production of farinha in Northeast Brazil or gari and fufu in Western Africa. It is known that peel thickness is another trait that may offer a gender bias. Awareness of such a situation is relevant for orienting research in the right direction. A thin peel is desirable for those industries where the entire root is processed, since it maximizes the proportion of valuable tissue. On the other hand, a thick peel facilitates the operation of manual peeling reducing the overall cost of such operations, thus maintaining its competitiveness. Most importantly, gender bias studies need to be part of research design from the outset, rather than an afterthought after a technology is already developed and disseminated.Policies aimed specifically at eco-efficiency of crop research are nearly non-existent in developing countries. The scientific community has a major challenge to educate, inform, and advocate for such policies. We present a few examples here, although this is not by any means a comprehensive list.Developing countries that support technological and economic progress as a means of addressing food security and equity will find that cassava, where it is adapted, can often play significant food security and equity roles.Policies that favor new industries can open opportunities for cassava markets. The broad range of products that can derive from cassava provides an ideal vehicle for new industry development. Multiple industries can evolve from the many cassava end-uses, to the advantage of cassava growers. Multiple market opportunities for farmers mean that there are likely to be better prices and lower swings in the market prices. A key example of this kind of intervention is the policy to mix 10% cassava flour with wheat flour for the baking industry. However, as discussed during the West Africa Root and Tuber Crops Conference (Accra, Ghana, 12-16 Sept 2011) (Dixon, 2011), policies need to be turned into laws for an effective impact.Open versus protectionist trade policies will impact the kinds of markets where cassava can be competitive. Certainly the global tendency is toward more open markets, but there are many exceptions. Strong policies that protect local agricultural and industrial development are often a necessary short-to medium-term strategy in order to develop a competitive global position. On the other hand, protectionist policies tend to promote inefficiencies and, ultimately, higher prices for consumers. In any case, trade policies will rarely be developed specifically with the cassava market in mind, but rather with a broad agricultural or industrial vision.China is leading the way in biofuels from cassava, as a result of a dual policy that aims, on the one hand, to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and, on the other hand, to keep staple foods from competing in the biofuels market. Thus, cassava, as an efficient energy producer and with a very minor role as a food in China, is an ideal option. In Africa the situation is more complex, where cassava for biofuels is likely to compete with food markets, and where most of those who rely on cassava for food are not able to absorb cost increases even of small levels without suffering serious consequences.Thailand attempted for many years to support crop diversification in the northeast of the country, to prevent the continued spread of cassava into fragile soils. The policy had limited success because cassava is so much better adapted than most other crops that can provide a profit to farmers. These types of policies are, however, rather rare on a global basis. In order to succeed, they need to either strictly prevent the growing of cassava in inappropriate environments, or provide equal or better alternatives through technology support and/or subsidies that give farmers attractive options. In fact, effective policies that address the use of fragile landscapes are sorely needed in many countries. Along with policy, education of growers and the offering of ecoefficient technologies are needed for positive impact.Until recent times, there was nearly no private sector support to cassava research. This is changing, but slowly. In Thailand, for example, the private sector provides modest support for development of specialty starch varieties, provides extension services in the form of advice on management practices, and provides growers with biological control organisms for the cassava mealybug, a newly emerging pest problem. There are examples elsewhere as well of important but quite limited industry support to technology development. This means that public support for research is the main determinant of the success of cassava research in any given country. CIAT and IITA have strong multidisciplinary research programs, but they also rely on the capacity of national partners to jointly develop that technology and deliver it to farmers or to industry. Policy that supports a sustainable research and extension system is essential to the ability of cassava to play its full role as a vehicle for eco-efficient development.The public sector for cassava research is seriously underfunded in most countries. In Africa, donor support in the last few decades has made a dent, but the long-term consequences of donordependent funding of research are uncertain. On the one hand, it seems to be a necessary intermediate step, while local public and private support and capacity are developed. All too often, however, this support is not prioritized, leading to programs falling by the wayside when donor funding diminishes or dries up. There needs to be much more support from studies illustrating the impact of investment in research by national and local governments.The long cycle of cassava from planting to harvest often implies a heavy burden for the farmers because of the long time required to recover their investments. It is becoming a common practice for governments through different banking systems to provide soft credits to farmers, particularly in cases where they have some sort of agreement with the processing sector and after it has been demonstrated that proper inputs and management practices will be used in growing the crop. This practice offers several advantages as it promotes linkages between the production and processing sector and encourages the adoption of technologies for the sustainable and competitive production of cassava. Within the same policies, farmers can also have access to crop insurance. For insurance to have more widespread impact, however, more data on production risks are necessary.CIAT works with partners to develop technologies that are more productive, profitable and competitive, sustainable, resilient as well as more sustainable. The following summarizes how this relates to CIAT's cassava research for development.• More productive: Providing inexpensive and nutritious food for poor consumers. This is largely the CIAT legacy of its first 45 years, by producing clones with high and stable productivity, and giving special consideration to dry-matter content (Kawano, 2003;Kawano and Cock, 2005). • More profitable and competitive: Creating new opportunities for growers to increase their incomes. New or expanded markets are needed for cassava farmers to pull themselves out of poverty. Without markets to absorb increased productivity, moving beyond subsistence is only a dream for many.High-value traits such as the waxy and small-granule starches (Ceballos et al., 2007;2008;Sánchez et al., 2009)  The challenge is to continue to address equity issues as scale of production increases and more-sophisticated markets are developed.Specialty cassavas, such as waxy-starch varieties, should lead not only to increased value and higher incomes to farmers, but also should promote a closer association between farmers and processors (e.g., contract farming) which can favor both layers of the value chain.While biofuels are often seen as working against equity issues, examples in cassava illustrate other options. CLAYUCA Corporation is developing a model for cassava based on decentralized small plants at the village level that produce 50% ethanol, which is then shipped to a more sophisticated central plant for dehydration to 99%.Rice is a relatively new crop in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Although it was introduced 1 Latin American Fund for Irrigated Rice (FLAR), Cali, Colombia. 2 Leader, Rice Program, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Cali, Colombia. * Corresponding author: g.zorrilla@cgiar.org into the region in the sixteenth century by Spanish colonists, it was not widely grown until the twentieth century. It is now grown throughout the region, in a wide range of agroecosystems, ranging from upland systems in the Brazilian Cerrados and some hilly areas of Bolivia, Colombia, and Central America to high-tech irrigated systems in the Southern Cone region. About one million farmers in the region, 80% of them poor smallholders, depend on rice as their main source of energy, employment, and income (Maclean et al., 2002).Rice is now the most important food grain in most of the tropical areas of LAC, where it supplies more calories in people's diets than wheat, maize, cassava, or potatoes, and is also the leading source of protein for the poorest 20% of the population in tropical areas (Maclean et al., 2002). The crop provides an average of 27% of daily calorie intake in LAC as a whole, ranging from 8% in Central America to 47% in the Caribbean region (FAOSTAT).Total production of paddy rice increased from around 8 million tons in 1961 to more than 28 million tons in 2009, an increase of over 250% (Table 10-1). Over this period the area under rice increased by only 35%, hence the majority of the increase in production came from yield gains. However, there is still a negative balance between production and consumption in the region as a whole.There is thus clearly a need to increase rice production in the region. It is vital, however, that this is done through eco-efficient production systems. Eco-efficiency implies producing more while using fewer resources and creating less waste and pollution. Eco-efficient rice production should be profitable, competitive with other agricultural or commercial activities, and ecologically sustainable. It should also be resilient in the face of climate change and socially equitable, giving small-, medium-, and large-scale producers access to new practices and technologies. In summary, eco-efficient rice production allows farmers to derive more benefits from rice cultivation using fewer resources.FLAR is a public-private partnership between local rice institutions and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). It was established in 1995 to improve people's lives through the This chapter summarizes some results from the main interventions FLAR and its members are promoting, with special emphasis on their impact on eco-efficiency.  The so-called \"green revolution\" in rice started with the release of the semi-dwarf variety IR8 in 1966 by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines (Hargrove and Cabanilla, 1979;Khush, 1999). Less than two years later IR8 was introduced in Colombia by Peter Jennings and a pioneering breeding program was initiated by CIAT, the Colombian Institute of Agriculture (ICA, its Spanish acronym), and the National Federation of Rice Growers (FEDEARROZ, its Spanish acronym). This program soon developed new semi-dwarf varieties that increased rice production in Colombia and in the whole region. Average yields in Colombia rose from 1.5 t/ha in 1965 to 4.4 t/ha in 1975 (Scobie and Posada, 1977). Between 1968 and 1990 rice yields in Latin America increased by 20% due to new semi-dwarf varieties (Muchnik de Rubinstein, 1985).Between 1975 and 1995, some 250 improved rice varieties were released in LAC. The adoption of these improved varieties enhanced food security and reduced the real price of rice (Maclean et al., 2002).FLAR's goal is to develop a cooperative and efficient breeding program aimed at producing and releasing high-yielding varieties with desirable agronomic and grain quality traits. The program is based at CIAT headquarters in Cali, Colombia, but is administratively independent of the Center's rice-breeding program. This arrangement gives FLAR immediate access to improved material developed by the Center and provides a direct link with other international research institutions, such as IRRI.FLAR's breeding program focuses on developing varieties for tropical and temperate zones. FLAR breeders introduce new materials, make around 800 hundred triple crosses a year, advance and select 5000 to 6000 breeding lines in different environments, and produce and select elite breeding lines (FL lines). Breeding and initial evaluation are done at CIAT headquarters and the Santa Rosa Research Station near Villavicencio in Colombia's Llanos Orientales or Eastern Plains. Elite lines are selected annually in nurseries called \"VIOFLAR Trópico\" and \"VIOFLAR Templado\" and distributed to FLAR members. Members evaluate and further select these FL lines in their local environments, register lines that perform well, and release them as new varieties. The first variety of FLAR origin was released in 2003, and a total of 40 new cultivars have since been registered in 13 countries up to the end of 2011.FLAR members invest their own resources in the program and contribute to the breeding strategy. This encourages greater engagement between the members and the network. One common problem faced in open germplasm networks is the very poor feedback of information on the performance of lines at the different testing sites. In contrast, FLAR members provide performance information on about 80% of the material received, providing FLAR breeders with the feedback needed to fine-tune their breeding strategies.The program is subdivided into tropical and temperate regions. The main common breeding objectives in both subprograms are: high yield potential; resistance to rice blast [Magnaporthe grisea (Herbert) Barr (anamorph Pyricularia grisea)] and other fungal diseases; resistance to lodging; high milling and cooking quality; and tolerance of delayed harvest (i.e., grain retention). For the tropics, the program is also breeding for resistance to rice hoja blanca virus and its insect vector [Tagosodes orizicolus (Muir)]. For the temperate region, tolerance to low temperatures is an important trait. Planting early in the season is critical in the Southern Cone to allow flowering to coincide with peak solar radiation and ensure good grain filling. Thus, cold tolerance at seedling stage is needed, as is some cold tolerance at the reproductive stage, because low temperatures may occur any time during the season.The following are some examples of the characteristics and uptake of the varieties developed through FLAR.Venezuela 21 was the first variety from FL material to be released by a FLAR member (FUNDARROZ, 2003). It has excellent yield potential (8 t/ha) and yield stability across seasons, much better disease tolerance than checks, and good grain quality. By 2009, it accounted for 31.6% of the total rice seed market in Venezuela.The Panama Institute of Agricultural Research (IDIAP, its Spanish acronym) released two FLbased varieties in 2005: IDIAP 54-05 and IDIAP 145-05 (Camargo, 2006). Both have good resistance to the main diseases occurring in Panama (rice blast, and panicle blight caused by Burkholderia glumae), give high yields under both rainfed and irrigated conditions, and have excellent grain milling quality. In the 2010/11 cropping season, each of them was planted on more than 20% of the country's rice area.In Costa Rica, Seeds of the New Millennium S.A. (SENUMISA, its Spanish acronym) released Palmar 18 in 2006. The variety has high yield potential under both irrigated and rainfed conditions, good tolerance to main diseases (rice blast, panicle blight, and grain discoloration caused by a fungus complex), a short growing cycle, and excellent grain quality. By 2009, it accounted for 46.7% of the certified rice seed produced in Costa Rica (Oviedo, 2010).The Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) released GRDB FL 10 in 2009. In trials between 2008 and 2010, GRDB LF 10 outyielded the check variety by an average of 28.3% across spring and autumn cropping seasons (Persaud, 2010). By the beginning of 2011, the variety covered 15% of the area planted to rice in Guyana.Genetics of Rice S.A. (GENARROZ, its Spanish acronym) released Jaragua FL in the Dominican Republic in 2010 (Moquete, 2010). This variety was selected from FL material introduced in 2007. Jaragua FL has high yield potential (more than 8 t/ha) under a range of planting systems and environments, excellent milling performance (62-64% of whole rice), very low percentage of \"white belly\" (opaque endosperm), and excellent cooking quality. It also has very good tolerance to major fungal diseases and some tolerance to saline and acidic soils.Eco-efficient agriculture depends not only on good varieties, but also on several other factors, such as sustainable use of natural resources, farmers' skills, and crop management techniques. The yields for farmers in LAC remain well below the yield potential of the varieties grown, largely as a result of suboptimal crop management (Pulver, 2001). Bridging this yield gap could increase rice production in LAC by 27% (Sanint, 2004).In 2003, FLAR, with financial support from the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), initiated a technology transfer program in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and Portuguesa and Guarico states, Venezuela, aimed at reducing this yield gap. The program later expanded to include Argentina and Uruguay in the Southern Cone and Costa Rica and Nicaragua in the tropical zone.The program focused on six basic strategic management practices:1. Appropriate planting time 2. Low seeding rate 3. Use of high-quality seed and seed treatment against insect pests 4. Early weed control 5. Fertilizer management 6. Irrigation management These practices were usually complemented by site-specific practices developed by local research and/or through farmer-participatory research at the trial sites.FLAR employed a farmer-to-farmer extension approach, using a farmer leader to transfer the technology to other growers. At each location, an initial survey of the rice sector was conducted to identify the main technological weaknesses. Innovative farmers who had the capacity and willingness to communicate their experiences were then selected. These farmer leaders received farmer leaders received extensive training in the recommended practices, and demonstration plots were established on each farmer leader's land. Groups of growers in the vicinity of each pilot farm visited the demonstration plots regularly and discussed their observations with the farmer leader, often leading to modification of the recommended practices. These growers were then assisted in adopting the recommended practices.Following the success of the initial project, activities were extended to Bolivia, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, and Panama.In total, the program worked with nearly 8000 farmers growing nearly 600,000 ha of rice, and achieved yield increases between 0.6 and 1.7 t/ha (Table 10-2).The State of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil and neighboring areas of Argentina and Uruguay provide good examples of the impact of improved crop management on rice production. Since early 2000, this region has shown a revolution in rice production driven by improved crop management. FLAR has had different grades of involvement in this process working with the Rio Grande Rice Institute (IRGA, its Portuguese acronym) in Brazil, the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA, its Spanish acronym) in Argentina, the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIA, its Spanish acronym) in Uruguay and the Rice Farmers Association (ACA, its Spanish acronym) also in Uruguay to boost rice production. As a result of these programs, total annual rice production increased from an average of 7.0 million tons in 2000-2002 to 9.4 million tons in 2006-2008, an increase of 35% (Figure 10-1). Over the same period, yield increased from 5.4 t/ha to 7.2 t/ha, an increase of 33%, while the area planted has been almost stable. Thus, the increase in production was largely the result of increased yields. Over this period, there was little change in the varieties planted, hence the production gains are the result of improved agronomic practices. Less than a quarter of the rice area in LAC is irrigated, ranging from 79% in Brazil to only 1% in Mexico. However, overall the region is well endowed with water resources (Table 10-3).Even Mexico, nearly one-third of which is arid, has extensive water resources in its central and southern areas. Additionally, most of the renewable water resources in Latin America are surface water, which is essentially from rain water. Consequently, the problem in Latin America is not scarcity of water, but ineffective use of water resources to produce food and reduce poverty in the rural areas. FLAR has been investigating the potential of water harvesting to increase the use of irrigation in upland rice production. In 2008, FLAR and CIAT initiated a project on \"Transformation of upland to irrigated rice through use of water harvesting in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Nicaragua\". The project is sponsored by CFC and co-sponsored by SENUMISA in Costa Rica, the Mexican Rice Council, and the Nicaraguan Association of Rice Farmers. This pilot project is introducing proven water harvesting techniques, training local staff to identify suitable sites for catchment facilities, and demonstrating the economic benefits of a diversified rice-based production system under irrigation. The target audience is small-scale farmers currently involved solely in rainfed agriculture. The project is focusing on simple, low-tech, low-cost water harvesting techniques, essentially small-and medium-sized earth dams constructed in farmers' fields to take advantage of topography and an adequate water catchment basin. These dams allow farmers to harvest and store rain water that can then be used for full or supplemental irrigation by gravity. The ponds can also be used for fish production, bringing another high-value product to farmers.Harvesting water during the rainy season allows for high-yielding irrigated agriculture during the high-solar-radiation dry season and doubles job opportunities in regions like northern Nicaragua, where there are 6 months with minimum activity on the farms.In trials in Mexico, despite being established too late in the season (April/May 2010) for optimum yield, irrigated rice still yielded 65% more than neighboring non-irrigated rice crops (Table 10-4). If the crops had been established in February as planned, yields of 10 t/ha would have been achievable.In Jalapa Department in north-central Nicaragua, one farmer planting irrigated rice during the dry season reported a yield of 10.5 t/ha, and a net profit of US$2,000/ha. This compares with net profits of less than US$100/ha for rainfed maize and less than US$50/ha for rainfed beans grown during the rainy season.These initial results demonstrate the potential of water harvesting and storage to diversify smallholder farmers' production options and to boost income and food security. FLAR has developed a holistic approach to improving the rice industry in LAC, addressing genetics, crop management, and natural resources utilization. Being a public-private alliance in which most rice farmers' organizations are represented along with national research institutes and private companies, it helps not only small-scale, resource-poor rice growers, but also the whole rice sector.There are enormous challenges ahead, including rising food demand, competition for land, the need for reducing environmental footprint, and dealing with climate change. New products from agricultural research addressing yield potential, resistance or tolerance to changing pests and diseases, resistance to abiotic stresses and new quality requirements will be essential to cope with those challenges. FAO, with its many members from almost all Latin American countries, provides a platform through which the products of research can be rapidly extended to farmers, increasing food production, reducing rural poverty, and enhancing food security.Climate change is one of the greatest challenges to human development in general and food security in particular in recent history. Even if we act decisively now, temperatures by 2050 will be at least 2 °C, and perhaps as much as 5 °C, above those of pre-industrial times (IPCC, 2007;The World Bank, 2010), threatening sustainable food production worldwide. Developing countries are more exposed to the hazards of climate change and less resilient to them (Morton, 2007). Moreover, they will have to bear an estimated 75-80% of the costs associated with the impacts of climate change (Hope, 2009;Smith et al., 2009;The World Bank, 2010). Undernourished people, estimated at 925 million worldwide in 2010 (FAO, 2010a), most of whom live in the tropics, are especially vulnerable.Agriculture, including meat and milk production, produces three main greenhouse gases (GHGs): carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), and nitrous oxide (N 2 O). In terms of climate forcing, one unit of CH 4 is equivalent to around 21 units of CO 2 and one unit of N 2 O is equivalent to 310 units of CO 2 (Forster et al., 2007). Agriculture is a major contributor to climate change, producing 14% of GHG emissions at the global level, with a further 17% attributed to land use change and deforestation. In low-income countries, the contribution of agriculture to emissions is even higher, with 20% and 50% attributed to agriculture and land use change, respectively (The World Bank, 2010). Although debate continues about the actual numbers, there is little doubt about the relative importance of agriculture, and livestock production in particular, as emitters of GHG (Anderson and Gundel, 2011;Herrero et al., 2011).Livestock systems are estimated to contribute about 50% of all agricultural sector GHG emissions (Steinfeld et al., 2006;Scherr and Sthapit, 2009), contributing up to 9% of all anthropogenic CO 2 emissions, 37-52% of CH 4 , and 65-84% of N 2 O (Smith et al., 2008;FAO, 2009). Large ruminants (cattle and buffalo) emit more GHG per kilogram of meat than monogastrics (pigs and poultry). 5 In addition to GHG from enteric fermentation and manure, large ruminants are also associated with land use changes such as deforestation (Steinfeld et al., 2006;FAO, 2009), particularly in Central and South America (Szott et al., 2000;Wassenaar et al., 2007;Barona et al., 2010;Pacheco et al., 2011). However, the direct and indirect causes of deforestation are complex and can be difficult to attribute (Geist and Lambin, 2002), and the impact of improving livestock technologies is debated (e.g., Angelsen and Kaimowitz, 2004;Kaimowitz and Angelsen 2008). For particular locations, these data require further analysis, since land use change is strongly influenced by policy interventions and the level of enforcement (Steinfeld and Gerber, 2010).Comparative analysis of GHG emissions between diverse production systems should include the environmental costs of feed production, including its transport. For example, in the case of soybean produced in the Amazon that supplies European feedlots (Herrero et al., 2009;Anderson and Gundel, 2011), transport accounts for 11-12% of GHG emissions (Garnett, 2011) and contributes more to GHGs than feed produced near feedlots in midwestern USA (Pelletier et al., 2010). Feedlot cattle produce fewer GHG emissions than foragefed cattle, mainly due to better feed conversion (Casey and Holden, 2006;Gerber et al., 2010;Pelletier et al., 2010). However, the potential to mitigate climate change and other co-benefits of forage-based systems 6 (Figure 11-1) are often not considered. It is these benefits of forage-based systems in the tropics that need to be recognized 5 Because of their relative unimportance as emitters of GHGs, we consider monogastrics further only in passing. 6 In addition to perennial pastures for grazing, forages include herbaceous and woody plants, and perennial and short-lived forage crops for cut-and-carry. We use the term \"forage-based systems\" to include all systems that include forage plants as a component, including ley systems that include several years' cropping before returning to pasture, agropastoral systems, and rangelands (native grasslands and savannas). They all contain a substantial component of animal production. by the global community. We call this concept \"LivestockPlus\".In this chapter, we discuss the role of tropical forages in mitigating climate change. We focus on forage-based production systems in which forages have a multifunctional role, in contrast to feedlotbased systems. Sown tropical forages are mostly selections from undomesticated grass and legume species but can include genetically improved varieties. In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), cattle are raised largely on sown pastures; in West Africa, cattle typically graze native pastures; in tropical Asia, cut-and-carry systems are predominant; and in Eastern, Central, and Southern Africa, both grazing native pastures and cut-and-carry systems are common. Monogastrics are fed with a diverse range of materials, particularly by smallholders where locally produced feed is important.Sown forages also have a role in many systems to enhance production efficiency and contribute to other functions such as erosion control, soil improvement, restoration of degraded lands, and improving biodiversity.Livestock are a crucial component of livelihoods and food security of nearly 1 billion people in the developing world, contributing 40% of the global value of agricultural output. Livestock contribute 15% of total food energy, 25% of dietary protein, and some micronutrients that are not available from plants. Globally, four of the five agricultural commodities with the highest economic value are livestock-related; in order of value, these are milk, rice, and meat from cattle, pigs, and poultry. East and Southeast Asia and LAC show the largest increases in consumption of livestock products between 1961and 2005(FAO, 2009)). Consumption is expected to continue to increase (Delgado et al., 1999;Herrero et al., 2009).The livestock sector is the largest user of land resources, employing 3.4 billion hectares for grazing and 0.5 billion hectares for feed crops (Steinfeld et al., 2006), 30% of the ice-free terrestrial surface, and nearly 80% of all agricultural land. The share of grazing land in the overall land area is higher in developing countries than in developed countries (FAO, 2009). There are regional differences in the types of mixed crop-livestock systems (FAO, 2009). The temperate regions of Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, and the subhumid regions of tropical Africa, LAC, the Middle East, and parts of Southeast Asia have rainfed mixed-farming systems. Globally, they produce 48% of beef, 53% of milk, and 33% of mutton. Livestock are mostly fed grass, crop residues, and crop byproducts (Herrero et al., 2010). Irrigated mixed systems in areas of high population density in East and South Asia provide about one third of the world's pork, mutton, and milk, and one fifth of its beef.Of the world's total, developing countries produce about 50% of beef, 41% of milk, 72% of mutton, 59% of pork, and 53% of poultry. Crop-livestock systems produce 50% of global cereals; on current trends, feed grain may amount to more than 40% of global cereal use by 2050, mainly utilized in industrial pig and poultry production (Herrero et al., 2009(Herrero et al., , 2010)).The demand for livestock products must be reconciled with the environmental impacts of livestock. The aim should be greater eco-efficiency, i.e., highly productive forage-based systems with a small ecological footprint that are economically sustainable and socially equitable (CIAT, 2009;Keating et al., 2010). Although tropical agriculture contributes to GHG emissions, it can also mitigate climate change by reducing emissions (abatements) and absorbing GHGs (Rosegrant et al., 2008). In the remainder of this chapter, we focus on the role of sown forages in mitigating the contribution of tropical agriculture to climate change.Productivity, profitability, and environmental impacts of land used for forages are interrelated. The extent of land degradation influences the potential of forages to mitigate climate change, because degradation reduces the potential to sequester carbon and is difficult to reverse (Lal, 2010). Heerink et al. (2001) estimate that 35% of all land in Asia, 45% in South America, 75% in Central America, and 65% in sub-Saharan Africa is in various stages of degradation, 7 largely due to overuse and overgrazing. Globally, 20% of the world's pasture and grasslands are degraded (FAO, 2009), reaching 50% in tropical Brazil (Boddey et al., 2004;Cederberg et al., 2009), up to 60% in Central America (Szott et al., 2000), and as high as 73% in dry areas (UNEP, 2004). Many tropical forages are well adapted to marginal environments (Peters et al., 2001) and have the capacity to reverse degradation and enhance soil fertility (Fisher et al., 1997;Guimarães et al., 2004;Rao et al,. 2004;Amézquita et al., 2007;Ayarza et al., 2007).There are five strategies to reduce terrestrial GHG emissions (Scherr and Sthapit, 2009):(1) carbon-rich farming; (2) farming with perennials; (3) climate-friendly livestock systems; (4) conserving and restoring habitats; and (5) restoring watersheds and degraded pastures. Sown tropical forages can contribute directly to all five strategies. In particular, forages mitigate GHG emissions in three ways: (1) by sequestering atmospheric CO 2 ; 8 (2) by reducing ruminant CH 4 emissions per unit livestock product as compared to a lower quality rangeland/degraded pasture and/or offsetting emissions via carbon sequestration; and (3) by reducing N 2 O emissions. We discuss the role of sown forages in influencing the atmospheric concentrations of each of these three important GHGs. Additionally, through their role in intensification of production systems, improved tropical forages can reduce pressure on forests by producing more output from the same unit of land and thus contribute to abating emissions. This, however, requires policies to prevent expansion beyond existing agricultural land and thus protect forests and other natural reserves.Agriculture could offset up to 20% of total global CO 2 emissions (Smith et al., 2008). Eighty-nine percent of the potential climate change mitigation of agriculture comes from terrestrial carbon sequestration, 9% from CH 4 reduction, and 2% from reduction of N 2 O emissions, although this potential has largely been ignored in climate change discussions (Smith et al., 2007a(Smith et al., , 2008;;Scherr and Sthapit, 2009). Guo and Gifford (2002) analyzed the results from 74 papers on the effects of land use changes on soil carbon stocks. While soil carbon stocks declined in conversion from pastures to plantations and from forests or pastures to crops, they increased when converting annual crops to plantations, crops to pastures, crops to secondary forest, and, interestingly, forest to pastures (Table 11-1). Powers et al. (2011) reported increases in soil carbon stock when forest or savanna was converted to pastures (5-12% and 10-22%, respectively). Most of the above-ground carbon in vegetation is lost when forests are cleared for pastures, but soil carbon stocks are often the same over the long term or can increase substantially (Amézquita et al., 2010). Studies from the tropical rainforest of the Colombian Amazon region indicate that total carbon stocks are highest in native forests, followed by wellmanaged sown pastures and silvopastoral systems, with degraded pastures and degraded soils lowest (Gobbi et al., 2008;Amézquita et al., 2010). In contrast to annual crops, well-managed pastures maintain a cover of vegetation on the soil, which reduces fluctuations in soil temperature and adds organic matter (Brown and Lugo, 1990). Pastures in areas receiving 2000-3000 mm annual rainfall have a higher potential to sequester carbon than forests under similar climatic conditions (Guo and Gifford, 2002).Improved management of crops and grassland and restoration of degraded land and organic soils offer the greatest opportunities for mitigation of GHG emissions (Smith et al., 2008). Agriculture in 2030 could potentially offset 5500-6000 million metric tons (t) of CO 2 equivalents 9 per year, although lower levels could be economically viable depending on the market prices for carbon. The mitigation potential of improved grassland and cropland management is about 1350-1450 million t CO 2 equivalents/ year each, which, together with 1350 million t CO 2 equivalents/year for restoring cultivated organic soils, and 650 million t CO 2 equivalents/ year for restoring degraded land, is about 75% of the global biophysical mitigation potential (Smith et al., 2008). Sown forages, through their effects on livestock systems and cropping systems, can contribute to this potential in all of them.Regionally, Southeast Asia, South America, and East Asia have the highest total mitigation potentials, while South America and Africa have the potential for carbon sequestration from recuperating degraded grasslands (Conant et al., 2001;Conant and Paustian, 2002). Sown pastures of Brachiaria grasses have large potential for carbon sequestration in LAC (Thornton and Herrero, 2010), with Central America having particular potential for carbon sequestration because of higher levels of land degradation (Heerinck et al., 2001). Of the overall carbon mitigation potential, 29% will be from pasture land (Lal, 2010).Forages are also key components of minimumand no-till cropping systems in Brazil (Landers, 2007) and Colombia (Sanz et al., 2004). Conversion of native grassland to agropastoral systems in the Cerrado of Brazil and the Eastern Plains of Colombia, with adequate soil and crop management, generates benefits to both agriculture and the environment (Guimarães et al., 2004;Rondón et al., 2006;Fisher, 2009;Subbarao et al., 2009). For example, in contrast to annual crop species, most tropical forages are perennials and provide a permanent soil cover and thus prevent soil surface erosion. The latter is of particular importance as erosion also results in loss of soil organic matter, which is largely oxidized, releasing CO 2 to the atmosphere (Lal, 2010).Within a given grassland ecosystem, climatic and management-related factors interact to influence GHG balance over a specified period of time (Liebig et al., 2010). Management practices that reduce carbon loss and increase carbon sequestration in European grasslands include:(1) avoiding soil tillage and the conversion of grasslands to arable use; ( 2) moderately intensifying nutrient-poor permanent grasslands;(3) using light grazing instead of heavy grazing;(4) increasing the duration of grass leys; and(5) converting grass leys to grass-legume mixtures or to permanent grasslands (Soussana et al., 2010). The mitigation potential of tropical forage plants is favored by prostrate growth habits (e.g., Brachiaria humidicola, Arachis pintoi) but a precondition is proper pasture management.Optimal grazing management can enhance accrual of soil carbon (Guo and Gifford, 2002), highlighting the importance of grassland productivity in carbon sequestration. Sown tropical forages can sequester large amounts of carbon in soil, particularly in the deeper layers (Fisher et al., 1994(Fisher et al., , 1997(Fisher et al., , 2007;;Rao, 1998). The potential of sown forages under adequate pasture and animal management to sequester carbon is second only to forest (Fisher et al., 2007;Fisher, 2009). Soil organic carbon (SOC) levels under the Colombian Eastern Plains are as high as 268 t carbon/ha in the top 80 cm of soil under a B. humidicola-Arachis pintoi pasture, with 75% of the carbon found below 20 cm (Fisher et al., 1994).Compared with the native savanna, a sown grass pasture sequestered an additional 26 t carbon/ha in 5 years, increasing 2.7-fold with an associated legume (Fisher et al., 1994). Unlike the carbon accumulated in most other systems, which is rarely deeper than 20 cm, carbon accumulated in the deeper soil layers is likely to have long residence times, even if it is not truly sequestered (i.e., it is not physically protected or chemically inert). It is also likely to be unaffected in any cropping phase that there might be in mixed crop-pasture systems (Fisher et al., 1994). Pasture in Bahia, Brazil, sequestered half as much carbon as the Colombian Eastern Plains, probably due to seasonally lower temperatures that limit net primary productivity (Fisher et al., 2007). It should be noted, however, that there is discussion in the literature on the potential of carbon sequestration of pastures and the interactions with a particular environment and intensity of degradation (e.g., Conant et al., 2001;da Silva et al., 2004).Globally, agroforestry systems show lower potential for carbon sequestration than do croplands under improved management, grazing land and livestock, and restoration of degraded lands (Smith et al., 2008). Above-ground carbon stock is usually higher in land use systems that include trees, however, and planting trees may also increase soil carbon sequestration (Smith et al., 2007b). We suggest that the inclusion of trees in agroforestry and agrosilvopastoral systems could further enhance the overall efficiency of crop-livestock systems (Fujisaka et al., 1998; see also Chapter 4 of this volume).It is expensive to measure carbon sequestration in soil with the current methods of soil sampling, hence simple indicators (proxies) are needed to allow for transparent consolidation over larger areas (Fisher, 2009). FAO has developed an ex-ante carbon calculator (Bernoux et al., 2010;FAO, 2010b), which shows promise. The carbon calculator assumes that renovated pastures would increase soil carbon stock by 17% in natural pastures, 21% in moderately degraded pastures, and 67% in severely degraded pastures. Based on this, and assuming that there are 78 million hectares of moderately degraded sown pastures in Brazil, renovating them with improved and highly productive sown forages would sequester on average 146 million t CO 2 equivalents/year over a period of 14 years (S. Graefe and G. Hyman, unpublished data). This is equivalents to 18.6 years of current emissions of diesel vehicles in Brazil.Emissions of CH 4 from enteric fermentation in ruminants account for 25% of GHG emissions from livestock (Thornton and Herrero, 2010) (Table 11-2), and is the largest single-source agricultural emission. Although there are differences among regions and production systems (Herrero et al., 2008), increasing animal productivity per unit of CH 4 emitted can be a viable strategy for reducing GHG emissions from livestock production. Diets with high digestibility and high energy and high protein concentrations produce less CH 4 per unit of livestock product. Improving these characteristics in forages could reduce CH 4 emissions from beef production by 15-30% (Gurian-Sherman, 2011). Legumes contain less structural carbohydrates and more condensed tannins than does grass, and adding legumes to the diet can further reduce CH 4 emissions per unit of meat or milk produced (Woodward et al., 2004;Waghorn and Clark 2004). In addition to reducing GHG emissions, intensification of animal production using highyielding sown forages requires fewer animals for the same output, and reduces pressure on land and water resources if managed appropriately (LivestockPlus). Feeding crop residues and byproducts is also an option to reduce GHG. The use of this highly digestible crop \"waste\" has a greater impact on both CH 4 and CO 2 emissions than grain supplements (Thornton and Herrero, 2010). Integrating tropical forages with crops can enhance soil fertility as well as the quality and quantity of crop residues, giving higher system efficiency (Ayarza et al., 2007). There are trade-offs between crop and livestock production, however, such as using forages either as animal feed or as green manure (Douxchamps et al., 2012).Emissions of CH 4 can be reduced by dietary additives (Smith et al., 2008), including oils (Henry and Eckard, 2009), feeding silage instead of hay (Benchaar et al., 2001), and by manipulating the rumen flora (Henry and Eckard, 2009). While legumes can help to reduce GHG production, there are trade-offs. Condensed tannins from legumes can reduce CH 4 production in ruminants (Woodward et al., 2001), but they often also reduce animal performance mostly by reducing feed digestibility (Woodward et al., 2001;Waghorn et al., 2002;Tavendale et al., 2005;Tiemann et al., 2008). Condensed tannins in tropical legumes are highly reactive and are variable in quantity and quality, which remains a challenge to their use to reduce CH 4 production by ruminants. If a tropical species with the typically good agronomic performance on poor soils of tanniniferous shrub legumes, combined with a reduction of ruminal CH 4 production without inhibiting forage digestibility and protein availability (as found for some temperate Lotus species), were to be identified, it could have large beneficial impact on climate-friendly livestock production.While tro pospheric OH (hydroxyl radical) is the largest sink, aerobic soils are the second largest global sink for tropospheric CH 4 , removing methane equal to 10-15% of global emissions (Reeburgh et al., 1993;IPCC, 1995). In a comparison of arable land with woodland and grassland, the methane oxidation rate of grassland was about 10 times that of arable land and equal to that of woodland in temperate conditions (Willison et al., 1997). Especially during the dry season, abandoned tropical pastures are strong sinks of CH 4 , consuming even more than secondary and some primary forests. This general ability depends largely on grazing management and is inhibited, for example, if gas diffusion is restricted by soil compaction through trampling (Mosier et al., 2004), so that the potential of pastures as CH 4 sinks must take account of the livestock production system under consideration.Nitrification is a key process in the global nitrogen cycle. It generates nitrate through microbial activity and is primarily responsible for the loss of soil and applied nitrogen via leaching and denitrification (Subbarao et al., 2006). In agricultural systems,  1978). Nearly 17 million t of nitrogen is currently emitted to the atmosphere as N 2 O each year (Galloway et al., 2008;Schlesinger, 2009). By 2100, global N 2 O emissions are projected to be four times the current level, due largely to increasing use of nitrogen fertilizers (Galloway et al., 2008;Burney et al., 2010;Kahrl et al., 2010). Up to 70% of the nitrogen applied as fertilizer in intensive cereal-production systems is lost following rapid nitrification (Raun and Johnson, 1999). Controlling nitrification in agricultural systems is thus critical to reduce both N 2 O emissions and nitrate contamination of water bodies (Subbarao et al., 2012).Tropical forages, in particular Brachiaria spp., suppress activity of nitrifying bacteria by releasing inhibitors from roots and therefore reduce soil nitrification (Sylvester-Bradley et al., 1988;Subbarao et al., 2009) in a process called biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) (Subbarao et al., 2007(Subbarao et al., , 2009)). There is a wide range in the BNI ability of the root systems of tropical forage grasses and cereal and legume crops (Subbarao et al., 2007). Brachiaria humidicola and B. decumbens, both of which are well adapted to the low-nitrogen soils of South American savannas (Miles et al., 2004), showed the greatest BNI-capacity among the tropical grasses tested (Subbarao et al., 2007). In contrast, the major cereals (rice, wheat, and maize) have little BNI capacity (Subbarao et al., 2007). The major nitrification inhibitor in Brachiaria forage grasses is brachialactone, a cyclic diterpene (Subbarao et al., 2009).Brachiaria humidicola also has substantial genotypic variation for BNI. The ongoing Brachiaria breeding program at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), conducted in collaboration with the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS), plans to identify genetic markers associated with BNI ability in crosses between apomictic and sexual accessions of B. humidicola. Field studies in CIAT headquarters (Cali, Colombia), on a Mollisol, indicated a 90% decrease in the oxidation rates of soil NH 4 + in B. humidicola plots, largely due to low nitrifier populations. N 2 O emissions were also suppressed by more than 90% in field plots with B. humidicola compared with the emissions from plots planted to soybean, which lacks BNI ability (Figure 11-2). Grasses with greater BNI ability in their roots emitted proportionally less N 2 O in a field experiment over 3 years (Subbarao et al., 2009). Tropical forage grasses with high BNI ability and perennial growth habit favor the accumulation of sufficient inhibitors to suppress soil bacterial nitrifier activity. The pasture component in an agropastoral rotational system could provide the required BNI-activity to improve the nitrogen-economy of annual crops that follow the pasture phase. For example, Brachiaria pastures that have high BNI ability could be rotated with annual crops such as maize or upland rice, which have low or very low BNI ability but receive substantial nitrogen fertilizer. The inhibitors accumulated in the soil in the pasture phase would increase the recovery of applied fertilizer nitrogen, which could lead to improvement in the overall nitrogen economy of the system (Subbarao et al., 2012).Potential differences in N 2 O emissions exist among plant species in general and among pasture plants in particular (Subbarao et al., 2009). These differences are not considered by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in their estimates of projected N 2 O emissions from agricultural systems (Stehfest and Bouwman, 2006). For example, there are more than 250 million hectares of South American savannas occupied by native grasses or by sown grasses such as Brachiaria spp. (Fisher et al., 1994) that have moderate to high BNI ability; these areas emit markedly lower amounts of N 2 O than if they were planted to field crops. If a substantial area of these savannas were to be converted to soybean and maize, which lack BNI ability, there would be profound implications for N 2 O emissions (Subbarao et al., 2009). The impact of such a conversion could be reduced if an adequate BNI ability were to be incorporated into the system, such as by integrating a high-BNI pasture phase into the system (Ayarza et al., 2007). These systems, however, must remain highly productive to meet the ever increasing demands for food from a growing world population, a challenging task for researchers, policy makers, and farmers alike.Animal urine and manure are also major sources of N 2 O. One way in which N 2 O emissions from urine may be reduced is by increasing the content of hippuric acid in the urine, as demonstrated in laboratory trials (Bertram et al., 2009). The effect could not, however, be replicated in the field (Clough et al., 2009). Phenolic compounds of tropical forages can cause a shift in the nitrogen excretion in urine towards hippuric acid (Lowry et al., 1993). Grazing management may also affect N 2 O emissions from pasture; for example, in Inner-Mongolia, increasing stocking rates of sheep reduced N 2 O emissions compared with those from ungrazed pasture (Wolf et al., 2010). However, there are no comparable data from the tropics, an obvious research gap.Microbes such as methanogenic archeae, methanotrophs, nitrifiers, and denitrifiers are important in both the formation and the oxidation of GHGs in natural and agricultural systems. These microbes interact closely, especially in the soil, and possibly also in the rumen (Mitsumori et al., 2002;Kajikawa et al., 2003). It is therefore possible that nitrification inhibition might also inhibit the desirable oxidation of methane in soils (Bronson and Mosier, 1994); as demonstrated by Yue et al. (2005). A possible explanation is that some methanotrophs produce nitrous oxide (Lee et al., 2009) through various biochemical pathways (Powlson et al., 1997). Because of the radiative forcing difference between CH 4 and N 2 O (Forster et al., 2007), reciprocal effects should always be considered and studied in a holistic mitigation concept.Land use change and leakage (i.e., the effects of reducing an activity in one location but increasing it in another) affect the contribution of agriculture to GHG emissions and strategies are needed to mitigate these. Wassenaar et al. (2007), using a novel approach to project the spatial trends of deforestation for the neotropics from 2000 to 2010, concluded that livestock production causes deforestation, since it is the main land use after clearing the forest. They also concluded that livestock production is to some extent responsible for the expansion of cropland into forest. Using the Amazon region as an example, however, the intensification of pastures using sown forages could just as well reduce deforestation by reducing pressure on land through increased efficiency of livestock production (higher livestock output per unit of land). But higher efficiency also increases the productivity of livestock operations, which could prompt further deforestation (White et al., 1999;Kaimowitz and Angelsen, 2008). Pasture establishment is also often used in conjunction with expansion of soybean production (i.e., a pasture phase employed after deforestation, which then is succeeded by soybean cultivation) further increasing pressure on forests (Hecht, 2005). In summary, it is not clear what effect the intensification of livestock production based on improved forages would have on deforestation, and any effects would also depend on policy interventions (e.g., White et al., 1999;Steinfeld and Gerber, 2010).Life-cycle analysis (LCA) has been used recently to analyze the implications of system intensification for GHG emissions. To assess the net abatement potential of each strategy, it must be subjected to whole-farm systems modeling and a full LCA, to ensure that a reduction in emissions at one point does not stimulate higher emissions elsewhere in the production system (Eckard et al., 2010). Peters et al. (2010) and Pelletier et al. (2010) have discussed the case for reducing emissions through systems with higher feed-conversion efficiency such as feedlots. Most studies assess emissions only (Cederberg et al., 2009;Gerber et al., 2010;Peters et al., 2010), however, and do not consider the positive effects of mechanisms such as carbon sequestration and BNI from pastures. Similarly, the majority of GHG balances assume equilibrium conditions in SOC in established systems (Pelletier et al., 2010).Increasing the digestibility of cattle rations by feeding grains and whole-plant silage from maize does mitigate CH 4 emissions, but the loss of SOC and the loss of carbon sequestration potential caused by plowing grassland to grow maize are much larger than the mitigation obtained by feeding more maize (Vellinga and Hoving, 2011). A sensitivity analysis in the USA that compared the total GHG balance in intensified grazing systems, including SOC sequestration, with that of feedlot-finished beef found that pasture-fed beef produced 15% less net GHG (Pelletier et al., 2010). This supports our analysis of the mitigation potential of forages through carbon sequestration outlined above.Where the positive and negative impacts of technology on land use are closely related, and in view of the global implications (Foley et al., 2005), it is useful that technology options be combined with decision-support tools. The aim is to foster policies with a minimum ecological footprint, such as the conservation of forests (Szott et al., 2000;Neidhardt and Campos-Monteros, 2009), to reduce land degradation and to maintain vital ecosystem services. Avoiding land clearance in the Amazon, Central America, and the Caribbean regions could save GHG emissions of 1.8 billion t CO 2 equivalents/year (Vosti et al., 2011). Increasing the eco-efficiency 10 of agriculture in these regions, in which land is often degraded, may have the largest effect on mitigation of GHGs, through the combined effects of avoiding deforestation and realizing the land's mitigation potential.Options to mitigate agricultural GHGs are cost competitive with options to mitigate GHGs from other sources such as energy, transportation, and forestry (Smith et al., 2007a). However, these options have not received adequate attention in the climate change negotiations. Benefit schemes are difficult to implement in terms of accurate measurements of emissions and uptakes, and the definition of appropriate and equitable funding schemes. Curbing deforestation, reforestation, and payments for improved carbon management are among the most promising strategies (Stern, 2006). Important elements in agriculture include management of rice paddy, reduced tillage, perennial land covers, restoration of degraded lands, and improved livestock and manure management (Scherr and Sthapit, 2009;The World Bank, 2010). Selecting or breeding a new generation of crops and forages that will reduce GHG emissions is a paradigm shift in agriculture that offers the possibility of securing crop and livestock productivity while at the same time moderating the effect of agriculture on climate change (Kell, 2011;Philippot and Hallin, 2011). The barriers to realizing the mitigation potential of agriculture include: (1) lack of permanence of sequestered carbon; (2) the requirement for additionality, i.e., the net reduction of GHG emissions should be supplemental to ongoing activities; (3) uncertainty, in terms of the complex biological and ecological processes and seasonal/ annual variability; and (4) leakage, discussed above (Smith et al., 2007b).Further biophysical research is needed to assess the mitigation potential of tropical forages in crop-livestock systems (including other interventions such as including trees in the production system, and crop management). This needs to be combined with assessment of economic feasibility of mitigation options and socio-economic modeling to target policy support. Another level of complexity is the assessment of co-benefits, especially win-win situations. For example: (1) Increased SOC enhances soil quality and pasture productivity, which frees other areas for alternative production and conservation, although explicit policy regulation may be needed to avoid negative outcomes such as deforestation; (2) Reduced soil nitrification of sown pastures with high BNI capacity can improve the recovery of applied nitrogen by subsequent cereal crops in agropastoral systems; and (3) Increased belowand above-ground biodiversity has both landscape and sociocultural implications (Smith et al., 2007b;Herrero et al., 2009;Anderson and Gundel, 2011). Linking complementary farming systems in space and time, particularly specialist crop and livestock farms, for nutrient and, to a lesser extent, feed exchanges, also increases eco-efficiency in land management (Wilkins, 2008).It is expensive to measure soil carbon sequestration and CH 4 and N 2 O balances over broad areas. We need tools that allow us to estimate GHG fluxes accurately, supported by cost-effective measurements and modeling techniques (The World Bank, 2010). Promising approaches include satellite imaging, combined with airborne light detection and ranging and field plots for carbon assessment (Asner et al., 2010), together with methods such as the FAO Ex Ante Appraisal Carbon-balance Tool (EX-ACT) (Bernoux et al., 2010;Branca and Medeiros, 2010), but they need further development before they can be applied widely. We also need methodologies to assess the opportunity costs of land use change for smallholders to evaluate the impacts of management options on both livelihoods and the environment (White and Minang, 2010). The global climate change community has not yet broadly addressed N 2 O emissions, but they need to be included in the future in schemes to mitigate GHG emissions (Smith et al., 2007b).Because of their national, regional, and global mitigation potential, all forage-based systems (grasslands and pastures as well as forage production on croplands) should be included as potential components in negotiations of GHG emissions. If the mitigation potential of agriculture is to be realized, it should be included in schemes such as reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD), the clean development mechanism (CDM), and expanded REDD schemes such as carbon in agriculture, forestry, and other land uses. If the cost of establishing forage-based systems and agroforestry systems, for instance, could be met through payment for environmental services (PES) via REDD program financing, we could anticipate a triple-win situation combining social, economic, and environmental benefits. Direct-cost recovery with minimum time lags in the payment scheme is a critical requirement for smallholders with limited resources and in risky production environments (The World Bank, 2010).Market differentiation and price premiums would be feasible by combining direct payment with certification for climate-smart forage-based systems such as livestock and crop production based on improved forages and better utilization of crop residues. If so, higher returns to smallholder farmers would be possible, providing both improved equity and mitigation of GHG emissions. It is essential, however, that national agricultural policies are aligned with global environmental objectives (Steinfeld and Gerber, 2010).Livestock production is a large source of GHG emissions, and reducing meat consumption or changing from ruminant to non-ruminant meat could have a number of environmental benefits (Stehfest et al., 2009;Wirsenius et al., 2010). However, in many publications, analysis is restricted to the emissions from livestock production without mentioning compensating factors such as potential for carbon sequestration and reducing N 2 O emissions. For example, Wirsenius et al. (2010) suggest substituting beef with pork and poultry, due to their higher feed conversion efficiency. We argue, however, that comparing GHG emissions from livestock production in the tropics with other systems must be based on LCA analysis and that the potential contribution of forages to mitigation must be taken into account. Assessments of grain-based feedlots must account for the whole GHG cost of the feed supplied and take into account that forages are often produced on land less suitable for crop production (Schultze- Kraft and Peters, 1997;Peters et al., 2001). As we describe here, improved grassland management and intensification of forage-based systems (through improved resource use efficiency, improved carbon sequestration, and reduced emissions due to BNI) are key to mitigating GHG emissions from livestock production, and will deliver other co-benefits such as resource conservation, reduced costs, and social and cultural benefits.Due to the importance of forage-based systems, including feed production on cropland, we argue that the international community should give much greater attention to systems based on sown forages. At least 70% of agricultural land is covered by these systems and they impact GHG emissions, resource use efficiency, and resource degradation. Sown forages have substantial potential for carbon sequestration and for reducing CH 4 and N 2 O emissions per unit livestock produced. Because of their multipurpose role (feed, green manure, soil improvement, erosion control, and biodiversity), sown-foragebased systems may be among the most promising means of mitigating the impacts of agriculture on GHG emissions (Smith et al., 2008). We estimate that sown forages alone could contribute 60-80% of the total potential carbon sequestration on agricultural lands through their contribution to the management of crop and grazing land and to the restoration of degraded lands and cultivated organic soils. IPCC (2007) reports that improving management of grazing land has the greatest mitigation potential of all agricultural interventions, over 1.5 billion t CO 2 equivalents/year, sufficient to offset all the emissions from livestock production. In view of the extent of pasture areas and the dominance of crop-livestock systems in land use, we suggest that no strategy for mitigating global climate change can be comprehensive or successful if it fails to recognize the importance of forage-based systems. Sown forages can also be integrated into agroforestry systems to enhance their eco-efficiency, not only to mitigate GHG emissions but to optimize resource use equitably and profitably.Reduced consumption of animal products may be desirable in rich countries, but from a nutritional and sociocultural standpoint is probably not an option for countries where consumption is currently low (Herrero et al., 2009;Steinfeld and Gerber, 2010;Anderson and Gundel, 2011). Failing to take advantage of the mitigation potential of sown forages may leave 50 -80% of the mitigation potential of agriculture untapped. It is therefore essential to: (1) further increase knowledge about the quantitative contribution of different processes such as carbon sequestration, BNI, reduced GHG emissions per unit of livestock produced, and co-benefits in terms of resource use efficiency (e.g., land, water, and nutrients);(2) refine comprehensive assessment of complex systems by using approaches such as LCA;(3) integrate these results into more manageable monitoring systems using proxies (parameters representative of the actual situation that can be collected at relatively low financial and time cost to allow for regular revisions); (4) develop policy and financial incentives for livestock and crop producers via direct PES, e.g., to enhance efficiency of crop-livestock systems through prefinancing planting of improved forages and establishing agroforestry systems; and (5) provide additional market incentives for producers/ farming communities through certification of climate-and resource-friendly livestock production.The majority of GHG emissions originate in the 151 non-Annex 1 countries (less industrialized countries without binding Kyoto Protocol obligations to reduce emissions) where growth of livestock production is expected to be particularly high (Gerber et al., 2010). It is essential to develop a climate policy framework that provides incentives for these countries to participate (Gerber et al., 2010;Anderson and Gundel, 2011). To address issues of leakage, incentives need to be accompanied by policy regulations to avoid deforestation and conversion of fragile lands into croplands.Further research to enhance eco-efficiency of agricultural systems should focus on the following actions to realize the potential of sown tropical forages to mitigate GHG emissions: In summary, we consider that well-managed tropical forage-based systems can contribute not only to improved livelihoods of the rural poor in the tropics, but also to the overall quality of the environment. With a global community increasingly cognizant of the environmental implications of agriculture, forage-based systems should figure prominently in future innovative agricultural systems. We hope that this paper stimulates intensive discussion that leads to further investment from donors for research on improving eco-efficiency of forage-based livestock production in the tropics.This chapter highlights the importance of fruits and vegetables in combating world malnutrition. We examine the major constraints to production and consumption in the developing world, and various eco-efficient approaches to enhancing production efficiency and produce quality and safety. We stress the value of improved, resilient germplasm, safer pest and disease management practices, more appropriate water and soil fertility management, and ways in which technology dissemination might be made more effective. The chapter includes examples of eco-efficient interventions in production of fruits and vegetables, the risks of such interventions and opportunities to enhance their impact, and key lessons for research, development, and policy.Fruits and vegetables are highly nutrient dense. They contain vitamins, fiber, minerals, antioxidants, and other micronutrients essential for human health, and thus are excellent food sources to combat malnutrition. Micronutrient malnutrition, resulting from an imbalanced diet, is prevalent globally regardless of age, location, or income category, and is often the main cause of various debilitating chronic and fatal diseases. While 925 million people currently suffer from hunger, approximately 1.6 billion are malnourished (FAO, 2010;WHO, 2011). This high prevalence of micronutrient malnutrition is mainly the result of an insufficient intake of vitamins and minerals (WHO and FAO, 2006). Among the poor, the cause of malnutrition can be linked directly to their limited access to adequate amounts of appropriate food to satisfy their nutritional requirements for good health. Examples of the effects of malnutrition that are common in developing countries include maternal mortality and premature birth caused by iron deficiency; and night blindness and an impaired immune system caused by insufficient vitamin A. Being malnourished does not necessarily mean hungry, as a result of consuming excess carbohydrates and fats, thus bringing the accompanying medical effects of high body mass index. In the developed world, malnutrition can be attributed to an unwise diet choice and a pronounced tendency to consume an excessive amount of fats, carbohydrates, and protein. Obesity (which often leads to diabetes) and consequent cardiovascular and other chronic diseases are the prime silent manifestations of malnutrition caused by inappropriate consumption, in both developing and developed countries. The resulting cost to national health services is very large and growing steadily.More investment is needed to increase availability and consumption of fruits and vegetables worldwide if we are to both feed the world and also nourish its population to the level needed to assure good health, and thus deliver improved livelihoods. Under-consumption of fruits and vegetables is among the top 10 risk factors leading to micronutrient malnutrition and is associated with the prevalence of chronic noncommunicable diseases (Ezzati et al., 2002). Noncommunicable diseases such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and obesity may be the causes of a high proportion of untimely deaths, for example, in some African countries (Ganry, 2011). In these countries, the availability of fruits and vegetables is often far below the intake of 400 g/day per capita recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Currently the agricultural research community's main goal is to increase production of grains and other staple crops to feed a growing world population. However, for a development strategy to be effective and sustainable, it is necessary to ensure that both food and nutritional security are delivered simultaneously and at the same time the environment and enterprises in which production occurs are not chronically degraded.Fruits and vegetables can also fight hunger, malnutrition, and environmental degradation indirectly. Their high market value contributes to generating income through direct sales and added value, thus alleviating rural poverty and providing additional opportunities to purchase nutritious foods. Profitable fruit and vegetable production systems can take place even in smallholdings (due to limited economies of scale). Some of these crops can be grown with relatively low capital investment (Shackleton et al., 2009). Even with restricted but judicious inputs there can be quick returns to investment for the poor in both rural and urban areas. Moreover, investing in suitable inputs to prevent mining of soil nutrients and adoption of better land management practices have the potential to be extremely environmentally beneficial within a resource-poor farmer context. Fruit and vegetable production tends to be labor intensive and therefore provides employment and generates income across the community; it also empowers women, who often have a major role in fruit and vegetable value chains. Indigenous fruits and vegetables are regularly sold in local markets and, in some cases, can achieve a sufficient level of quality and consumer acceptance to permit commercial cultivation by smallholder farmers.Enhanced per-capita consumption of fruits and vegetables among all sectors of society would help fight malnutrition and poverty along the value chain from the field to the table. Fruit and vegetable enterprises need to ensure availability and affordability for consumers to maximize the benefits for both consumers and producers. Producers in developing countries have to overcome various constraints in sustaining sufficient product availability. These constraints include: lack of access to improved, superiorquality seeds; limited knowledge of effective production practices, particularly with regards to using available water resources efficiently; and ensuring that soil health is not compromised by either nutrient mining or excessive use of fertilizer. In addition, ineffective and harmful pest and disease management practices may threaten not just the profitability of the farm enterprises but the very health of farmers, families, consumers, and the surrounding environment.Climate uncertainty, manifested by unpredictable, harsh weather events, has exacerbated the constraints that smallholder farmers face. This includes increased pest and disease pressure, and the resulting challenge of producing residue-and contaminant-free products. In the case of fruit growers, for instance, increases in relative humidity that occur as a result of unpredictable rain near harvest carry the risk of fungal infections that become evident only after the fruit is sold to the markets. Temperature fluctuations are increasingly accompanied by changes of population dynamics in both pollinators and insect pests. For example, increases in temperatures have meant that insects such as the fruit fly (Anastrepha fraterculus) are now found where they were normally absent, such as areas where Andean blackberry (Rubus glaucus) is cultivated. Events like these have caught growers off guard and have resulted in loads of fruit being rejected at processing facilities (A. González 2010, pers. comm.). Unexpected rains may cause temporary flooding, which can have disastrous effects on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and many other crops.Most vegetables and some annual fruit species are particularly susceptible to drought, even when experienced for very short periods of time. Drought is especially challenging in highland landscapes, where irrigation is usually not available. Even with the use of irrigation, however, unexpected lack of water will cause severe losses.There are many opportunities for growing underutilized or indigenous fruit and vegetable species, which are often less susceptible to climatic events than introduced species. Unfortunately, historically there has been very little investment in research on the physiology and other attributes of these species despite the fact that they provide very tangible alternatives to the more widely grown crops in improving nutrition and income for the rural poor.As described in Chapter 2, eco-efficient agriculture aims to increase productivity while reducing associated negative environmental impacts. It must be profitable, competitive, sustainable, and resilient while meeting the economic, social, and environmental needs of the rural and urban poor. Producing enough food to assure both food and nutritional security for the global population while preserving or enhancing the environment and minimizing health risks requires more efficient and ecologically friendly production systems.An eco-efficient approach can be pursued and applied at each step, from seed production to postharvest value addition. These approaches could include ecologically appropriate practices in seed production and in the seedling nursery, utilization of cover crops that enhance mulching and fertilizer effectiveness, more efficient irrigation systems, pest and disease management techniques of low ecological risk, diversification of production systems, and efficient preharvest and postharvest management methods. The following sections describe some examples of eco-efficient production practices. Their practical application and research results are described in the case studies section.Improved, superior lines of fruits and vegetables are one affordable tool that smallholder horticultural producers can use to address the ever-increasing challenges of biotic and abiotic stresses linked to climatic changes (de la Peña and Hughes, 2007). Many wild relatives of cultivated varieties possess genes that make them more adaptable and tolerant to harsher environments in which they can thrive. For example, S. chilense, a wild relative of the cultivated tomato, is indigenous to the desert areas of northern Chile and is adapted to extreme aridity, soil salinity, and to low temperatures (Chetelat et al., 2009). Two wild nightshade species from the same region (S. sitiens and S. lycopersicoides) share such traits. Gene transfer from these wild species could facilitate the development of drought-and salt-tolerant traits in standard tomato varieties. The genetic factors that are responsible for these traits have been identified and efforts are being made to transfer them into cultivated tomato by hybridization and introgression.Unfortunately, the search for tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress is occurring mainly in highly commercial vegetables and temperate fruit species. The underutilized species, which are consumed and marketed by many families in developing countries, remain very much understudied and are at risk of being lost to deforestation and land use changes (Keatinge et al., 2010). Many indigenous vegetable species, such as amaranth (Amaranthus spp.), kangkong (Ipomoea aquatica), and Malabar spinach (Basella alba), are infested by very few pests and infected by only a few diseases. Thus they can thrive with very limited external production inputs. However, in the case of some of the underutilized fruit species, such as the Andean fruit species naranjilla or lulo (S. quitoense), resistance to biotic stresses (e.g., nematodes and root rot) has not been found. Naranjilla is economically important to smallholders in several Latin American countries, but is highly susceptible to many pests and diseases. A closely related species, S. hirtum, has fruits that are not appealing to consumers but has shown resistance to the main root nematode pest, Meloidogyne incognita. Solanum hirtum was used in hybridization programs in Colombia and a tri-hybrid variety has been released out of this cross (Bernal et al., 1998).Given the large potential diversity of fruits and vegetables, cultivation of traditional species adapted to different agroecological environments offers an opportunity to improve production and increase incomes for smallholders. Increased production and utilization of these traditional species need to be promoted. Expansion of the current cultivated crop range with indigenous species would not only enhance the resilience of these crop production systems but increase the diversity of fruits and vegetables available to consumers.The search for genes controlling those characteristics that can facilitate adaptation to changing ecological and climatic conditions is becoming urgent. Consequently, efforts to collect, conserve, and utilize genetic diversity are assuming critical importance. Collections of fruit and vegetable germplasm are important reserves of genes to confer pest and disease resistance, tolerance to flooding, improved nutritional content, longer shelf life, better yield and market quality, and other desirable traits. For example, screening of accessions from the genebank of the AVDRC -The World Vegetable Center has resulted in the identification of pepper (Capsicum annuum) lines tolerant to anthracnose (Colletotricum acutatum), cucumber lines resistant to powdery mildew (Podophaera xanthii), and pepper lines with resistance to aphids (Myzus persicae) and broad mites (Polyphagotarsonemus latus), among others.Unfortunately, no such intensive and targeted institutional efforts have taken place to search for genes of interest in tropical fruit collections. Efforts to conserve genetic resources of tropical fruits, if they exist within a country, tend to be diffused between the national research organizations, local universities, and local farmers. Screening of germplasm of Andean blackberry from the national collection held at the Colombian Corporation of Agricultural Research (Corpoica), resulted in identification of accessions tolerant to anthracnose (Kafuri, 2011). Many other examples of evaluation of national collections have shown that efforts should be devoted to characterizing existing collections rather than further collecting. There is a risk that valuable genes could be lost if the collections are not well maintained, and the collections may not represent the full genetic variability of the species.Horticultural production systems in the tropics and subtropics are often strongly affected by pests and diseases. As a result, sustainable production is not easily attainable without proper management strategies. Unfortunately, the majority of smallholder producers in developing countries have only limited access to technologies, information, financial resources, and professional services to deal with pest and disease problems. The pressure to maintain high levels of production pushes them towards misuse and/or overuse of pesticides. Some work among fruit and vegetable producers has shown that farmers often rely on calendar-based pesticide applications, often using mixtures of products and without a clear underlying rationale for their use. A study conducted by a non-governmental organization (NGO) in India showed that out of five internationally banned pesticides, four were found to be commonly in use or being tested on vegetables and fruits in New Delhi (Garg, 2011). In a participatory survey among passion fruit growers in Colombia, 47% of growers interviewed applied a mixture of pesticides up to four times a month rather than basing their applications on a damage threshold (Romero and González, 2010).Although larger enterprises often have some access to technologies and professional services that permit them to be more judicious in the chemicals and application rates used, this is not always the case. While large-scale producers may have better capacity to maintain the yields of their production systems, the pressure to satisfy the preferences of higher-end consumers for unblemished produce may still encourage them to overuse crop protection agrochemicals to assure market acceptability. When combined with inappropriate pesticide applications prior to harvest, this excessive use of inputs can result in considerable levels of harmful residues in the harvested produce. These residues have the potential to offset the nutritional benefits of vegetables and fruits. Not only does pesticide misuse affect consumers' health, it can also be hazardous to the health of farm workers if protective measures are not taken during application, which is often the case in developing countries. Overuse of agrochemicals can also dramatically increase production costs, eroding smallholder farmers' profits and thus their ability to create sustainable enterprises. The health of consumers and producers must not be jeopardized by harmful agricultural practices used to produce nutrient-laden fruits and vegetables.Studies show variable concentrations of chemical residues on and in fruits and vegetables. For example, 21 pesticide residues were detected in the cabbage samples at the farm-gate in Cape Coast, Ghana (Armah, 2011). Out of those, two were at exceedingly high levels (allenthrin at 9.57 mg/kg and phorate at 2.08 mg/kg) and three were potentially carcinogenic compounds although at toxicologically acceptable levels (cypermethrin at 0.31 mg/kg, permethrin at 0.15 mg/kg and parathion at 0.019 mg/kg). In Germany, the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL)-management authority for health-related consumer protection-reported that out of 65% passion fruit samples containing pesticides residues, 35% were above the acceptable levels (BVL, 2008). When pesticides are used appropriately, their residues in harvested crops are below maximum residue levels (MRLs)-the maximum concentrations legally permitted in or on food commodities entering a country-and the crops are considered to be toxicologically acceptable. Bayoumi et al. (2006) compared chemical residues in cucumbers sprayed only once, as recommended by the product label, with those on cucumbers that received numerous applications, following the growers' practices. The results indicated that the numerous applications resulted in pesticide residues above the MRLs. Measurement of pesticide residues is mandatory only for fruits and vegetables exported from their country of origin, in order to comply with importing country regulations. However, having little or no pesticides in fruits and vegetables is equally important for domestic consumers.The ability of fruit and vegetable cropping systems in developing countries to tolerate, and adapt to, climate uncertainty will undoubtedly determine their viability in the future (FAO, 2001). Researchers are developing technologies to help smallholder farms and farmers be more resilient to the increasing frequency and intensity of biotic and abiotic stresses associated with climate change. As smallholder farmers are usually resource limited, these technologies must be affordable, simple to use, and accessible. Integrated pest and disease management (IPM) is one environmentally sound approach to manage biotic stresses in fruit and vegetable production systems. IPM practices enhance the role of natural enemies, of plant defense systems, and of environmental factors to reduce pest and disease incidence in a sustainable way. Should chemical inputs be deemed necessary, the selection of appropriate chemicals and the dosage and frequency at which they are applied must be done with careful consideration for the safety of the environment and human health, and to minimize negative impacts on the various interacting pest and disease management components. IPM not only provides a safer method to manage pests and diseases but also often reduces input costs due to the more judicious use of pesticides.Informed soil and water management is an essential feature of eco-efficient systems. Failure to address such issues in a timely fashion will surely compromise system sustainability. Microirrigation systems, such as drip irrigation, can increase crop productivity per unit of water used compared with less-efficient irrigation systems, and are now affordable for poor farmers. In many arid or semi-arid locations, such systems are the only solution, simply because there is too little water available to use less-efficient systems. Nevertheless, many smallholder farmers are still unfamiliar with the concept and practicality of micro-irrigation techniques. Access to these technologies in some areas is still fairly limited, making it even harder to adopt and, where necessary, to adjust the technology to meet local, specific requirements.Because drip irrigation avoids prolonged direct contact between the water and the upper part of the plants, it may also minimize the spread of soil-borne microbial contamination to fruits and leafy vegetables. Using the same logic, use of grey water for irrigation may be safer when applied using micro-irrigation methods. However, recent occurrences of contaminated vegetables in Europe are putting these practices under the spotlight. Authorities and farmers should be aware of the danger of biological contamination in irrigation systems. Irrigation water runoff, which may contaminate groundwater and other water resources with fertilizer and pesticide residues, is also minimized in production systems using micro-irrigation.Smallholder fruit producers currently use multi-strata and multi-species production systems to boost water productivity. However, while the farmers have built on traditional knowledge, their production systems have been devised with very little technical information or access to new technologies. Research is needed to provide more-sound alternative production practices, such as the growing and incorporation of cover crops that can help boost water-holding capacity in fruit orchards as well as contribute to soil fertility and structure, which helps the main crop withstand climate extremes. These alternative production practices need research and validation and could prove very useful to reduce herbicide application, ensure soil water retention, mitigate the effects of short-term droughts, and control erosion in high rainfall areas. However, when selecting cover crops, farmers need to consider carefully the cover crops' effect on insect diversity, as this could increase the number of crop pests. Conversely, the cover crop selected could be beneficial to the biological control agents of the insect pests (Wood et al., 2011).In some vegetable species, the issues of flooding and the presence of soil-borne diseases may be addressed by using grafting. This practice has been used for centuries in temperate fruit production, and is becoming more prevalent in some tropical and subtropical fruits, e.g., avocado, citrus (Citrus spp.), mango, and soursop (Annona muricata). The scion (upper part) of superior cultivated crop plants can be grafted to rootstocks of plants with important characteristics such as resistance to flooding and/or certain soil-borne plant diseases. Grafting tomato or pepper varieties to bacterial-wilt-tolerant eggplant rootstocks can drastically reduce the incidence of the wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum. Floodtolerant eggplant rootstocks also enable farmers to produce tomatoes during rainy seasons in the tropics, ensuring production and availability of the crop all year round. Ralstonia solanacearum is also the causal agent of moko disease, which is responsible for severe losses in plantain in Latin America and the Caribbean. Unfortunately, no grafting is possible in monocotyledonous species like banana or plantain (Musa spp.) and thus alternative solutions are needed.Because fruits and vegetables are among the most input-responsive of crops, they are often cultivated in intensive production systems with high fertilizer input. This can lead to an overreliance on inorganic fertilizers to increase yields, but failure to apply enough nutrients will lead to mining of soil nutrients. An appropriate balance of input and offtake of nutrients is required for good soil health. Injudicious use of fertilizer may, however, contribute to the deterioration of soil quality. Accumulation of salts and nitrates from fertilizers in vegetable cropping systems in the North China Plain, for example, has resulted in reduced soil pH, higher electrical conductivity, and raised cadmium concentrations, contributing to rapid soil deterioration (Ju et al., 2007). Leaching of inorganic fertilizer into groundwater may also contaminate water sources used for human and animal consumption, possibly compromising human and animal health. There have been few attempts to investigate nutrient budgets of fruit and vegetable production, but such studies are required to optimize nutrient use and reduce the energy cost of fruit and vegetable production.Research is under way on the use of \"biochar\"-charcoal created by pyrolysis of plant biomass-as one alternative or adjuvant to fertilizer. Biochar may enhance soil physical, chemical, and biological properties. In contrast to the burning and natural decomposition of trees and agricultural matter, which releases a large amount of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, biochar sequesters carbon. Tropical soils are commonly low in organic matter and available nutrients due to high soil temperatures and severe leaching caused by high rainfall. Application of biochar to the soil may improve soil water retention, fertility, and overall quality, thus improving agricultural productivity.For agricultural research and development to achieve societal impact, it is imperative that the results are delivered to, disseminated among, and adopted by the target beneficiaries. Smallholder farmers need to be better advised on the availability of potentially affordable eco-efficient production systems, on what other alternatives may be available and appropriate, and what technologies are available for adoption or adaptation. Therefore, the participation of farmers, as ultimate users of new or adapted agricultural technologies, is crucial when designing research and development activities. An understanding of the constraints and opportunities that farmers encounter and of their assessment of the type of intervention they are willing to adopt and level of risk they are prepared to take is essential to ensure that any innovations are properly targeted to generate effective uptake. Because a sense of ownership is created through the active involvement of the intended users, the outputs of participatory research and development are more likely to be adopted by the target beneficiaries. Information, technical advice, and market price data can be effectively disseminated using popular information technology tools such as mobile phones and the internet. Videos posted on the internet can potentially reach thousands of growers and are cheap to make. Agricultural extension services also play an important role in technology dissemination. NGOs, when provided with appropriate technologies and information, can also deliver important support to smallholder farmers.This case study is based on Alam et al. (2006).Eggplant is very common in the South Asian diet. It is an economically important vegetable, and one of the very few that are available throughout the year at prices generally affordable to everyone. Its intensive cultivation provides a valuable source of income for farmers with small land holdings. Nutritionally, eggplant is a rich source of vitamins B6, C, and K. It also contains dietary minerals such as magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, and copper, as well as dietary fiber and folic acid. The eggplant fruit and shoot borer (Leucinodes orbonalis) causes damage to the plant by boring into and feeding on both the plant shoots and fruits. It can substantially reduce yields and marketable eggplant fruit harvest and can decrease farmer income significantly. Yield losses of up to 75% are reported in India.Eggplant farmers in Gujarat state, India, have attempted to control the borer by relying exclusively on pesticide sprays. As the borer gradually developed resistance to the commonly applied pesticides, farmers were forced to spray more and more frequently. They started spraying pesticides one month after transplanting and sprayed more than 40 times over the 5-to 6-month growing season. A study in Bangladesh has suggested that farmers may have sprayed up to 90 times during the winter cropping season and 110 times during the summer cropping season. This increased the cost of production significantly, reducing farmer net income.Most farmers adopted some personal protective measures while spraying, thus demonstrating their awareness that pesticides can be harmful to human health. Protective measures ranged from covering their faces with cloth to wearing full protective clothing and washing their hands with soap after spraying. The majority stated that they harvested their eggplants within 2 days of spraying, thus considerably increasing the exposure of both the farmer and the consumer to hazardous pesticide residues both by contact and in the diet. At these spray application intensity levels, pesticide residue can potentially contaminate local drinking water through runoff and seepage.Based on knowledge of the eggplant fruit and shoot borer's biological characteristics, the type of damage to the plants, the agronomy and production requirements of the eggplant, and the local environment; research trials were conducted to develop an intervention strategy to control the borer. This resulted in a simple and affordable IPM strategy that consisted of four parts:1. Sanitation of the planting area by judiciously disposing of eggplant crop residue from the previous season. 2. Prompt cutting and disposal of all damaged shoots and fruits throughout the growing season.3. Installation of traps baited with the borer sex pheromone at the first flush of flowering. 4. Withholding use of pesticides for as long as possible to allow survival and proliferation of native predators and parasitoids attacking the borer.This approach was simple to apply and very affordable since it withholds use of pesticides for as long as possible and only one component (the borer pheromone) needs to be purchased by the farmers.This IPM intervention technology was first disseminated in Jessore district of Bangladesh, in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh states of India, and in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. After the pilot project demonstrated the success of the intervention in reducing pest damage to an economically tolerable level, the technology was widely implemented in other intensive eggplant cultivation areas in South Asia. Distribution of extension brochures in local languages, publicity through print and electronic media coverage, local documentary screenings, and dramas encouraged widespread uptake and adoption by farmers.Subsequent yield losses caused by the eggplant fruit and shoot borer were reduced to 10-15% from an average 34-40%. A preliminary impact study conducted in Bangladesh at the end of the fourth year of the dissemination effort showed a drastic reduction of pesticide use-down from 90 applications to only 21 pesticide applications in the winter season and from 110 applications to 33 applications during the summer season. In India, interviews indicated that 146 farmers sprayed their eggplant crop more than 50 times in the growing season prior to the project. After the project had been implemented, only 27 farmers still continued this intensive spraying regime. The increased yield and decreased expenditure on pesticides resulted in a substantial increase in the farmer incomes. Farmers who adopted the technology achieved a mean net rate of return for eggplant cultivation estimated at 150-240% greater than that of those who continued with their old pesticide application regime.Another significant benefit from this intervention was the growth of small-and medium-sized enterprises selling the sex pheromone lure. At the beginning of the project, the sex pheromone was not commercially available. Within 3 years, three entrepreneurs had started selling the product, and at the end of the project there were nine such businesses in India alone. The combined sales of the two pioneering companies had tripled in two years. In turn, this also benefited the farmers as it further reduced the cost of eggplant production using the IPM technology. Other benefits from the success of the intervention, which were inferred rather than measured, were less pesticide residue on eggplants in the market, reduced health hazards faced by farmers as a result of spraying pesticides less frequently, and better environmental quality in the eggplant production areas.This case study is based on Muniyappa et al. (2002) andNRI (2008;2009). Tomato yellow leaf curl disease (TYLCD) first became a problem on tomato in the eastern Mediterranean region in the mid-1960s. The disease is caused by a begomovirus, Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), transmitted by the whitefly (Bemisia tabaci). The disease can cause total crop loss and is a serious constraint to tomato production globally. Because few varieties can withstand the disease, tomato farmers had no other choice than to control the whitefly with intensive pesticide use, thus encouraging pesticide misuse. The farmers' overreliance on pesticides has spurred the emergence of new, aggressive biotypes of whitefly that are highly mobile and resistant to pesticides. The spread of these more efficient whitefly biotypes with a wide host range has resulted in TYLCD gradually becoming a worldwide problem.Host plant resistance is the ideal cornerstone of control against TYLCD in tomato. It is cost effective and very simple to use as it is incorporated in the seeds that the farmer plants. Thus, research was conducted to develop tomato varieties resistant to the disease. The first resistance gene, Ty-1, conferred resistance to the then prevalent species of the virus and was identified in the wild tomato species, S. chilense. This was bred into commercial varieties, but it soon became apparent that this resistance was ineffective against some emerging species or variants of the virus in some regions. The search then began for other resistance genes. The Ty-2 resistance gene was identified in another wild tomato species, S. habrochaites, and since then a further three resistance genes (Ty-3, Ty-4, and Ty-5) have been identified in other wild species and used in various areas of the world. A 10-year breeding program involving international and advanced agricultural research institutions, the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India, and national agricultural research and development systems incorporated these resistance genes into domesticated lines. Three tomato varieties resistant to TYLCV were released in Karnataka state, India: 'Sankranthi', 'Nandhi', and 'Vybhav'. These varieties are high yielding, tolerate high ambient temperatures, and are also resistant to bacterial wilt caused by R. solanacearum.Farmers who grew the resistant varieties were able to harvest a much higher yield of tomatoes than non-adopters, even during the peak seasons of disease incidence. Their income levels were seven times as much as those of farmers who grew susceptible varieties; the extra income was used by the households to improve their diet, education, and health care.The resistant germplasm has now been distributed to more than 26 public and private institutions in 13 countries. Private seed companies have started to utilize the germplasm in their breeding programs to produce hybrids, encouraging the scaling out of the benefits of using TYLCV-resistance genes.In addition to planting resistant varieties, farmers were also trained in IPM and encouraged to use it in their production systems to protect the tomato crop from whitefly infestation without overuse of pesticides. Nets were erected over the tomato seedlings to protect them from the disease vectors. The reduced use of pesticides has enabled the development of value-added products such as tomato juice and sauces that are almost free of pesticide residues.This case study is based on CIAT (2010). Naranjilla (S. quitoense) is found in several countries in Latin America, but is economically important mainly in Colombia and Ecuador where more than 30,000 rural families rely on it for their income. It is grown between 700 and 2200 masl on small hillside plots. Naranjilla produces marketable fruits after just 8 months, and continues to produce fruits for 2 to 3 years depending on the health of the plants. The market price of fruits remains fairly stable throughout the year as there is little seasonality of production. Local and international demand is growing, but the crop can be difficult to grow without the use of pesticides, which can result in fruits contaminated with pesticide residues.Naranjilla is highly susceptible to fungal diseases and to pests, including nematodes and fruit borers. Farmers have managed the nematode problem by planting the crop in new plots cut from primary forest to provide land that is free of nematodes and soil-borne diseases that could infect the crop. The alternative is to apply large amounts of chemicals. Both Colombia and Ecuador have developed hybrid varieties of naranjilla with pest and disease resistance. In Ecuador, the interspecific hybrids 'INIAP Puyo' and 'INIAP Palora', developed by the country's National Autonomous Institute for Agricultural Research (INIAP), have been widely grown by smallholder farmers. However, their fruit quality, with respect to fruit size and aroma, is inferior to the almost-extinct local varieties.To address this problem, INIAP scientists searched for and identified disease resistance in closely related species and selected some resistant populations for use as rootstocks. Between 2006 and 2009, field experiments were used to test the performance of the preferred naranjilla variety grafted onto two related, highly compatible species. The resulting cultivar/ rootstock combination was named 'INIAP Quitoense 2009', and was distributed to farmers under an agreement with a commercial nursery. The field data showed a large significant increase in productivity when compared with the interspecific hybrids. In addition, the grafted plants require less chemical input because of their resistance to nematodes and diseases. More than 115 ha were planted with the grafted plants within a year, and farmers are receiving a greater economic return (290%) as a result of the greater consumer appeal of better flavor. As the fruits are less likely to be contaminated with toxic pesticides, there are also now possibilities to address potential export markets.This case study is based on Wyckhuys et al. (2010) and Rengifo et al. (2011).Throughout the developing world, minor tropical fruits generate income and employment opportunities, sustain local livelihoods, and constitute the basis for an emerging agroindustry. In stark contrast with major crops such as mango, pineapple, papaya (Carica papaya), avocado, banana, and citrus, minor fruits still receive comparatively little research attention. However, they are being consumed and traded to an increasing extent. In Colombia, 95% of minor fruit production is in the hands of smallholder farmers, who have few financial resources and are commonly bypassed by government extension programs where they exist. Despite bright market prospects for these fruit crops, stagnant yields, poor management systems, and phytosanitary impediments prevent smallholder producers from fully benefiting from current market opportunities. Phytosanitary issues affect minor fruit production in several ways: directly impacting yield, triggering costly pesticide applications, or subjecting the crops to strict quarantine restrictions on foreign markets.In Colombia, several passion fruit species (Passiflora spp.) are commercially exploited. Most are grown by small-scale, resource poor farmers in some of the country's most deprived and socially volatile rural areas. Lance flies (Diptera: Lonchaeidae) are key pests of these crops, but little information exists regarding their biology, ecology, and management. Incomplete information on the crop's susceptibility to Tephritid fruit flies has resulted in restrictions on exports of fresh fruits to the lucrative US market. Local farmers experience considerable yield losses due to pest attack. They lack the necessary knowledge to properly manage pests and suffer financial losses as a result of pest damage and infestation.A research consortium involving international organizations, local universities, and farmers' associations was formed to devise cost-effective, sustainable, and environmentally sound pest management options for local passion fruit producers. Field surveys from 2008 to 2010 in the major passion fruit production regions shed light on the pest complex, its population dynamics, and geographical infestation patterns. A broad complex of lance fly species was associated with the passion fruit crop, affecting flower buds, flowers, or fruits, and attaining regional infestation levels up to 40%. Repeated field surveys involving more than 200 farmers were unable to find evidence of attack by quarantinable pests such as Tephritid fruit flies. Field studies complemented with laboratory assays were used to investigate the host status of passion fruit crops with respect to one of the most notorious quarantine pests, the Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata). Until now, there is no evidence that purple passion fruit is a host for C. capitata and thus quarantine restrictions for this pest-fruit complex for the US market may have to be revised.Next, a national farmer survey was conducted to gain insights into the agroecological knowledge and pest management behavior of local farmers. Aside from the almost universal use of calendarbased insecticide sprays, farmers experimented to a considerable extent with bait traps and low-cost bait types. A few farmers also invented toxic bait sprays and sanitary practices. Using participatory research approaches in five farming communities, some of these local innovations were compared with scientifically defined management tools. Through this approach, farmers discovered for themselves that some of their management tactics were futile while others were much more effective and less costly than their current pesticide use patterns. Farmer experiences were documented using film, and these are currently being shown in multiple communities. Farmers are often eager to try out the practices that are promoted by their peers.Given continuing incidences of injudicious use of insecticides by farmers to manage pests in their crops and the unrelenting importance of pest problems to farm enterprises, research was conducted in collaboration with the National University of Colombia to quantify the susceptibility of passion fruit to attack by lance flies. Lance fly attack was mimicked by removing a different number of flower buds per plant, and the resultant crop yield was recorded. Results showed that passion fruit plants effectively compensated for flower bud loss and only showed sharp drops in yield at relatively high injury levels (K. Wyckhuys 2011, pers. comm.). These findings are currently being used to formulate threshold levels at which insecticide use is justified. This may help farmers move away from current pest management schemes that are costly and harmful to the environment and to the health of farmers and consumers alike.Through this research project, the partnering institutions elucidated the key pest complexes associated with passion fruit, clarified the crop's susceptibility to quarantinable pests, and laid the basis for IPM in the crop. The joint social and ecological project focus proved highly effective in identifying pest management alternatives and further promoting those with local smallholder farmers. In the meantime, the absence of Tephritid fruit flies in these crops could generate tangible market opportunities for smallholder passion fruit producers in Colombia and beyond.In summary, it appears that the examples of eco-efficient management interventions for poor farmers given in this paper can be profitable and sustainable. Nevertheless, such systems tend to be quite knowledge intensive and need to be well understood by farmers if their rate of adoption is to be sufficient to create wide-spread impact. Failure to address such knowledge needs may result in a second generation of problems; it is thus necessary to be sensitive to the additional risks that may be caused by such changes in management systems.One major challenge when using resistance traits to manage pests and diseases is how to ensure the durability of the resistance. The composition and structure of pest and disease populations can evolve rapidly. For example, viruses are notorious for having the ability to recombine and mutate into a wide range of highly diverse variants, which can overcome plant resistance genes and defense mechanisms. In many cases, the change is spurred by selection pressures created by the resistant germplasm. In the case of TYLCV, for example, it is becoming apparent that if only one or two Ty resistance genes are present in a tomato variety, there is a strong selection pressure for the virus to overcome the resistance. Thus the challenge to the breeders is to incorporate several disease-resistance genes in one variety to provide higher levels of resistance to a broad range of variants of the pathogen. Stacking or pyramiding resistance genes in various combinations reduces the possibility of encountering a pathogen species or strain that can overcome the combined resistances, thus improving the chances of durable resistance. The performance of resistant lines in different geographical locations demonstrates that different combinations of resistance genes need to be evaluated locally for durable resistance.An integrated approach, combining various methods to overcome constraints to fruit and vegetable production systems, can raise the resilience of eco-efficient interventions. The sustainability of TYLCD management could, for example, be enhanced by combining host plant resistance to begomoviruses with resistance to the virus vector and IPM practices to control the whitefly vector. Research is underway to attempt to pyramid genes for whitefly resistance into existing tomato lines with multiple Begomovirusresistance genes. Combinations of host plant resistance against these viruses and IPM against the whitefly vectors have been implemented successfully in various cropping systems and regions of the world: on tomato-based mixed cropping in Southeast Asia, on common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) production in Central America and the Caribbean, and on cassava (Manihot esculenta) and sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) production in sub-Saharan Africa (CIAT, 2008;Nweke, 2009).The IPM intervention to control eggplant fruit and shoot borer is relatively resilient because several methods are being used to disrupt the insect's lifecycle at various points. A potential risk to the impact of the intervention arises if the pests move from field to field or encroach from surrounding areas. An active network of community-based organizations and policy makers can provide substantial support by encouraging farmers across wider areas to implement agreed intervention practices. Pest and disease management over wide areas is important to ensure impact, as it has been demonstrated by using male sterility to control fruit flies in several countries.Although plant breeding can be used to confer pest and disease resistance in many species, efforts to breed for disease resistance in underutilized vegetables and tropical fruits are almost nonexistent. The focus on tropical fruit production and export in developing countries is relatively new (except in a few specific cases, such as banana and pineapple), and the appearance of these crops in international markets dates back only perhaps a generation or so. The visibility of these crops was based on the selection of particular germplasm that suddenly becomes the prevalent variety in a given region, as was the case for the Gros Michel banana. Multiple examples in avocado, mango, and citrus also exist. Development of pest and disease resistance by breeding programs is likely to have more immediate impact in species with short production cycles than in perennial tropical fruit species. Fruit consumers prefer particular varieties that combine particular color, shape, aroma, and flavor, combinations that are not easy to achieve quickly through breeding. Given the low current investment and research efforts in tropical fruits, it is wise to consider the expertise and knowledge of fruit growers as experimenters, rather than necessarily applying formulaic research-stationbased technologies.Participatory research should be promoted and supported to ensure that the science-based technologies are combined with farmers' and fruit growers' experiences and needs and hence deliver technologies that are adapted and adopted. It is also critical to stakeholders along the value chain, from seed or seedling production through to consumption and the health sector, as well as policy makers, national agricultural research and extension services, the private sector, NGOs, and community-based organizations, all of which influence the eventual uptake and potential success of new technologies.One of the key drivers of success of the TYLCV project in India was the active participation of the target beneficiaries from the start of the project (NRI, 2009). The disease had already been documented as a severe constraint to growers through the national media and farmers' fora. Farmers were consulted to identify their perceived constraints and their target markets and to describe the production and value chains in which they were involved. Farmers and other project participants developed a sense of ownership and pride in the new technology, resulting in increased levels of adoption and multiplying the positive impacts of the intervention. The private sector often has an extended sales and farmer network, and thereby has an advantage in the efficient dissemination of information and improved agricultural technologies. Private seed companies, for example, are important partners in increasing the availability and rate of dissemination of improved, high-quality vegetable seeds. Local communication networks and traditional methods of mass communication (especially rural radio) can also be utilized to promote dissemination of information about new technologies. Film and drama performances, mobile telephones, and other social communication media need to be harnessed to enhance the spread, uptake, and impact of eco-efficient technologies.A further major issue for fruit and vegetable products is that generally they are highly perishable. A recent study in Africa, India, and other developing countries indicated that postharvest losses in fruits and vegetables are probably in the range of 30-40%. The persistently high postharvest losses in the tropics are due to incorrect harvesting times, mishandling, poor packaging, lack of temperature management, difficulties in transportation to markets, and the tendency for horticultural crops to have a definite peak period of production. This production peak, which can saturate markets and decrease the market value of the crop, may force growers to abandon their produce before sale (Kitinoja, 2010). If postharvest losses are not reduced, they may wipe out the gains from eco-efficient production systems. Postharvest management and processing of fruits and vegetables are opportunities to reduce losses, add value, and thus increase net returns. Simple technologies, such as using ice to cool harvested leafy greens prior to transportation to the market and better packaging to reduce losses (e.g., modifiedatmosphere packaging), can add value and reduce risk along value chains. Careful targeting of products (e.g., juice, dried fruit, pickled products) helps ensure a consistent market for produce.There are numerous opportunities to enhance the productivity of fruits and vegetables using ecoefficient methods that will promote consumer safety, reduce risks to farmers, and ensure sustainable and profitable production systems. Building farmers' ability to navigate the future uncertainty of climate change is one of the main strategies in the development of climate-smart production systems. It is therefore imperative to actively involve the farmers themselves in the process. Farmers have a wealth of knowledge and many coping strategies. Their assessment of interventions needed, opportunities, and the level of risk they are willing to bear must be taken seriously in any research and development activity intended to benefit those farmers and their communities. Strong collaboration between the stakeholders along the whole value chain is essential to ensure the development of production systems that are competitive, resilient, and sustainable in the face of future uncertain conditions, be they environmental or economic.Engaging the private sector and development agencies effectively can have benefits for development-oriented research. Although many small-and medium-sized enterprises do not have the capacity to conduct their own research and development activities, they may be willing to provide some financial resources for research that will benefit themselves as well as the public domain. Likewise commercial seed companies can multiply and market fruit and vegetable varieties bred by the public sector, helping ensure that they reach as many farmers as possible. Large NGOs that seek adapted and effective technologies to accomplish their goals also can provide substantial funding for research and development activities on issues identified by themselves and their target communities. Such research and development activities are likely to address neglected and underutilized species that receive little research attention through more formal channels.Development of eco-efficient interventions in fruit and vegetable production will only be possible if dependable, long-term funding is available. Currently, however, research on vegetables and fruits is severely underfunded. Fruits and vegetables have a vital role in ensuring human health; policy makers worldwide should recognize this and provide resources for research and development efforts on behalf of poor farmers. They should be made aware of other benefits likely to be associated with a greater consumption of fruits and vegetables, such as reduced medical expenditures and improved environmental health. Climate-smart and ecologically sound fruit and vegetable production systems will be a key tool in helping smallholder, poor farmers to grow themselves permanently out of poverty, allowing them not only to feed themselves and their communities but also to better nourish the world. If the Millennium Development Goals are to be achieved, such products will need to be available and affordable worldwide. Much good knowledge is already available as a foundation on which to build but political commitment is essential if the world is to benefit from more eco-efficient fruit and vegetable production technologies and systems.(such as land, water, transport, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and animal feeds, among others), as well as financial instruments (such as affordable credit, crop insurance, stability of prices), could only be provided by the state. Also, the state should provide or subsidize services like buffer stocks, trade protection, insurance, and support for processing and marketing (Chang, 2009).However, this model led to many examples of waste, inefficiencies, and corruption, and by the 1970s there was a growing movement that promoted market-based economic development. This culminated in the implementation of structural adjustment programs by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (Kay, 2006). This new approach later became known as the \"Washington Consensus,\" a phrase coined in 1989 by economist John Williamson, then of the Institute for International Economics.The 1960s and 1970s also saw the emergence of environmental issues in public arenas, culminating in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) conference on \"Man and his Environment: A View towards Survival\" in 1969 and the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972 (Dunlap, 1991;Jones and Dunlap, 1992;Kraft and Vig, 2006).Early environmental policy frameworks focused on the conservation and rational use of natural resources. This approach aimed to rationally exploit resources as a means to ensure continuous production in an optimal way. Renewable natural resources were considered as unconnected fragments: forests as a source of wood; soil as a support to monoculture production or a deposit for wastes; and freshwater resources as input for various human, industrial, and agricultural uses, or as a place to dispose of contaminated water (Rodríguez and Martínez, 2009).By the mid-1970s, there was a growing recognition of the complex interrelations among organisms, and between organisms and non-living components in their environment. The right to a healthy environment for current and future generations (sustainable development), and the concept of environmental sustainability of productive activities and balance, including agriculture, gained more attention (Miller and Rothman, 1997). As Daly (1974) said, \"It is simply a strategy for good stewardship, for maintaining our spaceship and permitting it to die of old age rather than from the cancer of growthmania.\"The report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (commonly known as the \"Bruntland Commission\") Our Common Future (WCED, 1987) was a major milestone in promoting the broader concept of sustainable development at the global level, defining sustainable development as \"development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.\" The Commission laid the groundwork for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992; the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development; and Agenda 21, a comprehensive action plan for the UN system, governments, and others in every area in which human activities impact on the environment (www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/). UNCED not only exposed 110 heads of state to the vision of sustainability, but an influential group of actors in the private sector also began to appreciate that sustainability issues extended beyond the obligation of public policy to become a fundamental part of business strategy.After UNCED, several countries revised their institutional arrangements and policies to promote sustainability. In the agricultural sector, the emphasis has been mainly on increasing production of food while assuring the capacity of the environment to recover and provide ecosystem services. Biodiversity loss, water supply deterioration, and soil and water pollution have been increasingly recognized as severe symptoms of a crisis represented by the loss of the capacity of natural resources to sustain agricultural systems.For many sectors, especially private entrepreneurs, the necessary symbiosis between economic, social, and environmental sustainability meant approaching the issue from a more positive perspective. Thus, in the 1990s, new concepts such as cleaner production and eco-efficiency were introduced with a focus on combining both economic and environmental efficiency.In 1992, a group of businessmen led by Stephan Schmidheiny created the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and promoted the concept of eco-efficiency in a book entitled Changing Course (Schmidheiny, 1992). According to the WBCSD, eco-efficiency is achieved through the delivery of \"competitively priced goods and services that satisfy human needs and bring quality of life while progressively reducing environmental impacts of goods and resource intensity throughout the entire life cycle to a level at least in line with the Earth's estimated carrying capacity\" (WBCSD, 2000). In the agricultural sector, eco-efficiency was promoted as the aspiration to maintain or improve the economic sustainability of crops (yields), while contributing to the environmental sustainability (less use of natural resources). Chapters 1 and 2 of this volume devote considerable space to the history and definitions of the eco-efficiency concept in agriculture.The ability to increase agricultural productivity will be facilitated by advances in life sciences, including a better understanding of the dynamics of ecosystems and their environmental services. One of the conclusions of the special rapporteur of the United Nations (UN) (De Schutter, 2010) is that it is not enough to designate large amounts of money for agriculture. There need to be measures that facilitate the transition to a type of agriculture that is low in carbon emissions and that conserves natural resources in a way that benefits the poor.According to De Schutter (2010), agricultural production will have to increase by 70% by 2050 to meet anticipated demand. Achieving this will require technologies that are both more efficient and environmentally friendly, reducing the negative impacts of agriculture on the environment and society. Such production technologies will offset the harmful effects of economic development on environmental quality.Agricultural institutions in developing countries have immense food security and eco-efficiency challenges. While most agriculture ministries tend to be based on centralized governmental models, reforms in many countries have moved toward privatization of state-owned enterprises and elimination of marketing boards and other regulatory agencies. However, the historical value of such institutions and the public goods they provided has not always been fully appreciated. Public sector investments in the development of input and output markets, in agricultural extension, and in applied agricultural research have been vital to agricultural development in every economy in the world. Institutional reform without investment in these public goods does not produce economic growth in the agricultural sector. Conducive institutional and policy environments remain cornerstones of agricultural development (Koroma, 2007).The changing relationship between the public sector, civil society, and the private sector will require a unified, comprehensive, and adaptive vision toward the increasing scarcity of natural resources and external factors such as climate change to achieve greater environmental and economic efficiency in the medium and long term in developing countries. There is no unique policy prescription that fits the diversity of the agricultural sector in the developing countries. While enhancing productivity is a common essential requirement, the nature of the increase in productivity envisaged, including eco-efficiency parameters, will determine the appropriate policy mix.Change is not easy; encouraging new, sustainable, and eco-efficient agricultural practices is a slow process. It entails transaction costs: the new practices require that farmers understand and are trained in new techniques, development of innovative financial alternatives, creation of market value and markets for new products that help alleviate poverty, and development of policies that promote long-term food security.There are several policy dimensions that governments should address to push forward the eco-efficiency agenda into modern laws, policies, and renewed agricultural institutions. The following sections explore how states can reorient their agricultural systems towards modes that are more productive and efficient and that assure long-term sustainability and equity for present and future generations.Strengthening eco-efficiency in agriculture requires changes to approaches for maintaining soil fertility and improving yields, and increasing the efficiency of use of external inputs by farmers. Common practices such as subsidies on fertilizer and pesticides, for example, while conducive to short-term increases in production, are likely to result in farmers adopting practices that are neither eco-efficient nor sustainable. A case in point is Malawi (see box). Policies that encouraged use of hybrid seed and fertilizer resulted in record maize harvests in 2005/06 and 2006/07 (although this was in part due to favorable rainfall patterns in those years) (Dorward et al., 2008). However, they also encouraged reliance on purchased inputs rather than more-sustainable production practices such as crop rotations. To address this, the government has subsequently implemented programs to encourage farmers to adopt sustainable land management practices and build soil fertility, prevent soil erosion, and conserve rain water through practices such as manuring, composting, contour ridging, minimum tillage, and agroforestry, as well as diversifying production of food crops (Daudi, n.d.).Rather than relying completely on chemical fertilizers, farmers can sometimes increase soil fertility by using improved agronomic practices, such as planting trees, legumes, and forages that fix atmospheric nitrogen. Agroforestry is widely practiced in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In Tanzania, for example, more than 350,000 ha have been rehabilitated with agroforestry practices. Diversification of agricultural systems is also an important element of eco-efficiency, contributing to maintenance of soil fertility, prevention of soil erosion, enhancing overall system productivity and provision of ecosystem services, and increasing resilience to shocks such as climate change or sudden changes in markets. It also contributes to providing a more balanced diet and creates employment opportunities.Governments should also promote local seed systems that are able to provide farmers with high-quality seed of appropriate crops and varieties, rather than relying on imported seed. Selection of varieties for local adaptation and consumer needs can typically bring productivity and sustainability advantages over those selected in non-targeted environments. Unless modern varieties are selected for local needs, local landraces may perform just as well, and be preferred by farmers (Van Mele et al., 2011). Strengthening local capacity for seed production will help farmers cope with changing or harsh conditions. Support might include financial instruments for seed production, empowerment of seed producers, and provision of appropriate irrigation infrastructure (Dalohoun et al., 2011).According to IFPRI's Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI), average age of agricultural researchers, teachers, and technicians in developing countries is quite high. In some cases, this problem is a threat to the continuity of agricultural research and development (R&D) and training in developing countries. Country reports can be downloaded from ASTI's web page at www.asti.cgiar.org/ publications, and examples are noted in Figure 13-1.Investment in agricultural R&D and extension has stagnated in recent years except in a few countries such as Brazil, China, and India (Beintema and Stads, 2010;Stads and Beintema, 2012), despite evidence that such investment reduces rural poverty as well as increases agricultural productivity (Fan, 2010).Developing and promulgating eco-efficient agricultural systems will require increased investment in training scientists and educators who can deliver new practices through renewed agricultural extension services. These services require training at all levels. Agro-ecology will need to be incorporated in high-school curricula. Agricultural technicians also should receive a strong grounding in agro-ecology.Agriculture is a key sector of the Malawian economy. It employs over 80% of the workforce, provides an estimated 64% of total income of the rural people, contributes over 80% of foreign exchange, earnings, and accounts for 39% of GDP.In early post-independence days, the government was heavily involved in the smallholder agricultural sector in areas of production, extension, technology development, and marketing of agricultural commodities. However, despite these efforts, poverty remained widespread and severe. In 1979, the government oriented its policies towards poverty reduction and introduced a structural adjustment program with support of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. There was a price decontrol to allow market forces and competition. Other reforms included the Special Crops Act, the Seed Act, and the Chemical and Pesticide Act. However, lack of concerted efforts by actors in the sector compromised the success of the policy reforms.Since the beginning of the new millennium, policies have changed to address increased productivity. Freeinput programs and input subsidy programs were developed to provide farmers with coupons to buy hybrid seeds and fertilizers at subsidized prices. At the same time, the Government developed a minimum floor price for the purchase of several crops such as maize, cotton, and tobacco.The country realized maize surplus production since the start of the program. Malawi was able to attain food security and produce sufficient surplus maize to export to other countries.Attaining food security implied having the resources to address sustainability and eco-efficiency issues. Several programs are currently in place to sustain land and water management in view of weather variability and climate change. There are programs to encourage farmers to adopt sustainable land management practices and build soil fertility, prevent soil erosion, and conserve rain water. Current practices include manuring, composting, contour ridging, minimum tillage, and agroforestry.Ongoing efforts to strengthen research in agricultural production and utilization of available technologies in collaboration with farmer-led extension services are being introduced with an emphasis on market-and industry-oriented research.The experience of Malawi shows that agricultural productivity in developing countries needs concerted government efforts to raise productivity, consolidate markets, promote technologies that match the farmer resources base and have the capacity then to ensure eco-efficiency practices to sustain natural resources. But, while the Malawi experience of concerted policy action by a national government is an encouraging sign of policy leadership, important questions remain around the sustainability of the higher-input production practices, the eco-efficiency of inputs used, and the efficiency of the whole value chain for the Malawian food systems. SOURCE: www.un.org/esa/dsd/dsd_aofw_wat/wat_pdfs/meetings/ws0109/1_Malawi_Daudi.pdf University agriculture curricula should encompass innovative research, science, and technology. Integrating traditional production systems with more modern and scientific methods will promote adaptation of technologies and knowledge assimilation and application at the local level. This will require new information platforms and technology transfer.For agricultural R&D to accomplish their objectives, it is imperative that the target beneficiaries understand and adopt the approaches developed. Most research projects that have delivered impact have included the active participation of the target beneficiaries from the start of the project. Therefore, governmental policies should encourage extension services to actively involve farmers and other stakeholders along the value chain in developing and testing novel approaches.Achieving greater agricultural eco-efficiency will require a push by both governments and the private sector. Both will have to seek to combine the best of traditional agricultural practices with modern technologies and inputs to deliver sustainable, eco-efficient agricultural systems (Uphoff, 2001).More people in developing countries are opting to move to the cities in order to improve their economic and social conditions, and to have better access to basic services, such as health and education, and other public goods provided by the government (Stern, 2007). The rural areas require urgent investments to maintain the rural communities in place. Agricultural growth and poverty reduction depend critically on investments in rural infrastructure (irrigation, roads, transport, power, and telecommunications), markets, rural finance, research, education, and extension. Such The World Bank (2008) concludes that investing in public goods could have a greater impact on per-capita income than investing in private goods such as pesticides or fertilizers, while assuring more-sustainable practices. In Latin America, the share of rural subsidies provided by governments is greater where income inequality is highest. Better policies are needed to ensure that the poorer, especially smallholder producers, have access to basic services and infrastructure. Reassigning spending toward public goods without increasing the overall level of spending on agriculture might be sufficient to transition into eco-efficient agriculture (The World Bank, 2008). According to Allcott et al. (2006), \"even without changing overall expenditures, governments can improve the economic performance of their agricultural sectors by devoting a greater share of those expenditures to social services and public goods instead of non-social subsidies.\"Political and economic pressures that determine budget allocations must be addressed to ensure transparency, equity, and accountability of resource allocation.Major businesses are increasingly aware of the benefits of eco-efficiency -at the producer levelof their production chains. For example, Unilever's target for 2020 is to source 100% of their agricultural raw materials from sustainable production systems. Other businesses are thinking not only about eco-efficiency, but also about the nutritional quality of each product. Some large companies are involving communities and smallscale growers as co-owners and participants in their production chain -sharing benefits.To generate efficient green supply chains, producers must be linked to modern supply chains that are increasingly dominated by supermarket chains and multinational companies. For example, by the early 2000s, supermarkets accounted for more than half of all retail food sales in many countries in Latin America (Reardon and Berdegué, 2002;The World Bank, 2008). Supermarket buying agents prefer to buy from medium-and large-scale farms, as it is easier for them to deliver standardized product, and dealing with a small number of large suppliers reduces transaction costs for the buyer. However, consumers are increasingly demanding environmentally safe and socially responsible products. Retailers such as Whole Foods in the USA who meet this demand are growing rapidly (Marquis et al., 2009).In this context, the role of public policies can be to help smallholders expand and upgrade to meet the necessary requirements of modern supply. Such policies should support market-oriented extension services, establish grades and standards, assist farmers in contract design and management (including understanding their rights and obligations), create an enabling environment for insurance and credit markets, and be based on an understanding of social and environmental requirements to be able to provide for green supply chains.Governments could also create public procurement programs, with incentives for organic food or fair-trade chains. For example, the strategy of the United Kingdom (UK) for sustainable farming and food (DEFRA, 2002) and the country's organic action plan (DEFRA, 2003) both highlight the public sector as a key area in which to market UK-produced organic food (OAPSG, 2008). The message that procuring eco-efficient goods can have a positive impact on the economy is important. There is also a potential to broaden policy goals, e.g., to improve health and education, increase opportunities for small-and medium-sized enterprises working in the food sector, and create jobs, as well as to support environmental objectives and local producers.Urbanization can help reduce poverty in developing countries by increasing proximity between resources and markets and through economies of scale that enable cost-effective, efficient delivery of basic infrastructure and services (Stern, 2006). For example, Mogues (2011) found that public investment in transportation networks gave the highest return-on-investment ratios of any state interventions in Ethiopia, but variability of returns between regions within the country suggested that regional planning was necessary. However, not everyone in urban areas benefits equally, and special attention will need to be paid to the urban poor, who are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity (Mason et al., 2011). In 2002, the urban poor accounted for 59% of the total population in Latin America, 30% in sub-Saharan Africa, and 25% in India (Chen and Ravalliona, 2007). However, changes in consumer preferences due to increased income or access to moresophisticated markets boost demand for food that requires more resources to produce, e.g., meat and animal products. Consequently, livestock numbers are expected to double by 2020 (IPCC, 2001), increasing significantly the amount of methane released into the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. Also, intensity of fertilizer use and energy is expected to increase in all developing regions.Globalization has meant that food supply chains are increasingly long and complex, but there is also a trend toward consolidation of these chains in the hands of large, multinational companies. These companies influence what is grown, where, how, and at what price. Increasingly, however, large companies are beginning to understand that their long-term competitiveness depends on protecting the environment and the services it provides (Bishop et al., 2010). New environmental and social concerns are influencing the way food is produced and the rules under which it is traded. Consumers are beginning to demand that producers engage in fair trade, management of the ecosystem and environmental services, minimization of climate impacts, food safety measures, and improving working conditions. This calls for transparency of production standards and traceability, which can be promoted through green certification schemes and eco-labeling. While many certification and labeling schemes have rigorous standards and third-party auditing, many more do not. Making these schemes effective will require government support for certification and verification.In addition, elements of eco-efficiency are beginning to play a prominent role. Sustainability standards are becoming more important every day. Prices of the food products we consume must now cover not only the direct cost of production but also the costs of making the production chain sustainable and reducing the environmental and social footprint in the countries of origin.Ministries of trade, environment, and agriculture, in concert with investment and export agencies, should consider creating efficient platforms to address green production chains and develop specific policies on fair trade and sustainability standards in general.China and India, the two most populous nations on the planet, have chosen to support organic agriculture, especially for poor farmers, as a means of alleviating poverty in rural areas.In both countries, organic products take up only a small fraction of the food market. According to the Foundation Ecology and Agriculture (SÖL), there were just over 300,000 ha of certified organic crops in China (Giovannucci, 2005), out of the 130 million ha of arable land. The domestic market in China was valued at nearly US$250 million. In India, according to SÖL, in 2004 the organic production was done in 76,000 ha out of the 180 million ha of arable land. Even though these values are relatively small, the organic production has been rocketing in recent years and constitutes a good example of effective strategies that promote eco-efficient practices.In the case of China, officially supported organic farming started in the 1980s, and by the year 1990, the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences (NIES) began implementing protocols of international organic certification. The objective of this strategy in China is to: (1) help decongest the farmland near big cities, which has been intensively cultivated over the centuries, and (2) assist smallholder farmers in remote areas to produce with less reliance on expensive external inputs (Giovannucci, 2005). While organic farms originally belonged to local governments, the central government has adopted a policy of developing market mechanisms. Thus, local governments have been gradually handing over property rights to private companies and individuals, giving financial and technical support for a more efficient resource management and market access of products to farmers.Given the variety and importance of its agricultural products, India has had a tradition of organic farming that goes back centuries. Organic production has traditionally been practiced by civil society and particularly NGOs and farmer groups. They have also developed various practical schemes in different regions to suit weather conditions and rainfall, as well as existing varieties. Because 60% of all crops in India are rainfed, the government has placed emphasis on organic agriculture as a strategy to ensure food security and poverty reduction. To implement a plan of norms and standards, the Ministry of Agriculture has set up a special Working Committee for organics and the Ministry of Commerce set up a National Steering Committee (Giovannucci, 2005).Both cases show how government could implement organic policies that could influence productivity chains at the global scale, given the large populations of both countries.Every day consumers play a more fundamental role in promoting eco-efficiency options through their selections of food and other products. Food-borne diseases and poor nutrition continue to be widespread, and more consumers are interested in knowing the quality of their food. In this regard, green certification and eco-labeling are tools that play a more critical role so that consumers have references of what they buy. Under these terms, transparency and traceability are two key issues that need attention. Producers must be transparent about the eco-efficiency and sustainability parameters of their production chain. They must try to make their products, origins, and production systems traceable, as well as create a transparent system of social and environmental accountability that can be understood by the consumer and the producers. There are many eco-labels in the market, related to fair-trade schemes, eco-efficient agricultural practices, footprint reduction, tracing sources or ensuring food quality and safety. While many eco-labels have rigorous standards and third-party auditing, the labels themselves are only emblems of the certification scheme, providing consumers little information and requiring that everyone conduct their own research. With so many labels in the marketplace, even the environmentally conscious shopper can become easily confused.Eco-labels, however, are feasible if governments support the certification and verification schemes to help market dynamics to align with equitable and sustainable development and eco-efficient principles. Governments should facilitate sustainable production systems including incentive schemes to achieve initial momentum. In addition, they should also monitor the results and foster public-private schemes that promote food sustainability.Public procurement systems, tax and credit incentives, and land policies should be designed to facilitate transition toward eco-efficient agriculture. Such policies include, for example, temporary tax exemptions for farms adopting eco-efficient practices and preferential interest rates for investments in eco-efficient systems.Regularization of land tenure and the creation of a solid property rights framework also encourage farmers and landowners to invest in the long-term fertility of land. These should include forms of land tenure that are more accessible to women and formal recognition of traditional forms of land ownership and tenure (The World Bank, 2008). In addition, cross subsidies and incentive schemes can also promote eco-efficient agriculture. For example, in 2009 the Government of Brazil issued a law requiring at least 30% of school meals to consist of food from local family farms.At the same time, governments could organize or steward markets to protect smallholder farmers from price volatility, and create or eliminate production subsidies to help small-scale producers, without affecting competitiveness at the regional level. Governments often implement open-trade policies that lead to the import of products that are cheaper than those produced locally. One way of enhancing local competitiveness would be to generate models of association where small-scale producers can join value chains that add value to local activities. Another related strategy would be to discourage the use of imported pesticides and fertilizers, encouraging use of local alternatives and production practices to reduce costs and enhance sustainability.Governments will have to increase their investment in the agriculture sector to promote eco-efficiency (Horlings and Marsden, 2011). Similarly, the financial sector can contribute with new financial instruments, e.g., equity funds that invest in green production chains. Agricultural banks need to produce collateral-free financial schemes, create consistent lines of credit and guarantees, and facilitate access to credit for small-scale farmers.There is an ongoing debate about the wisdom of state intervention, which can distort markets and create inefficiencies (Chang, 2009). It is clear, nevertheless, that some interventions are necessary to correct situations that would create larger distortions if not addressed. Such is the case of subsidies and incentives to create or provide public goods, such as agricultural research, that otherwise would not be sustainable. Incentives or subsidies are also welcome when vulnerable groups are losing ground (The World Bank, 2008).Finally, governmental policies in agriculture, environment, energy, transportation, and other sectors should be more coherent and interlinked. Agricultural governance 3 and resources that regulate, guide, and direct the process of agricultural and rural development must have a renewed vision. This vision is one that recognizes the benefits of eco-efficient farming methods that are more productive, sustainable, and less harmful to the environment.The empowerment and mobilization of rural communities is a very powerful tool to ensure sustainable development and eco-efficient practices. Numerous studies have shown that involvement of stakeholders, communities, and other potential beneficiaries in planning and management increases the probability of success of development efforts (Rondinelli, 1982;Uphoff, 1996;Bakker, 2011). Such community-driven development mobilizes community groups and involves them directly in decisions on public spending, harnessing their creativity, capabilities, and social capital (The World Bank, 2008). Community-driven projects have shown the potential to scale up, be more cost effective, make fiscal transfers more efficient, and increase income from agriculture. Achieving this requires a policy environment that supports capacity strengthening in rural communities, learning and adoption of new technologies, participatory research and R&D extension networks, knowledge management, and sharing of best practices (Horlings and Marsden, 2011). Governance has to be reinforced by making all decision processes more transparent and participatory.Social accountability mechanisms that guarantee transparency on government investments will increase community participation in the new production structure (Reuben, 2005). Information policies and tools will enable rural populations to assimilate and claim ownership of the new ecoefficient concepts (Keating et al., 2010).The structural reforms of the 1980s often dismantled the public agencies that provided services to farmers, such as access to credit, insurance, inputs, and information in the developing world (The World Bank, 2008), with the expectation that the private sector would take over these functions in a more effective way. The private sector, however, has developed only slowly, leaving farmers, especially small-scale farmers, with little or no access to these services in many countries. Restoring these services requires an analysis of what worked and what did not, and clarification of roles between the private and public sectors.From the 1960s, Thailand immersed itself in agricultural development based on increased productivity and use of agricultural surplus to boost other sectors, with strong orientation towards exports (Buch-Hansen, 2001). This scheme was successful during the decades of the 1970s and 1980s, making the Southeast Asian \"tiger\" a world-class agricultural producer. The 1997 Asian economic crisis, with the overheating of the economy and the financial meltdown, led the government to change their perspective about agricultural development in Thailand. The Eighth National Development Plan (1997Plan ( -2001) ) and the Ninth (2002-2006) and Tenth (2007-2011) changed the emphasis of development strategy to give greater weight to citizen participation and criteria of self-sufficiency, poverty alleviation, and environmental protection. One of the biggest changes occurred in agricultural policy, which promotes sustainable agriculture, to reverse the damage to the environment (Amekawa, 2010). At present, the Thai government is putting considerable effort on research and technology developments of agricultural production that are friendly to the environment and at the same time increase productivity.Policy makers need to be informed about important concepts such as sustainability, agroecological farming, and environmental services, and should understand the implications of sustainable agricultural production, to effectively create the necessary new legislation and supervise its enforcement.The private sector needs to be more involved in agricultural production, particularly through public-private partnerships (Swanson and Samy, 2002). Engaging the private sector will require the correct incentives, an appropriate business environment, and solid property rights (Fan, 2010).Poor infrastructure and limited access to markets hinder production and diminish profits for smallholder farmers in remote or poorly serviced regions. Transport and communications infrastructure has to be built or improved to allow products to reach markets as fast and inexpensively as possible. This might entail the construction and improvement of roads, railways, storage and distribution centers, and market places. Improving education and health infrastructure in rural areas will help reduce rural-urban migration and promote economic growth in rural areas.The challenges facing the agricultural sector are complex, not the least of which are population growth, environmental degradation, and climate change. Efforts to address these challenges will require concerted action of various sectorsenvironment, education, health, trade, among others -and planning tools that are capable of integrating these areas. Agriculture ministries will need to devise new visions and means of cooperation with the ministries responsible for these other sectors.  (The World Bank, 2008). The World Bank recently estimated the annual adaptation costs in the agriculture sector in developing countries to be US$2.5-2.6 billion per year between 2010 and 2050 (The World Bank, 2010). Mechanisms for increasing investment in climate-smart agriculture include, for example, public-private partnerships, carbon-offset markets, and long-term international official development assistance combined with carbon finance.In the forest sector, approaches such as REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) are emerging that involve market instruments based on real emission quantification results. Mechanisms to protect forests while increasing agricultural production will require incentives to employ eco-efficient agriculture practices in conjunction with measures to prevent deforestation from agricultural expansion. This will depend on raising awareness of the role of forests in providing ecosystem services and their contribution to livelihoods. Ra et al. (2011), for example, indicate that households living near forests in Cambodia generate 21-34% of their income from the forests. However, for REDD+ to be effective, new institutions capable of implementing payment mechanisms based on reporting, monitoring, and verification are required (Angelsen et al., 2009). In this context, it will be essential to implement policies that ensure that indigenous communities, peasants, and women are involved in the nationallevel decision-making processes of REDD+ schemes.Many governments around the world are now promoting low-carbon economies. Member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have committed themselves to promoting green investments and sustainable management of natural resources, with incentives to build low-carbon infrastructure economies as well as research in science and technology to achieve sustainable societies \"low in carbon\" (OECD, 2011a). Asian countries signed a unified vision toward green growth in 2005 at the Ministerial Meeting on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific. Several countries have developed concrete green growth and low-carbon policies, including Brazil (Zanella, 2011), China, Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand; and countries in the Near East and North Africa, Latin America, and Africa are ready to follow suit. Korea's green-growth strategy integrally promotes sustainable agriculture with innovation, policies, and financing (Kim, 2010).The agricultural sector consumes nearly 70% of available fresh water, compared with 22% used for manufacturing and energy, and 8% used for drinking, sanitation, and recreation (WWAP, 2009). Increasing demand from all sectors and likely changes in supply resulting from climate change will increase strains on existing supplies.Large irrigation systems were the models in the 1970s, with investments that were later challenged for being inefficient, generating corruption schemes and degrading the environment without achieving reasonable long-term use of water. At the same time, individual water schemes from aquifers increased the ease of having pumps and extraction mechanisms, depleting and contaminating much of the world's aquifers. In the face of increasing food consumption, production systems need to ensure a water supply to meet global production needs.Water sources such as rivers, lakes, and aquifers rarely lie within the boundaries of single nations, and hence managing water resources will require international cooperation and international and regional policy measures. Hermans et al. ( 2005) note several regional schemes that provide funds for improving the management of water catchments and therefore the long-term water supply.Furthermore, techniques for the efficient use of water for agriculture exist in various forms. A prime example exists in Israel, where drip irrigation developed on the kibbutz in the 1960s was exploited as an export opportunity. In Italy, the open irrigation systems were converted into irrigation pipes, reducing the evaporation and loss from the inefficient system. There are also individual control systems of irrigation with computer models that allow to reduce the volume, while making more equitable use of water by various users (OECD/FAO, 2010).Measuring water footprint will be critical. Agricultural industries will have to take into account estimates of their water usage and implement measures to minimize it (Segal and MacMillan, 2009). For example, following a series of water-footprint studies, Coca-Cola is seeking to reduce its water footprint by developing and encouraging more-sustainable agricultural practices that benefit suppliers, customers, consumers, and local watersheds (The Coca-Cola Company and The Nature Conservancy, 2010).Solutions to poverty, hunger, and the climate crisis require agriculture that promotes producers' livelihoods, knowledge, resiliency, health, and equitable gender relations, while enriching the natural environment and helping to balance the carbon cycle (IAASTD, 2009). In line with this, some governments currently rethinking agriculture have placed those who produce, distribute, and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies, rather than the demands of markets and corporations. Connecting producers and consumers through fair-trade and green production chains is emerging as a win-win policy to address poverty issues, feed the world, and have a healthier planet.Consumers are increasingly demanding transparency about origins of food products, trading conditions, and carbon footprints, leading to a rise in eco-labeling and certification schemes in global agricultural markets. Supermarket chains supporting these processes, such as Sequoia in Belgium and Whole Foods and Trader Joe's in the USA, have gained favor with consumers and grown comparatively faster than competitors who have been slower to embrace these schemes (Marquis et al., 2009).Reducing postharvest losses and food waste would go a long way towards reducing the ecological impact of food production. It is estimated that more than 30% of the food produced is wasted, especially by the final consumer in developed countries (Gooch et al., 2010). Much of the loss in developing countries is due to poor storage, packaging, and transport. Improvements in storage and transport infrastructure, packaging, and marketing would reduce losses and the environmental impact of food production.Developing policies that encourage adoption of new agricultural technologies that can increase productivity, while preserving environmental resources, is a key strategy for governments that seek to reduce the negative environmental externalities caused by agricultural activities (Fuglie and Kascak, 2001).The recent International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) conducted by the World Bank in collaboration with a group of agencies of the United Nations called for technological development through networks and associations, and development of capabilities across borders and regions. Our future food security will depend on sharing research and development results and on increasing budgets for research, science, and technology.The European Union (EU) is taking an unprecedented leap in establishing a green growth policy for the agricultural sector. Several EU countries have been pioneers in this field. For example, the Netherlands has a long tradition in policies promoting sustainable agriculture, including restricting the use of pesticides, management of soil and water acidification, landscape management, and biodiversity. Their strategy to remain one of the world's largest agricultural producers as a small country is to differentiate themselves in environmental management and general innovation.Green growth has become one of the highest priorities of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) governments. A press release from the agriculture ministers meeting at OECD in 2010 notes that \"Ministers recognized that green growth offers opportunities to contribute to sustainable economic, social, and environmental development; that agriculture has an important role to play in the process, as do open markets that facilitate the sharing of technologies and innovations supportive of green growth, and that, in this context, care needs to be taken to avoid all forms of protectionism. Climate change presents challenges and opportunities for the agricultural sector in reducing GHG emissions, in carbon sequestration, and the need for adaptation\" (OECD, 2011b).There is increasing international coordination of research addressing climate change issues facing agriculture, such as: Similar partnerships are needed on shared ecosystem services management, biodiversity use and conservation, second-and third-generation bioenergy, green production chains, and health and food security management.Finally, all this will be possible only if there is a fundamental shift in food consumption, from foods with high input demands to less resourceintensive foods, and if waste and postharvest losses are reduced. Capacity strengthening has evolved considerably over the years, as agricultural research has come to focus more sharply on development. Table 14-1 summarizes this shift from a relatively narrow focus on training for improved food production, mainly through plant breeding, to a more systemic approach for rural innovation.As research for development has evolved, it has searched for better ways to reach large numbers of end users. Reflecting on obstacles to research impact in the 1990s, social scientists began to question the so-called \"pipeline\" approach for addressing farmers' problems through scientifically proven technologies. Starting about 30 years ago, various participatory approaches were developed and tested, with emphasis on the learning cycle, in which users of agricultural research products and services learn together through partnerships and stakeholder engagement, thus increasing the chances of research results being put to use.Current approaches have their roots in two closely related theoretical fields: social learning and innovation systems. According to Leeuwis and Pyburn (2002), academics introduced the concept of social learning with an interest in studying and promoting sustainable development (Dunn, 1971;Friedmann, 1984;Milbrath, 1989;Woodhill, 2002). Social learning, as described by Röling (1992), assigns a central role to multistakeholder platforms that facilitate interaction and promote learning for change. The facilitator's role is to help establish these platforms and catalyze dynamics that foster synergy.The concept of innovation systems emerged from inquiries into research and technology transfer, leading to an examination of the wider innovation process (Hall et al., 2004). Innovation is a complex process, described by Smits (2002) as the successful combination of \"hardware\" (new technical devices), \"software\" (new knowledge and modes of thinking), and \"orgware\" (new institutions and forms of organization). It depends on effective collaboration, networking of interdependent social actors, and other new forms of coordinated action. Innovation is thus a collective achievement rather than the result of individual adoption (Leeuwis, 2004).A key message of this chapter is that making agriculture more eco-efficient requires a major commitment to developing capacity for innovation through continuous learning, particularly for stakeholders who have previously been excluded in research. One recent study (Mehta-Bhatt and Beniest, 2011) suggests that CGIAR centers have responded in various ways to new trends in capacity development. The sections that follow explore some of the results.The authors of a recent working paper (Horton et al., 2009) define partnership as \"a sustained multi-organizational relationship with mutually agreed objectives and an exchange or sharing of resources or knowledge for the purpose of generating research outputs (new knowledge or technology) or fostering innovation (use of new ideas or technology) for practical ends.\" As this definition suggests, partnerships may involve diverse actors, working under informal or formal arrangements while sharing responsibilities and decision making. They may also have a wide range of objectives-from the delivery of specific research products to the creation of a shared context for innovation and joint learning.Partnerships are essential for achieving impact through today's complex and ambitious agenda of agricultural research for development. Key actors in this work include civil society organizations, national research and educational institutions, the private sector, national policy makers, regional multistakeholder networks, donors, and the media. Such partners bring diverse perspectives to bear on shared goals, providing the basis for an equitable learning culture. This can increase the potential for solving problems successfully, generating useful knowledge, and empowering local actors. Further benefits include stronger resource mobilization, greater legitimacy, reduced risks, and increased flexibility.Partnerships have evolved in step with the broader trends in agricultural research that are described in the introduction to this chapter (see Table 14-1). The purely research alliancesAs described in Chapter 12, researchers are using participatory methods to develop technologies aimed at ecologically sustainable improvement in the production of fruits and vegetables. This work provides a clear example of how research can help build the capacity of smallholder farmers to deal more effectively with shifting production constraints and market conditions through more eco-efficient practices.Such initiatives require that scientists take a more systemic view, emphasizing the importance of crop diversity and of maximizing the producivitty of varied ecological niches. It is also important for donors and other stakeholders to create a policy environment that encourages collaboration between research and development agencies. Financial and human resources must be dedicated to the promotion of greater crop diversity and to the development of more resilient and profitable agricultural systems. A different type of education is needed to avoid overspecialization in agriculture and to promote better understanding of integrated crop management options, of the need to balance crops and livestock, and of the importance of balanced human diets.of the 1960s have given way to new contractual relationships, which in the best cases transform knowledge into action, leading to sustainable development outcomes. This shift involves more systemic approaches to partnership, in which research is just one part of a complex puzzle (Kristjansen et al., 2009) or \"complex adaptive system,\" which also involves development methods and evolving knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Current partnerships often use tools such as outcome mapping, participatory impact pathway analysis (Álvarez et al., 2010), and other types of stakeholder analysis, such as social network analysis, for joint planning. Such approaches are useful for determining each partner's degree of influence on users of research products and therefore their potential multiplier effect and contribution to impact.Partnerships figure importantly in the new research strategy resulting from recent CGIAR reforms (CGIAR, 2011). They are central to more-innovative arrangements in research for sustainable development that involve advanced research institutes, reduce costs, and deploy new technologies, among other ends (Spielmann et al., 2007).Since eco-efficient agriculture aims to reduce negative environmental impacts, its success depends on partnerships involving stakeholders engaged in environmental research and advocacy. Civil society organizations have an especially important role to play in these partnerships because of their ability to achieve positive multiplier effects (CGIAR, 2006), including the development of site-specific solutions that address the needs of the rural poor.Partnerships for eco-efficient agriculture must pay particular attention to the needs of women. According to FAO (2011), women comprise, on average, 43% of the agricultural labor force in developing countries, ranging from about 20% in Latin America to almost 50% in Eastern and Southeastern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.Interestingly, the report observes that female farmers produce less than male farmers, not because they are less efficient but because of differences in their use of inputs. This underscores the need for further research on the relationship between gender, production, and eco-efficiency. It is also important for research partners to be selected on the basis of their gender vision and practices, with the aim of achieving gender balance in partnership governance.Institutional arrangements in research for sustainable agricultural development are increasingly based on equity and accountability among all stakeholders (GFAR, 2010). Establishing trust and respect are fundamental for building confidence and empowering stakeholders.As development expert Robert Chambers noted in a recent interview: \"So much in a partnership depends on what sorts of people are involved, how they relate to one another, how participatory they are, whether they dominate or whether they facilitate, how they make other people feel, whether they feel comfortable, whether they feel they can be open, or whether they feel they are vulnerable to criticism. Linked with this are power relations, which are inevitable, particularly when funding is involved. (ILAC, 2010)\" Partnerships offer three main opportunities to strengthen capacity for innovation and social learning:1. Complementary competencies: Achieving sustainable development requires that diverse partners pool their assets-such as specialized knowledge and human capital-under new institutional arrangements. The idea is to form multidisciplinary teams that are able to learn together across organizational and geographical boundaries (Lundy et al., 2005). 2. Increasing scale and reach: Partners are potential multipliers of new information and knowledge. They can help fuse new knowledge with current knowledge and increase its flow into research and development networks and communities, often in multiple languages.Effective partnerships are useful for positioning such knowledge in the wider market, for example, among policy makers (CGIAR, 2008).Resulting growth in the scale and reach of knowledge compensates for the initial costs of creating and facilitating partnerships.Working in broad, multidisciplinary and geographically dispersed partnerships is challenging, but this can contribute to greater institutional openness in terms of cultural and gender issues. Partnerships are especially useful for this purpose if participants share lessons and insights, thus contributing to the learning cycle in which mistakes and disappointments serve as a springboard for reflection and revision (Tennyson, 2003). What often happens instead is that partnerships remain at the periphery of institutional learning, and neither leadership nor individual partners share best practices (Smith and Chataway, 2009). Partnerships are often driven by personal relationships; researchers and stakeholders decide to work together because they know and trust one another and share a common vision and field of interest. More attention should be paid to ensuring that partnership behaviors, policies, strategies, and practices progress from the micro level of individuals to the meso level of the organization (Özgediz and Nambi, 1999).Given the urgency of the multiple challenges that agriculture faces today, partnerships focusing on eco-efficiency must quickly provide strategies that translate knowledge into action and offer solutions that are effective and easy to implement. The increasing complexity of partnerships poses a major challenge. The following sections provide insights on how partnerships for eco-efficiency can be made to work. farmer associations or groups (Ashby, 1985). As participants in research, farmers can better communicate their perspectives on what, where, and when to research and their criteria for success. Farmers thus engage in the codevelopment of knowledge, taking responsibility for decisions about priority setting, implementation, and recommendations (Cárdenas-Grajales, 2009).Participation in research is not to be confused with the discovery learning process used to teach farmers about recommended technologies. The latter is an extension method, in which farmers conduct their own experiments to demonstrate known principles and practices. In contrast, participatory research involves collaborative investigation of options for innovation, about which researchers are just as uncertain of the outcomes as are producers.Participatory research in agriculture evolved from participatory rapid appraisal in rural development projects to the application of similar techniques for the purposes of research. New methodologies soon followed, which national and international research centers used for participatory selection of experimental germplasm of grain legumes (Mazon et al., 2007), applied research in farmers' fields (CORPOICA, 2002), and research to develop and strengthen community organizations and their links with markets (CRS, 2007).To be effective, participatory research methods should be used in conjunction with social analysis. This is essential for determining who should participate, when, how, and where and also for ensuring that results are representative and can be generalized. In rice production, for example, achieving eco-efficiency implies very different outcomes for women who transplant rice, men who own rice paddy land, and ethnic minorities who want to preserve forests from encroachment by rice cultivation. The gender, ethnic identity, and social class of research participants must be investigated through social analysis to ensure that different groups in the intended beneficiary population are represented appropriately.Participatory methods have been applied in agriculture specifically for experimentation with farmers, participatory plant breeding, participatory technology development, participatory market appraisal, and communication for development.Participatory methods have been widely used for farmer experimentation in Latin America (Braun and Hocdé, 2003). One such experience involved a method centering on local agricultural research committees (or CIAL, its Spanish acronym). These are groups of volunteer farmers from a community or farmerExperience in Malawi with the evaluation of legumes for soil fertility improvement demonstrates the value of participatory technology evaluation. At first, farmers were averse to adopting legumes for this purpose, despite having serious soil fertility problems. But they adopted the practice enthusiastically after participatory technology evaluation helped researchers understand farmers' priorities. Testing with more than 3000 men and women farmers showed that they preferred edible species, such as pigeon pea and groundnut, over mucuna, a green manure crop that researchers had recommended.By 2001, 72% of the target farm population had adopted pigeon pea and groundnut, compared with only 15% the year before. Evaluations found that children were better nourished in households that had adopted the edible legumes. SOURCE: Kerr et al. (2007).strengthening in available tools through partnerships with universities and development agencies is an effective way to heighten awareness of this approach and strengthen capacity to use the tools available. Demand for this service is growing among national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such as World Vision, and agencies such as Oxfam International and the World Food Programme. They are particularly interested in monitoring and evaluating the use of participatory methods to promote technological innovation as they shift emphasis from humanitarian relief to food production.• Climate change: To assist farmers in coping with the impacts of climate change, research must incorporate local knowledge. Participatory plant breeding, for example, can be used to develop crop varieties that are not only better adapted to harsher conditions but closely match farmers' other needs, providing broad genetic diversity and more-flexible seed systems.Making agriculture more eco-efficient involves choices based on value judgments about alternatives. Some options may have positive or negative implications or involve trade-offs between competing objectives and interests. For that reason, researchers must always ask, \"Efficiency for whom?\" Participatory research is one of several approaches that can help address this question. It is particularly useful for taking into account different perspectives and priorities when deciding what the research problems are and what constitutes an eco-efficient innovation. Understanding farmers' demands and limitations is essential for finding solutions that are feasible for participating farmers.The gold standard of research consists of publishing one or more articles in peer-reviewed journals aimed at a scientific audience, which may number in the thousands. Traditional development practice, on the other hand, focuses on solving problems for as many people as possible as quickly as possible. Its gold standard constitutes a favorable impact assessment, showing that a project has delivered considerable livelihood gains for the poor both in quantitative and qualitative terms.Somewhere along the continuum between these caricatures of research and development lies the current reality. The CGIAR has recently announced that it will focus more strongly on achieving research outcomes that are reflected in measurable improvement of rural livelihoods. Yet, the incentive structures still favor scientific outputs over development impact.Meanwhile, development practitioners have adopted various approaches to monitoring, evaluation, and learning in an effort to enhance performance. Learning alliances provide an institutional framework for facilitating more effective and consistent connections between research and development, as both strive to improve the lives of the rural poor.Learning alliances differ substantially from common training practices, especially those involving short, one-off courses. This approach involves rather an iterative learning process undertaken jointly by multiple stakeholders, with the aim of improving the learning and innovation capacity of agencies that support farmer associations. There are three types of learning alliances (Table 14- 2;Best et al., 2009).Partners in such collaboration need to agree on basic principles of collective work, including:• Clear objectives: These must reflect the needs, capacities, and interests of the participating organizations and individuals. What does each organization bring to the alliance? What complementarities or gaps exist? What does each organization hope to achieve through the collaboration? • Shared responsibilities, costs, and credit: A learning alliance seeks to benefit all parties, so costs, responsibilities, and proper credit for achievements should be shared among partners. • Outputs as inputs: Rural communities are diverse, and there are no universal recipes for sustainable development. In learning alliances, the outputs of research and development are viewed as inputs for rural innovation at specific places and times. The particular methods and tools employed may change, as users adapt these to their needs and circumstances. Key challenges are to understand the reasons for adaptation and its positive or negative impacts on livelihoods as well as to document and share lessons learned.Learning alliances involve diverse participants.Determining each group's willingness to participate in the learning process is critical to success. This requires flexible but connected learning methods, which range from participatory monitoring and evaluation through conventional impact assessment to the development of innovation histories.Rural development takes place over many years. To influence positive change and understand why change has occurred requires long-term, stable relationships capable of evolving to meet new challenges. Trust is the glue that binds these relationships.Under learning alliances, the learning process typically spans 12 to 24 months (Best et al., 2009). It involves learning cycles, which include feedback loops and opportunities for reflection and documentation aimed at improving practice. This approach consists of four interrelated learning strategies:1. Capacity building: This activity is not limited to training but focuses on practical application of methods in the field, follow-up, adaptation, and improvement. Partners receive ongoing support as they implement prototypes. This process is linked to specific learning cycles, which strengthen partners' ability to use specific tools and approaches, adapt them to their needs, and discern when particular methods might or might not be useful. 2. Targeted action research: Such research addresses specific knowledge gaps identified with partner agencies. Key research questions are identified and fieldwork designed and implemented collaboratively by research and development agencies. Outcomes and findings are shared with other partner agencies, selected decision makers, and the general public through workshops and in electronic formats.These aim at strengthening the relationships that form the basis of the learning alliance through densification of networks and personal connections. To achieve this, the alliance can use face-to-face meetings, training-andexchange visits, and virtual tools such as a web site and list server. 4. Evidence-based decision making: Aimed at influencing organizations in the public and private sectors, this strategy has been markedly less successful than the other three. Nonetheless, learning-alliance partners consider it to be critical for leveraging high-level change based on field results. Alliance partners learn primarily through a learning cycle for each topic of interest, as shown in Figure 14-2.The learning alliance model involves the following activities, themes, and challenges:• Identifying learning topics: Identifying and clearly articulating the content of a given learning cycle requires extensive discussion, which is often time consuming and may become acrimonious. Nonetheless, once the partners reach consensus, the result is a more effective learning cycle. A learning alliance in Central America for rural-enterprise development contributed to significant changes in the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of 25 partner agencies, which influenced a network of 116 additional organizations. By 2007, the alliance had contributed to benefits for 33,000 rural families (about 175,000 people) in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.The alliance resulted in stronger networks with end users, involving both development actors and researchers. Partners changed from competitive to collaborative attitudes as they saw evidence that working together enhanced their capacity to meet the needs of rural communities and to obtain donor funds. These shifts, in turn, contributed to a more efficient innovation system for rural-enterprise development, as evidenced by shared use and generation of information, joint capacity building, and large-scale collaborative projects.A community-level assessment conducted in 2007 identified 30 cases that highlight the positive impact of methods and tools used by the learning alliance on income generation, natural resource management, and the role of women. On the strength of such results, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) adopted the learning-alliance approach within its global Agriculture and Environment Program. From small beginnings in East Africa and Central America during 2002-04, CRS has extended its learning alliances for agro-enterprise development to five regions involving about 30 countries (Best et al., 2009). The approach has also been adopted in the water and sanitation sector (Smits et al, 2007) and in India's rice sector (Prasad et al., 2007).In July 2009, the learning alliance in Central America entered a new phase. Five organizations that participated in its first phase-CRS, The Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV), the Swiss Foundation for Technical Cooperation (Swisscontact), OXFAM-GB, and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE, its Spanish acronym)-signed a five-year agreement to support a coordination unit that is currently facilitated by CATIE.For more information: www.alianzasdeaprendizaje.org learning-alliance partners must be accountable to one another as well as to their own stakeholders, and the partnership as a whole must be accountable to its stakeholders (APP, 2011). 4. Cultivate an organizational support network:It takes time and effort to build a shared learning culture. This is beyond the scope of a single project and requires ongoing support from staff and management in research and development organizations. To consolidate the learning culture requires a support network in both organizations, as it may run counter to short-term organizational thinking.Many challenges must be addressed to make learning alliances sustainable. Both research and development organizations need to make significant changes in attitudes and practices while also creating clear incentives for effective learning. These organizations should also assign higher value to emerging knowledge and insights, which do not easily fit in project logical frameworks or academic journals. And they must allow for more collaboration across research and development boundaries. In addition, better documentation and measurement of results in a consistent and statistically valid manner are needed to complement current efforts focused on qualitative changes in knowledge, attitudes, skills, and practices.The first round of learning alliances has provided useful lessons for the future, but important knowledge gaps remain. The overarching question is how to create and share knowledge within complex adaptive systems so that it contributes to sustained poverty reduction. Learning alliances and similar approaches provide opportunities to develop and test different hypotheses on this issue, which will remain an important concern for the foreseeable future.Project monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is a systematic approach to learning and capacity strengthening that involves all stakeholders (IFAD, 2002). Monitoring is periodic oversight of project implementation that seeks to establish whether the production of outputs is proceeding according to plan. Evaluation attempts to determine as systematically and objectively as possible the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and impact of activities in light of specified objectives. M&E is an action-oriented management tool and an organizational process for generating knowledge to improve decisions about policies, programs, and organizations (Horton et al., 2003).Achieving eco-efficient agriculture entails complex, long-term research. Its results must inform decision making and uptake in specific contexts while also informing further research (Watts et al., 2008). M&E encompasses all the channels and methods by which evidence is gathered, documented, and shared in research, including its conclusions and recommendations. M&E of research and the resulting international public goods provide crucial support for learning by doing and other types of learning that can enhance adaptive capacity (Douthwaite et al., 2003). Unfortunately, evaluation is often limited to the purpose of justifying past funding and obtaining future funding by demonstrating accountability and impacts, which may be disconnected from the intended users of research results.M&E and capacity strengthening are closely linked, as both emphasize learning in research for development. It is of paramount importance for organizations to promote an \"evaluative culture\" through investment in evaluation for learning. They can accomplish this by encouraging people to share best practices and lessons learned, by showing appreciation for attempts at reflection, by learning from multiple sources and perspectives, and by assessing constructively past mistakes or lost opportunities.To involve stakeholders in evaluation and through their participation to promote learning from and about evaluation should be standard practice in systemic research. Methods such as inclusive and use-focused evaluation produce better results and yield more-accurate recommendations for enhancing program development and change (Bledsoe and Graham, 2005).The main evaluation approaches currently in use are described briefly below, including comments on how M&E can be best organized and managed.With this approach-which is also known as program-theory evaluation, among other namesevaluation is based on an explicit theory or model of how programs may cause intended or observed outcomes (Rogers et al., 2000). Drawing on a synthesis of stakeholder program logic and social science theory, the approach defines what a program does and how, and gauges the effects of outputs on outcomes. This enables the evaluator to ascertain the actual causal mechanisms of program strategies and link these to changes in program participants.This approach combines self-assessment with external evaluation by peers (Thiele, 2007). The two are then discussed and compared for the purpose of improving learning, communication, and sharing.This is an action-oriented process through which stakeholders engage in monitoring or evaluation at various levels. They share control over the content, process, and results of M&E and engage in reflection, aimed at identifying corrective actions. PM&E provides ways to simplify complex plans through measurement frameworks that are owned by implementing partners. This approach not only measures the effectiveness of a project but also builds ownership of the content and promotes accountability for the outcomes at various levels (Muthoni, 2007).This is an umbrella term for a wide range of methodologies, such as participatory rural appraisal, rapid rural appraisal, participatory learning methods, participatory action research, farming systems research, active method of research and participatory planning (MARP, its French acronym), and many others. The common theme in all these approaches is the full participation of people in learning about their needs and opportunities, and about actions required to address them.Recent evaluation methods go beyond a focus on outputs (for the sake of accountability) to examine outcomes, particularly the extent to which they reach intended users. Such methods are concerned with the impacts triggered among target groups of users during and after an intervention.A method referred to as utilization-focused evaluation, for example, begins with the premise that evaluations should be judged by their utility (Patton, 1996). This method centers completely on the group of intended users and on the use they make of the information collected through the evaluation. Another option is outcome mapping, which does not assess the products of a program but rather focuses on changes in the behavior, relationships, and actions of the people, groups, and organizations directly involved. Then there is participatory impact pathways analysis-a planning, monitoring, and evaluation approach developed for complex projects in the water and food sectors (Álvarez et al., 2010). These M&E methods are not yet part of standard practice in international agricultural research. However, they could gain currency if continued use demonstrates their value convincingly and if scientists adopt more widely the \"innovation systems\" view of agricultural research for development, as opposed to the more common linear model.Measuring research impact in a credible manner is a time-consuming and resource-intensive activity that requires specialized skills as well as research on new methodologies (CGIAR Science Council, 2009).When M&E is done in a participatory manner focused on outcomes and learning, it can provide research managers with much useful information on the efficiency, relevance, sustainability, impact, and effectiveness of work in progress (Guijt, 1999). It can also contribute to adaptive management and improvement of a program, making it more relevant to users. The information derived from M&E offers research a \"bigger picture\" that reflects the complexity of any agricultural intervention. Through a continuous, inclusive, and wellorganized information exchange and learning, M&E can strengthen partners' ownership of an intervention, thus increasing the chances of adoption and sustainability.The way ahead for M&E in agricultural research concerned with eco-efficiency must involve a shift from summative evaluation driven by accountability concerns to M&E cultures and practices that are formative, inclusive, and systemic. Given growing pressures on funding and the urgency of addressing food insecurity, agricultural research must combine traditional impact assessment with more-timely, affordable, and inclusive ways of learning for the future.This section underlines the contribution that knowledge management can make in strengthening capacity to make tropical agriculture more eco-efficient. It first summarizes somePABRA is a CIAT-supported research partnership that improves the productivity and nutritional quality of beans, with the aim of improving the incomes, nutrition, and food security of the rural and urban poor. PABRA employs an inclusive M&E system that reflects the complementarities and synergies that are inherent in a partnership involving national agricultural research institutes, other government organizations, NGOs, extension service providers, and the private sector.Based on the principles of PM&E, the PABRA system actively engages different partner groups in defining what will be evaluated, who will take part, when evaluation will take place, what quantitative and qualitative methods will be used to collect and analyze information, and how findings will be consolidated.A PM&E facilitator guides the group through the generation of a results framework and measurement plan and also manages the group dynamics and social and political issues that arise when stakeholders having different information needs, priorities, and expectations are all involved in M&E. Some of the immediate results are a mutually defined framework for results-based management (RBM) in the form of a program logic model; a performance measurement framework, which provides guidelines for monitoring results; and review processes organized as workshops and fora.These results provide PABRA with a platform that enables other partners in the region and beyond to participate in the alliance. PABRA's RBM framework also accommodates projects funded by specific donors, such as the work of the Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Program on developing market, gender, and institutional arrangements for integrated research for development.PABRA's social environment facilitates the introduction of new technologies and other innovations; its stakeholders are more tolerant of new ideas that emerge from discussions of research results and lessons learned. PABRA's member countries find it easy to replicate successful implementation of technologies and methods in other countries, thus boosting the rate at which innovations are taken up across the region.Approaches such as participatory variety selection and private-public partnerships aimed at widening access to improved seed are still relatively new to the national institutions that are PABRA members. But some countries have quickly come to value and adopt these approaches based on reviews of case studies and lessons learned. general trends in knowledge management and then looks into various aspects and applications of knowledge management and sharing as well as their respective tools and methods. These include:(1) participatory research communication and documentation; (2) open access to research outputs as well as to broadband telecommunications channels; (3) research project collaboration; and (4) information and communications technologies for development (ICTs4D).Organizations engaged in research for development are necessarily knowledge organizations. Their core business is to combine primary information-data-with experience, context, interpretation, and reflection to generate what has been referred to as \"tacit\" knowledge (Nonaka, 1994). This knowledge is intended to help users make better-informed decisions and take appropriate actions.Recent trends in knowledge management suggest that this is no longer a top-down process but rather has become a participatory activity, in which the role of management is to \"make it possible for staff to act as the managers of their knowledge\" (Wenger, 2004). Knowledge management has thus shifted from a managerial and technology-heavy discipline to one that centers on learning by doing and collective reflection and innovation (Hall, 2006). This shift has profound implications for the relevance of knowledge management to issues such as sustainability and equity in research for development. It has also created new opportunities to reach the intended users of new knowledge.Technology changes people's behavior, and new behaviors, in turn, create new contexts for technological innovation. Much the same thing happens with knowledge management.The International Telecommunication Union (ITU, 2010) states that continuous improvement in connectivity has turned the internet into a generalpurpose technology like electricity. By 2010, two billion people had access to the internet, and five billion had mobile phone subscriptions. This has created new opportunities for providing broad access to scientific knowledge around the world. Even so, significant barriers remain, such as a lack of content in multiple languages and limited access to broadband infrastructure.Improved connectivity has also given rise to significant progress in technology-enabled human interactivity, providing new possibilities for the online co-creation, discussion, and promotion of content across organizational and geographical boundaries. The emergence of web 2.0 technologies has created an unprecedented entry point for practicing horizontal and decentralized communication and collaborative learning, which are crucial for multistakeholder and network-based activities such as agricultural research for development.But not all knowledge management happens virtually. On the contrary, much experience and many studies suggest that face-to-face communication is crucial for creating new types of collegial relationships and fostering more-creative scientific collaboration because it creates the trust and other conditions needed for effective flow of knowledge among teams and partners (Staiger et al., 2005).The scientific community has not been quick to pick up on the opportunities created by these trends. Rather, it continues to rely on a few, traditional vehicles for sharing and validating new knowledge that involve relatively poor interaction. The most important of these are experiment replication, publication of research results in peer-reviewed journals, literature searches, and formal communication at conferences and workshops.Many scientists worry that more open and rapid sharing of research under way might not only undermine the quality of its outputs but also make it impossible to publish the results in peer-reviewed journals. These still constitute the ultimate proof of high-quality science and therefore strongly influence researchers' incentives. However, there are many promising paths for combining traditional and Communication units and staff have to acquire new skills so as to incorporate social-media practices and tools into their day-to-day work and promote these among staff and partners, with explicit support from management.Although the scientific outputs of public international research are considered global public goods, access to them may be limited for various reasons. The information may not be available in public repositories; access to it may be blocked by the copyright restrictions of peer-reviewed journals; or key information may not be available in the languages of intended users (Arivananthan et al., 2010).Access to research outputs is the first condition for learning and capacity strengthening. The Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development (CIARD) initiative indicates useful pathways and provides step-by-step guides for creating favorable institutional conditions (such as licensing) for collecting and preserving research outputs (e.g., through digitization of older outputs and use of digital repositories) and for making content widely accessible on the web (e.g., through \"self-archiving,\" which allows for publishing of a preprint or postprint of scientific papers submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals or conference and workshop proceedings).Easy access to information further depends on Information Technology (IT) infrastructure and broadband internet access. Improvements in these areas can make the internet available to all staff of an organization, better enabling them to promote its products and achievements. To create entry points for open access requires corresponding institutional policies and incentives.Working in multidisciplinary global partnerships requires a change in individual computer work habits. Online collaborative tools (such as Google applications and wikis) and practices can be used to share work in progress, encourage regular feedback, and improve the use and reuse of information as well as to create and facilitate online communities. Recent experience demonstrates that these practices support the emergence of an ongoing learning process (Staiger-Rivas et al., 2009). They enhance team integration, engagement, and involvement and ultimately research impact. The organizational benefits include staff empowerment, increased transparency, and stronger internal capacity, which should contribute to organizational development and change.Whether collaborative tools thrive in an organization depends on several key factors. IT support services must be open to software solutions that are non-proprietary and must move to a technology stewardship role (Wenger et al., 2009). The adoption of collaborative online tools requires patience and careful facilitation of the change in work habits. Before collaborative web tools are introduced, their purpose must be clearly identified, and the key people involved must understand and agree with their use.The emergence of the internet made possible widespread use of new ICTs4D, based on the principle of connectivity as a powerful means of inclusion (www.ictinagriculture.org). The spread of mobile phones is rapidly overcoming barriers to access. According to ITU (2010), 86% of the world's population is covered by a mobile phone network, and 75% of the world's rural population is covered by a mobile phone signal.The tools and possible applications for agriculture are limitless, including market information and financial services, land administration and risk management, advisory services, decentralized data collection, and many more. ICTs4D should contribute importantly to eco-efficiency in agriculture by providing smallholder farmers with inexpensive access to information that can help make their production more productive and competitive.However, as often occurs with the introduction of new technology, adoption of ICTs4D has been hindered by flaws in the approach used. Initial efforts have focused too much on IT infrastructure and on access to hardware and have taken a top-down approach to information diffusion.In order for projects involving ICTs4D to be more effective, they must meet several conditions (Rogers, 2011). First, the application must be relevant to the local context and correspond to local needs. Second, the available IT infrastructure capacity must be well understood. Third, steps must be taken from the start to ensure sustainability. And finally, applications must be developed in a participatory manner, focusing on what farmers have to offer, avoiding condescending assumptions, and providing opportunities for social learning.In research centering on eco-efficient agriculture, ICTs4D should be a key focus for the development of applications that facilitate the creation and use of new knowledge. Several organizational changes are required to promote a knowledge-sharing culture:• A clear commitment to horizontal forms of management and related incentives. Hierarchical handling of communications and decision making, in contrast, keeps staff from discussing research for development openly and learning from peers. • A sustained effort to promote changes in national and regional research organizations that enhance knowledge flow between stakeholders, based on shared values and knowledge management practices. • A shift in the orientation of IT personnel away from technology control and towards technology stewardship, aimed at helping users choose the best technologies, including those needed to foster knowledge sharing.These changes are critical for strengthening capacity to achieve eco-efficient agriculture through active knowledge management and sharing in research for development.This chapter has examined various approaches by which stakeholders can mainstream eco-efficiency in the agricultural development agenda. To achieve this transformation will require a multidisciplinary effort to build innovation capacity through joint learning and stakeholder empowerment.One of the chapter's key assumptions is the need for a systemic approach to research for development that acknowledges the complexity of research and of the interactions between those involved. Creating the institutional arrangements needed for such an approach is a huge challenge. How can organizations incorporate the notion of eco-efficiency into their work? How can they learn and adapt continuously? How can they handle complex processes and interactions efficiently? How can they walk their talk? Horton (2012) spells out the institutional changes that are required: Becoming a learning organization frequently requires:• Shifting from closed innovation strategies to more open ones • Shifting from simple, hierarchical organizational designs to more complex ones that feature multidisciplinary teamwork and multiorganizational collaboration • Shifting from traditional planning and implementation systems to adaptive management • Expanding evaluation functions to encompass both accountability and learning • Incorporating societal concerns and priorities into performance incentives.As agricultural research organizations begin to mainstream eco-efficiency, they can start by examining their internal capacities, policies, administrative processes, incentive structures, and other organizational arrangements. Suggested steps are to:• Develop a good understanding of eco-efficiency internally through training, workshops, field visits, and seminars. • Adopt appropriate business practices and policies, such as carbon-footprint standards and eco-efficient practices in office-space design, renovation, construction, landscaping, and supply-chain management.• Widen staff skills to include new capacities in areas such as facilitation, mentoring, networking, and social media. These are essential for working with diverse stakeholders to identify and develop new opportunities for technical and institutional innovation (Horton, 2012). • Use monitoring and evaluation methods and tools for learning and adaption in conjunction with traditional approaches centering on accountability and return on investment. • Design incentives (such as appraisal criteria, competitions, rewards, and small grants) to promote teamwork, open knowledge sharing, and a practical focus on development results. • Allow for adaptive management (Horton, 2012) in terms of planning, budgeting, reporting, and career development.Organizations that take these steps can strengthen their capacity for innovation through a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, involving dialogue between staff, partners, and other stakeholders. Such organizations can learn from past experience and make better decisions that focus their research more sharply on development outcomes, leading to eco-efficient agriculture. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"907ed0d83c2c9a6937e2290378f33403","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9867fbd2-3dba-4d4e-9383-b9fd66cb3d85/retrieve","id":"-1598157865"},"keywords":["climate-smart agriculture","earthworms","soil enzymes","subsurface drip irrigation","maizebased system","rice-wheat system","soil quality"],"sieverID":"fd2dea3a-5ccd-42f2-b53e-f11db2eb79e0","content":"Earthworms (EWs) could be a viable indicator of soil biology and agri-food system management. The influence of climate-smart agriculture (CSA)-based sustainable intensification practices (zero tillage, crop rotations, crop residue retention, and precision water and nutrients application) on earthworms' (EWs) populations and soil physico-biochemical properties of rice-wheat cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic plains of South Asia was investigated. This study investigates the effect of 10-years adoption of various CSA practices on the abundance of earthworms and physical and biochemical properties of the soil and EWs' casts (EWC). Five scenarios (Sc) were included: conventionally managed rice-wheat system (farmers' practices, Sc1), CSA-based rice-wheat-mungbean system with flood irrigation (FI) (Sc2) and subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) (Sc3), CSA-based maizewheat-mungbean system with FI (Sc4), and SDI (Sc5). Results revealed that EWs were absent under Sc1, while the 10-year adoption of CSA-based scenarios (mean of Sc2-5) increased EWs' density and biomass to be 257.7 no. m −2 and 36.05 g m −2 , respectively. CSA-based maize scenarios (Sc4 and Sc5) attained higher EWs' density and biomass over rice-based CSA scenarios (Sc2 and Sc4). Also, SDI-based scenarios (Sc3 and Sc5) recorded higher EWs' density and biomass over FI (Sc2 and Sc4). Maize-based CSA with SDI recorded the highest EWs' density and EWs' biomass. The higher total organic carbon in EWC (1.91%) than in the bulk soil of CSA-based scenarios (0.98%) and farmers' practices (0.65%) suggests the shift of crop residue to a stable SOC (in EWC). EWC contained significant amounts of C and available NPK under CSA practices, which were nil under Sc1. All CSA-based scenarios attained higher enzymes activities over Sc1. CSA-based scenarios, in particular, maize-based scenarios using SDI, improved EWs' proliferation, SOC, and nutrients storage (in soil and EWC) and showed a better choice for the IGP farmers with respect to C sequestration, soil quality, and nutrient availability.The rice-wheat (RW) cropping system dominates in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of South Asia covering an area of 13.5 Mha [1]. Besides being high water, energy, labor, and fertilizers demanding cropping system, burning crop residues, and intensive tillage Agronomy 2022, 12, 658 2 of 24 practices contributed to soil degradation [2][3][4][5]. Consequently, the sustainability of the RW cropping system in the IGP of South Asia is under threat [6], promoting the need for better agri-food systems management practices [7]. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices could enhance soil properties through the adoption of zero tillage (ZT), crop residue retention (CRR), and crop diversification [8][9][10] with best-fit crop management technologies [5,[11][12][13]. Despite the positive impacts of CSA practices on cropping system productivity, profitability, and resource use efficiency in the IGP of India, little information is available about the combined effects of CSA practices on the abundance of earthworms (EWs) and soil physico-biochemical properties.Conventional farming practices not only influence soil physico-biochemical properties but also intensively reduce the population, diversity, and activity of soil fauna [4,14]. The protection of soil fauna has a key role in soil management that determines soil quality [15]. Among organisms, soil properties are more amplified by EWs' abundance and activity than other soil fauna [16]. EWs' abundance was found to influence soil biophysical properties [17], crop productivity [18], and agroecosystem health [19]. EWs' feeding, burrowing, and casting activities impact OM distribution and dynamics [20], soil structure formation, aggregate stability, and soil porosity [21,22], nutrient availability and cycling [18,20,23], water infiltration [24], and microbial activity [25], thereby crop growth and productivity [18,23]. Consequently, due to the numerous ecosystem services that EWs provide, it was identified as ecosystem engineers [26,27] that could act as a bioindicator of land use and management [20,28].In general, EWs' density, diversity, and biomass in arable lands are lesser compared to gardens [14,29], organic farming [30], and integrated farming [28]. Several meta-analyses [22,30] and reviews [23,31] concluded that tillage reduces EWs' abundance. Moreover, EWs' abundance and diversity are influenced by crop residues amount and type [15,19,29] and cropping rotation [20]. Indeed, numerous studies have shown that CRR, ZT, and crop diversity positively affect EWs' population [24,27,32]. However, the layering of such practices on EWs' abundance in intensively irrigated rice-wheat cropping systems is limited.Soil biological properties, carbon mineralization, and nutrient release are strongly related. Earthworms primarily decompose low-quality OM to a nutrient-rich product by establishing a mutualistic relationship with soil microflora [32]. Accordingly, changes in EWs' density and activity could be manifested by increased nutrient levels and enzyme activities [14]. Enzymes, proteins produced by plant roots, soil microbiota, and fauna to hydrolyze SOM, are responsive to the soil management practices, e.g., tillage, cropping diversity, residue, and nutrient management [4,[33][34][35]. Due to their relationship with soil biology, soil enzymes have been described as \"biological fingerprints\", considered key soil quality indicators [36] that catalyze various reactions for OM decomposition, and OM-and nutrient cycling [37,38]. For example, phosphatases play roles in the organic Phosphorus (P) bioavailability [39], while dehydrogenase (DHA) plays a role in the oxidation of SOM by shifting organic H to inorganic acceptors [40]. In brief, DHA activity reflects a good picture of the overall soil microbial activities, thus it is a viable soil health indicator [41]. Hence, the effect of CSA and EWs' activity might be reflected by nutrient levels and enzyme activities in both bulk soil and EWs' casts (EWC).The nature of retained crop residues and EWs' abundance has produced contradictory results. While OM supply usually increases EWs' populations [42], Bamminger et al., [43] found no effect. Additionally, not always the adoption of sustainably managed systems promotes EWs' abundance [22,44]. More importantly, the effect of EWs on SOC is found ambiguous [45], as EWs influence SOC in two different directions [46]. EWs could accelerate crop residues decomposition by promoting microbial activity [33,47]. However, EWs' activity could increase SOC levels by boosting the formation of stable aggregates that protect the SOC against microbial attack [48,49] and by stabilizing the newly added OM in their casts, thus aiding soil C storage in the long term [25,46,48,50]. Therefore, the impact of retaining various crop residues under conservative managed systems on the EWs' abundance and their impact on SOC sequestration and soil quality in the IGP is important in light of global warming.In northern India, studies revealed the anthropogenic pressure on EWs' communities in arable lands [4,28,29]. Despite researchers confirming the ultimate beneficial effects of CSA in the IGP of India, little information is available about the effects of various CSA practices on the EWs' density and biomass. We hypothesize that CSA-based sustainable intensification practices (zero tillage, crop rotations, crop residue retention, and precision water and nutrients application) would augment EWs' populations that could enhance soil physico-biochemical properties than conventional practices, which could vary as per the cropping system management practices. In the present study, after a decade of adopting various CSA practices, we measured EWs' density and biomass in two soil layers (0-15 and 15-30 cm), as well the soil physical properties and the biochemical properties of both the bulk soil and EWs' casts. The CSA practices were compared with farmers' practices. CSA practices involved tillage (zero tillage Vs intensive tillage), crop rotations (maize-wheat vs rice-wheat), crop residue management (retention Vs removal), and water and nutrients application (precision application via subsurface irrigation vs flood irrigation). The effect of different management practices and their linear contrast on the above-mentioned parameters were analyzed. The results of these studies could help in designing a better cropping system with the best CSA practices that could show a better choice for the IGP farmers with respect to EWs' proliferation, C sequestration, nutrients storage, and availability, and soil physical and biological properties.The experiment was conducted at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI), Karnal (29 • 42 20.7 N latitude, 76 • 57 19.79 E longitude, 243 m elevation), India. This area is typically known for the rice-wheat (RW) system. The climate of the region is semi-arid subtropical with an average rainfall of 670 mm annually, of which ~80% is distributed mainly from June to September (monsoon season). The climate is characterized by three distinctive seasons, i.e., wet-Kharif (July-October), dry-Rabi (November-March), and summer-Zaid (April-June). The soil of the experimental site is silty loam in texture (34.0% sand, 46.0% silt, and 20.0% clay), slightly alkaline (pH of 8.0), and poor in organic carbon content (0.45%).This study included five treatments (hereinafter named scenarios) consisting of two cropping systems (rice-wheat and maize-wheat) with combinations of tillage, residue management, crop establishment, mungbean integration, and water management practices (Table 1). The treatments were designated as scenarios by keeping in view present management practices, as well as future drivers of agricultural changes in the region. Before initiating the experiment, the experimental site was under a conventionally managed ricewheat system. The experiment began in 2009 and was laid out in a randomized complete block design and replicated thrice in 20 m × 50 m plot size. The five scenarios (Sc) were: conventional tillage (CT)-puddled transplanted rice (PTR) -CT wheat with flood irrigation (FI) (Sc1; farmers' practice); ZT direct-seeded rice (DSR) -ZT wheat -ZT mungbean with FI (Sc2); ZT DSR -ZT wheat -ZT mungbean with subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) (Sc3); ZT maize -ZT wheat -ZT mungbean with FI (Sc4) and ZT Maize -ZT Wheat -ZT mungbean with SDI (Sc5). Details of all CSA-based management scenarios comprised of crop rotation, tillage, crop establishment, and residue and water management are given in Table 1. In all the scenarios, similar management practices were followed across the years. A sampling of soil and EWs was carried out during the year 2019 (after 10 years of adopting CSA practices). All crop residues were removed in farmers' practice (Sc1) from the ground level. However, in rice-based CSA scenarios (Sc2 and Sc3), all rice and mungbean residues and anchored wheat residues were retained on the soil surface. In maize-based CAS scenarios (Sc4 and Sc5), partial (~65%) maize residues and anchored wheat stubbles were retained at the soil surface. To assess the amount of crop residue recycled in each scenario, five rows with a length of 1.0 m were sampled from three locations in each plot after the harvest of each crop. The residues were cut from the soil surface, oven-dried, and expressed on a dry weight basis per hectare. The average residue load varied from 7.36-7.75 Mg ha −1 for rice, 9.52-9.88 Mg ha −1 for maize, 1.85-1.97 Mg ha −1 for wheat, and 2.95-3.30 Mg ha −1 for mungbean over the years. Annual average crop residues of 12.29, 12.39, 14.78, and 14.33 Mg ha −1 were retained on the soil surface for Scenario 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. The C/N ratio of rice and maize was 58-65 and 43-50, respectively, and for wheat and mungbean, 50-56 and 20-30, respectively.In Sc1 (farmers' practice), conventional irrigation practices were applied; for CT-PTR, flood irrigation (FI) of ~5 cm depth for one month followed by irrigation applied at the hairline crack, while needs-based FI was applied for wheat (Table 1). In CSA-based scenarios, irrespective of the irrigation system (e.g., FI for Sc2 and Sc4 and SDI for Sc3 and Sc5), irrigation was based on a soil matric potential (SMP) of −20 to −30 kPa for rice and −40 to −50 kPa for maize throughout the season. The only exception is rice in Sc2, in which the soil was kept wet for the first 20 days to ensure good germination and establishment (Table 1). However, in the case of mungbean, needs-based irrigation was applied. Within each plot, a soil tensiometer \"gauge-type\" (IRROMETER, Riverside, California) was installed to monitor SMP. The ceramic cups were placed at 15 cm depth, ensuring good contact between the ceramic tip and the surrounding soil. The subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) system was installed; polyvinyl chloride pipes having an inside diameter of 90 and 63 mm for mains and sub mains, respectively. The laterals were placed at depth of 20 cm using tractor operated drip laying machine. Dripping lines (16 mm in diameter) were laid down along the rows at 20 cm depth with in-line emitters with a flow rate of 2.0 L h −1 and located 30 cm apart and the distance between dripping lines was 67.5 cm.In Sc1 (farmers' practice), both rice and wheat were cultivated as common farmers' practices in northwest India. The tillage operations in conventional till puddled transplanted rice (CT-PTR) comprised of two passes of harrow, one pass of rotavator, and two passes of puddle harrow followed by planking. Twenty-five-days-old rice seedlings were manually transplanted in a random geometry (20 cm × 15 cm) in puddled fields. In CT wheat, preparatory tillage included two passes each of harrowing, and two cultivators then wheat seeds were manually broadcasted and followed by planking. In CSA scenarios (Sc2-5), under ZT, all crops (rice, wheat, mungbean) except maize were planted with a row spacing of 22.5 cm using Happy Seeder; while maize was seeded at a row spacing of 67.5 cm. For CT (PTR) and DSR rice, a seed rate of 10 and 20 kg ha −1 were used, respectively. For maize, wheat, and mungbean, a seed rate of 100, 20, and 20 kg ha −1 was used, respectively. The best management practices were followed for weed, insect, pest, and disease management as per the recommendations of Punjabi Agricultural University.Soil bulk density was measured following the core method [51]. The soil penetration resistance was measured using a manual cone penetrometer (Eijkelkamp Agrisearch Equipment, Germany) at a 5 cm interval to a depth of 0-30 cm. The infiltration rate (IR) was determined using a double-ring infiltrometer as described by Gathala et al. [52]. The mean weight diameter (MWD) of water-stable soil aggregates was determined using the wet sieving method [53]. An air-dry soil sample of 100 g was passed through an 8 mm sieve and transferred in a set of sieves with diameters of 4, 2, 1, 0.5, 0.25, and 0.125 mm. After which, sieves (including the soil) were soaked for 10 min for capillary rewetting, followed by 10 min of shaking in a water drum with an oscillation frequency of 30 cycles min −1 and an amplitude of 3 cm, resulting in distinct aggregate class diameters, i.e., 0-0.125, 0.125-0.25, 0.25-0.5, 0.5-1, 1-2, 2-4 and 4-8 mm. The aggregates that remained in each class were collected and oven-dried at 65-70 • C until a constant weight was recorded. The aggregates MWD was calculated according to Kemper and Rosenau [54] using the following equation.where, n is the number of fractions (0.1-0.25, 0.25-0.5, 0.5-1.0, 1.0-2.0, 2.0-4 and 4-8 mm), xi is the mean diameter (mm) of the sieve size class (0.175, 0.375, 0.75, 1.5 and 2.0, 3, and 6 mm), and wi is the weight of soil (g) retained on each sieve.Sampling was performed for EWs in the morning (during their active period) [29] during mid-September 2019, using the digging and hand sorting method for two soil depths, i.e., 0-15 and 15-30 cm, from each replicate with three grid points. Soil blocks (0.25 cm × 25 cm × 15 cm) were removed from each plot. Similarly, soil blocks at a depth of 15-30 cm were sampled [55]. Soil blocks were bagged and directly moved to the laboratory and hand sorted. EWs were sorted into three categories based on their length, e.g., small (<20 mm), medium (20-40 mm), and large (>40 mm). The fresh biomass (g m −2 ) and density (No. m −2 ) were determined for each size category.Soil samples were collected (mid-September 2019) from each plot with three grid points from 0-15 cm depth using an auger with an internal diameter of 5 cm from each replicate. The activity of EWs is usually higher at night and therefore EWC was collected from the upper soil surface within a sampling area of 25 cm × 25 cm early in the morning using a brush and a small spoon [14]. Part of the fresh soil and EWC samples were kept (separately) in a refrigerator at 4 • C till the analysis of enzyme activities, i.e., dehydrogenase activity (DHA), alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP), and acid phosphatase activity (ACP). The other part of soil and EWC samples were air-dried, ground, sieved through a 2 mm sieve, and stored in a plastic jar for laboratory analysis of selected chemical properties.Soil and EWC were analyzed for electrical conductivity (EC), pH, total organic carbon (TOC), available N, P, and K, and enzymes (DHA, ALP, and ACP). EC and pH were determined in soil water extract (1 soil: 2 water) following the methods of Jakson [56]. The TOC content was determined using the wet oxidation method [57]. Available N was determined by the alkaline permanganate method [58]. Available P was determined by the ascorbic acid reductant method of Olsen et al. [59]. Available K was measured by flame photometer using neutral 1 N ammonium acetate extractant as described by Jackson [56]. Enzymes (DHA, ALP, and ACP) activities were estimated as described by Dick et al. [37].Data on earthworm population density, biomass weight, chemical properties of EWC, and soil had a greater coefficient of variation than 20%, and hence were transformed through a square-root ( √ x + 0.5) method [60]. The data were subjected to ANOVA (analysis of variance) using a one-way completely randomized design in the Glmmix procedure in SAS 9.1. The significant effect was determined at a significance level of 5% (p ≤ 0.05) and was compared according to Fisher's least significant difference (LSD). Principal component analysis (PCA) and correlation matrix were carried out using the R package GEA-R. The results were submitted to PCA to determine the common relationships between parameters.For All CSA-based scenarios (Sc2-5), EWs' density and biomass of the three size categories (small, medium, and large) were higher in the surface soil layer (0-15 cm), compared to the subsurface soil layer (15-30 cm) (Table 2). However, for farmers' practices (Sc1), EWs' density and biomass were nil across the tested soil depths. For the two tested soil layers, all CSA-based scenarios had a significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher total EWs' density and biomass compared with Sc1 (farmers' practices) and the increase varied with different crop-based scenarios. Across the two soil layers, CSA-based maize scenarios (Sc4 and Sc5) did not significantly (p ≤ 0.05) differ in EWs' density and biomass (across all size categories) (Table 2). Similarly, CSA rice-based scenarios (Sc2 and Sc3) did not significantly (p ≤ 0.05) differ in EWs' density and biomass across all size categories. The only exception is the medium size (20-40 mm), only in 15-30 cm soil depth, in which an EW density of Sc3 was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher than Sc2. In the top 15 cm soil depth, Sc5 recorded maximum EWs' density and biomass across all size categories, in which total EWs' density and biomass were 257.7 indv. m −2 and 36.05 g m −2 , respectively, instead of nil under Sc1. However, in sub-surface soil depth (15-30 cm), maximum EWs' density and biomass were recorded for Sc4 that was at par with Sc5.Total EWs' density and biomass were significantly (p ≤ 0.01) higher in maize-based CSA scenarios (Sc4 and Sc5) than rice-based CSA scenarios (Sc2 and Sc3), in particular for the surface soil layer (Table 2). Maize-based CSA scenarios (Sc4 and Sc5) recorded higher total EWs' density and biomass by 76.3, 240.0% and 56.0 and 52.0%, respectively, over ricebased CSA scenarios (Sc2 and Sc3), for the surface and subsurface soil layers, respectively, irrespective of system management (tillage, irrigation, and CRR). Similarly, precise water and N management through SDI (Sc3 and Sc5) recorded significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher EWs' density (p ≤ 0.05) and biomass (p ≤ 0.01) by 25.0 and 39.12%, respectively, relative to flood irrigation (FI)-based scenarios (Sc2 and Sc4) for the surface soil layer, irrespective of the cropping system. In the sub-surface soil depth, no differences were observed due to the irrigation system. Within the CSA rice-based scenarios, the SDI-irrigated rice (Sc3) recorded a significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher EWs' density and biomass by 5.86% and 48.48%, respectively over FI-irrigated rice (Sc2) for the 0-15 cm soil depth. Similarly, within maizebased scenarios, the SDI-irrigated maize (Sc5) recorded significantly (p ≤ 0.01) higher EWs' density and biomass by 37.5 and 36.5%, respectively, over FI-irrigated maize (Sc4) for the 0-15 cm depth.The CSA practices significantly (p ≤ 0.05) affected soil BD, which ranged from 1.4 Mg m −3 (Sc5) to 1.54 Mg m −3 (Sc1) (Figure 1). Soil BD of farmers' practices scenario was 7.8% higher than the CSA-based scenarios (Sc2-5). Full CSA-based scenarios did not significantly (p ≤ 0.05) differ in BD (Figure 1). However, maize-based CSA scenarios (Sc4 and Sc5) had significantly (p ≤ 0.05) lower BD compared to Sc1; while rice-based CSA scenarios (Sc2 and Sc3), did not significantly (p ≤ 0.05) differ from Sc1. Compared to Sc1, CSA-based maize and rice scenarios significantly (p ≤ 0.05) decreased BD by 9.7 and 5.2%, respectively, irrespective of crop management practices. Interestingly, the effect of the irrigation system on soil BD was minimal, in which both SDI-based scenarios (Sc3 and Sc5) and FI-based scenarios (Sc2 and Sc4) showed similar BD.    1). Pars with a similar lowercase letter (s) are not significantly different at 0.05 level of probability using Tukey's HSD test. Letters apply only within each parameter.The infiltration rate (IR) of all CSA-based scenarios (Sc2-5) was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher than Sc1 (Figure 1). No significant (p ≤ 0.05) differences in IR were observed among CSA-based scenarios (Sc2-5). Irrespective of crop type and management, IR of CSA was 3.5 and 3.0 times over Sc1 for rice-based CSA scenarios and maize-based CSA scenarios, respectively. On a system basis, rice-based CSA scenarios significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased the IR rate by 15.4% compared to maize-based CSA scenarios, irrespective of the irrigation system. The IR of SDI-based scenarios (Sc3 and Sc5) was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher than FI-based scenarios (Sc2 and Sc4) by 3.8%.The CSA-based scenario did not significantly (p ≤ 0.05) differ in the MWD and was significantly higher than farmer practice (Sc1). The CSA-based scenario (average of Sc2-5) increased MWD significantly (p ≤ 0.05) by 159%, irrespective of crop type and management practices (Figure 1). Summing the data over the cropping system, the results revealed that maize-based CSA scenarios showed statistically similar MWD to those recorded for rice-based CSA scenarios, irrespective of crop management (tillage, irrigation, and CRR). While SDI-based CSA scenarios (Sc3 and Sc5) increased the MWD significantly (p ≤ 0.05) by 6.5% over SDI-based CSA scenarios (Sc2 and Sc4), irrespective of the cropping system.  1). Pars with a similar lowercase letter (s) are not significantly different at 0.05 level of probability using Tukey's HSD test. Letters apply only within each parameter.The infiltration rate (IR) of all CSA-based scenarios (Sc2-5) was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher than Sc1 (Figure 1). No significant (p ≤ 0.05) differences in IR were observed among CSA-based scenarios (Sc2-5). Irrespective of crop type and management, IR of CSA was 3.5 and 3.0 times over Sc1 for rice-based CSA scenarios and maize-based CSA scenarios, respectively. On a system basis, rice-based CSA scenarios significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased the IR rate by 15.4% compared to maize-based CSA scenarios, irrespective of the irrigation system. The IR of SDI-based scenarios (Sc3 and Sc5) was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher than FI-based scenarios (Sc2 and Sc4) by 3.8%.The CSA-based scenario did not significantly (p ≤ 0.05) differ in the MWD and was significantly higher than farmer practice (Sc1). The CSA-based scenario (average of Sc2-5) increased MWD significantly (p ≤ 0.05) by 159%, irrespective of crop type and management practices (Figure 1). Summing the data over the cropping system, the results revealed that maize-based CSA scenarios showed statistically similar MWD to those recorded for rice-based CSA scenarios, irrespective of crop management (tillage, irrigation, and CRR). While SDI-based CSA scenarios (Sc3 and Sc5) increased the MWD significantly (p ≤ 0.05) by 6.5% over SDI-based CSA scenarios (Sc2 and Sc4), irrespective of the cropping system.CSA-based scenarios significantly (p ≤ 0.05) influenced SPR at all measured depths, except at 0-5 cm and 15-20 cm, in which no significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) were observed among all scenarios (Figure 2). In general, in the top 15 cm, minimum SPR was recorded for Sc1 (0.64-0.91 MPa), while the highest values were recorded for Sc4 (0.87-1.83 MPa). Below 15 cm, an opposite trend was observed, in which CSA-based scenarios had significantly (p ≤ 0.05) lower SPR relative to Sc1. The effect of CSA was minimal in the upper 5 cm surface, in which no significant (p ≤ 0.05) differences were observed among all scenarios (Figure 2). In the 5-10 and 10-15 cm soil depths, all CSA-based scenarios significantly increased SPR except Sc3 which was at par with Sc1 (Figure 2). The threshold point was at a soil depth of 15-20 cm, wherein CSA practices did not significantly affect SPR. In the 20-25 and 25-30 cm soil depths, all CSA scenarios significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased SPR (Figure 2), with Sc3 (rice-based CSA with SDI) having the lowest SPR (0.97-1.2 MPa). The average SPR of maize-based CSA scenarios (Sc4 and Sc5) was 5.0 and 39.6%, over rice-based CSA scenarios (Sc4 and Sc5), for the 0-15 and 15-30 cm soil depth, respectively. Moreover, ios (Figure 2). In the 5-10 and 10-15 cm soil depths, all CSA-based scenarios significantly increased SPR except Sc3 which was at par with Sc1 (Figure 2). The threshold point was at a soil depth of 15-20 cm, wherein CSA practices did not significantly affect SPR. In the 20-25 and 25-30 cm soil depths, all CSA scenarios significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased SPR (Figure 2  Values with a similar lowercase letter (s) with in each soil depth are not significantly different at 0.05 level of probability using Tukey's HSD test. (for a detailed description of scenarios refer to Table 1).The effect of CSA-based scenarios on the soil salinity and pH was minimal, in which no significant (p ≤ 0.05) differences in soil salinity and pH were observed owing to CSAbased management practices (Table 3). Irrespective of CSA-based scenarios, soil salinity Values with a similar lowercase letter (s) with in each soil depth are not significantly different at 0.05 level of probability using Tukey's HSD test. (for a detailed description of scenarios refer to Table 1).The effect of CSA-based scenarios on the soil salinity and pH was minimal, in which no significant (p ≤ 0.05) differences in soil salinity and pH were observed owing to CSA-based management practices (Table 3). Irrespective of CSA-based scenarios, soil salinity ranged from 0.22 to 0.28 dS m −1 , while the soil was almost neutral, and the pH varied from 7.1 to 7.8. However, both EC and pH in EWC were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher in rice CSA-based scenarios over maize CSA-based and farmers' practices (Sc1) (Table 3). The rice-based CSA scenarios (Sc2 and Sc3) showed similar EC in EWC to those observed for maize-based CSA scenarios (Sc4 and Sc5), irrespective of crop management. However, the pH of EWC in rice-based CSA scenarios (Sc2 and Sc3) was significantly (p ≤ 0.01) higher than maize-based scenarios (Sc4 and Sc5) by 7.4%, irrespective of management systems. All CSA-based scenarios (Sc2-5) showed higher TOC in both bulk soil and EWC than farmers' practice (Sc1) but did not significantly (p ≤ 0.05) differ from each other (Table 3). Interestingly, under CSA-based scenarios (Sc2-5), the average TOC in EWC was two times higher than the average TOC in bulk soil. In farmers' practices, OC was found only in the bulk soil (0.65%); however, under CSA-based scenarios (Sc2-5), OC was found in the bulk soil (0.98%) and in EWC (1.91%). TOC in bulk soil under CSA-based scenarios was significantly (p ≤ 0.01) higher (50.0%) over Sc1. Maize-based CSA scenarios (Sc4 and Sc5) significantly (p ≤ 0.01) increased TOC in bulk soil by 4.7% and in EWC by 8.7% over ricebased CSA scenarios (Sc2 and Sc3), irrespective of crop management practices. Similarly, SDI-based CSA scenarios (Sc3 and Sc5) significantly (p ≤ 0.01) increased TOC in bulk soil by 9.0% over FI-based CAS scenarios (Sc2 and Sc4), irrespective of the cropping system.All CSA-based scenarios significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased available N in bulk soil and EWC over Sc1, irrespective of cropping systems, with Sc5 having the maximum effect (Table 3). The exception is FI-based CAS scenarios (Sc2 and Sc4), which were on par with Sc1 for available N in bulk soil. Maize-based CSA scenarios (Sc4 and Sc5) and rice-based scenarios (Sc2 and Sc3) significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased available N in bulk soil by 14.8% and 15.8%, respectively, over Sc1, irrespective of crop management practices. The effect of the cropping system on available N in bulk soil was minimal, where both cropping systems had similar values. However, implementing SDI significantly (p ≤ 0.01) increased available N in bulk soil by 9.3% compared to FI, irrespective of the cropping system.Available P and K in bulk soil were not significantly (p ≤ 0.05) affected by CSA scenarios, while in EWC, all CSA scenarios significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased available P and K over Sc1 (Table 3). Full CSA scenarios (Sc2-5) did not significantly (p ≤ 0.05) differ in P and K in EWC, except for Sc3 that recorded a significantly higher available P relative to Sc4 and Sc5. Rice-based scenarios (Sc2 and Sc3) significantly (p ≤ 0.01) increased available P in EWC by 14.0% over maize-based scenarios (Sc4 and S5). However, in bulk soil, maize-based scenarios (Sc4 and Sc5) showed statistically similar available P to those obtained from rice-based scenarios (Sc2 and Sc3).Interestingly, similar to C, in farmers' practices, available N, P, and K were found only in the bulk soil. However, under CSA-based scenarios (Sc2-5), available N, P, and K were found in the bulk soil and in EWC. Furthermore, the available N, P, and K in EWC were always higher under all CSA scenarios than in bulk soil. Irrespective of the CSA scenario, available N, P, and K in EWC were higher than in bulk soil by 5.6, 60.0, and 160.0% for N, P, and K, respectively. Moreover, amounts of available N, P, and K were highly affected by CSA practices. On average, CSA scenarios increased available N, P, and K levels (in EWC) from 0.0 kg ha −1 in Sc1 to 167.0, 50.8, and 547.8 kg ha −1 , respectively.In the EWC, DHA, acid phosphates (ACP) and alkaline phosphates (ALP) were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher under all CSA-based scenarios with respect to Sc1 (Figure 3). CSA-based scenarios did not significantly (p ≤ 0.05) differ in DHA and ALP activities, only DHA under Sc4 was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) lower than other CSA-based scenarios. As for ACP, the highest activity was recorded for Sc3 which was on par with Sc4 and Sc5 (Figure 3). In EWC, rice-based CSA scenarios significantly (p ≤ 0.01) increased DHA, ACP, and ALP activities by 9.4, 5.4, and 14.0%, respectively, over maize-based scenarios. Moreover, SDI-based CSA scenarios (Sc3 and Sc5) significantly (p ≤ 0.01) increased DHA and ACP activities in EWC over FI-based CSA scenarios (Sc2 and Sc4) by 46.6 and 11.5%, respectively, while ALP was not affected by the irrigation system. As for the bulk soil, CSA-based practices did not significantly (p ≤ 0.05) differ in ALP and ACP activity and were on par with Sc1 (Figure 3). The exception is ACP in Sc5, in which a significantly lower value (relative to the control) was observed. DHA activity was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) decreased in all CSA-based practices, except for Sc5 which was on par with Sc1 (Figure 3).ACP, the highest activity was recorded for Sc3 which was on par with Sc4 and Sc5 (Figure 3). In EWC, rice-based CSA scenarios significantly (p ≤ 0.01) increased DHA, ACP, and ALP activities by 9.4, 5.4, and 14.0%, respectively, over maize-based scenarios. Moreover, SDI-based CSA scenarios (Sc3 and Sc5) significantly (p ≤ 0.01) increased DHA and ACP activities in EWC over FI-based CSA scenarios (Sc2 and Sc4) by 46.6 and 11.5%, respectively, while ALP was not affected by the irrigation system. As for the bulk soil, CSAbased practices did not significantly (p ≤ 0.05) differ in ALP and ACP activity and were on par with Sc1 (Figure 3). The exception is ACP in Sc5, in which a significantly lower value (relative to the control) was observed. DHA activity was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) decreased in all CSA-based practices, except for Sc5 which was on par with Sc1 (Figure 3).  ), acid and alkaline phosphatase (µg p-NP g −1 soil h −1 ) activity in soil and earthworm cast (EWC) as influenced by different CSA-based crop management scenarios (data transformed through square-root method). Pars with a similar lowercase letter (s) are not significantly different at 0.05 level of probability using Tukey's HSD test. Letters apply only within each parameter. (for a detailed description of scenarios refer to Table 1).In the PCA of 25 variables, three PCs were extracted with eigen values > 0.9 and explained 75.8% of the variance (Figure 4); first and second components explained 59.9% and 13.9%, respectively, of variation. Based on PCA, about 59.9% loadings were provided by the parameters in PC1 that can be used as key indicators for assessing soil quality. The results showed a strong and positive correlation between EW abundance (density and biomass for the 0-15 and 15-30 cm soil depths) and parameters located on the upper righthand side (Figure 4), i.e., IR, MWD, TOC in bulk soil and EWC, available N, P, and K in the bulk soil and EWC, enzymes' activities (DHA, ALP, and ACP) only in EWC. However, EW density and biomass for the 0-15 and 15-30 cm soil depths were negatively correlated with enzyme activity (DHA, ALP, and ACP) in the bulk soil and BD. In the top-soil layer, a significant positive correlation was observed between EWs' density and TOC in bulk soil (r = 0.84), TOC in EWC (r = 0.87), IR (r = 0.68), MWD (r = 0.94), P in bulk soil (r = 0.95), P in EWC (r = 0.74), K in soil (r = 0.96), and K in EWC (r = 0.86) (Table S1). Similarly, EWs' biomass significantly correlated with TOC in bulk soil (r = 0.66), TOC in EWC (r = 0.92), IR (r = 0.44), MWD (r = 0.81), P in bulk soil (r = 0.83), and P in EWC (r = 0.81). Similar trends were observed for the sub-surface soil layer (Table S1).with enzyme activity (DHA, ALP, and ACP) in the bulk soil and BD. In the top-soil layer, a significant positive correlation was observed between EWs' density and TOC in bulk soil (r = 0.84), TOC in EWC (r = 0.87), IR (r = 0.68), MWD (r = 0.94), P in bulk soil (r = 0.95), P in EWC (r = 0.74), K in soil (r = 0.96), and K in EWC (r = 0.86) (Table S1). Similarly, EWs' biomass significantly correlated with TOC in bulk soil (r = 0.66), TOC in EWC (r = 0.92), IR (r = 0.44), MWD (r = 0.81), P in bulk soil (r = 0.83), and P in EWC (r = 0.81). Similar trends were observed for the sub-surface soil layer (Table S1). The effect of different management practices and their linear contrast and interactions on EWs' density, EWs' biomass, physico-chemical, and enzymes' activities under CSA-based management practices are given in Table 4. The effect of scenarios, depth/soilcasts, and their interactions (Scenario x Depth/soil-casts) on EWs' density and biomass, TOC, pH, N, P, and K was significant (Table 4). The effect of scenarios and Scenario × Depth/soil-casts interactions was significant for all measured parameters except EC and The effect of different management practices and their linear contrast and interactions on EWs' density, EWs' biomass, physico-chemical, and enzymes' activities under CSAbased management practices are given in Table 4. The effect of scenarios, depth/soil-casts, and their interactions (Scenario x Depth/soil-casts) on EWs' density and biomass, TOC, pH, N, P, and K was significant (Table 4). The effect of scenarios and Scenario × Depth/soil-casts interactions was significant for all measured parameters except EC and DHA. However, the effect of depth/soil-casts interaction was significant for all parameters except N, P, and enzymes' activities.The effect of tillage (ZT vs CT), irrigation management (SDI vs FI), and cropping system (RW vs MW) was evident on EWs' density and biomass, most soil physical properties, and all biochemical properties of EWs' casts. However, except for (TOC, N, and K), the biochemical properties of bulk soil were not significantly affected by tillage, irrigation system, and cropping system (Table 4). Moreover, all soil physical properties (except SPR) and biochemical properties of EWC were significantly (p ≤ 0.01) affected by tillage (Table 4). However, in the bulk soil, only TOC, N, K, and DHA were significantly affected by tillage. The effect of the cropping system (RW vs. MW) was significant (p ≤ 0.05) on all soil physical properties (except MWD) and biochemical properties of EWC (p ≤ 0.01), while the biochemical properties of soil bulk were not affected by the cropping system (except, TOC, ALP, and DHA) (Table 4). Furthermore, the effect of the irrigation system (SDI vs FI) was significant (p ≤ 0.05) on all soil physical properties (except BD), and all biochemical properties of EWC. As for the soil-bulk biochemical properties, only TOC, pH, N, and K were affected by the irrigation system. CT-conventional tillage, ZT-zero tillage, PB-permanent bed, FI-flood irrigation, SDI-sub-surface drip irrigation, RW-rice-wheat, MW-maize-wheat, EC-electrical conductivity, TOC-total organic carbon, N-nitrogen, P-phosphorus, K-potassium, DHA-dehydrogenase, ACP-acid phosphatase, ALP-alkaline phosphatase, BD-bulk density, IR-infiltration rate, MWD-mean weight diameter, SPR-soil penetration resistance. NS = Not Significant. * Significant at p < 0.05, ** significant at p < 0.05, *** significant at p < 0.01.The absence of EWs in farmers' practice (Sc1) indicates the intensive soil biological degradation in the IGP of India. The limited EWs' abundance in the conventionally managed agroecosystems has been reported previously in India [4,28,29] and worldwide [15,20,47,61]. Intensive tillage lessens the EWs' abundance by killing and injuring them, exposing them to predators by bringing them closer to the soil surface, decreasing their food source through the acceleration of OM decomposition [22,26], and creating unfavorable soil physical conditions, e.g., temperature, moisture, and soil structure [62]. During tillage, about 68-70% of the EWs' biomass can be lost [44,63]. The very low abundance of EWs under farmers' practices in rice fields was confirmed by Singh et al. [29] in which they outlined that EWs were more abundant at the margins of the paddy fields in India, but no EWs were observed inside the fields. Our results were also confirmed by the findings of Giannitsopoulos et al. [64] who found that the highest EWs' density (181-228 m −2 ) was achieved under the least destructive tillage, while the most disruptive tillage yielded the lowest densities (75-98 m −2 ).The burning or removal of crop residue directly influenced EWs by reducing their food source. In contrast, the input of OM by crop residue retention or organic amendments promotes EWs' density and abundance [20,24,30]. In the present study, TOC strongly correlated with EWs' density and EWs' biomass for the two soil depths (Figure 4). Several studies reported a significant correlation between soil OC and EWs' abundance [26,42,61,65]. Giannitsopoulos et al. [64] estimated that for every 10% increase in crop residue retention on the soil surface, EWs' density could increase by 15 indv. m −2 .The effect of the cropping system on EW density and biomass was significant. The higher EWs' density and biomass of CSA maize-based scenarios (Sc4 and 5) over CSA rice-based scenarios (Sc2 and Sc3) could be attributed to the increased crop residues amount in which 14.5 Mg ha −1 of crop residues was retained annually on the soil surface compared to 12.34 Mg ha −1 for rice-based CSA scenarios. The higher input of crop residue in maizebased CSA systems has been translated to a 4.7% higher TOC in bulk soil by over rice-based CSA scenarios that could contribute to better EWs' proliferation under maize-based CSA scenarios. Similar results were reported by other researchers [15,19,20] in which they reported that EWs' abundance is affected by crop residues amount and TOC in the soil. Irrespective of food \"OM\" quantity, the quality of crop residues also plays an important role whereas the C/N ratio of maize residues (43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50) is lower than rice residue (58)(59)(60)(61)(62)(63)(64)(65), implying that maize residue is a favorable food source of EWs relative to rice residues. Abail and Whalen [55] reported that EWs' biomass and density were higher under crop residues with a lower C/N ratio. In the present study, maize was irrigated at SMP of −40 to −50 kPa, while the rice was irrigated at −20 to −30 kPa, indicating better aeration under maize cultivation which could be another compelling reason for the enhanced EWs' density and biomass under maize-based CSA scenarios. Dhar and Chaudhuri [66] attributed the low EWs' density in paddy soils to inadequate drainage and anaerobic conditions. This explanation was validated by the higher EWs' density and biomass for SDI-based scenarios compared to the FI-based scenarios. Interestingly, SDI-based CSA scenarios (Sc3 and Sc5) could promote the EWs' population not only by providing better soil anaerobic conditions but also SDI-based CSA scenarios increased TOC in bulk soil by 9.0% over FI-based CAS scenarios, irrespective of the cropping system.The observed increase in TOC in bulk soil under CSA-based scenarios could be explained by the greater residue input and the less soil disturbance over ten years. Several studies reported higher SOC under conservation agriculture practices than conventional practices [11,[67][68][69]. The low SOC under Sc1 might be due to the combination of crop residue removal and intensive tillage that increases SOC losses by increasing its exposure to environmental fluctuations [35]. Furthermore, tillage (puddling/ploughing) breaks stable aggregates and exposes the protected OM to microbial decay [61,64,68]. Subsequently, lesser soil disturbance provides potential protection of SOC inside the macroaggregates [68,70,71].The amount of TOC in bulk soil is determined by the OM input and soil fauna activities, in particular by activities of EWs. EWs' feeding, burrowing, and casting activities impact OM distribution and dynamics [18,20,21,23,71,72]. Besides the higher TOC in the bulk soil of CAS-based scenarios (0.98%), relative to Sc1 (0.65), the presence of the EWC is another significant source for the TOC (1.98%), which was absent under Sc1. Angest et al. [46] demonstrated that EWs function similar to biochemical reactors that assist in converting plant compounds into microbial necromass in stabilized carbon pools \"in their casts\" without altering the TOC. In the present study, EWs' activity promoted the formation of stable aggregates that protected the SOC against microbial attack [48,49], in which the MWD was positively correlated with EWs' density (r = 0.94) (Figure 4 and Table S1). This suggestion is corroborated by the observed significantly higher MWD under CSA-based scenarios (Figure 1), and TOC in bulk soil, in which MWD was significantly correlated with TOC in bulk soil (r = 0.89) (Figure 4 and Table S1). EWs' activity might have also stabilized SOM through its incorporation and protection in their casts [48]. The higher average TOC in EWC (1.91%) relative to the bulk soil in CSA (0.98%) and the bulk soil of Sc1 (0.65) supports this scenario (Table 3). In short, EWs can promote C sequestration by increasing the decomposition of newly added C into stable C either inside stable aggregates or inside their casts, thus aiding soil C storage in the long term [25,46,48].CSA practices increase the mean weight diameter (MWD) of water-stable aggregates through increasing TOC, decreasing soil disturbance, increasing EWs' population, and reducing SOC loss [64, 68,70,71]. The MWD was positively correlated with TOC (r = 0.89) and EWs' density (r = 0.94) and EWs' biomass (r = 0.81). Under farmers' practices, intensive tillage breaks the stable aggregates and exposes protected OM to microbial decay and kills the EWs [9,24,68]. Similar to our results, the water-stable aggregates under ZT and residue retention were higher in the studies of Li et al. [73] and Song et al. [9] over conventional practices. EWs' activity not only promotes humus formation but also mixes such components to create stable aggregates [74]. Upon cast deposition, microbial products together with EWs' mucilages, bind soil particles and form very stable aggregates [75].The minimum soil disturbance (due to adoption of ZT), increased MWD, and higher SOC content led to a reduction in soil BD of CSA-based scenarios. Our results corroborated the previous findings of [35] under similar ecologies in which they reported that ZT and CRR reduced soil BD. In the present study, a significant negative correlation between soil BD and TOC (r = −0.54) was observed (Figure 4). The higher soil BD under Sc1 could be due to the compaction induced by tillage operations that were followed by puddling [4]. Puddling destructs soil aggregates and fills the macro-pores with finer soil particles [76]. The reduced BD could also be due to the increased large bio-bores due to EWs' browning (vertically and horizontally) and to the enhanced soil structure (increased MWD). Gathala et al. [52] found that the increase in MWD increases soil macro-porosity and reduces soil BD. A significant negative correlation was found between soil BD and EWs' density (r = −72), EWs' biomass (r = −0.66), and MWD (r = −0.65) (Figure 4 and Table S1). Similar to our results, Kumar et al. [77] found a strong negative correlation (r = −0.78) between BD and MWD.The observed increase in infiltration rate (IR) in the present study owing to CSA practices could be attributed to the direct and indirect influences of CRR, ZT, and EWs' activity. Under CSA practices, Ews' activity might enhance the MWD which could lead to an increase in the IR. This is evident from the observed positive correlation between IR and EWs' density (r = 0.68) and MWD (r = 0.88) (Figure 4 and Table S1). Under CSA-based scenarios, the highly stable aggregates and EWs' activities not only reduce the chances for the formation of surface crust but also increase the portion of macro-and bio-porosity [78], and pores connectivity [68,78]. Under ZT, the burrowing activity of the undisturbed EWs leads to an increase in the number of bio-pores, thus IR [23]. EWs vertically dig and create large bio-pores (higher than one mm in diameter) that could extend deeper than one meter in the soil profile [23].The peak SPR (3.03 MPa) observed for Sc1 was at 20 cm which could be due to the creation of a hardpan by tillage operations [79]. As for the CSA scenarios, despite the significantly higher SPR in the 5-15 cm soil depth, (Figure 2) the maximum SPR (1.83 MPa) was below the critical value of 2-3 MPa that could affect the growth of wheat roots [80]. However, the observed increased SPR in the CSA-based scenarios in the 5-10 and 10-15 cm depths differs from the results of Jat et al. [3] in which they found lower SPR in ZT than in CT. Our results corroborate the findings of Dekemati et al. [61] in which they reported higher SPR under ZT for the top 20 cm. Interestingly, despite high SPR (which might affect EWs' abundance), in the present study, the maximum EWs' density and biomass were observed under CSA-based scenarios where significantly higher SPR values were observed, implying that EWs' abundance is a function of various interacting factors (tillage, amount and type of crop residue, irrigation management, cropping system, and soil type) and not only one factor [42,61].Crop residue decay leads to nutrient release that could be available to plants [81]. Soil biological properties, OM amount, and nutrient availability are strongly correlated [10]. In the present study, under CSA-based scenarios (Sc2-5), available N, P, and K were higher in both the bulk soil and in EWC, compared to farmers' practices in which due to the absence of the EWs (thus, EWC), available N, P, and K were found only in the bulk soil. This increase might be due to the integration between CRR, EWs \"feeding and casting\", and microbial activity. This is evident from the strong and positive correlation between available N, P, and K in the bulk soil and EWs' density on one side and TOC in the soil on the other side (Figure 4 and Table S1). The adoption of ZT and continuous CRR for 10 years coupled with precision water management promoted EWs' proliferation, which enhanced and transformed soil microbial structure in a way that boosts SOM mineralization [4,18,20,48], thus releasing available N, P, and K in the soil while maintaining a higher amount inside the EWC. As for available N, P, and K in EWC, the EWs ingest litter on the soil surface [15,19]. This digested litter is converted to a nutrient-rich product by establishing a mutualistic relationship with soil microflora [32]. Once ingested, the unassimilated and undigested litter portions are returned to the soil as EWC. The fresh EWC depositions lead to a release of large quantities of nutrients (N, P, and K) that are easily assimilable by plants [82]. In this way, changes in EWs' density and activity could be manifested by increased nutrient levels (both in bulk soil and EWC) [14]. Bertrand et al. [23] reported that high EWs' abundance in the 0-15 cm could have more available N than low EWs' abundance. Our results were supported by a recent metanalysis that concluded that EWC is highly fertile and contains 40-48% more total P, N, and OC than bulk soil [83]. In the current study, significant amounts of available N, P, and K were accumulated in the EWC. On average, CSA scenarios (Sc2-5) increased available N, P, and K from 0.0 kg ha −1 in Sc1 to 167.0, 50.8, and 547.8 kg ha −1 , respectively.Soil enzymes are responsive to soil management practices, e.g., tillage, cropping diversity, crop residue, and nutrient management [4,34,35]. However, lower enzymes' activities in bulk soil were found under CSA-based scenarios than the EWC. In contrast, CSA-based management scenarios influenced EWs, thus microbial activities, as evidenced from extracellular enzymes' activities, i.e., ALP, ACP, and DHA in EWC [10]. EWs establish a mutualistic relationship with soil microflora [32], converting crop residues to EWC containing enzymes and microorganisms [4,48]. Earthworms affect enzyme activities by stimulating microbial communities [46,47] and enhancing enzyme activities [84]. For example, Hoang et al. [33] found higher enzymes' activities in the topsoil in bio-pores compared to rhizosphere and bulk soil. The higher ALP and ACP in EWC might explain the higher levels for P in bulk soil and EWC [39]. In the present study, we investigated the impact of different CSA practices that promote EWs' activity, and how EWs influence the soil physico-biochemical properties of the soil, irrespective of EWs' species (ecological groups). Future studies must include the classification of EWs to their ecological groups as affected by various CSA practices.Earthworms (EWs) were absent under farmers' practices, reflecting the high pressure on EWs' communities due to intensive tillage and crop residue burning/removal in the rice-wheat system. Long-term adoption of CSA-based practices markedly boosted EWs' abundance, positively affected soil structure, increased TOC, nutrient availability, and soil biological activity, in particular, the CSA maize-based cropping system. The high TOC in EWC suggests the potential transformation of the retained crop residue to stable SOC inside the EWC, thus increasing SOC sequestration. Similarly, EWC contained a significant amount of available N, P, and K under CSA practices. Maize-based CSA scenarios recorded higher EWs' density, EWs' biomass, TOC, and MWD over rice-based CSA scenarios. Interestingly, SDI-based CSA scenarios yielded higher EWs' density and biomass, TOC, and available NPK, relative to FI-based CSA scenarios. Therefore, long-term adoption of CSAbased maize-based scenarios using SDI improved EWs' proliferation, TOC, and nutrient storage (in the soil and EWC) and showed a better choice for the IGP farmers' w.r.t. soil physical and biological properties. Future studies must include the classification of EWs to their ecological groups as affected by various CSA practices."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"91921a14aabe7a6fe10b17d0ff997d6d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9408104e-48a6-4228-8622-b8cb5184d2b5/retrieve","id":"421468497"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"32f604c7-bf28-459b-a545-27c07c70813c","content":"The diets of pastoralists are changing as they cope with the impacts of drought and other climate shocks.• Tracking commodities that pastoralists consume helps in understanding how the supply of these commodities influences the diets of pastoralists, and consequently their nutrition status. • Near real-time assessment of pastoralists households' coping mechanisms to climate shocks and scarcity provides an opportunity for prompt data-driven solutions to constraints faced by pastoral households. • Digital innovations offer an opportunity to collect data that could otherwise be very difficult to collect in such settings. These tools are suitable for tracking fast moving indicators, provide early warning information, and are crucial to inform anticipatory action. • There is need for investments in cost-effective information gathering mechanisms in pastoral areas to understand the mechanisms through which shocks impact livelihoods.| Digital innovations for high-frequency ground truthing and monitoring of household welfare in pastoral communitiesPastoralists occupy approximately 40% of Africa's landmass (Union 2013). A large proportion of this landmass is arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) characterized by low and erratic rainfall. Pastoral systems and livelihoods are vulnerable to climatic shocks. Climatic shocks cause spatial and temporal uncertainty of pasture and water resources (Aberra and Abdulahi 2015). The adverse impacts of climatic shocks manifest in several forms including livestock mortality, increased food insecurity, malnutrition and conflict (Walker et al. 2022). It is estimated that the ongoing drought in the Horn of Africa has claimed over 7 million livestock which in turn has led to almost 7 million children suffering from acute malnutrition (ReliefWeb 2022).Despite their harsh environment and climate challenges, pastoral livestock production systems contribute significantly to national and regional economies (Walker et al. 2022). For example, livestock contributes an estimated 57% of the regional agricultural gross domestic product (AGDP) in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) countries. Therefore, efforts to enhance and sustain the contribution of pastoral livestock systems to economic development must address the adverse impacts of climatic shocks. A critical step towards tackling climatic shocks is understanding the mechanisms through which such shocks impact pastoral systems and livelihoods. However, the pathway of impact from climatic shocks to household welfare is not well understood in pastoral settings. One reason for this gap is the complexity of collecting data in the fragile and remote pastoral environments. Yet there is an urgent need to understand the relationship between climate shocks and the coping strategies available, and the intra-seasonal variability in household welfare (Bell et al. 2016). This information would be helpful to inform anticipatory action and the designing of interventions for building resilience of pastoralist systems and livelihoods in the long-term.Past efforts to gather information in pastoral settings largely relied on traditional surveys. While useful, this approach is expensive to deploy in remote resource-constrained regions, which limits sampling representativeness (Wilde et al. 2019). Consequently, there is underrepresentation of remote areas in national-level surveys and reduced frequency of data collection. This makes tracking of dynamic indicators of household well-being extremely challenging (Giroux et al. 2019). Meanwhile, the telecommunication landscape is rapidly changing in pastoral areas. Ownership of mobile phones has increased tremendously and is revolutionizing communication and data gathering in the pastoral settings (Jenet et al. 2016).In efforts to close these gaps, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners have been working on innovative prototypes of data collection platforms. Among the specific approaches implemented by ILRI and partners include the use of digital innovations for a near real-time collection of data at high frequency in remote locations. The approach uses crowdsourcing techniques, where data are collected and submitted by pastoralists themselves, and provides a variety of expanded capabilities which in addition to supporting data collection, facilitate feedback provision (Chelanga et al. 2022;Lepariyo et al. 2020;Naibei et al. 2017). Building on successful pilots of the data collection platforms, sentinel zones have been set up in the drylands of Kenya and Ethiopia, for collection and dissemination of highfrequency and multi-dimensional data through the digital platform. 1 Data on key environmental and socio-economic indicators are being collected to inform technical design and quality assessment of initiatives in the region. This brief describes the approach, presents preliminary results from the data, and summarizes the lessons learned so far.1. https://www.drylandinnovations.com/dirisha provides detailed information on setting up sentinel clusters.The sentinel zones have been set up in Marsabit County (Merille, Korr, Kargi and Olturot) in northern Kenya and in Borena region (Saba-Elwaye, Harweyu-Yabello, Higo-Dubluk and Magole-Dillo) in southern Ethiopia. This brief focuses on the sentinel zone in Marsabit County in Kenya (Figure 1). The digital micro-tasking platform is designed to allow for flexibility in dynamically responding to data needs in space and time and collects higher resolution data than is currently available for any type of data from these regions. Tasks are geofenced so that they can be matched to local environmental conditions and to ensure that they are performed within specified locations, such as livestock markets. Indicators are monitored at two levels: (1) community level and (2) household level.i. Community-level data Data is collected by contributors using a flexible microtasking platform developed and tested by ILRI and partners in pastoral areas since 2016 (Figure 2). Market information includes volumes of livestock sold, livestock prices, and body condition of different types of livestock. Images of the livestock are also submitted as verification mechanisms for the collected data (Chelanga et al. 2022;Alulu et al. 2020). In addition, the platform collects information on temporal forage condition (Chelanga et al. 2022).ii. Household-level data Data is collected by households using a picture-based mobile app, that does not require numeracy or literacy, this is a key feature when working with households from pastoral areas. The survey questions are presented in form of audio and icons, allowing for collection of more granular data, and addressing the issues of recall bias (Figure 3). Since these data are collected by the households, the frequency with which they are collected allows for near real-time information on fast moving indicators. In addition, the platform supports real time provision of customized feedback on selected indicators to households based on their input (Lepariyo et al. 2020). Though the brief describes the two levels of data collection, the focus of the remaining sections is on the household-level data collection and key results from analyzing those data.iii Data collection The research team intentionally selected eight households from each of the four sentinel clusters that constitute the Marsabit sentinel. The caregivers where trained on using the data collection tool. Data collection started in July 2021. The households' tasks were grouped into four categories according to the topic of the survey task: household, caregiver, child mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) and child update. During the setup of the sentinel zone, Marsabit County had had two failed rains (long rains and short rains of 2021). Figure 4 shows vegetation condition and rainfall performance for 2021 and 2022 compared to seasonal averages. The following section illustrates trends observed from the data collected. As mentioned previously, the region had drought conditions during the entire data collection period. Specifically, the collected data reflect households' coping with long-term drought and are probably quite different than one would expect during normal conditions.The selected households submitted data on four surveys: caregiver, child, household, and child MUAC. As show in Figure 5, there was a great increase in submission on week 17 of data collection, this was attributed to a field visit by the research team to monitor progress and retrain the households.The result section explores dietary data obtained from the approach, even though the approach collected data on multiple indicators. i Dietary data Dietary data was collected using a dietary diversity approach was based on 16 food groups as shown in Table 1 (FAO 2016) 2 . Caregivers who are primarily (Figure 6). The proportion of households consuming milk is highest in Kargi (98.3%) and lowest in Korr (0.02%). A sizable proportion of households in Merille (65%) and Olturot (55%) also consume milk. Milk consumed by households in the sentinel clusters is mostly from own production indicating that variability in consumption could be due to coping strategies employed in the different sentinel clusters. Particularly in Kargi where we observe high proportion of households consuming milk, this could be attributed to migratory patterns of livestock, a strategy that allows households to have access to milk. Conversely, in Korr where milk consumption is low, this could be attributed to worse forage conditions forcing livestock to migrate further, thus decreasing household milk access. Interestingly, we observe that households in Korr reported to have consumed legumes (77%) of the time, compared to (25%) of the time in Kargi. Therefore, suggesting that when households don't have access to milk, they consume more legumes as shown by the interchanging observations in Korr and Kargi. To observe trends and tease out dynamics, we looked at reporting of food consumption by day of the week. This is particularly important to assess the supply of commodities that are not directly produced by pastoral households, which is mostly through weekly livestock markets and small urban centres, and influences the kind of food consumed on a particular day. We observed a similar trend of food groups consumed in all days of the week in Kargi, Korr and Olturot, with little to no variation in each of the mentioned sentinel cluster (Figure 7). However, in Kargi dark green leafy vegetables were not consumed in most days of the week. In Merille, households reported consuming a greater variety of food groups compared with the other three sentinel clusters. Households in Merille are located closer to the main highway than the others and potentially benefit from responsible for meals preparation in the household, responded to a set of questions on a 24-hour recall basis.The daily collection was intended to capture day-to-day variability in food consumption that could be introduced by temporal pasture conditions, migration, periodic access to markets, or cultural cycles in consumption.Caregivers answered these questions about themselves, an index child 3 and the household.a) Household consumption Table 1 presents the proportion of households that consumed the different food groups. The most consumed food groups are oil and fats (92%), cereals (91%), sweets (82%); and spices, condiments and beverages (77%). The least consumed food group was fish and sea foods (0.04%). These results are consistent with findings from the report of the Marsabit County Smart Survey (2019) which showed that the five most consumed food groups are cereals (98%), oils and fats (94.7%), sweets (93.7%) and condiments (85.9%) while the least consumed food group is fish and sea foods (3.2%). The proportion of households consuming milk over the survey period was 49%, which is slightly lower compared with the proportion (67.3%) reported in the Marsabit County Smart Survey of 2019. This decline could be attributed to the pasture conditions, since milk availability is largely determined by forage conditions. access to more variety of food as a result. Furthermore, there is a well-established livestock market in Merille that is held every Thursday, which could also be a source of various commodities. The preliminary results from the data provide insights and trends on how pastoral diets could be changing as they cope with the impacts of drought. These findings can help in understanding climate shocks faced by households and how they cope with these shocks. Intrahousehold allocation of resources changes especially in times of scarcity due to climate shocks and variability which affects livelihoods (Harris-Fry et al. 2017). Being able to observe these changes in near real-time resolution provides an opportunity for prompt data-driven solutions to constraints faced by pastoral households.Households in all the Marsabit sentinel clusters are mostly dependent on livestock for their livelihoods.Tracking the commodities that they consume but do not produce is important in understanding how the supply of these commodities influences the diets of pastoralists, and consequently their nutrition status. As demonstrated, digital innovations can provide data that could otherwise be very difficult to collect in such settings. In addition, the agility of the approach as discussed by Chelanga et al. (2022), makes this approach suitable for tracking acute malnutrition indicators. There is therefore an urgent need for investments in cost-effective information gathering mechanisms in pastoral areas to increase market players, thereby sustaining local livelihoods, easing stress, avoiding conflict, and helping governments to empower pastoralist to build their resilience."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"05e918364918e82a322a2cb9697f957b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ea158bb7-a79e-454f-ac30-a49873c99d3d/retrieve","id":"-1916095954"},"keywords":["Sustainable intensification","Food loss mitigation","Post-harvest technologies","Impacts","Farm households"],"sieverID":"79a30f34-8154-4118-9e8c-dd976195d1a0","content":"During the last decade, post-harvest losses (PHL) reduction has been topping the agenda of governments as a pathway for addressing food security, poverty, and nutrition challenges in Africa. Using survey data from 579 households, we investigated the factors that affect farmers' decisions to adopt post-harvest technologies: mechanized shelling, drying tarpaulins, and airtight storage validated for reducing PHL in Tanzania's maize-based systems, and the impacts on households' food security and welfare. Mechanized shelling addressed a labor issue, while tarpaulins and airtight storage addressed product quality and quantity concerns. The results revealed large farm sizes and location in higher production potential zones (proxies for higher production scale) and neighbors' use of the technologies as universal drivers for adoption. Access to credit and off-farm income were unique determinants for airtight storage, while group membership increased the probability of adopting drying tarpaulin and airtight storage. The technologies have positive impacts on food security and welfare: drying tarpaulins and airtight storage significantly increased food availability (18-27%), food access (24-26%), and household incomes (112-155%), whereas mechanized shelling improved food and total expenditures by 49% and 68%, respectively. The share of total household expenditure on food decreased by 42%, 11%, and 51% among tarpaulin, mechanized shelling, and airtight storage adopter households, signaling significant improvements in food security and reductions in vulnerability. The results point to the need for policy support to enhance the adoption of these technologies, knowledge sharing among farmers, and financial resources access to support investments in the technologies.Smallholder farms in East and Southern Africa provide food, income, and employment to millions of rural families. For this reason, the deployment of affordable best practices and innovative arrangements to enhance income and food security through reduced wastage and prevention of food quality loss among this group of farmers is crucial. Following the renewed interest in agriculture during the last decade, governments and development agencies focused on scaling-up of investments in post-harvest food loss (PHL) reduction as a critical action point for improving food security and welfare objectives while reducing pressure on natural resources as envisioned in the sustainable development goals (UN, 2015). PHLs are exceptionally high in developing countries due to inadequate harvesting, handling, processing, and storage techniques and practices (Ali et al., 2021). Therefore, the deployment of affordable best practices and innovative arrangements to reduce PHLs is crucial. In particular, the critical points where the most significant losses occur must be addressed with proven technologies, taking into account the objectives of the various food system actors (Cattaneo et al., 2021).PHLs deny farmers opportunities to increase returns on investment, weakening the capacity to secure improved livelihoods. They involve opportunity cost, resource misallocation, and wastage (Tesfaye & Tirivayi, 2018). The losses decrease food supplies and diminish the market value, nutritional content, and safety (Affognon et al., 2015). The causes of food losses at various stages of the post-production chain are varied but generally involve a complex interaction of biological, physical, and socio-economic factors. Post-harvest operations exacerbate these interactions by their tedious, labor-intensive, and time-consuming nature. In Tanzania, drying, threshing, and storage are critical points where economically significant grain PHLs occur (Abass et al., 2014).Proper drying ensures that the grain will endure threshing and storage without spoilage. Drying is also part of the grain trading system (De Groote et al., 2021). The shelled grain should be dried to ≤ 13.5% moisture under safe conditions to avoid contaminations with fungi. Many smallholder farmers dry grain directly on the ground, which also contaminates it with soil-borne residues. The process is slow and encourages spillage and pest attacks. Grain losses equivalent to 2-9.5% occur in various African countries during drying (Hodges et al., 2014). The Africa RISING (Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation) 1 program validated and promoted the GrainPro Collapsible Dryer Case™ (CDC), a plastic sheet envelope designed for quicker and protected sun-drying. In use, the reinforced polyvinyl chloride sheet (optimized for solar energy absorption) is spread out, and the produce (cobs, pods, or the threshed grains) is placed on top. In bad weather (rains), the tarpaulin is folded to enclose the produce in a zipped envelope. This action saves labor and time needed to gather and move the produce away; the drying is continued after the rain by simply opening the envelope again. Farmers adapt the technology in several ways; some use damp-proof coating sheets available from local hardware shops, while others use canvas or stitched woven polypropylene sheets that ably protect the produce from direct contact with soil. The use of the CDC® decreased maize grain drying time by 28%, avoided loss of 32 kg/ton of grain, and reduced impurities (30%) and moldy grain (42%) (IITA, 2019). In Kenya, simple plastic sheets for grain drying lowered aflatoxin contamination by about 50% compared to direct drying on bare ground (Pretari et al., 2019).Threshing operations facilitate grain handling, storage, and marketing. As commonly practiced in Tanzania, manual grain threshing is labor-intensive, tiresome, time-consuming, and delays processing for storage (Abass et al., 2014). Significant post-harvest losses also occur through mechanical damage and spillage. In Zimbabwe, up to 3.5% losses occurred during maize shelling, while rice threshing and winnowing operations in Madagascar and Ethiopia were associated with 8.5% and 11% losses, respectively (Hodges et al., 2014). To overcome threshing inefficiencies among smallholder maize producers, Africa RISING validated and promoted a low-cost motorized sheller (4 horsepower, capital cost $630) that completes shelling and grain winnowing work all at once. Using the sheller reduced shelling losses from 6.8% to 2.0%. Farmers who switched to this technology reduced drudgery by 58 -74% (Mutungi et al., 2022) and improved labor efficiency by 77 -90%, saving costs and freeing time to undertake other farm and household activities.Adequate storage enables households to have a consistent supply of food and increases farmer incomes by enabling them to engage in temporal arbitrage, taking advantage of seasonal price fluctuations (Kotu et al., 2019). Many rural farmers still use traditional storage techniques (Edoh Ognakossan et al., 2016). While easily accessible and cheap, the traditional techniques can fail to protect the stored produce affecting safe food provisioning in the lean season. Africa RISING validated and promoted chemical-free grain storage in hermetic containers (metal silo/plastic silo/hermetic bags). The technologies decreased storage losses by more than 85% (Abass et al., 2018;Mutungi et al., 2020), hence proved to be a valuable tool for addressing food security and income objectives among rural households (Kotu et al., 2019). Furthermore, the technology reduced the likelihood of aflatoxin accumulation 5-eightfold in Kenya (Ng'ang'a et al., 2016).Farmers adopt new technologies when they are convinced beyond doubt that using them would better address household objectives such as food security and decent livelihoods (Kotu et al., 2019). To date, evidence on the impacts of post-harvest technologies on various sustainable intensification domains is still needed in sub-Saharan Africa (Affognon et al., 2015;Sheahan & Barrett, 2017). Thus far, the few studies available limit the scope to storage (Brander et al., 2021;Gitonga et al., 2013;Omotilewa et al., 2018;Tesfaye & Tirivayi, 2018). To the extent that economically significant PHLs occur at multiple farm-level stages, extending the grasp of farmers' decision-making processes to other post-harvest technologies is important. Broadly, mechanized shelling (MS) addresses a labor issue, while drying tarpaulins (DT) and airtight storage (AS) address product quality and quantity issues that characterize PHLs. Overlaps, however, do exist.This study aimed to investigate the differences in farmers' adoption decision behavior for MS, DT, and AS, and assess the potential contribution of the three technologies to rural households' food security and welfare in Tanzania. The study contributes to the literature in the following ways: First, we generate knowledge of farmers' decisions to adopt a suite of postharvest technologies for losses mitigation at the most critical farm-level steps. To our knowledge, not many studies have compared the adoption of multiple post-harvest technologies. Second, we estimate the technologies' food security and welfare benefits and elucidate the factors influencing the outcomes among households. Unlike previous studies, e.g., Gitonga et al. (2013) that established causality between the adoption of post-harvest technologies and welfare outcomes at the household level using methods that only correct for observed characteristics, we employ the endogenous switching regression model (ESRM) to control for both observed and unobserved characteristics. By estimating separate outcome regressions for adopters and non-adopters of each of the three post-harvest technologies using the ESRM, we explore the structural differences between the two groups. We organize the rest of the article as follows: Section 2 describes the data, sampling strategy, and outcome indicators, Section 3 the conceptual and empirical frameworks, Section 4 presents the results and discussion, whereas the last section draws conclusions and policy recommendations.2 Data, sampling strategy and specification of variablesThis study uses household survey data collected from 579 households across Tanzania's four regions of Manyara, Dodoma, Iringa, and Songwe, where Africa RISING program validated and promoted the three improved postharvest technologies (IPHTs) namely: drying tarpaulins (DT), motorized maize shellers (MS), and air-tight storage containers (AS) in 2013-2020. The survey covered 10 out of 64 intervention wards in four purposively selected districts: Babati (Manyara), Kilolo (Iringa), Kongwa (Dodoma), and Mbozi (Songwe). The wards were selected using probability proportional to size sampling (PPS) and 14 villages were selected randomly. Survey households were selected randomly from village household lists, and one adult member was interviewed using a structured questionnaire prepared for this purpose. In half of the cases, we interviewed male household members (mostly the head), and in the remaining cases, female household members (mostly the spouse or a female head) based on a prior random assignment. Enumerators received training on the theoretical and practical aspects of the IPHTs, and the use of the computer-assisted personal interviewing software (Surveybe ® , EDI Global, United Kingdom) deployed for the survey. All participants received a clear explanation of the survey objectives and were requested to give verbal consent; we interviewed only those who consented.Apart from post-harvest related data (e.g., awareness, adoption, and cost of IPHTs) the survey collected rich household data such as age, education, and marital status of the household head, size of the household, and assets owned. The survey also collected comprehensive data on crop production, yields and marketing, and household expenditures.Food security is a state in which \"all people at all times have the physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet dietary needs and food preferences for productive and healthy life (CFS, 2012). This definition reflects different dimensions, including food availability, access, utilization, and stability. Availability connotes the physical existence of food from own production, held stocks, or market. Food access requires that households have enough economic or physical resources to obtain or produce food in sufficient quantity, quality, and diversity, and concerns household resources, incomes, expenditure, markets, and food prices. Utilization in the socio-economic sense concerns aspects determined by knowledge and habits that shape decisions on what food to produce or purchase and how to prepare, allocate and consume it within the household. Stability concerns the temporal dimension of food security and visualizes a relative constancy in food availability, access, and utilization. Welfare relates to living standards or the economic and social conditions of households and is proxied by measures of consumption or income (Moratti & Natali, 2012). In measuring welfare, consumption is favored over income as individuals derive material well-being from the actual consumption of goods and services rather than receiving income per se (Citro & Michael, 1995).For the present study, we considered four indicatorsmonths of food insecurity (MFI), household food insecurity access scale (HFIAS), and per capita monthly food consumption expenditure (FCE) as measures of food security. As indicator of household welfare, per capita monthly total consumption expenditure (TCE) was used. We constructed these indicators as follows:• MFI gave the frequency of household food insecurity in the past year reflecting the availability and stability components. We computed MFI as the average number of months households spent an entire day without three meals due to inadequate food supplies the year preceding the survey. • HFIAS measured the degree of food insecurity by evaluating responses to a set of standard questions representative of three universal domains of food access in terms of a household's anxiety and uncertainty about (i) inadequate food supply; (ii) insufficient quality; and (iii)insufficient food intake within a 30-day recall period during the lean period (Coates et al., 2007). HFIAS captures the behavior of being worried about access to quality, quantity, and acceptability of food (Carletto et al., 2013). We calculated the HFIAS (which takes the value of a whole number between 0 and 27) by summing up the codes for each frequency-of-occurrence of nine key food security questions in the three domains as detailed elsewhere (Coates et al., 2007). The higher the score, the more food insecurity (access) the household experienced. • FCE measured the monthly value of the food consumed by household members at home or away from home and captured improvements in household food access.The FCE was the average value of food consumed per household member from own production, purchase from the market, gifts, in-kind payments, and other sources, including restaurants, canteens, food courts, and street food. All food acquired that was not purchased was valued using the corresponding market prices. • TCE proxied income improvements and reflected households' living standards by capturing asset ownership and other non-consumption expenditures such as contributions to health, education, taxes, social security transfers, or gifts and donations. We estimated the TCE by summing up the food and non-food consumption expenditures divided by household size.The factors that are likely to affect the adoption of IPHTs include age, education, household size, landholding, and asset ownership representing the capital strength of households. The effect of age could go either way; older farmers may adopt IPHTs more readily because they have more dependents, capital, and preferential access to financial resources (Sall et al., 2000), while younger households might have longer planning horizons and therefore more willing to take risks (Adegbola & Gardebroek, 2007). Good education increases adoption through a better ability to interpret technical knowledge and allocate resources. Household size is a proxy for labor availability -studies show larger households are more likely to adopt improved agricultural technologies (Abdulai & Huffman, 2014). Gender influences adoption decisions through differential access to resources and information (Fischer et al., 2021). Other farm and system-level factors, including experience of production shocks, contact with extension, membership to a group, nearness to market, access credit, and agroclimatic conditions, also contribute to farmers decisions to adopt new technologies (Abdulai & Huffman, 2014;Alene & Manyong, 2007;Tesfaye & Tirivayi, 2018). We hypothesized that households confronted more with production shocks, e.g., crop failure will look for information on IPHTs. We considered contact with extension and social networks (i.e., group membership, and neighborhood effects) as indicators of exposure to information. At the same time, nearness to market, access to credit, and bank and mobile money ownership would encourage IPHTs adoption by providing an incentive to produce for the market and easing liquidity barriers. More wealth and off-farm income facilitate IPHTs adoption (Sall et al., 2000).3 Conceptual and empirical frameworksPost-harvest losses shrink harvest volumes and degrade the quality of harvested products. As a result, households experience a direct reduction of the safe and nutritious food available to them. In the market space, the losses connote higher food prices or lost market opportunity for households who produce and sell to earn income. Improved post-harvest technologies can yield food security and welfare gains through several pathways. Direct benefits result from reduced losses in quantity and quality that can contribute to more food availability. Thus, technologies such as improved storage increase the available food stocks, stabilize the supply, and raise the marketable surpluses, contributing directly to food access and ability of households to settle financial obligations. The storage technologies allow farmers to choose the best time to sell their product and tap into higher prices during the lean season as grain prices are always lower at harvest than later. Technologies that reduce time and labor requirements in tedious and labor-intensive operations, e.g., mechanized shelling, potentially impact food security through positive time and labor adjustments enabling households to generate more food and income from additional on-farm or off-farm activities. Such adjustments can raise household welfare through increased and diversified expenditures while enhancing ability to cope with food supply and income disruptions.Given that we use cross-sectional data, estimating the impact of IPHTs on food security and welfare is not trivial. Some previous studies e.g., Becerril and Abdulai, (2010) and Gitonga et al. (2013) used propensity score-based methods such as propensity score matching (PSM) to estimate impacts of improved agricultural technologies on smallholder farmers' welfare. However, PSM only controls for observed characteristics and therefore may result in biased estimates if unobserved characteristics such as motivation, managerial capacity, and technical abilities of the farmers in understanding and using new technologies are not controlled for (Abdulai & Huffman, 2014). To account for observed and unobserved characteristics, we use the ESRM (Lee, 1978). By modeling both selection and outcome equations, ESRM controls for factors that affect the treatment (adoption/non-adoption) while disentangling the factors influencing the outcomes between the adopters and non-adopters (Besley & Case, 2000). Previous empirical studies have employed this framework to study the impacts of agricultural technologies' adoption (Abdulai & Huffman, 2014;Asfaw et al., 2012;Khonje et al., 2018;Manda et al., 2019;Shiferaw et al., 2014;Tesfaye & Tirivayi, 2018;Tufa et al., 2019;Wossen et al., 2017).A household's decision to adopt an IPHT is a case of constrained optimization. The household decides to adopt the IPHT when there is a positive difference between the marginal net benefits of adopting and not adopting the technology. Let P * denote this difference so that P * > 0 corresponds to the net benefit of adopting the technology exceeding that of not adopting, and it is under this condition, the farmer decides to adopt the technology. However, P * is not observable; what is observed is P, which represents the observed behavior of the farmer regarding the adoption of the technology. Let P i be a binary variable representing a farm household's adoption status for IPHT (MS or DT or AS), which take the value of 1 for households who decide to adopt and 0 otherwise. A household's decision to adopt the stated IPHT is represented by the latent variable framework below: with where Eq. 1 represents a probit model of adoption of IPHT, α is a vector of parameters to be estimated, Z is a vector that represents characteristics (household, farm-level, systemlevel, and agroclimatic) that comprise decision determinants to adopt or not adopt the IPHT, and ε is the random error term with mean zero and variance 2 . The error term includes measurement error and factors not observed by the researcher but known to the farmer (Alene & Manyong, 2007).Conditional on the IPHT adoption decision, we can observe the actual outcomes, which are a function of improved technology use alongside observed variables such as household characteristics, farm-level factors, (1)system-level factors, agroclimatic conditions, and unobserved variables such as innate abilities and managerial capacity. The outcomes are represented by a switching regime as:where y 1i and y 2i are the outcome variables for adopters and non-adopters of IPHT, respectively; x 1i and x 2i are vectors of explanatory variables assumed to be weakly exogenous;1 and 2 are parameters to be estimated and w 1i and w 2i are error terms. The error terms in the selection Eq. ( 1) and outcome Eqs. (3a, 3b) are assumed to have a trivariate normal distribution with zero mean and covariance matrix such that:where 2 = variance (ε), 2 w1 = variance (w 1 ), 2 w2 = variance (w 2 ), 1 = covariance (ε, w 1 ), and 2 = covariance (ε, w 2 ). Since y 1 and y 2 are not observable simultaneously, the covariance between w 1 and w 2 is not defined (Maddala,  1983). Also, since the error term of the selection function (Eq. 1) is correlated with the error terms of the outcome functions (Eqs. 3a and 3b), the expected values of w 1 and w 2 conditional on the sample selection are non-zero and can be defined as:where θ is the standard normal probability density function, ϕ is the standard normal cumulative density function. Equations ( 5) and ( 6) simplify to: 1i = (Zi ) (Zi ), respectively, where 1 and 2 are the inverse mills ratio (selectivity terms) calculated from the selection equation and are included in the outcome equations to correct for selection bias in the endogenous (regime) switching regression model by substituting Eq. ( 5) and ( 6) in (3a) and (3b) as follows:For the ERSM to be identified, there is a need to include at least one instrumental variable (IV) in the selection model). An IV should significantly affect the adoption of IPHT conditional on other covariates (relevance condition) and affect the outcome variables (MFI, HFIAS, FCE, TCE) only through adoption, but not directly (exclusion restriction). We used farmer's neighbor adoption decision (1 if neighbor adopted a particular IPHT and 0 otherwise) as an IV. While the selection of instrumental variables is empirically challenging, others, e.g., Adegbola and Gardebroek (2007), have stated that source of information is a vital element influencing the adoption of agricultural technologies. Such information may be transmitted through spatial relationships, especially when farmers closely rely on their friends and neighbors for improved farm practices (Tessema et al., 2016). A neighbor's adoption of IPHT is likely to be correlated with a household's adoption decision but not with food security and welfare outcomes. We checked whether our instrument correlated with the adoption status (relevance condition), and the reported results in Table 2 show that the instrument is relevant. Several previous studies used similar instruments, e.g., Abdulai and Huffman (2014) and Wossen et al. (2019). 2  The outcome equations for adopters and non-adopters of the IPHTs were estimated using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression with selectivity correction. To estimate the impacts, we compared the observed and counterfactual scenarios of expected values of the outcomes for adopters. For an adopter of a named IPHT, the expected value of the outcome variable is expressed as:The expected values for the same farmer had he/she decided not to adopt the IPHT (counterfactual) is given as: Therefore, the impact of adoption on the outcome variables for those who adopted IPHT, i.e., the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT ), is calculated as the difference between Eqs. (8a) and (8b):Table 1 presents the means of the primary treatment variable, i.e., IPHTs (DT, MS and AS) adoption disaggregated by districts. The variable took a value of 1 if the household reported having used the IPHTs in the season preceding the survey, otherwise, 0. On average, about 60% and 57% of the survey respondents adopted DT and MS, respectively. The adoption of DT and MS superseded AS, possibly because the former have been promoted longer than the latter in Tanzania. Mbozi district had the highest DT adoption rate (80%) while Babati district recorded the highest MS adoption (82%). Overall, Kongwa district had the lowest adoption rates across the three IPHTs.Descriptive statistics of the outcome and explanatory variables are presented in Appendix Table 4 (see Appendix). Adopters of the IPHTs had significantly fewer days of food insecurity and lower food insecurity (access) scores. They also had significantly higher food and total consumption expenditures. The adopters and non-adopters of the three technologies were distinguishable by household heads' education, ownership of bank/mobile money account, group membership, and neighbors' technology use status. Additionally, a higher proportion of the male-headed households used DT and MS than the female-headed ones. MS adopter households were also likely to be larger than the non-adopter households, possibly due to higher production linked to the availability of farm labor. Adopters of AS were more likely to have access to credit than non-adopters. In contrast, MS and DT adopters and non-adopters did not differ on credit access. DT and AS adopters were more likely to have contacted government extension than non-adopters. Contrastingly, the likelihood for such contact among MS adopters and non-adopters did not differ, suggesting a weaker public extension engagement on mechanization. Adopters of DT were likely to be located further away from the market than the non-adopters; a need for improved storability to ensure sufficient stocks and less reliance on market purchases could motivate distantly located households to use the technology. Finally, non-adopters of MS were more likely to receive private transfers than the adopters, a distinction not seen with DT and AS-this could be linked to lower agricultural production of these households as they also were distinguishable as having less farmland.First stage ESRM results (Table 2) show that households with larger farms were more likely to adopt all three technologies. Farm size is related to production scale. High production is more profitable due to economies of scale and is likely to incentivize demand for IPHTs. The results are consistent with other studies (Abdulai & Huffman, 2014;Gitonga et al., 2013;Manda et al., 2016).Off-farm income and access to credit increased the probability of AS adoption but not MS and DT. This observation might suggest that households accessed DT and MS more affordably; the two technologies were accessed mainly through local service providers. With this option, households could negotiate payment terms (e.g., payment-in-kind) and access the technology more easily than AS (hermetic bags and silos) that required prior settlement before acquisition. In addition, having a bank account or mobile money facility increased the likelihood of adopting the three technologies. These facilities bridged farmers with credit sources hence relaxing liquidity constraints. Mobile banking is particularly attractive for its convenience as a source of soft credit and reduces transaction costs (Nan et al., 2021). In recent years, mobile telephone messaging has also become a mode of extension, enabling farmers to receive technical information and basic financial services, which might have encouraged IPHT adoption.Membership to a group increased the probability of adopting DT and AS. Group membership increases social networking and information flow regarding the benefits of new technologies (Abdulai & Huffman, 2014;Kassie et al., 2011). In Tanzania, farmer groups are important sources of credit and technology access. Some groups organize around the village-based community banking model. Others operate informal rotating savings and credit accounts and are platforms for farmer learning and consolidated inputs acquisition, which might encourage the adoption of technologies on a case-to-case basis (Sseguya et al., 2021).Households that received private transfers were less likely to adopt the technologies, particularly MS. Private transfers are a component of the total household income. Households with elderly members or meagre farm resources (e.g., land) are more likely to receive such support from their nextof-kin working away from home. The elderly and poorly endowed households are less likely to engage in productive farming; hence, the transfers could only increase the budget allocation for necessities such as food (Maitra & Ray, 2003). Receiving transfers could also discourage technologies' adoption because of assured alternative food sources. Neighbors' decision to adopt IPHTs correlated positively with households' use of the three IPHTs, suggesting vital signals regarding the technologies emanated from acquaintances. Abdulai and Huffman (2014) have termed neighbors as social network nodes that help clarify aspects of modern technologies; hence doubts diminish as farmers get to know more farmers in their vicinity who have adopted. Furthermore, farmers living near each other may emulate one another due to shared experiences and space-specific characteristics, including bio-physical and socio-economic conditions (Muthoni et al., 2017).District dummies show that households in Kilolo and Kongwa were less likely to adopt the IPHTs than those in Babati. Production potentials of the different agricultural environments may explain this observation. Babati is a relatively higher crop production zone where humid/sub-humid conditions support maize production and various crops ranging from rice and cotton in the lower-lying plains to wheat and potatoes in the higher elevations. Farmers also keep livestock on a semi-intensive scale. Fairly similar (humid) agroclimatic conditions characterize Mbozi district. In contrast, Kongwa and parts of Kilolo are semi-arid zones with lower production potential -the maize-based systems in these districts integrate with lower-value crops, including drought-tolerant sorghum, millet, pigeon peas, groundnuts, and livestock on a pastoral scale. Our data also revealed wealth, dependency, and information access differences across the districts. The households in Babati were wealthier and less likely to receive transfers than those in Kilolo and Kongwa. Household members in Babati were also more likely to belong to farmer groups and receive extension services from development agencies.Second stage ESRM results (Eqs. 7a and 7b) are presented in Table 3 (as well as Appendix Tables 5 and 6). Due to space limitations, only the ESRM estimates for DT (Table 3) are discussed. The significant positive coefficients on the sex of household head and value of assets among DT non-adopters show that female-headed and poorer households were likely to have lower consumption expenditures (TCE and FCE) than male-headed and wealthier households. Likewise, among the non-adopters, being older and more educated contributed positively to food access (proxied by HFIAS). Households whose heads were more educated also had higher food consumption expenditures. Conversely, household wealth, age, sex, and education of household heads were not key factors in explaining food security and welfare impacts among the adopters. This observation might suggest that using the technology produced social balancing effects. In the same vein, among the adopters and non-adopters alike, larger households were likelier to experience more days of food insecurity (proxied by MFI). However, the non-adopters were further likely to experience diminished food access and lower food consumption expenditures, thus severer food insecurity.Having a large farm contributed positively to food availability and total consumption expenditure among DT adopters. The marginal impact of DT use on food security and welfare was thus greater among the larger producers, potentially due to economies of scale. Kotu et al. (2019) reported similar scale-dependency of farm-level technology benefits, specifically the profitability of AS bags and metal silos. On the contrary, having off-farm income decreased food access and total consumption expenditure among the non-adopters. According to Wozniak (1984), involvement in off-farm activities may restrict decision-making in farm activities leading to low farm productivity. Moreover, farmers engaging in off-farm income-generating activities may simply be doing so to shield against the effects of low farm production (Abdulai & Huffman, 2014). This explanation is sound considering that the non-adopters owned averagely smaller farms and were more likely to have liquidity constraints (see Fig. 1). The bank account and mobile money coefficients indicate that the two variables enhanced food availability, food access, and consumption expenditures among DT adopters and nonadopters. Among the non-adopters, these facilities might have encouraged remittances that smoothen income flows hence food availability and access through purchases in times of shortage (Nan et al., 2021). Bank/mobile money facilities potentially relaxed liquidity constraints and reduced transaction costs among the adopters, enhancing the technology's contribution to food availability and access.Belonging to a group contributed positively to food security and welfare among DT adopters. The negative coefficients on MFI and HFIAS suggest that this factor improved food availability and access. These impacts are attributable to network effects that simplify technology access and use. The positive coefficient of group membership on the adopters' TCE further implies that social networks expanded incomes. Other authors averred that social networks reduced costs associated with adopting new technologies and enabled farmers to market their products (Abdulai & Huffman, 2014). Longer distances to the market generally diminished food access among households. Furthermore, DT adopters located further away had lower food consumption expenditures signaling reduced purchases potentially due to better storability of their food stocks.Private transfers correlated negatively with food access among DT adopters and non-adopters. This observation is intriguing, although others (Lentz et al., 2005) have argued that receiving aid can adversely affect the recipient's behavior and discourage self-assurance investments as alternative food/ income sources exist. Contact with public extension services appeared to dampen the food access impact among DT adopters, which might mirror the scope of the extension services provided. Location fixed effects were significant determinants of food security and incomes among DT non-adopters; those in Kongwa, Kilolo, and Mbozi were more food insecure than the non-adopters in Babati. Additionally, DT non-adopters in Kilolo had significantly lower TCE. These differences across locations with different farming potentials did not occur among the adopter households. Results in Appendix Tables 5 and 6 (ESRM estimates for MS and AS) can be interpreted similarly.An interesting finding in Table 3, Appendix Tables 5, and 6 is the significance level of the coefficient estimates on the variables Mills1 and Mills2. These are the inverse mills ratios used to correct for selection bias as indicated in Eq. 5 and Eq. 6. We reject the null hypothesis of no sample selection as some of the coefficient estimates for the inverse Mills are significant, implying that there is a selectivity problem, and one should not rely on OLS which ignores this problem.Figure 1 shows the average effects of IPHT adoption on the various outcome variables. Unlike the mean outcome differences presented in Appendix Table 4, which may confound the impact of adoption with the influence of other characteristics, the ESR estimates reveal causal effects. The results show that DT use had significant causal effects on all outcome indicators. The technology decreased MFI by 0.31 months, representing an 18% increase in the duration of food availability. On average, adopters of DT would have spent about ten full days per year without three meals had they not used such technologies. The technology also decreased HFIAS by 0.7 units, representing a 26% gain on the food access scale. DT also significantly increased consumption: adopter households would have forfeited US$ 7.82 and US$35.96 on food and total consumption expenditures, respectively, had they chosen not to use the technology. 3 These consumption expenditure gains (food: 26%, total: 112%) could be attributable to improved grain storability and better marketable quality. More food expenditure might mean that households can access diverse foods, including commodities they did not produce. The adoption of MS had causal effects on consumption expenditures. The monthly food consumption expenditure per capita among adopters of MS increased by TZS 30,297 (US$ 13.17), and the total consumption expenditure increased by TZS 71,367 (US$ 30.03), representing 49% and 68% gains compared to the counterfactual situation. The increase in consumption expenditures is potentially the result of savings on labor costs and income generation from productive utilization of freed time. Contrary to expectation, MS had statistically insignificant impacts on MFI and HFIAS. It is important to note that the main impact pathway through which MS is expected to affect the food security and welfare outcomes is freeing up labor and labor cost savings. This collaborates the positive and significant MS impacts on food consumption and total consumption expenditure. Our results agree with Daum et al. (2020), who reported a perceived increase in financial security and income as farm mechanization's main positive socio-economic effect. With MS, households would have had more time for off-farm activities to generate extra income to buy more food and pay for various non-food expenditures.AS use had significant causal effects on all four indicators. Food insecurity (MFI) decreased by at least 11 days representing a 27% gain in the duration of food availability, while food access (HFIAS) improved by 24%. The results agree closely with others. Using propensity score matching, Gitonga et al. (2013) reported that metal silo adopters in Kenya reduced the duration of food insecurity by at least one month, Chegere et al. (2020) observed a 31% reduction in HFIAS among hermetic bag adopters in Tanzania. Our results further show significant increases in food (24%) and total (115%) consumption expenditures; the AS adopters would have lost US$ 8.26, and US$ 49.40 in food and total consumption expenditures per capita had they decided not to use the technology. Thus, AS enabled households to have a stable supply of own-produced food and higher incomes from temporal arbitrage, avoided losses, and possibly lower storage costs. Earlier investigations in the study area found the mean per capita economic impact of using AS bags to be US$ 5-14 from both arbitrage (82%) and loss abatement effects (18%) (Kotu et al., 2019).Other authors (e.g. Omotilewa et al., 2018;Ricker-Gilbert & Jones, 2015) reported that effective reduction of storage losses improved productivity by incentivizing farmers to invest in yield-increasing technologies that could contribute to the increased incomes and welfare of households.Increasing incomes can change consumption patterns. Our results suggest that with the adoption of the technologies, the incomes of households increased, which likewise increased the expenditure on food while expenditure on other items increased even more. The share of household expenditure on food (FCE: TCE ratio) declined by 40%, 11%, and 51% (from 0.92 to 0.55; 0.59 to 0.52; 1.07 to 0.52) among DT, MS, and AS adopters, respectively compared to the counterfactual situation. These declines signaled reduction in households' vulnerability. Smith and Subandoro (2007) categorized households spending > 75% of their total incomes on food as being highly vulnerable and food insecure, and those spending < 50% as having low food insecurity.Tanzania's Agricultural Sector Development Program II: 2017/18-2027/28 (GoT, 2017) prioritizes post-harvest management through promotion and dissemination technologies that encourage better handling and storage of food to achieve food security and improved livelihoods in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN, 2015). This study examined the factors that influence the adoption of farm-level post-harvest technologies and their impacts on households' food security and welfare in Tanzania. The findings revealed marked differences in the adoption determinants of IPHTs. Generally, large farms, locations in higher potential zones, and neighbor's use are universal adoption drivers. These observations have implications for policy guidelines leaning towards increased productivity in farms and learning among farmers to increase adoption of the technologies for the targeted benefits. Farm size and potential are related to production scale. Since expanding farmland for food production is unsustainable, options that involve the use of more efficient technologies and management practices should be encouraged. The fact that neighbor's use encouraged the adoption of the three technologies underscores the importance of neighborhood effects. To this end, stronger integration of progressive farmers to lead promotional programs can speed up the adoption of the IPHTs. The positive influence of group membership on the adoption of DT and AS further points to the importance of strengthening farmer associations as avenues for enhancing adoption.Limited access to capital and financing options remain significant challenges to agricultural technologies' adoption among rural farmers (Balana et al., 2020). Access to credit and off-farm income were especially unique determinants for AS adoption because, unlike MS and DT, the acquisition was not open to negotiated arrangements. Engaging in off-farm employment is a strategy for stabilizing household income and supporting agricultural investments (Anang et al., 2020). Other studies have observed that policies to promote the adoption of rural technologies should include mechanisms for breaking barriers to financial services' access. Concerning formal credit, the traditional focus has been addressing supply-side factors, e.g., improving proximity to credit sources and reducing the cost of borrowing. Balana et al. (2020) have found that demand-side factors such as financial illiteracy and fear of risk (e.g., due to market failure -economic benefits are particularly key as borrowers need enhanced returns to repay) are equally responsible for low agricultural credit use in Tanzania hence polices should focus addressing demand-side constraints as well. Opportunities to increase off-farm income in the rural areas include service provision, value addition, and trade. The decision to engage in off-farm labor market is subject to individual and household characteristics such as the ability to supply off-farm labor. Given the low education levels of farmers in the present study areas, relevant policies would include human capacity development (education) for off-farm labor market participation. However, as already discussed, off-farm engagements can adversely affect decision-making in farm activities, and hence the appropriate models should be found.The three technologies positively impacted households' food security and welfare. A synthesis of the associations between the impacts and various household-and farm-level variables shows distinctive trends across adopter and non-adopter households, pointing to potential system-level impacts. With MS, impacts among adopters are driven more by productive factors: production scale (farm size) and investment support factors (access to credit and off-farm incomes). However, among the non-adopters, impacts appear to be driven by factors that simplify social support, including bank account/mobile money ownership and group membership that also expedite social transfers. The impacts of DT and AS among the adopters, unlike the non-adopters, were not driven by socio-demographic (sex, age, education, household size) and locational factors. Therefore, adopting the technologies could enhance social equity and reduce spatial disparities brought about by agroclimatic factors. Further studies should investigate system-level impacts in detail. These include the general equilibrium impacts such as how the interventions affect non-adopting farm households or the welfare of value chain actors downstream, including consumers who are not producers. Moreover, there is a need to unravel the intrahousehold distribution of the benefits, which we did not achieve in this study due to data constraints. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"de47b147e0723a99d71c6292623102c1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e24d019d-1c50-46a8-ac04-6efa2dee75ec/retrieve","id":"-1907596584"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2deff93b-940c-4e57-8377-8f04f6bbc541","content":"Malian farmers have been growing millet and sorghum for millennia. These crops are still the main staples of subsistence farmers in an agri cultural sector that is almost entirely rainfed (i.e. farmers do not have access to irrigation).National average yields for both crops are low at less than 1 tonne per hectare. These low yields are often attributed in part to low adop tion rates for improved seed; no more than 10% of the country's cereals area is planted with im proved seed. Low adoption rates have in turn been blamed on the poor performance of the formal seed system. The formal seed sectors for sorghum and millet continue to be largely staterun, with some participation by regis tered farmer cooperatives in multiplying seed. So far, commercialization of farmerproduced seed has failed.Farmers need to have access to a wide range of welladapted varieties to cope with the varying rainfall and soil conditions in theThe impact of diversity field forums: improving farmer management of millet and sorghum in Mali Bioversity International's series of Impact Assessment Briefs aims to inform readers about the major results of evaluations carried out by the centre. The Briefs summarize conclusions and methods of more formal papers published in peerreviewed journals.region. Growing a diversity of varieties also helps farmers reduce the risk of crop losses from biotic stresses (pests and diseases) and abiotic stresses (such as drought, salinity or flooding).Early attempts to breed improved sorghum and millet generally had disappointing results, largely because they were based on materials imported from elsewhere, particularly India, that were not well adapted to local conditions.Recent breeding efforts have focused on participatory plant breeding-involving farm ers in defining the objectives of the breeding programme through to testing and selecting improved materials. This helps ensure that the varieties developed meet local conditions and demands and raises the likelihood that they will be adopted. This, coupled with decentral ized seed production, may help reduce the time lag between development and adoption of im proved varieties and encourage their spread to more remote areas.This brief summarizes an evaluation of the impact of one such participatory research effort known as diversity field forums (DFFs). DFFs bear some similarities to farmer field schoolsan approach to improving crop management practices that involves teaching groups of farm ers how to solve problems, set priorities and conduct research through facilitated, hands on sessions in fields allocated by the farming community. The Forums aim to strengthen the capacity of farmers to understand, analyse and manage their own plant genetic resources by creating a physical space that facilitates the exchange of ideas among farmers, extension agents and researchers and encourages farm ers to experiment with different varieties and production approaches.The project, Empowering Sahelian Farmers to Leverage their Crop Diversity Assets for Enhanced Livelihood Strategies, was funded by the Inter national Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) from 2005, coordinated by Bioversity International and implemented by a combina tion of local, national and international organizations. Vil lagers designed and conducted the field trials, with techni cal support from project staff, on land that they had set aside for the purpose. Farmers studied both modern varieties and landraces.The DFFs were conducted at two villages to the northeast of the capital, Bamako. Boumboro is in the SaheloSudanian zone (annual rainfall of 450-600 mm); Bambara and Bobo are the major ethnic groups in this site. The landscape is a mosaic of cultivated woodland savannah. Petaka is in the Sahelian agroclimatic zone (annual rainfall of 200-400 mm). The major ethnic groups in this region are Dogon, Peulh and Sonrhaï. The area is characterized by a series of rocky pla teaus and outcroppings interspersed with sandy plains, for est cover, cultivated areas and pasture.These villages were selected because they were both within dry savannah areas in an area served by an IFAD investment programme and differed in their access to mar kets and services. Boumboro has a higher density of large, weekly markets and other types of physical infrastructure than does Petaka.These factors generate an obvious, but unavoidable, placement bias that limits the extent to which findings from this study can be generalized. The findings therefore shed light on the potential of the DFF approach, but should not be seen as a comprehensive evaluation.The impact analysis employed interviews with all partici pating farmers as well as statistical sampling of 150 farm ers per village, representing both 'treatment' and 'control' groups. Farmers who participated in DFFs constituted the treatment group and a roughly equal number of nonpartici pating farmers constituted the control group.The analysis aimed to account for selection bias-that is, to avoid mistaking preexisting differences between treat ment and control groups for differences caused by participa tion in the project. Selection bias is an issue because, when participation is voluntary, factors that influence the likeli hood of participation might also affect the outcome of par ticipation. For example, farmers with more income, assets and access to information may be more likely to decide to participate in a project but would also likely attain higher yields whether or not they participated.Of the two test villages, Boumboro has the longest and most extensive history of project activities. Surrounding villages have thus been influenced by the project through farmer visits to diversity fields cultivated by participants and farmertofarmer exchanges of information and seed. Therefore, some farmers from nearby villages who had been invited to observe DFFs conducted by farmers in Boumboro were included in the treatment group (but were not con sidered to be participants). In the Petaka site, all farmers in the treatment group are from Petaka itself because DFF ac tivities were much more recent and had not involved other villages .Data on households, farms, seed management, yields, market participation and social capital-the extent to which farm households engage in local associations-were col lected in 2006. Additional yield data and data on variety attributes-unique production and consumption attributes supplied by crop varieties-were collected in 2007, when household demographic information was also reconfirmed.Sample attrition and missing responses on some vari ables led to an operational sample size for the analysis of 131 farmers (62 treatment; 69 control) at Boumboro and 149 (56 treatment; 93 control) at Petaka site.Since the goal of the project is to strengthen the man agement of crop genetic resources, impact indicators were defined relative to such resources. Better management of sorghum and millet varieties is expected to enhance yields and contribute to more diverse crop genetic stocks held in farming communities. Therefore, indicators used were:• expected yields of millet and sorghum in the presence and absence of drought;• twoyear average yields based on farmer recall; and • the total count of the unique production and consump tion attributes of the millet and sorghum varieties held in stock at the time of the survey. Relative deprivation-an indicator of the standing of participants relative to others-was also determined using these variables.Several factors made it more likely that a farm household would include a DFF participant. These included:• Being located at the Boumboro site. This was expected given the higher rates of participation and longer project involvement at this site.• Greater relative wealth in terms of farm physical capi tal, defined as the total value of livestock and material assets .• Greater specialization in millet than in sorghum. This may reflect the fact that millet was grown more widely than sorghum at both sites, or that fewer improved mil let varieties have been released at either site relative to sorghum, so farmers may be more active in searching for new materials and means of improving their existing materials.• Greater social capital, i.e. farm households that engage more actively in local associations. DFF participants sold or purchased sorghum or millet in a larger number of markets than did nonparticipants, andIMPACT ASSESSMENT BRIEF NUMBER 5were more likely to possess more social and farm physical capital than nonparticipants. Participation had a positive impact on expected sorghum and millet yields, recalled millet yields and the stock of variety attributes. Farmers in treatment villages were better off in terms of expected yields and attribute stocks than those in control villages, clearly demonstrating the benefits arising from the DFFs. The impacts of the DFFs were greatest in Boumboro, where local field staff have been continuously engaged with farmers for a much longer period of time than in Peta ka. However, inequality in holdings of millet and sorghum genetic resources appears to be greater in Boumboro than in Petaka. The pervasive harshness of the environment around Petaka and the greater degree of selfreliance of farmers there result in them stocking a wider range of vari eties to meet their wideranging consumption and produc tion needs.Two key policy points emerge from the assessment of the im pact of the DFFs. First, longterm commitment to fostering local leadership and capacity is likely to be a key factor in re alizing bene fits from this type of extension approach. The lo cal leader in the Boumboro site was trained both on site and abroad and has since established his own nongovernmental organization working in surrounding communities. Second, for precisely this reason, it will be difficult to scale up this ap proach from one village to many without coordinated sup port from national public institutions and donors.Although farmer selection bias associated with partici pation was taken into account in the analysis of the results, the findings of this study cannot be generalized to other com munities unless these conform to the same criteria used to select sites. A more comprehensive evaluation, which would require the application of additional analytical approaches over a longer time period and in multiple locations, is not yet justified by the amount of funds invested in DFFs nation wide. As more participatory research efforts are undertaken in Mali, however, these evaluations will be crucial.National and international partners in the project were sur veyed using semistructured questionnaires to determine Bioversity's role in the coordination and implementation of the project's activities. Perspectives emerging from each informant were com pared to each other and also contextualized in relation to the position held by each informant in order to weight the a reliability of the answer.There was a generally positive perception both of Bioversi ty's role and its capacity to coordinate the project.The key informants saw Bioversity as having played a central role in coordinating the implementation of several activities throughout the project's life. The informants em phasized the important role of Bioversity in coordinating and facilitating discussions among partners. Bioversity was seen as being able to develop consensus among a multitude of actors at different levels and to coordinate their work in order to implement the project activities and achieve the project's goals within the short time framework and budget constraints faced by the project.Partners emphasized the value of technical and scien tific support given by Bioversity, especially in some key areas relating to genetic conservation. Partners recognized Bioversity's efficiency in circulating research outcomes and considered the organization a driving force and source of scientific knowledge. Many informants highlighted Biover sity's ability to keep track of all the project activities and changes in them and to address problems and difficulties partners encountered. Local partners in particular appreci ated the presence of Bioversity in the field. This had two key results. On the one hand, farmers gained trust and con fidence in the project, having the possibility to pose ques tions and concerns directly to officers of the implementing agency. On the other hand, Bioversity's presence in the field gave partners the opportunity to regularly brainstorm and solve bottle necks during the evolution of the project, adjust ing strategies and indicators as necessary.Overall, all the partners were well satisfied with the role played by Bioversity and the quality of its work, often stress ing that the organization demonstrated how to put scien tific theory into practice, that it demonstrated commitment to the objectives of the project, and that its accurate, careful and flexible management helped bring together the many different partners and enable them to cooperate effectively. Never theless, some concerns emerged regarding delays in \" It will be difficult to scale up this approach ... without coordinated support from national public institutions and donors \"receipt of project funds. Some partners noted that these had a negative impact on project implementation.Communication was also an area of concern. One part ner stressed the need of more communication among part ners of all project components, highlighting the need for meetings to ensure knowledge sharing.Assessing what might have happened without the partici pation of Bioversity in the project was a complex task. The large number of partners involved in the project and the di versity of their roles made it difficult to isolate individual contributions.Respondents indicated that the project may have been implemented in some form without the participation of Bioversity. Some respondents suggested that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) or other organization might have played a similar role. How ever, most recognised that, although other actors could have played the same role in the project (administrative manage ment, funds management, research and project followup), Bioversity was probably the preferred partner because of its experience, competences and focus on genetic resources. Four partners were convinced that no other actor could have played the same role of Bioversity because of the organiza tion's international credibility and the quality of its research, results and work. They suggested that none of the national research organizations could have played the same role and that without Bioversity's coordination it would have been impossible for so many local and national partners to work together.In a more general view the project made both farmers and local authorities more aware of the need to manage ge netic resources. In particular, diversity seed fairs, by creating a physical space to meet other farmers, promoted exchange of experience and information among farmers and stimu lated them to look for new varieties. Diversity field forums offered opportunities for cooperation between researchers and farmers, and allowed farmers to get to know the techni cal characteristics of crops and new varieties, helping them to adapt them to their environment.An informant affirmed that the main difficulty farmers faced in managing their genetic resources was lack of funds, and not lack of knowledge, whereas the project aimed at enhancing their knowledge. Nevertheless, most informants seemed to agree that the project succeeded in enhancing the capacity of farmers to manage their diversity assets.The project also strengthened social cohesion in targeted villages, particularly by improving the status of women and their agricultural production.In conclusion, the project was based on the cooperation of various actors, from the very local level to the international level, each one with their own competencies and specific role in the project. Bioversity successfully coordinated the project, making possible this multilevel and sometimes dif ficult cooperation between partners in order to achieve proj ect's objectives. The scientific knowledge and technical sup port provided by Bioversity to its partners and to Sahelian farmers seems to have had a very positive effect, improving farmers' traditional crop management by providing them knowledge and a better understanding of their crop diver sity assets. Furthermore, some practices and experiences such as diversity field forums and diversity seed fairs have shown their utility and their potential in outscaling project impacts to other villages and farmers.The project thus seems to have succeeded in increasing farmers' productivity, introducing new varieties and in creasing exchange of information and experience between farmers.This brief is based on Smale M., Diakité L., Grum M., Jones H., Traoré I.S. and Guindo H. 2010. The impact of participation in diversity field fora on farmer management of millet and sorghum varieties in Mali. African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 4(1): 23-47.Citation: Gotor E., Cherfas J. 2011. The impact of diversity field forums: improving farmer management of millet and sorghum in Mali. Bioversity International Series of Impact Assessment Briefs, no. 5. Bioversity International, 4 p.For further information please contact Bioversity Impact Assessment Specialist Dr Elisabetta Gotor (e.gotor@cgiar.org)"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3598e748b3bda26af22df1c203051575","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/850e64c9-ccb6-4f5f-b3f7-d16bba8df638/retrieve","id":"-316240909"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"af828030-4cd1-4efc-8701-dfb3af66702e","content":"The geographical designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IPGRI or the CGIAR concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Similarly, the views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations.Mention of a proprietary name does not constitute endorsement of the product and is given only for information.IPGRI Technical Bulletins are published by the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute with the intention of putting forward definitive recommendations for techniques in genetic resources. They are specifically aimed at National Programme and genebank personnel.The Technical Bulletin series is targeted at scientists and technicians managing genetic resources collections. Each title will aim to provide guidance on choices while implementing conservation techniques and procedures and in the experimentation required to adapt these to local operating conditions and target species. Techniques are discussed and, where relevant, options presented and suggestions made for experiments. The Technical Bulletins are authored by scientists working in the genetic resources area. IPGRI welcomes suggestions of topics for future volumes. In addition, IPGRI would encourage, and is prepared to support, the exchange of research findings obtained at the various genebanks and laboratories. The conservation and use of forest genetic resources worldwide poses several challenges to scientists, policy-makers and, in particular, to local stakeholders interested in long-term strategies to manage these biological resources in a sustainable manner. The vast diversity of tree species, many of which are still unknown, the high level of threats and the increased demand for forest products require prioritization of actions, clear indications for research and development, and strategies to mitigate the current trends in the depletion of forest resources.The strategy of conservation 'through-use' of forest genetic resources is a very important alternative to an in situ approach and, as such, is to be promoted and developed. However, basic knowledge and understanding of species' reproductive biology, seed production, seed quality and health aspects, limit the use of a larger number of species in important activities such as restoration, rehabilitation, agroforestry and on-farm conservation practices. Increasingly, the use of forest genetic diversity in research and breeding requires a greater movement of germplasm.This Technical Bulletin, prepared by Drs J. R. Sutherland, M. Diekmann and P. Berjak, all well-known scientists in their respective areas of specialization, aims to breach some of the knowledge gaps in forest seed biology and technology and, more importantly, to contribute to future research on priority forest seed health aspects. This is an area of extreme importance for an effective and safe use of existing diversity of tree species in either agroforestry projects or in conservation of genetic resources in managed landscapes programmes, and also to widen the scope of this diversity in the activities listed above. Protocols for fungi and virus detection using different techniques are also presented and discussed extensively.In addition, this Technical Bulletin aims to increase awareness amongst technical staff involved in conservation and use activities. To this end it presents state-of-the-art tools for the identification of the most important tree seed pathogens and provides clear and ready-touse molecular-based tools for the screening of fungi and virus in seeds.We hope that with this publication some of the existing gaps in the knowledge of forest seed health management are addressed in such a way that seed scientists, pathologists and foresters may fully benefit from existing forest biodiversity, and contribute to their effective conservation and efficient and safe use.Everyone who works with orthodox and/or recalcitrant tree seeds should be concerned with seed health issues. Seed health analysts would like to know if germination failure is the result of seed-borne pathogens, whereas foresters and seed dealers often discuss the importance of moulds on the quality of the tree seeds they collect or sell. Reduced germination is of particular importance for genebanks storing forest seeds. Forest nursery managers are interested in seed-borne pathogens affecting seed germination or causing disease in their crop. In tree improvement programmes, pathogens may be transported long distances along with the plant germplasm used. Plant quarantine officials should know if seeds being moved domestically or internationally harbour pathogens of importance to local forests.A number of publications list micro-organisms of tree seeds (e.g. Ivory and Tompsett 1994;Mittal et al. 1990; Mohanan and Sharma 1991;Prochazkova and Jancarek 1991;Sutherland et al. 1987), but there is not a publication dealing solely with forest tree seed health testing. Thus, the purpose of this publication is to assemble several protocols for detecting pathogens of conifer and hardwood seeds.Most of the reports on seed-borne pathogens of forest trees, deal with fungi. However, data on seed-borne viruses of trees are accumulating and, consequently, we have included a section on viruses of hardwood seeds. Although numerous species of bacteria may be detected on tree seeds (Mittal et al. 1990), fruits and cones, little is known about their role in seed health. Some, like the bacterial wilt pathogen, Ralstonia (Burkholderia/ Pseudomonas) solanacearum, of Eucalyptus spp. (Ciesla et al. 1996), may eventually prove to be seed-transmitted, whereas other seed-borne bacteria might be beneficial, i.e. in stimulating seedling growth, as occurs with many soil-borne bacteria (Chanway 1997).Considering the limited knowledge of the role of bacteria on tree seeds, the general protocols described here, complement those procedures recommended for individual pathogens on specific seed species, published by the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA). Also included in this technical bulletin, are assays for several pathogens and species of tree seeds, which have not been previously covered. We have also included a section on non-orthodox or recalcitrant tree seeds, contributed by an expert in the field, Dr Patricia Berjak, University of Natal, South Africa, to cover this important group of forest tree species. She discusses different disease detection methods and other procedures for pathogen detection and control.We expect that this information will be useful to seed analysts and general diagnosticians working in genebanks, plant quarantine, and other research facilities, especially in countries where pertinent references may not be available. No attempt has been made to list all of the pathogens found on tree seeds. Refer to Mittal et al. (1990) and Richardson (1990) for such information.Whenever possible, taxonomic references are given for identifying fungi. We also recommend consulting 'A Literature Guide for the Identification of Plant Pathogenic Fungi' (Rossman et al. 1987) which gives taxonomic references for identifying plant pathogenic fungi. Many seed-borne fungi produce only an anamorph (asexual) stage. Barnett and Hunter (1998) give an excellent taxonomic key to the genera of these fungi. General laboratory procedures or recipes for commonly used culture media such as PDA are not covered in this publication. Details can be found for example in Johnston and Booth (1983) or Hawksworth et al. (1995). Although we describe several techniques for isolating specific fungi or groups of fungi, particularly the use of selective media, many seed-borne fungi are easily isolated from surface-sterilized seeds plated onto water agar, potato-dextrose agar (PDA), malt agar (Uniyal and Uniyal 1996), or other standard culture media (Diekmann and Sutherland 1998). Try these less-complicated procedures before moving on to more specific protocols.2 Fungi and seed storageMost temperate tree species produce seeds with an orthodox seed storage behaviour. Orthodox seed storage behaviour is defined by Hong et al. (1996) as \"mature whole seeds (which) not only survive considerable desiccation (to at least 5% moisture content) but their longevity in air-dry storage increases in a predictable way by reduction in seed storage moisture content and temperature\". Recalcitrant seeds in contrast, are \"unable to tolerate more than a limited amount of desiccation, for example to moisture contents in equilibrium at 20°C, with about 96-98% relative humidity\". In between these two categories, are some species with an intermediate storage behaviour, which \"are able to tolerate desiccation to seed moisture contents in equilibrium at 20°C with about 40-50% relative humidity but where further desiccation often reduces viability and always results in more rapid deterioration in subsequent hermetic storage the more the seeds are dried below this value\". Examples for trees with orthodox storage behaviour are Fagus, Fraxinus, Pinus and Prunus. Recalcitrant species are cacao (Theobroma cacao), rubber (Hevea brasiliensis), durian (Durio zibethinus) and jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus); temperate recalcitrant species are oak (Quercus robur), maple (Acer saccharinum) and horsechestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum). Coffee (Coffea spp.), African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), papaya (Carica papaya) and several Citrus species belong to the intermediate group.Seeds that may be collectively categorized as non-orthodox, especially those commonly described as being recalcitrant, differ from orthodox types in terms of the final stages of preshedding maturation and, notably, in their post-harvest responses. Most orthodox seeds undergo maturation drying as the final phase of their pre-shedding development and will come to water content equilibrium with the relative humidity (RH) of the atmosphere. Even where this is not the case, after harvest orthodox seeds will tolerate a substantial degree of further dehydration (to ca. 5% moisture content [dry mass basis]), and are storable for predictable periods under defined conditions of RH and temperature (Ellis and Roberts 1980). Seeds of any species that do not behave in this way are considered to be non-orthodox (Berjak et al. 1989). While most of the species considered elsewhere in this publication are strictly orthodox, this section deals with those that are not.The original, formal definition of seeds as being orthodox or recalcitrant and, indeed, the introduction of these terms was based on their storage behaviour (Roberts 1973), which is a manifestation of post-harvest seed physiology. When they are shed, not only are recalcitrant seeds characterized by relatively to very high water contents, but they are also actively metabolic (Berjak et al. 1989). In this condition, such seeds will withstand only very restricted dehydration before severely damaging or lethal effects occur, and consequently are described as being desiccation-sensitive (e.g. Chin and Roberts 1980). This is, in fact, the major criterion by which seeds of particular species are categorized as being recalcitrant. Although there is an enormous gap in dehydration response between recalcitrant and orthodox seeds, thus far only one further category has been formally defined--that comprised by seeds which will withstand a substantial degree of dehydration, but not to as low water contents as will orthodox types: these have been described as showing intermediate storage behaviour (e.g. Ellis et al. 1980), and those of tropical origin may, especially in the dehydrated condition, be adversely affected by chilling (Hong and Ellis 1996).Despite the non-orthodox behaviour of recalcitrant and intermediate seeds --and seeds of the many species that may fall somewhere between these two categories (Berjak and Pammenter 1994)--it is essential that storage strategies be developed, albeit that only short-term conservation for planting programmes and germplasm exchange be facilitated. The immediate problem is that recalcitrant seeds cannot be dehydrated to any water content which would allow low temperature -low RH storage, and it is likely that intermediate seeds of many species too could not withstand the conditions developed to optimize storage longevity for orthodox types.In fact, overcoming the problems associated with conservation of non-orthodox seeds has been a much-debated topic for at least two decades (e.g. Chin and Roberts 1980;Ouédraogo et al. 1996), but very little progress has been made in terms of improved shortterm storage of the intact propagules.As regards recalcitrant seeds, the only conservation strategy for the intact propagules involves their storage at high water contents (essentially undiminished from those characteristic of the newly shed/harvested condition), at the minimum temperature tolerated. In the case of many tropical species, however, these minima must be relatively high, as the seeds are chilling-sensitive. Even for seeds of temperate recalcitrant species, as the tissues are highly hydrated--and continue to be metabolic--storage at sub-zero temperatures is precluded. Low-temperature storage is also not an option for chilling-sensitive seeds showing intermediate post-harvest behaviour.The very conditions necessary for viability retention of recalcitrant, and probably most other non-orthodox seeds, are also those that facilitate fungal proliferation (Berjak 1996). Furthermore, any manipulations of such seeds, for example, attempting to lower the water content of recalcitrant types to prevent ongoing events of germinative metabolism, may well prove sufficiently stressful (Drew et al. 2000) to exacerbate the deleterious effects of seed-associated micro-organisms, particularly fungi. The same is likely to be the case for dehydrated intermediate seeds (Berjak 1996).During short-term storage of whole non-orthodox seeds, the proliferation of micro-organisms, particularly of fungi, must be curtailed. It is, of course, desirable that microbial propagules be eliminated completely from the seeds prior to storage, but this is extremely difficult to achieve. Long-term conservation of the genetic resources of species producing non-orthodox seeds is likely to be achieved only by cryostorage of suitably small explants, such as excised zygotic axes (Engelmann 1999). These must harbour no microbial propagules --particularly as all require a period in vitro following retrieval from cryostorage, during which any associated fungal or bacterial propagules will flourish. However, the advantage when working with isolated axes, is that these structures which are usually tightly enclosed by the surrounding tissues in the intact seed, are able to be surface-sterilized after excision.3 The nature of fungi on forest tree seeds One of the main features of forest tree seeds is their great diversity in size, shape and texture. The size and texture of tree seeds range from small and hard, as the seeds of Eucalyptus spp., to the relatively large and fleshy acorns of some Quercus spp. or hard walnuts of some Juglans spp. The longevity of tree seeds varies from a few days to many years.The main effects of seed-transmitted fungi are the diseases they cause, and to some extent also the reduced seed viability. However, they rarely destroy the seeds completely. Examples are Sphaeropsis sapinea, causing Diplodia shoot blight of pines and other conifers, Sirococcus conigenus, causing Sirococcus blight of pines and other conifers, Botryodiplodia theobromae, causing rots in a wide host range and many Fusarium spp. causing dampingoff of seedlings.Seed-borne micro-organisms may reduce germination and seed longevity in storage of all types of seeds. When seeds are moved internationally, pathogens may become a quarantine concern and jeopardize seed trade and germplasm exchange. The micro-organisms that are mostly associated with tree seeds are fungi, bacteria and, to a lesser extent, viruses. A comprehensive list was published by Mittal et al. (1990). Phytoplasmas, which are known to cause a number of so-called little leaf or witches' broom diseases, are not seed-borne due to the nature of their transmission (phloem-limited, and no connection from phloem to seeds). It is important to distinguish between seed-borne micro-organisms and seed-transmitted micro-organisms. The term seed-borne describes the state of any micro-organism being carried with, on or in the seed. The term seed-transmitted includes the act of infection of the seedlings from seed-borne inoculum. Thus seed-borne microorganisms include the pathogens causing plant diseases, the socalled 'field fungi' as well as the so-called 'storage fungi'.Examples for typical 'storage fungi' include Penicillium spp., Aspergillus spp. and Caloscypha fulgens, the seed or cold fungus that kills pine seeds under cool conditions. Their main effect is to reduce seed viability, under certain conditions to even kill the seeds. Poor germination of seedlots can often be attributed to contamination with micro-organisms (e.g. Mwanza and Kellas 1987;Sutherland et al. 1987;Huang and Kuhlman 1990). Microorganisms in general thrive under conditions of high moisture and a temperature range between 20 and 25°C. These are also the conditions that ensure survival of recalcitrant seeds. Although few systematic surveys of the contamination of recalcitrant seeds with micro-organisms have been conducted (e.g. Mittal and Sharma 1983;Mycock and Berjak 1990;Pongpanich 1990), it appears that they suffer more from effects of micro-organisms on seed quality than orthodox seeds (Berjak 1996). In addition, recalcitrant seeds are more sensitive to common seed treatment with heat or fungicides. Recalcitrant seeds are often conserved in vitro, where particularly the storage fungi may cause problems by contaminating the media.There is a need to conduct more survey work on pathogens of recalcitrant tree seeds, both with regard to quality aspects and with regard to phytosanitary issues. It is very important to keep these two aspects separate in the evaluation of research results. Pest Risk Analysis (FAO 1996) can help in identifying pests of quarantine concern and in suggesting management options. Treatment techniques (chemical, biological or physical) that do not affect seed viability need to be identified.The majority of pathogens associated with forest tree seeds are fungi, producing only or predominantly the asexual (anamorph) stage (Deuteromycetes). There are exceptions though, as the oomycetes (Oomycota) or water moulds, which can be seedborne on hardwood seeds, e.g. Phytophthora cactorum on beechnuts (Prochazkova and Jancarek 1991). Except for Rhizoctonia spp. that are sometimes seed-borne and may have a basidiumproducing (Basidiomycotina) sexual stage, the reproductive spores or structures of other Basidiomycotina, are rarely found on tree seeds, and even when present, they are of no consequence. For example, Heterobasidion annosum, which causes root rots of forest trees, has been isolated from Abies sp. seeds (Mittal et al. 1990). However, there is no evidence of this or similar fungi affecting seeds or serving as inoculum to cause root rots. Although rust fungi, which are also Basidiomycotina, frequently attack conifer cones, seeds from diseased cones do not carry the pathogen.There are many mechanisms by which tree seeds acquire pathogens. Indeed, both the occurrence and severity of many seed-borne fungi, is often traced to the mishandling of fruits, cones or seeds. A major factor in the acquisition of seed-borne fungi is the contamination of fruits or cones with soil, as often occurs when they are collected from the forest floor, the ground beneath seed orchard trees, or when forest trees are felled to facilitate fruit or cone picking. Beechnuts (Fagus spp.), for example, collected from the forest floor may be infested with Phytophthora cactorum (Prochazkova and Jancarik 1991). Plastic netting can help reduce infection (Fig. 1). Improper handling of cones or fruits may also contribute to the occurrence of seed-borne fungi, when moulds build up on wet conifer cones stored for prolonged periods following collection. Storing cones wet can also increase temperature within the collection bags, further enhancing moulding. The inclusion of old, infested cones or fruits in current year 's collections, can be a source of seed-borne pathogens. Sirococcus blight of conifers, caused by S. conigenus, is a classic example. The pathogen occurs on old, pathogen-infested conifer cones, especially of spruces, Picea spp. Seedlots become affected when such cones, containing infected seeds, are included in collections of current year, disease-free cones. Another source of contamination results from improperly cleaned seedlots containing bits of pathogen-infested needles, leaves, cones or other debris and infected seeds.Seeds often carry fungi that are considered as saprophytes or weak pathogens, e.g. species of Penicillium or Aspergillus. Such so called 'storage fungi' are common on stored, but not fresh, seeds (Prochazkova, pers. comm.). This observation invariably leads to the question of what role these fungi play. Are they harmful or do they simply colonize weakened seeds? For example, seeds may be weakened by numerous factors, including long-term or improper storage, or high processing temperatures that are sometimes required for drying or opening cones. Seeds harbouring such fungi invariably germinate poorly or slowly, but it is hard to define the cause and effect. Not all seed-borne fungi are detrimental and sometimes they may be beneficial. For instance, Trichoderma harzianum is sold commercially as seed dressing to protect seeds and seedlings from damping-off and root rots. However, under optimal conditions even Trichoderma species may be pathogenic (Vaartaja 1957).Seed analysts are interested in detecting and defining the role of seed-borne pathogens but, except for seeds destined for export or import, it may be impractical to assay all seed lots. The following problems should be avoided when seeds are selected for storage: • Moulds on the fruits or cones from which the seeds originated. 4 Some general pre-assay considerationsBefore assaying for seed-borne pathogens, it is first necessary to obtain a representative seed sample. The most recent edition of the ISTA International Rules for Seed Testing (1999) and Edwards and Wang (1995) cite methods and equipment needed for seed sampling. We recommend that these procedures and recommendations for selection of reliable equipment be followed to guarantee the accuracy of the assays.The number of seeds required for testing is determined according to the expected incidence of the test pathogen in specific seed lots. In general, sample size depends upon the sensitivity required (the more seeds tested the greater the accuracy) and the availability of seed and resources available to process the samples. Determining proper sample size requires that preliminary assays be done to obtain data about the incidence of seed-borne pathogens present in seed lots. Once this information is obtained, sample size can be determined using a binomial distribution (Zar 1984). When using such procedures it is common for sample size to vary by pathogen, tree seed species and accuracy level desired. See Zar (1984) or other statistical texts for help in this area or consult a biometrician whenever there is doubt about the number of seeds needed for an assay. A rule of thumb: if 300 seeds are tested with a reliable method and found healthy, one can be 95% sure that the infection percentage is less than 1%, or: to be 95% sure that the infection in a seed lot is below 0.3%, one has to test 1000 seeds (Diekmann 1993).Another consideration is how to prepare the seeds for assay. Before testing forest seed it can be washed with water or disinfesting chemicals. Exposure to physical agents, such as heat, cold, scarification, or removal of the seed coat, may also be considered as pre-treatments of forest seed. Removing the seedcoat from small seeds is too tedious and time consuming to be justified. However, it may be worthwhile for large seeds such as acorns, particularly if the suspected pathogen is within seeds that have many surface fungi and bacteria. Seedcoats of hardwood seeds, or seedcoats adhering to hardwood germinants, must be removed before assaying for viruses. If the isolation medium is selective for a particular fungus or group of fungi it is often not necessary to surface-sterilize the seeds as the medium inhibits growth of most contaminants or stimulates the growth of the desired fungus. The most common surface disinfectant is ordinary bleach (NaOCl). While effective, bleach is also residual and so the treated materials must be washed two or three times with sterile water to remove the bleach, which would otherwise inhibit growth of the fungus. We have used 3-30% hydrogen peroxide for surface-sterilizing tree seeds (Sutherland et al. 1987). It works well and does not have to be washed off the seeds, but it is very corrosive and must be handled with extreme caution. Handling samples of small seeds is facilitated by using small, cylindrical-shaped (e.g. 5 cm long × 2 cm diameter) 'baskets' made from plastic window screen. The open end of the basket is plugged with a rubber stopper to keep the seeds in the basket that is moved in and out of surface disinfectants or washing water with laboratory tweezers.The protocol dictates the type of apparatus to be used for incubating seeds or seedlings. Most assays in which small to medium-sized seeds are incubated on blotter paper or agar media are done in 90 -100 mm diameter Petri plates. Large seeds require bigger containers. Ideally the incubation temperature should be optimum for growth of the target pathogen, but not for other fungi and bacteria. As fruiting bodies and spores are a prerequisite for fungus identification, sometimes methods to promote fungus sporulation may be required. These could be incubation of cultures in ambient daylight or under near ultraviolet (NUV) light ('black light'). Details are given for the respective species.The method to be used depends on the target pathogen(s), the purpose of testing, the accuracy level desired and cost. For the detection of ilarviruses and cucumoviruses, the immuno-enzymatic ELISA test is recommended, whereas the immuno-capture-reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (IC-RT-PCR) is used for detecting a nepovirus. The dot blot nucleic acid hybridization technique can be used for detecting tobamoviruses in oaks and maples. Reeves (1995) reviewed various immunological and nucleic acid methods for detecting seed-borne fungi, bacteria and viruses. As Maude (1996) points out, these techniques are used for detecting fungi in soil and diseased plants, but seldom used in assays for seed-borne fungi. This is mainly because existing tests for detecting fungi on seeds, including blotter tests and use of selective media, are fairly effective and cheaper to develop and use. However, this does not preclude the need for developing molecular assays for fungi and other pathogens on tree seeds. Simple and reliable procedures are needed, especially for testing seed health of tree species which are widely used in large scale re-and afforestation programmes (Mohanan and Sharma 1991). Already some progress has been made in this direction with the development of monoclonal antibody protocols for detecting Sirococcus conigenus on spruce seeds (Mitchell and Sutherland 1986;Mitchell 1988). One of the main advantages of molecular techniques is that they are much more sensitive than existing procedures. Consequently, extremely low levels of seed-borne pathogens can be detected with these advanced techniques, which is particularly important to certify seed for export, or even for long-distance movement within countries, to minimize the risk of disseminating seed-borne pathogens.5 General protocols for detecting fungiBefore proceeding to more elaborate procedures, first examine dry seeds using a magnifying lens or stereomicroscope. Seeds that are mouldy (Fig. 2), cracked or broken (Fig. 3), or which have insect damage (Fig. 4) are easily detected. Poor quality seed lots may contain small or abnormal seed. Resin drops (Fig. 5) on conifer seeds indicate the cones or seeds were subjected to excessively high temperatures during processing. If so, the seeds may be weakened and thus susceptible to saprophytes and opportunistic pathogens and not suitable for long-term storage in genebanks. Bits of pathogen-infested needles and leaves and other debris (Figs 6 and 7) can also be seen, as can sclerotia (Fig. 8) and other fungal structures. Poor quality seedlots may contain many small or abnormally shaped seeds. Radiographs reveal many of the same problems and, in addition, help to detect minute cracks in seedcoats, internal insects or abnormal contents of pathogen-infected seeds which would otherwise go undetected. Poor quality seed should be discarded. Recommended for detecting surface-contaminating fungus spores on seeds The seeds are placed in a flask or other container with water and shaken. For a quantitative test, seed weight and water volume should be known, e.g. 50 g seeds and 50 ml water. Spore counts with the help of a haemocytometer can be calculated as number of spores per millilitre of water, which then equals the number of spores per gram of seed. Adding a drop or two of detergent helps dislodge spores from seeds, but it may create foaming problems. If a low spore load is expected, the seed washings should be centrifuged and the sediment examined by compound microscope for spores. Yuan et al. (1990) used 50 seeds of Acacia spp., 200 mg of Casuarina spp. and 100 mg of Eucalyptus spp. seeds each in 10 ml of water shaken on a 'wrist action shaker' for 10 min. Suspensions of particulate matter were decanted from the seed washings and centrifuged 5 min at 5000 rpm. A compound microscope and haemocytometer were used to examine the sediment in the tubes for spores. Using this procedure they detected Pestalotiopsis sp. and Ulocladium sp. in seed washings of all three tree genera and Phoma sp. was found in washings from Casuarina cunninghamiana and several Eucalyptus species. Other fungi detected in washings (tree seed species not given) were Curvularia lunata, Drechslera spicifera and Penicillium sp.With valuable germplasm, this method helps reduce the number of test seeds. Germinate the seeds according to recognized protocols, usually the ISTA rules (1999). During or at the end of the test, remove and identify the fungi that grow on the seeds or germinants. Transfer those that do not sporulate to PDA, malt agar or other culture media to induce sporulation. However, these recommendations vary according to the test species. For instance, seed may be germinated on top of, or between, paper, in sand, or seed may be soaked in concentrated phosphoric acid or water. Some tree seed requires 14-70 days of incubation before germination can be evaluated.A major advantage of this procedure is that it is carried out concurrently with routine germination tests. Thus, except for microscopes and references needed to identify the fungi, other equipment and resource requirements are minimal. Other advantages are that many of the fungi sporulate on the seeds or germinants, and so it is usually not necessary to subculture them on agar or other culture media to induce sporulation. It is also easy to relate and quantify fungus occurrence and abundance to diseases such as seed decay and radicle rot. Some disadvantages are that fastgrowing, saprophytic fungi may obscure pathogen growth and the test is not specific for detecting one or a group of pathogens. Prochazkova and Jancarik (1991) used this technique to identify 141 fungi in almost 6000 conifer seedlots and 170 fungi in over 2200 broadleaf seedlots. The conifer seeds were Abies alba, A. concolor and A. grandis, Larix decidua, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Picea abies, P. glauca, P. omorika, P. pungens and P. sitchensis and Pinus sylvestris, P. nigra, P. strobus, P. mugo var. mughus, P. mugo var. uncinata, P. cembra, and P. contorta. Some of the pathogenic fungi isolated were Botrytis species from species of Picea, Pinus and Larix, Fusarium spp. from species of Pseudotsuga, Pinus and Larix and Verticillium spp. from Pinus and Larix spp. The hardwood seeds assayed were Alnus glutinosa and A. viridis, Betula verrucosa, Carpinus betulus, Fagus sylvatica, Fraxinus excelsior, F. americana and F. angustifolia, Sorbus aucuparia, Tilia cordata and T. platyphyllos and Ulmus glabra. Among the pathogenic fungi obtained were Ciboria alni, C. batschiana and C. betulae from the seeds of species of Alnus and Betula (<1% of the seedlots tested), respectively. Fusarium spp. were detected in all the hardwood seedlots, especially Fraxinus sp. seeds where >50% of the lots were infested. Rhizoctonia solani was obtained from <1% of the beechnut seedlots. The grey mould pathogen, Botrytis cinerea, was found in over two-thirds of the Carpinus betulis seedlots. Trichoderma viride, which is often associated with poor quality seeds, occurred on over 40% of the Pseudotsuga, Larix and Carpinus seedlots, 30% of the Tilia lots, and 15 -30% of the lots of Acer, Quercus and Sorbus.Sometimes pathogens may be detected in tests that are made in conjunction with routine germination tests. For example, cross or longitudinal sections of seeds that germinate poorly are often cut with a razor or scalpel blade to determine embryo development and size. Internal seed decay and presence of moulds can often be seen in such sectionsRecommended for detecting a wide variety of fungi in or on hardwood and conifer seeds. Place seeds on water-soaked blotter paper in sterilized Petri dishes or other such containers. Tap water can be used as long as it is boiled for 10 min. Sterile water safeguards against contamination by waterborne fungi. Incubate the seeds at 20 -25°C, or temperatures favouring the suspected pathogen, for one to two weeks, or until fungi develop. They can then be identified using the fruiting bodies or spores on the paper, seeds or germinants (Fig. 9), or removed and plated onto a culture medium to induce sporulation. The principle here is that seeds are kept in a humid environment favouring fungus development. The technique is thus similar to that of detecting pathogens during routine seed germination tests and so it is not surprising that the two assays detect many of the same fungi. The major advantage of the blotter test is that it more flexible, e.g. it can be used to assay one to several seedlots using incubation temperatures and lighting regimes that favour fungus detection over seed germination. Another advantage is that it is possible to relate pathogen occurrence and abundance to seed decay and other damage. Sometimes agricultural seeds are killed or weakened by freezing or herbicides, to enhance pathogen development, before being placed on the blotter papers (Maude 1996). Working with both non-and surface-sterilized seeds Sharma and Mohamed Ali (1997) used the blotter technique to isolate a variety of non-pathogenic, potentially pathogenic and pathogenic fungi, e.g. Fusarium solani, F. moniliforme and Botryodiplodia theobromae, from seeds of the tropical hardwoods Lagerstroemia microcarpa and Pterocarpus marsupium. As in this case seeds may be surface-sterilized before being assayed or the seedcoat can be removed from large seeds with profuse surface contamination. This technique is easy to use and requires minimal equipment; however, rapidly growing saprophytes or weak pathogens such as species of Penicillium, Trichoderma or Aspergillus may overgrow certain pathogens. Also, pathogens such as Phytophthora that may lack conspicuous spores and vegetative growth can go undetected. 6 Specific protocols for detecting fungi in non-orthodox seedsAn in-depth study on the effects of fungi during hydrated storage of Avicennia marina has proved very revealing of the significant role of mycoflora in promoting deterioration of recalcitrant seeds (Calistru et al. 2000). In that study, after pericarp removal, handharvested seeds were treated initially and periodically during hydrated storage by aerosol spraying with a relatively effective fungicide, Previcur N (see below for details). The peculiar morphology of A. marina seeds (see Farrant et al. 1993 for diagrammatic details) allows fungicide, applied as a fine spray, access to the inner cotyledonary surfaces as well as to the exterior of much of the embryonic axis. The results showed unequivocally that this treatment, which continued to curtail fungal activity, extended the storage lifespan of these 'clean' seeds by almost 50% compared with previous studies in which no equivalent measures were taken (e.g. Berjak et al. 1989). In the investigations of Calistru et al. (2000), seeds that had been initially treated with the fungicide, but then inoculated with Fusarium moniliforme, were all dead within a third of the time for which the 'clean' seeds remained vigorous and showed high viability. In the experimentally infected seeds, rapid fungal proliferation occurred, and was accompanied by profound deterioration of both cotyledonary and embryonic axis cells. What was a highly significant finding though, was that if the seeds had been stored 'clean' for a few days prior to being experimentally infected with F. moniliforme, then they were considerably more resilient to fungal depredation, arguing for the development of active defence mechanisms as germinative metabolism progressed under hydrated conditions. This response, however, postponed rather than prevented the seemingly inevitable fungal degradation and viability loss of the stored seeds.The change in susceptibility of the seeds to fungal attack underscores the importance of developmental stage in these actively metabolic plant propagatory units. Even in the 'clean' seeds though, inherent infection by F. moniliforme was not completely eliminated, becoming apparent in localized association with only cotyledonary surfaces, about half way through the experimental storage period although there was no vigorous fungal proliferation. This was the situation in 30% of the 'clean' seed population by the end of the storage period when viability (perhaps, or perhaps not, coincidentally) was 70%. Electron microscopical studies showed that cotyledonary cells contiguous with the fungal mycelium were extensively degraded but, significantly, cells of the embryonic axis with which no mycelium was associated also showed marked deteriorative changes.This study confirms the premise (Berjak 1996) that active fungal metabolism during hydrated storage of recalcitrant seeds would impose significant limitations --not only on the total (storage) lifespan --but also on seed vigour, and thus quality. The findings underscore the necessity of finding whatever solutions may be possible, to curtail the incidence --or ideally, to eliminate --the associated fungi from recalcitrant, and all other non-orthodox seeds, prior to storage.Fungal propagules may gain access to the seed tissues at any time from flowering to the post-shedding phase. Recalcitrant seeds may be internally infected by fungi ab initio by systemic transmission via the parent plant, as has been shown for developing maize caryopses, which are orthodox (Mycock and Berjak 1992;Kabeere et al. 1997), or through the stigma-style continuum during flowering (Marsh and Payne 1984). The problem with infection that has originated in these ways during seed development, is that the mycelium has the opportunity to become established deep within the tissyitself --and is consequently very difficult (if not impossible) to eradicate. As is the case for orthodox seeds, insects may both cause damage and act directly as vectors for fungal propagules during seed development. Recalcitrant (and probably all non-orthodox) seeds offer a further advantage to opportunistic invading fungi, in that being shed at high water content, they are very prone to contamination once on the ground (see below) or in storage containers. If the seeds are collected soon after shedding, however, such fungal propagules may be only peripherally located and easy to eradicate if prompt action is taken. Additionally, of course, the storage containers and all devices used to elevate the seeds within them, must be rigorously sterilized.In Durban, South Africa, scientists have worked with nonorthodox seeds of a wide variety of species and, although the proportion harbouring fungi and/or bacteria varied from one batch to another, some contamination was invariable. In general, fungi were the major contaminants of recalcitrant seeds of tropical, sub-tropical and temperate southern African origin but frequently bacteria occurred as co-contaminants (Mycock and Berjak 1990). These findings have been consistent for tropical and temperate species since then, and we have become particularly aware of the problem since embarking on cryopreservation of embryonic axes excised from a variety of recalcitrant seed species (Berjak et al. 1999a,b). Our experience with intermediate seeds has been limited, but in the case of extensive trials with coffee seeds where fungi could be controlled, bacteria posed an almost intractable problem (unpublished data). It should be noted though that seed-associated micro-organisms are not confined to recalcitrant and other nonorthodox types originating only in the tropical to warm temperate zones (see below). It is possible, however, that the spectrum of fungal species may differ with seed provenance where the geographical localities are widely separated (Table 1). As an example (although specific relationships among seed and fungal species cannot be ruled out as the present state of knowledge is scanty), it seems that recalcitrant seeds harvested in 1990 in southern Africa harboured a basically common spectrum of fungi (Mycock and Berjak 1990), which was essentially different from that associated with seeds collected in the Asia-Pacific region (Pongpanich 1990). In a few instances, particular fungal genera have been isolated from seeds of both cool temperate regions and widely separated tropical/subtropical zones (Table 1). This is the case for Phomopsis spp., which were associated with a low percentage of acorns (Quercus spp., Kehr and Schroeder 1996); some species of the Dipterocarpaceae (Pongpanich 1990); Trichilia dregeana (Meliaceae, our unpublished data); Hevea brasiliensis (Singh and Singh 1990); as well as with neem (Azadirachta indica, Sateesh and Shankara Bhat 1999). However, although identifications to the fungus species level were not presented for all the seeds from which Phomopsis was isolated, it is likely that these were different: for example, the species isolated from seeds of commercial rubber and of neem, were P. heveae and P. azadirachtae, respectively. In contrast, while Phytophthora spp. have not been generally recorded as being associated with recalcitrant seeds, this genus has been shown to be seed-transmitted in Ghana, where it poses a serious threat to Theobroma cacao causing black pod, which is a wide spread and destructive disease of cocoa (Kumi et al. 1996).In the southern African context, Mycock and Berjak (1990) investigated the fungal status of newly harvested recalcitrant seeds of seven unrelated species, ranging in provenance from sub-tropical salt-water estuaries to warm-temperate montane areas. These were: Avicennia marina, Castanospermum australe, Litchi chinensis, Podocarpus henkelii (a gymnosperm), Landolpia kirkii, Scadoxus membranaceus and Camellia sinensis. The findings were that Fusarium spp. were present on, or in, the tissues in all but one (L. kirkii, a latex-producing species possessed also of apocyanaceous alkaloids) and that species of Alternaria, Cladosporium, Aspergillus and Penicillium with Fusarium spp. dominated the spectrum of fungi associated with the fresh seeds. Although, unfortunately, in that study fungi were generally not identified to species level, it was unequivocally established that none was of the xerotolerant group collectively described as the seed storage fungi (e.g. Christensen and Kaufmann 1974). Reference to Table 1 shows that the only storage fungi that have been recorded among the many major isolates, are Aspergillus flavus group species in association with seeds of the Dipterocarpaceae (Mittal and Sharma 1982;Pongpanich 1990) and those of Hevea brasiliensis (Singh and Singh 1990).The relative absence of demonstrable storage fungi in association with recalcitrant seeds is not surprising. This ecological grouping comprises xerotolerant species (mainly of Aspergillus and Penicillium) which generally become apparent on, and in, the tissues of air-dry orthodox seeds in storage (Christensen and Kaufmann 1974), when the competition imposed by the so-called field fungi is curtailed by the low water activity and osmotic challenges of seeds stored at low RH. It is probable though that in intermediate seeds dehydrated to relatively low water contents xerotolerant storage fungal species may manifest themselves, provided that their propagules are present intra-seminally, or in the storage containers. The field fungi, in contrast, require relatively high seed-water contents in order to proliferate--which are precisely those necessary to maintain viability of metabolically active, recalcitrant seeds in storage (Berjak 1996). Whereas species of Fusarium, Cladosporium and Alternaria are considered to be major components of the field fungi on, and in, developing and newly harvested orthodox seeds, this does not preclude others. The essential differences between orthodox seeds--which become increasingly inert--and recalcitrant types, which continue to be actively metabolic, are basic to the spectrum of seed-associated fungi that will be manifested.In fact, unless they are dormant, recalcitrant seeds might be described as seeds in name only, and are actually far more like seedlings once they have been shed. In many cases, the metabolism associated with their development graduates without any obvious marker event into that of germination (Berjak et al. 1989;Farrant et al. 1989;Pammenter et al. 1994). As a consequence, it may be reasonable to suppose that these propagatory units would be open to invasion by a broad spectrum of fungal species, and not only those classically considered to be field fungi. This is borne out by a consideration of the range comprising the mycoflora found to be associated with some of the few species of recalcitrant seeds that have been examined: the spectrum of fungi is, in fact, considerably more extensive than those listed as major isolates in Table 1.A further complication is that whatever associated fungi are isolated at any one stage of recalcitrant seed development, the composition of the mycoflora is likely to be different at other stages, both before and after the seeds are shed from the parent plant. This is well illustrated by the information from Kehr and Shroeder (1996) that the most virulent of the primary pathogens, Ciboria batschiana, associated with seeds of temperate Quercus spp., infects the acorns only after they have been shed onto the soil. Our studies on the stored seeds of four species of tropical or warm temperate origin showed that whereas a mixed mycoflora occurred when the seeds were newly shed, the spectrum narrowed to become dominated by Fusarium spp. during storage (Mycock and Berjak 1990). A recent, major survey on fungi associated with developing and mature fruits and seeds and shed seeds of Trichilia dregeana has been very revealing of the changing nature of the mycoflora (Table 1). Lack of overt disease symptoms is also no guarantee that the seeds are not infected: the embryos of the majority of seeds of Theobroma cacao --97% --were found to be infected by Phytophthora, although taken from fruits which were symptomless for black pod (Kumi et al. 1996).In the case of Trichilia dregeana, many of the fungi associated with immature or mature fruits were not transmitted to the seeds, although in most cases these were isolated from the interior of the pericarp. These included Alternaria spp. and notably A. alternata, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides group species, Penicillium aurantiogriseum, Pestalotiopsis maculans and Rhizopus nigricans. However, in other cases, fungal species isolated from fruit tissues during seed development, were isolated from the arils of the seeds after they had been shed: the fungi concerned were a Colletotrichum species, Fusarium semitectum, F. solani, F. subglutinans and two Penicillium species. Seeds of T. dregeana are enclosed by a substantial waxy aril which, in the shortest-term, might prove to be a barrier to the ingress of fungal structures to the seed tissues themselves. In the trials with these seeds only one species each of Phoma and Phomopsis, isolated from the fruit tissues during development, became associated with seed tissues, sensu stricto, after shedding. However, what seems to be the case from these studies on fruits and seeds of T. dregeana is that the fungi that ultimately became seed-associated were the more serious in terms of their potential pathogenicity.This would have serious consequences in terms of even shortterm storage of these seeds as, if they are kept enclosed for even a few hours after collection, the mycofloral propagules in the aril proliferate vigorously, enveloping the seeds in a mass of mycelium. However, it is vital in terms of T. dregeana seed survival, that water content is not lowered (Drew et al. 2000) and the intact aril initially serves as a device limiting water loss. However, for storage, the solution to the problem posed by the fungi is for aril removal before the seeds are enclosed at high RH (in fact, in a saturated atmosphere) for storage. This is achieved by soaking the seeds in water for a short time, which softens the aril and allows its removal by gentle rubbing. Thereafter, the seed surfaces have been successfully treated with a Benlate-type fungicide (Fundazol WP, Sanachem, South Africa [active ingredient, benomyl/benzimidazole]) which has ensured their survival for several months under conditions permitting no water loss. However, if the mycelium is internal, then neither this approach--nor any other so far attempted--will facilitate storage of T. dregeana seeds, and the same is true for those of all other species. However, it is notable that in no case were any fungi isolated from the axis tissues among the many hundreds of T. dregeana seeds used for the trials reported here. This is, however, not always the case: the situation varies from season to season and from one seed-collection locality to another, and there have been instances where T. dregeana seeds collected have harboured serious internal fungal infections, which (thus far) we have found to be irremedial and, in the current season, unusually the bacteria have posed a considerable problem after anti-fungal treatments have been used.In cases of established internal fungal infections, the application of systemic types of fungicides may prove effective, considering that recalcitrant (and other non-orthodox) seeds are hydrated when they are shed. Such procedures would necessarily require that the seeds are dried back to the original water contents, as otherwise the problem of their germination in storage would be exacerbated.A very important aspect of drying back, however, is that even if overall seed water content appears to be the same as the initial value, generally that of the embryonic axes is higher than it was before treatment. One must be aware of the fact that for most species, the embryonic axis is only an insignificant fraction of the total seed mass or volume; hence its water content per se will make a negligible contribution to that of the whole seed. Yet it is the degree of hydration of the axis that primarily determines the metabolic events that will occur, so elevated axis water contents may mean that germinative metabolism is facilitated at an increased rate, thus limiting even further the storage lifespan of the seeds. Additionally, elevated water content of the axis may well encourage fungal activity, if any inoculum remains in its vicinity. Therefore, assessment of the extent of drying back needs to be carried out on the separated seed components, until the water content of the embryonic axes approximates to pre-treatment levels. With this proviso in mind, trials with a range of systemic fungicides urgently need to be undertaken for a variety of seed species, to ascertain whether or not this approach could usefully extend their hydrated lifespan, essentially by curbing the proliferation of internally seed-borne fungi.The essential approach must encompass application of anti-fungal measures when the seeds are newly harvested, and preferably, they should be harvested directly from the parent plant, so as to obviate contact with the reservoir of fungal propagules in the soil. This principle is well-illustrated in the report of Kehr and Schroeder (1996) who showed that although the incidence of fungal colonization by a variety of species (Table 1) increased steadily through the pericarp and cotyledons during maturation on the parent oak tree, it was only after these fruits were shed that the aggressive primary pathogen, Ciboria batschiana, infected the acorns.The fungicide(s) of choice must be arrived at by identifying the fungi concerned, as well as by testing seed tolerance to its application. As much of the fungal inoculum may be located in the seed coverings, it is expedient to remove these structures, as also suggested by Bonner (1996) but only if this can be done noninjuriously and without curtailing the duration in hydrated storage or causing any damage to the seeds themselves. We have found this to be a beneficial procedure for the recalcitrant seeds of several species. However, the now-exposed seed surfaces must be sterilized, which itself can be a damaging procedure if it is overrigorous or otherwise too harsh (Berjak et al. 1999a, b). Where it has been ascertained that there is no inoculum harboured internally, then surface application of fungicide will suffice, for example, in the case of seeds of Trichilia dregeana (see above). In this case, application of a benomyl preparation, Fundazol WP (Sanachem, South Africa), proved effective. However, in experiments with seeds of Avicennia marina, dusting of the exposed seed surfaces with this fungicide or Benlate (DuPont, USA) was very damaging. As an alternative, aerosol application of the fungicide, Previcur N as a solution (2.5 g l -1 ), proved non-injurious and relatively effective (Calistru et al. 2000--see above). Previcur (active ingredient propamocarb--HCl [AgrEvo, South Africa]) appears to have a definite potential as a systemic fungicide for the treatment of recalcitrant (and other non-orthodox) seeds prior to storage, and trials on its use alone, or in combination with other fungicides, are presently being undertaken. As Previcur proved to be fungistatic rather than fungicidal in relation to Fusarium moniliforme (Calistru et al. 2000), these trials incorporate the use of 'cocktails': in particular, combinations of Previcur and Fundazol or Benlate, and Previcur with Early Impact (Zeneca Agrochemicals, South Africa), are being tested. Early Impact (active ingredients flutriafol [triazole] and carbendazim [benzamidazole]) is being used to replace benomyl fungicides, where these appear to be damaging.Where the fungi are principally located in the seed coverings, their removal and surface-sterilization of the underlying tissues (as in the case of Trichilia dregeana) may be relatively effective in curtailing the problems caused by the mycoflora during hydrated storage. However, it may be advantageous to provide such seeds with an artificial covering, especially one in which a fungicide can be incorporated, or which has natural fungicidal properties. In this regard, the use of alginate gel offers a convenient mode of seed encapsulation. However, it is essential that the degree of hydration of the gel be controlled, so not to afford a source of additional water to the seeds, which would accelerate germinative metabolism in the storage containers.In Durban, South Africa the research group has access to a crude alginate gel which is custom-made from a brown alga. We are presently experimenting with this gel as an encapsulation medium for de-coated recalcitrant seeds of a variety of species, and have found its use highly effective in significantly extending the storage lifespan of some species. Interestingly, this effect for Avicennia marina, could not be correlated with any metabolic parameters of the seeds, but no fungal proliferation occurred during hydrated storage lifespan --which was extended fourfold in comparison with unencapsulated seeds (Motete et al. 1997).This is another approach that should be tested for non-orthodox seeds of any species, prior to their hydrated storage. In fact, this should be the first possibility to be assessed, although its success is far from assured in all cases (see below). Thermotherapy, however, has been extremely successful in the treatment of seeds of Quercus spp. prior to storage of the acorns. This approach, which was developed by Delatour (1978), involves submerging the acorns in water held at temperatures of around 40°C for 2 h. As discussed above, it is essential that the seeds are then dried back to acceptable storage water contents. Kehr and Schroeder (1996) showed that many of the fungi associated with Q. robur acorns were eliminated by thermotherapy, for example, Cladosporium cladosporioides, which originally occurred as a pericarp and cotyledon infection in 13% and 12%, respectively, of the seeds tested. Notably, those authors reported that Ciboria batschiana, although its incidence was very low initially (Table 1), was also eliminated. Delatour et al. (1980), who stored treated acorns with the further precaution of inclusion of a thiram-based fungicide (TMTD) in the water during thermotherapy (39°C, 8 h), showed zero recurrence of infection by C. batschiana after an 8-month period. It is notable that in those studies, C. batschiana was isolated from 36% of the acorns prior to treatment. The incidence of other fungi has been found to be significantly diminished by thermotherapy of acorns: for example, Kehr and Schroeder (1996) reported that Alternaria alternata, which was isolated at 48% from pericarps and 20% from cotyledons of control Q. robur, occurred in 26% and 4% of the pericarp and cotyledonary samples tested, following thermotherapy.However, thermotherapy is not a 'cure-all' for all seed-associated fungal species: Penicillium spp., for example, increased in incidence to 21% and 7% in acorn pericarps and cotyledons after thermotherapy, compared with their isolation from 6% and 9% of these structures, respectively, before the hot-water treatment (Kehr and Schroeder, 1996). It is probable that the Penicillium spp. present, which could obviously tolerate the 41°C thermotherapy, could proliferate far more readily in the absence of certain of the fungal species that were eliminated or reduced by the treatment.In other cases, thermotherapy just cannot be used. Work on seeds of Avicennia marina, showed them to be far more sensitive to elevated temperatures than were the fungi that they harboured. The seeds were found to be lethally damaged at temperatures of 45°C, while the virulent strain of Fusarium moniliforme that was isolated from them, could withstand temperatures in excess of 60°C (our unpublished data). A vital aspect of thermotherapy trials for nonorthodox seeds therefore, is that at the outset tolerance of the seeds themselves to various temperatures for different periods of time, must be assessed. Additionally, testing the effect of various combinations of temperature and time tolerated by the seeds, on the fungi isolated from those seeds, is ultimately a time-saving and rational preliminary approach.Are there other treatments that could be used to eliminate or curtail the fungi associated with recalcitrant seeds during hydrated storage? Again, it is impossible to generalize: Kehr and Schroeder (1996) have discussed the possibility of cold-hardening acorns, so that they will tolerate lower storage temperatures than if untreated. Those authors cite the possibility that Q. robur acorns might survive storage at -9°C, while those of Q. petraea could survive at -5 to -6°C. Such treatment would go far to minimize fungal effects during seed storage, but it must be borne in mind that Quercus spp. are temperate, and are not chilling-sensitive in the first place. It would be surprising if non-orthodox seeds of tropical/subtropical species could be so-acclimated.Another approach suggested as promising for acorns by Kehr and Schroeder (1996) is the use of what has been termed ETS (electron treatment of seeds). While those authors report that this approach has been developed in Germany for control of seedborne pathogens in cereal seeds, it is noteworthy that its use for improvement of maize seeds was first reported by Pammenter et al. in 1974. Those authors, who termed the technique 'cathodic protection' showed a dramatic improvement in vigour and viability retention of the caryopses during storage on a negatively charged conductor, under age-accelerating conditions, but ascribed the benefit to free-radical reducing effects in the seeds themselves. This does not, of course, rule out the possible effectiveness of the treatment by reducing the incidence of seedassociated fungi and their metabolic effects, especially as freeradical generation is considered to be one of the deleterious consequences in the host tissue of fungal metabolism.It is, however, presently considered unlikely that this type of approach will protect recalcitrant seeds. In the first place, even if electron treatment were to affect peripherally located fungi, in many cases in recalcitrant seeds the fungi occur in the deeper seed tissues. Secondly--and what may be a more important consideration--is the fact that cereal seeds are orthodox and dry, but the associated mycoflora is hydrated and active, which may well be the basis for its destruction by the applied charge, as has been proposed for the success of thermotherapy of superficially wetted maize caryopses (Berjak et al. 1992). Recalcitrant seeds, in contrast, are relatively highly hydrated and metabolically active, and it is essential that they remain so. It is thought likely, therefore, that such treatment might be as deleterious to the seeds as it could be to peripherally located mycoflora. However, in the case of nonorthodox seeds that will withstand dehydration--e.g. intermediate seeds --ETS might well be effective, but perhaps only if any inoculum present is peripherally located.A further approach, mentioned by Kehr and Schroeder (1996) as apparently having a beneficial effect on the elimination of fungi from acorns, is the use of combined microwave/steam treatment. However, as the basis of microwave activity resides in water (and lipid) heating, one must be critically aware of the possible deleterious effects on the seed tissues. The balance among microwave intensity, the duration of its application and seed water content, is absolutely critical: for example, without the provision of an energy-absorbing buffer, application of microwave therapy to soybeans at the low water content around 0.08 g g -1 for less than 30 s, has been found to cause seed bursting (Reddy et al. 2000). Recalcitrant seeds are generally large and have water contents anywhere in the range of approximately 0.3 g g -1 -0.45 g g -1 depending on the species and the developmental status (personal observations). As such, it is difficult to envisage the successful use of microwave energy to eliminate fungi that are located anywhere other than in the peripheral seed tissues. This is because the time taken for the interior of the seed to be sufficiently affected by the microwave energy to eliminate deep-seated inoculum would presumably devastate the peripheral tissues, but more significantly, unless the surface were perforated, the build-up of steam within the seed, would be likely to cause bursting. Bonner (1996), in discussing possible treatment of non-orthodox seeds against seed-borne pathogens and non-pathogenic microorganisms, mentions the problem of their internal localization. That author makes the point that, because of the nature of the seeds which is so different from orthodox types, gaseous fumigants are also not an option for recalcitrant seeds.In terms of fungal isolations and diagnoses that have been reported, in some instances there is a commonality with the methods reported elsewhere in this publication for fungi associated with orthodox seeds. This is the case for species of e.g. Fusarium, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Colletotrichum and Phytophthora.In other cases, specific or general isolation media are described or mentioned. For the mycoflora of acorns, Kehr and Schroeder (1996) used 2% malt agar containing 50 mg l -1 streptomycin, with the subculture of developing fungal colonies on malt agar: these were induced to sporulate after growth for two weeks (at room temperature) by maintaining the cultures for a week at 15°C under black light (Philips UVA 40W/08). Delatour et al. (1980) mention culturing Ciboria batschiana in tubes on malt agar. Kumi et al. (1996) have detailed the medium they used for selective isolation of Phytophthora spp. Washed seeds removed from newly opened cocoa fruits were surface sterilized with 93% alcohol (presumably ethanol) and incubated singly in Petri dishes on the following medium: 23 g l -1 Lima Bean agar (Difco Bacto) containing 10 mg each of pimaricin and benomyl, 200 mg vancomycin, 50 mg hymexazol, 60 mg each chloramphenicol and penicillin G. Incubation was for 3-5 days, in 12 h alternating cycles of NUV light and dark. Certain of the isolations were made from separated seed components.In work on the fungal flora of dipterocarp seeds in general (Pongpanich 1990), Shorea robusta, in particular (Mittal and Sharma 1982) and Hevea brasiliensis [Euphorbiaceae] (Singh and Singh 1990), aside from using the blotter test, all authors also used PDA plates as the agar method of choice. Isolation of Phomopsis azadirachtae and other fungi from neem seeds, Sateesh and Bhat (1999) used a standard agar method based on Czapek-Dox medium.For recalcitrant seeds of the various species studied in Durban, South Africa, the general approach is to isolate fungi from separated components (coverings, storage tissues [cotyledons/endosperm] and embryonic axes). For all isolations other than those from the outer surfaces of the pericarp, the seeds/seed components are surfacesterilized, generally using 1% sodium hypochlorite with a trace of a wetting agent such as Tween 20 (15 drops l -1 sterilant). The duration of surface sterilization varies from 10 to 25 min, depending on the material and the effectiveness of this treatment. Generally PDA is used for the initial isolations, and when necessary for identification, sub-culturing onto other media is carried out.For fungal isolation from fruit and seed material of Trichilia dregeana, initial isolation was in Petri dishes on Czapek-Dox (CDA) medium containing 50 µg ml -1 rifampicin. The pH of the medium was adjusted to 6.6 prior to autoclaving, and the filtersterilized rifampicin added after the autoclaved medium had cooled. Cultures were incubated for 5 -10 days in the dark at 25-27°C. The initial isolates were sub-cultured onto CDA to obtain axenic cultures for expert identification. These, in turn, were sub-cultured onto malt extract agar slants, for storage at 4-5°C: stored cultures were sub-cultured every 2-3 months, and re-stored after initial incubation at 25 -27°C for 7 days in the dark.As has emerged from the limited investigations on the fungal problem in non-orthodox seeds generally, and recalcitrant seeds in particular, there is little pattern in the presence of seed-associated fungi, whether pathogens (sensu Plant Pathology) or not. However, irrespective of the pathogenic status of the fungi, the high RH conditions necessary for recalcitrant seed storage demand that the primary approach must be to develop treatments that will ideally eliminate, but at least curtail, the mycoflora. Certainly at present, such treatments will have to be determined empirically, on a seed-species basis--but also taking into account the prevalent fungal species.Thus, unlike the situation in orthodox seed health testing, it is not so much a matter of what seed-associated fungi are present--and hence of diagnosis --but the imperative of the development of seed treatments, if any reasonable opportunity of short-term seed storage and exchange is envisaged. Hence: 1. the infection status of the seeds needs to be ascertained, on the basis of the separated components (seed coverings, storage tissues, embryonic axes); 2. expert identification of axenic isolates should be made; 3. suitable surface-sterilization procedures need to be established; 4. the effects of removal of the seed coverings must be ascertained; 5. experimentation with artificial seed coverings should be undertaken; 6. extensive experimentation with fungicide treatments is required, particularly concentrated on the possibility of using systemic fungicides; 7. the possible use of thermotherapy requires to be assessed; 8. other treatments should also be entertained; 9. if effective fungicidal treatments can be developed, then it might be necessary (e.g. if in vitro culture is to be used, as in the case of cryostorage) to develop suitable anti-bacterial treatments.7 Isolation of fungiMany pathogenic and non-pathogenic species of Fusarium (Deuteromycotina, Hyphomycetes) occur on and in tree seeds. For example, Ciesla et al. (1996) reported seven Fusarium spp. from eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.) seeds while Mittal et al. (1990) list 29 Fusarium spp. or f. sp. on numerous species of tree seeds. In one study alone, Prochazkova and Jancarik (1991) isolated 28 Fusarium spp. from seeds of many temperate broadleaf and conifer species.While not all seed-borne Fusarium spp. are pathogenic, at least under the conditions tested to date (e.g. Axelrood et al. 1995), many cause seed rots, damping-off (Fig. 10), root rots (Fig. 11) and blights in nurseries (e.g. James et al. 1991). Others, including the pine pitch canker pathogen F. subglutinans f. sp. pini, affect older trees (Barrows-Broaddus 1987; Diekmann and Sutherland 1998). While Fusarium spp. can be detected on seeds during routine germination or by the blotter test, it is best to isolate the fungus directly from seeds using selective media (Fig. 12). When surface contamination is severe, seeds can be surface-sterilized before plating them onto the medium or the seedcoat can be removed from large seeds. The two most frequently used media for isolating Fusarium species are those of Nash and Snyder (1962) and Komada (1975), or modifications of these. The following are the ingredients and procedures for making Nash and Snyder's (1962)  Seifert (http://res.agr.ca/brd/fusarium/) gives the recipes for two other Fusarium isolation media, i.e. dichloran chloramphenicol peptone agar and peptone PCNB agar. Both are from Burgess et al. (1988) and differ slightly from the above recipes. Singh et al. (1991) have also formulated a recipe for a Fusarium selective medium [see section 5.5.10]. † Note: fungicides in the selective media are given as a.i. (active ingredient, i.e. the amount of active fungicide in the formulated product). For example, a fungicide listed as 80 WP contains 80% active ingredient in a wettable powder formulation; thus 2 g of commercial product would have to be added to obtain 1.6 g of active ingredient.A 100 mm diameter Petri dish accommodates about 20 medium-sized seeds, e.g. of most conifers, and since these selective media inhibit the growth of many contaminants the seeds can be added to the dishes without following strict aseptic conditions. Incubate the plates at 24 -26°C for 7-10 days (James et al. 1991) under cool, fluorescent light to induce Fusarium sporulation (Komada 1975) which is required for identification.Based on cultural and spore characteristics, hosts, etc., there are several taxonomic keys for identifying Fusarium species, e.g. for those with access to the Internet Seifert's FUSKEY--Fusarium Interactive Key (http://res.agr.ca/brd/fusarium/) is available in English and French. Gerlach and Nirenberg (1982) give other keys. Singh et al. (1991) give cultural and spore characteristics, and coloured illustrations of colonies, for many species of Fusarium from cereal and other seeds, several of which could occur on tree seeds.The fungi of concern here are Sirococcus conigenus, the Sirococcus blight pathogen, and S. clavigignenti-juglandacearum, which causes Sirococcus canker of butternut. S. conigenus (syn. S. strobilinus and S. piniperda) affects several species of conifer, notably Pinus spp. (Fig. 13), Picea spp. and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). S. clavigignenti-juglandacearum affects butternut (Juglans cinerea) trees in nature and, via artificial inoculation, other Juglans species (Sinclair et al. 1993). No sexual state is known for either fungus (Deuteromycotina, Coelomycetes) and both fungi are seed-borne, i.e. S. conigenus on conifer seeds (Sutherland et al. 1987) and S. clavigignenti-juglandacearum on butternut (Orchard, 1984;Prey et al. 1997). Orchard (1984) demonstrated the seed-borne nature of butternut canker by isolating the pathogen from necrotic tissue near the point of seed attachment of up to 13% of seedlings of infested, butternut seedlots. S. conigenus often fruits on germinants (Fig. 9), thus it may also be detected during routine seed testing or by blotter plate testing. However, such tests are less reliable than the one described here since S. conigenus, which is often within seeds, is easily overgrown by contaminants.The following procedures are recommended for detecting S. conigenus on conifer seeds and S. clavigignenti-juglandacearum on butternut (Juglans cinerea) seeds. Surface-sterilize seeds with 30% H 2 O 2 for 30 min at room temperature and then plate them, 20-25 per Petri dish, directly onto 2% water agar If H 2 O 2 is unavailable, surface-sterilize the seeds with 0.5% NaOCl for 5 min, rinse them twice with sterile, distilled water then plate them onto water agar. Incubate the seeds at 20 to 25°C and every 2-3 days, for up to 2 weeks, use a stereomicroscope to check for Sirococcus growing from the seeds or sporulating (Fig. 14) on the germinants. Since incidence of the fungus within infested seedlots is seldom above 3%, test 500-1000 seeds/seedlot to detect the fungus. S. conigenus can also be detected in seedlots using a monoclonal antibody protocol (see our discussion on molecular techniques). Sutherland et al. (1987) give the characteristics of S. conigenus spores and cultures. Isolations were made by surface-sterilizing diseased tissue in 0.5% NaOCl (time not specified) followed by plating onto PDA. S. clavigignenti-juglandacearum was also isolated from aqueous solutions of butternut meats of many of the same seedlots for which seed-borne inoculum of the fungus had been found. Nair et al. (1979) and Sinclair et al. (1993) give the spore and fruiting body characteristics for identifying this pathogen.Caloscypha fulgens (Ascomycotina, Pezizales; anamorph Geniculodendron pyriforme) is seed-borne and attacks seeds before they germinate in nurseries and forests. The fungus gets its common names because it is seed-borne and it can grow at fairly low temperatures. Seeds are not susceptible to infection once germination begins. Affected seeds are mummified rather than rotted, thus seed lots suspected of being infested should be assayed. Seed lots that germinate poorly following stratification (when the fungus spreads) are prime candidates for assay.The following procedure is recommended for isolating Caloscypha fulgens from conifer seeds, especially of species of Picea and Pinus. Surface-sterilize seed samples for 30 min in 30% H 2 O 2 , then plate them 20 -25 per 90 or 100 mm Petri dish onto 1.5 -2% water agar. Incubate the plates at 15 -20°C in either the dark or under no more than 12 h of fluorescent lighting per day. After 10 -14 days incubation use a stereomicroscope to look for the distinctive indigo or orange fungus colonies growing from diseased seeds (Fig. 15). Individual hyphae are thick, verrucose and often branch at right-angles (Fig. 16), reminiscent of Rhizoctonia spp. The characteristics of the cultures, the asexual spores and the orange ascocarps of the fungus, which are produced on the forest floor soon after spring snow melt, are given by Sutherland et al. (1987).Whereas species of Phytophthora and Pythium (Peronosporales) are rather common on broadleaf tree seeds, they are rare on conifer seeds (Mittal et al.1990). Perhaps this is because conifer cones are woody and dry at harvest and unsuitable for these fungi, while hardwood fruits that are often succulent or fleshy, or both, are better substrates for Phytophthora and Pythium species. Infection occurs when fruits contact infested soil, usually in the forest before collection for seed extraction. Phytophthora and Pythium can be isolated directly from surface-sterilized fruits or seeds, however, since contaminants sometimes overgrow them or inhibit their growth it is best to isolate them using baits or selective media. A baiting method for isolating Phytophthora and Pythium from soil or plant material, should work well for seeds, is the apple technique (Campbell 1949).Use a cork borer to remove a core of tissue from a ripe apple and place the test seeds or other plant tissues into the hole. If the seeds or other test samples are dry then moisten them with sterile, distilled water. Seal the opening of hole with masking tape and incubate the apple at room temperature. When the apple begins to rot around the inoculation core, surface-sterilize it with ethyl alcohol or weak bleach (ca. 5%), remove the skin over the rot, then aseptically remove small segments of apple tissue just ahead of the margin between the rotted and firm tissue. Plate this tissue onto a medium (e.g. PDA) for isolation of Phytophthora or Pythium spp., or preferably onto one of the selective media given below. Other fruits, including pears, can also be used (Fig. 17).Fig. 17. Pear baits can be used to isolate Phytophthora or Pythium from water, soil or seeds. Pear tissue, taken from the margin of the lesions, is plated onto the Phytophthora-selective medium in the Petri dish. (Dr J. Sutherland, Victoria, BC, Canada) Hamm and Hansen (1991) give the recipes for several media for isolating and identifying species of Phytophthora and Pythium spp. The ingredients and procedures for making two of these follow: then autoclave the ingredients for 15 min. Allow the medium to cool to 45°C, then add 250 mg of ampicillin and 10 mg of rifamycin. Prepare new stock solutions for each batch of medium using sterile water for ampicillin and 50% ethanol for rifamycin (store both at 5°C). Hamm and Hansen (1991) also give the recipes for several media to induce sporulation in Pythium and Phytophthora, plus a taxonomic key for identifying Phytophthora spp. important as forest pathogens. Stamps et al. (1990) present a detailed tabular key to Phytophthora species and Van Der Plaats-Niterink (1981) gives a taxonomic key for Pythium species.Fungi in the genus Rhizoctonia are well known, ubiquitous pathogens, causing innumerable diseases on a wide variety of host plants including damping-off and root rots in forest nurseries. R. solani is among the most widespread and prevalent species. It is the mycelial, sclerotia-forming state of the fungus Thanatephorus cucumeris (Tulasnellales, Ceratobasidiaceae). R. solani typifies these fungi that ordinarily produce no spores, have pale to dark brown mycelium, and large-diameter hyphae which branch frequently at right angles. R. solani produces black sclerotia, both in nature and in culture, varying in size from spheres less than 1 mm across to crusts several millimetres in diameter (Sinclair et al. 1993). Mittal et al. (1990) cite 10 incidences of Rhizoctonia on tree seeds, i.e. three for Rhizoctonia. sp. and seven for R. solani. The records for Rhizoctonia sp. are on Cedrus deodora in India, Cupressus sempervirens in Egypt and Pinus elliottii in Taiwan. R. solani is reported from a variety of conifer and broadleaf species † Also sold as Devoced (Gist-Brocades, King of Persia, Pennsylvania), available as a 50% wettable powder, store the powder in a refrigerated, amber-coloured bottle out of direct light. Always prepare fresh solutions before using.as for example Abies spp. in the USA, Pinus nigra in Italy, Fagus sylvatica in France and Araucaria cunninghamii in Australia.Usually Rhizoctonia species are easily isolated by plating surfacesterilized seeds or tissues onto culture media such as PDA or in the blotter test. However, it is also possible to use baits and selective media for isolation. Chandelier (1994) gives a baiting technique for isolating R. solani from soil, which also seems appropriate for isolating the fungus from seeds, although it may be too laborious. The technique consists of soaking 10 mm diameter, filter paper disks in a liquid culture medium, allowing the fungus to colonize the disks, then isolating it from the disks. The ingredients and procedures for making this medium are:Galactose  Dispense the medium to Petri dishes, add the disks, incubate at 25°C and after 2-4 days examine the plates for Rhizoctonia using a stereomicroscope. Ko and Hora (1971) were among the first to develop a selective media for isolating R. solani. Later Gangopadhyay and Grover (1985) improved the efficacy of this medium and although it was developed for isolating R. solani from soil it should suffice for isolating this Rhizoctonia, and others, from seeds and fruits.The ingredients and procedures for making this medium are: We recommend that surface disinfected seeds, or portions of fruits, be plated directly onto this medium in Petri dishes. Incubate and examine the plates using a stereomicroscope. Sneh et al. (1991) give several other isolation techniques and selective media for isolating various Rhizoctonia species, mainly from soil. Chandelier (1994) outlines identification methods for Rhizoctonia species and Sneh et al. (1991) provide techniques and taxonomic keys for identifying Rhizoctonia.Species of Cylindrocladium (Deuteromycotina, Hyphomycetes) cause damping-off, root rots and foliage blight of many species of broadleaf and conifer seedlings. Unidentified species of Cylindrocladium have been reported as being seed-borne for Shorea assamica in Malaysia and Pinus lambertiana in the USA (Mittal et al. 1990) whereas C. clavatum has been reported on seeds of Eucalyptus tereticornis in India (Mohanan and Sharma 1991). Ivory (1987) andDomsch et al. (1980) illustrated the distinctive conidiophores and spores of Cylindrocladium. These spores suggest that it may be possible to identify infested seed lots using the seed washing technique described earlier.The fungus is fairly easily isolated by plating surface-sterilized seed or host tissue on to standard culture media such as PDA. (Phipps, pers. comm.) recommends home-made PDA amended with 100 ppm (100 mg l -1 ) each of chloramphenicol and chlortetracycline for isolating Cylindrocladium from plant tissues. The latter two components should be added only after the medium has been autoclaved and allowed to cool to 50°C. The Plant Pathologist's Pocketbook (Anonymous 1968) and Hawksworth et al. (1995) give procedures for making PDA. Griffin (1977) gives a selective medium for isolating C. crotalariae from soil which should also work for other species of Cylindrocladium on tree seeds.The ingredients and procedures for making this medium called Sucrose-QT medium  (Domsch et al. 1980;Ivory 1987). Peerally (1991), Schubert et al. (1989) and most recently Crous and Wingfield (1994) give taxonomic keys for identifying species of Cylindrocladium. Crous et al. (1992) also describe how cultural conditions affect vesicle and conidiospore morphology of species of Cylindrocladium and the closely related genus Cylindrocladiella.Species of Botryosphaeria (Pleosporales, Botryosphaeriaceae) have conidial states in six form genera, including Lasiodiplodia and Sphaeropsis (Sinclair et al. 1993). Lasiodiplodia theobromae (=Diplodia gossypina) and Sphaeropsis sapinea (=Diplodia pinea) are two closely related pathogens that cause severe losses of pine seeds in a variety of widely geographically separated areas. For example, Lasiodiplodia theobromae, a widespread, unspecialized rot pathogen with a wide host range, causes seed rot in slash pine seeds (Pinus elliottii var. elliottii) in the southeastern USA (e.g. Fraedrich 1996) and rotting of cones and seeds of this species in South Africa (Cilliers et al. 1995) and seed rot of P. caribaea and P. oocarpa seeds in Central America (Rees 1988;Rees and Webber 1988). Sphaeropsis sapinea, besides causing seed rot in slash pine seeds (Fraedrich 1996), is a foliage pathogen of numerous pine species in over 25 countries in both hemispheres (Swart and Wingfield 1991). Undoubtedly it attacks seeds of many of these pines. Cilliers et al. (1995)  Incubate the Petri plates at 25°C for 4 days under nearultraviolet (black) light to induce sporulation of L. theobromae. Swart et al. (1987) give a selective medium for isolating S. sapinea from Pinus radiata needle and stem tissue which is also effective for isolating the fungus from seeds. We suggest that seeds be surface-sterilized, e.g. as for isolating L. theobromae, before they are plated onto the following medium: Fungi in the genus Colletotrichum, such as C. gloeosporioides (conidial state of Glomerella cingulata, Phyllachorales, Melogrammataceae) often occur on seeds of trees (Fig. 18) and woody shrubs. For example, a Colletotrichum sp. was isolated from Eucalyptus citriodora seeds in India (Mohanan and Sharma 1991) and C. gloeosporioides from seeds of the woody shrub Lupinus arboreus in New Zealand (Dick 1994). C. dematium has been found on seeds of Dipterocarpus alatus; C. gloeosporioides on seeds of Dalbergia cochinchinensis, D. cultrata and Pterocarpus macrocarpus; and another Colletotrichium species on D. alatus and Shorea siamensis seeds in Thailand (Pongpanich 1990). Mittal et al. (1990) report these and other species of Colletotrichum on seeds of seven tropical tree species in Malaysia, the Philippines and India plus Acer palmatum in South Korea.Species of Colletotrichum are ordinarily isolated from surfacesterilized tissues plated onto media such as PDA. However, if seeds or fruits contain an inordinate amount of debris or soilinhabiting microbes, other techniques may prove useful. For example, Russo et al. (1983) isolated C. gloeosporioides from Indian coral tree (Erythrina variegata var. orientalis) leaf tissues washed in warm, soapy water, rinsed in deionized, distilled water, plated onto PDA (Difco) and incubated at 22-24°C in the dark. Eastburn and Gubler (1992), studying C. acutatum survival in soil, isolated the fungus from strawberry (Fragaria spp.) petiole pieces by washing them in running tap water for 10-15 min, followed by a 30 s soak in 0.5% NaOCl and then a rinse in sterile, distilled water. The pieces were then plated onto acidified PDA or PDA containing benomyl (5 mg a.i. l -1 ), streptomycin and tetracycline (each at 30 mg l -1 ) followed by incubation at 24°C for 3 -4 days. Sutton (1992) gives the cultural and spore characteristics and many hosts for 39 species of Colletotrichum, including C. gloeosporioides and C. acutatum and C. acutatum f. sp. pinea which are among the most common species found on tree seeds and fruits.Trichoderma species (Deuteromycotina, Hypocreaceae) are among the most common fungi occurring on seeds and fruits. It is rare to find seedlots in which some seeds do not harbour these fungi. They are so common that sometimes they may not be recorded, but disregarded as contaminants. Mittal et al. (1990) give 30 records of Trichoderma species on seeds of various hardwoods and conifers around the world. The role of Trichoderma spp. on seeds is not well understood, as these species may be beneficial antagonists to plant-pathogenic fungi, or they may indicate poor quality seeds. Conversely, some high-quality Douglas-fir seedlots may harbour large populations of Trichoderma spp. (Bloomberg 1996). Sometimes, as with Abies spp. seeds (Edwards and Sutherland 1979), removing Trichoderma with surface sterilants does not improve seed germination.The ingredients and procedures to make the Trichoderma selective medium of Papavizas and Lumsden (1982)  Thoroughly mix these ingredients into the medium, e.g. using a magnetic stirrer, then disperse the medium into Petri dishes. Plate seeds or fruits, or parts thereof, on to this medium and incubate at 20 -25°C, preferably using ambient lighting to stimulate Trichoderma sporulation. Check the plates 2-4 days later for Trichoderma growth which at least for the common T. viride is characteristically green-blue (Fig. 19). There are several taxonomic keys to certain species of Trichoderma, e.g. Domsch et al. (1980) give detailed descriptions and a key to six soil-borne species while Bissett (1984) and Rifai (1969) describe and give keys for six and nine species, respectively.The genus Botrytis (Deuteromycotina, Hyphomycetes), anamorph of the genus Botryotinia, contains some of the most ubiquitous fungi in the world. They are both pathogenic and saprophytic on a wide variety of plant material and tissues. Grey mould, caused by B. cinerea, is one of the most damaging forest nursery diseases. Mittal et al. (1990) recorded this fungus on the seeds of 15 tree species in at least a dozen countries, e.g. seeds of Acer spp. in South Korea, A. saccharum and Betula papyrifera in the USA, Eucalyptus spp. and Cassia fistula in India, Larix decidua in the former USSR, Pinus caribaea in Cuba and Quercus spp. in the former Czechoslovakia. Yuan et al. (1990) showed that B. cinerea, isolated from tree seeds, significantly reduces emergence of Acacia auriculiformis and Casuarina cunninghamiana, but not Eucalyptus camaldulensis seeds.Botrytis spp. are readily isolated from surface-sterilized tissue plated onto PDA and other culture media. Another diagnostic tool is to incubate non-sterilized seeds or tissues in a humidity chamber at room temperature where Botrytis quickly fruits on affected tissues. Botrytis spp. are easily detected during routine seed germination testing (e.g. Prochazkova and Jancarek 1990) and the blotter technique, both of which we describe earlier. Since all Botrytis species form sclerotia (Jarvis 1977) these could be detected by examining seed washings (described earlier). Botrytis spp. are readily isolated from seeds and other plant materials, and usually sporulate readily (Fig. 20), so there has not been much need for selective media for their isolation. As Jarvis (1977) points out those selective media which have been developed have been for distinguishing various species of Botrytis (e.g. Netzer and Dishon 1967), rather than for isolating Botrytis species. However, Kerssies (1990)  Adjust the pH of the medium to 4.5 with 5.0 N NaOH before dispensing it to Petri dishes. Plate either surface-sterilized or unsterilized seeds, or fruits or pieces of cones, onto the medium and incubate at room temperature. Most Botrytis species grow fast, thus regardless of the isolation technique used, observe the cultures daily for up to 7 days. To induce sporulation Jarvis (1977) recommends growing cultures of Botrytis spp. at 21°C in Pyrex glass containers and exposing them to near-ultraviolet light (wavelength 320 -380 nm). The characteristic conidiophores and spores are easily distinguishable, and often dark sclerotia form in culture. Hennebert (1973) gives a taxonomic key to species of Botrytis and Botrytis-like genera and Jarvis (1977) lists some 22 Botrytis species, plus another three possibly valid species.Fungi such as those in the genera Penicillium and Aspergillus are ubiquitous on tree seeds, fruits and cones. For example, Mittal et al. (1990) list almost 200 records of Aspergillus species on numerous species of tree seeds. While such fungi are sometimes weakly pathogenic (e.g. Mittal and Wang 1986;1987) their presence often indicates that the seeds have been previously weakened by factors such as harsh handling or improper extraction procedures, or that the seeds are immature (Bloomberg 1966). Furthermore, the presence of xerotolerant species of both Aspergillus and Penicillium can have devastating effects on the vigour and viability of seeds that are stored under RH conditions that permit their proliferation. Such conditions are common in the tropics and sub-tropics.Usually Penicillium and similar fungi are isolated without difficulty by surface-sterilizing and plating seeds onto PDA or malt extract agar media. These fungi may also be detected using either the routine seed germination assay or the blotter paper technique described earlier. Since they seldom grow well on media which are selective for other fungi they can sometimes be detected by plating seeds onto such media where their growth is confined to the seeds. Singh et al. (1991) give the recipe for a medium (DG-18) for isolating species of Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium plus recipes for purifying isolates of these fungi. The ingredients and procedures for making the DG-18 medium are:Glucose ingredients in the water, then add the glycerol just before autoclaving. Plate the surface-sterilized seeds onto the medium in Petri plates and incubate at 25°C for 7 days under 12-h, alternating cycles of near ultraviolet (NUV) light and darkness to induce fungus sporulation. For NUV use black light tubes, e.g. Philips TLD 36 W/08, suspended about 40 cm above the seeds (20 cm between the tubes). If these tubes are not available, use cool, white florescent light tubes, such as Philips TLD 36 W/84, which emit some NUV light. Examine the fungi using either a stereo-or compound microscope. Singh et al. (1991) give the cultural and spore characteristics for many species of Penicillium, Aspergillus and Fusarium. Domsch et al. (1980) give taxonomic keys for numerous species of Penicillium and Aspergillus.Molecular biological and biochemical approaches to the detection, identification and quantification of micro-organisms in situ carry certain advantages over, and are complementary to, traditional culture-based methods of analysis. In addition to helping avoid laborious and time-consuming aspects of laboratory culture, such methods circumvent the inherent bias in favour of organisms that are most amiable to culture on commonly used laboratory media. In fact, it has long been recognized that some important groups of micro-organisms may be completely resistant to laboratory culture (Skinner et al. 1952). The following is necessarily brief and is intended as a starting-point for the interested reader.Culture-independent methods target microbial nucleic acid (DNA or RNA), protein or lipid molecules that can be distinguished from that of the host (in this case, plant), and such informative molecules are collectively referred to as biomarkers (White et al. 1999). Methods for detection and quantification of these biomarkers generally arrive in fields such as plant pathology and microbial ecology as a function of 'trickle-down' from clinical biology. Therefore, despite their growing popularity throughout the biological sciences, it is the medical literature that must be surveyed in order to appreciate fully the potential impact that these approaches hold in monitoring microbial populations growing on non-orthodox seeds or embryonic axes during, and prior to, storage.The most recent non-clinical review addressing the molecular detection of fungi was provided by Kowalchuk (1999). Microbial DNA and RNA are usually detected by use methods based upon the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which is used to amplify nucleic acid fragments specific to the desired taxonomic level, which may range from microbial strain to one of the three domains of life, or target groups of viruses. In studies related to microbial infection of plant material, such methods must be able to discriminate between the target populations and the host genetic material. Furthermore, the genetic marker chosen must contain the necessary information to identify the microbial population(s) of interest. Amplification products may be subjected to a number of secondary analyses, designed to glean information on the presence and identity of target populations. Primary purposes are detection of a specific microbial species or strains (presence/absence and † Contributed by John R. Stephen and Bill Finch-Savage, Crop and Weed Science Dept, Horticultural Research International, UK and George A. Kowalchuk, Dept Plant-Micro-organism Interactions, Netherlands Institute for Ecology, Netherlands. quantification), taxonomic profiling of the target community to determine diversity and associations, and comparison of samples to detect effects of, and recovery from, perturbation. Often, a given approach provides information on more than one of the above.The simplest application of PCR-technology is in the detection of the presence of a particular pathogen or taxonomically related group of pathogenic species. For these purposes, all that is required is a method for extracting nucleic acids from seed tissue (numerous proprietary kits are marketed by Ambion, Biorad, Hybaid, Quaigen and others), suitable primers and reagents, and a thermocycling block. However, in this form the information recovered is not quantitative, the recovery of a PCR product warns of the presence of a pathogen, but does not indicate the severity of the infection (Henson and French 1993;Elliot et al. 1993;Schubert et al. 1999). Several methods exist to generate quantitative information from the PCR, which include spiking the reaction with a known amount of an internal standard (which may be a modified version of the target sequence; e.g. Nicholson et al. 1998), extinction-dilution of the template (Chandler 1998), and 'real-time' PCR, requiring expensive and specialized equipment (Loeffler et al. 2000).The above methods can provide results in less than a single working day, and have considerable application in determining seed quality prior to storage. Further information on the identity of contaminant species may be derived by hybridising the PCR amplification product to taxonomically informative probes (Posteraro et al. 2000), or by generating a profile of the target population by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE, Muyzer et al. 1993;Kowalchuk et al. 1997) or ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (RISA; García-Martínez et al. 1999). Both methods may be used to monitor microbial biocontrol agents (e.g. Stephen et al. 1999), and the former of these, DGGE (and its relatives, TTGE and TGGE) can be made to hold a quantitative aspect by use of real-time PCR or internal standards (Felske et al. 1998;Brüggemann et al. 2000). These methods target any user-definable taxonomic group, from kingdom to species, and are usually used to discover novel organisms that are resistant to laboratory cultivation: such organisms are often of more environmental relevance than their cultivated relatives (Watanabe and Baker 2000).For simplicity, the methods described above have assumed that the user is targeting microbial DNA: however, this may not always be useful. For example, if the investigator wished to use a molecular approach to test the efficacy of an antifungal treatment, PCR methods targeting DNA may be quite ineffectual, as DNA can be rather a stable molecule which may persist outside the cell or in dead cells for considerable lengths of time. RNA, and in particular mRNA, is a much more labile molecule, as is rapidly degraded by cellular ribonucleases following cell death. Intact RNA, free of DNA, can be readily purified from plant material (using proprietary kits, as above), and the target sequences converted to DNA prior to PCR amplification (termed reverse-transcription PCR, RT-PCR). Using such an approach, only viable, metabolically active fungi and bacteria are detected (e.g. Okeke et al. 2000).In addition to nucleic acid markers, biochemical markers such as phospholipid ester-linked fatty acids (PFLAs), neutral lipid fatty acid (NFLAs), and ergosterol (Ollson et al. 1998), may be useful for tracking some microbial groups. Such techniques avoid biases that may be introduced by the amplification of nucleic acid biomarkers, but they usually offer only a coarse level of resolution.Given the rapid advance in the variety and validity of molecular biological approaches for the detection and characterization of microbial populations, it is likely that these methods will help improve the selection of the highest quality non-orthodox seed material for cryopreservation and monitoring contamination of seed during prolonged storage.9 The nature of viruses on forest tree seeds § Viruses can be widely disseminated in tree seeds. Thus, they threaten not only those hosts on which they are seed-borne, but, via secondary spread, other hosts as well. Viruses can be carried either on the seedcoat (and mechanically infect germinants during seed germination) or within the seed embryo as the result of infection via the ovary or from pollen of infected mother plants. Transmission occurs either by way of the sperm cell nucleus or cytoplasm, or from virus particles on pollen. All pollen-transmitted viruses are also seed-borne. The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses recognizes 32 groups of well-characterized viruses, 12 of which commonly occur in trees and shrubs (Cooper et al. 1986). Nepoviruses, ilarviruses and cucumoviruses are transmitted via tree seeds or pollen. Holliday (1990) gives sizes, physical and chemical characteristics and related information on these groups of viruses Nepoviruses, common in trees and shrubs, are transmitted by seed and pollen, or by nematodes or other means. Cherry leaf roll virus (CLRV), for example, is prevalent in species of Betula and Cornus, and also in Fagus sylvatica, Fraxinus excelsior, Juglans regia, Rhamnus cathartica and Sambucus nigra, where symptoms include chlorotic ringspots on leaves, leaf dwarfing and eventually tree decline. Another nepovirus, Arabis mosaic virus, occurs in ash (Fraxinus spp.). Ilarviruses tend to be host specific; they are widespread and cause serious losses in fruit trees. Elm mottle virus affects Syringa vulgaris and Ulmus glabra, whereas Apple mosaic virus occurs in Rosa spp. and Corylus avellana, and Prunus necrotic ringspot virus is found in Aesculus hippocastanum. Cucumber mosaic virus, a cucumovirus, has been detected in Lonicera periclymenum and Ligastrum species. Tobamoviruses occur on seed coats and infect germinants, e.g. of Quercus robur and Acer spp. during seed germination. However, they are not internally seed-borne (Büttner and Führling 1996;1997).Three different techniques are presented here for detecting viruses in hardwood seeds or young plants, the seeds of which are suspected of harbouring viruses. Because of the irregular distribution and relatively low concentration of viruses in seed lots, these protocols are more reliable than techniques such as transmission electron microscopy to examine seed or plant extracts for viruses. However, serological techniques, such as ELISA, may § Prepared by Drs C. Büttner and M. Führling, Institute of Forest Botany and Tree Physiology, University of Freiburg, D-79085 Freiburg Br., Am Flughafen 17, Germany.suffer from problems, for instance the presence of phenolic compounds in seeds and other tissues. Our protocols can be used for either seeds or leaf tissue of germinants. In the case of seeds, the seed coat may be removed when preparing samples for assay.The first technique is the double antibody sandwich ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay), which is recommended for detecting ilarviruses and cucumoviruses. Cooper et al. (1986) used this extremely sensitive immunological technique to detect ilarviruses in cherry (Prunus avium) seed, and to survey poplar germplasm for Poplar mosaic virus. There are no reports on ELISA being used to detect cucumoviruses in forest tree seeds, but studies on herb and other seeds confirm its reliability.The second technique is the immunocapture-reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (IC-RT-PCR), which is used for detecting the CLRV nepovirus. Our experience suggests that CLRV is one of the most common seed-and pollen-transmitted viruses affecting hardwood trees and shrubs. Recently Büttner et al. (1996) used grafting to transmit the pathogen to host plants, and a modified polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, and the hybridization technique to detect CLRV. The PCR and hybridization techniques detect small amounts of viruses. Werner et al. (1997) evaluated a method for detecting CLRV in seeds of birch and concluded that PCR followed by immunocapture-reverse transcriptase is the most sensitive method for detecting viral RNAs. Cooper (1993) showed that the seed transmission rate of CLRV is very variable and depends on whether male or female gametophytes originated from a CLRV infected tree. The rate of vertical spread of viruses within the host depends on various factors such as virus strain and environmental conditions (Maule and Wang 1996).The third technique is the dot blot hybridization, which is used for detecting tobamoviruses in oaks and maples. It can be used to detect specific plant RNA viruses or viroids when a specific probe is available. This probe must be produced by molecular biological methods. In comparison to IC-RT-PCR, it is not absolutely necessary to have information concerning the genome sequence to construct a probe. The dot blot hybridization technique is particularly useful for routine testing of many samples. PCR, which is more specific than the hybridization technique, is useful for differentiating virus strains, but this as well as the equipment and chemicals are expensive and so this technique is not recommended for routine virus diagnosis.10 Protocols for detecting viruses 10.1 Double antibody sandwich, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA)As given by Clark and Adams (1977) and van Regenmortel (1982). Note: If bacterial contamination is prevalent, add 0.02% sodium azide to all buffers.Recommended for detecting ilarviruses and cucumoviruses.Prepare the globulins by precipitation from the antiserum with an equal volume of 4 M ammonium sulphate. Slowly stir the solution for an h at room temperature, then centrifuge it at 8000 rpm for 10 min. Re-dissolve the pellet in 1 ml of half concentration, phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), pH 7.4, then remove the ammonium sulphate by dialysis using half concentration PBS.Antibodies are diluted in coating buffer, usually 1:1000 (but the appropriate dilution should be determined when initiating the procedure, as the rate depends on the quality of the antibodies). Use 200 µl/well for coating by passive adsorption, incubate at 37°C for 4 h, wash three times with PBS-T, i.e. PBS containing 0.05% Tween 20, with 3 min intervals between washes.Extract the viral antigens in seeds or leaf material by using 1:10-1:30 in PBS-T. Then transfer 200 µl of the sample into the wells, incubate overnight at 4°C, then wash three times with PBS-T, using 3 min intervals between washes. To reduce non-specific reactions and increase the sensitivity of virus, add 1-2% polyvinylpyrrolidone, 1 M urea and reducing agents to the buffer (Guggerli,1979).Block with 200 µl 1% bovine serum albumin (BSA) per well and incubate for 2 h at room temperature. Then wash three times with PBS-T with 3 min between washes.Dilute (usually 1:500-1:1000, but determine dilution empirically) antivirus enzyme conjugate in PBS-T. Next transfer 200 µl/well and incubate at 37°C for 4 h, then wash three times with PBS-T, using 3 min intervals between washes. The most common enzyme conjugate is prepared with alkaline phosphatase (Boehringer, Mannheim or Sigma, St. Louis, Missouri, USA) by coupling the globulins with enzyme at 1 ml : 0.1 ml (v/v globulin : enzyme) using 0.06% glutaraldehyde. Store the conjugate at 4°C in the presence of 1% bovine serum albumin.Dilute, just before using, the substrate p-nitrophenyl phosphate (1 mg ml -1 ) in 0.1 M diethanolamine buffer, pH 9.8. Transfer 250 µl into each well. Score the results visually by intensity of the yellow colour, or by either reading the absorbance at 405 nm using a spectrophotometer, or an ELISA-reader. Add 50 µl of 3 M NaOH to each well to stop the reaction, when the background color of the blank/healthy controls begin to darken, or after the positive colorimetric reactions are recorded. The results are positive if the absorbance is twice that for healthy material (controls), or two standard deviations higher than the mean of a negative control curve.See Büttner et al. (1996) and Werner et al. (1997).Recommended for detecting the nepovirus CLRV.Grind the plant tissue under liquid nitrogen, then homogenize the powder in 1:10 (w/v) buffer (PBS -Tween, 2% (w/v) polyvinylpyrrolidone 40 (PVP 40). Centrifuge plant sap for 10 min at 3000g.Coat sterile, 0.5 ml, reaction tubes (Eppendorf Safelock) with 50 µl purified CLRV specific antibodies (40 µg/ml in 50 mM carbonate buffer, pH 9.6). Then incubate for 3 h at 37°C. Next wash the tubes three times for 3 min with 150 µl PBS -Tween (20 mM phosphate buffer, pH 7.4, 135 mM NaCl, 0.05% (v/v) Tween 20). Incubate the coated tubes with 50 µl of the plant extracts (see sample preparation) overnight at 4°C. Afterwards wash three times for 3 min each with 150 µl PBS-Tween, then centrifuge the tubes briefly and remove the remaining wash buffer.Then add buffer and the specified components to a total volume of 20 µl: 50 mM Tris -HCl, pH 8.3, containing 75 mM KCl, 3 mM MgCl 2 , 10 mM DTT, 1 mM dNTPs , 20 U ribonuclease inhibitor (Promega, Madison, Wisconsin, USA), 200 U M-MLV reverse transcriptase (GIBCO BRL, Inchinnan), 100 pmol CLRV specific first strand primer (5´-GTC GGA AAG ATT ACG TAA AAG G-3´). Incubate the captured virions for 1 h at 37°C, denature at 95°C for 3 min, then amplify aliquots of 2 µl of the reverse transcription reaction in a subsequent PCR.Mix 2 µl of the reverse transcription reaction, 20 pmol first strand primer, 20 pmol second strand primer and 2.5 U Taq-DNApolymerase. Then add 100 ml buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.3, containing 1.5 mM MgCl 2 and 50 mM KCl). Next, amplify the viral cDNA in a thermocycler at 35 cycles, anneal the primer at 51°C for 60 s, elongate the chain at 72°C for a 60 s, then denature at 95°C for 30 s.Melt 2 g agarose in 100 ml 1 × TBE-buffer (10 × TBE: 0.9 M Tris, 0.9 M boric acid, 50 mM EDTA), cool to it to about 60°C, then add 1 mg of ethidium bromide/ml of solution). Now transfer the agarose into a electrophoresis chamber (e.g. Biometra midi-gel), then prepare samples (aliquots of the PCR products) by adding 1:1 loading buffer (8 ml of 87% glycerol, 4 ml 10 (TBE, 28 ml distilled water, 0.01% bromephenol blue, 0.01% xylencyanol). Lastly, do the electrophoretic separation at 70 mA and observe the nucleic acid bands under UV-light. (Miltenburg et al. 1995). Use sterile Eppendorf tubes and DEPCtreated distilled water to make the buffers.Recommended for detecting tobamoviruses.Grind 200 mg plant tissue in a mortar with liquid nitrogen, to a fine homogenous powder, transfer it to a sterile Eppendorf tube, then add 800 µl denaturation buffer (4 M guanidinium isothiocyanate, 0.2 M mercaptoethanol) and vortex the mixture. Next, centrifuge it at 12000 rpm for 5 min, transfer 500 µl of supernatant to a fresh tube.For the chloroform-phenol extraction add 250 µl phenol and 250 µl chloroform/isoamylalcohol (24:1 v/v). Then vortex the mixture, centrifuge it at 12000 rpm for 3 min, repeat the chloroform/phenol extraction twice. Next transfer the combined supernatants to a fresh tube, add 500 µl chloroform, centrifuge at 12000 rpm for 3 min, vacuum off the aqueous phase and transfer to a fresh tube. Ethanol precipitation may be used for leaf or soft woody tissues by adding 50 µl 4 M LiCl and 1.3 ml 96% ethanol before vortexing.When assaying seeds, Rosaceae leaf tissue or hard woody tissues, add 60 µl 6 M NaCl and 1.3 ml 99.6% ethanol, vortex, then store for either 1 h at -80°C, or overnight at -20°C, or for 1 min on ice. Then centrifuge at 10000 rpm for 30 min, remove and discard the supernatant, add 1 ml 70% ethanol and continue sample preparation or store at -80°C until needed.Centrifuge the tubes at 15000 rpm for 20 min, remove and discard the ethanol, add 500 µl 70% ethanol and vortex centrifuge at 15000 rpm for 10 min, remove and discard the ethanol, add 500 µl of 70% ethanol and vortex, centrifuge at 15000 rpm for 10 min, remove and discard the ethanol, then air dry the pellet or dry it by speed vacuuming it twice for 2 min each time.Re-dissolve the pellet in 200 µl formaldehyde, 6 M in 10 × SSC (1.5 M NaCl, 0.15 M trisodiumcitrate), incubate 15 min at 65°C, chill on ice, wet a positively charged nylon membrane with sterile water and incubate for 15 min in 20 × SSC, incubate blotting paper (Whatman 3mm) for 15 min in 20 × SSC. Next wash the sample wells of the blotting apparatus with 400 µl 20 × SSC, load RNA samples into the sample wells (determine the concentration) and incubate for 30 min at room temperature. Finally, pass the RNA samples through the membrane by applying suction, wash with 500 µl 20 × SSC and incubate the membrane for 1 h at 80°C, or UV-crosslink the membrane (2000 µJ × 10 3 ).Transfer the membrane, print side up, into a hybridization flask, add 10 ml hybridization buffer (5 × SSC, 0.1% N-lauroylsarcosin, 0.02% SDS, 50% formamide, 2% blocking reagent (Boehringer, Mannheim) and 125 µg/ml herring sperm DNA) and incubate it for 1 h at 68°C with continuous agitation. Then add 50 µl of hybridization probe (Büttner and Führling 1997), incubate overnight at 68°C, remove the hybridization buffer (which can be reused several times), wash the membrane three times (15 min each) in 30 ml of wash solution I (2 × SSC, 0.1% SDS) at 65°C, then wash the membrane twice for 5 min each in wash solution II (0.1 × SSC, 0.1% SDS) at room temperature.Equilibrate the membrane in buffer I (0.1 M maleic acid, 0. 15 M NaCl with 0.3% Tween 20, pH 7.5) then block the membrane by gently agitating it in buffer II (1% blocking reagent dissolved in buffer I) for 60 min. Next dilute Anti-DIG-alkaline phosphatase 1:10000 (75 mU ml -1 ) in buffer II and mix gently by inversion (the solution is stable for several days at 4°C), incubate the membrane in the antibody solution for 30 min, shaking the tray gently to ensure the membrane is always covered. Afterward discard the antibody solution and wash the membrane twice for 15 min in buffer I, equilibrate the membrane in buffer III (0.1 M Tris-HCl, pH 9.5; add 0.1 M NaCl, 0.05 M MgCl 2 ) for 2 min, dilute CSPD (Cold Shock Protein D) in buffer III (1:100), place the wet membrane between two sheets of plastic page protectors. Then lift the top sheet and add diluted CSPD (0.5 ml/100 cm 2 ), distribute the drops over the surface by rocking the membrane; create a closed liquid seal by wiping the top sheet to remove bubbles, then incubate the membrane for 5 min at room temperature. Next seal the semidry membrane in a plastic bag, incubate it for 15 min at 37°C, expose the membrane to Hyperfilm-ECL (Amersham) for 15 min, then develop the film and expose the membrane again as long as needed.Recommended for detecting pathogens with a long latent period between infection and appearance of disease symptoms. Growing-on tests are especially useful for detecting seed-borne pathogens, such as viruses, which may have a long incubation period before symptom development. Consequently, growing on tests are often used by plant quarantine officials to detect pathogens which might otherwise go undetected by short-term tests or assays of seeds. The duration of such tests varies with the phenology of the host plants and the suspected pathogens. For example, seed-borne Sirococcus conigenus on spruce seedlings would be expected to appear when the plants are 6 weeks to 6 months old, while some virus pathogens may not appear for two years or longer in the growing plants. A representative sample of the seeds being assayed is planted in a sterile growing medium, such as a mixture of peat and sand, or sterilized soil, and the resulting seedlings are grown in a greenhouse free of the suspected pathogen. Ideally seedlings would be kept in insectproof greenhouse to prevent insects from vectoring viruses or other pathogens. Nevertheless, the young plants may have to be sprayed with insecticides to prevent insect feeding. Plants are examined periodically for symptom development and pathogen confirmation. Orchard (1984) used a growing on test to show the seed-borne nature of the butternut canker pathogen Sirococcus clavigignentijuglandacearum. Butternuts were collected from diseased trees in the autumn and following storage at 4°C in plastic bags for 3 -27 months they were sown in flats in the greenhouse. When the seedlings were 2 weeks old they were transplanted into a sterile sand-soil-peat mixture in 13 cm diameter clay pots. Three weeks after transplanting the seedlings, the pathogen was isolated from necrotic stem tissue near the point of seed attachment. Koch's Postulates were fulfilled to confirm pathogenicity of the seedborne inoculum.Agar An ingredient used to solidify culture media. Anamorph Asexual stage. Autoclave A device for sterilizing culture media, water and other materials. Most micro-organisms are killed by autoclaving (sterilising) for 15 min at 121°C, but sometimes longer times are used. Bacterium (bacteria) Usually one-celled (0.25 -2.0 µm) microorganisms, lacking a cellular membrane, usually without chlorophyll; parasitic or saprophytic. Basidium (basidia) Specialized cell or organ on which basidiospores of Basidiomycotina (basidium-producing) fungi are produced. Blight A disease which develops quickly, usually, affecting young tissues of foliage, fruits and the like. Canker A definite, dead, dry, sunken or raised area on a stem, bole of a tree and other tissues, surrounded by living tissue. Chlorotic Tissue with reduced chlorophyll content. Conidiophore A specialized fungus structure, arising from the vegetative growth, upon which conidiospores are borne. Conidiospore An asexual spore of a fungus. Culture medium (media) A substrate upon which fungi and other micro-organisms are grown. Damping-off A disease attacking germinants before emergence or rotting them off afterward near the ground line. Fruiting body A specialized fungus structure in which spores are produced. Fungus (fungi) A single to many-celled organism (often microscopic), lacking chlorophyll, commonly producing hyphae (thread-like vegetative growth) that together constitute a mycelium, and reproducing by spores. Most plant diseases are caused by fungi. Haemocytometer A slide-like device for counting microorganisms or small particles using a microscope. Hypha (hyphae) The thread-like, vegetative growth of a fungus. Inoculum spores Vegetative growth or other structures of a micro-organism, that come into contact with plants and other organisms, or are introduced on/in a culture medium. Koch's postulates A set of protocols for proving pathogenicity of a micro-organism. Malt agar A culture medium for micro-organisms, especially fungi, in which malt extract, agar and water are the main ingredients.Mycelium A mass of hyphae. Pathogen (pathogenic) An organism, often a micro-organism, capable of causing disease. Bacteria, fungi, viruses, nematodes are examples of plant pathogens. PDA (potato dextrose agar) A medium commonly used for laboratory culture of fungi, the major ingredients of which are potato, dextrose (sucrose), agar and water. Root rot Decay of roots. Saprophyte An organism such a fungus or bacterium which lives on dead, organic material. Sclerotium A hard mass of fungus vegetative growth (hyphae) serving as a survival mechanism during unfavourable conditions. Seed-borne Pathogen or pest disseminated as a contaminant of seed. Seed-transmitted Pathogen or pest biologically and physiologically attached to the seed. Spore A reproductive body, one to several cells, of fungi, bacteria and certain lower plants. Viroid An infectious pathogen consisting of ribonucleic acid, smaller than a virus. Virus A submicroscopic, infectious nucleoprotein, often pathogenic, multiplies only in living cells. Water agar A culture medium containing only water and agar, usually 1.5-2%."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4b115566cd17b583603d0dcc3b7358ea","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/ef907e25-b7d0-47ce-80c6-ff2cd156e5d4/content","id":"-475047806"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b7733dac-94e5-4f71-bc56-2f3a239cb426","content":"Why so important?• • Emerging Early Warning Systems• Spore dispersal / deposition models (close match to observed field data)• Quantified probability of spore migration pathways at regional scales "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a8a4d3a0284a0cdfd1194d7d44058265","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/caa47770-7663-4f9c-ac98-6b87d7c9e79b/retrieve","id":"549028263"},"keywords":["Agricultural development","Burkina Faso","Mixed-methods research","Poultry value chains","Women's empowerment"],"sieverID":"5212a4e0-6b25-4496-8346-a695b0c25368","content":"in 1975, provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition. IFPRI's strategic research aims to foster a climate-resilient and sustainable food supply; promote healthy diets and nutrition for all; build inclusive and efficient markets, trade systems, and food industries; transform agricultural and rural economies; and strengthen institutions and governance. Gender is integrated in all the Institute's work. Partnerships, communications, capacity strengthening, and data and knowledge management are essential components to translate IFPRI's research from action to impact. The Institute's regional and country programs play a critical role in responding to demand for food policy research and in delivering holistic support for country-led development. IFPRI collaborates with partners around the world.Women around the world are often heavily involved in the labor of agricultural production and homebased processing, but they are often less involved in agricultural markets due to a range of gender-based barriers (Malapit et al., 2020;Manzanera-Ruiz et al., 2016;Njuki et al., 2022). Gender-sensitive food systems interventions that focus on increasing women's participation in value chains and agricultural markets have the potential to empower women and improve gender equality. Under some conditions, increasing women's linkages with agricultural markets has the potential to increase their control over income and intrahousehold bargaining power (David, 2015;Rubin et al., 2009). However, such outcomes are not a given. Increased participation in food systems, through processing and marketing, may not necessarily lead to increased empowerment and may depend on the structure of the local economy, gender norms, or the type of commodity (A. Quisumbing, Heckert, et al., 2021). Poorer and more disempowered women, and those living in areas with especially restrictive gender norms, may experience more significant barriers entering markets, which raises the question of whether market-focused interventions can facilitate improved outcomes for these women and what types of programming are most conducive to women's empowerment in these circumstances.In this study, we draw on Kabeer's (1999) definition of empowerment as the process by which people expand their ability to make strategic life choices, particularly in contexts where this ability was previously denied to them. This definition encompasses three components: resources (access to and future claims on material human, and social resources), agency (decision-making and negotiation), and achievement (self-defined outcomes or goals). Increasingly, agricultural development interventions aim to increase women's involvement in agricultural markets and to increase their empowerment. There is a rapidly growing body of research that aims to identify the types of agricultural development interventionsand implementation strategies that successfully increase women's empowerment. Most of the evidence examining what works to empower women in agriculture focuses on interventions that target women's roles in production (A. Quisumbing et al., 2022). Meanwhile, there have been relatively few studies to date that look at the impacts of market-focused interventions on women's empowerment, and thus, no clear evidence on whether interventions that aim to increase women's roles in either processing or marketing can help foster women's empowerment; such evidence is important for strengthening gendersensitive food systems interventions (A. Quisumbing, Heckert, et al., 2021). It is important to understand the types of interventions that successfully foster women's empowerment, as well as which women are able to benefit from these interventions, so that the successes and failures of such programs can be used to improve such approaches.There is some evidence that women's increased engagement in food systems, and specifically the commercialization of food systems can lead to greater empowerment of women and increased control over incomes (Rubin et al., 2009). A synthesis of multiple studies focused on gender and market-oriented agriculture in Asia and Africa concluded that for well-designed interventions it was possible for such projects to increase women's incomes as well as their control over their assets and incomes (A. R. Quisumbing et al., 2015). However, many of these dynamics may differ by context and for populations within these contexts (David, 2015;Malapit et al., 2020;A. Quisumbing, Heckert, et al., 2021).Additionally, lessons learned across a wide range of studies demonstrate that there are significant barriers to women's integration into markets. In a study of milk traders in peri-urban Nairobi, Kenya, Galie and colleagues (2022) found that milk retail businesses were more profitable for men, compared to women, because of the difficulties that women experienced sourcing milk. Constraints on women's freedom of movement and their agency over how they spend their time leads them to purchase milk at higher prices and puts them at the risk of purchasing spoiled milk. Across multiple countries in sub-Saharan Africa, labor and resource (capital) constraints are the primary factors preventing women farmers from being able to produce a marketable surplus (Djurfeldt, 2018). Moreover, women often lose control over assets and the sale of marketable agricultural products as products increase in value and men gain control of these products (Forsythe et al., 2016;Manzanera-Ruiz et al., 2016) Soutenir l'Exploitation Familiale pour Lancer l'Elevage des Volailles et Valoriser l'Economie Rurale 1 (SELEVER) is a gender-sensitive food systems intervention that focuses on the poultry value chain and nutrition. It was designed to target both producers and consumers to increase both the supply of and demand for poultry. SELEVER was implemented by Tanager International in western Burkina Faso and evaluated by IFPRI using a cluster-randomized controlled trial (cRCT) study design (Gelli et al., 2017). The study was also accompanied by formative qualitative research, a process evaluation, and indepth qualitative research focused on gender at the midpoint of project implementation. Women's empowerment, which is the focus of this paper, is one of the pre-specified secondary trial outcomes.Previous papers have reported on the results of the other trial outcomes. SELEVER had only a minimal impact on diets and micronutrient intake (positive impacts on egg consumption in 2-to 4-year-olds at endline) (Becquey et al., 2022). SELEVER had a significant, although relatively small, impact on women's poultry outcomes (ownership, profits, and revenue); these impacts are primarily attributable to a shift in considering the poultry as an asset that is jointly owned with male household members to labeling it women-owned (Leight et al., 2022). Even this small shift, however, is meaningful considering that women have limited control over assets in this context (Njuki & Mburu, 2013). With regards to women's empowerment specifically, analysis of lean season impacts, which were assessed midway through program implementation, found that there were no impacts on either women's time use or their selfefficacy (only empowerment indicators collected in the lean season) (Leight et al., 2021). Our results, herein, find no significant impact on women's empowerment at endline, even after considering whether there were differential impacts among those who participated in program activities (treatment on the treated analysis) or among those with larger flocks.In the following sections we describe our study methods and results in detail. We then reflect on the null findings, including potential explanations for them, as well as what they mean for the design and implementation of future projects that aim to empower women through market-focused agriculture.Burkina Faso, located in the West African Sahel, is one of the least economically developed countries and consistently ranks in the bottom 10 in the Human Development Index Women in Burkina Faso are economically active and contribute significantly to agricultural labor.They play a key role in poultry production but have limited freedom of movement and access to poultry markets; husbands and sons typically take women's poultry to market and/or sell it to traders (Gelli et al., 2017). In the study area, there is also a sizeable gender gap in poultry ownership and access to poultry services; women own smaller flocks and have less access to veterinary and agricultural extension services (Gelli et al., 2017).The SELEVER intervention aimed to increase poultry production, improve the nutritional status of women and children, and empower women in the Centre Ouest, Hauts-Bassins, and Boucle de Mouhoun regions of Burkina Faso. The program addressed poultry production, nutrition, and gender through two complementary components: one on poultry production and marketing, the other on nutrition and gender. An intensive water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) component (SELEVER+WASH)focused on health and hygiene related to poultry management was delivered to a subset of the treatment group (Gelli et al., 2017). within households and the community on entrepreneurship, nutritious food production, marketing, consumption, and child health, feeding and care.SELEVER was evaluated using a cluster-randomized controlled trial in 120 rural and peri-urban clusters. Among the 120 study clusters, 60 were randomly assigned to the SELEVER treatment arm, the SELEVER+WASH treatment arm, and the control arm. Study households were identified based on having a woman aged 15-49 years who had at least one child aged 2-4 years living in the household at baseline. In the first stage of randomization for the main trial comparisons, 30 communes each were selected for the treatment and control arms and two villages were selected per commune using restricted randomization. In brief, the restricted randomization procedure modelled selection using commune-and village-level variables from the national census of 2006, including population size, existence of a government center, number of women's associations, main agricultural crop, main source of revenue, market access, health center presence, number of functional boreholes, and number of functional wells.An algorithm was developed using Stata to randomly allocate communes to two groups stratifying by region, and then select two villages in each commune from the list of available villages. In the second stage of randomization for comparison between SELEVER and SELEVER+WASH, 15 communes each were selected for the SELEVER, SELEVER+WASH, and control arms using a similar restricted randomization procedure. More complete details on the study protocol and randomization procedure have been published previously (Gelli et al., 2017). In this study, we focus the quantitative findings on results of the combined SELEVER and SELEVER+WASH treatment arms, as the gender strategy did not differ between the two arms, and the women's empowerment impact results for the two arms were similar.Additionally, qualitative work was integrated into the formative stage and at the study midpoint. Later in this paper, we summarize the methods and relevant findings from the midline qualitative study to triangulate findings and provide additional nuance to them.Baseline data were collected in March 2017 (post-harvest season) with a target sample of 1,800 households (15 households per village, 120 villages); 1,763 households were avaialable. Endline data collection began in March 2020, was postponed, due to the COVID19 pandemic, and resumed in August 2020. Additionally, lean season surveys were conducted in September 2017 and 2019 from a subsample of 1,080 households (90 villages). Each household was administered a household questionnaire focused on household characteristics and economic activities, an individual woman's survey to the woman primarily responsible for poultry activities, and an individual man's survey to the primary male decision maker. Anthropometry and other biomarker data were also collected. Attrition across the survey waves was minimal and has been described previously (Becquey et al., 2022;Leight et al., 2022) SELEVER's impact on women's empowerment was evaluated in collaboration with the Gender Assets and Agriculture Project, Phase 2 (GAAP2). GAAP2 aimed to develop the project-level Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI) to measure the empowerment of men and women using a portfolio of 13 agricultural development projects and to use the common metric to identify what works to empower women in these projects. Pro-WEAI is a survey-based index for measuring empowerment, agency, and inclusion of women and men in the agriculture sector (Malapit et al. 2019  Malapit et al. (2019) and Heckert et al. (n.d.) Seven indicators of women's empowerment in nutrition and health are calculated, including decisions about own health and diet, decisions about health and diet during pregnancy, decisions about child's diet, decisions about weaning and breastfeeding, deciding to seek healthcare, decisions about purchasing food and health products, and access to food and health products. Pro-WEAI nutrition and health indicators are based on Heckert et al. (Heckert et al., n.d.).Count versions of 10 of the empowerment indicators are also created to assess robustness of the findings using binary indicators. For example, the count version of the group membership indicator is the number of community groups in which a respondent is an active member. Count versions are not feasible for autonomy in income and respect among household members due to the structure of survey items used to calculate these indicators. In addition, poultry-specific empowerment indicators are constructed, including decisions on poultry production, ownership of poultry, decisions on poultry income, and hours spent on poultry-related work. Table 1 shows definitions of all empowerment indicators.All pro-WEAI survey modules were collected at baseline and endline from the woman and man adult decision-makers in each household. Data related to work balance, self-efficacy, empowerment in nutrition and health were also collected during the two lean season surveys.The indicators that comprise pro-WEAI were developed in collaboration with the GAAP2 portfolio which brought together project implementors and researchers focused on women's empowerment in multiple contexts. Indicator developed was also informed by complementary qualitative research (Meinzen-Dick et al., 2019). When women in SELEVER communities were asked to describe empowered women, they were often described in terms of economic empowerment, both in terms of their control over assets, their ability to make decisions about household resources, and their ability to earn money, especially in support of their families (Eissler et al., 2020a). They were also described in relation to their ability to encourage people to do things as a group and to be able to express themselves publicly.These themes map closely to many of the instrumental and collective agency indicators in pro-WEAI.Nearly all households in the sample were dual adult households, defined as having at least one male and one female adult. Households were large (average 8.7 household members) and on average had more children under 15 than adults, and about half of households were polygynous. The male respondent was about 10 years older than the female respondent on average. Most men and women respondents did not speak French and were not literate in the local language (Table 2). Empowerment of both women and men was low at baseline. Woman achieved adequacy in about half of the 12 indicators of empowerment, and about 10 percent of women were empowered; men achieved adequacy in about two thirds of the 12 indicators of empowerment, and just under half of men were empowered. Few households achieved gender parity, meaning that women were rarely empowered or as empowered as the man in their household. Across all 12 indicators of empowerment, a higher proportion of men than woman achieved adequacy. Most men and women had adequate input in productive decisions, ownership of land and other assets, respect among household members, and control over use of income. Most men and women did not have adequate access to and control over financial services, group membership, and membership in influential groups. The gap between men and women was largest for work balance, where about 30 percent of women had work balance (meaning that they were not overworked), while about 75 percent of men experienced work balance (Table 3). The pro-WEAI results were also used to assess how much each indicator of empowerment contributed to women's and men's disempowerment. For both women and men, the largest contributors to disempowerment in the study population were access to and decisions on financial services, work balance, and membership in influential groups (Figure 1). Descriptive analyses revealed few changes in women's and men's empowerment between baseline and endline. There were small increases in the percentage of women and men adequate in selfefficacy (1.09 and 0.95 percentage points (pp) increase, respectively), a small decrease in the percentage of men adequate in autonomy in income (-1.54 pp), and a small increase in the percentage of households that achieved gender parity (3.34 pp).In terms of treatment effects, ANCOVA models revealed that there was no significant impact of the SELEVER program at endline on women's or men's empowerment when looking at the aggregate empowerment score or the binary empowered variable (Table 4). Additionally, there were no significant impacts on gender parity or the empowerment gap between women and men in the same household. The aggregate pro-WEAI indicators provide an overall view on empowerment, but they may mask changes in different directions for the individual indicators. Thus, in the next part of the analysis, we look more carefully at the individual indicators (both binary and continuous), as well as the aspects of these indicators that specifically pertain to poultry rearing. After adjusting for multiple comparisons, there were no significant impacts on women's or men's empowerment when looking at the individual binary indicators that comprise pro-WEAI (Tables 5) or indicators of empowerment in nutrition and health (Table 6), count indicators of empowerment (Tables 7), or poultry-related indicators of empowerment (Tables 8). (Prior to applying Bonferroni corrections, the only significant impact was a decrease in women's perception of mutual respect among household members.) Of note, there is reason for the null finding related to women's work balance to be interpreted in a positive light. The SELEVER intervention included multiple activities that could have increased women's time burden, and the program also focused on raising awareness of women's time burden among men and community members. Thus, the lack on negative impact on work balance may be the result of programmatic efforts to mitigate the intervention's burden on women's time.We conducted supplementary analyses to examine the robustness of these findings. Using propensity score weighted regression analysis, we considered, separately, whether the program had an impact among those who participated in the nutrition and gender component and among those who participated in SELEVER as a whole. The only positive estimated average treatment effect, after accounting for multiple hypothesis testing, was an increase in membership in influential groups among women who participated in SELEVER as a whole (Appendix Table A1). This finding is logical given that the poultry portion of the intervention was delivered via poultry producer groups. After accounting for multiple hypothesis testing, there were no additional impacts on other indicators or by participation in the nutrition and gender component.Additionally, we looked at the heterogeneity of impact by examining whether there were differential impacts between those who owned large (>20) compared to small flocks. After accounting for multiple hypothesis testing, we did not find significant impacts on any of the empowerment outcomes (Appendix Table A2).    2020a, 2020b). Given the lack of impact on the frequency of women visiting important places, it seems that these changes in men's perceptions and the behaviors of some women in the community did not trickle down to actual changes in household gender relationships during the period covered by the study.Overall, evidence from the qualitative study concludes that although SELEVER has led to some genderrelated changes, they may be relatively small-scale changes in terms of moving the needle on women's empowerment.Our results provide rigorous evidence that SELEVER, a multisectoral gender-and nutrition-sensitive intervention that focused on the poultry value chain in western Burkina Faso, did not lead to measurable increases in women's empowerment across program beneficiaries. The one exception to this is that the null finding on women's work balance suggests that the intervention may have been able to mitigate women's increased labor burden due to the intervention. The lack of impact on women's empowerment occurs even though the program implemented a range of gender-sensitive strategies (Johnson et al., 2018) and despite measuring women's empowerment using the pro-WEAI, which is sensitive enough to detect impact in similar types of projects with comparable or smaller sample sizes(A. Quisumbing et al., 2022;Seymour et al., 2022). Additionally, we conducted supplementary analyses in which we analyzed the effects of treatment on the treated (i.e., only examined effects among those who participated in the program, as opposed to those who were targeted for the program) and examined heterogeneous impacts by flock size; similarly, we found no impact on women's empowerment. These results leave unanswered questions as to why there were no detectable impacts on women's empowerment. In this discussion we consider potential explanations for the null findings. We elaborate these explanations with supporting qualitative evidence from SELEVER, recent findings from other gender-sensitive agricultural development projects, and the results of the primary trial outcomes published elsewhere (Becquey et al., 2022;Leight et al., 2022).We consider three potential explanations for SELEVER's lack of impact on women's empowerment.First, SELEVER may have used too light of a touch in its intervention, a hypothesis that has also been considered as an explanation for the limited impact on poultry production (Leight et al., 2022). Second, there are high levels of disempowerment in the study population, and SELEVER may not have targeted the domains of empowerment where women are most disempowered. Finally, the study population may have been too poor to fully invest in the demands of the market-oriented intervention. Yet, despite the high levels of poverty in the study area, SELEVER did not transfer assets, further limiting the potential for impact. We explore each of these explanations in greater depth.The first explanation for the lack of program impact is that SELEVER may have been too light in terms of the depth of activities delivered, as well as participation by intended beneficiaries. SELEVER primarily delivered information to producers and consumers to strengthen market linkages and chose to focus on providing a lighter intervention with small amounts of exposure to these services to a larger number of beneficiaries, instead of targeting fewer beneficiaries more intensely. The results of SELEVER's impact on poultry production outcomes demonstrate that participation in many of the program components was low and that there were only small impacts on poultry production outcomes (Leight et al., 2022). The gender trainings and women's empowerment component of the intervention was most closely integrated into the delivery of the nutrition component, but also aimed to cut across other aspects of the design, especially in terms of the gender-sensitive nature of the project's approach to increasing women's involvement in and empowerment from poultry production. However, the lack of integrated coverage of program components may have limited the potential for program impacts on women's empowerment.Another explanation is that, although SELEVER used a carefully considered multipronged approach for increasing women's empowerment, it may not have targeted the areas of empowerment where women were most disempowered and that could have had the biggest influence on women's lives.In decomposing the contributors to disempowerment using the pro-WEAI, we found that the three largest areas of disempowerment for women in the study area at baseline were \"access to and decisions on credit and financial services,\" \"work balance,\" and \"membership in influential groups.\" Although SELEVER aimed to link women with existing credit sources, this aspect of the program was not particularly successful, as no impact was found on women taking loans (Leight et al., 2022). Qualitative data suggested that the size and terms of the loans available via SELEVER partners were often not agreeable to women who sought these loans, often because payments were due at times that did not coincide with when women made profits from poultry rearing (Eissler et al., 2020a). Additionally, women must often seek their husband's permission to participate in savings and loans groups, and men often request that their wives take loans for men's own use (Eissler et al., 2020a).Additionally, the potential of a market-focused intervention like SELEVER to empower women relies a great deal on women's ability to maintain control over the income they are generating. The qualitative study results found that it may have been difficult for women to maintain strong control over poultry-related income. Women in SELEVER communities indicated that the most common source of disagreement with their spouses was how to manage and invest income, especially poultry income (Eissler et al., 2020b). Regardless of who is involved in poultry rearing activities, it is considered the male household head's decision whether to slaughter or kill a chicken, and a woman would not be able to do so without her husband's permission, even if she owned the chicken (Eissler et al., 2020a). It is commonly expected in the study area that women would receive the income from any of her poultry sold by her husband and that she can allocate it to specific needs in the household. In practice, however, she may have limited overt control over this income, especially when her husband knows the amount and when she received it.A final explanation for the lack of impact on women's empowerment may be that the depth of both disempowerment and poverty in Burkina Faso are too much to overcome in the scope of a community-level development project that functions over a relatively short period and at relatively low intensity, especially when that intervention does not provide asset transfers. As described earlier in this paper, Burkina Faso consistently ranks in the bottom 10 countries according to the Human Development Index and that women's educational attainment and literacy are low, while the acceptability of wife beating is high. However, projects that take place in countries with similarly low levels of human development and poor conditions for women have demonstrated impacts on women's empowerment (Benali et al., 2020;Hillesland et al., 2022;Janzen et al., 2018;A. Quisumbing, Ahmed, et al., 2021).Additionally, other projects implemented in Burkina Faso have led to measurable impacts on women's empowerment (Heckert et al., 2019;Olney et al., 2015). Thus, although Burkina Faso is an exceptionally challenging environment, it is unlikely that these characteristics alone can explain the lack of impact of SELEVER on women's empowerment.Additionally, SELEVER did not address financial barriers, as it did not directly transfer assets to beneficiaries. In low-income settings, targeted asset transfers have previously been shown to be an essential, but not sufficient, approach for ensuring that agricultural development programs empower women and that gender-sensitive approaches can help women maintain control over these assets (A. R. Quisumbing et al., 2015;Roy et al., 2015;van den Bold et al., 2015). In fact, most small-holder agricultural interventions in Burkina Faso include some sort of asset transfer. Helen Keller International's Enhanced Homestead Food Production program is one such model, which provided women beneficiaries with two chickens and basic agricultural implements for cultivation. Evaluations of this program found that women in study arms that received assets were able to maintain control over these assets and attained higher levels of empowerment; moreover, attitudes in the wider community become more favorable towards women's asset ownership (Olney et al., 2015;van den Bold et al., 2015) The asset transfer debate is important, as funders and implementers are often concerned about avoiding \"give-away\" programs.Such programs may be costly to implement, and there are often concerns that beneficiaries will become dependent on program handouts (Gautam, 2019;Handa et al., 2018;Lentz et al., 2005). SELEVER was a market-based intervention that targeted relatively poor households in an exceptionally resource poor context. The program wagered much of its success on whether small-scale producers were willing to invest their own funds in infrastructure (e.g., henhouses) and veterinary care. Most households in SELEVER communities had very little to invest, especially for a risky investment (poultry mortality is high) (Leight et al., 2022). While concerns about asset transfers being too generous may be appropriate in some contexts, in the case of SELEVER women may have been more willing to invest in poultry if they had the resources to support doing so. Labeling these assets as \"women's\" may have helped women maintain active control over the assets as has been demonstrated in the design of some financial tools (Buvinic & o'Donnell, 2016;O'Sullivan, 2017). Overall, it may be important to reframe concerns about interventions that include asset-transfer in terms of the types of contexts or programs where asset transfers can make an important and meaningful difference in program outcomes.We can reflect on outcomes from across the SELEVER trial using the Reach-Benefit-EmpowerFramework. The framework classifies gender-sensitive strategies in terms of whether they reach (e.g., include them in program activities), benefit (e.g., increase income or improve nutritional status), or empower women (increase their ability to make strategic life choices) (Johnson et al., 2018). In terms of reaching women, approximately half of households reported attending a SELEVER training in the 2019 survey (while implementation was in progress) and approximately 30% reported having attended a SELEVER training in the 2020 endline survey (Leight et al., 2022). Evidence from the analysis of the poultry-related primary outcomes of the trial highlighted substantial positive effects of SELEVER on production of poultry owned by women (Leight et al., 2022). However, these positive effects were counterbalanced by negative effects for poultry that was jointly owned by women and men (and weakly positive effects for poultry owned by men). This suggests some \"relabeling\" with households, in which exposure to the SELEVER intervention resulted in women identifying previously jointly owned poultry as their own. This finding is suggestive of small, measurable benefits to women. On the other hand, there was no impact on women's diets (Becquey et al., 2022). In terms of empowerment, however, in this work, we determine that there were no measurable shifts in women's empowerment. Overall, SELEVER did an adequate job reaching women; was able to provide some benefits in the area of poultry production, but not for women's diets; but there is no evidence that the program empowered women.Considering SELEVER's lack of impact on women's empowerment and potential reasons for these outcomes, it is worth focusing on the overarching question of whether a food systems intervention can empower women. As highlighted in the emerging literature on this topic, there is evidence that gender-sensitive food systems interventions that focus on marketing have the potential to benefit women in terms of their livelihoods and potentially empower women (Johnson et al., 2018; A. Quisumbing, Access to food and health products (women) -0.072 0.060 3248 -0.115 0.060 *p<0.05, **p<0.0014 (threshold adjusted using Bonferroni correction for 37 tests) Notes: Estimates shown are estimated treatment impact on the treated using difference-in-difference estimation with treated individual identified using propensity scores. The left columns show results using propensity scores based on engagement in the nutrition and gender components of SELEVER; the right columns show results using propensity scores based on engagement in the full SELEVER intervention. Standard errors are clustered at the commune level. N indicates total number of observations in the difference-in-differences estimation. Notes: Estimates shown are treatment effect estimates using analysis of covariance models, controlling for whether the household was a large poultry producer (20 birds or more) and the interaction between treatment and large producer. Models also control for household size and age of respondent. Standard errors are clustered at the commune level."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f473db28fc08ba00ac4d61d9482ac15c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2c29b177-8b78-41a9-8d58-6298a51aa73b/retrieve","id":"956576249"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d2ba76e9-4786-4808-a1fe-ae17c5d76af1","content":"En 1980 se dio énfasis al estudio de las enfermedades presentes, a los cambios en severidad de las mismas y al comportamiento de los clones de yuca en cada uno de cinco ecosistemas diferentes. Se está investigando para identificar resistencia de tipo amplio a los problemas bióticos existentes y determinar su estabilidad en estos ecosistemas.En este año se investigó la relación entre la reacción de la planta al añublo bacteria! de la yuca (CBB) en el i.nvemadero y en el campo, así como su estabilidad a través de varios ciclos continuos. Se iniciaron estudios en el campo para examinar las diferencias en la severidad de CBB, superalargamiento y antracnosis en parcelas monoclonales y multiclonales a -niveles altos y bajos de inóculo.Se encontró la fase sexual del agente causal del superalargamiento y se está investigando su implicación en las interacciones hospedero-patógeno. En CIAT-Palmira se identificó la pudrición de la raiz y del tallo causada por Diplodia, enfermedad que con CBB, cuero de sapo y otras de tipo viral constituyen el grupo de enfermedades de la yuca más severas para la producción y distribución de material vegetativo de siembra.Se realizaron estudios etiológicos sobre la caracterización del agente causal de la enfermedad cuero de sapo.Selección por resistencia. Las reacciones de la planta a la infección del añublo bacterial de la yuca (CBB) fueron muy similares bajo condiciones controladas (a través de la técnica de inoculación por corte de hoja, CIAT, Informe Anual 1 975) y durante el primer ciclo de evaluación bajo condiciones de campo.El patógeno se encontró invadiendo los tallos a Jos 5 cm del suelo, tanto en genotipos susceptibles como en aquellos con resistencia intermedia y en genotipos resistentes; sin embargo, el grado de recuperación del patógeno en los genotipos susceptibles fue mayor que en Jos otros dos. Aunque la invasión bacteria! a través del sistema vascular correlacionó positivamente entre los tipos susceptibles evaluados según los síntomas externos (r-0.914 para la reacción en el invernadero y 0.927 para la reacción en el campo, ambas significativas al nivel de 0.1 %), se observaron varias excepciones.Puesto que el patógeno tiene baja actividad pectinásica, los tejidos maduros de tallos infectados pueden aparecer libres de síntomas; las células bacteriales que sobreviven en los vasos del xilema de estos tallos maduros utilizados como material de siembra, se mueven sistémicamente a través de los tejidos de plantas jóvenes, las cuales a su vez sirven como fuente de inóculo en el próximo ciclo.En consecuencia, cuando Jos grados de resistencia de un material se asignan después de sólo un ciclo de evaluación en el invernadero o en el campo, la proporción de estacas infectadas de genotipos aparentemente resistentes o de resistencia intermedia aumenta después de varios ciclos de siembra continua. El uso continuo de dicho material \"resistente .. podría implicar un descenso progresivo en la densidad de la población de plantas debido a la falta de germinación, a una reducción en el vigor de las plantas a causa de la pudrición bacterial de la raíz y a una aparición temprana de epidemias severas.Lo anterior se corroboró con los resultados obtenidos después de sembrar varios genotipos en Carimagua durante cuatro ciclos, usando material de siembra de dicha localidad (Figura 1 ). Debido a la baja fertilidad del suelo en esta región, la producción de material de siembra disminuyó hasta cerca del 60% de la obtenida con el material de ClAT-Palmira. Aunque los genotipos resistentes (grupo 1, Figura 1 ), en los que la infección bacterial en el tallo fue muy baja o nula, produjeron una cantidad constante de estacas durante un período de cuatro ciclos, Jos otros genotipos resistentes o intermedios sólo sobrevivieron durante dos o tres ciclos (grupos JI y 111 , Figura 1 ). Los genotipos susceptibles se eliminaron durante el primero o el segundo ciclos... La intormación indica la gran importancia que tiene la condición sanitaria del material de siembra sobre la estabilidad del genotipo, la existencia de genotipos con resistencia durable a CBB en Manihot esculenta y la necesidad de evaluar el material ensayándolo en el campo por varios ciclos continuos en áreas en donde CBB sea endémica, para identificar exactamente los genotipos con resistencia durable a CBB. La evaluacion final de resistencia sería el resultado de datos sobre la reacción de la planta, la producción de estacas y la calidad del material de propagación.Epidemiología. En Media Luna y Carimagua se han encontrado considerables fluctuaciones anuales en el 20 ataque de CBB. Esto sugiere la necesidad de evaluaciones continuas durante años para identificar niveles suficientemente buenos de resistencia durable.Agente causal. Se ha encontrado la fase sexual del agente causal del superalargamiento (Sphaceloina manihotico/a), la cual se ha observado en abundancia en varias localidades.Tomando como base los estudios morfológicos de muestras colectadas c:n Carimagua, CIAT-Quilichao, Media Luna y México, esta fase se ha identificado tentativamente como un loculoascomyceto, una de las especies de Elsinoe; la revisión de literatura preliminar indica que ésta puede ser una especie no descrita; las fases de crecimiento del hongo se muestran en la Figura 2. Con una excepción, todas las fases sexuales conocidas de las especies de Sphace/oma son Elsinoe.Los aislamientos de ascosporas individuales produjeron colonias de S. manihotico/a, ti picas y similares a las descritas para otros miembros del género. Los cultivares susceptibles inoculados con estas colonias mostraron síntomas caracteri sticos de superalargamiento y el aislamiento repetido produjo S. manihotico/a. Esta fase sexual, que es bastante común, sugiere que el patógeno puede ser patogénicamente varia ble. Las observaciones preliminares de campo y experimentos previos en el laboratorio sostienen la existencia de razas• fisiológicas (ver abajo y ClAT Informe Anual, 1977); se ha iniciado una minuciosa investigación al respecto.Epidemiología. En Carimagua se inició un experimento multiclonal para probar la influencia de variedades con resistencia variable sobre el desarrollo de epidemias y sobre el rendimiento (producción de raíces y estacas).Se sembraron ocho variedades de tal manera que dos plantas de la misma variedad no quedaran adyacentes; se sembraron parcelas puras para comparación, tanto cerca de las parcelas multiclonales como a 2 km de distancia de cada variedad. Debido a que la información es preliminar e incompleta sólo se presentan algunos de los resultados más interesantes.La Figura 3 muestra que en las parcelas multiclonales las variedades presentaban un poco más severidad de superalargamiento que las mismas variedades en las parcelas puras. De acuerdo con evaluaciones de campo durante el período favorable a la enfermedad, las plantas de CMC 40 actuaron como foco para subepidemias en las parcelas multiclonales; así al intercalar una variedad susceptible con variedades más resistentes parece que se aumentó el nivel total de severidad en todas las variedades en vez de inducir protección en la variedad susceptible.Esto es contrario a lo que se esperaba de acuerdo con las investigaciones epidemiológicas llevadas a cabo con cereales; para el próximo año se están planeando investigaciones con el fin de clarificar estos resultados.Es interesante comparar la severidad de la enfermedad en CMC 40 y en otras variedades dentro del sitio multiclonal y entre este sitio y el localizado a 2 km de distancia, en donde la severidad del superalargamiento era muy superior.En el sitio multiclonal, todas las variedades que se consideraban resistentes o de resistencia intermedia según evaluaciones de años recientes, fueron más afectadas que esas mismas variedades en el sitio distante; este hecho fue muy notorio en CMC 40 (Figura 3).Considerando el nivel de la enfermedad en las variedades susceptibles sembradas aliado de CMC 40 y el de las otras variedades resistentes, los bajos niveles de la enfermedad en éstas, no se podrl~n deber a escapes. La diferencia en susceptibilidad dentro de un clon bajo condiciones ambientales más o menos uniformes es consistente con la existencia de razas fisiológicas del patógeno. A&ente causal. En el Valle del Cauca en Colombia se observaron severos brotes de pudrición radical y del tallo, causados por Diplodia. Esta enfermedad se ha registrado como una de las más serias en las plantaciones brasileñas de yuca, así como en Africa, India y Cuba.El agente causal se aisló e identificó como Diplódia manihotis Sacc., que puede ser sinónimo con Botryod_iplodia manihoticola Petr.; la confirmación de esta sinonimia aguarda estudios taxonómicos adicionales.El hongo produce grupos de picnidios sobre las estructuras del estroma situadas debajo de los tejidos epidermales, que son necrosados. Los picniósporos inmaduros son transparentes y los maduros están formados por dos células oscu,ras de paredes gruesas; estas células son liberadas cuando se abre el picnidum, lo que ocurre en su mayor parte durante periodos de lluvia.Se está investigando la penetración, el establecimiento y la invasión del hongo.EpidemiolO&'-• Existen dos fases en la enfermedad. La primera fase es una pudrición radical cuya infección se inicia a partir de suelos infestados, o por el uso de estacas enfermas tomadas de plantas enfermas. En este caso, el hongo que es un parásito facultativo, puede infestar el suelo y permanecer indefinidamente como saprófito; cuando las plantas se infectan muestran deterioro en la rai z, marchitez repentina y muerte, con sin tomas similares a los inducidos por otros patógenos que causan pudriciones radicale.s.La segunda fase es la pudrición en el tallo, generalmente inducida por la invasión sistémica a partir de las raíces o por una infecciól) de pjcniósporos sobre el tallo. El hongo invade la mayor parte de los tejidos del tallo produciendo gomosis, marchitez. repentina parcial o total, muerte descendente y necrosis del floema y del xilema. Los picnidios se producen fácilmente sobre la epidermis de los tallos infectados. Durante esta segunda fase, las raíces y los tallos maduros pueden permanecer sin síntomas; los tallos infectados sistémicamente pueden no exhibir síntomas externos y ser erróneamente seleccionados para material de siembra.Los sin tomas de esta enfermedad se pueden confundir con los causados por antracnosis, muerte descendente por Phoma y superalargamiento, CBB, estrés por sequia, salinidad, insectos y arañita roja; sin embargo, el agente causal se puede identificar fácilmente por las características de los picnidios y picniósporos producidos. El hongo se disemina a través de largas distancias por medio de las estacas infectadas que se transportan como material de siembra; dentro de una plantación, probablemente el viento y la salpicadura del agua de lluvia sean más importantes para la diseminación de picniósporos, aunque algunas veces también pueden serlo la maquinaria para preparación de la tierra y el agua de riego.La viruela se ha encontrado en Colombia asociada con un insecto chupador subterráneo (Cydnidae) que causa el daño inicial, aunque también otros agentes como los nemátodos pueden causar daños similares y podrían iniciar el desarrollo de sí o tomas similares.El insecto, que se describe en el capitulo sobre entomología del presente informe, introduce su estilete a través de la epidermis y de la corteza de la raíz dañando los tejidos de la misma e inoculándolos con microorganismos del suelo, ho-ngos en su mayora. A partir de estas lesiones se han aislado varias especies de hongos que, por inoculaciones artificiales hechas simulando el daño del insecto, han inducido síntomas similares (Figura 4). Viruela de la yuca inducida 24 horas después de inocular la raíz con una aguja itifestada con suspensiones de esporas, aJi: 1 = tesligo; 2 = Genlcularla; 3 = Asperglllus; 4= Fusarium; 5=Pytbium.Los microorganismos causantes de la viruela degradan los tejidos de la raíz causando pudriciones que inicialmente son localizadas pero que luego pueden invadir la raíz entera a través del sistema vascular; las lesiones jóvenes son manchas de color café claro a oscuro.Los síntomas son más notorios y las lesiones más frecuentes en las raíces gruesas y durante los periodos de cosecha. Una zona contigua a las lesiones que presenta una fluorescencia azul clara aJ iluminarla con luz UV, sugiere que el mecanismo de deterioro podría estar relacionéJdo con el que ocurre en el deterioro fisiológico posterior a la cosecha.En 1980 se continuaron los estudios sobre caracterización del agente causal de la enfermedad conocida como cuero de sapo, con énfasis en aspectos de detección, transmisión y aislamiento.Un estudio cito lógico reveló considerable degeneración del floema de las raíces jóvenes que muestran síntomas del cuero de sapo, así como la presencia de inclusiones masivas que bloquean el parénquima del floema en estos tejidos. Ocasionalmente se detectaron inclusiones similares en el floema de los peciolos y en la nervadura central de las hojas de plantas enfermas, pero dichas i oclusiones no se detectaron en los tejidos del floema de plantas sanas. Sobre la base de estas observaciones se han sugerido como probables agentes causales organismos tales como micoplasma o virus limitados al floema.La posibilidad de que se trate de virus limitados al floema, tales como los del grupo closterovirus se está investigando actualmente; los resultados preliminares han demostrado la presencia de partículas de filamentos estacas se siembren a distancias menores de un metro. El daño natural de las raíces o la existencia de vectores en el suelo, sin embargo, no se han descartado como posibles mecanismos de transmisión. La transmisión a través de la semilla sexual no se ha observado en plantas de nueve meses cultivadas a partir de semillas de 46 clones diferentes de yuca afectados con la enfermedad cuero de sapo.Hast~ ahora no se han encontrado hospederos alternantes entre 50 especies de plantas que se han inoculado siguiendo los mecanismos convencionales.La fertilización con 200-200-100 kgf ha de N-P-K aumentó la expresión de síntomas especialmente en el cultivar M Col 22.Selecdón por resistencia durable a problemas bióticos. La evaluación del germoplasma en el pasado ha mostrado que existe la resistencia durable a problemas bióticos de cada ecosistema, aunque la frecuencia es relativamente baja.Las evaluaciones de las secciones de Patologla y ~ Entomología consisten en sembrar consecutivamente los genotipos en cada ecosistema; se utiliza material de siembra producido en el mismo ecosistema y al año siguiente se siembran los genotipos que sobreviven y producen material de siembra adecuado de buena calidad.El Cuadro 1 reúne los resultados obtenidos hasta ahora en este trabajo; se observa que en Popayán las variedades estables se podrlan identificar después del cuarto ciclo y en Carimagua después del tercero; en Media Luna, la estabilidad de las variedades seleccionadas no ha sido confirmada, hasta el tercer ciclo.Es importante insistir en que la resistencia identificada en estas evaluaciones no sólo parece incluir resistencia durable a todos los problemas bióticos que existen en el sitio de la evaluación sino también a los problemas abióticos del ecosistema.Relaciones yuca-ecosistema. Los estudios sobre ecosistemas se iniciaron en 1978 (CIAT, Programa de Yuca, Informe Anual 1979) y se continuaron durante elperíodo de 1979-1980, cuando se hizo la cosecha correspondiente al primer ciclo; los cultivares que produjeron material de siembra prosiguieron a un segundo ciclo.Todas las enfermedades y plagas identificadas durante 1979 en cada uno de los cinco ecosistemas del área de acción del Programa de Yuca se presentaron en 1980, con excepción de la enfermedad \"ceniza\" que se detectó por primera vezesteañoen Caribia y Media Luna(Cuadro 2). Sin embargo, en este año la antracnosis (causada por Colletotrichum spp. , diferentes especies para cada ecosistema) fue más severa en Caribia y Carimagua, que en los otros ecosistemas; la mancha parda también fue muy severa en Caribia y Media Luna, y la mancha blanca lo fue en Caribia.El chinche de encaje ( Vatiga spp.) que no tuvo importancia durante la época de lluvias de 1979, causó severos daños durante el mismo período de este año en Carimagua. Los trips fueron importantes en CIAT-Palmira, las moscas de las agallas en Carimagua y las cochinillas en Popayán. Las poblaciones y el daño de las arañitas rojas (especies Mononyche/lus y 0/igonychus) han aumentado considerablemente en el ecosistema de CIAT-Palmira. En ge neral. entre 1979 y 1980 se observaron t1uctuacwncs en la dinámica de las po blaciones. en la se'veridad de las enfermedades y en el daño de los insectos para cada ecosistema.Cuadro 1 R c~ultado' de l¡¡ 'dcccaon por n:~a~tencia durable a problemas biótaco~ de la yuca en tres cco>a>tcma'No. de genotipos por caclo contmuo de evaluación  Las diferencias dentro y entre los cinco ecosistemas fueron considerables para las características que resume el Cuadro 3. La fluctuación del rendimiento en CIA T-Palmira fue similar a la de Caribia, pero los promedios en estos ecosistemas fueron notablemente mayores que en los otros tres; el número de estacas y la producción de almidón también tuvieron un comportamiento semejante al del rendimiento. Las diferencias en las fluctuaciones y en los promedios para el índice de cosecha y para el contenido de HCN fueron similares en todos los ecosistemas. Sólo en CIA T -Palmira y Popayán se encontró una amplia fluctuación en la susceptibilidad al deterioro; en los otros ecosistemas la mayoria de los cultivares fueron notablemente resistentes.En general, los rendimientos y en especial el indice de cosecha correlacionaron bien entre todos los ecosistemas excluyendo Popayán; no obstante CIAT-Palmira correlacionó con Carimagua solamente en índice de cosecha.Las correlaciones que se hicieron respecto al contenido de HCN fueron generalmente bajas, y tanto la suscep-tibi1idad al deterioro fiSiológico como el número de estacas no presentaron ninguna relación entre los ecosistemas, excepto para Carima~ua y Media Luna.Popayán fue obviamente diferente de los otros ecosistemas. Los cultivares mejores allí, conocidos como las variedades regionales, produjeron bajos rendimientos en los demás ecosistemas y especialmente en la costa norte colombiana (Caribia); igualmente, los cultivares locales de la costa norte no tuvieron buen comportamiento en Popayán.Tomando como base estas relaciones, C lA T-Palmira y Caribia tienen algunas semejanzas, así como Media Luna las tiene con Caribia y Carimagua, pero las diferencias entre los ecosistemas son aún considerables; así por ejemplo, el rendimiento, el contenido de almidón, el número de estacas, la evaluación general y la susceptibilidad al deterioro de la raíz en CIA T-Palmira no mostraron correlación significativa con Carimagua.Esto demuestra la importancia de llevar a cabo la selección varietal a nivel de ecosistema en la fase más temprana de cualquier programa de mejoramiento, lo que es particularmente verdadero para Popayán y Carimagua. La selección se debe continuar hasta que se logre la estabilidad en el rendimiento y en las características de selección, utilizando material de siembra producido en el sitio ; sin embargo, la alta correlación entre muchas caracteristicas en Media Luna y Carimagua sugiere que el material similar puede ser útil en ambos ecosistemas.Durante este año las dos áreas principales de investigación han sido el estudio de la variación encontrada en el campo dentro y entre cultivares con respecto a su susceptibilidad al deterioro, y el análisis de los procesos bioquímicos que llevan al deterioro fisfológico. En ambas áreas se ha logrado considerable progreso.Repetidas evaluaciones sobre la susceptabilidad al deterioro fisiológico mostraron que dentro de un cultivar se puede encontrar una amplia gama de valores (CIAT, Programa de Yuca, lnf orme Anual 1979). Para el cultivar más estudiado, M Col22, los valores máximo y mínimo de deterioro en CIAT-Palmira fueron de 98% y 18% respectivamente, en tanto que en otros sitios se encontraron valores aún más bajos (0% en Popayán y en Carimagua). Los valores obtenidos a partir de algunos otros cultivares mostraron patrones similares.La amplia fluctuación de la susceptibilidad dentro de un cultivar en un sitio dado, hace difícil o de dudosa validez la descripción de cultivares como \"resistentes\" o \"susceptibles\" al deterioro fisiológico. Estudios de poda. Se ha demostrado repetidamente que la poda de plantas antes de la cosecha reduce la susceptibilidad al deterioro fisiológico (CIAT, Programa de Yuca, Informe Anual 1979).Experimentos con plantas de M Col 22 han demostrado que el efecto• de la poda sobre la reducción del deterioro fisiológico ocurre aun sin eliminar los retoños del trozo podado, aunque inicialmente la pérdida de susceptibilidad es mayor en tratamientos con menos retoños. Se encontró además que el efecto de la poda, independientemente de la remoción de rebrotes dura mucho más que el informado previamente; a las nueve semanas o más después de la poda, las plantas aún no mostraban signos de pérdida de resistencia al deterioro fisiológico. No obstante, asociada con la poda hay una pérdida en la calidad de las raíces (reducido contenido de almidón) que se debe considerar. Estudios de la influencia del ecosistema sobre el deterioro f'tsiológico. En este año se realizaron evaluaciones sobre el deterioro de las raíces de 25 cultivares en cinco sitios de ecosistemas diferentes. Las diferencias de los cultivares entre los ecosistemas fueron grandes, sin mostrar correlaciones significativas; en Carimagua, Media Luna y Caribi:-\\, la mayoría de los cultivares mostró una marcada resistencia, no obstante su susceptibilidad en ClAT-Palmira y Popayán; en estos dos sitios se produjo la variación esperada en los porcentajes de deterioro.La correlación entre el porcentaje de deterioro y el contenido de almidón de las raíces (CIA T, Programa de Yuca, Informe Anual 1979) fue significativa sólo en ClAT-Palmira (r = 0.680, P = 0.001) y Popayán (r = 0.558, P = 0.01). En los gtros ecosistemas hubo una amplia variación en los contenidos de almidón, aunque todos los valores del porcentaje de deterioro fueron bajos.La defoliación causada por insectos, enfermedades o sequía en los meses anteriores a la cosecha han podido tener el mismo efecto que la poda, y en consecuencia inducir resistencia al deterioro fisiológico. En los tres ecosistemas donde se encontraron valores bajos en el porcentaje de deterioro había ocurrido una defoliación sustancial antes de la cosecha, causada tanto por factores bióticos como abióticos. Actualmente se realizan experimentos controlados para ver si la resistencia en el campo está relacionada con la severidad de la sequía y otros factores.El examen de las raíces bajo luz UV, entre 24 y 48 horas después• de la cosecha, reveló la presencia en el tejido del parénquima de una fluorescencia azul brillante que no se observó en las raíces recién cosechadas. Las áreas. fluorescentes fueron las primeras en desarrollar en los tejidos la pigmentación característica del deterioro fisiológico. En el CIAT y en TPI (J.E. Rickard), se han realizado observaciones durante el estudio microscópico del deterioro primario en raíces de yuca.Los estudios cromatográficos de J.l. Rickard en TPI han mostrado que el compuesto de la fluorescencia azul tiene períodos• de retención idénticos a los del escopoledn, un derivado de la cumarina. Estudios independientes en el Cl A T están de acuerdo con esta identificación. Las aplicaciones exogéneas de altas concentraciones (500 ugml-1 ) de escopoletín al tejido de raíces recientemente cosechadas induce una rápida e in tensa decoloración de los tejidos vasculares y del parénquima, idéntica a la que se encuentra en las raíces deterioradas naturalmente; la aplicación de una amplia gama de compuestos fenólicos relacionados no tuvo efectos sobre raíces sanas. El escopoletín aplicado a los tejidos de raíces podadas produjo una reacción idéntica a la del tejido de la raíz sin podar, lo cual sugiere que la resistencia en las rafees podadas no se debe a incapacidad para responder al escopoletín.Las raíces atacadas por varios hongos ( Aspergil/us sp., Fusarium spp. , etc.) también tuvieron áreas con fluorescencia azul y decoloración en los vasos alrededor de las áreas infectadas, lo que sugiere que la acumulación de escopoletín es una respuesta general al estrés en el tejido de la raíz."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"92e2f0987d3ae7e18784e4b67a788cb6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5f251ac9-d7f3-4f39-ad24-ea4a1a853bca/retrieve","id":"1210662287"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1af140ab-de09-43a4-8681-1476fcc429f6","content":"Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) causes high losses to rice production in Africa. Several sources of varietal high resistance are available but the emergence of virulent pathotypes that are able to overcome one or two resistance alleles can sometimes occur. Both resistance spectra and viral adaptability have to be taken into account to develop sustainable rice breeding strategies against RYMV. In this study, we extended previous resistance spectrum analyses by testing the rymv1-4 and rymv1-5 alleles that are carried by the rice accessions Tog5438 and Tog5674, respectively, against isolates that are representative of RYMV genetic and pathogenic diversity. Our study revealed a hypervirulent pathotype, named thereafter pathotype T9, that is able to overcome all known sources of high resistance. This pathotype, which is spatially localized in West-Central Africa, appears to be more abundant than previously suspected. To better understand the adaptive processes of pathotype T9, molecular determinants of resistance breakdown were identified via Sanger sequencing and validated through directed mutagenesis of an infectious clone. These analyses confirmed the key role of convergent nonsynonymous substitutions in the central part of the viral genome-linked protein to overcome RYMV1-mediated resistance. In addition, deep-sequencing analyses revealed that resistance breakdown does not always coincide with fixed mutations. Actually, virulence mutations that are present in a small proportion of the virus population can be sufficient for resistance breakdown. Considering the spatial distribution of RYMV strains in Africa and their ability to overcome the RYMV resistance genes and alleles, we established a resistance-breaking risk map to optimize strategies for the deployment of sustainable and resistant rice lines in Africa.First reported 50 years ago, Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) is a major biotic constraint to rice cultivation in Africa (Séré et al. 2013). RYMV is a viral species of genus Sobemovirus that is responsible for high rice production losses in agroecosystems in most rice-growing countries of Africa (Kouassi et al. 2005;Traoré et al. 2015). Highly adapted to the two cultivated rice species, Asian rice Oryza sativa and African rice O. glaberrima, RYMV has a narrow host range that also includes other wild Poaceae species (Bakker 1974). RYMV possesses a single-stranded RNA genome that is organized into five open reading frames (ORF) (Fig. 1A). Highly diverse, RYMV is classified into six major strains with a strong geographical distribution. Strains S1 and S2/S3 are found in West and West-Central Africa whereas strains S4, S5, and S6 are present exclusively in East Africa (Pinel-Galzi et al. 2015). This spatial pattern of RYMV diversity is explained by the absence of seedborne transmission and of long-distance movement (Allarangaye et al. 2006;Fargette et al. 2006;Konaté et al. 2001). In addition to short-distance propagation that is mainly mediated by beetles, RYMV is transmitted by contact during agricultural practices such as transplantation from rice nurseries to fields (Bakker 1974;Traoré et al. 2006b).In combination with the surveillance of seedbed contamination (Traoré et al. 2006b), varietal selection is the most efficient and sustainable way to manage RYMV. Several sources of resistance have been identified in the two cultivated rice species. Only two among the thousands of O. sativa tested accessions are highly resistant, whereas approximately 8% of the O. glaberrima accessions have the same phenotype of high resistance (Thiémélé et al. 2010). Several major resistance genes such as RYMV1, RYMV2, and RYMV3 have been reported (Albar et al. 2003;Pidon et al. 2017;Thiémélé et al. 2010). RYMV1 is the most studied and encodes the translation initiation factor eIF(iso)4G1 (Albar et al. 2006). Four RYMV1 resistance alleles have been identified, named rymv1-2 through rymv1-5, and characterized by single nonsynonymous mutations or short deletions in the central domain of the protein.Currently, only the rymv1-2 allele has been introduced in rice varieties (Bouet et al. 2013;Ndjiondjop et al. 2013). Because the deployment of resistance plants has not yet been performed at large scales and over long periods of time, their ability to sustain resistance under field conditions is still unknown. However, under controlled conditions, the resistance-breaking (RB) ability of isolates has been tested after inoculation of 114 and 84 isolates that are representative of the RYMV genetic diversity to Gigante and Tog5681 accessions, respectively (Pinel-Galzi et al. 2007;Traoré et al. 2010). A proportion of the tested isolates was able to overcome the resistance of the rymv1-2 and rymv1-3 alleles (9 and 25%, respectively). The molecular mechanism involved in this phenomenon has been described. A direct interaction between the wildtype viral genome-linked protein (VPg) and the eIF(iso)4G1 of susceptible rice species is required for viral infection to occur (Hébrard et al. 2010). Mutations of the rymv1-2 and rymv1-3 alleles disrupt this interaction, resulting in the resistance phenotype (Hébrard et al. 2010). However, a residual multiplication of RYMV in resistant plants, as revealed by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis, allows the emergence of mutations in the central domain of the VPg (Poulicard et al. 2010;Traoré et al. 2010). Several convergent nonsynonymous substitutions were found in different strains. The role of the most frequent mutations at positions 41, 48, and 52 was experimentally validated: they restore the protein interaction with resistance alleles (Hébrard et al. 2008(Hébrard et al. , 2010)). Stepwise evolutionary processes were observed with the accumulation of RB mutations at positions 41 and 52 against the rymv1-3 allele or at codon 48 against the rymv1-2 allele (Pinel-Galzi et al. 2007;Traoré et al. 2010).In most cases, the adaptability of RYMV isolates is restricted to only one of these two alleles. A glutamic acid/threonine (E/T) polymorphism located at position 49 of the VPg is associated with this contrasted RB ability. Isolates with genotype E49 only break the rymv1-2-mediated resistance of Gigante and are referred to as isolates of pathotype E. By contrast, those with the genotype T49 preferentially overcome rymv1-3-mediated resistance of Tog5681 and are referred to as isolates of pathotype T (Traoré et al. 2010). A viral fitness assessment showed that T49 is not only a molecular signature of rymv1-3 RB ability but also a genetic determinant of a past adaptation to O. glaberrima in the evolutionary history of RYMV (Poulicard et al. 2012). The East-African strains S4 and S5-S6, located in the center of origin of RYMV, harbor the ancestral trait E49. By contrast, strain S2-S3, which is distributed in West-Africa, harbors the derived trait T49. This region is the geographical distribution area of O. glaberrima (Traoré et al. 2005;Trova ˜o et al. 2015). Additionally, the S1 strain is divided into two main lineages, S1wa and S1ca, which correlate to their spatial distribution in West and West-Central Africa, respectively. Several independent T49 fixation events in these two lineages have been inferred phylogenetically, resulting in E/T polymorphism of this strain (Pinel-Galzi et al. 2007). Finally, T49 confers a selective advantage in the susceptible African rice species compared with E49, regardless of the strain (Poulicard et al. 2012). Importantly, four isolates with T49 were efficiently able to overcome both rymv1-2and rymv1-3mediated resistances, suggesting the existence of a new pathotype (Traoré et al. 2006a(Traoré et al. , 2010)). Three of these four isolates belonged to the S1ca lineage. This lineage also revealed a high capacity to overcome RYMV2and RYMV3-mediated resistance from Tog7291 and Tog5307 accessions, respectively (Pidon et al. 2017;Pinel-Galzi et al. 2016).In this study, we assessed the resistance spectrum of the rymv1-4 through rymv1-5 alleles against a selection of isolates that are representative of the RYMV genetic and pathogenic diversity, including isolates with T/E49 from the S1ca lineage. This was done to obtain a complete overview of the RB abilities of RYMV toward all of the identified sources of resistance in rice. We identified and characterized a hypervirulent pathotype, named pathotype T9, that is able to overcome all known sources of high resistance. To better understand the adaptive processes of pathotype T9, molecular determinants of resistance breakdown were identified and their functional role was validated. Deep sequencing of the hypervirulent pathotype T9 was performed to investigate the resistance breakdown cases without fixed mutations. The consequences of these findings on the assessment and prediction of the emergence risks of RYMV virulent lineages are discussed in the context of resistance sustainability.Plant accessions and viral isolates. Two rice accessions were used as susceptible controls: O. sativa indica IR64 and O. glaberrima Tog5673 (International Rice Germplasm Collection number 96789). Four RYMV1-resistant accessions were assessed: O. sativa indica Gigante (rymv1-2 resistant allele) and O. glaberrima Tog5681 (rymv1-3), Tog5438 (rymv1-4), and Tog5674 (rymv1-5) (IRGC 96793,96751,and 96790,respectively)  (Thiémélé et al. 2010). The plants were kept in a growth chamber under 12 h of illumination at 120 µE/m 2 /s, 28°C, and 60% humidity.Twenty RYMV isolates were used in this study (Supplementary Table S1). They are representative of the RYMV genetic and pathogenic diversity, and most of these isolates (16 of 20) have previously been inoculated to the rymv1-2and rymv1-3-resistant Gigante and Tog5681 accessions (Traoré et al. 2010). In addition to these well-characterized isolates, four new isolates from the S1ca lineage were included in this study as candidates for the new pathotype. They belong to the collection from Niger that was described previously (Traoré et al. 2010) or were recently collected in Togo (Oludare et al. 2016) and have previously been inoculated to the RYMV2and RYMV3-resistant Tog7291 and Tog5307 accessions (Pidon et al. 2017;Pinel-Galzi et al. 2016).Resistance spectrum assessment. The RYMV isolates were inoculated under controlled conditions. Each inoculum was prepared by grinding infected leaves (0.1 g/ml) in a 0.1 M phosphate buffer at pH 7.2. Extracts were mixed with a 600-mesh carborundum and then rubbed on the leaves of 14-day-old rice seedlings. Each RYMV isolate had previously been multiplied in the susceptible rice variety IR64 for further experiments. For the resistance assessment, each isolate was inoculated onto 18 to 24 plantlets of each resistant accession (5 plants by 4 pots) and onto 8 to 10 susceptible control plantlets. Leaves were collected 2 months after inoculation. Symptomatic plants with typical yellow mottling were analyzed individually via double-antibody sandwich enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA) with a polyclonal antiserum raised against an RYMV isolate from Madagascar (Fargette et al. 2002). Asymptomatic plants of the same pot were pooled together and then analyzed individually in the case of a positive pool.Sanger sequencing and validation of RB mutations. For each viral isolate-plant accession modality, two infected plants were randomly selected. For the new pathotype T9 candidate isolates, five samples per modality were selected. Total RNA was extracted using the RNeasy Plant Mini kit (Qiagen). The VPg and its 59 and 39 neighboring regions were specifically amplified via RT-PCR, as previously described (Hébrard et al. 2006), and sequenced using the Sanger technique. To identify RB mutations, the VPg sequences of the RB genotypes obtained via the Sanger technique were aligned using CLUSTALW with default parameters and compared with those of the corresponding wild-type genotype. To validate the functional role in resistance breakdown of the new convergent mutations R38Q and T43A in the VPg, as well as the influence of the T/E49 polymorphism, the mutants Cia38, Cia38/49, Cia43, and CIa43/49 were constructed via directed mutagenesis of the infectious clone CIa (T49) with a QuickChange Site-Directed Mutagenesis Kit (Agilent) (Pinel-Galzi et al. 2007;Traoré et al. 2010). The new clones were fully sequenced by the Sanger technique, as described previously (Fargette et al. 2004), to validate their conformity. Transcription of mutated clones and inoculation of viral RNA in the susceptible rice variety IR64 were performed as previously described (Poulicard et al. 2010). To assess the RB ability, each isolate was inoculated onto 15 to 20 plantlets of each resistant accession and onto 10 susceptible control plantlets. RB analysis was conducted as described above using DAS-ELISA for RYMV detection on symptomatic leaves 2 months after inoculation. The VPg of two samples randomly selected from each mutant was sequenced via the Sanger technique as described above to confirm the presence of the inserted mutations.Deep sequencing. For each of the isolates Ni1, Ng106, Ng119, and Tg274, two plants named A and B (from the Tog5674 accession, rymv1-5 allele and the corresponding inoculum from the susceptible control variety IR64) were randomly selected. The RYMV genome was amplified using a two-step process. First, specific fulllength reverse transcription was performed using the primer D AS (Fargette et al. 2004) and PrimeScript reverse transcription (Takara Bio Inc.). Second, the RYMV genome was amplified in two overlapping fragments using the primers A S /B AS and C S /D AS (Fargette et al. 2004) and ExTaq polymerase (Takara Bio Inc.). Libraries were constructed using 6-bp barcodes to allow for multiplexing, as previously described (Mariac et al. 2014). Briefly, PCR fragments of the same sample were bulked in equal equimolar conditions and sheared to a mean target size of 400 bp. Fragments were then repaired, ligated, nick filled in, and amplified via real-time PCR to complete the adapters and generate libraries that were ready for cluster generation and sequencing. Pair-end sequencing (2 × 150 bp) was performed on an Illumina MiSeq v3 platform at the CIRAD facilities (Montpellier, France), with approximately 12 pmol of the DNA libraries deposited on the flow cell.Demultiplexing was undertaken using a script that sorts reads as a function of a given list of barcodes (script available at DEMULADAPT; https://github.com/Maillol/demultadapt). The fastq files are available on the National Center for Biotechnology Information Sequence Read Archives (number SRP116739). Reads were analyzed using Galaxy workflows (Afgan et al. 2016;Giardine et al. 2005) implemented on the South Green bioinformatic platform. Briefly, reads were filtered based on their length and mean quality values (Q > 35), and adapters were removed using Cutadapt (Martin 2011) with the following parameters: minimum overlap length = 7 and minimum length after trimming = 35. Reads of each sample from susceptible plants (inoculum) were first mapped to the closest available full-length virus sequence to obtain a consensus sequence. In a second step, reads of each RB sample were mapped against this consensus sequence. Mapping was performed using BWA-MEM (Li and Durbin 2010) with the following parameters: maximum edit sequence = 0.06 and maximum difference in the seed = 5. After a sorting step with SortSam, the optical duplicates were removed with MarkDuplicates from Picard tools (http://picard.sourceforge.net), and reads were then realigned using Realigner Target Creator and Indel Realigner from the GATK package (McKenna et al. 2010). Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were called using Samtools (Generate pileup) (Li et al. 2009) and Varscan Pileup2snp (Koboldt et al. 2009) with the following parameters: minimum base quality = 30, minimum read depth = 100, minimum supporting reads to call a variant = 10, and minimum variant allele frequency = 0.03. For the RB samples, only the SNP that were not detected in the inoculum (from susceptible plants) or SNP for which there was a frequency increase compared with the inoculum were considered. The ORF and the SNP positions were numbered after a realignment step with the reference sequence of the infectious clone CIa. Site conservation was determined according to the 33 published full-length sequences (Rakotomalala et al. 2013). SNP were considered to be rare or fixed when their frequency was < 10% or > 80%, respectively. VPg haplotypes were analyzed using a three-step Galaxy process (Bedtools, Samtools BAM-to-SAM, and SAM-to-Fasta). Then, the alignment was manually curated to remove incomplete reads, and the haplotype frequencies were calculated with DNAsp (Rozas et al. 2003).RYMV RB ability against highly resistant accessions. Twenty RYMV isolates were inoculated under controlled conditions onto four resistant plant accessions of the RYMV1 allelic series (Fig. 2). The viral isolates were selected to be representative of the RYMV genetic and pathogenic diversity based on the previous results of their phylogeny and their RB ability in the Gigante and Tog5681 accessions (Pinel-Galzi et al. 2007;Traoré et al. 2010). Isolate candidates for the new pathotype able to overcome both rymv1-2 and rymv1-3 alleles were included in this study in order to provide a deeper assessment of their virulence spectrum. Viral adaptability was evaluated as a qualitative parameter defined by the ability of a given isolate to overcome the resistance of a given accession. By contrast, the resistance spectrum conferred by a given resistance allele was evaluated as a quantitative parameter that was estimated from the 20 RYMV isolates representative of the viral diversity in Africa.As expected, susceptible controls (8 to 10 inoculated plants/ isolate) were all infected (data not shown). Most of the resistant plants (18 to 24 inoculated plants/accession/isolate) did not develop any symptoms and viral multiplication was not detected by DAS-ELISA (Fig. 2; Supplementary Table S2). However, typical RYMV symptoms were observed for 520 of the 1,605 inoculated plants (i.e., 32% of the total number of resistant plants) 1 to 2 months after inoculation. Resistance breakdown was confirmed by DAS-ELISA, and RYMV was detected in each symptomatic plant. The resistant rice accessions and the RYMV isolates showed variable resistance spectra and different RB abilities (Fig. 2). Of the 80 viral isolate-plant accession modalities, 35 led to symptoms within 70% of the inoculated plants. As previously described (Pinel-Galzi et al. 2007;Traoré et al. 2010), the resistance of the Gigante accession (rymv1-2 allele) was overcome by several isolates of pathotype E and the resistance of the Tog5681 accession (rymv1-3 allele) by isolates of pathotype T (Table 1). Additionally, and as expected, the five isolates with T49 originating from West-Central Africa were able to overcome the resistance provided by both the rymv1-2 and rymv1-3 alleles. Consistently, the adaptability of the Ng106 and Ng119 isolates to the Tog5681 accession was previously reported (Traoré et al. 2010).For the first time, the resistance spectra of the O. glaberrima accessions Tog5438 and Tog5674, which harbor the rymv1-4 and rymv1-5 alleles, respectively, were assessed with the same isolates. Similarly to the Tog5681 accession, the two tested accessions showed an efficient resistance to isolates from East Africa (Fig. 2). A different trend was observed with West and West-Central African isolates. On the one hand, rymv1-4-mediated resistance from the Tog5438 accession was overcome by most isolates from the S1 and S2-S3 strains, regardless of the pathotype. On the other hand, rymv1-5-mediated resistance showed a spectrum similar to that mediated by the rymv1-3 allele. Interestingly, the isolates from West-Central Africa (S1ca lineage) with a threonine at position 49 of the VPg and that were able to overcome the resistance of the Tog5681 accession also broke the resistance of the Tog5674 accession. Hence, these results confirmed that the isolates with T49 from the S1ca lineage defined a new pathotype, referred to hereafter as pathotype T9. Pathotype T9 is characterized by hypervirulence (i.e., the ability to overcome resistance mediated by all of the RYMV resistance genes and alleles).RB mutations detected via VPg sequencing and validated by directed mutagenesis. To better understand the adaptive processes of pathotype T9, 80 infected samples were randomly selected, and their VPg gene was amplified and sequenced via the Sanger technique. Only nucleotide transitions (purine to purine or pyrimidine to pyrimidine) were detected. They all resulted in nonsynonymous substitutions of amino acids with biochemical properties that were different from those of the wild-type isolates. The substitutions were located at positions 41, 43, and 52 of the VPg gene (Table 2). Consistent with previous findings (Pinel-Galzi et al. 2007;Traoré et al. 2010), we found a histidine-to-tyrosine substitution at position 52 (H52Y) in the rymv1-2 and rymv1-3 RB genotypes and a serine-to-proline substitution at position 41 (S41P) in the rymv1-3 RB genotypes. For the first time, the VPg sequences of the rymv1-4 and rymv1-5 RB genotypes were sequenced. In the rymv1-4 RB genotypes, substitutions of threonine to alanine at position 43 (T43A) and S41P were observed. The substitution T43A was described previously in the rymv1-2 RB genotypes (Pinel-Galzi et al. 2007). In the rymv1-5 RB genotypes, the substitutions were restricted to S41P and H52Y. Importantly, a mix between the wild-type nucleotide and its mutated alternative was found in 15 samples (Table 2; Supplementary Table S3), which indicates intrahost diversity and evolution of the viral population during the RB processes. Additionally, in three RB samples, two emerging mutations, S41P and either T43A or H52Y, were detected in the same sample; however, this sequencing technique cannot determine whether the samples contained a double-mutated genotype or two single mutants (Table 2). Two synonymous substitutions at positions 48 and 62 were detected in two rymv1-4 RB genotypes; they were isolate specific and belong to the Ng119 isolate. Thirty samples from the other strains and lineages were sequenced. The same major substitutions, S41P and H52Y, were identified. In addition to the T43A substitution, an asparagine-to-tyrosine substitution at position 42 (N42Y) was detected in the rymv1-2 RB genotypes from East Africa. An arginine-to-glutamine substitution at position 38 (R38Q) was identified in the rymv1-4 RB genotype from West Africa. A new specific substitution of the Ng109 isolate (i.e., a glutamic acid-to-lysine substitution at position 29 [E29K]) was detected in three rymv1-4 RB genotypes. Altogether, the most frequent mutations in the current study, as well as in previous studies (Pinel-Galzi et al. 2007;Traoré et al. 2010), revealed convergence in the RB molecular determinants in the RYMV1 allelic series.Contrary to the role of the mutations at positions 41, 48, and 52, the role of the VPg convergent mutations R38Q and T43A in resistance breakdown have not been previously validated. We performed directed mutagenesis to introduce these mutations in the infectious RYMV clone and inoculated the mutants into plants from the RYMV1 allelic series (except rymv1-4, because of its low range and efficiency for resistance against isolates from West and West-Central Africa). The RB ability of each mutated clone was tested in combination with the E/T residue at position 49. The infectious clone CIa was used as a negative control in our study. Notably, this genotype has been previously reported to often overcome the resistance of rymv1-3 (and rarely rymv1-2) via the emergence of de novo RB mutations. The CIa52 genotype was used as a positive control. As expected, this genotype was efficient against rymv1-5 resistance, as well as against rymv1-2 and rymv1-3 resistance (Table 3). However, the RB efficiency of the CIa52/49 genotype was restricted to rymv1-2-mediated resistance. Replacing T49 with E49 prevented the efficiency of the H52Y mutation to overcome rymv1-3and rymv1-5-mediated resistances.The mutation T43A has already been reported in rymv1-2 and rymv1-3 RB mutants. In this study, it was detected to be associated with resistance breakdown in the three accessions tested (Gigante, Tog5681, and Tog5674) (>80% infected plants). The CIa43 genotype showed the same RB ability and efficiency as the CIa52 genotype. The combination of the T43A and T49E mutations prevented the infection of all RYMV1-resistant accessions, including Gigante. The mutation R38Q, which has already been reported in rymv1-2 RB mutants, was not able to overcome the rymv1-2 resistance in our study, even when combined with T49E. Interestingly, although it was never detected experimentally, the R38Q mutation inserted alone in the infectious clone CIa allowed it to overcome rymv1-3and rymv1-5-mediated resistances (>60% of infected plants). In combination with T49E, the R38Q mutation lost its RB function against resistant O. glaberrima accessions. Altogether, we conclude that single nonsynonymous mutations inserted in the central domain of the VPg at a restricted number of conserved positions allowed the breakdown of resistance in accessions with the RYMV1 allelic series depending on the residue at position 49 (Fig. 3). However, 66% of the sequenced VPg from the RB samples showed no mutations in comparison with the sequence from the wild-type isolate (54 of 80 samples from the hypervirulent pathotype T9 and 18/30 samples from the other pathotypes) (Table 2). Several hypotheses could explain this phenomenon: (i) isolates possess some intrinsic genetic properties to overcome resistant alleles without mutation, (ii) VPg mutations with a low frequency are not detected via Sanger sequencing, or (iii) RB mutations occur outside the VPg gene in the RYMV genome.RB mutations detected in the hypervirulent pathotype T9 via deep sequencing. To test these hypotheses, we performed deep sequencing of the full-length RYMV genome on samples with or without emerging or fixed mutations detected via Sanger sequencing. We focused on the Tog5674 accession (rymv1-5) and on the hypervirulent pathotype T9 (isolates Ni1, Ng106, Ng119, and Tg274 of the S1-ca strain), which showed the widest resistance and RB spectra, respectively. For each isolate, two independent RB samples (namely, A and B) were compared with the inoculum originated from susceptible plants (Fig. 1B). After amplification of the full-length RYMV genome in two overlapping fragments and the preparation of the libraries, tagged samples were multiplexed and sequenced using MiSeq Illumina technology.In total, 42 polymorphic sites were found along the RYMV genome from the inocula (susceptible plants) (Fig. 1B). Among them, 24 sites have been previously identified comparing the 33 published sequences representative of the RYMV genetic diversity. The number and positions of the polymorphic sites along the genome were highly variable, depending on the isolates. In total, 25 polymorphic sites were common in susceptible and resistant plants, and they were considered in the rest of the study only if their frequency increased compared with the inoculum. In the resistant plants, 42 RB candidate sites were found along the RYMV genome (Fig. 1B; Supplementary Table S4). They were located discontinuously in three main diversity hotspots in the 59 noncoding region, the VPg, and the polymerase genes. In total, 62% of the mutated sites were found to be strictly conserved at the nucleotide level compared with 33 RYMV sequences representative of RYMV genetic diversity (Fig. 1B). Only 25% of the mutations were fixed or close to being fixed (SNP frequency in the viral populations > 80%), whereas 52% of the mutations were rare (SNP frequency < 10%) and could not be detected via Sanger sequencing (Supplementary Table S5). Considering only the coding domains, 32 mutated sites were identified, and 23 of these (i.e., 72%) resulted in nonsynonymous substitutions. Interestingly, only 11 of these 23 mutated sites were strictly conserved at the amino acid level across the diversity of RYMV. They are the best candidates to explain the RB cases because the reference isolates exclusively originated from susceptible rice varieties. Nonsynonymous mutations represented 8% of the VPg amino-acids and 75% of the total number of mutations (6 of 8 mutations) in the VPg (Supplementary Table S6). Four of eight sites (positions 23, 41, 43, and 52) were strictly conserved in the reference sequences and were variable in our RB samples.Interestingly, very few mutations emerged independently in different modalities. We found only three cases of identical mutations between two samples of the same isolate inoculated with Ni1 and Ng119 in the protease and the VPg (Fig. 1B). These mutations were all fixed in the resistant plants, and one of these mutations in the VPg was also detected at a frequency of 49% in the inoculum originating from susceptible plants. In addition, three convergent mutations were found in two to six samples (from two to four different isolates) (Fig. 1B). All of these mutations were nonsynonymous substitutions located in the VPg at strictly conserved positions in the reference sequences (originating from a Symbols: + = RB and presence of the inserted substitutions and _ = no infection.b No infection in this study but RB with additional mutation acquisition previously published (Poulicard et al. 2014;Traoré et al. 2010).c RB obtained in this study but with additional mutation acquisition. susceptible plants) (Fig. 1A). These convergent mutations, detected via deep sequencing, correspond to mutations that were previously found in other samples via Sanger sequencing. The mutations H52Y, S41P, and T43A were found in six, five, and three samples, respectively, of eight samples total. Their frequency was highly variable depending on the sample (27 to 97, 5 to 32, and 6 to 10%, respectively). These substitutions were not detected in the inoculum. Haplotype analysis of the central domain of the VPg revealed that, in most of the samples, the mutations at positions 41, 43, and 52 were present independently in different RB genotypes (i.e., no mutation accumulation was detected) (Table 4). The unique exception was sample B of the isolate Ng119, in which all of the reads with the S41P mutation (6%) also contained the H52Y mutation.Overall, our study showed that, for the eight samples analyzed from the hypervirulent pathotype T9, (i) RB genotypes always contained mutations, (ii) most of the mutations were not fixed and could not be detected via Sanger sequencing, and (iii) RB mutations also occurred in genes other than VPg gene. However, considering the mutations identified via the Sanger and Illumina methods, the mutations in the VPg could explain all of the cases of resistance breakdown, except for that in Ng106 B, even with mutation frequencies below 32% (for instance, in Ng106 A) (Table 4).Strategies for breeding rice to resist RYMV have to consider several variable constraints such as the resistance spectra of the plants and RB abilities of the virus. Working under controlled conditions, our aim was to better assess and understand the influence of these parameters to predict resistance sustainability and to optimize deployment strategies, minimizing viral adaptation. Resistance breakdown first requires the emergence of mutations at the intrahost level. Although we cannot exclude the involvement of different RYMV genes in RYMV1-associated RB mechanisms as previously reported (Poulicard et al. 2014), VPg has a predominant role, as expected from the direct interaction with the eIF(iso)4G1 resistance factor. In our study, we showed that single mutations in the central part of the VPg are enough to overcome the entire RYMV1 allelic series. We confirmed that RB mutations occurred only at a restricted number of sites in this highly conserved protein and that the various RYMV strains and lineages followed strong convergent mutational pathways. In addition to the substitution H52Y, new multifunctional RB mutations were revealed at positions 38 and 43. The structural features of the VPg, an intrinsically disordered protein (Hébrard et al. 2010). and the vicinity of mutations in the same VPg-MIF4G interaction domain explained this multifunctionality. Mutation convergence occurred not only in different isolates but also in different resistant hosts, and the efficiency range of the H52Y, R38Q, and T43A mutations covered all of the RYMV1 alleles. The emergence of these mutations on one resistant accession could lead to the resistance breakdown of the others and could invalidate deployment strategies that alternate resistance alleles. In contrast to the previous hypotheses, we revealed, using deep sequencing, that mutation accumulation did not always occur, and that RB mutations emerged independently in different haplotypes. Unfortunately, when single mutations are sufficient to overcome resistance genes, the resistance sustainability is predicted to be low (Fabre et al. 2009;Harrison 2002;Lecoq et al. 2004). Additionally, the role of the viral population in the RB mechanism was discovered with, for the first time, nonfixed mutations that were able to explain the RB phenotype. The fact that this phenomenon is not restricted only to the hypervirulent pathotype T9 suggests intrapopulation complementation (i.e., a minor mutated genotype helps to maintain the wild-type genotype in the viral population) (Andino and Domingo 2015). Moreover, preliminary experiments suggest that the mutated clones CIa38and CIa43 are not associated with fitness losses in susceptible plants (O. sativa, variety IR64, and O. glaberrima, accession Tog5673). Resistance sustainability is predicted to decrease when the fitness penalty induced by RB mutations is low in susceptible hosts (Fabre et al. 2009;Harrison 2002;Lecoq et al. 2004).Our data allowed for a complete assessment of the RYMV1 allelic series, generating an overview of the RB prediction efficiency when facing RYMV diversity. The alleles rymv1-3 (Tog5681) and rymv1-5 (Tog5674) exhibited the widest resistance range. This result was expected, particularly when taking into account the nature of the resistance mutations; namely, a deletion of three residues (DRDD 322 to 324) and a combination of a lysine-to-asparagine substitution (K312N) and another short deletion (DLTG 313 to 315). Structurally close, the resistance sustainability of these two alleles was similar. Nevertheless, the relative complexity of rymv1-5 may result in more sustainability. Indeed, experiments in double yeasthybrid assays suggest a lower residual interaction of the wild-type VPg with the mutated central domain of eIF(iso)4G1, mimicking the rymv1-5 allele (Supplementary Fig. S1). In comparison, the   rymv1-4 (Tog5438) and rymv1-2 (Gigante) alleles are characterized by the same single substitution, a change from glutamic acid to lysine in very similar molecular environments (at positions 309 and 321, respectively); however, they show very different resistance spectra. The allele rymv1-4 in Tog5438 was the least sustainable of the tested O. glaberrima alleles, and is only efficient toward the East-African isolates (strains S4 to S6 with E49), whereas the allele rymv1-2 in Gigante (O. sativa) is efficient against the strain S2/S3 (with T49) from West Africa (Fig. 2). These differences can be explained by the crucial role of T49, identified as a preadaptation of RYMV to the African rice host, in the ability to overcome the resistance alleles of RYMV1 originating from O. glaberrima. Thus, after gathering the pathogenic data obtained from this study and previous studies (Pinel-Galzi et al. 2007;Traoré et al. 2010), as well as the spatial distribution of the RYMV strains and lineages in Africa (Fargette et al. 2004;Pinel-Galzi et al. 2009;Pinel-Galzi et al. 2015;Traoré et al. 2006a;Trova ˜o et al. 2015), a risk map of RYMV1 resistance breakdown was proposed (Fig. 4). In East Africa, the RB risk appeared to be low globally, with isolates from strains S4 and S5-S6 unable to overcome the RYMV1 resistance from O. glaberrima accessions. In West-Central Africa, the risk level appeared to be very high, with the isolates from the hypervirulent pathotype T9 (lineage S1-ca with T49) able to overcome all of the RYMV1 resistance alleles. Additionally, the isolates from the S1-ac lineage with E49, also distributed in this area, showed an RB ability against Gigante and Tog5438. Finally, the situation in West Africa appeared to be intermediate, with a medium risk on the resistance sources, particularly for Tog5681 and Tog5674.Our risk map was generated based on the results obtained from available resistant accessions, mostly of African rice accessions. However, the O. glaberrima accessions are not usable at a large scale because of their low yield. Their resistance spectra and efficiency should be compared with those of the corresponding near-isogenic lines. Indeed, a host's genetic background can modulate the frequency of resistance breakdown, as has been shown for the pvr2 locus (another translation initiation factor involved in resistance to viruses) (Quenouille et al. 2016). Altogether, our results suggested that the introgression of high resistance genes and alleles into high-yielding O. sativa varieties could be beneficial in the East African region, with a global low risk of resistance breakdown. Concerning West Africa, we found that the isolates from the strain S2-S3 showed a low rymv1-3 RB ability, contrary to previously published data.Because the rymv1-3 (Tog5681) and rymv1-5 (Tog5674) resistance alleles showed similar resistance spectra, we cannot exclude the possibility that the efficiency of the strain S2-S3 in breaking rymv1-5-mediated resistance has been underestimated. The factors involved in this response variability such as viral isolate selection or experimental conditions have not yet been identified and should be investigated more deeply. In our study, we assessed the first step of the viral adaptation to resistant accessions (i.e., the qualitative ability to overcome resistance). Different isolates that are able to overcome Tog7291 (RYMV2) show high or very low frequencies of RB events (Pinel-Galzi et al. 2016). In future studies, measures of variability and frequency should be performed to quantify and predict the RB risks in real conditions. In West-Central Africa, we identified that the hypervirulent pathotype T9 is able to overcome all of the resistance alleles of RYMV1, even the most efficient ones, rymv1-3 and rymv1-5. Isolates of this pathotype are able to infect sources of resistance carrying the RYMV2 and RYMV3 resistance alleles (Pidon et al. 2017;Pinel-Galzi et al. 2016). Preliminary results also suggested resistance breakdown of the Tog5672 accession (carrying both rymv1-4 and RYMV2). The molecular signatures involved in the intrinsic properties of this new pathotype are under investigation. Analyses of the full-length sequences identified an arginine-tolysine mutation at position 22 of the VPg as a candidate. The impact of this polymorphism and its combination with T49 on the RB ability of RYMV has to be tested. The hypervirulent pathotype is more abundant than previously suspected. It has been detected in the neighboring countries Nigeria, Niger, and Togo, and its geographical distribution should be monitored, especially in Benin, Burkina-Faso, Cameroon, and Chad. The dispersal risk of RB genotypes can only be realistically estimated if taking into account the overall dispersal rate of the virus, the corridors of propagation, and the agroecological barriers to transmission, information made recently available for RYMV (Pinel-Galzi et al. 2015;Trova ˜o et al. 2015). A spatiotemporal model for RYMV diffusion has been proposed, with an overall dispersal rate of approximately 15 km/ year (Trova ˜o et al. 2015). Strain circulation between West and West-Central Africa was hindered for a long time by the scarcity of rice cultivation in the \"yam belt\" separating the two regions (Pinel-Galzi et al. 2015). This barrier is now fading with the current intensification of rice cultivation, especially along the Niger and Benue rivers, which is now an efficient corridor of propagation of the virus across the two regions (Trova ˜o et al. 2015). By contrast, the large forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with sparse rice cultivation, still constitute an efficient barrier to the spread of RYMV between West-Central and East Africa (Pinel-Galzi et al. 2015;Trova ˜o et al. 2015). Hence, in East Africa, the sustainability of future lines introgressed with RYMV1 alleles from O. glaberrima is unlikely to be threatened by preadapted strains of pathotypes Tor T9 originating in West Africa (strains S1 to S3) or by strains circulating in East Africa, which all belong to pathotype E (strains S4 to S6) (Fig. 2). By contrast, resistance management in West and West-Central Africa is complex, with possible circulation of the RB genotypes. The data obtained here contribute to the anticipation and possible mitigation of the RB risks in West and East Africa. The deployment strategies of resistant lines will be optimized in an attempt to sustain rice resistance by taking into account the adaptability of RYMV strains, their spatial distribution, and their dispersal rate."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8ae1c22b4cea8e97155f2645730b61e9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://dataverse.harvard.edu/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/YLCIS4/OMML7Z","id":"-2059333054"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"adf2fddf-4524-4331-abd9-6bd3830bbbfe","content":"Instructions to interviewer: Ask the respondents if we can interview them for a few minutes. If YES, then obtain informed consent and then proceed with the interview.Hello. My name is _____________________. We are here on behalf of the Alive and Thrive (A&T) and Integrated Family Health Program (IFHP) to have some understanding about the health extension program and the services aimed at improving infant and young child feeding being provided in the health posts.Your kebele has randomly been selected to participate in this study. We will be asking you several questions about the types of services that you provide; maintenance of your health post; your interaction with your supervisor, your interaction with the volunteer community health workers; as well as questions about training you have received. The information you provide us will be used by the RHB and organizations supporting services in your facility, for planning service improvements or further studies of services. The information you share may also be provided to researchers for analyses, however, any reports that use your data will only present information in aggregate form so that neither you nor your facility can be identified. We will also inform you regarding the survey results.You may refuse to answer any question or choose to stop the interview at any time. Do you have any questions about the survey? Do I have your agreement to proceed?If you have any questions or queries regarding this survey, please contact Dr. Disha Ali (0911 466 4601)of International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)/ Alive and Thrive or Prof Yemane Berhane ( 251-114-168207)      Here are some of the things that motivate HEWs to do their jobs well. For each of these statements, could you please indicate HOW OFTEN you, personally, have felt this way -ALWAYS, OFTEN, SOMETIMES, RARELY or NEVER.If you feel that a statement here does not apply to your job description, please tell us so.(Interviewer: IF the health staff says this does not apply, CIRCLE \"98\"). "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"21ce9831c68d7e17c4cde1229b4c5b37","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/315be819-77f3-4636-82dd-83febdf8fb52/retrieve","id":"-488936076"},"keywords":["Citizen Science","Data Collection","Community Engagement","Sustainable"],"sieverID":"b8813af8-6907-4a8a-9a90-6eaeea95026d","content":"The Enviro-Champs initiative was developed as a community driven, citizen science initiative in Mpophomeni township in Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN), South Africa. Over time, the scope of work done and data collected by the Enviro-Champs has expanded. There is now recognition both locally and globally that the Enviro-Champs initiative shows great promise for national and global upscaling. However, several areas within the initiative remain where it could be improved, especially technologically. GroundTruth, in conjunction with technical and funding support from CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), engaged in a project which aimed to i) establish recruitment, training, and education tools to support establishment of a technologically integrated and upgraded Enviro-Champs initiative, ii) develop an outline for a training and education workshop for Enviro-Champs once they are hired, iii) improve data collection and reporting capacity and efficiency with a sustainable system (in collaboration with CGIAR and FormShare), and iv) pilot test technological improvements to the Enviro-Champs initiative within the Mpophomeni Enviro-Champs in conjunction with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), and Umgeni Water. The overarching aim was to develop a technologically innovative and upgraded best-practice framework for the Enviro-Champs, from recruitment, through training and data collection, to data management and reporting. The primary outcome was to have a fully functional, digitally improved Enviro-Champs system in Mpophomeni, that could serve as a working template for upscaling the Enviro-Champs initiative elsewhere in Southern Africa or the world. This report reflects the process and outcomes of this project to date.The Enviro-Champs initiative was developed as a community driven, citizen science initiative in Mpopomeni township in Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN), South Africa. Initially, this initiative trained community members to monitor and report sewage leaks within the township to assist in municipal management of the water use and waste disposal (Taylor and Taylor 2016). After resounding success, it was upgraded to include training on and implementation of a) data collection and reporting regarding potable water leaks and sewage issues, b) community engagement and awareness building regarding waste and wastewater management, and c) community engagement and emergency response assistance regarding flood preparedness (i.e., a community-driven early warning system for floods), flood risk, and evacuation prior to flooding. This broader scope was expanded to more areas in KZN beside the initial Mpophomeni community and was flagged as a promising 2 initiative for national upscaling and a model which could benefit greatly from technological improvement (Lepheana et al. 2021). To-date, the Enviro-Champs initiative has been successfully implemented in several regions across South Africa (Schachtschneider 2016;Taylor and Taylor 2016;Lepheana et al. 2021).Over time, the Enviro-Champs initiative evolved to introduce some technological aspects to the monitoring and training processes (Lepheana et al. 2021). These included group text messaging platforms to share information (including training information), and data collation in excel (from paper forms submitted on a weekly basis) by a manager. However, several areas remained where the initiative could be improved, throughout its process but especially technologically, including the recruitment and hiring process, the technical capacity of the Enviro-Champs (e.g., technical skills and scope of data capture, reporting, or management actions), the agency of the Enviro-Champs (i.e., accessing real-time information and data outcomes which can empower and inform Enviro-Champ and Community action), and ultimately the relaying of information to agencies (government or nongovernment) that can take action on the information and data gathered by the Enviro-Champs.Enviro-Champs, along with most people globally, even in rural places, generally have access to smartphones. These can be effectively used for data collection, boasting a host of advantages over traditional data collection techniques, including mobility, processing power independent of a power source (as opposed to desktops), connection to the internet, interactive and customisable user interfaces, and all-round accessibility (Hartung et al. 2010;E. A. Graham et al. 2011;Njue et al. 2019). Therefore, smartphones were targeted as an efficient means to improve the quality and quantity of data collection, while simultaneously building digital capacity with the Enviro-Champs. Through collaboration with CGIAR and previous experience collaborating on previous projects, the Open Data Kit (ODK, 2023) (Hartung et al. 2010) data collection mobile application (app) ODK Collect was selected as the ideal candidate to explore in terms of its abilities to meet all the requirements of the data collection side of the Enviro-Champs initiative. The ODK Collect app interfaces with the data capture and management platform FormShare (https://formshare.org), a CGIAR product.ODK is one of the most renowned, globally employed data collection and management services available (Brunette et al. 2013;Ouma et al. 2019). It has been successfully employed in both rural and urban settings, in both on-and offline situations, ranging from tracking tuberculosis (Ali et al. 2016), gathering data on childhood pneumonia (Ginsburg et al. 2016), through to use in farming (Ouma et al. 2019) and utilisation in disaster response (see case studies discussed in Brunette et al. 2013). ODK offers ODK Collect, a mobile app not only suitable for collecting the types of geo-referenced, photographic or text data typically collected by the Enviro-Champs, but capable of far more than previous data collection tools regarding data collection, curation, visualization, management, and reporting (specifically improving automation and reducing manual input and reliance on manual data handling for data management) (Ouma et al. 2019;Hartung et al. 2010;Loola Bokonda et al. 2020). ODK was also initially designed with the goal of providing a data collection and management solution that worked for rural and developing areas (Hartung et al. 2010), therefore building on an ideal ethos and outset mentality for use in citizen science in a developing or rural area as is the case with the Enviro-Champs initiative. Overall, ODK Collect, working in conjunction with Formshare to collate and handle the data, was chosen to implement for the Enviro-Champs initiative.GroundTruth, in conjunction with technical and funding support from CGIAR and IWMI, engaged in a project which aimed to i) establish recruitment, training, and education tools to support establishment of a technologically integrated and upgraded Enviro-Champs initiative, ii) develop an outline for a training and education workshop for Enviro-Champs once they are hired, iii) improve data collection and reporting capacity and efficiency with a sustainable system (in collaboration with CGIAR, ODK, and Formshare), and iv) pilot test technological improvements to the Enviro-Champs initiative within the Mpophomeni Enviro-Champs in conjunction with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), and Umgeni Water.The overarching aim was to develop a technologically innovated and upgraded best-practice framework for the Enviro-Champs, from recruitment, through training and data collection, to data management and reporting. By working with SANBI and Umgeni Water, who currently fund the Enviro-Champs and gather their data for reporting, testing of technological improvements to data collection and reporting are planned om pilot tests in Mpophomeni.Going forward with technological developments, especially 3 regarding citizen science engagement, it is important to acknowledge the tenets of action-learning, and avoid past failures when implementing technological innovations (Rogers 2002). Issues relating to technical innovations and supposed transfers of technology to communities or other institutional settings are important for all Work Packages (WP) of the CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation, or indeed any sphere of work seeking to integrate digital innovation and technology with pre-existing work frames. The literature is littered with failed technology transfer projects, not only in Africa, but world-wide (Rogers 2002;Jalbert and Kinchy 2016;Trouille et al. 2019). In a wide-ranging review of such projects, Rahnema (2020) identifies the underlying technicist assumptions and associated modernist ideology as the key weakness or stumbling block. As early as the 1980s, scientists were warning of this phenomenon, \"There is today an increasing consciousness that our technology has, in enough cases to worry us, out-stripped the ability of many organizations and individuals to make productive use of it\" -Eveland, J. D. (p 303, 1987). With rapid technological innovation and increasing complexity, this concept is even more threatening in the present day. To avoid replicating past failures we suggest that such issues are carefully addressed through throughout work in the arena of digital innovation.The initial aim of this work was to put together a research synthesis on the best practices for community engagement and Enviro-Champ recruitment, including broader education regarding the Enviro-Champ initiative. This initial aim culminated in the research and development of an education and recruitment framework for finding and hiring proficient Enviro-Champs. The framework is based on prior experience and a synthesis of what has thus far defined successful Enviro-Champs, and outlined best practice advice, from a situational analysis through to appointing successful candidates.Building on the experience of establishing the initiative in the Mpophomeni township in Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) and in the Palmiet catchment in Durban, KZN, we have refined a 7-step process for selecting and recruiting Enviro-Champs suitable for implementation in the Limpopo and Inkomati basins (See Appendix 1).The second aim was the research and development of a framework for workshops to orientate, educate, and train newly recruited Enviro-Champs. The framework details bestpractice advice on the structure of a workshop that will be best suited to efficient education and training. The framework includes key topics to cover, such as all the duties of data collection, methods for community engagement, environmental awareness and safety, and in-depth training using the multi-media data and information systems associated with data collection and reporting:Several days of training workshops are required, especially considering that Enviro-Champs may have limited formal education and require baseline education and training in ecological principles, as well as the importance of water, sanitation, and hygiene. One option is to offer a training course or programme once a week on a suitable day, or alternatively to hold several days of education and training consecutively. Generally, for the first month or several months, there will be a requirement for follow-up training and education sessions to solidify the lessons learned and data collection protocols. Therefore, it is good to plan ahead accordingly, with particular attention on adaptive management and training in the early stages. The aims of these workshops are the following: 1) Formally welcome and congratulate the new Enviro-Champs on appointment, explaining the necessity and importance of their roles. 2) Facilitate a 'meet-and-greet' between all the Enviro-Champs working in the focal area and the management team. This will enable them to begin developing a support and working network between the each other, and between them and the implementing organization. It is important that all parties are acquainted and acknowledge their roles so as to improve sustainable communication and foster good working relationships. 3) Once the general introductions are completed, the capacity building can commence. In terms of a training methodology, \"The 5 T's of Action Learning\" (UNESCO 2018; Figure 1) has been found to be really useful (O'Donoghue, Taylor, and Venter 2018). Workshops comprise a series of multi-media lectures and interactive working-group discussions covering details on standard operations and data collection related to:a. The \"War on Leaks\", including measuring, reporting and fixing water leaks. b. Pollution monitoring and WTWW effluent compliance monitoring using clarity tubes (Graham et al. 2024). f. Use of the mini Stream Assessment Scoring System (miniSASS) assessment (Graham et al. 2004). Training for this can be done through use of the online miniSASS training course. g. Monitoring total suspended solids (via water clarity) in streams and rivers using clarity tubes (Graham and Taylor 2018).4) For data collection on each of the areas of interest, there should be accompanying demonstrations to explain using data capture software, such as the ODK Collect app on their smartphones, to collect and report data. At the end of the workshop, all Enviro-Champs should have full capacity for all aspects of data collection and reporting. Consequently, it is recommended that ample time is dedicated to training and practice in data collection. Spending time practicing with real examples for every aspect will allow for quick, real-time troubleshooting that is the most expedient way to ensure data are collected Considering it is important for training workshops to include simulated data collection related to each aspect of the work of the Enviro-Champs, it is recommended that the workshops are held in convenient locations in the focal area. This means that the training will happen in a comfortable, familiar location to the trainees (which is conducive to a good learning environment and easy for the trainees logistically), and that infield training can be carried out in the system where the Enviro-Champs will be deployed, maximizing the utility and real-life relevance of the training. One the initial orientation is complete, the Enviro-Champs can be deployed.Following the initial workshops, the skills and capacity of the Enviro-Champs are continually built upon through online feedback and occasional (quarterly at a minimum) follow-up in-person refresher, short workshops, to refine skills and act on adaptive feedback and training needs. After the initial establishment of the Enviro-Champs, their roles can be upgraded as appropriate and possible. For example, the Enviro -Champs can undergo formal basic training in skills useful for their data collection or even on-the-ground action for community improvement. Possible additional training can be offered according to the local needs and requirements. This could include, for example, alien invasive plant clearing, the use of chainsaws, basic plumbing, and first aid.It is important to note that the deployment and training of the Enviro-Champs is an adaptive and reflexive process that is ongoing post the initial training workshops. Feedback, support, and action-learning principles need to be continuously followed to ensure the Enviro-Champs are efficient, supported, well-equipped for their duties, and safe in carrying them out. Some of the potential duties of the Enviro-Champs, such as miniSASS assessments, clarity tube use, and fixing leaks, may require further training sessions over several weeks.Collaboration with CGIAR led to a thorough investigation of the use of ODK Collect as a data collection and management platform (in conjunction with a compatible data management and visualization platform FormShare). Overall, the ODK Collect app, in conjunction with FormShare, were identified as the ideal partners for the Enviro-Champs initiative for efficient, powerful, and customizable, mobile data-light, data collection, storage, and management. Critically, using ODK Collect is available via FormShare, making it accessible and maintained in terms of privacy and security requirements. It also means that the app will be supported on the front and back end by the FormShare developers. Keeping up-to-date with security and privacy requirements, and maintaining a data collection and reporting platform, can be prohibitively difficult if taken on without support from the developers. This can lead to project failure in the long-term, which using ODK Collect will mitigate.The data collection capabilities of ODK Collect include (Hartung et al. 2010;Brunette et al. 2013;Brunette et al. 2017;Ouma et al. 2019), but are not limited to (should more needs arise):• Auto-generated quick response (QR) code that links a unique user profile to a specific project. This streamlines adding app users (in-field Enviro-Champs) to the project, and auto-generates a user profile for each individual which can be customized for access to certain features, including geographic areas or sites, among others.• Customizable data collection forms. Any data that the managers need to be collected can be included in the forms, including precise locations, photos, videos, voice recordings, or virtually any form of quantitative or qualitative form-based information.• Visualizing geographic areas of interest (e.g., Wards) in which to collect data, on mapping software for Enviro-6Champs in-field to navigate by. Assistance navigating to points of interest is also built in;• Collection and real-time submission of geo-referenced image and text data covering all aspects of the data Enviro-Champs are required to gather, including leaks, clarity tube data, miniSASS assessment scores, various sources of pollution, sewer infrastructure damage, alien vegetation, and dump sites;• Collection of more complex geographical data. Global positioning system (GPS) data can be collected in lines or shapes, allowing for submission of more holistic visualizations of potential issues. For example, GPS data could be collected showing the distribution of a stand of alien plants, the path of illegal water connections, or the size of a dump site, rather than simply submitting a single point;• It is possible to collect background data continuously. For example, ODK Collect could be programmed to collect a GPS co-ordinate every ten minutes through a working day to develop a map of movement. This may prove useful, for instance, in visualizing coverage of a Ward or area of interest by Enviro-Champs, and isolating areas not yet or seldom visited that might need increased attention;• Minimizing mobile data use requirements. All data uploaded are G-zipped, minimizing data transfer requirements. It is also possible to predetermine the image quality of any images to be uploaded during submission. For example, images can be compressed to the lowest resolution that serves the data collection needs, and then zipped with all the other data collected, before submission. Ultimately, this process can reduce the data required for a submission by up to 90%, compared to submitting raw, unprocessed data;• Visualizing data collection points. App users can view both all points already submitted;• Data collection using the ODK Collect app can all be done offline, with options for submission either using mobile data when it is available, or solely a Wi-Fi connection when one is available. Powerful, designed offline data collection maximizes the geographic coverage of data collection (by allowing for a full suite of data collection in remote places), and works towards minimizing data costs by affording the opportunity to upload data at convenient times (optimized if data can be uploaded using freely available WIFI where possible, reducing expensive mobile data consumption to zero or close to zero) (Brunette et al. 2017). Importantly, ODK Collect is supported on over 21 000 devices, and has been developed to function in over 60 languages, maximizing accessibility (ODK, 2023: https://getodk.org).A custom ODK Collect form collection interface has been designed and launched for the Enviro-Champs (See Appendix 2 for screen shots of the data collection interface for the Enviro-Champs within ODK Collect), which is available via the FormShare webpage dedicated to the Enviro-Champs (Figure 2).ODK Collect uploads data to a FormShare server, which securely stores the data in a cloud-based format, making the data available online anywhere in the world. Through this process, one can create an end-to-end data management stream: Data are collected in ODK Collect in-field → data are uploaded and securely stored on the FormShare server → those data are auto-assimilated into a managed, live-updated database in FormShare, without the need for tedious manual data handling through transcribing paper-based forms into digital spreadsheets. The data are available for management (review, editing, and cleaning) on the FormShare platform, or they can be easily downloaded in a format suitable for management (i.e., the data are stored and can be downloaded or transferred in a variety of ways, whichever the data manager finds more suitable, e.g., .csv, .json, or .xls). All changes made to data can be logged and can be flagged for later approval or rejection. This allows for data to be updated / edited post collection should there be any errors or changes needed. Moreover, each data point submitted can be easily and quickly reviewed.Switching to ODK Collect and FormShare creates room for improving the Enviro-Champs' technical skill, building the capacity of the Enviro-Champs for collecting and visualizing data, and for processing and managing the data real-time through a primarily automated process. Switching to ODK Collect will also provide a partial (but best-case) solution to the limitations imposed by mobile data requirements for information data handling (e.g., uploading large data files and images). The ODK Collect app is designed for offline use, where the data can be stored and uploaded at a later stage once an appropriate internet connection is available. Therefore, some of the significant issues with internet connectivity in rural areas can be solved by using the ODK platform.Unfortunately, there are currently no sustainable possibilities for 'mobile data free' use of the ODK Collect app (which would remove any constraints Enviro-Champs might have with mobile data restrictions or expenses, which can be significant for people living in rural or disaffected locations). However, to fully overcome the bottleneck in data collection associated with mobile data constraints, UNICEF-South Africa in collaboration with GroundTruth, will explore options to fund mobile data use for data collection via the Youth Agency Marketplace (YOMA). The YOMA platform will ideally allow the entity managing and employing the Enviro-Champs to purchase data packages (via vouchers, which need to be redeemed for mobile data), modulated via blockchain technology, for the Enviro-Champs. This system will allow specific data challenges to be overcome in an efficient, accessible fashion, while minimizing the chance for abuse or dangers associated with direct cash transfers. Work on the applicability and potential of YOMA and blockchain technology in this manner is ongoing.At the introduction to this report we noted that there are challenges and assumptions that must be addressed as digital innovations, such as those relating to the Enviro-Champs and their work with ODK Collect and FormShare, must be understood and engaged with. In particular, issues related to technicism and technicist assumptions can have a marked debilitating effect on efforts to communicate, mobilize and implement such innovations.Research reveals how one can't simply discover the best possible digital innovations, such as the integration with and application of ODK Collect, and then communicate it to the Enviro-Champs, with the assumption that they will effectively apply the technology (Popkewitz 1984;Jalbert and Kinchy 2016;Walker et al. 2020). People and social change processes are much more subtle and unpredictable than this and one needs careful learning pathways that support the application of the innovations if these are to be effectively integrated with the work of the Enviro-Champs and the catchment management processes. This work resonates with Beck's concept of a 'risk society' (1992) an orientation which signals a transition from modernity to reflexive modernization (Giddens 1982). The research also engages with the technicist assumptions that are made in such arenas.As stated by Rogers (2002), \"…technology transfer is essentially a communication process through which the results of scientific research are put into use. As such, technology transfer is a unique type of science communication, one that is often frustratingly difficult. Many technologists believe that advantageous technologies will diffuse spontaneously, so technology transfer activities are unimportant and unnecessary. But this is not the case. For example, when technology transfer occurs too slowly, it is thought to be the fault of the receptors.\"It is important to acknowledge that the receptors are often not at fault. Rather, there is a requirement to engage in actionlearning to facilitate technology transfer, and the onus rests on developers and educators to ensure successful implementation of technological advances (Rahnema 2020). This is especially the case within unskilled, developing, and traditionally technologically limited settings (Walker et al. 2020;Weingart and Meyer 2021).Technicism is a dominating feature of modernist thinking.Technicism comes from a preoccupation with technique and technology, and also has a dominating linear and causal belief structure. Technicism is more than an obsession with technology and 'techno-fix'. It supports a belief structure that sees the world, and how people relate to it, as involving rational processes that can be addressed in a mechanistic manner (Lyotard 1993). Manifesting within modernism and techno-science, technicism has been supported by its research complement scientometrics, a positivistic research style that has dominated the social sciences until quite recently. Interventionist ideologies, especially as these relate to digital innovations, often have a technicist orientation that may be linked to positivistic research perspectives where social change becomes a matter of technical and administrative reform (Popkewitz 1984).For effective social change processes to be achieved, especially as these relate to the digital innovations we are developing with the Enviro-Champs, a close connection with the world-view or the social reality of the Enviro-Champs must be engaged with (Weingart and Meyer 2021;Hulbert 2016;Hulbert et al. 2019;Schachtschneider 2016;Taylor and Taylor 2016). In the Action Learning literature (e.g., O'Donoghue et al. 2018) we recommend 'tuning-in' processes that are crucial to help participants make the connections and engage with the complex social reality that involves water quality monitoring and catchment management. Such 'tuning in' processes also resonate with indigenous knowledge practices and the histories and cultures that have shaped how people live and relate to water and catchment management (UNESCO 2018). These approaches to social change, which are now being adopted by UNESCO, continue to define the further 5 T's of Action Learning, namely Talk, Touch, Tune-In, Think and Take Action.This thinking is not new. The ideology and importance of action-learning, although not so termed, was even reflected on by Xun Kuang, a prolific Chinese Confucian philosopher in 312-230 BC, whose philosophies were collected and published as the Xunzi by Liu Xiang in c 818 AD:\"Not having heard something is not as good as having heard it; having heard it is not as good as having seen it; having seen it is not as good as knowing it; knowing it is not as good as putting it into practice.\"-Chapter 11, Book 8: Ruxiao (\"The Teachings of the Ru\"), in the Xunzi (circa 818 AD), translated by Dubs, H. H. (1928).Step 1. Who to Work With? Situational Analysis and Partner IdentificationAt the outset of attempting to establish an Enviro-Champs initiative, it is crucial to engage with key stakeholders in the region. A situational analysis is a useful strategy because it will establish who all the role players and stakeholders are in a particular area, including Government Departments, Local Government, Non-Government Agencies and Community Based Organizations (CBOs). From the situational analysis, the project team can begin to identify partners suitable for working with the Enviro-Champs. The nature of these potential partners varies; they can range from well-situated, strong church groups, to NGO's such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).Step 2. Liaise with Relevant Authorities and PartnersThe next step is to engage with the agencies and communities identified in the situational analysis and partner identification.It is crucial to work with elected Councilors or Ward Representatives, whomever is directed with the charge of environmental regulation and service delivery in the region. There may also be traditional authorities with influence, engaging them, as well as with local municipalities and South African Local Government Association (SALGA) representatives, can be really helpful in ensuring the project is well received and gets the kind of support it needs. Other NGO's and CBO's from the region as identified in Step 1 should also be engaged with to establish whether they may be prepared to help host Enviro-Champs.Step 3. Develop Criteria for SelectionOnce partners have been identified who will take charge of funding and managing the team of Enviro-Champs, selection of Enviro-Champs can begin. The selection process for Enviro -Champs has been partially developed and refined since the inception of the first Enviro-Champs initiative, but never refined and formalized. Our aim was to synthesize a selection process that provides an objective and unbiased method for selecting Enviro-Champs who represent the focal area well, and who will effectively and passionately form environmental and community stewards. The approach for selection of Enviro-Champs, from spatial delineation of the catchment through to outlining the requirements for skills and traits of the selected personnel, and has two parts:The first part of developing the criteria for selection is developing a Decision Support Tool for establishing the geographic location from which the Enviro-Champs will be selected. To begin, a geographic information system (GIS) is used to spatially map and priorities informal settlements to objectively select communities from the Wards which comprise the focal catchment. The GIS mapping and prioritization is done according to the following process:1) The wards, or relevant government district units (hereafter 'Wards' is used), that are within the entire focal area are identified. The relative area of each of these Wards within the entire focal area is calculated.2) The relative area each informal settlement within the focal area, as well as the area of each informal settlement (considering Enviro-Champs initiatives are usually set up in rural areas, or areas with large informal settlementsthe strategy can be adjusted accordingly for local relevance) within the focal area, as mapped by the relevant local municipality, is calculated.3) For initiatives focused on stream and river monitoring, variable buffer scores, extending outwards from the mainstem catchment river/s in graduations (i.e. 100m, 500m, 1.5km, 3.0km) are used to establish the proximity of informal settlements to the river. Informal settlements occurring close to the river would have greater access in terms of ongoing monitoring. A buffer score is applied to each informal settlement where those occurring within 100m of the river are given a high score (buffer score = 4), whereas those occurring beyond 1.5km, but within 3.0km, are given a low score (buffer score = 1). An extent score (small = 1; medium = 2; large = 3) is also applied to the size of informal settlements, based on the assumption that larger communities will have a greater number of potential Enviro-Champs for the selection process. Guidelines for the delineation of these areas are: small (<1ha), medium (1 to 10ha), large (>10ha). Buffer scores (1 to 4) are multiplied by extent scores (1 to 3) to develop values that reflect access to the river and potential number of Enviro-Champs. Overall scores range from zero (0) to eight (8), where a low overall score indicates poor access to the river for a small number of potential Enviro-Champs, while a high score indicates good access by a large number of potential Enviro-Champs. Informal settlements with high scores are selected as suitable commu-Appendix 1. Recruitment Protocol for Enviro-Champs 12 nities for Enviro-Champs training. Within the informal settlements with high scores, there needs to be equal and fair appointment of candidates (focusing on equality in gender appointment and female empowerment). It is recommended (based on the size and coverage of each Ward) that enough Enviro-Champs be appointed to cover the key nodes in the relevant part of the focal area.4) If the focus of the monitoring program is not stream or river monitoring, the same scoring system can be applied to the variables of interest. Essentially, a score can be developed which accounts for the proximity to the variables needing to be monitored or managed, as well as the number of people who have close access to engage in that monitoring and management. Through this process, one can establish what areas should be targeted for recruiting Enviro-Champs, and how many Enviro-Champs would be suitable for that area. It is useful to keep in mind that citizen science achieves heightened efficacy and engagement the easier it is to engage. Therefore, focusing on proximity, ease of access, and minimizing costs, are critical to successful implementation.The second part of developing the criteria for selection is then to define the required and / or desirable qualifications, character, and traits of the potential Enviro-Champs applicants from the selected informal settlements. Within the selected geographic locations, the Enviro-Champs need to meet a set of criteria. Here, we provide a guide for selectors based on previous experience with what has defined successful and effective Enviro-Champs:1) Firstly, an Enviro-Champ should be a public-spirited person who cares about local people and the environment around where they live. Enviro-Champs need to provide linkages between the issues they and their community face, which are often about water, sanitation and waste, and the authorities who are situated to do something about those issues. While Enviro-Champs can be primarily focussed on environmental monitoring and management, they also play an integral role in strengthening social fabric. Enviro-Champs need to be willing environmental and community stewards who can respond when things go wrong, or even when things appear to be going right. Enviro-Champs need to be strong communicators, willing to engage with their community, educating them, congratulating them on what is going right, and challenging them on what is going wrong.2) To be effective the Enviro-Champs must be capable of conducting the following activities:a. Measuring, reporting and in some cases even fixing (if minor) water leaks, both of potable water in supply lines, but also of sewage leaks in the wastewater reticulation network.b. Industrial pollution monitoring and wastewater treatment works (WTWW) monitoring using the transparent clarity tubes (Graham et al. 2024 f. Have Grade 10 as the minimum requirement. This is a guideline, since people without formal educations can still contribute meaningfully to environmental and community stewardship. However, at least a basic education is very helpful for carrying out all the tasks required of an Enviro-Champ, especially in terms of the digital literacy required to capture and report monitoring data.g. Be a South African citizen (for initiatives in South Africa). This can be adjusted as required for the region. The local citizenship is aimed at bolstering local employment and affording opportunities to local nationals in regions characterized by extremely high unemployment and disenfranchisement.5) Interests: Applicants should be passionate about the environment and their community and should have an active interest in outdoor pursuits. Applicants should be committed to public service and to the health and development of the communities in the catchment in which they will be working. e. Determination and persistence. Many issues that Enviro-Champs face are persistent and difficult to remedy over short time scales. Therefore, it is important to persevere and remain proactive and positive in the face of adversity.f. Networking and communication skills. Enviro-Champs are often relied on as conduits of com-munication and networking between communities and local authorities. Consequently, they must show an ability and interest in forming and fostering those connections.g. Team building / capacity building skills.h. An understanding of community and social issues. Enviro-Champs often experience most of the issues they deal with first-hand. However, they need to show concern for their community issues, and a willingness to listen and communicate with community members to understand their grievances.i. An interest in research and data gathering skills.Step 4. AdvertiseAn advertisement for the Enviro-Champ's positions should be shared with the managing and funding partners, for input and editing. It is also a good idea to include local leadership, such as Ward Counsellors and Traditional Leaders, in the process before advertising to ensure that the new role of community members is transparent and welcomed. Following this consultation, the final advert for positions for the Enviro-Champs can be sent out by the key managing and funding partners in the best mechanisms they choose. At this stage, it is important to consider the best methods for reaching the target citizens. In some cases, digital access to conventional platforms may be limited, requiring alternative approaches such as open days in the community advertising the positions, or printing flyers to be distributed within the target communities.Based on the mutually agreed Decision Support Tool and selection criteria, the managing authority are then required to select and review the curricula vitae (CV's) of people who might be suitable and eligible Enviro-Champs. Notably, this step has proven a significant challenge in the past -collecting CV's for the positions can take a long time. Facilitating easy submission of CV's is vital, either via an online means (email or a submission portal), or through facilitating manual submission by providing a time and place, with printing services supplied, where CV's can be submitted. In addition to working through local authorities it is advisable to circulate job description advertisements in communities where the Enviro-Champs will be operating (e.g., pamphlets, educational / recruitment video; https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=VkSm4VDYY_Q) explaining the Enviro-Champs initiative and encouraging people to forward CV's to the appropriate Counsellors for consideration, increasing the uptake from the community side. A shortcoming of other projects has been a 14 low number of potentially suitable candidates to select from. This can potentially be overcome by extending advertising to the communities themselves in an engaging fashion.Step 5: Short-List CandidatesThis step simply requires verifying that the submitted candidates meet the selection criteria. Maximizing the number of CV's submitted increases the chances of having a strong pool of candidates to select from. Where there are enough applications, they can be narrowed down to those best suited to move on to interviews.Step 6: InterviewsOnce short-listing is completed, the remaining candidates are invited to interviews. The number of candidates interviewed will depend on the application pool, resources for interviewing, and the rate of successful appointment. The interview should attempt to establish how well the candidate fits the recommended skills and traits listed in Step 3. The most critical aspect of the interview process is to attempt to establish the participant's commitment to public-spirited or communitydevelopment work. As mentioned above, being an effective Enviro-Champ requires more than someone simply seeking employment and an easy paycheck. They must show genuine desire to be active within their community and to undertake a meaningful role in environmental stewardship. To this end, interviewees are invited to describe any community work they have undertaken, or the visions they may have for activities or practices which could lead to community improvement.Step 7. Appointing Successful CandidatesOnce suitable candidates are selected based on the interview performances, they should be required to undergo two final assessments of their physical health:• Medical screening: Candidates are requested to submit medical screening reports from clinics and doctors. Medical screening includes blood pressure and glucose levels. This is a low resolution, minimally-invasive screening to ensure a suitable level of baseline health. The medical screening can also help to identify potential issues, such as diabetes, that may be treatable before they become serious health risks.• Physical test: To work as an Enviro-Champ requires a certain level of basic fitness. This necessitates a physical test. It is suggested that candidates be invited to a walk of approximately 5 km in the focal area to establish if their fitness levels are adequate for the required work.It should be noted that candidates with disabilities should, nonetheless, be encouraged to apply to be Enviro-Champs. In the past several disabled persons have functioned effectively as Enviro-Champs, although the level and focus of work may need to be adapted to accommodate the skillsets of disabled persons.Once the host partner has established the list of successful candidates, the participants are informed if they were successful or not. The ideal number of candidates eventually appointed will depend on the size of the communities, Wards, and focal area, as well as the number of eligible applicants. The outcome of the Enviro-Champ appointment process is included here for the eThekwini Palmiet catchment Enviro-Champ initiative as an example that can be adapted for future use (Table A1).The process of appointment needs to be adaptive and reflexive. Local issues and challenges may affect the appointment process. Examples from the Palmiet project are noted here to illustrate how challenges could be overcome:• The number of Enviro-Champs selected per settlement was affected by not receiving adequate strong candidates from some settlements. For example, two more Enviro-Champs were added in Quarry Road West, while in Rainbow Ridge the number of Enviro-Champs was reduced by two.• Due to various delays, which were unavoidable and unforeseeable, there remained a need to repeat the selection process for Enviro-Champs positions in Dukezwe and Ezinyosini, where only two were selected instead of five. This illustrates how the process of appointment may be ongoing, until the requirements for Enviro-Champ presence in the catchment are met. Table A1. The number of selected for appointment of Enviro-Champs and the number of Enviro-Champs expected to be, compared to the actual number, eventually appointed in five informal settlements in the Palmiet catchment, Kwa-Zulu Natal"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2e131427a223c3c3560449221534b559","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/7f3a59bf-f633-4119-80b4-072e09bea9c3/content","id":"1019866079"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"05f07534-4d63-4c2a-9e7f-01d04c9e724f","content":"Identify a piece of land on your own farm where you want to start CA -usually about 10% of your holding is sufficient. The small area will enable you to acquire enough ground cover, prepare the land on time, seed when the first effective rains occur, and learn to effectively manage and control weeds. Learning to manage crop production challenges in a small field is always easier than in a large one. Clear the land of trees and shrubs. Make sure the field is weed free and there is enough surface cover from residues or imported biomass. If there are not enough maize residues available it is advisable in the first year(s) to use thatching grass, leaf litter or other organic material to improve ground cover. Depending on the seeding systems (manual or animal traction), it is necessary to prepare the land beforehand. Basins are normally dug during the dry season to spread the labour required for digging throughout the winter period. This will ensure that the basins are ready for planting at the onset of rains. Jab-planting, rip-line and direct seeding can be done at seeding time; however it is important to make sure that the equipment is in good working order and ready for use on-site.Sufficient fertilization is necessary for good crop production. If your soils are very sandy, an additional dose of nitrogen fertilizer, manure or compost might be necessary to get good yields (harvest produce and biomass). After crop emergence, make sure that you gap-fill by sowing more seed wherever the crop has not germinated. Keep the field weed free as much as possible although this might require extra weeding. Fertilize the crop with sufficient nitrogen fertilizers as topdressing (AN or urea) to ensure that the crop is always wellnourished.Harvest the crop at physiological maturity and keep the crop residues on your field for the next season's crops.Plan a good crop rotation from the beginning to improve the nutrient status of your soil and to reduce the incidence of pests and diseases. Sow the crop after the first effective rains. There are regional differences but rainfall events greater than 30mm after the 15th of November will normally mark the start of the rainy season.Photo: Walter MupangwaWhat limitations have to be overcome before starting?Previous management problems such as soil compaction and surface unevenness need to be corrected at the end of the previous season. If the soil is acidic, a blanket application of lime at 500-1000 kg/ha in the rip-lines or planting basins is beneficial. Perennial weeds need to be controlled with herbicides or by careful manual weeding. It is important to aim at a weed free field throughout the year and to weed before the weeds are 10cm tall or 10cm in circumference.Good crop production needs precision for success and yields tend to be poor if crops are not managed well. Precision becomes even more important in CA as many of its benefits depend on timeliness and accuracy. During preparation all necessary inputs need to be acquired (seeding equipment, seed, fertilizers, herbicides, etc.) so that everything is at the farm before the rains start.. Experimenting with CA on your own fields can sometimes lead to unexpected management problems. The most common challenges in the initial seasons are: weed control difficulties in retaining enough crop residues calibration of equipment acquiring fertilizer and fertilizing at the right rates correct plant stand and adequate germination, and pest and diseases The best way to overcome these challenges is to talk to experienced farmers in the area, and consult with the extension officer who will help you to solve and overcome your problems. Some farmers are easily discouraged during the first season because they cannot see immediate benefits and returns to their investment. However, the first season in many aspects is a learning season and all farmers who try CA on their own fields need to be prepared for this in advance. It is therefore important to start on a small piece of land to be able to manage the plot in an optimal and timely manner and so reduce the risk of failure and discouragement. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6cdcf9ad48e93dd5b9b7a8536280ad76","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/38803826-e59b-43a9-888d-d2169ac5a6b7/retrieve","id":"1702359376"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d95d3367-8d61-434f-8638-ee6217b0eec7","content":"Salmonella is pathogen of many mammalian species and it is one of the most important bacteria that cause food borne illness worldwide. Salmonella spp. can be commonly found in raw poultry and meat. Eggs, agricultural products, processed foods, raw milk and raw milk products and contaminated water also have been implicated in human salmonellosis. In Thailand, Salmonella was found to be the second largest cause of food poisoning, following rotavirus. Furthermore, antimicrobial-resistant strains of Salmonella spp. has been reported in many parts of the world. The importance of the resistance is that the bacteria acquire their resistance in the animal host before being transmitted to human through food chain. This may result treatment failures in human when applying antimicrobial agents to treat human salmonellosis. This study aimed to elucidateFirst, the author would like to express my deepest sincere and appreciation to my advisory., Assoc. Prof. Dr. Suvichai Rojanastein from the Department of Food Animal, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University, for his guidance, encouragement and support in every facet in the study.I would like to grateful thank to my co-advisor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Prapas Patchanee, from the Department of Food Animal, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University, for his comments and suggestions in writing up the manuscripts for publication, Prof. Dr. Manat Suwan from Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University for his comments and suggestions in writing up thesis proposal and technical supports. Finally, I would like to give my special thanks to my family and my friends for their loving understanding and warm friendship.the status of small scale poultry slaughterhouses and their affect to ecological and health in the community in order to sustainably enhance hygiene and functioning of small scale poultry slaughterhouses in Northern Thailand. Initial steps included the identification of key stakeholders associated with the meat production chain, development of a research framework, and design of a methodology based on stakeholder consultations. The framework and methodology combine issues in five major areas: (1) public health, (2) socioeconomics, (3) policy, (4) veterinary medicine, and (5) communities and the environment. Consequently, a total of 41 small-scale poultry slaughterhouses were visited during the period from July 2011 to May 2012. Data on the current status of the slaughterhouses regarding productivity, economic status, hygienic management, and opportunities and challenges faced in improving the plants and following the DLD slaughterhouse regulations, were collected using a structured questionnaire and interviews. In addition, a checklist, which was developed based on the DLD regulations, was used for triangulation. In addition, a microbiological risk assessment approach was employed to detect Salmonella contamination in meat processing facilities. The microbial risk assessment was combined with stakeholder perceptions to provide an overview of the existing situation, as well as to identify opportunities for upgrading slaughterhouses in order to more effectively address matters of food safety, processing, and government licensing.The results of this study demonstrated that the developed conceptual framework could elucidate the complex factors limiting small-scale slaughterhouse improvement including a lack of appropriate enabling policies and an apparent absence of feasible interventions for improvement. Unhygienic slaughterhouse management was reflected in the incidence of Salmonella contamination. The prevalence of Salmonella spp. in live poultry, carcasses, waste water, and soil around processing plants were 3.17%, 7.32%, 21.27% and 29.27%, respectively. Moreover, the bacteria could be isolated from each point of slaughter lines. Eighteen different serotypes were identified, the most common being Corvallis (15.19%), followed by Rissen (13.92%), Hadar (12.66%), Enteritidis (10.13%), [I. 4,5,12 : i : -], Stanley, and Weltevreden (8.86%). Tests revealed that 68.35% of the Salmonella spp. were resistant to at least one antimicrobial while 50.63% showed multiple drug resistance (MDR). Specifically, 44.30% of Salmonella was resistant to nalidixic acid, followed by streptomycin (41.77%), ampicillin (34.18%), tetracycline (34.18%), and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (20.25%).Policy advocacy was implemented through meeting with policy-level DLD officer responsible for slaughterhouse control in Thailand. The instruction including blueprint and feasible criteria of good practice of small scale poultry slaughterhouse was developed and then tested of microbiological quality of the meat. The results showed that Coliform bacteria and total bacteria count in meat after implementation was lower than that before implementation. It could be concluded that there is potential for the use of an Ecohealth approach to address critical problems and it's solving at the interface of rural development and public health. The findings of this study could serve as a model for transdisciplinary studies and interventions related to other similar complex challenges.   Early in 2004, the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 (HPAI H5N1) has emerged in many countries in Asia including Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Republic of Korea, and Thailand (1). In order to control the disease, the governments of each country initiated many programs for the control, eradication and establishment of a national campaign and control measures to contain and prevent avian influenza from spreading by following OIE guidelines. Result from combating with HPAI was a massive slaughter of many millions poultry. Unfortunately, there still have been reports of HPAI in many countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia. However, the disease triggered the awareness of zoonotic diseases in the region including food borne diseases.Salmonella is pathogen of many mammalian species and it is one of the most important bacteria that cause food borne illness worldwide. Salmonella spp. can be commonly found in raw poultry and meat (2). Eggs, agricultural products, processed foods, raw milk and raw milk products and contaminated water also have been implicated in human salmonellosis. In European Union (EU), approximately 100,000 human cases were registered each year (3). In the United stated, 2 million human cases are reported annually.The disease causes enormous economic impact. There is report on estimated the cost for the disease in the United States and reported that the cost for the disease was USD 3.3 million annually for medical care and lost productivity (4). The disease is not only recognized as an economic loss, but it is considered as a public health concerns in terms of drug resistance.Antimicrobial-resistant strains of Salmonella spp. has been reported in many parts of the world. The prevalence of resistant isolates in intensive animal production countries is between 10-30% and when focusing strains isolated from the food-producing animals that are held under intensive use of antimicrobial in animal production the prevalence might up to 60-90%. The importance of resistance to antimicrobial agents of Salmonella spp. originated from animal is that the bacteria acquire their resistance in the animal host before being transmitted to human through food chain (5,6) It is able to lead treatment failure when treatment human salmonellosis with antimicrobial agents.Some reports indicated that poultry processing at the slaughterhouse might be the potential source of Salmonella contamination in meat. Rasschaert et al. reported that the improper slaughtering processes could higher bacterial contamination in meat (7).Padungtod and Kanenee studied the prevalence of Salmonella spp. in chicken at the farms and at the slaughterhouses in Northern Thailand and reported that the prevalence were 4% and 9% respectively (8). It could be noted that the slaughterhouses play important role of the source of Salmonella contamination in meat.In Thailand, there are not many reports of Salmonella contamination in poultry meat in poultry slaughterhouses. The associated research regarding disease control and prevention was reported by Rojanasthien et al. that most of poultry slaughterhouses in northern Thailand were small scale (9). They also reported that the slaughterhouse owners lack the knowledge concerning the sanitation and disease control. Therefore, the sanitation and hygienic practices management ware poor and it need to be improved.EcoHealth is an emerging field of study focusing how changes in the ecosystems affect human health. It has many disciplines. EcoHealth examines changes in the biological, physical, social and economic environments and relates these changes to human health. EcoHealth study differs from traditional study, single discipline studies. The researcher identifies the problems and seeks solutions for those problems. The result is that sometimes the direction for solving a problem does not actually result in a solution when it is implemented due to a lack of participation on the part of the group affected by the problem. Meanwhile, an Ecohealth study uses a different approach. It brings the multiple specialist disciplines together with members of the affected community since the study begins. This approach could lead to creative and novel approaches and can lead to a strong social solution.Because there are many disciplines involving to operating a small scale poultry slaughterhouse including veterinary sciences, public health, social, economics, and environment. Therefore, how to improve the disease control and hygienic management in the small scale poultry slaughterhouses are multifaceted. These disciplines are needed to include to the study. with an optimal pH between 7 and 7.5 (10).The Salmonella serovars can be divided into 3 groups based on their association with particular host populations. Salmonella serotypes which are almost exclusively associated with one particular host species are called the host-restricted serotypes (e.g.human Salmonella Typhi and poultry Salmonella Pullorum). Serotypes which are prevalent in one particular host species but can cause disease in other host species are the hostadapted serotypes (e.g. Salmonella Dublin causes disease in cattle but can also infrequently cause disease in other mammalian hosts). The last group of serotypes are the unrestricted or broad-host-range serotypes, capable of inducing disease in a broad range of unrelated host species (e.g. Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Enteritidis) (11).Salmonella Typhi is the cause of typhoid fever with symptoms, such as sustained fever, headache, malaise, abdominal pain, and enlargement of the liver and spleen and systemic infections. It is transmitted by ingestion of food or water contaminated with feces from an infected person. Therefore, typhoid fever is a problem in parts of the world with poor sanitation practices (10).Other Salmonella serotypes are non-typhoid and cause less severe symptoms in humans. Symptoms of gastroenteritis occur between a few hours and five days following ingestion of the pathogen. The symptoms are diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache, nausea, mild fever and sometimes vomiting. The diarrhea is non-bloody and varies from a few, thin stools to massive evacuation with accompanying dehydration. The disease is usually selflimiting and recovery occurs after a few days to a week. In some rare cases, the infection is followed by more serious complications especially in immunocompromised people, pregnant women, elderly and children. Approximately 5% of individuals with gastrointestinal illness caused by non-typhoidal Salmonella will develop bacteremia which is often accompanied with focal infections such as meningitis, septic arthritis, osteomyelitis, pneumonia and arteritis (12). According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US, 0.04% of the estimated number of non-typhoidal Salmonella cases has a lethal outcome (13,14).Salmonella can grow in the presence or absence of air. The growth rate on beef muscle stored at 20 o C under nitrogen is only slightly less than that obtained when stored under air. At high concentrations of CO 2 (50-60%), growth is strongly inhibited on crab meat, beef steak and ground beef at a temperature of 10 to 11 o C, but at 20 0 C there is little inhibition (15).Salmonella can survive for 28 days on the surfaces of vegetables under refrigeration. Some foods, including meat, appear to be protective of Salmonella during freezing and frozen storage (16). AIFST reported that rapid freezing promotes survival and that lower storage temperature and less fluctuation in temperature give greater survival (15). Storage temperatures near the freezing point result in most death or injury. In chicken breast meat (pH 5.8), 60-83% of Salmonella cells survived storage at -20 ºC for 126 days, whereas at -2 ºC and -5 ºC only 1.3% to 5.8% were still viable after 5 days.Many and S. Paratyphi B, they concluded that the foods were significant as a vehicle for human salmonellosis (18). They also studied the contamination of Salmonella in chicken meat production and reported that the prevalence of Salmonella contamination in retail chicken meat, chicken meat from slaughterhouses, and chicken feces samples were 28%, 4.5%, and 6.6% respectively and the major serovar was S. Enteritidis (19). Moreover, report from Hanson et al. showed the prevalence of Salmonella in pig and chicken varied from 2-25% (20). Padungtod and Kanenee also study the prevalence of Salmonella in food animal in Northern Thailand and they reported that the prevalence of Salmonella in chickens at the farm, slaughterhouse and chicken meat at the market were 4%, 9% and 57%, respectively (8). From the previous studies, it might reflex that the slaughterhouse play important role in Salmonella contamination in meat products.Salmonella is well known as one of the most common organisms causing infections diarrheal diseases worldwide. infections are foodborne (14). In the Netherlands, eggs and poultry meat are responsible for 39% and 21% of human salmonellosis cases, respectively, whereas human salmonellosis is caused by pork in 25% of the cases and by beef in about10% of the cases (22). Eggs are the most important source of salmonellosis, especially in outbreaks where the serotype Enteritidis is involved (23)(24)(25)(26). Poultry meat also contributes to the transmission of Salmonella to humans.It was shown in a study of the US that eating chicken outside of the home was the only significant risk factor for sporadic Salmonella Enteritidis infections. In Spain, there was a Salmonella outbreak with more than 2,000 cases due to consumption of pre-cooked chicken (27).Antimicrobial-resistant strains of Salmonella spp. are now widespread all over the world and are causing great concern due to the spread of multi-drug-resistant strains. In developed countries it is becoming more accepted that a majority of resistant strains are of zoonotic origin and have acquired their resistance in an animal host before being transmitted to humans through the food chain (5,28).In animal production, antimicrobial drugs are used for therapy, prophylaxis, and growth promotion. The use of such drugs causes a selective pressure to be imposed on bacterial populations and antimicrobial resistances are selected. The pool of resistance genes is thus spread in the environment (29). Antibiotic resistance determinants are usually encoded on plasmids but can also be presented on the Salmonella chromosome. Resistance can be achieved through mutations and acquisition of resistance encoding genes. Cointegrates of resistance and virulence plasmids in Salmonella have been observed. This means that antibiotic pressure may select for these plasmids and that both resistance and virulence traits are obtained simultaneously. This may lead to more antibiotic-resistant and virulent Salmonella strains (30). Data suggesting that disease caused by resistant strains can be more severe than disease caused by susceptible strains have been published (31)(32)(33). The prevalence of resistant isolates in different countries where intensive animal production are 10 -30%. When concentrating on strains isolated from food-producing animals that are held under strong antibiotic selective pressures the prevalence of resistant strains can be very high, up to 60-90% (34). In the year 1999, total of 8,508 Salmonella isolates of animal origin were tested against 17 antimicrobial drugs in the USA. The results indicated that many Salmonella serotypes were resistant to some of the antibiotics commonly used in human and animal health and as growth promoters in the animal production industry (35,36) In 2004 in the EU, human isolates of the two dominating serotypes, SalmonellaTyphimurium and Salmonella Enteritidis, showed a considerable variation in the prevalence of resistant isolates between reporting countries. For Salmonella Enteritidis the prevalence of resistant isolates was generally low but for Salmonella Typhimurium resistance to commonly used antimicrobials was high in some countries. Salmonella Typhimurium strains resistant to 2 or more antimicrobials varied from7.8 to 56.4%. In the Netherlands 21% of human isolates of Salmonella Typhimurium were resistant to more than 4 antimicrobials. In broiler meat the prevalence of resistant isolates of Salmonella spp. also showed great variation with a relatively high level of resistance to several antimicrobials reported from some countries. The percentage of strains resistant to 4 or more of the 11 tested antimicrobials varied between 0 and 36% among reporting countries (17).There have been reports indicating Salmonella contaminations in meat at the slaughterhouses. during transportation to the slaughterhouse, and a ≥4-h waiting period in shipping crates before slaughtering (41). Moreover, the effect of processing on Salmonella contamination on chicken carcasses was determined and reported by Cardinale et al. that using scalding water for plucking increased the risk of contamination (42). Food Standards Australia New Zealand (17) concluded the effect of the processing on the Salmonella contamination which is showed in table 2. slaughterhouses which are commonly found in Thailand. There is the report in Malaysia that the contamination rates of food-borne pathogen (Campylobacter spp.) in traditional slaughterhouses were intensely higher than modern slaughterhouses (43). Therefore, the risk factors of Salmonella contamination in chicken meat processed from small scale poultry slaughterhouses, which are traditional slaughterhouses, should be studied.According to the report by Department of Livestock Development, Thailand has 2,380 poultry slaughterhouses. Only 119 plants (5%) have the license for operating the plant (44). It could reflex that most of the slaughterhouses do not address the standard slaughterhouse certification. Since food safety is the policy of Thailand, DLD has policy to encourage all poultry slaughterhouses in Thailand to meet the standard regulation (45).However, the main problem is that most of those slaughterhouses are small scale and the owners could not invest to improve their plants because lack of investment funds (46).The definition of Ecohealth is given by Waltner-Toews that \"Ecohealth can be defined as systemic, participatory approaches to understanding and promoting health and well-being in the context of social and ecological interaction\" (47). It is the study of changes in the biological, physical, social, and economic environment and of the relations of these changes to human health. Ecohealth addresses the links between human health, animal health, and the environmental health including social, cultural, and economic factors. This is a change from the traditional approach, where research is conducted by experts from within the single discipline. Ecohealth strives to overcome the traditional compartmentalized thinking by promoting transdisciplinary research. The Ecohealth approach integrates different type of knowledge to develop strategies for improving the health of humans, animal, and other associated disciplines. The concept of Ecohealth approach is showed in the figure 1. It is difficult to indicate the exact time and place where Ecohealth concept was first launched. Hanlon staged regarding the terms related with Ecohealth that, \"The human ecologic approach, of necessary and by definition, calls for an interdisciplinary effort wherein the natural, physical, and social sciences, in company with engineering, combine to study the adaptive response of man and specially the effect of unsuccessful adaptation of his health\" (49). He also stated for calling on action that \"we must call for man and woman with the foresight and courage to accept the new and broader philosophic base of human ecology, as applied to human welfare, and , on accepting it, it act upon it. Only then may we as a profession make our true potential contribution to the development of a new society and a better world.\" These states are parallel with Schwabe's statement that \"the critical need of man includes the combating the disease, ensuring enough food, adequate environmental quality, and a society in with humane value prevail\" (50). Furthermore, he stated that \"between human and animal medicine there is no dividing lines-nor should that be\". It could be concluded that integrative approach among the disciplines is an effective means to use in the study in order to improve the health.The term Ecohealth has been adopted recently and widely used by several organizations. The major organization who use the terms Ecohealth is International Development Research Center (IDRC). This organization also hosted the international Ecohealth conference. The first conference was held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the USA in 2006 and then the event has been set up every two years.The principle of Ecohealth is descripted by Charon (51) that there are 5 main principles including system thinking, transdisciplinary, participation, sustainability, equity, and knowledge to action. Since the Ecohealth research is difficult to do because it relies on imperial approaches and flexible. The set of principle is only the guideline for the research \"how to\" conduct the Ecohealth research. The briefly explanation of these principles is showed in the table 3. With traditional research methods, the researcher identifies the problems and seeks solutions for those problems. The result is that sometimes the direction for solving a problem does not actually result in a solution when it is implemented due to a lack of participation on the part of the group affected by the problem. In using the Ecohealth The hypothesis of the study is \"systemic approach shall improve and sustain the slaughterhouses more hygienic and viable\".This study was conducted during March 2011 -September 2014. The Ecohealth concept was used as a guideline for this study, including system thinking, transdisciplinary, participation, sustainability, equity, and knowledge to action. The stakeholders regarding the slaughterhouses were identified and participated in the beginning.The food safety policies, standard poultry slaughterhouse law, regulation, and the implementation were systemically reviewed.The hygienic status of the small scale poultry slaughterhouses was determined as well as Salmonella contamination in meat, slaughter line, and the environment. The socioeconomic situation of those slaughterhouses were also investigated. The results were used to explore for the reason that why the small scale slaughterhouse owners could not address the standard regulation. The research findings were advocated to the policy-level officers of the Department of Livestock Development (DLD). The feasible guideline for slaughterhouse improvement in order to address the standard poultry slaughterhouse regulations were developed and then pilot tested.Chiang Mai province is located in the northern part of Thailand and is characterized as having dense areas of poultry production. In 2010, more than three million chickens were produced in this province (52). Furthermore, according to data from Rojanasthien et al. (9), the most slaughterhouses in Northern Thailand were located in Chiang Mai, therefore, the study were conducted in Chiang Mai province.  Ecohealth concept was used as a guideline for this study, including transdisciplinary and participatory approach. Therefore, the stakeholders were identified and participated from the beginning of the study. Since food safety, especially in rural areas of Thailand, is a complex challenge and involves many sectors, an integrated approach was applied in this study. The main stakeholders were identified in the early stages of the project, using participatory methods, for instance, researchers meeting with key stakeholders, including slaughterhouse owners, as well as DLD officers at the national and regional levels, to identify problems. The information obtained from discussions with stakeholders was then reviewed by experts in veterinary science, socioeconomic, and public health before being used as the basis for developing a conceptual framework 6. Review of policies, law, and regulation regarding poultry slaughterhouse control inPolicies, laws, and regulations which include the key phrases \"food safety,\" \"slaughterhouse standards,\" \"current situation of poultry slaughterhouses,\" or \"foodborne diseases in Thailand\" were collected from published and unpublished sources, including the Royal Thai Government Gazette, the Eleventh National Economic and Social Development Plan of Thailand (2012-3016) (53), the DLD strategic plan (54), as well as domestic and international research reports on poultry slaughterhouses.Perceptions regarding the implementation of existing regulations were obtained through focus group discussions (FGDs) with DLD regional officers. The principle investigator and co-principle investigator led the FGDs. Purposive sampling was used to identify participants using the criteria: (1) DLD provincial officers; (2) heads of DLD district offices; and (3) individuals having responsibility for slaughterhouse control. TwoFGDs were conducted with a total of 22 participants between May and June 2012.A total of 41 small-scale poultry slaughterhouses were visited during the period from July 2011 to May 2012. Data on the current status of the slaughterhouses, especially data regarding productivity, economic status, hygienic management, and opportunities and challenges faced in improving the plants and following the DLD slaughterhouse regulations, were collected using a structured questionnaire and interviews. In addition, a checklist, which was developed based on the DLD regulations, was used for triangulation.A preliminary survey found that, in 2010, Chiang Mai had 55 small-scale poultry slaughterhouses with approximately 25,000 poultry being sent to these slaughterhouses each day. Samples were collected from slaughterhouses located within 100 kilometres of the laboratory at Chiang Mai University to ensure that samples could arrive the laboratory center within three hours. A total of 410 meat samples from 41 slaughterhouses were collected. Each carcass was placed in a large bag with 250 ml of sterile peptone water, which was then shaken inside the bag for one minute, the rinse water was then poured into a sterile bottle and used for identification of Salmonella spp. In addition, samples were also collected from each point of slaughter line and environment (table 6). The total of number of samples for each slaughterhouse was shown in table 6.   The data from structured questionnaire and checklist was coded and recorded.Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data by the application of Microsoft Excel 2010 program (Microsoft Corp.). To describe the slaughterhouse status, the combination of the data from questionnaire, observation, and checklist was done and these results were compared with the criteria of the slaughterhouse regulations.The prevalence of Salmonella contamination in carcasses, each point of slaughter line, soil, and wastewater was calculated by dividing the number of samples positive for Salmonella by the total number of samples processed.To advocate the findings to policy, the meeting with policy-level DLD officers was set up. The knowledge translation and brainstorm were implemented in order to develop the guideline encouraging the hygienic improvement of the small scale slaughterhouse to address food safety and to achieve a license.The cost-effective blueprint of the small scale slaughterhouse and the minimum requirement of the improvement criteria was developed and then pilot test was implemented to developed model of good practice small scale slaughterhouse. To evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation, meat samples were collected before and after implementation for testing of Coliform bacteria and total bacteria count in meat.Over the last 30 years, several successful attempts have been made to control various infectious diseases in countries all over the world, especially in developed nations.However, threats still exist, such as antimicrobial resistant bacteria and unsafe farming and food production practices, as well as threats created by the impact of urbanization and agricultural intensification (57). In addition, traditional methods of controlling infectious diseases using conventional biomedical strategies have often failed, resulting in the emergence and outbreak of diseases such as SARS, H5N1 and H7N1 avian influenza, malaria, tuberculosis (58). In order to address these challenges and to achieve improvements in overall health-not just human health-the crucial roles of social, economic, and cultural factors must also be considered. Thus, it is imperative that nonmedical sciences be involved in the process of developing disease control strategies.In this study, the main stakeholders were the slaughterhouse owners, DLD officers at the national and regional levels, regional public health officers, and local administration officers. Brainstorming meetings and interviews confirmed the stakeholders' views on the importance of food safety and food policies in Thailand. They realized that poultry slaughterhouses are an important link in the poultry meat production chain, that the standard regulations should be followed, and that there are many factors affecting the improvement of slaughterhouses. They concurred that the main problems to be addressed are the inability of most small-scale slaughterhouses to comply with the current standard regulations and a lack of appropriate strategies to motivate and assist small-scale slaughterhouses to comply with these regulations.The conceptual framework of this study (Figure 4) reveals the complex interactions related to achieving slaughterhouse improvements. For example, there are three main government agencies responsible for the control of slaughterhouses: (1) the DLD, which is primarily responsible for animal health and disease control on livestock farms plus improvement and updating of regulations governing slaughterhouses; (2) The Ministry of Public Health, which is responsible for setting food safety standards for meat products; and(3) Local administrative organizations, which are responsible for giving permission to slaughter animals and to distribute meat, as well as appointing meat inspectors. To effectively assist slaughterhouse owners to improve their slaughterhouses and to follow regulations, government officers from these agencies must work together in an integrative model.To more effectively identify avenues for enhancing safe processing in small-scale poultry slaughterhouses, practitioners of veterinary and human medicine, social scientists, and economists cooperatively followed an integrative approach in the development of the conceptual framework and in participatory problem identification from the outset. That framework demonstrates the complexity of the problem and the linkages between the different disciplines. This study follows the successful integrative approach which was used to gain an understanding of and develop a suitable research agenda in the case of the emergence of leptospirosis in Hawaii (59). This study evidences the importance of a transdisciplinary approach, as well as methods of implementing that approach as described and demonstrated by Pokras and Kneeland in their development of educational and policy initiatives to control the lead poisoning problem in wildlife, humans, and domestic animals (60).The framework also includes socioeconomic factors affecting the improvement of slaughterhouses, for example, the association of education level and age with perceptions of food safety, as well as issues of income from slaughterhouses, living expenses, and family debt that could affect opportunities for investment in slaughterhouse improvements. (1) the location of the slaughterhouse, e.g., slaughterhouses must be situated far away from communities); ( 2) the area and structure of the slaughterhouse buildings, e.g., the slaughtering process must be conducted in a concrete building and there must be a fence around the slaughterhouse; (3) local infrastructure and the area inside of the slaughterhouse, e.g., the area inside the slaughterhouse building must be appropriate for operations, easy to clean, and include separate clean and dirty zones; (4) equipment and facilities management, e.g., facilities used in the slaughtering process must be easy to clean; (5) holding pens, e.g., pens where birds are maintained for 8-10 hours before slaughter must be constructed of concrete and must prevent pathogens contamination of the slaughtering process; (6) waste management systems; and (7) hygiene management, e.g., cleaning the slaughterhouse every day after operation. To be licensed by the DLD, all slaughterhouses in Thailand must comply with this regulation.In addition, good manufacturing practices (GMPs) for poultry slaughterhouses were announced, and their adoption has been mandatory since 2006. However, in practice, the GMP guidelines, which were intended to further improve operations including hygiene standards, have been enforced only in slaughterhouses which have been issued a government license, most of which are larger operations.In the FGDs with DLD regional officers (provincial and district) on the implementation of laws and regulations, the officers accepted that they could not strictly enforce the ministerial regulatory criteria intended to promote the improvement of smallscale slaughterhouses. They acknowledged that the criteria are intensive and require high levels of investment, making them suitable for large-and medium-scale operations which generate sufficient profit, but not for small-scale facilities with low productivity and small profits. They agreed that if they attempted to strictly enforce the regulations, they would meet resistance from the slaughterhouse owners. They also acknowledged that during their regular visits to slaughterhouses every three to four months, they should focus on establishing a spirit of collaboration and cooperation in order to promote hygienic management and disease control in slaughterhouses rather than strictly enforce the regulations. They also indicated that the current regulations should be more flexible and practical. As one officer said, \"It would be useful if there was a prototype or a blueprint of a good, hygienically managed slaughterhouse that owners could use as a model for investment\". The majority of the participants agreed with this comment.Department of Livestock Development regional officers agreed that the current laws and regulations are, in fact, more suitable for large-and medium-scale operations which can afford the necessary high investment. Nonetheless, the DLD is attempting to encourage even small-scale poultry slaughterhouses to meet the standard. The slaughterhouse blueprint developed by the DLD and distributed to officers and slaughterhouse owners, however, is designed for operations processing 200-300 birds/day which is four or more times the daily production of small-scale slaughterhouses. Thus, the DLD-proposed blueprint poses a considerable challenge to small-scale slaughterhouses.DLD officers indicated an awareness of the need to work integrative with officers from other agencies, including public health officers and local administrative officers, in order to improve food safety. However, they mentioned that there were obstacles to such joint efforts. For example, working with local administrative organizations was problematical because those organizations still had no official role in that area or any personnel specifically responsible for slaughterhouse control. In the case of Public Health agencies' work with food safety control, their main focus is on meat products sold in the market rather than conditions at slaughterhouses. On a positive note, just over half the participants (54.5%) indicated that they were willing to work in an integrative manner with other agencies to address issues of food safety. Table 7 summarizes the reflections of the participants regarding the themes of the FGDs. The zoonotic diseases and food safety perception of the slaughterhouse owners was determined. The results showed that there was the only high perception only on the possible transmission of the diseases from sick birds. Contrary, perception on important statement such as cleaning measures and zoonotic knowledge were low. This result might causing as improper hygienic practices were commonly observed in majority of the slaughterhouse.Table 9 shows the perception of zoonotic diseases and food safety of slaughterhouse owners Data from interview regarding slaughterhouse owners' perceptions of relevant laws and regulations, 33 out of 41 owners (80.5%) stated that some of the criteria in the current standard regulation were impractical for small-scale slaughterhouses. For example, meat from most of the smaller slaughterhouses was not inspected because the limited slaughterhouse income was not sufficient to hire a meat inspector. Owners stated that they would have to stop operating their business if the DLD strictly enforced all the standard slaughterhouse regulation requirements. Although 25 out of 41 owners (61%) accepted that they did need to improve their slaughterhouses, they indicated a desire that the regulatory criteria be more practical. The process of slaughtering was carried out in open-air buildings as follows: the birds were killed with a sharp knife, and the carcasses were scalded in a water tank at a temperature of 50-70°C for 2-3 minutes. De-feathering was done using semi-automatic defeathering machines. The carcasses were cleaned by dipping them in a bucket of water.Evisceration was done by hand, using a knife to cut open the carcasses; this process was carried out on chopping blocks placed on the floor. The carcasses were then dipped in hot water (50-70°C) to firm up the skin, then stored in a small vessel containing ice. The wastewater from the slaughtering process was discharged directly onto the area around the slaughterhouses. Figure 4 showed the slaughtering process and table 10 showed results from observation and checklist according to the criteria of slaughterhouse regulation. The majority of the small-scale slaughterhouses, did not satisfy all of the seven criteria described in the slaughterhouse law and regulation. The owners constructed simple facilities with only necessary equipment and located within their community (Table 11).Birds were sold only in the local community the same day they were slaughtered, but quantities were small, just enough to meet local demand. Incomes were limited and not sufficient to invest in improvements to the slaughterhouses to meet the Ministerial criteria, resulting in improper general and personal hygienic management were commonly observed in the slaughterhouses. (Table 12, 13) The prevalence of Salmonella was 3.17% in live poultry and 7.32% in carcasses. It was also found on utensils used in the slaughtering process, in both water used in the slaughterhouses and in waste water, and the soil around the processing plants, but it was not found on workers' hands. The prevalence of Salmonella in chickens before slaughtering, during the slaughtering and dissecting process, and in the local environment is shown in Table 14 and the serotypes of Salmonella identified are shown in Table 15.As for the drug resistance is concerned, it was found that 44.30% of samples of Salmonella (35 of 79) were resistant to nalidixic acid, followed by streptomycin 41.77% of the pathogens were resistant to at least one antimicrobial, while 50.63% (40/79) of the pathogens were multidrug resistant (Table 16).  In this study, 100% of the pathogens were sensitive to chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, and cefotaxime. This finding is consistent with the results of antimicrobial resistant surveillance of food-borne pathogens in the EU countries which found that Salmonella was also susceptible to new antimicrobial agents such as cefepime, cefotaxime, and ciprofloxacin (67). This study further found that 44.30% of pathogens were resistant to nalidixic acid, which conforms to a previous study in Thailand by Padungtod and Kaneene which reported that Salmonella isolated from pigs and chickens in Northern Thailand in 2002 and 2003 was resistant to tetracycline and nalixidic acid (8). It also conforms to the study by Akbar and Anal which reported that Salmonella isolated from chicken in Bangkok was resistant to tetracycline and nalixidic acid (68). It has been reported that resistance to nalixidic acid might reduce the efficacy of members of the fluoroquinolone drug group such as enrofloxacin which has been widely used to control animal diseases (69).Moreover, de Jong et al. also reported that the extensive use of antimicrobials in both humans and animals was a fundamental cause of drug resistance (70). From these findings, it appears that antimicrobial resistant Salmonella might affect the use of antimicrobial agents for treatment of bacterial diseases both in humans and in animals.In this study, 50.63% of the isolates were found to be multidrug resistant. That finding agrees with previous reports from around the world, e.g., Spain, Vietnam (71)(72)(73), Algeria (61), China (74), United States (61), and Brazil (75,76). In Thailand, Chuanchuen et al. reported that 67% of Salmonella was MDR (77). Because the resistance of Salmonella to antimicrobial agents could affect both livestock production and public health, it is essential to closely monitor the problem of drug resistance and to urgently encourage the prudent use of antimicrobial agents in the EU countries and elsewhere as recommended by various studies (78)(79)(80)(81)(82).The meeting with policy-level DLD officers and the researchers was set up in 17April 2013. This meeting aimed to consult and advocate the high-level DLD officers regarding the current situation, problems, and it's solving option. The participants include director of the Bureau of Livestock Standards and Certification, Chief of Slaughterhouse Control Division, and the officers responsible for slaughterhouse control.Results from the meeting clarified that DLD officers agreed to the situation of small-scale poultry slaughterhouses and complications to get a license. The discussion confirmed more flexible regulations to get slaughterhouse license for small-scale slaughterhouses. Therefore, the policy is to assist small-scale slaughterhouse to get license through a more flexible regulation. Key points of policy landscape and situation include;-DLD understands that small-scale SH is important as a livelihood, a part of culture and community. Therefore, the policy is to assist small-scale SH to get license through a more flexible regulation.-The slaughterhouse control Act has been in place since 1992 under the responsibility of the Ministry of Interiors. There were attempts for strict enforcement since 2008 -2009 in order to standardize the practices for both domestic & exporting meat products. The deadline for slaughterhouses to obtain a license was in 2010, however, no enforcement until now.-At the moment, a revised slaughterhouse regulation is in progress.-Food education concept is a key approach adopted by DLD to deal with food safety issues and farms and slaughterhouse standard for more than 10 years. One of the campaigns is 'hygienic meat stall certification' in wet markets. So far, there are 2,500 certified meat shops nationwide.-Inter-agency collaboration are challenging, either between 3 slaughterhouse law enforcement authorities or between DLD and Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health who regulates selling points/ markets.-Food safety requires cooperation from both DLD (from farm to slaughterhouse and transportation to the market) and FDA (meat products & meat shops).The guideline to encourage the small scale poultry slaughterhouse to improve the plant according to the laws was also discussed. The proposed implementation included;-DLD categorized small-scale slaughterhouses into 3 groups, each requires different support: 1) already obtained license; 2) in the process of applying for SH license; 3) no intention to apply for a license. The last group would eventually be closed down.-DLD would focus on group 2. For this group, district level DLD has responsibility to survey the slaughterhouses located within the areas and provides suitable assistance. However, DLD accepts that there are limitations of district level staff, e.g. knowledge on regulations, workload.-DLD proposed a blueprint for small-scale slaughterhouse which would cost approximately THB 400,000 to invest. This model is cost-effective for slaughterhouse that slaughters at least 200 birds/ day. The blueprint of the small scale slaughterhouse was showed in Figure Before implementation, stakeholders associated with slaughterhouses in the area were identified using stakeholder analysis and included in the study in the early stage.Brainstorm meeting with identified stakeholder were set up in order to implement the knowledge transfer.The slaughtering process of the chicken of this raising group was traditional practice as described previously. To determine the effectiveness of the recommended practices, the meat samples were collected and test for Coliform and Total bacterial count in meat products which is showed in tableThis finding indicated that the developed blueprint and the minimum requirement were feasible, that the operator can invest and operated. The model used could potentially be replicated elsewhere in Nan Province as well as in other Thai provinces. However, to address wider impact, continued policy advocacy were required  No 1 1.0 x 10 This study aimed to elucidate the status of small scale poultry slaughterhouses and their affect to ecological in the community in order to enhance hygiene and functioning of small scale slaughterhouses in communities by using the Ecohealth approach. Integrative research was used to elucidate the sanitation and disease prevention practices in small scale poultry slaughterhouses in Northern Thailand. Initial steps included the identification of stakeholders associated with meat production chain, development of a research framework, and designing the methodology based on stakeholder consultations. The framework and methodology derived combined at least five issue areas corresponding to the following disciplines; 1) public health 2) socio-economic 3) policy 4) veterinary and 5) community and environment.This study could elucidate that Ecohealth approach was well applied in this study.Various fields including Veterinary Medicine, Public Health, Social Sciences, Economics, and Ecology were successfully collaborated and applied. Conceptual framework could be developed. The importance and interaction among each discipline were demonstrated.However, applying Ecohealth in actual situation is still challenging. It needs a further study. In surveillance, prevention, and controlling emerging infectious diseases, including Salmonellosis, using the Ecohealth approach, one factor related to success is the on-going cooperative participation of individuals from diverse academic and private areas.Operational plans for the short term, the medium term, and the long term are necessary and require significant cooperation of both efforts and spirit. In many networks, members working together as a team rely heavily on the expertise of each of the individual team members. Thus the development and improvement of the organization, the individuals, the network, and the links are all important to the strengthening of the Ecohealth network.the zoonotic knowledge, the diseases control and prevention in the slaughterhouse should be improved.This study could be concluded that good hygienic management is not widely practiced in small-scale slaughterhouses in northern Thailand. This study elucidated that, in general, hygienic practices did not fully follow existing regulations and that the government provided guidelines are not implemented by many slaughterhouses. The presence of Salmonella in slaughtering process was evident of improper hygienic practices. Therefore, the improvement of hygiene management of small scale poultry slaughterhouse should be urgently improved.This is also the first comprehensive study describing the prevalence of Salmonella contamination and the antimicrobial resistance of that pathogen on the processing lines and in the environment surrounding small scale poultry slaughterhouses in Thailand. The study found contamination of Salmonella in raw poultry meat, on utensils used in processing, in waste water and in soil around the slaughterhouses, indicating they are sources of the spread of Salmonella both in raw poultry meat and also in the surrounding environment and local communities. The five most common Salmonella serotypes found in this study were among the top 10 serotypes causing human salmonellosis in Thailand, signifying a significant public health threat. In addition, the serotypes had a high rate of multidrug resistance. These findings highlight the importance of and the urgent need for controlling the use of antimicrobials in animal production and for improving management of small scale poultry slaughterhouses.Policy advocacy was performed through meeting with high-level DLD officers who are responsible for slaughterhouse control in Thailand. The instruction and minimum requirement for enhancing small scale poultry slaughterhouse to address food safety was developed and then pilot tested with native chicken raising group in Nan province. The laboratory results indicated that the biological meat quality including Coliform bacteria and total bacterial count contamination in poultry meat was lower compared with before implementation.In conclusion, this study could indicate that there were complex factors affecting to the hygienic management of the slaughterhouse. The contamination of Salmonella spp. in slaughtering process, meat, as well as the environment was clearly demonstrated that the potential risk for public health and ecological facet. These research findings were advocated for policy-level DLD officers and then the cost-effective model of feasible and good practice small scale poultry slaughterhouse was developed and tested. This study also demonstrated the potential of the Ecohealth approach for addressing a critical problem and it's solving at the interface of rural development and public health. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"72b186d7a4ee984f8632863a0c8a445b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7dbbe326-cdcf-4679-9c0c-890fa54ed6ac/retrieve","id":"2100381709"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d2181169-4674-49f2-b158-63682814c608","content":"The authors would like to sincerely thank everyone who participated in making this report successful. First and foremost, the authors would like to thank the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT-Kenya for the opportunity to conduct this study. Special thanks to the lead person, Dr. Eileen Nchanji, for her leadership and support in coordinating the entire assignment. We sincerely thank the co-lead person, Mr Cosmas Lutomia, for his endless support and guidance during the data collection.The authors are highly indebted to all participants from various countries who spared their precious time to participate in this study and share valuable information. This evaluation would not have been completed without the critical role played by the key informants, who provided in-depth information that helped to formulate this report. Our special gratitude goes to our partners from different countries who went to the field to gather data that was essential in realizing the objectives of the study.March 2024 | Final Report iii models is to make high quality seed available as well as increase productivity. Similarly, delivery models' primary goal is to provide high quality seeds, increase productivity and make profit. The production and delivery model actors have principally put in place measures such as inspection, certification and training which helps them to effectively achieve their goals. Furthermore, the actors have put in place programs such as subsidies, flexible payment terms and bulk purchase discounts to increase their effectiveness in realizing their goals.The authors recommends that, to continue realizing the inclusivity of women and vulnerable groups, a multistakeholder approach geared towards women's empowerment should be considered for both production and delivery models. Additionally, a key cross-cutting issue is the lack of women in leadership positions so there is a need to establish mechanisms and strategies that will support women's involvement in leading bean seed entities. Women should be supported to effectively participate in contract farming. It is important to strengthen and expand the agrodealer network since they play an important role in the distribution of seeds.The study was conducted in 10 African countries where 166 bean seed production and delivery actors were interviewed. The survey intended to document various production and delivery models used across the regions, the extent to which they involve and benefit women and vulnerable groups, the extent to which they promote availability and access to high-quality seeds, and examine the measures put in place to ensure high-quality seeds reach last mile farmers.The study participants were nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), national agricultural research system (NARS), seed companies and farmer seed producer groups. Purposive sampling was used due to the limited number of bean seed actors along the chain ready to provide information on their activities. Data was collected using the surveyCTO platform and it was managed and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences software (SPSS), version 20.Most actors along the bean seed chain are primarily led by men. The most common production models practiced by the actors are contract farming, seed production cooperatives/groups and seed multiplication and distribution. To a small extent, the actors also utilize a community-based seed production model. The most notable delivery models are direct sales, followed by agrodealer networks and seed fairs and exchanges.The involvement of women and vulnerable groups in both the production and delivery models was found to be satisfactory at a rate of approximately 70%. In addition, the models were found to promote seed availability to men and women when they needed it at the right point and time. Furthermore, the analysis indicates that the models were inclusive increasing access to high quality been seed which was beneficial to women and vulnerable groups. However, the leadership of the seed actors is dominated by male at approximately 69%, which means that a significant number of women have no power to make key decisions along the seed value chain Been seeds provided by production and delivery models were found to be affordable. However, 19% of the bean seeds provided by the production models were considered to be either expensive or very expensive, whereas 26% of those provided by delivery models were also reported to be expensive or very expensive. This is consistent with the cost of seed, which was 16% and 17% higher for the production and delivery models, respectively.The main goals of production models are; ensuring availability of high-quality seeds and increasing productivity. While the primary goals of delivery models are; access to high-quality seeds access, profitability/market expansion, increased productivity, inclusivity and the promotion of rural/local economies. Both production and delivery models were reported to be effective at realizing the set goals at 73% and 69% respectively.The most notable programs/policies that have been put in place by delivery models to ensure that farmers afford seeds include flexible payment terms, bulk purchase discounts and credit schemes. In addition, both production and delivery models have enacted measures such as inspections, training, certification, testing, feedback mechanisms and traceability to enhance the quality of seeds as well as helping them in realizing their goals.In conclusion, the most common production model among the actors is contract farming with the exception of the national agricultural research system (NARS) partners who prefer seed multiplication and distribution models. On the other hand, the commonly adopted delivery model among the actors is direct sales except for the NGO partners who mainly utilize seed multiplication and distribution and agrodealer network. To a large extent, production and delivery models encourage active involvement of men and women in their activities. Additionally, these models are considered beneficial to both genders. However, it should be noted that leadership positions across the actors are dominated by male in contrast with their female counterparts. Furthermore, the models are beneficial and not primarily empowering women and vulnerable groups. This means that, to a great extent, females do not participate in making key decisions along the value chain. The main goal of productionThe common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the main feature of the daily diet for many households in sub-Saharan Africa. Rich in insoluble fiber and protein (Larochelle et al., 2017), these twin attributes contribute to the better nutritional status of the poor households in rural and urban areas (Nchanji and Ageyo, 2021).In Eastern, central and southern Africa, the role played by common bean in improving nutrition and food security of many households in both rural and urban settings is critical (Buruchara et al., 2011).Beans are mainly grown by smallholder farmers. In the food value chain, the first most important link to food security is seed (Galiè 2013). Unlike other crops such as maize, to a greater extent, the private sector has not adopted bean seed production and delivery because of the conventional practices of the majority of the farmers who plant recycled varieties. This hinders an increase in bean productivity due to the low adoption of new/ improved varieties despite the efforts of scientists and partners to bring forth these varieties. Due to the low demand for improved bean seed varieties, the private sector is not willing to engage in the production or delivery of these varieties because of low profit margins. The challenge of the private sector is creating stable bean seed demand given low profit margins (Neate and Guéi, 2010).It is estimated that the contribution of seed quality to a crop's total production is approximately 15-20% and largely influences the response of other efficiently managed inputs (FAO, 2018). Seed systems are the vehicles through which farmers obtain good quality seeds from the new crop varieties they want and need. Effective seed systems have the potential to increase production quickly and economically. Seed systems can influence food security by improving the availability, access to and use of improved varieties that increase the productivity and resilience of food crops (CGIAR, 2023).Advocacy has been done by researchers and development partners about inclusivity, innovativeness and gender sensitive distribution channels, in partnership with the private sector to reach all farmers with good quality seeds and varieties (Farnworth et al., 2024). These delivery channels address undesirable norms and unequal access to improved seeds (Bossuet, 2020). However, limited access to seeds of improved varieties by smallholders is an impediment to productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. Limited supply, availability and access to bean seeds are likely among the most constraining factors for achieving crop productivity. Although bean breeders have produced several climate-smart bean varieties, the rate of adoption and variety turnover remain low, yet crop breeding is perceived as an important pathway for increasing yield potential and adapting small-scale farmers to climate change (Marcho et al., 2020). Additionally, farmers may not be well informed about the various options available to them or may be reluctant to experiment with new varieties. These challenges threaten production and can compromise the ability of individuals to meet their own food, nutritional, and income needs (CGIAR, 2023).Ineffective seed supply and delivery systems mean that smallholder farmers often recycle seeds or use older varieties, leaving them more vulnerable to pests and diseases. Recycled seeds that are often obtained from the informal outlets is commonly used by smallholder farmers in developing countries at an estimated percentage of 60-80% (Vernooy, 2016).Small-scale farmers, especially women and other disadvantaged groups, are particularly vulnerable to climate-related challenges, such as more frequent and severe droughts and erratic rainfall. The improved varieties distributed through informal seed systems don't reach women farmers on time (Hanif and Sperling, 2017).Due to women's restricted movement, it is impossible for them to access improved varieties which are not available in the local input outlets (Kramer and Gali`e,2020). Also, trust of the delivery models is gendered, for instance, in Malawi, males had no issue acquiring potato seed from beyond the village, whereas females focused their efforts on obtaining seed from fellow farmers within their communities. This was partially due to the women's apprehension that their spouses would hold them accountable if the harvest failed due to substandard seed (Mudege et al. 2016b). Seed access is determined through availability of information, mobility and networks of women and men, and affordability. According to Puskur et al. (2021), access to seeds on time is critical for the farmers because it influences not only the harvest, but also related decisions. Mudege et al. (2020) reported that involving women in seed production and management at the community level gives them access to varieties that addresses their needs, generates extra income through employment, and contributes to women empowerment. In communities, women obtain quality seed through alternative channels, including seed exchanges, informal labor supply, labor swaps, monetary loans, seed loans, and gifts. (Lukonge et al. 2015, Mudege et al. 2015, McGuire and Sperling 2016).More economic opportunities can be created for women through seed systems (Kandiwa et al. 2018) contributing to women empowerment (Puskur et al.,2021).Additionally, gender equality and empowering women are essential elements to food and nutrition security (Agarwal 2018).Consequently, it is important to understand the interrelationship between the two: gender and socioeconomic differences in seed and food security must be understood to target seed interventions effectively (FANRPAN, 2011).Therefore, there is a need to understand the key common bean value chain actors and document gendered seed production and delivery models by diverse chain actors in Africa. Furthermore, there is a need to assess the extent to which women and vulnerable groups participate and benefit from production and delivery models.The main objective of the study was to understand bean seed value chain actors. The study intended to document the gendered seed production and delivery models used by diverse value chain actors in 10 African countries implementing the Seed Equal project. The study area was split into three regions, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa. The Eastern African countries included Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and Uganda. The southern Africa block consisted of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Eswatini while Cameroon represented the central region. The targeted value chain actors varied according to the different countries.In total, 166 actors were interviewed across the three regions. There was no limitation in geographical location; rather, the study purposively tracked and interviewed actors who were willing to participate in the study. The actors included NGOs, seed companies, national agricultural research organizations, and farmer producer groups. Other intermediary actors such as agrodealer outlets, aggregators/middlemen and traders did not participate in this study. 2.1 The study intended to answer the following questions:1. What are the production and delivery models employed by the various actors? 2. To what extent do the production and market delivery models encourage the involvement of women, and are they beneficial to women and vulnerable groups? 3. To what extent do the production and market delivery models promote the availability of and access to affordable high-quality seeds for both men and women? 4. What are the goals of the seed production and market delivery models? 5. What measures are employed to ensure the production and delivery of quality seeds?A structured questionnaire was developed by the Alliance and IRRI team and administered to the various actors involved in common bean seed production and delivery. Country partners were trained and guided on data collection ethics, as the consultants could not fly to all the countries. We worked with national agricultural research staff that are affiliated with the Pan African Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) program and have collected similar data over the years. The questionnaire was programmed and uploaded to a digital platform called SurveyCTO. Data quality checks were also conducted as the data collection progressed. The quantitative data collected was subsequently downloaded, cleaned and analyzed using the SPSS statistical software package. Descriptive analysis was used to compute frequencies, means, and percentages. This analysis helped provide a clear and concise overview of the data, making it more interpretable and informative.As indicated in figure 1, the bean seed chain actors analyzed were seed companies, farmer producer groups, NGO partners and NARS partners. To a great extent, seed companies work closely with farmer groups in production and delivery of bean seed. The farmer groups partnered not only with the seed companies but also NGO, NARS, and other government institutions such as the ministry of agriculture to produce and deliver bean seed. On the other hand, NGO and the NARS collaborates with other NGO, farmer groups and other government institutions. The seed companies are mainly formal by nature, meaning that they are officially established entities that have codified rules and procedures on producing and distributing seed. However, a study by McGuire and Sperling (2016) shows that farmers access 90% of their seed from informal systems. There is a common misconception that uncertified farmer-managed systems produce inferior seed. In contrast, a substantial proportion of wheat seed samples generated by farmers in Ethiopia and Syria exhibited comparable levels of physical purity and germination to certified seed samples (Bishaw et al., 2012).Another study in Tanzania also revealed that retail traders sell good quality seed in the market (Birachi et al., 2020  The producer groups are primarily farmer based, while the seed companies are predominantly private. The NGO partners are predominantly local, with only 28% of them being international. The analysis indicated that the majority of the farmer groups had mixed genders in terms of their composition (95%).At least 85% of the actors and partners involved in bean seed production use different models. Seed companies dominate (80%) in delivering the seeds, NGO closely follow suit at 72%, NARS at 64% while farmer groups participated in seed delivery at 45%. The leadership of all actors in the bean seed value chain is dominated by male. As shown in figure 2, partners that work with NGOs lead at 83%, bean seed farmer groups are male-led at 70%, seed companies at 64%, whereas those who worked with agricultural research institutions were 57% male. On average, approximately 17% of the actors and partners that participated in bean seed production and/or delivery are female. These findings are consistent with those of Vice Versa (2017) who stated that, to produce commercial seeds, a producer needs more land and capital; however, there are limitations for women to access capital and assets, which hinders them from investing in the agricultural sector (Nanyonjo and Nchanji,2023).The seed production actors and partners across the countries utilized different seed production models based on their practicability, country dynamics and nature. It was noted that the majority of the actors used contract farming, seed production cooperatives/groups and seed multiplication and distribution as their preferred models of production as shown in figure 3.To a small extent, all the actors also utilize a community-based seed production model. Contract farming reduces market uncertainty, improves access to inputs, knowledge, services, and provides higher income (Holtaland,2017). According to Simmons et. al. (2005), one way to increase seed production especially with the help of the private sector is the use of contract farming. The author argues that contract farming can reduce transaction costs and solve market imperfections (e.g. credit constraints, information gathering, infrastructure, storage, etc.) in linking smallholder farmers to market. With regard to the impact of contract farming, the existing literature has found positive effects on food security (Bellemare and Novak,2017), and rural transformation (Arouna et.al.,2021) access to markets, credit, technology, information and factor inputs (Ton et al., 2018), and technical efficiency of production, reducing transaction costs, and reducing production risks (Bellemare and Bloem, 2018).Contract farming has increased in many countries because of its significant advantages such as saving transaction costs and mitigating market risks (Gray and Boehli, 2005;Bellemare et.al.,2013).For actors who employed the contract farming production model, the main reasons cited were twofold. First and foremost, seed companies, for instance, lacked adequate land to practice commercial large-scale seed production to satisfy the demand for high-quality seeds; second, actors such as research organizations lacked the requisite labor force or manpower to engage in large-scale seed production on the large tracts of land they owned or leased. For those who practiced their own production, breaching contract terms by farmers was the main reason why they did not engage in contract farming. The most prevalent breach of contract was the sale of bean seeds outside their contractual terms to third-party players in the seed sector Ensuring the empowerment of seed systems entails three key components: firstly, the representation of both male and female farmers in decision-making processes concerning the operations of seed systems; secondly, the provision of equal opportunities for men and women as seed users and producers; and thirdly, the ability of women farmers to formulate strategic decisions pertaining to their access, utilization, and benefit from seed systems (Puskur et al.,2021).The seed production models used by production actors significantly enhanced the active involvement of women and vulnerable groups. The results indicated in figure 4, shows that 77% of the respondents considered the extent to which production models encourage the active involvement of women and vulnerable groups to be either satisfactory or very satisfactory. This is consistent with a seed credit model study that was conducted in Uganda which revealed that men and women farmers had equal access to seed, even though the quantities of seed obtained were determined by factors such as ability to repay and plot size. While women had greater access to improved seed than men, men received a greater amount of it on average. This can be explained by the fact that men own more acres of land than women (Nanyonjo and Nchanji,2023). On the other hand, 23% reported that the production models were either moderate, slightly satisfactory or unsatisfactory with regard to the participation of women and vulnerable groups. Most groups where agriculture is practiced, especially in rural areas, are composed of women; thus, the majority of the group members are women. These groups have a common interest in agricultural production. Most agricultural development partners prefer working with groups rather than individuals due to collective action and therefore working with these groups improves agricultural production (Tallam,2016). In addition, most cooperatives involved in agricultural production have a membership that comprises mostly women even though men might hold the leadership positions of the cooperatives.Contract farming can be considered slightly participatory since farmers are recruited based on their land size and ability to finance good agronomic practices essential for seed production. Farmers who fulfill these requirements are recruited irrespective of their gender. However, it is important to note that most production resources, such as land, are held by men, but the majority of agricultural workers are women. Studies by Brewin et.al. (2018), show that in Africa only 10-30% of contract farmers are women, yet women do a substantial amount of work in contract farming arrangements. Sometimes up to 70% of the labour requirements are supplied by women. Oduol and Mithöfer (2014) also show that where the value chain is well developed and the returns are high, women dominate the production stage while men tend to own the fields, make decisions on sales, and control revenues. This highlights the need to support women to effectively participate in contract farming, to the same extent as their male counterparts.  Furthermore, the analysis indicates that the benefits derived from production models for women and vulnerable groups are consistent with their level of participation. While, 77% of the production models were considered to be either very beneficial or beneficial to women and vulnerable groups, 14% of the production models were noted to be moderately beneficial to women and vulnerable groups, with 7% of the models being slightly beneficial. Two percent of the models were considered not to be beneficial at all. Key findings from a 2018 Feed the Future Mozambique Innovations (FTF INOVA) study agrees with these finding by indicating that agrodealer businesses and business networks are male dominated but more women are hired in the business entities thus, improving their livelihoods. The study showed that the industry recognized women as being trustworthy, hard-working, and good at dealing with clients, thus, most actors invested in female agro-agents, input distributors and retailers to effectively target the last mile farmers, particularly women who face restrictions on their mobility and time (FTF INOVA,2018).Availability of quality improved seed is the ability of women and men farmers to get seed from the right place and at the right planting time (Kramer and Gali`e,2020). Availability of seed is influenced by the type of delivery channel or seed system. Although formal seed system actors frequently maintain skepticism regarding the quality of seed sourced from farmer-managed systems, the majority of farmers are more likely to place their trust in seed produced and supplied by their peers rather than seed purchased from commercial actors (Puskur et al.,2021). To a greater extent, seed production models promote seed availability to men and women when required at the right point and time across countries. As shown in figure 5, 78% of the models portrayed a good and very good distribution of seeds, hence promoting availability. This is in line with a seed credit model study carried in Uganda by Nanyonjo and Nchanji(2023) which revealed that women and men had equal opportunities in accessing seed even though the quantities were determined by other factors such as land size and ability to pay. Affordability refers to farmers' capacity to purchase seed at an affordable price, which might vary depending on the market (Puskur et al.,2021). Both quantity and quality of seed use is majorly constrained by lack money to purchase the seeds by the women ( As indicated in figure 6, approximately 19% of the production models across the countries were considered to be producing either expensive or very expensive seeds. However, the seeds provided through the majority of the production models were affordable (38%), with 11% being very affordable, while others were indifferent and were neither affordable nor expensive (31%). The affordability promoted by the current models increases the purchasing power of farmers and ensures that they obtain value for their investment in bean farming. Affordability of seeds is not gender-neutral. A significant barrier for women is the inability to afford seed, which has a negative impact on the quantity and quality of seed production (Mudege and Torres 2017). It increases women's reliance on farmer-managed systems and hinders their ability to purchase seed from formal systems. Data in Figure 6 shows that NGO production model can result in more affordable seeds, while for the producer groups, it contributes to more expensive seeds, this might mean that farmer groups need more training on reduction of production cost of seeds to make them more affordable. A cocoa study conducted in Ghana indicated that producer group membership significantly impacts technical efficiency and yield (Donkor et   The cost of seeds produced through the highlighted production models by the actors across the countries was highly noted to be somewhat less expensive (45%) as shown in figure 7. However, for some (24%) of the production models, the cost of bean seed was reported to be approximately the same as that of other models used by other seed chain players within their respective countries. In particular, 5% of the bean seeds available through the production models were noted to be very costly.These findings indicate that most of the production models adopted by actors ensure that farmers have a better chance of purchasing seeds that are relatively cheaper without constraining their economic capabilities.   Across the different countries, the actors had set various production goals that drove their daily activities and ensured customer satisfaction. Overall, some of the production model goals across the countries included ensuring high-quality seeds and increasing productivity, both reported at 84%.Other goals of the actors included promoting rural/local economies (67%), inclusivity (58%) and profitability (54%).The primary goal of the production models used by NGO partners is to increase productivity (85%), while that of producer groups, seed companies and NARS partners is to ensure high-quality seeds, as shown by 91%, 87% and 77%, respectively. However, it was also interesting to note that the seed companies were highly aimed at promoting rural/local economies (78%) through employment and stimulating the local business environment compared to other actors. The seed companies prefer engaging women to carry out farming activities on their farms because they consider them not only available but also affordable labor. In African agriculture, women make up between 60 and 80 percent of the labor force (FAO, 2011).Additionally, the results showed that the NGO partners strongly promoted education and training since they ranked highly at 59% compared to the other actors, which shows that they were interested in promoting literacy among the farmers regarding good agricultural practices. This finding is in agreement with those of Puskur et al. (2021), which indicated that women farmers' attendance at training sessions often is contingent upon navigating gender norms imposed by family and community.The production models used by the actors were highlighted to be effective (73%) at achieving the set goals. Some of the models (22%) were considered to be neither effective nor ineffective. This shows that the models were farmer centered and had the priorities of the farmer considered despite aiming at profitability. This was done through increasing farmers' access to quality seeds and training resulting in more income and improved livelihoods. Disaggregation by actors indicates that the production models adopted by NGO partners (80%) and producer groups (79%) were effective at achieving their goals. Additionally, the production models used by seed companies (70%) and NARS (64%) were found to be effective. These results are in agreement with a case study that was carried out in Uganda. According to Nanyonjo and Nchanji (2023), the seed credit model, which was implemented as a strategy to address the gendered seed access gap, has proven to be effective in diminishing the previously significant gender disparity in seed availability among smallholder common bean farmers in Uganda. The model facilitated the provision and accessibility of improved quality seed to both male and female producers, resulting in tangible advantages. Farmers who previously encountered difficulties procuring loans from peers or purchasing substandard seed are now assured of having access to superior seed.Measures put in place to ensure the quality of seeds available under the production models.Quality refers to the outstanding characteristics of a seed that can impact its performance. Good seed viability depends on both physical features (size, weight, color) and genetic quality (Puskur et al., 2021). To ensure the production of quality seeds, most of the actors had several measures put in place to drive their success. Some of the common measures used across the countries included inspections (90%), training (84%), certification (77%) and testing (74%). Other measures noted were traceability and feedback mechanisms, both recorded at 50%.As shown in table 2, disaggregation by actors indicates that the NGO partners embraced the training (91%) component as the most suitable approach for ensuring the production of quality seeds, while the producer groups, seed companies and NARS partners adopted inspections as the most efficient method of ensuring quality, recorded at 95%, 94% and 86%, respectively. Interestingly, technical assistance was also used as a measure to ensure the quality of the produced seeds by 2% of the producer groups and seed companies. According to Puskur et al. (2021), seed delivery channels are a critical component of seed accessibility and can be classified into three overarching classifications, commonly known as \"types of seed systems\": the formal national public seed system; the informal farmer-managed or community-based seed systems; and the formal commercial seed distribution networks. A significant divergence in the delivery models was observed among the actors. An array of delivery models were adopted by the different actors across the countries, with direct sales noted as the most predominant model used by 37% of the actors as shown in figure 8.Direct sales aim to considerably shorten the seed distribution chain by allowing seed producers to market directly to the buyers, thereby reducing both the direct and indirect transaction costs of distribution.Other models commonly used included agrodealer networks and seed fairs and exchanges, which were recorded by 17% and 15%, respectively. Private sector seed businesses are important players in the commercial seed delivery chain through formal wholesale and retail agrodealers; they supply popular hybrid varieties of vegetables and grains that farmers request each planting season. The seed supplied in this channel is branded and certified. In farmer-managed or community-based systems (informal), seed is acquired from local markets and/or traded through social and local networks, these networks are frequently moral economy-based (Bates et al. 2011, Schöley et al. 2017, Suma and Großmann 2017). The seeds are typically uncertified, not labeled, or quality declared (Puskur et al.,2021).Disaggregation by actors indicates that in addition to direct sales, to some extent, NGO partners also utilize seed multiplication and distribution (20%), seed fair and exchange (18%) and agrodealer networks (20%) as their main delivery models. On the other hand, seed companies use the public-private partnerships model (17%) along with direct sales. In addition to direct sales, producer groups and NARS partners also use agrodealer networks (27%) and seed fair and exchanges (19%), respectively. Agrodealers continue to play an important role in the distribution system of improved seeds and other inputs, enabling farmers living in the rural areas to access productivity enhancing tools and technologies. For instance, most seed companies reach farmers in Kenya through agrodealerships (Erenstein & Kassie, 2018). Because of the very dispersed markets and poor infrastructure in rural areas, the direct sales of seed companies in their own shops is very limited and most of their seed is sold through agrodealer networks (Erenstein & Kassie, 2018;Langyintuo et al., 2010).Public-private partnerships Seed fairs and exchanges Seed multiplication and distribution Women and vulnerable groups often seek empowerment and engagement in different agricultural activities. The analysis in figure 9 indicates that 69% of the models were either participatory or very participatory. According to the data provided by the actors across the different African countries, the models promoted participatory (41%) and active involvement of women and vulnerable groups to a significant extent, which made them part of the bean seed chain. Moreover, 28% of the respondents considered the delivery models to be very participatory, involving women and vulnerable groups. However, it is worth to note that, even though women participate in various activities of the delivery models, their roles and decisions aren't principal, they are either recruited as assistants or co-owners without much power to determine the entities' key operations. For instance, a study conducted by Bayesian consulting group (2016) revealed that, in Kenya, there are more men than women in agrodealership business with 63% and 37% being male and female respectively. This could be considered fairly participatory and thus, consistent with these findings.Owing to the strengthened, active and participatory involvement of women and vulnerable groups in the delivery models, the models were either beneficial or very beneficial, as reported by 70% of the actors across the countries. This has aided in boosting their income and enhancing their resilience to the everchanging agricultural dynamics exacerbated by climatic changes. Availability pertains to the tangible presence of an adequate quantity of seed in a suitable location and time, with particular emphasis on seed of preferred crops and varieties (Puskur et al.,2021). They further asserted that it is important for farmers to obtain quality seed on time, for increased productivity, food security and income. Furthermore, women and men's ability to access seeds at the right planting time and convenient place is enabled through the availability of quality seeds (Kramer and Gali`e, 2020).The delivery models utilized by most of the actors across the counties were highlighted to provide better availability of seeds to both men and women when required and at the right time, as shown by 77% of the models. The models performed well (44%) in terms of seeds being available at the right place and time. Moreover, 34% of the delivery models performed very well in ensuring the availability of these seeds to the farmers.Furthermore, the delivery models used across the countries were reported to promote inclusiveness in accessing affordable quality seeds among the majority of the actors, as reported by 78% (either the model was good (45%) or very good (33%) inclusive). Furthermore, 14% of the delivery models were considered to be moderately inclusive, whereas 7% reported that the models were poorly inclusive.Seed pricing affects the purchasing power of farmers over time, and they are often made to incur more costs during the planting season when the prices are too high. With the current delivery models adopted by the different actors, it was noted that 19% and 7% of the delivery models were expensive and very expensive respectively, with 33% providing seeds that were neither affordable nor expensive as shown in figure 10. A significant percentage of the models (31%) provided affordable seeds, while 10% were reported to be very affordable. It is important to note that some seed companies have resulted in the deliberate packaging of seeds in smaller packages than what has been previously on the market. These smaller packages are then delivered through direct sales and agrodealer networks, making the seed affordable for smallholder farmers, especially women and vulnerable groups. These findings coincide with those of McGuire and Sperling (2016) and Kandiwa et. al. (2018), which showed that small packages positively influence the purchase of seeds by women and young farmers. It was also noted that the majority of the seeds provided through the delivery models were somewhat cheaper (38%), while the cost was considered to be about the same (28%) as that of other delivery models. Sixteen percent of the models were reported to be much cheaper as reported above, the availability of small quantities of seeds has made it possible for the farmers to afford the seeds to some extent. Across the different countries in Africa,14% and 4% of the models were reported to be somewhat more expensive and expensive, respectively.The promotion of more affordable farm inputs, especially seeds, can be performed using different approaches, including credit schemes, aid or insurance, which eventually enhances the capacity of farmers to purchase seeds on time or at their convenience. Across the countries covered by the project, different actors noted a myriad of programs and policies enacted to help farmers afford the seeds supplied via the highlighted delivery models, but the most outstanding programs included flexible payment terms (32%),bulk purchase discounts (29%), credit schemes (22%), seed aid (11%),seed exchange programs (11%) and voucher programs(11%). In addition to the aforementioned programs and/or policies, it is worth noting that some of the NGO partners used project funding (3%) to help promote the affordability of the seeds among the farmers. This finding concurs with studies by McGuire and Sperling (2016) and Kandiwa et. al. (2018), which revealed that small packages, promotion as well as presentations in the local markets, all positively affects the purchase of seeds by young and women farmers.Disaggregation by actors shows that NGO partners have mainly put in place bulk purchase discounts (33%), credit schemes (30%) and subsidies (28%) as a means of supporting farmers in affording beans supplied by their delivery models. In contrast, seed companies have mainly implemented programs such as subsidies (59%),flexible payment terms and credit schemes (32%), and voucher programs (30%).The farmer producer groups mainly used flexible payment terms (41%) and bulk purchase discounts (37%), whereas the main NARS partner programs put in place to support farmers in obtaining affordable bean seeds under delivery models like bulk purchase discounts (33%) and subsidies (31%).Goal setting drives the success of any organization or firm since the goals provide a clear path upon which every actor/player will walk through the entire process toward success. Realistic goals help organizations realize their mandate and ensure quality service delivery and hence customer satisfaction. Across the countries involved in the project, some of the notable goals of the delivery models included ensuring high-quality seeds (72%), profitability/market expansion (64%), increased productivity (63%), inclusivity (59%) and promoting rural/local economies (58%). Other common goals noted were sustainability (37%), partnership and collaboration (31%), education and training (30%), climate change adaptability/risk management (27%), policy influence (25%), technological innovation (22%) and diversity (20%).Disaggregation by actors indicates that the NGO partners' main goals are profitability/market expansion (74%) and ensuring seed quality (69%). The goals of seed companies are to ensure high-quality seeds (82%), increase productivity (75%) and promote rural/local economies. Furthermore, the producer groups' main objectives are high-quality seeds (81%) and profitability/market expansion (80). The NARS partners' targets are profitability/ market expansion (63%) and high-quality seeds (55%).The attainment of set goals requires the utilization of proper and effective systems as well as the availability of human resources that are properly motivated to work and drive the success of an organization or company. Among the actors across the different countries of study in Africa, it was noted that the delivery models used by most of the actors were effective (37%) in achieving their set goals, with some reported that they were very effective (32%). Some delivery models (29%) were considered neither effective nor not effective. Actor based analysis indicates that the delivery models that are used by NGO partners and seed companies were found to be effective at 77% and 78% respectively. Further, the delivery models utilized by producer groups and NARS partners were reported to be effective at 64% and 57% respectively.Quality factors of production, including seeds, promote good harvests among farmers since the plants are well suited to the different climatic conditions and will have better bulk produce. Ensuring the quality of seeds produced is a major goal of most seed producers and was also highly ranked as the most common goal among the seed actors in the project countries. Table 3 indicates some of the measures enacted by the majority of the actors to ensure good quality of the bean seeds included inspections (71%), certification (70%), training (66%), testing (64%), feedback mechanisms (55%) and traceability (54%).Notably, the NGO partner's main measure of ensuring the delivery of quality seeds is training (77%), while the main measure for ensuring the delivery of quality seeds through the NARS is certification (80%). Conversely, the main measure put in place by seed companies and producer groups in facilitating the quality of seed delivered is inspection (80%).The overarching goal of key stakeholders in the seed sector is to meet their needs. This is achieved through the production and market delivery of high-quality seeds. Limited supply, availability, and access to bean seeds are likely among the most constraining factors on crop productivity. Effective seed systems have the potential to increase production. Seed systems can influence food security by improving the availability, access to and use of improved seed varieties. Countries across Africa have instituted diverse seed systems for the production and market delivery of common bean seeds.The study findings reveal that the most common production model practiced by actors is contract farming, followed closely by seed production cooperatives/groups, and seed multiplication and distribution. The most notable delivery models are direct sales, agrodealer networks and seed fairs and exchanges.The production and delivery models encourage inclusivity and are beneficial to women and vulnerable groups. Furthermore, the models promote the availability of and access to affordable high-quality seeds for men and women at the required times and point. However, it should be noted that leadership positions across the actors are dominated by male in contrast with their female counterparts. Furthermore, the models are beneficial and not primarily empowering women and vulnerable groups. This means that, to a great extent, they do not participate in making key decisions along the chain. For instance, seed companies and agrodealer outlets employ women to work in their farms, thus benefiting through salaries. Women also provide labour and participate in various farm activities but in the end, it is their male counterparts who makes decisions on the use of income that is generated from bean farming.The main goals of production models are ensuring high-quality seeds and increasing productivity. In contrast, the primary goals of delivery models are ensuring high-quality seeds, profitability/market expansion, increased productivity, inclusivity, and promoting rural economies. Notable programs/policies put in place by delivery models to help farmers afford seeds include flexible payment terms, bulk purchase discounts and credit schemes.The study underscores the effectiveness of the models in the production and delivery of high-quality bean seeds through the high ratings of the models highlighted. By doing so, farmers can harness the effectiveness of the highlighted seed production and delivery models to improve productivity and influence food security.To continue realizing the inclusivity of women and vulnerable groups, a multistakeholder approach that is geared toward women's empowerment should be considered for both production and delivery models.Additionally, a key cross-cutting issue is the lack of women in leadership positions as actors who participate in bean production and delivery models. The authors recommend the establishment of mechanisms and strategies that will support women's involvement in leading bean seed entities.Women should be supported to effectively participate in contract farming. It is also important to strengthen and expand the agrodealer network since they play an important role in the distribution of seeds.Annex 1: Questionnaire Seed Production and Market Delivery Models Questionnaire You have been selected to participate in this study because you are a key stakeholder in servicing the needs of the seed sector. The study aims to understand key bean/soybean/cowpea seed value chain actors. The study will document the gendered seed production and delivery models used by diverse value chain actors (NGOs, seed companies, government, research organisations, and farmers). Please indicate sources of information and provide any available documentation. We are requesting a few minutes of your time to take this survey. All the collected information will be treated as confidential and only be used for study purposes and to provide evidence for change in the existing legume seed systems. Don't know________ 4. Are these NGOs involved in seed production? _______1= Yes, 0=No 5. List the different seed production models used by these NGOs. (Select all the at apply): ___Codes: 1=Community-based seed production, 2=Participatory plant breeding, 3=Integrated seed sector development, 4=Seed multiplication and distribution, 5=Farmer field schools, 6=Contract farming (individual), 7=Seed revolving fund, 8=Seed production cooperatives/group, 9=Public-private partnerships, 99=Other, specify 6. For each of the seed production model selected, please rate how inclusive (in terms of participation and benefiting) you believe it considers women and vulnerable groups. 16. How effective do you believe the seed production and delivery models used by the NGOs are achieving their goals? Please rate each seed production model you have listed on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being not ineffective at all and 5 being very effective."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c2482b03c5c9c3fae693855cc86f5c43","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1036d140-e5ee-41f9-a590-c354cbe16478/retrieve","id":"-1276403354"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"99a158fb-0fbe-4384-9afe-847950160f78","content":"This brief explores Tanzanian farmers' requirements for sorghum seed products as input for discussions by CGIAR and NARES on seed product market segmentation and the design of target product profiles (TPPs). We applied a novel approach to identify the requirements-video-based product concept testing (VPCT). Through multiple engagements with breeders, farmers, and industry, we identified seven sorghum seed-product concepts, five targeting the end use-home use, feed and food, industrial malting, food and fodder, forage; one concept on cropping system-intercropping; and one targeting material type-hybrid. We sampled 1,100 farmers from the Dodoma and Shinyanga Regions, where each farmer evaluated and ranked three concepts. Farmers were most likely to have selected the hybrid concept as their most preferred concept, followed by the home use concept. Based on these results, we present a proposal for revisions of the current set of market segments and TPPs for sorghum in Tanzania-one the largest sorghum producers in Eastern Africa.Across Eastern and Southern Africa, the demand for sorghum is growing. Orr et al. (2020) projected that the demand for sorghum in Eastern and Southern Africa would reach 29.9 million t by 2050 under a \"business as usual\" scenario, up from 11.8 million in 2015 (an increase of 153 percent). Sorghum production is concentrated in the region's semiarid agroecologies where farmers regard them as insurance crops and are unwilling to rely solely on maize for household food security. Consumers perceive sorghum production as complementary to maize production. Sorghum can also be mixed with wheat flour to produce composite wheat flour (Poole et al. 2024). The market is growing for sorghum grain for animal feed and industrial brewing, even in countries where sorghum is traditionally grown for food (Srinivasa Rao et al. 2014). Population growth, consumer preferences, and growth in brewing and livestock-feed industries are driving demand up for sorghum across Africa. Against this background, future investments in sorghum breeding and seed systems development by CGIAR and the national agricultural research and extension Systems (NARES) have relatively high potential to deliver impact on economic and food security.Tanzania is one the largest sorghum producers in Eastern and Southern Africa, and the seventh largest producer globally. In area under cultivation, sorghum is the third most grown cereal in Tanzania, after maize and rice. It is mainly grown in semiarid regions under rainfed production systems. Most farmers intercrop sorghum with other crops, including legumes, maize, and cassava (Slakie et al. 2019). In the past decade, sorghum production has grown substantially. The quantity of sorghum produced increased by about 20 percent (Figure 1), from 838,717 t in 2012 to 1 million t in 2022 (FAOSTAT 2023). In addition, the area harvested increased by a similar percentage, from 839,423 ha in 2012 to 1 million ha in 2022. A growing export market has played a role in the expansion of sorghum production. The value of exported sorghum increased from USD 2.4 million in 2012 to almost USD 11.4 in 2022, which is more than a 300 percent increase in the past five years (FAOSAT 2023).Traditionally, sorghum has been a staple crop in Tanzania, forming an important component of rural diets. Most farmers produce sorghum primarily for their own consumption, where it is eaten as porridge or ugali (thick porridge), a traditional dish derived from mixing sorghum flour or a mixture of sorghum and maize or cassava flours with water. Portions of the sorghum harvest may also be used as feed for livestock. In past years, increased domestic demand has arisen for white sorghum from breweries such as Tanzania Breweries Company Limited and Serengeti Breweries Limited (Akpo et al. 2022a). The share of domestic use was estimated by Ndossi et al. (2021) as follows: brewing industry (43 percent), food (40 percent), and animal feed (7 percent). Traders (small and large scale) and processors are the main buyers in the sorghum grain market (Akpo et al. 2022a). White and red sorghum are available for home consumption and animal feed. 1200000 1000000 800000 600000 400000 200000 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 3 2 0 0 4 2 0 0 5 2 0 0 6 2 0 0 7 2 0 0 8 2 0 0 9 2 0 1 0 2 0 1 1 2 0 1 2 2 0 1 3 2 0 1 4 2 0 1 5 2 0 1 6 2 0 1 7 2 0 1 8 2 0 1 9 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 1 2 0 2 2 0 Production (t)Area harvested (ha)Research and development efforts focused on sorghum in Tanzania began in the early 1980s. Since that time, international research institutes such as the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), along with national agricultural research systems, notably the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), and various universities have worked together to develop improved sorghum varieties. According to the Tanzania Official Seed Certification institute (TOSCI), 2024, 18 improved varieties were released in Tanzania by 2023. Most of the improved cultivars are designed based on conventional breeding approaches, with a primary focus on agronomic traits, particularly yield and disease resistance. However, the efforts and investments targeted at enhancing uptake of improved varieties have only been partially successful, with significantly low adoption rates (Kimbi et al. 2020). One of the reasons for the low rate is development of products that do not respond to the requirements of farmers and end users (processors and consumers).Moving forward, the One CGIAR Initiative on Market Intelligence has an opportunity to inform crop-breeding efforts of CGIAR and NARES by shedding light on the requirements for farmers, processors, and consumers and the ideal seed products to respond to these requirements. The two basic elements to guide discussions are seed product market segments (SPMSs) and target product profiles (TPPs). The SPMS refers to a group of farmers with common variety requirements. In the context of CGIAR and NARES crop breeding, these segments are defined based on grower requirements (where and how the crops are grown) and end-user requirements (what the crop is used for). For each SPMS, there is a unique TPP that provides the blueprint for design of the ideal product for that SPMS and indicates the traits and characteristics required for a new variety to meet or exceed the requirements of growers, processors, and consumers.Table 1 presents the SPMSs for sorghum in the Eastern African Federation (EAF). These segments evolved out of discussions with the Tanzania Sorghum Product Design Team, a group of representatives from public and private sectors that informs SPMS and TPP design, that include farmer representatives, processors, seed companies, as well as scientists such as breeders, pathologists, seed systems specialists, and socio-economists. The main criteria that distinguish the sorghum segments are material type (hybrid versus open-pollinated variety, or OPV) and color (white/ cream versus red/brown). The market segment for forage sorghum that is produced for fodder only is listed as \"not current country priority\" and therefore is not included as a market segment.All the sorghum SPMSs include a variety of uses: food, feed, fodder, and malting. The corresponding TPPs for these segments contain 29 essential traits (i.e., targets that must be met for the advancement of new varieties), of which 3 to 4 are improvement traits. Delivering new products that meet the thresholds and targets of the 29 traits will be a significant undertaking. Production and agronomic and disease traits such as genetic purity, plant height, disease and pest tolerance, drought tolerance, and early maturity are required for all the seed products. However, there are some nutrition-enhancement and processing traits (such as proteins, starch, iron, and zinc contents; taste; grain color; tannin levels; and digestibility) that are linked to specific use (Table 2). By understanding farmer use requirements, a prioritization of end-use improvement traits can help to simplify the breeding process. identify alternatives to the current sorghum SPMS for TPP prioritization in Tanzania. Additionally, a concept of cropping system and the material type was included.The process of concept development involved qualitative research, including eight focus-group discussions with smallholders and interviews with various stakeholders, such as seed producers, traders, processors, and TARI, a national plant-breeding institute. Participation in a sorghum PDT meeting in Tanzania and continuous consultations with sorghum breeders at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) were also integral to the concept development. The discussions focused on the goals farmers had for their sorghum production, their preferred growing methods, uses of sorghum at home, experiences in selling sorghum, and preferences for maturity and color. Discussions with technical experts focused on the technological possibilities of breeding; the new types of products end users (processors and farmers) were interested in; and the suitability and potential of other types of sorghum not yet grown in Tanzania, such as hybrid sorghum and intercropping sorghum. Figure 2 shows the process of ideation of the sorghum concepts.Seven product concepts emerged from the ideation process (Table 3): Home use (food for the family), feed and food, industrial malting (grain for beer), forage, food and fodder, intercropping (sorghum and peas), and commercial (highyielding hybrid) products. See Annex 1 for a full overview of the concept's description. The main growers' goals of early maturity, high yield (compared to local varieties), and drought and disease tolerance were held constant in all the developed concepts. Farmers also indicated the color they would require in the products. The description of the concepts included the product goal(s) and any potential shortcomings that the use of the product may imply (e.g., reduced yield).The product-presentation videos were recorded in a professional studio in the local language (Swahili). A male actor posed as an agrodealer representative, dressed in a white lab coat standing behind a counter and in front of several bags of different seeds, herbicides, and pesticides. Stay green until maturityIn vitro organic matter digestability (IVOM)A quick review of the sorghum market segments leads to several questions for discussion with the Tanzania product design team (PDT), related to farmers' requirements for sorghum seed products:• End use: Do farmers require products that meet a host of possible end uses (e.g., food, feed, fodder, and malting) or are their requirements more focused on one or two end uses. The latter would allow for more feasible TPPs with few essential traits.• Color: In what color do farmers require the sorghum for different uses? Prioritization of different uses should include color considerations.• Production systems: TPPs are designed considering a monoculture production system. Do farmers grow sorghum under monoculture or intercropping production systems? If the latter, then this would imply the need to add a market segment that recognizes the intercropping production systems.This study used video-based product concept testing (VPCT). Product concept testing is early-stage market research that involves description of hypothetical products, and their potential uses and benefits to the customers. Product concepts (ideas) are usually developed, packaged, and presented to the consumers for evaluation. The underlying principle is that customers seek value from a product rather than the physical product itself (Luso 1975). For example, farmers will experiment with or invest in a new seed product only if they expect the product will help accomplish a particular task or goal (Campos 2021). In some cases, this goal may be higher yield under monocropping conditions; in other cases, the goal may be better-tasting food for the family and local market. Understanding the goals farmers seek from seed products will allow for nuanced segmentation and, in return, more impactful TPPs.In this brief, concept testing focuses on understanding the goals farmers have from producing sorghum and linking these goals to potential future seed products. Sorghum product concepts were designed mainly around specific farmer requirements related to end-user requirements to  A total of nine videos were recorded, a video for each of the seven concepts plus an introductory and a closing video. In the product-presentation videos, lasting one to two minutes, the product was introduced and then the benefits and drawbacks of the concept were highlighted. The introductory video presented the scene (context) and explained what would follow, including the decision that the farmer would need to make. The closing video included guidance on the ranking activity and appreciation for listening.To evaluate the concepts, a household survey, which included 1,100 sorghum farmers, was carried out in Kongwa and Kondoa Districts of the Dodoma Region and Kishapu and Shinyanga Districts of the Shinyanga Region. Inspired by the tricot approach that uses incomplete randomized blocks, each respondent watched three different product concepts videos (out of the seven). The videos were randomized in subsets of three, where each concept was shown an equal number of times. In total, each farmer watched five videos: the introductory video, three videos describing different product concepts, and a closing video.After the respondents watched each concept video, they answered questions on each concept's similarity to the varieties they currently grow, their interest in trying the new concepts, their willingness to replace their current varieties with the new ones, and the color they would prefer for the products. Finally, respondents were asked to select their most and least preferred product for purchase if available at local agrodealer shops. The data analysis on the ranking of the concept was done by ClimMob software (de Sousa et al. 2022;Turner et al. 2020).The seven product concepts were assessed by ranking them across the whole sample (Figure 3). Table 4 shows the direct rankings among all the concepts, indicating the percentage of farmers who ranked a given concept (indicated in the row) before the other respective concepts (indicated in the columns). Additionally, we used regions, districts, and gender as covariates to split the sample in case of significant instability in the Plackett-Luce model, driven by difference in rankings (Figure 4). Figure 5 indicates the color preference for each concept. We discuss the seven concepts in categories following the farmer ranking: the first tier, the middle, and the last tier, given their probability of being ranked as the most preferred, respectively.The best performing concepts (first tier) were the highyielding hybrid and food for the family (Figure 3). They had the highest probability of being ranked as the most preferred by the farmers. In the direct ranking between the concepts (Table 4), the two concepts had a higher percentage of farmers preferring them over the other five concepts. However, in a direct comparison with each other, high-yielding hybrid had a slightly higher win probability compared with the foodfor-the-family concept. The Plackett-Luce model (Figure 4), however, indicated that there was some divergence between regions, districts, and gender. Women in Dodoma (in both Kongwa and Kondoa Districts) and men in Kongwa District preferred the concept of food for the family over the high-yielding hybrid, while in the Shinyanga Region (Kishapu and Shinyanga Districts) both men and women preferred the concept of high-yielding hybrid to that of food for the family.   The middle tier includes the intercropping (sorghum and pea), food and fodder, and food and feed (Figure 3). The intercropping concept was the most preferred of the three concepts, while there was no clear leader between food and feed and food and fodder (Table 3). However, men in the Kondoa District, Shinyanga Region, preferred the food and feed concept slightly more than the intercropping concept (Figure 4). The last tier includes concepts that were least preferred, namely grain for beer and sorghum for forage (Figure 3). These concepts were not prioritized by the farmers, especially sorghum for forage, which scored lower than the rest of the concepts. However, men in the Kondoa District, Shinyanga Region, preferred the forage concept slightly more than the grain for beer (Figure 4). Across all the concepts, white sorghum grain was preferred by 70 percent of the sample (Figure 5). Among the seven sorghum-seed product concepts developed, farmers were most likely to have selected hybrid and home use concepts as their preferred concepts. The intercropping concept ranked third, followed by feed and food, food and fodder, industrial malting, and forage. The preference for the hybrid concept indicates a rising interest in sorghum as a cash crop for the brewing industry and for export. Over the past five years, regional exports of sorghum from Tanzania have surged by 300 percent (FAOSTAT 2023).For the concept on food for the family, farmers were willing to sacrifice 20 percent of yield for a product that has good home consumption qualities, which highlights that sorghum forms an important part of rural diets and that its value is in home use. The preference for the intercropping product concept reflects farmers' interest in sorghum seed products that complement legume production. Sorghum for forage was the least preferred concept, indicating that the value of sorghum is largely for grain production. Across all the concepts, white sorghum grain was preferred by 70 percent of the sample. White color is a must-have requirement for national and regional markets and is also considered to provide better-tasting sorghum-based foods.The results support discussions on refinements to sorghum segmentation. First, the study identified hybrid and home use (food for the family) as priority market segments. There is an existing breeding pipeline for hybrids in Tanzania that supplies 2 percent of the market. The strong preference for hybrids indicates the need for increased investments in breeding and seed systems of hybrid seed products. A new current market segment was identified-the home use segment. Conversations with farmers, processors, and food scientists are required to better understand what traits determine \"good taste\" and \"good cooking qualities\" and how best to measure these traits. Second, three near-term future market segments were identified: intercropping (sorghum and peas), food and feed, and food and fodder. Currently, breeding efforts do not support the intercropping segment, but it is a recognized need among farmers. Third, a potentially long-term future market segment was recognized: forage sorghum. Currently, these seed products are unavailable in Tanzania and are not in demand among farmers. Nevertheless, this does not mean that they should be overlooked, especially with increased climate variability in mind: forage sorghum is outstandingly drought resistant and grows where maize is not able to grow because of high temperatures or dry conditions. In future it could be a good substitute for maize in silage making for livestock. Finally, white sorghum varieties should be prioritized.FAOSTAT This product is called \"Feed and Food.\"This sorghum seed was designed to provide your family with grain that is useful for feed and food.The seed provides grain with improved protein, which makes it suitable as feed for your own chickens and pigs. You could also sell the grain to other farmers or traders who process animal feed.The seed is also used for food, but less attention has been given to cooking qualities such as taste. The seed may not be as good for food as a product that is designed for food only. The seed is not designed for fodder or malting.This product is called \"Food for family.\"The sorghum seed is focused on serving your cooking needs; the cooking qualities has been given priority.• Nutrition: higher level of iron and zinc • The grain gives a good amount of flour when milled.• The product gives a sweet taste to your uji or ugali.• It cooks easily.• It is easy to thresh. The seed has 20% less yield compared to the other improved seed. This means that if the other improved seed give you 10 bags, this seed will give you 8 bags assuming you planted on a similar farm. However, it still has higher yield than the local varieties. The seed is not designed for animal feed, fodder, or malting.This product is called \"Grain for beer.\"This sorghum seed is mainly focused on serving the needs of the processors in your area. It has large grains and is highly demanded in your area by traders and processors for industrial beer making. This is a sorghum seed for income purposes only. It is not designed for food, feed, or fodder. This product is called \"Forage for animals.\"It is a hybrid sorghum seed designed for making livestock feed. It is harvested before the grain matures, at 100-120 days. It has soft leaves and stems that are easy for the animals to eat and get nutrients. You can use it to make silage for your livestock or sell the silage for income. This seed is not recommended if you grow sorghum for grains.Dual purpose: Food/fodder This product is called \"Food and fodder.\"The sorghum seed is designed with qualities that make it suitable for food and fodder.It has big and soft leaves and stems that are easily eaten by livestock for fodder. However, this quality reduces the grain yield of the plant.The seed is also used for food, but less attention has been given to cooking qualities such as taste.The seed may not be as good as for a product that is designed for food only. The seed is not designed for malting and grains for animal feed.This product is called \"Sorghum and peas.\"This sorghum seed is designed to perform well when you combine it in the field with peas such pigeon pea, cowpea, and chickpea. By growing this sorghum seed and peas on the same plot, you improve your soil and yields, and you increase varieties of food available for your household. Please note that planting two crops in that same plot makes it difficult to plant, manage, and harvest, which increases labor cost. It also makes it difficult to use machines for planting, spraying, harvesting, etc., in the case of large farms.This product is called \"High-yielding hybrid.\"This sorghum seed is designed to be high yielding. It yields about 30% more compared to other improved seeds. This means that if the other improved seed gives you 10 bags, this seed will give you 13 bags, assuming you planted on a similar farm. The product is mainly for selling to traders who buy grain for food processing. You can also use it for food, but less attention has been given to cooking qualities such as taste. Please note, you will need to buy seeds every season to maintain the yield benefit. Planting seed from your harvest will reduce the yield. This product is not designed for feeding and malting."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"177a70af82a14fbc7d8d1d88eb0612d6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a4ad1220-57b4-40de-b7bb-b81791a72fe1/retrieve","id":"322016460"},"keywords":["Coastal aquaculture","climate change","climate-smart agriculture","shrimp farming","climate-smart aquaculture"],"sieverID":"3559d28c-b790-4b34-8428-538cec427fa8","content":"Coastal aquaculture, particularly brackish water shrimp farming, plays an important role in the socio-economic development of most coastal communities on the North Central Coast (NCC) of Vietnam. However coastal aquaculture in the region is among the activities most affected by increasing global climate change, which threatens sustainable development of the fisheries sector, as well as food security of the country. Within the action plan framework for adaptation and mitigation for climate change in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), climate-smart aquaculture (CSA) trials have been conducted in Hoang Phong commune, Thanh Hoa province in 2015 by WorldFish, the Vietnam Institute of Economics and Planning (VIFEP)and Thanh Hoa Agriculture Extension Center (TEC). In the farm-level climate-smart aquaculture trials, tilapia was raised in rotation with tiger shrimp, mud-crab and seaweed in a traditional extensive aquaculture system. Initial results show that the aqua-smart practice under the CSA approach is a \"triple win\" for local aquaculture farmers through: (1) sustainably improving aquaculture productivity and farming efficiency of the current production system; (2) increasing adaptive capacity and resilience of coastal aquaculture to climate change; and (3) contributing to climate change mitigation. However, a number of constraints, such as lack of high quality fish seed and feeds, low market uptake for tilapia and uncertainty from extreme climate events, should be considered in scaling out the aqua-smart practice throughout the region.It is estimated that between 660 and 820 million people globally depend on fisheries 1 for their livelihoods and income. Of these, 58.3 million, including 84% of the people living in Asia, are directly engaged in the primary production (FAO 2014). The sector's contribution to food and nutrition security, gender equity and poverty reduction is increasingly recognized, particularly in developing countries. However, current patterns of increasing fish consumption and production imposes pressures on fisheries resources and ecosystem services. For the last 10 years, global production of capture fisheries has levelled around 90 million tonnes annually. This implies the need to increase aquaculture production to compensate for expected future shortages of fish for food. An analysis of future supply and demand for fish suggests that current levels of aquaculture production need to double in the next few decades to secure food and nutrition for the growing populations (World Bank 2013).In addition, climate change is already largely hampering the global food production systems, including aquaculture (FAO 2014). The physical changes in climate, such as increase in temperature, variation in rainfall patterns, rise in sea level and increase in frequency and intensity of extreme climate events, have brought negative impacts on the physiological, ecological and operational processes in aquaculture (Handisyde et al. 2006;Daw et al. 2006;Badjeck et al. 2010).Adapting to and mitigating the negative impacts of climate change require changes in aquaculture practices, farming community attitudes, as well as the locations of farming facilities.In view of resilience, adaptability and diversification of farmed species, it is argued that aquaculture will be able to respond appropriately to climate change impacts and emerge as an alternative livelihood (De Silva and Soto 2009). Furthermore, it has also been argued that increased production will have to come from simple farming technologies, which farmers can easily adopt, and involve both production of more low-priced food species and high-value species (Troell 2009). It is widely accepted that agriculture 3 is particularly vulnerable to climate change. The impacts of climate change, compounded with increasing global demand for food, pose higher risks to livelihoods and food security, especially that of the world's poorest people (IPCC 2014).Agriculture, however, is also responsible for a large portion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as it is mostly driven by the extensive use of natural resources, such as deforesting forest lands, converting mangrove stands to aquaculture, or using fertilizers and energy inputs in agriculture production. This therefore requires the introduction of new inputs, techniques and services that can improve crop productivity without further degrading natural resources, such as soil and water, and the environment, while adapting to a changing climate and increasing resilience to risks from extreme weather events (Steenwerth et al. 2014).The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) coined CSA in response to the intertwined global challenges of food insecurity, poverty and climate change. According to FAO (2013), CSA is \"agriculture that sustainably increases productivity, enhances resilience, reduces/removes greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), and enhances achievement of national food security and development goals\" (Figure 1). This concept has been developed not only to simply 3 FAO (2010) defines agriculture in the broader system of agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, and forestry 10 focus on technologies or practices, but also to represent a set of strategies that can deal with climate change impacts by increasing resilience to weather extreme events, adapting to climate change and reducing GHG emissions. The CSA approach thus aims to improve the integration of agriculture development and climate responsiveness that supports sustainable and equitable transitions for agriculture systems and livelihoods across scales (i.e. ranging from the local to global) and time horizons (i.e. over short and long term) (Lipper et al. 2014;Steenwerth et al. 2014). Although CSA emphasizes agricultural systems aiming to attain three objectives, it does not mean these objectives have to be met by every applied practice and/or in every location (FAO 2013;Lipper et al. 2014). The relative importance of each objective may vary across locations and/or situations, hence potential synergies and/or trade-offs will vary between and among the objectives. For example, in developing countries where food security and poverty reduction are of high priority, the focus will be more on stabilizing and sustainably increasing agriculture productivity, improving income and building adaptive capacity. In contrast, CSA approaches in developed countries may emphasize more on climate change mitigation through increasing production efficiency and reducing GHG emissions from agriculture (Lipper et al. 2014;Steenwerth et al. 2014). Therefore, achieving the targeted growth with a lower emission trajectory will require concerted efforts to maximize synergies and minimize trade-offs between productivity and mitigation (FAO 2013).Enhances the achievements of national food security and development goalsThere are a number of climate-smart agricultural practices and investments that have been provento significantly contribute to both climate change adaptation and GHG mitigation, including agroforestry, zero tillage, use of cover crops, intercropping, water conservation, water and nutrient investment and use of diverse varieties. Aquaculture technologies and practices that reduce energy consumption and optimize carbon sequestration also provide opportunities for mitigation (FAO 2013). For example integrated multitrophic aquaculture systems, which are not only less reliant or even non-reliant on fishmeal and fish oil inputs, but also utilize waste inputs from more intensive aquaculture, have higher potential for expansion than production systems that are dependent on capture fisheries commodities.Recognizing the role of aquaculture as an important food production sector, FAO (2013) suggested three practical themes in developing various CSA strategies for the aquaculture sector:(1) Increasing sustainably production, yield and efficiency: primarily focusing on intensifying production; using better integrated systems; improving stocks; making feeding more efficient and reducing losses from diseases;(2) Reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience: improving farm site selection and design; individual/cluster insurance; using indigenous or non-reproducing stocks to minimize biodiversity impacts; improving efficacy of water usage; shifting from capture fisheries to coastal aquaculture; selecting for short-cycle production; improving water sharing; improving seed quality and efficiency; and(3) Reducing and removing GHGs: primary options include integrated multitrophic aquaculture and better pond management.Coastal aquaculture is the production of aquatic organisms in brackish and saline water, and is becoming increasingly popular in tropical countries (Troell 2009). This aquaculture system is highly diverse in practices and is dominated by integrated farming practices of multiple species (e.g. shrimp/prawn, mud crab, milkfish, seaweed, mussel and clam). The review by Troell (2009) shows that integrated aquaculture systems are dynamic, resilient and versatile, as their structure and function can change according to different locations, seasons, species and social environments. Among existing integrated aquaculture systems, polyculture is dominant (60%), with shrimp as the major species group being grown (76%), along with tilapia (29%) and milkfish (16%) (Troell 2009). The relationships between those cultivated species and their environmental systems largely depende on the biological characteristics of the species and the degree of farming intensification. In an extensive polyculture system mostly based on natural productivity, stocking aquatic species of different feeding habits together enables a more efficient utilization of pond resources. However, only a proper combination of ecologically different species at adequate densities will utilize the available resources efficiently, maximize the synergies between species and species-environment relationships and minimize the antagonistic ones.coastal aquaculture systems have been practiced for centuries in Indonesia, China and Hong Kong, and more recently in the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand (Troell 2009). In this system, most of the farms prioritize either shrimp (P. monodon, P. vannamei, M. ensis) or milkfish production. Crabs and other species are sometimes added as minor species for aeration, or added opportunistically if the market and environmental (i.e. salinity) conditions are favorable.According to Troell (2009), integrated aquaculture directly benefits farmers either through added value products, improved water quality, disease prevention, habitat conservation and greater allowed production volumes through waste reduction (emissions reduction). In the context of constrained inputs and resources (e.g., water, land, feed and energy), climate change and the need to address the negative environmental impacts from aquaculture, viable climate-smart aquaculture (aqua-smart) systems should be developed based on the most suitable techniques, and considering both traditional and more innovative practices.In Figure 2 presents the overall framework of the ECO-SAMP project approach from local to regional scales. Pilot activities under the project were implemented in Hoang Phong commune, Hoang Hoa district, Thanh Hoa province, which is on the NCC of Vietnam. The lessons learnt from the project will be scaled out and up to enhance community resilience and promote aquasmart management practices and institutions in northern and north-central Vietnam. practices and related supports, but also serve as a baseline for evaluating the project impacts.The follow-up activity in 2015 was a CSAq trial, a key project intervention, at the farm level.The field trial was developed by WorldFish, VIFEP and TEC, in accordance with the results of the baseline study and farmers' perceptions of the CSAq intervention in the region. Local farmers were selected to test the CSAq practices on their farms with financial and technical support from the project. Participating farmers were trained by the project team on aquaculture management practices as well as business management skills, including farm budgeting and marketing, for successful adoption of the practice. In addition to providing support, the project also looked into improving resilience capacity for local farmers by promoting community-based adaptations 4 We use \"CSAq\" here to avoid a confusing with \"CSA-climate smart agriculture\" in general.1.  In accordance with the analysis results and the NTP-CC program, the ECO-SAMP project was implemented in Thanh Hoa province, which has the largest brackishwater area in the NCC region (7,700 ha or about 15.93% of the NCC's total brackish water aquaculture area). Brackishwater aquaculture in the province is concentrated in the coastal districts including Nga Son, Hoang Hoa, Quang Xuong, Tinh Gia and Nong Cong, with farmers growing diverse cultured species, such as shrimp (tiger shrimp, white leg shrimp, nipper shrimp), mud-crab, mollusks (clam, oyster), seaweed and brackishwater fish. Shrimp farming accounts for 87% (4,024 ha) of the total brackishwater aquaculture of the province, of which 97% is improved extensive production (Thanh Hoa DARD 2012). Hoang Hoa and Quang Xuong are major shrimp-growing districts, holding 38.1% and 18.4% of the total culture area respectively.The project acivities were piloted in Hoang Phong commune, located in the southeastern area of Hoang Hoa district, Thanh Hoa province. About 90% (280 ha) of the aquaculture area in Hoang Phong is in brackishwater and half of this (140 ha) is located outside the sea dike. Brackishwater aquaculture is dominated by extensive polyculture systems in earthen ponds, accounting for about 80% of the total cultured area in the commune. Some of the more commonly stocked species are tiger shrimp (P. monodon), mud-crab (Scylla sp.), fish (e.g. seabass, sea mullet) and seaweed. This integrated aquaculture system features low stocking density and less use of inputs.The method was common in Vietnam during the beginning of the 1990s, however farming methods have only changed by a little, since local farmers started this practice. Despite the drastic changes in breeds being cultured, the weather and availability of natural resources, local people still apply traditional farming methods. Annual production of brackishwater aquaculture in Hoang Phong is estimated at around 410 tons, of which seaweed accounts for 80% of the total production. Although tiger shrimp is considered as the major cultured species in the system, the yield of shrimp is quite low (ranging from about 50 to 300 kg/ha/year), compared to more intensive monoculture systems in the Red River and Mekong River Deltas.Vietnam, and the NCC of Vietnam in particular, have been experiencing climate change for the last 50 years based on meteorological observations. Recent changes in climate have brought about negative impacts on the coastal aquaculture system in Hoang Phong. Climate data shows rainfall patterns in Thanh Hoa have changed by a decrease in frequency, but an increase in intensity (VIFEP 2013). This resulted in great fluctuations in pond water environment (i.e. salinity, pH). Further with 'Tieu Man' flooding frequently occurred in June, pond salinity sharply decreased and dropped to the lowest level (about 2-3%) during the September-October period (Figure 3). The low salinity means shrimps and mud-crabs are more vulnerable during this period.Increasing temperature and high variations between day and night temperatures also cause shocks to cultured species, thus increasing risks of crop failure, particularly in environmentally sensitive species such as shrimp. Leaving the pond empty during the 'Tieu Man' period is the current solution and response of most farmers in Hoang Phong to minimize their risks. This adaptation solution however results in a reduction of the farmers' income. Therefore there is a need to find suitable cultured species and/or farming practices that can help local farmers adapt to climate change, reduce production risks, while sustainably increasing their income. and (4) investment requirement (see annex 1 for the result). Once tilapia had been chosen as the species to be introduced, five local households were selected to conduct the trial on their own farms with financial and technical support from the ECO-SAMP project. Costs of fingerlings and 30% of the feed costs for testing the practices, or an average amount of $1,000 per household, were subsidized by the ECO-SAMP project.Table 1 shows the technical details of the CSAq trial for different salinity levels. Regarding the tilapia crop, three farm trials were set up in high salinity areas (4-22% salinity), with an average size of 1 ha. These farms cultured tiger shrimp with other species, like mud-crab, seaweed and natural fishes in an integrated and/or rotation system. two of the farm trials were in low salinity locations (1-10% salinity) with an average pond size of 0. In addition, trials on community-based adaptation were also implemented to improve adaptive capacity and resilience of the Hoang Phong community in general, and the aquaculture cooperative in particular. The main objective of the community-level trial is to improve collective actions of farming communities. Two meetings with the management board and the four community groups of the cooperative were held to consolidate cooperative regulations as well as to discuss the potential for upscaling the CSAq practices in the next year's crop.Gender issues were also assessed to explore gender roles in scaling up the tested CSAq practices in other aquaculture communities. Two community group meetings were organized for women farmers to discuss: (1) women's participation in decision-making and farming activities in the household; (2) women's roles in micro-credit systems (informal, semi-informal and formal) in the locality.A brief profile of the CSAq trial households is given in Table 2. The average household size is about four people, with two of them counted as part of the labour force. This figure indicates a similar dependency ratio to that of the whole commune. Land is the main production asset and varies among households in the Hoang Phong commune.Among the trial households, land size ranges from 0.7 to 1.4 hectares, of which aquaculture land accounts for 81.86% of the total household land. The differences in land size can be explained by the age of the household, as the older households usually have larger land assets.In accordance with land ownership, the household's livelihoods are diverse, with the three main activities of agriculture (rice and vegetable crops), aquaculture and livestock rearing. The annual average income of the trial households is around VND87 million (USD 3,909) 5 . Aquaculture remains a major source of the household income, accounting for 80% of income. This means that improving aquaculture plays an important role for increasing income and improving the household's well-being. The results of the CSAq trial of integrating mono-sex tilapia into traditional aquaculture system in Hoang Phong are given in Tables 3 and 4. In general, tilapia grew well in all tested farms.After four months, the harvested tilapia had an average market size of 650 gram/fish, and varied from 500 to 700 gram/individual. In consideration of market uptake and size of tilapia, the harvest was divided into two or three times depending on the trial household. This practice ensures a good price for their harvest. The average productivity of the total farm harvest in low salinity areas was 3.1 tons per hectare, two times higher than that of higher salinity farms (1.3 tonnes/ha). This productivity difference could be mainly explained by differences in stocking density as the low salinity farms had double the stock density of the high salinity farms. Another reason could be that the salinity shock in high salinity farm ponds at the time of stocking led tothe death of about 10% of fingerlings stocked. It is thus suggested that farmers do salinity acclimatization of tilapia before stocking them in high salinity farm ponds.Even though the low salinity farms had higher yields, their average food conversion ratio (0.96 FCR) was double that of the high salinity farms (0.45 FCR). This suggests that low salinity farms highly depend on artificial pellet feed sources, which reduces economic efficiency. The productivities of shrimp and mud-crab were not affected by tilapia integration as these two species were stocked in April before the project intervention. It should be noted however, that stocking of tilapia had positive effects on seaweed growth. Tilapia helps clear the wild mosses 6 that compete with seaweed growth. The average yield of seaweed of 8.5 tonnes/ha increased by about 30% from the previous year (6.5 tonnes/ha).In terms of economic efficiency, Table 4 shows the details of cost-benefit analysis of the CSAq trials. On average, the net income earned from the trial was about VND 73 million/ha/household (USD 3,280), and tilapia contributed 28.8 -35.2% to the total aquaculture income of household.It should be noted that the calculated cost-benefit does not incorporate a reduction of costs for removing wild mosses. The participating farmers estimate the cost reduction for removing the moss to be around VND 6 to 7 million/ha/year.A comparison of the different trials shows the net income of the high salinity farms was 1.6 times higher than that from the low salinity farms, as the high salinity farming systems had an additional income from seaweed. Another reason is the higher economic efficiency of the high salinity farms due to a lower FCR and the use of available natural feed sources. This is presented through the benefit-cost ratio (B/C) given in Table 4.6 small flowerless plants that typically grow in dense green clumps or mats, often in damp or shady locations 20 As an omnivorous species, tilapia can feed on organic detritus and wastes, thus helping to reduce significant amounts of excess nutrients, improving water quality for shrimps. This also promotes production diversification. The integrated culture of shrimp and tilapia has been practiced in several countries such as Ecuador, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia. It is estimated that such cultures in Ecuador increased shrimp harvest size by 18% and total production by 13-17%, and lowered FCR by 15% (Troell 2009).Implication on livelihoods and food security. The NCC is among the poorest regions of Vietnam.In 2014, the rate of households at poverty line and marginalized poverty line were about 12.22% and 8.58%, respectively (MOLISA 2014) 7 . Coastal aquaculture is an important livelihood for most coastal households in the region. This implies that sustainable development of the coastal aquaculture system is crucial in achieving food security, especially with the pressures from the growing population and increasing climate change. Successful integration of mono-sex tilapia contributes to production gains alongside poverty reduction through improved contribution to income sources (14.23-42.86% of the total household incomes). Tilapia production also provides local people with better access to fish for food and nutrition.Implication on climate change resilience. The introduction of tilapia has improved resilience of coastal aquaculture systems through diversification of cultured species. This can both increase the efficiency of the system and build their resilience to climate change. It can spread risk and increase economic resilience at the farm and local community levels. Tilapia crops can serve as \"risk insurance\" for households experiencing shrimp crop failures due to climate change.Additionally, tilapia also improves pond environments as it is a \"filter-feeder\" that reduces risk of disease outbreak in the shrimp.Implication for low carbon aquaculture practices. The rapid development of intensive and semiintensive fed aquaculture systems, such as shrimp and finfish, aim to meet growing demand, but these are often associated with negative environmental issues. One of the main environmental problems is the discharge of significant nutrient loads from open water systems and effluents from land-based systems into coastal waters. Improved energy efficiency and decreased use of fish meal and fish oil feeds are essential mitigation strategies. The integrated coastal aquaculture system of shrimp, mud-crab, seaweed and tilapia makes use of available natural feed sources and wastes. This thus significantly reduces the use of industrial feed, which is one of the main contributors to the carbon footprint of aquaculture systems.A meeting among the aquaculture cooperative members was organized at the end of tilapia crop.The main focus of the meeting was to assess the CSAq trials and potentials for wider adoption of the CSAq practices in the community. Most farmers who attended the meeting expressed their willingness to adopt the practices. Apart from increasing household income, adding tilapia also improves pond environments, and indirectly contributes to increased production efficiency of the household's farming system.However, a number of barriers for community based CSAq scaling out have been mentioned by the local farmers:(1) Lack of seed and feed source of good quality is a major constraint that limits the adoption of the CSAq in the community.(2)The current low market uptake for tilapia would result in a lower adoption rate of the CSAq practice.(3) Increased uncertainty of extreme climate events also lower farmers' incentives to invest in new techniques and practices.Climate change is threatening coastal aquaculture production systems in the NCC region of Vietnam. Finding an appropriate approach to transform production systems is crucial for ensuring food and nutrition security while reducing GHG emissions. Developing CSAq practices by integrating mono-sex tilapia into traditional integrated maricuture systems has proven to be a feasible option.The results from trials in Hoang Phong commune in Thanh Hoa province show that incorporating tilapia is a good climate change adaptation strategy, as it contributes significantly to all three CSA objectives. Stocking tilapia resulted in higher productivity and production efficiency, leading to a significant increase in household income by 14.23-42.86%. A diverse product portfolio also increases the resilience of the system when faced with changing prices or crop failure due to climate change and disease outbreaks. By utilizing natural feed sources and excessive nutrients in the farming ponds, the use of pellet feed for tilapia is reduced, resulting in lower GHGs emissions.institutions. A key factor driving adoption of tilapia integration into coastal aquaculture systems in the NCC is the market uptake. A higher rate of adoption means larger production of tilapia.Therefore, support in expanding the market for tilapia, especially the export market, will encourage the up-scaling of the integrated coastal aquaculture practice throughout the region.Other issues such as low quality fingerlings and high feed costs are also barriers to scaling up the CSAq practice. Building the linkage between feed and seed suppliers and farmers' groups should be an appropriate solution."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5bd21434c6dea8ab5fe44f266c633015","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6c0d56a1-6816-4077-a3af-c19d986c4c11/retrieve","id":"-1381053765"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"855a11f0-1da3-42b3-a7c1-28c863206095","content":"Smallholder farmers produce majority of food in developing countries yet continue to be vulnerable to poverty, food insecurity, limited diet quality and diversity, malnutrition, and face various production challenges. Though quantitative studies have explored determinants of dietary diversity among farmers, this data can be further enriched with farmer experiences and perspectives of whether and how these factors affect dietary diversity to inform intervention design and implementation. A qualitative study was conducted among rural smallholder farmers in Kiboga district, Central Uganda with 28 participants in eight focus group discussions (four groups with men and four groups with women). The results showed that both men and women were concerned about food security and dietary diversity and viewed household food production as pivotal to food security. Purchase of food was affected by prices, household income, distance to markets and food diversity in the accessed markets. Major determinants of dietary diversity included household food production, agricultural and nutrition knowledge and awareness, information access and use, household income, and time. Poor perception towards meetings, insufficient nutrition information, skills and training were also noted. Gender influences and differences noted were concerned with allocation and use of harvested food and income within the household; more men than women having a poor perception towards meetings/trainings; and women having limited time for agricultural and nutrition practices that support dietary diversity. From the results, efforts to improve dietary diversity should address the food security and production challenges faced; support income generation whether on-or off-farm and market access to diverse foods; use designs that address gender issues and are labor and time sensitive; and include capacity building in nutrition and practices that support access to and utilization of diverse food baskets, and social behavior change strategies.In developing countries, smallholder farmers produce 60-80% of the food consumed [1]. They are however also the most vulnerable to poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition, as they face several challenges related to production, access to services, and inadequate infrastructure, knowledge, and skills. Working in a limited resource setting while facing climate change and urbanization exacerbates these challenges and their ability to cope [2][3][4]. Undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies are more prevalent in low-and lower middle-income countries, which include countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. These countries are also facing an increase in the prevalence of overnutritiona change that has been attributed to urbanization, a shift in dietary patterns with increased consumption of energy-dense, highly refined foods high in fat and sugar, and low in micronutrients, and a reduction in physical activity due to more sedentary work [5,6].In Uganda, 29% of children under five are stunted and 53% are anemic. Among adults, 24% of women and 9% of men are overweight or obese, while 32% of women and 16% of men are anemic [7]. According to the 2016 National Demographic Health Survey, only 15% of children aged six to 23 months had minimum acceptable diets and 30% consumed diets with the minimum recommended dietary diversity. Consumption of iron-rich and vitamin A-rich foods by these children was at 40% and 67% respectively [7]. The national average caloric intake is at 1883 Kcal per day per person whereby 39% are estimated not to meet their energy requirements. In addition, the quality of household diets is lacking with 40-60% of the caloric intake derived from starchy staples [8]. Regarding food security, at a national level, 26% of households face stressed food insecurity, that is, they have borderline food consumption scores (21.5-25), are employing coping strategies and are unable to afford some essential non-food expenditures without engaging in irreversible coping strategies. In addition, five percent of households face a food security crisis, whereby they have poor food consumption scores (≤21), low meal frequencies of up to one meal a day, low dietary diversity of less than three food groups, and no food stocks [9].A high-quality diet is considered to be one that provides sufficient amounts of nutrients relative to age, sex, disease status and physical activity, reduces all forms of malnutrition, promotes health, eliminates hunger, is safe, and produced sustainably. It is characterized by healthy eating habits and depends on food availability and culture [10]. Regrettably, such diets are not accessible or available to many given the two billion people globally that are food insecure, without regular access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food, the 700 million people that face severe food insecurity and possibly experienced hunger [11], and the food insecure and malnourished in Uganda highlighted above.A number of quantitative studies have explored the determinants of dietary diversity among farmers. Determinants have included income or wealth, income allocation to food, land ownership and size, access to home gardens, production diversity (the diversity of food groups produced), level of education or literacy, nutrition training or knowledge, access to media, access to water, household size, ethnicity and gender, especially the literacy, nutrition knowledge, access to markets, and occupation of women. Whereby the presence of these factors increased the likelihood of food security and dietary diversity among households [12][13][14][15][16]. This information can be further enriched with farmer experiences and perspectives of whether and how these factors affect dietary diversity through qualitative studies. Qualitative studies provide an opportunity to understand the patterns of behavior related to food and the food environment and shape key issues within the food environment that are important to farmers [17,18]. Where quantitative studies clarify the status of a situation and the cause-and-effect relationships and test hypotheses, qualitative studies are able to tease out the underlying reasons and mediators thus aiding the tailoring of interventions and messages [19,20].Qualitative reports from Tanzania have shown the importance of food security and dietary among farming households with women and children more at a disadvantage compared to men [21]. Furthermore, agriculture, agrobiodiversity, income and socio-economic status, livelihood diversity, seasonality, and household size, affected their ability to produce, purchase and consume sufficient and diverse food [21,22]. None the less, there is room for more qualitative information on farmer experiences and perspectives not only on determinants of dietary diversity but also how any limiting factors are being addressed and could be further improved. It is also important that such investigations disaggregate the gender perspectives and dynamics existing in each context.This study therefore sought to determine community and gender perspectives on nutrition and food security and dietary diversity, and their determinants among rural smallholder farming households in Central Uganda. The research questions studied were, what are the community and gender experiences and perspectives on child feeding practices, and household food availability and access? Based on the experiences and perspectives, what are the determinants of dietary diversity?A qualitative study was conducted among rural smallholder farming households from Kiboga district, in August 2018 to determine social norms and community perspectives on dietary diversity and food security. Kiboga district located in the Central region of Uganda has two main rain seasons a year with both perennial and annual production systems. The dominant production systems include agroforestry, banana-coffee, and maize farming systems. There is also livestock production mainly cattle, pigs, goats, and poultry [23]. The food security dynamics in the study sites are similar to not only the surrounding districts in the central region of Uganda, but also to smallholder farming communities elsewhere in the country and smallholder farmers in banana-based farming systems in Eastern Africa [24].Two parishes Kisweeka and Ssinde parishes were purposively selected based on relatively easy access and mobility by the researchers and the community participants, locality and distance between ensuring the two parishes were not adjacent to each other and having predominantly farming households. Within these parishes, 10 villages were randomly selected using a list of random numbers generated using Microsoft excel. A study sample size of 182 households farming households with at least one child aged between 6 and 59 months was obtained as part of a larger study [25]. From this sample of households, 12 men and 16 women participated in a total of eight focus group discussions (FGDs). Each parish had a total of four FGDs, two FGDs with men and two FGDs with women. FGDs for men and women were conducted separately. All participants had primary level education and their main occupation was farming. The average age for the eight FGDs was 39.1 ± 11.1. The average age for the men's FGDs was 44.7 ± 13.2 and that for women 35.0 ± 7.2.Using discussion guides, the FGDs explored i) the foods consumed by children aged 6 months to 3 years of age and the rest of the household, ii) the extent to which the foods consumed by children were adequate, iii) how food consumed in the household was obtained, iv) what factors determined the foods consumed, and v) how households addressed the challenges faced when accessing and consuming diverse diets. The FGDs were carried out by trained facilitators in the local language, assisted by trained note-takers. Audio recording were also made. Written informed consent to participate and record the discussion was sought from each participant prior to the start of each FGD. Communication and permission were also sought from the District officials. The study protocol was approved by the Health Research Ethics Committee of Stellenbosch University, Reference Number S16/06/099.The audio recordings for the FGDs and field notes were transcribed and cross-checked by the facilitators to ensure quality. The transcriptions were also cross-checked versus the audio recordings. The transcriptions were analyzed using Atlas.ti software v.8. The framework method of analysis was used to identify patterns and themes in the responses to the different questions as a way of understanding the research themes and questions [26]. This analysis involved identification of the presence or absence of themes, identification of codes informed by the themes, coding of the data, and comparison of themes and codes across the FGDs and genders. This was followed by grouping of the codes by organizing them into a matrix based on how they corresponded to the emerging themes, how they could be used to answer the research questions and how they interacted with one another.The meals served to children were reported to be largely similar to those consumed by the rest of the household. Differences between the children's diet and the rest of the household though not common practice ranged from, preparation of enriched porridges like soy flour mixed with maize or millet flour, addition of silver fish or green leafy vegetables to the bean or groundnuts sauce, purchase of eggs or milk, children accessing fruit in between meal times or mashing food for infants.Commonly consumed foods included starchy staple foods like cooking bananas, cassava, maize, rice, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Fruits included pawpaw, mangoes, jackfruit, guavas, avocado, dessert bananas, passion fruit, gooseberries and Vangueria apiculata. Plant protein foods included beans, groundnuts, or soybean, while animal source foods included milk, eggs, and silver fish. Consumption of animal source foods like meat, milk, eggs, and fish was noted to be limited by their cost. Other foods whose consumption was influenced by their cost and household income include rice, potatoes, cooking bananas, soybean, and cooking oil.Though each FGD had participants that considered the diets of their children as adequate, some participants considered them inadequate. There were, however, more responses reflecting inadequate diets, and this was mainly attributed to limited availability and/or access to adequate food and lack of money to buy the preferred foods.When participants' understanding of adequate diets was explored, their perceptions were grouped into three categories i) Adequate diets were those that provided sufficient quantity of food leaving the children satisfied, ii) Diets were adequate if they were not monotonous and included different types of food such as milk, potatoes, and silver fish, and iii) Diets were adequate if they were well suited for children for example, food that is warm and of a texture fitting their age. For example, soft foods were said to be suitable complementary foods for children aged 6 months to 1 year and as such cooking bananas were preferred over cassava. Maize flour prepared as porridge or stiff porridge was also perceived to be good for children. Participants also acknowledged that an adequate diet is subjective because what one considers acceptable for their child may not be considered as such by another.Other perceptions around child feeding were discussed, with the most common perception being that children need to eat different and/ or tasty foods such as groundnuts, fish, eggs, milk, rice, potatoes, cooking bananas and amaranth. Secondly, that serving left over food from the previous meal especially at breakfast was a common practice that was considered inappropriate by some participants. As a result, participants preferred foods that could be warmed in the morning, but these were either not always available, or warming was not possible. Thirdly, that infants should be breastfed, and as they grow older, the feeding frequency reduces and type of food changes. Participants noted that not all women introduced foods at six months. There were no differences observed between FGDs and the men and women FGDs concerning perceptions about food and child feeding.Food was mainly sourced through four avenues, own farm production, bought from the market, gathered from the wild, and/or obtained in exchange for labor. There was a consensus from all FGDs that majority of the food consumed should be grown on their farms. Regarding buying of food, the cost of food and its availability in the market was a major influence on the type and quantity of food bought. In addition, larger markets with a variety of food stuffs were located farther from their households/villages.\"I also only buy cooking bananas, the rest of the food and vegetables I get from my garden\" [Women FGD 02] \"It depends on what foods, for example potatoes, groundnuts, maize flour, milk, watermelon, pineapples are bought from distant markets. Posho and rice are sold nearer so the distance to the market is not an issue\" [Women FGD 02] \" …. there are periods when as farmers we buy food. The main problem is change in weather; during the dry spell we all don't have food. As farmers in the village, we are not supposed to buy food like people who live in towns, but it is because of bad weather that we do.\" [Men FGD 03] Availability and consumption of animal source foods was limited and attributed to low household animal production given the high production costs, diseases, and theft. To access animal source foods, household made use of available income or sold other food items in store to obtain money to purchase these foods. A balanced diet was considered important. However, achieving a balanced diet depended on the household's ability/inability to grow and purchase the different foods. The former was the preferred scenario because the cost of foods did not allow for purchase of adequate amounts.Consumption of fruits and vegetables was strongly linked to their seasonal availability. A high consumption of vegetables during the rainy season and fruits during their specific harvest periods was reported. Participants noted that they generally made minimal effort to ensure consumption of fruits and vegetables in the off-and dry seasons. A lack of fruits and vegetables from their farms did not necessarily lead to their purchase even when income was available. Exceptions were noted among households that had farmland near swamps and those with well managed kitchen gardens because vegetables require plenty of water and are scarce during the dry season.\"No one buys fruits. We eat fruits when they are in season and are available in plenty\" [Men FGD 05] Fruit availability and consumption was also linked first to the number of fruit species and number of trees grown by a household. This was because the time of flowering differed across and within species, therefore, the larger the number of fruit species and number of trees in a household, the more likely they were to have access to fruits in different seasons/months. Secondly, fruits were an income generating crop in the community and this reduced the quantity available for home consumption. There were no differences observed between FGDs and between the men and women FGDs concerning perceptions about household food availability and access.The discussions identified five broad determinants of dietary diversity and approaches that the participants were taking or recommended to improve the situation. These were household production, agricultural and nutrition knowledge and awareness, information access and use, household income, and time.Household food production: The diversity of foods consumed was largely related to the diversity of crops grown and animals reared. Food production was in turn perceived to be influenced by land availability, soil fertility, pest and diseases and weather patterns. Household land access limited the diversity and quantity of crops grown. Access to additional land through hiring was hindered by availability of suitable land for the desired crop and the costs involved. Pests and diseases were reported to be prevalent leading to increased use of pesticides thus increasing production costs. Prolonged dry seasons and unpredictable rainfall were also increasing in occurrence, negatively affecting yield. As a result, participants noted that they needed additional income to access more land, hire labor to farm and purchase the necessary inputs such as fertilizers, manure, pesticides, and herbicides in order to increase the quantity and diversity of production.\"The land has been fragmented and is no longer enough to produce enough food. … … most families had plots of land to grow their own food, but most land has been sub-divided and sold, so some farmers do not own any …. In addition to this, our land is exhausted. For you to get a good yield, you have to spend more on fertilizers and irrigation to have a meaningful harvest\" [Men FGD 07] \"… soils used to have earth worms which help in increasing soil fertility, now because of over spraying they are no longer present in soils …. We overuse chemicals, sometimes unnecessarily …. to wipe out weeds, pests and diseases, this has led to loss of soil fertility\" [Women FGD 08] Agricultural and nutrition knowledge and awareness: Adequate information also influenced crop selection and management, and food choice and preparation. Participants reported that they were more likely to grow crops they were familiar/had experience with, those that produced/guaranteed a good yield, those that contributed to household income, and those that provided food security (alleviated hunger). These foods included maize, cooking bananas, sweet potatoes, cassava, and beans. In addition, other considerations included seasonal/annual crops vs perennial crops; crops that mature quickly or are available all year round especially in the lean season, or crops that were 'easy' to produce, that is, had lower input and labor requirements. Fast maturing crops were favored as they shortened the lean seasons. Crops that required less labor allowed more time for production of other crops or household responsibilities.\"There are some foods that most people don't see the importance of planting, like pumpkins. It's not that they don't eat these foods, but they don't see the importance of planting them in their homes\" [Women FGD 06] Despite the fact that participants mentioned the different foods that make up a diverse diet as important for meal composition, good nutrition and health, a diverse diet was viewed as consuming different types of starchy staple foods as opposed to consuming different food groups by some. This view was prevalent in four out of eight FGDs (three FGDs in Ssinde and one FGD in Kisweeka). For these participants, consumption of a diverse diet was therefore viewed as costly, a waste of time, food, and money, or impractical due to the incorrect understanding of a balanced diet by some of the participants. This highlighted the need for appropriate nutrition information.Information access and use: The skills, information and knowledge behind the practices and decisions made by the participants during production, purchase, preparation and consumption of food were mainly from family, friends and neighbors, based on experience, and from trainings, media and fellow community members that had attended these trainings. The implementation of practices however was noted to be inconsistent with many reverting to old practices after a while. This was attributed to lack of resources such as money, seeds, land, labor, and time. Laziness and/or lack of a push-factor also led to abandoning of a technique, where push factors included monitoring by projects, community extension workers or leaders.In addition, a poor attitude towards meetings and trainings where information and skills are commonly disseminated in the community was noted. That is, general community meetings and meetings and/or trainings that are regularly used by governmental and non-government organizations to disseminate information or intervene within the community. This poor attitude was reported by the women FGDs who perceived that the poor attitude in their communities to be mainly among men. This in turn affected the adoption of knowledge or practices because it requires support and input from both the man and woman within a household.Time: Production, preparation and consumption of diverse diets were reported to be hindered by time. Given the different household chores and responsibilities, there was limited time for adequate and timely production of crop diversity, preparation of balanced diets, and child and household care. Time as a factor was mentioned by only the women FGDs.\"it is true all these things require time, whatever we learn will need that you allocate time for its implementation, sometimes omitting some routine things at home which is very hard, because these routines and responsibilities are still important.\" [Women FGD 06] Household income: As earlier reported, households had challenges with purchasing different food groups especially animal source foods due to limited income and high prices. In addition, because household food production was for both food and income, participants noted that they were increasingly selling more of their agricultural produce to meet the increasing agricultural and household needs like school fees, medical bills, sundries, and pesticides. The women FGDs noted that men were more likely to sell the total crop harvests without leaving a portion of the harvest for home consumption. Women on the other hand ensured that there was always part of the harvest left for household consumption.\"… most people sell off their crops to get money to sustain their homes but it's the men who do it mostly. For us we are always thinking of our children, but men prefer to sell all …\" [Women FGD 08]The experiences around the above determinants of dietary diversity were generally similar across parishes. The exception was around adequate information. While all FGDs included participants that had an incorrect understanding of a balanced diet and its importance, this misinformation was more prevalent in Ssinde parish (2 FGDs with women and 1 men FGD) compared to Kisweeka parish (1 FGD with men). Although both genders noted lack of adequate information and limited income as some of the barriers to diverse diets, a poor attitude towards meetings and trainings particularly among men and limited time for production and utilization of diverse foods were reported only by women FGDs. Though the tradeoffs around crops harvests, especially allocation of produce for food and/or sell were mentioned by both genders, men emphasized the importance of allocating for sell while the women emphasized the importance of allocating for food.Results from the FGDs indicate that household production, agricultural and nutrition knowledge and awareness, information access and use, household income, and time were perceived as the major determinants of dietary diversity. Other determinants included distance to the market, the price and diversity of foods available in the markets and the interaction of gender dynamics and the fore mentioned determinants.Though a variety of foods were available in the community from own production and markets, meals were largely composed of starchy staples and legumes. The diets discussed corresponded with earlier reports of diets mainly composed of cereals like maize, roots and tubers like cassava, cooking bananas and beans [23,27]. While some participants considered the diets of their children to be adequate, others considered them inadequate, with varying perceptions of what an adequate diet was. Despite the perception of adequacy by some, diets of children in the study region have been reported to be lacking with only 26% meeting the minimum dietary diversity (≥4 food groups), and 13% consuming the minimum acceptable diets, values lower than national figures of 30% and 15%, respectively [7]. In addition, inadequate intakes of micronutrients, especially vitamin A, vitamin B-12, iron, zinc and calcium have been reported [28].Food was mainly obtained from own farm production and markets, with own production regarded as pivotal. Purchase of different food groups were limited by their cost and availability in the market with markets having a variety of food stuffs located farther from the participants' households/villages. Household food consumption patterns and dietary diversity are influenced by the production systems of smallholder farmers, whether crop, livestock, or mixed, and their market access [4]. In addition to providing diverse diets, production of a variety of crops has additional advantages for the smallholder farmer such as reducing risks to shocks such as poor harvests and low prices for harvests [1]. For households that are poor, have low on-farm diversity and have poor market access, such as the long distances faced by participants, production diversity has been found to have a stronger influence on dietary diversity. While for households with more income and market access, the influence of production diversity on dietary diversity reduces [29,30]. Therefore, both the productivity and production diversity and markets access of similar smallholder farmers should be addressed in order to improve their dietary diversity and food security [4,31].Consumption of fruits and vegetables was limited by seasonal availability where a lack did not necessarily lead to purchase even when income was available. Participants noted that fruit availability and household consumption was also linked to fruit diversity produced and the income potential of fruits because majority were sold. The diversity of fruits and vegetables can be leveraged to address the seasonal access challenges through agrobiodiversity assessments, targeted diversification and promotion of fruit and vegetable consumption [32,33]. In fact, improving year-round availability of micronutrient-rich fruits and vegetables by increasing the number of varieties available has been reported to increase consumption [34]. Also, an increase in household income was associated with increased demand for fruits compared to that for vegetables in Sub-Saharan Africa, as vegetables were more expensive than fruits [35]. Therefore, for the study site, such an increase in income may reduce the quantities of fruits sold, thus increasing their availability for home consumption.Household food production a major determinant, was related to the diversity of foods consumed and production was in turn influenced by land availability, soil fertility, pest and diseases and weather patterns. The production challenges noted were similar to those previously reported for smallholder farmers in Uganda and elsewhere [1,2,23,[36][37][38]. Participants in an ethnographic study in Tanzania also closely related the determinants of dietary diversity and those that affected having enough food and agricultural production [22]. This goes to show that addressing production challenges to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers will go a long way in improving food security and dietary diversity.Agricultural and nutrition knowledge and awareness informed the priority crops in terms of food production, consumption, and diversity. Inadequate nutrition information was also noted including a narrower and/or incorrect understanding of a dietary diversity. This knowledge gap corresponds with the agricultural and dietary practices and choices. Agricultural knowledge and income have been reported to influence input and technology use and adoption [1,39], and improving nutrition knowledge and skills has been shown to improve dietary practices [40][41][42][43]. Capacity building, and investing in different types of capital and efforts to empower communities increases the likelihood of positive impact and sustainability of interventions [44,45]. Community members have specialized knowledge and experience that can be harnessed to solve challenges, which strengthens the case for participatory approaches and context driven interventions [46,47]. Farmer, women, youth, religious and savings or loan groups within the communities and cooperatives could provide an entry point for participatory approaches, community engagement and empowerment.Information access and use was varied and a poor attitude towards meetings and trainings was noted particularly among men. This result sheds more light on the inadequate information in the study sites despite several actions by government, non-government and community-based organizations within the district. To efficiently improve the knowledge, attitude and skills in agriculture and nutrition revealed in the study, the available information access channels and existing community networks need to be maximized. Community networks and leaders could provide support to adopt and implement practices that support household food and nutrition security, thus addressing the lack of a push factor reported in this study which affected sustained adoption of learned practices and their impact. Community meetings and trainings provide an opportunity to share and receive information that can improve food security and diet quality [48]. Behavior is influenced by several factors, the perceptions and attitudes of an individual and their community, the local culture, economic environment and availability of resources [49]. Development of a social behavior change strategy can inform communication strategies, build social support, increase intervention impact, and enhance empowerment in the target community [49]. The use of several methods and channels has been found to be more effective than use of a single one, and use of a small set of method and channels is more effective than several different techniques due to inconsistent quality of delivery that can arise with several techniques [50]. Therefore, to improve information access and the effectiveness of community meetings and trainings, a social behavior change strategy with appropriate behavior change methods that utilize and/or address the how and why of determinants in this study should be developed and used.Time was a major limiting factor noted by the women, affecting production of diversity, preparation of balanced diets. Time has also been previously reported as a determinant of child feeding practices and dietary diversity [22,48]. While agricultural interventions tend to increase time commitments of the impacted household member, women are especially affected given their key role in both agriculture and nutrition. In addition, different household members (men, women, youth, children) respond to the increased time burdens and workload in different ways, which has implications on the nutrition impacts of interventions [51]. Intervention designs therefore need to assess and address such gender issues and include labor and time sensitive practices.Household income not only affected the purchase of food but also affected the quantity of harvests allocated for household consumption and its mode of allocation to address different needs. This information expounds on the food security situation in light of the food production for both food and income reported among smallholder farmers. Men were noted to sell more of the harvests thus compromising household food security and dietary diversity. This determinant also led to the sell of most if not all fruits produced. Income or wealth is a well reported determinant affecting food security and dietary diversity directly through purchasing power and indirectly by affecting agriculture and agrobiodiversity [12,22].Improving income and livelihoods of farmers is a major aim of global and national strategies whereby increasing both on-and off-farm income and improving its use among smallholder farmers has been recommended [4,31]. This has been recommended together with improving gender equity. Empowering women enhances the impact of agricultural interventions on diets and other nutritional outcomes. The impact varies with context given the different cultures, gender norms and differences in levels of empowerment. Therefore gender roles in the food environment need to be understood and harnessed in interventions to empower women and reduce any unintended negative impacts on nutrition [31,52].Both men and women were concerned with food and nutrition security and dietary diversity and viewed their household food production to be pivotal. Purchase of food was affected by the price of food stuffs particularly animal source foods, household income, distance to the market, and the diversity of food available in the markets. The major determinants of dietary diversity identified were household production, agricultural and nutrition knowledge and awareness, information access and use, household income, and time. Poor perception towards meetings, insufficient nutrition information, skills and training in the community were also noted, including a knowledge gap in the understanding and perception of dietary diversity. Gender influences and differences were concerned with allocation and use of harvests and income in the household, men having a poor perception towards meetings/trainings, and women having limited time for agricultural and nutrition practices that support dietary diversity. Efforts to improve dietary diversity should address the food security and production challenges faced and support income generation whether on-or off-farm, and market access to diverse foods. Intervention design needs to address gender issues and include labor and time sensitive practices. Capacity building in nutrition and practices that support access to, and utilization of diverse food baskets is also required. This can be enhanced by development of social behavior change strategies and further studies into knowledge sharing and access, and attitudes towards learning in households and communities to inform communication strategies, build social support, and enhance empowerment."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"89e434089d86022ae24906ab4d246956","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/68ec63db-6e9b-496f-8dd0-fbc3168011ac/retrieve","id":"1030117524"},"keywords":["A, AGUAT, AHUC, ANSM, ARIZ, ASU, BA, BAA, BAB, BACP, BAFC, BM, BR, BRIT, CAS, CHAPA, CICY, COL, CORD, CPUN, CR, CS, CUZ, DAV, DES, DS, DUKE, EBUM, ENCB, F, FI, G, GH, HAO, HNMN, HUT, IA, IBUG, IEB, INB, ISC, ITIC, K, L, LAGU, LIL, LL, LPB, M, MA, MEXU, MICH, MIN, MO, MOL, MSC, NA, NCU, NEBC, NMC, NY, O, P, PH, PMA, POM, PRG, QCA, RSA, SI, TCD, TEX, UC, UCR, US, USJ, USM, UVAL, WIS albinervus, 7 racèmes, go sèches","isotype. [MO","7-VI-2002] augusti, 3 racèmes, en go sèches, go sèche, spécimen presque défolié. [BAB","14-VIII-2010] augusti, 11 racèmes, en floraison, plusieurs racèmes arrachés, B1 3 mm long linéaires, une go verte. [x 2]. [SI","14-III-1985] Phaseolus bolivianus Piper, det. EP Killip. No. 3631. M Cardenas, Collector. /// Herbarium Cardenasianum, No. 3631, Locality near Liriuni, Cochabamba, Bolivia, [17º 17'S. 66º 18'W], 2,570 m, Habitat: grassy slopes, among bushes, climbing on Fagara coca [sic!], flowers purple lilac, vernacular name: \"frejol silvestre\", seeds flattened lilac grey, sistematic reference Phaseolus, III-946, M. Cardenas. /// United States National Herbarium. Determinavit: Phaseolus augustii Harms, det. James Lackey, augusti, 2 racèmes, en go vertes, envers des folioles avec nervures marquées, B1 2 mm long 'scale-like', pédoncule 8-12 cm, rachis 8-10 cm, 11-13 insertions/ racème. [UC","22-X-2003] Phaseolus lunatus L. var. silvester Baudet, Alfonso Delgado S., 1985. /// DGD: augusti, 5 racèmes, en floraison, jgo, go vertes, étendard glabre, bractéole 'scale-like' filiforme velue 0-nerved. [F","2-VIII-2004] lunatus, 3 racèmes, en jgo, go vertes","la taille des go indique un sauvage. [F","2-VIII-2004] lunatus, sauvage [type mésoaméricain], 7 racèmes, en floraison, jgo, go vertes, go sèches","la déhiscence spiralée indique un sauvage. [x 2]. [SI","22-IV-1988]"],"sieverID":"439bdbe8-3838-40bf-b95a-beedc3c5c88b","content":"was mutually agreed with the Editor of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas that the monograph should not exceed 300 pages. We had a lot of specimens that the two of us had seen and annotated together in Mayagüez, or separately. We agreed with the Editor that at least an identification list should be in the monograph (pages 291-294), so Curators of Herbaria would have identifications for the specimens they kindly allowed us to see. Since 2002 more Herbaria have been visited (see full list at the end of this explanatory note) by myself and more specimens have been annotated. Obviously few journals would accept the publication of these records in full. The publication of these 'note books of phaseology' on the web site of the genebank of CIAT where the largest collection of beans is currently maintained, was one way to put that information available to the public. This file is periodically updated as more visits to Herbaria increase the number of specimens of species belonging to this section.The list of specimens seen by the author in the Herbaria is organized by section of the genus Phaseolus as recognized in the monograph (op. cit.). The reason for this organization of the data is a practical one, given the numbers of specimens seen, especially for the sections including the common bean (i.e. the Phaseoli) or the Lima bean (i.e. the Paniculati). In order to provide an updated information to the users, the date of the document (at the end of the file) is the one when the data of any specimen within that section have been uploaded after the last visit to any Herbarium. Immediately behind the title is the list of Herbaria and Museums of Natural History which keep specimens of that section in their collections; such Herbaria/Museums are listed alphabetically along the acronyms of 'Index Herbariorum '. Within each section, the information is presented for each currently valid species, and in alphabetical order of the species of this section. For each species the presentation follows the alphabetical order of the countries where the species thrives naturally (the note book refers to the wild bean species/ wild forms only, not to the beans grown anywhere on purpose by people; similarly escapes from cultivation are excluded). For each country, the alphabetical order of currently acknowledged departments/ provinces/ states is followed. Within each department/ province/ state the specimens are presented by alphabetical order of names of collectors, the first family name coming first when applicable. If there are many specimens by the same collector(s), the lowest collecting numbers will come first. When there are many specimens with the same collecting number, the alphabetical order of the Herbaria keeping these specimens is followed. The specimens used as types (with indications in red and in bold face about the kind of types) immediately follow the introduction of the species name. There are two reasons for this: for the taxonomist the type contributes to the validation of the species, and if a user looks for the type(s) it will be faster to look for it (them) at a specific location in the files throughout the sections rather than to look for it (them) by geographical area. Logically the holotype comes first. The types of species put in synonymy will logically follow, in alphabetical order of the names of these species, unless they were not validly published, and in this case these specimens will be in the general list (as usually Curators of Herbaria proceed). In a few cases, the type specimens are followed by specimens for which there is no geographical information. In cases where only the country has been indicated, then the specimens will be at the top of the list before the first department/ province/ state listed alphabetically.All notes found on the voucher specimen on the day of visit are taken in the way they have been written (trying to respect the original to the extent possible), and written down along a time sequence starting with the oldest annotation (sometimes deciding which is the oldest annotation is an educated guess, but color of labels and inks and kinds of typewriters or printers help). For easy reference, the information starts with the number of the voucher with the acronym of the Herbarium visited when applicable. Please note that some Herbaria have not numbered their voucher specimens. In this case there might be only a stamp indicating where the specimen is currently kept. Each piece of information found on a label or written directly on the cardboard is separated from the next one by a slash sign repeated three times (///). Please note that a stamp might be included in the sequence of information, since it can provide useful information about the date of a specimen if this date is not indicated in the main label. The most recent labels in the sequence usually refer to the identification of the specimen by taxonomists and are presented in chronological order, the earliest identification coming first. The sequence of sets of data finishes with the author's determination (introduced by author's initials), with a few notes about the specimen. In the notes, attention is drawn on the size/ richness of the specimens, usually through the number of racemes. In view of possible future collecting (e.g. matching with the date of collection), there is an indication about the phenology, whether the specimen was seen with flowers and/ or young/ green/ dry pods and/ or seeds. The notes end with the acronym of the visited Herbarium and the date (as day/ month/ year) when the specimen was studied (that date can be validated by consulting the records of visitors of each Herbarium); so the reader knows where that specimen can be studied or asked on loan for study. A specimen might have been seen on two visits, and thus two dates will be indicated in chronological order. The indication [x2] or [x3] means that the specimen exists as two or three sheets; if there is anything noteworthy, then the second or third sheet will be treated as another specimen. Usually the data provided refer to the voucher with more useful plant parts.Because the coordinates could be critical for studies in phytogeography or in evaluation against abiotic stresses, if the coordinates were given on the (main) label, they are reported directly. If there are none and if the location is precise enough, an estimate is provided, usually for the first collecting number; because it is an indirect data provided by the author, it will be written down in square brackets []. Similarly, given its importance in order to see the material one more time in its original habitat, if provided in abbreviated form or numerical form that could lead to confusion, the date might be reconfirmed in square brackets (in format day/ month/ year), usually for the first collecting number. This confirmation is often possible because the author has explored the same area for the same species. Other notes such as appreciation/ interpretation of anything relevant on the labels will appear also in square brackets, so that the reader understands that this is not an original data. In some cases it was felt necessary to add [col.] to indicate clearly the name of the collector; similarly [det.] was added to indicate clearly the name of the taxonomist identifying the specimen. If both indications are without square brackets, it means that they were written as such on the label(s). Sometimes critical information, for example the name of the species or the collecting number might be missing and the author has seen a void space; this situation is reflected in the notes by [blanc] 'void' or without number [s. n.].For easy reference only and tracking, the name of the state/ department/ province will appear green (the black font of the original name has been turned green), and the name of the (main) collector and his/ her collecting number will appear blue (the black font of the original name has been turned blue). Note that the original black font can be reversed easily, so the user sees the original data as they were on the label(s). Similarly, all back slash signs could be eliminated to restore the original information found on the label(s).One should keep in mind that the author deals with specimens as individual cases and single sets of data, and on every visit as a novel case. This explains why specimens by the same collector(s) with the same collecting number are repeated in the list. The opinion of other taxonomists on the studied specimen is theirs, and the way Curators mounted plant parts and presented the labels is theirs too. That stated, the reader will notice some interesting convergences (or discrepancies) in the works of these different professionals.The reader will find the specimens seen by the author in alphabetical order of the species: P. acinaciformis, P. albinervus, P. augusti, P. jaliscanus, P. juquilensis, P. lignosus, P. longiplacentifer, P. lunatus, P. maculatifolius, P. marechalii, P. mollis, P. nodosus, P. pachyrrhizoides, P. polystachyus, P. rotundatus, P. salicifolius, P. scrobiculatifolius, P. sinuatus, P. smilacifolius, P. sonorensis, P. viridis and P. xolocotzii. This section seems to be the largest one of the genus right now (see T. G. Porch, J. S. Beaver, D.G. Debouck, S. Jackson, J.D. Kelly & H. Dempewolf. 2013. Use of wild relatives and closely related species to adapt common bean to climate change. , and for easiness (for example by dealing with wild P. lunatus separately) there would be many temptations to split it, for example along the subsections recognized in the monograph. For reasons beyond the scope of this notebook, the unity of the section will however be maintained in this file. In doing so, the reader will quickly realize that there are species with wide range of distribution (e.g. P. lunatus, P. polystachyus) and endemics (e.g. P. lignosus, P. nodosus).About P. acinaciformis the reader should consult the work by A. Delgado-Salinas, R. Bibler & M. Lavin. 2006. Phylogeny of the genus Phaseolus (Leguminosae): a recent diversification in an ancient landscape. Syst. Bot. 31 (4): 779-791, where it is put in synonymy of P. juquilensis. P. augusti is kept, and not P. bolivianus published later. P. lignosus is a valid species most likely belonging to this section (Debouck, D.G. 2015. Observations about Phaseolus lignosus (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae: Phaseoleae), a bean species from the Bermuda Islands. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 9 (1): [107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119]). In the work by Delgado-Salinas et al. (op.cit.), P. longiplacentifer is put in synonymy of P. viridis, a move pending on the study of more material. P. lunatus was treated here as in the monograph without naming botanical varieties, focusing on wild forms, with the mention of a few weedy types (namely when found in the folders of wild forms in some Herbaria); cultivated types were excluded. In many cases, since the collector(s) does (do) not clearly state the biological status of the specimen at the collection site and on the label, the specimen is confirmed as wild ('sauvage') in author's notes because this confirmation is critical for the future use of the data. P. rotundatus has been described in detail (J. Salcedo C., R. Lépiz I., N. Castañeda A., C. Ocampo N. & D.G. Debouck. 2009. Additional observations about Phaseolus rotundatus, an endemic bean species from western Mexico. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 3 (2): 751-762) and belongs to this section. P. scrobiculatifolius has been put in synonymy of P. jaliscanus (A. Delgado-Salinas, R. Bibler & M. Lavin. 2006. Phylogeny of the genus Phaseolus (Leguminosae): a recent diversification in an ancient landscape. Syst. Bot. 31 (4): 779-791), a move being kept on hold given the absence of heterophyly in the specimens seen so far. P. smilacifolius is a valid species of this section and not an hybrid between P. polystachyus and P. sinuatus as once hypothesized (Isely, D. 1990. Vascular flora of the southeastern United States. Vol. 3,part 2. Leguminosae (Fabaceae). The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. 258p). updated 2-12-2019 Introducción a los 'Cahiers de Phaséologie'sección Paniculati Freytag. D. G. Debouck Programa de Recursos Genéticos Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) AA 6713 Cali COLOMBIA; d.debouck@cgiar.org NOTA ACLARATORIAMientras con el Dr. George F. Freytag estábamos finalizando la monografía (Freytag, G.F. & D.G. Debouck. 2002. Taxonomy, distribution, and ecology of the genus Phaseolus (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae) in North America, Mexico and Central America. SIDA , se acordó mutuamente con el Editor del Botanical Research Institute of Texas que el texto final no debería sobrepasar el límite de 300 páginas. Teníamos muchos especímenes que habíamos examinado y anotado conjuntamente en Mayagüez, o de manera independiente. Acordamos con el Editor que por lo menos una lista de los especímenes con las identificaciones estuviera en la monografía (páginas 291-294), para que los Curadores de los Herbarios tuvieran las identificaciones de los especímenes que amablemente nos permitieron estudiar. Desde 2002 más Herbarios fueron visitados (véase una lista completa al final de esta nota aclaratoria) de mi parte y más especímenes fueron anotados. Por razones obvias pocas revistas científicas aceptarían de publicar estos registros de manera completa. La publicación de estos 'Cuadernos de Faseología' en el sitio internet del banco de germoplasma del CIAT donde se conserva actualmente la mayor colección de fríjoles, era una manera lógica de meter esta información al alcance del público. El presente archivo es actualizado periódicamente cuando nuevas visitas a los Herbarios aumentan el número de especímenes de las especies perteneciendo a esta sección.La lista de los especímenes examinados por el autor en los Herbarios viene organizada de acuerdo con las secciones del género Phaseolus tales como se las reconoce en la monografía (op. cit.). La razón detrás de esta organización de los datos es práctica, por los números de especímenes estudiados, especialmente para las secciones que incluyen el fríjol común (es decir los Phaseoli) o el fríjol Lima (es decir los Paniculati). Para dar una información actualizada a los usuarios, la fecha del documento (la cual se encuentra al final del archivo) es la fecha de la cargada de los datos de cualquier espécimen de esta sección estudiado en el último Herbario visitado. Directamente después del título se encuentra la lista de los Herbarios y Museos de Historia Natural que conservan especímenes de esta sección en sus colecciones; estos Herbarios y Museos vienen mencionados en orden alfabético con los acrónimos de 'Index Herbariorum'. Dentro de cada sección, la información se presenta por cada especie reconocida actualmente como válida, y en orden alfabético de las especies para esta sección. Para cada especie la presentación sigue el orden alfabético de los países donde esta especie crece naturalmente (este cuaderno trata únicamente de las especies y formas silvestres, no de los fríjoles sembrados a propósito por la gente en cualquier parte del mundo, tampoco figuran los escapes de cultivo). Para cada país, se sigue el orden alfabético de los departamentos/ estados/ provincias actualmente reconocidos para este país. Dentro de cada departamento/ estado/ provincia, los especímenes se presentan en el orden alfabético de los apellidos de los colectores, considerando el primer apellido cuando aplica. Si se reporta varios especímenes de un mismo colector, el reporte arranca con los números de colecta menores. Cuando hay varios especímenes con el mismo número de colecta, estos se presentan en el orden alfabético de los Herbarios (por sus acrónimos) que conservan estos especímenes. Los especímenes que fueron usados como tipos (indicados en rojo reforzado y según la categoría de tipos, el holotipo siendo el primero) se presentan directamente después del nombre de la especie. Hay dos razones detrás de esta presentación: primero, para el taxónomo el tipo es parte de la validación de la especie (y por lo tanto se sabe de cuál especie se trata), y segundo, en el caso que un usuario busca un tipo, será más rápido buscarlo en un lugar preciso del archivo (y esto para todas las secciones) en comparación a una búsqueda por área geográfica. Los tipos de las especies que fueron puestas en sinonimia siguen, en orden alfabético de los nombres de las especies, a menos que no hayan sido publicados de manera válida. En este último caso, los especímenes se ubican en la lista general (de la misma manera como lo hacen los Curadores). En algunos casos, los especímenes tipo vienen seguidos por aquellos especímenes por los cuales no hay información geográfica. En los casos donde sólo aparece el nombre del país, entonces estos especímenes vienen al inicio (en espera de más información) antes del primer departamento/ estado/ provincia mencionado en orden alfabético.Todas las notas que se encontraron escritas sobre cada espécimen en el día de la visita fueron registradas de la manera más cercana al original, y vienen reportadas en una secuencia temporal arrancando con la anotación más antigua. Decidir cuál era la anotación más antigua no fue siempre fácil, pero el color de las etiquetas y de las tintas y los tipos de máquinas de escribir y de las impresoras ayudaron. Para una referencia rápida, la información arranca con el número del ejemplar con el acrónimo del Herbario visitado cuando aplica. Hay que mencionar que algunos Herbarios no numeran sus especímenes. En este caso puede haber sólo el sello del Herbario donde el espécimen está conservado. Cada elemento de información que se encuentra escrito en una etiqueta o directamente sobre la cartulina viene separado del siguiente por una barra oblicua repetida tres veces (///). Favor notar que un sello puede ser incluido en la secuencia de informaciones porque puede dar una información útil sobre la edad de un espécimen si ésta no viene indicada en la etiqueta principal. Las etiquetas más recientes en la secuencia se refieren usualmente a la identificación del espécimen por parte de los taxónomos, y vienen en orden cronológico, la identificación más temprana siendo la primera. La secuencia de grupos de datos termina con la identificación de parte del autor (introducida por sus iniciales), con algunas notas sobre el espécimen. En estas notas, se llama la atención sobre el tamaño/ riqueza del espécimen, usualmente mediante el número de racimos. Con miras a futuras colectas y en correspondencia con la fecha de la colecta, se da una indicación de fenología, si el espécimen tiene flores y/o vainas jóvenes y/o vainas verdes y/o vainas secas y/o semillas. Las notas terminan con el acrónimo del Herbario visitado y con la fecha (en formato día/mes/ año) del estudio del espécimen durante la visita (esta fecha puede ser comprobada consultando los libros de registro de visitantes de cada Herbario). En consecuencia el lector sabe dónde un espécimen preciso puede ser estudiado o solicitado en préstamo para estudio. Un espécimen puede haber sido estudiado en dos fechas, y en consecuencia dos fechas aparecen, en orden cronológico. La indicación [x2] o [x3] significa que el espécimen existe como dos o tres ejemplares; si existe cualquier detalle que amerita ampliación de notas, entonces el segundo o tercer ejemplar será tratado como cualquier otro espécimen. Usualmente se usará el espécimen con partes más útiles/ abundantes para dar información.Porque las coordenadas geográficas pueden ser de importancia crítica para los estudios de fitogeografía o evaluación contra estrés abióticos, en el caso que las coordenadas fueron escritas en la etiqueta (principal), se las reporta directamente. Si no hay coordenadas y en el caso que el lugar de colecta esté suficientemente preciso, se dan unas coordenadas estimadas, usualmente para el primer número de colecta. Porque se trata de datos indirectos dados por el autor, estarán escritos entre corchetes cuadrados []. De igual manera, por su importancia para volver a ver el material en su sitio original, especialmente si ha sido dada de manera abreviada o en forma numérica que puede prestarse a confusiones, la fecha puede ser re-confirmada en corchetes cuadrados (en formato día/ mes/ año), usualmente para el primer número de colecta. Esta confirmación ha sido posible en varios casos porque el autor ha explorado la misma área para la misma especie. Otras notas tales como apreciaciones o interpretaciones de cualquier palabra escrita sobre la etiqueta y que sea relevante aparecerán también entre corchetes cuadrados, de tal manera que el lector entiende que no son datos originales. En algunos casos se vio la necesidad de añadir la abreviación [col.] para indicar claramente el nombre del colector de la muestra; de igual manera a veces fue necesario añadir la abreviación [det.] para indicar claramente el nombre del taxónomo quien identificó el material. En el caso que ambas abreviaciones estén sin corchetes cuadrados, esta situación significa que fueron escritas como tales en la etiqueta. A veces una información crítica, por ejemplo el nombre de la especie o el número de colecta puede estar faltando y el autor ha visto un espacio dejado en blanco; esta situación viene reflejada en las notas con la indicación [blanc] 'blanco' donde corresponde, o [s.n.] 'sin número '. Para referencia rápida solamente, el nombre del departamento/ estado/ provincia aparecerá en verde (la letra original negra ha sido cambiada a verde), y el nombre del colector (principal) y su número de colecta aparecerán en azul (la letra original negra ha sido cambiada a azul). Favor notar que la letra original negra revertirse fácilmente, para que el usuario vea los datos originales tales como estaban en la(s) etiqueta(s). De igual manera, todas las barras en oblicuo pueden ser eliminadas para volver a la información original de la(s) etiqueta(s).Es importante guardar en mente que el autor trata los especímenes como casos individuales y como conjuntos de datos por separado, y en cada visita como casos nuevos. Esta aproximación explica por qué los especímenes colectados por el mismo colector y con el mismo número de colecta se repiten en la lista. La opinión de otros taxónomos sobre el espécimen estudiado les pertenece, y la manera como los Curadores montan la muestra y presentan los datos igualmente pertenece a ellos. Bajo este entendimiento, el lector observará unas convergencias (o diferencias) interesantes en el trabajo de estos diferentes profesionales.El lector encontrará los especímenes estudiados por el autor en el orden alfabético de las especies: P. acinaciformis, P. albinervus, P. augusti, P. jaliscanus, P. juquilensis, P. lignosus, P. longiplacentifer, P. lunatus, P. maculatifolius, P. marechalii, P. mollis, P. nodosus, P. pachyrrhizoides, P. polystachyus, P. rotundatus, P. salicifolius, P. scrobiculatifolius, P. sinuatus, P. smilacifolius, P. sonorensis, P. viridis and P. xolocotzii. Esta sección parece ser la más grande en el género en estos momentos (ver T. G. Porch, J. S. Beaver, D.G. Debouck, S. Jackson, J.D. Kelly & H. Dempewolf. 2013. Use of wild relatives and closely related species to adapt common bean to climate change. , y para comodidad (por ejemplo en presentando a P. lunatus silvestre por aparte) habría buenas razones de dividirla, de acuerdo a los dos subsecciones reconocidas en la monografía. Por razones que van más allá que el ámbito de este cuaderno, la unidad de la sección se ha mantenido en este archivo. De esta manera el lector se dará rápidamente cuenta que hay especies con un rango de distribución muy amplio (e.g. P. lunatus, P. polystachyus) y otras endémicas (e.g. P. lignosus, P. nodosus).Introduction aux 'Cahiers de Phaséologie'section Paniculati Freytag. D. G. Debouck Programme de Ressources Génétiques Centre International d'Agriculture Tropicale (CIAT) AA 6713 Cali COLOMBIA; d.debouck@cgiar.orgAu moment de finir la monographie avec George F. Freytag (Freytag, G.F. & D.G. Debouck. 2002. Taxonomy, distribution, and ecology of the genus Phaseolus (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae) in North America, Mexico and Central America. SIDA , un accord avait été conclu avec l'Editeur du Botanical Research Institute of Texas que la monographie ne devrait pas compter plus de 300 pages. Il y avait cependant un grand nombre de spécimens sur lesquels nous avions des observations et des notes prises soit ensemble à Mayagüez, soit séparément. Nous étions d'accord avec l'Editeur qu'au moins une liste des identifications soit présente dans la monographie (pages 291-294), afin que les Curateurs des Herbiers puissent avoir les identifications des spécimens qu'ils avaient eu l'amabilité de soumettre à notre examen. Depuis 2002 j'ai eu l'occasion de visiter d'autres Herbiers (la liste complète se trouve à la fin de cette note explicative) et de prendre des notes sur un plus grand nombre de spécimens. Pour des raisons évidentes peu de revues scientifiques accepteraient de publier ces notes dans leur entièreté. La publication de ces 'cahiers de phaséologie' sur le site internet de la banque de gènes du CIAT où la plus grande collection de haricots est actuellement conservée, était une façon de mettre ces informations à la disposition du public. Ce fichier est mis à jour périodiquement quand de nouvelles visites aux Herbiers permettent d'augmenter le nombre de spécimens des espèces appartenant à cette section.La liste des spécimens étudiés dans les Herbiers par l'auteur est organisée en suivant les sections du genre Phaseolus telles qu'elles sont reconnues dans la monographie (op. cit.). La raison pour cette organisation des données est pratique, étant donné le grand nombre de spécimens étudiés, particulièrement pour les sections qui contiennent le haricot commun (c'est-à-dire les Phaseoli) ou le haricot de Lima (c'est-à-dire les Paniculati). Dans le but de donner une information actualisée aux usagers, la date du document (qui se trouve à la fin du fichier) est celle du transfert des données de n'importe quel spécimen de cette section après la dernière visite d'un Herbier. Directement après le titre se trouve la liste des Herbiers et Muséums d'Histoire Naturelle qui conservent des spécimens de cette section dans leurs collections; ces Herbiers sont signalés en ordre alphabétique par les acronymes signalés dans 'Index Herbariorum'. Dans chaque section, l'information est présentée pour chacune des espèces actuellement valide, et dans l'ordre alphabétique des espèces de cette section. Pour chaque espèce la présentation suit l'ordre alphabétique des pays où l'espèce croît naturellement (ce cahier se réfère seulement aux espèces et formes sauvages de haricot, et non aux haricots plantés à dessein où que ce soit par les humains ; les échappés de culture sont aussi exclus). Pour chaque pays, l'ordre alphabétique des départements/ états/ provinces actuellement connu(e)s est suivi. Pour chaque département/ état/ province, les spécimens sont présentés dans l'ordre alphabétique des noms des collecteurs, le premier nom de famille étant considéré en premier lieu. Au cas où plusieurs spécimens ont été collectés par le(s) même(s) collecteur(s), les moindres numéros de collecte viennent en premier lieu. Dans le cas où plusieurs spécimens sont présents avec le même numéro de collecte, l'ordre alphabétique des Herbiers conservant ces spécimens sera suivi. Les spécimens qui ont été utilisés comme types (avec indication en caractères gras et rouges pour la nature des types) viennent directement après la mention du nom de l'espèce. Il y a deux raisons pour cette situation: pour le taxonomiste le type contribue à la validation de l'espèce (et par conséquent on sait directement de quelle espèce il s'agit), et d'autre part dans le cas où un usager cherche un type la recherche sera plus rapide si le type occupe un endroit déterminé dans les fichiers des sections plutôt que de devoir le chercher par origine géographique. Logiquement l'holotype vient en premier lieu. Les types des espèces placées en synonymie viendront ensuite, dans l'ordre alphabétique des noms d'espèces, à moins qu'elles n'aient pas été publiées de façon valide, et dans ce cas les spécimens se trouveront dans la liste générale (comme le font d'habitude les Curateurs des Herbiers). Dans quelques cas, les spécimens type sont suivis par les spécimens pour lesquels il n'y a pas d'information géographique. Dans les cas où le pays est indiqué sans plus d'information, ces spécimens suivent l'indication du pays et sont placés avant ceux avec département/ état/ province connu(e), par ordre alphabétique.Toutes les notes trouvées sur chaque planche d'herbier le jour de la visite ont été enregistrées comme elles ont été écrites, en respectant l'original le plus fidèlement possible, et ont été présentées en séquence chronologique en commençant par la note la plus ancienne. Décider quelle était la note la plus ancienne fut parfois un choix difficile, mais les couleurs des étiquettes et des encres et le type de machines à écrire ou imprimantes ont aidé. Pour une référence facile, l'information rapportée commence par le numéro de la planche d'herbier avec l'acronyme ou le nom de l'Herbier visité suivant le cas. Il faut noter que certains Herbiers ne numérotent pas leurs planches. Dans ce cas il peut y avoir seulement un cachet indiquant où le spécimen est actuellement conservé. Chaque groupe d'informations sur une étiquette ou écrites directement sur la planche est séparé du suivant par une barre oblique répétée trois fois (///). Il convient de noter qu'un cachet peut être inclus dans la séquence d'informations, car il peut apporter une information utile sur l'âge d'un spécimen si ce renseignement ne figure pas sur l'étiquette principale. Les étiquettes les plus récentes dans la séquence se réfèrent généralement à l'identification du spécimen par les taxonomistes et cette identification est présentée dans l'ordre chronologique, la plus ancienne identification venant en premier. La séquence des groupes d'informations se termine par l'identification de la part de l'auteur (introduite par ses initiales), avec quelques notes sur le spécimen. Dans ces notes, l'attention se porte sur la taille/ abondance du spécimen, mesurée d'habitude par le nombre de racèmes. En vue d'une collecte future éventuelle et en correspondance avec la date de collecte, il y a une indication de phénologie, si le spécimen provient d'une plante en floraison, et/ ou avec des jeunes gousses (jgo), et/ ou avec des gousses vertes (go vertes), et/ ou avec des gousses sèches (go sèches) et/ ou avec des graines (gr). Ces notes se terminent avec l'acronyme de l'Herbier visité et la date (en format jour/ mois/ année) de l'étude du spécimen (cette date peut être validée en consultant le registre des visiteurs de chaque Herbier). De cette façon le lecteur sait où un spécimen peut être étudié ou demandé en prêt pour étude. Un spécimen peut avoir été étudié au cours de deux visites, et par conséquent deux dates en ordre chronologique seront indiquées . L'indication [x2] or [x3] signifie que le spécimen a été trouvé monté sur deux ou trois planches; au cas où il y a quoique ce soit d'intéressant, la seconde ou la troisième planche sera considérée comme un autre spécimen. Le spécimen le plus riche en parties informatives est généralement choisi.Comme les coordonnées géographiques peuvent être de valeur critique pour des études de phytogéographie ou d'évaluation pour les stress abiotiques, si ces coordonnées ont été écrites sur l'étiquette (principale), elles seront rapportées directement. Au cas où les coordonnées sont absentes et si le lieu de collecte est suffisamment précis, une estimation des coordonnées est fournie, d'habitude pour le premier numéro de collecte; comme il s'agit d'une donnée indirecte fournie par l'auteur, cette estimation des coordonnées sera écrite entre crochets []. Pareillement, étant donné son importance pour retrouver le matériel dans son site original, la date de collecte, surtout si elle se trouve sous forme abréviée ou sous une forme qui peut prêter à confusion, peut être reconfirmée entre crochets (dans le format jour/ mois/ année), d'habitude pour le premier numéro de collecte. Cette confirmation est souvent possible parce que l'auteur a exploré la même zone géographique pour la même espèce. D'autres notes comme des appréciations ou interprétations d'écritures sur les étiquettes figureront aussi entre crochets, de sorte que le lecteur comprend qu'il ne s'agit pas de données originales. Dans quelques cas il s'est avéré nécessaire d'ajouter l'abréviation [col.] pour indiquer clairement le nom du collecteur; pareillement l'abréviation [det.] a été ajoutée pour indiquer clairement le nom du taxonomiste qui a identifié le spécimen. Si ces deux abréviations existent sans crochets, cela signifie qu'elles ont été écrites comme telles sur l'étiquette. Parfois une information critique, comme par exemple le nom de l'espèce ou le numéro de collecte, est manquante, et l'auteur a trouvé un espace blanc à cet endroit; cette situation est reflétée dans les notes par l'indication [blanc] ou [s. n.] sans numéro.Pour la facilité de référence et détection, le nom du département/ état/ province apparaîtra en vert (la lettre originale en noir a été convertie en vert), et le nom du collecteur et son numéro de collecte apparaîtra en bleu (la lettre originale en noir a été convertie en bleu). La conversion à la lettre originale en noir est facile et permet de retrouver les données originales comme sur l'étiquette. Pareillement, toutes les barres obliques peuvent être éliminées pour retrouver les informations originales trouvées sur l'(les) étiquette(s).Il convient de se souvenir que l'auteur traite chaque spécimen comme un cas particulier et chaque groupe d'informations sur une étiquette comme un groupe indépendant, et à chaque visite comme un nouveau cas. Ceci explique pourquoi les spécimens trouvés par le(s) même(s) collecteur(s) avec le même numéro de collecte sont répétés dans la liste. L'opinion d'autres taxonomistes sur le spécimen étudié est leur opinion, et la façon dont les Curateurs présentent les étiquettes et montent les matériels leur appartient également. Ceci précisé, le lecteur constatera des convergences (ou des différences) intéressantes dans le travail de ces différents professionnels.Le lecteur trouvera ci-après les spécimens étudiés par l'auteur dans l'ordre alphabétique des espèces: P. acinaciformis, P. albinervus, P. augusti, P. jaliscanus, P. juquilensis, P. lignosus, P. longiplacentifer, P. lunatus, P. maculatifolius, P. marechalii, P. mollis, P. nodosus, P. pachyrrhizoides, P. polystachyus, P. rotundatus, P. salicifolius, P. scrobiculatifolius, P. sinuatus, P. smilacifolius, P. sonorensis, P. viridis and P. xolocotzii. Cette section semble être la plus grande du genre actuellement (voir T. G. Porch, J. S. Beaver, D.G. Debouck, S. Jackson, J.D. Kelly & H. Dempewolf. 2013. Use of wild relatives and closely related species to adapt common bean to climate change. , et par convenance (par exemple en traitant la forme sauvage de P. lunatus séparément) la tentation existe de diviser la section, en suivant les soussections reconnues dans la monographie. Pour des raisons dont le détail n'est pas l'objet de ce cahier, l'unité de la section est maintenue dans ce fichier. De cette façon, le lecteur comprendra rapidemment qu' il y a des espèces avec une grande zone de distribution (e.g. P. lunatus, P. polystachyus) et des espèces endémiques (e.g. P. lignosus, P. nodosus).A propos de P. acinaciformis, le lecteur devrait consulter le travail de A. Delgado-Salinas, R. Bibler & M. Lavin. 2006. Phylogeny of the genus Phaseolus (Leguminosae): a recent diversification in an ancient landscape. Syst. Bot. 31 (4): 779-791, où il est mis en synonymie de P. juquilensis, une action en attente de pouvoir étudier plus de spécimens. P. augusti est conservé, et non P. bolivianus publié par après. P. lignosus est une espèce valide le plus probablement appurtenant à cette section (Debouck, D.G. 2015. Observations about Phaseolus lignosus (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae: Phaseoleae), a bean species from the Bermuda Islands. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 9 (1): 107-119). Dans le travail de Delgado-Salinas et al. (op.cit.), P. longiplacentifer est placé en synonymie de P. viridis, une action en attente de pouvoir étudier plus de matériel. P. lunatus a été traité comme dans la monographie sans faire de distinction entre les variétés botaniques, en se concentrant sur les formes sauvages, avec la mention occasionnelle de quelques formes rudérales (notamment si ces spécimens se trouvaient confondus avec les formes sauvages dans les mêmes casiers des Herbiers); les plantes cultivées ont été exclues. Dans plusieurs cas, quand le collecteur n'a pas clairement défini le statut biologique du spécimen au site de collecte et sur l'étiquette, le spécimen a été confirmé comme 'sauvage' dans les notes de l'auteur du fait de l'importance de cette information pour l'usage ultérieur des données. P. rotundatus a été décrit en détail par ailleurs (J. Salcedo C., R. Lépiz I., N. Castañeda A., C. Ocampo N. & D.G. Debouck. 2009. Additional observations about Phaseolus rotundatus, an endemic bean species from western Mexico. J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 3 (2): 751-762) et appartient à cette section. P. scrobiculatifolius a été mis en synonymie de P. jaliscanus (A. Delgado-Salinas, R. Bibler & M. Lavin. 2006. Phylogeny of the genus Phaseolus (Leguminosae): a recent diversification in an ancient landscape. Syst. Bot. 31 (4): 779-791), une action en réserve pour le moment du fait de l'absence d'hétérophylie sur les spécimens étudiés jusqu'à présent. P. smilacifolius est une espèce valide de cette section et non un hybride entre P. polystachyus et P. sinuatus comme il a été proposé une fois (Isely, D. 1990. Vascular flora of the southeastern United States. Vol. 3,part 2. Leguminosae (Fabaceae)   Herbario de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. No. [blanc]. Det. [blanc].  N.v. \"poroto del zorro\". Det. A Burkart, I-1941. Argentina, Jujuy, Valle Grande. [23º 28'S. 64º 59'W]. Selva. Leg. Arturo Burkart & Nélida S Troncoso. 28-II-1940[28 février 1940].     Aug. 3, 1915Aug. 3, [3 août 1915]]    Col. César Vargas C.. Fecha Febrero 1935[? février 1935]. [Peru, Cuzco]. Provincia Paucartambo. Loc. riberas   , aproximadamente 6 km de Atenguillo. Alt. 1,900 m. 20º22'20.79\"N,104º36'9.73\"W. Bosque de pino-encino. Hierba rastrera abundante, flor morada. Mayo 13, 2017Mayo 13, [13 mai 2017]]. Col   26, 1904;fr. Feb. 4, 1905 [en         No. 5380. 27 Nov. 1978[27 novembre 1978]. Family: [blanc]. Phaseolus  Oct. 27, 1947Oct. 27, [27 octobre 1947;;écrit  "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1490659829.json b/main/part_2/1490659829.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7757d76fb626be4c93e1c7e72b7e5fc8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fb251f79-ba26-4c1e-a19a-ec892bdca62a/retrieve","id":"1029833935"},"keywords":["Launaea cornuta","tissue culture","micropropagation","axillary buds","tissue culture"],"sieverID":"7fa59ef3-d7c1-41ae-bd7b-babde709bc09","content":"An efficient micropropagation protocol was developed for the medicinal plant Launaea cornuta using green house axillary buds as explants. The best sterility was obtained at 30% (v/v) local bleach (JIK). Maximum shoot induction rate was achieved when axillary buds were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) Media supplemented with 0.5 mg/L of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) for 3 weeks. The highest number of shoot multiplication was obtained when induced shoots were culture on MS media supplemented with 0.5 mg/L BAP and 0.2 mg/L NAA for 30 days. The best rooting response with regard to average root length, rooting percentage and number of roots was achieved within 4 weeks of culture of excised shoots on MS media having 0.5 mg/L BAP. Regenerated plants were successfully acclimatized and about 80 to 90% of plantlets survived under ex vitro conditions. About 170 plants were produced from a single nodal bud of L. cornuta after 60 days. A reproducible protocol was established for in vitro propagation of L. cornuta, an important indigenous vegetable with high medicinal value.Launaea cornuta commonly known as bitter lettuce or \"mchunga\" is a wild vegetable belonging in the family Asteraceae. It is indigenous to Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zimbabwe where it is mainly used as a vegetable (Jeffrey, 1966;Schippers, 2002), fodder for rabbits and sheep and to increase milk yield in cows (Burkill, 1985). It is rich in nutrients such as proteins, fat, carbohydrates, calcium, phosphorus, iron and ascorbic acid (Ndossi and Sreeramulu, 1991). It is exploited for its antidiabetic, anticancer, insecticidal (Kareru et al., 2007), antimalarial, antibacterial (Musila et al., 2013) and anthelmintic (Hiene and Heine, 1988) properties. It has been used to treat gonorrhea, syphilis, sore throats, coughs, typhus, nasal-pharyngeal infections, measles, swollen testicles, pain in the spleen, ear aches, hookworm eradication as well as fever (Hiene and Heine, 1988). L. cornuta is locally propagated vegetatively through rhizomes (Abukutsa, 2007). Development of a micropropagation protocol for L. cornuta can help to promote its cultivation and domestication which is currently limited to the coast of Kenya and countries bordered by the coast line (Abukutsa, 2007). The aim of this study was to regenerate L. cornuta in vitro using nodal buds as explants. A micropropagation protocol is essential for rapid multiplication, utilization and conservation of L. cornuta.Launaea cornuta plants were collected from the field and planted in sterile soil in plastic bags and placed in the screen house at Kabete Biotechnology Center of Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO). The plants were watered whenever necessary. All experiments were conducted using MS basal media (Murashige and Skoog, 1962) supplemented with 20 g/L sucrose and 3 g/L phytagel. The media was sterilised by autoclaving at 121°C for 20 min and dispensed equally into 10 ml universal bottles. Explants were cultured at a temperature of 24 ± 2°C and a photoperiod of 16/8 h light and dark conditions. Lighting conditions were provided by cool-white fluorescent lights of 3000 Lux.Shoots from green house grown plants were cut just above the soil surface using clean scalpels and placed in bags (Figure 1). Shoots were defoliated in the tissue culture laboratory and individual 3 cm long shoot buds (explants) excised. Twenty one explants were placed into 5 different jam jars and rinsed 3 times with distilled water containing 3 drops of tween-20. This was followed by rinsing to remove the soap and addition of local bleach (JIK with 3.85% NaOCl) at 0, 5, 10, 20, and 30% into the jars for 20 min. The bleach was discarded and 70% ethanol added for 2 min. They were thoroughly rinsed with distilled water and held in 2% bleach solution awaiting culture. The dead tissues at the edges of the explant were cut off and the buds inoculated in MS media. The cultures were incubated under conditions described previously and the rate of explant survival and sterility for each bleach concentration recorded 30 days after culturing.Explants were inoculated on the MS medium supplemented with BAP at 0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 mg/L. The explants were cultured under conditions described previously and data on number of shoots per explants and shoot length recorded 3 weeks after culture. After 3 weeks of culture, the induced shoots were subcultured on MS media supplemented with 0.5 mg/L BAP in combination with NAA (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5 mg/L). The cultures were incubated under growth conditions described previously. The shoots developed in the culture jars were maintained for 4 weeks and monitored for continuous elongation. Each NAA concentration was evaluated for shoot proliferation and growth.Shoots were subcultured into MS media containing IBA at 0, 01, 0.5  and 1 mg/L and maintained for 4 weeks under growth conditions described previously. The number of roots and root length was determined for each IBA concentration. Shoots with a welldeveloped root system were hardened in the glass house for 7 days by growing in sterile peat moss. Hardened plants were transplanted into soil and monitored until maturity.Explant surface sterilization is mandatory and it serves to eliminate epiphytes and transient microorganisms. It is therefore important that the concentration of the sterilant be high enough to effectively kill all contaminants but low enough to avoid damaging the explants. To date, establishment of tissue culture for L. cornuta has not been reported. It is therefore not clear how the hollow stem sections of L. cornuta would respond to surface sterilization. To obtain the best sterilant concentration, we compared the effect of five different concentrations of NaOCl on sterility and shooting of nodal explants. The optimum concentration was 30% bleach, resulting in the highest sterility and number of shooting nodal explants (Table 1). At lower bleach concentrations the explants were greened. However, they did not shoot due to associated high rate of contamination. Bleach levels exceeding 30% caused scorching and eventual death of the explants (Table 1). The tissue available for isolation for microculture is an important factor that can influence the success rate of tissue culture. Vegetative tissues from plants growing outside have relatively high contamination making surface disinfection difficult. The ideal tissue is obtained from a small plant maintained in a relatively clean environment such as glass house. In this study, exposure to 30% of local bleach for 20 min was adequate to disinfect explant tissues obtained from glass house grown plants.Currently there are no reports on the in vitro response of any genotype of L. cornuta. To establish in vitro axillary shoot induction response of L. cornuta axillary buds, the effect of different BAP concentrations was compared.Multiple shoots were best induced on low BAP (0.5 mg/L), resulting in 11 shoots per axillary bud (Figure 1) after 3 weeks. Increasing the concentration of BAP to 1.5 mg/L resulted in a substantial reduction of shoot formation to 8.6 shoots per bud. Shoot length was significantly reduced when BAP level was reduced below 0.5 mg/L. However, increasing the BAP concentration beyond 0.5 led to statistically insignificant reduction (p>0.05) in shoot length (Table 2). In many plant species, dormant axillary buds are  induced to sprout into plants using cytokinins. For L. cornuta, presence of low BAP (0.5 mg/L) is paramount for efficient shoot induction. This is because shoots were produced at a significantly higher rate (p<0.05) for all media having BAP than for the control MS basal media lacking BAP (Table 2). New growth from nodal sections of L. cornuta was apparent in about 2 weeks of culture on media having 0.5 mg/L BAP. However, the new shoots elongated in 2 to 3 weeks. Emergence of new axillary buds (shoots) is dependent not only on explant type and hormone concentration, but also on other factors including hormone type, media composition, explant age and position.To test the ability of induced axillary shoots to proliferate, the effect of different BAP:NAA combinations on the number of shoots and shoot growth was evaluated. Media having BAP in combination with NAA gave an excellent shoot proliferation rate (Table 3). The highest number of shoot multiplication was obtained when media was supplemented with 0.5 mg/L BAP and 0.2 mg/L NAA (Figure 1). Favorable effects of these growth regulator combinations on shoot proliferation response has also been reported for several medicinal plants, such as, Celastrus paniculatus (Martin, 2006); Coleus blumei (Rani et al., 2006) and Smilax zeylanica L. (Sayeed and Roy, 2004). The regenerated shoots were healthy and attained a height of 4.6 cm within 4 to 6 weeks on media having 0.5 mg/L BAP and 0.2 mg/L NAA (Table 3). These shoots were normal and rootable.After six weeks of culture of elongated shoots on hormone-free MS basal medium, the rooting response of media with different concentration of IBA was tested on excised shoots. Roots formed on shoots within 4 weeks of culture on all media with IBA (Figure 1). However, the root number and length decreased with decreasing IBA concentration. The best rooting response with regard to the percentage of shoots producing roots (100%), the number of roots per shoot (7.3) and the average root length (3.3 cm) was achieved with 0.5 mg/L BAP (Table 4). Similar effects of IBA on root induction of shoots have been observed in other medicinal plants, such as Solanum trilobatum (Jawahar et al., 2004). Cassia alata (Hasan et al., 2008) and Plumbaga zeylanica (Chaplot et al., 2006). The rooted plants were hardened and transferred to soil where they grew normally with no morphological abnormalities.This study established for the first time a micropropagation protocol for L. cornuta using axillary buds as explants. About 170 plants were produced from a single nodal bud after 60 days. The protocol described here can be used for rapid propagation, conservation of and exploitation of L. cornuta germplasm for their nutritional and medicinal value."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1493121263.json b/main/part_2/1493121263.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f2ec5cf63a17b0a5771307f5510f6f47c0b96876
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"794e6c4e0186fde28c31e4bee8ba2dda","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b83fd794-1e0e-473c-9a46-5efd9e66a84e/retrieve","id":"-1171349114"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1b45895a-62da-4ba4-aef6-0b60631f1860","content":"Mediterranean firs are inter-fertile species that belong to two sections: i) Section Abies (Abies bornmuelleriana Mattf., A. borisii-regis Mattf., A. cephalonica Loud., A. equi-trojani Asch., A. nebrodensis Lojac and A. nordmanniana Spach.), and ii) Section Piceaster (Abies cilicica de Lannoy, A. marocana Trabut, A. numidica Carrière and A. pinsapo Boissier). They are evergreen conifers growing up to 50 m in height, with straight trunk and pyramidal crown that later turns to flat-topped. The 3-5 vegetative buds, at the apex of the shoots, are conical to ovoid and resinous (except in A. cilicica, A. nordmanniana and A. numidica). Leaves are linear, flattened with acute (A. cephalonica, A. borisii-regis, A. equi-trojani and A. pinsapo) or round (A. cilicica, A. nebrodensis, A. nordmanniana and A. numidica) apex.The firs are obligate seeders, monoecious and wind-pollinated and their seeds are wind-dispersed. The cones ripen in one season, while abundant seed production occurs only every 3-5 years.They form pure or mixed forests that span a considerable altitudinal range (600-2000 m) and grow in humid bioclimates, except for A. cephalonica, A. cilicica and A. nebrodensis that may also grow in sub-humid regions. A. borisii-regis, A. bornmuelleriana, A. cephalonica and A. cilicica can tolerate wider ranges of mean annual temperature (7.5 to 16 ºC) than the rest of the species. Bud bursting occurs from early April (A. cephalonica and A. cilicica), mid April (A. marocana, A. numidica and A. pinsapo) to early May (A. bornmuelleriana and A. nordmanniana).These Technical Guidelines are intended to assist those who cherish the valuable Mediterranean fir genepool and its inheritance, through conserving valuable seed sources or use in practical forestry. The focus is on conserving the genetic diversity of the species at the European scale. The recommendations provided in this module should be regarded as a commonly agreed basis to be complemented and further developed in local, national or regional conditions. The Guidelines are based on the available knowledge of the species and on widely accepted methods for the conservation of forest genetic resources.Technical guidelines for genetic conservation and useMediterranean firs P.G. Alizoti 1 , B. Fady 2 , M.A. Prada 3 , G.G. Vendramin 4 1 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece 2 INRA, URFM, Ecology of Mediterranean Forests, Avignon, France 3 GV, CIEF-Forest Seed Bank, Valencia, Spain  4 IGV-CNR, Florence, ItalyMediterranean firs have disconnected and limited distributions that are relict ranges of mostly endemic species. The distribution area of most fir species is concentrated in the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea region.Fir wood is generally considered of lesser technical value than pine wood, but is used for carpentry purposes due to its softness and workability. It is also used for general construction, paper, glued and composite wood products, veneer, plywood, panels and poles, as well as fuel wood. The bark, buds and cones may contain a large amount of fine, highly resinous turpentine. A fine oil of turpentine can be distilled from the crude material, while the residue forms a coarse resin named colophony or rosin. Fresh oleoresin is mainly used for pharmaceutical purposes.Because of their fragrance, colour, good form and exceptionally long leaf retention after being cut, most of the firs are used as ornamental trees and are grown in plantations for Christmas trees (e.g. A. borisii regis, A. cephalonica and A. nordmanniana).Mediterranean firs are often found in protected areas either because of their level of endemism and limited distribution or because of their vital role as keystone species in Mediterranean mountain ecosystems. pp Abies spp A Threats to genetic diversity editerranean firsAbies spp Mediterranean firsAbies spp Mediterranean firsAbies s Due to the threats, endemism and geographically scattered distribution, the conservation of Mediterranean firs and their genetic resources is a major challenge. The genetic resources of the firs are currently conserved in various protected areas that have rarely been established for this purpose. Due to their evolutionary history and specific adaptation, the fir forests harbour unique genetic resources that are important beyond the Mediterranean. Thus, the establishment of conservation units for the firs that meet pan-European minimum requirements for dynamic gene conservation is of crucial importance.At present, several of the species and their genetic resources are protected either in situ (national parks, nature reservesand gene conservation units) or ex situ (conservation seed orchards and stands). is conserved in a nature reserve in Morocco and seven ex situ stands have also been established for the species.Climate change will have an impact on the current in situ conservation efforts but it is difficult to predict its effect on seed production, natural regeneration and recruitment of the firs as well as on the risks from insects and pathogens. The dynamic gene conservation units should be monitored in order to ensure that the populations are not seriously affected and that they retain their evolutionary potential and regenerate naturally. Management of the units should aim mainly at assisting natural regeneration and when this is not possible, the area should be artificially regenerated with local genetic material. Management of natural forests should also safeguard genetic resources by allowing natural selection to occur on regeneration in a variety of situations. Ex situ conservation efforts should focus on small populations that have an endangered status, insufficient seed production or unsuccessful pollination in their natural environment. This approach is useful especially in case of rare species or species with limited or scattered distribution as ex situ stands with a sufficient number of genotypes form new interbreeding populations that will produce seeds with a potentially high genetic diversity. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1494290301.json b/main/part_2/1494290301.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b07c5de969e007b7ca169a171c56bb7e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8370b24b-2ef7-4c06-b4cb-76a2f8b47395/retrieve","id":"-1530899903"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c4c60cd2-a7c7-49a6-8521-12a4be4975bd","content":"sobre las 80+ especies del género, más ½ son endémicas, allí vienen las nuevas Con amplia distribución: poblaciones > 100, varios nichos Con distribución intermedia: 25 < poblaciones < 100 Con distribución endémica: < 25 poblaciones, nicho específico ejemplo de especies con amplia distribución en Suramérica: aug, lun, vul 3/28• género: 80-85 sp.• 2 clades de ~40 sp. c/u• género: 8 mi años• separación de 2 clades: 4 mi años • siembra silvestres• afuera rango silv.• flujo genes → razas • 15% de las especies silvestres han sido descubiertas después de 2000; endémicas!• es en Mesoamérica que la probabilidad de encontrar estas endémicas es mayor Prioridades de Conocimiento Adicional (26/XI/2019) (1)• en Mesoamérica falta trabajo en:• México para las extintas (!?) (leptophyllus, placiocylix) y otras 4 spp.• Guatemala para P. parvifolius, P. pauciflorus, P. persistentus • Venezuela para silvestres de P. lunatus y de P. vulgaris• Brasil, Bolivia y Paraguay para silvestres de P. lunatus• en Suramérica falta trabajo en:• en las transiciones: Colombia (3), Amotape-Huancabamba, Salinas Grandes• Honduras ameritaría un trabajo como lo de Costa Rica (de 7 a 15sp.!)• inventario del material no comercial, con marcadores y georeferenciación• Venezuela para guacaro y murutungo Prioridades de Conocimiento Adicional (26/XI/2019) (2)• Brasil, Bolivia y Paraguay para formas cultivadas de P. lunatus• en Mesoamérica falta trabajo en:• en Suramérica falta trabajo en:• Corredor seco centroamericano tepari • todas las especies silvestres por la diversidad genética acumulada por 8 mi años• en Mesoamerica son de gran interés 6 especies del grupo de P. vulgaris• en los Andes son de gran interés 2 especies del grupo de P. vulgaris y• en ambas regiones son de gran interés los flujos entre variedades y y 3 especies del grupo de P. lunatus sigue domesticando dentro de estos flujos génicos entre estas y especies y formas silvestres , sobre todo los casos donde la gente aún• es urgente hacer inventarios en parques nacionales para ver si tienen parientes de Phaseolus• una meta modesta sería que una población de cada especie esté en un área protegida "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1495751765.json b/main/part_2/1495751765.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a704e8146eb7b29cc9d0f4f13d2f2594cbb3b820
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3620bff11a868516dd232fc820330b8e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/972a4941-dd26-49c5-b144-a529085d2ddf/retrieve","id":"182461798"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"27ae6a2a-06b2-4b6b-8d53-6427b668a195","content":"La investigación partlcipatlva para el mejoramiento de la yuca (IPMY) se desarrolló, en un ptincipio, como un procedimiento aplicado al trabajo de evaluar clones de yuca (Manlhot esculenta. Crantz) que se hacia con agricultores de escasos recursos del departamento del Cauca y de la Costa Atlántica de Colombia. El método fue creado entre 1986 y 1991 por el CIAT (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical), con la colaboración de CORPOICA (Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria), y partia de métodos y técnicas participativas ya existentes a las que se adicionaron nuevos componentes dispuestos en forma secuencial (Herné.ndez 1993J. Varias instituciones de países latinoamericanos lo han ensayado y lo adoptaron en sus programas de mejoramiento, tanto de la yuca (Fukuda et al. 1994(Fukuda et al. , 1997;;Hinostroza et al. 1988; Iglesias y Herné.ndez sO como de otros cultivos.El método IPMY se desarrolló durante una coyuntura en la que el enfoque participativo ganaba espacio y credibilidad entre los investigadores agricolas y se empezaba a aplicar al mejoramiento de cultivos, de donde recibió el nombre genérico de fttomejoramiento participativo, FMP (o PPB, sus siglas en inglés). El número de proyectos de FMP se multiplicó desde los 80 y actualmente hay. por lo menos. 75 casos documentados en Asia. África y América Latina (Weltzlen et al. 2000). Estos proyectos han empleado varias modalidades y métodos de participación y son. en conjunto, una fuente de experienCias. de lecciones y de elementos clave que pueden ser consultados por los investigadores que deseen desarrollar un proyecto o refinar sus procedimientos.El propósito de este articulo es analizar criticamente el procedimiento IPMY y sus componentes en relación con lo aprendido de su aplicación (en el Cauca y en la Costa Atlé.ntica de Colombia). y considerando las lecciones que se pueden derivar de la multitud de experiencias realizadas en FMP a nivel mundial en los últimos 20 años.En primer lugar. el procedimiento IPMY se presenta gráficamente en secuencias. explicando brevemente sus componentes intrínsecos y coníextuales. Luego se analizan cuatro temas relacionados con los resultados obtenidos y con aspectos que no fueron considerados origJ.nalmente; sin embargo. la experiencia conjunta del FMP sugiere que pueden tenerse en cuenta para Incluir en el procedimiento una vez refinados o modificados. Se explicará que varias de las decisiones sobre aspectos clave de un proceso participativo -{:omo son la selección de participantes o la etapa (o etapas! del proceso en que se Incorporan los usuarios--se toman en función del objetivo del proceso; por ello, en la medida en que cambien los objetivos, pueden varlar también estas decisiones.Aunque existen varios documentos sobre el procedimiento IPMY, sobre la aplicación que se le ha dado en varios paises y sobre la capacitación tmpartida para poder manejarlo. al momento de escribir este articulo no se conocen documentos suficientemente detallados del IPMY como tal, que pennitan un análisis critico de sus componentes y de sus pasos. Una explicación parcial de esta situación es que el IPMY se elaboró cuando se Implementaba un proyecto de mejoramiento en la Costa Atlántica, una reglón al norte de Colombia, yen sus comienzos introdujo algunas modificaciones al método convencional empleado hasta entonces tanto en el programa nacional de :yuca como en el CIAT. Por ello, algunos de los programas de mejoramiento que han deseado aplicar el IPMY han tenido que deducir prácticas y crear pasos que o no fueron contemplados quizás durante la expertencia colombiana o, si lo fueron, no llegaron a ser documentados.La Figura 1 presenta un esquema del procedimiento empleando documentos y matertales disponibles. El esquema se divide en elementos contextuales, es decir. elementos que hemos considerado como propios o únicos del contexto colombiano en el cual se desarrolló el procedimiento; y en pasos sugeridos. o sea, pasos esenciales que deben implementarse, prescindiendo del contexto, cuando se quiera replicar el procedimiento.Estos elementos, que cambian según el contexto en que se realiza un procedimiento participativo, influyen en el modo en que se implementan los pasos sugertdos y en los resultados que se logren. En la experiencia colombiana. los elementos contextuales más importantes fueron los actores y el cultivo.En la experiencia colombiana hubo diversos actores: instituciones de investigación agricola (nacional e internacional), universidades. cooperativas, organizaciones no gubernamentales (las ONG). pequeñas industrias de procesamiento de la raíz de yuca, y pequeños productores. Estaba también el GRUYA (Grupo de Yuca y Asociados). una agrupación de profesionales de diferentes instituciones y con diversas especializaciones, experimentados en el cultivo de la yuca. que se reunia pertódicamente para compartir expertencias, planear actividades y dar mutuamente asesoria en diversos temas relacionados con el cultivo.La participación del GROYA facilitó mucho el trabajo y fue una garantía de que importantes aspectos del cultivo no quedaran excluidos a la hora de implementar o ejecutar el proyecto. El GROYA facilitó también la interacción con los productores de yuca y se aseguró de que los ensayos tuvieran suficiente cubrimiento geográfico. Este punto pertenece al tema de la concertación intértnstituclonal que será analizado más adelante.No sólo las relaciones existentes entre las entidades. sino también la identidad de los actores prtncipales, los mandatos que han recibido. sus prtncipios. sus objetivos y su método de trabajo fueron elementos contextuales importantes. En el contexto colombiano. por ejemplo. el eIAT. una de las entidades investigadoras del proyecto. tenia un doble objetivo: desarrollar un procedimiento de FMP y crear en las entidades asociadas con el Centro la capacidad de replicar ese procedimiento. Estos objetivos incluian las siguientes actividades y estrategias:capacitación continua de profesionales. creación de vínculos interinstitucionales.contratación de una persona para el trabajo específico de preparar y documentar el procedimiento.elaboración de un presupuesto.centralización de la infonnación.inicio estratégico del trabajo aplicando el esquema convencional.empleo de materiales en fase avanzada de mejoramiento que eran (y son aún muy importantes en la experiencia colombiana (aunque no necesariamente en la de otros paises). y modificación del procedimiento para ajustarlo a otros cultivos.La identidad de los productores es también un elemento contextualimportante. Los productores pueden considerarse un elemento intrinseco del procedimiento. tal como uno de sus pasos (\"Selección de los agricultores\") lo sugiere: sin embargo. conviene destacar que la identidad y la situación socio-económica del productor varian según el contexto. Como se explicará más adelante. la mayor parte de los agricultores que viven en la reglón donde se estableció el proyecto son pequeños productores (generalmente. poseen de 0.5 a 1 ha). todos hombres. con mucha experiencia en la producción de yuca. de la cual el mayor porcentaje se destina al autoconsumo y a la venta en fresco. Aunque exiSten otras subregiones y otros perfiles socio-económicos dentro de la región considerada. éstos fueron elegidos por el proyecto dado el mandato y los objetivos de las entidades que lo ejecutaban.Mucho se puede deducir del nombre del procedimiento que estamos analizando. El nombre \"investigación participativa para el mejoramiento de la yuca (IPMY)\" indica que el procedimiento fue desarrollado específicamente para el cultivo de la yuca. lo que ocurrió así por motivos circunstancIales. La estrategia de mejorarmento. el tipo de selección. el diseño experimental. la estructura de las repeticiones. el tiempo. el espacio y los recursos requeIidos en el procedimiento son propios del cultivo de la yuca. pero variarán. naturalmente. cuando se trate de otros cultivos. La secuencia de pasos que sugiere este procedimiento ha sido aplicada. sin dificultad. a otros cultivos.El cultivo de la yuca es también un elemento importante en el contexto colombiano porque es un cultivo de subsistencia. muy extendido en el área abarcada por el proyecto y tradicional en ella. Este hecho facilitó el establecimiento del procedimiento participativo, dada la larga experiencia y los conocimientos que tienen los agricultores de la Costa Atlántica sobre este cultivo. El trabajo con cultivos en que los agricultores carecen de experiencia (por ejemplo. en pastos o variedades de cobertura del suelO) y en que no es posible apreciar cualitativamente. a corto plazo. los beneficios de la tecnología (por ejemplo. la conservación del suelo o la digestibilidad y el contenido de proteína en el caso de los forrajesl representaría un reto diferente. y más dificil. para el investigador.Los pasos que se darían. de manel'a secuencial. en el procedimiento IPMY son los siguientes:,/ Definir los objetivos. Las entidades que participan en el procedimlento IPMY establecen los objetivos de éste antes de iniciarlo. (Este tema será discutido más adelante.),/Elegir los agricultores y las localídades (y establecer una red de ensayos del cultivo). Hay técnicas participativas que orientan en la elección de los productores. la cual se basa en los diversos criterios de selección establecidos por las entidades antes mencionadas. (Este tema sera discutido más adelante.)./Hacer el díagnóstico parttcipativo. Este diagnóstico identifica. inicialmente. los problemas o las limitaciones de los participantes en IPMY. y sus objetivos ../Seleccitmar los materiales. Los materiales que se evaluarán (oferta tecnológica) se seleccionan primero según la descripCión de la variedad \"ideal\" y. después del primer ciclo, por los criterios de los productores.,/Hacer evaluaciones abiertas (irúormaci6n subjetiva) y evaluaciones agron6micas (irúormación cuantitativa) para recolectar irúormación que será luego analizada.,/ Determinar criterios y elaborar un glosario de términos. empleando formularios de evaluación y haciendo un análisis subjetivo de la irúormaci6n.,/Usar libros de campo como fonnato para las tablas de frecuencias en las que se determina la importancia relativa de los criterios expresados por los agricultores.,/Analizar estadísticamente la información obtenida. aplicando el análisis de regresi6n a la irúormación no paramétrtca (la calidad de la irúormaclón y el uso que se le da se analizan más adelante).,/ Defrnir la fase de pre/anzamtento. Esta tarea corresponde a las entidades de investigación que participan.,/ Liberar las variedades desarrolladas. La liberación se hace según las normas de las entidades de investigación mencionadas.En esta sección analizaremos cuatro temas clave de la investigación participativa: la selección de participantes. la definición de objetivos. el análisis de la información. y la realización de acuerdos intertnstitucionales. En cada tema o área se estudiará lo que sugiere la documentación existente sobre IPMY. la forma en que se manejó el tema durante la experiencia realizada en Colombia. los aspectos relacionados con ese tema que no se consideraron y. fmalmente. la forma en que se puede refmar el procedimiento dadas la experiencia adquirida y el aprendizaje logrado en FMP a nivel internacional en los últimos 20 años.En la: experiencia colombiana. la selección de agricultores en las comlUÚdades fue coordinada por las instituciones de investigación. las cuales designaron funciOnarios que conocían los sistemas de producción de las localidades. Estos funcionarios seleccionaban agricultores expertos de comunidades situadas en zonas edafoclimáticas similares a la zona en que se hallaba la estación experimental. y en las cuales la yuca era un cultivo prioritario (Iglesias y Hernández 1994).En cada localidad. el procedimiento participativo recomendó que se eligieran los agricultores aplicando los siguientes criterios:  Su sistema de producción es típico de los pequeños productores de yuca.Se aceptó la recomendación de cambiar. en cada ciclo de evaluación. los agricultores responsables de los ensayos y de remplazarlos por otros que se seleccionaban según los mismos parámetros con que fueron elegidos los anteriores; de este modo se hacia participar a vecinos que demostraban interés y tenían posibilidad de establecer ensayos particlpativos en sus fmcas en los ciclos posteriores. El propósito era doble: primero. abarcar suficientes ambientes experimentales para poder garantizar una adaptación amplia de los clones; segundo. involucrar a integrantes de los dtferentes grupos de usuarios que producen yuca en la región. para asegurarse de que los clones eran aceptados por todos esos grupos y no solamente por uno o dos de ellos. Aun así. el grupo de usuarios en que se seleccionaron más participantes fue el de los pequeños agricultores. por dos razones: este grupo contenía la mayor parte de los agricultores de la región. y se ajustaba al mandato recibido por las entidades que implementaban el proyecto.En la experiencia colombiana participaron más de 500 productores diversos (todos hombres) en 90 ensayos. que se realizaron en conjuntos de 15 a 20 flllCas por ciclo. Entre los participantes habia compradores de yuca para las plantas de secado (trozos de yuca o \"chips\"). productores de almidón y miembros de cooperativas. Estos grupos 6 • , fueron invitados a las evaluaciones que se hacian al final del ciclo. o sea. a la cosecha. Había también productores pequeños dedicados a la yuca como cultivo de subsistencia cuyas ralces frescas se consumen en sus hogares; su participación fue muy alta (70%-80%) Y constituyeron así un grupo central (o masa critica). Estos productores participaron en todo el ciclo de cultivo. La información que daban en las evaluaciones los diferentes grupos de usuarios se separó para que no se confundieran los resultados.Aunque el proyecto tenia objetivos específicos relacionados con las personas que participarían en el procedimiento IPMY. en la experiencia de la Costa Atlántica no se aplicó una estrategia que seleccionara sistemáticamente a los participantes. sino que se favoreció la auloselección de los interesados. Por consiguiente. no se pudo establecer previamente un equilibrio que representara a los diferentes grupos de usuarios respecto a la informaCión recolectada. ni se pudieron obtener decisiones representativas sobre los clones que debian continuar en el proceso de selección. En el caso considerado. esta situación no sesgó de modo significativo las decisiones. porque se descubrió que los diferentes grupos tenían objetivos equiparables y preferencias similares en relación con las variedades deseables. así tuvieran criterios específicos de grupo respecto a cada etapa de la producCión (Ashby 1992). Por lo tanto. los diferentes grupos seleccionaron las mismas variedades de yuca. aunque les daban diferentes usos (consumo en fresco o producción de almidón). Sin embargo. en otros contextos en que sean más notorias las diferenCias en variedades y en preferencias entre los usuarios. la falta de una estrategia de selección de los participantes que garantice la representación equilibrada entre los diversos usuarios podría ser una limitante de consideración. En tales casos. la separación de la información según los grupos de usuarios tendría mayor importancia (respecto al caso colombiano).Al reflexionar sobre el proceso de selección de agricultores en el proyecto de la Costa Atlántica colombiana. se percibe la importancia de buscar también aquellos usuarios que pasan desapercibidos o no se autoseleccionan. Por ejemplo. no se consideró a las mujeres como un grupo distinto de usuarios. puesto que su participación era mínima en la obtención de estacas para la siembra y en la planificación y el manejo del cultivo -excepto en la venta del producto en el mercado. No obstante. en un trabajo posterior cuyo objetivo específico era trabajar con mujeres se descubrió que. en esa región. las mujeres desempeñaban un papel importante en la selección de ralces de yuca para la confección y comercialización de 'bollos'¡ (IPRA Project-CIAT 2000). Este mercado lo manejan exclusivamente las mujeres. quienes reciben de él un ingreso para atender ya sea necesidades básicas de la familia. como las compras de ropa para los hijos. de útiles escolares y de medicamentos o. en ocasiones. el costo del transporte. Dado que el proyecto de la Costa Atlántica no tenía como objetivo específico buscar usuarios \"ocultos•. los Investigadores no se dieron cuenta de que esa actividad agricola relacionaba su proyecto con las variedades de yuca. A veces. los usuarios \"escondidos• son mujeres. otras veces son grupos de agricultores de niVel socio-económico inferior al de la mayoría o un grupo que busca abastecer un 'nlcho' del l.Los bollos se preparan con harina de yuca y queso. Se cocinan envueltos en •capachos• (hojas que cubren las mazorcas del maíz) y se comerciallzan en los centros urbanos de la reglón.mercado o un mercado específico de su región. Para evitar el olvido de estos usuarios. el procedlmlento IPMY podría incorporar en el paso de \"Diagnóstico\" un 'sub-paso' denominado 'identificación de usuarios'.En la experiencia de la Costa Atlántica colombIana. las entidades relacionadas eligieron trabajar con agricultores individuales cuyas condiciones socio-económicas y prácticas de cultivo eran representativas de esa región. El procedimiento IPMY recomienda trabajar con no más de 10 personas a la vez. porque este número facilita la toma de datos y su análisis. Sin embargo. otros proyectos de FMP han ensayado este trabajo con más agricultores y. en ciertos casos. con grupos previamente establecidos. En el Nordeste Brasileño. por ejemplo. los investigadores intentaron trabajar con comunidades enteras y con cooperativas. Concluyeron que es muy dificil organizar las evaluaciones y manejar la tnformación proveniente de muchos individuos; se exceptúan los que están asociados en cooperativas. quienes facilitaron muchísimo el trabajo porque ya estaban organizados y acostumbrados a labores de conjunto.El trabajo con grupos de agricultores ha tomado diferentes formas. Por ejemplo. la experiencia hecha en América Latina con los Comités de Investigación Agrícola Local (los erAL). que prestan un servicio de investigación en representación de sus comunidades. Hay también proyectos cuyos investigadores han facilitado la formación de grupos de agricultores. como los que evalúan clones de papa en Ecuador o las escuelas de campo en Bolivia. Estas expeliencias han demostrado que. cuando se trabi'\\ja con grupos. pueden lograrse resultados importantes como los siguientes: apoyo y motivación mutuos entre agricultores; difusión de tecnologías entre grupos de aglicultores; participación en riesgos y en benefiCiOS; y posibilidad de continuar el trabajo después de la intervención de las entidades de investigación.No obstante. se ha comprobado que la formación de grupos para un proyecto específico de FMP implica dedicar más tiempo y. en algunos casos. asignar personal con preparación especial en estos temas. Supone. además. que el proyecto debe situarse en un contexto más amplio de desarrollo rural y no enfocarse en una sola actividad. es decir, en el mejoramiento.Cuando se seleccionan aglicultores para un proyecto de FMP. es importante considerar la distribución de beneficios. Las entidades de investigación tienen. generalmente. el mandato de fomentar el desarrollo rural de una comunidad entera (o de reglones enteras) y no sólo el de algunos agricultores selectos. Es necesario. por tanto. escoger como participantes a aglicultores que no sólo estén en condiciones de representar a su comunidad. sino que estén dispuestos también a compartir lo que han aprendido y lo que descubran en el proceso de investigación. Por consiguiente. el proyecto de la Costa Atlántica escogió no sólo agricultores cuyas condiciones de vida y prácticas agronómicas eran representativas y que tenlan habilidad para comunicarse bien. sino que poseían además fincas cuya ubicación y facilidad de acceso las convertía • en \"vitrinas\" para los productores vecinos que pasaran por allí y vieran las nuevas valiedades ya plantadas. Se estimuló así la difusión espontánea o informal de las vartedades promisortas, lo que aseguró, hasta cierto punto, la \"publicidad\" de los clones experimentales.Al combinar la experiencia adquirida en FMP a nivel global. se comprueba que el tipo de agricultor, el número de agricultores que participan, y el modo de participación de éstos, ya sea indMdual o en grupos. depende de los objetivos que se fije un proyecto y de los recursos que necesite para lograrlos. Por ejemplo. si el objetivo de un proyecto es hacer que los beneficios del trabajo en colaboración se distribuyan ampliamente. se invitada a participar en el proyecto a líderes reconocidos en sus comunidades. Si el proyecto tiene como objetivo incorporar los conocimientos de los agricultores al proceso de selección de valiedades. tratada de involucrar en él a los expertos locales (Programa PRGA 2000). A veces. una misma persona se ajusta a más de uno de estos perfiles; otras veces, el experto local no es reconocido como líder en su comunidad o ellider comunltalio carece de muchos conocimientos técnicos. Astmismo, es comün que un proyecto de FMP tenga más de un objetivo; en tal caso. hay que establecer prioridades para los objetivos y seleccionar los participantes segün esas priOridades.Respecto a la participación de las mujeres en los proyectos, el conjunto de experiencias de FMP de los últimos años ha demostrado que esa participación eleva significativamente la calidad de la investigación. por dos razones: las mujeres suelen encargarse de la domesticación de especies silvestres y, dado su conocimiento refinado del germoplasma. de la selección y conservación de las semillas. Además. las preferencias de las mujeres no siempre son las mismas que las de sus compañeros, ya que no siempre participan directamente en las actividades agricolas. como ocurre en la región de la Costa Atlántica.Los objetivos del proyecto realizado en la Costa Atlantica fueron establecidos por las entidades de investigación después de hacer una exploración inicial en la zona. Conocedores de la gran diversidad genética que hay en las fincas de los pequeños productores de yuca. y de que esta diversidad no es estática sino que cambia con el paso del tiempo. los investigadores aceptaron el hecho de que los agricultores manejan su propio procedimiento de selección. el cual se basa en criterios que les permiten ensayar nuevos materiales. observarlos y. segün el caso. incorporarlos o rechazarlos. Se interesaron los investigadores en conocer estos criterios con ellln de Implementar un procedimiento formal que permitiera aplicarlos sistemáticamente en el desarrollo de tecnologías. Éste fue el objetivo principal del proyecto mencionado. Por ello, IPMY no recomienda que la definición de objetivos sea un paso sugerido del procedimiento, porque supone que esos objetivos han sido fijados antes de que empiecen a participar los agricultores.Los objetivos establecidos para un proceso de investigación infiuyen en la determinación de los pasos y de las actividades que serán Implementadas. Cuando los objetiVos se establecen antes de que los usuartos inicien su participación, las prioridades de éstos no pueden incluirse en la concepción y en la planeación iniciales del proyecto. En el caso de la Costa Atlántica. los agricultores participaron en la fase de diagnóstico y. gracias a esto. el trabajo se rea.llzó con productores que habían identificado como problema principal de su área de producción la variedad de yuca. Ahora bien. no se discutieron los objetivos finales del mejoramiento como tal. por ejemplo: ¿Buscaban los productores variedades adaptadas a sitios especificas o las de adaptación amplia?¿Deseaban obtener una variedad o más de una?¿Buscaban variedades de autoconsumo o variedades de uso múltiple?¿Buscaban mejorar el rendimiento de sus cultivos de yuca o les interesaba obtener variedades que podían cultivarse junto con otros cultivos?¿Intentaban conservar o mejorar sus variedades nativas o querian variedades mejoradas?Estas y otras opciones que ofrece el mejoramiento no pudieron ser consideradas por los participantes del proyecto desde la fase inicial de éste. porque los objetivos ya estaban establecidos.Además de las opciones que podrian identificar en el campo del mejoramiento de yuca. los participantes hubieran podido manifestar también sus preferencias con respecto a su propia participación. El conjunto de experiencias del FMP a nivel global demuestra que pueden variar las etapas de la investigación (o del mejoramiento) en las que participarán los agricultores y airas usuarios. En el proyecto de la Costa Atlántica, como se indicó antes. la participación comenzó en la etapa del diagnóstico. En otros casos de FMP, la participación se inició en la fase en que se establecían los objetivos; en otros más, en las épocas de plantación o de cosecha. La literatura sobre procesos participativos y la experiencia adquirida en éstos señalan diferentes \"grados' de participación, que van desde el estilo consultivo hasta la relación entre colegas. La documentación existente sobre el procedimiento IPMY permite concluir que se prefiere la participación consultiva y que la etapa recomendada para iniciarla es la del diagnóstico. Sin embargo. éste es, entre muchos. un modo de implementar la investigación participativa.Queremos sugerir que los objetivos de un proceso de FMP se pueden establecer de diverso modo. lo que depende de las personas involucradas. de la flexibilidad institucional. y de los recursos disponibles. Hay casos de FMP en que los objetivos del proceso se establecen conjuntamente entre los investigadores. los agricultores y otro tipo de usuarios; por ejemplo. los integrantes de los elAL que trabajan con cultivos como la papa. en Ecuador. Se requiere. en tales casos. que los investigadores expliquen a los usuarios las diversas opciones que éstos tienen y lo que pueden (o no deben) esperar del trabajo de mejoramiento. Además. los investigadores y sus entidades deben considerar la importancia de ser flexibles y capaces de negociar, de modificar sus propios objetivos y de adoptar, cuando sean diferentes. algunos objetivos de los usuarios. Es probable que se requiera también elasticidad en los esquemas de trabajo de la investigación formal y. por ende, en el apoyo proveniente de las decisiones tomadas en niveles altos. como son las de los directores de instituciones.La experiencia realizada en la Costa Atlántica consideró que. dados sus objetivos. el conocimiento de los criterios de selección de los agricultores era muy importante. Aunque dicho conocimiento ha sido un objetivo del FMP, también ha sido reportado como uno de sus productos, lo que significa poco, en realidad. Tendrá significado este conocimiento de los cntenos de selección de los agricultores cuando se incorpore al proceso de mejoramiento, es decir, a la selección de progenitores para los cruzamientos y de clones expertmentaies. Además. los •critenos de selección de los agricultores• no son estáticos, como parece sugerirlo el hecho de que se establecen como un objetivo. Aunque algunos de ellos persisten, otros cambian de ciclo en ciclo y de un grupo de usuarios a otro. Numerosos proyectos de FMP han fracasado por no reconocer esta situación.Otro de los objetivos prtncipales del proyecto realizado en la Costa Atlántica fue seleccionar clones, algunos para un prelanzamlento y otros para ser ya liberados. Este objetivo es común a la mayorla de los programas de mejoramiento particlpativo. Ahora bien, la experiencia adquirida a nivel mundial demuestra que la aplicación del enfoque participativo al mejoramiento de cultivos puede tener una sene de objetivos que van más allá del lanzamiento de variedades mejoradas para una zona determinada. Dicho enfoque, en efecto, ha permitido lograr los siguientes objetivos: conservación y enrtquecimlento de la biodlversidad; organización de grupos de agricultores; cambios en la política de liberación de Variedades; multiplicación de semillas; acceso a materiales genéticos; y acceso más fácil de los agncultores al aprendizaje.Al planear un proceso de FMP, los investigadores y otros grupos de usuarios podrlan considerar este enfoque como una herramienta muy efectiva para lograr múltiples objetivos (Programa PRGA 2000).Entre los resultados del proyecto de la Costa Atlántica más conocidos están los siguientes:El proceso participativo ha sido adoptado y adaptado en varios paises de América Latina.Se modificó el proceso convencional de mejoramiento de la yuca tanto en los eIAL como en CORPOICA lA López, comunicación personal, 2002).Se conocieron los criterios de selección de los agricultores.Se amplió la diversidad genética en los predios de los agricultores.Estos y otros resultados penniten afirmar que el proyecto fue muy exitoso. No obstante. cuando se planeó la experiencia de FMP en la Costa Atlántica colombiana. no se pensó en incluir algunos elementos importantes en el proceso. como los siguientes: una fase de multiplicación masiva de 'semilla' (estacas) que pennita una rápida difusión de los clones más acepiados, un seguimiento del proceso que sirva para afmar la metodologia, y un estudio de impacto. Después de anal!zar varios proyectos en los que se implementó el procedimiento IPMY, se hizo evidente que estos pasos no se deberian dejar de lado porque contribuyen significativamente al enriquecimiento del trabajo y al impacto que éste genera.La calidad de la Información recolectada y el uso que se le da es un tema clave en la Investigación participativa. El reto consiste en obtener, combinar y anal!zar la Información de tipo cualitativo y cuantitativo, y usarla para tomar decisiones en el proceso de Investigación. Es éste un problema difícil que, aunque puede tratarse de diverso modo, no está totalmente resuelto aún en la Investigación participativa.El proyecto de la Costa Atlántica ensayó varias herramientas estadísticas para enfrentar el reto de la calidad de la Información y de su uso. Se destacó el análisis de componentes principales porque pennitió reducir el número de variables y anal!zar tanto las cualitativas como las cuantitativas. La aplicación del análisis de conglomerados ('cluster analysls') pennitió agrupar variedades, criterios de selección y regiones, lo que dio una vísión global de las preferencias. Sin embargo, la herramienta más útil fue la regresión logística. que fue adaptada para anal!zar el ordenamiento de las preferencias y para simular la aceptación de la tecnología por los agricultores. Tal vez la contribución más imporiante de la experiencia realizada en la Costa Atlántica, con respecto a la Información y a su uso, fue haber encontrado una forma de Interpretar técnicamente las opiniones subjetivas dadas por los participantes en las evaluaciones. Esta Interpretación pennitió establecer un puente para el flujo de información entre los sistemas de producción de la Costa Atlántica y las estaciones experimentales.El procedimiento IPMY recomienda, además, el ordenamiento de preferencias ('preference ranking') para que, haciendo comparaciones entre los grados de aceptación de las diferentes variedades, se logre clasificarlas desde la más aceptable hasta la menos aceptable, mientras se torna nota de las preferencias de los productores. Este proceso de clasificación se basa en las técnicas de evaluación abierta que se usan para conocer puntos de vísta cualitativos, explicaciones e ideas acerca de los razonamientos de los productores y de la manera como ellos toman sus decisiones.La secuencia de pasos del análisis de la Información recomendado por el procedimiento IPMY puede enunclarse así:.¡' Desarrollo de flujogramas que guíen cada actividad. ,/ Construcción de listas de términos y de glosarlos agricolas locales. que se clasifican por reglón. para interpretar la infonnación a nivel local. regional y científico.,/ Identificación de criterios. diferenciándolos de aspectos descriptivos;,/ Integración de las razones. las clasificaciones y los criterios identificados. diferenciando antónimos y sinónimos ../' Desarrollo de formularios para sistematiZar la información ../' Elaboración de libros de campo IHemández 1993) ../' Análisis de la información empleando varias herramientas estadísticas.Algunos de los resultados relacionados con la información. que se obtuvieron empleando este proceso en la experiencia de la Costa Atlántica, son los siguientes: uso combinado de herramientas eficaces para obtener información (tablas de frecuencias relativas. distinción entre sinónimos y antónimos, hojas electrónicas para transcribir la información dtrectamente en el campo, escalas para agrupar clasificaciones. matrices con transformación de escalas para analizar conjuntamente la información cualitativa y la cuantitativa, y una matriz de análisis para clasificar el ordensrniento de preferencias); glosarlo de términos; criterios. razones y clasificaCiones; libros de campo; perflles tecnológicos; alternativas probadas en el proceso de análisis.Un método adaptado por san et al. (20001 recientemente en Senegal es la cuantificación basada en un sistema ordinal de ponderación cuasi-arbitrarlo de la percepción que tienen los productores sobre las características específicas de una tecnologla. El método usa el análisis de regresión Tobit que incluye variables para representar tres aspectos: las percepciones de los agricultores sobre la lmporiancla relativa de las diferentes caracteristicas que puede tener un material genético; la presencia y la calidad de esas caracteristicas en los materiales experimentales; y las caracteristicas de los productores y de sus fincas.Este método. así como el que sugiere el procedimiento IPMY, permite explicar, y también predecir. la adopción de materiales mejorados.En el análisis de la infonnación recolectada es importante considerar la fuente de la información y el peso relativo que se dé a cada participante o grupo de participantes. cuando se extraen conclusiones de un ordenamiento de preferencias. Esta consideración equivale a un proceso de votación en el que cada participante tiene derecho a votar por sus clones preferidos. Si la mayor parte del grupo de participantes manifiesta un interés en presentación de la comunidad -que no es necesariamente el interés de todos los miembros de esa comunidad-entonces las recomendaciones que se hartan partiendo del análisis del ordenamiento de preferencias pueden estar muy sesgadas. Por consiguiente. es muy importante. como se indicó antes. escoger cuidadosamente los participantes de un proceso participativo; cuando no es posible hacerlo. se separa la informactón obtenida de los diferentes grupos de interesados para que los resultados representen con mayor precisión las preferencias de la comunidad (o de las comunidades).Otra consideración clave respecto a la calidad de la información y a su uso es la cantidad de información recolectada. Muchos proyectos de FMP recogen más infonnaclón de la que pueden manejar. procesar y usar. Es importante que. al planear un proyecto de FMP. se determine la clase de información que será utilizada y la que no 10 será. Como se indicó antes. una herramienta sugerida por el procedimiento IPMY es elllbro de campo. el cual pennlte recolectar datos tanto objetivos como subjetivos (cuantitativos/cualitativos) y llm!ta, al mismo tiempo, la cantidad de infonnación que se puede anotar.Muchos proyectos de FMP producen listados de criterios de selección de los agricultores. ¿Qué ocurre con ellos al finalizar el proyecto? ¿Hasta cuándo (o hasta dónde) son relevantes para otros proyectos en las mismas áreas? Un caso muy interesante de manejo de la información es el proyecto de mejoramiento de yuca del nordeste de Brasil dirigido por EMBRAPA-CNPMF. Como resultado de la recolección extensa de datos y de la magnitud del proyecto, la mejoradora Wania M. Fukuda tuvo necesidad de crear una base de datos para poder almacenar y manejar ese gran volumen de infonnación. Aunque la investigadora cree que quizás recolectó demasiada infonnación (WM Fukuda, comunicación personal), esa base de datos le sirviÓ de mucho en fases posteriores del proyecto. porque pudo sugerir clones experimentales adecuados para áreas similares a las que contiene la base de datos.La experiencia de la Costa Atlántica colombiana se desarrolló en un marco intertnstitucional en el que participaron diversas entidades. Como se mencionó antes. el GRUYA -el grupo que. en cierto modo. personificó esta concertación intertnstituclonal-tuvo un papel importante en aspectos técnicos. logísticos y estratégicos en razón de su composición, su experiencia. el cubrimiento geográfico que proporcionaba y su participación en las decisiones. Cuatro aspectos se destacan: En primer lugar. el GRUYA pennltió establecer foros multidiscipllnartos de discusión, en los que se intercambiaron experiencias en cada ciclo del cultivo • y se facilitó el análisis y el ajuste de los componentes del procedimiento participatlvo.En segundo lugar. los miembros del GRUYA contaban con una red de ensayos establecida en el norte de Colombia. que reunía las experiencias de más de mil pequeños productores de yuca y las presentaba en los foros para su análisis.Los acuerdos interinstituclonales ayudaron también a las entidades que desarroUaban el proyecto a ver el diverso potencial de uso de la yuca. incorporando en el proceso IPMY elementos o fases de la cadena de producción que no habían sido contemplados al inicio del proyecto.Finalmente. la concertación interinstitucionalles dio la oportunídad a funcionarios de diferentes entidades de exponer su mente al enfoque parlicipativo.Como resultado de esta experiencia. el procedimiento lPMY recomienda que, en cuanto sea posible. los proyectos de FMP que se realicen sean de tipo interinstituclonal.Los resultados de implementar el proyecto de FMP en la Costa Atlántica en un marco interinstitucional se pueden ver en el amplio cubrimiento geográfico del trabajo. que Involucró un gran número de productores. y en la participación de profesionales de diferentes disciplinas. Otro resultado muy importante de la concertación interinstitucional (en particular. de la asociación entre el ICA y el ClAT) en el desarrollo del proyecto de la Costa Atlántica fue que el enfoque participativo se institucionalizó en ellCA. Este instituto lo emplea desde entonces como procedimiento rutinario en el mejoramiento de yuca y de otros cultivos. como el ñame (Dioscorea trífIda L.). en los alrededores de Montería. departamento de Córdoba. desde la estación regional de Turipaná lA López. comunicación personal).A pesar de la concertación interinstitucional con que se implementó la experiencia realizada en la Costa Atlántica. no hubo en ésta una acción de conjunto. Las instituciones participantes desempeñaron el doble papel de asesoras y de vinculo entre las diferentes localidades donde se realizaban los ensayos. pero la responsabilidad de implementar el proyecto. analizar los datos y documentar el proceso fue asumida principalmente por el ClAT. No se recibió. por ello, una información de retomo proveniente de las otras entidades sobre los documentos del proceso y sobre el análisis de la información. la cual hubiera enriquecido, sin duda, este trabajo. Además. al diseñar los acuerdos institucionales no se consideraron tres puntos: la distribución de los recursos y de las responsabilidades de las diferentes instituciones asociadas. y el debido reconocimiento a su labor. Estos elementos son indispensables para crear una motiVación, una participación activa y una conciencia de la propia capacidad ('empowerment') en las instituciones que se asocian para realizar una actiVidad y. en consecuencia, para incrementar las posibilidades de que el arreglo institucional continúe. Tampoco se consideró la idea de emplear la concertación interinstitucional para repetir la experienCia a mayor escala. Esta acción hubiera requerido mayor compromiso de las instituciones asociadas hacia una relación de pertenencia. de la cual ellas también hubieran esperado recibir recursos.El procedimiento IPMY se caracteriza por una serie de pasos en secuencia tnfluidos por elementos contextuales, los cuales pueden afectar tanto la implementación como los resultados del procedimiento. Fue desarrollado hace una década y desde entonces ha sido implementado, adaptado y adoptado en varios países. En los úlllinos 20 años se han acumulado experiencias provenientes de proyectos de FMP realizados en todo el mundo, y de esa acumulación podemos derivar lecciones para refinar el procedimiento y mostrar las diferentes formas en que puede implementarse. Con tal propósito, este artículo exploró cuatro temas clave en la planeación y en la implementación del procedimiento lPMY.,¡' Con respecto a la selección de los agricultores, se recomienda tener una estrategia explícita basada en objetivos de tipo colaborativo, emplear criterios especificos, involucrar a miembros de diferentes grupos de usuarios (incluyendo las mujeres), tanto dentro de las comunidades como en la cadena de producción y comercialización, buscar a los usuarios •ocultos\", y trabajar con grupos ya establecidos (Si existen en el área de trabajo). La selección de los agricultores es un elemento clave para lograr el impacto social del trabajo.,¡' La defm.ición de los objetivos de un proceso de investigación partícipativa es quizás la fase más importante de un proyecto, ya que muchas de las decisiones sobre la manera de implementar un procedimiento dependen de sus objetivos. Sugertmos que, en cuanto sea posible, los objetivos se establezcan en unión con los partícipantes del proceso y no antes de que éste se inicie. Esta decisión puede incrementar. entre los usuarios. la importancia del trabajo y. por ende, su impacto. Además. el enfoque partícipativo puede servir de vehículo al cumplimiento de diferentes objetivos ya que su uso no se restringe solamente al desarrollo de nuevas variedades. En la experiencia de la Costa Atlántica colombiana no se consideraron dos elementos que demostraron ser esenciales en proyectos de FMP realizados posteriormente; son los siguientes: una fase de multiplicación masiva de la 'semilla' de los clones aceptados por los agricultores; y un estudio de impacto en que se evalúen la metodología como tal y el proceso ejecutado.,¡' La calidnd de la Información recolectada y el uso que se le da son otro aspecto clave tratado en este artículo. En la experiencia de la Costa Atlántica se enfrentó de diverso modo el reto de establecer un vinculo entre el análisis de la información cuantitativa y el de la cualitativa. Se recomienda el empleo de ia regresión logística, una vez adaptada al análisis del ordenamiento de preferencias que simula la aceptación de los materiales experimentales por los agricultores. Se recomienda, además, el uso de un libro de ca:mpo similar al que se desarrolló durante la experiencia de la Costa Atlántica. para limitar la infonnación recolectada a una cantidad que reahnente pueda ser usada y analizada. La incorporación de la información o de las conclusiones de su análisis en las decisiones que se tomen sobre los clones que serán evaluados. recomendados o llberados es un paso esencial de un proceso que quiera considerarse participativo ../ El marco interinstitllcional en que se desarrolló el procedimiento IPMY le confuió algunas ventajas al proyecto realizado en la Costa Atlántica colombiana. Mencionemos. entre otras. las siguientes: vincular al proyecto una gran diversidad de profesionales pertenecientes a disciplinas como extensión agricola. investigación. transferencia de tecnología. comercio; disponer de un amplio cubrimiento geográfico para los ensayos;poner en contacto a varias instituciones con un nuevo enfoque de la investigación agricola (lo que resulta ventajoso para ellas).Dado que el marco institucional es un elemento contextual -sobre el cual no influyen mucho los proyectos ni quienes los ejecutan-y que no es un paso sugerido del procedimiento. quizás esté de más hacer recomendaciones sobre su fonna. Sin embargo. cabe mencionar dos puntos: que la colaboración interinstltucional puede ser muy ventajosa para un proyecto de FMP; y que si se obtiene esa colaboración. es recomendable que los integrantes del acuerdo colaborativo establezcan juntos los objetivos y las funciones que en él tiene cada uno. asi como sus responsabilidades y obligaciones.La experiencia de la Costa Atlántica colombiana y la fonna en que se desarrolló el procedimiento IPMY fueron muy eXitosas. Para comprobarlo necesitamos considerar solamente el número de clones liberados y aceptados por los agricultores. y la adopción de ese procedimiento en varios países latinoamericanos. Este articulo presenta un esquema del procedimiento. recomienda algunos aspectos que no se tuvieron en cuenta durante su desarrollo. y demuestra que varios de los elementos clave del procedimiento pueden implementarse de diversas maneras."}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"d8a6e7ee-0ee6-4a3e-b3c5-40779f77545b","content":"\n\n"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5d1e13fe2f25c3c65556d1c3224706b4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/527e358e-53fa-441b-b5b3-cbef851aaa4c/retrieve","id":"1418414869"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f6e3d060-9ec7-4447-b2b3-42ea329abc6f","content":"In the last 15 years there has been a tremendous increase in areas dedicated to Mango production in the tropics and subtropics. Mango production accounts for an estimated 38 percent of total tropical fruit output in 2002 with a total production of 25 million tons. In Africa mango production is currently at the level of 2.6 million tons annually (FAO 2004) with a worth estimated in US$ 42 million (ICIPE 2004). Smallholders supply over 90% of mangoes produced (ICIPE 2004). Mango production is appealing because the fruit is nutritionally important and constitutes an attractive option to increase income and reduce poverty in the rural sector of developing countries. Despite its importance and worldwide distribution, mango suffers from a long juvenile period, erratic flowering and alternate bearing habits. In fruit crops, control of flowering is a critical aspect in the production system, since it determines the seasonality of fruit supply to the market. One of the great advantages of the tropics is the possibility of producing during the whole year, nevertheless fruit producers and markets face major challenges to supply fruits of high quality throughout the year. Biotechnology can potentially be used to manipulate existing cultivars by targeting specific genetic traits, such as flowering behavior. Somatic embryogenesis has been reported in some mango cultivars 1,2 , most of which are polyembryonic. This research aims to manipulate the expression of a target set of developmental genes known to modulate flowering in other fruit tree species such as citrus. To apply these tools, a reproducible embryogenesis and regeneration protocol is required.In the last 15 years there has been a tremendous increase in areas dedicated to Mango production in the tropics and subtropics. Mango production accounts for an estimated 38 percent of total tropical fruit output in 2002 with a total production of 25 million tons. In Africa mango production is currently at the level of 2.6 million tons annually (FAO 2004) with a worth estimated in US$ 42 million (ICIPE 2004). Smallholders supply over 90% of mangoes produced (ICIPE 2004). Mango production is appealing because the fruit is nutritionally important and constitutes an attractive option to increase income and reduce poverty in the rural sector of developing countries. Despite its importance and worldwide distribution, mango suffers from a long juvenile period, erratic flowering and alternate bearing habits. In fruit crops, control of flowering is a critical aspect in the production system, since it determines the seasonality of fruit supply to the market. One of the great advantages of the tropics is the possibility of producing during the whole year, nevertheless fruit producers and markets face major challenges to supply fruits of high quality throughout the year. Biotechnology can potentially be used to manipulate existing cultivars by targeting specific genetic traits, such as flowering behavior. Somatic embryogenesis has been reported in some mango cultivars 1,2 , most of which are polyembryonic. This research aims to manipulate the expression of a target set of developmental genes known to modulate flowering in other fruit tree species such as citrus. To apply these tools, a reproducible embryogenesis and regeneration protocol is required.   "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a6ff10f22f5f547f2b9654c02f077e09","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/54b25a49-e0da-474c-bf95-b870ddb3c3b1/retrieve","id":"437296982"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e78bed3a-2f12-43aa-843d-e43dc24a6cec","content":"My thanks go first of all to my supervisor Mirja Michalscheck who helped me to structure my research, gave valuable feedback and guidance at different stages of the research. It was very nice to have your company and moral support in Ghana. My gratitude goes also to my second supervisor Jeroen Groot, who gave valuable feedback and guidance during the course of the thesis. I would also like to thank my supervisor from Africa RISING, IITA, dr. ir. I. Hoeschle--Zeledon, who supported my research through administrative and logistical support. I thank Dr. Asamoah Larbi, the scientific leader for Ghana for Africa RISING, for hosting us. This research would not have been possible without translators; my thanks go to Baba, Mohamed, Sulimana, Mussah, Roger and Prosper. Many thanks also to my parents who supported me strongly, morally and financially.Lack of labour is a major productivity constraint in African farming systems (Ashburner et al., 2002). This is mainly caused by lack of mechanisation which on his turn leads to labour intensive production, yield losses, uncultivated land and outmigration of young labour force to cities (Loos, n.d.). This migration of young men to the cities constitutes a significant loss of labour force. Also school enrolment causes a lower amount of labour. Methods reducing labour are thus essential for developing African agriculture and food security (Ashburner et al., 2002). This is also the case for Ghana, a country in which 60% of the domestic product, 65% of employment and 50% of exports come from agriculture and where mechanization is still underdeveloped (Loos, n.d.). Land preparation is one of the most labour intensive farm activities in Northern Ghana. It is done with by hoe work (HW), with animal traction (AT) or with a tractor ploughing (TP) (Houssou et al., 2013). As land preparation by hoe is very labour intensive and tractors are not consistently available, ploughing is often done with draft animals, mostly bullocks and sometimes donkeys (Houssou et al., 2013). It is important to know about the historical context of land preparation with hoe, animals or tractors, to understand how the actual situation came into place and understand how farmers decide which technique to use.Before the colonial era, land preparation was done with HW. The British colonial government introduced AT in the 1930`s. At that time, training centres were created where farmers could learn about the technique. The use of AT increased until the independence of Ghana (1957), when the government changed strategy by importing and subsidising tractors (Dibbits and Bobobee, 1997). As the new government perceived AT as not modern enough, they stopped supporting AT, withdrawing credit opportunities to buy animals or equipment (Panin, 1989). But the tractor promotion did not work as planned: farmers faced supply problems, broken tractors, lack of knowledge, lack of finance, lack of spare parts, etc. (Dibbits and Bobobee, 1997). The use of AT declined further until 1970, when the Ghanaian--German Agricultural Development Project wanted to promote fertiliser use but realised tillage was a bigger problem. They then encouraged AT again, as they saw tillage problems in the region and something had to be done about them. The project opened training centres and provided material for AT to the farmers. The project stopped in 1985. After that, farmers continued using AT, due to low numbers and high costs of tractors and tractor services (Dibbits and Bobobee, 1997).In Ghana, from 1991 to 2005 the draft animal population, mainly bullocks and donkeys, increased from 160 000 to 438 000 animals (Houssou et al., 2013). AT is only used in the three northern regions, where soils are relatively loose, dry and sandy. In the South of Ghana, the wet soil is too heavy and there are cattle diseases, making AT unviable. Traction animals are mainly used for ploughing and transport. In the Upper East region they are also used for weeding (Houssou et al., 2013). As AT equipment for ridging and weeding is not always available, weeding is still done a lot by hand (Dibbits and Bobobee, 1997).This research was done in the context of the project Africa RISING (AR, Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation). This research for development project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). As a research for development project, AR has community--based experimental stations, in intervention communities, aiming to test new technologies and demonstrate these to the local communities. The study was done in two of these communities, Duko in the Northern Region (NR) and Nyangua in the Upper East Region (UER). In these two communities AR already collected data from 38 farmers in Duko and 32 farmers in Nyangua. This data is compiled in the 'Ghana Africa RISING Baseline evaluation survey' (GARBES).Previous research from AR focussed on resource endowment of farmers. The resource endowment of farmers is expressing their wealth. The building material of their roof, the amount of bicycles and motorbikes they own, the amount of land of which they dispose and the amount of animals they keep are all indicators of the resource endowment of a household (HH). We hypothesize that the ploughing technique is related to the resource endowment of the farmer. We tested this by categorizing the farmers in existing farm typologies and tested whether or not different techniques are used by farmers of different resource endowment.What determines a farmer's choice for preparing the land with hoe, animal or tractor traction? Specific research questions 1. What is the current form and prevalence of ploughing with HW, AT and TP in Duko and Nyangua? 2 From an economic perspective, what are the costs and benefits of ploughing with HW, AT and TP? 3 Which social factors do farmers perceive as important for choosing? 4 Can farmers' perceptions be confirmed their own realities?The research questions can be translated into objectives, and these objectives have matching hypotheses. In table 1 it can be seen how the research question relate to the objectives and which hypothesis match with them. The case study was held in two communities in Northern Ghana: Duko (NR, 54 HH's) and Nyangua (UER, approx. 150 HH) (Fig. 1). Duko is wealthier than Nyangua. Duko is also closer to its regional capital (Tamale) than Nyangua (whose regional capital is Bolgatanga) (Fig. 1). Development cooperation is active in both communities. In Duko TP is mostly used for land preparation whereas in Nyangua AT is more prevalent. Duko and Nyangua are intervention communities of the AR project, allowing to tap into a large pool of additional data and expertise. Both communities are in the Guinea Savannah zone. In the NR the rainy season goes from May to October, the annual rainfall lies between 750 mm and 1050 mm. In the UER the rainy season goes from May/June to September/October, the annual rainfall lies between 800 mm and 1100 mm. In both regions agriculture, hunting and forestry are the main economic activities. In the NR 71.2% of the economically active population works in agriculture in the UER it is 80% (Modern Ghana).The crops grown are maize, soya bean, cowpea, groundnut, rice, millet, bambara bean, pigeon pea, yam, cassava and vegetables. The farmers keep some of the harvest for own consumption and sell the rest to the market. Farmers also have fallow land, mostly due to a lack of financial resources to pay for ploughing, to buy seeding material or fertilisers (Baba, pers. comm.). To group the farmers typologies were used. Several farm typologies have already been developed for Northern Ghana (Kuivanen et al., 2016;Signorelli , 2016 andMichalscheck et al., 2017). Michalscheck et al. (2017) divided the farms in three categories according to their resource endowment: low, medium and high resource endowment (LRE, MRE and HRE). One of the aims of typologies is to allow comparability of farms across regions. In this research we used typologies to compare the different results for different farm types. In Table 2 the typology indicators can be found as used by Michalscheck et al. (2017). Answers of the farmers were given in acres, but are here translated to hectares (ha). Prices were always given in Ghana cedi (GH₵), as this is the price that farmers buy and sell things for. One GH₵ was equivalent to 0,25 US dollars in 2016. When ratios are indicated (e.g. 8/12), it means 8 out of 12 farmers.Information mentioned in the text will be for both communities unless otherwise mentioned. When percentages of farm land will be mentioned in the rest of the text it will be about percentages of the farm land excluding vegetable gardens, yam and cassava fields, as these are mostly cultivated in other seasons and are always ploughed by hoe. Yam and cassava fields are always ploughed by hoe, this because mounts need to be formed. Sometimes the fields are pre--ploughed with a TP or AT to make the formation of the mounts easier.In Duko rice fields are sometimes ploughed with TP and AT. As the AT ploughing is done last these fields will be considered as AT fields.Translators were used to communicate with farmers (see Annex 1 for the names and experience of the translators). We mostly interviewed the household head (HHH) first, as it is the local cultural norm to consult them first in general HH matters (van Veluw, pers. comm. and Baba, pers. comm.). An advantage in interviewing the HHH is that he is aware of most of the farm features. For some HH's the HHH was considered as too old (by the translator) to be interviewed, the (oldest) son was then usually interviewed. When other HH members were around they helped in answering, this was helpful to check the veracity of the answers. In case of female headed HH the sons were mostly helping, as they knew more than their mother, concerning ploughing. Information was collected in different ways: a main survey with closed questions was done, during that survey additional information and explanation was asked. At the end of the data collection period, community level interviews were performed.The main survey had as aim to get a deep understanding of the farming systems. The interviewed farmers were chosen using as a basic principle for selection an MS Excel® randomisation complemented by additional cases to fill gaps, to achieve a minimum number of HH's per farm type as well as a minimum number of HH's using the different traction techniques. The Excel randomisation was done using the list of farmers already covered under the 'Ghana Africa RISING Baseline evaluation survey' (GARBES), in order to link this study with past and on--going activities of AR. The list of farmers was randomized using Excel. The farmers were then visited in the order of this list. The farmers were found using their GPS coordinates. To compensate for farmers from the GARBES list that were not present the day we passed, farmers that were encountered when walking in the village were interviewed. We also interviewed some extra LRE and HRE farmers, as these were less prevalent in the list. In Duko there were only four farmers owning bullocks, and we interviewed three of them while they were not all on the list. The fourth farmer owning bullocks was not surveyed as when we asked a list of all farmers owning bullocks, the AR facilitator did not mention him. In total 51 farmers (25 in Duko and 26 in Nyangua) were surveyed. One to four surveys were done in a day, depending on the translator, the analytic skills of the farmer and the complexity of the farm.The survey consisted of 5 parts. The first part was performed to collect some general information about the HH and to classify the HH according to their resource endowments. The second part of the survey aimed at quantifying how expensive it was to own bullocks. The third part collected data on the fields of the farmers; this part was to see if farmers farm differently when they use different ways of ploughing. In the fourth part labour figures were made, to see if the different techniques required different amounts of labour across the cropping season. Finally, in the fifth part, the farmers were asked how they perceived the technologies for different factors. This was done to see how farmers think on different aspects concerning the techniques. During this five parts farmers were asked to motivate their answers. Farmers also gave comments concerning the questions. These motivations and comments were written down. In the results information coming from there will be written down as \"farmers mentioned that\". 1. General information about the HH In this part of the survey general information was asked to the farmers. We asked to farmers how many animals, bikes and motorbikes they had; this was together with a visual assessment of their house and the amount of land they had used to determine the resource endowment of the farmers. The farmers were also asked their name, and the name of the HHH, if they were answering for him/her. The farmers were also asked how many men and women lived in their HH.Bullock owners were asked all their costs. The costs were asked following a list of costs for owning bullocks (see annex 2) that was based on expert interviews (Baba, pers. comm.). Farmers that had no bullocks were asked to estimate the buying price of a pair of bullocks, the amount of years a pair of bullocks can be used, their selling price when old and the price of the implements. All farmers were also asked to estimate the price of a tractor.Farmers were asked about the locations and distance of each field (from the HH or the HH members) to the homestead. This yielded a map of all the HH fields, cultivated or fallow. As farmers often omitted to mention some fields, for every crop grown in the region the farmer was asked again to mention all their fields. For each field it was asked if they ploughed it with HW, AT or TP. Farmers were then asked how much fertilizer, herbicide and pesticide they applied per field, as well as how much they paid for the products. Farmers paid different prices for their inputs depending on which one they used, when they bought them and if they managed to buy some that were subsidised. Farmers were also asked how much yield they had and if they were able to plough at the optimal time. Delayed ploughing leads to delayed planting and to a lower yield. This delayed ploughing is often due to unavailability of traction services. It was thus asked to the farmers how many weeks later they ploughed due to unavailability of traction services. If they ploughed later than they wanted we asked them how late and what yield would they have expected would they have ploughed on time, et ceteris paribus.Farmers were asked how much labour was needed to crop maize, soya and cowpea. These three crops are common crops in Duko (NR) and Nyangua (UER) and play a central role in different AR trials. Farmers were asked for one of their maize, soya and cowpea fields how many men and women from inside and from outside the HH, worked for each labour task and how many days and hours per day they spent on it. As farmers do not record the hours they work, they were asked from what time to what time they performed each task and how long of a break they took. Farmers often mentioned the time with the position of the sun, which leaded to some lack of accuracy in the data. For labour from outside the HH it was asked how much and how they were paid. The questions were asked following table 3. The amount of days and the hours were multiplied and then summed for all persons to get the amount of man--hours needed for each labour task.Table 3: table used to collect the \"labour data\". 5. Perceived performances Farmers were asked how important they found certain factors for taking decisions on a Likert scale from 0 to 3: no (0), low (1), medium (2) and high (3) importance. Farmers were then asked to quantify how they perceived the performance of the different factors, on a scale from 1 to 5, for HW, own AT and TP, and rented AT and TP (see Table 4). After the main survey was completed a short list of questions was asked to farmers (see Annex 3). This was done to get additional contextualising information and to check if some interesting information from the main survey was also valid for other farmers. For these questions it was aimed to interview farmers that were not interviewed yet in the main survey, but due to the difficulty to encounter sufficient farmers, some farmers from the main survey were interviewed again. During walking through the village we chose the farmers. We asked all encountered male adult farmers that agreed to be interviewed these questions. As few farmers were in the village at the moment of taking these interviews, most farmers that were around their houses on these days were interviewed (the other farmers being at the market, in town, on far away fields, sleeping or at funerals). Due to high levels of alcoholism in Nyangua it was sometimes challenging to find farmers that were in state of being interviewed. Depending on if they were alone or not, the farmers were interviewed alone or in group, this was also recorded.In Duko two of these interviews were performed in group and eight to farmers alone. In Nyangua eight of these interviews were performed in group and eight to farmers alone.In Duko all HHs that were not visited for the main survey were visited to determine their resource endowment. This was done the same way as the general information was asked in the main survey.In Nyangua this was not done as they were to many houses and HH's; the difficulty to find trustworthy farmers was also a reason for this.Farmers, Wageningen University staff, AR project staff and employees of companies providing services (for example selling inputs) to smallholder farmers were considered as experts (see annex 4). Experts were consulted before, during and after conducting the field work. The expert interviews previous to the start of the surveys aimed to get information on the current situation and to ratify the farmers' survey. The expert interviews during the survey taking had as aim to adjust the survey or the way of taking the survey, where needed. The expert interviews at the end were done to interpret the results of the research and contextualise them (Fig. 2).Fig. 2: Contribution of expert at different stages in the research. Experts were also asked more general question about Northern Ghana and not just about the two villages, putting this thesis in a wider perspective .The questions can be found in Annex 5.The data was analysed in Excel. When averages were calculated the standard deviation going with that average was also calculated. All data for which a comparison had to be tested was tested on normality using the shapiro--wilk. The mean differences were compared using a Mann--Whitney test as the data were not normally distributed,.Duko and Nyangua are two communities in two different regions of Ghana, they had differences and similarities. Duko had 54 HH consisting of 343 women, 354 men, 56 cattle, 250 sheep, 311 goats, (99 bikes and 44 motorbikes) and many chickens and guinea fowls. Nyangua is a bigger community, the amount of HH was estimated at 150 HH living in 75 compounds. In Duko every HH had one compound. In Nyangua different HH lived together in one compound, this created a great social cohesion in the village, which made farmers help each other frequently and have prices for labour service which were not fixed. As the prices for labour tasks like weeding and ploughing were not fixed per area of land but agreed upon by the two parties, farmers did not know how big their land was, but gave approximations. It might also be the other way around, that farmers do not charge per area of land because they do not know it. In Duko the houses were grouped in a village in Nyangua they were scattered all over the community. In both communities the livestock was not used as a daily protein source but to eat during ceremonies or to sell on the market (Baba and Sulimana, pers. comm.). (see table 5) The farmers in Duko cropped together 232 ha or an average of 4.3 (SD 3.4) ha per HH. The total cropped area in Nyangua could not be estimated, as it was time wise not feasible to visit 150 HH. In Duko most farmers had small fields (0.3 ha SD 0.21) in the village and a higher number of bigger fields (0.9 ha SD 0.9) further away, on average 21 (SD 16) minutes by bicycle. The average total land size per HH was 5.7 (SD 4.4) ha. As there was no centralised village in Nyangua the concept of fields close by and further away was more complex, but the average field size was 0.5 (SD 0.4) ha and the average total land size per HH was 2.3 (SD 2.4) ha. As the size of the land was big in Duko farmers needed to use TP to be able to cover all and as the walking time to the fields could be high farmers tried to lower the labour intensity by using TP and herbicide. In Nyangua the land size was smaller and farmers thus manage with AT. Using the typology of Michalscheck et al. 2017, we counted 20 LRE HHs, 24 MRE HHs and 10 HRE HHs in Duko, while in the main survey there were 6 LRE HHs, 12 MRE HHs and 7 HRE HHs. In Nyangua we did not determine the resource endowment of the entire community, but in our main survey we chose 5 LRE HHs, 10 MRE HHs and 11 HRE HHs. In Nyangua there were many female headed HH, this was according to the village coordinator (mr. Martin, pers. comm.) partly due to men dying from alcoholism. 6 female headed HH`s were interviewed. Duko is a Muslim community, men do thus not die from alcoholism. This might be one of the reasons we only interviewed one female--headed HH in Duko, following the list of farmers to interview. Fields can be ploughed by HW, AT or TP, which are three different techniques for preparing the land. TP goes deeper in the soil, and does the work faster. TP could plough one hectare in 2.12 (SD 0.9) hours, while one pair of bullocks needed 16 (SD 9) hours or 6.8 (SD 6.6) days as bullocks could only work a limited amount of hours per day. HW needed 171 (SD 101) man--hours to plough one ha. TP used discs to plough the land. AT used mouldboard ploughs in Duko and ridging ploughs in Nyangua (Fig. 3). Ploughing was mostly done to cover weeds and loosen the soil. A ridging plough makes ridges on which the plants can be seeded. Discs and mouldboard ploughs on the other hand aim at a flat field after ploughing. a. b. c. In Nyangua bulls were used for ploughing whereas they used oxen in Duko. Bulls were preferred in Nyangua as oxen would be worth less money when they would sell them. In Duko they said that oxen are calmer than bulls, thus easier to train. In the both communities there were two main cattle breeds, the Fulani and the local cattle. The Fulani cattle are stronger, but were also more expensive. Due to previous cases of theft farmers kept their valuable bullocks inside their compound: in Nyangua in a yard and in Duko in a separate (roofed) building.Concerning differences in ploughing techniques among farm types, we observed that as bullocks were expensive only MRE and HRE farmers could afford them. In Duko 4 of the 54 HH's owned bullocks while in Nyangua 8 of the 26 surveyed HH owned bullocks. As there were so few bullocks in Duko only a fraction of the land could be ploughed with AT (32 ha). The HH owning AT in Duko ploughed own land (14 ha or 3.5 SD 1.9 ha/farmer) with them, but also other farmers land (18 ha or 4.5 SD 4.2 ha/farmer). Even though they ploughed other farmers land with their own bullocks the four farmers still rented TP for 29% to 76% of their own land. As an example one farmer in Duko even told he provided AT service to have money to pay for the tractor. Farmers in Nyangua ploughed with own bullocks if they had some or borrowed the bullocks from other farmers.To compare the three techniques, the surveyed farmers in Duko ploughed together 6 ha with HW, 17 ha with AT and 110 ha with TP. In Nyangua the surveyed farmers ploughed 6.4 ha by HW and 53 ha by AT. Only one of the 25 interviewed farmers in Duko and one of the 26 interviewed farmers in Nyangua ploughed all their land with HW, they were LRE HH's. In Duko the HW using farmer cropped 2.2 ha and in Nyangua 1.6 ha. In Duko all other interviewed HH's used TP. In Nyangua only one HRE farmer used a tractor for ploughing, this next to using his own bullocks. Most farmers in Nyangua did not know that somebody in their village used TP (the AR facilitator said nobody ploughed with TP the year before and when doing the main surveys most farmers mentioned they had never seen TP, only when doing the community level interviews we found out that one farmer used TP).Men were responsible for ploughing, as for most other labour tasks around crop cultivation. No woman, in Duko or in Nyangua, (was) reported to be actively involved in ploughing. In Duko one female headed HH was interviewed, the son answered more questions than his mother as he was more aware of what happened on their land. In Nyangua the six female HHH were also often in the presence of their sons, but could answer (more) independently. Women were unaware of any prices related to ploughing, some even started laughing when they were asked about prices of bullocks or ploughs, as if it was embarrassing or as if they were not allowed to know it. No female headed HH was found who owned bullocks. In Nyangua in female headed HH, other HH members usually did the ploughing together with some people owning bullocks. All female headed HH were LRE (1 in Duko and 3 in Nyangua) or MRE (3 in Nyangua).The agro--economic reasons of farmers to choose for one of the ploughing techniques were the cost of the ploughing itself, the cost of not or late ploughing and the yield. The yield was influenced by various other factors.Prices for ploughing services were higher and were also perceived as being higher in Nyangua compared to Duko (table 6). In Duko the prices for ploughing were fixed. In Nyangua on the contrary there was a wide variation in prices for AT services and for the price of TP the experts said it was an approximation. There were various ways of paying for ploughing services like paying in kind, paying with labour or paying in money. The wide variation of ways of payment and prices was because farmers bargain about the price and way of payment. As there was a great social cohesion, the price depended on the relationship of both parties. In 40% of the fields that used rented AT, the farmer did not pay for the service. An even higher cost than the cost of the ploughing service was the costs of not being able to have the ploughing service on time. The average cost of delayed ploughing as estimated by the farmers was, similar (sig 0.299) in both communities, 1104 (SD 964) GH₵/ ha in Duko and at 1466 (SD 1242) GH₵/ha in Nyangua. This yield loss was estimated by subtracting the yield farmers would have expected if they would have ploughed on time from their actual yield. As tractors and bullocks were lacking in Northern Ghana, not every field can be ploughed on time, therefore farmers delay their ploughing. Delay in ploughing caused delayed plant growth during the rest of the cropping season and as the seasons are short, delay in ploughing caused large yield losses.In Duko, all six LRE farmers reported yield losses due to delayed ploughing and most MRE farmers and HRE farmers also had losses due to delayed ploughing (8/12 for MRE and 5/7 for HRE). In Nyangua, LRE, MRE and HRE farmers reported yield losses (4/5 for LRE, 8/10 for MRE and 5/11 for HRE). In both communities farmers with a pair of bullocks did not report delayed ploughing. But in Nyangua farmers with only one bullock did report delayed ploughing. This as they had to wait on the another bullock to pair with. Costs of delayed ploughing were estimated to be higher for higher resource endowed farmers (see fig. 4). For MRE and HRE farmers the yield losses were higher in Duko as farmers had more land they could thus lose more. As this yield losses are very high it can be argued that this is the main driver for farmers to choose a ploughing technique independent of their resource endowment. As timing of the ploughing was crucial to get a high yield, 5 farmers in Duko mentioned it was the main reason to choose for a technology. Timing was not only important to be able to plant on time, but also to have good ploughing conditions. There is an optimal period for ploughing with AT, it is based on the soil moisture, there should be sufficient moisture in the soil to support the growth of the seedlings (Sulimana, pers. comm.). As AT ploughing takes time, farmers had to start ploughing before the optimal day and continue ploughing after it, which causes suboptimal ploughing conditions, leading to suboptimal planting conditions. Ploughing with a wrong humidity or on a too weedy field or wrong operating can have a negative effect on the quality of the ploughing (Sulimana, pers. comm.). For example: a HRE farmer using bullocks in Duko had to start ploughing before the optimal ploughing moment (to be able to cover more area), the soil was thus a bit too dry and when ploughing with his mouldboard plough he formed small ridges, while he wanted to plough flat, this will cause the seeds to be seeded at uneven height (the ridges were too small to be of any use in later seeding). This farmer also rented TP, because he would be unable to plough all his land by AT within the period that has good humidity for ploughing. Farmers would prefer to plough with AT or TP but did still plough some of their fields by HW as they did not want to miss the ideal time on all there fields.All farmers considered yield as an important factor for choosing a technique (Fig. 5). But not all farmers agreed on which technique yields best. This was because various factors affected the yield, the main ones were the planting density, mentioned by five farmers in Duko and the quality of the Duko Nyangua ploughing itself. But for the planting density there was again no consensus on whether it was higher for AT or TP. 9 farmers in Duko said planting density is one the main factors driving the required amount of fertiliser per ha, but there was also no consensus on which technique required more fertiliser inputs. From the field information from Duko, applied fertilisers was similar (sig 0.991) for the different techniques, as well as yield (sig 0.262).For the amount of weeds there was again no consensus among farmers. Two farmers mentioned that deep ploughing (TP) buries weed seeds two other farmers mentioned it brings them up. What we could see from the field data is that with a higher level of mechanisation there was a higher level of herbicide use (sig 0.017). From the labour figures we saw that weeding time was similar (sig 0.891) on fields ploughed with HW, AT and TP, for maize in Duko.For compaction and moisture there was again no agreement. Four farmers in Duko explained that with deeper ploughing the soil becomes looser thus less compacted three other farmers explained that the heavier tractors cause more compaction. Concerning the moisture two farmers in Duko explained that deep ploughing brings up gravel, one said it causes bad water retention the other said it slows infiltration thus increases water retention. Only the perceptions for Duko were noted down here as most farmers in Nyangua could not answer the questions concerning tractors, as they told they were not aware of it. No clear pattern was found between the resource endowment and perceived quality of the ploughing by AT and TP. Farmers did not only choose how to plough based on what was cheaper and yielded more; they also took social factors into account. The difficulty to choose an operator, the bad quality of the work of the operators and the prestige of the techniques were important factors to take into account.Another factor of choice encountered with renting AT or TP was the skills required to speak to the owner or operator. Farmers mentioned that it cost them a lot of time to look for the operator to plough for them. For TP service some mentioned they had to follow the tractor operator for several days to be sure he would come to their field afterwards. When we saw tractors ploughing in the fields around Duko or AT ploughing in the UER we saw farmers waiting there to get the tractor to their field afterwards. (Fig. 10).a. b. Famers mentioned that the AT or TP operator was not always doing the job like he should do it. They mentioned that some operators did not plough at the required depth, avoided weedy parts, cutted corners of field, etc. with the aim to be done faster. 8 farmers in Duko and 15 farmers in Nyangua mentioned the job would be done better if they would have done it themselves.Some farmers (11 in Duko and 24 in Nyangua) found prestige ('what neighbours will think of them') important for taking decisions, others (14 in Duko and 2 in Nyangua) did not find it important. Which techniques were considered as prestigious differed. For example most farmers found that HW is not prestigious as it is a sign of being poor, but 5 farmers in Nyangua found it prestigious as they considered it as a sign of strength and health.As investments in AT were high we were wondering if farmers would really consider investing in it if they would have the possibility. Another question was why do farmers not use their AT equipment for other labour tasks when they already have bullocks.In Duko 5 famers who did not have bullocks said they would like to buy some, provided they had the money for it. Owning bullocks would lower their costs of delayed ploughing. In Duko, it would also spare them of the high cost of TP service.In the small community based interviews most farmers thought that AT was decreasing (in Duko 6 interviews said it was decreasing while two said it was increasing in Nyangua 11 interviews said it was decreasing while 3 said it was increasing).In Duko neither animals nor tractors were reported to be used for labour tasks other than transport of manure and ploughing, while they could be used for weeding. In Nyangua it was used by some farmers, said 7 community level interviews. This was in Duko, according to one farmers of older age, because younger farmers lost knowledge about how to weed with bullocks. Another reason he mentioned was that farmers in Duko did not use ridging ploughs anymore, but mouldboard ploughs. Ridging ploughs could be used for weeding, mouldboard ploughs not. In Nyangua farmers still used ridging ploughs, but AT was not widely used for weeding as one community level interview said it to be double work.He said he would still have to finish the weeding by hoe after going through with the bullocks. In both communities farmers said during the community level interviews (1 in Duko and 2 in Nyangua) that they did not use AT for weeding because their bullocks were not trained enough, In Duko 6 of the 8 community level interviews concluded that they did not have knowledge about weeding with AT. In Nyangua one community level interview said that farmers prefer to use the scarce service rather for ploughing than for weeding, and as there was a lack of bullocks few people used them for ploughing. In villages neighbouring Nyangua we met two farmers using bullocks to weed (with the ridging plough and with a weeder), they both bought their weeders long time ago and did not know where it could be bought now.In this section the results will be discussed and compared with literature. But first the bias that might have happened will be discussed. This to bring awareness on the problem. During the entire research we tried to avoid it as much as possible, but avoiding it completely is not possible.Bias in farmer's interviews is a main problem in research like Crawford (1997) mentioned. Crawford (1997) called \"Influence of groups at interview\" as a form of bias. During the main survey family of the farmer or other villagers were often around. Family members helped to give correct answers when the HHH did not know it, but they also influenced the decision especially during the questions on perceived performances. When the other persons were HH members it can be argued that this was not such a big problem, as when the farmer would chose for one of the techniques he would also listen to the other HH members. Future research could look at who takes the decisions and link that to the persons that are best present during an interview. Farmers can also voluntarily give wrong answers like following example: One farmer was interviewed, later he was interviewed again, and we realized that the data on labour were completely wrong, we did them again with his wife and children, at the end he admitted in local language to his wife that he lied to show himself as stronger than he was. In this case the voluntarily wrongly given answer was detected, but it is not known how much of the answers were given incorrectly or imprecise, purposely or mistakenly. Another factor concerning the exactness of the data is that some farmers might have tried to omit or add information, because they thought it would increase their chances of projects giving them stuff.As most of the farmers from the GARBES data received help from AR, and not all the other farmers, these might have created a bias in the results. The fact they received help might explain why they were less LRE farmers in the GARBES data. The length of the survey might also have caused farmers to lose their reflection capacity and answer the questions less good.It is thus of great importance for future research to think about the effect, positive or negative, other persons might have on the answers; to make sure the farmer gives the correct answers.The aim of this research was to understand farmers' choices concerning the ploughing of their land. Various agro--economic and social reasons were found, but we are unable to firmly say which technique is better as there was discordance among various factors. In literature we found that there were many differences and similarities with other research in Ghana and elsewhere.In this research, we found that farmers plough on average 3.5 ha of own land and 4.5 ha of other farmers land in Duko. Houssou et al. (2013) found similar values for Northern Ghana (3.8 ha/farmer of own and 2.9 ha/farmer for other farmers land).Women were not involved in ploughing in Ghana as in Ethiopia where it is also not culturally accepted to plough for a woman (Aune et al., 2001). Aune et al. (2001) said that this leads to more vulnerable HH's when they are headed by women. We indeed did not find any female headed HH that was HRE, but if it is because of the ploughing or other reasons, can not be concluded out of this research. This taboo for women to plough is certainly not something universal in Botswana for example a higher percentage of widowed woman (47%) provided their own ploughing compared to men (45 %) (Brown 1983). A lot of strength is required from a person to handle the plough. Probably partially for this reason, women and children were less involved in the management of draft animals then men (Houssou et al., 2013). It is important to know who is responsible for which tasks as these are the persons that projects need to address when addressing the task.In Ghana bulls as well as oxen are used for AT, in Ethiopia (Aune et al, 2001) they use oxen like in Duko. This is because they are easier to handle and train. High prices for ploughing are not something that is only so in Ghana; Brown (1983) indicated that ploughing was also expensive in Botswana, the prices were even so high there that they were not always paid back with the low yields. In Duko and Nyangua only fields with nearly no yield would not be able to pay the ploughing back out of the yield. This was rare but it could be discussed that it might happen more frequently with changing climatic conditions, and dropping yields.In Nyangua prices for ploughing were based on the relation between the two parties while in Duko there was a fix price indicated in money. In Ethiopia like in Nyangua they also rented AT service from relatives (Aune et al., 2001). In Ethiopia prices for ploughing were in percentage of the yield while in Duko they were fixed, in Nyangua they did also not depend on the yield (Aune et al., 2001). It could be discussed that if the prices would be based on the yield like in Ethiopia, operators might plough more carefully. In Ethiopia the price for ploughing was 50% of the harvest (Aune et al., 2001), which was considerably higher than in Duko or Nyangua. Farmers in Ethiopia paying with exchange labour had to work two days per day the oxen worked (Aune et al., 2001). In this research this was not looked at, but could be an interesting factor for future research, as it would lead to a better understanding of the social interactions in Nyangua.Farmers in Duko found it difficult to get farmers to come and plough their land. This was also found by Diao et al. (2014) who also had farmers in Ghana telling them that there was a strong lack of tractor services, and that they had to approach more than one operator to get a tractor to their field. Careless operators were not only a problem in Ghana, in Ethiopia Aune et al (2001) also noticed that farmers owning bullocks ploughed their land more intensively, the quality would thus be worse for farmer not owning AT.Various authors (Nyagumbo, 2017;Biamah et al, 1993;Wilcocks and Twomlow, 1993) also mentioned that ploughing on time is important for the yield, but they did not quantify the costs of the delayed ploughing. Brown (1983) found that in Botswana resource poor farmers got their fields ploughed late or not at all, in Duko as well as in Nyangua farmers from all resource endowment got delay in their ploughing. This might be because in Duko prices are fixed and it was not the one who offers most who got the service first. Costs due to delayed ploughing were tremendously high in Duko and Nyangua. It might be a recommendation for project wishing to help, to provide reliable ploughing services instead of providing inputs. Most farmers in Duko and in Nyangua said that AT was decreasing this contrasting with what Houssou et al. (2013) found for the UER, where they found more farmers thinking AT was increasing and similar to what they found in the NR, where they also found more farmers thinking AT was decreasing.There was a great discordance among farmers on which technique performs better, Pingali et al (1987) also found that farmers were not agreeing on weeding time after AT or TP. This discordance might be because there is no or only minor difference in the performance. Pingali (2007) found that there is generally no yield difference between AT and TP. Similarly Herdt (1983) and Binswanger (1974) found that the difference in yield between AT and TP were more due to different amount of inputs than to the technologies themselves. We found that farmers were not agreeing on which techniques causes less weed problems; Pingali et al (1987) also found that farmers were not agreeing on weeding time after AT or TP. Future research might want to look experimentally at the performances of both techniques like García--Tomillo et al. ( 2017) did, they found that TP causes more compaction than AT. Not all farmers in Duko agreed upon this. There was thus a vast disagreement among the farmers, the question that was not answered is, was this disagreement due to different realities or due to different ways of thinking. Further research could look at this by linking the perceptions of farmers to their agro--economical realities. Many farmers mentioned, they would buy bullocks if they would have money to buy some. It can be discussed whether they really meant it. As farmers preferred to invest in cows, which reproduce. It can also be discussed if the farmers telling they want to buy bullocks only told this because they wanted the West to give them some, or because they were really thinking of buying bullocks. Labour shortage was a main problem in smallholder agriculture, it was for ploughing only a problem if we relate labour to the time window in which the task should be done. We would thus suggest that future research, making labour figures, does not only look at the amount of time a task takes, but also at the time window for it. Gender should also be looked at as the available labour can be available for some labour tasks but not for others as different people have different responsibilities. This study serves as an example for the benefits of multidisciplinary research. It shows that farmers' perceptions are not always what we would expect that they are, nor what can be found from field data or literature. Farmers act out of their perception, it is thus of uppermost importance that next to knowing if a project would work from an experimental point of view, if farmers would also perceive that the project would work. The study thus helps to spend development money or \"private commercial\" resources well and help research for development efforts to actually reach and benefit the farmers.The aim of this research was to understand farmers' choices concerning the ploughing of their land in two communities in the North of Ghana. Nyangua was a community with more HH's then Duko. In Nyangua the compounds were scattered around while in Duko they were centralised. Even though the compounds were scattered in Nyangua there was a bigger social cohesion. All three ploughing techniques were still present in both communities and all resource endowments, with a widespread use of TP in Duko and a widespread use of AT in Nyangua.Ploughing was a responsibility of men in the two communities and among all resource endowment; in projects concerning ploughing the focus should therefore lay on men. Farmers that did not own bullocks (or a tractor) rented them, this was expensive and the quality was not always optimal. On top of that, due to the lack of tractors and bullocks, the service often arrived late, leading to big yield losses. There was no consensus on which technique was better from an agronomical point of view. Farmers contradicted each other as on which technique yields more, compacts the soil more; causes more weed problems, etc. This discordance was also found in literature. Part of the farmers also considered what other farmers would think of them in choosing a technique. What farmers agreed upon is that ploughing late causes tremendous yield losses. This threat might be the main economic incentive to choose for a technique. It can thus be concluded that farmers chose for one of the techniques based on what they think is economically best for them, this taking their financial potential and the social implications into account.In Duko 4 different translators were used:--Mohamed Ghana Idrissu: a retired MOFA (ministry of food and agriculture) officer, that already worked for AR in Duko "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"355de6caadb6f71fb6b9262944438e49","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6173558d-1579-413a-9ed6-b51c37a8360e/retrieve","id":"-1293547267"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3e273a0b-2f43-4e3b-bfb6-a46989721460","content":"The CCAFS-CIAT Data Management Support Pack available from both the CCAFS and CIAT websites is a platform that simplifies the process of identifying data management guidance documents throughout the research life cycle. This pack consists of documents, templates, and videos covering the different aspects of data management, ranging from overarching concepts and strategies to day-to-day activities. To find out more about this resource and how it can help you, read this recently published blog post: Relevant data management support when you need it.In 2017, of the 507 deliverables reported, 86.4% are open access. As you know, CCAFS is mandated to produce international public goods and ensure that they are open access, so it's essential to improve this indicator for the coming years.FAIR Data Principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) support knowledge discovery and innovation as well as data and knowledge integration, and promote sharing and reuse of data.FAIR is not applicable to some categories (i.e. blogs, websites, newsletters, events), so for the FAIR compliance statistic the total of the deliverables considered was 371, out of which 52.6% are FAIR compliant. In detail, 361 are classified as a Findable, 304 Accessible, 282 Interoperable and 287 Reusable. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1597126685.json b/main/part_2/1597126685.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"86ccb5d034a399e1279e5aeb4cf09aa4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/298eb52c-9b55-4ff2-b235-3da71119d01c/retrieve","id":"1958925879"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a946e9bf-f31e-40df-81ef-3bee1b3b5db3","content":"We will develop Site Integration Plans to bring together the work of CGIAR Centers and programs in key countries, where CGIAR innovations are expected to reach millions of people.• To devise plans for assessing impact, the CRPs will consult with representatives of partners and beneficiary groups in key countries where they aim to deliver outcomes at scale, including governments, NGOs, farmer organizations, processors and others along the value chain, and, ultimately, consumers.• The CRPs will also coordinate with each other to ensure that, in key geographies, their activities are aligned for maximum impact. The CRPs' collective, coordinated commitments in these geographies will be summarized in site integration plans to enable transparent interaction with local stakeholders. The consultation process will be pursued through the GCARD.Moving site integration forward-steps since Science Leaders meeting, June 2015• GCARD3 National Consultations to be carried out in the countries selected for site integration. These will start with National Consultations in 5-6 countries in the final quarter of 2015 and the remaining 15 in the first quarter of 2016. • A process has been undertaken amongst all CRPs and Centers to start initial planning for site integration, including discussing the terminology for the initiative, identifying the countries and nominating leadership (next slides). • From this process a list of 20 countries was identified, with 6 of the countries identified-covering major regions/sub-regions-which will involve more focus and effort on integration amongst CRPs and collaboration with the National actors and stakeholders. These 6 will be the first countries to have National Consultations organised in, taking place in 2015. • CGIAR entities-both Centers and CRPs-are deciding on leadership for site integration in the selected countries and forming steering committees to initiate, plan and implement the necessary activities.• A process has been undertaken amongst all CRPs and Centers to start initial planning for site integration. This process has resulted in the selection of 20 countries based on three criteria:-Criteria 1: Significant CGIAR presence based on significant planned investment (>$1million), staff based in country and major infrastructure in country -Criteria 2: Combined weighting of rating countries as High, Medium orLow in terms of impact potential, government interest, donor focus, and existing coordination mechanisms -Criteria 3: Selection by CGIAR entities of countries they felt important to be included as part of the site integration initiative"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1604148619.json b/main/part_2/1604148619.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a69e3d81d78c8b1b698f73685e24f6c9d0503442
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"529ce8b7717e90105ff3ee6595d9b68b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/29bea5e8-ccb0-43c1-a545-805a57a56726/retrieve","id":"-433587227"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"78fc36f3-c67a-4939-aa29-a8d3ac81a5cb","content":"Le programme de recherche sur l'intensification durable en Afrique pour la prochaine génération (Africa RISING) comprend trois projets de recherche pour le développement qui sont soutenus par l'Agence américaine pour le développement international (USAID) dans le cadre de l'initiative de sécurité alimentaire mondiale 'Feed The Future' ('Nourrir l'Avenir')' du gouvernement américain. Ces trois projets parallèles se concentrent sur la zone de la savane soudano-guinéenne, les hauts plateaux éthiopiens et l'Afrique orientale et australe.Africa RISING cherche à offrir des opportunités de sortie d'une situation de faim et de pauvreté chronique pour les ménages de petits exploitants, grâce à la recherche-action et au développement de partenariats. Notre approche repose sur l'intensification durable des systèmes agricoles dans le but d'améliorer l'accès à la alimentation nutrititive ainsi que de promouvoir la sécurité du revenu, en particulier pour les femmes et les enfants tandis que les ressources naturelles sont conservées, voire améliorées.Les trois projets menés en partenariat sont coordonnés par l'Institut international d'agriculture tropicale (en Afrique de l'Ouest, de l'Est et australe) et l'Institut international de recherche sur l'élevage (dans les hauts plateaux éthiopiens). L'Institut de recherche sur les politiques alimentaires effectue le suivi, l'évaluation et l'analyse d'impact. Chaque projet collabore avec divers instituts de recherche nationaux et internationaux et diverses organisations de développement publiques, privées et de société civile pour des résultats orientés vers la recherche-action participative. Cette collaboration est un défi majeur.Africa RISING vise à identifier puis rendre les technologies d'intensification durables et les pratiques de gestion pertinentes accessibles aux petits exploitants agricoles dans une variété de contextes agro-écologiques, économiques et sociaux. Ces stratégies comprennent :Les méthodes de recherche participatives qui favorisent l'évolutivité et la durabilité sociale des innovations agricoles. Les stratégies incluent une vaste consultation des agriculteurs locaux (en particulier les femmes) durant la conception et la mise en oeuvre des projets, une focalisation sur les technologies sélectionnées par les agriculteurs eux-mêmes et les méthodologies de recherche-action telles que « les essais sur champs et expériences simultanées à petite et grande échelle».L'adaptation locale des technologies éprouvées pour faciliter l'adoption de la technologie. vise les technologies pouvant inclure des variétés améliorées de cultures, des cultures intercalaires ou associées de légumineuses, les plantes fertilisantes, l'intégration de l'élevage ou des légumes, les stratégies de gestion des sols et de l'eau, la mécanisation à petite échelle, Les stratégies de gestion intégrée des ravageurs, les pratiques post-récoltes et phytosanitaires et les systèmes de production de semences locales. Le projet vise à soutenir l'intégration et l'adaptation des combinaisons appropriées de ces technologies de manière à miser sur leurs synergies pour améliorer la productivité de l'ensemble du système.L'accent est mis sur les résultats généraux de développement qui permettent de mieux saisir et apprécier les gains de productivité dans un contexte particulier au sein du système de subsistances des ménages agricoles en général. Chaque technologie est évaluée pour sa contribution non seulement au rendement, mais également aux objectifs environnementaux et de développement tels qu'une amélioration des budgets de la main d'oeuvre pour les femmes, une meilleure nutrition pour les familles, une infiltration et conservation hydriques plus élevée des sols, des revenus plus élevés, l'endurance au marché et aux fluctuations de climat.Africa RISING réunit les compétences de10 centres CGIAR et associés internationaux, locaux et/ou universités internationales, les Etats, les instituts nationaux de recherche agricole, les ONG et le secteur privé. Il vise explicitement à aligner ces interventions sur les priorités du PDDAA à l'échelle nationale et continentale et à compléter les investissements de la mission de l'USAID nationale et développer un modèle de Recherche pour le Développement intégré qui soit évolutive et adaptable.Peter Thorne -ILRI Ethiopie, p.thorne@cgiar.org Irmgard Hoeschle-Zeledon -IITA Nigeria, i.zeledon@cgiar.org Mateete Bekunda -IITA Tanzanie, m.bekunda@cgiar.org Asamoah Larbi -IITA Ghana, a.larbi@cgiar.org Carlo Azzarri -IFPRI USA, c.azzarri@cgiar.org Simret Yasabu -ILRI communications, s.yasabu@cgiar.org http://africa-rising.net"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1610956556.json b/main/part_2/1610956556.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2c61c5bc644f0e98b2589f9feecfe864eb1bdeb9
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a6885339dbbf4b8373e473015debad42","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a2a26dd0-6c0e-4fe0-bff3-40ccb0534c1e/retrieve","id":"457206670"},"keywords":["technology adoption","Xanthomonas Wilt","cost-benefit analysis","banana farming","Uganda"],"sieverID":"c2b5a18a-22dd-49b6-b17a-a3f1c3543e33","content":"Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) poses a serious threat to livelihoods and food security for millions of households in Africa. Despite considerable investments in Uganda by the Government and other national and international stakeholders, the disease persists in the country after periods of significant resurgence. Building on the Agricultural Innovation Systems framework, this paper reviews the role of the major stakeholders involved in controlling the disease in Uganda. Next, using household survey data, it analyzes economic costs and benefits of adopting an integrated BXW control package for the Ugandan smallholder farmers.After 2015, there has been a significant reduction in both public and private investments in BXW management, which may contribute to future disease resurgence. Our analysis reveals a high level of partial adoption of BXW recommended practices, and just a third of farmers adopting a full control package. This means significant economic losses for nonadopters, as indicated by our findings that households adopting the full package registered a net balance of US$65 per acre higher than non-adopters. We find that disproportionally large costs need to be borne at the beginning of the process, while the benefits are distributed over time, which may present a barrier to adoption by resource-poor smallholders.Bananas represent an important staple food and cash crop in East and Central Africa (ECA), contributing to food security and household income of rural populations (Ouma et al. 2010;Blomme et al. 2019). Since 2001, regional banana production has been seriously affected by Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) disease, caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas Vasicola pv. Musacearum (XVM) (Valentine et al. 2006). The disease often leads to complete crop loss, seriously compromising the food security and livelihoods of many rural households (Ssekiwoko et al. 2015;Blomme et al. 2017a). While it has clearly affected food security in East and Central Africa, its impact on the welfare of the farmers is not yet fully understood (Geberewold 2019).Uganda is a secondary centre of genetic diversity for bananas where per-capita banana consumption is amongst the highest in the world (Gold et al. 2002;Karamura and Mgenzi 2004;Karamura et al. 2010;Daniells and Karamura 2013). Therefore, BXW poses an extremely high threat to the farmers' livelihoods, food security and even the overall economy. Studies show that during the first peak, between 2001 and 2004, the incidence in affected fields increased by 70% in a period of one year (Kalyebara et al. 2006). Losses due to Xanthomonas wilt were estimated at US$34.3 million in 2005 and US$75.6 million in 2006 (Mwangi and Nakato 2008).Over the years, a mix of global, national and local research and extension efforts have been deployed to manage the disease. The development of a genetically modified (GM) banana resistant to BXW could represent an economically viable option (Ainembabazi et al. 2015). However, in Uganda the GM technology is not available yet (Bendana 2020). In the absence of any reported BXW resistance, the most effective agricultural practices for containing disease spread and resulting yield loss were developed (Blomme et al. 2017a). Such practices were identified using information obtained from epidemiological studies implemented within several partnerships from local and international research institutes and universities (Tushemereirwe et al. 2006). Rural development stakeholders from government and non-governmental organizations also contributed to developing, creating and promoting these practices and linked field trials (Ssekiwoko et al. 2006). In some cases, households have been involved in the process in order to adapt the recommended practices and make them more consistent with the reference context (Bagamba et al. 2006). Combinable complementary practices (rather than standalone measures) include: (1) de-budding; (2) removing diseased plants; 1 (3) disinfection of tools; and (4) use of clean planting material (Tushemereirwe et al. 2006;Tripathi et al. 2009;Kubiriba et al. 2014;Kubiriba and Tushemereirwe 2014). Importantly, complete BXW control is only possible by deploying all these practices together, which can be achieved with participatory approaches that effectively sensitize and mobilize households regarding BXW and its control (Kubiriba and Tushemereirwe 2014). For this reason, the Ugandan Government jointly with different NGOs has widely promoted an integrated system of cultural control through awareness campaigns, community action, farmer field schools and other African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development is co-published by NISC Pty (Ltd) and Informa Limited (trading as Taylor & Francis Group) participatory methods that involve smallholders' active participation (Kubiriba et al. 2012).Despite these efforts, the emergence of BXW in Uganda continues to pose a significant problem. After a period of lower incidence, the second peak occurred in 2013, with more than 50% incidence (National Banana Research Program Website 2015). BXW is also currently present in the whole of the African Great Lakes region (AGLR), i.e. Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda and it is spreading westwards putting the plantain belt of central and west Africa at risk (Ocimati et al. 2019). When studying BXW management it is necessary to understand the causes of disease persistence. Following the Agricultural Innovation Systems (AIS) perspective, we recognize that agricultural innovation involves many different actors and factors and that it can only be successful if it meets the farmers' needs. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines AIS as 'a strategic framework that takes a demand-driven, interactive approach to technological and institutional change in agriculture. It emphasizes a continuing process of stakeholder interaction in a wider enabling environment to address constraints, thus inducing innovation' (FAO 2015). In a robust AIS, actors must operate independently while maintaining continuous connections with other system players in order to form interactive networks (Sanya et al. 2018). No single actor dominates, and farmers are recognized as equally valuable sources of innovation (Poncet, Kuper, and Chiche 2010;Dolinska 2017). In addition, socio-technical adaptation of the innovation in specific contexts is important in order to meet the needs of the end user (Cullen et al. 2014). Effective interventions depend on actions on all decision-making levels, from the government to farmers. Consequently, it is crucial to understand actors' involvements in the 'value chain' of BXW management and what are their costs and benefits.From the farmer perspective, the promoted BXW control practices were viewed as effective, however their adoption and impact on livelihoods is complex and depends on a variety of factors (e.g. Okurut et al. 2006;Biruma et al. 2007;Blomme et al. 2007Blomme et al. , 2019;;Mwangi et al. 2007;Jogo et al. 2013;Kikulwe et al. 2018). For instance, household perception of BXW control effectiveness significantly influences adoption of practices which, in turn, influences household food security. Households that perceive practices to be cost effective are more likely to adopt them which, in turn, enhance household food production resulting in increased food security (Kikulwe et al. 2018). Additionally, training received is an important factor boosting the adoption of the practices, especially in the case of women (Kikulwe et al. 2019).Both from the national and household perspective, the assessment of economic feasibility of the package is still missing. Much of the literature focuses on methods for identifying and promoting the practices (Muhangi et al. 2006;Okurut et al. 2006;Ssekiwoko et al. 2006;Kubiriba and Tushemereirwe 2014;Blomme et al. 2017b); however, evaluating the corresponding benefits of their adoption is usually omitted. The same observation can be made with reference to the long-term economic feasibility of households adopting these cultural practices. Kubiriba and Tushemereirwe (2014) argue that no single management option in isolation can effectively contain the spread of the disease, and only the adoption of the whole package of practices is effective. Kikulwe et al. (2019) report on the impact of adoption level of BXW control practices on the value of banana production, which is a step towards better understanding the economic benefits of BXW management. The authors show a positive and significant impact on banana farmers' productivity and sales resulting from adoption of BXW control practices. Despite this, we did not manage to find any studies that analyze both the economic capacity of banana-based households to support the adoption of such practices in the long term and the overall investment returns.In response to this, in order to improve the effectiveness of the BXW management in Uganda and to provide lessons for other countries that face the same battles, it is crucial to answer the following questions:. Who are the main actors in the AIS of the BXW management, and what are their interactions, efforts and costs related to fighting the disease? What has proven effective and what has failed? . What are the costs and benefits of managing BXW for smallholder farmers? Are there economic reasons behind the low adoption rates of the integrated package of cultural practices?In this study, we aim to answer these research questions. We follow the AIS framework and use qualitative and quantitative data to identify the main economic actors involved in the banana value chain, including national and international institutions, together with their investments in disease management in Uganda. Moreover, we quantify the costs and returns on investment into BXW control at farm-household level to determine if the integrated package of cultural practices promoted to limit the spread of BXW is economically feasible for the banana-based households in Uganda.This paper is organized as follows. The next section introduces data sources, followed by a presentation of the outcomes of the analysis. The final section presents the discussion and conclusions.Data sources and analytical framework AIS actors can be all public and private actors involved in the development, dissemination, adaptation, and utilization of all kinds of information related to agricultural production and marketing. In sub-Saharan countries, an AIS usually includes: traditional sources of innovation (indigenous technological knowledge); modern actors (NARIs, international institutes of agricultural research, universities, and advanced research institutes); the private sector, including (local, regional, and multinational) agro-industrial firms and entrepreneurs; civil society organizations (NGOs, farmers, consumer organizations, and advocacy groups); and institutions (laws, rules, values, traditions, and norms) that influence the production and distribution of innovations (Anandajayasekeram 2011).In this study, the innovation is represented by the full package of practices to be applied against BXW. Therefore, the actors highlighted in this study are those who have a role in the creation, implementation, dissemination, and communication of the practices to contain the spread of BXW. As can be seen from Figure 1, multilateral organizations (such as Bioversity International) together with national agencies (such as National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO)) are responsible for bringing research and education into the framework; the political system, such as local governments, National Agricultural Advisory Services ( NAADS), and the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) can be considered the bridge between science and the agricultural value chain actors (Aerni et al. 2015). Finally, private companies and sub regional and continental organizations contribute to agricultural value chain in many ways.Regarding the data sources, this analysis is based on two different types of data: (1) qualitative data collected through key informant 2 interviews in 2018, and (2) quantitative data collected through a survey conducted in 2018 among smallholder farmers in four different regions of Uganda. Data were collected and analyzed separately and then combined for validation (Gotor, Caracciolo, and Watts 2010). Qualitative information provided by key informants was also used for a better understanding of the smallholders' data obtained through the survey. We identified a relatively small group of key informants 3 upon their in-depth knowledge of the banana sector, with focus on BXW and the related investments. Table 1 shows the list of the 14 experts that were interviewed following a semi-structured format.The informants can be mapped along the value chain of the stakeholders belonging to the AIS framework, as shown in Figure 1. Data were analyzed through narrative analysis (Kawulich 2004) to identify common narrative patterns.The quantitative analysis is based on information collected from Ugandan banana-based farm-households through a survey carried out between April and May 2018. The sampling method follows a previous BXW incidence and management survey done in 2015, and more detailed data on management costs were collected from four purposively selected major banana-growing and -consuming regions (i.e. Eastern, Central, Midwestern and South-western). From each region, three districts were randomly selected, totalling 12 districts (Kamuli, Kumi and greater Mbale district from Eastern; Kayunga, Kiboga, and Luwero from Central; Bushenyi, Rukungiri and Ntungamo from Southwestern; and Kabarole, Masindi and Mubende districts from Mid-western region). Two major banana-producing sub-counties were purposively selected per district and from each sub-county one parish was randomly selected. At the parish level, three villages were randomly selected and at least 15 households randomly selected per village from village household lists provided by the local council authorities. A minimum of 90 households were interviewed per district, except Bushenyi district whose sample size was doubled due to high incidence of BXW. The total sample size included 1,170 respondents. However, due to missing data, some responses were dropped. The sample frame is summarized in Table 2. The survey is composed of several sections including household information, activities for BXW management, and banana production costs and yield. We focus on the data coming from the latter section in order to verify if the integrated package of cultural practices promoted to limit the spread of BXW is cost effective at farm level.The first objective of the study aims to identify the main actors in the BXW management AIS and their contribution. Table 3 lists the actors involved in efforts to control BXW and their specific activities. The information contained in this table is based on the discussion with experts. The qualitative data on costs were collected from at least one representative per sector, with the purpose of identifying as many investments as possible. Thus, this is not intended to be an exhaustive representation of all the costs sustained by each sector, but rather a map of records.Activities were listed and disaggregated by stakeholder as follows: local and national agencies, multilateral organizations, and private companies and foundations. Each stakeholder presented in the table, along with their related activities, is part of a network that covers all the fields of action of the AIS against BXW.National agencies have played a prominent role regarding research and education within the AIS. Indeed, the national agencies have carried out communication campaigns through radio, TV, newspapers, posters, etc. They were also in charge of developing the participatory approaches implemented at local level, together with monitoring and surveillance of activities. Specifically, the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) carried out a study and development of control practices, as well as monitoring and evaluation activities.More specifically, during the three-year period of 2013-2016 (at the climax of the disease), the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) created a budget dedicated exclusively to managing BXW. A total amount of 7,389 million Ugandan shillings (around US$2.9 million at the exchange rate in 2013) was allocated for this purpose. The distribution of costs among each activity carried out by MAAIF is shown in Figure 2. More than half the budget was spent on demonstrations and community actions, 4 which are considered highly effective techniques, especially at local level. In fact, a key informant stated: Participatory community-centred communication is important not only to enhance households' capacity and awareness, but also to adapt their interventions and increase effectiveness of communication channels (Tinzaara et al. 2013a). Indeed, the structure of knowledge development is gradually becoming more and more horizontal over time. Meetings for the exchange of knowledge between farmers and between them and government officials encourage the dissemination of knowledge and the adoption of innovations within the AIS (Leitgeb and Vogl 2010). One of the key informant interviews revealed that the massive campaign carried out by the National Government in 2013 prevented households from heavy yield loss, managing to recover 64% of monthly sales from BXW affected areas compared to the peak period (National Banana Research Program Website 2015). Furthermore, from 2013, the Government of Uganda launched the 'Operation Wealth Creation' (OWC) project that, among the other things, provides agricultural inputs for households including clean planting material critical to fight BXW.Currently, national agencies do not receive funds specifically for fighting BXW; and the local situation reflects that at the national level. During the last BXW peak, 40 districts in Uganda received a total of US $540,000 from MAAIF, specifically for BXW management. At present, districts receive money every year from the 'Production and Marketing Grant' founded by the national government, of which pest and disease monitoring takes 10% of the budget. As an example, Luwero District uses 1 million Ugandan shillings (around US $270 at current exchange rate) per quarter to do BXW monitoring, 500,000 Ugandan shillings (US$135) per quarter to do demonstrations and 500,000 Ugandan shillings (US$135) per quarter to pay transport and allowance for the extension staff. Out of the budget, each district is free to allocate as much as is required for BXW management. However, the opinion that has been reported at a  local level is that lately the government has not provided enough funds to carry out all the practices and activities needed to fight BXW. As an example, in Wakiso district they currently do only distribution of new planting materials and a few training sessions are implemented by extensionists. With this in mind, the Ugandan National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) actively co-operated with different multilateral organizations including Bioversity International for improving productivity through generating, promoting and scaling practices such as Single Diseased Stem Removal (SDSR) and de-budding, and linking households to markets through agricultural information in cooperation with other regional agencies (e.g. extension offices and local Government). Moreover, between 2012 and 2015, NARO invested US$2 million received from the World Bank and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) for carrying out activities such as field trials, data collection, biosafety regulation and promotion campaigns (Figure 3). Furthermore, NARO is currently focusing on developing resistant varieties, both obtained from genetic modification and conventional breeding. Indeed, the development of disease-resistant banana cultivars remains a high priority since households are often reluctant to employ labour-intensive disease-control measures (Namukwaya et al. 2012), severely compromising its eradication. This is in line with AIS, which highlights the importance of local adaptation of agriculture innovations in order to meet the needs of the final users (Adejuwon 2019).Many multilateral organizations and humanitarian agencies have been active in the country to fight the spread of BXW, supporting both the government and research centres through donations and providing qualified personnel to educate households about BXW control.The main non-profit organizations that have been active during the last peak of the disease in 2011-2013 were the World Bank, FAO, USAID, the McKnight Foundation, the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Unfortunately, investments at the international level were discontinued in some cases even before 2015.Following the narrative analysis of qualitative data (Kawulich 2004), it is possible to identify a common path focused on the dissemination of information. Even if in different forms, it is possible to gauge the levels of commitment by the various stakeholders to increasing farmers' knowledge and skills on BXW control. Some examples are communication and education campaigns, demonstrations, training sessions and meetings. All these initiatives are very important in the AIS as they allow farmers to make more informed choices and promote the adoption of the package of practices promoted to limit BXW spread (Leitgeb and Vogl 2010).Furthermore, it is possible to identify another common path that shows the difference between investments at macro-level during the last peak of BXW in the country and the current situation. Indeed, all the costs sustained by MAAIF regarding BXW during the past three years have not been specifically targeted against the disease but have been a part of the general budget for pest and disease control. As for the MAAIF, the amount of funds paid out for BXW control from multilateral organizations and private agencies has also been drastically reduced.It is possible to observe this trend from Table 4 which summarizes the information obtained from the key informant interviews, regarding the investments made to limit the spread of BXW classified by stakeholder and time period.This reduction in both public and private investments in management of BXW is consistent with the 2015 declaration that BXW in Uganda was declared under control, with less than 2% of banana plantations affected by the disease.Nevertheless, some stakeholders have argued that the current level of investment is not sufficient to meet the demand of all banana-based households, especially regarding certain inputs, such as JIK (commercial sodium hypochlorite) and clean planting material, perceived by farmers as expensive and with low availability (McCampbell et al. 2018). In fact, the informal source of inputs (such as farmer-to-farmer exchange) is preferred by farmers as the cost is lower than when buying from formal sources (Bagamba et al. 2006). This shows that smallholder farmers depend heavily on their network relationships to seek resources to overcome the challenges they face (Magala, Najjingo Mangheni, and Miiro 2019). However, this socio-cultural practice based on the exchange of inputs rather than on their purchase aggravates the problem because it increases the risk of BXW spreading (Tinzaara et al. 2013b;McCampbell et al. 2018).Overall, stakeholder interviews revealed the trend of investments that occurred in the past 10 years, wherein multilateral organizations and private companies and foundations played a great role, especially during the first peak. However, the effort carried out by the different actors appears to be complementary over time. Even though we cannot state how much funding in total was invested to fight the spread of BXW, this qualitative analysis reveals a general course of action whereby a considerable amount of money was provided during both peak periods (2006 and 2013), compared to the period of low occurrence, when investments almost stopped. Consequently, currently local governments struggle to maintain a minimum level of awareness and monitoring among households, thus being unable to ensure that the incidence rate remains low.As discussed above, considerable investment by different actors of the AIS was necessary in order to identify and promote the most suitable practices to limit BXW spread. However, the adoption of innovative agricultural practices is determined by a series of individual decisions which are influenced by a comparison of expected benefits with expected costs of adoption (Uaiene, Arndt, and Masters 2009;Nankya et al. 2017;Despotović, Rodić, and Caracciolo 2019). These depend on several uncertain future outcomes, like market prices of bananas or the actual share of bananas that will be lost to the disease. How farmers build their expectations, and what information they use to make decisions has long been subject to debate. Usually, it is assumed that farmers (people in general) use all available information which includes learning from the past. This is why it is crucial to assess if the adoption of the integrated package of cultural practices promoted for BXW management was cost effective for the banana-based households in Uganda in the past. It will also provide necessary information for policy makers on the strategies and actions that can be implemented along the AIS to improve adoption rates by farmers. For this reason, we collected data on costs of banana production at household level, highlighting specific costs of BXW management.Households must sustain different costs for the adoption of BXW disease management practices. They can be organized as follows: explicit costsmonetary costs that require cash outflows (i.e. hiring labour; buying inputs as tools and JIK) and implicit costsmonetary costs for the internal resources uses and loss of potential income (i.e. yield loss; productivity loss; time used by household family members to manage the disease). Among the main benefits there are: a lower risk of loss of production, an increase in agricultural income and strengthened food security.In the first step, we grouped households according to the number of practices effectively adopted. This was done in order to identify for each group, average benefits and costs and thus the positive or negative balance of practice adoption. Potentially, by increasing the number of practices adopted, both costs and benefits will increase, varying the net balance. The variation of the net balance allows the cost-benefit analysis of BXW management.Full adopters are defined as those smallholders who applied all three main practices altogether (de-budding, removing diseased plants and disinfecting tools). 5 Full adopters represent about 33% of the sample (328 smallholders over the total surveyed 1,008). On the other side, low adopters are defined as those banana-producers who applied only one or two out of the three main practices (62% of the sample). It was decided to group those who have adopted only one or only two practices together as one of the objectives of the current study is to verify whether the adoption of the integrated package of practices generates a higher net balance than the partial adoption of the package of practices. Finally, non-adopters are the smallholders who did not practice BXW management at all (recognized to be 5% of the sample). Table 5 shows  the descriptive statistics of each category, including household size and gender and years of education of the household head. On average, it is possible to observe that among the different groups there is a similar distribution of all the variables considered. Only with regard to the gender of the household head it is possible to observe a lower percent of females for the group of non-adopters (15% female on average compared to 28% and 24% for low adopters and full adopters respectively).It is expected that the three groups of smallholders face different costs for the BXW management, benefiting on the other side different level of revenues, that means different level of BXW control. More in detail, for each BXW management practice, the associated specific inputs were identified. For instance, for removing diseased plants, the cost of inputs is related to the purchase of pangas (machetes) and pruning knives. For de-budding, it is related to a forked stick. Finally, regarding disinfection of tools, only the cost of JIK 6 was considered. The explicit cost of each tool (except for JIK) used in BXW management was amortized over 10 years, given their usual lifespan.The cost of labour is composed of the explicit cost that comes from hiring labour specifically for BXW management and the implicit cost that comes from the time spent on BXW management by household members. The cost of household members' labour is considered an 'imputed cost' of two thirds of the average daily wage of the hired labourers, multiplied by total time spent on BXW management in the past 12 months.Regarding the costs of banana production that were not related to BXW, the identified input costs are the purchasing of seedlings or plantlets; fertilizer; mulches; cover crops; pesticides and herbicides. The cost of labour, the same as for BXW management, is composed of hired labour and family labour. The cost of the latter is calculated as two thirds of the average daily wage of the hired labourers, multiplied by total time spent on it by each household.Analytically, for each n-th farmers, all the costs (C n ) are calculated per acre (eq.1), in order to have results not affected by different land size.where I nm indicates the quantity of the m-th input purchased for banana production in the last 12 months by the n-th household; V nm is the price of each input; L nj represents the number of days of work undertaken in the last 12 months by both the n-th household members (implicit costs) and hired labourers for the j-th activity carried out for banana production and BXW management; W j is the average wage 7 per day for hired workers for the j-th activity; and finally a n are the acres under banana production at the n-th household.Table 6 shows the median costs per acre for BXW management and banana production, sustained by the three different categories.Results from Table 6 show that full adopters incur higher costs of BXW management than low adopters, but the overall costs of the BXW management are quite low (around 10% and 15% of the total costs for the low adopters and full adopters respectively). This could be mainly explained by different factors. First, the initial cost of inputs is low itself, and since all the inputs have a long-life cycle, the cost can be amortized in several years (10 years except for JIK). However, even if the costs can be amortized, the purchases of the inputs can be perceived quite costly by smallholders since the required initial disbursement. Indeed, the cost of inputs represents only about 1% of the total costs for BXW management for low adopters compared to 5.42% of full adopters. The relatively high initial disbursement could explain the very high percentage of low adopters, that, benefitting also from a current low incidence rate of BXW, they mainly try to minimize costs, monitoring mainly the diseased plant.BXW control influences the banana yield, that represents the principal source of benefits between different groups. As a result, in the third step, this study analyzed the market value of banana production for each group (full adopters, low adopters and non-adopters) in order to investigate the benefits for controlling the BXW in monetary terms.Revenues (R) of the generic n-th household (n = 1, … , N) were calculated per acre, based on the following equation (eq. 2):where y nbs and p nbs indicate respectively the production in terms of bunches and the market price for bunch for each bth specific banana variety 8 grown by the n-th households in the s-th season; while a nbs represents the cultivated area in acres.The last step of the current analysis was to calculate the net balance, in terms of difference between the revenues and the costs per acre (P n = R n − C n ) resulting from the production of bananas (only variable costs) and the BXW management (both fixed and variable costs). Net balances were calculated for the three categories and then compared in order to investigate whether the profit is higher for those households who adopted BXW management practices altogether, given the costs they have to sustain in order to apply them. From Table 7 it is possible to observe that revenues obtained are markedly higher for full adopters and low adopters compared to the category of non-adopters. Also, the net balance in the last 12 months was higher within those households who applied the full package of BXW practices, compared to those who applied only one or two practices or those who did not apply any practices. It should be noted that the net balance for non-adopters is negative. This is because they sustained a cost for banana production; however, the incidence of BXW disease has reduced banana yield/ productivity and hence the revenues.Overall, results indicate that the adoption of BXW management practices altogether led to a positive result in terms of the net balance at household level. Indeed, households who applied the full package of practices registered the highest net balance, with a difference of US$65 per acre per year compared to those who have not adopted any practice.Banana production is an important livelihood activity for farmers in Uganda, which has been seriously threatened by BXW since 2001 (Tushemereirwe et al. 2006). The rapid spread of the disease is sometimes attributed to the lack of farmers' awareness of and knowledge about disease diagnosis, transmission, and management (McCampbell et al. 2018). Based both on the AIS framework and the narrative analysis of the qualitative data, this study provides evidence that several stakeholders have made significant investments in order to increase the knowledge and skills of farmers regarding BXW. Among activities implemented in Uganda for this purpose are communication and education campaigns, demonstrations, training and meetings. The interactions between smallholder farmers and other actors of the AIS constitute the main structure of the innovation systems as they facilitate the diffusion and the sustainability of the innovations (Nahuis, Moors, and Smits 2012;Lundvall and Lema 2014;Adejuwon 2019). Indeed, the massive awareness campaign and investments implemented during the last peak of BXW in Uganda led to the positive outcome of critically reducing the number of affected farms in just two years. During 2013 more than 50% of households were affected by BXW, whereas in 2015, after the mobilization of stakeholders, only 1.9% of households showed BXW symptoms in their fields (National Banana Research Program Website 2015). This led to a discontinuation of investments by the government and the various national and international stakeholders. In this way, control of the BXW was entirely entrusted to rural households. This may be the cause of the resurgence of BXW. Alarmingly, the current level of investments remains low and, according to many stakeholders, insufficient to effectively support farmers with BXW control. This denotes that the current linkages between stakeholders are weak, which is compromising the successful implementation of the practices. Ineffective interaction and collaboration between stakeholders are common problems in the AIS in sub-Saharan countries (Schut et al. 2016).The analysis of quantitative data collected at a household level confirms the fact that currently Ugandan households recognize the importance of adopting the recommended practices to contain BXW. In fact, only 5% of the sample did not apply BXW management practices at all, while 95% applied at least one of them. However, only 33% of the sample adopted the full package of the practices, while 62% of the sample adopted only one or two practices. This is a significant obstacle to BXW management, as only all the management practices adopted together is an effective disease control tool (Kubiriba and Tushemereirwe 2014). According to some of the stakeholders interviewed, the direct cost of the inputs (mostly JIK and clean planting materials) is one of the reasons why the farmers do not adopt the integrated package of practices for BXW management. The current study has highlighted that there was a considerable commitment by the government of Uganda to provide inputs for households at a district level, including clean planting material critical to fight BXW. Furthermore, our comparison between non-adopters, low adopters and full adopters of the cultural practices, indicates that full adopters benefit from a median net balance of US$35 per acre per annum. Low adopters recorded a lower net balance, of about US$30 per acre per annum. Finally, non-adopters registered a net loss from the production of bananas (about US$30 per acre). This indicates economic vulnerability of households to BXW effect and stresses the importance of providing support, and information campaigns and training. This is in line with the AIS framework that highlight the importance of interaction and social learning between farmers and other actors of the innovation system (Dolinska and d'Aquino 2016). From this it follows that more emphasis must be directed at education and support of different actors of the system, especially for smallholders.This cost-benefit analysis leads to the conclusion that the integrated package of practices against BXW is not only cost effective, but also adopting the full range of practices generates the highest benefit. Probably, the reason why farmers did not adopt the integrated package of practices for controlling the BXW is that the initial costs of the inputs, even if depreciable in 10 years, can pose an important barrier. In addition to this, the reduction in both public and private investments in the BXW control at the country level, means that local governments cannot afford to support all the activities that should be carried out in order to guarantee a continuous presence of funds and personnel in the field.For these reasons, it is crucial that the government increases the investments in the two major inputs that farm-households struggle to provide themselves, recognized as JIK and clean planting material. Moreover, female-led households who struggle with the adoption of the full package, need to be supported. Finally, the government and other stakeholders of the banana value chain should continue to invest in communication and awareness campaigns about the correct implementation of the practices, emphasizing that it is important to apply them all together. In particular, due to relatively high initial investment needed, it is important to inform the farmers about the distribution of the benefits in time and stress that over time the full package adoption results in the highest net benefit. National government must ensure that households receive the message about the best use of management practices and the profits that will flow from their adoption. To do so, the government should relaunch specific investments for BXW awareness campaigns and other participatory methods. It is important to prevent the next BXW outbreak as it is likely to lead to potentially heavy economic losses among banana producers.No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s). Notes 1. Removal of diseased plants can be done through the entire mat removal and/or single diseased stem removal (SDSR), although the latter is preferred because it is considered as effective but less labour-intensive. For this reason, the current analysis considered the SDSR as the main technique for removing diseased plants. 2. Key informants are a limited population of individuals with significant breadth and depth of knowledge to speak informatively in detail about what happened and why (Jimenez 1985). 3. An expert meeting held in Kampala, Uganda on the 1st and 2nd of February 2018 was carried out in order to identify key informants. 4. Through the community action, the community is facilitated to develop an action plan for BXW control, and all community members commit to implementing it. Stakeholders at higher levels (local and national government) are then mobilized to support the communities in implementing their plan (Kubiriba et al. 2012).5. Use of clean planting material was excluded from the quantitative analysis because, although it represents another important practice to avoid the dissemination of infected suckers and plantlets, very few farmers use this technique as recommended by scientists due to the high cost and lack of availability. 6. The same practices can be done also utilizing different inputs, but the right way to implement them is through the inputs we listed. That is why we decided to account for the cost analysis of only those inputs recognized as adequate from the literature. 7. Wage for household's members has been calculated as 2/3 of the wage for hired workers. 8. The four varieties of bananas considered are cooking, sweet, roasting, and beer banana."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"394b3c087af07563c43c7ecad6b1a95b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/59e9feab-62e3-42da-9566-73ef9b9cbe73/retrieve","id":"-1846532669"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d4c3bb68-26b9-4ea3-9bb8-48f3fd0eca93","content":"This report was produced with support from the CGIAR Initiative Livestock and Climate. We would like to thank all funders who supported this work through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund. Between December 2017 and December 2021, the EU-funded Piloting of Participatory Rangeland Management (PRM) project in Kenya supported two community conservancies: one community forest association and one community rangeland initiative to carry out community resource mapping, rangeland resource rehabilitation, protection and management leading to the rehabilitation of 89,000 hectares of land, one borehole, one spring, and strengthening four community management committees.This was implemented in Mogotio Subcounty (Koitegan), Tiaty (Paka Hills), Marigat (Irong Conservancy), and Baringo North (Kabarion Conservancy). Now this work will be taken up, improved and scaled up under the CGIAR initiative Livestock and Climate (LCSR). This report provides the status of the current sites in order to identify next steps, interventions and supporting research and technical support.The new phase will focus on scaling up and scaling out the PRM project in Baringo and Wajir counties. The activities to be undertaken in the new phase are:• Scoping study to identify locations for new PRM initiatives • Piloting PRM in new sites • Strengthening PRM in already-established sites (Baringo) • Piloting PLUP (Participatory Land Use Planning) • Facilitation of baseline and landscape studies in PRM sites • Research on conflict and land-use An initial status analysis was conducted to understand the current situation on the ground and identify areas for intervention. Key threats to the rangelands include rapid loss of natural vegetation cover and species, soil erosion, overgrazing, uncontrolled bush burning, poor agricultural practices, weak natural resources management institutions and structures, and high poverty levels within the community. Due to the loss of vegetation cover, soil erosion has become a major challenge, especially in the rainy season, largely because of poor cultivation practices and overgrazing around wet grazing areas and watering points and environmental destruction. The main effect of soil erosion is rangeland degradation, specifically the emergence of bare land, big gullies, and poor-quality pastures, and low crop yields.The Koitegan Community Forest lies in a hilly area of approximately 169.2 hectares and serves an estimated population of 15,000. The land around Koitegan is privately owned, leaving the community forest as the only common resource for the community to graze their animals. The community forest also remains the only source through which the community can access rangeland resources including pastures, herbs for human and animal consumption, salt licks, and water. This has led to overgrazing of the natural vegetation. The land is also struggling with invasive species which colonized pastures and grazing areas. Springs and other water sources have also dried up. There is also encroachment into the community forest and its conversion to agricultural uses to satisfy land-use demands from the increasing population and illegal exploitation of forest products for charcoal, poles and logs due to the high demand from the increasing population. In addition, there are signs of soil erosion, deforestation and degradation of habitats from forest fires and invasive species.Koitegan is characterized by low vegetation cover (below 15%) whereas the upper slopes have a vegetation cover of up to 40%, consisting of mainly planted trees, natural trees, grasses and shrubs. Koitegan Community Forest is home to the plant species shown in Table 2 Bushes and grasses are the dominant forest vegetation. These comprise native trees such as lelekwee, tipilikwee, kemelee, yemtit, kipiryokwee, leketetwee, ng'oswee, siryande, soyop eren, kelwonde, sepeltii, leng'nee, chepitee, muyeng'wee and others. Forest species include cypress, pine, blue gum, criphelia, croton, eucalyptus, jacaranda, azadirachta indica (mwarobaini) and acacia.Koitegan Community Forest is the only forest in Mogotio Subcounty. It was under the management of the Deputy County Commissioner until 2017 when it was lawfully registered as a community forest under the Kenya Forest Service and is now managed by Koitegan Community through their Koitegan Community Forest Association (CFA).The community management forest plan is guided by the following objectives:• Raise awareness about farm forestry and improved farming methods.• Promote forest extension and sustainable on-farm nature-based enterprises for household socioeconomic development.• Promote improved farming practices and alternative energy sources.• Encourage soil conservation measures, compositing and household water harvesting.• Promote drought resistance crops and rearing dual-purpose cows for milk and meat (Sahiwal breed).Map 1. Koitegan Community ForestThrough focused leadership of the Community Forest Association and the PRM approach, Koitegan Community Forest can engage all its members in the sustainable use and management of water, trees, and pasture and protect the forest from further environmental degradation.The future security of the forest hinges on effective leadership that will mitigate deforestation and improve resource management. Although the conservancy leadership has made a concerted effort to curtail deforestation by banning charcoal burning, the forest is still recovering from this long-time practice. Peninah, Assistant Chief, Kibomui Sublocation, said, \"I believe that combating deforestation and overgrazing depends on public awareness. Leaders must educate community members about the importance of conservation and what is at stake if resources continue to be poorly managed\".In addition to public education, community members and the CFA have on their wish-list several interventions that will further curb deforestation and improve water availability. These include afforestation, establishing a seedbed for selling seeds and involving the community in replanting efforts, constructing fences around germinating seeds, and investing in tourism to diversify the region's economy and provide alternative livelihood sources. The CFA has proposed to petition the Rift Valley Water Service Board to expand the Kapitoi Dam and put water tanks in place for irrigating seed beds. The conservancy was formed to rally the community to take steps to conserve natural resources and develop nature-based enterprises to benefit current and future generations in the face of rapid ecological degradation, especially the loss of indigenous trees and shrubs that support livestock and wildlife.Chuine Conservancy has historically provided essential services to local communities because it hosts rich and unique biodiversity. S survey carried out in 2009 on spatial variation and the value of ecosystem services rated Chuine second after Lake Bogoria National Reserve in terms of ecosystem and biodiversity richness and importance.However, the area continues to experience many challenges related to rapid changes in land use due to population increase and the impacts of climate change. Specific challenges include:• Overgrazing, which causes further degradation and resource conflicts.• Human-wildlife conflicts intensified by environmental degradation.• The spread of invasive species, which causes resource depletion and biodiversity loss.• Lack of infrastructure in the conservancy area.• Establish grass plots The Kiborgoch Conservancy covers approximately 880 hectares. It acts as a natural sponge by retaining water and moderating its flow and is a habitat for crocodiles and over 300 species of birds. The conservancy is fed by two large warm springs (Lake Bogoria Hotel spring and Chelaba Spring), and a smaller spring (Turtle Spring). This ecosystem has an important role in maintaining biodiversity, recreation, livelihoods and other services for local people.However, few studies have been carried out on its hydrology, biodiversity, and resource use. Some of the vegetation found in the conservancy includes reed, pyprus, acacia , Egyptian balanites, shrubs, prosopis juliflora and grass. There are also several medicinal plants community members have been using to cure diseases such as malaria and the common among others. The conservancy has over six hot springs which serve as a source of water. More research and mapping of these springs needs to be carried out.• Lake Bogoria • Lake Baringo • Lake 94• Kesubo WetlandFive permanent rivers feed the Loboi River and the springs. There are also four seasonal rivers, the Chepkornis, Cheptugen, Kapchepsoiyo and Waseges.Surrounding the conservancy are human activities which include farming in the irrigation schemes in the three locations (Kapkuikui, Tembererwee, and Kamoskoi). The major activities carried out in the schemes include planting Kenyan seed maize, watermelons, onions and pawpaws.• Map, identify, and demarcate the conservancy as communal land to protect it from individually owned farms. • Protect, maintain and conserve the area by planting trees and grass.• Ensure the conservancy has adequate water and grass species throughout the year by rechannelling diverted rivers and springs into the conservancy and controlling and regulating grazing. • Ensure that the wildlife within the conservancy is preserved and there is an amicable coexistence between wildlife and human activities.Irong Conservancy covers an area of 614.5 km divided into subunits. The subunits include;• Irong Hill (approximately 300 acres), a dry grazing area for the community.• Wetlands such as Kapnarok, Majimoto, Kiborgoch and Kamar.• Kaptombes Archaeological Site, a newly discovered site with unique features including all-season grazing areas and wet grazing areas around settlements.Irong Conservancy is endowed with a wide range of natural resources. The rangelands offer multiple services and goods that facilitate pastoralists and agro-pastoralist livelihoods and the general well-being of wildlife. The systems in the rangeland include water systems (seasonal rivers, boreholes and water pans, wetlands and Lake Bogoria). Other resources include pastures, salt licks and grazing areas, forests, and bees for honey production.Irong conservancy has traditionally been managed by community elders. The surrounding land is largely privatized and the community sets aside common grazing areas near wetlands, hills and some private land. There is a common understanding among members about resource sharing.Resources such as dams, boreholes and pastures on individually owned farms are accessible by community members based on this understanding. Irong conservancy is managed by a committee of 17 people drawn from the five locations that make up the entire Irong Conservancy.• Rangeland resource management and improvement Irong Conservancy was rehabilitated to enhance healthy ecosystems that support wildlife, livestock, and human needs while improving the condition of damaged areas with appropriate regeneration measures. The Conservancy is mainly covered by natural vegetation that serves as grazing land and forage for livestock and wildlife. It also supports crop cultivation due to the fertile soils in some areas. RECONCILE seeks to conserve and improve these areas by championing and supporting sustainable land management practices. The Conservancy also has active grazing committees and grazing plans that help determine where and when to graze. The community here is involved in the active restoration of rangelands through the management of invasive species such as Prosopis juliflora.RECONCILE helped develop the rangeland management plan to achieve sustainable grazing and avoid overgrazing. The plan strengthened management and has given people a greater sense of control over their livelihoods. Coming up with the plan has helped the conservancy retain grass banks during the dry season, thus providing opportunities for pastoralists to access good-quality pasture. This has greatly reduced the risk of pasture depletion and subsequent livestock losses and environmental degradation. After the project, some farmers took the initiative of starting pasture production which has so far thrived.RECONCILE installed solar panels and a water pump system for the Tabarweche borehole to replace the old system which was difficult for members to use. The new pump is functional and still in good condition. Photo 6. Constructing the Tabarweche boreholeWhere Sukta spring was found, about 1.2 ha of land was fenced to enhance its protection. This has facilitated the sprouting of another spring in the area and thus the need for protecting it in the next intervention. After the discovery of these springs, water collection chambers were constructed and new livestock routes were created to access the water. The distribution of water troughs to the boreholes of Irong Community Conservancy improved accessibility and availability for livestock and people (Photo 7 and 8).Irong is also known for producing quality honey. RECONCILE supported women's groups with beehives to enhance honey production which has improved income generation at the household level. Several women's groups have taken up honey production since the project ended.Photo 9. Beehives distributed to women's groups Uprooting colonizing species in Lukuru was undertaken by selecting thirty members of the community to physically uproot invasive species. The total area uprooted was 2.5 acres within three days. The cleared land was used for regeneration and planting grass to increase pasture availability within the rangeland as shown in Photo 10.Photo 7. Fenced area around Sukta Photo 8. Sukar spring"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f3d2eb0cf4aad43c330b1ef4a3fe15b4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7569cffe-73dc-4466-9ebf-8f0a8f76b3a5/retrieve","id":"732644374"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3d55a8d1-30eb-48ad-b3a4-e76a4902fb32","content":"Numerous approaches have been developed by researchers for measuring intra-household decisionmaking. Most use quantitative surveys that often rely on a standard set of questions that inquire about who contributes to key household decisions or women's abilities to participate in these decisions. Such questions have been criticized for focusing too much on the identity of the decision maker and less on understanding why and how decisions get made within the household and on the multiple facets of women's roles in decision-making processes 1 . To address the shortcomings of current approaches, we (an interdisciplinary group of applied gender and agriculture researchers) developed a transdisciplinary and mixed-methods approach that can be adapted across livelihoods and geographies to measure intra-household decision making and shed light on the \"who,\" \"why,\" and \"how\" of important household decisions. This guide describes the transdisciplinary process that was used to develop the mixed-methods research tool for understanding and measuring intra-household decision making. In our approach, we focus on measuring who makes which decisions, how, and why and how this influences food, nutrition, and economic security outcomes. This guide, therefore, provides a base for other researchers and development practitioners to develop a context-specific mixed-methods tool for understanding and measuring intra-household decision making. Future users of the tool will be able to explore, in particular, the following research questions:1. Who within the household makes decisions on production, processing, trading, and expenditures? 2. Why does one spouse or the other (or another household member) make certain decisions? 3. What process(es) do couples or other dyads use to make these production-, processing-, trading-and expenditure-related decisions? 4. What types of 'mental tasks' (cognitive labor) are embedded within these decision-making processes? Who is responsible for these mental tasks? Why? 5. How do decision-making processes (who decides, how and why) influence specific food and nutrition security and economic outcomes at household level?The tool was developed in the context of the cassava value chain in Tanzania, focusing on agricultural-and expenditure-related decisions. However, the tool and its development were designed to be flexible, and it has considerable potential to be applied to other types of livelihoods and in other geographies.The development of this mixed-method research tool received human subjects/ethical research approval and appropriate guidelines were followed.This section presents the step-by-step process that was used to develop the Household Mixed-Methods for the Study of decision-Making Research Tool (HOMME-SMART). In Figure 1 we summarize the eight-step process that we used. Breaking down the process into stepsStep 1: Literature reviewWe reviewed the literature to identify the issues and knowledge gaps concerning the measurement of intra-household decision making. The review helped to justify why there is a need to develop a mixed-methods research tool. The following are the key highlights:• While there is wide acceptance of women's empowerment as an important development goal, there is less consensus on how best to measure empowerment across contexts. These concerns are especially salient to quantitative approaches, which often rely on a standard set of questions that inquire about women's abilities to participate in a range of decisions within the household (see Box 1).Box 1. Examples of tools to measure women's involvement in making intra-household decisionsThe Demographic Health Surveys (e.g., see Tanzania DHS-MIS Report, 2016) ask women and men who usually makes decisions on major household purchases, allowing respondents to indicate that decisions are made by the respondent, the respondent's spouse/partner, jointly with the spouse/partner, or other. The project-level Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index asks women and men to indicate, from among the agricultural activities they participate in, which individuals (up to three) normally make the decision on a given activity, how much input they contributed to the decision, and to what extent they could participate (if they currently do not). It does not explore further how decision-making processes unfold and why household members make certain decisions alone or jointly with other members (Malapit et al., 2019).• Questions about women's involvement in decision making within the household have been criticized for numerous reasons, including too much focus on the identity of the decision maker and less on understanding why and how decisions get made within the household and on the multiple facets of women's roles in decision-making processes (Bernard et al., 2020). Asking questions beyond who makes decisions (and to what extent) is especially important given that in many rural, low-income country contexts (especially in Africa) spouses may not pool resources generated from their labor or have the same preferences for how resources get allocated. Asking why and how decisions are made can improve the measurement and understanding of intra-household power dynamics. • Decision-making questions are formulated using outsider (or etic) perspectives on what matters regarding intra-household decision making, and more broadly, women's empowerment (Elias et al., 2021 2 ). Yet, emic (insider) perspectives are a critical source of information and can help inform the development of questions and overall research tools. Step 2: Stakeholder consultationIn the early stages of developing this tool, we consulted with a diverse set of local stakeholders to inform the design of the tool and to gauge their interests in utilizing the proposed tool once developed to better understand and measure intra-household decision making for their research or development programs. We recommend that all projects intending to use this approach also consult relevant stakeholders.Consultations were held with stakeholders in and around the study regions in Tanzania to learn from their experiences and knowledge about intra-household decision making as it relates to their programmatic work and agricultural context. The consultations also assessed the demand for such a tool to understand and measure intra-household decision making. A brief guide was developed to facilitate the discussions with the stakeholders (Annex 1) and was deployed with researchers from the national program who are involved in social and gender research, and practitioners from development organizations.The consultation with stakeholders enabled the research team to identify priority topics for developing the qualitative tool. For example, information from stakeholder consultations enabled the research team to identify the types of interview questions to ask, how to consider other household members in addition to couples, and type of crops to consider (food versus cash crops).The stakeholder interviews also helped us consider important issues, such as the importance of the identity of the decision-maker and the beneficiaries of the decisions. Their recommendations also included the need to address issues of financial accessibility and type of marital relationships and how to handle interviews with polygynous households, for instance. This was specifically taken into consideration during the study where the decision on which of the wives should participate in the study with the husband was left for such households to decide on their own.Step 3: Designing the dyadic interview discussion guideThe literature review and stakeholder consultations informed the development of the qualitative discussion guide, which was used when jointly interviewing dyads on intra-household decision making. The process of developing the dyadic interview guide involved back-and-forth discussions among research team members while keeping the key research questions in mind. The first section of the discussion guide seeks to explore \"who does what and why\" and \"who decides and why\" with regards to different agricultural tasks within the (in our case) cassava value chain, and the second part covers the \"how couples make decisions,\" \"why,\" and \"cognitive labor\" questions. The questions on the use of cognitive labor were developed based on the framework by Daminger (2019 6 ). According to this framework, cognitive labor may entail:1. Anticipating the need to do something 2. Identifying options to completing it 3. Making decisions to pursue it 4. Monitoring the results from making the decisionIn addition, at the start of the discussion guide there is a section inquiring about basic demographic information and the household's involvement in cassava value chain activities. A couple of other questions inquire about subjective and relative livelihood status.The semi-structured interviews were designed in a format that allowed the same issues to be discussed with multiple decision-making dyads (e.g., married couple or a woman heading her household who resides with an adult daughter or son). The open-ended questions allowed participants to respond in their own words, and the interviewer could frame follow-up questions as necessary based on responses.To aid comprehension and improve response quality, the discussion guide also allowed participants to demonstrate their answers with beans in questions requiring estimates of proportions or percentages. Also, cards with images that depicted specific cassava production, processing, and trading tasks associated with decision-making questions were developed and included in the guide (see in Annex 2). The purpose of developing these cards and including them into the tool was to enable dyads to visualize specific activities they engage in and help trigger discussions with them while providing the opportunity for the research team to better understand who within the household carries out the different cassava value chain tasks, who makes final decisions on such tasks, and why.Once the discussion guide was finalized, it was piloted. A research protocol that describes all aspects of study procedures and research plan was developed. The protocol highlights the research objectives, main research questions, specifies study area and describes the approach to participant selection as described in Step 4 below. It also explains the composition of the field research team and how team members are to be trained. In addition, the protocol describes how data will be handled and analyzed and lists expected study outputs.Step 4: Piloting of the qualitative dyadic interviewsPrior to piloting the qualitative dyadic interviews, the field team was trained on the discussion guide and study protocol. The field team was responsible for translating the discussion guides and consent forms into Kiswahili (the language in which the interviews were conducted). They also developed a qualitative data entry/note taking sheet and practiced administering the interviews.Once the training was completed, the discussion guide was pretested with a few dyads to assess it for clarity and relevance prior to conducting the pilot. The assessment also entailed checking for length of interview (time needed to complete the interview) and ease of asking questions. The feedback from the pretest helped in modifying the final version.We conducted in-depth interviews with 40 married/cohabiting couples and other dyads (20 interviews in each of the two study regions). Before the research team travelled to the pilot study area, respective local governments at regional and district levels were informed about the study through official letters. Upon arrival, the research team paid courtesy calls, and, in each district, an extension officer was designated to work with the research team during the entire period of data collection. The extension officer served as both local contact and liaison between the research team and study participants.The protocol for conducting interviews with couples and other dyads entailed first an introduction by the research team (1 woman and 1 man who took turns interviewing and taking notes) and second obtaining the informed consent of both study participants. All the interviews were audio recorded. The target couples and dyads for the study were those who lived together and who participated in cassava value chain activities, and therefore, made cassava production, processing, and/or trading decisions along with key expenditure-related decisions together or separately within their households. The couples and other dyads who comprised the qualitative study sample included:1. Married/cohabiting couples (often, men as heads of households but not always, and including monogamous and polygynous couples) 2. Women as heads of households, not married but living with their adult female or male child(ren)/dependents (> 18 years or older)In polygynous households, the research team did not ask to speak with multiple wives and their husband, but rather, they were asked to organize themselves according to how they wish to present themselves. In most cases, the husband decided who among his wives would participate in the interview.Concerning the latter dyad type, very few dyads who met this profile were identified during the study. In many cases, a woman heading her household and not married was living with a child or children under the age of 18, which were unable to be interviewed given the human subjects requirements, and importantly were likely not responsible for making significant decisions in the household.Step 5: Analysis of the qualitative dyadic interviews and vignette developmentOnce the qualitative dyadic interviews were completed, the recordings of the interviews were transcribed and translated into English and then were added into the ATLAS.ti software for analysis.Prior to the analysis, a coding structure (Figure 2), which included inductive and deductive codes, was developed by conducting a preliminary analysis of select transcripts. The coding structure is based on a process framework for decision making and potential inputs into that process. The analysis resulted in 80 individual decision-making patterns, two each from the 40 interviewed couples and other dyads. That is, for each interview, two different patterns in terms of visualizations (see Figure 3 as an example) were developed to represent agriculture-and expenditure-related decisions, respectively. Thereafter, research team members (2 women, 2 men) came together for an analysis workshop to analyze the different patterns/visualizations. During the workshop, the visualizations were printed and similar decision-making patterns were grouped together. This process resulted in the identification of seven main decision-making patterns, which informed the development of seven vignettes 7 (see in Annex 3) on how agriculture-and expenditure-related decisions are made amongst married/cohabiting couples, each stemming from a decision-making pattern. The short stories for each of the decision-making patterns were developed using the content contained in the visualizations of the individual patterns within the seven decision-making pattern groupings. Thereafter, the patterns were ready for validation in the study regions.7 A vignette is a short story lasting one to two minutes that is verbally presented during a qualitative or quantitative interview to illustrate a difficult concept or process and enable interviewees to respond in a more precise and comfortable manner, especially when the topic under study is relatively sensitive (e.g., decision making within the household). Thus, a vignette serves as both a stimulus and aid to encourage respondents to discuss their thoughts more openly.Additionally, it is worth noting that although there were a few other types of dyads (motherson/mother-daughter dyads) apart from couples, for this study we did not focus on their decisionmaking patterns, because they comprised only a small portion of the sample. Thus, the patterns reflect those of married/cohabiting couples only.Step 6: Validation of the vignettes (decision-making patterns)Once the vignettes were developed, we validated them in the two study regions using drama skits and Focus Group Discussion (FGDs). Doing so allowed us to consult people within a select number of communities on whether the vignettes represent real-life scenarios of couples making agricultureand expenditure-related decisions. First, scripts for the drama skits were developed by a local script writer and reviewed by the research team (see Annex 4). Then, a drama group was identified, and the scripts were provided to the group for rehearsing.The drama skits were performed in the study districts where qualitative data collection was conducted. The skits were followed by FGDs. This took place in two study areas (where qualitative data were collected) and one in a non-study area. In total, nine FGDs were conducted, each comprising six participants. In each of the three districts, there was one mixed-sex FGD, and two separate-sex FGDs (1 women only, 1 men only). The participants of the FGDs comprised representatives of married/cohabiting women and men, including those in monogamous and polygynous relationships. In each case the drama group acted out the different drama skits while FGD participants watched. During the FGDs, a guide was used to facilitate the discussion and the research team took notes using a prepared data collection sheet.Photo 1: Validating the vignettes using drama and focus group discussions in Kagera and Kigoma regions, Tanzania. Photo credit: Gloriana Ndibalema.In addition to FGDs, a brief key informant interview, with a researcher based in the region at the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute who is considered an expert on the topic of intra-household decision making, was conducted to receive feedback on the vignettes. The printed and laminated vignette description cards were presented to the key informant who read and provided their comments based on guiding questions.The validation process indicated that all the seven vignettes represented the decision-making scenarios in the study area, although certain patterns were found to be more/less dominant across the study communities.After the validation process, the seven vignettes were ready to be embedded into the household survey.Step 7: Quantitative survey module developmentIn this step we developed a module that was designed to be embedded in a multi-topic household survey. The decision-making module was, to a great extent, informed by findings from the qualitative study.Two main decision-making modules were developed. The first module was on who makes decisions within the household, how and why. Following a discussion (and analysis) it was determined that eight questions on decision-making topics related to production, processing, marketing, and expenditure would be asked. These topics were selected based on decisions perceived by couples and other dyads to be important during the qualitative study and allowed us to focus on matters that are important and have meaning to individuals/couples. The vignettes on the decision-making patterns were included in this first decision-making module. Questions were developed around the vignettes. Illustrations for each decision-making pattern were developed and printed on cards to help with understanding the vignettes during implementation of this module.The research team also had to decide which potential response options to include to address the \"why\" questions in this module. The responses on why decisions are made by one individual or jointly were grouped based on their similarities. The groupings for why decisions get made by one spouse or the other included:1. Contributes the most resources, income, or labor to the activity 2. Is the head of household 3. Introduced the idea 4. Makes decisions about this and I make decisions about other things 5. Is the most knowledgeable about this activityThe groupings for why decisions get made jointly included:1. Both agree on/support the decision 2. Both contribute resources, income, or labor to the activity 3. All decisions on the topic are made togetherThe research team also had to decide which questions to include in this first decision-making module on cognitive labor. These included questions on monitoring and evaluation of the outcome(s) from household's decisions about different agriculture-and expenditure-related topics. Other aspects of cognitive labor like anticipation of the need to do something and identifying options or making sole or joint decisions were embedded in the vignettes that were part of the module.The second decision-making module was developed to collect data on participation in specific activities related to the decision-making questions asked in the other module.In addition to the two decision-making modules we developed, several other modules were developed or pulled from existing resources. Modules on background characteristics covered household characteristics, asset ownership, group participation, and access to extension services and finance. We also included modules on the key outcomes that we expected to be associated with different decision-making patterns. These included dietary diversity, food security, and cassava production and productivity and sales.See Annex 5 for the quantitative tool.Step 8: Piloting of the quantitative survey with the decision-making modulePrior to the commencement of quantitative data collection, an enumerator training was organized.The training comprised different activities including review and digitization of the quantitative tool.The enumerators also practiced administering the survey in preparation for the pretest, which was conducted after the training. After receiving data from the pretest, the tool was refined, and a few modifications were made to it as necessary.Photo 2: Survey practice during training in Kagera Region, Tanzania. Photo credit: Devis Mwakanyamale.After the revision of the quantitative household survey, including the decision-making module, it was administered in a large household survey. It was administered to a total of 1352 randomly selected households (or couples). In half of the sample (joint interview sample), spouses were interviewed together for all the modules except for the one on dietary diversity. For this module, only the wife was interviewed. In the other half of the sample (separate interview sample), spouses were interviewed together from the beginning of the survey, but then were interviewed separately for the two decision-making modules. Again, only the wife was interviewed for the module on minimum dietary diversity. The decision to conduct the interviews using these two approaches aimed at assisting the research team to examine the issue of heterogeneity in the interpretation of who makes decision within the household as identified in the literature review. For example, studies show the need for new research tools that can reduce differences in reporting of decision making between spouses by improving how decision-making questions are formulated and asked (Ambler et al., 2017).Annex: Mixed-methods research tool for measuring and understanding intra-household decision making The purpose of stakeholder consultation is to inform the design of the tool and to gauge the interests of local stakeholders in utilizing the proposed tool once developed to better understand and measure intra-household decision making for their research or development programs.1. Looking at your target communities/project participants, what are the main agricultural crops that they grow? (Establish a cassava or other crop focus based on information provided) 2. We would now like to focus on how husbands and wives take decisions on agricultural matters in your target communities: Are these kinds of decisions part of the work at your organization? Why have you decided to make household decision-making part of your work? What is problematic about household-decision making in your eyes? 3. Are you aware of any successful strategies to transform household decision-making towards more equity? In the stakeholder's own organization? Observed in other organizations' work? 4. What are the challenges you have encountered in your work on household decision-making?How could these be coped with? 5. What is your demand in terms of tools for understanding, measuring, and transforming household decision-making? 6. Do you conduct surveys to understand agricultural and social development challenges that your organization can address? How? What are your experiences? 7. Do you consult the literature for the design of an intervention? How? How useful is that? 8. Do you use behavior change communication in your work? How? Why? Examples 9. What should we consider when developing the vignettes? Is it a good strategy to validate the vignettes through drama skits? Would you be interested in learning about the process? What would make the vignettes/skits suitable to your needs? 10. What should we consider when developing the survey tool? What would make it suitable to your needs? 11. Would you like to be kept informed about our work including outputs? The purpose of this section is to understand broadly what nodes of the value chain the household participates in and to what extent to understand better whether the household produces cassava primarily as a food or cash crop (or both), processes cassava only for food or for sale (or both), trades cassava in small or larger quantities or not at all. In addition, we are interested in understanding if the household diet is cassava based or cassava is consumed together with other staples or not at all (e.g., only grown as a cash crop). In this section, we are not interested in learning about all the production-, processing-, or trading-related tasks the household (or its members) engage in, and who does which tasks, but rather trying to understand which nodes the household participates in and the purpose of engaging in each node for food or cash (or both) reasons.1.a. Ask the dyad, \"Does your household [produce/cultivate OR process OR trade] cassava?\" Document whether the household produces and/or processes and/or trades cassava. Part A. Intra-household decision making (who and why)1. Determining who within the household carries out cassava value chain activities, who makes the decisions on cassava value chain related matters and whyIn this section, we will draw on the responses above in the section entitled, 'Participation in cassava value chain activities and to what extent'. We will use their responses in this section to determine the setup of the participatory exercise with the dyad.Based on your responses above on the types of activities your household participates in and the extent of this participation, we would like to take you through an exercise to help us better understand who within the household carries out specific cassava production, processing, and trading/marketing tasks, and who makes the decisions on these matters and why. We will follow several steps to help you both respond to the questions we ask during the exercise. Please work together to respond to these questions. Please feel free to discuss while answering the questions, there are no right or wrong answers.Steps in the exercise to follow by asking specific questions or guiding the dyad through the process. Note: Document the five tasks they chose.*See draft cards in Annex A. ^Note, the dyad could identify all tasks as being 'higher' or all tasks as being 'lower' level of importance. This would influence how the process flows from then on. †Note, in some cases there will be < 5 tasks, and thus proceed with asking the three questions (in 4.b) for all tasks. In other cases, the dyad only engages in activities in the production node and then proceed to 4.b for those five tasks that are most important. But in other cases, there will be very few tasks regarded as higher-level of importance and then proceed to 4.b for those tasks. Finally, if the dyad engages in all nodes of the value chain and in many/all tasks, ask them to choose 3, 1, and 1 tasks in the production, processing, and trading nodes, respectively OR if the dyad engages in two nodes (e.g., production and processing/trading), then ask them to choose 4 and 1 tasks in the production and processing/trading nodes, respectively.2. Expenditure-related roles, responsibilities, and decision making within the household 1. Who is responsible for holding the income after you sell your cassava products?Who makes the final decision on how the income is used from your cassava sales?Why is this person in charge of making this decision or why does this decision get made jointly together?Who makes the final decision on which foods to purchase?Why is this person in charge of making this decision or why does this decision get made jointly together? 3. Who is primarily responsible for distributing food amongst different household members? Who makes the final decision on how much food is distributed to different household members? Why is this person in charge of making this decision or why does this decision get made jointly together? 4. Who is primarily responsible for purchasing the farming inputs needed to produce cassava (e.g., fertilizer or tools and equipment)?Who makes the final decision on whether to purchase farming inputs to produce cassava?Why is this person in charge of making this decision or why does this decision get made jointly together? 5. Who is primarily responsible for purchasing household items of larger value (e.g., mattress, sofa, bicycle or motorcycle, television, etc.) Who makes the final decision on what larger household items get purchased?Why is this person in charge of making this decision or why does this decision get made jointly together? 6. Who is primarily responsible for accessing financial loans and services? Determine if formal or informal loans are typically obtained (e.g., from a bank versus VICOBA) Who makes the final decision on whether to access financial loans and services?Why is this person in charge of making this decision or why does this decision get made jointly together? Part B. Intra-household decision making (the process and the use of cognitive labor) 1. The process dyads use to make important decisions on cassava production and postharvest related matters and the cognitive labor they use 8Based Were there any concerns or issues that arouse during this interview concerning the topics we brought up and their relevance? Where there any specific issues that made you uncomfortable or that could help us improve the questionnaire? 5. Do you think it is preferable to make decisions together or alone? Which types of decisions and why? 6. How do you feel now that you had these discussions? - ------------------------------------------------------------Thank the dyad for participating in the interview. Ask each person how they are feeling after participating in the interview. Remind each person that if they wish to contact anyone on the research team, that the contact information is available in the informed consent form that was provided to them.Production-related task cards and associated decision-making questions Draw on the above responses in the guide on household participation in cassava value chain activities to specify food versus cash crop OR both. *Products could include fresh roots, cassava flour or dried cassava chips. To be determined when asking about this task.Vignette A: Husband shares idea, discusses with wife, and husband makes the final decisionThe husband realizes something needs to happen or a decision needs to be made regarding [X]. The husband shares his idea with his wife, and they discuss jointly about the idea. After discussing, the wife confirms she is supportive of the idea and/or suggests an alternative option that the husband considers before he makes the final decision.The wife realizes something needs to happen or a decision needs to be made. The wife shares her idea with her husband, and they discuss jointly about the idea. After discussing, the husband confirms he is supportive of the idea and/or alternative options from either the husband or wife are considered before the husband makes the final decision.Vignette C: Husband shares idea, discusses with wife, and they make a joint final decisionThe husband realizes something needs to happen or a decision needs to be made. The husband shares his idea with his wife, and they discuss jointly about the idea. After discussing, the wife confirms she is supportive of the idea and/or suggests an alternative option that the husband considers before the husband and wife make a joint final decision.The wife realizes something needs to happen or a decision needs to be made.The wife shares her idea with her husband, and they discuss jointly about the idea. After discussing, the husband confirms he is supportive of the idea and/or suggests an alternative option that the wife considers before the wife and husband make a joint final decision.The wife realizes something needs to happen or a decision needs to be made.The wife shares her idea with her husband, and they discuss jointly about the idea. After discussing, the husband confirms he is supportive of the idea and/or the wife considers an alternative option from her husband before she makes the final decision.The husband realizes something needs to happen or a decision needs to be made. After sharing his idea with his wife, he makes the final decision. Mr. NYAMWALA: Alright! Now, as soon as the rains begins, we will start farming. We will use the two acres of land that are close to our maize field. I will follow up with our extension officer about where to get clean seeds of improved cassava varieties. So, get prepared for the work, okay? Mrs. It's okay my husband (Mr. NYAMWALA and his wife, agree to start cassava cultivation from next spring to address the effects of climate change).After the harvest season, one day Mrs. Tumbo meets Mrs. Nyamwala at the well and asks her how it is they do not complain about hunger in the village when the situation is bad for most people.Mrs. TUMBO: My husband, I have something that troubles me. In my home the situation is dire, and hunger has gripped every corner. But why doesn't your family complain, and you never go to ask for free corn from the local government? Mrs. NYAMWALA: My husband and I decided to focus on cassava farming and now things are not so bad. We get enough food and a little surplus that we sell other people to earn additional income. Mrs. TUMBO: Wow! I didn't know that secret. So, when I get home, the first thing I do is share it with my husband. (They said goodbye to one another and returned home while Mrs. TUMBO intending to share with her husband about expanding cassava cultivation) Mrs. TUMBO: My husband! Where are you? Mr. TUMBO: I'm in the kitchen madam! Why are you calling out so loud? Mrs. TUMBO: My husband, there is something I want to share with you. Mr. TUMBO: What is that thing that drives you crazy this evening? Mrs. TUMBO: You know what, our friends Mr. and Mrs. Nyamwala are not hungry this year. Mr. TUMBO: Let me come closer! Mrs. TUMBO: I asked his wife, she said they worked hard on cassava, and they now have sufficient food. In fact, my husband, I wish we could also expand our cassava farm this coming season. Mr. TUMBO: My wife, you told me something very important today. This idea was brought by Mr. Samanga but I ignored it. I didn't know Mr. Nyamwala took it seriously. Mrs. TUMBO: Yes, my husband. They decided to act on the idea and have reaped the benefits of their decision. Why can't we also expand cassava production? We haven't used that other farm for the past three years. Its soil is suitable for cassava production. Mr. TUMBO: (After pondering for a while) I see! It's true my wife. There is a need for us to increase the size of cassava farm and use improved seed. That way, we will harvest more and curb the problem of food shortage. Mrs. TUMBO: Sure! Mr. TUMBO: So, I have decided that this coming season, we will expand our cassava field.It has been five years since the people of Kazamoyo became involved in cassava farming. Cassava production benefits them greatly and some villagers decide to get involved in livestock keeping. On the way to the farm, Mrs. MASAPA shares something with her husband.Mrs. MASAPA: My husband! Mr. MASAPA: Yes, my wife, what do you want to say? Mrs. MASAPA: You know we have been farming all these years and made a lot of money. I was thinking we should start raising goats now. How do you feel about that, my dear? Mr. MASAPA: I am sure you are aware that I don't like to get involved with the livestock. Your idea is good, but if you want to start that project be certain that you will be responsible of taking care of the goats, not me! Mrs. MASAPA: Don't worry, I will take charge of the project dear. But if I may ask, are you afraid of animals or it is just a disgust? Mr. MASAPA: Oh my gosh! Everyone has their own preferences. You go do some research and consult a vet officer then you will let me know how much it costs. I will support you with the start-up cost, including the cost of the shed. Mrs. MASAPA: I have done some research on the costs and other requirements related to goat farming already. Mr. MASAPA: Oooh, you had gone that far already Mrs. MASAPA: Yes, my husband. I went to Mrs. Othman and found out they have many goats and shared with me the costs of how to start goat farming. Here is the breakdown. Mr. MASAPA: Mh! So, you are this serious! Okay, tell me, what is your though now? Mrs. MASAPA: I have decided we will raise the goats. The cost is not high as you have seen. So, I will manage them well and you will see the results. (Mrs. Masapa concludes the discussion by deciding to manage the entire project and her husband trusted her and supported her financially and with ideas).Mr. Kipwipwi and his family have been engaged in cassava cultivation for a long time even before cassava experts arrived in Kazamoyo village. Currently, he is not satisfied with the production of the crop despite the field being large.Mr. KIPWIPWI: (Leaning down, thinking deeply) All this big field I harvest only a handful, why should we waste our energy on this big farm? I think something must change. (Mr. Kipwipwi shares his thoughts with his wife) Mr. Kipwipwi: My wife Mrs. KIPWIPWI: Yes, my husband. Mr. KIPWIPWI: Our cassava harvest is not proportional to the size of the farm. I have made up my mind that next season we will grow cassava on two acres only instead of the five Mrs. KIPWIPWI: Okay Mr. KIPWIPWI: So, we will use the remaining 3 acres for other crops like beans and maize Mrs. KIPWIPWI: Okay (Mr. Kipwipwi decides to reduce the size of cassava farm).  Now we will read some stories about how couples make a decision on this topic.We will also show you pictures that illustrate how couples make a decision on this topic.After hearing these stories and looking at the pictures, we will ask you which couple is the most similar in how you make decisions.Among the couples that you resemble, which is the MOST similar to your couple?What is the MOST important reason why [YOU/YOUR HUSBAND/YOUR WIFE] generally make the final decisions about [X]?What is the MOST important reason why you and your husband/wife make the final decisions about [X] jointly together?HUSBAND The husband realizes something needs to happen or a decision needs to be made regarding [X] decision topic. The husband shares his idea with his wife and they discuss jointly about the idea. After discussing, the wife confirms she is supportive of the idea and/or suggests an alternative option that the husband considers before he makes the final decision.The wife realizes something needs to happen or a decision needs to be made regarding [X] decision topic. The wife shares her idea with her husband and they discuss jointly about the idea. After discussing, the husband confirms he is supportive of the idea and/or 59 alternative options from either the husband or wife are considered before the husband makes the final decision.The husband realizes something needs to happen or a decision needs to be made regarding [X] decision topic. The husband shares his idea with his wife and they discuss jointly about the idea. After discussing, the wife confirms she is supportive of the idea and/or suggests an alternative option that the husband considers before the husband and wife make a joint final decision.Wife shares idea, discusses with husband, and they make a joint final decisionThe wife realizes something needs to happen or a decision needs to be made regarding [X] decision topic. The wife shares her idea with her husband and they discuss jointly about the idea. After discussing, the husband confirms he is supportive of the idea and/or suggests an alternative option that the wife considers before the wife and husband make a joint final decision.The wife realizes something needs to happen or a decision needs to be made regarding [X] decision topic. The wife shares her idea with her husband and they discuss jointly about the idea. After discussing, the husband confirms he is supportive of the idea and/or the wife considers an alternative option from her husband before she makes the final decision.The husband realizes something needs to happen or a decision needs to be made regarding [X] decision topic. The husband shares his idea with his wife and they discuss jointly about the idea. After discussing, the wife confirms she is supportive of the idea and/or suggests an alternative option that the husband considers before the wife makes the final decision.The husband realizes something needs to happen or a decision needs to be made regarding [X] decision topic. After sharing his idea with his wife, he makes the final decision.Production -(1) which variety to plant in your main cassava plot; (2) Which area of land should be devoted to the main cassava production; (3) when to harvest cassava from your main plot Processing -(4) how to process the cassava from your main plot Trading - (5) where to sell cassava from your main plot or how much cassava to sell from your main plot Expenditure -(6) building/refurbishing a house; (7) paying school fees I am interested in whether you had the food items I will mention even if they were combined with other foods. For example, if you had a soup made with carrots, potatoes and meat, you should reply \"yes\" for each of these ingredients when I read you the list. However, if you consumed only the broth of a soup, but not the meat or vegetable, do not say \"yes\" for the meat or vegetable.As I ask you about foods and drinks, please think of foods and drinks you had as snacks or small meals as well as during any main meals. Please also remember foods you may have eaten while preparing meals or preparing food for others. Please do not include any food used in a small amount for seasoning or condiments (like chilies, spices, herbs or fish powder). "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1632346645.json b/main/part_2/1632346645.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0969b5019bf2df79685bd94d4148772d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5c8e0ac5-e8ff-474d-9db7-794ec4d396bb/retrieve","id":"-123336687"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d5600b79-2654-43a3-a1de-1208041afdb6","content":"Fund%Council% ! 12 th %Meeting%(FC12)-Brussels,%Belgium% November%4>5,%2014% % ! ! !The ISPC provided a commentary on the 27 th of June 2014 on the extension proposal for CRP 1.3 Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) for 2015-2016. The ISPC noted in that commentary that \"the CRP responds to the reform vision of the CGIAR [in attempting to] deliver direct impacts for the poor\"; and the CRP was \"an example of research in development\". The ISPC commentary also sensed that, at least from the text presented, the CRP had shifted its emphasis from a systems program working principally to improve livelihoods and resource conditions for those poor dependent upon aquatic and agricultural resources towards an experiment in development process. The ISPC felt that this represented an excessive shift away from bio-technical innovation research. The ISPC critique therefore focussed on three major concerns: 1) much more attention is needed on the issue of how the CRP adds value to research particularly the pipeline of biophysical technologies being developed in the commodities CRPs; 2) there should be plans for collecting panel data and counter factual designs implemented with some urgency so that the program might be able to determine its impacts (and to some extent the experimental proof of concept for the program itself); 3) that expansion to further hubs (geographical foci) should remain on hold until such time as a more credible case can be made that the investments in the existing sites have delivered results.The AAS CRP has responded (22 nd of August 2014) with a revised version of the extension proposal, which contains substantial additional material and to more thoroughly explain its perspectives both through the proposal as well as a management response addressed to the ISPC (and a separate response to the Consortium Office).Overall, the AAS revised proposal offers a significant improvement over the initial submission. There is much more detail in a number of dimensions, and the proposal overall appears responsive to the previous ISPC commentary. As was true of our previous comments, we acknowledge the ambition of the research program that AAS has undertaken. The CRP has shown a willingness to take a calculated risk by departing from the conventional approaches to research and by placing a major bet on development-oriented research. The new proposal makes it explicit that one of the major research questions for this CRP is about the effectiveness of their alternate model of research engagement. The theories of change that they are proposing are quite clear, the measures and IDOs and the target locations for research are described.The supporting documentation for the extension proposal, represented in the annexes, adds detail on AAS beneficiaries IDO targets and indicators; valuation designs for AAS; thematic research questions being pursued across program hubs; the engagement of CGIAR Centers in AAS and linkages with other CRPs and more specifics on the collaboration between AAS and L&F, A4NH and WLE. Some items that were previously discussed only in the annexes have been moved to the body of the document. The gender section is now particularly strong, and it shows a multi-faceted commitment to a gender strategy that extends from human resources issues all the way to gender norms and roles, and differential impacts on women as farmers.However, for the reasons given below, the ISPC continues to consider the AAS CRP as an experiment in development. Rather than assuming that the program approach will automatically be successful and scalable, the ISPC considers that progress towards the proposed development outcomes will be difficult to measure by the means described or allow gains to be attributed easily to the approach of the program. The development experiment needs to be tested in a proof of concept approach. From the CGIAR portfolio standpoint, the approach and the rationale espoused by AAS is to some extent divorced from addressing aquatic agricultural systems and livelihoods per se and could have been combined (possibly with other providers) in other agro-ecological systems. From this perspective, the costs of a proof of concept testing of the approach appear to be high and increasing. It was also difficult for the ISPC to assess the quality of other aspects of aquatic resources and systems science from the revised proposal and the ISPC notes that the program evaluation of AAS is currently in progress. The ISPC thus recommends that the FC approves support for the AAS CRP for the extension period. This should allow for further testing of the CRP's approach and metrics within its current five hubs only. The report of the independent evaluation of AAS should be used to help determine the nature of the future call for a research approach to aquatic agricultural systems and its geographic scope.The ISPC's remaining comments focus on where the proposal still apparently leaves questions.Section 2 of the new proposal does describe more of the aims of science to be conducted at the geographical foci/hubs (pp 5-7) and section 6 provides an outline workplan for 2015 and 2016 in terms of major outputs. One can work back from the outputs to infer what sort of research might be involved but many of the outputs are reports and assessments which look more as though they are setting the scene for intervention, and this document is almost silent about the specifics of the technology packages that will be introduced and the technologies that might be developed as part of the CRP. Particularly revealing in this regard is the detailed Annex 6, which spells out the nature of collaborative arrangements between AAS and other CRPs. In this Annex, the entirety of the AAS involvement appears to be in social science, gender analysis, and perhaps nutrition analysis. The presentation therefore is not ultimately of a CRP that intends to engage very heavily in natural science; instead, it aims to be a broker between farm communities and researchers.This may be a reasonable strategy, but it is also curious as AAS is based in a lead Center that has extensive aquatic resource experience in several of the hubs. It appears to be a maintained assumption that research has already delivered the requisite technologies to achieve impact. Indeed, given the time lags of new research, this CRPwhich has defined its goals in terms of development impacts -is effectively making an assumption that the needed technologies are already available and ready for use. This seems like a strong assumption, not well supported by examples or evidence.The proposal is silent also as to the nature of the engagements with communities. Perhaps they already have enough experience in diagnostics, community organizing, and promoting collective action that there are well-defined approaches that they will follow. But there is not much discussion of the ways in which these methods will be researched or refined; even on these issues, the research agenda seems to be subordinated to an implementation agenda.A second point of concern is the rather vague treatment of impact assessment and counterfactuals. Since the CRP is to focus primarily on delivering development outcomes, and since the principal measures of its success will be changes in measurable IDOs, it is reasonable to ask how the impact of the CRP will be distinguished from the background changes taking place in the areas where AAS is active. We applaud the mention of monitoring change in some comparable sites, but there is no real discussion of how this will be used to think about counterfactuals. For instance, many of the targeted measures of success should probably be redefined in terms of incremental effects relative to some counterfactual group.For example, rather than counting the number of people experiencing income growth of over x%, it would seem important to compare this outcome with what is achieved in sites where AAS is not active. We suggest that these measures be altered to reflect this kind of comparative achievement; e.g., number of people experiencing income growth relative to those experiencing the same income growth in comparable locations without project activity. In short, impacts need to be measured relative to some plausible counterfactual. In this case, that would be the non-project locations.Work is still required on aspects of measurement: Even before the program can address impacts, the more proximal outputs are still cast as \"opportunities identified.., regional consensus.., capacities improved..\" etc. Several useful foresight studies or assessments of aquatic agricultural technologies are also anticipated. There are thus a mixture of learning, tools, processes and capacities expected from the work in the extension period. However, there are still a number of remaining challenges in developing IDO change indicators (table 1.3), particularly related to future options and the feasibility of measuring a number of the \"enabling\" IDOs, such as capacity to adapt. For instance, the feasibility and reliability of measuring \"efficiency\" may also be one of the experiments being undertaken by this CRP. However, some agreement on acceptable measures is needed as the M&E proposed practises are listed in the anticipation that there would be a three yearly update to measure change and to evaluate program performance.Another key issue that the revised proposal still does not address is the sustainability and scalability of the effects that may be achieved in target locations. Because the CRP envisions intensive interventions in a small number of locations, it is reasonable to ask about the costs of the interventions in relation to the number of people benefiting. A quick glance at Table 2 makes the point clear. This table envisions achieving income benefits for 200,000 households by 2019. But at a budget that might run to USD200 million by that time, that does not seem like a large number of beneficiaries. Much will depend on the ability of the CRP to scale up the impacts that are achieved in the communities that are at the center of the AAS effort. This is acknowledged and discussed in the proposal, but we flag this as an important concern. It is not only an issue of money and resources, but of capacity more broadly. The teams from AAS cannot deliver this kind of intensive intervention at scale, so they will need to partner with (and perhaps to train) teams from governments and NGOs. There is little discussion in the proposal of how best this can be done.This observation is also relevant to the revised proposal's rationale for extending to new sites. The choice of Myanmar and lower Volta region of Ghana is attractive thinking of the importance of aquatic-resource-based livelihoods, but the proposal highlights, instead, the opportunity to bring in additional CRPs for work in these areas. The ISPC again asks if the program will have the staff-power to do detailed social mapping and building of an enabling context (a key part of the program's concept of scaling) in 7 parts of the globe simultaneously.Overall, the proposal has made an ambitious attempt to place development at the center of the research agenda. Indeed, one could almost see this not as a CGIAR Research Program but as a CGIAR Development Program. That is not a criticism, but a comment that AAS may need to be viewed and judged by slightly different criteria from other CRPs. This CRP is arguably an experiment in itself, and the outcome of the experiment may have much to teach the rest of the CGIAR. There are also some very specific and important questions being asked of aquatic agricultural livelihood systems on the way (Annex 3) which should be highlighted for answer in the shorter term and which will add value to the conduct of the CRP."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1641649220.json b/main/part_2/1641649220.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9f97d5ddc3f628ada95ec6a670157e33a0525fe0
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9e304f4da998ac627f49203430c91e51","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cad934a8-9c6f-4b6a-8727-1198963cfa73/retrieve","id":"824073750"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"34d17466-4d90-4755-a120-ad031cd5f185","content":"menos opciones para Ecuador Evolución del area sembrada con fríjol en Jalisco, México fuente: Lépiz 2002 0 1966 2001 fríjol associado con maíz siembra total de fríjol ,000 Ha menos opciones para México De las 76 especies descritas, 3 'faltantes' (?) : P. leptophyllus (1789) P. purpusii (1911) P. smilacifolius (1895) menos opciones para el fríjol La sexta extinción está progresando rápido si las cosas siguen igual como ahora: si actuamos, la pérdida puede reducirse a la mitad 20% de especies de plantas y animales desaparecen antes fuente: E.O. Wilson 50% de especies de plantas y animales desaparecen antes aumentar la productividad encontrar nuevas opciones encontrar resistencias rfg mejorar la calidadPor qué se ha recurrido a los rfg? Por qué se recurrirá?Qué nos enseña el caso del IR36 ?•Genes de interés vienen de variedades tanto modernas como tradicionales•Genes de interés vienen de varias areas geográficas sin poder predecir•Genes de interés vienen tanto de la especie en mejora que de otras•La fecha de desarrollo de las mismas no parece determinante•Genes de resistencia al GSMV vienen unicamente de Oryza nivara  "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1649527436.json b/main/part_2/1649527436.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2451d7b450711d610c93b5a0f75d106aa8b6ff71
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+++ b/main/part_2/1649527436.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bade91a816c13e3f87f6c95934681314","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/40df60a5-b01b-4e1f-9bf5-8ad48fe6f46d/retrieve","id":"-2007676400"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3b7be6b5-9026-4708-aa56-d1e405d020fd","content":"members of 10 community seedbanks from the southern region of Nepal came together at the Agyauli Community Seedbank in Nawalparasi to participate in a seed fair. A seed fair is an activity to create awareness about and appreciate local crop diversity, exchange seed and related knowledge, and celebrate farmers' efforts to conserve agrobiodiversity. It takes considerable time and effort to organize a seed fair. The Agyauli seed fair was divided in four parts graphically presented in this brief.Community seedbanks carefully select, label and display their crop varieties PART 1After the display of seeds has been organized, community seedbank members go around, interact with each other, identify and request seed of interest. Each community seedbank lists all the demands for seed on a form prepared by the organizers. This will allow the tracing of the seeds: by whom they will be used, how they will perform and if more seed will be produced."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1669816224.json b/main/part_2/1669816224.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..08d5de6b4f5eb29e4bef9cbbc411a234ea2ab80e
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a1b252e7b2eddd197d24f5291437b23a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b3e629de-d3b9-4d72-ab95-9bb87184163e/retrieve","id":"53476641"},"keywords":["allometry","biomass","bunch","Cavendish","forecasting","regression","Musa spp.","moisture stress","East African Highland Banana"],"sieverID":"dbcfbc17-366e-4ee1-8681-0c97b06d91fb","content":"The largest abiotic constraint threatening banana (Musa spp.) production is water stress, impacting biomass buildup and yields; however, so far no studies have investigated the effects of water stress on allometric equations in banana. Weighted least square regression models were built for (i) estimating aboveground vegetative dry biomass (ABGVD) and corm dry biomass (cormD) and (ii) forecasting bunch fresh weight (bunchF), based on non-destructive parameters for two cultivars, Mchare Huti-Green Bell (HG, AA) and Cavendish Grande Naine (GN, AAA), under two irrigation regimes: full irrigation (FI) and rainfed (RF). FI affected growth, yield, and phenological parameters in the field (p < 0.05) depending on the onset of moisture stress. Pseudostem volume (Vpseudo) proved a good predictor for estimating ABGVD (R²adj = 0.88-0.92; RRMSE = 0.14-0.19), but suboptimal for cormD (R²adj = 0.90-0.89, RRMSE = 0.21-0.26 for HG; R²adj = 0.34-0.57, RRMSE = 0.38-0.43 for GN). Differences between RF and FI models (p < 0.05) were small as 95%CI overlapped. Vpseudo at flowering predicted bunchF in FI plots correctly (R²adj = 0.70 for HG, R²adj = 0.43 for GN; RRMSE = 0.12-0.15 for HG and GN). Differences between FI and RF models were pronounced as 95%CI did not overlap (p < 0.05). Bunch allometry was affected by irrigation, proving bunchF forecasting needs to include information on moisture stress during bunch filling or information on bunch parameters. Our allometric relationships can be used for rapid and non-destructive aboveground vegetative biomass (ABGVD) assessment over time and to forecast bunch potentials based on Vpseudo at flowering.Banana (Musa spp.), the most important fruit worldwide [1], is a long cycle crop with a vegetative phase between 7-13 months depending on environmental conditions, such as water and nutrients [2]. For most of the plant's life, it develops without a bunch. Bunch biomass is linked to biomass buildup during the vegetative phase (aboveground: pseudostem, petioles and leaves, and belowground: corm) [3], as assimilates are translocated from within the banana mat to the bunch after bunch emergence [2,4,5]. Monitoring vegetative biomass enables the following of growth over time and, due to its link with yields, can provide an indicator of future yields.Monitoring biomass over time can be done by destructive whole-plant sampling, but it is more practical to quantify the biomass during the growth cycle or to forecast the yield from non-destructive observations using allometric relationships. Destructive sampling is very labor intensive, time consuming, and provides only one sampling point for one plant. To capture biomass over time, plants need to be sampled periodically, requiring lots of plants and space. Sampling plants before they are harvest ready also stands in the way of quantifying bunch weights.Allometric relationships specify how growth and size in plants or plant components is related to their allocated biomass [6,7]. Parameters can be vegetative characteristics (e.g., pseudostem girth at base) [3,5,[8][9][10][11], bunch components (e.g., number of hands, fingers, finger volume) [12,13] or phenological observations (e.g., days to flowering, days to harvest). Vegetative parameters that are well connected to biomass, and/or parameters that are connected to future yields and allow bunch weight 'forecasting', are of significant interest. Measuring such parameters in the field is much faster than destructive sampling, and leaves fields intact. Allometric equations are useful for periodic biomass monitoring in the field [9] which is needed to calibrate and further improve computer crop simulation models [5,14,15]. Crop models can be used (among others) to analyze management interventions under different environments, to mitigate and adapt crop production to climate change [12,16,17] and for economic analysis to manage financial decisions (e.g., manpower and cost of agricultural inputs as irrigation) [15]. As allometric relationships are the foundation of such models, correct relationships are of crucial importance.Allometric relationships were previously developed for a limited number of banana cultivars for both vegetative and bunch biomass estimation. Nyombi et al. [5] developed allometric relationships for both biomass and bunch weight estimation for two East African highland banana (EAHB) cultivars (Mbwazirume and Kisansa) with data from two locations under various nutrient regimes. Their models followed a power function using girth and height of pseudostem as predictors, whereby covariates included banana phenological stages (vegetative, flowering, and harvest). Plants were irrigated, but with unspecified amounts of water, and fresh bunch weights ranged from 20-40 kg plant −1 , indicating stressed conditions. Pooling data across cultivars and growth stages lead to a high R² (>0.7) but increased the variance in biomass estimations. Model performance increased when data were partitioned between growth stages, indicating that allometric relationships vary with the growth stage. Yamaguchi and Araki [10] estimated biomass components using linear regression models based on pseudostem volume (Vpseudo) for EAHB cultivars from farmers' fields. Models had good fits (R² = 0.93) but the plant sample was small (n = 14) and stress could not be excluded as plants were rainfed. Negash et al. [8] estimated biomass based on pseudostem diameter and height in Enset (Ensete ventricosum), another genus of the Musaceae. Models performed well for total biomass estimation (R² > 0.89), but plants came from rainfed farmers' fields without information on potential stresses.Allometric models for bunch weight estimation were previously created, but these include parameters that change until harvest so cannot be used in forecasting bunch weights. Soares et al. [12] estimated bunch weights using multiple linear regression and neural networks for an AAAB tetraploid hybrid. Models were accurate (R² > 0.71), but predictors included variables that can only be measured in a destructive manner at harvest (e.g., average fruit weight at harvest). Woomer et al. [13] estimated bunch weights for a rainfed EAHB cv. Mbwazirume based on estimated bunch volume through linear regression (R² = 0.85-0.94), but as bunch volume changes until harvest [2], yields were not forecasted and no information on potential stress was given. Wairegi et al. [9] quantified bunch weights of 39 triploid EAHB cultivars from 179 farms in Uganda, whereby multiple linear regression models used pseudostem girth at base and height at 1 m, number of hands, and number of fingers in the lower row of the second hand as predictors. Data partitioning along cultivars, developmental stages, and regions improved model accuracy but differences were not significantly different compared to the pooled dataset. Plants were rainfed and given the wide range of bunch weights in this study (2-60 kg plant −1 ) stress from multiple sources was presumed, but its effect on allometry was not analyzed.The major constraint in all previously developed allometric models is that fields were not growing under optimal conditions as they were stressed by inadequate amounts of water and/or nutrients. Water (excess and deficit) is the most limiting abiotic constraint to banana production [18]. Suboptimal rainfall may lead to significant reduction in vegetative parameters (e.g., pseudostem height, girth), bunch components (number of hands, number of fingers, individual finger weight, fruit filling) [19], and may delay phenological events as flowering or harvest [20,21]. Parameters underlying allometric models are often impacted by moisture, but the overall effect on the relationship between a parameter and allocated biomass due to soil moisture is not specified in earlier allometric models. Their general use and applicability can be questioned. Similar genotypes may lead to different biomass allocation patterns and phenotypes under different biotic and abiotic environments [22], and banana has shown dry matter allocation plasticity due to drought and soil nutrients [23] and plant density [24]. Furthermore, due to the large phenotypic and or genetic differences between banana cultivars, allometric models can differ between cultivars [5,9].So far, no research has compared allometric models between differently irrigated plants in the same field. As allometric models relate growth and size, which are affected by soil moisture, to accumulated biomass, we are interested to check whether allometric relationships remain similar under different soil moisture regimes.The objective of this research was three-fold: Firstly, to assess the effect of soil moisture on growth parameters, phenology and growth rates using two distinctly different cultivars: the EAHB cv. Mchare-Huti Green Bell (AA), a diploid, and the Cavendish-Grande Naine (AAA), a triploid of immense commercial appeal.Secondly, to use easily observable plant growth parameters to establish allometric relationships in both cultivars for (i) vegetative biomass estimation (aboveground: pseudostem, petioles, and leaves and belowground: corm) to allow monitoring vegetative biomass production over time, and (ii) bunch weight forecasting to allow quantifying bunch weights before harvest.Thirdly, to compare these allometric relationships across water regimes for both cultivars to assess whether banana plasticity under drought results in significant different relationships. As drought readily affects vegetative parameters, yield, and phenology [2,18,22], we hypothesize drought to significantly influence allometric relationships of both vegetative biomass estimation and bunch weight forecasting.Experiments were established in fields of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) in Arusha, Tanzania (3°23′58″ S, 36°47′48″ E) at an altitude of 1188 m asl as described in detail in Stevens et al. [25]. Soils are Endocalcic Phaeozems (Geoabruptic, Clayic, Humic) [26], moderately shallow to deep (90-120 cm) with a silty clay loam to silty clay texture. The climate is a tropical highland climate with a moderately cool thermal zone. Rainfall follows a bimodal yearly pattern with a long rainy season extending from late March to early June and a shorter rainy season from October to December, although rainfall is variable from year to year [25,27].Total precipitation received during the experiment was about 903 mm year −1 for HG, and 913 mm year −1 for GN, lower than those for optimal banana production (1100-2650 mm year −1 ) and not evenly spread (dry spells of more than two months) (Figure 1a) implying the need for irrigation [19,28,29]. Two experiments were carried out differing in cultivar and date of planting over the course of two full crop cycles (until harvest of C2). Planting material was provided by IITA, Arusha, Tanzania and Crop Bioscience Solutions Ltd, Arusha, Tanzania. In experiment 1, the EAHB Huti Green Bell (HG, Musa AA Mchare subgroup) was planted on 3 May 2017. In experiment 2, Grande Naine (GN, Musa AAA Cavendish subgroup) was planted on 17 November 2017. The diploid HG is characterized by a slender tall pseudostem, with erect foliage and a bunch that bears fruits with marked ridges [30]. The triploid GN is characterized by a short, thick pseudostem, with semi-drooping foliage and producing almost round fingers [31]. Both cultivars are of significantly different phenotypical constitution. Planting material for both experiments consisted of in vitro plants, hardened in growth chambers and screen houses. Plant spacing was 2 m (row) × 3 m (line) leading to 1666 plants ha −1 .The design was a blocked design with drip irrigation as treatment but given the infrastructure the irrigation treatments could not be randomized (Figure S1). In experiment 1, two blocks were planted with HG. Each block contained five rows of 15 mats, subdivided in three plots of 25 mats (5 × 5), of which the central nine mats (3 × 3) were used for continuous data collection. Each block consisted of a different irrigation treatment. For HG, there were three plots for each treatment. Border mats were used for periodic destructive sampling. In experiment 2, four blocks were planted with GN. Each block contained five rows of 14 mats, subdivided in two plots of 35 mats (7 × 5), receiving two different irrigation treatments. The central nine mats (3 × 3) in each plot were used for continuous growth data collection, leading to four replications (plots) per treatment. The first and last two mats of each row (2 × 5 mats) together with the border rows were used for periodic destructive sampling. Each treatment was replicated four times across the blocks.All mats received irrigation for the first four months post-transplant (establishment period, four MAP). Thereafter, two irrigation treatments were applied: optimal 'full' irrigation (FI) and rainfed (RF), based on volumetric water contents in the root zone (as determined by Time Domain Reflectometry) (Figure 1b). In the FI treatment, mats received water whenever more than 25% of total available water in the root zone was depleted. No supplemental irrigation was provided in RF treatments after the initial four month establishment period, leading to divergence of soil moisture between RF and FI in HG and GN closely following the dry seasons (Figure 1a,b). In HG, soil moisture first became significantly different at 23 weeks after planting (WAP) (October 2017) until 45 WAP (March 2018) during the vegetative stage of C1, followed by a rainy season after which they diverged again from 55 WAP (May 2018). In GN, RF plots became significantly more depleted from 27 WAP onwards (May 2018), close to the onset of flower emergence of C1 [25], therefore in GN most of the vegetative growth of C1 occurred under similar soil moisture in RF and FI plots.Irrigation and precipitation combined, FI plots received approx. 3100 mm (HG) and 4003 mm (GN) over the entire growing season (until harvest of C2), compared to RF plots which received 1916 mm (HG) and 2549 mm (GN). FI plots received approx. 1522 mm year −1 (HG) and 2000 mm year −1 (GN). RF plots received approx. 935 mm year −1 (HG) and 1297 mm year −1 (GN). For a more detailed explanation on the onset of moisture stress and its effect on leaf formation and canopy cover in these fields, the reader is referred to Stevens et al. [25].Mats received an optimal mixture of mineral fertilizers and manure, to exclude nutrient stresses [32]. Mineral fertilizers were split applied: 153 kg N ha −1 year −1 (urea), 206 kg K ha −1 year −1 (Muriate of potash), 19.26 kg Mg ha −1 year −1 , and 25.6 kg S ha −1 year −1 (MgSO4) were applied monthly in the rainy season and every two months in the dry season, while 40.2 kg P ha −1 year −1 (triple super phosphate) was applied every five months. Twenty L of fresh farmyard cow manure was applied per mat twice yearly before the start of the rainy season.All suckers were allowed to grow until four MAP after which suckers were selected for C2 (Figure S2). Afterwards, suckers were pruned on a monthly basis until bunch filling of C1, when a sucker for C3 was chosen. Maximally, three generations were allowed to grow at any time. Weeds and dead leaves were cut monthly and removed from the field. No pests were present in the field.No disease control was applied, except for Black Sigatoka (Pseudocercospora fijiensis) in the wet season, when moderately infected leaves were pruned to avoid further spread of this fungus [25].Growth data included periodic non-destructive growth data and destructive data (Table 1). Non-destructive growth data were measured monthly at the plot level (3 × 3 mats), on all individual plant cycles (cycle 1, C1; cycle 2, C2 and cycle 3, C3) present on the mat until harvest of C2 (Table 1). The main plant is the oldest plant on a mat, whereby ratoon plants (sucker) are new selected shoots springing from the base of the plant. To address multicollinearity, measured parameters were recombined into new parameters as pseudostem volume (Vpseudo), leaf area index (LAI), Vfinger, and Ratiofinger (Table 1).Leaf areas were estimated by measuring leaf length, leaf width, and using an experimentally determined leaf area factor (laf) as explained by Stevens et al. [30]. LAI was determined by summing the area of all the leaves on a banana plant and dividing it by the ground area for each mat.Phenological events as days to flowering (DTF) and days to harvest (DTH) were noted for each plant on a mat. As C3 has not fully flowered and harvested, phenological events were only presented for C1 and C2 (Table 2). For C1, the DTF and DTH were determined from planting. For C2, the DTF and DTH were determined from the moment of sucker selection until flowering and harvest. Flower cycle duration (FCD) notes the duration in days between flower emergence of C1 and C2 (successive cycles) on the same mat, and harvest cycle duration (HCD) notes the duration in days between successive harvest of C1 and C2 on the same mat.The pseudostem volume at flower emergence (Vpseudo, Flower) and the LAI at flower emergence (LAIFlower) were interpolated for flowering dates through local non-parametric regression (loess) on the Vpseudo and LAI data collected over the growing season (Figure S3). Similarly, the Vpseudo and LAI of the follower (S for sucker) of the flowering main plant was determined (Vpseudo, FlowerS and LAIFlower,S).Biomass component weights (pseudostem, leaf, petiole, bunch, and corm) were measured destructively during 'harvest' and 'periodic destructive sampling'.At 'harvest', harvest-ready plants of C1 and C2 showing ripe bunches were cut down at the base of the pseudostem, but succeeding cycles were left on the mat. Non-destructive vegetative and bunch characteristics (Table 1) were determined on the harvested plant together with destructive biomass. Fresh weight of vegetative components (pseudostem, leaf, petioles) and bunch (bunchF) was measured using a field balance (±0.05kg), and subsamples were taken, chopped and dried at 80 °C for 48 h in a hot-air oven (to not destroy plant tissue) until subsample weights did not vary anymore to determine the dry matter percentage (Table S1). Aboveground vegetative dry matter (ABGVD) included the pseudostem, petioles, and leaves. Hereafter, when using the term 'harvest', plants that are harvest ready for their bunches were noted.At 'periodic destructive sampling', entire mats were randomly sampled every three months from planting onwards to obtain a database of plants spanning different sizes and growth stages including C1, C2, and C3 plants. From planting onwards, every three months, mats (n = 3) were randomly chosen from border rows or from destructive sampling areas in each treatment in both experiments. Whole mats were excavated and for each individual cycle, growth data were measured (Table 1) and biomass components (corm, pseudostem, petioles, leaves, bunch) were separated and weighted. Non-differentiated suckers (not protruding above ground level) were counted as part of the corm. All cycles present on a mat (C1, C2, and C3) were used for data collection. ABGVD was calculated similarly as at harvest. Corms were separated per cycle, weighted and corm dry matter (cormD) was calculated based on fresh corm weight and subsample dry matter percentages (Table S1). ABGVD, aboveground vegetative dry matter includes pseudostem, petiole and leaf dry matter. BunchF, fresh bunch weight; Nhand, number of hands on a bunch; Nfinger, number of fingers on a bunch. Phenology data: DTF, days to flower emergence; DTH, days to harvest; Moisture (precipitation and irrigation) and ET0 Ratios: between planting and flowering (RPF), flowering and harvest (RFH) and planting and harvest (RPH); Cycle duration: FCD, flower cycle duration, the time (in days) between flower emergence of C1 and flower emergence of C2 (on matlevel), HCD is the duration (in days) between harvest of C1 and harvest of C2 (on matlevel). Treatments: full irrigation (FI), rainfed (RF). Cultivars: Huti Green Bell (HG), Grande Naine (GN). † flowering, ‡ harvest. T: notes difference between treatment FI and RF (within a cycle and cultivar) (p= 0.05), C: notes difference between cycles (within a moisture treatment and cultivar) (p = 0.05).Kruskall-Wallis non-parametric tests (α = 0.05) for multiple comparison of growth parameters between irrigation treatments, cultivar, and growth cycle were applied on collected growth data at flowering and harvest of C1 and C2 (Table 2).As the effect of added water (precipitation and irrigation) is very dependent on the environment in which a plant develops the ratio (R) of cumulative water added (W) and cumulative ET0 was determined for each plant between: planting and flowering (RPF), flowering and harvest (RFH), and planting and harvest (RPH) (Table 2).The average pseudostem growth rate (Vrate, Table 1), an indicator of vegetative growth was analyzed in terms of RPF, an indicator of moisture between planting and flowering. Linear models were created with Vrate as a dependent variable and RPF as the independent variable for each cultivar and cycle (Table 3). The average bunch growth rate (Brate, Table 1) of plants in the field was analyzed in terms of Vrate (the earlier vegetative growth rate) and RFH, an indicator of moisture between flowering and harvest. Linear models were created with Brate as a dependent variable and Vrate and RFH as the independent variable for each cultivar and cycle. Effects of the parameters were significant if coefficients in the linear models were significant (Table 3). Two types of allometric relationships were created corresponding to the different objectives: (i) models for estimating vegetative biomass (ABGVD and cormD), and (ii) models for forecasting fresh bunch weights (bunchF) from flowering onwards. Since allometry specifies how growth and size in plants or plant components is related to their allocated biomass, only parameters measured on a plant were put into the allometric equations.Plants sampled during harvest and periodic destructive sampling were used for ABGVD allometry. Data spanned multiple cycles C1, C2, and C3 with plants of different sizes. Vegetative parameters at the moment of destructive sampling (Vpseudo, LAI) and bunch parameters (Nfinger, Nhand, Vfinger, Ratiofinger) for plants sampled when bearing bunches were used for regression (Tables 1 and 4).Plants sampled during periodic destructive sampling were used for cormD allometry. CormD was regressed on vegetative parameters at the moment of sampling (Vpseudo, LAI), but given the lack of replications of bunch bearing plants at destructive sampling, other parameters were not included (Table 4).Plants with bunches ready for harvest (sampled at harvest) were used for bunchF regression. Only C1 and C2 were used, as C3 was not yet ready for harvest. As early estimation is of interest, the bunchF was regressed sequentially on predictors that can be grouped according to the period when first measurement is possible. Predictors were organized in three groups: Early predictors, relating to parameters at flowering: days to flowering (DTF), Vpseudo,Flower, LAIFlower; Middle predictors, describing bunch characteristics that do not change during fruit filling: Nhand and Nfinger; and late predictors, describing bunch parameters that change up until the moment of harvest: Ratiofinger and Vfinger (Table 4). In addition to parameters measured on the main plant, the size of the sucker at flowering of the main plant (Vpseudo,flowerS) on the same mat was also used as a predictor in regressions (Table 4).Observations used in regression analysis were subjected to a principal component analysis to identify multivariate outliers. Scatterplots in the first four PCs were made, and observations where PCA scores lay outside the 95% confidence interval (95%CI) ellipse for treatment × cultivar group were removed.First, multiple linear regression models were created for FI plants to determine the best model form for each cultivar (Table 4). Estimation of biomass and yield, as a rule rather than an exception, is heteroscedastic. As transforming variables leads to non-intuitive relations, heteroscedasticity was dealt with through weighted least squares regression (WLS) [7]. After WLS regression, residual plots were checked to confirm whether WLS models became homoscedastic. The regression models were compared to assess the most suitable linear regression form. Criteria used in model selection were the adjusted correlation coefficient (R²adj), relative root mean square error (RRMSE), and the Akaike information criterion (AIC). AIC can only be compared on models with similar number of observations. Whenever multiple predictors needed to be retained in the model, variance inflation factors (VIF) were checked as correlated predictors might lead to collinearity. Model performance was classified on RRMSE values as excellent (≤10%), good (10% < RRMSE≤ 20%), fair (20% < RRMSE≤ 30%), and poor (>30%) [34]. Next to goodness of fit criteria, the practicality of predictors in the field was also considered in choosing the final model form.After determining the best model forms for FI plants, pooled (combining data from cultivars and treatments) and specific regression models (separating data across cultivars and treatments) were created (Table 5). Specific regression models were compared between irrigation treatments and cultivars. Comparison of specific regression models were done using three methods. In the first method, the 95%CI for parameter coefficients in the regressions were compared across groups to evaluate overlap. If 95%CI overlapped, models were not different. The second method used an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) by adding categorical variables treatment and cultivar as dummy variables in the linear regression models. It was assessed whether the parameter coefficients in the models were significantly different between the groups, or whether they could be estimated by a common coefficient [7]. The third method used FI models for predicting both FI and RF data. These predicted values (xi) were plotted against observed values (yi), whereby the regression line was evaluated for bias. The bias% for each group (treatment x cultivar) was calculated aswith xi and yi being the observed and predicted values for the i th observation and n is the number of observations [9]. If the bias% is positive, the models underestimate reality and if the bias% is negative, models overestimate reality.  The onset of soil moisture differences differed between experiments (Figure 1b), due to differences in planting time (Figure 1c) resulting in rainfall periods affecting plants at a different growth stages (Figure 1a-c). In HG, moisture differences became significant during the vegetative stage of C1 onwards, whilst for GN, moisture differences occurred from the approximate onset of flower emergence in C1 (Figure 1b,c) [25]. This is reflected in the ratio between water and ET0 between planting and flowering (RPF) (Table 2). RPF differed significantly between treatments in both cycles and cultivars (p < 0.05). RPF during HG C1 differed between treatments, but remained suboptimal for both FI (0.743 ± 0.03) and RF (0.638 ± 0.0404), indicating stressed vegetative growth. RPF during GN C1 was optimal in both FI (1.44 ±0.0213) and RF (1.26 ± 0.0448), indicating non stressed vegetative growth until flowering.During bunch development, RFH differed significantly between treatments in all cycles and cultivars (p < 0.05). RFH was always optimal or close to 1 in FI, but not in RF except in HG-C1 where RF plants developed bunches during the rainy season (RFH = 1.47 ± 0.182). Contrastingly, GN C1 plants developed bunches during the dry season as shown by RFH of 0.329 (±0.0239) for RF C1.Under increased soil moisture stress, a delay in banana phenology occurred, but severity of delay differed between cultivars and cycles. In HG, flowering differences were small (4 days) in C1, and not significant in C2. In GN, differences in DTF were more pronounced. RF plants flowered on average 6 days earlier in C1. In contrast, FI plants flowered on average 40 days earlier in C2 (p < 0.05).Differences in harvest date (DTH) were more pronounced. In HG, FI plants were harvested 37 and 76 days earlier in C1 and C2, respectively. In GN, there was no difference in C1 (p > 0.05) but harvest occurred 34 days earlier in C2 FI plants (p < 0.05) (Table 2).Vegetative growth was affected significantly by irrigation (Table 2). FI increased parameters H, Gbase, and Vpseudo significantly, except for GN C1 (p = 0.24 for H, p = 0.55 for Gbase) as these developed under RPF > 1 until flowering of C1 (Table 2). Correspondingly, FI increased vegetative biomass ABGVD at harvest (p < 0.05) (Table 2).Bunch growth was also significantly affected by irrigation (Table 2). BunchF differences under irrigation were reflected in measured bunch parameters (Table 2). In HG, Nhand was increased in FI in C1 (p = 2.7 × 10 −4 ), but similar in C2 (p = 0.83). Nfinger increased in both cycles, and fingers were also bigger (Vfinger) under irrigation (p < 0.05). This resulted in significant increased bunchF under irrigation in C1 and C2 (p < 0.05).In GN, Nhand was similar in both cycles between FI and RF (Table 2), but Nfinger increased under FI in C2 (p = 4.4 × 10 −4 ) (Table 2). Large differences were obtained during bunch filling, as FingerF and Vfinger increased under FI in both cycles (p < 0.05). Differences between RF and FI occurred due to differential soil moisture during bunch filling (RFH = 0.333 in RF C1) from C1 onwards (Figure 1a).Combining phenology and growth parameters shows growth speeds (Vrate and Brate) of plants differed significantly between the treatments (Figure 2 and Table 3). Moisture (RPF) had a significant effect on growth rates of the pseudostem (Vrate), except in GN-C1 as these plants all developed under optimal conditions (RPF>1). In all other groups, RPF had a significant (p < 0.05) positive effect on Vrate in HG and GN. Both Vrate and moisture after flowering (RFH) had a significant effect on bunch growth rates (Brate) (Figure 2 and Table 5).Generally, an increase in Vrate led to an increase in Brate, except for HG-C2. Vrate on its own does not fully explain the bunch growth rate (Table 5) as coefficients for RFH are significant in several models. This is shown clearly in GN-C1, as Vrate in FI plants is smaller, but bunch growth rates are significantly larger (p < 0.05) (Table 2). Inclusion of RFH proves necessary for correctly assessing Brate. Vpseudo was linearly related to ABGVD in both HG and GN (Figure 3), and to all its components (leafD, petioleD, and pseudostemD) (Figure S6). VIFs higher than 5 (indicating collinearity) were not found in our models (Table 4). Regression models were specific models for treatment and cultivar as shown in Table 5; (b) Comparison of actual ABGVD (kg plant -1 ) with estimated ABGVD (kg plant -1 ) as obtained using the specific regression models for treatment and cultivar as shown in Table 5. FI notes full irrigation, RF notes rainfed. Models using only Vpseudo as a predictor already had a good model fit in HG and GN (RRMSE = 0.14) (Table 4). Lm.1 was the best model in terms of goodness of fit, and practicality, and was used for creating pooled and specific regression models (Table 5).Specific FI and RF models for ABGVD showed overlapping 95%CI model coefficients for intercept and slope in both HG and GN (Table 5), but coefficients were different between treatments using the ANCOVA method. For HG, the intercept was reduced in the RF model by 0.32 (p = 8.25 × 10 −14 ), and the slope was very slightly reduced by 5 × 10 −3 (p = 0.014). For GN, there was no effect on the intercept (p = 0.13) and the slope was reduced by 6.07 × 10 −03 (p = 4.46 × 10 −3 ) in RF (Figure 3 and Table 5).Comparing predictions of the FI models with RF models, led to bias% of −92.1% (HG) and −81.9% (GN) for FI plants and bias% of −44.6% (HG) and −41.4.0% (GN) for RF plants. Both FI and RF plants were overestimated. Small plants (<25L) were overestimated in small absolute terms (<1 kg DM plant −1 ), but as bias% calculates the relative deviation, these had a large effect on the overall bias%. Recalculating bias% after removal of the smaller plant (<25L) led to bias% of 2.07% (HG) and −1.48 (GN) in FI, and bias% of −7.26% (HG) and −10.1% (GN) in RF. Plants <25L were overestimated in both FI and RF (in small absolute terms), but plants >25L were only overestimated in RF.Comparison of cultivar FI models showed 95%CI model coefficients overlapped for intercept and slope (Table 5) but models were distinctly different in intercept (p = 0.01) and slope (p = 8.89 × 10 −4 ) following ANCOVA.As 95%CI for coefficients overlapped between treatments and cultivars, the differences although significant, may be small in practice. Pooling data from both cultivars and treatments (n = 700) and performing the regression on this pooled data led to a good model fit (R²adj = 0.90, RRMSE = 0.18), using Vpseudo as predictor (Table 5).The model for estimating ABGVD in HG and GN becomes: = 0.33 + 6.02 × 10 × ; HG and GN combined (2) with ABGVD, aboveground vegetative dry matter (kg DM plant −1 ) and Vpseudo, pseudostem volume (L).Vpseudo was linearly related to cormD in both HG and GN (Figure 4). VIFs higher than 5 were not found in the cormD models.   5; (b) Comparison of actual cormD vs. estimated cormD as obtained using the specific regression models for treatment and cultivar as shown in Table 5. FI notes full irrigation, RF notes rainfed.Models with only Vpseudo and LAI as predictors for cormD led to a fair model performance for HG (RRMSE = 0.22) but poor model performance for GN (RRMSE = 0.34) (Table 4). Lm.1 was the best model in terms of goodness of fit and used for creating pooled and specific regression models (Table 5).Specific FI and RF models revealed 95%CI of coefficients overlapped for both HG and GN (Table 4), but coefficients were significantly different between treatments in both HG and GN using the ANCOVA method. For HG, RF reduced the slope by 4.01 × 10 −3 (p = 5.18 × 10 −3 ), had no effect on the intercept (p = 0.09) (Figure 4, Table 5). For GN, RF reduced the intercept by 0.01 (p = 2.22 × 10 −5 ) and the slope by 5.22 × 10 −3 (p = 7.59 × 10 −4 ) (Figure 3). Due to overlap of 95% CI, differences were not so pronounced.All models for cormD (Tables 4 and 5) were suboptimal given the fair to poor RRMSE values, and the large variation around the 1/1 line (Figure 4). Therefore, specific model differences may not be correct, and care should be taken.Using the specific FI regression models led to a bias% of −54.5% (HG) and −156% (GN) for FI plants, and bias% of −13.2% (HG) and −73.2% (GN) for RF plants. Models overestimated the cormD in both treatments and cultivars. Overestimation occurred again through the influence of smaller plants. Recounting bias% after removal of smaller plants led to a bias% of −3.78% (HG) and −11.0% (GN) for FI compared to −23.6% (HG) and −39.2% (GN) for RF. Thereby, the RF plants were overestimated more strongly compared to the FI plants. In general, models overestimated small plants (<25 L), whereas bigger plants show no overestimation in HG FI, show a slight overestimation in GN FI plants, and show a large overestimation in RF plants of both cultivars.Cultivar FI models were also different as 95%CI coefficients did not overlap, and following ANCOVA, HG model intercepts were reduced (p = 1.77 10 −4 ) and slopes increased (p = 0.05) compared to GN. The best models for estimating cormD for HG and GN became = 0.13 + 2.24 × 10 × ;(3) = 0.62 + 1.08 × 10 × ;with cormD, corm dry matter (kg DM plant −1 ), and Vpseudo, the pseudostem volume (L).ABGVD was significantly positively correlated to bunchF (p < 0.05) with R²adj of 0.73 (FI) and 0.65 (RF) for HG, and R²adj of 0.61 (FI) and 0.54 (RF) for GN. Similarly, Vpseudo, Flower was linearly related to bunchF at harvest (Figure 5). VIFs higher than 5 were not identified in the bunch models. ) with estimated bunchF (kg plant -1 ) as obtained using the specific regression models for treatment and cultivar as shown in Table 4. FI notes full irrigation, RF notes rainfed.Models containing only early bunch data (lm.1 to lm.7) had RRMSE values ranging from 0.12 to 0.25 (HG) and 0.13 to 0.2 (GN) indicating good model fit (Table 4). Inclusion of data on sucker size (Vpseudo,flowerS) did not improve the RRMSE of the models (lm. 6 to lm.7) compared to models with only Vpseudo,flower (lm.1). Inclusion of data collected at later stages (lm.8 to lm.11) improved model fits as RRMSE values reduced and R²adj increased. To allow for earliest bunch estimation, model containing Vpseudo, Flower (lm.1) were retained for both HG (R²adj = 0.70, RRMSE = 0.12) and GN (R²adj = 0.43, RRMSE = 0.15).Pooled and specific regression models proved different between treatments in both HG and GN (p < 0.01) (Table 5). Model coefficients did not show overlap in the 95%CI. For HG, RF led to a significantly lower intercept (ANCOVA, p = 7.18 × 10 −12 ), whilst slopes remained similar (ANCOVA, p = 0.38). For GN, the intercept and slope were different between treatments (p < 0.05) leading to widely different relationships with Vpseudo, Flower (Figure 4, Table 4).Using the specific FI regression models to estimate bunchF for both FI and RF plants, led to a significant overestimation of RF bunches in both HG and GN (Figure 5). The bias% for FI plants was −2.31% (HG) and −1.74% (GN) and the bias% of the RF plants was −28.0% (HG) and −24.1% (GN). Therefore, using FI models significantly overestimated the RF plants.The specific models were also different between the cultivars (p < 0.01, Figure 5 and Table 5). Models for optimal bunch weights (FI conditions) became: ℎ = 0.13 + 2.24 × 10 × , ;-FI (5) ℎ = 0.62 + 1.08 × 10 × , ;-FI (6) with bunchF being fresh bunch weight (kg plant −1 ), and Vpseudo,flower being the pseudostem volume (L) at flowering.Irrigation resulted in significant soil moisture differences (Figure 1b) affecting phenology, vegetative growth, and bunch growth (Table 2). Drought in banana induces stomatal closure, reducing transpiration and photosynthesis which reduces leaf area, leaf emission rate, and vegetative growth in general [18,25,[35][36][37]. Drought during flower initiation may reduce Nhand per bunch and Nfinger per hand [28], whereas drought after flower initiation results in suboptimal fruit filling [38].HG plants already experienced different moisture regimes during C1 vegetative growth and thereby differed between FI and RF in both vegetative and bunch parameters (Table 2). GN plants developed under optimal conditions (RPF > 1) until flower emergence of C1 [25], thereby FI and RF plants of C1 did not differ in Vpseudo, Nhand, and Nfinger (Table 2), parameters that are determined during the vegetative stage. Differences in RFH from C1 flowering onward (Figure 1b and Table 2) led to differences in ABGVD, fingerF, Vfinger, Ratiofinger, and bunchF at harvest.Phenology was delayed under drought depending on the severity of moisture deficit. Differences in flowering (DTF) remained small, but differences in harvest (DTH) were very pronounced with FI plants being harvested much earlier in both cycles and cultivars (Table 2). Flowering of GN C1 occurred 6 days earlier in RF plants, but RPF of both treatments was bigger than 1, so RF plants developed optimally until flowering. After flower emergence, RFH ratios in RF plants were significantly lower than 1 (0.329 ± 0.0239) delaying harvest. Differences in DTF and DTH increased in C2, as plants of C2 developed under more significant moisture stress for GN (Table 2). Environmental stress due to suboptimal soil moisture has been shown to delay floral development and increase bunch filling duration in banana plants [18,39,40].Combining absolute growth and phenology, showed effects of moisture on pseudostem (Vrate) and bunch (Brate) growth rates (Table 3, Figure 2). Vrate was influenced by RPF (p < 0.05, Table 3), although effects differ due to the size of RPF. If RPF > 1, moisture covers the evaporative demand as shown in GN-C1, where Vrate was not influenced by RPF as RPF was optimal for both RF and FI (Table 3). Only when RPF was less than 1, Vrate seemed to be negatively affected (Figure 2 and Table 3). In order to achieve fast vegetative growth rates, RPF should remain above 1.The effect of Vrate on Brate was significant (Table 3), as faster Vrate resulted in increased Brate (Figure 2b). Moisture after flowering (RFH) also influences Brate significantly (Table 3, Figure 2c). RFH needs to be bigger or close to 1 to ensure optimal bunch filling (Figure 2 and Table 3). Within cycles and cultivars, we see that an increased RFH has the bigger Brate for GN and HG (except HG C2).Moisture deficit thereby has a double effect on bunch growth. Firstly, moisture deficits during the vegetative stage (RPF < 1) reduce the vegetative growth of the plant (Vrate), which reduces the Brate. During bunch filling, previously stored nutrients are translocated to fill the bunch [2][3][4][5]. Less vegetative biomass thereby indicates less translocation potential. Secondly, moisture deficits during the bunch filling stage (RFH < 1) affect translocation and bunch filling [18,39], resulting in a reduced Brate. Both stages are important in the eventual outcome of the bunch weight. In order to achieve optimal growth for the pseudostem and the bunch, added moisture amounts should be compared to evaporative demands of the atmosphere. If the added moisture amounts are significantly less than the reference evapotranspiration (R < 1), moisture needs to be added to ensure optimal growth.Vpseudo was significantly linearly correlated to the ABGVD (Figure 3), and a good predictor for ABGVD in both HG and GN (RRMSE of 0.14) (Table 4). Height, girth, and diameters (components for volume estimation) are often used in biomass regression [7]. In trees, height and diameter at breast height are significantly correlated to biomass of a stand [7,41,42]. Negash et al. [8] found girth at base to be the best predictor for aboveground biomass estimation (R² = 0.77-0.98) in Enset. Nyombi et al. [5] found girth at base to be the best predictor in development-stage specific regressions (R² = 0.79-0.99), but height to be the best predictor of ABGVD when pooling the data across development stages (R² = 0.98). Combining height and girth leads to a parameter describing the pseudostem (volume) in three dimensions, without leading to high co-linearity when keeping both parameters in the model [7]. Vpseudo is linked to all components of aboveground biomass (pseudostem, leaves, and petioles) in our field (Figure S6). The pseudostem is composed of tightly compacted leaf sheaths, which result from previous cumulative leaf formation. Vpseudo was therefore also correlated to the petiole and leaf mass in our field (Figure S6) [39]. However, the number of leaves and petioles at a given time are also affected by management practices (e.g., pruning) and stress conditions, indicating correlations can differ in other plantations.Even though Vpseudo was affected by soil moisture deficit, the relationship between Vpseudo and ABGVD was not influenced strongly. Specific regression models for ABGVD between treatment and cultivar differed according to ANCOVA (p < 0.05) (Table 4), but differences were small as 95%CI for model coefficients overlapped. Pooling cultivar and treatment data led to a good model fit (R²adj 0.90 and RRMSE 0.18, Table 5) indicating a single ABGVD model based on Vpseudo can be used (Equation ( 2)).Perhaps stress was not marked enough for ABGVD plasticity under drought as average bunches in RF plots ranged from 19.6 to 24.4 kg plant −1 in HG, and from 33.2 to 33.3 kg plant −1 for GN, which are considered good yields. Nyombi et al. [5] had irrigated yields for EAHB cv. Mbwazirume ranging from 20 to 40 kg plant −1 , whilst Wairegi et al. [9] showed yields for different rainfed EAHB cultivars from on farm visits ranging from 2-60 kg plant −1 . Our yields are therefore higher compared to their lower range, hence less stress was present.Models did overestimate small plants (<25L). This overestimation might be a characteristic of the model, as the intercept was not forced through zero during modelling as this may lead to poorer goodness of fit characteristics [43]. At Vpseudo zero, there is an overestimation of 0.54 kg DM plant −1 (HG) and 0.22 kg DM plant −1 (GN), which are small absolute DM values, but with a large influence on the total bias%. Removing smaller plants reduced bias%. Overestimation of small plants could also be due to the growing behavior of suckers. Small suckers have scale and lanceolate leaves but produce foliage leaves at approx. 1.5 m height [2,44]. Shading results in improved partitioning to aboveground structures [45] and leads to an increase in pseudostem growth to faster reach sunlight. Therefore, small plants might have a lower pseudostem density (kg DM volume −1 ), leading to an overestimation when presuming their density to be similar to bigger plants. Another possibility is that all smaller plants are in the vegetative stage. Nyombi et al. [5] found that vegetative aboveground biomass models differ according to plant growth stage (vegetative, flowering, or harvest). Plants in the vegetative stage had a lower ABGVD compared to plants at flowering and harvest with similar girths and heights. Pooling the data across these plant growth stages might have led to this overestimation caused by small plants, but the overestimation is small in absolute terms (<1 kg DM plant −1 ), still warranting the use of a general regression model as this is more practical. The general regression model to use for ABGVD estimation to be used is given in Equation (2).Vpseudo was linearly correlated to the belowground cormD (Figure 4). CormD models based on Vpseudo ranged from fair in HG (RRMSE = 0.24) to poor in GN (RRMSE = 0.33) (Table 4), making Vpseudo less suitable for cormD estimation. Nyombi et al. [5] found good exponential relationships between pseudostem girth at base and cormD (R² = 0.59-0.98) but cormD in their field ranged between 0-0.40 kg plant −1 , which seems low compared to our cormD values ranging from 0.09-4.27 kg plant −1 . Negash et al. [8] found good correlations between belowground biomass (corm and adventitious roots) and diameter at base for Enset (R² = 0.75), but found no such correlation with height (R² = 0.23-0.27). Creating power models with radius at base instead of Vpseudo did not improve model fits for cormD in both HG (RRMSE = 0.38) and GN (RRMSE = 0.41) (data not shown).Using aboveground characteristics to describe a belowground structure has shortcomings. Parameters relating to corm dimensions (e.g., corm height and girth) are expected to considerably improve the cormD estimation, but in order to estimate these the corm needs to be excavated. Corm dimensions also vary in diameter and height with plant growth phase (vegetative, flowering, harvest) and whether the plant is in the first or second cycle [2]. The corm is a storage organ whose reserves are used for fruit growth and sucker development, whereby bunch development stage, size and the amount of produced suckers also play a role in corm biomass [2]. In our field, the variation of cormD with Vpseudo increased with cycle, thereby partitioning models in terms of cycle or plant growth phase (vegetative, flowering, harvest) might significantly improve the model. Nyombi et al. [5] found growth stage specific allometric relationships for cormD, whereby R² reduced from the vegetative (0.98) to the harvest phase (0.57), signifying increased variation with increasing growth stage.The comparison of specific models across treatments revealed irrigation effects to be significant (ANCOVA, p < 0.05), but as 95%CI intervals overlap between specific treatment models, differences were not very pronounced (Table 4). Pooled data per cultivar did not increase RRMSE much, leading to the conclusion that cormD models are similar among RF and FI. It seems that at a given Vpseudo, cormD will be higher in FI than in RF plants, but given the suboptimal nature of models based on Vpseudo we cannot be certain of the water stress effects on corm allometry. The biomass of the underground corm structure is too variable to accurately predict based on aboveground vegetative characteristics alone, and care must be taken using these relationships.Vegetative growth (Vrate) was linked to bunch growth in our field (Brate) (Figure 2 and Table 3). Others have also shown pseudostem size significantly correlates with bunch weights: R² = 0.63-0.85 [4], R² = 0.66 [9], R² = 0.57-0.7 [5], R² = 0.97-0.98 [10]. The pseudostem size relates to bunch filling potential as assimilates are translocated during the bunch filling stage [2,4,5,46] even across ratoon plants [47]. High yields are linked to vigorous early plant growth in plantain [3].As such, stepwise regression revealed Vpseudo, Flower to be the most important predictor of bunchF compared to other regression models (R²adj of 0.7 for HG and 0.43 for GN; RRMSE of 0.12 for HG and 0.15 for GN) (Table 4). Inclusion of bunch related predictors (Nfinger, Nhand, Vfinger) improved model fits as R²adj increased (0.81 for HG and 0.78 for GN) and RRMSE decreased (0.1 for both HG and GN lm.11) (Table 5). The more parameters were included closer to bunch harvest, the better the prediction. Practically, using Vpseudo,flower as a predictor for bunchF already led to good model performance in both HG and GN FI models (RRMSE 0.13-0.14).Bunch models based on Vpseudo,flower were very different between FI and RF, as 95%CI did not overlap and following ANCOVA(p < 0.05). FI models performed better (RRMSE 0.13 for HG, 0.14 for GN) than RF models (RRMSE 0.15 for HG, 0.23 for GN).These different relationships between bunchF and Vpseudo,flower under drought follow differences in bunch characteristics under RF vs. FI conditions (Table 2). Drought during flower initiation may reduce Nhand and Nfinger whereas drought during bunch filling results in suboptimal fruit filling (Vfinger) [2,18,38]. Moisture regimes at and after flowering are thereby crucial in determining actual bunch weights in the field, but these are not reflected in Vpseudo, Flower. Up until flower emergence, GN plants of C1 developed optimally in both treatments (RPF > 1, Table 2) [25]. Height and girth (Vpseudo), Nfinger and Nhand did not differ at flowering (p>0.05), whilst bunchF, finger, and Vfinger did differ between FI and RF at harvest (p < 0.05) (Table 2). Weight and size of the fingers determined the bunch weights. Plants of similar Vpseudo,flower subjected to different environments (RFH) after flowering (e.g., GN C1) will thereby have different bunchF at harvest, changing relationships between these parameters.For accurate bunch weight estimation, bunch characteristics need to be included [9,12]. Our models improved (RRMSE became lower) when bunch parameters were included, but this no longer allows forecasting of bunch weights as bunch characteristics (e.g., Vfinger) change until harvest.Our FI models can be used to forecast bunch weights if plants developed without stress from flowering onwards (as RFH >1 in FI). Forecasting of bunchF based on Vpseudo, Flower allows to estimate bunch 'potential' weights as in Equations ( 4) and (5).To estimate 'actual' bunch weights, the environmental effects during bunch filling need to be incorporated either directly (e.g., as RFH) or indirectly (e.g., effect of RFH on Vfinger).The large phenotypical differences between HG and GN plants, also led to significantly different bunch weight regression curves for cultivars (p < 0.05). However, as cultivars were planted at a different time, differences in planting might confound differences in cultivars and we should not compare these cultivars with each other. Nyombi [5] found different allometric relationships for bunch weight for two EAHB cv Mbwazirume and Kisansa. Wairegi et al. [9] proposed the use of a general banana regression curve for estimation of EAHB bunch yields, but their results showed cultivar specific curves were characterized by lower overall variances and increased model fits. Their cultivar specific curves were similar but were significantly different in model parameters. Our results support the statement that even genetically close cultivars have different phenotypical characteristics [30].A bunch forecast model based on Vpseudo,flower needs to include additional parameters that relate to environment conditions after flowering to properly work.Irrigation and corresponding soil moisture differences had a significant effect in both HG and GN, reducing vegetative and bunch growth, and delaying phenology under RF conditions. Of the effected parameters, Vpseudo seems a promising indicator as it is linked to both vegetative growth and bunch growth rates. The universal nature of Vpseudo as a regression parameter between the two cultivars is more valuable for future allometric studies than girth or height alone.Allometric relationships for vegetative biomass (ABGVD and cormD) were not strongly affected by irrigation as 95% CI overlapped between FI and RF models indicating a single allometric model can be used across RF and FI plants for vegetative biomass estimation. Models did also not differ much between our phenotypically very different cultivars for ABGVD, hinting Vpseudo models can be used across a range of cultivars. Vpseudo did not prove sufficient to estimate cormD reliably, as a lot of variation remained in the underground biomass. Aboveground characteristics are therefore lacking to estimate belowground structures. For better estimation of belowground vegetative biomass, components relating to the corm dimensions can be added although these are more difficult to measure. This research shows the potential for non-destructive vegetative biomass monitoring at the field scale, and shows soil moisture to not affect vegetative allometry significantly. As biomass over time often underlies crop simulation models, this is especially useful for researchers wanting to calculate biomass in the field for calibrating such models without destroying plants.Bunch weight (bunchF) forecasting models based on Vpseudo at flowering were significantly different between FI and RF, showing bunch weights cannot be estimated on vegetative parameters only, without including information on stress during bunch filling or bunch components. Both vegetative growth (Vrate) and moisture during bunch filling (RFH) determine bunch growth rates. Our FI models do allow prediction of bunch weights under optimal conditions after flowering (RFH≥1) and can be used to forecast bunch weight potentials based on Vpseudo at flowering.The following are available online at www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/10/9/1435/s1 Table S1: Dry matter (DM, g dry matter g fresh weight -1 ) (mean and sd) of the plant organs obtained in the field trial. Moisture contents were determined from subsamples of plant organs taken at harvest from the different cycles. Treatment differences were not significant (p<0.05), leading to the pooling of data across the treatments (FI: full irrigation and RF: rainfed) per cycle (C1, C2 and C3) to obtain a dry matter percentage per organ per cycle."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"93b09baeeb4e1e4d7b772c4180cd1342","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a666c37d-30bb-499e-9c7b-0785cf047967/retrieve","id":"-690514784"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"299c44e9-eab5-44fd-9afc-e8f1d976f715","content":"The publications in this series cover a wide range of subjects-from computer modeling to experience with water user associations-and vary in content from directly applicable research to more basic studies, on which applied work ultimately depends. Some research reports are narrowly focused, analytical and detailed empirical studies; others are wide-ranging and synthetic overviews of generic problems.Although most of the reports are published by IWMI staff and their collaborators, we welcome contributions from others. Each report is reviewed internally by IWMI staff, and by external reviewers. The reports are published and distributed both in hard copy and electronically (www.iwmi.org) and where possible all data and analyses will be available as separate downloadable files. Reports may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgment.It is widely recognized that the requirements for managing water resources effectively vary geographically and over time. In many situations there is pressure to save water, to increase water productivity or to do both. These time-related changes reflect increases in demand from users other than agriculture, such as municipality/ industry users and the environment. There are also variable impacts from government policies often influenced by international aid and regulatory agencies. The challenges for farmers, irrigation managers and water-resource policymakers are to identify and implement water policies and practices that are appropriate for the place and time, and to ensure that the institutional climate is such that these can change as the need changes.The response to the need for change reflects the technical options available to farmers and irrigation managers, costs of those changes, institutional character of the management of irrigation, and the economic and political environments at the time. In the following sections we will use the examples from Taiwan and the Philippines to illustrate the influence of these factors on the extent and nature of the governance of water resources for irrigation. The two cases reflect relatively large differences in the general context within which irrigation has evolved, thus providing the opportunity to enhance understanding of the influence of the sociopolitical environment on the need for improved water management. This is facilitated by the fact that over a number of years there has been substantial research on irrigation water management in both countries.T h e r e h a s b e e n s u s t a i n e d r e s e a r c h interest in Taiwan's irrigation sector because of its contribution to agriculture and the rapid development of the industrial sector. Similarly, there has been a significant number of studies on irrigation in the Philippines, but this has primarily focused on farmer participation or irrigation management transfer (IMT) both in communal systems (CIS) and in the national irrigation systems (NIS). This paper will focus on placing the changes in the management of irrigation water that have taken place over the past half-century in the broader economic, social and political contexts within which the sector changes have occurred. To a considerable extent, the two cases also reflect the differences in the development and management of water resources for irrigation found in East and in South/Southeast Asia (see, for example, Shah et al. 2004).Increasing water scarcity is not a consequence of there being less water, but rather there being more demand for existing water resources. In the context of water scarcity the need for water 'saving' is frequently expressed, with an emphasis on greater irrigation efficiency and increased water productivity. However, each term has a different meaning, causing confusion. Water saving is typically defined as reducing the amount of water used in growing a crop, without reference to the yield of the crop. Increasing efficiency (defined as the amount utilized by the plant divided by the amount diverted) is similar, in that it ignores the element of crop yield, but introduces the element of crop utilization of the water. Increased water productivity -the yield (either magnitude or value) per unit of water applied -explicitly changes the focus from the water to one that includes both the crop and the water. Neither of the former, water saving and increasing water efficiency, considers the benefits and costs of the increased control and management that would permit a reduction in water diversion (Kijne et al. 2003).Thus, water saving, in our view, should be viewed from the perspective of increasing the productivity of water (WP). The potential for increasing productivity can be evaluated by considering both the physical and socioeconomic components that define it. From the physical perspective, we look at the water itself. From the socioeconomic perspective, we consider both the ways the water is used and the value (both market and social) that is derived from it. It follows that from the socioeconomic perspective it is important to differentiate between water that is used productively (including the environmental benefits) and that which is nonproductive (Molden et al. 2003).To determine how much water might be diverted to uses other than the specific crop being grown, it is important to differentiate between the water that is 'saved' at the farm or system level from that which is 'saved' at the watershed or basin level (sometimes referred to as real water savings). What may be identified as 'waste' or 'excess' at the farm or system level may actually be a 'resource' that is used at a location downstream in the watershed. Thus, it is important to consider the water disposition within the watershed downstream from the area in which water saving is encouraged to determine the full impact of any changes. The potential options for water saving are greater in those basins where not all of the water has been allocated ('open' basins) than for those in which essentially all the water has been allocated ('closed' basins). In the former, utilizing the unallocated water to increase water productivity without necessarily affecting current uses is a likely priority; in the latter case, options for physical water saving and obtaining higher value from the existing or new water uses are limited. All of this suggests the need for water accounting to determine the productivity and value of water in its old and new set of uses at the basin level. In short, most 'water savings' are not easily identified and quantified. As a result, even where water is in short supply, there is often little incentive on the part of suppliers and users to save water.It also should be recognized that water saving can occur from different types of efforts, some of which do not require improved management of water resources per se. It is usual to think of the reduction in the amount of water used, but water saving is in fact occurring when efforts are made to increase the output per unit of water used, both of which can be expressed as an increase in water productivity or 'crop per drop'. Over the past few decades, a significant portion of the increase in water productivity has been due to the success of plant breeders in partitioning plant biomass toward economic yield for both rice and wheat, in other words, by changing the 'harvest index' from 80% shoots and 20% grains to 50-50 (Kijne et al. 2003;Keller and Seckler 2008). While the objective has been to increase economic yield per unit of land, it simultaneously provided an increase in the economic yield per unit of water used. The water savings covered a huge geographic, largely irrigated, area where this technology (plant biomass partitioning) was adopted. The potential for further gains from this type of partitioning is limited (Zwart and Bastiaanssen 2004). However, breeding varieties for tolerance to abiotic stresses (flooding, drought, salinity) can increase water productivity. A case in point is the newly identified sub1 gene, which when inserted into rice varieties can allow the plants to stay submerged for as long as a month (as opposed to a few days) and recover when the floods recede (Fukao et al. 2008).Improved agronomic practices have also had positive impacts on yield per unit of water used, as well as on yield per unit of land area. These include such practices as alternate wetting and drying of paddy fields, modification of planting rates and direct seeding of rice, all of which can be effective, but only when water is available as needed (Li and Barker 2004). In some locations, efforts can be made to reduce evaporation due to standing water by coordinating flooding and transplanting more appropriately, improving drainage, shifting the time of planting, etc. The difficulty here is that these practices are not often adopted system-wide or basin-wide, and it is thus difficult to measure its impact in terms of real water savings. A third avenue for increasing water productivity relates to better design and management of the irrigation system. People often marvel at the successful management of local or community irrigation systems such as the subaks of Bali in Indonesia or the zangjeras in the Philippines (Coward Jr. 1980), but bemoan the fact that so many of the large public irrigation systems are poorly managed. Also, from the economic perspective, the cost of water savings must be recognized, both from the standpoint of magnitude and who pays. While the costs of water-saving efforts vary depending upon the specifics of those efforts, in general, the costs are relatively low when the water used for irrigation is relatively abundant, but increase at an increasing rate when the supply is reduced significantly. Figure 1 illustrates the nature of this relationship, with relative water supply (RWS) 1 as the independent variable, and managerial effort/costs as the dependent variable (Levine 1982). As stated previously, the absolute values will differ depending upon the type of water-saving efforts. The illustration suggests FIGURE 1. Water managerial effort/costs versus relative water supply.Source: This study.that there is a rapid rise in managerial costs as the supply approaches the basic requirement, a RWS of 1. The rise in effort as the RWS value increases beyond 3 (i.e., too much water) implies the need to address potential drainage problems. The managerial effort required to save water may be primarily at the farm level, or shared at some level higher in the system. However, as the data presented later will show, this can be significant. Finally, water productivity can be increased on a global scale by meeting some of the local demands for water through 'importation'. For example, Mexico uses much of its limited water supply to irrigate high-value crops which it exports to the United States of America (USA), from whom in return it imports lower-value grain (Barker et al. 2000). Currently, China is also following this practice (National Bureau of Statistics of China 2009). The water associated with the production of the imported crop, referred to as virtual water (Allan 1998), represents an implicit addition to the water supply of the importing country.What follows in our two cases generally focuses on surface water resources, but is relevant to groundwater as well. Where groundwater is accessible at an affordable cost, increasing its use can lead to increased water productivity through the potential for improved control of the timing of irrigation needed, for example, in producing high-value crops. When groundwater is used conjunctively with surface water there can be a significant water saving. In situations of groundwater overdraft, physical water saving becomes important.During the first half of the twentieth century, both Taiwan and the Philippines were ruled by colonial powers. From 1895 to 1945, Taiwan was ruled by Japan, and the Philippines was ruled by the USA from 1898 to 1945 (omitting the years of Japanese occupation). Here is where the similarity ends, and the need to identify and contrast agriculture and irrigation of the two countries begins.A major objective of Japan was to obtain rice imports from her two colonies, Taiwan and Korea, and hence increasing rice production became a high priority for these two countries. However, the opportunities for expansion of the agricultural land area were limited. The land frontier in Taiwan closed in the 1920s and the typical farm size of 2 hectares (ha) began to shrink (Lee 1971;Rada and Lee 1977). Following the strategy adopted after the Meji Restoration (1868), Japan's colonial government invested in irrigation infrastructure, developed improved ponlai (japonica) varieties and encouraged the use of fertilizer. Irrigation and farmers' associations were created but controlled by the colonial government with an iron fist to ensure that farmers' made payment of irrigation fees and taxes. As a result, during the first part of the twentieth century, first Japan and then Taiwan and Korea experienced a yield-increasing 'green revolution' in rice (Figure 2)2 . This was an event that did not occur in the Philippines and the rest of South and Southeast Asia until the 1960s.Thus, development of irrigation combined with the seed-fertilizer technology was seen as the model for land productivity growth adopted decades later in the tropical Asia (Ishikawa 1967). Rice production collapsed in Taiwan during World War II. The subsequent defeat of Japan in the World War, and influx of people from the mainland in 1948, challenged the Nationalist government to achieve the pre-war annual growth in rice production of over 3%. An initial major undertaking in 1953 was the 'Land to the Tiller' program, which transferred land from landlords to tenants with approximately 40% of all farm families benefiting from the program (Yager 1988). During the 1950s, only 30% of the total outlays for irrigation were for investment, the remaining amount was mainly for maintenance and repair expenses due to neglect and war damage during the 1930s and 1940s and recovery adjustments during the 1950s (Rada and Lee 1977). The number of irrigation associations was reduced from 40 to 26. Of the 870,000 ha of cultivated land, 60% was irrigated mainly for rice (Ko 1997). The average farm size was a little over 1 ha. A number of technical and management improvements for irrigation were initiated, which will be discussed in more detail in the section, Irrigation and Water Management Practices in Taiwan and the Philippines over the Past Half-century.Under American occupation, the agricultural economy of the Philippines was dominated by the production of export crops such as sugar, copra, FIGURE 2. Rice yields in monsoon Asia (five-year moving averages).Source: Kikuchi and Hayami 1978. abaca and tobacco. From 1900 to 1960, the land area devoted to agriculture expanded at an average rate of 3% per year; growth in the latter part of the period being focused on Mindanao. Throughout this entire period there was virtually no increase in the per hectare crop yields for all commodities including rice.Early on, sugar became the primary export because of the strong demand for it in the USA and also due to the protection given by that country to products from the Philippines. This 'plantation agriculture' gave rise to landed elite families which have dominated politics, even to this day.The total irrigated area expanded to keep pace with domestic demand for rice. However, in the 1930s, planned expansion came to a halt for some time due to low rice prices, ample supplies and the difficulty of recovering operation and maintenance (O&M) fees, let alone the cost of construction (Philippine Economic Association 1934).Following World War II and Philippine independence in 1945, the Huk Rebellion (1948)(1949)(1950)(1951)(1952)(1953)(1954) in Central Luzon (the major rice growing area of the Philippines) shifted attention from export crops to rice, and issues related to both land reform and irrigation development. The government began to focus on rice self-sufficiency. With the gradual closing of the land frontier, inducing investment in irrigation to increase land productivity can be seen as a clearly rational decision (Hayami and Kikuchi 1978).As shown in the previous section, the two examples reflect relatively large differences in the general context within which irrigation has evolved, thus providing the opportunity to explore the social, economic and political environmental impacts on the ways irrigation has been managed. We will highlight management practices that have been adopted to increase water productivity.Entering the decade of the 1960s, in Taiwan, approximately 40% of gross domestic product (GDP) came from agriculture and 50% of the labor force was employed in agriculture (Figure 3a). As has been the custom in the early stages of development, most developing countries have taxed agriculture to transfer resources for the development of the non-agricultural sector (Lee 1971). In Taiwan, this was achieved through the fertilizer-rice barter system, where the government controlled the supply of fertilizer.Most of the arable land in Taiwan was irrigated and planted two crops of rice, but the irrigation systems were badly in need of repair. Initially, as a consequence of limited water control, it was necessary to plant only rice in the paddy fields. Soon, however, the restoration and improvements in the irrigation infrastructure described below facilitated the production of a wide variety of crops, though rice remained dominant.B a s i c a l l y , t h e s t r u c t u r e o f i r r i g a t i o n management in Taiwan has been one of a collaborative relationship between groups of farmer-irrigators and technical support staff combined initially into an Irrigation Committee, and subsequently (by 1956), into an Irrigation Association (IA). In principle, the farmers control the workings of the technical staff through a process that has changed over time (More on this is explained in later sections). While reflecting on this principle, the actual relationships are very complex, vary among the IAs and have changed significantly over time. The structure differs markedly from that found in many other countries. There is no central irrigation agency, such as the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) in the Philippines, the Royal Irrigation Department in Thailand, and the various State Irrigation Departments in India. Each IA has been, to a considerable extent, a 'self-contained' unit, subject to some regulatory oversight by a central agency, the Water Conservancy Bureau, and with technical support from the Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction (JCRR), which recently transformed into the Council of Agriculture. We describe the evolution of water productivity improvement in the country from the perspective of the intent of the programs that have been implemented, even though the degree of implementation is not uniform among the IAs.To consider this pattern and its meaning for water productivity, we will consider three major events: the land consolidation program, the implementation of rotation irrigation, and the adjustment to entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) including water transfer.The Land Consolidation program was a ten-year program initiated in 1961. The major objective of the program was to increase production efficiency, but it had a secondary effect of providing physical infrastructure that made water management (both irrigation and drainage) easier. The program consolidated the fragmented holdings into single reshaped units which were then provided with direct access to an irrigation channel, a drainage channel and to a path or road. An elaborate process of evaluating the productive capacity of each fragmented parcel, and then reallocating a parcel of equivalent productivity, combined with improved infrastructure, formed the basis for the program. The farmer's share of the cost of the program was reflected in the loss of 5% of the area of the fragmented holdings, based on the assumption that the increased efficiency and improved access to water, drainage and roads would more than compensate. In addition, the farmers paid part of the cost of the infrastructure with long-term loans.The program resulted in increased efficiency of the agricultural activity and provided the ability to intensify cropping. There was no significant change in the water used per hectare, but there was a 'saving' in terms of the increase in water productivity.The second major development, the rotation irrigation program, was initiated in the same general period as the land consolidation program, and basically continues to this day. It followed a severe drought during which water was rotated among the users and it became apparent that production could be maintained with less water for irrigation. Prior to the program, irrigation was primarily continuous flow. Water was applied to keep the fields flooded, and there was both field-to-field and channeled flows. Head-end irrigators were advantaged, both in delivery and protection from excessive flooding. With both production and equity considerations in mind, the government proposed a program of rotation irrigation, a type that required both significant technical infrastructure (both physical and institutional), and close collaboration among the farmers and between the farmers and the operating staff. Implementation was fostered by a national extension program with funds to pay for much of the technical infrastructure and other forms of assistance to the water users. During this same general period, the Irrigation Committees were converted to Irrigation Associations, with a Representative Assembly and elected Chairman 3 and the number of associations was reduced to 26 from the 40 Irrigation Committees 4 .The rotation irrigation program has been described in detail in a number of publications (Chin 1961;Ko and Levine 1972;Wen 1980), but briefly, the farmers essentially have complete control and responsibility for the distribution of the water within an area of approximately 150 ha (Small Group Area). The IA staff is responsible for ensuring that the allocation to subunits of that area (usually about 50 ha each) is in accordance with the IA rules.When the supply of water is adequate, allocation of the water to various parts of the IA service area is based upon prior water rights, some of which were associated with earlier systems merged into the IA. Management of the water delivery to the Small Group Area is of a 'default upward' character (Levine 1991).When there is a significant water shortage, generally in the order of 25% of normal, the original water rights are abrogated with agreement among the farmers in the Small Group Area, and allocation decision is shifted to the next higher level of control (~500 ha); irrigation allocations to the component areas are then based upon technical rules. Increase in the size of the control area permits the more equitable sharing of the water shortage, as well as making more efficient use of the scarce water. This pattern of movement of allocation control upwards continues, and may encompass the entire IA if water availability worsens. When the supply increases, control reverts downwards. While the allocations have a technical base, actual control of the delivery to the individual farmers remains in the hands of the farmers 5 , though they may hire a common irrigator to do the actual irrigating, thus minimizing potential for conflict. This close relationship between the farmers and the IA staff, and the 'ownership' of the IA by the farmers, is illustrated by an experience in the field by Gilbert Levine (one of the authors of this report). In one of the Small Group Areas, the Chief Engineer of the IA, an IA Irrigation Attendant from the local Working Station, a senior engineer from JCRR and the author (Levine) were discussing the water measurement practices, when an angry farmer came to the group, singled out the Irrigation Attendant 6 and demanded that he do something about his down-channel neighbor who had blocked the channel, resulting in flooding of the complaining farmer's field. It was clear that the farmer knew who had the responsibility to ensure the system was working, and that this person was responsible for the actions of the down-channel neighbor. The fact that the farmer's fee paid the staff salaries was also clear to the technician. Rotation irrigation, as practiced in Taiwan, generally resulted in substantial physical water saving, but of variable amounts and with significant costs. Beyond the costs associated with the land consolidation program, there were additional costs for measuring structures and gates, which were partially subsidized, and for the increased staff. Table 1 shows the change in O&M costs as a result of implementing rotation irrigation in six IAs; all IAs had increases above 100%. The water saving was variable but generally in the order of 25%. The reason for the increased costs was the increased technical capacity (Table 2), which is designed to meet the needs of severe water shortage, but is in excess most of the time. Of the total cost associated with rotation irrigation, approximately two-thirds was borne by the farmers and the remainder by the government.It should be pointed out that the Taiwan systems generally operated at a RWS (quantity delivered divided by the quantity required by the plant) of between 2 and 2.5 7 , which indicates that significant water savings could be achieved at increasingly higher costs. For example, during a severe drought in the Yun Lin IA, to approach a RWS close to 1, the IA staff monitored the parshall measuring flumes at the 50-ha irrigation area levels night and day; the main channel 8 Personal communication to Gilbert Levine (one of the authors of this report) by a group of senior IA engineers in 1969.  was dredged to obtain maximum inflow to the system; when there was any flow in the drainage channels it was recovered through pumping; and the farmers used common irrigators to avoid personal conflict (Levine 1983). Production was approximately 95% as normal with approximately one-half of the customary supply.It is also important to note that, in addition to the educational and financial aspects of the implementation process, there was a significant political commitment at the local as well as the national level. In a number of cases, head-end farmers objected to the implementation of rotation, and force was used to compel compliance. In more than one instance these resisters were jailed, usually only for a day or two, but it was sufficient to indicate that this was a government priority 8 .As indicated earlier, while the rotation irrigation program was designed to be applied throughout Taiwan, not all IAs fully implemented the program, and in those IAs that did not implement it there was little change in water use. The primary reason for the variability in implementation was the relative abundance of the water supply, often based on groundwater (Lam 1996).The rotation irrigation program lasted essentially as described for approximately 15 years, with an increasing politicization of the election process for the IA Chairman. This, and increasing complaints about the IA cost, irrigation service and falling farm incomes relative to non-farm incomes (Levine et al. 2000), resulted in a fiveyear trial consisting of closer supervision of IA operations by the government, appointment of the Chairmen by the government and a reduction in the number of IAs to 17. There was an improvement in performance, modest reduction in IA staff and a small reduction in the user contribution to IA expenses. However, concern developed that the IAs were becoming increasingly technocratic and susceptible to a lack of interest on the part of the government. At the end of the five-year period, the IAs were permitted to return to the prior arrangements, with a modified representative assembly (Small Group Leaders, rather than the farmers), an elected Chairman and more stringent rules for IA operation.Notwithstanding the modest improvements in service, the financial position of the farmers worsened, in comparison to the non-farm sectors. As a result, the government increased the subsidy to the IAs until (by 2000) the farmers paid no irrigation fee to the IA and many of the IAs were looking for other sources of income. As stated earlier, the combined land consolidation and rotation irrigation programs did result in a physical water saving of approximately 20-25%, but part of this 'saving' was due to the reduction in the paddy rice cropped area facilitated by the programs. By 1993, the reduction in paddy rice area was approximately one-third (Annual Statistical Data, 1973-1994 (Taiwan Irrigation Associations n.d.)). At the field level, however, the average seasonal application per hectare for paddy increased by approximately 5%. This suggests that irrigators will reduce their managerial effort to the least costly rate of use when the supply is available, even when the physical and managerial infrastructure for more efficient operation is in place.The removal of the farmer fee had the additional effects of reducing farmer interest in contributing to the voluntary system maintenance and increasing the social distance from the technical staff (Ko 1997). It should be noted, however, that the physical water saving was also a reflection of the increasing per hectare yield that permitted the reduction in area while still meeting the national target for rice production.The entry of the Taiwan into the World Trade Organization (WTO) introduced a new and significant element into the water management equation. The requirement to enter into the international rice market through international purchases of rice accelerated the need to reduce domestic production.At the same time, there was increasing pressure to transfer water from agriculture to non-agricultural uses. According to the prevailing water law, water is permitted to be transferred from water-rights holders to other users whenever the need is clear and there is agreement on compensation. However, in the event of extensive drought, the government steps in to perform emergency water transfers by suspending water rights. Huang et al. (2007) provides examples of both these types of transfers. In the case of a normal transfer from the Changhwa and Yunlin IAs to the Formosa Petrochemical Corporation, no agreement could be reached on compensation after a year of negotiation. The Central Region Water Resources Office then stepped in and set the price. In the second example, an emergency transfer of water from the Taoyuan, Shimen and Sinchu IAs to domestic and industrial users took place from the period 2002 to 2006.Additionally, questions were raised by the WTO about Taiwan's subsidy to agriculture, including payments to the IAs. This combination of (i) increasing political pressure to reduce subsidies, (ii) increasing pressure to transfer water from the agricultural to the domestic and industrial sectors, and (iii) increasing recognition that paddy culture had significant impacts on environmental services, prompted efforts to evaluate the net benefits from the ecological services provided by paddy culture and to consider those in justifying continued payments to the IAs. Recent studies of two IAs in northern Taiwan have evaluated the economic effects of water transfer, including the loss of environmental services as well as the loss in production (Chang and Boisvert 2010). A comparison of these losses with the compensation payments made by the government suggests that the payments still exceed the losses significantly. If this conclusion is borne out by additional more comprehensive studies of other parts of Taiwan, there will not only be increased pressure to transfer additional water from the agricultural sector, but also increased pressure on the IAs to increase the efficiency of their operations and to generate income from sources other than agriculture.Finally, we emphasize the important role that the non-farm sector has played and the effect this has had on farm and irrigation policy. As economies develop, the share of agriculture in GDP falls and the labor force in agriculture falls more slowly (Tomich et al. 1995). This is shown for Taiwan in Figure 3a. In the early stages of development, agriculture is taxed, but as the non-farm sector grows, first the agricultural taxes are removed and subsequently agriculture is subsidized. The switch from taxation to subsidization is common to all agricultural imports and exports, although imports are always less taxed or more protected (Lindert 1991). The rise in the non-farm economy was extremely rapid in Taiwan. In 1970, the tax (fertilizer-rice barter system) was removed. By the mid-1980s only 10% of the labor force remained in agriculture. Farmers no longer paid irrigation fees. The IAs were gaining political and economic strength through subsidies, and Taiwan, following Japan, was rapidly becoming a nation of part-time farmers. Today, there is a focus on ecosystem services provided by paddy rice and the transfer of water to industry.In 1960, irrigation in the Philippines was predominantly through river-diversions, primarily for rice. The rice area irrigated was close to 1 million hectares (Mha) or approximately one Source: Huang-hao Chang, National Taiwan University (data for Taiwan).  quarter of the total rice area (Rose 1985). The farm size was typically 2 to 3 ha. However, in the most densely populated area of the Philippines, the Illocos, farms were typically only 1 hectare in size. Ancient communal irrigation systems called zangheras were noted for their excellent water management (Lewis 1980).As of 1960, 60% of the labor force was in agriculture accounting for 30% of GDP (Figure 3b), percentages which were not very different from Taiwan (Figure 3a). Most of the farmers were tenants, who, in the case of rice, paid 50% of the harvest to landlords.The discussion in this section is divided into five subsections dealing with the development of the irrigation sector in the Philippines. It is a story of both success and failure and contrasts sharply with the development of irrigation over the same period in Taiwan. The story brings focus to the preconditions for success.The 1960s marked the beginning of the drive for self-sufficiency in rice, which, with a rapidly growing population remains an elusive target even today. According to the current Aquino administration, they will phase out imports completely in 2013. Economists have questioned this priority given the diverse environment of an island economy (Dawe et al. 2006), which is to say that importing rice is not a bad thing. However, politicians consistently express the need to avoid reliance on imports from an unstable world rice market.The establishment of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) in 1964 brought 79 National Irrigation Systems (NIS) serving 217,000 ha under one agency (Panella 2004). At the time there were 771 Communal Irrigation Systems (CIS) (mostly 100 to 200 ha in size) totaling 393,000 ha and an estimated 2,450 pumps/tube wells covering 51,000 ha (Panella 2004).Ferdinand Marcos, elected for the first time in 1965, was to become NIA's strongest political supporter. In 1966, Marcos appointed Alfredo Junio, Chair of the University of the Philippines, College of Engineering, as administrator of the NIA. Junio served as administrator until 1980, and it was under his leadership that the NIA developed into a highly regarded irrigation bureaucracy.NIA is divided into two units, construction, and operation and maintenance (O&M). For the viability of the NIA in this period of expansion, the construction was seen as being more critical than O&M. The primary focus was on obtaining loans from international donors, in particular, the World Bank (WB) and the newly established Asian Development Bank (ADB) (1966). In the early stage of its development, the NIA relied heavily on the support of the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) for the designing of new multipurpose systems and the training of NIA personnel.At the same time, it should be recognized that the primary experience of the USBR was in the design and construction of major physical works, including dams, major channels, etc., in the western part of the United States, which is a dry area. The design and implementation of the smaller irrigation systems were generally the responsibility of other organizations, usually irrigation districts with their own governing boards, managers and technical staff. Water rights were typically associated with individuals and water delivered 'on demand', and the farms were relatively large in comparison with that in the Philippines. As a result of this experience and with the emphasis on new construction, the focus of the training was on the development of the organizational infrastructure, personnel to carry out the planning of large multi-purpose dams and maintenance of the physical structures. System operation was probably addressed only in theoretical terms with the details left to the NIA and staff. Issues of water rights, user-controlled irrigation districts or other aspects relating to the use of the water were not likely to be part of staff training. This is in sharp contrast to the situation in Taiwan, where the emphasis was on improvements in irrigation at the user level and on the need for a close relationship between the farmer and IA staff.Farmers were expected to pay the cost of O&M, but normally the collection of fees only covered about half of the requirement for proper maintenance. Thus, from the beginning, the operations of the NIA were heavily subsidized by the Philippine Government despite later efforts to make NIA financially self-reliant.In 1972, the rice sector of the Philippines, and that of many other Asian countries, experienced what has come to be known as an el nino. The heavy monsoon rains and the flooding resulted in a 20% loss of the main crop in Central Luzon. Elsewhere, in parts of the Philippines and the rest of Asia experienced drought. World rice prices skyrocketed and there was a shortage of rice from exporting countries such as Thailand. In 1973, Philippine rice imports were the highest in more than a decade and the country was forced to import white corn to mix with rice.This 'shock' to the rice sector in the Philippines had the effect of reinforcing the drive for self-sufficiency. In the years immediately following: (1) NIA continued its expansion of the irrigated area with financial support from international donors, and with funding for new projects reaching a peak in 1980 (Figure 4); (2) the government, complementing the development of irrigation, launched the 'Masagana 99' program to promote modern rice technology and provide farmers with low interest loans, many of which were never repaid; and (3) a program was initiated to involve farmers directly in water management below the main turnout commonly referred to as irrigation management transfer (IMT). It is to IMT that we now turn our attention.There was a growing concern in the 1970s that water resources for irrigation were being 'poorly managed'. Depending upon the emphasis given by the individual stakeholder (including farmers, irrigation administrators, politicians, etc.), good management would include issues such as productivity, equity and financial viability. In the early 1970s, two research studies were conducted by the International Rice Research  (Wickham and Wickham 1974). Yield per hectare and yield per cubic meter of water showed no significant difference between rotation irrigation and continuous flooding at all three sites. As noted in the previous section on Taiwan, for a normal year this is what one could expect.The real impact of rotation irrigation (Taiwan style) occurs in a drought year when the infrastructure and the capacity to manage water make it possible for more effective use of limited quantities of water. NIA initiated a trial of the Taiwan-style rotation structure, with 50-ha areas and 10-ha units. No results of the trial were published, but it was not continued or replicated. One would have to conclude that the cost of making the required changes in both the physical and institutional structures was too great for whatever benefit that could be anticipated. In contrast to Taiwan, in the dry years, NIA found that cutting off delivery to the tail-end of the system made it easier to manage and allocate the limited water supply.In the second research study (Valera et al. 1975), IRRI obtained permission from NIA to operate Lateral C of the Peñaranda River Irrigation System in Central Luzon with a service area of close to 6,000 ha. Randolph Barker (the lead author of this report) was involved in this project.The objective was to address the ubiquitous headtail problem. The plan was simple. The tail-ender farms would plant first, and during the growing season water would be provided to the tail-end four days in the week and to the head-end three days in the week. The main canal was divided into four sections and the sub-laterals were monitored by four staff to ensure that farmers did not interfere with the plan. The son of the mayor of the local town owned land at the head of the system and objected to this plan strenuously. By convincing him that his yields would not suffer, the project was allowed to move ahead.Table 3 compares the dry seasons of 1974 and 1975, following implementation of the plan. While there was a slight gain in yield in all four sections, the area irrigated and the production of rice rose sharply in section 3 and 4 of Lateral C. Some years after completion of the study, we talked with a NIA water-master who was familiar with the project. What had happened since? Was our plan still being adopted? He simply said, \"same mayor, same son.\" They were back to the old system.A presidential decree in 1974 (PD 552) greatly increased NIA's financial responsibility and purview over irrigation activities (Panella 2004). The first step in the improvement of water management was the adoption of participatory irrigation management (PIM) as a strategy to manage the communal irrigation systems (CIS), many of which the NIA now had responsibility for. The basic concept of the new approach was for the government to provide financial and technical assistance, but this had to be in a manner so that it would maximize the farmer's participation in the planning, design and construction of the system, as well as operation and maintenance (Bagadion 1988).In fact, the focus on PIM was, in large measure, due to the establishment of the communal irrigation committee (CIC) to assist the NIA (Panella 2004). The CIC is perhaps unique in the annals of irrigation development. It consisted of a number of academic stakeholders representing a range of expertize and disciplines, and NIA personnel. The CIC recognized that there were a number of communal systems being successfully managed by farmers, such as the zanjeras in Ilocos Norte (Lewis 1980;Siy Jr. 1982), and a number of research studies were undertaken to identify both the opportunities and constraints in the PIM approach.One such study by De los Reyes and Jopillo (1988) compared 24 systems where PIM had been implemented with 22 non-participatory systems. The cost of implementing PIM was only 3% of the total cost of construction. Mean rice yields were approximately half a tonne higher (3 versus 2.5 tonnes) for systems under PIM. However, there was recognition of considerable scope for improvement. By 1984, the NIA had learned to implement this new approach efficiently on a nationwide scale. In fact, the NIA gained international recognition for its innovative approach to irrigation management (Korten and Siy Jr. 1988).Moving the focus of PIM away from the communal to the national irrigation systems posed a number of problems. For example, first, there was a lack of alignment of stakeholders (NIA personnel, farmers and landowners, politicians and WB) with the objectives of the reform. Second, there was little actual involvement of the farmers in the planning, design and construction of the irrigation system. The focus was on shifting responsibilities to the IAs. A three-stage process was devised for the turnover. Stage I required routine maintenance to be carried out by the IA in return for a 2% share of the fees collected. The Stage II contract gave the IAs full responsibility for O&M of canals and a larger share of fee collections. Stage III contracts gave full responsibility to the IAs for management of the entire system. Although, later, at the request of WB, these contracts were renamed, type I, II and III, and there was no intention that IAs would graduate from stage I to III. The NIA employees, worried about their future jobs, applauded WB's insistence, under the first rehabilitation loan, that for type II contracts the NIA be given responsibility for O&M (Panella 2004). Subsequently, however, NIA staff concentrated on fee collection at the expense of O&M, although the irrigation service fee collections continued to be less than 50% of O&M costs.Next, there is the question of how the irrigation systems operated on the ground level. Here, it is useful to see the contrast between the operation of the Taiwan and the Philippine systems. One may regard the Taiwan approach to management as semi-authoritarian, in that administration and the ability to demand compliance trumped politics at the local level. In the Philippines, it was the opposite.In the 1990s, Oorthuizen (2003Oorthuizen ( , 2004) ) undertook a detailed study of the adoption of the NIA turnover program in two IAs, one each in zones 1 and 2 of the fourth district of UPRIS. Once again, the issue revolved principally around the distribution of water resources during the dry season, the period of water scarcity. Oorthuizen notes that, two evaluation studies conducted in the early 1990s claimed that the turnover program had resulted in increased fee collection, reduced personnel costs, a larger irrigated area and higher dry-season yields. Oorthuizen argues, however, that these studies overlooked the implementation of the turnover policies in different irrigation systems and how these policies are given shape at the grassroots level.When the IA in zone 1 of the UPRIS first experienced water scarcity in the dry season of 1983-1984, politicians became the central actors in water management, giving much time and effort to the allocation of water. With implementation of the NIA program, this had not changed. The situation in the IA in zone 2 was entirely different. The adoption of the NIA program was 'successful', but due in large part to the close family ties between NIA personnel and the village at the tailend of the system. In general, it appears that NIA personnel tended to interact with a selected group of farmers in the IAs. Many farmers did not even know that they were a member of an IA.It is perhaps a paradox that the end of the Marcos Administration (1986) and the advent of the more open society of the Aquino administration brought problems to the NIA. Junio, the long-time administrator of the NIA, retired in 1980, and in 1986, another champion of NIA reform, Bagadion, was gone. The leadership became politicized, a series of NIA administrators, often with no knowledge of irrigation, served as directors for three years or less.A decline in the capital growth of the NIA led to a decline in the numbers of NIA personnel. In the late 1970s, project personnel reached a peak of 20,000, but from the 1990s onward this number was only one to 3,000. Operations personnel, reaching a similar peak of 20,000, declined more slowly to the present level of 7,000. This led to 'deferred maintenance'. Routine O&M became neglected as NIA staff concentrated on irrigation service fee (ISF) collections to maintain the financial viability of the NIA. The willingness of the WB and ADB to provide relatively frequent rehabilitation loans has supported the practice of deferred maintenance globally. Under many situations, the policy of deferred maintenance has been a rational response to the combination of farmer adjustment to declining service, politics and continuing availability of development bank rehabilitation loans (Levine 1986). However, the need for rehabilitation of some systems in the Philippines (that have had no O&M in less than a decade), raises questions not only about the lack of maintenance but also about the quality of initial construction.WB and ADB have continued to press for the turnover of O&M responsibility to irrigator associations at the secondary and tertiary levels, not just in the Philippines but elsewhere (Mukherji et al. 2009) 9 . In the Philippines, training programs were set up by the NIA for the IA leaders, but often there was very little interaction between the IA officers, board and the average farmers, many of whom, as noted above, didn't know they were members of their respective IAs.Three surveys were conducted to assess the performance and factors associated with 'good performance' of the IAs (NIA 1999;Fujiie et al. 2005;Araral 2009). While factors such as water scarcity, size of IA and nearness to market affected 'performance', performance was not measured in terms of an increase in water productivity or greater equity but rather by factors such as maintenance and fee collection. The case studies by Valera et al. (1975), in the section, Early implementation of participatory irrigation management in the 1970s and 1980s, and Oorthuizen (2003, in the section, Institutionalization of participatory irrigation management, give a better sense of the constraints associated with PIM and the performance of the IAs at the grassroots level.Obtaining loans from WB and ADB required compliance with their IMT programs. Thus, the Philippines did not experiment with other institutional forms for managing water. In China, for example, the IA model of WB was being adopted in some irrigation systems. However, China was also adopting a variety of contract arrangements (Shah et al. 2004). To evaluate these arrangements, research was conducted by the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy in several surface irrigation systems in north China (Huang et al. 2008). It was identified that the best results in terms of water saving at village/ association level were obtained by contractors provided with incentives.Almost all of the Philippine irrigation literature deals with gravity irrigation systems, i.e., the 10 Christina David, Philippine Institute for Development Studies, is currently examining the various sources of data from the Census and elsewhere to arrive at a reasonable estimate of the area irrigated by pumps. national irrigation systems (NIS), the communal irrigation systems (CIS) and the NIA. In the last two decades, the area irrigated by gravity irrigation systems has remained fairly constant at around 1.3 Mha. However, the total irrigated area has continued to rise (Figure 5). This has been due to the sharp increase in the area irrigated by low-lift pumps which, since the 1990s, has occurred not only in the Philippines but also elsewhere in Asia. This is frequently referred to as the groundwater revolution (Barker and Molle 2004), a period of groundwater exploitation and in much of the semiarid regions there is overexploitation (Shah 2009).As David notes, much more information is needed to find out whether, and to what extent, pumps are being used in the wet and/or dry season, among tail-enders and for crops other than rice.Competition for water from non-agricultural uses has been confined mainly to the urban areas, particularly Metro Manila and Cebu. Over the past two decades, water from the Angat Dam and Reservoir has been gradually transferred to meet the demands of Manila (Figure 6), apparently without compensation to farmers.  One of the most important factors in the development of Philippine agriculture has been the expansion of irrigation. This was made possible by loans from the international agencies such as the World Bank, some of whose policies we have examined in the previous sections. In 1960, there were 4.5 Mha of rice, of which an area of 1 Mha was irrigated. Today, there are 4.5 Mha of rice, of which an area of 3 Mha is irrigated. Rice yields have grown by more than 2% per annum. Despite this achievement, rice self-sufficiency remains an elusive target (Table 4). The problems would seem to lie outside of the rice-producing sector. At 2% per annum, population growth remains the highest in Asia. Furthermore, in contrast to Taiwan, the percentage of agriculture in GDP has been declining more slowly (Figure 3b), reflecting the slow growth in the non-agricultural sector.There is considerable debate as to the actual per capita consumption of rice in the Philippines, but it appears that it remains fairly high and stable while in most other Asian countries it is declining. This is related to the slow growth of the urban population and labor force where the substitute of other commodities for rice is most pronounced.Based on our observations of the development of irrigation in two contrasting situations, in Taiwan and the Philippines, we draw some general conclusions. We believe that these conclusions apply more generally to situations found in much of Asian agriculture.1. The determination of irrigation 'water saving' is difficult because of the ambiguity of the term.• Even when the term refers only to a reduction in the physical amount of water used for productive purposes, the boundaries of the area of concern can significantly affect the conclusions that can be drawn. For example, water applied in excess of evapotranspiration will leave an irrigation system through percolation to the groundwater or through surface runoff; whether this water is a 'loss' to be 'saved' depends upon whether it is subsequently used productively, either by pump users or surface water users downstream.• Thus, any evaluation of real, physical water saving must encompass at a minimum, the entire watershed. This suggests the need for 'water accounting' at that level.• W h e n w a t e r s a v i n g i s d e f i n e d a s increasing the utility of the water supply, then the evaluation must be based on the benefit derived from its use. If, for example, the economic return from the water is increased through investment in improvements in cropping (better varieties, more valuable crops, etc.) effectively, water saving occurs. Even though the objective of the 'green revolution' was to increase yield (value of output) per hectare and not save water, the increase in water productivity over the past half century has come serendipitously largely through varietal improvement.2. Physical water saving is unlikely to occur at the farm level, except when the available water supply is reduced. In evaluating the impact of changes in irrigation, 'water productivity' is a more appropriate measure.Water productivity can be expressed in both physical and socioeconomic terms.• The Taiwan experience shows that even with strong physical and institutional infrastructure, the amount of water applied per hectare (often referred to as irrigation efficiency) does not necessarily change significantly. The area under rice has reduced over time, while rice production has increased, as has production of higher-value non-rice crops. The financial and social costs of physical water saving, or reducing the amount of water diverted at the farm level, can be large. Increased financial investment, as well as increased time and effort and increased coordination among farmers are required.• When these costs are sufficiently large, and where groundwater is accessible, farmers in large numbers will invest in pumps, as is occurring in the Philippines.3. The extent of system-level operational management actually applied is a function of the available physical and institutional infrastructure, the available supply of water and political will.• I n T a i w a n , n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g t h e infrastructure availability (both physical and institutional) to deliver measured amounts of water to the 50-hectare level (approximately 50 farmers), the full capability was generally used only in cases of severe drought.• The existence of the physical and institutional capacity in the IAs in Taiwan permitted inclusion of non-rice crops as the economy changed.• In the case of Taiwan, the objectives for exercising a high level of management d u r i n g d r o u g h t i n c l u d e d b o t h t h e maintenance of production and the equitable sharing of the burden of the water shortage.• In the case of the Philippines, even when there was the physical and institutional infrastructure to deliver water to sublaterals and below, during drought, the NIA response to drought tends to be a reduction in the area served.Reducing the area served is assumed to reduce losses in water delivery, ease the workload on the system staff and maintain the water supply to the favored area (often a necessary political objective). Equity is not an operable objective and the tail-enders are typically the ones that are cut off. More recently in the Philippines, tail-end farmers are purchasing low-lift pumps to assure an adequate supply of water for the dryseason crop. The ability to obtain water on demand allows farmers the flexibility of growing crops other than rice.4. The sociopolitical environment greatly influences the physical characteristics of the irrigation system, its institutional structure and the evolution of both.• In the case of Taiwan, the 'Land to the Tiller' program (in which one hectare of land was provided to each family in the rural population), followed by the Land Consolidation and Improvement program, coupled with the formation of farmer-governed Irrigation Associations, established an effective basis for the twin objectives of equity and productivity.Notwithstanding the un-centralized character of the irrigation sector (with no national irrigation agency), these objectives have been maintained to the present time.• In contrast, in the Philippines, areas with large landholdings with tenant farmers were conducive to governmentmanaged systems, within a national framework. Production was a basic objective, but with financial viability of the irrigation agency as a major rationale for engaging the water users through water users associations. Given the sociopolitical conditions, equity was not an objective even where greater equity (i.e., resolution of head/tailend problems) would have increased productivity. In contrast, in those areas where landholdings were smaller, farmer-managed communal systems developed and equity in water delivery was achievable.5. International agencies can significantly affect both the incentives for improved water management and the ability to achieve improvement.• In the case of Taiwan, international agencies, such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, had little or no impact on irrigation development. However, the USA-funded Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction (JCRR), in collaboration with academic institutions in the country, was a major force in providing financial resources, the intellectual backstopping and incentives for improvements in irrigation at the sector level and also at the IA level. As a result, while the technological advancements mirrored those occurring more widely in the world, the evolution of the institutional infrastructure was 'home-grown'. In fact, during the 1970s and 1980s, Taiwan was frequently used as a model for other countries, including the Philippines, to follow.• In the Philippines, five international a g e n c i e s , r e p r e s e n t i n g t e c h n i c a l , intellectual and financial inputs played significant roles in the development and evolution of the irrigation sector. In the 1960s and 1970s, the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), as part of the United States aid program, trained staff of the national systems in the planning, design and operation of 'modern' irrigation systems; the Ford Foundation fostered experiments in the strengthening of the institutional structures of the communal systems and in the introduction of similar structures into the national systems; and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) (an institution of the World Bank Group), and subsequently, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), were instrumental in financing the construction of major elements of the national irrigation system in the 1970s and the 1980s, and in subsequently pressuring for the transfer of various levels of responsibility of O&M to farmer groups (so-called irrigation management transfer (IMT)), both in the national and communal systems.• In the national systems, with pressure and incentives from the lenders, repeated efforts by the NIA since the 1980s to introduce irrigation management transfer (IMT) have met with little success. Fee collections have remained at around 50% of billings, and the willingness to provide loans for rehabilitation creates an incentive for deferred maintenance.• In summary, while the lending agencies have been vital to the development of Philippine irrigation, certain aspects of their policies have been counterproductive to the twin goals of productivity and equity in the Philippine environment.6. Economic development has both pull and push effects that impact on the irrigation sector.• The higher wages associated with industrial and commercial development draw labor from the rural sector. In the case of Taiwan, this had a number of effects on the irrigation sector. The immediate effect was to make it difficult for the water users and the IA system operators to exercise the relatively high-labor input that is characteristic of rice production. As a result, there was a reduction in the area devoted to rice production (partially from a shift to vegetable production and more recently from a shifting out of agriculture) and a reduction in the percentage of family income derived from rice farming. A consequence was the reduction in farmer involvement in the governance of the IA.• The higher costs associated with the more-developed Taiwan economy, the reduced profitability of rice production and the increased demands of the technical staff of the IA (both in serving the needs of the more varied cropping patterns and also as a consequence of reduced staffing) resulted in a shift from taxation of agriculture in the 1970s to a complete subsidization at the present time.• In contrast, in the Philippines, economic development was much slower with less economic pressure to alter the relationship between the government and the water users. As indicated above, however, the external forces focused attention on the institutional issues, with a significant emphasis on obtaining a greater participation of the water users in payment for the system operating costs.• Typically, when the share of agriculture in national GDP drops below 10 to 15%, subsidization of irrigation and other elements in the agricultural sector occurs. This point was reached by Taiwan in the early 1980s and is only gradually being achieved in the Philippines in the last decade. However, the Philippines has been subsidizing irrigation for some time due perhaps in part to the pressure to achieve self-sufficiency.7. Recognition of the importance of irrigation in relation to the environment has grown since 2000, but is still limited.• In Taiwan, partly as a consequence of the country's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), and partly as a result of increasing interest in environmental issues by urbanites, the roles of irrigation in providing environmental services (positive and negative) have gained increased attention. Since payment for these services is not considered a subsidy, careful evaluation of the costs and benefits associated with these services can provide a reasonable basis for determining the appropriate level of payment.• In the Philippines, neither pressure from the WTO nor influence of the urban sector interest has reached the point of significant environmental concern related to irrigation.Comparison of the Taiwan and the Philippine experiences suggests that a shift from a focus on physical water saving to one of water productivity, particularly if viewed in a basin context, would broaden significantly the perceived options for irrigation improvement. Instead of limiting the options to changes on-farm and to technical, and perhaps institutional, modifications to irrigation systems (many of which have high financial costs), a change in focus would provide more appropriate consideration to the prioritization of critical geographic areas, the roles of cropping interventions, financial incentives, political factors and to the impacts on the environment. The comparison between the two countries also suggests that a failure to adequately address issues of equity in design and/or in implementation of water delivery is a major factor in the search for 'real water savings' and gains in water productivity."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"79f6297dd020523f869992269112e71c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/289b3efb-2a84-4e31-93b7-a5f51ba3fb9e/retrieve","id":"-505743489"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1ce26edd-e4f5-4846-a7e4-b636feb65f9d","content":"Livestock production, especially dairy, has long been an important activity for smallholder and resource-poor farmers in India, both for household nutrition and income. Generally, crop residues and communal or free-of-cost resources provided the basis for feeding the animals. However, rising levels of human and livestock densities in combination with stricter enforcement of environmental regulations and intensified cropping patterns have reduced access to common feed sources. This is especially relevant for the densely populated Indo-Gangetic Plains where most of the South Asian rural poor live and where most of the communal lands have been progressively privatised.Most of the livestock in these regions are kept in mixed farming systems, where crop residuesmainly cereal straws--have been an important feed resource (>44% of feeds) as in much of the rest of India (NIANP 2003). With the increasing unavailability of grazed or collected feeds, straws are currently dominating livestock feed rations.India is deficient in the supply of fodder, resulting in very low levels of productivity that limit marketable surplus of milk. In Bihar State, over 50% of the land area is planted to rice, and rice straw along with smaller quantities of wheat straw and some pulse residues form the main animal feeds. Recent studies in the Indo-Gangetic Plain have highlighted the problem of insufficient fodder and the poor nutritive value of fodder, a problem which becomes more acute in the more eastern parts of the region where agricultural resources-particularly arable land and water-become scarcer. This fodder scarcity affects most farmers but is particularly acute for landless and those with access to only small areas of land. Chronic feed deficit is the major constraint to animal production in eastern states of the country. Most of the dairy farmers are smallholders having one or two local-breed milch animals, which are raised on crop residues and natural pastures with under-employed family labour. Feeding grains, oil cakes and green nutritious fodder are generally restricted to some crossbred cattle. The feed and fodder deficiencies, in fact, have been the main limiting factors in raising livestock productivity. Studies have indicated, for example, that a one percent increase in the digestibility of cereal straws increases milk yield in dairy cattle by 5-6 per cent (Baruah 2005).However, especially in India's poor eastern states, the growth of the rural population is still leading to decreasing farm sizes, while rising demand for milk and improving marketing opportunities stimulate continuous growth in dairy production. Thus, the availability of fodder is a serious issue, especially for resource-poor livestock keepers with little or no land for cultivation. The level of this constraint varies temporally and spatially, creating scope for storage and trade. It has been observed that farmers generally store a considerable proportion of their harvested fodder and that large amounts of fodder are traded, both locally and over longer distances. But the structure and functioning of those markets are poorly understood and opportunities for improving the efficiency of fodder marketing as a potential tool contributing to the alleviation of fodder scarcity have not been adequately explored. Fodder markets are particularly important for the poorest and landless sections of these communities, which have very limited ability to produce their own fodder, but need access to quality fodder at reasonable prices to be able to produce milk economically and at competitive cost. Fodder trading is also an important livelihood activity for the poor who engage in it directly or who are employed in this value chain. To assess the contribution of crop residues and compare market structures, the production, trade and consumption of concentrates was also considered in this study.A crucial aspect in regard to the supply of fodder which has been given little consideration to date is quality. It has been observed in other regions that fodder is differentiated by quality, resulting in significant price differences. In view of continuing intensification in dairy production, feed quality will play an increasingly central role. Even relatively small improvements of quality in the major feed components can enable significant productivity increases (Rai 2005). It has been shown in various crops that while nutritional quality of residues varies considerably between varieties, this variation is not correlated to grain yields. Thus, considering the nutritional quality of residues in crop improvement programmes would seem a very attractive pathway to increase the supply of better quality fodder. To assess the quality aspects of crop residues, it is necessary to first unravel the relationship between quality perceptions of farmers and traders and feed quality based on laboratory analysis.The overall objective of the study was to improve the livelihoods of resource-poor livestock producers by alleviating fodder scarcity. The specific objectives of the project were: Develop a systematic understanding of fodder markets and to what degree they recognize the nutritive value of fodder. Quantify the variation in nutritive value of different varieties/cultivars of feed-food crops in relation to market availability and perceptions.The study was conducted in Bihar state for the following reasons.It is amongst the poorest states in the region, and livestock is an important source of livelihood, enabling a direct poverty relevance of the study's findings. Its agricultural sector is diverse and thus also its production of crop residue based fodder. Both the share of cereals in the cropping pattern as well as the shares of individual cereals vary across districts within the state, which has implications for quantity and quality of fodder. Both wheat and rice straw are widely fed in this state located between rice oriented eastern and wheat focused north-western states. The demand for fodder is also determined by urban producers, both within the state-mainly around the capital Patna-and beyond its borders. A considerable export of fodder to Kolkata in West Bengal has been observed.The study was divided into three parts. A participatory rural appraisal (PRA) was conducted to identify the actors in the fodder market and get a preliminary picture of the market to facilitate the design of a detailed survey among the actors. Then a formal sample survey was conducted. Thirdly, fodder samples were collected and analyzed for quality. Detailed methodology and results for each component are presented below.Discussions with key informants indicated that there are five types of actors that are important in fodder markets in the state: producers, consumers, traders, feed millers and commission agents. Five semi-formal interviews were conducted with representatives of each of these types to draw an overall picture of fodder marketing in Bihar. PRAs were conducted in 4 districts, 2 in the surplus zone and 2 in the deficit zone. Then 12 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were organized at 12 sites in the state with the help of scientists of the Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Dairy Technology, Patna and the State Farmers' Commission, Bihar. At each site, some producers, assemblers, traders (vendors, retailers and wholesalers), and commission agents from fodder markets were assembled and discussions on different aspects of fodder marketing were held.Crop residues and by-products are the key components of livestock feed. Dry fodder constitutes the largest proportion of forage accounting for about 82% of the feed requirement. Straws of paddy and wheat together contribute to about 95% of dry fodders consumed by livestock in Bihar.The proportion of green fodder in total livestock feed is close to 10%. About 55% of green fodders are cultivated. Maize, sorghum, berseem, napier grass, and some of the legume species are mostly cultivated. The stovers of green maize and sorghum account for about 30% of the total green fodder, particularly in maize growing areas, and berseem and napier grass constitute 20% of the green fodder.Cut grasses, weeds and rogues are also important sources of green fodder-accounting for about 40% of the green fodder-and given to the livestock after chopping. In addition, leaves of some trees and banana trunk also supplement green fodder.The proportion of concentrate in the total feed is close to 8%. Oil cakes, choker (wheat bran and husks of pulses), darra (crushed grains) and chunni (broken and discarded pulses) are the most important concentrates. Manufactured compound feeds are also used to some extent. Oil cake, compound cattle feed and other concentrates account for 30, 25 and 45% of total consumption of concentrates, respectively. Due to alternative uses of many of the concentrate items, their use may decline in future.Every household that owns livestock stores fodder for future use. Storage practices differ according to types of feed items. Generally, paddy straw is stored in a corner of a courtyard in the open. The loose piles of paddy straw are stacked together. This type of storage is common in the areas where paddy is harvested by combine. The next important practice is storage of paddy straw in heaps/bundles arranged in a cylindrical shape covered by a conical shaped cap made of paddy straw/thatch in the fields or near the dwelling house. The conical shape of the cap prevents water from percolating inside the heap and the whole pile of straw remains unaffected except a thin layer on the top. Sometimes when the quantity is fairly small, paddy straw is also stored in the dwelling house.Chopped paddy and wheat straws are never stored lose in the open. Most of the time, these are stored in the dwelling houses of the producers or the users. Special bamboo storage structures (locally known as bukhari, bhuskar, etc.) are also built and used to store chopped paddy and wheat straws solely or along with food grains. Some affluent, big producers and traders have also constructed cemented structures to store fodder and grain.Fodder marketing in Bihar has no formal organized structure or formal institutional support. Paddy and wheat straws are the major traded fodders. Green fodder is also traded but its proportion is quite insignificant.Fodder marketing involves a number of actors along the supply chain. The most common fodder supply chain begins with the producers and proceeds further along a number of different channels with the help of various kinds of actors such as assemblers and small vendors, commission agents, retailers, wholesalers and processors, and ends with the ultimate users who are scattered across the state.There are five main actors or points of action in the wheat and rice straw supply chain: producer, trader-1 (vendor), trader-2 (wholesaler), trader-3 (retailer) and consumer. In between, there are other small actors such as bullock cart owners, assemblers, and commission agents who serve different principal agents to facilitate transactions. About 60% of the marketed surplus of straw is sold by producers to trader-1 and 3, 30% to trader-2 and 10% to consumers directly (Figure 2.1). There are many retailers who maintain good contacts with producers and purchase fodder directly from them. The longest supply chain involves the producer, trader-1, trader-2, commission agents, trader-3 and finally the ultimate consumers.Different types of means of transport are used to carry fodder from one place to another, depending on distance and purpose of transportation. Head loads are common for transportation of green fodder from the field to farms for self use. For localized fodder and concentrate trade (<10kms), mainly bullock carts are used. A bullock cart load of wheat straw fetches a price of Rs. 1200-1500 and roughly weighs 4 to 5 quintals 1 . A number of bullock carters (bail gadiwalas), particularly in fodder surplus zones, are involved in fodder trade. Tractor trolleys are also very important for fodder transportation along main highways for longer distances. Most of the inter-state and interregional trade is done by trucks.In the case of inter-state movement of fodder, some very interesting patterns have emerged. Patna, Jehanabad, Nalanda, Sheikhpura, Lakhisarai and Rohtas, which are the fodder surplus districts, are the main supply centres for dry fodder. Patna is the biggest transit point for fodder marketing. The state that buys the most fodder from Bihar is Jharkhand, which is highly deficient in fodder supply from its own production. Bihar also imports fodder from other states, notably from Uttar Pradesh for wheat straw sold directly in the fodder deficit regions of north Bihar.Information plays a critical role in fodder marketing. Different actors in the fodder market use different modes of communication to elicit information and contact their counterparts. Almost all fodder traders and agents own a cell phone, which helps them to contact buyers and sellers, especially when making contacts at a longer distance. However, face-to-face communication has not lost its significance. It is the next important mode, which is still popular among the petty traders in rural fodder markets.The process of price formation is simple. Farmers either accept the prevailing market price of fodder in the nearby region or negotiate with the purchasers using the prevailing local market price as a reference. Of course, exigency of demand and availability of fodder are considered while prices are negotiated. Deficit zones often witness extremes of flood devastation and face critical shortages of livestock feed as a consequence. Under such circumstances, demand for livestock feed rises many fold and hence price negotiations are driven by the exigency of demand. Otherwise, in normal situations price negotiation remains supply driven. However there are other considerations, too, that affect the fodder price. Certain quality aspects like good lustre, taste, cleanliness, softness, and moisture contents of fodder are considered when prices are determined. There are usually wide differences in fodder prices between the surplus and deficit zones with prices in deficit zones being 17 to 50% higher than those in surplus zones. At the time of the study, a quintal of paddy straw was selling at a price of Rs. 100 in the surplus zone compared to Rs. 150 in the deficit zone. The average price of wheat straw in the surplus zone was Rs. 200 per quintal whereas in the deficit zone it was Rs. 300. The price of cultivated green fodder is also usually determined on the basis of location. In surplus zones, a hectare of green fodder is sold for Rs. 15-25,000, whereas in deficit zones, it is sold for between Rs. 25-35,000. Cut grasses and green fodders are also sold in some of the areas at the rate of Rs. 1 to 1.5/kg. Both cash and credit sales are practiced in the livestock feed market: though cash sale is preferred, circumstances often force producers, sellers and their clients to facilitate fodder feed marketing on credit.Fodder and concentrate markets in Bihar face several constraints. Many of these constraints are generic in nature and presently are not being addressed.Storage difficulties and lack of appropriate storage facilities seriously affect year-round availability of fodder. Most of the marketable surplus of fodder is generated by marginal and small farmers who are in the majority in the state, but have limited storage capacity. Due to difficulties in fodder storage, they are forced to sell immediately after harvest. Even if stored, a large proportion of fodder gets spoiled or destroyed due to improper storage facilities.Transportation of fodder from producers to the market is fairly inefficient. Due to poor road conditions in rural areas and the absence of any block-making or baling technology, transportation and transaction costs are very high. It is estimated that marketing 100kg of fodder generates revenues of Rs. 395, of which the fodder raw material accounts for about 32% only and the rest is the marketing cost including transportation. The largest cost item is transportation which accounts for about 36%.Fodder is a bulky item, which makes its trading cumbersome and handling difficult. Some traders use compressing machines to make fodder blocks. This makes storage easy and transportation convenient, and so more cost effective. The majority of machines used for compressing fodder are obsolete. These machines, which were designed for the compression of jute in the jute factories during the colonial period, serve the purpose of traders and transporters to some extent, but are inefficient. There is a need to design and develop new economical and cost-effective machines to help the fodder sector. The Government of Bihar has planned to establish two plants for preparing feed blocks: one each in a fodder-deficit region (Samastipur) and in a feed-surplus region (Patna).Quality control of manufactured compound feed and concentrates is also essential. Most traders and consumers feel that there should be a mechanism to ensure quality of manufactured feed and nutritional supplements. Millers feel that prices of most raw materials are escalating day by day, and this compels a number of millers and manufacturers to go for cheaper substitutes or to use inferior material. They seek cost-effective and improved technology for manufactured feed. Public sector R&D can play an effective role in this regard, and can also be achieved through public-private partnership.Livestock is an integral part of the rural economy in Bihar and fodder is a critical input for livestock development. The data indicate that a huge gap exists between demand and supply of both dry and green fodder. Most of the south of Bihar comprising agro-climatic zones IIIA and IIIB are fodder surplus areas because of irrigated cultivation of paddy and wheat. Agro-climatic Zone I and Zone II are fodder deficit and mostly depend on fodder surplus regions for their requirements. Fodder production is seasonal, but demand is constant throughout the year or until the next crop season. Inadequate storage facilities and space sometimes force producers to dispose of much of their fodder rather than storing it for later use for their own needs or sale when prices are higher. To promote fodder production and trade, it is necessary to improve storage systems on-farm as well as en route to distant markets. Fodder markets are unorganized and informal and the role of the public sector/government is negligible. Most fodder markets occur without any dedicated market place, often along roadsides and without legal credentials. Having specific market places may facilitate flow of market information, increase interaction among buyers and sellers and facilitate transparency and competition leading to fairer prices.Fodder is a bulky item, which makes its trading cumbersome and handling difficult. Some traders use compressing machines to make fodder blocks. It is important to develop cost-effective and efficient fodder compressing technology to ease handling and transportation as well as generate cost savings. Quality control of manufactured compound feed and concentrates is also essential. Most of the traders and consumers feel that there should be a mechanism to ensure quality of manufactured feed and nutritional supplements. Development of technology for cost-effective and nutritive feed requires urgent attention and here public sector R&D can play an effective role. This can also be done in public-private partnership mode.The PRA showed that there exists a huge gap between demand and supply of fodder (both dry as well as green). Most of south Bihar comprising agro-climatic zones IIIA and IIIB are fodder surplus because of cultivation of paddy and wheat under assured irrigation facilities. Agro-climatic zones I and II are fodder deficit and mostly depend on fodder surplus regions for their requirements. The PRA also identified various types of actors in the fodder and concentrate markets. In order to understand in more detail how fodder markets actually work and perform, a detailed survey was conducted among representative market actors so that more specific constraints in the market could be identified for possible interventions (technical, institutional and policy) for improving its performance.Two contrasting zones, namely deficit and surplus, were identified and four districts from each zone were selected for detailed study using a multistage stratified random sampling method (Figure 3.1).Bihar is divided into four agro-climatic zones. For the present study, we classified these agro-climatic zones into two groups based on fodder production status, i.e. surplus and deficit. Using a stratified sampling approach, four districts were randomly selected from each of the surplus and deficit groups. The selected districts from each group were: Bhabhua, Patna, Jamui and Bhagalpur from the surplus zone; and East-Champaran, Sitamarhi, Purnea and Khagaria from the deficit zone. From each district, two tehsils (administrative sub-unit) were then randomly selected. Within each tehsil, two villages were next randomly selected. The Government of India Village Census (2001) has been used as the sampling frame for selecting administrative sub-units and villages. From each village, 15 farm households were selected using a randomizing village walk approach. Thus, a total of 480 farm households were surveyed. In addition, other actors of the feed marketing chain were sampled from each district: fodder traders (10), concentrate traders (5), concentrate millers (5) and urban-dairy consumers (10). The total survey sample thus included: 476 fodder producers, 80 fodder traders, 80 fodder consumers, 40 concentrate traders and 40 concentrate millers. Separate questionnaires were prepared and pre-tested for each group.After the survey, each type of actor was classified into sub-categories based on their functions and marketing behaviour.The fodder producers were stratified into three categories depending on their selling and/or buying status: net sellers (140), net buyers ( 221), and autarkic (113). Traders were stratified depending on the nature of their business into vendors (27), wholesalers (4), and retailers (49). Consumers were stratified into three categories; urban commercial dairy producers (80), rural commercial dairy producers (73) and other rural farmers (401).Residues of the principal crops, namely paddy, wheat, maize and pulses, are the main sources of dry fodder in Bihar. These crops constitute about 90% of dry fodder produced in the surveyed villages. Maize is not an important source of fodder in the surplus zone. Production of dry fodder is closely related to the size of land holdings; in both the zones, net sellers had larger land holdings and produced more dry fodder than net buyers.Rice-wheat cropping systems were common in the surplus zone and these two crops constituted more than 90% of dry fodder production, whereas in the fodder deficit zone these two crops constituted 78 percent of total dry fodder production in surveyed villages. Pulses were the third most important dry fodder-producing crop in the surplus zone, whereas maize was the third most important in the deficit zone due to adoption of winter maize over large areas. Average production of dry fodder per household in the surveyed villages in the surplus zone was about twice that in the deficit zone, mainly due to the larger land holdings found there. The proportion of area used for production of the main dry fodder-producing crops (rice and wheat) was higher in the fodder surplus zone (75%) than in the fodder deficit zone (68%). The recent decline in area under rice and the use of combine harvesters in rice and wheat crops, particularly in the fodder surplus zone, could present a threat to fodder availability in Bihar. Retrieving straw from the field after combine harvesting is more costly and reduces the quality compared to manual harvesting, where cereal bundles are carried from the field for threshing.Inter-zone, intra-zone and inter-state dry fodder marketing are all common in Bihar. The amount of dry fodder sold was higher (5.5 tonnes (t)/household) in the surplus zone than in the deficit zone (3.8 t/household). As discussed earlier, paddy straw was the most important dry fodder accounting for 67% of sale volume; its share was higher in the surplus zone: about 72%. Wheat straw was the second important dry fodder with respect to production and marketing.Despite much higher production of wheat straw in the surplus zone, farmer preference there for feeding their animals with wheat straw rather than paddy straw translated into a smaller share of their wheat straw sold (39%) compared to the deficit zone (57%), with the quantities sold per household being almost identical in both zones. There is no market for maize stover in the surplus zone due to the negligible area under maize there. Livestock keepers in the surplus zone are not even aware that maize stover can be used as fodder. Marketing of pulse straw is not a common practice and less than one quintal was sold per household in the surveyed villages. About 20% of output in the surveyed villages in the surplus zone and 11% in the deficit zone was sold. Per household sale of pulse straw was higher in the surplus zone (0.15 t) than in the deficit zone (0.03 t), reflecting a larger area under pulses in the surplus zone.Among the major dry fodders in the surplus zone, pulse fodder is the most expensive (Rs. 1.94/kg) due to the higher preference given to it, followed by wheat straw (Rs. 1.17/kg) and paddy straw (Rs 1.07/kg). On the other hand, wheat straw was sold at a higher price (Rs. 1.33/kg) in the deficit zone, followed by paddy straw (Rs. 1.30/kg) and pulse straw, which was sold at much lower price (Rs. 1.14/kg). It is noteworthy that pulse straw fetched the highest price in the surplus zone whereas wheat straw is the most expensive in the deficit zone. Price behaviour of different types of fodder is influenced by farmer preferences in each zone. As expected, the prices of the main fodders (paddy and wheat straw) were higher in the deficit zone than in the surplus zone.The price of fodder was linked to type of purchaser. In the deficit zone, 51% of fodder sold by farmers was sold to fellow farmers in the village for higher prices than to other buyers. In the surplus zone, farmers sold more than 70 percent of fodder to vendors for lower prices. In the surplus zone, selling to vendors was preferred because they purchased almost all the surplus fodder at the same time. Wholesalers and dairy producers did not buy much fodder directly from producer farmers in either zone. However, farmers sold 6 to 8% of fodder to retailers in the surveyed villages. In both zones, almost all sales of fodder by farmers took place in the village, as it was difficult for farmers to transport their fodder to a market.An attempt was made to assess farmer perceptions of fodder quality. From a list of attributes, chopped short-length straw was the most desired for all the main fodders (paddy, wheat and pulses). Bright colour was the second important attribute for wheat straw but it was the fourth important attribute for paddy and pulse straws. Purity of fodder-that is, being free from contamination with other fodder species or varieties-emerged as the second most important attribute for pulse straw and third important for wheat and paddy straw. Farmers did not consider variety as an important attribute. Hence, short length, bright colour and purity are the important quality attributes. Taste was the least important attribute. Even when choosing cereal varieties to grow for human consumption, farmers do not consider taste: important criteria for selection of rice varieties in Bihar, for example, are yield and duration of crop (Singh, Thakur and Thelma, 2000).Feed millers produce small quantities of concentrates. Average annual concentrate production was about 87.4 t per miller in the surplus zone, whereas in the deficit zone, each miller produced only 15.2 t per year on average. Mustard and oil seed cake were the major concentrates and jointly constituted 53% of concentrate produced by feed millers, whereas maize-based feed was the third important feed (27%) produced by these millers.Millers produced small quantities of choker (husks of wheat grain) and darra (crushed grains) from food grains. Raw materials purchased by concentrate millers can be grouped into two categories: those exclusively for feed production (e.g. maize, barley and pulses and those for dual purpose feed and food (e.g. wheat, mustard and linseed). Wheat is used for production of flour, chokar and darra whereas mustard and linseed are used for production of oils and cakes (feed). Raw materials for feed production appeared to be readily available to millers since they bought more than two-thirds of their requirements at their business premises, mainly supplied by farmers and vendors. The other third was bought from wholesalers, indicating an important role of wholesalers in the supply of raw materials to feed millers in Bihar. Small feed millers had, on an average, a turnover of about Rs. 1.4 million, with oil cake accounting for about 58 percent of total business. The price of concentrates varied from Rs. 18.54/kg for linseed cake to Rs 8.17 for maize darra. Among darra, that from pulses was the most expensive (Rs. 14.04/kg).Concentrate millers sold all their output at their business premises. They sold about 65 percent directly to consumers (farmers and dairy producers) with retailers as the second most important buyers. Thus concentrates produced by unorganized millers do not pass through long marketing channels with different intermediaries such as vendor and wholesalers.Sales of concentrate (mainly crushed milled grains) were higher in summer season when green fodder is in short supply and availability of raw material is higher because it is just after harvesting of rabi crops. Sales are lower in autumn season due to an abundance of green fodders, including cut grasses.The market for dry and green fodders in Bihar is extremely underdeveloped and highly informal. However, there is a distinct pattern of fodder marketing between the fodder surplus and deficit zones. In fodder surplus zones, the main traded fodder is paddy straw. In these zones, an average trader buys 143 t of dry fodder per year, of which about 136 t (95%) is paddy straw.The scenario, however, is quite different in the fodder deficit zones. Paddy straw as a fodder is least preferred and is only fed to livestock when farmers do not have any alternative. About 89% of the dry fodder traded in deficit zones was wheat straw because it is supposed to be more palatable and nutritious. It also appeared that 53% of traded fodder passes through wholesalers in the deficit zone compared to 30% in the surplus zone.The role of retail traders in fodder marketing appeared to be quite significant and critical. On average, retail fodder traders buy and sell more fodder than an average wholesaler. About 42% of the fodder being traded passed through retailers. Retail traders purchased about 118 t of dry fodder per annum, maintaining about 10% of that as running stock.The function of vendors was also important. They normally collect or buy small quantities of fodder from producers and sell it in nearby markets to dairy producers, semi-processors, wholesalers and retailers. In urban areas, they also buy fodder from retail traders. Vendors usually prefer to dispose off their fodder stock the same day.About one quarter of the vendors, one third of the retailers and half of the wholesalers in Bihar store fodder. It is a common practice for traders to purchase fodder from producers, but to not take delivery of the entire lot at once. Instead, they store fodder in the farmers' yards and take delivery of it gradually as and when required. A small proportion of the fodder purchased is also stored at the business premises or houses of the traders.As far as processing is concerned, about 41% of traders processed fodder in some way, with different forms of processing characterizing the deficit and surplus zones. Traders in the deficit zone did little processing. Some retailers (9%) did go for light processing like chopping of maize stover, etc., but in general fodder was sold without any additional processing. It is important to recall that wheat straw is the main marketed fodder in the deficit zone and it is automatically chopped into small pieces during harvesting by the threshers using combine harvesters or specially designed threshers. In contrast, paddy straw, which dominates the fodder markets in the surplus zone, is harvested and threshed manually by beating or hitting the small bundles (antia) of paddy. Therefore, paddy straw must still be chopped into small pieces before feeding. Chopped paddy straw fetches a higher price and hence almost all retailers and wholesalers chopped paddy straw before selling. Many vendors (42%) in the surplus zone also chopped paddy straw before selling it. No other forms of processing such as preparation of silage, fodder bricks, urea treatment, etc. were reported.Certain quality parameters are important in fodder trade. Although there are no hard and fast rules, there are a number of parameters that traders report keeping in mind. Colour, size, moisture, softness, purity, cleanliness and variety are some of the parameters which are taken into account during negotiation and price determination. Sensory methods are mainly used to assess these quality attributes. The majority of traders take account of colour before buying. Usually, fodder having uniform colour and bright lustre is preferred. Most traders (78%) reported that a natural colour of fodder was the prime consideration when buying with length/size of the fodder being the next important consideration. For wheat straw and chopped paddy straw, traders preferred finely chopped small pieces because consumers also prefer chopped straw. Purity--defined as fodder not being mixed with other fodder species or varieties-also was important. These quality parameters are considered because consumers also accord highest priority to them. About 93% of consumers bought fodder after observing the colour. Purity of fodder was also important and 6% of traders stated that they tried to convince buyers about the purity and cleanliness of the fodder while selling.Fodder prices appear to be highly volatile, probably because of variation in demand and supply in the state. Frequent droughts and floods or the combination (drought followed by the flood) are regular features in many parts of the state and greatly affect production and availability of fodder which ultimately governs price. Besides year-to-year variation in fodder prices, intra year price differential is also common. Table 3.1 presents the maximum and minimum prices of fodder for the three years since 2006. It is obvious that based on these trends, projecting future prices is extremely difficult. In Bihar, feed companies and millers are the largest sellers of concentrates. In the deficit and surplus zones, about 66 and 43%, respectively, of concentrates are purchased by traders from feed companies and millers. Concentrate traders supply these to farmers and dairy producers and in some cases to other concentrate traders.Wholesalers are other important players, selling 42% in the surplus zone and 28% in the deficit zone directly to other concentrate traders. Some farmers are also involved in concentrate trading, accounting for about 4% of concentrates traded. In the surplus zone, vendors sold about 11 percent of concentrates to concentrate traders, mostly degraded grains, pulses etc. for resale as feed concentrates. In contrast, in the deficit zone, vendors did not play any role in concentrate marketing.About 69% of concentrates purchased by concentrate traders in the surplus zone was purchased on credit as compared to only 2% in the deficit zone. Cash purchases accounted for 28% in the deficit zone and another 32% was obtained by making partial payment in cash and the rest on credit. Interestingly, 39% of concentrate was purchased by making payment in advance in the deficit zone. Thus the supply-demand scenario appears to have a big influence on the mode of transaction financing.Oilseed cakes, small broken pieces of pulses (chunni), crushed grains (darra), other coarse grains, manufactured compound animal feed, and seeds of leguminous weed (locally known as akta misiya)were the principal concentrates reported sold and purchased in Bihar (Table 3.2). During autumn, sales of concentrates are at their lowest level, while in winter they are highest (mainly oilseed cakes and compound feed). Autumn is the lean season for dairy production when a majority of dairy animals become dry and thus producers only provide them maintenance levels of feeding. The energy requirement of animals increases in winter, increasing the demand for concentrates. Livestock holdings can be broadly categorized into three groups; urban commercial dairy, rural commercial dairy and rural smallholder dairy. They are the main buyers of fodder, with their demand for fodder varying according to the number of animals owned. Commercial dairies in urban and rural areas of the deficit zone had larger herds compared to their counterparts in the surplus zone, although the proportion of dry animals was larger in the deficit zone. Urban commercial dairies in both zones had similar proportions of crossbred cattle in their herds, but the proportion of buffalo was higher in the surplus zone. In both zones, the herd size in rural dairy farms was small with about 50% of the animals being dry (Table 3.3).All categories of dairy farms in the surplus zone and urban commercial dairy farms in the deficit zone used paddy and wheat straw as the principal dry fodder. Pulse straw constituted less than 5% of total dry fodder used by dairy farms in the surplus zone and less than 2% on rural dairy farms in the deficit zone. Since the deficit zone is a maize growing area, rural commercial dairy farms there used a substantial quantity of maize stover. All maize stover in the deficit zone was not used as fodder because a substantial quantity was used either as fuel, particularly by poor households, or burned in the field. Berseem, green oats, cut grass and maize are the main green fodders in Bihar, with berseem being the main green fodder in the surplus zone and maize in the deficit zone. Agriculture in the surplus zone is more developed and has improved irrigation infrastructure for production of berseem. Maize is an important crop in the deficit zone and it is one of the important green fodders. Cut grass was an important green fodder on rural commercial dairy units in both zones, mainly due to easy access. Oats was also used as fodder, particularly in the deficit zone but not in the surplus zone. In the deficit zone, oats are grown as a green fodder crop prior to growing early summer vegetables. Bamboo leaves are also fed as green fodder in the deficit zone.Rural commercial dairy units in both zones mainly buy fodder directly from farmers. Urban commercial dairy units in the surplus zone buy fodder mainly from retailers (43%) and vendors (29%). In the deficit zone, vendors are also important suppliers of fodder (49%) for urban commercial units which also purchased fodder from farmers (41%). Wholesalers were not an important source of fodder for commercial dairy units; they operate as middlemen in the fodder marketing chain.It is worth pointing out that urban commercial dairy units in the deficit zone bought about twice the quantity of concentrate (3.3 kg/Tropical Livestock Unit (TLU) /day) than their counterparts in the surplus zone (1.6 kg/TLU/day). Rural commercial dairy units and rural smallholder dairy farms in the deficit zone also bought less concentrate than urban commercial dairy units in the zone, but more than their counterparts in the surplus zone. The higher use of concentrate by all categories of dairy units in the deficit zone may reflect the scarcity of green fodder.There was a small difference in the price of major concentrates purchased by different categories of dairy units. In the surplus zone, urban dairy units paid higher prices for concentrates than rural commercial dairy units and rural smallholder dairy farms.Feed consumers combined individual feeds to make various rations. The resulting consumption patterns differed considerably between consumer types. About 5.6 kg dry fodder, 0.3 kg green fodder and 2.7 kg concentrates were used per day per TLU by urban commercial dairy producers, whereas rural commercial dairy producers fed 5.0, 1.0 and 0.7 kg and rural farmers fed 6.0, 1.1 and 0.5 kg of dry fodder, green fodder and concentrates per day per TLU (Table 3.4). Among different types of concentrates used on surveyed dairy units, oil cakes, choker-chunni-husks, and milled grains constituted more than four-fifths of total concentrates consumed in both zones. Compound feed was more popular in the surplus zone, but urban commercial units in the deficit zone also used more compound feed (0.6 kg) for milk production than their counterparts in the surplus zone (0.1 kg). Feeding a mineral mixture was not common. In the surplus zone, urban commercial dairy units used comparatively large quantities of \"chokerchunni-husk\" followed by milled grains, oil cakes and compound feed, whereas rural commercial dairy units used more milled grains followed by compound feed, choker-chunni-husk and oil cakes.Rural smallholder dairy farms had different patterns of concentrate feeding; on these units, more oil cake was used followed by milled grains, choker-chunni-husks and compound feed. In the deficit zone also, there was inter-category variations in concentrate feeding patterns, but the seasonal pattern was identical for all categories of dairy units.State government intervention in fodder production and marketing is non-existent in Bihar. However, the government arranges to supply dry fodder and provides transportation support during floods. Fodder production and marketing does not feature in the 'Road Map for Agriculture and Allied Sectors' by the Government of Bihar, nor does fodder marketing feature in any dairy development programmes in the state. The main issues that emerge from the study are:1. There is no specified place for fodder marketing, hence, a market place for fodder could be arranged by the government in existing market yards where sufficient unutilized space is available for this purpose.2. Within villages, more than 80% of trade in fodder is direct to consumers and the price of fodder is high in the deficit zone.3. Seasonal price fluctuations reflect the lack of storage capacity at producer, trader and consumer levels.4. Urban dairy producers are major buyers of fodder; they buy about 73% of dry fodder sold by traders.5. The type of fodder used also depends on the intensity of production: with increasing intensification of dairy production, the share of wheat straw being fed to dairy animals increases.Product definition and differentiation is an important aspect in most studies of markets. However, in the case of the few previous studies of straw markets, the level of detail paid to product definition and quality is generally limited. In most reports, straw is only defined by crop species and, in a few cases, variety groups are considered where differences within a crop are especially strong, for instance within rice.However, it is known that the nutritional quality of cereal straw varies greatly within crops as well as between crops. A considerable part of this variation is genetically based. This raises several questions:What is the actual variation in nutritional quality found at various stages of the straw marketing chain? How is the variation in quality perceived by consumers and traders of straw? How far do consumers and traders differentiate between environmental (e.g. management related) and genetic (e.g. varietal) effects on quality of straw? How is this knowledge carried along the marketing chain? What does this mean for improvement strategies, both through management and breeding approaches?Thus, the component on quality of straw throughout the marketing chain was designed as an integral part of the study. An important aspect regarding the evaluation of quality is the link between prices and various quality attributes. Information on prices and quality was collected from large urban markets to investigate price determinants. In these markets, large quantities of straw are traded by specialised traders who have often been involved in the trade for many years. Thus, it is assumed that prices here are less volatile than in smaller markets and that the traders have acquired a substantial amount of knowledge.To answer the questions raised above, the following data were collected: perceptions of traders on straw quality and its components prices nutritional quality determined by laboratory analysisIn addition, data on market structure and linkages were collected to enable links to the other components of the study. Because another project was also working on issues of straw marketing at New Delhi and Kolkata, it was possible to conduct the same data collection routine at all three sites ( Figure 4.1), allowing for insights into possible site effects on prices and quality perceptions.In Bihar, both wheat and rice straw is widely fed and is therefore also traded in Patna. In New Delhi, only wheat straw is traded, while in Kolkata, only rice straw is found in fodder markets. This report will focus on the findings in Patna, but for comparison some results from New Delhi and Kolkata are also shown. The aim was to collect data from specialised fodder traders on specific straw qualities, the main unit of analysis, at monthly intervals over the course of 13 months. Thus, 12 wheat straw samples and 12 rice straw samples were collected in Patna monthly over 13 months. Concurrently, 12 monthly samples over 13 months were collected in New Delhi (wheat straw) and Kolkata (rice straw). The sampling included completion of a one-page questionnaire for each sample which recorded quality perceptions, price and market chain information (Figure 4.2).The major sampling step involved selecting the fodder traders from which the straw samples were then collected. They were selected following these criteria:Traders were well established to ensure that they would be trading for the coming year (Figure 4.3) Fodder traders were located in at least two fodder markets per site to control for a market effect. At least three traders from each market were included. If possible, traders were offering more than one quality throughout the year. If possible, traders from Patna were trading both wheat and rice straw. When trading rice straw, it should be offered as chopped straw to customers, even though it is often transported unchopped (Figure 4.4)Where a trader was selling more than two feed-grade qualities, only the highest and lowest priced qualities were sampled. However, most traders were only trading one quality and only one straw type. Thus, a considerable number of traders were selected from each site. Table 4.1 shows the location of the selected traders at the Patna site. In addition to the data collected for each sample, information on the traders was collected during two visits, to allow for control of trader characteristics (Figure 4.4). Finally, traders were asked to grade three common samples to enable the comparison of trader perceptions.  During each sampling visit, the selected straw traders were asked to evaluate the quality of each sample according to six characteristics which had previously been identified as the most important: shortness of particles, softness, purity, brightness, dryness and taste. In addition, rice straw, which was delivered to traders unchopped, was also evaluated by the criteria of length, thinness and brightness of colour at base. Finally, an overall assessment of the quality was recorded. Traders were asked to assign index values ranging from 1 (e.g. best, shortest, brightest …) to 5 (e.g. poorest, longest, least bright …).In order to increase the accuracy of the laboratory results, four replicates were collected for each sample. At the ILRI facility in Hyderabad, these samples were first dried and weighed to determine the dry-matter content. They were then ground through a 1mm sieve and subjected to Near Infrared Spectrometry (NIRS) which uses near-infrared light rays and records the absorption/reflection spectrum. The resulting data were processed with regression equations which had been calibrated during previous studies by conventional laboratory methods.The following variables were generated for characterising nutritional quality: ash content For investigating links between variable groups, ordinary least squares regression was employed. In the case of the price determinants, variables were first screened by an ANOVA in order to avoid flooding the regression model with insignificant variables. A squared month term was introduced to account for the assumed cyclical pattern of seasonal effects.This section focuses on the results of the quality perceptions, the nutritional analysis and prices. All three variable groups show considerable seasonal variation. Therefore, descriptive means are presented over the course of the data collection period. In order to better understand links between variables, the results of simple regression analyses are also presented.Table 4.2 shows the seasonal variation of the overall assessment as well as the results for shortness, brightness and softness. These variables are generally regarded as most important by the traders. In order to test for the consistency of evaluation, the effect of the quality traits on the overall quality perception is estimated through a regression analysis. The resulting coefficients are shown in Table 4.3. Of the nine variables determined by the NIRS procedure to characterise the nutritional quality of the collected straw samples, only the results of the three most indicative variables are presented here. Digestibility is often the first major constraint in feed quality, nitrogen content indicates the proportion of leafy material and metabolisable energy is often the most limiting constraint from a feeding perspective. The seasonal variation of these variables is presented in Table 4.4. Sale prices collected from the straw traders during the data collection period are listed in Table 4.5. Although actual prices often include delivery and some credit arrangement as additional services by the trader to the customer, the prices listed here include neither. For comparison, the prices from New Delhi and Kolkata are included in addition to those from Patna.  3.13 3.23 3.25 3.27 3.44 3.21 3.35 3.02 3.13 2.98 3.30 3.29 3.42 Data source: 12 samples for each month from each site and typeIn order to better understand the links between quality perceptions, market prices and nutritional quality, various regression analyses were performed. Only selected results are presented here. Table 4.6 shows the effects of all perceived quality traits on the dependent variable \"price\". The low r 2 value in the case of wheat indicates how little of the price variation can be explained by the perceived quality traits. On the other hand, some traits, especially \"thinness (whole)\" and \"purity\" appear to contribute to higher prices. It should be investigated further why \"brightness\" and \"dryness\" show a positive sign, indicating poorer quality for these attributes correlates with higher prices. Subsequently, the links between the perceived quality traits and nutritional quality were investigated. However, it is not possible to determine effects of the perceived quality traits on digestibility through this regression analysis. The regression model for wheat straw only shows a significance level of 0.248, while the regression model for rice straw is significant but only exhibits an adjusted R 2 of 0.030.Similarly, regression results do not indicate any effects of perceived traits on metabolisable energy content. For wheat straw the model significance is 0.572, while for rice straw the model is once again significant but the adjusted R 2 is only 0.140. The single coefficient with a reasonable significance is \"dryness\".Finally, both quality traits and nutritional variables are included in a regression analysis together with environmental variables to investigate price determinants. The resulting coefficients are shown in Table 4.7. The overall design of the study proved to be effective in collecting and analysing the desired data. The traders were happy to co-operate and the information provided seemed sufficiently consistent. One lesson that emerged was the need to accurately define prices as traders varied in the extent of additional services they routinely provided.During data collection, it was observed that traders did not use a wide range of index values to evaluate their straw. The values generally varied between 1 and 3, which is also apparent in the low standard deviations shown in Table 4.2. In addition, as most traders only traded in one quality, the trader effect in the evaluation procedure was fairly large. In fact, some traders who were generally selling cheaper straw were often insistent on giving their straw high marks (\"I sell only the best quality!\"). Thus, in future studies such evaluations might be performed by an external person in order to avoid such a bias. For testing the trader effect, traders were asked to evaluate three standard samples. The data of this exercise are not yet analysed.The results of the quality perceptions show some variation through the seasons, but this is not easy to interpret. For instance, the overall quality of wheat straw is generally perceived to be the highest in August, four months after harvest and at the height of the monsoon season. Generally, high levels of humidity lead to a deterioration of straw quality. Also, the value levels do not differ greatly between the variables.Nevertheless, the regression of overall quality by the quality traits shows a useful explanatory power. In wheat, shortness and brightness show the greatest contribution while tastiness and softness are also significant, albeit with lower coefficient values. In rice, tastiness even shows the greatest contribution while colour, for both chopped and unchopped straw, is also important.Tastiness is somewhat difficult to define and quantify. On the other hand, the colour of straw is probably influenced considerably by fungus infestation, which occurs especially in humid periods.The type of quality variables also indicates that for consumers and traders, straw quality is foremost determined by various processing and management characteristics. For instance, shortness and softness is mainly influenced by the type of thresher employed. On the other hand, colour, dryness and purity are probably controlled largely by storage and transport. So far, intervention approaches have been mainly aimed at genetic improvements through varietal selection for superior nutritional quality, based on the fact that existing varieties show a wide variation in these characteristics. However, in the studied urban markets, traders were never aware of the varietal origin of their straw. They were, however, aware of differences in nutritional quality of varieties.The results of the nutritional analysis show a fairly consistent picture. Only the first month (June 2008) appears to be an outlier with relatively low values for wheat and high values for rice. It is noteworthy that the digestibility values for rice are generally lower than the average of all rice varieties previously tested, which was above 40%. It would be interesting to investigate this further to determine whether this is caused by variety choice, agronomic practices or post-harvest characteristics. In general, straw quality was highest around harvest time (March/April for wheat and November/December for rice). However, digestibility in rice appears to be highest six months after the harvest.The results of price recording indicate that seasonal factors alone do not determine prices. For instance, although wheat straw in Patna is cheapest after harvest in April, the peak price is found in August 2008. In New Delhi, prices in 2009 appear to be considerably higher than in 2008. And rice straw in Patna is cheapest in April/May, four months after harvest. Also, the difference in prices between sites is greater than between straw types within Patna. In fact, wheat and rice straw prices in Patna appear to move in parallel, with their peak in August (wheat) / July (rice) and their lowest values in April. This indicates a fair degree of substitutability, which is consistent with reports from the data collection. It would be interesting to investigate how the comparative evaluation of wheat and rice straw in Patna differs between various types of consumers.The various regression analyses regarding straw prices confirm the earlier indication of complex relationships existing between variables. Neither quality traits nor nutritional quality variables alone can explain straw prices. The only exception might be the quality traits of rice straw with close to 30% explanatory power, where \"thinness of the whole straw\" provides a large and significant contribution to price variation while having the expected negative sign. The lower index values indicate a higher quality. On the other hand \"brightness\" and \"softness\", two other significant coefficients, exhibit positive signs, contrary to expectations.The most obvious conclusion from the price determinant regression is the overriding influence of \"city\". As straw has rather high transportation costs and supply often differs between these rather distant sites (distance Delhi-Patna 1029 km, Patna-Kolkata 614 km), the studied markets are fairly isolated from each other. Therefore, it might be reasonable to analyse the three markets separately. However, a greater number of samples per site would be required to enable separate statistical analyses. On the other hand, because of their apparent substitutability, rice and wheat straw markets in Patna might be analysed together.The time variables appear to be significant only in the case of rice straw. There is some indication of a cyclical seasonality and a year effect. On the other hand, in wheat, despite the considerable price increases in Delhi in 2009, no year effect can be determined by the regression as prices in Patna decreased. Prices in Kolkata did not vary that much. However, as the study only covered thirteen months, a year effect cannot be accurately determined. Additional data on supply and demand to augment the analysis of price variation might contribute explanatory power.As in the trait regression, \"thinness of the whole straw\" appears to have a strong effect on rice straw prices. This indicates a varietal preference which should be further explored.The study has provided valuable new insights into qualities, perceptions and valuations of wheat and rice straw in urban fodder markets. It has been shown that traders mainly perceive straw quality by post-harvest characteristics. According to the analysis performed so far, these do not seem to have close links to the nutritional quality determined by laboratory methods. The nutritional values found were roughly in line with expectations for wheat but lower than expected for rice. The study showed that the selected markets differed so strongly in their price dynamics that they cannot easily be analysed together. The differences between markets and over time overshadowed variation which could be explained by quality.Fodder producers usually feed animals chopped or unchopped straw depending on local practice as well as availability of labour. However, retail fodder traders usually need to chop straw before selling, especially to urban/peri-urban livestock producers because buyers want ease of transportation and less space for storage. Utilization of chopped straw is also more efficient than unchopped straw. Simple, good-quality choppers are rarely found in local markets, but prototypes may be available elsewhere. Therefore, adaptation and dissemination of small-scale manual or mechanical choppers also offer an opportunity for improving feed marketing and its better utilization.However, even small choppers may be unsuitable for many small-scale fodder producers and fodder traders as they may not be able to use them to their full capacity. Larger traders may be able to own and use them to capacity on their own. One solution may be promoting fodder processing services: the equipment could be individually owned and custom-hired for a fee to others to make full use of the capacity. In the case of farmer groups or cooperatives, the ownership could be held by the group or the cooperative and its use shared for a fee by members. Financial institutions-banks and NGOscould facilitate acquisition and efficient use of these types of equipment by offering subsidized credit to individuals and groups. The financial institutions could develop a simple business plan showing cost and income flows, rates of return and payback periods so that the credit is granted on a sound financial basis that is easily understandable by the equipment owner.Prices of dry fodder could also be included in market information systems, being broadcast by radio and TV like other agricultural commodities; newspapers can also publish the prices of dry and green fodder targeting the large number of people involved in fodder production and marketing. Institutional credit could be made available to fodder traders so that they may also conduct business like any other enterprise related to the agricultural sector in the state. Research and extension programmes should be initiated for fodder production. Training of farmers can be organized for fodder production, processing, storage and marketing to prevent spoilage and to make better and judicious use of available feed and fodder being produced in Bihar.The nutritional quality survey results provide valuable new insights into issues related to fodder attributes, perceptions of these attributes and valuations of wheat and rice straw in urban fodder markets. It has been shown that traders mainly perceive straw quality by post-harvest characteristics. According to the analysis performed so far, these do not seem to have close links to the nutritional quality as determined by laboratory methods. The nutritional values found were roughly in line with expectations for wheat but lower than expected for rice. The study showed that the studied markets differed so strongly in their price dynamics that they cannot easily be analysed together. The differences between markets and over time overshadowed variation which could be explained by quality."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"89bcb41168b2e560576715dd05d71c5c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/37525389-5a45-436c-abcf-edbaa0f3823d/retrieve","id":"-179815009"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f08b4642-823f-4246-84a6-69f1c453b02d","content":"La biodiversidad agrícola y la erradicación del hambre y la pobreza, cinco años después Plataforma de Chennai para la AcciónEste folleto presenta la 'Plataforma de Chennai para la Acción' para mejorar la contribución que hacen los recursos fi togenéticos para el cumplimiento de los Objetivos de Desarrollo para el Milenio (ODM), especialmente para reducir el hambre y la pobreza.El plan de acción fue elaborado por los participantes en una consulta internacional sobre 'Función de la Agrobiodiversidad en el Logro del Objetivo de Desarrollo para el Milenio de Erradicar el Hambre y la Pobreza', celebrada en Chennai, India, en abril de 2005. La Consulta, organizada por el Instituto Internacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos (IPGRI), la Unidad de Facilitación Global para Especies Sub-utilizadas (GFU) del Foro Mundial sobre la Investigación Agrícola (GFAR) y la Fundación M.S. Swaminathan para la Investigación (MSSRF), reunió a unos 100 expertos y gestores de políticas con antecedentes variados de 25 países de todo el mundo para formular enfoques que permitieran maximizar la contribución que hace la agrobiodiversidad a la reducción del hambre y de la pobreza.Los participantes resaltaron la contribución distintiva que hace la agrobiodiversidad para mejorar los medios de vida al sentar las bases para la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional en los hogares y al ofrecer oportunidades para la generación de ingresos. También discutieron políticas, limitaciones institucionales y otros aspectos que limitan el despliegue total de estos recursos naturales y, en consecuencia, obstaculizan el logro de los OMD. También expresaron su preocupación por la rápida pérdida de estos recursos, que amenaza seriamente la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional de generaciones futuras. La intención de los participantes no sólo fue hacer que los gestores de políticas a nivel mundial y la comunidad internacional fueran más conscientes de la función que ejerce la agrobiodiversidad en la lucha contra el hambre, la pobreza y la desnutrición, sino también buscar mayor compromiso internacional con la conservación y el uso de este recurso natural para lograr el primero de los OMD.El plan de acción descrito en este folleto tiene por objetivo ayudar a los gobiernos nacionales y a los organismos internacionales a alcanzar la meta de reducir a la mitad el hambre y la pobreza para 2015. Promueve los principios de asignarle más importancia a la agrobiodiversidad en las estrategias de desarrollo nacionales e internacionales y de crear las condiciones políticas necesarias para permitir el uso sostenible de este tesoro para el benefi cio de los miembros más pobres y marginados de nuestra sociedad. El plan de acción requiere de mayor colaboración internacional en la conservación y la participación sostenible y equitativa de los benefi cios que surgen del uso de la agrobiodiversidad. Destaca la necesidad urgente de acción, de maneras apropiadas para cada país, para cumplir con los OMD.Los participantes de la sesión expresaron su preocupación por el hecho de que, cinco años después de la aprobación de los OMD, han sido muy pocos los avances logrados en la erradicación del hambre y la pobreza. En algunos países, la situación hasta ha empeorado. La sesión estuvo de acuerdo en hacer todos los esfuerzos para traer las recomendaciones formuladas en este plan de acción a la atención de los jefes de estado y de gobierno que se reunirán en septiembre del 2005 con ocasión de la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas. En esta Asamblea se examinarán los avances hacia el logro de los OMD. Es la esperanza sincera de los participantes de la Consulta de Chennai que el plan de acción propuesto sea considerado por la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas al defi nir los pasos a seguir hacia el logro de los OMD.La Consulta de Chennai y la producción de este folleto fueron patrocinadas por la Agencia Canadiense para el Desarrollo Internacional (CIDA), la Fundación Ford, el Fondo Internacional para el Desarrollo Agrícola (FIDA), la Agencia Suiza para el Desarrollo y la Cooperación (SDC) y la Fundación Syngenta. Queremos aprovechar esta oportunidad para agradecer a estos donantes, sin cuya generosidad no hubieran sido posibles la celebración de esta sesión y el desarrollo de este plan de acción. Desde comienzos de la domesticación de las plantas para uso humano, hace unos 12,000 años, la agrobiodiversidad ha desempeñado un papel fundamental en la manutención y el fortalecimiento de la seguridad alimentaria, nutricional, de salud y de los medios de vida en todo el mundo. A pesar de los enormes avances logrados en el aumento de la productividad agrícola mediante el mejoramiento mendeliano y, más recientemente, el mejoramiento molecular, más de 800 millones de niños, mujeres y hombres se acuestan cada día sin haber recibido una alimentación adecuada. La mayoría de ellos se encuentra en el sur de Asia y en África Subsahárica -áreas del planeta ricas en biodiversidad agrícola endémica. Reducir el hambre y la pobreza a la mitad para el año 2015 es el primer Objetivo de Desarrollo para el Milenio (ODM), de las Naciones Unidas, un programa mínimo común mundial para la seguridad humana y el bienestar universal. Una evaluación realizada cinco años después de la aprobación de los ODM indica que los avances en la reducción del hambre y la pobreza son insufi cientes. En este entorno, adquieren importancia las conclusiones de una consulta internacional sobre el papel de la agrobiodiversidad en la erradicación de manera sostenible del hambre y la pobreza, celebrada recientemente en Chennai, India.El hambre endémica causada por la desnutrición proteinoenergética, el hambre oculta causada por defi ciencias de hierro, yodo, cinc, vitamina A y otros micronutrimentos en el régimen alimentario, y el hambre transitoria causada por la sequía, las inundaciones y otros desastres naturales pueden ser superadas mediante una estrategia integrada de conservación y uso sostenible y equitativo de la agrobiodiversidad. Incluso durante el tsunami titánico del 26 de diciembre de 2004, se encontraron en las costas de Tamil Nadu, India, líneas nativas de arroz que sobrevivieron la inundación. En el pasado se sembraban muchos cultivos que 'salvan vidas', como los tubérculos y las legumbres; además, necesitamos urgentemente reavivar saberes que tienden a olvidarse y adoptar medidas para salvar cultivos que están desapareciendo y pueden ayudar a sanar las heridas infl igidas por calamidades naturales o 1.producidas por el hombre. Las mujeres, en particular, son las que poseen dichos conocimientos tradicionales y hay que fortalecer y revitalizar la función decisiva que tienen en la conservación y el manejo sostenible de la agrobiodiversidad. Las frutas tropicales, la batata rica en beta-caroteno y otros cultivos de hortalizas pueden ayudar a combatir la defi ciencia de vitamina A en los niños. En otras palabras, la agrobiodiversidad ofrece oportunidades únicas para desarrollar sistemas comunitarios de seguridad alimentaria descentralizados y específi cos al sitio, que incluyen bancos de germoplasma, bancos de semilla y bancos de granos en el campo, desarrollados y manejados por mujeres y hombres de esos sitios. Este enfoque servirá, además, para agrandar la canasta familiar para la seguridad alimentaria puesto que incluye cultivos altamente nutritivos aunque subutilizados. Esta es la vía más sostenible y asequible para lograr el ODM de eliminar el hambre y la pobreza.La agrobiodiversidad ofrece la materia prima decisiva para mejorar, de manera duradera, la productividad y la calidad de los cultivos, el ganado y los peces. Metas como \"salud para todos\" y \"peces para todos\" pueden alcanzarse sólo si se conservan las plantas medicinales y la diversidad genética en los peces. La agrobiodiversidad también ofrece oportunidades, especialmente a la población de escasos recursos sin tierra, para crear empresas que generen empleo e ingresos a partir de una variedad de alimentos, medicamentos, nutracéuticos, biocombustibles y otros productos -todos con valor agregado. Dichas oportunidades poseen un valor particular, ya que hoy día los ingresos inadecuados y el bajo poder adquisitivo son las principales causas de la falta de seguridad alimentaria a nivel doméstico. El potencial que ofrece la agrobiodiversidad para hacer frente al cambio climático no se aprecia bien. En resumen, falta comprender mejor la \"función distintiva\" de la agrobiodiversidad en superar el hambre de manera sostenible, desde el punto de vista ambiental, económico y social, e integrar ese conocimiento a las estrategias nacionales y mundiales para lograr los ODM. También hace falta una mejor nutrición para combatir pandemias como el VIH/SIDA y la tuberculosis, ya que un enfoque basado en medicamentos no conducirá, por sí solo, a los resultados deseados. Los alimentos sanos del mañana serán, en su mayor parte, los cultivos subutilizados de hoy.La agrobiodiversidad y la diversidad cultural se infl uyen mutuamente. Los sistemas de explotación agrícola locales ofrecen materiales básicos para poemas, canciones, bailes y dramatizaciones. Los sistemas de seguridad alimentaria liderados por la comunidad, que se basan en la conservación, el cultivo y el Introducir medidas legislativas para el uso de la tierra y otros recursos naturales de producción para mejorar la capacidad de todos para usar la agrobiodiversidad y sus conocimientos tradicionales asociados con el fi n de promover el empleo fuera de la fi nca y la generación de ingresos en armonía con los 5.1 Cerca de 100 expertos y gestores de políticas con antecedentes variados, procedentes de 25 países, participaron en una consulta internacional en la Fundación M.S. Swaminathan para la Investigación, en Chennai, India, los días 18 y 19 de abril de 2005. Nuestra tarea fue considerar cómo la agrobiodiversidad puede ayudar al mundo a lograr los Objetivos de Desarrollo para el Milenio, y en particular, la meta de un mundo sin hambre ni pobreza. Este evento fue conjuntamente organizado por la Fundación M.S. Swaminathan para la Investigación, el Instituto Internacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos y la Unidad de Facilitación Global para Especies Sub-utilizadas, en cooperación con la Agencia Suiza para el Desarrollo y la Cooperación, la Agencia Canadiense para el Desarrollo Internacional, el Fondo Internacional para el Desarrollo Agrícola, la Fundación Ford y la Fundación Syngenta para la Agricultura Sostenible. derechos tradicionales, la identidad cultural, la integridad del ecosistema y la equidad de género.Fortalecer el sistema multilateral de disposiciones de intercambio del Tratado Internacional de la FAO sobre Recursos Fitogenéticos para la Alimentación y la Agricultura, para ampliar su cobertura de especies vegetales importantes para la seguridad alimentaria y la generación de ingresos de la población de escasos recursos, y garantizar la participación justa y equitativa de los benefi cios obtenidos de la ganancia comercial devengada de los recursos genéticos a los cuales se haya tenido acceso, y trabajar para desarrollar un tratado similar sobre el intercambio multilateral de recursos genéticos animales pertinentes a la alimentación y la agricultura.Reconocer y recompensar los aportes de incalculable valor que hacen la población rural y los pueblos indígenas, en particular las mujeres, a la conservación y el perfeccionamiento de la biodiversidad agrícola, y conferir prestigio social y benefi cio económico a sus preservadores primarios.Promover los mercados locales y facilitar el acceso a los mercados internacionales para los productos de la biodiversidad agrícola, especialmente los alimentos tradicionales y funcionales, garantizando la equidad y la igualdad entre todos los participantes.Defender y fortalecer el alfabetismo nutricional en los países mediante una gestión participativa del conocimiento que involucre a todos los segmentos de la sociedad, en particular a las mujeres y a los jóvenes, y capacitar a los extensionistas agrícolas y a los profesionales de la salud y de la nutrición en la importancia de la diversidad de alimentos en el régimen alimentario y los efectos benéfi cos comprobados de los alimentos tradicionales, para así reestablecer la importancia de la agrobiodiversidad regional en la lucha contra el hambre y la pobreza.Garantizar que los programas de la red de apoyo de seguridad alimentaria y nutricional, en especial los de ayuda alimentaria y alimentación escolar así como los bancos de alimentos fomenten una mayor diversidad de alimentos en el régimen alimentario, ampliando la canasta familiar con más cultivos nativos como parte de la Política Nacional sobre Nutrición.V.Reestructurar las prioridades de investigación y desarrollo para mejorar la productividad, la rentabilidad y el desarrollo de cadenas de valor de una mayor variedad de agrobiodiversidad, incluyendo especies hasta ahora descuidadas, generando así un interés económico en su conservación.Para evitar la pérdida defi nitiva de cultivos que tienden a desaparecer y de saberes que tienden a olvidarse, introducir un cambio de mentalidad mediante iniciativas internacionales que busquen cambiar la imagen del público sobre los cultivos subutilizados y olvidados por medio de medidas como renombrar los \"cereales secundarios\", donde convenga, como \"cereales nutritivos\" y clasifi car una amplia gama de hortalizas verdes, tubérculos, legumbres de grano y frutas tropicales como \"alimentos sanos\". Salvar plantas para salvar vidas y medios de vida debe convertirse en el negocio de todos, para que conlleve a una movimiento mundial de \"agrobiodiversidad para la seguridad de la humanidad\".La lucha mundial contra la pobreza y el hambre no podrá ganarse ahora ni a largo plazo si no se cuenta con mayor colaboración internacional en la conservación y el uso sostenible y equitativo de la agrobiodiversidad. El compromiso internacional es imperativo para tomar medidas respecto a algunas recomendaciones enumeradas anteriormente, mientras que las iniciativas nacionales pueden actuar respecto a otras. Instamos a todos a que empleen enfoques y prácticas pertinentes a su situación individual y a implementar planes detallados propios para hacer un mejor uso de la agrobiodiversidad con el fi n de lograr los ODM en relación con el hambre y la pobreza. El hecho de que, cinco años después de la aprobación de los ODM, la mayoría de las naciones en desarrollo no hayan podido lograr avances proporcionales en la eliminación del hambre y la pobreza indica que un enfoque de \"continuar haciendo lo mismo\" no nos ayudará a alcanzar la meta de un mundo sin hambre. Otro asunto igualmente inquietante es la tasa de crecimiento de la población humana, que continúa superando la tasa de crecimiento en la producción de alimentos, lo cual agrava el hambre endémica inducida por la pobreza. Donde reina el hambre, no puede prevalecer la paz. En consecuencia, ha llegado el momento de abrazar la idea de un sistema de seguridad nutricional que sea sostenible, descentralizado, manejado por la comunidad y basado en un concepto ampliado de la agrobiodiversidad.X."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3cb92d190b4e29023d6c9eb0e481eedc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e352f94e-c2e8-4352-820b-5bc84458ed38/retrieve","id":"1235666457"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"76a4c2ff-ab29-4551-a4b3-ac5084ba551c","content":"A number of studies have investigated the rational decision-making process within households. In the current study, we also aim to better understand the issue of decision making by women. By bringing together behavioral science and gender research, we want to study how women rationalize, analyze and make decisions, whether at the household level: between her and her husband, or between her and another woman in the household, such as her mother-in-law, or at the level of the group. The investigation is on whether the woman manages to defend her ideas in a mixed group, and when is negotiating with other women in a group, assuming that her behavior may differ depending on who she is dealing with and the nature of the decisions. To provide answers to all these questions, instead of using conventional survey techniques that can be confusing, time-consuming and burdensome for the respondents and the information obtained can be biased, we want to show women sets of video scenarios of different circumstances mentioned, testing treatment such as the nature of decision item (such as transaction costs associated with a technology to adopt) and the level of information available. This research has the wide potential to unraveling the problems of mis-adoption of our technologies including the cultural norms and will inform ways of 'accelerating' decision-making in the future. The study of behavior using videos has advantage of bringing the problems we study to life. We might be able to see and hear, to capture some understanding that might be missed in a narrative description.The different steps taken for carrying out the study included (1) the creation of different video scenarios including different discussion scenes requiring decision making between different people, discussions without and with information: on the choice of varieties to be grown, the choice of varieties to be grown and parboiled, the organization related to the use and operation of the parboiling equipment, and the consumption of parboiled rice; (2) the design of the video scenarios with the involvement of actors with whom the respondents can identify themselves ; and (3) conducting surveys of in the areas where the parboiling units were installed: Atsimo Andrefana, Alaotra Mangoro, Menabe, Sofia et Vakinankaratra. Furthermore, the preliminary results were shared with different stakeholders through a workshop with key actors in women's empowerment.The respondents were videos selected randomly from different categories of decision-making, namely the (1) change of variety, (2) change of variety for parboiling, (3) use of parboiling equipment and (4) consumption of parboiled rice.Three types of decision-making in household setting were designed : (C) husband and wife, (P) wife with mother in law (relatively older woman) and (G) in association of women.An information treatment was included, (a) the arguments were not included, and the decision was based on vague or less-sustained information, and in the opposite case (b) with a set of arguments included to inform the decision. A summary of the options on decisions is presented in the table below : Hence a total of 24 videos were used in the interview, but the respondent had to only watch 4 videos, one of which is randomly drawn from each category 1 . At the end of each video, she/he was asked for her/his opinion, mainly whether or not she/he agreed with the character in the video to make the choice and then the reasons of the decision.The study took place in four regions namely Analamanga, Alaotra Mangoro, Menabe and Sofia, in each reagion, 10 villages were identified and 20 respondents were interviewed in each regions. In total, 832 persons were interviewed individually in their households, no prior link to an agricultural association was previously sought ; 613 women and 219 men were interviewed. The actors engaged in value chain include farmers, purchase and sale of paddy, milling, collecting and wholesale, agro-dealers, processors, parboilers. Consumers are also represented.For the 1595 plots of land for which the information is completed, 36% belong to the respondent, while 34% are declared to be the owner of the respondent's spouse, while for the 13%, it is their parents who own it. For the owners who answered \"myself\" or \"spouse\", 63% of them are male and 36% are female respectively.The majority of plots are managed by the head of household and the spouse, both during the main season and in the off-season. Of the 1595 plots surveyed, 83% are managed by the husband and wife in the household during the main season and 74% during the off-season. The majority of respondents agree with the woman in the video who proposes her idea for change.The negated responses are very small, and overall ranged between 1.4% and 3.2% The chi2 test of whether the responses were differentiated by the respondent's gender or not showed us that the responses did not differentiate by the respondent's gender for the four categories of videos they were shown.It can be seen that the change of varieties is the least rejected by the respondents, while a significant proportion of the respondents say that they do not agree with the use of parboiling equipment and the consumption of parboiled rice.The respondents' perception of the content of the video was assessed on their adequacy of attributes. The proportion of male and female participants is evenly distributed for the 9 aspects questioned, except for \"trust in leaders\", where a higher proportion is observed for the man than for women. It can be said that men have more trust in leaders than women.According to the chi-2 test, we observe that for the first three videos, which are: \"changing varieties, changing varieties for parboiling and the use of parboiling equipment\", there is no significant relationship between the respondent's gender and their trust in the managers. On the other hand, for the video concerning \"the consumption of parboiled rice\" the observed p-value is 0.068. It can be said that there is a insignificant relationship between the gender of the respondent and his or her trust in the leaders.To explicitly see the factors that determine respondents' choice of whether or not to agree with the video character, a model was estimated with the idea thaveo the respondent's decision as an explained variable, i.e. their answer whether or not they agree with the character's proposal to make a decision whether it is on the change of variety, the change of variety for parboiling, the use of parboiling equipment or the consumption of parboiled rice.Where 1.\uD835\uDC4C : explained variable (0/1: agree or disagree)1.\uD835\uDC65 \uD835\uDC56 : Explanatory variables: 1. The Video Category 2.Video Type: With Arguments or Not 3.Discussion Setting: Husband-Wife, Group... 4.Demographic characteristics of the respondent 5.Knowledge of parboiled rice 6.Membership in the group/association 7.Decision-making in rice cultivation...To do this, we should have a video-based dataset instead of a household-based dataset. So, our occurrence now corresponds to a video. In other words, if we have 832 occurrences in the household database and each respondent gives their opinion on 4 videos, we will have 832*4= 3,328 occurrences in the new video database dataset.After processing data, we get our dataset, and the correlation The analysis of each of these variables shows that some variables have more missing values than others because of skipped responses (not applicable). These variables that have too many missing values deteriorate the quality of the model and should be omitted.Since our dependent variable is categorical with two choices (yes or no), our model is therefore a logistic model.We observed that the variable \"video_agree_\" (which refers to the respondent's opinion of the character's idea of adopting certain changes) is significantly explained by these 7 variables: . probit video_agree_ video tot_men riz_cons_var_modern_on deci_particip_01 vid_interet_ vid_nivA workshop was held, to share the experience of using video as a data collection tool, to validate the methodology and the conditions of its use and make recommendations for future. Participants had an interest in the topic and some experience with gender research, from FOFIFA, CIRAD and from FTVM, an umbrella organisation of women associations.On the methodology, the discussion was whether the use of video is appropriate in such a case of decision-making? What are the other cases? Whether the number of videos shown was adequate? And the suggestions for randomization? Unit: household, male and female, female, groups? ➢ Overall the use of video was a daring successful and attractive method. It limited the interference of the enumerator ➢ There may be a video effect, with the respondents more excited by the video irrespectively of the content ➢ Language: while the videos were made in the national malagasy languages, there are regional dialects. The enumerators have to translate the videos, which is not ideal ➢ Targets: Women/female farmers. While women prefer animated video ➢ The choice of 4 videos was adequate, a larger number will confuse ➢ Considering the unit of study, the household has family ties, most common being with grandparents and the associated respect for the elderly it conjures ➢ The nature of the technology is also relevant, between an innovation that is 'regularly' considered (such as varieties), a known technology (such as on-farm mechanization equipment for ploughing, land leveling, etc.), or a technology that is not yet know (in this case, a parboiling equipment)On the videos, the discussion was on whether the content was enough, not a source of bias? Whether the arguments contained the sufficient elements or not ; whether the choice of actors was good, they were typical or distant or persuasive?➢ There could be a lack of concentration of participants when they watched the videos ➢ The actors appear to represent the Highlands and not all the cultures ➢ The setting lacked decoration and was not quite natural. The tone was more pedagogical than cinematographic ➢ The actors could be changed across the different scenes ➢ Also related to the language is the agricultural tonality and gesturing which was missing ➢ Persuasion: the trade-offs of working with well-known actors, well-known people in the area or typical farmers in the regions. The cost implication was also considered. ➢ A lesson on adaptation of the extension message to the context On the analysis, thought about disaggregation by sex, the econometric analysis considering correlations and the decision as an intermediate step to empowerment or the other way around? A question of endogeneity ➢ Indeed it is necessary to present the sex-disaggregated data ➢ The presentation of results should be made palatable to the audience ➢ Revealed agreement and actual change-investigate variables associated with actual behaviour ➢ Proposition to look at the alternative specific variable On decision in households, there may be cultural differences that can also reflect on the composition of households ; whether there are differences in making typical choices -choice of varieties, new technologies, acquisition of household goods, complex Choices, choice in groups and other Social/Economic Differences.➢ Indeed there are differences depending on the regions and ethnicities ➢ Differences between central and peripheral regions ➢ And also differences in where the parboiled rice unit was installed in terms of knowledge about parboiling. This could influence the agreement if the person has prior information."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c82811a25245779fb7454f67e06dc836","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/68f2778c-9eb3-4929-8c89-a10e07ff7855/retrieve","id":"-768803754"},"keywords":["COMESA","Food staples","Trade"],"sieverID":"d130dc0e-3167-44fb-8566-b6b299312fa6","content":"Shrinking productive land coupled with climate change has led to rising food insecurity in COMESA region. The situation has been exacerbated by the rise in food prices as witnessed in the vast majority of COMESA member countries and elsewhere in the world. Intra-regional trade in food staples offers prospects for enhancing food security through cross border trade and movement of food from surplus to deficit areas. The objective of the current study is to analyze the opportunities available in intra-regional trade in food staples in COMESA region. Using data for selected countries in COMESA region, the study finds that, while some countries, or even some regions within the same country, are food surplus, others are food deficit and literally lacking food to buy in some seasons. This creates a framework for a win-win situation-the food surplus countries/regions could get better prices for their products by selling to food deficit countries/regions while food deficit countries/regions could avoid food shortages and extreme food price volatility by allowing inflow of food staples from surplus countries/region. The regional diversity, differential rainfall patterns across the countries coupled with the phenomenon of staggered harvesting due to spatial climatic variability has and will continue to be major stimulus for cross-border trade from food surplus areas in one country to food deficit areas in neighboring countries. The study also finds that a more liberalized cross-border trade leads to reduced price volatility. Further, the analysis of the results shows that trade in staples has grown rapidly in the recent past in the COMESA region. Consequently the impacts of regional trade in food staples in the region cannot be debated. The region is also faced with numerous tariff/nontariff barriers, poor infrastructure and lack of market information which translates to increased transaction costs. The study recommends a regional approach to enhance food security and agricultural growth, rather than a national isolated approach. There is need for a clear follow up and monitoring of the implemented COMESA commitment of eliminating NTBs and prevention of entry of new NTBs. Regional approach is highly advocated to elimination of the NTBs as they are similar across countries in addition to investment in improved infrastructure.Despite improved economic growth in recent years, poverty levels and food insecurity remain unacceptably high in COMESA region. Hunger is still a major problem among COMESA member countries (Figure 1). This scenario has degenerated, especially in periods of food price crisis, 2007-2011. Further, fighting food insecurity is a cross-cutting issue related to poverty alleviation, education and health policies, as well as economic development. Agricultural growth has a critical role in food security and poverty reduction in the COMESA region (COMESA, 2009). But increasing agricultural production and productivity may not be realized in the short run. Thus, regional trade in food staples could be the easiest and the fastest mechanism for enhancing food security and curbing extreme food price volatility (Haggblade et al, 2008a). Further, regional trade is an important channel for the diffusion of technology which stimulates long-term growth and development. There are dual pathways through which regional trade enhances food security-indirectly by promoting economic growth, which improves income and, hence, the access to food and directly by augmenting domestic food supplies, thereby increasing the availability of food and pushing down food prices. Given population growth (Table 1) and growing urbanization, COMESA's market demand for food staples will grow dramatically in the coming decades, and this underscores the need to exploit the potentials in regional trade. Facilitating expansion of regional markets will, therefore, be critical efforts aimed at stimulating agricultural production, broad-based income growth and poverty reduction, and for ensuring food security of vulnerable populations in deficit zones. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: part 2 discusses the study conceptual framework, part 3 discusses the trends of production and supply of food staples in the COMESA region; section 4 examines trends and volatility of food prices; section 5 covers trade patterns, challenges and prospects among COMESA member countries before conclusion and policy recommendations are made in section 6.The potential of intra-regional trade with food staples is one very promising approach to enhancing food security in COMESA region. Intra-regional trade takes place formally and/or informally. Formally involves all trade that is officially traded and is recorded at the customs border points while informal trade accounts for all trade that is not officially recorded at the custom border. The two forms of trade create free movement of food staples in the region. The free movement of food commodities from a surplus to a deficit area can ensure that sufficient food is available. In this way, regional trade contributes to food availability. The supply of food via regional trade takes place either by ensuring ongoing trade flows or during limited periods in time when food is needed. The stability of food supplies can contribute to preventing food crises. Further, the free movement of food within a region may reduce the volatility of food prices. Consumers through open borders benefit from relative price stability in terms of purchasing power while producers benefit from the available cross border markets. However, for the potentials of intraregional trade to be felt, there is need for the political will in coming up and implementing open border policies.To achieve food security through regional trade, the demand and consumption of a specific food staple have to coincide between a food surplus country/area and a food deficit country/area to trigger cross-border trade. Furthermore, the produced and consumed food items have to correspond in the deficit and surplus areas. Otherwise production cannot meet the demand. There is also need for established trade relations between the trading partners in the different areas. For intraregional trade to function in the long run there is need for reduced transportation costs, seasonality and competitiveness in the trading partners. Differences in seasonality may contribute to the availability of food in cases of shortages, by trading across-borders. With regard to production costs, food surplus countries have to compete with other exporting countries and thus have to produce at competitive costs. In conclusion, the main contribution of intra-regional trade to food security is to enhance the availability, accessibility, and stability of food to consumers.This section examines the production and supply trends of food staples in the COMESA region.The main food staple in the COMESA region is maize. Production of the maize crop has, however, been quite erratic in most of the countries possibly due to over-reliance on the natural weather associated with erratic rainfall among other factors (Figure 2). Further, maize yields in a majority of countries in the COMESA region are very low and in most cases have been less than 2 tons/ha for many years, except for Egypt and Mauritius. This compares very poorly with other regions of the world such as Asia, Europe and North America (Figure 3). Despite maize being the key staple in the region, the yields are currently lower than they were at the beginning of the decade. Comparison of the maize yield figures for years 2000-2002 to those of 2006-2008, indicates that maize yields have declined in several countries (figure 3). The countries that registered a decline include Eritrea (59%), Tanzania (54%), Zimbabwe (42%), Swaziland (38%), Uganda (16%), Comoros (11%), Burundi (6%), Djibouti (4%) and DRC (2%). The countries that registered productivity increases were Sudan (115%), Madagascar (65%), Malawi (46%), Ethiopia (29%), Egypt (9%), Kenya (6%), Mauritius (5%), Libya (4%) and Rwanda (4%). The countries with low productivity can benefit from countries with high productivity which can be attained through open cross border trade. 3.2 Supply of food Food supply situation in the COMESA region has been relatively constant with only a slight increase over the 2000 to 2007 period (Figure 4). Figure 4 indicate huge differences in per capita cereal supply between countries-some countries like Egypt have over 200 kg per person per year while others such as Burundi, DRC and Rwanda have an average of less than 40 kg per person per year. Southern Africa region has more food supply than the Eastern Africa region, a manifestation of potential for food movement across countries. COMESA countries should put in place measures that would progressively ensure that food can move easily and cost effectively between countries and between regions within a country. Countries in the COMESA region were affected by the global food price crises of between 2006 and 2010, a period characterized by high and volatile food prices. The situation had a negative impact on the welfare of both producers and consumers. All countries in COMESA region were affected at varying levels by rising food prices. In the recent past, 2011-2012, the global and domestic prices of many food commodities increased substantially (Figure 5).   On the other hand, the year 2010 saw domestic meat prices in selected EA countries continue to increase (Figure 8). Over the period, first half of 2011, various countries in EA experienced drought in livestock producing areas: Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda which may have triggered the high bovine meat price due to reduced supply in the market. This creates an opportunity for cross border trade especially in times of disaster. Further analysis of the domestic food prices of selected countries in COMESA region shows that the food prices are much more volatile than the corresponding global prices (Table 2). Volatility refers to variations in prices over time. This was measured by the use of the coefficient of variation (CV).The CV is calculated as followsWhere, SD is standard deviation.The coefficient of variation of domestic prices of maize in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda is significantly greater than the coefficient of variation of the global maize price (Table 2). This indicates that the domestic food prices are more volatile than the global food prices.Rwanda reports the highest CV followed by Kenya, then Tanzania and Uganda. The CVs are different among the countries of focus. This implies that the severity of high food prices is different in different countries and that the price of a commodity may display different behavior in different countries in the region as also reflected by the trend analysis (see figure 6, 7 and 8). Further, the GARCH model was applied to time series analysis of maize prices in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and globally to show volatility of the maize prices. The GARCH model treats heteroscedasticity as a variance to be modeled, while allowing it to depend upon its previous lags and also predicting the variance of each error term. Specification of the conditional variance isWhere lnσ 2 t is the conditional variance to be modeled and ensures that σ 2 t is not negative even if the parameters are negative.γ measures asymmetry/leverage effect -price response to market shocks-unanticipated changes in prices α measures symmetric effect/ sensitivity of volatility to market events β measures persistence in conditional volatility irrespective of anything happening in the market; ω constantThe results of the GARCH analysis revealed that maize prices are more volatile in Kenya than in Tanzania and Uganda (Figure 9). The domestic maize prices in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are more volatile than the global maize prices. The extent of volatility is also observed to decline between 2006 and 2010. During this period, 2006 to 2010, the EAC custom union came into force starting 2005. One benefit of the custom union is the free trade. This indicates that liberalized trade in food staples ensures that the farmers in surplus regions/countries are able to sell their produce to deficit areas thus earns better returns for their output while consumers in the deficit regions/countries enjoy guaranteed availability of food staples at fair prices. Returns of maize prices were computed using logarithmic price relativesWhere p t is the monthly price at current time t and pt-1 is the previous price.The price returns also show volatility of the maize prices, where large positive changes are followed by large negative changes (see figure 10). Kenya reported large positive changes which are followed by large negative changes more than the other countries. The global maize pricesshow the least degree of change between the positive and negative changes (figure 10).  Trade in food staples is a key aspect in the agricultural sector. It has grown rapidly in the recent past in the COMESA region (Annex 2) due to population growth which has led to expanding markets, favorable economic prospects and rapid rate of urbanization in the region. The regional diversity and differential rainfall patterns across the countries has and will continue to be a major stimulus for cross-border trade from food surplus areas in one country to food deficit areas in neighboring countries. Further, year 2010 total value of food staples trade is estimated at US$ 394,961,000 (Annex 1) which comprises of both formal and informal trade in the region. COMESA region experiences informal trade activities which increase food access and the potential can be exploited through implementation of a more liberalized cross border trade devoid of tariff as well as non-tariff measures. This shows the existence of intra-regional trade whose potentials as mentioned can be exploited. 0 1,000,000,000 2,000,000,000 3,000,000,000 4,000,000,000 5,000,000,000 6,000,000,000 7,000,000,000 Several food security enhancing hotspots exist in Eastern Africa. Examples include most of Uganda, Rift valley region-Kenya, and Southern highlands of Tanzania (Figure 12). The map shows potential for cross border trade where maize can move from surplus to deficit areas within a country and within the region. In Eastern Africa, maize produced in Uganda and Tanzania can be supplied to the Kenyan market, and various other cross-border trade flows can occur in that region. The cross-border trade in food staples will stabilize food supply and food prices in the region through exploiting regional diversity.Source: ReSAKSS-ECA database Potential for cross-border trade lies in the diversity of factors that influence particularly agricultural production. Among the critical factors include the following:Heterogeneity in production due to differentiated harvesting season motivates cross border trade ensuring food access throughout the year. Diversity in agro-ecological zones implies diversified agricultural production; even where countries produce similar agricultural products, spatial climatic variability implies that supplies are available at different times of the year due to staggered harvesting in the region (Figure 13). This can also be explained by the high incidences of drought experienced especially in Eastern Africa. Areas with low food supply are able to receive food from areas with increased supply.Maize serves as the primary food staple in most COMESA member countries. However, there are reported evidence of consumption and substitution of maize with other staple foods. Empirical work in Mozambique shows high levels of cassava consumption as well as substitution between maize and cassava, even in urban areas (Tschirley and Abdula, 2007). In Malawi and Zambia, substitution with cassava is noted when maize is in short supply. Uganda's main staple food is bananas with reported high production of maize which is traded with the neighboring countries.The markets at the border are thus trading posts for the neighboring countries enhancing the movement of people in addition to the movement of food staples across countries from those countries with high supply and low prices to the neighbors with low supply and high prices.Source: Author compilation, 2011   36=Momkambo;37=Kasumbalesa;38=Mkumaniza;39=Nyamapanda;40=Machipanda;41=Kibondo;42=Kigoma;43=Elwark;44=Mpondwe;45=Rusumo;46=Manyovu;47=Dobley Individual countries in COMESA region have small domestic markets, high production costs, low production and deficient investment climates. The countries also report low economic growth rate as there is limited progress in poverty reduction and achievement of MDGs by individual countries. Thus regional diversity including integration will exploit combined resource endowments and potential for economies of scale leading to trade creation, mainly access to market and competition, investment facilitation and regional growth spillover benefits. Cross border trade will benefit the traders from the expanded market base from the COMESA region increasing population. Further, the cross border trade creates opportunities for crossborder investment. Trade can also moderate price shocks in the market (Haggblade et al, 2008b). During drought, staple food production falls and the domestic supply is affected negatively with the food prices going up. With open borders, trade takes place allowing for food imports at low prices to the areas with low food supply. The areas not affected by drought or even low supply can supplement the areas with a deficit provided governments allow food to flow freely across their borders. This may result in price capping. Therefore open borders can be said to offer a means of reducing domestic price volatility of staple foods and lowering the food prices which improves the welfare. When regional markets are functioning, they bear the potential of reducing the dependence from global market supplies and prices, strengthening regional cooperation. Regional cross border trade contributes to increased competitiveness of the region which is beneficial to trade. Promoting cross border trade in food products will not only contribute to reducing food insecurity in the region but will at the same time contribute to the economic development.Transport costs are very high in COMESA region due to high fuel costs and high vehicle maintenance costs due to poor road infrastructural system. This translates to high food prices. Reduced transportation costs translates to producers' increased profitability and competitiveness due to lower marketing costs, while consumers would benefit from lower prices due to reduced food prices. Transportation costs account for over 50% of the total transfer costs (Figure 15). Lack of information is rampant among all stakeholders despite the tremendous amount of information on food situation in COMESA region, both online and hard copies from research. Yet this information is rarely available where and when it is needed neither. In the region, the stakeholders in market value chain cannot tell the food surplus areas for opportunity exploitation.There are also access issues where those who require information most do not have access to it.Traders cannot exploit the areas of surplus and deficit, and farmers cannot exploit quick opportunities arising from high food prices due to lack of market information. It is not unusual to find that policymakers and public officials, NGO representatives and private sector players do not have high quality evidence-based information for making good decisions. This shows lack of link between research and development which affects food security in addition to affecting trade.During times of deficit, national governments impose export-import bans to protect the country's food security. This controls trade flows as food staples cannot be exported to other countries. For example, the export bans imposed by Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti and Kenya during the food price crisis. Tackling export-import bans allows free movement of the foods thus reducing food price volatility which eases the food crisis.Agricultural sector is facing the impact of climate change with increases uncertainties in food production and subsequent market behavior. Monitoring regional and national food supply and demand projections in conjunction with increasingly accurate early warning information will allow timely planning for food supplies. FEWS NET has highly invested in early warning system in the region which needs to be enhanced.Under the EAC protocol, NTBs are defined as being laws, regulations, administrative and technical requirements other than tariffs imposed by a partner state whose effect is to impede trade (EAC, 2004). A recent study by Karugia et al. (2009)  Countries in the region experience high cost of agricultural production. Fertilizer and certified seed prices are very high resulting to low intensity of use which translates to declining land productivity. The low yields leads to most farmers being subsistence farmers with minimal surplus for sale even locally. However, if there is increased use of fertilizers and certified seeds, the land productivity is increased, yields increase with surplus for sale consequently increasing intra-regional trade.The SWOT analysis of regional trade was analyzed to assess the potential of intra-regional trade.The SWOT analysis is a method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The SWOT analysis may help the farmers to identify the potentials to increase production and for traders to intensify cross-border trade.As strengths, diversified climatic condition implies diversified agricultural production; even where countries produce similar agricultural products, spatial climatic variability implies that supplies are available at different times of the year due to staggered harvesting in the region (see section 5.3.1). The region has potential for cross border trade where food staples can move from surplus to deficit areas within a country and within the COMESA region. As opportunities, informal trade channels open alternative and more flexible markets to traders, the high food price levels in the region enables traders to generate higher income, and the high population at regional level offers increased market base. Existing market distortions, a high number of NTBs, ad hoc export ban and limited market information along the various food staples value chain are major threats for traders. In addition, the underdeveloped transport infrastructure increases the transaction costs threatening the potential of regional trade. One weakness noted is the mistrust among the traders. There is limited/minimal public private partnership in intraregional trade due to the mistrust among the two groups.From table 3, the intra-regional trade weaknesses can be converted into strengths and threats into opportunities. Source: Author compilation, 2012The role of regional trade is not debatable. Increasing regional trade in agriculture and especially in food staples has the potential to moderate the prices and increase availability of food, consequently stimulating agricultural development. However, trade barriers of various kinds impede regional cross border trade and create a less than favorable investment climate for all stakeholders. This is coupled with ad hoc trade policies like export bans that are occasionally imposed by some countries and affect regional trade flows.To increase regional trade and improve food security in COMESA region, this paper recommends:1. A regional approach to food security and agricultural growth, rather than a national isolated approach that does not exploit the regional opportunities in trade and investment. This can be obtained through consultations and consensus among the various governments 2. Clear follow up and monitoring of the implemented COMESA commitment of eliminating NTBs and prevention of entry of new NTBs 3. Enhance investment in early warning system 4. Improved flow of market information to all trade stakeholders and 5. Investment in improved infrastructure. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1be20186b6702de2916b08319c3c00f3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/004ce65f-76d0-4af3-9188-cb93ff8e4b1e/retrieve","id":"167588655"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ca61cd89-ee51-46c3-97d9-be206d2f3a22","content":" Farmers with access to seasonal and daily weather forecasting change their cropping strategies as well as their labour schedule. Climate-informed cowpea farmers have greater yields and gross margins. Gains were less significant for sesame production. Further data collection during 2015 season may clarify this difference. Farmers are ready to pay a significant amount for climate forecast information. Large-scale dissemination of climate information can be a climate-smart investment if done in a cautious and proper manner.This infonote summarizes initial findings of a project entitled \"Impact of communicating seasonal climate forecasts to cowpea and sesame farmers in Yatenga region, North Burkina Faso'\" undertaken during the 2014 main agricultural season by scientists from the CCAFS West Africa programme and the Institut de l'Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles (INERA), Burkina Faso.Sesame is a cash crop promoted in recent years to respond to a growing global demand. Quite versatile and produced across the country, yields remain low with an average of 300-350kg/ha. National production was estimated at around 60,000 tons in 2012, mostly for export.Cowpea is a key legume crop, mostly cultivated by smallholder farmers in intercropping with cereals (95%). Yields are low (around 300kg/ha) while it could reach 1,500kg/ha in monoculture. Just a minority (5%) of farmers use modern inputs (improved seeds, fertilizer) and market their grain for the regional market.This project aims at assessing:  The effect of climate information services on farm productivity and incomes for cowpea and sesame farmers in the Yatenga region; Farmers' willingness to pay for such climate information services  Lessons learned for potential scaling up of communicating climate forecasts services in the cowpea and sesame sector as a way to improve farmer climate resilience and productivity.Such studies are also being carried out in climate-smart villages in Senegal (Kaffrine region).In Sahelian climatic zones like in Yatenga region in Northern Burkina Faso, farmers are well aware of climate variability. The date of onset and offset of the rainy season as well as the distribution of rainfall along the growing season, significantly impact on their crop yields, and consequently on family incomes and food security.  Three types of climate information were communicated to farmers: downscaled seasonal forecasts, 10-day forecasts and daily climate information.During a one-day workshop in June 2014, before the agricultural season, farmers were presented the seasonal forecasts and discussed about which adaptation strategies to implement. They also shared traditional forecasting practices they usually consider to adapt to interannual climate variability. Indeed, farmers in this region use various natural indicators from stars, trees, insects, birds, wind or temperature to predict how the coming rainy season will be (dry or humid, late or early). Ant migration from low lands to plateaus or a bounty production of shea trees are for instance good signs, whereas birds nesting in low branches of trees or fall of non-mature fruits are bad signs.A second workshop took place in July to communicate updated climate forecasts for the period July-September.The 10-day forecasts as well as daily climate information were disseminated through radio shows. Each farmer from the experimental group (120 farmers) received a radio and a rural radio station (La voix du paysan) was contracted for climate information broadcasting. Farmers were also reached through the extension efforts from the cowpea and sesame value chain development initiativeProjet d'appui aux filières agricoles (PROFIL).The impact of using seasonal forecasts on crop yields, farm inputs use, cost and profits was measured through an ex-post assessment method. The willingness of farmers to pay for such climate information was determined through a contingent valuation method (Terra, 2004). Data show that farmers exposed to climate information change the way they manage their crops. A significant number of farmers use forecasts of the length of rainy season and date of onset to choose which crops and variety to grow, location (more humid low lands or plain) and size of plots. Over half the farmers selected crop variety (51%) and size of plot (56.5%) according to seasonal forecasts, in particular, the rainy season onset information.Daily climate information was used for the day-to-day crop management such as choosing the date of land preparation, plowing, sowing, planting, fertilizing, hoeing, weeding, pest control, harvesting and threshing. The use of farm inputs and labour requirements are different between climate-informed farmers and nonexposed farmers. For cowpea, farmers exposed to climate information used half the total seeds (26kg/ha versus 50kg/ha), but significantly more improved seeds (8kg vs 1.2kg). For sesame, the main difference is the use of inorganic fertilizer (23kg/ha for exposed farmers versus a mere 1kg/ha for the control group). With this cash crop, farmers tend to invest more in fertilizer if they feel less uncertain about climate. Non-exposed farmers tend to use more labour too, for both crops.Such results are not surprising as good use of climate information should lead to an optimal choice of the period of key farm activities (sowing, fertilizing and pest control).The data in table 2 show that cowpea producers exposed to climate information obtained higher yields (847 kg/ha on average compared to 685 kg/ha for the control group), while savings in seed and pesticides led to lower input costs. Consequently, gross margin is much greater for climate-aware farmers (66% higher than the control group).However, climate information did not bring the same economic benefits for sesame production. In fact, farmers exposed to climate information had slightly lower yields (550kg/ha compared to 605kg for the control group) and lower margins as they invested in more fertilizer without significant returns. Climate-aware farmers are more willing to invest in modern inputs but then the financial risks are greater. It raises the question of responsibilities and compensation in case of unreliable forecast (Dabiré and al, 2011). Further investigations during the 2015 season will hopefully explain more about this difference of impact between the two crops.About 68% of farmers exposed to climate information accepted to pay for the seasonal forecast and 69% for the daily climate information.  The study showed that farmers exposed to climate information changed their farm practices based on the information they received, and that this translated into better management of inputs to increase their farm productivity and improve their resilience to climate variability.The fact that the effect of climate information on sesame production was not statistically significant illustrates how the impact of climate information services is not straightforward and in some cases do not guarantee returns. This is because of the risk induced by climate variability in Sahel, and also the fact that yields and crop incomes depend on many other factors (e.g. quality of inputs).Promoting "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fbf09ce677934288506d3a3d62dd4ae7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ed66bd2c-e0b4-4929-9ad3-445e0342ae4d/retrieve","id":"464017744"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5c1aa005-700d-4e37-bc43-1502d3ba6795","content":" Background  Objectives  Process of smoking fish in the area of Abidjan  Materials and methods• More than 80% of the country's fresh fish is traditionally smoked for sale in the local market and for export.• During the smoking process, Benzo(a)Pyrene, PAH of reference, can be released. It is potentially genotoxic and carcinogenic for humans and was found in products destined for export to the EU in 2007.• In 2006, a European by-law (EC no. 1881/2006) determined maximum levels of specific contaminants in food produce (BaP in smoked fish) and thus required surveillance of all smoked products (ETP) to be exported to the EU.3 Background 4• The application of these regulations is a severe setback for this profitable market in Côte d'Ivoire.• Smoked fish accounts for 0.73% of the total export volume which corresponds to 2.30% of foreign currency.• The sector employs approximately 70,000 people who feed another 400,000. There is a risk -423 respondents (88% are women), 59% are no scolarised -67% of operators use branches of rubber tree -Fat fish is preferably used for smoking -GPHs are very unknown as well as dangers encountered-Level of fat content in fish used for smoking > 6% -Concentration of PAHs varies according to the nature of constituents, smoking and compliance of GPHs (fluoranthene is higher in low-fat fish than in fat fish) "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1767275365.json b/main/part_2/1767275365.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e55a380281216c931cd05157ecd17c53","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0d488e3f-dcf6-4079-b832-2ac24c569bb8/retrieve","id":"733146976"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"588103c3-b5ea-453d-83f5-690451d949fc","content":"• Encouraging agro-ecological principles among at least 50,000 families.• Integrating agroecological metrics.• Developing local capacities, multistakeholder platforms, investments.Target 300,000 farm households, 120 stakeholders, 5 professional training engagements, and 3 Co-design eventsFor 3 value chains, 3 countries, in 3 continents.The PSii Transitions project aims to leverage private and public sector incentives and investments to enable climate-informed agroecological transitions by farmers in low and middle-income countries.For additional information, please contact: Jonathan Mockshell: j.mockshell@cgiar.org•Improving private and private-public sector incentive models to support agroecological transitions for farmers and consumers.•Increasing transparency and traceability in supply chains on agroecological metrics and principles.•Enhancing the capacity of local institutions for engaging in private-public finance models, assessments and policies that support agroecological transitions.PSii Project"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1772624528.json b/main/part_2/1772624528.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cc649fc1471e6fd8850b739b3426d8d0da86ecb2
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"81f05470279d32b23dd1a9a3826a27f1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4435b627-cb66-4f96-93c9-282224abb1e6/retrieve","id":"-2016962245"},"keywords":["CSIRO, Australia","EU, Belgium, CIRAD, France","FAO, Italy","Dutch Government, Netherlands","AsDB, The Philippines","DFID, United Kingdom, NSF, USAID, Rockefeller Foundation, ASARECA, SADC, EARO, FARA, AU/IBAR, CORAF System linkages-Sustainable production, Policy, and Enhancing NARS Users-Farmers, development agents, NARS, ARIs, policy makers and researchers Belgian Survival Fund, Veterinaires sans Frontieres , Belgium","CIRDES, Direction AU, Ethiopía, ITC, Gambia CIAT, CIP, ICARDA System linkages-Sustainable Production, Policy and Enhancing NARS"],"sieverID":"e9041207-7ea2-4fb7-810a-2e1877bf0d18","content":"A world made better for poor people in developing countries by improving agricultural systems in which livestock are important.ILRI works at the crossroads of livestock and poverty, bringing high quality science and capacity building to bear on poverty reduction and sustainable development for poor livestock keepers and their communities.To measurably and sustainably improve the livelihoods of resource-poor livestock keepers, make animal products more affordable and accessible for the poor and conserve natural resources in developing countries through partnerships and alliances for innovative livestock research, training and information exchange.Over the last few years ILRI has realigned itself to meet the challenge of addressing poverty through livestock-related research. When we defined our strategy in 2002, we made a deliberate effort to focus on research outputs that would lead to outcomes having a significant impact on poverty alleviation. We identified three pathways out of poverty in which livestock, one of the central assets of the poor, play an important role. Based on this analysis, we regrouped our research efforts within five themes (Projects) based on their poverty-alleviating strategy.In 2003, we began implementing the new strategy by assembling a new management team with the vision and range of skills appropriate to ILRI's renewed outlook. We also started realigning our existing operating projects and designing new projects that were coherent with theme purposes and more carefully targeted at poverty alleviation. Subsequent developments in this process are presented in this Medium Term Plan.At ILRI, we recognize that livestock systems are complex and that we cannot provide a single 'magic bullet' answer to the complex problem of poverty alleviation. We also recognize that we cannot achieve our desired impacts without partnerships. We are therefore constantly appraising our competencies against what is needed to effectively tackle the issues and those of potential partners to identify those areas where the complementary skills can be used to the best advantage. We then create partnerships that we believe will deliver technology and policy options that will make a positive impact on the needs of poor people.As we move in this new and exciting research direction, we are aware of the importance of maintaining and improving the quality of the science we conduct. We are therefore in the process of establishing an independent Science Advisory Panel, made up of eminent researchers, to provide a regular external input into the assessment of the quality of the research that we are undertaking.The 2005-2007 Medium Term Plan outlines ILRI's work in this new strategic direction over the next three years. Our focus is on impacts, which we aim to achieve together with our strategic partners.We also present the Medium Term Plan of the Systemwide Livestock Programme (SLP), which involves 11 centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and their partners and is convened by ILRI. The SLP was established to support the CGIAR's global livestock research agenda. Its current focus is on livestock feed resources in mixed croplivestock systems in which crop breeding, seed systems, and livestock production expertise from different centres are brought together within a broader integrated natural resource management and policy context.We look forward to becoming more effective in achieving ILRI's primary goal -producing and making available knowledge and products that will make a positive difference in the lives of the poor.ILRI's stated mandate is to reduce poverty and make sustainable development possible through livestock-related research. ILRI is determined to ensure that its research effectively contributes towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for poverty alleviation. Along with our other research and development partners, ILRI is keenly aware of the need to enhance the relevance and impact of its research in a rapidly changing global context. ILRI's strategy is grounded on two premises: the Livestock Revolution and the multiple roles of livestock in the livelihood strategies of poor people. The Livestock Revolution encapsulates the fact that as developing country societies become more urban and experience economic growth, their food consumption patterns increasingly shift to high-value and processed foods such as animal products, oils and vegetables. This demand growth creates a unique opportunity for the growth of the livestock sector. ILRI's goal is to maximize the value of this development opportunity as a tool to reduce poverty by enhancing the participation of poor people in dynamic livestock value chains, thereby providing them with increased incomes. While global change and market forces present many opportunities, they also pose threats for poor livestock producers. Increasing length of food chains, growing concerns about food safety and economies of scale in intensive production systems are threatening the participation of poor livestock keepers in these increasingly complex markets. Public research on technologies, institutions and policies can create more pro-poor options. Vertical coordination of smallholder livestock keepers, for example, may allow smallscale producers to remain in high-value market chains, but it also raises issues of empowerment for the poor that research on pro-poor cases can learn from to improve results elsewhere.Structural change related to rapidly growing demand for livestock products is leading to the development of large-scale production units, which can better address food safety concerns of urban markets. If developed with the appropriate policies to eliminate negative food safety impacts, these developments can have pro-poor impacts under certain conditions, particularly when related to employment of poor people in activities along the value chain. The magnitude of these poverty alleviation impacts is dependent on the forward and backward linkages of such livestock enterprises, as well as the propensity of those employed in these enterprises to spend their new livestock incomes on consumer items and services typically produced by the very poor.The opportunities for using livestock as a tool for poverty reduction particularly hinge on rapid growth in demand for livestock products. In many parts of the developing world, poor livestock keepers do not have these opportunities. Nevertheless livestock frequently are a key component of poor peoples' livelihood strategies, with livestock assets providing services such as transport, traction for land preparation and a source of manure for soils depleted of organic material. ILRI's strategy recognizes that quite distinct tools are required to reduce poverty under such circumstances. Careful analysis is required to understand the constraints and opportunities under these conditions. Frequently, very marginal environments put a ceiling on potential productivity increases. Here, public livestock research and development can reduce vulnerability in a number of ways, such as provision of vaccines, insurance schemes against natural disasters and early warning systems. In many settings livestock will be only one of several diverse strategies needed to escape poverty.In better-endowed regions with poor access to markets, mixed farming systems are predominant. Productivity increases, for example, through better utilization of crop residues in ruminant production, introduction of fodder species and adapted livestock genotypes are potential entry points. The success of such productivityincreasing interventions is generally linked to reducing market constraints.Livestock play an increasing role in periurban systems. These systems are driven by growth of urban demand and inefficiency of market chains linking more remote producers to these markets. These systems frequently also provide income opportunities for landless poor, who provide fodder, collect waste to feed to animals and engage in distribution and marketing of outputs of such informal systems. The externalities associated with these systems, however, present formidable public health issues and environmental challenges.ILRI research recognizes the importance of animal products for poor consumers, for whom targeted research that raises productivity, improves food safety and lowers marketing costs in the sectors serving poor consumers can increase their access to lower cost and more reliable supplies of safe animal-source foods. In many cases these consumers spend a significant share of their disposable income on animal products, which provide an important source of minerals and micronutrients to their diets. Access to small amounts of these nutrients has been shown to benefit the physical and cognitive development of children, as well as mitigating the effects of diseases such as HIV/AIDS.Given the above context for livestock as a tool to address poverty, ILRI has adopted a \"pathways out of poverty\" framework, based on the sustainable livelihoods approach. In this approach, it is recognized that poor households face a range of external threats that influence their livelihoods. The challenge for these households is to manage their limited asset base through a set of livelihood strategies conditioned by processes and structures, both internal to the households and in the external environment, to generate desired outcomes that usually include higher income and reduced vulnerability. The three pathways through which ILRI seeks to improve the contribution of livestock in poor households are:• securing the assets of the poor • improving the productivity of their livestock systems • improving their market opportunities Through these pathways, ILRI seeks to take advantage of the potentials for livestock and livestock-related research to ensure uptake of improved technologies, policies and institutions that will contribute to improving the well-being of the poor.The work is organized in five interdisciplinary issue-oriented themes (referred to as Projects in the CGIAR Medium Term Plan terminology) ILRI has undergone significant change in the way it conducts its research to ensure maximum impact on poverty. Some salient aspects of this change in approach include:• An explicit strategy to address poverty as the key MDG to which ILRI can contribute • A new theme on innovation systems research to ensure full stakeholder 1 In this MTP the following hierarchy of \"projects\" is adopted; Project (with a capital P) is one of the 5 ILRI research Themes (the Systemwide Livestock Programme is presented as ILRI Project 6); an operating project is a group of related research activities within a Theme leading to common outputs in a defined time frame -Projects have 3-5 operating projects; within operating projects, a project (with a small p) is a defined donor-funded or partner-based research activity. involvement in the development of research activities with high likelihood of leading to rapid uptake of innovations.• Focus on markets and market access as a key driver influencing the potential of livestock to contribute to poverty reduction and economic growth.To achieve our goals, ILRI has developed a range of innovative institutional partnership arrangements. These partnerships are demand-driven and outcome-oriented and involve linking with advanced research institutes (ARIs), Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), farmer groups, the private sector, national agricultural research and extension systems, universities and other CGIAR centres. They are guided by a set of institutional principles that ILRI has developed. Some examples that highlight this innovative way of doing business differently include:• Establishment of a joint program with IFPRI to merge insights from broad economic policy thinking with specialized knowledge of livestock science and to achieve synergies through better inclusion of ILRI's livestock work into a broader CGIAR emphasis on improving smallholder livelihoods through diversification into highvalue agriculture more generally.• Emphasis on application of advanced biosciences to \"orphan\" problems, expanding the scope of the work by establishing with others a shared biosciences facility for eastern and central Africa. This will enlarge the capacity of African partners to address their biosciences research needs and will allow ILRI to share its expertise more widely than in the past.• Establishment of a range of strategic partnerships to address the challenges. This includes partnerships with other CGIAR centres on the Addis Ababa campus to provide a platform for integrated natural resource management (INRM), innovation systems and capacity building. Centres involved presently include CIAT, ICRAF, IFPRI (including its ISNAR program), IWMI, CIMMYT, and ICIPE. Similar partnerships in other parts of the world include ICRISAT and IITA, among others.• A special relationship with the Animal Production and Health (AGA) division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).• A private-public partnership involving a large pharmaceutical company and several advanced research institutes to develop a new East Coast fever vaccine.• An innovative partnership with an NGO (Veterinaires sans Frontieres-Belgium) to explore options for the delivery of animal health services.• The inclusion of individual and institutional capacity strengthening as an integral part of all ILRI's research activities.• The establishment of a joint laboratory for animal and forage genetic resources characterization with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing.ILRI sees its comparative advantage evolving as an institution engaged in livestock knowledge discovery and management for poverty alleviation and sustainable development in developing countries. Many other institutions are also addressing these issues; they include national agricultural research systems (NARS) and sub-regional organizations (SROs), research and analysis units within government departments, ARIs and universities, NGOs and private firms and consultants. ILRI is developing productive partnerships with all of these types of institutions. Yet ILRI is at the crossroads of livestock research and social objectives such as poverty alleviation in a way that is rarely seen elsewhere.As a CGIAR centre, ILRI has a comparative advantage in focusing on those issues of widespread and critical relevance where insights can be transferred and synergies achieved across countries, regions and different kinds of organizations. While ARIs, universities, NGOs and private consultants may also be engaged in the production of international public goods, the reality of their modes of operation and funding rarely permits maintaining scientific commitment on an institutional basis to solve specific long-term problems in developing countries, and then ensuring uptake of discoveries. Furthermore, few institutions in developing countries are as well-placed to achieve effective long-term coordination between the rigorous hypothesis-testing of hard livestock-related science and the pragmatic experimentation of action-research in the field.ILRI achieves its comparative advantage through a form of organization and governance that overcomes many of the constraints imposed on other types of institutions in the livestock knowledge discovery and management area. With offices in East and West Africa, South and Southeast Asia, China and Central America, and projects in Southern Africa, North Africa and the Near East, ILRI has a truly global footprint. Yet its internal form of organization is not regional but thematic. ILRI's agenda and way of operating is heavily influenced through long-term host country, regional and global agreements with NARS and SROs, and with specialized livestock-relevant institutions in the development sphere such as the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) and the Animal Health and Production Division of FAO. It also partners to a great extent with sister CGIAR centres, both directly and through the System-wide Livestock Programme. Coherence across needs and opportunities is achieved not only by ILRI's staff and management, but also by an internationally appointed and crossdisciplinary Board of Trustees representing stakeholders with both research and development perspectives.The resulting institutional form allows ILRI to be a centre of excellence in providing:• A flexible framework that can address evolving needs and concerns through new partnerships, including with public-and privatesector entities;• A long-term clearing-house for livestock knowledge and research in its relation to technical, social and economic objectives;• An institutional memory and accessible database on livestock issues and answers in developing countries;• A diagnostic capacity with respect to livestock knowledge and discovery that draws on insights from around the world and across disciplines;• A means to integrate in a problemsolving format insights across disciplines as diverse as upstream microbiology, genetics, veterinary epidemiology, economics, nutrition and innovation systems science;• An approach to associating in the same activities both the rigor of scientific hypothesis-testing and the impact-oriented but more pragmatic approaches of action-research in the field;• A commitment to foster knowledge uptake, diffusion and capacitybuilding in developing countries.• A mode of governance that facilitates openness, accessibility and accountability to developing countries.The implementation plan for the revised ILRI strategy was presented in the last medium-term plan (MTP) for 2004-2006  along with brief general descriptions of the 5 ILRI Projects. Over the past year, the structure and function of the research programme have continued to evolve. More detailed research plans of Projects and their constituent operating projects have been developed. A summary of these are presented below.This Project investigates how livestock systems evolve to anticipate where, when and how livestock-related policy and technological interventions can best be targeted to alleviate poverty, sustain rural livelihoods and protect the environment. Research outputs for the operating projects in this Project are:• Livestock system evolution: Activities include identification of drivers of change and their impact on livestock systems in the future; assessment of scenarios of alternative livestock system futures from different livestock development pathways and drivers of change; and analyses of these changes on households and communities across different regions.• Poverty, livelihoods and livestock: ILRI is developing databases and analyses of where significant groups of poor livestock keepers are located. It is also seeking to better understand the relationships between poverty, livelihoods and development strategies, the role of livestock in poverty processes and dynamics, and vulnerability, risk management and livelihood options.Major activities focus on targeting livestock interventions and identifying their niches and contribution to the livelihoods of poor livestock keepers; targeting systems in which ILRI and partners have the greatest potential for maximizing the opportunities for poverty reduction; ex-ante and ex-post impact assessment of interventions promoted by ILRI and its partners; and development of priority-setting frameworks for ILRI and/or its partners.Under ILRI's new strategy, priority is being given to efforts to gain a clear understanding of the mechanisms that make research more effective and efficient, knowledge more contagious, processes more inclusive and outcomes more in favour of livestock-dependent poor people. Research and capacity strengthening activities are organized in three operating projects:• Innovation systems: Ideas need to travel from the provider or the innovator to potential users and vice versa. Study of past, present and emerging innovation systems will disclose innovation processes and mechanisms that facilitate suitable knowledge exchange, the influence of research approaches on innovation and impact, the measurement and determinants of innovation (indicators and inducers), and how information within livestock knowledge systems is generated, acquired, used and circulated.• Research delivery pathways: This 'action research' operating project consists of a variety of studies in which clients and other actors are directly involved in the identification of constraints and opportunities and the development and testing of methodological, technical and institutional solutions. The case studies focus on the comparison of particular technologies, management strategies and delivery systems in different policy, institutional, socio-economic and biophysical settings.• Innovative partnerships: Activities conducted under this operating project evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different types of partnerships in the identification of research needs, research implementation, dissemination and iteration, and the acquisition of funds. In addition, they provide an increased understanding of the institutional and organizational changes that empower different research and development partnerships. Such lessons drive and facilitate institutional change and capacity building and are a conduit for the promotion of innovative processes that transform the way in which ILRI and its partners go about their business.Marketing livestock and their products has long been an essential pathway for income generation and livelihoods for the poor. Research has shown consistently that even the poorest can gainfully participate in livestock markets. Rapidly growing livestock markets in the developing world provide real opportunities but also significant threats to participation of the poor due to structural changes associated with globalization, the increasing concentration of population and production around cities, and a changing regulatory environment. To counter these threats by bringing together their policy and technical capacities from macro-to microlevels, ILRI and IFPRI have developed a joint programme to improve the market success of poor livestock keepers. This programme has three operating project areas of focus. Each institute will contribute in its area of expertise, achieving synergies across disciplines and research approaches, while avoiding overlaps.  Project 5 developments for 2004:As part of the \"Comprehensive assessment of water management in agriculture\", ILRI continued its research on livestock management associated with community-based irrigation systems in Ethiopia. At least five master's theses along with other analyses will provide more in-depth understanding of how investments in community-based irrigation systems could be better designed and managed to accommodate the livestock keepers who are and will be users of the systems.• New analyses of the trade-offs between poverty reduction and wildlife conservation in East Africa revealed an elusive win-win: innovative environmental payment schemes double the incomes of the poorest households when they need it most during droughts and conserve wildlife and livestock grazing corridors for the benefit of pastoralists, their livestock and wildlife alike.• ILRI has begun playing a key facilitation role to support research efforts in Africa and globally to raise awareness about the growing threat to human health of cysticercosis caused by a pork tapeworm. A senior researcher in veterinary parasitology, seconded from Denmark to lead this work at ILRI, has organized an international conference in Italy in September to initiate a global control campaign.• To guide development of its new research programme on the impacts of livestock keeping on human health, state-of-the-art reviews are being conducted on the links between livestock keeping and nutritional wellbeing among the poor and the role of livestock in coping with HIV/AIDS. ILRI has also initiated activities in Ethiopia focusing on the nutritional impact of animal-source foods in weaning-age infants.• ILRI continued to maintain its commitments under the in-trust agreement with FAO and is upgrading and strengthening forage genebank operations with additional staffing, facilities and an increased level of activity with funding from World Bank. This will allow ILRI to reduce backlogs in managing the forage germplasm collection and improve the quality and availability of information about the intrust collection.As in the 2004-6 MTP, the overall trends in the ILRI portfolio will be to:• maintain a strong emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa while increasing activities in South Asia; Work has been initiated with FAO and IFPRI on output 3, with a desk study of cross-country SPS issues and the likely impact on developing countries of changes in OECD regulations with regard to animal imports. In addition, there has been a significant investment of staff time in participating with major hard-science labs around the world in a new $70 million proposal for a Global Alliance on FMD Research, which focuses on vaccine development. ILRI leads the social science/policy part of the proposal with a view to identifying opportunities to make innovations of the project more pro-poor.The Project 4 portfolio remains virtually unchanged from the 2004-6 MTP. Research on vaccines and diagnostics, conservation of genetic resources and livestock genetic improvement continues as planned. Major funding raising efforts have been made in these areas over the past year (with the success of many of these known in 2005).Two strategic changes from the Project portfolio presented in the 2004-6 MTP have been made. The first is that two systems research operating projects have been formed. The first operating project focuses on improving and sustaining water and nutrient productivity in livestock systems.The second investigates land use and land management issues, largely in pastoral and crop-livestock systems.The second change is in research on foodfeed crops. This work has been realigned to consider the broader issues of mitigating feed scarcity, a strategy that takes account of the diversity of livestock feeding systems and the need to target such research to end-user strategies. This activity is done in collaboration with Project 1 and the SLP. The other focus on the feeding strategies research is to better understand farmer and other demand for different feeding options and how this demand can be met through different delivery pathways, institutional partnerships and information exchange strategies. This research is conducted with Project 2 and the SLP.Research in the area of human health and nutrition continues to evolve with strategic partnerships being made both within ILRI (especially Project 3) and with new partners outside the institute. A focus on cysticercosis as both a specific disease of the poor and a model system has emerged.The need to synthesize key information on the role of livestock in human nutrition and in households suffering from HIV/AIDS forms a priority area for 2005.ILRI will continue to work through collaborative arrangements to provide expertise in livestock and livestock-related research, strengthening and deepening its partnerships with key livestock research and development institutions and organizations. A fundamental change in culture and process is envisaged to support innovations at all levels, from individual livestock keepers to national and international decision makers. Several types of partnerships, traditional and nontraditional, will be strengthened.Traditional partnerships with NARES and CGIAR partners will continue to be built upon.Linkages with the private sector and NGOs are becoming increasingly important to ILRI's development and delivery of products from its research. Diagnostic tests for four tick-borne diseases have been developed and validated by ILRI and partners. Through a public-private partnership arrangement, ILRI has transferred the commercial production and distribution of these kits to Svanova Biotech AB, a company based in Uppsala, Sweden.The most effective way of addressing poverty through livestock research at a global level is combining, in a research consortium approach, the efforts of international centres and their local partners. Such an approach allows for sharing institutional resources and crossfertilization of experiences from one geographic area to another. For the SLP to contribute more effectively to the CGIAR goals and the Millennium Development Goal of reducing poverty, the inter-centre LPG revised its strategy. The strategy now focuses on improved foodfeed systems as a key entry point for increasing the productivity and enhancing the natural resources that sustain smallscale crop-livestock agriculture. It builds on initial work done by the SLP and its centre members in incorporating feed-related traits into the genetic enhancement and crop management programmes of key food crops. Research achievements in food-feed systems by its CGIAR centre members and their partners were highlighted in a special issue of the journal Field Crops Research on \"Approaches to improve the utilization of food-feed crops\" (Volume 84, Issues 1-2, October-November 2003).The SLP initiated new strategies to disseminate fodder technologies that enhance the livelihoods of small-scale farmers. The funding environment is similar to that of previous years, with pressure on unrestricted funding continuing to increase. The Board and Management continue to emphasize and spend considerable time on raising resources.In the medium term, ILRI expects to continue to grow, while balancing its expenditures against the revenues. Improve the performance of stakeholders through partnerships and alliances Improved policies fostering poverty reduction through sustainable livestock production implemented by national, regional and international decision makers Relevance of research products (technologies, information, tools, methodologies, practices, and policy recommendations) from ILRI and its partners as judged by the number that are adopted and the extent to which they are implemented by stakeholders Value of stakeholders' institutional innovations and enhanced capacities as assessed by their support, relevance and impactExtent to which livestock development is linked to national and regional planning and developmentTools, methods and information available for use by investors and partners to improve the prioritisation, targeting and delivery of interventions for pro-poor development in evolving agricultural systems (CG1-5) Methods and capacities developed to enhance the effectiveness of public and private institutions and organizations in systems involving livestock. Innovative research partnership arrangements with key players including NARES, ARIs and the private sector (CG 1-5) Improved food-feed crops developed, evaluated and available to NARES and private sector partners for promotion, dissemination and delivery (CG1 and 3) Affordable technologies and methodologies (livestock nutrition, health and genetics) developed and available to NARES and private sector partners for promotion, delivery and dissemination (CG1 and 3) Tools, methods and capacities developed and available to NARES for enhancing the conservation and utilisation of indigenous animal and forage genetic resources (CG2) Management practices, technologies, policies and research methodologies developed and available to NARES and national, regional and international health and environmental agencies for enhancing human health and nutrition and the health and sustainability of ecosystems involving livestock (CG 3) Policy-relevant tools, methods and recommendations developed and available to policy makers and regulators to enhance market access for poor producers and ensure food safety for consumers (CG4) Policy-relevant information and communication products on global livestock issues available to public and private sector partners and the general public (CG4 and 5) Increased knowledge and capacity of NARES and regional research organisations for livestock research and development (CG5)International investors and national and regional partners refer to targeting tools and information in planning documents each year from 2004Dual-purpose food-feed crops assessed on-farm and proven varieties adopted in Africa and Asia more open trade in some areas is transforming the nature of livestock production and livestock ecosystems, and placing pressures on natural resources and coping strategies of the poor. This project examines those changes and models their driving forces, measures the consequences in terms of poverty, growth opportunities, social equity and the environment, and applies that knowledge to provide both strategic and applied targeting for research and development interventions. This understanding of livestock systems evolution, the role of livestock in sustainable poverty alleviation, and its consequences for both people and the environment, is translated with development partners into improved policy and technology options, investment priorities, livestock development strategies, and capacity strengthening.• Driving forces of livestock system evolution and alternative scenarios of livestock systems development identified, consequences determined, and results documented and made available to development partners • Improved understanding of poverty processes, livelihood strategies and the role of livestock used in the design of poverty reduction programs, projects and policy • Better information and knowledge made available to development partners on interventions and investment opportunities and their impacts on the livelihoods and assets of poor livestock keepers and the environment.The outputs from this project will identify how investments in livestock research and development interventions can be increasingly targeted to ensure the greatest impact on poor people, in ways that are socially equitable and ecologically sound. The enhanced understanding of predicted opportunities, risks, and trade-offs will be used to develop appropriate strategies for livestock research and development. Targeting livestock research and development investments through targeted policy options, technologies, project design and appropriate project strategies will lead to better returns on investments in research and more efficient use of public investments and donor funds . Designing pro-poor interventions built on poverty diagnostics, understanding of expected economic, social, and environmental impacts will enhance the effectiveness of pro poor interventions that maximize poverty impacts. Building national and institutional capacity in partner organizations will improve the analytical rigor and country ownership that will help ensure that development inventions focus on poverty reduction and research outputs are utilized to have the greatest impact on poverty reduction.  Although systematic approaches for generating and disseminating technologies from research through extension have worked well for certain clients and in certain settings, the traditional linear paradigm has often failed to address the needs or have significant impact among the poor. This has been attributed in part to a failure to fully engage poor livestock keepers and other stakeholders in such processes, and to understand their circumstances and realities, thus failing to create an environment that would facilitate the identification, adaptation and dissemination of promising technological and institutional innovations. For this reason, under ILRI's new strategy, priority is being given to efforts to gain a clear understanding of the mechanisms that make research more effective and efficient, knowledge more contagious, processes more inclusive and outcomes more in favour of livestock-dependent poor people. Consequently, the Enabling Innovation Theme focuses on the development and testing of approaches and partnerships that (i) enable the identification of agreed, prioritised, researchable constraints that affect livestock-dependent poor people under the three ILRI-identified development pathways, (ii) ensure the implementation of research in a manner which effectively and efficiently addresses those constraints, and (iii) guarantee the use of media and pathways to facilitate knowledge flows amongst all stakeholders that enable pro-poor outcomes. • Gaps and opportunities identified in at least 2 livestock-knowledge exchange mechanisms for the rural poor • Options that maximise the contribution that fodder makes to livestock-dependent poor people tested and adopted in West Africa and India • Options for crop-livestock systems of livestock-dependent poor people in West Africa tested and adopted using participatory approaches and scaling-up and out strategies formulated. Institutional and organizational changes that empower partnerships and enhance interactions among actors along the innovation process adopted ILRI and its partners have mainstreamed a process of reflection, reframing and use of lessons learned during the research process that results in documented changes in behaviour, performance assessment and in increased impact Knowledge and innovation systems that make research more effective and efficient, knowledge more contagious, processes more inclusive and outcomes more in favour of livestock-dependent poor people Candidate methodological, technical, institutional and policy options are appropriate for evaluation and dissemination Publications, datasets, conference proceedings and reports Marketing of livestock and their products has long been an essential pathway for income generation and livelihoods for the poor. Research has shown consistently that even the poorest can gainfully participate in livestock markets. Rapidly growing livestock markets in the developing world provide real opportunities but also significant threats to participation of the poor, due to structural changes associated with globalization, the increasing concentration of population and production around cities, and a changing regulatory environment. To counter these threats by bringing together their policy and technical capacities from macro to micro level, ILRI and IFPRI have developed a joint program to improve the market success of poor livestock keepers. This program has 3 project areas of focus. Each institute will contribute in its area of expertise, achieving synergies across disciplines and research approaches, while avoiding overlaps.• Smallholder competitiveness in changing markets: Although both IFPRI and ILRI research has demonstrated that smallholders can be more efficient in generating profits per unit output than that large-scale operators in many livestock production activities, it has also demonstrated major differences across farms. There is considerable scope for helping poor and disadvantaged persons who might otherwise be left behind to join a market-driven pathway to improving their livelihoods through livestock. A mix of technical, institutional, and policy options are tested and adapted to increase the ability of smallholder and disadvantaged livestock producers to remain commerciallyviable in the face of changing market requirements and increased competition from imports. The initial focus of this work has been in smallholder dairy systems of Africa and Asia. Increasing emphasis will be given to smallholder poultry and pig enterprises in Asia and Africa.In response to concentrating and rising consumer demand for livestock products in many parts of the developing world, market chains are becoming more concentrated and difficult for independent small-scale operators to function in. In part chains are becoming longer, in part individual operators are becoming larger-scale, and in part consumers are becoming more demanding in terms of quality and food safety. This project focuses on identification of the driving forces affecting the accessibility of market channels by the poor and disadvantaged, and on institutional innovations, technical interventions, and other opportunities for helping them respond to new market requirements. This research is also targeted to helping poor consumers in urban centers benefit from safer livestock and milk products that might otherwise become too expensive to access in more formal retail channels.• Diseases of trade and markets: Major global procedures and patterns for control of animal disease on a world-wide scale set up in the 1950s and 1960s are under challenge from structural changes in the distribution of livestock production and consumption, globalization, changes in technological options for disease control, and changes in public acceptance in the industrialized countries of traditional approaches to disease control involving mass slaughters in the event of disease outbreaks. Changing opportunities for export to high-value markets from developing countries are currently leading to disease control strategies that exclude the poor and small-scale sector from livestock production altogether. Several of the many options being discussed for changing methods of control of traderelevant diseases such as FMD could lead to a major re-alignment of trade in meat across countries. Especially promising are new frontiers for vaccine development that overcome old constraints in developing countries, and new technologies for providing better traceability of products. This project will associate risk analysis from the perspective of veterinary epidemiology with economic research on trade implications of different options for disease control and research on the distributional impact within developing countries of different paths.• Technical, institutional and policy options identified that increase the ability of smallholder and disadvantaged livestock producers to expand commercially-viable livestock enterprises; • Technical, organizational, and policy options identified for improved market institutions and servicing of small-scale, poor and disadvantaged producers and consumers, in the context of rising demand for reliable quality, food safety, and increased openness to trade; • Impact on market channels and prices of changing methods and regulations of animal disease control assessed and options identified for countries, small-scale and poor producers to comply with changing animal disease control measures at the national and international levels;• Capacity built among national collaborators and collaborating institutions for assessment of technical, institutional, and policy options to increase the market access of poor, small-scale and disadvantaged livestock producers and consumers.This project will contribute to increased productivity and improved livelihoods for smallholder farmers and market agents, especially poorer and more vulnerable groups, through increased access to input and output markets for livestock products, and appropriate technology adoption on farms and in small-scale livestock markets. Consumers will benefit from lower or stabilized prices, and better quality livestock products.• Causes and consequences of scaling-up of individual livestock production operations and assessment of options for improving the impact on smallholders identified and documented in a comparative study of selected fast-growing developing countries • Assessment of technical options and trends affecting institutional barriers to increased small farm sales of small ruminants in Near East-North Africa • Best practices for smallholder inclusion in dairy markets identified and documented from a comparative series of case studies in East Africa and South Asia • Technical and policy options assessed for improving the efficiency and food safety performance of small scale agents in East African urban markets, in the context of small-scale producers • The potential impact of changes in OECD country animal health and food safety regulations on developing country exports of livestock products, and associated impacts on poor and small-scale producers assessed • Policy options assessed for decreasing the transfer costs of livestock produced and marketed by poor people and small-scale operators in the Central Sahel and destined for the Central Coast of West Africa• Constraints to smallholder participation in pig, live poultry, and egg markets assessed and documented in Southeast Asia • Pros and cons of contract farming for livestock in South and SE Asia assessed and documented and policy domains for further research identified • Characterization and analysis of small ruminant health delivery systems and market access in the near east-North Africa • The profitability of farm-level investments in forage technology and net farm income at different levels of scale in Central America estimated • Policy recommendations formulated and disseminated of the options for using contract farming of livestock to promote increased smallholder productivity and participation in livestock product markets in South and Southeast Asia• Key trends in changing demand attributes for livestock products in a sample of developing countries with different geographical, demographic, and economic characteristics identified and documented • Identification and pilot testing of improved animal health, feeding, breeding, finance and credit, market levies and service strategies, both technical and organizational, to improve delivery of services and market access to poor farmers in selected countries of Near East--North Africa • Policy options for alleviating constraints to smallholder participation in growing beef and milk markets in Central America identified and documented • Policy options identified and documented for regulatory and institutional change in developing countries that will help meet both external and internal food safety and animal health concerns, while minimizing negative impacts on small-scale producers Improved disease control strategies through use of disease resistant livestock and improved diagnostics and vaccines will help secure livestock assets and increase productivity, while also reducing chemical and drug usage hence improving environmental health. Access to information, tools and strategies to support conservation and use of appropriate genetic resources that have better survival and are more productive and less susceptible to fluctuating environments than exotic genotypes in low input systems, thus securing assets, and improving farmers' income and food security. Enhanced capacity development and training transfers technologies into the hands of national and regional partners to drive their own research and development priorities.• Strategic, technical and laboratory support provided for regional vector-borne disease control programmes from 2004 onwards Holistic, integrated and community-based approaches that encompass health and nutrition of the poor, the increasing pressure on the natural resources that sustain their livelihoods and options to increase agricultural productivity suitable to their resource endowment, are required to effectively reduce rural poverty. By using such approaches in addressing opportunities at the interface of human well-being, livestock production and the environment, this project provides an entry point to enhance human health and nutrition, ensure the sustainability of agro-ecosystems is maintained and improve livestock production. The research takes an integrated natural resource management approach, considering both the positive and negative effects of livestock and their products on the health of livestock keepers, agroecosystems and changing land use systems. Central to this approach is the application of sustainable production practices in which the synergies from crop-livestock integration are captured. Forages and food-feed crops are used as targeted inputs in smallholder systems, to enhance productivity, natural resource management efficiency and human well-being.• Livestock-related options such as feed sourcing, watering practices, grazing and animal waste management strategies for improved use and conservation of water and soil are available for adoption by institutions and livestock keepers • Policy makers, national and community organisations and household members use improved information, strategies, and processes to develop better policies, innovate new solutions, and strengthen their capacity to improve livelihoods and land management in smallholder livestock systems • Strategies to reduce health risks and improve nutritional benefits associated with livestock keeping designed and applied to improve human health and well-being • Fodder constraints facing resource poor crop-livestock farmers are alleviated to improve livelihoods • Forage diversity saved, studied and used to contribute to agricultural sustainability of smallholder farming systemsThis project will identify strategies based on research of sustainable livestock production practices to enhance livelihoods of the poor through their contribution to better natural resource management and agro-ecosystem health. An important contribution will be to address, in a holistic manner, the links between livestock and human health, water, nutrition, agricultural production and land use change. The strategic use of animal-source foods to improve the nutrition of the poor, particularly young infants and children, will be confirmed and promoted. It will also provide a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between veterinary and medical perspectives regarding zoonotic and food-borne diseases. The productivity and sustainability of crop-livestock systems will be increased through improving the animal feed value of residues from major crops and the targeted use of forages. • Case studies from Ethiopia about feeding practices, nutritional status and morbidity in children, and on the role of livestock keeping and use of animal-source foods completed and preliminary results reported • Priority health risks associated with cattle/dairy production in Nigeria described and quantified in project reports, and mitigation strategies developed in consultation with stakeholders • Relationship between laboratory fodder traits and livestock productivity determined, superior dual purpose cultivars identified and NIRS equations established for cowpea, maize and rice • Synthesis of approaches for determining and targeting appropriate options to address farmer needs for improved feed resources and feeding strategies completed and reported (with project 1) • Fodder value of crop residue considered under the \"added value\" concept in varietal releasing process in sorghum and pearl millet • Information about exploitable variations in fodder value of the crop residues available to crop improvement, varietal releasing agents and seed industry for groundnut and pigeonpea • At least one third of the accessions in forage genebank assessed for seed quality • Basic data for SINGER verified on 15,000 forage accessions • A forage image database developed using least 500 images • Synthesis of information on a range of multi-stakeholder partnerships appropriate for scaling up and out of fodder innovations in 3 production systems in each Nigeria and India completed and report distributed (with project 2)• Synthesis paper on options to improve water productivity through livestock mediated strategies written and distributed • Policy recommendations formulated indicating implications of R&D options in Nile basin with respect to targeting of improved livestock and water management options • One high profile book on pastoralism and wildlife in East Africa in final draft • One global synthesis of the effects of intensification and loss of scale in rangelands in final draft • Five policy briefs on issues relating to land use change completed and distributed • Two assessments on herder-farmer conflicts for West and East Africa available for partners • Role of animal-source foods in the diets and nutritional status of Ethiopian children described in Ph.D. thesis • Econometric analysis of the associations between livestock-keeping, animal-source food expenditure patterns, animal-source food consumption, and child nutritional status characterized in the sample of Ethiopian households reported in Ph.D. thesis • Economic impact assessment of cysticercosis in eastern and southern Africa completed, reported and a peer-review publication for an integrated framework drafted • Methodology for evaluating the incidence and impact of zoonotic and food-borne diseases affecting the poor in representative livestock production systems developed and tested • Priority health risks associated with principal urban livestock production systems in Kigali described and quantified in project reports, and mitigation strategies developed in consultation with stakeholders • Capacity to support pig R&D strengthened in Eastern and Southern Africa through graduate students (7 Masters and 2 PhD) and on-the-job training among veterinary research and laboratory staff in 4 countries • Information about exploitable variations in fodder value of the crop residues available to crop improvement, varietal releasing agents and seed industry for cowpea maize and rice • Year round on-farm and purchased fodder resources quantified and quality established for selected NDDB-associated dairy cooperatives in India and appropriate supplementation strategies developed • Duplicate collection of key forage species located in another appropriate institute • Seed quality of all forage genebank accessions determined • General training materials and forage fact sheets for at least 20 best bet forages for management and seed multiplication developed and translated into local languages in 2 countries (with project 2) • At least 300 farmers and NARES partners trained in forage and forage seed production technologies Users-Farmers, development agents, NARS, veterinary and public health agencies; policy makers and researchers A synthesis of options and approaches to improve the contribution of livestock and their products especially for strategic at-risk groups among the poor is available and used for development efforts by stakeholders in at least three countries in SSA Approaches for the diagnosis and strategies to reduce the risk of zoonoses in periurban livestock systems are available and used by NARS and other partners in smallholder livestock production systems Diagnostic tools and control strategies for cysticercosis, including biophysical and policy options are being used by consortia of partners in at least four countries in SSA Awareness raised about role of key animal-sourced micronutrients at critical stages of child growth increased in the scientific literature and through nutrition education messages, and consumption of animal-sourced micronutrients increased in at least one intervention site in SSA Ex ante assessment of a range of food-feed crops is available and used by ILRI and partners to target research on feeds and feeding strategies in three countriesRecommendations are available to international and national partners involved in crop breeding and livestock production that enable targeted development and utilisation of feed options in five countries ILRI forage genebank is used as a strategic resource for fodder material and linked to partners working at field level in at least four countries An approach to target forage strategies and options that encompasses essential aspects of the research to development continuum, including seed and delivery systems is available and being used by partners in at least five countries Universities, NARES, policy makers and NGOs recognise and respond to the need to strengthen livestock and water research and management capacity.Partners' give high priority to capacity building.Financial and other resources are available.CPWF and/or other funding in place to enable project implementation.Hotspots have been identified.Communities consider livestock-water interactions a priority and are willing to collaborateAgreements among key stakeholders established and honoured.Budgets approved and funds made available; ILRI and partners' personnel committed to the research.Identification and assignment of thesis candidates.Approved budget in place.Approved budget in place.Hotspot report available.Community level agreements for collaboration in place. • A joint strategy and functional forum to enhance the effectiveness of the CGIAR system to address the global research needs of small scale crop-livestock producers. • Improved cultivars and management practices of food-feed crops with superior grain yield and feed value suitable for the main crop-livestock systems in areas of high rural poverty developed, evaluated and made available through collaborative research with NARS and other partners.• Synthesis of strategies and management options from the consortium partners for the integrated and sustainable use of land, water, soil nutrients and livestock in mixed crop-livestock systems were rural poverty is high, natural resources are degrading and crop-livestock production systems are intensifying, developed, tested and made available.• Synthesis of policy and institutional options from the consortium partners to increase productivity of crop-livestock farms and promote market access of small-scale farmers made available to policy/decision makers.• An internet based resource to share information on the development of sustainable crop-livestock systems made accessible to the general public.This research will provide options to increase the productivity, market opportunities and household livelihoods in small-scale crop-livestock production systems in the poorest regions of Asia, LAC, SSA and WANA. A major impact focus is on improved use of feed resources, particularly through the breeding, dissemination and widespread adoption of improved food-feed crops, that maximize both grain quality and quantity for human food and food value and quantity for livestock feed. These improvements will be conducted within a broader natural resource management context to maintain and enhance system sustainability.• • A strategy to address priority global needs of poor small scale crop-livestock producers revised.• A framework and model for assessing options to overcome feed scarcity and improve livestock productivity in food-feed systems developed and validated. • Genetic and environmental/management influences on fodder yield and nutritive quality and their relationship with grain yield established for pearl millet and sorghum.• At least three superior genotypes and crop management options for sorghum and pearl millet identified and tested.• Selection criteria and sources of variation for further improvement identified and available to crop breeders for use in improvement programmes of sorghum and pearl millet • Strategies and pathways to scale out fodder technologies identified and implemented in Nigeria and India.• Drivers of intensification of crop-livestock systems identified in case studies conducted in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.• Policy and institutional options to improve the access to markets of small-scale farmers in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa synthesized.• Internet based resource to share information on development options fro crop-livestock systems enhanced.• Strategies and pathways to scale out fodder technologies identified and implemented in Nigeria and India. • Genetic and environmental/management influences on fodder yield and nutritive quality and their relationship with grain yield assessed for maize and cowpea.• At least three superior genotypes and crop management options for maize and cowpea identified and tested.• SLP strategy to address key priority global needs of poor small scale crop-livestock producers updated. • Genetic and environmental/management influences on fodder yield and nutritive quality and their relationship with grain/tuber yield assessed for rice, sweet potato, pigeon pea.• At least three multi-purpose genotypes and management options for cowpea, rice and pigeon pea identified and tested.• Selection criteria and sources of variation for further improvement identified and available to crop breeders for use in improvement programmes of cowpea, pigeon pea and rice.• Ex-post impact assessment studies of improved food-feed crops initiated for pearl millet and sorghum. At least one institution in each of 5 countries in targeted regions has developed organizational and human resources to improve croplivestock systems.Trends remain on demand for livestock products in developing countries.Crop-livestock integration continues to be the main path for agricultural intensification in poor countries.Demand and production for meat and milk in developing countries grow by more than 3 % annually.More than 75% of the growth in ruminant milk and meat production occurs in mixed crop-livestock systems.Most of the monogastric meat production in areas where poor people can contribute to production and/or supply of inputs. Purpose Through synergies created within the CGIAR system, leveraging resources and adding value to the contribution of individual centers to the CGIAR goal:• NARS and relevant users promote and smallscale crop-livestock producers adopt improved food-feed systems that overcome feed scarcity and increase livestock productivity.• NARS and relevant users promote and smallscale farmers adopt strategies for the sustainable use of land, water and nutrients in crop-livestock systems.• Decision makers, development agents and communities of crop-livestock producers adopt policy and institutional options that improve productivity and sustainability of crop-livestock systems.At least 6 NARS and other development agencies in at least 3 countries located in different regions of high rural poverty promote demonstrably better food-feed systems than those prevailing in 2005 or earlier in at least 3 key crop-livestock systems.At least of 10% of crop-livestock producers adopt improved food-feed systems and better nutrient management practices in at least 6 pilot sites by 2010.      "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1775161295.json b/main/part_2/1775161295.json
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"6b8e5865-6472-4434-ba98-02f764423e85","content":"\n"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1780210246.json b/main/part_2/1780210246.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3d903ea1a9286893402bedeb186cde7447ac1d19
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"eceda01367aa06e0a38bf4484315af0b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7d0f9c78-2501-446b-a91a-a3fa968dd3be/retrieve","id":"236465161"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"bf457ed4-5566-401e-b6f3-40cf9d897b54","content":"This brief seeks to help national and provincial policymakers in better managing food safety along the smallholder pig value chain in Vietnam. It proposes costeffective, practical interventions based on the evidence of the research project 'Improving food safety in the smallholder pig value chain in Vietnam', known as PigRISK which ran from 2012 to 2017. It also includes outputs from a policy forum attended by policymakers from Hung Yen and Nghe An provinces in August 2017 and reflections from the last PigRISK project workshop in September 2017 in Hanoi.• Biological contamination is the main cause of health risks, while chemical-associated hazards are less important. Enhancing risk communications is critical to improving the ways that related agencies inform the public of health risks. • Strengthening hygiene practices along the pig value chain through the provision of training and clear guidelines plays an equally important role to infrastructure investment. More attention should be paid to improving hygiene practices to ensure food safety. However, behavioural change requires the provision of incentives. • Interventions also need to target consumers to manage the risk of cross-contamination at household level when handling pork. • High disease burden (17%) due to the consumption of Salmonella contaminated pork requires better reporting mechanisms and surveillance systems for food-borne diseases at all levels. value chain. Ensuring food safety is a top priority for Vietnam, especially in the context of changing food consumption patterns and ineffective risk communication.Although pork supplied by smallholders, including that from wet markets is affordable and can meet local demand, the quality and hygiene standards are difficult to control effectively. Smallholder pig value chains are vulnerable to breakdowns in food safety. However, research by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners shows that these systems can be efficient and effectively deliver safe pork if appropriate risk management approaches and policies are developed and implemented.In Vietnam, most pigs-76%-are processed in small slaughter facilities and sold in wet markets which often have inadequate conditions for pork processing and handling. Infrastructural improvements are needed, and more attentions should be paid to improving hygiene practices.Although Vietnam has a modern food safety regulatory framework, with controls which are rigorously applied to exported food, existing legislation and policy does not adequately support domestic pork consumption. Moreover, Vietnam's regulatory system is not fully riskbased in nature, leading to ineffective risk communication.PigRISK studies were conducted to provide evidence on health risks, impact and possible mitigation options. Some key findings, which have been validated through participatory consultations with key stakeholders, are listed below.PigRISK studies show that while biological hazards present the most important risk, consumers tend to be more concerned with chemical contamination of pork. Microbial risks through improper hygiene and crosscontamination are likely to cause most food safety concerns and health impacts.Researchers found high levels of contamination on pork with Salmonella present in 44% of pork sold at markets in two studied areas: Hung Yen and Nghe An provinces.Research showed that the health risks due to chemical hazards in pork in Hung Yen and Nghe An provinces seemed less serious than what was recently communicated to the public on the mass media; almost none of the samples exceeded the current maximum residue limits.A risk assessment estimated the annual risk of salmonellosis due to consumption of cooked pork for consumers in studied provinces to be 17%; this means that every year 2 in 10 consumers are at risk of becoming ill yearly from pork-related salmonellosis. Much of the human health risk comes from crosscontamination when handling pork at household level, for example, using the same cutting board. However, consumers have the perception that household practices, such as the rinsing of pork with water and cooking well, can sufficiently reduce the impact of any possible microbial contamination.In the context of food safety, a hazard is defined as a substance (biological, chemical, physical) present in food that has the potential to cause an adverse health effect in consumers.Risk is the likelihood that a person might be harmed if exposed to a given hazard. Risks in food safety usually refer to the likelihood and consequences of events.An economic assessment of the cost of human illness due to pork-related salmonellosis was conducted as part of PigRISK. . Researchers found that the cost per treatment and per day of hospitalization due to foodborne diarrhoea were USD 106.9 and USD 33.6, respectively, amounting to USD 2.5-7.6 million annually in Vietnam for hospitalization alone.The following are some of the policy recommendations based on research findings from the project and consultation with policymakers in the two provinces.Investment in livestock production including food safety should be more focused. The state budget currently finances too many development objectives with a wide range of beneficiaries, reducing the efficiency of the spending.The current policy on slaughterhouses should prioritize good practices and behavioural change of related actors, promoting the adoption of hygienic practices rather than only focusing on infrastructural improvements. Greater awareness of the benefits of behavioural changes and incentives for the adoption of good practices are needed.Improved risk communications requires the development of a food safety communication strategy and better collaboration among relevant state agencies and other actors to deliver practical and coherent food safety messages to the public. Future interventions should target consumers to manage the risk of cross-contamination at household level when handling pork.Further support is needed to increase the adoption of good animal husbandry practices (GAHP) by smallholders and establish pig breeding groups to better link farmers to markets and improve food safety along the value chain.It is advised to strengthen national food safety monitoring and surveillance, including the improvement of traceability along the pig value chain."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1802925783.json b/main/part_2/1802925783.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..34db850d633678f262308f6f835e049db1db5dc1
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4056c3c69c4f529ce871723b7f58262c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/dad163b0-d84d-4b78-89f9-0842540da13b/retrieve","id":"-1332362117"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"dce5ac88-3b2f-41f4-9ecb-1d0eed94c95e","content":"Aflatoxin levels in individual samples of a feed-type varied, but tended to be higher for particular feeds (see graph) The percentage of feed samples that were above the WHO recommended limit for aflatoxin in animal feed (of 5ppb) was high in commonly used feeds, for example 96% for ground-nut cake, 80% for millet bran, and 69% for concentrate. Some feed samples had aflatoxin levels high enough to potentially affect milk safety and livestock productivity, indicating the need to further monitor both feeds and milk"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1818056661.json b/main/part_2/1818056661.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d0f0c8fc2e0701ed1db74131cd3f045fbe0cb003
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"d78d2d77-9d6a-409f-a378-db60fa169ee8","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1822676179.json b/main/part_2/1822676179.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4355edaa11b6aba87f5606be220ba75d3f511b50
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"aeac7463d7caafed7c21f2fc608b3230","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/eafa61ee-17d3-4548-9a23-cdae492a391c/content","id":"-2091627669"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1d88a4fb-07aa-4775-bfd9-2255bc3c4c58","content":"In the aggregate, the promise of staple crops value chains in Africa can be deduced from recent reports, which indicate that food markets in sub-Saharan Africa are projected to grow exponentially in the coming decades. Modern value chains with dependable and transparent information systems, quality standards, storage facilities, supportive financial (credit) and other services are important if expanding food markets brought about by urbanization will turn into successful agribusiness and development opportunity.The study Market surveys were carried out in 2013 under the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA). Despite the potential of African agricultural markets to capture the demands of a growing urban consumer class, the evidence base on the performance of these markets is still relatively thin. It is therefore important to document the emerging trends to identify opportunities (and impediments) to the growth and development of modern value chains in these staple crops markets. Evidence of modernization and structured trade was summarized in terms of the following parameters: The existence of impersonal exchange, contract-based transactions, price information systems, standardization and quality differentiation.The survey was done among maize and legume traders in Kenya and Ethiopia. These markets were selected to coincide with the catchment markets for maize and legumes in the zones where CIMMYT and partners implemented the SIMLESA project.The project focuses on generating information on production options, value chains and policy ideas that can be used by farmers, extension agencies, development organizations, and agribusinesses along the maize-legume value chains in a comprehensive package to achieve sustainable intensification. The markets covered by the survey in both countries are listed in Fig. 1 below. In total 275 and 106 maize and/or legume traders were interviewed in Ethiopia and Kenya respectively. This section highlights the results of the survey in the two countries under four categories aforementioned -the existence of impersonal exchange, contract-based transactions, price information systems, standardization and quality differentiation. The aim is to show frequency of contract-based transactions compared to spot markets, the availability of auxiliary services from market intermediaries, the nature of the price dissemination system and the grading and quality assessment system.Limited contract-based transactions is likely to imply the predominance of spot markets. In both Kenya and Ethiopia, the survey found that majority of traders operated within a limited locality: 72% to 95% of maize and legume traders operate primarily in local villages and towns. (Table 1). This situation could be as a result of the nature of many businesses that are small and micro.Secondly, as shown in Table 2 below, transactions based on contracts were absent in both tradersupplier or trader-buyer relationships. The evidence of few contract-based transactions may be symptomatic of unstructured transactions in many maize and legume markets in both countries. The localized nature of many of businesses suggests that local traders are not be able to exploit markets further afield compared to other intermediaries.  The second trend revealed by the survey was that the localized nature of grain markets is accompanied by limited market services reaching farmers from traders. This is a significant finding because farmers are the traders' main suppliers. Consider the fact that the main suppliers to the traders were mostly farmers with wholesalers and rural assemblers or business partners the second largest category (Table 3). As per fig. 2, only a minority of traders offered any of the services that may support greater and structured participation of farmers in maize and legume markets.  Limited formal price information systemModern markets rely on equitable information access provided through publicly accessible common outlets. In many places in Kenya and Ethiopia there are limited formal public price information systems. As per Fig. 3, for many traders, conversations with fellow traders was the main source of market information. Alternatively, the price was known at the market place. The latter is a feature of spot markets. The thrust being that gathering market price information is mainly a private undertaking for traders. A publicly accessible price information system appears exceptional rather than the norm in both countries.In terms of price discovery and settlement, the results showed the predominant price settlement for the traders (74% in Ethiopia and 44% in Kenya)was through negotiations between traders and their business partners (sellers or buyers). Just about 38% of traders relied on common-knowledge market prices during the transaction to pay farmers in both eastern and western regions of Kenya. In Ethiopia 23% of the traders relied on published prices by trader associations.  An important issue is that in the absence of standardized quality determination and arbitration, prices in informal market systems are often not based on quality differentials. This is because the various \"grades\" are not openly known nor are they assessed using standardized procedures. In many markets in Kenya and Ethiopia, grading and standardization are limited to the buyer making visual inspection during the buying process. The result is lack of standardization which means that the prices charged are impossible to compare on the basis of quality differentiation.Figure 5 below shows 16 different attributes that different traders considered when purchasing maize or legumes and these were graded as \"very important\" in affecting prices. In each case no attribute was considered by more than 12% of the traders in either country. Without a common and widely accepted minimum set of attributes, which set the quality and price of maize, it may be difficult to develop systems like group marketing, warehouse receipt systems and commodity exchanges. For example if farmers are to form marketing groups to bulk and transport to the larger markets, their members must bring together grain of fairly uniform and specific quality as demanded by the market. Without a common set of standards the arrangement is likely to collapse.  Implications: Will value chains modernization always a good thing?Will the development of contracting and other formalisms always lead to equitable outcomes for smallholder market participation? Where willingness to pay is dictated by consumer preferences, markets will pay the price for higher quality products while producers will decide their willingness to participate in these structured markets based on cost-benefit analysis. It is possible to strike a middle ground with those able to achieve the demands of premium markets and those able to serve the low income market segments. The equity implications of this scenario are not immediately obvious.Conclusions and lessons for sustainable intensification research in SIMLESA Phase 2The fact that the elements of structured grain markets are largely missing in maize and legume markets in Ethiopia and Kenya suggests that there are few viable business opportunities in these formalized systems, otherwise businesses would have developed around them. Moreover, the dynamism of the less structured markets with their low entry barriers, offer a more levelled playing field for many small traders and farmers to participate in these markets. The flexibility of less structured markets in meeting diverse consumers' needs and preferences must be emphasized. On balance, the advantages of more structured markets are not straightforward nor not a forgone conclusion.This survey highlights three important issues for policy on value chain development and for further research: First, price information systems based on widely accepted quality definitions are needed in maize-legume value chains to support quality based pricing. Second, agricultural market development policy should focus on improving infrastructure for auxiliary services such as, forward sales, transportation, post-harvest handling and grading. Third, options for reducing the length of value chains or enabling farmers to be more fully integrated into wider markets should be explored. Fourth, future research should focus on determining the key financial efficiency and development gains from such measures as standardized grades and quality, contracting and vertical integration."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1826405517.json b/main/part_2/1826405517.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e50b9f15bbdb0685da7adff6cbc3dbedf616e5ab
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"efe6d0a520288659507439d69668feda","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c75bba9e-5879-423d-9d0a-ca10b7a13aa7/retrieve","id":"-1262282913"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"455bd929-6dc2-47bf-a079-5e0108dd6ef2","content":"Own production contributes much of the food supply in smallholder production systems in low-and middle-income countries like Ethiopia. Understanding the potential as well as constraints of these production systems in terms of nutrient supplies is thus a critical step to design interventions to improve nutrient intakes. The objectives of this study were (1) to assess the usual total intakes of vitamin A, iron and zinc among rural children and (2) to investigate whether the intakes these nutrients areassociated with differences in the dominant farming systems between spatial clusters. Using nationally representative intake data of 4,902 children 6-35 months of age, usual intake and the proportion of inadequate intakes of vitamin A, iron and zinc were calculated. A multi-level model was used to examine the association between individual-level and cluster-level variables with the usual total dietary intakes of these nutrients. The diet was dominated by starchy foods. Consumption of animal source foods, vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables was low. We found a high prevalence of inadequate intake of vitamin A and zinc (85.4% and 49.5%, respectively). Relatively, low prevalence of inadequate intake of iron (8.4%) was reported. The spatial farming systems diversity across the rural clusters explained 48.2%, 57.2% and 26.7% of the observed variation in the usual total dietary intakes of vitamin A, iron and zinc, respectively. Our findings indicated the importance of farming system diversity at the landscape level as one of the determinant factors for individual usual total dietary intakes of vitamin A, iron and zinc.cluster farming system, Ethiopia, micronutrient, nutrient adequacy, rural, usual intakeMicronutrients, comprising both minerals and vitamins, are essential for growth and development of the human body. During the first 2 years of childhood, micronutrient requirements are high, and inadequate intake during this period could result in deficiencies leading to high susceptibility to infection and mortality, limited cognitive and physical development and reduced productivity during adulthood (Biesalski & Black, 2016;Biesalski & Jana, 2018;Salgueiro et al., 2002) Globally, micronutrient deficiencies are widespread, and yet the largest proportion of children with key micronutrient deficiencies lives in low and middle-income countries (Bailey et al., 2015;Bhutta & Salam, 2012;Ramakrishnan, 2002). In Ethiopia, children living in rural areas are the most at risk for commonly occurring micronutrient deficiencies, such as iron, vitamin A and zinc due to high level of poverty, food insecurity and intestinal parasitic infections (Desalegn et al., 2014;Gebreegziabher et al., 2020), and the magnitude of the problem varies considerably across the different administrative regions (Ethiopian Public Health Institute, 2016).In the context of developing countries, poor diet quality compounded with low bioavailability is often a major determinant of micronutrient deficiencies (Beal et al., 2017;Gibbs et al., 2011;Gibson et al., 1998). To alleviate micronutrient deficiencies, cereal-based complementary foods are usually given to breast fed children in Ethiopia. However, these traditional cereal-based complementary foods are mostly calorie-rich and insufficient in key micronutrients to meet the daily requirements (Abeshu et al., 2016;Baye et al., 2013).Thus, improving the quality and diversity of diets has been recommended as major strategies to improve micronutrient intakes (Arsenault et al., 2013;Muslimatun & Wiradnyani, 2016;Zhang et al., 2016). However, the success of this strategy is related to the availability and accessibility of foods, which largely depend on the food production system (Girard et al., 2012;Thamilini et al., 2019).The food production pathway is the most direct agriculturenutrition pathway by which own production translates into consumption (Gillespie et al., 2019). However, two contrasting views have been documented on the relationship between production diversity and diet from previous studies conducted in low-and middle-income countries. The first view argues that on-farm production diversity was consistently associated with increased household dietary diversity in smallholder farmer households (Ecker, 2018;Jones, 2017;Jones et al., 2014;Romeo et al., 2016). The second view argues that market access had a strong association than on-farm production diversity to increase household dietary diversity (Koppmair et al., 2016;Sibhatu et al., 2015). However, the evidence underlying the relationship from both views has the following limitations:(1) research has focused at the household level and overlooked the status of the most vulnerable member of the household, and (2) nutrient intakes were repeatedly measured using a proxy indicator (via dietary diversity score) which is limited to show the status of a specific nutrient of interest. In Ethiopia, given the dependency of rural households on agricultural production for sustaining their livelihoods, exploring the local context from the nutrition perspective could help to identify the problem as well as options to address the risk for the different micronutrient deficiencies among rural children who are already the most at risk. Ethiopia is characterized by diverse topography and agro-climatic features that determine the production systems. A thoughtful understanding of the farming systems diversity across the rural areas will provide a framework to explore and design agricultural interventions for improving nutritional outcomes, particularly diets. Hence, the current analysis attempts to investigate the extent to which farming systems diversity, as defined by spatial classification of landscapes into a broadly 'distinct' patterns of farming systems, are correlated with usual total intake of vitamin A, iron and zinc among rural children in Ethiopia using a multi-level analysis approach. We hypothesized that (1) clusters (landscapes) with simplified (less diverse) farming system would be associated with high inadequate nutrient intake, and (2) the spatial farming system diversity is associated with the variability in nutrient intake.This analysis was conducted using data from the national food consumption survey (NFCS) in Ethiopia. The NFCS was a crosssectional survey where a nationally and regionally representative sample of children 6 to 35 months of age was randomly selected from the different administrative regions. The survey used a multistage sampling design to ensure collection of dietary information from the range of different ethnic, geographic, socioeconomic and cultural settings. The country was stratified into nine geographical regions (Afar, Tigray, Amhara, Oromiya, Gambella, Benshangul Gumuz, Southern Nations and Nationalities and Peoples' [SNNP], Somalia and Harari) and two administrative cities (Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa). Then, each region was stratified into urban and rural areas or clusters. In the first stage of sampling, enumeration areas (EAs) or clusters composed of mainly rural and fewer urban areas were selected using probability proportion to EA or cluster size in each region. In the second stage, about 20 to 26 households per EA or cluster were selected using a simple random sampling technique.Initially, the data consisted of a sample of 6,703 children from a total of 319 clusters. However, we excluded urban clusters due to the fact that urban clusters do not depend on their own production for consumption. We then focused our analysis on a total of 4,902 children from 228 rural clusters (Figure 1). Household demographic and socioeconomic information was retrieved from the NFCS and included in the analysis. Detailed information on the survey methodology was published elsewhere (Ethiopian Public Health Institute, 2013).• The diet of rural children in Ethiopia is limited in diversity to provide adequate intake of vitamin A, iron and zinc.• The spatial variability in vitamin A, iron and zinc inadequacy is mostly associated with farming system features.• Understanding the local context in rural setting is crucial to explore and design nutrition sensitive and other complementary interventions that address micronutrient malnutrition.Dietary data on the type and amount of food consumed by a child in the previous day were collected using a multi-pass single 24-h recall method (Gibson & Ferguson, 2008). The interview was administered by trained data collectors, and the mother or caregiver of the child was the respondent. A detailed description of the method of data collection is found elsewhere (Ethiopian Public Health Institute, 2013).Nutrient intakes, such as vitamin A, iron and zinc from foods consumed, were calculated using the Ethiopian food composition table part III and part IV (EHNRI, 1998a(EHNRI, , 1998b)). Only nutrients contributed from food sources were considered in this analysis.The farming systems data for each cluster were obtained primarily from the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET; https:// fews.net) and IFPRI's Harvest Choice (https://harvestchoice.org/ products/data) databases, where clusters were classified based on the dominant pattern of farm activities and livelihoods using expert knowledge approach. Furthermore, available literature sources were referred to complement the existing data on farming systems (Amede et al., 2017). Based on those resources, a total of 10 farming systems were identified for the study clusters: agro-pastoral, highland maize mixed, highland barley-wheat mixed, highland perennial, highland teff mixed, lowland sesame mixed, pastoral, sorghum-chat mixed, sorghum mixed and western-lowland maize mixed. The farming system dominating a cluster is denoted as 'cluster farming system' (Figure 2). Moreover, cluster level data on food security were compiled from FEWS NET and included in the analysis.Usual nutrient intake estimation for a population of interest require a repeated 24-h dietary recall on at least a sub-sample of the population in order to account for within-person variability. However, the Ethiopian national food consumption survey was a single 24-h recall data, and a statistical adjustment using an external variance estimate from a repeated nationally representative dietary intake survey (in our case from Uganda) for a similar target group was made on the dataset to estimate the usual intake. The statistical adjustment was done using a 1-day method developed by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Institute for Global Nutrition at the University of California, Davis (Luo et al., 2019) to estimate F I G U R E 1 Flow chart showing the clusters and study participants included in the study the usual total intake of vitamin A, iron and zinc. The method uses two SAS macros: TRAN1 and DISTRIB. The TRAN1 macro is used to generate parameter estimates for nutrients consumed every day by the majority of individuals after covariate adjustment for a day of the week using a Box-Cox transformation. Parameter estimates from TRAN1 were further used as input for the DISTRIB macro to estimate the distribution of usual intake via a Monte Carlo simulation. For each nutrient intake estimation, separate TRAN1 and DISTRIB macros were used.Adequacy of nutrients was assessed using the estimated average requirements (EARs; the average daily nutrient intake level estimated to meet the requirements of half of the population of healthy individuals) as defined by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the International Zinc Nutrition Consultative Group (IZiNCG) for vitamin A and zinc, respectively, according to sex and age.Accordingly, the prevalence of inadequacy was estimated as the  Zinc Nutrition Consultative Group, 2019). The EAR cut-off point method was not used for iron since the distribution of iron requirement among children is skewed. Thus, we used the fullprobability approach proposed by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) adjusted for an iron bioavailability of 10% (World Health Organization, 2006). These three dietary reference values set by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) for vitamin A, International Zinc Nutrition Consultative Group (IZiNCG) for zinc and World Health Organization (WHO) for iron was chosen due to its wide range of use in the context of developing countries. Considering the local food preparation and processing practices (e.g., fermentation for cereals-based foods) which reduces the absorption inhibitors (e.g., phytate) (Abebe et al., 2007;Umeta et al., 2005), bioavailability adjustment for iron at 10% and zinc at 30% were set to estimate the prevalence of inadequacy of intake of these nutrients (International Zinc Nutrition Consultative Group, 2019;World Health Organization, 2006).A dietary diversity score (DDS) was calculated for each child by categorizing individual foods consumed in quantities ≥10 g in the previous 24 h into the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) seven food groups (World Health Organization, 2010). Though the use of the minimum threshold (≥10 g) has not yet been tested in Ethiopia, the use of this threshold is recommended to exclude foods that are consumed in small amount and has been tested in other developing countries. Using this threshold improved the performance of the dietary diversity score in predicting adequate micronutrient intakes (Daniels et al., 2009;Kennedy et al., 2007;Mahmudiono et al., 2020).Accordingly, a child with DDS of four food groups or more is categorized as a low-risk for micronutrients inadequacy (Kennedy et al., 2007).The analysis was started by exploring the distribution of the data.Accordingly, quantitative response variables (vitamin A, iron and zinc intakes) were checked for normality using a histogram. In the case of non-normality, square root transformation method was used. The transformed variables were tested and confirmed for normality and constant variance, and therefore, the ANOVA estimates are reliable.Then, normally distributed data were presented as means and standard deviations (SD), whereas for skewed distribution, we presented medians (interquartile range). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and chi-square test were used to compare the mean DDS and the minimum food group consumption between cluster farming systems, respectively. Sample weight was applied for descriptive values, such as proportions and averages (e.g., mean DDS).At individual-level, information on sex, age and food groups consumed were available for each selected child in the household. However, because maternal and household related factors greatly affect the nutritional status of a child in the household, we considered maternal education status, total household size and household socioeconomic status as additional individual-level factors in the modelling process. To examine the association between individual-level variables and cluster-level variables such as farming systems and food security with the usual total dietary intake of vitamin A, iron and zinc among rural children, we used multi-level models with parameter estimation using the maximum likelihood technique. A two-level random intercept linear model was used in the analysis by adjusting for individual-level variables (child age, child sex, household socioeconomic status and caretaker or mother educational status) and clusterlevel variables (farming system and food security status) in subsequent models. Accordingly, in Model 1 (null model), neither the individuallevel nor the cluster-level variables were included. Individual-level variables were included in Model 2, whereas cluster-level variables were included in Model 3. Lastly, both individual-and cluster-level variables were included in Model 4. Measures of association between individual-level variables, cluster-level variables with the specified micronutrient intakes were presented as regression coefficients in the fixed part of the model, whereas the cluster level variability was presented as the 'intra-class correlation' and percentage change in variance in the random effect part of the model. The statistical level of significance was set at p < 0.05.Using variable names:Mixed model:where Y ij = dependent variable (nutrient intake) measured for child i in cluster j; CAge ij = age of child i in cluster j; CSex ij = sex of child i in cluster j; SES ij = household socio-economic status of child i in cluster j; MEdu ij = mother educational status of child i in cluster j;CIFar j = type of farming system in cluster j; ClFoSec j = food security status in cluster j; β 0j = intercept for the jth cluster; β 1j , β 2j , β 3j , β 4j = regression coefficient associated with X ij for jth cluster;γ 00 = overall mean intercept; γ 01 , γ 02 = regression coefficient associated with cluster level variables; γ 10 , γ 20 , γ 30 , γ 40 = overall slope adjusted for cluster level variables; ϵ ij = random error and μ 0j = random effects at cluster j adjusted for cluster level variables on the intercept.The survey was ethically approved by Scientific and Ethical Review Office (SERO) committee of Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute. Informed consent was obtained from caregivers who were interviewed.The general characteristics of the study participants and the clusters included in this study are summarized in Table 1. Childrenwere not equally distributed among cluster farming systems (e.g., the majority were from the highland barley-wheat mixed cluster farming system [24.3%]), whereas few were from the lowland sesame mixed cluster farming system (1.0%). A large proportion of mothers or caregivers were illiterate (72.0%) and from poor households (57.6%).Across the cluster farming systems, children had a very low diet diversity score (about an average of 2), and more than 90% had below the recommended minimum intake of four or more food groups per day (Table 2; World Health Organization, 2010). The diets were dominated by energy-rich staples such as cereals, roots and tubers irrespective of the diversity of farming systems (Figure 3). The contribution of other food groups differed between cluster farming systems. For instance, the staple diets were primarily supplemented with dairy products in pastoral and agro-pastoral farming systems, legumes in cereal dominated farming systems (highland maize mixed, highlandbarley-wheat mixed, highland-teff mixed, lowland-sesame mixed and sorghum mixed) and vitamin A rich fruits and vegetables in highland perennial and Western-lowland maize mixed farming systems. The contribution of flesh foods and eggs were generally very low (Figure 3).The usual total dietary intake (as expressed in median) of vitamin A in children in the different cluster farming systems was below the estimated average requirement (EAR), as shown in Table 3. Nevertheless, a considerable difference in the usual total dietary intake of vitamin A was observed across the cluster farming systems. In particular, children from pastoral, agro-pastoral, highland perennial and Westernlowland maize mixed cluster farming systems had a usual total dietary vitamin A intake of more than twice as high as that of their counterparts from cereal dominated cluster farming systems, such as lowland sesame mixed, sorghum mixed and highland barley-wheat mixed. Due to a low usual total dietary intake of vitamin A in clusters with cereal dominated farming systems, more than 80% of children residing in those clusters were unable to meet the requirement for vitamin A from their diet. By contrast, the highest usual total dietary intake of vitamin A was reported for children from clusters dominated by pastoral, agro-pastoral, highland perennial and Western-lowland maize mixed farming systems. However, the proportion of children living in those clusters with inadequate vitamin A intake remained high (ranging from 75.0% to 79.3%).Usual total dietary intake of iron was generally high across the different cluster farming systems. However, relatively intake for children from clusters with pastoral and agro-pastoral farming systems was lower compared to the other clusters. As a result, a significant proportion of children living in those two cluster farming systems had a higher prevalence of inadequacy for iron (Table 3). By contrast, low usual total dietary intake of zinc was commonly found across the cluster farming systems. However, children living in highland perennial farming systems had the highest prevalence of inadequacy for zinc.Tables 4-6 present the multi-level linear regression model analysis results that examine the association between individual-level variables and cluster-level variables with the usual total dietary intake of F I G U R E 3 Proportion (%) of daily food group intake of rural children by cluster farming system in Ethiopia, NFCS 2011 vitamin A, iron and zinc among rural children. Based on the null models intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) results, 73.0%, 31.0% and 24.2% of the variation in the usual total dietary intake of vitamin A, iron and zinc, respectively, were attributed to the difference between clusters (Model 1; Tables 4-6).In the subsequent models, we added individual-and clusterlevel variables to assess their relationship with usual total dietary intakes of nutrients and explain the variation across the clusters.Among the individual-level variables, child age, sex and household socioeconomic status were associated with the usual total dietary intake of vitamin A, iron and zinc (Model 2; Tables 4-6). The association remained unchanged when controlling for cluster-level variables (Model 4; Tables 4-6). Consumption of an optimum number of food groups (four and more food groups) had a significant positive effect on the usual total dietary intake of iron and zinc, but not on vitamin A intake (Model 2). In contrast, maternal education status and household size had no significant effect on the usual total dietary intakes of vitamin A, iron and zinc (Models 2 and 4;Tables 4-6). The inclusion of these individual-level variables in the model explained 2.8%, 7.0% and 6.7% of the variation observed in the usual total dietary intakes of vitamin A, iron and zinc, respectively (Model 2; Tables 4-6).Although the usual total dietary intakes of vitamin A and zinc were generally low (Table 3), the diversity of farming systems observed at clusters contributed significantly to differences in the usual intakes and explained majorly the observed variation. For instance, compared to pastoral cluster farming system, children from clusters dominated by highland maize mixed, highland barley-wheat mixed, highland teff mixed, lowland sesame mixed, sorghum-chat mixed and sorghum mixed farming systems had a significantly lower usual total dietary intake of vitamin A (Model 3; Table 4). There was no difference observed in the usual total dietary intake of vitamin A between pastoral, agro-pastoral, highland perennial and Western lowland maize mixed cluster farming systems. However, vitamin A intake for children from highland perennial and Western lowland maize mixed cluster farming systems was numerically lower than children from pastoral cluster farming systems. The diversity of farming systems across the rural clusters, where these sampled children reside, explained about half (48.2%) of the variation observed in the usual total dietary intake of vitamin A among children. Cluster-level food security did not affect the usual total dietary intake of vitamin A (Table 4).Likewise, the usual total dietary intake of iron was significantly different between clusters with different farming systems and the observed trend seems quite the opposite in pattern (positively for iron) compared to the influence of cluster farming systems had on the usual total dietary intake of vitamin A (Model 3; Tables 4 and 5). More than half (57.2%) of the variation observed in the usual total dietary intake of iron among children was explained by differences in dominating farming systems in clusters (Table 5). Cluster-level food security was associated with usual total dietary intake of iron (Model 3; Table 5), but the association was lost in a fully adjusted model (Model 4; Table 5). T A B L E 3 Usual intake and prevalence of inadequate intake of vitamin A, iron and zinc among rural children by cluster farming system in Ethiopia, NFCS 2011 The usual total dietary intake of zinc was less affected by the dominant farming systems in clusters. About one fourth (26.7%) of the variation observed was explained by the differences in dominant farming systems in clusters (Table 6). The association was significantly varied across cluster farming systems. In particular, in most cereal dominated systems (highland-barley-wheat mixed, highland-teff mixed, lowland-sesame mixed and sorghum mixed), children tended to have a higher usual total dietary intake of zinc compared to their counterparts from pastoral cluster farming systems (Models 3 and 4;Table 6). On the other hand, children from highland perennial cluster farming systems tended to have a lower usual total dietary intake of zinc compared to children from pastoral cluster farming systems (Models 3 and 4; Table 6). Moreover, the influence of cluster-level food security status on the usual total dietary intake of zinc was significant and consistent in both models (Models 3 and 4; Table 6); which implied children from food-insecure clusters tended to have a higher usual total dietary intake of zinc than children from food secured clusters.Prior attempts made to show the nexus between the food production and consumption in Ethiopia were measured based on indicators such as dietary diversity, energy and nutrient production at the household level (Aweke et al., 2020;Baye et al., 2019;Sibhatu et al., 2015;Tesfaye, 2020). The relationship at the individual level in terms of nutrient intakes remained unknown. This is the first study to our knowledge that estimated individual-level dietary usual total intakes of vitamin A, iron and zinc from nationally representative data of rural children in Ethiopia and further examined the influence of contextual factors associated with intakes of these nutrients. To attain our objectives, we followed an advanced methodological approach (for usual intake estimation and statistical modelling) to determine the adequacy of these nutrients among children and the variability in nutrient intakes attributed to individual-and cluster-level factors.The diverse agro-climatic and ecological conditions of Ethiopia have led farmers to adopt a diverse farming system that fit into the local context to produce foods and generate income to support their livelihoods. Unexpectedly, the dietary pattern was more or less similar across the cluster farming systems except in pastoral and agro-pastoral clusters. The diet of rural children in this analysis was heavily dominated by starchy foods (cereals, roots and tubers) mainly rich in energy and lack animal source foods, which are a good source of micronutrients such as vitamin A, zinc and iron (Murphy & Allen, 2003). However, in pastoral and agro-pastoral cluster farming systems, children's diet constitutes relatively more consumption of animal source foods (e.g., particularly, milk) due to their high dependency on livestock to support their livelihoods (Abegaz et al., 2018;Potts et al., 2019). In general, the monotonous nature of children's diet across the different rural clusters in our analysis might be attributed to seasonality, in our case the time of the survey (May-July), where there were no major harvest in most parts of the country that define food availability and household consumption as previously stated in different studies (Ferro-Luzzi et al., 2001;Hirvonen et al., 2015;Potts et al., 2019;Sibhatu & Qaim, 2017).Although the study covered clusters with diverse farming systems that could potentially produce a variety of foods of both ani- sources were limited to provide adequate vitamin A intake (Demissie et al., 2009;Eshete et al., 2018;Kim et al., 2019).Low prevalence of inadequate intake of iron was observed in the majority of cluster farming systems except for children from pastoral (with a prevalence of 25.6%) and agro-pastoral (with a prevalence of 20.3%) cluster farming systems. Particularly, in cereal dominated cluster farming systems (sorghum mixed, highland teff mixed, highland barley-wheat mixed, lowland sesame mixed, highland maize mixed and sorghum-chat mixed), the reported low inadequacy of iron could be attributed to consumption of unrefined staple grains high in iron (as a result of soil iron contamination during threshing; Guja & Baye, 2018). Although traditional food preparation practice (e.g., fermentation) has the potential to reduce the phytate content, yet phytate intake associated with consumption of unfermented and unrefined cereal-based foods could potentially limit the absorption of iron required by the body.Compared with vitamin A and iron, the prevalence of inadequate usual total dietary zinc intake among children seems 'evenly' distributed across the cluster farming system. In this sense, differences in the prevalence of inadequate usual total dietary zinc intake between clusters farming systems were minimal except in highland perennial clusters. This could be primarily associated with low to negligible consumption of animal source foods between clusters, which are a good source of zinc (Dror & Allen, 2011;Neumann et al., 2002;Zhang et al., 2016). Though rearing livestock is an integral part in most of the clusters farming systems, much of their products are not consumed by the household members.Instead, these products are either sold out to raise income and buy cheaper staple for consumption (Abegaz et al., 2018;Haileselassie et al., 2020) or preserved for special occasions, such as religious holidays and fasting seasons (Abegaz et al., 2018;Haileselassie et al., 2020). Moreover, the availability of zinc for the body may further be affected by consumption of unfermented cereal-based foods high in phytate (Gibson et al., 2010;Umeta et al., 2005).Given the discrepancy between biochemical and dietary based estimate of population nutrient status, we tried to see the harmony between our findings and other national level micronutrient status studies, particularly in rural settings The findings from the regression model showed that usual total dietary intakes of vitamin A, iron and zinc among rural children were associated more with differences in the dominant farming systems between clusters than individual-level factors.Understanding the factors, particularly differences in the dominant farming systems in the country, provides a framework to explore the potential options and constraints to design an intervention to address nutrient inadequacies among children who are the most at-risk groups.The findings of this analysis should be interpreted with some caution considering the strength and limitations of the study design and dataset used. Logistic and resource constraints limited the collection of multiple days dietary intake data from a nationally representative sample of children and the dataset we used were a single 24-h recall which might be affected by within-person and between-person variations. However, we employed an appropriate statistical method to adjust the within-person variation, betweenperson variation and important covariates that may influence intake of micronutrients (e.g., day of the week). Based on this, we estimated the usual total dietary intake distribution to assess the prevalence of inadequate intakes of vitamin A, iron and zinc quantitatively based on nationally representative data. Furthermore, we used a multi-level analysis to determine the factors that influence nutrient intakes of children at individual and cluster levels.These two methodological approaches enabled us to estimate the extent of inadequate intakes of nutrient among children in rural Ethiopia and determined the spatial variability of the problem taking both individual and community factors simultaneously into account. On the other hand, we recognized some of the limitations are worth noting. First, for those children who were breastfed during the survey time, the contribution of breast milk to nutrient intakes was not considered in the analysis, and this probably affected the prevalence of inadequacy among breastfed children.However, given the low breast milk nutrient content among rural mothers in Ethiopia (Z. Abebe et al., 2019;Gebre-Medhin et al., 1976), the reported prevalence estimate is less likely to be overestimated. Second, the NFCS was done during the lean season of Ethiopia (between May and July), and the seasonal food shortage in rural households might affect the consumption and contribute to low nutrient intakes. Third, the individual and cluster level factors included in the model were not exhaustive (e.g., market access) to explain the entire variation observed in nutrient intakes.However, given the time of the survey was carried out, the individual intake estimates would not be significantly affected by household market access. Lastly, the cross-sectional design of the survey did not allow us for a causal interpretation of individual and cluster level factors on the usual total dietary nutrient intakes of children.Household agricultural food production is considered as a direct pathway through which agriculture impact nutrition in terms of access to and availability of food for consumption (Danton & Titus, 2018;Gillespie et al.,2019). Although the current production system considered in this analysis was short of providing adequate micronutrients, the variation in intake of nutrients observed across In conclusion, our findings show that the diets of rural children in Ethiopia were sub-optimal and inadequate to meet the requirements for vitamin A and zinc. Although the usual total dietary intakes of these nutrients were generally low, the differences in intakes observed between clusters dominated by different farming systems was remarkably high. Understanding the association between farming system at the landscape level and inadequate intakes of nutrients among rural children could help to explore interventions that fit into the local context and concomitantly address the nutritional problems."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"beb72636c1f5de1d5270a782ac9349c0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a6160fe9-9769-46a6-912f-bb0d0e616a45/retrieve","id":"-1119971487"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5a1ac7e9-e5eb-4d96-8af0-a9d437cfb487","content":"IPGRI now uses the following definitions in genetic resources documentation:Passport descriptors: These provide the basic information used for the general management of the accession (including the registration at the genebank and other identification information) and describe parameters that should be observed when the accession is originally collected.Management descriptors: These provide the basis for the management of accessions in the genebank and assist with their multiplication and regeneration.Environment and site descriptors: These describe the environmental and site-specific parameters that are important when characterization and evaluation trials are held. They can be important for the interpretation of the results of those trials. Site descriptors for germplasm collecting are also included here.Characterization descriptors: These enable an easy and quick discrimination between phenotypes. They are generally highly heritable, can be easily seen by the eye and are equally expressed in all environments. In addition, these may include a limited number of additional traits thought desirable by a consensus of users of the particular crop.Evaluation descriptors: Many of the descriptors in this category are susceptible to environmental differences but are generally useful in crop improvement and others may involve complex biochemical or molecular characterization. They include yield, agronomic performance, stress susceptibilities and biochemical and cytological traits.Characterization will normally be the responsibility of genebank curators, while evaluation will typically be carried out elsewhere (possibly by a multidisciplinary team of scientists). The evaluation data should be fed back to the genebank which will maintain a data file.Minimum highly discriminating descriptors are marked with a star ( « ).The following internationally accepted norms for the scoring, coding and recording of descriptor states should be followed:(a) the Système International d'Unités (SI system) is used. The units to be applied are given in square brackets following the descriptor name;(b) standard colour charts, e.g. Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, Methuen Handbook of Colour, or Munsell Color Chart for Plant Tissues, are strongly recommended for all ungraded colour characters (the precise chart used should be specified in the section where it is used); (d) when a descriptor is scored using a 1-9 scale, such as in (c), '0' would be scored when (i) the character is not expressed; (ii) when a descriptor is inapplicable. In the following example, '0' will be recorded if an accession does not have a central leaf lobe:Linear (e) absence/presence of characters is scored as in the following example:Absence/presence of terminal leaflet 0 Absent 1 (or +) Present (f) blanks are used for information not yet available;(g) for accessions which are not generally uniform for a descriptor (e.g. mixed collection, genetic segregation), the mean and standard deviation could be reported where the descriptor is continuous. Where the descriptor is discontinuous, several codes in the order of frequency could be recorded; or other publicized methods can be utilized, such as R.S. Rana et al. (1991), or van Hintum (1993), that clearly state a method for scoring heterogeneous accessions;(h) dates should be expressed numerically in the format DDMMYYYY, where DD -2 digits to represent the day MM -2 digits to represent the month YYYY -4 digits to represent the year.1.1 Accession number (2.1) This number serves as a unique identifier for accessions and is assigned when an accession is entered into the collection. Once assigned this number should never be reassigned to another accession in the collection. Even if an accession is lost, its assigned number is still not available for re-use. Letters should be used before the number to identify the genebank or national system (e.g. IDG indicates an accession that comes from the genebank at Bari, Italy; CGN indicates an accession from the genebank at Wageningen, The Netherlands; PI indicates an accession within the USA system). Collecting number (1.1) Original number assigned by the collector(s) of the sample, normally composed of the name or initials of the collector(s) followed by a number. This item is essential for identifying duplicates held in different collections. It should be unique and always accompany subsamples wherever they are sent.Collecting date of original sample [DDMMYYYY] (1.3)(1.4) Name of the country in which the sample was collected or bred. Use the three-letter abbreviations from the International Standard (ISO) Codes for the representation of names of countries, No. 3166, 4th Edition. Copies of these are available from DIN: Deutsche Institut für Normung e.V., 10772 Berlin, Germany;Tel. 30-2601Tel. 30- -2860;;Fax 30-2601-1231, Tlx. 184 273-din-d. «Province/State (1.5) Name of the primary administrative subdivision of the country in which the sample was collectedDepartment/County Name of the secondary administrative subdivision (within a Province/State) of the country in which the sample was collectedLocation of collecting site Distance in kilometers and direction from the nearest town, village or map grid reference point (e.g. CURITIBA 7S means 7 km south of Curitiba)Latitude of collecting site (1.8) Degrees and minutes followed by N (North) or S (South) (e.g. 1030S)(1.9) Degrees and minutes followed by E (East) or W (West) (e.g. 07625W)Elevation of collecting site [m asl] (1.7)  Estimated slope of the siteThe direction that the slope on which the accession was collected faces. Describe the direction with symbols N, S, E, W (e.g. a slope that faces a southwestern direction has an aspect of SW)  Any additional information may be specified here Average of five mature (> node 3 from the terminal bud) leaves, measured at the widest partAverage of five one-year leaves, measured from the base to the insertion with the blade1 Green 2 Dark brown 3 Other (specify in descriptor 6.5 Notes)1 Green 2 Dark brown 3 Other (specify in descriptor 6.5 Notes) In each case, it is important to state the origin of the infestation or infection, i.e. natural, field inoculation, laboratory. Record such information in descriptor 9.5 Notes. These are coded on a susceptibility scale from 1 to 9, viz.:1  Describe any known specific mutant present in the accession"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a399f228b1b2d0c08b11d2a8c0e626bf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fee69bd6-b726-4543-8b95-cf83aa28c80c/retrieve","id":"1186998311"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"59b9de22-7e6a-41a8-84d8-0beeb2400fb0","content":"CFR-RFFs provide many benefits. Engaging policymakers, investors and implementers can sustain these benefits through such actions as increasing the capacity and awareness of legal frameworks, aligning with decentralization and securing land titles. These actions also include supporting multiple dimensions of CFR management, such as biophysical conditions, governance, financial sustainability, knowledge dissemination, and adaptation.• Many investments are needed to adapt and scale CFR-RFFs further. These include making training more effective, strengthening capacity, engaging youths and making use of technology as part of CFR management, making periodic biophysical investments, using tools for economic costing and valuation, crafting practical guidelines, and doing research related to biodiversity and climate.Rice field ecosystems make up the majority of the agricultural land in the Lower Mekong region (Ingalls et al. 2018). In Cambodia, WorldFish research found that one hectare of a rice field ecosystem can provide enough wild fish and other aquatic animals to feed 2.6 people for a year (Freed et al. 2020;Hortle 2007). These rice field fisheries (RFFs) provide more than half of the fish that local people consume, and one-third of total inland fish catch nationwide (Freed et al. 2020;FiA 2017). The economic value of RFFs can approach or even exceed the value of a single wet season rice crop (Hortle et al. 2008). In addition, as RFFs are traditionally a common-pool resource during the flood season, they are particularly important for impoverished and landless households. Because of this, management through community fish refuges (CFRs) would ensure that 80 percent (MAFF 2017 and2018) of Cambodia's rice field ecosystems continue to provide these benefits. This brief provides the key lessons and priority research and investments needed to sustain, adapt and scale CFR-RFFs based on WorldFish's 12 years of experience.To make CFRs successful over the long term, policymakers, investors and implementers need to implement the following seven actions: Monitoring and researching these trends could provide a better understanding of the changing conditions, their effects on the socioeconomic status and resilience of rural households, how to address drivers of change, and adapting CFR-RFF systems in response to changing needs.As socioeconomic and environmental changes take place, CFR-RFFs need to adapt to remain effective and deliver benefits. Building on the current system approaches could also extend the reach of CFR-RFFs and scale them further. The research and investments necessary to do so are outlined below:• Provide effective training and strengthen capacity. Ongoing investments are necessary to ensure both government and community committee members have adequate training and skills to manage CFRs. Some turnover should be expected, which is why continued investment is needed. To that end, it is important to develop and pilot a program as vocational training provided through the educational system and/or government induction training for government staff.• Engage youths and use technology to manage CFRs. Adding digital and data components to the management approach would have multiple impacts through investment that both engages youths and improves CFR management. Piloting youth training and developing digital and data components may include monitoring rainfall, water levels, water quality, floods, drought, illegal activities, and early warning or advisories for periods of water scarcity and/or high water demand. Using vocational and/or school curricula could train youths on CFR management, functions and conservation.• Use the CFR improvement fund as a periodic investment mechanism. Investments that improve the environment and biophysical conditions are important when establishing a CFR. They are also needed at regular intervals (every 3-5 years) to maintain activities beyond what the CFR committee has funds to achieve. The recently developed CFR improvement fund at the FiA could provide this periodic investment, if the fund is replenished.• Develop economic tools to guide CFR investment and valuation. A tool to estimate investment costs, including both biophysical and governance investments, could support future site selection and investments. A versatile tool would allow for analysis of the changing costs based on different contexts or starting conditions. A tool and/ or research is also needed to estimate long-term return on investment for CFR-RFF systems. Although several projects have monitored and evaluated specific aspects of CFR-RFF benefits, there is no systematic approach nor one that adequately values the benefits of climate resilience.• Develop and/or refresh practical guidelines.Developing and disseminating practical guidelines, such as the Manual of CFR-RFF Management, would support CFR-RFF management. As conditions change, this requires periodic investment to refresh and/or develop new guidelines. Currently, a general guideline for stocking CFRs is in development, and it can be updated in the future with recommendations for specific species.Expanding the recommendations for site selection and investment in the CFR-RFF manual is needed to include waterbody conditions that were not originally considered in candidate CFRs. A new guideline is also needed on developing nurseries and planting flood tolerant trees in CFRs, as these trees can stabilize fish habitats and banks. Guidelines on deepening CFRs are also needed, including on technical and operational guidance on bank slopes, bottom topography, placement of excavated soil, procurement, contracting transparency and working with an excavation company. The Sustainable Aquaculture and Community Fish Refuge Management project, supported by GIZ, saw a huge leap in harnessing the power of digital technologies to sustainably manage CFRs in the province of Kampong Thom. A CCTV camera, connected to the internet and powered by solar energy, has been helping the patrol team observe the conditions of the ponds in real-time and avoid fishing within the CFRs' protected areas. The experience of using cameras from other committees to manage CFRs which supported by project, some other committee along with installing solar cameras to monitor the CFRs."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3447f23a29babb6d076eab02858a4119","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c3b70ec3-dcf8-4f8c-85c4-cfcad9bef867/retrieve","id":"141734667"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"22b2626e-4422-4d34-ab8d-d02ccf950c00","content":"The practice has always been to tie-down goats after roaming for food. Tying these animals down predisposes them to theft. With a machine like this, goats are left to roam freely and fed within the perimeter of the residence.\"The trainees in the four local government areas appreciated the Stover Crusher so much, some asked if they could rent the machine. Others plan on contributing money to buy the machine for their personal and communal use\", said Senior Research Supervisor, Joseph Abikoye. For these agriculture producers, the use of the machine automatically translates to a \"zero-wastage\" situation wherein no residue is left to be burned and the environment is better protected.For trainees in these local communities, the self-powered, locally-fabricated engine will encourage greatly goat-rearing within the localities.  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"078917fa00cf2ac4a2b40cce8e8ded73","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/679037a5-fb3c-49cf-8c8c-1ca3c98e6d3b/retrieve","id":"201517125"},"keywords":["P801 -1. Restoration (forest and landscape restoration)","D11494 -1.18 Maintenance and update current and new decision-support tools. Africa Tree Finder, The Species Switchboard, The Agroforestree Database, The Vegan Community Ecology Package, ResTool, others. (Not disseminated) Contributing CRPs/Platforms:","FTA -Forests, Trees and Agroforestry"],"sieverID":"a0add972-73ae-471a-bc48-24f9066df4f0","content":"A species' distribution can be characterized by the probability that it occurs at some location in space. Estimating occurrence probability can be easily accomplished using presence-absence data, but often researchers only have presence locations and environmental data for the study area. MAXENT is a popular software program for modeling species distributions, but it does not estimate the probability of occurrence. Rather, it returns various indices that are not easy to interpret . The package \"maxlike\" provides a simple likelihood-based alternative."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/1876605699.json b/main/part_2/1876605699.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..22d0d6ebc9fda991488ce58ae3884fa00b6c055d
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"449cc0548fb5f749cace8620cd913d01","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/74d4ebee-51b8-4bb9-b92a-25ba801f64eb/retrieve","id":"-2111714466"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"28e767f2-6c12-4c91-a19c-9141a1463630","content":"• Per capita milk consumption is growing in Tanzania and projected to be between 55-100 liters per person per year by 2022• Poor feeding is the greatest contributor of the dismal animal performance• Feeding accounts up to 70% of the cost involved in milk production• Currently, roughages, the main diet comprise of natural grasses and crop residues often low in nutrients especially energy and protein vital for good animal performance• We set to demonstrate that use of improved forages can increase milk production compared to farmers usual practice in southern highlands of Tanzania .• We used smallholder dairy cows under their context• Feeding Brachiaria hybrid -Cobra to lactating cows and compare to farmers' practice• Awareness creation and dissemination linking with development partners• Contribute to development and improvement of Tanzania forage seed system involving private and policy makers• Address challenges that may rise i.e. forage pests and diseasesSolomon Mwendia, CIAT s.mwendia@cigar.org. "}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ef6d9f445feeb83f9caf56c03811c5f65c4ae0b6
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"472ef38a8ec423a4877663807f613d54","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/73fefd68-7465-4fdc-8c66-8ab6013fda6e/retrieve","id":"-446391811"},"keywords":["atoxigenic","biocontrol","toxigenic","Aspergillus section Flavi","diversity"],"sieverID":"104a7df5-3327-445c-bf54-909cf8966762","content":"Aflatoxin contamination of the staples maize and groundnut is a concern for health and economic impacts across sub-Saharan Africa. The current study (i) determined aflatoxin levels in maize and groundnut collected at harvest in Burundi, (ii) characterized populations of Aspergillus section Flavi associated with the two crops, and (iii) assessed aflatoxin-producing potentials among the recovered fungi. A total of 120 groundnut and 380 maize samples were collected at harvest from eight and 16 provinces, respectively. Most of the groundnut (93%) and maize (87%) contained aflatoxin below the European Union threshold, 4 μg/ kg. Morphological characterization of the recovered Aspergillus section Flavi fungi revealed that the L-morphotype of A. flavus was the predominant species. Aflatoxin production potentials of the L-morphotype isolates were evaluated in maize fermentations. Some isolates produced over 137,000 μg/kg aflatoxin B 1 . Thus, despite the relatively low aflatoxin levels at harvest, the association of both crops with highly toxigenic fungi poses significant risk of post-harvest aflatoxin contamination and suggests measures to mitigate aflatoxin contamination in Burundi should be developed. Over 55% of the L-morphotype A. flavus did not produce aflatoxins. These atoxigenic L-morphotype fungi were characterized using molecular markers. Several atoxigenic genotypes were detected across the country and could be used as biocontrol agents. The results from the current study hold promise for developing aflatoxin management strategies centered on biocontrol for use in Burundi to reduce aflatoxin contamination throughout the value chain.Production of food crops including maize and groundnut in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) faces a combination of challenges that reduce yields, including drought, pests, diseases, soil nutrient limitation, shortage of farm inputs and credit, climate change, low labor productivity, and high population pressure on farmland (Keya and Rubaihayo, 2013;Ludgate and Tata, 2015). Additionally, many crops are prone to contamination with aflatoxins, highly toxic secondary metabolites produced by Aspergillus section Flavi fungi (Pildain et al., 2008;Probst et al., 2010;Mutegi et al., 2012). Crop contamination with aflatoxins results in health and economic constraints in many regions (Probst et al., 2012). Also, the toxins increase mortality and reduce productivity in livestock (Ezekiel et al., 2014;Monson et al., 2015). Trade within and between countries is affected by the aflatoxin menace, leading to rejection of consignments, extra costs for product testing, and reduced marketable volumes (Ramesh et al., 2003;PACA, 2012;The Standard, 2019;Daily Nation, 2020).There are four major aflatoxins: B 1 , B 2 , G 1 , and G 2 . Aflatoxin B 1 is the most prevalent and toxic. Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus are the species most implicated in contamination events (Probst et al., 2007;Amaike and Keller, 2011). A. flavus produces B aflatoxins while A. parasiticus produces both B and G aflatoxins (Klich, 2007). A. flavus is subdivided in two morphotypes, L and S, which differ in genetic, physiological, and toxigenic characteristics (Cotty, 1989). Across SSA there are many types of aflatoxigenic fungi, several of them not formally described, that resemble the S-morphotype but that are not closely related (Frisvad et al., 2019;Singh et al., 2020). Some of those types of fungi produce B and G aflatoxins (Cotty and Cardwell, 1999). In the current paper, we use the term 'fungi with S-morphology' for all those Aspergillus resembling the S-morphotype of A. flavus, regardless of which aflatoxins they produce.Demand for maize, an important aflatoxin-prone staple in Burundi, has been increasing due to rapid population growth. Maize production in the country reached over 260,000 tons in 2020 making it the sixth-most important crop after cassava, bananas, sweet potato, beans, and potato (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2022). Maize in Burundi is mainly grown by smallholder farmers (around 0.5 ha/farm) for household consumption (Keya and Rubaihayo, 2013;Ludgate and Tata, 2015). Groundnut, with an annual production of approximately 9,300 tons in Burundi (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2022), is a traditional food mainly consumed as a snack and as a constituent of salads, porridges, and soups. Vulnerability of crops to mycotoxins varies as do their distribution in various crop matrices.Aflatoxin contamination can start in the field during crop development where it sometimes reaches dangerous levels (Mahuku et al., 2019). However, even when aflatoxin contamination is low at harvest, it can increase to dangerous levels under suboptimal storage (Seetha et al., 2017). In Burundi, aflatoxin content of maize and groundnut at harvest has not been carefully quantified. After harvest, farmers store maize and groundnut in their houses in pots, bags or spread on the floor. In the absence of drying, some such storage conditions can encourage growth of toxigenic fungi and subsequent mycotoxin production. Udomkun et al. (2018) reported high aflatoxin levels in cassava, maize and groundnut foodstuffs collected from local markets in Burundi. Sixty-eight per cent of the 300 collected samples (15% cassava, 77% maize and 84% groundnut) contained aflatoxin levels above the European Union Commission allowable threshold (EUC; 4 μg/kg; sum of aflatoxin B 1 , B 2 , G 1 , and G 2 ) and 37% samples (39% maize and 51% groundnut) exceeded the East African Community (EAC) standard (10 μg/kg total aflatoxins). It is not known whether those levels were due to either pre-or post-harvest contamination, or a combination of both.To better design appropriate aflatoxin management strategies in Burundi, the current study sought to (i) quantify aflatoxin levels in maize and groundnut collected at harvest across Burundi, (ii) characterize populations of Aspergillus section Flavi associated with the crops, (iii) quantify potentials of the recovered fungi to produce aflatoxins, and (iv) characterize molecularly the atoxigenic fungi. The obtained results provide knowledge on the extent of aflatoxin contamination in maize and groundnut in Burundi at harvest, as well as, the fungi responsible for aflatoxin contamination. A large number of atoxigenic fungi were detected, which can be put to use as components of aflatoxin management strategies across Burundi.Burundi lies between latitudes 2.3°S to 4.5°S and longitudes 28.8°E to 31.0°E. The elevation across the country ranges between 770 and 2,670 m above sea level (DFID, 2009). The country has five agroecological zones (AEZ), which are described in Table 1. The highest average annual rainfall occurs in the Congo-Nile ridge while the lowest occurs in the East and Northern depressions (Niyongabo, 2008). Most of the topography in Burundi is hilly, which constrains cultivation practices due to soil erosion and makes mechanization difficult. There are two main cropping seasons in Burundi: a short-rain season from September to February and a long-rain season from February to May (DFID, 2009). Smallholder farmers produce maize and groundnut mainly during the short-rain season in Burundi (Collins et al., 2013).Sampling was conducted across the major maize and groundnut production areas of Burundi (Figure 1). Maize was sampled from 2-3 communes (in parenthesis) in all 16 provinces: Bubanza (Gihanga, Mpanda), Bujumbura (Mutimbuzi, Nyabiraba, Mukike), Bururi (Burambi, Rumonge, Mugamba), Cankuzo (Cankuzo, Gisagara), Cibitoke (Rugombo, Mabayi, Mugina), Gitega (Makebuko, Mutaho), Karuzi (Buhiga, Nyabikere, Bugenyuzi), Kayanza (Gatara, Matongo, Muruta), Kirundo (Busoni, Kirundo), Makamba (Kayogoro, Mabanda, Vugizo), Muramvya (Bukeye, Rutegama), Muyinga (Giteranyi, Muyinga), Mwaro (Kayokwe, Rusaka), Ngozi (Gashikanwa, Kiremba), Rutana (Bukemba, Musongati), and Ruyigi (Butaganzwa, Kinyinya). Groundnut was sampled from 8 provinces: Makamba, Rutana, Muyinga, Kirundo, Ruyigi, Cankuzo, Gitega, and Muramwa.A total of 120 groundnut and 380 maize samples were collected from farmers' fields at harvest, in two batches. The first batch (250) was collected in the lowlands and midlands in March 2014, after the end of the short-rain season. The samples were transported to KALRO Regional Mycotoxin Laboratory in Katumani, Kenya for processing. The second batch of samples (250) were harvested in highland areas in July 2014 at the end of the long-rain season and sent to Katumani for processing and analysis. Up to 10 maize cobs (~1 kg of grains after shelling) were sampled per field while groundnut pods were collected from up to 10 points in each farm (approximately 500 g when shelled). All samples were collected by moving in a zigzag line across each farm.All cob/pod samples were sundried for 7 d, shelled manually and grain dried in a hot air oven (Memmert, United Kingdom) at 45°C for 48 h, to reach a moisture content of ≤ 13% for maize and ≤ 10% for groundnut. Moisture content was assessed using an Infratec™ 1241 Grain Analyzer (Foss, Denmark). Then, maize grains were ground using a coffee mill (Bunn-O-Matic Corp., Springfield, IL, United States) and groundnut grains were milled using a blender (BL335, Kenwood Intl., China). Both the coffee mill and blender were washed with 70% ethanol between samples to prevent cross contamination. All samples were divided in two halves, one for microbial and the other for aflatoxin analyzes. Halves for microbial analyzes were stored in hermetic bags at 4°C while those for aflatoxin analyzes were stored at −20°C until analysis.Aflatoxin levels in maize and groundnut were determined using Reveal Q+ for Aflatoxin kits and Accuscan Pro Reader (Neogen Corp., Lansing, MI, United States) following the manufacturer's instructions. After homogenizing the sub-samples, 10 g were taken, mixed with 50 ml 65% ethanol, and shaken for 3 min using an orbital shaker (HS501 IKA-WERKE, Germany). The mixture was filtered through fluted Whatman No. 4 filter paper (Whatman Intl. Ltd., Maidstone, England) into a Tri-Pour ® beaker. Thereafter, 500 μL sample diluent was transferred to a sample cup and 100 μL of sample filtrate was added and mixed by pipetting up and down seven times. A 100-μL of diluted sample extract was transferred into a new sample cup. A strip was placed into the sample cup and left for 6 min. Then, the strip was read in the Accuscan Pro Reader. The lower detection limit of the Reader was 2 μg/ kg while the upper detection limit was 150 μg/kg. Samples with more than 150 μg/kg were serially diluted in 65% ethanol, re-analyzed and the dilution factor was considered during the interpretation of results.For microbiological analyzes, the sub-samples from batch 1 were sent to IITA Pathology and Mycotoxin Laboratory in Ibadan, Nigeria under appropriate import/export permits provided by phytosanitary authorities. The sub-samples from batch 2 were analyzed in Katumani. Aspergillus section Flavi were isolated and identified as in previous studies in our research group (Atehnkeng et al., 2008;Agbetiameh   , 2018). Modified Rose Bengal Agar (MRBA; 3 g sucrose, 3 g NaNO 3 , 0.75 g KH 2 PO 4 , 0.25 g K 2 HPO 4 , 0.5 g MgSO 4 .7H 2 O, 0.5 g KCl, 10 g NaCl, 1 mL A&M micronutrients, 0.025 g Rose Bengal stock solution, 0.05 g chloramphenicol, 1 L distilled water, pH = 6.5) was used for isolation while 5-2 agar (50 mL V-8™ juice, 950 mL distilled water, 20 g agar, pH = 6.0) was used for both identifying Aspergillus section Flavi fungi as well as for saving sporulating cultures. Both media were autoclaved for 20 min at 121°C and cooled to <60°C. After cooling, 0.01 g dichloran and 0.05 g streptomycin sulfate were added to MRBA before pouring into Petri dishes.Briefly, 1 g of each maize and groundnut sample was obtained from a thoroughly mixed sub-sample and suspended in 10 mL sterile distilled water. The suspension was homogenized by vortexing for 30 s and aliquots of 100 μL were inoculated on MRBA in a biosafety cabinet. Inoculated plates were incubated in the dark (31°C, 3 d).Putative Aspergillus section Flavi colonies were transferred to 5-2 plates using sterile toothpicks. When the number of putative section Flavi colonies per plate exceeded 10, the sub-sample was serially diluted and re-plated. When section Flavi colonies were not detected in a sample, the sub-sample weight or aliquot was increased accordingly. Colony forming units (CFU) of Aspergillus section Flavi per g of maize and groundnut were calculated as follows: CFU/g = (number of colonies × dilution factor) / weight of samples.Isolates with greenish-yellow colonies and no or large sclerotia were identified as A. flavus L-morphotype. Isolates with numerous small sclerotia were classified as fungi with S-morphology. Colonies showing dark green color and large, rough dark-green spores were assigned as A. parasiticus. Colonies showing brown color were identified as A. tamarii. Pure cultures of 12 isolates per sample were stored in 4 mL vials containing 2 mL sterile water and stored at room temperature (23 ± 2°C) for short-term storage. For long-term storage, cultures were stored on silica gel at 4°C.2.5.1. Inoculation of Aspergillus section Flavi isolates in aflatoxin-free maize Aflatoxin-free maize grains were sourced in both Katumani and Ibadan. Maize samples were analyzed using Accuscan Pro as above and considered as aflatoxin-free when no aflatoxin was detected in five tests. Five grams of aflatoxin-free grains were weighed into 40 mL clear glass vials, washed with tap water, and soaked overnight in 20 mL distilled water to adjust moisture content to 25%. The grains were then washed thrice with tap water to remove any fermentation product and thereafter autoclaved (20 min, 121°C, 15 psi). The sterile grains were independently inoculated with 500-μL spore suspension (approximately 10 6 spores/mL) of an Aspergillus section Flavi isolate. Cultures were incubated at 31°C (dark, 7 d) for fermentation of maize grains by the inoculated isolates. Vials containing sterile grains inoculated with sterile water were used as controls.Methodologies reported by Atehnkeng et al. (2008) andEzekiel et al. (2014) were used to extract and quantify aflatoxins. After incubation, maize fermentations were stopped by adding 50 mL 70% methanol and the colonized grains were ground for 3 min using a highspeed blender (Waring commercial, Springfield, IL, United States). The mixture was transferred to a 250 mL separating funnel and 25 mL distilled water added. Thereafter, aflatoxin was partitioned twice by adding 6.25 mL dichloromethane followed by 2.5 mL dichloromethane. The dichloromethane extracts were passed through a bed of anhydrous sodium sulfate contained in fluted Whatman No. 4 filter paper into a Tri-Pour beaker and evaporated to dryness in the dark in a fume hood. The dried extract was dissolved in 1 mL dichloromethane and poured into a 1.5 mL Eppendorf tube. The toxin was then evaporated to dryness and tubes were stored at 4°C in darkness. Extracts were sent to IITA-Ibadan via courier for quantification.In Ibadan, aflatoxin extracts were re-dissolved in 1 mL dichloromethane. Then, extracts and aflatoxin standards of known concentrations were spotted on thin-layer chromatography (TLC) plates. The plates were developed in diethylene:methanol:water (96:3:1) solution and then visualized under UV light (365 nm). The presence or absence of aflatoxin B 1 , B 2 , G 1 , and G 2 was scored visually. Then, aflatoxins were quantified using a TLC Scanner 3 (CAMAG, Muttenz, Switzerland) with winCATS 1.4.2 software (Camag AG, Muttenz, Switzerland). The limit of quantification for all experiments was 2 μg/kg.A total of 1,335 A. flavus L-morphotype isolates that did not produce aflatoxins in maize fermentations (1,167 from maize and 168 from groundnut) were characterized using simple sequence repeats (SSRs) developed for A. flavus (Grubisha and Cotty, 2009). Previously described protocols were used to extract DNA from single-spored isolates and conduct the multiplex-PCR and microsatellite genotyping analyzes (Callicott and Cotty, 2015;Islam et al., 2018).The ability of representative isolates of 11 selected atoxigenic SSR haplotypes to reduce aflatoxin when co-inoculated with a potent aflatoxin-producing A. flavus isolate (BUM009-08 from Burundi) was determined in laboratory competition assays as described earlier (Probst and Cotty, 2012;Agbetiameh et al., 2019). Briefly, inocula of single-spored isolates were grown on 5-2 agar. An equal amount of spore suspensions (1 × 10 6 spores/mL) of individual atoxigenic isolate and the common toxigenic isolate (1 mL each) were combined and inoculated on 10 g autoclaved maize grain. Maize grains inoculated individually with each atoxigenic isolate, the toxigenic isolate, and water served as controls. There were four replications for each co-inoculation and control treatment. Following inoculation, protocols for maize fermentation and aflatoxin quantification process were similar as described in the previous sections.Data on CFU/g, frequency of Aspergillus section Flavi species, and aflatoxins produced by the recovered fungi were analyzed using a negative binomial generalized linear model in R studio v3.5.3. Means were separated using Fisher's protected least significance difference (LSD; α = 0.05). Aspergillus section Flavi isolates were categorized into aflatoxigenic and atoxigenic based on their ability to produce aflatoxin in maize fermentations. Aflatoxin content in samples at harvest was categorized into four levels: (i) aflatoxin below LOD of the kits (no aflatoxin), (ii) aflatoxin below the EUC threshold (4 μg/kg), (iii) aflatoxin above 4 μg/kg but below the EAC threshold (10 μg/kg), and (iv) aflatoxin above the EAC threshold. A chi-square test of association between aflatoxin concentrations and sample type (maize or groundnut) was performed in SPSS v.22 (IBM Corp, New York, United States). Correlation analysis among the population of Aspergillus section Flavi and levels of aflatoxins produced by selected isolates was performed in SPSS v.22. Before analysis of SSR data, amplicon sizes were converted to repeat number by subtracting the size of the flanking region from the total amplicon size and then dividing by the size of the repeat. Allele frequencies and haplotypes were assessed with GenoDive (Meirmans and Van Tienderen, 2004). Relationships among unique haplotypes were displayed with a Neighbor-Net network generated with SplitsTree4 (Huson and Bryant, 2006) based on chord distances calculated with GenoDive. After sample-correcting the data by removing duplicate, identical haplotypes found in the same sample, an AMOVA (analysis of molecular variance) was performed using Arlequin v3.5.2.2 (Excoffier and Lishcer, 2010) to examine genetic variation by province.Although 76% of both maize and groundnut contaminated with aflatoxin met the EUC threshold ( < 4 μg/kg), and a few maize (3%) and groundnut (6%) samples contained aflatoxin above the EAC threshold (10 μg/kg; Figure 2). Each of Burambi, Gihanga, Kayogoro, Kinyinya, Mpanda, Rugombo, and Kirundo communes had a maize sample contaminated with aflatoxin above 10 μg/kg, while Mabayi and Butaganzwa had two samples each. On the other hand, four groundnut samples (out of 10) from Vugizo had > 10 μg/kg aflatoxin compared to one sample each from Muyinga, Giteranyi, and Busoni.There were four types of fungi within Aspergillus section Flavi recovered from maize and groundnut: the A. flavus L-morphotype, fungi with S-morphology, A. parasiticus, and A. tamarii. The Aspergillus section Flavi population densities were significantly (p < 0.001) higher in maize (mean = 1,153 CFU/g) than in groundnut (mean = 266 CFU/g). For maize, there were significant (p < 0.001) differences in fungal densities among provinces (Figure 3A; data of only 10 of the 17 provinces shown) and within communes of a province (data not shown). The fungal density was low (< 50 CFU/g) in Karuzi, Kayanza, Muramvya, Muyinga, Mwaro, and Ngozi. Also, fungal densities in groundnut significantly (p < 0.005) differed among provinces (Figure 3B).The population of Aspergillus section Flavi in both maize and groundnut was dominated by the A. flavus L-morphotype. However, on an average, the proportion was significantly (p < 0.001) higher in maize (92%) than in groundnut (60%; Figures 4A,B). Proportions of Aspergillus section Flavi fungi significantly (p < 0.001) differed among provinces for both crops, with L-morphotype ranging from 85 to 98% in maize, and 45 to 85% in groundnut.Overall, 44.4% of the Aspergillus section Flavi isolates were toxigenic (Table 2). Proportionally, there were more toxigenic fungi with S-morphology isolates while there were more atoxigenic A. flavus L-morphotype isolates (Table 2). The concentration of aflatoxin B 1 was significantly (p < 0.001) higher in isolates recovered from groundnut (mean = 2,617 μg/kg) than in isolates from maize (mean = 1,728 μg/ kg). Fungi with S-morphology generally produced higher concentrations of each type of aflatoxin than the other isolates; A. parasiticus produced higher concentrations of B 2 in groundnut and of G 1 in maize. Overall, 93.5% of the fungi with S-morphology produced aflatoxins (31.9% produced only B aflatoxins); only two isolates of A. parasiticus did not produce aflatoxins. The recovered A. tamarii fungi did not produce aflatoxin, as expected (Table 2).Concentrations of aflatoxins produced by selected A. flavus L-morphotype isolates had a negative correlation with the population of A. flavus L-morphotype in the samples from which the isolates were recovered (r = −0.508, p < 0.001). On the contrary, aflatoxin concentrations produced by selected fungi with S-morphology had a positive correlation with the population of this type of fungi in samples from which the isolates were recovered (r = 0.589, p < 0.001). These correlations were consistent for the types of aflatoxins produced by the two types of fungi. Moreover, there was a positive correlation between aflatoxin G 1 (r = 0.315, p < 0.001) and G 2 (r = 0.258, p = 0.002) produced by A. parasiticus with the population of the fungus in the samples from which the isolates were recovered.Atoxigenic isolates of A. flavus were highly diverse. There were 376 SSR haplotypes among the 1,335 atoxigenic isolates, representing 85 unique SSR haplotypes in the 168 groundnut isolates and 336 unique SSR haplotypes in 1,167 maize isolates. Supplementary Table S1 provides allele sizes of 17 SSR loci (Grubisha and Cotty, 2009) for the 376 SSR haplotypes of atoxigenic A. flavus found in Burundi. A Neighbor-Net visualization of the unique haplotypes (Figure 5) color coded by whether the haplotype was found in maize, groundnut, or both crops, shows a highly diverse collection of genotypes, with no separation by crop origin. A few groups of haplotypes were found only in maize (Figure 5). An AMOVA of isolates by crop origin confirmed this lack of separation, with 99.94% of the genetic variation found within each crop and only 0.06% between the two crops, with a fixationPopulation (colony forming units per gram) of Aspergillus section Flavi in maize (A) and groundnut (B) sampled from major provinces in Burundi. The letters attached to the bars represent statistical significance at 95% confidence level. Aspergillus population in maize was low in some provinces (Karuzi, Kayanza, Muramvya, Muyinga, Mwaro and Ngozo) and hence data for these provinces not plotted.Proportion (%) of members of Aspergillus section Flavi recovered in maize (A) and groundnut (B) from major production provinces in Burundi.Nsabiyumva et al.10.3389/fmicb.2023.1106543Frontiers in Microbiology frontiersin.org index close to zero (F ST = 0.00063; p = 0.25; Supplementary Table S2).Likewise, no significant difference was seen among populations. For example, the 20 most frequent haplotypes were found in, on an average, 10 of the 17 provinces (Supplementary Table S3). This lack of differentiation is also seen using AMOVA; only 0.76% of the variation is attributable to differences among provinces, and as in the crop comparison, the fixation index is very low (F ST = 0.0075; p = 0.00, Supplementary Table S4).Representative isolates of the SSR haplotypes were evaluated for their ability to limit aflatoxin when co-inoculated with the highly toxigenic A. flavus isolate BUM009-08, which produced 4,480 μg/ kg aflatoxins when inoculated alone (Table 3). Aflatoxin reduction ranged from 28.3 to 96.0%. Four isolates (BUG241-03, BUG208-07, BUM134-06, and BUM184-12) reduced aflatoxin by > 90%. Two more isolates (BUG242-04 and BUM033-05) had statistically similar, though numerically less, aflatoxin reductions compared to the four isolates named earlier. No aflatoxin was produced in maize grains inoculated with the atoxigenic isolates alone and in water control.The population genetic analyzes revealed several atoxigenic SSR haplotypes widely distributed across Burundi (Figure 6). Some SSR haplotypes were found exclusively in maize or groundnut, while others were found in both crops (Figure 5). The distribution of haplotypes varied within five regions: north, south, center, east, and west (Table 3). Five haplotypes were detected in all five regions while other specific haplotypes were found in 1 to 4 regions. Wide distribution and large number of members were used as criteria for selection, in addition to their abilities to reduce aflatoxin in the co-inoculation. The four isolates selected as active ingredients of the biocontrol product Aflasafe BU01 (BUG241-03, BUG208-07, BUM033-05, and BUM056-02) had medium to high ability to limit aflatoxin contamination (Table 3). Each of the four belong to a unique SSR haplotype with frequent occurrence and wide distribution in at least 8 provinces located in 4 to 5 regions in Burundi (Figure 6A). Two other isolates (BUM184-12 and BUM021-05) were potentially good candidate active ingredients. Also, the analysis revealed that the genetic groups to which the active ingredient isolates of the biocontrol product Aflasafe KE01 belong to are also native to Burundi (Figure 6B; Supplementary Table S1), in addition to being common in Kenya, for which Aflasafe KE01 was originally developed. SSR fingerprints of the active ingredients of Aflasafe BU01 and Aflasafe KE01 are provided in Table 4.In the current study, maize and groundnut produced in Burundi were examined for aflatoxin content at harvest. Over 75% of the crops contained aflatoxin levels considered by the EUC as safe for human consumption (less than 4 μg/kg total aflatoxin). Both crops were associated with various types of aflatoxin-producing fungi, including some with the capacity to contaminate crops with dangerous concentrations of aflatoxins. The fungal communities were dominated by the A. flavus L-morphotype and most members of this group were atoxigenic. Other members of the communities were fungi with S-morphology and A. parasiticus; both of which exhibited high capacity to produce aflatoxins. Within atoxigenic fungi (1,335 isolates), several genotypes associated with both maize and groundnut were detected across Burundi, including genotypes of active ingredients of the aflatoxin biocontrol product Aflasafe KE01already registered for use in Kenya. The results from the current study provide evidence of the extent of aflatoxin contamination of maize and groundnut at harvest in Burundi and revealed structures and compositions of fungal communities associated with the two crops, with some members of those communities posing a risk during the postharvest stage while others with potential for use in aflatoxin management. The identified fungi with potential for use as biocontrol agents in Burundi need to be tested across Burundi to determine their effectiveness in limiting aflatoxin contamination at pre-and postharvest stages (Bandyopadhyay et al., 2022).Overall, only a small fraction of the samples contained aflatoxins above 4 μg/kg, the EUC threshold (Figure 2). Aflatoxins were not detected in most (approximately 90%) of the groundnut and maize a There were 20 fungi with S-morphology isolates from maize that produced only B aflatoxins. b There were three fungi with S-morphology isolates from groundnut that produced only B aflatoxins.(50%) samples. The environmental conditions of the five AEZs in Burundi (Table 1) may not allow for aflatoxin production in the field despite the association of both crops with aflatoxin-producers (Figure 3) and the high aflatoxin-production potential of a significant proportion of the associated fungi (Table 2). However, apart from potential aflatoxin contamination in the field, crops associated with potent aflatoxin producers are at high risk of contamination, if stored under sub-optimal conditions (Hell et al., 2008;Seetha et al., 2017;Senghor et al., 2020), or if climate change result in conditions favorable for aflatoxin production. Unfortunately, models indicate that in large portions of East Africa, including Burundi, maize production will become severally affected by climate change (Ojara et al., 2021). In Burundi, as in many other countries in SSA, storage needs significant improvement to discourage post-harvest losses, including aflatoxin contamination (Udomkun et al., 2017). Most maize and groundnut samples met the EUC threshold (<4 μg/kg) and hence were regarded as safe for human consumption. However, low aflatoxin levels at harvest do not necessarily mean that the crops will remain safe, especially in the absence of integrated programs promoting food safety from field to fork. The A. flavus L-morphotype was the predominant species in both maize and groundnut (Figure 4). Similarly, the L-morphotype composes ~80% of the maize and groundnut communities in various SSA countries (Atehnkeng et al., 2008;Mutegi et al., 2012;Probst et al., 2012). Dominance of the L-morphotype significantly corresponded with low levels of aflatoxin in most maize and groundnut, which concurs with findings of a study in Kenya reporting that the L-morphotype dominated non-aflatoxin-outbreak regions while fungi with S-morphology dominated aflatoxin outbreak regions (Probst et al., 2010). On the other hand, communities of the A. flavus L-morphotype have been reported to produce high aflatoxin levels (Atehnkeng et al., 2008;Okoth et al., 2012;Agbetiameh et al., 2019) and therefore high prevalence of the L-morphotype cannot be used as a conclusive proxy for the aflatoxin concentration of a crop. The incidence of A. parasiticus was relatively low in both groundnut and maize. In other reports, A. parasiticus has been reported to have a high association with groundnut fields (Horn and Dorner, 1998;Kachapulula et al., 2017). However, several studies from our research group have noticed low incidence of A. parasiticus in groundnut samples in certain countries: Ghana (Agbetiameh et al., 2019), Mali and Sudan (unpublished). It is unclear which factor led to relatively low levels of A. parasiticus in groundnut in Burundi.Around 40% of A. flavus L-morphotype were toxigenic (Table 2). Over 2 decades ago, the same percentage of A. flavus isolated from foods in Burundi were toxigenic (Munimbazi and Bullerman, 1996). In addition, over 90% of both fungi with S-morphology and A. parasiticus exhibited high aflatoxin production potential (Table 2), which is a norm for both groups of fungi. The high levels of aflatoxins (>1,500 μg/kg) in some groundnut samples can be attributed to the presence of potent toxigenic strains. The levels of aflatoxin produced in vitro by fungi with S-morphology and A. parasiticus had a positive correlation with the population of each type of fungi. Similar studies (Jaime-Garcia and Cotty, 2006;Probst et al., 2007Probst et al., , 2012;;Mauro et al., 2015) showed a positive correlation between the presence of fungi with S-morphology and high aflatoxin levels. Since the examined crops were collected at harvest, there is still a high risk of contamination during storage and subsequent exposure of consumers of the foodstuffs, if aflatoxin-conducive conditions occur throughout storage and before consumption.Fungi with S-morphology were more toxigenic than A. flavus L-morphotype, as previously reported (Probst et al., 2007;Mutegi et al., 2012). Therefore, even low levels of fungi with S-morphology are a high risk to accumulation of unsafe aflatoxin levels in crops. Fungi with S-morphology were implicated in the high levels of aflatoxin contamination that claimed more than 125 lives in lower eastern Kenya in 2004 (Probst et al., 2012(Probst et al., , 2014)). However, Probst et al. (2011) also reported that 33% of A. flavus L-morphotype isolates recovered from Kenya were not toxigenic. The high prevalence of atoxigenic A. flavus L-morphotype isolates is encouraging, as it provides many potential aflatoxin biocontrol agents to protect maize and groundnut (Probst et al., 2011;Agbetiameh et al., 2019). Indeed, when the atoxigenic isolates were genotyped with SSR markers, a few SSR genotypes occurred in high frequency and in several provinces demonstrating wide distribution and hence potential of high adaptation in the country (Table 3; Supplementary Table S1). An extensive Aspergillus population distribution study in Kenyan soil showed that the active ingredients of the biocontrol product Aflasafe KE01 are widely distributed in Kenya (Islam et al., 2021). Isolates of some representative Burundi-specific SSR groups detected in the current study were tested in laboratory assays as potential candidates for the development of biocontrol products for aflatoxin management for use in Burundi (Table 3).There are several criteria for selecting atoxigenic isolates to constitute biocontrol products containing multiple active ingredients, including frequent occurrence and wide distribution across the target region, membership to VCGs composed entirely of atoxigenic members, superior ability to reduce aflatoxins in laboratory experiments (Moral et al., 2020) and displacement ability in field experiments (Agbetiameh et al., 2019), among others. Recently, our group reported that in some cases, after application, some active ingredient fungi are found at higher proportions in the soil while others in the grain (Atehnkeng et al., 2022). Those results suggest that under some conditions some Neighbor-Net tree of 376 unique non-aflatoxigenic haplotypes found in Burundi. Haplotypes seen only in maize are shaded red, those found only in groundnut are shaded blue, and those in both crops are shaded black.Frontiers in Microbiology frontiersin.org active ingredient isolates may be better displacers of aflatoxin producers in the soil than the others, and those others may competitively displace better in the grain that would appear as the major contributor on aflatoxin reduction. However, the displacement in the soil is important to prevent aflatoxin producers from reaching the maturing crop.For biocontrol formulation for Burundi, a balanced selection took into consideration isolates belonging to SSR groups with frequent occurrence and wide distribution, and high aflatoxin reductions. Therefore, there was one isolate (BUM056-02) from a group with frequent occurrence, detected in many regions across Burundi, but with relatively less aflatoxin reduction in the competition experiments (Table 3). We hypothesize that the isolate will compensate its relatively lower ability to reduce aflatoxin in the laboratory with its ability to dominate crops and soils from the target areas. Indeed, initial field testing of the biocontrol product developed for Burundi reveals that treated crops contain lower aflatoxin levels than nontreated crops (data not shown). Thus, the rationale for selecting the active ingredient fungi appears to be correct. Nonetheless, an advantage of characterizing large numbers of A. flavus isolates in Burundi is that a rich germplasm of atoxigenic A. flavus is available to replace any active ingredient isolate of Aflasafe BU01, if performing poorly in the soil and the crop. It has also been argued that aflatoxin biocontrol products containing various active ingredient fungi should contain isolates with opposing mating-type idiomorphs (Moore, 2022). Three of the selected isolates (BUG241-03, BUG208-07, and BUM056-02) contain the MAT1-1 idiomorph while the other (BUM033-05) contains the MAT1-2 idiomorph (data not shown).In various SSA countries, use of aflatoxin biocontrol products based on atoxigenic fungi have been developed, tested, registered, and to the private sector for large scale use (Probst et al., 2011;Agbetiameh et al., 2019;Bandyopadhyay et al., 2022).Aspergillus from the crop environment, and this results in low aflatoxin levels in crops at harvest and during storage, even under sub-optimal conditions (Senghor et al., 2020). While there were groups of atoxigenic haplotypes only seen in maize, it is likely that this is due to the much larger maize sample size (Table 2). We detected atoxigenic fungal genotypes never reported outside of Burundi (Figure 6A), but also atoxigenic genotypes native to Kenya (Figure 6B) that have been already registered for use as active ingredients of the biocontrol product Aflasafe KE01 (Adhikari et al., 2016;Moral et al., 2020). Extension of the label for use of Aflasafe KE01 in groundnut and sorghum is ongoing.East Africa has a broad diversity of agroecologies including both high elevation and low elevation production areas. Between Kenya and Burundi these agroecologies are well represented. Frequent association of the active ingredients of Aflasafe KE01 with maize and groundnut produced in Burundi, in addition to Uganda (G. Mahuku, personal communication) indicates that the Aflasafe KE01 active ingredients may be broadly effective across East Africa. On-going field testing of a country specific Aflasafe product for use in Burundi, Aflasafe BU01 (Figure 6A), and Aflasafe KE01 hold promise to manage aflatoxin contamination in Burundi. Both Burundi and Kenya belong to the EAC, which also includes Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and DR Congo. EAC Partner States are promoting the use of biocontrol through ongoing harmonization of regional regulatory frameworks for biocontrol agents (Ortega-Beltran and Bandyopadhyay, 2021). 1 1 https://www.eac.int/documents/category/ aflatoxin-prevention-and-controlDistribution across Burundi of the active ingredient atoxigenic Aspergillus flavus isolates composing the aflatoxin biocontrol product Aflasafe BU01 (A) and Aflasafe KE01 (B). Aflasafe KE01 was developed for use in Kenya but its active ingredients, apart from Burundi, have been detected in several other countries.10. 3389/fmicb.2023.1106543 Frontiers in Microbiology 11 frontiersin.orgOnly a small proportion of samples (groundnut = 6%, maize = 3%) was contaminated with aflatoxins above the EAC threshold of 10 μg/kg. However, maize and groundnut were associated with highly toxigenic fungi, representing a risk of contamination during the post-harvest stages, which may last for more than 1 year. Further studies to assess contamination further up the value chain are necessary. The population of Aspergillus section Flavi in both maize and groundnut was composed of a significant proportion of aflatoxigenic strains. Fungi with S-morphology were the most toxigenic while A. flavus L-morphotype isolates were mostly atoxigenic. While the observed and potential contamination can be attributed to the fungi with S-morphology, the high proportion of A. flavus L-morphotype provides hope for developing biocontrol products for use in Burundi. Indeed, among the L-morphotype isolates of A. flavus, 55% were atoxigenic within which a few genetic groups were widely distributed in Burundi. The active ingredients of the biocontrol product registered for use in Kenya (Aflasafe KE01) were also found in Burundi and could be evaluated in Burundi. In addition, another biocontrol product, Aflasafe BU01, was formulated with four different widely distributed genetic groups specific to Burundi. However, biocontrol must be supported by other interventions including awareness creation, timely harvesting, rapid grain drying, appropriate storage structures, sorting, and processing and insect control at pre-and post-harvest stages.  from the Bill & Melinda Gate Foundation (OPP1133356). Support was also provided by USDA Agricultural Research Project 5347-42000-02-00D. We also gratefully acknowledge additional funding support from the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), and the CGIAR Plant Health Initiative by CGIAR Trust Fund contributors (https://www.cgiar.org/research/)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bbe31818c76de0f965f0a72ef6f5aa79","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2b55c014-0db9-4446-bfc5-eaed331fca1f/retrieve","id":"-431089477"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"72b71636-dfd1-4417-bebc-e94748ac1bd6","content":"The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture maintains the world's largest collection of cowpea germplasm of over 15,000 accessions. A sub-set of 298 lines from the loosely composed mini core collection of 370 landraces were genotyped based on genotyping by sequencing (GBS). Ward's minimum variance hierarchical cluster analysis, model-based ancestry analysis and discriminant analysis of principal component (DAPC) were carried out on this sub-set. Three clusters were identified by the different clustering methods. Principal component analysis further supported the three clusters especially when accessions are scattered along the axes of the first two principal components. The first two principal components explained a total of 22.30% of the variation. Cluster one comprises 115 accessions from the largest number of countries and has the highest gene diversity, heterozygosity and polymorphic information content (PIC) values. Cluster two is made up of 102 accessions, 90 percent of which are from West and Central Africa. Analysis of molecular variance shows that the most variation is among accessions and lowest among clusters. No cluster is made exclusively of accessions from a single country. Based on SNP markers, the sub set of cowpea mini core germplasm collection used in this study encompasses the diversity in the crop.Cowpea is one of the important grain legume crops in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where it contributes to food and nutritional security, fodder for livestock, soil fertility following N fixation as well as income for farmers and food vendors. It is native to SSA where the greatest genetic diversity for this crop exists. While the centre of diversity of cowpea's wild progenitor is suggested to be in eastern and southern Africa, based on the presence in the sub-region of several primitive, weedy and wild types 1,2 , that of the cultivated type is in West Africa 3 . More than 75% of the over 15,000 accessions of cultivated cowpea germplasm collected from about 90 countries 4 and maintained at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) are from the West Africa sub-region 5 . Arguably, this supports the assertion that the greatest diversity exists in the sub-region which therefore confirms the area as the crop's center of origin 6 . Besides IITA,diversity. The smaller number in the core or mini core collections makes characterization and exploitation of the germplasm for crop improvement more realistic 10 .Some studies aimed at understanding the genetic diversity in cowpea using molecular markers have been reported. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers were used to study genetic variation in the genus Vigna which comprised cowpea accessions and some of its wild relatives 11 . The RFLP markers separated accessions of cultivated cowpea from the wild relatives as well as from the Asiatic Vigna species. Gene derived markers and sequencing were successful in revealing more polymorphisms among Vigna species than within species 12 . Genetic variation among cowpea breeding lines was evaluated using simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers and a high level of homozygosity detected 13 . The study also revealed that some recent breeding lines derived from crosses involving several unimproved germplasm lines showed relatively higher levels of genetic diversity. One thousand two hundred (1,200) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were used to analyse genetic variation among 422 cowpea accessions and the study revealed the existence of two cowpea genepools, one for West Africa and the second for East Africa 5 . These authors also reported that genetic variation among landraces from outside of Africa was slightly higher than within African landraces.Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) based genotyping procedures such as Genotyping-by-Sequencing (GBS) represent a high-marker density approach compared with previous technologies such as RFLP, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and SSR. GBS is based on reducing genome complexity with restriction enzymes, coupled with multiplex NGS for high-density SNP markers discovery 14 . The genome-wide molecular marker discovery, highly multiplexed genotyping, flexibility and relatively low cost make GBS an excellent tool in plant genetics and breeding 15,16 . GBS is increasingly being used in both genetic diversity analyses of cultivated and wild crop relatives 17,18 , development of genetic linkage maps 19 , genomic selection and genome wide association studies 20,21 GBS was used to study genetic diversity among 768 cowpea germplasm lines and the results indicated that the route of the migration of cowpea germplasm to different parts of the globe could be traced to the two candidate original areas of West and East Africa 7 .Despite their usefulness in studying genetic diversity in crop species, different types of molecular markers are not equally informative. For example, SSR markers were found to be more informative in the classification of some wild rice lines when compared to SNP even though a higher number of the latter marker type was detected 22 . On the other hand, it was reported that in grape the core lacked a quarter of alleles found in the whole sativa collections when SSR markers were used 23 . However, each of the three grape core collections contained almost the whole diversity of the crop when 704 SNP markers were utilized. This suggests that there would be limitations in interpreting results of genetic diversity in grape based on SSR. In addition, many of the marker systems are constrained by high costs required for large-scale analyses 24 . The allele specific SNP markers have limitations as they require upfront investments including time and cost for discovery of informative SNPs and assay development. However, the high throughput genome complexity reducing procedures such as GBS have advantages over the conventional and allele specific SNP markers as they enable simultaneous discovery and genotyping of genome wide SNP markers within a shorter time and at lower cost.As much as molecular markers can help in understanding the extent of genetic diversity in crop germplasm and its management, caution need be exercised in applying results obtained from molecular marker-based diversity studies especially as they pertain to germplasm conservation efforts. This is because in the process of evolution, adaptiveness plays a major role in the survival of individuals in populations and it is not easy to determine if plant selection acts on markers directly or on associated loci responsible for adaptive properties. Raybould et al. 25 reported that molecular markers detected significant gene flow in the United Kingdom's Beta maritima populations whereas isozymes analyses suggested very little gene flow. The authors explained this observation as evidence of selection for traits associated with isozymes. A study of closely related Avena barbata and A. hirtula and the analysis of multi-locus dynamics through several generations support that inbreeding, even when coupled with tight linkage does not necessarily hold the genotypes together 26 . However, if the adaptive properties are due to associated loci, they behave as a virtually indivisible unity with the genetic markers analysed. The development and maintenance of plant's adaptiveness within populations are favoured by self-pollination which also enhances the development of spatial differentiation 27 . It is advisable, therefore, that when making germplasm collections for conservation purposes, efforts should focus not only on alleles that contribute to adaptiveness but also multi-locus combinations of alleles that interact with one another in an epistatic favourable way 26 . In the current study, we carried out GBS on 298 of the cowpea mini core lines to understand the underlying genetic diversity and population structure among the cowpea germplasm assemblage maintained at IITA.Genetic diversity. The 298 lines used in this study were collected from 50 countries and they make up most (about 81%) of the cowpea mini core (list of mini core lines used in Supplementary Table 1). The number of lines from Nigeria (55) is the highest among the mini core sub-set followed by those from India (33) and Republic of Niger (24). However, among the 370 mini core lines there are 72, 37 and 33 from each of the three countries representing 19.4%, 10.0% and 8.9% of accessions respectively.The genetic distance based on differences at marker loci between pairs of the selected accessions range between 0.0096 and 0.462 (Fig. 1). Diversity indices statistics indicate average minor allele frequency (MAF) of 0.209 and polymorphic information content (PIC) of 0.234 while inbreeding coefficient vary widely from as low as −0.438 to as high as 0.929 with a mean of 0.746. The mean expected heterozygosity (0.296) is higher than observed heterozygosity (0.075) values (Table 1).Population structure. The three complementary methods used in determining the number of clusters among the sub-set of the cowpea mini-core population all show the presence of three major clusters. The error rate from cross-validation method used by ADMIXTURE and the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) from discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) to determine the appropriate number of sub-populations show rapid decline from K = 1 to K = 3 and from 1 to 3 respectively (Fig. 2), indicating that the samples can be grouped into three main clusters.The distribution of the tested cowpea mini core lines based on hierarchical clustering dendrogram (Fig. 3A), the model-based structure analysis (Fig. 3B), DAPC plot (Fig. 3C) and scatter plot from DAPC (Fig. 4) show that the accessions are divided into three major clusters. Groups of the DAPC plot and the arms of the dendrogram correspond to K = 3 of the admixture plot. Assignments of the 298 cowpea accessions into the three clusters identified on the Ward's distance hierarchical dendrogram, DAPC and Admixture ancestry are generally in agreement. On the dendrogram, the number of lines per cluster varied from 81 (cluster 3) to 115 (cluster 1) (Supplementary Table 1). The 55 accessions from Nigeria are distributed into the three clusters with about half the number (28) in cluster one. Cluster two has 23 Nigerian accessions, while cluster three has four accessions. The 33 accessions from India are also distributed into the three clusters, 11 in cluster one, three in cluster two and 19 in cluster three.   Most accessions (22) from Niger are in cluster two while the remaining two are in cluster three. There is no cluster made up exclusively of accessions from the same country although there are some cases where all accessions from same country belong in same cluster. For example, all four accessions from Lesotho are in cluster one and the four from Senegal are in cluster two. Ninety-two of the 102 lines (approx. 90%) in cluster two are from 13 West and Central African countries while the others are from Tanzania, Botswana, India, USA and two from unknown countries. Cluster three with the lowest number of accessions contained all the lines from Egypt ( 14) except one that is in cluster one as well as most of the accessions from East and Southern Africa. Membership clustering for DAPC ranged from 91 to 107. Group one is made up of 100 accessions with most accessions from Nigeria. Group two has 107 accessions with majority of them from Nigeria and Niger while group three has 91 accessions with most of the accessions coming from India and Egypt. Group membership from DAPC is to a large extent in agreement with the hierarchical dendrogram clustering. Group one has 99 accessions in agreement with the hierarchical dendrogram out of the 100 members assigned by the DAPC while group two has 100 accessions in agreement with hierarchical dendrogram out of the 107 members assigned to the group. The third group with 91 accessions has 81 accessions in agreement with the hierarchical dendrogram.Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed and it further supported the groupings of the samples based on the membership assignment from DAPC (Fig. 4). The first principal component explains 15.3 percent of variation and the second explains seven percent. Both explain 22.3% of the total variation (Supplementary Table 2).for the three observed groups show that, irrespective of clustering method used, group one shows the highest polymorphic information content, number of effective alleles, expected and observed heterozygosity (Table 2). However, depending on the clustering method that was used the values vary for groups two and three.  Analysis of molecular variance was also carried out on the identified groups on the hierarchical dendrogram and DAPC. The results of analysis are identical irrespective of the clustering method used for the structure analysis. The observed variance partitioned among the three groups is 16 percent, 66 percent of the variance partitioned among individual accessions and 18 percent within the accessions (Table 3).There is a moderate amount of differentiation between the three groups (F ST = 0.16, F' ST = 0.24), indicating that the groups are relatively genetically distinct. The F IS and F IT values are 0.78 and 0.82 respectively indicating that the cowpea lines making up the groups are inbred lines.The world's largest cowpea germplasm collection maintained at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) headquarters in Ibadan Nigeria has more than 15,000 landraces and over 2,000 wild relatives. These accessions have served and continue to serve as sources of genes for desirable traits contributing to the successes being recorded in variety development especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In this study involving a sub-set of the mini core collection, a low number of robust SNP markers was observed which can be attributed to the non-availability of reference SNP discovery pipeline (when the study was performed) or the acknowledged narrow genetic base of cowpea 13,28 . The observed genetic distance based on markers between pairs of randomly selected members of the cowpea mini core range between 0.0096 and 0.462 (Fig. 1) while in an earlier study by Huynh et al. 5 genetic distances based on shared alleles among a collection of cowpea ranged from 0.01 to 0.72. Following the use of gene-derived markers and sequencing on the USDA Vigna germplasm collection it was concluded that genetic diversity present in cowpea was minimal and genetic distances among accessions low 12 . Vaillancourt and Weeden 29 had also earlier reported very low level of chloroplast DNA diversity in landraces compared to wild cowpea and based on the observations concluded that 1) the domesticated form was derived from a narrow selection of the wild germplasm and 2) chloroplast gene flow between wild and cultivated types has been very limited. In addition, the authors detected no homoplasy in tested cultivated and wild relatives following construction of a hierarchical tree. Genetic diversity was reported to be low among cowpea populations collected from Benin Republic 30 , Ghana 31 and Sudan 32 . In explaining what could be responsible for the narrow genetic base for cowpea Coulibaly et al. 1 suggested that a single domestication event may have occurred between cultivated and the wild progenitor and this concurs with one of the conclusions reached by Vaillancourt and Weeden 29 .The relatively high F IS mean value of 0.75 obtained across samples indicated that most accessions are inbred. Xiong et al. 7 also reported low heterozygosity among the 768 cowpea accessions used in their diversity study. These observations are to be expected since cowpea is a highly self-pollinated crop. Depending on the genotype and environment the extent of outcrossing in cowpea is low and could range from less than 0.15 to up to 1.58% 33 . However, He = 0.4344 in a population comprising 105 cowpea accessions from Kenya, Niger, Nigeria and China has recently been reported 34 .  The sampled mini core accessions of the world cowpea collection maintained at IITA and used in the present study are distributed into three main clusters on the dendrogram generated following hierarchical cluster analysis. These three clusters are also identified by DAPC and ADMIXTURE. The distribution of the germplasm accessions into three main clusters in this study agrees with the findings by Xiong et al. 7 that reported a diverse set of 768 cowpea germplasm maintained at United States Department of Agriculture -Germplasm Resources Information Network (USDA-GRIN) formed three well defined groups and Qin et al. 35 who also found three clusters among 369 accessions belonging to the USDA's core collection. It can therefore be stated, based on the results of the present study, that the set of mini core lines we have used represent a significant amount of the diversity present in the world cowpea collection maintained at IITA. Hence, the test lines represent a broad picture of the crop's genetic diversity. It is also worth noting that the 369 USDA cowpea core collections came from 47 countries whereas the 298 mini core accessions we used are obtained from 50 countries.Two of the three groups formed in this study have most of their members collected from different parts of Africa thus agreeing with results by Chen et al. 34 who found that two of the four clusters from their study were made up of accessions from Niger and Nigeria and the other made of accessions from Kenya. The identification of three clusters (gene pools) each from America (North America and Latin America), the three regions of Africa (West and Central Africa, East and Southern Africa) and Central West Asia, Europe and Oceania were reported 7 . The composition of the three clusters identified in our study does not agree with these observations when sources of their origin are considered. Rather, our results align more with those of Huhyn et al. 5 in their study in which they identified three gene pools among 422 accessions that included 46 wild cowpea relatives.The presence of accessions from West and Central Africa especially Nigeria in each of the three groups is further evidence that the sub-region is a centre of diversity for cultivated cowpea 36 . Many authors have submitted that the center of diversity for cultivated cowpea is the West and Central African sub-region 2,37 from where it moved to the other parts of the world -Asia, North and South America and Europe 5,38 .The germplasm lines making up the bulk of IITA's cowpea mini core did not cluster according to countries of origin despite that geographical location along with agronomic and botanical descriptors were used to define the core collection 4 . However, many of the accessions from West and Central Africa constitute the majority of members in group two while most members of group three are from East and Southern Africa. Clustering of accessions according to countries of origin varies across crop species. For example, in African rice (Oryza glabberima), a self-pollinated crop like cowpea clustering of genotypes was more according to country of origin than to agro-ecology 39 whereas in lentil only a weak correlation was observed between geographic origin and genetic relationships among tested landraces 40 . Cowpea lines from Niger and Nigeria clustered together and separated from those collected from Kenya and China 34 . Clustering together of genotypes from Niger and Nigeria was attributed to their coming from similar agro-ecologies 34 . In their study Xiong et al. 7 reported no clustering of cowpea genotypes according to country of origin. However, geographic variation in germplasm distribution is nearly always impossible to separate from ecologically determined variation hence the recognition of 'ecogeographic factors' in plants' genetic diversity 41 . It is reasonable to believe that the cowpea germplasm lines have remained in West and Central Africa sub-region over a long period after having been domesticated there. The plants have become adapted to the agro-ecologies prevalent in the sub-region rather than countries especially since a common farming system of intercropping is mostly practised in the different countries. Also, the high level of self-pollination, as in cowpea, may have resulted in the rapid fixation of alleles and accumulation of mutant genes in tomato 42 . It is also worth noting that movement of seeds among farmers in the West and Central Africa sub-region is not limited by national boundaries as farmers in neighbouring communities exchange seeds freely with one another 39 and farmer-to-farmer seed movement has been recognised as a means of disseminating seeds of newly improved varieties.The genetic diversity within cluster two of which 92 percent of members are from West and Central Africa is lowest of the three clusters. Total genetic variation among cowpea accessions from outside of Africa was slightly greater than in the African landraces 5,34,35 . Low levels of precipitation in the areas of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where cowpea is mostly found may partly contribute to the relatively lower genetic diversity in lines from the region as compared to those from other parts of the world where more precipitation occurs. For example, an appreciable level of genetic diversity has been reported among yard-long-bean (V. unguiculata ssp. sesquipedalis) found mostly in the moist Asian countries especially China and India 43 . The yard-long-bean evolved in Asia from the cultivated cowpea introduced originally from the savannahs of SSA where they are not found. The greater precipitation and lower sunlight in Asia was suggested as being responsible for the evolution of the yard-long-bean from cowpea 5 . A relatively higher genetic diversity has been reported in tomatoes from the western Galapagos islands and this was attributed to the higher precipitation in the area 44 . It has also been suggested that plant species richness is correlated with annual precipitation as observed in the Neotropics 45 .In this study, members of the cluster with the most number of accessions (115 accessions) are from 27 countries 16 of which are from outside of Africa and 11 African countries. This also showed the highest level of genetic variation among the three clusters. The higher genetic variation observed among accessions in this most cosmopolitan cluster may be the result of the high number of countries from where the members are collected. Most genetic variance in the USDA cowpea world collection was found within, instead of, among geographic regions and within instead of among countries 7 .The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that highest variation was present among accessions followed by within accessions and smallest among clusters. Similarly, the highest amount of variation was found among individuals, followed by within individuals and least among populations 34 . There is therefore, in cowpea higher genetic divergence among individual accessions which could not be explained by the groups. However, in African rice molecular variance was reported to be highest within than among groups when based on structure and cluster analysis and the diversity could not be explained by ecology 39 .Accessions from the USA were distributed among different clusters but the most number were found in cluster one where they are found to be closely associated with accessions from West Africa thus suggesting that relatively high similarities exist between USA and West African lines. The observed 86% similarity between American breeding lines and accessions from West Africa agree with this observation 7 . It can be suggested that many parental lines used for making crosses in the USA while generating breeding lines may be of West African origin. Whit 46 suggested that cowpea came to the USA through slaves who may have brought them along from West Africa. We also observed that some USA lines are in close proximity with accessions from Egypt and India. This may justify the findings that some of the USA lines came through other sources than from only West Africa 5 . It had been suggested that cowpea germplasm was also dispersed from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe and elsewhere through Egypt in North Africa 47 .The bulk of cowpea accessions maintained in the Genetic Resources Center at IITA (>71%) are from Africa and would therefore be mostly landraces. These lines would to a very large extent represent the diversity present in the indigenous cultivated cowpea. The history of cowpea variety development in Africa is recent. Early reports on genetic studies in cowpea are from the USA and date back to early 1900s. Inheritance of several seed related traits in cowpea were the earliest reported studies from the USA 48,49 . Available records show that the work carried out at the Agricultural Research Station, Bihar, India in which crosses were made to generate segregating populations from where early maturing lines with economically desirable traits were selected may probably be one of the earliest in the history of cowpea variety development 50 . Although most cowpea is produced and consumed in Nigeria, only limited improvement activities were carried out in the country until 1960s. Widespread dissemination of improved varieties to farmers in the West Africa sub-region is even more recent and can be traced to the establishment in early 1980s of the Semi-Arid Food Grain Research and Development (SAFGRAD) Program with support from the USAID.This diversity study was carried out using genotyping by sequencing on a sub-set of the mini core from the world's largest assemblage of cowpea germplasm collections and the results further confirm West and Central Africa as center of origin for cowpea. Further, the constitution of the mini core collections was successful in encompassing the diversity that may be present in the cowpea gene bank maintained at IITA as three groups were identified which is in concurrence with previous diversity studies in cowpea. It can be inferred from the study therefore that SNP markers are effective in placing cowpea germplasm lines in appropriate clusters based on relationships at molecular level and with the current accumulation of genomic tools in cowpea the crop promises to benefit from the deployment of these tools especially in the development of new varieties that should meet the immediate and future challenges facing its productivity.Plant materials and DNA extraction. Seeds of the 370 accessions making up the cowpea mini-core collections were obtained from the IITA's Genetic Resources Center, sown in pots containing 5.0 kg top soil and placed in the screenhouse. DNA was extracted from a newly expanded young trifoliate leaf of emerged seedlings of each line using SDS method 51 with some modifications. DNA concentrations of samples were normalized and working solutions contained between 10-100 ng/µl. Ninety-five samples were placed in a 96 well plate. As a DNA quality measure, 5 µl of each of 10 samples in a plate were digested using EcoRI restriction enzyme and run on a 1% w/v agarose gel along with the λ HindIII size standards.Genome reduction for sequencing was achieved by digesting genomic DNA with the restriction enzyme, ApeKI, which recognizes a degenerate 5 bp sequence (GCWGC, where W can be A or T), and sequencing was performed following the standard procedure 14 . A total of about four 96-plex GBS libraries were constructed and sequenced on the Illumina HiSeq 2000. Due to unavailability of reference genome (as at the time of the sequencing), SNP variants were discovered using the UNEAK pipeline 18 (http:// www.maizegenetics.net/gbs-bioinformatics) as implemented in TASSEL Version: 5.0 52 (Version: 3.0.166 Date: April 17, 2014). In summary, reads were trimmed to a 64-bp length and unreliable markers filtered out using a network filter, designed to detect and eliminate markers showing unexpected relationships with others that could be a result of paralogous sequences and/or sequencing errors 18 . A total of 121,910 SNPs was called out of the UNEAK pipeline. The called SNPs were further filtered using TASSEL software 52 . SNPs with more than 20% missing data were removed as were those with minor allele frequency (MAF) below 0.05. Non-polymorphic markers i.e., having a variance close to 0 were identified (only six markers were discarded based on this criterion). SNPs resulting from sequence paralogy were further removed, resulting in a final set of 2,276 SNPs. Data analysis. Genetic diversity, population structure and phylogenetic analyses. Diversity analysis was carried out using the filtered 2,276 SNPs. Genetic diversity parameters which include minor allele frequency (MAF), polymorphic information content (PIC), the effective number of alleles (Ne), expected heterozygosity (He), observed heterozygosity (Ho) and inbreeding coefficient (Fis) were established using GenAlex version 6.41 53 , power marker 54 and PLINK 55 .Population structure was characterized using three complementary approaches: 1) distance-based hierarchical clustering analysis; 2) a model-based maximum likelihood estimation of ancestral sub-populations using ADMIXTURE 56 and 3) assumption-free discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) 57 . For the hierarchical clustering, the pairwise genetic distance (identity-by-state, IBS) matrix was calculated among all individuals using PLINK 55 . A Ward's minimum variance hierarchical cluster dendrogram was then built from the IBS matrix using the Analyses of Phylogenetics and Evolution (ape) package 58 implemented in R 59 .In the second approach, population structure and accession ancestry were determined using the ADMIXTURE method which assumes linkage equilibrium among loci and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium within ancestral populations 56 . For the analysis, the number of subpopulations, K, varied from 2 to 10. According to ADMIXTURE's cross-validation procedure a good value of K will exhibit a low cross-validation error compared to other K values 55 . Hence, the most appropriate K value that is useful and better describes the data and also has good correspondence with the clustering pattern obtained by the hierarchical tree, was selected after considering the 10-fold cross-validations.To complement the results from ADMIXTURE, we carried out DAPC using the R package 'adegenet' . The optimal number of clusters from DAPC was inferred using k-means analysis by varying possible number of clusters from two to 40 using a Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) to assess the best supported model. The number of clusters at which BIC decreases were considered to determine the most likely K value. Following the information based on hierarchical clustering and ADMIXTURE analysis the most appropriate K expected to provide useful summaries of the data was selected. DAPC clustering was thereafter performed on the clusters identified using the first 70 principal components. The membership probabilities of each individual for the different groups were obtained from DAPC and the results of DAPC analysis, ADMIXTURE, and the hierarchical tree were compared. As sub-clusters were observed within the mini core samples, the fixation index (F ST ) and standardized F ST (F' ST ,) of the observed sub-clusters were assessed using analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) implemented in GenAlex 6.41 and the genetic diversity parameters of each observed cluster determined. Genetic diversity parameters were also calculated for each of the identified sub-clusters."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"042a694eebef9476b18006e1356fdc17","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6dae1b02-4035-4175-a61e-e3f67de3b03e/retrieve","id":"688912013"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6664a62f-a582-4600-b446-8bd2fc8830c8","content":"Designing of FAW and Striga agro-advisories and their delivery through a bulk SMS messaging to the farming communities in Rwanda. 11p.Rwanda is a predominantly agricultural country, and the agriculture sector employs over 70% of the population. The country's economy heavily relies on agriculture, which accounts for about 30% of the GDP (https://rdb.rw/investmentopportunities/agriculture/). However, pests such as Fall Armyworm and Striga have posed a significant challenge to agricultural productivity in the country. These pests cause massive crop losses, and farmers have been struggling to manage them.Monitoring and early warning systems are key pieces for the strategic management of fall armyworm (FAW).One Acre Fund in partnerships with The Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development in partnerships has been sending SMS to more than 20,000 Extension agents (Farmer promoters, Farmer field school facilitators, government extension officials at cell, sector and district levels) as an alternative approach of mobilizing, reminding and / or sensitizing on key agricultural activities before, during or after planting throughout the agricultural seasons (Season A: covers the period from August up to January; and season B: covers the period between February and June). Below are examples of SMS that have been sent to extension agents:• Hello, This is RAB. You are advised to take care of your maize crops because FAW is expected to occur in this season. Inform your fellow farmers too.• Hello, This is RAB. You are advised to take care of your soya and maize crops by planning to weed your field; including the removal of Striga. Inform your fellow farmers too.• Hello! This is RAB. We are requesting you to help farmers on post harvest handling for maize by preventing aflatoxin. They should avoid to dry their maize on bare soils and instead, use required sheetings. Thank you • Limited resources -Both the FFS system and the FP system face resource constraints that limit growth and effectiveness. The FFS system is resource and time intensive, which means it can only reach a limited number of farmers each season. The FP system is nationwide by design, but the impact and effectiveness of the system is hindered by limited resources for material distribution, training, and monitoring & evaluation.The development of an SMS platform tool that will be fed by FAW and Striga advisory services based on weather and climate information has been working towards the following communication capability goals:1. The ability for RAB to immediately communicate with individual farmers or groups of farmers as well as extension agents via SMS.2. The ability for farmers grouped into Twigire Muhinzi to communicate with RAB via SMS.The SMS platform as it is now, has proven to be an effective and efficient entry point to send SMS on FAW and Striga identification and management. It has been in place since 2014 and specific SMS on FAW and Striga using climate and weather data to identify high risk areas have been sent since 2022 with support from icipe.Below is how the approach works:The SMS were translated into Kinyarwanda and then sent to 4,662 farmer promoters after updating their database. SMS are sent once RAB had approved them.The goal of sending these SMS was to inform farmer promoters the likelihood of FAW and Striga occurrences in their respective villages so that they can then inform and train their fellow farmers how to identify and manage FAW and Striga. FP agreed to participate on the exercise whereas 1 declined to participate. 127 of the farmer promoters were female and 301 were male (Figure 2). Following districts were under high FAW  • Given the fact that the dissemination of bundled-SMS is done using an existing platform, there is a need to continue working with relevant stakeholders and leverage on the capacity of the bundles to disseminate other additional advisories related to the right approach and timeline of applying pesticides, and mobilize farmers through farmer promoters to always wear protective equipment when spraying chemicals.• It is now planned that another map will be made during the upcoming agricultural season of 2024A to identify sectors in which farmer promoters will be sent another bundle SMS to advise on FAW and Striga identification and management.• On data collected on 8 th of May, a descriptive report will be provided by Dr Tobias from icipe."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6ac733126e0b6af75d861c34ae4f126e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/31ddb1f7-ff65-4e9e-b998-82787ab8ec32/retrieve","id":"-571141951"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"27d0b204-4b56-49ec-8473-41f039245a81","content":"In 1982 the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA) established a Livestock Policy Unit (LPU). Later it was given additional functions and changed its title to Livestock Economics Division (LED).The objectives of the LED are: 1. To heighten the awareness in African governments and in other organisations of the importance of livestock policy issues. 2. To collate in an easily assimilable form what is already known about policy issues and to present it to policy makers. 3. To carry out research of its own (including that commissioned from consultants) on priority livestock policy issues and to present the results to policy makers. 4. To encourage others to carry out similar research and to assist in presenting their results to policy makers.The classification and mapping of environmental units, and Figures 2 and 6, were undertaken by Dr. Beryl Turner (The Green, Litton, Skipton, Yorks, England). The remaining maps were designed and drawn by Mr. J. F. Antwi (Department of Geography, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria). The libraries of the Overseas Development Institute, London and of ILCA, Addis Ababa were made available for the author's use. In appendix 2 (Environmental Units) the size of each unit, in square kilometres, was estimated on the basis of the evidence presented in Figure 6 (A-H) by Assefa Eshete of ILCA's Resource Survey Unit.1. to regionalize the SAZ, on the basis of agroclimatic and other environmental parameters relevant to livestock production, into environmentally homogeneous units, to which particular mixed farming systems may be assigned.1. productivity -to increase output per hectare of livestock products and crops;* Unlike the market, which is also external to the household system, and other unmeasurable 'environmental' externals.(2) Definition of units. At the level of the household, Boulier and Jouve (1988: 55) distinguish four units: residential, consumption, accumulation and production units. They show how among six ethnic groups in West Africa, three different conformations of these units are found, and in only two of the groups are all four units coextensive. These differences have extension implications.1. Under smallholder conditions, farming intensity tends to correlate positively with rural population density.Staff members and consultants of the LED write working papers at several stages during their research on a topic. Publication of the final results of research may not occur until several years after the research started. The LED, therefore, makes its working documents available to anyone requesting them in order to provide access to data and ideas on African livestock policy issues as early as possible to those with a need for them. This is an LED working document. It has not been prepared in accordance with procedures appropriate to formal printed texts, and ILCA accepts no responsibility for errors. Both data and ideas are subject to revision. The views and interpretations in this document are those of the author and should not be attributed to ILCA. ILCA however retains copyright and reserves all other rights. Working paper numbers 1-10 appear under the ILCA/LPU working paper series, which has now been renamed as the LED working documents series.This electronic document has been scanned using optical character recognition (OCR) software and careful manual recorrection. Even if the quality of digitalisation is high, the FAO declines all responsibility for any discrepancies that may exist between the present document and its original printed version.1. The problem ILCA's interest in semi-arid mixed farming systems arises from the following arguments (ILCA Project Document, 11 April, 1988):1. mixed farming systems are of large and growing importance, not only because existing systems are expanding, but also because formerly specialist livestock or crop production systems are diversifying into crops and livestock respectively; 2. environmental degradation is believed to be proceeding faster in the semi-arid zone (SAZ) than in other ecological zones; and livestock have an important influence on this process; 3. real household incomes are believed to be low and declining; while livestock make a very significant contribution to incomes, directly through milk and meat output and other products, indirectly through manure, traction and other interactions with crop production, and as investments; and 4. there is a high potential for improved livestock technology targeted on improving productivity, stability, and sustainability of the farming systems.McIntire, Bourzat and Pingali's study, Crop-livestock interactions in sub-Saharan Africa (1989), is based on the fundamental hypothesis 'that different agroclimates and population densities make possible, and sometimes compel, specific interactions'. In spite of many project failures in livestock development, it is considered that 'the potential for integrated crop and animal production is high. What is required is appropriate analysis of the sequence in which interactions become profitable' (1-2,3). That study systematically investigates, in turn, livestock investment, animal traction, soil fertility maintenance, feed resources, animal production and byproducts. A two-dimensional analytical matrix of agroclimatic zones and population density is used. The analysis is organised around three economic relationships: (i) resource competition between crop and livestock production;(2) complementarily between the two activities; and (3) the circumstances promoting the evolution of mixed farming. The SAZ is one of five agroclimatic divisions of Africa identified by Jahnke (1982). The others are: the arid, subhumid and humid zones, and the highlands. Mixed farming systems are supposed not to occur in the arid zone.Following Jahnke's continental study of livestock production systems (Jahnke, 1982), and McIntire et al's systematic analysis of crop-livestock interactions and integration, there is now a need for an analytical review of the SAZ. Such a review is justified by the proportional importance of its livestock and human populations, its extent, and its diversity.The objectives of the present review are twofold:2. to propose a taxonomy of mixed farming systems; inventory a range of representative systems that are characterised in the literature; and review contemporary trends with respect to environmental management.The Study is intended to facilitate the targeting of ILCA's research programmes. It is assumed that such research is addressed to the following two objectives (among others): Using his definition of 90-180 days, Jahnke (1982) estimated that the SAZ contained the following human and livestock populations.Total (000s)Human agricultural populationCattleSheepGoatsRuminant livestock units (TLU)Total area (km 2 )4. Mixed farming systemsFor the purpose of this Study, mixed farming systems are understood to exist where both livestock and crop production take place within the same locality, and where ownership of crops or land and livestock are integrated. However, where specialised livestock production takes place in the same locality as crop production, subject to resource-sharing (e.g. grazing of residues), but under separate ownership, such systems may be included. Such flexibility is necessary because of the variety of arrangements that exist covering access to ownership, and management of land and livestock. It should also be noted that some mixed farming systems make use of farm trees for fodder.No smallholder farming systems have been found in the SAZ lacking a livestock component. Livestock ownership is valued by farmers because it offers the following utilities:1. investment capital, available for use in contingencies, relatively divisible; 2. individual wealth creation (including for women); 3. recurrent income (milk, meat and other products); 4. manure; (which, if supported by on-farm fodder, re-cycles nutrients at lower cost than inorganic fertilizers); 5. energy (traction, transport); and 6. productive uses for farm residuals (crop residues, browse, weeds, boundary plants, uncultivated grassland).It may be hypothesized that where feed resources, and household wealth, allow, some livestock populations will tend to rise along with the human population, on a per ha basis. Where common property grazing resources are available, the principal constraint on livestock holdings, at the level of the individual household, is likely to be not farm feed supply, but poverty, either necessitating sales, or precluding purchases of animals. It does not seem easy to establish whether a farming system is overloaded with livestock, or can accommodate more animals.Livestock provide a least-cost route to intensification through their role in nutrient cycling, especially if inorganic fertilizers are increasing in cost. Although mulching and residue incorporation offer technically efficient alternatives, it is unlikely that they are as efficient in their use of labour (McIntire et al, 1989) and they offer none of the additional benefits of livestock ownership (1-3 above).The upper limit to nutrient cycling by livestock is set by the amount of feed that the system can generate, or purchase with the proceeds of market output. The upper limit to crop output is set by the fertilization provided by the animals, or purchased with the proceeds of market output. How far such an integrated system can go under smallholder conditions in the SAZ is not known. It is widely believed that animals depend mainly on natural pastures, and the declining quantity and quality of these prevents the production of adequate manure for sustaining yields on arable land.Recent drought experiences in Africa have emphasized the complementary roles of livestock and crops in maintaining household viability. During crop failures, livestock offer diversified economic options and support smallholder resilience. On the other hand, livestock specialists who have lost all or part of their stock may take up or increase their commitment to farming.In some areas, increasing privatization of grazing or other resources by capitalized entrepreneurs is supporting intensified market integration in the livestock sector, and at the same time restricting access to these resources by smallholders. Households that specialise in livestock may become marginalised, that is to say their livestock holdings fall below the threshold of household self-sufficiency. Mixed farming offers such households a more productive mode of using land (where it is scarce), more defensible access to resources, a more diversified (and hopefully, resilient) household economy, and an alternative source of investment funds for rebuilding livestock holdings.There is now an increasing awareness of the risks of environmental degradation in the SAZ. This justifies a holistic approach to mixed farming systems and their impact on the environment. While animals are often blamed for degradation, they may, on the other hand, be an essential component of intensification, which creates in turn the economic conditions for conservationary land management.Much past expansion in the commercial output of both crops and livestock has been supported by increased use of land at low inputs of capital and labour. With the diminution of unoccupied land, the transfer of increasing areas of natural vegetation to arable, and intensified competition between grazing and cultivating systems for the available land, farming systems are confronted with a choice between:1. a degradational pathway -increasing the frequency of use without additional inputs, failing to replenish soil chemical properties or to conserve physical properties, and 2. a conservationary pathway -increasing inputs, especially of labour, to maintain or raise productivity per ha.The literature on the SAZ alludes frequently to two kinds of system-crises:1. The crisis of pastoralism is the loss of land (via alienation, and arable encroachment, compounded in some areas by private ranching enclosures) plus the growth of human and livestock populations -a Malthusian trap, except where possibilities for dispersal exist. 2. The crisis of extensive farming is the shortening of fallow cycles in relation to the restorative needs of the soils, together with the reduction of the ratio between common property (or open access) natural grazings, on the one hand, and private arable fields, on the other, on which ratio the system of nutrient transfers by means of livestock coralling on arable land depends. Soil fertility is thus expected to decline on both permanent and rotationally fallowed fields.It is important to determine the extent to which crop-livestock integration offers solutions to these perceived crises. With regard to the crisis of pastoralism, in areas with adequate rainfall to support farming (i.e. the SAZ), there is evidence that smallholder mixed farming is emerging.With regard to the crisis of extensive farming, evidence from the Kano Close-Settled Zone, Nigeria (Mortimore, 1990) suggests that mixed farming (agro-forestry with livestock) can be sustainable under indigenous technical practice in the medium term. The replicability of such a system in other parts of the SAZ, and under drier rainfall conditions, is not known.The choice of pathway, therefore, is not only relevant to environmental management per se but gives an indication of the future evolution of the system under conditions of continuing population growth.Land is differentiated locally in terms of the catenary sequence from interfluve to valley bottom. McIntire et al (1989) argue that 'as population densities increase, people intensify production on the mid to upper slopes, move to marginal lands in the upper slopes, or move down the slope. Each option implies some investment in erosion or water control. Typically, the payoff to these investments is highest on the lower slopes and valley bottoms. Therefore, where lower slopes and valley bottoms are available, population growth induces intensification on those lands'.There is much evidence to support this thesis of intensification down the catena, as densities rise.The corollary is that marginal land on the upper slope, which is more exposed to erosion under natural conditions and may contain hardpan, rock outcrops or thin stony soils, becomes a residual category, because it provides the lowest payoff to intensification. It is often this land that provides visible evidence of degradation in the form of bare surfaces, soil stripping, surface gravel or rock and degraded vegetation communities.Such residual land is grazed by livestock during the wet season, when the stock must be kept off farmlands, rather than during the dry, when crop residues and valley bottom grazings offer superior nutrition. Neither 'improved' management nor rehabilitation is economic under prevailing conditions; only further increases in population density and prices can create suitable conditions. This case explains why costly schemes to stabilise sand dunes or rehabilitate degraded soils may have little attraction for local resource managers.The degradation-conservation spectrum is therefore likely to exhibit much local variation, according to the intrinsic properties of different categories of land, and the way these are perceived by the resource managers.Land is subject to conflicting claims, for example as potential arable (farmers), as grazing, fodder or browse (livestock producers), or as a source of wood fuel, medicines or food (householders). One person's grazing is another's irrigation opportunity. The resolution of such competition may call for complex rules of access within the bounds of a single farming system, as in the following hypothetical example: (Note: Common access is restricted to community members; open access is unrestricted.)In addition, over large areas of the SAZ, community access is subject to legislative restrictions imposed by national or local governments in order to separate ethnic claims to territory. Such restrictions are common in eastern and southern Africa, where not only was land (much of it high potential) alienated for European settlement, but also it has been the practice at various times and places to confine ethnic groups to rangeland territories -for example, in Kenya and in Southern Ethiopia. By contrast, in large areas of the west and north, the division of land between farming and pastoral specialists, or amongst farmers, is subject only to customary allocative control.The existence and nature of confining boundaries should not be ignored in examining questions of environmental management. Furthermore, the status of customary land tenure is fluid in several areas. Under present economic and political conditions, this should cause concern, especially where farming systems with a livestock component are concerned.The approach of the present Study is to inventory and review the mixed farming systems of the SAZ, in a typological framework, and to disaggregate the SAZ regionally on the basis of agroclimatic and other environmental criteria. An attempt will then be made to marry these two lines of investigation in terms relevant to ILCA's needs.Chapter 2 reviews alternative bases for a typology of mixed farming systems. In Chapter 3 the regional disaggregation of the SAZ is described. Chapter 4 reviews and classifies the mixed farming systems. Conclusions and summary are in Chapter 5.This chapter discusses the conceptualization of the farming system with reference to the livestock component and reviews some alternative typologies that have been employed or proposed. A typological framework that is consistent with ILCA's objectives is then outlined.It is essential to clarify the conceptualization of the farming system as it relates to the objectives of the present Study.Farming systems may be analysed at four levels (Tourte, 1984):1. the field or flock/herd 2. the management unit ('unité de production ou exploitation') 3. the community ('collectivité rurale') 4. the territory ('petite région naturelle' or 'grande région')At the level of the management unit, livestock and crop production may be regarded as subsystems of the same farming system. Traditional farm management studies operate at this level, and extension services are aimed at decision makers at this level, who are responsible for factor allocations. According to Jahnke (1982: 5), the individual farm Unit is the 'building block' of a production system: 'A livestock production system in the simplest sense is then nothing but a group of similar management units'.There are however, four reasons why neither of the first two levels is adequate for the analysis of farming systems having a livestock component in the SAZ.(1) External resources. Livestock operations depend heavily on resources (common or open access grazings, browse, and water) outside the arable farm. At the level of the household or management unit such resources have to be treated as externals whose boundaries and capacity, because shared, cannot be defined. Yet they are not infinite*, and the manner of their use has an important bearing on the sustainability of the system. Cook et al (1984) argue that householdoriented approaches, if they fail to investigate the impact of these externalities on households and their feedback relationships, may run the risk of promoting interventions that contribute to the degradation of the environment.(3) Bounds of units. In livestock management, loaning, sharing, entrustment and other transactions are common; an owner sometimes does not manage all or any of his livestock and a manager may not own all or any of his flock or herd. Furthermore, patterns vary between seasons and from year to year.(4) Economic differentiation. It is well known that livestock ownership tends towards inequality, notwithstanding various mechanisms for redistribution within the community. This arises from the fact that livestock are (a) a form of investment producing a current income (in which they resemble farm land) and also (b) a self-reproducing asset (in which they differ from farmland). Inequality may be expressed both in the numbers of livestock (e.g. cattle) owned per household or per individual, and in the type owned (cf. cattle versus sheep or goats). In mixed farming, livestock may be owned by all or by only some farm units, whereas it is uncommon within an ethnic group for land ownership to be similarly restricted. Thus the presence of a nonowning sub-group, and the greater and cumulative inequality that often characterises livestock ownership, differentiates the livestock component from the crop component of a mixed farming system. It makes poor sense to exclude non-owning units from the production system, since they live among the livestock owners, interact with them, and may re-enter or drop out from the livestock-owning segment from year to year.For these reasons it may be questioned whether 'management units which are similar in their structure and in their production functions' accurately describes mixed farming households, and whether they can simply be grouped into an hierarchical farm system (Jahnke, 1982: 52). The concept of the system has to incorporate diversity even competing interests, at the level of the community.The community level, on the other hand, allows common access resources to be explicitly quantified and their management institutions to be identified. At this level, conflict or competition in the demand for common access resources must be resolved. The community (a village, hamlet, clan or kinship group) has rights to arable land, grazings, woodland, water and wildlife in areas that may not necessarily be contiguous. But in principle, the community system is capable of analysis in terms of soils, hydrology and agro-climatic potential.At the level of territory. In addition to the diversity contained at the level of the community, functionally or ethnically distinct communities cohabiting a given area for a part or all of the year (e.g. Fulani nomadic cattle breeders and Hausa sedentary farmers) may be analysed explicitly in terms of interaction, contracts, competition and complementarily in resource exploitation. Open access resources must be addressed explicitly at this level of analysis.Environmental and agro-climatic potential can be related to human and livestock populations, and ecological sustainability. Such a territory may be defined as an agro-climatic unit, a river basin or ecosystem; or as an administrative unit.From the practical standpoint of livestock production and environmental management, a level of analysis higher than that of the single management unit is desirable, for the following reasons:1. Livestock, being mobile, are not confined within the boundaries of the farm unit, and may graze or be fed on feed obtained from resources exogenous to the farm unit, but within the community area of territory. 2. Common or open access resources are subject to management decisions and regulations which are derived from custom, negotiation, or administrative dictate at the community or territorial level, and these are relevant to the question of sustainable resource management. 3. Interactions amongst dissimilar livestock and non-livestock breeding communities, exploiting ethnically or functionally defined niches in the same ecological territory, are also relevant to defining the impact of livestock on the environment. 4. Discrete territories may be used, not only by individual livestock keeping units, but in combination with others; the concept of the system has to take in such spatially dispersed patterns of resource use.From the standpoint of environmental management, the territorial level of analysis is appropriate, and later in this study a framework of agro-ecological units is proposed for this purpose. Except where a single community operates a homogeneous farming system, such a territory will encompass a mix of farming systems. From a systems typological standpoint, the extent of dissimilarity amongst systems that may exist in a single territory is unmanageable, and therefore the community level is preferred. The level of the single management unit is only appropriate when crop-livestock integration is complete and the use of common or open access resources insignificant.The levels described above are defined in terms of area as follows: Water resources for livestock may be controlled at the level of the management unit or the community, or be uncontrolled under open access; this has many implications.In their current phase, four of ILCA's six research thrusts are planned to have substantial involvement in the SAZ (ILCA, 1987):1. small ruminant meat and milk 2. animal traction 3. animal feed resources 4. livestock policy and resource use.Recurrent themes in the research topics proposed for these thrusts are:1. production systems, crop-livestock integration and productivity 2. feed resources and management 3. technologies, including draft 4. breeding, reproduction 5. stability and sustainability 6. markets, prices, credit.Given such a diversity of research objectives, it is legitimate to ask whether a multipurpose typology is a practicable objective. It cannot serve every need.The justification for a typology arises from the need to order diversity, as a step towards improved understanding. It is known that livestock producers in the SAZ vary on at least seven scales:1. household dependency on livestock 2. market integration of the livestock enterprise 3. herding movements 4. interactions with farmers 5. integration of crop and livestock production 6. size (and value) of livestock holdings 7. types and breeds of animals kept.However Jahnke's advice is that to derive groupings from 'a theory of their differentiation (e.g. the distance from the market or factor proportions available) results in a typology that reflects too narrow a spectrum of reality... judgement and pragmatism must still take precedence over principle and rigour' (Jahnke, 1982: 4). Jahnke therefore adapts Ruthenberg's functional classification to the specifications of livestock production. Before following down this road of theoretical agnosticism, a brief review of some available topologies is given.This review concludes that a number of existing or proposed typologies the functional farming systems of Ruthenberg, classifications based on economic specialisation or livestock dependency, typologies of herd movements, systems based on livestock ratios or characteristics of animal traction -have either theoretical or practical limitations from the standpoint of the present Study. A proposal is made to develop McIntire et al's (1989) sequence of crop-livestock interaction and integration into a tool for inventorying mixed farming systems. But the large number of component elements make an aggregated 'integration score' rather meaningless. Finally, a typology based on farming intensity is proposed, which includes four major types: intensive farming, enclave grazing, enclave farming and grazing. Such a typology has a strong theoretical basis and provides a framework for assigning environmental sustainability ratings to mixed farming systems.Ruthenberg (1980)used a 7-fold typology of tropical farming systems in which crop-livestock interactions may be summarised as follows:System Interactions  (1980). Livestock are rarely differentiated: cattle most often seem to be implied by the context. Types l, 2, 4 and 7(b) occur in the SAZ and may qualify for the designation 'mixed farming'. But this general functional typology is not ideal for present purposes because it does not derive from differences in the livestock component of the systems, nor from the nature of crop-livestock interactions, but from differences in cropping practice. Its implications for environmental management are not clear either.Jahnke (1982: 7), however, follows Ruthenberg in proposing the following five classes of livestock production systems in tropical Africa: The interest of the present study mainly concerns the second class, and then only in the SAZ. Jahnke does not propose a subdivision of this class but suggests four gradients, that could conceivably be used as the basis for such a subdivision:1. agroclimate (cropping system), 2. population pressure (cultivation intensity) 3. tsetse challenge 4. livestock dependency (density, species)The first three will be incorporated in the environmental disaggregation of the SAZ (Chapter 3); the last is considered below.Wilson et al (1983), working in Mali, recognise three classes of dependency on livestock on the basis of household revenue or food energy derived from livestock-related activities;1. pastoral > 50% gross household revenue or > 20% food energy 2. agro-pastoral 10-50% gross revenue (i.e., > 50% derived from crops or non-agricultural activities)3. agricultural < 10% gross revenue (i.e., > 90% derived from crops or non-agricultural activities)Gross revenue is defined as the value of subsistence plus marketed production, plus the value of transport animals, traction and manure. The study was carried out in Mali, but Swift (nd: 1990?) has proposed to generalise such a classification.For present purposes, this classification has two limitations: first, household level (management unit) output and income data are not sufficiently widely available in the SAZ; and second, as explained above, the management unit level of analysis does not satisfy the requirements of the present investigation. Also, a finer mesh is needed to capture the diversity contained in the second and third classes. In a study of the livestock economy of northern Nigeria, Fricke (1979) proposed an elaborate 'social-agrarian-geographical' typology of cattle keeping systems. The resulting typology is, however, complex, and the 4 classes and 23 subclasses are not all empirically related in his study to identifiable groups in northern Nigeria, still less are they capable of easy quantification or mapping. The social overburden of this scheme renders it impracticable for extension beyond the Nigerian context, and marginal to the management focus of the present study. Baxter (1977) and other writers on East African pastoralism use the following typology of pastoral peoples:1. 'Pure' pastoralists who do not cultivate (subdivided into (a) those producing for the wider economy and (b) those only marginally involved in the wider economy); 2. primarily pastoral people, frequently transhumant, who cannot subsist by their stock alone (often called agro-pastoralists); and 3. primarily agricultural people who maintain strong pastoral values.In the wider context of livestock production, the emphasis on 'values' calls for a fourth type to be added to this scheme: 4. agriculturalists who also keep livestock.Such a scheme cannot adequately cope with the variety of mixed farming systems. While it appears to apply at the community level, recent events in parts of East Africa (impoverishment by war or drought losses) suggest that within a given community, households may end up in different classes, according to their livestock wealth. Households may also (presumably) reclassify themselves as they lose or reconstitute their herds through time.A typology based on the degree of dependency on livestock may be expected to yield important insights on the choice of economic options at the household level. But it does not directly confront the relations between the livestock and crop production subsystems and the impact of management practices on the environment.Wilson et al (1983) reject using livestock movements as the basis for classifying livestock production systems in Mali because although the nature of such movements is an important aspect of the system, it is contingent upon it, and diverts attention from the degree of dependency on livestock. It may be noted that the movements of cattle may be quite different from those of small ruminants, whose importance in mixed farming systems is sometimes greater.On the other hand, Van Raay (1974) argued a consistent relationship -in northern Nigeriabetween the movement patterns and socio-economic characteristics of the Fulani stockowners. While this typology is sufficiently closely related to management to have potential as a framework for policy, its usefulness may be restricted outside the Fulani-occupied areas of West Africa.The ratios between cattle and small ruminants would have obvious practical value in extension work, and within a homogeneous cultural area (such as Fulani areas of West Africa). They would be useful proxy indicators of such variables as household livestock wealth, movement patterns, and extent of commitment to farming. They are also relatively sensitive to short-term dynamics in animal ownership, responding (for example) to cycles of impoverishment and reconstitution, following periods of drought-induced mortality or destocking. However from the standpoint of research targeting, such a dynamic indicator may be insufficiently stable in the medium term (10-15 years).Ratios between breeds would be of interest from a breeding or nutritional perspective, but they provide only very indirect indicators of system properties, unless combined with other variables.For a typology applicable throughout the SAZ, livestock ratios suffer the fatal flaw of rarely being known on a comparable basis. Since census data are either unreliable, or insufficiently detailed, in most countries, the only source of data is low level aerial surveys. Where these have been carried out, livestock ratios may be available on a country or subregional basis, but unless they can be linked to herd or management units, they remain a poor guide to system operations.Animal traction appears to lend itself to a taxonomy of mixed farming systems, because more is known about systems using animal draft power than about others (Munzinger, 1982;Starkey and Ndiame, 1988). The presence or absence of draft, the frequency of draft using or owning management units, the relative importance of different draft animals (oxen, donkeys, horses) and the size of plough team or span all suggest themselves as possible taxonomic criteria. Such a classification would have obvious value for animal traction research and extension. (See: Munzinger, 1982) Ownership (as distinct from hiring) of draft cattle has implications for the size of the herd and milk output, especially in Southern Africa where spans of 6 or 8 oxen are used. McIntire et al. (1989: Chap. 4), investigating the hypothesis that animal traction is the central element of crop-livestock integration, failed to find a general association between animal traction and other techniques, and concluded that the role of draft power is badly understood. Certainly the determinants of the pattern of adoption of animal traction cannot be generalised for tropical Africa as a whole. Its impact on the farming system is difficult to separate from that of other variables. In West Africa, its implications for the livestock component of the farm system are quite different depending on whether draft power is owned or hired. In Ethiopia, the use of draft power is ancient, and apparently unrelated to commercialisation. In Botswana, cattle owning mixed farmers have adopted the plough for subsistence production, using teams of a size that, had they been necessary, would certainly have curtailed adoption of the technology in a noncattle owning society in West Africa.Animal traction characteristics, therefore, are not suitable as criteria for a general taxonomy of mixed farming systems.This issue is central to improving land productivity in the SAZ. It is integral to labour intensification, for which the necessary condition is population growth. A large literature supports the thesis that rural population density explains a high proportion of the observed variation in smallholder farming intensity (defined in terms of frequency of cultivation cycles and labour inputs per ha) in tropical Africa. In the SAZ, livestock are usually a central component in such intensification under smallholder conditions.McIntire et al (1989) argue strongly that 'farming intensity and crop-livestock interactions increase with population growth and with market infrastructure. The intensification of animal production allows more interactions: farmers invest in cattle, herders manage them, stock eat more crop residues and byproducts, and produce more manure'. Crop-livestock interaction follows an inverted U-pattern through time. 'First, specialised farming and herding societies that trade products give way to mixed farming societies, in which cropping and animal activities are in the same management unit. This movement to mixed farming, which we call the first transition, occurs when opportunities for using less labour intensive techniques of soil fertility maintenance are exhausted as population densities increase, and as the opportunity cost of labour rises. The latter encourages farm mechanization, usually via animal traction; as draft power becomes more valuable, crop farmers start to manage livestock and herders begin to cultivate. As exogenous markets and technologies develop further, there is a reverse movement away from integration and towards specialization, which we call the second transition. These technical changes -fertilizers replacing manure, tractors replacing animals, and supplements replacing fodder crops and pastures -eliminate the cost advantages for a mixed enterprise to provide some of its own inputs. As population density rises, causing land pressure, resource competition occurs within the farm which induces further specialization'.On the basis of such an hypothesis the following sequence of types can be suggested:Increasing market Integration [] Such a scheme must apply at the level of the territory, because in the early stages of the sequence, interactions occur between specialist (community level) systems. In practice, types 1, 4 and 5 are rare in the SAZ, leaving only types 2 and 3 to represent rather a wide range of diversity.At the community level, specific elements of the system may be inventoried and a score assigned on the basis of a scale of integration numbered 0-3, as follows:Integration score * See definition on the ''Economic differentiation'' section. This scheme will be applied to the systems inventoried later in the Study. An aggregate score can be assigned to a system. An absence of any significant indicators of crop-livestock integration will produce a total of 0; the highest possible score is 24. However it is doubtful if such a score will have more than an academic value. It is the ratings for individual elements that have practical significance.There are strong grounds for attempting to base a typology on farming intensity (frequency of cultivation cycles, or labour inputs per ha):2. Observations support the thesis that in the SAZ, farming intensity tends to correlate positively with crop-livestock integration. 3. The more frequent the cultivation cycle, the shorter the fallow cycle tends to become, eventually threatening the sustainability of the fallow system and calling for alternative methods of soil fertility maintenance. 4. A growing population with shortening fallows is expressed in a negative change in the grazing: arable land ratio. This, it is often argued, threatens the viability of the system of arable fertilization via nutrient transfer by grazing animals. 5. Given the value of livestock, the ease of acquisition of small ruminants, and low costs of maintenance under conditions of common access grazing, an increase in the small livestock population is often a corollary of growth in the human population. On the other hand, cattle densities fall when grazing and fodder are scarce.The cultivated percentage provides an indicator of farming intensity (the higher the percentage, the more frequent the cycle of cultivation and the higher the labour inputs per ha). Von Kaufman et al (1983), writing with primary reference to the sub-humid zone, argue that the 'land use factor' (Allen, 1965)   3, Hendy (1977), in a study of animal production in the Kano Close-Settled Zone, Nigeria, plotted the human population/km 2 against livestock/km 2 and livestock/head of human population. The density of about 80 persons/km had a threshold significance. At lower densities of the human population, the numbers of cattle, donkeys, sheep and goats/km 2 all rose with the human population density, and also rose on a per capita basis. Above the density of 80 persons/km 2 , cattle numbers fell on a per capita basis and the other animals showed no clear trend. This meant that they increased in density/km 2 , whereas cattle densities declined. A human population density of about 80/km 2 , in Northern Nigeria at the time when Hendy's data were obtained (late 1960s), corresponded to a cultivated percentage of about 70 (Mortimore, 1970).Areas above this figure are assigned to Type 3.More recent work by ILCA shows that cattle densities increase with those of the human population until the cultivated percentage reaches about 50 (in the Nigerian Sub-Humid Zone) and about 25 (in the SAZ); thereafter they decline. Above a cultivated percentage of 85, fallows and common access grazing virtually disappear, residual land being mainly used for settlements, rivers, roads, etc; this may be recognised as a sub-type of Type 3, but it is rare to find such high intensities (densities of population over 150/km 2 ) in the SAZ, and there is no evidence of a significant change in livestock management at this level.With regard to Types 1 and 2, work in the Maradi area of Niger (Gregoire and Raynaut, 1980) indicates that at a regional population density of 30/km 2 , and a cultivated percentage in the range 35-65, fallows are insufficient to maintain the fertility of arable land. The livestock supported by the grazings and farm residues provide manure for only 25% of the cultivated area. There is a shortage of land and of fodder, and by implication, of fallows and manure. This area may be assigned therefore to Type 2. In their analysis of the impact of drought on six farming systems in semiarid West Africa, Boulier and Jouve (1988) discern no land shortage in systems operating at human population densities of 10/km 2 or less. This corresponds to a cultivated percentage of about 10-20, at 1-2 ha/person. Such an area can be assigned to Type 1.The level of analysis for such a categorisation is that of the community or the territory. The model takes no account of uncultivable land and river valley land, (bas-fond, dambo, fadama, flood plain etc.). The first is included in uncultivated land and is assumed to be available for grazing. However, where the percentage of uncultivable land is high, ceiling is set on the cultivable percentage, lowering the threshold percentages for Types l and 2 accordingly. As for river valley land, its effect depends on whether its predominant use is for cultivation, or for dry season grazing. If the first, the grazing sector is weakened; if the second, strengthened.Adjustments could be made for local situations.The model is based on West African experience and requires verification. The national livestock census, presently in progress in Nigeria, may provide an opportunity to test the model in a range of ecologies and human densities.None of these types has necessary consequences for degradation or conservation, and therefore one cannot be said to be more sustainable than another. Sustainability depends on:1. the nature of the cropping system, with regard to the protection of the physical and chemical properties of the soil; 2. the level of stocking; 3. the management of localised pressure points such as overgrazed village peripheries, denuded environs of water sources, exposed topographical sites (steep slopes, wind-blown crests); and 4. annual variability in rainfall and vegetation cover.However, if these variables are known, the typology provides a framework for assigning environmental sustainability ratings to mixed farming systems. There is plenty of evidence that the choice between a sustainable or degradational pathway involves decisions about labour allocation, and that under conditions of scarce capital, labour-intensive sustainable systems can only evolve where population density is high or increasing.Since the typological sequence suggested above is fundamentally related to population density, as is the integration sequence of McIntire et al, it may be expected that both sequences, if found valid, will correlate in practice. Farming intensity (expressed as the cultivated percentage) therefore emerges as the most powerful typological principle for the purpose of understanding both crop-livestock interaction/integration and environmental management.The need for a regionalisation of the SAZ arises from its environmental heterogeneity (p. 2). A large number of variables is available, offering many alternative schemes. The interests of potential users have varying scale requirements, from continental divisions to sub-national administrative areas. To cope with this diversity, this Chapter develops a regionalisation of the SAZ of sub-Saharan Africa at four levels.A first order subdivision is made between 'west and north' (W & N) and 'east and south' (E & S) regions on basic geographical properties. A second order subdivision of each region into four LGP sub-zones is based on data from the FAO. Population density, land use and potential population supporting capacities (with many intermediate variables) have been computed for these sub-zones on a country basis, and land inventory data on 16 soil constraints are available. Recognising that country-based LGP zones are not ideal for all purposes, a third order subdivision into sub-regions (16 in number) is based on three broad agroclimatic criteria: moisture and rainfall regimes and the monthly patterns of peak rainfall. At this level, some modifications are proposed to the SAZ as delimited by the FAO. Finally, the sub-regions are broken down into fourth order environmental units, 83 in number.This subdivision embodies the contrast between the relative uniformity and continuity of the W & N region on the one hand, and the diversity and discontinuity of the E & S region on the other. At a gross level of generalisation, the W & N region (from Senegal to the Sudan) can be characterised in terms of the following properties:(1) a lowland plains topography;(2) a uniform, unimodal rainfall regime;(3) a transitional location between the Sahara Desert and the Subhumid Zone, reflected in a strong latitudinal bias in most ecological distributions;(4) spatial and ecological continuity across its entire breadth;(5) horizontal (south-north) aridity gradients and associated dispositions of tsetse;(6) a history of cultural interaction, including the co-residence, in the same territories, of specialist pastoralists and farmers, with resource-sharing agreements;(7) an absence of colonial land alienation, and the spatial continuity of its farming systems.The SAZ of eastern Africa is very different, having:(1) both highland and lowland areas;(2) both bimodal and unimodal rainfall regimes;(3) a weak relationship between ecology and latitude, and abrupt ecological gradients, owing to highlands;(4) a discontinuous spatial distribution;(5) both vertical (altitudinal) and horizontal (multi-directional) aridity gradients, and complex associated patterns of tsetse challenge;(6) a lack of notable historical uniting influences, with pastoralists and farmers often separated and competing for resources;(7) extensive land alienation under colonial rule (in some countries), and discontinuous, diverse, sometimes isolated, or administratively confined farming systems.The SAZ in southern Africa does not conform in all respects with the eastern African pattern. There is less highland, stronger latitudinal control, and more consistent ecological gradients. But it contains a comparatively small proportion of the African livestock (and human) populations.Since the E & S region is defined essentially in terms of its diversity, it makes practical sense for present purposes to include southern with eastern Africa, at this level of generalisation, It is implicit in the foregoing that there are limits to the transferability of research and experience between the W & N and the E & S regions.LGP sub-zones FAO land inventory data, and variables used for estimating population supporting capacities in the study carried out jointly by the FAO and IIASA (FAO, 1980;1982), are available for LGP sub-zones broken down by thermal zone and by country. The sub-zones are: When overlaid on national territories, the variables listed above generate a three-dimensional matrix of more than a hundred cells. The data relevant to the present study are summarised in Appendix 3. These have been selected from a list of 16 soil constraints and 29 population and productivity related variables.Leaving aside the thermal zones, which have less relevance for livestock production systems, some of the data on the LGP sub-zones are aggregated at the regional level in Table 3.1. The FAO offers the only source of standardised physical land inventory, land use, and productivity data for all of sub-Saharan Africa, though the time-base for these data is 1975, and their reliability can be no better than that of the primary sources used.According to FAO (1978: 98-9) the growing periods are classified as follows with regard to agroclimatic suitability for the major crops, pearl millet, sorghum and maize, at existing (low) input levels:LGP * Suitability classes: NS -not suitable; MS -marginally suitable; S -suitable; VS -very suitable.In the two drier sub-zones (75-119 days LGP), millet is the most suitable staple crop. However, the correspondence between these suitability ratings and actual practice may not be very close. For example, if the LGP isolines are superimposed on a map of major crop regions in the Francophone West African countries (Figure 4), it appears that other factors besides agroclimatic suitability (so defined) have influenced the pattern. 1. The amount of agricultural land available allows for deducting estimated nonagricultural land from total land.2. Cropland and rangeland do not add up to agricultural land available. We assume that the balance is unused.See Appendix 2. Functions linking LGP sub-zones with livestock-related variables have not been developed. Two variables of obvious importance are pasture production and availability of suitable crop residues.On the first, Le Houérou (1985) has proposed a link between annual rainfall and the production of dry matter above the ground, or rain use efficiency factor (RUE: kg DM mm -1 ha -1 yr -1 ). Studies in the Sahel yield averages ranging from 2.2 to 3.6, and in East Africa, from 3.2 to 6.0. He cautions, however, that differences in the length of the growing season between the unimodal rainfall regimes of the Sudano-Sahelian region and the bimodal regimes of East Africa cause fundamental differences in range type, composition and forage quality during the annual cycle. More work is therefore necessary before linkages between LGP and forage availability can be stated with any confidence.Sub-zones based on the use of LGP as a sole criterion do not take account of other agroclimatic variables. Thermal zones, or a general climatic classification, could be used to break the SAZ down into smaller units having more internal homogeneity. Figure 5, for example, shows the SAZ superimposed on a climatic classification employed for the Soil Map of Africa (UNESCO, 1977). No less than six tropical climates, three sub-tropical, two 'tierra fria' and a desert climate are represented. Or, the six thermal zones of the FAO land inventory could be used. But the relevance of general climatic classifications, or thermal zones, to livestock production is less evident than that of individual variables. Of these, the most important are moisture regime (LGP), modal type (unimodal versus bimodal regimes), and monthly patterns of peak rainfall.The FAO (1990) has recommended that the 120-day LGP isoline should demarcate the moist from the dry semi-arid zones: In the E & S, the same distinction produces a complex spatial pattern having less usefulness for regional subdivision, though the importance of such distinctions for farming systems is clear at the micro-regional level (see, for example, Jaetzold and Schmidt, 1982).This property has a significance for farming systems second only to that of the growing period. Following Leroux (1983), the SAZ can be subdivided on this basis. Unimodal regimes occur throughout the W & N region (with the exception of a small area of Mauritania, which it has been decided to ignore), and in NW Ethiopia, in the E & S region. Bimodal regimes occur throughout the E & S region from NE Ethiopia to Tanzania. From Tanzania (which is transitional) until the Tropic is reached, unimodal regimes occur. In the sub-tropical part of the E & S region, unimodal regimes occur in S. Mozambique, E. Swaziland, and Madagascar, but complicating factors extend the length of the rainy season in S E Botswana and W. Lesotho.In the W & N region, under unimodal regimes and strong latitudinal influence, August is the peak month in normal years. In the E & S region, the latitudinal range of the SAZ (from 15°N to 30°S), and the influence of highland masses, create considerable variability in the monthly patterns of peak rainfall. These variations need to be taken into account in proposing sub-regions of homogeneous agroclimatic properties.Before combining the above three variables into a scheme of agroclimatic sub-regions, it is appropriate to examine some anomalies in the definition of the SAZ which arise near the upper (180 days LGP) and lower (75 days LGP) limits. In several locations the reliability of these limits, as indicators of semi-arid ecological conditions for farming systems, may be questioned.The following functional modifications to the SAZ are therefore proposed, for the reasons given (see Figure 1; and the boundaries shown in Figure 6 (A-H):1. W & N region, arid boundary; rainfed farming occurs extensively on the north side of the 75-day isoline in the Sudan, and sporadically elsewhere. On the Qoz Sands of Kordofan, rainfed cultivation extended beyond 14° until 198014° until (Olsson, 1985)). This line is proposed instead as a functional limit (Figure 6D). 2. E & S region, Kenya-Uganda borderlands: NE Uganda (Karamoja) received 650-850 mm of rainfall during the first half of the present century, characterised by extreme variability, supporting a vegetation of dry thorn scrub and a mixed pastoral-farming economy with cattle keeping both economically and culturally dominant. From Dyson-Hudson's (1966) account, it appears that the whole area (except possibly the mountains), up to the 210 day isoline, is best described as semi-arid. The boundary has been adjusted to include this area (sub-region 4, Figure 6F). On the Kenyan side of the border, almost all the territory with 75 or more growing days is rated as arid, with a very low stock carrying capacity, in Kenyan ecological classifications (Bekure et al., 1987). (Sub-region 4, Figure 6F).3. E & S region, S Somalia: rainfed agro-pastoralism extends well beyond the Bay region of southern Somalia to the central rangelands between 3° and 5°N (Holt, 1986). Rainfall, although low, is distributed through a long season. It is proposed to extend the functional boundary to include this area (Sub region 7, Figure 6E). 4. E & S region, W Kenya and SW Uganda: notwithstanding anomalously short growing periods (less than 120 days according to FAO), ecology and farming systems in the environs of Lake Victoria are subhumid in character (Mwendwa, 1985); in the Kenya portion only a small strip of territory receives less than 800 mm of rainfall annually. Both these areas, with the Lake Victoria coast of Tanzania (shown as A on Figure 6F) are excluded from our functional definition of the SAZ. 5. E & S region, Zambia: there are major differences between the LGP zones according to FAO and those estimated by an independent country study (Muchinda, 1985: see Appendix 6). These latter indicate shorter growing periods. Nevertheless, the ecology of most parts of Zambia is not semi-arid, and the farming systems (Schultz, 1976) have more in common with subhumid systems elsewhere. Altitude and latitude, through the temperature regime, must influence the effectiveness of Zambian rainfall, which appears to have a different relationship between annual total precipitation and length of growing period (more rainfall, shorter GPs) than is observed generally in the SAZ. For present purposes, Zambia is excluded from the SAZ, together with adjacent territory in Malawi (shown as A on Figure 6G).6. E & S region, Tanzania: certain areas in central Tanzania falling below the 75 day isoline are included in the SAZ on the grounds of their relatively small size and fragmented pattern (Subregion 8, Figure 6F). 7. E & S region, N & W Mozambique: the first of these zones (N Mozambique) carries a broadleafed woodland, is heavily infested with tsetse, only moderately populated and appears to have few livestock (Timberlake and Jordao, 1985: 5). The second is a small, sparsely inhabited area almost devoid of livestock. Although no farming system characterisations have been found, it is believed that they are neither truly semi-arid nor significant to the livestock economy of Mozambique, and they are therefore excluded (Shown as A on Figure 6G). 8. E & S region, E Botswana: the 75 day isoline understates the extent of rainfed farming in E Botswana significantly (while possibly overstating it in the north); excluded farming areas in Palapwe and Tutume should be included in the functional definition, which is extended westwards to 26°E (Sub-region 13, Figure 6H).These revisions made, the sub-regional classification is tabulated below and shown in Figure 6  (A-H). 2. Subregion numbers are shown in Figure 6 (A-H), where they are further sub-divided into environmental units (see below).3. In Tanzania there is a complex transitional pattern of bimodal and unimodal regimes.4. No clear peak in a long sometimes irregular. rainy season.The foregoing regional subdivisions leave much environmental diversity unaccounted for, being confined to agroclimatic variables. Soil-related variables need now to be conjoined with other relevant variables in order to delimit smaller units having a greater degree of homogeneity with regard to the primary resources of farming systems.In principle, a GIS-overlay computerised technique offers a method of unifying the variable distributions of different data sets. The nearest approaches to an operational GIS including environmental variables in sub-Saharan Africa are the FAO Land Inventory and UNEP's GEMS development. In the time available for the present study it has not been possible to explore the capability of the GEMS. The FAO Land Inventory has been used in Section 2 (above) to catalogue certain variables against LGP sub-zones. As mentioned above, the LGP sub-zones, when overlaid on thermal zones and countries, generate over 100 cells. If the soils map is superimposed on the map of LGP sub-zones, the number of cells is excessively large -1,213 for Kenya alone (FAO, 1984: 2). Something much simpler is needed for present purposes.The sources for this exercise are published maps. Those used were: The objective is to search the patterns of the mapped variables for convergent spatial distributions that provide a basis for environmental units.Land inventories have been developed, and published, for a number of national and sub-national areas including or impinging on the SAZ of sub-Saharan Africa. The resources available for such studies (e.g. those conducted by the LRD/LRDC/ODNRI/NRI of the UK Overseas Development Administration, the IEMVT in France, and the FAO/UNDP) permitted the processing of large quantities of primary dataair photography, soil samples, etc.and their incorporation into hierarchical procedures for taxonomy and aggregation of environmental units (cf. Bunting, 1987).These cannot be used for present purposes, because there is no way of bridging the gaps, or ensuring zonal compatibility.The present attempt at a preliminary approximation of environmental units for the SAZ relies, therefore, on a manual assessment of output from the sources listed above. There are many anomalies in the data which could not be solved given the time available. Also, the benchmark dates of the sources vary from the 1960s to (perhaps) the 1980s. A hazard that is intrinsic to any attempt to evaluate environmental trends is that such benchmarks may not be made clear in the sources, and in any case such data compilations have to make use of primary studies differing in date and reliability. The least reliable data probably affects the population, livestock and land use estimates. Desertification risk classes also cannot carry much weight, since only the briefest description is given of the method used to derive them (UNEP, 1977). There are anomalies apparent on several of the maps.The method used is as follows:(1) The 75 and 180 day LGP isolines are superimposed on country sections of the Soils Map of Africa at 1: 5M.(2) Generalised soil units are derived in three classes:1. one soil dominant >50% area (with or without associated soil >25% area)2. two soils dominant, total >66% area 3 no soils dominant (complex pattern).It should be noted that the map units shown on the Soils Map of Africa are associations of dominant, associated, and included soils, and that each of the 20 soil classes used is further subdivided into several soil units. In order to simplify, we used only the soil class (designated by a capital letter) and reduced the number of classes from 26 to 17 by omitting 9 classes considered to have minor importance in the SAZ. For example, Environmental Unit 35 in Sudan has associated soils described as follows:i.e., a dominant soil class, lithosols (I) with regosols (R) ->50% area occurs with an associated soil class, fluvisols (J) ->25% area.(3) If the 120-day isoline bisects the unit thus recognised, it is subdivided into two, identified as d (dry) or m (moist). If the isoline divides the unit very unequally, the lesser part is included under the dominant moisture regime.(4) Where data are available, a degradation risk value is assigned to the unit.(5) The dominant grassland community and descriptive category (e.g. savanna) are recorded, followed by the vegetation class number and a summary description of the woody vegetation.(6) The dominant desertification risk category is recorded.(7) An estimate of cattle density in each unit is obtained by choosing a representative 1 cm2 (10,000 km2 at 1: 10M) and counting the dot symbols.(8) The units are overlain on the population density map and the dominant range estimated, omitting urban and peri-urban agglomerations.(9) The presence of tsetse and species is recorded.(10) The environmental unit boundaries are revised when necessary at stages (4), (5), and (8) to better harmonize the variables.Environmental units having the same specification but separated in space or by national boundaries are combined under one identification number but retain alphabetical suffixes (the first letters of the country name) in order to facilitate matching with third order subdivisions and to make it possible to arrive at national evaluations.The fourth order regionalisation is used to generate (1) sectional maps of the SAZ at 1: 10M scale, showing the boundaries of the 83 environmental units, and (2) an environmental inventory for each unit in summary format. The maps follow, and the unit inventories are presented in Appendix 2.The advantage of presenting a regionalisation at four scales is that an appropriate order may be selected for the purpose in view and, if the lower orders are used, the hierarchical structure facilitates aggregating quantitative, or combining qualitative, values.It must be stressed, however, that this approximation rests on a data base of variable reliability. Although the rationale is stated as explicitly as possible, there is scope for differences in interpretation. The lower levels, especially the fourth order environmental units, of the schema need validation in the field and, where necessary, revision. It is suggested, however, that such revision should be directed towards reducing the number of fourth order units and not to increasing them. In Chapter 2, seven alternative typological principles were reviewed: functional farming systems, economic specialisation movement patterns, livestock ratios, traction characteristics, croplivestock interaction, and farming intensity. It was concluded that:1. no all purpose typology is likely to meet the requirements of ILCA's several research thrusts; 2. many typological principles have the fatal flaw that supporting data on the required variables are either not available on a compatible basis or are insufficiently reliable for comparative purposes; 3. that crop-livestock integration, and farming intensity, have the greatest theoretical and practical significance in relation to contemporary processes of change in semi-arid mixed farming systems; 4. that crop-livestock integration, however, must be measured in terms of a range of variables, sometimes giving contradictory signals, and the assignation of an 'integration score', averaged across these variables, may not therefore have much practical usefulness; 5. that farming intensity, which can be reduced (at some risk of oversimplification) to a single value for each system -the cultivated percentage -offers a taxonomic principle both readily measurable (from air photographs) and relevant to crucial issues of livestock management (grazing systems, feed resources, nutrient cycling in the farming system).An attempt has been made to review the available literature in French and English on mixed farming systems in the SAZ as defined for the purposes of this Study.Constraints Two constraints were imposed on this review.1. Literature has been sought on all countries having substantial SAZ, rather than accepting the uneven distribution of available studies; this systematic objective has been only partially met since time did not permit exhaustive searches to be made. Angola and Mozambique, in particular, have not been adequately covered in the search. 2. Studies have been included in the review only if they post-dated the droughts of the early 1970s, reflecting conditions during the last two decades when average rainfall has diminished by 30 per cent or more over a large part of the SAZ, compared with the means for 1931-60. This constraint implies that many of the 'classic' anthropological accounts of livestock-keeping societies give an unreliable guide to contemporary trends in management and in the environment (both natural and economic), an assumption that should not always pass without question, but which was applied throughout for the sake of consistency. The only exceptions were made for systems on which no recent characterisations could be found.The literature has several major limitations for the purpose of guiding research in the 1990s. Among these are the following:1. Uneven geographical distribution, as just mentioned. There are significant contrasts between (a) Portuguese and non-Portuguese speaking countries; (b) Anglophone and Francophone countries (in favour of the latter); (c) favourite and unpopular countries in each of these groups (for example, Chad and Tanzania have been relatively neglected; Senegal and Zimbabwe on the other hand enjoy numerous recent, rigorous studies); (d) favoured and neglected regions or societies within individual countries. 2. Variability in research objectives. A variety of research questions has been asked, reflecting the variety of professional disciplines involved. Consequently, the system characterisations have limited compatibility, and many questions were ignored if not seen to be relevant to the authors' stated objectives. This point is significant from ILCA's point of view since research objectives have been more rigorously defined since it came onto the scene, yet not much literature (outside ILCA's own substantial output) reflects these redefined objectives. 3. Mixed farming systems were neglected until recently, in favour of specialist livestock or crop producing systems. Where crop producing systems had a significant livestock component (most often small ruminants), it tended to be treated as marginal to the cropping enterprises, like farm forestry, which also plays a significant role in some farming systems. Explicit attention to, and attempts to quantify, the linkages between crops, livestock and trees has not been characteristic of the bulk of the literature on African farming systems.The review was exploratory in nature and designed to discover whether a basis exists within the literature on SAZ mixed farming systems for a typology. Two options were available: (a) to concentrate on a small number of systems (say 10) and review the literature on those systems in depth; or (b) to search widely for compatible characterisations if at a more superficial level, of (say) 50 systems. The second option was preferred because of the known diversity of the SAZ and its farming systems, and the lack of a principle on which the selection of a small number (option a) could be based.The review comprised the following stages:1. Bibliographical search. A total of 500 references to potential case studies were listed from available sources in English and French and where possible scanned or abstracted. These include published items (books, journals), consultancy reports, theses, government documents and those of international organizations. It is probable that the items listed represent a fraction, perhaps a half or two thirds, of the materials in existence in a diversity of locations. Only about 30 percent of the listed items have been seen, however, and since their titles are rarely a reliable guide to the presence or absence of usable system characterisations, it is not possible to estimate the value of the unreviewed literature for the purpose of the present study. 2. Case study review. 65 items were reviewed, representing 30 per cent of the listed references.Of these 11 were subsequently rejected either because the systems described fall outside the SAZ as redefined (see Chapter 3) or because they contained insufficient information. A further 12 were merged with other studies of the same systems or areas, and one was split. The resulting 43 case studies were reviewed under 32 standard typological variables. The list of case studies is given below. 3. Reformatting. During the course of the review it became apparent that some of the variables could be discarded without loss, and others condensed, for the typological objective in view.Accordingly the 43 case studies were reformatted on 32 variables, which include scores on 8 variables of crop-livestock integration (nos. 17-24), and a score for farming intensity (no. 29).The list of variables is as follows: The output, in the form of standardised summaries of the case studies, is presented in Appendix 1.The incompleteness of many of the entries will be apparent. This reflects the inadequacies of the sources (for this purpose). Many of these gaps could be filled from further searches in the literature. The present operation was severely constrained by the time available, and its purpose is illustrative rather than definitive. Enough has been done to show the potential and the limitations of this type of approach to classifying the literature.2. It provides a method of identifying the gaps both in geographical coverage and in knowledge.3. It offers a basis for an ongoing inventory of mixed farming systems, using ILCA's in-house resources and a sharpened or modified variable 'menu'. Such an inventory may have value to other agencies interested in livestock research and in dry land management. 4. On the other hand, such an approach can be no better than the literature on which it is based. 5. It cannot provide an input to specific research programmes or substitute for specialised literature searches. Its purpose is restricted to the typological or taxonomic objective.The present Study is undertaken at a time when reservations about the conventional view of degradation in the SAZ are becoming commonplace, and both its linkages with management, and the evidence for its progression are being questioned (see, for example, Ahlcrona, 1988: Mortimore, 1989, a,b;Nelson, 1988;Olsson, 1985;Sandford, 1983). It is difficult to reconcile this perspective with the orthodox view of desertification as a man-made and irreversible process consuming large areas of productive land every year (UNEP, 1977: Tolba, 1986). In mixed farming areas, both the degradation of arable land under cycles of cultivation, and the degradation of rangeland under various levels of stocking, are issues. Relevant to both cropping and animal husbandry, as well as to the status of the environment in general, is the management of the woody vegetation.Environmental status has traditionally been left to ecologists to define, even though it has long been recognised that low nutrient status in cultivated soils is primarily an aspect of their economic management, and may be remediable given the right incentives. Work on common access grazings in the Communal Areas of Zimbabwe has challenged conventional notions of carrying capacity and overstocking (Thiesen and Marastha, 1974;Sandford, 1982;Cousins et al, 1989;Scoones, 1989). Optimum stocking levels for commercial beef cattle may be lower than those of dairy herds whose functions include household subsistence, investment, breeding, manure and traction, and which are fed partly on residues and browse. What may appear as overstocking to the ecologist may be economically efficient to the stockowner. Alteration of the vegetation is not irreversible. The opportunity costs of alternative forms of management are more relevant to an understanding than a comparison between observed and potential vegetation; also, annual primary productivity may be higher under intensive grazing. It appears necessary to distinguish between ecological degradation (in the sense of the loss of primary potential productivity) and a functional, remediable degradation that reflects the economic rationale of a particular management system under certain constraints of capital, land or labour.Reliance on diagnostic evidence (e.g., a substitution of annual grasses for perennials, of unpalatables for palatables, the appearance of bare ground, gully erosion, etc.) supported by intuitively convincing hypotheses linking management (or mismanagement) with degradation, has tended to obscure the scarcity of longitudinal data that would allow the rate and nature of degradation to be established. Proper examination of such data, increasingly available from the interpretation of air photos and earth satellite imagery, exposes many ambiguities and tends to emphasise the impact of rainfall fluctuations. Meanwhile the efficiency of some pastoral nomadic systems, in terms of energy conversion under conditions of fluctuating climatic stress, is becoming better understood (Western, 1982;Coughenour et al, 1985). Such studies would be appropriate in the SAZ also.If the condition of the vegetation is not always a reliable guide to the quality of management, neither can stocking rates be used as a short cut to assessing degradational status. Overstocking (however defined) may occur at any point on the scale of farming intensity. If it truly occurs, then unless the livestock are fed from imported feed, there must be either cumulative ecological degradation, losses from sale or starvation, or both. It is a transitional, not a permanent condition.The persistence of livestock populations that are supposed to be much higher than local carrying capacities for decades, if not generations, is therefore of obvious significance.Carrying capacity estimates tend to be related to the area of available land rather than to the total capacity of the managed ecosystem to feed livestock (natural grazing, browse, crop residues, weeds, fodder crops, field boundary plants, irrigation canal-sides, etc). Arable encroachment on grazing land has major implications for cattle management, even though the crop residues may support more LUs/ha on an annual basis than the natural grazings. A switch into small ruminants, however, may sidestep such problems, and there are mixed farming systems where comparatively high small ruminant stocking levels are maintained, although natural grazings have all but disappeared.The following model is advanced linking human and animal population densities, farming intensity, crop-livestock integration and environmental management.The first stage of the model is a low population density associated with farming enclaves and a predominance of grazing land. With increasing human population density, which is expressed in increasing availability of family labour, and given the economic conditions (uncertain market supply/prices of foodstuffs) that encourage a subsistence priority in the household economy, arable land expands at the expense of natural grazings. As the human population rises, and given the multipurpose value of livestock, so does the livestock population, subject to constraints imposed by household poverty, disease or starvation in drought. Diminishing natural grazings may favour small ruminants at the expense of cattle, or necessitate transhumance. The loss of natural woodland encourages the protection and eventually planting of browse (especially valuable for small ruminants) and other trees on farmland. Increasing frequency of cultivation (increasing labour inputs/ha) necessitates the use of animal manure and enhances this function of livestock, as well as favouring grain/legume crop mixtures. Crop residues increase in importance relative to natural grazings as sources of fodder. Leguminous trees, providing dry season browse as well as benefiting crop growth, increase in importance in the system. Trees and planted field boundaries (also sources of fodder) stabilise soil wash and reduce aeolian activity. The rising scarcity of land intensifies individual claims to access rights, and eventually raises the market price of land and the frequency of sale relative to other forms of transfer. Labour and capital investments are made in order to raise the productivity of land. Labour diversification out of agriculture, in response to alternative income-earning opportunities, need not cause the system to decline owing to the investment value of both the land and the livestock. Primary productivity of the system is low (constrained by the manure supply) but stable, and degradation is held in check.This model provides a rationale for linking sustainable environmental management with high human and livestock densities, in contrast with much conventional wisdom that sees-rising tendencies as a certain road to environmental degradation. According to such a model, degradation is more likely to occur earlier in the sequence, if an increasing human population density is not associated with the introduction of intensive practices and crop-livestock integration.The implication is that the link between the characteristics of mixed farming systems and environmental degradation, or sustainability, should be sought in the management of intensification, achieved through the integration of crops, livestock and (probably) trees.Chapter 2 reviewed seven available principles on which a typology of mixed farming systems in the SAZ may be based, and concluded that the most useful general principles (though not necessarily for all users) are the linked ones of crop-livestock integration and farming intensity.Chapter 3 developed a regionalisation of the SAZ of sub-Saharan Africa in four orders of increasing scale. The first order subdivision is between W & N and E & S geographical regions.The second order subdivision follows LGP Zones by country, using data from the FAO's Land Inventory and Population Supporting Capacities project. The third order is according to agroclimate, employing moisture, modality, and monthly regimes. This subdivision exposes anomalies in the SAZ as defined by the LGP isolines of 75 and 180 growing days, and a functional redefinition is proposed. The fourth order subdivision develops a set of 83 Environmental Units based on a synthesis of mapped data from 8 available published sources (see Appendix 2).Chapter 4 reviews the characteristics of mixed farming systems through a sample of published and unpublished literature, whose limitations for this purpose are noted. From 65 system characterisations reviewed, 43 case studies are systematically analysed on 32 variables (see Appendix 1), including scores for 8 integration variables, and for farming intensity as indicated by the cultivated percentage. The review provides a basis for a classification of systems, but the literature provides a very weak basis for estimating the territorial extent, livestock and human populations of the systems (Term of Reference 6: see Appendix 6).It has not proved possible to identify direct and unambiguous linkages between system characteristics and trends in environmental degradation, or in other words, to link ecological sustainability to properties of system management on the basis of measured observations.1. The distribution of case studies (reviewed in Chapter 4) on the map of Environmental Units (Figure 6) leaves many EUs unrepresented by a system characterisation. A larger sample is needed. However the literature is unevenly distributed and many EUs will remain unrepresented even if a more thorough search is undertaken. 2. There is little reason to suppose that a system case study is always reliably representative of the EU in which it is situated. There is also little reason to expect that there is any general correspondence between system properties and EUs, since some of the criteria used for delimiting the EUs may have marginal significance for system management. 3. No clear pattern of degradation risk or status emerges from the mapping of the EUs. This is partly because the sources are inadequate -the assessments of degradation risk are only available for areas north of Lat. 2°N, and elsewhere the broad categories of desertification risk provide an insufficiently detailed guide. More fundamentally, it is because actual degradation is linked to management as well as to environmental characteristics. 4. Characterisations of mixed farming systems often ignore questions of sustainability, or deal with them in a superficial way. This arises from the differences in the professional skills required for the investigation of socio-economic, technical, and environmental variables, and from the relatively late arrival of sustainability on the research agenda of management-related studies. 5. Unlike the EUs, the mixed farming systems identified in the present study do not comprise a spatially complete set, which, if it were available, would invite correlation with the map of EUs. Not only are many systems unrepresented in the literature, but of those that have been described, the territorial limits are rarely known.Because it has not proved possible to link in a systematic way the organizational (management) aspects of systems directly to reliable indicators of environmental status, as set out in Term of Reference 4 (see Appendix 6), it has been necessary to proceed independently with the generation of Environmental Units and with the taxonomy of mixed farming systems.However, in setting out a rationale for both of these operations, the present study provides a basis for further work.1. A refinement of the EUs as defined and classified. Further subdivision is not considered useful since it would increase the number of units in the SAZ as a whole, and in some individual countries, to a level that would be complex. On the other hand, amalgamating the EUs into a smaller number would increase the internal variability of the units, and it is preferable, if a smaller number is required, to use divisions based on a smaller number of criteria, i.e. the third order (LOP) subdivisions or the second order (agroclimatic) subdivisions. 2. Further analysis of the FAO Land Inventory data with a view to (a) revising the system of 83 EUs derived from conventional published maps, and extending the scope of the accompanying inventory, and (b) linking the LGP sub-zones with livestock-related variables such as biomass production in natural pastures, and the availability of crop residues as fodder. 3. Exploration of the GEMS system's capability for supplementing the FAO's LGP zonation and the system of EUs employed here. It may prove possible in future to substitute a computerised GISbased regionalisation.4. An extension of the systems review to a larger number of cases, an intensification of selected cases from additional literature, and the filling of some gaps in the map of mixed farming systems. Given a larger and more complete set of case studies, systematic analysis of the patterns of similarity may be attempted. 5. Cross tabulation of selected system characteristics in order to explore in a preliminary way the existence of linkages between, say:stocking rates (LUs/km 2 ) and integration scores cultivated percentages and human/livestock densities access rights and market impact livestock types and economic integration system integration and environmental sustainability or degradation investment value and effects of drought (see the key to Appendix 1)This has not been attempted in the present study. It would be desirable to strengthen the review of the systems before doing so.6. Incorporation of livestock census data at the national level into the systems typology (and EUs), where available. The National Livestock Census of Nigeria, presently in progress, offers an opportunity.The difficulty we have experienced in identifying clear patterns linking the systems typology with the environmental variables, notwithstanding the priority of the degradation-sustainability issue in the SAZ, underlines the need for both (a) more system characterisations and (b) a format to expose such linkages on a compatible basis.  Ayele, 1982;Yenegnuhal 1981;Getahun, 1978;JEPSS, 1983 Ethiopia, Wollo Province, Ambasel, Woreda/Sirinka Valley, NE escarpment <450 ->800 mm (SAZ, B,M/D) Oromo, Afar (lowlands). Amhara (highlands). Description applies to Oromo. Altitudinal profile fundamental; Highlands (>1800 mm) dega, Amhara farmers.Valley/bench (1500-1800m) woina dega, Borkenna, Amhara farmers.Lowlands (<1400m) kola Oromo mixed farmers. Rangelands, Afar nomads: Rainfall diminishes with altitude.Rugged terrain on slopes, swamps in valley, alluvial soils in lowlands 30(S) -60 (N)/km 2 (1978 est) 17-20/km (cattle) (1978 est) Cattle 4.2/hh, sheep 0.3/hh, goats 0.8/hh, poultry; Yenegnuhal gives 2.5 cattle, 3.2 sheep, 2.5 goats, 2.2 chickens, 1.5 donkeys/horse/mule per farmer for Ambasel Woreda (68% > 1400m) Open access rangeland in the Afar-Oromo buffer zone; armed clashes Private ownership of farmland in the Central Valley & Oromo lowlands Milk (cows, goats) eggs Sale/renting of transport animals; sale of animals to buy grain; fattening of Afar animals for sale After drought, reinvestment in livestock Herding contracts with Afar in Afar rangelands, March (if small rains fall) or July till October. Residue grazing contracts with Afar friends, Oromo lowlands; Dec -Jan. Middleman contracts to graze central valley farmers cattle in Afar -Oromo buffer zone or subcontract them to Afar herders, July-Aug. Contracts to graze their small stock (with women and children) on Borkenna residues, dry seasons. Renting plough oxen from Afars for share cropping or grain payments (banned by Government). Selling labour to Afar irrigated cotton farmers. Share cropping with migrant farmers from central valley, who provide seed, oxen, labour. All Contracts may involve cash payments 2 or 3 2 2 2 3 (1.4 oxen and 0.8 plough/farmer) 1 (cattle only on farm for 2 months for residues) 1 25 -Scarce: conflict over rangeland; contracts to equalise land and labour in altitudinal zones. Arable expansion in central valley reduces grazing; needed as retreat in dry years Migrant labour (male) and service (women), Assob, sale of ropes, wood, weaving; livestock trading. Fattening cattle for sale Integration by exchange contracts, which depends on market. Hamar specialise in goats Open access grazing but certain areas claimed jointly or exclusively by segments Territorial segments tend to be observed Milk, blood; meat at festivals; hides for various purposes Cattle ownership highly valued 1? 0? 0 (slash/burn, flood plain siltation alternatives); 1 (tobacco planted on corral sites) 0 2? 1 or 2? Abundant Gamu Gofa groups do not depend on livestock or crops exclusively. Also fishing Cattle traded for guns, goats or honey for cloth, coffee, grain. Volume of import-export trade may not reach value of 1 cow/6 goats/hh/2yrs. 1 Flood recession cultivation in Omo delta, L Rudolph, and irrigation along river. Tsetse spreading S. Soil depletion in medium altitude locations Fluctuations in levels of rivers and L. Rudolph 37 Ayele, 1975 Ethiopia, Arsi Province, Bale sub -highlands 600 mm (SAZ, B, M) Altitude 1,600 -1000m. Rainfall falls with altitude. Genale R perennial water, scarce in S. n.a. n.a.Small sample averaged 30 cattle, 5 goats, 2 horses, 5-6 camels/owner interviewed Cattle ownership varies from 100 to 3/owner rich to poor. Marriage gifts and inheritance influence holdings, also management (disease control) Milk (cows, camels, goats) Cattle and goat sales out of necessity, bridewealth; income of small sample: honey 71% livestock 41% cereals 13%; fattening oxen, bulls for market Split families; livestock to highlands dry, to lowlands wet. Renting oxen from livestock specialists 2 1 or 2 0 (following) (used for plastering houses) 2 or 3 2? 1 1 Land sales (banned 1974) Diminishing grazing land? Fattening bulls, oxen 83% hh heads visit market once or twice weekly. Export of livestock products, honey in exchange for food, consumer goods. 1 or 2 39 Cossins and Bekele, 1974 Ethiopia, Tigray Province, Waq and Tembien 7-800 mm (SAZ, B,M) Tigreans Waq -a dissected plateau. Tembien -a deep basin. Rugged terrain, heavy erosion, flash floods. Terrace management of steep slopes. n.a. n.a. Tembien (higher) 4-7 cattle, 37-70 sheep/goats/middle income owner; Waq (lower) up to 15 cattle, up to 200 sheep/goats Wealth: richest 10% own x 4 average and poorest 40% as few as zero. Sheep ownership higher on highlands. Few women owners Browse lopping open access, daily grazing 6-8 km (wet) several days away (dry) common or open access Individual ownership, heritable, saleable; renting 1-3 years common milk, butter Sales of livestock essential in drought; wool blankets sold Contingency investment essential Shepherd boys paid in animals, cash or milking. Fallows leased to cattle owners for manure; crop divided 2 (stubble cannot be privatised) 0 or 1? 2 2 2 1 1 or 2 1 or 2? Arable expansion necessitates longer grazing circuits Fattening sheep and goats for sale Labour migration Livestock products, honey sold for food, consumer goods. 45% Tembien farmers visit market weekly 2 or 3 Lopping and felling of browse trees in dry years. Massive gully erosion. Terraces, restraining walls on gullies Loss of livestock; diminished market activity; zero yields on up to 86% fields, permanent labour migration. 41 Kjaerby, 1980 Tanzania, Hanang District (SAZ, B/U, M) Barbaig Impact of villagization on grazing system 54,590 in 8,309 homesteads, expected to double in 20-25 years 300,000 cattle, 100,000 small stock (author's estimates) Cattle, small stock @ 36 cattle/hh of 6.6 people and 12 small stock (calculated from author's figures) Common access grazing, not secure from registered allocations to farms Government allocations Meat (slaughters on special occasions; dying animals or diseased also) Milk Low offtake (2% cattle) but sold for food, to finance implements, inputs or labour. Income of cattle keeping families is x 2 that of non cattle owning families. Bridewealth. Cattle keeping the most reliable hedge against shortfalls in crop production 'No form of integration between crop and cattle production' instead, labour competition Villagization causing reverse dispersal of population (below) Arable expansion driving grazing out of high altitude dry-season pastures and away from villages; incoming cultivators and capitalist farmers in villages Govt. policy to increase cattle offtake is resisted because (a) investment value of cattle (b) scarce commodity supply hence demand for cash (c) dietary preference (milk). 1957-75 T of T moved against cattle (15-2 bags maize) 1 or 2 Move into maize cultivation (see 28) Herd mortality higher near villages than in frontier areas due to overstocking; environmental consequences of un-integrated system 43 Cossins et al, 1984 Ethiopia, Harerghe Province, Jijiga area 700 mm (SAZ, B. M) Somali Flat topped limestone hills, calcareous soils. Pediments, calcareous soils, erodible. Vertisols. Rainfall gradient from NW to SE 50 animals/km 2 (1971) Cattle, sheep, goats, camels; in 1971 farmers herds in 3 clans included 30-75 sheep, 8-21 goats, 13-17 cattle and 1-3 camels Differences between clans and between farmers (fewer camels, more cattle) and pastoralists Common access grazing Registered allocations to capitalist farmers until 1974 Milk, meat Livestock are more important to their owners than farming Highlands West 2 Highland East 2 Jijiga Plains 1 or 2 2?2? 1 or 2?1? 1 or 2 1 or 2 1 or 2 1 or 2 1 2 1 2 Incoming farmers Grazing land transferred to arable especially in valley bottoms Livestock sales to Somali Republic Highlands W 2 or 3 E 2 Jigiga Plains1 Tractor ploughing even though large-scale farming abolished in 1975 Rangeland degradation is due to the timing of grazing rather than the numbers of animals; overpopulated x 2 or x 3 (Pratt); annuals replacing other grasses, palatables being eaten out; cultivation of unsuitable dry areas. 44 Timberlake and Jordao, 1985 Mozambique, Maputo, Gaza, Inhambane 5-800 mm (SAZ, ST, M(D)) n.a. n.a. n.a. 6 cattle/km 2 family sector decreasing at 1% pa, 1977-83 Range from 2 to 16 cattle/family In southern 3 provinces, 7, 16, and 27% families own cattle Communal areas -common access grazing for sedentary or semi-nomadic Milk, meat Offtake about 4% cattle, only sold in special circumstances. SR sold to meet current expenses Implied strongly 1 or 2 2? 2 uncommonly 1 1 1 or 2 2?Abundance of grazing (and by implication arable) land since S provinces are 50% understocked, but see 31 Low offtake 1? Overgrazing reported near water in communal areas. Soil erosion advanced in 20% area 46 ARDA 1982-84 Zimbabwe, S Matabele land 3-600 mm (SAZ, U/ST, D) Ecological Region IV/V Matabele Granite and gneiss variable sands, loamy sands. Basalt clay complex soils, fertile.' Gold belt' complex, heavy, relatively fertile. Deciduous tree savanna. Rainfall unreliable. 25/km 2 LU 8-38/km 2 (2-11 ha/LU) Goats 3-8/hh, donkeys 4-6,-chickens 8-14, cattle 6-13, sheep 0-7, some pigs Goats, donkeys more numerous in Zone V; chickens, cattle in Zone IV. Zone IV hh own more assets Communal grazing areas, no exclusive rights Family and individual lands held by virtue of community membership, exclusive rights Milk, meat Offtake 6-10%; income used for (1) food purchases, (2) school fees: (3) other needs Implied 1 or 2 1 or 2 2 or 3 (depending on crop and zone -in Zone IV use is 70-90% plots (highest maize); in Zone V 5-25% ('burns' crops) 2 or 3 (oxen dominant in Zone IV, donkeys Zone V) 2 or 3 2 2 Commercial land occupies over 50% total 1.2-1.7 males/hh and 1.2-2.2 females/hh away from home, remitting. Cash income/hh and value of food production/hh both higher in Zone IV 2? Attempts to introduce soil conservation measures and to intensify management of arable on a smaller area have had little success. Overstocking claims disputed by Sandford (1982) on absence of evidence of degradation 60% hh reported livestock losses by death; average reduction in all stock 50% in 12 months Steinfeld, 1988, Thiesen andMarasha, 1974 Zimbabwe, Chilimanzi, SE of Geweru 700 mm (SAZ, U,M) Ecological zone III Shona Ferallitic sandy soils; depressions (vleis) 50/km 2 LU 8/km 2 6.4 cattle/hh, 2.5 goats, 0.2 sheep, 0.4 donkeys, some pigs Hh owning vlei land have larger herds. Men own most stock, women may own small stock Communal grazing areas, no exclusive rights Family and individual lands held by virtue of community membership, exclusive rights Milk, meat (small stock). Food less important than crop inputs Livestock products least important source of income. Goats sold for cash Needs for livestock primarily draft, transport and subsistence but social security and sale value are significant, former for 'spiritual integrity' 2 (progressive farmers), 20-25% total feed ? but see 46,63 1 2 (incl. anthills) -more LUs = more manuring = larger yields (total). 5-9 t/ha 2 (75% owning -3% use donkeys, 91% oxen) 2 2 2 Continuous arable encroachment on grazing Off-farm income 32%, remittances 13%, of crop sales 49%, livestock products 6% of cash income. Vlei cultivators have more LUs more and better literacy, child nutrition, and lower mortality. 40% male (adults) absent. 50% family heads work for urban wages. 3-9% cattle offtake, 11% goats. 76% families who sell livestock have > 6LUs, the viability threshold 2 Severe erosion in grazing areas, sheet erosion and gullying; vlei cultivation; abandonment of conservation; 'overstocking' 48 Steinfeld, 1988 Zimbabwe: Mberengwa, NE of Beitbridge 520 mm (SAZ, U/ST, D) Ecological zone V Ndebele Ferallitic sandy soils; depressions (vleis) n.a. LU 20/km 2 4.9 cattle/hh, 10.3 goats, 1.9 donkeys, 0.1 sheep (see 46, 47, 63) Importance of goats and donkeys reflects aridity. More non-owners than 47 Communal grazing areas, no exclusive rights Family and individual lands held by virtue of community membership, exclusive rights Milk, meat (goats esp) More important than crop input functions Livestock products least important. Goats sold for cash needs Cattle -accumulated wealth, security 2 (2,000 kg DM/hh) <10% total feed 2 (4.7 t/ha) 2 (56% owning) (21% using donkeys, 75% oxen) 2 2 2 Less crop/livestock integration than 47 Continuous arable encroachment on grazing Off farm income 45% remittances 21% cf crop sales 29% and livestock prod. 4% of cash income Offtake -7.6% (cattle), 15.3% (goats) i.e. buying in cattle, post drought 1 or 2 'Overstocking' but feed resources adequate summer and 60% winter 65% cattle losses in three years 49 Little, 1983 Kenya, Baringo District, Njemps 6-800 mm (SAZ, B,M) Il Chamus High rainfall variability range 8 -66/km 2 n.a. Wealthy Il Chamus prefer irrigation (10% own 40% land); the poor do dryland farming Common access grazings Irrigable plots allocated by elders or council. Borrowing, purchase, Dryland plots used one year at a time, not heritable Cash from livestock sales is most important source of income Implied 2 or 3? (some tractors) 1 or 2 1 or 2 1 or 2 Labour bottlenecks Feb-Mar (dryland) July-Aug (irrig) Permanent settlements for irrigation Irrigable land scarce. Irrigation on fringes of swamps reduces dry season grazing Irrigation development may have reached its limits and may jeopardise pastoralism in the long term T o T of livestock have declined in 25 years, encouraging cultivation (cf. Barbaig) 1 Increased irrigation and dryland farming 50 Rukandema et al, 1983 Kenya, Southern Kitui District (2 locations) 530,800 mm (SAZ, B. D/M) Akamba Slopes 2-160 with steep slopes to 50o. Seasonal streams, acacia bush n.a. n.a. Cattle, 11-12/farmer (?), sheep 7-11, goats 4-10, donkeys, chickens SR holdings smaller in drier location. Fewer own cattle, goats, sheep in drier location Common access grazings Registered title Milk (76=80%) farmers), meat Cash income 72-83% (higher in wetter location) Livestock valued for 'tradition' and 'breeding' 1 or (20%) 2 2 by 25% (wetter) and 13% (drier) locations 1 or 2 1 1 2? Off farm income more important than crops which are more important than livestock 2? 66-70% farmers cite erosion as most important factor restricting soil productivity, 47-53% cite infertility. 23-31% farms wholly or partly terraced 51 Rukandema et al, 1981 Kenya, S Machakos District 777 mm (SAZ, B,M) Akamba Gently undulating. Sandy soils, vertisol patches, seasonal streams, acacia bush 100 LU/km 2 Cattle 7/owner, 10 goats and 3-4 sheep/farm 80% farmers own cattle, 82% goats, 49% sheep Common access grazing Registered title(?) including fallow Milk (73% cattle, 55% goat, 37% sheep owners) 78% keep goats for sale, 44% sheep, 88% cattle Implied 2 or 3 (92% feed) 2 or (8%) 3 2? (68% use) 3 (78% own ploughs) 1 2 or 3 (80% keep on farm -incl. fallows and stallfeeding, 10% -all year) 2 or 3 1 (26% farm land under cultivation) Erosion cited as principal factor limiting productivity by 61% farmers, infertility by 41%. 'Extremely overstocked' Crop failure, increased dry planting 53 Campbell, 1978;1979;Bekure et al, 1987;Holland, 1987 Kenya, Kajiado   Where only one letter is shown, this soil is dominant over 50% or more of the area. Where two letters, separated by a dot, are shown, the two soils are dominant over 66% or more and letters following + are subsidiary soils covering over 25% of the area. (J) (G) or (l) mean that these important soils are present but cover less than 25% of the area. A similar notation is used for other variables.  The number of the mapping unit is given, followed by a description using the following abbreviation:    There is now an increasing awareness of the risks to environmental degradation in the semi-arid zone. This justifies a wholistic approach to mixed farming systems and their degrading or sustaining impact on the environment. b. Recent drought experience in Africa has re-emphasized the complementary economic roles of livestock and crops in contributing to household viability, especially during crop failures, when livestock ownership supports smallholder resilience by diversifying economic options. c. The search for appropriate technologies of intensification to improve productivity in the semiarid zone has generated interest in indigenous systems of smallholder farming with livestock and trees as integral components, as well as new technologies of agro-forestry-with-livestock. The cost of inorganic fertilizers in semi-arid environments means that alternatives, including nutrient cycling through livestock, have to be taken seriously.However, the diversity of mixed farming systems is considerable, and insufficient is known of the nature and scale of contemporary change and stress. There is need for a review and taxonomy of mixed farming systems with respect to the role of the livestock component and its environmental impact (increased vulnerability to degradation or enhanced sustainability).The geographical scope of the study will be the semi-arid zones of all countries in sub-Saharan Africa between the Tropics including Mauritania, Sudan, Botswana, Mozambique, Madagascar and Namibia, but excluding countries touching the Mediterranean, and the Republic of South Africa.The study will review accessible published and \"grey\" literature on mixed farming systems in the semi-arid zone using ethnicity as an initial frame of reference; and inventory, to the extent possible with the accessible literature, for each system: The systems will be summarised by country with respect to (g). As far as is found practicable, the ethnically labelled systems will be subdivided or combined on the basis of major differences or similarities in the properties (a)-(f) above, and a set of functionally homogeneous systems identified.The study will review information relating to environmental trends, risks, and stresses, including where available evidence of: A theoretical evaluation of potential environmental risk will be attempted by relating key management properties of mixed farming systems to published maps of erosion and desertification hazard, estimates of human carrying capacity, and data on rainfall trends since about 1965.The study will classify mixed farming systems according to the most appropriate criteria selected from section 4 above, and (if practicable) on an environmental vulnerability sustainability scale. The human and livestock populations and territorial extent of each class will be estimated."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"eada8a750afe2b68a603f8658ec47834","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H038674.pdf","id":"-579201130"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c0501af5-1355-435e-b24b-91933910f0c5","content":"The rural poverty is becoming acute to chronic in Central Asian region since the collapse of the Former Soviet Union. The rural population is most affected by the social, economic, and institutional shocks of the post independence reforms in Central Asia to the extent that today, about 85% of the farm households live below an average of US$ 1/head per day. Over 70% of population in the region lives in rural areas. The major policy change in agriculture for the last decade was privatization of the agricultural land. The introduction of private farming after 70-year long socialist collective farming resulted in the emergence of hundreds of thousands of new inexperienced farmers. A thousand-fold increase in the number of farmers in the post-Soviet rural landscape poses a challenge to water distribution amongst tens to hundreds of small-scale farmers sharing one tertiary canal. The old water distribution approaches, mostly oriented to serve the largeness of former collective farms, have become obsolete. The Soviet era water distribution approach had been based on preparing seasonal water demand plans, using standardized crop water requirements for different agro-ecological zones, which were subject to proportionate adjustments in case forecasts for water availability were low. Former collective farms were first required to submit its water demand, then revise it after each 10 days, and finally receive the volume requested with proportionate adjustments if any for the season. Such huge farms were usually specialized in mono-crop cultivation, having several hydro-technicians and water masters on their staff to distribute water amongst their fields following technical standards and recommendations, the approach, which worked quite well. However, the post-independence land reforms have resulted in massive land fragmentation and the emergence of multiple small farm units within the boundaries of former collective farms, leading to chronic inequities in water distribution (Ul-Hassan, et. al, 2004). Seasonal water use plans continued to be made only for secondary and tertiary distributary canals ignoring everything below these levels, where farmers actually would abstract their water. Besides, it had suddenly become impossible to collect precise cropping plans data from now numerous farmers along one canal. Thus, the water use plans so prepared would normally fail to reflect the real on-farm water needs. Throughout the cropping season, each user would submit a verbal request 3 days prior to irrigation to canal water master. The water master would collect and register all such requests and then start releasing water. Since no measuring devices are normally available in the head of distributary off-takes, no records would be maintained to account for water actually released and distributed. Given large numbers of overlapping water requests from the farmers, the water master faces great difficulty to set up a workable schedule of water releases. As a result, almost all the outlets would be left open to let the water continuously flow into the fields. Consequently, the smaller fields would be filled up quickly with the surplus water discharged to the drainage network, while the bigger plots would never be irrigated in full throughout the entire season. It is also not unheard of in this situation that if a farmer is not personally present in his/her field while irrigating it, there will be always somebody to steal his/her water. So, given the whole new situation, the previously functional water management practices have turned up unsuitable or even redundant resulting in much of a chaos, inequities and unreliability in the present water delivery at the tertiary level and thus complicating poverty situation especially among those who are hydraulically more tail-end located along irrigation canals. Both the water users and the water masters were equally frustrated with such a situation, expressing a strong demand for more transparent and equitable water distribution methods that would suit their interests and require no additional investments in the infrastructure. This was the reason for the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) to develop and pilot-test in 2003 and 2004 a simple time-based water distribution method in one of the typical tertiary canals in Kyrgyzstan as a part of its work within the IWRM-Ferghana Project 1 . Thus, the paper provides brief description of the site, the water distribution approach and the impacts on crop yields, farm incomes and resultant fee collection.The newly emerged independent states in Central Asia have been facing drastic increases in the poverty levels since the collapse of the Soviet Union.. Disrupted economic ties and post-independence reforms that followed in the region have inflicted much of a shock, both social and economic, on local populations especially those living in the rural areas. With most population in the newly independent Central Asian states being predominantly rural (70%) the only thing that the rural people could still rely on in their livelihoods was farming whatever irrigated land they had either in their personal family disposal -normally as tiny kitchen gardens in the backyard of their houses -or as additional land received on an ownership or long-term tenancy basis following massive land privatization or land redistribution of former huge-size collective farms. Since crop cultivation in Central Asia is hugely water-dependent, access to and availability of irrigation water was one of the crucial factors for rural people to survive and cope with new realities of transitional economy. Given continuous fragmentation of agricultural lands the entire former water management paradigm which was previously meant to serve the construct and needs of huge-size collective farming has become victim to the newly emerging context. This was further complicated by the new geopolitical order in the region including competing multiple national and sub-national interestsThe emergence of private farmership in Central Asia following 70 years of collective farming has brought both positive and negative changes. While increases in land and water productivity and use of innovative approaches and resources conservation practices were among the positive ones, those on the negative side included exclusion of huge numbers of former collective farm workers from the access to limited land and water resources thus resulting in increasing rural poverty, social tensions and stratification of the rural society. This has also resulted in creating much of a problem and disruption in water distribution among multiple water users, especially, on the tertiary level.Previously, in the former Soviet Union (FSU), water distribution in agriculture used to be based on water use plans, that applied a statutory crop water requirements principle Commission for Water Coordination. The project aims at reorganizing water management organizations along the hydrological boundaries of main and secondary canals instead of the administrative boundaries of farms, districts and provinces, promotes stakeholder participation in the management, and identifies options for improving water and land productivity.when planning and implementing water distribution Water supply requirements for each specific crop once tested and verified through pilot trials were then formally standardized and served as mandatory norms when planning irrigation for each such crop. This approach was well justified under the then collective farm system when most farms were huge in size and specialized in mono-crop cultivation. Given the new context of agricultural reforms resulting in massive land fragmentation and the formation of multiple medium to smallholder farms, equitable water distribution today using the same approach is hardly possible. Water use plans so prepared are normally meant only for distributary (secondary and tertiary) canals in a given irrigation system leaving everything below this level at large. Thus water among the watercourse off-takes is distributed against water users' requests. Each user would submit a verbal request 3 days prior to irrigation to the Mirab (water master, in local Turkick languages). Since no measuring devices are normally available in the head of distributary off-takes, no records would be maintained to account for water actually released and distributed.Given large numbers of overlapping water requests from the farmers, the Mirab faces great difficulty to set up a workable schedule (roster) of water releases. As a result, almost all the outlets would be left open to let the water continuously flow into the fields.Consequently, the smaller fields would be filled up quickly with the surplus water discharged to the drainage network, while the bigger plots would never be irrigated in full throughout the entire season. In fact, water releases would be made on a \"first come -first served' basis. It is also not uncommon in this situation that if a farmer is not present on his/her field while irrigating it, there will be always somebody to steal his/her water. So, given the whole new situation, the previously functional water management practices have turned up unsuitable or even redundant resulting in much of a chaos, inequities and unreliability in the present water delivery at the tertiary level and thus complicating poverty situation especially among those who are hydraulically more tailend located along irrigation canals.Experience elsewhere shows that bringing proper institutional change alone into the presently disrupted irrigation management by first helping farmers at the very grassroots to self-organize themselves into self-help water users groups (WUG) by each tertiary command with their own rules and principles developed to ensure proper canal maintenance, resource mobilization and water distribution based on their own understanding of what is equitable and fair, and then bringing all such tertiary self-help groups through their authorized representatives or leaders under one nested water users association (WUAs) at a higher secondary level, this also coupled with building required capacities of these new participatory institutions could be crucial in bridging existing gaps and problems and, thus, considerably improve irrigation performance and poverty situation. Involving water users in such a manner requires truly participatory approaches and methods, that are user-oriented and simple enough to be understood by farmers.One of such methods meant to help water users to solve their water problems at the onfarm level is water distribution based on time allocations which was pilot-tested in one of the WUAs in Osh Province of the Kyrgyz Republic during 2 consecutive cropping seasons in 2003 and 2004. When experimenting with the new approach the following two major assumptions were made:(i) Actual water demand for each off-take along the study tertiary canal is based on applicable crop water requirements; and(ii) The time required to deliver the requested amount of water is sufficient.To pilot-test the proposed time-based water distribution method, a tertiary canal (named Sokolok) was selected in WUA\"Japalak\" of Osh Province, Kirghizstan.. This canal can well be representive of a typical tertiary canal in today's Central Asia. The WUA in question was first founded in 1996, comprising 2,112 ha in the total irrigated service area. The command area of the study Sokolok canal is 290 ha with the length of about 6 km. Through its 14 registered quaternary off-takes it supplies water to a total of 473 water users. The maximum capacity of Sokolok at the off-take is 250 l/s. The tertiary receives water from the Aravan-Akbura main canal, which is one of the largest irrigation canals in the Osh Province, South Kirghizstan.. Major crops grown in the pilot canal area were wheat, corn, vegetables, potato, sunflower and apples. The cropping pattern when experimenting comprised 43.4% corn, 11.5% winter wheat, 3.3% sunflower, 3.1% vegetables such as onions, tomatoes, and cucumbers, and 2.1% orchards and fruit trees. Of the total command area, one third (34.6 %) was occupied by backyard gardens.The whole trial consisted of two phases. In the first phase -the spring-summer cropping season (April to October) of 2003 -it was the project staff who did and facilitated most of the actual trial and data collection processes when organizing and implementing the time-based water distribution method. In the second phase -during the spring-summer cropping season of 2004 -the water users were left alone to run the entire process on their own with the project staff just monitoring it and recording various data such as canal head discharges, irrigation duration by each off-take, cropping patterns, yields etc. There were two persons hired by the project in the first year to facilitate implementation and data collection. The data so collected included water discharges in the head of both the distributary canal and its off-takes, cropping patterns by each off-take, the number of hours each off-take was entitled and actually receiving water, any changes in water schedules, per capita incomes from crop cultivation, irrigation service fee collection rates,; any conflicts occurred throughout the season.Implementation of the proposed time-based water distribution method required good self-organization of the water users along the study distributary canal. WUA Japalak where the study canal is located was organized some 10 years ago in a top-down fashion with no much of an involvement on the part of the water users at large. So there had been no water users groups, formal or informal, in place. When meeting the local water users for the first time, this issue was deliberately raised and discussed with them at length. As a result all the water users met agreed that the formation of their self-help water users groups by each off-take was important. Within 2 weeks, such water users groups (WUG) were finally formed in all the 14 off-takes and their leaders elected. The WUG leaders were given authority to represent their water users when planning irrigation as well as when opening and closing the off-take gates as per irrigation schedule.Preparation of an irrigation schedule was central to implementing the time-based water distribution method. Consultations with the water users of the \"Sokolok\" canal suggested that the farmers preferred their irrigation turns to proceed from the head to the end of the canal. Thus, by April 1, 2003 the irrigation schedule for the first 10 days was prepared and approved by the water users. The schedule was very simple and farmer-friendly, specifying the exact time for each off-take concerned when to start and when to finish irrigation .As per the schedule, irrigation would start and finish at midnight on, respectively, the first and 10 th day of a 10-day cycle. Since night irrigations in the canal area had been already frequently practiced for the past 10 years, there were no objections from the water users to irrigate during the nighttime. In addition the water users agreed to stick to the following rules:(i) More than one off-take could be opened at a time to divert water;(ii) No exchanges of turns between off-takes should be allowed, and (iii) Should any of the off-takes tamper with the agreed turns schedule, it will be fined with turn cancellation next time when it will be its turn to irrigate.In addition, Mirab of the canal was asked to register any interruptions occurred during the course of schedule implementation. To make sure all water users along the canal are aware of the agreed irrigation schedule, it was decided to be put on an iron display in the head, middle and tail-end of the canal..Privatization, distribution and fragmentation of land of the former huge collective farms among newly established numerous middle to smallholder farmers led to the creation of two types of family farming in Central Asia: commercial and subsistence. The latter mostly comprising of tiny backyard garden owners, grow crops predominantly for selfconsumption to ensure their food security, being most prone to poverty. One of the most important crops for such small subsistence family farms to survive is wheat, so almost all such farms for food security reasons try to grow this crop. It should be though noted that those in the tail end of the selected canal in the study area had frequently failed to grow good wheat crop due to insufficient water reaching their fields. Thus, assuming that the proposed water distribution method could have improved water access for those in the tail-end, one would expect a considerable change in wheat yields if applying the method.The trend for the wheat yields in the study canal, following the first year of interventions (2003) was, in overall, positive. Average wheat yields of those in the tail-end off-takes (#10, 12) increased by 45-50% (Figure 1). At the same time there was a slight decline (3-4%) in the yields of those from the head-located off-takes (#1, #2). Nevertheless, in overall the wheat yields across all study off-takes were higher and more stable than in the baseline year (2002). However, some tail-located off-takes (9, 11, 13, and 14) still refrained from growing wheat in 2003, despite that the time-based water distribution employed in that year was an overall success. This was not because the farmers thought they had too tiny a land or lacked some inputs other than water. The major reason behind this was continued skepticism by the people in that their water availability could improve as a result of the new method The gross incomes by different off-takes of the study canal as reported by the respondents were quite varied due to differences in the cropping patterns, inputs applied and the costs of various other agricultural operations employed. The farmers with their main land holdings in the midstream off-takes (#7, 8, and 9) were residing in a village located along the off-take 14. So to avoid double-counting, the latter was not included in the income analysis. The residents here used canal water for both irrigating their home gardens and drinking. The yearly per-unit-of-area income earned by different off-takes in 2002 ranged from $100/ha (Off-take #9) to $800/ha (off-take No 3). There was clear indication that the farmers from the head-located off-takes were better off in their income generation (Figure 3). The off-takes 7 to 10 as well as 12 and 13 showed the lowest per-unit-of-area income generated. Most likely this was a result of different cropping patterns employed by different off-takes: while those in the upstream grew wheat and high value vegetables (peppers, tomatoes), those in the downstream offtakes cultivated corn and low value vegetables (e.g. pumpkin). In addition, those in the upstream grew 2 crops per season, while those from the downstream -only one crop.With the general trend in per-unit-of-area incomes remaining the same in 2003, the mean income generated across all study off-takes increased. Increases in incomes generated by the farmers in the off-takes 6 through 13 were higher than those for the off-takes #1 to #5 (Figure 1).Basic assumption for this indicator holds that if water distribution improves water users are more willing to pay for WUA services. There is direct relationship between total fees collected and the quality of services provided since better water distribution helps boost farmers' incomes. During the intervention period no specific attempts were made by the WUA to improve financial discipline. Therefore, any changes in the total fee collected can be viewed as an impact from the time-based water distribution method employed.The analysis of total water fees collected in 2002-2003 suggests there is no relationship between the size of per-unit-of-area income and the size of irrigation service fee (Figure 5). The water users from the off-takes that generated lower per-area-of-unit incomes paid the same or more in water fees both in 2002 and 2003. Likewise, the water users from the downstream off-takes paid more in water service fees than those from the upstream ones. Though water charges in Kyrgyzstan were introduced in mid-90's, the water users are still reluctant to pay for irrigation services. It should be though noted that service fee collection in all the study off-takes, but for #1, 5 and 12, increased by 1.5 to 2.0 times as a result of the intervention.The above action research discussed clearly suggests that if actions and processes are properly understood and taken up by the users themselves they are most likely to sustain. The logic behind this is simple: it is farmers themselves who would clearly feel the difference and make out all the benefits and losses from whatever interventions they are suggested or made a part of. On the other hand, when properly enabled and facilitated, the results of the interventions that are actively participated and co-owned by water users including when planning and implementing them become much more sustainable than when imposed top-down. Therefore, the process of water distribution at WUA level must be somewhat more flexible, simple, participatory and socially acceptable in order to sustain. Distributing water using inadequate water use planning practices of the past as is still the case now, tends to turn farmers merely into passive beneficiaries thus failing to provide proper incentives for them to more actively improve their social self-organization and cohesion around common issues emanating from sharing one canal so that they could develop, negotiate and follow their internally accepted rules and principles such as for canal maintenance, water distribution, resource mobilization etc., as well as to defend their vested rights (including those to water) and interests as an organized group when dealing with other similar groups especially those from the upstream or higher hydraulic levels. Thus, continuous inaction or even resistance to bring change to this situation is actually equal to holding fast to the destined-to-be dead body of the top-down management paradigm. After all, solving major water distribution problems this way has never been a success in the past.Moreover, this could become even a major obstacle for water users to be more actively involved in water management. Therefore, the only way to move things forward would be devising truly participatory solutions that can effectively help in overcoming and alleviating the ubiquitous and continuous inequities, grievances, unfairness and tensions between those in the tail-end and those in the head of canals when distributing water, thus, making the former, more secure in getting their due share of water as they might be entitled to."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5f3a11c3600c5cd3f083f75f6d3e8fa6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f13cef0f-b831-4a74-bb42-8b7667d46697/retrieve","id":"-503194915"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fdf35607-dd97-456e-9316-61f4b7555359","content":"The 13 th meeting of the CGIAR System Council approved the 2022 -2024 CGIAR Investment Prospectus. With this approval came the request of a CGIAR-authored Companion Document 1 (CD) that would detail the approach used to build a coherent and cohesive group of Initiatives to advance the 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy. System Council requested the Independent Science for Development Council (ISDC) to assess the CD concurrently during the ISDC external review of the initial 19 Initiative proposals (September 30 to November 18). System Council tasked ISDC to review the CD based on the four criteria of external coherence, internal coherence, interdependencies, and management of funding uncertainties. In addition, ISDC included a question in each proposal review that asked Does the Initiative align with the cohesion of the portfolio as described in the CD? The assessment of the CD includes sections on CD strengths, overall considerations, detailed responses to each criterion, and the responses for each proposal review question (for the latter see Appendix A).ISDC is aware of the enormous challenges that the new management and leadership teams of One CGIAR are experiencing and the limited time they had to establish a new modus operandi. The CD provides strong evidence that the new structure is now operational and that it has a high chance of delivering the new mission. ISDC hopes the review will accelerate the transition towards a sciencebased innovation culture across One CGIAR.The CD is a well-considered and an important complementary resource to the 2022 -2024 CGIAR Investment Prospectus that outlines the context and framework used in Initiative codesign. The CD addresses the four criteria requested by System Council and focuses on the operational aspects of the Initiative development process. The CD further outlines the mechanisms that will be used to adaptively manage the portfolio. ISDC acknowledges that the more than two-year consultation process for the Prospectus was given high priority during considerable timing pressure and in a COVID-affected environment.ISDC appreciates and compliments the Executive Management Team and colleagues for establishing a nested Theories of Change (ToCs) approach that logically links the overarching CGIAR-level ToCs, which cascade to the three Action Areas and ultimately to the individual Initiatives and their work packages. The long-term 2030 vision for each Initiative, alongside the three-year work packages, facilitates alignment of the Initiatives with the 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy. Although evidence of such alignment is missing from the CD, this may be provided in more detail within the 32 Initiative proposals. 2 The coherence and cohesion in Initiative delivery demonstrates the new One CGIAR governance structure in action. This is instrumental for stakeholders not closely involved in the reform process to provide evidence of new management of complex problems. A coherent and cohesive portfolio helps to build confidence that the new structure will be able to better deliver on the CGIAR mission.Overall, the financial planning at one-and three-year time scales are sensible. The principle of each Initiative being considered for at least some inception funding to explore the potential is practical and should be supported. The ISDC endorsement of this principle is based on the assumption that the portfolio of Initiatives was constructed to ensure One CGIAR's delivery on all key strategic objectives and that each of the 32 Initiatives makes important co-contributions to others and are therefore essential for their success (i.e., the issue of interdependencies). The goal should be to ensure that outputs and outcomes contribute to a cohesive One CGIAR portfolio with a balance between short-and long-term investments. ISDC supports the idea of seed funding based on the stated goal and assumption. However, after the seed stage, ISDC urges a curated portfolio approach; this means to avoid funding distribution simply to achieve parity across the 32 Initiatives.The reasoning behind Regional Integrated Initiatives (RIIs) is well articulated and highlights the need for co-ownership, positioning CGIAR as innovation brokers-not always the originator of innovations-and \"demand creation and solution feedback loops.\" Using prototyping with a focus on planetary boundaries is a real strength.The CD includes important processes and principles that will drive the engagement with external partners. Although much of this is still aspirational and a work in progress, ISDC appreciates its inclusion. Thoughtful and inclusive preparation of a Partnerships Engagement Framework deserves strong support and will be an essential deliverable during the inception phase of Initiatives. This will require sustained efforts and investments.The following includes overarching considerations grouped by comparative advantage, partnerships, priority setting and funding, coordination and management, and innovation in the CD across the four assessment criteria.While the emphasis on process is appropriate, the CD misses the more visionary aspects of the portfolio and a narrative explaining why CGIAR is uniquely positioned to lead these 32 Initiatives. A clearly stated response to why CGIAR is ideally suited to deliver on the aspirations of the 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy would have been helpful in framing a clear and evidence-based statement of CGIAR comparative advantage. ISDC underscores an urgent need to develop a systemwide, methodological approach to the identification and articulation of comparative advantage.The need for a better understanding of comparative advantage is evident from the CD and the individual Initiative proposals. The CD does not articulate how One CGIAR will ensure that the Initiatives proposed speak to the comparative advantage of CGIAR vis-a-vis other country, regional, and global players. Part of the 2022 ISDC workplan is to advise System Council and other stakeholders on a systemwide approach to define CGIAR's comparative advantage.A comparative advantage systemwide approach is particularly important in new areas of research where CGIAR might not yet have a comparative advantage, but decides for legitimate, strategic reasons to invest and engage. A statement, answering \"Why CGIAR?\" is imperative for each Initiative, and especially for new CGIAR research topics where potentially unfamiliar partnerships must be explored and developed.Without having the Partnerships Engagement Framework in place, assessment of how partnerships are transparently identified, defined, and managed is challenging. The CD does not elaborate on how partnerships will be initiated, monitored, or evaluated. Without adequate relationship mapping across all 32 Initiatives, a comprehensive consideration of overlaps, synergies, and co-dependencies is absent. Further elaboration on partnership mechanisms for interaction and codelivery of outputs, outcomes, and impacts would be helpful. To achieve the 2030 collective global targets in the Results Framework Table, scaling partners will be vital. Additional explanation of how scaling partners will be engaged, and the approaches needed to build their capacity is desirable.The CD emphasizes that \"purposeful partnership\" building and stewardship will be instrumental to active, adaptive management of external coherence across the CGIAR portfolio of research and investment. An important consideration is inclusive and functional partnerships to address the Impact Areas and unreachable populations. This includes partnerships that consider gender, diversity, and inclusion (GDI), early-career scientists, and farmers. Partnership elaboration at all levels is warranted.The Advisory Services Shared Secretariat external evaluation CRP reports and Synthesis emphasized partnership recommendations and learning that should be incorporated across the portfolio and strategic planning. The CD lacks details on how private-sector agents will be engaged as partners and how these engagements will be legitimately managed. 3 One recommendation from the Synthesis that should be emphasized is: \"The CRPs have focused primarily on government, community, and ARI partnerships, but engaging the private sector will be critical for scaling innovations. Where CRPs did work with the private sector to extend innovations, there was no evidence of a private sector engagement strategy or analysis of the effectiveness and lessons learned from these efforts.\" 4 The CD does not outline how this recommendation will be strategically implemented. Partnership development requires relationship management and CGIAR staff will need capacity development to ensure private-sector partnership success.The criteria for priority setting are outlined in item 19 but lack specificity that would allow quantitative and qualitative priority assessments. The CD also lacks a contingency plan for uncertainties that would allow CGIAR to be flexible, employ more novel strategic approaches, and work closely with existing and potential funders. Worth noting is this CD review only includes insight of the initial 19 Initiative proposals. While Figure 3 (p. 6) seeks to illustrate the interlinkages across the 19 Initiatives, without an interpretation these linkages appear random. Further, any interlinkages with the remaining 13 Initiatives that have not yet been reviewed are missing. The network analysis provided in Figure 4 (\"Initiative Partner Network\" p. 13) and Figure 8 (\"Indicative Scaling Readiness metrics including shared Innovation Package plan\" p. 21) only make sense if and when the entire portfolio is included. Hence, ISDC strongly recommends mapping the substantive priorities for shortand long-term research across all 32 Initiatives, with a clear process for priority setting and review.The CD presents the need for revision of some Initiatives depending on funders' preference and ISDC feedback. Except for inception funding for the Initiatives to start in 2022, the process for revisions is not detailed (especially the how, when, and where). Notably, will revisions be written during Initiative startup and how will these modifications be shared publicly?Except for item 73, the CD is silent on how pooled-funded Initiatives will be effectively integrated with activities funded from other sources. While details are limited, section 4.1 outlines the Integrated Results Framework and suggests a potential solution to integrate pooled and non-pooled funded activities into a comprehensive portfolio. Crop-by-region combination priority must include climate adaptation and mitigation and environmental health and biodiversity. This is in addition to the mentioned entries and alignment with recommendations from the Crops to End Hunger Initiative. The efforts cited are a useful and necessary start. ISDC recommends a dramatic expansion and/or clear record of the thought processes surrounding strategic cohesion across all CGIAR work, no matter the funding source.The Impact Area Platforms will have a fundamental role, providing the imperative cross-cutting collaboration and communication across the portfolio. Their purpose is clearly outlined: they are there to support Initiatives rather than to compete. While the Platforms fill a need, staffing requirements and skillsets are unclear: how will these Platforms achieve their mandate and how will they work with Science Groups, Regional Directors, and the portfolio performance management team? Does CGIAR have the necessary social scientists that will be needed for these Impact Area Platforms to succeed? Innovation \"Innovation\" is a common theme throughout the CD and, in fact, all CGIAR documents. In many instances, innovation is used synonymously with terms such as \"technology\" or \"research outputs.\" The liberal use of the term degrades its meaning and while CGIAR has defined what innovation means to the System, 5 more clarity on what really constitutes innovation and what an innovation culture entails is urgently needed. A better understanding of the mix of incremental, breakthrough, and transformational innovations that are envisaged within and across Initiatives would provide clarity and help with portfolio risk management (see ISDC's Innovation Brief prepared for the 14 th meeting of System Council for associated recommendations on the topic).Item 22 addresses the bundling of innovations by linking the technical aspects to policies, while item 30a explicitly states the need for creating space for new research without degrading areas of existing strength. Both, bundling and balancing strength with novelty, are important mechanisms to ensure that innovations lead to impact. This also links with the concept of a \"transfer marketplace\" for priority assets (golden eggs; item 46), which is an innovative institutional mechanism that should be developed further.This section provides detailed responses to the Systems Council assessment criteria of external coherence, internal coherence, interdependencies, and management of funding uncertainties.Recommendation: Map CGIAR's comparative advantage with country, regional, and global players that may be partners or competitors. Elaborate on how the proposed Initiatives will seek complementarity with efforts of other research institutions, or how One CGIAR seeks to harmonize efforts by a range of global players.One CGIAR's Initiatives were informed by several well-coordinated and timely inputs from a range of consultations with the Investment Advisory Groups (IAGs) and Transition Advisory Groups (TAGs). Extensive regional, national, and stakeholder consultations helped gauge demand for research proposed and identified research, demand, and scaling partnerships. Further, the principle of triangulation (use of global evidence base, stakeholder demands, and investor preferences), to arrive at proposed Initiatives and partnerships appears robust. However, the CD does not elaborate on how external coherence will be ensured across geographies and what the balance of these efforts would be across the RIIs, nor how to manage external coherence on an ongoing basis. The coordination mechanisms in place-the Regional Directors, Science Directors, and Impact Area Platforms-generally appear sound for ensuring regional and thematic external coherence.While the CD articulates key mechanisms in place to identify innovation, demand, and scaling partners, it does not outline how One CGIAR will ensure that the Initiatives speak to the comparative advantage of the CGIAR vis-a-vis other country, regional, and global players. The CD does not elaborate on how the proposed Initiatives will seek complementarity with efforts of other research institutions, or how One CGIAR seeks to harmonize efforts across a range of global players, especially in new research areas for CGIAR. There is no clearly articulated strategy that outlines an approach to partnerships to achieve external coherence. There is also little reference to any desirable engagements with the external academic world. Considering how One CGIAR might influence global research efforts and how such efforts in turn could benefit the One CGIAR mission are still lacking.The current articulation of partnerships presumes, for the most part, that One CGIAR has all the needed scientific and academic competencies and that partnerships are needed to ensure demand and scaling of the \"innovations\" identified. While this might be the case in some instances where CGIAR has evidenced comparative advantages, it is rarely true in new areas of research that form a key plank of the new 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy and in which CGIAR is not the lead actor. This should be acknowledged and inform the emerging strategy for recruitment and capacity building.The CD does not outline how the Initiatives might act as global convenors, enablers, and facilitators of science to practice. It is possible that the Partnerships Engagement Framework (yet to be launched) will address the key issue of One CGIAR's positionality, comparative advantage, and its role in fostering global science for development. Hopefully this would move beyond a narrow, transactional perspective that views such engagement purely as a means towards achieving CGIAR's objectives, which is necessary but not sufficient.Further, what mechanism(s) will be established to ensure external coherence? Will these be Impact Area Platforms, which are networks to facilitate exchange with CGIAR? Will the Platforms' role be expanded to assurance of external coherence and its monitoring? The CD does not expand on monitoring and evaluating partnerships, although several Initiatives include some aspects. These details will presumably be included in the Partnerships Engagement Framework.among the portfolio's constituent parts? Is there evidence of a clear focus on coordinated management of various partnerships that facilitate connectivity between Initiatives, themes, and regions? Is this aligned with the CGIAR's Performance and Results Management Framework and underpinned by a unified Theory of Change?Recommendation: Explore opportunities to detail how leadership and teams among the Science Groups, Regional Directors, and Impact Areas will work together and where the authority lies to avoid unnecessary transaction costs associated with complex management structures. Responsibilities and authority need to be well aligned and lines of authority and responsibility should be clarified.The detailed engagement among key players and their extensive discussions was designed to deliver an agreed, aligned, and prioritized portfolio of activities that address the five Impact Areas. Such engagement is intended to avoid duplication, resolve boundary issues, and prevent silos. The process and outcomes of the extensive consultations resulted in a logical and well-designed highlevel framework with nested ToCs that clearly indicate how the Initiatives should interact at various levels of the portfolio. The ToCs also are aligned with the Performance and Results Management Framework with three types of results (outputs, outcomes, and impacts) and acknowledgement that CGIAR has direct control only for outputs.Figure 3 (p. 6) attempts to show the linkages between the first 19 Initiatives. Some of the Initiatives are designed to be cross-cutting and -thematic (e.g., Harnessing Digital Technologies for Timely Decision-Making across Food, Land, and Water Systems). However, without an interpretation the linkages appear unintentional. Figure 3 does not contribute to a better understanding of internal coherence. The linkages are more easily seen and understood from the individual Initiative ToCs. The overall cohesion/coherence of the portfolio will need further assessment after the second set of Initiatives have been reviewed. Management mechanisms are described for the operational oversight of developing and maintaining internal coherence as well as avoiding duplication or overlap. These mechanisms involve Science Group staff and their communication with Regional Directors and the portfolio performance management team. The Initiatives will be managed operationally through the various management teams to \"build in\" cohesion, with the three Science Group Directors expected to play a key role in oversight working closely together. Impact Area Platforms are the main mechanism to drive internal coherence. Membership of the Impact Area Platforms and the portfolio performance management team will be critical but these details and how they will work with Science Groups and Regional Directors are missing. The CD simply states that the Impact Area Platforms members will be drawn from all divisions as appropriate and will form \"networks within the system, rather than stand-alone dimensions of a matrix structure.\"Clarity also is lacking on how the various directors (Science Groups, Regional Directors, and Impact Areas) will work together and where the authority lies. Clarification of these details would be useful. For example, a diagram showing organizational structure and reporting lines, including management and communication among the groups, would be beneficial. This complex management structure may generate a lot of additional transaction costs (large numbers of meetings, negotiations, etc.) and may, therefore, cause delays and impact the effectiveness of the planned research over the three-year cycle. Balancing operational imperatives with issues of probity and effectiveness will be an ongoing challenge for all leadership teams. Hence, it will be paramount to align responsibilities for delivery with the necessary authorities for decision-making. Many science-based organizations suffer from an uneven distribution of responsibility and authority, with some sections having responsibility without authority, while others having authority without responsibility. Such an uneven distribution inhibits the development of an innovation culture.A critical area identified to benefit from the internal cohesion generated through Initiatives and Platforms is capacity development. However, the CD is silent on the type of approaches needed to develop and retain capacity within CGIAR. Capacity development is simply presented as something that will happen rather than identifying how Initiatives and Platforms could proactively create opportunities for capacity development. In fact, several of the Initiative reviews recommended improvements on the Quality of Research for Development criterion 14 (\"Capacity building within project teams, partners, and stakeholders captured in capacity development plan\").There are some positive examples that will foster internal coherence while lowering transaction costs. For instance, it is encouraging to read that Genebanks (item 17) might be approved on a continuous basis. Another highlight is that mechanisms are in place to carry forward \"golden egg\" assets from the CRPs that will help to maintain effectiveness over the next three years.Does the CD articulate a conceptionally rational and effective approach to manage interdependencies between the Initiatives? Are there any significant areas of overlap or duplication of effort? How will these be identified, managed, or resolved? Recommendation: Carefully review the six RII proposals and the CD to ensure no duplication exists with the Global Thematic Initiatives. This review should include a strategy on how country offices will work with RIIs.The vision of interconnected thematic and regionally integrated Initiatives is generally sound. Impact Area Platforms and RIIs provide mechanisms to address interdependencies: for capturing complementarities among Initiatives, minimizing unnecessary duplication of effort, identifying, and closing key gaps in the portfolio, and helping with effective data and partnership stewardship. While the vision articulated in the CD is generally thorough, correspondence with the RII proposals is somewhat wanting, perhaps because the CD was developed in parallel to the first two of the RII proposals. Little detail is provided beyond a partial page (section 3.2) in the CD on the operationalization of the Impact Area Platforms.As reflected in Figure 5 (p. 14), RIIs are central to CGIAR delivery of research for development. The RIIs seem natural hubs for both trade-offs and foresight analyses at country and regional scale, for leading partnership management and data stewardship with stakeholders within the regions. The two RII proposals received thus far (for South Asia and East and Southern Africa) seem uneven in their fidelity to the vision articulated in the CD. At least one seems to propose considerable fieldand landscape-scale research apart from the Global Thematic Initiatives. That seems likely to invite duplication of efforts and internal competition that could prove wasteful. Country and regional offices are the natural locus for convening stakeholders to identify sociotechnical innovation bundles appropriate to the policy, institutional, and agri-environmental contexts. The CD is largely silent about this role. RIIs and country offices seem best conceptualized as platforms (and the continuous development of better platforms) for the assembly of innovations developed by the Global Thematic Initiatives and external partners to achieve impacts, rather than as the originators of new research work packages themselves. ISDC sees this vision in the CD, but not entirely in the two RII proposals reviewed so far, so some further coordination work seems necessary.The CD is also silent on how country offices will work with RIIs. This gap needs attention. The subsidiarity principle raised in item 57 might guide the division of labor among RIIs and country offices. CGIAR must recognize that this principle entails not just devolving authority to those closest to partners, but also to the lowest spatial scale for relevant external entities to become internal. Also unclear is how the RIIs will coordinate around global challenges (e.g., climate change, inclusion of historically underrepresented groups, and interregional migration) with which most or all must grapple.The details of how the Impact Area Platforms will implement this vision is largely absent. Impact Area Platforms \"will be networks within the system,\" following the communities of practice model that CGIAR has used with some success already. These seem like coordinating networks. But where gaps or overlaps emerge through dialogue within the Impact Area Platforms network, who resolves those issues? Lines of authority and responsibility need clearer definition. It seems natural for the Foresight Global Thematic Initiative to play a key role in informing Impact Area Platforms, but that is not raised in the CD. The need to continuously assess trade-offs across Impact Areas should be addressed.The Partnerships Engagement Framework is not yet available. The principle of subsidiarity should apply to partner and data management. In many countries, national statistical offices have rapidly expanding capacity and generate extensive, reasonably high-quality data (e.g., nationally representative household surveys, many of them longitudinal, and streams of high-resolution Earth Observation data from remote sensing platforms) that CGIAR must be alert to and then leverage effectively.Integration and coordination will be an ongoing process. The Impact Area Platforms and RIIs have the potential to be efficient, effective devices for enhancing interconnectedness and avoiding wasteful duplication. Getting the details of these mechanisms right will require ongoing work.The CD also lacks vision and information on how CGIAR will invest in obtaining causal evidence on specific targets, mentioned in item 80. Research designs and data collection to obtain such credible, causal evidence will need to be built in from the start. Items 85b and c state that CGIAR, at the portfolio level, will make investments in:• large data collection to measure the reach and impact of CGIAR innovations; and• independent evaluation and impact assessment designed as integral part of research to causally test impacts. However, no information is provided on where and how this will be operationalized. Furthermore, the CD remains silent on what resources will be allocated and how CGIAR will assure that this work will use frontier research methods to meet the required standards of rigor (a real concern given the long-time erosion of social science research capacity in many parts of CGIAR).Does the CD clearly explain the approach to prioritization? How will funding be allocated? Does the Executive Management Team have a risk management approach in place to allocate limited funds without risking the coherence of the overall portfolio should some Initiatives not get funded?Recommendation: The CD needs to map the CGIAR's substantive priorities for short-and long-term research, with a clear process for priority setting and review that is evidence based.The CD broadly explains how Initiatives will be prioritized based on overall delivery of the 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy. The CD acknowledges that some Initiatives will receive more and others less priority and requests that Initiative proposals be developed in accordance. The CD states that new and more explorative Initiatives will be allocated smaller initial inceptions. The request for all Initiatives to receive at least some seed funding seems reasonable, if the Initiatives meet or exceed the minimum quality standards.The CD, however, does not detail the approach to prioritization nor is there an articulation of risk management procedures or a plan to fill gaps. The CD states that the Executive Management Team's risk management approach will detail and ensure that a coherent portfolio will be maintained even if some Initiatives will not get funded. The CD is silent on details of identifying, assessing, and prioritizing of risks followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of unforeseen events or emerging risks.While there is a recognition that financial resources may be insufficient to accommodate all requirements, there are no alternative strategies identified and the CD lacks risk management and scenario planning. Since the Initiatives are not alike, the risk management approach and plan must be tailored to the scope and complexity of individual Initiatives. The CD also lacks a contingency plan for the more difficult uncertainties to allow CGIAR to work more flexibly, employ more novel strategic approaches, and work more closely with existing and potential funders.ISDC recommends mapping CGIAR's substantive priorities for short-and long-term research, with a clear process for priority setting and review that is evidence based. This will be essential for CGIAR to secure a solid base of funding for a coherent program of research for development. A clear articulation of how this will be achieved is still lacking.An implicit priority is to address impacts of climate change on agricultural production, aligned with CGIAR's mission statement that focuses on systems in a climate crisis. Some Initiative proposals are more closely aligned with this goal than others. However, agreeing on any single goal as a priority seems to be difficult when considering diverging priorities in the regional and country contexts and within current CGIAR governance processes. A prioritization approach that accommodates multiple strategic goals, including climate impacts, may be a more appropriate prioritization architecture. Furthermore, without a solid base of funding, any coherence is likely to disintegrate, and centers and researchers will be left to chase bilateral support and resources, including people.The stated focus on faster replacement rates and varietal turnover and adoption of new varieties is not necessarily aligned with the GI aim of addressing the challenge of the limited and decreasing biodiversity underpinning our crop and food systems, nor does it appear to sufficiently recognize the importance of context-specificity and indigenous knowledge. Diversity is an important element of resilience and how Genebanks, the GI Action Area, and One CGIAR will support messaging and action around the importance of diversity in fields and diets is not clear. The focus in the current text on just a few very specific traits in a limited range of crops appears contradictory to this.The crucial role of co-created new partnership models is flagged in the CD but does not permeate sufficiently through the continuum of the six GI Initiatives to be integral within Genebanks. What important partnership-and behavior-related outcome changes can Genebanks influence, and how?The Genebanks proposal does not provide sufficient granularity on activity details to enable meaningful Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning (MEL). That in turn prevents understanding of planned methods or opportunities for cohesion between proposals, and thus thwarts MEL of the cohesion of the portfolio. The details are necessary and important. Currently, the only Genebanks indicator listed in the Results Framework Table (CD's Annex 1) is GIi 1.1 Number of accessions data used at various levels of the breeding pipeline (level of use: used in crosses, backcrosses, incorporated in elite germplasm. More attention to improved processes and efficiencies, and to partnership and capacity-related metrics would be beneficial.Pursuant with principles in the CD, EiA builds on existing research expertise with a strong presence in high priority geographies. EiA proposes strong linkages with scaling partners that have a comparative advantage in working with farmers and rigorous procedures for establishing new collaborations. Significant collaborations with CGIAR's global, system, and regional Initiatives are proposed, as are modalities for these collaborations. EiA plans to use standard protocols for data management and Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning (MEL) activities to facilitate these collaborations. Connections with Impact Area Platforms need greater elaboration. Funding uncertainty was identified as a risk but plans for addressing it are inadequate.Internal coherence: The efforts to align LCSR with the portfolio are good: the narrative is fairly clear, and some aspects are a definite step forward from previous practices. The Initiative's ToC aligns well with the Resilient Agricultural Food Systems ToC. Do projected benefits in LCSR contribute sufficiently to overall CGIAR targets? For example, projected 2030 benefits in the Poverty Impact Area of LCSR are 2.96 million people out of an overall CGIAR target in the CD of 500 million people.Research questions and methods as described in the work packages provide confidence in the science quality proposed but it is difficult to put this in the context of the overall CD because it uses more rudimentary indicators such as numbers of peer-reviewed papers and altimetric scores. External coherence: Country prioritization is logically argued and is consistent with the approaches set out in the CD. Partnerships to achieve impact are a key element in the CD but this area is a little vague in the LCSR proposal. This is in part due to proposal word limit but approaches to scaling through national commitment could be more clearly articulated.The Initiative certainly aligns with the portfolio as it aims to ensure that improved varieties contribute to productivity gains, but also generate a well-balanced portfolio of impacts across all five Impact Areas. It also aligns with the rigorous use of Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Impact Assessment (MELIA) for similar impacts. In addition, the leadership plans are sound and in keeping with the aim of identifying bottlenecks, designing a scaling strategy, and monitoring change for use of innovations. It is important to recognize that change is hard.External coherence (country, regional, global levels): This is covered reasonably well, although some reviewers questioned the choice of and criteria used to select the seven countries in MITIGATE+ (Table 1, Initiative proposal).Internal coherence including Impact Area Platforms: The proposal has good documentation of the expected amount of CO2-e averted and the number of people benefitting from climate resilient innovations. While the descriptions of the work packages are clearly laid out, the linkages between the research plan and main proposed scientific methods are not evident: this leads to a lack of continuity between the research plan, scientific methods, and outputs. This could be simply improved with consistent titles and subtitles for example.Interdependencies between other thematic/regional Initiatives: These are well mapped (linkage with ClimBeR, NEXUS Gains, SAPLING, LCSR, EiA, SHiFT, etc.) although additional detail on how constituent parts of MITIGATE+ depend on other Initiatives is required. Improved clarity regarding the linkages between work packages, methods and End-of-Initiative outcomes are also required.Management of funding uncertainties: This seems to be completely absent from the proposal. Aside from total budgets in section 10.1, no other information on the budget is apparent and appears to be a shortcoming in the proposal template design. More detail of intended management (including metrics) is required.Integrated results framework at Initiative, Action Area, and CGIAR Levels: In general, this is well covered.Measurement and reporting at multiple levels and timeframes: The management plan and Gannt table in section 7.2 contains annual \"pause and reflect\" workshops, but how this reflection will be subsequently acted upon is unclear. Ex-post impact assessments of the work packages are well covered in the proposal, but ex-post assessments of the monitoring and evaluation (and how this assessment will be used to refine management going forwards) could be more transparent. The linkage of management to the work packages could be better detailed (metrics, aim, achievability and timing). With its strong focus on national-level policies and strategies, NPS has a critical role in the CGIAR portfolio. The proposal does a good job of identifying the main Initiatives and offices (RII) with which it will need to coordinate. What is less clear-from both the NPS proposal and the CD-is how the country-level interdependencies will be managed, practically. For example:In its six focus countries, will NPS take the lead on coordinating ALL national policy and strategy work for Initiatives with a policy element? For example, on p. 11, NPS highlights opportunities to examine the experiences with safety net programs in Egypt and Kenya.Although micronutrient/dietary diversity is not a focus of NPS, presumably another Initiative will tackle this. How would the work of (potentially) multiple Initiatives targeting safety net programs be coordinated at the country level?1. NPS focuses on national policies and strategies but will have a specific policy focus in several pre-defined areas (Table 1, p. 10.) NPS will analyze trade-offs among policy options within those specific areas. But at country level, how/who will support governments in undertaking a wider-lens meta-analysis to show costs, benefits, trade-offs among investments across multiple sectors (per the charge of UNFSS, and to inform national ag transformation strategies)? And how would those results be reflected in NPS and other Initiatives? This seems like a step that must be taken before countries can decide on the policy priorities implied by NPS (and other \"targeted\" policy Initiatives).The Initiative aligns well with the cohesion of the portfolio, as exemplified by the following (among the 92 items of the CD):The Initiative builds on a clear consultation process, including regional advisory forums and structured regional consultation in Initiative design. The codesign process is very well described, there's a participatory design process to gather input from various stakeholders (including NARES breeding platforms).The Initiative is fitting with the CGIAR's Research and Innovation Strategy and is a high priority area aligned with funders priorities.Through the implementation of novel methods to accelerate the improvement of crops, N4ETTSS has explicit connections with other Genetic Innovation Initiatives, such as Market intelligence and product profiling, Genebanks, and ABI. Thus, N4ETTSS impacts will initially occur through ABI, with ABI's success influenced by Market Intelligence and Product Profiling, Genebanks, and SeEdQUAL.From a comparative advantage, CGIAR has a presence in and knowledge of the many countries where it works and has institutional links, combined with a solid scientific reputation. These solid and trusted relationships will be leveraged to promote the adoption of tools, technologies, and shared services by NARES.Although the timeframe for Initiatives is three years, N4ETTSS has built its ToC that identifies plausible pathways to generate impact over a 10-year period. This recognizes the longer timeframes needed for achieving meaningful impact. The problem statement aligns effectively with the System Transformation Action Area priorities in the CGIAR Investment Prospectus, specifically as a \"broader, integrating effort to tackle climate change, NRM, and nutrition/health,\" to \"identify place-based programs in priority agroecologies,\" and to \"address contextual food-land-water challenges.\" These trace through convincingly to impact on Action Areas. However, a clear mechanism to make an effective regional impact is not clear, regional inter-country governance is almost unmentioned.The problem statement aligns effectively with the System Transformation Action Area priorities in the CGIAR Investment Prospectus, specifically as a \"broader, integrating effort to tackle climate change, NRM, and nutrition/health,\" to \"identify place-based programs in priority agroecologies,\" and to \"address contextual food-land-water challenges.\" These trace through convincingly to impact on Action Areas. However, a clear mechanism to make an effective regional impact is not clear, regional inter-country governance is almost unmentioned.Cohesion of the CRP portfolio was an important aspiration during Phase II. However, the level of cohesion was limited due to lack of alignment among individual CRP priorities. Lessons must be learned from this to inform One CGIAR. CD's Figure 3 (p. 6) shows how the planned Initiatives will link together for cohesion. Plant Health and Rapid Response to Protect Food Security and Livelihoods Initiative has close links with Genebanks, SeEdQual, ABI, EiA and Market Intelligence and Product Profiling but does not appear to be linked to One Health (for mycotoxins) and MITIGATE+ (IDPM strategies). As priorities in different Initiatives will be decided by different teams how will cohesion be achieved? (Note: while there is no mention of mycotoxins in One Health, yet this was an important part of A4NH).A related concern is the multitude of links with the RIIs for scaling innovations. There will be considerable transaction costs and competition among all Initiatives. How will priorities be decided and what will happen to the lower priority innovations? The management structure detailed in the CD is very complex and most importantly, lacks clear hierarchy or lines of authority which could lead to delays in making decisions. There is a need for clear prioritization principles and guidelines as well as designated independent arbiter to make final decisions. Portfolio integration is a high priority for One CGIAR.This Initiative clearly aligns with the cohesion of the portfolio as part of the Resilient Agrifood Systems Action Area. Linkages to other projects in livestock production, markets, gender, and peri-urban agriculture are noted in the connections diagram in the CD. This Initiative will clearly contribute to collective global targets in health and food security and to all the Action Area outcomes (both shared and specific) for Resilient Agrifood Systems. Vertical cohesion: The Initiative is structured based on the ToC framework and hence it aligns well with the CGIAR result framework (cf. CD's Figure 6 and Annex 1), which is basically an application of the classical ToC. However, this model works well when Initiatives are top-down and/or unidirectional, moving from activities, to outputs, outcomes, and impacts, assuming causalities between these steps and an if-then logic. This model is, however, not always applicable-almost never to co-innovation approaches in agroecology, which are emic, bottom up, co-constructed, adaptive, emergent, and where the role of researchers and development agents is to facilitate, to broker knowledge, to create a dialogue of wisdoms to support self-investment, a sense of ownership and a risk-taking attitude by local actors, motivated by their active participation in a co-innovation process. Problems are addressed as they emerge, and solutions are developed through trial and error, experimenting together between different actors of a platform. There is no participant in such platforms that poses itself above the others, setting the agenda, deciding on the problems to be addressed or their priority. The Initiative evaluated here still speaks of \"delivering CGIAR innovations\" or \"agroecology interventions,\" which shows that the authors have no experience on how innovations emerge in the realm of agroecology.Lateral cohesion: This Initiative is part of the overarching results framework that comprises the 32 Initiatives that will be deployed by the CGIAR as from January 2022. Many (or most) of the scientists participating in this Initiative will also participate in other CGIAR Initiatives, and several Initiatives will be implemented in exactly the same target regions (and likely with the same households and communities). However, the messages conveyed by these different Initiatives are often contradictory. This will create confusion among the partners and beneficiaries on the ground. If the CGIAR wants to take up agroecology as its main approach to ag innovation and rural development, then the entire portfolio of 32 Initiatives should follow an agroecological approach. If the motivation of the CGIAR is to take up agroecology because the funders push for this, then a major transformation is needed across CGIAR, including capacity development and engagement with new types of social actors. Alternatively, CGIAR authorities could explain to funders that their core business is ecological or sustainable intensification, and not agroecology. Agroecology is a different paradigm for which the CGIAR has not been designed for or properly equipped.The Initiative should enhance the cohesion of the portfolio and demonstrate measurable and verifiable outputs, outcomes, and impacts in line with CGIAR results framework. This shortcoming is especially visible in work packages 4 and 5. Connection of the research to policy is especially weak. This shortcoming could be overcome by providing justification through robust institutional analyses that shows how TAFSSA can produce verifiable outcomes and impact for programs and policy. Greater clarity is needed on \"open-access system\" that TAFSSA proposes to demonstrate the potential of the Initiative to support co-production of knowledge and monitoring and learning on issues of data interoperability and gender disaggregated data analysis."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3d5f97dfc9058b4e83fb4fbc804bc2bb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://dataverse.harvard.edu/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/QLA5KE/H8VIB4","id":"140335208"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f36f46e9-f9a0-4907-aa4d-5d68f8b9b4db","content":"1. Yes, read and write 2. Yes, read 0. No, cannot read and write A24 Can you read this sentence out loud? (SHOW CARD) 1. Cannot read at all 2. Can read some of it Can read whole sentence MODULE B: EXPOSURE TO PROGRAM SERVICES We would like to ask about your experiences with AWWs, ASHAs, or ANMs during the pregnancy of your wife or your daughter or your daughter in-law No Question Response AWW Response ASHA Response ANM Response code B1. Do you know if there is an …. in your village/ or who visits your village? 1. Yes 0. No B2. Have you ever been at home while the….visited your home? 1. Flipchart/videos for maternal nutrition/ health were shown 2. Received information about importance of and benefits of different food groups that need to be added to pregnant women's diet 3. Received advice to purchase diversenutritious food for pregnant women 4. Received advice to motivate his/ pregnant wife/her daughter/her daughter in-law to consume recommended quantity of diverse nutrient rich food items daily 5. Received information about the role of IFA and Calcium tablets in preventing complications during childbirth 6. Received advice to ensure adequate supply of IFA and calcium tablets at home 7. Received advice to ensure intake of one tablet of IFA daily from 4 th month of pregnancy by his wife/her daughter/daughter-in law 8. Discussed difficulties like nausea, dizziness, side effects of IFA 9. Received advice to ensure intake of 2 tablets of Calcium daily from 4 th month of pregnancy by his wife/her daughter/daughter-in law 10. Received advice on early initiation of breast feeding 11. Received advice on avoiding pre-lacteal (honey, jaggery, ghee or ghutti before breast milk comes in or breastfeeding is established) for the newborn 12. Received advice on exclusive breast feeding for first 6 months after birth 13. Received advice to ensure pregnant women to take rest at least for 2 hours after lunch and sleep for at least 8 hours at night 14. Received advice to make sure that his pregnant wife/her daughter/ her daughter in-lawdoes not do heavy work 15. Received advice to review weight chart and ensure wife's/daugher's/daughter's-in-law weight gain 16. Received advice to call health worker on mobile if wife/daughter/daughter-in law has complications 17. Quizzed on what was shown/told 18. Prize giving ceremony 19. Gavecommitments on commitment sheet 95.Others (specify) 99. Don't knowGood morning/afternoon. I am ________ from Neerman. Together with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), we are conducting an evaluation of the A&T program in this area. We want to talk with you about your wife/your daughter in-law /your daughters'nutrition and health during pregnancy. The information that you will provide us will be used to set up a good health program in this community and in similar settings in other parts of the world.We are inviting you to be a participant in this study. We value your opinion. You will only be identified through code numbers. Your identity will not be stored with other information we collect about you. Your responses will be assigned a code number, and the list connecting your name with this number will be kept in a locked room and will be destroyed once all the data has been collected and analyzed. Any information we obtain from you during the research will be kept strictly confidential. We will use approximately 40-50 mintues of your time to collect all the information.There will be no cost to you other than your time. Your participation in this research is completely voluntary. You are free to withdraw your consent and discontinue participation in this study at any time. You also have the right to refuse to answer specific questions. There will be no risk as a result of your participating in the study. Two organizations are Jointly doing this survey -International Food Policy Research Institute and Neerman. Your participation will be highly appreciated. The answers you give will help provide better information to policymakers, practitioners and program managers so that they can plan for better services that will respond to your needs.The researcher read to me orally the consent form and explained to me and I agreed to take part in this research. I understand that I am free to discontinue participation at any time if I so choose, and that the investigator will gladly answer any question that arise during the course of the interview.  Are you a member of any of the groups?(Multiple response possible) -66None 1. Yes, I am a member of Panchayat 2. Yes, I am a member of VHNSC 3. Yes, I am a member of Reproductive Health Groups 4. Yes, I am a member of Women's/Mother's groups 5. Yes, I am a member of Father's/Husband's groups 6. Yes, I am a member of men's group 7. Yes, I am a member of Self-Help Group 8. Yes, I am a member of Gram Sabha 95. Yes, I am a member of other (specify) C3.Have you participated in or attended any community group meeting in the past three months? Reminds and encourages pregnant wife/daughter/daughter in-law to consume the recommended quantity of diversified foods daily E20.Ensure that there are enough tablets of IFA at home E21.Ensure that there are enough tablets of calcium at home E22.Remind pregnant wife/daughter/daughter in-law to take one tablet of IFA daily E23.Remind pregnant wife/daughter/daughter in-law to take 2 tablets of Calcium daily E24.Remind /helps pregnant wife/daughter/daughter in-law to take rest for 2 hours/day E25.Remind pregnant wife/daughter/daughter in-law to measure weight every time she goes for ANC and record the weight in the MCP card E26.Does not let pregnant wife/daughter/daughter in-law carry out work which includes heavy lifting during pregnancy E27.Accompanies pregnant wife/your daughter/your daughter in-law to health facility for regular ANC check up E28.Call the health worker on mobile if pregnant wife/daughter/daughter in-law has any difficulties related to pregnancy E29.When frontline workers visit pregnant wife/daughter/daughter in-law at your home, join the discussions and attend the counseling session E30.Buy soap for the houseThe following questions are for husbands/Mothers/Mothers-in-law of recently delivered women No Question Response Response code E31.Were you present at the delivery of your wife/daughter/daughter-in-law?1. Yes 0. No E32.Did you do anything to help her breastfeed the baby?1. Yes 0. No  Skip to E34 E33. What did you do regarding feeding/breastfeeding? (Multiple response possible)1. Placed newborn baby on mother's chest in skin to skin contact immediately after delivering baby 2. Cleaned baby's mouth with oil, water etc 1. Helped her and told her to breastfeed the child within 1 hour of birth 2. Did not give and advised her not to give honey, jhanam ghutti, water, cow or goat's milk 3. Showed the right way of positioning and attaching the baby to the breast 4. Helped to place the baby on the breast 95. Others (specify) E34.During the first 3 days after the baby was born, did you feed the baby anything? At what age should an infant first begin eating soft or semi-solid foods?-------------Months (Range: 0-12) F38.Until about what age should a baby continue to be breastfed in addition to eating soft foods?Number of months -99. Do not know (Range: 0-36)"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2640588534b80a5d3d127d0a2bd0aae2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/832e84d7-920a-439c-81fe-40196d5033ae/content","id":"-1340417802"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4d8c81f9-c483-47d6-b54a-c68167778ca9","content":"Puccinia triticina can be enhanced in wheat (Triticum aestivum ) cultivars through a better knowledge of resistance genes that are present in important cultivars and germplasm. Multi-pathotype tests on 84 wheat cultivars grown in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden during 1992 Á2002 and 39 differential testers enabled the postulation of nine known genes for seedling resistance to leaf rust. Genes Lr1 , Lr2a , Lr3 , Lr10 , Lr13 , Lr14a , Lr17 , Lr23 and Lr26 were found singly or in combination in 47 of the cultivars (55.9%). The most frequently occurring genes in cultivars grown in Sweden were Lr13 (20.4%), Lr14a (14.8%) and Lr26 (14.8%). Lr14a was the most common gene in cultivars grown in Norway (18.7%), Lr13 in Denmark (35.5%) and Lr10 in Finland (20.0%). Although 28 cultivars (33.3%) exhibited a response pattern that could not be assigned to resistance genes or combinations present in the tester lines, several pathotypes carried virulence and hence these genes or combinations are of limited use. Nine cultivars (10.7%) lacked detectable seedling resistance. One cultivar was resistant to all pathotypes used in the study.Leaf or brown rust, caused by the fungus Puccinia triticina Eriks., is one of the most common diseases of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in the world. Yield losses in Mexico can vary from 6.6% in resistant cultivars to 62.7% in susceptible cultivars under high disease pressure (SAYRE et al. 1998). Quality losses due to leaf rust include reduced protein levels and softness equivalent scores (EVERTS et al. 2001). In the North European countries Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, the disease generally appears late in the crop season. Yield losses are rarely severe but can be substantial during years when susceptible cultivars are used, winters are mild and conditions for development of leaf rust continue to be favorable throughout the season (WIIK 1991). In Sweden, yield losses of up to 10% have been noted in field trials (SANDNES and WAERN 1991;WIIK 1991).Genetic resistance is one of the most effective, environmentally sound and economic means of control of diseases on wheat (PINK 2002). Knowledge of the identity and diversity of leaf rust resistance genes in cultivars and commonly used germplasm in breeding programs can improve the efficiency of developing new resistant cultivars. More than 50 resistance genes to leaf rust have been identified in wheat (MCINTOSH et al. 2003(MCINTOSH et al. , 2004)). However, new pathogen races rapidly overcome most race-specific resistance genes. For example in Australia the release of cultivars with single genes for resistance to Puccinia triticina during 1938Á1964 was followed by increased frequencies of pathotypes with matching virulence (PARK et al. 2001). There is a continuous need to identify and incorporate effective resistance genes into cultivars of wheat.The distribution of leaf rust resistance genes has been investigated for cultivars grown in Western and Eastern Europe (BARTOS ˇand VALKOUN 1988;WARZECHA 1992;BROERS and DE HAAN 1994;BARTOS ˇet al. 1996;MESTERHA ´ZY et al. 2000;WINZELER et al. 2000;PARK et al. 2001;SINGH et al. 2001) but only for a few cultivars grown in Northern Europe (BROERS and DE HAAN 1994;WINZELER et al. 2000;HERRERA FOESSEL 2001).The objective of the present study was to investigate the occurrence and distribution of genes for seedling resistance to leaf rust in 84 bread wheat cultivars commonly grown in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden during 1992Á2002. Information on the genetic basis of resistance could contribute to a better understanding of the durability of resistance and facilitate the accumulation of effective resistance genes into cultivars.The host material represents 84 of the most widely cultivated spring and winter wheat cultivars in Denmark (31 cultivars), Finland (25 cultivars), Norway (16 cultivars) and Sweden (54 cultivars) between 1992 and 2002 (Table 1). Cultivars with the highest quantity of certified seed were selected based on figures obtained from the following seed control agencies or plant breeding companies: Plantedirektoratet in Denmark, Statens utsa ¨deskontroll in Sweden, Landbrukstilsynet in Norway and Boreal PB in Finland. Svalo ¨f-Weibull AB in Sweden, Graminor A/S in Norway and Boreal PB in Finland kindly provided seed. Information on pedigrees and year of release was provided by plant breeding companies, The Nordic Gene Bank or obtained from the Wheat Pedigree and Identified Alleles of Genes On Line database (http:// genbank.vurv.cz/wheat/pedigree/).A set of differential tester lines that carry known leaf rust (Lr) resistance genes were also included (Table 2). The tester lines, mostly developed by P.L. Dyck, Agriculture Canada, Winnipeg, Man., Canada, are maintained at CIMMYT (International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center) in Mexico.Twelve Mexican pathotypes of Puccinia triticina were used to evaluate the testers and cultivars. The nomenclature of the pathotypes follows the system of LONG and KOLMER (1989), with two additional supplementary sets (SINGH 1991). The pathotypes used were the following: BBB/BN, BBG/BN, CBJ/QB, CBJ/QL, CCJ/SP, MBJ/SP, MCJ/QM, MCJ/SP, MFB/SP, NCJ/BN, TBD/TM and TCB/TD (Table 3).A set of 6Á8 seeds per cultivar and tester line was used in the test with each pathotype. Ten-day-old seedlings were inoculated by spraying with urediniospores suspended in a light-weight mineral oil (2 Á3 mg ml (1 ). Inoculated plants were placed in a dew chamber overnight at 18 Á208C and then transferred to greenhouse chambers at 18 Á228C. (SINGH and RAJARAM 1991). For pathotype NCJ/BN, avirulent to Lr13 , seedlings of cultivars and tester lines were inoculated after 14 days since expression of Lr13 is known to be clearer when older seedlings are inoculated (SINGH and RAJARAM 1991). Infection types (IT) were recorded 9 to 12 days after inoculation according to the 0 to 4 scale described by STAKMAN et al. (1962) and ROELFS (1984) where 00/no macroscopic symptoms, ; 0/hypersensitive necrotic or chloro-tic flecks, 10/small uredinia surrounded by necrosis, 20/small to medium uredinia often surrounded by necrosis or chlorosis, X 0/random distribution of variable-sized uredinia on single leaf, 3 0/mediumsized uredinia that may be associated with chlorosis, 40/large uredinia without chlorosis, '/ 0/uredinia somewhat larger than normal for the infection type,(/ 0/uredinia somewhat smaller than normal, C 0/more chlorosis than normal, N 0/more than usual degree of necrosis. Discrete infection types on different plants of the same line were separated by a comma (e.g. 4, or 1,3). A range of infection types on a single leaf, not adequately described by X, was recorded using more than one infection type with the predominant infection type listed first (e.g. 3C3, 12 ( ). Infection types 3 and 4 (susceptible host/virulent pathotype) were considered high and 0Á2 were considered low (resistant host/avirulent pathotype).The presence of leaf rust resistance genes in the cultivars was postulated by comparing the high and low infection types displayed by a cultivar with the infection type of known Lr genes in the tester lines. Based on the gene-for-gene concept, lines susceptible to a pathotype cannot have an Lr gene for which the pathotype is avirulent. Lr genes were considered present if the low infection type produced on a cultivar by one or more pathotypes, matched the infection type of the corresponding tester line. If the low infection type produced on a cultivar was lower than the corresponding tester lines, then the cultivar was considered to have one or more unidentified Lr genes (STATLER 1984;MODAWI et al. 1985;MCVEY 1989).The 84 selected cultivars, estimated to be the most commonly grown in Northern Europe 1992Á2002 based on quantities certified seed, are presented in Table 1. Several cultivars were grown in more than one country. A few of the most popular cultivars were not available to the present study: 'Ebi' and 'Lars' in Sweden;'Stakado Abed', 'Sleipner' and 'Hereward' in Denmark;'Folke', 'Portal', 'Kalle', 'Rida', 'Rubin', 'Lars' and 'Skjaldar' in Norway;'Ramiro' and'Gunbo' in Finland. According to literature, 'Sleipner' carries Lr26 (MCINTOSH et al. 1995) and'Hereward' has Lr13 (GOYEAU andPARK 1997).The infection types produced on the tester lines with known Lr genes after inoculation with twelve Mexican leaf rust pathotypes are presented in Table 2. The low infection types of the tester lines were in accordance with low infection types reported by MCINTOSH et al. (1995). The presence of genes Lr3ka , Lr9, Lr14b, Lr16 , Lr19, Lr20 , Lr22b, Lr25 , Lr29, Lr30, Lr34, Table 1. Cultivars grown in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden 1992 Á2002 and postulated genes for seedling resistance after inoculation with twelve pathotypes of Puccinia triticina. Lr36 , Lr37 and LrB could not be determined with the twelve pathotypes used in the study because all were avirulent or virulent to these genes.The results of the gene-postulations for different cultivars are presented in Table 1. A summary of the identified and unidentified genes in the material is presented in Table 4. Comparisons of infection types displayed by the cultivars and tester lines allowed the postulation of nine known leaf rust genes in the material: Lr1 , Lr2a, Lr3 , Lr10 , Lr13, Lr14a , Lr17 , Lr23 and Lr26 . Of the 84 cultivars tested, 9 had no detectable seedling resistance; 47 lines had one or more known Lr genes including 26 cultivars that had one or more known Lr genes and one or more unidentified Lr genes. The infection types of the 28 cultivars exhibiting only a response pattern not corresponding to the tester lines and postulated to carry only unidentified Lr genes are presented in Table 5. Eleven different combinations of known and unknown Lr genes were detected in the material. Ten cultivars were resistant to more than eight pathotypes including one cultivar ('Lavett') that was resistant to all pathotypes used in the study (Table 5).The results for the 54 cultivars commonly grown in Sweden 1992Á2002 are presented in Tables 1 and 4. The cultivar 'Kosack' (u ) was released in 1984 and has dominated the seed market to the present day. The winter wheat cultivars 'Ritmo' (Lr13'/u ), 'Stava' (u ), 'Tarso (Lr26'/u), 'Kris' (Lr10'/Lr13'/u ), 'Meridien' (Lr13'/u), 'Urban' (none ), 'Bill' (Lr3'/Lr17'/Lr23'/ u), 'Ebi' and 'Lars' and spring wheat cultivars 'Dragon' (Lr14a'/u ), 'Curry' (Lr14a'/u ) and 'Vinjett' (Lr14a) were the most extensively grown during 1992Á2002 estimated from quantities certified seed   The results for the 31 cultivars commonly grown in Denmark are presented in Tables 1 and 4. Wheat is mainly of winter type in Denmark and there is a rapid change in cultivar distribution. The two most commonly grown cultivars typically account for more than 50% of the area under cultivation e.g. 'Ritmo' was grown on more than 50% of the wheat area 1998and 1999(HOVMØLLER 2001)). 'Pepital' (Lr10'/Lr13 ), 'Haven' (Lr26'/u), 'Hussar' (Lr26'/u ), 'Ritmo' (Lr13'/u), 'Lynx' (Lr17'/Lr26'/u ), 'Kris' (Lr10'/Lr13'/u ), 'Terra' (Lr13), 'Sleipner' and 'Hereward' have been the most common winter wheat cultivars during 1992 Á2002. 'Dragon' (Lr14a'/ u), 'Leguan' (Lr14a'/u ) and 'Vinjett' (Lr14a) have been the most popular spring wheat cultivars (PLANTEDIREKTORATET 1992Á2002). The infection response patterns of the selected cultivars and tester lines enabled postulation of Lr genes in 83.9% of the material while a total of 77.4% displayed a resistance response not matching the testers. Lr13 occurred in 35.5%; Lr26 in 29.0%; Lr14a in 16.1%; Lr10 and Lr17 in 9.7%; Lr3 in 6.4% and Lr23 in 3.2% of the material.The results for the 16 cultivars commonly grown in Norway are presented in Tables 1 and 4. Cultivars 'Avle' (Lr14a), 'Zebra' (Lr14a ), 'Bjarne' (Lr1), 'Tjalve' (none ), 'Bastian' (none ), 'Polkka' (u ), 'Mjølner' (Lr10'/u), 'Terra' (Lr13 ), 'Bjørke' (u ), 'Magnifik' (Lr1 ) and 'Folke' have been the most commonly grown during 1992Á2002 (A ˚SSVEEN et al. 2003). Of the 16 cultivars grown in Norway, 50.0% contained one or more of genes Lr14a (18.7%), Lr1 (12.5%); Lr10 , Lr13 or Lr26 (6.2%) while 37.5% had an infection type pattern not matching the tester lines and 12.5% were susceptible.The results for the 25 selected cultivars grown in Finland are presented in Tables 1 and 4. In Finland, the cultivars 'Tjalve' (none ), 'Mahti' (Lr10), 'Vinjett' (Lr14a), 'Kruunu' (Lr10 ), 'Bastian' (none ), 'Zebra' (Lr14a), 'Manu' (u ) and 'Anniina' (u) have dominated the spring wheat market. The most common winter wheat cultivars during 1992Á2002 were 'Tryggve' (u ), 'Urho' (u ), 'Tarso' (Lr26'/u ), 'Aura' (u ), 'Ilves' (none ), 'Gunbo' and 'Ramiro' (M. Jalli, pers. comm). Gene-postulation showed the presence of Lr10 (20.0%); Lr14a (8.0%) and Lr26 (4.0%) in 32.0% of the material while 48% displayed only a resistance reaction different from that of the tester lines and 20.0% were susceptible to all twelve leaf rust pathotypes.The results of the present study showed that infection types corresponding to nine known and several unidentified Lr resistance genes, either singly or in combination, conditioned race-specific seedling resistance in 75 of the 84 investigated wheat cultivars commonly grown in Northern Europe between 1992 and 2002. Genes masked by gene suppression, not expressed in the seedling stage or under the given environmental conditions could remain undetected Table 3. Avirulence/virulence formulae for leaf rust genes based on seedling reactions for 12Puccinia triticina pathotypes used in the study 1 .Virulence to Lr genes BBB/ BN 1,1c,2a,2b,2c,3,3bg,11,13,14a,15,17,18,21,24,26,27'/31 10,22a,23,28 BBG/BN 1,1c,2a,2b,2c,3,3bg,11,13,14a,15,17,18,21,24,26,27'/31,28 10,22a,23 CBJ/QB 1,1c,2a,2b,2c,10,15,18,21,23,24,26,27'/31,28 3,3bg,11,13,14a,17,22a CBJ/QL 1,2a,2b,2c,15,18,21,23,24,26,27'/31,28 3,3bg,10,11,13,14a,17,22a CCJ/SP 1,1c,2a,2b,2c,18,21,24,28 3,3bg,10,11,13,14a,15,17,18,22a,23,26,27'/31 MFB/SP 2a,2b,2c,11,17,18,21 1,3,3bg,10,13,14a,15,22a,23,24,26,27'/31,28 TBD/TM 1c,11,21,23,24,26 1,2a,2b,2c,3,3bg,10,13,14a,15,17,18,22a,27'/31,28 TCB/TD 1c,10,11,17,21,24,27'/31,29 1,2a,2b,2c,3,3bg,13,14a,15,18,22a,23,26,28 MCJ/QM 1c,2a,2b,2c,15,18,21,23,24,28 1,3,3bg,10,11,13,14a,17,22a,26,27'/31 MCJ/SP 1c,2a,2b,2c,21,24,28 1,3,3bg,10,11,13,14a,15,17,18,22a,23,26,27'/31 MBJ/SP 1c,2a,2b,2c,21,24,26,28 1,3,3bg,10,11,13,14a,15,17,18,22a,23,27'/31 NCJ/BN 2a,2b,3,3bg,10,13,15,18,22a,24,27'/31 1,2c,10,11,14a,17,21,23,26,28 1 All pathotypes were avirulent in seedling stage for genes Lr3ka , Lr9 , Lr16 , Lr19 , Lr25 , Lr29 , Lr30 , Lr36 ; and were virulent for genes Lr14b, Lr20 , Lr22b, Lr34 , Lr37 , LrB.  but may still have an effect on the disease resistance in the field. Genes Lr13 , Lr26 , Lr14a and Lr10 were postulated in more than 10% of the material followed by Lr1 , Lr17 , Lr3, Lr23 and Lr2a. Twenty-eight cultivars displayed infection type patterns that could not be attributed to known Lr genes in the tester lines. Lines with identical infection types to the same pathotypes may or may not have the same unidentified Lr gene(s). The unidentified genes could be known Lr genes that could not be postulated with the leaf rust pathotypes in the present study, adult-plant resistance genes that are expressed slightly in the seedling stage, undescribed Lr genes or alleles of known Lr genes. Inclusion of additional testers, pathotypes and adult plant tests would possibly have allowed some of these Lr genes to be identified.In order to understand the usefulness of the genes postulated in the material grown in Northern Europe, it is necessary to compare the presence of postulated Lr genes with virulence data for Puccinia triticina populations. Pathogenicity surveys carried out in Sweden in 1957 (GUSTAVSSON 1958), 1958  (BJO ¨RKMAN 1959), 1959 (LEIJERSTAM 1960) and 1960  (HERMANSEN 1962) showed five predominating pathotypes often occurring in mixtures. However, the virulence composition of the pathotypes was difficult to determine due to the method of analysis. In the absence of recent virulence data, virulence surveys in neighboring countries and comparisons of the results from the present study with annual disease severity ratings of leaf rust in Sweden and Norway may indicate presence of virulence to the postulated genes in the material grown in Northern Europe.Surveys in Western and Central Europe 1996 Á1999 have shown that countries have few pathotypes in common, indicating a great genetic diversity within the pathogen (MESTERHA ´ZY et al. 2000). Virulence surveys in Western Europe 1995 (PARK and FELSENSTEIN 1998) detected 53 pathotypes, including 4 predominating pathotypes with virulence to Lr3, Lr10 , Lr17b and Lr26. Based on these surveys, cultivars with Lr9 , Lr12 , Lr19 , Lr22a , Lr24 , Lr25 , Lr28 , Lr29 , Lr34 , Lr35 and Lr37 should provide some protection against leaf rust also in Northern Europe, particularly if combined with other efficient resistance genes.The gene Lr13 was the most common resistance gene that could be postulated in the material and is probably the most widely distributed Lr gene in the world (MCINTOSH et al. 1995). WINZELER et al. (2000) found that 58% of the European wheat genotypes tested carried Lr13 alone or in combination. The gene was once considered to confer durable adult plant resistance (SINGH et al. 2001) but is now ineffective in several countries including Mexico (SINGH 1991). Lr13 is still considered effective in combinations with other race-specific genes in Australia as the Lr13 -virulent pathotype was avirulent on many other resistance genes (SINGH et al. 2001). However, in Mexico, pathotypes contain virulence to Lr13 in combination with virulence on several important resistance genes (SINGH 1991) and many cultivars that carry Lr13 alone or in combination with other genes were susceptible in field trials (SINGH and RAJARAM 1991). In Europe 1996Á 1999, virulence to cultivars with Lr13 varied with genotype suggesting that either the frequency of virulence to Lr13 varied across Europe or that additional genes are present in cultivars displaying higher field resistance (WINZELER et al. 2000). In North America, cultivar 'Era' with Lr10 , Lr13 and Lr34 has remained highly resistant to moderately resistant since the 1970s (OELKE and KOLMER 2004). Effective resistance in the North American cultivars 'Alsen' and 'Norm' were found to be due to the interaction of Lr13 and Lr23 , with Lr34; and Lr13, Lr16 , Lr23 with Lr34 (OELKE and KOLMER 2005).In the present study, Lr13 was found together with Lr10 , Lr26 and/or unidentified genes. According to annual surveys of disease severity in Sweden, cultivar 'Revelj' (Lr13'/u ) had an average of 25% diseased leaf area 1997Á2001 (LARSSON et al. 2002) indicating that Lr13 and the unidentified gene(s) have been overcome in Sweden. Diseased leaf area for 'Ritmo', 'Konsul' and 'Pagode' was 1% 1993Á1997 (LARSSON et al. 1997);'Meridien' 5% and 'Residence' 4% 1997Á 2001(LARSSON et al. 2002); 'SW Harnesk' 5% 1998Á 2002(LARSSON et al. 2003) and 'Trintella' 4% leaf rust 1995Á1999 (LARSSON et al. 2000). It is thus likely that these cultivars contain additional resistance genes more effective than those of 'Revelj'. 'Kris' (Lr10'/Lr13'/u) had 2% diseased leaf area 1998Á2002 (LARSSON et al. 2003) while 'Pepital' (Lr10'/Lr13 ) had 1% diseased leaf area 1993Á1997 (LARSSON et al. 1997). Although disease severity varies between years and cultivars, it seems that virulence exists to Lr13 and the combinations of Lr13 with Lr10 and unidentified genes in northern Europe.The resistance gene Lr26 is present on the rye segment in a T1BL.1RS wheat-rye translocation. The translocation was spread mainly through wheat derivatives produced in Germany during the 1930s (RABINOVICH 1998). In the present study, cultivars 'Brigadier', 'Florida', 'Haven', 'Hussar', 'Marabu', 'Rialto', 'Tjelvar', 'Tarso' and 'Toronto' showed infection types corresponding to Lr26 and carry Hereditas 143 (2006) the T1BL.1RS translocation (SCHLEGEL et al. 1994;KAZMAN and LEIN 1996). The cultivars 'Kamerat' and 'Marshal' also displayed Lr26 , most likely derived from 'Disponent' and 'Brigadier' in the pedigrees. Pathotypes virulent to Lr26 exist in most areas (MCINTOSH et al. 1995). In annual disease surveys in Sweden, cultivars 'Florida' (Lr26) had an average of 3% leaf rust 1986 Á1995 (LARSSON and MAGNE ´T 1995); 'Tjelvar' (Lr26) 3% 19833% Á1992 (CARLSSON et al. 1992)); 'Toronto' (Lr26 ) and 'Tarso' (Lr26'/u) 5%, 'Haven' (Lr26'/u) 1% and 'Hussar' (Lr26'/u) 2% infected leaf area 1993Á1997 (LARSSON et al. 1997) and 'Marshal' (Lr26'/u ) showed 3% 1998Á2002 (LARSSON et al. 2003). It is thus clear that virulence to Lr26 and combinations with unidentified genes exists in Northern Europe.The gene Lr14a originates from Triticum dicoccum (MCINTOSH et al. 1995). The cultivar 'Canon', displaying Lr14a , is the likely donor of this gene to 'Curry', 'Avle', 'Zebra' and 'Vinjett'. Seedling tests with 20 Australian leaf rust pathotypes have shown Lr20 in 'Canon' but not Lr14a (SINGH et al. 2001). Lr20 could not be detected with the pathotypes used in the present study because all were virulent to this gene. Expression of Lr14a can be variable and difficult to interpret due to host genetic background, virulent pathotypes, epistatic genes or intermediate infection types. The gene Lr14a is linked to powdery mildew resistance gene Pm5 (MCINTOSH et al. 1995). Adult plant studies and powdery mildew tests may yield additional information on the presence or absence of Lr14a and Lr20 in 'Canon' used in the present study. The difference could also be due to heterogeneity in the material. Annual disease surveys in Sweden have shown 11% diseased leaf area on 'Curry', 8% on 'Dragon' and 3% on 'Vinjett' 1998Á2002 (LARSSON et al. 2003);16% on 'Drabant' 1985Á1992 (CARLSSON et al. 1992);1% on 'Nova' 1993Á1997 (LARSSON et al. 1997) and 10% leaf rust on 'Zebra ' 2000' Á2001 (LARSSON et al. 2002)). This indicates that 'Vinjett' and 'Nova' may have additional adult plant and/or additive minor genes that may have contributed to resistance in the field compared to 'Curry' and 'Dragon'. In a province of Norway in 2002, the cultivar 'Zebra' had 50% diseased leaf area, ' Avle' around 20% and 'Vinjett' about 15% (ABRAHAMSEN et al. 2003). This indicates that resistance gene Lr14a has been overcome in Sweden and this region in Norway. These cultivars have been widely used in Northern Europe and it is likely that Lr14a has been overcome also in other areas.Resistance gene Lr10 originates from bread wheat and may have some effect in combinations with other genes in parts of the world (MCINTOSH et al. 1995).Lr10 occurred singly or with unidentified gene(s) in the Finnish cultivars 'Ruso', 'Kruunu', 'Mahti', 'Heta' and 'Tapio'. The source was not apparent from the pedigrees. No information regarding virulence to leaf rust in Finland could be obtained for the present study. In Sweden, annual disease surveys showed 4% diseased leaf area on 'Grommit' and 2% on 'Kris' 1998Á2002 (LARSSON et al. 2003) compared to 1% on 'Pepital' 1993Á1997 (LARSSON et al. 1997) that all have Lr10 in combination with other Lr genes. Virulence to Lr10 thus seems to be present in Northern Europe.The genes Lr1 , Lr2a , Lr3, Lr17 and Lr23 occurred in less than 5% of the material. Annual disease surveys in Sweden have shown 3% leaf rust on 'SW Gnejs' (Lr1 ) 1998Á2002; 4% leaf rust on 'SW Vals' (Lr2a'/ u); 4% on 'Grommit' (Lr3'/Lr10'/Lr17'/u) and 3% on 'Bill' (Lr3'/Lr17'/Lr23'/u) 1998 Á2002 (LARSSON et al. 2003). It seems likely that the low incidence of leaf rust on these cultivars could be due to combinations of effective Lr genes and adult plant genes and/ or additive minor genes.Several cultivars displayed infection type patterns that did not correspond to known Lr genes in the tester lines. In the present material, similar infection types not corresponding to the tester lines were found in 'Hussar', 'Kris', 'Lynx', 'Marshal' and 'Brigadier'. It is possible that these cultivars contain Lr37 , supported by the presence of 'Rendezvous' in their pedigrees, in addition to unidentified seedling resistance genes. 'Rendezvous' was selected for resistance to eye spot disease and stripe rust from VPM1 and inherited gene Lr37 from Triticum ventricosum (MCINTOSH et al. 1995). Gene Lr37 confers mainly adult plant resistance and is difficult to detect in seedling tests. Adult plant tests of 'Hussar', 'Kris', 'Lynx', 'Marshal' and 'Brigadier' could confirm the presence or absence of Lr37 . SINGH et al. (2001) postulated Lr37 in 'Hussar', 'Lynx' and'Brigadier'. WINZELER et al. (2000) reported that two cultivars that seemed to carry Lr37 singly, provided low seedling resistance and full adult plant resistance in western Europe in 1996Á1999. Differential tester lines with Lr37 have shown variable levels of moderate susceptibility to resistance to leaf rust in field trials in Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Great Britain and Poland 1998 Á1999. Virulence to Lr37 varied between locations although the gene was identified as the most effective of the resistance genes currently used in European wheat cultivars (MESTERHAZY et al. 2000). In Sweden, annual disease surveys showed 2% diseased leaf area on 'Hussar' 1993Á1997 (LARSSON et al. 1997) and 4% on 'Kris' and 'Marshal' 1995Á1999 (LARSSON et al. 2000). If these cultivars carry Lr37 , it appears that virulence exists in Northern Europe to Lr37 in these cultivars. 'Brigadier' had 0% leaf rust during 1993Á1997 (LARSSON et al. 1997). It is probable that this cultivar has additional Lr resistance genes and/or additive minor genes that are effective in Sweden.The cultivar 'Kosack' displayed resistance to four pathotypes used in this study but the results did not correspond to any known Lr genes in the tester lines. According to the pedigree, the line Mironovskaya 808 contains Lr3a (MCINTOSH et al. 1995) but this does not appear to have been transferred to 'Kosack'. The source of the resistance remains unknown. The unidentified resistance in the Finnish cultivar 'Vakka' is the likely origin of the resistance pattern displayed by 'Aura', 'Otso', 'Pitko' and 'Urho' that contain 'Vakka' directly or indirectly in their pedigrees. The Finnish cultivars 'Laari' and 'Luja' also displayed infection types similar to 'Vakka' although this cultivar is not included in their pedigrees and the source of resistance is unknown. The resistance in 'Anniina' to pathotype CBJ/QL was most likely inherited from 'Polkka'. The source of resistance in 'Polkka', 'Runar' and many other cultivars could not be deduced from their pedigrees. In Sweden, annual disease surveys detected 11% leaf rust on 'Kosack' 1995Á1999 (LARSSON et al. 2000); 4% on 'Ballad' 1996Á2000 (LARSSON et al. 2001);4% on 'Dirigent' and 5% on 'Hurtig' 1998Á2002 (LARSSON et al. 2002);9% on 'Flair' 1995Á1999 (LARSSON et al. 2000); 8% on 'Rental' 1985Á1994 (LARSSON et al. 1994); 9% on 'Sport' and 7% on 'Tryggve' 1983Á1992 (CARLSSON et al. 1992); 16% on 'Kadett' 1985 Á1991 (BENGTSSON  et al. 1991); 10% on 'Kartesch' 1998 Á2002 (LARSSON  et al. 2003); 10% on 'Stava' 1992 Á1996 (LARSSON and  MAGNE ´T 1996) and 11% on 'Triso' 1998Á2002  (LARSSON et al. 2003). Virulence seems to exist to the unidentified seedling resistance genes in these cultivars though some genes may be more effective than others, singly or in combination with adult plant or additive minor genes. It is difficult to estimate the virulence on genes that only occur in combinations and further field studies including cultivars or lines with single Lr genes are needed to assess the effectiveness of such genes in the present material.In the material grown in Northern Europe, a total of 9 cultivars were found without seedling resistance to the twelve leaf rust pathotypes used in the study. WINZELER et al. (2000) found that 55% of European wheat cultivars had adult plant resistance, contributed to by quantitative trait loci (QTL) and/or Lr34 that enhances resistance. In Sweden, diseased leaf area was 3% on 'Urban ' 1993' Á1997 (LARSSON et al. 1997););8% on 'Virke' 1998Á2002 (LARSSON et al. 2003);2% on 'Thasos' 1992Á1996 (LARSSON and MAGNE ´T 1996) and 6% on 'Dacke' 1995Á1999 (LARSSON et al. 2000). Although a completely susceptible tester line was not included in the annual disease surveys, the percentage leaf rust on these cultivars is low compared to for example 16% on 'Drabant' with Lr14a (CARLSSON et al. 1992). Thus, these cultivars with no postulated Lr seedling resistance genes may have additional adult plant resistance or additive minor genes that contribute to low disease pressure in the field and may be interesting for further analysis and use in breeding for leaf rust resistance.The results of the present study and annual disease surveys in Sweden and Norway indicate that virulence exists to most of the known and unidentified seedling Lr genes in the cultivars grown in Northern Europe 1992Á2002. Variation in virulence is determined by the genotypes of the pathoypes that were originally introduced to a region; over-wintering infected host plants; migration of urediniospores between regions; sexual recombination, mutation and selection pressure by host resistance genes in the region (KOLMER and LIU 2000). The viability of leaf rust urediniospores has been reported to be 1 Á5% after 24 h exposure to temperatures of (/4 to (/68C (EVERSMEYER and KRAMER 1995). Although information on the virulence and genetic diversity of Puccinia triticina populations in northern Europe is at present limited, the pathogen is likely restricted by sub-freezing winter temperatures and the absence of the principal alternate host, Thalictrum speciosissimum (ANIKSTER et al. 1997). The epidemiology of leaf rust populations in northern Europe would largely be influenced by migrating spores from neighboring areas and the presence and distribution of resistance genes in the wheat host.Comparative studies of resistance genes in the wheat host and pathogenicity surveys have illustrated the effects of host selection pressure on the Puccinia triticina pathogen population. In regions of Canada, virulence frequencies in leaf rust collections changed almost annually from 1987 Á1997 because of the introduction of Lr genes in winter wheat cultivars grown in the United States (KOLMER 1999). Pathotypes with virulence to Lr17 increased in a region of Canada from 1996 Á1998 due to extensive cultivation of one susceptible wheat cultivar with Lr17 in Kansas (KOLMER 2001). In the US and Canada, pathotypes with virulence to Lr16 declined in the late 1980s following decreased cultivation of winter wheat with this gene (KOLMER 1999). In Israel, where cultivars with Lr26 are absent, pathotypes with virulence to Lr26 have increased due to annual migration of spores from other regions (KOZMAN et al. 2004). However, Hereditas 143 (2006) studies on leaf rust in former Czechoslovakia since the 1960s concluded that changes of virulence in Puccinia triticina could only partially be ascribed to changes of resistance genes in wheat cultivars (BARTOS ˇet al.  1996).The results of the present investigation show that several known and unidentified leaf rust seedling resistance genes have been deployed in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark during 1992Á2002 that could have contributed toward host selection on the leaf rust pathogen in the field. The breakdown of the resistance genes present in the material grown in Northern Europe was most likely influenced by the cultivation of a few cultivars on extensive areas. However, information on quantities certified seed was only available as total figures for countries per year and disease severity was available as average percentage diseased leaf area for several years. Area under cultivation and disease severity of a certain cultivar may vary with region and year and from the present information it is thus not possible to conclude how Lr genes in wheat hosts may have affected disease severity patterns in Northern Europe. Additional data on disease severity, virulence surveys and adult plant tests in the region are needed to provide evidence of interactions between the Puccinia triticina pathogen and Lr genes present in the wheat host.Pyramiding genes, i.e. accumulating several effective resistance genes in the same cultivar, has been suggested as a method to achieve more durable resistance against pathogens with low genetic diversity, high gene flow and an asexual mating system (MESTERHA ´ZY et al. 2000; MCDONALD and LINDE  2002). The combination of several effective (undefeated) resistance genes into a single cultivar should extend the period of resistance since mutations at several avirulence loci would be required to produce a new virulent pathotype (PINK 2002). Molecular markers that could facilitate gene pyramiding have been developed for several effective resistance genes, including Lr9, Lr19 , Lr24 , Lr25 , Lr35, Lr37 and Lr52 (HELGUERA et al. 2003;BLASZCZYK et al. 2004;HIEBERT et al. 2005). Slow-rusting or partial resistance has been reported to be a more durable type of resistance than single seedling resistance genes (SINGH et al. 2001). Cultivars with a combination of the adult plant resistance gene Lr34 and 3Á4 additive partially effective genes have been shown to confer high levels of nonspecific resistance in many areas of the world (SINGH et al. 2000;NAVABI et al. 2005). Quantitative trait loci (QTL) for partial resistance to leaf rust have been identified in several wheat genotypes (MESSMER et al. 2000;XU et al. 2005) that could be used to develop markers necessary for breeding programs.Future host selection pressure on the pathogen could be further decreased by rotating genes through time and space by mixtures or regional deployment of cultivars with different effective resistance genes (MCDONALD and LINDE 2002;PINK 2002). The knowledge of presence of leaf rust seedling resistance genes facilitates future studies and use of adult plant resistance and additive minor genes in these cultivars. A few cultivars have dominated the market and annual disease surveys have shown that many of the most commonly grown cultivars in Northern Europe during 1992Á2002 are susceptible to leaf rust (LARSSON et al. 1994Á2003;ABRAHAMSEN et al. 2003). It is thus important to continue breeding for leaf rust resistance and monitor the pathogen as part of a management control strategy."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f720f846681ec48a9a28342afe85d6d1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e14807e3-f186-4839-a48c-4d5d3e56658e/retrieve","id":"2144476921"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"be4a9645-046c-4a9f-9a4e-a75c3617ab8f","content":"Antenatal Care ASP A ccording to the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS 2016), 33% of the Ugandan population was malnourished in 2016, 29% percent of children under 5 were stunted, 11% were underweight, 3.6% were wasted, 11.8% had low birth weight. Prevalence of anemia among women of child bearing age was at 31.8%. The current levels of malnutrition in Uganda are unacceptable. In Acholi region, 31% of children below 5 years of age are stunted, 4% are wasted and 15% are under weight. In Central region, 19% of children under 5 years are stunted, 4% are wasted and 7% are underweight. Therefore, nutrition warrants greater investment and commitment for Uganda to realize its full development potential.Among the main contributors of malnutrition is the low awareness of the available options and in some instances -the poverty levels within certain regions that limits households from accessing enough food or providing the appropriate health care.It is upon this background that the Government of Uganda with the support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development funded two projects in Kalangala region and northern Uganda. The objectives of the projects were to improve households' income by increasing productivity of farmers through adoption of commercial farming.The VODPII project in Kalangala was to achieve its objective through promoting commercial production of oil palm thus increasing household incomes. In northern Uganda, PRELNOR aimed at increasing production of food crops especially maize, beans, cassava and rice…so that farmers have excess surplus to sell.In 2003 the Government of Uganda, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), BIDCO and individual farmers in Kalangala under Kalangala Oil Palm Growers Trust (KOPGT) teamed up to establish an oil palm project with expertise from Malaysia, the pilot was rolled out on Bugala Island with plans to expand the project to other neighbouring islands in the district.The project was designed to improve the livelihood of the people of Uganda and Kalangala in particular, more so on the nutrition status of the poor and reduction on the national cost burden of importation of vegetable oils. situation Nutrition in Uganda PRELNOR Although only 20% of the Uganda population lives in Northern Uganda, it accounts for 38% of the poor in Uganda with 26% of all the chronically poor living in the area. IFAD included Northern Uganda, particularly the Acholi region, as a high priority in the IFAD project pipeline.Most farmers returning from the IDP camps rely on the natural fertility of the soils, with minimal or no inputs leading to low yields and productivity. The sub-region has excellent potential for agricultural development, which is needed for lifting the rural poor out of poverty.The PRELNOR project aims to achieve increased incomes through; adoption of improved farming practices, improving market processes and structures and providing climate specific information to enable improved farming. This Guide is therefore designed for use by field level staff. The guide gives details that are aimed at enabling the field service providers within PRELNOR and VODP II projects to gain an understanding major concepts in nutrition, identifying nutrition needs for different categories of people, identifying different forms of malnutrition, their causes, consequences, management and preventive strategies. Nutrition indicators and their measurement and monitoring methods are also included. Finally, information on food safety and hygiene is also given. The target trainees include: field level staff (Community based facilitators, Household Mentors and Unit leaders) following the trainings, the field extension service providers will have gained knowledge and skills that can be transferred to communities and household members in projects' target regions.This training guide is intended to build capacity of community level resource persons to transfer knowledge on basic concepts regarding appropriate dietery patterns and use of existing farming systems for better household nutrition.In reffering to this manual,the community resource persons will be able to draft action action plans to transfer the information gained to community members.The expected impact is that enhanced knowledge of the links between agriculture,nutrition and health,formation and/or upgrading of existing home gardens into comprehensive gardens as well as proper dietary and health practices will eventually lead to enhanced nutrition and health status.• Number of extension field workers trained and able to train their community members, number of households reached with the intervention,• Number of households trained by extension field workers that can implement the recommended practicesThis guide it to be used in creating awareness of the service providers with regards to nutrition to enable mainstreaming of nutrition into PRELNOR & VODP II projects. It will be used for training Field level implementers.The guide has 7 Main sections:1. Basic Concepts in Nutrition 2. Ensuring household and individual balanced diet 3. Malnutrition, its forms and causes 4. Food and nutrition assessment 5. Food safety and hygiene 6. Utilization of income for food and nutrition securityEach section includes a time allocation, a pre-test, an overview of the learning objectives, materials needed, notes and facilitator fact sheets pertaining to the section. Also contained is an activity that generates discussion and helps in recapping information while focusing on the key learning objectives.Materials needed: Flip charts, Markers Pens and note booksWelcome participants and thank them for participating in the training.Participants introduce themselves: their name, role and expectation of the trainingThe objectives of the training are:1. To equip frontline service providers with the knowledge and skills on nutrition, appropriate dietary patterns and practices for better household nutrition, food security and health 2. Enable frontline service providers to transfer the knowledge and skills to household beneficiaries in the project areas and community membersThe facilitators take the participants through a summary of the program. Activity: (using a flip chart, ask at least three participants their understanding of the concepts below, What is good nutrition?What are some of the common nutrient groups?What are some local food sources of the common nutrient groups?What is the function or use of these nutrient groups?After the participants provide the responses the facilitator moves forward to provide the right definition and details as provided in the session technical notes and ensuring there is great participation and discussion during the process and welcoming questions and making clarifications.Food is any nutritious substance that people eat or drink and provides them with nutrients to maintain life and growthAt the beginning of the session the facilitator is expected to understand the entry level knowledge of participants regarding the session content.At the end of this session participants are expected to:• Briefly describe what good nutrition is.• List at least six nutrients found in food and their function.• List at least five local sources of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals.Training manual For Field Extension service providers | 11A nutrient is a substance that provides nourishment essential for the maintenance of life and for growthMacronutrients are nutrients that are needed in large quantities in our bodies. They include; carbohydrates and proteinsVitamins and minerals are called 'micronutrients' as they are only needed in small amounts by the body Whether or not a food is a good source of a nutrient depends on:• The amount of nutrient in the food. Foods that contain large amounts of micronutrients compared to their energy content are called 'nutrient-rich' (or sometimes 'nutrient-dense') foods. They are preferred because they help ensure that the diet provides all nutrients needed.• The amount of the food that is eaten usually.• How readily available the nutrient in the food we eat is for absorption and use by the body.Nutrition is the science of foods and the nutrients and other substances they contain, and of their actions within the body (including ingestion, digestion, absorption, transport, metabolism, and excretion).Food security is achieved \"when all people at all times have physical, economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food for a healthy and active life\" (IFPRI, 2002).Food security is a measure of the availability of food and individuals' accessibility to it. Food security and insecurity are terms used to describe whether people have access to enough quality and quantity of food.The components of food security are:• Availability of food, or the amount of food that exists (local production and other sources);• People's physical, economic and social access to food (the capacity to produce/buy/acquire food);• Stability of this access over time;• Quality or nutritional adequacy of that food;• People's ability to utilize this food, including the patterns of control over who eats what and the physical ability to absorb and assimilate nutrients At the household level, food security refers to the ability of the household to secure adequate food that meets the dietary needs of all members of the household, either from its own production, through wild-food foraging, food gifts or through purchases.A family is food secure if it has access to enough safe and nutritious food throughout the year for all members to meet their nutrient requirements with foods they need and like/prefer for an active and healthy life.A person is considered nutrition-secure when they have a nutritionally adequate diet and the food consumed is biologically utilized such that adequate performance is maintained in growth, resisting or recovering from disease, pregnancy, lactation, and physical work.• Hunger, Illness• Psychological suffering• To be stressed, socio-familial perturbations, disrupted household dynamics• Modification of eating patterns and ritualsCoping mechanisms to food insecurityThis included consumption of low grades locally available or cheaper foods such as seasonal vegetables, wild fruits etc.This includes limited portion size of one or more household member during mealtimes, reduced numbers of meals eaten in a day, missed eating food for the entire day in situation of extreme food insecurity.Strategies like borrowing food or lending money/ resources from friends or relatives, buying food on credit, use of reserves including money saved by the family for the time of need or food stored by the households to be consumed during the time they cannot afford to buy, and rely on food aid.4. Decreasing number of household members by sending some members or complete family to eat elsewhere and in worst situation, migration of one or more family members 5. Irreversible strategies, households sell items like furniture, jewellery or utensils, borrowing money from the money lenders, part time work along with regular work, non-earning members like women starting to work.At the end of the session, let the facilitator ask whether there are any additional questions or points of clarification. After all clarifications are made (if any), the facilitator closes the session and mentions the next session and its facilitator. At the beginning of the session the facilitator is expected to understand the entry level knowledge and behavior of participants in regard to the session content.At the end of this session participants are expected to:• Know how to plan for a balanced meal • Understand the food pyramid concept when planning and serving meals • Briefly describe the main differences between the food needs for the different family membersEach group then takes 5 minutes to present its results. Following all the 6 presentations, , the facilitator takes 10-15 minutes to go through all the 3 main food groups of focus, provide any clarifications and gives the correct details as per the sessions technical notes. The facilitator should also discuss the following before the end of the session:• Macro and micro nutrients• Fats: functions and sources• Animal and plant protein sources• Water• Key vitamins (iron, calcium, iodine, vitamin A)Session technical notesCarbohydrates provide your body with the fuel it needs to keep running. Depending on how quickly they convert to sugar in the body, they can be simple or complex, carbohydrates are mainly in form of starches, simple sugars or fibre.Starch and simple sugars provide energy needed to keep the body breathing and alive, for movement and warmth, and for growth and repair of tissues.Some starch and simple sugar are changed to body fat as storage of energy.The fibre in carbohydrates makes faces soft and bulky, absorbs harmful chemicals, and helps to keep the gut healthy. It slows digestion and absorption of nutrients in meals and helps to prevent obesity. The fats and oils in foods serve many important functions such as;• Nutrient: Fat supplies essential fatty acids, which are needed for normal growth of infants and children and for production of hormone-like compounds that regulate a wide range of body functions and keep you healthy.• Transport: Fat carries fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) and assists in their absorption.• Sensory: Fat contributes to the smell and taste of food.• Texture: Fat helps make foods tender (especially meats and baked goods).• Satiety: Fat gives food satiety, so you feel full and satisfied longer after a meal.• Fat provides a concentrated source of calories. This is good if you are travelling long distances, expending a lot of energy, and carrying your own food energy.In the body, fat has the following roles:• Fats are the body's main form of stored energy (important in times of illness and diminished food intake).• Fats provide most of the energy to fuel muscular work.• Fat pads internal organs and insulates our bodies against temperature extremes and damage.• Fats form the major material of cell membranes (especially brain and nerve cells).• Fats are converted to many important hormones (including sex hormones).Fat is a good thing! It's only when there is too much of a good thing that it can become problematic. Fat needs are expressed as 'percent of total energy needs'. The percent of total energy that should come from fat in a healthy balanced diet is:• 30-40 percent for children on complementary feeding and up to the age of two years;• 15-30 percent for older children and most adults; for active adults up to 35 percent is acceptable;• At least 20 percent up to 30 percent for women of reproductive age (15-45 years).Consuming more fats beyond what the body needs leads to overweight, and increases the risk of diseases like heart diseases, high blood pressure and diabetes.Proteins are the building blocks for muscles, organs and many of the substances that make up our bodies. They provide essential amino acids that the body uses to make muscle tissue. The body needs proteins and calories every day. Proteins also facilitate the production of enzymes that govern the body's processes such as growth and digestion. When you don't get enough of calories and protein everyday, your body breaks up its own supplies to make up for the lack of energy. This robs your body of the calories it needs to stay healthy leading to weight loss.Protein can be found in both animal and plant foods.i. Animal sources • Meats, poultry, fish, eggs, cheese, milk and yogurt. • Edible insects: Grasshoppers, termites and white ants• These foods are considered \"complete\" or \"high quality\" proteins because they contain all the \"essential\" amino acids. \"Essential\" means that they must be consumed in our diet; our bodies cannot manufacture them.Examples of animal protein source are shown in the figure 3 below.  ii. Plant sources • Beans; peas; soy bean and soybean products (like tofu, soy milk); nuts like ground nuts, sim sim and seeds. • There are also small amounts of protein in breads, cereals, and other grains, as well as in vegetables.• Plant sources of protein are considered \"incomplete\" because they are missing one or more essential amino acids. • Soy protein is the one exception--it is considered \"complete.\"  • Vitamins help the body turn food into energy and tissues.• There are 13 vitamins in all: vitamin A; the vitamin B complex, which includes thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin B12 pantothenic acid, and biotin; and vitamins C, D, E, and K.• Minerals are needed for growth and maintenance of body structures. They also help to maintain digestive juices and the fluids found in and around cells.• Minerals are not made by plants and animals.Plants get minerals from water or soil, and animals get minerals by eating plants or planteating animals.• Vitamins and Minerals are also known as constructive and protective foods; they help to build the immune system thus reducing the occurrence of infections and if they occur the severity is reduced.• Micronutrients that are in shortest supply and cause the most micro-nutrient malnutrition worldwide are: Iodine, zinc, vitamin A, iron and folate. Lack of vitamin A leads to night blindness, lack of iron/folate leads to anaemia, lack of iodine leads to goitre, lack of calcium leads to weak bones and teeth and lack of zinc leads to growth retardation and delayed sexual and bone maturation.• Orange vegetables, such as orange sweet potato and carrots, and orange fruits, such as mango and pawpaw and red palm oil are excellent sources of vitamin A.• Red meat, red offal and liver of all types are a very rich source of iron and vitamin A.• Most citric fruits (oranges, tangerines, pineapples) and fresh (not overcooked) vegetables provide vitamin C.• Dark green leafy vegetables supply folate and some vitamin A.• Many vegetables (e.g., tomatoes, onions) and fruits (bananas, guavas, Jack fruits, apples) provide additional important micronutrients that may protect against some chronic conditions such as heart disease. Examples of vitamins are shown in the figure 5 below.Vitamins and minerals are required in small quantities.• Requirements are based on age, sex and activity level but consumption of a variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.• The best way to make sure we get enough of each micronutrient and enough fibre is to eat a variety of vegetables and fruits and whole grains every day.Water just may be the most important nutrient. In fact, the body is more than half water. You can live without food for several weeks, but you can go less than a week without water.The body needs water to function. It is necessary for:• Maintaining body temperature;• Transporting nutrients throughout the body;• Keeping joints moist;• Digesting food;• Ridding the body of waste products.(Think of the use of water when building a house, without the water, the cement, sand and concrete will not be useful.)• Water;• Fruit Juices;• Soup;• Milk;• Porridge;• Non-caffeinated drinks (caffeinated and alcohol beverages contain diuretic substances that cause the body to lose water).Requirements 1.5 liters/day or 8 glasses a day Not drinking enough water leads to constipation, dehydration, dry skin, and build-up of toxins in the body.The food groups above are further divided into categories based on the nutrient content and type of food: Vitamin A-rich foods are those that are:• Orange, red, or dark yellow in colour such as mangoes, pawpaw, carrots, orange-fleshed sweet potato• Dark green leafy vegetables such as Amaranth, Spider Leaf, Spinach, Sukuma Wiki, cassava leaves, bean leaves, sweet potato leaves, pumpkin leavesA balanced diet provides the correct amounts of energy and nutrients needed by the body to maintain health, growth, and development. A balanced diet must be composed of a variety of different foods from different food groups so that it contains all the many macronutrients and micronutrients the person needs in sufficient quantities.A good meal should contain:• A staple food. Look at the list of carbohydrate foods made in the previous session and see if it contains the local staple foods. Add them if necessary.• Other foods that may be made into a sauce, stew or relish. These should include: -Legumes and/or foods from animals -At least one vegetable• Some fat or oil (but not too much) to increase the energy and improve taste and facilitate absorption of some nutrients like fat-soluble vitamins. Most of the fat or oil should be from foods containing unsaturated fatty acids (See sources of fats listed in the previous session).• It is good to eat fruits with a meal (or as a snack) and to drink plenty of water during the day. Avoid drinking tea or coffee until 1-2 hours after a meal (when food will have left the stomach) as these reduce the absorption of iron from food.• Encourage families to use:-Several groups of foods at each meal.-Different vegetables and fruits at different meals because different vegetables and fruits contain varying amounts of the different micro-nutrients. The more colors consumed the better. -Serve meat, poultry, and offal or fish daily if possible because these foods are the best sources of iron and zinc (which are often lacking in diets, especially the diets of young children and women).• Snacks are a good way to ensuring one has a balanced diet. A snack refers to foods eaten between meals. Below are examples of foods that make good snacks -Fresh milk, soured milk, yoghurt, cheese, roasted groundnuts, soybeans, melon seeds, simsim seeds, eggs, fried fish, bread, boiled/ roasted maize cob, boiled or roasted cassava, plantain, yam, sweet potato, bananas, avocado, tomatoes, mangoes, oranges, pawpaw, passion fruits.• Eating snacks like these is a good way of improving a diet which may lack food energy and nutrients. However, frequent eating (snacking) throughout the day increases the risk of tooth decay, particularly where oral hygiene is poor. This is particularly true for artificially sweetened snacks that stick to the teeth. It is better to eat the fruit than make juice as many people discard the fibre in the fruits when making juice.• Format: power point presentation and use of flip charts• Activity: Brainstorming, question and answer as slides are presentedThe facilitator uses a power point presentation of the food pyramid to explain the balanced diet as in the figure below Meat, Poultry, fish, Dry beans and nuts group (2 boiled eggs/cooked fish, meat or chicken / 2 cupped palms of cooked beans)Fruits group (2 medium bananas / 2 medium pieces of pawpaw, mango)Water -(2 litres / 6-8 glasses of fluid per day) This includes the water, juices or soup taken Cereals and grains (6 slices of bread / 2 cupped palms Cooked Ugali, Matoke, Boiled banana / 3 cupped palms cooked Rice / 3 medium pieces of Cassava or Sweetpotatoes)Although food intake varies from meal to meal and from day to day, keeping a balanced view of the diet is a good idea. The food pyramid above is meant to be a guideline not rigid set of rules.• It is healthy to eat more of the foods from the bottom levels of the pyramid and fewer of those from the top. The top of the pyramid is for foods that should be consumed in small quantities because large amounts are not good for the body.• The Food Pyramid as a guide helps to promote the 3 basic rules for a healthy diet:-Variety -Balance -Moderation• Variety means that you must include many different foods from each level of the Food Pyramid because no single food can supply all of the nutrients that your body needs on a daily basis. This can help to expand your food choices. It is best to eat foods of all colours. The more colours and textures in your daily meals, the better range of nutrients you'll get. You can choose to vary different foods in a day or aim to vary different foods across a whole week.• Balance means that you must eat the right amounts of foods from all levels of the Food Pyramid each day. This way you will get all the calories and nutrients you need for proper growth and development.• Moderation means that you are careful not to eat too much of any one type of food.1. Pregnant women 2. Breastfeeding women 3. Children 0-6 months 4. Children 6 months to 2 years 5. Children 2 to 5 years 6. Children above 5 years Each group will take 15 minutes to discuss one category of people listed above, giving details of:I. How should they be fed?II. What foods should they eat to ensure they are healthy?III. What additional care is needed to make sure that they have good diets and are healthy?IV. What myths about food are in our community concerning them?Each group then presents their results (5 minutes per group). Following the presentations, the facilitator makes clarifications and provides details based on the sessions technical notes.To wrap up the topic, the facilitator then goes through the slide presentation of the key nutritional needs for 6 special groups as detailed in the sessions technical notes..The facilitator uses a slide presentation of the key nutritional needs for pregnant women, children 0-6 months and children above 6 months to explain the content below:A pregnant and lactating woman should consume and utilize balanced meals to meet the extra demand for energy and other nutrients (pregnancy, lactation).A woman's nutritional status during pregnancy/ lactation influences the baby's and her own health, poor feeding increases the risk of malnutrition and mortality both for the mother and baby.Message 1: Attend antenatal care All women should attend antenatal clinic immediately they discover they are pregnant--if they have missed two menstrual periods (a sign she is pregnant). They should make at least four visits to the clinic Why should a pregnant woman visit a health centre?• Conduct nutritional assessment during first visit (including dietary history, MUAC, weight, anaemia, iodine, and vitamin A) to detect risks.• Address any identified problems.• Monitor weight throughout the pregnancy and encourage the woman to gain 1 to 1.5 kilograms per month in the second and third trimesters (overweight or obese women should aim to gain 1 kilogram per month in the second and third trimesters).Nutrient needs of different family members The facilitator requests participants to form 5 groups. The facilitator then explains that we are going to look at the nutritional needs of groups of people in our families that require extra attention. The facilitator asks each group to discuss the category of people as below.Message 3: Take iron and folic acid supplements• Requirements for iron are particularly high so pregnant women are often faced with lack of iron (lack of enough blood). This is dangerous to the woman and the baby growing in her. Mothers who have anaemia during pregnancy, if not treated, are at high chance of dying if they lose too much blood during delivery.• Folic acid is important for prevention of neural tube defects in babies during pregnancy• Take one tablet of iron supplements and folic acid every day throughout pregnancy and first 3 months after delivery (unless the healthcare provider tells you otherwise)• Avoid tea or coffee after taking the tablet. There are substances in coffee and tea that reduce the use of iron by the body• Take them at a given time that is easy to remember (e.g. just after dinner)• Place them where you can see them and remember (or carry them when travelling)• If they cause nausea or vomiting, take the tablet with juice (orange or lemon), take it with a meal (or just before food), make sure the tablets are not expired. • A varied and balanced diet is important. A diet with adequate staple foods, and sauces made from vegetables, legumes, meat and fish, and plenty of fruits should be eaten• Eat a lot of vegetables and fruits (they have fibre that reduce constipation)• Drink a lot of fresh [homemade] juices and fluids between meals• Eat fruits (like papaws, mangoes, passion, etc)• Snack foods/small foods like sweet potatoes orange fleshed sweet potato, pumpkins, groundnuts, cassava, banana• If the mother does not satisfy the needs of her baby, the baby will draw on, and reduce, the mother's own stores of nutrients. This puts the mother at increased risk of illness and can affect the baby's development.Message 4: Rest during the day (from work)• Pregnant and lactating women need to rest and reduce on workload (especially in the last three months of pregnant o For hookworm prevention, prescribe a single dose of mebendazole (500 mg) in the second and third trimesters.• Counsel women on preventive measures (improved sanitation and wearing shoes) to reduce intestinal worms and prevent other infections.• Treat infections such as intestinal worms and infections of the urinary and respiratory tracts.• For HIV-positive women, prescribe cotrimoxazole and antretroviral therapy (ART) from time of diagnosis for life Message 6: Deliver from health facility• Make preparations for delivery early, having all necessary items as those in the mama kitMessage 1: Eat a balanced diet• Mother should be given well balanced meals and enough fluids for breastmilk production.• Eat two extra meals a day to maintain the health of the mother and the baby• During breastfeeding, more energy and vitamin A are required compared to during pregnancy• Avoid alcohol and tobacco.Message 2: Breastfeed frequently• Counsel the woman about breastfeeding early enough, right from the first hour after giving birth• Place the baby on to the breast immediately after birth for skin to skin bonding and initiate breastfeeding within 1 hr.• Breastfeed frequently, whenever the infant demands. Encourage breastfeeding at night as well• Encourage the mother to attach and position the baby to the breast properly to avoid any breast conditions like sore nipple, milk stasis and mastitis.Message 3: Ensure good hygiene and sanitation and prevent common illnesses • Breastfeed until the baby removes him/her-self freely from the breast.• Breastfeed whenever the baby is in need of the breast or when you feel like breastfeeding.• Feed the baby day and night (more than 10 times in a day).• Frequent breastfeeding helps milk flow (the more you breastfeed the more the flow) and prevents breast problems.Why is introduction of foods before 6 months not good?• Leads to the baby taking little breast milk; and also the mother may have little milk produced in her breasts• Sometimes there may be chances that the of baby might eat contaminated foods and being infected by disease causing germs During the period of complementary feeding, the young child gradually becomes accustomed to eating family foods but breast feeding should continue as breast milk continues to be an important source of nutrients and protective factors until the child is at least 2 years old. Complementary foods fill the nutrient gaps left by breast milk.The nutrient gaps include; energy, protein, iron, vitamin A and fluid. Therefore, the complementary foods given to the child must be nutritious and adequate in amounts to fill these gaps and help the child to grow and develop well.A good complementary food is one that:-Provides the nutrients a child needs to grow and be healthy-The baby likes it, without being forced -Is easy to prepare. Can be made with other meals e.g. pumpkin can be placed on top of other foods being cooked -Convenient for the care-taker's roles and responsibility e.g. if someone is left to feed the baby they can do it with ease and safely • Fruits and some vegetables can be served in between meal times as snacks• Eating good food means eating a variety of foods. No single food contains all of the nutrients that we need. A variety of foods fed to the baby is likely to supply them with all of the nutrients they need for their bodies to growth, be healthy and function well.• Many children's food has too much starch-based foods and low in animal-source foods and fruits and vegetables---and little variety. Staple foods like pumpkin, rice, potato, bananas and porridge are important because they provide energy. They are important to provide energy. However, babies have small stomachs and they consume little of the foods. Therefore to get the right amount of energy, we need to enrich baby's foods with foods that have more energy like: sugar, honey, oil, groundnut paste• On their own, starchy foods do not provide all of the nutrients that are required for good health and growth. At each meal, or as often as possible, caregivers should try to feed their child a variety of foods from each of the three food groups.• Food variety also adds taste and flavour; the baby can eat more and enjoy the foodDuring preparation, it is important to ensure consistency, and safety of the food Why right consistency?• Babies can't chew. They should be able to swallow the food-without being choked. But it should not be too watery-the water will be feeling the stomach of the baby. There is enough water in the breastmilk. Watery foods do not have enough energy and nutrients for every spoon the baby eats.• Since the stomach of the baby is still small (the size of his/her hand folded), the small food they eat should have enough energy and nutrients to complement the breast milk they are taking• The thickness of the child's food should be increased as the child grows older; making sure that he or she is still able to easily swallow the food without choking.• Grind the food or mash and soften foods so the young child can chew and swallow them. Be careful not to make the child's food too thin. Why safety:• Foods can be the source of infection that cause diarrhoea, worm's infestation, poisoning, and other illnesses that can result to undernutrition, sickness and sometimes death.• For young children meals, use foods that are not spoilt (or expired)-e.g. mouldy, rotten, unpleasant taste or off-smells; or foods that may be unsafe for eating as a result of organic or physical materials, dead insects that may harm the baby• Avoid very bitter foods or foods that are too acidic, too sugary or salty, alcoholic,• Ensure food hygiene; Use clean utensils. Wash your hands with soap and flowing water before preparing food and before feeding the baby. Wash children's hands with soap and flowing water before they eat. Store all food in clean place and covered (from flies, insects, rats, animals)• Reheat/boil all sleep/left over food that is not heat well/enough When the child has healed from sickness and their appetite back, feed the child with enough food to make up for loss during sickness.• Make sure the illness is treated immediately• Continue to breastfeed -often ill children breastfeed more frequently. Breastfeed more during sickness. This will help a sick child to fight sickness, recover more quickly and maintain his or her weight.• Be patient in feeding the baby. Encourage the child to drink and to eat• Give foods that the child likes.• Feed small amounts frequently; it may be easier for a sick child to eat smaller meals.• Give a variety of nutrient-rich foods: like papaw, avocado, traditional vegetables, mukene/silver fish)• Brestfeed the child more frequently and feed more frequently during illness. Fluid and food requirements are higher during illness.Feeding a 6 to 9 months old child• First breastfeed before feeding• The baby's stomach is small (the size of its folded hand)• Feed small amounts of thick puree/porridge at a time (start small amounts and increase to three table spoons per feeding)• Feed three times in day• Breastfeed on demand between meals Feeding a 9 to 12 months old child• First breastfeed then feed• The baby's stomach is small (the size of its folded hand)• Feed amounts of mashed foods at a time (a third to half of a NICE cup or 250mls cup)• Feed three to four times in day• Give a snack of a fruit, vegetable, legume or orange fleshed sweet potatoFeeding 12 months to 24 months old child• First feed and then breastfeed• Feed about a half of a NICE cup/bowel during each meal• Use foods from the family meal-mix them and cut the food into very small pieces or mash if necessary• Feed 3-4 times a day• Give a snack or 2 a day (one must be a fruit)• Breastfeed on demand between mealsMessage 1: Feed a balanced diet• To provide enough energy and nutrients child needs foods that contain the 4 different kinds of foods a) staples/roots/tubers, added with foods rich in energy like sugar and oil, avocado, groundnut paste; b) fruits, c) vegetables, d) animal source foods, or pulses• Feed the child 3-4 times a day, giving a snack in between the main family meals.• Fruits and some vegetables can be served in between meal times as snacks. Other healthy snacks include groundnuts, soy bean, and simsim.Message 2: Ensure good hygiene and sanitation and prevent common illnesses• Ensure good personal hygiene for the mother and child and hygiene in the home Activity 1: Brainstorming, question and answer as slides are presented.The facilitator asks the participants to mention their understanding of the term malnutrition. The responses are noted on a flip chart. The facilitator then gives the right content as detailed in the session technical notes.Malnutrition is the condition that develops when the body does not get the right amount of the nutrients it needs to maintain healthy tissues and organ function.Under nutrition is a deficiency of food energy or nutrients, which leads to nutrient deficiencies. It is caused by inadequate intake or poor absorption of nutrients in the body. Acute malnutrition, chronic malnutrition, stunting, wasting, and underweight and micronutrient deficiencies occur because of undernutrition, and they can have serious consequences on the development and health of infants and young children.Undernutrition is one of the leading causes of mortality for young children across the globe and is often caused by an interaction between inadequate dietary intake and frequent illness.Over nutrition is a condition caused by abnormal or excess fat accumulation in the body that may lead to health problems and reduced life expectancy. Overnutrition starts as overweight and if left uncontrolled may progress to obesity.At the beginning of the session the facilitator is expected to understand the entry level knowledge of participants in regard to the session content.At the end of the session, the participants should be able to:• Identify kinds of malnutrition in their community • Understand causes of the kinds of malnutrition in their community • Understand the consequences of malnutrition in the community • Share actions they can take to prevent malnutrition among children and womenLearning Objectives MalnutritionChronic malnutrition is malnutrition caused by longterm food deprivation or illness. An example is stunting.This refers to a child having short height for their age. It can begin during pregnancy and through infancy (up to 5 year of age). If not corrected before two years of the child's age, the effects become irreversible.Malnutrition occurs when a person does not receive nutrients in the required amounts (less or excess). This can be a result of several factors and is a result of inadequate food intake and the health status (immediate causes, which are at an individual level).These factors in turn are affected by the individual or household's access to food, the care available, the availability of suitable health services and an unhealthy environment (underlying causes). The resources available in a household and community and how they are used are issues that influence underlying causes of malnutrition (see figure below).   Acute malnutrition is a result of short-term lack of food deprivation or illness that results in sudden weight loss or oedema.This refers to a child having a weight that is too low for their age. When severely underweight, the child is weak, has poor physical stamina and a weak immune system leaving them prone to other infections and illnesses.ii. Wasting Wasting refers to a child having a weight that is too low for their height. It is a strong predictor of mortality of children under 5 years.• Iron is required for the synthesis of haemoglobin, which transports oxygen to the cells in our body.It is required by every growing cell and therefore is essential for child growth and development. It is involved in energy production, immunity, and regulation of the central nervous system.• Iron deficiency may lead to iron deficiency anaemia, a condition experienced when the body is not making enough haemoglobin.• Signs of iron deficiency anaemia include fatigue, weakness, tiredness, loss of appetite, headaches, shortness of breath and paleness. Pale skin (especially on palms), pale lips and paleness on the inside of the bottom eyelid.• Iron deficiency during early childhood can impair physical and cognitive development.Signs of anaemia can be seen in the figure 10 below. ii. Vitamin A deficiency• Vitamin A helps keep eyes healthy, promotes vision, and provides protection against infection.• Vitamin A is needed by the tissues that line our lungs, gastrointestinal tract and eyes.• Without adequate vitamin A, these tissues are susceptible to bacterial invasion; as such, deficiency is associated with frequent illness and severe deficiency may result in blindness.• Signs of vitamin A deficiency include night blindness, Bigot's spots and keratomalacia (in order of severity).• This deficiency is associated with high rates of respiratory and diarrheal infections.  iii. Iodine deficiency disorder• Iodine is essential in the proper functioning of the thyroid gland, which helps to regulate the body's use of energy (metabolism).• Iodine is essential for physical and mental growth, and it is particularly important during foetal development.• Goitre, a swelling of the thyroid gland, is the most notable symptom of iodine deficiency.• Severe maternal iodine deficiency can result in cretinism, whereby the child is born with severe physical and mental retardation.• Less severe forms of iodine deficiency in young children can cause mental deficits such as lower mental development, lower cognitive function and reduced ability to focus.• Goitre is reversible whereas cretinism is irreversible.• Overnutrition is an excess consumption of energy and nutrients. It can lead to overweight and obesity.• Being overweight or obese increases the likelihood of having diabetes and heart-related diseases like high blood pressure.• Overweight and obesity ranges are determined by using weight and height to calculate a number called the body mass index (BMI). An adult who has a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered over weight and an adult who has a BMI of 30-35 is considered obese and an adult with a BMI of 40 or more, or 30 or more.• BMI is established through dividing weight in kg by height (cm) squared.The consequences of malnutrition in an individual can extend to later in life. In addition, the effects can also affect future generations. This particularly occurs for women, where their nutrition status affects the unborn child. A stunted girl is likely to become a stunted adolescent and later a stunted woman. This affects her health, productivity, and nutrition. Which in turn increases the chance that her children will be born malnourished. Which continues the cycle. It is therefore important that interventions to address and prevent malnutrition are taken at each stage of the life cycle.   The facilitator probes for in-between meals, and details of the foods consumed.The facilitator then uses this example to show the participants how to determine the dietary diversity scores whether household of individual i.e. Minimum dietary diversity score for women. The facilitator used the food groups discussed earlier and works together with the participants to establish whether the example sites meets the required diversity. About 2-3 other volunteers with one descrtibing how they fed their child is done to ensure understanding on how to determing whether different household members are meeting the required dietary diversity. The session's technical notes are used to provide details on the dietary diversity indicators and make any clarifications needed.At the beginning of the session the facilitator is expected to understand the entry level knowledge of participants in regard to the session content.At the end of this session participants are expected to:• Describe the common dietary assessment methods and dietary indicators to measure dietary adequacy • Demonstrate ability to use common anthropometric equipment to take accurate measurements • Use a combination of anthropometric measurements to determine nutritional status of individualsFood and Nutrition assessmentFood intake can be measured in terms of quantity and quality. However, based on our communities and the capacity of service providers available, it is difficult to capture quality. We therefore focus on assessing quality. The quality of the diets is measured by assessing the diversity of the diets at individual and household level.Assessment of dietary diversity is about consumption of a balanced diet, one that has a variety of different foods from different food groups one that provides the correct amounts of nutrients needed by the body to maintain health, growth, and development. Below are some of the ways dietary diversity can be assessed.The household dietary diversity score (HDDS) reflects the economic ability of a household to access a variety of foods. An increase in dietary diversity is associated with socio-economic status and household food security.Assessment of household dietary diversity involves finding out the different foods consumed by the household over a period of 24 hours. This covers only foods consumed at home and excludes foods purchased and eaten outside the home. After establishing the different foods consumed, the foods are grouped into the respective food groups. For measuring household dietary diversity, 12 standard food groups are used as listed below. Consumption of 3 or less food groups is considered low dietary diversity, consumption of between 4-5 food groups is considered moderate dietary diversity while consumption of more than 6 food groups is considered high dietary diversity.Food groups are: Cereals; White roots & tubers, and bananas; Fruits; Vegetables; Meat and meat products; Eggs; Fish; Milk and milk products; Legumes, nuts and seeds; Oils or fats; sweets and sugars; condiments, spices and other beverages.Individual dietary diversity scores aim to reflect nutrient adequacy. An increase in individual dietary diversity score is related to increased nutrient adequacy of the diet. Individual scores are preferable to household scores because they provide more specific reflection of the quality of the diet and status of nutrition.When assessing individual dietary diversity, the foods consumed by the individual over a 24-hour period are established. This included all food eaten or drunk both at home and away from home. After establishing the different foods consumed, the foods are grouped into the respective food groups. 12 food groups are used, similar to those for household dietary diversity above. Consumption of 3 or less food groups is considered low dietary diversity, consumption of between 4-5food groups is considered moderate dietary diversity while consumption of more than 6 food groups is considered high dietary diversity.Minimum Dietary Diversity Score for Women (MDDS-W)The Minimum Dietary Diversity Score for Women is a food group diversity indicator that has been shown to reflect an additional key dimension of diet quality that is micronutrient adequacy. The foods consumed over a 24-hour period are established including all food eaten or drunk both at home and away from home.After establishing the different foods consumed, the foods are grouped into 10 food groups.Consumption of foods from any 5 food groups and above indicates meeting minimum dietary diversity. iii. Minimum Acceptable Diets (MAD)Proportion of children 6-23 months of age who receive a minimum acceptable diet (apart from breast milk). This indicator measures both the minimum feeding frequency and minimum dietary diversity, as appropriate for various age groups. If a child meets the minimum feeding frequency and minimum dietary diversity for their age group and breastfeeding status, then they are considered to receive a minimum acceptable diet. Minimum is considered as follows:-2 times for breastfed infants (6-8months -3 times for breastfed children (9-23months)-4 times for non-breastfed children/infants Meal is defined as any solid. Semi-solid or liquid food given to the child alone or within a composite dish within the previous day.Breastfed children 6-23 months of age who had at least the minimum dietary diversity and the minimum meal frequency during the previous day Non-breastfed children 6-23 months of age who received at least 2 milk feedings and had at least the minimum dietary diversity not including milk feeds and the minimum meal frequency during the previous dayThis composite indicator will be calculated from the following two fractions: After explaining minimum meal frequency, minimum dietary diversity and minimum acceptable diets for children, the facilitator presents the following children in different households. All children are 1 year old and are breast fed. And below are the number of meals and number of food groups they consumeThe facilitator reviews the refence points for each of these indicators for the example as shown in the tableThe facilitator then asks the participants if the minimum meal frequency, minimum dietary diversity, and minimum acceptable diets have been met for each of the children. Placing an X or √ (for yes or no) It is based on the 8 questions shown below. Have no food to eat of any kind in your household of a lack of resources to get food? 7Were hungry but not able to eat of a lack of resources to get food? 8Go a whole day without eating anything at all because of a lack of resources to get food?The answers are placed on a scale of severity of food insecurity as shown below: ii. Household hunger scale (HHS) Most appropriate to use in areas of substantial food insecurity essentially a behavioural measure, captures more severe behaviours. It is based on 3 main questions:• Was there ever no food to eat of any kind in your house because of lack of resources to get food?• Did you or any household member go to sleep at night hungry because there was not enough food?• Did you or any household member go a whole day and night without eating anything because there was not enough food?For each of the questions one asks how often the occurrence was observed: never (0 times), rarely (1 or 2 times), sometimes (3-10 times, and often (more than 10 times).One can either choose to use the HFIES or the HHS based on the context.1. Time: 60 Minutes 2. Method: Presentations and discussion and demonstrationsThe facilitator introduces the section on nutrition status assessment. The facilitator explains that good nutrition care starts with good assessment of the nutritional status. The facilitator explains various methods of assessment which include; anthropometry, dietary, clinical and biochemical methods. The facilitator then gives introductory paragraph about several methods, biochemical and anthropometric and scope of this manual in relation to the projects Participants form 5 groups, and each group is allocated a measurement. Facilitators take 10 minutes teaching the groups how to take the respective measurements. Groups take 10 minutes to practice taking the measurements.Following this, the facilitator takes 10 minutes explaining the growth charts and how to plot the measurements to determine the nutrition status (stunting, underweight A. Height/length 1) Height This measurement is taken for children two years and above and/or for those greater than 85cm.The following as steps for taking accurate height measurements• Set the measuring board vertically on a stable level surface.• Remove the child's shoes and any head-covering.• Place the child on the measuring board, standing upright in the middle of the board.• The child's heels and knees should be firmly pressed against the board by the assistant while the measurer positions the head and the cursor. The child's head, shoulders, buttocks, knees and heels should be touching the board.• Read and announce the measurement to the nearest 0.1cm.• Record and repeat the measurement to the measurer to make sure it has been correctly heard 2) Length This measurement is taken for children below two years of age and/or for those who are less than 85 cm or unable to stand.• Place the measuring board horizontally on a flat, level surface.• Remove the child's shoes and any head covering.• Place the child so he/she is lying down and face up in the middle of the board.• Allow the assistant to hold the sides of the child's head and position the head until it is touching the head board.• Allow the measurer to place his/her hands on the child and firmly hold the child's knees together while pressing down. The soles of the feet should be flat on the foot piece, toes pointing up at right angles.• The measurer should immediately remove the child's feet from contact with the footboard with one hand while holding the footboard securely in place with the other.• Read and record the measurement as shown in diagram above Because of its complexity and proneness to mistakes, taking the measurement need to be trained on how to use the equipment and that there is a need to do more than 1 measurement to catch any errors.Taking weight of a child on a floor scale. Ask the caregiver to stand on the scale's surface in the middle and record their weight to the nearest 100g when the caregiver is settled and the weight reading is stable. This is the weight of the adult 5. Zero the scale using the appropriate button 6. Hand the child to the caregiver when the scale reads 0kg7. When the caregiver is settled with the child and the weight reading is stable record the weight to the nearest 100g. This is the weight of the child.8. Read and announce the value from the scale. The assistant should repeat the value for verification and record it immediately.The age should be recorded as accurate as possible so that the correct cut off can be used to determine nutrition status. The age can be determined from official documents (health card, immunization card, and birth certificate). If official documents are not available, use a local calendar of events to determine the month and year of birth.If a child's length or height is less than 110 cm or if the child cannot touch his/her ear with the opposite hand by extending the arm over the head, he/she should be treated as under 5 years.The age of the child, together with the weight and height are used to determine if the child is well nourished, under or over nourished.• Stunting: height and age• Underweight: weight and age• Wasting: weight and heightThe above measurements are compared against WHO Child Growth Standards to determine the status of the child Charts There are different charts, and different charts for assessing stunting, underweight, and wasting; for boys and girls; and for different ages.For each chart, a child has normal height for age or weight for age or weight for height, if their results are plotted between the 2 and -2 lines.If the results are plotted below the -2 line, they are stunted, underweight or wasted.If their results are below the -3 line, they are severely stunted, underweight or wasted.Below is an example, a growth chart showing weight for age for girls aged 0 to 2 years. Oedema is a build-up of fluids in the tissues causing abnormal swelling of the hands and feet or other body parts. The body requires nutrients for various processes that lead to normal fluid balance. Oedema caused by malnutrition has to occur in both limbs at the same time.• Apply normal thumb pressure on both feet• Count the numbers 101, 102, 103 to estimate three seconds without using a watch• Check if a shallow print persists on both feet• If the print persits in both feet, it implies the child has nutritional odema (pitting oedema) and is severely malnourished Activity: In 5 groups, participants take 10 minutes to discuss:1) The importance of hygiene during food acquisition and storage and should be done in our homes to ensure hygiene during food acquisition and storage2) The importance of hygiene during food preparation, serving and consumption and should be done in our homes to ensure hygiene during food preparation, serving and consumption3) The importance of personal hygiene and should be done in our homes to ensure personal hygiene 4) The importance of household hygiene and should be done in our homes to ensure household hygiene 5) The importance of clean and safe water and should be done in our homes to ensure clean and safe waterGroups take 5 minutes each to present their findings.The facilitator takes 10 minutes to wrap up the session, making any clarification needed. Supplement the points they share with points from the manual if they have not been mentionedFood safety refers to the proper handling, cooking, and preservation of food in order to protect us from foodborne illnesses caused by microbes such as viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi.At the beginning of the session the facilitator is expected to understand the entry level knowledge and behavior of participants in regard to the session content.At the end of this session participants are expected to:1. List at least four practices importance in good personal hygiene;2. Practice good hygienic during food preparation, cooking and storageFood Safety and HygieneIt is important that the food we eat and the water we drink is clean and safe. So, it is essential to prepare meals in a safe, hygienic way. If germs get into our foods and drinks, they may give us food poisoning (resulting, for example, in diarrhoea or vomiting). The people most likely to become sick are young children and people who are already ill, particularly people living with HIV/ AIDS.Basic rules of hygiene aim to:• Prevent germs from reaching foods and drinks. Many germs come from human or animal faeces. Germs can reach food via:-Dirty hands, flies and other insects, mice and other animals and dirty utensils -Water supplies if they are not protected from faeces.• Prevent germs from multiplying in foods and reaching dangerous levels. Germs breed fastest in food that is warm and wet (e.g., Porridge), especially if it contains sugar or animal protein, such as milk.A. Food acquisition and storage• Buy fresh foods, such as meat or fish, on the day they will eat them. Look for the signs of poorquality food.• Cover raw and cooked foods to protect them from insects, rodents and dust.• Store fresh food (especially foods from animals) and cooked foods in a cool place, or a refrigerator if available.• Keep dry foods such as flours and legumes in a dry, cool place protected from insects, rodents and other pests.• Avoid storing leftovers for more than a few hours (unless in a refrigerator). Always store them covered and reheat them thoroughly until hot and steaming (bring liquid food to a rolling boil).• Keep food preparation surfaces clean. Use clean, carefully washed dishes and utensils to store, prepare, serve and eat food.• Prepare food on a clean table where there is less dust.• Wash vegetables and fruits with clean/safe water. Peel if possible.• Prevent raw meat, offal, poultry and fish from touching other foods, as these animal foods often contain germs. Wash surfaces touched by these raw foods with hot water and soap.• Cook meat, offal, poultry and fish well. Meat should have no red juices.• Boil eggs so they are hard. Do not eat raw or cracked eggs.• Boil milk unless it is from a safe source. Soured milk may be safer than fresh milk.• Wash hands with soap or ash under flowing water before preparing or eating food.• Cover food with a cloth, net, or lid and avoid contamination of cooked food with raw food• Wash the cups, bowls, or mixing utensils for the food thoroughly with soap and water. Dry them in the sun on a drying rack. Bacteria breed in food that sticks to utensils.• The environment in and around the home (including the kitchen, serving area, eating area) should all be kept clean Hygiene Hygiene refers to practices that promote or ensure health and prevent disease, especially through cleanliness.Advise people to:• Wash hands with clean water and soap (or ashes):o After going to the toilet, cleaning a baby's bottom or cleaning clothes, dirty bed linen or surfaces contaminated with faeces. It is most important to wash hands after contact with faeces;o Before and after preparing food and eating; o Before feeding a child or sick person (make sure they wash their hands too).• Dry hands by: o Shaking and rubbing them together;o Using a clean cloth that is kept only for this purpose.• Keep fingernails short and clean.• Avoid coughing or spitting near food or water.• Cover any wounds on hands to prevent contamination of food during its preparation.• Use a latrine and keep it clean and free of flies.• Teach small children to use a potty and toilet. Put children's feaces in the latrine.• Keep the body and clothes clean and regularly brush the teeth• Keep the surroundings of the home free from animal faeces, bushes and other rubbish.• Clear any stagnant water• Use and keep the toilet or latrine clean• Use a utensil rack to dry them after washing• Do not share rooms with animals• Keep rubbish in a covered bin and empty it regularly in appropriate places (pits, compost) so as not to attract flies.• For easy waste management separate the waste such as plastic, glass, paper and food/plant remain.• Make compost for the garden with suitable waste food, garden rubbish and animal faeces.Composting destroys germs in faeces. The compost pit should be at least partially shaded and at least 2 feet from a structure like your house or a fence. It should be at a place convenient for you to add materials, access to water and good drainage. In addition, you should take into consideration the direction of the wind so that the smell or odors doesn't come to the house.• Other rubbish should be burnt• Drink treated or boiled water• Store treated water in a covered container with a small mouth.• Serve water by pouring or using with a clean ladle or cup. This cup should not the same used to drink• Regularly clean the container that stores drinking water At the end of the session, let the facilitator ask whether there are any additional questions or points of clarification. After all clarifications are made (if any), the facilitator closes the session and mentions the next session and its facilitator.Time: 60 minutes.Activity: The facilitator takes 5 minutes to introduce the session and give instructions.In 5 groups participants discuss what factors or issues determine the proportion of income allocated to food by households in their communities.This discussion should include what should then be done to ensure that food that is a balanced diet is a priority of the households.Groups take 10 minutes to discuss and 5 minutes to present their findings to other participants.At the end of the session, let the facilitator ask whether there are any additional questions or points of clarification. After all clarifications are made (if any), the facilitator closes the session and mentions the next session and its facilitator.At the beginning of the session the facilitator is expected to understand the entry level knowledge and behavior of participants in regard to the session content.At the end of this session participants are expected to:1. Understand the significance of allocating household income to increase family food 2. Know the value of increasing the growing of crops for the home consumption 3. Identify behaviours that affect allocation of income to food security.4. Practice good hygienic during food preparation, cooking and storageUtilisation of income for food and nutrition securityThrough the PRELNOR and VODPII projects, household income is improving. In addition, more land is being allocated to commercial crops and less food crops for home consumption are being grown, especially in the VODPII areas.It is important that the food and nutrition security of the households also improves as income increases.Income when used effectively can be used to ensure household food and nutrition security both when food crops are grown or not.Factors that determine proportion of income allocated to food include:1) Sources of food and quantities accessed: these can be from own farm production or bought from the market 2) Household characteristics: these include the household size; the ages of the household members; the health status of the members, for example are they healthy, pregnant, breastfeeding, or sick. These characteristics all determine how much food is needed in the household 3) Household needs and priorities: the number and extent of other household needs such as shelter, health care, education, transport, hygiene, fuel, etc all influence how income is used in the household.If buying food or particular food items is not a priority, then the amount allocated to food is small 4) Social and gender dynamics: how the man and woman heading the household interact and plan for the household also influences how much income is allocated to food. Are they able to budget together? Do they both find food, especially a balanced diet a priority?Ways in which income can be used to ensure households consume a balanced diet and are food and nutrition secure include:• Budgeting for the family income to meet the various needs• Plan to have a family size that is manageable to reduce on the family expenditure• Use family income to improve sanitation and hygiene to prevent illnesses that cause both malnutrition and selling of family food for treatment. For example, pit latrine, drying rack, water storage, food storage, waste management, mosquito nets, are some of the things that can be invested in• Save money for future use. This can be through saving groups, banks, etc. this will provide a source of income when food is scarce• Use family income allocated to food to ensure a family has a balanced diet. What foods are not produced at home should be carefully budgeted for and bought in order to meet the family's nutritional needs• Use family income allocated to food to buy good seeds for planting as well as other required inputs such as manure, fertiliser, etc Participants are grouped according to their designations within the project and where possible, based on the districts. Categories include:Each of these groups takes 30 minutes to discuss:1) Current operational framework for extension service provision 2) Identification of nutrition related indicators that can be assessed in the current framework as a way of mainstreaming nutrition3) Tools required to mainstream nutrition (what kind of job aids would be require)Groups take 10 minutes to present their resultsThe facilitator takes 15 minutes to wrap up the sessionAt the end of this session participants are expected to:Identify operational frame work for extension service provisionIdentify nutrition related indicators that can be assessed in the current frame work as a way of main streaming nutrition.Identify tools that are required to mainstream nutrition Development of action plans to mainstream nutrition related activities.At the end of the session, let the facilitator ask whether there are any additional questions or points of clarification. After all clarifications are made (if any), the facilitator closes the session and mentions the next session and its facilitator.Daily requirement of Energy, carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins A, vitamin A, iron and zinc for different sex and age groups. Note: 1 g protein or 1 g carbohydrates = 4 kcal; 1 g fat = 9kcal; 1 g alcohol = 7kcal. Fat requirements were calculated to provide 25% of average energy requirements.A. Subtract 10 kcal/d for males and 7 kcal/d for females for each year of age above 19 years.B. Protein requirements based on 1.5 g/kg/day for infants, 1.1 g/kg/day for 1-3 y, 0.95 g/kg/day for 4-13 y, 0.85 g/kg/day for 14-18 y, 0.8g /kg/day for adults, and 1.1 g/kg/day for pregnant (using prepregnancy weight) and lactating women. F. Bioavailability of iron during this period varies greatly.G. It is recommended that iron supplements be given to all pregnant women because of the difficulties in correctly evaluating iron status in pregnancy.H. Assumed bio-availability of dietary zinc is low-15 percent.*A female child aged between 9-13years but non-menstruating Sources: Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate. Fibre, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids (2002/2005). This report may be accessed via www.nap.edu FAO/WHO (2004). Vitamin and mineral requirements in human nutrition: Report of a joint FAO/WHO expert consultation"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3f34492c81d753dc7bd51ef08993e645","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5bd215cf-aa88-4fb6-8bf4-198ed777747b/retrieve","id":"1654045151"},"keywords":["Cajanus cajan","coton","fertilité chimique","fertilité physique","maïs","Mucuna","rendement","Bénin","Afrique de l'Ouest. viii ix"],"sieverID":"18f179b9-8bcc-47f5-86e6-7b0e977f50fc","content":"The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) delivers research-based solutions that address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation.The Alliance focuses on the nexus of agriculture, the environment, and nutrition. We work with local, national, and multinational partners across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, and with the public and private sectors and civil society. Through novel partnerships, the Alliance generates evidence and mainstreams innovations to transform food systems and landscapes so that they sustain the planet, drive prosperity, and nourish people in a climate crisis.The Alliance is part of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the world's largest agricultural research and innovation partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources. https://alliancebioversityciat.org www.cgiar.org CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services. Its research is carried out by 15 CGIAR Centers in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations, and the private sector.Tableau 1: Caractéristiques principales des huit zones agro-écologiques du Bénin ---------------5Tableau 2: Espèces de CCEV promues dans différentes régions du Bénin et leurs principales utilisations - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8 Tableau 3: Caractéristiques générales des sites ProSOL au Bénin- ------------------------------------------11 Tableau 4: Répartition des essais par commune, culture et type de CCEV ----------------------------- Tableau 8 : Résultats de l'analyse de variance pour les facteurs aléatoires et fixes pour le maïs et le coton - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------34 Tableau 15 : Évaluation des pratiques agricoles conventionnelles de l'Alibori - ----------------------35 Tableau 16 : Évaluation des pratiques agricoles améliorées des CCEV de l'Alibori - ----------------35 Tableau 17 : Evaluation des pratiques agricoles conventionnelles du Borgou - -----------------------  -----------------------------38 Rolf Sommer/ Alliance of Bioversity International and CIATLa baisse continue de la fertilité des sols constitue l'une des principales contraintes des pays de l'Afrique sub-Saharienne avec pour conséquence la baisse du niveau de productivité des cultures (Saidou et al., 2012). Une étude récente menée au Bénin dans les départements du Zou, Borgou et Alibori indique que 90% des terres ont un niveau de fertilité faible à très faible (ProSOL, 2016a). Pour faire face à cette baisse de fertilité, les engrais chimiques ont été proposés, cependant ils coûtent chers et ne sont pas souvent accessibles pour la grande masse paysanne (Sokpoh, 1997). De nombreux systèmes de culture ont été testés aussi bien en station qu'en milieu réel (Azontondé et Kpagbin, 2008) puis proposés aux agriculteurs comme alternatives aux engrais minéraux. Au nombre de ces systèmes de culture, on a l'utilisation des plantes de couvertures en association ou en rotation, comme Cajanus cajan et Mucuna pruriens var utilis (Azontondé & Kpagbin, 2008 ;Allagbé et al., 2015) ou encore le fumier de ferme. Malheureusement, l'intégration agriculture-élevage à travers l'utilisation des déjections animales pour amender les terres dégradées n'est pas très optimale (ProSOL, 2016b) à cause de la gestion complexe de ces ressources et du nombre limité des animaux par ménage. Il s'avère donc pertinent, surtout dans une perspective de durabilité des systèmes de production, de réfléchir à des mécanismes qui génèrent naturellement le fonctionnement des processus biologiques, à savoir la jachère améliorée avec les CCEV.Au Bénin, plusieurs espèces de plantes de couvertures ont été introduites depuis les années 1980 (Houndékon et al., 1998), mais deux sont encore cultivées : Mucuna pruriens et Cajanus cajan. Les résultats obtenus par Versteeg et Koudokpon (1993) montrent que le rendement grain du maïs produit après l'utilisation du Mucuna était de 70% plus élevé que le témoin sans Mucuna au Bénin. Kouelo et al. (2013) ont montré que l'apport d'azote et phosphore sur une rotation Mucuna-maïs n'a pas amélioré de façon significative le rendement du maïs en comparaison avec la rotation sans apport. Au Togo, Sogbedji et al. (2006) ont révélé que le Cajanus cajan permet la restructuration du sol et l'augmentation du rendement du maïs, et que l'utilisation de Mucuna pruriens comme plante de couverture augmente de façon significative les taux d'azote et de phosphore dans le sol. Au Burkina Faso, Coulibaly et al. (2017) ont montré qu'il n'y a pas de différence significative entre la pratique vulgarisée (150kg de NPK et 50kg d'Urée) et l'apport localisé à la micro-dose (75kg de NPK et 50kg d'Urée).Depuis 2015, le projet ProSOL pour améliorer la sécurité alimentaire intervient dans quatre départements (Zou, Collines, Borgou et Alibori) au Bénin à travers l'intégration des mesures de Gestion Durable des Terres (GDT).La GDT est une stratégie permettant de recourir à des technologies et approches de « bonnes pratiques » pour résoudre le problème de dégradation des sols. Elle contribue non seulement à améliorer la productivité des sols, mais aussi à fournir de nombreux services écosystémiques (ProSOL, 2016b).Depuis quelques années, on assiste à un afflux d'intérêt pour les CCEV. Certaines CCEV ont déjà été testées par la GIZ et ses partenaires dans les trois pays d'opérationnalisation. En général, il a été prouvé que les technologies CCEV améliorent les performances agronomiques des exploitations agricoles, ainsi que la fertilité et la santé des sols.Cependant, malgré quelques décennies de recherches sur les CCEV, l'adoption de cette technologie par les agriculteurs au Bénin est faible. Selon Floquet et al. (2015), en évaluant le stade atteint par l'introduction du Mucuna dans les systèmes de culture, ils concluent que la trajectoire d'innovation purement technologique, sans les volets organisationnels et économiques qui auraient pu permettre le développement autonome d'une filière rentable de semences et d'intrants, a contribué à réduire l'intérêt d'une plante de couverture non-alimentaire et non-commercialisable dans les systèmes à base de maïs et coton.Toutefois, étant donné que les CCEV sont intelligents du point de vue climatique et qu'ils rendent des services écosystémiques, il est possible d'étudier des moyens d'incitation pour l'adoption des CCEV par les agriculteurs, si nécessaire, à travers le biais de paiements directs ou indirects. C'est pour cela que la présente étude a été initiée afin d'évaluer les intérêts biophysiques des CCEV dans la protection et la réhabilitation des sols, et de chercher les voies et les moyens pour faciliter leur adoption par les producteurs. Le projet permettra à la GIZ d'accroître la protection et la réhabilitation des sols en apportant des preuves scientifiques des bénéfices et des contraintes des CCEV.L'approche globale, à la base de ce projet, était double puisqu'elle s'appuyait sur les résultats scientifiques disponibles ainsi que sur les connaissances et les pratiques des agriculteurs encadrés par le ProSOL.Revue de la littérature sur les CCEV ;Collecte de données sur les connaissances des agriculteurs sur les CCEV ;Evaluation agronomique des bénéfices des CCEV à travers des expérimentations participatives en milieux paysans;Coordination du programme des activités. Depuis 1920, les cultures de couverture étaient utilisées comme des cultures destinées spécifiquement à couvrir le sol afin de le protéger à la fois contre l'érosion et les pertes d'éléments nutritifs par infiltration et ruissellement (Parker, 1920 ;Pieters & McKee, 1938). Plus récemment, Florentín et al. (2010) ont défini les CCEV comme des plantes semées indépendamment, ou associées à d'autres cultures, destinées à couvrir le sol et à en améliorer ses caractéristiques physiques, chimiques et biologiques.Ainsi, pour qu'une culture soit considérée comme culture de couverture, les conditions suivantes s'avèrent importantes : 1) être facile à établir; 2) avoir un taux de croissance rapide pour réaliser une couverture suffisante du sol; 3) produire une grande quantité de matière sèche; 4) résister aux maladies et ne pas agir comme hôte pour les maladies des cultures associées; 5) être facile à gérer; 6) être économiquement viable; 7) s'enraciner profondément; 8) avoir peu ou pas de concurrence pour l'humidité et les nutriments avec la culture principale et 9) avoir de multiples utilisations (Reeves, 1994;Khan et al., 2002;Gachene & Kimaru, 2003).En Afrique subsaharienne, les sols sont caractérisés par une faible teneur en éléments nutritifs (Gachene et al., 1997 ;Saïdou et al., 2018) et par conséquent une faible productivité des cultures, l'insécurité alimentaire et la malnutrition, en particulier dans les petites exploitations agricoles (Mugwe et al., 2009 ;UN, 2007 ;Florentín et al., 2010). Bien que l'utilisation d'engrais minéraux pour augmenter la productivité des cultures soit en augmentation (Triberti et al., 2016 ;Diogo et al., 2017), la majorité des petits exploitants ont un accès limité à des fonds pour l'achat d'engrais et pratiquent une production à faible intrant (Ndakidemi, 2006 ;Klutse et al., 2018). Cette production continue associée à l'utilisation inadéquate d'engrais minéraux (Diogo et al., 2018a) a entraîné une augmentation des taux d'extraction des éléments nutritifs du sol et a contribué à l'infertilité des sols (Henao & Baanante, 2006).Les CCEV sont un bon complément à d'autres pratiques d'amélioration de la santé du sol en raison de leur prix abordable et de leurs effets améliorateurs sur la santé du sol (Chianu et al., 2008). Ainsi, les principaux genres recensés dans de nombreux pays incluent : Mucuna, Aeschynomene, Stylosanthes, Lablab, Canavalia, Crotalaria, Desmodium, Cajanus et Stylosanthes sont. D'autres cultures régulières, même si elles ont été utilisées pendant longtemps comme cultures vivrières, présentent les caractéristiques des cultures de couverture mentionnées ci-dessus. Dans cette revue, si la principale raison de production de ces cultures est l'avantage du sol, comme par exemple par l'amélioration de la fertilité grâce à la couverture maximale ou l'augmentation de la matière organique par la rétention de résidus, alors ces cultures sont considérées comme des CCEV. De telles cultures incluent par exemples : les arachides, le soja et le niébé.Les cultures de couverture améliorent la teneur en matière organique du sol associée à une capacité accrue de rétention d'eau dans les sols à texture sableuse (Becker et al., 1995). En outre, les CCEV fournissent également une couverture de sol qui le protège contre l'érosion hydrique et éolienne (Parker, 1920  Les engrais verts et les cultures de couverture au Bénin -informations tirées de la revue littéraire, de l'évaluation agronomique et de la modélisation de la durabilité des systèmes de culture 1938 ; Hoorman, 2009) et les mauvaises herbes (Carsky et al., 2001). Ils créent également des conditions favorables pour la diversité et les fonctions de la biodiversité souterraine impliquées dans les transformations et le cycle des éléments nutritifs du sol (Midega et al., 2013 ;Vukicevich et al., 2016) et l'agrégation des sols (Hoorman, 2009 ;Soti et al., 2016). Certaines CCEV, telles que Mucuna et Canavalia, réduisent la prévalence des nématodes qui attaquent les céréales (Arim et al., 2006). En outre, Canavalia ensiformis est un remède biologique du sol pour les herbicides Sulfentrazole (Madalão et al., 2017).Les CCEV jouent un rôle important dans la fixation de l'azote, pouvant atteindre jusqu'à 320 kg N ha -1 en fonction du type de CCEV, de la quantité de précipitation et de l'état de la fertilité du sol (Ojiem et al., 2007). Par exemple, dans l'Ouest du Kenya, la fixation de l'azote atmosphérique (N 2 ) dans les champs très fertiles à moyennement fertiles a diminué de 12% et de 22% dans les champs moyennement fertiles à peu fertiles (Ojiem et al., 2007). Le Mucuna, le Lablab et l'arachide ont un potentiel de fixation de N 2 élevé dans les ZAE et les gradients de fertilité du sol (Ojiem et al., 2007). Parmi les autres avantages tirés des CCEV, il y a la régulation du changement climatique par la séquestration du carbone (Olson et al., 2014 ;Lal, 2015), l'amélioration des rendements céréaliers (Gachene et al., 2000 ;Maobe et al., 2000 ;Salako et Tian, 2003 ;Fofana, 2005 ;Kaizzi et al., 2006) et du fourrage pour les animaux (Weber, 1996). Cependant, des résultats contradictoires sur les avantages de rendement ont également été rapportés dans d'autres études (Mathuva et al., 1998 ;Giller, 2001;Kaizzi et al., 2006).  Le Bénin est fortement dépendant de l'agriculture, source de subsistance pour environ 80% de sa population et contribuant pour environ 38% de son produit intérieur brut (Gollin & Rogerson, 2014). Les cultures vivrières de base comprennent : l'igname, le manioc, le haricot, le riz et le maïs. Les principales cultures de rentes sont le coton, les noix de cajou, les noix de karité, les ananas, les palmiers, le cacao et le café (Minot & Daniels, 2005). Sur la production totale dans les 18 districts, deux cultures couvrent la plus grande superficie, à savoir le maïs avec environ 36% et le coton entre 65 et 87% ; le coton étant la principale culture d'exportation du Bénin (MAEP, 2015).  (2016) populaire au sein des agriculteurs en 1990 en raison de sa capacité à supprimer les mauvaises herbes comme Imperata cylindrica et Striga hermontica (Galiba et al., 1998). Les agriculteurs des départements de l'Atacora, de l'Atlantique, du Borgou, du Mono, de l'Ouémé et du Zou travaillant avec Sasakawa Global 2000 (SG, 2000) ont signalé une élimination complète d'Imperata après 2 ou 3 cultures consécutives de Mucuna (Galiba et al., 1998). De plus, lorsqu'il a été utilisé dans des jachères améliorées, le Mucuna a considérablement amélioré les rendements des cultures ultérieures. Par exemple, après un an de jachère du Mucuna, une augmentation du rendement du maïs a été observée pour les variétés de maïs locales (500 kg ha -1 ) et améliorées (800 kg ha -1 ; Versteeg et Koudokpon, 1993). L'augmentation du rendement correspond aux estimations de l'apport d'azote supérieur à 100 kg N ha -1 de Mucuna par fixation biologique de l'azote (Fofana, 2005).Jointvetch Porcupine (Aeschynomene histrix), une plante dicotylédone de la famille des fabacées, est une légumineuse herbacée adaptée à un large éventail de sols et de climats, et qui prospère également dans des conditions de sol défavorables (sablonneuses, stériles, acides et mal drainées). Introduit depuis la Côte d'Ivoire en 1989, Aeschynomene histrix (A. histrix) a été évalué dans les savanes du nord du Bénin en 1998 (Ehouinsou & Aboh, 1998). Cette évaluation portait sur les techniques culturales, la tolérance aux maladies et à la sécheresse, les méthodes de gestion, la production de biomasse, la production de semences et la teneur en protéines brutes. Le résultat de l'étude indique que A. Histrix est adapté à l'écologie des savanes du nord du Bénin. Il a été introduit au Bénin pour l'alimentation des animaux et la régénération des sols. La culture améliore non seulement la fertilité du sol, mais agit également comme une couverture du sol et produit une grande quantité de fourrage de qualité, en particulier pendant la saison sèche. A. histrix peut produire 2 à 6 tonnes de matière sèche et environ 260 kg ha -1 y -1 de grains. Soja (Glycine max) est une légumineuse à grains avec une productivité élevée de biomasse contenant environ 3,5% N et 0,15% P (Gachene et Kimaru, 2003). Le soja fixe jusqu'à 300 kg N ha -1 (Hungria et al., 2006) et contribue à hauteur de 112 kg N ha -1 à la culture suivante (Gentry et al., 2001). Il restaure et maintient la fertilité des sols de manière durable, ce qui conduit à améliorer les rendements (Smaling et al., 2008).  (Vissoh, 2006) dans le but d'accroître la fertilité des sols. La culture se porte bien dans les zones où les altitudes sont <1 600m et >1 000mm de précipitations. Deux systèmes de gestion ont été mis au point dans la zone subhumide du sud du Bénin, dans le but d'intégrer le Mucuna aux systèmes de culture afin d'améliorer la fertilité des sols et de lutter contre les mauvaises herbes. Ces systèmes comprennent : Établissement de Mucuna comme seule culture de couverture en courte jachère pour les champs sérieusement dégradés et, Mucuna planté comme relais dans les champs de maïs nécessitant moins de réhabilitation. Dans la zone bimodale du sud du Bénin, le Mucuna est planté en mars et en avril afin de maximiser l'accumulation de biomasse et la couverture végétale. Cependant, la date de semis peut être prolongée jusqu'en mai si les pluies sont en retard. En moyenne, le Mucuna produit entre 2-10 t ha -1 de matière sèche et entre 200-2 000 kg ha -1 de grains (Cook et al., 2005). Il était particulièrement Niébé (Vigna unguiculata) se développe et mûrit dans une période de 60 à 80 jours (Kamara et al., 2018). Le niébé est une légumineuse à grains dont la biomasse est utilisée comme culture fourragère. Il tolère le stress et est adapté aux conditions climatiques variées. La valeur estimée du remplacement du niébé par des engrais azotés peut aller de 5 kg ha -1 (Carsky et al., 2001) à 80 kg N ha -1 (Horst & Hardter, 1997), en particulier après l'incorporation de résidus de niébé ou la culture de deux légumineuses au cours d'une même saison de campagne (Horst & Härdter, 1994). La culture intercalaire du niébé avec des cultures céréalières réduit souvent les rendements en légumineuses en raison de l'ombrage des cultures céréalières (Olufajo et Sigh, 2002). Cependant, une bonne performance est obtenue lorsque des variétés de niébé à couverture étalée sont cultivées par rapport aux variétés érigées (Ewansiha et al., 2014).Arachide (Arachis hypogaea) est une légumineuse fixant l'azote, tolérante à la sécheresse et cultivée comme culture de rente au Bénin (MDR, 2000). Le stade de maturité des arachides varie entre 90 et 120 jours selon la variété plantée (Yao, 2015). La culture a une caractéristique d'autopollinisation, ce qui permet aux graines de rester viables pendant longtemps. Dans la zone IV du Bénin, les agriculteurs cultivent des arachides avec du sorgho, tandis que dans la zone III, la monoculture d'arachides est pratiquée en raison de l'inadéquation d'autres cultures due à l'invasion au Striga. Les producteurs d'arachide n'utilisent généralement pas d'engrais inorganiques ; cependant, la pourriture des gousses est évidente dans les sols pauvres en calcium, ce qui réduit le remplissage et les rendements des gousses (MDR, 2000).Stylo (Stylosanthes hamata) est une légumineuse vivace principalement cultivée pour le fourrage du bétail. Il est bien adopté dans les régions de moins de 1 500m d'altitude et des précipitations entre 500 et 2 000 mm (Cook et al., 2005). La culture est tolérante à la sécheresse et peut bien fonctionner dans des sols peu fertiles (Jones et al., 2003). En moyenne, S. hamata produit environ 1-6 t ha -1 de matière sèche et 50-500 kg ha -1 de grains. Des études ont montré que la jachère de S. hamata améliorait de 50 -100% les rendements en grains des cultures céréalières subséquentes et fixait plus de 100 kg N ha -1 par an (Sanginga et al., 1996)  (Saïdou et al., 2003). Malgré la carence en nutriments signalée dans la majorité des terres arables, l'utilisation d'engrais inorganiques est principalement limitée à la production de coton. En effet, le coton est la principale culture de rente du Bénin qui a été stimulée par l'intervention de l'État dans la plupart des régions du pays (Saidou et al., 2012;Honfoga, 2018). Au Bénin, le maïs est à la fois une culture de rente et de subsistance. Cependant, les engrais appliqués au maïs sont marginaux et proviennent d'effets résiduels dans les rotations coton-céréales (Saidou et al., 2012). Cela pourrait être attribué au fait que les prix du marché des cultures vivrières sont inférieurs aux dépenses engagées pour l'achat d'engrais (Ivo, 2008). La réaction des cultures à l'application d'engrais est également imprévisible, ce qui réduit leur utilisation par les agriculteurs pauvres en ressources (Honfoga, 2018). En outre, l'approche de la révolution verte axée sur le marché a mis l'accent sur l'utilisation d'engrais inorganiques. Pourtant, les crédits aux agriculteurs ne permettent pas l'utilisation de la gestion de la fertilité des sols spécifique au site et l'adoption de mécanismes développés pour la réponse au risque (Bellwood-Howard, 2014). Ainsi, une intensification agricole durable n'a pas été atteinte.Au Bénin, la production de culture est principalement une activité de subsistance pratiquée dans les systèmes agricoles traditionnels (par exemple, la culture itinérante), où les intrants faibles tels que l'utilisation d'outils traditionnels, les engrais et l'irrigation sont prédominants (Mulindabigwi, 2006). La culture arable est pratiquée dans les régions du sud, du centre et du nord (Manyong et al., 1996)  Outre cette insuffisance générale des sols au Bénin, il faut ajouter que ceux de la zone soudano-guinéenne, des savanes, ont plus de contraintes physiques au développement (Igue et al., 2013). Leur dégradation s'accélère dès leur culture, il faut donc les exploiter avec plus de délicatesse en mettant en oeuvre des mesures de conservation adaptées (Azontondé, 1991). Les principales causes de dégradation des sols au Bénin sont notamment les suivantes : mauvaises pratiques agricoles, défrichement des terres marginales pour la culture, transformation du charbon de bois, surpâturage et destruction de la biomasse par des feux de brousse ou des incendies récurrents (Baba et al., 2016). L'érosion des sols est une menace majeure pour la production agricole et a entraîné une réduction d'environ 72% du rendement des cultures (Ziervogel et al., 2006).Comme dans le cas de la dégradation des terres, les problèmes de régime foncier et de sécurité ne sont pas suffisamment pris en compte par les services de recherche et de vulgarisation (Igue et al., 2000). L'incertitude entourant la sécurité foncière réduit la confiance des agriculteurs dans les avantages à long terme des investissements réalisés dans l'amélioration des terres. Au contraire, l'augmentation de la sécurité d'occupation des terres entraînerait pour les agriculteurs un accès à des crédits favorisant non seulement des investissements plus importants dans les intrants à court terme, mais également de plus grands investissements dans les technologies de conservation et de gestion des terres (Saïdou et al., 2007).L'utilisation des périodes de jachère dans la gestion des cultures améliore l'accumulation de matière organique, ce qui contribue à restaurer progressivement la fertilité du sol. Cependant, la population croissante et la pauvreté grandissante obligent les producteurs à réduire les périodes de jachère sans reconstituer les sols par l'application d'autres stratégies d'amélioration des sols (Brabant et al., 1996). En outre, les changements d'utilisation des sols qui ne sont pas souvent accompagnés de mesures de protection et de réhabilitation ont également accéléré la dégradation des sols.L'utilisation des légumineuses en tant que CCEV présente les avantages suivants : (1) elles enrichissent le sol en azote (N 2 ) biologique fixé, (2) conservent et recyclent les éléments nutritifs du sol, (3) assurent la protection du sol afin de réduire l'érosion et (4) nécessitent peu ou pas d'engrais minéraux immédiats. Cependant, à intervalle planifié, le travail du sol est nécessaire pour soutenir l'établissement, la maintenance et l'incorporation de ces engrais verts (Franzluebbers et al., 1998 ;Groot et al., 1998).Les sols dans le sud et le centre du Bénin ont une très faible capacité d'échange cationique (Igue et al., de cajou. Les cultures vivrières sont principalement intercalées tandis que le palmier à huile et le coton sont généralement en monocultures. Les champs éloignés sont utilisés pour la culture du coton et du maïs dans un système de jachère arbustive (Manyong et al., 2000). L'élevage de bétail dans la région implique la pratique du pâturage libre dans les champs après la récolte de la culture principale.Sur les sols ferralitiques, deux systèmes de gestion différents ont été développés pour l'intégration du Mucuna dans les systèmes de culture (Manyong et al., 2000). L'une est une culture de couverture en jachère unique pour les champs gravement dégradés. La seconde est une culture de relais maïs/ Mucuna pour les champs nécessitant moins de réhabilitation. Pour les champs gravement dégradés et infestés par Imperata cylindrica, Mucuna doit être planté en peuplement pur au début de la saison des pluies. Trois ou quatre semaines après la plantation du Mucuna, une seconde coupe peut être nécessaire pour permettre aux plants de Mucuna de vaincre Imperata cylindrica car il s'agit d'une mauvaise herbe à croissance rapide. Une production de matière sèche de 7 à 9 t / ha est généralement observée dans la zone de pluie bimodale (Vissoh et al., 1998). À la saison sèche, Mucuna achève son cycle de vie en laissant un paillis épais exempt de mauvaises herbes. Cela permet une récolte ultérieure du maïs pendant la longue saison des pluies avec peu ou pas de préparation ou de désherbage.Centre Bénin : zone caractérisée par une pression foncière due à une immigration continue en provenance du sud, entraînant la déforestation des forêts primaires et la conversion en terres agricoles pour la culture du coton, de l'arachide et du maïs. Par exemple, le système de culture basé sur l'igname dans les collines (Savè) a entraîné la déforestation de la forêt de Boukou. La culture du coton est également en expansion ; le niébé étant sa culture complémentaire. De grandes quantités d'engrais et d'autres intrants sont utilisées (Minot et Daniels, 2005). L'élevage de bétail dans la région par les pasteurs, en particulier le pâturage libre après la récolte de la culture principale, compromet l'adoption des CCEV, comme le Mucuna en jachère, entraînant des conflits entre agriculteurs et éleveurs.Nord Bénin : la région se caractérise également par une densité de population inférieure à celle des autres zones (Callo -Concha et al., 2012). Les systèmes de production sont basés soit sur le coton, soit sur la production animale. La production de coton a reçu beaucoup de soutien du gouvernement. Cependant, la production animale est bien établie et intégrée aux activités agricoles arables. La demande accrue de champs arables a entraîné l'ouverture de plus de terres dans les zones conservées. Cela a réduit le nombre de zones de pâturage conduisant au surpâturage, ce qui a poussé les éleveurs à envahir les terres cultivées, provoquant ainsi des conflits persistants dans l'utilisation des terres (Callo Concha et al., 2012). D'autre part, la demande nonsatisfaite de terres arables a raccourci les périodes de jachère, ce qui a entraîné une culture continueLes engrais verts et les cultures de couverture au Bénin -informations tirées de la revue littéraire, de l'évaluation agronomique et de la modélisation de la durabilité des systèmes de culture menant à l'aggravement de la dégradation des terres (Igue et al., 2000). Environ 75% des agriculteurs du nord du Bénin utilisent des engrais inorganiques pour certaines cultures, la rentabilité étant obtenue principalement dans les systèmes irrigués (Laube, 2007).Les  Wennink et al., 1999), qui se retrouve également dans toute la région soudano-sahélienne (Pieri, 1989 ;McIntire et al., 1992 ;Jabbar, 1994). Les pratiques les plus couramment utilisées dans les différentes combinaisons sont la rotation des cultures, le stockage en rotation directe, le paillage, les intrantsLes zones ont été choisies en raison de la faible fertilité du sol et des critères suivants :d'engrais minéraux ou organiques sous forme de fumier ou de compost, l'utilisation de plantes de couverture.L'évolution des pratiques et stratégies de gestion de la fertilité des sols met en évidence leur importance pour la question de la gestion durable des sols. La diversité des pratiques reflète également l'adaptation des agriculteurs aux nouvelles situations, ainsi que l'insuffisance des solutions apportées par la recherche et la vulgarisation. Les terres en jachère, l'incorporation de la biomasse de légumineuses, la couverture du sol, la fertilisation organique et minérale et la rotation des cultures sont les types de pratiques qui ont lieu dans toutes les régions. Toutefois, l'intensité d'utilisation des pratiques varie en fonction de la pression foncière, de l'importance de la culture du coton, des spécificités de chaque zone agro-écologique. Les pratiques sont plus diversifiées lorsque la pression foncière est plus forte et que la jachère disparaît. La diversification des pratiques se fait également en fonction du niveau d'intégration de l'agriculture et de l'élevage à la ferme (Floquet et al., 2006).Dans les zones où la pression foncière est relativement faible, les résidus de récolte ne sont pas utilisés pour la gestion de la fertilité du sol. Par contre, dans les zones où la pression foncière est élevée, les champs de paillage avec des résidus de récolte, suivis ou non d'un pâturage en rotation directe, contribuent au maintien de la fertilité du sol. ProSOL (par le biais de la GIZ) est l'un des différents projets SEWOH qui promeut la protection et la restauration des sols pour renforcer la sécurité alimentaire au Bénin. Ses objectifs principaux incluent : la mise en oeuvre de la réhabilitation des sols, l'intégration de la GDT aux niveaux politique et institutionnel et l'amélioration de la gestion et de la diffusion des connaissances en GDT (Mulindabigwi, 2015). En ciblant les petits exploitants agricoles, ProSOL travaille dans 4 départements, dont 18 communes et 385 villages (Figure 2).  Après l'achèvement de divers projets sur les CCEV au Bénin, le niveau d'adoption de ces cultures a diminué pour diverses raisons. Les principaux défis étaient les suivants : 1) un accès limité aux semences certifiées en raison d'une mauvaise organisation du système de semences; 2) une diversité réduite et une connaissance limitée de la productivité selon les régions agro-écologiques qui ont entrainé la réduction des taux d'adoption (ProSOL-GIZ, 2015); 3) le régime foncier et la difficulté d'intégrer les cultures à cycle long, telles que le manioc et l'igname dans les CCEV (Agbokou et al., 2015); 4) une forte demande de main-d'oeuvre pour la maintenance; et 5) un faible accès au crédit et aux intrants agricoles (Assogba et al., 2017).Selon Vissoh (2006), les facteurs les plus importants influençant l'adoption des CCEV par les agriculteurs sont : l'infestation par les mauvaises herbes, les droits fonciers, le contact avec les services de vulgarisation et d'autres variables spécifiques à l'exploitation. Par contre, Adégbola et al. (2011) ont montré que les principaux facteurs qui influencent positivement la décision d'adoption par les producteurs sont : le niveau d'éducation formelle, le contact avec les agents de vulgarisation et l'orientation du marché. De même, la participation volontaire des bénéficiaires aux actions de formation est un facteur qui influence positivement l'adoption des technologies CCEV (Jasaw et al., 2014). En outre, le genre et le nombre de parcelles sous cultures, le nombre d'actifs agricoles, et l'appartenance à un groupe de vulgarisation motivent les producteurs à utiliser les CCEV (Diogo et al., 2018b ;Gbédjissokpa et al., 2018). Cependant, en raison de la variabilité climatique et des risques (Agossou et al., 2012), il devient impérieux que les producteurs utilisent des cultures de couverture pour garantir la gestion durable de leurs terres. Ainsi, la sensibilisation des producteurs à la dégradation des sols (Jasaw et al., 2014)  Considérations tardives du genre: les projets n'intègrent souvent pas la dimension de genre lors de leur phase de conception (Assogba et al., 2017). En outre, la prise en compte du genre varie selon les différents projets. Cela se traduit par l'implication des femmes dans les activités de production, de transformation et de commercialisation ou dans l'extension des technologies de GDT en tant que productrices modèles et détentrices des parcelles de démonstration.Milieu social: après un grand enthousiasme, l'utilisation de cultures de couverture au Bénin a montré des limites dans l'acceptabilité de ces technologies par les agriculteurs (Seguy & Bouzinac, 2001). Souvent, le manque de rentabilité économique directe empêche leur adoption dans un système agricole plus intensif. L'agriculteur voit rarement la conservation de la fertilité à long terme comme un facteur de changement (Messerli & Kistler, 1999). D'autres intérêts doivent être créés pour éliminer les préjugés.Pauvreté: les travaux de Leach et Mearns (1992) ont établi un lien de causalité théorique entre la pauvreté et l'état de dégradation de l'environnement. On peut donc se demander si les agriculteurs pauvres dégradent l'environnement des zones cultivées et adoptent moins de pratiques de jachère améliorée avec des légumineuses. La théorie a été appliquée à la situation particulière du Bénin. L'objectif principal était de déterminer l'influence du bien-être des agriculteurs sur leurs systèmes de production et leur adoption de l'agroforesterie : les cas de Mucuna pruriens et d'Acacia auriculiformis au sud du Bénin (Houngbo et al., 2012). Il a été démontré que, plus les agriculteurs sont pauvres, moins ils adoptent le Mucuna et plus ils exportent des nutriments du sol sans aucune stratégie de remplacement. Bien que les agriculteurs soient conscients des effets positifs des CCEV, leur taux d'adoption est généralement faible.Les agriculteurs les plus pauvres adoptent moins de technologie que tous les autres agriculteurs.La pauvreté apparaît comme un obstacle décisif à l'adoption des CCEV au sud du Bénin en particulier et au Bénin en général (Floquet, 1998). La réduction de la pauvreté est donc nécessaire pour améliorer l'adoption de pratiques agricoles durables au Bénin. Cette lutte peut passer par la valorisation des semences par les producteurs. L'établissement d'une chaîne de valeur autour de la production de semences pourrait être une alternative.Régime foncier: pour la plupart des populations rurales des pays en développement, mis à part la population active, la terre est le principal facteur de production et reste souvent le seul actif avec lequel la richesse peut être générée et développée (Vendryes, 2014). La question de la sécurité foncière est souvent identifiée dans les documents de stratégie pour la réduction de la pauvreté comme un axe majeur de la promotion de la croissance agricole et donc de la réduction de la pauvreté. Cette vision repose sur des raisons théoriques selon lesquelles la sécurité d'occupation favorise l'investissement agricole, l'accès au crédit (parce que les terres peuvent servir de garantie), l'adoption de pratiques de gestion durable de la fertilité des sols et la productivité agricole (Abdulai et al., 2011).Contexte CCEV: chaque CCEV a des situations spécifiques dans lesquelles il peut être adopté et celles-ci doivent être identifiées en tant que condition préalable. Pour les arbustes légumineux et les herbacées comme le Mucuna, ils ont été identifiés comme : production secondaire par la culture de couverture, forte pression des mauvaises herbes à traiter, sol suffisamment riche pour supporter les cultures principales et secondaires, réduction du temps de travail et réponse positive de la culture principale à la culture de couverture (Carsky et al., 2001 ;Schulz et al., 2001 ;Hauser et al., 2002).Les    2015). Les sols appartiennent à la classe des sols ferrugineux tropicaux (Viennot, 1978). La végétation correspond à celle de la savane arborée soudanoguinéenne.La  Le tableau 4 présente la répartition du nombre de producteurs ayant participé aux essais en milieu réel.Tableau 4: Répartition des essais par commune, culture et type de CCEV  Deux catégories de matériel végétal ont été utilisées dans ces essais : les (CCEV)  (Eilitta et al., 1983). Le potassium (K) et le phosphore (P) sont des minéraux très présents dans la biomasse de Mucuna (Eilitta et al., 1983). Ces auteurs ont trouvé respectivement 6,6 kg/ha, 6,2 kg/ha et 5,5 kg/ha de P chez les variétés cochinchinensis, deeringiana et nagaland au sud du Mexique.Le pois d'Angole (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millspaugh) est une plante qui appartient à la famille des Fabaceae (Wu et al., 2009). C'est une importante légumineuse à graine cultivée sous les tropiques, y compris les zones semi-arides. Sa production annuelle, estimée en moyenne à 3,1 millions de tonnes, représente environ 5% de la production mondiale des légumineuses à graines. Avec cette production, le pois d'Angole est la sixième légumineuse à graine la plus importante du monde (Pazhamala et al., 2015) Source : Fiches descriptives des variétés de cotonnier (Gossypium hirsutum)La pratique proposée aux agricultueurs est : NPKSB coton 14/18/18/6/1 et le NPKSBZn maïs 13/17/17/0,5/6/1,5 utilisés à la dose de 150 kg/ha 15 jours après semis, puis l'urée 46% à la dose de 50 kg/ha apporté 45 jours après semis.Le dispositif expérimental est fait d'une parcelle de 10m x 10m, conformément au protocole élaboré par CIAT (Figure 5). À ce dispositif, il a été ajouté 4 parcelles de 4m x 4m de dimensions pour les quatre traitements de l'essai (2 sur parcelles de précédent de CCEV et 2 sur parcelles sans précédent de CCEV) (Tableau 6). Les engrais verts et les cultures de couverture au Bénin -informations tirées de la revue littéraire, de l'évaluation agronomique et de la modélisation de la durabilité des systèmes de culture Tableau 6: Description des traitements de l'essai Les résultats de l'analyse des sols ont été soumis à une analyse de variance à deux critères pour l'ensemble de l'étude. P value 0,000 0,000 0, 000 ddl = degré de liberté.Les faibles valeurs de l'azote total observées correspondent aux caractéristiques des sols ferrugineux tropicaux (Sanchez & Jama, 2002) qui couvrent 60% du Bénin et se retrouvent dans les communes de Bantè, Bembéréké et Kandi (Agossou, 1983). Ces sols sont reconnus pauvres en azote et en phosphore et une stratégie palliative passe forcément par une gestion rationnelle des terres agricoles (Igué et al., 2017). La rotation CCEV-maïs a amélioré la matière organique du sol dans la plupart des communes. La matière organique représente l'indicateur principal et déterminant de l'activité biologique (Mrabet et al., 2012)  Le travail du sol est l'une des principales composantes des systèmes de cultures. Il permet entre autres de créer une structure propice (Schmidt et al., 1994) en vue de favoriser l'enracinement et assurer ainsi un bon ancrage, une bonne alimentation en eau et en nutriments des cultures en palliant aux difficultés liées au tassement des sols qui entraînent une diminution de l'espace des vides entre les éléments du sol, et une augmentation de la densité apparente du sol (Lipiec et al., 1991). L'état de compaction du sol traduit donc la résistance du sol à la pénétration qui peut également dépendre de la structure du sol. La compaction est un problème particulièrement important pour la gestion des sols, car elle influence la structure du sol (Batey, 2009). Nos résultats montrent que le tassement du sol est élevé à Zagnanado et est caractérisé par un sol ferralitique de très faible fertilité (Adjanohoun et al., 2006), surtout sur 10 et 15 cm comparé à Bantè (Figure 6). La même tendance est observée à Bembéréré comparé à Kandi (Figure 7). Les principales causes du tassement du sol sont liées directement ou indirectement au développement de la mécanisation. La cause indirecte est l'appauvrissement du sol en matière organique, dû à certaines modifications des pratiques culturales (N' Guessan et al., 2015). La matière organique est très faible sur les parcelles sans CCEV à Zagnanado, de l'ordre de 0,43% passant à plus du double (0,92%) sous l'effet des CCEV. Ceci explique donc la réduction de la compaction du sol constatée sur les parcelles avec CCEV. Ces observations sont en accord avec les résultats de Fikri et al. (2004) qui ont affirmé que la matière organique a une influence majeure sur les propriétés physiques et chimiques des sols et par ricochet sur le rendement des cultures.  Les valeurs moyennes calculées pour la conductivité hydraulique des parcelles étudiées sont représentées par les figures 8 et 9. Les résultats montrent une variabilité de la conductivité hydraulique (K) en fonction des systèmes de cultures. Les parcelles sans CCEV ont montré des valeurs de K faibles indiquant une faible infiltration de l'eau dans le sol. Au niveau de Kandi (Figure 8) et Bantè (Figure 9), les valeurs de K enregistrées sont significativement plus élevées sur parcelles de CCEV par rapport aux parcelles sans CCEV.En général, la conductivité hydraulique augmente de 33-51% sur les parcelles traitées aux CCEV au centre (Figure 9) contre 29-66% sur les mêmes parcelles au nord, comparativement aux parcelles sans CCEV (Figure 8)La perméabilité d'un sol est sa capacité à faire infiltrer l'eau. Elle dépend de la texture du sol et de sa structure (homogène, fissures, etc.) des propriétés du fluide qui s'écoule (Viscosité, densité) et du dégré de saturation du sol (Nimmo et al., 1987). Plus un milieu est perméable (grand K), plus l'eau s'y infiltre. Un sol est considéré comme imperméable lorsque le coefficient K est inférieur à 10 -8 m/s. À l'inverse, au-delà de 5.10 -5 m/s, le sol est considéré comme très perméable et son aptitude à l'infiltration est excellente.  ). La faible teneur en matière organique relevée dans les parcelles sans CCEV à Zagnanado à également favorisé la compaction de celles-ci (Naitormbaide et al., 2012). La compaction entraîne donc l'augmentation de la densité apparente du sol et de la diminution de la conductivité hydraulique (Håkansson & Reeder, 1994). La couvertureLes engrais verts et les cultures de couverture au Bénin -informations tirées de la revue littéraire, de l'évaluation agronomique et de la modélisation de la durabilité des systèmes de culture végétale est un facteur important et l'utilisation de plantes légumineuses contribue à limiter l'érosion, le ruissellement, le taux d'évaporation ainsi que l'augmentation de la capacité de rétention des sols (Roose, 2015), permettant ainsi une bonne gestion des sols pour une production durable. La plupart des sols compactés et imperméabilisés ne sont plus en état de remplir correctement leurs fonctions environnementales, en particulier celles qui ont trait à l'infiltration de l'eau et à la croissance des végétaux. C'est ce qui expliquerait les faibles récoltes obtenues sur les parcelles sans précédent de CCEV sur les différents sites étudiés.Les résultats de l'analyse de variance pour le facteur aléatoire et les facteurs fixes pour les deux cultures sont consignés dans le tableau 8.Le coefficient de corrélation intra-classe obtenu à partir du modèle vide était de 0% (inférieure à 50%) indiquait un effet non significatif du bloc sur le rendement des deux cultures quelques soit la commune.L'étude des facteurs simples et de leurs interactions sur le rendement des deux cultures tests indique une différence significative entre les différents facteurs et leurs combinaisons au seuil de 5% (Tableau 8). La commune a un effet très significatif sur les deux cultures traduisant les différences de fertilité des sols entre les quatre zones agroécologiques étudiées. Le précédent cultural représenté par les CCEV a un effet hautement significatif (p = 0,000) sur le rendement du maïs et du coton. Le traitement, également, a un effet hautement significatif (p = 0,000) sur le rendement des deux cultures. Les combinaisons des facteurs pris deux à deux ont eu des effets hautement significatifs sur le rendement du coton, alors que sur le maïs seule la combinaison commune : précédent a eu d'effets significatifs (Tableau 8).Les résultats sur les rendements en grains de maïs et de coton fibre montrent qu'il existe des différences très significatives (p = 0,003) pour les effets de la combinaison des trois facteurs sur le rendement du maïs, alors que sur celui du coton on observe une différence hautement significative (p = 0,000) au seuil de probabilité de 5 % (Tableau 8).La rotation CCEV maïs ou CCEV coton a amélioré de façon significative le rendement en grains du maïs et du coton fibre en fonction des traitements et des  10). Sur le coton, la rotation plante améliorante coton a amélioré de façon significative le rendement du coton avec un rendement moyen en coton fibre sur parcelle de plantes de couverture plus élevé (1 142 kg/ha) avec apport de la demi dose d'engrais minéral recommandée ; ce rendement est triplé comparé aux parcelles sans plantes de couverture dans la commune de Bantè (Figure 11). Ces résultats corroborent ceux de Ziadi et al. (2006) qui ont montré que la limitation en élément azoté est la principale contrainte de la production des céréales en Afrique sub-Saharienne. Toutefois, il n'est complètement valorisé que si les quantités de P et K disponibles sont suffisantes, d'où la nécessité de la complémentation de la fumure minérale sur les parcelles de CCEV qui se sont soldées par un accroissement de rendement de 700 kg/ha pour le maïs à Kandi et de 2 000 kg pour le coton à Bantè.  La dégradation des sols constitue une menace sérieuse pour la production alimentaire et les moyens de subsistance ruraux en Afrique subsaharienne (Bindraban et al., 2012 ;Obalum et al., 2012 ;Gomiero, 2016). Des pratiques agricoles non-durables ont entraîné une baisse de la fertilité des sols en raison de l'épuisement des nutriments -en des carences en azote (N) et en phosphore (P), de l'érosion éolienne et hydrique, et finalement de la baisse de la productivité agricole (Dessie & Mohammed, 2018).L'initiative spéciale du BMZ SEWOH s'attaque à certains des plus grands défis auxquels l'humanité est confrontée aujourd'hui. L'objectif de SEWOH est de contribuer de manière significative à l'accroissement de la sécurité alimentaire en réduisant la faim et la pauvreté, en mettant l'accent sur le développement rural et la modernisation de l'agriculture (Mulindabigwi, 2015). SEWOH comprend une gamme de programmes mondiaux mis en oeuvre par GIZ dans dix pays. L'un des programmes mondiaux est le programme mondial ProSOL, qui est opérationnel au Bénin, au Burkina Faso, en Éthiopie, au Kenya et en Inde. Il vise à aider les pays partenaires à mettre en oeuvre à grande échelle des approches testées sur le terrain pour la conservation des sols et la réhabilitation des sols dégradés. Parallèlement, l'objectif est d'améliorer le cadre décisionnel en vue de mettre en place des incitations à une utilisation durable des sols. Pour soutenir ces activités, le programme soutient l'échange et la diffusion des enseignements tirés des pays partenaires de manière systématique. Les CCEV font partie du portefeuille de technologies promues pour la protection et l'amélioration des sols, en particulier au Kenya et au Bénin.Les CCEV sont des cultures qui protègent les sols de l'érosion éolienne et hydrique, suppriment les mauvaises herbes, fixent l'azote atmosphérique, les récupèrent, renforcent la structure du sol, réduisent la formation de croûtes à la surface, améliorent l'infiltration d'eau, réduisent la compaction du sol, améliorent sa qualité et éliminent les insectes nuisibles. Les avantages de ces cultures dépendent de la productivité de la biomasse avant que le sol ne soit préparé pour la prochaine culture. Lorsque les cultures de couverture sont enfouies et labourées dans le sol, les engrais verts ajoutés améliorent la fertilité et la structure du sol en nourrissant les populations microbiennes du sol, et collent également les particules du sol pour former des agrégats de sol (Cherr et al., 2006 ;Florentín et al., 2011). Lorsque les microbes du sol décomposent les matières végétales, celles-ci se minéralisent et libèrent de l'azote et d'autres nutriments dans le sol. L'accumulation et la libération d'azote sont plus importantes avec les légumineuses qui contiennent des bactéries qui fixent l'azote dans les racines (Cassman, 2003).Un cadre et un outil d'évaluation permettant de comparer systématiquement les systèmes de culture existants aux systèmes agro-économiques et environnementaux existants sont nécessaires. La fertilisation, la minéralisation de l'azote et le rendement final des cultures sont tous affectés non seulement par la gestion des cultures individuelles, mais également par les processus à long terme influencés par la séquence des cultures et l'interaction entre les différentes cultures (Baddeley et al., 2017 ;Reckling et al., 2016). En outre, l'intensification durable (ID) est devenue un paradigme important visant à améliorer la productivité tout en garantissant la durabilité de l'environnement. Il faut produire plus de nourriture, de fibres et de fourrages avec moins de ressources -par exemple, en augmentant les rendements par unité de terre, d'eau ou d'engrais (Giller et al., 2011 ;Descheemaeker et al., 2016 ;Falconnier et al., 2017) CROSST a été développé dans une feuille de calcul Microsoft Excel (version 365) en utilisant le code de programmation Visual Basic pour Application (VBA). Le code source utilisé pour construire le modèle peut être trouvé ici. C'est un modèle statique qui capture les effets annuels cumulés de certains systèmes de culture sur trois ans (au bout de six saisons). Le résultat de l'outil est constitué de graphiques à barres, de graphiques de compromis et de scores relatifs. CROSST est composé d'une feuille d'entrée, d'une feuille de sortie et de neuf feuilles de paramètres et de calcul (Figure 12).Le premier nom de la feuille, Page de sélection de la CSA (Agriculture soutenue par la communauté, Community-Supported Agriculture en anglais), permet aux utilisateurs de choisir le système de culture qu'ils analysent et de saisir les données nécessaires à leur mise en place.Le deuxième nom de la feuille, Sorties, donne un résumé de tous les résultats.La troisième feuille jusqu'à la onzième feuille contient les feuilles de paramètres et de calcul. Ce sont des feuilles cachées et ne sont accessibles qu'aux utilisateurs les plus avancés, par exemple pour améliorer les informations relatives à la production agricole dans une région donnée.Pour chaque pays et zone, un système conventionnel a été comparé à un système amélioré avec CCEV intégré pour illustrer le fonctionnement de l'outil. Les données ont été recueillies lors d'entretiens avec des experts clé, d'une revue littéraire et de discussions de groupe.Le Bénin couvre une superficie de 114 763 kilomètres carrés, dont 32,8% sont utilisés pour l'agriculture. Le secteur agricole au Bénin est une source importante de richesse économique puisqu'il contribue à 30% du total du produit intérieur brut (INSAE, 2015). Les principales cultures produites au Bénin comprennent le maïs, le haricot, le riz, les arachides, les noix de cajou, les ananas, le manioc, l'igname, d'autres tubercules, ainsi que des fruits et légumes cultivés pour la subsistance locale et pour la vente. Le coton est la principale culture de rente et est principalement exporté. Les autres cultures exportées comprennent les noix de cajou, les noix de karité et le beurre de karité, les ananas, les produits à base de palme, ainsi que du cacao et du café (FAO, ICRISAT, CIAT et CCAFS, 2018). Le programme GIZ-ProSOL fonctionne actuellement dans quatre zones : Alibori et Borgou au nord et Collines et Zou au sud (Figures 13 et 14). Ces départements ont été choisis en raison du niveau élevé de dégradation des sols (ProSOL, 2016b, Figure 14).   Située au nord du Bénin, cette région a une saison de culture par an avec des précipitations annuelles de 800-1 200 mm. Le système de production est mixte-élevage et la taille moyenne des exploitations est de 5 à 7 ha. Les sols sont tropicaux ferrugineux sur une base cristalline avec une forte proportion de sols lessivés et peu de concrétions. Le coton est une culture de rente importante dans la région (Tableaux 1 et 3, section 2).Lors des visites de sites et des discussions de groupe avec les agriculteurs de la région, la perte de la fertilité des sols semblait être un problème majeur. La pratique conventionnelle consiste en une monoculture de coton avec rotation du soja (Tableau 11, Figure 15) comprenant la combustion des résidus de récolte et l'application d'engrais minéraux à la dose recommandée de 150 kg d'engrais/ha de NPK (14-23-14). Le marché du coton est bien développé et les agriculteurs reçoivent généralement des intrants tels que des engrais et des semences d'usines. Des déductions de ces intrants ont lieu lorsque les agriculteurs sont payés (CIAT, 2018a). Un aperçu du système de culture est présenté dans le tableau 11.      Cette étude vise à identifier les Cultures de Couverture et d'Engrais Vert (CCEV) prometteurs et leur intégration dans les systèmes de culture au Bénin.Dans un premier temps, une revue bibliographique a été réalisée, un profil des systèmes de production intégrant les CCEV a été réalisé et analysé, le niveau de connaissance des producteurs par rapport aux CCEV et les différents modes d'intégration des CCEV dans les systèmes de culture ont été abordés. Les effets des CCEV sur les propriétés physico-chimiques du sol et sur l'amélioration des rendements des cultures de maïs et de coton sont prometteurs et incitent à une vulgarisation rapprochée de ces CCEV pour le bénéfice des producteurs.Au niveau des connaissances des agriculteurs sur les CCEV, il ressort que plusieurs CCEV ont été introduits, mais deux sont plus connues et utilisées par les agriculteurs pour améliorer la fertilité des sols et contribuer à l'alimentation des animaux en période sèche (Cajanus cajan et Mucuna). Le Cajanus cajan est souvent produit en association avec différentes cultures vivrières, tandis que le Mucuna est cultivé en monoculture. Selon les agriculteurs, le Mucuna est utilisé pour réveiller le sol lorsqu'il devient improductif. Il existe plusieurs variantes d'association des CCEV avec les cultures.Dans la commune de Bantè, l'association Cajanus cajan avec le maïs dans le même paquet est réalisée le même jour de semis du maïs à la première saison. Ceci permet de laisser la CCEV se développer après la récolte de la culture principale. Dans d'autres communes, le Cajanus cajan est utilisé en parcellisation ou en association installée après la dernière application de l'herbicide. La pratique de l'herbicide est généralisée à toutes les communes du fait du manque de main d'oeuvre agricole pour les travaux d'entretien des parcelles. Au nombre des contraintes abordées par les agriculteurs figurent en bonne place la disponibilité des semences des CCEV.Les effets des CCEV sur les cultures de maïs et de coton ont montré qu'ils permettent, à eux seuls, d'obtenir des rendements sensiblement égaux à la pratique vulgarisée et que l'apport complémentaire de 50% (de la pratique vulgarisée) d'engrais minéraux permet de tripler les rendements. Ces résultats sont très satisfaisants et méritent d'être développés dans d'autres communautés. De l'estimation des écarts de rendement, il ressort que l'adoption des CCEV permettra d'augmenter le profit des agriculteurs et par conséquent leurs revenus. Ce gain de revenu va induire l'accroissement des dépenses totales des ménages et particulièrement les dépenses de santé et de scolarisation des enfants. Cela va favoriser l'amélioration des conditions de vie des ménages adoptants et par conséquent une réduction de la pauvreté.Rolf Sommer/ Alliance of Bioversity International and CIATLes engrais verts et les cultures de couverture au Bénin -informations tirées de la revue littéraire, de l'évaluation agronomique et de la modélisation de la durabilité des systèmes de cultureLes résultats issus de cette étude confirment le potentiel et le rôle de l'utilisation des CCEV dans l'amélioration de la fertilité des sols et ses retombés potentiels sur le bien-être des ménages. Les CCEV peuvent être utilisées comme un instrument efficace de lutte contre la perte de la fertilité des sols, l'insécurité alimentaire et la pauvreté au Bénin.L'intégration des CCEV dans les systèmes de culture grâce au ProSOL a permis aux agriculteurs de satisfaire aux besoins alimentaires et non-alimentaires de leurs familles grâce au revenu que cela leur procure sans aucune nuisance sur leur santé et leur environnement immédiat. Elles ont également rayonné dans leur milieu ; ce qui a permis à plusieurs de leurs pairs d'opter pour ces types de culture.Au terme de cette étude, il ressort que les CCEV sont indispensables à l'amélioration de la fertilité des sols et qu'elles peuvent contribuer à assumer le rôle attendu de tout temps de l'agriculture : assurer la durabilité des systèmes de production, la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle des peuples, etc. Plusieurs producteurs rencontrés ont reconnu et démontré que l'intégration des CCEV peut, si elles sont intégrées dans une politique nationale de développement, devenir un facteur de grande réussite pour l'agriculture familiale. L'état béninois devra créer le cadre institutionnel et développer des partenariats public-privé dans ce sens pour investir dans la création des banques de semences pour les CCEV. Aussi, il devra accompagner les producteurs qui introduiront des CCEV dans leur système de production par des subventions en intrants."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/2009919542.json b/main/part_2/2009919542.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7773b96d58292226df757369bca9e8a8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/99471b4b-c61a-4348-9576-1f076534c08b/retrieve","id":"1169475749"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"92373fa2-1f1b-4541-9a4b-27dfd5d2417d","content":"• Flexible approach that allows for discovery   • Simple, intuitive models serve as good communications tools for underlying concepts • Bring diverse information together to be tested as for biological coherence • Choose between strategy options or identify new options • Involve beneficiaries and decision-makers from the outset."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/2013212024.json b/main/part_2/2013212024.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5410a3db0ef923cf450dd03dd02b095add835621
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"de1b7b7d7afeeaf1799e9be2e20db0c2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c4e3ff91-43b7-435e-a0f7-01f07b670b27/retrieve","id":"-997424673"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"04fe3d36-87b4-44df-8e93-a8e5454243b3","content":"A fundamental principle of CCAFS from its inception is that we work from the bottom up, co-developing and evaluating appropriate technologies and practices with farmers in participatory approaches. In 2011, we established benchmark sites for joint fieldwork in three regions (East and West Africa and South Asia), and initiated a program of action research that would allow multi-location, long-term and communitybased trialing of holistic portfolios of adaptation options. Designed to learn about the social, cultural, economic and institutional processes of adaptation and mitigation, and to support the design of implementation strategies, the Benchmark sites quickly led to the emergence of the concept of Climate-Smart Villages (CSVs). Borne out of India's states of Punjab and Bihar  (CCAFS Annual Report 2011), this new concept started in 2012, and stresses aspects related to: the multistakeholder partnership involved, the focus on maximizing synergies across a portfolio of tailored technical and institutional climate-smart agricultural interventions and the need to associate local innovation with scaling-up processes. CSVs are envisioned as \"models\" of local actions that enhance productivity, increase incomes, achieve climate resilience and enable climate mitigation (CCAFS Brochure 2013). In the CCAFS Extension Phase (2015-2016), with the transition into an outcome focused agricultural research for development (AR4D) initiative, the CSVs were integrated into the CCAFS Theory of Change and Regional Impact pathways as mechanism to roll out and scale CSA via policy processes, development programs and support networks. Through Phase I the establishment of the network of 18 CSVs across the 5 CCAFS target regions (South East Asia and Latin America been added in 2014) has been a success. A common global framework and vision was strengthened (CCAFS, 2016) and the concept is now being taken up by other agencies (e.g. governments of Maharashtra State in India, Nepal, Philippines and Myanmar). As of end of 2017, a total of 35 AR4D CSVs have been established and are being actively managed by CCAFS and partners, covering 20 countries across all 5 CCAFS priority regions.Along this positive evolution, however, the CSV concept has also fueled important (internal and external) discussions, self-reflections and learnings in the context of its use in AR4D. This document summarizes some key learnings, structured around the Concept itself and its implementation. It illustrates some of the major successes (Scientific Outputs and Outcome Stories) and highlights some recommendations to be applied in Phase II Learning Platform (LP2) Rationale CCAFS has developed the Climate-Smart Village (CSV) approach as a means to address the need for proven and effective location-specific CSA options in the context of climate change, seeking to fill knowledge gaps and stimulate their scaling. Evidence is needed on which options generate CSA-related outcomes, where the options should be targeted, the costs involved, their expected co-benefits or trade-offs with other outcomes. Research in CSVs revolve around understanding the relative synergies and trade-offs of different CSA portfolios in terms of productivity, adaptation and mitigation outcomes and their contextdependencies, the gender, social and nutrition dimensions of promising CSA options, and which might be the most successful scaling-up strategies and processes.Learnings on the Concept that led to the shared principles  Three major principles of the AR4D CSV Vision have been defined:  CSVs are founded on the principles of participatory action research for grounding research on appropriate and location/context-specific enabling conditions  CSVs focus on generating greater evidence of CSA effectiveness in a real-life setting and  CSVs facilitate the co-development of scaling mechanisms towards landscapes, subnational and national levels The CSVs theory of change combines complementary bottom-up and top-down, science led approaches. The concept of CSV is a set of processes that leads to wide adoption of CSA practices.The actual technologies are secondary to this. CSV are testing grounds set up with the specific goal of building robust science-based evidence around Climate-Smart Agricultural Portfolios supporting their integration into government policies/plans and the development of scaling/leverage mechanisms.On the CSV scale \"One size does not fit all\": Whilst benchmark sites were defined as 10x10km blocks, this thinking evolved into including landscapes and broader areas. The CSV scale aims to represent a manageable unit with similar conditions based on biophysical, socio-economicpolitical context and is dependent on the CSA options being tested and the research questions being addressed. The geographic scope therefore varies in the different regions.Local rules: Whilst there is a common AR4D CSV model, context-specific TOC, implementation and scaling up mechanisms are needed to be successful. While there is a common model among the different regions made up of a set of replicable processes aiming to build solid evidence that leads to enable wide CSA adoption, implementation and scaling modalities are shaped by local characteristics, conditions and opportunities.The goal of a CSV must be to enable scaling out of successful CSA intervention/processes coming out from the collaborative research and not of the AR4D CSV approach.CSVs can understand and promote autonomous adaptation, but also must consider systemic and transformative options. The participatory nature of CSVs tends to promote autonomous, farmer driven adaptation, but many of the successes have occurred when systemic or transformative options are brought into local contexts and adapted to local conditions through participatory approaches.The AR4D CSV approach carried out across the CCAFS sites differs from the \"Climate-Smart Villages\" promoted by several governments or development partners. Rather that replicating the full research focused approach, building on the science based evidence provided, they promote and scale specific CSA options/portfolios embedding them e.g in local development policies or plans.  Don't forget to measure. Many of the early participatory approaches used qualitative approaches to understand farmer perspectives and the adaptation process. However, much of the scaling out strategies require quantitative evidence on costs/benefits, hence strong data collection is needed to support scale out. Recommendations to be considered into Phase II implementation. To identify early wins in which a significant impact opportunity is supported by a sound science case. This could involve the fast tracking of a small number of priority case studies in which the scientific evidence base for key practice change or policy change actions is demonstrated.  Wherever possible, drawn into the design and evaluation of farm level CSA technologies and practices the expertise of CGIAR and partners in relevant \"agri-food systems\"  Strengthen a framework for analysis and CSA metrics (ongoing development of the CSV Monitoring plan enabling more breakdown of evidence around the three pillars)  Strengthen the focus on inclusive business-led development and value chain approacheseither directly or via linkages and partnerships to other activities  Use CSVs to derive knowledge for guiding major agricultural investments; rather than only as lighthouses for local development.  Concentrate resources on CSVs likely to deliver high level outcomes through scale out. With dwindling budget, resources should be concentrated on sites where there is multi-level institutional buy in if any outcome or impact is to be expected.During Phase I the research around the CSV AR4D approach was designed to provide research outputs and outcomes.South Asia  Scaling climate-smart dairy practices and husbandry practices disseminated among members of 6 producers' organizations comprising 600 000 farmers, 25% of whom are women in Kenya  Supporting Heifer International in animal fodder options thus helping reach 179,000 families and increasing their earnings by a collective $131 million in Kenya.In  Colombian MoA and MoE will include the CSV approach as a mechanism to implement the Climate Change Integral Plan for the Agricultural Sector which is being currently updated by FAO."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/2020052977.json b/main/part_2/2020052977.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b6483ce860b01421cab95fd678a72682","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d9cc321b-449c-4bad-856f-ecb1bda3f133/retrieve","id":"2031455124"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c4dc100b-d733-465c-aa8b-285513d025b9","content":"*Aquaculture production in Ghana has been rapidly growing (Fig. 1), is the fastest-growing in Africa (Fig. 2), and now the second largest tilapia producer in Africa, next to Egypt. • To understand the processes and strategies of encouraging women's entrepreneurship • To analyze the impact of women's entrepreneurship on their empowerment ..... in the context of emerging aquaculture value chains in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), particularly GhanaData sources:• 3 rounds of household surveys with 700 fish-producing household in 7 major producing regions in Ghana (June 2019, 2020, 2022) • Modified Abbreviated Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEAI) • 11 in-depth interviews with women aqua-entrepreneurs and 5 focus group discussions (with about 5-8 women non-aqua-entrepreneurs) conducted in June to July 2021• Content analysis of the interviews and FGD transcriptions • Descriptive/comparative profitability analysis • Regression analysis Women make up 8-10% of seed, feed, and fish producers and dominate in processing and trading • Gender norms and barriers to entry:\"fish farming is a men's job\" and \"fish processing and marketing are women's job\"\"The public perceives that fish farming is a male job and women are not considered as fit to join associations.\"\"You may have issues at home if your husband is not in agreement with you in fish farming.\"• Fish farming added to women's time burden:\"The public perceives fish farming to be time consuming, so it is not for women who have to take care of the family.\" \"You will have problems at home if you don't have someone who takes care of family, children, food, and household chores.\"\"When one is very much occupied with domestic chores, one can forget to feed the fish.\"\"At times, you do not get much time for our family because much time is spent on the fish farming business.\"• Support from male: Women aqua-entrepreneurs have support from husband, son, or male relative.• Role of resources: Women aqua-entrepreneurs have resources to invest, reinvest and diversify enterprises (e.g., land, water source, and capital)• Role of ICT and information: Women aqua-entrepreneurs got the idea of starting fish farming from social media, video, or radio, complemented by FC extension agents• There are barriers to women's entry in aquaculture, but ones they enter, there is no difference (access to resources, practices, production).• Women-led aquafarms are as equally productive and profitable as men-led aquafarms Many of the women respondents also mentioned the empowering effect of their fish farming• \"It brings respect and knowledge to women.\"• \"Women become more brave, confident, and empowered.\"• \"Women become more financially independent.\"• \"It brings publicity, exposure and respect in the community. It keeps women active and busy; fish farming is a good form of exercise.\"There are mixed experiences in terms of time and effort needed for aquaculture compared to other livelihoods.• Most women respondents said fish farming was very stressful and required a lot of time, although one said it was \"less stressful, and not much time needed, especially when you can hire labor to help out.\"• Many women respondents thought fish farming was a good income source, although one mentioned that it was capital-intensive and \"it feels you always have to spend a lot of money.\"• \"Compared to poultry farming I think fish farming is better because it is flexible in terms of feeding, care, risk and cost. I only feed them but with poultry I have to change the water and wash the troughs, feed them daily, give them antibiotic which is much involving for me as a woman compared to fish farming. • High level of empowerment among female and male aquaentrepreneurs• Female aqua-entrepreneurs were already empowered to begin with; and have become more empowered through aquaculture• High level of empowerment of male spouse of female aqua-entrepreneurs• Low level of empowerment of female spouses of male aqua-entrepreneurs• Female spouses are disempowered mainly through lack of group membership; control over use of income, and inputs to productive decisions• Across all respondents, the lack of group membership is the main contributor to disempowerment• Varied experiences in terms of time flexibility and time burden related to fish farming, other livelihoods, and household chores/careWomen non-aqua-entrepreneurs' perception on fish farming• Perception on fish farming: Fish farming is attractive to most male youth interviewed but less attractive to women; fish processing was more attractive for women (based on FGDs).• Of 5 FGDs (30 women participants), only 5 women participants were interested in fish farming; most were interested in fish processing• Varied experience and preference of female spouses in fish-producing households in terms of their involvement in fish farming to help improve household income• 59% of female spouses of male aqua-entrepreneurs would like to be more involved in fish farming and are interested in training/skills development related to fish farming"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/2028192623.json b/main/part_2/2028192623.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..83b60b94de8fe362cde2a67c663e00c714416f9a
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"96654c94270e8459a22f0e66edb9888b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6c0531d6-0510-460d-b75d-4a8cebe24ba0/retrieve","id":"-381643408"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"df397c2c-9f86-4cb9-a348-a5c719134647","content":"Sparse genetic testcrossing being applied on stage 1 in 2022 ( EAPP1 and SAPP1) that allow us to estimate BLUP GCA to further reducing the breeding cycle 660 DH lines from heterotic group A divided into three groups and crossed with one of the three testers Tester Group 1 (165 DH lines) Group 2 (165 DH) Group 3 (165 DH) CKDHL0500/CML543 Yes No No CML566/CML607B No Yes No CML444/CML546 No No Yes 540 DH lines from heterotic group B divided into three groups and crossed with one of the three testers Group 1 (180) Group 2 (180) Group 3 (180) 604A/CML539 Yes No No CKDHL120423/CKLTI0344 No Yes No CML568/CML572 No No YesExpected changes in mean between the full population of lines versus a selected top 20% the lines using index. Spearman correlation between observed and predicted line-breeding value (n=50). Set 1 line crossed with all testers, set 2-4 lines crossed with one tester, predicted with the other two testers.Genomic selection using test half-predict-half strategy -incorporating pedigree  "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/2028321351.json b/main/part_2/2028321351.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..383bbd3279127cdd01ce67e07dda632dfa6d470a
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7e8766f77cf3ee8821fce954db58aeee","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8fa3acc6-9e91-4616-94ee-5adc31d2de5a/retrieve","id":"763826782"},"keywords":["Biological control","entomophagy","nest mate recognition","weaver ant colony production","Oecophylla longinoda"],"sieverID":"667c65ac-607a-4029-b38a-62be3523a709","content":"Oecophylla ants are currently used for biological control in fruit plantations in Australia, Asia and Africa and for protein production in Asia. To further improve the technology and implement it on a large scale, effective and fast production of live colonies is desirable. Early colony development may be artificially boosted via the use of multiple queens (pleometrosis) and/or by adoption of foreign pupae in developing colonies. In the present experiments, we tested if multiple queens and transplantation of pupae could boost growth in young Oecophylla longinoda colonies. We found out that colonies with two queens artificially placed in the same nest, all perished due to queen fighting, suggesting that pleometrosis is not used by O. longinoda in Benin. In contrast, pupae transplantation resulted in highly increased growth rates, as pupae were readily adopted by the queens and showed high survival rates (mean = 92%). Within the 50-day experiment the total number of individuals in colonies with 50 and 100 pupae transplanted, increased with 169 and 387%, respectively, compared to colonies receiving no pupae. This increase was both due to the individuals added in the form of pupae but also due to an increased per capita brood production by the resident queen, triggered by the adopted pupae. Thus pupae transplantation may be used to shorten the time it takes to produce weaver ant colonies in ant nurseries, and may in this way facilitate the implementation of weaver ant biocontrol in West Africa.The arboreal weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina and O. longinoda) are territorial and prevent intruders from accessing their nests. They forage for arthropod prey including many different insect pests in the canopy of their host trees (Way & Khoo, 1992;Peng & Christian, 2006;Van Mele, 2008). According to Dejean (1991) a colony with 12 nests can capture approximately 45,000 prey items per year and may in this way suppress insect pest populations. of crops such as cashew nuts (Peng et al., 1995;Peng et al., 2004), citrus (Barzman et al., 1996) and mango (Sinzogan et al., 2008;Peng & Christian, 2005b). Therefore, Oecophylla is increasingly being utilized as a substitute to synthetic chemical pesticides as they are often equally or even more efficient in controlling pests and at the same time cheaper to use.Several recent studies on applied weaver ant research have been carried out in Asia and Australia on O. smaragdina, however, the life history and the behavior of the African O. longinoda is less well documented. Emerging markets for organic and sustainably-managed African fruit (mango, citrus) and nut (cashew) products (Van Mele & Vayssières, 2007) asks for more research and investment in O. longinoda in West Africa, as also here the economic potential is high. For example, Dwomoh et al. (2009) showed that O. longi-noda can be used to control pest hemipterans as effectively as insecticides in Ghanaian cashew plantation and were able to increase yields four-fold compared to plots without any control measures.On top of the high potential as a biocontrol agent, Oecophylla is also used as a commercial food product (Sribandit et al., 2008) -a tradition especially well developed in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries (Van Huis et al., 2013). The double utilization of the ants has led to an increasing interest in the development of Oecophylla management. For the effective implementation of Oecophylla ants in pest management and ant farming, several aspects need to be considered.It is difficult to collect a queenright colony since the queen nest is well hidden in less accessible places (Peng et al., 1998). Established \"wild\" ant colonies produce several winged queens (flying ants) each year, which individually leave their colony and start new colonies alone. However, under natural circumstances, the mortality of these queens is high (> 99%) and they are therefore difficult to obtain. Furthermore, it takes, for the few survivors, approximately 2 years before their colony contains enough ants to be used for pest control (Vanderplank, 1960;Peng et al., 2004) or for ant larvae production (Offenberg & Wiwatwitaya, 2010). So far all implementation has been based on collection of wild colonies or natural establishment in orchards which also takes several years (Peng et al., 2005a).Therefore, to make the Oecophylla technology accessible to non-specialists and to implement it on a large scale, cheap production of live colonies in ant nurseries is needed. Artificial rearing of colonies from newly mated queens may lead to a stable and quick production of Oecophylla colonies (Krag et al., 2010) and improve the chances of a wide implementation.For an effective production of live weaver ant colonies in ant nurseries faster growth of young colonies is desired. Two different ways may be used to boost early colony growth. Firstly, Oecophylla (Peeters & Andersen, 1989) and other ant species (Bernasconi & Strassmann, 1999) are known to found new colonies with multiple queens (pleometrosis) in order to increase the probability of survival during the initial phase of colony development via a faster production of more workers. Secondly, the adoption of non-nestmate brood from other colonies may increase colony growth as several ant species are known to rob intraspecific brood from neighbor colonies and in this way accelerate colony growth by adding these robbed individuals to their worker force (Bartz & Hölldobler, 1982;Rissing & Pollock, 1987).It is not known if O. longinoda uses pleometrosis during colony founding nor is it known if they accept and adopt pupae transplanted from foreign colonies. In this study we tested if more than one queen could be merged in founding colonies of O. longinoda (pleometrosis) and we tested the effect of pupae transplantation on the growth of newly founded colonies.In a mango plantation in the Parakou area (09° 37' 01\"N/02° 67' 08\"E) of Benin 54 O. longinoda queens were collected after their nuptial flight with the use of artificial nests during the wet season in 2012. Artificial nests were made on 15 mango trees by rolling a single leaf together, fixing it with a plastic ring (1.3 cm in diameter) in the middle part and sealing the tip end with a paper clip. Nests were colonized by founding queens right after their nuptial flight as they constitute safe nesting sites (J. Offenberg, unpublished data). Nests were inspected 2-3 times a week and all queens were collected 1-3 days after their mating flight. At this developmental stage all colonies were composed of a single queen and her eggs, as no pleometrotic founded colonies were found. After collection, the queens and eggs were put into open cylindrical transparent plastic containers (Φ = 4.5 cm; height = 10.5 cm) with a mango leaf inside to increase humidity and sealed with mesh nylon materials at the open end.The brood transplantation experiment was divided into two sub-experiments; one where queens were kept individually with their brood and transplanted pupae, and a second where two queens were artificially merged into one colony to test for pleometrosis, as has been observed for O. smaragdina (Peeters & Andersen 1989;Offenberg et al., 2012a;Offenberg et al., 2012b).In the first experiment with single queen colonies, 30 fertilized queens were used, which were divided into three pupae transplantation treatments with 0 (control), 50 or 100 non-nestmate pupae being transplanted to each colony, resulting in 10 replicates per treatment. In the first six replicates pupae were transplanted to the queens 7-14 days after they were collected in the field whereas in the last four replicates, pupae transplantation took place the day after they were collected. Every time a new queen was collected in the field, it was sequentially allocated to one of the three treatments (i.e. the first mated queen no transplantation, the next 50 pupae transplantation, the third 100 pupae transplantation etc.).In the second experiment with two queens per colony, colonies were divided into two pupae transplantation treatments with 0 (control) or 50 non nestmate pupae being transplanted, respectively, and with five replicates per treatment (= 20 queens in total). In both experiments transplanted nonnestmate pupae were obtained from a single mature O. longinoda colony. During transplantation, each colony was transferred to a cylindrical transparent plastic vial (Φ = 8 cm and height = 5 cm) with a mango leaf and the relevant number of pupae placed inside the vial. All colonies were kept at ambient temperature ranging between 24.3 °C and 29.7 °C (mean 27.5 °C) on a table protected from intruding ants by placing each table leg in a tray with water. During the experiment, all colonies were provided a few drops of pure water every day to allow the queens to drink. After the emergence of the first imago workers drops of 20% sucrose water were provided to each colony every day. One week after emergence of imago workers, protein food in the form of canned cat food and fish was provided to all colonies ad libitum.The transparent plastic containers allowed daily inspection and counting of brood in their different developmental stages. The numbers of intrinsic eggs, larvae, pupae and imago workers (defined as the brood produced by the resident queens) and adopted workers, were counted 50 days after the pupae transplantation in all the colonies. At this point all adopted pupae and the oldest intrinsic brood had developed into imago workers. However, intrinsic imagines could be distinguished from adopted individuals due to the size difference between the pupae from the mature colony and the much smaller nanitic workers produced by the founding queens (Porter & Tschinkel, 1986;Peng et al., 2004). Based on the number of live adopted imago workers, the survival rate from transplanted pupae into imago workers was calculated [(no. of emerged workers / no. of transplanted pupae) x 100] and mean numbers of brood and pupae survival were compared with ANOVAs using JMP 8.0.1 statistical software. Due to the difference in the number of days from queens were collected until pupae were transplanted, the total number of days from queen collection until the experiment was terminated (50 days after pupae transplantation) was recorded for each colony and used as a covariate in the subsequent analyses.In the single queen experiment the survival from transplanted pupae into imago workers ranged between 88 and 96% (mean % survival and SD = 92.05 and 2.52) and was not significantly affected by transplantation rate (mean % survival and SD, 50 pupae = 92.4 and 2.45, 100 pupae = 91.7 and 2.66; ANOVA including development time as a co-factor, F (2, 17) = 1.1; p = 0.36) indicating that non-nestmate pupae were readily accepted by the queens and suggesting that pupae required no or only minimal amount of nursing.Fifty days after the transplantation, intrinsic imago workers were present in all colonies, however, with significantly more individuals in colonies with more pupae transplanted (F (2,26) = 147.1, p < 0.0001). The mean (SD) number of intrinsic workers was 31.2 (4.37), 44.8 (3.04) and 74.5 (8.25) in the colonies that received 0, 50 and 100 pupae, respectively (Table 1). Pupae transplantation also led to increased production of the remaining developmental stages of intrinsic brood. This was true both for the number of eggs, larvae, pupae, workers and their sum (p < 0.0001 in all cases) at the end of the experiment (Table 1). The average total intrinsic production in colonies without added pupae was 46.5 (6.33) individuals during the first 50 days of colony development. In comparison, 50 pupae transplantation led to a 70 % increase in the per capita queen production, and a 100 pupae transplantation led to 190% increase compared with no pupae transplantation (Fig 1). Thus, the transplanted pupae stimulated the fertilized queen's egg production and increased her brood production with approximately 1.4 and 1.9% per adopted pupae, respectively.In addition, the total colony size (all intrinsic brood plus adopted workers) was 46.5 (6.33), 125.2 (11.01) and 226.7 (15.32), respectively, in the colonies that received 0, 50 and 100 pupae. In comparison to the treatment without pupae transplantation, the total number of individuals increased 169% with 50 transplanted pupae and 387% with 100 transplanted pupae (Fig. 1). Thus, adopted workers led to a considerably increase in total colony size.In the second experiment with two queens in each colony, one of the queens, in all cases, killed the other before the emergence of imago workers from the transplanted pupae, suggesting that pleometrosis induced in the laboratory is not possible. It should, however, be noticed that we found 5 claustral colonies with two queens out of a total of 87 collected in 2013 (all the others being singly founded)(I. Ouagoussounon, Table 1: Mean (± SD) number of intrinsic brood (egg, larvae, pupae, imago workers and their total) produced by the resident queen in the colonies 50 days after the transplantation of pupae. unpublished data), suggesting that pleometrosis is sometimes used under natural conditions as also described by (Dejean et al.,2007). Because all queens were involved in fatal fights, no further analyses were conducted on this experiment.The results showed no difference in survival between queens receiving 50 pupae and queens receiving 100. Pupae in both treatments were readily accepted by the queen ants and more than 88% were reared to the imago stage. This means that potentially colonies may be boosted with even higher numbers of pupae and boosting can take place before the emergence of the first workers as a worker force is not needed for nursing. Offenberg et al. (2012b) and Peng et al. (2013) obtained similar results with a mean survival rate of 84%, when transplanting 30 and 60 non-nestmate pupae to O. smaragdina queens in Darwin, Australia. Also in that case survival was unaffected by transplantation rate. The same pattern may not hold true if larvae were transplanted instead of pupae as they need to be fed and groomed by members of the receiver colony. Larvae may well be accepted by receiver colonies, as described by Krag et al. (2010) for O. smaragdina, however, it is questionable if they can be added in high numbers as with pupae, because of their need for food, which is available in only limited amounts, especially in very young colonies with only a single queen and no worker force. A further advantage to colonies adopting pupae from mature colonies derives from the fact that young ant colonies, in order to reserve resources, produce only smaller and slimmer workers (nanitics) with an associated narrow task repertoire compared to older and larger colonies that produce larger major workers (Peng et al., 2004). After pupae transplantation the workers eclosing from the transplanted pupae are of a larger size as they originated from a mature colony. As a consequence these transplanted individuals may conduct wider tasks compared to the nanitic imago workers intrinsic to the young colonies. If larvae were transplanted these may turn into smaller imagines due to food shortage if they are transplanted prior to the determination point of their final size. This is not the case with pupae as they have already attained their final size. Krag et al. (2010) showed that O. smaragdina nonnestmate larvae showed chemical insignificance (i.e. were without colony specific odor) as they were adopted by colonies containing mature workers (but no queens). Subsequently it was found that also O. smaragdina pupae seems to be chemical insignificant and that the presence of queens in the colonies did not hinder adoption of foreign brood as transplanted pupae developed into imagines in queenright colonies (Offenberg et al., 2012b). From the present study we conclude that the same holds true for O. longinoda suggesting that chemical significance does not develop until beyond the pupal stage as also suggested by Lenoir et al. (2001), to be the case for other ant species. Also the present study shows that the presence of the maternal queen does not preclude adoption of foreign brood.The addition of pupae to the colonies did not only increase colony size with the numbers added. In addition, the transplantation of pupae stimulated the fertilized queen´s own egg production and thereby increased the intrinsic brood production of the colonies. Thus, the presence of brood at the pupal stage (or beyond), increased egg laying rates. This seems to be adaptive to queens as younger brood is associated with expenditures to the queens in terms of nursing time and food allocation, whereas pupae will soon eclose and develop into workers that can take over the nursing of brood and forage for food. This result follows the findings by Gibson & Scott (1990) and Offenberg et al. (2012b), showing that pupae increased egg laying in Camponotus spp. and O. smaragdina queens, respectively. On the other hand, other researchers have shown that only the number of late stage larvae is responsible for queen fertility in e.g. Monomorium pharaonis and Solenopsis invicta (Tschinkel, 1988;Børgesen & Jensen, 1995;Cassill & Vinson, 2007). This suggests that different mechanisms may operate in different ant species. Further, the triggering of an increased fecundity in the present study shows that egg laying rates in O. longinoda are plastic and can be manipulated via the presence of pupae and/or workers.In the present study, the total population size (all brood stages) in the colonies that received 0 pupae was 1.99 times higher (mean = 46.5 ± 3.6 SE) compared to the results obtained by Offenberg et al. (2012a) in the hapleometrotic colonies of O. smaragdina (mean = 23.3 ± 2.0 SE) after 68 days. This lower production in O. smaragdina was likely affected by the fact that the colonies in that study were transported under cold conditions at the start of the experiment which may have delayed their development. On the other hand, the total population size (all brood stages) after 68 days was 1.6 times higher in the pleometrotic O. smaragdina (Offenberg et al., 2012a) colonies (mean = 74.9 ± 10.5 SE) compared to the haplometrotic colonies in this study (mean = 46.5 ± 3.6 SE). This highlights the strong effect of multiple queens in founder colonies.Under natural circumstances, it takes approximately two years before a colony contains enough ants to be used for pest control (Vanderplank, 1960;Peng et al., 2004) as each colony is expected to occupy approximately 10 trees in the receiver plantation (Peng et al., 2004). This minimum colony size may be achieved more quickly by boosting the growth via pupae transplantation. In the present study colony size increased up to almost 5-fold in only 50 days and with only a single pupae transplantation event. Multiple transplantations with potentially even higher numbers of pupae being transplanted may lead to much higher boosting, considerably shortening the otherwise slow development to an acceptable colony size. Secondly, it is evident that the biological control efficiency of weaver ants depends on the density of the worker ants (Van Mele et al., 2007;Peng & Christian, 2005b, 2007). Thus, keeping high densities of O. longinoda is essential in biocontrol programs and may be accomplished by pupae transplantation during critical periods.This study suggests that queen right O. longinoda colonies accept foreign brood and that pupae transplantation facilitate colony growth. This knowledge may ease the implementation of the weaver ant technology in Africa where the ants can be used to control pest species on various crops. Future studies should test if the immediate presence of pupae will trigger higher egg-laying rate by the queen before the pupae emerge as workers. Also it would be interesting to test if pupae transplantation and the following higher numbers of larger workers will lead to the production of a larger intrinsic worker caste in receiver colonies compared to colonies that develops naturally."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0e8dd355452d6dfdd042ac41e88c697e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9e11b491-8d1c-4b37-a288-6b4d08ade2e7/retrieve","id":"1909837888"},"keywords":["Vos","P.","Hogers","R.","Bleeker","M.","Reijans","M.","Van de Lee","T.","Hornes","A.","Pot","J.","Peleman","J.","Kuiper","M. and M. Zabeau. 1995. AFLP: a new technique for DNA fingerprinting. Nucleic Acids Res. 23","4407-4414"],"sieverID":"42162f2f-3e9c-47b9-9bd4-0a2569a541b0","content":"El nivel de redundancia genética es mínimo en la colección colombiana de aguacate (una sóla accesión), lo cual facilita su manejo y utilización.El patrón de distribución continuo de la variabilidad genética de la colección colombiana de aguacate, posiblemente se deba a las actividades de mejoramiento y del manejo de las accesiones.El patrón de distribución continuo de variabilidad observado para la mayoría de los accesiones, cuestionan su designación racial/ecológica, la cual no se podria haber confirmado apriori.La variabilidad genética con alta similaridad presente en la colección colombiana de aguacate, recomienda que su diversidad genética sea incrementada, en especial, con alelos de interés para su mejoramiento. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/2056217543.json b/main/part_2/2056217543.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"28bd83f5390c075b5b29e78922559e89","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d107b357-d546-4a5c-899b-99b3126591b3/retrieve","id":"184377408"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"94aaea0e-a854-40d0-ab54-e675ca6c7eb6","content":"Seasonal food availability calendars provide information that can be used to empower local communities to improve their access and utilisation of diverse foods all year round using locally available foods. This brief Community user guide was developed to assist nutrition and agricultural champions as they use seasonal food availability calendars in their communities. The calendars showcasing locally available foods were participatory and developed with community members in Malaita, Solomon Islands, within the framework of the \"Melanesia Rural Market and Innovation Driven (MERMAID) programme by World Vision and the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).1 Agrobiodiversity: The diversity of crops and their wild relatives, trees, animals, and other species, that contribute to agricultural production and food provision.A diverse diet is important for nutrition and health. Consuming a diet with a variety of food groups has several nutrition and health benefits as it increases the likelihood of meeting the body's requirements for adequate growth, repair, maintenance, and health. The major food groups include starchy staples, such as grains, roots and tubers, and plantains; animal and plant protein-rich foods such as pulses, nuts, meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs; vegetables, and fruits. Within each food group, there is also a wide range of local foods that could be consumed, each providing additional value to one's diet. While the basic principles of what makes up a healthy diet remain the same, the exact composition of a healthy and diverse diet varies depending on individual characteristics, the cultural context, dietary customs, and the locally available foods.The availability of different foods is one of the factors that influence consumption of a diverse diet. Foods are largely available from the landscape, production system and markets that one can access. Seasonality is an important factor that determines food availability, especially when considering perishable foods like fruits and vegetables, and within farming communities. The locally available foods (local agrobiodiversity 1 ) can be used in ways that support and promote access to and consumption of diverse diets throughout the year.A seasonal food availability calendar documents seasonal variation and changes in the availability, abundance, and diversity of foods present in the landscape, including foods from local production, wild spaces, and markets. The calendars provide a basis to (i) develop other nutrition and agricultural materials and (ii) develop, guide, or conduct community activities that support the exchange and learning of knowledge and skills that facilitate the production, utilisation, consumption, and conservation of the locally available foods.Increase awareness of locally available nutrientdense 2 and underutilised foods 3 : This includes identifying and promoting foods that are nutrient-dense and can, therefore, make significant contributions to nutrition and health. It also includes identifying and promoting underutilised foods that contribute to healthy diets across the different seasons of the year. The seasonal food calendar showcases locally available foods to create awareness and promote healthy and diverse diets. This calendar was participatorily developed with members of Siwapo, Oau, Elliote, Maniache and Tauweiseu communities. Increase awareness of locally available foods: This includes creating an understanding of the variety of foods locally available from different sources, when they are available, how they can be accessed, their health and nutritional value and how they can be utilised.1 2 Nutrient-dense foods refer to foods that are rich in vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients important to our health and relatively few calories, fat, added sugars, and/or sodium.3 Underutilised crops refer to locally adapted crops that were used as traditional foods but are becoming increasingly neglected as more productive and demanded crops become available in farming systems. Neglected and underutilised species offer great opportunities to address malnutrition, hunger, and poverty. Incorporating them into farming systems could lead to nutrient-dense, climate-resilient, and sustainable agriculture.The seasonal food availability calendars can be used to inform and direct discussions that: Improve year-round access to diverse foods: This includes comparing the availability of food groups over the year with the seasonal availability of individual foods. This can reveal foods that may be useful in addressing seasonal gaps when key food groups (and nutrients) may be limited. When very few foods of a food group are available in a specific month, those that are available could be priorities for promotion to enhance dietary diversity at that time of year.Document knowledge about local agrobiodiversity and contribute to the monitoring or analysis of seasonality and food availability. Which includes locally grown crops, livestock adapted to local conditions, indigenous• What diversity is available within each of the groups? (Both cultivated and wild)• For the different food groups, how are we using the available diversity? (For food and non-food uses).• Which food groups (and food items) are most and least consumed? And why?• Which months have high and low diversity available?• For the different foods, what are the different varieties available?• For the different food groups and food that are available, how accessible/affordable are they for households in the community?• What foods are available to my household/community and where can they be sourced?• Which foods are available that I'm not fully utilising? (especially in lean periods when less foods are available/accessible/ affordable).• What actions do I need to take now, to ensure that my household has access to each key food group during the period of low availability (the lean periods).• Develop sample meals and diets using the calendar to show diverse diets (e.g., meals with the 3 groups (energy giving, body building, and body protecting foods) and at least 3-5 colours).4• Plan kitchen gardens or school gardens to show the locally available foods in the different seasons, equipping community members, students, and children with basics about agriculture, nutrition, and health.• Plan youth group activities around important wild foods.varieties, aquatic foods, and wild plants, animals and aquatic foods. Revisiting the calendars periodically, for example after every two years can provide insight on changes in seasonality and food availability that are related to climate change. Additionally, this process creates opportunities to discuss climate-smart agriculture and promote resilient plants and animals.The table presents examples of questions and sample actions that could be discussed with the communities, with reference to the seasonal food availability calendars. The discussions should be carefully planned, leveraging existing information and tailored to address the specific objectives and needs of the communities.5 Agrobiodiversity custodians are farmers who have maintained large numbers of crop landraces and species, are active in maintaining, adapting, and promoting local crop varieties and are conservationists.• Which months have high and low diversity available?• What foods are available in periods when more common foods are not readily available (lean periods or periods of low availability or high cost)?• What are the sources of foods during months of low availability?• What are the forage patterns and practices for collecting and using wild foods?• During months of high availability (months where the foods are highly abundant or common), how can the foods be processed, stored, preserved, or cooked to ensure they are consumed and are available for longer periods of time?• How can the availability of foods that are available in the lean periods be increased? (sourcing seeds, timely planting or harvesting, early or staggered planting, storage, community exchange, etc.).• Plan kitchen gardens or school gardens to showcase the local foods that are available during months of low availability.• Plan community actions to manage areas that contribute to food availability -community-managed forests, field margins.• What do the youth and children know about the local foods that are important for nutrition and culture? Do they consume these foods? (Especially nutrient-dense foods, underutilised foods, and foods available in the lean periods).• For the different food groups, how has the seasonality and level of food availability changed in the last 2 years?• For the different food groups, which foods are increasingly resilient -appear to withstand or adapt to challenging environmental conditions? (Especially nutrient-dense foods and foods available in the lean periods).• Plan activities for youth and children that share and promote the local, cultural and nutritional value and uses of different foods that also involve the elderly and agrobiodiversity custodians. 5• Develop sample healthy and diverse meals and diets using traditional foods from the farm and the wild.• Document the local knowledge about the use, value, and availability of underutilised foods (nutrition, health, culture, etc.).• Monitor the changes in seasons of availability of the different foods (due to climate change, due to the actions implemented to improve food availability, etc.).Nutrient-dense foods• Which months are nutrient-dense foods available and when are they least available?• What are the sources of the nutrient-dense foods? Especially during months of low availability.• How are the available nutrient-dense foods consumed and utilised?Underutilised foods• What food items/species are available when there is low availability of a food group?• Which food groups (and food items) are most and least consumed?• For food items that are available during the lean periods, how are they used for food? Are they widely consumed, why or why not?• During months of high availability (months where the foods are highly abundant or common), how can the foods be processed, stored, preserved, or cooked to ensure they are consumed and are available for longer periods of time and the nutrients in them are retained?• What are the different recipes that could include nutrientdense foods or underutilised foods? (In the home, for business, etc.).• What actions need to be taken to increase the availability of nutrient-dense foods or underutilised foods during months of low availability (sourcing seeds, timely planting or harvesting, storage, etc.).• Plan food fairs, recipe exchange activities, seed and production exchange activities for nutrient-dense foods or underutilised foods.• Plan kitchen gardens or school gardens to promote nutrientdense foods or underutilised foods."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a4425def3336b90327d21f4ddc695739","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/Books/SOF-2021-03E.pdf","id":"-1351285425"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8510ba06-0d3d-4b78-855d-ddd803fddd39","content":"There are usually seven stages to the production of timber or biomass from a plantation: seeds/ nurseries, planting/establishment, tending/management, harvesting and one or more stages of processing, transportation and marketing.Jobs and wealth are created at each node of the supply chain and costs are incurred. Various actors work at the different nodes, whether in a specific node or across the different nodes depending on a range of factors relating to: the legal/policy environment and institutional arrangements, support services, extension agents, service providers, inputs and financial institutions.Demand for wood is growing worldwide and this trend is set to accelerate through the remainder of the 21st century. This is the case not just for traditional markets, but for other sectors like construction (responsible for 36 percent of greenhouse gas emissions), bioenergy and green chemistry seeking to de-carbonize and go biobased in an effort to move into the emerging sustainable, green economy in which companies are located closer to their raw materials and local markets.This landscape offers more opportunities than threats for the forestry sector and sustainably managed wood products, which are carbon neutral by nature. But to harness these opportunities, the sector must be prepared to adapt, to rise to the challenges it faces and to fundamentally change the way it operates.Globally, the gap will widen between the production capacity of natural forests -whose size and productivity are inherently limited -and different types of forest plantations.Countries will therefore only be able to maintain their status as forestry economies (i.e. the sector accounts for a significant share of GDP) if they take decisive steps to develop their plantation activities. Much more generally, it would be a grave strategic error to assume that any sector could continue with business as usual in the coming years. This chapter of the latest edition of the State of the Forests of Central Africa focuses on forest plantations and agroforestry plantations intended for production. It does not discuss assisted natural regeneration, enrichment plantations or agro-industrial plantations (e.g. palm or rubber).Forest plantations are human-made forests grown from seeds or saplings for the purpose of producing wood or non-timber forest products (production plantations) or for boosting various types of ecosystem services (protection plantations).The term 'plantation' covers a broad continuum of techniques and situations, tailored to the specifics of the local context.From 1963 to 1986, the Congolese Industrial Afforestation Unit (UAIC) planted 25,000 ha with these two natural hybrids (yield = 12-20 m³/ha/year). From 1989 on, Congolaise de Développement Forestier (CDF), a subsidiary of Shell, funded UAIC to establish 17,000 ha of clonal plantations in Pointe-Noire. The plantations grew to cover 42,000 ha.The growth of a subsector with ECO s.a. : 1997-2001 In 1997, CDF merged with UAIC to create the company ECO s.a. (Eucalyptus du Congo s.a.). The company was active until 2001, with Shell as the majority shareholder and the Congolese Government as the minority shareholder.By 2001, ECO s.a. was a major economic player in the Republic of the Congo, employing 3,500 workers and generating a turnover of around XAF 15 billion.When the price of wood fell, ECO s.a. ran into financial difficulties. Its performance was unsatisfactory and bioenergy -Shell's real strategic target -was a long way from making its breakthrough, costing USD 20 per barrel.In June 2001, Shell exited ECO s.a. The Congolese Government took over Shell's shares for a symbolic amount and continued to honour the sales contracts agreed and complete replanting programmes while seeking another private sector partner.The plantations in Pointe-Noire, some of which are in peri-urban areas, were threatened by problems linked to urbanization, leading to persistent illegal logging affecting almost 10,000 hectares. A presidential decree designating areas for reforestation in the department of Kouilou somewhat alleviated the situation, which had been exacerbated by the fast growth of the city of Pointe-Noire. In 2005, the South African group Chartwell Carbon Ltd, replaced soon after by Canadian group MagIndustries, signed a long-term lease with the Republic of the Congo for a concession covering the 40,000 ha previously held by ECO s.a., 7,000 ha from the National Reforestation Service (SNR) and 20,000 ha from the extension zone.Eucalyptus Fibres Congo (EFC) was created to manage these 70,000 ha and positioned itself on the woodchip market given that there was little profit in prepared logs. Poles were still harvested from pines in Loudima (200 km from Pointe-Noire), but transporting them to the port in Pointe-Noire by rail was difficult and the road impassable. An XAF 16 billion woodchip factory was built in 2008 in the port, with an annual capacity of 500,000 tons. The Republic of the Congo is the first sub-Saharan African country to have a factory of this type.Weakened by the 2008 global economic crisis, which disrupted the international wood and wood products market, EFC was not able to get back on its feet.At the end of 2011, the Chinese Evergreen Holdings Group became the majority shareholder of MagIndustries, and EFC subsequently ceased almost all its operations until the groups' departure.At the end of 2016, the government signed a new long-term lease with the Moroccan group SOS NDD, which withdrew due to a lack of financing in 2017. Finally, Romanian group ZEBRA TESAF CONGO took over the 25,000 ha southern section of the forest in 2018, but little is known about the company's strategic intentions.In 2019, a long-term lease was signed between the Republic of the Congo and the company COFOR, a Congolese subsidiary of the French FRM group, covering almost 38,000 ha. This area forms the Madingo-Kayes Reforestation Area (PRMK) and comprises 8,000 ha of eucalyptus plantations, 6,000 ha of extension zone, natural forests and protected areas.Due to the degraded state and advanced age (10 to 30 years) of the eucalyptus plantations, it is necessary to implement several replanting and forest restoration strategies aligned with different strategic objectives.The PRMK forest management project led by COFOR has a number of objectives:• Regenerate the underdeveloped area around the plantation -where unemployment and rural depopulation take a heavy toll -by creating jobs on the plantations and increasing agricultural production within those areas assigned to agroforestry; • Reduce the deforestation and degradation of natural forests with a high biological value, which is mainly caused by shifting agriculture, wildfires and forest fires, and the production of charcoal from illegal wood; • Offer an alternative source of charcoal and timber, from sustainably managed plantations; • Support climate change mitigation efforts by dynamically managing plantations to sequester CO 2 and by reducing the risk of forest fires.The strategy for managing the forest is geared towards a multifunctional mosaic plantation made up of geographically coherent blocks organized into several new forests, nature reserves and agroforestry areas.New forests will be grown or regrown by implementing afforestation, reforestation and agroforestry techniques using different species (Acacia auriculiformis and mangium, Eucalyptus UxG and PF1).The commercial products produced by these forests are destined mainly for the local market (including fuelwood in the form of charcoal, timber in the form of veneer, plywood, engineered timber and electricity poles, and food crops).In 2020, COFOR launched a preliminary pilot to establish a tree nursery and an initial acacia agroforestry plantation. Implementation was delayed by the outbreak of Covid-19 and did not take place until 2021.In addition to the forests described above, tens of thousands of hectares have been planted across the Republic of the Congo by the National Reforestation Service (SNR) and the National Afforestation and Reforestation Programme (PRONAR), which now manage them. PRONAR is a robust policy initiative by the Government of the Republic of the Congo to launch, support and develop different types of plantations.It aims to promote forestry and agroforestry plantations, to encourage and support stakeholders to undertake afforestation and reforestation to supply national and international markets with timber and non-timber forest products (such as essential oils, resins, biofuels, honey, fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants).It seeks to relieve human pressure on natural forests by reducing deforestation, to develop land not suited to crop or animal farming, and to improve the country's supply of wood for manufacturing, construction, energy and industry. Feasibility studies for the programme were conducted with the support of international partners (World Bank and FAO). It aims to plant over 1 million ha of forest by implementing a range of components intended to mobilize public and private sector actors and rural communities (Lignafrica 2014).In contrast to the industrial success observed in South America and South Africa, which use similar technologies, the plantation forestry subsector has not grown as expected in the Republic of the Congo. This is the case despite the succession of managers, the large areas planted, high yields, the Congo's world-renowned experience in the sector (plant material, research and development, local know-how) and the proximity of the forests to the port of Pointe-Noire. The markets and subsectors are shown in the figure below.This situation can be explained by:• Proximity to a city that has doubled in population size over 15 years (600,000 to 1.2 million inhabitants); • Insecure land titles, an issue partially resolved by a presidential decree following long disruptions; • The lack of genuine product diversification and high dependence on the paper manufacturing sector, which has become very concentrated and highly competitive; • The lack or absence of industrial strategies on the part of various investors over the years.The withdrawal of Shell, which had many similar companies in its portfolio, was not directly tied to the context in the Republic of the Congo, but was rather a consequence of the strategic decision to exit the biomass energy segment, which was deemed too new in 2000.  The 40,000-hectare forest will form a carbon sink that will sequester more than 10 million tons of CO 2 over 20 years and will be certified to international standards. The initiative, financed by Total, includes agroforestry farms (charcoal production and crop farming) and a carbon sink, with timber production, offering social, economic and environmental benefits.Planned to run until 2040, it will employ the selection cutting system to promote the natural regrowth of local species and supply Brazzaville and Kinshasa with sawnwood and plywood.The 50,000-hectare property will comprise:• 15,000 ha of infrastructure and protected areas, allowing sites with high biological value and patches of natural forests (gallery forests, slope forests) to recover and even expand in buffer zones.• 2,000 ha devoted to the agroforestry component with crops (cassava, etc.) grown between rows of acacia trees by local farmers.• 38,000 ha planted over 10 years under the carbon component, which combines carbon sinks and timber production. Over 20 years, 10 million tons of CO 2 will be sequestered and the growth will then be harvested annually and processed into timber. This forest will supply 160,000 m3 of wood per year for processing into three products: sawnwood, veneer and plywood. A biomass cogeneration plant will also be supplied with wood waste for electricity generation (and heat for drying) for nearby industrial facilities and villages.For more information see: https://www.makanisi.org/congo-une-foret-de-40-000-hadacaciasa-vocation-ecologique-et-agro-forestiere/?fbclid=IwAR0IySsogN63T0sGoK2_0UeGp J6hWB5C 6fGWTzc5dnAmQcEvijBwexnCTdEWith nearly 50 years of experience, a unique industrial heritage and large areas of savannah land available (few farms and few inhabitants), the Republic of the Congo has immense potential for the development of plantations.The monospecific, single product/market-oriented planting model, which prevents the land being used for other purposes, has also shown its limitations. Highly inclusive models that involve local people (beyond basic silvicultural operations) and target a range of markets, including local markets, are a much more promising, resilient and effective option, given that they are capable of generating multiple revenue streams from locally processed products simultaneously.The end of the globalized, highly concentrated and specialized fossil fuel model is set to disrupt economic activity and many industrial sectors. It offers many opportunities for local models that are integrated with modestly sized industrial hubs, located precisely at the source of decarbonized resources and serving mainly local markets.Agroforestry combines the time and/or space dedicated to trees with crops and/or livestock (agrosylvo-pastoralism) by optimizing the agronomic, ecological and economic synergies between the various components of the system. It has several benefits:• It enriches the soil with organic matter and nutrients;• It regulates and ensures the availability of water;• It protects against erosion;• It acts as a windbreak and shades crops; • It increases biodiversity;• It diversifies revenue streams.Among the many agroforestry models currently available, the 'sequential' agroforestry system (also called 'cyclical', 'productive tree fallow' or 'Taungya'), as opposed to the 'permanent' agroforestry system, has become the dominant model in Central Africa.Box 3.2: Problems related to slash-and-burn agriculture and the demand for charcoal on the Batéké plateau Shifting agriculture on cleared and burned land is the predominant model in Central Africa, whether in forested or savannah areas. It is relatively productive for a few years, but soil depletion drives farmers to move on to new land. This practice, together with the concomitant production of charcoal, is the main driver of deforestation.On sandy savannahs, it delivers only modest yields for 1 to 3 years, following which a fallow period of 5 to 10 years is needed to allow the soil to slowly recover.The Batéké plateau is made up of sandy savannahs fragmented by valleys, many of which are lined by gallery forests. They cover 12 million hectares from south-eastern Gabon to northeastern Angola, on both sides of the Congo River north of Brazzaville and Kinshasa.This ecosystem is characterized by a complex mosaic of savannah and forest. The consequences of slash-and-burn agriculture and charcoal production to supply the two capitals are dramatic, both for the equilibrium of the forest and for the food security of rural populations. Indeed, Kinshasa requires 2.14 million tons of charcoal each year (Dubiez et al. 2022) and Brazzaville more than 100,000 tons. The acacia-cassava agroforestry system developed in MampuTo meet the high demand for charcoal from Kinshasa, an innovative agroforestry system was designed and deployed on the Batéké plateau in the DRC in the 1980s, as part of the Mampu project. This system combined Australian acacias (mangium and auriculiformis), which have a natural capacity to enrich the soil and high-quality wood, with cassava, the main food crop.Under the supervision of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, this agricultural system, which performs well on poor savannah soils, was deployed over 8,000 hectares between 1987 and 1993 with the voluntary settlement of indigenous farming families from the wider region. The plantations were then divided into 25-hectare farms and allocated to independent farmers between 1995 and 2001.In sequential agroforestry systems, the crops (cassava, maize, peanuts, market garden produce, etc.) are planted at the same time as the acacia trees. They benefit from the way the land is prepared for planting (clearing and ploughing) and are farmed for the first two years in the spaces between the rows of trees.Acacia can be mixed with other trees, local species (Maesopsis, Pentaclethra, Milletia, Afrormosia, Terminalia) and even fruit trees. Beekeeping can also be introduced into this agroforestry system.From the third year, the plantation enters the 'productive tree fallow' phase for 5 to 6 years until the trees are harvested.A new agroforestry cycle then begins on the loosened soil, which is naturally weed free and enriched with nitrogen and organic matter, without the use of chemical products. The acacias are regrown by replanting or using controlled burning to activate dormant seeds present in the litter. Food crops are replanted between the rows of trees.Subdividing agroforestry estates into the same number of plots as years of the harvest cycle (for example 8 plots) has the benefit of ensuring that both food (1 to 2 out of 8 plots) and forest products (1 out of 8 plots) are both produced every year.The tree fallow system offers an effective alternative to the traditional bare fallow system in savannah areas. The period of natural soil restoration (but with regular burning) required by the latter is replaced by a productive period of tree growth that accelerates the enrichment of the soil with organic matter and nitrogen.The Mampu agroforestry system has proven effective. Three hundred farming families have been living on 25 hectares of acacia trees each for 20 years now, in a plantation zone that is home to several thousand people centred around a residential and commercial hub.One reason for the project's success is the incorporation of traditional slash-and-burn practices into the agroforestry system, allowing for the natural regeneration of the acacia trees. This technique, which farmers know well, has facilitated the adoption and therefore the sustainability of this agroforestry system.The Mampu project also has a major environmental dimension in that it replaces charcoal obtained via illegal logging -a major driver of deforestation around Kinshasa -with charcoal from sustainable plantations. Twenty years after the establishment of the plantation, Bisiaux et al. (2009) estimated that the area produces around 10,000 tons of charcoal annually, 10,000 tons of cassava, 1,200 tons of maize and various non-timber forest products, including 2 tons of honey.With an annual turnover of 10 percent of its initial investment, the project has also demonstrated its economic viability and its positive impact on social development. Mampu is now an autonomous peasant farming system. It does not rely on funding or support from international donors and stands as a valuable example in the field of agroforestry.The success of this agroforestry system has encouraged international donors and technical cooperation bodies to promote it across the Congo Basin.  The Ntsio agroforestry projectThe Ntsio project ('savannah' in the Teke language), implemented by the Hanns Seidel Foundation 200 km from Kinshasa, has incorporated the recommendations from the institutional, technical and sociological reports on the Mampu project:• Resolve the issue of customary claims over the land by obtaining a ministerial subdivision order that sets out the conditions for acquiring the land; • Consider whether there is a water source in the area suitable for the implementation of an agroforestry project; • Reduce the size of the areas assigned to farmers.The Ntsio project covers 5,500 hectares comprising 260 17-hectare agroforestry farms and the infrastructure required by the participating associations (covered meeting area with an office, warehouse and water tower), materials for which come from timber plantations (mainly Eucalyptus sp.).The project area is served by a water supply network. In addition to increasing farmers' ownership of irrigation activities and maintenance, this infrastructure has allowed for the establishment of a central nursery (1 million plants/growing season, up to two seasons per year, diversification of plantations with Pinus sp., Eucalyptus sp., Maesopsis, palm trees, etc.).Farmers are grouped into four associations, which hold land titles over the project area, monitor compliance with operating standards for the farms and coordinate the community's management of the infrastructure and the sale of the goods produced.In Ntsio and Gungu, average incomes are around USD 2,600/ha at the start of acacia harvesting, equivalent to USD 200/month. It is estimated that Mampu and Ntsio each produce about 1 percent of the charcoal required by Kinshasa.Cassava yields have also increased due to wider adoption of improved varieties. The introduction of cereals and legumes to the agroforestry system is currently under way. Encouraging producers to plant acacias in cultivated areas is an effective way to gradually convert farms to this system. The creation of sustainable resources through agroforestry encourages the rural population to organize and manage their local environment. This opens up opportunities for rural people, discouraging rural depopulation and reversing the trend of the city feeding the countryside.Based on the same agroforestry model, the Ibi Batéké agroforestry carbon sink (PCIAB) was established in 2008. In 2015, it produced nearly 500 tons of cassava tubers, 100 tons of maize and almost 900 tons of makala (charcoal) annually on 80 hectares of land.These activities employ 900 workers on a daily basis and provide 1,200 indirect jobs throughout the value chain.The Mampu, Ntsio, Gungu and Ibi Batéké agroforestry carbon sink programmes cover a total of almost 18,000 ha of plantations across a very large area.At the end of 2020, the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN), DRC, resumed its the activities in the Bombo Lumene Game Reserve in the province of Kinshasa. This initiative opens up new opportunities through the implementation of a large-scale sustainable community-based agroforestry project. The project builds on previous models and aligns with the fundamental principles for the management and conservation of protected areas set out under Congolese law.In this context, a public-private partnership bringing together ICCN, scientific partners and the sponsors backing the Ibi Batéké agroforestry carbon sink is in the process of launching the Batéké Plateau Ecological Corridor (CEBAT).This initiative aims to establish a protected area covering 3.5 million hectares, stretching from the Angolan border at an altitude of 1,000 m to the northern edge of the Kwamouth Territory (Mai-Ndombe province) at an altitude of less than 400 m. It will directly impact nearly 18 million people.The Bombo Lumene Game Reserve is located in the centre of the Batéké Plateau Ecological Corridor and will link nearly 300 villages within the 'Mboka Mayele' network. The project aims to create tens of thousands of jobs. Investments will focus on agroforestry programmes, processing agricultural and forestry products and strengthening basic social and economic infrastructure.The Batéké Plateau Ecological Corridor is designed to create a green bulwark against the human pressure exerted by Kinshasa and, in 2021, ICCN and its partners began the process of registering the Batéké Plateau Ecological Corridor as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Acacia agroforestry plantations create carbon sinks based on two components:• The permanent stock of the plantations, on harvest cycles of 8 years to more than 20 years depending on the cycle and markets chosen (charcoal, bioenergy, timber); • The annual replacement of wood, which would otherwise come from unsustainable illegal logging, deforestation or trees from natural forests, with sustainable plantation wood.This dual benefit can be used to generate carbon credits once a project has been certified to carbon standards that guarantee a project's concrete environmental benefits. Certification then makes it possible to capitalize on the environmental services delivered by a project in the form of payments for the amount of CO 2 sequestered. Nevertheless, although this method represents real progress and avoids vast areas of forest being destroyed by slash-and-burn agriculture, Dubiez et al. ( 2018) found contrasting changes in the chemical composition of the soil after 22 years of farming using the Mampu acacia agroforestry system. Soils under this system had higher levels of carbon and nitrogen as a result of nitrogen fixation by the acacia trees, but were more acidic and had lower levels of exchangeable bases (calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium) than the original savannah soils.The depletion of the mineral content of the soil over the 22-year period, for all acacia management models (unlogged plantations, one or two harvest cycles of acacia and food crops), can be explained by the transfer of cations from the soil to the plants and their removal when the products are harvested.To rectify soil acidification, the depletion of exchangeable bases and the general decline in the productivity of the system, it is necessary to propose new practices and study their impacts on the chemical composition of the soil.The undesirable effects observed could be reduced by removing the bark from trunks before carbonizing the wood, returning small branches to the ground and adding natural phosphate rocks or liming.These preliminary findings suggest that further studies are needed to improve the techniques used to manage A. auriculiformis stands and increase the sustainability of the system by managing soil fertility more effectively.Forest carbon is primarily traded on voluntary carbon markets. The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) is one of the most widely used standards on voluntary markets, with nearly 1,800 projects certified in 2022. This corresponds to sequestration or emissions reductions equivalent to 468 million tons of carbon. 1 Once a project has been certified and verified according to the rules and requirements of a standard, it can receive carbon credits (Verified Carbon Units or VCUs).In DRC, the Ibi Batéké agroforestry carbon sink is the only project registered under the UNFCCC Clean Development Mechanism. The 2020 Ibi Batéké carbon sink verification report (experts commissioned by the World Bank) approved a final stock of 46,700 tCO 2 over an area of 800 ha (58.45 tCO 2 /ha). The 2009 greenhouse gas emission reductions agreement between the World Bank and the sponsors of the Ibi Batéké carbon sink project provides for a fixed payment of USD 4/tCO 2 1 https://registry.verra.org/app/search/VCS on the basis of temporary credits, valid for 5 years. Carbon payments also go to local family-run agroforestry farms, which have recently organized into cooperatives, such as the Cooperative and Economic Interest Grouping of the Teke Territory, which was established in 2015 with the direct involvement of customary chiefs.The Ntsio project, for its part, did not initially plan to go as far as trading the carbon it sequestered. Internal studies have shown that producer communities do not have the know-how for carbon trading, both in terms of their technical and administrative capacity. It may however be possible through a specialized third-party organization, depending on the standard chosen, the target market and changes in the market value of carbon. While there are plans to register the project with DRC's REDD unit to lay solid foundations for Ntsio to pursue carbon trading, this has not yet been done.As early as 1907, Burundi was described as a degraded landscape without many plantations. In 1933, the authorities decided to implement legal measures to protect the last remaining fragments of forest.Fifteen years later, the Burundian forestry sector had grown significantly: the forested area had reached around 90,000 ha, with 40,000 ha of tropical montane forest, 25,000 ha of savannah woodland and gallery forests, 20,000 ha of artificially afforested land and 5,000 ha of trees outside forests (FAO 1999).In 1978, following increasing pressure on natural forests and timber shortages, Burundi, supported by donors, launched a vast reforestation programme to ensure the supply of timber and reforest denuded ridges. Between 1978 and 1992, the country's forest cover increased from 3 percent to 7 percent (from 25,428 ha to 146,000 ha). More than 30,000 ha were decimated during the crisis of October 1993.In 2010, plantations occupied 146,055 ha, where 66 species were grown, 52 percent of which were for sawnwood and 48 percent for fuelwood. The species used were mainly fast-growing, multipurpose and low-cost exotic species in protection plantations, such as: Eucalyptus sp. (36 percent), Grevillea (3 percent), Pinus sp. (15 percent), Callitris calcarata (30 percent), other softwood (10 percent) (Nduwamungu 2011).Plantation forestry is tied to a number of socioeconomic and environmental challenges:• In a country like Burundi with a population density of more than 400 inhabitants per km², the availability of forest resources for multiple uses remains a major issue. The biggest challenge is finding species that meet different needs, such as for fuelwood, livestock feed and watershed protection.• Strengthening the role of forest plantations in soil protection to prevent sediment runoff and improve carbon storage. • Dependence on fuelwood, which is mainly used in rural areas (76 percent of national consumption). The diversity and complexity of the stakeholders involved is a major challenge. Owners of afforested areas (the state, municipalities, private sector), coal miners, transporters, wholesalers and major consumers (bakeries, restaurants, etc.) do not coordinate and operate without a framework for consultation. • The impact of internal and external migration on plantations. Successive wars and sociopolitical unrest in Burundi have caused massive flows of refugees and internally displaced persons. This takes a heavy toll on plantations, given that these people tend to take refuge in state or communal forests and protected areas, near Lake Tanganyika for its rich fish resources, in the Rumonge and Nyanza region for its fertile land (oil palm) and on the Bururi, Kigwena and Rumonge reserves. • Issues related to land tenure and the promotion of private forests and agroforestry systems linked to securing land rights. • Dependence on external funding allocated through the government budget and national actors in partnership with the government. The government has committed to fund reforestation efforts in full, through the national reforestation programme 'Ewe Burundi Urambaye' ('a well-dressed Burundi' in English), thereby reducing dependence on external funding.The current annual rate of deforestation is estimated at 2 percent, whereas reforestation rates remain below 1 percent (Ministry of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock 2019).To address these problems, Burundi should launch new research and development efforts, pilot projects on industrial value creation and assess plantations' impacts on water and soil (pines, eucalyptus).In terms of initial and ongoing training, modules on monitoring natural and artificial forests using satellite data could be strengthened to enable degradation and deforestation to be closely monitored.The role of the forestry sector in the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement should be strengthened. In its Nationally Determined Contribution, Burundi committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions from 2016 to 2030 by increasing the country's forest cover by at least 60,000 ha at a rate of 4,000 ha/year over 15 years from 2016, and up to 120,000 ha at a rate of 8,000 ha/year (subject to conditions). By 2030, the government also aims to replace all traditional charcoal kilns and all traditional cooking stoves.Since 2019, Burundi has financed efforts to delay land degradation through national programmes fully funded by national budgets.This trend should be encouraged and existing efforts should be strengthened with the support of other technical and financial partners, as well as the financing mechanisms advocated by the Paris Agreement.Robert J. van der Plas (www.marge.eu)In most African countries, wood still makes up a significant proportion of the energy mix, which has evolved without government oversight.Although the consumption of electricity, gas and petroleum products is increasing, the consumption of fuelwood is not declining at an equivalent rate; indeed, firewood and charcoal remain widely used energy sources (Owen et al. 2013). Nevertheless, the increasing volume of fuelwood and charcoal purchased even in rural areas opens up opportunities for farmers and landowners to sell trees as a cash crop.Rwanda offers a case in point. Here the strong demand for fuelwood continues unabated, even though wood from natural forests had virtually disappeared decades ago. It is relatively difficult to obtain wood from public plantations and there is very little land available for additional large-scale plantations (whether private or public) due to the high population density. Farmers saw a business opportunity in this situation and planted large numbers of trees on their land to sell to the fuelwood market.In doing so, they compensated for the loss of natural forest and the majority of fuelwood now comes from trees planted for this purpose. However, this situation is generally poorly recognized, given that the government has recently taken steps to shut down the production of charcoal, which predominantly uses wood from purpose-planted trees. Much of the population will continue to use fuelwood as its main source of energy for some time to come, because it is still cheaper than electricity, gas or petroleum products for an equivalent energy yield. Wood from farmers' fields has a lower production cost than that from large plantations and can be obtained without having to navigate administrative barriers.Although the government asserts that it can plant more trees on marginal land, it is unclear whether this wood will be easy to sell. Indeed, the cost per m3 is substantially higher than for wood from farmers' land. There are no reliable data on the actual production and use of fuelwood that could be used to reliably determine whether this will be a problem in the future. The supply of fuelwood has met demand for energy without major government intervention and it appears that this will not change in the near future.Despite alarmist rhetoric about an imminent wood shortage in Africa, fuelwood is still widely used in many African countries. Progress has been slow on improving access to electricity for most people and population growth often outpaces the number of new connections. If the use of electricity and liquefied petroleum gas is not incentivized by generous subsidies, fuelwood will remain the cheapest source of energy for cooking and likely the main source of energy in many countries.Despite strong potential and attractive opportunities, investment in commercial forestry plantations in Africa has stalled due to 20 years of sluggish economic growth.According to the literature, financing is generally available for commercial operations that will generate a positive cashflow in three to five years and that have an acceptable level of risk.For this reason, banks may be less interested in financing the production side of plantation forestry projects, but more interested in downstream segments like processing or adding value. Indeed, the fastest time to positive cashflow reported by plantation forestry investments is 5-8 years (Harwood and Nambiar 2014).In Central Africa (with differences between countries), investments are complicated further by unclear land tenure and land-use arrangements, weak industrial infrastructure, poor technology and low productivity, as well as serious funding gaps.Some authors note that different stakeholders are hindered by different barriers to investing in plantation forestry in Africa: local investors and financiers are opportunistic, strategic investors face barriers to entry, financial investors have demanding investment criteria (mainly risk related) and development financing projects seek enabling conditions (Indufor 2016).However, investment in the forestry sector may take the form of greenfield investments in plantation establishment, processing or forestry, within the framework of official development assistance. This category of investments can be broken down into five main groups, shown below with a few examples that could be scaled up:• Development finance institutions, such as the African Development Bank and the World Bank, with the possibility for them to compensate for the long lead times and social risks associated with plantation forestry; • Donors with incentive schemes for local tree growers and farmers (Global Environment Facility (GEF), Climate Investment Funds (CIF), Adaptation Fund and other trust funds); • Governments with innovative policies on leasing land to responsible investors; • Governments and donors jointly providing support, sharing risk, developing infrastructure to facilitate forest investments or providing complementary financial guarantees (forest investment programmes); • Strategic and financial investors who partner with local actors and take advantage of opportunities in Africa.Compared to other land-use options, the majority of investments in commercial plantation forestry are, at best, marginally profitable. It is therefore imperative to be fully aware of the key challenges affecting African forestry, which, if addressed, can become enabling conditions for successful investment. Poor understanding of these challenges has led to the current suboptimal state of the majority of greenfield plantation investments.The African forestry sector can be regarded as high risk from an environmental, social and governance, business integrity and financial returns perspective. The main risks relate to land use and loss of livelihoods, occupational health and safety skills, social acceptability, negative impacts on biodiversity, the potential for bribery and corruption, an uncertain investment environment, inadequate infrastructure and illegal logging of natural forests.Though there is significant opportunity for investment growth in the African forestry sector, progress is hindered by a risk-averse investment climate, the limited availability of financing and the lack of successful forestry business models (outside South Africa).Investing in Africa's forests is a bold undertaking, but one the continent urgently needs, for the sustainability of its wood supply, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and rural development.Agroforestry and carbon markets could therefore offer a solution to these challenges, if not be a game changer.African forestry is generally not developed or liquid enough to carry commercial debt.The basic long-term internal rate of return of forestry projects is usually somewhere between 6 percent and 9 percent. In very specific imperfect market conditions, more can be achieved, but not usually in the long term. Engaging in downstream processing can improve returns, but is not without its challenges.Financing solutions are becoming more complex in the face of these return metrics and equity from committed investors would be the most appropriate option. Commercial investors often demand more than a 15 percent return on investment to offset the risk profile.If an investment project succeeds in raising some form of concessional debt, this is very valuable. However, it is difficult to find and often comes with near impossible strings attached.Many development banks take a commercial approach to the African forestry sector and often demand a return on investment that exceeds the potential internal rate of return. Project leaders are then encouraged to be optimistic when estimating profitability in order to raise the necessary funds.Project leaders who have obtained debt financing then find themselves urgently trying to reach profitability before debts become too large to service.Equity financing, on the other hand, comes with its own challenges. For example, assessing the value of a project is difficult for investors who enter a long-term investment at different stages.The lack of a positive track record is a significant challenge for the African forest investment space. If a project ends up needing to raise capital before it is generating significant return on investment, it will most likely find itself in a tenuous position. The project will need to prove to capital providers that it is one of the few success stories and that it is close to turning a profit.This will require a strong business plan, convincing management, a track record of meeting budgets and a bit of luck.If the project is indeed successful in raising funds, the original investors will usually find their stake either heavily diluted, subsidizing a high interest rate or both. The only way to avoid this mid-cycle risk is to have sufficient funding to reach positive cashflow from the outset.The various financial and investment options available for the development of plantation forestry can be grouped into three partnership models: public-private partnerships, private sector-community partnerships and partnerships between financial institutions and countries.Public-private partnerships have proven to be a model for economic prosperity in many sectors and there are a number of examples in Central Africa relating to the establishment of forest plantations.In Gabon, since the end of 2011, the company Plantations Forestières de la Mvoum (PFM) has been working to develop a 40,000-hectare area about 100 km from Libreville awarded by the Gabonese Government.Approximately 17,000 hectares of existing 30-55-year-old okoumé plantations are expected to produce 100,000 m 3 of logs per year. These plantations are scheduled to be harvested over 20 years and replaced with clonal teak.To finance part of its investment programme, PFM carried out a capital increase in 2013 reserved for Gabon's Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, allowing it to acquire 15 percent of the capital.Since 2014, work has focused on establishing the first teak plantations and harvesting the existing okoumé plantations. By the end of 2016, the nursery had about 100,000 teak plants and 100 hectares of clonal teak had been planted.At the same time, PFM continued its applied research programme on tropical forest plantations, focusing on the genetic improvement of plant material.In 2016, PFM signed a partnership agreement with Gabon Special Economic Zone, which will purchase almost all of the okoumé produced from its plantations.New avenues for creating value will be explored, working with partners where relevant. PFM's ambition is to meet the growing need for timber and fuelwood in Africa, against a backdrop of strong demand for renewable products and rising fossil fuel prices.The ten-year partnership between the Government of the Republic of the Congo and Société Plantations Forestières Batéké Brazzaville (SPF2B) aimed to plant 10,000 hectares of forest to supply the Brazzaville market with charcoal from sustainable plantations and partially replace the charcoal currently obtained by cutting natural forests.According to the agreement, SPF2B is responsible for financing the project, while the government, with PRONAR, facilitates access to improved plant material and technical exchanges on plantation management.Planting started in October 2018 with an annual planting target of 500 to 1,000 ha. The project is expected to create 500 direct jobs in neighbouring communities and to catalyse the development of village plantations, thereby contributing to the national objective of planting trees over 1 million hectares (ATIBT 2019).Lessons can be learned from Uganda's Supporting Timber Plantations through the Sawlog Production Grant Scheme (SPGS).Before the launch of this project in Uganda, a long history of underfunding forest operations and poor management had contributed to the degradation of forestry plantations that were originally publicly managed.Productive plantations on degraded forestland were seen as a way to meet the growing demand for timber while relieving the pressure on the remaining natural forests.The objective of the EU-supported SPGS programme is to promote private sector investment in timber production by supporting plantation development on degraded forestland with muchneeded financial and technical support.Financial assistance is provided as a direct grant paid within two years of planting. The total grant is USD 330 per hectare, but will only be paid if the growers meet the conditions set out in the contracts that must be agreed in advance. No money is paid up-front.The main conditions are: sound species choice, using only improved seed, with at least 80 percent survival after planting, and ensuring the plantation is weeded and protected for two years. The principle is to 'grow trees' rather than simply 'plant trees'.SPGS offers farmers sound technical support and two forestry companies also provide training to Ugandan foresters. Through field meetings, practical training courses and publications, the SPGS team has begun to convince people that commercial forestry is a serious business opportunity for those with suitable land in Uganda.SPGS has funded 10,000 ha of plantations to date, from small community-based tree planting associations to large-scale commercial operations. The programme has also supported communities to plant seedlings, led to the establishment of the Uganda Timber Growers Association and created 5,000 jobs.So far, growers have used degraded land in forest reserves leased by the National Forest Authority, but interest in using private land is now growing. Support to plant an additional 25,000 ha has been requested. 2The issue of independent businesses launching development projects and social inclusion in the forestry sector must not be overlooked if we want to improve the livelihoods of small-scale tree farmers by encouraging them to plant trees on small plots, despite challenges linked to land tenure.Agroforestry appears to be a relevant approach to relieving the pressure on natural forests. The World Bank is working with partners in Mai-Ndombe province, DRC, on an integrated REDD+ initiative built around investments and performance-based payments (World Bank 2018). Since 2014, the Forest Investment Programme (FIP) has been supporting farmers to implement agroforestry activities, such as planting several million acacia trees under the agroforestry model described in this chapter.This programme is reported to have improved the living conditions of thousands of farmers, sequestered carbon in planted forests and reduced carbon emissions. Participants also receive payments from the Carbon Fund of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) under an Emissions Reduction Payment Agreement (ERPA) signed by the World Bank and the Government of DRC. The average cost of establishing one hectare of this type of agroforestry plantation is estimated at USD 1,000. 3The African Development Bank (AfDB) recognizes the economic and development potential of a thriving large-scale forestry sector on the continent. Furthermore, the Climate Investment Funds have already invested substantial resources to attract investment to the sector, which is growing in importance as its role in climate change mitigation and adaptation has recently been highlighted. The Climate Investment Funds are currently working to encourage the private sector to invest in transforming the African forestry sector (AfDB et al. 2019).The Green Zones Development Support Project in Kenya (the Mau Forest Reforestation Project) was financed by the AfDB (2007AfDB ( -2016) ) to the tune of USD 38.8 million, which led to the reforestation of 14,300 ha. The project led to the creation of 3,000 permanent and sustainable jobs in communities bordering forests and increased the income of 17,100 households (40 percent headed by women) (AfDB 2018). Over the ten years of the project, the average cost of establishing one hectare of forest was estimated at USD 2,713.When it comes to management and staffing, setting up a plantation project in Africa from scratch is not an easy task. There are a number of possible approaches, but all face the challenge of balancing overhead costs and maintaining an adequate skill base.In the early years, many projects require the presence of expatriate staff to get them off the ground.Planning how to minimize the use of expatriate staff should be a priority early in the project life cycle. Effective high-quality staff training is one of the single most important hallmarks of a successful project. Gradually shifting responsibility from expatriate managers to local staff is more cost effective and ensures sustainability.Plantation development and management is a science, developed and practised successfully in many countries around the world. Some argue that it is important to incorporate traditional farming practices into plantation management. However, care should be taken not to 'reinvent the wheel' where very simple and successful established practices exist.Health and safety does not often come naturally to developing markets. Having a healthy and safe workforce requires considerable investment in the early days, but is indispensable for success in the long term. Third-party forest management certification can also be a helpful framework to support the integration of health and safety measures. A skilled, healthy and safe workforce will be motivated to come to work, keen to improve their skills and share the company's values.It is best practice to use improved genetic material regardless of the type of plantation forestry.There is however some debate around whether to use clonal or non-clonal species and there are many valid arguments on both sides. Clonal forestry using a sufficiently wide genetic base offers the best return on investment for many traditional plantation species. Unfortunately, many plantation projects in Africa have not used high-quality genetic material from the outset. The composition and growth rate of early plantations often has a significant impact on their commercial viability. Many large professional companies have however begun to pay greater attention to genetics more recently. When implementing a project, time and logistical constraints are often cited as reasons for the use of poor-quality genetic material. It is however risky to rush this essential step when establishing a plantation.The success of a forestry project relies on the compatibility of the site and the species used. While this may seem obvious, many still get it wrong.To match a site with the rights species, the soil must first be analysed and long-term meteorological data collected (including consideration of climate change-related risks). As those of us who have been caught out know, with rainfall, it is not just long-term averages that matter, but the magnitude of annual variation.In most African countries outside South Africa, forest owners are on their own in the event of a fire. Fire is a serious risk in most plantation regions in Africa. There are four main ways to manage this risk: 1. Manage the forest to reduce the fuel load during fire seasons (weeding plantations) and by creating firebreaks; 2. Set up rapid response fire detection and suppression capacity; 3. Work with neighbours to prevent fires across the wider landscape and develop community safety plans; 4. Consider buying insurance.A major criticism of plantation forestry is the risk of biodiversity loss when planting large areas with a small number of non-native species.However, in the case of Uganda, for example, the International Woodland Company (IWC) invested in pine and eucalyptus plantations in an area where the landscape had become highly degraded due to slash-and-burn agriculture and unmanaged grazing. Here, the plantations restored productivity to the landscape and protected vast natural forests and riparian areas from encroachment and further degradation.As part of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification process, IWC hired an external partner to carry out biodiversity studies twice a year. These studies continuously reported that plantation activities were not harming conservation or biodiversity and that more species of birds and mammals had been observed at all sites surveyed. These plantations are more biodiverse than neighbouring farmland (without responsibly managed plantations scenario).In Africa, many markets for forest products are informal and underdeveloped. Understanding the market is crucial in the planning stage. Some organizations have the skills to move downstream into processing, while others may simply wish to remain plantation owners.To be able to plan for the future, it is crucial that project leaders understand both current trade restrictions and the political will behind them.Land tenure is one of the most contentious issues affecting plantation forestry investments in Africa. Intractable challenges can arise when a land-intensive resource like a forest is combined with poorly defined and enforced land tenure legislation and a local population of marginalized subsistence farmers who are highly dependent on the land.In Uganda, IWC was able to navigate these challenges through strong leadership, by drafting a company code of conduct, hiring a dedicated community engagement team, consulting regularly with communities, developing and managing a grievance redress mechanism and delivering community co-benefit activities. Despite the perception that tenure poses one of the biggest risks for plantation forestry investments in Africa, IWC's approach has substantially minimized this risk.Valuable lessons have been learned about land tenure over the investment period. It is necessary to:• Only invest in a project once the land tenure is clear. Doing so saves precious time and allows investment capital to get to work immediately. • Have a thorough understanding of the plantable land before investing, not only in terms of biological capacity, but also with respect to conflicting land rights. Not having such an understanding from the outset could negatively impact the expected return on investment. • Navigating land tenure enforcement with the relevant authorities is challenging, especially while upholding the company code of conduct. Nevertheless, maintaining positive relationships, frequent engagement and collaboration with relevant civil society organizations can be effective.There are a wide range of stakeholders involved in African timberland investments: investors, sector stakeholders, governments (local, national and foreign), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), research organizations, media representatives and local communities.Fast-growing forest plantation projects -like any large-scale land purchase -must comply with the minimum requirements imposed by the host country to limit environmental and social harms.Virtually all countries require projects to conduct an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) and adopt an impact management plan, obtain free, prior and informed consent and provide evidence of widespread community support; however, the conditions and guidelines for the establishment, monitoring and application of the measures adopted vary from one country to another.Given private sector companies' growing interest in commercial plantations and their arrival in complex and vulnerable environments, it is important to recognize weaknesses in the host country's formal risk management frameworks.In jurisdictions where enforcement is weak, voluntary forest management certification has proven to be a valuable tool for ensuring that forestry investments meet the high environmental, social and governance standards advocated by investors.Plantation managers are not simply required to ensure a return on investment; they must also secure community and government benefits, manage investments in or support for regional resilience frameworks, and participate in initiatives to build the capacity of local institutions and regional economic communities. The private sector must moreover comply with existing national and international laws and good practices, if its presence is to have a positive impact over time.Successful investments in plantation forestry in Africa:• Are actively involved in relevant local and wider networks. This includes tree growers' associations, various local NGOs, the European Commission (or other multinational bodies), the FAO, FSC and various platforms bringing together other plantation operators in the region. • Develop a process for obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of community stakeholders.• Establish a flexible community engagement, grievance redress and outreach strategy based on regular and responsive engagement with neighbouring communities. • Engage in positive media communication and share success stories.• Establish a company policy on how to address media, research and other indirect stakeholder enquiries, and ensure key staff are informed on how to respond to such enquiries. Enquiring parties with a pre-existing negative agenda pose significant reputational risk.Managing community expectations can be very challenging. From the outset and through frequent engagement, make it clear what the programme will look like, what both sides expect and how they will benefit. Do not overpromise. Have a support plan for programme co-implementers.External funding (outside of investment funds) plays an important role in initiating community outreach programmes, which work to reduce risk, secure value and create lasting impact. Nevertheless, investment overheads must still include funding for maintaining community buy-in through continuous engagement activities that outlive external project financing.Development finance institutions have a range of tools to support private sector actors to make sustainable investments in plantation forestry and agriculture. One of these tools is the implementation of the voluntary sustainability standards or performance standards introduced in the private financial sector. Major financial institutions have committed to apply the International Finance Corporation (IFC) performance standards, which provide a clear framework for managing social, environmental and biodiversity-related risks.Continuing with the example of IWC in Uganda, the initial company that received the investment was founded in the late 1990s with the goal of pursuing sustainable forestry through the sale of carbon credits. The voluntary carbon market and associated revenues did not materialize as expected and IWC's investors undertook to purchase the project and develop a commercially viable plantation.The company has maintained its Gold Standard certification throughout the investment holding period and the project is expected to generate more than 1.5 million tons of certified carbon credits over its 50-year lifetime.Although the certification is relatively low maintenance, since the Gold Standard accepts the FSC certification/audit procedure as a proxy (except for the carbon inventory component), carbon forestry is not without its challenges.Carbon forestry has been the subject of extensive criticism and significant managerial resources have been required to maintain the project's credibility. There was also a potential liability on exit, given that the land is required to be held in continuous cycle forestry for the 50-year duration of the certification (this did not however prove to be a problem). Ultimately, there has been little appetite for carbon credits and prices have not achieved the level expected.Various lessons can be learned from this experience:• Until the factors affecting carbon prices shift significantly, it is perhaps best to consider carbon credits sales as an upside to investments in plantation forestry, rather than as a foundational component.• The question of carbon 'tenure' has become a hot topic following the signature of the Paris Agreement and the adoption of its nationally determined contributions. It is therefore advisable to ensure project leaders have a good understanding of the national government's position on forest carbon ownership and transferability. • Long-term carbon supply agreements with large buyers should be considered.• Engaging with critics of carbon forestry is recommended, both to understand the risks and concerns related to engaging in this sector and to take steps to mitigate them, while building positive working relationships.The development of plantation forestry in Africa, particularly in Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, South Africa, Eswatini and Uganda, has been undertaken by the private sector since the 1980s when government initiatives were constrained by limited resources and budgets.This is in direct contrast to earlier patterns of plantation development (1930s to 1970s) when governments were the dominant developers of commercial plantation forestry.Andries Smith -Forestry Investment Consultant Among programmes aimed at rapidly developing the sector to reach significant industrial scale, those focused on large companies have been most successful, as evidenced by the Chilean and Uruguayan schemes where plantations have reach millions of hectares in size.The example of Chile is interesting: the sale of large tracts of government-owned land at attractive prices, tax breaks and the provision of cheap and long-term credit were very attractive to corporations, as were the clear and simple procedures for accessing these measures. In contrast, where incentives have been aimed at supporting the development of small or medium-size plantations, the size of the areas planted was far smaller than under the South American programmes, but there was far wider participation by rural people.The Sawlog Production Grant Scheme (SPGS) in Uganda provides insight into the balance that can be achieved between the various scales of growers, if the needs at each scale are recognized and appropriate incentives proposed. For example, large-scale growers were less interested in the indirect services offered by SPGS and far more focused on monetary grants (for improving in-house skills and sending staff on training courses), while small (<10 ha) and medium-size (10-100 ha) growers were dependant on SPGS for these indirect support services.The example of SPGS in Uganda has also demonstrated the need for ongoing and detailed technical support in the area of forestry for small and medium growers to enable them to meet technical performance standards. Grower field days, plantation visits by skilled extension officers, environmental education and safe working practices are essential prerequisites for the successful establishment and management of these new plantations.Access to land with secure tenure for a period of at least two to three harvest cycles of timber (25 to 50 years) is an irreplaceable prerequisite to attract growers to establish commercial timber plantations.In Chile, government-owned land was sold to growers at very attractive prices on the condition that the growers would hold the land for a set time and establish plantations on it. As a consequence of the development of the forestry sector, the value of this land has increased considerably, thereby increasing growers' assets. This has allowed them to obtain additional financing for processing facilities, for example, based on the strength of their balance sheets.In Uruguay, land was specially zoned for forestry and the purchase of this land for plantations was incentivized by grants to subsidize the cost of establishing a plantation. Like in Uganda, the grants were only paid out after a site inspection by the authorities had confirmed that the trees had been successfully established.In Uganda, growers have been licensed by the National Forest Authority (NFA) to use land on government-owned Central Forest Reserves (CFRs). Subject to a performance review after two years, the licences are issued for a period of 25 years. Initially medium and large-scale growers were given preference when applying for licences, as it was thought that small-scale growers would not be able to meet the performance criteria. These small-scale growers objected to the 50-hectare minimum area requirement and the NFA acknowledged the importance of including them. Smallscale growers were subsequently granted licences to establish plantations in CFRs.It is now widely accepted that forest plantation interventions that include farmers at all scales are more stable, subject to less conflict and far more socially acceptable. There has been strong opposition to plantation development in Chile, Uruguay and Brazil where plantation ownership is dominated by large corporations, many of them foreign owned. In contrast, where participation has been more broad based, such as in Tanzania and Uganda, there has been far less opposition to timber plantations and in many instances the general public views their creation as very positive.Competitive tender processes for assigning land for commercial forestry plantations, such as those used in Chile and Uganda, are seen as fair, provided that small growers are protected by a system guaranteeing that a fair proportion of the land is allocated to them.Access to appropriate financing mechanisms is as important as access to land. The types of funding available and how this funding is accessed and disbursed needs to be aligned with the participants of the plantation development programme, its objectives and the funders involved:• Grants, which recipients are not required to repay, are most important for small and mediumsize growers. Without them, these growers would not have the resources to plant the trees.Where grant disbursements have been subject to performance criteria, access to other sources of funding have been used, typically loans from family members or village saving schemes. • Equity funding, which comes in various forms, allows funders to take a stake in the shareholding of the company or venture. There are a number of examples in Uganda where family members have provided equity funding to enable the applicant to access the minimum plantation size required by the licence agreement. Larger companies, on the other hand, have all leveraged equity funding from various sources, including high net-worth individuals, family offices and development finance institutions (e.g. Green Resources, New Forests Company and Global-Woods, which are all active in East Africa). The shareholder agreements signed by these large companies are far more sophisticated and formal than those used by the family businesses that have established plantations in Uganda. Greenfield forestry development requires 'patient capital' due to the long lead time between establishment and the generation of revenues from the sale of the forest products. • Loans have to be repaid at some point and typically attract interest. Loan funding is really only accessible to larger, formal companies. All actors that have established plantations in the East Africa region have indicated that loan funding must have the following characteristics:» Have a term aligned with the harvest cycle length of the plantations.» Allow for an interest deferral period, typically the first few years of the loan when the business does not have the cashflow to service the loan.» Carry an interest rate that is aligned with the typical returns offered by commercial forestry plantations. Interest rates in excess of 10 percent have been extremely challenging for forestry companies. A nominal interest rate of 1 percent or 2 percent above inflation seems to be the maximum that greenfield plantation projects can realistically afford.Financial support can also take other forms, such as tax breaks or the sale of land by the government at very affordable prices, as in Chile, but these measures are more attractive to large companies.The value of high-quality planting stock has been proven in many cases where forestry plantations have been developed or extended.One of the most effective ways to secure high-quality plants is by buying seed from tree improvement programmes that have been in operation for a number of years. Growers in Chile drew on the New Zealand Pinus radiata breeding programme that had been running for many years.The SPGS programme in Uganda not only helped to source improved seed from South Africa, Australia and other counties, but also introduced a nursery certification system to accredit nurseries as suppliers of high-quality plants grown from improved seed. Buying seedlings from an accredited nursery was made a prerequisite for the disbursement of grant funding to growers, ensuring that they would plant only the best plants available. Given that neither seeds nor young plants have any particular visual characteristics that indicate the quality of the trees that will be produced, it is essential that seed is obtained from known and reputable sources.To accelerate the development and deployment of improved planting material, another option is to join or form a tree improvement cooperative to screen and develop new seeds and plants. Plantation companies in Lichinga province in Northern Mozambique joined the CAMCORE cooperative, which operates out of North Carolina State University, to access a wide range of genetic material to select that most suited to the area.Increased temperatures due to global warming are already affecting the use of Pinus patula and Eucalyptus grandis, two of the most common plantation species grown in Africa. These species are becoming increasingly susceptible to pests and diseases. The development and use of hybrids (P. patula x tecunumanii, P. elliotii x caribaea and various hybrids of E.grandis x urophylla, E. grandis x pelita) offers a potential solution, as these hybrids are far superior to the pure species in that they have faster growth rates, better wood properties and greater resistance to pests and disease.For support programmes to be most effective, it is essential that they are designed to run over extended timeframes given the typical harvest cycle length of forestry plantations. It takes time to get programmes up and running to the point where they are both effective and efficient. A long-term programme must have a long-term vision and a funding stream to match. Consistency and continuity are important aspects of successful programmes, because uptake by growers is dependent on growers understanding how the support arrangements work and having confidence in their ability to benefit from the incentives on offer.The old adage 'you can only manage what you measure' is particularly relevant to the development of the plantation forestry sector. The absence of a National Forest Inventory in Uganda is hampering the further development of the sector as there are no publicly available statistics on the extent of the commercial forestry estate. This information gap concerning the raw materials makes it difficult for investors to support downstream processing initiatives. It is common knowledge that there are vast areas of plantations, but details about them -such as their geographic location, region, species or age-class distribution -are not known. It is strongly recommended that a national forestry inventory be launched in tandem with or as an integral component of any plantation development programme.Fast-growing tree plantations could make a significant contribution to the conservation and sustainable management of forest ecosystems and people's livelihoods in Central Africa. Nevertheless, they come with significant controversy related to the alteration and homogenization of ecosystems and the loss of access to land and resources for indigenous communities and local rural populations (who depend on forest services and products).Given the private sector's growing appetite for commercial plantations and commercial players' entry into complex and fragile contexts, it is essential to ensure all stakeholders' needs are considered and environmental and social risks carefully weighed. Finance institutions have a range of tools to support private sector actors to invest sustainably in plantation forestry and agriculture.Interconnected regional and national policy approaches remain imperative to regulate regional and local priorities and to adopt laws and regulations that promote responsible investment.In Central Africa, such investments are complicated by unclear land tenure and land-use arrangements, weak industrial infrastructure, poor technology, low productivity and serious funding gaps.Compared to other land-use options, the majority of investments in commercial plantation forestry are, at best, marginally profitable. It is therefore imperative to be fully aware of the key challenges affecting African forestry, which, if addressed, can become enabling conditions for successful investment. Poor understanding of these challenges has led to the current suboptimal state of the majority of greenfield plantation investments.The various financial and investment options available for the development of plantation forestry can be grouped into three partnership models: public-private partnerships, private sector-community partnerships and partnerships between financial institutions and countries.The sustainability of plantation forestry in Central Africa depends on the decisions taken at each stage of the project: selecting managers and staff, establishing the plantation, determining the forestry or forest management techniques to be used, and managing land tenure and marketing, stakeholder engagement, carbon impact assessment and certification standards."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"54966a7b399cad3302b91b34aa2760c4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H041591.pdf","id":"1760525304"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"782d5ece-8377-48ea-a2d0-02bed1f0dfbe","content":"Management of land, soil and water are intimately related and complementary to each other. Land degradation, and in particular soil quality degradation, is a major factor limiting agricultural water productivity and is often neglected in water management circles. When degradation of agricultural soil resources results in productivity declines that are more limiting than water, then water productivity declines. The best existing evaluation of the extent of soil degradation worldwide is still the Global Assessment of Land Degradation (GLASOD) by Oldeman (1991). Based on this assessment we can infer that on 50% of arable land worldwide, water productivity is below what could have been expected before degradation occurred (Wood et al., 2000; see also Eswaran et al. (2001) for more detailed treatment of yield impacts from land degradation). Soil degradation limits water productivity in cases where absolute quantities of water are not the most limiting factor. This situation is widespread, considering that nutrients can be more limiting than water even in very dry areas, such as the Sahel (Penning de Vries and Djiteye, 1982;Breman, 1998). Addressing these constraints is critical if improvements in water productivity are to be achieved. Increasing awareness of a 'global water crisis' recognizes that the scarcity of clean water does affect food production and conservation of ecosystems. It is predicted that by 2025, most developing countries will face either physical or economic water scarcity, while at the same time global demand for food will increase (Molden, 2007). Because irrigated and rainfed agriculture is by far the largest human consumptive use of fresh water, improving the productivity of water used in agriculture can assist in increasing food production while maintaining water-related ecosystem services. Tackling human-induced degradation of agricultural lands is therefore central to addressing the 'water crisis'.This chapter reviews a range of studies and concepts regarding options for improving water productivity through improved land management that mitigates soil degradation, and aims to highlight its importance as part of a comprehensive strategy to address global water scarcity. The focus is primarily on crop water productivity at the field scale, but the importance of taking a landscape-scale perspective when evaluating impacts of changes in water use is also discussed.Soil and land degradation can be identified and described in terms of physical, chemical and biological changes from some ideal state brought about by natural or man-made influences. Soil degradation is often assessed as the amount of soil material that has been removed from a landscape by water and wind erosion, since these physical changes are obvious and quantifiable. The effects on fundamental chemical properties, soil nutrient supplies and soil biological activity are, however, often less obvious and more insidious in nature. All of these forms of degradation significantly influence water productivity in both rainfed and irrigated production systems (Table 2.1). The degree of impact will depend on the type and level of degradation.The impact of soil chemical degradation on water productivity is predominantly direct. By reducing yields, chemical degradation reduces water productivity. One form and cause of chemical degradation is the loss of soil organic matter, which is a ubiquitous and underappreciated form of degradation. Soil organic matter (SOM) both acts as a substrate upon which the macro-and micro-flora and fauna depend, and also mediates the cycling of nutrients within ecosystems and imparts important chemical attributes to soils, such as cation exchange capacity (CEC) and buffer capacity. When ecosystems are disturbed through changed land use and continuous cultivation, the productivity of most agricultural soils declines rapidly, particularly under humid climatic conditions, due to a loss in SOM (Kang and Juo, 1986;Aweto et al., 1992;Noble et al., 2000Noble et al., , 2001)), accelerated acidification (Gillman et al., 1985;Noble et al., 2000) and a reduction in CEC, thereby limiting the ability of the soil to hold important nutrients.Chemical degradation, including loss of soil organic matter and nutrient depletion, is a form of degradation that has been underappreciated for decades in high-input systems, as inputs can be increased to offset the yield impacts of degradation. For example, yield declines in rice-rice systems in the Indo-Ganges plain were only recently revealed through long-term yield data analysis. These analyses showed a yield decline of 37 kg/ha/year over 20 years (Padre and Ladha, 2004). This represents a 15% decline over the study period, undetected in shorter-term studies. The decline could be reversed through the application of NPK fertilizer and farmyard manure, thus indicating that soil chemical degradation through organic matter and nutrient depletion was the primary cause of observed yield declines (see Penning de Vries, Chapter 5, this volume).The impacts of salinization and waterlogging in irrigated systems are better appreciated. In the irrigation systems of arid and semi-arid zones, one of the largest threats to sustained agricultural production and water productivity is secondary salinization. Although data are poor, estimates indicate that 20% of irrigated land worldwide suffers from secondary saliniza-  (Oldeman, 1991).tion and waterlogging (Wood et al., 2000), induced by the build-up of salts introduced in irrigation water or mobilized within the soil profile. Currently, the FAO estimates that 29% of the irrigated land in six countries of the Near East had salinity problems between 1990and 1994(Martinez-Beltran and Manzur, 2005)  (Sakthivadivel et al., 1999). Although it is relatively easy to link salinity to poverty, limited information is available that places a monetary value on the social and economic impacts (Ali et al., 2001). Available information addresses mainly crop yield losses on salt-affected soils, revealing estimates of an annual global income loss in excess of US$12 billion (Ghassemi et al., 1995).The impact of physical degradation on water productivity is mainly indirect. By interfering with the soil water balance and the ability of plants to access soil water, physical degradation reduces water productivity. Physical degradation includes soil erosion, crust formation, structural decline, compaction and waterlogging, all of which have a negative impact on yields and hence water productivity. As with chemical degradation, loss of soil organic matter is one of the primary causes of physical degradation because it is vital to the maintenance of soil structure.Soil erosion is one of the most severe forms of soil physical degradation and results in the irreversible removal of fertile surface layers. A decrease in soil depth due to erosion will result in a loss of clay and organic matter, and thereby reduces the water-holding capacity of the soil and soil depth (Stocking, 1994). Both of these impacts will significantly reduce the productivity potential of soils and the physical attributes of the solum. Likewise, the formation of surface crusts will result in a dramatic decline in the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil surface, thereby impeding the intake of water into the soil profile and reducing its recharge (Nishimura et al., 1990;Miller and Radcliffe, 1992). Moreover, crusts are known to inhibit the seedling emergence of crops as the crust dries out and develops its hardness (Nabi et al., 2001).As a result of compaction, the total porosity and the proportion of large pores (macropores) diminishes while the proportion of smaller pores increases (Cruse and Gupta, 1991). A decrease in porosity, with an associated increase in soil bulk density, induces an increase in the mechanical impedance of the soil, thereby limiting root proliferation (Oussible et al., 1992;Dunker et al., 1995). Based on field experiments using upland rice, Hasegawa and Kasubuchi (1993) illustrated the water extraction patterns of plants. When a soil profile is thoroughly wet, plants extract most soil water from shallow, densely rooted layers. With a decrease in surface-layer water content, water retained in deeper layers begins to make a larger contribution to transpiration. If a crop has a sparse root system in these deeper layers, the crop ceases to extract soil water, even though there may be sufficient soil moisture at depth. Thus, crops with a poor root distribution system are more susceptible to drought when compared with crops that do not have this limitation.Global water scarcity analyses generally agree that a large share of the world population -up to two-thirds -will be affected by water scarcity over the next few decades (cf. Shiklomanov, 1991;Alcamo et al., 1997Alcamo et al., , 2000;;Raskin et al., 1997;Seckler et al., 1998;Vorosmarty et al., 2000;Wallace, 2000;Wallace and Gregory, 2002). While views diverge as to whether or not this constitutes a 'crisis', it is clear and inescapable that as the global population grows, there will be proportionally less water available per capita, given that the resource base is more or less constant. It is often assumed that such water scarcity means that people will have insufficient water for their domestic use, but this is not necessarily the case. At a minimum water requirement per capita of 50 l/day, the annual domestic requirement is less than 20 m 3 per capita. In fact, the total amount of water required for domestic purposes is small compared with the water required for other basic needs, such as to produce their food (Rijsberman, 2006).People require thousands of litres of water per day to produce their food, depending on their dietary and lifestyle preferences. On average, it takes roughly 70 times more water to grow food for people than people use directly for domestic purposes (cf. SIWI and IWMI, 2004). In addition, the large majority (up to 90%) of the water provided to people for domestic purposes is returned after use as wastewater and can be recycled, while most of the water (40-90%) provided to agriculture is consumed (evapotranspired) and cannot be reused, until it falls again as precipitation.There is broad agreement that future increases in water scarcity will turn water into a key, or the key, limiting factor in food production and livelihood generation for poor people throughout much of rural Asia and most of Africa, with particularly severe scarcity in the breadbaskets of north-west India and northern China. Competition for water is cause for considerable political tension and concern already, for example on the Euphrates and Jordan, and these tensions have little to do with domestic water demand but are driven by water demands for the agricultural sector (Phillips et al., 2006). The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target to halve the proportion of poor and hungry by 2015 will require feeding 900 million more people and improving the dietary composition of 400 million others. It is estimated that this will require a 50% increase in freshwater use in agriculture by 2015, and a doubling of freshwater consumption by 2050, if production is to keep pace with population growth (Rockström et al., 2005). Analysis of future water requirements also suggests that a large proportion of this increased food production will have to be met in the rainfed agricultural sector (Rockström et al., 2005), due to limitations to the continued development of irrigated agriculture. In Asia especially, new irrigation development faces increasing competition from other sectors of the economy, including industry, urban centres and the environment.Given increasing conflicts over fresh water, and considering that the production of food is the largest consumptive user of fresh water, it is now appreciated that efforts to improve the productivity of water in agriculture can result in significant savings in water diverted or used to produce food. Agricultural water productivity can be a very broad concept, expressing the beneficial output per unit of water input, and encompassing biophysical and social aspects of the relationship between production and water use (Molden et al., 2007). This concept would then have various values at different spatial scales (plant, field, farm, irrigation network, river basin and agroecological zone) and different stakeholders (farmers, system managers, policy makers). Here, we will focus on agricultural water productivity at the plant and field level, where the primary stakeholder is the farmer. Thus, we will concentrate on crop water productivity (CWP), defined as the agronomic yield per unit of water used in transpiration, evapotranspiration (ET), or applied (including precipitated) water. This concept is equally valid for irrigated and rainfed systems and thus also provides a vehicle for exploring water-use options at the basin scale, where a variety of systems and options for development exist.Increasing agricultural water productivity can significantly reduce the total amount of water we will need in the future to produce food. Thus, agricultural water productivity estimates are an important component in scenarios that have been explored to try to estimate future water requirements. For example, under a base scenario that included optimistic assumptions on yield increases and efficiency, Seckler et al. (1998) estimated a 29% increase in irrigated land would be required by the year 2025 to produce enough food to feed the population. But because of gains in water productivity, the increase in water diversions to agriculture would only need to be 17%. FAO (2002aFAO ( , 2003a,b) ,b) and Shiklomanov (1998) had comparable results. FAO (2002b) estimated a 34% increase in irrigated area and a 12% increase in irrigation diversions, and similarly Shiklomanov (1998) projected a 27% increase in irrigated diversions. More recently, scenarios taking into account both irrigated and rainfed agriculture projected that 30-40% more water will be used in agriculture by 2050 than is used today (De Fraiture et al., 2007). This optimistic scenario was based on the assumption of balanced investments in water management in rainfed and irrigated areas, and increased water productivity. Without improved water management the overall increase is projected to be 70-90%. Because of the importance of rainfed agricultural production now and in the future, we are interested in water productivity in both irrigated and rainfed systems.A fundamental but somewhat technical discussion is required to understand how CWP can be improved. For a given crop variety, there is a near linear relationship between plant biomass (leaves, stems, roots, grain, etc.) and transpiration (Tanner and Sinclair, 1983), depending on plant variety and climate (Steduto and Albrizio, 2005). Since the mid-1960s, breeding strategies that increase the harvest index (the proportion of grain to total biomass) have resulted in larger increases in water productivity than any other agronomic practice. These gains, however, are not based on a decrease in transpiration per unit of biomass produced, but instead on an increase in the proportion of biomass that is marketable or consumable produce (usually grain). Thus, the amount of biomass per unit transpiration has not changed through breeding strategies that increase harvest index. This illustrates the perceived 'biological imperative' that to produce more biomass, more water is required for transpiration. Given that it is now thought that the scope for further increases in harvest index seems small, even with biotechnology (Bennett, 2003), where might we identify opportunities to continue to increase water productivity in agriculture?The difference between actual water productivity and this limit represented by plant physi-ology demonstrates the enormous opportunities to increase water productivity. Taking wheat as an example, Fig. 2.1 shows the significant variation that exists in CWP (Sadras and Angus, 2006). The solid line in Fig. 2.1 may represent the biological limits along which increased biomass production requires increases in water use, while most systems surveyed achieved much lower water productivity. The mechanisms to achieve improvement are related to reducing evaporative losses of water or increasing transpiration efficiency, both of which can decrease ET per unit of biomass produced, thus increasing water productivity. Both of these factors can be strongly affected by land management and soil quality. In particular, increased infiltration rates and soil water-holding capacity can reduce evaporative losses, and soil fertility improvement can increase transpiration efficiency. Understanding a simple water balance of a typical farm helps guide an analysis of where opportunities lie to increase water productivity. Water which either falls as precipitation or is applied to any particular field can have several fates: transpiration, evaporation, storage or drainage (Fig. 2.2). Storage and drainage water can still be used productively either on-site or downstream, and is not 'lost' unless its quality declines (through, for example, being drained off into a saline aquifer). Evaporation, however, is a significant by-product of agricultural practices, and does not contribute to biomass production. Evaporation depends on climate (thus CWP is generally higher at northern latitudes with lower temperatures) and soil shading (by leaves of the crop canopy), and can thus be high in rainfed systems in the tropics, with high temperatures and low plant densities. In degraded tropical systems, evaporation is even higher, as infiltration into the soil and soil waterholding capacity are reduced, runoff is rapid and plant densities are very low. Transpired water can also be wasted if crop failure occurs after significant biomass growth. Thus, practices that reduce evaporation and prevent crop failure, such as mulching and fertilizer to increase soil water retention, plant vigour and leaf expansion can significantly increase CWP. Losses due to pests also limit harvestable yields, and hence managing these limitations can also increase water productivity.Transpiration efficiency -the biomass produced per unit of water transpired -is also highly dependent on soil nutrient availability. In fact, it has only recently been appreciated that the linear relationship between transpiration and biomass production only holds at a constant level of nutrient availability. Soil degradation therefore, particularly poor soil fertility, is a primary cause of low water productivity. A recent modelling study by one of us (Nangia), undertaken to understand the role of nitrogen fertilizer in enhancing water productivity, particularly highlights the role of soil nutrient availability as a determinant of water productivity. While a lot of agronomic studies have been conducted investigating crop response to nutrients and water, they were primarily aimed at understanding land productivity and not water productivity. This work, aimed at bridging this gap, concluded that more biomass and harvestable products can be produced per unit of transpired water given adequate nitrogen availability (Fig. 2.3), and that maximizing water productivity was not equivalent to maximizing land productivity. The improvement is most successful when trying to raise productivity from very low levels, such as are common in many degraded rainfed farming systems.The basis for understanding how much CWP can still be improved in practice is provided by a few recent reviews that have quantified CWP variability in irrigated and rainfed systems.These reviews indicate that significant improvement to CWP can be achieved. On irrigated land, Zwart and Bastiaanssen (2004) estimated the variability in WP for major crops based on measurements of actual ET on fields across five continents (Table 2.2) from 84 published studies conducted since the early 1980s. This variability, often up to threefold differences between low and high water productivity, is encouraging since it gives an idea of the tremendous potential that exists to increase CWP. These authors concluded that, if constraints were removed, increases of 20-40% in CWP could easily be achieved. The variation was primarily attributed to climate, irrigation water management and soil management. Similarly, Fig. 2.1 demonstrates the significant variation in CWP for wheat (Sadras and Angus, 2006). In semi-arid zones of sub-Saharan Africa Falkenmark and Rockström (2004) found CWP for maize, sorghum and millet to range from about 2.5 to 15 kg/mm water per/ha. As with Zwart and Bastiaanssen (2004), improving soil management was one of several factors identified that affect CWP.This gap between actual water productivity and potential is largest in rainfed farming systems in semi-arid areas. Falkenmark and Rockström (2004) review the theory and data supporting the significant opportunities that exist to improve water productivity in these rainfed systems. They highlight the tremendous potential to shift from unproductive evaporative losses to productive transpiration. Figure 2.4 shows the relationship between actual CWP as measured by ET and grain produced across a large range of sites in sub-Saharan Africa. Hatfield et al. (2001) support this conclusion, based on an extensive review of studies that examined the potential of soil management practices alone to improve water-use efficiency. Hatfield et al. (2001) estimated that CWP could be increased by 25-40% through soil management practices, such as 'no till', to improve infiltration and soil water storage, and between 15 and 25% with nutrient management.  summarizes the idea that, although the biological relationship between water use and biomass may be linear, soil management could significantly push the line towards increased production at the same level of water use, such as illustrated in detail for wheat (Fig. 2.1). Likewise, poor soil management and soil limitations move the line down, limiting water productivity.In another recent review of case studies of resource-conserving agriculture projects (Pretty et al., 2006), it was estimated that improvement in water productivity ranged from 70 to 100% in rainfed systems, and 15 to 30% in irrigated systems (Table 2.3). These estimates were made based on reported crop yields and average potential evapotranspiration (ETp) for each project location during the relevant growing season. Actual evapotranspiration (ETa) was assumed to equal 80% of ETp, and ETa to remain a constant at different levels of productivity. Impacts are attributed primarily to land management changes such as removing limitations on productivity by enhancing soil fertility, and reducing soil evaporation through conservation tillage. The variability was high due to the wide variety of practices represented in the dataset, but do demonstrate gains in WP are possible through the adoption of sustainable farming technologies in a variety of crops and farm systems (Bossio et al., forthcoming).A few detailed field studies from Australia, Africa and Asia serve to highlight these potential impacts. Smith et al.'s (2000) careful study demonstrated this shift from evaporation to transpiration as influenced by soil fertility in a   rainfed wheat/lucerne production system in New South Wales, Australia. By increasing fertilizer (i.e. nitrogen) inputs, they were able to demonstrate increases in water productivity of wheat grain as measured by crop evapotranspiration from 8.4 to 14.6 kg/mm of water (Table 2.4). Some interesting trends can be gleaned from these results on improving the CWP of rainfed production systems when limited by the fertility status of the soil. In annual cropping systems, evaporation decreases and transpiration increases with increasing leaf area. As a consequence, the total amount of water consumed through the sum of evaporation and transpiration (ET) in a crop with low leaf area may be similar to that consumed in a crop with high leaf area. In this case, ET of 404 and 439 mm, respectively, was measured between these two contrasting crops. This study therefore clearly demonstrates that it is erroneous to assume that the water use of a high biomass crop will be proportionately greater than that of a low biomass crop, when leaf areas are very different (Smith et al., 2000). In this case, a doubling of grain yield only required a further 35 mm of ET (less than 10% increase) (Table 2.4).Field results from a low-yielding rainfed system in Africa (Barron and Okwach, 2005) demonstrated that water productivity could be dramatically increased and also highlighted the importance of synergistic water and nutrient management to achieve this impact on farmers' fields. Water productivity in a smallholder maize production system in semi-arid Africa was increased from 2.1 to 4.1 kg grain/mm/ha, almost a 100% increase, by using supplemental irrigation to mitigate dry spells. But this increase was only achieved when supplemental irrigation was applied in combination with nitrogen fertilizer (Barron and Okwach, 2005).In cases where soil chemical and physical degradation is extreme, rehabilitation of degraded soils can have an even greater impact, as demonstrated in recent studies on rainfed production systems in north-east Thailand (Noble et al., 2004). Sandy soils in NE Thailand have severe nutrient and carbon depletion after 40 or more years of agricultural production. Low nutrient-supplying capacity, poor water-holding capacity and the presence of a compacted layer at 20-30 cm are the dominant constraints to ensuring yield stability under rainfed conditions. Crop failure is now the norm owing to the extremely low availability of both nutrients and water. Annual precipitation is about 1100 mm, and sufficient for rainfed farming. Adding fertilizers or supplemental irrigation cannot stabilize yields, owing to the soil's very low capacity to retain water and nutrients. A novel approach of adding clay materials to these soils has ensured yield stability, as well as significantly enhancing crop yields (Noble et al., 2004;Noble and Suzuki, 2005). A measure of water productivity in these studies was estimated from the biomass produced per unit of rainfall over the growing season. Water productivity increased from a mere 0.32 kg/mm under the degraded situation to 14.74 kg/mm where constraints such as low nutrient supplies and water-holding capacity were addressed through the application of clay-based materials. These dramatic results are partly attributed to a 28% increase in soil water-holding capacity (Noble and Suzuki, 2005).The primary focus of this chapter has been CWP at field level and the opportunities that exist to improve CWP by mitigating soil degradation through improved land management.We have demonstrated that the potential gain in water productivity through land management interventions, particularly to improve soil  quality, is large and, we suggest, generally underappreciated. Various studies estimate that water productivity in irrigated systems could be improved by between 20 and 40%, primarily through land management approaches. In rainfed systems in developing countries, where average crop production is very low and many soils suffer from nutrient depletion, erosion and other degradation problems, potential improvement in water productivity is even higher, and may be as high as 100% in many systems. This is particularly important given that a large share of the needed increases in food production will have to come from rainfed systems.We have emphasized the importance of reducing real losses in the water balance, such as evaporation, by improving soil physical properties, and increasing transpiration efficiency through improved nutrient management as the key entry points through which desired improvements in water productivity can be achieved. This point is particularly important in the watershed or landscape context. If increases in biomass production on site are achieved simply by using more water, without reducing unproductive losses or increasing transpiration efficiency (i.e. water productivity remains constant), this would then simply represent an increased diversion of water from runoff or deep percolation to biomass production on site. This type of diversion would be a reallocation of water that may have been valuable downstream either to maintain aquatic ecosystems or for other productive purposes in a different location. It is not necessarily an increase in water productivity at the landscape or basin scale if water is simply used in a different location. The important entry point for water productivity improvement at larger scales is to reduce real losses of water that occur through evaporation, losses to saline sinks, ineffective transpiration, or useless transpiration resulting from crop failure.The diverse set of studies discussed above clearly demonstrate that improved land management is a very promising way to increase water productivity, particularly in lowyielding rainfed systems. To put this in perspective, the recent Comprehensive Assessment on Water Management in Agriculture reviewed the opportunities to improve agricultural water productivity and found that alternatives such as genetic improvements can be expected to yield only moderate water productivity improvements, although genetic improvements may play an important role in reducing the risk of crop failure (Molden et al., 2007). Synergistic interventions, including improved water management and maintenance of soil quality, have the greatest potential to improve water productivity. There is every indication, therefore, that investing in the rehabilitation of degraded agricultural lands should be taken up as a priority in efforts to mitigate the 'water crisis'. There are additional gains to be had in such an intervention, including maintenance of terrestrial ecosystems, and also the preservation of aquatic ecosystems and their accompanying services, all of which are linked directly to how agricultural land is managed and maintained."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4c69384c96d8ba693fa57b4b907152cd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3b8abff4-624a-422e-8ca9-15fd1f0ab723/retrieve","id":"604102546"},"keywords":["cassava starch","fried matrices","quality attributes","soy protein isolate"],"sieverID":"d5b8f0c3-21ec-46f9-abda-7c70b3970cb2","content":"Snack industry is recently focused on the production of snacks with minimal oil content and enhanced quality attributes which prompted the need to study the changes in snack matrices produced from cassava starch processed from three varieties of cassava roots  and soy protein isolate blends fried in soybean oil. Effect of frying temperature (170-180°C), frying time (2-4 min), soy protein isolate inclusion level (5%-15%) on proximate composition, color changes, expansion, texture, and sensory attributes of the snacks was investigated. Optimization of process variables was carried out based on a factorial design (2 level by 3 factor) in the Design Expert version 6.0.8, and models were generated showing the relationship between the independent variables and the responses. The desired goal for each constraint (processing conditions) was kept within 170-180°C for 2-4 min, while all responses, except chewiness, expansion, yellowness, and protein, were set at minimum. Evaluation of sensory attributes of the optimized sample was carried out to determine its level of desirability. The optimized frying conditions for matrices produced from starches of TMS-950289 are 170°C/4 min/5% SPI with desirability value of 0.507; from TME-419 are 180°C/2 min/5% SPI with desirability value of 0.475 while for those from TMS-30572 are 170°C/4 min/15% SPI with desirability value of 0.459. At higher SPI level, the protein content was high at 170°C. At 4 min frying time for all the varieties, the moisture content reduces. The most desired optimized fried snack produced from starch of TMS-30572 (containing 15% SPI) had higher crispness and lower oil content than other optimized fried snacks.Snacks are foods manufactured from combination of various ingredients to meet certain nutritional requirements. Kareem et al. (2015) reported that they are often consumed between meals or in place of regular meals while studying some quality attributes of high-quality cassava-tigernut composite flour and its extruded snacks. Typically, snacks are expected to add to the nutritional intake of individuals and are commonly produced from locally sourced raw materials for easy accessibility and availability. Minimal variations are expected from snacks produced from each frying experiment to the other as reported by Gazmuri and Bouchon (2009). Therefore, there is need to formulate snacks to promote reproducibility, minimize defects, and maintain uniformity in final products. Majorly, wheat is used largely in snacks and pastries due to its uniqueness in providing elasticity property-a function of its gluten, an important constitutent necessary for dough formation. Unfortunately, soy protein does not contain gluten which supports dough formation; nevertheless, its behavior during snacks production needs to be examined to know whether it also exhibits elasticity property that aids dough formation. However, it is necessary to evaluate the matrices formed during the development of an acceptable snack from locally available raw materials. Cassava is grown extensively for its starchy root which is a major source of carbohydrates. Starch is the main ingredient responsible for the expansion and crispness of snacks as reported by Taewee (2011) and is used as thickener in foods that are not subject to rigorous processing conditions. Cassava starch is known to have excellent textural characteristics, high paste viscosity, and clarity. It has a bland or neutral taste which promotes its use in snacks production. Abioye, Ade-Omowaye, Babarinde, and Adesigbin (2011) stated that soybean (Glycine max) is a cheap source of quality protein that is superior to all other plant foods because it has good balance of the essential amino acids and contains reasonable amount of methionine. It can be processed to obtain different products such as soy concentrate, soy flour, soy milk, soy cake, and soybean oil. The oil is extracted from its seeds as a clean oil with little or no perceived odor, and it is low in saturated fat, contains no transfat, and is high in mono and polyunsaturated fats. Soybean oil is people's most favorite choice as edible oil because of its quality, functionality, low cost and also, for being precursors of Omega-3, Omega-6, and Vitamin E according to Mounts et al. (1986). Frying process is complex, and it involves many factors, some of which are dependent on the process itself, and others on the food and type of fat used (Saguy & Pinthus, 1995). Deep fat frying adds some unique characteristics to develop snacks with smooth mouth feel, distinct flavor, color, texture, and palatability (Adedeji & Ngadi, 2009). It is one of the most important processes in the preparation of frozen prefried foods, snacks, and fast foods. Desired sensory attributes such as crispiness, crunchy texture, yellowness, and flavor are developed during deep fat frying. According to Franke and Reimerdes(2007), these properties are controlled by the maillard reaction and fat absorption, respectively. Sánchez-Gimeno, Negueruela, Benito, Vercet, and Oria (2008) reported that the quality of the products cooked by deep fat frying depends not only on the frying conditions such as frying temperature, frying time, food weight, and frying oil volume, but also on oil types and kind of food materials used. Therefore, the objective of this work is to characterize the snacks produced from cassava starch and soy protein isolate blends fried in soybean oil.Three varieties of cassava roots TMS-30572, TMS-950289, and TME-419 were obtained from Cassava breeding unit, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria. The cassava roots were processed to starch at their processing unit. Soy protein isolate, a light yellow powder, was obtained from NutriChem company and soybean oil from Shoprite, Ikeja, Lagos. Knife, bowls, deep fryer, and other materials were obtained from the food processing laboratory, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. Nigeria.Starch was extracted from freshly harvested roots using the modified procedure of Aseidu (1989). The cassava roots were weighed immediately after harvesting from farm and they were peeled, washed and grated, and the screened starch was allowed to settle and decanted. The final product was packaged in an airtight ziplock bag to prevent moisture and air intake from the atmosphere.Dough samples were prepared using modified method of Gazmuri and Bouchon (2009). The samples were weighed at the right proportions and mixed in a bowl, and 72 ml of hot water (100°C) was added to 100 g of sample to form a dough. The dough was rolled, kneaded, and cut out to get accurate shape (diameter 10 cm and height 0.25 cm) with a cutter.Sheeted dough was cut into round shape diameter 10 cm and height 0.25 cm) and fried in the inner frying compartment of a fryer using deep fat frying technique (SAISHO,China). A lid was used to cover the inner frying compartment while frying was taking place to ensure maximum submersion in the oil. Frying was carried out by dipping the covered frying baskets in the oil that have been maintained at 170 and 180°C for 2 and 4 min. The samples were removed, drained of any surface oil, and then held in a clean stainless flat surface to cool after each frying batch, before packaging in Ziploc packaging films until further use.A three-factor experimental setup was used with frying temperature, frying time, and cassava starch and soy protein isolate (CS:SPI) as the independent factors at two levels each as shown in Table 1. The data obtained were analyzed by factorial methodology based on general factorial design (Table 2) to optimize process variables. Eight combinations were generated in random order according to the design.The fried snacks produced were analyzed for moisture, ash, and oil according to AOAC (2000), and the protein content was analyzed using Kjedahl method (AACC, 46-12.01). The carbohydrate content was obtained by calculating the difference from the sum total.Expansion was determined using the procedures of Maeda and Cereda (2001). Each dough was measured with a vernier caliper before and after frying to determine its diameter. Expansion was then calculated as the difference between the initial diameter before and the final diameter after frying. Values reported are mean of six measurements for each frying operation.Chewiness and hardness of the chips were measured using a Universal Testing Machine (Model:M500-100ATCapacity:100kN, Stable Micro Systems Ltd., Godalming, Surrey UK). Texture parameters (Chewiness [N] and Hardness [N]) were obtained by placing the fried samples on the texture analyzer and using the compressor probe at Probe Diameter (mm): 60 Deformation (%): 2.1 mm for each texture parameter (Da Silva & Moreira, 2008).The color intensity of the snacks was determined using a chromameter colour measuring system (Konica Minolta CR-410, Minolta LTD, Japan) as described by Mariscal and Bouchon (2008). Acceptance testing method described by Omidiran et al. (2016) was used to investigate the acceptability of the fried snacks prepared using the optimized frying conditions. Fifty students of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria were engaged as consumer panelists, and they evaluated the sweetness, expansion, crispness, oiliness, color, appearance, and overall acceptance of fried snack. Each sample attribute was rated using a ninepoint Hedonic Scale. The values reported are mean of scores for each attribute, and a radar chart was used to illustrate the results.A 2 3 general factorial design was used to study the effect and optimize of independent variables namely frying temperature (170 and 180°C), frying time (2 and 4 min), and soy protein isolate (SPI) level (5% and 15%) on some quality attributes of the fried snacks as shown in Tables 1 and 2.The protein content ranged from 3.22% to 6.47%, 2.84% to 6.78%, 3.03% to 6.45%; oil content ranged from 9.10% to 10.02, 7.90% to 10.12%, 8.45% to 9.77%, and moisture content ranged from 6.89% to 18.67%, 8.25% to 19.67%, 8.06% to 19.75% for snacks from starches of TMS-950289, TME-419, and TMS-30572, respectively, as shown in Tables 1, 3, and 4, respectively. The coefficient of determination (R 2 ) ranged from 0.67 to 0.99, and there were significant (p < 0.05) differences in the protein content as presented in Table 5. High protein content observed in the snacks could be due to the level of soy protein isolate that was supplemented intoFrying temperature ( °C) 170 180Frying time (min) 2 4Level of SPI (%) 5 15  observed in this study that the higher the frying time, the lower the moisture content. So therefore, products fried at 4 min tend to be crunchier. The cube model graphs for the snacks produced from the three varieties are presented in Figures 1-3 showing the relationship with each quality parameter.The mean values of chewiness ranged from 1.   of the snacks which is the most desired attributes of crisps and chips that denotes freshness and high quality. At higher frying temperature and time, texture also reduced with increased level of SPI. There were no significant effects on the chewiness and hardness of the fried snacks.The mean value of expansion ranged from 5.13 to 18.44 mm for fried snacks from starches of TMS-950289. The model for expansion had the coefficient of determination (R 2 ) value of 0.99 and Fvalue of 1,363.65. Frying time significantly (p < 0.05) affected the expansion positively, and SPI significantly (p < 0.05) affected the expansion negatively. Furthermore, the interaction between frying temperature and SPI, and frying time and SPI had a significant effect (p < 0.05) on the expansion of TMS-950289 negatively. The mean value of the expansion ranged from 5.74 to 11.86 mm for fried snacks from starches of TME-419. The model for expansion had the coefficient of determination (R 2 ) value of 0.98 and F-value of 6.97 as presented in Table 6. For fried snacks from starches of TMS-30572, the mean value of the expansion ranged from 3.28 to 12.95 mm, and the model for expansion had the coefficient of determination (R 2 ) value of 0.99 and F-value of 64.60. However, the interaction of frying time and SPI had a significant effect (p < 0.05) on the expansion of TMS-30572 as presented in Table 7 substitution level reduced the expansion of the fried snacks. Gazmuri and Bouchon (2009) and Sobukola, Babajide, and Ogunsade (2012) while working on fabricated matrices from wheat starch and gluten reported that products containing high amount of gluten and water tend to expand during frying with the gluten content of the matrix developing an elastic structure that traps water vapor producing an expanded product. This is also supported by the report of Omidiran et al. (2016) on the expansion of fried snacks from blends of wheat flour and brewers' spent cassava flour.  (Marquez & Anon, 2000). As the frying temperature increased, the lightness parameter of the fried product decreased, whereas the redness and yellowness parameters increased for the same frying time. This is similar to the reports of Krokida &Oreopoulou, 2000 andMoyano, Vioseco, &Gonzalez, 2002. Lightness value of fried snacks decreased with increase in frying temperature, frying time, and level of SPI, while redness and yellowness values increased.Chewiness, expansion, yellowness, and protein content were maximized for each varieties, while hardness, lightness, redness, oil content, and moisture content were minimized for fried snacks from each varieties. Frying temperature of 170°C, frying time of 4 min, and level of SPI of 5% with a desirability of 0.507 were selected for TMS-950289. Frying temperature of 180°C, frying time of 2 min, and level of SPI of 5% with a desirability of 0.475 were selected for TMEB-419. Frying temperature of 170°C, frying time of 4 min, and level of SPI of 15% with a desirability of 0.459 were selected for TMS-30572, and an optimized sample was prepared under these conditions.TA B L E 7 Regression coefficient of the responses as a function of the independent variables of TMS-30572 "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ed2eeb0d6863a585166ce75ca284bd7d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6bf554a4-e262-44c1-bda4-40d025023822/retrieve","id":"1486144752"},"keywords":["Front cover, page 9, Ahmed Elewa/WorldFish","pages 18, 19, Ahmed Nasr-Allah/WorldFish","pages 8, 10, Ibrahim Elsira/WorldFish","pages 13, 15, WorldFish"],"sieverID":"e4aef50a-a722-4bf1-86ab-18a493bae610","content":"This guide explains the integration between fish culture and conventional crop agriculture and discusses how farmers can maximize benefits from using these resources. 1 The main concept for any system of integration is that the outputs of one organism or system function as a source of inputs for another organism or system. For fish farmers, this concept applies to the relationship between fish and crops, as the outputs of the fish can be a rich source of nutrients for crops.An integrated aquaculture-agriculture system has the following advantages:• Taking water used for fish farming and reusing it to irrigate crops optimizes water use.• Aquaculture-agriculture integration is environmentally friendly, as crops benefit from the nutrients in the water. This minimizes the amount of additional fertilizers and thus cost. Using nutrients discharged from fish culture units also helps reduce environmental impact.• Producing fish in remote and rural areas, away from traditional fish farming and fishing sites, reduces transportation costs and provides fresh fish for consumers.• A small-scale farm can use this system for either home or local consumption, or both, as it is possible to produce more than one agricultural product in a relatively remote areas where getting fresh animal food may not be available.• It is possible to produce organic food products that have a higher market value compared to traditional crops as fish generate organic fertilizer waste to that can be used in crop fertilization.This guide focuses on integration between fish and crops. However, farmers can introduce several other models, including livestock and poultry, in proportion to their integrated system to maximize benefits from all outputs and to increase profitability (Figure 1). When designing an integrated aquaculture-agriculture farm, it is important to consider the water requirements for growing crops, the volume of the fish culture unit and the targeted fish production.Water source Agricultural activity depends on the land and water characteristics as well as the supply and demand for various crops. This affects the choice of crop composition from one farm to another.Water requirements for land vary according to the crops grown. In an integrated aquacultureagriculture system, farmers first need to determine how much water their crops require daily. Based on this, they can then go ahead and design their fish farming system accordingly.For large crops, farmers can diversify their crops to maximize their use of resources. Usually, they can add an animal production component to the farm by allocating part of the land for animal husbandry and associated foraging crops, as needed. This will diversify their income sources and maximize returns on agricultural activity. For newly reclaimed sandy lands, it is best to focus on economical agricultural crops.In areas where water availability is uncertain, farmers must build reservoirs for irrigation. This is important in places that depend on distant water sources or pumped groundwater, or when the water recedes at times. A reservoir provides farmers with sustainable irrigation for their crops. It is possible to establish and exploit these reservoirs in harmony with fish farming in order to maximize the benefits and other advantages, as listed in this section.In integrated aquaculture-agriculture systems, the types of crops farmers can cultivate depend on the location and the surrounding environment, in addition to fish production. For example, intercropping is a method in which fruit crops are grown with vegetables and field crops. Table 1 lists crops that are suitable for integrated farming systems in Egypt. In irrigation water, the salinity concentration affects the quality of crops that can be cultivated. Some crops, such as mangoes and vegetables, are sensitive to salinity in water, while other crops, likeSuitability for irrigation <160 This is suitable for irrigating all crops in every type of land.This is suitable for irrigating low saline sensitive crops.This is suitable for irrigating low saline sensitive crops, provided the cultivated land has a good drainage system and allows enough water to wash away any salt residue in the roots.This is suitable for irrigating well-drained sandy land, if the amount of water used is increased each time and farmers choose crops that can tolerate the salinity ratio.This water is not good for irrigation, especially drip irrigation. However, it can be used after mixing it with fresh water to reduce its salinity. The drip-spills localized irrigation systems can be used up to 7000 ppm.Table 2. Salt concentration in water and its suitability for irrigation.olives and pomegranates, can tolerate high levels.Table 2 shows the relationship between the total salt concentration in water and its suitability for irrigation purposes.Water requirements for agricultural crops vary depending on the following factors:• Some crops need more water than others.• The age of the crop is important, because most crops need less water at the beginning of their growth than in later stages, so the water requirements of the crop have to be met at each stage.• The higher the salt concentration, the more water the crop requires.• Weather and climate conditions in each region, such as humidity and wind speed, are important.• The type and nature of changes in soil affect crops differently.Many other factors affect the water requirements of agricultural crops. In general, however, the average amount of water needed to irrigate an acre of agricultural land is 25-50 m 3 per day.As the water requirements for different agricultural crops vary, farmers can refer to the characteristics of agricultural crops that show the period of their growth, season and average amount of water needed, as shown in Tables 5-7 in the Appendix. Before referring to these tables, farmers should consider the following:• The tables show the water requirements for the agricultural crop and not the irrigation needs, so farmers must adjust them based on the efficiency of the irrigation method they are using.• Water requirements vary when several crops are intercropped with each other, so farmers should seek out an expert's opinion on agricultural crops.• The irrigation method used affects the irrigation requirements of the crop. As such, it is better to use modern irrigation methods, as they are more efficient (Figure 2) and help conserve and maximize water use.Some might think that farming and aquaculture are not possible in arid areas because of a lack of water and land that can support such activities. However, some factors can make these activities possible, and even favorable:• In many areas, there is enough well water or groundwater in the desert to have sufficient reserves to support farming and fish culture, and related activities.• Water treatment facilities that make water reusable will prolong farming activities.• Aquaculture is considered a method of land reclamation.• Water discharged from fish ponds is rich in nutrients that can support the poor soil of the desert.Of course, this does not mean that farmers should rush to farm in the desert, as there are important factors to consider:• Farmers should get a soil and water analysis to determine their suitability for aquaculture and agriculture.• They must know the changes in climate and weather.• It is important for them to determine the best methods to save and conserve water.Usually, government institutes periodically release documents about weather and climate changes and soil and water properties in different regions.They even go as far as recommending areas that are best suited for reclamation and the water requirements for each crop. Farmers can simply follow these instructions and save themselves the cost of getting an analysis and avoiding the risks that come with experimental farming.4. Agriculture and aquaculture in arid areasThere are four main methods that farmers can use for irrigating agricultural crops: surface irrigation (flood irrigation), pressurized irrigation (drip and sprinkler irrigation), subsurface irrigation and localized irrigation.The most common of these are flood irrigation and drip and sprinkler irrigation. For integrated farming systems, it is best to avoid flood irrigation, as it is the least efficient method (Figure 2).Sprinkler irrigation is preferred for field crops such as alfalfa, wheat and barley, while localized drip irrigation is best for spaced crops, such as trees, beetroot, corn and vegetables. These methods are much more efficient than the others.For integrated fish farming systems, farmers should follow these instructions to avoid problems that can arise when using advanced irrigation methods:• Use a separate sedimentation tank (Figure 3) to collect water for irrigating crops. The water is drawn from the bottom of the culture tank into the sedimentation tank, where precipitated waste is located, to avoid harming the fish.• Place nets over the canal pipes that connect the two tanks. The size of the mesh should be large enough to allow solid waste to pass between the two tanks, but small enough that the fish cannot pass through. The water used for irrigation is drawn from the top layer of the sedimentation tank to avoid sediment at the bottom that could block the pipes.• Use a mechanical filter to remove residual sediment in the water. Farmers can use chemical compounds to dissolve suspended solids and sediment to avoid blocking pipes or sprinklers. They can also collect any sediment that has settled at the bottom of the tank and use it as fertilizer for plants. For example, phosphoric acid has a dual-purpose. It is used to clean out irrigation hoses while at the same time acting as a fertilizer for plants, as it is a good source of phosphorous.The following are concerns that farmers should take into account regarding irrigation in integrated aquaculture-agriculture systems:• Drip and sprinkler methods require highly efficient filters to maintain the irrigation system.• Sometimes, the drained water from the fish tanks is more than what the crops need.• Water drained from the fish tanks contains a high percentage of dissolved nitrogen, which is an essential element for crops at the start of their growth period. However, agricultural crops need other elements for growth in the following stages, the most important being calcium, phosphorus and potassium. These elements, in their dissolved form, can be added to the irrigation water to compensate for its deficiency.• The water used must be suitable for the type of crop and fish species cultured.• The effect of enriched water on crops might not have observable results in the first planting season, because the elements are stored in the soil over time. The effect of these fertilizers appears in the following seasons. This is known as the land storage effect.• Farmers must be flexible when using water.For some crops, they should stop irrigating their crops in winter and for pre-harvest fasting. They should also consider draining the water from their fish tanks directly into the drainage canal.• Farmers can use water that is relatively high in salt (3000-7500 ppm) to cultivate crops that can tolerate salinity, such as olives, pomegranates and palm trees. However, they must chose a type of farmed fish that can tolerate the same salinity. As such, farmers must take into account that continuous irrigation could raise the salinity level in the soil. To overcome this problem, farmers are advised to consult an irrigation specialist.Fish tankFigure 3. A fish tank and sedimentation tank, with a mesh net at the entrance of the pipe connecting the two tanks.6. Designing a fish culture unitThe size of the fish culture unit and the expected production capacity must be proportional to the area of agricultural land intended for use and its water requirements. The size of the pond should be neither too big that it results in a lower rate of water exchange, nor too small that it affects the volume of water available for the fish. The more farmers can increase the exchange rate, the better it is for fish growth.The size of the culture unit affects two important factors: the water exchange rate and the sustainable volume of water.The rate of water exchange increases in small units compared to large ones. The higher the rate, the better it is for fish growth. The sustainable volume of water is the amount that must be maintained at all times in order to preserve the lives of the fish.The sustainable volume will be as large as the size of the culturing unit, so farmers have to determine the size of the culture unit to maintain the balance between these two factors.For optimal water use efficiency, the volume of the fish culture tank may vary according to an average daily water use for crops of m 3 /day. For example, for five acres of land, with a daily water use rate per acre of 20 m 3 /acre for irrigation, a water tank of 100-200 m 3 is optimum bearing in mind that the water depth suitable for tilapia culture ranges from 1 to 2 m.Fishponds are built for two reasons: for growing fish or as a water reservoir for irrigating cropcultivated land. There are two main types of ponds: concrete and plastic-lined.Concrete ponds are better for sandy soil that cannot retain water for a long time. These ponds can be square, rectangular, circular or another shape. Circular is best.Rectangular or square ponds are best for large areas of land, as they leave more space for fish farming.However, they are less efficient from the perspectives of management, drainage and waste removal. Circular or octagonal ponds are considered the best, because they are easier to manage and to remove waste. The advantage of octagonal ponds is that they aerate the water better because they have eight angles and are easier to build than circular ponds.With rectangular and square tanks, it is better to irrigate from the top of the tank to stir the water better, while drainage should come from the opposite side of the tank to remove solid waste at the bottom. Drainage in circular tanks differs from the traditional method, as these tanks slope toward the center where the drainage hole is. The slope helps stir the water inside the tank so that it is easier to collect and get rid of waste.Plate 1. Rectangular polyethylene-lined pond.Photo credit: Ahmed Nasr-Allah/WorldFishPlate 2. Circular concrete pond.Photo credit: Ibrahim Elsira/WorldFishFor this type of pond, a sheet of polyethylene is used to cover the entire bottom. Like concrete ponds, these ponds are used for sandy soil that cannot retain water. However, plastic-lined ponds are less expensive than concrete ponds. They are also suitable for relatively large areas, and they lower the amount of water that leaks into the soil.A high density, 1000 micron thick polyethylene tarpaulin has a shelf life of 10 years. The soil has to be free of any gravel or sharp edges that could puncture the tarpaulin and lead to water leaks. Never use sharp tools or materials that could puncture the plastic layer.When building a fishpond, another option is to use bricks topped with a layer of cement to cover the dikes and the bottom. This technique is relatively less expensive than concrete ponds, but farmers should consult a specialist before starting construction. Farmers should consider the following when designing a fishpond:• Make the best use of uneven ground surfaces, as the level of the ground will affect both irrigation and drainage (Figure 4).Plate 3. A pond lined with plastic.Photo credit: Ahmed Elewa/WorldFish• When designing a fishpond, direct the drainage water straight into the drainage canal so that the water can be changed regularly, regardless of whether it is needed for irrigation. When irrigation water is needed, use the drainage water. When irrigation water is not needed, drain the water directly into the drainage canal.• When building irrigation and drainage canals, use water from the top for irrigation (Figure 4) to stir the water more and to increase the level of dissolved oxygen (DO). For drainage, use water from the bottom, where waste accumulates.Plate 4. Using irrigation water from the top of a pond.• Make sure the bottom slopes toward the drainage canal to make it easier to drain the water and collect waste. Ensure the irrigation inlet is opposite the drainage outlet.• Build a canal around the pond and connect it to the pond to circulate the water. The movement of the water in the canal will cause waste to precipitate and increase the water quality so that it can be reused. Clear the canal of sediment regularly.Many fish species are suitable for farming. In Egypt, Nile tilapia and African catfish are among the most common and widespread species. They are suitable for integrated aquaculture-agriculture systems for the following reasons:• They can tolerate low levels of DO in water longer than other species. They also can tolerate high rates of intensification.• They are in demand at the markets year-round.• Seed is available for almost the whole year.• They grow fast and can tolerate changes in environmental conditions better than other species.The culture season for both tilapia and catfish starts when the temperature rises, from March until November. The length of the culture season increases or decreases according to the location, climate and weather.It is better to culture large fingerlings to avoid high losses that occur with seed. Fingerlings also produce a higher percentage of ammonia than seeds. Ammonia is an important factor for crops, especially at the beginning of the planting season, which requires high amounts of nitrogen.The fish source must be reliable and trustworthy. For Nile tilapia, all male fingerlings are better, because they grow faster and do not reproduce in the pond.Farms can start a culture cycle based on the average productivity in farms where the water and weather conditions are similar. For example, if the average production in a neighboring farm is 10 kg/m 3 , and the average size of the resulting fish is 500 g per fish, then it is possible to calculate the stocking rate as follows:First, calculate the biomass of the harvested fish at the end of the season:• The number of fish per kilogram multiplied by the number of kilograms expected to be harvested per cubic meter. For example, if there are 2 fish/kg and 10 kg of fish/m 3 are expected, then the number of harvested fish would be 20/m 3 (2 X 10 = 20 fish/m 3 ).Second, calculate the survival rate during the season:• The survival rate is based on several factors, the most important of which is fish size. The larger the fish, the lower the mortality rate. For example, if the weight of the fish when cultured is more than 20 g (fingerlings), the mortality rate would be 10%, increasing gradually until it reaches 30% for lower weights (e.g. less than 1 g).• Assuming that the mortality rate is 10%, the number of fingerlings to be cultured would be as follows: Number of harvested fish + number of expected loss (number of harvested fish x loss percentage). For example, if 20 fish are harvested, the farmer must culture 22 fingerlings per cubic meter: 20 + (20 x 0.1) = 22 fingerlings/m 3 ).It is worth mentioning here that a fish tank has a maximum carrying capacity for production. This depends on several factors, such as water quality, feeding rate, availability of aeration devices, duration of its operating hours and management. For example, if customers prefer small fish, farmers who want to produce 250 g fish will have to double the number of fingerlings (22 fingerlings/m 3 → 44 fingerlings/m 3 ). Production will remain at 10 kg/m 3 , but the size of the fish produced in the same period might have to be halved (500 g/fish → 250 g/fish).Farmers must also take into account the relationship between field irrigation requirements and the intensity of fish farming. The higher the rate of water changes in the pond, the greater the chances of intensifying the production (an expert in fish farming ought to be consulted).7. Fish culture 8. Fish nutrition• Feed is important for fish growth, especially in intensive fish farming, as it is the main source of nutrition. It is a source of ammonia, either directly, through the decomposition of feed in water, or indirectly, through waste from fish feeding and organic matter. In both cases, ammonia enriches the water and supplies it with important elements, especially nitrogen, that are needed for plants to grow. However, farmers must make sure not to use too much feed so that the level of ammonia does not get too high and that feed is not wasted. To dispose of this excess ammonia, farmers either have to replace some of the water to prevent a decline in water quality or use it for agricultural crops, which can benefit from this excess nitrogen.• Feed is the largest part of production costs, so farmers should buy good quality feed produced specifically for the fish they are culturing.• Deal directly with the factory, not a mediator, to avoid fraud or bad storage. Otherwise, only deal with a trusted mediator.• When purchasing feed, makes sure the ingredients and production date are shown on the data card and list the levels of protein, energy, calcium, phosphorous and vitamins.• Analyze a sample of the feed, if possible, to ensure its quality, and contact the factory if necessary. How the sample is taken is an important to determine the feed quality. As such, several conditions must be observed when taking a sample: (i) the sample should represent the entire feed stock, (ii) prepare the sample according to the analyses needed and (iii) preserve the sample to last long enough to complete all required analyses.• Store various feeds separately in a suitable, well-ventilated warehouse that keeps out pests and rodents.• Keep records of feed purchases, including the type, source, price and quantity.• Floating feed is recommended because it minimizes feed loss and is simple to determine when to stop feeding, as it is easy to see when the fish stop eating.• For small fish, feed them 1-2 mm pellets that are 30%-35% protein, and give it to them three to four times daily at a rate of 5%-10% of their weight. For large fish, they require 3 mm pellets that are 25%-30% protein, given one or two times daily at a rate of 2%-5% of their weight.• When throwing floating feed to fish, use a \"floating\" ring made of hoses or pipes to trap the feed inside it to stop the feed from drifting to the sides of the pond. This will make it easy for fish to reach the food and avoid being preyed upon by birds, as they won't have to approach shallow areas near the pond's sides.• Follow the proper feeding method for the type and size of fish cultured. Artificial fish feed is available in different granule forms and pellet diameters (Table 3). The size of the pellets depends on the size of the mouths of the fish.• Chose the proper granule size. As the sizes of fish often vary in a single pond, it is necessary to mix two or more pellet sizes to cover the nutritional needs of every size. To avoid large fish from eating the feed for smaller fish, place the small granules in a special feeder that only small fish can access.Larvae to 10 days old >0.5 10-30 days 0.5-1 1-30 g 1 20-120 g 2 100-250 g 3 250 g 4Table 3. The relationship between the weight/age of tilapia and the diameter of feed pellets used for feeding.• To minimize feed waste, use a demand feeder (Plate 5), which releases feed only when the fish are under it looking for food. Fiberglass feeders are best because they last longer than those made of sheet steel, which rusts quickly because of the humidity associated with fishponds.Feed fish until they appear satiated. The best way to determine this is to use floating feeds, as the farmer can see how the fish are feeding. If the fish eat all of the feed within 20-30 minutes, they do not need any more food. However, if there is still feed left over after 30 minutes, reduce the equivalent amount of feed that remains uneaten. If the fish eat all of the feed in less than 10 minutes, increase the amount of feed 10% per day until the fish appear satiated after 20-30 minutes.Taking fish samples regularly is necessary to know how the fish are doing, their growth rate and the quality of the feed used and to determine how much feed is needed per day.Taking samples regularly is important to• monitor the growth of fish in each tank;• calculate the amount of feed needed according to weight gain;• evaluate the quality of the feed by calculating the increased weight of the fish as a result of using a certain amount of feed (feed conversion ratio);• estimate the expected amount of fish production;• plan the harvest date according to the sample size and growth rate;• taste the fish before the harvest to judge the quality before selling them;• determine the health of the fish according to the relationship between their weight and length.Follow these steps to obtain a fish sample from a specific pond:• When taking the sample, avoid times of high temperatures and extreme cold, as well as fog and strong winds.• Take the sample while feeding the fish, as this is the best time to collect the fish.• Make sure the number of fish in the sample is sufficient and comes from different areas of the tank.• Place the fish gently into small containers, such as buckets.• Weigh the fish in small quantities to avoid crowding and fatigue.• Record the data from the samples and feed quantities used for each tank.• When taking samples to screen for diseases, do not return the fish to the pond.Be sure not to stress the fish in order to maintain their liveliness and to avoid infections. Avoid sampling fish (i) when there are problems with the water quality in the pond, (ii) if the fish are diseased, (iii) when the pond water is too turbid, and (iv) when it is raining.Photo credit: WorldFish Plate 5. Feeding fish manually.• Identify the specifications of the water used in the farm, its quantities and suitability for fish culture and production and crop irrigation practices.• Fish do not consume the water but only maximize its use.• Analyze the source of the farm water, including salinity, DO, pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphorous, iron, potassium and, most importantly, pollutants.• Monitor the pond's water quality parameters to determine the appropriate management method and whether to replace or aerate the water. This is also essential to determine the impact on crops.• Make sure the water depth is optimal for fish growth.• Use groundwater to keep the temperature stable and lengthen the growth period of the fish.• As much as possible, reuse the water after it is filtered to conserve resources. This requires using mechanical and biological filters as well as aeration devices, depending on intensity levels.There are two types of water sources: groundwater and surface water.Surface water, such as rivers, lakes and streams, is affected by temperatures changes, depending on the weather conditions. When temperatures drop in winter, farmers have to stop feeding their fish.They also need to replace the water frequently in order to keep the temperature of the pond from dropping too low.Examples of groundwater include well and spring water. Unlike surface water, groundwater maintains a constant temperature throughout the year, so farmers do not need to stop feeding their fish during the winter. Groundwater also reduces the fatigue of fish caused by temperature changes. If using spring water, however, farmers must make sure to measure levels of DO, salinity and iron.As shown in Table 4, groundwater is one of the best types of water for fish farming. It contains low levels of pathogens and pollutants, so its microbial content is low. However, groundwater lacks DO, so farmers will need to use devices to increase its oxygen content.The size of the water tank must be twice the amount of water needed for the fish. This is to maintain a sustainable volume of water for the fish.The temperature remains steady throughout the year. The temperature varies according to weather conditions.Dissolved oxygen DO is low, so ventilation is required. DO levels are sufficient.It is free of unwanted fish or any other organisms.A mesh net should be placed over the irrigation source to stop unwanted fish from entering.The temperature does not change, so greenhouses can be used to maintain the temperature.The temperature needs to change, if shelter or heating is not available.Water analysis is necessary to ensure the water is suitable and free from toxic elements or metals.Water analysis is preferred, but the risk of toxic elements or metals is low.Table 4. Comparison between groundwater and surface water.The following factors determine the rates for replacing water in a fish production unit:• fish density (biomass)• water requirements for crops during irrigation periods• amount of feed added to the tank • DO levels in the water• availability or absence of aeration devices• amount of organic waste and solid sediment in the tank• water temperature• vitality of fish and fish diseases• algal bloom.• Aeration increases the percentage of DO in the water. It is the most important factor for maintaining the vitality of the fish and improving their appetite.• Using aeration equipment (Plate 6) in ponds helps direct waste to the drain. If the devices are placed properly, they can help discharge the waste out of the pond.• Consult a specialist to determine whether the pond needs aerators or paddlewheels to meet its oxygen requirements and to know when and how long to use them.• The higher the density of fish and biomass in the pond, the more aeration is needed.Intensive culture ponds require permanent aeration.• In high-density culture units, measure the ratio of DO daily and use the aeration system regularly whenever the ratio falls below its optimal rate. This will keep the fish from suffocating and maintain their growth rate.• For tilapia, the percentage of DO in the water should be no less than 5 mg/L. Since the ratio of DO in the water decreases sharply during the night and reaches its lowest level before sunrise, farmers must aerate their ponds overnight.Plate 6. Paddle wheel aerator.Photo credit: WorldFishPreventive measures include several stages.• Get rid of floating plants and fish waste, such as dead fish.• In case of previous diseases, disinfect the fish using quicklime, formalin or chlorine.• Be sure to purchase fry from a reputable source. Make sure the fry are of high vitality, uniform in size and free from apparent pathological symptoms.• Use feed that is suitable for the age of the fry. Powdered is best.• Follow proper preventive measures when receiving the fry, especially if they are brought from different regions. As an example, place the fry in a small separate pond and leave them for several days without feeding. If they show any pathological symptoms, they are infected. If not, transfer them to the grow-out ponds.• Place screens over the water inlet and drainage pipes to keep undesirable fish out of the pond. This will also help control birds, which can carry diseases.• Pay attention to water quality parameters. For example, monitor the DO and temperature daily. Other parameters, such as ammonia and nitrite, can be monitored weekly.• Give the fish high quality feed that meets their nutritional requirements.• Store feed properly. Avoid storing it for a long time to prevent damage and avoid the growth of fungus.• Do periodic sampling to keep tabs on the health of the fish.• Follow proper hygiene measures when getting rid of dead fish in the farm. Use an isolated area to dispose of dead fish safely, whether by burning or burial. If burying fish, do so at an appropriate depth and spray with quicklime afterward (Figure 5).Generally, it is highly recommended to observe the behavior of the fish in the pond at all stages and consult with a fish disease specialist as soon as there is a change in behavior or appearance of mortality.  11. Fish harvesting and post-harvest proceduresFor integrated aquaculture-agricultural systems, partial harvesting is best because this keeps the water in the pond in order to irrigate the crops.As such, it is important to use nets when doing a partial harvest so as not to drain the water completely. If a full harvest has to be done, make sure that the canal or irrigation system can absorb the amount of water to be drained. In addition, before every harvest, farmers must be aware of the current market trends and expected selling prices to determine how many fish to harvest.Follow these procedures when harvesting fish:• Stop feeding the fish at least 1 day before the harvest so that they can empty their digestive tract.• Before draining the pond, close the irrigation inlet and install nets over the drainage pipe.• Eliminate aquatic plants and solid plankton growing on the bottom of the pond, as this can hinder the movement of the nets.• Taste test the fish before the harvest to make sure that the fish taste good and do not have unwanted odors.• Train workers on how to catch, sort and handle fish properly.• Drain the pond quickly, and pump the water into the drain age canal, not at the source of irrigation.• When harvesting, avoid exposing the fish to high heat or extreme cold in the pond.• In the summer, harvest the fish before sunrise or at sunset to avoid high temperatures when handling and transporting the fish.• Transport the fish to the washing and sorting station as quickly as possible.• Clean all tools and containers used to handle and sort the fish.• Wash the fish thoroughly with clean water to maintain quality.• Use crushed ice to keep the fish cool while washing them.• During sorting, grade the fish in accordance with marketing sizes.After grading, place the fish in the appropriate marketing packages according to consumer preferences. Use packages of good quality and healthy specifications.When packaging fish for sale, follow these measures:• Lay the fish lengthwise, and stack them without bending the body.• Do not put too many fish into the box. Boxes should be no more than 30 cm high.• Make sure the fish do not touch the sides of the box. Instead, place ice on the sides.• Stack the fish in layers alternately with layers of crushed ice to avoid damage.If selling live fish, weigh them and then place them in clean oxygenated water tanks fitted with an oxygen cylinder or air pump. If the fish are to be sold at an open market, use crushed ice to maintain the firmness and freshness of the fish.Have sufficient quantities of crushed ice on hand to compensate for ambient temperatures and the distance of transportation.Cover the fish boxes with clean linoleum during transportation to avoid exposure to direct sunlight and to keep the ice from melting quickly. Transport the fish during the night or in the early morning, and do so in a refrigerated vehicle. It is always best to transport the fish as soon as possible to the market.If using ice to transport the fish and maintain freshness, keep in mind that the amount of ice used must be proportional to the amount of fish being transported, as well as the ambient temperature. This should be done immediately after harvest. The faster the fish are cooled, the longer they stay fresh.An alternative way to treat fish after harvest is to submerge them in cold water (0°C-4°C) immediately after harvesting. This will induce heat shock and keep the fish fresh before they are sold.Farmers who use this method can transport the fish to the market in a refrigerated vehicle without having to add ice.Plate 7. Partial harvest activities in integrated tanks.Photo credit: Ahmed Nasr-Allah/WorldFish• Take into account pre-and post-harvest procedures, and follow proper methods to ensure the fish stay firm and fresh until they reach the markets.• Communicate with marketing associations and other producers to save time and energy and potentially reduce costs.• Maintain good relations with producer associations, various fish market administrative groups and fish marketing groups. Fish producer associations are particularly helpful because they study the needs of the market and can help market products in different places inside and outside the country.• Be aware of the different markets, price changes and seasonality.• Time harvests to take advantage of increased market demand in some seasons to achieve the highest return.• For partial harvests, determine the quantity to harvest according to the needs of local markets. Focus on selling live fish to maximize returns and reduce costs.• Harvest fish that are the size that target markets prefer.• To maintain quality, keep fish as fresh as possible, bearing in mind that consumers have different taste preferences.Plate 8. Stacking fish carefully without bending the body to avoid damage.Photo credit: Ahmed Nasr-Allah/WorldFishFarmers should follow these recommendations to support permanent laborers on the farm and for the community around it:• Give fish to people far away from traditional fish production areas at affordable prices and in good condition.• Allocate part of the farm's production for sale to the residents of the surrounding area at a wholesale price.• Show the benefits of integration between the fish and crops to the local community.• Encourage the employment of youths and women.• Do not employ children.• For irrigation, use water that contains high levels of fertilizer elements. This will reduce the need for agriculture fertilizer for crops and reduce the impact on the environment.• Contribute to the social and health care of the farm workers and their families.• Donate to charities and community development projects in the areas around the farm.• When promoting products, be sure to mention that there are employment opportunities available on the farm.• Employ residents from some of the areas around the farm.• Encourage consumers to eat locally produced fish to help reduce the consumption of imported fish of unknown origin. In addition, explain the differences between fresh and frozen fish.• Share media promotions for fish farms that explain their safety and security to consumers and the safety of the procedures used in their production.• Cooperate with neighboring farms to keep facilities, water canals and drainages intact and in good condition and help maintain them.• Provide adequate facilities for the subsistence of farm workers.• Ensure that workers are provided with the necessary supplies, such as protective gear and clothing.• Train workers on how to use chemicals and medicines safely.• Organize fairs and events to showcase day-to-day fish culture and crop culture system work activities, where participants could have access to the farm's records to get a sense of the day-to-day management. This could include information on daily water quality parameters, fish behavior, amount of water used for irrigation, incident reports, waste management, etc.• Train the workers responsible for feeding fish to identify water quality warning signals and take appropriate measures.• Train workers on biosecurity measures."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f09b4e55a13e26869ba0f9444e0c2590","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/IWMI_Research_Reports/PDF/pub054/Report54.pdf","id":"-299684143"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"96d728e4-a5cc-48c3-8504-200c5d1d8a75","content":"In serving this mission, IWMI concentrates on the integration of policies, technologies and management systems to achieve workable solutions to real problems-practical, relevant results in the field of irrigation and water and land resources.The publications in this series cover a wide range of subjects-from computer modeling to experience with water user associations-and vary in content from directly applicable research to more basic studies, on which applied work ultimately depends. Some research reports are narrowly focused, analytical and detailed empirical studies; others are wide-ranging and synthetic overviews of generic problems.Although most of the reports are published by IWMI staff and their collaborators, we welcome contributions from others. Each report is reviewed internally by IWMI's own staff and Fellows, and by external reviewers. The reports are published and distributed both in hard copy and electronically (www.iwmi.org) and where possible all data and analyses will be available as separate downloadable files. Reports may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgment. i ifor attacking eastern India's rural poverty through fuller utilization of its groundwater resources. First, eastern India needs to scrap its existing minor irrigation programs run by government bureaucracies, which gobble up funds but deliver little irrigation. Second, while the electricity-supply environment is in total disarray, innovative ideassuch as decentralized retailing and metering of power and prepaid electricity cards-need to be piloted as part of a broader initiative to improve the quality of power supply to agriculture. Third, programs are needed to improve the unacceptably low energy-efficiency of electric as well as diesel pumps. Fourth, there is a need to promote diesel pumps under 5-hp and improved manual irrigation technologies such as treadle pumps. Finally, above all else, east Indian States need to reform their pump subsidy schemes à la Uttar Pradesh (UP) so as to ameliorate the scarcity of pump capital that lies at the heart of the problem.viIndia by Bhalla and Singh (1997) shows that during 1963-93, the productivity per male agricultural worker crossed the Rs 10,000 barrier in much of India;2 but most of eastern India was not a part of it. The only region of eastern India that seems to be crossing the barrier is eastern UP (figure 1).Eastern UP, the western-most part of eastern India and the GMB basin, is an interesting study because it has just managed to break out of its agrarian stagnation. It is also interesting because its transformation over the past 15 years has been energized largely by the rapid-and much needed-development of small-scale groundwater irrigation; and offers critical lessons about how the rest of the basin can trigger off its belated Green Revolution. The present analysis of eastern India-with particular focus on eastern UP-is essentially a study in political economy and practical policy. It is about how major public policy initiatives have actually impeded groundwater development rather than accelerating it; and how spontaneous market responses of a multitude of private economic agents produced the social welfare that public programs failed to produce. The overarching lesson is that the seeds of an effective strategy for groundwater-ledBackdrop 1 These estimates seem plausible; eastern India's area of 348,000 square km is 10.6% of India's total area but its 260 million people are over a fourth of the Indian population. Add to this Bangladesh's 280 million, and we already have over 500 million.In 1993, US$1.00=Indian Rs 33.63.Eastern India, especially the 15 eastern districts of UP and the entire States of Bihar, West Bengal and parts of Orissa constitute a significant chunk of the Ganga-Meghna-Brahmaputra (GMB) basin that encompasses, in addition, all of Bangladesh and the terai areas of Nepal. The problem this report deals with and the strategy outlined to respond to it are analyzed in the east India context; but the analysis applies with equal force to the terai areas of Nepal as also to much of Bangladesh. The GMB basin has fertile lands, but very high population pressure (at over 830 for Bangladesh and over 600 for eastern India in 1991 compared to 285 for India as a whole) and, according to some estimates, the basin is home to 500 million people, many of whom are among the world's poorest. 1 The region is marked by high dependence of its predominantly rural population on smallholder agriculture and wage labor. In 1991, in Bihar and eastern UP, the proportion of the population dependent on agriculture was 79% compared to 66.7% for India as a whole. While western UP, Haryana and the two Punjabs (Indian and Pakistan) underwent massive agrarian transformation during the 1960s, agrarian growth in the eastern areas of India remained stagnant.A district-wise analysis of agricultural growth in The Ganga basin.agricultural development for all of eastern India-and the GMB basin-are embedded in the lessons offered by the experience of eastern UP. In the second to the fifth sections our focus then is on learning lessons from eastern UP. In 3 The State's annual average precipitation is 33 million ha-m; after making allowances for evaporation losses, the share of other States, requirements of industry, commercial and domestic users and others, it has a surface irrigation resource potential of 14-15 million ha-m and the total groundwater resources are estimated at 8.5 million ha-m, all of which is nearly one-fifth of the all-India potential estimated at 43.18 million ha-m (GOI 1996:9). After allowing 15% of the gross recharge for nonagricultural uses, the net recharge available for irrigation is 7.74 million ha-m. Because of its inefficiency, surface water is estimated to be capable of irrigating 13.7 million ha (with a delta of well over 1 meter). In contrast, UP's groundwater resources can irrigate around 20.3 million ha (with a delta of 0.38 m), taking the ultimate irrigation potential of the State to 34 million ha.the last two sections, we explore their implications for eastern India as a whole and evolve a five-point strategy to stimulate groundwater irrigation for livelihood creation in the Ganga basin.There are abundant surface water and groundwater resources in eastern and northeastern India. Figure 2, based on estimates, which have recently been revised upward, prepared by India's Central Groundwater Board, suggests that of the total usable recharge of 325 km 3 for India as a whole, 25%, or over 80 km 3 are available to eastern and northeastern India. These values exclude 16 districts of eastern UP. If these were included, eastern India's groundwater resources would increase further to 92 km 3 . Less than one-fourth of this resource is in use at present. The groundwater resources of UP are abundant; its surface irrigation potential is estimated at some 13-14 million ha; but groundwater irrigation potential is estimated at over 20 million ha, taking the total irrigation potential to 33-34 million ha.3, 4 All of UP falls in the piedmont zone of the Himalayas skirted FIGURE 2.Regional distribution of India's usable groundwater recharge of 325 km2.by an artesian belt under free-flowing conditions extending from Jammu and Kashmir in the west to Tripura in the east. \"The hydrological environment and groundwater regime conditions in the Indo-Ganga-Brahmaputra basin indicate the existence of an enormous fresh groundwater reservoir at least down to 600 m or more below land surface. Bestowed with high incidence of rainfall, this groundwater reservoir gets replenished every year, the average annual recharge throughout the GMB basin ranging from 50 to 75 cm. Apart from the vertical recharge, substantial recharge occurs through horizontal absorption of water through the Bhabhar zone, a 10-20 km wide strip of highly pervious formation in the Himalayan foothills through which all Himalayan rivers must pass.The alluvial aquifers to the explored depth of FIGURE 3.Regional distribution of India's 599 'dark' blocks with over 85% groundwater development.600 m have transmissivity values from 250 to 4,000 m 2 /d and hydraulic conductivity from 10 to 800 m/d. Well yields range up to 100 lps and more but yields of 40-100 lps are common...\" (GOI 1996:3). Overall, then, while peninsular India is searching for effective ways to control groundwater overexploitation, the need of eastern UP, as indeed of the rest of eastern India, is to step up the utilization of abundant groundwater resources for wealth creation and poverty alleviation. Of India's 7,063 blocks, 5 599 are dark. 6 Figure 3 shows that only 1% of these are in eastern and northeastern India. Similarly, figure 4 sets out the distribution of white, gray and dark blocks in different subregions of UP.For UP as a whole, less than 2.5% of the blocks are designated dark; and nearly 80% are denoted as white, offering much scope for 5A \"block\" consists roughly of 100 villages; and it is a basic geographic unit between a village and a district.tapping unutilized irrigation potential. Eastern UP offers even greater promise: 289 of its 345 blocks (84%) are white; 50 (14%) are gray and just 6 (2%) are designated dark. The problem of overdevelopment is more acute in Western UP where groundwater irrigation has developed faster than in other parts of UP over the past two decades. If anything, this already abundant groundwater recharge of eastern UP is only further augmented by newly developed canal irrigation. A good deal-in fact, nearly onefourth-of UP's groundwater recharge is contributed by canal irrigation, according to the estimates by the State Groundwater Department (GoUP 1996b); however, this proportion is probably even higher, for water losses through seepage are estimated to be 75% in many systems with unlined canal distributary networks. In this flood-prone region, floodwaters Uttar Pradesh: Distribution of blocks (%) according to level of groundwater utilization in relation to available net recharge. too contribute to recharge as do the shallow water tables to which recharge gets added.All in all, the available irrigation potential, estimated using liberal norms for water requirements of crops, is 1.33 times the State's 1991 gross cropped area of 25.5 million ha, offering ample scope for raising the State's overall average cropping intensity from the present 148% to 200%, or even more, since the bulk of the unutilized potential is in groundwater. Already, 6 out of the 13.7 million ha potential of surface irrigation are utilized; but only 6 million ha of the 20.3 million ha (gross) of available groundwater potential are used, leaving room to bring over 14 million ha more under groundwater irrigation. The potential for further groundwater development is even greater further eastward, as in north Bihar and north Bengal where the available recharge is as great as or greater than-but whose utilization is far lower than-in eastern UP.technology, more crops under irrigated conditions, cropping pattern diversification in favor of high-value crops and a large summer crop which is by and large nonexistent.Northern India's Green Revolution has generally been credited to early public investments made in canal irrigation in that region. However, it has also been argued that the rise of the Green Revolution in Punjab, Haryana and western UP was fueled more by the private tube-well revolution; and that its refusal to progress eastward from Lucknow, which divides western from eastern India in the north, is explained by the slow pace of groundwater development in the east (Dhawan 1982). Several reasons explain this: a) many studies-including macro-level-have shown unmistakable evidence that fertilizer use is directly and significantly related to tube-well irrigation (see, e.g., GOI 1985); b) numerous There are compelling reasons for stimulating rapid and fuller development of groundwater resources in eastern India: first, it can be an important part of a strategy for correcting the regional imbalance in the development of the east versus the west; second, it can be a direct response to the region's rural poverty; third, undeveloped, the region's high premonsoonal groundwater table accentuates its condition of flood-proneness and waterlogging.Eastern India constitutes the bulk of India's \"poverty square.\" It is largely rural, predominantly agricultural, and has a high population density. As a microcosm of eastern India, this east-west development dichotomy is apparent in UP, too. While western UP forged ahead with the Green Revolution in the 1960s and 70s, eastern UP lagged behind in most respects (table 1). The region needs a strong push in its agriculture sector to promote wider spread of the High-Yielding Variety (HYV) seed  East and West: Regional disparities in agrarian performance in UP, India.micro-level studies based on sample surveys show that pump-irrigated farms perform much better compared to those irrigated by any other source in terms of cropping intensity, input use and yields 7 (see, e.g., Dhawan 1985); and c) by common observation, this difference between areas irrigated by private tube wells and those irrigated by gravity flow canals is obviously explained by the superior quality-in terms of reliability, timeliness, adequacy-of irrigation that tube wells offer compared to other sources (Chambers et al. 1987;Shah 1993). As far back as 1985, a study group constituted by India's Planning Commission to explore agricultural strategies in eastern India noted that \"one major reason for the low yield levels of eastern region States compared to the rest of India, particularly the chief rice-growing States viz., Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu, is the much lower level of irrigation in the former. About three-fourths of the rice area in the eastern region is still cultivated under the uncertain monsoonal conditions affected by floods as well as draughts\" (GOI 1985:1). Finally, increased density of wells can increase the welfare of the people in the eastern region through the powerful positive externality they produce by acting as an antidote to waterlogging and flood-proneness. Much of eastern India, particularly eastern UP, north Bihar, Kuchbehar and Jalpaiguri districts in north Bengal and parts of Orissa are flood-prone. According to the estimates made by the UP Groundwater Department, 3.4 million ha-m of the total 8.42 million ha-m of groundwater recharge that UP gets annually occur from canal irrigation (1.24 million ha-m), surface irrigation reflows (0.69 million ha-m), recharge from tanks, lateral recharge from flood-prone areas and from shallow water-table areas (GoUP 1996b). This surfeit of groundwater recharge increases as one moves from west to east. In eastern UP, vast areas remain inundated by flood waters for the better part of the year, and acute waterlogging characterizes the Saryu-par areas in the middle of the Ganga basin-bordered in the south by the Ghaghra river and spread over Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Deoria, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Gonda and Bahraich districts. The entire area, which encompasses nearly a tenth of UP, has an acute problem of subsoil water drainage and, consequently, a uniformly high groundwater table at 3-5 meters. Ghaghra, Rapti, and Gandak are notorious flood-creating rivers but even smaller rivers like Rohini, Burhi Rapti, Ami, Kuwano, Gurra, Tons, Kunhra, Ghonghi, Burha Gandak, Chhota Gandak, Taraina too contribute their deluge in flooding the region (Wajih and Kumar nd). Rapti alone inundates 350,000 ha every year in Bahraich, Gonda, Basti, Siddharthnagar and Deoria (Yadav and Lal 1994;nd). Estimates made from remote sensing data of the area under flood inundation and surface waterlogging in eastern UP (within latitudes 26 0 0¢ and 30 0 0¢ N and longitudes 78 0 15¢ and 84 0 30¢ E)during September 2-6, 1988 showed that 1.089 million ha-including croplands-were 7Regression equations on survey data typically have low coefficients of determination and large values for the intercept-representing the weight of the omitted variables-indicating some specification problem. Production functions based on a survey of 380 farmers in Gorakhpur, Basti, Deoria, Siddharthnagar and Maharjganj districts of eastern UP conducted by Shah et al. (1997) showed the following results:. Paddy: q p = 4.840 . F p where, subscripts p and w refer to kharif (rainy season) paddy and rabi (dry season) wheat, q refers to output/acre (kg); F refers to fertilizer use/ acre (kg), L is hired labor/acre (person-days) and H refers to hours of pump irrigation used per acre. R 2 is unacceptable and the intercept term unusually large; t-ratios and the elasticities, however, are significant. The coefficient for irrigation hours was large and highly significant for wheat, that for kharif paddy was small and insignificant, presumably because kharif paddy in eastern UP is predominantly rain-fed.\"completely/partially inundated\" and 0.678 million ha had surface waterlogging (Kolavalli et al. 1989: 81). Every year, floods hit over 15% of eastern UP's croplands; and over half of the region has groundwater tables of less than 5 m in the pre-monsoon period (ibid.). According to a study undertaken by the Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group, some 0.398 million ha-m of water are added to the groundwater table every year; of this, only 0.064 million ham (around 16%) are abstracted through various irrigation structures. Waterlogging and floodproneness are aggravated by the large-scale erection of embankments 8 in the Gorakhpur and Deoria districts, which further impede drainage and accentuate waterlogging. 9Flood-proneness and waterlogging have hit the lives and livelihoods of people in a myriad ways. Between 1951 and 1981, the area cultivated in kharif in the Gandak River Project command fell from 214,000 ha to 68,000 ha due to annual flooding and surface waterlogging (Yadav and Lal nd). High flood-proneness induces risk aversion; as a result, in these areas, farmers clung to traditional mixed-crop farming technologies, which offered some insurance cover against flood risks and minimized cash costs of cultivation. The tradition of animal husbandry too has been undergoing change due to waterlogging; as grazing lands remain submerged in water for long periods, the population of large bovines has declined. Marginal farmers and landless have increasingly taken to piggery. Flooding and waterlogging have also brought in their wake a variety of health-related disadvantages; incidence of diseases like malaria, Japanese encephalitis and filaria is rampant. Moreover, due to flooding and waterlogging, soluble iodine is washed away or removed by seepage, causing severe iodine deficiency (Wajih and Kumar 1994). Over a third of the usar (sodic) lands of UP are largely an outcome of the rapidly rising water tables causing waterlogging conditions in extensive areas of the State. In saline lands, vegetation exists only in kharif and the pH is lower than 8.5; in salinealkaline lands, the most common variety of usar lands, the presence of a kankar pan (layer of limestone and clay) causes water stagnation.Much has been made of the need to \"augment\" lean season flows in Ganga; indeed, insufficiency of Ganga waters to meet the summer needs has been a major bone of contention in India-Bangladesh discussions on the sharing of Ganga waters. But as many observers have suggested, such augmentation is outside the realm of feasibility; and the best approach to achieving seasonal water balance is better and more integrated management of the basin as a whole (see, e.g., Ramaswamy 1999:2,296). The centerpiece of such a strategy has to be increased subsurface retention and storage of peak-flows for use in the lean seasons; and the most practical and costeffective way of doing this is through rapid groundwater development.A major reason for eastern India's waterlogging and flood-proneness is insufficient conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water. Just as excessive groundwater draft results in drying of springs and reduced baseflow in rivers, too little of it adds to the swelling of rivers and streams at peak-flows in the form of \"rejected recharge.\" Ideally, groundwater development should match canal irrigation, especially in ill-drained soils as encountered in much of eastern India; but as figure 5 shows, in eastern UP districts, the development of both groundwater and surface water has lacked this balance. As far back as 1948, a commission appointed by the Government of UP asserted that the flood problems of eastern UP were \"due to reduction in the absorptive capacity of the soil\" (Yadav and Lal 1994). This \"reduction\" has been magnified with the development of intensive canal irrigation during the last five decades since then. Particularly after 1950, the laying out of new canal networks, most of them unlined, has resulted in a rapid and persistent rise in groundwater tables that, in turn, has resulted in large areas being waterlogged for 5-6 months after the last of the monsoonal rains. This problem, which has bewitched the entire eastern India, was further aggravated by the construction of countless embankments, first by the erstwhile Zamindaars, and more recently under government programs, which were intended to protect communities and farmlands from flash floods but have been producing exactly the opposite impact (Mishra 1999a;1999b). As in eastern UP, Bihar's flood-prone area too tripled from 2.5 million ha in 1954 to 6.8 million ha in 1994-which means that 70% of the population in north Bihar, some 30 million people, are at risk from floods every year (ibid.).Many strategies have been recommended and tried out to deal with the intensification of the flood-proneness and waterlogging in eastern UP as a consequence of the growth of canal irrigation. But there has been growing consensus that the most important long-term strategy to fight flood-proneness is the rapid increase in groundwater irrigation, which will not only lower water tables but also help reduce the intensity of floods and the average period of flooding by enhancing the underground storage for flood waters, canal seepage as well as irrigation reflows. Reviewing the suggestions  The preponderance of marginal farmers and their lack of capacity to make tube-well investments have then been the central challenge in stimulating poverty-focused groundwater development in eastern India. And all government and NGO initiatives since 1950 have been designed to respond to this challenge. Early thinking was aimed at organizing the poor for collectively managing an irrigation asset or through an extensive and vigorous public tube-well (PTW) program. Eastern UP offers examples of both these institutional options, although there is only one significant case of tube wells owned and managed by farmer groups. This experiment was promoted in the Deoria district of UP and the Vaishali district in Bihar by a local NGO under the Indo-Norwegian Agricultural Development Project. Niranjan Pant who followed the rise and fall of the farmer-managed tube wells over a period spanning more than a decade, wrote in the early 1980s, \"the wells owned and operated by groups of small and marginal farmers were found to be doing a very satisfying job… the management of each tube well was the responsibility of the group of farmers and the group leader…[and they] were quite successful from the point of view of accessibility of groundwater among the resource-poor farmers\" (Pant 1984). But when he revisited the groups in Deoria in 1988, \"to our dismay, we found many of the groups which existed in 1983 had disintegrated...The main reason... [was that] the commands of the group of tube wells were subsumed under the World Bank tube wells...the World Bank tube-well water was available at a much cheaper rate...\" (Pant 1989: 97-98).A few years later, the PTW program, which had its own shortcomings and which cannibalized the Deoria tube-well groups, itself fell to the predatory onslaught of the booming local pump-irrigation markets. By 1990, there were nearly 30,000 large PTWs strewn all over UP's countryside, constructed with financial support from the Dutch and the World Bank. Its failings however soon began to come to the fore. In the mid-1980s, the PTW program was losing around Rs 650-700 million/yr. (Kolavalli and Shah 1989); in the 1990s, the annual losses exceeded Rs 1,000 million. A new program launched in the late 1970s with World Banksupport promoted several new design features such as dedicated power supply to a cluster of 25 PTWs linked to an independent 11 kV line, buried pipelines, automatic operation of wells, tamper-proof outlets, and the system of osrabandi (an arrangement for rotational water supply to irrigators) for water allocation overseen by an elected farmer committee and executed by a part-time operator chosen from the area itself.This, too, however, failed to arrest the downward spin in the performance of PTWs. They did better than conventional PTWs while they were new. However, as they advanced in age, the performance of the World Bank tube wells declined too. For instance, the average number of hours and area irrigated per tube well fell from 2,304 hours and 77 ha in 1976-77 to 780 hours and 35 ha in 1983-84 (ibid.); the downward spin continued thereafter. A study of the \"new design\" PTWs in Faizabad, Basti and Deoria districts by Pant concluded that only a third of the farmers in the command could depend upon the PTWs exclusively for their irrigation needs; 60% of the PTWs had nonfunctioning meters; 30% of PTWs did not have farmer committees and in the rest, the committees had seldom met; the performance of tube wells themselves was quite poor compared to what was planned; the highest realizable revenue by PTWs was less than needed to meet the operator's salary (Pant 1989).Different researchers have found marginally different clusters of reasons explaining the failure of the UP PTW program. Kolavalli and Shah (1989) blamed insufficient and erratic power supply, inadequate conveyance systems, operator-absenteeism, failure of the osrabandi system and poor maintenance as the main reasons. In addition to all these, Pant (1989) also found the organization-design failure to be an important factor: \"[operators] thought they were accountable to irrigation officials rather than to command farmers or to the Tube-Well Management Committee. Consequently, the distribution was done more or less in an arbitrary manner. The core component of water distribution system such as osrabandi, opening of one outlet at a time in a loop and beneficiary involvement were conspicuous by their absence.\" (Pant 1989:100). Palmer-Jones (1995: iv) concluded that, quite apart from the complex institutional issues, \"DTWs were and are an inappropriate technology for the social and economic conditions encountered in developing countries of South Asia…\" An important insight of Pant's study was that the PTWs stimulated the emergence of an active pump irrigation market in their commands, which made the PTWs themselves increasingly redundant! Contrary to a priori supposition, the number of private tube wells increased rapidly once an area got covered by a World Bank PTW command, in Faizabad, by 54% and in Deoria, by 33%. Over two-thirds of the PTW command farmers used other private tube-well irrigation; and of these, only a quarter owned tube wells, the rest purchased irrigation from private tube-well owners (TWOs) (Pant 1989:90). When the first generation PTWs came up in UP in the 1940s and 50s, private tube-well development was all but nonexistent. In fact, even in the 1970s, when the community tubewell experiment was carried out, eastern UP had very little private tube-well development. During the 1980s, however, the growth of private tube wells was truly rapid; and in their wake came the practice of water selling. Indeed, both the community tube wells and PTWs faced growing farmer apathy and disinterest because private water sellers rapidly made deep inroads into their command, established themselves as market leaders and reduced PTWs to the status of suppliers of supplemental irrigation. Pump-Irrigation Markets: 1960-90 Studies in the 1980s and 90s (Kolavalli et al. 1989;Kolavalli et al. 1992;Lall and Pachauri 1994;Pant 1992;Pant 1989;Shankar nd;Shankar 1992;Shah 1993;Shah et al. 1997), however, showed that a fitting response to this important equity issue came not from PTW programs but from private water markets.As far back as the 1960s, purchased pump irrigation from PTW owners was an important way for the resource-poor farmers to gain access to groundwater irrigation. However, the power and reach of this new institution were beginning to get recognized only during the late 1980s as the South Asian water market debate opened up. Most of these researchers found that compared to the lackadaisical PTW operators, private pump owners were surprisingly eager providers of irrigation services, taking on their competition by lowering the price and improving the quality of service. Much emerging evidence seems to suggest that although pump irrigation markets appeared to have wrecked public and collective irrigation institutions that focused upon securing irrigation FIGURE 6.Scale bias in tube-well ownership: Survey of 380 farmers in eastern UP (Shah et al. 1997).Even without its failings, the PTW program would not have played more than a marginal role in UP's Green Revolution. At full strength of 30,000 tube wells all working to their full capacity, the program would have developed no more than 1% of UP's groundwater potential. And a program much bigger than this would prove unmanageable in the best of conditions. Growing private investment in tube-well irrigation was thus a godsend for UP agriculture. One reason why interest in PTWs and community tube wells persisted long after they were proved unsustainable was the question of equity in access to groundwater appropriation and use by the resource-poor farmers who could not mobilize the chunky capital investment needed in tube-well installation. By the turn of the 1980s, a distinct pecking order had emerged in the organization of eastern India's groundwater economy: TWOs were typically medium-sized farmers while marginal farmers depended heavily on purchased pump irrigation and on manual lift irrigation by devices like treadle pumps. Figure 6, which reports on a 1997 survey of some 300 farmers in eastern UP, suggests this pecking order (see, Shah et al. 1997).access for the poor, ironically, it was the poor water buyers who disowned PTWs and community tube wells to turn to private water markets because of their superior and more reliable-even if apparently costlier-irrigation service.Late in the 1980s, Niranjan Pant reanalyzed his 1981 survey of 280 farmers in Deoria, Barabanki and Meerut districts and concluded that whereas only 27.7% of the farmers owned bore wells and 63.3% purchased irrigation water from pump owners. He found water trade deeper and broader in Barabanki or Meerut further west than in Deoria in the eastern parts probably because the latter had a lower pump density: \"In Deoria, an average tube well served 7.1 clients; in Barabanki and Meerut, it served 2.3 and 2.6 clients, respectively. On average, 27.1 acres (of owner's and his clients' lands) were irrigated by a private tube well in Deoria compared to 16.1 acres in Meerut and 6.9 acres in Barabanki\" (Pant 1989: 89).In 1988, Pant explored water markets in the course of extensive fieldwork throughout the eastern region and wrote: \"A common feature found in all eastern region States was sale and purchase of water on an hourly basis. The rates varied...and ranged between Rs 8 and 25/hour from a 5-hp pump/ tube well…\" [Pant 1991: 276]. Further, exploring the comparative reach amongst the poor of water markets, World Bank tube wells and canal irrigation in Faizabad and Bahraich, amongst India's poorest districts, 10 Pant concluded that \"The operation of the private groundwater markets appears to be very beneficial for farmers [in <0.4 ha and 0.4< II<1.0 ha categories]\" (see table 2).11 In contrast, Pant found that both World Bank PTWs and the canal system benefited primarily the well-off. \"...the World Bank-assisted tube wells in Faizabad at least cater to the needs of the poor to some extent, while in Bahraich, such tube wells cater to the needs of the relatively well-off…\" And then \"...canal as a public source of irrigation is worse than public tube wells and among the two districts, it is much worse in Faizabad...\" For the poorest farmers in eastern India, then, the benefits of groundwater irrigation have come through three routes: in large part, through purchased pump irrigation and, in a small way, through improved manual irrigation technologies as well as through the Free Boring Scheme (FBS). In manual technologies, the most notable has been the introduction of the treadle pump, which is particularly suited to farmers with less than a hectare of land because it requires an investment of less than Rs 700, and can deliver up to 1 l/s without any cash cost of operation. The treadle pump has been gaining in popularity; however, it faces tough competition from private pump irrigation sellers. In fact, a 1996 survey (Shah et al. 1997) to assess the impact of treadle pumps in eastern UP showed that treadle pump owners invariably used purchased pump irrigation as well. More importantly, it was impossible for Shah et al. (1997) to find pure rain-fed farmers in eastern UP; almost every farmer who does not have own means of irrigation buys irrigation service from private TWOs. Figure 7, based on a survey of 134 TWOs, 151 farmers wholly dependent on purchased pump irrigation and 95 treadle-pump owners, shows that, thanks to the pump-irrigation markets, not having one's own tube well is not all that much of a disadvantage because over 95% of the operated area in the case of all the three categories is irrigated. Another interesting finding of this survey was the surprisingly small contribution of surface water to smallholder irrigation. Considering that the sample of 280 was chosen from 25 villages in the Deoria and Maharajganj districts, which have a large canal network, Shah et al. (1997) had expected that canal irrigation would be an important presence for the farmers surveyed. Yet, it emerged that, after own tube wells, purchased pump irrigation service was the largest provider of smallholder irrigation; of the 1,000 odd acres operated by the 380 sample farmers, 35% was served by the water market (figure 8).The downside of water markets is the high cost of irrigation to the buyers, and the pressure on them to economize on groundwater use, especially in a region like eastern India, where as we reviewed earlier, groundwater withdrawal creates a powerful positive externality. Many studies indicate that whereas water markets have a wide reach, water buyers invariably use less water (in terms of hours pumped) compared to TWOs themselves. Figure 9, for example, shows the relative frugality of water use by water buyers in the five districts of eastern UP from which Shah et al. (1997) drew their sample of 380 Percent of operated area irrigated: Eastern UP sample survey of 380 farmers (Shah et al. 1997).  Contribution of water markets in eastern UP agriculture: Survey of 380 farmers (Shah et al. 1997). Water use/acre by TWOs and water buyers in eastern UP: Results from a survey of 380 farmers (Shah et al. 1997).farmers. Other studies amply confirm this finding. Based on his survey of 50 farmers in Faizabad and 70 in Bahraich, Pant (1992) similarly showed that the average water use per ha by TWOs was 98 hours in Faizabad and 36 hours in Bahraich; water use by buyers was lower at 51.5 and 25.4 hours, respectively. Based on a sample survey of 400 farmers from Gorakhpur, Sultanpur, Mirzapur and Azamgadh districts of eastern UP, Kolavalli et al. (1992) found that whereas 90% of TWOs in Azamgadh and Sultanpur gave more than 2 irrigation turns to paddy, more than 75% of water buyers gave less than two irrigation turns. Then Kolavalli et al. (1992:46) noted: \"...a much smaller percentage of farmers without wells irrigated their paddy crop...It would suggest that paddy irrigation appears to be less remunerative particularly if irrigation is to be purchased.\"In 1996, water buyers in eastern UP paid Rs 26-30/hour of pumping from 5-hp diesel pumps with a yield of 18-20 m 3 /hour. Irrigating a hectare of paddy would need 70 hours and a hectare of wheat in rabi would need 100 hours costing Rs 1,960/ha and Rs 2,800/ha, respectively. Canal irrigation rates for paddy and wheat in UP have, for years, been Rs 180/ha and Rs 70/ha, respectively. Thus irrigating wheat and paddy with purchased tube-well water is nearly 20 times costlier than canal irrigation. It is not surprising that cash-starved water buyers economize in the use of purchased pump irrigation. An important aspect is also the steeply rising cost of pump irrigation in response to the rise in diesel prices. An early hypothesis in the South Asian debate on water markets was about the relationship between energy cost and pump irrigation prices, which emanated from a water seller's profit function and yielded the relation w = e/(e-1) * cwhere, w is the price of pump irrigation (Rs/hour), c is the incremental cost (Rs/hour) of pumping facing the seller-which, in the case of diesel pumps, is mainly the cost of diesel used per hour; and e is the price elasticity of demand for pump irrigation (see Shah 1993 for the derivation). Since a rational seller will sell only when e>1, e/(e-1) provides the multiple by which water price will exceed the incremental pumping cost. If e=1.4, water price will be 3.5 times the price of diesel/liter since a 5-hp diesel engine consumes, on average, 1liter/hour. And if the price of diesel increases by 10%, the price of water will rise by 35% too and not just enough to cover the increased diesel cost. In 1996, with the help of grassroots NGOs, this author constructed time series of diesel-pump irrigation prices in selected locations in eastern UP and north Bihar, which suggested that water prices increased every time diesel prices increased and the former increased substantially more than would be enough to cover the increase in diesel price. Figure 10 presents these data and also projects the likely impact of the recent 35% hike in diesel prices on pumpirrigation prices in eastern India; and depending upon the degree of competition in local water markets in different locations, we expect the 5-hp diesel-pump irrigation prices to rise to between Rs 40-65/hour from the present Rs 25-40/hour. Overall, then, even with broad and deep pump-irrigation markets that ensure small farmers' access to groundwater, questions still remain about the cost of such access. Two aspects are pertinent: first, water buyers are under greater pressure to economize on water use than pump owners, and this differential pressure increases with every increase in diesel price; and second, there is a transfer of wealth from water buyers to pump owners with progressive increase in diesel prices. Shah et al. (1997) estimated that every hour of pump The impact of 35% diesel price hike on pump irrigation prices (Rs/hour: 5-hp diesel pump). irrigation sold in eastern India contained a \"monopoly rent\" of Rs 10 in 1996 that would disappear if the market became perfectly competitive; assuming that each of the 2.2 million diesel pump owners in eastern India sells 100 h/yr., we can surmise that water buyers end up paying pump owners a monopoly rent to the tune of Rs 2,200 million/yr. With the 1999 hike in diesel prices by 35%, we believe this \"rent\" has more than doubled.The policy of the Government of UP on rural electrification did to catalyze pump irrigation markets what its PTW program did to initiate the revolution in the private tube wells. During the 1960s, governments as well as donors such as the World Bank placed great emphasis on rural electrification as a means to overall development, but particularly, of agricultural development through tube-well irrigation. As a result of this intensive effort, the number of electric tube wells (ETWs) rose rapidly, particularly in western UP, and to a lesser extent, even in eastern UP. The capital investment in electric pumps was higher because a portion of the cost of laying the cable from the transformer to the well site was charged to the TWOs. Diesel pumps were cheaper to buy but were less preferred because they were substantially costlier to operate. The high investment costs of ETWs encouraged their owners to operate their pumps at a high level of capacity utilization by supplying irrigation service to other farmers. Thus arose the new institution of pump-irrigation markets; and private ETWs began playing pretty much the same role as PTWs were envisaged to doviz., providing tube-well irrigation service to small and marginal farmers-but in a more service-oriented and economically profitable manner.However, by the early 1970s, the logistics of metering electricity supply and collecting the tariff was beginning to prove too much for the UP State Electricity Board (UP SEB), which had hired an army of meter readers to take readings on the rapidly growing numbers of household and tube-well connections in UP's vast countryside.12 The meter readers who were initially appointed on contract during the early 1960s soon unionized and eventually forced a populist Chief Minister to regularize them as government employees with manyfold increases in wages and benefits. Soon thereafter, the quality of meter reading declined, and so did the collection of electricity charges. It was easy to bribe or browbeat meter readers into underreporting the consumption or tampering with the meter; moreover, to beat metering, farmers began to pilfer power by hooking directly to power lines since there was little to deter them. These logistical problems multiplied manyfold when it came to dealing with metering electricity consumption for millions of tiny household users (with just 1-2 40-W bulbs). All in all, a major rethink on the logistics of metering and revenue collection in rural electricity supply had become inevitable.Around then, a 1973 study by the Rural Electrification Corporation encompassing several States found that the cost of metering electricity consumption by farmers and rural households was over 40% of the cost of the power itself! UP was not the only State that was facing these problems; all States did. So in 1975, when the SEB decided to get rid of metering of rural household and farm users, and switch to a flat monthly tariff unlinked to actual consumption, many other State governments were watching the implications with great interest; and in the following 5 years, most other Indian SEBs followed suit and changed from a metered to a flat electricity tariff, especially for agricultural users.The change to a flat tariff gave a powerful stimulus to pump irrigation markets; it raised the fixed cost but reduced the incremental pumping cost to almost zero. This meant that the ETW owners had a powerful incentive to sell more water; and competition amongst electric pump owners forced a lowering of the price of pump irrigation, improved the quality of service and, in general, created a buyers' market for pump irrigation. Comparative surveys across States during the 1980s showed that two 5-hp electric pump owners, one in Meerut (western UP) and the other in Basti (eastern UP), sold pump irrigation at Rs 5-6/hour whereas a similar electric-pump owner in Gujarat charged Rs 20/hour because he was paying for metered power use. Diesel pump owners in UP, who charged Rs 18-20/hour for a 5-hp pump in UP as elsewhere, began losing out in their competition with electric pump owners; there is some evidence to suggest that diesel pump owners in many areas were obliged to slash their pump irrigation prices to survive 12 UP has 110,000 villages; and many of these have 4-5 hamlets each. Consumption-based tariff involved metering, meter reading, meter repair and maintenance and revenue collection. In an effort to reduce cost-and to secure more committed and involved ground-level staff-the SEB had recruited local people to serve as meter readers on contractual appointments at lower salaries than the SEB's staff got as State government employees. Each meter reader had to monitor and report on around 100 meters per month. Less than 2 years after this arrangement was initiated, SEB inspections revealed that many meter readers sub-contracted the work to schoolboys at a fraction of their daily allowance while they busied themselves with their farms and other businesses. Soon, they began to save on even this and stopped taking and reporting the readings at all. So farmers would be billed on the basis of their average consumption over the past months. Some meter readers began to arbitrarily report hypothetical figures of consumption. Farmers also began breaking their meters so that they could be charged on the average of low consumption reported in earlier months. in the competition. All in all, the resource-poor farmers-who were mostly buyers of pump irrigation-had the best possible deal they could hope for in the early years after the change to a flat electricity tariff. 13 However, this state of happiness was proven short-lived. While changing from a metered to a flat tariff, the SEB was governed by the economics of power supply as well as by the politics of power. Compared to many other States, especially in South India, where political leaders used the change to a flat tariff as an opportunity to do away with power tariff itself, either fully or largely, in UP the flat tariff was fixed at a reasonable Rs 18 (US$1.3)/hp/ month at which the SEB would have been close to the breakeven point for the pre-change level of average electricity consumption, particularly since the flat tariff eliminated substantial costs of metering and pilferage associated with metered tariff. However, what the SEB had not planned for was the rapid increase in the electricity consumption per tube well after the change to the flat tariff. The very process that transformed pump-irrigation markets into a boon for the resource-poor farmers-and heralded a new promise for eastern UP's belated Green Revolution-was also playing havoc with the SEB's balance sheet. Ideally, the SEB should have put up the flat tariff with the rising of the average power consumption per tube well; and it did manage to raise it from Rs 25/hp/month in the early 1980s to Rs 30/hp/month in the late 1980s and further to Rs 50/hp/month in the early 1990s.14 This was creditable compared to many southern Indian States that used the flat tariff to supply free electricity. However, the increases in the flat tariff implemented over the 25-year period were far less than needed to cover the full cost of agricultural power supply.The medium and large farmers, especially in western UP, who owned most of the ETWs, were getting organized into a noisy, at times militant, formation under Mahendra Singh Tikait, a Jat farmer leader from western UP; and they put paid to every move by the SEB to put up the flat tariff. Like every monopolist, the SEB had control over either the price or the quantity of the product it supplied to a market segment but not both. In the post-flat-tariff years, the UP SEB increasingly faced erosion of its power to set the electricity price. Therefore, intuitively, it reached out for the only other lever at its command: supply. It brought in progressive restriction in the supply of power to agricultural users in an orderly and transparent manner. However, the farmer lobby quickly saw through the SEB's game and launched a fierce agitation leading the Chief Minister and other political leaders to publicly and repeatedly announce their resolve to maintain power supply to agriculture to a minimum of 18 hours/day. Something had to give; but since the government would not displease the militant Jat interests in western UP, the axe had to fall elsewhere. Thus began an invidious process of progressive rural de-electrification of eastern UP.According to Pant's analysis, some 91% of the TWOs in Faizabad and 76% in Bahraich sold pump irrigation; an average seller served 4 buyers in both districts. Some 33% and 17% of buyers in Faizabad and Bahraich, respectively, were themselves pump owners, but used purchased water to irrigate their far-flung parcels. An average buyer dealt with 2 sellers. Electrified TWOs-who had to pay a flat electricity tariff of Rs 25/hp/ month-sold water at Rs 3-5/hour. Generally, 3-hp TWOs charged Rs 3/hour and 5-hp TWOs charged Rs 5/ hour. Electrified TWOs also offered a lump sum irrigation contract; the average rate was Rs 313/acre for the whole season; in this arrangement, the buyer could take as many irrigation turns as needed when electricity was available. Diesel TWOs sold only on a per hour basis: at Rs 12/hour for a 3-inch delivery pipe and at Rs 14/hour for a 4-inch delivery pipe. Pump irrigation purchased from diesel pump owners was substantially costlier. The terms of pump irrigation sale also included an offer of credit. Part-payment was made in cash; this was typically half the cost of diesel; the rest was paid at the time of harvest.While the political leadership went on promising guaranteed power supply to agriculture, the SEB, powerless to perform positive acts of commission, took to unobtrusive acts of omission, and began systematically neglecting the maintenance of power supply infrastructure in some of the most backward areas of the State where the farmers were far less organized and militant than Jats in western UP. This process of omission was slow; cessation of investment in maintenance and repair-and the resulting erosion of the element-took time to take effect; but slowly and surely it did and began to translate in declining quality and reliability of power supply. By the close of the 1980s, only 1-1.5% of transformers in eastern UP used to be \"down;\" in the early 1990s, 20% of the transformers were found to be nonfunctional at any point in time (Tyagi 1995). Stolen cables stopped being replaced; broken-down transformers often took 6-12 months to fix. Although, technically, the SEB supplied close to guaranteed hours from power stations, electricity available at the wellhead went on a downward spin in terms of quantity; electricity was supplied 24 hours/day during the peak-monsoon and 3 hours/day in the peak-irrigation seasons to make up the required annual average. The flat tariff has many advantages for TWOs but only under an opportune electricity-supply environment in which even if rationed, reliable power is supplied at peak irrigation periods. What happened in eastern UP-and indeed in all of eastern India-during the 1980s was that agricultural power supply got concentrated during monsoons and, that too, during nights. In such an inopportune power-supply environment, 15 ETW owners began to find it increasingly difficult to operate their tube wells at a level of capacity utilization high enough to cover their fixed costs that included a flat tariff of Rs 40/hp/month. Although published State government data show some growth in agricultural power connections in eastern UP during the 1980s and the 90s, all indications from the field show that these have actually declined rapidly. During the late 1970s, one could find at least a dozen ETWs in a village in the Deoria district; in the course of my 1995 fieldwork, I had to visit a dozen villages before we could interview the owner of an ETW. As early as 1989, Sharma (1989) presented a paper lamenting the \"diesalization of eastern UP's groundwater sector\" at a workshop in Faizabad. In the course of his 1990 survey in Faizabad and Bahraich, Niranjan Pant's stratified random sample of 50 TWOs in Faizabad (just east of Lucknow in central UP) captured 22 ETWs; but his sample of 70 TWOs in Bahraich (deep in eastern UP) captured only 2 ETWs. 16 In trying to explain why eastern UP does not use its groundwater potential fully, Kolavalli et al. (1992) randomly selected 193 TWOs for their survey in the Gorakhpur, Sultanpur, Azamgarh and Mirzapur districts of eastern UP and found only 10 ETWs to survey. For their survey of 380 farmers in five districts of Gorakhpur Mandal, Shah et al. (1997) tried to include an equal number of electric, diesel and treadle pump owners, water buyers and non-irrigators; however, they found no \"pure\" non-irrigators and only 4 ETW owners in 25 villages. This trend is not evident in SEB's published figures on electrified tube wells because these do not 15 The term inopportune is used to contain a combination of circumstances that disable TWOs from making their tube wells economically viable.The circumstances mainly involve inadequate power supply, its unpredictability and erratic nature, most of the power supply coming in the nights, and most critically, and nonavailability of power for long periods (often running into several weeks) because of poor maintenance of power distribution infrastructure.16 Pant (1992:20) notes this dichotomy in his study of Faizabad and Behraich: \"In fact, in majority of the villages in Bahraich electricity was not available for tube-well irrigation and was available only at places of worship like mosques...Low use of electricity in Bahraich compared to Faizabad is manifested in the fact that on 31.3.86, there were 2,936 energized private tube wells in Bahraich compared to 16,600 in Faizabad…\" deduct the disconnected tube wells, which are treated as provisional disconnections. But in private discussions, the SEB managers readily conceded that 80% of the pump electrification targets were met in western and central UP, which have most of UP's dark and gray areas.In eastern UP, there are no dark blocks; in fact, all the blocks are white; but there is little or no power there; and the pace of electrification of new tube wells has been very slow. In a field trip across UP in 1996, we (Tushaar Shah, Marcus Moench and Christina Wood) found certain divisions to be \"electrically privileged;\" this was true particularly in Meerut, Agra and Muradabad in western UP, and Varanasi in eastern UP, which have a significantly higher ETW density than the rest of the UP. Even within these districts, ETW density is probably much higher within small pockets, especially near towns and along roadsides, as we found in Faizabad. Away from the towns and main roads, ETW density rapidly declines even in these electrically privileged districts.Officially, the SEB has spun an unbelievable story that goes against commonsense as well as the ground reality of eastern UP. According to the SEB values, since 1972-73, the number of private ETWs in UP has increased from 183,000 to over 700,000 in 1993-94 at a compound rate of around 10%/yr. The power supplied to these has increased at an even faster pace than their number, from 794 million units/yr. in 1972-73 to 9,500 million units in 1994-95, at a compound growth rate of 11.9%/yr. As a result, the average power consumption per ETW has gone up by over three times, from 4,072 units/yr. in 1972-73 to 11,800 units in 1994-95. The official SEB estimate of its losses from agricultural power supply shot up from Rs 1,630 million in 1993-94 to just under Rs 13,000 million in 1994-95. For every hour of pumping of an ETW, the SEB has been losing over Rs 6. 17 To break even on agricultural operations, the flat tariff would have to be raised from the present Rs 50/hp/month to Rs 209/hp/month. The story has been uncritically accepted by many. For instance, a report by Tata Energy Research Institute noted: \"Because of the low agricultural tariff and high magnitude of consumption of this sector, the SEB loses heavily in terms of revenue from agricultural power sales...\" (TERI 1996:73). Several studies of the World Bank have come to similar conclusions. But several inconvenient facts remain unexplained. First, why should farmers reject ETWs as resoundingly as they have done in eastern UP had power supply been so heavily subsidized in real terms? Second, the estimates made by field researchers of the hours of pumpage by ETWs imply a level of actual power consumption, which is a small fraction of the average claimed by the SEB. Third, accepting the SEB's estimates raises important questions about what 2.2 million diesel pumps are doing in UP's countryside and why diesel tube wells are growing at such a phenomenal rate.18 Finally, much evidence suggests that, if anything, rural power subsidies are concentrated in electrically privileged areas of western UP; in eastern UP, far from being subsidized, electric power is, in effect, heavily taxed. Consider the following. At the SEB's value of 11,800 kWh as the average power consumption per ETW/yr., and assuming the connected load to be 6-hp on average, the average private ETW should be operating over 2,500 h/yr. But except in small pockets of electrically privileged districts of western UP where studies show an average of 1,300-1,500 hours of annual operation, nowhere do ETWs in eastern UP-nay, eastern India-operate for more than 600-700 h/yr. The Faizabad sample of 18 ETW owners in Pant's 1992 study reported an average operation of 665 h/yr. In Shankar's study (1992:58) of a sample of 140 households in Allahabad, ETW owners reported the average operation to be 663 h/yr. A survey of 478 TWOs from Muradabad, Barabanki and Agra districts by the Operations Research Group in 1990 indicated that 70% of the sampled ETWs operated for less than 500 h/yr.; only 8% operated for more than 1,000 h/yr. Far from 11,800 kWh, on average, ETWs consumed 1,870 kWh/yr. in their Muradabad sample, 924 kWh/yr. in the Barabanki sample and 1,990 kWh in their Agra sample (ORG 1991:23). The average cost of power to these was thus Rs 2.89/kWh, far more than any other user category of the SEB. A 1981-survey by NABARD (1988) in Allahabad district in eastern UP showed that ETW owners operated their tube wells for an average of 636 hours and the average electricity cost/hour to them was Rs 0.77/kWh when the SEB claimed it realized only Rs 0.18/kWh from agricultural consumers (UP SEB 1996: 97). But in a similar evaluation in the electrically privileged Muzaffarnagar district in Meerut division, a sample of 42 ETWs operated, on an average, for 1,034 hours at Rs 0.36/unit (NABARD 1987). Tyagi (1995) found the average power consumption by a sample of 229 ETWs from all over UP at 2,566 kWh/yr., less than 25% of the SEB estimate of 11,800 kWh/yr. At a flat tariff of Rs 50/hp/ month, the average electricity cost is thus Rs 1.43/kWh, over 3.5 times the rate of Rs 0.43/kWH that the SEB claimed. Tyagi showed that for the bottom 10% of tube wells in the sample that operated for an average of 280 h/yr., the effective power cost rises to Rs 2.87/unit or Rs 13.08/hour. In the electrically privileged Kanpur district of western UP, where because of a more opportune power-supply environment, an average tube well operated for 774 h/yr., the cost declined sharply to 1.04/kWh or Rs 4.74/hour of operation. With this economics, it is not surprising that farmers in eastern UP switched to diesel engines en masse. A 6.5-hp diesel pump would cost Rs 9.50-10/hour in fuel in 1997; thus an ETW operating over 750 h/yr. is half as cheap to run as a diesel pump; but one operating at less than 300 h/yr. costs much higher to run. In the early 1990s, this made electricity sold to eastern UP's agriculture amongst the most expensive of all consumer categories: domestic users paid Rs 0.77/kWH; commercial users paid Rs 1.16/kWh; industries paid Rs 1.36/kWH; and eastern UP's agriculture paid an effective price of Rs 1.43/kWH.Until this stage, there are strong parallels between the pattern of evolution of groundwater development in eastern UP and the rest of eastern India, in particular, in north Bihar, north Bengal and coastal Orissa, which combine large volumes of undeveloped groundwater potential with a massive concentration of rural poverty. If UP tried a PTW program, so did west Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. If UP's PTWs failed in their promise to the poor, they failed even more resoundingly in Bihar and Orissa.The rest of the east Indian States mounted their rural electrification programs much the same way as UP did, but with a lag of 3-5 years. Except in southwest Bengal, elsewhere in eastern India too, private electrified tube wells grew in numbers-though not as rapidly as in UP-especially in western UP. UP changed from a metered to a flat tariff in 1975; Bihar and Orissa followed suit. Finally, as in eastern UP, a few years after the flat tariff was introduced, the power-supply environment throughout the eastern region began to deteriorate. Within each State, there were \"electrically privileged\" areas where the ruralelectricity infrastructure remained relatively better maintained and the power-supply environment remained in a reasonably good condition. In west Bengal, southern districts had a better power-supply environment and developed dynamic agrarian economies; north Bengal, with a poor power-supply environment failed to develop its extraordinary groundwater potential and stagnated. Bihar remained electrically underprivileged throughout; yet, the central region became less electrically underprivileged than north Bihar with its massive underdeveloped groundwater resources. The Orissa, Puri and Cuttak districts became electrically privileged; western Orissa ended up with a poor power-supply environment. In most respects, then, eastern UP became the forerunner of eastern India.But the parallels end here. With the decline in the power-supply environment, the development of groundwater irrigation in much of eastern India has all but stagnated. But in eastern UP, tube-well irrigation continued to be a boom sector. Eastern UP dealt with the crisis of deteriorating power supply by dieselizing its groundwater irrigation. Here, the number of private diesel pumps increased faster than the decline of the electric pumps. Some evidence of this trend is available in data collected at district level; however, these too only add new ETWs connected every year without deducting the number of those that are disconnected. Even so, as figure 11 shows, the pace of dieselization of eastern UP's groundwater irrigation sector is unmistakable. Equally unmistakable is the fact that the inopportune power-supply environment has been behind the strong preference for diesel pumps. A report by the Indo-Dutch UP Tube-Well Project MAC-IDTP (1989), citing Draft Annual Plan 1988-89, Volume I, of the Government of UP stated:\"The overall shortfall in realization of the Seventh Plan target of energization of private electrical tube wells is mainly due to cultivators' preference for diesel-driven sets. This preference derives from erratic and inadequate power supply in most areas and lower initial cost to cultivators for diesel sets.\" 20 There are many problems with the dieselization of groundwater irrigation. Diesel is a costlier energy source compared to electricity, in private as well as social terms, especially in eastern India, which produces more than half of its power from hydroelectric sources. Electricity is also cleaner compared to diesel. Electric pumps are easier and cheaper to maintain compared to diesel pumps that suffer heavy wear and tear. Finally, as we saw, diesel pumps produce a monopolistic pump-irrigation market that transfers wealth from resource-poor water Growth of electric and diesel tube wells in Gorakhpur, Maharajgunj and Deoria-Padrona districts, eastern UP. buyers to pump owners, and forces the buyers to economize on the use of water whose marginal social value, in the east Indian context, is negative. Despite all these, it would be appropriate to say that nothing else has produced as much welfare for the small and marginal farmers of eastern UP as diesel-pump-driven shallow tube wells. The central issue of interest is why the rest of eastern India was unable to dieselize its groundwater irrigation as rapidly as eastern UP did during the 1985-95 period.The inopportune power-supply environment was certainly a key reason behind the rapid increase in the number of diesel pumps in eastern UP during the 1980s. However, an equally important reason was the great success that the people of eastern UP made of another of the State government interventions to stimulate groundwater development. Around 1975, when the Government of UP decided to switch to a flat electricity tariff, the Reserve Bank of India, concerned about eastern India's failure to take off agriculturally, appointed a high-powered committee to explore the issue. This committee bemoaned the slow pace of groundwater development as the primary cause, and recommended a liberal subsidy to stimulate private groundwater development. Following this, the Government of UP launched a povertytargeted FBS under which the Minor Irrigation Department was to undertake the preparation of bore-wells (shallow tube wells) free of cost for small and marginal farmers; additionally, varying levels of subsidy were offered on diesel pumps to small and marginal farmers, matching the degree of their social and economic backwardness. The banks also chipped in with a loan to cover the down payment required from the farmer under a special refinancing arrangement from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. Bihar, west Bengal, Assam and Orissa followed suit with their own variants of pump-subsidy schemes. Soon enough, the Government of India also launched the \"Million Well Scheme\" with precisely the same objective, and targeting socially and economically backward farmers.Until the mid-80s, however, all these wellintentioned minor irrigation subsidy schemes had produced little minor irrigation in the most groundwater-rich parts of eastern India. When electric pumps dominated groundwater irrigation, the real barrier that kept the poorest from laying their hands on a pump was not the cost of the pump but the transaction costs, delays and the hassle of getting an electricity connection. ETW ownership during the 1970s was therefore highly scale-biased compared to the ownership of diesel pump sets during the 1980s and 90s. So, although the subsidy schemes covered electric as well as diesel pumps, the funds allocated to them remained grossly underutilized. Now that ETWs were being decommissioned in large numbers, farmers began to turn to diesel pumps, but they-particularly, small farmers from backward communities-found the hassle and \"transaction costs\" involved in accessing the FBS prohibitive and intimidating. A study in 1984 by the Delhi-based Society for Prevention of Wastelands Development concluded that even if all the paperwork of a small farmer were perfect, the decision on his application under the FBS took 11 months and scores of visits to the various offices involved: the Block Development Office, Minor Irrigation Department, bank offices and the District Rural Development Agency. Another set of rounds would begin once his application was approved, to get GI pipes and valves issued from the Minor Irrigation Department, diesel pumps issued from the stipulated dealers, and the bank loan released from the Lead Bank designated for each district. Several other restrictions were in force: for example, only members of the field staff of the Minor Irrigation Department were allowed to make the bore using the department's rig; only one or two predesignated brands of diesel pumps were available to the farmer. Moreover, the farmer was obliged to offer \"speed money\" at every office, which meant that by the time the tube well was commissioned, 35-40% of the subsidy had gone as \"speed money.\"This is still the situation in north Bengal, Orissa and, to a lesser extent, in north Bihar. Eastern UP however managed to break free and transformed the diesel-pump subsidy scheme into a powerful instrument of smallholder irrigation. During the mid-1980s, a series of changes occurred in the design and implementation of the FBS, which pitchforked the private dealer of diesel pumps to the role of the central coordinating mechanism for the scheme. These changes sharply reduced the transaction costs that small farmers faced in accessing the subsidy and loan scheme. The diesel-pump dealer became the one-stop-shop for farmers wanting to set up a tube well under the FBS. In the course of unstructured interviews with nearly 200 small farmers in the Gorakhpur, Maharajganj and Deoria districts of eastern UP, we found that the presence of the diesel-pump dealer was one of the best things to happen to the small farmers in the region; and that this dealer had been instrumental in transforming the much-berated FBS into a powerful intervention in groundwater development. All that an eligible small farmer has to do now is to provide his photograph and land documents to the dealer of the brand of diesel pump he prefers; the dealer then takes over and completes the entire process of getting approvals and clearances from the government departments involved and the bank. The pump and GI pipes are issued to the farmer on the same day; he is free to hire local rig operators to get his boring done, and inside of a week of applying, his tube well is commissioned. By then, the dealer has got all the formalities cleared and the transaction is completed. Scores of farmers we interviewed did agree that the cost of the pump without the subsidy would be lower by 8-10% but considered this a small sewa-shulk (service fee) 21 for the red carpet the dealer rolled out for them. By a rough estimate, over 800,000 small diesel-pump-operated tube wells have been installed in eastern UP under the FBS after 1985, which probably irrigate a gross area of 2.4-3.2 million ha of their owners' and water buyers' lands besides providing some much-needed vertical drainage to the region. By any reckoning, this rapid increase in the dieselpump density is at the heart of eastern UP's belated Green Revolution, which has still proved elusive to other flood-prone areas of eastern India such as north Bengal, coastal Orissa and north and central Bihar.What changes brought into play this virtuous \"dealer dynamic\" are neither clear nor fully explored. But from our discussions with pump dealers and \"beneficiaries\" throughout the region, the main procedural changes were: a) the requirement that only Minor Irrigation Department staff make free bores was given up, and farmers were allowed to get their bores done by numerous private rigging contractors who did the job quicker, cheaper and better; b) the insistence on the Minor Irrigation Department holding the stocks of one or two brands of pumps was abandoned; and the farmer was allowed to choose the brand he preferred; c) through another procedural modification, it was now possible for the banks to directly pay to the dealer for the diesel pump; the subsidy was adjusted in the farmer's account while the balance, treated as a loan, is to be repaid by the farmer in installments over 3 or 5 years.There is indicative evidence to suggest that these changes came about gradually in response to \"pulls\" from the dealer community to simplify the procedures for accessing the FBS. As the de-electrification of rural eastern UP gathered momentum, the demand for diesel pumps grew. The diesel-pump dealers saw a great business opportunity in the decline of ETWs; and each district and tehsil town of eastern UP saw the rise of an uncommonly large community (20-60) of diesel-pump dealers competing fiercely amongst themselves for increasing their market share in the growing market for diesel pumps. As the business grew, besides the brand-image and the dealer-image, the Unique Selling Proposition each dealer began to offer to his customers was the ease and speed of getting the FBS formalities completed at a low sewa-shulk. Large dealers 21 A good estimate of the service charge is provided by the \"discount\" of Rs 700-1,800 that the off-the-shelf buyer gets compared to a farmer applying for the loan-subsidy scheme. This \"discount\" on direct purchase without subsidy includes a) the unofficial payments (bribes)-that pump dealers have to pay in agencies authorized to approve the loan and subsidy; b) other money and time costs-mostly of running around from office to office-involved in getting the application processed; c) interest costs incurred during the processing time-between the date of the farmer's first approach with photo and land records when he collects his engine and pump, and the date when the check gets released. The discount varies over a long interval because large dealers, who get applications processed in fair-sized lots, are able to carry out these tasks at a lower average cost compared to small dealers who get applications processed in ones and twos; and because of intense competition, rather than using their lower cost to increase monopoly profits, large dealers demand a lower \"service charge\" to attract customers and increase their market share.with reputed brands of pumps had a head start over smaller ones and some of these sold 3,000-4,000 pumps/yr., and could, therefore, develop a different system of offering \"rents\" to various agencies involved in processing FBS applications; they often paid monthly installments rather than a \"piece rate\" that smaller dealers paid on a case-by-case basis; moreover, many large dealers began to keep a special team of staff whose sole job was to take a bunch of \"subsidy files\" every morning from office to office and get them cleared by the evening. Many of these large dealers thus were able to offer farmers highly rated brands of pumps under FBS for as little as 5% of the subsidy as a sewa-shulk. Smaller dealers are not as \"efficient\" as larger ones in cutting the transaction costs of FBS access but are restrained from levying a high sewa-shulk because of the price leadership role of large dealers in setting a reference service charge. It also seems that dealers, whom pump manufacturers offer pretty high retail margins varying from 18% to 30% of the sale price, gun for maximizing their sales and market share rather than taking a cut from the \"service charge,\" which therefore has little or no \"rent\" extracted by the dealers.How do we know that this so-called \"dealer dynamic\" has helped stimulate eastern UP's groundwater development? There is no direct macro-level evidence; the 1992 minor irrigation census, when it becomes available, will provide some direct district-wise data, which in comparison with the 1987 census data will provide a clearer picture. However, all field studies on well irrigation suggest that a large majority of private pumps are diesel pumps, they are owned by small and marginal farmers, they were acquired under the pump-subsidy scheme and, above all, they were installed in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Another indicative evidence is provided by the data on the offtake of institutional credit for minor irrigation (primarily, pumps and tube wells). Figure 12 shows the State-wise refinance provided for minor irrigation Growth of NABARD refinance for tube-well construction in Indian Sates: 1982Sates: -83/1996-97. -97. by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, which is a very good proxy for the offtake of pumps under the loan-subsidy scheme. Clearly, it shows that while the rest of eastern India has been lukewarm in using NABARD's refinance facility, UP has beaten even States like Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra where private smallholder irrigation has always been a strong sector.This transformation of the FBS into an instrument of expanding small-farmer ownership of diesel pumps and bore-wells has powerful and far-reaching ramifications. On the downside, the pump dealer has been widely discredited as the shady operator on the scene precisely because he is at the center stage of the entire scheme and lay-observers see him as the recipient of the bribe that is the sewa-shulk; even some pump manufacturers we interviewed considered them with disdain in the wheelerdealer class; it is also likely that the reformed FBS is a trifle more prone to mis-targeting. However, the vastly beneficial overall impacts of the FBS under \"dealer dynamic\" have been commonly overlooked: for one, it has expanded eastern UP's pump density (measured as the number of 5-hp pumps per 100 ha of farmlands) 22 Northern region: Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan; east and northeastern: Bihar, Orissa, west Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Manipur and other northeastern States; western: Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa; southern: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamilnadu; central: Madhya Pradesh and UP. It must be noted that eastern UP's 16 districts, which are an important part of eastern India are included in central India along with the rest of UP; this means that eastern India's poverty as well as groundwater resources are understated in these charts.from less than 10 in the mid-1970s to 40-50 in the early 1990s; despite room for mis-targeting, FBS has probably single-handedly done far more to put a pump in the hands of the poor than any other policy initiative ever. The increased intensity of competition among pump-irrigation sellers and its beneficial results further leverage the overall impact of high pump density for ultra-poor water buyers. Above all else, the increased diesel-pump density has greatly moderated the disastrous impact of the rural de-electrification of eastern UP; its role in ushering in eastern UP's ongoing agrarian transformation becomes all too clear when one compares today's eastern UP with regions like north Bengal, which have little rural electrification and where the dieselpump subsidy scheme works pretty much like the way it did in eastern UP in the early 1980s. Eastern UP is already catching up with western UP, Punjab and Haryana, in terms of its agricultural productivity, land-use intensity and other parameters of agrarian growth; but the rest of eastern India, barring small pockets, is still stagnating in traditional technologies and methods, at least 20 years behind eastern UP.Eastern UP, a microcosm of eastern India and the GMB basin, has also served as the latter's leader and pathfinder. Our chief argument in this report is that there have been striking parallels between eastern UP and the rest of eastern Indian States in the public policies pursued to stimulate groundwater development and how they have failed to achieve their objectives. To be sure, the gulf between eastern and western UP is analogous to the gulf between eastern India and the rest of India. In illustrating this gulf, we have derived figure 13 based on NABARD (1995);22 and from the analysis by Fan, Hazell and Thorat (1998) presented in table 3. Figure 13 shows that eastern India contains over a fifth of India's blocks but it is home to nearly 88 million, or a third of India's rural poor. One department in which the eastern region has a great scope for poverty-focused development is groundwater; it has 25% of India's usable groundwater resources; and less than 20% of it is developed. And as we reviewed earlier, developing this resource further can not only create livelihoods and agricultural growth but also alleviate the chronic problems of waterlogging and flood-proneness that have bewitched the region. That there need be no worries on account of overexploitation of groundwater in the eastern region is also suggested by figure 12, which shows that only 4 of India's 600 \"dark\" blocks are in the eastern region. Eastern UP's experience provides us many lessons for jump-starting eastern India's groundwater economy; but the most important is that public policies and programs-such as the public and community tube-well programs and rural electrification program-have not worked as planned. Based on our analysis, a strategy of stimulating poverty-focused groundwater development in eastern India needs to have at least five elements:• first, eastern India needs to seriously reconsider its existing minor irrigation programs run by government bureaucracies, which gobble up funds but deliver little minor irrigation;• second, while the electricity-supply environment is in total disarray, innovative ideas need to be piloted to test alternative approaches to efficient metering and Distribution of blocks, dark blocks, rural poor, groundwater resource and NABARD refinance for minor irrigation across five regions of India. collection of electricity dues from millions of small users;• third, programs are needed to improve the efficiency of electric as well as diesel pumps;• fourth, there is a need to promote smaller than 5-hp diesel pumps and improved manual irrigation technologies;• finally, above all else, east Indian States need to reform their pump subsidy schemes in the style that UP has done so as to ameliorate the pump-capital scarcity, which lies at the heart of the problem. We deal with each of these at some depth in concluding this essay.With the plethora of studies and evaluations that testify to the resounding failure of PTW programs in eastern UP and elsewhere in India, cessation of support to such programs should be a forgone conclusion; however, this is far from the case. In many States, new programsmostly donor-supported-are afoot to make new investments in group-owned and -managed minor irrigation assets, or to rehabilitate past investments. This steadfast devotion of donors and governments to the notion that the poor can access benefits of groundwater irrigation only through government-or community-managed tube wells seems particularly unfounded in eastern India where the conditions are best suited for small-scale owner-managed tube wells. In eastern UP, at least, the PTW program tried to harness scalar economies and new technologies-such as deep tube wells, piped distribution and dedicated power supply-to cover 100 ha or more of design command under each tube well. But in many other east Indian States, government departments are building small tube wells of the type that private farmers have and operate these through a bureaucracy at levels, which do not even cover their operators' salary. At the end of a spell of fieldwork in Puri district of Orissa, I found:\"Of the 99 Lift Irrigation (LI) schemes that Orissa Lift Irrigation Corporation's (OLIC) Pipli office is responsible for in these three blocks, 61 were functional; last year , according to OLIC records these irrigated 1,113 acres (average command area/LI is 18.2 acres) and collected an irrigation fee of Rs 216,600 (average fee collection/LI is Rs 3,550; average fee/acre is Rs 194.60). The economics of the LIs seems designed for unviability in perpetuity. Four new schemes were constructed in 1996-97 at a total cost of Rs 2.4 million; if this represents the general picture, the average 5-hp LI, which commands an average of 6-7 acres, costs Rs 600,000 apiece or Rs 90,000+/acre or over Rs 200,000/ha of net irrigated area commanded! Farmers build irrigation potential at 10% of this cost. This must be among the costliest irrigation potential created in a region, which abounds in groundwater and surface water.It is crazy that DRDAs and NABARD are throwing away good money after bad, but it is even crazier that a thoughtful donor like Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) keeps supporting OLIC's new LI schemes\" (Shah 1998b).Similarly, in assessing the effectiveness of the Dutch-supported minor irrigation program in north Bengal, I found that: \"...the critical challenge of minor irrigation development-and, indeed, of overall agrarian growth-in north Bengal is of dealing with the pump capital scarcity…of raising its pump density of around 1-3 pumps/100 ha of net sown area to 25-40. This requires programs designed to put the pump into the hands of the poor…north Bengal, instead, has been busy building minor irrigation miscellanies that gobble funds but make little net addition to minor irrigation. Most of India gave up building new PTWs and big community-managed river lift irrigation schemes 15 years ago; but north Bengal-which does not need deep tube wells in the first place-has continued building them. [Then, the] use of buried pipeline distribution systems in north Bengal-a flat terrain with the marginal value of groundwater at subzero levelsseems to be a doubtful strategy. True, large group tube wells with buried pipelines are doing well in north Gujarat and Maharashtra where farmers have money and enterprise but not groundwater. North Bengal's farmers have too much water but no pump capital; collective management of lift irrigation systems is neither necessary nor worthwhile for them. The correct minor irrigation strategy for Gujarat is clearly a wrong minor irrigation strategy for north Bengal; it should be the reverse of it\" (Shah 1998a).The first important initiative needed to stimulate groundwater development is to discontinue forthwith these costly programs of building public-and community-managed deep tube wells and large river lift irrigation schemes. Countless examples show that these are costlier to build and operate compared to small private tube wells, they are extremely difficult to manage, and use technologies for which there is no rationale in eastern India.During the 1980s, I showed that, in eastern India with abundant groundwater, a reasonably high flat electricity tariff, accompanied by a carefully rationed agricultural power supply, can be a powerful way of transforming groundwater markets into an effective instrument of small farmer development without subsidizing electricity (Chambers et al. 1987;Shah 1993). The argument had several propositions: a) a flat tariff reduces the real cost of supplying power to farmers by saving substantial costs of metering and revenue collection; b) it curtails the powerful incentive to pilfer under the metered tariff scheme; c) it forces ETW owners to sell more water by charging lower prices to buyers who are mostly the resource-poor; d) where diesel-pump owners compete with ETW owners in local water markets, the latter exercise a disciplining influence on the former and oblige them to sell water at a price lower than what they would have set; e) the Electricity Board can counter the propensity of ETW owners to expand their use of power under the flat tariff scheme either by raising the flat tariff to cover the average full cost and/or by carefully rationing high-quality power supply to agriculture. The veracity of these propositions has been proven by the experience of many Indian States, including eastern UP where, even today, ETW owners who remain sell water at a much lower price than that charged by diesel-pump owners and are a disciplining influence on local water markets. Many States have raised their flat tariff to reasonable levels. Haryana has raised its flat tariff to Rs 65/hp/month-at which its electricity subsidies have been maintained at manageable levels. Gujarat has a progressive flat tariff of Rs 195/hp/yr. for smaller than 7.5-hp tube wells going up to Rs 360/hp/yr. for tube wells bigger than 15-hp. However, this analysis presupposed fine-tuned management of electricity supply and pricing policies that eastern State governments and electricity boards have proven unequal to. As a result, the flat tariff has produced nearly opposite results in eastern India-of its rapid rural deelectrification. However, the critical role of rural electrification in eastern India's agricultural economy needs to be recognized. For one, in real terms, electricity is cheaper than diesel. Second, it is cleaner. Third, since over half of eastern UP's electricity is generated from hydroelectric projects, it makes good sense to promote its use for the region's agricultural development. Finally, as we reviewed earlier, east Indian agriculture, in effect, suffers from negative electricity subsidies; and if Central and State governments are willing to commit substantial public funds to subsidize canal irrigation and PTW programs, there is a strong case for removing the effective tax on agricultural power consumption by creating an opportune power-supply environment in the region.No matter how urgent the need for improving eastern India's power-supply environment, may be for the region's agricultural development, it is unlikely that such improvement and the investments needed for them will come about without exploring radically new ways of pricing rural power supply, especially because dieselization of pump irrigation has provided an effective \"safety valve\" that will reduce the intensity of popular discontent. The existing literature offers no insights into how best to do this. The central issue is of reducing the SEB's metering and collection costs by drastically reducing the number of power-supply points that the SEB directly monitors. One idea worth experimenting is some variation of electricity cooperatives that became hugely successful in rural US in the early decades of the last century and that has also worked in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh though not very successfully. Basically, the Indian electricity cooperatives have been doing power distribution; they buy power in bulk and distribute it to their members; the Electricity Board finds it useful because they are in a better position to contain pilferage and collect electricity bills at lower costs. An alternative that uses the same principle is to invite Gram Panchayats (Village Councils) to undertake the distribution of power within the village and collect electricity dues. In such an arrangement, the SEB can maintain one central meter for the village as a whole and charge the Panchayat based on metered consumption by the village. The Panchayat can then monitor power consumption by both domestic and agricultural consumers and recover electricity dues from them. The arrangement can be attractive if the SEB can pass on to the Panchayats its own metering and collection costs, which are huge and were estimated to be nearly 45-50% of the actual cost of agricultural power supply. Efficient Panchayats can then transform electricity retailing into an income-generating proposition. An inferior alternative is to try private powerdistribution contractors who will be charged on consumption recorded in a central SEB meter and who, in turn, retail power to individual users.An important technological device that can make such decentralized retailing of electricity is the prepaid electricity cards that, for example, have been vigorously promoted by Eskom, the South African electricity utility to small, dispersed consumers. Eskom discovered the usefulness of the prepaid cards in meeting precisely the same challenge that Indian SEBs are facing, viz., of charging for power based on use by large numbers of tiny users scattered over a vast area. For the power supplier, this technology drastically reduces the cost of metering and charge-collection; for the users, it offers a transparent device to plan and monitor their electricity consumption. The prepaid card technology may be expensive for low volumes; but for the kind of large volumes that rural power consumers in India offer, the cost of the technology can be very affordable; and largescale user acceptance can be ensured if the SEBs transfer part of the savings to users while improving the quality of power supply to adopters. Finally, when combined with prepaid cards, decentralized retailing and charging for power become a distinctly more feasible proposition.A critical issue in eastern India's groundwater irrigation is energy use in pumping and the measures to improve it; while its efficiency dimensions are well documented its equity dimensions are not. The subject has been studied since the early 1970s and a general empirical conclusion is that 30-35% of the energy actually used by irrigation pump sets can be saved through \"rectification\" of pump sets. It is suggested that against the maximum achievable \"system efficiency\" of 54% for electric pump sets and 20% for diesel pump sets, observed efficiencies are sometimes as low as 13% and 5%, respectively. Reasons? The subsidized flat electricity tariff and the ignorance of farmers about selection, operation and upkeep of the pump. S. M. Patel, an agricultural engineer based in Ahmedabad who pioneered thousands of pump rectification experiments throughout India, has asserted that replacing only the foot-valve and suction pipe increases the water output of diesel pumps by 30%. But as table 4 shows full-scale rectification-involving appropriately matched foot-valve, suction pipe, delivery pipe, pump and engine-can increase the discharge of a diesel pump by 85% and cut diesel consumption/hour by 17% (Patel and Pandey 1989;Reidhead 1999).Independently of S. M. Patel's work, some Dutch-supported shallow tube-well projects using diesel engines in north Bengal also found energy efficiency of these pumping systems unacceptably low. Experiments on pump The results have been mixed; and an important reason is that farmers are unable to meet the exacting conditions of maintenance, repair and spare-parts that high-fuel efficiency demands (Reidhead 1999). Nevertheless, the reasons for persisting with the pump-rectification programs are compelling. Existing programs are driven primarily by the energy efficiency goal and secondarily by the pollution-control goal. Reidhead (1999) estimates that rectification of all 5.4 million diesel pump sets in India can save 1 billion liters of diesel every year, or an annual economic gain of Rs 28 billion for a capital investment of Rs 48 billion. But an important additional reason, at least to push the diesel-pump rectification program, is equity. We examined the conceptual and empirical basis of the argument that asserts the price at which diesel pump owners sell water to resource-poor water buyers is linked directly with the cost of diesel consumed per hour by a multiple that tends to be \"sticky.\" Because the sale of pump irrigation is transacted on the basis of hours of pumping rather than on the quantity of water, the cost of inefficiency of the pumps gets transferred to water buyers in two ways: for the same price/hour, buyers get less water than they would get from a rectified pump; second, rectified pump owners would be able to charge a lower price as a competitive strategy because they use less diesel per hour of operation. It is highly plausible then that a group of rectified diesel-pump owners competing with inefficient diesel-pump owners in a village would enjoy a powerful competitive advantage over the latter, create welfare gains for the water buyers in terms of doubly reduced cost per unit of water, and generate strong incentives for the rest of the diesel-pump owners to rectify their pump sets. Figure 14, which explores the profitmaximizing strategy of a water seller, suggests that after pump rectification, which lowers his marginal cost of water production, he would be induced to sell a Q 1 amount of water that is more than Q 0 , which he sold earlier at a profitmaximizing price P 1 , that is lower than P 0 , which he charged before pump rectification.C, much lower than the temperature at which diesel engines are designed to operate. The NBTDP experiment attached a 25-liter water drum mounted on a bracket and welded to the delivery pipe. An inlet hose at the bottom of the drum leads the water into the engine; after circulating in the engine, the water is discharged back into the drum through an outlet at the top of the drum. The temperature of the circulating water stabilizes at 75 0 C and is replenished every 2 hours. 25 In north Bengal, as elsewhere in the Ganga basin-where suction heads range from 2 to 5 meters, a 5-hp engine proves oversized; here, pumps use only 2.3-2.5-hp and at 1,500 rpm, engines operate at part-load and therefore at low efficiency. Decreasing the engine speed to 1,100 rpm, the lowest possible speed, the power output is reduced to 3.7-hp, which is still too much. The speed (rpm) is reduced by counteracting the spring on the fuel pump with a rubber band.The fourth element of the strategy for groundwater-led rural regeneration in the Ganga basin is the promotion of small pumps and improved manual irrigation technologies. In arguing for the pump-rectification programs, we noted that the shallow tube wells and dug-wells in the Ganga basin cannot use all the power of a 5-hp engine because the suction head is very low; and that, at full rpm, the pumps effectively use just around 2-2.5-hp. The ideal solution would be to offer 2-or 2.5-hp diesel engines in this region; however, after 50 years of groundwater development, the Indian dieselpump manufacturers have not effectively promoted anything smaller than a 5-hp diesel engine that might drive an irrigation pump. Even today, only two manufacturers-Greves Cotton and Sriram Honda offer a 1.95-hp diesel/ kerosene pump, which is popular in parts of the Chhotanagpur plateau; but it is difficult to find pumps of this size elsewhere in the basin. For a long time, the industry kept arguing that the market for small diesel pumps is very small. It was also suggested that the 5-hp diesel engine is versatile because it can be used to run a thresher or a generator set. The key reason, it seems, is that the small pumps marketed by the Indian manufacturers do not offer a significant price advantage compared to the 5hp pumps nor are they particularly fuel-efficient in the field conditions as some of the Chinese small pumps are proving to be in Bangladesh. If the import of micro-diesel pumps had been allowed, small farmers, especially in the Indian side of the Ganga basin, would probably have taken to them in large numbers, as Bangladesh farmers have taken to Chinese micro-diesel pumps.The availability of diesel pumps in a range of hp ratings would expand the choices available to the farmers to adopt a pump that fits his farm size. It would also help refine the pump-irrigation market; smaller pumps would be able to sell at a lower price because they are more fuel-efficient; this would also influence the competition within local water markets. Smaller pumps will also promote energy efficiency. Finally, since smaller pumps Impact of pump rectification on the economics of a water seller.will also be correspondingly cheaper to acquire as well as to operate, they will be more appropriate and accessible to small and marginal farmers.Indeed, the thumping response that improved manual technologies-such as treadle pumps-have received in Bangladesh and also in eastern India underscores the point that small farmers' capital investment decisions are highly price-sensitive. The hallmark of the treadle pump is that it costs in the neighborhood of Rs 750 to buy, it does not necessitate recurring cash outlays on diesel or kerosene, and it can be conveniently operated by men, women or children; and at a discharge of 0.9-1.1 l/s, it can easily irrigate half an acre of vegetables or even paddy. The treadle pump is an outstanding example of how access to groundwater irrigation can significantly improve the livelihoods of the ultra-poor. Many studies have tried to assess the impacts of the technology; the most recent one (Shah et al. 2000:1) concluded that: \"a) the treadle pump technology does \"selfselect\" the poor, although the first-generation adopters tend to be the less poor; b) it transforms smallholder farming systems in different ways in different subregions; in north Bengal and Bangladesh, adopters take to cultivation of HYV rice in the boro season; elsewhere, adopters turn to vegetable cultivation and marketing; c) it results in increased land-use intensity as well as \"priority cultivation;\" adopters provide crop-saving irrigation in a large part of their holdings but practice highly intensive farming in the \"priority plot;\" d) average crop yields on \"priority plots\" tend to be much higher than those obtained by farmers using diesel pumps or other irrigation devices; e) the income impact varies across households and regions; but US$100/yr. as an average increase in annual net income seems a conservative estimate. Less-enterprising adopters achieve fuller employment at an \"implicit wage rate\" that is 1.5-2.5 times the market rate. The more enterprising take to intelligent commercial farming and earn substantially more. For a marginal farmer with $12-15 to spare, there could hardly be a better investment than a treadle pump, which has a benefit/cost ratio of 5, an IRR of 100% and a payback period of a year. It thus ideally fills the need of the marginal farmers. The challenge lies in its marketing; exceptional ingenuity seems required to put the treadle pump in the hands of millions of the rural poor. In Bangladesh, where this has become possible, over a million pumps so far sold probably do not account for a large proportion of irrigated area but have certainly reached a significant proportion of Bangladesh's rural poor.\"Finally, and above all, the eastern States need a drastic reform of their pump subsidy and credit schemes. As a region (including eastern UP) that is home to more than a third of India's rural poor and that commands a third of the country's groundwater resources, one would have imagined that eastern India would also get a corresponding share in minor irrigation credit. Yet, only 7% of NABARD's minor irrigation refinance-representing the total offtake of minor irrigation credit-goes to eastern India. It is important to recognize that this poor offtake does not reflect the absence of need or demand for subsidy support; nor does it reflect NABARD's unwillingness to push credit for tube wells in eastern India. Above all, it reflects the difficulty, hassle and transaction costs of accessing pump-subsidy and loan schemes as they are designed and operated by State governments. Indeed, the first-best solution is to remove pump subsidies altogether; in our analysis, pump prices in India would fall by 30-40% if pump subsidies were removed and free import of Chinese pumps was allowed. In Pakistan, which meets both these conditions, pump prices are 35-40% lower than in India, where pump subsidies and import restrictions have kept prices artificially inflated (see, e.g., Shah et al. 2000). However, if pump subsidies have to be maintained, their design and operation need to ensure smooth access and freedom from hassle and bribes in accessing these. This can be understood by the examples of north Bengal (Shah 1998b), where the pump subsidy scheme has become an instrument of political patronage and of Orissa where it has become a bureaucratic spoils system (Shah 1998a;1998b).In Coochbehar and Jalpaiguri districts of north Bengal-which are as flush with groundwater resources and equally bewitched by the problem of rural poverty as eastern UP-a scheme has existed for long to rapidly augment private stock of pump capital; however, a recent assessment of minor irrigation policy in north Bengal showed that the subsidy scheme of the latter has been systematically co-opted by the State's minor irrigation administration and the Panchayati Raj institutions; and the process of accessing the scheme has been made so lengthy, complex and laborious that small farmers, without backing in the political system, have completely given up hope of ever benefiting from it (Shah 1998a).The procedure for accessing the pump subsidy in north Bengal involves the following steps: 1) the aspirant, equipped with necessary documentation, gets his request registered with the Gram Panchayat; 2) once the Gram Panchayat clears his request, a Gram Panchayat member has to recommend his name to the Block Development Officer; 3) the application is discussed in periodic meetings of the Bank, Gram Panchayat Pradhan and Panchayat Samiti (Block Council) member concerned to assess the creditworthiness and eligibility of the aspirant; 4) if the aspirant clears this stage, his application is completed and forwarded to the bank with the recommendation of the Panchayat Samiti; 5) after this, the bank claims the subsidy from the DRDA; 6) the bank releases the loan but only after the DRDA reimburses the subsidy; 7) the bank issues the Delivery Order to the beneficiary who can go and claim his diesel pump. The procedure generally takes 1 year or more; in recent times, it has seldom got completed because banks, facing mass defaults in government-subsidy schemes, are dragging their feet.A major deterrent is the \"quota\" system. Each district, each Panchayat Samiti and each Gram Panchayat has a quota fixed by the government and Zilla Parishads. For a long time, the bulk of the quota got used up by Gram Panchayats buying subsidized diesel pumps and stocking them ostensibly for renting out to small and marginal farmers. 28 We found all-round frustration with the pump-subsidy scheme, which was matched only by their frustration in accessing the Gram Panchayat diesel-pumps-for-renting. Even farmers who were Gram Panchayats or Panchayat Samiti members thought the procedure to access the loan-subsidy scheme to be very lengthy, complex and tiresome; so politically unconnected small farmers seldom tried it. A dealer in oil engines we met in Jalpaiguri lamented that a) the system of processing the loan-subsidy in west Bengal is extremely complex and takes enormous time; b) the dealer has no role in it; he comes into the picture only after all the loan-subsidy formalities are completed; and c) this affects the demand for pumps, which can be potentially large. Another prominent and experienced diesel-pump dealer of Coochbehar, however, went to the heart of the problem of why the subsidy-loan scheme here does not function quite like it does in eastern UP. He said that the pump dealer has a very limited marketing role in north Bengal; no buyer approaches the dealer until his application has been cleared at all the steps of the loansubsidy process; so all that the dealer can do is to scout for farmers whose applications are already approved and try to sell his brand to him. The transaction cost of influencing the Panchayat decision-making process is very high; therefore, the diesel-pump dealer in north Bengal has not been very aggressive.In Orissa whose capital is Bhubaneshwar, a 50% subsidy is available on the cost of diesel as well as on electrified tube wells but the entire process of subsidy approval and supply of equipment is controlled by the Orissa Agro-Industries Corporation (OAIC) pretty much as the pump subsidy was administered in UP before it was reformed in the mid-1980s but the process is faster. The procedure here is: a) the farmer approaches the OAIC office with a completed form and required documentation; b) he gets the necessary clearance from the Agriculture Department; c) he deposits Rs 1,000 for test drilling; d) the OAIC makes an estimate of the total cost of the tube well; e) the farmer deposits 50% of the estimated cost with the OAIC; f) the pump and pipe are released immediately; and the bore-well gets commissioned in 7-8 days by any of the approved contractors of the OAIC. The OAIC people claimed that there is minimum hassle and delay; although the subsidy has to be approved by the Bhubaneshwar office, which often takes 4-5 months, the OAIC releases it to the farmer immediately; so the farmer does not have to wait. Several farmers we talked to agreed that hassle, running around from-this-government-office-to-that and delay are not the problems of availing of the OAIC subsidy; the problem is that there is little or no real subsidy left for the farmer; the bulk of it is swiped by the OAIC in the form of inflated cost estimates. The estimates made by the OAIC, based on which 50% subsidy is claimed, are so much higher than the market prices that effectively the farmer gets very little real subsidy. This is true about all the agroequipment that the OAIC supplies on a 50% subsidy. In the course of fieldwork in the Puri district of Orissa in 1998, I found that the market price of the best brands of hand pumps ranged from Rs 290 to Rs 520; one dealer offered confidently to install any make of hand pump successfully for Rs 1,500; but at a local OAIC office, he was told that the unit cost of the hand pump (only the pump) is Rs 2,776 on which the farmer gets a subsidy of Rs 1,388, four times the market price of a hand pump (Shah 1998b). I also interviewed farmers who withdrew their applications for the subsidy scheme after they found that the cost estimates made by the OAIC were more than twice they would incur if they went direct to the market; in effect, thus there was a negative subsidy. In the case of hand pumps and diesel pumps, the farmer always has the option to go to the private dealers and not claim subsidy; but in the case of treadle pumps, the OAIC is a monopoly supplier. Manufacturers of treadle-pumps were willing to offer treadle pumps at Rs 785 each; but the OAIC brought the treadle pump under their subsidy list, priced it at Rs 1,400 and offered a subsidy of 50%. In Orissa, thus, the process of claiming the pump subsidy is smooth and fast, but there is effectively very little real subsidy to the claim. No wonder, then, that private investment in pump irrigation has not responded to the government's offer of the 50% subsidy.Clearly, between them, eastern UP, north Bengal and Orissa offer us three models of \"rent-seeking\" from the monopoly that different groups of decision makers enjoy over the power to grant approval to loans/subsidy schemes. In north Bengal, the monopoly is enjoyed by members of the ruling political formation who use it as patronage to command and strengthen allegiance and political support; but since this objective is not consonant with the objectives of nationalized banks and NABARD, they have reduced their participation. In Orissa, the monopoly is vested in the Corporation, which has effectively skimmed the bulk of the subsidy by over-costing; as a result, the \"demand pull\" for the loan-subsidy scheme from the farmers itself has been weak. In eastern UP, the absolute monopoly power itself is diffused through the competitive dealer dynamic resulting in a win-win situation for all: dealers interested in increasing their sales and market share find in the FBS a powerful instrument; banks are happy because dealers take part-responsibility for recovering the loans; staff in relevant government and bank offices are happy because their total rents are large (though the piece rate is lower); and farmers are supremely happy because for a small sewa-shulk dealers roll the red carpet for them, and get their tube wells commissioned inside of 10 days.There is a strong case for the rest of eastern India to redesign their pump-subsidy scheme à la eastern UP. Probably the most important first step to doing this is to recognize that the primary purpose of minor irrigation policy in east Indian States is to put the pumps in the hands of the small and marginal farmer. Second, the government should discontinue all allocations to government-and communitymanaged minor irrigation schemes since all available evidence shows that these fail to produce sustainable minor irrigation. Third, concentrating available financial resources for minor irrigation in the pump-subsidy scheme should create a general sense of resource sufficiency; similarly, NABARD too should help create the impression that all eligible loan applications will be processed and sanctioned. Creating this sense of sufficiency is important in breaking the monopoly rents that the power to approve loan and subsidy applications creates in bureaucracies. Fourth, the farmer should be given freedom to choose whatever brand of pump and engine he wants to buy; he should also have the freedom to choose his own contractor to make his bore-well. Fifth, the procedures to access the pump loan/subsidy scheme should be streamlined and rationalized as in UP. Finally, the dealer as well as the local administration should be vigorously involved in the recovery of loans.It has to be concluded, then, that the story of groundwater-based livelihood creation in eastern India is one of failed public initiatives but one of successful adaptive responses by private agents. It has long been recognized that rapid development of groundwater irrigation in this region can create massive welfare for the poor by energizing the region's predominantly agrarian economy. Yet, the public and community tube-well program initiated by the government and supported by many donors has, in retrospect, been a resounding failure. The Rural Electrification Program, hugely funded by the World Bank, could also have stimulated much groundwater irrigation; however, the 1980s saw progressive \"de-electrification\" of eastern India's countryside, and a rapid decline in electricity use in the region's agriculture. Finally, while the public-sector financial institutions channelized massive resources to support groundwater development in western and southern India, where overexploitation of the resources has been reaching critical proportions, eastern India, which has much unutilized groundwater potential, has received a much smaller amount of institutional credit than its fair share.In the face of such public-policy failures, it is not surprising that groundwater development in the Ganga basin has been far slower than elsewhere in the subcontinent. The redeeming aspect has been adaptive responses of private actors that, in eastern UP and north Bihar, have stimulated private groundwater development and catalyzed a belated Green Revolution. Here, the failure of the PTW program was overshadowed by the rise of pervasive pump-irrigation markets; and the impact of rural \"deelectrification\" was offset by the rapid dieselization of groundwater irrigation. An alternative to the high fuel cost of diesel-pump irrigation too was promoted-not by the government-but by the International Development Enterprises, a private NGO, which promoted treadle-pump irrigation as a technology for the poor. Finally, a hassle-ridden FBS was transformed into an instrument of small farmer development by spontaneous \"dealer dynamic\" in eastern UP and north Bihar. The moral of the story is clear: tube-wellinduced agrarian dynamism that we find in eastern UP and north Bihar in recent years can spread to all of eastern India and Nepal terai if public policy makers learn correct lessons from the experience of these two subregions.The object of this policy paper has been to understand these lessons. Our key conclusion is that much public policy effort aimed to stimulate groundwater-based livelihood creation has so far been misdirected and infructuous. In future, the best role for public policy lies in catalyzing and supporting private action. The strategy outlined to do this suggests five points of attack:• Discontinue government minor irrigation programs; instead focus on private tube wells as the primary mode for groundwater development.• Improve the electricity-supply environment for agriculture by reintroducing metered tariff, decentralized retailing of electricity, and the use of prepaid electricity cards.• Initiate planned interventions to improve the energy efficiency of agricultural pumping sets.• Introduce small diesel pumps and manual irrigation technologies for vegetable growers and marginal farmers.• Remove the pump subsidies while also opening up the imports of Chinese pumps; if doing this is not feasible or practical, follow the next best alternative of redesigning the pump-subsidy schemes à la UP's FBS."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"05101b72d6dc4b1e1e80b84b8e24e6f0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2f45d8e1-a68b-4399-a1b1-dd91a7478fc8/retrieve","id":"205870581"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7b5c679d-6829-4613-8cb4-1af2c3b314ce","content":"Two individual field consultants -Balentine Oingo, Rachel Gitundu and Lutomia Cosmas for the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT editing the report Marya Hillesland from Oxford UniversityEileen Bogweh Nchanji, Nadia Guettou Djurfeldt and Haley Carter Zaremba Access to clean, safe, and sufficient water is essential to human development and wellbeing. The importance of this imperative is recognized by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) number 6, 'Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all,' aiming to secure universal safely managed drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene services by 2030. However, achieving these targets will require a \"fourfold increase in the pace of progress,\" as billions around the world still lack these essential services (UN, 2022:38). Insecure or inadequate access to water and hygiene services has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change, and will continue to be challenged by climate change going forward.In Kenya, access to drinking water and sanitation is currently under extreme threat from the country's worst drought in 40 years, which has been greatly exacerbated in recent years due to four failed rainy seasons in a row ( UN News, 2022). In Kenya, 62% of the total population, and just 55% of the rural population, has access to improved drinking water sources (FAO 2015). What is more, only 34 percent of Kenyans have piped drinking water, according to the most recent census (KNBS, 2020). In addition to relying on rainfall for agriculture and raising livestock, many rural households must rely on unimproved water sources for household use, particularly during the dry season. In times of water scarcity, water access requires more effort and time, thereby reducing the time available for other activities. Issues of water access impact different social groups differently, particularly with respect to disability, age and gender. According to census data (ibid.), 385,417 Kenyans have disabilities related to mobility, and 333,520 have visual disabilities, which can make fetching water a much more challenging, if not impossible, task. This affects more woen as notably, more Kenyan women than men are disabled (523,883 versus 394,330, respectively).Gender differences within the household in terms of water access, water roles and responsibilities, and livelihoods means that men and women are impacted in different ways and to different degrees by water scarcity. In Kenya, as in other water-insecure contexts, women and girls tend to disproportionately carry the burden of fetching and managing water at the household level as part of the unpaid domestic work that they are socially assigned (Bukachi et al., 2021;FAO 2015;IFAD, 2022). Men only get involved in water fetching when they can sell it for income, or in rare cases for household use (FAO, 2015:14). Despite increased labor burdens and time deficits, women and girls have shown resilience in such circumstances, often leveraging social capital as a key coping strategy to secure water for their households (Bukachi et al., 2021). Considering the increasing pressures and uneven impact, there is an increasing need to understand how different social groups access and make decisions around water use and provisioning at both the household and community levels.R34819/CN159 Intrahousehold rights and decision-makingThe primary aim of this study is to explore what the local water sources are, how they are prioritized, how communities are coping with water scarcity, how water is locally governed and controlled, and how decision-making dynamics at the household as well as community levels impact the choice and use of improved and unimproved water sources, as well as the differentiated impacts these choices have on women and men. Rural households in Kenya must make a complex set of decisions around water source choices as they lack secure water access, particularly during the dry season. The study communities of Bomani and Kidzini North rely on multiple sources of water to choose from that are of different quality and reliability, with a large share of households relying on unimproved water sources, such as unprotected dams and water pans. Even these unimproved water sources become scarce in the dry season and in periods of prolonged drought. As such, this study seeks to understand what coping mechanisms are being used by community members when water and money run out. Qualitative analysis is used to examine what benefits and trade-offs are associated with these strategies, and how these benefits and trade-offs impact men and women differently due to socially prescribed gender roles. Wagner et al. (2019) argue that in order to develop and maintain adequate water supply infrastructure in rural Kenya, planners and policymakers must first understand the preferences of the households that will be using those water supplies. While data pertaining to water preferences in rural areas remains sparse, a number of studies have sought to shed light on such preferences and priorities at the household level (Basani, Isham, & Reilly, 2008;Cheesman, Bennett, & Son, 2008;Gross & Elshiewy, 2019;Madanat & Humplick, 1993;Mu, Whittington, & Briscoe, 1990;Nauges & Strand, 2007;Nauges & Van Den Berg, 2009;Wagner et al., 2019). There is still a missing gap on how household members negotiate access, use and control over water and this study fills this critical gap we will draw from qualitative data to explore how intrahousehold decision-making dynamics impact the choice of water sources across different scenarios.The analysis presented below is guided by four overarching questions:1. What are the different water sources and how are they prioritized and negotiated (e.g., what are the inclusion/exclusion criteria according to users)? 2. What are the coping mechanisms used by villagers when water and/or money runs out? 3. How is water governed? Who controls the water sources? 4. What are the intra-household dynamics pertaining to water, particularly with respect to bargaining power and gender norms? More specifically, who fetches the water? Who manages the water? Who owns the water assets and what are the negotiation and conflict dynamics between genders?Kenya is one the strongest economies in Sub-Saharan Africa according to statistics provided by the World Bank. Kenya's economy registered a 7.52% growth in 2021, up from 4.97% in 2015 and 5.11% in 2019 (World Bank, 2022). In 2020, the economy receded by -0.25% following the protracted effects of the coronavirus pandemic. It is projected to grow to 5. 7% and 5.3% in 20227% and 5.3% in and 20237% and 5.3% in , respectively (IMF, 2022)). However, the protracted war between Russia and Ukraine may dim Kenya's growth prospects. In particular, the effect of the conflict on fertilizer prices is expected to shrink Kenya's GDP growth in 2022 by 0.8% (Breisinger et al., 2022). The direct impact of high input prices is expected to result in 50% losses in agricultural GDP through disruptions in food production. This occurrence will push more people into poverty and food insecurity, as already, 8.9 million Kenyans live below $1.90 per day (Kamer, 2022).Approximately 72% of Kenya's 55 million people live in rural areas (World Bank, 2022a), and primarily depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Agriculture, which is the mainstay activity of the rural population, accounts for about 22% of the national GDP and employs 54% of the people in the country. Smallholder farming (0.2-3 hectares) accounts for 75% of the total agricultural output and has the potential to lift millions of rural households out of poverty (Olwande et al., 2015). Agriculture employs 59% of the female population and 50% of males, suggesting the critical role played by the agricultural sector in the country (World Bank, 2022a).However, agricultural livelihoods are currently under threat from multiple reinforcing factors including climate change, conflict, a growing population, and insecure land tenure. At its current rate, Kenya's population is on track to double in the next 27 years. This growth is already putting pressure on natural resources, especially in areas with high agricultural potential (FAO, n.d.). A growing population also means that land is an increasingly scarce resource. Culturally and historically, land is owned by men and not women or youths; this customary norm is still prevalent despite policy measures forbidding discrimination in land ownership and access (Mwathane & Kapanya, 2018). In Kilifi County, where this study takes place, the land tenure system is complex, with more than 60 percent of residents lacking individual land titles. High levels of landlessness have contributed to high poverty levels in the county (KCIDP, 2013). The County Integrated Development Plan invested roughly USD $3 million towards creating structures, sensitization and platforms to provide residents with individual land titles between 2013 and 2017, but many residents -and women in particular -still lack secure land tenure. While women have a predominant role in subsistence agriculture, thanks in large part to the out-migration of men to urban areas, only 5 percent of the registered land in Kenya is registered to women (NEMA, 2010). With increased urbanization and land sales, land parcels are becoming smaller, and farmers are increasingly pushed onto more marginal lands.Agricultural systems in Kenya remain predominantly rain-fed, which further intensifies the vulnerability of rural livelihoods as the effects of climate change become more pronounced. Kenya is in the midst of its worst drought in 40 years ( UN News, 2022). Four successive failed rainy seasons have created extreme water stress in many communities in Kenya's arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL), which make up over 90% of the country's area, and are home to approximately 38 percent of the national population (IFAD, 2022). Long rains in central Kenya have been steadily declining since the 1970s, and are projected to continue their decline (FEWS NET, 2010). As a result, areas of agricultural production in Kenya are shrinking. Conflicts over natural resources have intensified in some areas, especially between farmers and pastoralists (FAO, n.d.), which are exacerbated by climatic changes such as drought.The impacts of land and water scarcity, as well as economic downturns, have unequal impacts on different social groups, with women, girls, and other marginalized communities experiencing greater and differentiated vulnerabilities. The Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) gender equality rating for Kenya is 3.50 out of 6, meaning that the country has moderately performed in terms of installing institutions and programs that promote equal access to economic, educational, and health opportunities for men and women. Traditional and cultural beliefs in Kenya still impede achievement of gender parity in human development indicators. A report by the World Economic Forum indicates that while Kenya has made some progress in achieving gender parity, its performance between 2006 and 2021 is showing worrying trends (Amadala, 2019;Kivuva & Kinuthia, 2021). While the country's enrolment and completion rates of primary and secondary schools for boys and girls are almost similar, there are gender gaps in transition to higher education (Amadala, 2019;Akala, 2019).In addition, the rate of women's literacy in Kenya is significantly lower than that of men.Women are also underrepresented in high-paying jobs and women entrepreneurs struggle to access microcredit facilities (Kivuva & Kinuthia, 2021). The disparities exist despite gender mainstreaming legislation, policies and programs instituted in the last three decades, including the two-third gender role in the Constitution of Kenya and establishment of National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC). As a heterogeneous group, different Kenyan women have differential lived experiences, opportunities, and challenges according to their other intersecting identity factors (e.g., age, marital status, economic status, ethnic group, disability, etc.). Young women and adolescent girls, in particular, face acute and specific vulnerabilities, and are \"particularly vulnerable to poverty especially at the household and community level exacerbated by gender-based violence, harmful cultural attitudes, and beliefs\" (USAID, 2022).This work was carried out in Margarini and Kaloleni subcounties in Kilifi, specifically in Bomani and North Kidzini villages. These communities were selected based on the water scarcity and drought conditions in the county. Additionally, they were selected due to their mixed land tenure system, which opens up opportunities to access and use different private and communal water sources. Kilifi County is one of the ASAL counties of Kenya which face high levels of exposure and vulnerability to drought. The high levels of vulnerability in the country are in large part a product of historical under-development, particularly of public goods and services. Kilifi county has a bimodal rainfall pattern with average annual precipitation ranging from 300mm to 1,300mm. The coastal belt receives more rainfall than the hinterlands, with long rains used for agriculture and short rains to refill water spaces. The annual temperatures range between 21 to 30 degrees Celsius in the coastal belt, and 30 to 40 degrees in the hinterlands where most of the communities are located. The County of Government of Kilifi (2018) projected a three fold increase in water deficit from 2018 to 2030. This reality is felt strongly in most villages. Bomani is generally drier than Kidzini North, due to increased droughts over the past four years. In the past, most land used to be clan and family land, but at present individual land tilting is being promoted.For the qualitative study, data was collected using key informant interviews, focus group discussions and life histories. Multiple tools were used for triangulation and thick description to strengthen the credibility of the data and enable different interpretations and meanings to be included in data analysis. Using various qualitative tools also provided us with multiple realities and voices from the field that complement results from the quantitative data.We strived for equal gender representation when selecting participants in all the interviews. Socioeconomic and intersectional aspects were also considered during the selection of participants. We carried out a community profile in each village -Bomani and Kidzini North in Magarini and Kaloleni sub-county respectively with 2 men and 2 women. The FGDs were disaggregated by sex and age. A total of eight FGDs were conducted -1 young 1 woman, 1 young man, 1 woman, and 1 man, in each village. A total of 16 in-depth life history interviews were conducted with men and women from monogamous and single-headed households across the two villages. We strived to include extended and polygamous households, especially mothers-in-law, but none were available for the interviews due to varied reasons beyond our control.Community profiles were developed from key informant discussions with community leaders.The community profiles investigated the social, economic, agricultural, and political background information, available water sources, access, benefits, management and control by the community, government, and households. In addition, we were also interested in community-level factors that may contribute to changes in gender norms and capacities for exercising agency and innovating in water.Focus group discussions with men, women, young men and young women were carried out separately to map out different water sources in the community and to understand who is included/excluded from accessing, using, managing and controlling different sources within the community. We were also interested in how the above elements interact with the land on which the water is situated.Through life histories which are in-depth interviews, intrahousehold decision-making on water use, access, and benefits for men, women or youths were tackled. Life histories were also carried out to triangulate the key informant interviews and focus group discussions. It generally focused on intra-household decision-making and norms in relation to water within individual households.We selected two of the three sub-counties for the qualitative evaluation -Margarini and Kaloleni from a list containing roughly 17 villages from each sub-county, and we had to pick a village per sub-county. Our selection criteria were based on the availability of the community elder, accessibility and availability for the interviews. We targeted 4 elders (2 men and 2 women) across the villages for community profiling. For the FGDs, we had groups of 6 to 8 people in all categories. The participants for the community profile, life histories and FGDs were different to gain multiple discourses and realities from the villages. Table 1 below outlines the sample size for each module across the sub-counties. Total woman 4 4The findings presented are based on systematic content analysis of all data. In addition, the analysis benefitted from inductive hand-coding of the data on the key study topics of water sources and governance, intra-household decision-making and management, coping mechanisms, and gender roles to detect patterns. Figures were created with Lucidchart.Imprecise language due to the relaxed and conversational format of KIIs, FGDs, and life histories leave many data points somewhat subjective and open to interpretation. This was particularly true for discussions of different water sources, in which different sources were often conflated (e.g., water pans and dams) or non-specific (e.g., using the word 'taps' to refer to a number of sources under different management). Some information, and especially more nuanced meanings and subtexts, may have been lost in translation. Data was collected in Swahili, which may not be the first or preferred language for many of those interviewed; these transcripts were then translated into English.Each life history interview followed a similar flow, but each conversation played out differently and some questions were altered or omitted to fit the context, sometimes leading to incomparable results or missing details that would aid in the analysis. The benefit as well as the drawback of qualitative data collection and analysis is that it captures the perceptions and attitudes of participants, which are often contradictory, complex, and multiple. Such contradictions in the collected data are not a limitation, however, but an accurate reflection of the differential experiences, competing interests and disagreements at play in the study communities. As such, differences in perspectives are presented below as a meaningful finding rather than a methodological flaw.Finally, the authors recognize that issues of intersectionality are central to the differential lived experiences of women and men as heterogeneous groups. This study includes age and gender as important intersecting axes of identity which shape water access and differential experiences of water scarcity. However, other key factors including socioeconomic status and disability, among others, fell outside the scope of this study. These intersecting identities and their relation to issues of water access merit their own close examination in other empirical studies.Both localities involved in the study rely on a diverse array of water sources throughout the year (Table 2). Bomani and Kidzini North both rely on dams (a dug-out receptacle which fills seasonally), taps (which connect to municipal water sources), and water tanks owned by private individuals (either filled by rainwater harvesting or by a water tanker truck locally known as a water bowser), and the water bowsers themselves. Kidzini North has a number of additional water resources that Bomani does not have: water pans (a shallow dugout which is smaller than a dam), shallow wells (dug by villagers in dried river beds), and seasonal streams. In Bomani, unlike in Kidzini North, there is a well sunk at a private school which sells water, and there are boreholes available in neighboring villages, although the distance to these boreholes presents a challenge to villagers. The use and prioritization of these differing water sources depends on a variety of criteria, principally: availability, accessibility (in terms of affordability as well as distance), distance, and water quality (Table 3). Villagers in both Bomani and Kidzini North have to weigh these different criteria each time they decide where to source their waterThese decisions are often taken on a daily basis and are based on a complex combination of factors, exemplified by the decision tree in Figure 1. An additional element missing in the diagram is if you do not have a motorbike you can also rek to fetch water. This section presents the various benefits, tradeoffs, and challenges of each water source, the gendered implications of these benefits and trade-offs, and how these factors impact intra-household decision-making and the overall water stress and water resilience of the two communities.  The dam tends to be the primary water resource for communities in both Bomani and Kidzini North, as it is a free and a public resource. Most of the community dams described in this study were dug in a previous generation and inherited by the community. For example, Bomani's Agina dam was dug in the late 1970s and early 1980s, according to a community profile interview with a Bomani community leader. This dam possesses its own title deed, which the chief carries. As community-owned and -maintained water sources, dams are usually the closest and most essential water source that a village has. However, in the dry season the dams are frequently dried out, causing villagers to look for other, often less desirable options. \"The dams are our resilience,\" explained a young Kidzini North man in FGDs. \"For example, now that the dams are dry, it's a time of suffering.\" Sometimes these dry periods can last more than a single season; in a Bomani FGD, men reported that their dam has been dry for four years due to drought, causing high levels of water stress in the community.In both Bomani and Kidzini North, dams are governed by elders, and overseen by committees which are selected by the community itself, often on a volunteer basis. In both localities, these committees are made up of both men and women in approximately equal numbers. Committee members can include a wide range of ages, from youth to the elderly. These committees are tasked with enforcing rules for dam use, which include: no stepping in the dam water by humans or livestock, collecting water using a scoop to avoid stepping in the water, and no small children allowed in or near the dam for fear of contamination as well as risk of drowning. These rules are enforced by committee members or elders taking shifts watching over the dam, with fines enforced for those who violate the rules. Terms generally last one year, at which point these committee members can be reelected. If the committee members are perceived not to be doing their job properly they can be replaced at any time. Also, community activities are often organized around cleaning the dam, and any family that does not participate can be fined.While the dam is a vital lifeline for the community, as it is a free and public resource, it also presents certain tradeoffs. Even in the rainy season, the dams can face problems with reliability and maintenance. In Kidzini North, for example, young men expressed in FGDs that the local dam is poorly constructed, frequently bursting and filling with sand. In time periods when the water levels are particularly low in the dams, these young men also described instances where the village elders overseeing the dam may charge money for dam water to encourage rationing, or require those who fetch water from the dam to exchange labor for water, by helping to dig out sand for dam maintenance. In some cases, outside entities have tried to get involved with building new dams to bolster local water resilience, but according to community profile interviews, these interventions have been largely unsuccessful. One community leader from Kidzini North described an instance in which a global evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization, dug a dam in the community but did not choose a suitable location, so the dam never filled with water. Another community leader from Bomani described another dam built by another aid organization which only benefits the 20% of the community that was included in the project, and still another dam dug by the government, which community members are not allowed to do maintenance on themselves, leaving the dam in poor condition.In addition to these challenges, sanitation of dam water can be a major issue. While communities in both Bomani and Kidzini North have rules about how dam water can be used and accessed for the purpose of keeping the water clean, enforcement is uneven, and the water can become extremely dirty or unsafe to drink or cook with. Many villagers, especially the poorest, or those who can't make longer journeys due to age or disability, use this water regardless. As one Kidzini North woman explained in her life history, sometimes she's too tired to go fetch clean water, so she opts for the dirty water which is nearer; \"you weigh your options.\" Furthermore, although almost all interviewees were aware of water sanitation methods, many men and women expressed in life histories and focus group discussions that there are many instances in which people will drink and otherwise use untreated water. Reasons for this can include: they can't afford purification tablets, they can't afford the time to boil the water and wait for it to cool back down, or they are simply too tired after the exertion of getting the water itself, and therefore choose to drink it as it is.Presenting another trade-off, sourcing water from the dam can disproportionately increase labor burdens on women. Since most dams are relatively close to the communities, women are expected to fetch water from the dam as a part of their day-to-day unpaid domestic work. Typically this is done on foot, with women carrying a 20-liter jerrycan of water back to their home. As such, women can only carry limited amounts of water at a time, and may need to make several trips per day. As one man in a Bomani FGD explained, \"When there is water at the dam we [men] get to rest, because it is mostly fetched by the women.\" Young women in Bomani agreed that the responsibility of water almost always falls to women, and especially when dam water is available, expressing that men are only involved in fetching water when money is a factor.Water pans, found in Kidzini North, function much like smaller dams and are usually used as a backup when communal dams are dry or otherwise compromised. While they are dug in individuals' land upon agreement with the landowner, they are treated as shared resources to varying degrees. Depending on the management of the water pan, these resources can either be free to the community or sold to individuals, while those community members who helped to dig out the water pan are allowed to fetch water there for free. Water pans, too, can be particularly dirty, especially when they reach low water levels. Young women in a Kidzini North FGD expressed that the water pan in their area is so dirty that the water can't even be used to wash clothing. Water pans are also used as an important water source for farming, especially when the rains are scarce.There are two kinds of taps available in both Bomani and Kidzini North: public utility-run taps which sell water relatively inexpensively at roadside kiosks (approximately 5-10 shillings per 20-liter jerrycan), and private taps. These private taps are set up by individuals with the means to have water piped into their homes, or by groups who collectively set up a water kiosk as a small business venture. The water for privately owned taps (by individuals or groups) is metered by a local water utility, and owners collect money from sales to then pay the utility. Interviewees reported that this water generally costs around 30 shillings per 20-liter jerrycan. In the region around Bomani and Kidzini North, this water is sourced from boreholes.In villages surrounding Bomani, pipes from the boreholes leading to public roadside kiosks were laid by the Australian government, and are now overseen by the county government. The pipes do not reach Bomani, but efforts have been made to extend them. Community leaders expressed that an international NGO set up kiosks in the area several years ago, but the project is not yet complete.Water from the taps tends to be some of the cleanest water available, but distance, time, and cost are a major determining factor for whether this is a good option for households. As a woman from Kidzini North explained in her life history, taps in her area can run out of water early in the day, requiring her to leave the house at 6am to get a place in the queue. Because of the distance and the time constraints, most households that live far from functioning taps send a young man (either within the family or a hired rider) by motorbike to fetch water. Those who can reach the taps by motorbike (i.e., young men) usually fare better in terms of time and effort expended, but still face major time deficits and opportunity costs when the queues are long. According to FDGs, young men have to prioritize their own household's water needs before they are able to collect water for others for profit, or go out in pursuit of other income-earning opportunities. As one young man from Bomani expressed, \"I prioritized getting water but I lost a job and so I sleep hungry and wait to try tomorrow. That is how it affects us.\" On the other hand, taps can provide income-earning opportunities to women; according to men in the Kidzini North FGD, most of the groups running collective for-profit water kiosks are women's groups.Water sources that are farther away, such as taps, also carry major safety and security risks for those fetching water, and especially for women. Walking long distances to fetch water usually entails crossing through long uninhabited stretches where walkers (i.e., women and girls) are especially vulnerable. Women and girls have been attacked and sexually assaulted along the road to fetch water, even during daylight hours, and some men have been killed. As such, community members, and especially women and girls, are discouraged from fetching water in the evening.The villages on either side of Bomani have access to water piped from nearby boreholes. However, Bomani itself has no directly piped water. After years of regional drought, which has caused the dams to dry out year-round, most villagers in Bomani have to go to surrounding villages to access any kind of water. \"We are on an island here in Bomani,\" expressed one young man in an FGD. According to data from community profiles, villagers in Bomani primarily rely on a borehole in Kazandani, which is 2 to 4 hours walk, constructed by the Magharibi settlement scheme around 1978. The borehole is a public amenity overseen by a committee elected by the community in Kazandani, and possesses its own title deed declaring the land it occupies to belong to the borehole itself.The boreholes around Bomani function as an important source of clean water, especially during the dry season, but can also be unreliable. The motorized pumps that draw the water out of the ground can break down, causing interruptions to water supply for hours, days, or weeks. Moreover, the taps closest to Bomani (which are far nearer and more accessible than the boreholes themselves) draw their water from the boreholes. Not only does this mean that the taps fail when the borehole fails, it also means that the taps slow to a trickle or stop working altogether when the water levels at the borehole are low. In these instances, villagers must sacrifice much more time queuing to fill their cans with slow, low-flow taps, or travel much further to fetch water from the borehole directly.In addition to boreholes, Bomani also has one well, which serves as the only year-round water source located within the village according to FGDs. This well is the property of a private school. Bomani villagers are able to buy water from the school, but it is particularly expensive, costing double what the private taps charge and quadruple what the borehole charges directly according to the young women in Bomani FGDs.Tanks and bowsers provide essential backup services to communities where core water sources (e.g., dams, water pans, and taps) have run dry or are prohibitively far away. Tanks are privately owned, typically by fellow villagers with the means to purchase such a vessel as well as the funds to pay water bowsers to fill it periodically (an expense of approximately 8,000 shillings). Some tank owners also fill their tanks with collected rainwater when possible, but eventually have to refill them with bowser water when harvested water runs out in the dry season. While harvested water itself is free, not all villagers are able to harvest water in sufficient quantities to support resilience in the dry months. Harvesting rainwater in meaningful quantities not only requires adequate storage assets, it also requires metal roofs and gutters. These assets are out of reach for many villagers, who frequently live in mud huts with thatched roofs.Once tanks are filled, either by rainwater harvesting or from the water bowser, usage differs between households. Some individuals keep this tank-stored water for themselves, especially if they have water-intensive livelihoods such as raising livestock at a larger scale. Others sell this water for profit, or to help the community when other water resources are lacking. While privately owned tanks are often the closest options for villagers, as they are located in neighbors' houses or compounds, they tend to be among the most expensive water sources, even when water-selling is carried out altruistically rather than for profit. One villager from Kidzini North with one such private tank explained in his life history that he breaks even selling his water for 25 shillings per 20-liter jerrycan, a higher price than other local options (i.e., dams and taps). As water scarcity has put an increasing economic squeeze on the village, he explained, his neighbors have stopped buying from him and have had to resort to collecting dirty dam water instead.In both Bomani and Kidzini North, villagers in FGDs reported that in rare circumstances, when local water availability is particularly dire, water bowsers can be sent to the communities to sell water directly from the truck to villagers with jerrycans. Young men in Bomani report that this can be sent by individuals with means to create such an arrangement for resale. Men in Kidzini North report that they make such an arrangement themselves, by visiting the local water treatment plant and pleading their case.Shallow wells and seasonal streams are used in Kidzini North exclusively as a supplemental source of water, as they are not reliably potable or consistently available. These shallow wells are dug in the middle of an empty riverbed or in typically wet or marshy areas before these natural water sources dry out completely. However, these wells often turn out to be salty. As such, many villagers express that they may decline to help their neighbors dig such a well, as it is a gamble that is often not worth the effort. Others contend that even if the water is salty, it still has uses in applications where it is not consumed, such as for washing clothes.Insufficient regional water infrastructure in the two study communities, along with prolonged and intensifying periods of drought, have resulted in a complex system of overlapping official and unofficial water governance in both Bomani and Kidzini North (Figure 2). In most cases, for villagers without significant assets, public or \"god-given\" water that is available to be harvested or fetched for free by the end user (i.e., dams, rainwater) is the first choice for water provisioning. For those villagers who do have adequate wealth or assets to weigh water safety and convenience over cost, government-or utility-provisioned water is often the first choice. It is when these sources fail, are too far away, or are impacted by issues around water quality or sanitation, that users seek out other, secondary water sources. The demand for these secondary sources has created a cottage industry for villagers with consistent access to water and/or water-fetching means such as motorbikes. These systems of secondary water provisioning involve (sometimes multiple) middlemen, which can serve as both a failsafe against snags in the supply chain and as an obfuscation of where and who water is really coming from.There are many examples of such confusion over the specifics of water governance and provenance; discussion of water governance in FGDs was frequently characterized by disagreement or contradiction as to which water sources were owned and governed by whom. This leaves villagers with few options for recourse when public water sources such as boreholes fail, as they may not know who to bring their grievances to.Understandably, villagers showed the greatest comprehension concerning the governance of locally controlled water resources, such as dams and water pans. In FGDs, villagers of all ages and genders were able to explain the process of dam oversight, committee elections, and even name committee members with clarity and specificity. The greatest degree of confusion surrounding water governance and management was related to the management of boreholes, and kiosks reselling borehole water in Bomani. The involvement of many different actors has created confusion as well as tensions concerning water use and management. These actors include the county government as well as foreign governments, NGOs, a water utility called the Malindi Water and Sanitation Company (MAWASCO) -an agency contracted by the government to supply potable water, and local village committees and elders. Furthermore, different boreholes are reportedly owned by separate entities and governed distinctly. Older men seemed to have the most knowledge of water management and governance in Bomani when questions moved beyond dam governance, which all community members were familiar with. While women and youth were vague or silent in response to specific questions about who controls and manages boreholes and associated water kiosks in FGDs, men provided more complete, if conflicting answers.In FGDs, Bomani men said MAWASCO has taken control of a local water tank provided by an international NGO to store pumped borehole water, and is reselling the water to locals. While water prices are supposed to be set by the Water Act, in FGDs it was said that \"MAWASCO increased the prices of water from 2 shillings to 5 shillings for every twenty litres of water. Before MAWASCO, the water community committee used to collect the money and give it to the treasurer and then when there was a maintenance issue at the borehole, we were the ones to repair it [by calling the mechanic]. But since MAWASCO took over they are in charge of all the decision-making and repairing whatever needs to be repaired. The money collected goes to MAWASCO, because there is a meter that shows the amount of water used and they will know the money that is collected. The money is for doing the repair, maintenance and paying for the mechanic.\" (Bomani men FGD) Some men were grateful to MAWASCO for connecting the tank to the water source, while others were resentful of the arrangement, as exemplified by the following statement:\"MAWASCO has started mistreating us, they collect money from us and they don't pay for the fuel so that the water can be pumped on time. The water might not come for two to three weeks, when we ask, we are told the fuel has not been paid for. We cannot chase them away because they have said they are the owners of the water but we do suffer. If there is another way, we would like to chase them away.\" (Bomani men FGD)In times of extreme water scarcity, community members in Bomani and Kidzini North are forced to venture further and further away to find (increasingly expensive) water, which incurs both financial costs and opportunity costs due to large and sometimes unpredictable time commitments. As one young Kidzini North man explained, \"When there is no water, it forces you to wake up at 3am to start looking for water, yet you don't even know where you will find it.\" (Kidzini North young men FGD)As such, many villagers described having to forgo entire work days in order to search for water. In times of water scarcity, water fetching directly conflicts with working hours as it is an almost exclusively daytime activity; some men describe fetching water by moonlight, but for women this is not an option due to safety issues. What is more, many forms of earning income (such as construction work in the case of men and cooking foods to sell in the case of women) also rely on water availability, forcing people to change their livelihood activities or travel farther away to earn income. In Kidzini North, men report going to town to find work such as breaking rocks to sell so they can buy water, while women report pivoting away from income-earning tasks that require water to those that don't, such as processing and selling omeni (dried fish). Others have resorted to illegal charcoal production, which has been banned in the area due to its contribution to deforestation, or to hazardous or suboptimal occupations, such as working at the salt mines in Bomani.In spite of these strategies, there are also times when both water and money run out completely. Communities in Bomani and Kidzini North both identified a number of coping strategies when faced with such a situation. These strategies fall into the following categories: rationing, borrowing, bargaining, begging, and sacrificing (Table 4). Organized by category, these coping mechanisms, as well as their gender dimensions, are detailed in the following subsections. The first and primary response to acute water shortage is to ration the amount of water that is used, and the things it is used for. Generally speaking, families try to stretch their water to go farther in all applications, trying to use one jerrycan of water where two were used before.Rationing was expressed to be particularly important and severe in relation to waterintensive agricultural activities. Participants described giving their livestock half the water they normally give them, letting their livestock go two days without any water, and reducing the number of livestock they have to feed and water by selling them, or in some cases through the death of the livestock. This can bear particularly negative consequences for pastoralists as well people relying on dairy production for their livelihoods. In addition, watering home gardens seemed to be of particularly low priority, with many participants laughing at the suggestion of using hard-won water on plants.As a result, growing food is one of the first activities to be abandoned when water runs low.However, this creates a problem when money, too, runs low, often as a result of water-related expenditures. \"If you don't have money you go hungry,\" explained a young Bomani woman in FGDs.Bathing less and washing clothes less frequently was also mentioned by all genders in both regions. One man in Kidzini North expressed in FGDs that when there is no water to fully bathe, they limit bathing to washing just the face, hands, and feet. While this is a common response to water shortage, participants of all genders expressed that there are major drawbacks and trade-offs associated with rationing bathing water for themselves and for their children. FGD participants suggested that children might be kept home from school if they are unable to bathe or have clean clothes. Similarly, young men in Kidzini North explained that limiting bathing to once a week lowers self-esteem as well as income-earning opportunities:\"It's just about cleanliness because it reaches a point where you lack water to an extent that you feel ashamed of yourself. For example, as a motorbike rider, if you notice that you are smelling, you even wonder how you will carry people on a motorbike. So you will find that you don't have that morale. You isolate [yourself] instead of being active and doing work.\"Young women also expressed that lack of bathing weighs heavily on their morale, as well as on their identity as women:\"Cleanliness is important for women, everyone needs water but as women being clean is important for us, for our children, our houses.\" (Kidzini North young women FGD)Rationing water for bathing can also have serious health consequences, resulting in skin infections (particularly for children). Some FDGs also attributed Covid-19 deaths and the spread of cholera to lack of water for bathing, handwashing, and personal sanitation and hygiene in general.In times of water stress, it is common for villagers to borrow water from their neighbors to be repaid at a later date (usually one 20-liter jerrycan at a time). Most interviewees in life histories and FGDs described this practice as part of being neighborly, and helping one another out in times of hardship. As one young man from Kidzini North explained, \"I go to my friend because I know he has water, so I ask for help because I know next time, I will be the one offering help.\" There are times, however, when water trading practices can lead to conflict if the borrower is slow or unable to return the favor. Young women from Bomani described instances in which neighbors stopped talking to each other over such an issue, or had to bring the disagreement to the village chief for resolution. While water trading practices are widespread, they differ between gender groups and age groups. Young men, young women, and older women all reported regular borrowing and loaning of water as common practice, while older men seemed to be removed from this type of interchange. When asked about water borrowing, older men in a Kidzini North group responded: \"We don't know, maybe it is a secret between the women.\" This feminized characterization of water trading is in line with Bukachi et al.'s (2021) study in Rural Kenya which found that women, lacking other forms of capital, are able to leverage their social capital for household water access and resilience.Borrowed water is almost always repaid in water (and reportedly never in cash) but there are also other forms of water exchange, while uncommon. Young men in Bomani described trading goods and services in exchange for water or water provisioning. For example, one young man said that he will offer to fetch water on his motorbike for a neighbor if they collect firewood for him, or give him chicken. Some groups also described giving water to other, less fortunate community members out of charity, particularly with respect to elderly and disabled villagers:\"If a person cannot access water at all, as a youth or let me say personally, I will take two of my jerry cans and assist this person, without hoping for a return. I will know I have helped this person because I know his condition is not good.\" (Bomani young men FGD)In cases where water can't be borrowed from other community members, villagers have to resort to trying to buy water on credit. This is not always successful, however, particularly for individuals who have had trouble repaying credits in the past. According to the women's FGD in Kidzini North, access to water on credit is gendered. They say that only women can persuade owners of tanks to give them water on credit, as men are perceived as less likely to pay it back. These women also express that it is difficult to get money from their husbands to pay back the loans that the women have secured, saying they have to sneak around to repay the credit or lie about what the money is being used for. Conversely, only men reported going directly to the water treatment plant to plead for a water bowser to be sent to the community in times of extreme water scarcity. While this is reportedly a very rare occurrence, it has happened in the past. According to a woman community leader in Kidzini North, a water bowser was donated to the community last year in one such instance.In Bomani, the community has held meetings in which they agreed to reach out to different aid organizations and projects to ask for their help to relieve the water stress in their community. In a community profile interview, a Bomani village elder and community officer expressed that while the community has reached out to a number of such organizations, theyhave not yet received any response.These coping mechanisms show that both study communities rely in large part on collective action and cooperation for communal resilience in the face of water scarcity. As one Bomani community leader said in his community profile interview, \"People facing hardship must always co-exist so that it is easier for them to find solutions.\" The different ways in which men, women, young men, and young women report using borrowing, bargaining, and begging practices to ensure household water security suggest that while both men and women rely on collectivity for water resilience, the form this collective action takes is highly gendered.Women tend to exchange water for water in a one-to-one trade, while young men are more likely to barter or trade motorbikes, which affords them income-earning opportunities in addition to water provisioning for their own household.\"When there is no water, we can eat one meal in a day. You wake in the morning to go find some water and when you come back it is late [...]. You can't do laundry. A lot of things come to a halt. You can't even bathe. Just problems. Even the livestock die.Lack of money and lack of water feed into each other in a vicious cycle. As free sources of water (i.e., dams) dry up, villagers are forced to spend more and more money and time finding enough water for basic needs. This, in turn, means there is less money to be spent on other essentials and less time to earn income, ultimately diminishing savings and income, and leaving people in dire situations. Bomani women explained in FGDs that they have had to halt their table banking scheme during the current period of water scarcity, as no one has cash to contribute, thereby eliminating an important source of financial stability for local women. As water is the most fundamentally important resource a household can have, households are forced to sacrifice other financial priorities, such as paying children's school fees or even buying and/or preparing food. Instead, they must expend everything they can on water provisioning. Without money to buy clean water, many villagers also resort to using and consuming dirty, unsafe, or salty water. In the words of one young Bomani man, \"they just depend on God to protect them.\"On top of significant financial sacrifices, villagers must sacrifice time in periods of extreme water stress, resulting in significant opportunity costs. Young men report sacrificing time they could be spending at work or in school in order to instead spend the day looking for water, potentially in vain. Children, too, have less time and energy for their studies, as they are expected to help fetch water, and may suffer dehydration. For those that still go to school or work, dehydration and preoccupation over lack of water limits their ability to fully engage in these activities. As one college student in the Kidzini North young men FGD describes: \"[if] I lack water, I will be mentally unstable.\" Another Bomani man expressed that performing manual labor is impossible without any water.Others have moved away from their communities entirely due to lack of water, emigrating to other regions of Kenya with better water availability and economic opportunities, or even migrating to other countries. While this is true for both men and women, it is not uncommon for men to emigrate and leave their wives behind to live in their mother-in-law's compound while their husbands work in urban centers.Norms surrounding water use and management are extremely gendered at the household level in both Bomani and Kidzini North. Water provisioning, monitoring, and management is treated as part of day-to-day domestic work, which makes it women's responsibility according to local gender roles. In addition to being the primary water fetchers, women are also the chief users of water in the home, as they are responsible for cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, bathing children, etc. This means that they are also the primary knowledgeholders in terms of how much water is used, needed, and kept at home. Men, meanwhile, are primarily responsible for providing money to buy water when suitable water is not freely available, although women also contribute money to water provisioning.While FGDs gave insight into pervading social norms and prescribed gender roles pertaining to water, life histories gave a more nuanced view into the diverse ways that water is managed in practice in different homes and different household structures (Table 5). Notably, there was a major difference between households in Bomani versus households in Kidzini North concerning which household member decides where water is sourced. With the exception of those from single-headed households, all life history participants in Kidzini North reported that men (husbands or sons) have the final say in where water is sourced from. In Bomani, responses were mixed, with about half of respondents reporting that the wife has the final say. This may reflect differences in social norms between the two regions, with more patriarchal approaches to intra-household decision-making appearing to preside in Kidzini North. Alternatively, the forced flexibility of gender roles under extreme water stress (detailed below) could also account for women's higher influence decision-making in Bomani, where water is more scarce than in Kidzini North. Similarly, Bomani residents were more likely to report that women own the jerrycans, whereas in Kidzini North husbands are viewed as the owners of such assets, even though it is their wives who use them on a daily basis. When it comes to decision-making concerning how household water is used, all participants were in agreement that the wife is in charge. Similarly, almost all life histories suggested that women were solely responsible for fetching water and making sure that there is water in the household.In the rainy season or when water is otherwise abundant, data suggests that these gender roles are clear-cut and stable. In times of water scarcity, however, gender norms concerning water management and provisioning become more fluid as family members of all genders and ages become increasingly involved in water provisioning.\"Sometimes [water scarcity] forces us to distribute roles because as men, we mostly let our wives go for water. So it reaches a point where the water that we depend on that is nearer has dried up so it forces you to take responsibilities as a man so that the wife remains at home to do other household chores as you go look for water and bring it to the house.\" (Kidzini North young men FGD) Men's increased involvement in water provisioning does not take the same form as women's however. , Men tend to get involved in water provisioning only once money or transport is involved. Cultural norms in both areas dictate that women do not ride motorbikes or bicycles, and rarely -if ever -ride donkeys, meaning that when households are forced to travel long distances to find water, men must necessarily get involved either by providing money to send for water, or by using one of these modes of transport to gather water themselves. Furthermore, this shifts the burden of water fetching increasingly onto young men, as opposed to older men, as younger men have more access to motorbikes, as well as knowledge of how to use them. While this may increase young men's labor burdens, it also provides them with income-earning opportunities, as water-fetching by motorcycle has become a cottage industry, especially during the dry season.While young men report high levels of involvement and feelings of responsibility concerning making sure there is water in the household, young women say that they themselves still bear the majority of time and labor burdens for water provisioning, and are therefore the most impacted by water shortage. As one young Kidzini woman expressed: \"We do everything.\" As women are solely responsible for domestic work, they explain that they are the only household members with knowledge of how much water is needed and when, whereas young men \"do not care\" and \"have to be asked\" to go fetch water.Importantly, while gender norms are adapted or stretched during times of water scarcity, this does not necessarily mean that there is gender transformation occurring or long-term gains in gender equality being made. While men are increasingly getting involved in water provisioning, these tasks are still viewed as women's work, and men report being teased, feeling demeaned, or being told that they are being controlled or \"bewitched\" by their wives when they are seen fetching water. Due to these cultural norms and social taboos, women are still the de facto water fetchers. As one Bomani woman explained: \"It's easier for the woman to fetch water because men find it difficult. They feel demeaned, especially in front of their children, so it's just easier for the woman to go.\" (Bomani women FGD)Furthermore, men's involvement is limited to more convenient forms of provisioning, while women must continue to fetch water by foot, meaning their drudgery is not necessarily decreased. Rather, regardless of young men's increased involvement, women's drudgery is often only increased in times of water stress as women are forced to walk further and further to find water, and often multiple times a day as they can only carry one jerrycan at a time. Not only is it considered 'demeaning' for men to be seen fetching water on foot, they are also quick to dismiss this option for its inefficiency and difficulty, as shown in these quotes from mens' discussion groups:\"Truthfully speaking you can cry when going to fetch water on foot.\" (Bomani men FGD)\"If someone goes on foot, you will take a longer time because you will be coming while resting on the way. Am not lying, you can come back with a half-full container because you were coming while drinking. If you go on foot, you might take like four hours.\" (Kidzini North young men FGD)Women, however, have no option but to go on foot, expending valuable time and energy for an amount of water that is not sufficient for their needs. In most cases, this requires leaving for water at or before dawn so women can be home in time to get their children ready for school.Severe water stress in Bomani and Kidzini North has led to the ad hoc development of a complex system of water provisioning, management, and governance featuring a diversity of water sources and actors. On the one hand, this complex system of providers, sources, and resellers produces some confusion locally about water provisioning, control, and oversight which limits villagers agency and avenues for recourse; on the other hand, the system's redundancies have created pockets of resilience in the face of insecure and often unpredictable water availability. The decreased availability of free and easily accessible water has led to the development of a cottage industry around water selling provisioning. However, the benefits from these increased income-earning opportunities are skewed toward young men with access to motorbikes, and wealthier community members who own tanks which afford them the luxury of having excess water to sell.Women have proven to be key actors in terms of household and community-level water security and resilience, but this resilience comes at a cost. Villagers have developed many overlapping coping mechanisms to survive dry periods, but these strategies present serious trade-offs which carry gendered implications, with women often losing out in terms of increased labor burdens and decreased economic opportunities. These time and labor burdens will likely be exacerbated by continued and intensifying water stress related to climate change, as well as the continued migration of men away from rural areas to urban areas. In periods of extreme water stress, gender roles related to intra-household water provisioning become flexible, but this malleability has not led to increased levels of gender equality. However, this seasonal flexibility in otherwise rigid social rules could serve as an entry point for future interventions to foment gender transformation in water use and management, as well as in the community at large."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3e76fe57cc4aefa2c1b2cc8298c57f48","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/993dedc9-c81d-4601-9006-b0c3b6a3451e/retrieve","id":"1868999010"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3420fb57-f5d3-4603-8340-ff9ab648814c","content":"Relationships between AE-I and IA Data, Scope, Collection Methods, and Techniques of Analysis Agroecology Initiative (AE-I): Third-year outcome and work packages From innovations to outcomes and impacts Limitations and opportunities for improvement MELIA BasicsAgroecological principles are applied by farmers across a wide range of contexts and are supported by other food system actorsAgroecology evidence-based assessment (WP2)Co-creation of innovations in Agroecological Living Landscapes (WP1)Countries where the initiative will be implemented: Peru, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, India, Lao PDR, Burkina FasoInclusive business models with a focus on agroecological principles (WP3) The AE-I will deliver outcomes the third year of implementation, and these outcomes will be translated into impacts in the next years.The Impact Assessment Strategy (IA) will focus on evaluate the changes produced by the AE-I over their implementation and to provide the baseline to evaluate long-term impacts.The IA does not rely on a one-size-fits-all approach, so we start from a general methodology which will have different emphases depending on the transition pathways, agroecological principles, and its co-created interventions.The IA will help to understand the causal mechanisms of how the co-creating innovations led to the achievement of the outcomes in different contexts.Co-creating FSAMulti-level Perspective National, regional and local governments, ministries, and NARES.Farmers organizations, privatesector, NGO, NARES, consumers, researchers, investors, extension services, and other FSA.What is the contribution of the AE-I in stimulating policy changes that have created an enabling environment for innovation and improvement of agroecological principles?1.How does the initiative contribute to the development or improvement of organizational capabilities for innovation development?1.What are the effects of the AE-I on the agroecological principles of farming households?1.2. What are the processes that led to these changes?Unit Scope Data Sources Techniques Topic modeling will allow us to identify the main topics that represent the set of rural/agricultural policies in a country, as well as to see if and how agroecology-related topics are introduced and during the implementation of the AE-I and the contribution of the AE-I in stimulating agroecology topics at the policy level.Through Outcome evidencing and Innovation histories we seek to understand whether, how, and why the AE-I works. We will provide evidence of how different WPs work, for whom, in different contexts. This will be carried out by identifying the trajectories that led to the achievement of the outcomes in three case studies.Quantitative impact assessment will allow us to know the effects of the AE-I on the agroecological principles on farming households."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"20fa036a60581766164a6ef6ca6ae720","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e47787a6-9b6c-435f-8e37-a101952d78bb/retrieve","id":"1329931091"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"218efe07-8048-41f8-9f74-9df20be1bf34","content":"Funding for the research carried out in this report was provided by the following organizations, among others, through the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF). UK Department for International Development (DFID) European Commission International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of DFID, European Commission, IFAD and SDC.The publications in this series cover a wide range of subjects-from computer modeling to experience with water user associations-and vary in content from directly applicable research to more basic studies, on which applied work ultimately depends. Some research reports are narrowly focused, analytical and detailed empirical studies; others are wide-ranging and synthetic overviews of generic problems.Although most of the reports are published by IWMI staff and their collaborators, we welcome contributions from others. Each report is reviewed internally by IWMI staff, and by external reviewers. The reports are published and distributed both in hard copy and electronically (www.iwmi.org) and where possible all data and analyses will be available as separate downloadable files. Reports may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgment.IWMI's mission is to provide evidence-based solutions to sustainably manage water and land resources for food security, people's livelihoods and the environment. IWMI works in partnership with governments, civil society and the private sector to develop scalable agricultural water management solutions that have a tangible impact on poverty reduction, food security and ecosystem health.The widespread use of motorized pumps has revolutionized irrigated agriculture in many parts of Asia by increasing productivity and reducing rural poverty. A similar pump revolution has begun more recently in sub-Saharan Africa. To date, the focus of both policy and research in Africa has been on facilitating supply chains to make pumps available at a reasonable price. In Asia, there is rising concern that mining of groundwater is threatening the continued viability of pumpbased irrigation. This has led to policy changes in some places. In Africa, pump irrigation is mainly based on two sources: (a) shallow groundwater aquifers, and (b) small streams and rivers. Both these sources usually have limited and variable water yields. We present a case study from Ethiopia where pump irrigation based on small rivers and streams is expanding rapidly. We show that, while farmers understand the social nature of community-managed irrigation, they share with policymakers a narrow understanding of pump irrigation as being primarily 'technical'. They perceive pumps as liberating them from the 'social' limitations of traditional communal irrigation. However, the rapid expansion of pump irrigation is leading to increasing competition and conflict over limited water resources. This report analyzes the wider implications for Africa of this blindness to the social dimension of pump irrigation, and offers suggestions for future policy and applied research to address the problem before it becomes a widespread crisis.Governments and their development partners have been investing in community-managed smallscale irrigation for decades. These investments usually involve either rehabilitating existing farmer-managed irrigation schemes or supporting the construction of new schemes, which farmers are expected to manage after completion. In the early years, these investments were largely in the construction of infrastructure, with little attention being given to ensuring that the institutional capacity will be in place to manage the irrigation schemes. However, governments and their partners learned a critical lesson that informs most such investments today: the social and institutional context and framework, including resource governance, are no less important than the hardware or infrastructure, if the scheme is going to be productive, profitable and sustainable.In the past few decades, an 'irrigation revolution' has led to large numbers of farmers investing in small motorized pumps in Asia and, more recently, in Africa. There are no reliable figures, but the scale of this change is millions of farmers in each of the large Asian countries, and many thousands (even hundreds of thousands) in some African countries, as summarized by de Fraiture and Giordano (2014). These pumps have enabled smallholders to diversify their farming systems, mitigate the impacts of rainfall variability, and grow high-value crops for urban and international markets. The benefits have contributed to a 'snowball' effect -neighboring farmers see the potential and also invest in pumps. Pump irrigation now dominates the irrigation scene in South Asia and North China, accounting for over 60% of irrigation in South Asia, for example (Mukherji et al. 2009). It also constitutes the fastest growing irrigation sector in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (Burney and Naylor 2012;Giordano and de Fraiture 2014). However, the social and institutional context and framework for governing pump irrigation has been largely ignored, especially in SSA. This is leading to growing competition for scarce water supplies, conflicts among farmers, and mining of small rivers, streams and aquifers.While agreeing that this growth in private pump-based irrigation is a welcome development in SSA, we argue that sustainable private pumpbased irrigated agriculture requires no less social cooperation and collective action than community-managed irrigation. However, the kind of cooperation required for pump irrigation is more complex and less amenable to direct government support. The necessity of cooperation -the incentive to cooperate -for the management of community-managed schemes is relatively clear: if farmers fail to work together to maintain their scheme and share water, they will all be harmed as no one will receive water. However, in the case of multiple farmers using their own pumps to extract water from an 'invisible' aquifer or a river, the incentive itself is invisible: each farmer will respond to growing shortages by increasing his or her rate of pumping (or digging deeper, chasing the aquifer), in a vicious cycle reminiscent of the 'tragedy of the commons' paradigm. Yet, such a trajectory may not necessarily be the result of a lack of capacity for collective action. It may occur even in a situation where local people already have effective social cooperation and coordination arrangements for managing shared natural resources, including the use and management of traditional irrigation. This calls for understanding whether there are ways to facilitate local people to build on their social cooperation traditions to manage the negative outcomes (externalities) of the expansion of motor pump irrigation, or whether there are other arrangements that can facilitate sustainable motor pump irrigation.The skewed technological orientation among most actors regarding the conception, planning, diffusion and implementation of motor pump irrigation exacerbates the problem. In particular, studies and investment programs of policymakers and development agencies increasingly focus on developing the 'value chain' needed for a sustainable and successful pump-based irrigation economy, i.e., provision of low-cost pumps, spare parts, servicing, etc., as well as output markets to profit from pump-based irrigation. There is an emphasis on investments and policies to expand privately owned and managed irrigation, calling on governments, donors and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to improve the supply chain of motor pumps to accelerate private irrigation (Burney et al. 2013;Colenbrander and Koppen 2013). There is a tendency to think that pump irrigation based on shallow aquifers or small rivers and streams does not require giving attention to collective action as done in community-managed irrigation schemes. However, this leaves a huge gap that threatens the sustainability of pump irrigation in terms of livelihood benefits as well as the management of limited water resources. There are no systematic data on the potential and limitations of water in the numerous small rivers and streams found in SSA. Studies of the groundwater potential in SSA are at an early stage and broadly demonstrate that there is a large untapped potential, but in most cases the capacities and recharge rates of local aquifers will at some point limit the expansion of irrigation (MacDonald et al. 2012;Villholth 2013).The use of individually-owned small pumps has grown exponentially in parts of Asia, bringing huge benefits to smallholders as well as consumers but also creating difficult challenges, including aquifer depletion and unsustainable electricity costs, during the past decade. In Africa, the pump revolution is at an earlier stage than in Asia, and in most places is taking place in a different agroecological context: farmers are largely exploiting relatively small rivers, streams and shallow aquifers on small-to medium-sized watersheds. This report uses data from qualitative field research on one such small watershed (Fogera) in Ethiopia, and draws parallels to experiences in other African countries. It examines the roots of the problem, proposes some ideas on how social cooperation and institutional arrangements could contribute to the sustained productive use of these limited water sources, and identifies further research that could contribute to sustainable motor pump-irrigated agriculture and livelihood benefits in Africa.This report is based on qualitative field research in Fogera, a small watershed located in the Blue Nile River Basin in Ethiopia. In terms of administrative structure, Fogera is a woreda (district) in the South Gonder zone within the Amhara National Regional State of Ethiopia. The study involved field research that was conducted in successive years in three selected kebeles (sub-districts) of Fogera District, namely Alem Ber, Dibasifatira and Kokit, which represent differing landscape features -upland, midland and lowland, respectively, and also constitute interconnected landscape units in terms of the use and management of natural resources. Initial fieldwork was conducted in 2012 under the Nile Basin Development Challenge (NBDC) of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF). NBDC was part of a larger multi-disciplinary research for development program aimed at finding ways to improve the management of rainwater and resilience of rural livelihoods in a landscape framework 1 .Subsequent fieldwork for the investigation of small-scale irrigation was conducted in 2013, and this was followed up with fieldwork for a wider study on livelihoods, landscapes and decision making on land use which was conducted in 2014.The research employed a combination of qualitative and participatory methods of data collection, including informal and formal interviews, semi-structured interviews, key informant interviews, observations, focus group discussions, participatory problem identification and a participatory mapping exercise. The use of a combination of different techniques facilitated data triangulation and validation. Data collection at the local level was supported by a set of interview guides, the structures of which varied depending on the context. Sources of data included a range of community members such as men, women, youth, elders, development agents and agricultural professionals. Relevant secondary sources and written information were also gathered from agriculture offices in kebeles and woredas. The study also involved a systematic review and analysis of pertinent literature.The irrigation situation in Fogera, particularly motor pump irrigation, parallels the experiences of other developing countries where this method of irrigation has been expanding. Thus, while this paper begins with research from a small watershed in Ethiopia, its findings, analysis and arguments have wider global and theoretical implications. They highlight the prevailing focus on the technical and economic aspects of irrigation, disregarding its social aspects. Likewise, the study has wider theoretical and practical implications for the growing private, small-scale irrigation sector in Africa.Our approach to the social dimensions of motor pump irrigation is based on several related conceptual trends in the analysis of agriculture and natural resource management. First, we view irrigation as a socio-technical system (Mollinga 2003;Veldwisch et al. 2009). This approach emphasizes that the social dimensions of irrigation are as important as the technical dimensions. Social dimensions entail a range of interrelated social factors, including the organization of water use and management as well as issues of participation, equity, conflict resolution, collective action and institutions. The persistent perspective among technically-trained implementing agencies that irrigation is largely an engineering problem underlies the disappointing outcomes of irrigation investments.However, by itself, this paradigm is too narrow, as it does not adequately address the extent to which irrigated agriculture is embedded in larger agroecological systems. Researchers have come to recognize the importance of engaging with farmers to encourage innovation, and embedding this work in a wider conceptual socioecological framework characterized in the recent literature as \"integrated agricultural research for development\", \"sustainability science\" or \"integrated landscape initiatives\" (e.g., Sayer and Cassman 2013;Sayer et al. 2013;Milder et al. 2014). There is no universally agreed definition of landscape approaches, but most agree that it involves an attempt to approach agricultural intensification in a systems perspective that recognizes that there are multiple interactions and 1 For more information, visit http://nilebdc.org/ (accessed August 13, 2014).trade-offs with other uses and users or resources. Sayer et al. (2013) identified ten \"principles\" of the landscape approach, which include a strong emphasis on participation, continued learning, transparent communication, adaptive management and strengthening stakeholder capacities.This study focuses primarily on the social dimensions of irrigation, which we approach from an innovation systems and institutional creativity perspective. Not only do institutions play a critical role in enabling people and communities to cope with the problems they face, they also transform this capacity into a more creative and sustainable capacity to adapt to change (Berman et al. 2012). Institutions are defined as \"the rules of the game in society\" by institutional economists; but it is important to understand that these rules embody values, often deeply and subconsciously held, which are interpreted differently by different people, and are dynamic and contested (Merrey and Cook 2012). Therefore, although institutional arrangements for collective management of shared resources are characterized by a set of \"principles\" (e.g., Ostrom 1992), this does not mean they are amenable to being applied in the same way as the principles of physics are applied in designing and constructing physical infrastructure: \"social engineering\" does not work (Merrey et al. 2007).Therefore, we follow the lead of Francis Cleaver in adopting an approach to institutions which she refers to as \"critical institutional thinking\" (Cleaver 2012). This approach is difficult to characterize simply, but the basic idea is that humans are motivated by a complex set of perspectives, values and interests, some consciously held but many unconscious, which are derived from their social milieu. Therefore, institutional change and innovation are often the result of a messy, largely unpredictable, iterative, but ultimately creative process involving the engagement of local change agents with the institutions shaping and being shaped by the process. Cleaver refers to this creative process as \"institutional bricolage\" (Cleaver 2012;Merrey and Cook 2012). The \"bricoleur\" pieces together institutions in response to changing situations. These institutions are neither completely new nor completely traditional, but rather a dynamic hybrid combining elements of 'modern', 'traditional', and the 'formal' and 'informal\" (Cleaver 2012). We return to the implications of this perspective for motor pump irrigation in the conclusions.Irrigated agriculture has been an important feature of people's livelihood activities for many centuries. In Asia, Africa and the Americas, rural people have long-standing irrigation traditions. Communities having well-established 'irrigation cultures' -irrigation embedded in traditional irrigation societies -continue today. For example, in Bali, Indonesia, traditional irrigation has existed for over a thousand years, and farmers continue to use a complex system of canals managed through associated temple complexes to grow rice (Lansing 1991;Lansing and Kremer 1993;Lansing et al. 2009). Indigenous systems of irrigation also continue to function in other parts of Asia, including Nepal, India, Philippines and Sri Lanka, as well as in the Andes region of Latin America. In the hills of Nepal, farmers collectively manage small and even rather large irrigation systems; most of these systems continue to operate today with little or no government involvement (Sharma et al. 2009;Ostrom et al. 2011). The system of tank irrigation is another form of tradition in southern India and Sri Lanka with a history of nearly two thousand years. Rural people use small reservoirs or \"tanks\" to irrigate their fields, both for supplementary irrigation of rice during the rainy season and to grow other crops in the dry season (Engberg-Pedersen 2011; Leach 1961).Such traditional irrigation schemes require effective collective action to construct, reconstruct and maintain canals and weirs, and to deal with resource mobilization, settling disputes and sharing scarce water resources. They employ various social arrangements to facilitate and structure the use and management of irrigation schemes. Ostrom (2008) highlighted that farmers in Asia have long relied on their own knowledge to develop complex irrigation systems, including dams, tunnels and water diversion structures, forging joint responsibilities to provide the resources needed and set rules that are agreed upon for allocating water and enforcing the rules.Examining the experiences of farmer-managed irrigation schemes in Asia and other developing countries, Ostrom and Gardner (1993) argued that self-governing irrigation systems can work if they have been allowed to self-organize. This observation is supported by many other studies documenting how local communities have long been able to use and manage their natural resources held as commons (e.g., McCay and Acheson 1987;Berkes 1987;Ostrom 1990;Feeny et al. 1990;Wade 1987).The Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s bolstered the importance of irrigation as an essential agricultural input. The Green Revolution involved the intensive use of irrigation combined with improved varieties of seeds and chemical fertilizers. It has been stated that, \"the Green Revolution was as much a story of water as it was of modern crop technology\" (Burney et al. 2013). Small-scale as well as large irrigation systems have been developed, expanded and \"modernized\" by governments and donors for decades (Pinstrup-Andersen and Hazell 1985;Borlaug 2000;Roy et al. 2007;Burney et al. 2013).In the wake of the Green Revolution, orientations that primarily associate agricultural development with technological advancement seem to have been strengthened, providing the impetus for a growing focus on technological solutions -in essence, returning to an older and seemingly discredited perspective. Over a decade ago, Norman Borlaug envisaged a \"Blue Revolution,\" where technology would lead the way toward higher water use productivity (Borlaug 2000). Borlaug stressed that the main concern should be on how farmers would be able to use new and modern technologies. Accordingly, the dissemination and application of modern technologies is seen as a way forward for improving food production.This emphasis on technological solutions particularly focuses on SSA, which is seen as having failed to benefit from modern irrigation. In recent years, new initiatives are responding to that vision. This particularly refers to initiatives that call for a \"uniquely African Green Revolution\" or \"New Green Revolution in Africa.\" New inter-institutional alliances for agricultural development, involving governments, private foundations, United Nations organizations, and transnational collaborative agricultural research programs and corporations have emerged (Burney et al. 2013;Daño 2007). Irrigation constitutes the most capitalintensive component of these initiatives (Daño 2007), but the model also envisions farmers purchasing expensive high-yielding seed varieties accompanied by fertilizers and pesticides. To facilitate this input-intensive model of agriculture, there is a growing interest in expanding irrigation in SSA. African governments and national policies have recently placed particular emphasis on irrigation expansion as an important strategy to enhancing food security and securing livelihoods (World Bank et al. 2007;Karina and Mwaniki 2011;Lankford 2003). The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), promoted by the African Union's New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Planning and Coordination Agency (NPCA), gives very high priority to expanding irrigation as a basis for transforming African agriculture (Bwalya et al. 2009).In Africa, the development of new small-scale irrigation schemes with government and donor support, shadowing traditional schemes, continues to be biased towards the technological dimension of irrigation and its exaggerated benefits (e.g., Yami 2013). This is despite the rhetoric on farmer participation. It reflects what is described as a \"persistent mind-set\" prevalent among interveners that emphasizes modern irrigation technology as the essential route to modernizing agriculture (Veldwisch et al. 2009). In the early years of government and donor investments in irrigation, the focus was on introducing more 'modern' technology in traditional community-managed schemes, and designing and constructing new schemes with little or no reference to the social and cultural dimensions of irrigation. There have been changes over time, with increasing attention being given to organizing farmers in the form of water users' associations (WUAs) and promoting irrigation management transfer (IMT) on larger schemes. However, such reforms are usually too limited, in that they focus too much on farmers and not enough on the wider institutional framework; for example, IMT has largely sought to transfer the financial burden of governments to farmers (Merrey et al. 2007). In addition, the African rural context makes farmer-managed irrigation especially challenging: in addition to supportive institutional arrangements and policies, it is critical to enhance opportunities for wealth-creation through irrigated agriculture (Shah et al. 2002).Irrigation involves multiple stakeholders with varying interests. We emphasize the importance of carefully considering the context of user participation in water use. \"Participation\" is often understood in terms of the actors and stakeholders using water and their involvement in water governance (Montaña et al. 2009). It generally implies empowering users to varying degrees to take responsibility for their scheme. While agreeing with this general notion of participation, the call for considering the broader context of user participation in water use refers to understanding the embedded power dynamics and social categories of resource users as well as the various uses of water in a landscape perspective.Water sources used for irrigation largely belong to the public and their uses affect a wide range of local stakeholders. How different categories of people participate in water use has significant implications in terms of their social relationships over resource use. Some researchers have noted the importance of considering the multiple uses and users of water as well as the actors that are included and excluded (van Koppen et al. 2009). The conception and practices of irrigation should pay attention to the multiple dimensions of water uses and users, and their interactions for and impacts on successful resource use.Equity is another critical issue in water management. It encompasses a wide range of issues pertaining to water access, use, distribution and benefits. Equity in access to and use of water, and the distribution of its benefits, involves analytically different but overlapping forms (Phansalkar 2007). These include spatial equity, social equity, gender equity and inter-generational equity. Thus, it is important to consider how access to and use of water as well as the distribution of its benefits differ across different categories of communities, and the implications for sustainable irrigation use and livelihood benefits. Put differently, 'equity' is a socially defined concept. For small farmers investing in a community-managed irrigation system, it is often defined in terms of receiving benefits commensurate with the size of their investment; in other cases, it may be defined in terms of all households having equal access to water or all households of a particular status. Local concepts of equity rarely include the concept of 'equality', for example, between men and women, or landowners and laborers. However, traditional community-managed irrigation schemes usually recognize the critical importance of long-term mutual relationships and patterns of reciprocity.On the other hand, interventions that contradict such functional patterns of social relationships around water use will negatively alter existing social relations and patterns of equity. Ostrom and Gardner (1993) noted that external interventions that disregard these mutual dependencies and reciprocal relationships among users often prove destructive. Recent observations have also highlighted the unintended and undesirable effects of interventions that result in inequitable access to water. Lankford (2004) found that irrigation improvement projects in Tanzania affected the long-standing equity of water distribution among small farmer-managed schemes sharing a river, leading to inequitable access to water: with the introduction of 'modern' off-takes, upstream users greatly benefited while reducing water supply for those downstream. Similarly, in Bangladesh, water resources development projects that mainly focused on promoting the intensive use of water for irrigation have created inequity in the distribution and allocation of water resources among different stakeholders (Rasul and Chowdhury 2010). There are other examples from Asia, some of which were documented many years ago; in one case in the Philippines, the donor and irrigation agency initially ignored existing community-managed irrigation schemes that were very old and proposed to build entirely new ones that would have obliterated them (Yabes 1994;Siy 1982).Inequitable access to water, and differential water use and benefits are often the causes for conflicts over scarce water resources. Natural resource management involves competing interests; it is a \"form of conflict management\" (Castro and Nielsen 2003). Conflicts may arise out of competition for scarce water resources and disagreements over its use. Such conflicts need to be managed for sustainable water use. Elinor Ostrom argues that irrigation systems are among the most important forms of commonpool resources; they require conflict resolution mechanisms to resolve conflicts among users (Ostrom 1990(Ostrom , 1992(Ostrom , 1999)). Long-standing traditional irrigation schemes are noted for their success in settling disputes and sharing scarce water resources. They rely on a familiar social framework to resolve conflicts among users, thereby providing guidance for the distribution of water and the sharing of scarce common water resources.In community-managed irrigation schemes, cooperation is essential for pooling labor and other resources to construct and maintain canals and channels, allocate and share water, regulate and monitor the provision and use of water, and facilitate other necessary joint ventures. The cooperation of users for irrigation plays a significant role in shaping responses to issues of social trust, reciprocity, competition, conflicts, equity, and other mutual concerns related to water access, use and management. Appropriate social organization and rules for collective action are essential to coordinate cooperation for irrigation use. These rules shape interactions, and are contested and revised over time through social actions.How to promote or create effective institutions is a complex issue. A package of institutional designs imposed from outside is unlikely to fit the multi-dimensional conditions of irrigation schemes in diverse social, cultural and economic contexts, with linked constraints and opportunities. Where institutional innovations are needed, they should build on existing or potential institutional arrangements. This requires a careful examination of these relationships and exploration of spheres of complementary relationships for natural resource management (Dessalegn 2009). The search for enabling institutional arrangements must also consider multiple options. This process can be characterized as \"facilitated institutional bricolage,\" promoting and facilitating the creation of institutions from a diverse range of sources (Merrey and Cook 2012;Cleaver 2012). Such a locally-driven, but possibly externally facilitated, process is more likely to lead to effective legitimate institutional arrangements than structures imposed from outside.The discussion of irrigation as a sociotechnical phenomenon and the need to encourage local institutional solutions applies to small-scale private irrigation technologies as well, although it has received very little attention. In recent years, small-scale private, individualized irrigation technologies have taken off, first in Asia and more recently in SSA. This is due to a combination of factors, including increased availability of lowcost pumps, sprayers and drip irrigation systems, and urbanization, which creates local markets for high-value products and, in some cases, global markets (Giordano et al. 2012;de Fraiture and Giordano 2014;Burney et al. 2013;Namara et al. 2011). Although there are exceptions, for example, the fadama projects in Nigeria and the private irrigation projects in Niger (both supported by the World Bank; see Abric et al. 2011), much of this development has occurred with no formal government investments or even policy attention.Promotion of private, small-scale irrigation is perceived as an alternative to collective schemes with their high transaction costs and the need for social cooperation. There is an assumption that getting the markets and value chains set up, and putting in place more encouraging policies (e.g., favorable exchange rates, taxes, etc.), is sufficient on the \"institutional\" side (e.g., Colenbrander and van Koppen 2013). In addition, farmers too are likely to see pump irrigation as a way of escaping the often onerous transaction costs associated with collective schemes. The result of this is insufficient attention being given by all parties -government, donors, farmers -to the need for institutional arrangements to manage water resources, which are still 'shared' even if 'invisible'. This refers to water from small streams and rivers, and also to groundwater, which is now recognized as a potentially significant source of water for irrigation as well as for other uses in Africa (e.g., Pavelic et al. 2013;Villholth 2013). There is no doubt about the claim that groundwater is a significant but underused resource, but there are cautions as well. In some places, for example, in parts of South Asia, China and the USA, the un-regulated, rapid expansion of wells and pumps has led to serious depletion of groundwater resources. In some areas in South India, it has also resulted in the depletion of water in small tanks, by pumping groundwater that is dependent on the water level in tanks (Shah et al. 2007). There are also less well-documented cases of over-pumping from small rivers and streams leading to conflict.2 Veldwisch et al.(2009) cautioned against the tendency of rushing toward new irrigation infrastructure. This applies to the emerging pump revolution in Africa.The rapid spread of irrigation pumping technology, disregarding its social dimensions, is likely to have significant adverse implications. Innovations and improvements achieved in the technical aspects of irrigation, without considering the social factors, will not necessarily guarantee successful irrigation experiences (Montaña et al. 2009). While the potential solutions to the social side of community-managed irrigation schemes are understood fairly well, the equally critical importance of addressing the social dimensions of private, small-scale irrigation is not well recognized, and the possible solutions are not clear. The next section of this paper brings this issue into sharper focus through a case study in Ethiopia. cultivation season is the wet season, from June to September. Livelihood zone profiles of the region also indicate that most agricultural activities depend on this single rainy season (MoARD 2007). The major wet season crops include teff, maize, millet and rice. The cultivation of rice has been introduced recently. Some variations in crop cultivation exist depending on specific agroecological conditions; for example, rice is largely cultivated in the lowland and midland areas, but not in the upland areas.The agricultural calendar, i.e., planting and harvesting, starts in May/June and ends by December, depending on the type of crop (Table 1). Dry season cultivation depends on access to irrigation and it may continue from October to March/April. Dry season crops include cereals, such as emmer wheat, chickpea, grass pea and lentils, as well as vegetables, such as onion and tomato.Fogera lies in the Blue Nile River Basin of Ethiopia, upstream of Lake Tana. It is a woreda (district) of the South Gonder administrative zone within the Amhara National Regional State (ANRS), which is one of the regional states that make up the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) (Figure 1). The population of Fogera is estimated at 228,449, of which 203,259 are rural inhabitants and the remaining 25,190 are urban dwellers (CSA 2007). Data obtained from rural kebele (sub-district) offices indicate that the population of the three study kebeles, Alem Ber, Dibasifatira and Kokit is 7,005, 7,703 and 5,190, respectively.Rural people in Fogera depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. They practice plow-based agriculture using oxen as the main draft animal power. Farmers grow various crops depending on the season -wet and dry seasons. The main Small-scale Irrigation in Fogera, Ethiopia Source: Prepared with the support provided by Yenenesh Abebe, a geographic information system (GIS) expert at IWMI, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Fogera is largely considered to be self-sufficient in food production. The woreda is included in the Tana Zuria Livelihood Zone, where households' own crop production contributes to a very high percentage of its food consumption (MoARD 2007).Livestock are also central to the Fogera farming systems. Farmers rear different types of animals such as oxen, cows, sheep and donkeys. While the number and types of livestock vary depending on the situation of the households, cattle (particularly oxen and cows) constitute the largest proportion of the livestock reared in the area (Table 2). This relates to the vital role of oxen for plowing, the importance of cows for milk and the cash value of cattle in times of need. Sheep are largely reared for sale, while donkeys usually serve the purpose of transporting goods from rural to urban areas.Farmers generate income from the sale of grains and vegetables. The district center, Wereta, as well as other nearby cities are among the market centers where farmers sell grains, vegetables, and livestock either directly or through brokers. While sheep and cattle are often traded within the surrounding towns and cities, cattle have also been supplied to export markets, particularly to Sudan (Akalu et al. 2009;MoARD 2007).Agriculture is the mainstay of the Ethiopian and Fogera economies, and the main source of living for the majority of the rural population. It is largely based on smallholder rainfed farming. However, the reliance on rainfed agriculture is often problematic. It is vulnerable to rainfall uncertainties, i.e., erratic rainfall, recurrent droughts and other linked factors that threaten farming as a livelihood. Therefore, in recent years, small-scale irrigation has expanded in Fogera. Farmers practice both motor pump irrigation and traditional irrigation based on the diversion of water from rivers and streams. Other observers have also noted the diversity of small-scale irrigation in the Blue Nile River Basin of Ethiopia (e.g., Eguavoen et al. 2012). Some of the rivers used for irrigation in the upper and lower zones of Fogera include Rib, Alemayehu, Marza, Mizewa and Dibikena (Akalu et al. 2009). Data obtained from farmers and agricultural extension officers in our study kebeles also indicate that these rivers and other rivers, such as Nachurit, Dibor and Bastkwa, are the basis for farmers' smallscale irrigation endeavors. Rib is a perennial river that flows through several kebeles, including Dibasifatira and Kokit, while the others are seasonal rivers that flow across different kebeles (Figure 2). There has also been a growing interest within the government and among its partners in expanding irrigation at the national level. Recently, the Ethiopian government has ranked irrigation development as high priority in its agricultural and rural development agenda. Irrigation is addressed in key government policy documents, including 'A Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (PASDEP)' and the more recent 'Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP)', where irrigation is identified as a key instrument to enhance agricultural production, food security, economic growth and agrarian development (FDRE 2006(FDRE , 2010)). The government is promoting large-as well as small-scale irrigation; the latter includes modernizing and expanding 'traditional' irrigation schemes as well as encouraging private small-scale irrigation. For example, expanding 'household irrigation technology' -mainly pump irrigation -is a major priority of the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA).3 Farmers in Fogera assert that irrigation has brought important benefits through the cultivation of multiple crops for both food consumption and sale. Farmers practicing irrigation emphasized that they used to cultivate mainly rainfed crops, such as teff and millet. Now they are able to shift from producing only during the rainy season to producing during both the rainy and dry seasons. Irrigation has enabled them to produce multiple crops, including onion, tomato, grass pea, wheat, emmer wheat, maize, chickpea, lentils and fenugreek. This situation has spurred enthusiasm, particularly for motor pump irrigation. The use of motor pumps has transformed local irrigation practices, expanding irrigated agriculture beyond the scope of traditional irrigation. Data obtained from kebele agricultural offices during fieldwork indicate that 4,682 ha of land are irrigated in the three study kebeles. This accounts for over 50% of the total cultivated land (8,131 ha). In Fogera District, at large, 27,141 ha are irrigated, accounting for 47% of the total cultivated land (57,444 ha) (FWARDO 2013). Fogera is in the Lake Tana Basin, an area that is especially favorable for irrigation in terms of gradient, soils, water availability and climate.In Fogera, traditional irrigation, locally referred to as mesno, is practiced through river and stream diversions, and the construction of channels. The history of traditional irrigation in the area dates back to the pre-1974 imperial regime of Ethiopia.A key informant in Fogera recalled that mesno was practiced during the Haileselassie regime and was administered by dagna (judges). Local representatives of the regime would provide the authority for enforcing activities agreed upon for irrigation use. Another key informant in Alem Ber kebele indicated that they started to practice mesno in 1977 during the Derg regime due to lack of rain. Traditional irrigation schemes have also existed in other parts of northern Ethiopia, involving a system of water allocation through the mediation of 'water fathers' and 'water judges' (Pankhurst 2002;Dessalegn 2001;Teshome 2003). Case studies conducted in northern Ethiopia also indicated that, while irrigation was generally limited during the imperial regime and largely controlled by landlords, it expanded under the Derg government (1974)(1975)(1976)(1977)(1978)(1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991) due to the threat of famine and efforts at collective farming; market forces and investment by the government and donors have subsequently resulted in further expansion under the current government (Pankhurst 2002;Awulachew et al. 2005;Teshome 2006).In Fogera, although traditional irrigation was practiced in the past, its expansion is a recent phenomenon. Local people indicated that its wider practice only emerged since the turn of this century. A combination of factors, including increased rainfall uncertainty, and a growing realization of the importance of irrigation and extension support, has re-invigorated local interest in experimenting with traditional irrigation. In explaining this shift, a key informant in Dibasifatira said, \"When the rain stopped in September, we would also stop cultivation. The canal came about 11 years ago. When the rain decreased, we tried the canal. We have continued to use it thereafter.\" The informant was referring to the mesno scheme located in Kero village, which is based on a diversion of water from Mizewa River. Key informants indicated that the scheme serves more than 70 households. A kebele document regarding irrigation use shows that it is practiced by more than 100 households and the irrigated area is about 40 ha. The size of irrigated plots ranges from 0.25-1.0 ha; most farmers' irrigated plots are 0.5 ha.Farmers around Bila village in Dibasifatira also use a mesno by diverting the Nachurit River. Key informants as well as agricultural extension officers indicated that the number of users of this mesno is between 60 and 70 households, and the irrigated area covers about 30 ha of land. The average size of irrigated plots is 0.5 ha. In Alem Ber, around Mikael and Wendegere areas, farmers use another mesno by diverting water from Bastkwa River. A discussion that involved a group of mesno users and agricultural extension officers revealed that this scheme serves more than 50 households and the irrigated area is about 15 ha. Mesno is practiced by an even smaller groups of farmers. For instance, in Alem Ber, a dozen households who work on adjacent crop fields in Tilik-mesk village use a mesno by diverting water from Aguwa-Dibor River. A discussion with a group of mesno users and agricultural extension officers revealed that the irrigated area is about 5 ha and most farmers' irrigated plots are about 0.5 ha.Farmers are eager to take advantage of the streams and rivers passing through their villages. During interviews, such farmers passionately reported their recent experiences and accomplishments by emphasizing how they have managed to make use of hitherto 'idle' water sources. This was also evident during focus group discussions with farmers. For instance, during a discussion with a group of farmers in Dibasifatira, participating farmers strongly shared the view of their colleagues who emphasized that, \"In the past, the water would just go through cutting the land. Today, we are asking her where she is going.\" Similarly, participants of the focus group discussions in Alem Ber underlined that, \"Today, there is no water that freely goes around the field. If found, she will be diverted.\" Thus, farmers seem more determined to utilize the available water. This situation reflects how local perceptions of irrigation have changed recently, with farmers attaching more value to its importance.In rural Fogera, social cooperation is an important defining feature of traditional irrigation, as it involves social cooperation from the onset of planning the scheme through to water use and irrigation schedules. Local users pool their labor, ideas and commitments to work on irrigation facilities, i.e., river diversion, dam construction and the preparation of water channels. The social cooperation and coordination that such activities entail are not a one-time activity. It is work that requires continuity, involving the construction and subsequent dismantling of the traditional dam. Users build a small dam from soil. Key informants indicated that they are often cautious about the potential adverse impacts of this small dam, particularly during the rainy season, in that it may overflow and inundate the surrounding area. They avoid this danger by dismantling the dam once the period of irrigation (October to January) is over and rebuilding it after the rain stops. Farmers also try different ways to maintain traditional irrigation structures. For instance, they reinforce mud-weirs by mixing dry straw and mud as plaster while using stones to support it. They also use soil-filled sacks (soil bags) to prevent erosion of the mud structure.In many respects, the users' readiness to accept social cooperation reflects their understanding of traditional irrigation as a social undertaking. The social trust embedded in their joint efforts also has a significant implication for collective action in irrigation use and management. This was evident from farmers' remarks regarding the norms and practices of water use. For instance, in response to whether users adhere to norms of shared water use or tend to be self-centered, disregarding others, a farmer in Alem Ber emphatically stated that, \"We have equally worked together to bring the water, and we all have to use it equally.\" Water usage is regulated by water use turns and irrigation schedules depending on water availability.Key informants explained that people who work together during initial preparations jointly discuss and arrange irrigation schedules and water-use turns. Then, individuals use water turn by turn based on specific schedules. The system is coordinated by water judges. Several water judges from each user's village constitute a water committee of five to six members. The practice of irrigation schedules based on wateruse turns is instrumental in avoiding destructive competition and ensuing conflicts over water use. Local users are aware of the negative implications of uncoordinated water-use practices. A key informant stressed that, \"irrigation has to be used on the basis of turns, so that people should not fight.\" However, this does not necessarily suggest that irrigation water use involves no competition and conflict: traditional irrigation users in Fogera indicated that competition and conflicts do arise between users over scheduled water turns. However, they can be mediated by the local institutional arrangements. Individuals may violate the 'water turn' system to pursue their own advantages at the expense of other users, but the water committee will intervene and address such situations.Scholars maintain that the rule of exclusion/ inclusion is an important principle that guides collective use and management of natural resources (McCay and Acheson 1987;Ostrom et al. 1999). This is reflected in traditional irrigation practices in Fogera. However, the local notion of inclusion/exclusion is not rigid and does not focus on restricting or denying access to water. It facilitates social cooperation that enables irrigation water use. Who is included for water access in irrigation schedules depends on whether they have participated in joint activities during the preparation of the traditional irrigation scheme. In principle, those who have failed to participate in such activities will be excluded. However, this customary principle is flexible, in that such individuals can be included later if they pay a fine. The fine represents a form of punishment for failing to take part in the social cooperation required for irrigation usage, while the individual will ultimately get access to irrigation water by paying his fair share in cash.A study conducted in several districts, including Fogera in eastern Lake Tana, also revealed that traditional irrigation schemes are practiced across these areas (Akalu et al. 2009).The study corroborates our observations on traditional irrigation. Traditional irrigation schemes involve water allocation and irrigation schedules whose management is done by Yewuha Abbat (water fathers), with the assistance of a group of water distributors and guidelines that include informal bylaws, operational norms and provisions for penalties (Akalu et al. 2009). In Fogera, this study was conducted in the upper and lower zones, including two of our study kebeles, Dibasifatira and Kokit. Other observations that focused on a village-level mesno scheme in a different kebele in Fogera (Deneke et al. 2011;Eguavoen et al. 2012), while noting the selforganization of traditional irrigation including water allocation and irrigation schedules, highlighted irregular practices. Variations in traditional irrigation practices may exist between different localities depending on differing political-ecological contexts and other conditions. Further research should be conducted to understand the scope and relevance of variations in irrigation experiences.The history of motor pump irrigation in Fogera dates back to the period of cooperative farming during the previous socialist (Derg) regime. After overthrowing the imperial government, the new Derg government introduced a wide range of agrarian reforms including land tenure changes and state-organized farm cooperatives. The initial experience of motor pump irrigation in the area can be traced back to a cooperative farm which operated over two decades ago. A key informant in Kokit recalled this situation and explained their experiences by stating, \"During the Derg in 1979/80, they organized us under a cooperative farm in Shega kebele and gave us motor pumps. We used the motor pumps to cultivate rice and got a good harvest.\" Nevertheless, key informants indicated that the recent practice of individual use of motor pumps for irrigation was introduced less than 10 years ago. This involved collaboration between 'investors' and local farmers. A key informant explained that, \"Initially traders were coming from the Wereta town with motor pumps to work with farmers here. The farmers would contribute labor and land, while the others would bring the motor pump, seeds and fuel. Later, they would share the harvest equally. After two years, the farmers became free from dependence. They were able to buy their own motor pumps and became selfsufficient.\"The wider expansion of motor pumps is a very recent phenomenon. Interviews revealed that the use of motor pumps began expanding rapidly only in the past three years. Farmers' favorable views regarding its benefits have spurred their enthusiasm for motor pump irrigation. A total of 20,916 pumps were reportedly distributed in the region at the end of 2009 alone (Namara et al. 2013). This figure is likely to have risen in subsequent years. Important enabling factors have facilitated the dissemination of the technology. Credit to buy motor pumps is now available through the Amhara Credit and Savings Institution in conjunction with the woreda agriculture office. While the latter delivers the motor pumps, the former provides the credit to purchase them. Credit facilities with facilitated supply of motor pumps have enabled farmers to acquire the technology.Besides, the use of motor pumps has expanded through local arrangements. Interviews and discussions conducted with farmers revealed that sharecropping has been an important factor in enabling farmers to gain access to motor pumps. Farmers have drawn upon experiences from their traditional sharing and exchange arrangements. They have engaged in sharecropping arrangements for a long time, involving those without oxen for plowing and others with oxen or landless people and landowners. This relationship has been extended to motor pump irrigation, in that farmers who have no motor pump engage in sharecropping arrangements with those that own motor pumps. In this arrangement, the former contribute land and labor, while the latter provide the motor with fuel and seeds, and they share the harvest equally. Thus, motor pump irrigation has been incorporated into local farming practices through traditional sharecropping arrangements.Farming enterprises boosted by motor pump irrigation now provide better income opportunities. Farmers use the grains and vegetables they produce for alternate purposes -cash and food, depending on the household's particular needs. Interviews with farmers indicated that onions, tomatoes and emmer wheat are largely sold. In particular, onions are widely grown as a cash crop. Farmers appreciate how onions have become an important source of cash. For instance, a farmer in Dibasifatira expressed his appreciation by stating, \"We can now earn ETB 5,000 4 from the sale of onions harvested from a small plot of land.\" A government agricultural extension officer in the area mentioned that a farmer could generate up to ETB 80,000 from onions produced on 0.25 ha. A recent assessment of agriculture in the Lake Tana Basin (Akalu et al. 2009) also indicated that onion production in Fogera has been increasing and the area has become a source of onion seeds for other areas of the Amhara region. A key informant in Kokit stated the importance of this crop by stating, \"It is onions that have changed the farmer these days.People who cultivate onions have changed a lot.They have acquired new assets; some have also owned grinding mills.\" Current motor pump irrigation practices in Fogera suggest that their pump-based irrigation is focused on pumping water on an individual household basis. A household usually relies on its own labor to transport the motor pump and pipe to a convenient water point where it sets the machine up to pump water and irrigate a field (Figure 3). In this way, farmers in Kokit draw water from the Rib River and irrigate their plots around the river path. Pump users in Dibasifatira pump water from the Mizewa and Marza rivers, and irrigate their lands in the vicinity of these rivers. A household may also use a donkey to transport the machine, depending on the distance to a convenient water point or to the place where the motor pump was rented (Figure 3). The use of motor pumps has facilitated access to river water for irrigation on an individual basis. However, the technology is being implemented without social cooperation and institutional arrangements for sharing of the common resource -the small rivers. Irrigation using a motor pump is an individualized undertaking, with no coordination and restrictions. This situation differs from the joint responsibilities required for the successful use and management of traditional irrigation. The lack of institutional arrangements to guide motor pump irrigation is widespread. This is also perpetuated through conceptions of irrigation that differentiate motor pump irrigation from traditional irrigation. This was identified through the analysis of local explanations in the course of the fieldwork. The local term for irrigation is mesno. Key informants described its features in terms of water use turns, schedules and other forms of collaboration related to utilizing river water for irrigated agriculture. During the fieldwork, such explanations were followed up with probes and queries regarding how such forms of collaboration related to motor pump use. Key informants clearly emphasized that their focus of description was mesno, separate from motor pumps. They responded to such queries by insisting that they were talking about mesno and mesno use, while emphasizing that individuals use the \"motor\" to draw river water and use it on their own. The notion that motor pump irrigation is different from traditional irrigation is reflected in other descriptions as well. In villages where both motor pump and traditional irrigation are practiced, informants described collaborative irrigation use in relation to mesno. In areas where only the motor pump is used, informants responding to queries regarding cooperation in utilizing river water tended to emphasize that they do not practice mesno. During a participatory mapping exercise with a group of farmers in Kokit, participants classified crop cultivation as 'crops grown with rain' and 'crops grown using the river'. When asked whether the latter refers to mesno, they explained that it is not mesno but \"motor\".Thus, local conceptions of motor pump irrigation versus traditional schemes differ depending on whether they refer to the source of water or social cooperation for water use. Motor pump irrigation is linked with traditional schemes when referring to ways of watering fields by extracting water from rivers and streams: artificially supplying water to crops versus depending on rainfall. On the other hand, motor pump irrigation differs from traditional irrigation, mesno, which is conceptualized as including social cooperation for water use. Motor pump irrigation does not involve the social attributes of irrigation embedded in the notion of mesno. Farmers use the term 'motor' to refer to individual pump irrigation. They associate the presence of a system that coordinates water use and irrigation schedules with traditional irrigation in contrast to motor pump irrigation. They link the latter with a situation of uninhibited usage, which is further revealed in the discussion below.M o t o r p u m p i r r i g a t i o n p r a c t i c e s l a c k mechanisms for water allocation and irrigation scheduling. Interviews and discussions held with farmers clearly emphasized this situation. For instance, a key informant in Dibasifatira stated that, \"There is no water use turn with motor pump use. Water is used as one wants to use [it]. People stop when the water stops.\" Similarly, a key informant in Kokit indicated that, \"Motor pump use has no water committee. It has no turn. It is possible for everyone to irrigate as they would like to.\" Such explanations were widely shared among a range of local people contacted during the fieldwork. Focus group discussions conducted with groups of farmers in the three study kebeles also revealed that motor pump irrigation practices are devoid of water use turns and irrigation schedules. Observations of motor pump irrigation practices during fieldwork and interviews held with such pump users also reflected that irrigation with a motor pump is an individualized undertaking.Our examination of motor pump irrigation in Fogera suggests that priority is given to acquiring and using the technology, i.e., the motor pump.The new technology has also quickly assumed its position as an important implement to be possessed by farming households. Government institutions and affiliated development personnel have been keen to facilitate the use of the technology at the local level. These efforts have focused on facilitating credit arrangements and delivering motor pumps. At the global level, the focus is largely on promoting the expansion of individualistic irrigation through improving the supply chain of motor pumps (Burney et al. 2013;Colenbrander and van Koppen 2013;Merrey and Sally 2008). Indeed, the use of motor pumps is a significant and welcome development of small-scale irrigation. However, we argue that the emphasis placed on motor pumps for improved irrigation performance should move beyond the sole focus of acquiring the technology and disseminating its use.Pump-based individualistic irrigation practices based on small rivers and streams, without effective institutional arrangements and collective action for managing the shared resource, have counterproductive implications. Information obtained through interviews and discussions held with farmers in Fogera revealed the emerging problems. Farmers have begun to experience the consequences of the lack of social cooperation as motor pump irrigation expands. Motor pump users have become concerned about how the competition for water use is growing, limiting the duration of water availability and creating water shortages. Irrigation users in Tachawa said that the water they use from the Rib River does not come easily to their area due to there being many motor pump users in upstream areas. A woman farmer in Kokit described this situation as frustrating. She emphatically stated that, \"Now the motors are randomly placed in every direction, so there is a shortage of water.\" This remark was shared by other people as well. A 50-year old farmer who was disappointed by this situation said, \"Now the main problem is water shortage. Otherwise, the area is gold.\" Another study also reported that communities around the Mizewa River complained about water shortages due to pumping of water in upstream areas (Zemadim et al. 2013).This situation of increased competition for water use was reported by a range of motor pump users. It should be noted that motor pump use is not limited to owners of the machines. Farmers who do not own motor pumps also gain access to them through sharecropping arrangements. In addition, the use of motor pumps has expanded through rentals, which generate income for farmers who possess motor pumps while enabling others to irrigate. The rental cost of motor pumps is in the range of ETB 12-15/hour (about USD 0.80) plus the cost of fuel.Farmers pumping water from the downstream portions of streams insist that users in the upstream parts always use the water as they want and deprive them of their share. They complain about the lack of any mechanism to check and deal with water blocking or over-pumping. Government agricultural officers who provide farmers with extension support also emphasized the growing competition for pumping river water. An extension agent in one of the study kebeles explained such problems of irrigation use, emphasizing that, \"There are too many motor pumps now. Everybody has a motor pump and it is difficult to follow-up. If we were to try and follow-up in our kebele, it would be difficult for us to follow-up things in another kebele.\" Not only does this situation reveal the lack of intervillage coordination for water use, it also indicates how the gap in social cooperation goes beyond inter-village relations, in that irrigation use and associated problems crosscut kebele boundaries.Shortage of water has been identified as a growing problem during interviews and focus group discussions conducted with farmers in Fogera. They have indicated that the amount of water available for irrigation is decreasing. Rivers are getting 'weaker' and drying up before their regular seasonal period. For instance, during a group discussion, farmers in Dibasifatira indicated that, \"There are so many motor pumps now that the Marza River we use for motor pump irrigation has dried up earlier than its season. Before the presence of many motors, we could use the river from October to February. Now it has dried up at the start of January. As a result, the crops we planted collapsed.\" In interviews, farmers who pump water from the Mizewa River also remarked that the amount of water available for irrigation has decreased due to increased motor pump users. These pump users mentioned, in particular, that the cultivation of a cash crop, which has recently begun in their upper surrounding area, has reduced the amount of water available to them. As a middle-aged farmer indicated, \"Before this increase in chat (a cash crop) cultivation using pumped water, the water that comes to our area would last until March or April. However, now the water flow has become weak around February.\" A study that involved a participatory approach to hydrometeorological monitoring (Zemadim et al. 2013) stated that the pumping of water for irrigation reportedly resulted in one of the main tributaries of the Mizewa River going dry in the dry season.Interviews held with farmers during fieldwork conducted in 2013 revealed the increasing impacts of problems related to uncoordinated individualistic motor pump use based on rivers. Farmers in Wenbel indicated that they have now stopped cultivating onions due to a shortage of water. They attributed the reduced water availability to an increase in motor pump users in their area as well as in the upstream areas. In particular, they emphasized the effect of increased competition from pump users in the upstream areas that are included in a different kebele (subdistrict). A key informant stated, \"They (upstream users located in a different sub-district) started using motor pumps after us. But, now, the number of motor pump users has increased there and the water has decreased here. Therefore, we stopped cultivating onions due to fear of crop failure.\" A farmer who contrasted the current situation with prior experiences explained that, \"We have benefited from the cultivation of onions for some three years. Now, there are many motors in use and the water has reduced. So, we have abandoned the onions. I haven't planted onions this year. In the past, the water used to serve us from October to February. But, now, it serves us until December, at most. It stops after that. If the water is not available until February, it is useless for cultivating onions.\"Information obtained during fieldwork conducted in 2014 also suggests an increasing trend in the competition for water use. For example, motor pump users extracting water from the Marza River insisted that water availability had declined. Farmers interviewed indicated that the problem of water shortage has affected their cultivation of onions. A motor pump user stated that, \"We do not have water from January onwards. This is because the river dries up. Last year, we planted onions, but the river dried up in January. For onion cultivation, there needs to be a supply of water until February.\" An interview conducted with a rural kebele official also highlighted the increasing competition for water use and linked the impacts this had on onion cultivation. He stated that, \" N o w , t h e n u m b e r o f p e o p l e extracting river water using motor pumps has increased. Competition among those pumping water from here and there has reduced water availability. This has hindered the cultivation of onions. So, this year, farmers have shifted to cultivating aja (emmer wheat); it requires a smaller amount of water. Onions need to be irrigated six to seven times, but it is sufficient if aja is irrigated three times.\"There seems to be an emerging response in terms of changing cropping patterns due to the declining water availability. For example, aja (emmer wheat) cultivation, which requires less water, may be replacing onion cultivation. Farmers we interviewed indicated that many people are getting involved in aja cultivation. This shift towards aja cultivation indicates an emerging response to decreased water availability for onion cultivation. Further investigations should be carried out to understand the scope and implications of such responses. This trend, if confirmed, is of particular concern because onion cultivation is far more profitable than aja cultivation. Motor pump users greatly appreciate the benefits of onion cultivation that has been achieved through motor pump irrigation. They expressed their concern by emphasizing that, \"if water is available, cultivating onions is more beneficial.\"The increasing competition for water threatens the sustainability of motor pump irrigation and diminishes the livelihoods of motor pump users. In addition, it affects traditional schemes by reducing the amount of water available for traditional irrigation. For instance, farmers who practice traditional irrigation in the downstream portions of the Alemayehu River insist that the expansion of motor pump use in the upstream areas has reduced the flow of water to their area, thereby jeopardizing their mesno irrigation. In Alem Ber, farmers who irrigate by diverting water from the Aguwa-Dibor River described a case of conflict between motor pump use and mesno irrigation, whereby motor pump users are alleged to be blocking water and stopping its flow to the mesno waterway. They explained that this situation was threatening their onion cultivation, but the blockage was later removed through the intervention of a kebele official. Also, in Dibasifatira, farmers using mesno by diverting water from the Nachurit River described a situation of conflict between traditional irrigation and motor pump irrigation. They stated that some motor pump users surreptitiously remove weir structures and redirect water to the river, so that more water flows through the branch of the stream from which they pump water and irrigate fields. Key informants indicated that this kind of sabotage often takes place at night and it has forced mesno users, during their turns of water allocation, to be vigilant against such activities that jeopardize their water share and irrigation schedule.In some instances, the competition between motor pump use and traditional irrigation becomes more complex at the ground level. This is related to situations where a farmer who owns a motor pump may also be involved in traditional irrigation.A key informant in Dibasifatira indicated that, at times, some of these users resort to using their motor pumps through covert interference with traditional schemes. Such motor pump owners, like other motor pump users, consider motor pumps as a means of 'avoiding' the 'inconvenience' of traditional irrigation. Interviews with some irrigation users clearly reflected this situation. For instance, an irrigation user in Billa stated that, \"mesno is less convenient, because we use it by worefa (water use turns). When worefa takes longer, I prefer to use \"motor\" (i.e., motor pump).\" Similarly, another irrigation user stated that, \"If you get 'motor' , you do not expect to wait for worefa to access water. You will have easy access to water by using the 'motor'.\"Thus, motor pump irrigation has led to increasing competition for water use even within mesnos, potentially undermining their institutional arrangements. The growing shortage of water threatens their sustainability. Competition and conflict are increasing between motor pump irrigation and traditional irrigation. The reduction in water supply for traditional irrigation puts its users at a disadvantage. The end result is becoming a lose-lose situation for users of both types of irrigation. We anticipate the situation will worsen and become more widespread over time, if unabated.To date, there has been little institutional response at the kebele level in terms of institutional arrangements to guide motor pump irrigation and ensure its sustainability. However, information obtained from Kokit kebele indicated that a kind of 'committee' was reportedly attempted in one village. However, its function was limited to mediating a conflict over land. As a key informant in Kokit explained, \"Someone pumping out water might want to bring the water to his field by trespassing another person's land, thereby creating a conflict with the landowner. The committee tried to mediate such conflicts over land. This was tried only in our village.\"However, there are important government institutional and policy contexts that recognize the importance of appropriate use and management of water resources. A key government policy document, the GTP, has emphasized the importance of irrigation development and improved water utilization, as well as building the capacities of farmers and government support structures. Associated key documents of the Ministry of Water Resources, such as the Water Resources Management Policy (MoWR 1998) and the Water Sector Strategy (MoWR 2001), have also identified the importance of developing irrigation and appropriate institutional structures for the implementation and management of irrigated agriculture. In 2013, the government issued a \"Proclamation to Provide for the Establishment of Irrigation Water User Association\" (FDRE 2013). Such institutional and policy provisions and enactments can have their own implications in terms of facilitating a context for the creation of local institutional solutions for pump-based irrigation. There is also a wider governmentinitiated institutional context whereby rural people have been mobilized for watershed management activities. Information obtained from the woreda agriculture office in Fogera described watershed management as an important part of its natural resource management agenda. Farmers have been engaged in collective soil and water conservation activities through woreda and kebele structures, and watershed management task forces which are organized from the village through to kebele levels. Nevertheless, so far, there has been little direct official response to the growing shortages of water in small rivers resulting from the expansion of motor pump irrigation.Until recently, irrigation investments in Asia and Africa consisted almost entirely of public investments; although farmers did invest in small-scale individual and community-managed irrigation schemes, these investments were invisible to governments. Colonial governments invested in large-scale schemes based on canals, barrages and dams, especially in South Asia, Sudan, West Africa and South Africa. The main exception was public support for the rehabilitation of small community-managed 'traditional' irrigation schemes in Asia. These types of investments continued in the postcolonial period, and were scaled up in conjunction with the Green Revolution in Asia. However, from the 1980s, there was growing public and private dissatisfaction with the performance of public irrigation schemes. Quietly and almost invisibly, beginning in the 1950s in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and elsewhere, individual farmers began investing in motor pumps. A report on treadle pumps published in 2000 was an eyeopener with its title, \"Pedaling out of poverty\" (Shah et al. 2000). However, it soon became clear that the real story was not so much about treadle pumps, but about the low-cost portable pumps that came onto the market in the 1990s.Initially, these were mostly powered by petrol or diesel. More recently, with rural electrification, the use of electric pumps became more common in Asia; and most recently, solar pumps are coming onto the market in South Asia and at least at an experimental level in West Africa (Shah et al. 2007;Tewari 2012;Burney et al. 2010).By the mid-2000s, the area under private irrigation constituted over 60% of India's irrigation, exceeding the area under public schemes despite continued public investments (Mukherji et al. 2009). In SSA, motor pump irrigation got off to a slower start, but is now also growing rapidly in many countries (Shah et al. 2013). In some African countries, for example, Ghana, the area under private small-scale irrigation now greatly exceeds the area under public irrigation (Villholth 2013). African governments have become interested in supporting this expansion: private pump-based irrigation does not require long lead times and huge outlays of public funds; it mobilizes significant private investment; and it is making important contributions to the food supply of growing cities as well as to agricultural exports.The significant impacts of pump-based irrigation in terms of poverty reduction and higher agricultural productivity are also impressive in both Asia and Africa (e.g., Shah et al. 2007Shah et al. , 2013;;Mukherji et al. 2009;Burney and Naylor 2012;de Fraiture and Giordano 2014). However, as with all good things, the rise of individually owned pump-based irrigation has led to new problems. In parts of western and southern India, northern China and North America, over-pumping of groundwater has led to serious depletion of both shallow and deeper aquifers (on the other hand, shallow aquifers that are annually recharged by monsoon rains continue to be under-exploited in eastern India). Recent research in SSA finds that groundwater remains an under-exploited resource in most places, but there is growing evidence of over-exploitation and degradation of, and conflict over, groundwater resources (e.g., Villholth 2013).In addition to groundwater, vast areas of the semiarid and humid tropic zones of SSA are characterized by the existence of multiple small streams and rivers. In the driest areas, these are ephemeral; in nearly all of them, their flows vary dramatically between the wet and dry seasons. With a few possible local exceptions, data on the locations and flows of these streams are nonexistent. Indeed, recent estimates on the potential for motor pump irrigation focus entirely on groundwater and ignore the potential for pumping from small streams (e.g., Namara et al. 2013).As pump irrigation expands in SSA, it seems highly likely that competition for water from small streams and rivers as well as aquifers will become increasingly serious. This problem will require creative solutions at local levels.India, China and North America have experimented with institutional and technological approaches for managing the problem of aquifer mining. In North America, the Ogallala Aquifer Initiative supports a range of measures to reduce depletion of a major source of agricultural water, including encouraging conservation agriculture, more efficient irrigation and changes in cropping patterns 5 . Other measures include systems of enforceable permits for water extraction and spacing of pumps, pump metering, promoting community-based and even larger-scale groundwater recharging (e.g., Gujarat, India), and reconfiguration of rural electricity systems that separate supplies for domestic and industrial purposes, and supplies using dedicated lines to agricultural pumps. In the latter case, electricity supply for agriculture is highly reliable but rationed (Shah et al. 2004;Mukherji et al. 2009). It is likely that some parts of Asia have evolved approaches to dealing with competition on small rivers, but these are not well documented.African and South Asian countries need to be cautious about adopting solutions that work under different conditions. Shah and van Koppen (2006) argue that the promotion of integrated water resources management models, borrowed from wealthier countries with more developed economies and institutions, has done more harm than good in countries where the vast majority of water users are very small-scale and operate in an informal economic and institutional context. In other words, it is important to understand \"what works on the ground and what does not, and devise indirect policy instruments to encourage or compel private institutional arrangements to meet public policy goals.\" (ibid.) Their argument is basically an evolutionary one: in countries where most water management arrangements are local and informal, governments have a limited capacity to influence these; they should, therefore, try to create a policy environment that encourages the evolution of effective local institutional arrangements, but also focuses direct interventions only on large-scale water users. Their argument is also cautionary: we cannot assume that direct interventions -social engineering -by the government or NGOs are feasible responses to the problems created by the motor pump revolution in Africa.Motor pump irrigation is beginning to revolutionize irrigated agriculture and rural development in SSA, in much the same ways as it has done in Asia. As in Asia, it is likely to enable millions of smallholder farmers to create wealth and move out of poverty, while also contributing to non-farm rural development as well as national economic growth. It is also likely to create a new generation of problems related to the management of and equitable access to scarce water resources, as it has in many parts of Asia. This is still an emerging issue in SSA, though it is already taking shape in some localized areas, including the Fogera case. We argue that the root of the problem is that, while traditional communitymanaged irrigation is perceived by both farmers and governments as having both technical and social dimensions, motor pump irrigation is viewed largely as a technological innovation. This narrow focus on technology repeats an earlier error committed by governments and donors promoting small-scale irrigation. Researchers and governments have focused on one institutional dimension: the need for an effective supply chain for pumps, spare parts and maintenance services; and markets for agricultural products. However, the need for institutional measures to guide pump-based irrigation and manage common water resources, such as small rivers and streams, remains a blind spot.L o c a l u s e r s ' i n v o l v e m e n t a n d accomplishments in traditional irrigation reveal their experiences with collective action and their understanding of traditional irrigation as a social undertaking. The events that unfolded following the spread of motor pump irrigation is a result of over-reliance on a technological perspective, disregarding the social requirements of irrigation. If governments and farmers continue along this path, it will generate increasingly serious and intractable conflicts among users, concentration of resources in the hands of the more powerful local elites and ultimately serious degradation of a valuable resource. The impacts will go beyond agriculture and food security: shallow aquifers are a major source of domestic water in rural Africa, and indeed some governments, including that of Ethiopia, encourage \"self-supply\" of domestic water using pumps as an alternative to community-managed water supplies (Butterworth et al. 2013).What can be done? We view the problem as a socio-technical issue in an integrated landscape context. There is growing evidence of positive outcomes of integrated landscape initiatives in SSA and elsewhere (Milder et al. 2014). While we are skeptical of the efficacy of direct government intervention in such complex local issues, there is considerable evidence that people can find creative institutional solutions for local resource management problems with facilitation and policy support from the government and NGOs (e.g., Komakech and van der Zaag 2011;Komakech 2013;Merrey and Cook 2012). More specifically, the promotion and facilitation of \"innovation platforms\", forums that include a wide range of stakeholders with shared interests, can enable people to identify a problem and potential solutions, test the possible solutions and implement them more widely if they work (Nederlof et al. 2011;Tenywa et al. 2011;Kilelu et al. 2013;Duncan 2011) 6 .In this case, such a platform might include the farmers pumping water from a shared stream or aquifer, local water and agricultural officials, wholesalers of agricultural products, and pump suppliers. All of these parties have a strong interest in the sustainable management of the common resource. Facilitators (who may be local extension agents, for example) can introduce solutions that have been tried elsewhere, and encourage discussion of how to share the limited water resources sustainably and equitably while also maximizing its productivity.Encouraging the adaptation of institutional arrangements already used in other contexts to this new problem may also be effective. Transparent participatory monitoring of pumping and streamflow or aquifer levels can provide the information needed on the scale of the problem and trends over time. Depending on local conditions, local governments or communitybased organizations can play a critical role in this process of monitoring, raising awareness and proposing solutions. Effective solutions will be context-specific: what works well in one country or even within a watershed in the same country may not be the best solution in another. Some governments may be tempted to try to limit the number of pumps through licensing or regulations based on their location and capacity. There is very little evidence from developing countries that such direct interventions have been successful. However, this may work where local governments are effective and have adequate resources. As rural electrification expands in the future, more opportunities may arise to use electricity management as a means of rationing of pumping as done in Gujarat, India. We recommend that governments should play a leading role in raising awareness among pump users and facilitating local problem solving.Finally, further research can contribute greatly to promoting and sustaining motor pump-irrigated agriculture and its benefits. First, there is an urgent need to carry out more localized and detailed assessments of both aquifers and small streams: their locations, estimated flows or yields, aquifer recharge rates, water quality, and both the threats and opportunities affecting their sustained use. Second, we suggest that researchers carry out detailed multi-disciplinary case studies in areas where motor pump irrigation is expanding rapidly to identify emerging problems and responses, complemented by more extensive comparative studies, in order to understand the scale of over-use of common water resources. Evidence of the scale of the problem is critical to get the attention of policymakers. Third, returning to our theme of 'institutional creativity' discussed above, we would encourage participatory actionoriented research and experimentation in places such as Fogera to identify how external agents can best facilitate the emergence of local social arrangements or adaptation of existing institutional arrangements to address a new problem. Solutions cannot be imposed; they must emerge from recognition of the problem and agreeing to test solutions on the ground."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c91662e1ff959baa9209e86801a127cd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/16030a9b-22c7-4591-b2c6-c57c8b005d35/content","id":"556354942"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c5bb9160-8721-481a-a4da-6c61b73e97b8","content":"CIMMYT -the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center -is the global leader in publicly-funded maize and wheat research and related farming systems. Headquartered near Mexico City, CIMMYT works with hundreds of partners throughout the developing world to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat cropping systems, thus improving global food security and reducing poverty. CIMMYT is a member of the CGIAR System and leads the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize and Wheat and the Excellence in Breeding Platform. The Center receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies.drought tolerant germplasm, intercropping, tree fallows, water harvesting and irrigation technologies. These practices all aim at increasing productivity and incomes of smallholder farming systems and address the adaptation and mitigation components to varying extents (Descheemaeker et al., 2016;Steward et al., 2018). Conservation Agriculture (Kassam et al., 2009), is one such practice that has received considerable research attention as a climate smart technology in Malawi in the last two decades. However, many other practices such as Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration that seek to reverse the widespread vegetation degradation have also been recently the focus of research. Agroforestry has been one of the common CSA practices in Malawi. The high cost of mineral fertilizers in cropping systems have also necessitated the widespread use of nitrogen fixing legumes and organic manures (composts) as strategies for alleviating nutrient deficits in cropping systems. Using agroforestry technologies can help to maintain soil cover, improve nutrient levels, increase soil organic matter, water infiltration, and provides a secondary source of food, fodder, fibre and fuel.The Protecting Ecosystems and Restoring Forests in Malawi (PERFORM) project was designed as the flagship implementation vehicle for the Enhancing Capacity for Low Emission Development Strategies (EC-LEDS) partnership between the United States Government (USG) and the Government of Malawi (GoM), and as a core component of environment programming under USAID/Malawi's Development Objective Assistance Agreement with the GoM. The main goal for PERFORM's five-year engagement was to make a lasting improvement in Malawian quality of life. To do that, PERFORM aligned with Malawi's Growth and Development Strategy to promote forest conservation and green growth In line with this purpose, prioritized intervention activities in Machinga district and in communities around Liwonde included forest restoration, Climate-Smart Agriculture, Intensification (more output per unit area), low-cost irrigation systems where applicable and soil fertilityenhancing measures, diversified farming systems, and Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) relates to agricultural practices and approaches hinged on three overlapping pillars or components i.e. improved productivity, adaptation and mitigation of climate change (Figure 1). CSA (https://ccafs.cgiar.org/climate-smartagriculture-0#.WJ_L4E27ocM) is defined as an integrative approach that addresses the interlinked challenges of food security and climate change, and explicitly aim at the three objectives:1. sustainably increasing agricultural productivity, to support equitable increases in farm incomes, food security and development;2. adapting and building resilience of agricultural and food security systems to climate change at multiple levels; and 3. reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture (including crops, livestock and fisheries).A wide range of crop and livestock practices can contribute to these three CSA pillars and include practices or technologies such as such as agroforestry or fertilizer tree systems, conservation agriculture, To assess climate smartness, relevant key indicators are often used to evaluate the contribution of such technologies to the three CSA pillars. For example, yield income and food security can be used as proxies for sustainable productivity while a range of soil quality indicators such as microbial activity, soil organic carbon, water infiltration, soil loss, nitrogen content, pH and other soil chemical properties are used to assess resilience attributes of the CSA practice. For mitigation, measures such as the greenhouse gases emissions (CO 2 , CH 4 fluxes), above ground biomass, total soil carbon (t/ha) and fuelwood consumption are often used.Measurement of biomass inputs in cropping systems for example, is important for the purpose of understanding annual carbon injection and thus a good indice for above ground biomass production. In CA systems, provision of residue cover usually derived from crop biomass inputs, is important and one of the three key principles of CA. FAO recommends that farmers have at least 30% residue cover at the time of seeding but most farmers in Southern Africa hardly meet this limit due to competing uses of the residues as livestock feed, fuel and other uses (Valbuena et al., 2012). Residue cover also plays an important role in reducing rainfall erosivity as the energy of rain drops is attenuated by the presence of residues on the surface. Residue cover and water infiltration rate related parameters could thus be used as indicators for resilience of CSA systems.The objective of this study was therefore to quantify the costs and benefits of three CSA cropping practices in Machinga district with respect to productivity, adaptation and mitigation indicators among farmers voluntarily employing these technologies. Specifically, the study evaluated the following attributes as CSA performance indicators:• Assess the annual biomass, residue cover and water infiltration capacities as proxies for mitigation and resilience• Assess soil quality changes with respect to soil physical and chemical properties of fields under CSA practices• Assess the yield merits of implemented CSA practices relative to conventional farmer practices as proxies for productivity assessments• Establish if the measured soil quality and yield merits are influenced by household socioconomic characteristics of targeted households.improved access to quality planting material and seeds. These technologies implemented as pilot activities, were also envisaged to contribute towards national efforts for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) readiness under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.CIMMYT, and many other partners have been implementing CA as one of CSA practices in Malawi for many years. Most of these studies however assessed the performance of CA technologies when implemented as trials or field experiments and not when farmers implemented these technologies on their own. Under the PERFORM project, farmers were recommended to try out new improved drought and heat stress tolerant maize varieties as part of the suite of CSA technologies. The high cost of mineral fertilizers also necessitated the use of a local fertilizer innovation involving the combination of organic manures and conventional mineral inorganic NPK and Urea fertilizers to produce a popular fertilizer known as \"MBEYA\". This \"MBEYA\" fertilizer was considered by farmers as a very useful fertilizer enabling more efficient use of limited quantities of mineral fertilizers. Not much is available from literature on this technology despite its popularity.The use of pigeonpea as an intercrop in maize systems is also increasingly seen as an important climate smart and food security strategy. This arises from the fact that pigeonpea, being a deep rooted and high biomass producing legume, can generate significant soil cover levels during the cropping season after the maize has senesced and can relay well in maize systems and fix substantial amounts of nitrogen during the period (April-June) when the rainfall season is tailing off. Pigeonpea therefore makes a highly compatible intercrop in maize systems. Pigeonpea has also been promoted as an important cash crop that could potentially be used to generate income for the smallholders and improve their market participation. However, the pigeonpea export market in India collapsed in the last two years thereby leaving many farmers who produced this pulse crop somehow stranded with unsold grain stocks and no market. Yet the maize-pigeonpea intercrop system answers well to the CSA pillars as it could improve productivity and incomes, enhance adaptation and resilience through diversification and through high biomass production and it could contribute to the mitigation component. Following a reconnaissance visit to Machinga Agricultural Development Division (ADD) in September 2018 the CIMMYT team in collaboration with key stakeholders in the PERFORM project identified CA, pigeonpea intercropping and the MBEYA fertilization strategy as the most widely used CSA rainfed cropping technologies in communities around the Liwonde Forest Reserve.Five communities in which the PERFORM project had been implemented since 2014, were selected for in-depth studies on biophysical parameters. The five communities were Lower Ntubwi, Mbonechera, Upper Ntubwi, Domasi and Nsanama. It is noteworthy that Nsanama was only sampled for the yield assessments. Farmers using CA, pigeon pea intercrops and the MBEYA fertilization strategy were selected for in-depth studies with the help of local field officers and lead farmers.On every farm, a field with the targeted technology was identified for sampling while another control field without the technology was also identified within the same farm (Table 1). Special considerations were given to allow for equal sampling of fields in the high and low rainfall communities. Due to its widespread use, more farmers using CA were identified for sampling compared to those sampled for pigeonpea and MBEYA fertilization technologies. Other factors considered in sampling the study fields, were duration of implementing the technologies (2 years or less, or a longer period) and soil texture (light and heavy textured soils).Measurement of biomass input in cropping systems is important for the purpose of understanding annual carbon injection as a measure or proxy of climate change mitigation. The amount of biomass available for incorporation into the soil or left on the soil surface as cover at the end of the dry winter season in southern Africa's cropping systems can be a good proxy to how much carbon is returned to the soil system annually leading to carbon sequestration (Govaerts et al., 2009;Kell, 2011;Lal, 2004;Palm et al., 2014). However, measuring biomass inputs may be a tedious exercise, therefore visual estimates of percentages of residue cover are often used in CA systems.In this study, annual biomass inputs after the dry winter season were made by randomly placing a 0.70m*0.70m quadrant made of wood or wire on the ground and collecting all biomass at the surface into a khaki bag and weighing it using a precision scale.In each plot measurements were made three times thereby giving a total of six observations on each farm: 3 in the CSA technology and 3 in the conventional non-CSA technology. The dry residues were weighed and the type of residues available on the surface were also recorded. Because measurements were done after a prolonged hot and dry period, we assumed the residues were air dry.Similarly residue cover estimates were also made through visual observations in each plot and data recorded on a datasheet for each farm using the photo comparison method (Shelton et al., 1995) to estimate residue cover. By visually observing the ground and comparing it to the photos, percentage of residue cover for each quadrant was estimated.The time to pond technique is a quick and rapid but reliable technique for comparing water infiltration characteristics on cropping systems managed in different ways. With this technique differences in water infiltration patterns are evaluated by measuring the time taken for sprinkled water to flow out of a ring of about 50cm diameter. The device has a provision for measuring volume of water infiltrated and the time it takes for the applied infiltrating water to start flowing laterally and hit the ring. The amount of time this takes depends on how well water infiltrates into the soil.The longer this takes, the better. This technique was recently improved by agronomists at CIMMYT-Harare to reduce subjectivity of results caused by different water pouring intensities when different individuals use the technique. With the improved technique, water drops from a funnel which is a fixed distance from the ground across all measurements. In this study all measurements were conducted with the water delivery funnel set at 45 cm above ground and three runs were conducted per plot. Some simple household data from each farm including soil type and household size, were collected for each of the three focal technologies: CA, pigeon pea and the Mbeya Fertilization technology.Composite soil samples were collected from the top 20 cm of each of the two fields on each farm. Samples were randomly collected with a shovel on at least 10 random but evenly distributed positions on each field and then mixed up to make one composite sample per cropping system on each farm. Collected samples were air dried and then sent to Bvumbwe Agricultural Research Station laboratory for analysis. Standard laboratory procedures were used to analyse for soil physical properties such as texture. Similarly, standard procedures were used for the analysis of soil chemical properties such as pH, N, P, K, %OC, %SOC, POMP and others.Yield assessments were carried out at the end of the 2018/19 season including some on farms where previous data was collected on water infiltration and for which laboratory soil analysis had been carried out in Oct and Nov 2018. Maize yields were physically measured on farmers' fields where CA, MBEYA and Pigeonpea technologies had been employed and measurements were made on both the CSA and the control non-CSA technology fields within the same farm. A total of 64 farmers (Table 2) were sampled for the yield assessments despite the initial target of 80 as some of the farmers harvested their fields before arrival of the yield assessment team. A list of farmers from the initial soil sampling was used for the selections in each of the five communities. For each farm and in each of the two fields on each farm, 4 checkplots (5m*4 rows) for crop cuts were randomly chosen in the CSA intervention plot and on the non-CSA intervention plots close by and within the same farm (Figure 2).Annual biomass, residue cover and water infiltration data (time to pond and water intake) were assembled for each of the farmers and analysed using t-tests for comparison of means comparing CSA and the corresponding control non-CSA technology for the CA, pigeonpea intercrops and Mbeya fertilization strategy. To analyse the contribution of factors such as agro-ecology, soil texture and associated basic socioeconomic attributes for each farm, a Linear Model in R-stats was applied since the distribution of these factors was unbalanced for each community.Similarly soil chemical and yield data were subjected to analyses using the same models as above. Since there was no measured rainfall data for the sites, gridded rainfall data from NASA (https://power.larc.nasa.gov/ data) were used for sites that had GPS coordinates for a 30 year period up to 2018/19. Cumulative seasonal rainfall data for the 30 years were used to compute a normal rainfall mean for the area. Using this mean a t-test comparing the season 2018/19 total rainfall from the known 30 yr. mean was used to establish if the last season 2018/19 had significantly deviated from the mean. Finally, the analysis combined socioeconomic attributes to yield attributes to test if there are any socioeconomic variables that were associated with the observed yields and their differences relative to the conventional farmer practices  Results from the studies show that the average annual biomass inputs from the CSA cropping systems amounted to 3,400, 2,900 and 3,800 kg/ha for CA, MBEYA fertilization strategy and pigeonpea intercrops, respectively (Figure 3.1 a). There were no significant differences between the annual biomass inputs in the CA and MBEYA systems compared to conventional practices. However, the pigeonpea intercrops showed significantly higher biomasses and better infiltration (higher time-topond) compared to conventional monocrop systems (Figure 3.1 b). Although positive, differences between CSA and non-CSA technologies in residue cover, and water intake were mostly not significant.The results therefore suggest that the pigeonpea systems which had high biomass inputs also contributed to the better water infiltration as reflected in the higher time to pond (Figure 3.1. b).T-test results analysing the different soil quality attributes are presented in Table 3.1. CA showed relatively better and statistically significant (P<0.05) soil quality attributes except for soil pH. In comparison to the conventional cropping systems, the increases varied between 39 and 201% (Table 3.1). Thus both easily degradable and protected particulate organic matter (POMR and POMP) were much higher in CA compared to conventional farmer practices and increased by 195 and 201%, respectively. Consequently, the soil organic carbon measured in the top 20cm of the soil averaged 0.71% for conventional practices compared to 1.06% under CA giving a net increase of 48%. With respect to compaction and bulk density, CA also portrayed more positive attributes with significantly higher (P<0.0001) compaction and bulk density being measured on conventional farmer practices compared to CA. Thus, CA had lower bulk densities of 1,280 compared to 1,330kg/m 3 under the conventional practices. No significant differences were however observed in soil pH.   Similarly, the MBEYA fertilization strategy also had positive and better soil quality characteristics than conventional till with organic carbon increasing from 1.07% to 1.58% (Table 3.2). The highest relative advantages were noted under the POMR (141%) and POMP (164%) The MBEYA fertilization strategy thus contributed to improved soil organic carbon status and better soil nutrient characteristics. The strategy was thus contributing to improved soil fertility despite the challenges of preparing this organic fertilizer. Differences in soil pH were also not significant as for the CA systems.Pigeonpea systems also had significant positive increases on organic carbon (OC) (42%), Particulate organic matter POMR (167%), POMP (120%), Magnesium (54%), Ca (98%), Potassium (74%), Phosphorus (49%) and Nitrogen (26%) compared to conventional monocrops while differences in soil pH were not apparent (Table 3.3). Thus, in general the pigeonpea intercrop systems brought about significant improvements in soil quality attributes.With respect to the pigeonpea systems, soil pH remained insignificant when comparing mono and intercropped systems. However, all other soil attributes for pigeonpea intercrops were more positive than for maize monocropping as most of the differences were positive and significant (p<0.05). Bulk density differences were also not significant but there was significantly less compaction in the pigeonpea intercrop fields compared to the monocropped ones. Thus in general the pigeonpea intercrop system brought about significant improvements in soil quality attributes. Overall, across all the practices (CA, Mbeya and pigeon pea) soil pH was the same and didn't show an improvement as their relative advantages were not significant at P< 0.05. The most significant relative advantages were observed under POMR and POMP across all the systems. Most of the soil chemical attributes proved to better under the climate-smart agriculture practice as compared to the conventional practice. Overall the results suggest the three CSA systems contribute 4.2, 6.0 and 5.3 tC/ha from the CA, MBEYA and pigeonpea intercrops systems, respectively (Table 3.4).The average 30-year total annual rainfall for the five communities amounted to 1,160 mm versus 1,593 mm received in the 2018/19 season in which yields were assessed (Figure 4). Statistical analyses suggested the 2018/19 season was significantly wetter than the normal average for the area. Out of this the rainfall analysis suggested that the in-crop rainfall total (Nov.-April) amounted to 1,076 mm versus 1,522 mm received in 2018/19. The major differences arose from the floods brought about by Cyclone Idai during which some 470mm were received in March. Thus the season did not suffer from any serious moisture deficits for crops since there was excessive rainfall compared to the normal. By comparing the season onset to the reported dates of planting by the farmers, no delays in planting dates were apparent and hence farmers efficiently utilized the first opportunity availed by the rains to plant their crops.The three CSA systems combined, significantly improved maize yields as shown in the box plots (Figure 5.1, p.8) compared to the conventional farmer practices. Climate-smart agriculture technologies had average maize grain yields of 3,834 kg/ha as compared to the conventional practice with a mean of 2,916 kg/ ha. When compared across agro-ecologies (high and low rainfall areas), results showed the same general pattern with CSA performing better than conventional. The CSA systems had a mean of 3,965 compared to 3,049 kg/ha under conventional in high rainfall areas while in the low rainfall areas CSA had a mean of 3,595 kg/ha compared to 2,675 kg/ha in low rainfall areas.The results provided solid evidence that CSA increased yields compared to the conventional system (farmer practice) at least in the 2018/19 season, a result that echoes well with sentiments expressed by farmers.On separating and analysing the three CSA systems (CA, MBEYA and pigeonpea intercrops), the yield responses under the three practices i.e. CA, Mbeya and pigeonpea intercrops are shown in Figure 5.2.From this, the CA practice performed significantly better (P=0.016) with a mean maize yield of 4,106 kg/ha compared to the conventional with a mean of 2,713 kg/ha equivalent to 51% increase. Similarly, the Mbeya fertilization strategy also increased mean maize yields by 19% compared to the normal conventional fertilization (non-Mbeya) at 4,535 compared to 3,793 kg/ha, respectively but the differences were statistically not significant (p=0.571). Maize yields in the pigeonpea intercrop system were insignificantly higher than that from the monocrop maize (p=0.735) at a mean of 3,047 versus 2,802 kg/ha, respectively, a 9% increase.The positive yield responses from CA are attributed to the improved soil quality characteristics observed under CA which included better organic carbon, higher nutrient content (N, P, K) and lower bulk densities.3.4. Agronomic practices: varieties, residue application, planting density and weeding effects.Across the three CSA systems, key agronomic factors that significantly (p<0.05) influenced yield included residue application (Figure 5.3.), plant population (Figure 5.3.) and number of weeding (Figure 5.4.) carried out per season. Plant population had a significant and positive linear regression effect on maize yield (P<0.0000); R 2 =0.144 with peak yields at about 44,000 plants per ha (Figure 5.3). Low yields were mostly associated with low plant populations.Weeding was an important and significant factor influencing yields in CA systems where the number of weeding cycles per season significantly correlated to maize grain yield. Yield penalties were evident from not weeding at all while weeding two or three times, resulted in improved yields. The majority of farmers weeded their crop twice per season. On average under CA, returns to weeding amounted to 1,098 kg/ha/ weeding run thereby suggesting that investments in weeding by farmers could give them labor investments returns of at least 1 tonne of grain for every weeding run (Figure 5.4).  Farmers were found to be growing varieties from more than 20 different seed companies. These varieties included drought tolerant and non-drought tolerant ones (Figure 5.5). The most widely grown varieties were DKC8033, MH33 and SC627 from three different companies. Figure 5.5 shows that newly released variety like Peacock-10, ZM523, MH26 are slowly penetrating the market compared to DKC 8033 which has been on the market for more than 10 years. PERFORM in collaboration with the USAID-funded MISST project had for the past 3 seasons demonstrated these different DTM varieties and it is pleasing to see a number of farmers now taking up these varieties. It is important for farmers to replace old varieties with new improved ones which are more tolerant to diseases and climate change.Yield performance was also evaluated based on sex of the household head. Results generally suggested male-headed households had higher yields compared to female-headed ones. Chi-square analysis also suggested a significant positive association between resource endowment and maturity of CSA implementation (p=0.013). Experience in CA was categorised into two major groups namely, junior and mature. Most of the farmers (out of a total of 19) who were mature in practicing CA technologies, were also relatively wealthy while the junior CA implementers were mostly resource constrained (Table 3.5). However, results also showed no special correlations or associations between annual biomass inputs, time to pond and water intake characteristics and resource endowment or wealth status of households..The findings of this study align well with other previous studies on CSA which have shown that such technologies make significant contributions to productivity and resilience pillars of CSA (Steward et al., 2018). For example, studies in the Southern Africa region have shown that technologies such as CSA result in yield increments of up to 50% (Nyagumbo, et al., 2016). In this study where farmers implemented the technologies on their own and not as trials or experiments, the results give a close reflection of practical realities of possible achievements when farmers implement these technologies on their own. The conclusively positive soil quality benefits suggest that these CSA technologies have long term impacts on resilience and hence yield outcomes (Michler, 2015;Pittelkow et al., 2015). Some of the sampled farmers had implemented CSA technologies for more than six years and hence the positive soil health attributes measured. Yet the technologies don't seem to have any apparent effects on pH (Bayala et al., 2012;Bai et al., 2018).The yield increases observed from CA systems in this study amounted to 51% compared to conventional farmer practices and clearly show the extent to which CA practices can potentially help to address food security challenges and resilience of farmers.The newly introduced local MBEYA fertilization innovation resulted in 19% yield increases but due to a small sample size (14 farms) the differences were not significant statistically. This suggests there is need to look more elaborately into this technology and properly evaluate its potential crop yield benefits. Not much information was available from literature on this technology. The modest yield increases (9%) from the intercrop systems also generally agree with many other findings on intercropped maize in the region which show that maize yield tends to get depressed in intercropped systems ((Bahareh et al., 2009;Ngwira et al., 2012;Rusinamhodzi et al., 2017Rusinamhodzi et al., , 2012;;Nyagumbo et al., 2016). However, the combined benefit of this intercropping practice lies in the additional legume output that also enables farmers to diversify food and income sources and so the total output from this system is usually much higher than the monocrops. Furthermore, the measured enhanced annual biomass inputs, increased water infiltration characteristics and soil carbon and nutrient contents observed, all point towards a more sustainable, resilient and productive cropping system. However, a shortcoming of this study is that it only evaluated the performance of the CSA technologies with respect to their maize yield merits and did not measure legume yields from pigeonpea for example. Consequently, the full productivity benefits, particularly the diversification benefits, were not fully assessed in this maize yield assessment.  The results also suggest the need to address gender in-equalities as female-headed households were found to be less productive compared to the maleheaded households across both CSA and non-CSA technologies while those with mature CA also turned out to be more resource endowed. We however could not establish the cause-effect relationship of this significant association to conclusively ascertain if use of the CSA technologies studied was singly responsible for the better resource endowment of those households.The three CSA technologies evaluated in this study positively addressed the CSA pillars in different respects. With respect to productivity, CA (51%) and the MBEYA strategy (19%) resulted in higher maize yields and this could help to contribute to improved food security and livelihoods. Although pigeonpea intercrops did not improve maize yields compared to the monocrops, the total output from this system (maize + legume) would give the farmers higher benefits compared to the monocrop systems thereby leading to improved diversification of food sources for the households.With respect to resilience and adaptation, the CSA technologies also resulted in better yields even in a season whose rainfall was way above the normal for this area. CSA systems thus helped farmers overcome the extreme weather conditions characterized by floods experienced in the 2018/19 season. Results from the studies confirmed higher annual biomass inputs and improved water infiltration from the pigeonpea intercrops. Particulate organic matter, soil organic carbon, Ca, Mg, K, N and P, all significantly improved under the three CSA systems while the soil was also more friable under CSA as evidenced by the measured lower bulk densities on CSA systems. With regards to climate change mitigation, the results obtained in this study suggest the CSA systems could lead to better sequestration of carbon as there was more organic carbon found in soils under CSA, let alone the higher biomass inputs annually from the pigeonpea systems.Given that the CSA technologies assessed in this study were managed by farmers on their own without any external input resources, the results clearly show the superiority of CSA technologies in terms of improving the productivity of cropping systems towards enhanced food security by smallholders in a highly variable climate induced by climate change. Resultsshow that crop fields using CA, MBEYA fertilization and pigeonpea intercrops were more productive and thus food secure than those under conventional tillage systems within the same households. The benefits of such CSA technology investments would naturally be synergized whenever farmers integrated different CSA component technologies into their systems. For example, use of CA, intercrops and MBEYA fertilization along with drought tolerant maize varieties could go a long way in enhancing productivity as compared to when these are applied in isolation.Improved soil quality from CSA systems could also contribute to improved resilience and sustainability in the long run. The higher soil organic carbon in the CSA systems also suggests these systems have scope for mitigating against greenhouse gas emissions since more carbon in the system suggests a higher potential for carbon sequestration and hence improved mitigation.The results from this study therefore suggest that the tested CSA practices effectively address two of the CSA pillars (productivity, resilience/adaptation) and to an unquantified extent, they also contribute to mitigation. Supportive policy environments are therefore required to incentivize smallholder farmers to take up and apply these CSA practices on a relatively larger scale for improved climate smartness. However further studies are required to establish the practical economic feasibility of these CSA innovations so as to further provide evidence-based recommendations on perceived macro-scale benefits of their use. The research hypothesis is that an integrated approach which enhances livelihoods and ecosystem resilience and strengthens forest governance, is practical option to address Liwonde forest deforestation.The link between climate change, forest ecosystems and smallholder farming systems is complex and multifaceted, therefore can be most effectively examined by an integrated socio-ecological approach. This approach provides a holistic methodology to look at reducing vulnerability and increasing adaptation to climate change. Such an approach explicitly promotes multiple objectives linked to vulnerability reduction, sustainable forest ecosystem management, and strengthening livelihood strategies (Brooks et al. 2005). The three principles underlying this study are understanding a) the vulnerability of forest ecosystem services to climate and nonclimate stresses, b) the vulnerability of the farming system due to the loss of forest ecosystem services they depend on and, c) the adaptive capacity of the socio-ecological system as a whole (Figure 1). Another key aspect that this framework focuses on is how governance mechanisms influence the adaptive capacity of vulnerable forest-dependent farmers and communities.In the context of climate change, vulnerability is a function of the character, magnitude and rate of climate variation to which smallholder farming systems and forest ecological systems are exposed, people's sensitivity and their adaptive capacity. Vulnerability is defined as \"the degree to which a system is susceptible to or unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and extremes\" (IPCC, 2014; Parry et al. 2004). Vulnerability to climatic shocks is a multi-dimensional concept, encompassing bio-geophysical, economic, institutional and sociocultural factors. Vulnerability is usually considered to be a function of a system's ability to cope with stress and shock. The assessment of vulnerability then includes a measure of exposure to the risk factors and sensitivity to these factors, together comprising the potential impact of such risks, and the capacity to manage and respond to those risks.Figure 1. shows that the risks posed by climate change and extreme weather events are dependent on the interaction of climate-related hazards and sensitivity of both human and natural systems as well as their ability to adapt (Field et al., 2014).Rules/Practice Based on the geo-spatial analysis, observed successful restoration practices implemented by different stakeholders including international and non-governmental organisations and existing institutions and regulations governing sustainable use of forest resources, restoration opportunities in tandem with the communities to implement these were prioritised. The greatest restoration opportunities and proven practices were natural forest management, agricultural technologies (mainly conservation agriculture combined with drought tolerant crop species and varieties), and other agroforestry practices on cropland such as farmermanaged natural regeneration. Smaller opportunities to implement restoration through check dams and contour bunds for erosion control and water harvesting, assisted natural regeneration of degraded forests, promotion of village forests and woodlots, and tree planting and assisted regeneration along stream banks were also collaborated. Villages were purposively selected to represent forest management types, agricultural technologies and other small restoration practices implemented by the project.In each EPA we undertook four focus group discussions with men and women who were actively engaged in at least three technologies promoted by PERFORM except for Mtubwi EPA were six focus group discussion were done due to difference in locations and livelihoods assets. Each focus group comprised 10-12 farmers in gender-separated groups. Village chiefs working together with lead farmers and local total land care officers selected the farmers.A mixed methods approach combining focus group based participatory appraisal tools and semi structured interview, was used to obtain a thorough understanding of the vulnerabilities of the Liwonde forest fringe communities to climate change and assess the efficacy of suites of adaptation options promoted (Marshall et al., 2016).In We carried out 102 individual semi-structured interviews with 44 men and 58 women from the four EPAs. These interviews were designed to elicit information about farmers' understanding of the linkage of climate change, forest ecosystem services and agriculture. We also asked farmers about their history, thematic reasons for engaging in the selected adaptation technologies, forest ecosystem services, production, and management, their experience and perception with Perform promoted technologies. The other purpose of the semi structured interviews was to corroborate information from the forest management and livelihood assets focus group discussions. We complemented the information the interview with onfarm trial long term data to validate farmers' identified and prioritised climate smart agricultural technologies.FGD with a mixture of men and women in Domasi.FGD with Men, Mpungu village. Wrap up meeting with Men and Women at Mpungu village.FGD with Men, Domasi EPA.This section presents the results of communities' perception of forest ecosystem services, agriculture, and climate change linkage in the area, vulnerabilities and adaptation strategies. The respondents from the nine communities demonstrated that they were aware of forest ecosystem services and their importance to agriculture and microclimate as indicated in Table 2. For communities that depended on Lake Chilwa for their livelihood such as Domasi and Nsanama, the respondents expressed very well the importance of forest services for relief rainfall, water regulation and erosion reduction. Respondents from the four communities highlighted that they have observed a positive correlation between deforestation and reduction in rainfall, increase in temperature and siltation of Lake Chilwa (Table 2). The respondents concurred that the greatest impact was felt in 2012 when the lake dried up which was their main source of livelihood. As a matter of fact, records show that the lake has dried completely nine times from 1900 to 2018. Receding and drying events are linked to impacts of extreme weather events characteristic of climate change. These effects are compounded by deforestation and degradation of the catchment leading to soil erosion and siltation. The communities also linked disappearance of tree species with rainfall and seepage reduction.In communities such as Mbonechera, lower and upper Mtubwi where wetlands or dambos played an important role for agricultural production, respondents ranked water regulation in dambos and perennial rivers as the most important forest ecosystem services. Nsanama communities also attributed increase of stream bank cultivation as a major drive of climate change resulting in drying up of the perennial river (Table 2).The climate stressors for forest ecosystem service varied across communities. For communities close to Lake Chilwa, such as Domasi and Nsanama, they linked increased erratic onset of rain, droughts and floods to deforestation and forest ecosystem service reduction (Table 2). For Mbonechera and lower Mtubwi, increased crop failures due to increased frequency of droughts and dry spell were identified as the most important climate stressors of forest ecosystem services. Participants from Domasi, Mbonechara and Nsanama stressed that the shortening of the growing season due to climate change had greatly impacted their livelihoods (Table 2). They reiterated that about a decade ago the season was about five months-long allowing them to produce two crops per season. They would grow maize for food security from November to March then plant beans, pigeon pea or sweet potatoes, as relay crops. Nowadays they rely on a single crop which is bound to fail due to increased frequency of droughts (Table 2). Agricultural productivity and diversification are further compounded by poor soil fertility, increased input costs and land constraints.Only farmers from Mbonechera and Nsanama communities have observed frequency of heat waves and increased disappearance of hydrophilic stress as a result of climate change. Participants from Upper Mtubwi underlined that temperature have become so unpredictable since 2015 (Table 2). They are experiencing cold spells in October which used to be the hottest month. The participants reiterated that this was affecting flowering of some tree species and reproduction of small ruminants and pigs.The main non-climate stressors identified as main drivers of forest ecosystem degradation were population increase, political and economic policy change (Table 2). In all the four communities forest degradation was associated with change from one party state to multiparty state. The change in governments that occurred in 1994 and 2005 were associated with increased forest ecosystem degradation (Table 2). All the four communities concurred that population increase in the 1990s also contributed to increased forest ecosystem degradation. Policy and market failures brought about by political change were also blamed for the poor forest governance. Participants from all the four communities concurred that democracy rendered local institution and formal ineffective. For example, in Domasi, Nsanama and Upper Mtubwi participants could recite how the forest police were ill-treated at a political rally in 2014 and how this resulted in an open access problem. They also reiterated that good policies, project and advocacy efforts which have been implementedPeople walking in Lake Chirwa, as fishing boats lie idle on the dry lake in 2018. Photo by Dr Zacharia .K. Magombo of Malawi Herbaria and Botanical Gardens.in their communities targeted wrong people and socially excluding the charcoal makers. Mbonechera and Nsamana community participants stressed that increased influx of emigrants from known charcoalmaking areas in the southern region contributed significantly to forest degradation. According to the participants' narration, this happened after government change in 2005. The government allocated Likwenu, Milala, Mpelesi estates to people from the rural areas around Blantyre and Zomba, neglecting the local population. This created commons management and land ownership problems. The inhabitants of these two communities felt that these emigrants were benefiting from the forest ecosystem services they had preserved over a long time. Secondly, due to poor integration of the formal and informal institutions, the emigrants were encroaching into the forest designated to these communities (Table 2). The created rivalry in the extraction of the forestry ecosystem services led to rapid depletion. For example, participants from low Mtubwi community stressed that despite having agreed that people would only harvest trees that have dried naturally, they had observed that carpenters in their community would collude with block forest reserve watchmen and debark the type of trees they wanted. For all the nine communities, forest resources are key livelihood assets. In all the communities except Mbonechera firewood and charcoal production were ranked as the most important key resources extracted in the Liwonde forest reserve. According to participants they were the only available economic opportunity and source of income that was easily accessible to all households in the communities. Timber extraction was ranked as the second most important key forest resource in all the communities. Non timber forestry products extraction (NTFPs) was only prominent in Lower Mtubwi and Nsamana communities. The commonly extracted NTFPs were mushrooms and herbs to cure ailments, livestock and poultry diseases.All the communities were aware of forest ecosystem co-management but they perceived the arrangement differently. All the communities had a superficial understanding of co-management and acknowledged that they had a block in the Liwonde reserve forest under their care. In terms of power sharing agreement, the benefits and their responsibilities in managing the blocks, all communities professed ignorance. Each community confirmed that they had a block management committee that represented the community at relevant stakeholder meetings. Though all communities acknowledged improved access to forest resources with the new strategy. They stressed that the current strategy had weakened both the informal and formal institutions that existed leading to pseudo open access problems. Participants from Mbonechera and Lower Mtubwi perceived that the transition from the conventional system of management where government/ forestry department enforcement was the dominant was not well managed. They also presumed that this was further reinforced by the current status whereby most community members perceived that participation in the co-management arrangement was voluntarily.The communities' members also alleged that most people involved in charcoal making as livelihood were socially excluded. It was interesting to note that the participants from Upper Mtubwi concurred with all the other communities. However, they perceived that the incoherence between the informal and formal institution had created the open access problems.Policy failures particularly as it relates to hydro-electric power generation, employment creation and defining democracy were identified in the communities as underlying cause of poor forest reserve governance.Participants form all the communities concurred that both formal and informal institutions enforcement were temporarily deterrents, limited livelihood diversification options and lack of alternative employment opportunities took presidency over the desired long-term impacts of forest protection measures. The Mbonechera and lower Mtubwi communities also highlighted that lack of clarity and understanding of power sharing agreement, benefits and responsibility under the co-management strategy had also increased rivalry in forest extraction. Both communities noted that neighbouring communities from the other side of the mountain were encroaching into their blocks whilst preserving their village lots for future use. They also echoed that because of unclearly stipulated private benefits and responsibility of the comanagement, community members collude to deplete the forest resource in the blocks.The impacts of climate change on forest resources, combined with increased forest management challenges increase the vulnerability of Liwonde forest fringe communities. All the communities around the reserve, revealed that climate change hazards in the form of late onset of rains, increased dry spell, severe droughts and temperature are common phenomena (Tables 4, 5, 6). All the nine communities reiterated that since 1990 severe droughts have been occurring once every three years with 2012 drought being the most devastating (Tables 4, 5, 6). Participants from all the communities also associated the 2012 and 2018 severe droughts with the drying of Lake Chilwa. The lake was the main source of livelihood for more than 50% of the community members, directly as fishermen and irrigation water source, indirectly as market for agricultural produce and forest products in particular charcoal and firewood. Communities in the rain shadow, Mbonechera and Lower Mtubwi have become extremely vulnerable to late on-set of rains, dry spells and severe droughts (Tables 4 and 5). For example, participants from in Mbonechera community echoed that since the year 2000 they have been experiencing an average of 3 dry spells. They also noted that they have observed shortening of the growing season and since the millennium they have never had successful season. The reiterated that every season has it on dynamics it is either those who plant early are able to harvest or those who plant late (Table 4). Land and input access constraints increased their vulnerability, more than 60% of the household could not afford to vary planting dates or varieties due to poverty or land constraints. For communities such as Domasi, agricultural production and forest resources have also been extremely vulnerable to floods (Table 4). The farmers from the nine communities concurred that their communities' vulnerabilities to these climate hazards are further intensified by the interaction of climatic shocks with social, economic, and biophysical  4, 5, 6). For example, in Domasi and Upper Mtubwi community members observed that severe droughts occurred simultaneously with macroeconomic turbulence creating multiple sources of food insecurity (Tables 4 and 5). They reiterated that the severe 2012 drought also coincided with the country's worst economic depression leading to deep poverty and migration of productive member to urban areas and neighbouring countries. They also echoed that the conflation of these shocks with economic depression further undermined private investments in soil fertility improvement contributing to further soil fertility depletion. The Mbonechera, Lowe Mtubwi and Nsanama farmers linked severe droughts to policy and political changes. In particular, 1994, 2012 and 2014 droughts, the community perceived that the effects were worsened by change of government and weakening of the currency resulting in increased maize grain prices (Tables 4, 5, 6).Overall, the nine communities confirmed climate change have profound effects on both natural forest ecosystem and agricultural production. Participants from all the communities emphasised that they had observed changes in climate in the past two decades particularly the current one. These changes included increased heat waves, erratic on-set of rains, increased frequency of dry spell and severe droughts. The communities concurred that the notable severe drought, dry spells and heat wave occurred in 2012, 2016 and 2018 respectively (Tables 4, 5, 6). They also highlighted that climate change has increased vulnerability and reduced resilience of forest ecosystems and agricultural production systems. It was noted that, as a result of frequent severe droughts, the forest ecosystems services, in particular regulation services, are becoming more vulnerable and their long-term adaptation capacity is decreasing drastically. While impact on agricultural systems varied across communities, it was generally observed that increased temperatures, shortening of the growing season and increased frequency of severe droughts had resulted in loss of important tree species and biodiversity resulting in disruption of ecosystem services such as wetlands for agriculture (Tables 4, 5, 6). In Mbonechera and Domasi communities it was highlighted that loss of wetlands had decreased agricultural incomes by up to 50%.For all these forest fringe communities, forest resources represent their key livelihood asset to adapt to climate change impacts. They also revealed that forest ecosystem services have the potential to support their communities' adaptation to the impacts of climate change through micro climates, water regulation services and strengthening livelihood opportunities -such water for irrigation. For example, farmers from Mbonechera and Nsanama communities underscored the importance of forest resources, agroforestry, and water berry trees along streams for water and soil conservation. Domasi community participants reiterated that they had come to realise the importance of forest ecosystem services in providing micro-climate and relief rainfall. They all concurred that in the previous years before democracy (1994) when the forest were well protected they never experienced floods and severe droughts. They expressed concern on how they wish the previous forest management institution could be restored to help the forest rejuvenate to its original status.Participants from other communities emphasised more on the role of forest ecosystem resources as to reactive strategies in the face of climate calamities.Integration of adaptation strategies with short and long term benefits were most preferred in all the communities (Figure 2 and 3). Among the CSA technologies promoted by Perform, drought tolerant maize and rice varieties, orange fresh sweet potatoes, treadle pumps, rocket stoves and chicken passon were ranked as the most important adaptation strategies in Domasi community (Figure 2). It was interesting to note that rocket stoves were ranked highly in this community by male participants. Drought tolerant maize varieties and high value Kilombero rice varieties introduced by the project were ranked highly and most preferred by male participants in this community (Figure 2). The males in this community were merchandisers hence they greatly appreciated technologies that make their crop produce fetch higher prices on the market. The male participants reiterated that with the short season drought tolerant maize and high value kilombero rice variety they were able to enter the winter market early and fetch good prices. Both female and male participants in this community also rated crop species diversity as the most important adaptation strategy. This community is closest to Lake Chilwa, irrigation have been part of their tradition hence they ranked use of treadle pumps as the most important adaptation strategy. The Domasi community members (males and females) greatly valued the chicken pass-on strategy as substitute of forest resource extraction in times of need (Figure 2). Female participants reiterated that it was most prestigious to sell chicken along the highway relative to selling charcoal or wood when faced with a calamity. They also highlighted that due to the depletion of the forest it was also taking longer to extract and sell forest resources in the times of need. They also stressed that they could also use the chickens as collateral to borrow money in times of need which they could not do with forest resource extraction. Overall the Domasi community highlighted that CSA technologies that improve their income flow and reduce labor constraints such as the currently promoted combination of technologies were highly regarded in their community.Crop diversification into drought tolerant crops such as maize, sweet potatoes and cassava were ranked as most important adaptation strategies in upper Mtubwi (Figure 2). During the interactive discussion, farmers also emphasised that they supplemented their rainfed crop produce using income derived from selling horticultural crops. In this community treadle pumps were rated highly among the available adaptation strategies. It was saddening to note that due to increased exposure to climate shocks the social integration had degenerated in this community resulting in the failure of chicken pass-on projects. During the interactive discussion, both male and female participants in this community stressed that several organisations had introduced goat and chicken pass-on programs, but they had failed even to cover ten percent of the community. The first beneficiaries failed to pass on chicken to the next beneficiaries for selfish reasons. They had observed the first beneficiaries would either manure the sickly goats/chickens or postpone the passing on until the supposed beneficiary loose interest in following it (Figure 2).In Nsamana community, integrated soil and water conservation strategies such as conservation agriculture and farmer managed natural forest regeneration, with crop species diversification and drought tolerant varieties were rated highly as most important adaptation strategies (Figure 2). The participants perceived that about 40% of the community members were practicing conservation agriculture. Farmers in this community highlighted that drought tolerant crops such as cassava and sweet potatoes have become important adaptation strategies for erratic onset of rains, dry spells, moderate and severe droughts. Due to increased scarcity of water for domestic use and increased distances to fetch firewood, farmers in this community highly valued the integration of rocket stoves, farmer managed natural forest regeneration and forest tree regeneration along the rivers and streams. chicken pass-on program was also highly rated as an adaptation strategy to climate change in this community (Figure 2).Communities that were more prone to droughts, Mbonechera and Lower Mtubwi utilized more of the promoted strategies compared to the three other communities (Figure 3). During the interactive discussion, farmers from the two communities emphasised that due to increased crop failures and shortening of the rainfall season they had observed that integration of agriculture-related and nonagricultural strategies were very effective to deal with climate change effects. In Mbonechera, both female and male farmers perceived that combination of CA with diversified crop species and drought tolerant varieties as very important adaptation strategies for erratic onset of rains, increased dry spell and early termination of rains. During the interactive discussion, both male and female participants in this community stressed the importance of farmer natural forest regeneration, rocket stoves, village savings and loan clubs and chicken pass-on in moderating climate change effects. For example, female participants expressed the importance of saving clubs in providing resources to buy seed for replanting with increased erratic onset of seasons (Figure 3). The male participants in the same community underscored the importance of chicken pass-on schemes in moderating the climate change effects, reducing their reliance on the forest resources for cash liquidities. The existence of a lucrative market for indigenous chicken in the Liwonde Township increase the significance of the chicken pass-on strategy. Contrary to other communities, TLC Rocket stove were not highly rated in Lower Mtubwi. During the interactive discussion, both male and female farmers revealed that due to their proximity to the Liwonde Township and accessible roads they had been target of many fuel wood efficient stoves dissemination initiatives. Tree regeneration along rivers and streams was of importance in both communities because of increased water scarcity for domestic use (Figure 3).The gross margin analysis carried out from data obtained from a sample of CSA technologies adopters in the nine communities revealed clear benefit of these technologies relative to the traditional systems. The economic analysis further showed that CSA are profitable and worthy for the Machinga communities that are vulnerable to climate risks. The Mbeya manure provided the highest net-returns, return to investment and labor relative to CA, Non-CA, pigeon pea inter-crop and conventional maize only. The significant reduction in fertilizer cost and crop failure risk associated with Mbeya fertilizer made this CSA practice worthy to the vulnerable households in the Liwonde forest fringe communities. For every labor hour invested, farmers could get up to US$12.80, and US$10.20 in return on Mbeya manure and CA respectively compared to US$3.1 on conventional maize only. For every dollar invested for inputs, farmers would gain up to US$3.56 and US$1.08 on Mbeya manure and CA compared with up to US$0.35 on conventional maize only. The estimated profitability of Mbeya manure and CA system over the conventional system in the land constrained communities was attributed to improved land and labor use efficiency and increased crop yields. Mbeya manure had the highest net return which suggests that farmers who are able to adapt and adopt this CSA have a better chance of recovering their investments relative to conventional sole maize system.The main objective of the study was to understand the link between climate change, forest ecosystem services and agricultural production of Liwonde forest fringe communities. We contributed to the empirical literature on CSA by exploring the vulnerability of forest ecosystem and smallholder farming systems to climate change as well as identifying suites of adaptation options.The findings revealed that farmers from all the nine communities understood the linkage between climate change, forest ecosystem services and agriculture. Although they could not articulate the science, their explanation of climate change trajectories, observed changes in forest ecosystems resources and agriculture production were in tandem with projected changes. Climate change impacts on agriculture production and forest resources combined with increased forest management challenges increase the vulnerability of Liwonde forest fringe communities. The most common climate change hazards in the Liwonde forest fringe communities included erratic onset of rains, increased dry spell, severe droughts and heat waves. The main non -climate stressors identified as main drivers of forest ecosystem degradation and low agricultural productivity were population increase, political and economic policy change. Policy and market failures brought about by political change were also blamed for the poor forest governance. Forest resources were key livelihood assets for the nine communities. Charcoal production was ranked as the most important key resource extracted in the Liwonde forest reserve in eight of the communities. All the nine communities had a superficial understanding of co-management and acknowledged that they had a block in the Liwonde reserve forest under their care. They all had concern on the effectiveness of the current co-management strategy particularly how the transition was managed and the incoherence between the informal and formal institution.To manage the impact of climate change on forest ecosystem resources and agricultural production systems, these Liwonde forest fringe communities employed a combination of agricultural and nonagricultural innovations promoted by Perform at vary intensities. For Domasi, Nsamana, and Upper Mtubwi communities on the windward side of the Liwonde forest reserve integration of agricultural innovations such as drought tolerant crop varieties, cropping diversification and tredible pumps and non-agricultural innovations such rocket stoves and regeneration of trees along streams and rivers were the highly rated adaptation strategies for climate shocks. This mix of adaptation strategies had proved to be effective in helping the farmers in building both forest ecosystem services and agricultural resilience. For Mbonechera and Lower Mtubwi communities on the leeward side, integration of agricultural innovations such as, chicken pass-on, CA combined with crop diversification and drought tolerant crop varieties and non-agricultural innovations such as savings club, rocket stoves were considered effective in building forest resource and agricultural resilience. These results suggested that interventions aimed at reducing the vulnerability of forest resources and agricultural production to climate shocks should not only focus on agricultural technologies but also non-agricultural technologies.The importance of interventions that provide easily access to cash in times of need such as chickens, goats and savings is paramount to improved resilience of forest ecosystems and agricultural systems."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0ae038e98b75a6be4fdf27a8f2fbd813","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e2fdc2ba-dda5-4914-b70b-7e9b741780b2/retrieve","id":"-994708073"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3f51cb59-d654-4fc5-9fc0-0e1a435c0d9e","content":"La esporidesmi na, un metabol ita del hongo PLtholn!Jc.u C./¡a.l!.taJt.WIl se constató como el agente que produce la fotosensibilización hepatotóxica en ovinos y bovinos de Nueva Zelandia y ,Australia, (Mortimer y. Tayl?r, 1962). la esporidesminil es producida únicamente PO!' P. c.lu:uLtMUm Y es tóxica experimentalmente para bovinos, ovinos, y animales de laboratorio, (l~hite y c'ol. 1971)\". En Colombia y Brasil la fotosensibilización afecta preferentemente a animales jóvenes (ñ;enores de 24 meses) que pastoreán &a.c.h.i.aJUa dec.wnbe¡u, y se sospe-, , cha una '!'elación con el hongo P. c.I'l.IVLttvwm, (Nobre y'l\\ndrade, 1976; Garcí¡: y \" col., 1982)., la esporidesmina produce considerable daño hepátJco caracteriz~do por in-'tcrru¡)ción de la conducción bn iar (Dodd, 1959), el cual se detecta muy especialmente por elevación de la enzima gama-glutamil-transpeptidasa (~,G.T.), en el sue:-o sangu'íneo de los animales afectados, (To~lers y Straton, 197B; Muchiri y col., 1980), Und ,proporción cons.iderable de animales aparentemente sanos pueden sUfrir,afec.ción suucl'ínica detectada por niveles elevados de' G.G. T. a conSecuencia del daño hepático, (To\\'¡ers, 1978; Aycardi y col., 1983).El sulfato 'de zinc en inyección ha sido utilizado en ¡'¡ueva Zelandia como pro-~ector del efecto produci do pOI' 1 a esporidesmi na sobre el hígado, reduci endo las les.iones hepáticas y manteniendo la producción, de leche y el peso de los animales así tratados, (Towers y Smitl1, 1978).• ,• i .,. , El propósito de este estud,;o fue: 1) Reproducir experimentalmente los síntomas de fotosensibil~zación en novillos en Santander de Quilichao en el Depto.,del Cauca, Colombia; 2) Ohs~rvar, tanto las lesiones clínicas como subclínicas al introdl!cir ene] pasto el hongo P.i:thomyc.e6 c.hCl.ll.tlVLwn, y 3), , Estudiar el efecto de la adición de zinc al suelo y a la sal de los animales en el desarrollo de las lesiones.El 'estudio se reaiizó en la estación experimental Quilichao, Municipio de Santander de Quilichao, en el Depar'tamento del Cauca, Colombia, La esta-\" ción está ~ituada a 40 km. al sur de Cali a una altura de 990 m. •sobre el ' ,nivel del mar' y tiene una temperatura anual promedio de 23.3°C. Se escogieron 20 animalc?~ mestizos cebú de 12 a 14 meses de edad y se asignaron a _seis,; lote~, ':~.ee.rJ.\"le.ntales. de 3 animales cada unó. Los dos animales restJn-',tes se separaron como reemplazos.Los lotes experim~nta1es fueron parcelas de 0.3 ha. de pasto /3J!.1Ic.hi.tVl-út decumbuu,. Dos meses antes de iniciar el pastoreo, todos los lotes recibieron una fertilización básica de 20 kg P/ha, 50 kg Ca/ha, 50 kg K/ha, y 50 kg N/ha. Se esta~lecieron dos tratamientos y un control. Los tres grupos recibieron la aplicación de hongo' al pasto, el grupo control no recibió ninguna otra apl icación. El tratamiento 1 recibió z,inc aplicado al suelo al momento do 1'a fcrtil ilación de mantenimiento a razón de 5 kg/h/l. El tratamiento 11 recibió la adición de Zn en la sal mineralizada a razón de 50 ppm. Cada tratamiento tenía un lote de 3 animales y una repetición con otros 3 animales. La distribución de los lotes y de los animales dentro de cada lote se hizo al azar . las espm'as del hongo PUhomyc.cu> c.!uvz;taJ¡,WlI se asperjaron sobre las parcelas en las últizilas horas de la tarde. S'e hicieron tres aplicaciones del ---~--hongo\"una 20 dias antes de iniciar el pastoreo (Abril 14), otra cindo dias _a ____ _ antes del 'p'astoreQ, (t1ayo 3), Y la tercera 20 días después de inicia,do el mjs-.mo (l~ayo 28). -En total se aplicaron ~.5 x 101~ esporas en'las seis' parcelas.Estas esporas se diluyeron en 50 litros de agua destilada para'facilitar la aspersión. Se puso especial cuidado de asperjar aquellas partes de cada lote donde el pasto tenia más altura. Se determinó la concentl'ación de esporas en el pasto cada semana por la t.knica ya descrita, (Aycardi y col.., 1983). Brachiaria antes d~ la fertilizaci6n uno y dos meses después de aplicado éste .Para el estudio estadístico se utiliz6 el análisls de varianza y la prueba de Duncan para separaci6n de medias .., La caracterizaci6n del suelo de las parcelas donde se realiz6 el ensayo (Cuadro 1); mostr6 cómo al final del misnio el tenor de zinc aument6 considerablemente en'el tratamiento 1 al cual se le había aplicado fertilizaci6n básica más la adici6n de 5 kg de Zn/ha. El nivel pasó de 1.0-1.1 a 1.5-1.9 ppm lo cua] representa un incremento del 52%. El contenido de zinc en el ,tejido del pasto /3JLac./úaJUa. d~.C!!lJ7lben5 también se increme~t6 notablemEnte en este tratamier,to (Cuadro ,2). A los dos meses de aplicación de zinc al suelo el ,nivel de este elemento en el, pasto pasó de 18.2-20.9 a 34.0-35.5 ppm, lo cual representa un increm~nto promedio del 77%. La relación calcio-zinc en el tejid'o disminuyó e,n forma notable de niveles 22i¡~225 hasta 108-155; iD tual representa un d~scenso del 42%.Veintitres (23) días despuls de iniciado el pastoreo aparecieron dos animilles del grupo control y tratamiento II con síntomas externos de foto-sensibilizaci6n (edema de la papada, resecamiento de la piel y prurito cutáneo). En esa misma fecha otros tres animales de los mismos grupos mostraron inquietud y prurito cut~neo..'.. . . .'. , : .,miento 1 que se comportó en forma muy diferente al resto de este grupo y prácticamente se aebi1itó y murió cuando el ensayo había terminado (día 84) .los dos animales que murieron en los dias 27 y 28 del ensayo (Grupo,con-tro1 y tratamiento I)' fueron reempl'azados por los animales de reserva. Estos.dos animales presentaron ambos elevaciones en el tenor de enzima G.G.T. a las cuatro semanas de haber entrado al pastoreo. Los niveles fueron para el animal de1,grupo control, 24.5 u.r. y para el del tratamiento 11, 46.8 u.r.Tres de los 'cincoanímales que murieron tuv'ieron e'le\\'ac'ión del n,ivel de bilírrubina, valores de 0.6-3.6 y 4.4 mg/dl. Todos los animales que murieron presentaron edemas d2 cuello y papada. y tuvieron -también elevación de los niveles de transaminasa oxaloacética en el suero por encima de 70 unidades.Ocho animales mostraron 'indicies de ictericia pOr\" coloración amari.llenta de las mucosas y siete novillos mostraron prurito cutáneo, intranquilidad y de-,caimiento, (Cuadro 3). El nivel de daño hepát,ico medido por ,la elevación de enzima G.G. Esto permite deducir que la prueba pOdría vtilizarse para detectar los casos sub-clínicos y aún para predecir qué animales van a enfermar o morir en un lote de ,pastoreo. El nivel de enzima G.G.T. en animaíes que murieron parece , . indicar que,un animal tiene pocas probabilidades de sobrevivir si su tenor' de enzima sube más alHi de 80 unidades internacionales.Los niveles de bilirrubina sér'ica parecen elevarse únicamente en a19unos de los animales más afectados, especialmente en los que murieron. Los nive-,les sérlcos de transaminasa oxaloacética qu~ también se encuentran elevados en iI,lgunas afecciones que evolucionan 'con éstasis biliar, se encontraron elevados en todos los animales que murieron, sin ell1bargo en otros animales con sintom¡¡s evidentes no mostraron alteración. lo cual sugiere que estas pruebas son de poco valo;\" en el diagnóstico del di:lño hepático producido por aste tipo de fotosensibilización.Parece evidente que la p'rueba más fidedigna para determinar casos sub-cHnicos de, foto'sensibilización es la detección de elevación en los niveles de enzinm 6.G.T. del suero, sanguíneo de los bovinos. Es significativo comentar que los cinco animales que desarrollaron edema de cuello y papada 'murieron, a similitud de lo encontrajo en la mayoría de' los casos de enfermedad natural (Garcia y'co1., 1982). Otros signos clínicos, tales como la ictericia'observada en algunos casos, el prurito cutáneo\"la intranquilidad y el decaimiento, observado en otros, no ~arecen ser consis-.ten tes en todos los animales afactados.Par~ce existir una marcada susceptibilidad individual a la acción de la toxina del hongo. Hubo animales que enfermaron más rápidamente y con signos . más notorias. Sin embargo estas diferencias en' reacción pueden deberse a que el hongo tiene preferencias de crecimiento en ciertas partes del potrero, y 10s animales en este caso astarían som~tidos a d4ferentes concentraciones de toxina!:. :' Es de s:Jponer que el daño producido en los animales sobreviene a conse-., cuencia de la exposición a toxinas produc,idas por crecimiento y esporú1ación ¡\" , del hongo en la pradera y no a la, ingestión de las esporas que se inoculan .. '..Se agradece a 'jos Sres. Fél ix ~arreño y Jos~ G. Rivas por el manejo y supervisión de los animales. Al Dr, OUo Sánchez F., por la lectura de las láminas histopatológicas, y a Germán Lema y \"lada Cristina Amézquita por el análisis éstad~stico.-, . \" : ' .  . I"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"af65ed5f67d480040a0dcda4a66f277e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/69957494-e9c1-4221-b3c6-e3b11cb60c7f/retrieve","id":"-2022224468"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"68a20fce-b26a-4754-bb28-252a6519ae2b","content":"• Put in context of supply chainsAll workshop participants discussed together the way forward on inventory and research needs. This focused on what can be done in the:1. Short-term (time horizon 1 -2 years), largely with existing resources or with small additional funds available to kick-start small regional partnership tasks. Ideas were collected on this. While there was talk of something formal with a 'secretariat' to facilitate a 'community of practice' (for example, Livestock Community of Practice in Southern Africa), those with interest may just start and serve informally as 'coordinators' to get the collaborative tasks underway. 2. Long-term. The vision was to build a larger multi-funder regional program based on ideas developed by the research subgroup (see previous section) and enrich this to properly cover the inventory, NDC and carbon market opportunities. 3.• Address some regional priorities• Using existing resources or small additional resourcesA 'Community of Practice' on livestock GHG in the ASEAN Region to facilitate exchange and collaborationAn ASEAN framework for cooperation, country-funding and multiple donors can align to a common regional programme Short-term: What could we be doing with existing resources and do now to make a start on regional collaboration?• Current projects mentioned that may (no commitments !!) be able to support action on the listed tasks (advice/platforms/info/seed money) include: • All of these tasks could be managed under a \"Community of Practice\". If funded, ideally there would be a regional secretariat and enough resources to support exchange activities, bilateral exchanges, focused studies etc. ASEAN CRN and Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research (SEARCA) mentioned as possible links/platforms/secretariats.Longer-term: This would be a condensation of the planning by the inventory and research subgroup discussions summarised above. We did not do this combination during the workshop but we did discuss what sort of supporters were needed to engage to get the multiple streams of the program funded for a large long-term project. This list included the following but is not exhaustive as others are known to be interested in livestock GHG investment in the region (e.g. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c8b429c143c177dc4a0a4c15d56125e1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cf598c5f-6dd4-4e62-a219-c946e09fa2b2/retrieve","id":"-1719114571"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"37ec6c6b-03b8-43c5-b9ab-6d8d4598b168","content":"El CIAT es una Inst!luClón sin ánimo de lucro, dedicada al desarrollo agrícola y económico de las lonas trop icales bajas . Su sede princi pal se encuentra e n un terreno de 522 hectáreas . cercano a Cali Dicho terreno es propiedad del gobierno colombiano el cual. en su calidad de anhtrión, brinda apoyo a las actividades del CIAT Est e dispone Igualmente de dos subestacione s propiedad de la Fundación para la Ed ucaCión Superior (FES) : OUllichao, con una extenSión de 184 hectáreas. y Popa yán , con 73 hectáreas. ambas en el Cauca . Junto con el Instituto Colombiano Ag ro pecua rio (ICA), el CIAT administra el Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias Carlmagua, de 22.000 hectáreas, en los Llanos Or ienta les y colabor a con el mismo ICA en varias de sus estaciones experimentales en Co lombia . asi como Con In sti tU Ci ones agricola s nacionales en otros paises de América Latina . Varios miembros del Gr upo Consultl \\lo para la Investigación Agrícola Internacion al (CG IAR) f inancian los programas del CIAT Durante 1983 tales donantes son' los gobiernos de Auslfalia . Bélgica. Canadá . España. Estados Unidos. Holanda, Italia. Japón , Noruega. el Re ino Unido. la República Federal de A lemania, Suecia y SUiza. el Banco InternaCiona l para ReconstruCCión y Fomento (BI RF); el Banco Interamerica no de Oesarrollo IBIO): l a Comunidad ,Económica Europea (CEE), el Fondo Int ernac ional para el De sarro llo Agrícola (IFAD); el Fondo de la OPEC para Desa rrollo 100ernaciona l; la Fundación Rockefeller y la Fundaci ón Ford Además varios proyeclQS especiales son finanCiados por alguna s de tales entidades y por la Funda ción Ke rrog g. el Programa de la s Naciones Unidas pa ra el Desarrollo (PNUO), y el ee Olro Internacional de Investigaciones para el Desarrollo (C IIO ) La información y las conc lusiones co ntenid as en esta publica CIón no r eflejan neces ariamente la pOSIC Ión de ninguno de los gobie rn os, institUC iones o funda-Cion es menC ionadas. .J J CCM~rr L1~ /YUCA EN COlECClON HISTORIC A C UL TIV OS ASOCIADOS Manejo y evaluación \" Dietrich leihner, Dr. agr. l'Agrónomo, Programa de YucaDeseo expresa r mi gra lilud a .Iohn K Lynam. Ph . D., economisra del programa de yuca del ClAT. por su conlribuciól1 Co n el capílulo \" Evaluación económica de los cullívos asociados\".manuscrilo, enlre ellos los Drs. Anlhony Bellolli. James H. Cock . .Ieremy Da vis, Reinhardl H. HOII'eler y Carlos Lozano de C IIIT. Raúl Moreno del Cenlro Agronómico Tropical de Invesligación y Enseñanza (CA TlE) en Turrialba, CasIo Rica. y Roger Mead. de la Universidad de Reading. Inglalerra; lanlO a ellos como a mis eSludianles y colaboradores que hicieron posible eSle lrabajo. va dirigido mi sincero agrodecimienlo.Por su conlribución confolOgraflas agradezco a los Dn. Michael D. Thung y Kun eeong SIeiner y al lng. Agr. Diego Fonseca. La presente publicación es la versión abreviada de una tesis de habilitación intitulada \"Cassava intercropping -management and eva luati on of cassa va intercropping systems\", sometida por el autor a consideración de la Facultad de Agronomía, Un iversida d de Giittingen , República Federal de Alemania .Cultivo intercalado en franjas . Consiste en se mbrar sim ultáneamente las especies que se va n a asociar disponiéndolas en bandas suficientemente anchas para permitir el cu lti vo indepe ndiente de cada una, pero al mismo tiempo 10 suficientemente estrechas para que ellas interactúen agronómicamente.Cultivo int ercalado en relevo. Consi ste en sembrar una o más especies dentro d e o tro cultivo ya establecid o, de tal forma que el fina l del ciclo de vida del primer cultivo coincida con el desarrollo inic ial del a Iro o de los o t ros (Ruthenberg , 1971: Andrews y Kassa m , 1976).Aapec:tos Básicos Biológicos y Nutrlcioaale.La asociación entre especies de duración similar ofrece ventajas derivadas so lame nte de la utilizació n de l es pacio, mientras que la asociación de culti vos co n duraciones dife rentes puede permitir una ganancia en el rendimiento to tal del sistema mediante un mej or a provecham iento de las dimensio nes espacio y tiempo .Tanlo e n la asociación de especie s de duració n similar como e n la de especies de cicl o vegeta tivo diferente, la suma de la s compete ncia s ' interespedficas es inferior a la s um a de las com petencias intraes pecificas de las mismas especies cuando se cu ltiva n separadamente en monoc u ltivo. Esta meno r competencia inte respeci fi ca da o rigen al mayor rendimient o to tal del sistema intercalado resultanle bien sea del mayo r rendimient o por plan ta, o bien de la mayor población to tal por unidad de á rea.En las asociacion es de cultivos de duraci ón si milar, la ventaja en el rendimiento viene entonces de una men o r co mpeten cia \"instantá nea\" por espac io , tanto en la parte aérea como dentro del suelo; en asoc iaciones de es pecies con ciclos vegetativos diferentes, en ca mbio , las ventajas se originan en una menor co m petencia interesped fi ca por espacio y por tiempo en razón del rá pid o crecimiento del c ul tivo precoz y en función de una men or co mpetencia intraesped fica por espacio y tie mpo debida aliento desarrollo del cultivo tardío (And rews y Kassam, 1976).El mon oc ultivo de la yuca, que en este co ntexto se considera como cu lti vo ta rdi o, no utiliza eficientemente los fact o res luz, agua y nutrimentos durante los primeros tres meses de su ciclo vegetati vo, debido a su lento desarrollo inicial; así permite intercalar en ese tiempo un cu lti vo precoz , haciendo má s eficiente el uso de esos factores de crec imiento . De igual manera, al fin a l de su cic lo vegetati va la yuca ya no intercepta toda la lu z incidente , y probablemente ta mpoco absorbe ya la gran cantidad de nutrimentos yagua que necesita dura nte su desarrollo más activo; por lo tanto , esta última fase en el cic lo de la yuca nuevamente se presta para intercalar otro cultivo (Figura J) . Los cultivos asociados normalme nte muest ran una menor va riabilidad que los mo nocultivos en té rmin os de biomasa tota l y de rendimien tos (Moreno y Hart ;19 79). Esto se refiere tanto a la producc ión to tal del sis tema como a la s produ cc io nes individuales de cada componente (Figura 2). Las causas de esa mayor esta bilidad, a pa rte del efecto com pensa tori o que existe entre los cultivos, posible mente tie nen que ver con la red ucida incidencia de en fermedades , plagas y malezas que ocurre como resultad o de la divers idad en la vegetación , y del mejor y \" más tempra no cubrimient o del sue lo (CIAT, 1978;Leihner, 1979;More no , 1979;More no y H a rt , 1979;Leihner, 1980a).Pa ra el producto r de subsistencia, la ma yo r estabilidad que presentan las siembras intercaladas en la producción de cultivos alimenticios tiene un significado importante , ya que tiende a asegurar su suste nto y disminu ye sustan cialmente e l riesgo de pérdida to ta l en su cosecha .Cuando el pequeño p roductor ad opta la asociación como su sistema de producció n, una parcela mu y pequeña le puede proporcionar los elementos básicos de su dieta , así: cultivos como yuca, batata (Ipomoea bala /a s), ña me (Dioscorea sp.), taro (Colocasia  esculenla) y plá tan os ( Musa sp .), que SO n fuentes de carbohidra tos, proveería n principalmente el componente calórico, mientras que cultivos interca lados como frij o l (Phase ollls vulga ris), caup í (Vigila unguiclllata) , mungo (Vigila radia la) , maní (Arachis hypogaea), y 9 Fuente : Adaptad o de Moreno )' Hart . 1979 guand ul (Cajanus cajan) su ministraría n parte de la proteína necesaria. Así por ejemplo, un a hectá rea de yuca intercalada con frij ol negro puede producir lO t de raí ces frescas de yuca y 600 kg de frijol , los cua les aportan calo rí as y proteínas , así: 10,000 kg de yuca' = 13.44 x lO' Kcal = 56.270 MJ 600 kg de frijol = 168 kg de pro teí na \\ L os 10 ,000 kg de yuca co ntienen 3000 kg de almidó n. cuyo valor calórico es de 4480 Kcal/ kg.Suponiendo que los requerimientos alimenticios diarios de una perso na adulta son de 10.5 MJ (2500 Kcal ) y de 100 g de proteína', la producción mencionada da 5376 raciones calóricas y 1680 raciones de proteína ; esto da 1680 raciones completas más un excedente calórico de 3696 raciones = 38,686 MJ (9.24 x 10' Kcal) , sin considerar el contenido proteínico de la yuca ni el valor ca lórico del frijol. Así, con una hectárea se pueden alimentar cinco personas adultas durante un año, y queda un excedente de aproximadamente 6 t de yuca para la venta.Aunque esa no es una dieta completa y además no es probable que a lguien pueda subsistir con ella durante un periodo largo, hay que recordar que en algunas partes del mundo existen seres huma-nOS que tienen mucho men os que eso para su alimentación.El cálculo anterior se basa en los rendimientos que se obtienen con tecno logía tradicional en la asociación, pero con tecnología mejorada y un minimo de insumas, tales rendimientos se pueden duplicar fácilmente (Fonseca, 1981).AJDérica Latina.Se estima que aproximadamente el 40% de la yuca en América Latina se siemb ra intercalada (Díaz y Pinstrup-Andersen, 1977). Quizás la asociación más antigua es la de yuca con maíz practicada por los Mayas. Hasta hoy en día se encuentran maíces prehistóricos cultivados con yuca en partes remota•s de Guatemala, donde la agricultura ha permanecido tradicional (Moreno y Hart, 1979).En la costa norte de Colombia, la práctica consiste en se mbrar yuca en surcos un poco más distanciados que lo normal ( l.20 m) , intercalando simultá neamente maíz en una población baja (4000 sitios/ ha con 3-5 plantas/sitio). Los rendimientos de cultivos de yuca y maíz en asociación tradicional , según medidas efect uadas por el autor ,. so n 600-800 kg/ha de maíz y de 10-15 t/ ha de raices frescas de yuca , con muy poco uso de insumas quimicos comprados (CIAT,1980). La asociaclon de yuca con frijol (Phaseolus vulgaris) O caupí (Vigna ul1guiculala) también es muy frecuente; se practica en todo el hemisferio, pero tiene especial importa ncia e n América Central, Colombia y Brasil. Con frecuencia se siembra la yuca siguiendo el mismo patrón que se usa en mo nocultivo y el frij o l se siembra \"ma teado'\" en el mismo surco despué s de la primera desyerba (3 -4 de la yuca (20-30 t/ ha ) no se afecta pero el del frijol es muy bajo (200 kg/ha) según lo determinó el autor en cultivos de agricultores en Colombia (CIA T, 1980).Otros cultivos de ciclo corto que se asocian con yuca son arroz de seca no (Oriza saliva) , algodón (Gossypium sp.) y tabaco (Nicoliana labacum ) en Costa Rica y Colo mbia . Asociacio nes de yuca con ot ra s raíces y tubérculos como el taro, el ñame y el ca mote se practican en Nicaragua, mient ra s la asociación triple de yuca con maíz y ñame es típi ca en el noroccidente de Colombia .Hay además muchos siste mas en donde la yuca inte rviene como cultivo de cicl o corto asociado con culti vos perennes tales como caña de azúcar (Saccharum officinarum ) y cacao (Th eobrom a cacao) en Costa Rica, palma de aceite (Elaeis guineensis) en Colombia, palma de coco (Cocos nucifera) y caucho (H evea brasiliensis) en Bras il. En estos sis te mas , la yuca se puede considerar como cultivo secu ndari o y su productividad es no rma lmente baja debido a la poca incidencia de luz debajo de los cultivos perennes cuand o han pa sad o de su fase inicial de desarrollo.Con excepción d e alguna s partes donde la producción agrícola se caracteriza por plantaciones de gran ex tensió n, la práctica de cultivos interca lados es muy común en toda el Africa tropica l. Se estima que la yuca sembrada en sistema s in tercalados en ese continente representa hasta el 50% o más del total (Nyombe , co m. pers., 1981). En Uganda, por ejemp lo , el 49 % de la yuca se cult iva asociada , mientras que en Nigeria la po rción de yuca in tercalada es más baja (27 %) (Okigbo y Greenland, 1976) . En campos lej a nos de las a ldeas es más frecuente el monocultivo de yuca, mientras que en la cercanía de las casas so n co munes los sistemas muy co mplejos de cul ti vos intercalados, los cua les in cluyen una variedad de especies alimenticias anuales, horta li zas y á rboles frutales .Las asociaciones típicas son en forma de relevo empezando con o tros c ultivos e interca la ndo la yuca cua ndo los primeros ya se I Varias planta s por siti o.encuentran avanzados en sus ciclos de crecimiento O están por terminarlo . Hay secue nc ias típicas por regiones, tales com o caupí-Amaran/hus (como verdura) -maíz-yuca; ñame-m~íz-yuca; o ñameme ló n (Cueumeropsis mannii)-maíz-okra (Abe/mosehus eseu/en /us) + yuca con cacao para Nigeria; a rrOZ seca no-chile (Capsieum annuum )-to ma te (Lycopersicon escu/en/um)-frijo l-ma íz-bana no (Musa sp.)-yuca, todo en siembra simultánea , en Liberia; a rroz secano-maí z-ok ra-chile-yuca, en Sierra Leona, y maní-yuca-ajo njolí (Sesamum indicum)-sandía (Ci/rul/us /ana/us)-so rgo -hyptis (Hyplis spicigera) (una yerba)-mijo (E/eusine coracana) en Zai re.En la mayoría de estas secuencias la yuca se siembra como último cultivo antes de cambiar de parcela. Esto se debe probablemente a que en el sistema de agricultura migratoria, que aú n es mu y practicado , la fert ilidad del suelo se agota después de producir varias cosec has y só lo la yuca, con su habilidad para crecer y producir en suelos de baja fertilidad, es capaz de rendir a lgo.Un a nálisis de las siembras intercaladas con yuca en Nigeria mostró que e l 77% de esta especie se siembra sobre mo ntículos preparados a mano, y predomina la siembra intercalada mi xta. Sin emba rgo, cada especie tiene su propio lugar en el montícul o, bien sea en la ci ma. el costa do o al pie del mism o, y la yuca se siembra con frecuencia po r el costa d o . La densidad de siembra es a lta ( 15 ,000 plantas/ha), pero el promedio de rendimientos no supera las 6 l/ ha de raíces fresca s (Ezeil o, 1979).No se han obtenido estimativos para Asia sobre el porcentaje de yuca se mbrada en sistemas intercalados, pero la proporció n es seguramente más baja en este continente que en Africa o en América Latina . Sin embargo, la siembra de yuca asociada con un gran número de especies. sobre todo en las huertas y alrededores de las casas rurales , tiene un a gran importancia para la alimentación humana, simi lar a la observada en Africa y América Latina.El arroz es el elemento central en la mayoría de los siste mas asiáticos de culti vo. Para producirlo en forma renta ble se establecieron sistemas de ri ego que según la región cubren de 19 a 47% de las tierras arables (Harwood y Price , 1976). Esto podría favorecer las siembras de yuca con otros cultivos pero normal mente las co mplica , ya que los suelos arroceros arcillosos (ricos en montmorillonita) so n dificil es de prepa ra r para cultivos de secano.La regulación del agua es ese ncial para producir cultivos en húmedo y en seco al mism o tiempo . Esto se logra formando divisiones entre áreas altas y bajas cama en el método de acequia y caballón de Tailandia, o en el sistema \"Sorjan\" de Indonesia (Suryatna Effendi, 1979), donde el arroz se cultiva en franjas baja s mientras los cultivos de secano se encuentran en camas elevadas de 4 a 8 m de ancho; en estas camas la yuca se siembra normalmente en los bordes y hacia el centro se siembran uno o varios de los siguientes cultivos: cebolla (Allium cepa), maní , soya (Glycine max.) , chile. maíz, pepinos (Cucumis sa liva) , mungo ya veces camote.La división entre las partes altas y las bajas puede ser a rtificial o se puede ajustar a condiciones naturales de la topografía como en el sur de la India , donde el arroz con riego predomina en los valles mientras.que la yuca -frecuentemente intercalada entre palmas de coco -se encuentra en las zonas de transición entre los valles y la s partes elevadas .En Indonesia, la yuca interviene como tercer cultivo después del arroz y el maíz; éstos se siembran simultáneamente y la yuca se inte rcala 30 a 40 días después. También es común la yuca asociada con maní en relevo, sembrándola 30 días después del mani. En Tailandia se siembra mu y poca yuca asociada con otros cultivos pero ocasionalmente se encuentra en asociación simultánea con maíz; en este caso el patrón de sie mbra para la yuca es de aproximadamente 1 x 1 m, encontrándose tanto en surcos como mezclada .El sistema de cultivos anuales de ciclo cort o, junto con un cultivo de relevo de ciclo largo que les sigue (arroz y maí z con yuca), tiene un importante significado donde es difícil la preparació n del suelo y no se dispone de mecanización: con una sola preparación del terreno es factible producir dos o tres cosec has po r año.En India, Malasia, Tailandi a y Filipinas , más que en otros países, también se intercala yuca en plantaciones perennes como palma de coco, palma de aceite, caucho, mango (Mangifera indica) y banan o. Mientra s que en los sistema s descritos antes la productividad de la yuca puede alcanzar niveles altos de acuerdo con la intensidad del manejo , en la asociación con especies perennes sus rendimientos so n usualmente bajos ya que la sombra reduce drásticamente su productividad (Mohan Kumar y Hrishi, 1979).Como se ha visto en el capi t ulo anterior , la prod ucti vid ad de la yuca y los cu lti vos asoc iados es baja en la mayo ría de los sis tema s de cultivo tradicio na les. Las principales razones para esta baja productividad son: a) La asociación n o aco nsejable d e espec ies, por lener tipos de p lanta o ciclos vegetativos no com patible s. b) La coi ncidencia de las fases de má ximo crecim iento a causa de é pocas relativa s de s ie mbra inadec uadas. lo que conduce a u na excesiva co mpetencia interespecífica . e) Uso de den sid ades de sie mbra mu y bajas o mu y s uperio res a las ópt i mas (e n poca s ocas io nes) e inad ecuados pa trones de sie m bra. d) Baja ferti lid ad del sue lo y ause ncia o deficiencia de medidas fit osani ta ri as.Durante varios años se ha realizad o investigación para buscar solución a es tos prob lema s; como resultado. ahora es posib le desc ribir los sig ui e ntes ele me nt os d e una tecnología mejo rada para la asociación de yuca con otros cultivos.La yuca prese nt a una va ri ac ió n amplia e n los háb it os de c recimi en to con respecto a la ram ifica ció n y a l vigor ini cia l. do s ca racte-~ rí slicas que puede n innuir e n la ca ntidad de 1111. Ílifercep,laCI ii'l;>or la pl a nta d ura nt e las prim eras e tapasr\"de !tl erecimic nJl ,:~.' I ~ \\ \\. 1 \" \" I 1 15'-., n10'E ( J Las variedades con hábito de crecimiento erecto (ramificación tardía) y vigor med io posi blemen te hacen menos so mbra a un cultivo asociado que aquellas con ramificación temprana y alto vigor inicial. El efecto se aprecia en el Cuadro 1 donde se ve que la variedad M Mex 59 , co n alto vigor y ramificació n temprana , causa más depresión en el rendimiento de un frijol asociado que cinco variedades seleccionada s, con vigor medio y ramificación tardía.Adicionalmente , las variedades de vigor medio y ramificación tardía se aproximan más al \"tipo id ea l de planta para máximo rendimiento\" en mon ocultivo, descrito por Cock et al. (1979) ; los datos del Cuadro I confirman la superioridad de este tipo de planta tanto en monocultivo como en asociación, si bien en este caso la superio ridad no fue estadísticamente significativa. Por otra parte, los rendimientos del frijol fueron significativamente más afectados por el tipo de yuca vigoroso y de ramificación tempra na, que por los de vigor medio y ramificac ión media a tardía.Por consiguiente, las variedades de vigor medi o y ramificació n tardía (porte ereclo) parecen se r las más indicadas para la asociación, ya que ejercen relativamente poca competencia sobre el cul-Cuadro l. Efecto del tipo de planta de yuca (vigor y ramificaciÓn) sobre su rendimienlo en monocultivo y en asociación y sobre el rendimiento del frijol común asociado, en elATo  Una ca rac te rística importa nte para la se lección de una leguminosa de grano como cu lt ivo as ociado es su precocidad para Oorece r y madu rar. Su madurez temprana red uce su período de co mpetencia con la yuca y le permite escapa r a la sombra excesiva de ésta dura nte e l llenado de las vainas.A medida que aume nta el tiempo durante el cua l los dos cultivos están juntos en el campo, la interacción entre ellos se acentúa más y má s, y los rendimient os se afectan mutuame nte . Esto se hizo evidente a l co mpa ra r los coeficientes de correla ción entre los rendimient os de la yuca y cuatro especies de leguminosas co n diferen tes períod os de maduració n asociadas con ella ; mi entras en el caso de las leguminosas precoces (frij ol y caupí) no se observó ninguna correlación en tre los rend imien tos de las especies asociadas , en las leguminosas co n un ciclo vegetativo ma yor de 100 día s se hizo evidente una crecien te co rrelació n negati va , indicand o un grado más alto de interacción entre las especies asociadas (Cu adro 2) .Al co ntra rio de la precoc idad , el hábito de crecimiento de la legu minosa, sea erecto o rastrero, parece no tener mucha importancia siempre y cuando no sea trepador (para sie mbra s simu ltáneas) .En un experimento sobre asociaciones de yuca con nueve variedades de ca upí , los rendimientos de la yuca asociada co n las ocho Valor r' 0.0 1 0.05 -0. 14 -0.35 ' variedades de caupí de hábito erecto , semierecto o rastrero se red ujeron en tre 6 y 24 % con respecto a l mo noc ultivo ; en cambio , una va riedad de ca up í con tendencia a trepar reduj o el rendimiento de la yuca en 32% (Hege wa ld y Leihner , 1980) .Sin embargo , cuando la yuca llega a l fina l de su cic lo vegetativo ta mbi é n se puede asociar con ti pos trepad o res de leg u minosas co mo frijol vo lubl e co mún (Pha seolus vulgaris), frij o l lim a ( Phaseolus luna rus ) y frij o l terciopel o (Mucuna deeringiana). En es te caso , se pueden escoge r las especie s y vari edades de leguminosas mej o r ada ptada s y de más alto vigor , ya qu e deben compet i r con un culti vo de yuca es tab leci d o. La yuca , por su part e, a un a soc iá ndo la con legumin osas voluble s muy vigorosa s, norma lmente no sufre reducció n en su ren dimiento porque en esa etapa de su desa rroll o la producció n de raíces ya ha sid o determinada en su mayor parte (CIAT, 1978 ;C IAT , 1982) Otro. cultivo •.Hay gran va riedad de o tra s espec ies que se asocian con yuca, como se ha descrito en el capítul o an ter io r. Para que la asoc iació n sea exitosa , ta les es pecies se deben se leccionar teni end o en cuenta factore s co mo la duració n de l ciclo vegetativo, el hábito de crec imi en to y el destino de la producci ó n.Para sie mbra simultán ea , la especie asociada con la yuca debe tener un cicl o vege ta ti vo prefe ribl eme nte in fer io r a 100 día s y há bito de crec imi ento erecto O postrado. Si se va a se mbrar hacia el fina l del ciclo vegeta ti vo de la yuca, el período de maduración de l cul tivo asociado no debe exceder de 120 días cuando se desea cosechar simu lt á neame nte las dos es pecies; pero la d urac ió n de l c ulti vo asociado no es importante cuando se trata del sis tema de re levo . Las especies para interca lar en cultivo s de yuca ya es tablecidos pueden ser de háb it o de crec imie nt o arbustivo o vo luble, co n toleranci a a la sombra , siendo ésta una característica particu larme nte desea ble.Si los productos de la asociación se destinan a la ali ment ació n hum a na (o a nim a l), se deben escoge r para intercalar con la yuca fuente s de proteí nas como verd ura s y leg uminosas de grano en luga r de otras fuente s de carbohidra tos como el camo te o el taro. Por otra pa rt e, si los productos de la asociación se destinan a la ve nta, cua lquier c ulti vo con precio renta ble sirve para la asoc iación.Ya se ha mencionado que aparte de las asociaciones de yuca con c ulti vos anuales , la asociación con cultivos perennes tiene cierta impo rtancia . Así, durante el es tablecimiento de especies co mo palma de coc o , palma de ace ite y ca ucho , la yuca puede a yuda r a pa ga r pa rte de los cos tos de esa fa se. c ua nd o toda vía no ha y p rod ucción del cu ltiv,O pe renne; sin e mbarg o, cuand o tales es pecies crece n e imponen s u sombra, la yuca deja de producir rendimie ntos rentables y la asocia ció n no pued e ga ra nti za r más un a ve ntaja eco nómica. Como una exce pción , especi es perenn es forraje ras d e po rte ra strero como eí Sry!osanr/¡ es guianell sis se pueden asociar durante la rgos perí odos con la yuca , beneficiá nd o la ade más po r la fij ació n de nitrógeno (Niti s, 1977 ).La siembra del cu ltivo asocia d o antes, al mi smo tiempo , o después d e la yuca ti e ne implicac io nes tanto bi o lóg ica s com o prác ticas. La yu ca no impone much a co mpe tenc ia a l principi o de su ciclo vegetativo pe ro ta mpoco to lera muc ha compe tencia; su rendimi e nto se puede redu cir drás ticam e nte si el c ulti vo asoc iad o se sie mbra e impo ne muy temprano su co mpe te ncia po r luz y ot ros fa ctores de crecimiento. Por o tro lad o, si la yuca se siem bra antes. puede afect a r con su so mbra y co mpetencia por o tros fac to res de crecimient o, el desa rrollo y rend imi ento del cultivo int ercalad o.Experim e ntos realizados con yuca y frijol (Figura 3) de muestran que el rendimient o tota l má s alto se o btiene se mbrando a mbos cultivos al mis mo tiempo (siembra simultánea) O con un a diferencia entre las fecha s de siembra menor de una semana (Thung y Cock, 1979) . Es ta prá ctica se ha verificado en muc hos experimentos, asociando yuca co n o tra s legumin osas o co n maíz , y ha dado resultad os ig ualmente positivos .Una implicación prá ctica de la siembra simult ánea es que para esta blece r la asociación se requiere una sola o peració n en lugar de dos procesos separados . Esto puede permitir cierto grado de mecanizació n en e l establecimiento de los cultivos asociados, si la maquinaria ex istente se adapta para este propósito .Mi entra s la época relativa de sie mbra puede ay ud ar a regular la compe te ncia por lu z c uand o los c ult ivos asoc iados inicia n juntos su ciclo vegetativo, cua nd o el cultivo asociado se in terca la con un cultivo de yuca ya es tablecido la situación puede se r diferente: aquí la luz puede ser el fa ctor má s limitativo pa ra la asoc iación . No obstante, obse rvaciones hechas en el CIAT muestran que hacia el final de su ciclo vege tativo la yuca inte rcepta men os lu z que durante su fa se de más activo crecimiento , lo que permite la producción de un cu lti vo asoc iado durante los últimos meses ante ri o res a la cosecha de la yuca; a l sembrar frijol arb ustivo a los sie te, ocho y nueve meses des pués de se mbrada la yuca, la reducción del rendimiento de frijol se mbrado más tarde fue menor, ya qu e mejora ro n para él las condiciones de luz (Figura 4). Se puede concluir que mientras má s tarde se sie mbre el cultivo intercalado en un yuca l esta blecido , mejor es el rendimiento; no obstante , la productividad del cultivo intercalado en estas co ndiciones es mu y inferi or a la de una asociación cuando ambos cultivos inician juntos su ciclo vegetativo.En sistemas tradicionales de cultivo, la yuca e n asoc iació n se siembra frecuentemente a den sidades más bajas que en monocultivo . Treinta y siete ingenieros agrónomos que tra bajan con yuca en Am érica La tina informaron, como práctica corriente en sus países , un rango de den si dade s de siembra entre 3000 y 25,000 plantas/ha para mo nocultivo (1 1,300 en promedio) y entre 4000 y 18,000 planta s/ha para yuca asociada (8300 en pro medi o) (Leihner y Castro , 1979).La baja densidad, junto co n la competencia impuesta por el o los cu ltivos asociados, explican en parte la baja productividad de la yuca en los sistema s tradiciona les de asociación. Esta situació n se puede corregir sembrando la yuca a la misma densidad que se considera óptima para el monocultivo.Con variedades de much o follaje y ramificación temp rana como MCol 11 3, se obtienen en monocu ltivo rendimientos máximos usando densidades de siembra relativamente baj as; estas densidades también produ cen los mejores rendimientos en asociación. Por su parte, las variedades de yuca con menos follaje y ramificación tardía como M Me x lIn o muestran el mismo grado de coincidencia de altos rendimientos en monocultivo y en asociación; sin embargo, si se usa n de nsidades intermedias de siem bra se pueden obtener buenos rendimientos en monocu ltivo (aproximadamen te el 92% del máxi mo) y rendimientos aceptables en la asociación (75-90% del máximo), como se obse rva en la Figura 5.Con un incremento en la densidad de siembra de la yuca , normalmente se reduce el rendimiento del cultivo asociado (Figu ra 5); sin embargo, COmo lo muestran estos resultados, so lamen te se requieren poblaciones intermedias de yuca para producir rendimientos aceptables. En esta forma se pueden utilizar en la asociación densid ades que se aproxi man a las ideales en monoc ulti vo, sin causar excesivas reduccio nes en el rendimiento del culti vo a sociado . Genera lm ente, el rendi miento de las legumin osas de gra no co mo re spuesta a diferentes densidades de siem bra no va ría mucho dentro de un rango relativamente amplio .Ensayos con frijol, caupi y maní en monocultivo y en asociación co n yuca mos traro n prod ucciones constantes o respuestas poco marcadas a l va ri a r la densidad de siembra e ntre 50 y 200% de la densidad óptima en monocu ltivo (Thung y Cock , 1979;Hegewald y Leihner, 1980;Fonseca 1981). Cuando se o bse rva una densidad óptim a de la legum in osa de grano en mo nocultivo, frecuentemente es ta de nsidad o una li ge ra mente mayor permit e obtener rend imientos máximos al se mbra r la legumin osa en asociación con yuca (Figura 6).Teóricamente, las po blaciones altas de leg umin osas deberían compe tir má s co n la y uca y reducir su rendim iento más q ue las bajas ; sin embargo, en la práctica no se han observado correlacione s significativa s en tre las poblaci one s de la leg um inosa y el ren d imiento de yuca (F igura s 7 y 8). De ahí que la s p oblaciones de leguminosas q ue da n los mejores res ul tados en mo noculti vo ta mbi én se pueden usa r e n asociación con yuca . En el C uadro 3 se da n las pob lacio nes ó p tima s para legumin osas de g ra no e n monoc ulti vo ye n asociació n.Caupl ( plan!a~/ ha )Figura 6. Efectv d~1 siSlema de cultivo y de la poblaCión sohre el rendimiento de caupf.Fuente: Fo nseca. 198 1.Caupi (plan t a ~/ha x 10))  4', \"O 100 Cuadro 3. Densidades de siembra recomendadas para leguminosas de grano en asociación con yuca yen monocultivo. Poblac ión adecuada para monocultivo y asociación (plantas/ha) 200,000 -250,000 110,000 -160,000 80,000 -110,000 200,000 -250,000 200,000 -250 ,000 Los mis mos principios encontrados para las densidades óptimas para el monocultivo y la asociación de yuca co n legum inosas de grano son vá lidos para la asociación yuca-maíz .Al co mpa rar un sistema tradicional de asociación entre yuca se mbrada a I x 1.2 m (8333 plantas/ha) y maíz a 2 x 1.2 m (tres plantas po r sitio: 12,500 planta s/ha) con un siste ma má s intensivo donde la yuca se sembró a una densidad de 10 ,417 pl an ta s/ha y el ma íz a 41,667 pla ntas/ha , no se observaron cambios en el rendimie nto de la yuca , pero la producción del maíz se triplicó en el siste ma más inte nsivo (CIA T, 1980). Con la densid ad alta del maíz, la yuca no sufrió red ucció n en su rendimiento debido tanto a l arreglo espacial ( 1. 6 x 0.6 m) , diferente del sistema tradi cio nal que redujo el efect o de la competencia , como al hecho de que la densidad de siembra de la yuca se aumentó ligeramen te. También el tipo vigoroso de la yuca cv. Secundina pu do haber tolerado mejor que o tras variedades la co mpetencia del ma íz.El patrón de siemb ra más frecuentemente usado con la yuca en monocultivo es el de 1 x I m o similar. Si n embargo, este arreglo no brinda condicio nes óptimas para la a sociación, po rque la yuca cubre el terreno más rá pidamente que en otros a rreglos, imponiendo sombra al cu ltivo asociad o desde muy temprano (Castro, en impresión ).Esto determinó la necesi dad de exam inar arreglos espaciales diferentes, con el propósito de crear condiciones má s favorables para el culti vo asociado . En experi mentos rea li zados en varias localidad es y con diferentes variedades se co mprobó que a l remplazar el patrón de siembra cuadrado (1 x I m) po r e l rectangular (2 x 0 .5 m), incluyendo algun os arreglos intermedios , el rendimiento de la' yuca no se afecta si se mantiene la mism a densidad de sie mbra (Cuadro 4) .Los dat os obtenidos sugieren que se puede escoger un arreglo recta ngu la r para la yuca, el cual no reduce lo s rendimientos de la misma y facilita acomodar los cultivos interca lados, crea ndo co ndiciones favorab les para la asociación .En cu ltivos come rciale s de legum inosas de grano en mo noc ulti vo , la distancia normal entre surcos varia entre 0.30 y 0 .80 m. Para asociaciones de yuca con legumin osas Thung (1978) sugirió un arreglo en el que la yuca se siembra a 1.80 m entre surcos (0. 60 m entre planta s) y las leguminosas a 0 .90 m entre surcos, con preparación del terreno en camas; según el mis mo autor , este arreglo todavía se encuentra dentro de las va ria cio nes no rm ales de los arreglos usados en la producción de leguminosas de grano. La misma distribución es factible cuando la yuca se siembra sobre ca ballones a nchos, pero cuando la asocia ción se practica en terren o plano , hay más flexibilid ad para aco moda r las hileras de leguminosas.Eva luando tres a rreglos de hilera s de caupí co n yuca se mbrada en plan o (Figu ra 9) se encontró que co n una di stribució n pareja de las leguminosa s (arreglo 60/ 3) se utilizó más eficien temente el es pacio dis ponible ent re la yuca en un amplio rango de dens id ades de sie mbra , tanto en monocultivo como en a sociació n; la ven taja del arreglo 60/ 3 fue estadí sticamente significativa co mparada con el arreglo 70/2 a 110 ,000 pla ntas/ha en mon ocultivo y co n los arregl os 45/ 2 y 70/2 a 140,000 plantas/ha en a sociación. El resultado menos favorab le del arreglo 70/ 2 en monocultivo se debió posiblemente al alto nivel de co mpetencia dentro del cultivo de caupí (co mpetencia intraespecifi ca), mientras que los rendimientos gene ra lmen te baj os del caupí en el a rreglo 45/2 en asociación (Figura 10) se pudiero n deber al mayor grado de competen cia entre la yuca y el caupí (competencia interespecifica).  Fuenle ' Fonso:ca. 198 1.En un ensayo en que se probaron los arreg los 60/ 3 y 70/2 en una asociació n yuca-maní se obtuvieron resultados similares. La distribución más pareja del maní en monocultivo y en asociación con yuca, alcanzada con el arreglo 60/3, condujo a rendimíentos de maní superiores a los cosechados en el a rreglo 70/2 para todas las densidades usadas en este experimento.La diferencia entre los d os arreglos fue sign ificativa para 150,000 plantas/ha en ambos sistemas de sie mbra y decreció a un nivel no significativo con las poblaciones más altas . Esto demuestra que no só lo se deberían co nsiderar se paradamente los dos factores, densidad de siembra y arreglo espacial, si no que también se debería co nsiderar su interacción . Con el incre mento en la densidad de sie mbra el arreglo 60/3 mostró más simi li tud con el arreglo 70/2, lo cual es lógico ya que las más altas densidades de siembra deberían haber indu cido más competencia intraespecífica aun en el arreglo 60/ 3, creando una situació n de campo para el maní similar a la preva lente en el arreglo 70/2 aun a partir de las densidades bajas (Figura 11).Estos resultados sugieren que mientras más uniforme sea la distribución de la leguminosa en el espacio di sponib le entre las hileras de yuca, mayor es su rendimiento debido a que hay un aprovechamiento más com pleto de los factore s de crecimiento, junto con un bajo nivel de co mpetencia intraespecí fica. Si n emba rgo, no parece recomendable esparcir demasiado las leguminosas dentro del espacio disponible colocándolas muy cerca de la yuca, ya que esto podría aumenta r la competencia en tre los d os cultivos (compe tencia in teres ped fica).La asociación de cultivos se ha considerado ventajosa por su efecto con se rvador del suelo. Burgos ( 1980) encontrÓ que en va rias asociaciones de yuca con otros cultivos, la abso rció n q ue éstos hada n de los nut ri me nt os del s uelo era superi o r a la pérdida po r lavado y e rosión , mientra s que en el mo nocu ltivo de yuca, la pérdida de nutrimentos por lavado y erosión supe raba varias veces su absorción por el cultivo.Por o tro lado , la asociación de yuca con o tro(s) cu lti vo(s) rep rese nta una intensificació n en la demanda de nutrim entos, sobre todo cuand o los cultivos asociados se sie mbran a las densidades no rmales del monocu ltivo. En esta situación , la remoció n de a lg un os elementos del sueloes mayor en la asociación que en e l mo nocu lti vo de yuca (Cuadro 5) , y si no se rep onen co n una fertili zación adecuada se puede llegar muy rápidamente a un deterio ro de la fertilidad del suelo.Existe muy poca informació!) acerca de la ferti lización correcta en siste mas de asociación, sobre as pectos tales como requerimie ntos de nutriment os y respuestas por parte de los culti vos indi vid ua les, posibles ca mbios de las respuestas en la asociación, competencia por nutrimentos y co mplementación , modo correcto de aplicació n de los nutrimentos (voleo o banda), época apropiada para la ap licación, y fuentes má s adecuadas de fertilizantes en los cultivos asocia- Requerimientos nutricionales de la yuca y cultivos asociados. Los reque rimie nt os nutricionales de la yuca y algunos d e los cultivos más frecuentemente a sociados con ella es tá n relati vamente bien estudiados. La yuca remueve cantidades grandes d e N y K del suelo, má s aún cuando no se le devuel ve la parte aérea de la planta ; sin embargo, la fertilizaciÓn con esto s eleme nt os frecuentemente no produce una respuesta muy alta en rendimie nt o de raíces, a menos que la producción de yuca sea continua; baj o esta circunstancia la respuesta a l K puede llegar a ser más acentuada.La yuca se beneficia grandemente de la asociación con micorriias para la abso rción de P en muchos s uelos pobres; también responde bi e n a la aplicación de ese elemento, aunque remueve del sue lo só lo pequeñ as ca ntidade s del mism o. La nutrición de yuca Con Mg, S.y en part icular con Zn es importante en suelos po bres como los Oxi so les y Ultisoles tropicales (H o weler, 1981) .Las diferentes especies de legumin osas de ciclo corto tienen requerimientos nutricionales similares entre sí: remueven grandes cantidade s de N pero tienen la capacidad d e fij a r este elemento yasí sa ti sfa cer al meno s parcialmente sus requerimientos . En muchos suel os pobres, las leguminosas tambi é n res po nden marcadamente a la aplicación de P sin remover grande s cantidades de este elemento. En la s leguminosas se observan requerimientos especificos con respec to a elementos menores como el B (Howeler e l al .. 1978) Y el Zn (e IAT, 1977); el ea también muestra imp o rtancia como nutrimento en a lgunas especies com o el maní .En el maíz, e l req uerimiento mayor para s u de sa rrollo normal y buen rendimi ent o es por N seguido por K y P. En muchos sue los pob res, el P adquiere una importancia prim o rdial co mo elemento mayor y el Zn y el B como micronutrimentos (eIAT, 1973).Selección de cultivos para la asociación. La corrección de la s deficiencias de un suel o po bre en nutrimentos mediante la aplicación de fe rtilizantes es bi ológica mente justificable pero puede no ser económica cuando se neces itan a ltas can tidades d e correc tivo's o fertili zan tes costosos . U na alternativa para ob tene r buen os rend imient os en suel os de baja fertilidad es la selección de c ultivos que se adapten bien a las condicio nes de deficiencia nutricional , acidez y toxicidad por Al y Mn , y que con pocos ins umos produ zca n rendimientos aceptables. E n particular, la se lección de especies co n to le-ranCIa a las condiciones de ac idez e infertilidad de los suelos que prevalecen en grandes exten siorres de los trópicos ayuda ría a reducir la cantidad de insumos necesarios para la producción agrícola en estas áreas.En un O xisol extremadamente ácido de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia (según el Cuadro 6), se lle vó a cabo un estudio para evaluar el desarrollo y rendimiento de sei s cultivos (frij ol común de semilla coloreada, frijol común de semilla negra, maíz , a rroz, caupI , y yuca)al aplicar cal agríc ola a los nivele s de O, 0.5 , 2 y 6 t/ ha. Sin la aplicación de cal, la yuca produjo apro ximadamente el 54% de l rendimiento máximo; en cambio, la producción de frijol común (coloreado y negro), maí z y a rroz sin cal fue casi nula y sólo con 2 ó 6 t/ha de cal alcanzaron niveles moderad os de producció n. El único cultivo con tolerancia a la a cidez y a la baja fertilidad , similar a la de la yuca , o aun mejor , fue el caupí, que sin cal rindió 60% del máximo y más del 80% con 0.5 t/ ha de cal (Cock y Howeler, 1979).En un Inceptisol altamente ácido e infértil de CIAT-Quilichao (Cuadro 6) se probó una amplia colección de legumin osas de grano , co n el propósito de evaluar tanto su tolerancia a condiciones e xtremas de suelo , como su aptitud para la asociación con yuca. Se sembraron, en un diseñ o de bloques completos al a zar con dos replicaciones en monocultivo y en asocia ción con yuca , 61 variedades de caupí, 66 de mungo (Vigna radiata), 14 de guandul (Cajanus cajan), 9 de frijol alado (Psophocarpus re¡ragonolobus ), 2 de frij ol terciopelo (Stizolobium deering ianum) , I c ultivar de ma ní (Amchis hypogaea) , I de Canavalia ensi(ormis y I de C. gladiara. De todas estas especies sólo el caupí y el maní mostraron adaptación sobresaliente a las co ndiciones del s uelo y de la a so ciación co n yuca en siembra simultán ea , mientra S que el tipo de planta y la adaptación del frij ol terciopelo s ugirieron potencial para asociarlo con yuca adulta, al final del ciclo vegetativo de la misma . De la s o tra s especies, parte no toleró las condiciones de extrema acidez, infe rtilidad y toxicidad por Al y Mn del suelo (mungo , frijol alado), y parte no mostró un hábito de creci miento adecuado para la asociación (gua ndul, canava lia s) (CIAT, 1979; Hege wald y Leihner, 1980).Respuesta a la fertilización en monocultivo y en asociación. La res puesta a los elementos ma yores por parte de la yuca y de los cultivos más frecuentemente asociados co n ella (legum inosas de grano, maíz) se estudió ampliamen te bajo co ndiciones muy variables de suelo, en monocultivo (Jaco b y v. Uexküll, 1973 ;Andrew y Ka mprath , 1978;H oweler, 1981). Sin em bargo, es importante reconoce r que la respuesta de los siste mas asociados pu ede diferir marcada me nte de la del monocu lti vo; en pruebas que se ha bian realiza d o en un suelo de mediana fertilidad de Caribia en la costa norte de Co lombi a (Cuadro 6), para establecer la respue sta a N yaK de la yuca y del caupí e n monocultivo ye n asociación, la yuca presentó un a diferencia fundamental en las respuestas a l N y al K e ntre los dos sistemas de cultivo.En mo nocultivo, el rendim ie nto en raíces po r parte de la yuca mostró una re spues ta positiva a la aplicación de N y K só lo hasta el primer incremento en la ferti lización , sie nd o la respuesta al N esta dí st icamente significa tiva ; a niveles más a lt os de los dos elementos, se obse rvó una declinación en el rendim iento ha sta un nivel má s bajo que el de los testigos (sin aplicación d e N y K) , siend o esta depresió n en el rendimiento estadí sticamente sig nifica ti va para el K. Con ambos elementos se inc rementó el crecimiento de los tall os y del fo llaj e; a sí , la reducción en los rendimien tos con la d os is altas de N y K posiblemente se debió a una di sminu ció n en el indice de cosecha, el cual frecuenta mente está relacionado con el excesivo crecimiento del follaje y con una área folia r ma yo r que la óptima (Cock et a l. , 1979).En cambio , en la yuca asociada la res pues ta e n re nd imien to de raíces a la aplicación del N y K fue positi va desde el segundo hasta el cua rto incremento del fertilizan te , siendo el incremento en los rendimientos estadist ica ment e significativo en el caso del N y ca si significativo en el K .El caupí , por su parte, no mostró un apreciab le grado de respue sta al N ni a l K , ni diferencia en la respuesta a estos elemen tos entre e l mo noc ultivo y la asociación. Al nivel de 84 kg/ ha de K hubo una reducc ión peculiar en el rendimient o del caupí tanto en mono-cultivo como asociado con yuca; esta reducció n, aunque significativa , probablemente no reOejó el verdadero efec to d e la aplicación de K, como quiera que los dos tratamiento s fuero n afectados selectivamente por una inundación en d os de las cuatro replicacio nes (Figuras 12 y 13).Al conducir los mi smos experimentos co n increme nt os d e Pen un s uelo altamente deficiente y fijador de P en CIAT-Quit ichao (Cuadro 6), se registró una situación diferente . En es ta s condici o nes, tanto la yuca como el caupí respo ndieron en forma posi tiva en sus rendimiento s a los incrementos de P, reOejand o ante tod o la seria deficiencia de este elemento en el suelo (Figura 14 ).La yuca en monocultivo mostró una res puesta casi lin ea l a los incrementos de P, a lcan za ndo el rendimient o má s a lt o con el nivel má s alto de ese elemento ; sin embargo, en asociació n con caupí respondió só lo hasta el primer incremento en la aplicaci ó n de P. Esta diferencia entre la yuca en m o nocult ivo y asoci ada se puede expli ca r tant o por una co mpetencia má s fuerte por P en tre las d os especies como por el hecho de que lo s ni ve les má s altos de P causaron un cambio drástico en la competitividad relati va de los   dos cultivos en favor del caupí, el cual deprimió el rendimiento de la yuca a la ve z que mostró una marcada re spu es ta po sitiva al P en ambos sistemas de cultivo.De lo anterior se concluye que para asegurar el sumini stro adecuado y económico de nutrimentos para cult ivos asociad os, es importante co nocer la respuesta a ellos de cada cultivo en la asociación . Esta res puesta a veces presenta la mi sma tendencia en los monocultivos y en la asociación , como fue el caso del caupí con P en CIA T-Quilichao, pero también puede se r significa tivamente diferente, COmo en el caso de yuca con N y K en Caribia. Esto indica ría que nO es seguro derivar conclusiones sob re la fertili zació n de un sistema asocia do só lo a partir de los req uerimie nt os y de la respuesta a la fertilización de sus compo nentes en mo noc ultivo, sin o que es necesa rio est ud ia r directamente el sistema asociado en cuantú a su respuesta a los nutriment os y determinación de niveles ó pt imos en diferentes condic io nes de suelo. Competencia por nutrimentos en cultivos asociados. La co mpetencia por los nutrimentos del suelo en cultivos asociados puede involucrar un com plej ode factores, y ocurre c uand o las zo nas de absorción de dos o más plantas se entrecruzan . ESlo oc urre con mayo r frec ue nc ia y ra pideze n el ca so de nutrime ntos m óvi les, ya que e ll os puede n se r abso rbid os má s fácilmente y tambi é n se pueden mover con mayo r fac ilidad e n e l s uelo ; así, la s zonas donde es tos e leme nt os se agotan, a lrededor de las raíces, crecen mas rápidamente y se traslapan más pronto (Kurtz et al., 1952;Bray, 1954). La s diferencia s en los requerimientos nutri ciona les y en la efic iencia de la absorción pueden ocasionar compete ncia entre los cu ltivos comp o ne ntes de la asociación; la competenci a por un nutrimento puede a la vezalterar la habilidad de los cultivos en asociac ión para competir por lu z, agua y o tros nutrimentos.Los siste ma s radicales d e difere ntes es pec ies en cu ltivos asociados ti e nde n a no inte rferir e nt re si debi d o posiblemente tanto a un a ntago ni s mo entre las raíces como a la tendencia que e,i see en el c rec imi e nto de las mismas a evitar zonas donde la humedad se ha ago ta d o ( Rape r y Barber , 1970 ;Lita v y Wolovitch, 1971;Oa la l, 1974;T renbath , 1976). Es to podría ayudar a evitar la co m pe te ncia po r los elementos no móviles , pero al mis mo tie mp o res tringe el vo lu men del sue lo q ue p uede ser ex plo rado po r las raices.Tan to la es trat ificación de los sistem as radica les, o sea la ubicació n de ra íces de las diferentes especies en d ifere ntes profundidades d el suelo, co mo la separción espa cial hor izo nta l de las raíces podrí a ayud a r a red ucir la competencia po r n utrime nt os (Ca ble , 1968;Cha ng, 1969).En la práct ica, la co mpetencia e ntre especies se p rese nta co mo u na red ucción e n el desarro ll o vege ta ti vo y e n la producti vidad . La co m pete nc ia ta m bién puede afec ta r la co nce ntrac ió n d e nutrime ntos e n los tejidos de las plantas. La med ida d el crecimie nt o y d el re nd imie nt o, la res puesta a la aplicació n d e nutrime ntos y el a ná lisis d irec to de tejid o s son , po r lo tanto , herra mie ntas útiles pa ra eva luar y cuantifica r la co mpete ncia . Co m o eje mpl o, la res puesta a l N de la yuca c ulti vad a so la y asoc iada con ca upí q ue p rese nta la F igura 12 mues tra que la yuca sufrió la co mpe te ncia de l caupi po r ese elemento; e n ca mbi o la fa lta de res puesta a l N que se observa en el ca upi , y la mínima dife re ncia e ntre e l rend imi en to de grano en el sistem a d e mo noc ulti vo y de aso cia ción , sugiere q ue es ta especie no sufrió co mpe tencia po r parte de la yu ca po r ese el emento . El hech o a nteri o r se ex plica p roba blemente no ta nt o po r la capacidad d e fij ac ió n d e N , q ue es má s bien limitad a en el ca u pí, sin o co m o res ult ado de la rá pid a expansión la tera l yen pro fu nd idad de sus ra ices, qu e puede ha ber habi litado a es ta especie para tomar N de ni veles del suelo no explo rados por las ra ices de la yuca '.U na sit uac ió n semejante se obse rvó en el caso de la competencia po r K : el ma rcado incremento en los rendim ientos que se obtuvo en la yuca asociada en presenc ia de nive les altos d e este ele ment o sugiere que el mismo p udo se r de algún m odo limi ta ti vo en la s asociaciones con nive les bajos, y que esta sit uac ió n se co rrigió a pli ca ndo niveles más a ltos (ver Figura 13). Aq uí de nu evo el caupí no res po ndi ó a las ap li cacio nes de K co n un a u me n to sig ni fica t ivo e n s u rendimi e nt o, de d o nde se infi e re q ue pro ba bl eme nte no sufrió co mpetencia po r ese ele ment o.  En el caso del p, ambos cu ltivos mostraro n una respues ta posi tiva a los niveles altos del elemento, sugiriend o que como resultado del muy baj o contenido de P en el suel o y de la alta ca pacidad de fijación d e ese elemento, hu bo una fuerte co mpeten cia entre a mb os por el fert ilizante fosfórico.La respuesta particular de la yuca en asociac ió n co n caupi reve la la difere nte tolerancia de las dos especies al P bajo en el sue lo: adi cionando poco P la yuca, que es la especie má s tole rante, m os tró una respuesta pos itiva , pero no presentó la mi sma respue sta con los niveles má s a lt os de P. Con mayores cantidades de fe rtili zante fo sfóric o el caupí se hizo más competitivo y causó una depresión en el rendimiento de la yuca, llegando a los mayo res re ndimientos en grano só lo con el últim o incremento de P (ver Figura 14).Com o po drí a n suge rir las curvas de respuesta , ni siquiera el más alto nivel d e P pod ría haber provisto suficiente ca ntidad de este nutriment o para co rregi r la si tuación de competencia y satisfacer la demanda de P por parte de ambos cultivos en asoc iació n con igual efectividad que en mo nocultivo (CIAT, 1980).Se reconoce también po r medio del análisis de tejid os cuándo un cultivo en asociaci ó n sufre competencia por nutriment os en comparación con el mo noc ultivo. Los datos del análisi s foliar confirm a n las observac iones hecha s sobre competencia en los e nsayos sobre respuesta s a N, P Y K de la yuca y el caupí e n monoc ultivo y asociados. En los C uad ros 7 y 8las concentraciones má s bajas de N y K en la s hojas y peciol os dela yuca asociada muestran que el caupi Cuadro 7. Efecto de dife rentes niveles de N aplicados en banda sob re la co ncenlración de ese elemenlo en la s hojas de yuca y caupi se mbrados en monocultivo y en asociación .Conce ntración de N en las hojas (%) compitió co n ella po r estos elementos si n que el mi sm o se afectara po r la co mpetenc ia. Por ot ra parte, la concent ración de P en los tejidos de la yuca y del ca upi asoc iados rue reduc ida, lo que indi ca una fue rte competencia de ambos cultivos por el p. sie ndo la yuca apa re nt e me nt e más afectada que e l ca upi. El hec ho de que a má s altos niveles de P aumente la co nce ntració n de ese ele me nt o e n las hoja s del ca upi asociad o sin que aumente en la yuca asociada, sugeriría q ue a medida q ue aume ntan los ni ve les d e P, el ca upi se vuel ve un competid o r má s fuerte d ejando menos P di spo nible pa ra la yuca (Cuad ro 9) . Métodos de aplicación de fertilizante s. En cultivos asociados, al igual que en mon ocultivos el método de apl ica ción del fertilizante está determinado por las características del suelo, el régimen pluviométrico, el tipo de fertilizante y los cu lti vos mi smos.Por ejemplo, en un suelo arenoso el fertili zan te ap licado a l voleo está más expuesto a pérdida por lavado que si se aplica en banda. Los sue los ácidos tropicales frecuentemente fijan p. y cuando se les aplican al voleo fuen tes solubles de ese elemento se co rre el riesgo de perderlo; de nuevo, la aplicación en banda podría prevenir mejor dicho riesgo. En un Oxisol de Carimagua, en lo s Llanos Orientales de Colombia , se obtuvo el mejor resultado con yuca sembrada sobre caballones durante la época lluviosa, 'aplicando la mitad del fertiliza nte al voleo y la otra mitad en banda ; con la sie mbra e n plano en la época seca , fue mejor la aplicación de todo el fertilizante a l voleo (H owe ler , 1981).En general, los correctivos del suelo de baja sol ubilidad , como la cal agrícola, la cal dolo mítica, la s escoria s Th omas o rocas fosfóricas actúan con mayor eficacia cuando se aplican al voleo (con incorporación) para crear la más amplia s uperficie posi ble de conta cto entre e l correct ivo y el s uelo , mientras que los fertili za ntes de, alta co ncentració n y so lubilid ad generalmente so n aprovechad os más eficientemen te por los cult ivos cuando se aplican en bandas.Los cultivos anua les asociados con yuca. tales como las leguminosas de grano o el maíz, tienen sistemas radicales profundos y ramificados. En cont raste ,la yuca tiene un sistema radical más bien escaso con un pequeño número de pelos absorbentes, pero la asociación con micorrizas le ayuda en la absorción de P y posiblemente de otros nutrimentos y del agua (Howeler, 1981). Est o implica que la eficiencia en la abso rción por parte de la yuca p od ri a se r si milar a la de los cultivos asociados co n ella, a pesar de la di si militud morfológica de sus sistema s radicales. Por consiguiente , el método de aplicación del fertilizante en cultivos asoc iad os se podría regir má s por las condiciones del s uelo y del clima y por el tipo del fertilizante a apli car que por las características de absorción de los cultivos.Los resultados obte nid os en Quilichao y Ca ribi a co n la ap licació n de NPK al vo leo y en banda en asociaciones de yuca y caupi confirman la observación anterior. En Quilichao , aplicando el P en' la forma so lubl e de superfosfa to triple en un sue lo fijador de ese elemento, el caupí respondió ligera aunque no significat ivame nte mejor a la aplicac ión en banda que a la aplicación al voleo mientras En Ca ribia , aplica ndo N en la fo rm a so lubl e d e urea , se ob tu viero n dife re ncias no sig nifica ti vas en los re nd imi e ntos d el ca upí co n la a plicac ió n en ba nda y a l vo leo; la y uca respo nd ió mej o r a la a plicació n a l voleo, lo c ua l se po dría re lac io nar co n una mejo r a bso rció n d el ele me nto asi a plicad o, debid o a su siste ma radi ca l escaso (Figura 16). Fina lmente, en el caso del K , ap li cad o co m o clo r uro de po tasio, ni la yuca ni el ca u pi most raro n d ife rencias clara s comparando los d os m é todos de a pl icación (C IA T , 1980).Conclusiones para la fertilización . La ex tracc ió n y re moc ió n d e cas i todos los nutr ime ntos es ma yor e n un siste ma asociad o q ue e n mo noc ultivo c ua nd o el manej o es inte nsivo . Po r lo ta nt o, la nu t rició n d e las pl a ntas asocia das requie re es pecia l a te nción para ev ita r que la fe rtilida d de l s uelo se ago te ráp ida me nt e. Las o bservac io nes hec has has ta a ho ra in d ica n que: oc urrir , en men o r g rado, eo a sociacio nes co n ma iz. Po r esto, la fe rtili zació n con N parece ser decisiva pa ra una pro ducción estable del siste ma asociad o. La práctica adecuada eo este ca so pOdrí a se r suma r los requerimientos individuales de los cu ltivos pa ra llega r a la ca ntidad t o tal de N con que se debe fertilizar el sistem a asociado . Aunque esta reco mendaci ó n parece sugerir el emple o de grand es cantidades de fertiliz ante nitroge nado, ta les cant idades pueden resultar relativamente baja s e n la práctica si la yuca se inte rca la repetidamente con leg umin osas eficientes en la fijación de N . Esta práctica no so lamente red ucirá la cantidad de N requeri d o po r el cultivo asoc iad o sin o qu e a largo pla zo proba bl emente ayudará también a acumul a r N e n el s uel o , lo que a su vez reducirá 'Ios reque rimie ntos de fertilización nit roge nada po r parte de la yuca.b) La yuca y los cultivos asoc iados só lo remueve n peq ueñ as .cantidades de P del suelo: sin embargo , en muchos suelos po bre s, tanto la yuca como la s leguminosas y el maí z respo nd en má s a la fertili zación co n P que con otros element os, lo que significa que en estos suelos el reque rimiento de P es elevado pa ra los t res grupos de cultivos. La dependencia de un sumini stro adec uad o de P por pa rte de las legumin osas y el maí z es aún ma yor que la de la yuca , cultivo que tiene mayo r tole ranci a a bajas co ncentracio nes de ese e lement o en el suelo . Co nsiderando por una part e la poca re moci ó n de P en la asociación , y po r otra la marcada respues ta a este e lement o so bre todo de los cu ltivos asoc iad os , se es tima que una apro piada fertiliza ció n con P debería cubrir en prime r lu gar el requerimi ent o del cu lti vo asociado. La yuca se benefificaría de esta aplicación en ma yor o menor grado, y po r lo tanto posibleme nte no sea necesario aplicarle toda la cantidad de P que se le aplicarí a en condiciones de mo noculti vo.c) La extracción y remoción de K por la s raíces de la yuca es co nsi de rable y hace necesaria la devo l ució n de este ele mento al suel o mediante la fertilización.En un sistema asociado predomina la remoción de K por parte de la yuca , y no se observa mucha remoci ó n por el cultivo a sociado: por otra pa rte, la respuesta a ese e lemento en los rendimient os de la yuca y cultivos as ocia dos normalmente no es muy marc ada. Por lo tanto, la fertilizaci ó n co n K de un sist ema a soc iad o se deb e regir principa lmente por el requerimiento de la yuca, agregá nd o le una peq ueña ca ntidad de fertilizante como margen de segu ridad para el cultivo asociado. d) En suelos á cid os e infértil es , se recomienda sembrar co mo c ulti vos asociados con yuca só lo aq uell as espec ies que co mo el caupi y el mani, tengan un a ad apt ació n a ese medi o simila ra la de la yuca . En es ta fo rma no se requiere la co rrección del pH mediante grandes can tid ades de ca l sino só lo una peq ueña dosis para sati sfacer la demand a de Ca y Mg como nutrimentos. Se reco mi e nda aplicar en pres iembra e incorpo rados, 500 kg/ha deca l a grico la , o mejo rcal dolomitica (que incluye Mg) . Ad emás , 10 kg/ ha de Zn y 1 kg/ ha de B cubren los req uerimiento s de los dos elementos meno res más import a ntes para la as oci ación en es tos sue los. Fu e nt es co mercia les de N y K ta les co mo la urea y e l c lo ruro de po tas io mos tra ro n efecti vidad simil a r c ua nd o se a plica ro n e n ba nd a o a l voleo e n sistemas asociad os de yuca y ca upi .Elementos menores tales como el Zn y el B se puede n aplicar en banda ; pero en el caso de la yuca, tambi én exi ste la posibilidad de aplicarlos po r aspersión a l cultivo (apli cació n foliar) o co mo tra ta mien to a la estaca , lo eual es más eco nó mico q ue la a pli cació n a l suelo.Los b ro tes e pid é mic os d e pestes (plaga s, e nfe rm edades y mal ezas) co nstitu ye n una d e las más seria s amen azas pa ra la p roducc ió n agrícola en el tró pico. Las e pide mia s son favorec idas po r c ul t ivos mo rfo ló gica y ge né tica mente uniformes ( mo noc ulti vos) de gran exte nsió n (Pim entel, 19 6 1; So uthwood y Wa y, 1970; Ni c kel, 197 3). En cambi o, la mezcla d e cultivos con base gen é tica dife rent e (n o nece sa ri a me nte co n diferen cias morfo lógi cas) e n el mis mo campo no pro vee el sustra to uniforme pa ra que las peste s se multiplique n y adquiera n dimensio nes epidémicas. Se cree qu e esta es una d e las causas pa ra la mayo r es ta bilid a d d e los sistema s de c ulti vo mixto (De mpste r y Coa ke r, 19 74; L it singer y M oody , 1976; Altie ri e t a l. , 19 78) .Con exce pción de mu y pocos eje mpl os ( Bo d kin , 1912;Ra o , 1970), la yuca y los c ulti vos más frecuent e me n te asoc ia d os con ella so n a taca dos po r pl agas difere ntes; esto dis minu ye la pro ba bi lidad d e que la po bla ció n d e plagas au ment e y ocasio ne d a ños e n los c ulti vos asoc iad os. gene ral, hubo menor incidencia d e lodas estas plagas e n la asociació n. y se obse rvaro n poblacione s más bajas como resul tado de la combinación entre la asociación y el conl ro l quí mico co n pesticidas. En el Cuad ro 10 se mueSlra el resullad o de los cOnleos para cada insecto en los dos sislemas de culli vo co n protección química y sin ella. y se dan pro medi os de la reducción e n la incidencia de la plaga porefeclO de la asociación. en términos de porce ntaje. De la misma ma ne ra , en frijol asociado se observan incidencia s reducidas del sal ta hoj as (Empoasco kraemeri) , de dos crisomé lid os (Diobrorica bol/ea 10 y Cero/ama ruficornis) y de Irips. e n comparación con el monocultivo. Es tas o bserva ciones han sid o con fi rmadas por dat os oble nid os e n Cos la Rica (Ara uj o y More no, 1978).Los datos a nt e ri o res además de indi ca r el potencial del sistema asociado para el conl ro l de pla gas, en a use ncia d e o tras medidas, sug ie re n que es posible co mpl ementar el sis tema de producción asociada con medidas moderadas de co nlro l quimico para o ble ner a ún mejo res resullados. Cuando e n un mo nocu lti vo comercial se requi eren cuatro a seis aplicaciones de un pes ti cida, e n la asoc iació n puede n se r sufi cie nt es una o d os.En la asociación de yuca con fr ij o l a que se refie re el Cuadro 10, el rendimi e nt o de la yuca se redujo poco por efeclO del frijol asociado c ua ndo no se hizo co ntrol químico de insectos, y los re ndimien tos del frijol asoc iado fuero n casi idénlicos a los del mo noculti vo. Asi, e n a use nc ia de insumos para el co ntro l de in sec tos, la asociación fue ve ntaj osa, ya que en un a hectárea se ob tu vo cas i la mis ma prod ucción d e yuca y frijol que se hubiera ob tenid o en dos hec tá re as de estos cultivos por se parad o . Los re sultados mues tran la gran ve ntaja d e la asoc iació n baj o condiciones de uso mínimo de ins umos comprados (T hung, 1978).La divers idad ge nética entre los c ulti vos que se siembran e n asociación es uno de los fact o res más importantes que pueden modificar la incidencia y severidad de la s enfe rm edades; por ot ra parte, la disimilitud m orfoló gica entre las plantas p ued e prod ucir efeCtOS adiciona les, por ejemplo, la formación de barreras co ntra patógenos diseminados por el viento o el ag ua .Sin embargo. ha y que diferenciar en tre pa tóge nos y combinaciones de c ultivos , ya que hay casos de efect os patogén icos adversos en c ulti vos asociad os con la yuca y viceversa . Así, según info rmacio nes desd e Sri La nka , la asociación de yuca co n ca uch o fome nta la secticida y sin ella.  (1979) informa sobre incidencia y severidad d e la ceniza d e la yuca (Oidium maniholis) en yuca asociada con maíz, mayor que la obse rvada en el respec livo mo nocultivo ; Lozano (comunicación personal, 1981) sostiene que lanlO la yuca como el frijo l son atacados por los mismos pa tógenos del suelo tales como los de los géneros Rhizoclonia, Se/erolillia, Se/erO/ium, Fusarium. Vertidllium y Fomes, causanles de pudriciones d e la raiz o del hipocó tilo.Sin e m bargo, eslas sil uaci ones se deben co nsiderar como excepciones, ya que se puede cit ar un núme ro de ejemplos mucho ma yo r que muestra el efecto favorable de los cultivos asociados sobre la reducción de la incidencia y severidad de enfermedades.Larios y M oreno (1976) y Moreno (1979) a nali za ron la situación patogénica de diferenles asociaciones con yuca. Los dos autores encontraron que la asociación yuca-mai z retra sa el desa rro llo del superalargamiento de la yuca (Elsinoii brasiliensis) y al mismo tiempo reduce la incidencia y severidad de la roya (Uromyces \",allihotis). Los mismos autores confirmaron que la asociac ió n de yuca con frijo l común reduce la incidencia y severid ad de la cen iza de la yuca, el superalargamiento , la roya (Cuadro 11) Y la ant racnosis (Collelolrichum sp.) bajo con diciones de Turrialba, Costa Rica, Dos informes de Nigeria (Arene, 1976;Ene, 1977) muestran qu e en asociaciones de yuca con maí z y melón el añub lo bacte ri a l de la yuca (Xanlhomotlas maniholis) se redujo ; la posible explicación de este hecho es q ue la asoc iac ió n provee una mejor y más temprana co bertura del sue lo , la cual evita las sa lpic aduras de sue lo infectado por la bacteria (Cuadro 12).Cuadro 11 . Incidencia y severidad máximas de la ro ya de la yuc a (Uromyces moniholis) en cin co sistem as diferentes de culti\\ ' La yuca ta mbi é n influye so bre la situa ció n pa togéOl ca d e los culti vos asoc iados e n forma dife re nte según el pató gen o y e l cullivo. Al parecer no existen info rm es sobre cambios en la incidenc ia de e nfermedades e n maíz intercalado co n yuca pero sí los hay so bre frijol y caupí . More no (1979)  ss Moren o ( 19 79) también estudió la infestación del ca upi por enfe rmedades vira les co mo el mosaico co mún yel mosa ico clorótico del caupí , las cuales son tran smitidas po r c ri so mélidos. En la siembra simultánea de caupí con yuca no se o bservó diferencia a lguna entre el progreso de la e nfermedad vi ral en la asociación y en el monocultivo de caupí; sin embargo, cuand o és te se se mbró baj o la yuca completame nte desarro ll ada , a l final de su ciclo vegetativo, se redujo tanlO el progreso como el grado de máxima infecc ión de las dos virosis en co mpa ración co n el mo noculti vo. La reducida actividad de los vectores en co ndiciones de reducida incidencia de radiació n so lar baj o la yuca fue la causa má s pr obable de es ta baja in cidencia viral e n la asociació n yuca-ca upi .Los eje mpl os citados demuestra n, en términos ge nerales, el po lencial de la asociació n con yuca para reducir los prob lem as de enfermedades. Esto significa que , para el man ejo de enfer medades en cu ltivos asociados con yuca, a l ig ua l que para el ma nejo de plaga s, hay me nor requerimiento de in sum os agroq uím icos para su con trol. Sin emba rgo, la asociació n indiscriminada de c ultivos que puedan tene r uno o más pa tógen os e n común, pu ede favorecer el desarrollo de problemas patogénicos bajo co ndi cio nes específicas . EslO se debe tene r en cuenta pa ra un manejo adecuado de la s enfermedades e n siste mas de cul ti vos asociados, evita nd o la asociació n de especies con potencia I•para agra var más que para ah viar lo s proble mas de enfermedade s.Una de las ve ntajas de se mbra r s imultánea mente dos o má s c ulti vos e n el mismo campo es obtener una ma yor y más te mprana cobertura del suelo , lo qu e reduce la penetra ció n de lu z me rm a nd o , a su vez, el crecimi ento de las ma lezas . eleave ( 1974) o pina que los sistema s de cultivos a sociados pueden ha ber surgid o específicamente como res ultado del reducido co ntrol de malezas que ell os requie ren.Potencial biológico para reducir problemas de malezas. En el sistema de mo noculti vo el espa cio no cubierto inicialmente po r el follaje de la yuca co nstituye un problema particularmente serio debid o a l lent o desa rro ll o inicia l de l culti vo y al amplio es paciamiento que requiere para acom odar su crecimient o poster ior. De a hi que un cultivo asociado que c ubra rápidam ente el suelo sin competir exces ivamente co n la yuca puede hacer una cont ribución impo nante a l control cultural de las maleza s en yu ca. 56 CIAT ( 1979( ) Y Leih ner ( 1980a) ) ana lizaron el c recimie nt o de male zas e n el mo noc ulti vo de yuca comparado co n e l c rec imi e nt o e n la asociación yuca-frij o l, e n e l CIAT, Colombia. A los 45 , 90 Y 135 di as después de la siemb ra y si n ot ra clase de co ntrol, el solo hecho de interca la r la yuca con el frij o l ha bía reducid o la ca n tidad to tal d e la s mal ezas a 30 , 4 7 Y 33% de la ca ntidad obse rva d a e n el monoc ultivo. El reducid o peso de las malezas a los 135 días indica q ue hub o un efecto residua l del co ntro l eje rcido por e l frijol , ya que éste se había cosec had o a los 105 días. Sólo a los 180 día s des pu és de la siembra, la cantidad de majeza s bajo las co ndici ones de la asociación yuca -frijol alcanzó el mi s mo nivel que en el m o n oc ulti vo (Figura 17).En el sistema asociado, la yu ca tuvo un rendimiento igua l con o sin medid as adicionales de control quimi co y manu a l, mie n tras que e n el mo noc ultivo sufri ó una merma de 30% e n su re ndimie nt o cua nd o no hubo control químico o ma nua l de las malezas. Estos resultados resaltan nuevamen te la ventaja del cult ivo intercalado en cua nto a la estab ilidad de la producci ón en condiciones de uso mínimo de in s um os comprados, lo que a la vez sugiere que los cultivos asociados podrían ser un sistema de producción adecuado para el pequeño productor quien normalmen te carece de medios pa ra co mprar in sumos. (Véase ta mbién lo concerniente a manej o de plagas en sistema s asociados).Asoc iando la yuca con una legumin osa perenne (Desmodium helerophyllum) se o btu vo un co ntrol de maleza s efectivo y estable . Después del es tablecimient o de la legumin osa. que duró unos 50 día s, la cobe rtura del suelo y el con trol de ma lezas fu ero n co mpletos hasta la cosecha de la yuca. Hub o una reducción de 18.9% en el re ndimien to de la y uca asoc iada con es ta leguminosa en comparación con el del monocultivo limpi o, debido posiblemente a la baja pero prolongada competencia del cultivo de cobertura ; sin embargo, ese puede se r un prec io relativamente bajo que se paga por man tener el cu lti vo libre de male zas du ra nte todo su cicl o vegetativo (CI AT, 197'9;Leihner, 1980a).Control químico de malezas. El fact o r má s limitativo para el uso de he rbicidas en asociaciones de culti vos con yuca ha sido la falta de información so bre selecti vidad y efec tividad de los prod uct os cuando se usan en sistemas de cultivos asociados. La deficiencia de la información se debe a que us ua lme nte los herbi cidas han si do desarrollados para monocultivos come rcia les e n g ran esca la , y no para los cul tivos ali menti cios del peq ueño productor . Tenie nd o esto en c ue nta, se inici ó una investigaci ón tendiente a id ent ificar productos o mezcla s de prod uctos, d os is y mé todos de ap licación aconsejables para el control químico de maleza s e n cu lti vos interca lados con yuca. Como resultado se han iden tificado a lgunos herbicidas pree me rge ntes que se pueden usare n asoc iaciones de yuca co n maíz y también con frijol co mún , ca upí , mungo y mani (López y Leihner , 1980). Una de las mezclas ide ntificadas también se puede usa r en la triple asociació n de yuca con maíz y ñame (Cuadro 14).Adem ás de usar he rbic idas con se lec ti vidad pa ra diferentes cu ltivos , el agricultor se puede valer de o tros principios para o btener ma yo r se lec ti vidad, como son el uso de los herbi cidas en do sis bajas y su a pli cació n en presiembra . El uso de dosis bajas (ej. la mitad de la d os is) disminuye el riesgo de un efec to fitotóxico en' los c ultivos, pero también merm a la eficiencia y duración del cont ro l de las ma lezas ; sín e mbargo, el sistema asociado provee a l suelo una Fuente: López 'J Leihncr. 1980 cobertura má s temprana que el monocultivo•, reduciend o así la necesidad de un efectivo co ntro l de male zas durante un período prol o ngado.Con respecto al tiempo de apli cació n , se obtiene mej or selectividad cuan d o los herbicida s pree me rgentes no se aplican inmediatamenle despué s de la siembra d e acuerd o con la práctica t radicio nal, sino algun os días o inclusive has ta varias semana s anle s; esto es posible sobre todo con los herbici das preemergentes de efecto residual pro lo ngado. En el CIA T, po r ejemplo , se ob servó uo n o to ri o aumento e n la se lectividad de un he rbicida preemergente (o xiOuorfen) c uand o se a pl icó antes d e la siembra e n una asociac ió n de yuca y maní en lugar de hacerl o d espués.Control integrado de maJezas. Frecuentemen te la combinación de varios métod os provee may or eficiencia y economía e n el con trol. En el CIAT se obtuvo un contro l efec tivo y económic o de malezas en un cultivo de yuca asociad o co n frijo l común, aprovechando el efect o de la cobertura tempran a de l frijol y co mpleme n tándolo co n la aplicaci ó n de un herbicida pree mergente , el c ual tambié n se aplicó a l m o noculti vo de yuca. Mientras el efecto de l co nl ro l eje r-S9 cido por el herbicida so lo en e l monocultivo de yuca se había perdid o antes de los 90 días después de la siemb ra , el efec to integ rado de la a soc iac ión y e l he rbicida mantu vo un excelen te control de maleza , (Figura 18) por má s de seis meses después d e la sie mbra (CIAT, 1 97~; Leihner , 1980a).El contro l integrad o de mal ezas ta mbi é n se probó e n la estación experimental ICA-Caribia en la costa norte de Colo mbia, dond e pred o mina el coq uito (Cyperus l'otulldus L.) , una ma leza difícil de co mba tir. Parcelas fu e rt emente infestad as de coq uit o (2300 tubérculos/m' a 25 cm de profundi ad) se sometie ro n a trat a mient os mecá ni cos, químicos y cu lturales de co ntro l d e male zas. Los métod os mecá nicos consi stiero n en ras t rillar dura nte la época seca con el soo 1 U MS sr¡. fin de expo ner los tub é rculos a la desecación antes de la siembra; el control químico se hi zo aplicando herbicidas pre' y pose mergentes' , y el co nt rol cul t ura l se erectuó con diferentes grados de somb ra para e l coq uito e n c ua tro tra ta mientas: monocultivo de yuca, asociación yuca-mungo , monocultivo de mungo , y sin cultivo (Figura 19).En el monoc ultivo de yuca, a los 60-90 días después de la sie mbra se logró una cobe rtura del suelo de 80% o más , y se mantuvo en un 80-100% ha sta la cosecha. La forma ció n del follaje fue má s rápida con glifosa to que sin él, y el tratamiento de ra strillada má s glifosato permiti ó la cobertura más temprana.El propósit o de la a sociación de yuca con mungo en este experiment o fue proveer u na cobertura más temprana al suelo de la que es pos ible obtene r con el so mbrío del mon ocultivo de yuca, antes de que los tra ta mie ntos de presiembra pierdan su efectividad. La asociación cumplió su propósito , ya que solamente 30 día s después de la siembra produjo un a co bertura del suelo de 80-90% independientemente de la ra strillada o del tratamiento co n herbicida .Po r su rápid o crecimiento el mungo en monocultivo cubrió rápidamente el suelo, pero la cobertura no se man tu vo por much o ti empo debido a s u COrto ciclo vegetat ivo (Figura 19). En el mo nocultivo de yuca se ob tuvo un control bue no y estable de la maleza con el tratamiento comb inado de la rastrillada y el glifosato . ya que el co ntrol eje rcido por la sombra de la y uca se hizo efectivo a ntes de que los tratamientos de presie mbra perdieran su efecto . No obstante , una comparación entre los sistemas de siembra reveló que la a soc iació n yuca-mungo proveyó el control más temprano y más efect ivo de todos los sistema s (eIAT, 1980;Leihner et al. , 1980). El sistema de cultivos asociadqs se adopta tanto po r razones b io lógicas como eco nómi cas. Es bien sabido que un área sembrada con dos o má s cultivos en asociación puede dar una producción to tal más alta que los cu ltivos por se parado en la misma superficie. Sin embargo, la productividad biológica de un sistema de producción agrícola no es el ú ni co aspecto importante: el res ultad o económi co de una asociación en relación con el obtenid o en monoc ultivo es o tro aspecto decisivo en la evaluación de un sistema de producción.Mientra s en la agricultura de subsis tencia la ma yor parte de la produ cción agríco la se consume en la finca y por lo tanto, la produc tividad biológica es de especial importanc ia, bajo condiciones de tra nsició n de agricultura de su bsistencia a comercial, donde cantidades crecientes del produ cto agrícola se venden fuera de la finc a, el res ultado económico recibe ca da vez mayo r atención .Para la evaluación de la eficiencia biológica de los sistema s de cultivos asociados, la cual corresponde al mis mo t ie mpo a la eficiencia en el uso de la tierra, el IRRI (1973IRRI ( , 1974) Y Mead y Willey, (1980) han propuesto el concepto del \"lndice Eq uiva lente de Tierra\" (IET). Este es út il para expresa r y evaluar: a) La ventaja o desve ntaja, en términos de producción biológica, de la asociación en compa rac ión con el monoc ulti vo (criterio de máxi ma producción). b) La eficiencia o ineficiencia de un sistema comparado co n o tro con respecto al uso de la tierra (criterio de menor área). c) La ventaja o desventaja de una combinación de cultivos sobre otra (comparación entre combinaciones de c ultivos). d ) La ventaja o desventaja de una práctica agronómica sobre otra dentro del sistema asociad o (comparación entre prácticas agronómicas) . e) También sirve para valorar la co mpetencia entre los cultivos, como se verá más adelante. Si se conside ran individualmente [os rend imientos de cada una de las especies incluida s en una asociación , se encuentra que ellos son mayores en e[ monocultivo que en la asociación, debido -\" [a competencia interespecífica en el último sistem a; por [o tant o, en el monocultivo de una especie se necesita un área menor que en la asoc iación para obte ner producciones similares, lo que se manifiesta en va lores A/M menores que la unidad (A/ M <1 l. Sin embargo, si se considera la producción biológica total de la asociació n, se e nc uentra que para igualarla con los monocultivos habda que sum a r [as áreas que éstos ocupan: a sí, el área total requerida para una producción total determinada resulta mayor en e[ sistema de monocultivo que en la asociación. 64Con la ayuda de la metod o logía ex pues ta, a ho ra es posible eval uar, a la luz del concepto rET, algunas de la s prá cti cas agronómicas mejoradas pa ra las asociaci o nes co n yuca, las cuales co nstituyen el pri ncipal objetivo de la pre sente publicació n.Tiempo relativo de siembra.Pa ra la asociación de yuca y frijol, se determinaron e n el C rA T los IET cor respondi en tes a diferente s ép ocas relativas de siembra, y generalmente se obtuvieron valores más a lt os se mbrando el frijo l antes de la yuca. Es to se debió probablemente a que la s sie mbras tempranas de frij o l, a la vez que permitieron mayores rendimientos de es ta especie, tuvieron un efecto de competenc ia menor q ue el ejercido po r la sie mbra ta rdí a del mismo frijol sobre los rendimientos de la yuca (ver Figu ra 3 para re ndimien tos relativos).El má ximo valor rET se ob tu vo con la siembra si multán ea, lo que indica una ventaja comparativa para esta práctica y confirma que con ella se o btiene la más alta productividad biológica to tal ( Figura 20) .Para ca lcula r los rET que prese nta la Fi gura 20 se usaron los rendimientos de monocultivos sembrados en las co rres pondientes fecha s de siembra de la asociació n, co n el fin de corregir el efec to de esa fec ha sob re el re ndimie nto del frij o!. En esta forma no se hace una comparación entre asociación y mon oc ulti vo sin o entre las diferentes fechas relativas de siembra de la asociación. Para determinar el efecto de la dens idad de siembra de la yuca sobre la productividad total y efici en cia del sistema intercalado, se sembró en el ClA T una co mbinación de dos variedades de yuca con dos variedades de frijol (ver Figura 5 para rendimientos relativos). En tres de las cuatro comb in ac iones se encontró un JET relativamente constant e a lo largo de un amplio rango de densidades de yuca , lo que indica que en la asociación se pueden usar las densidades normales de l monocultivo si n perjudicar la eficiencia del siste ma asociado (Thung, 1978;C lAT , 1979).La misma ob servación se hizo en CJAT-Quilichao donde se probaron diferentes den sidades de caupi en asociaci ó n con yuca. Pa ra el cálculo de los valores IET, en el caso de la yuca se tomó el promedio de los rendimie ntos del monocultivo , ya que para éste se usa ron parcelas está nd a r; para el caso del caupi se tomó el rendimien to del mejor t rata miento, pa ra permiti r una verdadera co m para ción entre las eficiencias del monoculti vo y la asociac ió n. EllET del sistema se mantuvo cas i estab le para densidades de siembra del ca u pi en tre 7 y 15 plan tasi m'; esto confirma que en el ca u pi , a l igua l que en la yuca. el uso en la asociación de las densidades corrientes de l monocultivo (8 -11 plantas/ m') no ocasiona detrimento en la eficiencia del si stema y a la vez asegu ra a lta prod ucti vi dad (Figura 21 ).     Cua nd o un culti vo res ponde positi va me nte a la fertili za ción , esta respuesta puede tener la misma proporción e n la asociación y en el monocultivo, en cuyo caso los incrementos e n la fe rtili zación producen una diferen cia con stante entre los rendimientos del monocultivo y de la asociación. Pero la respu es ta también puede ser más pronunciada en e l mon oc ulti vo, donde no ha y compet e ncia po r nutrimentos por parte de o tra especie, lo qu e co nduce a una ventaja cada vez mayo r e n e l rendimient o del monoc ultivo a medida que se incrementa el nivel de fertilizaci ó n. Como re su ltad o, al incre ment a r el ni ve l de fertilización el IET indi vidua l de un cultivo en la asociación permanece co nstante o baja.Con una competencia fuerte por nutrimentos entre los co mponente s de la asociación, y baj o condicione s de baja fertilidad y grandes aplica cion es de fertilizante para compensa rla , se puede presentar un tercer caso en que el grado de respuesta a la fert ili zación sea mayor en la asocia ción que en los mon ocu ltivos, lo que conduce a incrementos en el IET a medida que se increme nta la fertili zación.Por otra parte, el IET del sistema también es afectado por los ca mbi os que oc urren en la co mpete ncia entre los cultivos asociados c uand o la fertilidad del sue lo se incrementa . En una asociación de maíz y soya, altos nivele s de N incrementaron drás ticamente la capacidad competitiva del maíz frente a la soya, causa ndo una reducción significativa e n el rendimiento de esta última. Com o consecuencia el IET total del siste ma disminuyó co n cad a increme nto de N (Cordero y McCoJlum , 1979).Una situa ció n similar se observó con incrementos de P e n una asociación yuca-caupi sembrada e n CIAT-Quilichao. A partir del segundo nivel de P , el caupi se volvió más com petitivo fren te a la yuca, mostrando la misma re sp ues tél en su rendimi ento en asociación y en monocultivo y ca usando a la ve z una depresión en el rendimiento de la yuca. Esto dio como resultad o un pequeño aumento y la posterior estabilización del JET' del sistema a partir del segundo incremento de P , sugiriendo que el nivel óptimo de P para una ma yo r eficiencia en el uso de la lierra fue de 22 kg/ ha (Figura 22A).  sist e ma de a sociaci ó n yuca-ca upí fe rtili zand o con nive les crec ientes de N. La yuc a, que e n mo noc ulti vo res pondió e n forma nega tiva a inc re me ntos de N , tuvo una fuert e re sp uest a positiva en la asociación, al ca nzando va lores de IE T indi viduales s upe ri o res a un o. Es ta c irc un s tanc ia y la fa lta de resp ue sta d el cau pi, el c ual mantuvo una rel ac ión con stante entre los rendim ie ntos e n mon oc ulti vo y en a soc ia c ió n p a ra todos los ni ve les de N , condujeron a un incremento d el IET del siste ma a partir del pri mer incremento de N has ta alcanzar va lo res ce rcanos a 2 en los ni ve les má s a ltos del elem en to (Fi g ura 22B) .La alta efi ciencia en e l aprovechamiento de la fe rtili zació n nitrogenada e n la a soc ia ción fue posib le porque los re nd im ientos de la yu ca presentaron una respuesta positiva al N sin qu e se modifica ra la situ ació n de co mpetenc ia e ntre la s dos es pec ies , ya qu e el efec to del N so bre el c recimien to a éreo de la yuca só lo se ma nifes tó p le nament e despu és de habe r cosechado e l caupi.La fe rtili zació n con N ta mbi é n tu vo efectos positivos sobre los JET de difere ntes asoc ia cio ne s se gún in formes de Oe lsligle e t al. Un ejemplo acerca del efecto de la s densidades y lo s arreglos espaciales en asociaciones de yuca con caupi, to mado del trabaj o menci onado ant es, demuestra la utilidad del conce pto TC para int erpretar resultados y determinar tanto el grado de competencia entre cultivos como las ve ntaj as o desve ntaj as de distintas prácticas agronómicas en los culti vo s asociados. La yuc a sembrada a una di stan cia constante de 1.80 x 0.60 m se intercaló con caupi a razón de 80,000 pl a nta s/ ha distribuidas en d os surcos , a 0.45 m de distancia de a mb os lad os de la yuca (arreglo 45/2 que presenta la Fig ura 9) . A través de los surcos, el sistema co mpl eto ocupa 1.80 m, de los cua les 0.45 co rresponden a la yuca y los restantes 1.35a l ca upí ; o sea que la s áreas ocup ada s por la yuca y el cau pi respectivamente ti enen una rel ación de I a 3. Los rendimie ntos de la yuca fu eron de 20.9 t/ha de raíces frescas en a sociación y de 22.9 t/ ha e n mo nocu ltivo. y los del ca upi fueron de 1165 y 1653 kg/ha de grano en asociación y en mono¿ultivo , respectivamente. La T C de la yuca se ca lculó co mo sigue: TC yuca = [20 .922.9 y la TC de ca upi fue: El ejemplo mues tra que con el ma nejo agronómico arriba descrilo (arreglo del ca upi en dos surcos d ista ntes ent re sí pe ro relativa mente ce rcano s a la yuca, con una baja densida d de siembra del caupi) la yuca fue el cultivo d o mina nt e en esta asoc iación habiendo resullado cas i cuatro veces más co mpe titiva que el caupi. A pesar de la s condiciones unilate ralm ent e favorabl es para la yuca se logró un JET tota l de 1.63 , el cual ex presa una a lta efi cie ncia del sistema .Co nservando la densida d de población y el a rreglo de la yuca, pero distribu ye nd o el caup i en for ma más pareja y a ument a ndo al mismo ti empo su densidad de sie m bra (arreglo 60/3, 140,000 plantas/ ha ), Jos res ultados fu ero n los siguient es: T C yuca l77 1357 J~ = 0.93 22.9 1623 IIn]! = 108 TC caupi = --1623 22. 9 1En est as co ndiciones, se logró un ba lance ca si completo entre las d os espe cies, siendo e l ca upi ligera mente más competitivo que la yuca. El JET to ta l lograd o en este sistema fue de 1.61 .U n problema que se presen ta al usa r el índice TC es la cont ri bució n del factor di stribuci ón de l á rea (Ey/Ex 1, la cual es pa rticularmente gra nd e en el pri mer ejemplo y responde cas i com pletame nte por la gran di rere ncia que exi ste en tre los T C de la yuca y del ca upi , mi entras que los rendim ient os por sí mis mos co nt ri buyen poco a esta diferencia. Sin embargo , aun cuand o se consi dere sólo la tasa del componente IET (eliminand o el cociente Ey /Ex del cómputo), se o btienen tasa s TC pa ra yuca y ca u pi de 1.30 y 0.77 respecti vamente, most rand o que, (\", \"ualquier caso, la yuca fu e má s compet iti va q ue el caupi bajo las co ndiciones agronóm icas dad as. En el seg und o ejempl o la eliminación de l factOr di stribució n del área no afecta el TC ya que Ey/ Ex tie ne un valor unitario.Analizando la co mpetencia en tre la yuca y el ca upí en el ejemplo por medi o del con ce pto TC , se hace evidente q ue el manejo ag ro- nóm ic o de un sislema aso ciado permile cambiar drá sti ca mente el p oder competitivo de s us compone nt es para dar prefe renc ia a un o u otro , o mantener el bal a nce entre ellos de ac uerd o co n la s prod ucciones deseadas. Esto no a fec la necesa riamente la eficiencia to ta l medida por el IET .El con cepto TC con slitu ye, entonces, un in strument o útil pa ra cuantifica r la capacidad competitiva de los culti vos en asociación y asi ve rifi ca r el efecto que di stinta s prá ct icas de manej o tienen sobre este pará metro.La eva luaci ó n eco nóm ica es una definici ó n de la productividad para difere nt es allern ativas de cu ltivos asociad os, a plica nd o los crite rios empleados por el agricultor. Estos crite ri os depende rán de sus objeti vos, los cu a les, a su vez, so n detenninad os por el destino de la producción : autocon sum o o ve nta . En A méri ca La tin a se produce má s yuca para el merca d o que para autocon sum o, lo q ue permite eva lu a r dife rentes sistema s de culti vos asociados en t érminos de su valor comercial.Al compara r diferentes siste mas de cultivo, es ve ntajoso establecer diferencia s e n la prod uclividad de los mism os en términos del va lo r comercia l tal co mo se encuentra en los prec ios de! me rcad o. Las principales ventaja s son: a) Es pos ibl e com parar los difere ntes productos e insumos de l c ulti vo, aplica nd o una unidad com ún de medida . b) Se pueden tom a r en cuenta diferencias de calidad. c) El in vesti ga do r puede evaluar dife rentes alt e rnativas desde el mism o án gulo que el agri cult o r.La eval ua ción econ ómi ca aS llme, por lo tan to, q ue la elecc ión de a lterna ti vas de siste ma s de CUllivo por parte del agricultor obedece a l obj etivo de ob ten er un ma yo r ingreso líquido , el cu a l es igual a l va lo r de la prod ucció n to ta l del c ulti vo men os s us coStos. La co mparación basada en la renta líquid a es efecti va pa ra ayudar a seleccio nar el más conveniente e ntre difere ntes sistema s de cu lti vo, especialmente en los ca sos sigu ient es : a) Cuan d o ha y competencia entre los cultivos as ociad os; esta co mpetencia se puede mod ifica r med ianle prácticas de manejo en favord e la yuca o del culti vo asociado (v éa se \" Com peten cia e ntre culti vos\"). b) Cu a ndo hay mayo res d iferencias en el nivel de ins um as y por lo tanto en el costo d e la producc ión . el Cua ndo ha y dife ren cias en e l val o r relativo de los cu lti vos de una re gió n y o tra , lo q ue puede modificar la rentabi lida d del si ste ma de prod ucci ón .Por o tra pa rte , el sistema co n la mayor renta neta pu ede ser diferent e del siste ma que a rroj e el má s alt o índice equi va lente de ti erra ( IET) . E II ET difiere de la medi da de la renta líquida principa lment e po rq ue en el cá lcu lo de ese índice cada cu lti vo tie ne ig ual va lo r, y las dife re ncias e n los cos tos de proelucci ó n no se toma n en c ue nta . Por lo ta nto, la d eter min ació n de la p ro ducti vidad bi o lógica debe esta r lógica me nte se parad a ele la definición de renta bil ida d.En favo rde la brevedad , se di sc utirá un aná li si s simpl e de rentabili d ad (ta mb ién conocid o como presup uesto parcia l) d ividi é ndolo e n cuatro etapas princ ipa les: a) es peci fica ció n de sistem as al te rnos: b) cál culo de beneficios brutos; e) de te rmi nac ión de costos de p rod ucció n , y dl cá lcu lo d e la renta o d el benefic io (pa ra una disc usión más co mpleta de estas o perac io nes ve r Pe rrin e t a l. , 1976).El a ná li sis econó mi co e n su forma má s simpl e preten de d eterminar cuál es la al ternativa más rentable. De ac ue rd o con la natu ra leza de los dat os expe rimenta le s. es te a ná lisi s se hace ca si siem pre por unidad de supe rfi cie (hec tárea s). La pri me ra ope ra ción d ebe es pec; . fica r las d ist i nta s a I tern a tivas po ten ci alm e nte util iza bles por el ag ric ult or, incluyendo los difere ntes sislema s d e c ul tivo, y dete rm inand o la s prácti cas culturales que de ntro d e cada si stema produ zca n cambios en los costos d e producció n o en el rendim ie nt o. En el Cuadro 15 se p rese nt a un eje mpl o de es te aná li sis para difere ntes a lternat ivas en el sis tema yuca -frij o l.Enseguida se ca lculan los benefi cios brutos o el ingreso para cada alternativa . La producció n d e cad a c ulti vo dentro de cada sistem a se multiplica por su respectivo precio para obtener el valo r d e la cosecha , y luego los dife re ntes val o res de los cultivo s se sum a n pa ra cal c ular el ingreso bru to total para cada a lterna tiva. El precio es un pará metro c rítico e n estos cá lculos, y debe correspon der a l qu e se pa ga por los product os a la sa lid a de la finca, o sea el precio que el agric ultor recibe por la venta de su co secha. n Cuadro 15. Análisis de ren12bllldad para una hectá rea de terreno con diferentes sistemas de asociaci6n yuca-frijol' . \" , Pr ~~'os 1 valores en f'C'ws colomb lln n~ ~1 cambiO d(. ~Co, 44 l/dólar W La mayor diferencia entre el análisis económico y el análisis biológico está en que el primero deduce det rendimiento monetario bruto los diferentes costos de producción entre los distintos sistemas, mientras que en el segundo sólo se toma en cuenta la producción total. El énfasis está en los insumos o costos que varían entre los tratamientos; por lo tant o , para distinguir entre las diferentes alternativas no se neces ita un presupuest o completo que inclu ya costos fijos tales co mo la tierra y la maquinaria; sólo se hace un presupue sto parcial considerando los costos variables.Los costos que con mayor probabilidad van a cambiar entre diferentes sistemas de cultivo en asociación con yuca son los relacionados con: a) establecimiento del sistema, b) mano de obra, especialmente para desyerbar; e) insumos req ueridos, tales como los fungicidas para una asociación con frijol, o el fertilizante nitrogenado para la asociación con maíz; d) cosecha.En el ejem plo que presenta el Cuadro 15, son notorias las difere ncias en los costos de producción para los sistemas de cultivo, y se deben por un lado al incremento en el uso de insumos con la introducción del frijol y por otro lado al ahorro sustancial en el costo de la mano de obra necesaria para desyerbar, debido al control cultural de malezas establecido por el frijol arbustivo.Los beneficios netOs se calc ulan sustrayendo los cOStOs variables totales de los beneficios brutos.El cuadro se presen tó no solamente para suministrar información con da tos concretos sobre la ren tabilidad de varios si ste mas asociados de yuca con frijol, sino también para proporcion ar al lector un marco de referencia que le permita, con la introducción de cifras propias, analizar una situación de cultivo familiar para él y efectuar el cómputo de la rentabilidad neta. El ejemplo muestra que en las condiciones del CIAT el sistema de cultivo de yuca y frijol en asociación da una ganancia por hectárea má s alta que los sistemas de monocultivo. Se ha demostrado también (Har!, 1975;CIAT, 1978;CIAT 1980) que dentro de una gama de condiciones de producción los sistemas de cultivos asociados con yuca dan una respuesta económica má s favorable que la yu ca en monocultivo:"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ca70f3be3ff37a7f82454f1a78628950","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c07e1db2-de7e-4090-9810-87a99d971cf9/retrieve","id":"-1391944074"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1fa24c99-3f2c-4781-80d7-e0f8a4db57c4","content":"Farroers' pereeptions in 1998. In 1998, fanners' perceptíon8 of the iropact that PPB products would have on local landrace diversity were recorded. Most of the respondents reported that they would increase the area under M-3 or M-9. About 24% ofthe respondents reported that the adoption ofM-3 or M-9 would either reduce the area under landrace Kathe or entírely replace it A similar situation was perceived for landraces Kalopatle (8% of respondents), Maisara (6%), Raksali (3%) and Darmalí (3%). A fllrther 10% ofthe surveyed households al80 mentíoned the possíble partial replacement of I O other landraces and one modern varíety, No households reported that they would entírely replace the landrace Chhornrong Dhan or Ihe modern variety Khumal-4, even though at leas! one household mentioned the complete-replacement of at leasl one ofthe remaining 19 landraces.The 1999 survey confinned mosl of the 1998 perceptions, The area and number of adoplíng households ¡ncreased significantly for M-3 and M-9 (figure 5). The ¡ncreasing adoptíon ofM-3 and M-9 is líkely lo have far greater impact on landrace diversíty in the future than what had already taken place by 1999.In 1999, the area under 12 out of the 19 landraces had decreased, whíle for eight of them, the number of adopting households decreased. Area was more dynamic than the number of households probably because a decision to change the area under a landrace is more common than to entirely drop a landrace or adopt a new one.  .. .. Figure 5 Change in area and household adopters from 1996 to 1999 for M-3 and M-9 in seven villages (see table 1)As an example, the changes in adoption of rice cultivars from 1996-1999 were analyzed for the seven villages shown in figure 3. The decrease in area was statistically significant for eight oflhe 10 most common landraces, i,e., Chhomrong Dhan, K.hate, Kalopatle, and Sinjali (p < .001), Raksalí and Rakse (p < ,O 1), and Darmali and Maisare (p :::; .05). In al! cases, this decrease was largely accounted for by a compensating íncreasc in M-3 and M-9. Ofthese six landraces, four ofthem had becn mentioned by farmers for possible replacement in the 1998 survey.Most sígnificantly, tbree ofthe eight landraces where the number of adoptíng households declined were those that were grown by the most households. Hence, it was mainly Ihe most common landraces Ihat had fewer adopters in 1999 than in 1996, and the less common landraces were the most buffered against change, AH of Ihe five landraces with only a single household in 1996 were also grown by a single household in 1999 (figure 6).\"\"\"\"-0. ... :._-lt-........• _.Household numberNote; Cultivars with significant changes in area have been indicated by asterisks (*.* = p .$ .001; ** = P S .01; *' \"' \" P ｾ ＠ .05).Nonsignificant changes are indicated with 'n,' elose 10 the 1996 ori¡¡in of!he lineo Tho significance of changes in adopting households was not tested.Figure 6. Change in area and household adopten from 1996 to 1999 for higb altitude rice landraces alter ¡be introduction of M-3 and M-9 in seven villages (see table 1)Varietal change is a common and continuous process in most subsíslence farming where farrners allocate different proportions oftheir land lo a cultivar from one season to anolher. Landraces !hat most c10sely match Ihe new varieties, but have a lower yield or other undesirable traits, are replaced first. The landraces wilh Ihe greatest reduction in area and adopting households were Chhornrong Dhan, Kalhe, and Kalopatle. The niches ofthese varieties closely match Ihose ofM-3 and M-9.By 1999, six years after Ihe commencement of the PPB program, Ihe products of PPB occupied about 11% of Ihe total rice area and about 14% of Ihe surveyed households. There is a continuing trend ofincreasíng adoption ofM-3 and M-9 in both area and household number. In Ihe past, in spite of concerted efforts by government extension agencies lo promote modem rice varieties, Iheir adoption was very poor. For example, only 100/.,-11 % of farming households were growing improved rice cultivars in a survey of 1688 households in 11 districts of eastem and westem Nepal nearly three decades after the intervention of improved varieties (Chemjong e! al. 1995;LARC 1995). Targeting specific niches that were not addressed by conventional breeding programs is one ofthe objectives ofPPB. The increasing acceptance ofPPB products in the study villages provides evidence for its success.To conserve landraces, maintaining diversity at the community leve! should be sufficient. Although there was an oyeran 105s in landrace richness in the sample, it was no! severe and M-3 and M-9 added to the diversity. Landraces found to be mos! al risk can be utilized in particípatory plant breeding programs so tha! their useful genes are incorporated in more productive genotypes and hence conserved. In terms ofutility and food security, diversity at the household level may be more important, and the addition of either or both M-3 and M-9 to the varietal portfolios of about 14% of the farmers would contribute to this diversity.An important finding was tha! the adoption of landraces was highly dynamic, wi!h losses and gains at the village level and cornmon changes in areas. Ex situ conservation is simply a \"snapshot\" of a situation in the year in whích the coHechon was marle. PPB, in producing varieties that farmers Iike, contributes to the dynamism. It accelerates cbange by introducing genes and genotypes but may not fundarnentally cbange the age-old process ofvarietal adoption. Indeed, as argued by Witcomhe et al. (1996), PPB in ils collaborative form in farmers' fields is a dynamic form of in situ genetic conservation."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ee5faacfdcad0dcf6af9f955657fa250","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2ace8d2b-b84f-4e9a-8462-14d33a69f83e/retrieve","id":"-80280590"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"059a016f-6e31-4b0c-ba30-18caeb8ca1b5","content":"Fodder shrubs have great potential for increasing the income of smallholder dairy farmers. This paper documents their uptake in central Kenya and the efforts of a range of institutions to promote their adoption. The successful dissemination of new knowledge-intensive practices such as fodder shrubs requires much more than the transfer of knowledge and germplasm; it involves building partnerships with a range of stakeholders, ensuring appropriateness of the practice, assisting local communities to mobilise resources, and ensuring participation of farmers' groups in evaluating the practice. The main challenge of the future is how to make such flows of information and germplasm self-sustaining.Numbers of calliandra trees planted by 45 surveyed farmers who started planting 1992/93 or earlier Table 1 Farmers'expansion of calliandra planting, Embu, Kenya, 1995 Table 2 Planting methods and sources of calliandra planting material, Embu, Kenya, 1995 Table 3 Niches where farmers chose to plant calliandra, Embu, Kenya, 1995 Table 4 Groups establishing fodder shrub nurseries, central highlands of Kenya, 2000 Table 5 Expanding numbers of fodder shrub nurseries, central highlands of Kenya Table A1 Coefficients and prices used in the economic analysis Table A2 Partial budget: Extra costs and benefits of using calliandra as a supplement Table A3 Partial budget: Extra costs and benefits of substituting calliandra for dairy mealThe low quality and quantity of feed resources form the greatest constraint to improving the productivity of livestock in sub-Saharan Africa (Winrock International, 1992). Milk demand and production are concentrated around towns and cities where marketing costs are relatively low. Furthermore, farm sizes are also smaller in these peri-urban areas, exacerbating feed constraints. Fast-growing leguminous trees or shrubs (the terms 'tree' and 'shrub' are used synonymously in this paper) have the potential to alleviate farmers' feed problems. Leguminous trees and shrubs have root nodules that can often fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, making it available to plants.Fodder from these shrubs is rich in protein and, unlike grass species, the shrub leaves maintain their levels of protein even during the dry season. Moreover, farmers can use the shrubs for many other purposes -for hedges along boundaries and around the homestead, for prevention of soil erosion along contours and for fuelwood.Since the early 1990s, the National Agroforestry Research Project (NAFRP), based at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) Regional Research Centre in Embu, has been actively testing Calliandra calothyrsus and other fodder shrubs around Embu. The project is jointly managed by KARI, the Kenya Forestry Research Institute, and the World Agroforestry Centre. By 1997, about 1000 farmers in the areas surrounding on-farm trial sites had planted calliandra but the project lacked the staff and resources required to extend the planting to other areas of the Kenyan highlands. A second project helped facilitate the scaling up of fodder shrub adoption throughout the central Kenya highlands, financed by the Systemwide Livestock Programme (SLP) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The project ran from 1999 to 2001 and involved the World Agroforestry Centre, KARI, and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).The objective of this paper is to describe the development of fodder shrub technologies by researchers and farmers and the process of disseminating fodder shrubs to farmers throughout central Kenya. The paper highlights the importance of participatory approaches in the development of new fodder shrub practices and the key role of establishing effective partnerships to facilitate the scaling up process.The coffee-based land-use system of central Kenya, ranging in altitude from 1300 m to 1800 m, is located on the slopes of Mt Kenya. Rainfall occurs in two seasons, March-June and October-December, and averages 1200 mm to 1500 mm annually. Soils, primarily Nitosols, are deep and of moderate to high fertility.Population density is high, ranging from 450 to 700 persons/km 2 . In the Embu area, farm size averages one to two hectares. Most farmers have title to their land, and thus their tenure is relatively secure. The main crops are coffee, produced for cash, and maize and beans, produced for food. Most farmers also grow Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) for feeding their dairy cows and they crop their fields constantly because of the shortage of land. About 80% have improved dairy cows, 1.7 cows per family, kept in zero-or minimum-grazing systems. Milk yields average about 8 kg/cow/day and production is for both home consumption and sale (Minae and Nyamai, 1988;Murithi, 1998). Dairy goats, which are particularly suited to poorer households, are a rapidly growing enterprise.The main feed source for dairy cows is Napier grass, supplemented during the dry season with crop residues, such as maize and bean stover, banana leaves and pseudostems, and indigenous fodder shrubs. Commercial dairy meal (composed mainly of maize bran, wheat bran, cotton seed cake, soybean meal and fish meal, and nominally 16% crude protein) is purchased by 45% of farmers to supplement their cows' diet (Murithi, 1998). The farmers complain that the price ratio between dairy meal and milk is unfavourable, that they lack cash to buy the meal, and that it is difficult for them to transport it from the market to their homesteads. Many also suspect its nutritive value, in part because of scandals in Kenya concerning fraudulent maize seed and agrochemicals sold to farmers (Franzel et al., 2002).Research on fodder shrubs by ILRI and KARI began in Kenya in the 1980s. The first on-farm trials in the Embu area were initiated by NAFRP scientists in 1991, testing three promising species: calliandra, Sesbania sesban, and Leucaena leucocephala to find out in which niches farmers preferred to plant the shrubs. Because of the limited size of the farms, farmers and researchers focused on integrating the shrub into the existing cropping system rather than planting the tree in purestand fodder banks. In farmer-designed and -managed trials, their choices included:• Planting the shrubs as hedges around the farm compound. Hedges are a common feature of homesteads in central Kenya, and have traditionally been planted to relatively unproductive, non-browse species, to prevent free-ranging livestock from eliminating them. But livestock are now confined and there is great potential for replacing unproductive hedges with fodder hedges (Thijssen et al., 1993).• Planting along contour bunds and terrace edges on sloping land. They thus help conserve soil and, if kept • Intercropped with Napier grass. Results from intercropping experiments show that introducing calliandra into Napier grass has little effect on the latter's yields (Nyaata et al., 1998).• Between upper storey trees. which are commonly planted along boundaries The growth of fodder trees is hardly affected by taller species, such as Grevillea robusta, planted in the same line (NARP, 1993). Pruning management has also been examined. The shrubs are first pruned for fodder nine to 12 months after planting, and pruning is carried out four or five times per year (Roothaert et al., 1998). Leafy biomass yields per year rise as pruning frequency decreases and cutting height increases but adjacent crop yields are negatively affected (ICRAF, 1992). The most productive compromise is probably in the range of four to six prunings per year at 0.6 to 1 m cutting height, which would yield roughly 1.5 kg dry matter (4.5 kg fresh biomass) per tree per year planted at two trees per metre in hedges under farmers' conditions. Thus a farmer would need about 500 shrubs to feed a cow throughout the year at a rate of 2 kg dry matter per day, providing about 0.6 kg crude protein. This amount would provide an effective protein supplement to the basal feed of Napier grass and crop residues for increased milk production. A typical farm of 1.5 ha could easily accommodate 500 shrubs without replacing any existing crops. For example, the farm would have available about 500 m of perimeter and several hundred metres in each of three other niches: along terrace edges or bunds, along internal field and homestead boundaries, and in Napier grass plots. As shrubs are planted at a spacing of 50 cm, only 250 m would be needed to plant 500 of them (Paterson et al., 1998).Research on feeding calliandra has been funded by the Forestry Research Programme of the Department for International Development (DFID), UK. On-farm feeding trials have confirmed the effectiveness of calliandra as both a supplement to the basal diet and as a substitute for dairy meal. One kg of dry calliandra (24% crude protein and digestibility of 60% when fed fresh) has about the same amount of digestible protein as 1 kg dairy meal (16% crude protein and 80% digestibility) (Paterson et al., 1998); each increases milk production by about 0.75 kg (from 10.0 kg to 10.75 kg per day) under farm conditions, but the response is variable, depending on such factors as the health of the cow and the quantity and quality of the basal feed (Paterson et al., 1998). The effects of calliandra and dairy meal were found to be additive, suggesting that the two feeds are nutritionally interchangeable. Unfortunately, data are not available for constructing a response curve to show the effect of varying quantities of calliandra on milk production. Calliandra was also found to increase the milk production of dairy goats (Kiruiro et al., 1998).Calliandra seedlings are raised in nurseries and transplanted following the onset of the rains. Experiments on seedling production have confirmed that the seedlings may be grown 'bare-root', that is, raised in seedbeds rather than by the more expensive, laborious method of raising them in polythene bags (O'Neill et al., 1997). Researchers are also conducting studies on other shrub species, exotic and indigenous, to help farmers further diversify their feed sources. In the late 1990s, two other species were introduced to farmers: Leucaena trichandra, an exotic, and Morus alba (mulberry), a naturalised species (that is, introduced over 100 years ago). Research continues on indigenous species but none has yet been identified that can be pruned intensively. Desmodium intortum, a herbaceous legume, has also been introduced to farmers with some success. Its chief disadvantage is that its biomass is not available during the dry season, when it is needed most.In the mid-1990s, research confirmed that farmers in the Embu area were adopting calliandra, expanding their plantings, and disseminating the practice to their neighbours (Franzel et al., 1999;Franzel et al., 2002). The first survey took place in 1995 and involved 45 randomly selected farmers from a list of those who had planted calliandra before 1993. About two-thirds had been involved in on-farm trials; the others had received planting materials from a development project or other farmers. The 45 farmers were surveyed again in 1998. Overall, the sample farmers had a somewhat higher income than other farmers in the area, and their farm size was about 20% larger.Assessing adoption among farmers who participated in on-farm trials and special projects is sometimes suspect, as extensive contact and incentives may bias the farmers in favour of the technology being assessed. In this particular case, we feel that such concerns are negligible. None of the farmers received any incentives aside from free seed and seedlings. All received some advice about calliandra but, as the findings show, lack of information about calliandra was an important problem (one farmer somehow did not know that his calliandra leaves could be fed to livestock!). Monitoring and contact with research and extension varied; about half of the farmers had completed their trials by 1993 and afterwards had little or no contact with researchers.Farmers' first plantings of calliandra averaged 90 trees, of which 84 survived. The high survival rate, 93% (sd=13%), was consistent with data collected in farmermanaged trials in the same area and included some of the same farmers (NARP, 1993). Four-fifths of the farmers used potted seedlings to establish their first calliandra plantings, 16% established their own nurseries, and 4% direct seeded. First plantings occurred between 1988 and 1993 with over half taking place in 1992 (Figure 1). At the time of the first survey, most of the farmers had less than three years of experience planting calliandra. Over four-fifths of the farmers expanded their calliandra plantings after their first planting (Table 1). Over one-third expanded twice, and 18% three or four times. As farmers expanded, the number of trees planted 1 per expansion increased, although because of the high variability, the differences were not statistically significant. In farmers' fourth and fifth plantings, the average number of trees planted was 54% higher than in their first plantings.By 1995, the average number of trees per farmer had increased from 84 (s.d.=65) in their first planting to 218 (s.d.=225; median=166), an increase of over 2.5 times. The rate of increase slowed somewhat over the next three years; by 1998 farmers averaged 311 trees (Ondieki, 1999). The total number of trees planted by sample farmers increased from about 4000 in 1992 to over 14,000 in 1998 (Figure 1).There were important differences in the method of planting and source of planting material between farmers' successive plantings (Table 2). Whereas the principal method in the first and second plantings was to use potted seedlings obtained from projects, the most important method in the third and subsequent plantings was to establish a nursery. Similarly, farmers' own trees and other sources (e.g., friends and relatives) replaced projects as the principal source of planting material beginning in the third planting. Of the 65 incidents of expansion, 33 involved planting seeds or seedlings obtained from projects, and 32, seeds or seedlings obtained from one's own farm or from other persons. By mid-1995, 36% of the farmers had established calliandra nurseries. Three-quarters of these used seed from their own trees.The niches where farmers planted calliandra were sometimes determined by themselves and sometimes by researchers and farmers, as when an on-farm trial concerned a particular niche. Overall, the most common niches were in lines on contours, intercropped with food crops or coffee, and on homestead boundaries. When farmers chose the niches for planting, their most common choices were homestead boundaries, external boundaries, and in lines on contours (Table 3). Only two farmers planted calliandra in pure-stand fodder banks, reflecting their reluctance to allocate even small plots to calliandra.There did not appear to be much association between uptake of calliandra and selected farm and household characteristics, but the assessment was constrained by the small size of the sample. Defining an adopter as a farmer who had expanded at least once and had more than 100 trees, 73% of the sample could be termed adopters. No association was found between adoption and farm size, wealth, size of farm adjacent to the homestead, or number of cows. There was a tendency for adoption to be associated with age; six of seven farmers under 30 adopted whereas only nine of 15 over 55 did so. The dairy enterprise's rank in importance among other enterprises was significantly associated with adoption at the p<0.10 level (Chi square test); the higher the rank of dairy, the more likely farmers were to adopt.Pruning methods were quite variable. The most common method was to cut periodically when the calliandra reached a height of about 1.0 to 1.4 m (before it becomes too difficult to reach and shades neighbouring crops too much), reducing the height to about 0.5 to 1 m. About 80% used pruning shears, which they owned already for use on their coffee and tea. A machete was used by 13%, who claimed that the stem was too thick to use shears. Primarily in order to save time 9% broke branches off by hand. Pruning shears are recommended because they make a cleaner cut, thus promoting regrowth and preventing disease and damage to the tree.    * Percentages do not sum to 100 because farmers often plant in more than one niche. In some of the on-farm trials, farmers were asked to plant in a particular nicheFarmers fed calliandra to a wide range of animals, 91% to dairy cows, 47% to goats, and 42% to heifers. Between 5% and 20% fed to each of the following: bulls, sheep, rabbits, calves and poultry, while 69% fed dry cows as well as lactating ones. This was often because they fed from the same trough and it was impractical to separate their rations. Nearly all farmers chopped calliandra before feeding, as recommended, as opposed to giving the branches to the cows to strip off the leaves. Over 90% mixed calliandra with Napier grass when feeding, about 44% also fed calliandra separately at times. Like dairy meal, calliandra is often fed during milking to help keep the cow still.Only one farmer claimed to have fed calliandra to his cows throughout the year. On average, farmers fed it to their cows about one-third of the time, because the quantities they had were not sufficient for the whole year and shrub growth slows during the dry season. Only 12% reduced cutting during the wet season in order to have increased supplies during the dry season because failing to cut calliandra would increase its competition with crops. Three-quarters of the farmers fed their animals within an hour of cutting, in line with the recommendation to feed only fresh leaves (Roothaert et al., 1998). This recommendation has since been changed; recent research shows that calliandra can be fed either fresh or dried (Tuwei, in press).Dairy meal was fed to their cows by 84% of farmers, though many said that, because of cash shortages, they did not feed continuously. Most (62%) used calliandra as a supplement to dairy meal, that is, they did not reduce their use of dairy meal when they fed calliandra. On the other hand, 27% used calliandra as a complete substitute for dairy meal and 10% as a partial substitute. Calliandra was claimed to increase milk production by 88% with 89% claiming their cows found it highly palatable.Some farmers said they obtained other benefits from calliandra than increased milk production. In response to an open question, 24% said that fuelwood production was a benefit, 13% cited soil conservation, and 7% each cited calliandra's beautiful appearance, money saved by not having to buy dairy meal, and a creamier milk texture (researchers have found that calliandra increases the butterfat content of milk). The only negative aspects cited were scales (18%), a pest that is more common during the dry season, and that calliandra reduces the yield of adjacent crops (7%).The farmers varied considerably in the way they used the seed produced by their trees. Seed was harvested by 40%; those that did not do this cited a lack of interest or knowledge about propagation techniques. One-third of the farmers gave seed to others; each gave to an average of 13 other farmers (this figure is skewed upwards because two farmers gave seeds to 110 farmers -the median number of persons given seed was four). Two farmers sold seed or seedlings to other farmers. Two-thirds had left some trees to seed at the time they were interviewed, indicating their strong interest in expanding calliandra production or in distributing seed.The NAFRP helped farmers' groups in the Embu area set up 14 calliandra nurseries in 1997, 26 in 1998, and 12 in 1999. But extension work was outside the project mandate; therefore, the new project financed by SLP recruited a dissemination specialist in 1999 to scale up the use of fodder shrubs in central Kenya (ILRI, 2000). The scaling-up task was not exclusively to transfer knowledge of fodder shrub technologies and seed to new areas but, equally important and more timeconsuming, (1) to build partnerships with a range of stakeholders in new areas, (2) to assess whether feed shortage was a felt problem among farmers, and consequently gauge their interest in planting fodder shrubs and determine whether the shrubs were appropriate to their environment, (3) to assist farmers' groups and communities to effectively mobilise local and external resources for establishing calliandra nurseries, and (4) to ensure the effective participation of farmers' groups and stakeholders in testing, disseminating, monitoring and evaluating the practice. These tasks were considered vital to ensuring that scaling up would be sustainable once the project was implemented (Wambugu et al., 2001). Initially, project staff reviewed secondary information and results of farmer surveys to assess appropriate areas for fodder shrubs. Potential collaborating organisations across seven districts (a district comprises roughly 2000 to 4000 km 2 and 200,000 to 500,000 people) were identified, including government departments, NGOs, churches, and community-based organisations. Fortunately, most were already using participatory research and development methods and confirmed that farmers they worked with had critical problems feeding their dairy cows and were interested in planting fodder shrubs. Farmers in a few areas, such as those focusing on irrigated vegetable production, were not interested in planting fodder trees.Project activities extended across seven districts but were focused in clusters within each district to reduce costs and to facilitate monitoring and the exchange of information among groups. The project dissemination specialist identified interested farmers' groups through Ministry of Agriculture extension agents and other collaborators. Most of the groups were already in existence before the project, promoting such activities as keeping dairy goats, handicrafts, domestic water tanks, soil conservation, organic farming or shrub nurseries. Most (76%) of the groups included both men and women; 15% were women's groups and 9% were men's groups (Table 4). Group size ranged from four  Meetings were held with the groups to discuss the problems they had in feeding their cows and to explain the costs, benefits and risks of planting fodder shrubs. Farmer visits were arranged to see farmers in the Embu area who had already had several years of experience in growing and feeding calliandra to their dairy cows and goats. Most of the farmers' groups paid for their own transportation and subsistence costs on these visits, collecting funds from members and hiring local buses or using public transportation. Seeing and discussing calliandra with experienced farmers was an effective means to promote calliandra planting and to provide a forum for farmers to learn about its growth, management and use. The tours involved 420 farmers from 25 groups and 20 extension staff.For areas where farmers were interested in fodder trees, project staff and partners discussed the terms of collaboration and each party's role was made explicit: SLP staff would initially provide the training and seed but after two to three years the partner organisation would take over these functions. Joint work plans were then developed, which clearly indicated a schedule of training events and follow-up activities. Needs assessments were undertaken to determine farmers' knowledge and skills and to ensure that training would build on farmers' indigenous knowledge. Once farmers were trained to establish nurseries, they, in turn, trained their neighbours.Between 1999 and 2000, the project dissemination specialist assisted staff of the following organisations to help farmers establish nurseries: the provincial administration in two provinces, three departments of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, one international NGO, four local NGOs, the extension service of a private company, two church extension services, 10 community-based organisations and 150 farmers' groups. Staff also helped schools and churches establish 10 nurseries on their compounds to serve as demonstrations.Nurseries had to be located close to a permanent water source; this condition limited the number of nurseries and the spread of the practice. Group members divided the labour among themselves and shared the seedlings produced. Most groups preferred to grow their seedlings using the 'bare-root' method rather than in polythene bags. The former have lower survival rates but are much less expensive to produce, as bags are expensive and filling them with soil is laborious. So long as farmers had access to water, they were able to establish nurseries successfully. They also needed some training, especially with establishing the nurseries and with harvesting. (In the following year, most of the training was provided by the previous year's trainees.) In a survey of 75 group nurseries during the first year of project activities, 1999, 58 (77%) were rated as 'good' or 'fair', indicating the groups' ability to produce high-quality seedlings.By the end of 2000, the 150 groups had developed 250 nurseries involving over 2600 farmers (Table 5). On average, farmers each transplanted about 245 calliandra seedlings, of which about 156 (64%) survived. Drought was the main cause of the high mortality. Rainfall was less than normal for three consecutive seasons: the short rains of 1999 and the long and short rains of 2000.Selected group members were trained in how to produce and distribute seeds. Calliandra begins producing seed in its second year but unfortunately they produce relatively little and collecting it is laborious. Some farmers and private nurseries have begun selling calliandra seed and seedlings, and the numbers doing so are likely to increase as production and demand for the shrubs increases.The SLP project also started disseminating other fodder legumes; farmers in 80 groups have planted L. trichandra, 70 groups have planted mulberry, and 13 groups have planted Desmodium intortum. Farmers value diversification because it reduces the risk of pest and disease attack and improves feed quality. In addition, the project's dissemination approach has been adopted by other partners, who are disseminating improved mangoes, climbing beans, and new maize and potato varieties to the same farmers' groups.Informal monitoring takes place in which farmers and extension staff provide feedback to researchers on their progress and problems. In one case, feedback on a farmer innovation has resulted in a change in extension recommendations. Farmers in Kandara Division, Maragua District, conducted experiments on soaking calliandra seeds before planting and found that seeds soaked for 48 to 60 hours had higher germination rates than those soaked for the recommended 24 hours. Researchers at KARI-Embu confirmed the farmers' findings and extension staff now recommend the longer soaking time.Severe drought and poor distribution of rainfall during 1999 and 2000 increased the mortality of seedlings in the nurseries and shrubs in the field. Lack of seed was also a critical constraint limiting expansion, especially in areas where fodder shrubs are not found. Infestation by crickets, hoppers and aphids has also led to a significant loss of seedlings. These pests are particularly damaging during dry periods. The high turnover among staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, poor morale, and the lack of resources such as transportation have also limited success. The SLP project occasionally assisted ministry staff with transportation and subsistence allowances, which greatly increased  The adoption and dissemination of fodder shrubs in central Kenya staff motivation. Finally, the poor performance of the milk market in many areas has had a negative influence on adoption. Following the collapse of the main milk marketing system in Kenya in the late 1990s, the private sector has been slow to fill the gap and many farmers currently have problems marketing their milk.In 2001, farmers in central Kenya who planted about 500 calliandra shrubs earned an additional $US98-124 per year from their dairy enterprises, beginning in the second year after planting (Appendix 1). The benefits were the result of either using fodder shrubs to increase their milk production or in savings from reducing their purchases of dairy meal. The average household has about 1.7 cows per farm, thus the potential increase in earnings per household is around US$189, an increase of approximately 10% in household income.Fodder trees appear to be appropriate for smallholder dairy farmers throughout the highlands of eastern Africa -calliandra, for example, can grow at altitudes between sea level and 1900 m, requires only 1000 mm rainfall, can withstand dry seasons up to four months long, and is suitable for cut-and-carry feeding systems or for grazing systems (Roothaert et al., 1998). It is also suitable for dairy goat production, which is growing rapidly in Kenya. The potential impact of fodder trees thus appears to be very large. If all 625,000 smallholder dairy farmers were to adopt calliandra or similar fodder shrub species, the benefits would amount to about US$118 million per year.Fodder trees also have important potential in the large-scale dairy sector, which supplies 30% of Kenya's milk. Moreover, fodder trees are being planted by dairy farmers at numerous other sites in east and southern Africa. Over 500 farmers in Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe have adopted fodder trees. They are also being planted in Rwanda, Ethiopia, Malawi and Zambia. Results are promising.Several factors have contributed to the achievements thus far:• The demand among farmers for fodder shrubs was high, mainly because the shrubs save cash, the farmers' scarcest resource, and require only small amounts of land and labour, which can be sourced from within the household.• The project area is noted for the dynamism of its farmers, and access to markets is relatively easy, enhancing the adoption of new practices.• Participatory methods were used in designing the fodder shrub technology. Initial on-farm trials were farmer-designed and -managed, permitting farmers to plant the trees in niches of their choice and to manage them as they saw fit.• Because the projects promoting fodder trees worked through partner organisations instead of directly with far mers, they were able to build on local organisational skills and knowledge and reach far more farmers than would otherwise have been possible.• Dissemination through farmers' groups instead of individual farmers economises on scarce training skills and resources. In addition, working with groups ensures greater farmer-to-farmer dissemination and exchange of information.-The strong partnership between researchers, extensionists and farmers facilitated the flow of information among the three. -promoting private-sector seed production and marketing -facilitating private institutions, such as dairy marketing firms and agricultural stockists to promote fodder shrubs -deter mining the role of farmer-to-far mer dissemination in spreading the practice and assessing ways that we can promote it -assisting farmers' groups to mobilie their own resources and obtain information on improved practices from sources outside their villages Partial budgets were drawn up to show the effects of using fodder shrubs on farmers' net income under two scenarios: using calliandra (1) as a supplement to the normal diet and (2) as a substitute for purchased dairy meal. The base analysis assumes a farm with 500 trees and one zero-grazed dairy cow, and covers a five-year period. The benefits included in the analysis are the effect of calliandra on milk production (in the supplementation case) and the cash saved by not purchasing dairy meal and interest on cash freed up (in the substitution case). Costs are those of the seedlings and labour for planting, cutting and feeding calliandra in 2001. Coefficients, prices, and sources of data used in the economic analysis are shown in Table A1. Partial budgets for calliandra as a supplement to farmers' basal feed and as a substitute for dairy meal are shown in Tables A2 and A3. Tree establishment costs (including the costs of seedlings and planting) are modest, US$2.31/500 trees. Beginning in the second year, harvesting and feeding 2 kg dry calliandra per day as a supplement throughout the lactation period increases milk production by about 450 kg/yr, an increase of about 10% over base milk yields. Incremental benefits per year after the first year are Table A1 Coefficients and prices used in the economic analysis over 12 times higher than incremental costs. The net present value (NPV) assuming a 20% discount rate is US$206.50. Net benefits per year after the first year are $96.01.In the partial budget assessing calliandra as a substitute for dairy meal, establishment, cutting and feeding costs are the same as in the preceding analysis. By feeding calliandra, the farmer saves the money he would have spent buying and transporting 730 kg dairy meal during the year. Incremental benefits per year after the first year are over 14 times higher than incremental costs. Milk production does not increase but net benefits are slightly higher than in the supplementation case. The NPV assuming a 20% discount rate is $262.27. The net benefits per cow per year after year 1 are $123.73. Therefore, using calliandra increases farmers' annual income by about $96 to $124 per cow per year after the first year, depending on whether the farmer is supplementing or substituting. As the average farmer owns 1.7 cows, calliandra has the potential to increase a farmer's income by around $163 to $211 per year, representing an increase of about 10% in total household income (Murithi, 1998).The partial budget was also calculated for the years 1996-8 and net benefits after year 1 ranged from $94 APPENDIX 1 ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF FODDER SHRUB PRODUCTION to $151, depending on the year and whether the farmer was assumed to be supplementing or substituting (Franzel et al., 2002).The analyses confirm that the costs of establishing, maintaining, and feeding calliandra are low. In both the substitute and supplement scenarios, farmers recover their costs very quickly, in the second year after planting. In order to break even, a farmer using calliandra as a supplement needs to obtain only 0.08 kg of milk from 1.0 kg of calliandra (dry), rather than the 0.75 kg milk per kg (dry) of calliandra obtained in on-farm trials and assumed in the analysis.Several intangible or otherwise difficult to measure benefits and costs have been omitted from this analysis. Calliandra provides benefits to some farmers as firewood, in erosion control, as a boundary marker, a fence and as an ornamental. It also increases the butterfat content of milk, giving it a richer taste and creamier texture. When used as a supplement, calliandra may improve animal health and fertility and reduce the calving interval. Finally, several farmers noted that calliandra had important benefits relative to dairy meal: it was available on the farm, cash was not needed to obtain it, and its nutritional content was more reliable than that of dairy meal. These views support the thesis that farmers prefer enterprises and practices that do not rely on uncertain governmental or market mechanisms (Haugerud, 1984).The main costs not assessed are the opportunity cost of the land occupied by the trees and the effect of reducing yields of adjacent crops. However, these are likely to be relatively low, especially when calliandra replaces or is added to an existing hedge or bund, is pruned frequently, or when calliandra hedges border on homesteads, roads, paths or external boundaries.Sensitivity analysis was conducted on the 1996-8 results to determine how changes in key parameters would affect the results (Franzel et al., 2002). A 30% reduction in the milk price would reduce the NPV by 33%. However, using calliandra would still be profitable. In the substitute scenario, changing the milk price would not affect the profitability of calliandra relative to dairy meal. A change in the price of dairy meal does not affect the use of calliandra as a supplement. However, in the substitution scenario, a 30% increase in dairy meal price raises the NPV by 32%. A reduction of price by 30% reduces the NPV by 32%. A higher discount rate, 30% instead of 20%, would reduce the NPVs of calliandra in both scenarios by 23%. A 30% increase in labour costs, however, would have little effect, reducing NPVs by less than 5%. If one assumes that 1 kg dairy meal or 1 kg dry calliandra gives 0.5 kg milk instead of 0.75 kg milk, the NPV in the supplement scenario decreases by 37%. Overall, the sensitivity analysis suggests that the net benefits of using calliandra as a supplement or as a substitute are very stable. Despite the range of negative situations tested, net present values and net benefits remain positive.  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d75933d0e3df33743718dda1b914fd48","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cb90a5df-3268-4ff8-9407-c152bedebbd6/retrieve","id":"-1858897231"},"keywords":["Plant genetic resources","Multilateral System","interdependence","climate change"],"sieverID":"be5ec265-ca27-4267-bcf4-3b8d8f94239f","content":"One of the main considerations underlying the establishment of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and its Multilateral System of Access and Benefit Sharing is the recognition of countries' high interdependence on the genetic resources of the crops and forages which they depend upon for their food security. A continued appreciation of how countries have benefited from facilitated exchange of germplasm in the past and are likely to continue doing so in the future is needed, in order to move forward the implementation of the Multilateral System and creating a truly global pool of genetic resources for countries' agricultural development and adaptation to climate change. Using Costa Rica as a case and rice and bean as key crops, the paper presents a picture of the dynamics of their genetic resources, both inside and outside of the country, over past years and into the future. It illustrates the extent to which Costa Rica is dependent upon germplasm from other countries for its food security, and how, in a complementary manner, other countries rely upon germplasm from Costa Rica. It is hoped that the information presented here may encourage and facilitate the implementation of the International Treaty and its Multilateral System in the country.Francisco Estrada Garro, Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza, (CATIE), 7170 Cartago, Turrialba 30501, Costa Rica. Email: festrada@catie.ac.cr Gea Galluzzi, Bioversity International, Office for the Americas, km 17 Recta Cali Palmira, Cali, Colombia. Email: geagalluzzi@gmail.com Flor Yvette Elizondo Porras, Ministerio de Agricultura de Costa Rica, Sabana Sur, Antiguo Edificio La Salle, San José Costa Rica. Email: fielizondo@gmail.comFrom the origins of agriculture until around the 1980s, genetic resources (including those for food and agriculture) were largely considered to be a common heritage of mankind, and as such no limitations or formal rules were imposed on their exchange and use, regardless of how far from their area of origin these events took place. However, the increasing application of intellectual property rights, even in the biological arena, gradually led to an international scenario in which diversity-rich countries, mostly in the developing world, felt 'robbed' of the benefits deriving from the commercial exploitation of resources from their territory, and thus began demanding the abolition of the principle of free access to genetic resources. After years of negotiations, their demand was recognized in 1992 in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which establishes the sovereignty of countries over the natural and genetic resources found within their borders, defining the conditions and procedures required to obtain access to these (i.e. access and benefit-sharing rules).In 1993, the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) requested the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (established in the early 1980s) to host intergovernmental negotiations for addressing issues that were not covered by the CBD, or that did not fit into the framework established by the CBD. Among these issues was the status of ex situ collections, the identification of a univocal origin/provider for crop genetic resources (which, in contrast to natural species, tend to be the result of generations of selection by farming communities in different environments), and farmers' rights. After seven years, these negotiations led to the development of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). The ITPGRFA establishes a multilateral system of access and benefit sharing (from here on, the MLS), through which countries create an international pool of PGRFA for sixty-four priority crops and forages of global importance, to be used for research, training and breeding purposes. In exchange for putting their own PGRFA in the pool, countries obtain access to PGRFA of all other countries, along with those in the collections held by international organizations that have signed agreements with the Governing Body of the ITPGRFA. The ITPGRFA sets out mandatory benefit-sharing requirements: when recipients commercialize new PGRFA products that incorporate material from the MLS, and don't allow others to use those products for research and breeding, they must pay 1.1% of gross sales to an international benefit-sharing fund created under the framework of the ITPGRFA. This fund is used to support research and capacity building in developing countries, in projects selected through a competitive bidding scheme.The fact that countries are highly interdependent on the genetic resources of food security crops and forages was the main reason for creating the multilateral system. An appreciation of the extent to which any party to the ITPGRFA depends on resources from other countries for its agricultural development is an important element to fully understand why participation in the multilateral system is so relevant. The data presented in this working paper should contribute to increasing awareness among stakeholders about the extent to which Costa Rica is dependent upon germplasm from other countries for its food security, and how, in a complementary manner, other countries rely upon germplasm from Costa Rica. Using rice and bean as exemplary crops (one introduced and one native), the analyses include a retrospective element, tracing back their history of domestication or introduction in Costa Rica and their subsequent adoption/diffusion; a present-day snapshot of important achievements based on international PGRFA exchanges; and an investigation of future potential germplasm needs that are required to respond to the likely impacts of climate change on the country's production of these species. The paper begins with a general overview of Costa Rica's agricultural system. Thereafter, in-depth analyses present a picture of the dynamics of rice and bean genetic resources, both inside and outside of the country, over past years and into the future.The research presented here was supported by the Genetic Resources Policy Initiative (GRPI2), a multi-country project aimed at strengthening capacities for the implementation of the ITPGRFA and its multilateral system in eight countries. Bioversity International provided international coordination and research support for the project. In Costa Rica, the project was led by the Comisión Nacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos (CONAREFI), with the participation of the Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE), and the Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería. 1 The data presented here was collected as part of the project component 'Mapping and measuring germplasm interdependence and flows: research on the dynamics of the global crop commons'.Costa Rica is a stable long-standing democracy and middle-income country, which has developed far faster than its neighbours in Central America, and in which agriculture contributes to around 8% of the GDP. The crops grown are white maize, rice, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, cassava and onions; together with Panama, Costa Rica has a relatively high degree of dependence on non-native crops compared to other Central American countries, due to a more consistent dietary shift towards rice, wheat, soybean, and plantain (Flores Palacios 1998).In contrast to its steadily improving environmental and biodiversity management, and high levels of public spending on health and education, one-fifth of its population remain poor; this is particularly true in rural areas, where policy support to smallholder farmers, who produce almost 90% of the country's staples, has been steadily declining. From the 1980s up until 2008, national policies geared towards liberalization and privatization favoured exportoriented production models centred on introduced cash crops such as banana, pineapple and coffee; this trend greatly weakened the role of public agricultural research and extension services, which were traditionally dedicated to maintaining and improving the production of the country's basic food crops (The New Agriculturalist 2015). As a result, as of the mid 2000s, only 20% of white maize and 23% of common beans consumed in Costa Rica were produced nationally (yellow maize was entirely imported), and international collaborations and germplasm exchanges that had contributed to the improvement of these and other basic crops in the country were greatly reduced. Following the price crisis of 2007-2008, it became evident that the country's increasing dependence on imports had a negative effect on its food security, encouraging the government and external agencies such as FAO to launch initiatives (many of them of a regional nature) to boost the domestic production of basic grains (FAO 2013). These initiatives fostered a renewed involvement of national research and development institutions in research and extension, and contributed to strengthening partnerships and participatory approaches around genetic resources, from breeding and variety selection to seed production and dissemination.Cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) is grown worldwide and is one of the most important cereals for human nutrition; it was domesticated thousands of years ago in Asia, from Oryza rufipogon, a wild relative that is still found today. In-depth genetic analyses have revealed that the japonica subspecies of rice was first domesticated from a specific population of O. rufipogon around the middle area of the Pearl River in southern China, and that the indica subspecies was subsequently developed from crosses between japonica and local wild rice as the initial cultivars spread into southern and south-eastern Asia (Huang et al. 2012). Africa is home to a different species of domesticated rice, Oryza glaberrima, whose distribution and use remained restricted mostly to West African countries. Rice seeds of the japonica variety were introduced into Central and South America by European traders (mostly Spanish) during the sixteenth and up until the eighteenth centuries. The exact routes of its introduction are not clear but ports in Panama or Mexico where European ships arrived with goods from the East were most likely important entry points. Further exchanges of material occurred among countries in Central, South, and North America (Lu and Chang 1980). There have also been findings of the African cultigen in Central America, most likely as a result of introduction during the time of the transatlantic slave trade (Bertin et al. 1971). The earliest reports of rice cultivation in Costa Rica are from Matina, a hilly area close to the Atlantic coast (in 1737), and Esparza, on the Pacific side of the country (in 1788). While early rice cultivation was restricted to the highlands where it was managed under slash and burn practices, around the 1960s it was introduced to the lowlands together with 'green revolution' techniques that made flooded cultivation possible (Cabezas Bolaños and Espinoza Esquivel 2000).Today, rice and beans are the main ingredients of the nation's flagship dish, 'el Gallo pinto', in which they are cooked together (black-seeded beans are used). Over the past 40 years, domestic rice consumption has grown (FAOSTAT), reaching a present-day average per capita consumption of around 52 kg per year (corresponding to roughly 22% of the calories ingested), among the highest in the region together with Panama. The policy decision made around 2007 to reverse or attenuate the trend towards export-based cash crop production and invest more in domestic production of basic grains can be detected in the recent rice production trends in Costa Rica; however, the country still needs to import consistent shares of the rice consumed by the population (see figure 1). Today, two separate genepools of domesticated common bean exist: one in Mesoamerica (distributed from Mexico through Central America and into Venezuela and Colombia); and one in the Andes (from southern Ecuador to northern Argentina). Their differences have been studied at morphological (Delgado Salinas et al. 1988;Singh et al. 1991), biochemical (Gepts et al. 1986;Koenig and Gepts 1989), and molecular (Velasquez and Gepts 1994;Papa and Gepts 2003;Kwak and Gepts 2009) levels, leading to the prevalent hypothesis of two independent domestication events, one in each hemisphere. However, the possibility of a single domestication event in Mesoamerica recently regained support (Bitocchi et al. 2012), based on molecular marker analyses of wild populations. Singh et al. (Singh et al. 1991) classified the Mesoamerican cultivars into three raceslowland race Mesoamerica and highland races Durango and Jalisco. The Mesoamerican race, represented by the black, navy and small-red market classes, occupy the lowlands of Latin America from Mexico to northern Colombia and Venezuela.Soon after their domestication, thanks to trade and seed exchanges among indigenous populations, Mesoamerican beans rapidly spread into Central and South America. Four domesticated species grow in Costa Rica (P. vulgaris, P. lunatus, P. coccineus, P. dumosus), and over the past 20 years, 22 wild bean populations have been identified in the country (Debouck et al. 1989;Araya et al. 2001;González et al. 2004). In some areas, such as the Cartago province, wild Phaseolus species grow alongside commercial plantations of domesticated P. vulgaris; notwithstanding the predominantly inbreeding nature of the species, evidence of geneflow has been found (González et al. 2004).Beans are used in a variety of preparations and have traditionally constituted an important source of protein. National annual consumption of beans was recently estimated to be around 40,000 tonnes (Consejo Nacional de Producción 2015), providing between 10% and 15% of the recommended protein intake per person per day, with higher shares among women (Rodríguez-Castillo and Ferbández-Rojas 2003). However, the latest national food consumption survey of 2001 reported a decline in bean consumption, particularly in urban areas, compared to the previous decade (from 53 to 46 g/person/day) (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos 2001). Socio-economic changes and the provision of policy support to cash crops for export markets have affected domestic production and consumption of this native crop: before 1994, there were approximately 21,500 national producers, but by 2004, this number had already gone down to 7,000 with a consequent increase in imports, particularly from Honduras and Nicaragua (red beans), and China (both red and black varieties)(Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería 2008). Costa Rican rice and bean research institutions have long been collaborating with national and international organizations outside the country in joint research efforts that have involved germplasm exchanges. This is reflected both in the presence of rice and bean germplasm of Costa Rican origin in international genebanks, and in the diversity of materials from foreign countries that have been introduced into the country through these genebanks. Crop-based regional networks have also been instrumental in advancing Costa Rica's crop-based research and development agenda, among others by allowing far-reaching exchanges of germplasm that have contributed to the generation of new, successful varieties. Some details on these mechanisms, for rice and beans, are given in the following sections.     and United States (G5694) parents on the other; the Brunca variety is the result of a cross between a landrace from Mexico (G4495) and a landrace from Guatemala (G5711); Huetar incorporates a Mexican landrace (G4837) crossed with an improved variety; Corobici comes from a Colombian (G4525) and a Mexican (G4495) parent; and Guaymi derives from a cross between a Guatemalan landrace (G20986) and an improved line developed in CIAT (XAN 176) (Genesys 2014). The varieties developed through the CRSP are mostly based on (repeated) crosses among improved lines or previously released varieties, and the identification of the original genetic resources involved was not possible. Although country of origin information is thus unavailable, an analysis of the genealogy of one of the latest and most successful varieties still on the market, Cabecar, highlights the importance of international collaboration for national advances in bean improvement: the variety was originally developed in Zamorano and released in Honduras under the name of Amadeus 77 (in 1995). It is based on a cross between Tío Canela 75 x DICTA 105. Tío Canela 75 was obtained through another Zamorano-led cross (which also originated from a variety released in Honduras), whereas DICTA 105 derives from APN 102 x APN 83, a cross that was obtained in CIAT and further developed by DICTA Honduras. Thanks to PITTA-Frijol, Amadeus 77 was evaluated and adapted to Costa Rican conditions between 1999 and 2003, both at experimental stations and in farmers' fields, and then released as Cabecar in 2006 (Rosas et al. 2004). Cabecar is used today in almost 90% of the bean-growing areas of Costa Rica. It is a small, red-grained variety, with good yields (over two tonnes/hectare) and adaptation to a broad range of environmental conditions and soils, including those with low fertility; it also carries resistance to many diseases, such as golden yellow mosaic virus, anthracnose and web blight (Hernández and Elizondo 2006).The importance of continued exchanges of germplasm for research is clear when we consider the likely impact of climate change on rice and bean production in Costa Rica. Suitable areas for rice cultivation in Costa Rica are those with temperatures between 20 and 33 degrees, and evenly distributed precipitation of around ten mm/day (Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería); beans grow best in areas with an annual mean temperature below 26 degrees, and annual precipitation between four and ten mm/day (Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería). Since 1995, the Costa Rican National Meteorological Institute has been looking into the expected impacts of a changing climate on rice in the Guanacaste province, and on beans in the Alajuela area. These studies confirm that the decrease in rainfall and the increases in temperature are likely to negatively affect the productivity of both crops, as well as shifting their cropping seasons and/or determining an aggravation of biotic stresses. According to a study by the Comisión Económica para América Latina (CEPAL), Costa Rica would be the Figure 7. Analogue sites for beans, using the bean-growing locality Perez Zeledón as a reference (11°01'59\"N, 84°42'51\"O). Only sites with a similarity greater than 60% were retained. Redder areas denote greater similarity (i.e. have a lower probability of being dissimilar).The 'future climate' areas identified are not necessarily traditional rice-or bean-growing areas.However, if sites can be found in these areas where beans and rice are thriving, obtaining rice or bean germplasm from those sites may be a strategy for introducing materials with adaptive potential into Costa Rican breeding programmes. By overlaying geo-referenced observation data related to rice and common bean accessions deposited in international collections (purple dots on the maps below), it was possible to locate materials that were originally collected in 'future climate' areas. Since these accessions are included in the multilateral system, they are available under a facilitated access regime that makes them easy to obtain by interested Costa Rican breeders. Figures 8 and 9 give some examples of the rice and bean accessions that were collected from these analogue sites, and which are available through the MLS.  While some of the 'future climate' areas detected here appear to have been covered by collection missions, resulting in a significant amount of materials deposited in international genebanks and hence in the MLS, few rice and bean samples have been collected from other analogue sites. Bean accessions from Africa and Asia are much fewer than from Latin America, while rice accessions are fewer in Latin America compared to other continents;inter-continent sampling also differs across analogue sites. This is to a large extent to be expected, since collection missions focus on regions of origin and/or diversification of the crops of interest, where diversity is expected to be highest; furthermore, the two crops are not necessarily part of the agricultural systems of all of the analogue sites. However, it may also be that additional genetic resources exist in 'future climate' areas where the crops are grown, but are stored in national genebanks or other collections within countries rather than in international institutes; these countries may not be parties to the  This overview of the research and development dynamics of rice and beans in Costa Rica provides a picture of the extent to which the country has depended on external inputs of germplasm for improving both a native (bean) and an introduced (rice) crop. Most of the exchanges described here took place either when the circulation of PGRs was not such a politically charged issue as it is today, or through the operation of international institutions which, even after the inception of the CBD and its more restrictive bilateral rules for accessing and exchanging germplasm, have continued to operate under a regime of facilitated access and free distribution. As the sharing of germplasm across borders becomes more controversial, and climate change exacerbates the challenges faced by plant breeders, clear rules and procedures capable of maintaining and enhancing international exchanges of PGRFA are needed, in order to allow for continuing development of more resilient and sustainable agricultural and food systems. The complex international scenario surrounding access and benefit sharing, and uncertainties on how to deal with genetic resources at national level, with the CBD-inspired bilateral rules and the ITPGRFA's multilateral approach, have caused some disengagement among stakeholders who traditionally participated in the exchanges of material and information. However, if the MLS is implemented properly, the country's obligations and those of its research partners would be clearly defined, allowing for the continuation and enhancement of Costa Rica's participation in collaborative crop improvement efforts like those presented here. In this direction, the work of the dedicated team of researchers and policymakers in advancing the implementation of the ITPGRFA in Costa Rica within and beyond the GRPI2 project is crucial, and it is hoped that the results and reflections presented here may be of use within such process."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dc2f00ae84b9136f73420aa17a5c1bae","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/f69108f7-7f06-4c50-8e01-ad9aacebc5da/content","id":"-1743430654"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3bd65399-d511-4778-8a8f-3adf0c3a5d4d","content":"El método de espectroscopia de infrarrojo cercano se utiliza ampliamente para la determinación de ciertos compuestos químicos. Actualmente es una herramienta de soporte para los programas de mejoramiento, que permite la determinación de compuestos como proteína, almidón, aceite, humedad y cenizas, entre otros. Un total de 554 muestras pertenecientes a 24 razas de maíz (Zea mays L.) pigmentado fueron utilizadas en el desarrollo y validación de modelos matemáticos para la estimación del contenido de antocianinas por espectroscopía de infrarrojo cercano (NIR), a través de la espectroscopía de UV-Vis como método de referencia. Se determinó el perfil de antocianinas mediante cromatografía líquida de alta resolución (HPLC). Los más altos contenidos de antocianinas se encontraron en muestras de grano de maíz C11-IXT de Tlaxcala, México, con hasta 1989.9 μg Pel g -1 PS. Los mayores porcentajes de cianidina 3-glucósido, pelargonidina 3-glucósido y peonidina 3-glucósido fueron 48.79 %, 39.84 % y 12.14 %, respectivamente. Muestras de la accesión BOZM342 destacaron por el contenido de cianidina 3-glucósido, que fue de 628.32 μg g -1 PS. Se desarrollaron y analizaron 32 modelos de calibración de los cuales destacaron dos por cumplir los parámetros para una calibración de NIR robusta, con altos coeficientes de determinación para las validaciones cruzadas (0.64 y 0.65). Los modelos de NIR presentados en este trabajo se pueden utilizar para la determinación de antocianinas totales y apoyar a los programas de mejoramiento de maíces azules.Palabras clave: Zea mays, antocianinas, HPLC, maíz pigmentado, NIR.Near infrared reflectance, NIR, is a method largely used for rapid and robust determination of chemical compounds. It is currently used to support breeding programs to analyze protein, oil, starch, moisture and ash content, among others. Five hundred fifty four samples belonging to 24 races of pigmented maize (Zea mays L.) were used in the development and validation of mathematical models to estimate anthocyanin content by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR), using UV-Vis spectroscopy as a reference method. The anthocyanins profile was determined through high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The highest anthocyanin contents were found in C11-IXT maize grain samples from Tlaxcala, México; containing up to 1989.97μg Pel g -1 DW. The highest percentages of cyanidin 3-glucoside, pelargonidin 3-glucoside and peonidin 3-glucoside were 48.79 %, 39.84 % and 12.14 %, respectively. Samples of the BOZM342 accession were outstanding for its cyanidin 3-glucoside content of 628.32 μg Pel g -1 PS. Thirty two calibration models were developed and analyzed, and two of them fulfilled the parameters for a robust NIR calibration, with high coefficients of determination for cross validations (0.64 and 0.65). The NIR models presented here can be used for determination of total anthocyanins and provide support for blue maize breeding programs. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"aedfc7515d8fcdb323207d6e67c36961","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/00795236-46d0-47ed-8386-db33687d0aac/retrieve","id":"1984908194"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"146dde6a-b4ab-42eb-8729-edf99beee17d","content":"The 'Expanding Utilization of Roots, Tubers and Banana and Reducing Their Postharvest Losses' (RTB-ENDURE) is a three-year project that is being implemented in Uganda. The goal is to contribute to improved food security and incomes for RTB-producing communities in East Africa, including producers and other stakeholders along the value chain. This initiative addresses postharvest management of RTB crops and explores potentials for expanding the utilization of potato, sweetpotato, banana and cassava, and repositioning them as added value crops.Four research sub-projects are operational: (i) ambient storage and improved agronomic practices in a bid to reduce postharvest losses and extend the marketing period for ware potato; (ii) agronomic practices, waxing and relative humidity storage for fresh cassava roots to extend shelf-life and capture emerging markets opportunities; (iii) sweetpotato silage to mitigate animal feed constraints faced by smallholder pig farmers; and (iv) promotion of cooking banana varieties with intrinsic longer shelf life, sucker staggering and storage to even out market supply and promote product differentiation.In order to achieve the sweetpotato sub-project's key objectives, it was deemed necessary to build the capacities of sweetpotato and pig farmers to process sweetpotato residues into silage to be fed to pigs primarily in the dry season when pig farmers face serious challenges to access quality and affordable feedstuff.It is against this background that NALIRRI, in collaboration with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the Bavubuka Twekembe Group, the International Potato Center (CIP), CHAIN-Uganda, VEDCO and the Kamenyamiggo Zonal Agricultural and Development Research Institute (ZARDI) has held a series of training workshops to strengthen the technical capacities of selected stakeholders in the two target districts, namely Masaka (Nyendo Senyange and Buwunga) and Kamuli (Butansi and Bugulumbya sub-counties). The major objective of the workshops was to equip participants with knowledge of sweetpotato silage making and utilization. Training of Trainers (TOT) and farmers' trainings on silage making were already conducted between August and October 2015. However, these additional trainings were deemed necessary in order to i) strengthen participants' s capacities in utilizing sweetpotato silage; ii) impart content that has been validated and/or fine-tuned and/or adapted based on the most recent findings from the research undertaken by the sweetpotato sub-project's team over the previous two years; iii) target additional participants.Sweetpotato is the third most important food crop after cassava and bananas in Uganda. Currently, sweetpotato is the major food crop in the Lake Victoria region. The crop has potentials to benefit poor rural households and urban consumers especially when other crops fail or in specific seasons before the main harvest.Sweetpotato is a means to address one of the most serious health and nutrition problems of Uganda, Vitamin A deficiency which is a major risk factor for pregnant and lactating women. The Orange Fleshed Sweetpotato (OFSP) cultivars contain particularly high levels of carotenoids and are equalled only by carrot as a source of pro-vitamin A. Sweetpotato roots provide a source of carbohydrates, calcium, ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Sweetpotato roots may be eaten boiled, steamed or processed into simple products such as chips, bread, local brew/drink, juice, pancakes and composite flour (mixed with maize, millet and soya flour). In some communities, tender (young) sweetpotato leaves are consumed as a vegetable. Sweetpotato contributes about 20% of total crop residues provided by vines, non-commercial sweetpotato roots, peels which are very good source of livestock feedAlthough sweet potatoes are a good source of energy (roots) and protein (vines), they are highly perishable. As a result, substantial amounts of vines are wasted during periods of peak harvests, yet farmers suffer from feed scarcity during the dry season. In order to make good use of sweetpotato residues (vines and roots) there is need to conserve them in form of silage which has the potential to mitigate seasonal feed shortages and help cope with seasonal feed prices fluctuations that many smallholder livestock farmers experience. It also provides opportunity to reduce waste in urban market and at household level as well as it can open up business opportunities for youth and women. The ToT workshop was conducted at VEDCO premises on 13 th December 2016. The farmer workshops were conducted at Kiwungu Baptist Church, Butansi sub-county and at Bukyonza Primary School, Bukyonza village, Bugulumbya sub-county on 14 th and 15 th December 2016, respectively. The workshops were organized and conducted by the International Potato Centre (CIP), VEDCO, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), National Livestock Resources Research Institute (NaLIRRI), Bavubuka Twekembe group.The facilitators of the workshop were; Dr. Jolly Kabirizi (NaLIRRI), Dr. Peter Lule (ILRI), Mr. Kizito (VEDCO), Mr. Vincent Lutwama and Mr. Dan Isabirye (Bavubuka Twekembe Group) and Mr. John Kigongo (NaLIRRI). A total of 287 participants (150 female) attended the workshops in Masaka and Kamuli districts (Table 1 and Annex 1). The participants started with a prayer after which each participant introduced him/herself (name, institution/district and experience on sweetpotato as a food and animal feed). All participants reported that they had experience with working with sweetpotatoes but five extension staff from Masaka district reported that they had no information on sweetpotato silage production and that they were very happy to attend the workshop.Official opening in Masaka district by Dr. MayegaParticipants were requested to indicate at least two expectations from the workshop. Below is a summary of TOTs expectations.(i) Masaka district  Figure 1 shows local feed resources used by farmers to feed pigs in Kamuli and Masaka districts. This was part of the RTB-ENDURE project findings presented during the end of project held from 6 th to 7 th December 2016, Imperial Golf View Hotel, Entebbe, Uganda.Table 2 shows nutritive value of common feed resources. ▪ Sweetpotato is the 3 rd most important food crop after cassava and bananas in Uganda ▪ Uganda is a leading producer of SPs (about 2.2 million tons/year) ▪ Grown for food and feed security ▪ Fresh form can only be fed for a short period of time after harvest ▪ Preservation of vines in form of silage to extend shelf lifeTables 3 and 4 show selected sweetpotato varieties and their attributes.  ▪ Sweetpotato residues are seasonal and highly perishable ▪ A lot of sweetpotato residues are wasted in the fields after harvesting ▪ Research conducted by CIP in Kamuli district in the framework of RTB-ENDURE shows that farmers waste up to 24 and 22% of the vines and non-marketable roots (Table 5) ▪ Pig farmers face feed scarcity in specific periods of the year (Figure 2).  ▪ Silage is cut green plant material that is sealed in airtight silos without air and water----a silo is a structure for storing bulk materials such as maize grain ▪ Silage is produced by the activities of naturally-occurring bacteria that convert some of the plant sugars into organic acids that preserve nutritional qualities ▪ Silage can be stored for many months and still have up to 85% of the energy and protein value of the original fodder crop.Some of the forages used to make silage: ▪ Sweetpotato vines and roots ▪ Napier grass  ▪ Prevents wastage of valuable feed resources ▪ Mitigate seasonal feed shortages ▪ Help cope with seasonal feed prices fluctuations that many smallholder pig farmers experience ▪ Provide nutrients required by the animal, which may be deficient in the diet ▪ Adequate feed is available all year round; hence animals remain in good health ▪ Silage can be made using fresh or, better, wilted material ▪ Silage quality is maintained for longer than is hay quality, because hay oxidizes during storage ▪ High silage protein content and digestibility makes it an excellent complement to grass feeds ▪ Silage production is one of the technologies to reduce methane gas which is also responsible for global warming ▪ Silage making as a service delivery is an opportunity for investments by unemployed youth who loathe agriculture as a direct employment option.▪ Provides a regular supply of high quality animal feeds, leading to good returns from the enterprise ▪ Promotes conservation of excess residues ensuring year-round supply of high quality feeds ▪ It is affordable for small-scale farmers who make and use small quantities of silage at a time ▪ It is environmentally friendly since it does not release effluent and the sac can be re-used.✓ Sweetpotato residues ✓ Black polythene tubes, 2.5metres, gauge 600-800mm, ✓ Maize bran or molasses ✓ Watering can & water ✓ Forage chopper or a machete ✓ Tarpaulin ✓ 100 kg sac ✓ Weighing scale ✓ Sisal twine ✓ 4 people to provide labour to produce 1,000 kg of silage/ day.1. The crop should be ready to harvest: the seed of forage sorghum or maize should be soft but not milky when you squeeze it open 2. Harvest or purchase sweetpotato residues 3. Spread the residues for at least one day to reduce the moisture content 4. Chop the residues into 2.5cm length pieces using a motorize forage chopper or a panga 5. Measure one bag of well compressed chopped residues (about 70kgs) and spread it on the canvas 6. Mix 1 litre molasses with 3 litres of water and sprinkle the mixture over the material or mix 1 kg of maize bran with 10 kg of chopped SP residues and mix thoroughly. Maize bran produces better silage because it reduces the effluent from the silage 7. Pleat the black polythene tube (about 1.5 meters long, gauge of 600-800 mm for every 70 kg of residues) lengthwise 8. Tie firmly with the sisal twine at 30cm distance from the cut edge, fold back the edge and tie once again to exclude the air 9. Turn the polythene bag inside out 10. Roll down or fold back the top of the polythene tube and place the tube into another synthetic sac used for packing sugar, salt, rice and maize flour. 11. The sac protects the polythene tube from being damaged by rodents and hot weather 12. Put the material in the polythene tube. You can also use plastic drums instead of the polythene tube 13. Compress the mixture firmly to exclude all the air. You can stand inside the bag and compress the mixture down thoroughly using the feet 14. Repeat the steps until the polythene tube is full 15. Add the mixture to the polythene tube in small quantities and compress until it is full 16. Hold the top of the polythene bag firmly excluding the air 17. Tie the silage material and make sure the silo is air tight. Silage is formed through anaerobic fermentation by microorganisms.Table 7 shows estimated cost of producing 500 kgs of sweetpotato silage. ▪ A plastic sheet (about 0.1 mm thick) is spread over the ground ▪ The material for making silage is chopped using and placed on the sheet or cemented floor ▪ The material is entirely covered with a plastic sheet ▪ Proper tread pressure has to be applied, and complete sealing is required ▪ The size of a silo depends on the number of animals.▪ Stack silo is suitable only for large pig farms or if large volume of sales is ensured ▪ If for sale, buyers will also need to consume it quickly and come back frequently (so either large pig farmers or likely repeatedly purchase small amounts each time) ▪ To ensure continuous sales during key months, the production will depend on the consumption rate and the ratio between months of consumption/production.Trench/pit silo ▪ A trench silo is built underground or semi-underground ▪ A tractor or heavy loads are used to compact the material within the silo ▪ Thereafter the silo is covered with a plastic sheet, weighed down with soil. This help maintain anaerobic conditions.▪ Wait for 30 days until the fermentation process is complete before use ▪ Carefully and step-by-step open a small portion of the silo when need arises for feeding and seal the remaining silage immediately after the removal. ▪ The silage made using this technology is sweet smelling and brown when ready ▪ Supplementing sweetpotato vines silage at a ratio of 60:40 (Silage:Concentrate) improves pig growth performance (Tables 8, 9 and 10). ▪ The amount of silage to be fed per animal will depend on the age and weight of the animal ▪ Clean the feed troughs after feeding the silage ▪ Opened silage should be fed to the animals within 3 days. How much silage should be made?The quantity of silage to store depends on several factors such as: ▪ Type of animal (goats, cattle, pigs, etc.) ▪ How many animals are to be fed ▪ Weight of the animals ▪ For how long they are to be fed ▪ The storage space available ▪ The amount of excess feed to conserve ▪ Forage dry matter content ▪ Available labour, etc...▪ Sweetpotato residues are a valuable feed resource in smallholder systems ▪ SP residues are highly perishable ▪ Use of SP silage can even out the supply of feed on smallholder pig farmers ▪ Supplementing SPV silage with a concentrate at a level of 40% improves pig growth performance at lowers feeding costs.CIP and ILRI were represented by Mr. Peter Lule who briefed farmers on the RTB-ENDURE objectives and activities. He informed participants that in both districts ILRI had carried out an assessment of the local available feed resources and pig feeding practices. The main feed related challenges (incl. quality of feeds, seasonality of the forage based feeds like sweetpotato vines) were also investigated. Therefore, in order to overcome these challenges, ILRI partnered with CIP to test, validate and promote sweetpotato silage. The reasons for the choice of sweetpotato silage were; (a). Sweetpotato vines were the most common forage-based feed given to pigs; (b) Sweetpotato is commonly grown in all parts of Uganda; and (c) ILRI had successfully pilot tested sweetpotato silage in other countries.Mr. Lule pointed out that most of the farmers had been trained in the first year of project implementation. The purpose of this second training was to avail to them more information on how to supplement the silage and the share the project findings (e.g., weight gains for pigs fed on silage-based diet). He also indicated that silage training and business centers had been established by the project in both Kamuli and Masaka districts. These centers are open to farmers who want to hire forage choppers, buy silage and access information on silage production and utilization and other animal husbandry practices. He advised the farmers to get in touch with the silage centers.After presenting some of the key findings from the research that had been carried out, he concluded by encouraging farmers to take up the technology as it would help in bridging the gap when maize bran is expensive and during the dry season.Where can I get improved Napier grass varieties? A:The National Livestock Resources Research Institute, Nakyesasa. Q:When zero grazing had just come in Uganda, we were not using Napier grass, we used to have Guatemala grass. What happened to it? A:The grass is fibrous when it matures and the animals tend to reject it. Q:Are there any places where farmers can get already made silage on sale? A:Yes, you can get silage from NaLIRRI-Nakyesasa but you can also get sweetpotato silage from Bavubuka Twekembe Group as well as the recently established silage training and business centers. Q:What are the suitable storage facilities for silage? A:The store must be well ventilated and free from rodents. Q:The initial silage technology from Kenya had a tube at the bottom. What is the difference between that initial silage technology and the current silage technology? A:That technology is expensive but suitable when maize bran is not available. Q:What amounts of silage are supposed to be given to the different animals? A:This depends on the type of animal but it is about 4 kg/day for mature pigs and about 15 kgs/day for mature cows. Q:Can mixing hay and molasses be a feed for animals? A:Yes but it must be supplemented with a source of protein and minerals. Q:How have you overcome the problem of scarcity of sweetpotato vines? A:Sweetpotato vines are seasonal and large amount go to waste during the bump harvest.How can you compare the nutrient feed block and the silage? A:The two are different in the nutritional quality and feeding management:-Difference in the required ingredients -Difference in cost of production for both feeds. Q:A certain farmer had pigs which were stunted in growth at six months. So he was asking what the problem was and how can he improve them? A:They may be underfed or their health status is poor.(ii) Kamuli districtHow long can the nutritional feed block be stored? A:It can be stored as long as you keep it dry to avoid moulding. Q:What are the ingredients for making the nutritional feed blocks? How many cows can feed on one nutrient feed block? A:This is on the size of the block and weight of the animal. A cow consumes about 3% of its live weight. This means that for a cow of 400 kg, you need a block of about 12kg. This can also be fed to the animal as a Total Mixed Feed ration (TMR). Q:Is it possible to have pasture demonstration fields at Kamenyamiggo we can use at to demonstrate silage production? A:You are advised to contact Mukono ZARDI. Q:Is there an alternative to dry nutrient feed blocks if I cannot afford to construct a simple solar drier? A:You can sun dry them but they take long to dry properly. You have to keep turning the blocks. A simple solar drier is the best option to dry nutrient feed blocks. Q:Is it possible to use other materials like cassava leaves to make silage since we feed them to pigs? A:Silage can be made from cassava leaves but you need to be very careful on the varieties. Some cassava varieties contain high level of dangerous anti-nutritional compounds. Q:Can silage be fed to other animals such as goats? A:Silage can be fed to cattle, goats, rabbits and sheep. Q:How can you improve on the sugar content of silage? A:You can add diluted molasses. Q:What are the future perspectives for this project? A:The project ends in December. The district can allocate funds to disseminate the technology to farmers. Q:How can we store silage for a longer period without damage by rodents? A:You must control the rodents using cats. Q:How can we get hydroponic feeds? A:You can produce the feeds on a small scale. Q:Can we mix sweetpotato vines and maize when making silage? A:You can but it might not be economic. Q:In the recent trials conducted at Kamenyamiggo ZARDI we mixed soybean with chopped sweetpotato vines, do you think this can be recommended? A:Adding soybean is good because it improves the protein content of the silage but it also increases the cost of the silage. Q:Sweetpotato silage gets spoilt in the second year, why do you recommend this tube silage technology? A:The tube technology is very convenient for the small scale farmers. You must make sure that you keep out air to avoid rotting. Q:Is salt not required when making silage?A: You do not need salt.The participants were involved in practical silage making conducted by the youth group members as shown in the pictures below.Weighing maize branParticipants fill the plastic tube silo with a mixture of chopped sweetpotato vines and maize branParticipants from Bugulubya sub-county, Kamuli districtIn Kamuli district the workshops were held at Kiwungu Baptist Church in Butansi sub-county and Bukyonza Primary School in Bukyonza village, Bugulumbya sub-county.In Butansi the workshop was opened with a prayer by the Chairperson of Butansi Piggery Farmers' Group (BPFG), Mr. Paul Mudhasi. He informed the participants that sweetpotato silage has helped their group members to improve pig production and to empower women and youth in development by exposing them to new skills and knowledge. A total of 70 farmers (37 women and 33 men) participated in the workshop at Butansi sub-county (Annex 1). Of the 70 participants, 20 were below 35years of age.In Bugulumbya the workshop started with an opening prayer followed by self-introductions. The introductions revealed that three (3) participants were not aware of silage as well as the topic of the training (they had just heard about a workshop and decided to attend but did not know what it was about). Of the 70 participants, 20 were below 35years of age.During the self-introductions, farmers in Bugulubya sub-county extended their sincere appreciation to the project. They reported that:• Their perceptions that a pig must eat in bulk to grow fast was changed • They always had their pigs at first oestrus (heat) after 11 months but the current feeding regimes and technology have lowered it to 8 months • They realized that they wasted a lot of feed resources but had not realized how significant the losses were • The vines that they used to waste is what they currently use to generate money as well as feed their pigs for fasten growth rates • They also recognized the reduced time spent during the search for feed • They no longer lament over scarce feed resources and gave an example of the current feed crisis that had not had a significant effect on their pig production systems • They all thanked the project for having improved their market access.In Masaka district the workshops were held at St. Paul Primary School, Kitovu, Senyange subcounty and at Buwunga Sub-county headquarters, Buwunga sub-county.The training in Senyange sub-county was attended by 54 farmers (11 men and 33 women). The training in Buwunga sub-county was attended by 55 farmers (27 men and 28 women).In both districts, each participant was requested to write down at least two expectations from the workshops. They are summarized in the table below.Nyendo Ssenyange sub-county• Learning new things from fellow farmers • Want to learn about feeding of silage Q. Is it possible to ensile Bidens pilosa (Black Jack) and what happens if you make silage from wondering jew? A.No research work has been done to evaluate the nutritive value and ensilability of B. pilosa. Besides, the practicability is the limitation to the successful utilization of Bidens pilosa as silage. For example: how much of it can you collect to make silage? The same conditions hold for production of wondering jew bases silageA. Addition of salt to silage is geared towards prevention of mould growth in silage. However, with the current method of silage production moulds can be completely eliminated if proper procedures are followed. Addition of fishmeal may contribute positively to the protein content but may increase the costs of production of silage.Q.Where can we get forage choppers from and how much are they? A.You were provided with a forage chopper at the sub-county. Q.Can silage be made without a motorized forage chopper? A.Yes you can make silage from sweetpotato vines chopped using simple tools such as pangas Q:How do you use molasses to make silage? A:1kg of molasses mixed in 2litres of water. Then 1 litre of this to be added to 10kgs of the material to be conserved Q:Do we feed sweetpotato silage to pigs only? A:It is also fed to any other livestock like cattle, goats, among others Q:How do we control swine fever in pigs? A:Controlled by hygiene, use of disinfectants and avoid pork from other places on your farm Q:How much concentrate can a pig of 50kgs be fed? A:At least 2kgs per day Q:Does inbreeding in pigs have an effect on piglets? A:Stunted growth Q:At what stage or age do we wean piglets? A:At 2 months of age Q:Can sweetpotato silage be used as fattener in pigs? A:Sweetpotato silage is good as a source of feed to fatten pigs but in addition concentrates are also required Q:Marketing of pigs and piglets is still a major problem in farming, how can this be solved? A:By forming farmers' groups or cooperatives so as to have one common interest and market Q:While making sweetpotato silage, do we use leaves only? A:Both vines and stalks Q:Is there any vaccine against African Swine Fever (ASF)? A:Not yet developed Q:Can soybean replace fishmeal during concentrate formulation? A:Both can be used depending on the availability of the materials Q:What could be the best way to store the silo bags? A:Where there are not rats and avoid storing under direct sunlight Q: Do you add mineral powder while making silage? A:Not necessary Q:Can you use molasses and maize bran at same time to conserve sweetpotato residues? A:Just need to use one additive Q:Is it possible to feed silage and maize bran at a ago?A:Yes, but maize bran should be mixed with other ingredients like fishmeal, minerals, etc, to make a concentrate. Q:Can you make silage from cassava leaves? A:Yes, since cassava leaves contain cyanide this helps to reduce it. Q:Is it recommended to cook sweetpotato peels before feeding them to pigs? A:Yes, but they should not be overcooked Q:If banana stems are chopped into small pieces, can they be fed to pigs too? A:Not recommended because they are too fibrous to be fed to pigs.The Bavubuka Twekembe Group demonstrated silage making using the polythene tube technology. Participants were requested to list down key lessons learned and new experiences from the workshop:• Some farmers reported that the use of sweetpotato silage on their farms have saved them time and labour to look for alternative sources of feeds whose quality is very low • Silage also increase pig production because of increased growth rate and the quality of the pork (not fatty) • Partial substitution of maize bran with silage has also reduced their feeding costs • Some farmers indicated to be able to sell silage to earn their living • The youth in the community who are not able to make silage, can now sell vines to farmers who make silage • There is a need to mobilize the youth into groups and to equip them with skills on commercial sweetpotato silage production • I have been motivated to make utilization of the limited resources to earn income • You are well informed on issues concerning livestock nutrition • Silage production as a commercial enterprise is a new experience for the youth. We have to encourage unemployed youth to star making silage for sale • The workshop has been an eye opener for all of us. We realized that we can cut down the cost of feeding pigs during the dry season by ensiling sweetpotato residues • Marketing pigs can be improved through group formation • Commercial silage production is labour intensive. Availability of low cost forage choppers is a key requirement to commercial silage production. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"26dc6355872918ecc65231af511065ab","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H041806.pdf","id":"-124975703"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5bdb0745-55d3-44cc-bf4d-4eb9bc1844e9","content":"Rain-fed agriculture is practiced on 80 % of the world's agricultural land area, and generates 65-70 % of the world's staple foods, but it also produces most of the food for the poor communities in developing countries and least favored areas. The low and variable productivity of these lands is the major cause of poverty for 70 % of the world's poor inhabiting these lands. The largest challenges of poverty-related undernutrition are found in arid, semi-arid and dry-humid, rain-fed regions of the developing countries (Falkenmark and Rockstrom 1993). The distinct feature of rain-fed agriculture in these developing countries is that both productivity improvement and expansion has been slower relative to irrigated agriculture (Rosegrant et. al. 2002). But, as Pretty and Hine (2001) suggest, there is a 100 % yield increase potential in rain-fed agriculture in the developing countries, compared to only 10 % for irrigated crops. This calls for increased efforts to upgrade rain-fed systems globally and, especially in developing countries to provide sufficient and affordable food and nutrition to the vast populations.India ranks first among the rain-fed agricultural countries of the world in terms of both extent (86 M ha) and value of produce. Due to little alternative opportunities available outside the agricultural sector, the high population of landless households and agricultural laborers, and low land and labor productivity, most of the poverty is concentrated in rain-fed regions (Singh 2001). At the same time, there is growing evidence to suggest that agriculture continues to play a key role in economic development and poverty reduction in these regions ((World Bank 2005;Irez and Roe 2000). Some of the available estimates suggest that 1 % increase in agricultural productivity translates to 0.6 -1.2 % decline in the percentage of rural poor (Thirtle et al. 2002). The only silver lining in the scenario is that there appears to exist a significant potential for raising productivity in rain-fed systems. Yield gap analyses, undertaken by the Comprehensive Assessment, for major rain-fed crops found farmers' yield to be a factor of 2-4 times lower than the achievable yields and offering substantive opportunities for realizing the potential of rain-fed agriculture (Molden 2007).Rain-fed areas in India are highly diverse, ranging from resource-rich areas with good agricultural potential to resource-constrained areas with much more constrained potential. It is in the rain-fed regions where cultivation of nutritious (coarse) cereals (91 %), pulses (91 %), oilseeds (80 %) and cotton (65 %) predominates. Rosegrant et al. (2002) employing the IMPACT model have estimated that even by 2025, one-third of India's cereal production shall be contributed by rain-fed areas (Table 1). Rain-fed agriculture supports 40 % of India's population. Earlier, the rain-fed farming systems, because of its risky nature, were dependent upon locally available inputs and grew traditional drought-resistant crops. But over-time cropping systems have changed (Kanwar 2001), and farmers have started cultivating high-value (but vulnerable) crops requiring intensive use of costly inputs. The last 4 decades of Indian agriculture, which registered overall impressive gains in food production, food security and rural poverty reduction in better-endowed 'Green Revolution' areas, by-passed the less-favored rain-fed areas, which were not partners in this process of agricultural transformation. Particularly, the last decade has witnessed serious distress among the more enterprising small and marginal farmers in the rain-fed regions who opted to replace, with little success, traditional low-value crops with high-value (but more vulnerable) and input-intensive crops through borrowed resources. As an extreme desperate step, over 25,000 farmers, mainly from rain-fed regions, committed suicide during the past 9 years-every 8 hours a farmer took his life (Lobo 2007). Besides several other factors related to agriculture sector as a whole, e.g., adverse meteorological conditions resulting in long dry spells and droughts, unseasonal rains and extended moisture-stress periods with no mechanisms of storing and conserving the surplus rain to tide over the scarcity/deficit periods, were the major causes for non-remunerative yields and heightened distress. It is only recently that the Government of India has constituted a National Rain-fed Area Authority (2006) to address these issues and develop and implement a comprehensive single-window program for the development of rain-fed areas in the country.Rainfall is a truly random factor in the rain-fed production system, and its variation and uncertainty is high in areas of low rainfall. Semi-arid regions, however, may receive enough annual rainfall to support crops but it is distributed so unevenly in time and/ or space that rain-fed agriculture becomes unviable (Reij et al. 1988). Rockstrom and Falkenmark (2000) note that due to high rainfall variation in semi-arid regions, a decrease of one standard deviation from the mean annual rainfall often leads to the complete loss of a crop. Whereas in the arid zones (< 300 mm/annum) absolute water scarcity constitutes the major limiting factor in agriculture; in the semi-arid and dry sub-humid tropical regions managing extreme rainfall variability in time and space is the greatest water challenge. Dry spells, which generally are 2-4 weeks of no rainfall during critical growth stages causing partial or complete crop failures, often occur in every cropping season. The probability of deficient rainfall (deficiency in rainfall numerically equal to or greater than 25% of the normal) in India during the southwest monsoon period is: once in 2.5 years in West Rajasthan; once in 3 years in Gujarat, east Rajasthan, western Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kash-mir, Rayalaseema and Telangana; once in 4 years in the south interior Karnataka, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha; once in 5 years in West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Konkan, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa; and once in 15 years in Assam (very rare) and Kerala. Even dry sub-humid regions, where rainfall varies between 750-1,200 mm, experience contingent drought situations due to a break in monsoon conditions. Based on its time of occurrence, such rainless periods/ agricultural drought may be termed as early season drought, mid-season drought and terminal drought. While early season drought can be mitigated through replacement with shortduration varieties or change in the cropping pattern, droughts at the latter two stages have potential to cause serious damages to crop production (Figure1). Terminal droughts are more critical as the final grain yield is strongly related to water availability during the reproductive stage. Apart from these short-duration droughts (dry spells), in the low to medium rainfall regions, the rainfall amount and distribution may be sufficient to raise only a low water requiring hardy crop but not a sensitive crop with high water requirements. Introduction of such a crop for economic reasons leads to the early appearance of drought conditions and crop failures.Though water deficiency at critical crop growth stages is the major constraint of rainfed agriculture, water itself may not always be the primary limiting factor for food production even on the so-called 'drylands'. Analysis of farmers' participatory field trials in more than 300 villages, showed that the existing practices of rain-fed agriculture has depleted soils not only in organic matter and macro-nutrients but also in micro-and secondary nutrients, and substantial gains (70 to 120%) are observed when crops were supplied with adequate quantities of these nutrients (Wani et al. 2005;Rego et al. 2005).Most research studies on the impact of irrigation on crop yields are conducted under high input use and on small plots, and thus fail to capture the scale impacts at district/ regional level and depict a high effect of irrigation. But, under actual farming conditions in developing countries like India, the exogenously supplied inputs show a great deal of spatial variation and impact the overall gains at the district/ regional level. An exercise based on district level secondary statistics to assess the effect of 'irrigation' and 'no irrigation' for the various crops in the 16 major states of India (where the rainfall is less than 1,500 mm/annum) revealed that: i. productivity increase due to irrigation varies between 7-74 %, except for soybeans (0 %) and rabi rice (550 %);ii. achievable yields are much higher than productivity levels achieved through irrigation and improved practices at the district level;iii. productivity enhancement due to irrigation is less than 30 % among oilseed crops, except for castor (52 %) and sunflower (47 %); and iv. among cereals, millets (pearl millet and finger millet), maize and barley recorded less than 30 % increase in productivity due to irrigation.Yield differences between irrigated and rain-fed areas are more pronounced when the crop is grown under a variety of agro-ecological regions, compared to its concentration in few and similar districts. Though the effect of irrigation on crop yields suggest low gains for few crops, on-farm trials and evaluation reports of watershed projects (Joshi et al. 2004;Sastry et al. 2004) suggest that the effect of supplementary irrigation on rain-fed crop yields is considerably higher (Table 2). Therefore, an assessment was made to identify opportunities for water harvesting and supplemental irrigation to overcome dry spells during mid/ terminal droughts so as to stabilize the production. Supplemental irrigation is a key strategy, so far under utilized, to unlock rain-fed yield potentials. The objective of supplemental irrigation is not to provide stress-free conditions through the crop growth for maximum yields, but to provide just enough water to tide over moisture scarcity at critical growth stages to produce optimal yields per unit of water (Oweiss et al. 1999;Sharma and Smakhtin 2004). The existing evidence indicates that supplemental irrigation ranging from 50-200 mm/ season (50-200 m 3 /ha) is sufficient to mediate yield-reducing dry spells in most years and rain-fed systems, and thereby stabilize and optimize yield levels. Agarwal (2000) suggested that India should not have to suffer from droughts, if local water balances were managed better. Collecting small amounts using limited macro-catchments water harvesting, local springs, shallow groundwater tables or most importantly conventional water harvesting during rainy season can achieve this. The assessment presented in this study presents the estimation of available (surplus) rainfall runoff during August (second fortnight)/ September that is required mainly to mitigate the terminal drought. The study identified the dominant rain-fed districts for different crops (contributing up to 85 % of total rain-fed production), made an assessment of the surplus/ runoff available for water harvesting and supplementary irrigation in the identified districts, estimated the regional water use efficiency and effect of supplemental irrigation on increasing production of different crops and, finally, a preliminary estimate of the economics of water harvesting for supplemental irrigation in rain-fed areas.To make an improvement over the existing criterion of the 'fixed' or 'variable' percentage of the irrigated area in the district, all the districts in the descending order of area coverage (for a given crop) limited to a cumulative 85 % of total rain-fed area for each crop in the country, were identified and termed as 'dominant rain-fed districts' (for a given crop). The crops covered are sunflower, soybeans, rapeseed mustard, groundnut, castor, cotton, sorghum, pearl millet, maize, pigeon peas and rice (in kharif), and linseed and chickpeas (in rabi). Thus an area of 39 M ha was accounted under selected crops. This helped in the identification of the major region for a crop, in that although all the crops are grown in most of the districts, there are a few crops that have specific agro-climatic requirements. Details on dominant rain-fed districts for various crops are given in Table 3. Development activities related to a specific rain-fed crop should be taken up first in these identified districts and secure a major impact on productivity. Total rainfall in India is spread over few rainy days and fewer rain events (about 100 hours in the season) with high intensity, resulting in large surface runoff and erosion and temporary stagnation. In either of the cases this 'green water' is not available for plant growth, and has very low productivity. Local harvesting of a small part of this water and utilizing the same for supplementary/ protective irrigation to mitigate the impacts of devastating dry spells, offer a good opportunity for increasing productivity in the fragile rain-fed systems (Rockstrom et al. 2001;Sharma et al. 2005;Wani et al. 2003). For a national/ regional level planning on supplementary irrigation, one needs to make an assessment of the total and available surplus runoff, and the potential for its gainful utilization. In the present study, both crop season-wise and annual water balance analyses were done for each of the selected crops cultivated in the identified districts. Whereas, the annual water balance analysis assessed the surplus and/or deficit during the year to estimate the water availability and losses through evaporation; the seasonal crop water balance assessed changes in temporal availability of rainfall and plant water requirements. The water requirement satisfaction index was used for assessing the sufficiency of rainfall vis-à-vis the crop water requirements. The total surplus from a district is obtained by multiplication of seasonal surplus with the rain-fed area under the given crop (Ferguson 1996). The total surplus available from a cropped region is obtained by adding the surplus from the individual dominant districts identified for each crop. An estimated amount of 11.5 M ha-m runoff is generated through 39 M ha of the prioritized rain-fed area. Out of the surplus of 11.5 M ha-m, 4.1 M ha-m is generated by about 6.5 M ha of rain-fed rice alone. Another 1.32 and 1.30 M ha-m of runoff is generated from soybeans (2.8 M ha) and chickpea (3.35 M ha), respectively. Total rain-fed coarse cereals (10.7 M ha) generate about 2.1M ha-m of runoff. Spatial distribution of runoff on agro ecological sub-region and river basin-wise is shown in Figure 2. Based on the experiences from watershed management research and large-scale development efforts, practical harvesting of runoff is possible only when the harvestable amount is larger than 50 mm or greater than 10 % of the seasonal rainfall (CRIDA 2001). Therefore, surplus runoff generating areas/ districts were identified after deleting the districts with seasonal surplus of less than or equal to 50 mm of surplus, and those districts generating runoff of less than 10 % of seasonal rainfall. Table 4 shows the summary of surplus and deficit for various crops after deletion of districts, which generate less than the utilizable amount of runoff. This constitutes about 10.5 M ha of rain-fed area, which generates seasonal runoff of less than 50 mm (10.25 M ha) or less than 10 % of the seasonal rainfall (0.25 M ha). Thus the total estimated runoff surplus for various rainfed crops is about 11.4 M ha-m (114.02 billion cubic meters, BCM) from about 28.6 M ha that could be considered for water harvesting. Among individual crops, rain-fed rice contributes a higher surplus followed by soybeans. Deficit of rainfall for meeting crop water requirements is also visible for crops like groundnut, cotton, chickpeas and pigeon pea.Based on this available surplus, the irrigable area was estimated for a single supplemental irrigation of 100 mm (including conveyance/ application and evaporation losses) at the reproductive stage of the crop both for normal and drought years. Runoff during drought years is assumed to be 50 % of runoff surplus during normal rainfall years (based on authors' estimates for selected districts and rain-fed crops). However, farmers tend to use the water more prudently during drought years and save larger cropped areas. The potential irrigable area through supplementary irrigation for both scenarios is given in Table 5. Out of 114 billion cubic meters water available as surplus, about 28 billion cubic meters (19.4 %) is needed for providing supplemental irrigation to irrigate an area of 25 million ha during the normal monsoon year, thus leaving about 86 M ha-m (80.6 %) to meet river/environmental flow and other requirements. During drought years also about 31 billion cubic meters of water is still available even after making provision for irrigating 20.6 million ha. Thus it can be seen that water harvesting and supplemental irrigation do not jeopardize the available flows in rivers even during drought years or cause significant downstream effects in the identified areas. Water use efficiency under rain-fed agriculture is not a consistent value as evidenced in irrigated agriculture. In rain-fed areas, the water use efficiency (WUE) varies from district to district and from year to year based on the pattern of rainfall occurrence with drought years giving a higher value of water use efficiency. The present study aggregates water use efficiency at the district level for major rain-fed crops. Production projections were made for different crops in the respective rain-fed districts using the information on regional rainwater use efficiency, both for 'business as usual' scenario (only application of supplementary irrigation) and under 'improved practices' scenario (limited follow-up on recommended package of practices). Additional production (Table 6) was a product of irrigable area (Table 5), regional rainwater use efficiency and the amount of supplemental irrigation. The irrigable area through supplemental irrigation for different crops during the drought season varies between 50-98 % (98 % for rice crop to 50 % for sunflower growing districts) of the irrigable area during the normal (non-drought) season. Under improved management practices, an average of 50 % increase in total production cutting across drought and normal seasons is realizable with supplemental irrigation from a rain-fed area of 27.5 M ha. Production enhancement in the drought season in case of rice crop is high due to higher water application efficiency and also due to sufficient surplus of to bring almost the entire rice cultivated area under supplemental irrigation. This would also indicate that large tracts of rain-fed rice cultivated area are covered under high rainfall zones with sufficient surplus for rainwater harvesting. Significant production improvements can be realized in rice, sorghum, maize, cotton, sesame, soybeans and chickpeas.The success of the 'Green Revolution' in irrigated areas is one solid example built upon irrigation and improved technologies. Every one of the stakeholders from supplier to farmer to market responded with equal enthusiasm. A second 'Green Revolution' is not in the offing for long time for the reason that this needs to be staged on a water-scarcity/insufficiency zone. Supplemental irrigation has substantive potential for increasing production from rain-fed crops across different districts, yet its adoption on a large scale shall depend upon its economic worthiness. Numerous such structures have been built under varying agro-climatic conditions under state sponsored programs, by nongovernmental organizations and with individual initiatives. The available literature has good evidence on the technical and financial viability of construction of such water harvesting structures for, improvement of water productivity and diversification of agriculture in rain-fed areas (Singh 1986;Oweiss 1997).The cost of provision of supplemental irrigation through construction of water harvesting structures varies a great deal between different states/ regions and locations, and within the same state (Samra 2007; personal communication; Table 7). Hence, a simple analysis based on the national average cost for rainwater harvesting structures (INR 18,500/ ha) was carried out for the provision of supplemental irrigation to the rain-fed crops. In the calculation of annualized cost, rate of interest as well as depreciation cost for the structures has been deducted. An assumption was made that rainwater harvested would be utilized for the existing crop only, and accordingly returns were considered for the existing crop only. However, in actual practice the farmer makes much better use of the created water resource by planting high-value crops and plantations and investments in livestock and aquaculture. The annualized cost for each crop and gross and net benefits with supplemental irrigation to each crop are shown under Table 8. It suggests that an estimated INR 50 billion annually is required to provide supplemental irrigation to around 28 M ha of rain-fed cultivated land, and half of that amount is required for rice and coarse cereals only. The data suggests that gross and net benefits are quite high for cotton, oilseeds, pulses and rice. However, the coarse cereal group, in general, and pearl millet, in particular, exhibit lower gross and net benefits even with SI and improved practices. This indicates the need for better varieties of these crops, which are more responsive to irrigation and nutrition. In spite of the rain-fed lands having the highest unexploited potential for growth, the risk of crop failures, low yields and the insecurity of livelihoods are high due to the random behavior of the rainfall. Rain-fed agriculture is mainly and negatively influenced by intermittent dry spells during the cropping season and, especially at critical growth stages coinciding with the terminal growth stage. District level analysis for different rain-fed crops in India showed that the difference in the district average yields for rain-fed crops among different rainfall zones was not very high, indicating that the total water availability may not be the major problem in different rainfall zones; and that for each crop there were few dominant districts, which contributed most to the total rain-fed crop production. A good strategy to realize the potential of rain-fed agriculture in India (and elsewhere) appears to be, to harvest a small part of available surplus runoff and reutilize it for supplemental irrigation at different critical crop growth stages.The study identified about 27.5 M ha of potential rain-fed area, which accounted for most of the rain-fed production and generated sufficient runoff (114 BCM) for harvesting and reutilization. It was possible to raise the rain-fed production by 50 % over this entire area through the application of a single supplementary irrigation (28 BCM) and some follow up on the improved practices. Extensive area coverage rather than intensive irrigation need to be followed in regions with higher than 750 mm/ annum rainfall, since there is a larger possibility of alleviating the in-season drought spells and ensuring a second crop with limited water application. This component may be made an integral component of the ongoing and new development schemes in the identified rural districts. The proposed strategy is environmentally benign, equitable, poverty-targeted and financially attractive to realize the untapped potential of rain-fed agriculture in India."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ac6ad601443ffda6d45f4973e4ed6a02","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e166e8a0-5676-4275-8faf-92f30e3659cd/retrieve","id":"-486682843"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"eb517754-7f5e-49fb-b978-36e40c968355","content":"From a total of 571 submissions from 78 countries worldwide, 22 innovation teams with pioneering solutions to Uzbekistan's agricultural challenges rose to the top through a comprehensive review process. After an intensive 3-day bootcamp offering workshops, mentorship, plenary sessions, and opportunities to engage with like-minded innovators, a final 11 were admitted onto a fully sponsored acceleration program. The final phase of the Innovation Challenge will then see 3 teams with proven sustainable business models and scaling plans be awarded up to 30,000 USD in equity-free grant, post-acceleration support to accelerate go-to-market and growth, and on-the ground experimentation of their solutions with farmers.This booklet shines a worthy light on the 22 ambitious teams.Project LeaderBiochar by Ecobiome is a naturally occurring, carbon-rich soil additive that has the potential to improve soil fertility and increase crop yields by lowering the demand for synthetic fertilizers. Our mission at Ecobiome is to be the industry leader in sustainable agriculture by developing cutting-edge biochar products that are essential for improving soil health, capturing carbon, and eventually reducing climate change. Meet Machine Learning Lab Xasanboy Xakimov Team MemberOybek Eraliev Team LeadMagicSoft's application of drones in plant disease assessment offers efficient monitoring and detection capabilities for smart agriculture. Drones provide increased accessibility, improved coverage, and rapid data collection, enabling timely disease detection.Mironshokh Asadov Backend and ML DeveloperTeam LeadManhat is a deep technology startup based in the United Arab Emirates; focusing on \"natural water distillation\" patented technology for sustainable water and floating farm solutions.MethaGone is developing a probiotic feed additive emulating the methane mitigation strategy of red seaweed. As MethaGone, we aim to reduce methane emissions of cows by up to 98% while also displaying a similar performance to common weight gainer products. Contrary to the red seaweed alternatives, MethaGone is non-toxic, more scalable, and palatable for cows.Roy Erzurumluoğlu Head of Business Development mistEO is a realtime takaful parametric insurance platform for agriculture powered by weather analytics, satellite based monitoring, intervention advisories and smart contract based claim settlement.Piatrika is building an AI-driven platform that helps researchers and seed companies to more sustainable seeds and agri chemicals to market faster and cheaper. We are doing this by creating a new innovative enterprise cloud PAAS for genomic discoveries and plant breeding decision support, programme design and monitoring.Co-FounderSoiLens is an app for high-resolution soil information with spatial visualisation nutrient heterogeneity at quantitative scale. The user can access precise, expert-level and site-specific recommendation on fertilisation strategy and timing.Message Akunna Software DeveloperTerra Bank is a game-changing innovation that bridges the lending gap for farmers. By harnessing advanced sensors and machine learning, the system generates accurate credit scores for farms, empowering banks to offer favorable loans. Farmers' financing struggles are addressed as this technology analyzes extensive farm data, which traditional credit departments overlook.Ravshan Jumanazarov Data AnalystTezExport is an aggregator platform that brings together the of manufacturers, suppliers and wholesale buyers of agricultural products. TezExport provides a service for processing and delivering bulk orders at the regional level.Bekzod Usarov Mobile DeveloperInnovation Challenge Weavair offers a digital twin model powered by satellite hyperspectral imagery, drone imagery and sensors, which enables better land use and crop rotation planning and reduces the cost and time required make accurate decisions by at least 10-fold, resulting in ROI of less than 2 years. It helps improve resilience to climate events, and improves water and energy efficiency, while also creating new revenue opportunities through the sale of carbon offsets. By streamlining the regulation compliance & certification, the solution also enables access to new investment and foreign financing opportunities.Natalia Mykhaylova CEOInnovation Challenge Zero Earth Company is a buy now pay later (BNPL) farmer financing platform to implement environmentally economically and socially sustainable dairy models which increases farmer revenue up to 10 times and reduces emissions up to 50 percent.Co-FounderContact info@agritechchallenge.org"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"174d764be5a93c866624d629b5f17690","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7dfba1bb-c9f1-4834-b80c-448f6c7f932e/retrieve","id":"-901671372"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6a59810b-d2b5-4701-8602-fd40ef22493a","content":"Africa RISING is testing alternative technology options with heterogeneous populations of farmers that will likely respond to the technologies differently. Creating farm typologies is one approach to design targeted interventions that adequately address the needs of different types of farmers. Notably, creating typologies can help: Identify suitable farms to target innovations (ex-ante): we assume that not all innovations are appropriate for all farms, and that structuring into groups would support the identification of technology-specific suitable farming systems.  Scale out innovations: on the basis of the heterogeneity in a population we can formulate extension messages, policies and other incentive schemes to further spread the use of designed innovations.  Assess agro-economic effects (ex-post) Explaining trends and farmer 'behavior' (functional characteristics, including sustainable intensification indicators) and verification of the agro-economic effects of the interventions for different farm types.This document presents a summary of a typology study done using quantitative statistical methods (discussed below) applied to micro data from the Ethiopia Africa RISING Baseline Evaluation Survey (EARBES) (conducted in 2014) and secondary data on environmental/biophysical variables from various source. The quantitative approaches have the advantage that they are reproducible and do not impose any ex-ante structure to the clustering process, while more qualitative approaches can potentially incorporate less tangible insights such as cultural patterns. Once the different farm types are identified through systematic quantitative analysis, they need to be validated with input from Africa RISING colleagues (especially working in Ethiopia).We apply a combination of factor and cluster analysis to obtain the final groups, or \"types\" (See Cunningham & Maloney, 1999 for an empirical application). We first use factor analysis to reduce the number of socio-economic variables to characterize the farms by selecting the most relevant ones in differentiating the sample. Factor analysis is often used to discover underlying patterns in data and its aim is to explain the largest portion of the entire dataset variation with the lowest possible number of factors. Factors are unobserved variables that summarize the correlation among several observed variables and factor analysis allows us to divide the dataset into different factors, or dimensions, and categorize each variable into one of the factors. Figure 1 shows an example of how the variables in a dataset are divided into different dimensions to explain the total variation in the data. The analysis also allows us to rank the factors by their importance in explaining the variation in the data and to further rank each variable by its explanatory power within the factor. Our factor analysis based on EARBES data involves the following main steps (see for example McDonald;2014. Basilevsky;2009. Mulaik;2009 for a discussion on the methods):1. We divide the variables in EARBES into the five domains of sustainability that have been identified within Africa RISING to gauge progress: productivity, economic, environment, social and human. 2. We perform separate factor analysis on each domain to select the variables that explain the largest portion of the variation in the data. 3. We use scree plots to define the number of factors to look at and, within each of the selected factors, we consider the two variables with the highest absolute values of factor loads, conditional on them being greater than 0.5 (or smaller than -0.5). 4. Finally, we obtain a parsimonious set of socio-economic variables that explain most of the variation in the data and thus are highly relevant in defining the different farm types.The sub-set of variables obtained using steps (1) to (4) are used to perform a cluster analysis, which divides the total sample into a chosen number of clusters (Kaufman & Rousseeuw;2009. Romesburg;2004. Galbraith et Al.;2002). The numbers of clusters are chosen in order to represent groups that are different enough from each other while ensuring that each group to be included has a sufficient amount of observations. There are several different methods to perform cluster analysis, some hierarchical and some non-hierarchical. We chose the hierarchical method using medians, where the distance between two clusters is calculated as the median distance between all pairs of subjects in the two clusters. The results obtained and the characteristics of each group formed are reported in the next section.The scree plot of the factorization of the productivity variables (Figure 2) shows that the first four factors (represented by the first four dots at the top of the line graph) are highly relevant but starting from the 5 th factor they start to be less important in explaining the variation (smaller vertical jump).Table 1 shows the rotated matrix of factor loads for the four factors we have chosen, with the relevant variables highlighted (>0.5 or <-0.5). Factor 1 captures elements related to legumes production and number of cultivated plots. Factor 2 captures total land size, production of cereals and breeding of big ruminants. Factor 3 captures intercropping practices and, finally, Factor 4 captures diversity of livestock ownership and poultry TLU. The final selection of variables for the cluster analysis includes the area cultivated with legumes and Kg of legumes' production for factor 1, land size and Kg of cereals' production for factor 2, the share of households practicing intercropping and the average number of intercropped plots for factor 3, and finally the share of households breeding mixed livestock and the number of livestock types possessed for factor 4. For the economic variables we considered, the relevant factors seem to be the first three (Figure 3). Table 2 shows that factor 1 captures total harvest and its uses; while factor 2 captures agricultural non-labor inputs; and factor 3 captures labor inputs. Dwelling conditions and the wealth indices does not play a significant role in differentiating the sample. The final list of variables considered includes total harvest of grains and Kg of harvest used for other reasons (factor 1), pesticide and fertilizer costs (factor 2), and total and male person days used in agriculture (factor 3).  For the environment domain, we identified four relevant factors. The first concerns the characteristics of the soil, the second captures fallowing and the issues related to soil erosion, the third includes crop rotation and the use of manure, and the fourth includes irrigation practices and the use of urea.  Our dataset has a relatively small set of variables capturing social aspects, focusing on gender disparities. We thus chose only the first factor, which highlights the presence of females-only managed plots and livestock as the main variables of interest.   Females also responsible for plots 0.5138Females only responsible for plots 0.9093Females also responsible for livestock -0.0902Females only responsible for livestock 0.6769The final sustainability domain we focus on is human capital. We select the first four factors, which capture the age composition of household members (factor 1) the head's years of education, mean age in the household, total dependency ratio and food insecurity level (factor 2), the main characteristics of the household head (factor 3) and the level of education in the household (factor 4). We finally select old dependency ratio and share of members between 0 and 14 years old (factor 1), number of males adults and mean adult's age in the household (factor 2), whether the household head is married or widow (factor 3), and whether the head is literate and maximum years of education in the household.  The analysis summarized in the preceding section informed the selection of a list of factors that we used in the cluster analysis. These are 8 productivity variables, 6 economic variables, 8 environmental variables, 2 social variables and 8 human variables. Figure 7 shows the dendrogram illustrating how the farm households in our sample can be split into different groups (or types) based on these variables we have identified. The vertical distance between separations illustrates the distance of the different groups to each other.Considering the number of observations within each group and differentiation of characteristics between groups, we decided to create three final groups, or \"types\" of farmers. Tables 6a to 6e illustrate the distribution of characteristics across these types and sustainability domains discussed before. Because the clusters were defined using the variables accounting for most of the data variation, as captured by the factor analysis, most of the characteristics differ significantly across every type. Type 1 includes 188 of the farmers in the sample. Type 2 is the biggest one and defines 229 farmers. Finally, type 3 is the smallest, with 67 farmers.Dendrogram cluster analysis   Small female headed households with lower levels of education and high food insecurity.  Generally low levels of gender equality.  Small landholdings and little livestock owned.  Little use of labor and non-labor inputs.  Low levels of endowments and large portions of harvest going to own consumption.  Some issues with soil erosion.Type 2: Legumes growers with mid-levels of endowments  Average levels of gender equality but wage gap in favor of women.  Small landholdings but wide variety of livestock bred, often including poultry.  Legumes growers with high legumes yields.  Frequent employment of hired and communal labor.  Mid-levels of endowments.  Relatively frequent use of soil conservation practices but problems with soil erosion.Type 3: Highly endowed households breeding large ruminants  Large households with many children and high levels of education. High levels of food security.  High gender equality in terms of responsibilities but severe wage gap. Large landholdings and ownership of big ruminants.  High input expenditure, including in improved seeds.  High levels of endowments and good dwelling conditions. High commercialization of the harvest.  Relatively little use of soil conservation practices and very severe problems of soil incrustation.Table 7 summarizes the main characteristics of every type relative to each sustainability domain, providing a simplified framework for classifying farm households into a particular type. Figure 9 shows a graphic representation of the main characteristics of each type.  The typologies are heterogeneously distributed across space, as shown in figure 10. While in the SNNPR region and especially in Amhara there is a high concentration of households with low to medium levels of endowments (type 1 and 2), The Oromia region concentrates high shares of the highly endowed households (type 3). The spatial distinctions are important because they can support interventions based on the most prevalent households' typologies in the area.The characteristics of each household type described above can be displayed clearly with a spider plot. Figure 11 summarizes the performance of each type relative by each domain as follows: Type 3 largely dominates in every aspect, but in the environment domain he's closer to the other two types.  Type 1 and type 2 have similar performances in the social and environmental domains but type 2 is better endowed in terms of productive, economic and human assets. Large efforts have to be made to improve the productive capacity and the economic resources available to group 1. This could be made through granting better access to superior agricultural technologies and trainings on how to use them to increase yields and livestock production. Better access to education can also contribute to improve their human endowments and may foster better gender inclusion.  Africa RISING can focus on fostering the gender inclusiveness in group 2.  Group 3 is performing very well across the five SI domains and could therefore be involved by the AR implementers to show the good example to the neighboring farmers.  The three groups present severe problems of soil erosion and incrustation, therefore they would all benefits from interventions aiming at improving the quality of the soil. The appendix includes additional graphs characterizing the obtained typologies.    "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c624ae7f3ba8674aea2b6425e463da0c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4a5974fa-64fc-4752-8e08-68222c5e6292/retrieve","id":"377503950"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e71f6d76-d233-469e-a135-a67be3e16035","content":"Under its new research for development (R4D) initiative on digital innovation and transformation, the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR), organised a two-day workshop on 8 and 9 November 2022, at Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.The workshop was aimed to better understand the actor landscape of the digital ecosystem in food-water-land systems. This includes: the availability, accessibility, gender responsiveness and effectiveness of services; the challenges and opportunities in promoting an inclusive, gender-intentional and beneficial digital ecosystem; and the data management challenges associated with data security and governance. Essential stakeholders encompassing representatives from government, research, private, producer and Non-Governmental Organizations having expertise and experience in digital innovations participated in the workshop (refer to list of participants in Annexure 1).The purpose of this consultation was to understand the actor landscape in the digital foodwater-land ecosystem, the services they provide, gender-responsiveness of these services, the challenges and opportunities in promoting an inclusive, gender-intentional and beneficial digital ecosystem, and the data management challenges associated with data security and governance. A rapid assessment of the capacity needs of the digital ecosystem actors to address the gender digital divide in their respective domains will also be conducted. The specific objectives of the consultation workshop included: In this introductory session, Dr Jawoo Koo (IFPRI), Dr Hom Gartaula (CIMMYT), and Dr Andrea Gardeazabal Monsalve (CIMMYT) -all from One CGIAR -set the tone for the workshop with an overview of the One CGIAR Digital Innovations Initiative. They briefly described the potential of the digital innovations to transform the agri-food systems in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs), the prevalence or persistence of the digital divide within geographies, communities and within households, and the challenges that need to be overcome for bridging the digital divide.The five major work packages (WPs) of the digital innovations initiative include: an enabling environment, digital inclusion, systems modelling, real-time monitoring, and platforms and services (Figure 1). These were all discussed. Dr Jawoo Koo stressed on the importance of co-ordinated activities across these five WPs to deliver a suite of outputs through three pathways (policy, innovation, and capacity building) to support three levels (decisionmakers, service providers, and users).The expected outcomes from the One CGIAR digital innovations initiative were also discussed as follows:• Informed policymakers and investors formulate enabling policies for locally-led digital ecosystems, develop digital strategies, establish public-private partnerships, and attract strategic investments toward bridging the digital divide;• Improved digital services and information systems provide more timely, accurate, and actionable information that helps agri-food system actors manage climate and food security risks; and• Empowered women and youth use digital technologies, leading to improved livelihoods and job opportunities.Thereafter, Dr Gartaula elaborated on the topic of gender digital divide in India. He briefly explained the barriers to women's participation in digitized agri-food value chains, such as, social norms, lack of access and control over resources, and lack of digital inclusion. He also described the immediate and long-term opportunities for inclusive digital innovations, by forging partnership with non-traditional actors (women, youth and marginal communities).For all the subsequent sessions participants were divided into groups, for more discussions on these topics where the participants could share their insights, opinions and expertise.The major aspects discussed during the breakout sessions included the existing digital infrastructure in agri-food systems; the key actors involved, the types of services provided by these actors; and mode of service delivery. The digital ecosystem is huge and there is a need to investigate micro ecosystems so as to facilitate mapping.The existing infrastructure includes mobile-based apps, Web-based Apps, Internet of Things (IoTs), MIS, GIS modelling, Geo tagging, etc., to name a few. Though digital infrastructure exists, it is inadequate, especially in the rural areas due to poor connectivity (bandwidth) and low accessibility to mobile devices among and within rural households. There are multiple actors, providing different digital innovative services, using multiple service delivery methods.The major actors include government institutions (Central, State and Regional), private sector stakeholders, NGOs, research organizations, farmers, entrepreneurs, Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), Self-Help Groups (SHGs), financial institutions, knowledge intermediaries, etc. The major services being provided include crop advisory and information services, supply chain management services, market information, market linkage, facilitation services, financial inclusion, weather advisory, technical services (software development, web management), etc.The main mode of service delivery is through mobile phones (WhatsApp, SMS, IVR), Internet of Things, etc., mostly facilitated by human intermediaries such as extension agents, staff of Common Service centres (CSCs), staff/members of the Agricultural Production Committees/Clusters (APCs), SHGs, FPOs, Village Champions and Village Youth.Opportunities and challenges in promoting inclusive, gender-intentional and beneficial digital ecosystem were discussed during this session. One of the major challenges cited by the participants is lack of availability of sex disaggregated data, even with respect to ownership and usage of digital tools (such as mobile phones), while designing digital solutions. Some actors opined that gender is not well-defined even from the government perspective, for instance in the census data itself gender is not given due weightage.Another crucial challenge identified is the lack of capacity to assess the needs of women and other marginalized and vulnerable groups.Digital services are designed and delivered mostly in a supply driven (PUSH) and top-down approach. The contents pushed through these services are mostly not need based and are not context specific. Gender and social inclusion is an afterthought once the digital service has been designed and deployed. Need assessment, along with community engagement, during the process of designing digital innovations is an important aspect to be considered before deploying digital services. Technical service providers view gender inclusion as a lesser challenge in the project design phase itself even if the gender component is included, but most of the institutes do not investigate this aspect in the project design phase. Some participants opined that currently accessibility is not a problem but the hitch is lack of need-based digital services. Affordability, information gap, and lack of incentives are some of the other challenges identified by the participants. Some of the participants felt that these services would be more used if they were bundled with enhanced market access, and also enabled sale of surplus produce, supported farmers in obtaining better rates for their produce, etc. They also felt that there is a huge opportunity for digital service penetration through mobilisation of women into groups. Digital innovations have wide scope in facilitating access to credit and empowering women and other marginalised groups, financially as well as socially. Other major opportunities for making digital innovations inclusive and gender intentional are bundling up services, using a combination of technologies, delivering services with human facilitation and integrating the gender Mostly data is enumerated in the field by agencies, agents, village resource persons or village level champions and local youth, who are given orientation and trained prior to data collection. There was a consensus among the participants that gender disaggregated data is not collected, unless specified in the project design and linked to a mandate.The unanimously identified challenge is lack of quality in the data as well as access to it.Often, the inherent gender bias of the enumerators or data collectors, despite training and orientation, raises questions on the credibility of the primary data and thereby as a source of secondary data as well. Also, data collection is done at various levels, such as at individual level, household level, village level, field level, community level, as well as national and subnational levels. This brings to mind the issue of non-standardized data. The data quality itself is intersectional as observed by various participants; for example, data quality significantly varies between men and women or between castes or classes. Participants agreed that there is need for data sharing between stakeholders. However, there are existing gaps in practice not only due to lack of trust between various stakeholders, but also due to lack of knowledge on who has what type of data. Access to data in a scenario where multiple stakeholders are involved in a single initiative is problematic and at times the data from stakeholders at various levels don't match. Also, sometimes, the field level data and the reported data have wide gaps, such as beneficiaries listed under different schemes. This creates data silos that prevent stakeholders from coming together and sharing data that could have been pooled across multiple actors and platforms. All these forces different stakeholders from various sectors to start from scratch while working on digital initiatives, although data is available in the digital ecosystem. Mechanisms to facilitate data sharing are needed to operationalize the format in which the data is stored to make it compatible to the needs and capacities of all the relevant stakeholders.Lack of a strong privacy policy in the digital apps developed was also identified as a major hindrance to going forward in an increasingly digital era. It is exacerbated by the fact that most of the apps have privacy policies in English rather than in the native/vernacular language spoken by the farmers. Lack of capacity to manage and analyse the big data produced in the digital ecosystem is another challenge pointed out by the participants.There is a wide gap in making use of this data that already exists, which can be seen as legacy data, to formulate further effective strategies for digital innovations. Some of the measures to address these challenges as shared by the participants are creation of a common dashboard or interface for accessing and sharing the data with an option to question the data as well, so that need-specific data can be accessed and matters of interoperability can also be solved. There is a need to set up a convergence platform because ultimately various stakeholders with similar service models reach farmers with the same queries, but for different platforms, challenging the availability of systematic and organized data. Ethical practices should be adhered to, such as agreements between the various stakeholders including farmers, while sharing the data so as to build trust between stakeholders as well as for data security.Participants believe that government institutions are still hesitant to share data. If the data is opened up for analysis, more customized and relevant digital services can be delivered. Some of the strategies to solve challenges related to data privacy, as discussed, are storing data in password protected websites, coding of primary data, masking data partially, having data privacy policy and user level agreements (ULA), accessing and storing data through sensors. Engaging third party evaluators (external agency, research institutes) to assess data quality and impact of the project is another strategy that is being already practiced by some stakeholders.In this session, aspects related to current patterns of collaboration in digital service delivery, the types of partnerships that are needed for promoting digitally inclusive innovation and the existing capacity needs and gaps to enable gender-responsive and inclusive digital innovations were discussed. All the participants acknowledged that partnerships with multiple stakeholders are crucial for providing innovative digital solutions. There is general agreement that most of the digital initiatives are project based, and therefore further scaling up calls for much support from government, especially for a strong partnership. This was further validated by quoting the success of Jeevika Project from Bihar. Partnerships are done mainly for knowledge sharing (research organizations), technical capacity building (private sector, NGOs), data collection (NGOs), service delivery (NGOs, private sector, government organizations), feedback and impact assessment (NGOs, private sector, research organizations), evidence building (research organizations), handholding/service expansion (government sector). Other interesting aspects discussed were the need for partnerships to have a shared vision, flexible/adaptive framework, strong governance as well as facilitators, such as innovation brokers, so that it is sustainable, scalable and cross learning can take place. Actor landscape mapping is another measure that can expedite partnerships as advocated by some other stakeholders.The main points to address the capacity gaps and enable gender-responsive digital innovations are discussed now. Gender is mostly an afterthought in most initiatives.Internalizing the concept of gender and harmonising efforts while focussing on the gender dimension is crucial but, it is also a challenge as observed by the stakeholders. There is still a lack of awareness on why gender matters in agriculture and agricultural projects. Hence, there is a need to sensitise multiple stakeholders (individuals and also at the organisational level) on bringing gender inclusion within the ambits of the digital projects and programmes they are involved with. To start with, digital initiatives should have a clear intention to be gender inclusive and have identified action points/nodes for acting on it. To enable this whole process there must be a continuous effort on capacity development at all levels through a gender lens. Generally, digital tools do not have a women centric design, and for this, trans-disciplinary partnerships need to be nurtured in the developmental phase. The importance of having a gender focal point wherein gender inclusiveness is ensured and incentivized was also discussed. Some of the stakeholders shared good practices, such as identifying gender champions in a group who will act as influencers and ensure gender inclusiveness. Another good practice championed was to include women and other marginalised groups while pilot testing digital innovations so as to ensure a gender inclusive design and promote gender conscious scaling. Some also felt that collecting evidence from gender inclusive practices and sharing it with stakeholders could also be one of the strategies for promoting gender inclusion across a wider expanse of stakeholders. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ee2e6e54d8702cc1c0922756aba6530e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3dd9108c-8f63-4ee3-8262-b107d51220fc/retrieve","id":"1945528878"},"keywords":["climate smart agriculture","resilience","carbon balance","cocoa","mitigation","Ghana","Ex-ACT","agroforestry"],"sieverID":"fb2d897a-396c-4c86-a69d-ded9429643b9","content":"Agriculture in Africa is not only exposed to climate change impacts but is also a source of greenhouse gases (GHGs). While GHG emissions in Africa are relatively minimal in global dimensions, agriculture in the continent constitutes a major source of GHG emissions. In Ghana, agricultural emissions are accelerating, mainly due to ensuing deforestation of which smallholder cocoa farming is largely associated. The sector is also bedevilled by soil degradation, pests, diseases and poor yields coupled with poor agronomic practices. Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) thus offers a way to reduce the sector's GHG emissions and to adapt the sector to the adverse impacts of climate change. This study assesses the potential of CSA vis-à-vis conventional cocoa systems to enhance production, mitigate and/or remove GHG emissions and build resilience, in addition to understanding key determinants influencing CSA practices. Using a mixed methods approach, data was collected in Ghana's Juabeso and Atwima Mponua districts through semi-structured household questionnaires administered to 80 household heads of cocoa farms, two focus group discussions and expert interviews. A farm budget analysis of productivity and economic performance for both scenarios show that CSA practitioners had a 29% higher income per ha compared to the conventional farmers. Estimations using the FAO Ex-Ante Carbon-Balance Tool (EX-ACT) indicate CSA practices preserve forest resources without which the effect on carbon balance as presented by conventional farming would remain a source of GHG emissions. Farm tenure, age of farmers, location of farm, residential status and access to extension services were the main determining factors influencing CSA practices among cocoa farmers. An in-depth understanding of these indicators can help identify ways to strengthen CSA strategies in the cocoa sector and their contributions to climate change mitigation and resilience.Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood in many African countries, employing more than 60% of the population and often the largest contributor to Gross Domestic Product [1,2].Yet the sector faces various challenges including market system failures and trade barriers, unstable and ineffective socio-economic policies, poor information, infrastructural and financial Land 2018, 7, 30 3 of 21 maintain or enhance cocoa production, reduce and/or remove GHG emissions and build resilience. Further, we aim to identify and analyse the factors that influence CSA practices from the individual and household as well as the institutional and policy perspectives. We therefore seek to answer the following questions: What is the level of increase in productivity, farm income and GHG balance due to CSA practices compared to conventional cocoa production? What factors influence CSA practices in cocoa farming systems in Ghana?The cocoa landscapes of Juabeso and Atwima Mponua districts in the Western and Ashanti regions respectively (Figure 1) were selected for this study. These sites were considered suitable primarily because of the predominance of smallholder cocoa farming households, engaging in either 'business-as-usual' or improved cocoa farming systems based on scientific recommendations. The area also embodies successful implementation of major voluntary standards and certification schemes in Ghana including Rainforest Alliance (RA) and UTZ certified (an abbreviation for \"Utz Kapeh\": 'Good Coffee' in the Mayan Quiché language; global certification program for sustainable coffee, cocoa and tea production) [24]. While conventional farming systems are common in each district, the presence of the Rainforest Alliance certified Climate Cocoa Project in Juabeso and Organic Cocoa Project in the Atwima Mponua Districts represent essential classifications that allowed the study to explore and compare different dimensions to adoption and practices of CSA, as well as determinant factors in different locations.Land 2018, 7, x FOR PEER REVIEW 3 of 21 climate-smart cocoa practices. Thus, we aim to analyse the potential of cocoa farming systems to maintain or enhance cocoa production, reduce and/or remove GHG emissions and build resilience. Further, we aim to identify and analyse the factors that influence CSA practices from the individual and household as well as the institutional and policy perspectives. We therefore seek to answer the following questions: What is the level of increase in productivity, farm income and GHG balance due to CSA practices compared to conventional cocoa production? What factors influence CSA practices in cocoa farming systems in Ghana?The cocoa landscapes of Juabeso and Atwima Mponua districts in the Western and Ashanti regions respectively (Figure 1) were selected for this study. These sites were considered suitable primarily because of the predominance of smallholder cocoa farming households, engaging in either 'business-as-usual' or improved cocoa farming systems based on scientific recommendations. The area also embodies successful implementation of major voluntary standards and certification schemes in Ghana including Rainforest Alliance (RA) and UTZ certified (an abbreviation for \"Utz Kapeh\": 'Good Coffee' in the Mayan Quiché language; global certification program for sustainable coffee, cocoa and tea production) [24]. While conventional farming systems are common in each district, the presence of the Rainforest Alliance certified Climate Cocoa Project in Juabeso and Organic Cocoa Project in the Atwima Mponua Districts represent essential classifications that allowed the study to explore and compare different dimensions to adoption and practices of CSA, as well as determinant factors in different locations. ). The Juabeso district is in the Western Region of Ghana while the Atwima Mponua district is located in the Ashanti Region. The characteristics of both regions are displayed in Table 1. Relative Humidity 70-90% 75% (Average) [28] Vegetation Moist semi-deciduous Forests Moist semi-deciduous Forests [9,28] Population (Density) 58,435 (42.7) 119,180 (63.0) [26,27] Population Growth Rate 3.5% per annum 3.6% per annum [9,24] Gender (Sex Ratio) Male (50.9%); Female (49.1%) Male (51.3%); Female (48.7%) [26,27] Main Economic Activity Agriculture (engaged in by 76% of economically active population) Agriculture (engaged in by 66% of economically active population) [25,26] Forest Reserves Krokosua Hills; Bia National Park Asenanyo; Tano Ofin [9,25] Source: Authors' (2017).The study area is composed of a rural population of which growth rates reflect high immigration mainly by migrant cocoa farmers who are estimated to own about 70% of cocoa farms in the districts [9,24]. The Juabeso district is host to the Krokosua Hills forest reserve, which is one of the remaining forest patches surrounded by vast areas of low or no shade cocoa farms with negative implications for biodiversity and ecosystem services [9]. Similarly, encroachment also threatens the forest reserves in Atwima Mponua district, which cover over half of the land area making it one of the biggest forest reserves in Ghana [30].Recognised as very productive, Juabeso district is a hub of recent cocoa expansion, illegal logging and associated encroachment into protected areas [9,29]. Bush fires are frequent in the dry seasons resulting from the activities of farmers practicing slash and burn, as well as from hunting and palm wine tapping activities [25]. With annual deforestation rate of 2.2% compared to a 2% per annum national rate, land, forest, wildlife and water resources remain under threat of degradation [31].Data for the study was collected using a mixed methods approach. Semi-structured household questionnaires were administered to 80 household heads of cocoa farms to elicit information on household characteristics and farm management in the two study areas. In addition, two Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), each targeting cocoa farmers in the respective districts were conducted to explore perceptions about climate change and cocoa production as well as factors influencing adoption of CSA practices. The FGDs helped to verify and build consensus on conflicting data. Lastly, interviews with selected experts provided further data on the study area. These various sources also served to triangulate collected data.In each study area, two categories of cocoa farmers were identified, namely, farmers practicing conventional models of cultivation and those engaged in CSA/Agroecology as illustrated in Table 2 below. CSA/Agroecology farming systems were selected from the cocoa certification projects by the RA or AgroEco Louis Bolk Institute. Following this stratification, 20 farmers were selected under each of the categories in each location of the study. Four communities were randomly selected in each location. These included Anasu, Pasoro, Gyereso and Wurubegu in the Atwima Mponua District and Cashiekrom, Komeamaa, Breman and Addaekrom in the Juabeso district, from which five respondents under each stratum of conventional and CSA/Agroecology farming categories were respectively selected. Asare (2014) outlines the following justification by experts and practitioners for recommended CSA/Agroecology practices over conventional practices: During land preparation, leaving cleared weeds to mulch increases soil organic carbon via decomposition and improves soil fertility, avoiding emissions associated with burning in the context of conventional practices. Planting hybrid seedlings increases yield as well as disease resistance, while applying recommended fertilizer regime not only significantly increases yield but also increases root and shoot growth of cocoa causing enhancement of soil carbon stocks. Applying pesticides four times per year, if needed, helps control black pod, other fungal diseases and pests affecting cocoa. Grafting, lining and pegging seedlings at a three square meter spacing reduces intra cocoa competition associated with planting at stake and enhances yield. Allowing natural regeneration and planting shade trees lead to modest carbon sequestration, while planting cocoa under forest-tree or shade produces no emissions from clearing. Weeding regimes reduce competition for soil nutrients, enhances carbon sequestration from cocoa and shade growth. Pruning practices improve cocoa growth and reduces incidence of pest and diseases thereby ensuring healthy cocoa and greater resilience. Cocoa intensification as production strategy ensures higher resource efficiency, climate adaptation and mitigation co-benefits in contrast to extensive practices.One community representing each study district was selected for a Focus Group Discussion. Anansu and Komeamaa communities were selected in Atwima Mponua and Juabeso districts respectively. In each case, the groups were limited to a randomly selected sample of 10 participants to enable effective facilitation.We interviewed one targeted expert each from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Rainforest Alliance (RA) and Nature Conservation Research Centre (NCRC). These institutions were considered due to their technical know-how on the theme of this paper and also due to convenience and resource constraints.Statistical software (SPSS and STATA) were used to analyse quantitative data on productivity, income and factors framing CSA practices. Qualitative data from focus group discussions and expert interviews were analysed using content analysis. The FAO Ex-Ante Carbon Balance Tool (EX-ACT) was used to estimate climate change mitigation potentials of the two farming systems.A farm budget analysis was carried out for both conventional and CSA/Agroecology farming categories. This was to assess respective levels of productivity in average yield per hectare (ha) and economic performance through average income per hectare expressed in Ghana Cedis per hectare (GHS/ha). To realise this, income indicators such as Gross Output Value and Total Production Cost were calculated and set in the function below.The GOV is defined as the total value of cocoa and associated intercrops harvested per hectare over the 2014/2015 farming season. For the purpose of this study, fixed costs were held as a constant factor and TPCs were therefore limited to total variable costs incurred during the same season consisting of variables such as costs for labour (both hired and permanent), pesticides and herbicides, farm maintenance (pruning, weeding etc.), harvesting (pod plucking and breaking), post-harvest (drying and bagging) and transportation.The FAO Ex-Ante Carbon-Balance Tool (EX-ACT) was used for the estimation of GHGs emission and/or sequestration from farming systems (conventional and CSA/Agroecology). The EX-ACT is a land-based accounting system for measuring the impact of agriculture, forestry and other land use on carbon (C) stocks, stock changes per unit land and methane (CH 4 ) and Nitrogen oxide (N 2 O) emissions expressed in tonnes per hectare of carbon dioxide equivalent (t CO 2 -eq/ha) [32]. The difference between two scenarios; with or without project interventions, which in the study's context is considered as with or without CSA/Agroecology intervention, defines the C balance, which is the main output of the tool.A binomial logistic regression was used to identify factors framing CSA/Agroecology practices among cocoa farmers in the study area. The logistic model was estimated using the following equation: where Y i is the dependent variable measured as a dummy, 1 if farmer practiced CSA/Agroecology, 0 if farmer practiced conventional farming; β 0 is the constant term; β 1 to β 14 represent the coefficients of the explanatory variables; and ε i the error term. In relation to the following a priori expectations as presented in Table 3, the coefficients were estimated using STATA software [33]. Source: Authors' (2017).Qualitative data that was collected in focus group discussions and expert interviews were analysed via content analysis. Voice recordings obtained via these processes were transcribed and manually synthesised to retrieve information to complement the quantitative data.Demographic and socio-economic characteristics considered include age, gender, education, household size, farm tenure, number of farms and size, among others (Table 4). The age of respondents ranged from 24 to 75 years with a mean of 45 and modal age of 40 years, whereas 63% of respondents were male. On average, farming experience (number of years engaged in cocoa farming) was about 18 years. Table 4 shows a similar distribution of farmers with primary education while those with secondary education are more among the CSA/agroecology farmers.The average number of persons per household is 8 persons. About 72% of respondents employ both household and hired labour. Average farm size cultivated is 2.7 ha with conventional farming having the largest farm size (8 ha) in the range. With respect to farm tenure, 69% of the farmers own their farms while 20% managed family farms and 11% operated as share croppers under equal share of proceeds (abunum) agreements. However, 60% of farmers interviewed had access to only one cocoa farm and 29% operated 2 different cocoa farms while 11% operated 3 to 4 cocoa farms. In general, 59% of the respondents were members of farmer organizations but only 23% of conventional farmers belonged to a farmer organization compared to 95% of farmers in CSA/Agroecology with membership in at least one farmer organization. Furthermore, 64% of respondents who had access to extension Further, only 10% and 13% of respective farmers under conventional and CSA/Agroecology categories had access to farm credits, which made up 11% of respondents who obtained access to credit. Despite the government's support with free cocoa fertilizer distribution and free pests and disease control exercises, 71% of respondents claimed no access to farm inputs in the previous (2014/2015) farming season. Only 15% of conventional farmers had access to pesticides and fertilizer compared to 43% CSA/Agroecology farmers. CSA/Agroecology with an overall mean of GHS 715 (US $188). Averages of total production costs (without fixed costs) per hectare for Conventional and CSA/Agroecology practices were GHS 621 (USD 163) and GHS 920 (USD 242) respectively. Labour constituted the largest cost component in both categories representing 42% and 51% of total cost respectively. A total average yield of 432 kg/ha was achieved for the entire study area. Average yield per hectare for the whole study area was 37% higher in CSA/agroecology (500 kg/ha) than in conventional farming (363 kg/ha). We use the difference between CSA/Agroecology and conventional cocoa yields as an indicator of resilience. The performance of CSA/agroecology in Juabeso and Atwima Mponua indicates 50% and 22% improvements in productivity and by extension improvements in resilience compared to respective cases of conventional cocoa. In CSA/Agroecology, yields in both Juabeso and Atwima Mponua were 594 kg/ha and 406 kg/ha respectively. Conventional cocoa yields in Juabeso and Atwima Mponua were 394 kg/ha and 332 kg/ha respectively. Independent sample t-test of yields showed a significant difference between yields from CSA/Agroecology and conventional farming (t(78) = −3933, p = 0.000), with yields from CSA/Agroecology being higher than yields from conventional farming.With reference to the producer price of cocoa as set by Ghana's cocoa governing institution (COCOBOD) for the 2014/2015 farming season of GHS 5.47 (USD 1.4) for 1 kg (Ministry of Finance 2014) and additional 3.5% premium paid for organic cocoa beans, the value of cocoa output per hectare ranged from GHS 1050 (USD 276) to GHS 6394 (USD 1683) with a mean of GHS 2382 (UD $627). Farmers practicing CSA/Agroecology produced higher output per hectare with an average value of GHS 2786 (USD 733) compared to GHS 1978 (UD $521) for conventional cocoa. Considering farm productivity and value of output, respondents in the study generally made profits for the 2014/2015 farming season, indicating improvement in their buffer capacity (resilience) with results (Table 6) showing an average income per hectare of GHS 1726 (USD 454). With farm sizes averaging 2.7 hectares, farmer income from cocoa production for the season ranged from GHS 658.40 (UD $173) to GHS 5865 (USD 1543) per hectare. CSA/Agroecology farmers earned higher incomes with a mean of GHS 1983 (USD 522) per hectare, 29% above that of conventional farmers' (GHS 1470 (UD $387)). With these mean income values for CSA/Agroecology and conventional farming categories associated with a standard deviation of 871.3 and 516.3 respectively, results of the independent sample t-test showed a statistically significant effect, t(62.9) = −3.334, p = 0.002. Thus, income levels from cocoa were statistically higher among farmers practicing CSA/Agroecology than among farmers practicing conventional farming.Furthermore, an assessment of diversity in household income shows that the average on-farm income from non-cocoa related farm activities was 11% higher in CSA/Agroecology (GHS 930) compared to conventional farming (GHS 840). For instance, intercropping annual food crops on cocoa farms is a common practice in both farming systems. However, CSA/Agroecology had a higher diversity of 3 crops on average in contrast to 2 crops in the conventional cocoa farms. Animal rearing (e.g., grass-cutter; Greater cane-rat: Thryonomys swinderianus), bee keeping and economic trees on-farm such as citrus and avocado, augmented household income and hence contribute to their economic resilience. Although statistically not significant (t(47) = −0.280, p = 0.781), non-cocoa farm income levels were higher among farmers practicing CSA/Agroecology than among farmers practicing conventional farming.Both conventional (87.5%) and CSA/Agroecology (80%) cocoa farmers in the study area cultivated cocoa mainly by slashing and burning secondary forests (Deforestation by fire). Figures 2 and 3 show the results from the carbon balance analysis of conventional and CSA/Agroecology cocoa production. While deforestation affected 133 hectares of forests via conventional farming systems in Juabeso, 111 hectares of forest were affected by CSA/Agroecology interventions. Consequently, the study estimated emissions of 64,493 tCO 2 -eq (2150 tCO 2 -eq yearly) with CSA/Agroecology interventions and 76,876 tCO 2 -eq (2563 tCO 2 -eq yearly) with conventional practices over a 30-year period ex-ante. For this period, a carbon sink of 12,383 tCO 2 -eq (413 tCO 2 -eq yearly) is estimated from avoided deforestation as a result of CSA interventions (Figure 2). production. While deforestation affected 133 hectares of forests via conventional farming systems in Juabeso, 111 hectares of forest were affected by CSA/Agroecology interventions. Consequently, the study estimated emissions of 64,493 tCO2-eq (2150 tCO2-eq yearly) with CSA/Agroecology interventions and 76,876 tCO2-eq (2563 tCO2-eq yearly) with conventional practices over a 30-year period ex-ante. For this period, a carbon sink of 12,383 tCO2-eq (413 tCO2-eq yearly) is estimated from avoided deforestation as a result of CSA interventions (Figure 2).  Similarly, results from Atwima Mponua indicate 110 and 146 hectares of deforested area with and without CSA/Agroecology interventions respectively. Over a 30-year ex-ante period of consideration, these results indicate future emissions of 63,648 tCO2-eq (2122 tCO2-eq yearly) with and 84,710 tCO2-eq (2824 tCO2-eq yearly) without CSA/Agroecology (Figure 3). The estimated balance of 21,062 tCO2-eq (702 tCO2-eq yearly) represents a carbon sink from avoided deforestation (Figure 3). Thus, CSA/Agroecology practices preserve forest resources (natural capital) without which the effect on carbon balance as presented by conventional farming would remain a source of GHG emissions. Furthermore, in Juabeso (Figure 2), afforestation activities of planting shade trees as engendered in CSA/Agroecology was higher with an average of 11 trees per hectare, in contrast to results shown from conventional practices with 5 trees per hectare. Consequently, CSA/Agroecology was responsible for an estimated sequestration of 8648 tCO2-eq compared to only 2913 tCO2-eq resulting from the fewer trees planted in conventional systems. Hence a carbon balance reflected a sink of 5735 tCO2-eq over a 30 year period (191 tCO2-eq yearly), resulting from improvement via CSA/agroecology interventions beyond the conventional or business as usual practices. Similarly, over the same period in Atwima Mponua (Figure 3), a sink carbon balance of 6008 tCO2-eq (200 tCO2eq yearly) was estimated from afforestation activities. CSA/Agroecology was responsible for sequestration of 8830 tCO2-eq compared to only 2822 tCO2-eq by conventional or business as usual practices.The study also analysed crop systems and farm inputs under CSA/Agroecology and Conventional systems, using the EX-ACT, to further understand associated GHG mitigation potentials. As a perennial crop, the production of cocoa in Juabeso over a 30 year period of analysis generally sequestered an estimated 36,152 tCO2eq in conventional systems compared to 30,267 Similarly, results from Atwima Mponua indicate 110 and 146 hectares of deforested area with and without CSA/Agroecology interventions respectively. Over a 30-year ex-ante period of consideration, these results indicate future emissions of 63,648 tCO 2 -eq (2122 tCO 2 -eq yearly) with and 84,710 tCO 2 -eq (2824 tCO 2 -eq yearly) without CSA/Agroecology (Figure 3). The estimated balance of 21,062 tCO 2 -eq (702 tCO 2 -eq yearly) represents a carbon sink from avoided deforestation (Figure 3). Thus, CSA/Agroecology practices preserve forest resources (natural capital) without which the effect on carbon balance as presented by conventional farming would remain a source of GHG emissions.Furthermore, in Juabeso (Figure 2), afforestation activities of planting shade trees as engendered in CSA/Agroecology was higher with an average of 11 trees per hectare, in contrast to results shown from conventional practices with 5 trees per hectare. Consequently, CSA/Agroecology was responsible for an estimated sequestration of 8648 tCO2-eq compared to only 2913 tCO2-eq resulting from the fewer trees planted in conventional systems. Hence a carbon balance reflected a sink of 5735 tCO2-eq over a 30 year period (191 tCO2-eq yearly), resulting from improvement via CSA/agroecology interventions beyond the conventional or business as usual practices. Similarly, over the same period in Atwima Mponua (Figure 3), a sink carbon balance of 6008 tCO 2 -eq (200 tCO 2 -eq yearly) was estimated from afforestation activities. CSA/Agroecology was responsible for sequestration of 8830 tCO 2 -eq compared to only 2822 tCO 2 -eq by conventional or business as usual practices.The study also analysed crop systems and farm inputs under CSA/Agroecology and Conventional systems, using the EX-ACT, to further understand associated GHG mitigation potentials. As a perennial crop, the production of cocoa in Juabeso over a 30 year period of analysis generally sequestered an estimated 36,152 tCO 2 eq in conventional systems compared to 30,267 tCO 2 eq in CSA/Agroecology (Figure 2). Due to expansive production with closely spaced cocoa trees, typical in conventional farming systems, more cocoa trees were cultivated per hectare and hence the higher carbon sequestration estimates associated with growing the perennial crop compared to CSA/Agroecology. The same situation held true in Atwima Mponua, where over a 30 year period of analysis, cocoa cultivation generally accounted for an estimated sequestration of 39,831 tCO 2 eq in conventional systems compared to 29,871 tCO 2 eq in CSA/Agroecology (Figure 3).Despite the resulting emission source balance of 5885 tCO 2 eq (196 tCO 2 eq yearly) and 9960 tCO 2 eq (332 tCO 2 eq yearly), linked to the intervention of CSA/Agroecology practices in Juabeso and Atwima Mponua respectively, its overall mitigation impact is yet greater considering benefits from avoided deforestation and afforestation practices as explained above.Emissions from farm investments and inputs such as application of fertilizer, pesticides, spraying and fuel use were higher at 760 tCO 2 eq (25 tCO 2 eq yearly) with practices under CSA/Agroecology compared to 396 tCO 2 eq (13 tCO 2 eq yearly) in conventional systems at Juabeso. This is justified from the observation that cocoa farms under CSA/Agroecology were more intensified with relatively higher inputs, compared to those in the conventional systems. In the case of Atwima Mponua, a sink balance of 26 tCO 2 eq (1 tCO 2 eq yearly) is projected and accounted for by a carbon source of 90 tCO 2 eq (3 tCO 2 eq yearly) due to farm input under conventional systems and 65 tCO 2 eq (2 tCO 2 eq yearly) from farm input approaches under CSA/Agroecology. This was due to lower or no input organic farming practices, typical with CSA/Agroecology systems in that part of the study area.Though CSA/Agroecology groups were historically formed by external project organizations (Rainforest Alliance and Agro-Eco Louis Bolk Institute), these groups have thrived over time through institutions created by farmers themselves.Farmers indicated in the focus group discussions that they introduced their own rules and regulations, ways of enforcements and related punitive measures such as fines for non-compliance to these introduced organizational rules by members. These local institutions also worked to improve knowledge and skills of members and access to their rights and entitlements mainly through their own initiatives. Through fellow members whom they had selected and promoted with the groups' resources as lead farmers, they interact with stakeholders at various levels and information and skills acquired through this process is shared within the groups. Further 90% of CSA/Agroecology farmers compared to only 38% of Conventional farmers had access to extension and advisory services; and 45% of CSA/Agroecology farmers compared to 15% of conventional farmers had access to government's free improved planting materials.The integration of CSA/Agroecology farmers, into their respective farmer organizations is also driven by trust. Thus, farmers who are believed to be trustworthy and could trust others, worked together to enhance their livelihood. 25% of farmers who were not members of any farmer organization identified mistrust in others as an important reason, while 25% were refused admission into their desired groups. Through such processes, CSA/Agroecology farmers in different instances collectively organized assets at their disposal to support enhancements of their livelihoods such as through buying spraying machines, training lead farmers and maintaining demonstration farms.These interrelations between farmers' abilities (buffer capacities), in terms of ownership of livelihood capitals and exercise of necessary utility rights, highlight the contribution of farmer self-organization to livelihood resilience. Majority of CSA/Agroecology cocoa farmers (95%) rather than conventional farmers (23%) however, have willingly become group members in order to secure their livelihoods.Results from the FGDs indicated that farmers were generally aware of what constituted threats (mainly high temperatures and rainfall variability) and opportunities to their livelihoods. However, transfer of new ideas and technology is challenged mostly in conventional farming due to limited interaction among conventional farmers and key stakeholders. In contrast, CSA/Agroecology farmers demonstrated commitment to learning through creation and use of existing group-managed demonstration farms for experimentations and transfer of knowledge and technology. They also engaged visiting extension officers and their lead farmers acquired training from relevant agencies.Based on previous experiences with unfavourable tree tenure, CSA/Agroecology farmer groups have engaged with the officials of the Forestry Commission of Ghana to register trees they have planted on-farm to protect their ownership and rights. However, conventional farmers have not exercised such agency to take advantage of this collaboration but are rather demotivated to plant trees on their farms due to illegal logging by chainsaw operators without appropriate compensation to the conventional farmers. In addition, analysis of selected farm management practices (Figure 4), underscored that CSA systems indicated higher commitments for learning, by following and implementing recommended best practices better than in conventional systems, although this strategy may be tied to the conditions set by the organizations for CSA/Agroecology farmers to access farm inputs.Land 2018, 7, x FOR PEER REVIEW 13 of 21Based on previous experiences with unfavourable tree tenure, CSA/Agroecology farmer groups have engaged with the officials of the Forestry Commission of Ghana to register trees they have planted on-farm to protect their ownership and rights. However, conventional farmers have not exercised such agency to take advantage of this collaboration but are rather demotivated to plant trees on their farms due to illegal logging by chainsaw operators without appropriate compensation to the conventional farmers. In addition, analysis of selected farm management practices (Figure 4), underscored that CSA systems indicated higher commitments for learning, by following and implementing recommended best practices better than in conventional systems, although this strategy may be tied to the conditions set by the organizations for CSA/Agroecology farmers to access farm inputs. Despite a general awareness of climate risks on cocoa production, livelihoods diversification was moderately undertaken in each of the farming systems. While CSA/Agroecology systems showed more diversity on-farm in terms of non-cocoa crops and forest/shade tree cover, conventional systems were averagely more diversified with respect to non-farm economic activitiesResults of the logistic regression model to identify the factors affecting CSA/Agroecology practices are presented in Table 7. Using the specifications with the dependent variable measured as 1 if farmer practiced CSA/Agroecology and 0 if farmer practiced conventional farming, a maximum likelihood procedure was used to estimate the parameters. The co-efficient of determination, Pseudo R 2 of 0.446, indicate that about 44.6% of variation in the practice of CSA/Agroecology could be explained by the explanatory variables. The model is statistically significant at 1%.Farm tenure, age of farmer, location (district), residential status and access to extension services were the main determining factors influencing CSA/Agroecology practices. Farm Tenure was Despite a general awareness of climate risks on cocoa production, livelihoods diversification was moderately undertaken in each of the farming systems. While CSA/Agroecology systems showed more diversity on-farm in terms of non-cocoa crops and forest/shade tree cover, conventional systems were averagely more diversified with respect to non-farm economic activitiesResults of the logistic regression model to identify the factors affecting CSA/Agroecology practices are presented in Table 7. Using the specifications with the dependent variable measured as 1 if farmer practiced CSA/Agroecology and 0 if farmer practiced conventional farming, a maximum likelihood procedure was used to estimate the parameters. The co-efficient of determination, Pseudo R 2 of 0.446, indicate that about 44.6% of variation in the practice of CSA/Agroecology could be explained by the explanatory variables. The model is statistically significant at 1%. Farm tenure, age of farmer, location (district), residential status and access to extension services were the main determining factors influencing CSA/Agroecology practices. Farm Tenure was statistically significant at 5% indicating that farmers who owned their farms were 39% more likely to adopt CSA/Agroecology practices than those who managed family farms and 43% more likely to practice CSA than share croppers. While age of farmer was positively significant at 10%, results showed non-linearity in the variable as the square of farmer age was negatively significant at 10%. Thus, farmers are more likely to practice CSA/Agroecology with increase in their age but this tendency of CSA practice eventually drops with further age increase.Location has an influence on the practice of CSA/Agroecology. 'District' as a variable was significant at 10%, showing a 37% likelihood of CSA/Agroecology practice in Juabeso more than in Atwima Mponua District. However, with residential status remaining positively significant at 5%, native farmers are 39% less likely to practice CSA/Agroecology than settlers. Further, access to extension services has a positive significant effect at 1% on the practice of CSA/Agroecology in cocoa production. It is 73% likely that increasing farmer access to extension services increases farmer adoption of CSA/Agroecology practices. Nevertheless, farmer level of education, household dependency ratio and access to credit were positively related to CSA/Agroecology but were not statistically significant.The results indicate higher income in CSA agroecology systems. The average yield for conventional systems (363 kg/ha) identified in this study is validated by the national average of 350-400 kg/ha [15,35], mainly reflecting the conventional cocoa production practiced by most farmers in Ghana. The relatively higher yields (501 kg/ha) attributed to CSA/Agroecology, is confirmed by Aidoo and Fromm (2015)  [39], who reported similar results for farmers engaged in certification for implementing more sustainable practices in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.CSA/Agroecology farmers also had higher financial capital as evidenced in their average incomes (29% more) and hence increased their purchasing power as observed in their average farm investments (32% more) compared to conventional farmers. Incremental financial capital can buffer livelihood risks (such as poor soil fertility, pests and diseases, etc.), since farmers are more capable to finance their strategies (such as fertilizer application, spraying pesticides, etc.) to reduce or cope with the risks, which is a crucial dimension of livelihood resilience [40].Through intercropping of diverse non-cocoa crops (particularly food crops), respective CSA/Agroecology households invariably have access to food and are additionally provided with income (10% more than conventional) mainly due to higher cropping intensities and diversities. Such farm households earn additional incomes directly from the sale of food products including plantain, yams, fruits, honey, vegetables etc., and indirectly from monies saved that would have been otherwise used to buy food [41]. Furthermore, through agroforestry practices that increase carbon stocks on-farm and hence reduce GHG emissions, CSA/Agroecology provides a potential opportunity for additional household incomes from carbon credits through the result-based national REDD+ programme [42]. However, this potential raises questions on equity concerning how farmers would be fairly rewarded from carbon credits and other related benefits for achieving mitigation benefits. This is because there is not yet clarity on key issues around the development of a fair and transparent benefit sharing scheme and carbon rights definition, land and tree tenure and gender mainstreaming mechanisms are still outstanding, which have dominated the REDD+ implementation discourse [41].While CSA/Agroecology contributed to increased yields and incomes which in turn build resilience of farmers' livelihoods through improved food security (also from higher variety and output of food crops) and enhanced buffer capacity [39], the study also considers the hypothetical diminishing of this buffer capacity given the susceptibility of cocoa to reduction in rainfall particularly during the dry season and increased temperatures which have worsened due to increase climate variability and change [16]. The following further places the discussions in this context to highlight the potential of CSA/Agroecology to mitigate such climatic risks and adapt to associated impacts.Although farmers clear fell and burn secondary forests to plant cocoa crops before the adoption of recommended practices, the emission effect was lower with the intervention of CSA/Agroecology. This is explained by the effect of avoided deforestation for the purposes of farm expansions as CSA/Agroecology farmers were rather shifting to intensification practices. Unlike conventional farmers who typically employ low input and aim to increase yields by expanding the area of land cultivated and hence further deforest secondary or virgin forests [9], CSA farmers rather intensify input investment in relatively smaller areas of land to increase productivity thereby saving carbon stock in forest, which would have otherwise been burnt.According to Cambell et al. (2014) the approach of sustainable intensification is an essential means of adapting to climate change, also resulting in lower emissions per unit of output and is highly complementary with CSA [43]. Gockowski and Sonwa (2011) further observed in their study of rural livelihoods in the Guinea rain forest of West Africa that this strategy not only mitigate deforestation and carbon emissions but also biodiversity loss and enhance poverty alleviation and rural development [44], all of which are essential ingredients for strengthening adaptive capacities against and building resilience to climate variability and change.Increase in income among CSA/Agroecology farmers was inextricably linked to their respective higher value in social capital (increase in other assets due to membership or participation in social networks; labour support from group members and income gained through membership in groups) and vice versa. This also influenced their higher capacities for learning via institutionalising group processes and their ability to further mobilise more resources to protect their livelihoods as a collective. To protect and enhance their livelihoods, CSA/Agroecology farmers actively self-organised and integrated into farmer based groups such that they subject themselves to rules and regulation, offer themselves to trust and be trusted and pulling resources together as well as remaining open to information and new ideas for the achievement of livelihood outcomes. Hence enhancement in not only their buffer capacities but also their social capital and capacity for learning as dimensions of resilience [39] This is further supported by Mohammed et al.'s (2013)  [45] observation of a positive relationship between social capital and access to credit.CSA/Agroecology farmers have also generally demonstrated agency through resources at their disposal including increased economic power from higher incomes and political influences through the functioning group dynamics. These represented the foundation on which they engaged with the officials of the Forestry Commission of Ghana and which was instrumental in protecting their interest in established tree tenure for example. Asare (2014) argues that making the shift to a sustainable and climate resilient cocoa landscape will require significant changes, including extensive coordination and collaboration between key stakeholders, many of which have traditionally not collaborated, like the Cocoa Board and the Forestry Commission [10]. These forms of cooperation have implicitly been initiated by CSA practices. In accordance to the a priori expectations of the study, farm tenure influenced the practice of CSA/Agroecology in the study area showing that farmers are more likely to invest time and resources on their own farms than on farms where ownership right is insecure [16,35]. Secure land tenure thus has a significant effect on agricultural production and the ways in which rural livelihoods are sustained. According to Acheampong et al. (2014)  [35], the security and quality of land tenure rights directly affect how respective resources are used and managed.Linking this situation to resilience, up-scaling the practice of CSA in the study areas will require the processes of land and farm right acquisition to foster farmers with greater security in terms of ownership and rights to use (entitlement). Freudenberger (1994)  [46] argues that local land and farm tenure system in Ghana is complex, adaptive and evolves over time in response to changing ecological and socio-economic conditions. Given that this is a product of the interaction of customary laws as guaranteed by government statute [47], local and public institutions are crucial as they influence options and strategies available to farmers to sustain their livelihoods. Therefore, institutional reforms must create conducive environments that reduce farmers' risk associated with accessibility of farmlands. Short term interests acquired by migrant farmers in lands or in farms as well as the resources on them should therefore be ensured by capitalising on Customary Land Secretariat systems to enhance enabling contractual agreements between them and their respective land or farm owners [44].According to the results, the adoption and practice of CSA/Agroecology grew with increase in farmers' age but only up to a threshold beyond which adoption of CSA/Agroecology practices declined as farmers grew older. Farmers also tend to reduce farm investments as well as the propensity to experiment or employ new technologies as they grow older. Knowler and Bradshaw (2007), Aneani et al. (2012), Obuobisa-Darko (2015) [21,33,34] indicated that older cocoa farmers in Ghana are more resistant to shift from traditional practices to improved ones as they are risk averse.However, it needs to be considered that younger farmers are less likely to have the necessary endowments in livelihood assets or capitals compared to older farmers. Thus, access to natural capital (farmlands), financial capital (credit, bank loans), human capital (farm experience, know-how), social capital (household control, trust) and physical capital (access to technologies) are more likely to be limited among younger farmers than older ones. These have implications for the extent of practice of CSA/Agroecology among younger farmers despite their will to change considering that Mumuni and Oladele (2016) [48] observed young farmers are more likely to develop entrepreneurial abilities than aged ones. To overcome these barriers, institutions and policies governing the sector need to not only target CSA/Agroecology technologies among young farmers but also enhance their capacities to improve their relatively weak buffer capacities and livelihood resilience [39,49].The location of farmers also influenced their tendency to practice CSA/Agroecology with farmers in Juabeso District being more engaged in CSA/Agroecology systems than those of Atwima Mponua. This can be explained by the status of Juabeso district as part of the Western Region, which is recognised as the cocoa hub of the country and produces more than half of the country's cocoa [9]. This comparative advantage could also be linked to government and private sector interventions to support cocoa farmers through fertilizer distribution, free cocoa farm spraying exercises, extension and technical support services and other important facilities, skewed towards the Juabeso district. Thus, significant variations in socio-economic and ecological contexts can explain the success of CSA/Agroecology interventions.Farmers' residential status was identified to be a significantly influential factor determining farmers' capacity to practice CSA/Agroecology in Ghana. Contrary to a priori expectations, the results showed that native farmers rather have lower tendencies to practice CSA/Agroecology than migrant farmers. This contradicts other findings [37,50] that associate unsustainable land management practices with migrant farmers because of their short-term insecure land access and interests in faster and higher returns, than natives with more secured interest and as such greater incentive to sustainably preserve the quality of land.Van der Geest (2011) [51] also challenged findings attributing unsustainable land management practices to Dagara migrants in Ghana's Brong Ahafo Region. Given that migrant farmers in Ghana have mostly been displaced by environmental change [49], their experiences and awareness of previous threats are likely to define their capacity for learning in their new locations to build livelihood resilience. According to Marney et al. (2014)  [49], migration of farmers in Ghana is mostly an adaptation strategy and in the process migrants expand their social networks with stronger ties through which they access information, while deploying social-ecological memory as potential agents of innovation and adaptation. Thus, there is a need to revise unpopular perceptions that associate migrant farmers with growing forest degradation in Ghana, while enabling their adaptation as they have potentials to be agents of change through innovation, technological transfer and adoption. In cases of environmentally induced migration, recognition should be given to migrant farmers in Ghana's climate change adaptation policies to provide them with adaptation opportunities and rights, similar to non-migrant farmers.It is expected that increased access to extension services by farmers will correspondingly increase CSA/Agroecology adoption and practice [34,36]. Anim-Kwapong and Frimpong (2010) [16] argued in this relation that cocoa farmers in Ghana are quite conservative and as such require very effective extension systems to motivate them adopt innovations and new technologies. Yet the processes of extension in Ghana have not been effective mainly due to financial constraints [36]. This condition also produces risks in adaptation to climate change.However, with institutional bottlenecks, processes of agricultural extension initiated out of the agency of farmers to build their own capacities as evidenced by the CSA/Agroecology farmer groups should be encouraged. Collaborations between farmers and responsible institutions for extension service delivery would be instrumental in closing this gap. For instance, involving farmers in extension delivery through the concept of \"Lead Farmers\" where selected farmers from farmer groups are equipped with extension delivery skills in order to train and educate their colleagues would be a vital strategy towards reducing livelihood risks under current conditions among cocoa farmers in Ghana.This study has shown that average farm productivity and average income is significantly higher among farmers practicing CSA/Agroecology, who also incur higher farm investment costs required to meet recommended practices, than conventional cocoa farmers. Premiums additionally paid to cocoa CSA/Agroecology farmers for undertaking these recommended practices under certification schemes also augmented their incomes, in addition to income from non-cocoa farm production. The relatively high income is linked to enhancements in other livelihood capitals and hence increased ownership of livelihood assets and utility rights such as in land tenure for example. With enhanced buffer capacity and resilience, farmers practicing CSA/Agroecology also indicated better self-organisation with higher capacity for learning in an inter-linked fashion, contributing more to livelihood resilience than in conventional farming systems. Further, the study highlights that trade-offs may exist between practicing CSA/Agroecology cocoa production and diversification of farmer livelihoods as a climate change adaptation strategy.The estimations of carbon balance due to land-use change, crop production and farm input use, using the EX-ACT tool varied with different production systems. While farm input intensification practices of CSA/Agroecology have negative implications for climate mitigation, CSA/Agroecology practices, overall have positive impacts on GHG mitigation without which cocoa landscapes would be a source of emission. The contributions of CSA to climate mitigation however showed no direct impact on farmers' livelihood resilience. The study however found that the institutional processes of obtaining land or farm ownership and rights (land/farm tenure system) in Ghana, age of farmers, geographical location of farmers (district), farmers' residential status and their access to agricultural extension services were the main factors influencing the practice of CSA/Agroecology in the study area and by extension resilience to climate change impacts on cocoa production.While the study assessed resilience with selected proxy indicators, the analysis hints that a comprehensive resilience profile of cocoa production systems integrating all relevant indicators and related proxies under each of the three components of resilience (buffer capacity, self-organization and capacity for learning) should be further studied. This also means re-examining the concept of CSA that captures resilience as one of its components. It is also instrumental to research existing trade-offs that exist with practice of CSA by cocoa farmers and to assess the extent to which they can be minimised."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6c6295658472c6ff9447a553abc59582","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f00c35c5-be83-4d03-be2c-06705342a1b0/retrieve","id":"2138867700"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d2f43896-e222-4014-bc8a-3fa18ae47306","content":"Version originale publiée en anglais sous le titre Beekeeping par Macmillan Education, division de Macmillan Publishers Limited, en coopération avec le CTA et l'IBRA (International Bee Research Association), en 2006 Cette édition a été traduite et publiée sous licence de Macmillan Education. L'auteur a revendiqué le droit d'être identifié comme auteur de cet ouvrage.Le Centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale (CTA) a été créé en 1983 dans le cadre de la Convention de Lomé entre les États du Groupe ACP (Afrique, Caraïbes, Pacifique) et les pays membres de l'Union européenne. Depuis 2000, le CTA exerce ses activités dans le cadre de l'Accord de Cotonou ACP-CE.Le CTA a pour mission de développer et de fournir des services qui améliorent l'accès des pays ACP à l'information pour le développement agricole et rural, et de renforcer les capacités de ces pays à produire, acquérir, échanger et exploiter l'information dans ce domaine. Les programmes du CTA sont conçus pour : fournir un large éventail de produits et services d'information et mieux faire connaître les sources d'information pertinentes ; encourager l'utilisation combinée de canaux de communication adéquats et intensifier les contacts et les échanges d'information, entre les acteurs ACP en particulier ; renforcer la capacité ACP à produire et à gérer l'information agricole et à mettre en oeuvre des stratégies de GIC, notamment en rapport avec la science et la technologie. Le travail du CTA tient compte de l'évolution des méthodologies et des questions transversales telles que le genre et le capital social.Le CTA est financé par l'Union européenne.CTA -Postbus 380 -6700 AJ Wageningen -Pays-Bas -www.cta.int Préface de l'édition française « Si l'abeille venait à disparaître, l'homme n'aurait plus que quelques années à vivre », prophétisait Einstein… Les abeilles font en effet partie depuis des millénaires de la culture et du patrimoine humain, et elles sont donc essentielles au maintien d'une biodiversité végétale très importante pour l'humanité. Pourtant, ces insectes si utiles semblent de plus en plus menacés et il s'agit bien d'un problème mondial aux multiples causes. Il est donc d'autant plus important de s'intéresser encore et toujours aux abeilles et à l'apiculture, pour en améliorer les méthodes et les productions de façon durable, et cela notamment dans les pays en développement.L'apiculture peut en effet constituer une option très intéressante pour diversifier les activités des petits producteurs locaux. Elle peut être menée dans beaucoup de situations au monde, en particulier dans la majorité des régions chaudes ou tropicales. Rarement exercée en tant qu'activité principale, l'apiculture permet, grâce aux produits de la ruche, de compléter les revenus familiaux, et requiert peu de temps et d'investissement, si elle est conduite à petite échelle . Les produits majeurs de la ruche, la cire et le miel, sont bénéfiques pour la famille mais peuvent aussi être vendus sur le marché local ou à destination d'utilisateurs plus lointains. Des produits supplémentaires, tels le pollen, le couvain, la gelée royale ou la propolis, possèdent aussi des propriétés nutritionnelles et thérapeutiques de premier ordre. Enfin, la pollinisation assurée par les abeilles permet souvent d'améliorer le rendement des cultures et joue un rôle important pour l'ensemble de la flore.Pour toutes ces raisons, cet ouvrage de vulgarisation de l'apiculture tropicale intéressera nombre d'acteurs du milieu rural et de familles des pays ACP et plus généralement des pays en développement. L'auteur de la version anglaise, Peter David Paterson, spécialiste de l'api culture en Afrique, y décrit de façon pratique les éléments de base de la conduite d'un rucher en régions chaudes. La réalisation et la maîtrise du matériel apicole, la récolte et le traitement des produits de la ruche y sont décrits de façon opérationnelle. Les méthodes traditionnelles et améliorées de production du miel sont présentées de façon simple et illustrée, avec des précisions utiles, telles que les critères du choix des techniques apicoles les mieux adaptées à une situation donnée.Pour la version française, nous tenons à remercier chaleureusement Maurice Chaudière, apiculteur dans le sud de la France, auteur de l'Apiculture alternative (2005), pour la relecture de la traduction en français, la suggestion de certaines précisions et de quelques compléments brefs mais significatifs. Les techniques qu'il a expérimentées pour la France, décrites dans son ouvrage, visent à promouvoir une apiculture économe et biologique ; ces techniques sont aussi tout à fait pertinentes et adaptées à la production apicole sous les tropiques.Directeur de la collection « Agricultures tropicales en poche » Préface de l'édition originale anglaise Que Peter Paterson ait entrepris ce grand oeuvre me comble en tout point. Il s'agit là d'un remarquable recueil qui s'appuie sur une source d'information précieuse entre toutes : l'expérience pratique. Je suis également très heureux, et me sens profondément honoré qu'il se soit tourné vers moi pour me demander de rédiger cette préface.L'Afrique est la terre d'origine de l'abeille domestique, Apis mellifera . Il s'ensuit que ce continent, à l'instar des Caraïbes et du Pacifique, dispose de milieux parfaitement adaptés à son élevage. L'apiculture est une forme d'agriculture durable, susceptible de constituer une source de nourriture et, surtout, d'utiles revenus pour les populations rurales. Elle permet par ailleurs de donner une justification économique à la préservation des milieux naturels et, potentiellement, d'accroître les rendements des cultures vivrières et fourragères.Il existe pour la cire d'abeille un marché tout prêt à se développer, à la fois sur le plan local et à l'exportation. Le marché du miel, quant à lui, dépend davantage de la qualité du produit proposé et des caprices des taux de change entre monnaies. En améliorant leur savoir-faire et leur matériel, les apiculteurs deviennent capables de diversifier la gamme des produits qu'ils tirent de l'élevage des abeilles.L'apiculture est une activité qui convient particulièrement aux agriculteurs sans grandes ressources des régions tropicales, et ce, pour plusieurs raisons : le miel et la cire sont des produits utiles et précieux ; la pollinisation par les abeilles peut profiter à beaucoup d'espèces cultivées et accroître les rendements, notamment lorsque le nombre des pollinisateurs indigènes a été réduit par l'utilisation abusive de pesticides ;il n'est pas nécessaire de disposer d'un matériel coûteux : des ruches simples peuvent être réalisées à partir de matériaux trouvés sur place ; la fabrication des ruches et du matériel apicole en général est une activité susceptible de stimuler l'économie locale ; les abeilles se nourrissent du pollen et du nectar des fleurs et n'ont pas besoin d'aliment complémentaire (bien que les apiculteurs leur fournissent parfois du sirop de sucre après la récolte du miel) ; -----le nectar et le pollen récoltés par les abeilles sont une ressource sous-exploitée, non utilisée par les autres animaux d'élevage -ce qui permet de mettre en valeur des terrains par ailleurs inexploitables ; les techniques de base de l'apiculture sont faciles à apprendre ; les abeilles n'ont pas besoin de soins quotidiens et les activités apicoles peuvent être modulées en fonction du temps dont on dispose ; l'apiculture ne mobilise aucune terre de valeur : les ruches sont installées dans des arbres, sur des terrains incultes ou sur des toits plats ;l'apiculture peut être pratiquée par des personnes de tous âges ; l'apiculture aide à accéder à une certaine autonomie et encourage le travail en réseau par la constitution d'associations et de coopératives d'apiculteurs.Après l'être humain, l'abeille est sans doute, de toutes les espèces au monde, celle qui a été la plus étudiée. Bien qu'elles ne puissent pas être domestiquées au sens commun du terme, les colonies d'abeilles peuvent être élevées et gérées. C'est avec une écriture claire et pédagogique, complétée par de remarquables illustrations, que ce livre s'emploie à expliquer comment y parvenir. Dans ces pages la quintessence des bonnes pratiques en apiculture tropicale est finement déployée. Les connaissances réunies ont été acquises au cours de nombreuses années d'observation et d'application attentives et réfléchies. Rares sont ceux qui détiennent un tel niveau de savoir, et plus rares encore sont ceux capables de le transmettre. C'est donc une chance inouïe pour nous que Peter ait accepté de partager ses connaissances dans cet ouvrage éminemment pratique, et je suis convaincu que beaucoup d'apiculteurs, qu'ils soient déjà actifs ou apprentis, lui en seront reconnaissants.Président de l'International Bee Research Association Cardiff, Royaume-Uni Février 2006.------ministère kenyan de l'agriculture, et à feu Keith Foot, du comité kenyan National Freedom from Hunger. Je remercie également la famille Nightingale, et surtout Jim, qui avait l'expérience la plus fine et les facultés d'observation les plus développées de tous les apiculteurs que j'ai connus en Afrique.Ma connaissance profonde de l'Afrique rurale ne serait pas ce qu'elle est sans les extraordinaires safaris entrepris en Afrique de l'Est et de l'Ouest en compagnie de Malcolm Harper. Sa contribution à l'apiculture ne se résume pas à faciliter les projets ; il a aussi rapporté une ruche traditionnelle malienne en terre et vannerie, découverte quelque part près de Mopti, pour enrichir la collection de l'International Bee Research Association.J'exprime en outre ma gratitude envers Heather Latham et Jacques Maiglia pour leur hospitalité et leur aide au Zaïre (Jacques a traduit mes premières notes en français pour qu'elles puissent être utilisées dans les pays francophones), ainsi qu'à Bernard Clauss, dont la connaissance intime des méthodes traditionnelles d'apiculture et l'enthousiasme pour les « techniques de brousse » m'ont beaucoup rassuré.Je remercie par ailleurs Kersten Schade, Paul Latham, Peter How, Neem Biviji et Richard Jones, qui ont gentiment accepté de relire mon manuscrit et m'ont fait part de nombreuses suggestions pertinentes, et surtout Eva Crane, dont l'intelligence limpide et clairvoyante m'a orienté vers une approche plus ordonnée. Merci également à Sue Parrott, de Green Ink, et à Helen van Houten pour leur talent d'éditrices, ainsi qu'aux éditeurs qui ont rendu cette publication possible. Je suis très reconnaissant envers Timothy Njoroge, dont les dessins apportent tant de riches détails à ce livre. Les originaux se trouvent à la bibliothèque de Rura, à Karen, au Kenya.J'ai beaucoup voyagé, surtout pour la cause des abeilles, et toutes les personnes accueillantes que j'ai rencontrées en chemin ont contribué à faire progresser mes connaissances sur ce sujet. Aussi ma gratitude va-t-elle à mes amis et collègues apiculteurs de quantité de pays, et notamment aux apiculteurs traditionnels de brousse, en compagnie desquels j'ai passé de longues heures de bonheur, à apprendre et à partager maintes techniques et expériences nouvelles. Mon souhait est maintenant de partager ce savoir apicole avec vous.Peter David Paterson Février 2006 1. IntroductionLe miel est depuis longtemps l'un des aliments les plus appréciés. Pour les sociétés de chasseurs-cueilleurs, il est encore aujourd'hui le seul produit sucrant facile à trouver. D'autres productions issues des abeilles ont également été depuis longtemps exploitées par l'homme. Le couvain (stades larvaires des abeilles qui se développent dans des rayons de cire au sein de la ruche) est traditionnellement consommé comme aliment riche en protéines, tandis que la cire d'abeille est utilisée pour la confection de bougies, pour les moulages à la cire perdue et comme objet de troc.La collecte du miel sauvage est une activité traditionnelle en Afrique et demeure viable tant que la densité de population est faible et que la flore naturelle exploitée par les abeilles est abondante. Toutefois, elle a été, dans une large mesure, remplacée par l'élevage des abeilles -l'apiculture. Une solide tradition apicole existe dans beaucoup de campagnes africaines, et cette activité joue un rôle important au sein de l'économie rurale. Au cours du siècle passé, alors que le flot de connaissances qui se répandait sur le sujet parvenait à un nombre croissant d'apiculteurs, les méthodes d'élevage se sont nettement améliorées. Dans le même temps, la croissance démographique et l'exode vers les villes ont entraîné la dégradation de la végétation naturelle et le déclin de l'apiculture traditionnelle. Aux Caraïbes et dans le Pacifique, les abeilles domestiques ont été introduites il y a relativement peu de temps.Les chiffres précis et fiables sont rares, mais les observateurs noteront un net recul de l'apiculture traditionnelle dans bien des régions d'Afrique. Un des facteurs en est l'intensification de l'agriculture, fréquemment corrélée à la dégradation de la végétation mellifère et à un recours excessif aux pesticides . Une autre raison de ce fléchissement est l'augmentation significative, parfois catastrophique, des atteintes aux ruches dans les zones où la population est en mutation ou en accroissement. De moins en moins de jeunes, qui plus est, prennent la suite de leurs parents dans cette activité.Cependant, une nouvelle génération d'apiculteurs apparaît, toute disposée à adopter les méthodes d'élevage plus modernes. Les statistiques manquent de fiabilité en ce qui concerne le nombre de nouvelles ruches effectivement fabriquées, distribuées ou achetées. De plus, ces chiffres restent muets quant au nombre de ruches toujours occupées et productives une année ou deux après. Les apiculteurs des régions tropicales et subtropicales utilisent et expérimentent un grand nombre de méthodes très diverses, des plus traditionnelles aux plus modernes. Si certaines techniques et certains programmes se révèlent très positifs, d'autres se soldent par des échecs. Ces derniers sont le plus souvent dus à une technologie inadaptée aux conditions locales ou à un niveau insuffisant de savoir-faire. Dès lors que la technique est au point et la formation présente, l'amélioration des pratiques apicoles est toujours possible, même s'il arrive que les nouvelles méthodes soient mieux acceptées par ceux qui n'ont aucune expérience préalable de l'apiculture. Au-delà des problèmes d'ordre technique, l'un des principaux facteurs d'échec reste cependant un défaut de réflexion économique. Très souvent, les méthodes traditionnelles se révèlent économiquement plus viables que les pratiques importées.Dans les régions des Caraïbes et du Pacifique, l'apiculture s'appuie généralement sur des ruches à cadres mobiles avec des abeilles européennes, mais les ruches à barrettes suscitent actuellement un intérêt croissant du fait de la relative simplicité de leur conception et de leur coût modique.La justification première d'élever des abeilles est de produire du miel . Le miel est intéressant en tant que produit sucrant, aliment et agent de fermentation pour la bière de miel . Il s'agit, en outre, d'une denrée facilement négociable contre de l'argent, ou susceptible de constituer une dot ou un cadeau par exemple. Le miel est également de plus en plus recherché pour ses propriétés médicinales et cosmétiques. La production de miel se double par ailleurs d'un sous-produit intéressant, la cire d'abeille : celle-ci, qui présente l'avantage supplémentaire d'être non périssable, peut être utilisée sur place pour confectionner des bougies, mais elle est plus souvent commercialisée car son prix de vente est relativement élevé. D'un point de vue plus général, l'intérêt principal des abeilles réside surtout dans leur rôle d'insectes pollinisateurs. Élever des abeilles est susceptible d'accroître le rendement en fruits ou en grains de beaucoup de plantes cultivées, et c'est pourquoi certains cultivateurs modernes s'adonnent eux-mêmes à cette activité, ou paient des apiculteurs pour placer des ruches près de leurs cultures. En outre, le pollen devient progressivement un produit à part entière, récolté dans les ruches grâce à des trappes à pollen. S'il existe déjà un marché spécialisé du pollen dans le cadre des filières des produits d'alimentation naturelle et biologique, l'intérêt majeur de cette denrée pourrait s'appliquer à la population locale, en tant que complément alimentaire riche en protéines. La propolis, une substance gommeuse récoltée par les abeilles principalement sur les plantes ligneuses, connaît également une utilisation croissante. Elle est utilisée localement pour colmater les fuites des récipients d'eau, par exemple, mais la prise de conscience progressive de ses propriétés médicinales et antibiotiques en fait par ailleurs un produit de plus en plus commercialisé.L'apiculture, par l'utilisation et la vente de ses produits, contribue à améliorer les conditions d'existence de celui qui s'y consacre. Elle contribue aussi à l'économie rurale environnante, non seulement en pollinisant les cultures, mais encore en stimulant les échanges commerciaux. En effet une entreprise apicole dynamique a un impact positif sur la communauté dans laquelle elle s'insère ; c'est le cas pour ceux qui transforment ou vendent les productions des abeilles mais aussi pour ceux qui fabriquent les ruches, les enfumoirs, les vêtements de protection, le matériel de conditionnement, etc.Le poids de l'activité apicole varie selon les régions, mais elle constitue parfois une part significative de l'économie locale, voire nationale. Ainsi, l'Angola, l'Éthiopie et la Tanzanie sont depuis longtemps au nombre des plus grands exportateurs de cire d'abeille du monde. Les exportations africaines de miel ne portent certes pas sur de gros volumes, mais elles existent -souvent à titre expérimental -, par chargements isolés. Les exportations sont limitées parce que le miel africain n'est pas disponible en quantité suffisamment importante à un prix compétitif sur le marché international. Bien que le produit de base, tel qu'il est élaboré par les abeilles, soit de qualité comparable à celui obtenu ailleurs dans le monde, les miels africains sont trop souvent mal traités par les producteurs ou les intermédiaires. Un manque de soin à la récolte peut ainsi se traduire par l'obtention d'un miel trouble, contenant du pollen. La qualité du produit dépend aussi des conditions du stockage : un miel entreposé dans un conteneur rouillé peut voir son goût se dégrader fortement et sa teinte s'obscurcir. Beaucoup de miels africains ont une robe sombre et une saveur prononcée. Il ne s'agit pas là de défauts à proprement parler, mais ce ne sont pas toujours des caractéristiques recherchées par les consommateurs. Le miel africain est relativement cher parce qu'il est généralement produit dans des petites structures et diffusé dans des filières de commercialisation plus longues.Certaines bières traditionnelles africaines sont élaborées avec du miel, et ce commerce pèse lourdement sur le prix de la matière première dans bon nombre de pays. La concurrence et la demande des brasseurs tendent tout à la fois à faire monter les prix et à diminuer la qualité des miels. Tous les miels peuvent fermenter et, dans la pratique, les brasseurs préfèrent souvent le miel provenant de vieux rayons -peutêtre parce que le pollen et les autres résidus facilitent la fermentation et améliorent la saveur.Cet ouvrage présente une somme d'informations et d'enseignements qui permettra aux apiculteurs et agriculteurs tropicaux de mieux connaître les abeilles. Plusieurs techniques susceptibles d'aider tout un chacun à tirer parti de ces insectes y sont décrites, l'accent étant mis sur les moins onéreuses. Le but de ce livre est d'attirer l'attention sur les moyens de parvenir au meilleur rapport à partir d'éléments de départ adaptés ; il ne fait pas la promotion des techniques de pointe, dans la mesure où ces dernières ne sont pas toujours les plus rentables. Ceux qui souhaiteraient développer une apiculture avec des ruches à cadres mobiles et des programmes de sélection de reines, devraient consulter d'autres ouvrages sur le sujet, dont certains figurent dans la bibliographie.Ce livre traite brièvement le problème des ravageurs et des maladies des abeilles en région tropicale, bien que l'Afrique soit encore relativement épargnée à cet égard. La varroase , toutefois, qui s'étend rapidement depuis l'Asie du Sud-Est aux autres régions du globe, est une maladie dont il faut être conscient (voir le chapitre 6). Là où elle devient un problème sérieux, elle est en mesure de changer le visage de l'apiculture du tout au tout. Ceux qui souhaiteraient en savoir plus et se tenir au fait de la situation pourront consulter les magazines spécialisés en apiculture, les livres rédigés par des experts ou les nombreux sites Internet disponibles dans ce domaine.Tout le matériel décrit dans cet ouvrage est indispensable au travail apicole. De même il est possible de consulter des catalogues spécialisés qui proposent toutes sortes d'équipements supplémentaires, certains étant utiles pour une production de base et d'autres relevant plus du gadget pour apiculteur.Se plonger dans des livres et des magazines sur le sujet constitue certes une bonne base de départ, mais aller au-devant d'autres apiculteurs pour les observer à l'oeuvre et discuter avec eux reste la meilleure école. C'est la main bien guidée qui fait le bon artisan. Après avoir lu ce livre, ceux qui l'auront trouvé utile pourront toujours rechercher d'autres ouvrages et magazines pour en extraire toutes les informations pertinentes spécifiques à leur travail.Les abeilles se répartissent en deux grandes catégories : les espèces sociales d'une part et les espèces solitaire s d'autre part. Les abeilles sociales vivent en groupe au sein de colonies ; la plus connue est l'abeille domestique, Apis mellifera , également appelée abeille mellifique. Plusieurs autres espèces produisent du miel, et notamment de très petites abeilles sans aiguillon dont les plus communes sont, en Afrique, les trigones (Trigona spp.) et les mélipones (Melipona spp.). Ces abeilles sans aiguillon, qui se trouvent surtout dans les régions à climat chaud, occupent des fissures dans des arbres ou des bâtiments, et souvent des trous dans le sol. Elles élaborent un miel aqueux, savoureux et très recherché à des fins médicinales, qu'elles stockent en quantité limitée dans de petites outres de cire construites côte à côte (figure 1). D'autres espèces d'abeilles mènent une existence semi-sociale ou Il n'existe pas d'Apis mellifera indigène dans les régions pacifique et caraïbe, mais des abeilles provenant de lignées européennes y ont été importées.L'abeille domestique se présente sous l'aspect typique d'un insecte et comporte une tête, un thorax et un abdomen. Elle a six pattes, quatre ailes, deux gros yeux composés et trois yeux simples, également appelés ocelles ou stemmates. Son développement, comme chez la plupart des insectes, passe par les stades successifs d'oeuf, de larve et de nymphe avant de parvenir au stade adulte.Il existe trois castes d'abeilles (figure 2) : la reine (femelle), les ouvrière s (femelles dont le développement est incomplet) et les faux bourdons (mâles). La reine est la seule femelle parvenue à son complet développement, et donc la seule à pondre des oeufs. Elle sécrète des phérormones (connues sous le nom de substance royale), qui attirent les ouvrières, ce qui permet de la localiser, et contribuent à préserver la cohésion de la colonie. Chaque ruche ne comporte normalement qu'une seule reine, mais il arrive parfois, lorsque la reine vieillit, que les abeilles en élèvent une seconde, qui vit alors pacifiquement à ses côtés jusqu'à ce qu'elle meure. Ce processus est appelé la « supercédure ».Les ouvrières assurent toutes les tâches de la colonie. Pendant les premières semaines de leur existence, elles demeurent à l'intérieur de la ruche et se consacrent aux activités « domestiques », notamment : l'alimentation des larves ; le nettoyage de la ruche ;-- la construction des rayons en secrétant de la cire par quatre paires de glandes abdominales ; la défense de la ruche ; les soins à la reine ; la réception du nectar apporté par les ouvrières travaillant à l'extérieur ; la conversion du nectar en miel et sa mise en réserve dans les rayons à miel ; l'operculage et le scellement à la cire des cellules lorsque le miel est mûr ; la mise en réserve du pollen ; la ventilation de la ruche pour maintenir une température et une humidité adéquates.Ces tâches se succèdent dans l'ordre strict imposé par le développement glandulaire. La dernière tâche « domestique » est la ventilation , qui permet aussi de renforcer les ailes avant la phase de butinage. En effet, les abeilles de la ruche qui atteignent un certain âge deviennent des butineuse s, qui sortent de la ruche pour rechercher le nectar, le pollen, l'eau et la propolis.Les faux bourdons sont les mâles de la colonie. Ils se développent à partir d'oeufs non fécondés et sont un peu plus grands que les abeilles ouvrières. Ils peuvent se compter par plusieurs centaines dans une seule ruche. Contrairement aux ouvrières, les faux bourdons peuvent aller et venir d'une ruche à une autre. Leur seule fonction est de s'accoupler avec une reine vierge. Les reines quittent la ruche à une ou deux reprises au tout début de leur existence pour s'accoupler avec un ou plusieurs faux bourdons, puis restent fertiles jusqu'à leur mort. Il arrive parfois, rarement, qu'une reine en fin de vie se trouve à court de semence mâle et se mette à pondre uniquement des oeufs non fécondés, mâles. Ces reines sont alors dites bourdonneuses, et leur colonie est condamnée à disparaître, dans la mesure où elles sont incapables d'engendrer de nouvelles ouvrières.Les colonies d'abeilles se développent progressivement, une grosse colonie pouvant comporter entre 50 000 et 60 000 individus, parfois plus. Lorsqu'une colonie atteint une certaine taille ou lorsqu'elle est surpeuplée, elle se reproduit par essaimage . L'essaimage survient --------pendant l'élevage des larves de plusieurs nouvelles reines à partir de cellules spéciales du nid à couvain appelées cellules royales. Une fois ces dernières operculées, la vieille reine quitte la ruche, accompagnée d'un essaim de 10 000 à 12 000 ouvrières, pour fonder ailleurs une nouvelle colonie. L'essaim se pose habituellement sur une branche d'arbre en formant un amas dense, puis des abeilles éclaireuse s partent pour rechercher un lieu propice à l'installation de la nouvelle colonie : arbre creux, fente dans un rocher ou ruche construite par l'homme. Lorsque l'essaim a choisi le site à coloniser, il s'y installe et les abeilles commencent immédiatement à construire de nouveaux rayons.Si la colonie d'origine est de grande taille, il arrive que d'autres essaims plus petits quittent la ruche à la suite du premier, chacun autour d'une ou de plusieurs reines vierges tout juste émergées. Une fois que la colonie, devenue moins nombreuse, « décide » de ne plus expulser d'essaim, une des reines vierges tue toutes les larves de reine qui subsistent. Si elle rencontre une autre reine vierge, elles se battent jusqu'à ce que l'une meure. La reine survivante quitte alors momentanément la colonie pour s'accoupler avec un ou plusieurs faux bourdons d'autres colonies, qu'elle va rejoindre dans des lieux de rassemblement de mâles, appelés « nuages de mâles ». Une fois qu'elle s'est accouplée, la reine revient à sa ruche et ne s'accouple jamais plus. La reine peut pondre des oeufs fécondés (oeufs d'ouvrières) ou non fécondés (oeufs de faux bourdons) en fonction des besoins de la colonie et selon la zone de la ruche où elle se trouve, dans une zone de cellules ordinaires d'ouvrières ou dans une zone de cellules, légèrement plus grandes, de faux bourdons.Lorsque la colonie a besoin d'une nouvelle reine, les abeilles construisent de une à vingt cellules d'aspect particulier, de grande taille, souvent au bord d'un rayon. Les oeufs fécondés qui y sont pondus par la vieille reine reçoivent alors une nourriture particulière et deviennent des reines.Si la reine est enlevée par l'apiculteur ou meurt subitement, les abeilles sélectionnent une larve d'ouvrière de moins de trois jours et convertissent sa cellule en cellule royale . Elles nourrissent alors cette larve avec une sécrétion glandulaire nommée gelée royale, et obtiennent ainsi une nouvelle reine.Les abeilles édifient les rayons parallèlement les uns aux autres en laissant entre eux un espacement régulier. Cet espacement est de 32 mm environ entre les axes, chez les races sauvages africaines , et de 38 mm environ chez les races européennes. Comme les abeilles respectent cette équidistance, il est possible de fabriquer des ruches dans lesquelles les rayons peuvent être retirés un par un, permettant à l'apiculteur de les inspecter ou de les enlever. Dès que les abeilles commencent à édifier le premier rayon, la reine commence à pondre dans les nouvelles cellules, alors que d'autres abeilles sortent chercher du nectar pour nourrir l'ensemble des adultes. Au fur et à mesure des éclosions, elles poursuivent leur quête de nectar et de pollen pour le couvain.Après trois jours, les oeufs éclosent et de minuscules larves en sortent, qui sont alors nourries de gelée royale pendant trois jours par des ouvrières nourrice s . Par la suite, leur régime alimentaire change et les larves reçoivent un mélange de pollen et de miel. Sept à huit jours après la ponte, les ouvrières scellent les cellules avec un opercule de cire et les larves se transforment en nymphes. Chez les abeilles africaines, l'adulte émerge de 19 à 20 jours après la ponte. Le développement des races européennes prend environ un jour de plus.Les reines émergent quant à elles seulement 15 à 16 jours après la ponte, tandis qu'à l'inverse le développement des faux bourdons s'étale sur 24 jours. Au fur et à mesure que la colonie grossit, les ouvrières construisent des rayons pour augmenter la taille du nid à couvain, puis construisent autour de celui-ci des rayons supplémentaires dans lesquels elles mettent du miel et du pollen en réserve.Le développement de la colonie dépend de la nature et du dynamisme des abeilles elles-mêmes, mais aussi des conditions météorologiques et de la floraison des plantes alentour. Si les abeilles sont travailleuses et si le temps est favorable, la colonie grandit assez rapidement. Dans des conditions idéales, une nouvelle colonie peut se développer et produire du miel dès la première saison, mais souvent ce n'est qu'au cours de la deuxième année qu'une colonie commence à produire un surplus de miel suffisant pour être récolté.Lorsque les abeilles rapportent le nectar des fleurs à la ruche, elles y ajoutent une enzyme, l'invertase , qui scinde le saccharose en lévulose et en dextrose . Par ailleurs, en ventilant la ruche avec leurs ailes, les abeilles créent des courants d'air qui évaporent l'eau du nectar, réduisant sa teneur de 80 % à 17 % environ. Lorsque le miel est mûr, il est scellé dans chaque cellule par un opercule de cire.Dans des conditions naturelles, les abeilles stockent le pollen dans les rayons situés immédiatement au-dessus ou à côté de la zone du couvain. Le miel est mis en réserve séparément, dans des rayons placés au-dessus des rayons à pollen et un peu plus loin du nid à couvain et de l'entrée de la ruche. Le miel et le pollen sont généralement mis en réserve dans des cellules d'ouvrières, les plus petites, mais il arrive que du miel soit également entreposé dans les cellules, plus grandes, des faux bourdons. Les abeilles recouvrent parfois les cellules remplies de pollen par une couche de miel ; ces cellules sont ensuite soit laissées ouvertes soit operculées.La conformation de la ruche détermine l'organisation du stockage du miel. Les abeilles commencent toujours par le rayon à couvain , puis construisent les rayons à miel là où l'espace est disponible. S'il y a de la place au-dessus du nid à couvain, comme dans les ruches à hausse s (extensions placées au-dessus de la zone du couvain), les abeilles y construisent leurs rayons à miel. Sinon, comme dans une ruche horizontale , elles construisent les rayons à miel sur les côtés, de part et d'autre du nid à couvain.Il semble que les abeilles n'aient pas vraiment de préférence en la matière, et les colonie s sauvages organisent leurs rayons de mille façons différentes. En subdivisant la ruche en plusieurs parties, les apiculteurs peuvent faire en sorte de récolter le miel sans trop déranger la colonie.Les abeilles adaptent leurs activités d'élevage du couvain en fonction des saisons et des ressources de miellée disponibles. Lorsqu'il n'y a pas de plantes en fleur ou que le temps est froid, les abeilles réduisent leurs activités à l'extérieur de la ruche. Il arrive que l'élevage du couvain s'interrompe complètement lorsque les conditions météorologiques sont défavorables. Les abeilles apprennent à quelle saison et à quel moment de la journée les différentes espèces de plantes produisent le plus de nectar . Aussi sont-elles parfois plus actives sur certaines espèces de fleurs tôt le matin et sur d'autres à midi ou le soir. Dans les régions à climat très chaud, elles tendent à ne sortir qu'aux heures les plus fraîches.Les abeilles emploient un système de communication perfectionné. Les ouvrières peuvent attirer l'attention de leurs congénères en exposant leur glande de Nassonov , située sur la face supérieure de leur abdomen, et en battant des ailes de manière à disperser autour d'elles une molécule odorante attractive (figure 3).De la même façon, les abeilles attirent leurs congénères vers l'entrée d'une nouvelle ruche au moment de l'essaimage. Les abeilles peuvent en outre diffuser des phérormones d'alerte en exposant leur aiguillon.Les butineuses communiquent également par des « danse s », au cours desquelles elles se déplacent d'une manière codifiée sur les rayons. Lorsqu'elles trouvent une source intéressante de nectar, de pollen ou d'eau, elles peuvent ainsi informer les autres abeilles de sa position précise par rapport à celle du soleil. Les abeilles éclaireuse s dansent parfois à la périphérie d'un essaim formé pour la recherche d'un nouveau site.Où pratiquer l'apiculture ?Les abeilles sont présentes, naturellement ou à la suite d'introduction par l'homme, sous pratiquement tous les climats , à l'exception des plus extrêmes. Tout milieu abritant un peu de végétation -y compris les zones urbaines -, est susceptible de les accueillir. Les cueilleurs ou « chasseurs » de miel sauvage des sociétés traditionnelles cherchent le miel auprès des colonie s d'abeilles sauvages occupant les cavités Les plantes produisent le plus de nectar lorsque le temps n'est ni trop froid ni trop chaud. Dans les régions à climat froid, les abeilles butinent donc par temps ensoleillé, tandis que, dans les régions chaudes, elles sortent surtout le soir et tôt le matin.Pour obtenir une bonne production de miel , il est indispensable qu'à certains moments il y ait des floraisons massives dans un rayon de 1 km autour de la ruche. Peu importe s'il y a également des périodes pendant lesquelles les fleurs sont rares. Les variations saisonnières régulières sont favorables à la conduite du rucher et à la production de miel. En effet, les régions caractérisées par des périodes sèches prolongées, entrecoupées de saisons de floraison nettement délimitées dans le temps, présentent souvent un meilleur potentiel que les régions à climat plus uniforme, où les floraisons sont plus étalées.Les milieux à végétation clairsemée ont souvent des rendements supérieurs à ceux cultivés de manière intensive, surtout lorsqu'ils présentent une flore riche en plantes mellifères dont les floraisons sont nettement saisonnières. Les savanes arborées sèches de type miombo de Tanzanie, de Zambie et d'Afrique du Sud, dominées par les espèces ligneuses Brachystegia et Julbernardia , sont ainsi des habitats à fort potentiel mellifère. Les zones boisées et les milieux à Acacia de l'arrière-côte kenyane et de la province de l'Est sont également excellents pour l'apiculture. Les savanes arborées des régions subsahariennes donnent aussi des rendements très satisfaisants, de même que la plupart des régions de la ceinture subsaharienne d'Afrique de l'Ouest.Bien qu'en région tropicale les rendements puissent s'avérer parfaitement corrects, les régions les plus productives du monde se trouvent en zone tempérée, où les abeilles disposent de longues journées et d'une abondance de plantes mellifères . C'est aussi dans ces régions que l'on peut le plus facilement avoir accès à l'expertise et à d'autres ressources utiles, réunissant ainsi les meilleures conditions pour la production de miel à grande échelle .Les lignées d'abeilles qui sont à la fois rustiques et laborieuses sont celles qui produisent les meilleurs résultats. Les abeilles africaines sont connues pour leur caractère agressif et il est beaucoup plus difficile de travailler avec elles qu'avec des abeilles d'origine européenne . Toutefois, on observe une grande variabilité entre colonies africaines, et même au sein d'un même rucher. Les colonies de grande taille tendent, sous climat chaud, à être plus agressives, tandis que des colonies plus petites, vivant dans des conditions relativement fraîches, peuvent s'avérer assez dociles. Il semblerait, au vu de certaines observations, que les colonies soient devenues plus agressives, les plus dociles ayant la plus forte probabilité d'être détruites par l'homme ou l'animal à la recherche de miel.Trois points sont essentiels à une bonne pratique apicole : assurer à la colonie suffisamment d'espace pour qu'elle puisse élever le couvain et stocker le miel, sélectionner et faire se reproduire des lignées à haut rendement, et protéger les abeilles des ravageurs et des maladies. Ces différents sujets seront traités plus en détail dans les chapitres 4, 5 et 6. L'apiculture sous les tropiques est une activité bien adaptée à l'agriculture familiale, et ce, à plusieurs titres : les abeilles sont plus productives lorsque les ruches ne sont pas trop nombreuses, les meilleurs résultats étant obtenus avec des ruchers de 10 à 20 ruches environ (figure 4), chaque rucher se trouvant à 2 km au moins des autres ruchers -bien que cette distance puisse être diminuée -si les ruchers comportent moins de ruches. L'apiculteur doit toujours avoir à l'esprit que la présence de colonies sauvages est vraisemblable. Dans les zones où les ressources de miellée sont particulièrement abondantes, le nombre de ruches peut être plus élevé ; le capital nécessaire et les coût s de fonctionnement sont relativement modestes. Des ruches simples peuvent être fabriquées par l'apiculteur lui-même ou par un artisan du village à l'aide de matériaux divers, peu onéreux et disponibles sur place. L'apiculture exige surtout du temps, une ressource encore relativement bon marché ; les abeilles ne constituent pas une charge supplémentaire pour la terre ;par leur activité pollinisatrice, les abeilles améliorent les rendements de beaucoup de cultures ; les abeilles diversifient les revenus tirés d'une exploitation agricole mixte ; le fermier ne dépend pas d'une seule et unique production ; lorsqu'ils sont correctement préparés, les produits issus de l'apiculture se conservent parfaitement pendant des années, jusqu'à ce qu'ils soient consommés ou vendus. À l'inverse, les entreprises apicoles de grande dimension, bien qu'envisageables par endroits, rencontrent un succès mitigé dans les régions Toutefois, si ces diverses contraintes peuvent être surmontées, les entreprises apicoles peuvent réaliser des profits et même présenter un potentiel de développement considérable dans les régions tropicales et subtropicales.On entretient des ruches par plaisir, pour le profit ou pour la recherche, mais quelle qu'en soit la raison, l'apiculture est, ou devrait être, réservée aux passionnés. Tout le monde ne ressent pas de l'intérêt , du désir ou une affinité particulière pour le travail au contact des abeilles. Les agriculteurs devraient néanmoins être encouragés à acquérir une certaine connaissance de l'apiculture et de ses potentialités en matière de pollinisation des cultures et de production de miel et de cire. L'apiculture ne convient pas à ceux et celles qui sont allergiques aux piqûres d'abeille, car tous les apiculteurs se font inévitablement piquer de temps à autre.Traditionnellement, les apiculteurs acquièrent leur savoir-faire au contact de parents ou de voisins, mais c'est surtout par la motivation et l'expérience personnelle que l'expertise se forge. Les progrès récents des technologies de l'information ont rendu l'accès aux connaissances beaucoup plus facile. La qualité de ces conseils est toutefois variable. Le mieux est souvent de s'adresser à un apiculteur de la région qui obtient de bons résultats. Des livres tels que celui-ci s'avèrent également utiles ! Des cours d'apiculture sont parfois dispensés par les institutions en charge de l'apiculture, de l'agriculture ou des forêts. Des renseignements plus précis à ce sujet peuvent être obtenus sur place ou auprès ----de Bees for Development (Abeilles pour le développement) ou de l'International Bee Research Association (Association internationale pour la recherche sur les abeilles). Les meilleures formations sont celles qui proposent beaucoup de travaux pratiques. De bonnes notes de cours, des brochures et des livres seront très utiles pour s'assurer qu'une formation est adaptée à l'aspirant apiculteur. Une base théorique solide pourra aider ce dernier à comprendre et à appliquer les principes, mais « c'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron ». Un cours qui explique les raisons sous-jacentes et l'importance du mode de construction particulier d'une ruche à barrettes kenyane s'avérera plus utile qu'une exposition détaillée de l'anatomie de l'abeille, qui pourra être étudiée dans un livre. Pour la formation des conseillers en apiculture, il est également tout aussi important de s'assurer que l'instructeur a une bonne expérience pratique de l'apiculture.En Afrique, les personnes qui s'occupent d'abeilles et de miel sont traditionnellement des hommes adultes. Cela se justifie lorsque les ruches sont éloignées de l'habitation et que les techniques de récolte exigent de grimper dans des arbres et de se débarrasser de ses vêtements. Mais dès lors que le rucher est situé plus près de la maison, que les ruches sont bien conçues et que l'on porte des vêtements de protection, l'apiculture peut aussi bien être pratiquée par des femmes ou des adolescents. La plupart des femmes africaines ont suffisamment de force pour porter du miel, y compris dans des hausses, exactement comme elles le font pour le bois de feu et l'eau. Le miel qu'elles produisent les aide à nourrir leur famille ou à générer un revenu. Les femmes peuvent apprendre aussi bien que les hommes auprès d'apiculteurs expérimentés, mais, dans certaines sociétés, il s'avère plus judicieux d'organiser des formations qui leur soient réservées.Les apiculteurs, hommes ou femmes, doivent porter un vêtement approprié. Des pantalons longs avec une chemise épaisse et un voile, des gants et des chaussures peuvent offrir une certaine protection contre les piqûre s, mais ce n'est pas le cas d'une robe, d'un boubou ou d'un tissu léger en coton. Il est beaucoup plus efficace de porter une salopette ou un bleu de travail suffisamment large, passé par-dessus des vêtements ordinaires.Pour faire du miel, les abeilles ont besoin d'une certaine diversité de plantes cultivées ou spontanées -arbres, arbustes et plantes annuelles -produisant des fleurs à nectar. Une liste d'arbres, d'arbustes et d'autres plantes attirant les abeilles domestiques est présentée dans le tableau 1. Cependant, certains facteurs géographiques peuvent intervenir et faire en sorte qu'une espèce intéressante dans une région ne l'est plus dans une autre.Les espèces suivantes présentent un intérêt minime pour les abeilles : le cyprès, la bougainvillée, l'acacia de Mearns ou acacia noir, l'acacia doré, le lantanier, le pyrèthre, les théiers.Tableau 1. Les plantes utiles en apiculture. Les ruches : principes généraux Une ruche est un abri destiné à accueillir convenablement une colonie d'abeilles. Une ruche bien conçue doit protéger ses occupants des conditions météorologiques défavorables et des ravageurs, et permettre que le miel soit récolté avec le minimum de dérangement. Elle facilite le suivi des colonies et la récolte du miel, et permet donc à l'apiculteur d'obtenir les meilleurs rendements en produits apicoles, par rapport à la quantité de travail et au capital qu'il y a investis. Toute ruche appartient à l'une ou l'autre des trois catégories suivantes, en version simple ou composée : les ruches à rayons fixes ou ruches fixes ; les ruches à rayons mobiles ; les ruches à cadres mobiles.Les ruches simples ne comprennent qu'une seule « pièce », dans laquelle les abeilles installent leur nid à couvain et leurs réserves de miel, en général dans des endroits différents. Le couvain est le coeur de la colonie. C'est là que la reine se trouve, que les oeufs sont pondus, et que les larves sont élevées jusqu'au stade adulte. Le pollen est stocké autour du nid à couvain, et le miel de chaque côté ou au-dessus. Les ruches composées comportent plusieurs sous-unités distinctes, dont certaines sont réservées au couvain et d'autres au miel. Une grille à reine est souvent insérée entre les parties dévolues au couvain (le corps de ruche ) et celles consacrées au miel (en général appelées hausses), afin d'empêcher la reine d'aller pondre ailleurs que dans l'espace qui lui est alloué. La grille à reine est un écran en métal ou en plastique qui laisse passer les ouvrières mais retient la reine, dont le thorax est plus volumineux. Elle exclut également le passage des faux bourdons, qui sont eux aussi plus grands que les ouvrières. On équipe parfois des ruches simples avec une grille à reine pour subdiviser l'espace unique en plusieurs secteurs destinés au couvain ou au miel. Toute grille dont les mailles font un peu plus de 6 mm, le coffee tray mesh en Afrique de l'Est par exemple, peut être utilisée en lieu et place des grilles à reine vendues comme telles dans le commerce.La conception des ruches fait souvent appel à la notion de « passage d'abeille ». Il s'agit d'un espace de la taille d'une abeille (soit de 6 à 10 mm), permettant tout juste le passage d'un individu. Les abeilles ne condamnent jamais un espace de cette dimension, tandis qu'elles colmatent généralement toutes les fissures et ouvertures plus petites avec de la propolis pour empêcher les ravageurs éventuels (tels que les coléoptères et les fausses teignes) de s'y cacher. Elles utilisent la propolis non seulement pour boucher et sceller toutes les petites cavités et fentes présentes dans la ruche, mais également pour réduire la taille de l'entrée, le cas échéant.Les ruches à cadres mobiles exploitent ce principe de passage d'abeille. Tant que ces ruches sont réalisées avec précision, les abeilles n'attachent pas le bord des cadres aux parois de la ruche et l'apiculteur peut facilement les retirer. Si l'espace laissé autour des cadres est trop large, les abeilles sont susceptibles de le remplir en y construisant des rayons supplémentaires appelés « fausses constructions ». À l'inverse, si cet espace est trop étroit, le cadre peut être collé aux parois de la ruche par de la propolis. Dans un cas comme dans l'autre, il est plus difficile de retirer les cadres et les rayons de la ruche.L'apiculteur doit donc bien réfléchir au type de ruche adapté à sa situation. Un équipement apicole de pointe n'est pas forcément le plus rentable : un tel système demande beaucoup de matériel, de savoir-faire et d'attention, et le projet est susceptible d'échouer si l'un ou l'autre est déficient. Les modèles de ruches plus simples sont souvent amortis en une ou deux saisons de production, et si par hasard une ruche doit rester vide pour une raison ou une autre, le manque à gagner est sans grande conséquence. Mieux vaut souvent commencer avec des ruches de conception et de coût plus modestes et attendre qu'elles fassent leurs preuves, avant d'envisager une installation plus sophistiquée. Toutefois, si d'autres apiculteurs utilisent avec succès des ruches à cadres mobiles dans la même région, il peut s'avérer intéressant de suivre leur exemple -sans oublier toutefois que des conseils mal avisés et un matériel inapproprié peuvent accabler un apiculteur de dettes inutiles. Le tableau 2 propose les types de ruches qui correspondent le mieux aux ressources disponibles et aux objectifs de production.Le choix des ruches n'influence pas en soi la quantité de miel produite tant que la ruche est suffisamment spacieuse. L'objectif de la construction est de rendre aisé la conduite des colonies. Les ruches à cadres mobiles sont les plus modernes et les plus utilisées dans les grandes exploitations apicoles commerciales du monde entier. Mais elles ne sont pas forcément les mieux adaptées aux conditions qui prévalent dans les pays en voie de développement, où elles sont, de surcroît, souvent chères et difficiles à trouver. Il est important de prendre en compte le coût de la ruche et la facilité de production du miel qui dépendent de la disponibilité locale des matériaux nécessaires à son exploitation, l'objectif étant de maximiser la quantité de miel ou le revenu. Les tableaux 3 et 4 donnent quelques indications, certes très générales, mais susceptibles d'aider les aspirants apiculteurs à opter pour l'un ou l'autre des systèmes.   Les ruches cylindriques sont le plus souvent installées dans la frondaison d'un arbre ou accrochées à une grosse branche par un bâton ou des fils de fer. Suspendre ainsi les ruches permet de leur garantir une certaine protection contre les ravageurs, notamment les termites, les fourmis et les ratels. En outre, dans les arbres, les ruches restent plus fraîches que près du sol -surtout quand il s'agit de sols sableux et en partie dénudés, irradiant beaucoup de chaleur. Lorsque les conditions environnementales sont plus humides, les ruches sont parfois posées sur des piquets fourchus plantés dans le sol.Ces ruches peuvent être fabriquées avec des matières premières très diverses, y compris des branches fines, du bambou, de l'herbe, des roseaux et des fibres de bananier (figures 9 et 10). Elles sont parfois recouvertes de feuilles, d'argile ou d'un mélange d'argile et de bouse de vache. Ces modèles sont particulièrement répandus dans le sud du Sahel, au Soudan et en Éthiopie.Les ruches cloches en paille traditionnelles d'Europe sont faites avec des tresses de paille (d'environ 2,5 cm de diamètre), liées par un autre matériau tel que des joncs refendus. Bien que ces ruches ne soient plus beaucoup utilisées sur leur continent d'origine, le modèle peut servir en zone tropicale. Les ruches cloches peuvent être fabriquées avec tout matériau convenant à ce type de vannerie, tel que des fibres de bananier, des feuilles de palmier ou des roseaux (figure 11). Les modèles de grande taille sont plus spacieux et permettent donc, en théorie, de  produire plus de miel. Les meilleurs sont les modèles composés, également dits « à calotte », qui comportent un deuxième panier plus petit coiffant le premier à l'instar d'une hausse . Le miel ainsi mis en réserve dans cette hausse, encore appelée « grenier » ou « panier à miel », peut être récolté sans déranger le nid à couvain qui se trouve dans le corps de ruche. La simplicité et le faible coût des ruches cloches en fibre font de ce modèle l'un des plus intéressants pour les apiculteurs qui travaillent à petite échelle .Les ruches cloches composées comportent trois parties : le plateau , ou plancher, qui soutient le corps de ruche , en bois, en panneau de particules, en panneau de fibres comprimées ou tout autre matériau similaire ; le corps de ruche, la partie la plus importante, dans laquelle la colonie s'installe et élève le couvain. Il doit être assez spacieux pour que les abeilles puissent y bâtir un nid à couvain de bonne taille sans se --sentir à l'étroit. À titre indicatif, les dimensions internes devraient être d'environ 30 cm de profondeur sur 45 cm de diamètre. Le dessus doit être relativement plat et percé en son centre d'un orifice de 6 cm de diamètre. L'entrée de la ruche se trouve à la base du corps de ruche ; la hausse , une deuxième cloche dans laquelle les abeilles emmagasinent le miel (figure 12). Cette cloche, plus petite que le corps de ruche, est placée par-dessus ce dernier, une fois que les abeilles se sont installées et lorsque les perspectives de miellée sont bonnes. La hausse fait environ 15 cm de profondeur et 40 cm de diamètre, afin de pouvoir se poser de façon stable sur le corps de ruche.Beaucoup d'apiculteurs enfilent de solides baguettes dans leurs ruches cloches en fibre, de sorte que deux forment au angle droit avec deux autres. Lorsque les abeilles construisent leurs rayons de haut en bas, elles les arriment à ces baguettes, ce qui les renforce considérablement.  Ces attaches sont particulièrement précieuses lorsque les ruches doivent être déplacées pour les transhumance s d'une ressource de miellée à une autre, comme souvent en Europe, ou pour être vendues au marché.En Afrique, où les races d'abeilles ne se prêtent pas facilement aux méthodes de conduite des ruches à cadres mobiles, les principes de la ruche cloche s'avèrent particulièrement appropriés. D'après Smith (2003), les ruches cloches en fibre « sont probablement les ruches simples les plus fonctionnelles jamais utilisées ».Comme toutes les ruches, les ruches cloches en fibre doivent être installées avec soin, éventuellement sur un socle spécial ou suspendues à une branche. Il est impératif de les protéger de la pluie pour éviter que le matériau constitutif ne pourrisse. Placer les ruches sous un abri à la hauteur du sol est une solution, mais cela les expose aux attaques des ravageurs. Les recouvrir d'une couche d'argile et de bouse de vache leur donne par ailleurs un peu plus de protection.Des ruches en argile ou en terre cuite ont été traditionnellement utilisées en Afrique du Nord et dans la région méditerranéenne. Certains Les ruches en argile peuvent être perfectionnées en utilisant les pots deux par deux, l'un constituant le corps de ruche et le second, un peu plus petit, la hausse. Le principe reste le même que pour toute ruche à hausse. La ruche d'Omdurman , défendue par King (1932), est une innovation africaine fondée sur une technique traditionnelle. Elle est peu connue mais bien conçue. L'idée s'inspire sans doute de la ruche cloche composée en paille, dont le modèle d'Omdurman conserve les trois parties : le plateau , le corps de ruche et la hausse (figure 13). Une ruche similaire peut être construite avec deux pots en terre superposés avec l'ouverture vers le bas, un trou percé dans le fond du pot inférieur (dans le « plafond » du corps de ruche) permettant la communication entre les deux. Ce type de ruche en argile est utilisé avec succès au Kenya. La « ruche tronc » réalisée en terre, préconisée par Maurice Chaudière (2005), permet aussi d'augmenter la capacité du corps de la ruche en disposant, sous la cloche initiale, des anneaux de terre cuite supplémentaires ; cela permet de démonter la pile d'anneaux ainsi constituée, pour la récolte du miel.La manière la plus facile et la plus efficace de fabriquer des ruches en terre est de recycler deux pots traditionnels en argile à ouverture large et plate, l'un étant posé à l'envers sur l'autre (figure 14). Le pot le plus grand sert de corps de ruche et le plus petit, moins profond, sert de hausse. Une planchette en bois, légèrement plus large que le grand pot, sépare les deux. Un trou de 60 mm de diamètre y est percé, et gardé fermé jusqu'à ce que la colonie se soit bien installée dans le pot inférieur. Un fil de fer solidement attaché au col de ce dernier permet de suspendre le tout à une branche. L'entrée de la ruche est constituée d'une dizaine de trous d'un peu moins de 1 cm de diamètre percés dans la base. Le second pot, la hausse, est posé à l'envers sur la planchette, soit au moment de l'installation, soit plus tard. Une fois la colonie bien installée, le trou dans la planchette est découvert pour que les abeilles puissent avoir accès à la hausse et y construire des rayons à miel (figure 15). Ces ruches doivent absolument être protégées du soleil.En Asie du Sud-Est, où il existe à l'état sauvage, le bambou est utilisé par les colonies d'abeilles sauvages, comme par les apiculteurs. Des     ruches en bambou sont aussi employées à Madagascar. Une ruche peut être réalisée à partir d'un tronçon de gros bambou (si possible entre 10 et 15 cm de diamètre) comportant quatre entre-noeuds. Des trappes d'accès sont découpées dans la face inférieure (figure 16). Les deux entre-noeuds centraux sont regroupés en détruisant la cloison qui les sépare, pour constituer la partie de la ruche dévolue au couvain. Les entre-noeuds latéraux servent au stockage du miel. Les cloisons qui séparent la zone centrale des deux zones latérales peuvent être percées de trous de 6 à 10 mm de diamètre pour retenir la reine tout en laissant passer les ouvrières, à la manière d'une grille à reine « naturelle » (figure 17).Des ruches à rayons fixes modernes peuvent être réalisées en ciment, en panneaux manufacturés, en matière plastique ou à partir de récipients de natures diverses. Le ciment mérite d'être pris en considération dans les régions où ses composants sont faciles à obtenir, surtout lorsque les matériaux plus traditionnels sont rares. Les ruches en ciment peuvent s'inspirer des modèles en argile (figure 18) ou, si le fabricant en a le savoir-faire, être conçues pour fonctionner avec des barrettes. En renforçant le ciment avec un matériau fibreux, il devient possible de réaliser des parois plus fines et plus légères et de mouler la forme de la ruche sur un gabarit, ce qui exige toutefois une certaine compétence technique.Le ciment est un matériau souvent bon marché. Il est solide, dure longtemps et garantit un bon niveau de protection contre les ravageurs et les aléas météorologiques. Cependant, comme il se prête difficilement aux travaux de haute précision, ce matériau est plus adapté aux ruches à rayons fixes. Il reste que des ruches à barrettes simples ont été construites en ciment en Éthiopie, en Zambie et en Gambie (où elles ont été coulées dans un moule creusé dans le sol). En Inde, des ruches à cadres mobiles ont même été construites en ciment ; elles sont réputées plus durables et moins chères que leur équivalent en bois.Quelques types de panneaux artificiels ont été testés avec un succès mitigé. Le contreplaqué est intéressant mais ne résiste pas longtemps lorsqu'il est exposé aux intempéries. Le contreplaqué « qualité marine », épais, tend à être trop coûteux et le contreplaqué classique requiert une architecture assez compliquée pour le renforcer. Les panneaux comprimés, en fibres dures, sont souvent grignotés par les abeilles, à moins d'être très épais et donc onéreux. Les panneaux non 3. Le matériel apicole comprimés, en fibres tendres, sont de même facilement mis en pièces par les abeilles et ne résistent pas non plus aux intempéries. L'aggloméré (panneaux de particules) tend à se défaire lorsqu'il est exposé en plein air, et les abeilles finissent également par le ronger après un an ou deux. Les panneaux d'un seul bloc ne sont pas assez solides pour une utilisation à long terme, tandis que le polystyrène expansé (mousse de polystyrène) et autres assimilés ne résistent vraisemblablement pas longtemps aux abeilles. Il serait néanmoins intéressant de tester certains panneaux de carton rigide ou de fibres modernes, du moment que ces matériaux sont à la fois durables et non toxiques pour les abeilles. En Afrique australe, des apiculteurs ont utilisé avec quelque succès un matériau en plastique mince, souple, rappelant le carton ondulé (par exemple la ruche horizontale de Jackson, voir le site www. rupertshoney.co.za).Le plastique est un matériau bon marché doté d'un potentiel considérable dans le domaine de l'apiculture. On le trouve sous des formes de plus en plus diverses. Ainsi est-il possible de créer une ruche à rayons fixes avec un seau en plastique et un pot de fleur en terre cuite, ce dernier présentant une surface légèrement rugueuse sur laquelle les abeilles grimpent facilement. De même, une ruche à rayons fixes composée peut facilement être réalisée en superposant deux récipients en plastique séparés par une planchette (figure 19). Un trou d'environ 6 cm de diamètre permet aux abeilles de passer du corps de ruche dans la hausse, où elles accumulent le miel. Une entrée peut être ménagée dans la base de la partie inférieure, en perçant une dizaine de trous d'un peu moins de 1 cm de diamètre. Cependant, comme la matière plastique n'est pas poreuse, contrairement au bois et à l'argile, il est très important de percer suffisamment d'orifices pour que la ruche soit bien ventilée. Il vaut mieux percer trop de trous que pas assez, car les abeilles sont capables de reboucher ceux qu'elles estiment inutiles avec de la propolis. Les ouvrages retraçant l'histoire de l'apiculture mentionnent des ruches en paille surmontées de cloches en verre transparent. Les abeilles entreposent le miel dans ces bocaux, qui sont eux-mêmes protégés par un panier extérieur plus grand. Des bocaux en plastique transparent, voire des morceaux de tuyau de gros diamètre, pourraient trouver un emploi similaire.Des boîtes en bois , des cuvettes en étain et d'autres récipients d'origines diverses sont souvent convertis en ruches improvisées (figure 20). En effet, les colonies d'abeilles sauvages s'installent quelquefois dans de simples boîtes en carton abandonnées. Le principal avantage de ce type de ruche est leur très faible coût . Il faut tout de même s'assurer qu'elles sont assez solides pour supporter le poids d'une colonie bien établie, qui atteint facilement de 20 à 30 kg. Le carton ne convient pas vraiment car il se désagrège dès qu'il se mouille, finit généralement grignoté par les abeilles et n'est pas assez fort pour soutenir le poids d'une grosse colonie. D'autres types de récipient peuvent être transformés en ruche en les plaçant dans un endroit où des essaims Les ruches à rayons mobiles sont conçues pour que chaque rayon puisse être enlevé, examiné et replacé séparément. Le type de ruche à rayons mobiles le mieux connu et le plus utilisé est la ruche à barrettes . Dans ces ruches, les abeilles construisent leurs rayons accrochés à de petites barres (généralement en bois) mesurées pour accueillir chacune un seul rayon. Ce type de ruche dérive de la ruche à panier grecque, de conception ancienne mais encore utilisée en Grèce et ailleurs. La ruche à panier grecque présente des barres de bois rugueux, arrondies en dessous, posées en travers du panier. Celui-ci est protégé par un crépi de terre ou de bouse de vache et surmonté d'un toit en chaume. La ruche à panier grecque est installée au sol, sur un socle simple. L'astuce fonctionnelle de cette ruche tient au fait que ses parois s'évasent vers le haut. Cette inclinaison décourage les abeilles d'y souder les rayons, comme elles pourraient le faire si les parois étaient verticales. Un des inconvénients de la ruche grecque d'origine est que les barrettes sont de tailles différentes pour pouvoir s'adapter à la forme arrondie du panier, et qu'elles ne sont donc pas interchangeables. Nombre de modèles de ruches à barrettes ont été mis au point plus récemment pour l'Afrique. Elles varient en taille, en forme et en certains points de détail, mais les principes de base restent les mêmes. Comme dans le cas des ruches à rayons fixes, tout matériau résistant aux intempéries, suffisamment solide et bien accepté par les abeilles peut être employé pour construire la structure de la ruche. Les ruches à barrettes sont le plus souvent faites en bois, mais le ciment, l'argile, les briques en terre, la fibre de verre et les plaques de métal ont tous été utilisés. Des ruches en bois avec parois en roseaux ont été utilisées au Kenya, et des ruches en briques de terre en Zambie. Ces dernières sont toutefois relativement chères. Les matériaux artificiels, et surtout le plastique, le plastique ondulé et divers types de panneaux de  La ruche devient alors vite surpeuplée et la colonie essaime, ce qui revient à une perte d'abeilles, sauf si les essaims sont recueillis dans de nouvelles ruches.La ruche à barrettes kenyane (figure 22) est une ruche horizontale , généralement en bois, conçue pour accueillir 28 barrettes de 48 cm de longueur. Les deux petits côtés de la ruche sont verticaux, mais les grands côtés présentent une pente de 60° environ, leurs bords supérieurs s'écartant l'un de l'autre. L'entrée de la ruche peut être indifféremment aménagée en bas d'un grand ou d'un petit côté. Lors de la découpe, les pièces formant les quatre côtés doivent avoir la même hauteur pour que, une fois la ruche montée, les deux extrémités soient légèrement plus hautes que les grands côtés inclinés. Cela permet de replacer le toit de la ruche sans écraser les abeilles qui seraient posées sur les barrettes. Les bords supérieurs des grands côtés ne doivent pas être aplanis mais au contraire laissés en biais afin que les barrettes reposent sur une arête (figure 23). De cette manière, il est plus facile de faire glisser plusieurs barrettes à la fois le long de la ruche. Qui plus est, moins d'abeilles seront accidentellement écrasées sur une arête que sur une surface plate.  Il existe plusieurs types de ruches à barrettes à parois verticales au Botswana, certaines en bois, d'autres en carton enduit de bouse de vache ou en branches fines plâtrées d'argile et de bouse de vache. Au Cameroun, les apiculteurs ont construit des ruches ressemblant au modèle kenyan, mais légèrement plus grandes, avec des barrettes de 50 cm et des parois latérales presque verticales. Les barrettes sont en bois tandis que la ruche elle-même est faite en rachis de feuilles de palmier raphia, un matériau à la fois économique et durable (figure 24). Le raphia a également été employé en République démocratique du Congo, où des segments de rachis de raphia sont utilisés en guise de barrettes. Toutefois, les ruches en raphia, comme toutes les ruches en fibres naturelles, doivent être abritées de la pluie si on veut qu'elles durent plus que quelques saisons. Dans certaines régions, des ruches à barrettes en bois semblent avoir été mises au point indépendamment du modèle kenyan, comme aux Seychelles, ou comme la ruche David au Sénégal.Le plus important, dans une ruche à barrettes, ce sont les barrettes elles-mêmes. Elles doivent être réalisées avec soin, dans un bois de qualité et bien sec, afin de ne pas se déformer par la suite. Les bois durs, s'ils sont disponibles, sont plus durables que les bois tendres ou les résineux. Si le bois de camphrier et de cèdre conviennent malgré leur odeur forte, le bois de Oncoba welwitschii , connu sous le nom de kisani au Kenya, doit être évité, car il est réputé toxique pour les abeilles. Les barrettes doivent avoir une largeur de 32 mm pour les abeilles africaines et de 38 mm pour les abeilles européennes. Cette mesure correspond à l'intervalle que les abeilles utilisent naturellement lorsqu'elles bâtissent leurs rayons. Les barrettes ont généralement une épaisseur de 10 mm et une longueur de 48 cm, ce qui correspond à la longueur standard des têtes de cadres des ruches à cadres mobiles Dadant et Langstroth. L'intérêt d'adopter une longueur standardisée est de pouvoir utiliser ces barrettes dans toutes les ruches, y compris dans des ruches à cadres mobiles. La plupart des ruches à barrettes de modèle horizontal simple contiennent environ 28 barrettes. Une ruche Langstroth en contient 10 dans le corps de ruche et 10 dans chaque hausse . Plusieurs types de barrettes sont couramment utilisés (figure 25).Les abeilles sont encouragées à construire leurs rayons le long de la barrette sur une amorce en cire d'abeille (gaufrée ou non). Cette amorce de cire doit faire au moins 1 cm de largeur sur toute la longueur de la barrette. Elle est glissée dans un trait de scie de 2 mm de profondeur réalisé le long de la face inférieure de la barrette, et scellée de chaque côté, sur toute sa longueur, avec un filet de cire fondue (voir le chapitre 5). S'il n'est pas possible de se procurer des feuilles de cire, une fine languette de bois ou d'un autre matériau de 1 cm de longueur peut faire l'affaire. Des amorces peuvent également être réalisées avec du papier rigide ou du carton trempé dans de la cire fondue, mais les abeilles tendent à grignoter ces matériaux pendant les périodes de moindre activité.Ce type de barrette est facile à fabriquer et donne de bons résultats. Équiper les barrettes d'amorces en cire mérite que l'on y passe le temps nécessaire, car les rayons ont ainsi plus de chances d'être bien alignés. En outre, bien que les amorces utilisent une quantité non négligeable de cire, celle-ci n'est pas perdue.Certains apiculteurs préfèrent les barrettes en V . Les abeilles suivent en général assez bien l'arête du V, mais ces barrettes sont plus difficiles à fabriquer et, comme elles sont plus épaisses, nécessitent plus de bois. Un autre inconvénient est l'arrimage plus ou moins solide des rayons à l'arête du V : ceux-ci doivent être manipulés avec soin pour éviter les décollements. En revanche, les barrettes en V sont faciles à préparer ; l'arête est simplement enduite de cire, soit en y frottant un morceau de cire, soit en la trempant dans de la cire fondue.Il existe également des barrettes en bois équipées d'une petite saillie longitudinale en guise d'amorce. Ce modèle, difficile à réaliser, consomme aussi plus de bois. En outre, si l'amorce en bois est trop petite, les abeilles n'en tiennent pas compte : il en résulte des rayons construits en travers des barrettes, qui ne peuvent être retirés sans être cassés. Ce type de barrette est la première cause d'échec des ruches à barrettes.Il est également possible de se servir de barrettes de facture assez rudimentaire, à face inférieure arrondie, comme celles des anciennes ruches à panier grecques. Des barrettes rondes , constituées de tronçons de branches fines, ont été employées en Afrique du Sud. Les barrettes, régulièrement espacées, viennent se loger dans des encoches découpées dans une bande de métal fixée de chaque côté du corps de ruche. Le haut du casier a les mêmes dimensions qu'une ruche Langstroth et reçoit des hausses standards Langstroth, elles-mêmes équipées de cadres mobiles (voir Crane 1990 pour plus d'information). Lorsque des bâtons sont ainsi utilisés en guise de barrettes, l'axe de chacun doit être placé à 32 mm de celui de ses voisins, laissant un interstice entre eux pour le passage des abeilles. Une ruche ainsi aménagée est moins facile à gérer qu'une ruche avec des barrettes en bois découpé, parce que la reine peut aller dans la hausse, s'il y en a. Des segments de bambou pourraient trouver le même emploi.Les barrettes peuvent être encore perfectionnées en renforçant l'attache des rayons par des petites lamelles de bois glissées dans des trous percés dans la barrette à un angle de 45° environ. Bien que l'idée soit intéressante, ces renforcements ne devraient pas être nécessaires si les rayons sont manipulés avec soin. La figure 26    Les ruches composées ont l'avantage de maintenir séparés le miel et le couvain. Dans les bonnes régions apicoles, lorsqu'une hausse peut amasser jusqu'à 10 kg de miel en une seule saison, elles sont plus intéressantes que les ruches simples. Le miel peut être récolté en enlevant la hausse entière en une seule opération.L'auteur a mis au point une ruche à barrettes composée en adaptant une ruche Langstroth (Paterson, 1988). Cette ruche présente des hausses amovibles mais est plus facile à fabriquer qu'une ruche à cadres mobiles car elle n'exige pas le même degré de précision. Elle est réalisée aux mêmes dimensions qu'une ruche Langstroth, les cadres étant remplacés par des barrettes. Le corps de ruche fait 23 cm de hauteur, 35,5 cm de largeur intérieure (40,5 cm à l'extérieur) et 46 cm de longueur intérieure (51 cm à l'extérieur). Le plancher peut être solidaire du corps de ruche ou indépendant. Il est conseillé d'utiliser des hausses de 17 cm de hauteur, mais il est possible d'employer des hausses moins hautes. Le bord supérieur interne des petits côtés du corps de ruche et des hausses doit être feuilluré, c'est-à-dire découpé pour former un rebord intérieur de 12 mm de largeur sur 13 mm de profondeur (appelé feuillard ), sur lequel sont posées les barrettes. Cette ruche ne comporte ni couvre-cadres, ni grille à reine.Le corps de ruche, comme chaque hausse, accueille 10 barrettes, placées les unes contre les autres, sans interstices, mais en laissant un espace de part et d'autre de la série de dix, de manière à ce que les abeilles puissent passer entre les parois de la ruche et les barrettes les plus externes. Le tout agit ainsi un peu à la manière d'un couvre-cadres , les abeilles ne pouvant passer entre les barrettes serrées les unes contre les autres. Elles circulent dans la ruche -pour gagner l'étage supérieur ou pour patrouiller contre les fourmis et autres ravageurs -en passant de chaque côté des groupes de dix barrettes. Le haut de la ruche est recouvert d'un toit qui peut être constitué de tout matériau plat. Un toit en bois recouvert d'un revêtement imperméable est idéal.Lorsque ces dimensions sont soigneusement respectées, la ruche se trouve aux normes internationales et ses composants peuvent être utilisés dans d'autres ruches. Toutefois, la plupart de ces dimensions peuvent être adaptées en fonction des disponibilités locales en bois. Les dimensions les plus importantes sont celles des barrettes. Si une variation de ces dernières de quelques millimètres en largeur est acceptable, leur longueur doit rester la même pour toutes les ruches.Les ruches à cadres mobiles sont les plus évoluées et sont utilisées dans les grandes exploitations apicoles commerciales du monde entier. La première a été mise au point en 1851 par le révérend Langstroth . Un grand nombre de modèles différents existent aujourd'hui, mais la ruche Langstroth a fait ses preuves et demeure le modèle moderne le plus populaire au monde. La ruche Dadant est une autre ruche à cadres mobiles très appréciée, de conception américaine. Légèrement plus grande que la ruche Langstroth, sa manutention demande une certaine force. La ruche Smith , inventée en Grande-Bretagne par un apiculteur professionnel, est un autre type de ruche à cadres mobiles, de dimensions plus réduites.Tous ces modèles sont conçus pour recevoir des hausses, ce qui permet aux apiculteurs de moduler la taille de leurs ruches en fonction des conditions de l'environnement et de récolter le miel par hausse plutôt que par rayon. Certains apiculteurs préfèrent néanmoins les ruches horizontales simples, dont le manque de hauteur est compensé par un plus grand nombre de cadres -jusqu'à 28 au lieu des 10 habituellement trouvés dans chaque étage des ruches Langstroth. Les ruches à cadres mobiles horizontales sont plus intéressantes dans les régions où l'apiculteur s'attend à une production faible et récolte le miel par rayon plutôt que par hausse entière. Les ruches horizontales sont aussi plus faciles à exploiter pour les personnes qui n'ont pas la force de porter des hausses lourdes. Maurice Chaudière (2005) a ainsi conçu une ruche horizontale à deux reines, l'« Extensible », de manipulation facile, performante et simple. Elle permet notamment de lutter biologiquement contre la varroase (voir chapitre 6).Les ruches à cadres mobiles doivent absolument être réalisées avec la plus grande précision dans du bois de bonne qualité et bien sec. Elles sont conçues sur le principe du passage d'abeille , et les dimensions des différentes parties doivent être exactes pour que les cadres demeurent mobiles. Ces ruches sont donc relativement coûteuses, bien que l'arrivée sur le marché de matériaux artificiels soit peut-être en mesure de faire un peu baisser les prix.Les ruches à cadres mobiles comportent plusieurs parties (figure 28). Le plateau en forme la base et soutient le reste de la ruche. Le corps de ruche , posé sur le plateau , constitue le coeur de la colonie, dans lequel la reine demeure et pond les oeufs. Le corps de ruche contient habituellement 10 cadres suspendus par leurs oreilles, posées sur les feuillards découpés dans les deux extrémités du casier. Les abeilles construisent leurs rayons sur les cadres, en général à partir d'une feuille de cire gaufrée. La cire gaufrée vendue dans le commerce est faite en cire d'abeille moulée en feuilles, sur lesquelles sont imprimées les bases hexagonales des cellules. Les abeilles construisent leurs rayons en poursuivant avec de la cire l'édification des cellules ébauchées, jusqu'à ce qu'elles atteignent leur profondeur définitive. Il est courant de renforcer à l'intérieur du cadre les feuilles de cire gaufrée avec des fils de fer fins et solides. Posée sur le corps de ruche, une grille empêche la reine d'aller pondre dans les hausses, qui sont réservées au miel. Comme le corps de ruche, les hausses contiennent des cadres et des rayons dans lesquels les abeilles emmagasinent le miel.Lorsque l'apiculteur souhaite agrandir une ruche, il peut ajouter un second corps de ruche, si nécessaire, ou des hausses supplémentaires. La dernière hausse est recouverte d'un couvre-cadres faisant office de couvercle interne. La plupart des couvre-cadres comportent des trous pour que les abeilles puissent patrouiller au-dessus, contre le toit, et pour améliorer la ventilation de la ruche. Le toit recouvre l'ensemble et protège la ruche des pluies.Les ruches à cadres mobiles présentent plusieurs avantages. Elles permettent à l'apiculteur d'effectuer toute une série d'opérations sur les colonies, telles que l'élevage de reines, le contrôle de l'essaimage, la lutte contre les maladies et les inspections générales, toutes choses difficiles à mettre en oeuvre dans des ruches à rayons fixes. En outre, les rayons sont si fermement maintenus dans les cadres que la ruche entière peut être transportée sans dommage, si la colonie est vendue ou si son propriétaire pratique la transhumance. Le principal avantage des ruches à cadres mobiles réside toutefois dans l'extraction mécanisée du miel des rayons qui, une fois vidés, peuvent être remis dans les ruches pour une nouvelle production. Comme les abeilles dépensent beaucoup plus d'énergie pour sécréter de la cire et fabriquer des rayons que pour produire du miel, le fait de vider les rayons permet aux abeilles de se consacrer essentiellement à la production de miel. Il s'ensuit que les ruches à cadres mobiles peuvent, en théorie, produire des quantités bien plus importantes de miel que les autres modèles de ruches.Les ruches à cadres mobiles sont incontestablement performantes dans les régions à climat tempéré et dans les régions tropicales où des abeilles européennes ont été acclimatées, y compris dans les régions caraïbe et pacifique. Utilisées par des apiculteurs expérimentés, elles ont également rencontré un certain succès en Afrique, notamment dans les zones moins chaudes où la flore mellifère est abondante. Toutefois, de manière générale, leur intérêt y est moins avéré, et bien souvent les rendements obtenus ne justifient pas l'investissement financier et le supplément d'attention qu'elles exigent. Le problème principal est que le tempérament agressif des abeilles africaines se prête mal aux techniques de suivi des colonies qui vont généralement de pair avec les ruches à cadres mobiles. Par ailleurs, il est souvent difficile de faire faire des ruches à cadres mobiles avec le degré de précision requis.De plus, les rayons vides de miel après l'extraction sont vulnérables aux fausses teignes, qui posent beaucoup plus de problèmes sous les tro piques qu'en zone tempérée. En général, en région tropicale, les rayons sont immédiatement rendus aux colonies après l'extraction, pour qu'ils y soient protégés par les abeilles. Il arrive cependant qu'une colonie faible puisse ne plus être en mesure de défendre des rayons vides.Le recours aux ruches à cadres mobiles peut s'avérer positif lorsque les conditions suivantes sont réunies : la qualité et la précision de fabrication des ruches sont essentielles. Lorsque la réalisation d'une ruche à cadres mobiles laisse à désirer, les différentes parties constitutives s'emboîtent mal et les à-coups qui en résultent exaspèrent les abeilles ; l'apiculteur doit être en mesure de supporter l'investissement financier que représentent les ruches et le matériel complémentaire. S'il ne peut amortir ses frais en une ou deux saisons, l'apiculteur doit se tourner vers une option moins coûteuse ; la flore locale et le climat doivent permettre des rendements élevés. Si les conditions ne sont pas favorables, les abeilles ne seront pas capables de produire le surplus de miel espéré ; les connaissances et le savoir-faire acquis d'expérience sont toujours importants quel que soit le type d'apiculture pratiqué, mais le sont plus encore lorsqu'il s'agit de gérer des ruches à cadres mobiles, plus complexes que les autres ; la sécurité des ruchers est essentielle. Les vols de ruches peuvent empêcher toute activité apicole commerciale viable.La fumée a un effet calmant sur les abeilles. Lorsqu'elles perçoivent sa présence, elles se gorgent de miel pour se préparer à quitter la ruche, ce qui les alourdit et les rend apathiques. La fumée agit aussi sur les abeilles même s'il n'y a pas de miel à proximité. Un enfumoir est un appareil qui permet à l'apiculteur de produire des bouffées de fumée dans la ruche et aux alentours (figure 29). Il est constitué d'une chambre de combustion cylindrique en métal mince et d'un soufflet. Celui-ci souffle de l'air par un orifice dans la base de la chambre de combustion, ce qui pousse la fumée à s'échapper par le bec en forme d'entonnoir situé dans la partie supérieure. Un bon forgeron de village peut fabriquer un enfumoir à partir de tôle neuve ou de récupération, voire d'une boîte de conserve, de la moitié d'un ressort de matelas et du vinyle d'un vieux siège de voiture. Il est important de laisser un espace entre le soufflet et l'orifice par où l'air pénètre dans la chambre de combustion. En outre, le soufflet doit être assez petit pour pouvoir être actionné d'une seule main. Certains enfumoirs présentent une grille au fond de la chambre de combustion, ce qui augmente le coût de l'appareil sans être vraiment nécessaire. Les enfumoirs semblent même mieux fonctionner sans grille.Toute substance susceptible de se consumer lentement en produisant beaucoup de fumée peut faire un combustible acceptable pour l'enfumoir, à condition qu'il ne dégage pas, en brûlant, de substance  Pour allumer l'enfumoir, il suffit d'introduire un peu de copeaux ou de feuilles au fond de la chambre de combustion et de les allumer avec une allumette tout en actionnant doucement le soufflet pour démarrer le feu. On peut également placer trois ou quatre petits morceaux de charbon incandescents au fond de la chambre à combustion et les recouvrir de combustible, méthode qu'un apiculteur expérimenté trouvera inutile. Un enfumoir allumé par le haut s'éteint rapidement.Dès que l'on obtient une bonne flamme vive, on peut ajouter plus de combustible, petit à petit, jusqu'à remplir l'enfumoir en tassant juste assez pour ne pas éteindre le feu. Ce n'est que lorsque le feu est bien parti qu'une quantité beaucoup plus importante de combustible peut être ajoutée, en tassant bien cette fois, et que le couvercle peut être rabattu. La flamme s'éteint, mais le combustible continue de se consumer lentement en produisant une fumée dense. Le soufflet est actionné de temps en temps pour empêcher le feu couvant de s'éteindre.Il ne faut pas ouvrir une ruche avant que l'enfumoir soit bien allumé et produise une fumée abondante à volonté. Le feu doit être entretenu en permanence, car il est dangereux de le laisser s'éteindre pendant que l'on manipule une ruche. L'enfumoir produit normalement suffisamment de fumée pour durer le temps d'examiner deux ou trois ruches, mais il convient d'ajouter plus de combustible dès que la fumée devient moins abondante.Les ruches sur lesquelles on intervient doivent être approchées lentement et doucement, par derrière. L'apiculteur donne de la fumée tout autour de la ruche, y compris par devant et dans l'entrée. Le but de cette manoeuvre est de rendre la fumée perceptible aux abeilles. Une fumée froide et épaisse convient mieux qu'une fumée brûlante accompagnée de flammes. Il faut ensuite attendre une ou deux minutes avant d'ouvrir la ruche. Au moment de l'ouvrir, l'apiculteur donne 3. Le matériel apicole à nouveau de la fumée dans la ruche au niveau du point d'ouverture -ce geste doit être répété à chaque fois qu'il doit ouvrir la ruche à un nouvel endroit.Il n'est pas nécessaire d'émettre de très grandes quantités de fumée : ce n'est pas conseillé pour la santé des abeilles et un excès de fumée se ressent sur la qualité du miel. La quantité de fumée produite peut être réduite dès que les abeilles se calment. L'apiculteur l'apprend par expérience. Si les abeilles sont relativement calmes ou si la colonie est de petite taille, quelques bouffées données doucement le long du haut ou du bas des rayons suffiront. Une grosse colonie aura besoin de beaucoup de fumée et il sera important d'en laisser en permanence un peu en suspens au-dessus ou autour de la ruche. Les abeilles africaines exigent plus de fumée que les européennes. Si des abeilles sont écrasées par inadvertance ou tentent de piquer les vêtements, des bouffées supplémentaires doivent cibler ces points. Il est très important de bien enfumer l'entrée de la ruche. De vieilles ruches peuvent avoir plusieurs entrées, et il faut bien faire attention de les enfumer toutes à intervalle régulier. Sur une grosse colonie, il est conseillé d'intervenir à deux, une personne étant chargée d'actionner l'enfumoir pendant que l'autre effectue les opérations nécessaires.Les enfumoirs classiques utilisés par la plupart des apiculteurs occasionnent rarement des incendies, et les étincelles qui s'en échappent sont petites et s'éteignent rapidement. Il reste que ces appareils doivent être manipulés avec précaution. Les apiculteurs sont normalement des gens responsables qui font ce qu'il faut pour éviter de mettre le feu. Une fois qu'il a terminé de travailler sur ses ruches, l'apiculteur doit soigneusement vider les cendres de l'enfumoir et les éteindre. Sinon, en attendant, il peut en obturer le bec avec un petit paquet dense de feuilles ou d'herbes bien vertes et le poser dans un endroit sûr, où il ne risque pas de provoquer un incendie.Plusieurs substances peuvent être mêlées au combustible, mais comme leurs effets ne sont pas toujours prévisibles il est préférable de s'en abstenir. Il est ainsi possible d'ajouter certains champignons de type vesses (famille des Lycoperdacées ) pour calmer les abeilles, mais leur fumée peut devenir toxique (pour les abeilles et sans doute pour l'apiculteur) lorsque les quantités utilisées sont excessives. Le nitrate d'ammonium du commerce est parfois ajouté au combustible en petite quantité (1 cuiller à café de granulés par enfumoir, pour maîtriser des abeilles exceptionnellement agressives. Ce mélange produit une fumée épaisse contenant un gaz rappelant le gaz hilarant utilisé autrefois par les dentistes. Ce produit peut rendre les abeilles inconscientes s'il est employé en trop grande quantité. Comme il a des effets résiduels sur les abeilles et sur l'apiculteur, il vaut mieux éviter d'y avoir recours. Le salpêtre est réputé calmer les abeilles, mais doit également être évité du fait de ses propriétés cancérigènes. S'il intervient sur une ruche en utilisant un additif dans l'enfumoir, l'apiculteur doit aller vérifier l'état de la colonie le lendemain. Ainsi, il saura immédiatement que la substance a été nocive s'il aperçoit des abeilles mortes autour de l'entrée.Le lève-cadres est un outil métallique employé pour décoller et soulever, en faisant levier, le toit, les hausses et les barrettes ou têtes de cadres. L'extrémité légèrement affûtée est également utile pour nettoyer la ruche et enlever la propolis. Le lève-cadres peut éventuellement servir à couper les rayons, bien qu'un couteau soit ici plus approprié. Il peut être remplacé par un bon tournevis, mais l'outil véritable a une forme élargie mieux adaptée. Un forgeron compétent peut facilement faire un lève-cadres acceptable et bon marché à partir de métal de récupération, s'il dispose d'un dessin ou d'un exemplaire à copier (figure 30).Les apiculteurs traditionnels interviennent habituellement sur leurs ruches à la nuit tombée et peuvent s'occuper de leurs abeilles avec peu ou pas de vêtements protecteurs. Toutefois, le tempérament agressif des abeilles africaines fait qu'une protection est conseillée, surtout si l'on utilise des ruches et des méthodes de conduite plus modernes. Porter un voile, des gants, une combinaison et des chaussures adaptés permettra d'éviter les piqûres.Le dispositif de protection du visage peut être réalisé de plusieurs manières. Une première méthode consiste à prendre 1 m de moustiquaire en plastique (vert foncé ou noir) et 2 m de moustiquaire blanche en coton. Le morceau de moustiquaire en plastique sert à protéger la tête elle-même. Il est soit découpé en deux morceaux pliés en U et cousus ensemble, soit roulé en cylindre en préservant un fragment plus petit pour en fermer l'extrémité supérieure. Les coutures doivent être solides et soigneuses pour éviter qu'elles ne s'effilochent. La moustiquaire en coton est ensuite cousue au bas de ce « heaume » pour former une « jupe » de 50 cm à 1 m de longueur (figure 31), qui devra être glissée et serrée à l'intérieur de la combinaison. Ces types de voile sont portés par-dessus un chapeau en coton de type safari à large bord, ce qui permet d'écarter le voile du nez et des oreilles. Un autre moyen pour obtenir un voile efficace est de coudre la moustiquaire directement sur un chapeau de paille rigide à large bord (figure 32).       Un rucher est un groupe de ruches. Le nombre optimal de ruches dans un rucher dépend de l'abondance des ressources locales de miellée. Dans la plupart des régions tropicales, la densité optimale est de l'ordre d'un rucher de 10 à 20 ruches tous les 2 à 3 km. Si les rendements sont décevants, l'apiculteur doit se demander si ses ruches ne sont pas trop nombreuses. Le rucher peut toutefois comporter un plus grand nombre de ruches lorsqu'il y a transhumance. Dans ce cas, l'apiculteur déplace ses ruches d'un site à un autre pour exploiter les ressources de miellée qui apparaissent ou pour polliniser successivement des cultures à différents endroits.Plusieurs facteurs doivent être pris en considération lors de la sélection du site d'installation d'un rucher : une relative sécurité contre les prédateurs naturels (tels que ratels et fourmis) et contre le vol et le vandalisme ; la proximité de fleurs produisant du nectar ; les abeilles détestant le bruit, certaines odeurs et le vent fort, le rucher doit se trouver dans un endroit calme et abrité. C'est une bonne idée de planter une haie vive ou des buissons, de préférence d'espèces mellifères, autour du rucher pour isoler un peu les abeilles des autres activités ; les abeilles peuvent présenter un danger ; aussi doit-on éviter d'installer les ruches trop près des lieux fréquentés, d'animaux attachés ou de volailles en cage (les animaux libres de leurs mouvements sont moins exposés car ils peuvent s'écarter) ; les ruches peuvent être exposées aux rayons du soleil levant ou couchant, mais en région tropicale il est nécessaire de les protéger du soleil aux heures les plus chaudes en les installant sous des arbres ou sous des abris (figure 34). L'ombrage est moins important à plus haute ). Le plancher de chaque ruche doit se trouver à environ 60 cm au-dessus du sol. Si les attaques de ratels sont à craindre, une fosse peut être creusée sous la ruche.Les ruches composées sont plus difficiles à suspendre de manière satisfaisante. Lorsque les ratels ne posent pas de problème, elles peuvent être installées sur un simple socle posé sur le sol, par exemple des moellons en béton ou un vieux bidon, surmonté d'une plaque de métal d'environ un mètre carré (figure 36), légèrement inclinée vers l'avant de manière à ce que l'eau de pluie s'écoule sans pénétrer dans l'entrée de la ruche. La plaque métallique empêche les termites de monter et rend plus difficiles les attaques des fourmis venant du sol. En outre, elle empêche les plantes de pousser trop près de la ruche. Si l'on ne peut se procurer de plaques de tôle, de l'huile de vidange peut être versée autour de la base de la ruche et sur le socle en béton pour éloigner ces insectes. On peut aussi utiliser un morceau de bâche en plastique, plus économique que le métal bien que plus fragile. Il ne doit pas y avoir de rebord ou de fissure sous la ruche susceptible d'abriter des prédateurs tels que des lézards.  Les ruchers pavillons sont des bâtiments dans lesquels on installe les ruches afin de les protéger contre les éléments naturels, les prédateurs et les personnes mal intentionnées. Les abeilles accèdent à leur ruche par des orifices ménagés dans les murs. Celles qui s'échappent à l'intérieur du bâtiment en sortent par les fenêtres. Ces dernières sont équipées de deux moustiquaires, l'une à l'intérieur, qui ferme la partie supérieure de l'ouverture et l'autre à l'extérieur, qui en ferme la partie inférieure. Ces deux panneaux en moustiquaire se superposent sur environ 10 cm en laissant un espace de 1 cm entre eux, de manière à ce que les abeilles puissent grimper entre les deux et s'envoler à l'extérieur une fois parvenues en haut. Comme ces insectes marchent toujours vers le haut, ils ne pourront pas entrer à nouveau par la fenêtre. En outre, lorsque les abeilles s'échappent dans le bâtiment, au moment des interventions de l'apiculteur par exemple, elles tendent à voler vers la lumière et partent donc à l'extérieur. Il est un peu plus facile de travailler avec un rucher bâti parce que les abeilles les plus agressives, celles qui gardent l'entrée des ruches, restent à l'extérieur 4. La conduite générale du rucher pendant que l'apiculteur intervient sur les ruches dans le bâtiment. L'inconvénient de ces ruchers est qu'ils sont plus coûteux à construire et que leur sécurité dépend de la solidité du verrou de la porte. En Éthiopie, certains apiculteurs ont édifié à relativement peu de frais de robustes ruchers adossés à leur propre demeure, grâce à un système de clayonnage plâtré d'argile.Une ruche bien faite devrait durer de 10 à 20 ans, voire plus. Investir dans des ruches médiocres est un mauvais calcul, et il est plus économique à long terme de payer plus cher un matériel de qualité. La durée de vie de la ruche est en outre prolongée par un entretien régulier. L'extérieur devrait être protégé avec de la peinture, un enduit de polyuréthane ou un produit de protection des bois (par exemple de la créosote nature, sans adjuvant insecticide). Si les ruches sont faites d'un matériau périssable, comme de la fibre de bananier, elles dureront beaucoup plus longtemps si on les préserve du soleil et de la pluie. Les ruches doivent être inspectées et remises en état chaque fois qu'elles se trouvent inoccupées. Si une ruche occupée a besoin d'être réparée, les abeilles peuvent être momentanément transférées dans une ruche vide (voir ci-dessous).Il est important de maintenir le terrain dégagé autour des ruches, en coupant les mauvaises herbes et les branches pendantes. Cela permet d'offrir aux abeilles un couloir de vol bien ouvert, de restreindre les attaques des ravageurs et de prévenir l'excès d'humidité dans les ruches par temps pluvieux. Il est déconseillé de laisser traîner de vieux rayons aux alentours, car ils attirent les prédateurs et peuvent propager des maladies.Les colonies d'abeilles se reproduisent régulièrement en essaimant. Dans les environnements difficiles, elles peuvent en outre migrer assez souvent. Aussi la manière la plus facile d'obtenir de nouvelles colonies en région tropicale est-elle d'attirer un essaim sauvage. Une nouvelle ruche est préparée à cette fin en frottant ou en faisant fondre un peu de cire d'abeille à l'intérieur. S'il existe des produits attractifs vendus dans le commerce, certains apiculteurs utilisent des plantes spécifiques pour attirer les essaims, comme l'Ocimum kilimanjaricum (mukuri en swahili), à odeur prononcée, qui pousse dans les marais saisonniers. Ces végétaux sont tantôt frottés à l'intérieur de la ruche, tantôt attachés à l'extérieur. D'autres substances végétales sont également susceptibles d'attirer les essaims, par exemple la mangue verte coupée et frottée dans la ruche. Certains apiculteurs affirment que toute plante à odeur citronnée est attractive. Les déchets de la préparation de la cire (le marc de cire ) peuvent être bouillis dans de l'eau et appliqués au pinceau à l'intérieur de la ruche pour un effet similaire. Les api culteurs de la région de Tharaka, dans l'est du Kenya, attirent les essaims en enrobant un bâton de propolis additionnée de plantes particulières (connues sous les noms locaux de muthande et muletha) et en en frottant l'intérieur d'une ruche vide.Toute méthode traditionnelle efficace peut être utilisée pour encourager les abeilles à coloniser une ruche moderne. Le miel et le sucre ne sont pas indiqués, toutefois, car ils attirent surtout les abeilles butineuses et autres insectes, ce qui rend la ruche peu accueillante aux essaims. Les ruches doivent être maintenues propres et sèches parce que les abeilles n'aiment pas l'humidité et les moisissures. Celles qui ont déjà été occupées sont plus attractives que les neuves.Lorsqu'une colonie d'abeilles grossit et que la ruche devient surpeuplée, elle produit un ou plusieurs essaims de reproduction. Ceux-ci se posent en amas sur un buisson ou un arbre à proximité, puis, peu de temps après, ils s'envolent et se posent à nouveau sur un autre arbre. Des abeilles éclaireuses s'en échappent alors pour rechercher un site adéquat à coloniser. Il est possible de capturer un essaim en grappe et de l'introduire dans une ruche. Le meilleur moment pour le faire est en fin de journée, juste avant la nuit. Pendant la chaleur de la journée, les abeilles ont plus de chances de s'envoler et d'aller déranger d'autres personnes ou des animaux domestiques. Le matériel nécessaire pour capturer un essaim est le suivant : un panier rigide pour contenir l'essaim -les paniers du Burundi, avec leurs couvercles bien ajustés, sont parfaits, mais une boîte en carton peut faire l'affaire ; un vieux drap pour envelopper le panier une fois l'essaim capturé ; des vêtements de protection ; L'essaim est alors amené à la ruche que l'on a préalablement préparée en enlevant cinq des barrettes (ou des cadres mobiles), afin de ménager un espace pour l'essaim. Celui-ci est tout d'abord doucement enfumé à travers les parois du panier, puis les abeilles sont décrochées par une franche secousse. Le panier est ensuite renversé et secoué pour faire tomber toutes les abeilles dans la ruche. Dès que la plupart des abeilles sont à l'intérieur, les barrettes sont remises en place et la ruche est refermée. Les abeilles qui restent à l'extérieur finissent par rejoindre les autres en passant par l'entrée de la ruche.Une autre méthode, particulièrement intéressante à observer, consiste à « conduire » les abeilles vers la ruche qui leur est destinée. Un drap blanc est étalé devant la ruche et une planche en bois d'environ 50 cm de longueur y est placée, une de ses extrémités menant à l'entrée de la ruche. On fait alors tomber l'essaim sur le drap, devant l'autre extrémité de la planche, et on donne quelques bouffées de fumée pour pousser les abeilles à marcher vers la ruche. Il est parfois nécessaire de continuer à les enfumer, mais pas trop, pour qu'elles poursuivent leur ascension. Mais une fois que les abeilles se sont décidées, l'essaim peut se déplacer très rapidement. Il est souvent possible d'apercevoir la reine, immédiatement suivie du reste des abeilles. Une fois que ---toutes les abeilles sont dans la ruche, la planche et le drap peuvent être enlevés. Il y a plus de chances qu'une colonie reste dans la ruche lorsque les abeilles y ont été « conduite s » plutôt que « versées ».Les essaims récemment enruchés peuvent rester dans la ruche qui leur a été allouée ou au contraire déserter au cours des premiers jours. Il faut une certaine expérience pour créer les conditions optimales et parvenir à un taux de réussite acceptable. Les abeilles européennes désertent rarement, mais les abeilles africaines le font fréquemment lorsque quelque chose ne leur plaît pas. Ce peut être une odeur désagréable ou une température trop élevée dans la ruche. Les intrusions répétées de ravageurs entraînent parfois la désertion d'une ruche, mais une colonie forte est normalement capable de repousser les hôtes indésirables. Il reste que, une fois la colonie installée, elle ne repart pas sans avoir une bonne raison de le faire, comme un manque de fleurs, de réserves alimentaires ou d'eau.Une ruchette est une petite ruche à noyaux qui contient quatre ou cinq barrettes ou cadres mobiles. On l'utilise pour multiplier le nombre de colonies en capturant des essaims ou pour garder des colonies de côté pendant quelque temps. Un fil de fer attaché à l'extérieur permet de l'accrocher dans un arbre, ce qui permet de mieux attirer les essaims, plutôt qu'une ruche posée au sol. Toute ruchette neuve doit être préalablement appâtée avec de la cire, puis maintenue propre et fraîche par la suite. Une fois la ruchette colonisée, les abeilles y sont laissées au moins une semaine pour qu'elles s'y installent bien.Quand l'apiculteur veut utiliser cette colonie pour remplir une nouvelle ruche, il la déplace dans la soirée, quand les abeilles sont rentrées. L'entrée est obturée avec un volet ou un bouchon d'herbe et la ruchette est apportée à l'endroit où la ruche définitive sera installée. Le meilleur moment pour opérer est à la fin de la première semaine, ou après trois semaines lorsque les rayons sont encore légers et risquent le moins de se rompre (le premier couvain émerge environ trois semaines après l'établissement de la colonie). Plus tard encore, les vieux rayons deviennent plus solides, mais plus lourds. Une fois que la ruchette est sur son nouvel emplacement, l'entrée est ouverte et le tout est laissé en paix pour quelques jours.Une fois que les abeilles se sont familiarisées avec leur nouvelle situation, elles peuvent être transférées dans une vraie ruche. On  Après quelques jours, juste avant le coucher du soleil, la ruche traditionnelle est copieusement enfumée et déposée au pied de son socle, si possible sur un drap blanc. La nouvelle ruche est alors installée à sa place. Une planche en bois est ensuite posée entre les deux ruches, formant un pont le long duquel les abeilles pourront monter vers leur nouvelle demeure. De la fumée est alors émise derrière l'ancienne ruche en direction de la nouvelle afin d'inciter les abeilles à marcher le long de la planche. On peut aussi encourager les abeilles à quitter leur ruche en tapotant ou en tambourinant dessus.On peut alors ouvrir l'ancienne ruche, en retirer les rayons un par un et les secouer pour en faire tomber les abeilles sur la planche, ou directement dans la nouvelle ruche. Deux ou trois vieux rayons solides avec du couvain non operculé sont alors attachés dans la nouvelle ruche. Ils peuvent être découpés droits pour être accolés sous une barrette, fixés à l'aide de fibres naturelles ou de bandes de papier journal jointes avec du ruban adhésif. Le plus facile est de les suspendre à l'aide d'une pince à dessin à travers laquelle on passe une baguette fine et solide (figure 39), ou encore de les attacher à une barrette avec du fil de fer. Tous les autres rayons doivent être jetés et la vieille ruche enlevée dès   La règle est de toujours approcher les ruches par derrière pour éviter de croiser le couloir de vol des abeilles. Il faut ensuite bien enfumer celle sur laquelle on se propose d'intervenir avant de l'ouvrir (voir la section sur l'utilisation de l'enfumoir au chapitre 3), puis continuer à Il est possible que des abeilles s'agglutinent sur le voile ou sur le dos de l'apiculteur pendant qu'il travaille. Elles peuvent être décrochées en donnant une secousse au vêtement ou brossées avec une brosse à abeilles, une grande plume ou un bouquet de feuilles. Si les abeilles deviennent trop agressives, l'apiculteur doit terminer son intervention aussi rapidement que possible, fermer la ruche et quitter les lieux. En partant, il est conseillé de se glisser entre des buissons serrés et de changer de direction à chaque fois que l'on passe un arbre, ce qui déroute les abeilles et permet de les esquiver plus facilement.La reine ne devrait être touchée ou manipulée qu'en cas d'absolue nécessité, et l'apiculteur doit à tout moment prendre soin de ne pas l'écraser en déplaçant les rayons. Si elle doit être transférée, on peut l'inciter à monter sur le lève-cadres , une brindille ou une plume, d'où elle pourra être portée à destination. Si c'est absolument nécessaire, elle peut être saisie à main nue entre le pouce et l'index, doucement mais fermement, au niveau du thorax. Il faut s'abstenir de porter des gants pour ramasser une reine. On peut éventuellement la garder dans une boîte d'allumettes, peut-être avec d'autres abeilles, pour une durée limitée. On donnera alors un peu de fumée au moment de la réintroduire dans la ruche.Les meilleurs rendements en miel sont obtenus lorsque la colonie a le plus grand nombre d'abeilles butineuses au moment du pic de miellée.Il faut en outre que la ruche dispose d'un espace suffisant pour emmagasiner le miel. La conduite saisonnière du rucher vise à optimiser ces paramètres.Les miellée s correspondent aux moments de l'année où le plus de plantes sont en fleur. Dans les régions tropicales, on en compte normalement une ou deux par an. À ces périodes, les abeilles sont particulièrement actives pour récolter le nectar des fleurs, et c'est alors qu'elles mettent en réserve un surplus de miel. Le meilleur miel est obtenu à partir des rayons neufs, de couleur blanche . Certaines ruches plus âgées contiennent beaucoup de vieux rayons sombres. Cette teinte apparaît lorsqu'ils sont utilisés pour emmagasiner le pollen et quand ils ont contenu du couvain, parce que chaque abeille qui émerge laisse derrière elle un mince cocon à l'intérieur de sa cellule. Les rayons engorgés de pollen sont fréquents lorsque l'environnement est riche en espèces de fleurs. Les vieux rayons sombres, surtout ceux qui contiennent du pollen, produisent souvent un miel foncé susceptible de se troubler par la suite. Si la ruche en comporte plus de deux ou trois sans couvain, ils doivent être enlevés afin que la colonie dispose de plus d'espace pour l'élevage et pour construire de nouveaux rayons à miel.Dans une ruche à barrettes horizontale simple, environ la moitié des rayons doivent être alloués au couvain, avec un peu de pollen, et le reste laissé uniquement pour le miel. La ruche kenyane , du fait de sa petite taille, s'encombre souvent assez vite de vieux rayons gorgés de pollen. Les rayons à pollen, souvent situés à la périphérie du nid à couvain, peuvent faire barrière et décourager la reine d'aller pondre au-delà. S'il y en a plus de deux de chaque côté, ils doivent être enlevés, et soit jetés, soit donnés à une colonie jeune ou très faible, qui pourrait tirer profit de pollen supplémentaire.Dans une ruche à barrettes horizontale, le nid à couvain doit toujours être situé à proximité de l'entrée, qui peut se trouver à l'une des extrémités de la ruche ou sur l'un des grands côtés, au choix. La meilleure option est de maintenir le couvain contre l'une des extrémités, bien qu'il soit possible de le placer au milieu avec le miel de part et d'autre. Un rayon de miel et de pollen peut être placé tout contre la paroi, suivi des rayons à couvain jusqu'au milieu de la ruche.Il devrait alors rester suffisamment d'espace pour que les abeilles y bâtissent de nouveaux rayons blancs pour le stockage du miel. S'il y a trop de rayons à couvain, ils doivent être retirés, faute de quoi la colonie manquerait de place et serait incitée à essaimer sans produire de miel en excédent. Les méthodes de récolte traditionnelles ont été mises au point depuis longtemps et sont, le plus souvent, satisfaisantes. S'il existe des cueilleurs de miel sauvage peu scrupuleux qui détruisent une bonne part de la colonie, les apiculteurs sont généralement plus attentionnés et essaient de préserver les leurs. Ils ne prélèvent qu'une partie du miel et s'efforcent de ne pas déranger le nid à couvain. Le couvain peut d'ailleurs être récolté pour lui-même en tant qu'aliment riche en protéines. Prélever une petite part du couvain des colonies de grande taille peut même être bénéfique, dans la mesure où cela libère de l'espace pour le miel et prévient l'essaimage.La nuit est le meilleur moment pour récolter le miel d'une ruche traditionnelle dans les régions chaudes, surtout si l'apiculteur n'a pas de vêtements protecteurs. Dans les régions plus fraîches de montagne, par exemple sur le mont Elgon et dans les collines des Mau au Kenya, sur le mont Oku au Cameroun ou sur les hauts plateaux d'Éthiopie, certains apiculteurs récoltent le miel de jour, mais portent tout de même une protection, ne serait-ce qu'une couverture.Le matériel nécessaire pour récolter le miel d'une ruche traditionnelle se résume à un seau pour emporter le miel et à un moyen de produire de la fumée, par exemple un petit fagot. Si la ruche est suspendue haut dans un arbre (figure 40), il faudra également une corde pour monter le seau dans l'arbre ou faire descendre la ruche au sol.Pour calmer les abeilles, les apiculteurs traditionnels font de la fumée , souvent à l'aide d'un fagotin incandescent de petits bois et de lichen ou d'herbe. Les Tharakas, qui vivent sur les contreforts est du mont Kenya, utilisent une petite branche sèche d'environ 1 m de longueur et 6 cm de diamètre, qu'ils appellent kisinga. Cette branche est déchiquetée à l'une de ses extrémités et allumée. En soufflant fort sur cette partie de la branche, on obtient une flamme qui donne suffisamment de lumière pour voir à l'intérieur de la ruche. Une fois la flamme éteinte, la branche produit beaucoup de fumée, qui est soufflée doucement à l'intérieur de la ruche.La plupart des ruches africaines traditionnelles sont cylindriques et il est relativement facile d'en récolter le miel sans vêtements protecteurs. L'apiculteur soufflant de la fumée par une des extrémités de la ruche, les abeilles se regroupent de l'autre côté et les rayons situés près de la partie ouverte peuvent être retirés sans déranger la colonie outre mesure. Si l'apiculteur constate que l'extrémité qu'il a ouverte se trouve du côté du couvain, il la referme et intervient de l'autre côté. S'il se souvient laquelle des deux extrémités a été récoltée la fois précédente, il peut y revenir directement pour obtenir les rayons de la meilleure qualité, les plus récents, de couleur blanche.Il existe des ruches conçues pour être ouvertes aux deux extrémités et d'autres équipées de petites trappes sur le dessous. Ce type d'accès protège mieux la ruche des prédateurs, mais complique quelque peu la récolte du miel.Les ruches à barrettes sont conçues pour faciliter la récolte et devraient donner un miel de meilleure qualité que les ruches traditionnelles (pour autant que l'apiculteur dispose du matériel et du savoir-faire nécessaires). L'apiculteur peut examiner chaque rayon et décider s'il le retire ou non de la ruche. Les rayons à couvain et les rayons partiellement remplis de miel sont laissés en place, tandis que les nouveaux rayons pleins de miel sont enlevés.||◗ Ruches à barrettes horizontales (simples) Après avoir revêtu les vêtements de protection et allumé l'enfumoir, il faut installer la ruche vide à côté de la ruche sur laquelle on s'apprête à intervenir. On approche la ruche par derrière, on donne de la fumée par intermittence, puis on laisse le tout en paix pendant au moins une minute. Il faut ensuite enlever le toit de la ruche et donner de la fumée sur les barrettes. Celles-ci sont alors frappées avec le lève-cadres pour déterminer la répartition des rayons et identifier les barrettes encore vides. On enlève alors les quelques barrettes les plus éloignées du nid à couvain pour libérer un espace de travail, en donnant quelques bouffées de fumée au-dessus et à l'intérieur de la ruche. Le nid à couvain se situe généralement dans la zone la plus proche de l'entrée.À partir de là, il convient d'examiner les barrettes une par une, en repoussant celles qui ne sont pas prêtes à être récoltées vers l'extrémité de la ruche par où l'on a commencé. Chaque rayon doit être examiné attentivement mais sans perdre de temps, en le levant à la hauteur des yeux. Les rayons operculés sont récoltés et mis de côté dans la ruche vide, après les avoir débarrassés des abeilles qui s'y agrippent par une petite secousse donnée verticalement au-dessus de leur ruche. Une brosse à abeilles ou une grande plume peuvent être utilisées, mais la manoeuvre prend alors plus de temps. Tout rayon partiellement rempli de miel doit être rendu à la colonie. Il n'est pas nécessaire d'inspecter les rayons à couvain. Pour finir, il faut examiner les rayons qui se trouvent de l'autre côté du nid à couvain et enlever ceux qui sont prêts à être récoltés, ainsi que tout vieux rayon vide. On peut alors -----repositionner l'ensemble du couvain contre l'entrée de la ruche en ne laissant qu'un seul rayon entre le couvain et la paroi.Après la récolte, tous les rayons qui restent sont repoussés contre ceux du couvain, l'espace vide qui se trouve du côté où l'on a commencé l'intervention est comblé avec des barrettes neuves et la ruche est refermée. Environ la moitié du volume intérieur de la ruche devrait alors être occupée par des rayons à couvain, avec en sus un peu de pollen et un peu de miel. Dans le cas d'une colonie forte, la ruche doit être laissée à moitié vide, sans quoi il n'y aura pas assez de place pour que les abeilles puissent entreposer le miel pendant la saison suivante. Avec l'expérience, l'apiculteur finit par connaître les meilleures règles à suivre en la matière dans sa région.Les barrettes pourvues de rayons à miel sont de préférence transportées dans une ruche vide. Toutefois, si l'apiculteur n'a pas de barrettes de rechange, il est obligé de détacher les rayons des barrettes près de la ruche et de mettre les rayons dans un seau. Les rayons doivent être coupés à 1 cm de la barrette, ce qui laisse une amorce pour la construction du nouveau rayon. Il n'y a pas lieu de s'inquiéter si les cellules sont endommagées lors de cette opération, mais il est bon d'essayer de garder intacte la paroi médiane (la partie centrale formant le fond de toutes les cellules), pour inciter les abeilles à bâtir le nouveau rayon bien dans l'axe de la barrette.Les ruches à barrettes à hausses sont un peu plus complexes mais aussi plus souples que les ruches horizontales. Il est possible d'équiper une ruche de type Langstroth avec des barrettes, au lieu de cadres mobiles (figure 41). La hausse, également équipée de barrettes, peut être posée dès que le corps de ruche est presque plein et qu'il y des perspectives de miellée. Il faut éviter de la mettre trop tôt, quand les abeilles ne sont peut-être pas encore en mesure de la défendre ou de la garder propre. Lorsque l'on ajoute une hausse , il faut approcher la ruche doucement en donnant un peu de fumée autour de la ruche et dans l'entrée. On enlève alors le toit tout en donnant des bouffées de fumée sur les barrettes, après quoi la hausse peut être posée sur le corps de ruche. Les barrettes de la hausse doivent être poussées les unes contre les autres, bien jointives et centrées, laissant un espace de chaque côté, entre les deux barrettes externes et les parois de la hausse. Cet espace permet aux abeilles de passer pour défendre la ruche contre les fourmis, les fausses teignes et les coléoptères qui pourraient parvenir à se glisser sous le toit. On laisse alors la hausse en place jusqu'à ce qu'elle soit pleine, ce qui peut prendre quelques semaines à plusieurs mois. Si la saison est bonne, une seconde hausse peut être posée sur la première.Il faut éviter d'utiliser une grille à reine dans les ruches à barrettes parce que les abeilles sont tentées d'y attacher le fond de leurs rayons, ce qui entraîne la fracture des rayons lorsque la hausse est enlevée. Dans le cas de cadres mobiles, ce problème n'existe pas parce que la barre inférieure des cadres se situe à un passage d'abeille de la grille à reine.Les ruches à barrettes composées peuvent avoir un plateau solidaire ou indépendant du corps de ruche. L'avantage du plateau indépendant est que les hausses et le corps de ruche peuvent être intervertis si nécessaire ; par exemple, si la reine commence à pondre dans la première hausse, celle-ci peut être installée tout en bas pour que la reine finisse par remonter dans le corps de ruche. Toutefois, si la reine commence effectivement à pondre dans la hausse, le mieux est généralement de l'y laisser et de rajouter une autre hausse par-dessus ; elle reviendra probablement d'elle-même dans le corps de ruche et les  Il est plus facile de récolter le miel dans des ruches composées que dans des ruches simples horizontales parce que l'apiculteur peut enlever une hausse entière avec tous ses rayons sans devoir manipuler chaque rayon séparément. Il faut toujours intervenir sur les ruches à rayons mobiles pendant la journée (de préférence en début de soirée) et porter des vêtements protecteurs. Le matériel nécessaire est le suivant : des vêtements de protection ; un enfumoir , du combustible et des allumettes ; un lève-cadres et un couteau ; une hausse de rechange équipée de barrettes, et éventuellement un plateau chasse-abeilles ; un seau pour transporter les rayons brisés et les morceaux de cire.On commence tout d'abord par enfiler les vêtements de protection et allumer l'enfumoir. On approche alors de la ruche par derrière, on l'enfume par intermittence et on la laisse en paix pour une ou deux minutes. Le toit est alors retiré, en donnant de la fumée par-dessous et dans l'entrée. Le dessus des barrettes est frappé avec le lève-cadres pour déterminer l'emplacement des rayons et estimer leur taux de remplissage. La hausse est alors légèrement soulevée à une extrémité à l'aide du même outil, et de la fumée est donnée dans la ruche à ce niveau, de manière à ce qu'elle monte dans la hausse et s'étale sur le dessus des barrettes de l'étage inférieur. On tire alors la hausse vers l'avant et on la bascule afin de voir les rayons. Si la hausse est pleine ou presque pleine, elle est prête à être récoltée, mais si les rayons n'ont pas encore atteint leur longueur définitive, il faut la replacer dans sa position d'origine et l'y laisser encore quelques semaines. Cependant, si l'apiculteur considère que la saison est arrivée à son terme, il peut décider de récolter le miel qui s'y trouve afin que les abeilles ne le consomment pas par la suite.Si la hausse est prête à être récoltée, on la retire de la ruche et on la débarrasse des abeilles qui s'y trouvent en lui donnant de petites secousses ou en les brossant. Cette opération peut être réalisée à proximité de la ruche si les abeilles sont calmes, ou plus loin si elles sont agressives. La hausse enlevée est alors remplacée par une hausse Il arrive que les abeilles soudent les rayons aux côtés de la ruche. Ils peuvent en être détachés en faisant doucement levier avec le lèvecadres ou avec un couteau étroit. Parfois, certains rayons sont également attachés à la face supérieure des barrettes de l'étage inférieur. Dans ce cas, les rayons se brisent près de leur base lorsque la hausse est enlevée. Il est alors important de bien gratter toute trace de cire restant sur le dessus des barrettes pour que les abeilles ne soient pas incitées à bâtir de nouveaux rayons au même endroit.Le tableau 5 présente une liste des problèmes auxquels sont fréquemment confrontés les apiculteurs, avec, pour chacun, leurs causes les plus probables et quelques suggestions quant à leurs solutions.Tableau 5. Problèmes rencontrés, causes et solutions . La fabrication des feuilles de cireLes feuilles de cire forment une base artificielle sur laquelle les abeilles sont incitées à bâtir leurs rayons. Les cadres mobiles sont généralement équipés de feuilles entières, tandis que les barrettes n'utilisent qu'une petite amorce de 1 cm de largeur sur la quasi-totalité de leur longueur. Sans cette amorce, les abeilles sont susceptibles de construire leurs rayons en diagonale au lieu de bien les aligner sous chaque barrette. Un apiculteur en activité est capable de produire sa propre cire d'abeille, mais ceux qui débutent doivent s'en procurer auprès de collègues déjà installés.L'odeur de la cire attire toujours les abeilles, aussi cette matière ne doit-elle être manipulée que dans un local où elles n'ont pas accès -quoique bien ventilé -, ou dehors à la nuit tombée, lorsque les butineuses ne volent plus. Comme la cire est hautement inflammable, il faut se garder de travailler près de toute matière susceptible de prendre feu.Le plateau servant de moule est en bois ou en contreplaqué, d'une largeur de 45 cm (la longueur est sans importance), et entouré d'un rebord fabriqué avec des tasseaux de bois d'une section carrée de 1 cm de côté (un plateau à servir, en plastique ou métal, peut aussi être utilisé). L'un des coins est laissé un peu ouvert pour pouvoir évacuer l'excès de cire.Il faut en outre :de la cire d'abeille ; un récipient pour fondre la cire (de préférence avec une chemise de refroidissement à eau) ; un feu ou une autre source de chaleur ; un petit seau avec de l'eau et un peu de savon ou de détergent ; une grande tasse ; un couteau.------La cire est mise à fondre dans le récipient prévu à cet effet, lui-même placé dans un autre récipient plus grand contenant de l'eau (chauffage au bain-marie). Le moule est passé à l'eau savonneuse, que l'on peut récupérer pour la suite. Une demi-tasse de cire fondue est versée sur le plateau encore mouillé, juste assez pour le recouvrir (figure 43). La cire en excès est reversée dans son récipient. En refroidissant, la cire se fige en une feuille de 1 à 2 mm d'épaisseur qui est décollée et découpée en bandes de 45 cm sur 1 cm de largeur (figure 44). Cette dernière opération est plus facile à chaud, mais la cire froide peut être découpée avec un fil de fer chauffé. Les chutes peuvent être réintégrées à la cire fondue pour couler d'autres feuilles. Les bandes de cire sont fixées sur les barrettes en les glissant dans les traits de scie, puis scellées à l'aide d'un filet de cire fondue (figure 45).||◗ Fabriquer des feuilles de cire gaufrée à l'aide d'un gaufrierLe matériel est le même que pour la technique précédente, complété par un couteau en plastique et un gaufrier, disponibles dans le commerce. Un gaufrier est un moule en métal ou en plastique constitué de deux parties. La base se présente sous l'aspect d'un plateau sur lequel est imprimé en relief inversé le motif de la paroi médiane d'un rayon   Le gaufrier fonctionne mieux lorsqu'il est bien chaud, après quelques feuilles. Si les premières feuilles de cire laissent à désirer, mieux vaut les refondre et tenter un nouveau moulage. Il est plus efficace d'entreprendre la fabrication de feuilles de cire en quantités relativement importantes (plusieurs kilogrammes à la fois). Une personne expérimentée peut faire plus de 30 feuilles en une heure. Si l'on opère à deux, une personne fait fonctionner le gaufrier pendant que l'autre découpe les feuilles en bandes.||◗ Fabriquer des feuilles de cire à l'aide d'une plaque en verre ou en boisUne plaque en verre ou en bois est mouillée avec de l'eau savonneuse puis plongée dans un grand récipient de cire fondue. La plaque est retirée du bain et la cire qui en recouvre les deux côtés est décollée. Si la couche de cire ainsi formée est trop mince, la plaque peut être trempée à nouveau dans la cire fondue. Lorsqu'une plaque en verre est employée, les bords doivent être polis au préalable par le verrier. Cette méthode est efficace mais exige de disposer de plusieurs kilogrammes de cire d'abeille pour que, fondue, elle ait une profondeur suffisante dans le bac.Dans beaucoup de pays tropicaux, il y a suffisamment de plantes en fleurs pour subvenir aux besoins des colonies tout au long de l'année, ce qui rend le nourrissement superflu. De plus, nombre de petits exploitants ne peuvent pas se permettre d'acheter du sucre, qui est parfois plus cher que le miel. Les abeilles ne peuvent pas transformer le sucre en miel. En nourrissant les ruches, on prend en outre le risque que des abeilles pilleuses et des fourmis soient attirées par le sucre.Les colonies ne sont donc nourries que par des apiculteurs chevronnés, dans certains cas particuliers.Il est parfois conseillé de nourrir les nouvelles colonies provenant d'essaimages ou de divisions pour les aider à se développer plus rapidement. Certains apiculteurs confirmés utilisant des races européennes nourrissent leurs colonies d'emblée, mais il vaut mieux, avec les races africaines, qui désertent plus facilement, attendre quelques jours, le temps que les abeilles se soient bien installées. L'inconvénient du nourrissement précoce est d'attirer des abeilles pilleuses ou des fourmis susceptibles de perturber la ruche et de pousser la colonie à déserter.En prévision d'une miellée, une colonie déjà établie peut être nourrie pour stimuler la production de couvain, dans le but de disposer d'un nombre suffisant de butineuses au bon moment. Nourrir une colonie six semaines avant la date prévue de la miellée peut donc contribuer à accroître la production de miel. Il reste que bien souvent, surtout près de l'équateur, la date du début de miellée est difficile à prévoir avec précision. Dans les zones soumises à des sécheresses extrêmes, l'apiculteur peut nourrir ses colonies pour qu'elles survivent, et éviter qu'elles ne désertent.La manière la plus facile de nourrir des colonies est de leur donner du sucre cristallisé, sec, dans la ruche. Les abeilles dissolvent alors lentement les cristaux de sucre. Cette méthode est celle qui risque le moins d'attirer les abeilles pilleuses, mais elle est lente et génère souvent un certain gaspillage. Il arrive que du sucre tombe près de l'entrée où il peut attirer des fourmis . Il est préférable de dissoudre le sucre dans de l'eau bouillante, à raison d'environ une part de sucre pour une part d'eau, en remuant jusqu'à complète dissolution. Entre 1 et 5 kg de sucre peuvent être donnés en une seule fois. Le sirop de sucre Pour une ruche à barrettes simple, horizontale, les nourrisseurs de type mangeoire, suspendus à l'intérieur de la ruche, sont plus adaptés (figure 47). Il est aussi possible de nourrir les colonies à l'aide d'un simple sac en plastique à moitié rempli de sirop, et fermé avec un Dans les régions tempérées, un succédané est parfois distribué aux colonies qui sont à court de pollen. Dans la plupart des pays tropicaux, toutefois, il y a généralement surabondance de pollen. Il arrive que les abeilles en récoltent trop et qu'elles en saturent certains rayons. Dans ce cas, ces derniers doivent être retirés de la ruche afin de libérer de l'espace pour la construction de nouveaux rayons destinés au stockage du miel. Sur les marchés et dans les élevages, on observe souvent des abeilles récoltant la farine de diverses céréales qu'elles utilisent comme le pollen. La sélection, l'élevage et le « clippage » des reines Ces pratiques ne s'appliquent qu'aux ruches à rayons mobiles ou à cadres mobiles.Certaines caractéristiques , telles qu'un tempérament agressif ou docile, un comportement dynamique ou apathique, la propension à l'essaimage et la résistance aux maladies, varient d'une colonie à l'autre. Ces caractéristiques sont portées par des gènes et dépendent donc de la reine. Il est de ce fait possible, en sélectionnant et en élevant les reines, d'exercer un certain contrôle sur le comportement des colonies. Comme dans le cas des programmes de sélection des autres animaux d'élevage, ce processus prend du temps mais peut donner des résultats très positifs.Lorsqu'un apiculteur est particulièrement satisfait de l'une de ses colonies, il devrait tout faire pour la préserver : s'interdire de détruire les rayons de mâles qu'elle produit et, si possible, utiliser cette colonie pour la reproduction. À l'inverse, les reines des colonies présentant des caractéristiques indésirables devraient être détruites et remplacées, de préférence par des reines de souche différente. Ainsi, en présence d'une colonie beaucoup plus agressive que d'autres de même taille et de même force, l'apiculteur devrait en rechercher la reine et la tuer, dans l'espoir que les abeilles en élèveront une nouvelle dont la descendance se révèlera plus amène.Il est préférable, toutefois, de faire en sorte que la nouvelle reine provienne d'une lignée différente. Pour ce faire, l'apiculteur inspecte la ruche une semaine après avoir tué la reine et détruit toutes les cellules royales en construction. Il introduit alors un rayon d'oeufs et de jeunes larves provenant d'une colonie sélectionnée selon les caractéristiques désirées. Si toutes les cellules royales ont bien été détruites au préalable dans la ruche, les abeilles élèveront une nouvelle reine à partir du couvain sélectionné qui leur a été donné. Les ouvrages de Fert (1997) et Brother Adams (1987) pourront être consultés pour plus d'informations sur ce sujet.Lorsqu'une colonie essaime ou déserte, les abeilles ne quittent la ruche qu'en compagnie de la reine. Il est possible d'empêcher la reine de partir en raccourcissant l'une de ses ailes pour l'empêcher de voler.Pour clipper (on dit également rogner ou écourter) une reine, il faut la maintenir fermement par le thorax entre le pouce et l'index, et couper une seule des ailes à la moitié de sa longueur, avec une paire de petits ciseaux bien aiguisés. Il ne faut jamais saisir une reine par son abdomen, car elle pourrait être blessée.De bonnes colonies fortes peuvent être divisées pour remplir des ruches supplémentaires. De manière générale, il est conseillé de diviser les colonies après la récolte, car si l'opération est trop précoce, il est probable que ni la colonie mère ni sa subdivision ne seront assez vigoureuses pour engranger un surplus de miel. Il reste que diviser une colonie particulièrement forte qui menace d'essaimer peut les en dissuader sans pour autant anéantir toutes les chances de récolte.Les colonies qui ont été divisées demandent un peu de temps par la suite pour recouvrer des forces, mais elles sont souvent en mesure de produire du miel dès la saison suivante. Mieux vaut éviter de diviser une ruche faible, car les abeilles africaines sont susceptibles de déserter si elles sont divisées avant que leur colonie soit suffisamment vigoureuse.Les colonies fortes se reconnaissent à plusieurs indices : il y a beaucoup d'activité de vols à l'entrée de la ruche ; les abeilles se regroupent parfois en grappe à l'extérieur de l'entrée de la ruche pendant la nuit ; la ruche est lourde. Avant la division, l'apiculteur doit préparer une nouvelle ruche qu'il installe tout près de celle qu'il se propose de diviser. Cette dernière est alors ouverte et trois rayons contenant du couvain operculé ainsi que deux rayons de miel et de pollen sont enlevés et placés dans la nouvelle ruche, avec la reine si l'on parvient à la localiser. Si la reine reste introuvable, il faut s'assurer que le couvain introduit dans la nouvelle ruche contient des oeufs et des jeunes larves, pour que les abeilles puissent élever une nouvelle reine si nécessaire. Quatre rayons sont alors extraits de la ruche mère et brièvement secoués au-dessus de la nouvelle ruche pour y faire tomber les abeilles, puis remis à leur place. Dans chaque ruche, les espaces vides sont alors comblés avec de nouvelles barrettes et les toits sont posés.Pour finir, il faut déplacer la nouvelle ruche et l'installer à son emplacement définitif. Un certain nombre d'abeilles retourneront à la ruche mère, mais la nouvelle colonie devrait se développer au fur et à mesure 5. Les opérations spécialisées de l'émergence des jeunes. L'accroissement de la nouvelle colonie peut éventuellement être accéléré en nourrissant les abeilles.Il est parfois nécessaire de déplacer des colonies pour plus de commodité ou pour tirer parti d'une miellée particulière. Ainsi certains apiculteurs éthiopiens déplacent-ils leurs colonies d'une vallée à une autre pour exploiter la ressource de miellée la plus prometteuse. Les ruches sont déménagées à dos d'âne, en prenant soin de fermer toutes les issues et de les envelopper dans un drap ou une couverture pour que les animaux ne soient pas piqués.Il est essentiel que les rayons ne se brisent pas pendant le transport.Les rayons bâtis dans des ruches en tronc d'arbre ou dans les cadres de ruches à cadres mobiles sont généralement à l'abri d'incidents de ce type, mais les rayons de ruches à barrettes se cassent facilement, surtout s'ils sont alourdis de miel. Ces ruches ne sont donc pas adaptées à des déplacements fréquents. Lorsque l'apiculteur emploie des ruches à cadres mobiles et que les routes sont bonnes, le transport motorisé sur un camion ou une camionnette à plateau est intéressant, si son coût est raisonnable.Les ruches doivent être déplacées de nuit ou par temps de pluie, lorsque les abeilles ne volent pas, afin d'éviter de perdre des butineuses. Les ruches doivent être bien enfumées pour que les abeilles restent calmes et se cantonnent à l'intérieur. Toutes les issues doivent être obturées avec de l'herbe ou de l'argile (veiller toutefois à ne pas asphyxier les abeilles), ou encore la ruche entière peut être enveloppée dans un drap. Une fois à destination, des obstacles tels que quelques brins d'herbe peuvent être placés devant l'entrée pour que les abeilles prennent conscience de leur nouvel emplacement et se réorientent.Les abeilles apprennent à s'orienter par rapport à la ruche. Il s'ensuit qu'une colonie doit être déménagée d'une distance inférieure à 3 m ou supérieure à 3 km, faute de quoi les butineuses sont susceptibles de revenir à l'endroit où se trouvait leur ruche auparavant. Il est toutefois possible de déplacer une ruche sur une petite distance en opérant par étapes successives de quelques mètres. La colonie peut aussi être déménagée en une fois mais en prenant soin d'installer dans son emplacement d'origine une autre ruche pleine ou une ruche appât pour accueillir les butineuses qui pourraient revenir et qui viennent alors grossir les rangs de cette autre colonie.Il est possible d'importer dans les pays tropicaux des abeilles issues d'autres régions. Importer des abeilles présente pratiquement les mêmes avantages et inconvénients qu'importer d'autres animaux domestiques ou des plantes cultivées. Même si les souches importées peuvent s'avérer plus travailleuses ou plus amènes, cette pratique ne va pas sans un certain risque. Ainsi, lorsque des abeilles africaines ont été introduites en Amérique du Sud en 1956, elles ont dominé les populations locales à tel point que la quasi-totalité des abeilles de ce continent sont désormais hybridées (elles sont dites « africanisées »). La propagation des maladies est un autre problème important. Le varroa (Varroa jacobsoni), un acarien parasite externe de l'abeille domestique, a été répandu dans la plupart des pays du globe par les échanges d'abeilles ou de reines (voir le chapitre 6). Il est de ce fait plus sage et moins risqué d'éviter de déplacer des abeilles sur de grandes distances, à moins de s'entourer des conseils d'un spécialiste, tout en se conformant à la réglementation locale et internationale en la matière. Beaucoup de pays soumettent désormais l'importation d'abeilles à une autorisation spéciale.Il a maintes fois été tenté, mais sans succès, d'introduire en Afrique centrale des abeilles européennes, plus dociles. Lorsque la reine d'une colonie d'abeilles africaines est remplacée par une reine européenne (remérage), il semblerait que la colonie commence par se développer de manière tout à fait satisfaisante, pour ensuite s'affaiblir et mourir. Ce phénomène pourrait être dû à une maladie. Selon une autre hypothèse, les abeilles européennes continueraient à travailler tout au long de la journée en dépit des hautes températures et finiraient par s'épuiser, alors que les abeilles africaines ne sortent qu'aux heures les moins chaudes.Néanmoins, la transhumance de colonies à l'échelle locale comporte quelques avantages. Par exemple, une colonie déplacée d'un site aride à végétation clairsemée vers un autre site où les floraisons sont plus régulières est susceptible de travailler avec plus de dynamisme que les colonies du cru habituées à ces conditions favorables. Il reste que les tentatives d'introduction d'abeilles dans des milieux différents de La pollinisation est le processus par lequel le pollen est transféré des organes mâles de la fleur (les anthères des étamines) sur les organes femelles (le stigmate) de la même fleur, ou d'une autre de la même espèce. Si les céréales et les graminées sont en général pollinisées par le vent, la plupart des autres plantes le sont par des insectes. L'abeille domestique est un des pollinisateurs les plus efficaces. Les cultures qui dépendent d'une pollinisation par des insectes ont un meilleur rendement si des abeilles sont présentes dans le voisinage. Certains cultivateurs sont prêts à payer des apiculteurs pour qu'ils placent des ruches dans leurs parcelles. Cependant, le comportement agressif des abeilles africaines les rend peu adaptées à ce type d'activité agricole transhumante, et il est plus facile de les maintenir toute l'année sur un site proche des cultures. Dans le cas où les abeilles sont essentiellement gardées pour leurs services de pollinisation et doivent être déplacées d'une culture à une autre, il vaut mieux investir dans des ruches à cadres mobiles dans lesquelles les rayons sont un peu moins vulnérables. Les espèces cultivées en zone tropicale, connues pour dépendre de la pollinisation par les abeilles, sont présentées dans la liste ci-dessous. Certaines d'entre elles peuvent par ailleurs donner de bonnes récoltes de miel.Les plantes cultivées en régions tropicales dont les rendements sont accrus par l'action pollinisatrice des abeilles sont : agrumes Citrus spp. ; anacardier (noix de cajou) ; avocatier ; caféier ; Cléome gynandra ; cocotier ; colza ; coton nier ; Desmodium spp. ; fruit de la passion ; haricot ; légumineuses alimentaires ; luzerne ; manguier ; moutardesfeuilles ; pêcher ; pyrèthre ; ricin ; sésame ; tournesol . La luzerne et le pyrèthre ont un nectar peu abondant.Bien que les cultures pollinisées par le vent n'aient en théorie pas besoin d'abeilles, ces insectes peuvent permettre un accroissement des rendements atteignant parfois 20 %. Chez certaines céréales telles que le maïs et le sorgho, les abeilles récoltent le pollen et même le miellat , exsudat sucré produit par la plante ailleurs que dans la fleur.Avant d'installer une ruche dans une parcelle cultivée, il est important de s'assurer que l'exploitant n'utilise pas d'insecticides pendant toute la période de présence des abeilles, notamment lorsque les cultures sont en fleur. Il existe aussi d'autres insectes pollinisateurs qui devraient être préservés en protégeant leurs milieux naturels et en ne recourant pas aux insecticides. Les abeilles africaines essaient de repousser ces attaques en formant une boule compacte à l'entrée de la ruche, tandis que les fourmis les extirpent une par une et les mangent. En général, ce sont les fourmis qui finissent par dominer la situation. Si elles interviennent de jour, les abeilles fuient la ruche en direction des habitations situées à proximité, ce qui alerte parfois l'apiculteur. Il arrive que la colonie entière déserte les lieux pour revenir après le départ des fourmis. Le plancher d'une ruche qui a subi l'incursion de fourmis légionnaires est couvert de cadavres d'abeilles et de fourmis.Plusieurs autres espèces de fourmis peuvent quelquefois être observées dans la ruche et aux alentours. Si certaines ne font que rechercher un abri, la plupart entrent dans la ruche pour y dérober du miel ou du couvain. Les colonies vigoureuses sont normalement capables de tenir tête aux espèces les plus petites, mais une colonie faible éprouve quelquefois des difficultés à se débarrasser des minuscules fourmis qui harcèlent les abeilles.Il est difficile de protéger les ruches des fourmis, mais les mesures cidessous s'avèrent souvent utiles : si les ruches sont au sol, glisser une plaque de métal entre la ruche et son socle. La plaque devrait dépasser d'au moins 5 cm tout autour du socle. Les fourmis sont capables de franchir cet obstacle, mais avec difficulté, ce qui décourage beaucoup d'entre elles. Ces plaques peuvent également protéger la ruche des attaques de termites et par ailleurs, limitent l'emprise de la végétation tout près de la ruche ;verser des cendres fraîches autour du socle de la ruche. Les cendres doivent être remplacées fréquemment, surtout après avoir été mouillées ; verser de l'huile de vidange autour du socle de la ruche ; suspendre les ruches par des fils de fer enduits de graisse ; bien désherber pour ne laisser aucune végétation en contact avec le socle des ruches ; s'assurer que les ruches comportent un espace suffisant entre le dessus des barrettes et le toit, pour que les abeilles puissent y patrouiller et repousser les intrus. On observe souvent des fourmis s'installer sous le toit des ruches lorsque les abeilles ne peuvent y accéder.Certains apiculteurs placent les pieds des socles des ruches dans de vieilles boîtes de conserve ou des récipients en plastique remplis d'huile usagée ou d'eau. Cette méthode offre en effet une protection contre les fourmis mais n'est pas recommandée dans la mesure où des abeilles tombent dans ces récipients lorsque la ruche est ouverte. Il est également déconseillé de saupoudrer des insecticides en cercle autour de la ruche parce que les abeilles peuvent s'en trouver contaminées. Confronté à une offensive en cours, l'apiculteur peut disperser les fourmis avec des cendres chaudes, ou avec un vaporisateur insecticide domestique, en prenant bien garde de ne pas atteindre d'abeilles.Le ratel (Mellivora capensis) est un animal très puissant doté d'une peau extrêmement résistante et de fortes griffes (figure 48). Il préfère ------le couvain au miel et déchire facilement le bois des ruches les plus solides. Il peut également grimper dans les branches basses des arbres et faire tomber les ruches traditionnelles au sol. Dans certaines régions, les apiculteurs protègent leurs ruches en clouant une feuille de tôle autour du tronc des arbres porteurs pour empêcher ces animaux de monter. Là où les ratels font de gros dégâts, les ruches doivent être installées dans des ruchers-pavillons ou suspendues à une hauteur d'au moins 60 cm du sol. Une fosse creusée sous la ruche donnera un complément de protection (voir le chapitre 4, figure 37).L'espèce de coléoptère de ruche la plus grande recherche le miel, tandis que la plus petite entre dans la ruche pour s'y reproduire. La première, Oplostomus fuligineus (figure 49), est un coléoptère mellivore surtout présent à basse altitude sous climat chaud. Il fait parfois des dégâts importants, surtout dans les colonies faibles. Le grand coléoptère des ruches peut être ramassé à la main sur les rayons, mais l'opération est laborieuse et difficile du fait de l'agressivité des abeilles africaines. Mieux vaut tenter d'empêcher ces insectes de pénétrer dans la ruche en limitant la taille des orifices d'entrée , par exemple en les recouvrant d'un grillage ou en les obstruant partiellement avec une plaque métallique. L'entrée doit être assez grande pour laisser passer  mises en difficulté. Ce coléoptère se reproduit dans la ruche et ses larves se nourrissent de pollen et de miel, ce qui provoque la fermentation du miel et sa liquéfaction. Une attaque de grande ampleur peut réduire l'ensemble des rayons à un amas pulvérulent sur le plancher de la ruche. La lutte préventive consiste à aider la colonie à repousser ces coléoptères. Les abeilles doivent pouvoir avoir accès à toutes les parties de la ruche pour en chasser les intrus et protéger leurs larves. Si leur nombre est insuffisant pour couvrir tous les vieux rayons, il faut en retirer quelques-uns. Le petit coléoptère des ruches a maintenant atteint l'Europe, où les dommages qu'il occasionne sont encore plus importants qu'en Afrique, son continent d'origine. Il est vraisemblable que cette espèce deviendra également un problème sérieux dans les régions du Pacifique et des Caraïbes.Les fausses teignes font plus de dégâts dans les régions à climat tropical que dans les zones tempérées. Il en existe deux espèces : la grande fausse teigne (Galleria mellonella ) et la petite fausse teigne (Achroia grisella ). Ces papillons vivent et se reproduisent sur les rayons, notamment sur les vieux rayons noirâtres. On les aperçoit quelquefois dans les ruches qui en sont envahies, et aussi dans les rayons où l'on peut observer les galeries tissées de la soie des larves. Des rayons entiers peuvent devenir une seule masse de fils enchevêtrés, et quand les larves entrent en nymphose, elles se creusent une loge dans le bois de la ruche (figures 51 et 52). On trouve généralement les fausses teignes dans les colonies faibles, qu'elles peuvent éventuellement tuer ou pousser à déserter, tandis que les colonies vigoureuses sont capables de leur tenir tête. Il arrive souvent qu'une nouvelle colonie entre dans une ruche détruite par les fausses teignes et s'y installe, abandonnant les restes de rayons tombés sur le plancher de la ruche, nettoyant et bâtissant de nouveaux rayons par le haut. On observe parfois des infestations de fausses teignes après qu'un essaimage a affaibli une colonie forte. Le risque est accru si les abeilles ont consommé beaucoup de miel et ont laissé des rayons vides sans surveillance. Toute colonie qui a perdu sa reine est susceptible d'être attaquée par les fausses teignes.Le meilleur moyen de prévenir les attaques de fausses teignes est de faire en sorte que les colonies demeurent suffisamment fortes et de retirer les rayons de miel que les abeilles ne sont pas en mesure de défendre. Les rayons vides constituent un excellent substrat de reproduction pour ces papillons. Les ruches à barrettes sont ici avantagées   Le sphinx à tête de mort (Acherontia atropos ) est un gros papillon de nuit qui pénètre dans les colonies affaiblies pour y consommer du miel (figure 53). On le reconnaît à la tache en forme de tête de mort qu'il exhibe sur le thorax. Ces papillons ne perturbent pas les colonies fortes. Le mieux est de les expulser des ruches lorsqu'on l'y aperçoit.Certaines guêpes telles que l'espèce Polarus latifrons attaquent parfois les abeilles à l'entrée de la ruche et les emportent pour les consommer ou en nourrir leurs larves. Ces insectes posent souvent plus de problèmes dans les régions chaudes, où ils peuvent empêcher les abeilles de sortir butiner s'ils sont présents en grand nombre. Les apiculteurs luttent contre ces guêpes chasseresses en plaçant un plat rempli d'eau sous l'entrée de la ruche, ce qui en piège un bon nombre. Il arrive que quelques abeilles s'y noient également, mais les conséquences pour la colonie en sont relativement mineures.  Les ravageurs ordinairement connus sous le nom de poux des abeilles ou braules (Braula spp.) sont en fait de minuscules mouches dépourvues d'ailes. Les braules sont de temps à autre observées sur le thorax des abeilles domestiques, notamment sur les reines, qui en portent parfois plusieurs. La femelle pond ses oeufs sur les opercule s de cire des cellules à miel, et les larves creusent de très fins tunnels sous la surface des rayons de miel. Certains observateurs sont d'avis que les petits points blancs que l'on voit quelquefois sur les rayons à couvain sont des oeufs de braule. La meilleure protection est d'avoir des colonies fortes.Les recherches ont montré que les acariens sont un facteur de stress pour les abeilles, et peut-être contribuent-ils aux échecs répétés des tentatives d'importation d'abeilles exotiques en Afrique, au sud du Sahara. On sait peu de choses sur les acariens qui s'attaquent aux abeilles domestiques en Afrique, mais ils sont à prendre en considération lorsque l'on se trouve confronté à une colonie qui s'affaiblit sans raison apparente.La varroa se est une maladie causée par l'acarien Varroa jacobsoni, découvert à l'origine en Asie du Sud-Est sur la petite abeille asiatique Apis cerana . Depuis les années 1970, cependant, cet acarien, qui parasite également l'espèce Apis mellifica, s'est propagé à l'ensemble de l'Eurasie et du continent américain et il est aussi présent en Afrique du Nord. Il a également été observé en Afrique du Sud, où cette menace est prise très au sérieux. On ne sait pas encore si l'abeille africaine, dont les cycles de reproduction sont légèrement plus courts, résistera mieux que l'abeille européenne . Si le varroa finit par se répandre et s'installer dans toute l'Afrique, les conséquences pourraient en être très graves. Il s'agit là d'une raison fondamentale pour s'abstenir d'importer des abeilles de zones infestées vers des zones encore exemptes.La ruche horizontale à deux reines conçue par Maurice Chaudière (2005) permet notamment d'éliminer les varroas sans traitement chimique.Les insectes qui attaquent le bois sont capables d'occasionner d'importants dégâts aux ruches. Ils peuvent être découragés en passant l'extérieur des ruches à la peinture ou à la créosote. Ce produit a une odeur qui attire les abeilles, mais ne doit pas contenir d'adjuvant insecticide. On parvient parfois à protéger le bambou, particulièrement vulnérable aux insectes xylophages , en le fumant ou en le faisant tremper dans l'eau pendant plusieurs jours. La fumée de la plante muletha serait également un répulsif pour les destructeurs du bois.    Les possibilités ne manquent pas d'écouler localement le miel des petits producteurs, mais le type de miel proposé et son prix de vente doivent correspondre à la demande. Les apiculteurs qui souhaitent commercialiser eux-mêmes leur production doivent donc réaliser une rapide étude de marché. Par exemple, les habitants des environs sontils prêts à payer un bon prix pour un miel propre et limpide, de bonne saveur, présenté dans un conditionnement de qualité ? Préfèreraientils plutôt un miel de qualité moindre à un prix plus modique ? Quels sont les types de miel déjà disponibles sur le marché ? Si tous les miels proposés sont de qualité moyenne, il existe peut-être un marché potentiel pour un produit de qualité supérieure.   Les transformateurs trouvent parfois avantageux de rejoindre, ou de constituer, une structure de taille supérieure pour commercialiser leur miel. Un organisme de grande dimension a plus de ressources financières et un meilleur accès au crédit. Il peut acheter le matériel de conditionnement en gros à un prix inférieur, et il se trouve dans une position plus forte pour négocier les contrats de vente et les canaux de distribution. La cire est sécrétée par quatre paires de glandes cirières se trouvant sur la face ventrale de l'abdomen des ouvrières. Elle apparaît sous la forme de minuscules écailles que l'abeille mâchonne avant de l'utiliser La cire peut être extraite par petites quantités ou entreposée en vue d'un traitement en gros, et ce, jusqu'à une tonne de rayon par session. Un récipient de 20 l rempli de rayons blancs permet normalement d'obtenir presque 20 kg de miel et 2 kg de cire. En revanche, dans le cas de vieux rayons sombres, ces rendements peuvent descendre à 10 kg de miel seulement et moins de 0,5 kg de cire. Ces types de rayons donnent peu de cire parce qu'ils sont constitués en bonne partie de pollen et de débris de cocon, qui forment le marc de cire . Un peu de cire peut en être extrait si l'on dispose d'une bonne presse à vapeur. L'emploi de ruches à cadres mobiles, dans lesquelles les rayons sont rendus à la ruche une fois vidés de leur miel, permet l'extraction de cire uniquement des opercule s, ce qui correspond à seulement 1 à 2 % du poids du rayon.    7. Les produits de l'apiculture L'apicultureLa cire d'abeille est un bon produit de rapport car elle se conserve indéfiniment et sa valeur au kilogramme est relativement élevée. La cire est facile à écouler dans les régions où la filière commerciale existe déjà. Des possibilités de vente à l'international existent : l'Éthiopie est ainsi le quatrième producteur mondial de cire d'abeille. La difficulté est que les exportateurs ne sont généralement pas intéressés par l'achat de petites quantités provenant d'apiculteurs isolés. En l'absence de filière active, il est probablement plus profitable pour le producteur de transformer sa cire en produits finis commercialisables sur place, des bougies par exemple.Les autres produits de la rucheLes abeilles récoltent le pollen sur les anthères des fleurs et le ramènent à la ruche sous forme de petites pelotes accrochées à leurs pattes. Les apiculteurs le récupèrent en installant une trappe à pollen , un simple grillage métallique à travers lequel les butineuses doivent passer pour pénétrer dans la ruche et qui décroche et fait tomber les pelotes de pollen dans un plateau au-dessous (figure 61). La plupart des trappes à pollen ne conviennent qu'aux modèles dont le plancher est indépendant du corps de ruche. Le principe devrait pouvoir être adapté aux autres modèles, mais il s'avère généralement difficile de récolter le pollen lorsque l'entrée est de taille réduite.Le pollen est riche en protéines. Son potentiel commercial est considérable et encore largement inexploité. Le plus souvent, les api culteurs qui le récoltent le réservent pour leur propre consommation ou le vendent comme complément alimentaire par l'intermédiaire de filières spécialisées en alimentation diététique et naturelle. Le pollen pourrait être un complément nutritif intéressant dans les régions où le régime alimentaire habituel est pauvre en protéines. Beaucoup de plantes africaines produisent un pollen abondant et des rendements atteignant 10 kg par ruche sont possibles dans nombre de secteurs. Le pollen moisissant à l'humidité, il doit être bien séché puis conservé dans des récipients hermétiques.La propolis est un exsudat végétal que les abeilles récoltent surtout sur les arbres et les arbustes. Les abeilles utilisent cette substance gommeuse pour obturer toutes les fissures à l'intérieur de la ruche et pour diminuer la taille de l'entrée. Les larves de fausses teignes ainsi que d'autres prédateurs sont parfois retrouvés embaumés dans de la propolis lorsqu'elles n'ont pas pu être transportées à l'extérieur. La propolis peut servir à boucher de petits trous dans les citernes, les seaux et les toitures en tôle.Beaucoup de choses ont été dites au sujet des vertus médicinales de la propolis, dont certaines sont exagérées. Cette substance est connue pour ses propriétés antibiotiques et pourrait être utile pour le traitement des plaies. Mâcher de la propolis serait en outre efficace pour lutter contre les maux de dent et les aphtes.La gelée royale est une sécrétion glandulaire des abeilles qui leur sert à nourrir leurs larves. Les larves d'ouvrière en consomment pendant trois jours avant de passer à un régime de miel et de pollen, tandis que les larves de reine sont uniquement nourries de gelée royale. Celle-ci peut être récoltée dans les cellules royales des ruches, mais l'opération est délicate. En outre, elle doit être conservée à basse température en permanence. Elle est utilisée dans la fabrication de produits de beauté haut de gamme ou vendue comme complément alimentaire. Comme 7. Les produits de l'apiculture elle n'est généralement disponible qu'en petites quantités, la gelée royale ne peut pas vraiment être considérée comme une denrée alimentaire de valeur. Il reste que certaines personnes sont prêtes à payer un prix élevé pour de la gelée royale pure ou mélangée à du miel.Le venin d'abeille peut être récolté en incitant les abeilles à piquer une mince membrane de latex tendue sur un cadre en bois. Cette membrane est parcourue par de fins fils électriques qui exaspèrent les abeilles et les poussent à piquer. Une fois sec, le venin apparaît sous la forme de minuscules paillettes qui sont récoltées au revers de la membrane. Le venin est utilisé à des fins médicales, pour immuniser des personnes ayant développé une allergie aux piqûre s d'abeille ou pour traiter des arthrites et autres pathologies similaires. La récolte et la commercialisation du venin reste toutefois un travail très spécialisé qui ne doit être entrepris que par des apiculteurs formés en ce sens et ayant accès aux marchés adéquats.Des apiculteurs déjà bien établis peuvent souhaiter rechercher de nouvelles possibilités de commercialisation au-delà de leur environnement immédiat. Selon les cas, il est plus avantageux de faire cette démarche à titre individuel ou en collaboration avec d'autres apiculteurs, agriculteurs ou entrepreneurs divers. Le développement des marchés exige un certain investissement en termes de travail, d'argent et d'acquisition de nouvelles connaissances tout en comportant également une part de risque. L'évolution actuelle vers la mondialisation des marchés apporte de nouvelles opportunités de vente mais expose également à une concurrence accrue. Les producteurs apicoles qui désirent tirer parti des possibilités offertes devront en échange se conformer aux normes internationales de qualité, concernant par exemple l'étiquetage et l'identification par code-barres. Il convient donc de commencer par s'assurer que les bénéfices envisageables seront bien à la hauteur du surcroît d'investissement qu'il faudra concéder.  Miel crémeux (creamed honey, seeded honey) : miel liquide auquel a été ajoutée une part de miel finement cristallisé, ce qui provoque la cristallisation de l'ensemble (processus appelé cristallisation dirigée).Miel en rayon, miel en section (comb honey) : miel vendu dans son rayon d'origine.Miel en section : voir miel en rayon.Miel extrait (extracted honey) : miel qui a été retiré des rayons, généralement dans des cadres mobiles, à l'aide d'un extracteur.   , 21, 26, 37, 39, 85, 113, 124, 125 butineuse, 20, 83, 91 "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d534faf60630c85e94f70356bb674a7d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5d87931a-0164-4c5c-a338-5e633d06ff12/retrieve","id":"639522235"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c773cf02-b041-4358-8f35-c7d9afb5e054","content":"Identifying priority value chains (VC) through a participatory approach is key for a successful development of climate-smart VCs to increase the resilience and adaptive capacity of community in West Africa.  A total of twelve (12) priority agricultural VCs have been identified and validated through stakeholders' workshops in Segou (Mali), Tillaberi (Niger) and Kaffrine (Senegal).  Priority VCs include sorghum/millet, goat, groundnut, non-timber forest products (NTFP) in Senegal, (ii) rice, millet, vegetable, cowpea, goat/sheep in Mali and (iii) rice, millet, red meat in Niger. The priority VCs have been selected according to three main criteria including the current and future resilience of the VC, the percentage of the population engaged in them and the involvement of poor people, women and youth in them. Women and men are differently engaged in the selected VCs. Women are more engaged in vegetable, cowpea, goats/sheep/red meat and NTFP value chains than the other VCs. They are also more engaged in the marketing than input supply for all the priority VC.This series of briefs summarizes findings from stakeholders' workshops conducted as part of CCAFS-EU-IFAD funded project -Developing climate-smart value chains and landscapes for increased resilient livelihood in West Africa\" in Mali, Niger and Senegal. These workshops were conducted by researchers from CCAFS West Africa regional program and the Alliance Bioversity-CIAT.Climate change is already having a significant effect on agriculture and food security in West Africa. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is proposed as a solution to transform and reorient agricultural systems to support food security under the new realities of climate change. To benefit from the positive gains arising from CSA, a wide scale adoption of CSA technologies and practices is required. The value chain (VC) approach is positioning as a major upscaling opportunity for agricultural innovations in general and CSA options in particular as it offers opportunities to address most of adoption constraints of CSA. Through ensuring an effective and efficient coordination among its actors and creating partnerships with other stakeholders (such as public-private, private-cooperatives and related organizations along the VC), the VC approach improves the access to input and product markets and support the development of business services, contributing to promote the uptake of CSA technologies and practices.The Output 2 of the CCAFS-EU-IFAD-funded project \"Building Livelihoods and Resilience to Climate Change in East and West Africa: Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) for large-scale implementation of Climate-Smart Agriculture\", aims at developing climatesmart value chains to increase livelihood resilience in West Africa (Mali, Niger and Senegal). To reach this goal, the preliminary activity of the project was to conduct a series of stakeholders' workshops in order to select promising VCs for the promotion of CSA in Mali, Niger and Senegal.The prioritization of VCs has been conducted at regional level. Three regional stakeholders' workshops have been organized by CCAFS WA in Senegal (3-5 Nov 2020), Mali (24-26 Nov 2020) and Niger (9-11 Dec 2020) to identify and characterize the priority agricultural VCs for the regions of Kaffrine, Segou and Tillaberi respectively. Workshops gathered 25 to 30 participants, representative of rural development stakeholders in each region. Participants come from regional technical services (Agriculture, livestock, forestry, etc.), farmers' organizations, development projects/programs, private sector (banks, insurance companies, input suppliers), regional authority representatives, and researchers from national agricultural research system (IER, INRAN, ISRA) and CGIAR system (CCAFS, ICRISAT, Alliance Bioversity-CIAT).The objectives of the workshops were to: (i) validate priority VCs, (ii) present and discuss climate trends and climate change projections, (iii) identify important hazards and risks for the key VCs, (iv) identify underlying vulnerability factors (v) identify adaptation options, (vi) identify and map institutions, their resources and capacities.Only the results from the prioritization (objective 1) are presented in this info note. In line with this objective 1, a long list of VCs has been established by the participants. Then, they have been assessed through tree main criteria including: (i) current and future resilience of the VC, (ii) percentage of population engaged in the VC, (iii) inclusion of poor, women and youth in the VC.From this assessment 3 to 5 VC have been selected as priority VCs in each region.Twenty-eight (28) agricultural VCs have been inventoried by the participants to the stakeholder's workshop in Segou (Table 1). The analysis of these VCs according to the three criteria mentioned above led to the selection of 5 priority VCs for the region of Segou. The selected VCs are: rice, millet, goat/sheep, cowpea and vegetable. H=High, M=Medium, L=Low, Y=Yes, N=No, Selected VC (in green)From fourteen (14) VCs inventoried by the participants in Niger, 3 VCs (rice, millet, red meat) have been identified as those which are resilient, involve directly or indirectly more than 60% of the population of Tillaberi region and engage more than 50% of the poor, women and young people (Table 1). Red meat VC refers to cattle, sheep and goat meat. H=High, M=Medium, L=Low, Y=Yes, N=No, Selected VC (in green)Fifteen (15) agricultural VCs have been inventoried by participants to the stakeholders' workshop in Kaffrine, from which 4 have been selected as priority VCs. The selected VCs include: millet/sorghum, groundnut, goats and non-timber forest products (NTFPs). Millet and sorghum were merged to make one VC (millet/sorghum) because of the similarity of their production system in Senegal. H=High, M=Medium, L=Low, Y=Yes, N=No, Selected VC (in green)The VCs have been characterized based on the number of people engaged in them, the types of actors, the key activities, the involvement of poor, men and women in the VCs.A part from vegetable VC all the selected VC engage more than 50% of people (Figure 1). The red meat and millet VCs in Tillaberi, groundnut and millet/sorghum VCs in Kaffrine involve more than 80% of people while cowpea, sheep/goats and millet VCs engage more than 60% of people in Segou. -Millet is wildly produced in the Sahel. In 2019, the harvested areas of millet were estimated at 6.8 million of ha in Niger, 1.9 million in Mali, and 0.8 million in Senegal for a total production of 3.2 million tons, 1.8 million tons and 0.8 million tons respectively (Table 4).The yield of millet is low (less than 500kg/ha in Niger).-Rice is produced in irrigation system along of the Niger River in Segou and Tillaberi. The harvested areas of rice were 924 644 ha in Mali for a total production of 3 196 336 Tons.-Goat and sheep are wildly produced in the Sahel. In 2019, the number of goats were estimated at 26,4 million heads, 18,1 million heads in Niger, and 6,2 million heads in Senegal. The priority value chains have been selected through a participatory approach for their high current and future resilience to climate change and variability, their inclusiveness (involvement of poor, women, youth) and the high percentage of people engaged into them. The prioritized VCs covered agriculture in its broader sense including crops, livestock and forestry.-Millet is a VC which is common to all the three countries. It is with sorghum the main staple and climate-smart crop in the Sahel as it requires less water (drought tolerant) and it is adapted do poor soils.-Rice, cowpea, groundnut, and vegetables are positioning as cash crops with an increasingly growing demand in all the three countries.-Livestock (goats, sheep and cattle) helps on family income, asset savings, agricultural diversification and intensification in the Sahel.-Rice, cowpea, groundnut, vegetables, NTFP, goat, sheep are VCs which involve many women and youth. Therefore, they can contribute to empower women and youth.-In view of their specific roles as described above (food supply, income, inclusiveness), the selected VCs deserve to be promoted as potentially climate-smart to increase the livelihood resilience of the communities in the Sahel.- "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"15455073b125a30afae9803f0096c9f6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/15725952-e14c-49e9-90d6-ec22dc60bf1a/retrieve","id":"-1179126401"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"aeb50adb-95dc-4a83-abdb-f562409f93ed","content":"Initiative to Increase Women's Voice and Agency in Demanding Assets for Climate ResilienceThe International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), one of the research centers within the global Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), has a long history of gender research relevant to its mission of reducing poverty and ending hunger and malnutrition. Over the last two decades, gender has been effectively incorporated into all of IFPRI's strategic research areas and into all phases of research. There is abundant evidence of IFPRI's role as a leading global think tank on gender issues.The broader CGIAR shares IFPRI's strong commitment to high-quality gender research. This commitment is embodied in the CGIAR Gender Impact Platform, the CGIAR Research Initiative on Gender Equality, and a network of gender research coordinators embedded in all CGIAR centers. Collectively, these efforts and their affiliated gender researchers work continuously with partners to fill gender and inclusion evidence gaps; build capacity and set directions to enable CGIAR to have maximum impact on gender equality; and promote opportunities for youth and social inclusion in agriculture and food systems.IFPRI leads the Methods Module of the Gender Platform, developing, maintaining, and disseminating tools and guides on gathering and analyzing genderdisaggregated data. Perhaps most prominently, in 2012, USAID commissioned researchers at IFPRI and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative to develop the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), a tool designed to measure the empowerment, agency, and inclusion of women in the agricultural sector. Over the past 11 years, the tool has been used by over 249 organizations across 60 countries to track and measure women's empowerment, and IFPRI researchers have evaluated the effectiveness of different ways to raise women's empowerment through various policies and programs.Two CGIAR research initiatives-Gender Equality and National Policies and Strategieshave partnered to launch and evaluate programming designed to raise women's ability to exercise their voice and agency in community settings. Specifically, this training manual focuses on developing the skills necessary to articulate aspirations and goals related to individual and community assets that could be built through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) program in 1 India. The MGNREGA is a rural workfare program that guarantees a certain number of days of unskilled manual work per year to rural households at a specified minimum wage; this labor is used to create durable assets that can serve as the basis for sustainable livelihoods. Crucially, MNREGA envisions a 'bottom-up' process of deliberation, in which all members of communities have a right to participate in the village-level meetings where the shelf of works is agreed upon and are empowered to play a role in decision-making about which assets to build.The first step toward the development of this training manual was a baseline assessment conducted in early 2023. The assessment looked at women's access to information and understanding about how to request assets and whether they have tried and been successful in the past at requesting an asset. The assessment occurred with over 3,000 randomly sampled MGNREGA women job card holders in five districts across the state of Odisha (Figure 1): Balangir, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Mayurbhanj, and Rayagada. These districts were chosen to represent different agroclimatic zones as well as differing levels of engagement with the MGNREGA program. • There is considerable variation across districts in whether women have ever tried to request an asset-ranging from 55 percent of our sample in Balangir to 4 percent in Mayurbhanj-but very few women have ever been successful in the past at requesting an asset. • About half of women in our sample report at least some comfort with speaking up in public but say that community officials at village-level meetings at which asset construction is discussed only pay attention to women \"to some extent.\"This suggests three significant disconnects between program goals of including communities in the process of planning for what MGNREGA assets would be built through the program and the experience of rural women. First, there is an informational gap: many women do hold ideas about assets that would be useful to them to improve their livelihoods and their resilience, but they lack specific information about how to put those ideas into practice. Second, there is a skills gap: women may hold ideas about what would be useful to them and either already know about the formal process for requesting assets or be able to quickly learn the process when provided with information. Yet, they lack the skills and confidence needed to navigate the more informal parts of community planning processes like speaking up in public fora, clearly articulating demands, and coordinating with other stakeholders in the community. Third, the assessment revealed a responsiveness gap, suggesting that local leaders and government functionaries are not always responsive to ideas even when women are able to navigate formal or informal processes to submit proposals.Based on the assessment outlined above and IFPRI's global experience working on issues related to women's empowerment in the agricultural sector, IFPRI researchers developed the current curriculum, 'Planning for Voice,' to equip women with key knowledge and skills to help them navigate the process of demanding assets through the MGNREGA. The curriculum addresses both the informational and skills gaps. It is possible that other types of interventions and programming would be needed to address the responsiveness gap; in short, information and skills may not themselves be sufficient.The curriculum is structured to work in small groups of women over the course of 2.5 hours. Women in rural areas have significant obligations on their time, including unpaid care work, and often have limited mobility. It can be difficult for them to devote extensive periods of time to attend training sessions. Often, training sessions can be quite long, taking place over the course of several full days and conducted in large groups. Further, when many strangers are brought together in a central location to discuss potentially sensitive topics, there is a need to spend considerable time during the training introducing women to each other and ensuring that they feel comfortable enough with each other to speak up and share their ideas. This type of lengthy intervention might inadvertently exclude women for whom travel to a central location is difficult and who cannot easily find someone else to assume their household and economic responsibilities for longer periods of time.By contrast, 'Planning for Voice' is designed to work with women in small groups within their existing social networks, so that each woman receives intensive focus and opportunities for practicing skills during a condensed time period. By allowing women to select friends and neighbors who can participate in the training session with them from pre-existing social groups, this format capitalizes on existing social networks and bonding amongst women, thus freeing up meeting time for content and skill development.By the end of the course, participants should be able to:• Understand the basic process for requesting a MGNREGA asset and the key local stakeholders involved • Describe a MGNREGA asset that could improve their individual lives or livelihoods or improve the community more broadly • Articulate different ways that they could play a role in influencing what their community decides to build • Develop a strategy to overcome foreseen barriers to exercising their voice and agency in their communityThe Note that in some cases, only activities (A), (B), and (C) will take place, and in other cases, all 6 activities will take place. Lists will be provided to all trainers to indicate which types of activities should be conducted with each group of women.Inviting friends• Acquire key knowledge on MGNREGA program rules and allowable community and individual assets, plus women's equal rights to participate in selecting assetsReal world examples• Reinforce key knowledge on MGNREGA program rules and allowable community and individual assets• Raise aspirations about speaking up in public and achieving the construction of assets that would be valuable • Hear about obstacles that women face to requesting assets and how they have been overcome by real women -demonstrating that 2 these aspirations are attainable• Identify and discuss barriers that women like them may face in demanding assets • Develop ideas on how barriers can be overcome This is quite a busy agenda in a condensed time period, and preparation will be key to ensure that participants can cover all of the activities and topics in the allotted time period. Facilitators are expected to be familiar with the curriculum in advance and to have reviewed all activities and modules before facilitating it. Other essential steps include congregating a small group (e.g., either by asking a target woman to identify friends/ neighbors who can join her, or otherwise tapping into existing groups to find a set of women willing to be trained); finding a safe place to conduct the training where women can have discussions in private; ensuring you select a time that works with women's schedules; having printed informational leaflets on hand; and setting up a way to screen the movies, which may vary across contexts. Ideally, a batterypowered projector will be used so that women can easily see the movie on a larger screen and so that electricity will not be required.Existing groups have substantial social capital that is known to be important for empowering women both inside and beyond their household. Even outside of formal groups with regular meetings, women often have substantial social capital in the form of friends and neighbors who can be relied upon to provide support of many formsfinancial, moral, etc. A strength of this curriculum lies in tapping this existing social capital, which can take extensive amounts of time to generate within the context of a newly-formed group of women who may not know each other very well, or may live sufficiently far away that they cannot realistically provide the type of support a woman may need.A key goal of the facilitator is identifying where this social capital lies and approaching women to sign up for training. It is not the goal of the facilitator to form groups or ask women who may not know each other at all to come together. Rather, women should be engaged in a discussion of who are friends or neighbors (they may not be family members) with whom they would like to participate in such a training. A target woman with whom a facilitator is talking may not immediately know who to name, but can be encouraged to describe: a) who are those women you rely on when you need something, or want to talk about something? b) when you wish to achieve a goal and need support from another woman, who do you consult? And c) do you participate in any groups with other women? If so, who are women in those groups with whom you regularly talk?If the woman has many more friends and neighbors than can be accommodated, the facilitator should ask the woman who among this group are the most central or important women amongst them to her own personal social network. With a list of women, the facilitator can help the woman devise the appropriate strategy to approach them -either asking the women to round them up and arrive at the training venue with the women, or recruiting some of them his/herself.It is important that women feel comfortable contributing and speaking up during the session. Some women may be naturally more vocal than others; the small groupings among known friends and neighbors are designed to ensure that even those who are naturally more reluctant to speak in large groups have a chance to practice their skills in a safe and comfortable setting. In contrast, in large groups, hesitant or shy women may successfully avoid practicing their skills and revert mostly to watching others practice. The curriculum is designed to include group activities and role play, which should provide women an opportunity to interact more freely without feeling put 'on the spot' to produce an answer about a topic where they may not yet feel knowledgeable. Further, the fact that women already have a good deal of social capital with these women should help them continue to practice and engage with the women after going home.It is a good idea to start the session by explaining the goals of the training. The facilitator should start by reading the following script to women:The following training is meant to support you, as women, to engage in the participatory process of asset selection under the MGNREGA program. You will be compensated for your time through a small snack but will not receive any cash payment. It is our intention that the training will position you to better engage with leaders, community members, and family members in ways that ensure that the MGNREGA program supports you as a woman.After you begin, it is your role as a facilitator to ensure that the session stays on topic and to redirect conversation if it veers off topic. It is also key that facilitators take care and have strategies for encouraging women who overpower conversation dynamics to listen and encouraging women who do not speak to participate. At the end of the session, you should recap 'lessons learned' and any important points made by women during the session as a reminder and to reinforce learning.At an appropriate moment during the session, women should be provided with their snack (e.g., chai and a hot food item from a local vendor).The following materials should be brought to each training:1. This manual. 2. The information leaflets (bring 5-7 to each meeting).3. Projector (ideally battery-powered) 4. A white sheet to hang on the wall. 5. Something to hang the sheet. 6. Flip chart and marker.Each module contains a mix of things that the facilitator can say or explain to the participants; things that the facilitator might ask the group, to spark conversation; and activities that the group will complete together. These are clearly marked within each module:These are things that the facilitator can say out loud to the participants, e.g., introducing a new topic or concept.These are question prompts that the facilitator should ask participants. If participants do not jump in right away, consider rephrasing the question and offering examples for participants to react to.These are activities that the facilitator will lead with the participants. Activities may involve getting up and moving around, acting, and drawing pictures. Have fun and try to get everyone participating.13*Allow 10 minutes to complete• Information leaflets.Pass out the informational leaflets to begin the session.We would like to start off our session with telling you a bit about the process for selecting assets in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Odisha. I have given each of you a leaflet which contains the information I am about to share with you now. This is yours to keep, and you can show it to your households, friends, and neighbors. As you know, given many of your households are MGNREGA job card holders, MGNREGA is a flagship social welfare program that aims to provide employment and livelihood security to rural households. One key component of this program is asset construction.All MGNREGA workers, that is, those who have a job card, have a right to participate in the Gram Sabha, Palli Sabha, or Ward Sabha and collectively propose the works and the order of priority to be taken up under MGNREGA for their Panchayat. Deciding which assets to select is a participatory process and all citizens, including women, have the right to give inputs. These meetings are the place where the citizens' voices are heard.You can request individual or community works under MGNREGA. Individual works are only for your household.Community Finally, small and medium farmers with less than 5 acres of land, landless and manual casual labor households are preferred.The only requirements are that their household has a job card, and at least one household member is willing to work on the project undertaken on their land or homestead.So, when can you demand assets? The process kickstarts from October 2! The Government has suggested that the Gram Panchayat level discussion and planning by ward / palli / Gram Sabha start on Gandhi Jayanti and continue over the next three months.Demands for assets can be raised at the ward and palli sabha. Speaking out gives citizens a chance to ensure their voice is heard and is necessary for their priorities to be considered and included in the annual \"action plan\" that is created as a result of these meetings.Following these meetings, a Special Gram Sabha for approval of the Gram Panchayat level annual action plan usually happens between October 3 rd and November 30 th . The Gram Panchayat then has to submit the GP level plan to the Block Panchayat by December 5 th . Timelines might be delayed this year due to the sarpanch strike. To learn about the key dates in your community, you can check with your sarpanch or Gram Rozgaar Sewak (GRS). Checking can ensure that you as women do not lose your chance to participate.For more information, speak to your GRS, ward members, or panchayat members! Their jobs include supporting all citizens, including women.This process happens every year. So, if you don't have an idea for this year, please consider an asset for next year!*Allow 20-25 minutes to complete• Projector, screen, 1 and comfortable seating arrangement for participants. Private place to screen the film away from other household members.You are about to watch a short movie. This movie-\"The Power of Voice: MGNREGA Success Stories\"-shows the stories of real women from Odisha State who participated in asset selection as part of the MGNREGA program and were able to suggest and receive an asset through the program. They will talk about their experiences in trying to obtain assets, different obstacles that they faced, and how they overcame them. We'll all watch the movie together. There will be a few key places where I'll pause the movie so that we can all talk about it.*Screen the movie. There will be 4-5 places in the film where the movie indicates that you should stop and discuss the question on the movie screen. Please ensure that you pause at these key places and discuss the questions on the screen. You should read the questions aloud to ensure that everyone understands.1 The screen could be a light-colored blank wall or a light colored bedsheet or similar.VIDEO DISCUSSION:Overcoming Barriers *Allow 10-15 minutes to complete. If discussion has been robust during the questions posed during the video, this module will be shorter. If the discussion has been relatively brief during the video itself, then this module should be extended.The objective of this module is to talk about how the themes and ideas seen in the video relate to participating women's own lives. Specifically, this discussion should focus on highlighting any barriers that the women in the video identified to achieving their asset construction goals and how they overcame those barriers. Then, participants should discuss whether they have faced any of the same challenges (or heard about others who have) and brainstorm what barriers they might face in their own lives if they were to request MGNREGA assets and how those might be overcome.Flip chart and markerThere can be a lot of different barriers that make it difficult for women to obtain MGNREGA assets that could really help their lives and improve their livelihoods.A barrier is something that makes it difficult for someone to achieve their goal.I'm going to make a chart here of some of the different barriers that women in the film identified and the strategies that they used to overcome those barriers during the participatory process of demanding a MNREGA asset. Then, I'd like you to think about other barriers that you see that women like you face to achieving the goal of demanding a MGNREGA asset, and your ideas about strategies that could be used to overcome those barriers.What Barriers Strategies -E.g., It can be difficult to speak up in a public setting -E.g., I can practice beforehand with my neighbors, my husband, and other community members and gain their support before a meeting -E.g., My husband will not agree with the asset that I would like to recommend -E.g., We can discuss our preferences beforehand, and maybe I will be surprised at his reaction. He may also keep my idea in mind for the future -E.g., I can discuss my asset preferences with a women's selfhelp group and find other women to make a project recommendation with me -E.g., Men already know what is right for us, so I do not need to speak -There are some things that women want that men care about a bit less (e.g., soak pits, toilets, fruit tree plantations, fodder cultivation for fuel, and nutrigardens), and speaking up can help them be recognized as valuable assets to women -E.g., I'm really not sure what type of project I would even recommend -I can speak to the MGNREGA functionary or other people I know about my ideas beforehand -E.g., I'm so busy with housework and childcare that I cannot find the time to do this -E.g., I can join up with other women who can help develop a proposal with me -E.g. I am not allowed to attend either the palli sabha or gram sabha -I can approach ward members with my request or persuade others (such as members of my self-help group, friends) to place my demand in the palli sabha -E.g., I feel that there is no point even asking for an asset since nobody listens to women anyway -Even if nobody tends to listen now, I can still speak up and help normalize women speaking up and feel good about that*Allow 20-30 minutes to complete.A social map provides a bird's eye view of a community, illustrating where social infrastructure is located in a community in relation to where people live and work. The purpose of this specific social map is to think about the assets that could be built through the MGNREGA program on a very localized map of where the participant lives. It should focus on the area around the participant's home and include things like their own home, neighbors' homes, roads or paths, irrigation-related infrastructure, productive farmland, pasture-land, fallow or waste land, and drainage and groundwater-related infrastructure. Because of the detailed categories, it is essential to focus on a very small geographic area nearby the homes of participating women only. Relevant MGNREGA-eligible assets for consideration are listed in the table below. Please prevent women from trying to map the entire village or a large geographic area. The objective is to really zoom in nearby to their homes to help them think about what MGNREGA assets could be useful to them.The objective of creating the map is to help women think about 'gaps' that exist near their homes where an asset allowable through the MGNREGA program could be useful to them. To think about overcoming barriers to women influencing the asset construction process, it is first important for them to think about what assets could be constructed, which they have already, and what would be most useful to them. Land leveling, pasture development, development of fallow and waste landPlantations; Horticulture supportPoultry shelters; goat or pig shelters; Other livestock promotion projectsAquaculture; fish drying yards; fishery storage facilities; Other fishery promotion projectsRural road projects Source: Compiled from MGNREGA website. Full list of allowable assets here: https://megsres.nic.in/sites/default/files/mgnrega-permissible-work-list.pdf• Explain the purpose of the exercise to the women and how it can be useful to them to think through what additional assets they might request to make their lives easier and their land more productive.• Using a flipchart and markers or other suitable drawing tools, ask the participants to identify north, south, east, and west. Then, start placing their homes on the map along with any canals, roads, or paths. If there is prominent communal infrastructure in this immediate geographic area like schools, health clinics, drinking water sources, or religious buildings, these should be added as well. This map should not cover the whole village -just the areas very near to the participants' homes.• Once the primary buildings have been identified, start talking about the land in between the buildings. Which areas are productive farmlands? Which areas may be fallow? Is there irrigation-related infrastructure around? Infrastructure to address groundwater or drainage issues? Where are existing wells, ponds, shelters, and other facilities?• As the social map is being developed, it can be used to guide women through a conversation about the absence of specific assets which may be useful to themselves, their households, their neighbors, or their communities (i.e., 'gaps'). Use the questions in the 'ask' section below to guide this conversation.• After: Take a picture of the map and share it with your supervisor.• Which types of assets or works available through MGNREGA could fill in 'gaps' in this map that would help the women in the group?• If constructed, who would be the beneficiaries, specifically?• What exactly would the benefits be? More profits? What would they do with the extra money? Keep kids in school? Buy an asset? Etc.• Take a minute to visualize how things would be if you got an asset -e.g., picture the asset, picture yourself using the asset, picture the extra income/easier work load, etc.*Allow 10-15 minutes to complete.This part of the discussion should focus on helping women to identify any goals for participating in the MGNREGA planning process and to learn how to set goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.This section of the training focuses on how to set effective goals. It can be easy for any of us to say that we might like to try something new, like participating in the MGNREGA asset selection process, but doing something new can be really hard for any of us, especially when it involves multiple steps.We are all very busy, have lots of other responsibilities, and may even be unsure of ourselves • Encourage each woman to articulate out loud a SMART goal to increase their own participation in the MGNREGA asset selection process. Ideally, this can build directly from the social mapping exercise if the women have developed good ideas during that session on the types of assets that might benefit them.• Some example SMART goals could be: o I would like to recommend building a new pond between my house and my neighbor's house in time for this year's palli sabha meeting.o I would like to attend this year's palli sabha meeting and speak up in favor of an asset that I think will benefit my community.o I would like to talk to the MGNREGA functionary that serves my village so that I can advance my ideas for which asset to construct at next year's palli sabha meeting.*Allow 35-40 minutes to complete.This part of the discussion should focus on allowing women to practice speaking up and feeling comfortable expressing their views about MGNREGA assets. This section is also intended to help women think about how different people in their community might react to them and to plan how they might respond to questions. This module will include a 'role play' game, where each woman takes a turn playing the roles of: (1) herself, (2) a village official, (3) her husband, and (4) a friend. The role play activity is described below, as well as how to play if there are more or fewer than 4 participants at the training.• Encourage everyone to stand up. In this activity, each woman will play a different character. Before starting the game, it's a good idea to talk about what each character might say or do:o Woman 1 should play herself: She will be talking about an asset of her choice with people in her life and her community.o Woman 2 should play a village official. The women can choose whether this would be the MGNREGA functionary or another village leader who is important to the asset selection process (e.g. sarpanch).o Woman 3 should play Woman 1's husband, mother-in-law or another important family member who lives in Woman 1's household.o Woman 4 should play Woman 1's friend. o If there are more than 4 women, additional women should play a friend or neighbor.Someone could play the role of a self-help group member if that is relevant in the context.o If there are fewer than 4 women, the facilitator can play the role of supportive friend.• The role play game starts off with Woman 1 telling the group what type of asset she will be asking for. The facilitator should ask her: Imagine you are planning to request an asset, who do you want to talk to first among the people here (the village official, your family member, your friend / neighbor).• Woman 1 approaches the first person she chooses and says out loud what she wants. The other woman should be prompted: How do you think the person you are playing would respond to this woman's request? For example, would this person support and encourage her, worry about her going to a public meeting, ignore her or not take her seriously? The other woman should play this part.• Then Woman 1 should be prompted: How would you respond to this? Do you want to go talk to any of the other people here?o For example, if you went to the village official first, but he or she is more persuaded by men who want different assets and we all think he or she will not take you too seriously, do you want to talk to your husband or a friend next to see if you can gain their support?• Go around the room until Woman 1 has talked to each of the other women playing the other roles, thought about how they will respond, and then decided how she will respond back to them.• Rotate roles among the women until time is up for this module, trying to make room for as many of the women as possible to play Woman 1."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"07b10ce6a1e4c7c06aa264f095a34784","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bded3faa-60fd-4e69-93e7-824852552741/retrieve","id":"-149088578"},"keywords":["A 1","4","3 Perfil Las Acacias 3 Lugar/sitio: Estación Experimental Las Acacias DICTA Fecha: 30","06","2022 No","del perfil: 3 Altura: 488 m s","n","m","Tipo de suelo: Cambisol vértico Coordenadas del perfil: UTM: 0561632, 1550479 -N 14°01","453' W 086°25","643' Pendiente Plano 0-1 %"],"sieverID":"5cc949af-2778-458e-9493-4acc65309d45","content":"Este es un justo calificativo para un trabajo altamente técnico, realizado por el doctor Jürgen Bauman, con elEl levantamiento edafológico en ocho estaciones experimentales de la DICTA incluyó la descripción y caracterización de perfiles en campo, la toma de muestras por horizonte delimitado de cada perfil, y su posterior análisis en laboratorio. En las ocho estaciones, se describieron un total de 21 perfiles de suelo (Tabla 1). El conocimiento de las propiedades de suelos es básico para evaluar su capacidad de producción agropecuaria y los factores que influyen en el manejo del agua y la planeación del riego en la parcela, así como en el riesgo de erosión tanto en la parcela como en el paisaje.La observación del terreno, el levantamiento y el reconocimiento de las principales propiedades físicas y estructurales de los suelos en campo permiten a los técnicos y productores evaluar el estado de fertilidad e identificar los factores limitantes para la producción agropecuaria, con el fin de seleccionar e implementar las prácticas más adecuadas para el manejo del suelo y los cultivos.La evaluación visual se basa en la valoración de importantes propiedades del suelo, como la textura, la estructura y consistencia, el color, la porosidad y el desarrollo del sistema radicular. Todas estas son indicadores del estado de la calidad de los suelos y, a su vez, algunas como la estructura, la porosidad y el desarrollo del sistema radicular son influenciadas por el manejo y diferentes presiones de uso, por lo que proporcionan una herramienta esencial de evaluación y monitoreo (Benites, 2015;CRS, 2019;Shepherd, 2000).El primer acercamiento a un perfil de suelo es la observación visual desde el borde de la calicata hacia la pared que se va a describir. A través de una primera impresión se pueden apreciar algunos detalles importantes del perfil del suelo, como una distinción preliminar de diferentes horizontes, basada en posibles cambios de color, o la presencia de fragmentos, piedras, raíces, moteados, etc.Foto 1. Delimitación de horizontes de un perfil de sueloPosteriormente, es necesario posicionarse frente a la pared del perfil y aplanarla con una pala recta. Luego, con un cuchillo, se prepara la pared para apreciar las raíces, identificar los límites de los horizontes y resaltar sus posibles características específicas, como diferencias en la textura y la estructura. Además, también se pueden percibir y detectar las primeras diferencias en la resistencia a la penetración, incluyendo piso de arado. Todas las observaciones visuales y táctiles, en su conjunto, permiten delimitar los diferentes horizontes que componen el perfil del suelo.La resistencia mecánica del suelo se puede medir en campo con un penetrómetro de bolsillo o estimarla con una navaja. Se debe tener en cuenta que la resistencia a la penetración aumenta con el incremento del contenido de arcilla y la disminución del contenido de agua.No obstante, con algo de experiencia en campo se pueden distinguir al menos cinco niveles de resistencia mecánica del suelo. En el marco de este estudio, se estimó la resistencia a la penetración como la resistencia a la inserción de un cuchillo, medido en cm (Foto 2, Tabla 2).Foto 2. Evaluación de la resistencia a la penetración del suelo Tabla 2. Valoración de la resistencia a la penetración0,5-1,5 cm Muy alta 2,1-3,0 cm Alta 3,1-5,0 cm Media 5,1-6,0 cm Baja > 6,0 cm Muy bajaEn campo, la textura se determinó con la prueba táctil de acuerdo con la guía de la FAO (2009). En laboratorio, se analizó la textura por el método de Boyoucos de las muestras alteradas de cada horizonte, determinando las fracciones de arena, limo y arcilla. Posteriormente, se compararon las clases texturales determinadas en campo y en laboratorio. Los resultados se presentan en el Anexo A2.La intensidad de raíces se determinó de acuerdo con la guía de clasificación de suelos KA5 de Alemania (AG Boden, 2005). En el centro de cada horizonte se delimita un cuadrado de 10 cm x 10 cm para preparar y revelar las raíces finas visibles. La intensidad de las raíces se evalúa realizando un conteo de estas, y se clasifica en seis clases, desde \"muy débil\" hasta \"extremadamente fuerte\" (Tabla 3). A diferencia de la textura, la estructura del suelo es dinámica y puede cambiar debido a tensiones mecánicas, biológicas e hidráulicas como resultado de procesos naturales (clima, crecimiento de las raíces, actividades biológicas del suelo), así como por prácticas agrícolas de manejo.Una buena estructura del suelo es vital para los cultivos. Regula la aireación, el intercambio gaseoso, el movimiento y almacenamiento del agua, la temperatura, la penetración y desarrollo de las raíces, el ciclo de los nutrientes, y la resistencia a la erosión. Además, favorece la germinación y aparición de las semillas (Shepherd, 2000).Mediante observación macroscópica se distingue visualmente entre formas de estructuras no agregadas y agregadas. Las formas de estructura no agregadas son:Î La estructura de grano simple en ausencia de aglutinantes.Î La estructura coherente, que se mantiene unida por aglutinantes como la arcilla, los sesquióxidos o la cal, por lo que, en caso de solidificación por precipitación masiva de hierro y cal, también se le llama \"estructura cementada\".Las estructuras agregadas se clasifican según el modo de formación de los agregados:Î Estructura de miga (migajosa, worm casts), considerada una estructura biogénica.Î Estructuras de separación formadas por procesos naturales de segregación. En suelos arcillosos, por procesos de contracción e hinchamiento, se forman prismas y poliedros; mientras en suelos densos ricos en limo se forma una estructura laminar o de placas.Î Fragmentos de suelo producidos por la labranza (grumos y terrones).La dificultad para determinar el tipo de estructura en un horizonte de suelo radica en que su estado de formación puede variar entre \"muy pronunciado\" y \"muy indistinto\". Además, pueden haber ocurrido diferentes procesos de formación estructural simultánea o sucesiva. Como consecuencia, en algunos casos resulta complejo identificar con claridad la forma estructural; por ejemplo, en muchos suelos cultivables (capa arable) es difícil distinguir entre grumos, migas y subpoliedros (Harrach y Sauer, 2002). En la Gráfica 1, se presenta el esquema de clasificación de la estructura de suelo de acuerdo con la FAO (2009).Gráfica 1. Clasificación de tipos de estructura según la FAO El tamaño medio de los agregados se correlaciona con la densidad de compactación, es decir, los agregados pequeños predominan generalmente en un suelo suelto y los grandes en uno denso. En el caso de suelos claramente agregados, la soltura o compactación puede deducirse a simple vista.La cohesión de la estructura del suelo se comprueba mediante la prueba de caída, la cual consiste en dejar caer un bloque de suelo desde una pala, a una altura de aproximadamente 1 m, sobre una superficie firme (p. ej., tabla de madera). El impacto permite observar cómo el bloque se rompe debido a las fuerzas de caída: la tierra floja se descompone en muchos agregados de diferentes tamaños, y el suelo compactado permanece como un bloque. La porosidad se evalúa junto con la estructura del suelo. Este aspecto, y particularmente la macroporosidad, influye en el movimiento del aire y el agua en los suelos. Aquellos con una buena estructura tienen una alta porosidad entre y dentro de los agregados, mientras que los suelos con una estructura pobre pueden carecer de macroporos en los agregados grandes, dificultando su drenaje y aireación.La clasificación de los poros visibles en la pared del perfil de suelo y en los agregados de cada horizonte se realizó determinando su tamaño y abundancia, de acuerdo con la Gráfica 2 (FAO, 2009). También se debe registrar la presencia de poros o tubos de lombrices en caso de que existan. Una de las características morfológicas más importantes del suelo es el color, un indicador del cual se pueden derivar y asociar ciertas propiedades. Por ejemplo, el color negro o tonos oscuros se asocian con un alto contenido de materia orgánica y una buena estructura y actividad biológica, mientras que los colores rojos señalan la presencia de hierro e indican condiciones de alta meteorización donde predominan procesos de oxidación; el color rojo, además, se asocia a niveles bajos de fertilidad y pH ácidos. Los tonos blanquecinos pueden indicar la presencia de carbonatos de calcio; los olivos, verdes o grises, la falta de oxígeno y un mal drenaje. Por su parte, el color entre amarillo y marrón amarillento es señal de una meteorización bajo condiciones aerobias (oxidación) con la presencia de óxidos hidratados de Fe3+, y se relaciona con condiciones de media a baja fertilidad del suelo (SENA, 2013). Para la determinación del color se emplea la tabla de colores Munsell (Foto 4). La tabla Munsell se compone de varias hojas, cada una representando un matiz o tono específico (Hue), indicado en la parte superior derecha de la página. Cada hoja tiene una serie de plaquitas de colores, dispuestas de manera sistemática para representar la claridad (value) y la pureza (chroma). Las divisiones de claridad (value) se organizan verticalmente, aumentando su valor y haciéndose más claras de abajo hacia arriba. Por su parte, las divisiones de pureza (chroma) se disponen horizontalmente en la parte inferior de la hoja, incrementándose de izquierda a derecha. La medición del color se realiza en el campo, tanto en condiciones de suelo seco como húmedo.La detección de manchas, moteados y concreciones de hierro y manganeso indica un problema del drenaje interno del suelo, y que hay periodos más o menos prolongados en los que la aireación y el intercambio gaseoso son deficientes. Se produce una alternancia entre las fases reductoras y oxidativas. El enraizamiento en estos horizontes puede estar fuertemente limitado. Las siguientes fotos muestran ejemplos de manchas y moteados de manganeso (izquierda), mezcla de moteados de hierro y manganeso (centro) y un nódulo de manganeso (derecha).Foto 5. Moteados, concreciones y nódulos de manganeso y hierroDe cada horizonte se tomó una muestra alterada de aproximadamente 1 kg de suelo. Además, se tomaron tres muestras volumétricas con un cilindro metálico para determinar la densidad aparente de cada horizonte.Foto 6. Pasos para la preparación de una muestra volumétrica en cilindroLos análisis químicos y de textura se llevaron a cabo en el laboratorio de la Zamorano. De cada muestra alterada, seca y tamizada se analizaron los siguientes parámetros: Î Carbono orgánico (% CO): Método de Walkley & Black. El contenido de materia orgánica (MO) se calculó por multiplicación con en el factor 1,72.Î N total (%): 5 % de MO.Î pH: 1:1 en agua en el rango de pH 4,00 -pH 10,00.Î Bases intercambiables (K, Ca, Mg, Na): solución extractora acetato de amonio pH 7,0, determinados por espectrofotometría de absorción atómica.Î Capacidad de intercambio catiónico (CIC): extracción con acetato de amonio pH 7,0, determinación por volumetría.Î Fósforo disponible: solución extractora Mehlich 3.Î Textura: método de Bouyoucos.Foto 7. Secado de muestras alteradas al aire (izquierda) y secado de muestras volumétricas a 105 °C (derecha) en DICTA La densidad aparente se determinó en el laboratorio de DICTA en Tegucigalpa. De cada horizonte se tomaron tres repeticiones de muestras volumétricas inalteradas.En este capítulo, se presentan resultados sintetizados de diferentes parámetros que ofrecen una visión general de los sitios y perfiles, y permiten comparar algunas características importantes entre ellos para llegar a conclusiones tanto específicas como generales.En relación a la acidez de los suelos, existen diferencias considerables entre las estaciones, variando entre suelos con un pH fuertemente ácido en las estaciones Opatoro y Santa Catarina, una reacción de pH neutro en La Concepción y La Lujosa, así como un pH alcalino en Omonita y Las Acacias (Tabla 4). Los valores mínimos en los sitios corresponden a los horizontes superficiales de cada perfil, mientras los valores máximos se encuentran a mayor profundidad en los horizontes del subsuelo. Esto es un indicio de la lixiviación de bases de los horizontes superficiales, principalmente de calcio (Ca) y magnesio (Mg), por el régimen pluvial, con lluvias anuales entre 1.000 mm y 2.000 mm (con excepción de Playitas: 800 mm). Además, se observa que las estaciones Opatoro y Santa Catarina -de mayor acidez -están ubicadas por encima de 1.700 m s. n. m., en la zona montañosa de La Paz e Intibucá, donde dominan los suelos ácidos. SAG DICTA publicó un manual de referencia para el manejo de este tipo de suelos en las zonas altas de Honduras (Toledo, 2016). A partir de los resultados del porcentaje de materia orgánica por horizonte, se calculó el porcentaje promedio en los primeros 30 cm de cada perfil. Como se muestra en la Gráfica 3, el porcentaje de materia orgánica es bajo, con excepción de cinco perfiles que muestran niveles medios alrededor de 2,0-2,5 %, y solo un perfil que presenta un valor por encima de 4,0 %.Los perfiles con los porcentajes de materia orgánica de suelo (MOS) más bajos son La Lujosa 1 y Ramón Villeda Morales 3 (Ocotepeque 3), con solamente 0,8 % de MOS; ambos suelos se caracterizan por una textura entre arenosa y franco arenosa -alto contenido de arena (60-92 %). Los demás perfiles en La Lujosa (2, 3, 4) presentan una textura favorable, entre franco y franco limosa/arcillosa; no obstante, también muestran contenidos bajos de materia orgánica, de 1,4 a 1,8 %. Un clima como el de la estación La Lujosa, caracterizado por una precipitación alta y una temperatura promedio anual elevada, favorece la descomposición y mineralización de la materia orgánica. De acuerdo con Valenzuela y Visconti (2018), en el clima cálido el índice de humificación es considerablemente mayor, lo que significa que los suelos tienen una capacidad superior para descomponer, mineralizar y humificar la materia orgánica del suelo. Por otro lado, los suelos con mayor contenido de materia orgánica se encuentran en la estación Santa Catarina, ubicada a una altura de 1.710 m s. n. m., con una temperatura promedio anual de 17,9 °C y suelos ácidos. Esto coincide, entre otros, con el estudio de Orellana Bojórquez (2003) en la zona con un clima templado de montaña en el occidente de Honduras. Con los valores de la densidad aparente (DA) se calculó el contenido de carbono orgánico para cada horizonte y, posteriormente, el promedio para los primeros 30 cm del suelo superficial, expresado en kg/m 2 (multiplicado x 10 = t/ha). Como se muestra en la Gráfica 4, solamente en los perfiles de suelos de Santa Catarina, La Concepción y Playitas 4 se observa un contenido de 5,0 kg/m 2 o mayor (≥ 50 t/ha). Los contenidos más bajos se encuentran en las Estaciones Experimentales La Lujosa (16-37 t/ha), Ocotepeque (18-43 t/ha) y Omonita (30-35 t/ha), donde dominan los suelos livianos con texturas arenosas y franco arenosas, así como en Opatoro (20 t/ha).De acuerdo con Powlson et al. (2022) y Poulton et al. (2018), es difícil lograr aumentos considerables del carbono orgánico del suelo (COS) en suelos agrícolas. No obstante, incluso pequeños incrementos pueden tener efectos positivos y notablemente grandes en diversas propiedades del suelo.En una revisión de los impactos de la retención de rastrojo de cereales en el carbono del suelo, Powlson et al. (2011) destacan que, en la mayoría de los casos, el impacto sobre el contenido del COS total fue pequeño. Sin embargo, en algunos casos en los que prácticamente no se produjo un aumento medible del COS total, se lograron mejoras sustanciales en las propiedades biológicas, como el contenido de carbono de la biomasa microbiana, o en las características físicas, como la estabilidad de los agregados y la tasa de infiltración de agua.También Poeplau et al. (2022) y Bolinder et al. (2020) destacan que los efectos del manejo agrícola sobre las reservas de COS, como la labranza, la fertilización, la gestión de residuos o la rotación de cultivos, son relativamente pequeños, oscilando entre < 0,1-0,5 t C ha/año. De igual forma, señalan que la detección de cambios significativos en el COS puede llevar varios años, dependiendo de los efectos de un determinado tratamiento y de la variabilidad del contenido inicial de fondo del COS.Cuantificando el efecto a largo plazo (28-36 años) del manejo de rastrojo en la producción de cereales sobre el carbono orgánico del suelo, Schjønning (2023) demostró que la incorporación de rastrojo provocó el aumento del carbono orgánico a lo largo del tiempo: entre 13 y 15 % en suelos arenosos y franco arenosos. Otro efecto positivo del rastrojo fue la disminución de la densidad aparente del suelo y el incremento de la capacidad de almacenamiento de agua disponible para las plantas.Revisando diversos estudios, Bolinder et al. (2020) señala que, con la aplicación de estiércol y su combinación con fertilizante mineral, el aumento en el COS osciló entre 23,5 y 43,4 %, mostrando un rango de valores de 203 a 1.310 kg C ha -1 año -1 (0,2-1,3 t/ha/año). Sin embargo, el efecto de los materiales orgánicos reciclados sobre el COS varía en función de la cantidad y calidad de estos. Muchas prácticas recomendadas para aumentar las reservas de carbono orgánico lo hacen a tasas inferiores a 0,5-1 t de C ha -1 ; mientras que, en muchos suelos, las reservas de COS \"de fondo\" pueden estar en el rango de 30-90 t de C ha -1 solo en los 20-30 cm superiores. Esto significa que un aumento potencial de hasta 1 t ha -1 de COS es equivalente a un aumento anual de 1 % o menos del stock total de COS. Por lo cual, se requieren intervalos de medición de 5 años o más para detectar cambios acumulativos del stock de COS que sean estadísticamente significativos (Paustian et al., 2019).En la Gráfica 5, se presentan de manera comparativa los niveles de la capacidad de intercambio catiónico (CIC), con valores mínimos y máximos de cada perfil. Con excepción de los perfiles Omonita 1, Omonita 2 y La Lujosa 1, los valores mínimos corresponden a los horizontes superficiales, mientras los valores máximos se encuentran en los horizontes B, BC y C del subsuelo. En Omonita, se refleja el aporte de sedimentos de las últimas inundaciones causadas por los huracanes Eta y Iota.La Gráfica 5 muestra que la mayoría de los perfiles se caracterizan por niveles medios y medio-altos, entre 20 y 45 Cmol c kg -1 (Anexo 5.1), con excepción de Ocotepeque 3 y La Concepción, que muestran niveles bajos desde el horizonte superficial hasta el subsuelo. Los perfiles con una CIC media alta homogénea en todos los horizontes son La Lujosa 2, La Lujosa 4 y Playitas 3.No obstante, con respecto a la fertilidad de los suelos, es necesario conocer el estado de las bases intercambiables de calcio, magnesio y potasio, así como la saturación de bases de la CIC total, la cual, dependiendo del pH, puede variar considerablemente. Además, son importantes las relaciones entre las bases, debido a que indican si hay posibles deficiencias de alguno de estos elementos, lo cual debe considerar en la estrategia de fertilización (Anexo 6.3). Gráfica 5. Niveles de la capacidad de intercambio catiónico (CIC) en los suelos de las estacionesEn la Tabla 5, se muestra el nivel de los cationes intercambiables de cada perfil, así como el nivel de la suma total de calcio, magnesio y potasio con su valoración (Anexo 5.1). Con respecto al rango indicado, el mínimo corresponde al horizonte del perfil con el valor más bajo, y el rango máximo al horizonte con el valor más alto. De acuerdo con la suma de los cationes intercambiables, 12 perfiles se caracterizan por presentar niveles de \"alto\" a \"muy alto\", entre ellos los de las estaciones Omonita, Las Acacias, Playitas y La Lujosa. El grupo de perfiles con niveles bajos y medios se encuentra en las estaciones Opatoro, Santa Catarina, La Concepción y Ocotepeque.Los contenidos de calcio, magnesio y potasio, expresados en kg/ha en los primeros 30 cm de cada perfil, se presentan en la Gráfica 6. Se evidencia que los perfiles Opatoro, Santa Catarina 1 y 2, así como Ocotepeque 1 y 4, muestran los niveles más bajos de calcio, con un reservorio Los perfiles de las estaciones Playitas y Omonita, así como Ocotepeque 4, se caracterizan por un contenido del reservorio intercambiable de potasio muy alto, entre 1.678 kg/ha (Ocotepeque 4) y 4.760 kg/ha (Playitas 2). Se destaca que en la estación Ocotepeque los perfiles varían considerablemente en su contenido, entre un nivel medio y muy alto. Lo mismo se observa en la estación Santa Catarina, con una variación entre 419 kg/ha en el perfil Santa Catarina 2 y 1.127 kg/ha en Santa Catarina 1. En la estación La Lujosa, tres perfiles muestran un nivel alto, con contenidos superiores a 1.000 kg/ha (1.183-1.369 kg/ha), mientras los suelos en la estación Las Acacias varían en un rango de 500 a 1.000 kg/ha -nivel medio-bajo a medio-alto. En relación al perfil en Opatoro, presenta un contenido de potasio de 1.581 kg/ha, un nivel alto en comparación con sus contenidos de calcio y magnesio.En relación al magnesio (Mg) intercambiable, destacan los tres perfiles en la estación Las Acacias, así como La Lujosa 2 y Playitas 3, con valores por encima de 2.000 kg/ha (2.343-3.176 kg/ha). El reservorio más bajo se encuentra en Opatoro, con 281 kg/ha, mientras los perfiles en Santa Catarina, Omonita y Ocotepeque contienen entre 400 y 1.000 kg/ha, es decir, niveles medios a medio-altos. La Concepción, Playitas 1, 2 y 3 y La Lujosa 4 se caracterizan por presentar niveles altos, entre 1.000 y 2.000 kg/ha. Mg K Gráfica 6. Contenidos de Ca, Mg y K en kg ha -1 en los primeros 30 cm de cada perfilLos valores de fósforo (P) disponibles, de acuerdo con el método Mehlich 3, varían en un rango amplio entre los perfiles. No se observa un patrón claro de diferenciación entre las estaciones, salvo en el perfil de la estación Opatoro, que muestra el nivel más bajo con solo 2 mg/kg (partes por millón), y en el perfil La Concepción, con un valor de 100 mg/kg, el más alto de todos los perfiles analizados. El bajo nivel en la estación de Opatoro está directamente relacionado con el suelo tipo andosol, en cuyas propiedades químicas y mineralógicas se encuentra una alta fijación de fósforo. Por otra parte, el valor extremo en la estación La Concepción se relaciona con la práctica de fertilización en la parcela. De los 18 perfiles analizados (no hay valores de fósforo para la estación Las Acacias), cuatro presentan valores altos, por encima de 30 mg/kg; seis muestran valores de fósforo bajo, menores a 15 mg/kg; y ocho se ubican en un nivel medio, entre 15 y 30 mg/kg. Se observa que en las estaciones La Lujosa, Playitas y Ocotepeque los niveles de fósforo varían de bajo a alto entre los perfiles, indicando que hay diferencias en el manejo y la fertilización.Los contenidos de fósforo (P) en kg por hectárea se muestran en la Gráfica 8. Los valores indican que la mayoría de los perfiles cuentan con un contenido considerable de fósforo que el suelo puede aportar a los cultivos. Destacan los perfiles La Concepción y La Lujosa 1, así como Playitas 1 y 2, cada uno con más de 100 kg/ha de fósforo disponible para los cultivos.  La capacidad de campo utilizable (CCu) para los cultivos es una característica de mayor importancia ante posibles periodos secos y prolongados durante el ciclo del cultivo. La CCu es uno de los aspectos que define el potencial productivo de los suelos, así como su resiliencia ante efectos de la variabilidad climática.La capacidad de almacenamiento de agua aprovechable para la vegetación y los cultivos depende de la textura, la densidad aparente, el contenido de materia orgánica y la profundidad efectiva de enraizamiento del suelo. La relación entre los diferentes tipos de poros del suelo y el estado del agua se presenta en la Tabla 6.La estimación de la capacidad de campo de agua utilizable (CCu) se realizó de acuerdo con las tablas de referencia establecidas por Wessolek et al. (2009, Parámetros físicos del suelo y métodos de cálculo para la práctica), que consideran las clases texturales de la KA5 alemana (AG Boden, 2005), la densidad aparente y el contenido de materia orgánica. Las tablas de Wessolek para el cálculo de la CCu se presentan en el Anexo 4.   La guía para la cartografía del suelo KA5 de Alemania (AG Boden, 2005) distingue un total de 32 clases de textura, en comparación con la clasificación de USDA y WRB, las cuales consideran 12 clases texturales. La comparación de ambas clasificaciones se presenta en el Anexo 3.2.La estimación de la CCu de cada perfil comprende los siguientes pasos:1. Para cada horizonte de un perfil, se determinó la clase de textura de acuerdo con la KA5 (Anexo 3.1).Con base en la tabla del Anexo 4.1, se determina la capacidad de campo utilizable en porcentaje de volumen, de acuerdo con la clase de textura y dependiendo de la densidad aparente en suelos de < 1 % de materia orgánica.3. Para los horizontes con un valor mayor a 1 % de materia orgánica, se toma el valor de ajuste de la tabla del Anexo 4.2.Para cada horizonte de un perfil, se calculó el volumen de CCu, sumando los volúmenes hasta una profundidad de 100 cm de cada perfil.La capacidad de campo utilizable (CCu) en mm para el cultivo a un metro de profundidad de cada perfil se muestra en la Gráfica 9. A esta profundidad, los mm son equivalentes a litros/m 2 de superficie de suelo. La CCu varía entre un mínimo de 101 mm (litros) en el perfil Ocotepeque 3 y un máximo de 221 mm (litros) en Omonita 1. La capacidad de almacenamiento de agua aprovechable para los cultivos en el perfil Ocotepeque 3 está reducida por un horizonte pedregoso en este perfil, mientras el perfil Omonita 1 se caracteriza por una textura favorable, entre franco arcillosa y franco limosa, en todos sus horizontes.De los 21 perfiles, nueve muestran un nivel medio de CCu, entre 90 y 140 mm; diez presentan un nivel alto, entre 141 y 200 mm; y dos se caracterizan por una CCu muy alta, superior a 200 mm (Tabla 7).La variación más amplia entre los perfiles de una estación se observa en La Lujosa, con un rango entre 128 y 204 mm. Los cuatro perfiles en la estación Playitas oscilan en un rango más estrecho, entre 118 y 141 mm. Los perfiles en Las Acacias muestran una variación limitada dentro de un nivel alto, entre 153 y 186 mm. En esta zona predominan los cultivos de altura como hortalizas (crucíferas), café, fresa, mora silvestre, durazno, manzana y otros típicos de este territorio como el frijol chinapopo y el maíz de montaña de 240 días de siembra (dds).Casi en su totalidad, el tipo de agricultura que se practica es la agricultura extensiva, migratoria y de temporada, con pocas prácticas de conservación de suelos. Los datos climáticos de precipitación y temperatura se obtuvieron de la plataforma Agua de Honduras, correspondiendo a la microcuenca 0510129, dentro de la cual se ubica la Estación Experimental Santa Cruz de Opatoro (Imagen 2).La temperatura promedio anual es de 21,2 °C, con una variación mensual entre 19,6 °C en el mes de diciembre y de 23,4 °C en abril; no obstante, la temperatura máxima media en este último mes alcanza 30,7 °C. La máxima media anual es 27,1 °C, y la mínima media anual 15,2 °C. En todos los meses del año se registran temperaturas mínimas por debajo de 20 °C (Tabla 9).La precipitación media anual en la microcuenca es alrededor de 1.830 mm. Los meses de menor precipitación son febrero y marzo. En abril ya se nota un incremento de lluvia, alcanzando un promedio de 49,3 mm, cuadruplicándose en el mes de mayo a 201 mm. El mes de mayor lluvia es junio, con un promedio de 259 mm.La temporada de lluvias se extiende hasta noviembre, aunque en diciembre la precipitación todavía alcanza un promedio de 111 mm de lluvia. Es un clima tipo Aw, de acuerdo con la clasificación de Köppen, debido a que ningún mes presenta temperaturas medias inferiores a 18 grados, las precipitaciones anuales son superiores a la evaporación y la precipitación del mes más seco es inferior a la fórmula [100-(precipitación anual/25)].Imagen 2. Ubicación de la estación experimental dentro de la microcuenca 0510129Microcuenca: 0510129 El perfil de Santa Cruz Opatoro se ubica en la zona de los andosoles, suelos desarrollados sobre cenizas volcánicas, delimitados en el mapa de Suelos de Honduras -elaborado por C. Simmons -como la serie de suelos Milile (FAO, 1969). De acuerdo con Simmons, los suelos Milile \"son suelos profundos bien drenados, formados sobre cenizas volcánicas. 0cupan un relieve fuertemente ondulado o colinoso, con pendientes que, por la mayor parte, son inferiores a 30 por ciento. Se presentan con frecuencia en amplias cimas montañosas, a altitudes de más de 1.400 m. Las temperaturas son relativamente bajas a tal altitud y a menudo se forman nubes\". Además, destaca: \"En muchos lugares, especialmente en las altitudes más elevadas, el suelo superficial es más espeso y más rico en materia orgánica. A altitudes superiores a 1.700 m es franco cenagoso. En muchas partes, el subsuelo es una arcilla pardo rojiza (2,5YR 3/6 en húmedo). La roca básica observada en este perfil no se presenta con frecuencia, pero a profundidades mayores de 1,5 m puede encontrarse una arcilla roja y moteada reticularmente y gris clara\". El mapa de suelos de Honduras de Simmons fue digitalizado en 1998 por CIAT para incluirlo en el Atlas de Honduras. Una propuesta de actualizacion fue realizada posteriormente por Brito Mijares y Sarmiento Hernandez (2012).En un estudio sobre la agricultura migratoria en los municipios de Guajiquiro y Opatoro, Felber y Foletti (1988) presentan los datos de las propiedades químicas y físicas de dos andosoles en el municipio de Opatoro. Un perfil fue ubicado en Buena Vista y otro en la Laguna. Desafortunadamente, no están georreferenciadas con sus coordenadas exactas.Los suelos tipo andosol presentan características particulares en comparación con otros tipos de suelos, como una baja densidad aparente (DA) -menor a 0,9 -, y una alta retención de fósforo -mayor a 85 % (propiedades ándicas) -, que está ligada al contenido de material amorfo y otros minerales de bajo grado de ordenamiento (alófanas e imogolita). A menudo, las capas superficiales con propiedades ándicas contienen una elevada cantidad de materia orgánica (≥ 5 %), son comúnmente muy oscuras (colores Munsell con brillo y croma en húmedo ≤ 3), y presentan una textura franco limosa o más fina.Los suelos tipo andosol en pendientes bajo bosque, por sus características físicas y químicas, prestan importantes servicios ecosistémicos e hidrológicos. En su estado conservado, almacenan elevadas cantidades de carbono orgánico y su alta porosidad favorece la infiltración y la recarga de acuíferos. El cambio de uso de suelo hacia cultivos agrícolas requiere la implementación de prácticas de conservación de suelo y agua (ver Ludrenson Lucien ST-PHAR, 2017; COSUDE y SAG-DICTA, 2022).A pesar de un contenido alto de materia orgánica en el horizonte Ah (5,49 %) del perfil en Santa Cruz de Opatoro, en los primeros 10 cm los análisis muestran una fertilidad baja y restricciones por una reacción fuertemente ácida. Aunque la capacidad de intercambio catiónico es alta, el contenido y la saturación de bases es baja a muy baja. No obstante, los valores muy bajos de fósforo indican una alta capacidad de fijación por material amorfo. El perfil de Santa Cruz de Opatoro cumple con algunos criterios principales para clasificar el suelo como un Dystric Andosol. Sin embargo, el cambio brusco del relativamente alto contenido de materia orgánica en el horizonte Ah a valores muy bajos en los horizontes subyacentes puede ser un indicio de que el perfil haya sido sometido a procesos de erosión durante las últimas décadas (ver perfiles descritos por Felber y Foletti, 1988). Por otro lado, el perfil muestra algunas características de un Nitisol, como el alto contenido de arcilla (la textura en campo puede parecer limosa), y una aparente estructura blocosa con la formación de grietas anchas y profundas en estado seco (Foto 9). No obstante, en estado húmedo (Foto 8), el perfil se caracteriza por una estructura friable y migajosa en los horizontes Bw1 y Bw2, y subangular blocosa en el BC. A las condiciones de formación de grietas en andosoles en estado de secamiento, se hace referencia en los trabajos de Alvarado et. al. (2014), Zúñiga et. al. (2016), Armas Espinel et. al. (2003) y Pérez Echavarría et. al (2017). Desafortunadamente, no se pudo realizar la prueba de fluoruro de sodio (NaF) ni en campo ni en laboratorio -de acuerdo con Fields y Perrot -para la detección de alófanas, y de esta manera la comprobación definitiva de propiedades ándicas. Las características de propiedades ándicas y del horizonte diagnóstico nítico se presentan en la base de referencia mundial para los suelos (IUSS Working Group WRB, 2022).El perfil Santa Cruz de Opatoro se caracteriza por una densidad aparente (DA) baja que varía entre 0,74 en el horizonte Bw1 y 0,88 en el horizonte Ah. Esto a la vez determina un alto volumen total de poros del suelo, entre 66,8 y 72,1 % (Tabla 10).CARACTERÍSTICAS El perfil muestra una alta profundidad efectiva de enraizamiento, con una intensidad de raíces extremadamente fuerte (W6, > 50 raíces/dm 2 ) en el horizonte Ah, muy fuerte (W5, 21-50 raíces/ dm 2 ) en el horizonte Bw1 -hasta una profundidad de 51 cm -, y mediana (W3, 6-10 raíces/dm 2 ) en el Bw2 -hasta una profundidad de 81 cm. En el horizonte subyacente BC, la intensidad de raíces se reduce a muy débil. La alta densidad de raíces en los primeros dos horizontes se relaciona con una estructura de worm casts y migas hasta una profundidad de 81 cm (Anexo 1.1).A pesar de estas propiedades favorables, la resistencia a la penetración varía entre alta (Ah, Bw1) y media-alta (Bw2, BC). Además, en todos los horizontes se observan moteados y concreciones de manganeso, aisladas en el horizonte Ah y aumentando con mayor intensidad en los horizontes subyacentes Bw1 y Bw2. En el horizonte BC, los moteados y concreciones presentan su máximo y alcanzan tamaños entre 0,5 y 2,0 cm, lo que indica que la aireación del perfil es temporalmente insuficiente. Debido a la textura con un alto contenido de arcilla, la capacidad de aire que está determinada por la fracción de poros de drenaje rápido (diámetro equivalente > 50 μm, pF < 1,8) puede estar reducida, lo que, en combinación con un régimen de alta pluviosidad y saturación temporal del suelo con agua, puede expresarse en la aparición de concreciones de manganeso. Esto, además, coincide o puede ser un indicio de las observaciones de Simmons (FAO, 1969), según las cuales los andosoles a altitudes superiores a 1.700 m s. n. m. muestran una textura franco \"cenagosa\".Con respecto a las características químicas del perfil, presenta un pH fuertemente ácido, entre pH 5,06 y pH 5,31. El contenido de materia orgánica en el horizonte Ah es alto (5,49 %), mientras los horizontes subyacentes presentan valores por debajo de 0,5 %. El nivel de fósforo disponible también es muy bajo, con valores entre 1 y 4 mg/kg (Tabla 12), indicando un alto nivel de fijación de fósforo. Santa Catarina, La Esperanza, IntibucáLa Estación Experimental Santa Catarina, al igual que la estación de Opatoro, está orientada a manejar cultivos de altura, propios de estas zonas. Está enclavada en la meseta de La Esperanza e Intibucá, con topografías que van desde planas y moderadas, hasta pendientes por encima de 30 % de inclinación. Debido a las características de topografía, clima, suelo, humedad relativa, precipitación, pH, altura, entre otras, el cultivo predominante de esta zona es la papa (perteneciente a la familia de las solanáceas), la cual se ha convertido en el principal rubro de explotación y representa hasta el 50 % de la producción nacional. Otros cultivos como el café, las crucíferas, el repollo, el brócoli y la coliflor, así como frutales de climas templados, rosáceas (mora y frambuesa silvestre) y maíz de montaña de fotoperiodo largo (mayor a los 240 dds), también tienen un excelente potencial de producción en la zona.Los suelos presentan poca materia orgánica en los horizontes subyacentes al horizonte A, posiblemente como resultado del poco o mal manejo de las prácticas agrícolas en materia de conservación. Estos suelos han sido explotados y sobreexplotados extensivamente, empleando agricultura migratoria y sin cultivos de cobertura como enmiendas de rastrojos, prácticas que podrían devolver un porcentaje de materia orgánica al suelo. Los municipios de La Esperanza e Intibucá están situados en la parte más montañosa y alta de Honduras, superando los 1.700 metros sobre el nivel del mar. Según el mapa geológico de Honduras, el departamento de Intibucá se encuentra en una zona estratigráfica del grupo Padre Miguel, que está formada por rocas piroclásticas asociadas de tipo riolítico y andesítico, tobas, basaltos, y parcialmente cenizas volcánicas (FUNIDE, 2008). Considerando esta heterogeneidad geológica y una topografía de pendientes variadas, desde casi planas (meseta de La Esperanza) hasta muy escarpadas, también se determina una alta variabilidad espacial de los suelos.Es importante mencionar que, alrededor de la ciudad La Esperanza, se encuentran yacimientos de obsidiana, un vidrio volcánico amorfo que fue un importante material utilizado por los grupos precolombinos para manufacturar artefactos y herramientas cortantes. Se reportaron grandes concentraciones y farallones de obsidiana (localización geológica individual en donde se da una concentración de obsidiana, [Sorensen y Hirth, 1984]) -en bruto y trabajada -en las bajas montañas cercanas a Quiaterique, 4 km al noroeste de La Esperanza, y alrededor del Cerro El Cedral, entre otros sitios. De acuerdo con Sorensen y Hirth (1984), las exploraciones arqueológicas han descubierto que la obsidiana fue objeto de amplio comercio en todo Honduras, por lo menos desde el año 700 al 900 a.C.Un vestigio de un taller de la manufactura de obsidiana* se encontró en la parcela de la estación experimental donde se ubica el perfil 2 (Fotos 10a y 10b).*Un taller de obsidiana es definido como un lugar donde se trabajó la obsidiana, dejando como resultado una gran concentración de desperdicios, núcleos descartados y artefactos quebrados durante el proceso de manufactura (Sorensen y Hirth, 1984).Fotos 10a y 10b. Artefactos de obsidiana en la parcela del perfil 2 en la estación Santa CatarinaSegún el sistema Köppen, el clima de La Esperanza se clasifica como Cwb: templado con inviernos secos (Clasificación climática de Köppen -Meteo Navarra). Esto se debe a que la precipitación del mes más seco del invierno (febrero) es inferior a una décima parte de la precipitación del mes más húmedo (septiembre), y a que el verano es fresco, con una temperatura media en el mes más cálido (abril) que no supera los 22 °C. Además, las temperaturas medias superan los 10 °C al menos cuatro meses al año. La temperatura media anual en La Esperanza es de 17,9 °C, con una variación de las medias mensuales entre 16,3 °C en enero y 19,4 °C en abril.Los datos de la estación meteorológica La Esperanza muestran un promedio anual de 1.395 mm de lluvia en el periodo de 1990 a 2022. La temporada lluviosa inicia en el mes de abril y termina en octubre. En promedio, los meses de mayor precipitación son junio y septiembre. La Tabla 16 presenta los valores de lluvia y temperatura mensual y anual registrados en el periodo mencionado. La Estación Experimental Santa Catarina se ubica dentro de la microcuenca 2405005 (Agua de Honduras), que forma parte de la subcuenca Negro Chinacla, dentro la cuenca del río Lempa. La microcuenca abarca un área de 1.364 ha, con un perímetro de 23,5 km. La altitud varía entre 1.665 y 1.981 m s. n. m.El perfil de suelo Santa Catarina 1 (Foto 11) muestra un horizonte Ap en los primeros 20 cm, con una textura arcillosa (Tabla 18) y una estructura migajosa del suelo suelto, en el cual están incorporados terrones de 6 a 12 cm. El suelo flojo presenta una baja resistencia a la penetración, mientras los terrones son duros y muestran una alta resistencia. La intensidad de raíces se califica como mediana (W3), y los poros visibles como muy finos/comunes. Además, se observan algunas concreciones finas y aisladas de manganeso. El color del suelo cambia de marrón muy oscuro en estado húmedo a marrón amarillento oscuro en su estado seco.El olor que se percibe del suelo humedecido es un sutil aroma a tierra orgánica. El horizonte subyacente es un horizonte de transición AB que muestra el mismo color marrón muy oscuro en estado húmedo, y el cual se distingue del Ap principalmente por su estructura subangular blocosa que presenta una alta resistencia a la penetración y un ligero cambio en la textura -de franco arcillosa a más franca. La intensidad de raíces se califica como mediana, y los poros visibles como muy finos/pocos a finos/comunes. Se sigue percibiendo un olor muy sutil a tierra, pero menor que en el horizonte superior. La EsperanzaEl siguiente horizonte B (39-59 cm) se caracteriza también por una estructura subangular blocosa media abierta con agredados de 3 a 8 cm, y una textura de franco limosa a franco limosa arenosa. La intensidad de raíces se mantiene como mediana (W3), y con poros muy finos/pocos. Es notable el cambio de color: marrón rojizo (5YR 4/4) en condiciones de suelo húmedo, y marrón fuerte en suelo seco (7.5YR 4/6). Se observan algunas concreciones de manganeso en la matriz de los agregados, así como granos muy pequeños de cuarzo. El material de suelo de este horizonte es inodoro (Anexo 1.2.1).En el siguiente horizonte de transición BC, se observa una reducción en la intensidad de raíces a un nivel débil (W2). Se nota un ligero aumento de arena fina, determinando en campo una textura franco limo arcillosa. La estructura sigue siendo subangular blocosa media abierta entre los agregados. La resistencia a la penetración se reduce ligeramente en comparación con el horizonte suprayacente. Lo que es notorio en el horizonte BC es la apariencia abundante de concreciones y moteados de manganeso. Además, se observa un aumento en el valor de la densidad aparente, de 1,20 en el horizonte B a 1,32 en el horizonte BC. El color cambia a un marrón fuerte tanto en condiciones de suelo húmedo como seco (7.5YR 4/6; 7.5YR 5/6) (Anexo 1.2.1).El horizonte C muestra un cambio de textura notable, siendo esta más arenosa, y una estructura subangular blocosa con agregados entre 2 y 8 cm. La resistencia a la penetración es alta. No se observan poros y la intensidad de raíces es muy débil (W1). Además, se nota un cambio de color, siendo marrón amarillento oscuro en suelo húmedo y marrón amarillento en estado seco. En comparación con el horizonte BC, ya no se observan concreciones de manganeso. De hecho, el cambio de textura entre ambos horizontes -de una textura fina a una más gruesa -puede explicar la apariencia de las concreciones de manganeso en el horizonte BC: la textura gruesa del C funge como una barrera capilar en condiciones de saturación temporal de los horizontes superiores, lo que por periodos cortos puede causar condiciones oxido-reductoras. Por sus características físicas y químicas, el perfil se clasifica como un Haplic Acrisol. El perfil Santa Catarina 2 (Foto 12) muestra en los primeros 13 cm un horizonte Ap con una gran densidad de raíces (W4) y un olor intenso a tierra. Tiene una estructura migajosa (worm casts), con muy baja resistencia a la penetración. La textura es franco limosa. El suelo en estado húmedo muestra un color marrón muy oscuro (7,5 YR 2.5/2), y en seco un marrón grisáceo intenso (10 YR 4/2). El horizonte de transición AB (13-23 cm) se caracteriza por una estructura migajosa-coherente, fácilmente desmoronable, y una textura franco arcillosa (Tabla 19). Se observan pocos poros muy finos, algunos de lombriz. La intensidad de raíces se reduce a un nivel débil (W2) y, al mismo tiempo, se aumenta la resistencia a la penetración. Además, se observan algunas concreciones de manganeso (Anexo 1.2.2).la superficie, así como pocas concreciones de manganeso. La reducida apariencia de poros visibles en los agregados, la presencia de concreciones de manganeso que gradualmente aumentan a lo largo del perfil, al igual que la desaparición de raíces finas, son indicios de una hidráulica interna reducida y de una profundidad efectiva de enraizamiento medio-baja. Debido a las características diagnósticas de los diferentes horizontes a lo largo del perfil, así como a sus propiedades físicas y químicas, este suelo se clasifica como un Endostagnic Acrisol -de hidráulica interna reducida (Anexo 1.2.2). El contenido de materia orgánica entre 5,93 % en el horizonte Ap y 2,70 % en el horizonte B, hasta una profundidad de 64 cm, mejora considerablemente la capacidad de campo utilizable del perfil, llegando a un total de 170,5 mm (Tabla 20). Como muestran las Tablas 21 y 22, los dos perfiles se caracterizan por una textura con dominancia de arcilla que varía entre 48 y 66 % en el perfil 1, y entre 38 y 82 % en el perfil 2.No obstante, las fracciones de arena y limo también son importantes, ya que tienden a una textura franco arcillosa, principalmente en el perfil 2. Se observa que el contenido de arcilla aumenta con la profundidad del suelo a partir de los horizontes B, un criterio de diagnóstico clave para la determinación del tipo de suelo. En este caso, se trata de un horizonte árgico, de acuerdo con la base de referencia mundial para los suelos (IUSS Working Group WRB, 2022).Ambos suelos son fuertemente ácidos, presentando un pH que varía en un rango de pH 5,1 a pH 5,5, lo que tiene implicaciones importantes para la selección de cultivos y el manejo agrícola (p.ej., encalado). Comparando ambos perfiles, se nota que el pH del perfil 1 es ligeramente más bajo que el del perfil 2. En este rango de acidez (5,0-5,5), los suelos tienden a presentar una toxicidad moderada de aluminio (Al) y posiblemente manganeso (Mn), aunada a una deficiencia de fosforo (P), azufre (S), molibdeno (Mo) y bases (Ca, Mg, K). Las plantas pueden experimentar una variedad de síntomas relacionados con las diferentes deficiencias; por ejemplo, el Mn es un nutriente esencial para las plantas, pero en cantidades excesivas puede generar toxicidad y provocar la aparición de hojas rugosas o ventosas como uno de sus síntomas.La determinación de los requerimientos de cal depende de un muestreo de suelo. La cal se mueve muy poco, por lo cual los efectos benéficos ocurren solamente en la zona de aplicación. Para asegurar una acción efectiva, es necesario incorporar la cal en los primeros 15-20 cm de la superficie, para mezclar el material con la capa del suelo donde se concentran las raíces (ver https://bit.ly/4gzlAXQ). Con respecto al contenido de carbono orgánico, materia orgánica y nitrógeno, se nota una diferencia considerable entre el perfil 1 y el 2. Mientras el perfil 1 se caracteriza por un nivel medio de CO y MO en el horizonte Ap (0-20 cm), el perfil 2 muestra un nivel alto en los horizontes Ap y AB, al igual que un nivel medio en el horizonte B, hasta una profundidad de 64 cm (Tablas 21 y 22).Una característica esencial de los suelos es la capacidad de intercambio catiónico (CIC) y la saturación de bases de Ca, Mg, K y Na, a partir de la cual es posible inferir la magnitud de la reserva de nutrientes y el grado de intemperismo del suelo; además, el porcentaje de saturación de bases es un dato ampliamente usado en los estudios de fertilidad. La CIC, por su parte, está estrechamente relacionada con el tipo y la cantidad de arcilla y materia orgánica (Anexo 5).Como se observa en las Tablas 23 y 27, la capacidad de intercambio catiónico muestra en la mayoría de los horizontes un nivel medio-alto muy favorable, entre 35 y 45 Cmol c kg -1 , con excepción de los horizontes A que muestran un nivel medio. Esto se relaciona con la textura arcillosa e indicando que las arcillas son principalmente de tipo illita. Teniendo en consideración las particularidades del Valle de Sula, la zona es propia para el desarrollo de cultivos meramente tropicales y que, por generaciones, se han manejado de forma extensiva, intensiva, tecnificada y semi-tecnificada por compañías transnacionales, nacionales, cooperativas agrícolas y productores independientes.Entre los cultivos de mayor importancia, se destacan el banano, el plátano, la palma africana, la caña de azúcar, la piña, el rambután, entre otros. También granos básicos como el maíz, el arroz, la yuca y la malanga.Según el sistema Köppen, el clima en el municipio de San Manuel, Cortés, es tipo Aw: cálido todo el año, con una estación seca. La precipitación media anual es alrededor de 1.178 mm. Los meses de menor precipitación son marzo y abril. La temporada de lluvias comienza en mayo y se intensifica de junio a diciembre, con precipitaciones que varían entre 143 mm en junio y 101 mm en diciembre. No se presenta una canícula durante los meses de julio y agosto.El mes más lluvioso es septiembre, con un promedio de 145 mm (estación meteorológica El Modelo de SERNA, coordenadas: 15.39628354 -87.991673302).La temperatura promedio anual es de 26,4 °C, con una variación estrecha entre 24,1 °C en enero, y 28,6 °C en mayo. La temperatura máxima media en el mes de mayo alcanza los 34,9 °C. La máxima media anual es de 32,2 °C, y la mínima media anual de 22 °C. En ningún mes se registra una temperatura por debajo de 20 °C (Tabla 25). Ambos perfiles muestran buenas propiedades físicas. Una alta profundidad efectiva de enraizamiento, en combinación con una textura favorable, proporciona una alta capacidad de almacenamiento de agua aprovechable para los cultivos, aumentando su resiliencia durante periodos de sequía. Además, en ningún horizonte de los perfiles, hasta la profundidad analizada de 120 cm, se observan moteados o concreciones de hierro o manganeso, lo que indica una buena aireación de los suelos. Esto, independientemente de su cercanía a la orilla del río Ulúa y la posible influencia del nivel freático. Aunque la textura de los suelos indica una alta susceptibilidad a la erosión, por su ubicación en terreno casi a nivel este riesgo prácticamente no existe.Por otro lado, las características químicas presentan algunas condiciones desfavorables que tienen implicaciones importantes con respecto al manejo de los suelos y cultivos. Debido a una reacción entre \"alcalina\" y \"muy alcalina\" de los suelos con valores de 7,8 a 8,2 de pH, se infiere que la disponibilidad de micronutrientes como Fe, Cu, Mn, Co y Zn es reducida. En relación a macroelementos como el calcio (Ca), el magnesio (Mg) y el potasio (K), los cationes intercambiables muestran niveles medio-altos y altos. No obstante, por la dominancia del calcio, la relación catiónica entre calcio y magnesio indica una posible deficiencia de magnesio.Debido a los bajos niveles de materia orgánica y nitrógeno, es importante un enfoque orientado al aumento de la materia orgánica en los suelos a través de prácticas de manejo, incluyendo la introducción de leguminosas en la rotación de cultivos, y como cultivo de cobertura o abono verde. Omonita, perfil 1Con respecto a las características físicas del perfil 1 (Foto 13), destaca una textura que está dominada por la fracción de limo y que varía entre franco arcillosa en los horizontes Ap1 (0-9 cm) y Ap2 (9-27 cm), y franco limosa en los horizontes subyacentes hasta una profundidad de 120 cm (Tabla 4). El horizonte Ap1 se caracteriza por una estructura migajosa de formación biológica (worm casts) y por una muy baja resistencia a la penetración, lo que se refleja además en una densidad aparente (DA) reducida de 1,06 (Tabla 27). El Ap2 muestra una estructura subangular blocosa con agregados friables entre 5 y 8 cm. A la vez, aumenta ligeramente la densidad aparente (1,15) y la resistencia a la penetración a un valor medio. En ambos horizontes se presenta una intensidad mediana de raíces (W3, 6 a 10 raíces/dm 2 ). Esta densidad pasa a ser débil (W2) en los horizontes subyacentes, C1 y C2, y a ser muy débil en el horizonte C3. No obstante, los tres horizontes se caracterizan por una estructura favorable de migas. A una profundidad de 97 cm, en el horizonte C4, no se observan raíces, y su estructura se determina como subangular blocosa media abierta con agregados entre 2 y 8 cm de tamaño (Anexo 1.3.1). El perfil Omonita 1, según WRB, se clasifica como un Eutric Fluvisol.Los valores de la densidad aparente entre 1,06 y 1,22 determinan un alto volumen total de poros, de 54,0 a 60,0 % (Tabla 27). Además, la textura también determina una muy alta capacidad de almacenamiento de agua aprovechable: 259 mm para los cultivos hasta una profundidad de 120 cm (Tabla 28). El perfil se caracteriza, en todos sus horizontes, por una alta profundidad efectiva de enraizamiento y la ausencia de moteados o concreciones de manganeso o hierro, lo que indica un buen drenaje interno. Con respecto a las características químicas del perfil, presenta un pH que varía entre alcalino en los horizontes Ap1 y Ap2, y fuertemente alcalino (> pH 8,0) en los horizontes subyacentes. El contenido de materia orgánica es bajo (< 2 %) en todos los horizontes del perfil, también lo es el contenido de nitrógeno. El fósforo disponible, por su parte, se ubica en un nivel adecuado hasta una profundidad de 65 cm en el horizonte C1 (Tabla 29). En los horizontes subyacentes C1 y C2, se aprecia una estructura angular blocosa, con agregados de un tamaño entre 1 y 7 cm, y una abundancia de poros muy finos/común (ver capítulo 4, descripción de perfiles). A partir del horizonte C2, y a mayor profundidad, la intensidad de raíces sigue disminuyendo hasta muy débil (W1, 1 a 2 raíces/dm 2 ).El color de los horizontes se ubica de manera homogénea a lo largo del perfil, en el rango 10YR de la tabla Munsell. Allí se muestra que los horizontes Ap1 y Ap2, en estado húmedo, adoptan un color marrón amarillento oscuro (10 YR 3/4), y en estado seco un marrón grisáceo (10 YR 5/2). En los horizontes subyacentes, el color cambia ligeramente a marrón (10 YR 4/3) y marrón oscuro (10 YR 3/3) en condición húmeda, mientras en condición seca se torna gris marrón claro (10 YR 6/2) y marrón (10 YR 5/3) (Anexo 1.3.2).Foto 14. Omonita, perfil de suelo 2Los bajos valores de la densidad aparente determinan un muy alto volumen total de poros: entre 62,3 y 63,8 % en los horizontes Ap1 y Ap2. Por otra parte, con el aumento de la densidad aparente en los horizontes subyacentes (DA: entre 1,24 y 1,31), el volumen total de poros se reduce a valores entre 50,6 % en el horizonte C3 y 53,2 % en el horizonte C1 (Tabla 31). No obstante, debido a la textura, el volumen de agua aprovechable y que podría ser almacenada para el cultivo se calcula en 233 mm, hasta una profundidad de 120 cm (Tabla 32). Por lo tanto, el perfil se caracteriza por una alta profundidad efectiva de enraizamiento. La ausencia de moteados o concreciones de manganeso o hierro en todos los horizontes indica una aireación y drenaje interno adecuados. Los suelos desarrollados en los materiales finos no presentan residuos clásticos en sus horizontes (perfil 1 y 3). Se caracterizan por una textura que oscila entre franco limosa, limosa y franco arcillosa. Este rango de texturas proporciona, por su porcentaje de poros medianos, una favorable capacidad de retención de agua aprovechable para las plantas.Los suelos presentan un buen drenaje interno. En ningún horizonte se han observado moteados o nódulos de diferente color o tamaño, lo que indica que no dominan procesos de oxidación/reducción y problemas de drenaje interno.Los suelos proporcionan un potencial fisiológico de enraizamiento de mediano a alto, hasta 90 cm (perfil 3), si no se presentan horizontes compactados. La intensidad de raíces en la mayoría de los horizontes A y B es débil o muy débil, salvo en el perfil 1, donde el horizonte A (0-8 cm) presenta una intensidad mediana de raíces. En general, se puede constatar que la intensidad de las raíces es deficiente. Esto se correlaciona con la ausencia de macrofauna biológica activa en todos los perfiles (p. ej. lombrices, cochinillas). Solo en el primer horizonte de los perfiles 1 y 2, se percibe un olor notable a tierra, indicador de la actividad microbiana.La diferenciación de los perfiles en el material parental de los depósitos aluviales y parcialmente coluviales se expresa en los cambios de color debido a la formación de minerales de arcilla como Goethita, así como signos de iluviación de arcilla en horizontes inferiores, lo que indica una ligera o moderada intemperización, por lo cual los suelos se clasificarán como Cambisoles y Luvisoles de acuerdo con la Base de Suelos de Referencia de la FAO (IUSS, 2022). Algunas características (slickensides, contenido de arcilla, grietas) del perfil 3 indican a un Vertic Cambisol.El perfil Las Acacias 1 (Foto 16) muestra una textura franco arcillosa con dominancia en la fracción de arena, hasta una profundidad de 72 cm. En el horizonte C (72-100 cm) subyacente, se observa un aumento significativo en la fracción de arcilla, otorgándole una textura arcillosa. El horizonte Ah1 (0-8 cm) se caracteriza por una estructura de migas con un olor fuerte a tierra, mostrando una densidad aparente (DA) de 1,12; además, evidencia una intensidad mediana de raíces W3, no presenta moteados o concreciones, y en estado húmedo adopta un color gris muy oscuro (2.5 Y 3/1). El horizonte subyacente Ah2 (8-20cm) es de una estructura subangular blocosa, en estado húmedo se torna color negro (2.5 Y 2.5/1), y la intensidad de sus raíces se reduce a débil W2 (3-5 raíces/dm 2 ); además, no se percibe ningún olor de este horizonte (inodoro) (Anexo 1.4.1).Foto 16. Las Acacias, perfil de suelo 1La densidad aparente (DA) aumenta considerablemente a valores de 1,48 en el horizonte Bw1, y a 1,67 en el Bw2 (Tabla 41), lo que coincide con una estructura laminar compactada, indicando, además, un piso de arado en el horizonte Bw1 (20-34 cm). El horizonte C muestra una estructura prismática y la densidad aparente se reduce a 1,24. Las características principales de los horizontes, como la formación de estructura, el rango de textura y de color, así como una saturación de bases mayor a 50 %, permiten clasificar este perfil como un Eutric Cambisol. Las clases texturales de los diferentes horizontes del perfil, junto con una distribución equilibrada entre arena, limo y arcilla (textura franca) y un contenido medio de materia orgánica en los horizontes Ah, permiten determinar una capacidad de campo utilizable (CCu) de 153 mm, hasta una profundidad de 1 m del perfil, es decir, un rango medio-alto (Tabla 37). El perfil Las Acacias 2 muestra una textura entre franco y franco arcillosa en los diferentes horizontes, y arcillosa en el horizonte Bt (25-47 cm). En el horizonte C1 (47-86 cm), se observa un incremento considerable de arena a 56 %, lo que indica un cambio de material de origen. El horizonte Ap (0-25 cm) se caracteriza por una estructura masiva subangular blocosa con poros visibles muy pocos/finos. Además, muestra un color gris muy oscuro con un olor fuerte a tierra, pero una intensidad de raíces muy débil. La densidad aparente de 1,06 es baja (Tabla 40). El aumento de arcilla en el horizonte Bt (25-47 cm) se expresa en una estructura angular blocosa por separación abiótica, con una reducida abundancia de poros muy pocos/finos. La densidad aparente alcanza un valor de 1,3 y la densidad de raíces sigue siendo muy débil (W1). El suelo del horizonte Bt muestra un color gris muy oscuro (2.5 Y 3/1) y es inodoro (Anexo 1.4.2).Foto 17. Las Acacias, perfil de suelo 2En el horizonte subyacente C1, la densidad aparente sube considerablemente a 1,55, con una estructura angular blocosa y sin la presencia de raíces. El color cambia a un amarrillo oliva (color Munsell 2.5Y 6/6), lo que además del cambio textural también explica que el horizonte corresponde a una discontinuidad litológica. El último horizonte C2 (86-109 cm) muestra una estructura grumosa formada por fragmentación, con una textura franco arcillosa y un color marrón oliva claro (2.5Y 5/3), y su densidad aparente es de 1,56, similar al horizonte anterior. El horizonte Bt presenta los aspectos de un horizonte árgico. En conclusión, las características químicas del perfil y la alta capacidad de intercambio catiónico (Tabla 43) indican que el suelo se clasifica como Haplic Luvisol. Debido a una composición textural favorable, con dominancia de la fracción de limo en el horizonte Ap, una densidad aparente baja, así como un contenido de materia orgánica media, se determina una capacidad de campo utilizable (CCu) de 65 mm del horizonte Ap, en los primeros 25 cm del perfil. La CCu se reduce paulatinamente en los horizontes subyacentes, hasta 14 % en el C2. No obstante, en total el perfil llega a almacenar 180,5 mm de agua aprovechable para los cultivos (Tabla 41). En relación a las características químicas del perfil, se presenta un pH alcalino a lo largo de todo el perfil del suelo, en un rango de 7,74 en el horizonte C1 y 8,02 en el horizonte C2 del subsuelo. La materia orgánica se reduce en el horizonte Bt a 0,96 % y, a partir de los 47 cm, disminuye 0,25 % (Tabla 42).   La capacidad de intercambio catiónico oscila entre un nivel medio y medio-alto, con valores de 30,2 Cmol c /kg en el horizonte Ah y de 45,4 Cmol c /kg en el Bc (Tabla 54). La suma de las bases intercambiables totales muestra un nivel muy alto (≥ 15 Cmol c /kg). El calcio presenta valores entre altos y muy altos, el magnesio se encuentra en un nivel muy alto, y el potasio muestra valores altos y muy altos en todo el perfil. Considerando las relaciones catiónicas, se evidencia una deficiencia de potasio debido a la relación Ca/K, con valores mayores a 30, y a la relación (Ca + Mg)/K, con valores mayores a 40 (Tabla 47). La estación se ubica en la unidad geográfica del Valle del Guayape, en el extremo sureste del municipio de Juticalpa, en la aldea de La Concepción, a escasos 500 m de la ribera norte del río Guayape y la parte sur del río Juticalpa. La temperatura oscila entre 18 y 33 °C y presenta una humedad relativa que puede llegar hasta el 90 % en los meses de julio a septiembre. Las condiciones climáticas y de los suelos proporcionan condiciones excelentes para el cultivo de granos básicos como el maíz, frijol, sorgo forrajero y soya, así como cucurbitáceas como sandía, melón, calabaza y frutales del orden de los cítricos.La Tabla 48 y la Imagen 7 muestran las coordenadas y la ubicación del perfil analizado en La Concepción. El perfil La Concepción (Foto 19) muestra una textura que varía entre franco arenosa y arenosa franca y se caracteriza por una alta capacidad de infiltración y permeabilidad interna. Además, la profundidad efectiva de enraizamiento mayor a 80 cm es buena. No obstante, la capacidad de retención y almacenamiento de agua aprovechable para las plantas es baja, lo que tiene implicaciones en el manejo y la frecuencia de riego.Datos tomados del trabajo realizado en convenio DICTA-CIAT por: Dr. Jürgen Baumann Ing. René JacoLa Concepción, Juticalpa, Olancho: franco arenoso Perfil 1. Suelo Dystric Fluvisol (arenic)El perfil muestra una reacción neutra con un pH que varía entre 6,6 y 7,0, un rango óptimo que no afecta la disponibilidad de nutrientes. El contenido de materia orgánica y de nitrógeno se encuentra en un nivel medio solamente en el primer horizonte Ap, mientras el contenido de fósforo es muy alto hasta en el subsuelo. En el perfil se distinguen cuatro horizontes hasta una profundidad de 100 cm. Con respecto a la textura, domina la fracción de arena a lo largo del perfil. Mientras los horizontes Ap, ApC y C1 se caracterizan por una textura franco arenosa, el horizonte C2 muestra una textura arenosa franca (arena: 82 %, ver Tabla 50). El horizonte Ap (0-11 cm) presenta una estructura migajosa de formación biótica. No obstante, en estado seco, se percibe compacto con una resistencia media a la penetración (4 cm), mientras en estado húmedo la resistencia se reduce drásticamente a un nivel muy bajo (13 cm). El siguiente horizonte de transición ApC es muy compacto en estado seco, con una extrema resistencia a la penetración (0,5 cm), la cual se reduce en estado húmedo a un valor medio (5 cm), siendo un ejemplo de la susceptibilidad de los suelos arenosos a la compactación. En estado húmedo se presenta la estructura granular del horizonte ApC.La densidad aparente (DA) aumenta significativamente del horizonte Ap al horizonte ApC1, de 1,35 a 1,60, un valor característico para una textura arenosa. Este nivel se mantiene en el horizonte subyacente C1 (DA 1,59) para aumentar a 1,68 en el horizonte C2. Ambos horizontes muestran una estructura granular; sin embargo, el C2 se distingue del C1 por un contenido de gravilla en aproximadamente 50 % de su volumen. La densidad de raíces presenta un nivel mediano W3 (6 a 10 raíces por dm 2 ) en el Ap para disminuir gradualmente en los horizontes subyacentes: débil en el ApC (W2) y muy débil en el C1 (W1). En el horizonte C2 ya no se observan raíces en la pared del perfil (Anexo 1.5). Los suelos arenosos se caracterizan por su baja capacidad de retención de agua disponible para las plantas. Como se muestra en la Imagen 8, la capacidad de campo utilizable para las plantas solamente es de 9 a 10 % en un suelo con más de 85 % de arena.No obstante, con el incremento de las fracciones de limo y arcilla, el volumen de los poros que retienen agua aprovechable para las plantas aumenta. Derivada de la textura de los diferentes horizontes, entre arena ligera (horizonte C2), mediana (horizonte C1) y fuertemente franca (horizontes Ap y ApC), así como del rango de densidad aparente, la fracción de los poros que retiene agua utilizable para las plantas oscila entre 14 y 21 % en los diferentes horizontes del perfil de La Concepción (Tabla 50).Conocer estas características permite interpretar valores de mediciones de humedad de suelo para la programación de la frecuencia de riego y determinar el volumen de agua a aplicar por cada riego. Por otro lado, los suelos arenosos se caracterizan por una buena capacidad de aireación (poros > 50 μm, pF < 1,8), así como por una alta capacidad de infiltración y permeabilidad (drenaje hidráulico interno).No obstante, a nivel de planta, se observa en el suelo arenoso el enraizamiento profundo del cacahuate hasta aproximadamente 100 cm de profundidad (Foto 20). Esto refleja el valor de integrar especies, como diferentes leguminosas que se caracterizan por un enraizamiento fuerte y profundo para integrar en sistemas de roturación de cultivos.El volumen total de poros (porosidad) de los diferentes horizontes del perfil se presenta en la Tabla 49. Los valores entre 36,6 % del horizonte C2 -más arenoso -y 40 % de los horizontes C1 y ApC son característicos de suelos arenosos y de arenosos ligeramente francos. La porosidad total del horizonte Ap, 49 %, refleja un mayor contenido de materia orgánica.Foto 20. Enraizamiento profundo del cacahuate, perfil de suelo La Concepción Imagen 8. Curvas pF de suelos arenosos, limosos y arcillosos La capacidad de almacenamiento y retención de agua para las plantas es un parámetro importante para definir la calidad de un suelo, así como para establecer la frecuencia y los volúmenes de riego. La Tabla 50 muestra los valores de la capacidad de campo utilizable (CCu), dependiendo de la textura del suelo, la densidad aparente (DA) y la materia orgánica. Con 128,6 mm, el perfil tiene una capacidad de campo utilizable (CCu) media en la zona efectiva de enraizamiento -hasta 100 cm de profundidad -, equivalente a 128,6 litros que pueden ser almacenadas como agua aprovechable para las plantas en 1 m 3 del suelo. El perfil muestra una reacción neutra a lo largo de todos los horizontes, con valores de pH que varían entre 6,6 en el horizonte Ap y 7,0 en el horizonte C2. Debido al clima cálido, el contenido de materia orgánica es de 3,34 % -nivel medio -en el horizonte Ap, mientras los horizontes subyacentes muestran valores bajos. De manera homóloga se encuentra el contenido de nitrógeno (Tabla 51). Lo que llama la atención son los valores muy altos de fósforo hasta en el subsuelo. De acuerdo con el método de análisis (Mehlich 3), los valores mayores a 30 mg/kg de fósforo disponible son altos, y los valores muy elevados en los primeros dos horizontes indican una aplicación frecuente de fertilizantes de fósforo. Rosas et.al. (1996) reportaron que los niveles de fósforo en suelos utilizados para la producción de frijol en el departamento de Olancho son más altos que en los departamentos de Francisco Morazán y El Paraíso, al presentar valores hasta de 345 mg/kg de P soluble (Mehlich-1). Recientemente, Escobar Roca (2022) realizó una investigación sobre la fijación de fósforo y potasio, evaluando su aplicación en distintas dosis en suelos de Honduras con diferentes niveles de fósforo.  2018), para la mayoría de los cultivos el nivel óptimo de contenido de fósforo (Mehlich-3) se encuentra entre 36 y 50 mg/kg, y por encima del óptimo se puede esperar un 100 % de rendimiento potencial sin fertilización. Con respecto al cultivo de café en Guatemala, Martínez (2022) destaca que a un nivel de fósforo de 75 mg/kg (Mehlich-3), la correlación entre concentración de fósforo en el suelo y la producción relativa llega a 90 %.Comparando estos valores con los niveles de fósforo del perfil, una aplicación de fósforo en la parcela analizada no tendrá un efecto en el rendimiento del cultivo.Aunque la capacidad de intercambio catiónico (CIC) es baja, debido a los altos niveles de saturación, la suma de las bases intercambiables se ubica en un nivel medio en los primeros dos horizontes, y en un nivel bajo en el subsuelo. En cuanto a los macronutrientes, el magnesio (Mg) presenta niveles altos, el potasio (K) medio-altos, y medios para el calcio (Ca) (Tabla 52).Además, las relaciones catiónicas muestran valores que no limitan la disponibilidad de algún nutriente. La relación Ca/Mg se puede considerar buena (entre 2 y 5) y la relación Mg/K aceptable. También la relación Ca/K se encuentra en un rango aceptable que no genera una deficiencia de potasio. Lo mismo indica la relación Ca+Mg/K.Tanto los niveles de las bases como las relaciones entre sí indican que el suministro de estos nutrientes no causará deficiencias en el desarrollo de los cultivos. Estación La Lujosa, CholutecaLa estación La Lujosa está ubicada en el municipio de Marcovia, y corresponde a la unidad geomorfológica \"Planicie aluvial río Choluteca\", que se caracteriza por terrazas aluviales, planicies aluviales activas (vegas) y costas activas, con una composición litológica de rocas, guijarros, grava, arena y lodo no consolidados pertenecientes a la era Cenozoica y al Cuaternario reciente (Arévalo de Gauggel et al., 2005).En las planicies aluviales, a menudo se asocian suelos tipo Fluvisol, Arenosol, Cambisol y Gleysol. Las texturas pueden variar desde arenosas y franco arenosas hasta franco arcillosas y arcillosas, de acuerdo con el material depositado, su origen, distancia del río y los cursos de agua. Por esto, se encuentran suelos tanto bien como mal drenados.Las inundaciones y desbordamientos del río Choluteca en la zona sur, incluyendo el área del municipio de Marcovia, han aportado y depositado grandes cantidades de sedimentos de material erosionado, que forma el sustrato para el desarrollo de los suelos aluviales. El evento más marcado en la historia reciente fue el huracán Mitch en el año 1998. No obstante, han ocurrido otros eventos importantes posteriormente, como las fuertes lluvias del 6 de octubre de 2018.De acuerdo con la clasificación de Köppen, es un clima tropical caliente subhúmedo con lluvias en verano (Aw). Como muestran los datos hidro-climatológicos en el \"Sistema de apoyo a la planificación hídrica local\" de la plataforma Agua de Honduras (https://aguadehonduras.gob.hn/) para la microcuenca 1901017, en la cual se ubica La Lujosa, la precipitación media anual es alrededor de 2.077 mm de lluvia (Tabla 53). En el mes de abril se presentan las primeras lluvias que advierten el establecimiento de la temporada de lluvias a partir del mes de mayo, con un promedio mensual alto de 338 mm. Los meses de mayor lluvia son septiembre y octubre, mientras en julio y agosto se presenta la canícula, con promedios mensuales inferiores -entre 189,3 y 288,7 mm.La temperatura promedio máxima anual es de 30,4 °C, con una variación mensual entre 29,1 °C en noviembre y 32,6 °C en abril, siendo este último el mes más caluroso. El promedio anual sigue el mismo patrón, con una variación mensual entre 25,7 °C en noviembre y 28,7 °C en abril. La evapotranspiración potencial (ET pot ) supera a la lluvia en el periodo de noviembre a abril. Los cuatro perfiles analizados se caracterizan por una textura favorable que varía, con excepción del perfil 1, entre franco arenosa, franco limosa y arcillosa limo arenosa. La fracción de arcilla no es dominante en ninguno de los perfiles, lo que favorece el drenaje interno de los suelos. Esto tiene especial importancia debido a la influencia del agua subterránea y del nivel freático somero. No obstante, la presencia de moteados de hierro y manganeso indica que, temporalmente, existen condiciones reductoras por saturación de agua. Las condiciones reductoras se expresan más en el perfil tres, y menos en los perfiles dos y cuatro, mientras en el perfil uno no se observan debido a su textura más gruesa. La intensidad de raíces en los primeros dos horizontes de los perfiles, hasta profundidades entre 13 (perfil 1) y máximo 39 cm (perfil 4), es mediana; y en los horizontes subyacentes varía entre débil y muy débil.El desarrollo radicular a partir de 30-40 cm puede ser limitado por el nivel freático que temporalmente se puede considerar muy somero, aunque los cuatro perfiles muestran una alta profundidad efectiva de enraizamiento hasta 100 cm. Siendo el perfil 1 (Foto 21) el más cercano al cauce del río Choluteca, muestra una textura gruesa entre arena muy fina y fina, con una estructura coherente hasta 100 cm de profundidad. No obstante, en el subsuelo mayor a 100 cm se nota un cambio brusco de textura a franco limosa y una estructura subpoliédrica fina. La densidad aparente es baja hasta una profundidad de 13 cm, y la resistencia a la penetración muestra horizontes blandos, que permiten fácilmente la inserción del cuchillo.La intensidad de raíces oscila entre mediana (W3) en los horizontes superiores, y muy débil (W1) a partir de los 100 cm, lo que indica una alta profundidad efectiva de enraizamiento. Hasta una profundidad de 100 cm no se observan moteados ni concreciones; sin embargo, a partir de esa profundidad, la influencia del agua y el cambio periódico entre condiciones de reducción y oxidación se manifiestan con la aparición de algunos moteados y manchas (Anexo 1.6.1).Foto 21. La Lujosa, perfil de suelo 1Al momento de la descripción del perfil, se observó que la humedad subió por ascenso capilar hasta los 45 cm inferiores a la superficie del suelo. Debido a que la textura a lo largo del perfil hasta 100 cm es más gruesa que franco arenosa y el material del sustrato son depósitos aluviales, se clasificará este perfil de suelo como un Fluvic Arenosol. Por la textura arenosa con un contenido de arena entre 74 y 92 % en los primeros cuatro horizontes, y el bajo contenido de materia orgánica en los horizontes Ap y ApC, el perfil presenta una baja capacidad de retención de agua que reduce la fracción del agua de la capacidad de campo que es aprovechable por el cultivo a solo 108,6 mm hasta una profundidad de 100 cm (Tabla 56). No obstante, la zona efectiva de enraizamiento es más profunda, y el cambio de textura aumenta la capacidad de retención de agua en el horizonte C3 mayor a 1 m de profundidad. Además, el ascenso capilar del agua desde el manto freático somero es un aspecto positivo para el suministro de agua para los cultivos. El perfil 1 se caracteriza por una reacción neutra a lo largo de todos los horizontes, con valores de pH que varían entre 6,8 en el horizonte C3 y 7,3 en el horizonte C2. El contenido de materia orgánica, con menos de 2 %, se encuentra en un nivel bajo, mientras el contenido de fósforo muestra niveles altos en los primeros tres horizontes y un nivel adecuado en el horizonte C2. Debido a la textura arenosa y las condiciones climáticas con una precipitación media anual de 2.077 mm, el fósforo es susceptible a una migración al subsuelo (Tabla 57). La textura del perfil 2, con una composición más equilibrada entre las fracciones de arena, limo y arcilla, proporciona una mayor capacidad de retención de agua aprovechable que la del perfil 1. La capacidad de campo utilizable asciende a 189,9 mm hasta 1 metro de profundidad. El pH en el perfil 2 presenta una reacción ácida en los primeros 2 cm del horizonte Ah, lo que coincide con el alto contenido de materia orgánica (Tabla 61), y una reacción ligeramente ácida con pH 6,23 en el horizonte AhC hasta una profundidad de 18 cm. Los demás horizontes subyacentes se caracterizan por un pH neutro, en un rango estrecho entre 7,09 y 7,34. Con respecto al contenido de fósforo, se evidencia un nivel entre adecuado y alto en los primeros 18 cm del perfil, y niveles bajos en los horizontes subyacentes. La densidad mediana de enraizamiento (W3) en el horizonte C (55 -> 100 cm) coincide con la baja resistencia a la penetración. Sin embargo, los moteados y concreciones indican que el drenaje interno a partir de 35 cm está reducido temporalmente, causando una deficiencia de oxigenación. El suelo se clasifica como un Fluvic Cambisol (Clayic). El perfil 3 presenta una textura franco limosa y franca en los primeros dos horizontes hasta una profundidad de 33 cm, lo que determina una CCu favorable, entre 18 y 22 %. El incremento en la fracción de arcilla en los horizontes subyacentes reduce a 15 % la fracción de agua de la capacidad de campo que es aprovechable por el cultivo en el horizonte Bw. Además, por el contenido de grava y gravilla, la CCu en el horizonte C se limita considerablemente, por lo que la capacidad de campo aprovechable total para el cultivo hasta una profundidad de 100 cm se calcula en 140,1 mm en el perfil 3 (Tabla 64).El perfil 3 se compone hasta una profundidad de 100 cm por cuatro horizontes. Una de las características del perfil es que en todos los horizontes se observan moteados: mientras en los primeros dos horizontes los moteados son pocos y de tamaño fino, en los horizontes subyacentes son abundantes, mayores a 40 % y de tamaño medio. Además de los moteados, en el horizonte tres aparecen concreciones y nódulos de manganeso. La textura en los dos horizontes superiores, hasta 33 cm de profundidad, varía entre franco y franco limosa con una estructura subangular blocosa; mientras los horizontes subyacentes muestran una textura arcillosa con una estructura angular blocosa. Es el único perfil con una densidad fuerte de raíces (W4) en el horizonte Ap, la cual se reduce en los horizontes subyacentes a mediano (W3, ApB), débil (W2, B) y mediano (W3, C) (Anexo 1.6.3).Foto 23. La Lujosa, perfil de suelo 3 El rango del pH en el perfil 3 varía en los diferentes horizontes entre ligeramente ácido y neutro, lo que indica condiciones adecuadas para la disponibilidad de nutrientes. El contenido de materia orgánica es bajo, pero varía hasta los 55 cm de profundidad en un rango estrecho entre 1,25 y 1,65 %. El nivel de fósforo en el horizonte Ap es de 15 mg/kg, es decir que se encuentra en un límite entre bajo y adecuado, mientras en los horizontes subyacentes su nivel es muy bajo. Este es el único perfil analizado en la estación La Lujosa donde el contenido de fósforo se considera deficiente. La capacidad de intercambio catiónico (CIC) muestra un nivel medio en los primeros dos horizontes hasta una profundidad de 33 cm, mientras con el aumento de arcilla en el horizonte B, la CIC sube a un nivel muy alto. La suma de las bases intercambiables varía entre un nivel medio en el horizonte ApB (9,69 Cmol c kg -1 ), alto en el horizonte Bw (12,86 Cmol c kg -1 ), y muy alto en el horizonte Ap (12,86 Cmol c kg -1 ). Las relaciones entre los cationes no indican ninguna deficiencia de alguno de estos elementos, lo que favorece la disponibilidad de estos para los cultivos. El perfil 4 difiere de los demás por una marcada separación en dos zonas de sedimentación que se distinguen visualmente por su color. Cada zona está compuesta por dos horizontes; mientras la primera zona se caracteriza por una textura franco limosa, la zona oscura subyacente presenta una textura franca y franco arenosa con un aumento marcado en la fracción de arena a 60 % (Tablas 68 y 69). Además, hay una diferencia notable en la estructura angular blocosa (horizonte 2) y grumosa (horizonte 3). Se observa una intensidad mediana de enraizamiento hasta 39 cm, la cual se reduce a débil y muy débil en los horizontes subyacentes. La resistencia a la penetración es baja (suave/blanda) a lo largo de todo el perfil, con una densidad aparente homogénea entre 1,21 y 1,24 (Anexo 1.6.4 y Tabla 67).Foto 24. La Lujosa, perfil de suelo 4Se notan muy pocos y muy finos moteados de color rojizo y negro a lo largo del perfil, lo que indica la influencia del agua. No obstante, el drenaje interno se considera bueno. El perfil se caracteriza por una alta profundidad efectiva de enraizamiento y una textura que proporciona una alta capacidad de retención y almacenamiento de agua aprovechable para las plantas. El suelo se clasifica como un Eutric Fluvisol. La textura favorable del perfil, con la dominancia de limo en la composición de las fracciones texturales, determina una alta capacidad de campo utilizable para los cultivos. El suelo puede almacenar en los primeros 100 cm del perfil un total de 204 mm de agua aprovechable (Tabla 68). La acidez en el perfil 4 varía en los diferentes horizontes, siendo ligeramente ácida en el horizonte Ah (pH 6,14) y neutra en los horizontes IC1 y IIC2, lo que indica condiciones adecuadas para la disponibilidad de nutrientes para los cultivos. En el horizonte IIIC3, el pH de 7,49 se ubica en el límite entre neutro y alcalino. El contenido de materia orgánica es alto en el horizonte Ah, con un 3,78 %, pero disminuye a niveles bajos en los horizontes subyacentes, alcanzando entre 1,52 y 1,45 % en el horizonte IIC2. El fósforo en el horizonte Ah es alto, con 49 mg/kg, mientras que los horizontes subyacentes muestran niveles bajos a medianos. El Valle de Comayagua es uno de los valles del interior de la zona de los altiplanos centrales. Se ubica en la parte alta del río Humuya y presenta una forma rectangular alargada con sentido norte-sur. El ancho de este a oeste es de 10-15 km, y de norte a sur de 34-40 km. La elevación de la parte plana del valle es de 600-700 m s. n. m., presentando un suave gradiente en dirección al centro del valle. La zona montañosa de los alrededores marca una altura máxima de 2.000 m s. n. m., formando pendientes abruptos (JICA, 1990). Por su estructura geológica, el Valle de Comayagua constituye la zona más antigua de Honduras y formó parte del bloque continental nuclear centroamericano (JICA, 1990).Con respecto a las características geomorfológicas, los sedimentos lacustres diluviales y los sedimentos de abanicos aluviales son los principales estratos que componen la geología del Valle de Comayagua. Los sedimentos lacustres diluviales dominan en la parte llana de la mitad meridional del valle y se componen de limos y sedimentos arcillosos de color blanco-gris. En cambio, los sedimentos de abanicos aluviales contienen gran cantidad de grava transportada desde las zonas montañosas del este y oeste y se distribuyen cubriendo los sedimentos lacustres de la parte plana del norte del valle, cuyo espesor llega a 20-30 m (JICA, 1990).Los sedimentos lacustres de los límites del valle y de las llanuras de inundación, aunque contienen cierta cantidad de gravas, son formados en general por depósitos arcillo limosos y se distribuyen a lo largo de los lechos de los principales ríos.Por las características particulares de los suelos antiguos de origen lacustre y arcillosos de los valles centrales de Honduras, y particularmente del Valle de Comayagua, por generaciones se ha desarrollado una agricultura tradicional de granos básicos como maíz y frijol, al igual que el cultivo de arroz bajo sistema de inundación de parcelas. Además, se ha promovido la agricultura tecnificada de nuevos cultivos, tales como berenjena, pepino chino, ocra y camote, al igual que frutales como la guayaba, el mango, el limón, entre otros.De acuerdo con la clasificación de Köppen, el Valle de Comayagua presenta un clima tropical caliente subhúmedo con lluvias en verano (Aw), el cual se caracteriza por una temperatura media en el mes más frío mayor a 18 °C, una cantidad de lluvia en el mes más seco menor a 60 mm, y la vigésima quinta parte de la precipitación anual media inferior a 100 mm (Precipitación media anual en mm/25).Imagen 11. Delimitación de la microcuenca 509009La Estación Experimental Playitas se ubica dentro de la microcuenca 509009 (Agua de Honduras), que forma parte de la subcuenca Humuya Alta, dentro la cuenca del río Ulúa.La microcuenca abarca un área de 1.315 ha con un perímetro de 21,9 km. La diferencia entre la altitud mínima de 576 m s. n. m. y la altitud máxima de 1.471 m s. n. m. es considerable. Como muestra la Imagen 11, aproximadamente el 40 % de la superficie abarca la zona montañosa, mientras el 60 % está ubicada en el valle.Los datos climatológicos se tomaron de la estación meteorológica Playitas de la Serna (código de estación 25084), la cual está ubicada dentro de la estación experimental de DICTA. Como se muestra en la Tabla 71, la precipitación media anual es alrededor de 836 mm de lluvia, con una variación entre años de 576 mm (mínimo) y 1.177 mm (máximo) para el periodo de 1970 a 2007 (n=39). La temporada de lluvias se extiende durante seis meses, desde mayo hasta finales de octubre. En promedio, los meses de mayor precipitación son junio (161 mm) y septiembre (179 mm), mientras en julio y agosto se presenta la canícula con una reducción de la precipitación. Las precipitaciones máximas mensuales, entre 390 mm y 447 mm, han ocurrido en junio, septiembre y octubre.  835,5 7,7 6,0 10,0 36,1 105,1 161,2 95,3 116,2 178,5 119,5 30,6 13,5 Prec. maxíma 1. 176,8 40,7 30,3 81,6 277,4 213,1 412,5 237,1 263,2 394,5 446,9 90,0 59,3 Prec. mínima 576,2 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 20,7 48,7 24,3 30,4 86,3 8,0 0,0 0,1 Temp. media 25,2 22,9 24,3 26,1 27,4 27,4 26,1 25,9 26,0 25,5 24,5 23,3 22,9Temp. máxima media 30,9 28,9 30,6 32,7 33,7 33,2 31,7 31,1 31,5 30,9 29,4 28,3 28,5Temp HR relativa máxima 75,6 82,0 76,0 65,0 72,0 72,0 85,0 82,0 79,0 80,0 86,0 84,0 85,0 HR relativa mínima 64,3 61,0 51,0 48,0 47,0 53,0 46,0 59,0 64,0 70,0 60,0 71,0 54,0La temperatura media anual es 25,2 °C, con una variación mensual entre 22,9 °C en diciembre y enero, y 27,4 °C en abril y mayo, siendo estos últimos los meses más calurosos. Las temperaturas medias máximas pueden ser superiores a 30 °C durante todo el periodo de febrero a septiembre, con un promedio anual de 30,9 °C. Las temperaturas máximas absolutas, entre 34 y 37 °C, se han registrado de febrero a junio.La humedad relativa media anual es del 68,5 %, con los valores más bajos en marzo y abril, alcanzando un 57,7 %. Entre junio y diciembre, la humedad relativa media varía entre el 70 y el 76 %, con picos máximos del 79 al 86 % en el mismo periodo.En la Tabla 72 se presentan las coordenadas de las cuatro calicatas y perfiles analizados en la estación Playitas, y la Imagen 10 muestra los perfiles y los lotes correspondientes ubicados dentro de la estación. En los cuatro perfiles, se distinguen visualmente dos zonas que difieren en su color. La zona superior muestra un color entre gris y gris oscuro que cambia gradualmente hacia abajo (zona de transición) a un color rojizo. No obstante, los colores Munsell muestran que el color rojizo se refleja en el fondo del color gris del suelo seco en los horizontes A (5YR 4/2 dark reddish grey, 5YR 4/2 reddish grey). En los horizontes del subsuelo, dominan los colores rojizo marrón oscuro (5YR 3/3), rojizo marrón (5YR 4/4) y rojizo oscuro (5R 3/3).La textura en los horizontes superiores varía entre franco limo arenosa, franco limosa y arcillo arenosa, con la tendencia del incremento de la fracción de arcilla en los horizontes subyacentes. No obstante, en todos los horizontes se detecta una ligera fracción de arena. La textura de los cuatro perfiles se puede considerar buena en relación al rango de poros que determina la retención y el almacenamiento de agua. En la mayoría de los horizontes, la densidad aparente oscila de 1,45 a 1,65 g/cm 3 . Debido a la textura, estos valores se pueden considerar medio-altos e indican problemas de compactación, lo que se refleja en algunos horizontes con signos oxido-reductores temporales. En tres horizontes del subsuelo de los perfiles 1 y 3 se midieron valores muy altos: entre 1,76 y 2,08 g/cm 3 , lo que determina una porosidad total baja y una hidráulica interna reducida. Por otro lado, la hidráulica interna y la oxigenación de los perfiles está influenciada positivamente por la presencia de tubos de lombrices que, en algunos perfiles, alcanzan hasta una profundidad de 80 cm.En tres de los perfiles, se observan propiedades vérticas, a través de grietas en la superficie del suelo de diferente anchura y densidad, las cuales en algunos casos alcanzan una profundidad de 80 cm. Sin embargo, las propiedades vérticas se evidencian más en el perfil 3, en la parte más baja del terreno.Datos tomados del trabajo realizado en convenio DICTA-CIAT por: Dr. Jürgen Baumann Ing. René Jaco Ing. Lenin PinedaPlayitas, perfil 1: franco arcilloso Playitas, perfil 2: franco Playitas, perfil 3: arcilloso Playitas, perfil 4: franco arcilloso En el perfil 1 (Foto 25), se distinguen seis horizontes con un aumento gradual del contenido de arcilla hasta una profundidad de 64 cm. Las fracciones de arena, limo y arcilla se encuentran proporcionalmente distribuidas en todos los horizontes, por lo que la textura se determina a lo largo del perfil como franco arcillosa (Tabla 74).Los horizontes Ahp y Ap2 se caracterizan por una intensidad de raíces de fuerte a mediana hasta 29 cm de profundidad. No obstante, la estructura de ambos horizontes se caracteriza en estado seco como masiva coherente, con una resistencia a la penetración muy alta en el horizonte AP1 (0-8 cm), y menos alta en el Ap2 (8-29 cm). En ambos horizontes se percibe un ligero olor a tierra cuando se humedecen. La abundancia de poros se encuentra entre fino/ común y fino/poco, con la presencia dispersa de algunos tubos de lombrices. La densidad de raíces se reduce gradualmente en los horizontes subyacentes, desapareciendo por completo en el horizonte C a partir de 79 cm (Anexo 1.7.1).Foto 25. Playitas, perfil de suelo 1En el horizonte C, ya no se observan poros y la densidad aparente (DA) alcanza un valor máximo de 1,78 (Tabla 73). La profundidad efectiva de enraizamiento se determina como moderadamente buena (0,6-0,8 m). Debido a las características de transformación del material parental, la formación de estructura en los horizontes B y la ausencia de propiedades vérticas, el perfil 1 clasifica como un Eutric Cambisol (loamic).Los valores de la densidad aparente (DA) de los diferentes horizontes del perfil y el volumen total de poros (porosidad) se presentan en la Tabla 73. La Tabla 74 muestra los valores de la capacidad de campo utilizable (CCu), dependiendo de la textura del suelo, la densidad aparente (DA) y la materia orgánica. Con 137,5 mm, el perfil muestra una capacidad de campo utilizable (CCu) media hasta 100 cm de profundidad. Con respecto al pH del perfil, se observa un incremento con la profundidad: desde neutro en los horizontes Ahp, Ap2 y B1, pasando por una reacción alcalina en el horizonte B2, hasta muy alcalina -pH 8,0 -en los horizontes BC y C. La materia orgánica en el horizonte Ahp presenta un nivel medio con 2,17 %; mientras en los horizontes subyacentes, Ap2 y B2, varía entre 1,59 y 1,17 % respectivamente (Tabla 75). El nivel de fósforo disponible se considera favorable, al presentar un nivel alto en el Ahp y medio en el Ap2. Esto indica que, en los primeros 30 cm del perfil, hay un contenido disponible de fósforo de 140 kg/ha, y de 321 kg/ha de P 2 O 5 (Anexo 6.1).La capacidad de intercambio catiónico (CIC), con un valor de 18,7 Cmol c kg -1 en el horizonte Ahp, se considera baja, mientras los horizontes subyacentes se encuentran en un nivel medio entre 23,8 y 34,2 Cmol c kg -1 . Esto, además, coincide con el rango de la CIC que se puede esperar para una textura franco arcillosa. Por otra parte, debido a los altos niveles de saturación, la suma de las bases intercambiables presenta un nivel muy alto en todos los horizontes analizados del perfil. Así mismo, los elementos Ca, Mg y K muestran valores muy altos.La relación catiónica entre Ca y Mg, con valores mayores a 5 en todos los horizontes analizados, evidencia una posible deficiencia de magnesio. Además, el suministro de potasio en los horizontes B1 y B2 también puede ser limitado, según la relación entre Ca/K -con valores superiores a 30 -, y la relación Ca+Mg/K -valores mayores a 40 -(Tabla 76). El perfil 2 (Foto 26) está compuesto hasta una profundidad de 110 cm por cinco horizontes. En los primeros dos, hasta una profundidad de 25 cm, se observa una densidad de raíces entre fuerte y mediana, la cual se reduce a mediana y débil hasta una profundidad de 110 cm. Esto indica una profundidad efectiva favorable para el desarrollo del sistema radicular.El horizonte Ahp (0-9 cm) se caracteriza por una estructura grumosa, y el Ap2 (9-25 cm) por una estructura masiva coherente, mientras los horizontes subyacentes cuentan con una estructura subangular blocosa que varían por el tamaño de sus agregados. En estado seco, los horizontes superficiales presentan una alta resistencia a la penetración -\"duros\" -y una densidad aparente entre 1,51 y 1,53, indicando un piso de arado (Anexo 1.7.2 y Tabla 77). Además, se presentan concreciones de manganeso hasta de 1 cm en el Ap2 (9-25 cm), así como abundantes moteados de hierro en el B1 (25-47cm), lo que indica temporalmente condiciones oxido-reductoras debido a una reducida hidráulica interna.Mientras los horizontes superiores muestran una textura franca, en los horizontes subyacentes disminuye la fracción de arena y aumenta la fracción de arcilla, determinando una textura arcillosa (Tablas 78 y 79). A partir del horizonte B2 (47-96 cm) disminuye la resistencia a la penetración y la densidad aparente, haciéndolos más \"blandos\". En relación al tipo de suelo, el perfil se caracteriza como un Vértic Cambisol. La Tabla 78 muestra los valores de la capacidad de campo utilizable (CCu) dependiendo de la textura del suelo, la densidad aparente (DA) y la materia orgánica. El perfil, hasta 100 cm de profundidad, muestra una capacidad de campo utilizable (CCu) media de 133,8 mm. Se observa que el pH del perfil incrementa con la profundidad: desde ligeramente ácido en el primer horizonte, neutro en los horizontes Ap2 y B1, hasta alcalino a partir de 47 cm de profundidad en los horizontes subyacentes. La materia orgánica muestra niveles bajos en todos los horizontes, con un rango entre 1,99 % en el Ahp y 1,30 % en el B2 (Tabla 79). El nivel de fósforo disponible es alto en los primeros dos horizontes, lo que indica la aplicación de fertilizantes fosfatados en los años anteriores. El perfil 2 muestra una capacidad de intercambio catiónico (CIC) media en los dos primeros horizontes, mientras en el subsuelo los valores son altos, mayores a 45 Cmol c kg -1 . Esto coincide, igual que en el perfil 1, con el aumento brusco del contenido de arcilla. Debido a los altos niveles de saturación, la suma de las bases intercambiables presenta un nivel muy alto en todos los horizontes analizados del perfil (Tabla 80).Con valores mayores a 5 en todos los horizontes, la relación catiónica Ca/Mg evidencia una posible deficiencia de magnesio. Esto, además, se sustenta en la relación Mg/K, cuyos valores se encuentran por debajo de 1 en los horizontes Ahp y Ap2 (Tabla 80). Estos valores sugieren que se debe tener una especial atención en la fertilización de los cultivos con magnesio. Debido a la textura arcillosa y al incremento de la fracción de arcilla en el subsuelo, la capacidad de campo utilizable varía entre 12 y 15 % en los primeros tres horizontes, hasta una profundidad de 63 cm. En el subsuelo, hasta 110 cm, varía solamente entre 7 y 8 %. Además, el ajuste por el contenido de materia orgánica es marginal, con solo 1 % en el horizonte Ap. La capacidad de campo utilizable (CCu), hasta 100 cm de profundidad, se calcula en un valor mediano de 118 mm (Tabla 82). En los primeros dos horizontes, el perfil 3 se caracteriza por una reacción neutra, con valores de pH entre 6,83 y 7,26, así como un pH alcalino de 7,97 en el horizonte B. En los horizontes subyacentes, el pH es muy alcalino, mostrando valores por encima de 8. La materia orgánica se encuentra en un nivel medio en el horizonte Ap, y en niveles bajos en los horizontes subyacentes. En comparación con los perfiles 1 y 2, el nivel de fósforo disponible es bajo, entre 5 y 8 mg/kg en los primeros tres horizontes, hasta una profundidad de 63 cm. La superficie del suelo alrededor del perfil 4 muestra grietas entre 2 y 5 cm de ancho que alcanzan una profundidad hasta de 60 cm. El primer horizonte Ah muestra una estructura grumosa en los primeros 2 cm y luego una estructura masiva coherente dura con una muy alta resistencia a la penetración (los primeros 7 cm se consideraron como un solo horizonte, sin la separación en Ahp1 y Ahp2, debido a que la intensidad de enraizamiento, textura, color, etc. no variaron). Los horizontes subyacentes se caracterizan por una estructura subangular blocosa con agregados de diferentes tamaños, entre 3 y 10 cm. La alta resistencia a la penetración en el horizonte B1 indica un piso de arado; además, tiene la densidad aparente más alta del perfil, con un valor de 1,59 (Tabla 85). Otra característica del B1 es la apariencia de pequeños fragmentos blancos (0,2 a 1,0 cm) en un 10 % del horizonte.Foto 28. Playitas, perfil de suelo 4La intensidad de raíces es mediana y se percibe un fuerte olor a tierra. La densidad de raíces se reduce a débil en el horizonte Ap2 y a muy débil en los B1 y B2. A partir de 69 cm, en el horizonte BC, ya no se observan raíces y los poros disminuyen a muy poco/fino. La textura franco arcillosa en los primeros tres horizontes cambia a arcilloso en los horizontes subyacentes. En el BC aparecen fragmentos blancos tipo gravilla en un 40 % del horizonte. La profundidad efectiva de enraizamiento se encuentra entre moderada y moderadamente buena. Se observan tubos de lombrices hasta una profundidad de 70 cm (Anexo 1.7.4). El suelo se clasifica como un Vertic Cambisol. El perfil 4 muestra una reacción neutra en los primeros cuatro horizontes, hasta una profundidad de 69 cm, mientras el horizonte BC se caracteriza por una reacción muy alcalina de pH 8,26. La materia orgánica presenta un nivel medio en los primeros 23 cm del perfil, y niveles bajos en los horizontes subyacentes. El fósforo se encuentra en niveles adecuados, con 25 y 17 mg/kg en los horizontes Ahp y Ap2 respectivamente, determinando un contenido de 72 kg/ha en los primeros 30 cm del suelo. Las bases intercambiables Ca, Mg y K y su suma total presentan valores muy altos, mientras la capacidad de intercambio catiónico (CIC) se ubica en un rango medio y medio-alto. La relación catiónica Ca/Mg indica una deficiencia de magnesio en todo el perfil, con valores entre 6,9 en el horizonte Ahp y 10,3 en el subsuelo. Las relaciones Ca/K y Ca+Mg/K evidencian condiciones aceptables en los primeros dos horizontes, pero una deficiencia de potasio en los horizontes subyacentes (Tabla 88).  (Gamero y Fortín, 2016).El río Grande, que atraviesa el Valle de Sensenti, es uno de los principales afluentes del río Higuito, el cual forma parte del río Ulúa, la segunda cuenca hidrográfica más grande de Honduras. Con respecto a la geología, los depósitos aluviales del río Grande están separados de los del río Higuito por un \"puente\" de rocas volcánicas del Grupo Padre Miguel a lo largo del río Alash. Por lo tanto, los depósitos aluviales son menores, ocupando una extensión de 13,5 km 2 desde San Marcos de Ocotepeque en el sur hasta Santa Cruz en el norte (Instituto Geográfico Nacional, 1995).En el valle se presentan abanicos aluviales formados por depósitos de gravas gruesas, bolones, arena y una mezcla de capas de granos finos y gruesos. Esta clasificación incluye varios compuestos de aluviones formados por la deposición de arena, grava y limo, debido a que las bajas pendientes en el curso de los ríos ocasionan la perdida de energía para continuar transportando el material río abajo. Las gravas son depositadas en las curvas y cambios de dirección de los ríos, mientras que, en las planicies, se forman capas de arena fina y limo por debajo de los depósitos (Instituto Geográfico Nacional, 1995).La información climatológica de precipitación y tempertura se tomó de la plataforma Agua de Honduras, en específico de los datos de la microcuenca No. 513096, en los límites de la cual se ubica la Estación Experimental Ramón Villeda Morales (Imagen 13).Imagen 13. Delimitación de la microcuenca 513096De acuerdo con la clasificación de Köppen, el Valle del Sensenti presenta un clima tropical caliente subhúmedo con lluvias en verano (Aw, sabana). En este clima, la temperatura media en el mes más frío es mayor a 18 °C, y la cantidad de lluvia en el mes más seco es menor a 60 mm; además, la vigésima quinta parte de la precipitación media anual es inferior a 100 mm (precipitación media anual en mm/25). Como se muestra en la Tabla 89, la precipitación media anual es de 1.610,4 mm. El periodo de mayo a octubre es el más húmedo, con promedios mensuales que varían entre 178 mm en octubre y 321,5 mm en septiembre -siendo este último el mes con mayor precipitación. Entre noviembre y abril, los promedios mensuales bajan considerablemente, con precipitaciones entre 9,4 mm en enero y 57,4 mm en abril. Las temperaturas medias mensuales varían poco, entre 19,5 °C en diciembre y enero, y 23,7 °C en abril -siendo este y mayo los meses más calurosos. Los cuatro perfiles analizados en la Estación Experimental Ramón Villeda Morales se pueden separar en dos grupos. Los perfiles 3 y 4 se ubican en la orilla del río Suntulín y están desarrollados en materiales fluviales, mostrando una clara estratificación de las diferentes capas de sedimentación. En ambos perfiles domina la fracción de arena con textura franco arenosa y la apariencia de horizontes pedregosos; esto favorece el drenaje interno de los suelos. Solamente en dos horizontes del perfil 4 se observan muy pocos (1 %) moteados de hierro y manganeso. Los dos perfiles se distinguen entre ellos por su profundidad efectiva de enraizamiento, lo que determina la capacidad de almacenamiento de agua aprovechable para los cultivos.En comparación con los fluvisoles, los perfiles 1 y 2 presentan una textura más fina, entre franca, franco arcillosa y arcillosa. No obstante, entre ambos hay diferencias importantes tanto en sus características físicas como químicas. Mientras en el perfil 1 el contenido de arcilla varía estrechamente entre 22 y 34 %, el perfil 2 presenta en los horizontes del subsuelo un contenido entre 64 y 68 %, lo que tiene implicaciones en la capacidad de almacenamiento de agua aprovechable para los cultivos. Ambos perfiles evidencian problemas en relación a la estructura del suelo. En el perfil 1, por debajo del horizonte Ah (0-5 cm), hay un horizonte con una estructura angular blocosa, con alta resistencia a la penetración y una débil intensidad de raíces. En el perfil 2, se observa un horizonte B (27-61 cm) con estructura angular blocosa muy compacta y resistencia mediaalta a la penetración (en condiciones de humedad residual), lo que indica un piso de arado -señal del uso dado al terreno hace 12 años para cultivar arroz.En ambos perfiles, la materia orgánica se encuentra en un rango medio en los horizontes Ah, y disminuye a menos de 1 % en los horizontes subyacentes. Aunque desde hace 12 años la parcela del perfil 2 está fuera de producción y cubierta con pasto, el contenido de materia orgánica no ha aumentado. Sería importante investigar la dinámica de la materia orgánica bajo diferentes usos y manejos del suelo, así como las condiciones climáticas para poder evaluar el potencial de captación de carbono en diferentes escenarios.En el perfil 1, se distinguen siete horizontes. La textura varía entre franca y franco arcillo arenosa. La fracción de arena aumenta a partir del horizonte Bw2 a 64 %, con excepción del Bw4, cuyo porcentaje de arena es de 36 %. El horizonte BC tiene el mayor contenido de arena, con un 76 % (Tabla 92), y también presenta la densidad aparente más alta, con un valor de 1,51. En los demás horizontes, la densidad aparente varía entre 1,26 y 1,35 (Tabla 91), lo que resulta en valores de porosidad total entre el 49 y 52,5 %, proporcionando entre un 17 y 20 % del volumen de poros para el almacenamiento de agua aprovechable para las plantas. Debido a la textura, se considera que el perfil tiene un buen drenaje interno. A lo largo del perfil se observan manchas finas de óxidos de hierro, pero en ningún horizonte dominan el aspecto visual. Solo en el horizonte Bw1 (18-40 cm) también se detectan moteados de manganeso (Anexo 1.8.1).Mientras el horizonte Ah1 (0-5 cm) presenta una estructura migajosa con una fuerte intensidad de raíces (W4), el Ah2 se caracteriza por una estructura angular blocosa con agregados que, en su mayoría, varían entre 5 y 8 cm, además de una intensidad de raíces débil (W2), con 3-5 raíces por dm 2 . Los poros visibles en los agregados varían entre finocomún y fino-pocos. Todos los horizontes subyacentes tienen una estructura subangular blocosa, con agregados entre 3 y 12 cm. Los poros visibles en los agregados varían entre muy fino-común y fino-común. La densidad de raíces hasta una profundidad de 58 cm es débil. Aumenta a una densidad media (W3) de 6-10 raíces por dm 2 en los horizontes Bw3 y Bw4, y disminuye a una densidad muy débil (W1) en el horizonte BC. La penetración de las raíces hasta 129 cm evidencia una zona efectiva de enraizamiento profunda, favorable para el suministro de agua y de mayor resiliencia frente periodos prolongados de la canícula (Anexo 1.8.1).Foto 29. Ramón Villeda Morales, perfil de suelo 1El color de los horizontes se encuentra en la tabla Munsell 10YR, excepto en los horizontes Bw2 y Bw3 en estado húmedo, que se ubican en la tabla Munsell 7.5YR. En los primeros tres horizontes, el color en estado seco es gris marrón claro (10YR 6/2), mientras que en estado húmedo varía: gris oscuro en el Ah1 y marrón grisáceo muy oscuro (10YR 3/2) en el Ah2. Los siguientes tres horizontes presentan en estado seco un color marrón pálido (10YR 6/3), y en estado húmedo, un color marrón (7.5YR 4/3 y 10YR 6/3). Este último está asociado a estados iniciales e intermedios de alteración del suelo y la formación de óxidos de hierro tipo goetita (FeOOH). En cuanto a las características químicas del perfil, destaca un pH fuertemente ácido que varía en un rango muy estrecho, desde 5,03 en el horizonte Ah1 hasta 5,26 en el horizonte Bw3, lo que representa una limitante para la mayoría de cultivos agrícolas. El contenido de materia orgánica solamente se encuentra en un rango medio en los primeros 5 cm del suelo en el horizonte Ah1. En los horizontes subyacentes, el contenido de materia orgánica es bajo, con valores entre 1,46 % en el Ah2 y 0,27 % en el BC. Los niveles de nitrógeno y fósforo son de bajos a muy bajos, lo que indica deficiencias en el suministro de ambos nutrientes principales (Tabla 93). Considerando las características físicas y químicas del perfil, como la textura, el desarrollo de la estructura de los horizontes, la lixiviación de carbonatos, el pH y la saturación de bases, así como la formación de arcillas y sesquióxidos (rango del color del suelo) como resultado de la meteorización de minerales primarios en sedimentos fluviales, el suelo se clasifica como un Fluvic Cambisol.El perfil 2 (Foto 30) se distingue del perfil 1 considerablemente en sus propiedades físicas y químicas. Muestra una textura más fina que está dominada por la fracción de limo en los horizontes Ah y AB, y en los horizontes subyacentes por la fracción de arcilla. Mientras los primeros dos horizontes presentan un contenido de arcilla entre 24 y 30 %, los horizontes subyacentes de textura arcillosa tienen valores de 68 % en el Bw y de 64 % en el BC (Tabla 96). La densidad aparente se incrementa de 1,33 en el horizonte AB a 1,49 en el horizonte C, por lo que la porosidad total se reduce de 49,8 % (AB) a 43,8 % (C). Por la textura es posible estimar un drenaje interno moderado del perfil. Con excepción del horizonte AB, en el cual se presentan muy pocos moteados de manganeso (0-2 %), en los demás horizontes no se observan signos que indiquen un problema de drenaje interno. Mientras el horizonte Ah (0-5/12 Cm) muestra una estructura migajosa con una intensidad de raíces muy fuerte W5 (21-50 raíces por dm 2 ), el horizonte AB se caracteriza por una estructura subangular blocosa con agregados cerrados que, en su mayoría, varían entre 6/8 y 12 cm. No obstante, este último presenta una alta intensidad de raíces W4 (11-20 raíces por dm 2 ). La intensidad de raíces se reduce paulatinamente con la profundidad del perfil: mediana en el horizonte B (W3)de 6 a 10 raíces por dm 2 -y muy débil en el horizonte BC (W1) -de 1 a 2 raíces por dm 2 . El horizonte B tiene una estructura angular blocosa muy compacta con agregados abiertos, y el BC se caracteriza por una estructura subangular blocosa compacta con agregados abiertos (Anexo 1.8.2).El color de los horizontes se ubica en la tabla 7.5YR, con excepción del suelo húmedo del horizonte Bw que se ubica en la tabla 10YR. En los primeros dos horizontes en estado húmedo el color se caracteriza como marrón (7.5YR 4/3 7.5YR 5/2), y en estado seco como gris rosado (7.5YR 6/2).El horizonte B muestra un color gris oscuro en estado húmedo (7.5YR 4/1) y gris en estado seco (10YR 5/1). En el horizonte BC se nota un cambio de color de fondo, siendo marrón en estado seco (7.5YR 5/2); en cambio, los horizontes superiores en este mismo estado tienen un color gris de fondo. El horizonte BC, estado húmedo, es marrón oscuro (7.5YR 3/2) (Anexo 1.8.2). Con respecto a las características químicas del perfil, se destaca que el pH incrementa con la profundidad a lo largo de los horizontes. Mientras el horizonte Ah muestra una reacción fuertemente ácida de pH 5,43, la acidez disminuye a ligeramente ácida en el horizonte AB, con un pH de 6,22. Los horizontes subyacentes se caracterizan por una reacción neutra, con un pH de 6,93 en el horizonte B y de 6,58 en el horizonte BC (Tabla 97).El contenido de materia orgánica se encuentra en un rango medio solamente en el horizonte Ah. En los horizontes subyacentes, el contenido de materia orgánica es muy bajo, con niveles inferiores a 0,5 %. El mismo patrón se muestra para los contenidos de nitrógeno y fósforo, determinando deficiencias en el suministro de ambos nutrientes principales (Tabla 97). Considerando las características físicas y químicas del perfil y la acumulación de arcilla en los horizontes B, aspecto propio de un horizonte árgico (capa subsuperficial con claramente mayor contenido de arcilla que la capa suprayacente y/o presencia de arcilla iluvial, WRB 2015), así como algunos moteados en el horizonte AB, el perfil se clasifica como un Epistagnic Luvisol. El perfil 3 (Foto 31) se encuentra en la ribera del río Suntulín y está compuesto por diferentes capas de sedimentos fluviales. Se distingue un horizonte Ah (0-9 cm) encima de un horizonte C1 (9-50 cm), ambos caracterizados por una textura franco arenosa (arena 60-66 %). El horizonte subyacente C2, hasta una profundidad de 120 cm, es muy pedregoso (> 50 % de piedras), con una mezcla de material pétreo de piedras, grava y arena, lo que no permitió la toma de muestras. El horizonte Ah presenta una estructura migajosa de worm casts con una intensidad mediana de raíces (W3, 6-10 raíces/dm 2 ), mientras el horizonte subyacente C1 se caracteriza por una estructura granular; en ninguno de estos dos horizontes se observan moteados o concreciones. Estas características indican que el drenaje interno del perfil es bueno (Anexo 1.8.3).El perfil 4 se encuentra en la ribera del río Suntulín y está compuesto por diferentes capas de sedimentos fluviales. Hasta una profundidad de 140 cm se distinguen seis horizontes. A primera vista, destaca que el horizonte C1 está separado del C3 por una capa de material fluvial de piedras, grava y gravilla (horizonte C2). El perfil está cubierto por un horizonte Ah delgado de solamente 2 cm, con una estructura migajosa de formación biológica y una intensidad de raíces extremadamente fuerte (W6). Se caracteriza, además, por una muy baja resistencia a la penetración. El Ah presenta, en estado seco, color marrón (10YR 3/2), y en estado húmedo, un color marrón grisáceo muy oscuro (10YR 5/3) (Anexo 1.8.4). El horizonte subyacente C1 se caracteriza por una estructura angular blocosa con agregados cerrados, una textura franco arenosa, así como una resistencia a la penetración muy alta.Dado que, al momento de la descripción del perfil, el horizonte C1 en estado seco se presentó extremadamente duro y compacto, la toma de muestras inalteradas de cilindros no fue posible, razón por la cual no se cuenta con datos de densidad aparente para este horizonte. Sin embargo, se observa una densidad mediana (W3) de raíces. Además, el horizonte C1 presenta muy pocos (1 %) moteados de hierro, lo que indica que durante lluvias fuertes el drenaje interno puede ser reducido por poco tiempo. El color, tanto en estado seco como húmedo, sigue siendo igual que en el Ah (Anexo 1.8.4).El horizonte pedregoso C2 muestra en la poca fracción fina una fuerte intensidad de raíces (W4, 11-20/dm 2 ). Esta densidad se reduce a mediana en el horizonte C3 subyacente, el cual se caracteriza por una textura arenosa y estructura granular, con una media-baja resistencia a la penetración. Llama la atención que, a pesar de su textura arenosa, la densidad aparente es baja, de solo 1,17 (Tabla 103). En comparación con los horizontes suprayacentes Ah y C1, en estado húmedo se observa un ligero cambio de color del suelo a marrón amarillento (10YR 3/6). En los horizontes C4 y C5, la intensidad de raíces se reduce a débil (W2, 3-5 raíces/dm 2 ). Ambos horizontes se caracterizan por una textura franco arenosa; sin embargo, varían en su estructura y densidad aparente: mientras el C4 presenta una estructura subangular blocosa, con agregados finos entre 3 y 6 mm, y una densidad aparente baja de 1,11, el horizonte C5 se caracteriza por una estructura masiva coherente y una densidad aparente más alta de 1,31. A pesar de que se presenta un horizonte muy pedregoso a una profundidad entre 26-53 cm, la zona efectiva de enraizamiento es profunda, ya que se observan raíces hasta una profundidad de 140 cm. Aunque el horizonte C2 -por su pedregosidad -y el C3 -por su textura arenosa -reducen la capacidad de campo utilizable para las plantas, se calcula un total de 149 mm, lo que se considera un valor mediano-alto (Tabla 104). El pH varía en un rango de 5,77 a 6,07, lo que se califica moderadamente ácido. El contenido de materia orgánica y de nitrógenos solamente muestra u nivel medio en el horizonte C1, igual que el contenido de fósforo. En todos los horizontes subyacentes los contenidos de materia orgánica, nitrógeno y fósforo se encuentran en un nivel bajo (Tabla 105). Con respecto a las bases intercambiables, se destaca lo siguiente: el calcio (Ca) se encuentra en un nivel medio en todos los horizontes (5,01-9,0 Cmol c /kg), mientras el magnesio (Mg) muestra a lo largo de todo el perfil niveles altos (1,01-2,0 Cmol c /kg). El potasio (K) presenta un nivel muy alto en el horizonte C1, y niveles medios en los horizontes subyacentes. El sodio (Na) es muy bajo en todos los horizontes. Los bases intercambiables totales presentan, en los horizontes C1 a C3, un nivel medio, y en los horizontes subyacentes un nivel alto en el límite inferior de la clasificación (nivel alto: 11,01-15,0 Cmol c /kg). La capacidad de intercambio catiónico (CIC) en los horizontes superiores (C1 y C3) se encuentra entre bajo y muy bajo, mientras en los horizontes C4 y C5 se eleva a niveles medio-alto y alto. Las relaciones catiónicas muestran niveles aceptables en los horizontes superiores (Ca1 y C3), mientras en los horizontes subyacentes (C4 y C5) se evidencian deficiencias de Mg y K. Debido a que el suelo está desarrollado en materiales fluviales y a que tiene ≥ 40 % en volumen de fragmentos gruesos en un horizonte dentro 50 cm de profundidad, se clasifica como un Episkeletic Fluvisol.COSUDE (Agencia Suiza para el Desarrollo y la Cooperación); SAG-DICTA (Secretaría de Agricultura y Ganadería -Dirección de Ciencia y Tecnología Agropecuaria). ( 2022). Historias de éxito -Promoviendo un modelo de agricultura resiliente en la cuenca del río Goascorán con la implementación de prácticas y tecnologías de adaptación al cambio climático y el fortalecimiento de capacidades. Programa de Gestión Comunitaria de Cuencas -nuestra cuenca Goascorán (PGCC-ncG) -Fase II. Honduras. Densidad aparente (g/cm 3 )1,1 1,3 1,5 1,7 1,9 1,1 1,3 1,5 1,7 1,9 1,1 1,3 1,5 1,7 1,9Arena pura Ss --38 30 23 ----13 13 13 ----10 10 -- Densidad aparente (g/cm 3 )1, 1 1,3 1,5 1,7 1,9 1,1 1,3 1,5 1,7 1,9 1,1 1,3 1,5 1,7  Fuertemente ácido 5,1-5,5 Toxicidad moderada por Al y Mn, deficiencia de P, S, Mo y bases, altos niveles de algunos micronutrientes.Moderadamente ácido 5,6-6,0No se espera la toxicidad por Al, mayor disponibilidad de P, S, Mo y bases, algunos cultivos susceptibles a la acidez requieren encalamiento.Ligeramente ácido 6,1-6,5 Adecuada condición para la disponibilidad de nutrientes para las plantas.Neutro 6,6-7,3 Altos niveles de Ca, Mg, algunos cultivos pueden mostrar deficiencias de micronutrientes, la disponibilidad de P puede ser baja.Alcalino 7,4-8,0 Baja disponibilidad de P y micronutrientes, altos niveles de Ca y Mg.Muy alcalino > 8,0 Severas limitaciones en la disponibilidad de algunos nutrientes, el nivel de Na puede ser tóxico.  A6 Aporte de nutrientes del suelo, calculado de 0-30 cm en cada perfil "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9245b7ece853f176e270abc9f7fbc924","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1081c181-c7fc-45a0-b943-c816848736f3/retrieve","id":"41028978"},"keywords":["Citizen Science","Data Collection","Community Engagement","Sustainable Development"],"sieverID":"dcf4a523-e39e-4757-afd5-1bcab2f381a9","content":"This report provides an overview of the mini Stream Assessment Scoring System (miniSASS) and South African Scoring System Version 5 (SASS5) as biomonitoring techniques for assessing the ecological condition of streams and rivers based on the identification of aquatic macroinvertebrates. While miniSASS relies on minimally trained citizen scientists to identify macroinvertebrates at the Order-level, SASS5 utilizes expertly accredited practitioners for finer resolution, even up to the family-level. However, the reliance on citizen scientists for miniSASS identification introduces limitations in terms of precision, accuracy, and reliability. To address these limitations, ongoing developments within the CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation include the creation of a miniSASS smartphone application, an upgraded website, an interactive online course, and a machine-learning identification algorithm to assist with photo identification. Additionally, a revised dichotomous key has been developed to improve operator identification during miniSASS surveys. Furthermore, the potential for upscaling the machine-learning identification algorithm to assist in identifying the 91 family-level taxa used in SASS5 assessments has been explored. The outcomes of these developments and explorations presented in this paper aim to enhance the overall effectiveness and reliability of both the miniSASS and SASS5 techniques. By leveraging digital innovation and incorporating machine-learning technology, we anticipate the efficiency, accuracy, and accessibility of biomonitoring assessments will significantly improve, ultimately contributing to a better understanding and management of our aquatic ecosystems.Within the CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation, GroundTruth, in conjunction with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and North-West University (NWU), are researching and developing digital innovations pertaining to the mini stream assessment scoring system (miniSASS) (Pattinson et al. 2023). The concept of miniSASS was developed in South Africa, based on the South African Scoring System (SASS) Version 5 (Dickens and Graham 2002;Graham, Dickens, and Taylor 2004), where one could sample aquatic macroinvertebrates and infer the ecological condition of a stream or river from the different relationships (i.e., specific, different sensitivities and tolerances) that different taxa of aquatic macroinvertebrates share with their environment (Dickens and Graham 2002;Morse et al. 2007;Ndatimana et al. 2023;Odountan et al. 2019;Paisley et al. 2014).Both miniSASS and SASS5 rely on sampling and accurately identifying the aquatic macroinvertebrates in a stream or river. For miniSASS, the macroinvertebrates need to be identified to an Order-level grouping (Graham et al. 2004), while for SASS5 the resolution is much finer, for most taxa going to family-level groupings (Dickens and Graham 2002). MiniSASS has been recognized as a promising tool both locally in South Africa (Graham and Taylor 2018), as well as internationally for reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Taylor et al. 2022).MiniSASS is a low-cost, relatively simple technique, with no requirement for laboratory analyses; miniSASS surveys result in a real-time estimate of river health (Graham et al. 2004;Taylor et al. 2022). SASS5, which is designed for Southern Africa but also employed elsewhere by both private and government entities, is used for assessing the ecological condition of streams and rivers with greater certainty than offered by the more simplistic miniSASS (Bere and Nyamupingidza 2014;Fourie et al. 2014). In SASS5, the assessment results are computed as two index scores, the average score per taxon (ASPT), and the SASS5 score (Dickens and Graham 2002). These scores can also be used to inform a macroinvertebrate response index (MIRAI), which details the observed families against expected, and results in an ecological classification of the stream or river on a scale from natural or pristine through to severely modified (for further detail, see Thirion 2007).MiniSASS has limitations regarding its precision and accuracy, since it relies on identification of aquatic macroinvertebrates by minimally trained citizen scientistsidentification which can be subject to error. For miniSASS, the score can change significantly based on misidentification. For example, a miniSASS survey in a rocky stream that finds four groups including 'Worms' [score 2], 'Minnow mayflies' [score 5], 'Snails / clams / mussels' [score 4] and 'Damselflies' [score 4], changes from an average score of 3.75 (very poor condition) to an average score of 7 (good condition) if the fourth group is misidentified as 'Stoneflies' [score 17]. Ultimately, doubt over the accuracy, validity, and reliability of river health assessments generated using miniSASS detracts from its use, impact, trustworthiness, and broader uptake.For miniSASS to be regarded with scientific credibility, the data must be considered high quality, trustworthy and accurate (Arndt et al. 2022;Buytaert et al. 2014;Hulbert et al. 2019). Concerns over identification error are not considered a large issue for SASS5, where practitioners in southern Africa are generally well-trained and may even be examined on their identification abilities before being accredited in use of the SASS5 technique. However, identification can always be improved to minimize error and speed up identification.Another limitation inherent with miniSASS and SASS5 was traditionally that data was captured manually in-field. The data would then need to be manually uploaded to the miniSASS website at a later stage, creating not only room for error in data capture, but also the potential that the data would not be captured in a database at all if the person who did the survey never uploaded it.Recently, SASS5 has had a mobile application (app) launched that assists with data capture in-field, improving both the accuracy and speed of data capture, as well as the efficiency of data reporting 1 . However, there remains a clear need for digital innovation in the arena of aquatic biomonitoring with miniSASS and, potentially, SASS5. There are various ongoing developments within the CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation concerning miniSASS, including research and development of a miniSASS smartphone app, an upgraded miniSASS website 2 , an online, interactive course for miniSASS 3 , and a machine-learning (ML) identification algorithm for deep neural network assistance with identification of the aquatic macroinvertebrates from photographs taken by the miniSASS operator taken in-field (for more details, see Pattinson et al. 2022). Further to those developments, it was recognized that miniSASS operator identification (which happens in addition to the ML identification of photographs, creating two layers of identification security to improve identification and data reliability) would be improved by development of a revised, digitally interactive dichotomous key for miniSASS. This was determined because the original dichotomous key (a static, illustrated document) still left room for confusion or misidentification where branches in the key were not easy to understand or interpret for novice users. Revising the key into a digitally innovative format aimed to make using it more 1 Forthcoming; the announcement video clip available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2yADWef0sw 2 https://minisass.org/en 3 https://groundtruth.plutolmsapp.com/enrol/index.php?id=374 friendly, intuitive, and accurate for a miniSASS operator, thus improving their identification accuracy and confidence, especially for novice operators.Separately, the development of ML identification of aquatic macroinvertebrates from photographs for miniSASS also raised the possibility of using the technique during SASS5 assessments. Therefore, the potential for extension of the ML identification algorithm to SASS5 level to potentially assist in identifying the 91 family-level taxa used for SASS5, was explored. This report relays the outcomes of those processes and explorations.With the launch of the miniSASS mobile app, in-field data collection has been digitally enhanced. MiniSASS operators can now collect photographs of the sample site, capture a range of anecdotal data (e.g., clarity tube measurements, dissolved oxygen levels, or qualitative descriptions), and, most importantly, capture photographs of the macroinvertebrates they sample. Within the mobile app, there is a built-in ML algorithm that provides identification predictions for the aquatic macroinvertebrates sampled based on the photographs the operator takes of each one. This both helps guide the operator in their identifications and provides its own objective identifications and resulting miniSASS score. However, the miniSASS operator still needs to identify all their specimens manually as well. This is where the dichotomous key is relevantit assists a miniSASS operator to manually identify all their specimens accurately. The result is that each miniSASS assessment completed using the mobile app will have photographs of all the specimens found, coupled with separate (though ideally identical) identifications and miniSASS scores based first on the operator's identifications (assisted by the dichotomous key), and second on the ML algorithm's identification predictions.A dichotomous key is a tool or method used to aid in the identification of organisms. Dichotomous keys comprise decision tree systems, whereby the user is offered pairwise decisions at each branch, deciding on which diagnostic features align with the organism as they move along the tree. The traits that split each decision of the tree range widely, from specific morphological or physiological characteristics, to general identifiers such as belonging to a certain high-level taxonomic group. The features are organismal traits that cascade in specificity, with each split along the decision tree growing more specific until a unique identity can be reached.Within a dichotomous key, the decision-making process starts at a single node. Thereafter, the decisions progress stepwise via paired splits, where the user selects which of two branches they will continue down at each decision node. Ultimately, by progressing to the conclusion of these pairwise identifier splits, the user ends up with the logical identification of the organism to a specified or desired taxonomic level.Within miniSASS, users are required to identify all the aquatic macroinvertebrates they sample and assign them as belonging to one of 13 miniSASS groupings. The groups are at roughly Order level, though they do not all correspond perfectly with Order-level taxonomy given the taxonomic difficulties associated with global classification of aquatic macroinvertebrates (Bouchard Jr et al. 2005;Guareschi and Wood 2019;Jones 2008). The miniSASS groups found are then used to determine the miniSASS score and the inferred ecological condition of the stream or river being surveyed. Naturally, this process necessitates that miniSASS operators are able to identify all the aquatic macroinvertebrates they sample. This is where the miniSASS dichotomous key is required to aid in classifying each of the organisms found into their relevant miniSASS group. To-date, miniSASS operators have been provided with a dichotomous key that they can use in-field (Figure 1).The development of the miniSASS mobile app raised the possibility to digitize the key, so that it could be navigated intuitively on the app, without the need for a static print-out.To transcribe the original miniSASS dichotomous key would require each of the decision nodes to be displayed in a separate interface, together with their relevant ancillary descriptive data. The ancillary information comprises short descriptions of the diagnostic features separating the node decision branches, as well as images of the relevant trait where possible (e.g., images of each of the different morphological features that separate out at a decision node). A system with this design would substantially increase the size of the app, creating issues for downloading, mobile data use, and storage space on the smartphones carrying the app.In addition to the concerns over the practicality and appropriateness of directly digitizing the original key, there are issues with decision nodes that are based on technically incorrect information, or ambiguities over the focal feature. This arose given that complex information, particularly regarding morphological structural differences, were simplified for the purposes of a citizen scientist who perhaps has little experience with identifying aquatic macroinvertebrates being able to navigate the key.An example of possible oversimplification is that to reach the 'Damselflies' group following the key, one would follow this key pathway: Legs → clearly defined legs → three pairs of legs → no wings → tail → elongated tail → generally three tails → no feathery gills on abdomen. These decisions are based on what is generally visible to the naked eye for the average damselfly specimen, and how those traits would be interpreted by the average user. However, technically the decision nodes for 'tail', 'elongated tail', 'generally three tails', and 'no feathery gills on abdomen' are morphologically incorrect and can be misleading. In fact, damselfly larvae do not technically have tails. Rather, the protrusions at the posterior of their bodies are gills (that look like a tail to an inexperienced person). The gills are 'leaf' or 'paddle' shaped, and not 'feathery'.An example of ambiguity inherent in the original key is in the classification pathway (though, again, this was done purposefully based on how lay citizen scientists would interpret what they were seeing) is that for the 'Bugs and beetles' grouping. In the pathway to arrive at 'Bugs and beetles', the second decision node requires the user to identify if the organisms have legs or not. The user should select that they do have clear legs. However, in the case of the Psephenidae (commonly known as water penny beetles) the legs are seldom visible. Consequently, the classification of Psephenidae, or of organisms with similar unclear morphological characteristics, becomes difficult and frustrating when using the naked eye. Most of the miniSASS groups are highly diverse containing organisms with considerable morphological variation. Therefore, it becomes challenging to create single decision nodes that describe the morphological features of all the organisms within a group.Considering these issues, a different approach to implementing and designing a new dichotomous key for miniSASS was undertaken to ensure the key presented in the mobile app is easy to use, simple and intuitive for the miniSASS operator to identify their specimens.Translating and transcribing the physical dichotomous key to use into digital format accessible via a mobile app required making large changes to the layout and operation of the key. Inherently, the changes increase the complexity of the key, so maintaining ease of use was imperative to ensure that the key still performed its core function of helping minimally trained citizen scientists identify aquatic macroinvertebrates to the miniSASS standard. Part of the need for intuitive use is the need for speed with identification, so that miniSASS surveys are efficient.The first core design feature of the new key was that it would be based on a filtering system. For a filtering approach, a list of initial broad morphological characteristics relevant to each of the 13 miniSASS group classifications is provided. Some of the decision nodes in the original dichotomous key were reused, where appropriate (e.g., has a shell, defined legs, has a clear tail, or has a long thin body). However, numerous new criteria have been added increasing the number of morphological characteristics in the key, thereby encompassing most of the morphological variation within each of the groups. These new criteria include features such as having a rounded body, a relatively short tail, and/or paddleshaped gills. A list of 22 morphological features is used in the digital key (Table 1). Many of the groups share similar criteria, but each group will be defined by either a single unique feature, or a unique combination of features.When a miniSASS operator opens the key a list of all 22 feature filters is given, together with an image or images (i.e., real photographs, not drawings) illustrating an example of the typical appearance of the relevant feature (Figure 2). Additionally, a short description for each filter is available with an information icon next to the filter; selecting this information icon will bring up some extra information as well as an enlarged image of the typical appearance of the feature to help with identification.To use the key, the operator needs to examine each aquatic macroinvertebrate they have sampled and, for each different specimen, individually go through to the list of features and select those which the organism has. Based on the selection, organisms that have the selected feature will appear at the top of the filter as potential identifications. Organisms not described by the selected feature will not be listed as options. As the operator progresses with the filter selecting more features that describe the specimen, the number of potential identifications listed at the top of the filter will reduce until only a single option remains. In this way, an operator does not need to select all the relevant features that describe the specimen. As they progress through the key, it is only important that the features which are unique identifiers end up being selected. Essentially, as more features are selected, the options for what the specimen could be will grow narrower until only a single identification option remains available based on the combination of features selected.If an operator selects the filter for 'three pairs of legs', all the groups that contain organisms with three pairs of legs will be given in the list at the top of the filter, while those that do not possess three pairs of legs will not appear. Many groups have three pairs of legs, but this will rule out the 'Flatworms', 'Snails / clams / mussels', 'Crabs and shrimps', 'Trueflies', 'Leeches' and 'Worms' groups. If the user then also selects 'long thin body', only two groups are left that have a combination of 'three pairs of legs' and a 'long thin body'the 'Damselflies' and 'Caddisflies' (Figure 3).The remaining filters in the list that are not associated with 'Damselflies' or 'Caddisflies' groups are removed and only those that potentially distinguish these groups from each other remain. The operator can then continue to select features until only a single identification option remains. For example, if the user then selected 'feather-like gills', then only the 'Caddisflies' would have all the selected features leaving them as the only option for selection (Figure 4). If a user is either unsure of the morphological feature they selected, or not convinced by the resulting identification options, they can select or deselect features from the filter list and compare identification options as they go. In comparison to the original key method, the number of decisions needed to classify an organism as belonging to the caddisfly group can potentially be reduced from seven necessary decision nodes down to just to three.In some instances, a user can select the morphological feature that is unique to a certain group from the beginning if they can clearly observe it. For example, if a user observes short stubby legs present on an organism and they select that filter from the Table 1 The 22 features used in the new mini stream assessment scoring system (miniSASS) dichotomous key filter system. For each of the 13 miniSASS groups, an 'x' is shown if they possess the feature. Each miniSASS group is defined by a unique combination of features.  2. Fourteen of the 22 filters available at the first step of using the new mini stream assessment scoring system (miniSASS) dichotomous key as they appear within the miniSASS mobile application (app). Images illustrate an example of the typical appearance of each of the features, with information icons (i) providing options to view ancillary information about each of the features.Figure 3. With both the '3 pairs of legs' and 'long thin body' filters selected, only two identification optionsdamselflies and caddisfliesremain. The features still listed are those that could be used to separate the two groups, while features that describe neither of those groups have been removed from the filter options. The mini stream assessment scoring system (miniSASS) operator will need to keep selecting features from the filter list which the specimen in question has until a unique combination describing only one possible miniSASS group remains. The image is displayed as a screenshot of how it appears in the miniSASS mobile application (app).Figure 4. With the '3 pairs of legs', 'long thin body', and 'feather-like gills' features selected, the only possible identification that remains is the caddisflies group (of the 13 mini stream assessment scoring system (miniSASS) groups). Notably, the only features left that can still be selected all fit for caddisflies, but they need not all be selected to arrive at a unique identification. The image is displayed as a screenshot of how it appears in the miniSASS mobile application (app).list, the only identification option available will be the 'Trueflies', given that that is the only group that has that feature. The same is true for a 'shell', which characterizes only the 'Snails / clams / mussels' group, or the 'rounded body' which characterizes only the 'Bugs and beetles' group.The use of ML for the identification and classification of macroinvertebrate groups used in miniSASS presents an exciting integration of modern artificial intelligence (AI) technology into ecology and biomonitoring. The ML identification model in miniSASS is used to classify organisms within one of 13 broad, Order-level groups. These groups contain considerable morphological diversity.Therefore, being able to assign unique identifiers for the purposes of ML classification represents an important milestone in the utility of AI in ecology. However, ongoing development has highlighted that the use of ML to aid in the automatic verification of miniSASS survey scores, via auto-verifying identifications, still requires further refinement and development.Taxonomic resolution presents a significant challenge for the identification and classification accuracy of an ML algorithm.The finer the taxonomic resolution, the more specific, unique morphological variation there is among different groups. In theory, this should make it easier to assign unique features to each specified group. In the case of coarser taxonomic resolution, there is less uniquely identifiable morphological variation between organisms since the groups will include an increasing number of increasingly dissimilar organisms, making them harder to all identify within the same group.Essentially, the more specific the group, and the finer the resolution, the easier it is to distinguish an individual as part of that group. A simple illustration of this would be to consider vehicles: it would be difficult to assign unique identifiers between vehicles if one was looking at a course resolution. Many different vehicles have four wheels, a windshield, a chassis, wing mirrors, four doors, etc. However, as the resolution gets finer and is based on make, model, year of production, and finally on license plate and engine number, it is easier to define different vehicles by a unique identifier.The classification of organisms used in SASS5 is based on family level identification, a much finer resolution than that used in miniSASS. With the finer taxonomic resolution, the variation becomes more specific (with individuals at higher taxonomic resolution more alike and more specifically different from others). Therefore, classifying organisms into a specific family should be easier. However, practically, this is not always the case with developing ML identification models. The more specific the groupings, and the finer the nuances of unique identifiers, the greater the amount of training data that will be required to get the model to find, define, and consistently identify those unique features. A SASS5 assessment requires identification of specimens into one of 91 potential families of aquatic macroinvertebrates. Consequently, the number of images needed to train the ML identification algorithm is substantially larger than that required for classification into just 13 miniSASS groups.In development of a deep neural network ML identification model, it is recommended that a minimum of 1000 images are used for training for each group. This results in roughly 91,000 images, as a minimum, for training an ML identification algorithm to be functional at SASS5 resolution.For greater accuracy, a 10-fold increase is recommended for retraining the algorithm, raising the required number of images to 910,000. As a result, the use of ML to identify and classify aquatic macroinvertebrates for the purposes of in SASS5 presents a real challenge simply because of the number of images needed to train and retrain the ML identification algorithm to enable accurate classification and identification. However, it remains possible, especially if the number of images required decreases because of the higher taxonomic resolution. With images being collected by people nationwide for miniSASS assessments, it is plausible that the required number of images to train an ML identification algorithm for SASS5 may one day be captured."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b62a44f64c324b7a3708de97eb8ea0e4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H026012.pdf","id":"833923221"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"825a78c3-6a1a-4487-8918-c00ff52d1dc9","content":"I N 1' RO o u CT I o N Tlie Government of Sindh has enacted a law to establish tlie Sindh Irrigatioii and Drainage Authority (SIDA) The four ~ main objectives for tlie SIDA act are to: decentralize the inanageinent of the irrigation and drainage system; to establish more responsive, efficient and transparent management, to ensure equity of water dtstnbutton and effective drainage management, and to Introduce participatory and financially self-supporting management The package of institutional reforms proposed by the Government t ncludes three components transformation of PlDs to autotioiiiotis PIDAs, creation of AWBs; and encouragttig forination of FOs at the distributary or iiiitior level through a pilot projects Tlie law empowers SIDA to promote tlie fortnation of Farmers Organizations around dtstrtbutary and niltior canals (Bandaragoda et al, I9971 Tlie Action Research Program of tlie 'Pilot Project for Farmer-Managed Irrigated Agriculture\" in Si ndh provi lice of Pakistan has been undertaken by the Inteniational Irrigation Management Institute ( I ItL11). The prograiii aims at enabling these Fanners' Organizations (FOs) to asstiiiie responsibilities for operation and maintenance (O&M), recover tlie cost through collection of water and drainage charges, and improve water management practices. Considering tlie complex social context a-four-phase process is adopted, wliich includes: (1) support mobilization; ( 2 ) itiitiA organization; (3) orgmiization consolidation and (3) organization action. During the first phase of the project tlie FOs were formed at the Bareji Distributary, Heraii Distributary and Dlioro Naro Minor in the districts, Mirpurklias, Satigliar and Nawabshah, respectively by 11MI. The project expects to forin farmer organizations on additional 10 distributaries at Jamrao Canal command area through National Drainage Program (NDP) Sindh.Viability of an organization depends on its strength to make internal ntles and to apply these rules effectively. Collective action enliarices the effect of individual actions. However, considering that soiiie persons' enhanced actions are likely to adversely affect tlie welfare of the others, the organization also lias to collectively restrain individual action whenever necessary. Thus, the use of agreed rules becomes important, and an apt definition that is related to users groups is that \"an institution is collective action in restraint, liberation a i d expansion of individual action\" (Parsons I984:28).It lias been expected that by the end of the 1990s, farmers will be able to tiiobilize all the resources required for operation and maintenance of the portiotis of irrigation systems under their tnanagement (IMPSA 1991). Upasena et. a1 1996 clearly mention that tlie sttccess of the participatoiy management policy requires tlie development of effective institutions among fariiiers for irrigation management..4fter formation of FOs on pilot distributaries,,.second step is to register them with SIDA. Tlie registration would legally empower FOs, enable them to mutually prepare and sign tlie irrigation transfer management document to take over tlie responsibility of irrigation system. This has not yet been possible, as the Government of Sindh lias not approved the niles and regulations.The paper presents sotlie of lessons are I inportant for the other interested organizations, individuals agencies to understand, and conceptualize the process of establishing fanners' organizations.G overt1 iiieii t's Co ti1 mi tmen t Most of the water users interviewed wished that political influence should be avoided in the formation of proposed FOs and AWBs. As tlie PlDA iiistitutioiial reforms have a potential of bringing a significant change in tlie socio-economic status of the majority of the people in tlie area, there should be adequate safeguards against tlie possible obstacles that can be caused by a few who niiglit get affected iii tlie short term. Some argue that tlie sustainability of the proposed changes cannot be en\\isaged Lvitliout a clear goveriiment conimitment to devise such safeguards, including effccti\\,e land refot-ms.Tlie irrigation and power department lias provided essential support from tlie very beginning of the estended project and also support to form tlie fanners' organizations at tlie new distributaries/ minors. Tlie support from the agencies shall have to be continued, even after the irrigation management transfer is coniplete.Tlic Lvater iisers were of the opinion that tilore than fifty percent of the members in the Area \\Vater Boards aiid SiD.4 should be farmer representatives selected by the distributary level FOs. This strategy alone could avert any undue influence of tlie existing political and h.:eaucratic systenis on the smooth functioning of the new organizations. The water users perceive that tlie establishment of the SIDA in this more transparent aiid more deiiiocratic tiiaiitier will have a greater chance of improving the reliability and eqiiitability of water distribution in the canal system. The reliable and equitable supply of tlie irrigation water, ratli'er than more water, is tlie essential requirement for i tiiproviiig agriculture production.There is a \\videspread belief aniong the water users that a iiiore democratically constituted SIDA-A\\VB-FO system wit11 adequate people's participation will improve the maintenance and operation of tlie canal system, which lias deteriorated due to prolonged maintenance deficiencies. Consequently, the supply of water will be improved and shortages, particularly at the tail elid of the system, can be overcome. Further, the performance of lower level irrigation staff will significantly improve when they are made accountable to tlie FOs.One of the major activities in the organizational consolidation phase is to obtain the necessary stipport for tlie fledgling farmer organizations to be institutionalized within the broader socioeconomic environment. This support lias to be solicited from tlie government, \\vhich is the appropriate authority to provide an enabling environment for social organization as oiie of its prime responsibilities in instittitional development. The Government's demonstrated willingness to accept these new organizations 011 the basis of a legal framework, including a mechanisiii for their registration, would greatly facilitate the process of FOs gaining wide recognition as an institution, or as a useful formal group (Bandaragoda et al, 1997).The transparency in accounts is important in a fanners' organization to gain the trust among their members. record of the funds generated by tlie FO in the shape of membership fee and donations from the nieinbers has been properly maintained by the FO Treasurer and was audited by tlie Chartered ,4ccountant during the month of July 1999. The members also present their financial position in the been that every member has a right to check the accounts It is observed that the selection for the position of treasurers of watercourse association and farmers organization is based on honesty and most of the treasurers are selected on their pre\\ious record of honesty.Po I it ic s ;ire 110 t i iivolved .4l most all the water users \\vho have been selected as office bearers and the management committee inembers are associated with one of the political parties of the country. It is worth mentioning that these members have never used their political platform to get these positions.Successful iniplementation and the sustenance of participatory irrigation management depend upon the roles effectively played by the farmers and various govertmient agencies responsible to elistire inputs and extension services. The services of Non-Goveriitiient Organizations (NGOs) are also essential to bridge the service gaps between tlie fanners and the various goveriuiient agencies. ( Elutiialai, 1997).The actual responsibility for organizing water users lay with the operating agencies and the water users themselves, while IIMI's field tealis played a catalyst's role in social organization activities.To gi\\,e effect to this \"ownership\" concept, the strategy was to introduce a mechatiistii to have the pnrticipatton of a number of selected representatives froiii field level agency staff (Irrigation, On-Farm \\Vater hlanagemeiit, Agriculture Extension, Agriculture Bank, Agriculture Development .4uthority, etc.). This arrangement was called the Field Implementation Coordination Committee (FICC), \\vIiicli was meant to help the catalyst, as well as tlie participating agency field staff and \\vater users to collaborate Lvitli one another closely on a regular basis It \\xis obsewed that sooii after the introduction of FICC, all the related government agencies and fnrtiier representatives, formed a convenient platform to discuss farmers' cotiiiiion problems related to irriigtion services and agricultural production. The most important aspect of the FICC's success \\vas that tlie discussions 011 probletiis were soon followed by some actions to bring the relevant senices to the field. the support of various FICC members, the identified activities were carried out at the farm level for the socio-economic benefit of the farmers.The concept of involving community-based local volunteers in the social organisation lvork \\vas iiitroduced \\vith the purpose to use them as a bridge between the small field team and the coiiiiiiunity. Selecting soiiie suitable persons from the local conimunity as volunteers was an tiiiportaiit strategy in the social organization process. The volunteers identified were named as \"Social Organisation Volunteers\" (SOVs). hlembers of the community, who were adequately informed about the community and its needs, atid prepared to assist the action research process, were selected. Tlie methodology of using local volunteers had tlie following advantages: 0 Interventions could be routed through local people, causing little room for mistrust; The SOVs could reach the community in the pilot distributary command area fairly quickly, partially meeting the projects time constraint; a i d .4s SOVs were deployed on a voluiitary basis, the method was cost-effective and could easily be applied on a wider scale.Capacity Building of the Users Tlie experiences gained through the pilot project show that water users are instntniental and financial) as there are contributing in cash, kind of operating and maintaining tlie tertiary unit. Farmers can contribute to system's improvement through financial atid human resources and have an impressive capacity to articulate their problems.An organisation can eventually grow into an institution when it establishes persistent patterns of tiortiis and beliaviour cotiinionly accepted as valuable a i d useful to the membership. By then, it will have established accepted sets of rules a i d procedures for various functions of collective action. Such a system of rules cannot just happen, or spring up on administrative fiat, but it has to evolve over time. Only at this mature stage can a water users' organisation exercise successful collective action to both liberate and restraint individual water user's actions for tlie benefit of the group as a \\vliole. The acceptability of the organisation by a substantial majority of its membership is an essential characteristic that deteriiiines its effectiveness in undertaking continuing tasks of water resources management, such as caial iiiaintenance, water distribution, fee collection, conflict resolution and imposition of sanctions.The experience of mobilizing users for participatary water management gained by tlie action research program that the users are willing and capable to assume the new responsibility, but that the Government is not yet fully prepared for this change, as the bylaws have not yet been finalized. This sometimes makes it difficult even in tlie context of pilot projects to achieve significant progress I I I part i ci pat ory water ilia nage me ti t.The pilot projects have proved that farmer orgauzations (FOs) are socially viable and the members are ready to take tlie respotisibilities of operation a i d maintenance of distributaries in addition to assessing and collecting abiyana (water charges). However the of these FOs need to be tested."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7a3fe8d5edf0d628d322e1ca2638ea21","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/93830136-096d-4a7c-956e-108769a4ccc8/retrieve","id":"-1963573466"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"35e93b20-61a1-4906-a2d7-e3ee1df94f2c","content":"Sweetpotato is considered a climate adaptation option due to its relative tolerance to heat and salinity. The Mekong Region is the largest sweetpotato producing area in Vietnam with a stable export market demand. CGIAR Asian Mega Deltas Initiative has been exploring the potential of incorporating sweetpotato production in the rice cropping system in this region. A rice-sweetpotato crop rotation has a number of environmental and agronomic advantages for farmers such as pathogen control in the soil, greenhouse gas emission reduction, and the utilization of plots with increasing salinity in the areas where it will be difficult to grow rice in the future. Currently, rice-sweetpotato crop rotation is only implemented in some parts of Vinh Long province where sweetpotato is an important cash crop.Understanding farmers' agronomic practices is the first step toward developing site-specific strategies and innovations. Therefore, in November 2023, a household survey was conducted of 89 sweetpotato growing households (11 female and 78 male farm managers) in Bình Tân district, Vĩnh Long province, Vietnam.The findings show that sweetpotato production areas per household vary from 0.3 to 8 ha with an average of 1.1 ha. All respondents purchase planting materials from seed producers or other farmers, with Japanese purple (Khoai lang tím Nhật) grown by 84% of the respondents. Sweetpotatoes can be planted year-round, but the majority (39%) starts planting in February, after the Lunar New Year. Maturity is 120-180 days with an average of around 150 days for both varieties. The average yield is 50t/ha for local white (Khoai Sua) and 32.8t/ha for Japanese purple (Khoai lang tím Nhật). 96% of harvested roots are sold to both domestic and global markets. The main rotation crop is rice (80%) followed by watermelon.Planting density is very high with around 180,000 cuttings per ha (162 cuttings per 9 square meters), which is a farmer strategy to meet the market demand for small-sized roots (300-400g).92% of farmers use N, P2O5, and K2O fertilizers at an average 15.6kg, 15kg and 11kg/ha respectively. However, the total quantity of NPK fertilizer application (including supplemental ingredients) is very high, averaging more than 900kg/ha. Pests and pathogens are a major cause of crop loss. The most affected disease is foot rot (Diaporthe destruens) which 73% of respondents reported. The maximum damage it causes is estimated as 24.8% (5-90%). The most common pest is sweetpotato weevil, reported by 57% of respondents. The estimated maximum damage from the weevil is 28% (1-45%). Most farmers apply synthetic fungicides and insecticides for both prevention and counter actions, typically spraying 10 times or more in one growing season, at an average of 68 liters per ha.The findings from this household survey will be used for on-going sweetpotato breeding experiments in the Mekong Region. Identified constraints will be addressed in collaboration with partners.          Table 1: Ridge The Mekong Delta, a fertile alluvial plain, plays a crucial role in the agricultural sector in Vietnam. The favorable soil and climate conditions have been utilized for intensive farming, especially rice production for ensuring national food security. However, in recent years, the rice monoculture farming system is increasingly facing challenge in a climate change context. The government have been turning to crop diversification as a solution toward climate adaptation and more sustainable farming (Dang et al., 2023;Van Kien et al., 2020).Among its diverse crops, sweetpotatoes have gained significance in recent years due to their adaptability, nutritional value, and economic potential. The average annual planting area of sweetpotato in the Delta doubled from 11.06 thousand hectares in the 2000-2004 period to 22.29 thousand hectares in 2015-2019 period (Figure 1). During 2018-2021, the Mekong Delta contribute an average 38% of the annual total sweetpotato production and 19% of the planting area of the whole country (GSO, 2023a(GSO, , 2023b)). In the Mekong Delta, Vinh Long province stands out as the main producer, followed by Dong Thap and Kien Giang (Figure 2). Vinh Long province lies in the central part of the Mekong Delta, nested between the Tien river and Hau river, which supply the province with rich fertile soil and abundant fresh water sources. Being 200km away from the coast, Vinh Long is shielded against saline intrusion. The province has a monsoon tropical climate, with relatively high temperature and humidity all year round. The average temperature hovers around 26-27°C, with an annual sunshine duration of 2,097 hours and annual rainfall from 1,742 mm to 1,864 mm (Vinh Long People's Committee, 2023). However, within the recent three years, the production of sweetpotato in Vinh Long has dramatically declined, especially in 2022 with 29.5 thousand tons, only 12.5% of the previous year and 7.6% of the 2019 peak (Figure 3). Underlying causes might include a combination of factors such as the COVID lockdown and suspension of trading, an emerging disease, and subsequent loss of seed systems and The survey questionnaire was developed based on key questions designed by Ørting et al. (1996) for the survey of the leguminous tuber/root crop Pachyrhizus ahipa in Bolivia. Changes and adjustments to the questions were made to suit the context of sweetpotato production in Vinh Long, and more specific questions were added to further explore details concerning the farmers' use of fertilizer, pesticide, and fungicide on their crops.The questionnaire consists of sections on the production, current agronomic practices, pest and disease problems and management, harvest and storage, breeding, processing as well as socioeconomic aspects of the different sweetpotato varieties. On average, the questionnaire could be completed within 30-60 minutes.The survey was carried out in Binh Tan district in late November 2023. The district was selected for its dominance in sweetpotato production in Vinh Long province and the Mekong Delta in general. Three sweetpotato producing communes in Binh Tan district, namely Thanh Trung, Tan Hung, and Tan Thanh communes (including several households in Tan Binh commune -who previously belonged to Tan Thanh) were selected as study sites. We contacted commune officers and asked them to list sweetpotato producing households. We randomly selected households from the list. Within the household, we invited the person who manage sweetpotato production. As a result, the majority of respondents were men. However, we still did the analysis by gender of the respondents and the areas where there are significant gender differences were highlighted in this report. Some interviews were conducted at the individual farmers' houses, while others were organized at the village head's house, or a convenient location within the commune. Interviews were conducted by trained enumerators using electronic tablets with the KoboCollect app. After the field survey, the electronic dataset was reviewed, revised, and cleaned for processing and analysis. 3 Survey resultsA total of 89 farmers participated in the survey, the majority of which were male (89%) (Figure 4). It is a common fact in the Mekong Delta that men are more often in charge of commercial agricultural production. The respondents are almost evenly distributed among 3 communes, Thành Trung, Tân Hưng and Tân Thành (Tân Bình commune has recently been split from Tân Thành) (Figure 5). The total farm sizes are usually between 1 and 2 hectares (52% of respondents), while 38% have a total area between 0.4 and 0.95 hectares, and only 10% have more than 2.5 hectares. The male farmers generally have bigger farms than the female farmers (1.43 versus 1.28 ha on average, respectively) (Figure 6). Regarding sweetpotato cultivating area specifically, ¾ of the respondents grow 1 hectare or less, followed by 19% between 1.15 and 2 hectares, and only 7% have more than 2 hectares of sweetpotato. The farmers dedicate larger areas to the Japanese purple sweetpotato (1.15 ha on average), compared to other varieties (Figure 7). The main soil types reported by the farmers in this area include acid sulfate soils (63% of the respondents) and river-loam (26%) (Figure 8). This corresponds with the Provincial People's Committee (2020) soil quality survey results, which show that the majority (67%) of the soils in Binh Tan district is categorized as the deep potential acid sulfate type. Almost all (97%) of the respondents grow only one variety, except for only 3 farmers who grew two varieties in the last year (Figure 9). Japanese purple sweetpotato is the predominant variety, grown by 84% of the respondents, followed by the Milky white variety (17%). There is only one case of red and Duong Ngoc varieties each (Figure 10). The majority of the farmers (89%) rotate sweetpotatoes with other crops, mostly rice (80%) and some watermelon (16%) (Figure 11). Many farmers also grow other perennial crops such fruits and coconuts (Figure 13).  Most of the farmers till their land once (55%) or twice (42%) to prepare for their sweetpotato crops. Interestingly, while this pattern is true for the Japanese purple variety, most of the Milky white sweetpotato farms (93%, N=15) are tilled once (Figure 14). All of the respondents use tractors for tillage (98% with 4-wheel tractor and 2% with 2-wheel tractor), while ridging is done manually. Tillage depth is mostly 10-30cm (89%). The ridge measurements and spacing can be found on Table 1 below. The measurements and spacing can vary quite a lot among the farmers. The frequency of irrigation varies between 10 and 150 times during the whole season, but most of the respondents (74%) water their fields from 60 to 100 times.100% of the farmers use sweetpotato vines as planting materials.72% of respondents grow 1 crop/year and 28% of respondents grow 2 crops/year (Figure 15). Sweetpotato can be planted any seasons, but the majority starts in February (39%) or November to December (27%) (Figure 16).  Horizonal along ridges is the most common method (77% of respondents) for vine planting (Figure 17).The majority (65%) of the farmers plant 3 rows per ridge, while the others plant 2 rows per ridge, or apply mixed arrangements, where more rows are planted near the ends of the ridges than in the middle (e.g., 4-3, 3-2 or 4-2) (Figure 18). Planting distance is narrow, thus the high planting density, mostly 180,000-200,000 plants/ha (Table 2). 100% of the respondents performed no tilling during growth, same with pruning. Lifting vines is not a common practice. Only two respondents do it once or twice at 40 and/or 60 days after planting (Table 3). Fertilization is a common practice in the area (Figure 20), performed on 92% of the farms (N=92). The total frequency of fertilization (among those who perform it) varies from 2 to 15 times, with an average of 7-8 times (Figure 21). All these farmers use synthetic fertilizers, and some (32%) also reported using additional organic fertilizers. NPK mixes are the main type of fertilizers, applied in 98% of these cases (N=85); a few farmers also add DAP or single-nutrient fertilizers to their sweetpotato crops (Figure 22). The more common NPK mixes include 20:20:15 (38%), 16:16:8 (27%) and 16:16:16 (12%) (Table 4). Regarding the quantities of fertilizers, on average, the farmers use 15kg N, 15kg P2O5, and 10kg K2O per ha, respectively (Table 6). However, the total amount of synthetic fertilizer products used by the farmers is very high, especially on Japanese purple sweetpotato farms (N=68) at 929 kg/ha, 35% higher than that on Milky white farms (N=14). The average quantity of organic fertilizers is neglectable (8.6%) compared to that of the synthetic ones in the case of the Japanese purple variety, while it makes up 22% of the total fertilizer amount in the case of the Milky white variety (Figure 23).Yes 92%No 9%Yes 91%Fertilization or not, male responses (N=81) Total quantity of fertilizers (kg/ha), by genderTotal quantity of synthetic fertilizers (kg/ha) Total quantity of organic fertilizers (kg/ha)Diseases and pests remain a serious problem for the farmers in the area. Overall, the main sweetpotato diseases reported by the respondents are foot rot (73%), Fusarium wilt (32%) and Bacterial wilt (29%) (Figure 24), of which maximum damage is estimated at 24.8%, 18.3% and 14.6%, respectively (Figure 26). Foot rot disease appears to be more prevalent among the Japanese purple variety (75%) than the Milky white (60%) (Figure 24). The majority of the respondents (78%) said that they first found foot rot on their sweetpotato farms before 2018 (Figure 25). Some other diseases which occur at low frequency (less than 8%) include \"daisy\" and black rot diseases, sweetpotato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV) disease, scabs, sweetpotato chlorotic stunt virus (SPCSV) disease, etc.   To prevent these diseases, the farmers mostly apply fungicide (94% of the cases). In some cases (13%), they treat the soil before planting. Other cultural practices such as using healthy seedlings, proper fertilization and/or irrigation, seedling treatment etc. are not common (less than 2% each) (Figure 27).Once their fields are infected, the main solution is also chemical fungicides (84%) (Figure 28). In terms of pests, weevils and vine borers are the main challenges faced by the farmers (57% and 50%, respectively) (Figure 29), with the estimated maximum damage at 28% and 27% (Figure 30). When it comes to prevention and control, again, pesticide application is the main solution (98% for prevention, and 78% use chemical pesticides for treatment) (Figures 31 and 32).   The farmers apply chemical plant protection products frequently on their sweetpotato farms, averaging about 17 times in total per season (consisting of 9 times of insecticides, 6.5 times of fungicide and 1.6 times of herbicide application) (Table 7 & Figure 33).   Some farmers (33%) reported damage due to Rain/Irrigation, with an average damage of around 10.7% (Figure 34). None of the respondents reported problems due to the other factors (Temperature, Wind, Hail). No prevention or counter actions were taken against extreme weather. Almost all (99%) of the respondents reported having problems due to rodents. However, the damage is small (Average 6%; Max 11%, Min 4%). Preventive and Counter actions include traps & poison & manual catching.100% of respondents harvest roots and 34% also harvest vines to sell as planting materials (Table 8). The farmers start harvesting vines around 60 days on average, while roots are harvested between 120-180 days with an average of around 150 days for all varieties (Table 9).   Average yield varies with varieties. Local milky white and red varieties have high yields of over 50 ton/ha (Figure 35). No respondents store harvested roots as they were sold immediately to buyer, and there is no storage in the households. No respondents perform breeding or vine multiplication, and bought planting materials from other farmers. When asked about the ideal plants, some farmers prefer roots of 15-20cm in length, 300-400g in weight and obovoid shape, and a small number of roots per plant (2-4 roots/plant) (Table 10).   Harvested vines and roots are consumed and used for animal feeding but the utilization for animal feeding is limited (Table 12). On average, 96% of the harvested sweetpotatoes were sold to market, indicating that sweetpotato is a cash crop. The average price of Japanese purple roots is slightly higher than that of Milky white (7300 and 6700 VND, or 0.30 and 0.28 USD, per kg, respectively), while the reverse is true for the prices of vines (Figures 38 and 39). Most of the respondents intend to continue growing sweetpotatoes, although 15% of the Japanese purple growers think that they will stop, largely due to limited profit (Figures 40 and 41).  The results from the household survey highlight farmers' agronomic practices of growing sweetpotato in the Mekong Delta region where climate change is a serious challenge. The findings show that most farmers here specialize in a single variety, Japanese purple flesh, to sell as storage roots. The vines are little used. This region differs from Northern and North-central coastal regions of Vietnam, where sweetpotatoes, the vines in particular, are often grown for animal feed and home consumption.The total amount of agricultural input varies with varieties. According to those surveyed, the Japanese purple variety requires 1.4 times more synthetic fertilizer input compared to local varieties. No significant difference was reported in pests and diseases by variety, with both local and Japanese purple varieties susceptible to foot rot diseases and sweetpotato weevils.Around 80% of farmers plant planting materials by using a horizontal planting method to produce uniform-sized storage roots and there are usually two or three rows in one ridge to produce small storage roots.The farmers harvest the sweetpotatoes after 120 -180 days, around 150 days on average for both varieties. Most of the surveyed farmers (72%) grow sweetpotatoes once per year, the other 28% twice per year. 100% of the local sweetpotato variety growers and 79% of the Japanese purple sweetpotato growers expressed their intention to continue producing sweetpotato in the coming years, suggesting it is a good option for crop rotation in their rice-based system.These findings also have implications for breeding programs. Firstly, there is a stable market demand for the purple variety, which may be why most farmers grow it despite a higher investment and lower yield compared to the local variety. Secondly, the development of short-duration (90 days) varieties has a great potential as a crop rotation option to fit into the rice-based system. Finally, farmers are intentionally growing small-sized sweetpotatoes to respond to the market demand. Given these factors, breeders need to identify genotypes with more, smaller, marketable roots, rather than focus on overall yield, although they may all be related.Currently farmers depend heavily on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, but more sustainable farming systems will require integrated pest and disease management, as well as more appropriate fertilizer application."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c523a29a6cd60ef6afd171414c6f9559","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2b21759b-ee51-4a6d-a65c-f916b312e3a9/retrieve","id":"1316313469"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5c471fae-c363-4576-8ba4-5c97beedb6c5","content":"A steady supply of quality stress-tolerant seed is necessary, but not sufficient to achieve higher varietal turnover rates. The key to transformation lies in addressing distribution challenges. Research confirmed agro-dealers' and seed companies' overarching supply-push orientation, characterized by limited innovation and risk taking, pointing to the major opportunity of ender-user-driven marketing. The agro-dealer's role in facilitating varietal turnover could be much greater and beneficial to the farmer. This multi-year research generated growing donor and investor interest in seed marketing research.While landraces in Eastern Africa have been replaced by modern varieties for several crops, the slow speed of varietal turnover remains a topic of concern and discussion. The agro-dealer space is where farmers obtain access to various inputs for maize production. Their current and potential role of agro-dealers in facilitating varietal turnover has so far been neglected. A better understanding was needed of the underlying factors that influence interactions between seed companies, seed retailers, and farmers.CGIAR and NARS partner scientists (2020) looked at interactions between farmers and agro-dealers and their impact on seed choices: If agro-dealers engaged in influencing farmer seed choices, they did so successfully. Researchers (2021) also focused on the challenges faced by retailers, seed companies to expand the sale of next maize hybrids. Research results confirmed the overarching supply-push orientation of the industry. Scientists (2021) then looked at the geographical distribution of input markets and the effects of remoteness and competition on seed prices and choice.A steady supply of quality stress-tolerant seed is necessary, but not sufficient to foster greater varietal turnover. The distribution side needs to be adequately addressed. This multi-year research has generated growing donor interest in formal seed systems development and potential investments in seed marketing and distribution research, which may contribute to innovation in seed systems and value chains.• https://www.cimmyt.org/tag/agrodealers/ • https://doi.org/0.1007/s12571-021-01181-9• https://doi.org/10. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ba429cf56b267b2188fdcfbd171277eb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/800aec7e-902a-4f0a-acd0-daf866bed257/retrieve","id":"956910553"},"keywords":["Rural broadcasters","ready-to-be-aired interviews and scripts, radio-based distance learning","climate change mitigation and adaptation","climate-smart agriculture"],"sieverID":"0a9db204-dece-40a6-8781-12f7173d7729","content":"Even at this Digital Age, the old-fashioned radio is still the most pervasive medium of mass communication, especially in the grassroots. Radio substantially contributes to behavior change by raising the level of awareness and understanding of rural people on burning issues like climate change. In the Philippines, there are about 659 radio stations, whose listenership is predominantly in the rural areas where more than two million farmers reside. Radio has advantages over the other mass media like television and newspapers in terms of being handy, portable and cheap. With the Internet, radio now has converged with television and has a global reach. Hence, aside from being effective information, education and entertainment medium, radio is a powerful vehicle for social mobilization towards climate change mitigation and adaptation in the grassroots. Along with this, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security in Southeast Asia (CCAFS SEA) partnered with the Philippine Federation of Rural Broadcasters (PFRB) in piloting a rural radio campaign dubbed as 'Climate Change i-Broadkas Mo' in strategic regions of the Philippines in 2015 to 2016. The radio campaign provided PFRB affiliated broadcasters with scripts and ready-to-be-aired (RTBA) interviews on climate-smart agriculture. The scripts were meant to be read by participating rural broadcasters as a short material or segment within their program and used as filler or insert between segments and/or between musical pieces. Taking off from the pilot campaign, the second phase of Climate Change i-Brodkas Mo! kicked off in mid -2018 by PFRB in partnership with CCAFS SEA and DA Regional Field Offices (DA RFOs). The 2018 campaign is essentially an intensified follow up and expansion of the pilot campaign in 2015 to 2016 and will wind up towards the end of 2019.The project trained 268 rural broadcasters and produced 276 ready-to-be-aired scripts, 285 canned interviews, 10 radio spots and two jingles in five different dialects in the Philippines.These were sent to more than 200 PFRB members and their network of community radio practitioners all over the Philippines with a combined listenership of two million. The materials are timeless, so these can be used continuously beyond the project. Aside from reaching a critical mass of farmers, the project enhanced the capacities of rural broadcasters on climate change reporting and created a demand for radio-based distance learning in Northern Philippines.The objectives of the project are as follows:1. Conduct a series of seminar-workshops on climate change, agriculture and food security for rural broadcasters and get them engaged in the campaign.2. Produce and distribute ready-to-be-aired broadcast materials, spots, and jingles in major Philippine dialects.3. Heighten awareness and understanding and mobilize rural communities about climate change mitigation and adaptation in agriculture and food security.The following steps were pursued in implementing the project:1. Organized a series of two-day seminar-workshops on climate change, agriculture and food security for rural broadcasters in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao to familiarize them on the issues and science of climate change and in promoting climate-smart agriculture.2. Prepared short ready-to-be-aired (RTBA) scripts in five dialects supplied to participating rural broadcasters. Script length varied from two to four minutes, short enough to be easily read by rural broadcasters in their respective programs.3. Prepared 5 -10-minute canned interviews, 10 radio spots and two jingles in major dialects.4. Sent the foregoing RTBA materials electronically on a weekly basis where possible.Hard copies (packaged in announcers' folders) were also prepared, printed and distributed to rural broadcasters and other interested media personnel.5. Implemented an award/feedback system for broadcasters participating in the campaign. The awards were in the form of recognition plaques, certificates, medals and/or field trips. No prize money was given out.To kick off the campaign, a series of seminar-workshops to familiarize rural broadcasters on climate change, agriculture and food security were conducted by PFRB, DA and CCAFS SEA.These took place from October to November 2015 in Luzon (Muñoz, Nueva Ecija), Visayas (Kalibo, Aklan), and Mindanao (Koronadal City, South Cotabato).Similar to Phase 1, the second phase of the campaign started with a series of broadcast consultation cum production workshops for Mindanao (Cagayan de Oro; 13-14 September 2018);Visayas (Baybay, Leyte; 27-28 September 2018) and Luzon (Echague, Isabela; 11-12 October 2018).These workshops were attended by about 268 rural broadcasters (Table 01) for them to (1) appreciate and understand climate change, its meaning, including its concrete manifestations and science innovations for its mitigation and adaptation in the context of agriculture and food On the other hand, PFRB officials shared various techniques on how to broadcast climate change and CSA. They also assisted participants on how to identify specific topics for broadcasting. The workshops then served as a platform were broadcasters could apply the lessons that they learned from the discussions.In the workshops, participants were divided into smaller groups to brainstorm topics for the prototype production. The group composition was diverse to ensure that ideas would come from various sectors. They were guided by the discussions of resource persons from the academe, local government units (LGUs), CCAFS SEA, and PFRB.The small groups then recorded prototype RTBAs either through their phones or through radio stations. While playing the materials, they also flashed the scripts on screen. This enabled the PFRB, CCAFS SEA, and the rest of the participants to critique the materials and provide suggestions for improvement. After critiquing by resource persons, the prototypes were collected and improved by PFRB which were eventually turned into ready-to-be-aired materials. 3. Ten (10) dramatized radio spots in Tagalog on the same subject matter as in #1.4. Two (2) musical jingles (Tagalog and Ilocano) that carry the central message of climate change resilience and readiness.On the whole, 276 ready-to-be-aired interviews, 285 scripts, 10 radio spots and two jingles were produced by the project in five major dialects in the Philippines (Table 02). These were sent to 152 PFRB members (Appendix  The RTBA materials were read by participating rural broadcasters as short segments within their programs. The materials were also used as filler or as inserts between segments and/or between musical pieces. Each script was written in flowing easy-to-read and easy-to-understand language.The pieces were purposefully short so as not to be intrusive in the announcer's program and not to disrupt flow of discussion.All scripts were packaged in an announcer's folder together. As a matter of practice, the scripts and canned interviews were aired repeatedly in every program of PFRB members. For DZMM TeleRadyo (radio/TV) and a couple of other TV shows by PFRB members, the interviews were fitted with pictures and videos. All the Tagalog interviews were featured as articles in Kaunlaran magazine.Most PFRB broadcasters are also members of the Philippine Agricultural Journalists, Inc. (PAJ)and the Philippine Science Journalists, Inc., hence, these organizations worked closely in the campaign through joint participation in the broadcast seminar-workshops.For both Phases, below is the reward and incentive scheme:1. Instead of airtime fee, incentives were given to participating broadcasters on the basis of feedback returns, reports, and initiatives to localize and expand discussion, as well as monitoring reports; Certificates were also given.2. Twenty (20) plaques of appreciation to outstanding participants.3. Five ( 5) trophies (plaques) to most deserving participants.4. Field trip to climate smart projects and communities for selected participants.5. Special prizes to members who have conducted school-on-the-air out of the RTBA materials.6. Incentives to feed backing listeners in terms of field trip.7. Radio receiver sets, mobile phones and other rewards were given to participating broadcasters.Insights on the broadcast seminar-workshops 1. On the whole, the seminar-workshops enhanced the knowledge and understanding of rural broadcasters in reporting on climate change and CSA. Participants expressed their appreciation to the climate-related discussions as they gave them the confidence to broadcast scientific knowledge. Moreover, their skills as mass media practitioners were further improved as they learned new broadcasting techniques in the context of climate change, agriculture and food security.stakeholders such as those from the academe, local government units, research organizations, and international partners. Their linkage with these stakeholders is crucial to boost their credibility and increase their influence over their listeners. On the other hand, the aforementioned stakeholders were linked with partners (i.e., the broadcasters) that could multiply their reach in the grassroots.Communication and collaboration catalyzed by rural radio can mobilize stakeholders to take action, especially in the grassroots.The production of short RTBA materials and one-page scripts significantly enhanced the efficiency and effectivity of broadcasters for the following reasons:1. Ease of use -rural broadcasters lack time and resources to prepare interviews with subject matter experts who are mostly based in urban centers and far away research institutions.2. Credibility -Since interview materials are from experts themselves, there is no question about validity and accuracy of information.Cost efficiency-the RTBAs can easily be accommodated as a regular segment in running a popular show; hence, airing of these materials need not be negotiated with managers of commercial stations who demand high commercial fees.1. The project complemented and supplemented extension workers who were not be able to reach distant places. In the absence of extension workers, vital information on climate change and CSA were passed on by rural broadcasters to farmers in far flung areas through the RTBA interviews with subject matter specialists and scripts aired by broadcasters.2. The project linked rural people with other stakeholders to be involved in the development process by providing opportunities for interaction among farmer-listeners and other stakeholders (e.g. extension workers and researchers) though the rural broadcasters. Rural radio enables communities to articulate their experiences and critically examine issues and concerns affecting their livelihood. These issues and concerns can be discussed through radio and immediate feedback can be obtained for relevant authorities to take action.3. The project demystified the jargon of climate science by using a language that ordinary people can understand. Broadcasts were targeted to specific communities using language and content of the RTBA materials were localized. Since radio transcends literacy barriers, broadcast messages were understood even by unschooled listeners.In The impact of climate change innovations needs a critical mass for their widescale application on the ground. In this regard, the campaign was able to reach a critical mass of end users in the grassroots with the broadcast materials being aired on at least 63 radio stations nationwide.National and powerful stations were (and are still) among the outlets where the materials were aired -DZMM TeleRadyo, Radio ng Bayan, and DXAS, for example. Each of these stations have about 50,000 -700,000 listeners a day. Regional and community stations also participated. This is important since the focus of rural broadcasters is remote farming communities. If we compute an average of 20,000 listeners for the rest of the stations where the CCAFS-PFRB materials were aired, we would have reached at least 2,000,000 listeners.As an offshoot of the pilot radio campaign, a radio-based distance learning project has been initiated by the Philippine Department of Agriculture Regional Office "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6c850f75f33411a5e4a51ed13654c797","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bedd5813-f8bc-4240-8187-157a6effc239/retrieve","id":"-414376522"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8e73facc-7438-4227-8f45-83548d0adefc","content":"The dramatic return on CIP's investment in sweetpotato improvement and virus control has set the stage for this crop to contribute more than ever to food security and equitable economic development in marginal areas across the developing world. This nutritious food crop, grown mostly by low-income farmers, contributes to the diet and income of some 600 million people in the developing world, which accounts for 98 percent of the crop's global production. Not only does sweetpotato provide a staple food for the poor, but it is also rapidly becoming an important source of raw material for animal feeds, starch, and starch-derived industrial products.Another dividend for farmers who use improved sweetpotato varieties is that it is proving to be an extremely effective approach to boosting food production without the excessive use of chemical inputs. As a result, researchers are helping to ensure that this valuable crop fulfills its enormous potential in combating food shortage, malnutrition, and poverty. Genetic improvement has led to the release of 21 sweetpotato varieties in targeted countries since the project started in 1996. In one example of the success of CIP's approach to improving sweetpotato, the application of virus cleanup techniques undertaken in two provinces in China in 1998 has generated net benefits of US$550 million.This project aims at improving human health and income generation through the development and adoption of new sweetpotato varieties with enhanced postharvest characteristics, and the application of virus cleanup techniques for production of healthy planting material in low-input subsistence farming systems.OUTPUT. CIP researchers will utilize the diverse reservoir of sweetpotato genetic materials held at CIP's state-of-the-art genebank in order to generate:• enhanced sweetpotatoes with desirable quality attributes for table use, feed, processing, or resistance/tolerance to major biotic and abiotic stresses, readily accessible by national agricultural research system (NARS) breeders whose health-and lives-are threatened by lack of vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency is one of Africa's leading causes of early childhood death and is a major risk factor for pregnant and lactating women.With this in mind CIP, together with about 40 international and local partners, has launched a project known as VITAA (Vitamin A for Africa) that aims to replace the white-fleshed sweetpotatoes presently grown by farmers in Africa with orangefleshed, beta-carotene-rich sweetpotatoes.Beta-carotene is used by the human body to produce vitamin A. The idea behind VITAA is that the new sweetpotatoes, \"hand-picked\" for traits acceptable to African palates (i.e. high dry matter content and less sweet flavor) and for their good yields and high beta-carotene content, will provide farmers and consumers numerous nutritional and economic benefits.This innovative project is believed to be the first food-based approach to be used in the fight against vitamin A deficiency. Studies suggest that 50 million African women and children could benefit from the new orange-fleshed varieties.For more information, please contact Dapeng Zhang, CIP Project 5 Leader, Apartado 1558, Lima 12, Peru, or at d.zhang@cgiar.org. Information and other contact points are also available on our website: www.cipotato.orgThe International Potato Center (CIP) seeks to reduce poverty and achieve food security on a sustained basis in developing countries through scientific research and related activities on potato, sweetpotato and other root and tuber crops, and on the improved management of natural resources in the Andes and other mountain areas www.cipotato.org CIP is one of 16 food and environmental research organizations known as the Future Harvest Centers. The centers, located around the world, conduct research in partnership with farmers, scientists, and policymakers to help alleviate poverty and increase food security while protecting the natural resource base. The Future Harvest Centers are principally funded through the 58 countries, private foundations, and regional and international organizations that make up the  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5a1e914001eee1045687fa974d59dc44","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/761a33b0-f17a-453e-afdc-ce7fd90c8983/retrieve","id":"2028785939"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b0f82866-cefb-4fda-a9d9-9d07c775e438","content":"Adoption of cultivated forage production in Ethiopia is still low. Some of the reasons:• Poor awareness of livestock producers in forage production• Traditional and subsistence livestock production (Not market oriented)• Shortage of arable land• Poor extension systems• Lack of forage seeds and planting materialsLearning Objectives• Refresher topics on forage seed production and challenges in Ethiopia focusing in the highland areas• Commercial seed production and forage seed marketing situations in Ethiopia• How forage seed commercialization could be improved What are the major technical challenges and opportunities in forage seed production in Ethiopia.• What are the major skills and production practices need to be well addressed Why forage seed supply is very low in Ethiopia?• There are no adequate number of commercial forage seed producers• Lack of technical skills• Most forage crops, especially perennial grasses and legumes are low seed producers• High production costs• Poor forage seed marketing systems• The willingness to pay for forage seeds by farmers is not encouraging Forage Seed Production systems in EthiopiaSeed growers are organized in a form of large enterprise (regional enterprises like Oromia seed enterprise, Amhara seed enterprise, etc.)Private firms emerging around forage seed production and trading businesses in Ethiopia.Some of these firms have their own pieces of land or use outreach farmers to produce forage seeds and need to be provided with technical training and quality basic seeds.Forage Seed Production ApproachesFarmers' cooperatives and unions established for the production and supply of forage seeds aside with other activitiesSome forage seeds require less technical skills and can be produced at individual farm level. For example, forages like lablab, cowpea, oats, vetch, etc Forage Seed Production ApproachesThis is where community structures like farmers training centers (FTCs) are used to grow and disseminate forage seeds. In this approach, FTCs which were basically established at each kebele for practical training and demonstration purposes can be used to grow forage seedsResearch centers are mandated with collecting and maintaining forage genetic materials from various sources. They also multiply planting materials in limited quantities for dissemination to researchers, seed growers and extension work on not-for-profit basis. (breeder and pre basic seeds) 1) Species -which species are widely produced Seed (kg ha Annuals and perennial forage crops -where should the focus need to be in commercial seed production?• Both annual and perennial forages have there on niche in herbage production and utilization• In terms of ease of forage seed production, they have clear difference.• Requires special seed production skills  Seed demand is increasing due to the need for quality feed production Generally, forage seed systems in Ethiopia is underdevelopedWho are the major forage seed suppliers in Ethiopia ?• Only few private commercial forage seed producers in the country• Efforts has been going on to identify the challenges and support these producers• Most of these private producers produce few and selected forage species Takeaway messages• Feed production based on cultivated forages need to be promoted to create demand for forage seeds• Technical skill and experience is crucial to produce quality forage seeds• Availability of forage seeds at reasonable prices are essential to improve adoption of cultivated forages• The government and development actors need to support in establishing sustainable forage seed system in Ethiopia• Specialization in forage seed business is important to ensure quality seed supply"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"10324b1336fea5ae216593c5e437ef7a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5af6cf01-49f7-4d52-a8a7-9ad81b234a03/retrieve","id":"-1951078825"},"keywords":["CRISPR/Cas system","base editing","prime editing","epigenome editing","crop improvement"],"sieverID":"322a970c-7766-4e09-90aa-2ac7b8e559a5","content":"CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)/Cas (CRISPR-associated) system was initially discovered as an underlying mechanism for conferring adaptive immunity to bacteria and archaea against viruses. Over the past decade, this has been repurposed as a genome-editing tool. Numerous gene editing-based crop improvement technologies involving CRISPR/Cas platforms individually or in combination with next-generation sequencing methods have been developed that have revolutionized plant genome-editing methodologies. Initially, CRISPR/Cas nucleases replaced the earlier used sequence-specific nucleases (SSNs), such as zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), to address the problem of associated offtargets. The adaptation of this platform led to the development of concepts such as epigenome editing, base editing, and prime editing. Epigenome editing employed epi-effectors to manipulate chromatin structure, while base editing uses base editors to engineer precise changes for trait improvement. Newer technologies such as prime editing have now been developed as a \"search-and-replace\" tool to engineer all possible singlebase changes. Owing to the availability of these, the field of genome editing has evolved rapidly to develop crop plants with improved traits. In this review, we present the evolution of the CRISPR/Cas system into new-age methods of genome engineering across various plant species and the impact they have had on tweaking plant genomes and associated outcomes on crop improvement initiatives.Over the past decade, the gene-editing platforms have shown tremendous evolution to accommodate the dual concerns of biosafety of edited crops and the efficiency of the platform used. Efficient and rapid genomic sequencing platforms have facilitated a better understanding of plant genomes, particularly when used in conjunction with genome editing (GE). Restructuring genomes via introduction of heritable genomic changes for expressing desirable quality traits in crops has been the focus of research for decades. The primitive methods of genome restructuring involved the use of genotoxic agents to introduce random double-stranded breaks (DSB) that were subsequently repaired by inherent nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) pathways resulting in random mutations (Puchta, 2005). After decades of usage of these random mutations generating tools, GE platforms have gone through many phases of improvement over the years. For example, the discovery of sequence-specific nucleases (SSNs) such as zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) helped to engineer the genome at intended loci by mediating the cleavage of dsDNA. The use of these nucleases induced the native NHEJ pathway for DNA repair (Salomon and Puchta, 1998). This method of GE, however, is both cost-and laborintensive as it requires the development of sequence-specific nucleases/proteins. In addition, GE using these nucleases was inefficient as unintended off-target edits were introduced by the induction of the error-prone NHEJ repair pathway.Given the obvious limitations of ZFNs and TALENs, the vacuum was soon filled with the discovery of CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)/Cas (CRISPR-associated) nucleases. In prokaryotes, the CRISPR/Cas system exists as a means of endogenous small RNA-based adaptive defense mechanism that protects the host bacterial cell via sequencespecific recognition and targeted cleavage of viral DNA (Jinek et al., 2012). With an approximate length of 32 bp, the length of CRISPR repeat sequences varies between 21 and 47 bp across prokaryotes. Every CRISPR repeat sequence harbors a unique sequence that is specific to the bacterial species processing it and has, therefore, been conserved over the course of evolution (Karginov and Hanon 2010). CRISPR was first discovered by a Japanese group in 1987 while studying the iap gene from the E. coli genome (Ishino et al., 1987). They identified CRISPR as homologous repeated sequences of only a few nucleotides interspersed by spacer sequences. Following this, CRISPRs were reported from the archaeal genome, Haloferax mediterranei (Mojica et al., 1993). However, the prodigious potential of the CRISPR/Cas9 as a GE platform was discovered just a decade ago (Jinek et al., 2012). To employ this tool, a customized small guide RNA (gRNA) is designed to identify the intended target and guide the associated Cas9 protein to introduce DSBs in the target genomic DNA. Indels are introduced at the target site as the repair pathway via NHEJ is triggered. Over the course of evolution of the platform, new variants of Cas proteins have been mobilized to increase the efficiency of the CRISPR/Cas9-mediated GE.During the past decade, the term \"CRISPR/Cas\" has evolved into a synonym for GE following which off-targeting instances with the use of CRISPR/Cas systems have reduced manifold (Modrzejewski et al., 2020). However, the goal of achieving \"no off-target\" remains elusive. In addition, with the involvement of the NHEJ repair pathway, the efficiency of this platform has always been disputable. In the third phase of the evolution of GE platforms, the CRISPR/Cas platform evolved to target the epigenome of an organism which was termed epigenome editing (Konermann et al., 2013). In epigenome editing, chromatin modification at specific genomic loci involves the use of epi-effectors that are comprised of DNA recognition domains (ZFNs, TALENs, or CRISPR/Cas system) and catalytic domains from a chromatin-modifying enzyme. Epigenome editing has been slated to have promising results in numerous basic sciences to decipher functions of chromatin structure and associated modification in phenotypes.In the fourth phase, the CRISPR/Cas system evolved into a new methodology called base editing, wherein RNA-guided endonucleases were employed to engineer all four possible transitions with increased precision (Komor et al., 2016). One of the major challenges that all of the aforesaid techniques still face is to simultaneously engineer the altered DNA at the intended target sites. These concerns were addressed with the introduction of prime editing, marking the fifth phase in the evolution of GE platforms. Prime editing is largely described as a \"search-and-replace\" technology that edits the intended genomic loci without generating DSBs (Anzalone et al., 2019). This platform efficiently addresses the concerns of frameshift mutations that arise with the introduction of indels, further reducing off-target mutations. In addition, prime editing can introduce all 12 possible nucleotide substitutions (including transversions and transitions) (Anzalone et al., 2019).The availability of all new-age GE strategies has not stolen the thunder of the CRISPR/Cas platform owing to the ease of its use and relevance to editing genes in numerous crop plants. However, it is only a matter of time before rapidly changing GE methods will replace present-day CRISPR/Cas systems with more elegant and efficient platforms. With every refinement of the platform, we are getting only closer to generating precise introduced mutations/deletions with reduced off-target effects. In the present review, we evaluate the evolution of GE platforms, such as CRISPR/Cas, epigenome editing, base editing, and prime editing over the last decade to highlight the paradigm shift in our understanding of GE strategies and the relevance of these platforms in present-day agriculture. pathway or the NHEJ-DNA repair pathway. In the first phase of developing GE platforms, SSNs such as ZFNs and TALENs were employed to introduce heritable genomic changes. ZFNs are chimeric enzymes that work as a dimer. Each monomer has 3-5 zinc-finger repeats along with a FokI cleavage domain. Each of the zinc fingers is capable of recognizing 3 bp of genomic DNA. Therefore, a ZFN dimer can effectively identify an 18-30 bp DNA with a gap of 5-7 bp (Kim et al., 2007). In plants, the first study involving ZFNs was reported in Arabidopsis, wherein heat shock was found to augment ZFN expression. At least 10% of the transgenics obtained displayed the mutations induced by ZFNs in future generations (Lloyd et al., 2005). In maize, ZFNs were employed to introduce a DSB at ipk1, and following this, a herbicide tolerance gene was inserted that resulted in transgenics showing tolerance to herbicide (Shukla et al., 2009). One of the major disadvantages of ZFNs is that the zinc fingers could overlap and are largely dependent on the sequence context around them and the intended DNA segment. Therefore, employing ZFNs becomes both labor-and costintensive as for every edit, the zinc-finger array is designed, and the sites available for the edits are limited (Boch and Bonas 2010). Although many studies have reported ZFNs to edit genes, its use as a tool of choice for GE now stands outdated. Another type of nucleases, TALENs, with DNA binding domains, was also employed to engineer genomic changes (Boch and Bonas 2010). Thirty-four tandem repeats are typically present in the DNA binding domain along with repeat-variable di-residue (RVD) comprised of two amino acids at positions 12 and 13, providing the TALENs with the ability to identify the intended target DNA sequence (Cong et al., 2012;Streubel et al., 2012). Like ZFNs, TALENs also introduce DSBs in the intended genomic DNA sequences, completely disrupting the gene and (or) introducing mutations. In comparison to ZFNs, TALENs can be designed for more target sites in the genomic DNA (Boch and Bonas 2010). In rice, TALENs were used to mutate the OsSWEET gene to develop transgenic resistance to blight (Li et al., 2012). Similarly, in wheat, transgenic with increased resistance to powdery mildew was developed by employing TALENs induced mutations (Wang et al., 2014). In cabbage, early flowering plants were obtained by employing TALENs (Sun et al., 2013). Like ZFNs, using TALENs is cost-and labor-intensive with limited success, and therefore, their use has now been largely suspended for introducing genomic changes.3 Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/Cas system-mediated genetic modificationThe CRISPR/Cas systems represent the second phase of evolution in the development of GE platforms. CRISPR/Cas systems are sequence-specific and, therefore, mediate targeted DNA cleavage with increased efficiency. Three major steps are involved in CRISPR/Cas mechanism. The first step is adaptation, wherein a small sequence from the mobile genetic elements (MGEs) is harbored into the host CRISPR resulting in a novel spacer sequence. This adaptive event helps the host bacterial cell evade the attack from the same virus in the future (Barrangou et al., 2007). The selection of the target sequence to be incorporated into the CRISPR array is sequence-specific. In type I, II, and V CRISPR/Cas systems, a small sequence, termed the protospacer adjacent motif (PAM), is found adjacent to the protospacer that is to be incorporated into the CRISPR array. Therefore, PAM is cardinal to both acquiring the protospacer and bringing about the subsequent interference (Datsenko et al., 2012;Zetsche et al., 2015;Fonfara et al., 2016). Although the acquisition mechanism of spacers is not yet fully deciphered, in almost all CRISPR/Cas systems, Cas1 and Cas2 proteins have been found to maneuver the acquisition of the spacer into the CRISPR array (Makarova et al., 2015;Shmakov et al., 2015). Both these proteins are found to be necessary for the acquisition of the spacer (Datsenko et al., 2012). The two proteins form a hetero-hexameric protein complex (Cas1-Cas2), which is central to both excision and incorporation of the protospacer DNA into the CRISPR array (Nuñez et al., 2014). Barring a few exceptions, invariably the spacers are chronologically added to the array (Shmakov et al., 2015). Cas1-Cas2 protein complex is central to protospacer acquisition across most type 1 and type II CRISPR/Cas systems. Therefore, this mode of spacer acquisition stands most well deciphered so far. In the second step, the CRISPR array is transcribed and processed. In addition, the associated Cas genes are also transcribed into crRNAs. This step is subtype-specific, and therefore, subtype-specific enzymes are employed. However, broadly across all CRISPR/ Cas systems, the CRISPR array is first transcribed into a precursor crRNA (pre-crRNA). Different Cas proteins and ribonucleases cleave and process this in various types of CRISPR/Cas systems to yield a mature crRNA. In the third step, following infection, the mature crRNAs mediate subtypespecific machinery driven mostly via Cas proteins to ensure effective cleavage of the MGE. The mechanism of different Cas proteins employed in various CRISPR/Cas systems has been well documented in many studies (Liu L et al., 2020;Talakayala et al., 2022;Wada et al., 2022).The classification of the CRISPR/Cas systems identified so far is primarily based on the presence of the effector Cas proteins that cleave the invading foreign nucleic acids. The primary classification divides these systems into two classes: Class 1 and Class 2. Class 1 CRISPR/Cas systems employ a multi-protein complex, and Class 2 CRISPR/Cas systems recruit a single effector protein. Further, classification of Class 1 and Class 2 CRISPR/Cas systems into subtypes (I through VI) is dependent on their mechanism of action. The effector module of the CRISPR/Cas system is divided into three stages: the adaptation stage, the expression and processing stage, and the interference stage. In class 1 CRISPR/Cas systems (with types I, III, and IV), type I and type III systems employ a multi-protein complex called the Cascade complex along with Cas3 nucleasehelicase and the Cmr complex for type I, type III-A, and type IIIB CRISPR/Cas systems, respectively (Koonin and Makarova, 2019;Chaudhuri et al., 2022). However, class 2 CRISPR/Cas systems (with types II, V, and VI) employ only one effector protein. In type II and type V CRISPR/Cas systems, the expression and processing of the crRNA are regulated by a single protein such as Cas9 and Cpf1, respectively (Makarova et al., 2015;Amitai and Sorek, 2016). Type VI systems have been recently discovered and are the only CRISPR/Cas systems to target RNA specifically (Chaudhuri et al., 2022). In Class 1 CRISPR Cas systems, type 1 and type III are more prevalent than type IV in diverse bacterial and archaeal populations. However, type II of the Class 2 CRISPR/Cas system is found across all bacterial species (Koonin and Makarova, 2019). Depending on their function, Cas proteins can be primarily classified into four categories; recombinases/nucleases that aid the acquisition of spacers, ribonucleases that regulate the processing of crRNAs, scanning complexes like the crRNP complex, and nucleases that mediate the cleavage of the intended target sequences (Van Der Oost et al., 2014).Class 1 CRISPR systems, types I and III, bear structural similarities suggesting evolution via a common ancestor (Chaudhuri et al., 2022). In addition, they employ Cas9 endonuclease to process crRNA. Type I CRISPR/Cas systems are further divided into six subtypes, types I-A, I-B, I-C, I-D, I-E, and I-F, depending on the distinct PAMs that the subunits require to regulate recognition and acquisition. The type III systems are divided into four subtypes, type III-A, III-B, III-C, and III-D, based on variation in adaptation, recognition, and interference modules of the effector protein complex. Chaudhuri et al. (2022) discussed the further classification of type I and type III into subtypes at length. Class 2 CRISPR/Cas system is divided into three types, types II, V, and VI. Out of these, the type II system is the most dissected and well-understood system so far (Koonin and Makarova, 2019;Chaudhuri et al., 2022). This system employs the Cas9 endonuclease as the effector. Type V system uses a single effector protein, Cas12. However, Cas12 has six subtypes, types V-A, V-B, V-C, V-D, V-E, and V-U, that identify distinct PAM sequences (Chaudhuri et al., 2022). Owing to obvious advantages such as smaller size, no dependency on tracr for target recognition, and asymmetric cleavage sites, Cas12 has now been actively replacing the Cas9 system for GE in many animal and plant species. Type VI systems are characterized by the presence of higher eukaryotes and prokaryotes nucleotide-binding (HEPN) domains with RNase activity (Koonin and Makarova, 2019;Chaudhuri et al., 2022). Cas13a was the first protein identified for type VI CRISPR/Cas systems (Chaudhuri et al., 2022). The evolution of type VI-B, such as Cas13b, is thought to have occurred from transmembrane systems, making them unique from type VI systems into a new subtype type VI-B (Chaudhuri et al., 2022). Type VI systems only target RNAs, thus thought to have lower instances of off-targeting and, in turn, do not harm the host cell much. The extensive diversity of the CRISPR/Cas system, as evident by their classification, reflects the evolution of the CRISPR/Cas-based defense mechanism in both archaea and bacteria. In addition, this diversity of CRISPR/ Cas systems presents researchers with varied tools of GE to introduce precise changes with efficacy. Table 1 summarizes the classification of the CRISPR/Cas systems identified so far.5 Repurposing native clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/Cas9 for the development of genome-editing platforms Class II CRISPR/Cas systems were found to be most suitable for development into a tool for genetic manipulation owing to the simplicity of their mechanism of action (Makarova et al., 2015). Type II CRISPR/Cas systems employ Cas9 protein that relies only on an RNA complex of crRNA:tracrRNA that is easy to engineer into a single guide DNA (gDNA) molecule (Jinek et al., 2012). These systems employ only two components: Cas9, a DNA endonuclease, and a customizable gRNA. A single gRNA is sufficient to direct the cleavage of the intended sequences. The gRNA molecules are customized to contain a sequence that Cas9 recognizes and a target sequence that guides the complex to the intended locus (Anders et al., 2014). To identify the intended target site, the Cas9-sgRNA complex scans the targeted DNA for a PAM site, following this 12 bases (seed region) of gRNAs proximal to PAM pair with the intended target sequence (Semenova et al., 2011). Mismatches in the seed region have been found to affect the activity of Cas9 adversely. However, mismatches in the 5' PAM distal region are well-tolerated without affecting Cas9 nuclease activity (Liu et al., 2016). Catalytic domains of Cas9, HNH, and RuvC invariably result in a DSB in the DNA. Following this, DSB repair is initiated that is mediated either by homology direct repair (HDR) or the NHEJ pathway. The latter does not require a template for DNA repair and hence is error-prone. NHEJ is the active DNA repair mechanism in nature wherein Cas9-induced DSBs are repaired (Moore and Haber 1996). NHEJ can, therefore, lead to small insertions or deletions that could yield a host of mutations (Calvache et al., 2022;Wada et al., 2022). Such mutations are beneficial while knocking out a targeted gene using CRISPR/Cas9 systems. However, being random and unpredictable makes this mode of DNA repair unsuitable for precise editing of intended genes. To this effect, HDR is a more obvious choice of DSB repair mechanism for incorporation of desired sequences following cleavage by Cas9. In plants, GE HDR relies on a DNA template along with the gDNA and Cas9 for a successful DSB repair (Calvache et al., 2022;Wada et al., 2022). In plants, through genetic engineering, many outstanding repairs have been achieved via HDR, leading to gene replacement, DNA correction, and targeted knockouts. Figure 1 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of the adaptation to the CRISPR/ Cas9 system in plants for gene editing.6 Applications of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/Cas9 system as a powerful tool in crop improvement Present-day agriculture faces serious threats from both abiotic and biotic stresses. Rapidly changing climate and exponentially growing world population increase the pressure of ensuring food security for both present and future generations. To mitigate agricultural losses and to aid crops in realizing their full potential, the only sustainable solution is to develop climateresilient crops. Since its discovery in 2012 as a potential tool for genetic engineering, CRISPR/Cas9 system and its derivatives have rapidly replaced genome engineering methods in crop improvement programs across the globe. In model crops such as maize, a CRISPR/Cas9 mediated knocking and replacement in the liguleless-1 (LIG1) was reported (Svitashev et al., 2016). Similarly, in wheat, CRISPR/Cas9 GE system was employed to introduce targeted mutations in two wheat genes, TaLox2 and TaUbiL1. This study also validated the efficiency of using the CRISPR/Cas9 system in combination with microspore technology in plants for both trait improvement and discovery (Bhowmik et al., 2018). In tomato, complete expression of the susceptibility gene SlyPMR4 was knocked down to generate tomato plants with resistance against powdery mildew (Martínez et al., 2020). CRISPR/Cas9-based GE systems are now employed to improve multigenic traits such as biotic and abiotic stresses in many crops. Table 2 summarizes studies wherein CRISPR/Cas has been used successfully for trait manipulation in crop plants. Figure 2 depicts schematic representation of the domains of crop sciences wherein CRISPR/Cas platforms have largely contributed.One of the most important applications of CRISPR/Cas9 platforms across the globe has been to engineer disease resistance in crop plants. Plant pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, nematodes, insects, and fungi are the most potent biotic stress factors that impact the yield potential of crops across the globe. Continuously evolving new strains of lethal pests make the battle against the pathogens even more complicated and daunting (Razzaq et al., 2019). Therefore, to protect and aid crops, methodologies routed in concepts of genome engineering have been successfully developed (Jaganathan et al., 2018). Peng et al. (2017) reported the development of varieties of Citrus sinensis (Wanjincheng orange) with increased resistance to Xanthomonas citri, which is responsible for the citrus canker disease in oranges. In this study, the expression of the gene, CsLOB1, which is responsible for the development of the disease, was disrupted using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Two alleles (cslob1g and cslob1) exist for the gene CsLOB1. The promoter region of both these alleles inhibits an effector binding site (EBE) that is recognized by the main effector PthA4 of Xcc to drive the expression of cslob1 and results in the development of the disease. Five Type Effector module Class Type Effector module independent constructs pCas9/CsLOB1sgRNA were employed to modify the effector binding site EBE in the promoter region of CsLOB1 alleles. Homologous mutants wherein the EBE was completely disrupted were obtained, displaying no disease development following infection with Xanthomonas citri (Peng et al., 2017). In rice, an ethylene-responsive gene OsERF922 was knocked out using the CRISPR/Cas9 tool, which led to a marked reduction in the size and number of the blast lesions. This work led to the development of a rice cultivar with increased resistance against Magnaporthe oryzae (Wang et al., 2016). In another study, blight-resistant plants were produced using CRISPR/Cas9 system-mediated targeted mutagenesis of the SWEET13 gene (Zhou et al., 2015). Management of diseases in crop plants is dominated by the frequent use of insecticides to curb yield losses. The development of crops resistant to viruses is, therefore, an efficient strategy to yield a stable yet economically viable alternative (Wang W et al., 2021). To this effect, inducing deletions and introducing point mutations in the genes using the CRISPR/Cas9 system is one of the most organic adaptations of the platform. The eukaryotic translation initiation factor genes such as eIF4E and eIF4G are an absolute requirement for the translation of RNA viruses (Shopan et al., 2020). Therefore, CRISPR/Cas9 technology has been employed in numerous plant species to engineer induced mutations in these genes. In Arabidopsis, point mutations in eIF(iso)4E gene were found to impart complete resistance against the turnip mosaic virus (Pyott et al., 2016). Likewise, in cucumber, eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF(iso)4E was engineered using the CRISPR/Cas9 system to generate heritable homozygous point mutations that conferred resistance to the mutants against zucchini yellow mosaic virus, papaya ringspot mosaic virus-W, and vein yellowing virus (Chandrasekaran et al., 2016). In Nicotiana benthamiana, sgRNA/Cas9-mediated broad-spectrum immunity was Semi-dwarf male plants Zhang C et al. ( 2020  et al., 2016). In rice, the CRISPR/ Cas9 system was used to generate eIF4G alleles that conferred resistance against the Rice tungro spherical virus (Macovei et al., 2018). Recently, Wang et al. (2021) employed the CRISPR/ Cas9 system to generate novel eIF4G alleles to yield transgenic plants displaying complete resistance to rice black-streaked dwarf virus. Engineering these mutations via the traditional backcrossing would have taken years, but using the CRISPR/ Cas9 system expedited the process, and the goal was achieved in just a single generation.The CRISPR/Cas9 system has also been used extensively over the past decade in generating climate-resistant cultivars in various crop species such as cotton, maize, rice, wheat, potato, soybean, and tomato (Khan et al., 2021;Wang et al., 2021;Rahman et al., 2022). In wheat, two regulatory genes (i.e., TaDREB3 and TaDREB2) were mutated using the CRISPR/Cas9 system, which resulted in increased drought tolerance in the mutated plants in comparison to the wild cultivars (Kim et al., 2017). In maize, the ZmARGOS8 gene that negatively regulates ethylene response was studied using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. The promoter of this gene was knocked out and replaced with maize GOS2 promoter in 5′-UTR of the target gene. The mutant plants were found to overexpress ARGOS8, which led to a stupendous increase in the yield in comparison to the wild type under drought conditions during the flowering stage without any yield penalty under irrigated environment (Shi et al., 2017). In rice, the CRISPR/Cas9 system was used to knock out gene OsRR2. The homozygous mutants obtained displayed increased tolerance to salinity stress (Zhang et al., 2019). In another study, three genes, OsPIN5b, GS3, and OsMYB30, that determine panicle length, grain size, and cold tolerance, respectively, were simultaneously edited using the CRISPR/Cas9 system (Zeng et al., 2020). T2 generations of the homozygous mutants of these genes displayed increased panicle length, enlarged grain size, and increased cold tolerance, respectively. The CRISPR/Cas9 tool has also been employed for the functional characterization of genes that regulate stress responses in plants. In Arabidopsis, three genes (CBF1, CBF2, and CBF3) have been identified to confer cold acclimatization and tolerance. However, the underlying mechanism remained undeciphered owing to the absence of any loss-of-function lines for these genes. Zhao et al. (2016) generated mutants of the cbf gene family, cbf1, cbf2, and cbf3. They generated cbf single, double, and triple mutants using the CRISPR/Cas9 platform. Interestingly, for the three genes, cbf triple mutants displayed compromised seedling development and reduced salt tolerance. However, both triple and double (cbf2cbf3) mutants displayed increased sensitivity to feeding post-cold acclimatization in comparison to the wild-type control. The cb1/ cb3 double mutants displayed increased resistance, indicating that accumulation of CBF2 is more important than CBF1 and CBF3 in regulating cold acclimation-dependent freezing tolerance. The functional role of many other genes with a potential role in stress tolerance was also investigated in the model system Arabidopsis. The expression of UGT79-B2 and B3 genes was induced by abiotic stresses such as salinity, drought, and cold. Overexpression of these genes was found to increase the resistance of the transgenics. However, gene ugt79b2/b3 double mutants generated using the CRISPR/Cas9 system were found to be susceptible to abiotic stresses compared to the wildtype control. The overexpression mutants accumulated anthocyanins, but the ugt79b2/b3 double mutants that displayed lower levels of anthocyanins were also found to be more susceptible to stresses than the wild-type control plants. These findings also suggested that an array of anthocyanins impart resistance against abiotic stresses (Li et al., 2017). In rice, knockout mutants for the OsSAPK2 gene were developed for functional characterization of the gene. The mutants showed insensitivity to abscisic acid and increased sensitivity to drought and reactive oxygen species (ROS) during the germination/seedling stage compared to the wild-type control plants. These results suggested the active involvement of the OsSAPK2 gene in mediating drought tolerance through increased stomatal closure (Lou et al., 2017). In another study, OsAnn3, a rice annexin gene, was knocked out in rice using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. The survival ratio of T1 mutant lines was found to be adversely affected, indicating that the expression of OsAnn3 was central in imparting cold tolerance in rice (Shen et al., 2017).Drought stress in plants is governed by mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). In tomato, functional characterization of MAPKs was achieved by knocking down SlMAPK3 using the CRISPR/Cas9 system (Wang et al., 2017). The resulting slmapk3 mutants displayed severe wilting symptoms along with lower antioxidant enzymes, increased hydrogen peroxide, and increased membrane damage in comparison to the wild-type control. In another study, a multiplex CRISPR/Cas9 system was used simultaneously to edit five tomato γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) shunt genes (CAT9, SSADH, GABA-TP1, TP2, and TP3). These genes are repressors of GABA metabolism. Hence, targeted mutagenesis of these genes led to a 19-fold increase in the accumulation of GABA in fruits and leaves (Li R et al., 2017).The multiplex CRISPR/Cas9 system has proven to be beneficial in improving yield substantially in various cereal crops. In rice, four genes [i.e., Grain Size 3 (GS3), Ideal Plant Architecture 1 (IPA1), Grain Number 1a (Gn1a), and DENSE AND ERECT PANICLE (DEP1)] were edited using the multiplex CRISPR/Cas9 technique. The mutant plants displayed marked improvement in all the aforesaid traits and resulted in better and improved yields concerning tiller number and grain yield (Li et al., 2016). Similarly, multiplex editing using the CRISPR/ Cas9 system of four genes, that is, GS3, Grain Widths 2, 5, and 6 (GW2, GW5, and GW6), which are negative regulators of grain weight, was investigated in rice. A remarkable improvement was observed in grain weight and size (Xu et al., 2016). The CRISPR/Cas9 system was also employed in rice to knockout three heading date genes (i.e., Hd2, Hd4, and Hd5) (Li et al., 2017). The mutants displayed early heading and higher yield under drought stress conditions. Furthermore, a CRISPR/ Cas9 mediated disruption of the OsSWEET11 gene, known for grain filling and sucrose transportation in rice, led to reduced sucrose concentration and grain weight, which suggested that overexpression of these genes would be beneficial in obtaining a better grain quality (Ma et al., 2017). In wheat, GASR7 was knocked out using the CRISPR/Cas9 tool, and the resulting mutants showed increased kernel weight (Zhang et al., 2016). In tomato, the use of CRISPR/Cas9 methods has also delivered seedless tomatoes (Ueta et al., 2017). In this study, a novel sgRNA/Cas9 was employed, resulting in additional somatic mutation in SlIAA9, a key parthenocarpy gene. The mutation rate was 100%, and there were no off-target mutations. The mutants hence obtained displayed parthenocarpic fruit along with an altered leaf shape.7 Evolution of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/Cas9 platform for precise gene manipulation CRISPR/Cas9 systems have evolved over the years, and many other approaches have also been routed in this technology. As discussed earlier, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing necessarily introduces DSBs that are subsequently repaired by either NHEJ or HDR mechanisms (Kantor et al., 2020). This results in two major challenges in using CRISPR/Cas9 mechanisms. Firstly, although HDR promises insertion of only sequence-specific DNA, this pathway is synonymous with increased instances of indels and limited efficiency (Song et al., 2017). Secondly, reliance on the HDR mechanism of gene repair restricts gene editing to only dividing cells, adversely affecting the efficiency of this platform in manipulating the disease resistance in plants (Bollen et al., 2018). Many newer technologies that are primarily rooted in the CRISPR/ Cas mechanism overcome some of these limitations and are more precise in achieving genome restructuring in plants. Some of these technologies are detailed in the following sections.In plants, it is well documented that cellular processes are orchestrated via the interplay of several redundant genes. Therefore, editing a single gene from a gene family has not been found to confer the desired phenotype as the redundant genes from the same gene family compensate for the phenotype.In polyploid crop species, this presents an additional layer of complication due to multiple gene dosages or homolog effects. Hence, a more efficient protocol for gene editing is required to aid multiplex gene editing. A single vector system has been used to design many sgRNA cassettes with single or multiple promoters in multiplex gene editing mediated via the CRISPR/Cas9 system (Liu et al., 2017). In Arabidopsis thaliana, two sgRNAs were successfully employed to disrupt two homologs of CHLI (magnesium-chelatase subunit I) to obtain an albino phenotype as both homologs have a function in the photosynthetic mechanism (Mao et al., 2013). In another study in A. thaliana, multiplex gene editing was successfully employed to obtain quadruple mutants displaying dwarf phenotype by deploying three gRNAs (Wang et al., 2017).Further, Čermák et al.(2015) developed a tool kit wherein Csy-type (CRISPR system yersinia) ribonuclease 4 (Csy4) was employed along with tRNA-processing enzymes to simultaneously express multiple gRNAs. Using this method, they expressed 12 gRNAs from a single transcript to target deletions in six genes successfully. These Csy4 and tRNA expression systems have been found almost twice as effective in introducing mutations. The use of this platform has been validated in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), wheat (Triticum aestivum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), and Medicago truncatula (Čermák et al., 2015). Xie et al. (2015) reported an endogenous tRNA-processing mediating gene editing by CRISPR/Cas9 in rice. Soon after, Tang et al. (2016) reportedly employed a single POL II promoter to drive the expression of a hammerhead ribozyme and multiple gRNAs. The ribozyme cleaved distinct sgRNAs, and post-transcription Cas9 processed functional Cas9 and gRNAs. In maize, the CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing was successfully used to mutate the homologs that determine genic male sterility (Liu et al., 2022). Triple homozygous mutants were obtained that displayed complete male sterility. Over the course of CRISPR/Cas evolution, multiplex gene editing has emerged as an efficient tool to develop \"multiple genes-knock-out-cultivars.\" Concomitantly, this methodology has enhanced our understanding of gene functions of desired traits that are governed by multiple genes, gene families, or even pleiotropic genes. The technology has also opened vistas for investigating epistatic interactions/associations among genes or gene complexes, especially for complex traits, whose genetic architecture is largely influenced by epistasis.Since the discovery of CRISPR/Cas9 mediated gene editing, numerous modifications have been incorporated into this technology to address the issue of incompatible off-target sequences due to gRNA mismatches. There have been many attempts to increase the efficiency of Cas9 enzymes and, at the same time, curb any off-target silencing with the use of enzymes such as dead cas9 (dcas9), SpCas9 Nickase (SpCas9n), and FokICas9 (fCas9) (Cong et al., 2013;Guilinger et al., 2014). Other studies have reported the extraction of Cas9 proteins with increased sequence specificity owing to their novel PAM sequences. Nmecas9 was extracted from Neisseria meningitidis specific for PAM sequence 5′-NNNNGATT (Lee et al., 2016). SpCas9 is most commonly used for gene editing with a PAM sequence 5′-NNGRRT (Ran et al., 2015). Modifications have been made for SpCas9 to identify shorter PAM sequences that not only increase the efficiency of the enzyme but also make the delivery of the system easier (Hu et al., 2018). In plants, CRISPR/ Cas9 mediated gene editing has been employed in many plant species such as A. thaliana, rice, citrus, and tobacco (Jiang and Doudna, 2017). Furthermore, St1Cas9 and St3Cas9 extracted from Streptococcus thermophilus have also been employed in CRISPR-mediated gene editing (Jiang and Doudna, 2017). These Cas9 enzymes use different types of tracrRNA and crRNA for identifying PAM sequences (Steinert et al., 2015). Out of all these CRISPR systems employed so far, CRISPR/Cpf1, commonly known as Cas13, is the most popular (Zetsche et al., 2015). Unlike Cas9, Cas13 requires only a sgRNA with 4-5 nucleotide overhangs. In both animals and plants, the Cas13-mediated gene editing has been found to target the desired genes with none or very few off-targets (Endo et al., 2016). Due to their successes, type V CRISPR/Cpf1 has been popular in both plants and animals to engineer gene editing (Zhang et al., 2017). Francisella novicida-derived FnCpf1 was used to achieve targeted mutagenesis in both tobacco and rice. Similarly, Lachnospiraceae-derived LbCpf1 has also been used to achieve targeted mutagenesis (Yin et al., 2017).Epigenome editing represents the third phase of plant GE, wherein changes are introduced to engineer the chromatin via modification of epigenome at specific sites. It involves targeted, locus-specific, reversible, and heritable alterations of the chromatin structure while bringing in no changes in the nucleotide sequences in the genomes by using epi-effectors. Epi-effectors are the epigenome engineering tools that represent a programmable DNA binding/DNA recognition domain in the genome. Additionally, the catalytic domains of chromatin-modifying enzymes (DNA methyltransferases and histone acetylases) represent components of an Epieffector. Different epigenome editing tools are available for creating, erasing, and reading various epigenetic codes in plants (Jeltsch and Rots, 2018;Miglani and Singh, 2020;Miglani et al., 2020).Currently, epigenome editing has been performed through three molecular platforms: zinc-finger proteins (ZFPs), transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs), and CRISPR and dead CRISPR/Cas proteins. These act as DNA-binding domains (DBDs), and after interaction with epigenetic domains, they modify the epigenetic marks at targeted sites in the genome to bring about a restructuring of chromatin architecture and gene expression. The principle of epigenomic editing rests on the formation of fusion proteins between a designed DBD (ZFPs/ TALEs/nuclease null or dead Cas9) that targets an attached enzymatic domain (chromatin modifiers; DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) or histone acetyltransferases (HATs) to define genomic target sites. Hence, the DNA sequences of the target genomic site are presented to DNAbinding protein domains that affect DNA function in the presence of an enzymatic effector domain. This way, epigenome editing allows the precise modification of individual chromatin marks at selected genomic sites (Nakamura et al., 2021).Besides modulating gene expression, epigenome editing is an appealing approach for understanding the mechanism of chromatin modification, cellular reprogramming, and regulatory functions. It has applications in both basic research involving gene expression studies and application-oriented epigenomic engineering of crop plants. The characterization of epialleles (i.e., alleles that are genetically alike but show variable genetic expression due to epigenomic modifications) is gradually picking up to be fully exploited in future crop improvement programs. Epigenome editing holds great promise in improving crops by creating novel epiallelic diversity that can be exploited for future precision and smart crop epi-breeding (Gahlaut S K et al., 2020;Giudice et al., 2021;Kakoulidou et al., 2021). For epigenome editing, a modified CRISPR/dCas9 known as dead, deactivated, null, or nuclease deficient Cas9 (dCas9) has been created by silencing two mutations of the RuvC1 (D10A) and HNH (H841A) nuclease domains (Qi et al., 2013). The CRISPR-dCas 9 approach is attractive as it helps overcome the limitation of the DBD approach, wherein for targeting a different sequence, a corresponding distinct protein is required, making it difficult to target a wide range of loci in the genomes. In this respect, CRISPR-dCas9 associated system offers flexibility as associated gRNAs help the Cas proteins achieve genomic specificity (Nakamura et al., 2021). A single dCas protein can be reoriented to target different loci simply by altering the sequence of its associated gRNA. This way, the technology offers a flexible platform for targeting almost any genomic sequence (Brocken et al., 2018). Epigenomic editing depends on inducing changes in chromatin architecture to influence gene transcription and relies on primarily inducing reversible and heritable changes in epigenetic marks such as DNA and histones' methylation, acetylation, and phosphorylation. This results in novel genetic variation in the form of epialleles and has tremendous potential for crop enhancement through epibreeding. Although several publications have demonstrated the feasibility of epigenome editing in A. thaliana (Table 3), its modalities need to be standardized in crop plants for commercial application.The first successful instance of epigenome editing was achieved in the model plant species A. thaliana (Johnson et al., 2014). A ZFN fused to RdDM (RNA-directed DNA methylase) component SU(VAR)3-9 HOMOLOG 9 (SUVH9) was involved in the recruitment of PolV during RdDM mediated via methyl-DNA binding SUVH2 and SUVH9 proteins at the FWA target to display DNA methylation induced gene silencing. Many other components of RdDM, such as SHH1, NRPD1, RDR2, DMS3, and RDM, when joined with ZFs, have also been shown to induce methylation at the FWA target in A. thaliana (Gallego-Bartolomé et al., 2019). A CRISPR dCas9-SunTagbased targeting system coupled with tobacco DRM methyltransferase (NtDRMcd) was used to target DNA methylation in A. thaliana (Zhong et al., 2014;Papikian et al., 2019). It resulted in the induction of DNA demethylation at FWA and SUPERMAN promoters affecting gene transcription and triggering a developmental phenotype. Further, a repressive effect of H3K9me2 and non-CG DNA methylation on both meiotic DSB and crossover formation in plant pericentromeric heterochromatin resulted in manipulation of the rate and positions of crossing over. Increase in meiotic recombination in proximity to the centromeres (pericentromeric recombination) and meiotic DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) in Thale Cress (Papikian et al., 2019). Recently, Gallego-Bartolomé et al. (2018), Gallego-Bartolomé et al. (2019), and Gallego-Bartolomé (2020) used ZF and CRISPR-dcas9-SunTag systems fused with the catalytic domain of human demethylase TET1cd to test several RdDM components such as RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 2 (RDR2), Microchidia 1 and 6 (MORC1 and MORC6), RNA directed methylation 1 (RDM1), and defective in meristem silencing 3 (DMS3) to induce targeted DNA methylation/demethylation at FWA locus in A. thaliana. ZF fusion with catalytic domain human demethylase TET1cd and SunTag-TET1cd system resulted in demethylation of the promoter of FWA (Flowering Wageningen) gene and CACTA1 transposon and activation of gene expression. While the fusion of ZF-RdDM and ZF-MORC6 enhanced targeted FWA methylation, Microrchidia (MORC6) targeted DNA methylation and triggered AGO-and DRM2-dependent methylation and gene silencing in A. thaliana (Gallego-Bartolomé et al., 2019;Gallego-Bartolomé, 2020). These studies provide important experimental evidence to design and utilize a highly targeted and heritable DNA methylation/ demethylation system to modulate gene expression in crop plants.Fusion of CRISPR dCas9-HAT1 gene resulted in hyperacetylation at AREB1 (abscisic acid-responsive elementbinding protein 1) locus leading to activation of endogenous promoter of AREB1. This improved transcription of the AREB1 gene involved in ABA perception improved chlorophyll content and drought tolerance due to the activation of bZIP TF, which can activate several stress tolerance-related genes such as RD29A (Paixão et al., 2019). Further, Li et al. (2020a) showed essential requirements of methylated CG (mCG) and mCHG by using CRISPR dCas9-TET1 fusion (where H can be A, C, or T) for targeting RdDM machinery to re-methylate loci. RdDm target loci were shown to form stable epialleles in the presence of specific histone and DNA methylation marks to induce alternation between two epiallelic states at a specific locus.Recently, Ghoshal et al. (2021) used CRISPR-bacterial methyltransferase MQ1v and CRISPR-SunTagMQ1v and Frontiers in Genetics frontiersin.org developed a CRISPR-based CG-specific targeted DNA methylation system to achieve de novo induction of CG methylation at different loci with varying efficiency. CRISPR-SunTagMQ1v was shown to be more potent than CRISPR-MQ1v. These MQ1v-based tools appear to be attractive as they offer flexibility to induce methylation at different levels at different loci and show high specificity attributed to the Q147L mutation. Further, the study also demonstrated that for some loci, CG methylation alone was enough to silence gene expression, and for these loci, CRISPR-MQ1v and CRISPR-SunTagMQ1v systems were likely to be more efficient than the DRM2-based SunTag system developed by Papikian et al.(2019) described above.The above examples show the potential of epigenome editing technology in modulating gene expression and showing observable changes in the phenotypes by altering the DNA methylation status at various genetic loci in A. thaliana. Similar studies need to be extended to crop species for exploiting the advantages of locusspecific modulation of DNA methylation through epigenome editing. The new tier of epigenetic variability generated by epigenome editing has significant potential in bringing about the genetic enhancement of crop species.Epigenome editing, as discussed here and in many other reviews (Gahlaut V et al., 2020;Giudice et al., 2021;Kakoulidou et al., 2021), offers opportunities for editing epigenetic codes in plant genomes globally or at selected loci to create novel genetic variability. To harness the benefits of epigenomic editing, however, it is important to define the specific epimark(s) linked with specific phenotypes and agronomic traits of interest. In this context, genome-wide mapping of epigenomic marks and epigenetic target identification are among the current thrust research areas. A few genetic elements controlled by DNA methylation and linked to desired plant traits have been identified. For instance, naturally occurring epi-alleles that accumulate high levels of vitamin E in tomatoes are associated with differential methylation of a SINE retrotransposon located in the promoter region of gene VTE3(1) (Quadrana et al., 2014). In cotton, the COL2 epi-allele is associated with DNA methylation changes and affects flowering time (Song et al., 2017). It is important to accumulate epigenomic data in various crop species to help identify the potential candidate editing targets. Information on genome-wide changes in DNA methylation in response to environmental stress has been gathered in crops such as rice (Guo et al., 2019;Rajkumar et al., 2020), wheat (Kumar et al., 2017), soybean (Song et al., 2012), and sesame (Komivi et al., 2018).Base editing (BE) is a novel GE technology representing the fourth phase of the evolution of GE platforms wherein a single nucleotide in a DNA or RNA can be substituted irreversibly. The process does not involve a double-stranded breaks (DSB) and hence bypasses the undesirable effects of NHEJ and HDR mechanisms. Of all the previous tinkering tools, BE is the most attractive for the simple reason that here the genome modification is \"base-pointed\" and precise. It does not involve additions or deletions in the genome (i.e., no change occurs in the DNA content of the organism). Neither does it involve the Frontiers in Genetics frontiersin.org incorporation of DNA from another organism (i.e., the edited organism does not become a GMO). It minimizes the chances of unintended, unwarranted effects on the phenotype (Rees and Liu, 2018;Deb et al., 2022). With a perfect BE toolbox, one can envisage generating desirable alleles for a trait by simply making the required substitutions. All that is required is a base modifying enzyme linked to a modified endonuclease, such as dCas9, which can target a desired region in the genome but not cause a DSB. Since the advent of this technology in 2016, it has become possible to execute C to T and A to G transition and C to G transversion editing. Figure 3 presents a schematic representation of the working mechanism of the base editing methodology that has been employed for GE.GE has been revolutionized by engineering the CRISPR/ Cas9 to enable cytosine base editing (Komor et al., 2016). The first-generation cytosine base editors (BE1) comprised of catalytically dead dCas9 (D10A, H840A) fused with rat apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme (rAPOBEC1), a cytidine deaminase operating on ssDNA via a 16aa XTEN linker at its N-terminus (rAPOBEC1-XTEN-dCas9). Although BE1 was highly efficient in converting C:G to T:A in vitro, the same decreased considerably when assessed within cells because of the base excision repair mechanism (BER). To bypass the in vivo repair response and overcome decreased efficiency, secondgeneration cytosine base editors (BE2) were formed by fusion of Uracil DNA glycosylase inhibitor (UGI) to the C-terminal of BE1. This inhibited the action of Uracil DNA glycosylase (UDG), which would otherwise have catalyzed the removal of U, resulting in reversion to C:G through BER. The C:G to T:A conversion efficiency was sought to be further enhanced by generating a nick on the non-edited DNA strand, thereby stimulating the cellular mismatch repair mechanism (MMR), which would replace the G on the nicked strand opposite the U on the target strand by an A, resulting in a U:A, which gets repaired to result in the desired T:A substitution. This resulted in BE3, a BE2 with a dCas9 modified to enable nicking activity (nCas9-H840A), resulting in much more efficient C:G to T:A substitutions (Komor et al., 2016).Although CBEs use naturally occurring cytosine deaminases to convert cytosine to uracil or 5-methylcytosine to thymine, no known adenine deaminases could deaminate the adenosine in DNA. In a significant breakthrough, Gaudelli et al. (2017) used directed evolution to form a modified transfer RNA adenosine deaminase (TadA*), which could catalyze the deamination of deoxyadenosine in an ssDNA resulting in a deoxyinosine. TadA* was joined through the XTEN linked to the N-terminus of Cas9 nickase with a nuclear localization signal (NLS) at its C-terminus (TadA*-XTEN-nCas9-NLS). The group engineered seven generations of ABEs to arrive at ABE7.10, which had high efficiency in converting A:T to G:C (Gaudelli et al., 2017).It had been observed that although the efficiency of C to T transitions increased considerably by fusing UGI to BE1, in absence of the glycosylase inhibitor, C to T conversions were not so clean and were accompanied by C to G and C to A transversions (Komor et al., 2016). This action of glycosylase, which sought to be inhibited in CBEs for improved recovery of clean C to T substitutions, was tapped for accomplishing C to G transversion in CGBEs. Uracil DNA N-glycosylase (ecUNG) from Escherichia coli (Kurt et al., 2021;Zhao et al., 2021) or rat XRCC1 (Chen et al., 2021) were linked to a nCas9 (D10A) and further fused with a rat cytidine deaminase rAPOBEC1 (Chen et al., 2021;Zhao et al., 2021) or its engineered variant rAPOBEC1 (R33A) (Kurt et al., 2021) or with human activation-induced cytidine deaminase (h-AID) (Zhao et al., 2021). The resultant CGBEs or GBEs (glycosylase base editors), UNG-nCas9-APOBEC1, XRCC1-nCas9-APOBEC1, UNG-APOBEC1-nCas9, and h-AID-nCas9-UNG, result in the conversion of C to U and subsequently to G via base excision repair (Chen et al., 2021) or by translesion polymerization (Liu et al., 2016). The nicking of the opposite strand triggers the repair machinery of the cell, which converts C:G to G:C.Dual-base editors have recently been developed by merging the cytosine and adenine deaminases in a single editor termed variably as SPACE (synchronous programmable adenine and cytosine editor) (Grunewald et al., 2020), STEMEs (saturated targeted endogenous mutagenesis editors) (Li et al., 2020), ACBE (adenine and cytosine base editor) (Xie et al., 2020), and DuBEs (dual-base editors) (Xu et al., 2021). Grunewald et al. (2020) fused the monomeric TadA of miniABEmax-V82G6 and pmCDA1 of Target-AID5 with the adenine deaminase at the N-terminus and cytosine deaminase at the C-terminus of nCas9 (D10A). Sakata et al. (2020) and Xie et al. (2020) also used the same architecture. Zhang et al. (2020) developed DuBEs (A&C-BEmax) by fusing the two deaminases to the N-terminus and found that hAID-TadA-TadA*linked to nCas9 (D10A) along with two UGIs yielded higher editing efficiency compared to multiplexing with individual deaminase editors in human cells. Li et al. (2020) developed STEMEs by fusing both deaminases, APOBEC3A/ecTadA, to the N-terminus of nCas9 (D10A) and tested them in rice. They reported better C to T and A to G editing with the DuBE than that achieved using co-delivered deaminases and could generate herbicide resistance in rice. Overall, DuBEs were more efficient in C to T edits than A to G. However, the plant DuBE version 1 (pDuBE1) developed by Xu et al. (2021) using TadA-8e and LjCDA1L-4 (Lethenteron japonicum CDA1-like 4) fused to the opposite termini of nCas9 (D10A) displayed highly efficient simultaneous A to G/C to T edits (49.7%) in rice calli. Liang et al. (2022) furthered the scope of DuBEs by engineering an AGBE (fusing a CGBE with an ABE), which could render efficient C to G, C to T, C to A, and A to G editing possible in mammalian cells.Base editing (C to T transitions) in plants was demonstrated for the first time in rice (Lu and Zhu, 2017;Ren et al., 2017;Zong et al., 2017;Li et al., 2017). Lu and Zhu (2017) formed a fusion protein, APOBEC1-XTEN-Cas9(D10A), as described by Komor et al. (2016), put it under the ubiquitin maize promoter, and used it for editing OsNRT1.1B and OsSLR1 in rice. Sequencing confirmed C to T (1.4%-11.5%) and C to G (1.6%-3.9%) substitutions in both genes to be more in SLR1 than NRT1.1B. Indels (10%) were much more than the <1% reported by Komor et al. (2016), probably because no uracil glycosylase inhibitor (UGI) was used. Zong et al. (2017) tailored the base editors by including UGI to form pnCas9-PBE (rAPOBEC1-nCas9-D10A-UGI) and pdCas9-PBE (rAPOBEC1-dCas9-UGI) and found that these bring about C to T substitutions in three rice (cell division cycle mutation 48 OsCDC48, nitrate transporter OsNRT1.1B, and a plant architecture gene OsSPL14), one wheat (TaLOX2), and one maize (ZmCENH3) gene with hardly any indels. Cas9 nickase-based editor was more efficient than the one with dCas9. In the same year, Li et al. (2017), while reporting greater than 40% substitutions, proposed that editing efficiency could vary depending on the target locus amongst three targeted loci (one on OsPDS and two on OsSBEIIb) of rice.One of the limitations that were obvious in the initial period of the use of this technology was the restriction imposed by the availability or otherwise the canonical PAM sites in a genome. To overcome this challenge, Cas variants/orthologues with relaxed PAM sites both naturally occurring and engineered have been employed. Further, since the first reported use of rAPOBEC cytidine deaminase from a rat in BE1, deaminases sourced from other organisms such as human apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme (hAPOBEC3A) (Gehrke et al., 2018;Wang W et al., 2018), hAID (Hess et al., 2016), Petromyzon marinus cytidine deaminase 1 (PmCDA1) (Nishida et al., 2016), and their mutated forms with varying features vis-a-vis editing window, size, sequence preference, and so on have been reported (Cheng et al., 2019).Various proof of concept studies conducted in plants for base editing using natural and engineered variants of Cas in combination with different cytidine/adenine deaminases have been listed in Table 4. A SpCas-9 variant, SpCas9-VQR (D1135V + R1335Q + T1337R), recognizes NGAN and NGNG PAM sites, broadening the reach within a genome (Kleinstiver et al., 2015). Ren et al. (2017) used this variant to develop two CBEs for rice, rBE3 (APOBEC1-XTEN-Cas9n-UGI-NLS) and rBE4 (APOBEC1-XTEN-Cas9nVQR-UGI-NLS), and successfully edited a blast susceptible protein and OsCERK1 (a receptor kinase) with an efficiency of 17%. Steinert et al. (2015) and Kaya et al. (2017) recommended the use of Staphylococcus aureus Cas9 (SaCas9) in plants because of its smaller size, longer target sequence, different PAM, and somewhat higher efficiency than spCas9. A variant with three mutations E782K/N968K/R105H (SaCas9-KKH SaKKH) has a relaxed PAM (NNNRRT) compared to the wild type (Kleinstiver et al., 2015). Qin et al. (2019) developed nSaCas9(D10A) and nSaKKH(D10A) nickasebased CBEs (Sa-BE3, SaKKH-BE3, Sa-eBE3, and SaKKH-eBE3) and ABEs (Sa-ABE and SaKKH-ABE/ABE-P5) reporting up to 71.9% cytosine edited (nSaCas9, SLR1 gene) and 63.2% adenine edited (nSaCas9, OsSPL17 gene) rice plants. Veillet et al. (2020) used the nickase SaCas9 (nSaCas9) with PmCDA1 to modify granule-bound starch synthase (StGBSS) and Downy Mildew Resistant 6 (StDMR6) in potato. It recognizes 5'--NNGGAT-3′ as a PAM site and has an editing window from −23 to −22. Nishimasu et al. (2018) engineered spCas9 to recognize NG (spCas9-NG), a relaxed PAM, and used the nickase version fused with activation-induced cytidine deaminase (nSpCas9-NG-AID/Target-AID-NG) to determine their editing efficiencies. Although Target-AID had a better efficiency at the canonical PAM, Target-AID-NG had a wider PAM repertoire and performed better than the former at other PAM sites, whereas xCas9-BE4 (Hu et al., 2018) was the least efficient in mammalian cells. Zhong et al. (2019) tested xCas9(D10A)-rAPOBEC1, xCas9(D10A)-PmCDA1-UGI, and Cas9(D10A)-NG-PmCDA1-UGI in rice and concluded that xCas9(D10A)-based editors were comparable in efficiency to those based on wtCas9(D10A). The former demonstrated better fidelity concerning the protospacer, and Cas9-NG-based editors were more efficient among all three tested at relaxed PAM sequences. Endo et al. (2019) used SpCas9-NGv1 nickase in rice. Veillet et al. (2020) used SpCas9NG-based CBE for editing granule-bound starch synthase (StGBSS) and Downy Mildew Resistant 6 (StDMR6-1) in potato. They also tested the performance of this editor in tomatoes by targeting two PAM sites in the acetolactate synthase (ALS) gene. GGT gave a lower efficiency (32%) than the canonical PAM NGN (64%). Hua et al. (2018) adopted ABE7-10 (Gaudelli et al., 2017), developed adenine base editor plant version 1, ABE-P1 [TadA*7.10-SpCas9(D10A) nickase], and 2, ABE-P2 (TadA*7.10-SaCas9(D10A) nickase), and tested them on two rice genes: ideal plant architecture OsIPA1 and slender plants OsSLR1. In 2019, they made several new versions, ABE-P3, P4, and P5, using SpCas9nVQR (D10A) and SpCas9-VRER (D10A) to increase target genome accessibility. They could successfully edit at four loci: SPL14, SPL17, SPL16, and SPL18. With the same set-up, they could demonstrate simultaneous cytosine and adenine editing using ABE-P2 and CBE-P1. Similar to reports in mammalian systems, there were no indels or off-target or any other unplanned base substitutions seen in rice. However, the editing windows were larger in the target genes. Hua et al. (2019) explored the use of SpCas9 and SaCas9 variants for widening the scope of the adenine base editing toolbox. They used nickases of VQR-, VRER-, and SAKKH-SpCas9 engineered variants to form three ABEs, ABE-P3 (pRABEspVQR), ABE-P4 (pRABEsp-VRER), and ABE-P5 (pRABEsa-SaKKH), and two CBEs with spCas9-VRER and saCas9-SAKKH, all of which were designed and tested in rice. The CBE and ABE formed with xCas9 were not efficient. Wang et al. (2021) compared the capabilities of ABE8e and ABE7.10 in Nicotiana benthamiana and established that ABE8e (60.87%) was more efficient than ABE7.10 (20.83%). Sretenovic et al. (2021) studied the applicability of CGBEs, for affecting transversions in plants for the first time. They improvised the three CGBE platforms for successful use in humans (Chen et al., 2021;Zhao et al., 2021;Kurt et al., 2021) for use in three plant species: rice, tomato, and poplar. All three used the rat-derived rAPOBEC1 or its engineered variant rAPOBEC1 (R33A). rAPOBEC1 in combination with ecUNG or rXRCC1 was fused with nCas9 (D10A), whereas rAPOBEC1 (R33A) was linked to rescuing and nCas9 (D10A). Three, four, and two target sites were chosen for editing in rice, tomato, and poplar, respectively. As compared to BE3, all three CGBEs induced better C to G conversions, but the overall efficiency of conversion was less than that reported in humans. The efficiency of editing using SpRY, which is not PAM dependent, was also assessed. The authors achieved C to G editing, although the efficiency varied according to the system and target site. Because this was the first report, much needs to be done to improve the efficiency of plants.Base editing is still an evolving technology, and many reports primarily demonstrate the successful use of a base-editing toolbox in different plants. This technology can create random variations within genomes, which can be screened and selected for advantageous traits. It also holds a great promise for improvement in traits affected by SNPs. Applications of the technology have been reported mainly as a gain of function for herbicide resistance and disease resistance and improvement in plant architecture, eating, and cooking quality (Table 4).Base editing of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and acetolactate synthase (ALS1) genes has been shown to confer herbicide resistance in rice (Li et al., 2020b;Liu et al., 2020;Zhang et al., 2020), tomato (Veillet et al., 2019;Veillet et al., 2020), potato (Veillet et al., 2019), watermelon (Tian et al., 2018), apple (Malabarba et al., 2021), pear (Malabarba et al., 2021), oilseed rape (Wu et al., 2020;Cheng et al., 2021), Arabidopsis (Chen et al., 2017), foxtail millet (Liang et al., 2022), and wheat (Zhang et al., 2019). The eating and cooking quality (ECQ) is of utmost importance for all cereals, and it is primarily determined by the amylose content in the grain, determined by the Waxy (Wx) gene-encoded granule-bound starch synthase I (GBSSI) (Li et al., 2016). Xu et al. (2021) used CBEs to develop rice lines expressing a range of amylose content (0%-12%), which improved its ECQ considerably by making several substitutions near the soft rice allele site in Wx. Similarly, Li et al. (2020a) lowered the amylose content in rice grains. Veillet et al. (2020) incorporated base substitutions in the GBSSI locus in potato, which could eventually be used for controlling amylose content in the tubers.Traditional methods of inducing mutations become especially difficult in polyploid species because they possess more than two copies of a gene. Base editing has successfully generated heritable substitutions in polyploid species such as oilseed rape, wheat, and cotton. Hu et al. (2020) used BnA3A1-PBE in rapeseed and demonstrated an editing efficiency of up to 50.5%, much higher than 23.6% reported by Cheng et al. (2021) and 1.8% by Wu et al. (2020). Li et al. (2018) demonstrated slight success (0.1%-1.1%) of PABE 1-7 in affecting A to G transitions in the TaDEP1 and TaGW2 wheat loci.It is quite evident that this technology has immense potential, and once the challenges of discovering more efficient, PAMindependent DNA-binding proteins, better deaminases that can affect cleaner edits with zero off-targets, and engineering all possible substitutions are found, base editing can create a revolution in the field of plant sciences in general and crop improvement in particular.Prime editing marks the fifth phase of evolution in GE platforms. The technique was first developed and standardized in human cells. Prime editing facilitates indels and all 12 possible base-to-base conversions, including transversions and transitions, without triggering the error-prone repair pathways by the DSB (Anzalone et al., 2019). Briefly, in this technique, paired/coupled prime editing guide RNA (pegRNA) is composed of single gRNA that is complementary to the one strand of the targeted DNA along with a primer-binding site (PBS), and the customized sequences to be replaced at the target site fused with Cas9 nickase are also present (Kumar et al., 2021). The PBS region primes to the second DNA strand to drive reverse transcriptase (RT) linked with the Cas9 nickase. RT transcribes and, in the process, copies the information straightaway from pegRNA into the intended target site. Following this, 5′ and 3' are the single-stranded overhangs integrated into the genomic DNA via endogenous DNA repair mechanisms (Anzalone et al., 2019).Research has successfully validated three generations of primer editors (PEs), PE1, PE2, and PE3, in humans so far. In PE1, the first-generation PEs, wild-type reverse transcriptase from commercial Moloney murine leukemia virus (M-MLV) fused to the C terminus of the Cas9 (H840A) nickase was used, triggered by the expression of pegRNA in a distinct plasmid. As mentioned earlier, pegRNA harbors a spacer sequence to recognize and bind to the intended target site. In addition, pegRNA carries an 8-15 nt of PBS and a template sequence to drive RT. However, the template sequence also contains a customized, altered DNA sequence to be incorporated at the intended site. The efficiency of this PE is largely determined by PBS length. Generally, 8-16 nt PBS length has been found to deliver results with increased efficiency (Anzalone et al., 2019). In an attempt to further increase the efficiency of this PE, numerous variants of M-MLV RT have been used. These variants were generated by inducing mutations in M-MLV RT. These mutations were found to alter processivity, thermostability, RNaseH activity, and DNA-RNA substrate affinity. In developing second-generation prime editors, PE2 an RT with five mutations (D200N, L603W, T330P, T306K, and W313F), when fused with the nickase, was found to increase the efficiency of the GE by 1.6-5.1 fold (Sretenovic and Qi 2022). The use of PE2 was found to hinder the efficiency primarily due to two factors. Firstly, the choice of single-stranded overhangs called \"flaps\" between unedited and edited to be paired with the native unmodified DNA strand. Secondly, choosing DNA strands as a template for DNA repair between unedited and edited was rather random (Gaudelli et al., 2017;Sretenovic and Qi, 2022). Many studies have shown that the introduction of nick in the unmodified strand enhanced the editing efficiency in both plants and animal cells (Komor et al., 2016;Gaudelli et al., 2017;Zong et al., 2017). Hence, to generate third-generation prime editors, PE3, nickase employed was used with an additional sgRNA to simultaneously nick the other complementary strand (Anzalone et al., 2019). This strategy enhanced the editing efficiency to introduce point mutations three-fold (Anzalone et al., 2019). With the use of the same protospacer, off-target instances were found much lower for PEs in comparison to the use of Cas9 (Jiang et al., 2021;Jiang et al., 2022). The increased efficiency of the prime editor is attributed to multiple DNA hybridization events that occur with the use of PEs. At first, the intended genomic DNA and spacer of the pegRNA hybridize. Next, hybridization occurs between the target sequence in the genomic DNA and the PBS of the pegRNA, adding to the sequence specificity of the system. Finally, the target DNA also hybridizes with the edited DNA, which further adds another layer of sequence specificity to the system (Jiang et al., 2021;Jiang et al., 2022). On the contrary, in a regular CRISPR/ Cas9 system, only one step of hybridization occurs between the sgRNA and the target genomic DNA occurs (Jiang et al., 2022;Zhuang et al., 2022). Figure 4 presents a schematic representation of the working mechanism of the prime editing methodology that has been employed for GE.The success of prime editing protocols hinges on optimizing critical parameters such as transformation system, selection of suitable vectors, design of prime editor cassettes (nuclease/ nickase), structure/sequence of, for example, pegRNA, sgRNA, codon optimization of the vector constructs, promoters, use of novel/engineered endonuclease, ribozymes, reverse transcriptase, targeted genes, and method/s of detection. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and floral dip agroinfiltration are the preferred modes of gene transfer as single copy inserts are efficiently achieved. However, other methods such as electroporation, PEG-mediated gene uptake, microinjection, and particle bombardment have been tested in different plants and are now expanding rapidly to include monocots (rice and maize), dicots (Arabidopsis, Nicotiana benthamiana, potato, and tomato), and even the bryophyte, Physcomitrium patens (Perroud et al., 2022) that is well known for incorporating DNA into specific genomic sites due to its innately high frequencies of homologous recombination (Rensing et al., 2020).Researchers have been experimenting extensively with the precise modeling of the molecular tool kit for high efficiency and specificity in several plants. As mentioned earlier, three versions of prime editors (PE1, PE2, and PE3) have been tested since 2019 in human and plant cells. The versions vary in the use of nickase, type of reverse transcriptase, position (C terminal or N-terminal fusion with nickase), length of the prime binding site, and types of editing predicted (Jiang et al., 2022). Promoters driving the expression of the prime editor apoprotein and the gRNAs play an important role in the overall scheme of prime editing in taxa and target gene of choice (Sretenovic and Qi 2022). Target sites have been categorized as type I and type II based on the position of the edit concerning the nicking site. If the edit is within 1-6 bp downstream of the pegRNA nicking site, then higher editing efficiencies are observed compared to the type II targets, where the targeted edit position(s) are 7-17 bp downstream of the pegRNA nicking site (Sretenovic and Qi, 2022). The editing efficiencies of the same vectors thus vary with the target genes. This was reported in rice, where the prime editor Sp-PE3 and gRNA were successful in introducing an S627N mutation in the endogenous ALS (acetolactate synthase) but were unsuccessful in editing the APO1 (aberrant panicle organization) gene (Hua et al., 2020a). It was also successfully induced and present in regenerants. Three endogenous genes (GAI, ALS2, and PDS1) from tomato were tested for prime editing by PE3 strategy using an optimized prime editor. Prime editing frequencies of 0.025%-1.66% were observed in four pegRNAs out of seven tested, comparable to rice editing frequencies (Lu et al., 2020). Three genes (OsPDS, OsACC1, and OsWx) were used as targets to test the pPE2 system. Using the t-RNA processing strategy was also used to target a rice endogenous 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3phosphate synthase (EPSPS) gene (OsEPSPS) for prime editing to confer glyphosate resistance. A peg RNA with gRNA (59 bp RT, 13 nt PBS) and a second gRNA with the ability to nick at position 66 downstream were synthesized that could introduce triple mutations. For this gene-editing, the prime editing efficiency was 2.22% with both homozygous and heterozygous lines in rice (Li et al., 2020c). The pPPEM construct was tested in rice protoplasts, targeting gene OsSULTR3, six at two different edits for the bacterial leaf streak disease susceptibility. The editing efficiencies ranged from 0.7 to 2.2%. Besides editing endogenous genes, editing the transgenic reporter gene-fluorescent protein gene EGFP by SpPE2, SpPE3, and SaPE3-was tested in rice calli. The inactive insert was edited to active form successfully by SpPE3 at higher efficiencies than SpPE2, and none were observed with SaPE3, even though Sa compatible Cas9 and pegRNAs are required for efficient editing.The prime-editing gRNAs of diverse structures with varied PBS and RT lengths and nicking position of gRNAs have also been reported to affect the prime editing efficiency (Xu et al., 2020;Hua et al., 2020a;Tang et al., 2020;Butt et al., 2020).Optimization of the melting temperature (Tm) of the PBS to around 30 °C coupled with a dual-pegRNA strategy in plants (Lin et al., 2020) drastically increased the editing efficiencies by 17fold in rice protoplasts, although stable expression and transmission of the edits remain to be seen. Inclusion of the t-RNA processing system (Xie et al., 2015) allows for the generation of multiple gRNAs that allow for \"multiplex GE.\"Detection of editing relies on the rates of transformation coupled with the rate of editing. Several studies have reported the co-transfection of T-DNA-containing vectors with the transgene and the PE vectors harboring the editor and the edit. The targeted sites are usually PCR amplified from the genomic DNA isolated from transformed plants and sequenced to identify the edits. Most researchers have done Sanger's sequencing, although the HRM-High Resolution Melting analysis has been included before sequencing by Perroud et al. (2022). Hi-TOM (high-throughput tracking of mutations) was used by Xu et al. (2022) in maize and rice.Different selection and counter-selection strategies have been tested for the selection of transformed/edited cells. Perroud et al. (2022) have tested the use of APT/APRT (adenine phosphoribosyl transferase) enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of adenine to AMP in Physcomitrium. This enzyme can convert 2-fluoroadenine (2FA) supplemented in the culture medium into a toxic 2-fluoro AMP counter selective compound. Thus, if the editing vectors are successful, the APRT is mutated and the cells can grow and regenerate into plants on the 2FA medium. The DNA from these plants is further analyzed to detect edited sequences. In potato, the widely used acetolactate synthase (ALS) has been used for selection. ALS confers resistance to several herbicides, particularly chlorsulfuron, and the specific amino acid change in StALS Pro-187/186 to serine was targeted. In addition, the primary selection of transgenics was on kanamycin. A PE-PE2 system was designed by fusing hygromycin phosphotransferase (Hpt) to the C-terminus of the nSpCas9-M-MLV region with P2A, a self-cleaving 2A peptide, driven by Ubiquitin promoter of maize. PE-PE2 increased the editing efficiency by about threefold for three pegRNAs and gave improved editing frequencies (Perroud et al., 2022).The ability to introduce both transversions and transitions is by far the most significant attribute of prime editing technology. In addition, PEs have been found to successfully introduce insertions, deletions, transitions, and transversions (Anzalone et al., 2019). Perroud et al. (2022) reported that 0.06% of transformed protoplasts of Physcomitrium were edited, which is less than the standard Cas9 mediated and base editing mutagenic strategies. However, the edit's specificity is higher than CRISPR/Cas systems, and off-targets are few or none. Substitutions, insertions, and deletions have been observed in the different taxa using the varied versions of prime editors.The editing efficiency was similar in PE2-and PE3-based vectors in Physcomitrium, whereas in potato, same PE3 constructs failed to edit the ALS gene, which could be edited by PE2-based vectors albeit at low frequencies. In rice, editing efficiencies were between 1.55% and 31.3% (Hua et al., 2020b;Butt et al., 2020;Li et al., 2020d;Lin et al., 2020;Tang et al., 2020;Xu et al., 2020). The editing efficiencies ranged from 0.7% to 2.2%. Overall, the PE3 strategies were less efficient in plant cells than animal cells. However, further modifications and adaptation of the technique would standardize prime editing for more crop systems. Wang et al. (2021) have reported insertion of up to 66 bases in Arabidopsis protoplasts, which is a four-fold increase over the 15-base insertion reported in rice. For prime editing in dicots and monocots, easy-use vectors on PE2 and PE3 strategies have been created, named pPPED and pPPEM (Wang et al., 2021). They have designed a pPEG cassette for insertion of peg RNA or sgRNA, and then pPEG is inserted in the vectors PPEM or PPED. The pPPED vector was targeted in Arabidopsis. Editing efficiency is thus influenced by the length of reverse transcriptase and primer-binding site in the designed pegRNAs and sgRNAs.In addition to the biological parameters (plant taxa, molecular toolkit, transformation, and regeneration system), the physical temperature parameter has a profound impact on the editing frequencies. Because the efficiency of the M-MLV reverse transcriptase is enhanced at higher temperatures, 32 °C and 37 °C were tested, but no significant differences were reported. However, the temperature variations were also tried in prime editing (PPE) systems at 26 °C and 37 °C in rice, giving significantly higher editing activity at 37 °C (Lin et al., 2020).In summary, the modifications in the design of constructs, particularly to avoid by-products resulting from the scaffold of the pegRNAs and reduction of off-targets, have been found to increase the editing efficiencies. Gao (2015) suggested the shift from a knock-out strategy to a knock-in strategy by employing the homologous recombination process of DNA repair to increase targeted mutagenesis. This has been incorporated as a key attribute in the prime editing technology. Among the diverse strategies designed to achieve targeted mutagenesis, prime editing is a landmark advancement in methods achieving increased efficiency and reduced off-target effects. This method, for the first time, presented an efficient strategy to introduce all the 12-point mutations. With the availability of many diverse vectors (editors and pegRNAs) developed by the different research groups and web-based design algorithms available (Peg-finder, PE-Designer /PE-Analyzer, pegIT, PrimeDesign, and PlantPegDesigner), the deployment of this technique is at the threshold of revolutionizing precision breeding of crop plants. As most of the genes of importance rely on altering a few and specific nucleotide changes to confer traits rather than large-scale alteration of genes, prime editing presents an opportunity to drive the development of gene editing platforms that are precise, effective, and elegant.Under the scenario of ever-rising food demands and climate change, there is tremendous pressure on scientists and breeders to speed up the development of climate-resilient-high-yielding cultivars. The application of molecular breeding approaches has achieved great success in accelerating performance gains in various crops in the past decade. However, the need of the hour is to integrate new biotechnological methods and technologies in the existing breeding programs to further realize genetic gains. The unprecedented advances made in GE technologies have shown great potential in genetic enhancement and boosting crop production. This review highlights how newly evolved CRISPR/Cas systems have successfully brought about a paradigm shift in crop improvement programs. There has been a significant advancement in understanding the functions of gene complexes underpinning complex traits, which was extremely daunting using the existing gene discovery approaches. The efficient use of GE tools in manipulating complex traits, especially in polyploid crops, has now become feasible, especially when used in combination with the next-generation sequencing platforms.Despite the substantial deployment of the CRISPR/ Cas platform in developing crops with desired traits, studies demonstrating the translation of the laboratory-based results into the field have been anecdotal. In addition to being relevant at the genome level, the improved traits must also be realized in the field without any trade-offs or counter effects on other traits of importance. Additionally, any genome strategy developed should pose no threat to the environment and should be able to reduce the application of pesticides and fertilizers. One of the major challenges in developing cultivars by the GE route is rooted in low transformation and regeneration efficiencies. Numerous agronomically important crops such as sunflower, cotton, and many others either have long transformation protocols with low efficiencies or are outrightly recalcitrant. In addition, in crops where transformation protocols have been established, regeneration efficiencies remain low, making the application of GE strategies challenging.Furthermore, public acceptance of GE-modified crops has not come of age yet. A common misconception about these crops adversely affecting health and the environment has led many farmers to avoid reaping benefits from growing these crop cultivars. This bias automatically trickles down to the consumers and, in turn, results in limited acceptance of these crops for public consumption. Therefore, we believe, scientists across the globe need to ensure a healthy flow of information using present-day outreach tools, including social media, to educate the consumers about the differences between transgenic approaches and the risks and benefits of using modern GE-modified crops.Although GE platforms are radically different, precise, and superior to traditional transgenic approaches, at the moment, these methods still go through governmental scrutiny and assessment in many countries. Nonetheless, in the foreseeable future, new-age GE platforms in plants are contemplated to be employed as a tool for efficiently engineering the majority of crop plants. We expect and hope that these methods can be integrated into breeding programs globally with relatively lesser regulatory procedures compared to conventional transgenic approaches. The development of these measures will need comparable attention and consistent research efforts to continually assess developed crop varieties on various climatic and genomic parameters, especially in our present-day rapidly changing climate and pest pressure.The evolution of various GE platforms has made it possible for molecular biologists to precisely target gene(s) of interest. Primarily, only CRISPR/Cas has been used for gene editing. Only recently, techniques such as epigenome editing, prime editing, and base editing have been used for gene editing. These techniques are powerful alternative strategies that have been developed for gene editing in plants. However, glaring challenges still exist that continue to impede the goals of achieving sustainable crop production. These challenges stem from the complexity of both endogenous and exogenous cues in plant development, making it nearly impossible for any single GE platform to deliver efficiently. Present-day advances in GE protocols need to be primed toward generating platforms that are more precise, efficient, accurate, and, most importantly, feasible. At first, no off-target silencing should result from using these methods. Secondly, the delivery and results obtained in crop plants should not vary from species to species. In addition, the genomic changes should be traceable in future generations with precision and also remain feasible with respect to cost and labor. Lastly, at present, we need more dynamic regulatory measures in place to ease the development and use of these platforms in crop improvement programs.Song, Q., Zhang, T., Stelly, D. M., and Chen, Z. J. (2017). Epigenomic and functional analyses reveal roles of epialleles in the loss of photoperiod sensitivity during domestication of allotetraploid cottons. Genome Biol. 18, 99. doi:10.1186/ s13059-017-1229-8 Song, Y., Ji, D., Li, S., Wang, P., Li, Q., Xiang, F., et al. (2012). The dynamic changes of DNA methylation and histone modifications of salt responsive transcription factor genes in soybean. PLoS One 7, e41274. doi:10.1371/journal. pone.0041274"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a2cf45a9c7fa8f5efc52a022fe8c7d70","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d82edd21-4778-4cca-8851-7baee2808234/retrieve","id":"895361949"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0836ccd7-4bf7-413b-9bff-35d0c5b57720","content":"This report covers the period 1 st January -31 st December 2011, and reviews the CRP Annual Reports and information sources, to identify the key issues (specifically in terms of progress towards outputs, outcomes and SLOs) arising from the CRPs, and factors that have influenced these, that are of relevance to the emerging CRP portfolio. The report continues with an analysis of the issues that have been noted in the CRP reports and suggests how improvements can be made to increase the effectiveness of the CRPs and their contributions to the SLOs in the future.Experiences have been different for the CRPs, and therefore the issues that are presented hereafter may not have been articulated by all of the CRPs. The CGIAR CRP Portfolio is emerging. At this point, it is a grouping of individually developed research programs, which were approved, funded and started up at different points in time. The challenge remains to make them work together as a portfolio and thus contribute to a shared set of SLOs. Both the CRPs and the Consortium are aware of this and will continue to strengthen mechanisms for supporting effective interactions among CRPs to arrive at a coherent and well articulated portfolio.Emergence of a more coherent programmatic approach Highlights from the CRPs  The CGIAR has a wealth of knowledge and experience in key areas that contribute to its four System Level Outcomes (SLOs). Special strengths include research to increase the production of crop, tree and animal commodities important to the poor, research on natural resource management, including the conservation and improved use of water, soils and forests, and social science and economic and policy research that benefits the poor by increasing their access to agricultural resources, food and markets. A far-reaching reform process, described in the Strategy and Results Framework (SRF), resulted, in 2011, in the commissioning of the first of a new set of fifteen large and ambitious CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) driven by their potential impact on development. The adoption of an agricultural research-for-development (R4D) approach throughout the system means that all research priorities and activities will be guided by their potential contributions to the four SLOs. The CGIAR system as a whole is responsible for impact that will be assessed through a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation framework that aims to reduce duplication, provide evidence and present the relevance, scientific value, efficiency and effectiveness of CRPs and Centers. This first portfolio level report synthesizes experience with the five CRPs which were operational for 6 months or more during 2011 (the status of the whole portfolio as of the 31 st December 2011 is provided in Annex A). management, the CGIAR Consortium will ensure that the SRF, in its next iteration, is sufficiently focused through a transparent set of criteria and priorities that reflect both the demands from our national and regional partners, and the need for the CGIAR to produce international public goods (IPG) within the international R4D institutional landscape. The SRF Action Plan addresses this and the next Portfolio Annual Report should bring more concrete examples of this greater strategic focus.Emergence of a more coherent programmatic approach. In their development and early planning, the CRPs have catalyzed an intense process of reflection and rationalization, allowing Center scientists' mechanisms to rationalize, connect and develop research programs that hold the promise of greater impact. This is an evolutionary process that also takes into account bilaterally funded projects, bringing them into the new frameworks developed under CRPs. It is early in this process, but there are already some notable achievements (see Box 1).The Consortium is taking the reform seriously and implementing a deep cultural change from a Center-focused to a Program-focused research agenda. This takes time, so in this first year of functioning (half a year for 3 of the CRPs), one of the significant accomplishments is the creation of entirely new teams of scientists that have already started work on a results-oriented research agenda, aligned with the CRP proposal. This time investment, upfront, is expected to bring about more development-oriented results and outcomes within the second year of implementation of the CRPs, and greater impacts in the longer-term. In terms of new working relationships, we already note a major expansion as a result of the inclusive CRP design phase In 2011, many outputs and outcomes were produced, some based upon Center projects that started before the reform, as could be expected, and others that are the result of the new, programmatic way of working, in spite of the need to put in place new teams and learn how to work together on a scale never reached previously. This augurs well for the continuing implementation of the reform.Research progress. The outputs and outcomes achieved in 2011, were, as could be expected, largely a result of ongoing projects. The 2011 CRP annual reports discuss both actual and potential impact of their research. They report on outputs but in most cases without describing the significance of these outputs for development outcomes or system-level strategic results. This reflects reporting, in the main, on pre-reform projects whose outcome and impact mapping were not fully aligned with that of CRPs, as well as the short duration of the reporting period during which most of the CRPs focused on getting up and running. CRP Leaders have described this as the legacy of funded projects, approved before the reform, and the incipient stage of most CRPs. It is clear that from 2012 onward, more attention will be required, from each CRP, on the quantification of the significance of the outputs and outcomes produced through agreed upon indicators. The SRF Action Plan, now under formulation, will develop a process to arrive at an agreement on these measures.CRPs' impact on the Global Climate Change Agenda CCAFS have been contributing to discussions on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). CCAFS with other agencies played a major part in 2011 in agriculture being referred to the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) for detailed discussion. This was a process that had been stalled at the UNFCCC during COP15 and COP16. If agriculture is fully incorporated into the agreements emerging from the UNFCCC then greater levels of climate finance to farming communities, and more attention to capacity building and technology transfer in the agricultural sector should be expected. Meanwhile, in Durban in 2011 the UNFCCC adopted the ForestsTreesAgroforestry proposed approach to setting reference levels (RLs) and Reference Emission Levels (RELs) critical for enabling countries to receive REDD+ payments.Global market prices for rice are volatile. Runaway prices, like those of the 2008 rice crisis, could have been prevented had the right people been given the right information at the right time. In 2011, GRiSP began to develop a global rice information gateway to provide timely and accurate information to decision makers in rice-growing countries. The global rice information gateway will provide real-time crop condition reports; short-to medium-term projections of production, consumption, trade, and prices under different domestic and trade policy regimes and macro conditions; and national, subnational, and household survey data.Responding to volatile and rising food prices, MAIZE has initiated, in collaboration with the Mexican Government, systems based approaches to increase the productivity, profitability, sustainability and the resilience of maize based systems in seven agro-eco regions in Mexico. After one year, MasAgro is working with more than 80 partner organizations and has established farmer and market participatory research on more than 20,000 hectares. The rapid scale up of knowledge intensive innovation systems potential is remarkable and should also provide key lessons for the wider scaling up of knowledge adoption.GRiSP has released Swarna-Sub1, which can remain underwater for up to 2 weeks and recover once the water subsides, as a variety for submergence-prone areas in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. The target is for this variety to be grown on more than 6 million hectares in South Asia. In sub-Sahara Africa, in 2011, a total of 78 NERICA (New Rice for Africa) varieties were adopted on a total of 0.7-1 million hectares. In 2011, farmers who had participated in NERICA-rice project activities benefited from additional income of US$14.4 million, while the spinoff to nonparticipant farmers is estimated at $28.7 million-a total of $43.1 million. In Latin America, CIAT and the Latin American Fund for Irrigated Rice (FLAR) have been developing rice with a \"Latin flavour\"-varieties better suited to the region's conditions and widespread practice of direct seeding-to break current yield barriers.By 2011 over 22,500 aquaculture farmers had increased their annual profits to US$1075 per household over a baseline of US$356 in 2008. This impact came from the USAID funded project \"Greater Harvest and Economic Returns from Shrimp\" (GHERS), through focusing on the productive capacity of shrimp and fish farms in coastal districts of Bangladesh. The project has been incorporated into AAS and aligned with its research agenda, and the cross-cutting CRP work in Bangladesh (see below).Novel Climate Analogues Tool CCAFS has developed the novel Analogues tool to support climate and crop models with on-the-ground empirical testing. It helps stakeholders \"view the future climate today\". The analogues tool connects sites with statistically similar ('analogous') climates, across space (i.e. between locations) and/or time (i.e. with past or future climates). Once analogue sites are identified, information from local field studies or databases can be used and compared to provide data for further studies, propose high-potential adaptation pathways, facilitate farmer-to-farmer exchange of knowledge, validate computational models, test new technologies and/or techniques, or enable us to learn from history. Users may manipulate the tool in the free, open-source R software, or access a simplified user-friendly version online. This tool will greatly increase the scope of farmer-led action research on climate-smart options. The tool has emerged as a result of new partnerships in CCAFS with the global change research community.Methodologies. The 5 CRPs have reported the development of novel methodologies for bringing about impact through research. A selection of these is presented in Box 2.GRiSP is pioneering applications of ICT in both research and technology dissemination activities. Cell phones are being used by field staff and village volunteers to collect field data and real-time information to complement conventional instruments of socio-economic surveys. Farmers and extension workers in the Philippines are getting field-specific nutrient best management guidelines through mobile phone applications of a computer-based decision tool, Nutrient Manager for Rice (NMRice). NMRice provides farmers with fertilizer recommendations on the basis of where their field is (geographically) located, the variety of rice they use and when it was sown, the availability of irrigation water, how they manage crop residues, and the yield history of the field. NMRice is now being adapted to Sahelian conditions and a prototype NMRice is going through field testing and validation in Mali and Senegal.ForestsTreesAgroforestry is developing and using approaches that build on traditional and indigenous knowledge to harness the opportunities intrinsic to the planet's vast tree diversity, for instance through improvements to seed-seedling systems (including nurseries) and the protection of wild fruit species (such as in Central Asian Republics).CCAFS conducted baseline surveys through collaboration of many Centers and partners, at 15 benchmark sites in three regions and 12 countries. More than 6,000 households were surveyed with data being gender disaggregated. In what is believed to be an unprecedented step for the CGIAR, the household survey data were available to the public within six months of final field data collection. Survey manuals, data sets and site reports are publicly available through the CCAFS website.MAIZE is implementing the Seed of Discovery Strategic Initiative to comprehensively study and classify the genotypes of CGIAR and partners' seed collections. Molecular characterization (next generation, high-throughput sequencing) combined with field trials will make available the untapped wealth contained in the world's native maize genetic resources -novel alleles and adaptive traits -as an international public good. This effort, of unprecedented scope, applying new molecular technologies, is funded and implemented in collaboration with the government of Mexico and international partners.To ensure an appropriate focus from the beginning AAS is reassessing its entire research portfolio in terms of coherence and the extent to which it provides a foundation for bringing about development change. This will identify the best methodologies (as well as outputs) to be used in the CRP. AAS is also developing a novel transformative approach to addressing key constraints to women's access to involvement in research processes and research outputs.The development and planning of the CRPs. CRP proposals were developed in parallel and individually, rather than as a portfolio. The CRPs were based on the criteria jointly agreed between the Consortium, the Independent Science and Partnership Council (ISPC) and the Fund Council (FC) and with the then SRF in mind 2 . The FC's request for fast-tracked CRPs hastened the process. The very tight schedules did not allow addressing of CRP Portfolio issues such as managing inter-CRP linkages, strengthening gender research across the portfolio, developing harmonized operational plans and governance structures, working together on data and knowledge management, management of overlaps and gaps in the agenda, and critically, doing strategic planning in the context of a performance management framework (there was no articulation of the SLOs when the CRPs were approved). In 2011 a strong emphasis was put by the Consortium on addressing gender issues across the portfolio and some work was initiated to develop criteria for the selection of common research site and implementation plans among some CRPs, best shown by the emerging work in Bangladesh highlighted below. There is much to still do in relation to harmonization and achieving coherence in the whole portfolio, including in the way existing research is integrated into CRPs (Box 3 provides some examples), and this is one of the 2013 Consortium priorities, as already mentioned.Integration of ongoing programs and projects into the CRPs. One of the reasons for the reform was to move away from the fragmentation of the research agenda (with more than 3000 funded projects, often of just a few years duration) toward a programmatic approach in which much larger programs are funded for longer periods based on their expected outputs and outcomes. This process of incorporation takes time; and this is apparent in the reporting of the CRPs. Whilst there are some notable achievements e.g. influencing global policy, many of the outputs and outcomes reported by the CRPs are still relatively atomized, as many reflect on-going research projects. CGIAR Centers continue to source bilateral funds from donors for research projects that are aligned with CRP proposals. Some CRPs have had to negotiate with donors who seek outcomes which are not in alignment with those of the CRPs.MAIZE has a relatively high level of ongoing bilateral funding (only 19% of its targeted budget is coming from Windows 1 & 2). One of its challenges, and opportunities, is to successfully transform nine Strategic Initiatives into nine effective work teams which are aligned towards one common vision of success. On the funding side, MAIZE has been very successful in aligning the content of significant bilateral and window 3 projects with its overall strategy.During the transition years when pre-existing projects are being completed only projects that contribute to developing IPGs under one or more of the 6 research themes of the program will be included in AAS. In some instances, however, new opportunities to develop AAS relevant research will emerge in other countries. As these opportunities are considered, priority will be given to those countries and locations that lie in one of the large aquatic systems that are the focus of the program, namely Asia's mega deltas, African fresh water systems, and coastal and coral reef systems in Asia Pacific.CCAFS inherited on-going work from 15 Centers. Different Centers have different priorities and ways of working that are not always in line with the CCAFS strategy. The PMC 3 and ISP 4 have set a target of three years to phase out non-strategic work and get greater strategic coherence. All proposed Center activities for 2012 were rated for relevance and Centers received feedback on the degree to which their portfolio was aligned with CCAFS. Budgets to Centers in 2012 were altered by up to 24% on the basis of two criteria, the more important of which was \"strategic fit\". Furthermore, strategic priorities for additional investment have been identified and communicated with Centers -and those Centers taking them up have been appropriately resourced.The three CGIAR Centers involved in rice research IRRI, AfricaRice, and CIAT, have actively looked for ways to align their rice research programs. From the end of 2008 and within the context of the CGIAR change process thinking evolved toward the development of a truly global rice R&D program, a partnership that would go beyond \"just\" enhanced collaboration among the three CGIAR Centers. Numerous consultations with a wide range of organisations developed an overall vision and strategy for what was to become GRiSP. Early in 2010, JIRCAS, CIRAD, and IRD joined the three CGIAR Centers as the main architects of GRiSP. Because of this relatively long 'incubation time', the six leading Centers have, by 2011, fully aligned their own research activities and relevant projects to the joint GRiSP strategy, themes, and products.To set priorities, GRiSP conducted an ex-ante impact assessment of its program. For further priority setting and program adjustments, it is developing a more detailed strategic assessment of expected impact from current and possible new rice research activities. GRiSP, like most other CRPs, started from a basis of existing research, which is to 80% locked into existing bilateral grants, which were mapped onto its themes and product lines. Hence, up to 80% of the initial proposed allocation of funds was based on ongoing research, plus a number of new priorities that were identified during the CRP development process. Over time, as current bilateral grants run out or are replaced, more flexibility in resource allocation according to the new priorities will emerge.Cultural change. The reform and the CRPs represent a deep change in modus operandi for the CGIAR. The CRPs involve different approaches to collaboration -across Centers (Annex B) and with partners. This requires a significant cultural change in the CGIAR -and cultural change takes time. Many initiatives to foster cultural change were embarked on in 2011, though it is recognized that this will be a significant theme in 2012 and beyond. These initiatives involved, for example, giving greater roles for partners in governance mechanisms, catalyzing collaboration amongst Centers, task forces to provide synergies to research efforts, pooling scarce human resources, and major inter-centre efforts to enhance communication and dissemination (Box 4).There has been an upsurge in collaboration amongst centers around common research and development themes.CCAFS hosted an annual science meeting with representatives of all 15 Centers to reflect on progress and identify gaps and weaknesses. CCAFS has initiated a number of data sharing platforms (e.g. www.agtrials.org, which collates trial data from across the CGIAR) and work in the CCAFS research sites involves multiple Centers that can share information and hardware (e.g. baseline survey data, weather stations). A third of the members of the CCAFS management team are from partner University organisations outside the CGIAR. CCAFS hosted a joint meeting with the global environmental change community to identify key areas where the CGIAR and global research communities could collaborate. Several ideas from that meeting are being implemented.MAIZE has facilitated farming-systems focused innovation platforms within major bilateral programs, in Mexico, Africa and South Asia, involving four of the six maize-based systems prioritized within the MAIZE strategy. Even though working in different geographic regions of the world, cultures and partners, opportunities are being identified to integrate approaches, assure crossplatform learning and to identify opportunities for cooperation with other CRPs.GRiSP organized more than a dozen international workshops to develop new global and regional research initiatives and partnerships. Half of the GRiSP management team is from partner agencies (JIRCAS, IRD, CIRAD). This team met several times in 2011, usually remotely, to cut down on travel costs. GRiSP launched five Africa-wide Task Forces in 2011 to provide synergy to research efforts across the continent.Gender. The reform has given CRPs a clearer focus on gender and on the need to develop proper capacity to address gender equity in research and product delivery. The CRP proposals showed great variation in the commitment to gender. Development of a Gender Strategy by each CRP following Consortium Board-approved Guidelines was initiated in 2012. Thus, 2011 should be viewed as a baseline against which we expect to see significant improvement in 2012. In 2011, CRP reporting of gender research reflects the absence in the SRF of a system-level theory of change and strategic results that explicitly integrate gender. Since CRPs lack this unifying framework for monitoring and reporting their gender-related outputs and outcomes, the 2011 CRP reports provide fragmented snippets of gender-related research derived from milestones (activities) scattered in Program logframes. Overall, the quality of reporting on gender is highly uneven with more attention given to the process of integrating gender into the research agenda than to the significance for key aspects of program design such as targeting and priority setting. Making collective, portfolio-level sense out of individual CRP gender results can only be accomplished with a supporting logical framework that defines shared, system-level gender outcomes. The SRF Action Plan will be an opportunity to reform this situation.A Consortium-level Gender strategy, based on extensive consultations, was approved by the Consortium Board in December 2011. It contains guidelines for CRP-level gender strategies which the Consortium requested all CRPs to develop within 6 months of inception. In December 2011 the Consortium recruited a Senior Gender Advisor, who has been supporting development of these strategies. Four of the five CRPs had draft gender strategies in 2011 (AAS, CCAFS, ForestsTreesAgroforestry, GRiSP). Provision of a hypothesis and baseline analysis that address the significance of gender for the achievement of Program outputs and outcomes in the reports is mixed. Attention to gender budgeting is uneven. Overall, those that did report Gender Strategy development provide evidence that progress was made in 2011 with the integration of gender into research. operational work plan with gender budget were developed for 2012. Substantive research was published on the gender implications of improved value chains for non-timber forest products.GRiSP developed a draft Gender Strategy, work plan and formed a cross-cutting support team. GRiSP's main gender-related activities include strategic research that will identify gender-equitable rice R4D and extension programs, mainstreaming the use of gender differentiation and gender analysis in adaptive research processes, building and enhancing capacities of women scientists engaged in rice Research, Development and Extension and using innovative strategies to empower grassroots women with technical knowledge and skills. Research milestones achieved include identification of the implications for breeding of gender-related constraints and varietal trait preferences.While a wide range of MAIZE related projects and initiatives use gender as an analytical tool, the CRP challenges researchers to find more avenues that lead to greater empowerment of women and young adults. The CRP developed plans to implement a Gender Audit in 2012, which will cover the research and institutional domains.Managing inter-CRP Linkages. Linkages between CRPs will require further definition and dedicated management of time and effort in future. The scope and dimension of such linkages range from simple timely information exchange to sharing infrastructure to jointly developing research projects. Currently, linkages are worked on through communities of practice and through shared sites. For example, in 2011 plans were developed for the Khulna hub in Bangladesh, originally established by the Challenge Program on Water and Food, to have 7 CRPs led by AAS (Policies, WHEAT, GRiSP, Nutrition, LWE 5 and CCAFS) working together. A risk of working with a large diversity of partners is losing in integration and coherence. Harmonization is a priority of the Consortium, and several initiatives were begun in 2011 (e.g. meeting of science leaders in the CRPs and the Centers to initiate the discussions, meeting of communications officers to define branding procedures, testing of new platforms for internal communication etc 6 ).Developing partnerships (with non-CGIAR partners). In 2011 partnerships within the CRPs were significantly strengthened on a number of fronts (Box 6).CCAFS is a joint initiative between the CGIAR and the Earth Systems Science Partnership (ESSP). The ESSP is the umbrella organization for the world's greatest concentration of global change scientists. The ESSP partners are part of the governance system and are also represented on the management committee of CCAFS.MAIZE and GRiSP and have both developed Competitive Partner Grants. These enable a prioritization of partners and ensure that partners have greater control over activities they are engaged upon. The MAIZE grants are based on an annually reserved budget to bring in third parties. Through its bilateral portfolio, partner involvement in MAIZE increases consistently year after year.GRiSP collaborated with UNEP to establish the Sustainable Rice Platform to develop and promote standards for good agricultural practices and mainstream sustainable practices throughout the rice supply chain through public and private sector partnerships. Large regional projects such as CSISA 7 , STRASA 8 , and Green Super Rice bring together not only GRiSP CG centers and their NARES and ARI partners, but as well other CG Centers (such as WorldFish, CIMMYT, IFPRI, ILRI) and their partners, 5 Land Water and Ecosystems 6 See CGIAR annual report 2011 7 CSISA -Cereal System Initiative for South Asia 8 STRASA: Stress-Tolerant Rice for Farm Households in Africa and South Asia forming bridges among CRPs (e.g. GRiSP, MAIZE, WHEAT, and AAS). A GRiSP Coordinating Committee was formed in Japan, and a French Rice Science Partnership (FRISP) brought together a large number of French institutions involved in rice research.Setting up management systems. Realignment of management systems has taken place across the CRPs, with some guidelines from the Consortium and enlightened considerations in both the management of the CRPs and elements of the CRPs (Box 7). As well as management structures, GRiSP, CCAFS and MAIZE have established progressive management tools, both in terms of operational plans and progress and financial monitoring. AAS also felt that there was a risk that they would not be able to utilize the services of appropriate people to work on their CRP from other Centers. ForestsTreesAgroforestry believed that there was a risk of conflict if boundaries between CRPs were not sufficiently clear. When describing risks three CRPs mentioned the rapid start up.CRPs have developed novel management structures and approaches:GRiSP: has strengthened its links with key international research partners by bringing them into its management team, as mentioned above. The GRiSP Oversight Committee includes 7 international experts (non CGIAR), 5 BOT members from IRRI, AfricaRice and CIAT, and the DGs of IRRI and AfricaRice (ex officio). In 2011, IRRI's Deputy Director General for Research also acted as Director of GRiSP. At the subprogram level, Global Theme leaders have been appointed as well as regional theme leaders for Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and thematic contact persons at CIRAD, IRD and JIRCAS. These theme leaders/contact persons also serve as institutional science leaders and hence no additional management layer has been introduced.AAS has taken specific steps to reduce costs in some key areas. With the appointment of the Program Oversight Panel WorldFish has dissolved its own Science Advisory Committee. Similarly, rather than establish the position of CRP leader as another management cost, WorldFish has appointed its Deputy Director General to lead the program. By the end of 2011 the governance and management arrangements had been established and gender parity was almost reached.The CCAFS Independent Science Panel (ISP) held its first meetings in 2011. It consists of individuals from outside the CGIAR, from research and development agencies, with observers from the lead centre board and Earth Systems Science Partnership (ESSP). It focused its attention on the CCAFS business (implementation) plan, and in particular ensuring that certain strategic topics considered to be weak in the current portfolio were appropriately resourced. A further topic on their agenda was the selection of two new regions where CCAFS would operate.The MAIZE Management Committee is comprised of members from CIMMYT, IITA, the Kenyan NARS, SAGARPA (Mexican MoA) and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture), reflecting the CRPs major partner categories(e.g. CGIAR Centers, NARS, private sector). It held its first meeting in October 2011 in Delhi.Similar to the development of the research portfolios, the budgets for all the CRPs were developed with some variable approaches to budget construction. There are inconsistencies in the treatment of overhead, growth scenarios, pass-through funds, bilateral funding, full cost recovery policies, CRP management costs, gender budgeting, and the 2% Cost-Sharing Percentage (CSP). Obviously, this was undesirable but the budget proposals were accepted when the CRP proposals were approved, and now have legal substance as they form part of the PIA for each CRP. Despite the differences in the budgeting approaches, all CGIAR centers operate in accordance with the Cost Allocation Rules as set out in CGIAR Financial Guideline No. 5. The oversight functions of F. Developing partnerships: Partnerships are not only a critical element for success of individual CRPs, but also for developing and maintaining an interrelated portfolio of research programs; they will increasingly be a priority for the Consortium Office. How to optimize partnerships for research and development and utilize lessons learnt in this will be critical for the evolution of the CRPs. G. Management Systems: Several approaches to streamlining management systems are being established by the CRPs corresponding to the CGIAR Principle on governance and accountability (Annex E). The next Portfolio level report will include analyses of the management structures so that lessons can be drawn and harmonization implemented where appropriate. It should also reflect on the connection between CGIAR Change Management Objectives and CRP Portfolio progress.Results-orientation towards a System agenda: During 2013 the SRF Action Plan will start being implemented which will affect the objectives of the CRPs through developing IDOs. These IDOs will link the research programs to the SLOs and the prioritization among and within the CRPs. The IDOs will be incorporated into the CGIAR Performance Management System (PMS). The PMS will be reflected in future reporting and analysis. (Sections 1-3)1. As set forth in the CGIAR Joint Declaration endorsed by the CGIAR members on December 8, 2009, the Consortium and the Fund Council (the \"Parties\")1 agree to work together through the CGIAR to reduce poverty and hunger, improve human health and nutrition and enhance ecosystem resilience through high-quality international agricultural research, partnership and leadership.2. These are the overarching Principles that guide the Fund Council and the Consortium in their joint efforts to implement the SRF in an efficient and effective manner. The Consortium and the Fund Council, through adoption of these CGIAR Principles, are committed to the strategic objectives set forth below and recognize that they have shared responsibility, as well as mutual trust and accountability, through their separate roles and obligations, for the achievement of these objectives: Food for People: Create and accelerate sustainable increases in the productivity and production of healthy food by and for the poor.  Environment for People: Conserve, enhance, and sustainably use natural resources and biodiversity to improve the livelihoods of the poor in response to climate change and other factors.  Policies for People: Promote policy and institutional change that will stimulate agricultural growth and equity to benefit the poor, especially rural women and other disadvantaged groups.3. In furtherance of these objectives, the Parties agree to:  Harmonize their approach to increasing and stabilizing funding for implementing international agricultural research for development through the CGIAR Fund and the Consortium, respectively.  Manage their operations and programs to achieve the system-level results set forth in the Strategy and Results Framework.  Work to ensure effective governance and efficient operations in the provision and use of resources, including controlling System Costs.  Collaborate and partner with and among funders, implementers, external partners and users of SRF research."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"52e2726209f6e6639b237198f2b0d5f1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a6f03974-3fcd-4aca-bedd-5b956c248e84/retrieve","id":"-1240378552"},"keywords":["genetic resources","sorghum","pearl millet","climate smart crops","food and nutritional security","finger millet","foxtail millet","breeding"],"sieverID":"cb165b41-6148-401e-855f-cc37573c1556","content":"Sorghum and pearl millet serve as a major source of food, feed and fodder for the semi-arid tropical regions of developing world. These two cereal crops rank within the major six cereal crops with a staple food for about 250 million people residing in semi-arid tropic and dryland areas of south Asia and Africa. Sorghum and pearl millet are also regarded as climate-smart crops because of their extreme tolerance to heat (up to 42 • C air temperature), drought, and salinity. This Research Topic on Sorghum and Pearl millet but also Finger millet and Foxtail millet as climate resilient and nutrition-rich crops for food and nutrition security comprise 27 manuscripts. It aims to provide new insights into the genetic resources, high throughput precision phenotyping, breeding approaches, multiomics platforms, gene editing, disease resistance, and gene mapping. It also aims to accelerate breeding cycles for climate resilience and improve nutritional quality in these staple cereal crops.In the scope of food and nutritional security, understanding wild progenitors of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) would allow us to exploit the underutilized gene pool to develop more climate-resilient sorghum cultivars. The gene pool of natural sorghum ecotypes may harbor useful gene candidates for both biotic and abiotic stress. Genetic barriers in gene introgression from wild relatives to cultivated sorghum species hold a great challenge. Still, with the recent advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS), more genomic data are available, which expands and extend the sorghum improvement programs using the novel, yet unexploited genes in sorghum's wild relatives (Ananda et al.). Temperature sensitivity and photoperiod of sorghum germplasm are important factors to identify accurate sources for developing cultivars with a broad adaptation, the photoperiod and temperature insensitive, photoperiod and temperature-sensitive and photoperiod sensitive and temperature insensitive sources identified in one of the studies could help breeders to use exact sources in their breeding program, the photoperiod and temperature insensitive accessions can be utilized to develop cultivars with broader adaptation. In contrast, the highly photoperiod sensitive tall accessions can be utilized for biomass and forage improvement and such breeding is suitable in India and USA (Upadhyaya et al.). This segment of research needs more of specific product profile including stress tolerance to meet the special market demand. A major challenge in sorghum breeding is the post-emergence grass weed. 4hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase-inhibitor herbicides (e.g., mesotrione or tembotrione) can control a broad spectrum of weeds. The sequencing of 317 sorghum lines and QTL mapping genotypes G-200 and G-350 conferred a very high level of metabolic resistance to tembotrione controlled by a polygenic trait (Pandian et al.). Anthracnose is another devastating fungal biotic stress in sorghum caused by Colletotrichum saublineola; a review presented by Abreha and coworkers provides a comprehensive overview of the current knowledge on the mechanisms of sorghum-C. sublineola molecular interactions, quantitative trait loci (QTL), and major (R) resistance gene sequences as well as defense-related genes associated with anthracnose resistance (Abreha et al.). A systematic validation of these identified genes and QTLs in coming years can assist in breeding resilient sorghum cultivars for stress prone regions particularly in India and Africa.The contemporary and updated perspective in understanding the genetic and biochemical interactions between the fungal pathogens, their corresponding mycotoxins, and their host has been reviewed (Ackerman et al.). In a multi-location field study, grain yield (GY) and grain mold resistance was tested. Genotype-by-trait biplots indicated that GY is highly influenced by flowering time, 100-grain weight (HGW), and plant height (PH). In contrast, grain mold resistance was influenced by glume coverage and pH (Aruna et al.). Another important parasitic weed in sub-Saharan Africa is Striga hermonthica, it is one of the most devastating factors for sorghum production. To identify new sources of resistance to Striga, in total 64 sorghum genotypes consisting of landraces, wild relatives, improved varieties, and fourth filial generation (F4) progenies were evaluated for both pot and field trail which resulted in more resistant and highyielding genotypes from F4 derivatives. These genotypes need more acceptance by the farmers (Muchira et al.). Developing drought-tolerant sorghum varieties with high protein content and tolerance to grain mold is highly important. Nagesh et al. identified four sorghum varieties PYPS 2, PYPS 4, PYPS 8, and PYPS 11, which are highly stable in low grain mold incidence (Kumar et al.). This study used additive main effects, multiplicative interaction (AMMI) and genotype × environment interaction (GGE) biplot methods.Pan-genome analysis of sorghum using reference genomes and 354 genetically diverse sorghum accessions led to the identification of more than two million SNPs; association analysis identified approximately 398 SNPs significantly associated with important agronomic traits. Gene expression analysis under drought identified 1,788 genes that were functionally linked to the cell membrane, catalytic activity, molecular function regulation, response to the stimulus, metabolic process, cellular, and biological regulation. In total, 79 genes were absent from the reference genome assembly (Ruperao et al.). More such research analyses are required to strengthen sorghum pangenome assembly for increased traits association and its use in breeding program.Improved Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) is one of the primary goals for the global sorghum improvement programs. Root tissues of contrasting lines exhibited differential expression profiles for transporter genes such as ammonium transporter (SbAMT), nitrate transporters (SbNRT); primary assimilators [glutamine synthetase (SbGS)], glutamate synthase (SbGOGAT[NADH], SbGOGAT[Fd]), assimilatory genes nitrite reductase (SbNiR[NADH]3); and amino acid biosynthesis associated gene [glutamate dehydrogenase (SbGDH)]. Expression profiling of contrasting sorghum genotypes in varying N dosages provides new information in understanding the response of NUE genes toward adaptation to the differential N regimes in sorghum (Bollam et al.). Investigating the biological linkage between and among NUE, stay green and late flowering can offer appropriate breeding road maps for developing optimal NUE in stay green sorghum cultivars in future.Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) breeding in India has historically evolved from open-pollinated varieties to single cross hybrid breeding in a comprehensive manner with closer and continued association of CGIAR and NARS centers. To further accelerate the hybrid breeding efforts for drought-prone areas in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, the heterotic grouping of hybrid parental lines is essential to sustain long-term genetic gains (Yadav O. P. et al.). Pearl millet is nutritionally rich and high in micronutrients such as iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) and its increased dietary intake can prevent associated hidden hunger or malnutrition. The inclusion of minimum standards for micronutrients such as Fe and Zn content in the cultivar grain release policy is for the first time reported in pearl millet across the globe, motivate institutional commitments and progress toward incorporating essential nutritional traits in breeding pipelines (Satyavathi et al.). QTLs for Fe and Zn content from three distinct production environments were generated using a genetic linkage map consisting of 210 F6 recombinant inbred lines (RIL) population derived from the (PPMI 683 × PPMI 627) cross using genome-wide simple sequence repeats (SSRs). Two constitutive expressing QTLs for Fe and Zn were co-mapped in LG 2. The second one on LG 3, the QTLs candidate genes such as Ferritin gene, Al 3+ , K + , Zn 2+ and Mg 2+ transporters were identified using bioinformatics approaches (Singhal et al.). In another study, newly developed open-pollinated varieties (30 OPVs of which 8 are Fe/Zn biofortified) were tested for field performance and stability for grain yield, grain Fe and Zn contents across 10 locations in West Africa, resulting in a strong correlation (r = 0.98 * * ) between grain Fe and Zn contents that merit Fe-based selection and can be effective in pearl millet variety breeding (Gangashetty et al.).Importance of open pollinated varieties cannot be ruled out because of lower input cost, wider adaptation and timely seed availability. OPVs of pearl millet were tested in three different locations across India to check the variation in grain Fe and Zn contents. The results showed a highly significant positive correlation (across environment = 0.83; p < 0.01), indicating the efficacy of simultaneous selection for both traits (Sanjana Reddy et al.). A set of 105 forage-type hybrid parents of the diverse panel was genotyped following genotyping by sequencing (GBS) and phenotyped for crude protein (CP) under multicuts for two consecutive years. This led to the identification of one stable significant single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) on LG4 for CP. Nine SNPs were distributed across six linkage groups except on LG2 (Govintharaj et al.). These identified loci require validation with robust phenotyping methods in forage gene pool including photo sensitive breeding materials which can facilitate forage quality traits improvement in pearl millet through marker-assisted selection.Transcript expression profiling for functional classification of a gene belonging to a small heat shock protein (sHSP) family in pearl millet under high-temperature stress led to the identification of two high-temperature-responsive markers Pgcp70 and PgHSF. Physio-biochemical trait screening of the contrasting genotypes among the eight different pearl millet inbred lines at the seedling stage resulted in the identification of PgHSP20 genes, which can provide further insights into the molecular regulation of pearl millet stress tolerance, thereby bridging them together to fight against the unpredicted nature of abiotic stress (Mukesh Sankar, Satyavathi et al.).Foliar blast disease of pearl millet is severe, caused by Magnaporthe grisea. To unravel the G x E interactions for identification and validation of stable resistant genotypes against foliar blast disease through multi-environment testing, a group of 250 different accessions from 20 different countries were collected and screened under natural epiphytotic conditions, which resulted in 43 resistant genotypes which can be used in future resistance breeding programs for pearl millet (Mukesh Sankar, Singh et al.).Pearl millet accessions that can use nitrogen efficiently needs to be characterized soon. In this aim in total 380 diverse pearl millet lines consisting of a global diversity panel (345), parents of mapping populations (20), and standard checks (15) were evaluated in an alpha-lattice design with two replications. Eleven nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) related traits across three growing seasons in an N-depleted precision field under three different N levels (0%-N0, 50%-N50, 100%-N100 of recommended N, i.e., 100 kg ha −1 ) resulted in 25 top N-tolerant and N-sensitive genotypes under low N conditions. Tolerant genotypes with low N may help identify genomic regions responsible for NUE. Its deployment in pearl millet breeding programs through markerassisted selection (MAS) can be facilitated (Pujarula et al.). Cabo Verde Islands are poorly explored for genetic resources related to plants. Their potential to supplement the genetic pool of cultivated species is an attempt to identify islands crop wild relatives (CWR) from the Poaceae family and provide a checklist of priority CWR taxa, highlighting particular conservation concerns and the areas which should be the focus of the most intensive conservation efforts in these islands (Rocha et al.). Similarly, the total antioxidant content of pearl millet flour and evaluation of 222 genotypes for antioxidant activity from inbred lines resulted in 18 candidate genes related to antioxidant pathway genes (flavanone 7-O-beta-glycosyltransferase, GDSL esterase/lipase, glutathione S-transferase) residing within or near the association signal that can be selected for further functional characterization (Yadav C. B. et al.).Multiomics combined with speed breeding is one of the answers to producing highly nutritious food crops (Weckwerth et al., 2020;Yang et al.). Furthermore, integration of the individual omics technique employing the \"phenotype to genotype\" and \"genotype to phenotype\" concept together with the systems biology approach may be beneficial for crop breeding improvement under different environmental conditions (Weckwerth et al., 2020). Recently, two important cereal crops, Pearl millet (C 4 ) and Wheat (C 3 ), were compared at the physiological and proteomics level to understand the drought stress response mechanisms. Tissue-specific proteome analysis of leaves, roots and seeds led to the identification of 12,558 proteins in pearl millet and wheat under well-watered and stress conditions. The physiological response was demonstrated using Odum's model. The study provides for the first time \"staygreen\" proteomics signatures for Pearl millet (Ghatak et al.). Furthermore, comparative proteome signatures for \"stay-green\" and \"senescence\" traits in Pearl millet and wheat under drought stress were identified and correlated with the physiological analysis. NAD-ME type photosynthesis was evaluated in both the cereals, and discriminant analysis via sPLS led to the identification of the putative protein markers, and correlation with an important physiological trait such as root length was determined. This study provides an opportunity to identify important molecular processes in C 4 traits essential for drought resistance and incorporate them into C 3 plants via genetic engineering (Ghatak et al.).The Research Topic also consists of manuscripts on finger millet (Eleusine coracana) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica), also members of the Poaceae family. Finger millet is an important cereal crop in southern Asia and eastern Africa. It has a long storage period, grows under arid and semi-arid environmental conditions, and has good nutraceutical properties. Blast disease in finger millet caused by the filamentous ascomycetous fungus (Magnaporthe oryzae) is the most devastating disease affecting the growth and yield of this crop in all its growing regions. Breeding strategies and challenges in improving this blast disease resistance in finger millet have been extensively reviewed (Mbinda and Masaki). A total of 314 global finger millet germplasm diversity panel accessions were genotyped, using the DArTseq approach to find the genetic diversity and population structure within these genotypes, the authors obtained 33,884 high-quality single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers on 306 accessions after filtering, considerable genetic diversity, and the mean polymorphic information content was determined (Backiyalakshmi et al.). In crops, MADS-box transcription factors play vital roles in multiple biological processes. Genomewide identification and classification of MADS-box genes in foxtail millet have not been reported previously. In total, 72 MADS-box genes in the foxtail millet genome give an overview of the phylogeny, chromosomal location, gene structures, and potential functions of the proteins encoded by these genes. Expression patterns of 10 foxtail millet MADS-box genes that are upregulated in response to drought were analyzed in different tissues in response to different abiotic stresses because the SiMADS51 genes were found to be strongly induced by drought stress, the function of the SiMADS51 gene was assessed by expression in the model plants Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis Thaliana) and rice (Oryza sativa L.) (Zhao et al.). In another study, 108 diverse landraces and wild accessions of sorghum, pearl millet, and pigeon pea were studied by genotyping using the DArTSeq approach, which identified 45249 SNPs in pearl millet, 19052 in SNPs sorghum and 8211 SNPs in pigeonpea. Interestingly, sorghum had the lowest average phenotypic (0.090) and genotypic (0.135) variance within accession distances, while pearl millet had the highest average phenotypic (0.227) and genotypic (0.245) distances. These studies are very helpful to the genebank curators to understand the dynamics of the population within accession and support the planning of appropriate germplasm conservation strategies (Allan et al.).In summary, the variety of studies reported in these diverse crops, pearl millet, sorghum, finger millet and foxtail millet are comprehensive and provides immense knowledge to the coming generations of crop scientists, crop physiologists, plant biologists and breeders. The studies reported in this Research Topic (Volume I) provide us with clear global research goals and are in place on making more climate-resilient crops in future by close observing crop agro-climate variability. Breeders are provided with specific and comprehensive catalogs of important and validated gene candidates that are associated with resilience and nutritional traits. These groundbreaking studies and corresponding breeding programs will eventually enhance crop productivity and improve sorghum and millet-based food intake to meet the food and nutritional security in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. They also open up the path to new exploitation of these prestigious cereal crop plants in other regions of the world subject to climate crisis."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a0a15a7303353b775c38b64d071c40bc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/de7bc07e-9561-406c-bc15-3cd420dd0b42/retrieve","id":"-168321315"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"23c62d87-3912-4add-ac4a-313591c76843","content":"Towards the end of 2010, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) promoted the formation of a public-private partnership in Mexico that linked the main maize research and improvement centers (such as CIMMYT, INIFAP, Chapingo Autonomous University, among others), with the private seed production and marketing sector. Dubbed the Maize Seed Consortium, one of its main objectives was to evaluate, develop and/or deploy new high-yielding maize hybrids for distribution to maize grain producers, and at the same time contribute to the strengthening and diversification of the seed sector in Mexico. However, despite having had access to improved germplasm from research institutions such as CIMMYT, and having adopted new competitive hybrids, significant scope still remains to improve rainfed maize yields in Mexico.The analysis of this document considered the following: i. Sources of origin of the germplasm (CIMMYT, whether a purely CIMMYT-derived hybrid or a combination hybrid with partial CIMMYT background; Public: hybrids developed by the public research sector; or Private: products developed using entirely a company's own germplasm) ii.Number of CIMMYT hybrids (hybrids developed and released by CIMMYT) in its product portfolio. iii.Number of products with CIMMYT germplasm (hybrids or varieties developed by CIMMYT partners using up to 100% CIMMYT lines) iv.Sales of new CIMMYT hybrids compared to total company sales and other hybrids with germplasm from public institutions or private germplasm (the company's own) v.Markets reached vi.Marketing capabilitiesThis document presents a general overview of the companies that participated in the Maize Seed Consortium of Mexico (public-private association for the generation, evaluation and commercialization of maize seeds) (Figure 1), as well as a perspective of the use and commercialization of products with CIMMYT germplasm by institutions in other Latin American countries, and a description of the specific situation of 10 Mexican companies whose commercialization data in terms of limitations and strengths were analyzed. The Maize Seed Consortium was formalized in 2011 with the integration of just over 30 national companies (Mexican companies) that produce maize seed, but between 2011 and 2021, more than 80 companies and producer associations participated.However, the sample for this document considered 10 Mexican companies selected on the following criteria: 1) their product portfolios currently or previously included CIMMYT hybrids and/or proprietary hybrids with CIMMYT germplasm background; 2) availability of marketing data for most of the years analyzed (2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)(2020)(2021) and their detailed portfolios; 3) we know the target markets and marketing channels for at least a subsample of the products. The sample also took into consideration the need for representation of companies from the three agro-ecologies present in Mexico (tropical, subtropical, and even the much smaller highlands agro-ecology). The sample included maize seed companies from northern, southern, and central Mexico, in a range of sizes (see Table 2) 2 . Mexican seed SMEs obtain germplasm from three main sources: the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), especially CIMMYT; the National Institute for Agricultural and Livestock Forestry Research (INIFAP); and the private sector (including the company's own proprietary germplasm and any germplasm licensed in from other private-sector genetics providers) (Figure 2). Other public institutions such as the Colegio de Postgraduados are also involved, but to a much lesser extent. Dependence on CIMMYT germplasm is more notable for micro-enterprises if we consider the 10 companies analyzed for this document: 76.6% of their germplasm comes directly from CIMMYT, with 23.4% coming from public institutions; of the latter, at least 17% also contain CIMMYT germplasm 3 . In this respect, the sample may not be entirely representative of the Mexican maize seed industry as a whole, as the study focused specifically on companies working with CIMMYT germplasm.Small companies depend equally on germplasm from CIMMYT and public institutions: 39.4% of their germplasm comes from CIMMYT and 41.6% from public institutions (of the latter, 15% also contain CIMMYT germplasm). Many of these companies already generate their own germplasm, representing 19% of their product portfolio. This is partly due to the fact that CIMMYT's germplasm, training and support provided by this institution since 2010 have allowed them, among other things, to develop or strengthen their own breeding programs.Unlike small and micro-companies, medium-sized companies depend more on the germplasm they develop, which represents 67.4% of their product portfolio (50% of which are hybrids generated with parental lines having CIMMYT genetics). They practically do not use germplasm of origin from public institutions, which only represents 5.4% of their portfolio (and is known as well to contain CIMMYT germplasm). CIMMYT germplasm directly represents 27.2% of this group's portfolio (i.e., hybrids released by CIMMYT and combinations generated by companies with CIMMYT lines).The above information shows that CIMMYT is the main source of germplasm for the sampled Mexican companies regardless of their size. It is notable that even as companies grow and seek to generate their own germplasm, CIMMYT germplasm continues to represent a considerable percentage of its product portfolio. Larger companies have the strength to generate their own germplasm, and smaller ones depend more on germplasm of institutions such as CIMMYT or public institutions such as INIFAP. This does not mean that they cannot compete, since germplasm of CIMMYT and public origin has proven to be competitive both in terms of yield and agronomic traits (Figure 3 and Figure 4).   The seed sales in Mexico of companies participating in the Maize Seed Consortium for the year 2021 were calculated using data from 31 companies that responded to the annual Seed Marketing Surveys and estimates for 32 other companies based on their average annual growth rates.In 2021, 63 Mexican seed companies participated in the Maize Seed Consortium. Most of the participating companies (67%) are micro-enterprises with annual sales of less than 10,000 bags of seed, 25% are small companies, and 8% are medium-sized. No large companies participated in the Consortium. It is important for companies to diversify their clients and not depend on sales to the government, since they are volatile and can change dramatically from one year to another; sales to the government represent an opportunity, but a dependency should never be created.Regarding the sales trends of the 10 sampled SMEs, it is notable that all but the smallest companies enjoyed significant growth: the four \"small\" companies growing by 60% between 2011 and 2021, and medium-sized companies by 65% for the same period (Error! Reference source not found.). The modest 5% decline in sales by the four sampled micro-enterprises between 2011 and 2021 is essentially attributable to just one company which saw a drop of just over 400 tons between 2020 and 2021, due to not being able to sell its products in government projects. Once again, the importance of not depending on sales to the government, since their volatility is very high and they also limit cash flow, since the payment for seed can take years or even not be paid at all.  The sale in Mexico of new hybrids that were developed by CIMMYT's breeding programs has increased steadily since 2012 from just 420 bags to more than 70,000 in 2021. Similarly, an increasing number of hybrids and commercial seeds developed by the seed companies of the Consortium with the use of new CIMMYT lines has contributed to an increased number of varieties available to Mexican farmers.Unfortunately in 2020 and 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic, the elimination of government programs, and the decrease in the participation of companies in the Consortium, all led to a reduction in maize seed sales: the total number of reported bags of CIMMYT hybrids sold in Mexico (i.e., hybrids developed by CIMMYT maize breeding programs) was 196,613 in 2019 and less than 100,000 in 2021.In 2021, the Maize Seed Consortium sold at least 28 CIMMYT products, including 26 hybrids and at least two open-pollinated varieties (OPVs). The five CIMMYT hybrids with the highest sales represented just over 50% of the total sales of these products in 2021 (sales reported as of August 31, 2022; as of this writing, the sales reports of some participating companies are still pending) (Error! Reference source not found.). Three of these best-selling hybrids are for the tropics, one for the subtropics, and one for the highlands; three are white-grain and two are yellow. The development and release of competitive hybrids, as well as collaboration with CIMMYT and access to CIMMYT's improved germplasm, has in fact allowed companies to diversify their portfolios and develop their own germplasm improvement programs. The following tables (Table 4 through Table 8) illustrate examples of success stories of five Mexican companies with portfolio diversification, and which are five of the companies analyzed for this document.  By 2020, CIMMYT hybrid sales accounted for nearly 30% of their total sales. The company also developed some proprietary hybrids using CIMMYT lines (own germplasm combined with CIMMYT germplasm), which by 2020 represented more than 25% of its sales.  By 2021, sales of CIMMYT hybrids represented 15%, but 95% of their sales were products with CIMMYT germplasm, of which 69% were products with CIMMYT germplasm, but developed by the company itself -that is, using CIMMYT lines but the final combination of the hybrids was of their own origin.  By 2020, it had incorporated 9 CIMMYT hybrids that represented more than 25% of its sales.  By 2021, the 9 CIMMYT hybrids in its product portfolio represented 39.7% of its sales. In all, 16 of its products contain CIMMYT germplasm, together representing 70% of its sales.  In 2011, this company also depended 100% on hybrids and varieties from INIFAP. It occasionally sold hybrids privately owned by another private-sector entity.  By 2020, 50% of the company's seed products were CIMMYT hybrids, which represented more than 35% of its sales.  In 2021, 50% of its products were still hybrids with CIMMYT germplasm, and each of the public hybrids in its portfolio also contained between one and two CIMMYT lines.  By 2020, the company had incorporated 14 CIMMYT hybrids into its portfolio, which constituted more than 14% of its sales.  By 2021, the company continued to sell 10 CIMMYT hybrids, representing 9.4% of its sales. In addition, it incorporated for the first time a hybrid of its own development with the use of CIMMYT lines.  The company successfully incorporated CIMMYT hybrids, which represented around 30% of its sales between 2015-2017.  Since 2015, it has opted for the development of its own materials, which by 2020 represented more than 50% of its sales.  This company also developed more than 10 private hybrids from CIMMYT germplasm, which by 2020 represented more than 35% of its sales, and in 2021 its hybrids with CIMMYT germplasm had a 54.6% share of its sales.In contrast to Mexican companies, the number of products with CIMMYT germplasm developed by Latin American institutions in other countries (in the context of this study, namely Central America, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela and Colombia) and the number of released products developed by CIMMYT for Latin American markets are mostly OPVs. In part, this is due to the fact that from 2010 to 2020, the Mexican government financed the development of hybrids, but of course with a focus on adaptability to the Republic of Mexico. In addition, in Mexico there is a greater development of seed companies than in Central America or even countries like Colombia or Venezuela. In fact, the National Seed Inspection and Certification Service of Mexico (SNICS) has the registry of more than 80 institutions that produce maize seeds and in Central American countries, apart from transnational companies, there are no more than five or so known seed companies per country. However, there is the fact that the Mexican seed regulatory environment allows different companies can produce and sell the same hybrid, which is not the case for Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela, which has facilitated the emergence of a diverse and highly competitive seed sector in Mexico.In Mexico, more than 99% of the products released by CIMMYT for sale are hybrids, while in the rest of Latin America (in the context of this study, this includes Central America, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, and Colombia) OPVs represent almost 80% of released CIMMYT products. In fact, four of the five best-selling CIMMYT products in these countries are OPVs and only one is a hybrid. Of these, the CIMMYT OPV Postasequía stands out, representing almost 50% of the sales of all CIMMYT products sold by our Latin American collaborators. The other three OPVs in the top five are S07TLYNHGAB2, S06TLWQ SEQ-LN AB, and Catacama 9043.Regarding the \"combination products\" (maize products developed by collaborators using CIMMYT materials), in Latin America outside of Mexico there is information on the development of just over 20 products for the period 2010 and 2021 (NB: the dataset for 2021 is incomplete; as of this writing in August 2022, not all the institutions with which CIMMYT collaborates have provided information on their impact). However, it can be said with confidence that compared to Mexico, there are fewer combination products on the market in other Latin American countries. We have reported only nine of the 20 products marketed with the use of CIMMYT germplasm (products developed by our collaborators) in Latin America outside of Mexico, while in Mexico there are more than 50 products.The number of institutions involved in the development and commercialization of products using CIMMYT germplasm is also very different, since in Latin American countries outside of Mexico there are approximately five such institutions, while in Mexico there are more than ten companies that have breeding programs actively using CIMMYT lines to develop and release new hybrids.Additionally, it is to be noted that CIMMYT in Mexico has a much more active engagement with the private sector compared to many other Latin American countries, where the leadership has been maintained by public research institutions. That is to say, in Latin American countries outside of Mexico, commercialization of CIMMYT products is achieved through allocation of CIMMYT products to these public-sector institutions, who then register and sub-license them to commercial partners, whereas in Mexico, CIMMYT works directly with private-sector partners.The foregoing examples demonstrate that in recent years, in the case of Mexican seed companies, CIMMYT has strengthened its partnerships, contributing to accelerated varietal turnover in the Mexican market. Mexican seed SMEs' product portfolios became more dynamic as they benefited from CIMMYT's germplasm, and as they tried to compete and be efficient in placing their products on the market.It is noteworthy that the 10 companies analyzed for this document increased the number of products in their portfolio since 2014 (Figure 9). It is the four \"small\" companies that have the greatest number of products available and the largest growth in portfolio size, with an average of 10 products in 2014 to 17 by 2021, while medium-sized companies and micro-enterprises remained with the same number of products on average during the period 2014 to 2021. Medium-sized companies averaged 10 products each in 2014, only increasing to 13 products in 2021, while micro-small companies increased from an average of seven products each in 2014 to eight in 2021.If we compare Mexican companies with CIMMYT collaborators in other Latin American countries, it can be said in general that the product portfolio in Mexico was renewed, while elsewhere in Latin America, the CIMMYT products on the market tend to be extremely old. For example, the only CIMMYT hybrid in the top five best-selling products was assigned in 1996, and the best-selling OPV was released in 2007.We hope that this situation may improve in the coming years through the licensing of new CIMMYT hybrids to Latin American partners in recent years. We expect that by 2026 new CIMMYT products will become widely available across Latin American markets and begin to replace older, less advantageous products. The companies of the Consortium, that is, the Mexican ones, in addition to increasing their sales volume, have also increased the number of states and municipalities of the Mexican Republic where they sell. The states with the highest sales in 2021 were Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero, Chiapas and Sinaloa.In 2021, hybrids with CIMMYT germplasm were sold in at least 24 of the 32 states in the country and in more than 500 municipalities. Hybrids with CIMMYT germplasm have achieved a presence in the main maize-producing states of the Mexican Republic and with mature improved seed markets, such as Jalisco, Sinaloa and El Bajío; and they are also present in markets with low adoption of hybrids such as Guerrero and Oaxaca. In specific reference to 100% CIMMYT hybrids (those developed by CIMMYT breeding programs), these are also present in at least 20 states of Mexico and in at least 400 municipalities.We highlight that the presence of hybrids with new CIMMYT germplasm has been growing, as can be seen in Figure 9 and Figure 10. If we compare these two maps (one from 2014 and the other from 2020), we can see a growing number of municipalities with sales of materials with CIMMYT germplasm over the years, for example in the states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, Colima, Guanajuato, Michoacan, etc. It should be mentioned that CIMMYT programs target rainfed farms, hence the growth of sales with CIMMYT germplasm towards the center and south of the country, and not towards the north where the irrigated maize seed market predominates.The Consortium seed companies had an estimated impact on a total of 940,414 hectares in 2021, assuming an average planting density of one bag per hectare (one bag sold equal to one hectare of impact), of which at least 213,472 hectares correspond to bags reported with CIMMYT germplasm; the remainder corresponds to private germplasm, or products whose pedigree was not reported.Regarding the sample of ten companies analyzed, the medium-sized companies had a presence in at least ten states, the small ones varied from seven to eleven, and the micro-companies from three to seven. Of course, it is the medium-sized companies that reach more competitive markets such as Sinaloa, but they are also in other northern states such as Durango and Coahuila. The micro companies can have a presence in markets that are more complicated in logistical terms and the size of the land of the maize farmers, having a presence in areas that are less accessible to larger companies. Several states, such as Campeche, Chiapas, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Jalisco, State of Mexico, among others, host a variety of companies of varying sizes. Larger companies have the advantage of being able to reach markets that are more competitive in terms of product performance due to the participation of transnational companies, but the limitation of not reaching complex markets where smaller companies are able to carve out specialized niches. Regarding marketing channels, information was collected from six of the 10 companies in this study (three micro-small companies, one small, and two medium-sized). In this regard, agro-service stores are the most important marketing channel with a percentage that exceeds 55%, and in second place government sales, exceeding levels of 15%. Medium-sized companies are the least dependent on the government, and therefore, they do not have the limitation of receiving payment for their seed subject to the timelines and budget approvals of the government sector.The biggest challenge for companies has been and continues to be the implementation of marketing strategies. Many of them, in fact, recognize that they do not have a defined strategy, and that the annual routine of seed production and sale overrides any strategic planning to reach or maintain new markets.In fact, they do not know what their main distribution channel is going to be from season to the next, making it impossible to implement campaigns or direct products to marketing channels or clients that could generate the greatest revenue.The most common activities are establishing demonstration plots and hosting field days, where companies show off the benefits of their seed products to a significant number of farmers, and distribute promotional materials such as brochures, caps, pens, etc. However, there is no follow-up with these new farmers who show interest in their seed, nor concerted attempts to target farmers with the power to convince other grain producers. In reality, the least frequent activities are the establishment of commercial plots with \"witness\" clients to show the results of their seeds with neighboring farmers, and in itself, it highlights the lack of seed promotion activities at the final point of sale with the farmers, agroservices or with the client grain producers of these agro-servicesIn fact, many companies are unaware of the behavior of their hybrids planted in the fields of their grain producing customers. After placing their seed in the agro-service store, the seed companies have no feedback mechanism to know what happens after the sale of their seed. As a result, seed companies struggle even to know where the seed went, much less if it worked.In general, companies lack market information and the ability to generate this information, and therefore lack territory planning strategies, and medium-and long-term marketing strategies.The analysis presented in this document indicates that Mexican seed companies have some strengths or limitations that are related to their size, and others that they all share, regardless of their size.The dependency on germplasm from non-profit institutions (CIMMYT or other public research institutions) represents a limitation for smaller companies (micro -small and small companies). Larger companies have the advantage of resources to generate their own products through in-house breeding programs, making them less dependent. This can be extrapolated to companies across Latin America, since the smallest ones do not have breeding programs and therefore depend on public research institutions. However, the existence of improvement programs such as those of CIMMYT mean that micro or small businesses have access to competitive hybrids, as long as there is financing for the development of germplasm, was the case for Mexico from 2011 to 2020. Therefore, availability of germplasm ceased to represent barrier for Mexican companies to enter the market; as long as they continue to maintain said access this will be the case and ensure genetic diversity in the seed marketplace, and smaller companies will be able to hold their own against their larger competitors, since CIMMYT's germplasm has proven to be competitive both in terms of yield and agronomic traits. Nonetheless, dependence on public or CGIAR germplasm is a risk factor especially for smaller companies, considering the volatility of public and philanthropic sources of funding for these breeding programs 4 .However, for many Mexican companies CIMMYT has become an enormously important source of germplasm, largely due to the boost provided by the MasAgro and Maize for Mexico projects, by providing resources to CIMMYT from 2010 to 2020 for the generation of tropical, subtropical and highland hybrids and parental lines, among other activities. This strengthened the companies by allowing them to diversify their portfolios and increase the number of products available to Mexican farmers. Although, as previously mentioned, the larger the size, the greater the number of self-developed products generated by the companies. This was not the case for our other Latin American collaborators outside of Mexico, who did not benefit from a robust, targeted breeding program for their own country; although they have access to CIMMYT products, those which remain today the most prevalent are from the 1990s or early 2000s and are no longer the most competitive. Resources are required to promote their replacement.Another risk factor, particularly for the smallest companies, is when they rely on sales to the government. Yes, it is relatively easy to sell to governments, since marketing strategies and product positioning are not required, but it is also common for payments to be delayed or even incomplete, which of course may lead to problems of liquidity for the company. In addition, there is no guarantee that it will be sold every year, nor that any brand loyalty be generated with the grain producers. This dependency can affect both medium-sized and smaller companies, but it depends on the companies themselves to diversify their customer base. Sales to the government represent opportunities, but dependency should never be created. In fact, one of the companies analyzed in this document went from being a small business in 2020 to a microbusiness in 2021, for not having been able to maintain its sales to the Mexican government.The market scope is another element that is influenced by the size of the company: medium-sized companies reach more competitive markets (such as Sinaloa in Mexico) as well as northern states such as Durango, and Coahuila; but the micro-enterprises, due to their locations, can have a presence in more complicated markets in terms of logistics and land size of grain producers, having a presence where the medium-sized ones do not reach as easily. Larger companies have the advantage of being able to reach the most competitive markets (especially those which are also targets of transnational companies and where only the highest-performing products survive), but the limitation of not reaching smaller, more complex markets. Therefore, government programs have a great opportunity in smaller companies, as they are able to access places that require more work, since they are more remote and populated by farmers with fewer resources and less land. Or, where appropriate, governments may consider offering incentives for medium-sized companies to go to these markets that may not currently be of interest to them.Finally, marketing is a weakness for many seed companies, who often do not have a well-defined business strategy, may be unaware of their distribution channels, and may have no strategies for targeting or maintaining the most profitable customers. For example, there is no follow-up by seed companies to get feedback from the end users of their products, such that they even do not know the places where their seed was finally planted or how it performed. Companies choose to prioritize day-to-day activities, and do not place value nor invest in commercial strategies or brand or product positioning. It is not so easy to convince grain producers to adopt a new product, even if the one they currently plant has great agronomic or yield disadvantages compared to a new product; all the more reason why companies need to invest more in their marketing strategies.In the case of Mexico, the country's problems are great, despite being among the ten world leaders in maize production, with a cultivated area of approximately 7.3 million hectares and an annual production of 22 million tons (SIAP, 2021). Even so, the country relies heavily on imports to meet its domestic grain consumption needs, mainly yellow corn for animal feed and industrial uses. Nonetheless, white-grain maize continues to dominate the Mexican seed market. Though yields across the country can be significantly improved, it is not that Mexican companies do not have access to competitive products, as demonstrated throughout this document; indeed they do. The same cannot be said for collaborators in other Latin American countries, who have not benefitted from robust, country-focused projects aiming to replace obsolete products that continue to persist and even prevail in their national seed markets.We have also highlighted that CIMMYT continues to be a pillar for the Mexican seed industry, given that most national companies do not have sufficient resources to develop their own research in germplasm generation, and even those that have achieved or maintained their improvement programs, make use of CIMMYT lines for the development of new hybrids.It is true that investment in breeding programs such as those of CIMMYT, where hybrids or parental lines are efficiently released, have allowed the strengthening of Mexican seed companies, accelerating the development of new products and their commercialization in the market. In the last ten years, CIMMYT has developed and released dozens of final products (hybrids or OPVs), including at least 45 that have been marketed in Mexico between 2012 and 2021; therefore, CIMMYT's lines and final products continue to represent an opportunity for companies not only from Mexico but also from other Latin American countries to continue or modernize their seed supply, expand their sales and market share.The participating companies of the Maize Seed Consortium in Mexico, including the 10 companies analyzed for this document, have responded satisfactorily by successfully introducing the new CIMMYT hybrids in their offer or CIMMYT lines within their portfolio, maintaining a more diverse and renovated seed portfolio. In the case of many other Latin American countries, unfortunately, the portfolio is not so diverse, and the renewal of products is urgent.The growth of sales of CIMMYT hybrids in Mexico has been relatively constant since 2012 when they were first made available on the market (macroeconomic fluctuations notwithstanding). Likewise, the number of products (final hybrids) available to companies, the number of companies that market them and the commercial products available to the farmer have grown.Therefore, the availability and supply of products is not the problem in Mexico, but there are challenges with regards to the marketing capacities of small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (lack of commercial planning, planning of territories, brand positioning and products with final producers, among others) which limitations the country's ability to achieve self-sufficiency. Furthermore, the tendency of some companies to rely on sales to the federal government generates high volatility in their sales and also in their liquidity.This marketing weakness has been the great limitation of Mexican companies to influence those markets with lowest yields, dominated by smallholder farms and stress-prone environments. Therefore, in addition to maintaining a constant flow of competitive germplasm, there is a need for projects and programs that help seed SMEs improve their capacities in marketing and develop commercial strategies to reach complex and remote markets and improve the maize production in Mexico. Many other Latin American countries are a step behind: national companies need to inject new germplasm and, of course, also invest in generating demand for it."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"941e063caa0d61f4a731edea4104a2e5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6691d8c5-c0ee-477e-b329-081f66886f8b/retrieve","id":"389939294"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"76f00bfe-d66b-4c79-8edd-2563adc859ae","content":"El éxito de las iniciativas de adaptación y mitigación al cambio climático dependen de la comprensión de la población en torno a este fenómeno. » El conocimiento, las actitudes y en general las percepciones sobre el cambio climático se consideran variables predictoras de los comportamientos ambientales. » Los futuros científicos, legisladores, consumidores y votantes, tendrán que tomar decisiones políticas complejas sobre el cambio climático y tendrán que hacerlo desde una perspectiva informada, razón por la cual los estudiantes de educación superior son una importante fuente de información.Identificar los conocimientos, actitudes y comportamientos ambientales en los estudiantes de educación superior en Colombia (COL) y Nicaragua (NIC) y establecer si se presentan relaciones entre éstas variables y las características sociodemográficas.» Se encontraron diferencias significativas en los conocimientos sobre el cambio climático entre los estudiantes que finalizaban su etapa universitaria y los que la iniciaban. Esto evidencia el efecto del proceso educativo en la apropiación del cambio climático.» Para ambos países, el entendimiento del cambio climático fue mayor en hombres que en mujeres, sin embargo, las diferencias fueron muy estrechas. En contraste, las mujeres presentaron mejores comportamientos que los hombres. Las diferencias fueron significativas para COL, pero no para NIC.» No se presentaron diferencias significativas en los conocimientos del cambio climático por estrato socioeconómico (COL) o nivel de ingreso (NIC).» A pesar de encontrar débiles correlaciones, los resultados son consistentes con la idea de que mayores conocimientos sobre el cambio climático y el medio ambiente permiten a los individuos asumir mejores comportamientos ambientales.» El compromiso con las acciones ambientales presentaron variaciones de acuerdo a la rigidez de las acciones: a pesar de que el beneficio social de determinada acción ambiental sea mayor al costo individual, el agente puede preferir no realizarla dado que el beneficio privado es menor a su costo (esfuerzo/sacrificio al realizar la acción). » Una encuesta tipo Likert de cinco puntos fue aplicada en 10 ciudades de COL (n=4759) y en 4 de NIC (n=2354). La muestra fue seleccionada a través de un muestreo por etapas.» Se calculó un índice para cada variable otorgando puntajes a las respuestas correctas. A continuación se utilizó el Coeficiente de correlación de Spearman, la prueba ANOVA y el estadístico t student para establecer las relaciones entre las variables descritas. El test de Tukey fue utilizado para identificar en qué grupos se presentaban diferencias.Póster presentado en:Díaz, Manuel Francisco 1 ; Enciso, Karen 1 ; Sellitti, Stefania 2 ; Ruzzante, Matteo 3 ; Burkart, Stefan   » Las ciudades capitales presentaron la mayor proporción de estudiantes con un adecuado entendimiento del cambio climático y la menor con falencias en la comprensión de dicho fenómeno.» Se observa una débil relación entre los conocimientos sobre el cambio climático y los comportamientos ambientales para ambos países.  "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/2491380307.json b/main/part_2/2491380307.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3ef3382ff2b4d7d9c968a098049d122d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7cae621d-2587-44f5-9065-4e410126149b/retrieve","id":"945938090"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"786f2d18-1f49-426b-a282-eb410648b646","content":"Our goal is to help ensure that seeds and plants are effectively and efficiently conserved and made available for future use. To achieve this, genebank managers and genebank staff need to have guidelines which help them managing a genebank.Until now guidelines on genebank management for different crops were hard to find. Genebank managers of different research institutes were contacted and asked to share their published and unpublished knowledge. Information on crop specific genebank activities (steps and processes) for 9 crops (banana, barley, cassava, chickpea, forage grasses, forage legumes, maize, rice and wheat) were collected, standardized and edited into clear and well structured webpages.Turning a website into a useful tool Multimedia (photos and video) were added to enhance the content and potential for learning. The knowledge base website also contains many interactive items such as flipbooks (series of clickable pictures), presentations, tutorials, a forum, a blog, a wiki, e-learning materials and many links, and can also be used as a training tool.This website is built using the free Joomla content management system (CMS). This CMS allows users of this website to register and participate in developing or updating content or making comments. This important feature makes it easy to add information on new genebank management practices and new crops. Tutorials that explain how to do this are included on the website.• Collaboration amongst key crop experts is vital. • Champions helped to motivate others to contribute.• The use of visual content makes it more user friendly.• Establish collaboration mechanisms with curators of national and international genebanks for regular updates of information including addition of best practices for other crops. • Establish feedback mechanisms from users to improve the usefulness and use of shared platforms. • Expand the site linking other practices and guidelines for genebank management such as quality assurance standards. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/2504667610.json b/main/part_2/2504667610.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"83c0cd93a2a03bf7d4ca93edc8ea0f06","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1f281b17-12d7-4518-8e48-fa9984f60bb0/retrieve","id":"1510511427"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"51d2e8e0-86dd-45e3-9175-33704d2b3a20","content":"Currently, there are a number of tools aimed to remotely deploy traits associated with forage quantity and quality in pastures and grasslands. Such information is important for pasture and livestock management and relevant for screening purposes of large number of genotypes. Previous research has shown the implementation of proximal sensing for screening purposes in Urochloa grasses. Nowadays, the use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (drones) are increasingly being used for the same purposes but at larger spatial scales. Multispectral images or spectral sensors can be used to calculate a number of vegetation indexes that are associated with forage quantity and quality. Among them, NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) is probably the most widely used. Values of NDVI close to 0 represent mostly bare soil or very low vegetation, whereas values close to 1 represent vigorous plants (green and vigorous plants).One of the largest problems in the determination of forage quantity and quality is that they are highly dynamic, they change over development of the plants, and are sensitive to external stresses and management (e.g. cutting intervals). The use of vegetation indexes can be used to track changes of forage as a way to support pasture management. Traditionally, pasture management in the tropics rely on visual inspections of height of plants. Height is an important parameter, particularly to manage rotational grazing where forages are clipped to a target height as a way to manage maturity, nutrient concentration and forage digestibility. Less often, samples of forage biomass are taken to estimate productivity of the pasture and its livestock carrying capacity. Thereby, the objective of this work was to test the feasibility of use of NDVI as a proxy for parameters relevant for pasture management such as height and biomass. Plant material consisted of three Urochloa spp. Cultivars (Marandu, Mulato 2 and Tully). Cultivars Marandu and Mulato 2 form tussocks, whereas cv. Tully is a strongly stoloniferous plant. Cultivars Marandu and Mulato form larger and taller plants than cv. Tully.  Plant material was established under field conditions at the regional campus of the Alliance Bioversity-CIAT in Palmira, Colombia in a three replicate complete randomize block. Each replicate consisted in 400m2 of planted material.  A standardization cut was applied at a height of 10 cm and then, cuts every 7 days for 17 weeks were performed within each replicate. To each genotype and replicate, four samples for fresh biomass were randomly sampled in an area of 0.25m 2 .  Every week, recording of plant height and NDVI with and active sensor (Greenseeker, Trimble, US) were performed at each sample size. Collection of NDVI from a modified RGB camera with the infrared filter removed (Mapir, Mapir, US), attached to a drone (Phantom IV, DJI, China) were collected at midday. NDVI from images was calculated to each replicate (400m 2 ). Figure 1 summarizes the obtained results.  Overall three growth stages were recognized: 1) weeks 1 to 6: period of greater leaf growth and moderate stem elongation; 2) weeks 6 to 12: period of elongation of tillers and leaves; 3) weeks 12 to 15: flowering and 4) weeks 15 to 17: seed ripening accompanied by senescence of older leaves.  The results showed that NDVI obtained from active sensor or image resembled the time courses changes in biomass and height during early growth (weeks 1 to 6). This suggests that the use of NDVI can be used as a proxy for biomass or height at these (first 6 weeks after cutting or grazing), but not at later stages.  Albeit the sensitivity of NDVI from images was lower than NDVI from active sensor, NDVI from images as a management tool might be more attractive for their use under larger spatial scales (e.g. a UAS can cover an area of 9 ha with a single flight).  Efforts to further expand the use of remote sensing to estimate other forage traits of interest (i.e., crude protein, in vitro dry matter digestibility) are currently underway.  Barriers of this kind of technology uptake by neutral scale livestock producers is currently studied across several regions in Colombia"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/2505959978.json b/main/part_2/2505959978.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..098bf0f735b11059a6ad0b099ce4889cf75d95a9
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6d9a7c95d351758d358d67c03a626d55","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/81955b04-8692-45ce-bc29-e97432c6153f/retrieve","id":"1823458747"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"91a9f56d-1752-4cd8-b567-2dce3072477d","content":"This paper introduces Rapid Appraisal of Agricultural Innovation Systems (RAAIS). RAAIS is a diagnostic tool that can guide the analysis of complex agricultural problems and innovation capacity of the agricultural system in which the complex agricultural problem is embedded. RAAIS focuses on the integrated analysis of different dimensions of problems (e.g. biophysical, technological, socio-cultural, economic, institutional and political), interactions across different levels (e.g. national, regional, local), and the constraints and interests of different stakeholder groups (farmers, government, researchers, etc.). Innovation capacity in the agricultural system is studied by analysing (1) constraints within the institutional, sectoral and technological subsystems of the agricultural system, and (2) the existence and performance of the agricultural innovation support system. RAAIS combines multiple qualitative and quantitative methods, and insider (stakeholders) and outsider (researchers) analyses which allow for critical triangulation and validation of the gathered data. Such an analysis can provide specific entry points for innovations to address the complex agricultural problem under study, and generic entry points for innovation related to strengthening the innovation capacity of agricultural system and the functioning of the agricultural innovation support system. The application of RAAIS to analyse parasitic weed problems in the rice sector, conducted in Tanzania and Benin, demonstrates the potential of the diagnostic tool and provides recommendations for its further development and use.The Agricultural Innovation System (AIS) approach has become increasingly popular as a framework to analyse, and explore solutions to, complex agricultural problems (e.g. Hall et al., 2003;World Bank, 2006). The AIS approach evolved from a transition from technology-oriented approaches, to more systems-oriented approaches to agricultural innovation (e.g. Klerkx et al., 2012a). Within the AIS approach, innovation is perceived as a process of combined technological (e.g. cultivars, fertilizer, agronomic practices) and non-technological (e.g. social practices such as labour organi-zation or institutional settings such as land-tenure arrangements) changes (Hounkonnou et al., 2012;Leeuwis, 2004). Such changes occur across different levels (e.g. field, farm, region), and are shaped by interactions between stakeholders and organisations inside and outside the agricultural sector (Kilelu et al., 2013;Klerkx et al., 2010).Adopting an AIS approach to study complex agricultural problems has important implications for research. First, it requires an analysis that acknowledges and integrates the different dimensions, levels and stakeholders' interests associated with the problem under review. Second, it necessitates a holistic understanding of the innovation capacity of the agricultural system in which the complex problem is embedded (Hall, 2005). Third, it requires insight in the structural conditions provided by the agricultural innovation support system that can enable or constrain innovation in the agricultural system (Klerkx et al., 2012b;World Bank, 2006). Fourth, it requires a thorough understanding of the interactions between complex agricultural problems, innovation capacity in the agricultural system and the agricultural innovation support system.Despite the recent development and application of a variety of methods that can support AIS analyses (e.g. World Bank, 2012), the potential of the AIS approach to address complex agricultural problems remains underutilized in many fields of study (e.g. Schut et al., 2014a). Four main reasons for this were identified. First, methods used for the analysis of complex agricultural problems generally have a narrow focus, rather than a holistic view. They support the analysis of a specific dimension (e.g. the economic dimension in Beintema et al., 2012), level (e.g. the national level in Temel et al., 2003), or stakeholder group (e.g. farmers in Amankwah et al., 2012;Totin et al., 2012). Second, studies that do include analysis of multiple dimensions of problems (e.g. Singh et al., 2009), interactions across different levels (e.g. Douthwaite et al., 2003) or multi-stakeholder dynamics (e.g. Hermans et al., 2013) often have limited attention for the integrated analysis of these features of complex agricultural problems. Third, studies that integrate the analysis of multiple dimensions of problems, interactions across different levels and multi-stakeholder dynamics (e.g. Lundy et al., 2005;van Ittersum et al., 2008) have limited attention for understanding innovation capacity in the agricultural system and the functioning of the agricultural innovation support system. A fourth reason is that the majority of AIS studies are conducted ex-post (e.g. Basu and Leeuwis, 2012), lack a clear structure to delineate system's boundaries (Klerkx et al., 2012b), or are based on comprehensive studies which take considerable time (e.g. Jiggins, 2012). Although such studies provide a better understanding of the drivers of innovation in agricultural systems, their diagnostic ability to identify entry points for innovation to overcome complex agricultural problems is limited.Based on the above review of the availability, scope and use of methods for AIS analyses, we have developed and tested a diagnostic tool that can support the Rapid Appraisal of Agricultural Innovation Systems (RAAIS). RAAIS fits within a tradition of 'rapid appraisal approaches' used in the field of agriculture, including the Participatory (Rapid) Rural Appraisal (Chambers, 1994), Rapid Appraisal of Agricultural Knowledge Systems (RAAKS: Engel, 1995) and the Rapid Appraisal of Potato Innovation Systems (Ortiz et al., 2013). RAAIS integrates and builds upon existing (agricultural) innovation system concepts and combines multiple methods of data collection. The objectives of RAAIS are to provide a coherent set of (1) specific entry points for innovation to address complex agricultural problems, and (2) generic entry points that can enhance innovation capacity of the agricultural system and the performance of the agricultural innovation support system. The aim of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework (Section 2) and a methodological framework (Section 3) for RAAIS. Based on its application in a study on parasitic weeds in rice production in Tanzania and Benin, we reflect on the extent to which RAAIS is able to meet its objectives, and provide recommendations for further development and use of RAAIS (Section 4), followed by the main conclusions (Section 5).The agricultural innovation system -including both the agricultural system and its innovation capacity and the agricultural innovation support system -may be very good at tackling some complex agricultural problems, but may be incapable to deal with others (Hung and Whittington, 2011;Markard and Truffer, 2008). It underlines that understanding complex agricultural problems, innovation capacity in the agricultural system, and the functioning of the agricultural innovation support system requires integrative analysis. Despite of their interrelated character, we deem it useful for analytical purposes to first address them separately (Sections 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3), before showing their embeddedness (Section 2.4).Complex agricultural problems are defined as problems (1) that have multiple dimensions (Schut et al., 2014b), (2) that are embedded in interactions across different levels (Giller et al., 2008), and (3) where a multiplicity of actors and stakeholders are involved (Funtowicz and Ravetz, 1993). Regarding the first, complex agricultural problems are an interplay of biophysical, technological, social-cultural, economic, institutional and political dimensions.To exemplify this, we use a case by Sims et al. (2012), who analyse constraints for the upscaling of conservation agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. They demonstrate how import taxes on steel, but not on imported agricultural machinery (institutional dimension), disadvantage manufacturers in developing locally adapted agricultural equipment such as no till planters (technological dimension) for effective soil conservation for sustainable crop management (biophysical dimension). Concerning the second, the dimensions of complex agricultural problems often have different implications across different levels. Mitigating the impact of agro-industrial biofuel production on food security, for instance, will require different strategies when approached at the national level (e.g. policies avoiding agro-industrial biofuel production in regions where pressure on agricultural land is already high) or at the farm household level (e.g. balancing the allocation of household labour to on-farm crop production and off-farm plantation work) (Schut and Florin, under review). Nevertheless, the different levels are interrelated, and consequently, coherent multi-level strategies are required. Regarding the third, complex agricultural problems are characterised by the involvement of a multitude of actors, stakeholders and the organisations they represent (Hounkonnou et al., 2012;Ortiz et al., 2013) (Table 1). Actors include about anyone that can be related directly or indirectly to a problem, or the potential solution. Stakeholders are those actors or actor groups with a vested interest in addressing the problem (McNie, 2007) and their participation in exploring solutions to complex agricultural problems is perceived as a critical success factor (e.g. Giller et al., 2011). Stakeholder participation can provide enhanced insights in the different dimensions of the problem, and the types of solutions that are both technically feasible, and socio-culturally and economically acceptable (Faysse, 2006). However, stakeholder groups are no homogeneous entities and often focus on their own, rather than a common, interest (Leeuwis, 2000). The agricultural system is defined as the \"operational unit of agriculture\" including all actors and organisations at local, regional and national levels involved in the production, processing and commercialization of agricultural commodities (Spedding, 1988). Consequently, innovation capacity in the agricultural system is defined as the ability of these actors and organisations to develop new and mobilise existing competences (including knowledge, skills and experiences) to continuously identify and prioritise constraints and opportunities for innovation in a dynamic systems context (Leeuwis et al., 2014).Following the typical system boundaries used in generic (i.e. nonagricultural) studies of innovation systems (Carlsson et al., 2002;Papaioannou et al., 2009;Wieczorek and Hekkert, 2012), we conceptualise the agricultural system as a combination of interrelated institutional, sectoral and technological subsystems. The institutional subsystem comprises different types of institutions, which are the formal and informal rules and structures that shape perspectives and practices (Leeuwis, 2004). In this paper we examine six types of institutions; policy, research, education and training, extension, markets and politics across different aggregation levels (e.g. national, regional or district) (e.g. Cooke et al., 1997;Freeman, 1988Freeman, , 1995)). The sectoral subsystem is defined around a commodity or segments of a value chain (e.g. rice or cocoa) (e.g. Blay-Palmer, 2005;Gildemacher et al., 2009). The analysis of the sectoral subsystem seeks to understand interactions between, for instance, access to credit, inputs and services, agricultural production, postharvest activities, trade, marketing and consumption related to the functioning of that value chain (e.g. Thitinunsomboon et al., 2008). Within the agricultural system, different sectoral subsystems can exist and interact. Technological subsystems are defined around an existing or novel technology (e.g. irrigation, mechanised weeding) or field of knowledge (e.g. integrated pest management) to address a particular problem that may well cut across different sectoral subsystems (Carlsson and Stankiewicz, 1991;Chung, 2012;Hekkert et al., 2007).The agricultural innovation support system provides the structural conditions that can enable (when present) or constrain (when absent or malfunctioning) innovation within the agricultural system and its subsystems (Klein Woolthuis et al., 2005;van Mierlo et al., 2010;Wieczorek and Hekkert, 2012) (Table 2). Structural conditions include (1) adequate knowledge infrastructure in the form of research, education and extension, physical infrastructure and assets such as roads and vehicles, and functional communication and finance structures, (2) institutions comprise clear regulatory frameworks and their proper implementation and enforcement, (3) interaction and collaboration between multiple stakeholders in the agricultural system, and (4) stakeholder capacities (e.g. literacy and entrepreneurship) and adequate human and financial resources (e.g. number of extension officers and funds for their backstopping). The analysis of the presence and functioning of these structural conditions contributes to a better understanding of what constraints or enables innovation capacity in the agricultural system (e.g. limited multi-stakeholder collaboration), as well as how the structural conditions provided by the agricultural innovation support system stimulate or hamper this (e.g. incentive structures for different stakeholder groups to collaborate).The set-up of the agricultural innovation support system may be good at supporting incremental 'system optimisation' that reproduce the current state of affairs, but less good at supporting 'system transformation' that can lead to radical innovations. For example, the presence of an effective top-down, technology-oriented agricultural extension system can enable the dissemination of crop protection solutions through a technology transfer approach. However, the existence of this system can form a constraint for the promotion of agro-ecological approaches through participatory, farmer-led experiments. Consequently, to achieve system transformation, both the agricultural system and the agricultural innovation support system should undergo continuous adaptation (Hall et al., 2004;Spielman, 2005).The integrated analysis of complex agricultural problems, innovation capacity of the agricultural system and the performance of the agricultural innovation support system can provide a coherent set of specific and generic entry points for innovation (Fig. 1). Specific entry points for innovations relate to those innovations that directly contribute to addressing the complex agricultural problem under study. Generic entry points for innovation related to strengthening the innovation capacity of agricultural system and the functioning of the agricultural innovation support system. For example, to reduce fruit waste in developing countries, existing technologies for conserving fruits can be adapted to fit the local context (specific entry point for innovation of the technological subsystem). This may trigger access to export markets (specific entry point for innovation of the sectoral subsystem) and require certification policies to supply such fruit export markets (specific entry point for innovation of the institutional subsystem). To support the development, implementation and enforcement of certification policies, the establishment of a national agricultural certification bureau may be required (generic entry point for innovation). The existence of such a bureau can provide an incentive for investing in the export of other agricultural products, for instance, vegetables, that, in turn, can trigger the development or adaptation of conservation technologies to reduce vegetable waste. The above example shows how structural adaptations of the agricultural innovation support system can enhance innovation capacity to addressing the complex agricultural problem under review (fruit waste), but can also have a spillover effect on addressing other complex agricultural problems (vegetable waste). Furthermore, the agricultural innovation support system can provide conditions that support innovation in the agricultural sector more generally, for instance through innovation policy or funding schemes that affect multiple institutional, sectoral and technological subsystems.RAAIS is a diagnostic tool that combines multiple methods of data collection. Building on existing experiences with rapid appraisal approaches and (participatory) innovation systems analysis, five criteria for the selection of methods have been identified.1. Methods should be diverse, rigorous, and be able to generate both qualitative and quantitative data. This enhances the credibility and strength of the analysis (Spielman, 2005). Qualitative data provide the basis for the identification and analysis of the different dimensions of complex agricultural problems, and structural conditions enabling or constraining the innovation capacity. Such data may also provide narratives regarding the underlying causes and historical evolution of constraints. Quantitative data analysis can build on this by providing (descriptive) statistics and trends on, for instance, the distribution of constraints across different levels, stakeholder groups or study sites. 2. Methods should facilitate both 'insider' and 'outsider' analysis.Insider analysis implies data analysis by stakeholders who can provide highly detailed explanations of specific phenomena based on their knowledge and experiences. However, insiders such as farmers or policymakers often have an incomplete or insufficient critical view of the broader agricultural system or the agricultural innovation support system. Consequently, it is important to complement insider analysis by outsider analysis of data by researchers (van Mierlo et al., 2010). By combining insider and outsider analysis, the delineation of the systems boundaries is done in a participatory way, by stakeholders and researchers. 3. Methods should be able to target different stakeholder groups across different levels. When studying complex agricultural problems, it is essential to include different groups of stakeholders, their perceptions on what constitutes the problem, and what are perceived feasible or desirable solutions (Faysse, 2006;Ortiz et al., 2013). 4. Methods should be able to target stakeholders individually, in homogeneous groups and in heterogeneous groups so as to capture individual, group and multi-stakeholder perceptions on problems and solutions. Discussion and debate in both homogeneous and heterogeneous stakeholder groups generally provide a rich analysis of complex problems and potential solutions. Furthermore, multi-stakeholder interaction may reveal asymmetric power-relationships that are necessary to understand innovation capacity in the agricultural system. On the other hand, power-relationships, group pressure, or mutual dependencies between stakeholders may result in situations where sensitive Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the dynamic interactions between complex agricultural problems (multiple dimensions, multi-level interactions and multi-stakeholder dynamics), innovation capacity of the agricultural system (including its institutional, sectoral and technological subsystems), and the structural conditions within the agricultural innovation support system that can enable or constrain innovation capacity in the agricultural system (infrastructure and assets, institutions, interaction and collaboration, and capabilities and resources). RAAIS provides insight into the current state of the system (on the left). RAAIS provides specific and generic entry points for innovation that can guide a transition towards the desirable state of the system (on the right) in which the complex agricultural problem is addressed, and the innovation capacity in the agricultural system has increased. Generic entry points for innovation can have a spill-over effect in terms of addressing other complex agricultural problems than the one under review.questions are avoided, or receive socially desirable responses. Methods that target stakeholders individually are more likely to provide insights in such questions (International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2014). 5. Methods together should provide sufficient detail on the complex agricultural problem under review, the innovation capacity in the agricultural system, and the functioning of the agricultural innovation support system (World Bank, 2012).Combining different types of methods and data collection techniques provides an opportunity to triangulate and validate data. Depending on the nature of the agricultural problem under review and the available resources and time, different types of data collection methods can be used for RAAIS, taking into account the above criteria for method selection.Based on the five criteria, four complementary methods for data collection were selected to be part of RAAIS (Table 3).Multi-stakeholder workshops mainly focused on the insider analyses of innovation capacity in the agricultural system and the structural conditions provided by the agricultural innovation support system. A participatory workshop methodology facilitates different groups of stakeholders to -individually and in homogeneous and heterogeneous groups -identify, categorise and analyse constraints for innovation in the agricultural system. Depending on the type of problem, workshops can be organised with stakeholders representing national, regional and/or district levels or, for instance, across different study sites where a specific problem is eminent. To keep the workshops manageable, and to stimulate interaction and debate, the participation of a maximum of 25 participants per workshop is proposed; for instance consisting of five representatives of the five different stakeholder groups in Table 1. As much as possible, each group should be a representative sample with respect to, for instance, gender, age, income, or ethnic groups. The workshops should be held in the language that all participants speak, and be facilitated by someone who is familiar with the cultural norms, has affinity with the problem, and understands the realities of the different stakeholder groups. The proposed workshop methodology consists of 13 Sessions subdivided into three categories, with each their own focus: (1) identifying constraints, (2) categorising constraints, and (3) exploring specific and generic entry points for innovation. Figure 2 and Table 4 provide an overview of the 13 Sessions, their sequence and relations, and their specific objective in RAAIS.Workshops are designed to take approximately 1 day. Besides the facilitator, a note-taker documents the outcome of the different sessions and captures discussions among participants. Workshop facilitation and note-taking protocols ensure that the workshop organisation, facilitation and documentation is standardized, which is essential for comparing or aggregating the outcomes, for instance, across different study sites.A crucial element in the workshops is the use of coloured cards. At the start of the workshop (Session 1), each of the stakeholder groups is assigned a different colour. During Session 2, each participant individually lists five constraints or challenges they face in their work and writes them down on their coloured cards. If five stakeholder groups are equally represented, this results in 125 cards. During Session 3, the participants discuss within their stakeholder groups the listed constraints, explore overlapping issues and jointly develop a stakeholder group top-5. If necessary, constraints can be reformulated based on discussions within the group. Each of the stakeholder groups use their top-5 throughout the rest of the  The use of the coloured cards facilitates the analysis of different sessions during and after the workshops. As the cards are coded and recycled throughout the successive sessions, photographs can be taken to capture the results (for example Photo 1 and 4). Such photographs can be analysed after the workshop, and can also be used to validate the note-taker's data. Furthermore, the cards provide insight into the relations between constraints identified by different stakeholder groups (Photo 2 and 3). Combining the results from different sessions can stimulate integrative analyses, for instance, combining data resulting from Sessions 5 and 6 provides insight in the structural conditions for innovation across different levels. Similarly, the outcome of Sessions 7 and 11 can be compared to triangulate the data, as both seek to identify key constraints for innovation in the agricultural system.To guide the semi-structured interviews, a topic list is prepared and fine-tuned for each interview. Using a topic list provides a degree of flexibility to identify and to anticipate interesting storylines related to the problem under review, and allows validation of data that was gathered during previous interviews or during the workshops. Interviews should take a maximum of 1 hour, ensuring a high level of attentiveness of both the respondent as well as the interviewer. Sampling of interview respondents should follow a stratified approach, to ensure that stakeholders representing different study sites, different stakeholder groups, and different administrative levels are included. Within those strata, respondents can be selected purposive or based on snowball sampling where interview respondents make suggestions for who else should be included in the sample (Russell Bernard, 2006). The sample size can be based on the concept of \"saturation,\" or the point at which no new information or themes are observed in the interview data (Guest et al., 2006). Interviews can be recorded and transcribed electronically. From an ethical point of view, interviewees should give permission for interviews to be recorded, and researchers should ensure confidentiality of all interview data. Recording may not always be desirable, as the voice recorder can create a barrier between the researcher and the respondent, especially when it comes to discussing politically sensitive issues. Instead of recording, detailed notes can be taken and transcribed electronically. The transcribed interviews can be coded. Ideally, interviews are conducted and coded by two researchers, which will enhance the quality of the analysis.Based on the workshops and the interviews, some of the constraints may be eligible for broader study among specific groups of stakeholders through the use of surveys. Such surveys may provide more insights in, for example, the socio-economic impacts of climate change on smallholder agriculture in specific regions, the quality of agricultural extension received by farmers in addressing complex agricultural problems, or access to agricultural inputs for male or female headed households. Surveys are not necessarily limited to farmers, but can also be conducted with any of the other stakeholder groups involved. For the data to be complementary, surveys should be completed in the same study sites as where the workshops were organised and among a representative sample of the targeted stakeholder group. To achieve that, a stratified random sampling strategy can be used to identify respondents across different study sites, levels or stakeholder groups. A (efficient) sampling method that allows for optimal allocation of resources can be used to determine the sample size (e.g. Whitley and Ball, 2002).Secondary data are written data with relevance for the analysis of the complex agricultural problem, innovation capacity of the agricultural system or the functioning of the agricultural innovation support system. Examples are policy documents, project proposals and reports, laws or legal procedures, project evaluations, curricula for agricultural education and training, (agricultural) census and organisational records such as charts and budgets over a period of time. The sampling of secondary data is not clear cut. Key agricultural documents such as agricultural policies or agricultural research priorities should be included. These documents can refer to other relevant data. Furthermore, secondary data is often provided during, or following interviews. Insights from secondary data can be verified in interviews with stakeholders (e.g. the extent to which policy is implemented and enforced).We tested RAAIS through a case study aimed at analysing constraints and opportunities for innovation to effectively address parasitic weeds in rain-fed rice production systems in Tanzania (April-October 2012) and Benin (June-August 2013). The results from RAAIS in Tanzania are elaborated in Schut et al. (2014c). Data were gathered across national, zonal, regional and district levels. Multistakeholder workshops (with 68 participants in Tanzania and 66 participants in Benin) were organised in three study sites (districts) in Tanzania and Benin where parasitic weeds are eminent. In-depth interviews were held with representatives of national-, zonal-, regional-and district-level representatives of farmer cooperatives and associations, NGO/ civil society, private sector, government and research and training institutes (42 in Tanzania, 65 in Benin). Across the three study sites in the countries, a socio-economic farmer survey (152 in Tanzania, 182 in Benin) was held to study the impact of parasitic weeds on rain-fed rice farming (see N'cho et al., 2014 for more information). In Tanzania, a farmerextensionist survey (120 farmers, 30 agricultural extension officers) was held to explore the effectiveness of the national agricultural extension policy across the three study sites (see Daniel, 2013 for more information). Additionally, for both countries, secondary data including crop protection, extension and general agricultural policy, national research priorities, agricultural census and agricultural training curricula were analysed. Data gathering and initial analysis took around three months for each of the countries, and involved two researchers. We first conducted the in-depth interviews, followed • To ensure an equal representation of participants over the different stakeholder groupsParticipants individually identify five constraints they face in their work• To make an inventory of general constraints in the agricultural system faced by stakeholders 3. Developing a top-5 of constraints in stakeholder groupsParticipants (1) discuss constraints within respective stakeholder group;(2) develop an stakeholder group top-5 of constraints;(3) present the top-5 to other stakeholder groups; and (4) discuss within and between stakeholder group(s)• To gain insights in the key constraints in the agricultural system as faced by different stakeholder groups• To create awareness and stimulate learning among stakeholders Categorising constraintsParticipants (1) categorise top-5 constraints as policy-, research-, education and training-, extension-, markets-and/ or politics-related;(2) present results to the other groups; and (3) discuss within and between the stakeholder group(s)• To gain insights in how key constraints relate to the different types of institutions (institutional subsystem)• To create awareness and stimulate learning between stakeholdersParticipants (1) categorise top-5 constraints along the structural conditions drivers of innovation (Table 2); and (2) discuss within and between the stakeholder group(s)• To gain insights in how the stakeholder constraints relate to structural conditions provided agricultural innovation support system and whether these enable or constrain innovation capacity • To gain insights in how key constraints relate to different institutional (administrative) levels• To identify and analyse interactions between different levels • To create awareness and stimulate learning between stakeholdersParticipants (1) jointly discuss and identify relations between the different constraints;(2) identify constraints or challenges that are central in the analysis; and (3) discuss within and between the stakeholder group(s)• To analyse relationships between different constraints • To identify key constraints • To create awareness and stimulate learning between stakeholders • Identify generic entry points for enhancing the innovation capacity in the agricultural system 8. Categorising constraints along the sectoral subsystemParticipants (1) categorise stakeholder group top-5 constraints along the segments of the value chain; and (2) discuss within and between the stakeholder group(s)• To analyse constraints along the sectoral subsystem • To create awareness and stimulate learning between stakeholdersParticipants (1) categorise top-5 constraints along different technological or knowledge fields; and (2) discuss within and between the stakeholder group(s)• To analyse constraints along different technological subsystems • To identify constraints that require collaboration between stakeholder groups• To create awareness and stimulate learning between stakeholders • Identify entry points for innovation in the agricultural system 11. Exploring constraints that are easy/ difficult to solve Participants: (1) categorise top-5 constraints as relatively 'easy' or 'difficult' to address; and (2) discuss within and between the stakeholder group(s)• To explore which constraints require system optimisation (easy to address) and those that require system transformation (difficult to address)• To create awareness and stimulate learning between stakeholders • To triangulate data with Session 7 (are key constraints perceived to be easy/ difficult to address)• Identify entry points for enhancing the innovation capacity in the agricultural system 12. Exploring constraints that are structural/ operational Participants categorise top-5 constraints along a four-step gradient, ranging from 'very structural', 'structural', 'operational' and 'very operational' challenges and constraints• To distinguish between structural constraints that require specific innovation, and more structural problems that require generic innovation.• To create awareness and stimulate learning between stakeholders • To triangulate data with Sessions 7 and 11 (relation between key constraints how these are perceived by stakeholders)• Identify generic entry points for enhancing the innovation capacity in the agricultural system 13. Identifying priorities and solution strategiesParticipants (1) jointly discuss and develop an overall top-5 of constraints; and (2) jointly identify potential strategies to address these constraints• To explore opportunities for addressing systems constraints through multi-stakeholder collaboration• To explore similarities and differences with the key systems constraints identified in Session 7• Identify key entry points for innovation by the multi-stakeholder workshops. In Tanzania, both the socioeconomic farmer survey and the farmer-extensionist survey were held after the interviews and workshops. In Benin, the socioeconomic farmer survey was held preceding the in-depth interviews and workshops. Secondary data collection occurred throughout the fieldwork. Below, we will further reflect on the main objectives of RAAIS, as well as provide recommendations for further improvements and use of RAAIS, using our experiences from Tanzania and Benin.RAAIS contributed to an integrated understanding of different problem dimensions, multi-level interactions, and multi-stakeholder dynamics related to parasitic weed problems. With regard to the different problem dimensions, interviews demonstrated a potential relation between, for example, the preference for growing local, aromatic rice varieties (social-cultural dimension), the low capacity of farmer to purchase certified seeds (economic dimension), and the spread of parasitic weed seeds through the local rice seed system (technological dimension). Additionally, analysis of workshop data revealed how the untimely and insufficient availability of agricultural inputs provided by the government (institutional dimension) and limited interaction and collaboration among networks of key stakeholders (political dimensions) form additional bottlenecks for addressing such problems. It created awareness that describing and explaining complex agricultural problems, and exploring and designing solutions is unlikely to be successful if the different problem dimensions are analysed and treated separately (Hall and Clark, 2010;Spielman et al., 2009).Data gathering across different levels (national, region, and district level) enabled the analysis of the interactions and (mis)matches between different levels (Cash et al., 2006). An example that emerged during the workshops and the interviews is Tanzania's national export ban, that prohibits export of agricultural produce (e.g. of rice) as long as the country has not been declared 'food secure'. This national export ban influences local market prices, and consequently, also farmers' willingness and ability to invest in, for example, purchasing agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and seeds (e.g. Poulton et al., 2010). This, in turn, provided an opportunity to identify entry points for innovation across different levels, which has been identified as a critical factor for addressing complex agricultural problems (e.g. Giller et al., 2008Giller et al., , 2011)). As expected, and confirming previous reports (e.g. van Mierlo et al., 2010), the participatory analysis of multi-level interactions showed that stakeholders (insiders) often identify constraints at the level they represent (Schut et al., 2014c). This was complemented by our analysis as researchers (outsiders) of the multi-level interactions regarding the parasitic weed problems. The involvement of different groups of stakeholders was essential for enhancing the credibility, validity and quality of RAAIS, as well as for delineating the boundaries of the agricultural system and the agricultural innovation support system, which is considered a key challenge when using AIS approaches to analyse complex agricultural problems (Klerkx et al., 2012b). Furthermore, stakeholder participation provided a better understanding of the feasibility and acceptability of solutions for stakeholder groups. Although we believe that the stakeholder groups included in the testing of RAAIS (Table 1) provide a good starting point, other stakeholder groups (for instance the media) may be included in the sample (e.g. Ortiz et al., 2013) depending on the type of complex agricultural problem under review. The triangulation of data resulting from the different methods enabled us to validate findings, and to verify strategic communication by stakeholders, for instance, to verify how the extension system as described by policymakers in interviews, functioned in reality according to surveyed farmers.RAAIS demonstrates interactions between complex agricultural problems, innovation capacity of the agricultural systemconsisting of institutional, sectoral and technological subsystems -and the agricultural innovation support system. For example, applying fertilizer (technological subsystem) in rain-fed rice production is seen as a promising management strategy to reduce infection levels of Rhamphicarpa, one of the parasitic weeds involved in the study, and mitigate negative effects of the parasite on rice yields (Rodenburg et al., 2011). However, as was highlighted during the RAAIS workshops in both in Benin and in Tanzania, fertilizers are difficult to access in rural areas. In Benin, there is no well-developed private agro-dealer network and distribution infrastructure to support the supply of agricultural inputs. Furthermore, interviews showed that the public extension and input supply systems in Benin focus on the cotton sector, rather than on cereal crops (sectoral subsystems). In Tanzania, a private agro-dealer network and distribution infrastructure exists, but structures controlling the quality of fertilizers (institutional subsystem) are functioning sub-optimally according to interviewed government officials. In some areas, fake agro inputs are dominating the market, resulting in a limited trust and willingness to invest in applying fertilizer according to farmer representatives who participated in the workshops. The example shows how the absence or poor performance of fertilizer distribution infrastructure, limited farmer-extensionist interaction and lack of functional institutions for quality control (being structural conditions for innovation) constrain the innovation capacity in the agricultural systems and its technological (in this case fertilizer) and sectoral (the rice value chain) subsystems. Another example is based on secondary data analyses that demonstrated the lack of an operational strategy to address parasitic weeds in Tanzania and Benin. In both the interviews and workshops, stakeholders highlighted the general lack of interaction and collaboration between stakeholders in the agricultural sector (being a structural condition for innovation) as one of the main reasons for the absence or poor implementation of parasitic weed and other agricultural policies and strategies.The aforementioned examples demonstrate how RAAIS can support the identification of generic entry points for innovation. Such innovations can directly contribute to addressing the complex agricultural problem under review, but can also have a spill-over effect in terms of addressing broader constraints that hamper the innovation capacity in the agricultural system. For example, the lack of stakeholder interactions and collaboration in the agricultural system can provide an entry point for the adaptation of the structural conditions in the broader agricultural innovation support system, for example through investments in innovation brokers or multi-stakeholder platforms (Kilelu et al., 2013;Klerkx et al., 2010). Such structural adjustments can facilitate multi-stakeholder collaboration in tackling parasitic weed as well as other complex agricultural problems.Based on our experiences in Tanzania and Benin, we recommend conducting RAAIS in an interdisciplinary team of researchers with expertise on different dimensions of complex agricultural problems and on different data collection methods (Hulsebosch, 2001). Other suggestions include the experimentation with other combinations of methods, and on different types of complex agricultural problems. The workshop methodology could be made more interactive, in the sense of directly feeding back results of the sessions to participants to stimulate reflection and validate analyses during the workshops. Post-workshop surveys could provide additional insight into whether stakeholders felt they could freely raise and discuss their ideas and needs.The multi-stakeholder workshops, but also the surveys, presented a rather static picture of the complex agricultural problem under review and the innovation capacity of the agricultural system in which the problem is embedded. However, initial workshops and surveys could function as a baseline, to which future workshops and surveys can be compared. Other methods such as secondary data analysis or in-depth interviews present a more dynamic image of how, for example, collaborations between stakeholders evolve over the years. Our experiences in Tanzania and Benin show that ensuring social differentiation among workshop participants, interviewees and survey respondents (e.g. of different gender of age) was challenging, as, for example, the majority of workshop participants were male. Specific Workshop Sessions could have more attention for categorisation and priority setting by different gender or age groups. The facilitation of the multi-stakeholder workshops ensured that different stakeholder groups could raise and discuss their ideas (Hulsebosch, 2001). Despite such efforts, unequal power relations and differences in the ability to debate and negotiate that inherently exist between groups may have played a role. In line with our expectations, politically sensitive issues were more freely discussed in individual interviews as compared to multi-stakeholder setting.The combination of different methods of data collection was essential. In terms of the sequence of data collection, we recommend to first conduct and analyse the RAAIS multi-stakeholder workshops to identify constraints, and subsequently conduct the in-depth interviews and surveys that can provide more insight in the distribution and underlying root causes of these constraints. The workshops then provide a 'fast-track' approach to identifying entry points for innovation, that can subsequently be validated and explored in more detail using the in-depth interviews and stakeholder surveys. This would furthermore increase the 'rapidness' of RAAIS as a diagnostic tool.An updated version of the RAAIS multi-stakeholder workshops has been used to identify constraints, challenges and entry points for innovations related to the 'sustainable intensification of agricultural systems' in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Nigeria and Cameroon under the CGIAR Research Programme for the Humid Tropics (Humidtropics) (Schut and Hinnou, 2014). Several of the recommendations made in this paper, including the revised sequence of methods for data collection and the use of post-workshop participant questionnaires, have been implemented and tested successfully. Some of the bottlenecks identified, such as social differentiation (e.g. gender and age groups) among workshop participants remained problematic and require further attention. At the end of the Humidtropics RAAIS workshops, participants developed action plans to address the prioritised constraints (Workshop Session 13). This required an extension of the workshops of half a day. The development and implementation of the action plans forms an important element for continued stakeholder collaboration in multi-stakeholder platforms.This paper demonstrates the potential of RAAIS as a diagnostic tool that can support and guide the integrated analysis of complex agricultural problems, innovation capacity in the agricultural system, and the performance of the agricultural innovation support system. RAAIS combines multiple qualitative and quantitative methods, and insider (stakeholders) and outsider (researchers) analyses which allow for critical triangulation and validation of the gathered data. Such an analysis can provide specific entry points for innovations to address the complex agricultural problem under study, and generic entry points for innovation related to strengthening the innovation capacity of agricultural system and the functioning of the agricultural innovation support system.Recommendations for further improvement include using RAAIS for the analysis of other types of complex agricultural problems, using other combinations of methods of data collection, and providing directly feedback to workshop participants to stimulate reflection and validate workshop outcomes. An adapted sequence of data collection methods in which workshops provide a 'fast-track' approach to identifying entry points for innovation, followed up by more indepth interviews and stakeholder surveys would increase the RAAIS' diagnostic capacity. The participatory development of concrete action plans based on RAAIS can provide a basis for continued multistakeholder collaboration to operationalise and implement specific and generic entry points for innovation."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4c62949cdc4de36d69b34db311924ff4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fd614df1-42e5-49b4-a62b-d7d6b84b66a0/retrieve","id":"-1102501073"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2e3fed6d-6354-4be7-8828-233adb9e4278","content":"In line with the monitoring and evaluation of the impacts of the East Africa Dairy Development Project (EADD) on farm level production in different seasons, a series of farm level surveys were carried out in selected sites of each project country. The first round of the survey in Uganda was conducted in July 2011. The results showed that costs of dairy production at that time were higher among the medium-scale farmers and also in the extensive production hubs (Table 1 and Table 2). Mortality of animals was a main contributor to the high cost of production. Other important cost components in various hubs included milk to calves and hired labour (EADD 2011). The second round of the monitoring of costs of milk production was conducted in the month of September 2012 in the same sites as the first round. The monitoring aimed to:1. Assess the costs of production and profitability of the dairy enterprise in 2012 2. Identify interventions that the EADD should target in order to enhance profitability of dairy farming in the project countries 1 Revenues used in calculation do not include cattle sales 2 Revenues used in calculation include sale of milk and cattleThe six project sites selected during the first round of the survey were used. Farming practiced in three of the sites was mainly intensive, while that in the other three sites was mainly extensive. Most of the farmers sampled in the first round of the survey were interviewed in the second round.In the few cases where farmers who participated in the first round were not available, replacement farmers within the vicinity and under similar farming conditions were requested to provide information for the survey. Small-scale farmers comprised those owning less than three cows in the intensive production systems and those owning less than 15 cows in the extensive production systems. Medium-scale farmers comprised those owning more than four cows in the intensive system and more than fifteen cows in the extensive system 3 . A total of sixty farmers were interviewed; twenty-seven from mainly intensive systems and thirty-three from mainly extensive systems (Table 3). An estimate of total milk production 3 months preceding the survey was obtained based on farmer recall using a carefully designed set of questions that captured milk production immediately after calving, and the milk production on the day prior to the interview. These were collected for every lactating cow at the time of the survey to estimate milk yield using the area under the lactation curve. Details of this calculation are provided in Annex 1.Two different scenarios were considered in calculating revenues, one which included revenue from the sale of the animal, and one in which this was not a factor. These are presented in Table 4. In the scenario that included cattle sales, an attempt was made to provide some insight into the effects of animal prices on profitability. It should be noted that cattle sales are infrequent, hence the scenario with sale of animals occurs less frequently. Milk given to calves and labourers was included as both an expense and revenue since it is a product of the farm. Milk sales were valued using prices from the corresponding marketing channels in a project site. The price reported for the hub was obtained as the mean price from the various market outlets in every hub. Milk consumed at home and milk given to labourers and to calves was valued at the same price as that of the nearest hub. Information on non-market benefits such as draught power, manure used in the farm and benefits derived from cattle as a form of savings and insurance were not collated in the survey, hence were not included in computation of revenue.Costs included in the analyses for the two different scenarios are presented in Table 4. To determine costs resulting from mortality within herds, the farmers were requested to provide information on the number of animals within different age classes that had died on their farms over the last six months. The proportionate mortality within the different animal categories is presented in table 5. The highest mortality within the period studied was among bulls (16.4%). Mortality of both male and female calves was also high (>10%). The cost of mortality was calculated using the mortality rate and the market price for each animal type within the different sites. Information on these prices was provided within the questionnaire. The total cost of mortality within a site was then calculated as the sum of the mortality costs over all animal types within the site. The cost of mortality per litre of milk produced was obtained by dividing the total cost of mortality by the total milk production over the last three months.Fixed costs included depreciation of machines, equipment, buildings, other cattle enterprise structures and their maintenance. Variable costs comprised of hired labour, feeds, animal health inputs, breeding costs, extension and milk transport. Cattle purchases were not included in computing expenses. Details of calculations are provided in Annex 2.Profits for the two scenarios presented in Table 4 were calculated as the difference between the revenues and the costs using partial budget analysis. Profitability was compared between hubs, farmers' scale of operation and production systems. Comparison of mean revenues, costs and profits was done between production systems and scales of operations using t-tests and anova to determine whether the means were significantly different. Descriptive statistics were used to show distribution of revenues, costs and profits across hubs. Under the first Scenario, farmers in half of the hubs (Buikwe, Ggulama and Kiboga) made profit per litre of milk produced (Table 6). The greatest contributor to the lower returns from the dairies was the high rate of mortality reported by the farmers in all the hubs. This was different from the first round of the survey as at that time the farmers were not requested to quantify the mortality. The highest costs resulting from mortality were incurred by farmers in Bbale (Ush 2570, Table 6).In this round of the study, farmers in Kiboga received the highest revenue and overall profit from their dairy enterprise. As in the first round of the survey, farmers using the more intensive system of production received higher average prices for every litre of milk (milk revenue, Table 6), while farmers in the extensive system received higher average revenues from cattle sales. The sale of manure was only noted in Bukwe and Bubusi hubs (Table 6). It was evident that farmers generate considerable revenue from sales of cattle. In all the hubs, profits were much lower when revenue calculated did not include that from sale of animals (Table 7). Farmers rearing animals under both intensive and extensive production systems incurred losses when revenue was considered as that from milk sales without taking into account animal sales. It was only in Ggulama hub that farmers made profits from revenue generated only through sale of milk. This result indicates the importance of cattle sales to profitability of dairy enterprises in Uganda. The proportional contribution of revenue from the sale of cattle to the dairy enterprise relative to that from milk sales is presented in Figure 1. Farmers in extensive production systems made relatively more income from cattle sales than from sales of milk, while farmers in more intensive production systems made relatively more revenue from the sale of milk than from the sale of animals. Revenues Differences in revenue due to scale of farming operation are presented in Table 8. Small scale farmers made more revenue from milk than the medium scale farmers (Milk sales, p<.01). Though the farmers also generated some revenue from the sale of manure, this was relatively low and not significantly different between small and medium scale farmers (Table 8). Although revenues from sales of cattle between the two systems were different, not all farmers in the two systems sold animals. Farmers practicing medium scale production however obtained higher revenues from sales of animals than small scale farmers.The medium-scale farmers incurred higher total costs per litre of milk produced than the small-scale farmers (Table 8). This was mainly due to significantly higher costs of milk spoilage, and higher Extensive System mortality costs within these systems (p<0.01). Small scale farmers on the other hand incurred higher cost from milk given to calves (P<0.05).In this round of the survey, under both Small scale and medium scale operations, the farmers made losses when profit was calculated using revenues from milk sales only (Table 8). The loss was higher for medium scale farmers. However, when profits were calculated using combined revenue from milk and cattle sales, small scale farmers generated some profit, however medium scale farmers still made an overall loss in their dairy enterprise (Table 8). Farmers from the extensive production system generated significantly higher total revenues when both milk and cattle sales were considered (p<0.05, Table 9). Within these systems, the farmers also generated higher revenues from cattle sales than farmers operating intensive production (p<0.01).In contrast, farmers from the intensive systems generated higher revenue from milk sales (p<0.01, Table 9), demonstrating the important role played by milk sales among the intensive system farmers and that of cattle sales among the extensive system farmers in enhancing profitability of the dairy enterprise.Farmers from the extensive production system incurred higher total cost per litre than those from the intensive system (p<0.05, Table 9). A main contributor to the costs in these systems was a high cost of mortality (p<0.01) and milk spoilage (p<0.01). In contrast, farmers from the intensive production system incurred higher costs from milk given to labourers (p<0.1) and to calves (p<0.01, Table 9).Farmers from both intensive and extensive production systems made losses when considering revenues from milk sales only (p<0.01, Table 9). This was a result of the high costs of mortality reported in both systems. When revenue was considered from both milk and cattle sales, farmers operating more intensive production made a profit, while those operating extensive production made losses. The loss made was however significantly lower than that made when only revenue from milk was considered Table9. The proportional contribution of various components to the costs of dairy production within the different hubs where farmers practiced intensive production are presented in Figure 2. Within these hubs, mortalities, purchased feeds, hired Labour, animal health and calf milk were the major drivers of cost. Within these systems, the EADD project team needs to focus its efforts towards reducing these cost components when devising interventions to reduce cost of producing milk. Interventions that EADD is undertaking to improve feeding practices should be scaled out. Improved animal health practices also need to be emphasized to reduce expenses related to mortalities. Interventions to improve calf management also need to be scaled out to other project areas so as to reduce the cost that farmers are incurring on calf feeding.The proportional contribution of various factors to the costs of dairy production within the different hubs where farmers practiced more extensive production are presented in Figure 3. In these systems, high mortality rates are a major contributor to costs in all the hubs. Additionally, Hired labour, animal health and milk spoilage also reduced farmers' profits.Interventions to reduce mortality costs should be employed in all hubs. Better milk handling practices should also be emphasized in Kiboga and Kinyogoga to reduce losses from milk spoilage.The study showed that the cost of milk production was higher among the medium-scale farmers and also in the extensive production hubs similar to the findings from the first round of the survey. A major contributor to the costs of production was a high animal mortality rate. The project needs to fast-track efforts geared towards management of animals at different stages of growth, and improvement of animal health in order to reduce cattle mortalities. Both access to animal health services and capacity development of producers in areas of management and health are critical.Strategies that EADD is implementing to improve feeding practices and avail feeds during dry seasons by utilizing the wet season surplus should be promoted in all hubs to assist farmers cut down on cost of feed and reduce fluctuations in feed availability on the farms. Likewise, interventions geared towards improvement of calf management and feeding need to be scaled out so as to reduce the cost that farmers are incurring on calf milk especially in intensive production system where demand for milk is high and farmers could be tempted to underfeed the calves. In select hubs, milk handling needs to be improved in order to reduce its spoilage. Cattle sales played a major role in enhancing revenue especially among the medium-scale farmers and for those practicing more extensive production. Conversely, revenue generated from milk sales was higher among small-scale farmers and those practicing the intensive production. Information on the actual productivity per individual animal within all the systems would assist in determining where the greatest interventions are required in both intensive and more extensive systems in order to improve profitability of dairy production and improve household incomes in the targeted populations.The difference in results on costs of production from the second round of the survey relative to the first demonstrate annual variations in revenues and costs of raising dairy animals within the different areas of the country. A regression was done for milk production levels the day preceding the survey and at calving against time, for the different breeds. Lactating cows were grouped into two categories per breed; Those whose current lactation length is greater or equal to three months  Those whose current lactation length is less than three months The area under the lactation curve was calculated for these categories to get three months milk yield estimates. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fdd9e7ce1d232f43e0650642ef174445","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5299bc61-bd58-462a-8a5c-c76be3f9066a/retrieve","id":"-835739009"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"233265ea-b7df-4059-8571-bca17c280457","content":"An important debate is currently under way among researchers and policy makers about the relative merits of using organic versus inorganic fertilisers to improve soil fertility in semiarid areas of subSaharan Africa. Environmentalists argue that use of inorganic fertiliser contributes to natural resource degradation and recommend use of organic fertilisers as a means of promoting sustainable agriculture. Opponents of this view maintain that a more rapid introduction of inorganic fertilisers is required in subSaharan Africa where current levels of use are extremely low, even when compared with other developing countries.This debate has important implications for agricultural intensification and sustainable development in the Sudanian and SaheloSudanian agroecological zones of semiarid West Africa. This paper assesses the profitability of using inorganic fertiliser and constraints posed on its use in the semiarid farming systems of West Africa. It argues that under current conditions in these regions, organic and inorganic fertilisers are complements and not substitutes. The critical requirement for improving food production in these regions is to increase the use of inorganic fertiliser. Government policies need to support fertiliser importation and diffusion with conducive policies.Introduction of improved varieties alone does not constitute a sustainable strategy and rather results in the mining of soil nutrients. Furthermore, the fact that both soil fertility and water are limiting agronomic constraints also acts as an obstacle to adequate provision of water when fertiliser is also not applied. Another dimension of the problem relates to the food security risk that inorganic fertiliser purchases pose for vulnerable farm households faced with frequent rain and crop failure.Notwithstanding the above, under existing farming conditions in the Sudanian and SaheloSudanian zones of semiarid West Africa, imported inorganic fertilisers are the only technically efficient and economically profitable way to overcome prevailing soilfertility constraints. Until wider experimentation makes them more successful, alternative soil fertility measures, such as organic fertilisers and natural rock phosphate, should be seen as complements to not substitutes for imported inorganic fertilisers.Field data from a Sudanian site in the Central Plateau of Burkina Faso and a SaheloSudanian site in the Niamey region of Niger serve to evaluate the profitability and potential diffusion of fertiliser technologies in representative sites of semiarid West Africa.The site in Burkina Faso is a small farm area where pearl millet and sorghum are principally cultivated. Crop allocation is adjusted to topographical differences in soil fertility and waterretention capacity, with crops tolerant of low soil fertility and drought stress being planted on the sandier, less fertile soils higher in the toposequence. Cereal yields are low because of low fertiliser usage. Population pressure has broken down the traditional bush fallow rotation system in much of the Central Plateau.The site in Niger is characteristic of a densely populated landshortage system, with low, variable rainfall, but good market access. Rainfed agriculture with millet/cowpea intercropping predominates in the area though there is some limited irrigation. With the current lowcashinput rainfed practices, wind erosion and increasing population density, rainfedland quality has been declining and more marginal land has been brought into cultivation. Intensification of irrigated activities has taken place, but not of rainfed activities. Population pressure and increasing profitability of agriculture are pushing for a shift from extensive to intensive production practices.Wholefarm model results for the two study sites demonstrate that differences in rainfall and soil characteristics in the Sudanian and SaheloSudanian agroclimatic zones require specific technology strategies to overcome the water availability constraint.In the higherrainfall Sudanian zone with its heavier soils, the new technologies are tied ridges (water retention device reducing runoff) and fertiliser use. Fertiliser can be used on sorghum land, but increases in income are not as great as those for tied ridges alone. However, the adoption of tied ridges in the absence of inorganic fertiliser is not a sustainable solution because increasing water use by plants will cause soil nutrients to be mined. It follows that inorganic fertiliser needs to be combined with the water retention device. In addition, policies are required that moderate cereal price collapses in goodrainfall years so as to maintain the profitability of inorganic fertiliser and encourage its use.In the SaheloSudanian zone, improved shortcycle cultivars can be adopted profitably, or in combination with phosphorus (P) fertiliser. However, in combination with both nitrogen (N) and P fertiliser adoption of shortercycle varieties does not result in increased incomes. Shortcycle early cultivars provide some drought escape and lower production risk, especially in low rainfall years. Without a means of maintaining soil fertility, however, the use of improved cultivars will lead to further mining of soil nutrients. A stepwise approach of P fertiliser adoption with improved shortcycle varieties, is therefore proposed as a first step. Later, both N and P can also be adopted once improved longercycle varieties are developed by breeders [this breeding strategy has now been adopted by INRAN (the National Agricultural Research Institute of Niger) and the International Crops Research Institute for the SemiArid Tropics (ICRISAT). This approach will contribute to relieving water and soil fertility constraints, while at the same time generating higher incomes and profits.The model results presented support the importance of the rapid introduction of inorganic fertiliser in semiarid West Africa. This could be strengthened by the improvement in the macroeconomic environment and liberalisation of domestic economic policies currently under way in the French currency countries. West African governments can facilitate this process by making the importation of inorganic fertilisers easier for the private sector and by enabling, rather than resisting, higher domestic cereal prices for farmers to profit from fertiliser use and intensify their production.For more information on this issue see: Shapiro B.I. and Sanders J.H. 1998. Fertilizer use in semiarid West Africa: Profitability and supporting policy. Agricultural Systems 56(4):467-482."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b911893861cec7e62aee94eb6de261e3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1a7acd9e-2f0e-40e7-9848-dba03623b93a/retrieve","id":"-149776544"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"189cd89c-02b9-496d-bd50-ec0629ca047f","content":"Overcoming challenges to digital agribusiness start-ups and promising ways to overcome them. Challenges covered include access to finance, knowing the customer base, sourcing data, access to technical, business and management skills and support, the policy environment, what farmers need, languages and formats, trust, and data ownership and privacy. The recent CTA workshop on 'catalysing actionable knowledge to enhance next-generation ACP agribusiness through digitalisation' identified five intersecting drivers that explain what farmer-oriented agribusinesses expect to achieve by investing in digitalisation: reduced risk, raised productivity, increased efficiency, improved decisions, and enhanced market access. Participants argued that digital interventions all serve one or more of these, depending on specific local needs and situations. A critical factor underpinning what works in all these areas is the economic sustainability of the business models used to deliver value and services. This brief by Wietske Kropff, Valarie Pilgrim and Paul Neate introduces a set of business-plan challenges faced by digital agribusiness start-ups in ACP countries Experience capitalisation series17 CTA Technical BriefOvercoming challenges to digital agribusiness start-ups Experience capitalisation series 2Digital agriculture -the use of data and information technologies to increase the efficiency and profitability of agriculture and related value chains to deliver more and better food -has transformed agriculture and food production in North America, Europe and Australasia. But we need to deliver its benefits to small-scale operations in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) to help these regions deal with the challenges they are facing.Agriculture globally is facing enormous challenges. Key among these is the prospect of feeding nearly 10 billion people by 2050 in the face of climate change and increasing shortages of land, water and other inputs. To do this, agriculture needs a major shot in the arm -and digital agriculture offers the possibility of providing this.But digital agribusiness is an emerging sector in the ACP, and those trying to introduce it face enormous challenges to deliver impacts at scale while making a profit. This brief, based on findings from a recent workshop with ACP entrepreneurs and practitioners, outlines some of these challenges as a contribution to discussions about how to bring about the next agricultural revolution -the digital agricultural revolution.A big problem that all start-ups face is access to finance, and the digital agriculture sector is no different. Most digital agriculture startups in ACP countries depend on financing from the development sector to get started. This has its challenges. This finance is by its nature very short term and usually targeted to support during only a pilot phase -not to the longer-term commercial growth of the business. It is also largely directed towards developmental rather than commercial objectives. This creates something of a conundrum. The clients who are most likely to be able to pay for services and inputs are larger farmers and traders, who see this as an investment rather than as a cost. But developmentoriented donors are looking for interventions that will raise small-scale farmers and businesses out of poverty -and these are clients who are likely to be highly risk-averse and unwilling to pay for inputs and services that are less than a 'sure thing.' Maybe one way to address this is for projects to pursue multiple revenue streams. For example, one digital agriculture project in West Africa is generating only 20% of its revenue from small-scale farmers -its target audience. The other 80% comes from selling the data it is gathering about the farming sector to financial institutions and other businesses that want to target the agricultural sector.Getting financing to scale up operations is also a major challenge, especially for businesses operating in emerging sectors such as digital agriculture. Banks and financial institutions have little knowledge or experience in these new areas and see them as highly risky. Businesses in their early years will struggle to demonstrate the kind of longterm financial history that many investors are looking for.There are also some not-so-typical costs associated with starting and scaling up a digital agriculture enterprise. Such businesses have to invest in collecting and analysing data on the performance and impacts of the technology that they are employing and in using the results to refine their business proposal and to provide investors with evidence of the development impact and financial viability of the business. These objectives often conflict and the picture is complicated by the fact that many digital agriculture businesses have found that they have to be opportunistic and pursue multiple revenue streams in their early years in order to cover their costs -small-scale farmers and businesses are not willing or able to pay much for services, especially when their benefits are unproven. This 'blurs' their core business model, which can put off investors -but so does lack of income. More needs to be done by organisations like CTA, the CGIAR and the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development to make development donors and other investors aware of the realities of pushing the frontiers of digital agriculture and to encourage them to be more flexible in assessing the investment potential of such projects.The issue of financing also links in with possibly the single most important aspect of developing a new product or serviceknowing you customer. This is one of the major data gaps that digital agriculture start-ups face -lack of reliable background data on potential clients, their needs and their circumstances (especially their financial circumstances and ability and willingness to pay for services). Without these data, it is difficult to formulate a good business model that has a realistic chance of becoming a sustainable business. And yet gathering such Experience capitalisation series 3 Overcoming challenges to digital agribusiness start-upsdata is an area that donors are reluctant to fund because the return on investment is not immediately obvious.There are numerous examples where farmer profiling and the like is paying dividends, including the likes of NUCAFE and Igara Tea in Uganda. Not only have these brought benefits to the client group through delivery of tailored products and services, they are also piquing the interest of the agribusiness sector and financial institutions, who also need to know more about these potential clients to improve their own business intelligence. Some enterprises have already found that these data can become the basis for alternative revenue streams that can cross-subsidise the delivery of their core product to farmers.On the topic of data, digital agriculture start-ups often face challenges in accessing the data they need to deliver their services. Some key data are lacking, such as the detailed soil and vegetation maps commonly available across Europe and North America. Even weather data may be restricted and closely regulated -in some countries, for example, the government meteorological agency has monopolistic control over access to and dissemination of weather data. Digital agriculture initiatives have to invest heavily in generating their own data or buying it from commercial sources and finding ways to work around existing constraints, adding to their costs and challenges.As with any 'bleeding edge' initiatives anywhere in the world, digital agriculture entrepreneurs in the ACP are unlikely to find people with all the skills that they need. For example, several start-ups that are using drones in Africa found that they could not find trained -or even amateur -drone pilots. The only way forward was for them to identify the types of skills and experience that make someone a good prospect as a drone pilot and then to develop their own training programme. This is an additional expense that start-ups have to plan for (and that they themselves do not necessarily have the skills to implement).Running a business is tricky for anyone, and even more so for those just starting out.All businesses need marketing and other business management expertise and business support services, but these are not always easy to come by. Start-ups also benefit from mentoring and coaching, but again this support is rarely available in ACP countries.A strong entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem, including incubators, accelerators, corporate venture capital, angel investors and the like significantly increases the probability of new businesses succeeding. Establishing such an ecosystem is going to require an integrated approach involving the public and private sector to put all these pieces in place.While there has recently been growing interest in supporting entrepreneurial development, both among governments and among donors, many budding entrepreneurs find that finding staff with even basic literacy and numeracy skills is a challenge and this can constrain the development of their business. This highlights the ongoing need for public-sector investment in education at all levels. There is also a strong potential role here for incubators, accelerators, mentoring schemes and other initiatives to support business skills development at local levels.This is the elephant in the room. You have an idea for a great product that will change people's lives; you have clients that want it, and a business plan that shows how you will make a go of it. But what about the policy environment? This is a real issue for emerging technologies like those used in digital agriculture -many are so new that the policy environment has not caught up with them. For example, few ACP countries have policies and legislation in place that govern the use of drones in the agricultural sector. And changes can come in at any time, changing the basis on which businesses operate. In some cases these can be positive. For example, Uganda introduced new regulations on savings and credit cooperatives that imposed strict financial reporting requirements. This provided a boost for Ensibuuko, which provides a financial management and reporting package for such operations, as it created a demandfor this type of product. It also raised the profile of the sector in the eyes of investors. However, changes can also be negative, such as if a new tax is introduced on, for example, mobile money transactions.Businesses operating in the digital agriculture space have to be flexible and ready to deal with this rapidly changing environment. Some have taken a proactive approach, engaging with government officials and others who will influence these developments, keeping them up to date with developments in the sector and feeding them a constant stream of positive messages about the benefits of these technologies. This can have positive results, but is a considerable overhead and risk to the emerging business.Henry Ford famously said, \"If I had asked [my customers] what they had wanted, they would have said a faster horse.\" Farmers and others engaged in the agricultural value chains may not be aware of the potential of some of the technologies behind the current digital agriculture revolution, so there may be a case for such Fordian bluesky thinking in this sector. But this comes with its own challenges: Will your potential customers recognise the 'problem' that you are addressing? Will they be willing or able to pay for your solution? Do they have and know how to use the technology on which your solution is based (smart phone or feature phone, tablet, computer)?This depends on a number on other factors, including coverage of telecommunications infrastructure (which commonly declines rapidly the further one gets from major centres of habitation) and literacy generally and digital literacy in particular. One successful digital agriculture start-up stated that 80% of their marketing effort is expended on educating their audience about fundamentals, such as how to use a mobile phone to send and receive texts, and only 20% on their product per se. This will have to be borne in mind when planning marketing efforts.Language is also a major consideration. What language should your system work in? Should it be text-based, or does your target clientele want any messages in spoken or graphical form?This is a key question in planning your 'marketing' strategy. Do they trust government extension agents, or local traders, or do they look to innovative farmers in their community, for example? Are there existing farmers' organisations or trade bodies that would be a conduit to reaching a large number of possible target clients with your marketing efforts?Trust is also a very big issue when dealing with client data, such as in farmer profiling. This is a new area to many people, who will be unfamiliar with the risks and issues relating to giving people access to information about themselves and their operations. Clients will want to know how their data will be used, and who will have access to them. Digital agriculture businesses will need to be open and above board about these and spend time gaining the trust of their clients. Few ACP countries have legislation in place yet concerning data privacy, and digital agriculture businesseswill be at the forefront of dealing with this emergent issue.So you have your product and you have your target clientele. The next challenge is to build your customer base, and to persuade them to pay for your services. This is where many start-ups founder. With so many donors supporting so many initiatives in the digital agriculture space, farmers and others along the value chain are being inundated with offers for exciting new services, many of which will be free of charge. Many, if not all, are initially unproven and require a leap of faith from the client. Donors and entrepreneurs need to be mindful of the conditions that signal that the enterprise is on a path to sustainability (strategic linkages, access to competitively priced inputs, size of client base, revenue, policy environment) and design projects that include activities that are directly aimed at helping the digital agriculture start-up to achieve these conditions. Some start-ups have used the pilot phase of their operation to offer their services free of charge to their target audience, and then phased in charges once the users have seen the benefits for themselves. The start-up will have to make this clear to its clients from the beginning and provide a clear indication of the likely scale of the fees if it is not to lose the trust of its clientele when it tries to introduce fees.As noted elsewhere, other operations have pursued multiple revenue streams, such as charging low fees to their target audience and supplementing this income by selling their market intelligence to other businesses who might want to target the same audience, e.g. banks, input suppliers and the like. This has parallels in the e-commerce world but must be handled carefully to ensure that the operation does not fall foul of data privacy legislation or lose the trust of its clientele.Other projects have delivered their services through farmers' organisations or cooperatives, with the fee for the services being bundled up with membership fees. This has some promise as an approach, as the services -once shown to provide real benefits -add value to the membership of the organisation providing them, and the data generated through profiling of its members becomes a strong bargaining chip for negotiating with buyers and sellers of other goods and services.Whatever the approach adopted, success will not come overnight. As the head on one successful digital agriculture start-up said, \"The journey is long and painful. If you don't have patience and resilience, you will not succeed.\"The world needs digital agriculture to take off if we are to meet the challenges of feeding a growing population without destroying the environment or the world in which we live.Governments, educational institutions, research and development agencies, donors, investors and others each have vital roles to play in creating a business environment in which digital agriculture entrepreneurs can thrive.The challenge now is to transform the many challenges into opportunities, and the opportunities into a reality for digital entrepreneurs, small-scale farmers, traders and others in the developing world.CTA Technical Briefs document experience and learning in topical issues of interest to the ACP agricultural development community. They are intended as a practical guide for people involved in an issue professionally or for people with a strong interest in the topic.Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation P.O. Box 380 -6700 AJ Wageningen -The Netherlands Tel: +31 (0) 317 467 100 | E-mail: cta@cta.int | www.cta.int"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ea61aabbe05f5da114759d01d9148e61","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/da012526-6131-4e1d-bb1a-b2b48b5196bf/retrieve","id":"1317987446"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1bfb5e7f-293f-48cb-8a04-8cb4a3159925","content":"Click here for DOI Hello! Welcome to Issue #17 of Climate Insights, the Climate Impact Platform's fortnightly roundup of the latest publications on climate change impacts and adaptation, mitigation measures, and the physical science from the literature. We're tracking trending topics in the climate space and linking them to our work for a food secure future with a brief comment on the implications of this new research on our own portfolio of climate research for development.Here's your roundup from the last week:How do household crop and livestock production adapt to extreme climatic events? -Insights from a typical agro-pastoral ecotone on the Qinghai Tibet Plateau Zhang, Hailin, et al. (2024), How do household crop and livestock production adapt to extreme climatic events? -Insights from a typical agro-pastoral ecotone on the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, Environmental Science & Policy.The increased threat of more frequent extreme climatic events (ECEs) poses significant challenges to household crops and livestock production, exacerbated by their weak adaptability. To explore ways to improve households' adaptation awareness and behaviors, a typical agro-pastoral ecotone on the northeastern Qinghai Tibet Plateau (QTP), Gonghe Sandy Land (GSL), was selected as the study area. This study analyses the impact of ECEs, and the adaptation measures taken by households, and innovatively includes the perception of government services from households in the factor system to identify the key driving mechanism of coping strategies. The results revealed that (1) 74.07 % of households experienced an extreme drought, and livestock production was 29.63 % more affected than crop production was; (2) households adopted different adaptation strategies with weather forecasts being the prevailing measure among households for crop (25.93 %) and livestock (42.33 %) production adaptation; and (3) different strategies are key to improving adaptive capacity. The study ound that production experience sharing, demographic and economic coordination, and early warning system and support by the government can increase farmers' awareness of adaptation strategies. While enhancing cognitive levels regarding measures, optimizing a household's health, rationally allocating assets, and increasing timely and stable government services can improve adaptive behaviors.Alliance Bioversity and CIAT developed a Targeting Tool that facilitates the combination of different climate risk indicators, including bioclimatic variables, risk of droughts, floods, heat stress, flooding and waterlogging, into risk hotspot maps. Through the characterisation function of the tool, users can estimate the extent to which people, animals, and crops are exposed to climate risks and identify priority areas for adaptation action.Navigating seasonality in cotton-based farming systems in southern Mali Dissa, Arouna, et al. (2024), Navigating seasonality in cotton-based farming systems in southern Mali, Climate Risk Management.Smallholder farmers' livelihoods follow predictable and cyclical patterns related to annual cycles of weather, crop and animal production and market fluctuations. Understanding seasonality forms an essential part of unravelling farming systems behaviour and performance, especially in contexts with strong seasonality, such as southern Mali. This study aimed to understand farmers' management decisions to cope with weather variability and related consequences. The study used a case study approach to analyse temporal interactions between farming system components using data collected over three consecutive years (2017)(2018)(2019).Farmers undertook diverse production activities, which helped to mitigate negative consequences of crop failure. While providing opportunities for increased adaptive capacity, this diversity also creates interdependencies among farming system components, leading to reinforced positive outcomes in good years and negative outcomes in bad years. The findings suggest that a better understanding of farm management decisions and the influence of seasonality is key to support farm productivity and to expand the adaptive capacity of smallholders. The findings suggest that policies aiming to support farm productivity should pay attention to the specific impediments faced by farms with different resource endowments to adapt to changes. Especially, access to credit helps poorer farmers not only to navigate the seasonal food and cash constraints but also to escape poverty traps.The production and trade of agricultural commodities like cotton is a major driver of the loss of tropical biodiversity. In this paper, CGIAR scientists at CIMMYT explored the linkages between the profitability of cotton and land-use changes in Zimbabwe.Fisheries track the future redistribution of marine species Cruz, Leonardo, et al. (2024), Fisheries track the future redistribution of marine species, Nature Climate Change.The redistribution of fish stocks induced by climate change is expected to have global implications for fisheries, particularly the poleward shifts of species. However, the responses of different fishing gears and fleet of countries and their potential attempts to spatially redistribute catches remain unknown. Here, by developing environmental niche models for industrial fisheries of 82 countries and 13 fishing gears, the authors demonstrate that without management, global fleets are expected to shift poleward by the end of the century. This is driven by polar fishing gears moving to higher Arctic areas and tropical fishing gears expanding both within the tropics and poleward. Most nations, particularly tropical ones, may struggle to track these shifts, as they largely rely on coastal and nearshore fishing gears, such as trawlers. The findings highlight the need to consider future shifts of fisheries in their management, to ensure the long-term sustainability and accessibility of fish stocks.CGIAR strives to engage the \"tropical majority' , recognizing that challenges to its sustainability are predominantly faced in LMICs in the tropics. This paper co-authored by CGIAR scientists at WorldFish outlines four key actions to achieve equitable and effective ocean conservation and aquatic food system sustainability. The authors provide a more comprehensive understanding of the environmental and social constraints on CDR, ensuring that climate mitigation efforts do not compromise biodiversity, ecosystem services, or human well-being.The CGIAR Climate Impact Platform held a webinar on adaptation and carbon dioxide removal in a warming world. The discussion included the need for expanding land-based carbon dioxide removal. Carbon sequestration on agricultural land, albeit long-time neglected, offers substantial mitigation potential. Here the authors project, using an economic land-use model, that these options offer cumulative mitigation potentials comparable to afforestation by 2050 at 160 USD2022 tCO2 equivalent (tCO2e−1), with most of it located in the Global South. Carbon sequestration on agricultural land could provide producers around the world with additional revenues of up to 375 billion USD2022 at 160 USD2022 tCO2e−1 and allow achievement of net-zero emissions in the agriculture, forestry and other landuse sectors by 2050 already at economic costs of around 80-120 USD2022 tCO2e−1. This would, in turn, decrease economy-wide mitigation costs and increase gross domestic product (+0.6%) by the mid-century in 1.5 °C no-overshoot climate stabilization scenarios compared with mitigation scenarios that do not consider these options. Unlocking these potentials requires the deployment of highly efficient institutions and monitoring systems over the next 5 years across the whole world, including sub-Saharan Africa, where the largest mitigation potential exists.The CGIAR Initiative on Low-Emissions Food Systems (Mitigate+) aims to offer a comprehensive and evidence-based view of national land use, agricultural production, diet, and food system emissions in various countries, including Kenya,and explore possible pathways that reduce emissions while enhancing food security, nutrition, livelihoods and preserving the environment in these countries.Okoli, Adaugo, et al. ( 2024), Monitoring soil carbon in smallholder carbon projects: insights from Kenya, Climate Change.Voluntary carbon market schemes facilitate funding for projects promoting sustainable land management practices to sequester carbon in natural sinks such as biomass and soil, while also supporting agricultural production. The effectiveness of VCM schemes relies on accurate measurement mechanisms that can directly attribute carbon accumulation to project activities. This study evaluates nine different approaches for SOC accounting in smallholder agricultural projects. The approaches involve the use of proximal and remote sensing, along with process models. The evaluation centres on stakeholder requirements for the Measurement, Reporting, and Verification system, using the criteria of accuracy, level of standardisation, costs, adoptability, and the advancement of community benefits. By analysing these criteria, the authors highlight opportunities and challenges associated with each approach, presenting suggestions to enhance their applicability for smallholder SOC accounting. The contextual foundation of the research is a case study on the Western Kenya Soil Carbon Project.In this paper, CGIAR scientists at Alliance Bioversity and CIAT the added value of soil organic carbon quality measurements alongside total organic carbon content. above ambient significantly reduced the S, K, and Fe levels and altered the multi-element ratio, with different elements behaving differently. This shift in pollen multi-element composition may have subsequent cascading effects on higher trophic levels. To assess the impact on bees, the authors calculated the stoichiometric mismatch (a measure of the discrepancy between consumer needs and food quality) for two bee species, Osmia bicornis (red mason bee) and Apis mellifera (honey bee), that consume oak pollen in nature. They observed stoichiometric mismatches for P and S, in pollen under eCO2, which could negatively affect bees. They highlight the need for a comprehensive understanding of the changes in pollen multielement stoichiometry under eCO2, which leads to nutrient limitations under climate change with consequences for bees.In this U.S. News & World Report featured study, IFPRI, Harvard University, and other institutions analyse the consequences of bee pollination loss on human health.Ren, Shaoting, et al. ( 2024), Observed and projected declines in glacier albedo across the Third Pole in the 21st century, One Earth.Glaciers are crucial water resources in the Third Pole (the Tibetan Plateau and its surroundings) and are shrinking in response to climate change. Glacier albedo is an expression of glacier interactions with climate and dust/black carbon, and albedo reduction enhances glacier mass loss, but its changes and potential drivers remain poorly quantified. The authors everage satellite observations to explore the variability of glacier albedo and understand its sensitivity to potential drivers and its future evolution. The authors find that glacier albedo has declined during 2001-2020, but high interannual variability is also an important signal. These variations are ighly sensitive to air temperature and snow conditions and to nearby dust/black carbon emission sources. Future changes to these drivers will lead to further decreases of 2.9%-12.5% in glacier albedo by 2100 under different warming scenarios. These findings highlight the importance of albedo in glacier future evolution and the urgency of action to mitigate climate warming.At an event co-hosted by IWMI and USAID, experts warn that rapid melting of glaciers in Pakistan's north could turn the Indus River seasonal, endangering 240 million lives.Amin, Md. Mushaddiqul Islam, et al. (2024), Assessing effects of agriculture and industry on CO2emissions in Bangladesh, PLOS Climate.This study investigates the impact of Bangladesh's industrialization, agriculture, and imports on CO2emissions, exploring both linear and asymmetric relationships to inform sustainable development strategies. Advanced modeling techniques, namely autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) models are used to evaluate the impact of Bangladesh's agricultural and industrial sectors on CO2 emissions. Long and short-run coefficients are assessed using linear and asymmetry ARDL models, revealing that industrialization contributes to increased carbon emissions in Bangladesh. While the ARDL model reports that the effect of agriculturalization on CO2 emissions is insignificant in the long-run, the asymmetry ARDL model suggests a rapid reduction in carbon emissions due to agriculturalization, observed both in the long and short-run. Additionally, imports have considerable impact on carbon emissions. Diagnostic tests have confirmed the adequacy of the model, while stability tests have validated the estimated parameters' stability. Finally, the direction of association between variables is determined by applying linear and nonlinear Granger causality tests. This study underscores the importance of promoting sustainable industrial practices, enhancing agricultural efficiency, and regulating imports as pivotal strategies for mitigating CO2 emissions and achieving enduring environmental sustainability in Bangladesh.CGIAR's 2024 Breakthrough Agenda Report -Agriculture focuses on opportunities to scale up clean technologies to reduce emissions from enteric methane and from the production and use of fertilizers -the two subsectors with the highest emissions in the agrifood sector.Taillardat, Pierre, et al. ( 2024), Carbon dynamics and inconstant porewater input in a mangrove tidal creek over contrasting seasons and tidal amplitudes, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta.Constraining the contribution of mangrove-derived carbon in tidal creeks is fundamental to understanding the fate of mangrove primary production and the role of mangroves as coastal carbon sinks. Porewater measurements and 24-h time series in a mangrove tidal creek were conducted during the dry and wet season, and over contrasting tidal ranges at the Can Gio Biosphere Reserve, Vietnam. Surface water carbon concentrations (dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2)) and their respective δ13C values were correlated with radon, suggesting that porewater input drives mangrove-derived carbon in the tidal creek. Based on three complementary mixing models, porewater input contributed to about 30% of the water volume and 46% to 100% of DOC and DIC pools in the tidal creek at low tide, with variabilities between seasons and tidal amplitudes. Tidal amplitude seemed to influence porewater input and its carbon loads, with a higher contribution during frequent and high tidal amplitudes (symmetric). However, the highest input occurred in a tidal cycle which was preceded by tidal cycle of low amplitude (asymmetric). The authors explain this ambiguity by the influence of both, rapid water turnover intensifying porewater exchange, and long water residence time enhancing carbon load in porewater.In addition to acting as carbon sinks, mangroves can also boost food security and nutrition Researchers from the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) along with partners are gathering evidence of just how much mangroves contribute to local diets and livelihoods.Li, Keke, et al. (2024), Human-altered soil loss dominates nearly half of water erosion in China but surges in agriculture-intensive areas, One Earth.Soil erosion is a major land degradation process, threatening global agricultural sustainability and carbon cycling. Although geomorphic evidence confirms that human activities have significantly accelerated soil erosion, to what extent humans have altered soil erosion and how to attribute it to different land use changes and economic activities remains uncertain at the national scale. Here, by developing an integrated modeling framework to assess human-altered soil erosion (HASE) by water and its drivers, the authorsestimate that nearly half of the total water erosion in China is dominated by HASE, rising to over 90% in agriculture-intensive areas. Household consumption emerges as a major hidden factor driving HASE.Conversely, human efforts, such as soil conservation practices like terraces, have effectively mitigated soil erosion. The findings provide a starting point to evaluate the magnitude of human intervention in soil erosion at the regional or global scale, highlighting the importance of controlling accelerated soil erosion from a coupled social-ecological perspective.This Alliance Bioversity and CIAT authored paper found that the high erosion potential of the soils can be attributed more to high rain erosivity than soil erodibility.Understanding the impact of elevated CO2 and O3 on growth and yield in Indian wheat cultivars: Implications for food security in a changing climate Mishra, Ashish Kumar, et al. (2024), Understanding the impact of elevated CO2 and O3 on growth and yield in Indian wheat cultivars: Implications for food security in a changing climate, Environmental Pollution. The criteria for recommending cultivars for agricultural practices should not be based only on their sensitivity/tolerance to O3. Still, they should also consider the effect of CO2 fertilization in the growing area. This experiment offers hope to sustain global food security, as the O3-sensitive wheat cultivar also showed promising results at elevated CO2. In essence, this research could pave the way for more resilient agricultural systems in the era of changing climate under elevated O3 and CO2 conditions.CIMMYT is revolutionizing wheat breeding, using cutting-edge AI and genetic diversity to develop varieties that yield more and can withstand environmental stresses. Compiled and written by Laura Rabago, with contributions from Suzie Marshall and Aditi Mukherji. If you are publishing a climate-related paper and would like to be featured, please email Laura Rabago (l.rabago@cgiar.org).CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to transforming food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis. Its research is carried out by 13 CGIAR Centers in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations and the private sector. www.cgiar.orgWe would like to thank all funders who support this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund: www.cgiar.org/funders.To learn more about this Initiative, please visit this webpage.To learn more about this and other Initiatives in the CGIAR Research Portfolio, please visit www.cgiar.org/cgiar-portfolio.© 2024 Climate Impact Area Platform. Some rights reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International Licence (CC by 4.0)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5bf5bb4d84dce9c628fe1bde71b3a5e5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/5eaadf98-de53-43ee-8abe-6386e8b015af/content","id":"-1398495349"},"keywords":["Soft wheat","Wheats","Food production","Temperature resistance","Climatic factors","Precipitation","Climatic zones","Climatology","Ethiopia. AGRIS category codes: P40 Meteorology and Climatology","E14 Development Economics and Policies Dewey decimal classification: 633.1"],"sieverID":"f4dbd322-5f74-4a23-872b-2ac1bbd3b8a1","content":"CIMMYT® (www.cimmyt.org) is an internationally funded, nonprofit, scientific research and training organization. Headquartered in Mexico, CIMMYT works with agricultural research institutions worldwide to improve the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of maize and wheat systems for poor farmers in developing countries. It is one of 16 food and environmental organizations known as the Future Harvest Centers. Located around the world, the Future Harvest Centers conduct research in partnership with farmers, scientists, and policymakers to help alleviate poverty and increase food security while protecting natural resources. The centers are supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org), whose members include nearly 60 countries, private foundations, and regional and international organizations. Financial support for CIMMYT's research agenda also comes from many other sources, including foundations, development banks, and public and private agencies.Future Harvest® builds awareness and support for food and environmental research for a world with less poverty, a healthier human family, well-nourished children, and a better environment. It supports research, promotes partnerships, and sponsors projects that bring the results of research to rural communities, farmers, and families in Africa, Asia, and Latin America (www.futureharvest.org).12 Map 5. Areas of Ethiopia where precipitation is over 350 mm, the mean minimum temperature is between 6 O and 11 O C during the wettest quarter of the year, and the growing season is 9 months or less.The additional dark areas receive between 300 and 350 mm of precipitation during the wettest quarter of the year.12 Map 6. Areas of Ethiopia where precipitation is over 350 mm, the mean minimum temperature is between 6° and 11°C during the wettest quarter of the year, and the growing season is 9 months or less. The additional dark areas have mean minimum temperatures between 11º to 13°C during the wettest quarter of the year. Precipitation and temperature limits were tested further by comparing them to climatic conditions at 180 wheat germplasm collection sites in Ethiopia.Results suggested a similar lower limit for precipitation and minimum temperature range, but a higher upper limit for minimum temperature range, although many collections were made at lower sites (for example, along major roads and in markets) that are warmer than actual wheat growing areas.Examining the potential for wheat cropping in drier or warmer environments, it was found that allowing production in areas with as little as 300 mm of precipitation during the wettest quarter resulted in the addition of a small area, primarily in the southeast near the Sinana research station. In contrast, raising The primary data source for the climatic analyses were the climate surfaces for Africa developed by Corbett (1994) using thin plate smoothing splines (Hutchinson 1995). In this technique, monthly mean data for precipitation and temperature are The DEM had a 2.5 arc-minute grid size, which is roughly equivalent to a 5 km x 5 km grid size for regions near the equator. In addition to the basic climate variables, the set of surfaces includes data for potential evapotranspiration (PET) and ratios of precipitation to PET (P/PET). These variables are provided both on an annual basis and for various season models, including an optimal season defined as the five-month period with the highest value of P/PET and the wettest quarter defined as the three consecutive months with the greatest precipitation.Climate data for long-term monthly means at specific sites were obtained from the FAO climate database for Africa (FAO 1984). A list of the locations considered in the current study is given in Table 2; the locations are also shown in Map 1.Zones for climate and site similarity within Ethiopia were defined using the Ethiopia Country Almanac (ECA), a component of the Country Almanac Series of CD-ROM-based data sets and tools for manipulating spatial data (Corbett et al. 1999).  August was allowed.In Ethiopia, wheat is grown primarily as a rainfed crop by smallholders in the highlands (Map 1). In most of the country, only a single wheat crop is grown during the second, longer rainy season (meher) which usually starts in June (Fig. 1). The short rains Bread wheat accounts for roughly 60% of total wheat production and nearly all cultivars are derived from modern, semi-dwarf wheats. Durum wheat accounts for most of the remaining 40%, although emmer wheat (T. dicoccum L.) is also grown. Bread wheat is produced at slightly higher elevations and on better drained soils than durum wheat, which is primarily found on poorly drained Vertisols (Hailu 1991).Wheat production constraints include low soil fertility, grass weed infestations, waterlogging in Vertisol areas, and water deficits in short season areas (Tanner et al. 1991). Stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis) is common at higher elevations (> 2,400 m); stem rust (P. graminis f. sp. tritici) is more problematic at midelevations (2,000-2,400 m) (Bekele and Tanner 1995).as a promising option for southeastern Ethiopia (Tanner et al. 1994). In the Bale zone of Oromiya Region, the belg rains are sufficiently long and reliable for wheat or other crops. Double cropping could reduce the negative effects of the current practice of alternate season fallows: a continuous crop cover would reduce erosion; alternating crops would help control weeds; and human and animal power could be used more efficiently.  To provide an independent estimate of appropriate temperature and rainfall ranges for wheat production zones, values for precipitation and mean minimum temperature during the wettest quarter were obtained for 180 bread wheat germplasm collection sites in Ethiopia (Map 4). It is notable that most collection points fell within the derived wheat production zone.These data also support the lower limits of 350 mm for precipitation and 6°C for minimum temperature (Fig. 2A) used to develop our wheat distribution map.However, the upper limit for minimum temperature proved more problematic, with about half the collection sites exhibiting minimum temperatures over 11°Cand nine sites having values over 15°C. Comparing minimum temperature with elevation (as estimated from the 5 km digital elevation model, not as reported with the germplasm collection data) showed that some collections came from locations well below the suggested 2,000 m limit (Fig. 2B). Further inspection of passport data for bread wheat accessions suggested several possible explanations for these discrepancies.Most accession data did not include information on the type of collection, but in cases where this information was recorded, the seeds often came from markets.Thus, in many cases, samples may have come from locations lower than where their source crops were actually grown. It is also possible that some locations were erroneously recorded. Hijmans et al. (1999) noted that geographic coordinates reported for collection sites exhibit high error rates.The described results must also be qualified in  Because water deficits and warm night temperatures seemed to be key factors delimiting bread wheat production areas in Ethiopia, potential new areas for bread wheat production were identified by assuming that technologies could be developed to allow wheat to be grown in drier or warmer environments. For drier conditions, such technologies might include more drought tolerant cultivars, supplemental irrigation from small catchments, or agronomic practices-such as reduced tillage and residue retention-that reduce runoff. Growing wheat under warmer conditions might require cultivars with greater heat tolerance as well as resistance to pathogens that prevail under warmer conditions (e.g., Helminthosporium sativum).Applying the assumption that wheat will grow in areas receiving as little as 300 mm during the wettest quarter resulted in a surprisingly small addition (4%) to the potential wheat production area (Map 5). In contrast, a shift in adaptation to include areas with 2°C warmer minimum temperatures (e.g., up to 13°C) substantially increase potential wheat area (Map 6). The actual impact on total wheat area is impossible to estimate: zones that meet climate criteria may have unsuitable soils or topography or already be used for other, more profitable agricultural pursuits. However, as a rough indicator, increasing the minimum temperature limit by 2°C expanded the potential area suitable for wheat production by 108%.These results seem counter-intuitive, given the popular conception of Ethiopia as an arid, droughtprone country. The principal explanation is that, in terms of wheat cropping and ignoring year-toyear variation, the Ethiopian highlands (to which the wheat crop is so well-adapted) represent a relatively humid environment. Precipitation during the wettest three months is usually well in excess of PET (Table 3; Fig. 1). The ranges of precipitation, PET, and temperature limits used in these similarity analyses (+/-50 mm and +/-1°C) merit examination. The intention was to use a range corresponding to yield differences that are detectable in field trials. For potential grain yield levels of 3,000 to 4,000 kg/ha, this might represent a yield difference of 300 kg/ha. Using 10 years of weather data at Kulumsa, simulations were run to evaluate wheat yield response to precipitation and temperature (Fig. 3). Reducing precipitation from the mean of 540 mm to 490 mm over the growing season decreased yields 430 kg/ha, whereas an increase of 50 mm raised yields 345 kg/ha (Fig. 3A).Reducing the maximum and minimum temperatures during the growing season 1ºC (for a growing season mean at Kulumsa of 16º C) increased wheat yields about 140 kg/ha (Fig. 3B). This was attributable mainly to a slight delay in maturity (120 days vs. 115 days for the actual weather). Increasing temperatures 1ºC decreased wheat yields 130 kg/ha, whereas an increase of 2ºC reduced wheat yields 270 kg/ha.These simulated results suggest that the limits used to define site similarity zones are probably conservative.Figure  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ba11c0c71831dd09c3ac6e051fd8ca0f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f8b6bb44-ec81-4f3b-b45b-e6e03c2a6faf/retrieve","id":"105939102"},"keywords":["Ceratonia siliqua L","2 Carob tree","Ceratonia siliqua L"],"sieverID":"35c87c08-5db9-4198-82c7-982151b78c67","content":"and Ukraine. IPGRI's mandate is to advance the conservation and use of plant genetic resources for the benefit of present and future generations. IPGRI works in partnership with other organizations, undertaking research, training and the provision of scientific and technical advice and information, and has a particularly strong programme link with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Financial support for the research agenda of IPGRI is provided by the Governments of Australia,Humanity relies on a diverse range of cultivated species; at least 6000 such species are used for a variety of purposes. It is often stated that only a few staple crops produce the majority of the food supply. This might be correct but the important contribution of many minor species should not be underestimated. Agricultural research has traditionally focused on these staples, while relatively little attention has been given to minor (or underutilized or neglected) crops, particularly by scientists in developed countries. Such crops have, therefore, generally failed to attract significant research funding. Unlike most staples, many of these neglected species are adapted to various marginal growing conditions such as those of the Andean and Himalayan highlands, arid areas, salt-affected soils, etc. Furthermore, many crops considered neglected at a global level are staples at a national or regional level (e.g. tef, fonio, Andean roots and tubers, etc.), contribute considerably to food supply in certain periods (e.g. indigenous fruit trees) or are important for a nutritionally well-balanced diet (e.g. indigenous vegetables). The limited information available on many important and frequently basic aspects of neglected and underutilized crops hinders their development and their sustainable conservation. One major factor hampering this development is that the information available on germplasm is scattered and not readily accessible, i.e. only found in 'grey literature' or written in little-known languages. Moreover, existing knowledge on the genetic potential of neglected crops is limited. This has resulted, frequently, in uncoordinated research efforts for most neglected crops, as well as in inefficient approaches to the conservation of these genetic resources.This series of monographs intends to draw attention to a number of species which have been neglected in a varying degree by researchers or have been underutilized economically. It is hoped that the information compiled will contribute to: (1) identifying constraints in and possible solutions to the use of the crops, (2) identifying possible untapped genetic diversity for breeding and crop improvement programmes and (3) detecting existing gaps in available conservation and use approaches. This series intends to contribute to improvement of the potential value of these crops through increased use of the available genetic diversity. In addition, it is hoped that the monographs in the series will form a valuable reference source for all those scientists involved in conservation, research, improvement and promotion of these crops.This series is the result of a joint project between the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) and the Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK). Financial support provided by the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of Germany through the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) is duly acknowledged. The carob tree has been grown since antiquity in most countries of the Mediterranean basin, usually in mild and dry places with poor soils. Its value was recognized by the ancient Greeks, who brought it from its native Middle East to Greece and Italy, and by the Arabs, who disseminated it along the North African coast and north into Spain and Portugal. It was spread in recent times to other Mediterranean-like regions such as California, Arizona, Mexico, Chile and Argentina by Spaniards, to parts of Australia by Mediterranean emigrants and to South Africa and India by the English.The carob tree is an important component of the Mediterranean vegetation and its cultivation in marginal and prevailing calcareous soils of the Mediterranean region is important environmentally and economically. Traditionally, grafted carob trees have been interplanted with olives, grapes, almonds and barley in lowintensity farming systems in most producing countries. Carob pods with their sugary pulp are a staple in the diet of farm animals and are eaten by children as snacks or by people in times of famine. However, currently the main interest is seed production for gum extraction. Kibbled pods have been shipped from producing countries to all over Europe. Because of low orchard management requirements the carob tree is suitable for part-time farming and shows potential for planting in semi-arid Mediterranean or subtropical regions. The trees are also useful as ornamentals and for landscaping, windbreaks and afforestation. Cattle can browse on leaves and the wood is suitable for fuel.World production is estimated at about 310 000 t/year produced from some 200 000 ha with very variable yields depending on cultivar, region and farming practice. Spain is the leading carob producer, producing on average 135 000 t/year (MAPA 1994), followed by Italy, Portugal, Morocco, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Algeria and some other countries. A full account of the main carob-producing areas is presented in section 10.Carob has been neglected with respect to both cultural practices and research and development. Apart from a few classic works written by interested scientists like Rullán and Estelrich (1882), Bassa (1896) and Lleó (1901) in Spain, Pereira (1900) and Da Matta (1952) in Portugal, Russo (1954) in Italy, Mitrakos (1988) in Greece, Orphanos and Papaconstantinou (1969) in Cyprus, and various reports especially from Israel (Goor et al. 1958) and the United States (Condit 1919), references on this crop are scarce. We have tried to review most of the work published over the last 100 years and make useful information available to producers, processors, students, scientists and amateurs.The information presented in this publication has been compiled within the context of the carob Research & Development programme conducted at IRTA-Mas Bové since 1984; this has two main aims. The first was to collect and study the genetic resources available in the Mediterranean region and other production areas -IRTA's carob germplasm collection is the widest in the world with over 90 introductions under evaluation. The second aim was to assess the potential yield of this crop when grown in modern orchards with minimum management -a nonirrigated trial in Tarragona, Spain, with 12% of pollinators andwith 500 mm of annual rainfall, is yielding about 5000 kg/ha of pods 10 years after planting.This monograph describes the genetic resources of carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) and reviews various aspects of its taxonomy, botany, origin, ecology, properties, uses, diversity and breeding. In addition, a full account of the crop production areas, agronomy, limitations, market, prospects and research needs is presented. An important scope of this work is to contribute to the conservation of the diversity of the cultivated carob and wild relatives. Thus exchange of information as well as germplasm is made possible. The authors hope that the thriving features, current situation of the genetic resources, potential prospects and research needs of carob as a plant and crop for Mediterranean regions are clearly presented.The carob tree grows as a sclerophyllous evergreen shrub or tree up to 10 m high, with a broad semispherical crown and a thick trunk with brown rough bark and sturdy branches (Fig. 1). Leaves are 10-20 cm long, alternate, pinnate, with or without a terminal leaflet. Leaflets are 3-7 cm long, ovate to elliptic, in 4-10 normally opposite pairs, coriaceous, dark green and shiny above, pale green beneath and finely veined with margins slightly ondulate, and tiny stipules. The leaves are sclerophyllous and have a very thick single-layered upper epidermis, the cells of which contain phenolic compounds in the large vacuoles, and stomata are present only in the lower epidermis and arranged in clusters (Mitrakos 1988). Relevant parts of the plant are shown in Figure 2. Carob does not shed its leaves in the autumn but only in July every second year, and it only partially renews leaves in spring (April and May) (Diamantoglou and Mitrakos 1981).The carob is a dioecious species with some hermaphroditic forms; thus male, female and hermaphrodite flowers are generally borne on different trees. Unisexual and bisexual flowers are rare in the inflorescence. The flowers are initially bisexual, but usually one sex is suppressed during late development of functionally male or female flowers (Tucker 1992a); dioecy is not common among Leguminosae. In evolutionary terms, unisexuality is generally regarded as a derived character from bisexual ancestral state.  Flowers are small and numerous, 6-12 mm long, spirally arranged along the inflorescence axis in catkin-like racemes borne on spurs from old wood and even on the trunk (cauliflory). Flowers are green-tinted red. Flowers show pentamerous symmetry with calyx but not corolla placed on a short pedicel. The calyx is discshaped, reddish-green and bears nectaries. Female flowers consist of a pistil (6-8.5 mm) on a disk and rudimentary stamens, surrounded by 5 hairy sepals. The ovary is bent, consisting of two carpels 5-7 mm long and containing several ovules. The stigma has 2 lobes. Male flowers consist of a nectarial disk with 5 stamens with delicate filaments surrounded by hairy sepals. In the centre of the disk there is a rudimentary pistil. Hermaphrodite flowers are a combination of both types, containing a pistil and a complement of 5 stamens. Pollen grains released from the anthers are of spheroidal shape and are tetracolpate (Ferguson 1980). Pollen diameter is 28-29 µm at the poles and 25-28 µm at the equator (Ferguson 1980;Linskens and Scholten 1980).The fruit is an indehiscent pod, elongated, compressed, straight or curved, thickened at the sutures, 10-30 cm long, 1.5-3.5 cm wide and about 1 cm thick with blunt or subacute apex (Fig. 3). Pods are brown with a wrinkled surface and are leathery when ripe. The pulp comprises an outer leathery layer (pericarp) and softer inner region (mesocarp). Seeds occur in the pod transversally, separated by mesocarp (Fig. 3). They are very hard and numerous, compressed ovate-oblong, 8-10 mm long, 7-8 mm wide and 3-5 mm thick; the testa is hard and smooth, glossy brown, the hilum minute.The haploid chromosome number of Ceratonia is n=12 and differs from other Cassieae (base number n=14) according to Goldblatt (1981), who suggested it might be aneuploid. Many basic aspects of carob reproductive biology, such as floral biology, pollination compatibility between different sexual types and also cultivars, and flowering and fruiting phenology remain largely unknown. However, progress has been made by McLean Thompson (1944), Russo (1954), Schroeder (1959), Meikle (1977), Leshem and Ophir (1977), Haselberg (1988), Passos de Carvalho (1988), Linskens and Scholten (1980), Retana et al. (1990Retana et al. ( , 1994)), Bosch et al. (1996), Ortiz et al. (1996) and Rovira and Tous (1996). In carob, Condit (1919) reported the tree ratio of female to male is about 50:50 including a few hermaphrodites.Floral morphology of carob is complex. Meikle (1977), from literature and observed specimens in Cyprus, summarized five types of inflorescences:• male, the flowers having long filaments and abortive pistils • male, the flowers having short filaments and abortive pistils • hermaphrodite, the flowers having fully developed stamens and pistils • female inflorescences, the flowers with abortive staminodes and fully developed pistils • polygamous inflorescences, some of the flowers male, some female and some hermaphrodite. Schroeder (1959) grouped into five floral classes 59 carob cultivars growing in California based on the expression of their sex throughout the season. The five groups were: pistillate, pistillate with occasional perfect flowers, perfect with occasional staminate flowers, perfect and staminate. He reported that while adult trees maintained their floral types, young trees showed variation in the development of stamens. The provision of pollinators will prove to be essential for cultivars in the first three groups in order to ensure adequate commercial fruit set. He also noted that cultivars that were hermaphrodite early in the season showed some tendency toward pistil development failure later in the season.A simple carob inflorescence type classification would be:• male inflorescences (Fig. 4a)• female inflorescences (Fig. 4b)• hermaphrodite inflorescence (Fig. 4c). Hillcoat et al. (1980) reported from the available material of C. oreothauma that flowers are either purely male or female with minute, completely sterile, primary anthers. Thus variation in sexuality and morphology of flowers of this species is not as wide as in the cultivated carob.It is difficult to find carob trees of all flower types in naturalized populations of the same area. In the Mediterranean Spanish coast, female and male types are common and hermaphrodite forms rare. However, hermaphrodites are more frequently observed in the Eastern coast of Spain than in the South or in the Algarve in Portugal (Batlle and Tous 1994). In the Balearic Islands the frequency of hermaphrodites is higher than in the Iberian peninsula.There are many different forms of males, but the two main types observed in Italy, Portugal and Spain are often locally named after their anther colour as 'Red' or 'Yellow'. This feature has proven to be insufficient for their classification as it is determined independently of other flower characteristics (Haselberg 1988). It appears that blooming of 'Red' males is more extended than that of 'Yellow' males.The carob is the only Mediterranean tree with the main flowering season in autumn (September-November), similar to many truly tropical plants. However, the time and length of the flowering period depends on local climatic conditions as in most fruit and nut trees. In very hot places male and female trees have been observed in full bloom during June (Leshem and Ophir 1977). Its blooming period in some places overlaps partially with that of the loquat tree (Eriobotrya japonica). The extended flowering season in carob compensates for the unstable weather at that time of the year, and ensures that at least some flowers will be pollinated in a spell of good weather and insect activity. Ceratonia oreothauma flowers in March and April in its native places in which was first reported (Hillcoat et al. 1980). Thus hybridization between both species is only feasible artificially.Pollen transport from staminate to pistillate flowers is effected by insects, mainly bees, flies, wasps and night-flying moths (Retana et al. 1990(Retana et al. , 1994;;Ortiz et al. 1996) but also by wind (Passos de Carvalho 1988;Tous and Batlle 1990). Flowers of all three sexes secrete nectar, though volume of nectar and sugar content is higher in female flowers than in male (Ortiz et al. 1996). Male and hermaphrodite flowers emit a semen-like odour which attracts insects. Different insect groups tend to visit flowers at different hours. Bees are scarce in autumn when carobs are blooming, both in number of species and individuals. How far windborne pollen is effective is unknown, but isolated female trees have produced light crops. Currently, the role of the wind on carob pollen transport is being re-emphasized (Martins-Louçâo et al. 1996a).The developmental stages of both female and male flowers are six and five, respectively, and were first defined and described by Haselberg (1988) (Fig. 5). Flowering and fruiting phenology of some male, female and hermophrodite cultivars have been studied by Retana et al. (1994) and Bosch et al. (1996). Development of inflorescences is more protracted in female and hermaphrodite cultivars (2 months or more) than in male ones (1-1.5 months). So two Spanish female cultivars ('Negret' and 'Rojal') bear inflorescences in as many as six developmental stages, whereas 'Red' and 'Yellow' male trees never carry inflorescences of more than four developmental stages (Retana et al. 1994). Ferguson (1980) reported up to 36% of morphologically abnormal pollen grains in male plants of carob, although this appeared to be unrelated to a reduction in pollen fertility. Sfakiotakis (1978) observed high pollen germination variability in vitro among wild male trees in Crete, their germination percentages ranging from 4.3 to 69%. However, Ciampolini et al. (1986) found less difference in pollen germinability: from 5.2 to 38.6% in males and from 7.1 to 26% in hermaphrodite types. Some pollen abnormality also occurred in C. oreothauma (Ferguson 1980). Leshem and Ophir (1977) reported higher levels of endogenous giberellins in the leaves and inflorescences of female than of male carob trees. In addition, they observed that the switch from vegetative to generative growth in both the male and the female may be associated with a low concentration of endogenous gibberellins in June in a multi-hormone complex (auxin, ethylene, etc.) presumably needed for flower induction. They also found that vegetative spring growth is related to enhanced giberellin activity. Although physiological differences between male and female trees have been described, further research is needed.Female and hermaphrodite inflorescences carry a mean of 17 and 20 flowers, respectively, but few produce a pod and only a small proportion of inflorescences set more than two fruits (Retana et al. 1994). Bosch et al. (1996) found low pod initiation (from 12 to 38%) of 'Negra' and 'Rojal' flowers. The overall fruit set is normally around 3-5% in Italian, Portuguese or Spanish cultivars (Russo 1954;Haselberg 1988;Rovira and Tous 1996). Bosch et al. (1996) observed fruit set to be from 1 to 11% in two consecutive years. Haselberg (1996) observed fruit set of 1% and even 0.05% in years of profuse blooming in 'Mulata'. Haselberg (1996) found a positive correlation between flower intensity and fruit drop and also that pods with a low number of seeds aborted more frequently.Shedding of carob flowers and young fruits occurs mainly from October to December, then slows down during January-February and rarely occurs from June to early August (Bosch et al. 1996;Rovira and Tous 1996). Bosch et al. (1996) observed pod shedding of 59-90% and that it takes place mainly in spring. They reported that on larger inflorescences of the two female cultivars, higher rates of fruit initiation, fruit set and seed set per flower occurred than on smaller inflorescences. Haselberg (1996) reported that variations in flowering intensity and pod yield are likely to be more influenced by endogenous factors related to alternate bearing than by climatic conditions.However, unfavourable environmental conditions may significantly reduce yield by fruit set reduction, thus increasing production risk in marginal growing sites. Ilahi and Vardar (1976) determined that carob pod development follows a sigmoidal growing curve like many other fruits (Fig. 6) and could be divided into three stages. During stage I (slow growth), after fertilization in October and during autumn and winter, the bean shows hardly any weight (fresh and dry) increase. Stage II (fast growth) starts at the beginning of spring when the pod enters an active period of growth (April to June). In stage III the fruit grows slowly, ripens and starts becoming dry in June and changes colour from green to brown. Bosch et al. (1996) reported a similar pattern of pod growth. The pod matures after some 10 months. The green pods are much heavier than the ripe ones, containing about 70% water whereas pod water content at maturity is about 12-18%. The centre of origin of C. siliqua is not clear. It was placed by De Candolle (1883) and Vavilov (1951) in the eastern Mediterranean region (Turkey and Syria). However, Schweinfurth (1894) regarded carob as native to the highlands of southern Arabia (Yemen). More recently it has been considered by Zohary (1973) as originating from a xerotropical Indo-Malesian flora, grouping it with Olea, Laurus, Myrtus, Chamaerops and others and placing the origin of its genus also on the Arabian peninsula. Ceratonia oreothauma, the only known carob-related species, is considered to have its centre of origin in southeast Arabia (Oman) and around the African horn (north of Somalia) (Hillcoat et al. 1980).Climatically the centres of origin of the subfamily Caesalpinoideae were warm and moist initially, but after the Cretaceous period vast drying and elevation of the lands occurred so that cooler, much drier, even desert, conditions evolved. Other caesalpinioid legumes are mainly tropical and subtropical (Cowan 1981). In addition, Mitrakos (1988) suggested that the carob tree seems to have evolved under a climate other than Mediterranean.The original distribution of C. siliqua is not clear as it has undergone extensive cultivation since ancient times. Hillcoat et al. (1980) suggested its range in the wild included Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, southern Jordan, Egypt, Arabia, Tunisia and Libya and that it moved westward at an early stage. Carob is believed to have been spread by the Greeks to Greece and Italy and then by the Arabs along the coast of northern Africa into the south and east of Spain, from where it migrated to the south of Portugal and the southeast of France. Its wild occurrence in the western Mediterranean is doubtful according to Zohary (1973). Spontaneous carobs occur in many places around the western Mediterranean basin but they are regarded as feral derivatives of the fruit crop which probably evolved under domestication.As a food source, carob pods could be stored and transported long distances. In most of the Mediterranean region wild and naturalized carobs are distributed in more or less the same geographic and climatic belt as the cultivated. Forms of spontaneous carobs are particularly common at low altitudes along the Spanish Mediterranean coast, southwest Spain, southern Portugal, the Balearic Islands, southeast France, the shores of southern Italy including Sicily, the Adriatic coast of Croatia, the Aegean region in Greece and Turkey, along the northern and southern ranges of the isle of Cyprus, in the islands of Malta, in the maritime belt of Lebanon and Israel, the north and south of Morocco and the coastline in Tunisia. The proposed centre of origin and world distribution of carob are presented in Figure 7.The carob tree was likely introduced into the United States from Spain by the US Patent Office in 1854. In the 1950s W. Rittenhouse and J.E. Coit promoted this species in California and introduced budwood of selected cultivars from Cyprus, Israel, Tunisia, Greece, Yugoslavia, Crete, Portugal, Italy and Spain. Seedling trees grown for shade on the streets of cities in southern California and Arizona were selected for commercial production on the basis of their floral and fruit characteristics (Condit 1919;Coit 1949Coit , 1967;;Schroeder 1952;Coit and Rittenhouse 1970;Brooks and Olmo 1972).In Mediterranean countries, the distribution of the evergreen sclerophyllous species like C. siliqua is controlled by winter cold stress (Mitrakos 1981). The closely related species C. oreothauma seems to be even more cold sensitive (J.H. Brito de Carvalho, pers. comm.) and thus its limits are more restricted. Carob is one of the most characteristic and dominant trees in the lower zone (0-500 m and rarely up to 900 m asl) of the Mediterranean evergreen maquis (Zohary and Orshan 1959;Folch i Guillen 1981). In some areas along the shores of the Mediterranean sea, wild carobs occupy places not disturbed by cultivation. Distribution of C. oreothauma is restricted to Oman and Somalia, which might be due to it being an uncultivated species. It is not clear if the distribution of the two related species overlaps. Both species, apart from probable dispersal by animals, are dependent on dispersion by fruit.Scant information is available on the origin and domestication of the carob tree. Liphschitz (1987) reported that early archaeobotanical findings (charred wood and seeds) in Israel showed that the carob existed in the eastern Mediterranean long before the start of Neolithic agriculture (4000 BC), although it is not among the prehistoric species listed by Renfrew (1973). Zohary (1973) suggested that the Mediterranean region has been at least one of its domestication centres. Zohary (1996), on the basis of literature sources and archeological evidence, reported that the carob was brought into cultivation relatively late with the 'second wave' of fruit crops domesticated in the Old World. He attributed this lateness of domestication to the difficulty of propagating carob vegetatively. Remains of carbonized pods have been found in archeological excavations near the Vesuvio volcano in Campania, Italy, post-dating its eruption in AD 79 (Meyer 1980). Zohary and Spiegel-Roy (1975) analyzed two kinds of information -evaluation of fossil evidence and examination of wild relatives of the cultivated crops -and concluded that olive, grapevine, date palm and fig were the first important horticultural crops added to the Mediterranean grain agriculture. These 'first wave' fruit trees were most likely domesticated in the Near East in prehistoric times (4th and 3rd millenia BC); they were very important crops in the Early Bronze Age. Zohary (1996) suggested that similarly to most Old World fruit crops, domestication of C. siliqua was based on shifting from sexual reproduction (in the wild) to vegetative propagation (under cultivation). In carob, as in other fruit and nut trees, the shift to vegetative propagation is the cultivator's solution to the problem of wide variability which is characteristic of sexual reproduction in crosspollinated plants. In addition, as a predominantly dioecious tree, carob includes about 50% males and 1% hermaphrodites (Condit 1919). Thus spontaneous promising seedlings showing superior features have been empirically selected by growers and then clonally propagated. As a consequence, wild carob trees currently growing in Mediterranean countries are not identical to the species type (Mitrakos 1988). Hillcoat et al. (1980) reported that its cultivation in ancient times would have been unnecessary since wild trees were common in the eastern Mediterranean.Wild and escaped carobs reproduce by seed while cultivated varieties are propagated vegetatively as clones. The carob does not root easily by cuttings and is only easily multiplied by budding. The propagation predominantly of female clones can change the sex ratio in a carob-production area. The three main fruit traits that distinguish domesticated carobs from their wild relatives are larger bean size, more pulp and greater sugar content. Increase in the size and number of seeds is less evident. These pod features together with productivity and environmental adaptation seem to have been the most important selection criteria for growers.The small difference in size between the pollen of the two species of this genus seems unlikely to be associated with polyploidy but is more likely to be a result of cultivation (Ferguson 1980;Graham and Barker 1981). Ferguson (1980) reported that similar differences in pollen size between specimens of Olea europaea (cultivated olive) and Olea laperrinei (wild olive) have been observed.The two main carob pod constituents are (by weight): pulp (90%) and seed (10%). Chemical composition of the pulp depends on cultivar, origin and harvesting time (Orphanos and Papaconstantinou 1969;Davies et al. 1971;Vardar et al. 1972;Calixto and Cañellas 1982;Albanell et al. 1991). Carob pulp is high (48-56%) in total sugar content (mainly sucrose, glucose, fructose and maltose) (Table 1). In addition it contains about 18% cellulose and hemicellulose. The mineral composition (in mg/ 100 g of pulp) is: K=1100, Ca=307, Mg=42, Na=13, Cu=0.23, Fe=104, Mn=0.4, Zn=0.59 according to Puhan and Wielinga (1996). Rendina et al. (1969) found the lipids to consist of approximately equal proportions of saturated and unsaturated acids. Vardar et al. (1972) found five amino acids in pod extracts (alanine, glycine, leucine, proline and valine) and Charalambous and Papaconstantinou (1966) also reported tyrosine and phenylalanine. Source: Puhan and Wielinga (1996).Ripe carob pods contain a large amount of condensed tannins (16-20% of dry weight) (Würsch et al. 1984). Feeding trials showed that carob pulp contains only 1-2% digestible protein and is relatively low in metabolizable energy (Vohra and Kratzer 1964). In food value, carob pods are similar to most cereal grains (NAS 1979). The protein has a low digestibility because it is bound with tannins and fibre (Loo 1969). Some researchers have suggested that condensed tannins account for observed growth-depressing effects on animals fed with a diet high in carob meal (Kamarinou et al. 1979) while others believe that this effect is due to its low energy content for which animals can compensate by increasing consumption (Louca and Papas 1973).Constituents of the seed are (by weight): coat (30-33%), endosperm (42-46%) and embryo or germ (23-25%) (Neukom 1988). The seed coat contains antioxidants (Batista et al. 1996). The endosperm is the galactomannan carob bean gum (CBG). It is a polysaccharide molecule composed of mannose and galactose sugar units (ratio 4:1) rather similar to guar gum (ratio 2:1) and tara gum (ratio 3:1) (Fig. 8).The main property of this natural polysaccharide is the high viscosity of the solution in water, over a wide range of temperature and pH (García-Ochoa and Casas 1992). Two other important properties of CBG are its high water-binding capacity to form very viscous stable solutions in high dilution (1% and lower) and its potential interaction with other polysaccharides, having a synergistic effect (Puhan and Weilinga 1996). Functional properties of CBG are given in Table 2. The germ meal, which is obtained from the cotyledons and has a 50% protein content, is suitable for human and animal nutrition (Table 3). Source: Puhan and Wielinga (1996). The carob is one of the most useful native Mediterranean trees. In producing countries, carob pods have traditionally been used as animal and human food and currently the main use is the seed for gum extraction. Carob pods provide fodder for ruminants (Louca and Papas 1973) and nonruminants (Sahle et al. 1992). In the wild, carob shelter, foliage and beans attract browsing animals. The pods contain indigestible and valuable seeds. Carob timber is hard and close-grained, and has been used to make utensils as well as fuel. Carob wood also was traditionally used to make slow-burning charcoal. Ceratonia oreothauma is extensively used for goat fodder in its native ranges (Hillcoat et al. 1980).The pods are used after crushing to separate seed and pulp. The main products derived from the carob pod and some uses are presented in Table 4. The pulp can be ground into a fine powder for use in human nutrition. Carob powder consists of 46% sugar, 7% protein and small amounts of numerous minerals and vitamins and is thus quite nutritious (Whiteside 1981). After oven-drying, the powder can be added to cakes, bread, sweets, ice creams or drinks as a flavouring (NAS 1979;Vidal 1985;Fig. 9a). Carob powder 'cocoa' has advantages over chocolate in that has fewer calories and neither caffeine nor theobromine (Whiteside 1981;Craig and Nguyen 1984). Its flavour is not as rich as dark chocolate but resembles milk chocolate.Owing to the high sugar content of the pod and its relatively low cost, carob pulp was among the first horticultural crops used for the production of industrial alcohol by fermentation in several Mediterranean countries (Merwin 1981). In some countries, e.g. Egypt, carob syrup is a popular drink obtained by extracting carob kibbles with water. Single-cell organisms have been used to convert carob pulp into a high-protein feed; sugar solutions extracted from carob pods are an excellent substrate for culturing fungi such as Aspergillus niger and Fusarium moniliforme and the dried mycelium is a palatable and nutritious feed containing up to 38% crude protein by weight (Imrie 1973;Sekeri-Pataryas et al. 1973).Milled and chopped carob pomace, which are two by-products of the carob molasses industry, were tested in Lebanon as a potting medium for plants and have shown good promise as substitutes for peat-based mixtures in nurseries (Rishani and Rice 1988). The possible use by the food industry of natural antioxidants contained on the carob seed coat as a by-product of the CBG industry recently has raised some interest (Batista et al. 1996).The carob product most widely used, especially for the food industry, is the carob bean gum (CBG), or locust bean gum (LBG). This gum comes from the endosperm of the seed and chemically is a polysaccharide, a galactomannan. By weight, about a third of the seed consists of gum and it is obtained from the kernel after removal of the coat and grinding. One hundred kg of seeds yields an average of 20 kg of pure dry gum (Jones 1953). Carob gum is produced in various degrees of purity depending on how well the endosperm is separated from the embryo and seed coat. Specks of cotyledons and testa are usually present in commercial CBG preparations. For use as a natural food additive, known as E 410, only high grade is admitted; for pet food more residues are allowed.This mucilaginous gum, also known as 'tragasol', is used in a wide range of commercial products as a thickener, stabilizer, binder and gelling or dispersing agent. The food industry uses CBG for the production of a large number of different commodities: ice creams, soups, sauces, cheese, fruit pies, canned meats, confectionery, bakery products and pet foods. Technical applications of CBG include cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, film emulsions, paints, polishes, ceramics and adhesives (Salari 1982;Johnsen et al. 1988;Neukom 1988;Tous and Batlle 1990) and are summarized in Table 5. In the 1980s, CBG applications were: food industry (about 75%) and technical (about 25%); however, this has changed in the 1990s (because of a CBG price increase) to about 90 and 10%, respectively (Batlle 1997). Consumption of hydrocolloids in some European countries and the USA is presented on Table 6.Carob is widely planted as an ornamental and shade tree on the streets of California, Australia and elsewhere; male trees are preferred as they do not provide litter from pod fall. However, the carob's value as a drought-tolerant, airpollution tolerant, low-maintenance tree for street and landscape planting could be limited by the large mature size and strong, invasive roots (Coit 1951;NAS 1979).Carob is now being used in xerogardening in Mediterranean countries. And since it requires little if any cultivation, tolerates poor soils and is long-lived, carob tree is often recommended for reforestation of degraded coastal zones threatened by soil erosion and desertification. It also has been recommended for planting as a windbreak around orchards (NAS 1979;Esbenshade and Wilson 1986) and could even have some use for buffering noise from factories, roads and railways because of its dense foliage.  Source: Puhan and Wielinga (1996).8 Genetic resourcesWild carob trees are still frequently found in the most eastern Mediterranean regions and are naturalized in the west. Throughout the Mediterranean region wild or naturalized carob trees in situ were often used as stocks for budding with selected cultivars. In some areas, such as in Mediterranean Turkey or in the south of Spain and countries like Morocco, pods from ungrafted spontaneous trees are collected (Vardar et al. 1980;Ouchkif 1988;Batlle and Tous 1994).Since antiquity, the cultivated carob has been propagated, first by seeds and later by budding too. Thus, carob cultivars originated from chance seedlings selected from local populations and later established in commercial orchards. Zohary (1973) pointed out that the cultivated carob has not diverged much from its wild ancestor. This may be true in some areas but certainly not in all as large morphologic differences in trees and fruit are observed. Carob seedling 'escapes' from plantations into the surrounding countryside are frequently observed.Centuries of cultivation have resulted in a number of local cultivars differing in habit, vigour, size and quality of pods, seed yield, productivity, and pest and disease resistance. Most cultivars are of unknown origin and represent the germplasm of each region. In the world, fewer than 50 named cultivars of limited distribution are reported in the literature (Tous and Batlle 1990). Carob cultivars show high genetic variation in morphologic, agronomic and technologic characters. However, isoenzyme and DNA analyses have revealed low polymorphism between cultivars of different (Tous et al. 1992;Batlle et al. 1996) and the same origin (Barracosa et al. 1996). In addition, cultivated and naturalized carobs were isoenzymically similar (Batlle et al. 1996). This was unexpected as this species is more or less an obligate outcrosser. However, this lack of diversity suggests the narrow origin of the cultivated carob. Thus genetic drift and selection pressure which produce genetic erosion may have represented important drawbacks for the conservation of the genetic variability of this species. Isoenzymic differences in sex (female or hermaphrodite) or patterns of geographical variation were not observed (Tous et al. 1992;Batlle et al. 1996).Female plants always have been selected in preference to the hermaphrodite ones, as they are better pod bearers. The most common cultivars in commercial orchards are female, only a few hermaphrodites having sufficiently desirable attributes. Hermaphrodites are never the main producing trees in orchards, and often, male pollinators are isolated seedling trees or branches left on the rootstocks after budding female cultivars. However, hermaphrodites are of interest as pollinators; some Italian types like 'Bonifacio' and 'Tantillo' were selected for this purpose (Russo 1954) and some Spanish types are being evaluated at IRTA's collection (Tous et al. 1996).The main selection objectives have traditionally been large pod size and high pulp and sugar content. It is known that pulp and seed content show a negative correlation. Thus growers have been selecting against seed yield which is currently more valuable commercially. For this reason some collecting from wild (naturalized) populations has been carried out in Andalusia, Spain (Batlle and Tous 1994;Tous et al. 1995) and should be undertaken in countries like Morocco and Turkey.The most interesting features of the domesticated carob genetic resources are:• low number (less than 50) and antiquity of named cultivars • limited diffusion of cultivars, mainly local • high genetic variation for some traits: -morphological (size, shape and colour of the pod, seed yield, etc.) -agronomical (vigour, habit, resistance to pest and diseases, productivity, etc.) -technological (flavour and sugar content, quality and gum content, etc.) • low polymorphism for molecular markers (isoenzymes and DNA). The main cultivars grown in Spain and in other countries are listed in Tables 7  and 8, respectively. Spanish cultivars are largely characterized by high pulp content and medium seed yield (8-10%). Some cultivars from the Balearic Islands give a high seed yield (16%) and spontaneous ecotypes from Andalusia even higher but the main cultivar 'Negra' yields only around 8%. Italian cultivars tend to have medium pulp and seed content. Most Portuguese cultivars produce medium to high (10-12%) seed yield and beans with round kernels well suited for gum extraction. In Cyprus, carob trees constitute a remarkably uniform group for some features but produce low to high seed content (8-15%) having relatively flat seeds, such as 'Tylliria' which is widely grown (Orphanos and Papaconstantinou 1969). In Turkey, where carob distribution is restricted to the coastal of the Aegean and the Mediterranean, three types of pods can be found (wild, fleshy and 'sisam' or intermediate) (Seçmen 1976). Turkish production is 70% wild type and the rest fleshy and 'sisam', which are considered as grafted (Vardar et al. 1980). In Crete, where Greek production is concentrated and carob trees grow wild and cultivated, there is a wide range of seed yield in cultivars. However, most bean production (around 80%) comes from 'Hemere' which gives a seed yield of 9% (Kalaitzakis et al. 1988). Spontaneous populations from Morocco produce high seed yielding (15%) pods with round kernels and scanty flesh (Ouchkif 1988). In Tunisia most trees are wild (Crossa-Raynaud 1960) so presumably seed yield would be high. The description of 27 cultivars is presented in Appendix I.Information on the morphologic, agronomic and technologic characteristics of carob cultivars is scanty. Most are female and originated at least 100 years ago, presumably as seedling selections. Some work has been done on cultivar description and characterization (Da Matta 1952;Russo 1954;Goor et al. 1958;Coit 1967;Orphanos and Papaconstantinou 1969;Seçmen 1976;Vardar et al. 1980;Carlson 1986;Batlle 1985;Tous 1985;Spina 1986;Crescimanno et al. 1988;Marakis et al. 1988;Batlle and Tous 1990;Tous and Batlle 1990).Carob cultivars vary widely in a number of characteristics which are of commercial importance to growers. Some important agronomic and commercial characteristics of the main carob cultivars are presented in Table 9.To assess and select cultivars for commercial production in Mediterranean countries the following traits should be considered (Tous et al. 1996).On the basis of the flower structure male, female and hermaphrodite cultivars could be recognized. The female cultivars are the most important trees in commercial groves of Mediterranean countries. Males and hermaphrodites are normally used as pollinators. There is no agreement between the different authors on the best density of pollinators for commercial orchards. However, there is sufficient information to recommend around 12% (1:8) of pollinators distributed regularly (as in Fig. 7) (Tous and Batlle 1990). Hermaphrodites have a special value provided that they are self-fertile and/or cross-compatible, so that no space in the orchard needs to be wasted for unproductive male trees.Carob trees grow best in calcareous soils, preferably near the sea. They are drought resistant but tolerate only light frost. Sensitivity to frost is a serious problem in this crop. The extent of frost damage depends on the temperature within the orchard and the physiological state of the trees. As several spells of frost have occurred in various places since records began, some cultivar differences have been observed. The Portuguese cultivar 'Galhosa' seems to be more cold tolerant than 'Mulata' (Brito de Carvalho 1988a). In Andalusia ungrafted local types known as 'Bravia' seem more tolerant than the grafted cultivars (Tous et al. 1995). Susceptibility to wind is revealed by broken branches after storms. It is related to wood health, tree shape and size and thus to cultivar and management.High yield is an important characteristic for farmers, but regular bearing also has to be considered as most cultivars show alternate bearing, such as 'Amele di Bari' in Italy (Crescimanno 1982), 'Tylliria' in Israel (Goor et al. 1958) and 'Cacha', 'Negra' and some hermaphrodite cultivars in Spain (Martorell 1987;Tous and Batlle 1990). In addition to these genetic traits, other factors affect yield, such as amount of pollination, cultural practices, environmental conditions (dry or irrigated orchard), etc. The trait precocity is highly desirable in carob to reduce the otherwise unproductive vegetative phase of the first years and to pay off quickly the costs of establishment. Some cultivars start to bear early, 4 to 5 years after budding ('Rojal', 'Ramillete', 'Mulata', 'AIDA', etc.), while others bear some years later ('Banya de Cabra', 'Cacha', 'Sandalawi', etc.). Regarding the vegetative period of cultivars held in Spanish carob collections it was observed that the hermaphrodite types normally bear sooner (2nd to 3rd year after budding) than female cultivars (Navarro 1992;Tous et al. 1993Tous et al. , 1996)). Graça (1996), in trials with 'Mulata' in the Algarve, Portugal, budded the year before planting, obtained significant pod production (11.2 kg/ha) 5 years after establishment. Most cultivars begin bearing early when orchard management and rainfall, or supplementary water, are adequate.The quality of beans depends mainly on the seeds and the pulp in which the seeds are embedded. Seeds are currently the most important part of the pods as they are used to extract the valuable carob bean gum (CBG). Pulp value depends on its use (livestock feed or human food industry) and the contents of sugar, fibre, tannins and flavour (Coit 1961). Chemical composition of carob pods differs widely according to cultivar and climate. Thomson (1971) found in 40 cultivars the following percentage ranges by weight at 10% moisture: total sugars (37-62%), crude protein (2.2-6.6%), crude fibre (4.2-9.6%) and ash (1.5-2.4%). Pods also contain from 0.46 to 1.46% crude fat (Binder et al. 1959) and 2.6-6.7% tannins by dry weight (Louca and Papas 1973;Marakis et al. 1988).The pulp is the main constituent of the pod. Pulp content in the pod ranges from 73 to 95% (Caja et al. 1988;Crescimanno et al. 1988;Marakis et al. 1988), with corresponding seed contents. Seed yield is an important fruit characteristic that varies with climatic and soil conditions but is also strongly cultivar related (Brito de Carvalho 1988a). Wild carobs have produced higher seed yield than cultivated (Marakis et al. 1988;Di Lorenzo 1991;Tous et al. 1995). In Mediterranean cultivars the variation recorded ranges from 5 to 27% (Caja et al. 1988;Crescimanno et al. 1988;Marakis et al. 1988). Albanell et al. (1996) observed that number of kernels per pod is more important than length or weight and in relation to gum content they found that seeds should be heavy, thick and short.The content and quality of gum are also important features. They vary with climate, soil and cultivar (Brito de Carvalho 1988a). Endosperm, from which the gum is derived, ranges from 42 to 60% in dry weight (Albanell et al. 1988;Crescimanno et al. 1988). Ungrafted trees seem to produce seeds with more gum content than cultivars (Marakis et al. 1988). Gum content differs considerably between cultivars. Under the same environmental conditions cultivars 'Duraio', 'Matalafera' and 'Galhosa' produce more gum than 'Rojal', 'Melera' and 'Negra' (Tous et al. 1996). There are also cultivar-related differences in gum quality, especially regarding viscosity grade, gel strength and content of galactomannans. The current trend is to grow good dual-purpose cultivars (pulp and kernel), so that high production of carob kernel can be avoided in the future to stabilize the CBG market.Pulp flavour is also an important consideration for carobs grown for the food industry. A test on pulp flavour of 31 cultivars, ranging from 37.1 to 51.6% of total sugar (reported as glucose), indicated that flavour preference is not directly related to high sugar content. The hermaphrodite cultivar 'Santa Fe' was rated highest; it has a sweet, nutty flavour and high sugar content (47.5%) (Binder et al. 1959). Carobs of the better cultivars contain 45-55% of total sugar; poor cultivars contain 35-45%.Harvesting is the major cost in carob production owing to the expensive and scarce labour in most developed countries. Manual harvesting of the pods represents 30-35% of the total production cost for an orchard (Orphanos 1980;Tous 1995b). This cost can be divided between knocking (or shaking) and collecting operations. Knocking is a traditional operation performed with thin long poles to knock down ripe pods. Manual or mechanical harvesting by trunk shakers and manpower shakers is affected by size and growth habit of the trees, pod distribution in the branches and pod abscission. Collecting operations depend on yield, size and shape of pod, and orchard density. The main aim for new carob orchard establishment should be mechanical harvesting. Some agronomical features of the tree are important to improve mechanical harvesting of carob.Current cultivars, especially when well-managed in warm coastal climates, can reach a large size (6 m high) and the fruit-bearing branches usually droop, obstructing trunk shakers used in mechanical harvesting. Small trees make harvest easier. In respect of growth habit there are big differences between cultivars (Table 9, Fig. 10). The current need, if shakers are to be used, is to grow trees (orchard density about 150 trees/ha), which are reduced in size, with upright growth habit and rigid fruit-bearing branches (Tous et al. 1996).The physiological ripening of the pods starts in May-June and is a gradual process closely related to natural fruit drop. These two phenomena can affect harvest efficiency. Some cultivars are more prone to fruit abscission than others when knocked or shaken. For example 'Matalafera', 'Rojal', 'AA2' and 'Banya de Cabra' are more prone to abscise pods than 'Negra', 'Tylliria' and 'Ramillete'. Generally, hermaphrodite types need greater force for fruit removal than female cultivars (Tous 1985).The main consideration should be to choose cultivars that produce pods which ripen simultaneously during the period of maximum abscission, to ease collection from the ground. Early ripening cultivars would avoid not only flower damage with the sticks but also rainfall which is frequent at harvesting time (September-October) in Mediterranean countries.  Fruit shape and size Carob bean size is a highly variable character influenced by many environmental factors as well as level of pollination and fruit set. Generally, grafted cultivars produce larger fruits than unselected wild types. This trait eases both manual and mechanical harvesting. Pod shape is also highly variable (Table 9, Fig. 11). For easier and cheaper collection, straight fruits are preferred to curved or twisted pods (Brito de Carvalho 1988a). The easiest pods to collect are large and straight. Carob pod size is also important for resistance to strong winds in spring to prevent premature fruit drop.The most promising female cultivars studied at IRTA are: 'Rojal', 'Duraió', 'Mulata', 'AIDA' and 'Sayalonga'. Other cultivars like 'Banya de Cabra', 'Matalafera', 'Galhosa' and 'Tylliria' also show some commercially interesting characteristics (Tous et al. 1996). As promising hermaphrodite pollinating cultivars, 'Clifford', 'Santa Fe', 'Ramillete' and 'A-19' can be considered. Some outstanding cultivars from different origins like 'Amele', 'Sfax', 'Tylliria', 'Casuda', 'Santa Fe' and 'Clifford' perform well in many countries. This shows that carob cultivars are able to adapt outside their region of origin.The main aim is conservation of variability through a wide range of different genotypes and, less so, individual genotype preservation. Currently, there are eight field carob collections in the world (Table 10, Appendix II). The best documented is maintained at IRTA-Mas Bové, Spain and is supported by the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA). This Germplasm Bank comprises field collections placed in two sites, Reus and Tortosa (80 km away), with two types of Mediterranean climate (Tortosa is warmer than Reus). Altogether 93 cultivars and selections from eight origins are held for evaluation. There is some duplication to safeguard against frost damage. a   Source: modified from Tous et al. (1996).Once the field collections were established and accessions identified, the main aim has been to characterize the material and assess the genetic variability of important characters, particularly morphologic, agronomic (precocity, growth habit, production, pest and disease resistance, etc.) or commercial (kernel yield, pulp and gum quality, etc.). Such studies could be extended by trials with selected cultivars. However, this approach has hardly been used for carob and only a few trials are known.After recording passport data for each new accession, identification and characterization are carried out according to an adapted version of the descriptor list developed by the authors and completed with isoenzyme records (Tous et al. 1992;Batlle et al. 1996). So far, in the 1995-96 cropping year 15 cultivars have started bearing at Reus and 6 at Tortosa. The preliminary results (8th year after budding) indicate that the female cultivars 'Rojal', 'Banya de Cabra' and 'Ralladora' and hermaphrodite accessions 'Misto Sta. Bárbara', 'Ramillete' and 'A-19' are promising (Tous et al. 1996). Several very promising cultivars have yet to be fully assessed. Passport data of all introduced cultivars are available as well as some evaluation data.Apart from the main Germplasm Bank at IRTA, Spain has two other carob collections. They were started after surveying and cataloguing carob genetic resources in Castellón, Valencia and Alicante (Navarro 1992) and the Balearic Islands (Tous et al. 1996). The Valencian collection is located in Villajoyosa, Alicante and holds 135 accessions and the other is in Palma, Majorca with 40 accessions. The Villajoyosa collection, which holds an important number of hermaphrodite types, is at risk of being lost as it is placed on private land and accessions are not freely available. Records of these two collections are scarce and generally limited to their origin.The carob field collection of the Associaçao Interprofissional para o Desenvolvimento da Produçao e Valorizaçao da Alfarrova (AIDA) in Tavira, Portugal contains 13 cultivars, documented with passport and evaluation data. For the other three living collections, it should be noted that only very limited information is available. In the Tunisian collection at INRAT Ariana, Crossa-Raynaud (1960) reported that at least one tree of the local cutivar 'Sfax' was still available. The Californian collection is kept in a public garden at San Diego. In addition, carob as a species is represented in most botanical gardens of the Mediterranean region.A carob germplasm collection of some 60 clones was assembled by J.E. Coit in 1949 near Vista, California, holding both North American selections and Mediterranean cultivars, but it was lost in the 1970s owing to housing development (Coit and Rittenhouse 1970). In Cyprus, in the 1950s a large cultivar collection was established at Xylotimbou with the purpose of cultivar characterization (Ticho 1958). However this early collection was also lost some decades later (P.I. Orphanos, pers. comm.). These two genebanks were the first recorded attempts to maintain and characterize carob genetic resources in the world and presumably some accessions were lost after their removal.Duplications of cultivars exist in field collections but not of wild material. Each country should concentrate on the conservation of its native resources. Information on gaps in the existing germplasm collections is largely unknown. However the expected genetic variation contained in heterogeneous species has not been found within the cultivated material in some ex situ collections (Tous et al. 1992;Batlle et al. 1996). As most of the remaining carob natural populations contain high seed yielding genotypes, initiatives should be taken to conserve this potentially interesting wild material. Among the gaps, the lack of any wild material from Morocco and Turkey is probably the most important. The existing naturalized populations of the south of Spain were surveyed and genotypes collected recently (Batlle and Tous 1994;Tous et al. 1995). Hermaphrodite genotypes are of particular interest for collection.The threat of genetic erosion on carob seems moderate. However in some places like Murcia in the southeast of Spain, Rodriguez and Frutos (1988) reported 37% of trees lost, mainly due to replacement of carob by more intensive crops in newly irrigated areas. Vinterhalter et al. (1992) used tissue culture in an attempt to propagate genotypes which were almost extinct in Croatia.In vitro micropropagation, as a way of conserving outstanding trees, has been developed by Sebastian and McComb (1986) in Australia and by Alorda and Medrano (1996) in Spain. Androulakis (1994) attempted to propagate selected types by in vitro culture in Crete. Only limited success has been achieved using these methods.The wild species C. oreothauma (with its two subspecies) is not represented in the existing field collections. It is only conserved ex situ as a few potted trees in a greenhouse at The Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, in London, England. It was botanically studied by Hillcoat et al. (1980) in its native ranges. In 1991 a collecting expedition in the mountains of northern Oman was carried out by IBPGR in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of that country; 6 accessions were collected (IBPGR 1992).To date, improvement of carob cultivars has been carried out only empirically by growers selecting promising chance seedlings and budding them onto less fruitful genotypes as rootstocks. The lack of any planned carob breeding programmes may be due to its relatively minor importance.Breeding programmes mean considerable costs associated with raising and selecting progenies, and as more than 8 years may elapse from seed to flower, progress can only be slow. In due course the use of molecular markers, particularly for sex, could speed early selection and thus the process. However, the breeding system including pollination mechanisms and expression of sexuality in response to environmental conditions is not well understood.Clonal variability in old carob cultivars could be exploited by selecting the best clones which have accumulated different spontaneous mutations over a long period of time. Clonal selection is a valuable approach when used for a cultivar which has achieved commercial success. In Spain, some work is underway with 'Rojal'. It might also be interesting to make some clonal selection in cultivars like 'Duraió' if morphologic or agronomic variation is observed.The chosen objectives will depend on the use envisaged for the resulting cultivars. The main challenges for carob improvement are: to reduce vegetative period (i.e. increase precocity in bearing) and to increase cold hardiness, and pod and seed yield. Other features like vigour, productivity, uniform ripening, easy harvesting, kernel size and shape, content and quality of pulp and gum are also important.Some differences in cold tolerance appear between carob genotypes (Brito de Carvalho 1988a; Tous et al. 1995), but as reported in the Genetic Resources section, there are no records of deliberate collection of types from the colder places. This variability has not been exploited and may not be enough to select adapted types for different environments and crossing. Wider adaptation through interspecific hybridization seems difficult to achieve as hardy carob-related species are unknown.Conventional breeding by controlled crosses has not been reported in carob, only empirical selection by growers looking for productive trees of sweet and fleshy pods in the wild. Identification and propagation of superior phenotypes in natural populations of chance seedlings, mainly based on seed yield performance, is an alternative as in some regions of Morocco and Turkey large wild populations still remain untouched.As carob is largely a dioecious species, genetic improvement for fruit characters is hampered by lack of information for the male parent regarding these characters. However the use of hermaphrodite types to cross together or with female cultivars seems feasible so that both potential parents could be chosen after fruit assessment.Mass selection after intercrossing the best individuals on the basis of their phenotypes would be the simplest method. This is based on the relatively high additive variance affecting the inheritance of most traits in fruit and nut trees (Bringhurst 1983). No inheritance of a character has been described in carob. Choice of parents with complementary characters from diverse geographical regions and available in ex situ collections should be criteria to be considered.Information on pollen and seed management, hybridization and handling seed populations has not been reported for carob, and thus should be adapted from other fruit and nut tree crops. Pollen collection is easy and it seems storable in a fridge for several months (M. Rovira, pers. comm.). Pollen application with brush or fingers is feasible, flower insect exclusion is necessary. Seed germination and tree raising are described in the Agronomy section Interspecific crosses between C. siliqua and C. oreothauma have not been reported, but would be worth trying. Both species have the same chromosome number (2n=24) (Hillcoat et al.1980). However, knowledge about C. oreothauma and its genetic potential is still very limited. As C. oreothauma is adapted to higher altitudes (1500-1800 m asl) than carob, Hillcoat et al. (1980) suggested that a cross between them would produce a more useful forage plant. However, C. oreothauma may be less hardy than carob (J.H. Brito de Carvalho, pers. comm.) in which case any hybrids are likely to be hardy. As rooting potential is inherited and, if C. oreothauma shows higher rooting potential than carob, it would be incorporated through hybridization, but hybrid seedlings would only be useful if are hardy and show good adaptation.As indicated earlier carob production has a long tradition, mainly for animal feeding, in most countries bordering the Mediterranean sea. It is thought the Greeks and Arabs were responsible for the spread of carob within the Mediterranean basin from the Near East. More recently, it was introduced in different periods in some warm semi-arid zones of Australia, California, Arizona, Chile, Mexico, South Africa, etc. However, commercial carob production is currently concentrated in the Mediterranean region.The total carob-production area in the world is around 200 000 ha (Table 11) of which the southern countries of the European Union (Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece) with some 148 000 ha account for 74% of the growing area and about 70% of the world production (Table 12). Source: Batlle (1997).Commercial world production of carob pods is estimated currently around 310 000 t, and it is mainly concentrated in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Morocco, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Algeria and other countries (Table 12). There is some production in Croatia, Tunisia and Malta and small amounts are also produced in Australia, California and South Africa. Pod and seed production in different countries are not parallel because of differences in seed yields of cultivars and wild types.Carob production in the world has declined dramatically over the past 50 years, from 650 000 t in 1945 (Orphanos and Papaconstantinou 1969) to 310 000 t today. In Spain alone, production has fallen by 400 000 t, from 550 000 t in 1930 to 150 000 t in 1990 (MAPA 1994). The main reasons are low prices coupled with farming mechanization and coastal planning development. Farmers' interest in carob in most Mediterranean countries diminished because of low pod prices and home consumption, and use of coastal land for roads, housing development and industrial estates (Batlle 1997). In the past, carob expansion in Spain took place in two main phases: first the agricultural development during the 17th century when marginal lands were brought into use, and later when vineyards were pulled out because of a phylloxera outbreak in the 19th century and were replaced by this crop in coastal areas (Tous and Batlle 1990). The largest growing area (190 000 ha) was reached in the 1930s (MAPA 1994). Spanish production has halved between 1970and 1995(MAPA 1994)). The current Spanish growing area and production (82 100 ha and 135 000 t) is distributed in five regions: C. Valenciana (54 200 ha and 60 500 t), Catalonia (12 700 ha and 28 000 t), Balearic Islands (12 200 ha and 30 500 t), Andalusia (1000 ha and 11 000 t) and Murcia (2000 ha and 5000 t) (MAPA 1994). There are estimated to be 182 000 isolated trees (not in orchards), some of which are intercropped with other species such as almonds, olives, figs, grapevines, etc. An important number of naturalized trees thrive in Andalusia.Carob production in Italy (45 000 t) is mainly located in the island of Sicily (provinces of Ragusa, 21 000 t; Siracusa 11 000 t; elsewhere, 5000 t) and the mainland (Apulia and Campania, 8000 t). Production in Sardinia is negligible. Italian production has halved between 1955 and 1995. The current tendency is to reduce the area (Licitra 1996).The carob-growing region in Portugal is concentrated in the south with some 21 000 ha and 30 000-35 000 t of production, depending on years (Droste 1993). The Algarve is the main producing region and around 60% of the total surface is located in four places: Silves (3200 ha), Faro (3000 ha) and Loulé and Tavira with 2500 ha each. In the Alentejo region there are also some orchards in Mértola (100 ha) (Martins-Louçâo and Brito de Carvalho 1989). The Portuguese carob production has declined over the past 20 years and the area under cultivation has reduced by at least 25% (Droste 1993).Carob production in Morocco has increased over the last 15 years and it is estimated to be about 26 000 t (Batlle 1997). The main spontaneous populations are concentrated in the regions of Tafechma in the north and Ait Ishaq in the south (Ouchkif 1988). However, three areas are commercially known: Fes, Marrakech and Agadir. Acreage of spontaneous carob in Morocco is estimated around at 30 000 ha. Carobs thrive together with a number of other species of the maquis (Pistacia, Olea, Quercus, etc.). Some new orchards have recently been planted and Moroccan production is expected to rise moderately in the coming years. Carob pod production in Tunisia is also from spontaneous trees and was estimated in the 1950s to be about 2800 t (Crossa-Raynaud 1960); however, no records are available since then.Total Turkish production is about 15 000 t, which is collected from isolated trees (360 000) as there are no carob orchards. The production is concentrated along the coast in the Aegean (4%) and Mediterranean (96%) regions from Urla (Izmir) to Samandag (Hatay) (Vardar et al. 1980). The main producing provinces are Içel, Antalya, Mugla, Adana, Burdur and Aydin.In Israel, Goor et al. (1958) reported some 250 000 carob trees scattered in forests. In the early 1950s about 2000 ha were planted either as groves, on grazing land, as forests or as roadside trees. Currently some plantings are still productive but the tonnage seems to be decreasing.In California during the 1950s there was a well-publicized 'Carob crusade' promoting this species as a dryland crop needing little irrigation, and several plantings were made throughout the south. However, mainly owing to low productivity of the tree under dryland culture and the high cost of land and processing, the project failed (Coit and Rittenhouse 1970;Ferguson and Arpaia 1990).In Australia, the crop was introduced around 1850 by Mediterranean emigrants. However, it was only in the 1980s that interest in carob led to planting some orchards, mainly in Western and South Australia but also in New South Wales and Victoria. The Australian carob-growing area is only about 170 ha and there are also some 30 000 isolated trees. Its production is estimated to be around 750 t per year (Tous 1995a).The carob is a long-lived evergreen and thermophilous tree thriving in habitats with mild Mediterranean climates. It grows well in warm temperate and subtropical areas, and tolerates hot and humid coastal areas. Carob and orange trees have similar temperature requirements but carob tolerates poorer soils and needs much less water. The carob tree is more tender than the olive. For resistance to dry environments it is surpassed only by pistachio (Evreinoff 1955). It is also a xerophytic species well adaptated to the ecological conditions of the Mediterranean region, by virtue of its efficient hydric regulation by stomatic adjustment and its foliar structure and anatomy (Catarino et al. 1981). Leaf wax synthesis increases in dry conditions reducing cuticular permeability and thus protecting the plant from excess transpiration (Baker and Procopiu 1980). Carob, together with Pistacia lentiscus L. and Olea europaea L. var. sylvestris, forms one of the most characteristic associations of the lowest zone of the Mediterranean vegetation and thus is considered to be a climax community (Oleo-Ceratonion).Like other Mediterranean species with long-lived leaves and an extended flowering period, mechanisms have evolved that optimize water, carbon and nitrogen use for reproduction (Correia and Martins-Louçâo 1995). Several studies have shown that carob trees can maintain stomata open and high leaf water content even under low soil water availability (Nunes et al. 1989). This is allowed by a sharp reduction of leaf water potential in response to small water losses (Lo Gullo and Salleo 1988).The two main growing flushes are in spring and autumn as in most Mediterranean trees. Vegetative growth slows below 10°C. Thus, it seems that this species enters some kind of 'light' dormancy, at least in most cool latitudes. However in some very warm places and under favourable conditions, carob grows without becoming dormant either in winter or summer (Liphschitz and Lev-Yadun 1988). The cambium can be active throughout most of the year (Fahn 1953), or all year with low rates of activity in January (Arzee et al. 1977). Investigations on the annual rhythm of cambial activity in Italy by Scaramuzzi et al. (1971) showed that cambium is active from February to the end of September and inactive during winter months owing to low temperatures.The rooting habit of carob is similar to pistachio; its extensive root system penetrates the soil deeply. Carob develops roots under stressful conditions to explore deeper soil layers where water may be available (Christodoulakis 1992). It can thus survive long periods of drought. In addition, Nunes et al. (1989) reported that carob leaves can maintain turgor under situations of soil drought, using different strategies according to the season.Although the carob tree is a legume, like most Caesalpinioideae it does not nodulate and thus is unable to fix nitrogen (Martins-Louçâo and Rodríguez-Barrueco 1982;Martins-Louçâo 1985). Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi have been shown to colonize carob roots, but no ectomycorrhizal association was found (Martins-Louçâo et al. 1996b). The colonization by AM can increase nitrogen uptake by the plant. Since carobs often grow on nutrient-deficient soils lacking nitrogen and phosphorus in particular, AM fungi can improve nutrition.Areas suitable for carob should have a subtropical Mediterranean climate with cool, not cold, winters, mild to warm springs, and warm to hot dry summers. These Mediterranean-like areas range from approximately 30° to 45° in northern latitudes (Mediterranean basin, California and Arizona) and between 30° and 40° in southern latitudes (Australia, South Africa and Chile).Adult trees require no winter chilling; they can be damaged when temperatures fall below -4°C and can only withstand winter temperatures of not lower than -7°C. However, trees can withstand summer temperatures of 40°C and hot dry winds. From 5000 to 6000 hours above 9°C are needed for pods to ripen. Strong winds can break adult tree branches and detach pods. Wind can also damage young trees (Tous and Batlle 1990). Autumn rains can interfere with pollination and affect fruit set. High humidity in spring promotes Oidium infection on both leaves and pods.Carob trees can adapt to a wide range of soil types from poor sandy soils and rocky hillsides to deep soils, but they cannot withstand waterlogging although the root system is usually deep. In areas with shallow rocky soils, tree size and productivity are reduced. The best soils are sandy well-drained loams but calcareous soils with high lime content are also suitable. Carob also appears to tolerate salinity well (Rebour 1971). Winer (1980) reported tolerance to a soil salt content of up to 3% NaCl.Carob, as a xerophyte, can survive dry climates without irrigation and is well adapted to dry environments with annual average rainfall between 250 and 500 mm per year (Tous and Batlle 1990). It has developed some drought-resistance mechanisms (Nunes et al. 1989;Salleo and Lo Gullo 1989) as mentioned in the Agronomy section. Although drought resistant, carob trees do not bear commercial crops unless they receive at least 500-550 mm per year (NAS 1979), but 350 mm of annual rainfall are considered enough for fruit set (Coit 1949;Ticho 1958;Crescimanno 1982).12 Agronomy 12.1 Propagation Carob rootstocks are raised from open-pollinated seeds and these seedling rootstocks vary widely in vigour, habit and cold resistance. No rootstock trials have been carried out and no rootstock selections are available. It is essential that rootstocks produce a well-developed rooting system. The seedling stocks should be budded 1 year after germination, in the nursery, or 2 years from germination, after planting in the orchard. Vegetative propagation by cuttings is not yet commercially available. Young seedlings are very sensitive to frost damage and thus in frosty places they should be protected.The seeds used for sowing should be completely ripe and extracted from pods of the last harvest. Sowing should be done early in the spring, about March-April. Before sowing, the light, empty or wormy seed should be removed; this can be done by soaking in water when most of the faulty seeds float on the surface and can be easily removed. Although carob seeds have remained viable for as long as 5 years stored dry at low temperatures in sealed containers (Goor and Barney 1968;Hong et al. 1996) it is advisable to use seeds from the current season. Seeds are presumably viable after passing through an animal's digestive tract.Carob seeds germinate easily, but as the coat is very hard they require scarification with acid or hot water treatment. Germination can be hastened by treating them with tap water, boiling water, sulphuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ) or gibberellic acid (GA 3 ). Carob seeds do not need to be kept in a cold store to break dormancy. At IRTA-Mas Bové good results were obtained using fresh seed sown in March-April, with any of the following methods or combinations of methods:• soaking in tap water at room temperature for 15 days • soaking in boiling water, stirring briskly for 10 minutes and then immersion in cold water for 24 hours • soaking in concentrated sulphuric acid for 1 hour and then rinsing with tap water to prevent complete digestion of the seed coat • soaking in gibberellic acid (25 ppm) for 24 hours. Frutos (1988) scarified carob seeds with sulphuric acid solutions (10, 20, 30, 40 and 80%) for 30 minutes and then soaked them in water for 24 hours and placed them in Petri dishes at 23°C; he obtained the best germination (99.1%) using sulphuric acid at 80%. However, he observed no effects on seed germination after treatment with GA 3 at 50, 100, 200 and 400 mg/L for 24 hours. After treatment and washing, seeds are usually soaked for another 1-2 hours before planting and are sometimes surface-sterilized with dilute bleach. After soaking, water is drained away and the seeds are sown either into polyethylene trays on greenhouse benches and kept at 20-30°C or directly into tall plastic pots (12-15 cm diameter and 35-40 cm deep) placed outside under shading.Optimum temperature for carob seed germination was found to be 25°C by De Michele et al. (1988) and 27.5°C by Mitrakos (1981). However, in its native ranges when these temperatures prevail (June-September) no water is available. It seems likely that some germination occurs naturally in November and seedlings survive when winter is mild (Mitrakos 1988). There is good evidence from Hillcoat et al. (1980) that the optimum temperature for C. oreothauma seed germination is similar to that reported for carob. Work on the effect of water stress on germination has been done by Spyropoulos and Lambiris (1980).Different potting mixtures can be used. They usually contain soil, humus, perlite and peat moss in various ratios, and are usually amended with sand to improve drainage and structure. The germinated seed should be watered regularly, but not overwatered, as this can result in damping-off and root rot diseases. The benches on which the trays are placed should be clean and sterile, as several pathogens can survive on dirty benches and infect young carob rootstock seedlings. Care should be taken when handling seedlings.Carob has been described by Lee et al. (1977) and Hartmann and Kester (1983) as difficult to root. Its adventitious rooting potential is low, but rooting has been obtained on subterminal hardwood cuttings (2 or 3 years old) (Fig. 12a), after treatment with sulphuric acid and a high concentration of hormone (IBA or IBA combined); a rooting bench containing perlite and fitted with bottom heat (24±1°C) and mist (once every 2 min during the day) was used (Alorda et al. 1987). It appears that three aspects of the cuttings are important for rooting: time of collecting (seasonal variation), type of shoot (age and position) and genotype (rooting potential). Alorda andMedrano (1988) in Majorca, Spain, andCabrita et al. (1988) in the Algarve, Portugal, observed the highest rooting percentage in March cuttings while for Fadl et al. (1979) in Egypt it was in April. Regarding genotype the best rooting percentages were obtained by Alorda and Medrano (1988) using 'De la Mel' (syn. 'Negrillo') (85%) and one local hermaphrodite selection (45%) and by Cabrita et al. (1988) using 'Galhosa' (44%) rather than 'Mulata' (27%). Alorda and Medrano (1988) reported success after transplanting to the field with irrigation while Cabrita et al. (1988) described plant failure after transplanting to a soil mixture under greenhouse conditions. De Michelle and Occorso (1988) in Sicily obtained the highest rooting percentage (57.9%) using semihardwood cuttings with leaves taken in March and treated with IBA (8000 ppm).Micropropagation of carob using both juvenile and adult tissues has been attempted (Martins-Louçâo and Rodriguez-Barrueco 1982;Sebastian and McComb 1986;Vinterhalter et al. 1992;Androulakis 1994;Alorda and Medrano 1996). However, there are no reports of plants from in vitro culture being successfully established in the field.It seems that vegetative propagation by cuttings has not yet been successfully resolved in carob to give consistent results and thus to be suitable for mass production in commercial  nurseries. The information available on cutting propagation is more useful now than 15 years ago. Attempts have been made but it has not yet been solved. Research is underway at IRTA. If an easy way to root cuttings is developed, propagation of cultivars would be simpler and much cheaper.Seedling rootstocks, before or after budding, are usually planted from pots directly into the orchard. As carob is an evergreen and seedlings are sensitive to frost and root drying, late transplanting in February or March is recommended after danger of frost is past; the use of bare-rooted trees is not advisable.Trees with well-developed roots should be used for transplanting (Fig. 12b) and proper care during and after planting is essential. Unlike other fruit trees, carobs are not usually budded in the nursery; field budding 1 year after planting has proven superior for vigour. The plastic pot is removed by cutting it from the top to the bottom with a sharp knife. Trees should be well watered immediately after planting, and soil moisture should extend below the root zone. This also helps to eliminate air pockets. A second irrigation follows within 2 weeks, followed by regular fertilization, using mainly nitrogen in the ammonium form rather than nitrate because of its easier uptake (Cruz et al. 1993). Rootstocks should be staked on the downwind side to ensure straight tree growth for budding and to protect them from excessive wind, which is common in coastal areas around the Mediterranean. It is essential to water 2 or 3 times during the first summer after planting in the orchard to wet the root mass and adjacent soil for successful establishment and for growth to reach a good size for budding the following spring.The potential use of C. oreothauma as rootstock for carob seems not feasible as it is more tender than the cultivated species (J.H. Brito de Carvalho, pers. comm.).Scion cultivars are propagated with standard budding techniques. Some research on this matter has been reported (Brito de Carvalho and Graça 1988;Tous and Batlle 1990). The main types of budding used are T-bud, chip bud and patch bud. Budding is usually done in spring (from April to early June) when the scion buds are mature and the bark on the rootstock is slipping and active. When planting a new carob orchard, rootstocks are planted in late February or March and usually budded the following year in spring.T-budding is the most efficient and common method in spring (April-May) with well-developed buds from scion wood of the year before on rootstocks of 1-2 cm diameter. Patch budding requires a larger rootstock diameter (bigger than 2 cm) and is thus more likely to be made in the field in spring or autumn. Bud take in rootstocks of less than 1 cm of diameter is low. Chip budding could be useful for these types of plants, but an accurate matching of cambia is required for this method.Both T and patch budding are performed when the rootstocks bark is slipping during spring. If bud take is unsuccessful, rootstocks are rebudded in September. For successful budding a sharp knife should be used to make smooth cuts. Budding wraps can be made of various materials, but plastic is the most common and widely used.Tree densities in carob orchards of Mediterranean countries have traditionally been low and variable, within the range of 25-45 trees/ha which means square tree spacing from 20 x 20 m to 15 x 15 m. Rectangular planting has also been a common design. Intercropping with species like olive, grapevines or almond is frequently found. Most of the areas where carob trees will grow are semi-arid or marginal for good horticultural production. In modern orchards there is a tendency to reduce spacing with the aim of intensifying the crop. Carobs are long-lived trees and a well-designed orchard should ensure early economic bearing, maximum production potential, adequate pollination and sufficient space for management (Fig. 12c).A carob orchard reaches its maximum bearing potential when space over the soil is filled by pod-bearing trees with sufficient light penetration to keep fruiting wood productive. As the orchard develops, and before maximum bearing potential is reached, bean yield is directly related to the number of trees per hectare. Currently, for dryland orchards on poor soils of the Mediterranean coast, tree densities between 100 and 175 trees/ ha are recommended, i.e. spacings from 9 x 9 m to 7 x 8 m (Tous and Batlle 1990).When carobs are to be planted in fertile soils, high-density planting and tree thinning later may be considered. Early yield can be maximized by initially planting more trees per hectare than will be needed for maximum bearing potential. As trees grow,half of them may be removed, but at considerable expense, to avoid tree crowding. Crowding results in yield losses from tree competition for light, nutrients and water, excessive pruning costs, and difficulty in conducting cultural and harvest operations. The closer the plantings, the more likely thinning will be required. In California, Coit (1951) suggested a spacing of 9 x 4.5 m and tree removal some 10 years after planting to obtain a spacing of 9 x 9 m. In good soils of the Algarve, Portugal, an initial density of 6 x 4 m and later thinning to a density of 6 x 8 m was proposed (Brito de Carvalho 1985). When the filler trees should be removed depends on tree growth. However, most new orchards are being planted at permanent tree density as tree removal is often not convenient for growers.Another alternative in young carob orchards is intercropping with early bearing species such as peach, almond or even vegetables. Planting an annual or perennial crop between the rows may give early returns to the investment. Care should be taken to choose pesticides compatible with the nonbearing carobs. In most cases intercropping may a damage carob orchard and cause problems for the grower.As described earlier, carob trees are generally dioecious with occasional hermaphrodite types. Thus female, male and hermaphrodite flowers are borne on separate trees. The need for pollination and fertilization in carob has been clearly shown by Russo (1954). This also may be deduced from the fact that all pods contain seeds, assuming that seeds are not formed apomictically, and that where a seed is missing the pod does not grow to its full width (Orphanos and Papaconstantinou 1969).The arrangement of pollinating trees in carob orchards has been traditionally disregarded by growers. This may have caused low yield or even have contributed to the abandonment of the crop. In the island of Crete, Sfakiotakis (1978) reported crop failure due to unfruitfulness resulting from lack of pollination. In Morocco, there is a project underway to graft male trees to increase pod production (S. Padulosi, pers. comm.). Pollination has traditionally been achieved either by keeping a male branch from the rootstock in the centre of the tree, if the rootstock is male, or by budding a male or hermaphrodite into the tree if the rootstock is female.Spontaneous trees (around 50% males) may be found in the neighbourhood, near paths or tracks, but generally in insufficient number. If male or hermaphrodite trees are planted as pollinators they must be interspersed around and within the orchard in a regular pattern. It is important to use different types of male or hermaphrodite pollinators to overlap with female cultivars' bloom, as main cultivars often display a long blooming season (3-4 months between August and November). Since male trees have a shorter flowering period than hermaphrodites, the latter usually show better overlapping.Neither the optimum density of pollinators in the orchard nor the possible differences between using males or hermaphrodites have been determined. The ideal ratio of male or hermaphrodite to female trees presumably depends on insect and wind activity in the orchard during flowering and also on pollen germinability. The proposed range varies from the 4% of Coit (1949) to the 20% of Merwin (1981). However, it seems enough to plant around 12% of pollinating trees (males or hermaphrodites) (Tous and Batlle 1990), e.g. a ratio of 8 females to 1 male or hermaphrodite, with pollinators planted in every 3rd row and separated by two female trees within the row. Additional staminate trees could also be planted in border rows upwind of the orchard. In California, Thomson (1971) recommended an orchard pollination design of hermaphrodites on alternate or every third row of trees for adequate pollination. In existing groves showing pollination deficiencies, some female trees can be top-worked and grafted with male or hermaphrodite scion wood.The carob tree is a species that needs little pruning, unlike other fruit and nut trees, which require pruning annually. After the basic framework of the tree has been established only light pruning is necessary. This fact is due to carob's specific growth and fruiting habits. While pruning, it is necessary to consider several important characteristics of carob (Tous and Batlle 1990):• its natural tendency to form a central axis with a strong prevalence of side shoots • fruiting on wood 2 years and older • sensitivity to big cuts, which heal very slowly.The traditional training methods were based on usually spherical or open vase forms, with a tall trunk and branching (first scaffold) from 1.5 m above the ground. Currently pruning is simple and straightforward. Short trunks (low first scaffold) favour a short vegetative (unbearing) period whereas longer trunks are advisable for mechanical harvesting using shakers. Thus the carob should be trained according to the harvesting system (manual or mechanical) foreseen, as free vase or modified central axis forms, respectively.This respects the natural shape of the young tree, pruning being very light or none at all during the first years. It is only necessary to eliminate the shoots that come out from around the soil and to break some of them to avoid excessive growth on the lower branches. After fruiting, the first shaping pruning should be done. This consists of removing the lowest branches over 2 years to produce a clean trunk of 0.5-0.7 m. With this training system small trees will develop less in height and more in width, easing manual harvesting using poles.It consists of leaving four or five primary branches well spaced and distributed along the axis of the trunk. The first can be located at a height of approximately 0.9-1 m. During the first years some lower branches can have their tips clipped in the summer, instead of being cut off totally. This training system gives a more upright crown and is more suitable for mechanical harvesting. It is important to stake the young trees to provide support for a number of years.They are usually slightly pruned and this operation should be carried out only occasionally after harvesting. Mature female, male and hermaphrodite carob trees produce flowers on wood of all ages and require light pruning only every 3-4 years to remove dead wood and encourage fruit-bearing wood by letting sunlight filter into the top middle section of the tree. This operation should be carried out particularly in years where a significant crop is expected. It is necessary to maintain an equilibrium between vegetative growth and production and it is particularly important to confine growth and production to the space allotted in the orchard.For fruiting, the best time to carry out pruning is at the beginning of autumn immediately after collecting the crop. Branches should be removed when they are not too thick (5-7 cm diameter) and the length of the annual shoot is less than 25-30 cm. Dead branches must also be removed as well as those which are crossed or excessively upright growing.Old neglected orchards or abandoned trees can be rejuvenated by thinning to increase and regularize production. If branches are broken in gales they should be removed with a clean cut and mastic applied to the cut surface to keep out rain as rotting can start easily, especially in mature trees at the peak of production.Traditionally, carob orchards have hardly been fertilized. This species has always been considered extremely adaptable to very poor soils and only some manure, when locally available, has been applied. However, in recent years, the revaluation of the crop has led some farmers to apply various types of fertilizer, either mineral or organic.Most bibliographic references highlight the benefits of nitrogen in increasing fruit production in old carob tree plantations (Lloveras and Tous 1992;Correia and Martins-Louçâo 1993). It has been shown that this leguminous tree is unable to fix atmospheric nitrogen (Martins-Louçâo and Rodríguez-Barrueco 1982;Martins-Louçâo 1985).In traditional orchards (density of 50 trees/ha) with average production of 2500-3000 kg/ha, an application of 50 kg of N, 20 kg of P 2 O 5 and 50 kg of K 2 O per hectare can be advisable (Tous and Batlle 1990). It is recommended to apply phosphorus/ potassium-based fertilizer and 25% of nitrogen in autumn after harvesting. The remaining nitrogen fertilizer can be applied in February as ammonium sulphate. In plantations receiving some irrigation, one can apply N and K in the months of May and June which coincides with the stage of fast growth of the fruit. It is important to stress the benefit of applying organic matter as with all other fruit and nut trees. It is recommended to apply 30-40 kg of manure per tree, every 3-4 years during autumn tilling.Work on carob fertigation by Correia and Martins-Louçâo (1995) in Algarve, Portugal, using mature trees of 'Mulata' and testing three levels of irrigation (0, 50 and 100%) based in water loss by evaporation, and two N amounts, as ammonium nitrate (21 and 63 kg ha-1 year-1) per each level has shown that predawn water potentials were always higher than -1.1 MPa. Midday leaf water potential values presented large seasonal variations and low values independently of treatments. The low leaf water potentials observed for fertigated trees during summer suggested that this parameter may be related not only to the evaporative demand but also to growth investment. The amount of fertigation was positively correlated with vegetative growth increment and fruit production. These results also suggested that under standard conditions in the Mediterranean region, N applications are effective even without irrigation. In addition, the results obtained are in agreement with the 'water spending' strategy proposed by Lo Gullo and Salleo (1988) for the carob tree as a drought adaptation mechanism.In the Mediterranean region, where water resources are scarce, irrigation is reserved for the more profitable horticultural crops. Therefore, the carob tree is planted in dry land. However, the availability of water is a requirement for good production. In this drought-resistant species the supply of water should be considered as occasional irrigation and within certain limits of dose and time of the year. Esbenshade and Wilson (1986) and Tous and Batlle (1990) observed a positive effect of irrigation on fruit production. Some experiments on young trees also resulted in a positive effect of irrigation on pod production (Esbenshade and Wilson 1986).Some authors indicate that, to ensure a good harvest, approximately 500 mm of rainfall per year are required (NAS 1979), but when rainfall is below 400 mm some complementary water supply is required (Tous and Batlle 1990). The main periods of irrigation in this species are considered to be spring, the beginning of summer (probable floral induction and fast pod growth) and autumn (flowering and accumulation of reserves).In carob orchards without irrigation (nearly all) it is worthwhile to apply some water with a tractor and tank in late spring and summer in the first 2 years after planting. This watering helps the start of tree growth and cropping. In those areas with scarce water supply, drip irrigation shows goods results. In adult orchards with water doses of 100 mm per year, benefits are clearly reflected in the yield (Tous and Batlle 1990).Soil maintenance in carob orchards has traditionally been carried out by tilling weeds to reduce evapotranspiration and improve water penetration. It is advisable to till the soil only to 15-20 cm depth, to prevent disrupting the shallow and active root system as this soil zone is generally the more fertile and better aired. Shallow tillage using a harrow or a cultivator is effective. Farmers in Spain usually till three times during the year, the first time in autumn before the rainy season starts, the second in spring and the third when the pods starts to ripen in early summer.In some orchards in Spain weed control is accomplished through the mixed system of tillage and herbicide applications with good results (Tous and Batlle 1990). The most commonly used chemicals have been simazine (pre-emergent, residual), paraquat, ammonium glyphosinate and glyphosate (post-emergent). It is advisable to avoid the application of residual herbicides before the 4th or 5th year. Weed control is especially important in young plantations, since heavy weed competition for water and nutrients can significantly reduce tree vigour and productivity.The carob tree is normally free from severe insect and disease troubles and is a crop which traditionally has not been sprayed. In Spain, the most damaging insect is the polyphagous larva of the leopard moth (Zeuzera pyrina L.) which attacks the wood of trunk and branches, causing severe damage to young trees. Cultivars tested in Spain were all susceptible to various degrees (Martorell 1987;Tous and Batlle 1990).In isolated cases, it can be controlled by introducing a wire into the galleries to destroy the larvae or by filling the holes with pesticide paste.The pods of many cultivars sometimes become infested with the small and polyphagous larva of the carob moth (Myelois ceratoniae Z.) while maturing and before harvest is complete. It also attacks stored carobs extensively where it can be controlled by fumigating. Coit (1961Coit ( , 1967) ) reported different susceptibility of several cultivars to the carob moth in California. Black aphids attack mainly the terminal shoots of young trees, and some hermaphrodite cultivars appear to show more susceptibility than females (Tous et al. 1996). In Cyprus, Orphanos (1980) reported carob midge (Asphondylia spp.) attacks on pods at a very early stage, which caused stunting. High humidity seems to soften the pods, making entry by worms much easier.The mildew disease caused by Oidium ceratoniae C. attacks pods, leaves and twigs in different periods of the year, mainly in spring and in autumn. Severe damage occurs only in some cultivars. For example, 'Rojal', 'Matalafera', 'Amele di Bari' and 'Racemosa', are fairly resistant to this disease while 'Negra', 'Melera', 'Costella', 'Santa Fe' and 'AA-2' are susceptible (Goor et al. 1958;Graniti 1959;Martorell 1987;Tous and Batlle 1990). Thus a cultivar grading to Oidium susceptibility exists. Another fungus, Polyporus sulphureus, can destroy branches in old trees. Young carob trees growing under greenhouse conditions have shown resistance to root rot caused by Armillaria (A. mellea and A. obscura) infection (Loreto et al. 1993).Other pests that occasionally cause severe damage to carob orchards are small rodents like gophers (Pitymys spp.) and rats (Rattus spp.). Gophers can severely damage the root system of young trees. In California, Thomson (1977) reported that it was almost impossible to establish a young orchard unless gophers are controlled. In Cyprus (Orphanos 1980) and other Mediterranean countries, rats are major pests. Rats can strip the bark not only of young shoots but also of older shoots and even limbs and by girdling a limb or branch can kill it. Several types of baits in traps can be used to control these rodents. However, the best control is natural predation by the wild native fauna, conservation of which is essential. Cattle, horses, sheep and goats all browse on the foliage of young and adult trees and can kill young unprotected trees.12.9 Yield Carob orchards are known to enter slowly into production. This has two main causes: the slow growth of the tree and its long vegetative period, and other environmental and cultural factors. In plantations located in marginal areas, the nonbearing period is long, from 6 to 8 years, while in others, where the conditions are better, cropping starts 3 or 4 years after budding. The production increases to achieve full bearing at 20-25 years of age and then stabilizes (Batlle 1985). Goor et al. (1958) reported that carob trees start to bear fruit in the 5th to 6th year when budded trees are planted and in the 7th or 8th year when seedlings are used for planting and later budded.It is also important to recognize that carob shows alternate or biennual bearing.The causes, in addition to genetics include climatic conditions such as scarce and variable rainfall, frost, fog, lack of pollination, damage of the inflorescence during harvesting (knocking down of the fruit), and deficiencies in orchard management (fertilization, pruning, etc.). Haselberg (1996) in Algarve, Portugal, has observed in 30 to 40-year-old 'Mulata' trees that the presence of pods in 'on' years has an inhibitory effect on the current season's flower differentiation, mainly during the period of most intensive fruit and seed growth (April to June).The productive potential of the carob is variable and scarcely known under good cultivation conditions. In Spain, average orchard productivity is around 1500 kg/ha (MAPA 1994), which can be regarded as very low. In Portugal, the average yield is 1700-2700 kg/ha (Droste 1993). In Tarragona, Spain, orchards which receive minimum management tend to produce 2000-3000 kg/ha, giving an average yield of 50-70 kg per tree. Some modern orchards 10 years old in Spain and Portugal give high yields, about 5000 kg/ ha in dry conditions and 7000 kg/ha with deficit irrigation (Tous et al. 1993). In Israel, on fully bearing trees in nonirrigated groves but with 550 mm of annual rainfall the yield can be about 7400 kg/ha and in irrigated orchards an average of 12 300 kg/ha can be reached (Goor et al. 1958). A well-grown adult tree could yield about 100-200 kg/year. Some big isolated trees can produce 250-300 kg in exceptional years.Carob harvesting is usually carried out at the end of summer or the beginning of autumn depending on cultivar and region. Harvesting can be manual or mechanical. In Mediterranean countries, carob groves are mainly hand-harvested by knocking down the pods with the help of long bamboo poles or wooden sticks and collecting them on fibre nets which are laid out under the trees. This operation needs careful handling since at this time of the year the carobs are in full bloom. The striking action of the poles can damage flowers and the next crop might be partially destroyed. This task constitutes the most significant part of the total cost of cultivation since it requires much hand labour, being currently about 30-35% of the total production costs (Orphanos 1980;Tous 1995b). In Spanish orchards the quantity of pods manually harvested, in average crop years, varies between 250 and 280 kg/day per worker (Tous and Batlle 1990). Mechanical harvesting using trunk or branch shakers has not been practised in most producing countries, mainly because of the small size of most orchards. However it seems feasible to adapt conventional harvesters used for other tree crops (olive, almond, pistachio, walnut, etc.) as carob branches are thick and stiff. To reduce harvesting cost, pods of a given cultivar should all be harvested at one time.Fruit ripeness, and therefore its optimal harvesting time, is indicated by the complete darkening of the pedicel just prior to natural detachment from the branch. This is a reliable sign that pods are ripe and have reached their full sugar content. Sometimes pod drop is hastened by the wind. Carobs should be harvested when they have 12-18% water content. After harvesting, carobs are either delivered to the processor or stored under shelter. Moisture will gradually decrease during the subsequent months of storage.Most of the carob pods harvested are brought to the processing plant. When carobs arrive, moisture content is variable (10-20%) depending on harvesting conditions and autumn rainfall. Pods require further drying and thus are stored under shelter in dry and ventilated places to reduce moisture to around 8% and to avoid rotting. Insects in stored carobs, mainly carob moth, can be controlled by fumigation. Pods are kibbled to separate the two main components: pulp and seeds.Carob pods are crushed mechanically using a kibbler, then are separated from the kernels. The processing of the carob beans and the products obtained are shown in Figure 13. This first coarse grinding can be followed by fine grinding of the pod pieces (kibbles) either at the same plant or at the feed or food factories. The feed factory grinds the deseeded pulp to different sizes in relation to the kind of livestock to be fed. The food industry processes the pulp further by roasting and milling to obtain a fine powder which is traded as carob powder.The carob seeds are transported in bulk by lorry to the gum factories. The kernels are difficult to process, since the seed coat is very hard. Kernels are peeled without damaging the endosperm and the embryos (germs). The two main procedures applied to remove seed coat are: acid (seeds treated with sulphuric acid to carbonize the coat) or roasting (kernels roasted in a rotating furnace to peel off the coat) (Puhan and Wielinga 1996). After the peeling process the endosperm can be split from the cotyledons because of their different friabilities. When the peeled seeds are forced through a splitting machine the brittle embryos turn out as a fine powder (germ meal) and can be separated from the unbroken endosperm scales by a sifting operation. Subsequently the endosperm is ground on roller mills to the desired particle size (gum). The carob bean gum is the ground endosperm and the carob germ meal is a by-product of the seed processing. Grower payout is calculated more and more in relation to the kernel yield of the cultivar delivered and also on amount of debris. Before carobs are stored, a grading sample is drawn from each delivery. This sample is processed individually using a small kibbler to determine kernel percentage. The two major components in determining return to the grower are weight delivered and percentage by weight of kernels.There are factors limiting the planting of carob in new areas, especially insufficient cold-hardiness, and factors limiting the profitability of the crop in existing areas, in particular factors that determine the suitability for modern orchards. In addition external economic factors limit the crop.Carob's main limitation is insufficient cold-hardiness. A frost of -4°C or below may damage or kill young trees or even shoots, flowers and young fruits in mature trees (Tous and Batlle 1990). A more severe frost can kill adult trees as has occurred several times in the Mediterranean region (in 1956 and 1985). Generally, carobs should not be planted above 500 m of altitude or in places where risk of frost is high. Acclimatization to low temperatures requires days to weeks for maximum chilling stress tolerance to develop. Photoperiod also seems to be involved in the acclimatization process in carob as in many other evergreen species.The main aim of new carob orchards should be to maximize seed production per hectare. Ideally cultivars should combine high seed yield and high productivity. However, useful cultivar information is only partially available. As the main labour requirement in carob groves is harvesting, efforts should be addressed to reduce this input which represents 30-35% of the total management cost (Orphanos 1980;Tous 1995b) and thus cultivars that ripen uniformly and are easy to shake should be used for mechanical harvesting.From the market situation over the past 15 years it can be seen that carob pod prices tend to be cyclic with long gaps, and high peaks as in the years 1984 (US$0.25/kg) and 1994 (US$0.80/kg). This makes the market unsettled and produces a negative effect on demand. In addition, highly variable prices favour market speculation. However, the industry needs a steady and regular raw supply and stable prices on which customers can rely. In addition, carob seed prices are even more fluctuating than carob kibble prices. As the main industrial application is the CBG this recurrent situation affects carob demand and thus its multiple uses. Big fluctuations in carob seed prices should be avoided in the future.Since the start of the 1980s this crop has raised a considerable interest because of generally sustained demand and increasing prices of the carob pods (pulp and seed). However, this trend has been sharply modified twice in the last 10 years: in 1984-85 and 1994-95 when prices peaked. The high pod prices led to a loss of competitiveness of the carob bean gum versus other natural (guar and tara) or artificial hydrocolloid substitutes, both times producing a subsequent decline of pod prices.Carob price stabilization in the market would improve the future outlook of this crop. The revaluation of the carob pulp in animal feeding and carob powder as human food, could help to increase its demand and then to reduce the final dependency of the pod price on the kernel. In addition the 'healthy' and 'light' component of derivatives of the carob pulp (confectionery, bakery and drinks) should be fully explored.The carob tree shows some outstanding features like rusticity, drought resistance, reduced orchard management, etc. and it is also well suited to part-time farming. In addition, modern carob orchards start bearing earlier (4th year after budding) than traditional ones and increase their yield steadily in response to minimum cultural care and lack of irrigation. The development of a useful method of propagation by cuttings would have a favourable impact on carob growing.Agricultural sustainability has been increasing in importance over the years. Although carobs produce reduced yields in old plantations (1500-3000 kg/ha), in modern orchards production potential is higher (5000-7000 kg/ha). In addition, in optimum conditions carob requires a minimum of inputs compared with most other fruit, nut or vegetable crops. In many semi-arid regions and marginal soils where carob is well adapted and cultivated, the quantity and quality of irrigation water are major limitations to production. This crop has received little attention until now but is currently being re-emphasized as an alternative in dryland areas with subtropical Mediterranean climates for diversification of coastal agriculture.Although it seems that the overall world carob production trend is rather stationary (Tous and Ferguson 1996;Batlle 1997) some countries will continue to reduce their production while a few will probably increase theirs. Production in Morocco is likely to increase in the coming years to supply its local industry for gum extraction which benefits from low labour costs. Australia also seems to be a future potential producer of pods, mainly for livestock feeding in agroforestry systems (Esbenshade and Wilson 1986;Tous 1995a;Race and Curtis 1996).Another factor to be considered is that the total harvested carob production is partially affected by the price level. It was assessed in commercial groves in Sicily, Italy by Licitra (1996) that 10-15% of the whole production is only collected when pod prices are rewarding for growers and even more than 50% on spontaneous isolated trees. The main production is usually harvested every year. This is also happening in some other Mediterranean growing areas.The reviewed information on genetic resources shows that carob cultivars vary widely in many characteristics, such as yield, season of maturity, susceptibility to pests, precocity, ease of harvest, sugar content, kernel yield, gum content and quality.Most CBG factories are placed in Mediterranean countries of the European Union (EU) (Spain, 5; Portugal, 2; Italy, 1) as this is the leading world carobproducing region and is expected to remain so in the future. However, newly established industries are operating in developing African countries like Morocco (which has 2). There is also a small processing plant in Turkey. The current CBG world demand by the food and pet food industries of around 15 000 t should be supplied yearly; otherwise, the consumer industry will change to other gums with a consequent loss of market. Although supply and demand of CBG show some flexibility annually (around 2750 t), any market loss is usually hard to recover.One strength in the carob sector is that it is fairly well organized in the main producing countries. Thus although growers, cooperatives, kibblers, factory managers, the agrofood industry and R & D institutions have some different interests, all rely on proper prices for pods and kernels and are aware that a betterorganized sector (from producer to consumer) would be mutually beneficial. Most of the companies that produce carob bean gum have belonged since 1972 to the Institut Europeen des Industries de la Gomme de Caroube (INEC) which is located in Brussels, Belgium. INEC has a Technical Committee and a Secretariat General which is based at ETH in Zürich, Switzerland.INEC was launched by most of the important producers of CBG as a cooperative nonprofit organization to meet the extensive toxicological investigations requested by the FAO/WHO and the EU on food additives to be considered harmless. The INEC could play an important role in supporting studies on production and application of the CBG as the natural gum with best properties for the food and pharmaceutical industries. In addition, the INEC could foster programmes to conserve the carob crop and develop crop technology, encourage new plantings in developing regions, and improve the use and economics of carob kernels.At present, it is mainly growers of Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy who seem to be interested in carob as a crop. Most remaining Mediterranean countries maintain carob as a native tree, useful environmentally and for landscape recreation. Currently, this tree crop is included in the EU aid programme. Actions are considered in the Nut and Carob Production Organizations scheme (European Regulation number 2159/89). In addition, the carob tree was included in forestry actions of the EU (European Regulation number 2080/92).A decision to establish, expand or replant a carob orchard requires knowledge of current and potential consumption (domestic and abroad) and price evolution (variability and projection). It is also important to know competition and market volatility. Its future possibilities in an ever-more competitive horticulture with increasingly low inputs (labour, water, fertilizers, sprays, etc,) are promising provided that the CBG market prices stabilize. Production costs can be reduced by increasing the ease of harvest. In addition, its use as an ornamental species for xerogardening and for landscaping is increasingly being recognized.An interesting initiative to promote carob growing was the establishment of the Associaçao Interprofissional para o Desenvolvimento da Produçao e Valorizaçao da Alfarrova (AIDA) in 1985 in the Algarve, Portugal. This independent association brings together efforts of interested people and institutions involved in carob production, processing and marketing.Carob has been traditionally neglected by Research & Development programmes so that knowledge about existing cultivars in the Mediterranean region is still poor. Centuries of carob cultivation have given rise to a number of cultivars differing in agronomic characters, and large natural populations remain untouched in countries like Morocco and Turkey as described in the Genetic Resources section. Thus surveys and a cooperative project to compare and characterize most useful cultivars and types selected from the wild are much needed.In 1973, the Mediterranean Group for Applied Plant Physiology (MPP) chose the carob tree as a suitable Mediterranean species meriting R & D effort to improve the knowledge of its physiology and environmental adaptation. Since this initiative, three International Carob Symposia have been held with the participation of physiologists, pomologists, chemists, pharmacists and processing managers. As the main group involves physiologists, the main output has been on physiologyrelated subjects.These three Symposia were held in 1978 in Aldeia das Açoteias, Portugal (Catarino 1980), in 1987in Valencia, Spain (Fito and Mulet 1988), and in 1996 in Cabanas, Portugal. It is clear that the knowledge on genetic resources, propagation, agronomy, potential productivity, agroforestry, afforestation and uses of carobs is still too limited compared with other Mediterranean tree species. In 1986, a meeting was held in INIA Oeiras, Portugal on carob research activities in which the main working lines of several research groups from some producing countries were discussed (Brito de Carvalho 1988b).Work on characterization and documentation of carob cultivars is scarce worldwide (Grainger and Winer 1980). In addition to some classic work by Russo (1954) in Italy, Coit (1967) in California, Orphanos and Papaconstantinou (1969) in Cyprus and Vardar et al. (1980) in Turkey, some countries like Italy, Portugal and Spain have recently made surveys on their native genetic resources and collected material to be studied and conserved in collections and genebanks (Tous et al. 1996). The carob research programme at IRTA-Mas Bové was started in 1984 (Batlle and Tous 1988), after a wide survey of the carob native genetic resources and possibilities of this crop in Catalonia had been carried out by Batlle (1985).Although several descriptors outlines have been proposed for carob (Coit 1949;Russo 1954;Donno and Panaro 1965;Batlle 1985;Brito de Carvalho 1988a;Crescimanno et al. 1988;Tous et al. 1996) the development of a generally accepted scheme for cultivar characterization and evaluation, ideally with the support of IPGRI, is much needed. It would be possible for IRTA to take this initiative. A good starting framework for a descriptor list would be the last scheme proposed by Tous et al. (1996) which is presented with some modifications in Appendix III. Passport, management, and environmental and site descriptors are omitted.In the existing carob collections it seems that enough genetic diversity exists for crop improvement. However, as the main use for carob pods is currently the seeds, whereas most cultivars maintained in collections were selected for high pulp content, it is worth selecting and collecting more wild types with high seed yield and characterizing/evaluating them in orchards. A survey of isoenzymes or other molecular markers in appropiate populations will allow the level and distribution of genetic diversity within and between the two Ceratonia species to be estimated. This is of potential interest if the two species hybridize. It could be interesting to compare diversity of cultivars with diversity in the wild. It could also help to locate species polymorphism for collecting and conservation. A marker for sex also would be useful if carob breeding is attempted.Although progress has been made on carob propagation by cuttings (Alorda et al. 1987;Alorda and Medrano 1988;Cabrita et al. 1988;De Michelle and Occorso 1988), efforts are needed to transfer this technique to the nursery industry. A simple and cheap method for producing trees by cuttings would make budding unnecessary and might provide a shorter vegetative period.Pollination in carob either by insect or wind is not yet clearly understood. It is a key component of orchard design and production and consequently should be studied further. A wide range of flowering types (male and hermaphrodite) should be included in any work to be carried out. Pollen germination tests (in vivo and in vitro) are necessary to select and propagate male and hermaphrodite pollinators. In addition, flower induction is a critical step for fruit production and thus for orchard management but is poorly understood and needs to be studied in the near future.More information is also needed on tree density and potential yield. The precise nutrition and water requirements of the carob are yet to be determined. In addition, more research work on carob cambial activity and potential differences between cultivars and sites, under irrigated and nonirrigated conditions, is needed to schedule water supply and stop growth before winter.Alternate or biannual bearing causes problems for both farmers and the stock market. CBG factory managers need to know every year the potential carob pod production to plan their purchases. Thus developing techniques for early assessment of the anticipated production is of particular interest to CBG factory operators. So the companies which belong to INEC might be interested in collaborating on projects to forecast carob yield (e.g. from pollen fluxes, meteorological data, etc.) in the future.The use of carob for afforestation and soil conservation in warm Mediterranean areas with degraded vegetation or to prevent erosion is often raised but has not yet been investigated. It seems that carob is not a forest species as it thrives in the maquis; however, its role and potential suitability to cover bare land will be worth assessing. In addition, its response to fire, which is common in the Mediterranean region, is unknown. Sprouting ability would be a determining factor in natural regeneration. The carob tree showed some regeneration capacity after aerial killing by deep frost (-15°C) on the Mediterranean Spanish coast in 1956 and 1985 (Batlle 1985). As carob cannot withstand competition with other forest and maquis trees and shrubs, its germination in nature is rare. It thrives well and regenerates by seeds on dry and warm sites in Israel (Liphschitz 1987). The development of mycorrhiza inoculation in carob nurseries could improve the establishment and growth of new orchards and afforestation plantings.To short ( ), medium ( ), long ( ) Width (W) (cm) narrow ( ), medium ( ), wide ( ) Thickness (T) (cm) thin ( ), medium ( ), thick ( ) L/W, L/T, W/T relations Volume of 100 seed (cc) Seed weight (g, average 100 seeds) small (< 0.17), medium ( 0.17-0.2), high(>0.2) Gum content (% dry wt. low (< 48), medium (48-2), high (>52) of endosperm) 6 Agronomic Yield; regularity of production; precocity; sensitivity to frost, wind; pest and disease susceptibility; ripening season; ease of harvesting, etc.Uses of carob pods (animal feed or human food); tannin content; sugar, etc.; quality of CBG (viscosity and gel strength); germ content, etc. † Passport, management, and environmental and site descriptors are omitted. Source: modified from Tous et al. (1996)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d8f1ed2e01856dbb48ddac706e103a16","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/040e5664-a1ca-4839-abe4-e487ea2bd4f8/retrieve","id":"1764707487"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6f3ace57-87f3-4a2d-a7d8-be937b476ed5","content":"Notes from State Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ethiopia Fikru Regassa Ethiopia has large cattle population, but milk production is low to fulfil the existing demand for milk and milk products. Efforts to increase milk production and productivity are mainly linked with improvement in the genetics, feed, animal health and husbandry practices. Failure to increase improved genetics is one of the major constraints that is seriously affecting production; the number of crossbred cattle is about 2.34% of the total cattle population. The Ethiopian government and development partners have been supporting smallholder farmers and private sector to transform the dairy sector from subsistence to market-oriented dairy. Progress registered so far is promising but is far behind expectation.So far, the genetic improvement mainly focused on artificial insemination of indigenous breeds with exotic dairy sires. For the last four decades, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) has been providing artificial insemination services by producing and distributing semen from elite bulls, training technicians and producing liquid nitrogen for semen preservation. However, there was no systematic evaluation of progenies of bulls distributed; the genetic makeup of the crossbred cows is in the hands of the farmers. Thus, the genetic progress after many years of crossbreeding still remains a question that has to be answered by researchers.The initiatives taken by MoA, National Animal Genetic Improvement Institute (NAGII), Natural Resource Institute Finland and International Livestock Research Institute's African Dairy Genetic Gain project to establish and pilot a national dairy animals identification and registration system, establish a national database with all facilities and capture digital data from smallhold-er farmers are basic interventions to improve the dairy sector. In addition, hair samples were collected for genomic analysis to identify the genetic makeup of the crossbred animals managed by farmers and multiplication centres. The capacity to collect hair samples for genomic analysis to identify the genetic makeup of heifers and cows and the genomic data with phenotypic data will speed up genetic improvement in the country. Now, we have reached a level to see the fruits of the efforts made so far in this regard. Phenotypic and genomic data are analyzed, sires/cows are ranked based on their estimat-ed breeding values and top-ranking animals identified and documented in this catalogue. Feedback of the genetic analysis will be provided to owners of the selected bulls so that the farmers or the national genetic improvement program will use the bulls for future genetic improvement. Furthermore, the result will support farmers to make informed decisions either to retain or cull their animals and to value their best heifers and cows to sell at a ruminative price, or use their heifers or cows as collateral to get loans from banks for farm expansion and herd replacement.The ministry would like to commend NAGII, LUKE and ILRI for the transformative work done so far. However, sustaining the ongoing effort requires a concerted effort of all actors in the dairy value chain, private sector and development partners. This catalogue is the first of its kind in our country. As we scale up and out the ongoing genetic improvement, such catalogues will be annually published and communicated to dairy cattle actors. It will also be complemented with parades of the best bulls, cows and heifers. The MoA will continue working to realize the objectives of this initiative by scaling up to reach as many smallholder dairy farmers as possible.Notes from the Director General of ILRIThe International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is a CGIAR research centre, a global research partnership for a food-secure future. ILRI works to improve food and nutrition security and reduce poverty in developing countries through research for efficient, safe and sustainable use of livestock. Through its work, ILRI seeks to solve constraints that hinder the growth of livestock production and productivity. ILRI is co-hosted by Kenya and Ethiopia, and has 14 offices across Asia and Africa. ILRI undertakes its research in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations and the private sector.Livestock are critical to rural incomes, nutrition and food security, and resilience in smallholder mixed crop-livestock and pastoral systems in much of Africa. In most African countries, 60-80% of rural households keep livestock. Organic fertilizer (manure) and animal traction make indirect and critical contributions to crop production. Rapid growth in demand for food of animal origin in Africa, stimulated by high population growth and gains in real per capita income and urbanization, represents a major opportunity to achieve poverty reduction and economic growth, and for making an overall contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. However, livestock production is constrained by lack of animal feed in adequate amount and quality, limited high producing adaptable genetics, prevalence of animal diseases and climate change.In Ethiopia, ILRI works with national organizations to achieve the aims of the government's Growth and Transformation Plan and the Ministry of Agriculture's Agricultural Growth Program. These national partners include federal ministries and research institutes, universities, regional state government offices and research institutes, NGOs, the private sector, local communities and their representatives, as well as development projects.African Dairy Genetic Gains (ADGG) is part of the portfolio in the livestock genetics program working with local and international partners to apply innovative solutions and advanced sciences and technologies to improve genetics. In Ethiopia, the ADGG program is contributing to human and infrastructure capacity development to enable long-term genetic improvement to improve the multiplication and delivery of tropically adapted improved genetics, develop electronic data capture, data analysis and feedback system and demonstrate use of ICT to capture field data and provide extension service, educate farmers, and provide feedback. This animal catalogue is a key output meant to showcase top-ranked bulls and cows that would be used in future genetic improvement to improve farmers animals.ILRI appreciates the financial support by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for funding the project and the support of the Ministry of Agriculture at national and regional levels, the farmers, and many other partners. ILRI would like to strengthen its partnerships to sustain the program and bring a bigger impact to the transformation of the dairy sector.Overview and achievements of African Dairy Genetic Gains (ADGG) Project Okeyo Mwai, ADGG Principal Investigator Background Milk production in developing countries, including Ethiopia, is dominated by smallholder dairy farmers, each keeping 1-3 dairy cows. The majority of these farmers are not currently extracting optimum benefits because herd and cow production and productivity levels remain low. Increasing milk production in these countries could be achieved through the following combined interventions: a) identification and promotion of dairy genetics that best matche the prevailing and predicted management conditions; b) improved husbandry, especially feeding, health care and housing; c) timely and customized farmer education and feedback; d) access to good quality inputs, including breeding services at affordable prices, and e) supportive policies that allow enabling institutional frameworks and markets to thrive.The African Dairy Genetic Gains (ADGG) program (https://africadgg.wordpress.com/category/adgg/) was initiated with a vision for African smallholder dairy farmers to continuously access more productive dairy genetics, breeding, farmer education services and other related input services enabling their farm enterprises to be profitable and competitive businesses. The program objectives are to a) establish performance recording and sampling systems in Tanzania and Ethiopia; b) use the information and samples to develop systems to select crossbred bulls and cows of superior genetic merit for artificial insemination (AI) and natural mating; c) pilot farmer feedback systems that assist farmers to improve their productivity; d) establish public-private, nongovernment organisations and producer partnerships necessary for funding and scaling the on-going ADGG program into a regional platform.The ADGG program supports Ethiopia's national dairy recording centre (https://portal.adgg.ilri.org/) to operate a digital data capture platform that has enabled more than 70,000 dairy herds and 110,000 animals to be registered and their pedigree and performance data recorded. Genomic information is captured on a sub-set of the animals and all records are appropriately analyzed to generate breeding values (https://portal.adgg.ilri.org/sites/default/files/ADGG_ETH_ BULLCOW_ sel_GUIDE_2020.pdf) that are used to rank animals. The very best males are selected to provide semen for Artificial Insemination (AI) through national and regional AI centres in Ethiopia. This way, the genetic variability among and within cattle breeds in Ethiopia are being efficiently exploited, while at the same time a population of resilient yet productive dairy genetics is slowly being built.Augmented by a national animal identification system, the results and information gathered over time are used to inform the design and implementation of a structured genetic improvement program at national and regional level. The above have been achieved through innovative applications of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and genomic technology.ADGG is a farmer and country-focused ILRI-led project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that is being piloted in Ethiopia and Tanzania since 2016, and recently (in 2020) has expanded to Kenya with plans for Uganda and Rwanda underway. In Ethiopia, ADGG is jointly working with the National Animal Genetic Improvement Institute (NAGII) and other domestic and international partners.In each country, the project routinely captures herd performance records of individual animals, their production environment and genomic information. The data generated is used to identify appropriate dairy genetics, including crossbred bulls of superior genetic merit for increased milk production, fertility, longevity and resilience. The selected bulls are then made available to farmers in the form of semen or breeding bulls for AI or controlled natural mating. Results from performance evaluations and guidance on management practices to improve productivity are relayed back to the livestock producers through simplified SMS messages using the i-cow platform. Information received by farmers guides their adoption of improved cow management practices which will ultimately lead to sustained productivity gains, income, nutrition and poverty reduction.• ADGG is operating in 98 districts in Amhara, Oromia, SNNP, Sidama (former SNNP region) and Tigray regions, and Addis Ababa city administration.• Infrastructure has been provided to enable NAGII and regional livestock offices to effectively deliver the genetic improvement plan as follows:• High-capacity server (8 TB storage and 256 GB memory), server rack, Smart-UPS RT 20000 XL and air conditioning machine• 100 motorbikes, 92 tablets and 15 laptops• 25,000 printed plastic ear tags and 200 heart girth measurement tapes • Four milk analyzer machines• A national dairy cattle database with a robust animal identification and registration system has been developed and dairy production data generated through different projects availed in one portal.• A digital offline data capture system to collect animal performance data from the field has been established. The offline data capture system uses customized ADGG ODK Tools (https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/108942). A feedback system using direct SMS has also been developed and is being fine-tuned and adapted for Ethiopia. These products are supported by a robust and agile digital platform, the structure of which is summarized below:• Ethiopian dairy herds and animals registered by ADGG, PAID and LUKE projects have been harmonized into one national dairy cattle database. The total number of dairy herds, dairy cattle and test day milk records registered in the digital ADGG platform is more than 70,000, 110,000 and 195,000, respectively.• More than 6,000 animals have been genotyped using medium-density SNP chip, thus enabling artificial insemination bulls to be locally selected by NAGII using state-of-the-art genomic predictions.• A first round genomic prediction algorithms and systems for selecting crossbred bulls and cows of superior genetic merit for artificial insemination, natural mating and multiplication centres has been deployed.• Elite animals have been certified and promoted to artificial insemination centres, the top three locally adapted crossbred bulls were transferred to artificial insemination centres for wider national use.• Farmer feedback systems that assist farmers to improve their productivity have been successfully piloted.• Customized feedback messages have been developed and deployed based on performance data collectd from famers' herds.• SMS based feedback system (cow calendar) and dairy management support services reaching smallholder dairy farmers through digital extension commenced. A total of 8,897,549 education messages in the form of SMS have been provided to farmers by iCoW in collaboration with ADGG in the last four years.• Breed composition of crossbred cows owned by farmers was determined based on the genotype informatition and shared with farmers to improve herd management in line with the animal's requirement and production potential.• Human resource capacity building:• Capacity of the national system to collect field data, manage, analyze and provide feedback to smallholder farmers has been enhanced. project with an additional one year no-cost extension period. The project was designed to address genetic constraints to dairy productivity growth in Amhara, Oromia, SNNP (+ Sidama) and Tigray regions of Ethiopia by strengthening artificial insemination (AI) delivery through public-private partnerships. PAID is also aiming at establishing financially sustainable private channels, as well as more efficient and effective government channels for the delivery of AI and related dairy cattle development services, and stimulating significant private investment leading to the inclusive growth of East Africa's dairy sector.Venture37, together with the Ethiopian government and selected dairy genetics firms, works collaboratively to achieve PAID's major objectives of: 1) strengthening local capacity for doorstep delivery of reliable AI services; 2) supporting, incentivizing and monitoring the performance of 400 public and 100 private AI service providers who in turn provide training on improved whole dairy farm management to at least 140,500 smallholders and deliver approximately one million AI services and other dairy production inputs and services; and 3) enabling the National Animal Genetic Improvement Institute (NAGII) and Regional Artificial Insemination Centres (AICs) to ramp up their production and distribution of quality frozen semen produced from proven pure and crossbred bulls.Key achievements:• AI techs curriculum updated and 200 printed copies transferred to NAGII.• Farmers' training materials produced. Four manuals, eight video clips, 11 posters and six brochures in three languages (Amharic, Oromiffa and Tigrigna) have been produced and distributed to AI technicians.• Over 230,000 printed ear tags and 500 ear tag applicators distributed to AI technicians. In addition, five ear tag printers were transferred to NAGII and the four target regional AI centres.• Computer Assisted Semen Analyzer (CASA) transferred to NAGII.• Fourteen semen lab and eight LN2 production plant technicians from NAGII and regional AI centres trained.• First round media campaign on AI technology use conducted.• First round use of hormones for heat synchronization and AI carried out.Contributions of the government of Finland and the Natural Resources Institute (Luke) to Ethiopian dairy herd performance recording and national animal evaluation Enyew Negussie, senior scientistIn 2011 experts from NAGII, MoA and Luke recognized the missing gaps that an institute like NAGII needs to fill to be able to support dairy development in the whole country. It needs to have a system for national animal identification, dairy herd performance recording, selection of superior bulls and dams using modern genetic evaluation methodologies and a facility for data analysis. In addition, it needs to build a strong capacity in animal evaluation methodologies and design of dairy breeding programs.To address these challenges, a joint project between the Finnish and Ethiopian governments titled \"Capacity Building in Herd Performance Recording and Genetic Improvement to Strengthen the Ethiopian Dairy Development\" started in 2012. The project was financed by the Institutional Cooperation Instrument of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland with about 850,000 euros and a substantial Ethiopian contribution both financial and in-kind. The implementation of the project was coordinated by Luke Finland in close cooperation with MoA and NAGII. The main objectives of the project were to: 1) establish a national dairy herd performance recording and advisory system; 2) build a modern computerized database management facility at NAGII; 3) develop locally adapted dairy cattle breeding strategies; and 4) strengthen the human,institutional and organizational capacity of NAGII.The project in its Phase I (2012-2014) built the Ethiopian national animal identification system and established a national dairy herd performance monitoring scheme on a pilot scale, built a computerized national dairy cattle database centre and supported capacity building for experts and farmers in herd performance recording and advisory systems. A total of 152 herds were first entered into the national herd performance and farmers advisory system.In Phase II (2015-2017), the national herd performance recording and farmers advisory system, which was started in and around Addis Ababa with 152 herds, scaled up to Tigray and Amhara regions involving a total of 721 herds. It was in this phase that for the first time the national routine dairy genetic evaluation system started utilizing 115,000 test-day milk records from 400 herds and 17,000 animals in the pedigree. A national performance recording system without farmers feedback reporting system cannot be sustained and hence, an automated quarterly and annual farmers feedback reporting system was built simultaneously. The project also trained a total of 1,292 (156 women and 1,136 men) experts, technicians, extension agents, farmers and officials in various fields. The institutional capacity of NAGII and its infrastructures was strengthened with the provision of two small database server computers, several laptops, two Toyota-Hilux field vehicles, several motorcycles, milk compositional analysis equipment and a large supply of printed ear tags.Towards the end, the Luke-led project ADGG started. The two projects came together, harmonized the various activities and have been working collaboratively ever since to ensure a vital continuation that provided an invaluable foundation for the successful implementation and marked achievements of the ADGG project we are witnessing today. A critical component of any project is to ensure its continuity. In this regard, the capacity building work done by Luke at all levels is designed to ensure the continuation of project achievements. The Finnish government and Luke supported the training of two professionals to get their MSc and a PhD in dairy genetic improvement within the realm of this project to ensure continuity and strengthen the Ethiopian dairy development."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ef85393be5721bb8f0943433f97c1155","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cbdfb1d9-6511-45e2-a09c-27b2bc630998/retrieve","id":"-953650679"},"keywords":["Banana Canopy cover Leaf area index Soil moisture deficit Irrigation Drone imagery C1, cycle 1","C2, cycle 2","CC, canopy cover","CC ini , initial canopy cover","CC max , maximum canopy cover","CC rel , relative CC","RF, rainfed","Dr, soil moisture depletion","ET 0 , daily reference evapotranspiration","FC, field capacity","FI, full irrigation","GN, grande naine","HG, huti green","LA, leaf area","laf, leaf area factor","LAI, leaf area index","MAP, months after planting","nls, non-linear least squares","p, depletion factor","P, leaf pruning event","PWP, permanent wilting point","r, canopy cover"],"sieverID":"391bd1d0-ec59-4052-a7fd-a741bfa77036","content":"The biggest abiotic threat to banana (Musa spp.) production is water deficit, but physiological indicators in plantations are lacking. Canopy Cover (CC) seems to be a relevant parameter, but so far not used in banana fields. Field experiments were conducted to determine the effect of optimal irrigation (FI) versus rainfed (RF) on CC and Leaf Area Indices (LAI) in two experiments with different cultivars (Mchare 'Huti Green' [HG, AA] and Cavendish 'Grand Naine'[GN, AAA]) (n = 3 for HG, n = 4 for GN) until harvest of cycle 1 (C1), studying C1 and C2 plants. Soil moisture was followed using Time Domain reflectometry. CC and LAI were reduced 8-9 weeks after the start of soil moisture divergence between RF and FI treatments in both experiments (p < 0.05), leading to a reduction in CC growth rate (r) and maximum CC (CC max ) in RF plots (p < 0.05). On a daily timescale, CC varied diurnally (i.e. was reduced) under high evaporative demands, whereby soil moisture depletion increased the CC reduction. Cultivar specific CC-LAI curves were created following the Lambert-Beer equation, whereby HG had a lower extinction coefficient than GN (0.52 vs. 0.67). CC growth over time seems a promising indicator for water deficit in the field. Diurnally, CC is more affected by evaporative demand than soil moisture depletion, although soil moisture depletion increases CC diurnal drops under high ET 0 .By 2050, global population levels are expected to reach 9.7 billion (+ 32 % from 2015), with over two thirds of this expansion happening in developing countries, and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) accounting for half the total growth (United Nations., 2019). To feed this growing population, food production needs to increase by 25-70 % (Hunter et al., 2017;FAO., 2018). One of the most important crops in terms of consumption, land area and production is banana (Musa spp.). Global production of banana and plantains was 153 million Mg in 2017 covering 5.6 million ha in over 135 countries. It is the 12 th most important food crop in terms of production (fourth in Africa) and the world's most important fruit (FAOSTAT, 2019).In East and Central Africa (ECA), daily per capita consumption is 15 times the global average, and constitutes a very significant portion of daily energy intake ranging from 30 to 60 % (Abele et al., 2007;FAOSTAT., 2019). Actual production in the area is low (< 30 Mg ha −1 yr −1 ) compared with attainable yields (> 70 Mg ha −1 yr −1 ) (Wairegi et al., 2010;Van Asten et al., 2011). Water is the primary limiting factor for agriculture in SSA, where only 18 % of the total irrigable land is currently irrigated (Adhikari et al., 2015). Water (both excess and deficit) is considered to be the largest limiting abiotic factor affecting banana production worldwide (Carr, 2009). Depending on the prevailing climate, water needs for banana range from 1100 to 2650 mm evenly distributed per year (Robinson and Alberts, 1986;Van Asten et al., 2011;Varma and Bebber, 2019). Even distribution is essential, as plants are already affected after two to three days of soil moisture deficit (Carr, 2009).By 2050, climate change in ECA is expected to increase the thermal suitable area for banana production by 1-11 %, but extension of land area under beneficial temperatures is expected to be offset by an increase in rainfall variability. Moreover, as temperature drives development rates of banana (Fortescue et al., 2011), the increase in temperature is coupled with faster crop cycles, an increase in evapotranspiration, thereby increasing transpiration rates and putting more pressure on water resources (Adhikari et al., 2015;Varma and Bebber, 2019).In view of the above, agriculture needs to be intensified by a more efficient use of both rainfall and irrigation water, and the enhancement of water use efficiency. In most cases, management of irrigation systems is based on farmers' intuition and experience, which is suboptimal (Boesveld et al., 2011), rather than allocating water when plants are in need. This is because easy physiological indicators for water deficit are lacking in banana, and most farmers find current irrigation scheduling tools overwhelming and lack the means and skills to install and operate them (Carr, 2009;Boesveld et al., 2011). Under relatively mild soil drought conditions, banana plants close their stomata, reduce transpiration and photosynthesis. This keeps leaves hydrated, most likely through root pressure, but masks that banana are under water deficit (Turner et al., 2007;Carr, 2009).Expanding tissues, as emerging leaves and growing fruit, are among the first to be affected (Kallarackal et al., 1990;Thomas and Turner, 1998;Carr, 2009;Robinson and Galán Saúco, 2010). At the field (plantation) level, canopy development can be measured by the leaf area index (LAI) or green canopy cover (CC). LAI is defined as the total one-sided leaf area of all leaves per unit ground area (m² m −2 ). LAI values in banana plantations range from zero at planting to five at maturity in well-managed plantations, even reaching values more than six in ratoon crops (Turner, 1998;Turner et al., 2007;Carr, 2009). It is measured directly or indirectly. When leaves and plant parameters are measured directly, the most accurate LAI is obtained, but given the spatial heterogeneity of the canopy, many sampling points are needed which is time consuming, tedious, and sometimes destructive (Weiss et al., 2004). Indirect measurements are based on the estimation of \"contact frequency\" or the \"gap fraction\" with various possible optical devices (LAI2000, TRAC, Demon and cameras for hemispherical photography). Contact frequency methods are based on the likelihood that a beam penetrating the canopy will reach a vegetative structure. Gap frequency methods are inverse, as the beam has no contact with the vegetative structure until reaching a reference level and consequently the gaps in the canopy are measured. These techniques therefore use light transmittance through the canopy. Indirect methods need to be calibrated to the specific architecture of banana plants, as they are based on canopy characteristics such as leaf angle distribution, leaf inclination function and planting density (Weiss et al., 2004). Hence, indirect LAI methods are difficult to use when not yet parameterized and given the widespread heterogeneity of banana plants in the field, parameterization of LAI measurements for one cultivar at a specific location might not be useful in other plantations or fields with another cultivar.A simpler indicator is the CC, defined as the proportion (%) of ground area covered by the vertical projection of the canopy (Jennings et al., 1999). In contrast to LAI, CC is easier to estimate given current drone technology. CC can easily and reliably be determined from image analysis. Unlike LAI, remote sensing and drone imagery allows a dynamic view of the CC averaged over much larger areas, as repeated images can be gathered at multiple times during the day of a complete plantation. This dynamic view of plantations is needed as individual banana plants unfold their lamina differently in response to variable environmental stimuli and soil conditions, typically following a diurnal rhythm with leaf halves forming a single plane aligned with the midrib during the night and early morning, and folding down to become more vertical during the day under periods of high radiation (Milburn et al., 1990;Thomas and Turner, 1998;Turner, 1998;Turner and Thomas, 1998;Turner et al., 2007). Lamina folding occurs in drought stressed plants (Milburn et al., 1990;Thomas and Turner, 1998;Turner and Thomas, 1998), but this is questioned (Lu et al., 2002). While the effect of drought on leaf emission and growth has been described (Turner and Thomas, 1998;Turner et al., 2007;Carr, 2009), the overall effect on CC, and therefore at the plantation level, is not known. Furthermore, the diurnal effect of leaf folding measured by CC cannot be reflected at the plantation scale by LAI as leaf sizes remain quite similar on a daily scale.Given the lack of knowledge on CC in banana plantations, the overall objective was to investigate to what extent plot-scale observations of CC provide insights into water deficit. We hypothesize that soil moisture readily affects CC development as emerging leaves are among the first organs to be affected by drought. In addition we hypothesize diurnal changes in CC which are correlated with changes in daily evaporative demand, and that these changes are larger in plants experiencing water deficits. Thirdly, we hypothesized that CC-LAI relationships can be obtained per cultivar, allowing to calculate CC values from LAI values.Experiments were conducted at the joint research farm of the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Arusha, Tanzania (3°23′ 58″ S, 36°47′ 48″ E). Soils are Endocalcic Phaeozems (Geoabruptic, Clayic, Humic) (IUSS Working Group WRB., 2014) or Udertic to Vertic Haplustols (USDA., 1999) on gently sloping land (3%) located at the foothill of Mt. Meru at an altitude of 1188 m asl. Soils are moderately shallow to deep (90-120 cm), well structured, well drained with a silty clay loam to silty clay texture (Table S1).The climate is a tropical highland climate with a moderately cool thermal zone (FAO, 2012). Rainfall follows a bimodal yearly pattern with a long rainy season extending from late March to early June and a shorter rainy season from October to December (Grieser et al., 2006). An automated weather station (TAHMO weather station: Decagon DS-2 sonic anemometer with pyranometer, REC-1 rain gauge, and VP-4 thermometer and humidity sensor with a solar-powered and GPRS-enabled EM50 G), located at the edge of the field, measured air temperature (°C), wind speed at 2 m height (m s −1 ), relative humidity (%), precipitation (mm) and solar radiation (MJ m −2 min -1 ) at a 5 min interval. Daily reference evapotranspiration (ET 0 ) was computed using the FAO Penman-Monteith approach (Allen et al., 1998). Daily weather variables of the entire experimental run can be found in supplementary data (Fig. S1).Banana plantations are composed of individual plants often of different reproductive cycles each growing on individual mats. When referring to a \"plant\" we refer to an individual reproductive cycle. When referring to a \"mat\", we refer to the total composition of different reproductive cycles present in one location. Generally, there are maximally three cycles present on a mat: a mother plant or cycle 1 (C1), a daughter plant or cycle 2 (C2) and a granddaughter plant or cycle 3 (C3). Our research focused on C1 and C2.Two experiments were carried out differing only in cultivar and date of planting.In experiment 1, the East African Highland banana Huti Green (HG, Musa AA Mchare subgroup; (Perrier et al., 2018)) was planted on 3 May 2017. In experiment 2, Grande Naine (GN, Musa AAA Cavendish subgroup) was planted on 17 November 2018. Planting material for both experiments consisted of in vitro plants, hardened in growth chambers and screenhouses. Plant height of HG at planting was 6.6 cm ( ± 2.5 cm), with 4.19 leaves ( ± 1.3 leaves), whilst plant height of GN was 25.5 cm ( ± 4.3 cm) and leaves were 4.75 leaves ( ± 0.74 leaves). Plant holes were 0.6 m × 0.6 m × 0.6 m deep at a spacing 2 m (row) × 3 m (line) (1666 plants ha −1 ). Time is noted in weeks after planting (WAP). In following sections, the different experiments are noted by the planted cultivar (HG vs. GN). Experimental design, management and plant measurements were similar in both experiments unless stated otherwise.The experiments were conducted on fields with no recent history of banana cultivation. The design was a blocked design with drip irrigation as treatment, but given the infrastructure the irrigation treatments could not be randomized.In experiment 1, two blocks were planted with HG. Each block contained five rows of 15 mats, subdivided in three plots of 25 mats (5 × 5), of which the central nine mats (3 × 3) were used for data collection. Each block consisted of a different irrigation treatment, as valves to shut off irrigation were installed at the front of each block. For HG, there were three plots for each treatment. Border mats were used for periodic destructive sampling.In experiment 2, four blocks were planted with GN. Each block contained five rows of 14 mats, subdivided in two plots of 35 mats (7 × 5), receiving two different irrigation treatments. Valves were installed in the middle of a plant row (between mat 7 and 8), therefore two irrigation treatments were present in a block. The central nine mats (3 × 3) were used for growth data collection, leading to four replications (plots) per treatment. The first and last two mats of each row (2 × 5 mats) together with the border rows were used for destructive sampling. Each treatment was replicated four times across the blocks.Mats received a mixture of mineral fertilizers and manure. Mineral fertilizers were split applied: 153 kg N ha −1 yr −1 (urea), 206 kg K ha −1 yr -1 (Muriate of potash), 19.26 kg Mg ha −1 yr −1 and 25.6 kg S ha −1 yr −1 (MgSO 4 ) were applied monthly in the rainy season and every two months in the dry season, while 40.2 kg P ha −1 yr −1 (triple super phosphate) was applied every five months. Twenty L of fresh farmyard cow manure was applied per mat twice yearly before the start of the rainy season. All suckers were allowed to grow until four months after planting (MAP), at which time one sucker of 30 cm height was selected and the others pruned. Each banana mat thereafter was composed of C1 and C2, and de-suckering was carried out afterwards on a monthly basis. Weeds and dead leaves were cut monthly and removed from the field.Three additional leaf pruning events (P) occurred due to the development of Black Sigatoka (Pseudocercospora fijiensis) in the long wet season of 2018 at 2018-05-21 (P1), 2018-06-05 (P2), and 2018-07-30 (P3). At P1 and P2, only the oldest leaves with symptoms of the fungus (yellowing and petiole collapse) were cut. At P3 the oldest six leaves of each plant were cut away to retain the spread of the fungus affecting the older leaves.Each banana row was fitted with two driplines, at each side of a banana mat. Originally each mat's position was fitted with two drippers (one at each side of the mat). Each dripper supplied approx. 4 l hr −1 .Two extra drippers were installed on 6 June 2018. For the HG experiment, this was at 57 WAP and for the GN experiment at 29 WAP.Soil moisture was monitored daily by Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR). Within each plot, the central mat was fitted with two TDR probes installed vertically at different depths: 0−30 cm (horizon 1) and 30−60 cm (horizon 2). TDR probes were installed in the area wetted by the drippers, at 50 cm from the central mat and read out each morning before irrigation by a TDR-200 (Campbell scientific, Inc.). Daily moisture depletion, Dr (mm), was calculated at the plot level as:with Dr,i being depletion on day i, θ FC being the volumetric water content (VWC) at field capacity (FC, [m³ m − ³]), θ i being the actual VWC at day i (m³ m − ³) and Z r being the rooting depth (m). The rooting depth was estimated as a linear interpolation between the depth at 10 days after planting (0.1 m) and at flowering (1 m). Rooting depths were checked every three months over the course of the growing season through root trenching methods. Banana reaches a maximum rooting depth at flowering (Turner et al., 2007), and trenches revealed that roots were continually present until depths of 1 m after flowering in both HG and GN mats, as the soil profile was bounded by a saprolite hardpan layer at 1 m. Depletion values are positive when water contents are below FC and negative when values are above FC. Daily depletion values were compared against the readily available water (RAW [mm]), as an indicator of moisture deficit. RAW was calculated as:with θ pwp being the VWC at Permanent wilting point (m³ m −3 ), p being a depletion factor (-) and TAW being the total available water (mm). The value of p was chosen to be the generic factor of 0.35 for banana as given by Allen et al. (1998). When the D r,i > RAW, plants are assumed to experience moisture deficit. All mats received irrigation until 4 MAP (establishment period). Thereafter, two irrigation treatments were installed: optimal \"full\" irrigation (FI) and rainfed (RF). In the FI treatment, mats received water whenever more than 25 % of TAW was depleted in the first or second soil horizon. Water in the RF treatment was shut off after 4 MAP.Non-destructive plant growth data were measured monthly at the plot level (3 × 3 mats), on individual plants (C1 and C2) present on the mat until harvest of C1 as this corresponds to a CC growth cycle. Every three months, mats (n = 3) were selected in each treatment in both experiments for destructive sampling. Measured variables and variables calculated from growth measurements are listed in supplementary Table 2. As measurements continued on the same plants over time, the data required a repeated measures analysis of variance.CC was determined monthly for each plot, to assess the CC evolution over time. Before November 2017, when plants were small, images were taken at the individual mat level and CC was determined as an average of the CC of mats present in a plot. From November 2017 onwards, digital photographs of every plot were taken with a DJIphantom 4 Pro drone (JPEG, image format, 20 M P, 4000 × 2250 pixels, and 72 dpi) at a height of 35 m above the ground with the center of the plot aligning to the center of the image. Before images were taken, the soil surface was weeded and residues removed.To assess the influence of timing on diurnal CC patterns, CC pictures were taken at an hourly interval between 8 h and 16 h at nine different dates in both experiments: 2018-01-09, 2018-03-08, 2018-04-05, 2018-05-15, 2018-06-14, 2018-08-06, 2018-08-28, 2018-11-28 and 2018-12-17. CC values from the same plots taken at the same day were compared across different time points to assess the effect of timing on CC values.To compare CC values across measurement dates, the earliest CC pictures were used to exclude possible diurnal effects.2.6.1.1. Canopy cover image analysis. ImageJ software (Abràmoff et al., 2004) was used to process images (Fig. 1). First, images of individual mats were cropped to a ground area of 6 m² to only retain the mat of interest, whilst plot images were cropped to retain the central nine mats of each plot (ground area of approx. 54 m²). Each image was cropped four times. Second, CC was calculated based on colour segmentation according to HSB thresholding (Hue, Saturation, Brightness), where threshold ranges for H, S and B were determined for the green CC pixels. All pixels within these thresholds were set to 1 and the remaining pixels were set to 0. A noise reduction was applied so only pixel areas above a certain minimal pixel size were counted as green CC pixels. HSB threshold ranges and minimal pixel size were determined subjectively for each individual picture as lighting conditions in the field were not uniform and did not allow single HSB ranges to be applied to all pictures. The CC was then calculated as: rel i i i , 0 with CC rel , i being the relative CC (0-1) at time point i, CC i being the absolute CC (%) at time point i and CC i=0 being the absolute CC (%) of the first drone measurements of the day.The leaf area index was calculated from monthly collected growth parameters. The leaf area of individual leaves (LA leaf ) was calculated as follows:with LL and LW being the length and width of the leaf i, and laf being a leaf area factor (-). The laf was calculated following Nyombi et al. (2009), from leaves measured during destructive sampling (Fig. S3a).During development, leafs were numbered cumulatively and the LL and LW of each leaf was either measured during monthly growth measurement, at harvest or interpolated between LL and LW of measured leaves leading to a database with LL and LW for each developed leaf (figure S4.), showing the exponential nature of leaf area over time.The total leaf area of a plant (LA plant ) was calculated by summing the area of all the present leaves as:with LA leaf,i is the leaf area of the i th leaf as obtained from Eq. 3, cumO is the oldest cumulative leaf present and cumY is the youngest cumulative leaf present on a plant. Comparison of LA plant, calc with LA plant, measured for destructively sampled plants is shown in supplementary material (Fig. S3b). The total leaf area of an individual mat (LA mat ) was then calculated as the sum of the leaf area of C1 and its successor C2:, 2 ; whilst summing the leaf mat areas of all the nine plants within a plot led to the leaf area plot (LA plot ):. LAI plot was then calculated by dividing LA plot with its ground area (m²).In experiment 1, weak plants due to disease and other unknown factors, were replaced by sucker derived plants on 2017-09-21. The area of the diseased or replanted mats was excluded in further image analysis. The total area of the central plot was divided into nine squares corresponding to the ground area of the single mats. Empty and diseased mat positions were then blocked out, after which the CC was determined on the other plant positions (Fig. S2).Field plots were the experimental units for the statistical analysis. As data were collected from the same plots over time, they constitute longitudinal repeated measures data. We used linear mixed models to analyze the effect of irrigation treatment on: soil moisture, CC growth, LAI evolution, and diurnal canopy cover variation. Differences in soil moisture, LAI and CC used WAP and treatment as fixed factors, and block and plot as random factors. Differences in diurnal CC variation between FI and RF plots used time (h) and treatment as fixed factors, whilst using block and plot as a random factors.CC growth curves were obtained through nonlinear least squares (nls) regression on CC values obtained during the first drone flights of the day, to exclude a potential diurnal CC effect. Observations were average CC per plot level. Curve fitting through these points followed the standard logistic equation as follows:with CC t being CC (%) at time t (WAP), CC max being the max. CC (%), CC ini being the initial CC at planting (%) and r being the CC growth rate (wk −1 ). During regression, WAP was treated as a numeric variable.Residual plots and ANOVA comparison of fitted models were used to determine model selection.To obtain CC-LAI curves for HG and GN, monthly LAI mat values were compared with monthly CC estimates from the obtained logistic growth functions. A functional equation of the Lambert-Beer Law was fitted as:with b being the extinction coefficient and LAI mat being the leaf area index (m² m −2 ). To exclude a potential diurnal CC effect, CC values used were obtained during the first drone flights of the day. Observations were average CC per plot level. Statistical analyses were performed in R version 3.4.3 (R Core Team., 2017). Linear mixed models were fitted using REML with the function lmer from the package nlme (Pinheiro et al., 2019). Plots were made using the package ggplot2 (Wickham, 2016). Nls regressions were performed using the package nls (R Core Team., 2017).During the establishment periods (0-20 WAP) soil moisture depletions did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) between FI and RF in both experiments except for GN at WAP 15 when FI plots were less depleted than RF plots (diff=18.27 mm ± 8.69 mm, p = 0.039) (Fig. 2).After the establishment period, differences in soil moisture closely followed the dry season.In HG, soil moisture depletion in the RF plots first became significantly larger at 23 WAP (diff = 54.29 mm ± 19.25 mm, p = 4.22e −3 ) until 45 WAP (diff = 67.62 mm ± 17.50 mm, p = 8.81e −3 ). From 45 until 55 WAP soil moisture depletions were similar (p > 0.05). At 55 WAP, one week after the rainy season ended, RF plots became significantly more depleted than FI plots (diff= 45.80 mm ± 19.06 mm, p = 0.015) until the end of the growth trial (60 WAP [diff=88.94 mm ± 19.06 mm, p = 1.7e −4 ]). Soil moisture of the FI plots exceeded the RAW multiple times during the growing season, so moisture deficit could not fully be excluded in these plots.In GN, RF plots became significantly more depleted from 27 WAP (diff = 17.89 mm ± 8.69 mm, p = 0.04) until the end of the growth trial (57 WAP [diff = 100.07 mm ± 11.95 mm, p < 2e −16 ]). In GN, soil moisture of the FI plots remained mostly below the RAW (except 12 WAP), so plants were considered non-stressed.Irrigation treatment had a significant effect on CC at plot level in both experiments (p < 0.05) (Fig. 3). For HG, CC was reduced significantly in the RF plots from 31 WAP (diff = 7.66 % ± 3.77 %, p = 0.05) (8 weeks after moisture divergence) to 48 WAP (diff= 8.50 % ± 3.77 %, p = 0.04). All nls parameters were significant (p < 0.05) in the regression analyses (Table 1). The growth rate (r) was reduced in the RF treatment (r = 0.12 ± 0.006, p < 8.81e −9 ) whilst CC ini and CC max remained similar (p = 0.2429), leading to a significant CC divergence between 25 and 54 WAP corresponding to the dry season (Fig. 3 and Table 1). HG plots entered the dry season at 20 WAP (Fig. 2) when CC values were approx. 25 % and rapid canopy development was expected to start. CC divergence between treatments reached a maximum divergence at 36 WAP (diff = 17.59 % ± 3.77 %, p = 2.89e −3 ), in the middle of the dry season. From 36 WAP, divergence between curves declined again and became negligible at 54 WAP (p = 0.746). For both RF and FI, CC growth continued significantly from 38 WAP to 50 WAP, the period of flowering of C1 plants.For GN, CC was affected significantly from 38 WAP (diff = 3.54 % ± 1.14 %, p = 0.008) onwards (9 weeks after moisture divergence). The nls regression parameters r and CC max were significantly affected by the RF treatment (p < 6.8e −3 ). Differences in r were statistically significant, but lie very close to each other as shown by the overlapping 95 % confidence intervals (CI): 95 % CI [0.22; 0.25] for RF and 95 % CI [0.21; 0.24] for FI. CC max differences were more pronounced: 95 % CI [83.99; 87.34] for RF and 95 % CI: [87.33; 90.91] for FI (Table 1). GN entered the dry season at 29 WAP, when CC values were approx. 85 % for both RF and FI, hence close to reaching the CC max (Fig. 3). CC max , or the stationary phase of the CC curve, was reached closely corresponding to flowering for C1 (32 WAP to 50 WAP).Due to practical reasons (weather conditions, drone regulations and  flight scheduling) pictures of CC could not always be taken at a hourly interval at each day, yet CC was always determined at minimally three time points (Fig. 4).Hour of measurement influenced relative CC (CC rel ) values significantly at all measurement dates in both cultivars (all p < 0.05), but the effect of time on CC rel varied by date. Although significant, time point had a weak effect on CC rel in January, May and June for both HG and GN as CC rel during the day remained close to 1 (Fig. 4). Time effects were more pronounced in March, April, August, November and December 2018 as curves show a more pronounced deviation from the 1 line.CC rel was compared against weather parameters, as similar patterns emerged at the same date in both HG and GN experiments. Daily ET 0 was highly correlated (R² > 0.86) with solar radiation, relative humidity and vapor pressure deficits (other indicators of evaporative demand). Dates with more pronounced CC rel reduction (in both RF and FI) (Fig. 4) were characterized by a higher ET 0 (Fig. 5a). Overall a clear pattern emerges. Under high ET 0 (> 3 mm day −1 ), CC reduces from morning values and reaches minimal values around noon, after which it increases again in the afternoon (Fig. 4).Soil moisture deficits had an additional effect on CC rel patterns, depending on the prevailing ET 0 (Fig. 5b). When ET 0 is low (< 3 mm day −1 ), there is no additional folding with increasing depletion (p = 0.7938). Only when ET 0 increases (> 3 mm day −1 ), do increasing depletion values exacerbate the folding (p = 8.72e −3 ). At low ET 0 (< 3 mm day −1 ), the CC rel is therefore similar in RF and FI, whilst under high ET 0 (> 3 mm day −1 ), increasing depletion leads to a lower CC rel .Destructively sampling plants allowed to establish a laf of 0.66 ( ± 0.018, p < 2e −16 ) for HG, while laf of GN was determined to be 0.75 ( ± 0.012, p < 2e −16 ). Single laf values were used for calculating LA leaf values, as no pattern emerged with increasing leaf size (Fig. S3a).Irrigation treatment had a significant effect on LAI plant and LAI mat in *** † Significant different growth rates between RF and FI plots for Huti Green (p < 0.05). ‡ Significant different growth rates between RF and FI plots for Grande Naine (p < 0.05). § Significant different maximum canopy cover between RF and FI plots for Grande Naine (p < 0.05). both experiments (Fig. 6). In HG, LAI plant and LAI mat were significantly reduced by drought from 31 WAP onwards (p < 0.05). Fungus pruning started at 55 WAP, after which LAI could no longer be calculated due to the big size of the plants.In GN, LAI plant of C1 increased steadily until the first onset of flowering (32 WAP), after which there was a big drop in LAI plant of C1 due to leaf pruning at 37 WAP (P3), whereby the lowest six leaves were cut from all plants in both FI and RF (Fig. 6). LAI plant of C1 was significantly reduced in the RF plots from 42 WAP onwards (p = 0.009), whilst LAI plant of C2 was affected from 46 WAP (p = 1.65e −5 ). LAI mat behaved similarly and started diverging from 42 WAP onwards (p = 5e −4 ).As such, LAI in both experiments reacted to moisture deficit at about 8-9 weeks after soil moisture divergence, similarly as CC values.LAI mat values were used to create CC-LAI curves for both cultivars, which follow an exponential function (Fig. 7).CC and LAI were accurately fitted by the Lambert-Beer equation for both cultivars. HG had significantly lower extinction coefficient (b = 0.51 ± 0.0038, p < 2e −16 ) than GN (b = 0.67 ± 0.0046, p < 2e −16 ) showing that at a similar LAI, a lower CC is reached in HG.Total precipitation received during the C1 growth cycle (lasting over 60 WAP) was about 1403 mm for HG, and 1607 mm for GN. Total amounts might be sufficient for optimal banana production (1100-2650 mm yr −1 ) but not evenly spread, as there were two distinct rainy seasons interrupted by dry spells of more than two months implying the need for irrigation (Robinson and Alberts, 1986;Van Asten et al., 2011;Varma and Bebber, 2019). FI plots received 3416 mm (HG) and 4400 mm (GN) over the entire growing season, compared to RF plots which received 1770 mm (HG) and 1340 mm (GN) during the first 4 MAP to establish the fields. As growth was significantly reduced in RF plots, irrigation proved necessary in Arusha for both experiments.CC in both experiments was significantly affected by soil moisture deficit (Fig. 3), but timing and severity occurred at different developmental stages in the experiments (Fig. 2). Divergence of soil moisture in HG started at the start of the exponential growth phase (23 WAP) when CC values were approx. 25 %. As drought coincided with the beginning of the exponential growth phase absolute CC differences were more pronounced, and became first significant (diff = 7.66 % ± 3.77, p = 0.05) at around 8 weeks after the onset of soil moisture differences (31 WAP). At 36 WAP, in the middle of the dry season, CC in FI plots was 17 % ( ± 3.77) larger than the RF plots (p = 1.65e −4 ).For GN, the absolute effect of drought on CC was less, as CC reached about 85 % at moisture divergence (29 WAP onwards), and most of the leaves of C1 had already formed so close to flowering. CC differences between RF and FI plots became significantly different from 38 WAP onwards (diff = 3.54 % ± 1.15), about 9 weeks after soil moisture values started diverging indicating moisture deficit to have an effect on the CC even close to flowering.CC as such reacted quickly to moisture deficit in both experiments. Drought induces stomatal closure, reducing transpiration, photosynthesis, thereby reducing leaf area and leaf emission rate (Kallarackal et al., 1990;Thomas and Turner, 1998;Taiz and Zeiger, 2002;Carr, 2009) both playing a role in CC formation. As new leaves emerge at the top of the pseudostem, and newly formed leaves cover older ones, a reduction in leaf appearance rate and a corresponding decrease in leaf area of new leaves due to moisture deficit, will have a significant effect on the CC, depending on the severity and timing of drought. Indeed, CC and LAI (Figs. 3 and 6) were both significantly reduced by moisture deficits in both experiments.Logistic growth curves accurately captured CC growth for both HG and GN although CC values were slightly overestimated (1-2 %) at the beginning of the growing season for both experiments (Fig. 3). Over the full growing season, this initial overestimation is negligible.For HG, CC growth curves for RF and FI deviated more and hence a CC divergence from optimal values during the vegetative stage can therefore be a good indicator of moisture deficit. Similar CC max values were reached due to the occurrence of the rainy season between 43 and 54 WAP, allowing mats in RF plots to reach LAI mat values leading to near maximum CC (Fig. 7). So even though LAI mat differed significantly (Fig. 6), CC did not differ significantly (Fig. 3 and Fig. 7).For GN, the growth rate r was slightly increased under moisture deficit, but this statistically significant difference leads to very small CC growth curve differences. CC max differed significantly which is due to differential leaf formation in C1 and C2 after soil moisture divergence (Fig. 6). Even the last developed leaves before flowering of C1, and leaves of C2 therefore have an effect on overall CC, albeit a smal absolute effect given the exponential nature of the CC-LAI curve (Fig. 7).Similar CC max values of approx. 90 % were reached in both experiments under FI, being close to values in other crops under optimal spacing: peach 93 % (McClymont et al., 2005), apple 93 % (McClymont et al., 2005), Amaranthus 95 % (Bello and Walker, 2017), cabbage 95 % (Wellens et al., 2013), vining pea 95 % (Paredes and Torres, 2016), cotton 90 % (Farahani et al., 2009), maize 90-95 % (Hsiao et al., 2009). CC max values of 100 %, while theoretically possible, are rarely reached even with dense planting.Commonly used densities of HG is 2 × 2 m (2500 plants ha −1 ) and of GN is 3 × 2.5 m (1333 plants ha −1 ) respectively, and differed from the used planting density (1667 plants ha −1 ). Different CC curves would be obtained with these spacings, where CC curves (Fig. 3) would shift upward for HG (faster CC growth), and downward for GN (slower CC growth). Then, differences between cultivar CC curves might not be as pronounced as now. Additional research should look at the CC evolution in plantations under different densities planted at the same time to see the density effect on CC growth curves.CC showed a significant diurnal pattern on days characterized by high evaporative demands (ET 0 > 3 mm day −1 ) in both experiments (Figs. 4 and 5). Overall a clear pattern emerged. Under high ET 0 (> 3 mm day −1 ), CC reduces from morning values and reaches minimal values around noon, after which it increases again in the afternoon (Fig. 4). The larger the daily ET 0 , the larger this CC reduction at noon (Fig. 5a). On days of high ET 0 , soil moisture depletion in RF plots significantly increased the CC reduction at midday (p < 0.05) compared to FI plots (Fig. 5b). Hence, both environmental stimuli and the soil moisture deficit status play a role in diurnal CC patterns. We hypothesize this CC pattern to occur due to leaf folding of banana plants.Leaf folding occurs in well-watered, non-stressed banana plants and typically follows a diurnal rhythm with leaf halves bounding a single plane aligning the midrib during the night and early morning, becoming more vertical (fold downward) during periods of high evaporative demand and returning to their original position (fold upward) in the late afternoon (Milburn et al., 1990;Thomas and Turner, 1998;Turner and Thomas, 1998;Turner et al., 2007;Carr, 2009).Leaf folding in response to drought is still debated, but some research suggests diurnal leaf folding to be more pronounced under drought (Milburn et al., 1990;Thomas and Turner, 1998;Turner and Thomas, 1998), whilst others refute this claim (Lu et al., 2002). Our results indicate leaf folding indeed is increased under drought, given ET 0 is high enough.Other plants also exhibit leaf folding at field scale under drought. Maize, rice, wheat, and sorghum (amongst other grasses) roll their lamina upward transversally to the mid rib under stress conditions due to a drop in water potential (turgor) in the leaf. Leaf \"rolling\" results from varying degrees of dehydration in different cross sections of the rolled leaf (Kadioglu et al., 2012). Rolling in maize leaves follows a diurnal pattern whereby maximum closure is reached at solar noon during days of high evaporative demand, but not present in well-watered plants. Leaf rolling in grasses is therefore a visible indication of moisture deficit and also present at the canopy level (Baret et al., 2018).In banana, leaf folding results from differential turgor of cells in the leaf pulvinar bands, following a similar process as changes in stomatal aperture which are being controlled by the turgor of the guard cells (Satter and Galston, 1981;Turner et al., 2007). Diurnal leaf folding in banana may therefore be due to changes in leaf turgor pressure on a diurnal scale. Zimmermann et al. ( 2010), studied the effects of  environment and irrigation on leaf turgor pressure using a leaf patch clamp pressure probe on diurnal timescales. They showed leaf turgor varied diurnally in both irrigated and non-irrigated plants plants. Generally, leaf turgor pressure declined from morning values, reached a minimal value around noon after which turgor increased again in the late afternoon and during the night. On days with high evaporative demands, turgor pressure drops were more pronounced, indicating leaf turgor pressure reacted directly to the environment. Under optimal irrigation, turgor pressure dropped less and recovered during the night, whilst under sub-optimal irrigation turgor pressure drops were more pronounced and did not recover. They concluded turgor pressure amplitudes and stabilization time might therefore be indicators of moisture deficit on a diurnal scale (Zimmermann et al., 2010).Given our findings and the fact leaf turgor plays a role in leaf folding, we hypothesize the diurnal CC pattern to reflect these diurnal turgor pressure pattern in a leaf. At high evaporative demands (possibly exacerbated by soil drought), leaf turgor drops, resulting in folding of the leaves and closing of the stomata. We hypothesize the bigger the evaporative demand, and the more soils are moisture depleted, the more leaf turgor is affected leading to a more pronounced leaf folding and a more pronounced diurnal CC pattern. Further research is needed to prove this hypothesis.CC diurnal patterns by themselves are not good indicators of moisture deficit, as they do not occur when ET 0 is low and occur even in well irrigated plots when ET 0 is high. However, comparison of irrigated with non-irrigated plots on days of high ET 0 could indicate moisture deficit due to an increased and prolonged CC drop at midday. This diurnal CC pattern needs to be taken into account when creating CC curves for crop growth modelling. CC pictures need to be taken early in the morning (< 8 h) or in the evening (> 18 h) to reduce the CC variation and make use of optimal light conditions.As banana cultivars are phenologically diverse, it is necessary to determine a laf to correctly determine the LA leaf for each cultivar. Laf was 0.66 ( ± 0.004, p < 2.2e −16 ) for HG, and 0.75 ( ± 0.004, p < 2.2e −16 ) for GN. These values are in the range of published laf values (Obiefuna and Ndubizu, 1979;Blomme and Tenkouano, 1998;Nyombi et al., 2009). Using the laf for HG and GN, LAI mat values for HG and GN ranged between 0 m 2 m -2 and 5 m 2 m -2 (Fig. 6 and Fig. 7) corresponding with the LAI range noted in commercial plantations (Turner, 1972(Turner, , 1998;;Turner et al., 2007).CC-LAI relationships were obtained for both cultivars with LAI mat being composed of both C1 and C2 (Fig. 7). The CC-LAI relationship was exponential as in wheat, Triticale and maize (Hsiao et al., 2009;Nielsen et al., 2012). At a similar spacing, CC-LAI curves differed significantly (p = 4.731e -10 ) between the two cultivars. HG had a significantly lower extinction coefficient (b=0.52 ± 0.006) than GN (b=0.67 ± 0.004), indicating that at similar LAI values a lower CC will be obtained for HG. This can be due to the ploidy of the cultivars as diploids (HG) exhibit more erect leaves than triploids (GN). At similar LAI values, erect leaves cover less ground than more horizontal leaves. This remains speculation, as to test whether it is a ploidy effect, rather than a cultivar effect, more cultivars need to be tested.Overall, CC, LAI and corresponding CC-LAI curves are influenced by cultivar, plant spacing, mother-daughter relationships and management and environments (Turner, 1998;Turner et al., 2007;Wellens et al., 2013). Hence a single CC-LAI curve cannot be proposed for banana (Musa spp.). Changing plant density to optimal densities for HG (2 m × 2 m) and GN (2.5 m × 3 m) would shift the CC-LAI curve upward for HG, and downward for GN, bringing them closer together.CC growth, and growth curves where significantly affected by moisture deficit, indicating CC growth over time can be used as an indicator of moisture deficit in plantations. Over a growing season, both CC and LAI were significantly reduced 8-9 weeks after moisture divergence between the RF and FI plots in both experiments. Solely using CC as an indicator of growth, however does not allow to separate the effect of drought between the different cycles, and therefore CC curves over time can only be used as indicators of the total plantation reaction to drought. When separating growth of the different cycles, LAI is of better use as this can more easily be separated between mother and daughter plants.On a daily timescale LAI remains stable, whereas CC varies according to evaporative demands and moisture depletion. At low evaporative demands, CC did not vary significantly. At high evaporative demands CC was reduced at midday, with reductions being increased by increasing soil moisture depletion. In view of this diurnal CC pattern, we hypothesize CC drops to reflect the leaf turgor pressure, which has proven to vary similarly on a diurnal timescale and plays a role in leaf folding. More research is however needed to prove this hypothesis. Daily monitoring of CC at morning compared to midday might be an indicator of soil moisture deficit if a reference plot that is fully irrigated is present.CC-LAI curves for both cultivars followed the Lambert-Beer law, with both cultivars having significant different extinction coefficients. CC-LAI curves are expected to depend on the plant spacing and used cultivar, as the difference in extinction coefficient might be due to the different leaf physiology of the used cultivars.In summary, CC as an indicator of growth offers potential in monitoring soil moisture deficit in banana plantations."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4455c56875c737852e245a79a5fd773c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/41c5a984-a8c3-4003-b83b-80b7722f8958/retrieve","id":"1110827401"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f92df7c7-e764-4c55-a64d-c036205f5f41","content":"Titles in this series aim to disseminate interim climate change, agriculture and food security research and practices and stimulate feedback from the scientific community.iLa política situada en territorios altamente desafiantes ha sido fuente de debates, concentrador de recursos, investigaciones e intervenciones de organismos internacionales, locales, nacionales, entre otros. Muchos de estos espacios expresan altos niveles de vulnerabilidad al clima, fragilidad social y bajo desarrollo económico, como lo es el corredor seco centroamericano especialmente la región hondureña. La interdependencia de factores sociales y ambientales demandan el accionar de múltiples instituciones para mitigar y hallar soluciones, cada una desde sus capacidades y experticias a los diferentes estreses que afecta la región. Esto constituye un sistema complejo al incorporar acciones, actores y temas dinámicos que configuran un sistema con múltiples capas analíticas (multiplex).En línea, frecuentemente se menciona las ventajas de las redes institucionales, sin embargo, estas en muchas ocasiones no son suficientemente entendidas para identificar sus estructuras, problemas y las oportunidades que puedan emerger. En este sentido, la red institucional del corredor seco se presenta como un caso de interés académico y científico, la que demanda ser estudiada, en su estructura y relaciones para fortalecer el impacto y eficiencia en sus acciones a nivel territorial. Metodológicamente se ha reconocido a la ciencia de las redes como la base conceptual y técnica para estudiar estos sistemas, dado las capacidades computacionales y matemáticas que esta ofrece. Consecuentemente, el documento aporta elementos metodológicos para entender las dinámicas sociales y territoriales, así como su integración con estudios prospectivos en contextos de cambio climático y de vulnerabilidad climática, obtenidas mediante entrevistas y revisión de fuentes secundarias.Al abordar las temáticas de cambio climático, seguridad alimentaria y agricultura fuertemente vinculadas en el espacio hondureño, y después de aplicar el método indicado, se logró identificar patrones relacionales no alineados entre las entidades institucionales y los territorios, develando una especie de desacople entre las vulnerabilidades futuras y las acciones de la red en las regiones. Adicionalmente, la estructura relacional se muestra disortativa es decir que las entidades y sus vínculos configuran relaciones que tienden a conectarse con nodos más centralizados, lo que limita una mayor diversidad de interacciones reforzando una densidad muy baja de relaciones. También, existen subgrupos de instituciones y municipios con patrones relacionales caracterizados por una alta dependencia a instituciones o territorios, la cual agrega complejidad en la navegabilidad de la red además de una alta modularidad entre las entidades sociales y territoriales.Las redes de institucionales tienen un rol social y económico de alto valor, al contribuir a la reducción de brechas sociales, protección del medio ambiente, la reducción de la pobreza, el mejoramiento de la infraestructura, transferencia tecnológica, entre otros. Las redes ocupan un papel relevante en el entorno científico y político, pero se demanda un mayor nivel de entendimiento acerca de su funcionamiento e inclusive de cómo se transfiere y promueve la adopción de tecnologías y políticas en los espacios locales (Martinez-Baron et al., 2018).Hay una amplia literatura sobre el rol de las redes institucionales y socio ambientales acerca de las intervenciones en los territorios para adaptar los impactos de origen antropocéntricos, en diferentes sistemas complejos (Castillo-Villanueva & Velázquez-Torres, 2015). Dentro de varios beneficios de estas redes, se encuentran; a) economías de escala en recursos compartidos y experiencia técnica, las cuales permiten reconocer y hacer explícitas interconexiones y retroalimentaciones entre sub-disciplinas, también aumentan la escala temporal y espacial de los recursos existentes (Gardner et al., 2013), b) son flexibles, pueden favorecer la adaptación a la constante evolución de los problemas socio ambiéntales (Mertens et al., 2011;Sandström & Carlsson, 2008), c) el capital social generado fortalece los procesos de gobernanza ambiental. Esta puede reducir los conflictos, fomentar la confianza, disminuir los costos de inspección y consolidar el grupo internamente para la gestión colectiva de los recursos naturales comunes (Pretty & Ward, 2001), d) las conexiones entre diferentes grupos sociales y en diferentes niveles también tienen el potencial de promover el intercambio de información y la colaboración entre actores con diversas experiencias a fin de garantizar la flexibilidad y adaptabilidad (Newman & Dale, 2007).Por otra parte el corredor seco hondureño es considerado como una de las regiones con un alto riesgo climático medido por la organización German Watch métrica que considera eventos como tormentas, inundaciones, temperaturas extremas, olas de calor y frio (Kreft et al., 2016). También, expresa un desarrollo local estancando y frágil en donde la región se ha mantenido un patrón espacial-temporal de desarrollo bajo medido por el IDH, con valores índices entre 0.6 y 0.7 (Gonzalez et al., 2019a), es decir, poca movilidad hacia una prosperidad social en el tiempo.Para ello, se enlistan las siguientes actividades; a) caracterizar la red de actores institucionales y sus relaciones dimensionales entre estos, b) explorar las interacciones de la red a nivel municipal, c) identificar potenciales distancias entre la intervención institucional y las necesidades locales de adaptación al cambio climático.El camino metodológico incluyo un trabajo de campo por medio de entrevistas a las principales instituciones y una revisión de fuentes secundarias, sin embargo, en respuesta a las dificultades asociadas al COVID19 se tuvo un menor numero de respuestas de las esperadas. Los insumos se dieron en términos de categorías de análisis tales como los atributos de las instituciones (actores) y las aristas(links) en los tres componentes de estudio (ver instrumento en el Anexo A). Entre tanto, el análisis de redes sociales permitió procesar los datos mediante matrices y vectores obtenidos en las entrevistas para dibujar métricas relacionales, por medio de lenguajes de programación para su procesamiento. Con estas técnicas se obtienen métricas sobre el funcionamiento de la red a nivel general y el comportamiento local de los nodos o miembros (Conway, 2009).En la tabla1 resume las técnicas utilizadas y la base conceptual para el desarrollo del estudio (la descripción técnica de los métodos están en el anexo B). Para las actividades asociadas a la caracterización de la red de actores y sus interacciones con los municipios del corredor seco se desarrollaron en dos momentos de análisis, 1) entre los mismos actores (nodos de color negro) y 2) otro entre instituciones (nodos de color naranja) y territorios, mediante algún mecanismo de gobernanza o intervención, como lo son proyectos, planes, entre otros.Igualmente, es importante considerar que las fuentes secundarias, fueron utilizadas para identificar las relaciones y los atributos de los miembros cuando las entrevistas no fueron suficientes o no se pudieron llevar a cabo.Fuente: Autores, se entiende por SAN, como seguridad alimentaria y nutrición Las estructuras de redes expresan complejidades tanto en sus conexiones como en la extensión e intensidad de las acciones desarrolladas, por lo tanto, las gráficas son una fotografía parcial de la red territorial de actores. Por otra parte, aunque existen limitaciones en una total representación de todos los involucrados en el corredor seco, el estudio y su enfoque de análisis de redes sociales (Aggarwal, 2011;Conway, 2009) como enfoque técnico, aporta elementos de utilidad para interpretar, mapear este sistema socio ambiental.La aplicación del instrumento y la recolección de los datos estuvo afectada con la pandemia causada por el COVID19, lo que modifico el plan, la estrategia y la cobertura. El personal asignado para estas actividades estaba en edades de riesgo, lo que agrego más desafíos. Sin embargo, con una actitud entusiasta y utilizando los canales virtuales se logró obtener una cantidad suficiente de información para continuar con el estudio.Lo siguiente son algunos puntos a tener en cuenta: Dominio y alcance espacial de los actores: El ejercicio de levantamiento de la información estuvo espacialmente delimitada para las organizaciones que tuvieran influencia e interacciones mediante proyectos, ejecuciones, estudios y demás en el corredor seco.Variables y relaciones dimensionales de interés: La topología o aristas de interacción entre instituciones se agruparon en los temas de cambio climático, seguridad alimentaria y agricultura. También, la información asociada a las relaciones entre instituciones y los municipios fue abierta a las diferentes acciones disponibles y conocidas en el trabajo de campo y en la revisión de literatura.Diseño y difusión del instrumento: Se diseñó una encuesta la cual se encuentra en el anexo A. La misma fue alojada en canales virtuales y distribuida por medios de correos electrónicos acompañada de una carta de presentación con una explicación sobre el propósito del estudio. En otros casos, ambos documentos fueron impresos y entregados físicamente en las instalaciones.Detalles del trabajo de campo: este componente integro las siguientes acciones, a) revisión documental de material institucional y de medios virtuales, b) la elaboración de un directorio de instituciones existentes a nivel nacional, regional y local que trabajan en el corredor seco, el cual fue fortalecido con información facilitada por algunas Mancomunidades que funcionan en la región, c) la aplicación del instrumento de 30 preguntas a 55 instituciones, tres de ellas aplicadas a la misma institución, pero a diferentes instancias debido a su importancia en el tema investigado.Limitaciones del estudio: En general, fue complejo y difícil obtener respuesta de las instituciones gubernamentales, por lo cual en la mayoría de casos se solicitó apoyo de la Oficina de Transparencia Institucional, no obstante, la información proveída por las instituciones abordadas fue escasa, a excepción de la Unidad Técnica de Seguridad Alimentaria (UTSAN)Se enlistaron y detectaron 167 organizaciones en el estudio perfiladas en tres niveles a)Internacionales, b) Privadas y c) Públicas (ver Anexo C). Se destaca, la presencia de organizaciones de origen extranjero, en donde operan 30 organizaciones de cooperación internacional, tales como bancos de desarrollo, organizaciones científicas, de cooperación internacional entre otras. También, el papel de las instituciones de educación superior y sus relaciones en la región se expresa limitada y débil en términos relativos considerando el mapa total de actores, registrando la presencia de 4 actores de fuente privada y 2 instituciones públicas (ver tabla 2). Fuente: Autores, *las organizaciones denominadas como mancomunidades y asociaciones de municipios a nivel regional, se caracterizan como organizaciones privadas, pero con propósitos de gobernanza y gestión pública.Alrededor de 384 interacciones fueron identificadas, sobre los temas claves tales como agricultura, seguridad alimentaria y cambio climático, entre otros, los cuales están visibles en el gráfico 1. Las interacciones pueden ser de solo un tipo (ejemplo, solo financiación, o solo cooperación técnica), o por lo contrario mutile. Es así, que 167 actores, han desarrollado un total de 99 interacciones en temas de agricultura, 122 en cambio climático y 163 en temas asociados a seguridad alimentaria. Se destaca este último con mayores vinculaciones en temas relacionados en cooperación técnica y financiera.La figura 1, revela como las combinaciones de cooperación técnica, cooperación técnica y financiera han sido los tipos de relaciones más frecuentes y prevalentes entre las organizaciones en la región de interés. Sobre las topologías, la seguridad alimentaria se muestra con el mayor nivel de aristas, también se destaca las bajas interacciones asociadas a temas de comunicación, asesoría e inclusión social.Fuente: AutoresSe puede visualizar en la figura 2, la estructura de interacciones agrupadas que han operado en el corredor seco (zona cuadro verde). Data su estructura, se pueden identificar patrones de colas largas y gordas (cuadro rojo) en algunas relaciones entre nodos, es decir que hay  Colas gordas los actores. Distribuyéndose de la siguiente manera; un 83% de vinculaciones se definieron como de alta intensidad, seguida de un 13% mediana y un 5% de baja.alimentaria cuenta con un 42%, cambio climático con 32% y agricultura del 26% del total de interacciones.Fuente: Autores. Mediante el algoritmo de visualización Fruchterman-Reingold, se da prioridad a los nodos con mayores niveles de interacción en el centro del grafo o de la red.Las métricas permiten parametrizar la estructura de la red, sus dimensiones y características en dos bloques, a) patrones globales (ver tabla 3) y b) patrones locales (ver tabla 4). En este orden, la densidad muestra una baja interacción completa entre los nodos, es decir que solo el 2.7% de las interacciones posibles han sido efectivas entre todos los actores identificados.Esta estructura, revela que hay actores con cierto nivel de centralidad medido por los grados(links), con un 21% de las interacciones concentradas por nodos centrales. Otra característica de la red, es la presencia de módulos o bloques, medida por el coeficiente de modularidad de 0.53, indicando la presencia de aglomeración de nodos con distancias cortas con sus vecindades que con otro grupo de nodos. También, la relación entre actores en el corredor seco revela tiene patrones disortativas es decir que los actores de menor interacción buscan relacionarse no con sus pares sino nodos con mayor nivel de centralidad y conectividad. Por último, en promedio la red de actores del corredor seco está configurando cerca de 5 vínculos con otras instituciones. La tabla 4 muestra el top de las 15 primeras instituciones con mayores niveles de interacción (por grados y links), en donde se destaca la posición de UTSAN con 29 interacciones, definida como una organización publica con funciones de gobernanza. Igualmente, se destaca nodos con mayores niveles de centralidad basada en la intermediación, tales como UTSAN y la CASM. Esta métrica local, identifica los actores con las posiciones internas mejor localizados de acuerdo a las estructuras relacionales. Esta medida paramétrica, considera que los actores mejor localizados pueden tener una mayor importancia en la ejecución, diseño y participación en múltiples proyectos en la región. En línea, esta red tiene múltiples combinaciones y tipologías (también se les denomina atributos de grado) donde se destaca la cooperación técnica y financiera con un 39% de participación en el total de las relaciones de esta capa, seguido de la cooperación técnica con un 36%. También, los asuntos comunicacionales y asesoría social representen las dinámicas menores frecuentes en la región (ver tabla 6) Las relaciones más frecuentes están asociadas en cooperativas técnicas y asesoría social con un 51% del total de vinculaciones en la zona, otra combinación importante es la financiera, comunicación y técnica en un 30%. Respecto el ranking de nodos más conectados de la tabla anterior y por dimensión relacional, se explora el vecindario alrededor de estas organizaciones lideres (figura 3). Para todos los casos, se muestra variado y con múltiples tipos de organizaciones, además de conectarse entre sí.  El corredor seco presenta cierta similitud la región Amazónica en términos de la internacionalización de sus problemas. Este fenómeno atrae esfuerzos transnacionales para su atención, las que se manifiestan en diferentes de acciones tanto económicos, como transferencia de tecnología, investigación y desarrollo, entre otros. En Honduras, el desempeño de las temas sociales y ambientales han sido elementos convocantes a la participación e intervención internacional, con 45 organizaciones de origen externo de cooperación internacional, investigación y organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro operando en el territorio.La interacción de las instituciones de educación superior se presenta tímida en sus dinámicas con bajos números en comparación con otros actores, es decir, no se identificaron como nodos activos en el corpus de las interacciones. En la misma línea, hay baja visibilidad de actores privados o proyectos de empresas dentro de la red de actores en el corredor seco.Las categorías de cooperación técnica y financiera en cualquiera de sus combinaciones son las más prevalentes especialmente en temas de seguridad alimentaria. Es decir, que el flujo de transferencia de conocimiento, técnicas, y tecnologías además de recursos financieros han sido más orientados en mejorar el acceso a alimentos a la población.La red de actores presenta una estructura con una baja densidad en la interacción de estos y una alta centralidad de las relaciones en pocos nodos. Esto podría expresar cierto nivel de fragilidad de la red y simultáneamente una oportunidad para robustecer la red de actores.Mapa institución del corredor seco tiene patrones de egoredes, colas gordas y relaciones disortativas lo que dificulta la navegabilidad de las relaciones entre los actores, es decir la baja densidad y conectividad e interacción entre actores es débil.En este capítulo se presenta un análisis que integra las instituciones y los municipios del corredor seco, como se mencionó en la metodología antes descrita. La figura 5 visualiza las intervenciones más frecuentes por instituciones que operan en el corredor seco hondureño, estas opciones fueron agregadas dado que las organizaciones en muchos casos tienen diversas acciones, entre las más relevantes están; a) cambio climático, b) negocios, políticas y promoción del sector agrícola, c) nutrición, salud y seguridad alimentaria, d) atención, prevención y gestión de riesgos naturales, e) servicios financieros, micro seguros y créditos, entre otros. Se pueden consultar la lista completa en el anexo D.Fuente: Autores La relación entre las instituciones y los municipios está representada en por la figura 6. Por medio de esta, se puede visualizar patrones de colas gordas y estructuras de relaciones de estrellas especialmente en relaciones que se ubican en las áreas periféricas de la red. Este patrón, revela una importante dependencia en dos sentidos a) muchos municipios están interactuando con pocos actores instituciones y b) muchas instituciones están vinculados con uno o pocos municipios. Para el caso a) implicaría una estructura de especialización en la atención a nivel territorial pero también podría expresar relaciones egocéntricas con alto nivel de riesgo y fragilidad. El caso b) implicaría un territorio con alta demanda de atención o concentración de acciones, también se podría configurar un proceso de sobre presencia de actores institucionales en una misma región.Igualmente, el grafo revela grupos o estructuras de ego redes en las periferias, así como un centro con alta interacción. Este núcleo con alto dinamismo (área roja) expresa una relación diversa y participativa, por el contrario, las relaciones periféricas muestran quizás un desaprovechamiento de toda la concentración de relaciones e intervenciones (área verde y gris). Simultáneamente, hay un patrón de escalas de relaciones entre las instituciones y son  En línea, la posición interna de los actores tanto municipios como instituciones, indica en nivel de involucramiento en el total de las relaciones de intervención en la región. Los municipios con mayor concentración de vínculos institucionales y las instituciones con mayores niveles de intervención están contenidos en la tabla 13. En cifras, el municipio 801 (ver Anexo E) concentra aproximadamente el 9% de las aristas institucionales, seguido del municipio 1201 con un 6.5%, etc. Paralelamente, las organizaciones AMHON y COMPASSION tienen una vinculación cercana al 9% del total de relaciones entre actores y municipios. Lo siguiente, es establecer vinculación espacial entre los niveles de interacción de las instituciones en los territorios (figura 7 izquierda, mayor información ver lista detallada en el anexo E) y la distribución espacial de los niveles de vulnerabilidad al cambio climático estimado en el estudio \"Distribución espacial de la vulnerabilidad futura bajo escenario de cambio climático. Serie 3. Análisis municipal para Corredor Seco hondureño\" (Gonzalez et al., 2019b). Este documento, calcula a nivel municipal un indicador de mide el nivel de vulnerabilidad considerando varios vectores de variables agrícolas, sociales y de capacidades instituciones en el corredor seco mediante la metodología de la IPCC usando en varios estudios similares (Bouroncle et al., 2017;Parker et al., 2019), este se puede ver visualizado en el espacio en la figura 7 derecha.Uno elemento que se puede visualizar de los mapas es un patrón disímil entre la fuerza de intervención de la red institucional y los municipios que expresan mayor nivel de vulnerabilidad climática. Hay municipios que proyecta menores niveles de exposición al cambio climático, pero con altas niveles de presencia institucional en las mismas regiones, potencialmente por requerimientos y necesidades diversas e históricas sin superar. Cruzando los indicadores mencionados, se reúne un número de municipios que se localizarían en las categorías de enlistadas, las variables \"Interv\" corresponde a las clases de municipios con alta, moderada, media y baja niveles de intervención, expresando un potencial desacople entre las ambas categorías con un total de 31 municipios con un muy alto y alto nivel de vulnerabilidad con un muy bajo nivel de intervención (ver figura 7 y 8).   Las acciones contenidas en la categoría de educación y capacitaciones, se muestran con baja presencia en los municipios con altos niveles de vulnerabilidad. Al igual con temas como el fortalecimiento productivo, infraestructura y pobreza, se pueden ver en los mapas de calor en el eje x las categorías de vulnerabilidad climática y en el eje de las y están los ID de los municipios del corredor seco hondureño.Las acciones de relevancia son las asociadas al cambio climático y la presencia en los municipios con diferentes niveles de vulnerabilidad, en los mapas de la figura 11 se pueden identificar el número de acciones acorde a las categorías mencionadas. En el mapa A y C se observa que los municipios cuentan con una menor cantidad de intervenciones por parte de la red institucional, pero si una mayor exposición y riesgo al cambio climático con alrededor de 2 a 3 intervenciones. Contrariamente los municipios con muy baja vulnerabilidad cuentan con una mayor intervención entre ellos especialmente el distrito capital (ver figura 11).Del total de intervenciones en el corredor seco el 33% están concentradas en municipios perfilados como de alto riesgo climático, de este porcentaje apenas el 9% y el muy alto un 3% está asociado alta nivel de acciones y alta vulnerabilidad (Ver anexo F) Las acciones asociadas a seguridad alimentaria, nutrición y salud, también muestran una tendencia similar al tópico de cambio climático, en donde la mayoría de las acciones se despliegan en territorios que expresan una vulnerabilidad potencial en la adaptación al cambio climático baja (véase las figuras 10A y 10C). Por otra parte, hay regiones en los niveles de riesgo en donde coincide con bajos niveles de intervención por parte de las instituciones.Considerando el total de las acciones detectadas, se estima que un 30% de estas se concentran en territorios que han sido catalogados como de alta vulnerabilidad climática y un 12% con un muy alto riesgo climático (ver anexo F). El porcentaje de intervenciones no superan una participación del 12% del total del accionar institucional. En cuanto al sector agrícola se mantiene un patrón de disimilitud de los dos temas anteriores donde los municipios con alta vulnerabilidad no son necesariamente las de mayores niveles de (ver figura 13). Del total de intervenciones relacionadas con agricultura el 34% se localizan en municipios catalogados como de alta vulnerabilidad y un 12% en un muy alto riesgo climático (ver anexo F). Se destaca que el 16% de las altas intervenciones se desarrollaran en tales municipios, y un 5% en los que más han expresado mayor fragilidad al clima. Los resultados indican la oportunidad para estimular un dialogo nacional con los actores para realizar ejercicios de que apoyen las validaciones geográficas de sus intervenciones.Dado que estos revelan patrones de municipios con alta atracción a las acciones a la red de actores en corredor seco. Esta concentración de medidas, recursos y proyectos, no son necesariamente iguales en el territorio. De nuevo, desarrollar una agenda nacional de cooperación entre la red de actores para lograr desarrollar una estructura de intervenciones menos concentrada y más preparada para los desafíos futuros de la región. En línea este ejercicio de dialogo nacional entre las redes ambientales sobre sus operaciones acciones podrían mejorar la representación y efectividad de las acciones en donde los desafíos situados supera la capacidad estatal. Hay varios asuntos que pueden ser de interés, tales como insumos para validar la presencia en las regiones, las potenciales trayectorias y dinámicas sociales, agrícolas y climáticas que podría tener un territorio donde hacen presencia. Así mismo, la sobre intervención de algunas regiones y el rezago de otras. Es necesario, ajustar acciones, fortalecer temas y mejorar la cobertura.La estructura de relaciones entre instituciones y territorios es diversa y expresa relaciones de alta dependencia a nivel municipal por la atención de actores con sus medidas e intervenciones. Existe una especie de regiones menos intervenidas especialmente las más lejanas a los centros y polos económicos.Hay diferencias espaciales entre la intensidad de intervención institucional y los niveles de vulnerabilidad potencial a nivel municipal. Esto plantea varias cuestiones sobre la necesidad de explorar con mayor precisión las capacidades territoriales, estimulando procesos de colaboración profunda, mejor ajuste en las dinámicas integrativas y de cooperación entre las organizaciones.La red de actores tiene una baja conectividad en la dimensional de cambio climático entre actores en la red institucional, pero si cuenta con una mayor dinámica entre instituciones y municipios se evidencia más dinámica, por lo que se puede visualizar una oportunidad de fortalecer a las instituciones en la región dado la intensidad y la importancia territorial. No debería ser una competencia de actores hay espacio para proyectar una mayor cooperación entre instituciones.El sector educativo especialmente de nivel de superior registra una baja interacción con otros actores, o por lo menos no fueron mencionados como actores fundamentales en los contextos base evaluados.Las acciones de cambio climático, seguridad alimentaria y agricultura, capturan el 80% del total de las intervenciones detectadas para más de 150 municipios del corredor seco.Estas acciones estas no están distribuidas de forma simétrica u homogénea en el espacio, lo que tiene sentido, considerando que hay regiones con mayor demanda de recursos y desafíos por atender. Sin embargo, en termino de construir capacidades futuras de adaptación al cambio climático, la estructura de ego redes y la alta dependencia los territorios a pocas instituciones, parece estar reforzando un potencial desacople a nivel territorial. Esto ofrece una oportunidad de calibrar las acciones colaboracionistas en la red considerando que la senda actual tiene una perspectiva de flujos de una inadecuada preparación en los tres temas priorizados. 1.Cooperación técnicaImplementación de proyectos/ actividades 4.visualización Incidencia en políticas públicasAsistencia crediticiaAsesoría LegalDifusión de tecnologíaAsistencia TécnicaCoordinación interinstitucionalVinculación con el estudio Descripción a) Facilita información sobre las estructuras relacionales de las instituciones que operan en el corredor seco. b) Produce métricas para medir los patrones y tipos de relaciones entre los actores por dimensiones relacionales. c) Facilita la exploración y simulación acerca sobre la fragilidad o no de la red institucional.Análisis de redes sociales o Social Network Analysis (SNA) (Aggarwal, 2011;Conway, 2009). Este método de tratamiento de datos ordenados, provee visualización y métricas para abordar temas de vinculación entre actores (instituciones, personas, artículos, regiones, etc). Ofreciendo patrones locales (número de contactos-degree, posición en la red, influencia, entre otras estadísticas por nodo-miembro) y patrones globales de análisis (nivel de compactación de la red, densidad, nivel de centralidad, patrones de asociación, entre otros). "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c231e00387d3fef4cb62483b7c42b8ce","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/85424d60-ab22-4eb6-90ae-af4ed84e2ead/retrieve","id":"-1534615808"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5269819f-8ecf-4667-872c-c40eb3fa8de9","content":"WP 5 seeks to leverage, assess, accelerate, and scale the use of digitally innovative solutions to address climate change induced challenges across FVCs. This work package focuses on accelerating and scaling digital climate services, financial solutions and other technologies that improves the climate resilience of FVCs. Objectives: ❑Build the climate resilience of anchor countries' agriculture providing accessible and relevant climate analytics and information through digital advisory tools. ❑Integrate accumulated knowledge and available science innovations of CGIAR developed initiative into local platforms and NARS systems to mature into climate services through incubators and startups. ❑Ensure better integration of created products and digital services in the national system being co-developed by local stakeholders and involvement of private sectors.RQ 5.01 What climate information data and services do agricultural food value chain (FVC) actors need to manage climate risks in the CWANA region? RQ 5.02 How can agri-and market-advisory scaling up strategies for climate-resilient FVCs be socially inclusive, effective and sustainable? RQ 5.03 How can the enabling environment for the efficient and inclusive adoption of the best digital agri-climatic digital bundled services and solutions be improved to accelerated scaling? RQ 5.04 How can digital innovations that support the creation of climate resilient FVCs be scaled out for maximum durable impact?  -Farm to basin smart tools for water efficiency and management -Weather station based irrigation schedulingIncubation program: WP5 will set up with partners an incubator platform to nurture high potential innovative digital solutions, providing end-to-end support to regional innovators:• Identification of needs and potential solutions, challenge calls & hackathons • Support to develop and implement business plans • Access to CG science, analytical capacity (e.g. climate modelling) and matching with CG scientists • Matchmaking with investors at different stages of innovation (grants/donors, venture capital, impact investors)Policy platform: In cooperation with other WPs, we will engage at policy level to strengthen the policy/regulatory/enabling environment for digital innovation (e.g. preparing digital agriculture profiles and contributing regional/national policy forums)Capacity building: Capacity building on digital tools/innovation will be provided to traditional partners (e.g. NARS) "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5e8adee684c44e2ed2d7c92f258fb691","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4cc8670a-e332-44a5-9727-bd855e905391/retrieve","id":"-136538839"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"05ca0856-4f57-4830-b6c7-5aaba69f35a1","content":"Empowering Farmers Through Multimedia Engagement Within this SBCC intervention lies a comprehensive suite of multimedia resources produced by the \"Certi ed Seed ENOSURE\" campaign designed to inform, inspire, empower, and improve access to quality seed in the target farming communities.A series of carefully crafted radio spot scripts and radio drama episodes were developed and broadcast through the popular BIG FM 97.6 station, directly providing information to over 850,000 farmers across ve districts, including over 150,000 in Butaleja alone, delving into the bene ts of improved seed varieties from higher yields and disease resistance to enhanced nutritional content while providing practical guidance on good agronomic practices.In addition to the crafted radio spots and drama episodes, the WP 6 team, in partnership with BIG FM 97.6, hosts an agricultural talk program every Friday from 6-7 PM, educating farmers on the different aspects of access to quality seed and associated agronomic practices. To further amplify the reach and impact of this agriculture talk program, the project collaborates with two community radio stations in Nawayo and Masimasa sub-counties to tune into BIG FM and relay information to a broader audience. These strategic partnerships ensure that even the most remote communities and those without access to a personal radio can access this vital knowledge. Additionally, the radio spot scripts and drama episodes are broadcasted three times daily (9 AM, 1 PM, and 6 PM) on the community radio systems to educate and engage the target audience continuously.Recognizing the power of visual cues, the project has also produced two short videos on seed multiplication and production of quality declared seed (QDS) and 1,000 posters and yers featuring the trusted \"Certi ed Seed ENOSURE\" campaign. The visually striking posters and yers are crafted to resonate with smallholders, particularly women and youth, who may have historically faced barriers to information, to empower them to try new farming techniques. The materials discuss the importance of using certi ed seeds over recycled old seeds, contributing to increased productivity and income.The impact of these targeted SBCC campaigns is already evident. Listenership data from BIG FM 97.6 reveals that the agriculture-focused programming has the highest engagement among the station's offerings, indicating that the radio content effectively resonates with the target audience (64% of the respondents who lived in areas that could hear the radio programs listened to the agricultural program). Furthermore, insights from focus group discussions and key informant interviews with farmers and community leaders indicate a shift in knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward accessing and adopting high-quality seeds. For instance, women reported actively engaging in seed selection processes, demonstrating con dence in seed quality assessments. Similarly, youth are interested in learning about improved seed varieties and cultivation techniques, showcasing a shift from passive observers to proactive participants in seed-related activities. Community leaders have also observed an increase in the willingness of women and youth to experiment with and adopt high-quality seeds of improved varieties, re ecting a growing inclination towards sustainable agricultural practices and a stronger drive for self-su ciency.Smallholder bean and rice farmers reported a deeper understanding of the bene ts of access to quality seed of improved varieties, expressing greater con dence in their ability to access and cultivate quality seed of improved varieties successfully. farmers, especially women and youth, purchasing and using the high-quality and improved bean and rice seeds endorsed by the \"Certi ed Seed ENOSURE\" campaign. In the Naweyo sub-county, an estimated total of 210 farmers (160 women, 50 men) out of the 868 farmers in the project have so far accessed quality bean seeds through the campaign during the August-November 2024 growing season. In the Mazimasa sub-county, over 310 farmers (92 women, 218 men) out of the 910 in the project have obtained high-quality improved rice seeds, signaling a transformative shift in seed adoption.Additionally, due to the campaign, four women seed multipliers in the Naweyo sub-county have established bean seed production and marketing enterprises, collectively expecting to produce over 0.8 metric tons of quality bean seeds. In the Mazimasa sub-county, 8 women seed multipliers have kickstarted their seed businesses, which are expected to generate a total of 4 metric tons of quality declared seeds (QDS) during this planting season (August-November 2024). The onboarding of women as seed multipliers and their participation in seed enterprise represents a shift in the social and cultural norms or barriers that discriminate against women to limit their involvement in the seed sector.This increase in demand for quality seed and enhanced participation of women in seed multiplication business not only re ects a change in attitudes and behaviors but also has a direct impact on the livelihoods of the target communities. Farmers report an expected increased productivity and incomes, as the improved seed varieties deliver higher yields, greater disease resistance, and enhanced nutritional content. For instance, the four women-led bean seed enterprises in the Naweyo sub-county expect to earn over $2,100 collectively. underscores the power of tailored SBCC campaigns to drive meaningful change within smallholder farming communities.By addressing the speci c needs, barriers, and motivations of the target audience, the project has been able to effectively reshape knowledge, attitudes, and practices around seed access and adoption. The multimedia approach, combining radio broadcasts, video, print materials, and community engagement, ensures widespread reach and relevance. As the global community continues to grapple with the challenges of food security and sustainable agriculture, the Butaleja experience is a compelling example of how SBCC initiatives can catalyze transformative change at the grassroots level. By empowering smallholder farmers, particularly women and youth, to access and use quality seeds of improved varieties, the project not only enhances agricultural productivity but also contributes to the broader goal of improving livelihoods and fostering resilient, equitable food systems.  ----------------- "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b63190b8fd5f2aee30ea872e9f4c1443","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ee2e090a-bb0f-4e04-9f96-3250d603d772/retrieve","id":"813208800"},"keywords":["Climate service","entry-points","nutrition landscape","Vietnam"],"sieverID":"eb296771-be08-4065-b72a-2bdfd93b694e","content":"Titles in this series aim to disseminate interim climate change, agriculture and food security research and practices and stimulate feedback from the scientific community.World over, 821 million people one in nine go hungry each night, while one in three suffer from some form of malnutrition (World Food Program, 2019). Over the years, strident progress has been made in addressing the issue of global hunger in spite of an increase in he d a i he ab e be f h g e e ha g e d i he a several decades (World Food Program, 2019). Yet, their distribution and the progress has not been uniform. The vast majority of the world's hungry people live in developing countries (World Hunger Statistics, 2019), and the steady decline in world hunger that characterized the past decades is not true anymore (SOFI 2019 -The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, 2019). The situation is worsening in South America and most regions of Africa, while the rate of improvements in nutritional outcomes in Asia has significantly slowed down (WHO, 2018).This directly threatens the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 2 that aims to e d h ge achie e f d ec i a d i ed i i a d e ai ab e ag ic e b (Martin, 2019). Much troubling still is the long-term developmental consequences of hunger and malnutrition among mother and children. Nutritional status of e d i g eg a c i a e ia he he hea h a e a f hea h fe a growth and development (Bhutta et al., 2013). Just as importantly, early childhood nutrition is essential to their growth and cognitive development thereby influencing their development potential (ibid.) (Nurliyana et al., 2016).Climate change has contributed to the recent reversals in the progress made in tackling global hunger and malnutrition. It has a disproportionate effect on the poor and marginalized populations; by exacerbating poverty and inequality it hinders poverty reduction measures. A rather direct effect of climate change can be observed through i c ea ed c i a e a iabi i hich i defi ed a he a ia i i he ea a e a d he sta i ic f he c i a e a e a a d a ia ca e be d i di id a ea he e e (CCl FAQs | WMO, 2019). As a result, agriculture has become riskier as extreme events become more frequent and seasonal patterns have been disrupted, thus undermining food security particularly among rural households.In such a scenario, accurate and localized climate information can go a long way in mitigating uncertainties and informing agricultural decisions. The process of generating and applying climate information for decision-making and climate-smart policy is termed as climate services (IRI, 2018). Climate services can help inform adaptation strategies to minimize the stress placed by highly variable rainfall, increased temperature, and extreme climate events on food production, and thus human diets and nutrition.ACToday is a project that aims to combat hunger by increasing climate knowledge in target countries. In Vietnam, one of the six target countries, IRI is working with CIAT and other local partners for identifying linkages among climate, food systems, diets and nutrition. Over the summer of 2019, the team set about to identify policies, programs and stakeholders engaged in improving nutritional outcomes, with the objective of identifying entry-points for climate services.The exercise should serve as a current state assessment of the development landscapewithin Vietnam with a focus on nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions. The following sections of the report contain a description of the activities undertaken as part of the exercise and the key findings. Interventions or programs that address the immediate determinants of fetal and child nutrition and development adequate food and nutrient intake, feeding, caregiving and parenting practices, and low burden of infectious diseasesExamples: adolescent, preconception, and maternal health and nutrition; maternal dietary or micronutrient supplementation; promotion of optimum breastfeeding; complementary The study was conducted for the ACToday Vietnam team, in collaboration with the CGIAR In line with the above objectives, a combination of desk-based research and interviews with key stakeholders, were used to gain information on:1. existing nutrition-specific and sensitive programming and policies, and the extent to which climate has been considered in these programs and policies;2. seasonal variation in the implementation of programs and policies; The interventions were examined for inclusion of climate and gender considerations. While a more robust method for such an examination required qualitative coding of documents, this was de-prioritized owing to limited time. The list provided an effective starting point for identifying key stakeholders. There were considerable gaps in the information collected in this way, and interviews with key stakeholders were planned to rectify this.Task 2: To identify the key food and nutrition stakeholders in the country and their main roles and responsibilitiesThe goal was to collect information in order to: 1) identify potential interviewees; 2) identify organizations that could increase their use of climate services; and 3) provide guidance to ACToday for potential partners moving forward. National and international stakeholders working in the field of food systems were identified through secondary research. In addition, we identified their specific sector of interventions and potential role in the use of climate services. This task was carried out simultaneously with Task 1, and included gender and climate considerations too.One of the challenges related to examining the relationships among climate, food systems, diets and nutrition is the lack of research that has examined these linkages. However, in many cases there are climate and nutrition data available that can be linked in order to examine these relationships. The purpose of this activity was to identify existing data that is available in the country that could be combined with climate data to examine these important relationships. Coordinator in Vietnam. The questionnaire was shared beforehand, both as part of the formal process of seeking appointment as well as to help the interviewees anticipate and prepare for our questions. The interviews were semi-structured, i.e., they were mostly conversational and flowed from the answers provided by the stakeholders, while covering the topics provided in the interview guide.Ideally, the mapping exercise would have benefitted from additional iterations of secondary and primary research. Once again, paucity of time precluded such an approach. Nutrition-related intervention and policies Appendices 1.1 and 1.2 provide a list of key nutrition-specific and sensitive interventions in Vietnam that are either ongoing or have concluded in the recent past. While these also include specific policy interventions, they key amongst these are large-scale programs such as A4NH and CCAFS that serve as platforms for collaboration.The lists have been color-coded depending on whether they are focused on stimulating demand by generating awareness amongst population through education and counselling, or whether they are intended to regulate the supply side, so as to encourage availability of healthier food options. Certain programs are comprehensive in design and therefore influence both the supply and demand-side. The color classification scheme is provided at the end of Appendix 1.2.Appendix 2 provides a descriptive analysis of the major stakeholders organizations and platforms that are working on research, development, policy advocacy, capacity building and management (non-exhaustive list). They span across the public, private and non-profit sectors. In addition, a list of prominent stakeholders in the field of agriculture and food security within Vietnam that participated in the workshop on platforms for healthier diets in Vietnam were considered. The inter-connection between the different platforms and their relative importance in terms of their membership size is illustrated in Figure 2. Among these, the organizations that most notably serve as common nodal agencies are highlighted in Figure 3. Appendix 3 provides a list of existing food and nutrition related database along with the key indicators that these survey track. General Statistics Office (GSO) and National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) were identified as the key stakeholders responsible for producing primary data on nutritional outcomes in the country, with the support of multilateral institutions and other non-profit agencies.While the secondary research helped map a high-level nutrition landscape of Vietnam along with their key stakeholders and interventions, there remained substantial information gaps.Interviews with key stakeholders were used to bridge these gaps as well as to identify nutrition programs that may be climate sensitive. By understanding the challenges faced by the key stakeholders and through questions that emphasized the linkages between climate and nutrition, we could identify the extent to which climate data informed decision making.This helped acknowledge existing capacity constraints and to identify the possible entry points where climate information may be leveraged to help ameliorate nutritional challenges.Vietnam could benefit from increasing the use of climate data to drive decisions both by applying it in existing sectors more intensively, and by using climate data in new sectors. This is of particular importance in a country with numerous and distinct geosystems that are highly vulnerable to climate change (IPCC, 2019;Tatarski, 2018).From our interactions with experts in non-profit and public sector, we were able to identify critical gaps that were echoed across multiple interviews. Climate data as received by NIN proves inadequate to meet their needs primarily due to the lack of predictive capacity 2 attributable to low spatial resolution. This is further complicated by highly localized occurrences such as heavy rainfall, which affect some communes of a district and not others. As a result, there has been some loss of credibility as after a few instances of false positives warnings that are not followed by actual disasters farmers stop heeding warnings, and as a result may suffer greater damage.Both government and academic agencies have acknowledged the need to improve their ability to record, process and consume climate-data. Currently, these agencies lack substantial in-house capacity to identify and analyze the appropriate climate indicators that influence their respective interventions.Intent: The e f c i a e he c f d e a d i i a c e while understood in the academia, is not sufficiently reflected in the government interventions. For instance, nutrition surveys, so far, do not rigorously capture climate-related data. As a result of this, climate data do not appear to be the key drivers of policy decisions. This may indicate the need for increased information dissemination and collaboration between academic and political institutions within the country.Investment: Current infrastructure for acquiring weather-data and disseminating climate information is unable to meet the requirements for the end-user as well as the targets set for themselves by the concerned stakeholders. This capacity constraint will only become more acute with increasing climate-change induced climatic variations and frequency of extreme events.Integration: Climate services are applicable across a wide range of sectors. This requires coordination among multiple departments not only to acquire and analyze climate data, but to customize climate information for specific application and timely dissemination across concerned geographies. Poor communication and coordination between the different ministries in charge of different aspects of climate-related policies was mentioned by several respondents and have likely resu ed i incoherent, diverging, competitive or even conflicting policies (Pham et al., 2018). In addition, the lack of coordination is not exclusive to government alone, but also affects the non-profit organizations (Bakker & Herens, 2019).While we identified a number of constraints that prevent optimal usage of climate data, specifically in the field of food systems and nutrition, the experts and representatives that we interviewed were optimistic in their outlook. Together from the information gleaned through secondary research as well as from the suggestions provided by our key informants, we have identified several potential entry-points that would enable and improve the integration of climate data into program design and decision-making.1) Improving inter-agency coordination and data interoperability: Linkage of data between MARD and NIN remains a challenge. Currently, no integrated database exists. Previous collaboration between governmental and non-profit agencies to prepare a common framework integrating the climate, agriculture and nutrition database met with certain challenges. It is intended that the findings from thisIn addition to climate, gender was one of the lenses through which we analyzed the nutrition landscape of the country. While a significant share of effort in terms of policies and interventions e e f c ed i i g e hea h he a ge remain passive recipients of such benefits. As highlighted in our interview with the gender expert, gender issues in Vietnam maybe more difficult to analyze as compared to other regions such as South Asia, for instance. Compared to the latter, women in Vietnam have been rather actively involved in agricultural and household decisions and yet still face similar issues of time-poverty and vulnerabilities that women in more orthodox societies have had to face.On a positive note, government agencies in the interviews have acknowledged the need to do more in the gender space. While gender-specific initiatives or policy are missing, some degree of integration has occurred: MARD supports women in improving their access to credit, providing support to build their own household business models (e.g. pig-rearing) along with capacity building to take charge of their livelihoods, such as cash transfers and vocational training. For example, when supporting farming cooperatives, the project requires a minimum 50% women representation in the management board.NIN focusses on vulnerable population including pregnant women and mothers, but The key government and academic institutions that we interviewed are cognizant of the importance of climate in food and nutrition, but agree that further action is required on this end. They demonstrated a high willingness for collaboration on topics identified above.   "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e48bd0cf526a0f025d38aea11f1413ef","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H037510.pdf","id":"909983160"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a6240fc0-05ed-4dd7-89ea-6ebc3ab54f7a","content":"Most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have embarked on Integrated Water Resources Management. As part of these reforms in the water sector, many governments are considering and others have already implemented the legal tool of water rights allocation and have linked the same to water tariffs. This paper analyzes formal and factual payment-linked water right systems in the agrarian economies of Sub-Saharan Africa. The formal water management tools, as formulated in the water policies and laws are analyze and compared with the early experiences of implerrientation and impacts on the ground, in particular in• Tanzania. The paper further examines whether in reality the original objectives of the water rights and water tariffs are attained or not; the potentials of the water rights and water tariffs, and the present and possible pitfalls of the same. The paper also identifies the problems that are encountered in the administration and the enforcement of these tools. Finally the paper draws the generic conclusions, which also draw upon lessons learnt in Australia and the USA, highlight the conditions in SUb-Saharan Africa under which the managerial aims of payment-related water right systems can be reached, but also the conditions under which the tool creates new problems without solving existing problems, and thus should be abandoned.Most countries in the Sub Saharan Africa have been reviewing water policies, laws and legislations and management strategies in quest to implement Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) in the past two decades. The diminishing quantities of water, coupled with increased water uses due to increased population and improved technologies have further necessitated the review mechanisms. Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe have been in the forefront of these changes. This paper focuses on such changes with a specific case of water rights in the Rufiji Basin in Tanzania. The paper argues that although water rights have been operational since the colonial era in Tanzania and that although both are tied together now, water charges were introduced later with a different purpose altogether. The paper starts by describing the background of the study area and the methodology employed by the study, and then focuses on the inherent management challenges of water rights with a specific attention on the potentials and pitfalls of the same. Finally, the paper identifies the management gap and proposes a way forward. Water allocation and management in the sub Saharan Africa has been for long determined by the local customary arrangements that existed among the local communities in specific river basins. Although formal water management and legislation was later introduced by colonial rules through various Water Ordinances in the early 1900s, the practical day-to-day water management in the grassroots is still widely influenced by the latter.In Tanzania specifically, seeking to favour the white settlers, the colonial minority introduced centralized water authority and water use registration. By 1948, the British colonial government had vested absolute water authority in the colonial rulers 3 • Several ordinances were transposed from England and/or India to intensify the same. After independence in 1961, the new government continued the principle, declaring that 'a/l water in Tanganyika is vested in the United Republic' under the Water Utilization (Control and Regulation) Act 1974, section 8. The Act echoed the Water Ordinance of 1959, by governors and then ministers were to delegate water control authority to various officers and water bodies.The framework for integrated water resources management is laid out in the Water Utilisation (Control and Regulation) Act 42 of 1974, as amended by Act 10 of 1981. The Water Utilization Act (Control and Regulation) remains the supreme law on water management in Tanzania. Both criminal and civil laws guarantee the sanctity of water management organs under this Act. Other pieces of legislation touching upon water matters in Tanzania include the Waterworks Ordinance, Cap.128 and Urban Supply Water Act, 1981. There are also many institutions interested in water:' However, in Tanzania, institutions that are involved in water management are loosely connected and lack basic coordination (DANIDAlWorld Bank, 1995). They are sectoral and fragmented with no coordination (Water Policy Draft 2002).The Rufiji basin is the largest of the nine river basins in Tanzania, draining a total area of about 177,000 km 2 (URT, 1995). It is made of several river systems, the largest and most important of which is the Great Ruaha River (GRR) system. The Great Ruaha River is draining an area of about 68,000 km 2• The Great Ruaha River originates from a number of large and small streams at the northern slopes of the Poroto and Kipengere mountains in the Southern Highlands between Mbeya and lringa. It flows to the Usangu plain where several other rivers flowing from the highlands join it; namely Mbarali, Kimani and Chimala whereas the small ones include Umrobo, Mkoji, Lunwa, Mlomboji, Ipatagwa, Mambi and Mswiswi rivers.During the rainy season, the Great Ruaha River spills onto the Usangu plains, forming the Usangu wetlands (Western-Utengule and Eastern) and feeding a perennial swamp (/hefu) within the Eastern wetland. It then flows through Ng'iriama (an exit to the Eastern Wetland) on to the Ruaha National Park providing the main water source to the park and to the Mtera dam, which is the main electrical generating source in Tanzania (accounting for 56% of the runoff to Mtera dam). As it flows down, it is joined by Little Ruaha River before being joined by the Kisigo River. It then passes through the Mtera reservoir, before flowing westward to the Kidatu reservoir, being joined on the way by the Lukosi and Yovi rivers. From the Kidatu reservoir then it flows into Kilombero Plains before joining the Rufiji River Oust above Steigler's gorge), collecting en route the Kitete and Sanje rivers.The Great Ruaha River serves many uses and users as it flows, including irrigation, hydropower generation, livestock, domestic uses, fisheries and aquatic flora and fauna. Irrigation is the major activity and largest water user, mainly during the dry season. Other water-related livelihoods include fishIng, livestock keeping and brick making. Problem arises in the dry season where conflicts and disputes over access to water become common. As much water is diverted to the fields for irrigation and brick making, the reduced river flows fail to supply full requirements downstream. This has brought a lot of environmental concems after the massive mortality and stresses to aquatic ecosystem. Downstream of the RNP there are two hydro power stations (Mtera and Kidatu) depending much on the basin for their water for power generation, contributing about 50% of the Tanzania national grid.This study was conducted under the DFID funded project, RaiSing Irrigation Productivity and Releasing Water for Intersectoral Needs (RIPARWtN) in the Mkoji sub-catchment of the Great Ruaha River Catchment in the Rufiji basin between July 2002 and October 2004. For the sake of clarity. the catchment was divided into three hydro-geo agricultural zones, namely the upper catchment, middle areas and the lower plains. In each zone, two villages were selected, making a total of six villages. Three Participatory Rural Appraisals (PRAs) were conducted, one in each zone gather preliminary information on the subject matter. Semi structured interviews were then done with identified respondents followed by a Focus Group Discussion in each zone where ten key informants and eight district officials from the two districts of the Mkoji Sub catchment were involved. The respondents were invited in the role play River Basin Gamel workshop. The findings were then analysed and feed back to the respondents through another River Basin Game workshop.Managing the Business: Water RightsAlthough popular and widely outspoken as a water management tool, managing water rights is quite a challenge in Sub Saharan Africa. Unlike elsewhere in the world, the region is characterised by many poor smallholder who are widely scattered and use very poorly developed (local structures to draw water). In such a set up, it is not easy to ascertain what quantity of water is exactly drawn, or to predict the quantities in future seasons. In the Mkoji Sub catchment where this study was done, of the 120 irrigation off-takes that were observed up to 71(58%) were local temporary structures popularly known as 'dindilo'.The study also found out that the procedure for application of water rights is long, complicated, time consuming and bureaucratic and is too much wanting for poor water users to attain. The applicant is required to fill in an application form (5 copies) and submit them to the Water Officer (or to the Regional Water Engineer, in cases where there is not a Basin Water Board). A letter from the Village Government where the abstraction will take place must accompany the form. If it is a large project, the applicant is required to submit an Environmental Impact Assessment (EtA) report to the Water Board. The Water Officer registers the application and prepares an official notice setting out the particulars which is published in the Government Official Gazette, served upon affected persons, and displayed at the office of the district in which the right will be exercised. After receipt of any further reports required by the Water Officer, the application is submitted to the Water Board for deliberation and decision. This unduly long procedure does not sufficiently encourage local water users to apply for water rights. For example, in the six villages studies, hardly a quarter (25% and 17%) of two villages knew the procedure. In the remaining four villages, nobody knew the procedure!In Tanzania, categories of use are classified in an order of priority as a guide only, and not as a directive. In granting a water right, the use of water for domestic supply is given the first priority6, and then the use for livestock, irrigation, and hydropower generation, industrial and mining purposes. Environmental water requirements are paramounted higher, only next to domestic needs. This is an important turning point in that the national water management frameworks recognises, at least theoretically, the human and livelihood needs for water and those of the environment for a better sustainable ecosystems. Furthermore, taxation and charging for water introduces a realization of value for water resources. The National Water Policy (2002) expresses the same expectations of taxation. The practical implementation of this argument (,enhancement of water fees and pollution charges as an incentive for water conservation and pollution control, and as a source of funds for water regulation activities, catchment conservation, and water resources monitoring' (World Bank 1996 Annex A» would be via the water officers.'The basin water offices will be mandated to collect revenue such as fees and charges and to be used to meet the cost of regulatory functions and financing of water resources assessment services. The basin water offices and basin water boards will be required to account for the use of these funds, which will also be audited annually by Government auditors as is occurring with other public funds' (World Bank 1996 Annex A).Volume-based rate setting may seem objective and fair. However, in the absence of any objective basis to assess the volumes allocated and, thus, to set volume-based rates, Water Officers can only rely on their subjective judgement. Even nominal differences by ranking structures according to their sizes appeared difficult. In the Mkoji sub-catchment, for example, the volumes and related fees for the larger structure Inyala A were initially set at lower rates than for a nearby smaller structure of Inyala B. The water users complained. In this case, the water officer accepted the complaints and changed the fees the other way around. In other cases there is enormous confusion among small-and medium-scale users in the Upper Ruaha about the amounts to be paid (Sokile, 2003;Gaussen 2003).Water Officers at the various levels have been mandated to collect and transfer public money. However, accountability procedures in carrying out this task are weak. The Water Office responsible write receipts for taxes received, but an administrative system that inserts fee payments into the computer excel sheet of registered water users is still absent. Further, when submitting the collected funds from the sub-catchment office to the basin office in Iringa, the accountant notes the amounts in the books. A public auditor is supposed to check the various amounts, but the auditor's willingness to check the money contributions to basin offices is limited. The public auditor's key interest is the publicly allocated funding from Government. Without a sound transparent system to administer and justify money flows, the basin and catchment level officers render themselves vulnerable to accusations of corruption.Conceptually, the whole notion of water rights is alien and prejudiced in origin, purpose and practice. Procedurally, the water rights system is wanting. The application process is unnecessarily long, bureaucratic and time consuming; a typical kind of discouragement for weak applicants. As it is now, the procedure is not pro-poor nor does it seek to empower the grassroots water resource users to acquire a water right. One of the recent paradigms in managing water rights is their strong linkage to water charges. This new water rights and taxation system was promulgated in 1994 and refined in 1997 and 2002, every time without public consultation. The system requires everyone in Tanzania using even a little bit of water for production to register to obtain a 'water right certificate' from the Ministry of Water and Livestock Development. Registration costs TSh 35,000 (about US $ 35.00) and the annual economic water fee of at least TSh 40,000 (US $ 40.00) per year.Introduction of water fees and the subsequent tier of the same to water rights is seemingly an un realised objective. Introduction of water fees was conceivably based on some four key assumptions: a}. 'Payment for water would deter overuse and hence avoid waste of water' World Bank 1996). This was expected to mitigate this real or perceived growing water scarcity. b}.'Payment for water, coupled with water rights would reduce water related conflicts'. c}. 'Payment for water would generate income to sustain water management initiatives'. Gauging the objectives, our findings revealed the converse: Paying for water has distorted the local customary arrangements for water allocation and management and has sufficiently influenced a change of behaviour among water users, ironically for worse for the water sector! Three window periods can be identified as a consequence of water fees, as shown in table 1 below:  application fees and water user fees, by 40%, farmers felt more value (1997 -2000) in total amounting to TSH 240, of water, more water conflicts 000.00 (90,000.00 and 150,000.00 erupted, land values rent values for Inyala A and B respectively), increased in the irrigated areas distributed to individual farmer, each from TSH. 20,000.00 per acre paid an average of 4000.00-another before water fees to 40,000.00 sum was to sustain the local office.per acre Farmers formulated water roasters Conflicts reduced within the Water fees for rationing water; Farmers agreed schemes, but intensified operational to restrict area under crop between the schemes. The  cultivation to 0.25 acre and agreed upstream abstractors would on various by-laws to enforce the take all water from the river to roasters justify their fees.The other side of the drawback of water fees has been that the revenues accrued from water are far low below targeted amount, because water user charges are very low compared to investment and introducing higher charges would be challenged by exacerbating rural poverty and may trigger a lot of political concerns. Actual collections are below average. Only some 39% pay the levies, majority of who are domestic water users and large-scale private companies. Large scale state irrigation schemes and individuals are the leading culprits in not paying for water. The government agency responsible for collection of fees apparently spends more time and resource to collect less fees-thus costing both the government and the agency! Inherently, the payment mechanism has some weaknesses. Billing mechanism is confusing water users since they do not know whether the prices are estimated for the wet season or for the dry season. As such those who use water only in dry or wet season questions the legitimacy of paying for wet or dry season respectively. Since volumetric water pricing is based on the water rights, there is always a temptation to raise more income through issuing more water rights. As a consequence, some rivers would be more abstracted than other, depending on the awareness and willingness of the water users to apply for water rights. For example, the Mlowo River in Moji Sub catchment has 19 water rights amounting to more than 4.1 cumecs against the peak average river flow of hardly 2.1 cumecs.The present water rights systems, as widely advocated for, are now being used as a registration, taxation and water management tool. While initially the water rights were meant for water uses registration and allocation, their use as a taxation tool is quite recent With the newly introduced purpose of taxation, the entire purpose of the water rights has been distorted, with even the fonner fl!fl1ctions being• counter-produced.Water rights: A Management Failure?Operationally, water rights system fails to fully meet their objectives in the Rufiji basin. Water rights system fails as a registration tool. Establishing and maintaining water users register is a challenge due to fluctuating numbers hundreds of small-scale users. Even with lists, establishing location of users andl or estimates of volume of water used is more difficult, especially without the bureaucracies, maps, and measuring devices required. As such, there are only partially aavailable data for water uses users names and site estimates without correct volumes abstracted. Any attempt to qualify and maintain this infonnation is undoubtedly expensive.(a) Water rights system also fails as a taxation tool in that unlike the popular opinion (World Bank, 1991), taxation cannot recover costs of water management nor deter water use. This is unlikely because blanket charging rarely act as deterrent to resource use, if any, aggravates the use (Sokile & van Koppen, 2003;GWP, 2000). In the Mkoji sub catchment, experience has shown that fanners expanded their field and water related conflicts increased with the introduction of water charges. Furthermore, with a weak registration tool renders the system even weaker as a taxation tool, resulting in both inequity and ineffiCiency. Lack of coherent accountability system for monies collected, if not checked, may result into a 'corruption by design' phenomenon.Managing water through water rights is still a challenge for Tanzania. The water fee, seen as 'water taxation', antagonizes people in the Upper Ruaha Sub-Catchment, because they suddenly have to pay the government without seeing any improved water or support service. Issues of legitimacy for payment, equity in allocation, cost-recovery mechanisms and the general collection, maintenance and upkeep of water rights systems infonnation is still wanting. Unlike the expectations of the government through the World Bank support. the introduction of water charges and fees has not sufficiently improved water management imperatives but rather, has complicated the matter.The paper recommends that registration of water users should be done include only large scale users who are easily reachable and accessible. The records should be kept in ledgers and electronically with sufficiently detailed infonnation possible, which indicate, among other things, grids and volumes abstracted and should be reviewed at least on annual basis.Similarly, payment for water should be strictly tied to the volumetric abstraction and should"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a348b2e76e57e109951f1077ef2d003f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8dcb32b1-c7d7-4f7e-b2a6-db272ba1b55f/retrieve","id":"-1515516501"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"aa886cc6-3cbd-49d5-bda4-66ecb29a7bc5","content":"Objectif. Ce guide a pour objectif de vous pennettre de: Comment la eonsistance de l'endosperme determine-t-eBe la classification des varieUs? Que signifie l'expression \"utilisation nette\" de proteines? Quel type de msis fournit une qusntite considerable de vitamine A? 12 Citez les faeteurB lIf'fectant la valeur nutritive des plats prepares /I. base de msis. Quels sont les elements nutritifa preaents en faible quantite dans toutes les cereaIes? Citez les nutriments particuli~rement rares chez Ie mail.15 Quels sont lei faeteurs eontribuant /I. la mauvaise nutrition panoia aaaoeiee /I. une alimentation /I. base de msis? FreeillH la quantiU de msil neeessaire /I. un \"consommateur type\" pour aatiafaire sel besoins energj\\tiquel quotidians.Qualite du ma\"is et nutrition         L 'huile contenue dans Ie germe peut provoquer Ie rancissement des produits entreposes pour une longue duree.Un regime alimentaire, puisant la majeure partie de son energie du mals, peut 6tre deficient en vitamines et en certains acides amines (constituants des proteines). Pour que ce regime soit equilibre, il importe de consommer des aliments venant enrichir la contribution proteique et vitaminique du mals.Qualite des proteinea. Le malS et les autres cereales sont en general pauvres en dew< aeides amines essentiels, it savoir la lysine et Ie tryptophane. Ces acides amines sont presents en plus grande quantite dans Ie germe du grain de malS que dans son endosperme (tableau 7). Le rapport leucineli80leucine est plus faible dans Ie germe, lui conferant ainsi une valeur biologique plus elevee.Les preparations cuIinaires integran t Ie germe de malS possedent d~s lors une meilleure composition protei que, bien que leur capacite d'entreposage soit limitee a cause des huiles contenues dans Ie germe.Chez les Iegumineuses, les proteines sont plus riches en lysine et en tryptophane, mais manquent 80uvent de methionine et de cystine. Lemail p08sMe ees deux acides amines en quantite suffisante. Le mais consomme avec des legumineuses permet d'ameliorer la qualite protei que du repas.On peut egalement ameliorer la qualite proteique des regimes II base de malS en cultivant des varietes dotees de proteines de qualite (QPM). Ces varietes contiennent presque deux fois plus de lysine et de tryptophane que Ie mals normal, rnais la merne quantite totale de proteines. Ces varietes QPM ne renferment que tres peu de zeine, la principale proteine de reserve du mals, alors qu'elles sont riches en d'autres proteines. En general, les proteines Butres que la zeine se caracterisent par une composition plus complete en aeides amines. La zeine, quant Ii elle, est particulierement carencee en lysine et en tryptophane. I.e rapport entre les endospermes yjtreux et farineux (les types vitreux ont une den site superieure).La composition relative de I'amidon, des proteines, de I'huile et de I' eau (avec un poids specifique respectif de 1,5; 1,1; 0,9 et 1,0).La teneur en eau (la den site est directement Iiee A la teneur hydrique). "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7b0d0334f1031cafeb8c34896cdee28d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f0b5be62-4d24-4017-8499-5062e2f01cda/retrieve","id":"-1821875086"},"keywords":["Farmers","Agriculture","Climate change","Participatory knowledge"],"sieverID":"c7c4b348-bffc-486a-9dc9-19d1f42fe6f6","content":"The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), in common with other CGIAR research programs, understands that farmers are at the centre of agricultural innovation and adaptation. This publication describes some of the many ways in which CCAFS works with farmers and farmers' organizations to solve problems generated by climate change. Recognizing the importance of participatory knowledge systems involving farmers, scientists, and other stakeholders in responding effectively to climate change, this document seeks to provide an overview of the many ways CCAFS collaborations with farming communities work in practiceand how this can serve as a springboard for more effective dialogue and planning, leading ultimately to better outcomes for farming in a climate-constrained world.The actions, values and knowledge of farmers are pivotal to achieving future food and nutrition security under climate change. This publication describes some of the many ways in which the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) works with farmers and farmers' organizations to solve problems generated by climate change.Etrida Luhanga, a smallholder from Malawi, had the final word at the 2013 'Dublin Conference on Hunger -Nutrition -Climate Justice' on behalf of fellow farmers, pastoralists, and fishers. Addressing the assembled policy-makers, she said: \"In the past, you've been talking to people who do not know anything about farming…But we are the owners of this work.\"Rural households have indeed managed the vagaries of local climates and environments for millennia. CCAFS, in common with other CGIAR research programs, understands that farmers are at the centre of agricultural innovation and adaptation. Climate change is altering agricultural conditions at an alarming rate, and in times of such rapid change, farmer-led research to reduce exposure to climate risks provides an alternative to approaches driven entirely by 'experts'.On the other hand, within the next century climate change may push many habitats and farming systems outside all previous experience. Thus science has a valuable role to play in helping farmers plan for completely new conditions.Participatory knowledge systems involving farmers, scientists, and other stakeholders, will be key to responding effectively to climate change. These systems may cost more but they can trigger and disseminate innovation faster and more widely and equitably than either farmers or scientists alone. Science and farming need to work together.In this document we give practical examples of the work of CCAFS with farmers. We hope it will give farmers and our other partners a good overview of the many ways our collaborations with farming communities work in practiceand how this can serve as a springboard for more effective dialogue and planning, leading ultimately to better outcomes for farming in a climate-constrained world.Even without the rising uncertainties and risks of which climate change is the progenitor worldwide, farmers in the poor South would face a daunting challenge over the next few decades, struggling by some estimates to produce as much as 70 percent more to feed a growing population.Farming systems all over the developing world face being destabilized in even the most conservative climate scenarios examined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Agriculture will have to contend with substantially modified environments, rising global temperatures, unpredictable seasons, altered precipitation patterns, and rising sea levels that threaten, especially, coastal communitiesall spawning additional stressors for farmers.Put at its simplest, most farmers in most countries rely on rain-fed agriculture; this makes them very vulnerable to topsy-turvy seasons and the vagaries of precipitation under climate change. As yields decline, so does the chance of generating a surplus that can be invested in the technologies and practices that might helplike rotating crops, or mixing familiar varieties with new drought-resistant ones, for example, or integrating crops and livestock.A key objective for CCAFS, therefore, is to help reinforce the ability of farmers and fishing communities to adaptresearching and deploying a wide range of strategies, from product diversification to better institutions and policies. It will be important to do this without disrupting fragile livelihoods; holistic approaches are needed that consider how technical and policy sectors interact.At the outset, it's clear that there are significant gaps in people's knowledge about what adaptation options are even available, what a cost-benefit calculation for them might look like, when and where they should be deployed, and what learning processes can support widespread change amid an uncertain and risk-laden future.The main objectives of CCAFS research are threefold. The first action we need to take to adapt farming systems to the world of 2030 is to close the yield gap -the difference between what farmers actually harvest and what they could get under more favourable or better-managed conditionsby effectively using current technologies, practices, and policies. We model different approaches through field-based research to test their effectiveness in relation to expected future climatic conditions.Secondly, we can develop breeding strategies for the improvement of crops and make varieties available that can stand up to the many challenges of the future climate.And thirdly we will enable policies and institutions, from the farm to national level, to promote change. We investigate the social, institutional, and policy environments required for adaptation options to bear fruit, so that together they can be used to establish effective agricultural adaptation plans and strategies.All over the world it is possible to take 3 categories of rural people and observe a high degree of overlap between them: the poor, the food-insecure, and smallholders. Belonging to of one of these groups is a good predictor of membership of at least one of the other two.Almost all African farms are small-scale; a majority of the population of sub-Saharan Africa rely on subsistence agriculture for survival; typically, the people who till, sow, hoe and pick are women, without easy access to machine tools, fertilizer, pesticides or artificial irrigation.In the CCAFS East Africa region (Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda) agricultural systems are highly vulnerable to frequent, severe climate shocks like drought, floods and extreme temperatures. The West Africa region (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal) encompasses a diverse agricultural base spread over a wide range of agro-ecological zones, yet with significant potential for improved productivity.Latin American countries are highly vulnerable to climate change due to their socioeconomic, geographic and institutional characters. Agriculture, in particular, is highly sensitive to climate variations. The CCAFS region (Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru) has also faced human and biodiversity losses from extreme-weather events. Most of the impacts of climate variability have been in Central America and along the Andes mountain range.Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam), the newest region in the CCAFS system, is also exposed to climate impacts because of the interaction between disasters and population density. It contains important biodiversity -the world's second largest rainforest after the Amazonand the huge rice bowls of the Mekong and Red River deltas, themselves at risk from extreme weather and rising sealevels.South Asia overall is home to nearly a quarter of the world's population, yet it has only 2.4 percent of global land surface area, making it the most densely populated region of the world. It has achieved tremendous progress in last four decades in food, yet a quarter of the world's hungry and 40 percent of malnourished women and children live there. The region is prone to climate impacts like floods, droughts, cyclones and heatwavesall projected to intensify. CCAFS works in Bangladesh, India and Nepal.CCAFS has been developing baseline surveys and 'participatory diagnosis' to determine farmers' household and agronomic starting pointsfiguring out exactly where you are today helps to plot a course toward a better future.Through its partners and starting in 2010, CCAFS engaged in 15 baseline surveys at household, village, and organizational levels in locations across 3 target regions in East and West Africa and South Asia. The challenge was to design new tools for data collection of the highest standard, to allow for comparisons to be made between sites on different continents but facing many of the same issues.The surveys were designed to develop simple indicators of food security, assets, crop diversity, farming practices and gender indicators, for which changes can be evaluated over time. They were conducted in (alphabetically) Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda. The exercise covered just over 4000 households in 206 villages.The plan is to revisit these households and villages, where many partners have already been working, after 5 years and again in 10 to monitor progress. The goalthrough participatory diagnosisis to assess what changes have occurred and whether they are helping households adapt to and mitigate climate change.This first set of 15 sites may be added to as new opportunities emerge; some may receive more attention than others; some sites may even phase out. Additional sites and partners will be added as research priorities for CCAFS are developed with partners. Work is also underway to define locations for 'climate analogues', where the climate projected for 2030 at one geographical location matches the climate now at another. This approach enables farmers to visualize what their future might look like and what options they need to consider.Land use is another important issue for which a baseline needs to be drawn. CCAFS and its local partners have identified blocks of 10 square kilometres where researchers can integrate socioeconomic and land-use factors into a 'big picture', also including, for example, carbon measurements from satellite images. In some African countries, blocks 30 kilometres square were chosen because of lower population densities, ensuring the criteria for household sampling were met everywhere.The first baseline indicator is food security. For years when there was neither drought nor exceptional rainfall, households were asked, firstly, whether the food they accessed month by month came from their own supplies or other sources, and, secondly, which months of a typical year they struggled to feed their families, from whatever source.The baseline surveys revealed the highest incidence of food insecurity in Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania. Over half of the Ethiopian households surveyed experienced more than 6 'hunger months' a year; 60 percent of Tanzanian households reported more than 5 in an average year; 47% percent of Ghanaian households surveyed reported more than 5. In Kenya, however, it is rare to find households that experience more than 4 hunger months.Understanding how climate variability affects rural men and women in different regions is difficult. Men, women, and children are all placed differently to respond to climate change.The CCAFS baseline surveys picked out female-headed households, allowing patterns to be discerned in areas where there were significant proportions of such households. We also itemized agricultural labour inputs by gender, and highlighted some of the differences in levels of access to climate-related information reported by men and women.Farm labour tends to be differentiated by gender. Women had no power over cash crops such as rice in the Bangladesh sites, for example, because their domain is the kitchen garden; in Uganda, women could not make decisions about the precious coffee and banana crops (see below) because of insecure land tenure. In Ghana, women had more say over improved crop varieties, but less with staples such as cereals and legumes.'Participatory video' can give women a voice to share perceptions and knowledge of the climate issue with a larger, online audience. The song above features in a 2012 CCAFS-funded participatory video directed by 12 women on the Thadhi Jhijha village development committee (VDC), in southern Nepal's Dhanusha district. They were given 3 days' training in production techniques and spoke (and sang) about how climate has affected their livelihoods.Like many of the village's men, Dhanmanti Pradhan's husband works abroad and she's left to cultivate their fields alone with her children and hired labour when she can afford it. The climate impact this year, bedevilling the entire area's agricultural effort, is drought.\"In my childhood there was a lot of rain,\" she recalls, standing in the middle of one of her parched paddy fields. \"Now we irrigate using boreholes. This is winter time. But look at how strong the sun is, like summer.\"The 2012 droughtwhich the Thadhi Jhijha women contrast to the stormy, rainy weather of the previous yearis having other, more insidious effects than just the withering of various vegetables crops they need to celebrate Baisakh, the Nepalese New Year. Drought is conducive to pests.\"Earlier when there was rain we didn't have to use as much pesticide as we do now,\" says Dhanmanti. \"It is not good. It affects our health badly.\"The women must pay for water from privately owned boreholes: the rupee equivalent of up to 4 US dollars an hour, further sapping families' reserves for things like school fees. Says Dhanmanti: \"We only water plants every 15-20 days. Look how many have died.\"Her VDC colleague Sabitri Sah, a mother of three, always liked to put on a good spread of vegetable dishes for Baisakh (April-May), using plants like mooli (radish) and bantha (eggplant).\"Toor lentils are OK with less rain,\" she says, \"but everything else has been affected. The lack of rain has caused many people's paddies to go bad, and the potatoes didn't germinate in the ground. Now I live from selling buffalo milk.\"The Dhanusha participatory video project was implemented by the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ) and the country office of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).The After a site is selected, a steering group of community members and researchers identify climatesmart options in a fully participatory process. These might include climate-smart technologies, climate information services, local development and adaptation plans or supportive institutions.In Kenya's Lower Nyando valley, farmers are discovering the value of 'agroforestry'maize, sorghum and other crops sown between rows of trees that stabilize and enrich the soil. The demand for trees has led to nurseries springing up to supply seedlings, and these are becoming an important source of income, particularly for women, who own more than half the nurseries now thriving in Lower Nyando. Farmers have been encouraged to incorporate poultry, sheep and goats into their farms, generating additional income and food.Other activities focus on the management of natural resources. In Bihar state in northern India, where soils are prone to water-logging, new drainage techniques get rid of floodwater more rapidly and recharge aquifers at the same time. In dryer villages in India and Kenya, rainwater harvesting is important. More effective management of soil carbon, precise application of fertilizers, and energyefficient machinery all play a part.In addition to farm practices, farmers in climate-smart villages are also testing climate-smart services such as tailored weather-forecasts to plan planting and harvesting. These may come by SMS, and mobile phones are also being used to enable farmers to buy insurance cover against extreme weather.Another project that comes under the general heading of 'site-level participatory action research' is underway in Uganda, which in 2008 was the second-largest banana producer and the eleventh-largest coffee producer in the world. However, with a growing population farmers are increasingly short of spaceboth crops tend to grow at around the same altitude, from 800 to 2300 metres.The old colonial-era systemof separate cropping areas for coffee and bananasis still in use today, for lack of an obviously better option. But new research by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture in Kampala and other CGIAR centres shows how growing bananas and coffee together leaves yields virtually unaffected but greatly increases the value of a single plot of land.Including bananas in the coffee system also alleviates risk for the farmer. If one crop fails they can still harvest the other. Ugandan farmers say shade from bananas also decreases coffee's susceptibility to drought and extreme weather. The residue from the trees provides mulch which would otherwise cost time and money to acquire, and they say bananas also motivate them to manage coffee better during the early unproductive years, because bananas produce even when coffee is not. This is especially true for women, who often do not see the proceeds from coffee sales but can use the banana harvest for home consumption.There are trade-offs, of course. 'Intercropping' places a greater burden on the soil and the system may require larger inputs of labour and capital at the outset. More work needs to be carried out to identify constraints and develop ways of addressing them. Farms of the Future will improve understanding of local practices and tools. Once refined, the methodology will be global enough to be implemented anywhere, giving scientists the ability to testand hopefully validatetheir models against real-world assessments.Down the ages, farmers have used traditional knowledge and coping strategies to adapt to changes in the weather and climate. They can predict the arrival of the rainy season by a change in wind patterns, for example. However, climate variability has now intensified to the point where they struggle to keep up.Agricultural research, extension systems, and NGOs are all affected by climate uncertainty because it limits the back-up they can offer; it has a negative impact on providers of credit and markets.Climate information (or 'climate services'), on the other hand, reduce uncertainty and can help farmers make better use of seeds and new technologies; they enable better decision-making, especially when reinforced with communications and training. With pilot projects in several African countries, CCAFS is tapping farmers' memories of rainy seasons, dry spells and planting dates. This helps researchers map the probable future and provide better seasonal forecasts.But to be effective, climate services rely on data tailored to farmers' needs, and under-resourced national meteorological services need support to supply information applicable to large areas.Mobile phones and radio have been used to convey weather information to a very large audience, even if personal interactions remain probably the most effective way of communicating complex messages about climate. CCAFS is building connections between national meteorological services and local organizations that have access to farmers and good information-technology skills.In Senegal, CCAFS and its local partners are developing new ways of reducing the risks farmers face.Farmers have been involved every step of the way, helping meteorologists and other specialists package information useful to them.\"Our biggest challenge was explaining [the concept of] probability to farmers, and also how to help them interpret the forecasts into actionfor example, when to plant,\" according to Ousmane Ndiaye, Head of Climate and Society with the Senegal National Meteorological Agency, interviewed about the CCAFS work in Kaffrine, on the northern Gambia border.But he added: \"The farmers were very keen and enthusiastic. And after the training they shared the information…and we felt we were filling an actual gap that exists. We built trust by trying to connect our climate information to things that are well-known to farmers.\"In East Africain the districts of Lushoto in Tanzania and Rakai and Hoima in Uganda -CCAFS partners include the Sokoine University of Agriculture and the Tanzania Meteorological Agency, and the National Agricultural Research Organization and Makerere University in Uganda.CCAFS researched the integration of indigenous knowledge with scientific weather forecasting and early-warning systems to sharpen farmers' and policy-makers' decision-making. In Lushoto, seasonal drought occurred most often compared to other extremes. Farmers in Rakai and Hoima districts planted early-maturing crops such as beans and sweet potatoes and drought-tolerant varieties of cassava.Local communities identified a 'good' season by watching for signs from birds, insects and animals, plants, the moon, winds and air temperature, and making decisions such as field preparation, dry planting, purchasing seed, and deciding on types of crop. The goal now is to evaluate the scientific basis of this traditional knowledge and link it to forecasts to reach a consensus.ICT and 'index-based' insurance: the example of India CCAFS has been working with farmers in India to maximize the benefit they can derive from information and communication technology (ICT) -especially 'advisories' about crop markets and weather via SMS, and index-based insurance schemes. Our researchers have also been looking at ways farming communities can record crop losses using modern ICT.India's agriculture depends heavily on the annual monsoon, which has become increasingly uncertain in onset and intensity. Unpredictable monsoons can account for half or more of the fluctuations in the country's harvests. Under these conditions, index-based insurance against weather shocks buffers farmers from losses. It uses a simple, measurable weather index such as rainfall to determine payouts, which can be made more quickly and with less fuss than conventional insurance.India has seen the widespread adoption of index-based insurance schemes, with the private sector playing a leading part in devising affordable policies for smallholders that are reliable, transparent, fast and less susceptible to fraud.Insurance companies don't need to visit the policyholder to assess damage and arbitrate claims. If recorded rainfall is below an agreed threshold, the insurance pays out automatically. Faster payouts mean farmers don't have to sell their assets to survive, and the need for emergency food aid is reduced.In many Indian states, public and private programmes now offer index-based insurance contracts for a variety of crops, providing cover against excessive rainfall or drought, temperature extremes and high winds. The index is based on measurements taken at weather stations around the country. By 2012, up to 12 million farmers growing 40 different crops over 15 million hectares were insured against weather losses.To achieve its full potential, index-based weather insurance needs to reach a much higher proportion of India's 1.2 billion people, 60 percent of whom dependdirectly or indirectlyon agriculture. To help meet that goal, CCAFS is investigating the behavioural and economic constraints that limit uptake by smallholder farmers.We are also working with the Agricultural Insurance Company of India to design schemes better suited to farmers' needs. This means, for example, ensuring payments match losses. CCAFS researchers are combining crop models with climate data to identify payment-triggers for various crops.Finally, through climate-smart villages, CCAFS is working with farmers to test tools and technologies such as water management and soil conservation. When combined with insurance, these can produce long-term benefits for farmers and help them become more resilient.In Bihar, for example, the 2012 monsoon was late, leading to delayed planting and losses in the rice crop. But in the Vaishali climate-smart villages, where more than 200 farmers had crop insurance, they got their first payment soon after the rains failed, enabling them to quickly invest in new seeds and re-plant.There are also synergies between insurance and credit. With insurance, farmers may be happier to borrow and banks more willing to lend, enabling farmers to invest in new technology.Agriculture is sometimes considered to be 'climate-smart' when it contributes to food security, adaptation and mitigation in a sustainable way. That may simply be through an otherwise disparate collection of practices, like water management or being more strategic about grazing.But now CCAFS and experts at Bioversity Internationalwho research the role of agriculture and forest biodiversity in a nutritious, resilient and adaptable futureare evolving a broader concept of climate-smart agriculture; one that not only stays within the limits of ecological systems but actually enhances them. Biodiversity gives farmers options, helping them minimize the risks associated with climate change.This workwhich includes local vulnerability, adaptation planning and seed systemscontributes to CCAFS programs and the CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Systems. Bioversity International's 'Seeds for Needs' projects, for example, are based on the premise that with an array of different crops, farmers are more likely to cope with unpredictable weather.The program introduces farmers to different crop varieties and strengthens their seed systems so they can move with the climate. For example, wheat is particularly sensitive to heat and dries out quickly when it flowers; if farmers plant different varieties that flower at different times, they are less likely to suffer losses from sudden hot weather.\"It is definitely getting hotter. This has been the situation for the last five years,\" says Mamta Kumari, a farmer and a member of Bhatadasi Ladies' Group, in Bihar, India. \"But when we talk about the weather now, both summers and winters are getting extreme.\"One answer is to take varieties from other locations that are likely to thrive in the prevailing conditions. Jacob van Etten, a Senior Scientist with Biodiversity International, explains the process: \"We make a shortlist of varieties that we think are going to do well. Then we make a smaller set for farmers so they can get access to diversity, do some systematic observation, collect the information\" and share it.Mamta Kumari was pleased with the results: \"They [Biodiversity] helped select the varieties of wheat to grow this year and last year also. The trial was a big hit. Farmers came from far-off places to see this.\"In Papua New Guinea, another Seeds for Needs country, together with local implementing partners, the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), the program is identifying models for taro and sweet potato for current and future climatic conditions. The project is also expected to develop \"an improved seed multiplication and delivery system, leading to improved genetic production potential of staple crops in Papua New Guinea,\" according to NARI.Seeds for Needs started in Ethopia in 2009 with barley and wheat; as well as in India and Papua New Guinea, it also works on bean varieties in Honduras, Rwanda and Uganda; and on sorghum, pigeon pea and cowpea beans in Kenya and Tanzania. Additional projects in Cambodia and Laos are expected to start in 2014.In India, the CCAFS site in the Indo-Gangetic plains lies in an agriculturally vibrant region playing a vital role in the food security of the country. Since the mid-1960s, increases in agricultural productivity, rapid industrial growth and expansion of the informal rural economy have quadrupled per capita GDP and significantly reduced poverty.But now a host of factors threaten future progress: soaring food and fuel prices, volatile markets, the global economic downturn, depletion of water resources, diversion of human capital from agriculture, soil degradation, indiscriminate use of chemical inputs, shrinking farm sizes, and the overarching effects of the climate change that is projected to lead to uncertain monsoons and more frequent weather-extremes.Significant efforts are being made through various institutions on the development and dissemination of new technologies, including climate-smart practices, but large-scale adoption is sluggish. Scalingup climate-smart agricultural systems and other knowledge-intense technologies and practices has turned out to be more difficult than were 'green revolution' methods like new seeds, fertilizers and irrigation.One major bottleneck centres on the increasing average age of farmers, lingering traditional mindsets, and the loss of young people who move out of farming. Discussing with communities ways to break the impasse, the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (known by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYT) decided to undertake technology development with young farmers in the belief that engaging them in a community-based approach will facilitate adaptation and adoption of new technologies.CIMMYT also recognised the advantage of bringing young farmers together to influence policymakers to support the promotion of technologies, targeting not only adaptation and mitigation but also farm profitability and generating alternate employment for rural youth through technologyled business opportunities. The other benefit was to evolve institutional mechanisms for buying and sharing assets such as expensive farm machinery, for real-time decision-making, and for using resources more effectively at community-level.CCAFS decided to interact with a group of young farmers from Taraori village, in the Karnal district of India's Haryana state. The response was overwhelming: farmer groups showed a keen interest in new-generation technologies to help with problems like: sowing rice with less labour; surface levelling to save irrigation water; residue management for more healthy soil; eliminating burning and tillage to save fuel, energy and water; more efficient use of nutrients; and general adaptation to climatic risks.The enthusiasm was so great that a group of 20 young people formed the 'Society for Conservation of Natural Resources and Empowering Rural Youth'. A community-based movement led by young farmers was born. Now more than 4000 people including senior policy-makers have visited these innovative farmers to learn more about resource-efficient, climate-smart and profitable technologies.As farmers' participation in technology and adaptation is critical, a new research platform was established with CCAFS at this village cluster to build awareness of different stakeholders including farmers, extension agents, students, scientists and policy-planners. Through capacity-building, different climate-smart technologies were demonstrated to large number of farmers in the CCAFS cluster as well as farmers and extension agents in other areas.The new society has also been publicizing the technologies through print and electronic media, including national newspapers and television and international conferences. The chief minister of Haryana announced incentives for community-based climate-smart and resource-efficient technologies -primarily conservation agriculture and 'smart' mechanization.This became a model for rural youth and communities, with 5 more young-farmer cooperatives in the clusters of CCAFS climate-smart village.Agriculture contributes as much as 24 percent of man-made emissions of GHG globally and is an important driver of deforestation. Yet it also offers opportunities to mitigate climate change through, for example, enhancing soil carbon, planting trees, improving livestock management, and more efficient uses of nitrogen fertilizer and energy.What are the relationships between emissions reductions, food and energy security, climate change adaptation and other environmental goals? Which agricultural systems and geographical regions have the largest potential for mitigation? How can we create incentives for lower-emissions food systems around the world? How can GHG in smallholder systems be quantified? CCAFS research seeks to answer these and other questions.We use a variety of metricsmany of them highly innovativesuch as farm emissions measurement, systems analysis, remote sensing, modelling and socioeconomic analysis. We test practices such as agroforestry, efficient use of nitrogen fertilizer, alternate wetting and drying (AWD) of rice paddies, improved livestock management, minimum tillage and more.In a project called Standard Assessment of Mitigation Potential and Livelihoods in Smallholder Systems ('SAMPLES') that started in 2012, CCAFS researchers are using the irrigated area of Bulacan province in the Philippines to test new metrics for emissions, and comparing mitigation options in smallholder agriculture.The project promotes mitigation in smallholder agriculture by developing a protocol for modelling and field-testing mitigation options and building local capacity for analyzing data. The subsequent protocol will be a tool for scientists and decision-makers who want to analyze low-emissions agriculture in smallholder systems.Scientists associated with SAMPLES are also testing methods and collecting data in Kenya and Vietnam, where field sites cover a range of smallholder systems including rice, rice-wheat rotations, and mixed systems of maize, sugarcane, livestock and vegetables. The research will provide a full year of data on low-emissions strategies.The sites are also serving as a classroom for more than 20 research fellowsbuilding in-country capacity for implementing the strategies being tested.Rice farmers in Bulacan are even more concerned about water than they are about climate. Their irrigation reservoir has been steadily depleting for at least 30 years due to droughts and the demand from the capital, Manila; another issue is that Philippine law prioritizes domestic over agricultural use of water.CCAFS researchers and their partners have been testing an AWD solution. This allows paddies to dry until the water table is below the soil surface before irrigating again. Compared with maintaining paddies in a continuously flooded state, it can lower water use by 25 percent and reduce energy used for pumping.The assessment process demands accurate measurement of emissions reductions associated with AWDdifficult because methods for doing so in smallholder systems have not yet been well defined.Investment by the public sector in adaptation is rising but it will be largely the private sectorfrom small-scale farmers to multinational companiesthat will lead adaptation of global food systems to achieve food security under climate change. The important thing will be to identify areas where companies' vital interests in adaptation overlap with opportunities for building adaptive capacity among vulnerable agricultural communities.Of 72 companies surveyed by the UN in 2010, 86 percent reported that climate change adaptation presents new opportunities; other studies indicate a large variety of motives that encompass both exploitation of emerging opportunities and management of growing threats. Incentives for engaging in adaptation can be summarized as: gaining competitive advantage; 'climate-proofing' future business; social responsibility; and compliance with regulation.The development by seed companies of crop varieties that have strong defences again drought, flood, salinity and pests clearly brings down farmers' vulnerability to climate risks. But their success is highly dependent on local factors. Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa, for example, a project led by CIMMYT, is developing maize cultivars that produce up to 50 percent higher yields in drought conditions. It has released 105 drought-tolerant varieties and seed production has risen from 700 tonnes in 2009 to 30,000 tonnes in 2011-12 in 13 African countries.The Stress Tolerant Rice in Africa and South Asia project, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and AfricaRiceboth CGIAR affiliateshas, for 6 countries, developed 10 rice varieties that tolerate floods, droughts and increases in salinity. One has survived being completely submerged for nearly 3 weeks and is spreading across Bangladesh, India and Nepal, reaching nearly 4 million farmers in 2012.IRRI and AfricaRice share an extensive network of partners from public and private sectors, NGOs, seed companies and farmers' organizations, through which these new products can be disseminated.Index-based insurance (see above) is also used in the arid rangeland areas of northern Kenya. To help pastoralists cope with climate change, CGIAR's International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners launched the Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) product in the Marsabit district. The average client has about 50 cows, camels, goats or sheep, or a combination.Unlike weather-based insurance, IBLI is based on a vegetation index; some 3000 pastoralists have bought cover. ILRI provides technical support while the private sector builds relationships with pastoralists and tries to overcome the problems of remoteness with SMS transactions.The most visible impacts of these developments and others like them are on farmers' assets; their ability to expand adaptive capacity depends on whether they can afford the goods and services on offer, and whether companies can engage in outreach when transaction costs are high or communications poor. As climate change develops, more companies are likely to respond to risks and market opportunities alike, which may provide farmers and herders with more options.In Phu Tho, two hours from the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, where the Red River Delta meets Vietnam's northern mountains, lies a small family farm which shared its experience of 'Vuon Ao Chuong' (VAC) agriculture with CCAFS researchers busy planning our expansion into Southeast Asia.The scene that met the researchers was a testament to the success of VAC (which translates as 'garden-pond-pen') agriculture in Vietnam: dozens of sows and piglets grunting happily in their pen; a fish pond with resident ducks flapping on the water; bamboo beehives scattered around the property; about 100 chickens; workers tending a rice paddy. At the back of the property, a small wood provided much-needed shade.All these uses of land were being managed in the intensive but sustainable VAC system, in which nutrients from the pond fertilize rice and maize, while livestock manure generates biogas for cooking. The farm produces enough rice to feed a family of six and generates steady income through the rest of its products, allowing the family to invest in education, materials, and possible new ventures.It's experience and local wisdom like this farm and hundreds of others like it that CCAFS will attempt to harness as it rolls out climate-smart villages across Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Integrated and intensive systems like Vuon Ao Chuong already give farmers an edge in the race against climate change: they do not rely on a single crop; GHG are reduced thanks to nutrient cycling and the use of intensification rather than just expansion.There is concern that climate impacts such as rising sea-levels threaten to erode the region's agricultural land and contaminate supplies of fresh water for agricultural production in a region responsible for much of the world's rice. Combined with rising salinity, which damages fertility and stunts rice and other crops, researchers warn that the region's huge deltasthe Red River, Mekong and Chao Phrayaand the millions who live on them, are at risk. The villages to be located in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines will be \"learning laboratories where multiple partnersresearchers, government agencies, the private sector, farmer groups, civil society organizationscome together to trial integrated solutions to climate change,\" according to Bruce Campbell, who led a 'convergence meeting' in Bangkok in December to build a climate-smart road map with local CGIAR partners.The program will not be without its challenges. \"Do you know how difficult it is to ask farmers to change their crop?\" says Dr Leocadio Sebastian, CCAFS Regional Program Leader for Southeast Asia. \"It's like asking someone to change their career. It's not something they can do overnight.\" \"It will require change in attitudes and acquisition of new knowledge, skills and practices and links to new markets.\" Buy-in from local partners will be crucial to identify target villages and the climate challenges to be tackled in them. \"Local ownership is very important,\" Dr Sebastian adds. \"Local people need to be part of local solutions.\"CCAFS does more than just gather evidence of the effects of climate change and agriculture on each other; it also strives to ensure each realm is understood in the other, requiring constant effort to engage at all levels with national decision-makers. For example, the Coffee Under Pressure project with smallholder producers in Central America and Mexico has brought sophisticated modelling of climate impacts to the community in a context that is relevant and useful for farmers. 'Double-loop' learning is emerging as scientists react to the resulting demands for information.Recent studies show that climate change threatens coffee systems, with impacts on yields, quality, and pests, among others. These findings have been extensively covered in the media, and now a roundtable dialogue is planned in Nicaragua, new research is being funded, and the largest US coffee roasting company is considering investing in adaptation by smallholder farmers upstream in its supply chains.Social learning has become important to CCAFS under its mandate to rethink agriculture and food security in a warming world. Strategies for addressing climate change ultimately depend on local contexts, so it is critical to link knowledge with action and explore tools for local decision-making.We are trying to help policy-makers, development partners, researchers and farmers make choices with a greater understanding of the many factors involvedlocal conditions and knowledge, national policies and programmes, international development paradigms, and the increasingly diverse drivers of global change. To support this process, CCAFS research and the tools it produces have to be based on the needs and knowledge of local actors.The CCAFS 'Integration for Decision-Making' team are looking at how social learning might help, and we are interested in learning from innovative work across the CGIAR network; in the next few years, we will mainstream new ways of working in climate, agriculture and food security.But we need new models for scaling-up and changes in institutional culture to spread social learning through research and development. We also face methodological issues such as learning how to work with different social groups and power structures, and reconciling stakeholders' varying timescales.There is also plenty of evidence The idea is to involve farmers in evaluating varieties as 'citizen scientists'; each farmer grows a combination of 3 varieties drawn from a broader set of 10. The farmer then ranks them according to characteristics like vigour, yield and grain quality.Things are made as easy as possible for the farmers; then we, the researchers, use nifty statistical methods to combine the rankings and share the results with them. With this information, farmers can identify the best varieties for their conditions and preferences.Farmers become scientists, actively contributing to science with their time, effort and expertise. In India, around 800 farmers are now testing wheat varieties as citizen scientists.It was a lot of fun to visit the plots and talk with the farmers. Each had its own story: wheat growing in an orchard or next to a cooperative, women's groups getting involved, etc. One thing we wanted to test is whether this approach is more cost-effective and less complicated than the usual demonstration plots or participatory trials. In the new set-up, logistics are simpler because the seed comes to the farmer; the farmer doesn't need to go to the demonstration plot.As the plots are smaller (with only 3 varieties from 120 grams of seed), they are easier to accommodate. In extreme cases, you can always just \"pull out the radishes,\" as one farmer put it.Also, the varieties farmers are testing have become the new local favourite topic of conversation, as farmers feel they are fully involved in the scientific process. We are also starting to test if they can report their results using a mobile phone.An important aspect of this work is the collaboration with national and local organizations; the litmus test will be whether the approach is picked up by our partners after their first experience of it.In Vaishali, our partner organizations liked the approach a lot. They found it practical and clearly saw its value for getting varieties to farmers. They were, however, a bit worried about how scientific it really was. But I believe that after going through the whole cycle with them (including applying the statistical methods mentioned above), they will be more confident about the scientific value of the exercise, explains van Etten.And if the approach is successful, we would not only make the crop improvement process cheaper but also fasterimportant given the speed of climate change.The crowdsourcing approach could make it possible to scale-up this effort to even larger areasinvolving thousands of farmers, increasing productivity and decreasing climate risk. Encouraged by the experience in Vaishali, we'll soon be starting similar tests in East Africa and Central America.Climate change affects not just a few thousand farmers, pastoralists and fishers, but all of themhalf a billion people or more. CCAFS harbours ambitious targets for reaching large numbers of farmers in the regions where we work. With the collaboration of partners, some of this ambition is beginning to be realised.The local government of Maharashtra in India, for example, is looking to scale-up CCAFS's climatesmart villages to at least 1000 across the state, concentrated in the most disadvantaged and vulnerable areas. Almost 100,000 women and men farmers will be involved, with secure government funding to support their efforts to manage the growing climate risks they face.Working with farmers is critical to CCAFS in achieving its long-term goals for poverty reduction, better nutrition, environmental benefits and fair outcomes for women and men. CCAFS seeks to be as strategic as possible in its partnerships with farmers and farmers' organizations, and this means: Improving policy-makers' understanding of the issues.  Listening to farmers' priorities, ideas and proposals.  Building the capacity of farmers to deal with climate risks.  Enabling learning on climate change across farming communities.  Ensuring farmers can access and utilize knowledge. Empowering farmers to drive research and policy.  Amplifying farmers' voices in all policy arenas.The role of governments, NGOs, businesses and research agencies is to support the true \"owners of this work\", as Malawian smallholder Etrida Luhanga put it in Dublin, to provide the services, infrastructure and incentives that enable farmers to manage and build agriculture under climate change."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"904aa3851ab81182de542a2aa873f070","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3ea1639a-63f1-4ebf-9ae2-99b4f811a784/retrieve","id":"331062730"},"keywords":["Characterization","breeding objectives","indigenous sheep","South Wollo"],"sieverID":"3319face-8faf-400b-9ba8-518441ae0aba","content":"This study was aimed to get information on production system, breeding objective and physical characteristics of native sheep types in kalu Tehuledre and Dessie Zuria districts of South Wollo Zone under smallholders' management conditions. Survey was undertaken on 180 HHs selected randomly. Body measurements were taken from 276 sheep, male (81) and female (195)  sheep. Dentition was used to estimate the age of the sheep. Data were gathered through semi-structured questionnaire, focus group discussions and field observations. Survey data were analyzed using (SPSS 20.0, 2011)  and phenotypic characterization and body measurement data were analyzed using (SAS 9.2 2010). Source of cash income, saving value, meat for home consumption, skin, manure and wealth status were the major purpose of keeping sheep. The average sheep flock size owned per household of Dessie zurea was (9.7±0.6) and significantly (P<0.05) higher than Teuledre (7.5±0.6) and Kalu (6.2±0.3). Body conformation and growth rate were used for male selection while lambing interval, twinning ability, body conformation was the preferred traits for breeding ewe in all districts. The overall average age at first mating in males were (7.29±0.05) and female (8.42±0.14) months. Age at first lambing 13.1±0.09, Lambing interval, reproductive life span of ewe and liter size were 8.04 ±0.07 months, 10.5 ± 0.3 lambs and 1.22 ± 0.06 lambs, respectively. Major production constraints were disease, feed and water shortage in order of importance. The overall body hair coat colour pattern was recorded (68.8%, 19.2% and 12%) for Plain, patchy and spotted respectively. White (26.1%), red dominant (29.7%), black (9.4%), red with white (12.3%), white with black (1.8%) red brown (7.6 %)), creamy white (13%), were the common coat colour observed. District had affected live body weight and linear body measurement.Body weight of Teuledere sheep significantly (p<0.05) heavier than Kalu and Kalu heavier than Dessie zuria. Sex had also significant effect (p<0.05) and revealed an important source of variation on body weight, body length, ear length and heart girth and vii all body linear measurements, were not significant (p>0.05) .In most traits, males were heavier and longer than females (p<0.05). Age had significant effect (p<0.05) on body weight and linear body measurement. Body weight were highly significant (p<0.05) at all ages .Body weight was significantly (P<0.05) correlated with all continuous traits observed in this study. Based on the result it could be concluded that, the fixed effect, age, sex, districts and age with sex interaction were the most limiting factor and significant (p<0.001) effect on live body weight and linear body measurement and revealed an important source of variation . To recommend that, the reproductive performance of sheep in south wollo has been observed that have good reproductive potential. So we should exploit and use this reproductive potential properly with modern management system.This is to certify that this thesis entitled phenotypic characterization of indigenous sheep and farmers' breeding objectives in three selected districts of south Wollo Zone, Ethiopia, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of M.Sc. in Animal Genetics and Breeding to the School of Graduate Studies, Bahir Dar University, through the Department of Animal production and Technology done by Moges Takele Teshale ID. No. BDU0602044PR is an authentic work carried out by him under my guidance. The matter embodied in this project work has not been submitted earlier for award of any degree or diploma to the best of my knowledge and belief. However, works of other researchers and authors that served as source of information were duly acknowledged. I would like to express my special and heartfelt gratitude to my major advisors, Dr.Yeshambel Mekuriaw and my co-advisor, Dr. Solomon Gizaw, for their unlimited and unreserved support to make this thesis work successful. Their inspiration and brotherly encouragement was critical for this thesis result. Their willingness to share knowledge and materials and their way of advice to produce competent citizen will never be forgotten.Similarly I would like to thank International livestock Research institute (ILRI) for funding this research work and education fee and Bahir Dar University College of agriculture and environmental science (CAES) and Animal production and Technology Department for unlimited support of equipment, advising from learning up to the success of this thesis.My thanks must also extended to the staffs of south wollo zone, Dessie zuria, Tehuledre and Kalu districts agricultural and Rural Development Department for their active involvement and facilitation of the data collection activities and staff deserve appreciation for providing relevant secondary information and taking part in this study.I am extremely thankful to all my family for their encouragement and financial support during my stay in the campus. Finally, nothing will be done, no success without blessing of God.     The world total numbers of goats and sheep were 861.9 and 1078.2 million, respectively, i.e. there is about one goat to approximately 1.25 sheep in the world, FAOSTAT (2008).There are tremendous variations among the different parts of the world regarding the number of goats, its ratio to sheep and their percentages. Characterization of sheep resources is a prerequisite for their rational utilization. In developing regions, there exist types of farm animal species which own their distinct identity to a combination of traditional 'breeding objectives' and geographical and/or cultural separation by communities which own them (Rege, 2003). Knowledge of traditional animal breeding practices and breeding objectives is important to develop sustainable genetic improvement schemes under smallholder situations. Lack of such knowledge leads to the setting up of unrealistic breeding goals in the design of livestock genetic improvement programs and the consequence of which can put in danger the conservation of indigenous animal genetic resources (Zewdu Wuletaw et al., 2006).The current level of productivity of sheep is essential to meet the demands of the ever-increasing human population. On the other hand, by improving the productivity of sheep, export earnings as well as the income of the household will be improved. There are, however, a number of constraints that affect the productivity of sheep such as mortality, feed scarcity and inadequate indigenous breed utilizations to production.Ethiopia is home for 6 breed group, at least 9 breeds and 14 traditional sheep populations and has a large number of sheep estimated at 29.33 million, out of which about 72.77 percent are females, and about 27.23 percent are males from total number of sheep 99.78% are indigenous breeds (CSA, 2015). In Ethiopia sheep are the second largest number of livestock species after cattle. (CSA, 2012/13) also reported that the majority (99.8%) of sheep breeds in Ethiopia are indigenous. ( Solomon Gizaw et al., 2007) reported, these sheep population are found and distributed in different agro-ecological zones with different production systems of the country .Sheep production has great contribution for the country at large and for smallholder farmers in terms of fetching foreign currency, income, job opportunity, human nutrition, risk aversion, ecological roles, rural banking and social values. Sheep have a unique niche in smallholder agriculture from the fact that they require small investments; have shorter production cycles, faster growth rates and greater environmental adaptability as compared to large ruminants. They are important protein sources in the diets of the poor and help to provide extra income and support survival for many farmers in the tropics and sub-tropics (Markos Tibbo et al 2006;Notter 2012). Sheep play an important economic role and make a significant contribution to both domestic and export markets through provision of food (meat and milk) and non-food (manure, skin and wool) products .They also play a major role in the food security and social well-being of rural populations living under conditions of extreme poverty which is particularly the case for eastern parts of Ethiopia (Alvarez et al 2009;Gemeda Duguma et al 2010).The demand from both domestic and export markets for product from small ruminants, especially mutton, is increasing in Ethiopia (SPS-LMM, 2010). However, the productivity of indigenous sheep is currently too low to meet this demand (Ameha Sebsibe 2008). Attempts have been made to improve productivity of indigenous sheep through crossing with exotic breeds such as Corriedeale, Hampshire, Romney, Awassi and Dorper (Solomon Gizaw and Getachew Terefe, 2009). However, these programs have not been successful, probably because of a lack of understanding of the indigenous sheep, preferred breeding objectives of the farmers and absence of involvement of all stakeholders in the designing of breeding strategies (Markos Tibbo et al. 2006,Gemeda Duguma et al 2010). While previous studies in Ethiopia have characterized indigenous sheep breeds both phenotypically and genotypically with their breeding objectives and farmers' breeding practices, diversity of production systems and genetic resources is still not well-represented and it is demanding (Workneh Ayalew et al., 2004, Mengiste Taye, 2009, Shigdaf Mekuriaw, Getachew Terefe et al 2010;Getachew Terefe et al 2011;Zewdu Edea et al 2012). In particular, there is limited information on phenotypic characteristics, farmers' breeding practices, trait preferences, and selection criteria of breeding stock used by owners of sheep in eastern parts of the country where indigenous breeds have special merit in Middle Eastern export markets (SPS-LMM, 2010).Various scholars from different corners of the world have been advising that the performance of indigenous sheep could be improved through management and there is also potential for genetic improvement through selection (Zewdu Wuletaw et al., 2006).Selection of a particular sheep breed for further improvement requires information about phenotypic characteristics and desired traits for the objectives of sheep production by smallholder farmers.The current status of knowledge on characterization of farm animal genetic resources in Ethiopia shows that there is inadequate information on breed level characterization (both phenotypic and genotypic), farmers' breeding practices, and breeding objectives (Rege, 2003, Workneh Ayalew et al., 2004).South Wollo Zone has high potential of sheep population. However, the indigenous sheep breed available in the Zone is recently not phenotypicaly characterized; farmers' breeding practices are yet reported as to the level of my knowledge. Furthermore, breeding objective of indigenous sheep in the proposed study area is not reported/ documented. These information, however, are highly required for policy makers, sheep breeders and development practitioners working on sheep production improvement program in the area as a prerequisite for designing sustainable sheep genetic improvement programs and strategies for the future development of indigenous breeds. More specific the aim of the improvement schemes is to increase production, product quality, cost efficiency, maintain genetic diversity and support the conservation and use of specific breeds. Hence, this study is designed with the following objectives.The overall objective of this research is to describe indigenous sheep breed existing in South Wollo Zone of Amhara region in terms of morphology, farmers' breeding Records of domestication of sheep date back to as early as 7000 in near east. The home of wild sheep is the mountain ranges of central Asia, from where sheep spread westwards into Europe and eastwards into North America during the Pleistocene period (Ryder, 1983). Domesticated sheep belong to the species Ovis aries. Sheep are believed to have been among the first animals to be domesticated, preceded by the dog and goat.The domestication of both sheep and goats probably dates back to the pre-settled agricultural period. It is also believed that most domestication took place in western Asia where the majority of the present day small ruminant breeds likely originated.Sheep are extremely versatile and since domestication they have spread throughout the world (Devendra and McLeroy, 1982) and currently there are more than 850 distinct breeds of sheep scattered throughout the world (FAO, 2000;Rege, 2003).Ethiopia has a large number of sheep estimated (CSA 2010). Sheep types in Ethiopia are highly affiliated to specific ethnic communities. A number of traditional breeds are reared by and named after specific communities. As could be noted, the indigenous sheep breeds are usually named after specific ethnic groups (e.g. Afar,) or geographical locations (e.g. the Horro, Menz, farta). Similarly, the classification of these major types is largely based on morphological or physical characteristics. Most of the investigations done up to now have been carried out on research stations, on-farm performance studies are very few. This in turn affects the understanding of the factors which influence sheep production at the farm level and also the introduction of specific interventions by development organizations.  According to (FAO, 2000), a production environment encompasses all input-output relationships, over time, at a particular location. The relationships will include biological, climatic, economic, social, cultural, and political factors, which combine to determine the productive potential of a particular livestock enterprise. Animal uses, genetic variance, and abundance of genetic diversity change across production systems. As different production systems evolve varying pressures are place dup on the existing breeds, (FAO, 2004). Marked differences between production systems, such as product needs and prices, disease occurrence, spread and control methods and climatic differences will often require, for each environment, the use of quite different genetic resources to realize sustained production of food and agriculture, (FAO, 2000).Sheep production in Ethiopia is generally of subsistence in nature. Sheep are reared in extensive systems with no or minimal inputs; they are kept virtually as scavengers, particularly in mixed crop-livestock systems (Solomon Gizaw et al., 2013). Extensive systems of production share common characteristics, such as small flock sizes, communally shared grazing, uncontrolled mating, absence of recording, low productivity per animal, relatively limited use of improved technology, and use of on-farm by-products rather than purchased inputs. Market-oriented or commercial production is almost non-existent.The major sheep production systems in Ethiopia include the traditional management system (the pastoral and agro-pastoral and mixed crop-livestock systems) and the government ranches, characterized by different production goals and priorities, management strategies and practices, and constraints, (Markos Tibbo, 2006). Generally, the mixed crop-livestock systems are the most densely populated and hold the largest number of ruminant livestock. In the mixed farming system of the highlands of Ethiopia sheep depend mostly on grazing fallow lands, waterlogged lands, natural pasture and crop residues usually with no extrasupplement and receive minimum health care.In the lowland part of the country small ruminant production is associated with the purely livestock based nomadic and transhumance pastoral production systems based largely on range, primarily using natural vegetation. The pastoral systems are found mainly in the medium-to-low potential areas where crop production is difficult due to low and erratic rainfall. In this system though there are cultivations in some areas, livestock production forms an integral part of the socio-cultural life for the vast and diverse human populations.Most of the livelihoods of the inhabitants depend on livestock products and live animals sales or exchange, (Coppock, 1994). Risk avoidance is an important integral part of the breeding objectives in those areas. People moves periodically with their livestock in search of feed and water for their animals. In the lowlands of Ethiopia, livestock is comprised of large sheep flocks, where only surplus are sold at local markets or trekked to major consumption centers.Extensive livestock keeping is the backbone of the economies of the lowlands, (EARO, 2000). The government ranch is accounted for very small proportion of sheep production system in Ethiopia. It was found in government sheep breeding, and multiplication centers, (Markos Tibbo, 2006). This include government owned ranches such as Horro Guguduru ranch, which was closed due to high sheep mortality, the Debre Berhane and Amed Guya ranch involved in the production and distribution of crossbred rams to the farmers.Regardless of the harsh environmental conditions, small ruminants are important in feeding the rapidly expanding population of the developing world (Markos Tibbo et al., 2006). In addition to their adaptation to the harsh environment, they require low initial capital and maintenance costs, are able to use marginal land and crop residues, produce milk and meat in readily usable quantities, and are easily cared by most family members. Small ruminants play an important role for sustainable rural livelihoods and the utilization of marginal ecological areas (Köhler-Rollefson, 2001;Thornton and Herrero, 2001). Small ruminants provide meat and milk to the smallholders and are considered as insurance mainly against cop failure, as saving, socio-cultural and ceremonial purpose (Kosgey et al., 2004;Markos Tibbo, 2006;Habtemariam et al., 2012).Hence, small ruminants are important to the livelihood of smallholder farmers and to the economy of the country. About 31%-38% and 21%-33% of the Ethiopian smallholder farmers own sheep and goat (Asfaw Negassa and Jabbar, 2008), The livestock sector contributes 30% to 35% of the Ethiopian agriculture GDP, 19% of the total GDP and more than 85% of farm cash income (Benin et al., 2002). Small ruminants account for about 40% of the cash income earned by farm households, 19% of the total value of subsistence food derived from all livestock production, and 25% of total domestic meat consumption (Adane Hirpa and Girma Abebe, 2008).Sheep contributes close to 30% of the total ruminant livestock meat output and 14% of the total domestic meat production, with live animal and chilled meat export surpluses (Workneh Ayalew et al., 2004). The sheep enterprise in the Ethiopian highland where crop and livestock production are integrated, is the most important form of investment and cash income and provides social security in bad crop years. Despite the economic importance of small ruminants to the farming household and overall economic development of a country, efforts to improve the productivity and production systems of small ruminants are lacking (MFED, 2010).Sheep production and productivity in Ethiopia is constrained by many factors such as scarcity of feed, lack of infrastructure, high mortality rates, inadequate veterinary coverage, poor quality products and low average reproductive rates (Ehui, 1999, Tsedeke Kocho;2010). However, high reproductive wastage is the major constraint of sheep productivity, which also greatly reduces selection possibilities; thus, improving the frequency of lambing and reducing mortality should be the emphasized schemes of sheep production. Sheep have higher survival rates under unfavoured conditions and are widely adapted to different agroclimates. They are kept by all ethnic groups and production systems. Importantly, because of their small body sizes, small ruminants have lower feed requirements that allow integration of them into different enterprises. Moreover, in addition to requiring a small initial investment, flock numbers can be restored more rapidly because of their fast reproductive rates, and they are also suitable for meeting subsistence needs (meat and milk) of the smallholders (FAO,1991) .Lack of adequate feed resources as the main constraint to animal production is more pronounced in the mixed crop-livestock systems, where most of the cultivated areas and high human population are located (Sisay Amare, 2006). The problem of good quality and quantity feeds observed in lowlands where pastureland seems relatively abundant. There is a great seasonal variation of quality and quantity of feed resources in most part of the country.According to (Alemayahu Mengistu, 1998), there is excessive supply of feed during the rainy season which is usually followed by a deficit in grazing in the following dry season. On the other hand, the allocation of more land for crop production resulted in availability of crop residues as alternative feed, particularly in the smallholder livestock production system.Although there is difference in utilization across months of the years, communal grazing lands are utilized throughout the year. Similarly many reports (Abule Ebro;2003;Tsedeke Kocho, 2007;Tesfaye Kebede, 2008) indicated that natural pasture is the main feed resource for small ruminants and cattle. The availability and quality of forages are not favorable and uniform in nutrient quality all year roundIn southern part of the country, although the degree of shortage varies within farming systems/agro-ecologies feed shortage is reported as a major constraint for small ruminant production, (Endeshaw Assefa,2007;Tsedeke Kocho,2007;Getahun Legesse,2008). Another serious constraint for small ruminant production in Ethiopia has been the high prevalence of diseases and parasites. This causes high mortality of lambs, diminishing the benefits of their high reproductive performance (Solomon Gizaw et al., 1995;Yohannes Gojjam et al., 1995;Solomon Abegaz and Gemeda Dugema , 2000;Markos Tibbo, 2006).Water shortage is also reported as limiting factor in most lowland areas to a limited extent in mid altitudes. In eastern, north-eastern and south-eastern part of the country there is critical shortage of water; however, small ruminants are somehow adapted to these agro-ecologies through their physiological adaptation mechanisms.Any successful livestock production program is a result of good reproductive performance of sheep. To obtain meat, milk and fiber the existence of birth and survival is necessity, (Tesfaye Getachew, 2008). The productivity of sheep mostly based on the reproductive performance of sheep. And reproductive performance depends on various factors including age at first lambing, litter size, lambing interval and the life time productivity of the ewe, the last one being related to longevity (Sulieman et al., 1990).In most traditional systems, first lambing occurs at 450-540 days when ewe weights are 80-85 percent of mature size (Wilson, 1986)   Ibrahim (1998). Extended lambing intervals commonly arise from long post-partum anoestrus intervals, repeated cycles of service intervals without conception, embryo death or abortion (Gatenby, 1986;Ibrahim, 1998).In good management condition, adequate nutrition lambing interval can be possible to attain three lambing from indigenous sheep in two years (Sani and Tiwari, 1974).According to (Solomon Abegaz, 2007) in association with the above thought Gumuz breed had an average lambing interval of 6.64 ±1.13 months so the breed can produce three lambing in two years even under the traditional management system but the work of (Zewdu Edea, 2008) indicates that lambing interval of around 8.9 ± 2.   3.67 years for rams) was reported.The concept and structure of conventional livestock breeding objective was initially formalized by (Hazel, 1943) and it defines the traits of importance and the direction of genetic improvement; (Borg, 2004). Breeding objective is defined as the traits to be improved, the cost of production and the revenue from product sales related to a genetic change in each trait.Sustainable animal breeding strategies require a broad definition of breeding objectives that emphasize maintaining adaptation and biodiversity in addition to Profitability (Olesen et al.,2000;Neilsen et al.,2005Neilsen et al., ,2006)). Sölkner et al.(1998) and Kosgey et al. (2004)  reported that production and consumption of milk from sheep is not common in mixed croplivestock system where income generation is considered as the primary objective of keeping sheep.Although the primary purposes differed between production systems, the use of indigenous sheep as multipurpose animals was common to all production systems. Multi-purpose sheep rearing is common in Ethiopia, (Getachew Terefe et al 2010;Solomon Gizaw et al 2010;Zewdu Edea et al 2012) and linked to the need to maximize output from an animal that can survive on a low input of resources (Jimmy et al 2010). Multiple functions are particularly important in low-to medium-input production environments, Zewdu Edea et al (2012).Given the breadth of purposes that farmers and pastoralists have for keeping sheep, much care is required in the choice of breeding objectives and breeding strategies as the function of the animals is closely linked to the traits desired by the producers (Jimmy et al 2010).Knowledge of reasons for keeping animals is a prerequisite for deriving operational breeding goals (Jaitner et al 2001). Milk production of sheep should always be considered in designing a breeding strategy for pastoral and agro-pastoral systems where sheep milk consumption is common and acceptable.Lack of proper recognition of the purpose of keeping animals by their owners has been amajor reason in the failure of past genetic improvement programs (Sölkner et al 1998).Farmers sell their sheep to anyone who pays an acceptable price and the buyers are mainly other farmers, traders and final consumers. Yearlings of both sexes are sold to market when farmers are in need of cash, Solomon Gizaw et al, (2012).Farmers market sheep and goats at farm gates or the nearest local/primary markets. Farmers use all markets found in their localities regardless of political boundaries and ethnic and cultural differences.Farmers sell their sheep mainly to traders, consumers and to a lesser extent to other farmers. Even though farmers sell their animals when financial problems force them to sell, they do prefer to sell their sheep during holidays and festive occasions( Tsedeke Kocho,2007). As indicated by farmers, sheep price is affected by season -holidays and festivals. It was reported that better price is fetched during Ethiopian New Year, Christmas, and Easter. Information on market price, supply, grades, and standards are not available to farmers. Formation of farmers' cooperatives and development of marketing facilities would enable farmers to get better prices for their animals According to (Ayele Solomon et al. 2003), the current knowledge on livestock market structure, performance and prices is poor and inadequate for designing policies and institutions to overcome perceived problems in the marketing systems of Ethiopia. Moreover, (Gede et al., 2005) from Indonesia reported that farmers possess minimal marketing information and usually complain about the prices they receive for their merchandise. (especially when animals are trekked or trucked through towns) and lack of efficient vaccination services for export animals as the major problems.For breeding (selection), feeding and health care and for market age determination knowing the body weight of a sheep is important. However, this fundamental knowledge is often unavailable for sheep in the small scale farming sector, due to unavailability of scales, (Zewdu Edea, 2008). According to Sisay Lemma (2002)  Populations of livestock species in developing regions are traditionally recognized as distinct types by ethnic group or geographical locations, from where they often derive their names.Preliminary identification of breeds or populations involves phenotypic characterization of distinct populations using a combination of stratified and purposive sampling strategies.Qualitative and quantitative descriptions, including morphometric measurements of animals, are collected through farm level surveys to identify and describe the representative samples of animals from the targeted populations or breeds or breed groups. For this purpose, a comprehensive list of animal descriptors was developed by FAO (1986) and Workneh Ayalew and Rowlands (2004).Characterization is a vital tool in animal selection and breeding. However, lack of information on the genetic potential and diversity of sheep discourages attempt towards their exploitation and conservation for increased productivity, Buvanendran et al (1980).The term \"phenotypic characterization of AnGR\" is used to refer to the process of identifying distinct breed populations and describing their characteristics and those of their production environments, FAO (2010b).Characterization of indigenous breeds is a base for any breed or productivity improvement programs. Characterization should include physical description, reproduction and adaptations, uses, prevalent breeding system, population trends, predominant production system, description of environments in which it is predominantly found and an indication of performance levels (Workneh Ayalew et al., 2004). Standard phenotypic characterization of breeds/ SPCB/ is carried out based on morphological characters such as coat colour, horn, tails, body measurements and other specific and visible traits. The study was conducted in South Wollo Zone of three districts (Dessie Zuria, Kalu and Tehuledere) of Amhara National Regional State (ANRS). South Wollo Zone is home for Study sites were selected purposively based on the distribution of sheep population, Agro ecology and accessibility of sites and prior to sampling of the study Kebeles, valuable information was collected from the three districts of agriculture office. Discus about the objective of the work were held with districts livestock and veterinary experts, coordinators and head office. A rapid field visits were held to select the study Kebele. Based on this approach, three districts (Dessie zuria, Tehuledre and Kalu) were indentified. productive life), feed resources and feeding strategy, healthcare and common diseases, marketing system and production constraint were the major variables collected by the questionnaire.In addition, focus group discussion and key informant and village elder's interviews were  The qualitative characteristics of 12 traits (sex, dentition, body hair coat colour pattern, body hair coat colour, hair type, horn presence, horn shape, horn orientation, ear orientation, facial (head) profile, wattles, ruff) FAO ( 2012 Indices were calculated for ranked variables purposes of keeping sheep in the study areas, class of sheep selling when cash is needed in study areas, feed resources in the study areas, criteria for trait preferences of sheep. In reference to its formula; Index = sum of (7 for rank 1 + 6 for rank 2 + 5 for rank 3+4 for rank 4 + 3 for rank 5 + 2for rank 6+1 for rank 7) given for an individual attribute divided by the sum of (7 for rank 1 + 6 for rank 2 + 5 for rank 3+4 for rank 4 + 3 for rank 5 + 2 for rank 6+1 for rank 7) for overall attributes (reasons).Data from the body weight, linear measurements and morphological observations for the phenotypic characterization was analyzed using statistical analysis system (SAS Version 9.2, 2010). Qualitative data from the observations were analyzed separately for both sexes for both agro ecologies/districts using frequency procedures. Chi-square test was employed to test for independence between the categorical variables.General Linear Model (GLM) was used to determine the effect of agro-ecology; sex ,age and the interaction effect of age with sex on quantitative trait measurements using (SAS, Version  Flock structure of sheep is presented in Table (4.8) .The mean sheep flock size in Dessie zuria was higher and significant (p<0.05) than in Tehuledre and Kalu as showed in table (4.8). In Dessie zuria, breeding ewes accounted for the largest number (2.85± 0.18) followed by lambs less than 6 months old (2.57±0.1), female 6 month to 1 year (1.63±0.14), male 6 month to 1 year (1.13±0.12), breeding ram (0.87±0.12) and castrates (0.57±0.1). In Tehuledre as well, ram lambs less than 6 months old accounted for the largest number (2.2±0.16) followed by breeding ewes (1.92±0.11), female 6 month to 1 year (1.17±0.1), male 6 month to 1 year (1.03±0.01), breeding ram (0.63±0.1) and castrates (0.52±0.08).According to the survey result breeding ewes accounted for the largest number (2.27±0.1), in the Kalu followed by lambs less than 6 months old (1.82±0.13) male 6 month to 1 year old (0.75±0.1), female 6 month to 1 year (0.71±0.1), breeding ram (0.4±0.07) and castrates (0.28±0.06). There were sheep flock structure difference (p< 0.05) in breeding ewes, lambs less than 6 months , male 6 month to 1 year old ,female 6 month to 1 year , and no significance difference(p>0.05) in castrates and breeding ram among districts.The flock structure of breeding ewe and lamb was higher in all districts of the study area as compared to other age classes. This might be attributed to the prevalent practice of keeping ewe for breeding purpose which accounted the greater portion of the newly born animals while rams are either castrated or sold when they reach market age. The higher proportion of breeding ewe in the flock followed by suckling age group for both species was in agreement with those of Zewdu Edea et al (2008)  Mixed crop and livestock production system is the dominant farming system across the study areas. Livestock production is an important component and well integrated with crop production. Livestock species kept by the farmers comprise cattle, sheep, goats, equines and chicken; while camel was common in lowland. The major farming activities in the Dessie zuria and Tehuledre study area were 100% follow mixed crop-livestock production system.Whereas the Kalu farmers practiced dominantly (93.3%) mixed crop and livestock farming followed by livestock rearing (6.7%).The major crops grown were cereals followed by pulses, vegetables, oilseeds and fruit crops.Main crop grown in the Dessie zuria were barley (55%), followed by wheat ( 22), maize(8%) field pea (9%) and linseed (6%) whereas wheat (40%), sorghum (32.5%) , maize (17.5%), and teff (10%) were the main crop grown in Tehuledre were sorghum (70%),wheat (15%) , teff (9%) and maize (6%) were mainly grown in the lowland. Farmers in the Kalu study area; nearly Borkena River practiced different irrigated crop farming for cash income such vegetable crops (sugarcane, tomato, onions, and potatoes) and cabbages were also reported to be used as additional source of income next to the sale of crop and livestock  The meat demand grows much higher during major holidays/festivals. Thus, the density of producers who sale their sheep targeting the particular holidays/festivals was higher. This was to reap maximum benefit from sales. In Dessie zuria (55% and 45% ) farmers were sell their sheep in the farm and woreda market respectively and Tehuledre farmers (34%, 40%,  2008).The different feed resources reported in all across the studied areas were natural pasture, crop residue, hay, improved pasture and concentrate for both dry and wet season.The importance of natural pasture as major feed resource for sheep was also reported by (Solomon Abegaz, 2007). According to the respondents in the study area, natural pasture from the communal rangeland and grazing on fallow land ranked first in wet season were the main feed source for sheep in all agro-ecologies whereas crop residue was the first and main feed source of sheep for highland and lowland whereas hay was the first feed source in midland in dry season.Generally with the index of natural pasture (0.3), hay (0.25), concentrate (0.19), crop residue (0.12), improved pasture (0.11) were the main feed resource in wet season in highland whereas crop residue (0.31), hay (0.27), natural pasture (0.17), were the main feed resource in dry season. However, the major feed resource commonly used in midland were with the index of natural pasture (0.    Some farmers in the Kalu with small flock size tie their sheep to a peg. According to the information of the members of the focus group, there is a difference in the productivity of sheep between those tied and housed freely, i.e., tied animals were healthier and productive than those housed freely. Farmers explained this as sheep housed freely lay one over each other because of their social behaviour and also in need of the warmth from huddling.Pregnant animals, young lambs and weak animals are the most vulnerable groups. In addition, animals may not get enough rest at night.Newborn lambs in the first week of birth are separated from their dam and cared for at home during the day when sheep are taken to grazing and before they get into their house upon their return in the afternoon. This is a common practice in other parts of the country (Abebe Mekoya, 1999;Mengistie Taye, 2008;Tesfaye Getachew, 2008). In all the study area, farmers use large baskets to keep newborn lambs and allow lambs to be kept dry, clean and warm. Suckling occurs in the morning before the dam leaves for grazing and when the flocks are back from grazing in the afternoon.   Sheep production in the study areas was significantly benefited the owners or producers, they could be used for meat for home consumption, major source of cash income, for schooling fee, source of input purchase and other festivity activities. It was also used as insurance for crop production. Farmers reported that the major sheep production constraints were disease and severe feed and water shortage, drought and predator across the study areas. The pasture production potential was declining because of shrinkage of pastureland due to increasing of farmland, overstocking and deforestation. In Dessie zuria ditricts, feed shortage was severe following by sever disease and water shortage with the index of (0.33, 0.32 and 0.2)respectively. The feed shortage Problem was increased during dry season, from March to May; whereas in Teuledre disease (0.29), feed shortage (0.26) followed by (0.24) water shortage with the respective index.Drought occurrence and predator was also the other constraints that affected sheep production. In Kalu with respective index of disease (0.3) feed shortage (0.26), water shortage (0.23) were the major sheep production constraints. According to informants, and village elder, the diminishing in size of grazing land was related with the conversion of areas that used for grazing offered for different organizations, investors and settlers. Occurrence of outbreak disease following the mid ending rainy season was major constraints in the Kalu area. Effect of sex: Sex had show significant effect (p<0.05) between two sexes on body length, ear length, body weight and heart girth and revealed an important source of variation for body weight and other linear measurements. The other parameters were not shown significant difference (p>0.05) among two sexes as shown in table (4.22). The values of males were higher (p<0.05) than females in a traits of Heart girth (HG), body length (BL), body weight and ear length, and male were not significance difference (p>0.05) on a trait ,tail length (TL), height at wither (HW) and rump height (RH) Head length (HL). In this result, male were not found heavier (p>0.05) and longer (p>0.05) than female in across the study areas. Male sheep and sheep with dentition 4PPI had higher heart girth than female and lower dentition groups, respectively. The result is in agreement with literature (Mengistie et al., 2010;Tesfaye et al., 2009;Zewdu et al., 2009).Majority of traits, males were heavier and higher (p<0.05) than females in the same age group of female. Females were higher (p<0.05) than males in a trait at age (heart girth (0ppi), tail length (0ppi), ear length and rump width (1ppi, 2ppi, 4ppi Morning from, _____ to _____ hours. Afternoon from ______to_____ hours.Or from-----------to -----------2.2.4. Length of grazing time during dry season (in hours):Morning from, ______ to _____hours. Afternoon from, _____to ______hours . Or from-----------to ----------- What is your copping mechanism? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"82ededecc7261b36a66ad9422ca65d7e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/290b414f-970b-45f0-8116-405a78358a00/retrieve","id":"-899964090"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b05782e4-d977-45f8-8bc7-24a4adb091ff","content":"CIAT encourages wide dissemination of its printed and electronic publications for maximum public benefit. Thus, in most cases colleagues working in research and development should feel free to use CIAT materials for noncommercial purposes. However, the Center prohibits modification of these materials, and we expect to receive due credit. Though CIAT prepares its publications with considerable care, the Center does not guarantee their accuracy and completeness.This document reports the Workshop on Repositioning Gender-Responsive Participatory Research in Times of Change, organized by the PRGA Program. The 3-day event brought together 46 professionals with recognized expertise to discuss the future and possibilities of genderresponsive participatory research (GRPR), including its integration into the new Mega-Programs of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).After opening remarks and an introductory exercise, the initial findings of the previously commissioned Demand Analysis Study-an exercise aimed at gathering firsthand information about workshop participants' and other stakeholders' expert experiences and considerations regarding the use and knowledge of GRPR-were presented and discussed. Besides suggestions on how to improve the study, participants discussed how positive actions and new opportunities could be reinforced and generated. Comments favored network and partnership issues, highlevel support and buy-in, knowledge-sharing and capacity-strengthening, and the active use of GRPR in the research cycle.A panel discussion on key issues in GRPR aimed at bringing in some key experiences of workshop participants. The panel and subsequent group discussions consisted of presentations on participatory plant breeding, participatory research and gender in the face of climate change, gender work at CIFOR, nutrition and gender, and participatory research, gender and market chains.The second day of the workshop began with the keynote address 'Perspectives on genderresponsive participatory action-research' by Aden Aw-Hassan. Using the successful example of participatory research applied in plant breeding, Aw-Hassan highlighted the potential for participatory research methods and also elaborated on the application of social and particularly gender analysis as essential for understanding the root causes of poverty.The presentation by Maya Rajasekharan, the CIAT Program Officer regarding the CGIAR Mega-Programs and the restructuring of the CGIAR led workshop participants to develop a set of key elements that should be considered in terms of outcomes and approaches for each Mega-Program. The results of this exercise were shared more widely with Mega-Program teams after the workshop.Day 2 also included a 'marketplace,' a space for the participants to share their experiences in applying and documenting their use of participatory research or gender analysis in their work. Parallel sessions included perspectives on GRPR from ASARECA, IICA, WOCAN, and EkoRural.The last day of the workshop began with an Open Space session, where participants had the opportunity to present an experience or discuss an issue of their choice. Those included: Gender mapping; gender, rice research and technology development; participatory varietal selection; gender research at IFPRI, ILRI and ICRISAT; and policy work supporting the inclusion of a gender perspective.Finally, the draft strategy outline and action plan were presented and discussed, and postworkshop steps were identified by the group. This included the suggestion to establish an Interim Committee to continue supporting the GRPR Strategy for the International Agricultural Research System.At the end of the workshop, participants had an 'After Action Review,' where most participants expressed their appreciation of the opportunity for active and meaningful discussions. An indepth participants' evaluation of the workshop was conducted via online survey after the workshop, which 38 participants completed. On a 10-point rating scale, participants rated their overall impression very positively between 8 and 10 and the achievement of workshop objectives at an average of 8. Among the sessions participants liked most were the panel discussions and the keynote. When asked for three action items as important next steps for repositioning GRPR, replies were given favoring active networking, communication and advocacy, capacitystrengthening, and fundraising.The workshop has been fully documented and shared through the workshop website at: http://www.prgaprogram.org/rptc/.The Workshop on Repositioning Gender-Responsive Participatory Research in Times of Change was held on June 16-18, 2010 in Cali, Colombia, at the headquarters of International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). The workshop brought together 46 (42 in CIAT + 4 virtual) professionals with recognized expertise in participatory research and gender analysis, drawn from CGIAR Centers, national agricultural research systems (NARS), subregional agricultural research organizations (SROs), NGOs and academia.Through 3 days of lively discussion, experience-sharing and collaboration, the participants generated important outputs to help redefine the future and possibilities of gender-responsive participatory research (GRPR), including its integration into the new Mega-Programs of the CGIAR. The discussions drew on contributions of invitees from the different centers, NARS and partner organizations, and the preliminary results of a pre-workshop demand analysis (Staiger et al., 2010).Participation in the workshop was organized by the Program on Participatory Research and Gender Analysis (PRGA Program). From 1997, the PRGA Program (a CGIAR Systemwide Program, SW) aimed to improve the competence of the CGIAR system and collaborating institutions in mainstreaming the use of participatory research and gender analysis for 12 years. Over time, it developed and gathered a substantial body of knowledge on both gender and participatory research at the level of farming communities, as well as at the level of the institutions and programs serving them.Obstacles and constraints to the institutionalization of gender-sensitive participatory approaches were identified by the SW-PRGA Program during its first phase (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002). While progress has been made in several CGIAR centers with which the Program worked, there is general consensus that much remains to be done within the CGIAR system and in partner organizations such as NARS and NGOs. In addition, some participatory and gender work has gone unrecognized, both within the centers and more broadly throughout the system.Workshop participants were invited because of their expertise in conducting participatory research with a gender-responsive/sensitive perspective. All selected participants were either specialists in gender and participation or practitioners of participatory approaches. These experts were drawn from among the researchers of CGIAR centers and NARS, SROs, NGOs and academia from different regions. Thus, the results from this workshop are considered akin to those of an expert consultation.A list of all workshop participants and their contact information is given in Annex 1 of this report. Also, a complete 'booklet,' containing pictures and bios of the 46 workshop participants, the facilitators and the PRGA Program logistics team can be found online and in materials distributed after the workshop (CD-ROM).The purpose of the workshop was 'to identify mechanisms that support gender-responsive participatory research by building on the experience of researchers and practitioners from the CGIAR centers, academia, NARS, NGOs and donor organizations.' The workshop also aimed to 'provide inputs on issues related to gender-responsive participatory research in the CGIAR and other partner organizations.'The main objective of the workshop was to 'identify practical ways to revitalize genderresponsive participatory research that meets the needs of women and men small-scale farmers.' Additionally, the workshop looked to 'explore the relevance of gender-responsive participatory research taking into account the results of the demand analysis conducted at the system level and also including other partner organizations' and contribute to 'design a strategy to support gender-responsive participatory research in the new CGIAR, including the context of the Mega-Programs.'It was expected that the workshop would generate:• A strategy and action plan for supporting gender-responsive participatory research • A mechanism of linking scientists and their partners in a community of practice to increase learning and feedback to upstream programs • An outline for the design of a proposal for leveraging the resources (human and financial) needed to implement the proposed action plan through 2014 • A report detailing the results of the demand analysis, the workshop process and the proposed strategy and action plan.A roadmap was designed for the 3-day workshop to illustrate the flow of the sessions, including some time each day to receive input and feedback, and other times dedicated to joint reflection: Day 1 included sessions that aimed at finding common ground and sharing relevant presentations to enrich the strategic reflections, bringing in the experiences of workshop participants on GRPR; Day 2 combined a strategicreflection exercise with a 'marketplace'; Day 3 was intended for making progress toward the strategy and action plan, but also offered new perspectives through an open-space session.The workshop was facilitated in turns by members of the CIAT Facilitating Impact Team (FIT), and with the permanent support of the workshop organizing team. Throughout the workshop, there were presentations, panels, discussions, group work and sharing of experiences, each with appointed reporters to facilitate feedback in plenary and the inclusion of the results into a strategy and this final report. Different interactive facilitation formats included a 'Marketplace,' an 'Open Space' session where participants could come up with issues for parallel sessions, and a 'Fishbowl' dynamic which allows lively plenary discussions.The PRGA Program was in charge of logistics and created an environment conducive to collaboration and the well-being of participants. At the start of each day there was a newsletter to outline the process and bring together highlights from the previous day. Two post-workshop press releases were issued and shared widely. Newsletters and press releases are presented in Annexes 9 and 10, and posted in the newsletters and press reports section of the workshop website.The workshop was opened with a welcoming inaugural speech from the Director General of the 'host' Center, CIAT, Ruben G. Echeverría. In his speech, Echeverría highlighted his expectation that the workshop outputs would include \"a clear way forward for future research activities of PRGA [Program] at CIAT,\" and to help \"clarify how the CGIAR can organize these [participatory and gender] activities.\" He noted that although CIAT was not leading any of the CGIAR's new Mega-Programs, it was involved in almost all of them, which would provide the Center with the opportunity to promote GRPR.John Dixon, chairman of the Program Advisory Committee (PAC) to the former Systemwide (SW) PRGA Program, then gave a brief history of the Systemwide Program emphasizing its role in participatory plant breeding, impact assessment, capacity-building, and its inclusive approach to partnerships (see CIAT, 2010). CIAT had recently acted as a case study for gender-mainstreaming, starting with a gender audit in 2008-09 (Aviles Irahola, 2008). He noted that the Systemwide Program was now closed, and thanked the Director General of CIAT for providing the Program with a home. Dixon went on to say that CIAT was looking to clarify the role of the CIAT-PRGA Program both within CIAT and Systemwide via the Mega-Programs.A short, 'homemade' video was then shown with comments from several participation and gender experts, including Jacqueline A. Ashby, CIP Researcher, Edith Hesse, head of Corporate Communications and Capacity Strengthening, CIAT and Alessandra Galié', ICARDA Research Fellow. Other considerations, including those of several women farmers from different regions, were also presented. The video and other taped testimonies of workshop participants are accessible on the workshop website. After the video, PRGA Program Coordinator, Patricia Biermayr-Jenzano presented the workshop objectives.This session aimed at introducing the participants and finding a space for them to share ideas, thematic work in areas of common interest, about workshop expectations and on issues related to GRPR.Participants divided into five sub-groups. They were first asked to introduce themselves to their respective group by sharing their names and affiliation, and then to share their expectations of the workshop. The expectations were sorted into categories by the facilitators, and posted for participants to be able to refer to them during the workshop (see Annex 2).During a second round, participants mixed into new groups and each group discussed the following questions: 'What have been our experiences using participatory research to address women farmers' needs and interests? What has worked and how can we build on our experiences?' These discussions helped set the common ground and vision of what needed to be accomplished during the workshop, some notes from some of these discussions are presented in Annex 3.A Demand Analysis Study commissioned by the PRGA Program was carried out by the CIAT Facilitating Impact Team (FIT) in preparation for the Workshop (Staiger et al., 2010). The exercise aimed at gathering firsthand information about stakeholders' expert experiences and considerations regarding the use and knowledge of gender-sensitive participatory research in their field(s) of expertise, across the CGIAR centers, NARS, NGOs and other partner organizations. This information served as input to the workshop. A qualitative survey was designed with scale and open-ended short-answer questions. The survey was web-based, with email invitations sent to all participants. This approach was complemented with the possibility of follow up where participants agreed by providing their contact information. All survey participants were either specialists in gender and participation or practitioners of participatory approaches. The demand analysis survey, titled 'Repositioning PRGA in Times of Change,' was applied during April and May 2010. A total of 76 e-mail invitations to participate in the webbased survey were sent. Thirty-eight (38) people responded, 30 of who completed the survey. Simone Staiger-Rivas and Sophie Alvarez (FIT) presented an overview and the major findings of the Demand Analysis.The participants discussed the Demand Analysis, guided by the following questions:• What are the key findings and conclusions of the Demand Analysis?• How can positive actions and new opportunities be reinforced and generated?After the discussion, groups shared their insights in plenary, and especially with the 'drafting team' (a team within the workshop which gathered insights and lessons from group discussions, to compile into the Strategy and Action plan at the end of the workshop). Besides suggestions on how to improve the study, participants discussed how positive actions and new opportunities could be reinforced and generated. Comments favored network and partnership issues, highlevel support and buy-in, knowledge-sharing and capacity-strengthening, and the active use of GRPR in the research cycle. The notes taken by each group are presented in Annex 4.This session aimed at enriching the strategic reflections by bringing in the experiences of workshop participants on GRPR. The panel consisted of presentations (presenters' names in bold), followed by clarifying questions and discussion: The presentations are available online at Key issues in gender-responsive participatory research Panel Papers and summaries are presented in Annex 5.The participants then had the opportunity to join a discussion group on the panel topic of their choice, in order to explore further the key issues presented in the panel, using the following discussion questions:1. Why is gender-responsive research and action critical to this issue? 2. What are the major areas of research pending?Notes of what was discussed in the groups, used as input into the Strategy and Action plan, are presented in Annex 6.To begin the day, the facilitator led a 'thermometer' exercise with the group. In this exercise, participants were asked to indicate how close, on a scale of 0-10, they felt the workshop was toward achieving the objectives and expectations. The result was a voting between 5 and 7. The facilitator then presented the agenda for the day, and introduced the feedback that had been compiled for sharing by the reporters of discussion groups of day 1. This feedback can be found in the Day 2 Newsletter (Annex 9).At this point, it was deemed necessary for participants to have a clearer view of the present context in which the CGIAR finds itself as a condition for the strategic reflections. The latest state of the thinking behind the CGIAR Mega-Programs and the restructuring of the CGIAR were presented by Maya Rajasekharan, the CIAT Program Officer. Rajasekharan coordinates and supports the development and implementation of strategic research directions and has therefore been involved in 'keeping track' of Mega-Program developments and status. Her PowerPoint presentation is available online.Her explanation and update on Mega-Programs development was an entry point for a series of questions, particularly from those participants who were not directly associated with the CGIAR change process. A particular value of Rajasekharan's presentation was her explanation of the scope of CIAT's work, since the Center is currently involved in most Mega-Programs, even though it is not leading any of them.After the CGIAR Mega-Programs presentation, the group again divided into sub-groups, for discussion based on the question 'What needs to be done if gender-responsive participatory research is to make a difference?' The results of this discussion were fed into the Strategy and Action plan, and were used as input for the 'Matrix' exercise on Day 3.Marketplace was a space for practitioners of GRPR from around the world to share their experiences in applying and documenting their use of participatory research or gender analysis in their work . To start the exercise, each of the four Marketplace presenters had the chance to briefly describe in plenary what would be discussed at their table.Furough Olinga, representative of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), presented her organization's 'gender mainstreaming path' and the mainstreaming work conducted in association with SW-PRGA Program including eight NARS of ASARECA. Melania Portilla, from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), presented her organization and some of its actions for the promotion of gender equality and rural women in Central and Latin America taking into account the territorial approach embraced by IICA. Jeannette Gurung presented her organization, Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resources Management (WOCAN), and some of their training courses and progress in contributing to strengthening women's and men's capacity in gender and leadership in Africa and Asia. Finally, Pedro Oyarzún and Ross Mary Borja from EkoRural presented the NGO's grassroots participatory approach and shared the experience they have had with gender analysis as an endogenous process in rural communities in Ecuador.After listening to the short description of the experience that would be presented at each table, participants chose the topic of greatest interest to them and joined the presentation and discussion there.Day 3 began as day 2, with the 'thermometer' exercise with the group. The results of this exercise demonstrated that participants were feeling increasingly satisfied with how the workshop was accomplishing its objectives and desired results, with scores between 6 and 8. The facilitator then presented the agenda for the day.The first exercise of the day was an Open Space session, where participants had the opportunity to present an experience or discuss an issue of their choice. IWMI's social and institutional researcher Everisto Mapedza presented an experience on gender-mapping. Socio-economist and gender specialist Thelma Paris shared IRRI's work on gender and rice 'Addressing gender issues in rice research and technology development.' INIA's agronomist Nohemi Zúñiga talked about an experience of participatory varietal selection. IFPRI economists Amber Peterman and Julia Behrman presented 'Gender research at IFPRI: Reflections and strategic directions' along with some considerations about IFPRI's Gender Task Force. The Open Space was also an opportunity for virtual presentations: Jemimah Njuki of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) presented her organization's work with livestock and gender. Njuki is a social scientist whose main responsibilities are to develop a research area around gender and livestock, support gender integration within the institute, and develop methods for participatory monitoring and evaluation of livestock interventions. Finally, Miguel Gomez, Director of the Regional Unit for Technical Assistance (RUTA), a governmental and inter-agency initiative of the Ministers of Agriculture of the seven Central American countries and several external cooperation partner agencies, presented his organization's policy work supporting the inclusion of a gender perspective in sustainable rural development policies and initiatives. RUTA gives special attention to female entrepreneurs and indigenous populations, while promoting strategies and actions that recognize and emphasize the contributions that women and young people make to sustainable rural development. A presentation by Ravula Padmaja, a Senior Scientific Officer in the Global Theme on Institutions, Markets, Policy and Impacts of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), on ICRISAT's experiences with gendersensitive participatory research couldn't be realized during the workshop due to technical problems, but was shared before the workshop and is available on the website.This particular exercise, facilitated by Dindo Campilan, a social scientist in participatory genderresponsive agricultural research in the International Potato Center (CIP), was an unplanned initiative that was enthusiastically embraced by participants who contributed their ideas to a 'matrix' of suggested approaches and outcomes related to GRPR in the preparation of the Mega-Programs.The following Mega-Programs and sub-programs were considered: Agriculture for Improved Nutrition and Health 5.Water Scarcity and Land Degradation 6.Forests and Trees 7.Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Some approaches and methods were considered useful to all Mega-Programs, across the board:• Gender analysis A summary of the results of this exercise is presented in Annex 7, which was provided to Mega-Program team writers, to enrich their planning process.During the workshop, the results and insights generated during group discussions, plenary presentations and discussions, Q&A sessions after presentations, and in general all exercises were followed by a pre-selected group, 'drafting committee,' in charge of documenting these for the 'Draft Strategy Outline.' This strategy document also benefited from feedback from participants after 'working drafts' of the strategy were presented in newsletters during the work days.The workshop organizers wished to have a session with some quick concrete ideas of what the next steps could be for the CIAT-PRGA Program. We used a 'fishbowl' dynamic rather than classical plenary to elicit participants' ideas. This brainstorming session was divided into two types of feedback: (1) concrete ideas for next steps on GRPR, and (2) concrete ideas for CIAT as coordinator of those steps. A major part of the session focused on the first issue and participants identified similar priority topics: promotion, communication, networking, partnerships.Meanwhile the input into strategic directions was very diverse. Notes on the main ideas proposed and discussed by participants are presented in Annex 8.One outcome of this exercise was the suggestion to establish an Interim Committee to continue supporting the GRPR Strategy for the International Agricultural Research System. The Interim Committee was formed by the three members of the SW-PRGA Program's Advisory Committee present at the workshop, and will be headed by John Dixon. The same people comprise the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to the CIAT-PRGA Program.At the end of the workshop, participants had an 'After Action Review,' where they mentioned positive things that happened during the workshop, 'not-so-positive' elements, and how they would improve on these aspects for any similar workshop in the future. In general, comments were very positive and highlighted the excellent job done by the PRGA Program logistics and organizing teams. An in-depth participants' evaluation of the workshop was conducted via survey after the workshop. Thirty-eight (38) participants completed the online survey that aimed at a deeper workshop analysis.Overall impression: From a scale from 0 to 10, 0 being the lowest rating and 10 the highest, participants rated their overall impression very positively between 8 and 10. Participants gave the highest and almost equal rating to: (1) the energy and excitement in the discussions: 33 respondents (87%); (2) the opportunity for connection with others: 31 (84%); and (3) the atmosphere and spirit of the meeting: 31 (82%). Achievement of workshop objectives was rated at an average of 8.• Identify practical ways to revitalize GRPR that meets the needs of women and men small-scale farmers: 24 (63%) rated the achievement of this objective between 8 and 10.• Design a strategy to support GRPR in the new CGIAR including the context of the Mega-Programs: 23 (61%) rated the achievement of this objective between 8 and 10.• Explore the relevance of GRPR taking into account the results of the demand analysis conducted at the system level and also including other partner organizations: 21 (57%) respondents rated the achievement of this objective between 8 and 10.• General achievement of participants' expectations of the workshop: 19 (53%) respondents rated the achievement of this objective between 8 and 10.Best sessions: Among the sessions participants liked most were the panel: 29 (76%) respondents rated the session between 8 and 10; the keynote: 26 (68%) respondents rated the session between 8 and 10; and the strategic group discussions (68%).Significant sessions: We asked respondents which sessions were particularly significant or memorable for them, and why. Six out of 23 mentioned the Fishbowl. The first part of this activity went very well and brought up good points, also the exercise favored lateral thinking; it was a new technique and resulted in many opinions and ideas. Respondents also mentioned the strategic group discussions and panel presentations.When asked for three action items as important next steps for repositioning GRPR, the following replies were given (grouped into categories by the authors of this report).• Formation of a network of champions within and outside CGIAR/platform for GRPR • The CIAT-PRGA Program should promote itself and its achievements much more to gain more Workshop logistics: 30 respondents (86%) rated the workshop logistics between 8 and 10. They most appreciated the support to participants, the evening socials, but also gave high rates to CIAT as a meeting location, the guest house and food. Participants were less satisfied with the connectivity, and would have liked to have had more free time.In their final survey remarks, most participants (13 out of 22 comments) expressed their satisfaction with the event. Further comments included: (1) the lack of accomplishment of the objectives and criticized the involvement of some participants as reporters (requested by the organizers at the beginning of the workshop); (2) the need for further in-depth discussion; (3) the importance to address the issue well in the Mega-Programs; (4) the need for a more culturally diverse perspective on GRPR; and (5) the lack of closure.   we need to think how to improve the institutional setting 11. The CGIAR way to choose their partners in civil society 12. Need to clarify concepts such as what is a plant breeder? There is not just [one] way to do plant breeding, there are a lot of ways to do it 13. Women are totally marginalized in food production recognition of women's roles in the production process 14. Need to discuss about gender and social inclusiveness 15. Gender approach has to do with change of behavior, so there is a need to consider this when developing methodologies and tools to address gender issues • Consultation at all levels of research with stakeholders Since the early 1990s, substantial advances have been made in the application of participatory methods in agricultural research, especially in plant breeding. However, understanding of and responsiveness to the different roles and needs of men and women farmers have been slow. Meanwhile, gender differences in livestock-raising have been well documented, and the failure of livestock research programs may be attributed to lack of user participation. Also in naturalresources management (NRM), there has been much work reporting the division of labor (roles) and responsibilities between men and women, but little or no gender-targeted problem-solving research. The world in general and agriculture in particular are changing-in the biophysical environment (e.g. climate change, water scarcity, erosion, desertification), socio-economically (e.g. family structure, markets), and the 'information revolution.' To meet the agricultural needs of the twenty-first century, research needs to actively solve problems and understand (analyze) the processes of change. Gender-responsive research needs to go beyond description to actionresearch for change-change to improve the welfare status of the impoverished farmers for and with whom we are working.Women are key agricultural producers (35-50% of farmers in Latin America and the Caribbean to 85% in Africa); both men and women play actives roles in agriculture for consumption and sale.In a review of (3388) plant-breeding articles in five high-profile journals over the period 2000-2010, a mere 2.0% focused on participatory plant breeding (PB, including participatory varietal selection, PVS) and a paltry 0.7% on gender. The implications are that PB has had only a small impact on 'classical' breeding practice, and that PB renders minimal attention to gender. For the most part, plant PB has mimicked the goals and benefits of 'classical' plant breeding, with little attention paid to other benefits. Women are most often involved in research on 'women's crops' (e.g. sweet potato, beans), and their voices are often only heard in women-only focus groups and surveys. An absence of targeting of PB means more men participate in general, with women more likely to be information-providers. Claims that PB is gender-neutral are unsubstantiated, and lack of consideration of gender limits the ability to maximize the positive effects of PB. Four case studies of gender-responsive PB highlight that women: are often good predictors of overall crop-trait needs; facilitate insights on a wider context and in collaborative processes; can take the lead in technical skills; and experience markedly different constraints from men. Future application of GRPR in crop breeding should focus on 'minor' crops, 'marginal' areas, linking farmers to markets, and benefit-sharing and access arrangements (including intellectual property rights). Participatory breeding requires an open agenda to allow farmer-preferred trade-offs (e.g. high-stress environment vs market) and to address complex issues (e.g. climate change, production, health and conservation goals).The first impacts of global climate change are already upon us (e.g. floods, droughts), but the worst is yet to come. So far, most farmers have merely coped with ongoing changes, with a few making innovative changes. Most models predict that the greatest changes will affect the already vulnerable rural communities in the tropics. To understand how research and development agents can support communities, communities need to be better understood. Communities are not homogeneous entities, as individuals may be differentiated by gender, age, wealth, ethnicity, religion, health or 'stigma.' Consequently, individuals have different vulnerabilities to changes; moreover, an individual's vulnerability may change. It is therefore impossible (and inappropriate) to make broad generalizations. However, individuals are part of their community networks, with their social structures and power struggles-community provides a safety net, but may also exploit particular individuals. Community leaders are not necessarily all good or all bad. In terms of participatory research, experience shows that not all community members will participatesome may not be interested; leaders may appropriate the processes or benefits; and often, the poorest may not get involved. Participatory researchers need to be aware of community networks and their dynamics, and seek to strengthen networks in such a way that they benefit the position of the most vulnerable. Adaptation to climate change means no more 'business as usual' for either the farming communities or the researchers.The purpose of this review is to establish the extent to which gendered relationships are captured in CIFOR's research and to identify new opportunities, including questions and methods for deepening and extending this gender dimension in forestry research. This review is also concerned with CIFOR's need to capture changing global realities and to foster a better understanding of gendered relationships in order to inform policy and practice. The review finds an increasing commitment in CIFOR to incorporate gender analysis in its research as demonstrated by its strategy, its 3-year operation plans, and the increasing numbers of projects that incorporate gender. While gender is incorporated in projects across all three continents that CIFOR focuses on (Africa, Asia and Latin America) and addresses a broad range of thematic areas in forestry, it is addressed in a narrow sense and is equated with the collection of sexdisaggregated data. Little attempt has been made to explore gendered relationships, their drivers and the interactions with broader processes of concern to CIFOR; and the research remains largely descriptive of differential effects on men and women. The development of a gender-in-forestry conceptual framework, the identification of clearer gender-related impact pathways from research to policy/practice impacts, and the use of multiple methodologies can allow for a more systematic research design that addresses the causes, effects and interactions of gendered relationships in forestry.• Gender-responsive research still critical-we are still dealing with issues of exclusion-they have not gone away and are getting worse, e.g. due to REDD and other emerging problems, e.g. land grabs for biofuels • Women lack political participation.What are the major areas of required research? 1. REDD and women's collective action to capture rents from carbon markets/trade; equitable benefits capture/distribution 2. Certification (high-value market opportunities)-relative gains to men and women from engaging in certification (higher prices for standards that incorporate social and environmental benefits) programs in cocoa production 3. Property rights/access to natural resources and enhanced adaptation for men and women 4. Impacts of women on land-grabbing for REDD, biofuels and food security 5. Incentives for conservation-how women are benefitting from payment for environmental services approaches 6. Indigenous knowledge-differentiation between men and women 7. What are women's roles in mixed user groups? 8. Access to policy-makers especially by women; policy should be approved by users themselves 9. Gender in social movements 10.  (a) what is the substance of the statement? (b) how to get the current meeting to vote on it (c) how to get the statement officially out to Mega-Programs (e.g. through CIAT DG?) Substance issues 1. 'PPB' should be changed to 'PB,' 'participatory breeding.' Fish and Livestock also require PB initiatives. To get a participatory perspective in fish and livestock breeding will require some technical advances-but also significant behavioral modifications among the breeders involved 2. To effect PB, there is still the real challenge of getting different disciplines together. Social scientists and gender specialists are vitally needed on the teams 3. There needs to be research on actual methods to include women in PB-there are some cultures where this is very difficult. Are some methods and approaches better than others? 4. The delivery phase needs now to be included in the realm of PB. This will involve methods evolution-but also real policy change. Some of the issues: • use of farmer data in variety release • the moving of non-released varieties (into seed production)• how to link PB with seed production-equitably • concerns that non-released varieties will go to the private sector? (Fingerprinting?) 5. Trait trade-offs. Much more work needs to be done here-e.g. the trade-offs of micronutrients and production-what do farmers want?-drought resistance and market value. 6. Gains of PB. This needs to be a prime area of concerted focus. To have a concrete set of guidelines, and to prepare CGIAR Mega-Programs which are gender responsive and participatory, the participants of the workshop propose a set of key elements that should be considered in the preparation of Mega-Programs. The suggested GRPR outcomes and approaches for inclusion in the Mega-Programs are summarized below. Numbering refers to the Mega-Program or component. Some approaches and methods were considered useful to all Mega-Programs, across the board:• Gender analysis  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0571d0152e18530603098e2581aa8f40","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/03324603-956c-496b-8989-0542a674e01a/retrieve","id":"77640578"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1ee0a273-812e-44ac-ad15-900e724b7653","content":"Archaeological remains of Phaseolus lunatus L. years before present Huacaloma,Karl von Linnaeus described two bean species (out of 11) :In Species Plantarum, 1 st edition (1753)Phaseolus puberulus H.B.K.The same species: Piper 1926, van Eseltine 1931, Verdcourt 1970, Westphal 1974 note the geographic origins = indicators of quick post-Columbus diffusions into the Old World !What is (are) the plant (s) from which the crop originates (through domestication) ?Understanding the domestication syndrome helps to visualize the wild ancestor(s)At first : Later on : How to find out about the origin of a crop ?What is the distribution of the wild plant/ weed seen as 'ancestor' ?Where did/ does the domestication take place ?  Fofana et al. 1999, 2001Maquet et al. 1994, 1997, 1999Fofana et al. 1997Lioi et al. 1998 RFLPs on rDNA Jacob et al. 1995Lioi et al. 1998 microsatellites on nDNA Lioi et al. 2001, 2002Lioi 1994, 1996Lioi et al. 1991, 1999 AFLPs on gDNA   The \"small-seeded\" wild Lima beans equally distant to the \"large-seeded\" ones !  two domestication events, one in W Mexico (M1) and one in NW Peru (A1) but Brazil, so another event in the M2 gene pool !?\" there would be little fascination in Science if it were static \"Prof. Jack R. Harlan, 1992 the differentiation of small-seeded 'Sieva' and 'Potato' has now little support  a very drastic founder effect occurs during the domestication  long-distance transportation of the benefits of domestication  further progress will come if (only if !) we go back to the field  erosion of landraces, potential of the wild forms/ species of the phylum  not back to \"square one\" however, because A1 and M1 domestications are clear"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d9cfd21e046b2534797978ff8695c5d5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/81eb30f3-54a1-4f53-b9fb-4f4c6cfdd0ea/retrieve","id":"1720563389"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"093cb079-60b3-46a8-a840-b8fbefb6d7a6","content":"v Analysis of livestock and fodder value chains in arid and semi-arid lands in Kenya vii ix x Currently, livestock markets in the county are weak. Livestock farmers are forced to travel for long distances to access the livestock markets, making the exercise expensive in terms of time and energy. Some livestock markets in the counties have livestock market associations (LMAs) in place but only a few (<5%) of them implement the revenue sharing co-management model.The AVCD-LC project should support enactment of county sale yard bill in Garissa, Isiolo and Marsabit counties' and stakeholders' fora to enhance ownership and implementation of the comanagement model which will improve livestock market management and sustainability of the model. The project should also support restructuring and the organizational development of both the Kenya Livestock Marketing Council (KLMC) and the county livestock marketing councils xiv Analysis of livestock and fodder value chains in arid and semi-arid lands in Kenya (CLMCs) in all the counties, as well as the establishment of audit systems to promote good governance, accountability and transparency in the management of livestock markets.Awareness raising among livestock producers by the AVCD-LC project to encourage market off-take is a critical intervention. Farmers should also be encouraged to participate in the market especially when sale prices are high and save the proceeds which can be used later to meet other family needs. Training on finance and awareness raising for pastoralists can increase market offtake and commercial orientation. The project should also link producers to the high-end markets where they can fetch higher prices. This is expected to increase market off-take and reduce conflict which mainly arise as pastoralists compete for scarce resources. AVCD should support the sale of young animals which can be piloted with a few livestock producers and livestock producer groups especially around fodder producing pockets and then link them to buyers. Support for demonstration visits and training workshops is recommended.AVCD could support the establishment support services like M-Pesa and agent banking services by lobbying telecommunication mobile phone companies to upgrade the cell phone network in the area. Linkage of producers and input suppliers like agro-veterinarian dealers to financial institutions would enable them get loans which they could use to acquire equipment like motorbikes to reach out to the moving pastoralists and build their drug stock capital.As in many developing countries, the livestock revolution is real in Kenya which presents huge opportunities to improve the livelihoods of the pastoral community through improved production and marketing in the pastoral land-use system. To attain the promise of Vision 2030 and unlock the potential of arid and semi-arid lands in Kenya, intervention strategies and production systems need to be aligned with the ongoing change in: demand/consumption for animal-source foods (ASFs) and in the production environment. The average per capita red meat consumption in Kenya is about 15-16 kg, approximately 600,000MT2 of red meat nationally. Of this, about 80-86% comes from the pastoral production system, while 20-25% of the meat supply comes from the neighbouring countries (through formal and informal cross-border livestock trade) with Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda and Tanzania.The Livestock component of the Accelerated Value Chain Development (AVCD) program recently undertook a livestock and fodder value chains analysis to the inform design and implementation of high impact and targeted interventions across five counties in northern Kenya (Isiolo, Garissa, Marsabit, Turkana and Wajir). Operating with the framework of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Feed the Future Initiative in Kenya.The program promotes and upscales the utilization of improved technologies and innovations of selected value chains (livestock, dairy, and staple root and drought-tolerant crops) to competitively and sustainably increase productivity, promote agricultural growth and improve nutrition and food security, particularly among women and children. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) leads the AVCD livestock value chain whose main goal is to increase incomes from the sales of livestock by 50% by 2018, lifting an additional 50,000 households in selected regions of Kenya out of poverty and improving their nutritional status.The study targeted the core activities in the livestock value chains (production and marketing) and fodder production as a support value chain. Primary data was collected from two counties (Isiolo and Marsabit), while secondary data from recently conducted studies was used for the remaining three counties. Value chain actors were mapped and opportunities and constraints faced by actors in the two value chains identified. Three best-bet county-based interventions were identified as key priority interventions for the AVCD-LC project. The most important livestock in these five counties are: cattle, camel, sheep and goats, with camel becoming more popular than cattle in some areas due to their ability to withstand the changing climate and the fact that camel prices are higher in domestic and international markets.This report presents the status of livestock and fodder value chains, describing the main actors and their relationships, the value chains functions, support markets and business enabling environment.It also provides an assessment of the existing gaps and missing markets. The challenges and opportunities for upgrading the value chains were identified.Nairobi and Mombasa are the leading demand centres for slaughter animals and, therefore, serve as the main terminal markets. Per capita consumption in Nairobi and Mombasa is 25.8 kg and 21.2 kg respectively (Farmer and Mbwika 2012;Behnke and Muthami 2011). To meet such high demand for meat, the approximate supply would need to be: 27,839 cattle, 71,555 shoats and 685 camels and 8,178 cattle, 21,021 shoats and 201 camels for Nairobi and Mombasa end-markets respectively (Farmer and Mbwika 2012).Unfortunately, the bulk of the meat consumed in Kenya is of low quality, but quality preferences vary among consumers. Willingness to pay premiums for quality, reliability and cleanliness is higher among higher-income consumers. Few abattoirs produce superior quality meat and meat products sold to high end hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and export markets at premium prices. Such abattoirs include Kenya Meat Commission, Quality Meat Packers, Farmers Choice, Alpha Fine Foods and Ngare Narok Meat Industries. Higher-end or export-quality meat at retail points (supermarkets and high-end butcheries) sells for an average of KES770-910 per kg compared to KES380-400 for the low-quality meat sold at meat stalls and ordinary butcheries (Farmer and Mbwika 2012).Nomadic pastoralism is the dominant system of production in the study area. However, the rangelands are heavily degraded as the community competes for grazing land. This has led to an increased in overgrazed land and to desertification. Firewood dependency is high which has increased resource depletion and further degraded the land. In addition, producers are largely subsistence-oriented and only sell animals when they need money to buy food, pay for medical expenses, school fees, etc.Some pastoralists said their reluctance to sell their animals was partly a strategy to ensure that when calamities occur, such as drought and the death of livestock, they would still have animals to rebuild their stocks and that they feared losing their indigenous stock which they may not be able to find when it was time to restock. In many cases, therefore, the failure by livestock producers to engage in markets is an adaptation to the formidable environment within which they live.On the other hand, inbreeding is a common practice in these counties. Results on herd composition reveal a large number (up to 17.5% cattle, 10.4% goats, 7.8 % sheep and 5.8% camels in some areas) of uncastrated male animals. Further, the operating environment for livestock producers in Kenya is characterized by significant risks, including:• A lack of access to important support services, such as extension, animal health services and market information• Frequent droughts and livestock disease outbreaks which are closely associated with the ongoing climate change phenomena. In a recent drought, livestock producers in some arid and semi-arid land (ASAL) areas lost nearly 50% of their herds.• Market failure attributable to problems such as lack of infrastructure, insecurity and rule of law.• Changing policy and institutional environment.The following recommendations are the possible areas for AVCD investments and strategies to ensure the proposed interventions deliver the desired outcomes.A key prerequisite in promoting the commercialization of the livestock sector is the development of transparent and competitive markets. The theory of competition assumes perfect information among both buyers and sellers. Results from a survey of livestock producers during this study, however, showed that most were often uninformed about prevailing prices (about 60%) and the desired quality by buyers (76%) in livestock markets where they sell their animals. Among those who claimed to be informed about market conditions, most (88%) cited other livestock producers who have recently visited the market as their source of information. An important challenge related to 'other livestock producers' as a source of market information is that messages passed across may not be fully accurate or up to date.In Kenya, there are many interventions provide market information to smallholder farmers, such as one operated by the Kenya Agricultural Commodity Exchange (KACE) Limited. It covers 42 commodities and collects information on farm inputs. There have also been other initiatives to set up livestock market information systems in pastoral areas in Kenya in the past.The Livestock Information Network and Knowledge System (LINKS), the Ministry of Livestock and KLMC set up and operated the now dysfunctional National Market Information System. The sustainability of these project-funded initiatives tends to be a challenge after the project ends. A potential way of mitigating this drawback is by designing an information system that allows for the entry and exit of sponsors with minimal disruptions and which should be hosted at a government ministry or an organization such as KLMC. Such a system could work closely with the LMAs in charge of managing livestock markets which could be used to collect the required market information for dissemination.However, as a stop gap measure before the establishment of the market information system, the LMAs could be used to gather market information and disseminate it through billboards erected at livestock markets. The LINKS project used to display market information in Garissa and at other livestock markets. AVCD-LC should, therefore, leverage the work being done by KACE and collaborate with county governments and other development partners to establish sustainable interventions to mitigate the challenges related to market information asymmetry in the production and marketing of livestock and livestock products.Improving the timeliness, accuracy and utility of livestock market information would improve producers' ability and incentives to increase commercial livestock production and sales. The project should develop a Livestock Market Information System which can handle information bundling services and should include information on: prevailing market prices, disease outbreak, forage availability, livestock inputs, etc. The use of local radio FM stations and billboards should also be explored to disseminate market information, especially on prices. The dissemination of information on quality requirements to producers would help them meet the demand side requirements.The quality of animals presented in domestic livestock markets for sale is generally very poor (Little et al. 2014). The absence of a grading system which clearly identifies livestock attributes, their levels and the different categories corresponding to each animal grade hinders the provision of quality animals to terminal markets and does not encourage livestock producers to improve the quality of their animals and fetch higher prices. It will be important that the project develops and implements this this animal grading system with the help of county livestock departments and the national government livestock department which has showed interest in establishing a national grading scheme. The experience in Somaliland of animal grading and ILRI involvement there could provide the required skills, experience and information to develop such a system in Kenya.Veterinary services offered by county governments are limited and insufficient (Naitos Golden Inspiration 2015 a, b, c). Producers mainly rely on indigenous knowledge to treat their animals.The most common livestock diseases in shoats are: contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP), coenuroseis which is caused by worm, enterotoxaemia, goat and sheep pox and pests des petits ruminants (PPR). In cattle, the most common diseases are FMD, Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), congolensis dermatopholsis and lumpy skin disease. In camels, the most common diseases are: trypanosomiasis, haemorrygic septaecemia, camel pox, worms, external parasites and ercia (camel sudden death syndrome), while in young camels, they are orf, ring worms and mange.A discussion with county veterinary department officials of Isiolo and Marsabit counties revealed that transboundary diseases (e.g. lumpy skin disease, FMD among others) have increased in recent years, almost becoming an annual occurrence mainly due to the failure to impose quarantine due outbreaks. This has been compounded by a lack of enforcement of livestock movement controls, porous borders and inadequate annual vaccination coverage. It is recommended that the AVCD-LC project raise awareness on: the effects of livestock drugs misuse or wrong drugs usage and administration; and uptake of strategic vaccination and not emergency vaccination which is said to cause death, abortion and loss of animal condition.The project should also pilot uptake of acaricides which have higher safety margins and support the capacity building of agro-veterinarian dealers through short animal health courses.Collaboration with all the stakeholders (individual farmers, private vet service providers, nongovernmental extension providers, government veterinarian and extension providers is highly recommended to enhance the uptake and sustainability of health-related interventions in the county to produce the health-related qualities of livestock demanded by the market.Promotion and support for strategic feed reserve production model (fodder and fodder seed production in potential pockets)AVCD-LC could support fodder production in the counties by training the crop producers to integrate fodder in their cropping program and to also expand irrigated land so as to accommodate fodder production. The crop producers should also be trained on fodder conservation such that they can be able to bail and conserve the crop residues and other fodder feeds (like acacia pods) which can be used during drought. Elements of value addition of fodder (like addition of Urea etc.) and local feed formulation should also be given focus.The project can support the fodder production model around the dairy goat farming groups to create fodder market for themselves and others. This model can be scaled up with a few sampled individual producers who can be supported with initial improved goat breeds coupled with fodder production. In addition, AVCD LC should promote and support fodder production through sensitization campaigns/training to especially to people of more limited wealth. Establishment of linkages between fodder producers and demand side should be supported. Pastoralists should also be trained on intensification of livestock production, expected to create fodder marketing opportunities. Research on more cost-effective storage solution should also be supported.The AVCD-LC project could support the establishment of linkages and acquisition of business development skills especially to women and young people in alternative economic activities, such as in the food, clothing and agricultural input sectors, such as veterinary and other agroinput services). Private investments in weighing scales by especially the women and young people could be supported. AVCD-LC could also support the processing and marketing of hides and skins especially by working with the producer groups in various counties. This would create employment for many jobless individuals in the counties.Imparting business development skills on hides and skins would enhance trade in hides and skins.Training should also be offered to flayers, selectors, graders, traders and rural tannery units to increase the quality and prices of hides and skins traded. Linkages with the end market, like Bata Shoes Company, could promote hides and skins business in the county. A few private investors (like Sidai) could be informed of the benefits of stocking industrial salt used in processing of hides and skins.Targeted business development skills in Turkana county especially in line with: fish farming, harvesting, processing, preservation and trade for women and young people would increase the income sources available to these categories of people. In addition, a few livestock lodges (a sleep over secure holding ground for animals on transit to/from the livestock markets) could be piloted around sampled livestock markets in the study counties. This innovation which is currently practiced in Moyale should be replicated in sampled livestock markets within the study counties.The AVCD livestock project is part of the feed the future AVCD program funded by USAID in Kenya which seeks to promote and upscale utilization of improved technologies and innovations in selected value chains (livestock, dairy, and staple root and drought-tolerant crops) so as to competitively and sustainably increase productivity, promote agricultural growth, and improve nutrition and food security particularly among women and children. The AVCD livestock project is being implemented in five counties in northern Kenya including Garissa, Isiolo, Marsabit, Turkana, and Wajir and the goal is to increase incomes from livestock sales by 50% thus lifting 50,000 households out of poverty and improving their nutritional status.To achieve this, the project has four objectives: i. To enhance market access for 60,000 pastoralists, pastoralists and small traders. Proposed activities under this objective focuses on improving market management through capacity development of market associations, producers, traders and entrepreneurs; development of a market information system; introduction of fattening schemes to increase the value of animals sold; and advocacy work to reduce trade barriers along the value chain between counties.ii. To increase livestock productivity for 30,000 producers. Suggested activities to achieve this objective include enhancing availability and access to fodder and forage through improved grazing management and fodder production enterprises; improving animal health through market interventions and creating sustained demand for health services; training of producers in disease recognition and working through market associations to improve surveillance of disease out breaks; and improving quality of animals sold through implementing community based herd management.iii. To enhance the enabling environment for 20 markets and 30 communities. This will be achieved through establishment of revenue sharing agreements for markets and development of community land use plans.iv. To contribute to improved nutrition of women and children among 50,000 households. Planned activities to achieve this include improving the home consumption of milk by children and to increase consumption of milk and meat by women of child bearing age.The project is seeking to complement activities of other USAID-funded programs, popularly known as Partnership for Resilience and Economic Growth (PREG) partners that include: Two resilience projects i.e. Resilience and Economic Growth in the Arid Lands-Improving Resilience (REGAL IR) and Accelerated Growth (REGAL AG), Kenya Resilient Arid Lands Partnership for Integrated Development, Agile Harmonized Assistance to the Devolved Institutions (AHADI) etc.The arid areas in Kenya constitute about 60% of the land mass and are home for approximately 30% of the population. The land use system in the region is predominantly pastoralism and extensive grazing. The region has the highest levels of poverty, over 60%, exacerbated by poor accessibility and frequent droughts. It is estimated that the drought period spanning 2008-2011, resulted in a loss of USD8 billion in the livestock sector. The impact of frequent drought is severe hunger, malnutrition and extensive loss of livelihood, with diminished resilience. Due to the increased frequency of cyclic droughts in the region, which exacerbate the vulnerability of pastoral communities, the urgency to explore high impact interventions to address the needs of these communities has risen dramatically. Reversing trends of increasing poverty levels, maintaining the trends in reducing food insecurity and malnutrition, and adapting to climate change, calls for sustained support to reforms and development in the pastoralism and agricultural sector. Given the high dependency of pastoralist livelihoods on livestock and livestock products, addressing production and marketing challenges offers the potential to reducing vulnerability, increasing resilience and reducing poverty among these communities.The purpose of this report is to inform interventions by the AVCD Livestock component. The goals are to (i) come up with a checklist of possible activities and opportunities for the AVCD project to invest in; and (ii) identification of existing information gaps in the value chains by performing a synthesis of recent value chain studies in the project area.This research was based on the use of both primary and secondary data. A first phase of primary data collection consisted in field visits/scoping to the five counties and meetings with keyinformants, county officials and livestock directors. In the second phase, we undertook a desk research and review of the existing recent literature and data on livestock and fodder value chain analysis in the five counties. From the bibliography search and review, we identified the existing gaps and the specific additional data needs. For Garissa, Turkana and Wajir counties, the existing literature was exhaustive and very recent. We have just added additional information on animal health collected by our ILRI project colleagues.For Isiolo and Marsabit counties, the secondary data, and the value chain analysis reports identified did not include the required information, and were not recently elaborated. For this reason, we opted to collect primary data for both the livestock and fodder value chains. We first developed and then pretested the tools. We opted for both focus group discussions and individual questionnaires for data collection. Focus group discussions were held with livestock value chain actors (producers, traders, brokers, processors/butchers, county livestock department official), and with fodder value chain actors (producers, traders, etc.). For the livestock value chain, individual face-to-face questionnaires were implemented with producers, traders, brokers, and processors. For the fodder value chain, we individually interviewed producers and traders.For the focus group discussions, we organized a one-day session for each value chain (livestock and fodder). We previously developed a checklist including different questions in relation to the mapping of the value chain actors, the interactions between the different actors, the prices, the costs and revenues, the main constraints faced, the service providers supporting the value chain, etc.For the individual surveys, we followed a stratified random sampling to select the villages from each county. We first identified the production systems in each county. Three production systems prevail in both counties and include: pastoral, agro-pastoral (millet sorghum based) and maize based. Then from each production system we randomly selected locations and from each location we randomly selected villages. We opted to visit each village during its livestock market day (if there is a livestock market in the village) or the closet livestock market to that village. We targeted a gender balance when interviewing the value chain actors, but in many cases the number/ share of women involved in specific activities across the value chain was very low or almost inexistent. We trained the enumerators and two persons from ILRI team were overseeing the process of data collection and immediately checking the questionnaires after completion. More than two weeks of field data collection in each county were necessary to complete the task.Figure 4 presents a generalized map of the livestock value chain in the five AVCD project counties in northern Kenya. The value chain map is based on the observations, interviews with key informants during the scoping visits, primary data collected from the field work, as well as from recent available literature on livestock and the red meat sector in Kenya including International Development (2014), livestock value chain studies by Naitos Golden Inspiration (2015) in Turkana, Wajir and Garissa which form part of the livestock work by Regal-IR in northern Kenya and a study on the small ruminants sector by Alexovich et al. (2012). Others include value chain studies by Chabari and Njoroge (2014), Matete and Shumba (2015) The core activities in the value chain comprise of livestock production, marketing, slaughter and/or processing, and meat and meat products marketing. The main actors include pastoral producers, livestock traders (these are of different types including bush, primary and secondary market traders), brokers, butchers, meat sellers, and animal trekkers and truckers hired to transport animals. The sections below present a summary of key issues at different stages in the value chain including the delivery of support services and inputs required by the core actors and the environment (physical, economic, social cultural, technological, political and legal) within which the value chain is immersed and which has implications on its performance.Livestock production is the main activity driving the value chain and is performed by pastoral producers. The ASALs hosts about 70% of the national livestock herd with an estimated value of about KES70 billion annually from 23.2 million animals (Republic of Kenya 2008). The AVCD project targeted counties are predominantly arid and semi-arid and pastoralism is the dominant way of life among communities there. The most important species of animals reared include cattle, camel, sheep, and goats. While the relative importance of these species varies across different counties, the current trend shows reducing importance of cattle perhaps due to their higher vulnerability during drought and growing importance of camels and small ruminants which are more resilient, disease resistant and easy to transfer from one area to another (KIPPRA 2016).Figure 1 shows the average number of animals owned: 71% are shoats, 18% cattle and 11% camels for households in all the five study counties. The average number owned by a household for each county are: 9, 38, 6, 9 and 11 (cattle), 1.5, 17.2, 12, 7 and 6 (camels), 62, 68.7, 55, 25 and 68 (shoats) for Isiolo, Garissa, Marsabit, Wajir and Turkana counties respectively. Garissa county has the highest number of animals owned per household for all animal categories. Animal production and marketing in ASAL areas in Kenya takes place in the back drop of huge social cultural, economic, environmental and other challenges.Pastoral producers are often not commercial oriented but rather view their livestock as assets and only sell them when there is need for money or due to distress of catastrophes such as drought. With the producers not being responsive to market forces, most (98%) of the animals and meat produced is of low quality. Estimates for 2014 indicate that beef has the largest market share with 527,529 metric tonnes produced.Drought represents a serious threat, with some groups losing up to 50% of their herds during severe droughts. There is a lot of range land destruction due to overgrazing and lack of grazing management. Producers also lack knowledge on grazing and husbandry best practices. On the other hand, animal health services and inputs are widely lacking at the grass roots. The producers also suffer lack of access to market information including prices and quality requirements by end markets. Roads and other necessary infrastructure are often poor or lacking. The region is ravaged by insecurity including frequent incidences of animal rustling and ethnic conflicts triggered by competition for scarce resources. Women take part in the value chain and are mainly present at production level. They especially take care of the small ruminants and are responsible for milk trading when it is the case. Men are mainly focused on large ruminants (cattle and camels) and migrate with the animals during the dry season looking for pasture for the animals. Besides locally produced animals, the livestock marketing system in northern Kenya also features export and import of livestock. Imports mainly involve cattle and small ruminants entering the domestic marketing system from Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda through the common boundaries with counties in northern Kenya. The export trade mostly features camels which are often moved to Somalia and Ethiopia and subsequently exported to the Middle East where prices for these animals tend to be relatively high. There is also export of meat and meat products by some export grade abattoirs such as Quality Meat Packers, Farmer's Choice, NEEMA livestock slaughtering investment and the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) but this often feature animals reared in commercial ranches.Points of sale for domestically produced livestock include 'farm gate', primary, secondary and terminal markets. The different points of sale correspond with different types of livestock traders (bush, primary and secondary market traders) (Naitos Golden Inspiration 2015a,b,c).Value captured by producers often tend to be low due to factors including poor quality of animals sold, lack of a grading system and presence of many intermediaries in the marketing chains who eat up margins (International Development 2014). Discussions with stakeholders' (producers and county livestock officials) often revealed huge desire to export livestock and meat which has seen construction of export grade abattoirs in many of the counties (most of these abattoirs have not been finalized yet). Animals prices in various domestic markets (feeder, regional and end markets) are presented in Table 1 and Figure 3 below. Animal prices vary greatly in all the market categories with higher prices fetched in the end markets for all animal species. Goats fetch a higher price than the sheep in all the markets while cattle fetch lower price than camels across all the markets. A goat can fetch a price of up to KES6,000 in the feeder market and KES15,000 in the end markets while that of camel can be as high as KES130,000. This explains the current trend where camels are replacing cattle in most of the study counties coupled with its resilience to the changing climate. On the other hand, there are a number of licensed abattoirs in Nairobi, its environs and in Mombasa as presented in Table 2 below. Almost all the abattoirs are operating below their full capacity while others are not in operation. Most of these abattoirs provide market for animals coming from the pastoral areas. Much of the meat from these abattoirs is sold locally to wholesalers and retailers (butchers, Kiosks, Supermarkets, and restaurants) with butcheries accounting for about 65% of the meat sold in Kenya.The end market is also segmented into: high end market, medium-and low-end markets which comprise the highest share of red meat market. Just like the live animal prices, the price for red meat varies from one market segment to another. For example, price ranges from KES200-1,550 per kg based on the market segment. The highest price is for the export grade beef (International Development 2014). Even within the same segment, prices vary based on type of cut (bone meat, or steak and tender, or tough). Tender meat is more priced especially in the middle-and high-end outlets than tough meat. Unfortunately, information access to most players in the livestock value chain is limited while supply of quality meat demanded by higher income market is scarce.  Farmer and Bwika (2012) Meat exports are relatively small in Kenya with the main export destinations being the Gulf states with very low exports to Asia and Europe (Farmer and Bwika 2012). One main challenge for the export market related to sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements. Therefore, there is need for the pastoral counties together with the development partners to establish a robust veterinary service delivery system coupled with an enabling environment which will enhance implementation of the required SPS standards. The veterinary department should be supported to enable them implement and enforce screening procedures, embrace strict and thorough vetting of animals at livestock markets before movement and inspection at delivery markets. These measures will strengthen disease surveillance and control, thereby reducing risks and costs to value chain actors as well as improve efficiency along the value chain and promote export of live animals and animal products especially red meat.Potential export markets for livestock and meat from Kenya include countries in the East African community and the Middle East. It is however important to note that exporting of live animals is a significantly lower margin opportunity for Kenya (International Development 2014). For meat, the major constraints include: high price of meat due to lack of modern and scalable operations; weak disease control initiatives and poor hygienic standards in comparison to other exporters such as Australia; highly competitive space with countries offering higher quality at lower prices; perceptions that Kenyan meat exporters are unreliable and unable to deliver the quantities and specifications that were originally ordered; associated logistics and delivery companies are inadequate and unreliable; and poor and inconsistent quality of meat and meat products (International Development 2014).There is huge and rapidly growing demand for meat in Kenya fuelled by population growth, urbanization and rise in people's income (Bosire et al. 2017;Gamba et al. 2005). Nairobi and Mombasa are the leading demand centres for slaughter animals and therefore serve as the main terminal markets. As the demand for meat continues to rise, it is projected that Kenya will find it increasingly difficult to satisfy its local demand for beef and sheep meat through domestic offtake rendering the country increasingly reliant on importation. The bulk of meat consumed in Kenya is low quality and mostly comes from animals raised by pastoral communities. Quality preferences however vary among consumers. Willingness to pay premiums for quality, reliability and cleanliness is higher among higher income consumers (International Development 2014).In line with higher willingness to pay for quality among high income groups, some abattoirs seek to produce superior quality meat and meat products which they sell to high end hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and in export markets at a premium. The abattoirs that target high end consumer segments include the KMC, and other privately-owned enterprises such as Quality Meat Packers, Farmer's Choice, Alpha Fine Foods, and Ngare Narok Meat Industries. Ranches form the main source of animals slaughtered for this high-quality meat trade. Higher end or export quality meat at retail points (supermarkets and high-end butcheries) go for an average of KES770-910 per kg compared to KES380-400 for the low-quality meat sold in meat stalls and ordinary butcheries. For policymakers, AVCD and development actors, the important issue should be how to come up with production and marketing strategies that can aid pastoral producers to also participate and benefit from the high-quality meat trade.Production is done by pastoralists a nd is not commercial oriented.Ani mals are mainly vi ewed as a s tore of wealth (butchers, supermarkets, etc.)Hotels, restaurants, schools, etc.Kenya is a meat deficit country, especially when it comes to beef and lamb where the shortage in domestic supply equated to an estimate of 18% for cattle and 19% for sheep, while goat supply exceeded domestic demand by 26% (International Development 2014). Cross-border livestock trade is the main source of meat supply (in form of live animals) to Kenya. Cattle is traded from Ethiopia through Wajir and Marsabit-Moyale markets and then directed to Garissa or Isiolo livestock markets which are considered as hubs for livestock trade from the northern territories to the terminal markets in Nairobi and Mombasa (Figure 5). In western Kenya, Kitale livestock market receives animals sourced in South Sudan (through Lokichogio market), Ethiopia (through Lodwar market), and Uganda, and serves regional livestock markets like Kisumu and Nakuru (Naitos Golden Inspiration 2015a). It is important to highlight that livestock is also exported from Kenya to neighbouring countries: mainly camels and goats to Somalia, and shoats to Ethiopia. However, the volumes/number of animals exported are relatively low compared to the volumes sourced from these countries. Isiolo county borders Marsabit county to the north, Samburu and Laikipia counties to the west, Garissa county to the southeast, Wajir county to the northeast, Tana River and Kitui counties to the south and Meru and Tharaka Nithi counties to the southwest. The county covers an area of about 25,700 km2 and has two parliamentary constituencies (Isiolo North and Isiolo South), three administrative sub-counties (Isiolo, Merti and Garbatulla), 10 wards (Wabera, Bulla pesa, Burat, Ngaremara, Oldonyiro, Chari, Cherab, Kinna, Garbatulla and Sericho), 11 divisions, 22 locations and 43 sub-locations (Isiolo county CIDP 2013). In line with the practice in many value chain studies, this analysis of the Isiolo livestock value chain presents information on themes including: (i) core activities in the value chain; (ii) network of partners supplying services and inputs to the main value chain actors; (iii) co-ordination and governance in the chain; (iv) operating environment; and (v) opportunity for upgrading. The analysis focuses on cattle, camel, sheep and goats produced and marketed for meat. The fouranimal species are the primary focus of the AVCD-livestock project.Core processes in the chain include: livestock production and fattening; animal trading; slaughter; meat marketing; and ultimately consumption. In correspondence, the main actors in the value chain include livestock producers and operators of animal fattening enterprises including: ranches and feedlots; traders including both small-and large-scale dealers; abattoir operators; meat wholesalers; meat retailers; and eventually consumers.Livestock production is the chief activity driving the chain and is the leading source of livelihood among communities in Isiolo county.  Nomadic pastoralism is the dominant system of production. Consequently, during the formal survey, majority of producers (98-100% depending on livestock species) reported that they relied on grazing in communal land as a source of feed for their animals (Table 4). Conversely, use of own produced livestock feeds (both crop residues and fodder crops) was documented among only 2-9% of the cattle keepers and 3-8% of the small ruminants' producers. Likewise, use of purchased feeds is scarce having been reported in only 13% and 14% of households with cattle and small ruminants, respectively. The size of livestock herds is a consequence of changes that occur in these herds over time.During the formal survey, information on dynamics in livestock herds during the past 12 months prior to this study was collected. Findings showed that the stocks of animals held by producers mainly accumulated through births (Table 5) which accounted for 83-89% of the total animal inflows in the cases of cattle, sheep and goats. On the other hand, purchases accounted for the largest share (45%) of the inflows in camel herds. Essentially, three out of the seven households that kept camels (43%) had purchased some camels during the past year. In all the three cases the type of camels bought were said to be young females (Figure 6).For the other three species (cattle, sheep and goats), animal purchases were only reported among 13-14% of the producers who kept these types of animals. The largest proportion of animals bought were said to be either young females (41-49% of the small ruminants bought) or entire males (42% of cattle bought). Increase in herd size was the most frequently cited reason why animals were purchased (57-100% of households where animals had been purchased) (Table 6).Breed improvement was cited in 18-20% of the households where small ruminants had been purchased and 30% of the households that had bought cattle. Purchasing animals for fattening was only cited in small ruminants (9% and 10% of households where some sheep and/or goats had been bought). The accumulation of animals in herds through inflows is balanced by reduction through outflows. Sale of animals accounted for most of the outflows (55-60%) from herds of small ruminants and camels (Table 7). Selling of livestock was documented in 55-70% of households with small ruminants, 43% of cattle keeping households and only one of the households that kept and had sold some camels. Surprisingly, the number of heads of cattle lost through death surpassed the number sold which perhaps relates to the vulnerability of this livestock species to the widely prevalent adverse climatic conditions in the study area. On the balance, total outflows differed by a small margin with total inflows across the four species analysed. Mature male animals comprised the bulk of the animals sold (62-66% of the small ruminants, 65% of cattle and a single camel that had been sold in one household (Figure 7). In comparison, adult and young females accounted for only 18-22% and 8-12% of the small ruminants and cattle sold, respectively. Use of improved inputs and technologies in agriculture and livestock production has implications on productivity, quality and safety of products produced which ultimately influences the economic performance of the producers. For this reason, this study also sought to take stock of inputs and technology use among animal producers in the study area. The set of important inputs and services in livestock production relate to feeds, animal health and breeding. A recent development in the Kenyan livestock industry has also seen attempts to introduce livestock insurance services to producers in pastoral areas to mitigate the risk of losses usually occasioned by drought.Ninety-nine per cent of the surveyed producers claimed that they practiced deworming and tick control in their herds of animals. The practice of vaccinating animals to prevent diseases was however less prevalent as it was only reported in 43% of the surveyed households. Government vets were the most frequently cited (66% of producers) source of the vaccination services. Despite agro-veterinarian shops being the most frequently cited source of deworming, tick control and curative treatment services and inputs (about 40% of producers in each case) these input and service providers were only cited as a source of vaccination services by only 19% of the producers. In a total of 43% of cases curative treatment was performed by the producers themselves or their neighbour with or without some professional advice.Mineral supplementation was documented in 54% of households implying that 46% of the households did not. Only 14% of the producers had bought and fed hay to their animals during the past one year. Despite frequent incidences of drought, only 6% of the producers were engaged in feed conservation. Adoption of the recently introduced insurance-based livestock insurance (IBLI) was documented in only 12% of households. Most of the cattle keepers (69%) used own bull for breeding which presents a high possibility for inbreeding. On the other hand, 34% of the producers utilized other peoples' bulls as artificial insemination services are non-existent.The livestock marketing system in Isiolo features both the marketing of animals by livestock producers and the buying and selling of animals by livestock traders. During the marketing process, animals move from primary markets to regional markets and eventually to terminal markets (mainly Nairobi) where they are sold for slaughter. Before reaching the terminal markets, an animal may change hands a number of times. This study identified different types of traders depending on point where animals are purchased and where they are sold. The trader types include: (i) traders who procure animals in bush/primary markets in Isiolo and sells in regional markets in the county; (ii) traders who procure animals in markets in the county and sells in markets in the neighbouring counties; (iii) traders who buy animals in regional markets in the county and sells in the same markets; and (iv) traders who procure animals in markets in the county and sells in Nairobi. Thus, in the value chain some of the meat animals' end up being consumed within the county while others go outside the county.Livestock producers in the bush have several outlets where they sell animals including farm gate, bush/village/feeder markets, and the often far away regional markets such as Odonyiro and Isiolo.For animals sold during the last 12 months in the surveyed households, popularity of market outlets differed with species. Village markets were the most frequently cited point of sale for small ruminants (47-51%) (Table 8). Nevertheless, an appreciable number of producers (41-46%) sold their sheep and goats at regional markets. In contrast for cattle, regional markets were the most frequently cited point of sale (54% of cases). Only 12% and 30% of producers who had sold cattle did so at farm gate and village market, respectively. Prices in regional markets tend to be higher than in bush markets. For example, at the time of this study a bull that could be sold at KES35, 000 in the bush markets could fetch KES40, 000 in the Isiolo market. Livestock marketing between primary and regional markets While many traders who buy animals in primary markets for reselling in regional markets operate individually, a few operate in partnerships. Purchases tend to be relatively more frequent (in some cases daily) than sale (mean=twice a week) with purchased animals being kept for between two and seven days awaiting accumulation of sufficient volumes for delivery to the sale market.Transactions between buyers and sellers in the primary markets tend to be ad-hoc one-time relationships. Buyers usually pay cash for animals and in about 40% of cases the transactions are mediated by brokers. While buying animals in primary markets, the nutritional status of an animal was the most frequently cited factor (all traders) that influence purchase decisions by traders including whether to buy and/or the price to offer.The volume of animals procured and sold by traders who operate between primary and regional markets varies widely with the number ranging between 10 and 120 sheep and/or goats per month among those interviewed during this study. (Distance travelled) Transportation of animals from the bush markets to the regional markets is either by vehicles (% of cases) or trekking (% of cases). Besides buying and selling animals in different markets some of the traders intimated that they also buy animals which they keep and sell in another season to exploit both the seasonal and spatial variation in prices.Table 9 presents the different types of marketing costs incurred by livestock producers and traders between livestock markets in the bush and the Isiolo regional market. For cattle, the highest cost component is the trucking expenses which may go up to KES1,500 per animal. Other costs include county export fee (KES100 per animal even if the destination is within the county), inspection fee (KES100), movement permit (KES30), bribes paid at police road blocks (KES120), security and grazing after arriving in Isiolo pending sale (KES200), holding ground KES50, feed purchase (done during drought season) (KES100). Other costs include accommodation and meals for the seller (producer or trader) and the brokerage fee (KES100). Besides the KES100 brokerage fee, brokers also pocket an indeterminate additional amount generated through haggling with sellers to accept a low price and buyers to pay a higher price. This is made possible because a broker deals with both parties separately implying that the buyer is not privy to the true amount received by the seller and vice versa for the seller.Table 9 also presents the marketing costs for small ruminants between the bush and regional markets. Again, the highest component is the transport cost (KES30,000 per a lorry of 150 animals. Other costs include county export fee (KES12,000), inspection (KES4,500) movement permit (KES200), bribes in police road blocks (KES800), security and grazing after arriving in Isiolo pending sale (KES20/animal), holding ground (KES10/animal), feed purchase (done during drought season) (KES35/ animal). Buyers of animals in regional markets include distant traders, livestock producers (including some who are engaged in fattening) and butchers. Livestock marketing between regional and terminal marketsMajor regional markets in Isiolo county include Oldonyilo and Isiolo livestock markets. At the time of this study the Oldonyilo market had been modernised with the funding by the USAID through Regal IR while the construction of the facility in Isiolo was nearing completion. Animals delivered in the two regional markets come from both Isiolo county and other neighbouring counties. In Isiolo market for example, some of the animals come from Marsabit (small ruminants), Saburu, (mainly camels and cattle), Wajir and Ethiopia (mainly cattle). Most livestock buyers in the two regional markets are traders who come from Nairobi, Meru and Central Kenya among other areas. Again, the transactions between buyers and sellers in regional markets are often ad-hoc one-time relationships.About 66% of the traders who sold animals in the regional markets and over 80% of those who purchased the animals said that the transactions were mediated by brokers. Again, for animals sold in regional markets, nutritional status was the most frequently cited factor (all the 13 traders interviewed) that was said to influence the decisions by traders on whether to buy and/or the price to offer. While many of the animals in regional markets are for slaughter, some buyers in these markets buy animals for fattening. Essentially, some buyers purchase animals at low prices during the drought season which they go and fatten for resale latter at a higher price. It was also noted that local butchers and hotel operators in towns where the regional markets are located buy a significant number of animals for slaughter. In Isiolo, some butchers buy and slaughter camels and then process the meat into Nyirinyiri some of which is sold in Nairobi.Marketing costs between livestock markets in Isiolo and final markets in neighbouring counties and/or Nairobi include transport charges, government taxes, brokerage fees in the sales markets and other incidentals such as accommodation and meals. Table 10 which presents an analysis of gross margins for different types of traders also shows the marketing costs (KES/animal) incurred. Surprisingly, the transportation costs for small ruminants to neighbouring counties were higher than the transportation costs to Nairobi which probably reflects the effects of bad roads connection with some of the markets in the neighbouring Counties such as Maua. (Brokerage charges are also incurred in terminal markets).Table 10 presents an analysis of gross margins for different categories of traders in the Isiolo live animals marketing chain. The estimated costs and revenues are based on information about the most recently completed buying and selling operations. Although the estimates may be rather imprecise due to the limited number of traders interviewed, they nevertheless provide useful insight about the financial performance of the traders in the value chain. While the margins enjoyed by traders are thin, the level varies across the different categories of traders. Traders who bought and sold animals in same market realised the lowest level of margins of less KES200 per small ruminant which represents about 3% of their total variable expenditure. In comparison, traders who delivered animals to regional markets realised a margin of about KES330-500 per small ruminant and nearly KES900 per head of cattle which represents about 5-11% of their total variable expenses. Goats traders who sold animals in Nairobi enjoyed the highest level of margins KES1,220 which is about 29% of their variable expenses. As already indicated, settlement centres and towns in Isiolo also act as outlets for meat animals produced and/or marketed in the county. Among the local communities, women are strongly involved in the meat retail business representing most (57%) of the 14 meat sellers interviewed during this study. All the meat sellers quizzed traded in either mutton and/or goat meat while only a few dealt in beef (5) and/or camel meat (only 1). The high frequency of butchers who sell mutton and /or goat meat perhaps reflect a higher preference for these two types of meat compared to beef and camel meat among the local consumers. In addition, meat goats and sheep may be more readily available as the two species comprise a big part of livestock herds in the county and are also more prolific than cattle and camel. Usually, meat sellers purchase animals (as opposed to animal carcasses) which they slaughter in nearby slaughter slabs or in their butcheries and then sell as meat.The number of animals slaughtered vary across locations from several sheep and/or goats per day in a single butchery in big towns like Isiolo to butchers who slaughter animals and sell meat only a few times in a week in settlements in remote areas. Surprisingly, while goats often cost more than sheep (on average KES4,500 compared to KES3,000 per mature animal at the time of this survey) both mutton and goat meat retail at the same price perhaps because goats purchased for slaughter were often said to weigh more (estimated mean carcass weight=14.5kg) compared to 10.4kg for sheep). Essentially, butchers seemed indifferent on which type of small ruminant (goat or sheep) they slaughtered for sale. The retail prices for sheep and goat meat however varied with location raging from KES280 per kg in centres and villages in remote locations to KES400 in big urban centres.As is common in buying and selling of livestock in the study region, purchasing of slaughter stocks by butchers also often (about 70% of cases) featured a broker. The fees paid to brokers ranged from KES50-300 for a sheep or a goat and KES250-500 per head of cattle or camel. Frequently, due to the poor quality of animals slaughtered, the meat offered for sale in many outlets tends to be of low quality in terms of attributes such as tenderness and intramuscular fat quantity (marbling). For instance, in 70% of cases of animals recently purchased for slaughter among the butchers interviewed, the stock included uncastrated mature males and/or mature females which usually yields tough meat especially during the dry season when pasture is scarce and animal bodies are therefore not in top condition.While the largest share of the red meat market in Kenya is for low quality meat, information collected in some towns where livestock from northern Kenya are marketed showed that some butcheries are emerging that are striving to leverage on sale of quality meat to be financially more competitive. In Nanyuki for instance, a number of meat eatery joints were identified where operators only targeted for slaughter young well-nourished cattle including both steers and cull cows. The operators explained that cooked or roasted meat from such animals tends to be tender and good tasting which are attributes that are highly favoured by customers. To meet their customers' needs, the meat eatery joints' operators mainly procure slaughter animals from ranches in Laikipia. Due to better husbandry practices in ranches, the quality of meat from the ranch animals was said to be better than slaughter stocks procured directly from pastoralists. Purchase of slaughter animals from pastoral systems only happens when animals are in top condition.For cattle purchased from ranches by the operators of the quality conscious meat joints, prices paid are based on live weight. At the time of this study the price for cattle had just risen to KES170 from KES140 per kg of live weight a few weeks before. At the previous price of KES140 per kg of live weight, a 350-kg animal would cost KES49,000. Interestingly, this is equivalent to the highest price received for a mature uncastrated bull among the surveyed pastoral producers who had sold animals during the past one year. The lowest price received by the pastoralist for a mature bull was KES15,000 while the average was about KES23,000. For pastoral producers and traders who can be able to service this emerging quality conscious segment of the livestock market there would be a significant improvement in income received.Meat retail shops were also identified that are striving to leverage on sale of high quality meat to be competitive numerous other towns including Nyeri, Kenol and Thika. In the three towns however, the interviewed operators procured their meat supplies in the form of carcasses delivered to their shops by meat wholesalers. In the case of goats, young animals weighing about 13kg carcass weight are preferred. Surprisingly, the butchers expressed no desire to procure animals from production areas citing risks including insecurity, high prices due to involvement of brokers, government red tape among others.As noted by the operators of the quality conscious butcheries, a major limitation for pastoralists is the poor quality of the animals they sell. Nevertheless, while trying to enhance the level of prices from livestock sales among pastoralists it is useful explore ways which could enable their access to this market segment. Essentially, it may be easier for animal sellers from pastoral areas to satisfy the quality requirements of this market segment compared to selling to the very highend butcheries and meat exporting firms. Perhaps a good strategy would be for the pastoral producers and traders to target to sell selected young animals when they are in top condition to this emerging market segment. The most appropriate time would probably be after the rains when feed is readily available, and the body condition of animals is excellent. Selling such a strategy to pastoralists may however be difficult. A good approach might be to first pilot the strategy with a limited group of pastoralists.The performance of a value chain is to a large extent influenced by the environment within which the chain is immersed. The operating environment in the context of a value chain includes prevailing policy, legal and regulatory frameworks that guide business investments and operations in the region of interest. It also includes social cultural, political, economic and physical environments in the region. Physical environment includes not only climatic conditions but also business support infrastructure such as roads, energy, water, communication and market facilities among others. A series of recent studies on livestock value chains in northern Kenya commissioned by Regal-IR present an analysis of the policy and legal frameworks within which livestock production and marketing in the ASAL areas in Kenya take place (Naitos Golden Inspiration 2015a, b, c).Important policies on the livestock sector include ' Gaps in policy and legal framework:• Absence of an entity to champion, regulate, develop and promote the meat industry is what is stopping from tapping into all the possibilities• Livestock development policy• Sale yard bill.Like everywhere else in Kenya, delivery of livestock health inputs and services in Isiolo is a joint responsibility of both the public and private sector. Under the devolved system of government, the responsibilities of the county veterinary department include: surveillance and control of notifiable livestock diseases; meat inspection; regulation of livestock movement through issuance of movement permits and; monitoring and regulation of the private animal health sector. Again, just as is the case in other counties in northern and northeastern Kenya, the public animal health sector in Isiolo, either on its own or in conjunction with donor organizations, is often involved in delivery of animal health inputs and/or services to livestock producers. Beneficiaries in many of these cases are not charged for the inputs and services which are usually treated as a form of aid.Numerous challenges undermine the capacity of the Isiolo county veterinary department to perform its functions including inadequate staffing and lack of facilitation. At the time of this survey, the entire department had a total of only 16 technical staff, most (11) of whom were based in Isiolo (either at the county or sub-county headquarters) while the other two remaining subcounties (Galbatulla and Merti) were being served by only five staff (three and two respectively). Also, the department often relies on borrowing of vehicles (as all their vehicles are grounded) and/ or donor support for and other facilitation to enable their staff to move and work in the field. On staffing, the department urgently needs about four additional lab technicians and 12 diploma-level animal health assistants (AHAs).Information from the veterinary department showed that the most common livestock diseases in Isiolo county include: lumpy skin disease and FMD for cattle; PPR, CCPP and sheep and goat pox for small ruminants, and; camel pox, trypanosomiasis and haemorrhagic septicaemia for camels.Vaccines for most of these diseases have been developed and can be used to mitigate economic losses that are often occasioned by outbreaks.The private vet inputs and services sector comprises of private practitioners and agro-veterinarian shop operators. There is a total of about 14 only agro-veterinarian shops in the entire county and this was deemed inadequate. Sidai Africa which started operating in the county in 2013 has a franchise of eight contracted outlets (Oldonyiro, Buresa, Merti, Biriqo, Kinna, Galba Tulla, Sericho and Galfasa) and was estimated to be covering about 60% of the market for animal health inputs. While sales by Sidai have been rising rapidly, government officials and other key informants interviewed conceded that the private vet inputs and services sector is not yet well developed in the county which was blamed on factors including poorly developed road and communication infrastructure, harsh climatic conditions, vastness of the area, insecurity, and lack of interest among students from the local communities to pursue animal health courses in colleges among others.As a result of the gap left by the poorly developed private animal health input and service sector, numerous complications arise. First, to fill this gap, some general shop operators stock and sell vet inputs and drugs alongside other commodities including food meant for human consumption which not only poses health risks to customers but is also in contravention of the official government policy. This illegitimate sale of vet drugs and inputs also gives room to sale of counterfeits which was cited to be a common problem in the county by Sidai officials.The problem of counterfeits was particularly said to be serious in the case of acaricides with the most preferred products by producers consisting of higher concentrations of active ingredient than is officially recommended in Kenya. Similar complaints were also received in the case of other drugs. Allegedly, livestock producers who often treat their own animals complain that some of the officially recommended drugs are ineffective. Given the public health implication of misuse of drugs, there is need to investigate the allegations by livestock producers to ensure that prevailing official vet drugs recommendations are appropriate for the region. The situation also underscores a need to strengthen the enforcement capacity of veterinary department and other regulatory institutions in the vet input sector.Second, while most of the common diseases in the county can be controlled through vaccination, uptake of vaccines is also low due to factors including: unavailability of skilled/competent personnel as many of the Sidai agro-veterinarian shops are manned by persons who are unqualified to administer vaccines; free vaccines provided by government and donors hence unwillingness to pay for these inputs by livestock producers and also; lack of knowledge among the livestock keepers on how these inputs work with many pastoralists being wary about the reactions and side effects that the vaccines usually have on animals.A key prerequisite in promoting commercialization of the livestock sector is development of transparent and competitive markets. The theory of competition assumes perfect information among both buyers and sellers. Results from a survey of livestock producers during this study, however, showed that the majority were often uninformed about prevailing prices (about 60%) and the desired quality by buyers (76%) in livestock markets where they sell their animals. Among those who claimed to be informed about market conditions, most (88%) cited other livestock producers who have recently visited the market as their source of information. An important challenge about 'other livestock producers' as a source of market information is that messages passed across may not be fully accurate or up to date.Essentially, the widespread lack of awareness about prevailing market conditions among livestock producers partly accounts for the pervasive presence of livestock brokers in livestock markets and the attendant high in transaction costs that impedes market development. It is also important to note that besides livestock producers, buyers also need information on prevailing market conditions.During key informant interviews, some buyers from Nairobi explained that they go out of their way to search for information on availability of animals and prices in livestock markets before they visit to procure animals. Some of these buyers have developed long term business relationships with some brokers whom they call for updates about the prevailing conditions in markets.It is important to note that there have been initiatives to set up livestock market information systems in pastoral areas in Kenya in the past. An example of these initiatives is the National Market Information System developed and operated by LINKS in conjunction with the Ministry of Livestock and KLMC and which is now dysfunctional. The problem with such project funded initiatives is that sustainability tends to be a challenge when the sponsoring project ends. A potential way of mitigating this drawback is designing an information system that allows for entry and exit of sponsors with minimal disruptions and which should be hosted at a government ministry or an organization such as KLMC. Such a system could work closely with the LMAs in charge of managing livestock markets which could be used to collect the required market information for dissemination. However, as a stop gap measure before the setting up of the market information system, LMAs could be used to gather market information and disseminate it through billboards elected in livestock markets. The LINKs project used to display market information in Garissa and other livestock markets on breed, class and kind of the animal. While such an information system had the potential to increase pastoralists' market participation and improve service delivery to value chain actors (Mude 2016), sustainability was a big challenge (Weber et al. 2005).As is common among nomadic pastoralists in Kenya, most livestock producers in Isiolo are largely not market oriented. Rather majority of the producers treat their animals as a store of wealth. Consequently, in many cases producers only sell animals when there is a need for cash in the household. Data from surveyed households during this study shows the number of animals sold during the last 12 months stood at about seven goats, as well as sheep and less than one camel and cattle. These levels of offtake through sales represent 9-26% of animal herds kept.Common reasons why livestock are sold among producers include the need for money to pay school fees, hospital bills, purchase food among others. Animals are sold as need arises and thus the number sold each time is usually small. For this reason and particularly in the case of small ruminants the point of sale often tends to be bush/feeder markets (90% of cases) where prices tend to be lower than in bigger markets such as Isiolo and Oldonyiro. For instance, a goat with a live weight of 16 kg fetches about KES5,000 in the bush markets compared to KES6,500 in the Isiolo market. By the same token, a 30-35kg goat commonly fetches about KES7,000 in the bush market compared to KES8,000-8,500 in the Isiolo markets.A possible way to ensure that producers located far away from big markets get higher prices for their animals is to encourage collective marketing to attain the volumes needed to cover the costs of delivery to the larger distant markets. Where possible this strategy may be integrated with internet marketing which is increasingly gaining popularity in Kenya and which has the potential of allowing producers to negotiate terms with buyers on a one on one basis.A common phenomenon in livestock marketing in Isiolo is that many transactions are mediated by brokers. This study attempted to unravel why brokers are so pervasive in livestock markets in the county. One of the roles of brokers in livestock marketing is handling of some of the logistics. It was reported that there are cases where sellers contact and send animals to brokers while still at home ahead of their travel to the market. In such cases the broker takes charge when the animals arrive in the market and oversees the offloading, feeding, and security among others. The broker would indemnify the livestock producer if an animal is stolen during this time. The producer appears only during the market day but does not take part in the negotiations. The manners in which brokers conduct negotiations between buyers and sellers are such that the two parties do not come into direct contact with each other. While there are standard brokerage fees (KES100 per head of cattle), brokers during negotiations secretly inflate asking prices by sellers and understate the offered prices by the buyer in an effort and then pockets the difference when a deal is eventually agreed and this can be hefty. This practice (malpractice) is a major cause of discontent against brokers by buyers and sellers. Worse for sellers, brokers can conspire to ensure that they do not get any buyers by feeding the wrong information to the buyers including claims that the animals being sold are either stolen or are coming from an area where there has been a disease outbreak. Other roles performed by livestock brokers include facilitating communication between buyers and sellers in cases where they do not speak the same language and acting as a guarantor to buyers that the animals being offered have not been stolen. On the balance however, the activities of brokers serve to increase transaction costs in livestock marketing in Isiolo which acts as a disincentive for buyers to visit markets there and discourage buyers from participating in markets. Because of the exploitative behaviour of brokers, there is need to regulate their activities. Actors surveyed longed for the enactment of the pending sale yard bill which provides for the regulation of brokers. For the AVCD-LC, it is important to support the implementation of the bill once it is it has been signed into law.As already indicated, selling of livestock among pastoralists is needs driven. When pastoralists deliver animals for sale in livestock markets, they often also take that opportunity to procure any items or services that they require. Emergence of vibrant alternative businesses around livestock markets should therefore be encouraged and supported to ensure availability of a wide range of commodities and services as this not only serves to generate jobs but also helps to make the market a more attractive point of selling livestock for livestock producers. Such alternative businesses include food, clothes, and veterinary and agro-inputs businesses. A common constraint faced business operators is poor management which limits performance. AVCD-LC can assist by linking the business operators to BDS services as a way of ensuring that the emerging businesses are well run and vibrant.In Ondonyilo, lack of banking services was identified as a challenge. AVCD-LC could support the establishment of banking and M-Pesa agents. This may however require the project to lobby mobile phone companies for an upgrade of the cell phone network in the area. It was also observed that in the market buyers buy animals of different sizes and weight. It might be good for the project to pilot an animal weighing service with either the LMA there or a youth group so that there is more objectivity when negotiating prices among buyers and sellers.The almost finished export abattoir close to Isiolo town will create direct and indirect jobs. Direct jobs will include skilled (flayers, manager, lab technicians, etc.) and unskilled workers (guards, cleaners, loaders/unloaders, etc.). It will also boost the demand for hides and skins and involve different value chain actors, like collectors, wholesalers, tanners, etc. The indirect jobs will include transportation of animals and of humans, fodder selling, catering, etc.Close to Isiolo town and nearby the new not-yet finished export-abattoir, there is a big fodder production land managed by the community. The facilities also including a hay/fodder store.The interesting point is that the fodder land is also very close (less than 100 m) to a recently constructed feed lot which is also very close to the export abattoir. This agglomeration of fodder production, livestock fattening/finishing and livestock processing activities will create, once the abattoir is functional, a hub of economic activities and a demand for additional services like transport, catering, mobile battery recharging, airtime buying, etc. where women and youth could be involved in.Fodder production, conservation and marketing enterprises are yet to gain strength in many parts of Isiolo county. There are however efforts by both government and donor organizations to promote fodder enterprises in areas with relatively high amounts of rainfall and near rivers where irrigation is possible. Around Isiolo town, fodder activities are more vibrant due to favorable climate conditions and high demand from some farmers who practice dairy. Other areas where efforts to promote fodder enterprise have been initiated and some fodder production is taking place include Garba Tulla, Rapsu, Kinna, Maili tano, Guba dhudha, livestock marketing division, and the region along the Isiolo River.While dissemination of the fodder technologies is mainly being undertaken through groups, individual farmers form the majority of producers. Many of these individual producers are rather small-scale operators who conduct their fodder production activities in plots of up to one acre. Types of crops planted and utilized as fodder include maize stover, beans straw and Napier which are most common in agro-pastoral areas where farmers practice dairy. Other types of fodder include natural grasses, fodder trees such as leucaena and acacia whose seeds are utilized as goats feed.The strategy used by producers involved in fodder production using natural grasses simply involves electing fences around plots where they want to establish fodder and letting the grass grow without being grazed. None of the fodder grass producers interviewed uses fodder seeds and reasons cited included unavailability, lack of knowledge about how to plant and previous experience where seeds failed to germinate after planting due to lack of rain. No labour or costs are also incurred to perform other husbandry practices such as land preparation, planting and weeding. However, where such plots are located near a river, irrigation is sometimes also done. Around Isiolo town many of the fodder producers who cultivate grass do not bail it after harvesting.Farmers who produce fodder either use it to feed their own animals while some is sold. While marketing is not a big challenge for fodder producers near Isiolo town, their counterparts in distant places such as Galbatulla complained that they were stranded with stocks of hay which they could not sell due to lack of buyers. One challenge for fodder producers who lack market is that often the volumes of fodder involved are rather small to attract buyers. For such producers it may be better to introduce a slightly longer-term business view of the fodder activities. This includes educating the producers that they do not need to sell their fodder immediately after harvesting. Rather, during the rainy season, they should concentrate on production and storing of fodder to accumulate large volumes to sell during the dry season when demand is high. This should be accompanied by capacity building on fodder storage including introduction of simple technologies such as manual bailers.Around Isiolo town, many fodder producers who cultivate grass often sell it as standing pasture for grazing. Their customers mainly include livestock traders delivering animals in Isiolo market or en route to other markets some of whom come from Moyale and Samburu. An acre of standing pasture grass costs about KES10,000 and can be grazed by about 50 heads of cattle for about a week. The price may however vary depending on the quality of pasture establishment. The main issues that buyers consider when renting such grazing pasture plots include the quality of establishment of grass (the thicker the better as it can be grazed for long), and accessibility and proximity from Isiolo town.As a pointer to the high demand for fodder around Isiolo town, some fodder plots hired for grazing are booked up to two months in advance and some traders' rent up to five separate plots that are close together. While doing the booking, the traders usually give a down payment of up to a half the total cost. To pre-empt any possible future disputes, such transactions involve witnesses and written agreements. The terms of such agreements include the number of days the peace of land is going to be used for grazing as some tenants may be tempted to take very long. Disagreements may also arise from the buyer claiming that animals are being lost and so land lords are forced to keep data on the tally of animals sold by the tenant each day.This study identified numerous factors that undermine the development of the fodder value chain in Isiolo county. The impediments include cultural beliefs among the local community that discourage fodder production. While these may take long to change, a sustained campaign is needed to address the situation. Fodder producers located far from high demand centres are not well linked to fodder markets and there is therefore a need to work on a business model that can effectively address this challenge. Lack of water was cited as an important constraint. Given the huge investments that are required to address this constraint it is perhaps better for AVCD-LC to target promotion of fodder production in areas where water is available. It was noted that, to a great extent, many fodder producers lack knowledge on a myriad of issues includingTable 12 summarizes a selection of best-bet interventions that could be implemented in Isiolo county through AVCD-LC project activities and in collaboration with different partners. The scoring of these interventions is reported in Table 13. Scores were allocated in a range from 1 (low) to 5 (high) for the 'positive' attributes. For the 'negative' attributes related to risk assessment a negative sign was added to the score. An overall score was then computed as the total sum of these individual scores. We opted to provide equal weight to each attribute. A total of four possible interventions were identified: i. Fine tuning the business model for fodder grass producers through participatory knowledge sharing platforms; ii. Development and implementation of a livestock market information system (LIMS); iii. Development and implementation of a livestock grading system; and iv. Supporting the co-management model and upgrading the LMAs.The development and implementation of livestock grading scheme is ranked first, followed by the support of the co-management model, and then the fine tuning of the business model for fodder grass producers through participatory knowledge sharing platforms.   Livestock keeping is the main economic activity with limited crop production. There are no registered group or company ranches, however different communities have their own grazing areas resulting to resource based conflicts especially in drought season where community competes for grazing fields. This also results in environmental degradation mainly due to deforestation and forest encroachment. In addition, the county has high potential for a number of mineral deposits. Some mining and open cast quarrying activities of blue Quamline, mica, chromite and sand harvesting is being done in various parts of the county. Exploration of petroleum is also on-going at Maikona, Laisamis and Kargi.The county has two towns: Moyale and Marsabit and three urban centres: Sololo, Loiyangalani and Laisamis with the main traded goods being: livestock, fruits, vegetables, maize, beans, wheat, teff and millets. Most of the maize and beans comes from other counties, whereas some fruits and vegetables come from Ethiopia through Moyale. There are also some co-operatives societies in the county which are not very vibrant. Most of these cooperatives are involved in marketing livestock products. There are also about 480 self-help groups, most of them are involved in social economic activities like goat keeping, bee keeping, poultry rearing and small micro enterprises.The road network in the county is poorly developed with a road network of 2,431 km of which 397 km are gravel and 2,034 km are of earth surface. These roads are prone to erosion and are rendered impassable during the rainy seasons leading to high transportation costs. The poor state of roads has led to limited cross border trade and provision of essential services such as health, education, security and extensions services.This analysis focuses on cattle, camel, sheep and goats produced and marketed for meat and which are also the primary focus of the AVCD-LC project. Again, in line with the common practice in value chain studies, the analysis presents information on themes including: (i) core activities in the value chain; (ii) network of partners supplying services and inputs to the main value chain actors; (iii) co-ordination and governance in the chain; (iv) operating environment; and (v) opportunity for upgrading.The core processes in the Marsabit livestock value chain include livestock production; livestock trading; animal slaughter; meat marketing; and ultimately meat consumption. In correspondence, the main actors in the value chain include livestock producers; livestock traders including both small and large-scale traders; abattoir operators; meat wholesalers; meat retailers; and eventually consumers.Cattle, camel, sheep and goats are the main animal species reared by livestock producers in Marsabit county. While the predominant system of livestock production is nomadic pastoralism, livestock producers around Marsabit, Sololo and Moyale towns also practice crop farming especially maize. In these crop-livestock systems, crop residues including maize stover and beans straw are commonly utilized as fodder. Around Marsabit town where milk prices tend to be high (KES100-120 per litre) some producers practice dairying with exotic animals. Planted fodder and residues from crop farming activities are commonly utilized as feed for the dairy animals.It is estimated that Marsabit county has a total population of 424,600 heads of cattle, 960,000 sheep, 1,143,500 goats and 203,300 camels (county government of Marsabit 2013). Data collected during this study show that a relatively higher frequency of households are engaged in the rearing of sheep and goats (76% and 92% of households, respectively) compared to cattle and camel (61% and 47% of the households, respectively). Table 14   With nomadic pastoralism being the dominant system of livestock production, pasture in communal land was the most frequently cited source of animal feed (88-98% of the surveyed households) (Table 15). Nevertheless, use of own produced fodder (crop residues and fodder crops) and purchased fodder were also documented particularly in places where arable farming was prevalent. The use of own produced feeds, purchased fodder and fodder collected from public land was relatively more frequent in cattle rearing (22-50% of households) than in the rearing of shoats (12-27% of households) and camels (only 3-20% of households). The use of commercial feeds was documented in a few households (9-13%) but this was confined to households near Marsabit town and Moyale that practiced dairy farming. Given the importance of animal grazing in communal land as a source of livestock feed, the increasing rangeland degradation due to overgrazing presents a major challenge to livestock activities and people's livelihoods in Marsabit county. The size of livestock herds held by producers is influenced by the levels of inflows and outflows into and from the herds that take place through time. The main ways in which the stocks of animals held by producers accumulate include birth, purchase, gifts and exchange (Table 16). Over the past 12 months prior to this study, births accounted for largest proportion (74-86% depending on species) of the total inflows. During the period, only a handful of the surveyed producers (about 3-9% depending on animal species) purchased some livestock. Often, young females accounted for the largest proportion of the animals purchased (100% of the camels, 62% of the cattle and 47% of sheep) followed by male entire (66% of goats, 31% of cattle and 12% of sheep) (Figure 8). Reasons why animals were purchased included increase in stock (about 60-100% of cases), breed improvement (up to 30% of cases) and fattening (only up to 10% of cases) (Table 17). The increase in herd sizes through inflows is balanced by outflows through death, sale, slaughter, exchange and predation among others (Table 18). Levels of outflow in the past 12 months indicated that deaths and sales account for most of the animals that exited from the herds. Surprisingly, a comparison of the two main types of outflows indicated that exits through death surpassed exits through sales. Specifically, loss of animals through death averaged 4.12 sheep, 2.54 goats, 1.41 heads of cattle and 0.46 camels per household. In comparison, the number of animals sold averaged 3.3 goats, 1.86 sheep, 1.24 heads of cattle and just 0.34 camels per household. Note that the apparent low offtake rate for camels remained evident when fractions of livestock keepers that had sold animals were compared across species. Essentially, sale of camels was recorded in only 23% of households with this livestock species compared to 41% for cattle and 38% and 58% for sheep and goats, respectively. It is also worth noting that the documented average numbers of animals sold during this study represents offtake rates of 12%, 7%, 11% and 5% for goat, sheep, cattle and camel herds/flocks, respectively. These offtake rates compare well with the rates reported by Nyariki et al (2005) for the Kenyan arid lands. In the current study, mature male animals account for the largest percentage of the animals sold (60-about 90%) (Figure 9). In addition, most of the mature male camels, goats and sheep sold (90%, 82% and 62%, respectively) were said to have been castrated suggesting a high prevalence rate of this desirable animal breeding control practice among the communities in the study area. It is also important to note that livestock production among the local communities in Marsabit is generally not commercial oriented, with keeping of many herds being envied as a source of cultural pride. Selling of animals is in many cases only done when there is need for cash. Use of improved inputs and technologies in agriculture and livestock production has implications on productivity, quality and safety of products produced which ultimately influences the economic performance of the producers. For this reason, this study also sought to take stock of inputs and technology use among animal producers in the study area. The set of important inputs and services in livestock production relate to feeds, animal health and breeding. A recent development in the Kenyan livestock industry has also seen attempts to introduce livestock insurance services to producers in pastoral areas to mitigate the risk of losses usually occasioned by drought.Nearly all the producers interviewed said that deworming, tick control and curative animal health inputs and services were available in their localities and that they used them. Vaccination services were however less frequently used (66% of producers) with nearly 30% of the producers lamenting that the services were unavailable. While most frequently (53% of households) treatment of sick animals was performed by the producer himself or a neighbour with some advice from a qualified professional, in 25% of the cases the owner or a neighbour performed the treatment without any professional advice. An important challenge when people treat their own animals is that there is potential for misuse of drugs by ignorant livestock producers. Particularly in the treatment of camels, it was said that producers frequently administered Amoxicillin which was said to remedy various diseases but which some professionals feared could lead to development of resistance against the drug either in animals or people. While mineral supplementation was documented in most (70%) households, 30% of the producers did not with some saying that their grazing plans include moving animals to take advantage of naturally occurring minerals in some places in the county for mineral supplementation. Some 41% of the producers had bought and fed hay to their animals during the past one year. Due to frequent incidences of drought 47% of the producers said that they conserved feed for their livestock. Forms in which the feeds were conserved included standing pasture (37% of cases) and bailed and un-bailed hay (37% and 32% of cases, respectively). Adoption of the recently introduced IBLI product was documented in only 8% of households. Most of the cattle keepers (82%) used own bull for breeding which presents a high probability for inbreeding.The various key informants gave their opinions on challenges facing livestock production in Marsabit. Issues cited included prolonged and recurrent droughts, rangeland degradation, insecurity due to cattle rustling and conflict over pasture with neighbouring communities, livestock diseases and pests, a lack of market and a lack of extension information. The importance of these challenges was confirmed during the formal survey. Challenges that were the most frequently cited during the survey include drought, livestock diseases, insecurity and poor prices (53%, 33%, 20% and 20% of producers, respectively).As in other counties in northern Kenya, the livestock marketing system in Marsabit features both the marketing of animals by livestock producers and the buying and selling of animals by livestock traders. During the marketing process, animals move from primary to regional markets and eventually to terminal markets where they are sold for slaughter. Before reaching the terminal markets, an animal may change hands several times. The new livestock market in Moyale town constructed by Regal AG with support from USAID was just about to commence operation at the time of this study. Some of the key informants interviewed however observed that a significant amount of livestock trading in Moyale market has moved across to the Ethiopian the side of the border. This shifting was largely attributed to insecurity due to ethnic conflict between the communities (Garbra and Borana) inhabiting the area in Kenya. Nevertheless, a lot of livestock trading still takes place on the Kenyan side of the border fuelled by external traders from major towns in Kenya and buyers from Ethiopia who frequent the town. It was estimated that about three lorries of cattle (60 animals), two of lorries camels (30 animals) and over 150 shoats left Moyale for Nairobi daily and that an average of 500 animals are supplied to the Moyale market daily. In addition, Moyale was cited as an important exit point for camels exported from Kenya to Ethiopia where the animals are again exported to the Middle East.The thriving cross border livestock trade between Kenya and Ethiopia is not restricted to Moyale and was also documented in Dukana and Forore where buyers from Ethiopia who frequented these areas were purchasing sheep on weight basis (KES100/kg live weight). Young animals weighing 16-30kg on live weight basis were preferred by these Ethiopian buyers leaving the more mature animals which are directed to buyers servicing the Kenyan meat market.Other traders from Ethiopia purchase young bulls (up to 3 years old weighing 260-280 kg) which they sell to feedlots in their country. Some of the animals exported to Ethiopia are reexported alive to the Middle East while others are slaughtered, and the meat is exported. Owing to this cross-border trade with Ethiopia, the demand for small ruminants in Marsabit tends to be high on the time around the Haji season due to the high demand in Saudi Arabia where some of these animals are ultimately exported. Besides animal exports from Kenya to Ethiopia the crossborder livestock trade between the two countries also feature traders who import female cattle from Ethiopia to Kenya some of which eventually ends up in Nairobi and other terminal markets in the country.Livestock producers have several outlets where they sell animals including farm gate, bush/village/ feeder markets, and the often far away regional markets such as Melile, Marsabit and Moyale. Prices in regional markets generally tend to be higher than in bush markets. For example, at the time of this study prices for typical mature slaughter animals in bush markets were reported as about KES6,000 per goat, KES2,700 per sheep, KES28,000 per head of cattle and KES45,000 per camel. In comparison in Merille market the prices were said to be about KES8,000 per goat, KES3,500 per sheep, KES47,000 per head of cattle and KES80,000 per camel. It should however be noted that marketing costs for many producers may be higher for animals delivered for sale in the often-distant regional markets than in the bush markets due to the high cost of transportation prevalent in arid areas in Kenya.The type of market outlet used by livestock producers often differed with the species of animals sold. Village markets were the most frequently cited point of sale for sheep and goats (43% and 40% of the surveyed producers, respectively) (Table 19). In contrast for cattle and camels, regional markets were the most frequently cited point of sale (74% and 63 of the surveyed producers, respectively). Only 26% and 11% of producers who had sold cattle did so at farm gate and village market, respectively. By the same token, just 13% and 25% of the producers who had sold camels used the 2 types of markets, respectively. This study identified different types of traders depending on point where animals are purchased and where they are sold. The trader types include: (i) small-scale livestock traders who buy animals from producers either in the manyattas or small livestock markets and sell in large markets such as Melile, Marsabit and Moyale; (ii) traders who procure animals in markets in Marsabit county and sell in markets in the neighbouring counties such as Isiolo; (iii) traders in major markets who buy animals during non-market days and then sell them in the same market during the market day; (iv) traders who procure animals in markets in the county and sells in Nairobi and (v) buyers from neighbouring Ethiopia.Typically, traders who operate between bush and regional markets buy and accumulate animals which they deliver for sale once a week in the regional markets. To minimize inventory costs, the numbers of animals purchased are adjusted depending on the prevailing level of demand in the sale market. Sellers from whom the animals are procured in the bush markets are often livestock producers. The transactions between buyers and sellers in the primary markets tend to be ad-hoc one-time relationships. The buyers usually pay cash for animals and the transaction may or may not feature a broker in some markets. Where a broker is involved the official charge is KES20-100 per sheep or goat and KES200-400 per head of cattle. At times the trader can pay brokerage changes both during procurement and again when selling.Livestock sellers in regional markets mainly include traders who procure animals from small markets in the bush and villages, traders in the regional markets who buy animals during non-market days which they accumulate and sell during the market day, and some livestock producers. Buyers mainly include traders who sell animals in market in the neighbouring counties and/or in Nairobi, livestock exporters in the case of Moyale and local butchers and hotel operators. Transactions between buyers and sellers are often mediated by brokers which is attributable to a number of reasons. In some cases, local sellers do not understand Kiswahili-the language commonly spoken by visiting traders-thus necessitating the services of a broker to enable the two parties to communicate and transact. Brokers also help in conflict resolution especially in cases of disputed animal ownership. In addition, some brokers keep regular contact with large buyers with both parties continuously appraising each other about the prevailing conditions in livestock markets in the production areas and the terminal markets in Nairobi. Through this information exchange a trader can minimize the risk of going for animals when market conditions are unfavourable. On his part the broker can keep a royal bunch of clients who are willing to pay some fees for his services. It was observed that in some cases, failure to go through a broker may lead to a buyer paying a higher price for an animal. On the other hand, some producers complained that buyers and brokers often collude to fix prices in livestock markets.Traders who purchase animals in regional markets in Marsabit for sale in markets outside the county including Nairobi incur a myriad of expenses. Table 20 for the case of animals transported from Melile to Nairobi. During purchase the traders pay a brokerage fee of KES200 per head of cattle and KES30 per sheep or goat. Movement permits cost about KES2,000 per head of cattle.A county government cess of KES8,000 and KES5,000 is also levied per a lorry load of cattle and small ruminants, respectively. One lorry carries about 150 sheep/goats and or 18-22 heads of cattle depending on the size of the animals. For security reasons every lorry transporting animals is required to engage police escort between Melille and Isiolo which costs KES4,000. Some further KES8,000 in the case of cattle and KES5,000 in the case of small ruminants are spent on the services of caretakers who ride with the animals during transportation. Payment at police road blocks average about KES3,000 per trip. In livestock markets in Nairobi, the traders pay KES3,000 per lorry of animals to brokers who do the selling on their behalf. In addition, a levy of KES500 per a lorry load of small ruminants and KES200 per a head of cattle is charged for using the market. Using this information together with purchase and sales prices experienced during the last completed transaction, the rate of return among the livestock traders involved was estimated to be between 16% and 18% of their variable expenses.The traders who deliver sheep and goats to Nairobi often purchase and mix together animals of different size and price which they sell wholesale to retail traders who offer an average price per animal in a batch. This mixing together of animals of different size and price was attributed to the fact that these requirements vary among buyers in the terminal markets. The wholesale selling of animals facilitates the trader get rid of the flock of animals delivered to the market much faster than selling individual animals. In turn, the prompt sale of animals helps minimize both the inventory holding costs and the risks associated with holding stocks of animals over an extended period. A major challenge to livestock marketing in Marsabit county is inadequate and poor livestock market facilities which forces producers and traders to travel for long distances to sell or buy animals. This not only makes the process of livestock marketing expensive, but also leads to loss of animal condition and hence value during transportation. Even where market facilities exist, they are not well run or organized such as is the case for Kalacha, Songa, Karare, Forolle and Marsabit livestock markets which have no market days. Melile market (best running) is however an exception and provides an example of what can be done to ensure more vibrancy in livestock markets in Marsabit county. In Melile the running of the livestock market is delegated to a LMA comprising elected representatives for various stakeholders involved in livestock production and marketing among the local pastoral communities that use the market. The tasks of the LMA include revenue collection, protection and maintenance of the infrastructure in the livestock market, ensuring security for buyers and sellers and conflict resolution. Under a signed revenue sharing agreement with the county government the money collected is divided between the LMA (40%) and county government (60%). The share that goes to the LMA is used in the running and maintenance of the livestock market.Other challenges to livestock marketing in Marsabit include low supply of animals in livestock markets, poor quality of animals especially during drought, brokers who sometimes exploit livestock sellers and buyers, lack of market information among sellers and buyers, lack of feed and water supply in livestock markets which leads to loss of animal body condition hence value, insecurity with buyers and sellers occasionally loosing animals or money to rustlers and thieves, transboundary diseases which occasion livestock movement burns. Note that some of these constraints can be addressed at least to a certain degree if the running of the livestock markets was improved as is the case of Melile. For instance, supply of animals may increase in well running markets. Likewise, supply of water and other services may improve if became more vibrant.Settlement centres and towns in Marsabit county also act as outlets for meat animals produced and/or marketed in the county. Among the local communities, women are strongly involved in the meat retail business representing 40% of the 10 meat sellers interviewed during this study. Most of the meat sellers quizzed traded in either mutton (60%) and/or goat meat (100%) while only 1 dealt in beef and none for camel meat. The high frequency of butchers who sell mutton and /or goat meat perhaps reflect a higher preference of these two types of meat compared to beef and camel meat among the local communities. In addition, meat goats and sheep may be more readily available as the two species comprise a big part of livestock herds in the county and are also more prolific than cattle and camel. The local meat sellers in the county usually purchase animals (as opposed to animal carcasses) which they slaughter in their butcheries (six of the butchers interviewed) or in nearby slaughter slabs (four butchers) and then sell as meat.The number of animals slaughtered vary across locations from several sheep and/or goats per day in a single butchery in relatively bigger towns like Moyale and Marsabit to butchers who slaughter animals and sell meat only once in a week in settlements in remote areas. Surprisingly, while goats often cost more than sheep (on average KES6,000 compared to KES4,500 per mature male but the two types of meat retailed at the same price (about KES390 per kg). As is common in buying and selling of livestock in the study region, purchasing of slaughter stocks by butchers also often (about 80% of cases) featured a broker. The fees paid to brokers ranged from KES30 to 200 for a sheep or a goat and KES500 per head of cattle.Based on types of animals slaughtered, the meat offered for sale in many outlets can be categorized as being of relatively low quality. Specifically, in about 60% of cases of animals recently purchased for slaughter, the stocks included old or uncastrated mature males and/or mature females which usually yields tough meat especially during the dry season when pasture is scarce and animal bodies are therefore not in top condition.While the largest share of the red meat market in Kenya is for low quality meat, information collected in some towns where livestock from northern Kenya are marketed showed that some butcheries are emerging that are striving to leverage on sale of quality meat to be financially more competitive. In Nanyuki for instance, a number of meat eatery joints were identified where operators only targeted for slaughter young well-nourished cattle including both steers and cull cows. The operators explained that cooked or roasted meat from such animals tends to be tender and good tasting which are attributes that are highly favoured by customers. To meet their customers' needs, the meat eatery joints' operators mainly procure slaughter animals from ranches in Laikipia. Due to better husbandry practices in ranches, the quality of meat from the ranch animals was said to be better than slaughter stocks procured directly from pastoralists. Purchase of slaughter animals from pastoral systems only happens when animals are in top condition.For cattle purchased from ranches by the operators of the quality conscious meat joints, prices paid are based on live weight. At the time of this study the price for cattle had just risen to KES170 from KES140 per kg of live weight a few weeks before. At the previous price of KES140 per kg of live weight, a 350kg animal would cost KES49,000. Interestingly, this is equivalent to the highest price received for a mature uncastrated bull among the surveyed pastoral producers who had sold animals during the past one year. The lowest price received by the pastoralist for a mature bull was KES15,000 while the average was about KES23,000. For pastoral producers and traders who can be able to service this emerging quality conscious segment of the livestock market there would be a significant improvement in income received.Meat retail shops were also identified that are striving to leverage on sale of high quality meat to be competitive numerous other towns including Nyeri, Kenol and Thika. In the three towns however, the interviewed operators procured their meat supplies in the form of carcasses delivered to their shops by meat wholesalers. In the case of goats, young animals weighing about 13 kg carcass weight are preferred. Surprisingly, the butchers expressed no desire to procure animals from production areas citing risks including insecurity, high prices due to involvement of brokers, government red tape among others.As noted by the operators of the quality conscious butcheries, a major limitation for pastoralists is the poor quality of the animals they sell. Nevertheless, while trying to enhance the level of prices from livestock sales among pastoralists it is useful explore ways which could enable their access to this market segment. Essentially, it may be easier for animal sellers from pastoral areas to satisfy the quality requirements of this market segment compared to selling to the very highend butcheries and meat exporting firms. Perhaps a good strategy would be for the pastoral producers and traders to target to sell selected young animals when they are in top condition to this emerging market segment. The most appropriate time would probably be after the rains when feed is readily available and the body condition of animals is excellent. Selling such a strategy to pastoralists may however be difficult. A good approach might be to first pilot the strategy with a limited group of pastoralists.The performance of a value chain is influenced by the environment within which the chain is immersed. The operating environment where value chains operate includes prevailing policy, legal and regulatory frameworks that guide business investments and operations. It also includes social cultural, political, economic and physical setup including climatic conditions, business support infrastructure such as roads, energy, water, communication and market facilities among others.A series of recent studies on livestock value chains in northern Kenya commissioned by Regal IR presents an analysis of the policy and legal frameworks within which livestock production and marketing in the ASAL areas in Kenya take place (Naitos Golden Inspiration 2015a, b, c).' A number of policy and regulatory gaps are identifiable in the case of the livestock sector in Marsabit and Kenya in general. First, as observed by (Naitos Golden Inspiration 2015a, b, c) the meat and meat animals' trade in Kenya is supposed to be regulated by the Kenya Meat Commission, which is also an actor in the value chain and may therefore present conflicts of interest. There is therefore need for the Government to come up with an independent entity to regulate and promote the meat industry akin to KDB in the dairy sector. Second, while the county governments are responsible for issues on livestock husbandry and marketing in their jurisdictions, some work remains to be done on domestication of the national livestock policies and regulations in Marsabit county. While drafting of a county livestock policy was underway with the support of AHADI at the time of this study, the process of putting in place a county livestock sale yard act which is supposed to govern how livestock marketing is done had not yet commenced.Third, it was also observed that the level of budgetary allocation to the livestock sector by the county government (about 0.2%) is drastically inconsistent with aspirations at national government level which under the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme is committed to allocating at least 10% of the budget to the agriculture sector. This low budgetary allocation undermines provisions of services including animal health and extension which in turn undermines the performance of the livestock sector. Fourth, under the current structure where county veterinary directors' report to chief officers, it was apparent that the veterinary directors' clout in the control of notifiable diseases such as FMD may have suffered. During outbreaks the veterinary officials find it difficult to institute control measures such as animal movement bans due to the huge social economic impacts this has on the local communities occasioning resistance from political leaders. There is therefore need for reforms to ensure local political interference does not compromise efforts in the control of notifiable diseases. This may take the form of having a representative of the national director of veterinary services in the counties for policing purposes.The physical and social cultural environment within which the livestock sector in Marsabit operates are also challenging. A large part of the county is arid and droughts occur regularly.Like the rest of northern Kenya, Marsabit has one of the lowest rates of literacy in Kenya (about 20% according to ADESO 2014) which undermines efforts to initiate positive change in the local communities. Livestock production among the local communities is generally not commercial oriented and ownership of large livestock herds is viewed as a source of cultural pride. Unfortunately, not only does the huge livestock herds cause environmental degradation thus undermining sustainability of the production system but also the pastoralists incur huge losses during drought as huge numbers of their animals die. Insecurity is also rampant due to a tradition of livestock rustling and conflicts over pasture among rival communities. Although the new tarmac road from Moyale to Nairobi has significantly eased the problem of transportation in and out of the county, the situation is still far from perfect due to the poor state of roads in the county.The core actors in a value chain rely on an ally of indirect partners who provide them with the inputs/ services they require to perform their functions or who perform some regulatory functions in the value chain. There are various indirect partners who provides support to the core actors in the Marsabit livestock value chain. The most important support services required by the core actors in the value chain include animal health inputs and services, research and extension services, market information and transport. This section looks at provision of key support services and inputs by the indirect partners in the value chain.Like everywhere else in Kenya, delivery of livestock health inputs and services in Marsabit is a joint responsibility of both the public and private sector. Under the devolved system of government, the responsibilities of the county veterinary department include surveillance and control of notifiable livestock diseases; meat inspection; regulation of livestock movement through issuance of movement permits; and monitoring and regulation of the private animal health sector. Again, just like in other counties in northern and northeastern Kenya, the public animal health sector in Marsabit, either on its own or in conjunction with donor organizations, is often involved in delivery of animal health inputs and/or services to livestock producers. Beneficiaries in many of these cases are not charged for the inputs and services which are usually treated as a form of aid.Numerous challenges undermine the capacity of the Marsabit county veterinary department to perform its functions chief among them being inadequate staffing and lack of facilitation. At the time of this study, the department had a total of only 26 technical staff including five veterinary officers (four stationed in the sub-counties and one attached to a project), the veterinary director stationed at the county headquarters and 20 para-veterinarians) and was estimated to need six more animal health assistants. Due to lack of financial and other resources the department had been unable to mount a vaccination campaign in response to an outbreak of the lumpy skin disease that was ongoing. In addition, availability of transport to deliver staff to work in the field was often said to be a problem owing to pooling of vehicles at the county administration offices.Information from the veterinary department showed that the most common livestock diseases in the county include FMD, CBPP, congolensis dermatopholsis and lumpy skin disease for cattle; CCPP, neurosis, enterotoxaemia, goat and sheep pox and PPR for small ruminants; and thrips, haemorrygic septaecemia, camel pox, worms, external parasites, ercia (sudden death), orf, ring worms and mange for camels. It was however noted that vaccines for most of these diseases have been developed and can be used to mitigate the huge economic losses often occasioned by outbreaks. A good example of the potential impact of use of vaccines is in the prevention of CCPP where the cost of vaccinating an animal is about KES10 only. Vaccination should be performed twice a year bringing the total cost to KES20 per animal. In comparison treatment for the disease costs about KES600 for five animals excluding the cost associated with loss in condition among animals and the risk that a sick animal may die.A discussion with Marsabit county veterinary department officials revealed that transboundary diseases have increased in the recent past almost becoming annual cases mainly due to failure to impose quarantine when there is an outbreak. One highlighted reason for not imposing quarantine is livestock market closure resulting to lost revenue which is collected in form of various market and sale levies.Veterinary services offered by the county government are limited and insufficient. Producers mainly rely on indigenous knowledge to treat their animals. Survey results (Figure 11) reveal that; households get advice/information on veterinary input prices and vaccination campaigns from individual farmers (39.58% input prices and 30% vaccination campaigns), 31.25% for private vet service providers who disseminate information on vet input prices. Government vet providers and government extension providers also help disseminate information on vet input prices as well as animal vaccination campaigns. The private veterinary inputs and services sector comprises of private practitioners and agroveterinarian shop operators. Sidai-the leading agro-veterinarian input and service provider-has a franchise of 10 shops scattered in different locations (Shur, Turbi, Maikona, Korr, Laisamis, Sololo, Kalacha, North Horr, Mount Kulal and Logologo) across the county to build resilience of pastoralists against livestock diseases. Various agro-veterinarians together with Sidai fill the service gap of limited extension services. Some of the services they offer include; technical services to livestock producers, vaccination of animals, offer clinical services, conduct outreach programs to market the drugs, sell drugs over the counter and, training of organized groups and community disease reporters. Sidai has also partnered with the county government in procurement of livestock drugs that they use mainly for vaccination Like in other ASAL areas, providers of extension services in Marsabit mainly include the state and county departments of livestock and various NGOs that are active in the region.The capacity of the two governments departments to deliver extension services is however weak with staffing being the most limiting factor. The entire Marsabit county department of livestock for example has a total of only 15 technical staff (five in Moyale, four in Saku, four in North Horr and two in Laisamis) most of whom are stationed at sub-county headquarters as a strategy for coping with the problem of inadequate number of technical personnel. Other major challenges undermining the ability of the governments departments' livestock to deliver extension services include lack of facilitation to organize extension functions due to a lack of financial resources and skill gaps of the technical staff. To ameliorate the situation, staff at the livestock departments often liaise with NGOs to deliver extension messages and interventions to livestock producers in the grassroots when opportunities for such cooperation become available.To determine the effectiveness of extension in Marsabit county in reaching livestock producers, respondents during this study were asked whether they had received any extension advice or training during the last one year and if yes, who the provider was. Figure 12 presents the frequencies of the livestock producers who had received some extension advice and/or training during the period. The proportions of the livestock producers reached were rather low (9-26%). NGOs were the most frequently cited source of extension advice and training (26% and 18% of the producers, respectively) compared to government (15% and 18%, respectively). Other sources of extension advise including 'other livestock producers' and veterinary input and service providers accounted a sizable proportion of the producers who had received some extension advise (24%) compared to only a few of the producers who had received some training (1%). Essentially, these results demonstrate the wide gap that must be addressed in the delivery of advisory services to transform livestock production activities in Marsabit county.A key prerequisite in promoting commercialization of the livestock sector is the development of properly functioning markets that are transparent and competitive. The theory of competition assumes perfect information among both buyers and sellers. Findings during this study however suggest that this assumption is largely untrue in the case of the livestock sector in Marsabit. In the county, about half (50%) of the livestock producers surveyed during this study said that they were often uninformed about prevailing prices and the desired quality of animals by buyers in markets where they sell their livestock. Moreover, majority (80%) of those who claimed to be informed about the market conditions, cited other livestock producers who had recently visited the market(s) as their source of information (Table 21). An important challenge when producers rely on 'other livestock producers' as a source of market information is that messages passed across may be inaccurate or outdated. The tendency for pastoral livestock producers to be less informed about prevailing market conditions has also been reported by the LINKS project (MacOpiyo 2008 et al.) and Mukhebi (1999) and serves to increase transaction costs during livestock marketing. For example, during visits in livestock markets during the current study, cases were documented where attempts by pastoralists to sell animals were unsuccessful because the prevailing prices when they took the animals to the market were too low compared to the levels that they were anticipating based on the information they initially had. Rather than accept a low price some of the sellers opted to go back home with their animals which they then tried to sell at a later date at the same or a different market. When such a decision is made the seller incurs added costs of transporting the unsold livestock back home, transporting them again to the market and maintenance during the time the animals are in his custody.To improve the efficiency of livestock marketing activities in Marsabit and other pastoral areas there is need for a reliable livestock market information system. It is however important to note that there have been initiatives to set up livestock market information systems in pastoral areas in Kenya in the past. An example of these initiatives is the National Market Information System developed and operated by LINKS in conjunction with the Ministry of Livestock and KLMC and which is now dysfunctional. The problem with such project funded initiatives is that sustainability tends to be a challenge when the sponsoring project ends. A potential way of addressing this drawback is designing an information system that allows for entry and exit of sponsors with minimal disruptions and which should be hosted at a government ministry or an organization such as KLMC. Such a system could work closely with the LMAs in charge of managing livestock markets which could be used to collect the required market information for dissemination. However, as a stop gap measure before the setting up of the market information system, LMAs could be used to gather market information and disseminate it through billboards elected in livestock markets. The LINKs project used to display market information in Garissa and other livestock markets.Majority of livestock producers are subsistence oriented and with low market offtake. Households mainly sell animals based on the amount of money required to meet emergency needs like; food, school fees, medical expenses or when a baby is born. The low commercial orientation and low offtake even in times of drought is mainly attributed to: need-based selling behaviour of the pastoralists, low animal prices especially during draught, low level of education and lack of awareness of the business opportunity that exist while prices are good such that a producer can sell the animals when prices are good and restock after draught, producers are not willing to sell their good breeds since they are not sure of getting the same good breeds when they want to restock.Distance to the market also influences market participation by pastoralists where pastoralist living very far from the livestock markets participate less in livestock market. In most cases people, animals (shoats) and animal products (milk) are transported together.Source: AVCD LC Survey (2016)The lack of a market and market day in Moyale has left producers and traders to trade all over the Moyale market with reduced volume of animals traded daily. AVCD-LC project could however collaborate with KLMC, the county government and other development partners to strengthen efforts of relocating the livestock market back to Kenya and support formation of new LMA for Moyale livestock market and adoption of co-management model.Awareness creation among livestock producers by AVCD-LC project to encourage market offtake especially of the male animals leaving only a few in the stock is a critical intervention. Also, on market participation when prices are high and then bank the proceeds which can later be used to meet other family needs. Financial education and sensitization for pastoralists can increase market offtake and commercial orientation. The project could also link producers to the highend markets from where they can fetch higher prices. This is expected to increase market offtake and reduce conflict which mainly arise as pastoralist fight and compete for scarce resources.AVCD could support sale of young animals which can be piloted with a few livestock producers and livestock producer groups especially around fodder producing pockets and then link them to buyers. Support of exposure visits and training workshops is recommended.Financial services are not sufficient in the county. Actors in need of loan facilities are limited by lack of collateral, yet the sharia compliant loans are not available. For example, fodder traders and fodder producers expressed the desire to own a tractor since they are dependent on one government tractor which is not reliable. The survey established that Equity bank has recently been giving loans to different actors using feed the Hungry as guarantor. Although Safaricom and other mobile service providers have made efforts to enhance access to mobile network by subscribers, this is still a big challenge in Marsabit county. Access to mobile phone network is also another big challenge which has also impacted negatively on delivery of financial services. For example, most M-Pesa entrepreneurs are unable to operate due to network accessibility challenges since their clients are unable to access money in their mobile phones. If Safaricom and other network providers can enhance mobile network and agency banking services by installing more network boosters, this then can promote banking and money transfer services which is essential in livestock marketing. This would also mitigate the challenge of insecurity where traders risk carrying high/big amounts of money to the markets. With increasing number of people owning mobile phones in the county, this is an opportunity which AVCD-LC can seize and target to use for disseminating information (Extension messages, prices, disease outbreak etc.) It can also be used to promote use of agency banking and M-Pesa services.Notable is entrepreneurs in Moyale (Galmate Self Help Group) who are running a livestock lodge. This is a place where the animals stay/sleep over night. This group charges KES20 and 10 for cattle and shoats respectively. The holding capacity of this facility is 300 cattle and 220 shoats and in a day the facility serves about six clients who come from as far as Wajir and Ethiopia. This group is also selling water and fodder for the livestock. AVCD-LC project can support more such entrepreneurs and link fodder producers to such off-farm business opportunity to create market for their fodder. Such a facility which is highly needed by both livestock producers and traders to keep animals overnight as they await sale or transportation to terminal markets can be used as an avenue to deliver some services.Fodder is an important component in livestock value chain in Marsabit county following feed shortage and challenges facing livestock producers. Actors in the fodder value chain in Marsabit are; fodder seed sellers, fodder producers, traders, livestock producers, brokers, transporters and bailers. Most of the seed sellers double as fodder producers and seed producers who produce fodder but wait for seed production and harvesting before they can harvest their fodder. On the other hand, fodder producers either produce as individuals fodder producers or in groups. Group fodder producers are majority in Marsabit county (mainly to access donor funding either from development partners or from the county government).Fodder traders are either large scale trader or small-scale fodder traders. There are two large-scale fodder traders, one in Marsabit township and the other one in Sololo. They are viewed as the most powerful actors since they control fodder prices. The small-scale fodder traders mostly double as fodder producers and fodder traders. Most of them are found in Sololo, Kalacha and Marsabit town-ship. NGOs and development partners are supporting fodder production in the county for example in Kalacha, some fodder producers were given initial seeds by Solidarity NGO. In Hurri Hills and Chaldesa two fodder production plots have been funded by draught resilience and sustainable livelihood project. REGAL-AG has also funded construction of fodder stores for the two large scales fodder traders and are now supporting an individual fodder producer who intends to do animal fattening and finishing. There is great potential for fodder production in Marsabit county especially in specific pockets which receive higher amount of rainfall like Marsabit Township, Mount Kulal, Chaldesa and Hurri Hills and other pockets where irrigation is possible like Kalacha.The other important actors in fodder value chain are the livestock producers who are either individual pastoralists or livestock producers rearing dairy animals under zero grazing system (mainly dairy cattle and goats). Brokers are also starting to emerge in the fodder value chain. They are found between fodder producers and traders or between fodder producers and livestock producers.Transporters are necessary especially where farms are located away from the store since most stores are located near the producers' residence for security purpose. Bailers offer bailing services to fodder producers. It is mainly done by youth groups as well as individual entrepreneurs (like Pastor Muthaura). Other service providers include; the county government and NGOs who buy fodder and give it to livestock producers especially in times of drought (Emergency fodder).The fodder types produced are; the grasses, agroforestry trees and leguminous fodder. Different grasses are grown which include: Cenchrus ciliaris, boma Rhodes, Maasai love grass (Eragrostis superba), Nappier grass, Pokot grass and Sudan grass. The most commonly produced grass is Cenchrus sp a local variety which is liked by many animals and is most suitable for this area producing many light seeds. Together with Maasai love grass, Cenchus grass does best in Marsabit soils. The second most produced fodder grass is Boma rodhes. It has better quality seeds which are heavy with more biomass and the seeds fetch higher prices. On the other hand, Sudan grass has heavy seeds although it is not very nutritious to the animals. The commonly grown fodder trees in Marsabit are: Sesbania sesban, Calliandra, Lucina and Malberry. Other leguminous fodder produced include: Lucerne and Desmodium.The average acreage for groups producing fodder is 10 acres while a few individual fodder producers around Kalacha area are producing on half an acre of land. The most active fodder producers come from: Saku constituency in Marsabit central (Sagante and Karare); North Horr constituency (Bubisa, Hurii hills, Kalacha, Maikona); Moyale sub-county (Sololo -Ramata-Guleid farm, Uran, Sololo Makutano); Laisamis sub-county; (Mount Kulal, Ngurunit).The costs incurred when producing fodder are: costs for seeds which range between KES700-1,000 per kg. For example, requirements for one acre of land are: 4 kg of Cenchrus sp seeds; KES10,000 for land clearing in case of virgin land and zero if the land was previously cultivated (clean farm); KES2,000 for ploughing using a tractor and in-case harrowing is required KES1,000. Two people are needed during planting at the rate of KES500 each. No manure or fertilizer is applied during planting. In addition, labour required for weeding vary based on land condition. For example, a virgin land has more labour requirements than a previously cultivated land. One acre requires two people to weed about five times during the entire growing period and each person is paid KES500 per day each time. In case land is leased, the land rent is KES2,000 per year.Fodder harvesting is done twice a year. Early harvesting is done when a producer is not in need of seeds. But where seeds are needed late harvesting is done. Costs for harvesting and bailing fodder are KES100 for a 15-kg bail and KES200 for a 30-kg bail. On average 180-200 bails are harvested from one acre during the first harvest and 230-240 bails during the second harvesting.Harvesting can be done for about five years before replanting a fresh. The first three years are the most productive however manure can be used/ applied to boost productivity two years after planting. The Seeds harvested from one acre of cenchrus is between 50-100 kg seeds. Labour for harvesting seeds is about KES100 per kg.The selling price for 1 kg is KES700 when sold to farmers and KES1,000 per kilo when sold to the government or NGOs. On the other hand, producer price for a 15-kg machine bailed hay is KES300-400 during dry season. Fodder traders sell a 15-kg bail at KES450-500. In case of a wooden bailed bailer weighing 8 kg the price ranges between KES250-300 per bail.Discussions from the focus group discussion revealed that individual fodder producers are more persistent than fodder producers in groups. One major challenge that was raised by producers in a group was group management including decision making. Some of the challenges and hindrances to fodder production include: lack of storage facilities, lack of technical skills on fodder production (agronomic practices), lack of harvesting tools and equipment, lack of market for fodder and culture. In fact, some fodder producers were found to store their fodder on trees.Source: AVCD-LC Survey 2016Culture was found to influence the local people's preferences. For example, the locals prefer milk from local breeds than that produced by grade cattle which would increase demand for fodder claiming that milk from the latter has a characteristic smell. Another cultural belief is that animals should not be left to stay in one place for long hence the nomadic attribute of the pastoralists. Thirdly, they belief that grass is a public good 'nyasi ni ya kila mtu'. Important also is the communal land which limits fencing by individuals interested in fodder production yet it is critical to avoid invasion. Human wildlife conflict is common-wildlife especially the Elephant destroy growing or stored fodder and fodder trees.Training fodder producers on fodder agronomics practices and support sampled producers with harvesting and bailing equipment can help demonstrate best ways of producing and harvesting fodder. On the other hand, most fodder producers operate informally with no contracts with other value chain actors. There is need to strengthen the relationship between fodder/fodder seed producers and the county government (ministry of livestock) so that they can purchase emergency seed and fodder from county fodder producers.Exposure visits and training to both livestock producers and fodder producers would impact on them the basic skills needed to produce and conserve fodder. This would in future ease the burden of rangeland dependence and massive animal death especially during droughts. The county government should also consider organizing agricultural shows where different exhibitors can demonstrate technologies and innovations from which producers can learn from. Such platforms would be necessary for establishing linkages between different players including service providers like financial institutions. Another important service which would support fodder value chain actors is artificial insemination services, especially for dairy animals' producers who are important players in fodder value chain.   Each column, except the first one, scores the attributes of the matching column above in the previous table (1=low, 5=high). For the questions related to 'risk assessment' a negative score was provided **The same as the previous tableGarissa county covers an area of 44,174 km2 and borders the Republic of Somalia to the east, Lamu county to the south, Tana River county to the west, Isiolo county to the northwest and Wajir county to the north (Garissa County Development Profile 2013). The county is flat and low lying without hills, valleys and mountains. The major physical features are seasonal Laghas and the Tana River Basin on the western side. The River Tana has tremendous effect on the climate, settlement patterns and economic activities within the county. Principally, the county is semi-arid with an average rainfall of 275 mm per year. There are two rainy seasons: short rains (October-December), and long rains (March-May). Temperatures are generally high throughout the year averaging 360C.Given the arid nature of the county, there is great potential for expansion of agriculture through harnessing of Tana River and Laghas. The soils range from the sandstones, dark clays to alluvial soils along the Laghas, Tana River Basin and the Lorian swamp. White and red soils are found in Balambala Constituency where the terrain is relatively uneven and well drained. The soils have low water retention capacity but support vegetation. These soils have potential for farming. The rest of the county has sandy soils that support scattered shrubs and grasslands which are ideal for livestock production. The county's land is highly erodible.The county has seven sub-counties (Fafi, Garissa, Ijara, Lagdera, Balambala, Dadaab and Hulugho) with a total population of 700,050 consisting of 376,327 males and 323,723 females (Garissa county 2013). Land in the county is communally owned. It is held in trust for the community by Garissa county Government. Majority of the local communities in the county lives in informal settlements. The land use system is predominantly nomadic pastoralism. Much of the county's livestock population are indigenous sheep, goats and cattle, found in the southern parts which receive more rain while camels occupy the drier north.The total road network in the county is 1,804 km comprising 29.9 km of bitumen surface, 1,479 km of earth surface and 304 km of gravel surface. This means that most county roads are in poor conditions and impassable during rainy season. The county is served by three mobile phone service providers and twenty-two financial institutions including; eight commercial banks, thirteen village banks and one micro-finance institution. There are eight urban centres namely: Nanighi, Hulugho, Dadaab, Modogashe, Bura East, Balambala, Garissa township and Masalani township.Livestock contributes directly to the survival and livelihood of over 95% of the population in Garissa. Camels are the most important species, followed by cattle and then shoats. The livestock population is estimated at 1,104,184 beef cattle; 191 dairy cattle; 290,000 camels; 1.2 million goats; 900,000 sheep; 160,000 and 200,000 poultry (Naitos Golden Inspiration 2015a). Presently, households own fewer livestock on average estimated at 17.2 camels, 68.7 shoats, 38 cattle than they did before the 2010 drought (19.9 camels, 80.5 shoats and 63.4 cattle). Productivity is low with milk production averaging 1-1.5 litres daily in camels, 0.5 litres in the indigenous goats and 1-1.5 litres in cows. Producers in Garissa seem relatively more commercial oriented than other pastoralists with majority selling cattle when they have reached weight and age for the market or when the herd has become too big. Distress selling is however also common due to drought and diseases outbreaks.Garissa is part of the northeastern and Somalia stock routes which covers Somalia, Mandera and Wajir counties. It is also served with tarmac road that links to the main terminal markets in the country, i.e. Nairobi and Mombasa. Garissa livestock market, considered as the largest livestock market in East Africa, has the best infrastructure in the county with: loading rumps, separate sale yards for cattle, shoats and camels. It serves as a regional hub receiving livestock from primary markets within the county and from neighbouring counties (Mandera and Wajir). Garissa market receives more than 50% of cattle from Somalia. Fewer camels are brought to the Garissa market. Instead, many camels from Garissa are sold in Somalia where prices are higher due to the lucrative export market for camels the country has in the Middle East.In addition, there are 19 interior market centres located in different parts of the county. Most of the other markets lack adequate infrastructure for instance they have sale yards which combine all species of animals. Consequently, producers are left to depend on distant markets and those who cannot make to travel such distances are exposed to exploitation by middlemen. In addition, the livestock body condition is wasted when animals are trekked for long distances. While all markets in the county have LMAs in place, no livestock market is implementing the revenue sharing comanagement model.Notably, destinations for animals from Garissa county vary. Trekking is among the cheapest method of transport where on average a trekker is paid KES50-100 per cow depending on the distance covered. The costs for truckers range from KES200-270 and KES30 per cattle and per goat respectively, and KES4,500 for a truck load of goats. On the other hand, brokers are found in both primary and secondary markets. Those in Garissa market have negotiated for a flat rate of KES400, KES600 and KES100 per cow, camel and goat respectively. The purchase price of a cattle, camel, sheep or goat varies depending on the type of market (primary or secondary), on the condition of the animal, and on the period of the season, and occurrence or not of drought. On average the purchase price for a live cow and a shoat is KES32,000 and KES4,000 respectively. The sale price in end market is about KES35,150 and KES4,450 respectively. The butchers retail meat at KES340-1,000 per kg depending on the location of the butchery and whether it is meat from shoat or cow. Offal is retailed at KES150-200 per kg.In general goats fetch higher prices compared to sheep (Table 24). For instance, in 2015, the average price of a goat was around KES4,500 while a sheep was sold at KES2,500. This price differential reflects the preference of Kenyan consumers for goat meat. In 2010 drought year, pastoralists opted for destocking mainly cattle and sheep which are the most vulnerable species, and preferred keeping camels and goats. In general, 2010 livestock unit prices were far below the market prices of the following years due to the increase in the supply side and to the lower body conditions of animals. For 2016 and 2017, the expectations and planned annual volumes variations are positive especially for cattle and goats.With regard to policy and the legal framework for the livestock sector, policy formulation and enacting is a mandate of the national government as stipulated in the new Kenyan constitution. In the devolved governance system, county governments are at the nascent stages of development and are still grappling with the realities of devolution. Most of them are in the process of developing and implementing integrated frameworks for county developments. Efforts are being made to help the counties in domestication of some of the national level policies. Garissa stills lacking a sales yard bill that regulates the livestock market activities and its surrounding environment. Garissa county has a first Integrated Development Plan 2013 as a blue print for development priorities in the next five years. There are significant gaps in the access to inputs and delivery of animal health services to pastoralists. The Naitos Golden Inspiration (2015a) study showed that the majority (almost half of the respondents) of pastoralists, who have little or no skills at all in animal treatments, rely on themselves to treat their animals. The rest of the farmers either hire the services of the community animal health worker (CAHW) or invite a neighbour for help. Very few of them pay the services of trained animal health personnel. The low educational level of pastoralists, in addition to the lack of advice on the use of drugs, dosage, withdrawal periods and safe handling of drugs, result in high likelihood of misuse of drugs and consequently potential drug residues in animal products. Counterfeit drugs mainly smuggled from Somalia also constitute a serious issue affecting the efficacy of the treatment and distorting the market by reducing registered agroveterinarian shops incomes. These results highlight the gaps in animal health services delivery to pastoralists and suggest an entry point for government institutions, NGOs and development partners to tackle these issues.Livestock producers' access to drugs is not directly linked to the health service suppliers they are in touch with. In fact, agro-veterinarians are the main source of drugs for pastoralists. Livestock traders, CAHWs, and neighbours are at lower extent another source of animal drugs provision. Most livestock producers located in rural and remote areas are mainly served by agro-veterinarian fixed or mobile operators who buy drugs from the big agro-veterinarian shops in Garissa and then sell it to pastoralists.Drug handling and delivery is a serious issue especially for those drugs and vaccines who need to be refrigerated. A recent study by Waithanji et al. (2015) on the delivery of the CBPP vaccine in northeastern Kenya (Ijara-Garissa county) indicated the existence of a private public vaccine delivery hybrid model. The study revealed that the poor infrastructure and delivery mechanisms (bad road conditions, use of public transports to deliver the drugs, etc.) affect the cold chain which is frequently broken resulting in low efficiency of the vaccine. The authors also indicated that livestock producers are willing to pay a higher premium to access better quality and more efficient vaccines.Drug prices purchased form livestock traders or CAHWs are higher compared to those offered by agro-veterinarians. The total annual cost of treatment remains high, with the average cost for treatment per household estimated at KES10,318 for cattle, KES6,096 for shoats, KES10,667 for camels and KES1,000 for poultry. The county government is supplying free drugs and services to livestock producers but on the grassroots, the coverage is too low and irregular (Naitos Golden Inspiration 2015a). county or government supplies of free of charge drugs and vaccines, although desirable when sensitive disease outbreaks occur, generally distort the market and negatively affect the private sector activities and incomes. Moreover, investment by the private sector in delivery of services and inputs beyond the urban areas has remained unattractive due to factors including high delivery costs due to the vastness of the area and poor road infrastructure, livestock mobility, seasonality in demand, insecurity in some areas and generally harsh climatic conditions, etc. Consequently, producers lose a significant number of animals each year (on average, 4.3 cattle, 20.1 shoats, 2.6 camels per household) due to diseases. The reviewed literature highlights a number of diseases affecting livestock in Garissa county (Table 25). Worm loads and tick infestations are common diseases affecting the different livestock species. Other diseases are specie specific and could result in contagious effect and incur high animal mortalities. Aware about the economic and social importance of the livestock sector in the ASAL regions, the national government and the county government undertake regularly vaccination campaigns. In 2015, the veterinary department of Garissa county implemented the fifth vaccination campaign of livestock with an estimated budget of KES11 million. Over one million animals were vaccinated in five rounds. Livestock keepers were asked to pay small fees of KES2 per shoat, KES5 per cattle, and KES10 per camel head.Garissa is among few counties in Kenya that are equipped with a veterinary laboratory providing services for disease diagnostic, disease investigation and vaccine performance monitoring. The laboratory currently can only do tests for CCPP and to a limited level CBPP. Also, diagnosis for haemoparasites from blood smears. But, residue testing in animal products.Has not yet commenced. Better collaboration with the private sector and use of the laboratory installations will reduce the spread of diseases, improve livestock health in the county, and insure better quality and residues free products for the end consumers. AVCD LC can therefore partner with the county government and other development partners to improve this satellite laboratory.The economic theory highlights non-access to information among the drivers of markets inefficiency and imperfection. Lack of available, reliable and sustainable livestock market information system (LMIS) in developing countries is one of the major constraints affecting livestock marketing and trade. Livestock market information improves decision making of players in the value chain. In most cases livestock market information is skewed to traders disadvantaging other players in the chain (MacOpiyo 2008;Mukhebi 1999). This is the case in Garissa livestock markets, where traders and brokers have better access to information through their contacts and buyers in secondary and terminal markets. Broker's intervention in the transaction between livestock seller and buyer not only distort the prices, but also impede both parties to know the real price of the animal. A recent study by Mwanyumba et al. (2015) on pastoralists' livelihood in Garissa county, indicated that a high proportion of pastoralists (30%) visits the market to get information on market prices, others ask their neighbours (18%) or buyers (10%) and a minority (6%) decides the price on their own without outside information. The remaining pastoralists (around 33%) used a combination of these methods. These results highlight the gaps in producers' access to pastoralists and the needs for a reliable and updated source of information.The collection and dissemination of market price information bears a high cost and in pastoral areas the systems for its dissemination are often not good enough to reach the level of the producers (Naitos Golden Inspiration 2015a). Initiatives to collect and disseminate livestock market price information in the past have been directly donor-funded without inbuilt sustainability mechanisms hence they have deteriorated and vanished over time. In Kenya, a previous attempt to collect and disseminate livestock market information system called the 'Livestock Information Network and Knowledge System' (LINKS), was developed through donor funding and in collaboration between KLMC, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. The system collapsed few time after the program stopped.In Garissa county, has many livestock markets (primary and secondary). However, co-management model is not yet formalized. Of the KES290 loading fees collected per animal in Garissa livestock market only KES15 goes to the LMA while the rest goes to the county government. This comanagement model represents an opportunity for the development of LMIS. In fact, LMA management staff is able to collect data on livestock supply and prices by species during the market day. Other type of information related to livestock diseases, conflicts, range access and availability could also be collected. In the current AVCD-LC project, the LMIS is supposed to have a wider range covering at least the five project counties. Garissa pastoralists and other livestock value chain actors will benefit from the development of the LMIS. Moreover, tight collaboration with local radios, will allow better information dissemination and coverage in the remote areas of Garissa. The improvement of mobile network connection within the county is also an important driver for the dissemination of livestock market information through SMS. Value chain actors and stakeholders will be able to access timely and precise information by paying small fees (KES2 or KES3 by type of information required).There are various gaps impeding higher and more efficient commercial production in Garissa county. The first constraint relates to the absence of a clear and transparent livestock grading system which affects the provision of high quality animals to the markets. In fact, livestock producers are unable to categorize their animals into different grades (grade I, grade II, grade III, etc.) to fetch the corresponding price interval. Currently the 'eye ball valuation' of animals is done in small stock the brokers mainly assess the lumber region for meat coverage to inform the price decision. There is therefore no clear attributes and their corresponding levels that allow such classification. Kenyan livestock stakeholders can borrow from the existing Somali livestock grading scheme which relies on animal attributes such as sex, age, conformation, and body condition to categorize the animals. The Somali grading scheme segments small ruminants into four categories (Grade I, Grade II, Grade III, Local), cattle into 2 categories 'mature' (including 3 grades) and 'immature' (including 2 grades), and camels into 2 categories too: 'mature' (including 2 grades) and 'immature' (including 2 grades). The development and establishment of a recognized grading scheme will allow smallholder livestock producers to improve the quality of the animals sold to fetch higher prices. It will also provide the desired livestock market information system with more precise livestock prices correlated with the grade of the animal.The cross-borders livestock trade represents an opportunity for Garissa county to boost the demand and supply of animals from inside and outside Kenya placing Garissa livestock market as a regional hub. However, the informal and non-controlled cross-borders trade brings challenges in term of animal health and disease outbreaks. If the local authority does not take effective and efficient veterinary measures in controlling the flow of animals coming to Garissa from Somalia and Ethiopia (through Wajir and Mandera), the risk of outbreaks will remain very high and might result in the shutdown of livestock markets and trade in Garissa. In its Vision 2030, the Government of Kenya aims to establish four disease-free zones. The first being at the Coast, covering the counties of Kwale, Mombasa, Kilifi, Tana River, Lamu and parts of Taita-Taveta. The other three zones will be established in the Laikipia-Isiolo complex, Uasin Gishu and Garissa Counties. None of these have been completed yet (International Development 2014). The establishment of these diseasefree zones will ease the exports of meat to the Middle East and Europe (although Kenya is a meat deficit country). More importantly it will improve the animal health status in the county but will also increase the transaction costs for doing livestock business, and will increase meat prices.The poor condition of the roads within the county is another constraint for commercial production. It increases transport costs and restrict smallholders' access to secondary and primary livestock markets. Mwanyumba et al. (2015) mentioned that high transport and labour costs are among the main marketing constraints faced by pastoralists in Garissa. The authors also highlighted the lack of or inadequate water and forage along the way. There is no direct trade, no verbal or written agreements between livestock producers and private slaughterhouses and meat processors in Nairobi, or fattening ranches in Mombasa and the coastal region. A recent study conducted few months ago by ILRI-KLMC assessing the LMAs in Garissa county, showed that livestock producers were more present in the LMA composition in the primary livestock markets (like Balambala), while the biggest secondary markets (Garissa and Bura) are mainly controlled by traders and brokers. These facts show the limited access to and control for livestock producers over the main livestock markets in the county.The national government and the Garissa county government are putting in place infrastructural development initiatives which include the construction of an export abattoir, a tannery, and two camel milk processing units, however none of these interventions have been completed. These investments once finalized, will create new jobs especially in the peri-urban areas of Garissa city and the other major towns in the county. The construction of the export abattoir will provide direct jobs to the persons who will be employed by the abattoir (manager, slaughter men/women, flayers, lab technicians, veterinarians, unskilled workers, etc.), and will also create indirect jobs like livestock transporters, meat transporters, food and tea service providers, etc.The tannery will provide direct jobs for skilled (manager, accountant, textile engineer, technicians, etc.) and unskilled workers. It will also create additional jobs in the hides and skins value chain including hides and skins collection (collectors), wholesaling, transportation, etc. The tannery will mainly source its raw material from the export abattoir, and the butcheries and abattoirs within the major towns. Slaughter slabs will also be targeted as source of hides and skins. The development of the hides and skins value chain will provide jobs for women, who could be involved in hides and skins salting and drying, and youth who could be involved in the collection and transport of the hides and skins. The most important threat/constraint to take into account is that the value chain will be highly interrelated with the export abattoir performance.Camel milk demand in Garissa is increasing and the few shops around the city are not able to fulfil the demand, especially during Ramadan and festive seasons. One of the camel dairy shops' owner interviewed indicated he has two main clients: consumers buying fresh or fermented (sour) camel milk from his outlet, and hotels to whom he delivers the milk. He mentioned that very frequently during the dry season (June-September) he is not able to meet the demand and has to compromise on the delivery for hotels and restaurants. Prices also increase by 25% in comparison with the wet season. Camel milk collection is very challenging with large producers being located far from the urban centres. Young people could be involved in the booming business of camel milk collection. The local small processors are trying to get health and product certification from the Kenya Bureau of Standards to sell their products in Nairobi in supermarkets and delicatessen shops, if it happens, this will require transport logistics where young persons could be involved.Communal grazing is common in Garissa county just like many other ASAL counties. Inadequate pasture and water scarcity are among the challenges affecting livestock value chain. Community grazing management committees help in management of grazing land such that, the grazing plan is scheduled in a way that during the dry season animals move to the delta in Garsen. But, when the drought is prolonged animals move across the border to Taita-Taveta county while others move to Somalia leaving behind the remnant herd (lactating and in-calf animals and calves). In fact, about 90% of pastoralists depend on pasture grass. Costs incurred when animals migrate during drought include: KES18,000 for leasing pasture land, KES7,450 for herdsmen, KES5,300 miscellaneous costs while KES2,000-6,000 being costs for buying fodder for the remnant animals.Fodder value chain actors mainly comprise of: Fodder producers operating as individuals or in groups who produce fodder under rain fed or irrigated. The cost for irrigated fodder is about KES270-305 per bail. Some of the constraints facing fodder producers include: Lack of a ready market, lack of storage facilities, high cost of producing irrigated fodder, lack of storage facilities and lack of bailing equipment. Some fodder producers use bailing boxes of 15 kg or 25 kg while other store it as loose hay. In fact, there are no bailing machines in the whole county. Invasion by wild livestock and animals is also common. Access to pasture seeds and culture also influence greatly fodder production. AVCD-LC project can therefore support fodder seed production by both groups and individual fodder producers. Moreover, sampled fodder producers can be supported with fodder harvesting and bailing tools and equipment. This same category can be trained on agronomic practices of fodder production as well as fodder harvesting and storage techniques. The trained producers can then be tasked to train the other fodder producers.Even though Garissa county has great potential for fodder production especially along riverine of Tana, there is limited exploitation of this potential. Fodder production and conservation across the county is an opportunity if exploited can be used as strategic feed reserve for use during the dry season. Very few (10%) pastoralist produce and conserve fodder mainly due to high cost of irrigation, limited storage facilities, lack of finances among others. However, efforts to promote market value of produced animals through integration of fodder are underway. For example, Africa Development Solutions (Adeso) in collaboration with KALRO had plans to put up feedlots, unfortunately the project was terminated. AVCD-LC can collaborate with Adeso to scale up fodder production especially in pockets where fodder production is feasible.The commonly grown fodder in Garissa county is: Sudan grass, Cenchrus ciliaris and Rhodes grasses which are preferred due to their superior water-use efficiency under limited soil moisture content, fast germination rates, deeper and extensive rooting systems, high biomass and crude protein. Other types include: Eragrostis superba and Napier grass. Notable is the scarcity of fodder seeds. AVCD-LC project should also support production of fodder seeds through training interested new and existing fodder producers in the county. Priority should be given on local draught resistant varieties which are high producing. In addition, the project can support the existing groups to strengthen their organizational structure in order to effectively manage and monitor the business enterprise and facilitate linkages between the groups and the service providers like; input suppliers, financial institutions and also link the fodder producing groups to the market.Livestock producers and livestock traders play an important role in fodder value chain. They provide market for Fodder. During market days fodder is largely traded to the tune of 10-15 lorries for each market day. In fact, about 300 bales of fodder are traded every market day in Garissa livestock market which is the largest in the county. Sometimes livestock producers buy standing fodder at KES200 per 10 square metres and they have a high preference for green fodder since pastoralist belief dry fodder has lost its nutritive value. On the other hand, fodder traders in Garissa county are mainly women groups who buy fodder at a wholesale price of KES200 per bale which they later sell at KES250-350 per 15 kg bale. At times the price can be as high as KES400 per bale during drought and as low as 200 in non-drought years. AVCD-LC should therefore support fodder commercialization model of both group and individual fodder producers for especially women and youth So that they can take up fodder production as a business enterprise producing in bulk so as to enjoy the economies of scale. Unfortunate, very few women who bring fodder to the market own Farms. They go into other people's farm and beg to harvest the grass. Some pay for it, others don't. Fodder production can be approach from traders with farms who are interested in fattening of animals.Transporters are also useful, they are hired by fodder producers or fodder traders to transport fodder to the end users or to the market. Bailers mainly use wooden boxes and the cost involves hiring about six men paid KES300 per day to make 40 bales. They however lack bailing equipment, therefore the youth can be targeted and supported to offer fodder bailing services as a business to support the fodder value chain.Table 26 summarizes a selection of best-bet interventions that could be implemented in Garissa county through AVCD-LC project activities and in collaboration with different partners. The scoring of these interventions is reported in Table 27. Scores were allocated in a range from 1 (low) to 5 (high) for the 'positive' attributes. For the 'negative' attributes related to risk assessment a negative sign was added to the score. An overall score was then computed as the total sum of these individual scores. We opted to provide equal weight to each attribute. A total of 6 possible interventions were identified: i. Fodder and fodder seeds production; ii. Livestock vaccination; iii. Development and implementation of a livestock market information system (LIMS); iv. Development and implementation of a livestock grading system; v. Promotion of livestock insurance uptake; and vi. Supporting the co-management model and upgrading the LMAs. The comparison of overall scores shows that the development and implementation of livestock grading scheme was ranked first, followed by the promotion of livestock insurance uptake by pastoralists. The remaining three proposed interventions have almost similar scores, but some variation is observed in terms of their sustainability.  Although the county is one of the largest in Kenya, 68.680 km2, it is rated as semi-arid (19%), arid (42%) or very arid (38%) (County government of Turkana 2013). The county receives very erratic rainfall of between 150 mm and 400mm annually with an average precipitation of 250 mm. Temperatures ranges between 20-410C, with an average of 30.50C. As a result of this low rainfall and high temperatures experienced in the county, Turkana residents face persistent threat of starvation and lack of water for both people and livestock.The population is 855,399 people: male (52%) and female (48%) (KNBS 2009) with the dominant community being the Turkana people who is the second largest community after the Maasai in Kenya. Several other tribes have settled in the county such as El Molo people who live on the southern shores of Lake Turkana. It is believed to be the cradle of humanity with the discovery of 'Turkana boy' 1.6 million years ago.Livestock farming is the main economic activity as presented in Figure 13 below. However, there is also fair level of basket weaving especially among women in Lodwar and other urban centres. Fish farming and trade is practiced in Lake Turkana primarily by El Molo people (CRA 2011). The main land use system is nomadic pastoralism and livestock kept are; cattle, donkeys, camels and goats. These animals are the main source of food and wealth of the households. Notable is recent establishment of irrigation schemes for crop production along Kerio and Turkwel rivers. The county is low lying with open plains, mountain ranges and river drainage patterns and is endowed with the world's largest desert lake: Lake Turkana. Rivers found in the county include: Tarach, Kerio, Kalapata, Malimalite and Turkwel giving the county great potential of producing large amounts of food, if properly utilized. Recently, commercially viable oil has been discovered in Ngamia 1 by Tullow oil (CRA 2011).Soils in Turkana county are not well developed due to aridity and constant erosion by water and wind, often they are capped by stone mantles. Colluvial soils tend to be reddish over the basement system and generally grey buff or white over the volcanoes. Aeolian soils are dune sands either active or fossil; Alluvial soils range from coarse sands to flash flood silts, while black or brown clays occur locally in areas of impended drainage. Due to the low rainfall and high temperatures there is a lot of evapo-transpiration resulting into deposition of salt in the soil and capping on the surface. As a result, only about 30% of the county's soil can be rated as moderately suitable for agricultural production.Road network in the county is appalling. The main roads (from Kainuk to Lodwar and the Lodwar to Lokichoggio) are in poor state. Feeder roads are also dilapidated causing movement of people and goods difficult especially during the rainy season. The county has got one airport and 22 airstrips spread across the county which are not well developed.National electricity grid is connected only to one shopping centre, Kainuk. Unreliable Kenya Power Company diesel generators are used to generate and distribute power in Lodwar town (Turkana county Development Plan 2015). The available financial institutions are concentrated within one central place -Lodwar. They include; three commercial banks (Kenya Commercial Bank, Equity Bank and Post Bank) and several micro finances serving the local residents, including the Kenya Women Financial Trust, Kadet Micro-Finance, Elimu Sacco and Turkana Teachers Sacco. This leads to low savings rate, low borrowing and slow uptake of investment opportunities within the county. In addition, three mobile companies are found in the county.With regard to policy and legal framework for the livestock sector, policy formulation and enacting is a mandate of the national government. In the devolved governance system, county governments are at the nascent stages of development and are still grappling with the realities of devolution. Most of them are in the process of developing and implementing integrated frameworks for county developments. Efforts are being made to help the counties in domestication of some of the national level policies. Turkana county has now a second annual development plan 2015/2016 to guide the county development agenda. They also developed a County integrated development plan (county government of Garissa 2013) as a blue print for development priorities in the next five years.The species of animals kept include small ruminants (sheep: 931,323 and goats: 2,619,323), cattle: 89,832 and camels: 175,851 as indicated in Figure 14 below. The system of production is mainly pastoral exhibiting both 'boom and burst' cycles (livestock population builds up and bursts from various weather facts-draught and natural disasters). As a result, most pastoralists are either moving away, branching out, hanging in, or stepping up based on degree of vulnerability and resilience status. Meat goat value chain is considered as the high priority value chain in the county. The numbers of livestock kept (especially cattle) seem to be on a downward trend. This reflects the impact of external shocks such as droughts and diseases and presents a value chain that is constrained by low local supply especially for cattle and heavily dependent on livestock flowing in from other counties and countries. The breeds of animals kept are indigenous types and often tend to be of low genetic potential. For instance, the Small East African Goat, though well adapted for ASAL areas has a very low production potential with regard to milk and carcass outputs. Likewise, the breed of camels kept, that is the Turkana camel, is also a low milk producer compared to the Somali and Pakistan camels. . The catchment areas are; West Pokot, Baringo, Marakwet and extending beyond the national boundaries into Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Uganda. The county is well positioned for both aggregation and transit area between Kenya and vast pastoral areas of South Sudan. Livestock from the county is traded in primary markets, secondary markets and end markets (Nairobi, Eldoret and Nakuru for cattle). The trend of cattle sales during the period 2010-2015 shows a stagnation of the number of cattle sold varying between 7,000 and 7,600 heads/year (Table 28). However, average unit prices of cattle significantly increased during the same period (+79%) which indicates a high demand for beef meat in and outside the region. Goats are generally preferred to sheep and fetch slightly a higher price (10-15% more) in the markets. In 2015, camel sales witnessed the highest increase in sales volumes during the period 2010-2015 with 69% more animals sold in comparison with the year 2011 (lowest transactions recorded). Bett et al. (2009) in their study in Turkana county, found that of the livestock species kept, goats and camels were always ranked as the most important species for a family's survival. In order of importance, the participants ranked the benefits of keeping goats as food, dowry and money. Camels were mainly kept for food (milk, blood and rarely meat) and paying dowry. The authors concluded that interventions targeted at improving the productivity of goats and camels would have the greatest immediate positive impact on the livelihoods of the Turkana pastoralists. The data presented in Table 28 confirm that the preference for camels and goats (higher prices compared to the other large/small ruminants, and increasing sales volumes) still holding. The numbers reported in Table 28 correspond to average estimates of livestock species prices sold in Turkana county without taking into account the type of market where the animals are sold, neither the seasonality of the demand and the supply. Table 29 below, includes the average price information for primary, secondary and end markets.The average live animal prices within the county are; KES13,000-30,000 for cattle, KES1300-6,000 for goats, KES1,200-5,000 for sheep and KES15,000-40,000 for camels. The prices vary greatly based on the size of the animal and the market site. Accordingly, prices for meat vary with between the four animals: beef KES360-400/kg, mutton/chevon KES300-520/kg and KES360-400 for camel meat. The highest prices being in Lodwar, Kakuma and Lokichoggio. The number of sheep and goats supplied to Nairobi from Turkana has however been on a downward trend and is currently estimated to be one to two truckloads of 250-350 shoats per week. Reasons for this decline include rising demand in the neighbouring towns of Kitale, Eldoret and Nakuru; high cost of transportation (KES80,000 to 100,000 per truck load of 250-350 goats or 35-40 cattle); and increased demand for livestock products in Turkana due to factors including the Tullow oil project, a high refugee population in Kakuma and the devolution of government functions. On the other hand, prices for hides and skins are extremely low. The community also, trades less in hides and skins due to alternative uses (beddings) of these products. The average price for hides is KES500 and skins is KES50. However, a new JICA funded tannery in Lodwar town is expected to enhance trade of hides and skins and general leather development in the county.The livestock value chain in Turkana is characterized by huge gaps in accessibility of crucial support services by core actors. Animal health care and delivery and regulatory services are under the county directorates of veterinary services. Unfortunately, animal health services in the county are unavailable to most producers due to a number of factors including mobility of pastoralists with livestock, vastness of the area, harsh climatic conditions, poorly developed road and communication infrastructure, high poverty rates, and low educational level of pastoralists among others. Consequently, like in Garissa county, most pastoralists treat livestock themselves generating high chances of drug abuse and incorrect dosage leading to resistance of drugs and drug residues in livestock products. A lower proportion of pastoralists invite trained animal health personnel. While CAHWs are also a common source of animal health services for producers there is lack of a policy framework governing their training and practice.The reviewed literature highlights a number of diseases affecting livestock in Turkana county (Table 30). Worm loads and tick infestations are common diseases affecting the different livestock species. Other diseases are specie specific and could result in contagious effect and incur high animal mortalities. The geographical location of Turkana county which borders three countries (Ethiopia, Uganda and South Sudan) is an enabling factor for the widespread and endemicity of livestock diseases due to cross-border trade and uncontrolled livestock movements. Bett et al. (2009) found that livestock movements, limited access to veterinary services and sometimes insecurity, as being the main factors that contributed to the high prevalence and persistence of livestock diseases. Most of these diseases were contracted in the dry season grazing areas where many pastoralists congregated to use the available (but few) grazing and watering points. Other challenges in the delivery of animal health services in Turkana county include proliferation of fake drugs and quacks, selling of expired drugs, misuse and poor handling of drugs by pastoralists, drug handlers and CAHWs, high prices and irregularity in drugs supply. The capacity of the county department of vet services to perform its regulatory roles (meat inspection, issuing of animal movement permits, disease control including enforcing quarantines during disease outbreaks) is very limited mainly because of very low staffing, lack of effective infrastructure for delivery of services as well as resource limitations.Advisory services and market information are also often lacking for producers. The traditional extension system has proved ineffective in reaching producers due to understaffing, lack of financial resources to facilitate extension activities, mobility of pastoralists, low population densities within expansive areas and insecurity among other factors. Likewise, existing market information systems are ineffective in reaching producers leading to information asymmetry that leaves producers vulnerable to exploitation by traders. In addition, most of the market information collection and dissemination initiatives are supported by donor funding and, in many cases, are not sustainable after the exit of the donor funding.In Turkana county, there is high number of livestock markets-bush, primary and secondary (Watson and Binsbergen 2008) some of which are co-managed between the LMAs and the county government. Out of the 32 livestock markets, 27 of them have LMAs and 10 markets are implementing the revenue sharing model in the management of markets. In addition, nine markets have market monitors employed by CLMC (county Livestock Marketing Council) to collect and disseminate livestock market information to traders and livestock producers. As highlighted in the previous chapters, this co-management model represents an opportunity for the development of LMIS. In fact, LMA management staff are able to collect data on livestock supply and prices by species during the market day. Other type of information related to livestock diseases, conflicts, range access and availability could also be collected.There is also need for the Turkana CLMC to play a greater role in building capacity of LMAs and lobbying for improved enabling environment for livestock marketing. The current AVCD-LC project undertook a situational analysis of a representative sample of LMAs in the five study counties. A major challenge highlighted by all LMAs is the lack of external traders in the livestock market. LMAs should therefore be coached on market promotion, identification and adoption of an efficient security enhancement model to mitigate incidences of insecurity in the county. Other identified constraints are: Low management capacities and poor organizational and documentation practices of the LMAs. AVCD LC should support restructuring of KLMC, CLMCs and LMAs to enhance their capacity in livestock and fodder production and marketing.The gap between supply and demand of livestock products is reflected by high prices. For instance, the price of a mature goat in Lodwar and Kakuma is about KES6,000-8,000 which are comparable to prices in Nairobi. Due to poor roads, expansive land area and non-developed livestock markets in the interior, livestock marketing channels in Turkana are rather long with many intermediaries which increase transaction costs. It is estimated that an animal can change hands between four to five intermediaries before the main buyer in one market, leading to an increase in cost by KES1,000-1200 per animal. Livestock prices vary between rainy and dry seasons as well as by types of markets (primary, secondary and end markets) as previously indicated in Table 29.On the other hand, the co-management model implemented between the LMAs and Turkana county Government is not fully working. Field visits and interviews with key informant revealed that in many markets (especially the secondary markets like Lodwar) livestock traders and brokers are the ones with higher representation in the LMA officials and members. Livestock producers are almost absent from these associations. The stranglehold of mainly brokers on the LMAs is negatively affecting pastoralists by providing higher power to the former group. Actually, Turkana county government refuses to develop and signs the sales yard bill, till this monopolistic situation is not resolved. KLMC and its branch CLMC in Turkana have an important advocacy and awareness raising role to play to unlock the situation and ensure higher representation and weight is allocated to livestock producers in the LMAs management team and membership. The current situation discourages pastoralists to sell animals in the markets, even worsening the low off-take rate and decreasing potential amounts of cess collection for the county and the LMAs. Previous studies indicated that pastoralists sell their animals only on a need based behaviour.Turkana county has poor roads infrastructure which negatively affects the livestock sector and livestock marketing. The long road connection with end-markets in Nairobi increase the marketing costs through higher energy fuel transportation costs, road taxations, bribes, security costs (paid to government security staff), and decreasing livestock quality (non-existence of holding grounds, animal stress during transport, dehydration, etc.). Livestock traders and processors in Nairobi terminal markets take into account all these costs and constraints before making the decision to send trucks or not and buy animals from Turkana. To be competitive with livestock sources from other ASALs production areas, Turkana livestock traders and brokers would pay little money to the producers. Our observations reveal that it is not economically sustainable to sell Turkana livestock to end-markets in Nairobi. It is more attractive to first focus on the booming local market (raise of higher income consumers' category related to the oil industry, and those involved in the private sector), and on the regional markets (neighbouring countries and counties).Meat processing and value addition is lacking in Turkana county. Lomidat Slaughterhouse, a community management abattoir dealing with procurement and slaughtering, processing and marketing of meat (targeting both local and export markets), faces many challenges to source the raw material (livestock) form pastoralists and to market its product (meat) within and outside the county. The company is buying cattle and shoats on a weight basis which is supposed to favour producers. Our field visit and discussions with pastoralists revealed that the latter were complaining from the low prices/kg live weight offered by the company and delays in payment. These issues discouraged livestock producers to provide consistent livestock supply for the company which was turning far below its technical capacities inducing problems of fund liquidities. AVCD LC team discussions with Terra Nuova NGO staff, who was involved in the project, revealed that the company business plan initially developed was mainly based on the high demand of meat during the period of nineties and two-thousands in Turkana county mainly fuelled by the high number of South Sudan refugees and the national and expat staff working for the international relief organizations based in the county. The stabilization of the political situation in South Sudan and return of the refugees has negatively impacted the business of Lomidat. There is a need to review the business plan and revive the company that represents an asset for the community and a market source for pastoralists. Buying on live animal weight, if it works, could be seen as a novel way of marketing that could encourage other livestock markets in the region to adopt this modelPerformance of rural and urban based economic activities in Kenya has remained low with weak linkage between the urban incomes and performance of the rural economy. Turkana county is not an exemption, investments in peri-urban business enterprises is low. One major hindrance especially to private investors is insecurity common in the county (livestock rustling and banditry activities). Such hostile territories are barriers to effective trade in live animals and for private investment in other economic activities. Mobile cash transfer should be promoted by creating strong linkages between mobile phone service providers and banking agency products so as to upgrade mobile phone network access in the area. The AVCD-LC project can, therefore, support the establishment of such linkages and the acquisition of business development skills, especially for women and young people in alternative economic activities, such as the food, clothing, agriculturalrelated input (veterinary and other agro-input services) sectors. Private investment in weighing scales by especially the women and young people could be supported.AVCD-LC can also support processing and marketing of hides and skins especially by working with the already existing groups in Lokori, Lokichar and Eliye Springs. This will create employment to the many jobless individuals in the county. Impacting business development skills on hides and skins will enhance trade in hides and skins. Training should also be offered to flayers, selectors, graders, traders and rural tannery units so as to increase the quality of hides and skins traded which are likely to fetch better/ higher prices. Linkages with the end market like Bata Shoes Company among others can promote hides and skins business in the county. The public awareness of a few private investors could be raised to stock industrial salt used in processing of hides and skins.Fish farming is common in the county especially in Lake Turkana. Targeted business development skills especially in line with: fish farming, harvesting, processing, preservation and trade for women and young people would increase the income sources available to this category of people. In addition, a few livestock lodges could be piloted in the county especially around the livestock markets.Livestock feed is a big challenge in Turkana county for the livestock value chain especially during drought years. Unfortunately, fodder producers in Turkana lack a business model for commercialization which has contributed to low fodder production, conservation and marketing in the county. Efforts to promote irrigated fodder production have begun championed by the county government, NGOs and other development partners. For example, Turkwel fodder production group is supported by the Catholic diocese. They are producing foxtail grass on two acres of irrigated land. However, most livestock producers depend on natural pasture land but they also demand fodder for their remnant stock which are grazed around the Manyattas. Some producers harvest acacia pods to feed the animals during the dry spell.Although locally produced fodder is scarce in Turkana county, a few people are growing fodder in through enclosures which serve as feed reserves during the dry periods (Lugusaet al. 2016).Great potential for fodder production exists especially along Turkwel and Kerio rivers and with the discovered underground water in Lotikipi plain which could be tapped for fodder production. However, AVCD-LC could support fodder production in the county by training the crop producers to integrate fodder in their cropping program and to also expand irrigated land so as to accommodate fodder production. The crop producers should also be trained on fodder conservation such that they can be able to bail and conserve the crop residues which can be used during drought. The project together with the county government could support reseeding of grazing land/ reserves especially in strategic identified sites mentioned above. Some of the grass species that could be used include Cenchrus ciliaris and others that are adapted to the prevailing climatic conditions.The majority of livestock producers in Turkana county rely on communal land for grazing their animals with about 70% of them grazing their remnant herd around Manyattas, 16.7% buy feed while 10% graze on leased land with only 3.3% purchasing hay (Naitos Golden Inspiration 2015b).On average a bale of hay costs KES500, a price perceived to be a bit high by some (12.9%) livestock producers. Much of this fodder comes from the neighbouring counties like Trans Nzoia. However, locally produced fodder is much cheaper. For example, the Turkwel fodder production group sells to Turkana catholic diocese at KES250 per bail.The main challenge facing fodder producers is lack of harvesting and bailing equipment. On the other hand, the few fodder producers in the county have limited skills on fodder agronomic and conservation practices. AVCD-LC could, therefore, partner with other development partners to promote fodder and fodder seed production by such groups and by individual fodder producers. Some of the interventions of the program could be training on agronomic practices, bailing, conservation and storage techniques. Business development skills could also be impacted on women on fodder production, while the young people could be a good target for fodder bailing enterprises.In addition, AVCD-LC can partner with Lodwar Catholic diocese who are implementing a successful model where they breed local mixed breeds with Galla goats having two objectives in mind: to breed a bigger goat with a bigger frame and higher weight than the local mixed breed and secondly breed a higher milk producing breed to increase the potential for milk production.The diocese supports 56 goat groups with 30 members each. The groups receive improved Galla bucks, which rotate inside the groups, each member keeps the buck for 15 days. They are required to select the best does and mate them with the buck. Fodder producers could, therefore, be supported and trained around the dairy goat farming groups to create fodder market for themselves and others. This model could be scaled up with a few sampled individual producers who could be supported with initial improved goat breeds coupled with fodder production.  32. Scores were allocated in a range from 1 (low) to 5 (high) for the 'positive' attributes. For the 'negative' attributes related to risk assessment a negative sign was added to the score. An overall score was then computed as the total sum of these individual scores. We opted to provide equal weight to each attribute. A total of 6 possible interventions were identified: i. hides and skins processing and business development skills coupled with better nutrition campaigns; ii. Development and implementation of a livestock market information system (LIMS); iii. Livestock breed improvement and disease control; iv. Development and implementation of a livestock grading system; v. promotion of livestock insurance uptake; and vi. Supporting the co-management model and upgrading the LMAs.The comparison of overall scores shows that there are no large differences between the proposed activities. The livestock grading scheme was ranked first, followed by the hides and skins processing and business development skills, coupled with better nutrition campaigns. The development of a market information system was ranked third, while the remaining interventions received almost the same scores.   The county is featureless plain with seasonal river and Lake: Ewaso Nyiro and Yahud respectively. It has seasonal swamps and drainage lines which serve as grazing zones during the dry season and are used for cultivation during the rainy seasons. Sedimentary rocks are common in the county and loamy soils in the north. Ground water is the main source of water harvested mainly from: numerous wells, earth pans, dams and boreholes. The county has mineral resources like limestone and sand and has great potential for solar and wind energy.Like other counties in northern Kenya, Wajir is predominantly arid and nomadic pastoralism is the main source of livelihood accounting for over 70% of incomes and employing over 65% labour force. Livestock production is not market oriented but rather animals are kept for different needs including food, income when need arises, social cultural needs and insurance or banks. Consequently, animal offtake tends to be very low leading to poor supply to the markets. On the other hand, there is very heavy loss of animals during droughts. Currently, producers have not yet recovered herds lost during the 2010 drought and there is a high possibility of herds of large ruminants to continue declining due to commercialization pressure and potential losses due to external shocks. There is also some gradual moving away from cattle keeping to more shoats. Camels are also highly preferred due to the high prices they fetch, use to pay dowry and tolerance to drought with the Somali breed being dominant Like in any other pastoral community, poverty is typically associated with stockless pastoralists.Wajir lies on the northeastern livestock trade route (Somalia, Wajir, Mandera, Garissa) that supplies a large proportion of livestock to the terminal markets in Kenya (Nairobi, Mombasa and Coastal ranches). There are two main secondary markets in Wajir county: Habaswein and Wajir. The infrastructure of these two markets is relatively better developed that includes a sale yard, loading rumps and toilets which have been installed through donor support. During our field visit to Wajir market, we noticed a lack of maintenance of the market facilities and infrastructure. The toilets were closed and not working, water which is an important source for both humans and animals was not supplied (a camel producer attending the market, was getting water from neighbours to water his animal), shades for sellers and buyers were not well designed, market gate was broken, etc. Livestock received in Wajir and Habaswein markets comes from primary markets within the county and the neighbouring counties like Mandera and Marsabit also from neighbouring countries, Ethiopia and Somalia. Most of these animals are sold in Nairobi, Mwingi, Thika, Garissa and Mombasa (Naitos Golden Inspiration 2015c).The primary interior markets are spread within the county and they include: Griftu, Eldas, Bute, Tarbaj, Kotulo and Sebuli. All the primary markets operate on a daily basis, supplying livestock to the two major secondary markets. These markets do not have adequate infrastructure except Bute, Eldas and Kuturo which have sale yards and loading rumps constructed through donor support. In such markets with no market infrastructure, livestock trading take place under a tree, in the grazing areas or watering points.While vibrant interior markets can increase uninterrupted market participation of livestock producers especially by eliminating the brokers-who take advantage of the distances to exploit producers-and reduce other en-route charges. These benefits have not been tapped effectively in Wajir due to inadequate or lacking infrastructure in these bush and primary markets. These leaves producers with less/no alternatives, either to depend on distant markets (Wajir and Habaswein) and those who cannot make it to the distant markets are exposed to exploitation by middlemen.Besides the livestock body condition is wasted when trekked for long distances.On the other hand, co-management model has been adopted in Wajir county though its implementation is variable in different parts of the county. LMAs are operating in the two secondary markets and some of the primary markets, but cess revenue sharing is not yet implemented because of the reluctance of Wajir county government. LMAs have been trained in Wajir and Habaswein markets to facilitate market governance, maintenance of market infrastructure and oversee general operations of the markets. In addition, the two markets have market monitors, employed by CLMC to collect and disseminate livestock market information to traders and livestock producers. Regarding livestock markets in Wajir county, establishment and management of livestock markets is the sole mandate of the county government.Somalia and Ethiopia have a lucrative export market for camels in Middle East which pulls the flow of camels from Wajir to Ethiopia or Mogadishu. The large number of camels in the county offers a high milk production potential with an estimated 8,000-13000 litres of milk sold in Wajir town.The 2010 drought has drastically impacted the number of livestock traded within the county and affected prices which were more than 50% lower compared to 2011-2015 prices (Table 33). For instance, a sheep, which is less resistant to heat and drought compared to a goat, was sold at an average price of KES830 in 2010. The following year its average price doubled. Although there exists a tendency of pastoralists to shift from cattle production to camels and goats (more heat and drought tolerant), cattle sales have increased during the 2011-2015 period form KES15,000 to more than KES35,000 reflecting the increased demand of beef meat in the county and mainly in the surrounding counties and terminal markets like Nairobi and Mombasa. In 2015, cattle sales (value) overtook those of camels. As in the case of other Kenyan ASALs counties (Garissa, Turkana, Marsabit, etc.), livestock value chain in Wajir is characterized by deficiencies in the delivery of animal health services and veterinary products and drugs (Naitos Golden Inspiration 2015c). These drawbacks are mainly due to poor roads infrastructure, vastness of the area, livestock mobility, seasonality in the number of animal to diseases, harsh climatic conditions, etc. Cross-border trade is another constraining factor, where livestock are informally imported/exported from/to neighbouring countries (Ethiopia and Somalia) with absence of veterinary controls and health certification.Similar to the Garissa county animal health situation, the majority of pastoralists, who have little or no skills at all in animal treatments, rely on themselves to treat their animals. The rest of the farmers either hire the services of the CAHW or invite a neighbour for help. Very few of them pay the services of trained animal health personnel. The low educational level of pastoralists, in addition to the lack of advice on the use of drugs, dosage, withdrawal periods and safe handling of drugs, result in high likelihood of misuse of drugs and consequently potential drug residues in animal products. Counterfeit drugs mainly smuggled from Somalia also constitute a serious issue affecting the efficacy of the treatment and distorting the market by reducing registered agroveterinarian shops incomes. In a previous study (Naitos Golden Inspiration 2015c) the results from a household survey in Wajir county indicated that on average 7.8 cattle, 18.1 shoats, 2.8 camels and 3.4 poultry had died per household in the last 12 months due to diseases. The treatment costs are KES989.8 for cattle, KES2,538.6 for shoats, KES2,975.8 for camels and KES55.4 for poultry per year (Naitos Golden Inspiration 2015c).The AVCD-LC animal health team organized few months ago various focus-group discussions (FGDs) in different villages in Wajir county. The FGDs included the participation of livestock producers, livestock traders, CAHWs and county veterinary officers. The main objective of these FGDs was to identify and rank the most important livestock diseases in the region in terms of their impacts on pastoralists' livelihood (Table 34). Trypanosomiasis, Haemorrhagic septicaemia and sudden death are the most important and first ranked camels' diseases by livestock producing communities in Wajir. During AVCD survey team field visit in February 2016 an unknown disease was detected as affecting the camels in the region. The symptoms of the disease appear few days before the death of the animal. A high number of camel losses was reported due to this unknown disease. county veterinary officers as well as the Nairobi national veterinary services collected blood as well as meat samples from the disease dead camels for analysis. The veterinary technicians/scientists were not able to identify the causes of the disease, and few months later, the disease disappeared. The same situation was reported years ago (around 2007) and the disease disappeared without any results from the veterinary services (Naitos Golden Inspiration 2015c). These recent and past incidences provide an overview of the low animal health services efficiencies in the region. For cattle, the most important diseases highlighted by the participants were FMD, anthrax and lumpy skin. For small ruminants, PPR, CCPP and sheep and goat pox were the most important diseases reported during the FGDs.Like in other ASALs areas, advisory services and market information are also often lacking for producers. The traditional extension system has proved ineffective in reaching producers due to understaffing, lack of financial resources to facilitate extension activities, mobility of pastoralists, low population densities within expansive areas and insecurity among other factors.The devolution system is supposed to provide county government's higher autonomy and the sovereignty to decide on the allocation of the devolved funds. Although pastoralism is the main livelihood of the ASALs populations in Kenya (more than 70% of the population is directly or indirectly involved in livestock activities), the recent figures indicated that counties' investment and budgets allocations for the livestock sub-sector (including staff salaries) where ranging between 1% and 3.5% of the total budget, which is very low (these figures are lower compared to previous, before devolution, national/central government budgets allocations for the sub-sector). Likewise, existing market information systems are ineffective in reaching producers leading to information asymmetry that leaves producers vulnerable to exploitation by traders.As discussed in the previous sections of this report, the co-management model represents an opportunity for the development and implementation of a market information system. LMAs through their livestock markets management have access to information and data on the number of animal species sold per market day, the prices per species, the type of actors involved, the animal health status and disease occurrence, etc. Although the current AVCD-LC project target to develop a livestock market information system (LMIS) which covers the five targeted counties, we think it is possible for each county to develop its own local LMIS (probably less complex compared to the project system), by collating daily/weekly information from the existing LMAs, and then disseminating this information to the different livestock value chain actors through the use of local radios programs and also by developing a small market research and intelligence team that could be reached by calling a hotline number (with a slightly higher fee to pay for the costs incurred to collect the information and to pay the phone operators). The information provided by the market research team/office could include daily/weekly livestock prices (by species, by grade, by livestock market, etc.), number of animals sold (by specie, by livestock market), number of animals supplied (by specie, by livestock market), livestock apparent or detected diseases (by species, by livestock market), presence/attendance of agro-veterinarians and mobile drug sellers, etc. The improvement of mobile network infrastructure and coverage during the last decade provides an enabling environment to implement such market information system.As in the case of the other counties, the absence of a clear and transparent livestock grading system represents an important constraint for animal marketing. Animals delivered to the market are generally too old, which has implications on meat quality, or too skinny to fetch high market prices. The establishment of a clear and transparent grading system will improve the quality of animals marketed and increase income for smallholder producers.The proximity of Wajir county to the Somali and Ethiopian borders boosts its cross-borders livestock trade (like in Garissa and Mandera) but represents at the same time a threat in terms of animal health and disease outbreaks. This calls the local authorities to improve the surveillance system and animal health service deliveries. An outbreak of FMD or RVF will have disastrous impacts on livestock trade not only in Kenya but for the entire region. The 2001 Saudi Arabia ban to import livestock from the horn of Africa due RVF outbreaks resulted in deep economic crises in Somaliland whose economy is mainly based on the livestock exports representing around 60% of the gross domestic product, 70% of employment opportunities and 85% of exports earnings (Mugunieri et al. 2016).During the scoping visit to Wajir county, We met with the LMA representing Wajir town livestock market. The county government has yet not 'recognized' the LMAs and the co-management model is not working. Wajir livestock market infrastructure is in very poor condition. The water point for animals and humans was not functioning. A camel owner was collecting water from houses that were close to the market to water his animal. Animal as well as humans shed were not constructed or usable. The market gate was damaged. There was only one loading and unloading ramp for both small and large ruminants. All these deficient market infrastructures could have been fixed and improved if the co-management model was in place and LMAs were able to share revenue with the county government and access funds.In Wajir livestock market, sellers and buyers are not able/allowed to directly interact and agree on prices. Brokers are always present between the sellers and buyers. In Wajir, clan tradition is very strong (like in Somali society) and livestock seller and a buyer from two different clans are not allowed to directly interact. Each of the buyer and the seller needs to interact with a broker from his/her clan. Then, both brokers will meet, discuss and agree on a price. Officially the commission perceived by the brokers for each animal type (shoat, cattle, camel) is fixed and accepted by all the participants. However, since both buyer and seller were not present during the negotiation between the two brokers, the real transaction/agreed price is only known by the two brokers.It is generally higher to what the seller is told, and lower to what the buyer is told. When both seller and buyer are from the same clan, only one broker is necessary for the transaction. Again, the negotiation is done between seller-broker and buyer-broker and never involves the three actors together. This situation inflates the price for the buyers, decreases the price for the seller, and provides the broker (who is the less risk taker) with the highest margins. It creates market inefficiency.During the field work, we visited the export abattoir near Wajir town. As in many other counties in Kenya, the construction of slaughterhouse was previously started by the national government. However, many years after the start of the construction works, the abattoir was not yet completed (at around 90% of achievement) and work has stopped because of funding issues.After the start of devolution, the abattoir property right was transferred to Wajir county which is looking for private foreign investors to take over, finish the required construction work and start running the slaughterhouse. The county government has already started constructing the tarmac road which will connect the slaughterhouse to the city centre. Few months later after our first visit, the road was constructed.There are about 200 ha under fodder cultivation in Wajir county (McPeak 2016). Some fodder is grown at the outskirts of Wajir and is mainly sold to the county and sometime to NGO's at a higher price. Fodder production is a business enterprise if well embraced by individual and group entrepreneurs in the county can mitigate the challenge of feed especially during the recurrent draughts. The produced fodder can also be used to fatten or finish animals which can fetch a higher price in regional or terminal markets. AVCD-LC project should therefore support training of selected individual and group fodder producers on agronomic practices and conservation of fodder. This can especially support the remnant herd increasing milk produced during the dry season. Further, support with shed nets for fodder producers can enhance its production and conservation. The AVCD-LC project could also support and facilitate building of linkages between fodder producers and various service providers, such as financial institutions most of which should be Sharia compliant for them to access the initial investment, input suppliers as well as support training of individual and group fodder producers especially on agronomic practices, bailing and storage. A few sampled fodder producers can also be supported to acquire basic fodder harvesting and bailing equipment.Wajir county is often affected by seasonal migration of animals to distance grazing areas which are far from livestock markets and from the market centres. Camels and cattle are the main source of milk for the pastoral households. Fodder production can support the milk value chain in the county where remnant herd especially the dairy animals can be fed on preserved/ purchased fodder to maintain milk flow all year round. AVCD project could also support training of youth and women groups and individuals to embrace rearing of dairy goat animals especially around the fodder producing pockets. This will ensure continuous milk production all year round even after migration of the bigger herd. Such groups should also be trained on milk processing and value addition so as to increase the shelf life of the locally produced milk. This will also create ready market for the locally produced fodder. The local indigenous goat breeds can be upgraded using male goats (boars) from high milk producing breeds. The project can also link such interested/potential farmers to financial institutions where they can get the start-up/ seed capital.Just like most ASAL counties in Kenya, livestock feed is a major setback in Wajir county especially during drought period. For example, in 2009 about 65% animals were lost due to drought. Sustainable fodder production, conservation and marketing can increase pastoralists' resilience to drought conditions reducing the number of animal deaths/ mortality rate. Fodder production is a viable micro-enterprise in Wajir county. Indeed, fodder production in Wajir county is more feasible due to the county's low altitude (McPeak 2016).For example, SNV, ILRI and KLMC are supporting Mungano Makaror farming group to produce fodder. This group which also engages in other agricultural activities like fruits and shoat production has been trained on fodder production. AVCD-LC can therefore scale up this replicable intervention across the county and other counties to increase resilience and probably influence commercialization of livestock value chain.The types of feed used in livestock feeding in Wajir include: Natural pastures, shrubs, tree leaves and pods). The grass species that grow/ grown are: Cenchrus ciliaris, Cynodon dactylon, Pennisetum mezianum others include Acacia species like Balanite saegyptiaca, Grewia Spp, Commiphora spp whose pods are fed on animals (browsers) during drought. However, Sudan grass and Cenchrus ciliaris are the types commonly produced under irrigation with very low cultivation of highly nutritive fodder like Lucerne and Calliandra (McPeak 2016).The commercialization of fodder is very low in the county. However, efforts to promote fodder production and marketing have begun. For example, the county government is supporting 10-15 km2 of irrigated Rhodes, Sudan and Cenchrus ciliaris grasses. A few pastoralists conserve standing fodder around the Manyattas while other bail the natural grass from community land. Some key constraints faced by fodder producers in the county are: lack of skills, access to inputs like seeds, and water, lack of/ poor storage facilities and lack of bailing equipment. In fact, individual fodder producers lack storage facilities but a few group fodder producers have been supported by NGOs to construct fodder stores in urban centres.Marketing of fodder is poorly developed in the county. Mainly, pastoralists buy fodder for their remnant animals while the bigger herd graze in distant grazing land. About KES5,000-25,187.5 is spent to purchase fodder for the remnant animals during drought. The average price for a bale of fodder during the dry season is KES700 and KES250-300 during the wet season for a 25-kg bale, while a 12-13-kg manual bale sells at KES500 during the dry season. On the other hand, the average price for a bale of beans stovers is KES1,000. The high price greatly limits the ability of pastoralists to purchase fodder for their entire large herd during the dry seasons. However, the county government provides support fodder during drought which they buy from fodder producers within the county.Access to fodder seeds is also a big challenge and the seed sells at an average price of KES1,000 per kg. Those producing fodder in the county were given initial seed by NGOs. Efforts to train fodder producers on seed harvesting were done by some NGOs. AVCD-LC could partner with the existing NGOs to scale up fodder seed production and train many pastoralists on fodder production, conservation and bailing. The photo below shows some of the fodder value chain activities in Wajir county.Source: AVCD LC survey (2016) and Naitos Golden Inspiration Report (2015c)Fodder producers could be supported to strategically produce and store fodder which they could sell in times of drought. This would fetch them higher returns. The AVCD-LC project could, therefore, support and facilitate building of linkages between fodder producers and various service providers, such as financial institutions most of which should be Sharia compliant for them to access the initial investment, input suppliers as well as support training of individual and group fodder producers especially on agronomic practices, bailing and storage. A few sampled fodder producers can also be supported to acquire basic fodder harvesting and bailing equipment. AVCD LC should promote and support fodder production through sensitization campaigns/training to especially the people of more limited wealth. Establishment of linkages between fodder producers and demand side should be supported. Pastoralists should also be trained on intensification of livestock production, this will create fodder marketing opportunities. Research on more costeffective storage solution should also be supported.  36. Scores were allocated in a range from 1 (low) to 5 (high) for the 'positive' attributes. For the 'negative' attributes related to risk assessment a negative sign was added to the score. An overall score was then computed as the total sum of these individual scores. We opted to provide equal weight to each attribute.A total of five possible interventions were identified: i. Fodder production; ii. Goat milk production; iii. Development and implementation of a livestock grading system; iv. Development and implementation of a livestock market information system (LIMS); and v. supporting the co-management model and upgrading the LMAs. The development the development and implementation of livestock grading scheme received the highest score. This intervention mainly depends on the AVCD-LC project staff skills and on low investments. It is also backstopped and with interest from the county as well as the national/central livestock departments in Kenya.The implementation of a livestock market information system, and the goat milk production interventions could also be considered for implementation by the project.  Positioning livestock sub-sector as a key driver for delivering 10% economic growth in Kenya as per the 'Vision 2030' is critical. Livestock is an important sub-sector of the Kenyan economy with animal estimates of over 17 million cattle, 17.1 million sheep, 27.4 million goats and 3 million camels (KNBS 2009). Northern Kenya accounts for a significant (80-90%) meat supply nationally.Unfortunately, the livestock sub-sector in this area is confronted with many challenges including: insecurity, frequent droughts, poor infrastructure, disease outbreak and immense market failure which pose serious risks to the livelihood of pastoralists and their animals.In the case of livestock feeds, the challenge is that fodder production in northern Kenya is predominantly rain fed and many farmers do not conserve feeds. On the other hand, minimal public-sector investment by the respective county governments as well as inefficient and poorly coordinated support services are common in the ASAL counties. Many initiatives and interventions are being undertaken to reduce some of these inefficiencies experienced along the livestock and fodder value chains.While these challenges are real, the sub-sector has enormous untapped potential presented especially by the livestock revolution towards consumption of more animal-source foods fuelled by increasing income, population growth and urbanization which is expected to continue for at least the next three decades. Increased productivity and enhanced animal trade to meet the uprising in demand should, therefore, remain a priority of any development intervention.The results of this study reveal that in the five AVCD LC counties, the core activities in the livestock value chain comprise livestock production, marketing, slaughter and/or processing, and meat and meat products marketing. The main actors are: pastoral producers, livestock traders (of different types including bush, primary and secondary market traders), brokers, butchers and meat sellers, animal trekkers and truckers hired to transport animals. Livestock production is the bedrock driving the value chain, performed by pastoralists.The main species reared include: cattle, camel, sheep and goats, with relative variation in importance of these species across different counties/communities. The current trend shows a reduction in the numbers of cattle perhaps due to their higher vulnerability during drought and increases in numbers of camels and small ruminants which are more resilient in the face of the negative impacts of climate change. On average, the number of animals owned per household are: 8.74 camels, 14.6 cattle and 55.74 shoats in all study counties with variations in the means for each county.Producers are often not commercially-oriented but rather view their livestock as assets and only sell them when there is need for money or due to distress, occasioned by catastrophes such as drought and other vagaries of weather. Most (98%) of the animals and meat produced is low quality. The value capture by producers tends to be low (in some cases <35% of retail value) due to the poor quality of animals sold, the lack of a grading system, presence of many intermediaries in the marketing chains and exploitation by brokers due to a total lack and/or limited market information, including on prices.Drought presents a serious threat, with some groups losing up to 50% of their herds during severe drought incidences. Throughout the project area, there is obvious range land destruction due to overgrazing, a lack of grazing management, massive inbreeding of animals and frequent insecurity and rustling resulting into sedentarization. Over 80% of pastoralists are illiterate and they also encounter a dysfunctional supply of veterinary drugs. In addition, producers lack knowledge on planned grazing and husbandry best practices.Livestock diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), CBPP, CCPP, black quarter, Rift Valley fever, pose serious risks. At the same time, animal health services and inputs are widely lacking at the grassroots level with most producers treating their own animals based on their long experience/ indigenous knowledge. Though they sometimes consult with other farmers and agro-veterinarian dealers. In some cases, pastoralist buy counterfeit drugs which they perceive to be more effective than the equivalent bought from the agro-veterinarians simply because the concentration administered is higher than recommended. This is a health risk due to drug residue effects in animal products as well as resistance developed when drugs like tetracycline are administered to treat the animals. Producers also lack access to disease surveillance information.Demand for red meat is highest in Nairobi and Mombasa and, hence, they are the high-end terminal markets for animals coming from the study sites. Willingness to pay premiums for quality, reliability and cleanliness is higher among higher-income consumers in these cities. The export market for red meat and live animals is not well exploited; however, a noted recent trend in areas where cross-border trade is highest like Marsabit county is that, Ethiopia feedlots have created high demand for young bulls (259-280 kg) and shoats (15-30 kg), while more mature sheep and goats are directed to Kenyan markets.Possible areas for AVCD-LC investments and strategies that could be used to ensure that the proposed interventions bear the desired fruits are list below.• Investment in production and marketing strategies that aid pastoral producers to participate and benefit from the high-quality meat trade. A good approach to pilot this is to target niche areas where fodder production is feasible and /or is being promoted by other development partners. The project could support groups of producers to engage in finishing of young animals, especially small ruminants, which are then sold directly to high-end abattoirs. Selling through the NRT which have supply contracts with some high-end butcheries and who are a partner in this project could be explored in the case of cattle. However, this might require investments and commitments in guaranteeing supply by the producer groups.• Support for the development of more vibrant livestock markets in the project counties to cut down on number of intermediaries in the marketing chains. One good way of doing this would be by supporting the institutionalization of the co-management model of livestock markets through the enactment of livestock sale yard bills in the five project counties coupled with nurturing the establishment of vibrant LMAs that are charged with the day-to-day management of livestock markets. AVCD-LC could, therefore, support the restructuring of the KLMC and CLMCs to become vibrant organizations able to handle emerging challenges on governance, transparency and accountability to become more responsive to the needs of LMAs, including systems for carrying out regular audits and the signing of memoranda of understanding between the KLMC and the county governments where possible. This includes support for efforts to finalize the legislation process of the sale yard bills where possible in Isiolo and Marsabit counties.• Design of a sustainable and effective market information system which would boost the bargaining power of livestock producers. Although brokers play a critical role in livestock trade (interpretation and conflict resolution), sometimes they are perceived as actors exploiting producers. This category of people could be very useful in collecting and disseminating market information. An opportunity here exists for the project to leverage the knowledge and system developed by the IBLI and KACE.• Promotion of risk mitigation measures such as livestock insurance, feed production and conservation, and better range management practices including reseeding of degraded lands. For livestock insurance, there is an opportunity for the project to work with IBLI to intensify the uptake of the insurance product. The promotion of better range management practices could feature development of institutional arrangements that could enable livestock producers work with conservancies in grazing management and livestock marketing. The mitigation of livestock diseases including supporting development of vaccination plans against common notifiable disease and surveillance. This could leverage efforts by: county governments; development actors, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, that often devote resources to the prevention of livestock diseases in these areas; and private sector actors such as Sidai that is striving to ensure delivery of quality animal health services to producers. In particular, involvement of the private sector actors in vaccination campaigns could enhance their profitability and viability which has been a major hindrance to their establishment in the project area.• A major constraint to improving the prices that producers fetch for animals sold is lack of a clear, consistent animal grading scheme, as well as a transparent price discovery mechanism. AVCD LC could support efforts towards establishing agreed grading schemes in selected markets with strong collaboration with county governments, other PREG partners, LMAs and traders. This will help build producer awareness about the additional value for better finished animal and provide transparent standards of animal pricing.• Natural pastures, shrubs, tree leaves and pods are the main feed resource for livestock in the study sites. AVCD-LC and county governments could support groups and individuals currently producing fodder and any other potential fodder producing entrepreneurs to scale up the fodder production model in all the counties. This could be tied to dairy animal producers for a ready market of fodder and animal lodge entrepreneurs. Support with simple fodder harvesting machines could be given to few sampled individuals and groups who could also be trained on good fodder agronomics practices and then tasked to train the other fodder producers. Support with the suitable fodder varieties and subsequent seed bulking is critical for the fodder value chain. Similarly, AVCD LC should promote and support fodder production through sensitization campaigns/training to especially the people of more limited wealth. Establishment of linkages between fodder producers and demand side should be supported. Pastoralists should also be trained on intensification of livestock production, this will create fodder marketing opportunities. Research on more cost-effective storage solutions should be supported.• Enhancing the capacities and business skills of young people and women is critical. The project could support training of young people and women to acquire business development skills. This would help them to participate in both livestock and non-livestock related businesses. The project could link young people and women entrepreneurs to financing opportunities, as well as integrating nutrition awareness and promotion to enhance allocation of income generated to household nutritional need. They could also be supported to participate in processing/ value addition of hide and skins.• Most (98%) of the animals and meat produced is of low quality and milk production per animal is also low. On average, the quantity of milk produced during the dry and wet season is (<3) litres per animal partly because of breed quality kept by the pastoralists and poor herd management practices which is worsened by degraded pasture lands. There is, therefore, a need to support livestock breed improvement and herd management by the pastoralists. This intervention could be tied with fodder production and improved rangeland management to ensure feed supply especially to the remnant stock when the bigger herd is taken to distant grazing land."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"114e9b50b632288f666b2b2e4ce3fb9a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/705b2278-9c14-400b-aef7-f629dc1ba07e/retrieve","id":"-120893496"},"keywords":["Educational animated video","cell phones","multimedia learning","malaria","cholera","neem","Benin"],"sieverID":"fec64179-9e72-4eb8-abb2-20e698e72cb2","content":"This study compared the efficacy of linguistically and dialectically localized animated educational videos (LAV) against traditional learning extension (TLE) presentations for learning gains of knowledge around agricultural-and healthcare-related topics within a rural population in Benin. While both approaches demonstrated learning gains, LAV resulted in significantly higher test scores and more detailed knowledge retention. A key contribution of this research, moreover, involves the use of mobile phone technologies to further disseminate educational information. That is, a majority of participants expressed both a preference for the LAV teaching approach and a heightened interest in digitally sharing the information from the educational animations with others. Because the animations are, by design, readily accessible to mobile phones via Africa's explosively expanding digital infrastructure, this heightened interest in sharing the animated videos also transforms each study participant into a potential a learning node and point of dissemination for the educational video's material as well.There are upwards of 800 million to 1 billion illiterate to low-literate learners globally, most of whom live in developing nations, and many living in rural areas and speaking diverse local languages. Given that literacy is generally a direct result of access to formalized education, the decreased or under-resourced availability of education in rural areas tends to decrease rural literacy; and national language teaching policies also affect the level of literacy, since local languages are often prohibited or unsupported in what fewer rural schools there are. As such, delivering life-improving knowledge to this linguistically and culturally highly diverse and often economically challenged group has been deemed a highly costly and logistically daunting task. Additionally, even for those people who are literate and live in rural areas in developing nations, technological and infrastructural issues have made access to life-improving education difficult.One path for deploying education to these groups has been through traditional government-based agricultural extension programs. Lately, however, these programs, both in the developed and in the developing world, have generally been in decline for want of funding. In many countries, this has meant fewer extension agents for the numbers of farmers. In Benin, agriculture extension agents are not always available for every farmer, and the resources these extension agents have to do their work is becoming more and more limited. For example, they will often no longer have the resources to create printed materials in local languages or even to have the money for gas to visit villages in need of extension information.In Benin, an added challenge is its 55 spoken languages (Lewis, Simons, & Fennig, 2015). To supply needed extension materials in many, much less all, of these languages quickly becomes cost-prohibitive, and assumes reading-literacy as well in its recipients. Such materials, in addition, need to be in a format usable across a myriad of cultural groups and levels of access.In view of these difficulties, over the past decade, there has been a considerable increase of interest in the potential for the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a way to address the aforementioned challenges and concerns, particularly in the face of decreasing funding. ICTs, in general, rely less on traditional means for information dissemination (i.e. institutions, printed materials) and more seek to leverage emergent information technologies (e.g. telecommunications, the Internet) to deliver life-improving materials.One such ICT initiative is Michigan State University's Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO). SAWBO represents an academically based exploration for connecting global experts in a virtual manner in order create educational content for use by low-literate learners; an exploration that aims to produce tangible educational content that is both testable, useable, and effective in the field. By design, SAWBO animations utilize carefully crafted, cross-culturally acceptable visual images amenable to translation and description in potentially any local (or locally accented) language. Each SAWBO educational video addresses specific diseases, value-chain limitations or agricultural challenges and proposes effective and simple techniques that can be adopted in the field. The videos are provided free of charge and for educational purposes only.Creating the animation is half the picture; delivery is the other half. To date, SAWBO has explored several different delivery approaches using mobile technology, in part because cellphone use is currently widespread and still increasing all across Africa. As such, SAWBO's Deployer Application (App) allows anyone with an Android phone and access to the Internet to access SAWBO animations. The animations, in turn, can be downloaded onto an Android device through the Deployer App and then played at any time, including when the device has no access to the Internet.In this way, an extension agent or aid worker can use such a device as a portable video-viewing device for individuals or groups in the field, easily affording them access to educational animations either on a specific, relevant topic and in a specific, relevant (or locally accented) language as well as the local country accent for that language (where available) or at least the closest useful animation and language/accent. Additionally, the animation can be shared and transferred onto other devices using Bluetooth ® technology, allowing the animation to spread \"virally\" between phones, even those without an Internet connection, thus making it a highly efficient and accessible system of sharing knowledge. Shuler (2009) describes how the increasing functionality of mobile technology has created a potential for learning that comes with breaking down barriers otherwise prohibiting access to and the processing of information. Even in remote areas, mobile phones presently afford opportunities for users to access information and to learn from that information. The popularity of mobile phones across Africa seems to be making them increasingly more effective and less expensive. Soloway et al. (2001) and Zurita and Nussbaum (2004) point to the low cost as one of the major advantages of mobile phones as an educational/knowledge-sharing device among poor, remote, and underserved populations.Visuals combined with verbal narration demonstratively enhance learning (Mayer, 2002). Traditionally, radio played a major role in delivering information to rural areas in Africa (Chapman, Blench, Kranjac-Berisavljevic, & Zakariah, 2003;del Castello, 2002). Today, the Internet has revolutionized access to information even for people living in rural areas. Mobile phone technology similarly has the potential to secure itself as the key player in the area of extension information. This stands in contrast to other forms of educating farmers, such as extension learning presentations in villages, which can be costly due to resources, as well as travel time and distance for extension agents (Ramamritham, Bahuman, Duttagupta, Bahuman, & Balasundaram, 2006).Despite this increased use of mobile phones around access to information in less developed countries, few studies examine to what extent farmers learned from the information accessed, including learning gains gleaned from watching animated videos on mobile phones. Thus, the following questions about the usefulness of SAWBO educational animations arise: (1) do learning gains occur in populations in Benin with divergent educational backgrounds? (2) are the learning gains with SAWBO animations in target populations lower than, similar to, or higher than traditional learning extension (TLE) approaches?(3) will target populations in Benin be open to learning such information with animations on cell phones? and (4) would they prefer or not prefer learning from animations as compared to an extension agent presentation?Our work is framed in Mayer's (2002) theory of multimedia learning and Knowles' theory of andragogy (Knowles, 1980(Knowles, , 1984)), as these relate to learning from animated videos compared to TLE. To test the above research questions, we assessed learning and information gains within the fields of agriculture and health from three animated videos using a preand post-learning questionnaire approach. More specifically, the intention was to evaluate participant knowledge regarding malaria, cholera, and neem plant extracts prior to and following watching a short animated video about each topic in order to measure the knowledge they acquire from this experience (without the intervention of an extension agent providing guidance).In this way, our paper not only contributes to the field of learning and mobile technologies but also presents an innovative approach linking educational content and mobile technology together for the upwards of one billion low-literate learners with little access to formalized information and knowledge, but significant portion of which who presently have access to mobile phones (Bello-Bravo et al., 2011).1.1. Background on Benin and the context for the study Benin is a small country in West Africa bordered by Togo on the west, Nigeria on the east, and Burkina Faso and Niger on the north, and with a short Atlantic coast along the south. The political capital of Benin is Porto-Novo, but the government seat is in Cotonou, the economic capital. Benin covers an area of approximately 112,600 square kilometers with a population of approximately 10,008,749 people as of 2013 (INSAE, 2015).A tropical, sub-Saharan nation, Benin is highly dependent on agriculture, with a substantial amount of employment and income dependence in subsistence farming. The national language is French, but the indigenous languages of Fon and Yoruba are widespread; in all, 55 languages are spoken in Benin (Lewis et al., 2015). Literacymeaning reading and writing in the national languagein Benin is among the lowest in the world at 38% (CIA, 2015); literacies in non-national languages are not typically measured. Mobile technology use in Benin, however, is exploding. From 2000 to 2010, mobile subscriptions rose from 0.8% to 79.9%; by 2010, the mobile phone network covered 90% of the population (World Bank, 2014). This elevated percentage of mobile phone usage has decreased the costs of communication and increased ways for the general population to obtain information.At present, testing the effectiveness of educational animated videos in local languages for learning gains and technological uptake is limited. Technology and learning are part of a social context (Lea & Nicoll, 2002), and social constructivism (Crook, 2002) and cognitivism (Dror, 2008) alike characterize learning as an active and engaged interaction that then has an influence on educational development (Driscoll, 2000). Over the years, evaluations of numerous approaches and methods for agricultural extension learning, including traditional video, radio, and viewing clubs, have been conducted. For instance, while video-viewing clubs were used to train women on integrated pest-management for cocoa in Ghana (David & Asamoah, 2011), a small sample precluded determining the effectiveness of this approach.Besides traditional systems that provide information and training, ICT approaches represent a more recent opportunity not just for training but also as a source of information, particularly around entertainment and education. Mobile technology has been used widely in different ways: text messaging (Kachelriess-Matthess et al., 2011;Parker, Ramdas, & Savva, 2012), market information, for example, prices for agricultural goods in local markets (Aker, 2010), and other services, for example, banking (Mbiti & Weil, 2016).The widespread use of mobile phones in Benin is growing even in rural areas both in use and coverage; 83.7% of the population was using mobile phones in 2012, up from 7.3% in 2005, with 99% of the population covered by a mobile network in 2012, up from 43% in 2005(World Bank, 2012, 2014). Alongside this, traditional unwritten communication systems in African countries remain in place (Wilson, 1987;Yankah, 1989); Donner (2007) describes how deliberately unanswered texts and calls can serve signaling purposes, if also motivated by saving on data plans.Traditional communication systems still provide trusted sources of information to people, especially in rural areas with less technological infrastructure. Mobile technology builds on this traditional foundation and provides an effective tool that can be used for communication and learning regardless of literacy levels. In particular, mobile technology and educational animations represent an excellent combination for training in the areas of agriculture and health where basic education is sorely needed to prevent devastating crop losses and diseases.Farmers in Benin and other developing nations have the potential to access information through mobile phones, and since they constitute the largest proportion of the uneducated population in rural areas, they should be the main target audience of any exploratory ICT training. As such, the SAWBO program creates and deploys educational animations related to best practices in agriculture, especially for farmers in Africa. Any new approach must first compare traditional ways of learning with innovative strategies that involve mobile technology. By examining this relationship, we can properly evaluate the impact of different approaches and the potential usefulness of novel approaches.In order to comprehend some of the problems that farmers face in rural areas, it is necessary to determine what information farmers already know about a problem and its potential solutions. Historically, then, SAWBO has contacted and worked with global and local experts to research and create educational videos addressing three issues often faced by rural farmers: the prevention of malaria, the prevention of cholera, and the use of neem seed water extracts as a natural pesticide (SAWBO, 2016a(SAWBO, , 2016b(SAWBO, , 2016c)). Each video animation is 2-4 minutes in length, deploys a generalized but appropriate imagery around each topic that experience has shown is well-received by viewers (Bello-Bravo & Baoua, 2012;Bello-Bravo, Dannon, Agunbiade, Tamo, & Pittendrigh, 2013;Bello-Bravo, Olana, & Pittendrigh, 2015;Bello-Bravo et al., 2011;Miresmailli, Bello-Bravo, & Pittendrigh, 2015), and that affords \"localization\" with voiceovers in the local language and accent of participants.We narrowed our experimental design to address two main questions:(1) Are educational animated videos more effective in transmitting and promoting retention of knowledge compared to traditional presentations done by extension agents? (2) Do people prefer to learn via traditional extension agent presentations or educational animations in their own language? The first approach used the traditional method to explain the content of the videos. Before explaining the content verbally, a pre-survey was administered to ascertain baseline knowledge of the participants on the topic. This was followed by the verbal explanation of the content and lastly the post-survey was administered with the purpose of assessing knowledge gains on the topic. The second approach presents the same information via an educational video only.Both approaches allowed us to test Hypothesis 1:'Hypothesis 1': The traditional extension method of explaining the content will be equally or more effective in conferring learning gains in farmers as compared to the animations.'Alternative Hypothesis 1': The educational animated videos will confer greater learning gains in the farmers than the traditional extension presentation approach.Using the same surveys, we were able to test Hypothesis 2:'Hypothesis 2': The majority of respondents once they have been exposed to animations as a learning strategy would, on average, prefer to learn using the traditional extension method as compared to the animations.'Alternative Hypothesis 2': The majority of respondents once they were exposed to animations as a learning strategy would, on average, prefer to learn using the animations as compared to the traditional extension method.The current survey was conducted in Benin. Since 2002, Benin has been divided into twelve departments with 77 districts, further subdivided into sub-districts, and sub-districts into villages. In general, Kpomasse is known for a lack of training in agricultural neem product use, and malaria and cholera are perennial problems. Located in southwestern Benin around 60-70 kilometers from Cotonou, the population consists of several ethnic groups dominated by Fon and Sahoue as well as refugees from various African countries. The local population has developed various skills in plant production, fishing, animal husbandry, and small-scale food processing. Schooling reflects a 6-4-3-4 educational system: that is, primary school (6 years), junior high (4 years), senior high (3 years), college Bachelor's (3 years) and Master's (4 years) degrees.Data were collected in eight villages in five sub-districts within the Atlantic Department's Kpomasse district, as given in Table 1.Having discussed the purpose of our research with local authorities in each of the eight villages, survey dates were then arranged in consultation with them. One day before those dates, the study was then announced to the community in each village by a village crier, calling them to a meeting the following day. From the people who responded to that call, approximately thirty people were then selected to participate.Total sample size for this study was 248, with 81-85 participants taking part in each topic tested (malaria prevention, cholera prevention, neem extract use); approximately 30-38 participants per village experienced one of the intervention forms (animated video or TLE). Participants included women and men, all of whom were involved in farming activities, and included traders, small-scale processors, mechanics, carpenters, masons, and students. None had previously watched any of the videos; all had limited knowledge on this study's topics, but expressed interested in these issues. Wanting to increase their knowledge and skills around food security and economic opportunities, they reported wanting to increase their knowledge and to be well prepared for future challenges.Pre-test surveys of knowledge around malaria prevention, cholera prevention, and the use of neem as an insecticide were administered in the local Fon language at locations as detailed in Table 2. This was followed by either localized animated video (LAV) or TLE interventions on the specified topics, and then post-tests at all locations. All data were collected, both pre-and post-intervention at all locations, by questionnaires administered orally in Fon. That is, researchers read the questionnaire to participants and marked down their answers; this, in order not to require lower literacy participants to have to fill out questionnaires they could not read but also to avoid embarrassing anyone and for the sake of consistent data collection. These data also included demographic information such as educational level, Likert-scale data on preferences about the form of intervention experienced, and participant literacy, that is, reading and writing ability in Fon; this last in order to assess the potential or feasibility of disseminating written educational materials in this language.Survey responses were coded and analyzed in SAS using descriptive statistics. Chi-square tests compared respondents' percentages on the various topics. Correct answers by each participant were calculated as a percentage for each of the three educational topics, that is, malaria prevention, cholera prevention, and neem use; percentages were also calculated on a five-point Likert-type scale (strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree) as preferences for intervention form, that is, animated video versus TLE. All data were followed by an analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Student Newman Keuls test for means separation.The average age of participants was 43 (18-70) years in the TLE group and 38 (19-70) in the LAV group, respectively (Table 3), with only 1.7% of the respondents being Malaria prevention AV** *To avoid confounding effects on the question of whether participants preferred to learn by extension agents (TLE) or by localized animations (LAV), we only asked these questions about the neem animation assessment, not the cholera animation assessment, at these locations. **In order to keep the TLE presentations consistent, presenters used a set of notes that outlined the main points discussed in the LAV. ***The 2-4-minute long animations were shown twice to participants using a laptop. literate in Fon in the TLE group and 8.3% being in the LAV group. Additionally, 68.3% and 53.3% of the TLE and LAV respondents, respectively, had no formal education. A higher percentage of the TLE participants were married (46.7% monogamous against 31.7% polygamous for the TLE group, versus 66.7% monogamous against 25.0% polygamous in the LAV group). The principal occupation for participants was farming, with 88.3% and 96.7% in the TLE and LAV groups, respectively. A large percentage belonged to farmers' associations (93.3% and 96.7% in the TLE and LAV groups, respectively).The respondents' age averaged 40 (19-70) and 45 (24-74) years, with 1.7% and 3.3% Fonliterate in the TLE and LAV groups, respectively (Table 4). A high percentage of the participants had no formal education (50.0% and 66.7% of TLE and LAV participants, respectively), most were married (66.7% monogamous and 25.0% polygamous in the TLE group, and 46.7% monogamous and 33.3% polygamous in the LAV group), and 80.0% and 98.7% farmers, respectively. Here, only 43.3% and 21.7% of the respondents belonged to a farmers' association in the TLE and LAV groups, respectively.The average age of participants was 43 (18-70) years in the TLE group and 39 (18-78) in the LAV group (Table 5), with only 3.3% of the respondents in both groups literate in Fon; 68.3% and 45% had no formal education in the TLE and LAV groups, respectively. Half or more were married (68.3% monogamous vs. 18.3% polygamous in the TLE group; and 28.3% monogamous vs. 21.3% polygamous in the LAV group). Farmers represented the main occupation of 71.7% and 60.0% in the TLE and LAV groups, respectively, with only 21.7% and 31.7% belonging to an association in the TLE and LAV groups, respectively. Here, we discuss specific findings around TLE and LAV interventions with respect to neem extract. While both groups answered a similar number of questions correctly on the pretest (Figure 1) (F 3,153 = 385.67; p < .0001) and both showed significant learning gains regardless of intervention type, post-test scores for the LAV group showed greater learning gains and significantly more correct answers compared to the TLE group.In both the TLE and LAV groups, very few respondents reported using synthetic insecticides; none reported applying neem extract to control pests in their crops, although approximately half already knew that neem could be used for various purposes (53.3% and 46.7% in the TLE and LAV groups, respectively). At the same time, a very low percentage of participants had knowledge about processing neem extract, about the preferred seed color of the neem seed to be used, or the waiting time before application of the extract as an insecticide (see Table 6).After the interventions, in both groups, participant knowledge significantly improved regarding both the use of neem extract for insect control (χ 2 = 6.5; p = .01 and χ 2 = 11.6; p = .006 for the TLE and LAV groups, respectively) and processing (χ 2 = 22.7; p < .0001 and χ 2 = 41.9; p < .0001 for the TLE and LAV groups, respectively), as well as around the preferred seed color (χ 2 = 50.3; p < .0001 and χ 2 = 27.7; p < .0001 for the TLE and LAV groups, respectively) and the waiting time prior to application (χ 2 = 9.6; p = .002 and χ 2 = 24.8; p < .0001 for the TLE and LAV groups, respectively). Only a third of the participants  in the TLE group (who were not exposed to the videos) selected the video animation as an appropriate dissemination tool; in the LAV group, approximately two-thirds of the participants chose the video method as an appropriate information dissemination tool.For most of the parameters, no significant differences were observed between the TLE and LAV groups; the significant differences, rather, were found between the two groups in knowledge retained on neem extract processing (χ 2 = 7.8; p = .005) and the appropriateness of video animation as a dissemination tool (χ 2 = 7.8; p = .005), with the videos performing better on both of these issues. After the interventions, a high percentage of respondents claimed that neem extract should be highly recommended and sprayed on green plant parts. Most expressed that neem extract was cheaper than chemicals and that they had received new information that could be shared with non-participants. Similarly, more LAV participants (70%) thought that this intervention was an appropriate way to disseminate information compared to the TLE groups' opinion about TLE. Indeed, most of the LAV respondents underlined how the animations provided not only a voice but also a visual demonstration of the processes helped them to retain information.Here, we discuss specific findings around TLE and LAV interventions with respect to cholera prevention. While both groups answered a similar number of questions correctly on the pre-test (Figure 2) (F 3,153 = 365.04; p < .0001) and both showed significant learning gains regardless of intervention type, post-test scores for the LAV group showed greater learning gains and significantly more correct answers compared to the TLE group.The pre-test knowledge assessment for cholera prevention revealed that a low percentage of respondents were aware of the disease pathogen, knew people that suffered from cholera, or knew how to prevent the malady (see Table 7). After both TLE and LAV interventions, significantly higher percentages of the participants demonstrated knowledge on the disease pathogen (χ 2 = 24.6; p < .0001 and χ 2 = 7.0; p = .008 for the TLE and LAV groups, respectively), recognition of cholera symptoms (χ 2 = 33.0; p < and χ 2 = 16.5; p < .0001 for the TLE and LAV groups, respectively), water treatment to prevent the disease (χ 2 = 33.9; p < .0001 and χ 2 = 6.1; p = .01 for the TLE and LAV groups, respectively), the waiting time after water treatment with bleach (χ 2 = 22.4; p < .0001 and χ 2 = 26.9; p < .0001 for the TLE and LAV groups, respectively), and how to seek information at health centers for treatment (χ 2 = 27.7; p < .0001 and χ 2 = 11.6; p = .0006 for the TLE and LAV groups, respectively). A significant difference occurred on the waiting time after water treatment with bleach (χ 2 = 43.3; p < .0001) item; that is, a significantly higher percentage (81.7%) of people in the TLE group answered this item incorrectly on the post-test.Here, we discuss specific findings around TLE and LAV interventions with respect to malaria prevention. As with the other topics, both groups answered a similar number of questions correctly on the pre-test (Figure 3) (F 3,177 = 128.34; p < .0001) and both showed significant learning gains regardless of intervention type, post-test scores for the LAV group showed greater learning gains and significantly more correct answers compared to the TLE group.The pre-test knowledge assessment for malaria prevention showed that a high percentage of the participants had knowledge about malaria symptoms as well as how to prevent the disease (see Table 8). However, a relatively low percentage of them (50.0% in the TLE group and 25.0% in the LAV group) highly agreed that Anopheles mosquitoes are the vectors of malaria or that the mosquitos multiply in drinking water that is not protected. A large percentage of the respondents knew how to prevent malaria (70.0% and 76.7% for the TLE and LAV groups, respectively) and all of them had suffered from malaria. A relatively low percentage was not aware of the fact that house sanitization (46.7% and 25.0% TLE and LAV, respectively) could help reduce malaria occurrence. Likewise, less than 50%   * indicates significant differences within a method (TLE before versus after, LAV before versus after) with chi-square test (p < .05).of respondents in both groups highly agreed that a reduction in mosquito proliferation could lower malaria incidence.On the pre-test, a low percentage of the participants in the LAV group (25.0%, χ 2 = 27.0; p < .0001) did not know that house sanitization could also lower malaria incidence; 100% answered this question correctly after the LAV intervention. In contrast, while 46.7% of the TLE group answered this correctly on the pre-test, only 71.7% answered this item correctly on the post-test, a non-significant learning gain. In both groups, participants were not aware of the fact that both adults and children should work together to prevent malaria disease (χ 2 = 5.8; p = .02 and χ 2 = 24.01; p < .0001 for the TLE and LAV groups, respectively), although most were motivated to share information on malaria disease (χ 2 = 7.4; p = .007 and χ 2 = 24.0; p < .0001 for the TLE and LAV groups, respectively). On post-testing, a large percentage of the respondents had increased their knowledge on both the malaria vector and how to prevent the disease (100% for both groups) and disease symptoms (90.0% and 100% for the TLE and LAV groups, respectively).No other significant differences were observed between the TLE or LAV for method of information dissemination besides the number of the participants highly motivated to share information (χ 2 = 4.9; p = .026). All LAV participants selected this dissemination tool as an appropriate method for information sharing.Most of the bed nets used in the villages are not treated with chemicals. Participants learned that bed nets treated with chemicals could be more effective at preventing malaria; the National Program to Fight against Malaria (PNLP) in Benin provides such bed nets to pregnant women. Participants also pointed out that bed nets are useful when you go to bed but the mosquito can bite before you go to bed especially because people do not use screens in their windows. Respondents tended to use traditional medicine for malaria such as neem leaves, which are boiled in water with the resulting liquid consumed to prevent malaria; if they drink it every day malaria can be prevented but respondents rarely reported following daily intake of the neem medicine.Regarding cholera, the information provided in the video was very new to the participants, generally lacking any previous knowledge about the microorganism as well as how the disease is contracted and transmitted. Participant knowledge in both the traditional and video animation groups significantly improved with regard to cholera disease and prevention, although participants in the video animation groups were able to better retain more detailed information compared to those in the TLE group.Similarly to cholera, only a few participants had prior knowledge about the various uses for neem extract and its application as an insecticide. Consequently, people had little knowledge about how to process neem extract or what seed color was suitable for such a preparation. While both types of intervention increased participant knowledge, not only did video animations more significantly increase participant knowledge about neem processing compared to participants in TLE groups, but also a larger number of participants identified video animations as an appropriate way to disseminate the information.Besides being reported as the preferred learning method, LAV are also designed to be easily downloadable, shareable, and re-playable on video-enabled mobile phones or other digital technologies (desktops, laptops, or from the Internet). This presupposes access (either loaned, owned, or rented) to such technologies. Despite very rapidly expanding digital infrastructures in Africa, however, no participants reported access to desktop computers. Similarly, only 3.3% of participants in the TLE neem extract groupsin the villages of Gboho, Lokossa, Kouzounmè, or Kougbedjireported access to laptops, while only 1.7% and 3.3% in the TLE and LAV groups in the same villages reported access to the Internet. In contrast, at least 68.3% or greater of all groups reported access to mobile phones.Overall, the results of this study support both alternative hypotheses that video animations would foster greater learning gains than traditional extension presentations and that, once exposed to video animations, people would on average prefer them as a learning approach as compared to the traditional extension learning presentations. For all three topics, the learning gains were equal or better with video animations compared to the TLE approach.With respect to learning gains around malaria preventions, the following trends emerged. While both TLE and LAV approaches showed learning gains, the LAV gains were greater. That is, with the TLE intervention, only four questions showed statistically significant increases in correct answers; with the LAV approach, five questions showed statistically significant increases in correct answers. The lack of statistical significance for many of the other questions may be due to relatively high levels of prior knowledge in the participants. Malaria is a very common disease, and all of the participants had suffered from it previously. Interestingly, for the animation group, 100% of the respondents answered all of the questions correctly post-treatment, which was not the case for the TLE group.Statistically significant differences were also obtained between the groups for the choice of the appropriate dissemination tool. The percentage of the participants citing the intervention method as an appropriate information-disseminating system was much higher for the LAV group compared to the TLE group (Table 9), suggesting that people who watched the video animations were more engaged by that tool. More LAV participants also stated that they were motivated to share the information compared to TLE participants.These results parallel the findings for the neem extract use and cholera prevention as well: while both groups experienced significant learning gains from both types of intervention, LAV group learning gains were greater, and LAV participants more numerously identified animations as an effective information-disseminating approach for neem use. We do note, however, that 81.7% of TLE participants post-test answers on the waiting time after water treatment with bleach for cholera prevention item were incorrect compared to 3.3% on the same item for LAV group participants. Although the TLE error was not statistically significant, the wide post-test difference suggests that video animations may better foster information retention. We discuss this possibility more below.The results from this study echo and extend on previous studies (Bello-Bravo & Baoua, 2012;Bello-Bravo et al., 2011, 2013) conducted on the reception of SAWBO animated videos among a variety of rural and suburban populations across several African nations (Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Ethiopia). SAWBO videos have been introduced to groups of farmers, traders, students, and technicians with a range of educational backgrounds and literacy levels. Data from these studies show that, across the board, the videos are well received, with most viewers suggesting that they would use and share the videos with their communities (Bello-Bravo & Baoua, 2012;Bello-Bravo et al., 2013, 2015). Part of this is due to convenience and frequency of access; once saved to widely available cell phones, the information is easily shared with others and generally constantly on-hand (compared to always carrying around printed/pamphlet information). But another part is the consistency and integrity of the information; that is, learning gains \"saved\" to individual memory are subject to degradation, modification, and being received as less authoritative by others. Instead, to replay a video animation on a cell phone to a new learner almost perfectly reproduces the opportunities for gains that the person sharing the video previously experienced.This speaks to the great potential of these animated videos for addressing not only persistent health and agricultural issues that plague much of the developing world but also critical disaster relief needs (Miresmailli et al., 2015) and the needs of underserved populations in more industrialized nations as well. These findings, moreover and coupled with this previous work (Bello-Bravo & Baoua, 2012;Bello-Bravo et al., 2011, 2013, 2015), strongly suggest that the same animated visuals can be effectively used across diverse cultural groups, modified only by voice overlays in appropriate, locally accented languages.The data from this most recent study in Benin show that, in addition to being well received by local communities, those who watched animated videos retained more information than those presented the same information via a TLE agent presentation. These results support theories that multimedia educational tools, such as narrated animation, produce increased retention and comprehension of new skills and knowledge among learners, particularly for learners without much prior knowledge on the topic at hand (Mayer, 2002). Mayer's (2002) cognitive theory of multimedia learning posits that meaningful learning occurs when audio and visual representations engage five cognitive processes at once; these are (1) selecting words, (2) selecting images, (3) organizing words, (4) organizing images, and (5) integrating new words and images with previous knowledge. Like the topics addressed in the neem, cholera, and malaria videos, Mayer's (2002) studies emphasize problem-solving knowledge and skills in situations where subjects are presented with information on how to do something and are then asked to perform the task or answer problem-solving, open-ended questions.In general, the SAWBO animations used in this study employ six out of the seven \"effects\" that Mayer (2002) outlines as supporting this cognitive theory of multimedia learning. These are (1) \"the multimedia effect\" of using words and images together; (2) \"the temporal continuity effect\" of simultaneous presentation of narration and animation;(3) \"the coherence effect,\" that is, a lack of extraneous sounds and information added to the animation; (4) \"the modality effect,\" which uses narration rather than written text; (5) \"the redundancy effect,\" that is, no redundancy of narration with written text (e.g. a lack of subtitles); and (6) \"the signaling effect,\" whereby animations explain a causal chain through the information provided.In general, Mayer (2002) finds that well-designed multimedia instruction fosters greater learning gains among low-knowledge learners. Our results support this, inasmuch as participants showed greater learning gains in areas (neem use and cholera prevention), they had lower previous knowledge compared to lower learning gains in areas (malaria prevention) of higher prior knowledge. This does not, of course, diminish the fact that learning gains occurred for malaria prevention as well. Knowles (1980) initially outlined four components of his theory of andragogy and later added two more steps (Knowles, 1984). The theory of andragogy comprises both assumptions about adult learning and a set of guidelines for practice. Its principles include (1) the need to know, (2) the learner's self-concept, (3) the role of the learner's previous experiences, (4) their readiness to learn, (5) their orientation to learn, and (6) their motivation to learn. Andragogical guidelines of practice for learning point to: (1) increasingly selfdirected learning, (2) that it develops from problems and life tasks, (3) the circumstance of learning by self and others, (4) that it is task-or problem-centered learning, (5) internal incentives, that is, curiosity, and (6) the learner's own perception about the what and the why of learning. Knowles's (1984) andragogical message is that adult learning is most effective when the students are meeting their level of context or knowledge, and that they will learn more rapidly when the topic and content they are studying shows immediate impact on their current life situation. In light of this theory, the deployment of SAWBO animations can become time-critical; that is, showing a neem animation prior to or during the cropping season has more immediate impact; deploying the malaria or cholera animations when it is predicted that such diseases may be a concern for localized contexts makes it more relevant. That video animations can be left behind on the phones of adult learners empowers people to locally access this information when it is most needed, even in the absence of an \"expert.\" Having such videos available thus meets all six principles and practices outlined by Knowles (1980Knowles ( , 1984) ) for adult learning in affected communities.In this research study, we aimed to compare learning gains delivered by animated videos compared to more TLE methods. We found not only that participants who watched a video animation demonstrated greater learning gains compared to those who attended a TLE presentation of the same information, but also that animation viewers more highly recommended them as a form of information sharing. As such, not only were animated video more effective, because they can be easily shared on widely available mobile technology (cell phones), they are also more likely to be shared amongst members of different communities.Both points remained true across a wide cross-section of people of varying educational levels, age, gender, and marital status. That is, learning gains were surprisingly consistent across these variations, as can be seen by the relatively small standard errors observed in all the post-treatment tests (Figures 1-3). Given that for most of the groups tested, the majority of participants had little to no formalized education, this holds out the promise that video animations are useable within the widely varying demographic context of rural African villages. Future studies might well focus on more narrowly characterizing learning gains within specific demographic groups.While these results support the idea that video animations comprise an effective and popular form of information delivery, further studies to determine the most logical pathways for deployment of this approach in Beninas well as measures around the longer term application of the learning gains attainedstill need to be performed.This research also raises important questions about the challenges of access to and distribution of knowledge among underserved populations. Our findings suggest that there is great potential in creating animated videos, translated into locally accented languages, as educational material that may then be \"mobilized\" by farmers and other populations on widely available cell phones in Africa.For countries like Benin where mobile phone use is high, but Internet connectivity remains low (World Bank, 2014), while all SAWBO animations are available for download via the Internet, they remain sharable without it. Animations can be brought into a community on a single device and then spread to other cell phones using Bluetooth ® technology or simply viewed by many people on one phone. Such transition points from online to offline deployment may involve actors (such as agricultural extension agents, researchers, educators, librarians, non-governmental organizations, and civil society) who work with farmers.Further research, including a more qualitative analysis of why the respondents thought videos were a more appropriate way to share knowledge, would shed much-needed light onto how best to harness mobile and animation technology for the kind of educational purposes described above and as a way to address critical health, agricultural, and development issues world-wide. It was not the purpose of this research to explicitly elicit this why through quantitatively extracted data. Nor does this research claim that expressions of such interest in sharing will actually occur; this is an area for future, follow-up research. Nonetheless, inasmuch as changes of behavior must begin with changes of thinking and expressions of intention to change, the results here then are promising and warrant future research. And, lastly, whether participants re-share videos with an intention to educate or simply amuse othersor both, in the spirit of Horace's dictum that art should \"delight and instruct\" is less important than the fact of sharing and further disseminating the information in the first place. Since the \"authority\" of the information in the videos resides in its scientifically developed content, simply to replay the video to oneself or others re-produces the original learning environment on the spot and effectively makes each person sharing the video into a kind of teacher."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"67add0104bbbf29e35c3fe3583537642","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/aa78804e-0e57-4d5e-a23f-115a4b74d04a/retrieve","id":"1420183072"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2f2b7953-f211-4f8d-8b44-8d3a8b697ec5","content":"Tropical (CIAT) -miembro del Consorcio CGIAR-desarrolla tecnologías, métodos innovadores y nuevos conocimientos que contribuyen a que los agricultores, en especial los de escasos recursos, logren una agricultura eco-eficiente -es decir, competitiva y rentable así como sostenible y resiliente. Con su sede principal cerca de Cali, Colombia, el CIAT realiza investigación orientada al desarrollo en las regiones tropicales de América Latina, África y Asia. www.ciat.cgiar.org CGIAR es una alianza mundial de investigación para un futuro sin hambre. Su labor científica la llevan a cabo los 15 centros de investigación que integran el Consorcio CGIAR, en colaboración con cientos de organizaciones socias.La construcción de este documento se logró gracias al interés y participación activa de los diferentes actores municipales que se involucraron en este proceso. Estos agradecimientos son en especial para Mónica Gómez, Profesional de la UMATA, quien amablemente apoyó y promovió la realización de las actividades programadas; y a todas las instituciones que asistieron a los diferentes espacios, por su valiosa asesoría y acompañamiento en el ejercicio metodológico proporcionado para obtener resultados claros y ordenados en este proceso de adaptación a la variabilidad y al cambio climático.Los actores municipales representaron una fuente invaluable de información para identificar los posibles proyectos municipales de adaptación que aquí se presentan. El cambio climático es uno de los problemas más complejos a los que se enfrentan las comunidades actualmente. Por lo tanto, hacerle frente implica acciones que involucren el conocimiento de los actores desde el nivel local hasta el nacional. En ese sentido, la gestión del Cambio Climático se convierte en un proceso continuo de largo plazo, que debe abarcar de manera transversal los territorios, los sectores productivos e institucionales y a los grupos humanos, considerando como prioridad la adaptación, ya que de no actuar hoy los impactos económicos, sociales y ambientales serán mayores a futuro.Teniendo en cuenta que todo proceso de gestión y adaptación al cambio climático debe entenderse como un proceso de planificación local para que se convierta en una alternativa de adaptación efectiva, tal como lo señala el Plan Nacional de Adaptación al Cambio Climático (PNACC) en su documento \"ABC: Adaptación Bases Conceptuales\" (DNP, 2012), \"es fundamental contar con información local, dado que cada territorio enfrenta retos particulares debido al cambio y la variabilidad climática. Asimismo, es indispensable vincular la participación comunitaria en el proceso de planificación y definición de medidas de adaptación para lograr una adaptación más efectiva y duradera, ya que son las comunidades las que mejor conocen sus características y necesidades\".Por todo lo anterior, la Corporación Autónoma Regional del Valle del Cauca (CVC) y el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) vienen desarrollando Portafolios de Estrategias para la Mitigación y Adaptación al Cambio Climático, los cuales tienen como principal objetivo hacer de los municipios, territorios más resilientes y con mayor capacidad adaptativa, lo cual permitirá que los efectos del cambio climático se reduzcan generando un mayor desarrollo y progreso en las comunidades.Municipio de Dagua -Valle del CaucaEl calentamiento en el clima es inequívoco. Desde 1950 se han observado cambios en el sistema climático que no tienen precedente, tanto si se comparan con registros históricos observacionales que datan de mediados del siglo XIX, como si se comparan con registros paleoclimáticos referidos a los últimos milenios. La atmósfera y los océanos se han calentado, la cantidad de extensión de las masas de hielo y nieve han disminuido, el nivel del mar ha subido y las concentraciones de gases de efecto invernadero han aumentado (IPCC, 2014).Por lo anterior, según resultados del Grupo Intergubernamental de Expertos sobre el Cambio Climático (IPCC, por sus siglas en inglés), se prevé que en 2100 el mundo pueda llegar a tener dos grados más de temperatura, bajo un escenario de conservación, en donde todos actuemos responsablemente con el medio ambiente.Las profundas consecuencias ambientales, económicas y sociales, y las secuelas que puede dejar el cambio climático, se presentarán en mayor medida si los territorios no actúan de manera planificada. La adopción oportuna de medidas apropiadas para reducir los impactos de este fenómeno es un aspecto estratégico, pues cada vez será más difícil enfrentar sus consecuencias, y la capacidad de recuperación ante escenarios de desastre será menor.Los portafolios de adaptación municipales surgen por esa necesidad de adaptación desde \"lo local\", que permita establecer acciones y estrategias enmarcadas en el contexto específico de cada territorio, que a su vez permita dar respuesta a las problemáticas propias que presenta cada comunidad, dada su exposición, amenazas y vulnerabilidad.El municipio de Dagua se encuentra ubicado al occidente del departamento del Valle del Cauca, a 3° 39' 37\" de latitud norte y 76° 41' 34\" de longitud  Es uno de los tres municipios más grandes del Valle del Cauca, junto con Buenaventura y Calima; el territorio en su mayoría es montañoso y su relieve corresponde a oeste entre los municipios de Buenaventura, Restrepo, La Cumbre, Calima -Darién y Santiago de Cali.la cordillera occidental de los Andes, condiciones que favorecen las siguientes características hidroclimáticas.Municipio de Dagua -Valle del CaucaCuadro 2. División político-administrativa y extensión territorial.La división político-administrativa del municipio está distribuida de la siguiente manera: 27 corregimientos, 101 veredas y 20 barrios en la cabecera municipal. AFuente: Plan Básico de Ordenamiento Territorial 2001-2009.continuación se presenta de manera más detallada cada una de las divisiones.  En el municipio de Dagua se distinguen dos grandes unidades climáticas: la primera, que es enmarcada por la cuenca hidrográfica del río Dagua, y la segunda, referida a la cuenca del río Anchicayá.Gran parte de la cuenca del río Dagua presenta características climáticas propias de la franja tropical, con gran influencia del Océano Pacífico, por lo cual circulan corrientes de aire en dos direcciones: del mar hacia el continente provenientes del Océano Pacífico con dirección sudoeste y noreste, que son transportadoras de humedad y que son descargadas, según el relieve, en forma de precipitaciones fuertes en la parte baja más cercana al mar y en forma de vapor de agua en las partes más altas de la cordillera occidental de la cuenca, de acuerdo con la fisiografía del terreno.Por otra parte, en la zona del río Anchicayá el clima se enmarca dentro de las características de la Costa Pacífica vallecaucana, es decir, de tipo tropical, que corresponden a altas temperaturas, aunque no excesivas y aire húmedo, debido al alto nivel de la humedad relativa y abundantes lluvias, siendo ésta la característica más sobresaliente.La red hidrográfica principal del municipio está comprendida por los ríos Dagua y Anchicayá. En consecuencia, alrededor de 59.000 hectáreas, el 61% de la extensión territorial, corresponden a la parte alta de la cuenca del río Dagua, y el 31% restante pertenece a la zona media de la cuenca del río Anchicayá. Según esto, la distribución del sistema hídrico se representa así: El municipio presenta un régimen climático con una distribución bimodal de la precipitación con dos períodos de valores máximos relativos y dos de mínimos relativos, influenciado ese tipo de distribución por los desplazamientos de la zona de Confluencia Intertropical; el primer período lluvioso se presenta entre los meses de marzo y mayo; el segundo sucede entre los meses de septiembre y noviembre. De igual forma, los períodos secos se presentan entre los meses de enero y febrero y julio y agosto.Fuente: Elaboración propia basada en cartografía CVC (2010).  El municipio de Dagua presenta dos formaciones geológicas: la formación Cisneros, compuesta por intercalaciones sedimentarias metamorfizadas, y la formación Espinal, conformada por rocas sedimentarias. Las formaciones volcánicas diabasicas están compuestas por diabasas, lavas basálticas y lavas almohadilladas, incluyendo silos de dolerita y con numerosos horizontales de rocas sedimentarias.El municipio presenta un complejo sistema de fallas interconectadas de orientación nororientesuroccidente (NE-SW) que forman una red densa de bloques litológicos de formas romboidales orientadas.Las principales fallas que atraviesan la cuenca del río Dagua son: falla Dagua -Calima, falla del río Bravo y falla río Blanco -El Naranjo; sin embargo, se presentan numerosas fallas menores que confluyen entre sí a manera de cuñas según la dirección general noreste-sudoeste.  Distrito de conservación de suelos Cañón de Cuadro 5. Uso potencial del suelo en el municipio de Dagua.Fuente: Elaboración propia, datos tomados de cartografía CVC (2010).Figura 5. Uso potencial del suelo en el municipio de Dagua.Fuente: Elaboración propia basada en cartografía CVC (2010).  Teniendo en cuenta la información cartográfica de la CVC del año 2010, el municipio presenta las siguientes coberturas:Cuadro 7. Coberturas del municipio de Dagua.Figura 7. Cobertura del suelo en el municipio de Dagua.Fuente: Elaboración propia basada en cartografía CVC (2010). El municipio de Dagua presenta 10 ecosistemas y 5 biomas, descritos en la cartografía regional de la CVC  El sector agrícola es el eje más importante de la economía dagueña y se sustenta en cultivos de Cuadro 9. Área sembrada, area cosechada y rendimiento de cultivos perennes.Fuente: Agronet (2013).Cuadro 10. Área sembrada, area cosechada y rendimiento de cultivos transitorios para los dos semestres del año 2013.a. AS: área sembrada; AC: área cosechada; Pr: producción; Rto: rendimiento.Fuente: Agronet (2013). Es importante resaltar que la piña se ha convertido en un producto de gran importancia económica. Muestra de ello es el aumento de hectáreas sembradas (Figura 9) desde 2007 a 2013. Además de los beneficios económicos que genera este cultivo, Dagua cuenta con excelentes suelos, los cuales junto con su clima son los más adecuados para realizar esta actividad agrícola, convirtiéndose en uno de los municipios que más producen piña en el país, que ha llevado a ganar un reconocimiento por la calidad de este producto.Fuente: Elaboración propia, datos tomados de Agronet (2013). La ganadería, la explotación forestal, la avicultura, la producción de leche y sus derivados también son actividades económicas importantes para el municipio. En el Cuadro 11 se presenta la composición productiva animal de Dagua para 2013.Existen cuatro problemas específicos de manejo que afectan la productividad futura de la industria, aunque ninguno de ellos ha llegado aún a ser muy importante en magnitud; estos son: la erosión, compactación y el deterioro en la actividad microbiológica del suelo y la producción como monocultivo. La alta erosión se ve ocasionada por varios factores, entre los cuales los más importantes son la mala escogencia del área de siembra y las prácticas de preparación de los terrenos para siembra (Quijandría et al., 1997).La vía Cali-Buenaventura genera beneficios para Dagua por ser paso obligado de los viajeros generando importantes ingresos económicos para las personas que laboran en restaurantes, puestos de venta de comidas rápidas y talleres de automóviles, que están ubicados a la orilla de la carretera. Gran parte de los impactos sociales y las pérdidas económicas asociados a eventos climáticos están relacionados con la exposición y la vulnerabilidad; ambas son determinantes claves del riesgo.El riesgo depende del tipo de amenaza, del nivel de exposición y de las condiciones de vulnerabilidadEl riesgo climático está dado en función de tres factores:• Amenaza/Peligros (eventos climáticos)• Exposición Este manual hace referencia a que los PNA (programa nacional de adaptación) deben prepararse mediante un proceso participativo que incluya, en particular, a las comunidades locales.Con ese fin, las directrices proponen que se establezca un equipo nacional para el PNA, compuesto por un organismo principal y por representantes de las partes interesadas, incluidos organismos gubernamentales y la sociedad civil. El equipo nacional para el PNA designará un equipo más amplio y multidisciplinario al que encomendará la mayoría de las tareas.En Colombia, la adaptación es una prioridad en la política ambiental nacional. La principal herramienta de política pública sobre cambio climático en Colombia es el CONPES 3700 de 2011, en el cual se originan cuatro estrategias para hacer frente a la problemática del cambio climático:• La Estrategia de Desarrollo Bajo en Carbono (mitigación)• El Plan Nacional de Adaptación al Cambio Climático (Adaptación).• La Estrategia Nacional REDD (Reducción de Emisiones por Deforestación y Degradación Forestal Evitada)• La Estrategia Nacional de Reducción del Riesgo Financiero del Estado ante la Ocurrencia de Desastres Naturales.(Continúa)http://bit.ly/1PsXw6MCONPES 3700: Estrategia institucional para la articulación de políticas y acciones en materia de cambio climático en Colombia La mitigación y adaptación al cambio climático requieren del desarrollo de estrategias de articulación, tanto a nivel sectorial como en los ámbitos nacional y territorial, con el fin de generar una gestión compartida y coordinada, y de la información pertinente y oportuna para la toma de decisiones, para así contrarrestar de manera efectiva los problemas subyacentes.A Busca incidir en los procesos de planificación ambiental, territorial y sectorial, de tal manera que se tomen decisiones de manera informada, teniendo en cuenta los determinantes y proyecciones climáticos, reduciendo así efectivamente la vulnerabilidad tanto en poblaciones, ecosistemas y sectores productivos a este fenómeno, y aumentando la capacidad social, económica y ecosistémica para responder ante eventos y desastres climáticos.Estrategia Colombiana de Desarrollo Bajo en Carbono (ECDBC)Es un programa de planeación del desarrollo a corto, mediano y largo plazo que busca desligar el crecimiento de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) del crecimiento económico nacional. Esto se hará a través del diseño y la implementación de planes, proyectos y políticas que tiendan a la mitigación de GEI y simultáneamente fortalezcan el crecimiento social y económico del país, dando cumplimiento a los estándares mundiales de eficiencia, competitividad y desempeño ambiental. Climático es la herramienta mediante la cual se va a poder medir el riesgo a los eventos hidrometeorológicos extremos y definir las acciones y proyectos que deberán implementar los diferentes actores a nivel regional para reducir la vulnerabilidad ante estos fenómenos.En cuanto a los programas y subprogramas del plan, 4 de 31 programas incorporan de alguna forma actividades tendientes a la gestión del cambio y la variabilidad climática, y 5 de 98 subprogramas de los programas relacionados incorporan en las metas de producto actividades tendientes a la gestión del cambio y la variabilidad climática.Análisis de vulnerabilidad para los Nodos Regionales de Cambio Climático (NRCC) 2011El Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales (IDEAM) presenta en el año 2011 el documento sobre análisis de vulnerabilidad para los Nodos Regionales de Cambio Climático, en donde hace relación al Nodo Regional del Eje Cafetero, específicamente en el apartado sobre vulnerabilidad, que establece lo siguiente:3 En este nodo, los climas muy húmedos y húmedos se reducirán para el período 2011-2040, dando paso a la ampliación de climas semihúmedos y semiáridos.3 El índice de sensibilidad permite ver que predomina una categoría de sensibilidad media en el territorio, lo que genera, después de asumir la capacidad que tiene la región cafetera para adaptarse, una predominancia de alta vulnerabilidad en las diferentes corporaciones que la conforman.3 El Nodo Regional de Cambio Climático del Eje Cafetero en general tenderá a una disminución leve de la escorrentía para el período 2011-2040 (entre -30 a -10%), excepto la Sub Zona Hidrográfica del Río San Juan en la jurisdicción de la CARDER, donde la afectación al rendimiento hídrico podría ser aún más leve (-10 a 10%).Análisis de vulnerabilidad para la cuenca alta del río Cauca -AVA. \"Desarrollo compatible con el clima en el sector agrícola del Alto Cauca colombiano\" (CDKN et al., 2013) Reconociendo el deterioro ambiental y la importancia de la seguridad alimentaria en un entorno cambiante, se crea la iniciativa AVA -\"Agricultura, Vulnerabilidad y Adaptación\", de la mano del Sector Agropecuario y Ambiental, trabajando con las gobernaciones, municipios, corporaciones autónomas regionales, academia y centros de investigación. AVA tuvo como objetivo desarrollar una metodología que permitiera cuantificar y analizar la vulnerabilidad del territorio y de los sistemas productivos, para apoyar la planificación integral de los procesos productivos, la sostenibilidad y la conservación de la cuenca alta del río Cauca.Por medio de la metodología de AVA se midió la Vulnerabilidad del Sector Agrícola para los sistemas productivos de café, cacao, papa, plátano, frijol y caña de azúcar en 99 municipios que conforman la cuenca alta del río Cauca de los departamentos de Caldas, Risaralda, Quindío, Valle del Cauca y Cauca. En el Valle del Cauca se realizó en 33 municipios, entre ellos Alcalá, presentándose en éste un índice de vulnerabilidad muy bajo de 0,9 en caña azúcar, bajo de 2,6-5,39 y 9,29 en plátano, papa y fríjol, respectivamente, medio de 27,5 en café, y muy alto de 9,63 en cacao.Plan de desarrollo de Dagua \"Mi Dagua con visión de futuro y libre de pobreza extrema\" 2012-2015El Plan de desarrollo de Dagua \"Mi Dagua con visión de futuro y libre de pobreza extrema\" 2012-2015, plantea algunas acciones en el marco de la adaptación al cambio climático, tales como: 3 Al terminar el cuatrenio se ha implementado un programa para contribuir a la sostenibilidad del desarrollo a través de la reducción del impacto del cambio climático en la población y su entorno mediante acciones de conservación de recursos hídricos.3 Al terminar el cuatrenio se ha reducido la vulnerabilidad al cambio climático mediante la inclusión de un programa que integre las consideraciones de riesgo en el desarrollo municipal.Municipio de Dagua -Valle del CaucaEl principal objetivo del portafolio es entregar información verídica, actualizada y útil en torno a las problemáticas del cambio climático no solo a los tomadores de decisiones locales, sino a toda la comunidad. Esta información contenida en el portafolio permitirá incluir acciones de adaptación en los procesos de planificación local, lo cual generará hacer de los municipios, territorios más resilientes y con mayor capacidad de adaptación ante los efectos del cambio climático.El presente documento busca generar un conjunto de acciones de adaptación priorizadas teniendo en cuenta los criterios de adaptación previamente identificados como relevantes según los actores del municipio. Dichas acciones de adaptación, como se planteó anteriormente en la metodología, tienen en cuenta las características biofísicas, sociales, económicas, políticas, entre otras, del municipio, lo cual permite que dichas acciones respondan a necesidades específicas del municipio. Estas acciones deben ser implementadas en conjunto por los diferentes actores del municipio, lo cual implica que la articulación institucional es determinante en el proceso de adaptación.Al igual que en el proceso de adaptación nacional liderado por el Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales (IDEAM) y el Ministerio del Ambiente, compilado en el Plan Nacional de Adaptación de 2012, y en el CONPES 3700 de 2011, este portafolio pretende generar lineamientos conceptuales y acciones específicas que respondan a las necesidades puntuales del territorio.Es así como la Corporación Autónoma Regional del Valle del Cauca (CVC), preocupada y comprometida con la planificación y gestión del cambio climático local, ha venido desarrollando una serie de ejercicios tendientes a la construcción participativa de \"portafolios de adaptación al cambio climático\" en diferentes municipios del Valle del Cauca.Este proceso inició en el año 2013 con la construcción de los portafolios de Tuluá y Guadalajara de Buga, mediante convenio con la Unidad Central del Valle del Cauca (UCEVA) y, más recientemente, mediante convenio interadministrativo No. 033 de 2014 con el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), el cual tiene como objeto aunar esfuerzos y recursos humanos, económicos y técnicos para realizar acciones en el marco de la mitigación y adaptación al cambio climático en el Valle del Cauca. Se han realizado los portafolios para Cartago y Alcalá, Cali, Jamundí, Dagua, Restrepo y Buenaventura.También es importante recalcar que el portafolio de adaptación debe ser actualizado conforme se vayan modificando las necesidades ambientales, sociales, económicas y políticas del municipio, en aras de que el proceso sea continuo y ayude a evaluar los avances y logros obtenidos, y de esta manera se puedan incorporar nuevas iniciativas en función de las modificaciones reales del clima y los pronósticos de cambio climático.En este punto se presenta de forma general el procedimiento metodológico usado para la construcción del portafolio de adaptación a la variabilidad y cambio climático del municipio de Dagua, Valle del Cauca.El proceso constó de nueve fases. En la fase 1 se llevó a cabo una reunión inicial que permitió recolectar información municipal relacionada con procesos y políticas de adaptación. En la fase 2 se desarrolló un taller participativo con el fin de recopilar información primaria a través de dos métodos, tales como la cartografía social y la prospectiva territorial. Posteriormente en una tercera fase se cruzó la información generada en el taller participativo con cartografía oficial obtenida de la CVC, el IGAC, el IDEAM, etc. En la fase 4 se generaron escenarios de cambio climático a nivel municipal, pasando a la fase 5, la cual consiste en la identificación de principales amenazas y riesgos climáticos por municipio. La etapa o fase 6 es la más importante, la cual consiste en generar y priorizar las acciones de adaptación con base en toda la información anteriormente evaluada y analizada. Posteriormente se realiza una socialización de los resultados con los actores del municipio (fase 7), lo cual es el insumo principal para realizar la retroalimentación del portafolio (fase 8), y finalmente se genera el portafolio de estrategias de adaptación al cambio climático para el municipio (fase 9). En la Figura 12, se presenta un resumen del procedimiento metodológico. 7. Socialización con los actores del municipio.6. Generación y priorización de acciones de adaptación al cambio climático. • Análisis jerárquico.a través del taller participativo que involucró dos metodologías: • Cartografía social.• Prospectiva territorial.en las consideraciones de los actores del municipio.5. Identificación de principales amenazas y riesgos climáticos por municipio.3. Análisis de la información generada y cruce con información geográfica oficial.9. Generación del Portafolio de Estrategías de Adaptación a Nivel Municipal.4. Generación de escenarios de cambio climático a nivel municipal.Municipio de Dagua -Valle del CaucaPara el desarrollo de dicho proceso en cuanto a la prospectiva territorial se utilizaron siete instrumentos metodológicos, los cuales se explican a continuación. Sin embargo, dicha información fue complementaria a la cartografía social, la cual permitió identificar zonas de riesgo y zonas donde podrían llevarse a cabo procesos de adaptación.Formato 1. Análisis de actores, con el objetivo de realizar la identificación de los actores del proceso, su modo de participación y capacidades en la construcción del portafolio de medidas de adaptación. (Para mayor información consultar el Anexo 1. Formato 1: Análisis de actores).Formato 2. Identificación de acciones/proyectos, el cual tiene como objetivo obtener la información necesaria acerca de los proyectos conocidos. (Para mayor información consultar el Anexo 2. Formato 2: Identificación de acciones/proyectos). Formato 3. Cambios esperados para el futuro (tecnológicos, económicos, sociales, ambientales, institucionales y organizacionales), con el objetivo de identificar los cambios en el municipio relacionados con el cambio climático y la variabilidad climática. (Para mayor información consultar el Anexo 3. Formato 3: Cambios esperados para el futuro). Formato 5. Ideas/factores más importantes, con el objetivo de identificar, según el conocimiento sobre el tema, cuáles eran las ideas más importantes en las que se deben enfocar las acciones y/o proyectos en cambio climático. (Para mayor información consultar el Anexo 5. Formato 5: Ideas/factores más importantes). Formato 6. Propuesta de acciones, el cual tiene como objetivo identificar las acciones y/o proyectos que aportarían al manejo o solución del factor establecido. (Para mayor información consultar el Anexo 6. Formato 6: Propuesta de acciones).Formato 7. Formato de valoración de criterios para la selección de medidas y proyectos de adaptación al cambio y variabilidad climática. Metodología de Análisis Jerárquico (AHP), el cual consiste en establecer la importancia de cada uno de los criterios que se han definido para la calificación y selección de medidas y proyectos de adaptación al cambio y la variabilidad climática en su municipio. (Para mayor información consultar el Anexo 7. Formato 7: Análisis Jerárquico, AHP).De acuerdo con la evaluación general de la percepción de los actores sobre la realidad municipal frente a la variabilidad y al cambio climático, se presentan entonces los cambios presentidos, anhelados y temidos percibidos por los actores para el municipio.• Desabastecimiento de agua en el municipio por aumento de la deforestación en la quebrada El Cogollo.• Presencia de minería.• Vendavales en corregimientos del municipio.• Pérdida de biodiversidad.• Disminución del caudal y socavamiento de los ríos.• Desbordamiento de fuentes hídricas.• Aumento de incendios forestales.• Intensificación de la contaminación por vertimientos y residuos sólidos.• Afectaciones a sistemas productivos agrícolas y pecuarios.• Pérdida de cobertura vegetal.• Escasez de agua.• Cambio de uso del suelo.• Deterioro de la economía local.• Formulación y ejecución de los planes de manejo y ordenación de cuencas hidrográficas (POMCA's).• Planes de conservación y protección para la Reserva Forestal del Pacífico y el Parque Nacional Natural Farallones de Cali.• Actualización del plan básico de ordenamiento territorial.• Renovación del plan de gestión integral de residuos sólidos.• Programas de reforestación en áreas cercanas a las fuentes hídricas.• Establecer la protección de predios civiles.• Fomentar la cooperación interinstitucional.• Control y aplicación de la normatividad vigente.• Disminución drástica de la oferta hídrica.• Contaminación y pérdida de ecosistemas.• Aumento de las plantaciones forestales.• Deslizamientos.• Deterioro de la calidad de vida.• Aumento de la temperatura.• Extinción de especies vegetales y animales.• Conflictos sociales ocasionados por la distribución y manejo del agua potable.• Capacitar y sensibilizar a la población acerca del uso racional de los recursos energéticos renovables.Municipio de Dagua -Valle del CaucaEl perfil POAM elaborado permite analizar el entorno municipal frente a aspectos externos. La síntesis de estos y la especialización de las amenazas se presenta a continuación:• Vinculación de la academia y centros de investigación para desarrollar proyectos encaminados a la adaptación al cambio climático.• Inclusión de los jóvenes de la comunidad en los procesos ambientales.• Alta riqueza en recursos hídricos, especies animales y vegetales.• Promover el ecoturismo en la región.• Establecer sistemas productivos sostenibles.• Fortalecimiento de las organizaciones comunitarias.• Participación en el nodo regional de cambio climático para articularse con los otros municipios.• Implementar sistemas alternativos para producción de energía.• Potenciar nuevos productos agrícolas aprovechando la variabilidad climática.• Vinculación de los sectores público y privado del municipio para el desarrollo de iniciativas de adaptación y mitigación.• Deficiente participación de la autoridad ambiental en el municipio.• Desabastecimiento de agua en el municipio por aumento de la deforestación en la quebrada El Cogollo.• Desarrollo de minería a gran escala en la zona alta del río Dagua y baja del río Anchicayá; que genere contaminación de los ecosistemas, socavamientos y pérdida de biodiversidad.• Incremento de la contaminación de los ríos y suelos a causa de vertimientos, residuos sólidos y uso indiscriminado de agroquímicos.• Eventos extremos de precipitación que ocasionan escasez de agua o desbordamientos.• Incremento de cultivos en laderas y ganadería extensiva.• Parcelación de predios y cambio de uso del suelo con fines agrícolas.• Manejo y disposición final inadecuada de residuos sólidos.• Impactos ambientales y sociales graves ocasionados por un posible desequilibrio de la falla geológica en el municipio.• Disminución del caudal de los ríos ocasionado por el incremento de monocultivos de pino y eucalipto.• Aumento de la erosión en el municipio generada por la poca cobertura vegetal, los eventos naturales y las prácticas agrícolas inadecuadas.• Bajo interés social en los procesos ambientales que conciernen al municipio.• Extensión de la frontera agrícola y pecuaria.• Deficiente implementación de sistemas adecuados de riego debido a la baja capacitación y formación de las personas encargadas.• Pérdida de suelo, cobertura y biodiversidad a causa de la construcción de la vía doble calzada.• Incremento de incendios forestales.• Alteraciones antrópicas en las zonas protectoras de las quebradas Ambichita y La Clorinda.Figura 13. Amenazas identificadas para el municipio de Dagua.Fuente: Elaboración propia basada en cartografía CVC (2010). El perfil de capacidad interna (PCI) permite tener una visión global de la situación interna del municipio paraPartiendo del hecho que el cambio climático es un fenómeno que afectará toda la población, es necesario resaltar la participación y el compromiso interinstitucional de todos los actores presentes en el municipio de Dagua; y así desarrollar e implementar acciones y medidas de adaptación al cambio climático en forma integral y localizada.Teniendo en cuenta esto se presentan a continuación los diferentes actores que participaron en la construcción del portafolio de adaptación al cambio climático: Empresa de Energía del Pacífico (EPSA), Asociación de Productores y Comercializadores de Atuncela (ASOPROCAT), Asociación de Usuarios de Servicio de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de El Queremal (ASUAQ), Unidad Ejecutora de Saneamiento (UES), Unidad Municipal de Asistencia Técnica Agropecuaria (UMATA), y las presentadas en la Figura 14. Figura 14. Mapa de participación de actores en la construcción del portafolio para el municipio de Dagua.hacer frente al cambio climático, ya que facilita la identificación de las medidas apropiadas para la adaptación.• Condiciones climáticas y ubicación geográfica estratégica del municipio para el desarrollo de proyectos de adaptación.• Presencia de parques nacionales naturales.• Implementación de nuevas tecnologías productivas.• Compromiso interinstitucional.• Implementación de buenas prácticas agrícolas.• Promoción de la cultura ambiental desde las instituciones educativas.• Presencia del comité técnico interinstitucional de educación ambiental (CIDEA).• Investigación por parte de universidades y organizaciones sociales para el aprovechamiento y desarrollo sostenible de los recursos del municipio.• Manejo inadecuado del uso del suelo.• Ganadería extensiva.• Bajo financiamiento para el control de políticas ambientales.• Ausencia de planta de tratamiento de aguas residuales.• Desarticulación de iniciativas ambientales en el municipio.• No hay planes de respuesta y contingencia ante fenómenos naturales.• Baja continuidad en los procesos que se desarrollan.• Poco reconocimiento de la importancia de los impactos asociados con el cambio climático.• Poco interés social para el trabajo colectivo en acciones para la adaptación y la mitigación. El análisis de la participación de los actores mostró que el 72% de los asistentes pertenece a organizaciones públicas, el 21% a organizaciones privadas y el 7% a organizaciones sociales, quedando excluidos los sectores academia, organizaciones no gubernamentales y sociedad civil. Cabe entonces resaltar la necesidad de promover la participación amplia de estos últimos para garantizar que los procesos se desarrollen de manera íntegra y conjunta. La Figura 17 representa el porcentaje de recursos ofertados por los actores para el proceso de implementación del portafolio, obteniendo el mayor aporte el de recursos humanos con un 80%, seguido de los recursos físicos con un 13% y por último los recursos económicos con un 7%. Lo anterior evidencia que existe una amplia disposición de participar en el proceso. Sin embargo, es necesario buscar fuentes económicas que puedan soportar la implementación del portafolio con los tomadores de decisión y la participación de las instituciones presentes en el municipio.En cuanto al análisis de la participación en las fases del proceso de gestión del cambio climático a escala local, se encontró que el mayor interés se encuentra en las fases de formulación e implementación, representadas con un 42% cada una; la fase de seguimiento, representada con un 11%, y finalmente la fase de evaluación, con un 5%. Es importante resaltar el compromiso de los actores en las primeras fases. Sin embargo, sería ideal que se asignara el mismo interés en todas las fases para así darle continuidad al proceso. En este capítulo se realiza una revisión y análisis de los reportes relacionados con la variabilidad y el cambio climático en el departamento del Valle del Cauca y el municipio de Dagua durante el último quinquenio.Las amenazas climáticas de mayor frecuencia en la actualidad para el departamento, en lo que respecta al último quinquenio son, de mayor a menor: las En comparación con otros municipios del departamento, Dagua se ubica en el sexto lugar en materia de concentración de desastres por eventos relacionados con variabilidad y cambio climático en el Valle del Cauca. Este nivel de afectación es superado por los municipios de Buenaventura y Jamundí, con un número de personas afectadas que puede llegar a ser hasta 10 veces mayor que el que se presenta en el municipio de Dagua.  17% 17%Estos eventos climáticos sin duda configuran un riesgo en la medida en que afectan a los sistemas naturales y sociales.El total de personas afectadas entre 2010 y 2015 por las amenazas climáticas identificadas fue de 5.485, a septiembre del último año, según datos reportados ante la UNGRD (2015). El análisis de esta información antes descrita nos lleva a concluir que es necesario que se realicen acciones en torno a los problemas más importantes a nivel climático en el municipio, tales como los incendios forestales, los deslizamientos, las inundaciones y los vendavales, para así reducir la cifra de personas afectadas (5.485) en el último quinquenio. Sin duda, este portafolio se convierte en una herramienta fundamental para hacerle frente a estos fenómenos, teniendo en cuenta las amenazas particulares y las características del territorio. ejemplo, se espera que para el 27% del territorio nacional disminuya entre 20% y 30% en las zonas de Amazonas, Vaupés, sur del Caquetá, San Andrés y Providencia, Bolívar, Magdalena, Sucre y norte del Cesar, y aumente entre 10% y 30% en zonas como Nariño, Cauca, Huila, Tolima, Eje Cafetero, occidente de Antioquia, norte de Cundinamarca, Bogotá y centro de Boyacá.A continuación se muestran el cambio de temperatura y precipitación proyectados por el IDEAM en 2015 en la Tercera Comunicación Nacional de Cambio Climático (IDEAM et al., 2015). Este análisis tiene en cuenta diferentes horizontes temporales (entre 2011 y 2100). Se espera que la temperatura entre 2071 y 2100 aumente, en promedio, en 2.   Para fin de siglo, el departamento podrá aumentar en 2,4 °C la temperatura promedio. En particular, el municipio de Buenaventura será el de mayor aumento, con valores de 2,6 °C adicionales a los valores de referencia actual (IDEAM et al., 2015).En general, el departamento podrá aumentar en 6% las precipitaciones sobre el valor actual. Particularmente, las provincias de occidente, sur y centro serán aquellas que presentan mayores aumentos, con valores hasta de un 20%, al igual que los municipios de Cartago, Ulloa, El Águila, Ansermanuevo y Alcalá (IDEAM et al., 2015).Las estimaciones de cambio climático también se realizaron a nivel de municipio desde el equipo de modelación climática del CIAT, y los resultados para Dagua, con el ensamble de modelos globales de cambio climático (GCMs, por sus siglas en inglés) son los siguientes: La temperatura del municipio de Dagua en la mayor parte del territorio se encuentra entre 20 y 25 °C. Sin embargo, la zona de la parte occidental en el límite con el municipio de Buenaventura presenta una temperatura promedio anual de 27 °C. Algo similar ocurre con las precipitaciones, las cuales son mayores en la parte sur y occidental.El cambio climático para el municipio de Dagua muestra aumentos en temperatura y precipitación, tanto en 2030 como en 2050. Para 2030 se estiman aumentos de temperatura de 1,3 °C y 9% en precipitaciones, mientras que para 2050 los aumentos serían de 1,8 °C en temperatura y de 11,8% en precipitaciones.En términos relativos (cambios %) se espera que la zona con mayores aumentos en precipitación sea la zona oriental del municipio que limita con La Cumbre. Dicha zona se ha caracterizado por bajas precipitaciones; sin embargo, se espera que a futuro en esta zona aumente la precipitación con respecto al valor actual.De acuerdo con estos cambios en temperatura y precipitación, se concluye que el municipio de Dagua tiene una gran exposición al cambio climático, lo cual hace necesario establecer medidas de adaptación que ayuden al municipio a mejorar su capacidad de adaptación y resiliencia. Figura 27. Esquema de organización y gestión para la implementación de medidas de adaptación en el marco del portafolio.El esquema anterior plantea la conformación de un grupo interinstitucional e intersectorial coordinador, asesor y gestor, encargado de la parte técnica, administrativa y toma de decisiones, en el marco de la promoción y desarrollo de las acciones para la adaptación al cambio climático.Dicho grupo optimizará los esfuerzos y recursos existentes, con el fin de evitar la duplicidad en las labores desempeñadas por los actores involucrados. Asimismo, es necesario establecer un mecanismo de retroalimentación entre ellos y los componentes que establecen el grupo de concertación. Es importante resaltar la necesidad de establecer una dirección administrativa que se encargue de apoyar los temas de comunicación, educación para el desarrollo y coordinación de las diferentes actividades, con el ánimo de llevar a cabo el buen funcionamiento del proceso.En síntesis, este esquema se presenta como una alternativa de organización y gestión para la implementación de medidas de adaptación al cambio climático, que busca facilitar la armonización de los procesos y realizar acciones interinstitucionales y sociales desde una orientación colectiva.Con el objetivo de implementar las acciones contenidas en el portafolio de adaptación y promover los mecanismos de administración, gestión y seguimiento, se sugiere el siguiente esquema de organización, que contempla la articulación institucional y la optimización de los recursos. A partir de los talleres realizados y de las indagaciones sobre información secundaria relacionada con medidas y proyectos formulados, en ejecución o en fase de formulación para la adaptación al cambio climático, y con el propósito de generar una priorización de aquellos identificados, se planteó la necesidad de asignar una importancia a los criterios de selección, que permitiera relacionar niveles de preferencia sobre los aspectos más relevantes en materia de adaptación para el municipio de Dagua. Todo ello desde el conocimiento local representado por los actores sociales y participantes del municipio.La metodología empleada para facilitar el proceso de toma de decisión frente a la configuración de un portafolio de adaptación fue el proceso analítico jerárquico (AHP). El AHP es un método de evaluación y decisión multicriterio, desarrollado por el matemático Thomas Saaty que consiste en formalizar la comprensión intuitiva de problemas complejos mediante la construcción de un modelo jerárquico. El propósito del método es permitir que el agente decisor pueda estructurar un problema multicriterio en forma visual, mediante la construcción de un modelo jerárquico que contiene tres niveles: meta u objetivo, criterios y alternativas (Hurtado y Bruno, 2005).El AHP se fundamenta en: • La estructuración de un modelo jerárquico (representación del problema mediante identificación de meta, criterios, subcriterios y alternativas).• Priorización de los elementos del modelo jerárquico.• Comparaciones binarias entre los elementos.• Evaluación de los elementos mediante asignación de \"pesos\".• Clasificación de las alternativas de acuerdo con los pesos dados.• Síntesis y análisis de resultados.El AHP hace posible la toma de decisiones grupal mediante el agregado de opiniones, de tal manera que satisfaga la relación recíproca al comparar dos elementos; luego toma el promedio geométrico de las opiniones. Cuando el grupo de expertos genera cada uno su propia jerarquía, el AHP combina los resultados por el promedio geométrico de las mismas (Saaty, 1997).Según esto, se presenta a continuación el desarrollo de este esquema metodológico para las medidas y proyectos identificados, así como los resultados de este proceso para el municipio de Dagua.La estructuración del modelo jerárquico para la priorización de las medidas y proyectos identificados se desarrolla a través de los siguientes componentes metodológicos, que configuran un proceso confiable para la toma de decisiones ante las actuales medidas o proyectos, y los futuros.En materia de adaptación al cambio climático son importantes los esfuerzos, recursos e inversiones sociales, que hacen parte de los contenidos programáticos de los instrumentos de planificación territorial; las agendas institucionales, los programas locales y las apuestas comunitarias. Todos estos de gran relevancia bajo un contexto general de adaptación. Sin embargo, no todas estas iniciativas responden en igual medida a las prioridades que para el municipio de Dagua puede representar el contexto sociocultural, ambiental y económico-político desde el cual busca una adaptación exitosa al cambio climático.Estas condiciones particulares, identificadas en la fase prospectiva de este ejercicio, contienen amenazas y vulnerabilidades que generan escenarios únicos ante los cuales adaptarse. Por tal motivo, resulta de interés la priorización de medidas y proyectos que respondan a criterios o componentes de mayor importancia para los autores del proceso de adaptación en el municipio, de tal manera que dichos esfuerzos generen impactos positivos para este en el corto y mediano plazo.El objetivo del AHP en este estudio es el de \"seleccionar las medidas o proyectos con mayor impacto potencial sobre las prioridades de mitigación y adaptación del municipio de Dagua\".Dichas alternativas responden a problemáticas relacionadas con el cambio y la variabilidad climática y configuran un portafolio de medidas y proyectos que responden a este propósito.El departamento del Valle del Cauca ha venido desarrollando en diferentes municipios portafolios de estrategias, medidas y proyectos de adaptación y mitigación, planteando con esto un referente para el abordaje de la temática desde un enfoque articulador y coherente con las perspectivas de los vallecaucanos.Fruto de estos procesos, y como resultado de diagnósticos participativos en los diferentes municipios, se evaluaron y validaron en Dagua siete (7) criterios por parte de los agentes claves involucrados en los talleres.Estos criterios fueron empleados para la calificación y selección de un número limitado de medidas y proyectos, los cuales conformarán el marco decisorio para la configuración del portafolio.En este sentido se muestra a continuación una pregunta clave y una breve descripción de cada uno de los criterios. El listado de los siete criterios se enuncia en un consecutivo desde el literal A hasta el G; el orden de estos es aleatorio y no corresponde a su importancia o jerarquía para la toma de la decisión.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto involucra procesos de adaptación relacionados con la soberanía y seguridad alimentaria ante la variabilidad y el cambio climático?Por medio de este criterio se busca priorizar proyectos y medidas relacionadas con la adaptación ecológica y cultural de los agroecosistemas a la variabilidad y al cambio climático, el reconocimiento y recuperación de saberes y prácticas productivas ancestrales que garanticen la soberanía y seguridad alimentaria ante el cambio climático.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto contempla adaptaciones, manejo o mitigación de riesgos relacionados con variabilidad y cambio climático?A través de este criterio se busca priorizar aquellas medidas y proyectos que involucran posibles adaptaciones desde la gestión del riesgo ante el cambio climático, involucrando obras de manejo y mitigación de riesgos por escenarios de variabilidad y cambio climático, como vendavales, incendios forestales, inundaciones urbanas, avenidas torrenciales, el manejo de procesos erosivos en zonas de ladera, entre otros.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto representa posibles adaptaciones para la gestión integral del agua ante escenarios de variabilidad y cambio climático?Este criterio prioriza medidas y proyectos que involucran procesos de gestión del agua a escala de cuenca hidrográfica; desde aspectos ecológicos y culturales relacionados con la oferta-demanda y calidad del recurso, como la protección y recuperación de fuentes abastecedoras, el ahorro y uso eficiente del agua y la salud ambiental.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto busca la conservación de ecosistemas estratégicos para la adaptación al cambio y la variabilidad climática?Este criterio busca entregar una mayor prioridad a las medidas y proyectos relacionados con la conectividad ecosistémica, la gestión ambiental en áreas naturales protegidas y la conservación y regulación de fuentesMunicipio de Dagua -Valle del Cauca Figura 28. Modelo jerárquico para la toma de decisiones con el AHP.Fuente: Elaboración propia con base en CVC (2014).Medidas con mayor impacto potencial en el proceso de adaptación Proyectos con mayor impacto potencial en el proceso de adaptación hídricas y de los bosques del departamento. Involucra además proyectos que contemplan procesos de conservación en el marco de esquemas de pago por servicios ambientales y/o exenciones tributarias por conservación de áreas ambientales estratégicas.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto plantea la incorporación de prácticas y procesos sostenibles en los sistemas productivos como respuesta al cambio y la variabilidad climática?Este criterio entrega una mayor prioridad a las medidas o proyectos que incorporan prácticas de manejo ecológicas en los sistemas productivos del municipio con el fin de hacerlos más resilientes y/o adaptativos ante el cambio y la variabilidad climática.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto proporciona escenarios para la investigación, formación de capacidades y/o apropiación de conocimientos en torno a la gestión y adaptación ante el cambio climático?Este criterio entrega una mayor prioridad a las medidas o proyectos relacionados con procesos de investigación, generación de información, formación de capacidades humanas para la gestión del cambio climático, así como la apropiación social, institucional y sectorial de su conocimiento, la proyección de procesos de educación ambiental enfocados a temas relacionados con el cambio climático y el reconocimiento de las vulnerabilidades e identidades culturales locales.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto implica el desarrollo o transferencia de tecnologías ambientalmente apropiadas para la adaptación al cambio y la variabilidad climática?Por medio de este criterio se otorga mayor prioridad a las medidas o proyectos que plantean procesos de apropiación de tecnologías (tradicionales y de punta) que sirven a posibles adaptaciones al cambio y la variabilidad climática, aplicables en el sector agropecuario, en los sistemas urbanos, o en los sistemas de información para la toma de decisiones, apropiadas en términos de viabilidad socioeconómica, ambiental y cultural.Con el ánimo de determinar las medidas y proyectos idóneos en el proceso de adaptación al cambio climático para el municipio, se compararon los siete criterios descritos anteriormente, usando la media absoluta, sabiendo que esta permite el manejo de un bajo número de alternativas.Posteriormente se realizó este proceso por pares para conocer las preferencias o pesos entre diferentes los criterios y, de esta forma, establecer una jerarquía que permitiera la evaluación en forma independiente de cada una de las medidas y proyectos.En esta etapa del estudio se examinaron los elementos del problema aisladamente por medio de comparaciones por pares. Las evaluaciones o juicios fueron emitidos por los actores claves interesados, que a su vez hicieron parte del desarrollo de los talleres.Para el desarrollo de la valoración de criterios, se empleó una escala ajustada a la planteada por Saaty (1997), donde se establece una serie de medidas que varían en un rango de 1 a 5, relacionadas con juicios verbales de tipo cualitativo, los cuales a su vez establecen un grado de preferencia sobre los elementos comparados.Valor numéricoModeradamente más importante 2Muy poderosamente más importante 4Extremadamente más importante 5Cuadro 13. Escala de valoración de Saaty.Fuente: Esquema propuesto por Morales et al. (2011).El objetivo de este ejercicio consistió en establecer la importancia de cada uno de los criterios que se han definido para la calificación y selección de medidas y proyectos de adaptación al cambio y la variabilidad climática en el municipio de Dagua. Los resultados de este ejercicio constituirán el insumo base para la realización de un análisis de jerarquías por medio de la metodología AHP, lo que permitirá establecer la importancia de los diferentes criterios.Para el desarrollo del ejercicio, los actores claves respondieron las preguntas que se encuentran en las columnas dos y tres del Cuadro 14, con base en la información contenida en cada una de las filas. Para el caso de la pregunta ¿En qué grado considera Ud. que es más importante?, el grado de importancia se calificó con base en la escala de valoración planteada por Saaty, colocando en el espacio del cuadro el valor numérico correspondiente al juicio realizado sobre la importancia.¿En qué grado considera Ud. que es más importante?3. Gestión Integral del Recurso Hídrico 6. Generación de Capacidades para la Gestión y Adaptación ante el Cambio Climático Cuadro 14. Formato utilizado para la calificación de criterios por pares.Fuente: Esquema propuesto por Morales et al. (2011).Municipio de Dagua -Valle del CaucaCuadro 15. Ponderación de pesos asignados para cada criterio.Como resultado de la ponderación, los actores definieron una jerarquía para los criterios, de acuerdo Cuadro 16. Jerarquía final de criterios.con los pesos establecidos en las calificaciones. Esta jerarquía puede apreciarse en el siguiente cuadro.Una vez realizada la comparación y asignación de pesos con base en la preferencia individual de cada actor involucrado, se procedió a la obtención de una preferencia colectiva, a partir de la ponderación de los valores otorgados individualmente. En este proceso se promediaron las valoraciones realizadas por los actores claves.La preferencia resultante constituyó la jerarquía final otorgada para cada criterio en comparación.Posteriormente, esta fue relacionada con un valor numérico que finalmente permitiría la evaluación de las medidas y proyectos, a partir de la sumatoria de los valores relacionados con el cumplimiento o no de cada uno de los criterios.La ponderación efectuada representa la medida absoluta del peso asignado a cada criterio por todos los actores, y puede apreciarse con mayor detalle en el siguiente cuadro. El resultado de este ejercicio plantea como el criterio de mayor importancia para el colectivo de participantes en materia de mitigación y adaptación al cambio y la variabilidad climática, los \"Procesos y sistemas productivos ambientalmente sostenibles\", la \"Conservación de ecosistemas y áreas de interés ambiental\" y la \"Gestión integral del recurso hídrico\". Estos tres criterios configuran el grupo de mayor relevancia para las prioridades del municipio, evidenciando una perspectiva en la que medidas y proyectos con estos alcances podrían representar un mayor impacto en el proceso de adaptación.El segundo grupo de criterios, con pesos que oscilan entre 0.15 y 0.13, está constituido por el \"Desarrollo y transferencia de tecnologías ambientalmente apropiadas para la adaptación al cambio y variabilidad climática\" y la \"Generación de capacidades para la gestión y adaptación ante el cambio climático\". Estos representan criterios que, si bien son relevantes, no son considerados los de mayor importancia.Finalmente, la \"Gestión del riesgo asociado a la variabilidad y cambio climático\" y la \"Soberanía y seguridad alimentaria ante el cambio climático\" recibieron la menor calificación en el proceso de priorización. Este resultado no significa que estos criterios carezcan de relevancia, sino más bien que en estos aspectos desde la percepción de los participantes ya se cuenta con avances significativos, y/o no se percibe una vulnerabilidad considerable.Es importante aclarar que todos los criterios resultan importantes para los procesos de adaptación y mitigación, y que estas jerarquías deben ser interpretadas desde la complementariedad de las temáticas que debe abordar una estrategia, proyecto o medida, de tal forma que involucre más de un criterio y, en mayor medida, aquellos identificados como prioritarios.Consecuentemente, estos pesos y jerarquías serán de utilidad en el momento de evaluar cada proyecto o medida de adaptación y mitigación, en función de los criterios que resultan prioritarios para las particularidades que afronta el municipio, desde la perspectiva de sus habitantes.Contando con este resultado, a continuación se describen las medidas y proyectos identificados, y se presenta su respectiva evaluación desde las prioridades establecidas anteriormente.Municipio de Dagua -Valle del Cauca Cuadro 17. Sistema de cualificación de medidas y proyectos.Fuente: Elaboración propia adaptada de CVC (2014).De acuerdo con la aplicación del sistema de cualificación y priorización de criterios a través de las comparaciones entre ellos, se obtuvo como resultado final el ordenamiento de las medidas y proyectos. Este proceso se desarrolló a partir de la evaluación o calificación bajo un esquema de pregunta clave con única respuesta, donde cada alternativa fue sometida al cumplimiento de cada criterio de evaluación. A continuación se presenta el formato utilizado.Se identificaron un total de 23 proyectos con impacto potencial sobre la adaptación. Estos constituyen las alternativas evaluadas desde los criterios de sostenibilidad aplicados en el marco de la metodología AHP.Para facilitar la comprensión de los resultados obtenidos, se plantea un sistema de cualificación de las medidas y proyectos, basado en los umbrales determinados para cada componente o criterio en el proceso de priorización descrito anteriormente. Estos umbrales determinan un grado de aporte a las prioridades del municipio en términos de adaptación para cada proyecto o medida evaluada, donde se presentan mayores aportes en aquellos proyectos que responden de manera integral a más de un componente o criterio priorizado. El Cuadro16 presenta el sistema de cualificación utilizado en el proceso de priorización de medidas y proyectos.Valoración (grado de aporte a las prioridades de adaptación)Hasta el 25%Proyectos identificados que por sus características son importantes para el municipio, pero constituyen respuestas puntuales a temáticas o criterios concretos de adaptación; no obstante podrían ser desarrollados si las condiciones de gobernabilidád son favorables / Proyectos que pueden ser objeto de revisión para ampliar su impacto sobre los componentes prioritarios. Su implementación debe desarrollarse en el largo plazo.Proyectos identificados que, a pesar de su mediano impacto asociado, pueden empezar a implementarse a mediano plazo, toda vez que las condiciones para su desarrollo sean adecuadas.Proyectos identificados que, por sus características y potencial de impacto, deben ser desarrollados de forma inmediata o a corto plazo, representando estrategias integrales que aportan a diferentes componentes de adaptación de importancia para el municipio; no obstante podrían ser abordadas en un horizonte superior, en caso de que sea necesario crear condiciones, para su óptimo desarrollo.Cuadro 18. Formato para la evaluación de medidas, acciones o proyectos en función del grado de aporte a las prioridades de adaptación al cambio climático y la variabilidad climática en el municipio.Fuente: Elaboración propia adaptada de CVC ( 2014). Se presentan entonces los resultados de la priorización de acuerdo con la valoración de impacto en los componentes de adaptación, presentándose según los resultados proyectos de carácter prioritario, necesario y de impacto puntual, como se describe en el siguiente cuadro.Cuadro 19. Clasificación de los proyectos de acuerdo con la valoración de impactos en los componentes para la adaptación al cambio y la variabilidad climática.Responsables Clasificación Como resultado del análisis de los cambios presentidos, anhelados y temidos, el perfil de capacidad interna, el perfil de oportunidades y amenazas del medio, y las ideas estratégica resultantes, se proponen una serie de estrategias que complementan las expectativas de los actores claves participantes y responden a las necesidades locales del municipio en materia de adaptación al cambio y la variabilidad climática.Es importante resaltar la necesidad de planear un proceso de adaptación para el municipio de Dagua, prefiriendo las medidas enfocadas a la prevención de los riesgos y no aquellas que buscan enfrentarlos. Siguiendo este orden de ideas se presentan a continuación las iniciativas de adaptación, organizadas de acuerdo con la importancia establecida en la priorización de criterios para la adaptación al cambio y la variabilidad climática.Se presenta entonces una ficha por cada iniciativa establecida, las cuales están conformadas por una descripción de objetivos y metodología para su desarrollo, y un mapa con la espacialización de los proyectos más relevantes. Estas iniciativas constituyen una propuesta complementaria desde la prospectiva territorial desarrollada, que refleja en sus plazos los resultados del ejercicio de priorización, constituyendo un insumo desde lo local, para la futura articulación de todos estos en el marco de los contenidos programáticos Figura 30. Proyectos identificados en el marco de la adaptación para el municipio de Dagua. que conformarán los planes de adaptación al cambio climático a escala regional.Municipio de Dagua -Valle del Cauca Componente Estratégico: Conservación de Ecosistemas y Áreas de Interés AmbientalEstablecer acciones de manejo, protección y conservación en zonas aledañas a los ríos afectadas por actividades antropogénicasPreservar la diversidad biológica existente en este ecosistema, de tal forma que las actividades desarrolladas en el municipio no la afectenCon el ánimo de determinar las acciones a desarrollar en las áreas más deterioradas a causa de las actividades antropogénicas, se describe a continuación una zonificación ambiental que puede determinar su uso y manejo.Las unidades de zonificación se pueden describir así:Zonas prioritarias de conservación: Son las áreas en las que existen ecosistemas o zonas que han permanecido inalteradas y rodeadas de áreas con agroecosistemas o tierras modificadas.Zonas de protección forestal: Son las que deben conservar su cobertura boscosa natural, con el fin de proteger los recursos naturales y brindar otros servicios ambientales.Zonas de protección hídrica: Son aquellas donde se identifican los nacimientos de los ríos principales y secundarios, especialmente los nodos que dan origen a las corrientes de agua.Zonas de restauración: Son áreas que presentan un grado de deterioro ambiental, pero que propician o admiten la continuidad de los procesos naturales.Zonas a sustraer de la reserva: Son áreas con obras de infraestructura que han sido construidas al interior de la Reserva Forestal del Pacífico y el Enclave Subxerofítico y que hacen parte del desarrollo de la región o tienen alguna importancia local o regional (Henao et al., 2008). Componente Estratégico: Conservación de Ecosistemas y Áreas de Interés Ambiental Programa Fortalecimiento a la consolidación de áreas de reserva natural de la sociedad civilDefinir las reservas naturales de la sociedad civil como una iniciativa de conservación de la biodiversidad y los recursos naturales en predios de propiedad privadaEl apoyo y promoción del establecimiento de áreas de reserva natural de la sociedad civil se enmarca en el ámbito de contribuir y consolidar con las iniciativas de la sociedad civil en su aporte a la conservación de los recursos naturales, en la búsqueda del desarrollo sostenible.Para el desarrollo del proceso de registro es necesario describir detalladamente los servicios ambientales y sociales que cada predio ofrece; algunas de las características que debe contener son: localización del predio, zonificación de los tipos de uso y hectáreas (conservación, agrosistemas, amortiguación y manejo especial e infraestructura); lo anterior descrito en un mapa. De igual forma se deben detallar los instrumentos de planificación de la reserva y los objetivos de manejo (PNNC, 2005). Conocer la distribución espacial de los servicios ecosistémicos para diseñar estrategias que garanticen el buen uso y la preservación de estos, en beneficio a los distintos sectores de la poblaciónEl concepto de Servicios Ecosistémicos permite entender de qué manera las poblaciones humanas dependen de la biodiversidad. Su cuantificación y valoración permite informar de manera apropiada a los tomadores de decisiones, y permite que los desarrolladores de políticas tengan en cuenta los costos y beneficios relacionados de intervenir en los recursos naturales.En este sentido, un inventario de servicios ecosistémicos permite conocer y establecer las relaciones entre biodiversidad, servicios ambientales y las reservas de carbono que estos poseen.De igual forma sirven como herramienta para el análisis de investigadores, y de comunicación para los planificadores y el público en general sobre dónde se encuentran las áreas con mayor prioridad de conservación (Álvarez, sf).Componente Estratégico: Procesos y Sistemas Productivos Ambientalmente Sostenibles Programa Implementación de sistemas agroforestalesIncrementar la productividad en un sistema diversificado, establecer un sistema resiliente y promover el aprovechamiento sustentable de productos agrícolas y forestalesEste sistema compone una serie de técnicas que aprovechan los multiestratos de un ecosistema.Son idóneos para sitios con vocación agrícola o forestal en estado degradado para recuperar zonas boscosas, sin sacrificar la producción. Su desarrollo se compone de los siguientes pasos:1. Diseñar el sistema con apoyo de un técnico y de acuerdo con las características particulares del sitio (suelo, clima, topografía, cultivos y especies potenciales, acceso a mercados).2. Seleccionar las especies a incluir en el sistema (arbóreas maderables y comestibles; arbustivas y rastreras comestibles y medicinales; herbáceas comestibles para abonos verdes y control de plagas).3. Limpiar y trazar tomando en cuenta curvas de nivel y elementos topográficos distintivos.4. Obtener especies leñosas en viveros, y trasplantar.5. Sembrar en los estratos establecidos en el diseño.6. Dar mantenimiento general según el plan de manejo (PNUMA y Frankfurt School, 2013).Municipal, UMATAComponente Estratégico: Procesos y Sistemas Productivos Ambientalmente Sostenibles Programa Implementar sistemas agrosilvopastoriles en zonas degradadas por ganadería extensivaDesarrollar un sistema de producción diversificado con un enfoque de conservación e iniciar con este un proceso de restauración del suelo y revegetación forestalEl sistema agrosilvopastoril agrupa un conjunto de técnicas para asociar especies arbóreas con ganadería y cultivos en el mismo terreno, con el fin de lograr interacciones ecológicas y económicas significativas.En este sentido, la metodología de implementación es la siguiente:1. Identificar las características físicas del terreno (topografía, suelos, drenaje) que ayuden a determinar la selección, manejo y productividad potencial de los elementos del sistema.2. Realizar un plan de manejo que establezca las áreas destinadas a ganadería, producción agrícola y vegetación arbórea, con base en la capacidad de carga del sitio y el consumo de forraje requerido.3. Seleccionar las especies leñosas, arbustivas, rastreras y herbáceas a sembrar, incluyendo pastos para ganado y cultivos anuales.4. Limpiar, trazar, sembrar y trasplantar los estratos de acuerdo con el plan establecido y cuidando de proteger las áreas productivas de los animales.5. Dar mantenimiento general según el plan de manejo (PNUMA y Frankfurt School, 2013).Municipio de Dagua -Valle del CaucaDifusión e instauración de la política nacional para la gestión de los residuos sólidosFacilitar la aplicación, el desarrollo y posterior seguimiento de los lineamientos de la política, con el fin de iniciar procesos de cambio cultural, técnicos y económicosLa política nacional para la gestión de los residuos sólidos se fundamenta principalmente en la constitución política, las leyes 99 de 1993 y 142 de 1994 y el documento CONPES 2750.La política está orientada a proporcionar a las autoridades ambientales municipales los instrumentos para el apoyo en la gestión y manejo integral de los residuos sólidos.Algunas estrategias mediante las cuales se pueden cumplir los objetivos establecidos en la Política Nacional para la Gestión de Residuos Sólidos se presentan a continuación: Educación y participación ciudadana: Se producen importantes reducciones en las cantidades generadas de residuos sólidos y en el manejo adecuado de estos cuando la gente está dispuesta a cambiar por su propia voluntad sus hábitos y estilos de vida para conservar los recursos naturales y reducir las cargas económicas asociadas a la gestión de estos.Consolidar dentro del sistema nacional de información ambiental un subsistema de información de residuos sólidos que sirva de apoyo para la toma de decisiones en las diversas instancias y niveles que conforman el sector.Constituir una instancia enfocada a consolidar el sector de residuos sólidos capaz de liderar el desarrollo del sector, coordinando las acciones de los diferentes organismos e instituciones involucrados.Ciencia y tecnología: Estructurar y consolidar la red de investigación, innovación y transferencia de tecnología en residuos sólidos; y consolidar las unidades de apoyo tecnológico adscritas a la red, en el nivel municipal para apoyo a los avances en el tema en cuestión (Ministerio del Medio Ambiente, 1998).Componente Estratégico: Procesos y Sistemas Productivos Ambientalmente Sostenibles Programa Implementación de sistemas agrícolas ecológicos (agricultura de conservación)Aumentar la resiliencia de las zonas agrícolas productivas a condiciones cambiantes en el mercado y clima, diversificando e incrementando las sinergias entre los componentes del sistema, minimizando o eliminando la dependencia de insumos químicosÁmbito Responsables Plazo Rural Urbano• Determinar las prácticas adecuadas en las zonas de interés de acuerdo con las condiciones físicas, vocación productiva, recursos locales y conocimiento tradicional presentes en el sitio.• Implementar las prácticas considerando la interacción de las mismas para establecer sinergias en el agroecosistema.• Monitorear la presencia de indicadores biológicos benéficos y antagónicos para promover las interacciones deseadas.X UMATA, Alcaldía Municipal, Asociación de productoresImplementación del plan de gestión integral de residuos sólidosDar a conocer los criterios a tener en cuenta en la gestión integrada de residuos sólidos en el municipio y así mejorar la calidad de vida de la población y las condiciones ambientales del municipioEl plan de gestión integral de residuos sólidos debe actualizarse para así optimizar esta herramienta de planeación, evitar y disminuir los riesgos de salubridad y deterioro del medio ambiente.Esto se puede llevar a cabo por medio del fortalecimiento institucional, promocionando la separación en la fuente en viviendas e industrias, y el ajuste teniendo en cuenta los planes y programas de orden regional y nacional. Todo esto, en aras de que desde la academia se pueda generar el fundamento científico y técnico para la formulación de políticas y acciones que ayuden a la mitigación y adaptación frente a los cambios esperados.En este sentido se resalta una herramienta metodológica que sirve para transversalizar el cambio climático en la planificación: la Adaptación basada en ecosistemas EbA, que asocia la conservación de la biodiversidad como una forma de abordar el cambio climático, proporcionando al mismo tiempo beneficios de bienestar social y conservación de los servicios ambientales que prestan los ecosistemas (Vejarano, 2013) Participar en el seguimiento del proceso de elaboración de la Estrategia Local de Cambio Climático, colaborar en la recogida de información y su análisis, hacer propuestas concretas de mejora y debatir soluciones a partir de la recogida de información, plantear actividades de divulgación, y cooperar en el proceso de seguimiento de aplicación de la citada Estrategia (Futurelx, 2009) Coordinación interinstitucional para la gestión eficiente: Esta línea fomenta los procesos de articulación y coordinación entre las entidades relacionadas con el sector minero, en aspectos técnicos, ambientales, económicos y sociales, asociados a la actividad minera, buscando mecanismos, esquemas y herramientas que permitirán la formalización y control de la actividad minera en Colombia.Formación para el trabajo minero: Esta línea hace énfasis en formar capacidades de capital humano para el desarrollo de la actividad minera, pero sobre todo en adelantar un proceso de acompañamiento continuo a los mineros en procesos productivos y empresariales.Inclusión diferencial y desarrollo social: Esta línea se enfoca en definir herramientas, estrategias y acciones que permitan trasladar los beneficios de la minería a la población.Información para la formalización: Esta línea se enfoca en generar herramientas, instrumentos y sistemas que brinden información confiable, oportuna, pertinente y actualizada del sector minero y de las variables existentes en torno a la formalización de la minería en Colombia.Fortalecimiento técnico, asociativo y empresarial: Esta línea apunta a promover la innovación y el desarrollo tecnológico de la actividad minera, con el propósito de lograr mayores niveles de productividad y competitividad.Recursos e incentivos para la formalización: Esta línea se enfoca en establecer programas de apoyo económico al minero informal, de pequeña y mediana escala, y facilitar su acceso al crédito, mediante la asignación de recursos financieros.Minería bajo el amparo de un título: Genera condiciones para que el desarrollo de las actividades mineras se realicen en el marco de la legalidad.Normatividad y lineamientos para la formalización minera: Esta línea se enfoca en definir los instrumentos normativos y legales necesarios para la formalización de la actividad minera en Colombia (MinMinas, 2014 Este sistema de tratamiento debe contar con los siguientes componentes: Cámara de rejas: Ubicada antes del dispositivo de ingreso, impide el paso de elementos gruesos o de dimensiones considerables presentes en las aguas residuales. Dispositivo de ingreso: La tubería PVC del emisor ingresa al tanque mediante una Tee, alargada en la parte inferior, permitiendo verter los desagües debajo del nivel de agua del tanque séptico.Tanque séptico: Es una estructura de concreto armado de forma rectangular, con dimensiones determinadas en función de los caudales producidos en el sistema de alcantarillado. Pueden ser de una o dos cámaras.Dispositivo salida: está compuesta por una Tee de PVC, en un nivel más bajo que el dispositivo de ingreso. Permite la conducción de la fracción líquida hacia pozos de infiltración o campos de percolación.Lecho de secado: Son pequeñas pozas a donde es trasladado el lodo acumulado en el fondo del tanque séptico luego de un período predeterminado para que se deshidraten por drenaje y evaporación.Cabe resaltar que son sistemas de menor costo en comparación al alcantarillado tradicional (OPS y COSUDE, 2005 Todo esto en aras de que desde la academia se pueda generar el fundamento científico y técnico para la formulación de políticas y acciones que ayuden a la mitigación y adaptación frente a los cambios esperados.En este sentido se resalta una herramienta metodológica que sirve para transversalizar el cambio climático en la planificación: la Adaptación basada en ecosistemas EbA, que asocia la conservación de la biodiversidad como una forma de abordar el cambio climático, proporcionando al mismo tiempo beneficios de bienestar social y conservación de los servicios ambientales que prestan los ecosistemas (Vejarano, 2013) La formulación e implementación de los planes de ordenación y manejo de cuencas hidrográficas requieren de seis fases:Aprestamiento: Se definen el plan de trabajo, la identificación, caracterización y priorización de actores, la estrategia de participación, la revisión y consolidación de información existente, el análisis de la situación inicial y el plan operativo.Diagnóstico: Se consolida el Consejo de Cuenca y se determinará el estado actual de la cuenca en sus componentes: físico-biótico, socioeconómico y cultural, político administrativo, funcional y de gestión del riesgo.Prospectiva y zonificación ambiental: Se diseñan los escenarios futuros del uso coordinado y sostenible del suelo, de las aguas, de la flora y de la fauna presente de la cuenca, y se define, en un horizonte no menor a 10 años, el modelo de ordenación de la cuenca.Formulación: Se define el componente programático, las medidas para la administración de los recursos naturales renovables y el componente de gestión del riesgo.Ejecución y seguimiento: Se establecen las acciones de coordinación que deben adelantar las Corporaciones Autónomas Regionales y de Desarrollo Sostenible competentes para la ejecución del plan de ordenación y manejo de la cuenca hidrográfica.Evaluación: Se aplican los mecanismos definidos en el respectivo plan de seguimiento y evaluación definido en la fase de formulación (MADS, 2014). La reforestación se presenta como una alternativa para conservar y mantener los cursos de agua, mejorar el paisaje y controlar la erosión de los suelos.Los planes de reforestación deben estar articulados a la situación específica de la zona; es por ello que se debe realizar un estudio del bosque natural y del suelo para identificar las especies de flora nativa y así realizar un acondicionamiento de estas.Posteriormente se adecúa la zona para la plantación de las especies, se realiza una demarcación de los lugares donde estos van a ser ubicados, se excavan los hoyos y se trasplantan las plántulas, dejando el suelo firme.Es necesario tener en cuenta el mantenimiento que demanda dicha plantación durante los 2 o 3 primeros años (fertilizaciones, podas, entre otros) y los costos asociados a esto para ser incluidos en el inicio del plan de reforestación (Miranda y Torres, 2010 El tratamiento de las aguas residuales se convierte en un factor muy importante a la hora de establecer el desarrollo social y económico en una comunidad, ya que permite tener una mejor calidad de vida.Es por eso que para el municipio de Dagua se propone un estudio de viabilidad, no solo financiera, sino también social, productiva y ambiental.Según el Centro Panamericano de Ingeniería Sanitaria y Ciencias del Ambiente, en el texto denominado Guía para la Formulación de Proyectos de Sistemas Integrados de Tratamiento y Uso de Aguas Residuales Domésticas en 2002, esta iniciativa debe considerar aspectos como:1. Conceptualización del sistema que se desea implementar.2. Ubicación del estudio en el contexto del municipio.3. Identificación del contexto social del área de estudio.4. Identificación del contexto legal.5. Diagnóstico ambiental.6. Identificación de actores involucrados.7. Evaluación de los suelos y el agua del municipio.8. Definición de la propuesta de un sistema integrado. 9. Socialización de la propuesta con actores involucrados. La estrategia para la respuesta a emergencias es el marco de actuación de las entidades del Sistema Nacional de Gestión del Riesgo para la reacción y atención de emergencias.Se refiere a todos los aspectos que deben activarse por las entidades en forma individual y colectiva, con el propósito de ejecutar la respuesta a emergencias de manera oportuna y efectiva. Dentro de las acciones de coordinación establecidas en la estrategia de respuesta a emergencias se deben definir los siguientes aspectos: Objetivos, servicios, actores, participación de los actores, niveles de emergencia, estructura de actuación, y procedimientos operativos.Dicha estrategia y sus actualizaciones deben ser adoptadas mediante decreto expedido por el gobernador o alcalde (Vargas, sf) En este sentido, el IPCC plantea un esquema metodológico basado en el cálculo de emisiones a partir de datos de actividad y factores de emisión para cada país. Este proceso metodológico abarca las siguientes etapas:Identificación del propósito del inventario. Selección de la técnica de medición. Establece el método de cuantificación de las emisiones de GEI y contaminantes criterio a partir del nivel de profundización seleccionado.Identificación de fuentes de emisión. Mediante información suministrada por diferentes entidades públicas y privadas, tales como cámara de comercio, autoridades ambientales, empresas de transporte y bases de datos electrónicas.Recopilación de datos de actividad. Se realizará en función de las fuentes de emisión identificadas.Selección de factores de emisión. Se seleccionan teniendo en cuenta: i) datos de actividad de las fuentes de emisión que apliquen para el municipio, y ii) recomendaciones de la metodología IPCC.Cálculo de emisiones y reporte final. Teniendo en cuenta las etapas anteriores, se determinan las emisiones de GEI y contaminantes criterio para finalmente consolidar la información en un reporte final (IPCC, 2006) La fiscalización de la conservación de los recursos naturales no solo es tarea de la autoridad ambiental legalmente definida (CVC), sino que también debe incorporar la participación de toda la comunidad y todo los actores que están involucrados en la misma, lo cual permite que la formulación de políticas municipales que controlen y penalicen el uso inadecuado de recursos naturales sea un proceso concertado y participativo. En ese sentido se debe propender por establecer lineamientos claros de política ambiental en el municipio que busquen conservar los recursos naturales. Este proceso debe contener al menos estas etapas:1. Establecimiento del equipo de trabajo.2. Diagnóstico del estado ambiental del municipio, ecosistemas, coberturas, conflicto de uso del suelo, zonas de deforestación, entre otras.3. Definición de acciones de protección y control.4. Ejecución de acciones de protección y control.5. Seguimiento y evaluación del control y la fiscalización ambiental. Municipio de Dagua -Valle del Cauca Instrucción 1. Nombre del proyecto/acción. 2. Objeto del proyecto/acción. 3. Criterio. 4. Nombre de la institución y de la persona directamente responsable del proyecto/acción. 5. Datos de contacto de la persona responsable (email y teléfono). 6. Estado del proyecto: En formulación (EF), Formulado y sin recursos (FSR), Formulado y con recursos (FCR), En ejecución (E) 7. Fecha en que fue/será desarrollado el proyecto. Escriba el número del criterio: 1. Soberanía y seguridad alimentaria ante el cambio climático 2. Gestión del riesgo asociado a la variabilidad y cambio climático 3. Gestión integral del recurso hídrico 4. Conservación de ecosistemas y áreas de interés ambiental 5. Procesos y sistemas Productivos ambientalmente sostenibles 6. Generación de capacidades para la gestión y adaptación ante el cambio climático 7. Desarrollo y transferencia de tecnologías ambientalmente apropiadas para la adaptación al cambio y variabilidad climática. Formato de valoración de criterios para la selección de medidas y proyectos de adaptación al cambio y variabilidad climática en el municipio de Dagua, de acuerdo con la metodología de Análisis Jerárquico (AHP)El objetivo del siguiente ejercicio consiste en establecer la importancia de cada uno de los criterios que se han definido para la calificación y selección de medidas y proyectos de adaptación al cambio y variabilidad climática en el municipio de Dagua. Los resultados de este ejercicio constituirán el insumo base para la realización de un análisis de jerarquías por medio de la metodología AHP, lo que permitirá establecer la importancia de los diferentes criterios.Para el desarrollo del ejercicio, se procederá a responder las preguntas que se encuentran en la segunda y tercera columna del Cuadro A2, con base en la información contenida en cada una de las filas. Para el caso de la pregunta ¿En qué grado considera usted que es más importante? (Tercera columna en el Cuadro A2), el grado de importancia se calificará con base en el Cuadro A1, colocando en el espacio respectivo del cuadro, el valor numérico que corresponda al juicio que se realice sobre la importancia. La escala definida para esta valoración (de 1 a 5) ha sido diseñada con base en la metodología de Análisis Jerárquico AHP. Ejemplo de aplicación:En el anterior ejemplo, la valoración efectuada asignó una preferencia al criterio número 6, por encima del criterio número 3; y el grado o valoración de la importancia que se otorgó es de 4, conforme a la escala planteada en el Cuadro A1.A continuación se presenta el formato vacío (Cuadro A2) donde podrá usted efectuar las calificaciones. Recuerde consultar, al final del presente documento, la explicación de cada criterio si tiene alguna duda en el proceso de comparación y calificación. Por favor evite realizar comparaciones cuyo valor de preferencia sea 1 (igualmente importante); reserve dicha opción para casos extremos en que no le sea posible tener una preferencia. Por medio de este criterio, se busca priorizar proyectos y medidas relacionadas con la adaptación ecológica y cultural de los agroecosistemas a la variabilidad y el cambio climático, el reconocimiento y recuperación de saberes y prácticas productivas ancestrales que garanticen la soberanía y seguridad alimentaria ante el cambio climático.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto contempla adaptaciones, manejo o mitigación de riesgos relacionados con variabilidad y cambio climático?A través de este criterio, se busca priorizar aquellas medidas y proyectos que involucran posibles adaptaciones desde la gestión del riesgo ante el cambio climático, involucrando obras de manejo y mitigación de riesgos por escenarios de variabilidad y cambio climático, como vendavales, incendios forestales, inundaciones urbanas, avenidas torrenciales, el manejo de procesos erosivos en zonas de ladera, entre otros.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto representa posibles adaptaciones para la gestión integral del agua ante escenarios de variabilidad y cambio climático?Este criterio prioriza medidas y proyectos que involucran procesos de gestión del agua a escala de cuenca hidrográfica; desde aspectos ecológicos y culturales relacionados con la oferta -demanda y calidad del recurso, como la protección y recuperación de fuentes abastecedoras, el ahorro y uso eficiente del agua y la salud ambiental.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto busca la conservación de ecosistemas estratégicos para la adaptación al cambio y la variabilidad climática?Este criterio busca otorgar una mayor prioridad a las medidas y proyectos relacionados con la conectividad ecosistémica, la gestión ambiental en áreas naturales protegidas y la conservación y regulación de fuentes hídricas y de los bosques del departamento. Involucra además proyectos que contemplan procesos de conservación en el marco de esquemas de pago por servicios ambientales y/o exenciones tributarias por conservación de áreas ambientales estratégicas.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto plantea la incorporación de prácticas y procesos sostenibles en los sistemas productivos como respuesta al cambio y la variabilidad climática?Este criterio brinda una mayor prioridad a las medidas o proyectos que incorporan prácticas de manejo ecológicas en los sistemas productivos del municipio con el fin de hacerlos más resilientes y/o adaptativos ante el cambio y variabilidad climática.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto proporciona escenarios para la investigación, formación de capacidades y/o apropiación de conocimientos en torno a la gestión y adaptación ante el cambio climático?Este criterio entrega una mayor prioridad a medidas o proyectos relacionados con procesos de investigación, generación de información, formación de capacidades humanas para la gestión del cambio climático, así como la apropiación social, institucional y sectorial de su conocimiento, la proyección de procesos de educación ambiental enfocados en temas relacionados con el cambio climático y el reconocimiento de las vulnerabilidades e identidades culturales locales.Por medio de este criterio, se otorga mayor prioridad a las medidas o proyectos que plantean procesos de apropiación de tecnologías (tradicionales y de punta) que sirven a posibles adaptaciones al cambio y variabilidad climática, aplicables en el sector agropecuario, en los sistemas urbanos o en los sistemas de información para la toma de decisiones, apropiadas en términos de viabilidad socioeconómica, ambiental y cultural."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"73e7befd7494c3b0fd43b31f74facad2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/c65b3ad1-9630-4c86-8de4-30360ce17c89/content","id":"-1103346624"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cba643b3-a25b-40c4-b887-4645226812ea","content":"Among smallholder maize farmers in Ethiopia (and similar areas in Africa), yield and stress tolerance traits in maize varieties are important. While high yields remain a major objective, breeding and seed system development programs are increasingly based on the recognition that farmers also have an interest in other agronomic and consumption traits. In this paper we illustrate these issues by measuring the trade-offs farmers may be willing to make for specific traits in the mid-altitude maize markets in Ethiopia. Based on Choice Experiments among 1499 respondents, we estimate the preference for a set of agronomic and consumption traits relative to yield. by capturing farmers' \"willingness to sacrifice yield\". The results suggest a significant willingness to sacrifice yield for drought tolerance among both male and female household members, but not for early maturity per se. There was also a high willingness to sacrifice yields for plant architecture traits like closed tip and lodging resistance among male participants, but not among females. Heterogeneity in responses according to gender, education and land area under maize cultivation suggests that market segmentation is necessary for seed system development to become more demand-led and inclusive. Final and realistic segmentation will depend on the commercial viability or social impact potential of each segment.Like much of eastern and southern Africa, maize has acquired a prominent role in Ethiopian diets and in terms of total national annual production it outstrips that of teff, sorghum and wheat by more than 50% each [1]. Maize provides a cheaper calorie source compared to the other cereals and now makes up the largest share in calorie intake and production in the country [2][3][4]. The high yields of maize compared to the other cereals is a general pattern seen around the world and it is partly due to the investment by public and private actors in maize breeding. The maize breeding system in Ethiopia goes back more than five decades, with increased investment in the last two decades [2,5]. The growing importance of maize in Ethiopia's agriculture has, however, been based on just a few market-dominant varieties.The review by [6] shows that Ethiopia's maize breeding program started in early 1950s (about 70 years ago). The national breeding system is currently organized around four major agroecological zones. These include mid-altitude sub-humid, highland subhumid, low-land subhumid and low moisture agroecologies [6]. These agroecologies are characterized by differences in altitude, annual rainfall, temperature, relative humidity and latitude. The emphasis on these decades long program has been to provide a wide range of locally adapted open pollinated varieties (OPVs) especially in the early years and later hybrids have become common. In recent years, emphasis has been placed on tolerance to abiotic stresses such as tolerance to foliar diseases such as grey leaf spot, leaf blight, common leaf rust, striga weed (Striga hermonthica) and the like. Since the 2000s, breeding programs for nutritional quality have also been implemented with efforts made to breed for grains with high protein, provitamin-A as well as good livestock feed attributes. The implementation of participatory variety selection methods (where farmers comparatively score pre-released varieties for various attributes) have been implemented to ensure new released maize varieties meet end user preferences. The geographically dispersed breeding programs have generated varieties in different maturity classes such as extra early OPVs for drought escape which mature at 90 days for the drought prone areas. Intermediate maturing varieties are targeted at the cooler mid-to high altitudes. In terms of appealing to different types of farmers with varying economic capacity to purchase inputs, the breeding programs have taken the combined approach of developing varieties that respond to high input levels but also are tolerant to low fertilizer application among most resource-poor farmers.Between 2002-2010, over 90% of total maize seed sales were accounted for by three varieties produced mainly by the Ethiopian Seed Enterprise (ESE). One of these leading varieties was BH660, which was reported to have approximately 50% market share of hybrid seed sales in Ethiopia (Worku et al. 2012). In recent years more varieties with emphasis on drought tolerance (and tolerance to foliar diseases) have also been developed and are now gaining market share. By 2014, a total of 61 different maize varieties were developed over the years [2]. The authors in [2] counted a total of 20 different commercial varieties (hybrids and composites) as of 2013, BH660 had 51% market share. Recent government of Ethiopia reports indicate that more than 68 different maize varieties released in Ethiopia in more recent years [7]. Therefore, it is apparent the country is on a path towards creating a pipeline of new generation hybrids suitable for high, mid, and low altitude zones. This is an indication of progress in Ethiopian seed systems to provide a more diverse varietal portfolio. A better evidence base about farmers' trait preferences is a key dimension for ensuring demand-oriented maize seed system development going forward [8,9]. While yield obviously is an important characteristic for maize varieties, there is also a range of other agronomic and end-use traits that warrants more attention from breeders and other seed sector actors. For a more detailed analysis of Ethiopia's maize breeding programs in the last seventy years, please refer to [6,10].In this paper, we use an innovative approach to measure farmers' varietal attribute preference by estimating their willingness to sacrifice yield (WTSY) (for more on the WTSY concept, see [11]), where WTSY was first estimated for a similar study in western Kenya. Estimating WTSY can indicate the relative trade-offs farmers are willing to make between traits.Previous studies from other smallholder contexts have shown that trait preferences can explain why farmers continue to cultivate different maize varieties. The authors in [12] working within a Malawian context, found that while farmers indeed appreciated hybrids for their yield and drought tolerance traits, they rated local OPVs higher for storability and some consumption traits and the authors suggested this as a potential explanation for the 30-40% adoption plateau for hybrid maize in the country [12]. A series of papers on perceived benefits of different types of maize varieties in Mexico have similarly shown that farmers plant hybrids for yield, they continue to grow landraces as well because they find them superior for other agronomic and processing traits [13][14][15]. Plant breeders have employed different strategies for meeting the diverse demands of farmers, ranging from various forms of collaborative plant breeding to market-based approaches to product profiling [16]. However, as climate, pest-and disease-pressure and farmer preferences constantly change, plant breeding and seed systems must not only deliver a more diverse portfolio of varieties, but also enable a higher varietal turnover than what is currently the case in the region [17,18].Under some circumstances, stress tolerance and yield attributes could outweigh common \"taste attributes\" if the varieties lack preferred grain characteristics but are high yielding and stress tolerant. Hypothetically, new tastes can be acquired, or less preferred tastes can be overcome, if the choice boils down to sacrificing yield and stress tolerance traits. Arguably, farmers' knowledge about the positive attributes of new varieties and on what specific attributes they outperform the existing ones also helps build demand for new varieties. We illustrate these concepts in this paper.The rest of this paper is organised as follows. The next section describes the data collection and empirical methodologies used in the study. The methodologies section has subsections that discuss the sampling and data sources, the choice experiment design, and the underlying choice theory used in this study. The methodology section also describes the traits used in this study and outlines the econometric approaches. The results section presents the descriptive data, the mixed logit model results and finally the WTSY as measured by the choice experiment (CE) and the BDM data. The final section concludes by summarising key results and describes the implications therefrom.The data used for this study came from a random sample of 800 households in the mid-altitude sub-humid maize growing zones of western and central agro-ecozones of Ethiopia (Table 1). The sampling process was done in three stages by combining purposive and random sampling. In the first stage, districts (woredas) that were in the mid-altitude maize growing areas of Ethiopia were selected. These areas coincided with a maize breeding and seed systems development projects (the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa Project and later the Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat Project co-implemented by CIMMYT and Ethiopian researchers) with the former project having been implemented in these districts between 2015-2020 and the latter project ongoing as at the time of writing.The second stage involved the selection of villages (kebeles) within the project sites. Villages were selected using a sampling design that makes explicit use of the population size, \"the probability proportional to size\" (PPS) in order to sample more villages (and consequently households) from the more populous woredas. In the third stage, a random sampling of households within each village was selected from a village household listing developed by the village leader and the project team. Using a random number generator, 40 households were randomly selected from each village. Based on this procedure, 800 households from two regions Oromia and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples region (one of the nine federal administrative regions of Ethiopia-the latter being SNNP for short), four zones, eight woredas and 20 kebeles (villages) were selected (Table 1). In each household, both the household-head and the spouse were interviewed. In cases where a spouse was not available, any adult household member that was knowledgeable about farming in the household was interviewed (in addition to the household head).Prior to the experiments, extensive focus group discussions were held with farmers in the survey communities. Key traits identified during the discussions included: yield, drought tolerance, maturity period, lodging resistance, husk (tip cover), resistance to foliar diseases, and taste when boiled or roasted. A summary of key traits identified and their distribution across the four experiments is presented in Table 3. All the traits were used for both CEs and BDM. More information on the BDM and the CE processes are presented in Appendices 1 and 2 in S1 File respectively.A CE was conducted to elicit farmers' preferences for selected yield and non-yield maize traits. While CEs have been applied in diverse fields such as transportation [19], health [20], marketing [21], and environmental economics [22], they have more recently found application in studying agricultural value chains such as consumer attitudes and preferences for nutrientdense staples [23], farmers valuation of agronomic traits [24], and credence attributes [25]. Other examples are preferences for alternative marketing channels and supply chain differentiation [26,27], and farmers' valuation of alternative input policy proposals [28].The CE techniques are stated experiments where individuals are asked to choose their preferred alternatives from sets of abstract product profiles ('choice sets'). The concept is motivated by Lancaster's consumer choice theory: consumers derive utility from the underlying characteristics or attributes of a service or product [29] based on the random utility theory (RUT). In RUT, rational consumers prefer an alternative that yields the highest subjective utility among a given set of alternatives [30][31][32]. Some of the factors that drive utility can be observed by the analyst. These observed factors form part of the deterministic (systematic) part of the utility function. Other factors are not observable (e.g., unobserved alternative attributes; individual characteristics, also called 'unobserved taste variations) and others are due to measurement or specification errors [33,34]. The basic theory is that utility is not directly observable, but can be deduced from farmers' choices (here, 'stated preferences').Following this framework, we proceeded as follows. Farmers were presented with two hypothetical maize varieties exhibiting varying trait combinations. For the n th farmer faced with J = 2 varieties, the utility of variety j is U nj . By choosing variety j, the implication is that U nj is the maximum among the J utilities. As we explain below the estimation of the preference weights is based on a statistical model driven by the probability that variety j is chosen is;The data collection was done using a structured questionnaire that had one section dedicated to the CE and additional sections with survey questions that captured demographic and farm information. The CE elicited maize trait preferences from participants in ways that required them to give up some levels of one trait in favor of another trait, thereby improving on other stated preference approaches by compelling participants to make trade-offs. To generate the CE sessions, we used the D-efficient statistical design. The traits and trait levels used for the CEs are described in Table 3 below.Each household was randomly assigned to one of the four experiments using an excel number generator, (resulting in 200 households in each experiment). Table 2 shows the distribution of respondents interviewed for each experiment. In each household, efforts were made to elicit the choices from both the household head and the spouse. However, the actual interviews were conducted separately with the household head and the spouse (or another adult household member who independently operated a maize plot). In cases where there was only one single adult in the household (with only minor children as the other members) or where only one adult operated a maize plot, then only that one member (typically the household head) was interviewed. From this process, a total of 1499 respondents participated in the four experiments (Table 3).In basic terms, data from CE models tend to be analyzed using multinomial logit (MNL) models. The MNL (and related conditional logit-CL) models have been widely used to analyze discrete choice problems [35][36][37]. The MNL has the individual as a unit of analysis and uses the individual's characteristics as arguments in the estimation model, while CL focusses on the set of alternatives for each individual and the characteristics of those alternatives used as explanatory variables [37] The two models can be specified as follows where X n are the demographics of the choice maker n, Z nj are the characteristics of alternative j for individual n, while β and δ are the corresponding vectors of parameters that represent the influence of individual and attribute characteristics on the choice.To reduce the complexity of the choice experiments, we designed three separate experiments consisting of three traits each (with yield being common to all three experiments). For a subset (approximately 25%) of the experiments, we also conducted a Becker-DeGroote-Merschack (BDM) auction experiment [38]. The BDM element was added as a robustness check against hypothetical bias in the CEs. Using incentive-compatible mechanisms like the Vickrey's random n th price auction, or Becker-DeGroote-Marschack (BDM) framework [38] can reduce such biases [39].Generally, the specification of MNL and CL models require that the unobserved effects are independently and identically distributed (IID) across the alternatives in the choice set, according to the extreme type 1 distribution. This means that the odds ratio between two alternatives does not change by the inclusion or exclusion of any other alternative [40]. For instance, assuming two choice sets, C 1 and C 2 such that C 1 � C n and C 2 � C n , and for any alternatives j and k in both C 1 and C 2 , the odds of choosing alternative j over alternative k should be independent of the choice set for all pairs j, k or by the inclusion or exclusion of any other alternative;The IID assumption results into a more rigid property of 'independence from irrelevant alternatives' (IIA) [34,37]. The IIA property assumes that everybody in the population has a homogeneous preference structure, and therefore restricts the β 0 s to be the same for all members of the population [41]. That is, ε nj for all n, j the probability that a given individual n chooses alternative j within the choice set C n is given by;Therefore, the IIA property is a rather strong assumption to be satisfied by any method when there are only two alternatives, and it will be of minor importance with a few alternatives and a fixed or lightly-varying choice set [42]. The IIA can be remedied somewhat by assuming a multivariate normal distribution (allowing the residuals across alternatives to be correlated with each other) and estimating the model with multinomial probit model [40]. However, this approach has its drawbacks due to difficulties in estimation.The alternative (which we employ in this paper) is to use the mixed logit model (MIXL) (also known as the random parameters model)-currently a more common approach in estimating choice data [19,43,44]. The MIXL obviates the three limitations of the standard logit models by allowing for random taste variations, unrestricted substitution patterns, and correlation in unobserved factors which relaxes the IIA assumption [45,46]. In the MIXL, the utility derived by farmer n from choosing maize variety j on choice occasion t is given by:where β is the vector of mean attribute utility weights in the population and e n is the vector of person n 0 s specific deviation from the mean. The random error term ε njt is still assumed to be independently and identically distributed extreme value. The e n can be specified to take any distribution; normal, log-normal or triangular [36]. Although most applications use the multivariate normal, MVN (0, Ʃ), the price coefficient is sometimes assumed to be log-normal to impose positive sign restriction [47]. In this paper however, we replace the price variable with yield.If (as we here assume) most farmers want to maximize yield, all else equal, we estimate the WTSY, or the yield penalty they are willing to accept in exchange for a desirable trait. However, this is an experimental device, not a policy prescription because in real world situations, yield penalties are not accepted for new varieties, and neither is it in farmers interests for a variety to underperform in yield terms, compared to pre-existing varieties. This is analogous (in our case) to the 'willingness to pay' or the cost (price) variable. In the absence of correlation between variety attributes, the MIXL model therefore takes the following form;where Y is a binary decision variable that takes the value of 1 if farmer n chooses variety j in choice scenario t, and 0 otherwise. The variable Q is the yield attribute-which was used in the place of commonly used price variable, while Z is a vector of other non-yield maize traits.Recall from Table 3, the non-yield attributes were drought tolerance, 90-day maturity, resistance to lodging, husk/tip cover, resistance to rust/pest, and taste. A positive coefficient for γ and δ implies a positive influence of yield and non-yield traits on selection of a particular variety. Estimation of Eq 6 gives the mean of the coefficient, and the standard deviation of the distribution of the coefficient around the mean. Preference heterogeneity is deemed present if the standard deviation is significant. We therefore extend Eq 6 by including interaction terms to better understand the role of socioeconomic factors in influencing farmers' preferences.In Eq 7, x is a vector of socioeconomic characteristics including age and education level of the respondent, and size of land under maize. Estimation of Eqs 6 and 7 follows the simulated maximum likelihood method as described by Hole (2007). It can be expected that in Eq 7 the responses are correlated which could mean that the intra-household responses are not independent. This is a fair assumption given that the respondents are part of the same household.To handle this, we implemented the MIXL in STATA 16. The estimation in this procedure was clustered at household level with robust standard errors. Note that the multiple observations within the household has a \"panel\" structure. In our case, the MIXL is designed to take this into account via and sub-routine \"group_id\" during MIXL implementation. The \"group_id\" was meant to identify the cluster of each respondent through the household identifier (household cluster), respondent type (intra-household respondent heterogeneity) and experiment session number (to capture any correlations between experimental sessions).The estimates obtained from Eqs 6 and 7 can further be used to compute the willingness to pay for the selected attributes. Here, we compute farmers' WTSY for other preferred non-yield traits. We estimate the WTSY in a manner analogous to WTP, by obtaining the partial derivatives of yield (Q) with respect to other attributes (z), and multiplying by -1 [20];The use of yield as the \"price\" for evaluating maize traits is intuitive [11]. Consider the fact that despite the various stress tolerance, grain quality or agronomic traits that a maize variety possesses, maize grain itself is marketed as an undifferentiated product without any price differentials based on many of the field traits [48]. Although official grain quality standards and definitions do exist, these apply to international trade and meant to conform to phytosanitary and health standards in quality-sensitive international markets. In local domestic markets, other than obvious aspects such damaged or rotten grain or foreign matter or debris; there are no price differentials based on grain grades per se (e.g., uniformity, flintiness, size, color etc.) [48]. This means that although there is a drive towards market-driven maize breeding, unless producers are willing to pay more for newer maize varieties and a segmentation of the market is enabled, many seed companies may find only weak incentives to regularly update their maize variety portfolio, given the high R&D and marketing costs involved in the new varieties. This is evident in the frequently-reported slow variety turnover often cited in the region. The seed markets in Ethiopia are similarly un-differentiated. Maize seed is mostly marketed by government-owned seed enterprises operated by federal or state governments. Though there is a seed price difference between varieties supplied by private seed producers (mainly Pioneer/CORTEVA) and the public seed enterprises, in each supplier group, seed prices do not vary based on a variety's attributes and tend to be controlled. Seed price is therefore not an attribute that reflects the value of a specific trait since seed prices tend to vary very little for different varieties. Confirming this, in focus group discussions (FGDs), seed price was not mentioned as an attribute that farmers considered when deciding on their seed purchases. This is understandable given the dominant role state enterprises play in these seed markets, a policy choice driven by need for low-priced seed. For these reasons, price was not included as a cost variable, rather we use yield as the key consideration farmers make when choosing different varieties. For instance, when a farmer chooses an early maturing versus a late maturing variety the calculation boils down to the yield difference as the \"price\" a farmer would be willing to pay for a lower yielding, but early maturing variety compared to a higher yielding late maturing type.The sample was relatively balanced between men and women, being about 50% for each category. The percentage of households who were maize net buyers was 29-31%. The average age of the respondents was 54.8 years. The data shows that the households were largely agrarian with 65% relying mainly on primary agriculture as the main farming occupation. There is some indication that most of the households are far from markets with an average of 11 km to the nearest trading center. The overall picture is that of a middle-aged rural farming population, dependent on agriculture and more than 80% with only primary level (eight years or less) of education (Table 4).In this section we review the CE results from MIXL and BDM models to identify the possible tradeoffs in farmers choice of maize traits in the study areas. To reiterate for emphasis, we use yield as the numeraire for comparing the WTSY for the other six traits (drought tolerance, maturity in three months or less, lodging resistant, closed tip, sweet taste and resistant to foliar diseases). In Experiment A (Table 5), the yield attribute had a statistically significant positive coefficient but half of that of drought tolerance in magnitude. The interaction effect suggests that there was heterogeneity with regards to education and land area under maize. These suggest that larger maize producers emphasized yield more than smaller maize producers. Had the FGDs not revealed the reason behind the issues, it could be seen as surprising that early  maturity trait was negatively regarded among male farmers (although not statistically significant).During the FGDs, many farmers correctly associated early maturing varieties with low yields. Moreover, they also explained that \"if you have an early maturing crop, it is difficult to secure the crop from theft as it matures when few others in the village have a crop in the middle of the hunger season [just before the main harvest]. In many cases, when one has early crop, many neighbors and friends come to ask for assistance making it difficult to accumulate any yields\". They therefore preferred the higher yielding longer maturing varieties that are grown by the majority. However, we surmise that where more farmers are able to plant the short maturation variety and where market off-take is strong, these short maturing varieties are planted manly for green maize market during the short season. Given the concerns raised by farmers in these locations, and so long as market off take opportunities exist, it is possible that with better synchronization of maize planting across the villages, short season varieties may be widely planted as a source of income during the minor season (January to May). These opportunities are potentially large for farmers in peri-urban areas [49].In Experiment B, the coefficient on the yield attribute is not significant and is lower than that observed in experiment A. This may suggest a framing effect in which the yield attribute is somewhat diminished if the variety is presented as not lodging resistant or has open tip. A variety that easily lodges may have a nugatory effect on yield such that a high yielding variety, but which is susceptible to lodging is unlikely to be chosen, not because farmers do not want high yields, but because of the risk of high losses during winds and storms. The same reasoning applies to open tip varieties which are vulnerable to ear rots because moisture easily enters the cobs. In experiment C, the relative importance of yield in relation to sweet taste of fresh maize or resistance to foliar diseases can also be seen. The coefficients for sweet taste of fresh maize or resistance to foliar diseases are larger than those for yield. Ethiopia has a large green maize market with a report indicating that by 2014, the green maize business in Addis Ababa (the largest city) was about $18 million at the time of that publication (at the exchange rate of $1 equivalent to Birr 18 in 2014, the Birr being the Ethiopian currency), thereby denoting a considerable and lucrative markets for green maize with desirable end user taste attributes [49]. Therefore, this seems to have an influence on the relative importance of taste variable in farmers mental calculations in our experiments.Table 6 summarizes the willingness to sacrifice yield for the six maize attributes disaggregated by sex of the experiment participant. The results suggest that early maturity was less important for both male and female farmers and had lowest WTSY. The early maturity trait was disliked by male participants as measured by WTSY (-0.17) and 0.15 (female farmers). In both cases, the underlying coefficient was statistically zero. Closed tip was valued most among male farmers (with a WTSY of 14.96) which was about twice male respondents' WTSY for lodging resistance (WTSY of 7.2). The WTSY for resistance foliar diseases was about twice the WTSY for sweet taste among female respondents. Among men, the WTSY for resistance to foliar disease was statistically zero and the WTSY for sweet taste was 4.4.Comparing WTSY in experiment A and B, we see that among male farmers, lodging resistance was valued twice as much as drought tolerance. The WTSY for sweet taste among female respondents (3.5) was almost equal to the WTSY for drought tolerance (3.1) when comparing the WTSY in Experiment A and C. A similar comparison of experiment A and C shows that male farmers valued sweet taste (WTSY of 4.36) slightly more than drought tolerance (WTSY of 3.26). These results suggest that when drought tolerance becomes standard in many varieties, better tasting varieties will have a competitive edge, because farmers (at least in Ethiopia) seem to care about sweet taste. This is understandable as the green market is reasonably large in Ethiopia [49]. Typically, buyers appraise whether the variety is the \"sweet type\" by certain visible ear coloration to identify the sweet varieties.In the aggregate, for male and female respondents, the WTSY estimates were similar in magnitude. Differences were generally small (even when they are statistically significant). This suggests that in many cases, women farmers want the same traits in maize varieties as their male counterparts. Similar results have been found by [11] in western Kenya. An important distinction is that in the Kenyan study all the respondents were participating in the study as farmers. In that role, women approach the evaluation of maize varieties in the same way as men (high yields, drought and disease tolerance and resistance to pre-harvest losses such as standability and closed tip). In their role as custodians of household food provisioning, gender differences in grain quality preferences may show more clearly. These multiple roles of women (as farmers, small scale grain retailers and custodians of family nutrition), need to be clearly studied and understood. The results also suggest that the high WTSY for closed tip and lodging resistance may be related to the high probability of losses that occur when a variety is open tip or lodges easily. In both cases, pre-harvest losses can be large. Therefore, compared to losses due to moderate mid-season drought, these occur with near certainty. Another way to interpret the results is that a drought tolerant variety is considered most valuable if it is not susceptible to lodging or rotting. The CE results from MIXL and BDM are similar in magnitude in 15 out of the 18 WTSY cases (Fig 1). This serves to provide some robustness check that the two methods (implemented on different households yielded similar results on average). The average (pooled) BDM estimate for lodging resistance was similar to CE pooled estimate. We conclude that even though the WTSY for lodging resistance, closed tip and resistance to foliar diseases, was two to five times larger in the CE estimates of WTSY., This is also true in the case of WSTY for lodging resistance and closed tip in the male sample and for resistance to foliar diseases for female sample. All the rest of BDM and CE estimates of WTSY were well within the same order of magnitude.In this paper, by applying a mixed logit model to Choice Experiment data from 1499 male and female participants, we estimated smallholder farmers' willingness to sacrifice yield for a set of critical maize traits reflecting yield potential, drought and disease tolerance, days to maturity and taste. The results suggest that in the study areas, both male and female respondents had similar preferences for maize traits. With a WTSY of about 15, closed tip was valued most among male farmers. The WTSY for resistance to foliar diseases was about twice the WTSY for sweet taste among female respondents. Among male respondents, the WTSY for resistance to foliar disease was statistically zero and the WTSY for sweet taste was slightly higher than four. The WTSY for drought tolerance and sweet taste was consistently significant with an average (pooled) WTSY of 3.1 and 3.4 respectively. Overall, the WTSY as estimated by the CE and BDM methods were mostly within similar orders of magnitude. Where there were notable differences, the WTSY for lodging resistance, closed tip and resistance to foliar diseases, was two to five times larger in the CE estimates.Broadly, in view of the reported preference patterns, the existence of multiple varieties ought to be guided by each variety bringing a unique bundle of attributes to the market. This is significant because as the seed sector grows (and becomes more competitive), many varieties will likely achieve yield parity, especially within the same market segment. This is in line with the national variety release policies and regulations in Ethiopia and most of Africa which invariably require the yields of new varieties to be significantly higher than the best commercial checks [50]. With time, as breeding efficiencies improve and breeders maintain the genetic yield gains across varieties, which is considered as a basic (or must have) trait, yield per se may recede as a factor of competition. At that point, market share and competition will be based on other traits such as drought tolerance or consumption traits.A clearer view of the trends that will define future competition and product differentiation in crop improvement programs and seed system development are critical. We extend the literature on farmers' variety choices in a way that captures preference tradeoffs and that reflect farmer priorities in situations where no single variety possesses all the desired traits, as is likely to be the usual case. Such information is useful for actors along the entire maize value chain, from breeding programs to seed companies. They can use this understanding to identify market niches and segments and to adjust to new forces of competition. As part of the recent One CGIAR reform it was highlighted that the breeding programs of the organization should \"ensure that new varieties are designed to meet the requirements and preferences of women and men farmers, consumers, traders, processes and others along the value chain\" [51]. Along the same lines, voices from across the CGIAR and other research organizations are increasingly calling for the seed system development efforts downstream of the breeding programs to become more demand-led and inclusive [52].In maize seed markets, farmers play a double role as consumers and producers. Therefore, they make variety choices based on a mix of consumption and market (commercial) considerations. End user traits (grain size, shape, flour conversion ratio) may, on the surface, appear inconsequential compared to yield and stress tolerance. Yet from a preference and demand perspective, these traits may well be the reason why adoption of improved varieties remain low in many countries [12,53]. Therefore, understanding the trait trade-offs (choices) farmers are willing to make is important. To recap, no single variety can possess all the agronomic and consumption traits a farmer prefers (or requires). At some point, farmers (consumers) will be compelled to make rational trade-offs based on how they value the traits. This paper provides one of the needed analyses to improve our understanding of farmers' preferences for maize varieties in the smallholder grower segment in Ethiopia.In conclusion, the results indicate that maize varieties that have potential for yield improvement should also exhibit traits that confer drought and disease tolerance and where the market is sensitive, they should also satisfy end user consumption tastes. In areas where green maize markets are developed, the yield advantage of less tasty varieties may have to be quite substantial to win market share, especially if taste-sensitive green maize markets are strong. Extra early varieties are not necessarily preferred given their perceived low yields (at least in this environment) where locally adapted, higher yielding, medium (110-120-day) maturity hybrids are available. Given the high risks of pre-harvest losses from open tip and easily-lodging varieties, these varieties should not be advanced in any breeding pipelines meant for grain harvesting.We therefore suggest that when varieties in a particular market attain yield parity and drought tolerant (and other stress-tolerant) maize varieties become widely available, better tasting varieties will be preferred within the class of high-yielding and stress-tolerant varieties. Where drought challenges are not severe or only of a minor concern, such as in the humid highlands, it is conceivable that some farmers in those environments may be willing to forgo drought tolerant varieties in favor of sweet taste, where markets demand such. In mid-altitude sub-humid areas, where mid-season droughts may be a major production threat, drought tolerance traits will likely dominate in farmers' variety choices. Breeding programs could therefore consider approaches that carefully combine various desired attributes (such as taste, tolerance to pre-harvest losses and disease resistance) while enhancing drought tolerance and yield potential in varietal development.The study's main aim was to capture heterogeneity in preferences. While it is not possible to segment the market endlessly, the final and realistic segmentation will depend on the commercial viability or social impact potential of each segment. The weakness of the current seed markets in Ethiopia and the region is that the final seed products are not well-differentiated at the last-mile marketing and distribution level. Finally, we note that our study may not provide the full range of social and economic factors that drive variety choices. Future studies should focus on a deeper dive qualitative analyses to supplement quantitative approaches. These qualitative studies will need to highlight the social and economic forces not captured in econometric equations or which are important but may not be empirically testable."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2b5aa17a95fe1ab267a2ff991c6d74bb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H042696.pdf","id":"100489629"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"852dcbdd-2298-4dae-bfdd-eab4c6cf47b7","content":"This paper attempts to identify and evolve a method for valuing and estimating the net gains from domestic and industrial water supply from the interbasin transfer schemes contemplated in the National River Link Project (NRLP). An existing interbasin transfer (IBT) scheme, namely Indira Gandhi Nahar Project (IGNP) and a proposed IBT scheme namely Polavaram-Vijaywada (PV) Link Canal were chosen for detailed analyses. Secondary data were used for identifying the region and the populations that benefited from the schemes. Economic gains arising out of water supply to the actual or potentially benefited areas were estimated. The estimation involved assessment of current costs incurred by the people in the area, in terms of both paid-out costs and time spent in fetching water. The saving in time was valued at market wage rates prevalent in the area and paid-out costs were assessed in terms of current market prices, ignoring the administered prices involved. The gains to urban populations were assessed by estimating the reduction in energy costs incurred by municipal authorities in undertaking the supply. Amortized capital costs for putting necessary hardware for distributing water from the IBT schemes as well as operation and maintenance (O&M) costs of running these schemes were netted from the gains to obtain the figures for net economic gains. More indirect benefits such as reduced drudgery or improved educational performance as well as reduced health expenditure were recognized but were all ignored to ensure greater robustness in the estimates. Only net gains to the society were considered and hence gains arising out of creation of industrial estates within the commands were ignored since similar gains could also be obtained by locating these estates elsewhere. The net economic gains are seen to depend on both demographic features of the region and its ecology. Desert-like conditions of the IGNP-benefited areas tend to make the gains from domestic water supply schemes large, while similar gains in the Polavaram-Vijaywada areas are smaller. The net economic gains are of a significant order and would seem to indicate that, at least insofar as the dry areas of the country are concerned, these can perhaps exceed the gains due to increased agricultural production and hence could perhaps justify the creation of the schemes by themselves.The proposed project to build 37 links between the Himalayan and peninsular rivers in the country, together called the National River Link Project (NRLP), is a huge program, which would change the face of the countryside. It envisages transferring of some 178 billion cubic meters (Bm 3 ) of water through these links and making large quantities of water available for irrigation and other uses. The project does envisage benefits on three fronts: bringing additional areas under irrigation for producing the food that would be required to feed an estimated population of 1,580 million in the country; producing a huge amount of electricity by installing hydropower projects on the Himalayan rivers; building infrastructures useful for accomplishing water transfer, and delivering the supply of water for domestic and industrial uses in water-starved southern and western peninsular regions. Much discourse about the project revolves around the appropriateness of providing such extra irrigation through the link schemes while significant attention has also been given to aspects of environmental impacts and seismic stability of the structures on the Himalayan rivers. We believe that huge benefits of the project are in the supply of drinking water to literally millions of households and also in enabling industrial activity to take place in areas starved of water. We suggest that the economic benefits accruing from these end uses are likely to be far more significant than the irrigation benefits, particularly as there may be few alternatives to large-scale IBTs for supporting dozens of thickly populated and growing urban centers.According to recent experience from several large dams in the country (e.g., Narmada Dam, Jayakwadi Dam on the Godavari and scores of smaller projects elsewhere), they may be economically justified by looking at agricultural production they have enabled and the electricity produced on these structures. Their contribution is most striking in enabling the concerned state governments to augment and stabilize water supply for domestic purposes to cities, towns and villages and in supplying water to industrial estates. The Jayakwadi, for instance, not only sustains cities of Aurangabad and Jalna and several smaller townships by supplying drinking water but has enabled the Walunj and other industrial estates to flourish. The case of the Narmada Dam is even more pertinent. The project has not started irrigating more than a fraction of its proposed command but already the project has enabled the state government to augment and strengthen the water supply in over 200 cities and towns and in a few thousand villages. In fact, the Government of Gujarat has been proud in proclaiming its achievements in solving the drinking water crisis facing the difficult Saurashtra and Kutch areas. The case of many other projects originally designed as irrigation schemes is similar: the Pench project has turned out to be a boon in supporting the 3 million strong Najaur City; but for the Upper Wardha project, the neighboring Amravati District would have continued to face tough problems; the Nagarjuna-Sagar Dam gives water through the Telugu Ganga canal to Chennai City; Ujani supports Solapur and soon Godavari water will be taken to support Hyderbad-Secunderabad.The premise of this exercise is that irrespective of the planning objectives of the projects and the economic rationale on which they are justified, the various projects in the NRLP will, in fact, be used, whether directly or indirectly (through the substitution route), to a significant extent to address the question of supplying drinking water to populations facing the threat of unreliable water supply and to augment water supply to industrial estates and units which would find it difficult to carry out their industrial activities without water supply. The exercise looks at one existing instance of interbasin transfer of water (namely the IGNP, from the Indus to the Luni and other basins) and one proposed Polavaram-Vijaywada (PV) Link which would be one of the elements of the NRLP design. 1 The exercise is aimed at arriving at a broadly acceptable estimate of the (actual in case of IGNP or likely in the second case) net economic gain resulting from the use of water from these projects for domestic and industrial purposes. The tasks involved in the exercise include identifying the benefits in the industrial and domestic water supply that can be attributed to these projects, estimating the quantum of these gains and valuing them.The tasks of identifying attributive gains relate to identifying geographic areas covering cities, towns, villages and industrial estates to which the water from these projects actually flows or will actually flow. For this purpose, the use of maps and other secondary materials from concerned government offices is resorted to. The task of estimating the volume of gain consists of identifying the current and potential water needs of geographic areas where the gains due to water can be attributed to these schemes. This is an exercise in the projection of demographic changes and possibly industrial growth. The former is relatively simple and in conjunction with the work done under NRLP on demographic changes last year, it can be accomplished without much effort. The latter is speculative since the industrial growth in a region is a determinant of several factors, one of which is uninterrupted and adequate supply of water. Valuation remains an issue and will be discussed later.The Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojana (IGNP) with a command area of 1.543 million hectares (Mha) is the largest irrigation and drinking water project in northwestern Rajasthan. The project was taken up in three stages. The first stage has already been completed, the second was recently completed and the third is under execution. Stage II area of IGNP starts from Pugal and comprises the main canal from 620 RD to 1458 RD. The main canal gets water from the Sutlej River in Punjab through a feeder canal.The climate of the region is arid with an average annual rainfall of about 200-250 mm. The temperature ranges from freezing point in winter to above 50 o C in summer. The area covered by the IGNP consists of sandy undulating plains with various types of low-tomedium sand dunes. The thickness of sand cover varies from a few centimeters to 200 meters (m). The top aeolian soils have high permeability but the underlying sediments, comprising silty clay and kankar, have low permeability. Prior to introduction of the canal irrigation, only rain-fed agriculture was practiced. But the introduction of canal irrigation has changed the cultural practices. Groundwater was also not generally available before the introduction of this canal system. Barring a few sweet water locations along buried channels, groundwater where present, was deep and saline. The main cause of the rise in water tables in IGNP Stage-II command is the presence of a hard pan at shallow depths. This pan restricts the downward movement of the groundwater, resulting in the formation of perched water tables.The main soil types of the study area are deep and calcareous flood plain soils and sand dunes. The geology of the area is marked by aeolian sand and alluvium of quaternary age forming extensive sandy plains. Alluvium is mostly fluvial in origin and comprises unconsolidated to loosely consolidated sediments, consisting of an alternate sequence of sand, silt and clay with frequent lens of silty clays and kankar with occasional gravel horizons. Groundwater occurs in these alluvial sediments under water-table conditions. Groundwater is generally saline in most parts of the study area. The important components of groundwater recharge in the area are the IGNP canal system and their distributaries, Ghaggar Diversion Channel (constructed to divert the floodwater of Ghaggar River to inter-dunal depressions) and inter-dunal depressions south of Suratgarh. A substantial part of recharge is contributed by return flow of irrigation water and some by annual precipitation. The groundwater level in the area has been rising since the commencement of canal irrigation leading to waterlogging in the area. This high rise in groundwater levels has led to systematic monitoring of groundwater levels from the year 1981-82.Andhra Pradesh is bestowed with 108 Bm 3 of water from groundwater, local and interstate rivers out of which only 78 Bm 3 are usable (GoAP 2003 b) . The present total use is about 62.3 Bm 3 which are expected to reach 113 Bm 3 by 2025 assuming that 3.5, 108, 1.4 and 0.1 Bm 3 are required for drinking water, irrigation, industries and for power generation, respectively, Hence, by 2025, the total water demand would have crossed the total availability.Besides, about 36% of rural habitations and 72% of urban bodies still do not have adequate drinking water facilities. The key water challenge in the state is increasing demand for industrial and domestic water, which will have to be met from the present allocation to the agriculture sector.Long-distance interbasin transfer of water from water-surplus basins to water-deficit basins has been mooted in India in order to reduce the imbalance in the water availability among various regions. A National Perspective Plan (NPP) was formulated in 1980 by the Union Ministry of Irrigation (now Ministry of Water Resources) and the Central Water Commission, identifying a number of interbasin water transfer links in respect of both the peninsular and the Himalayan rivers of the country. The Peninsular Rivers Development and the Himalayan Rivers Development components put together were expected to create an additional irrigation potential of 35 Mha besides hydropower potential and other benefits.The interlinking of Mahanadi-Godavari-Krishna-Pennar-Cauvery is one of the four parts of the Peninsular Rivers Development Component of the NPP. Amongst the peninsular rivers, the Mahanadi and the Godavari have sizeable surpluses after meeting the existing and projected requirements within the basins. It is, therefore, proposed to divert the surplus water of the Mahanadi and the Godavari to the water-short river basins: the Krishna, the Pennar and the Cauvery. Three water transfer links have been proposed, connecting Godavari to Krishna, forming part of the interlinking. They are: (i) Inchampalli-Nagarjunasagar, (ii) Inchampalli-Pulichintala, and (iii) Polavaram-Vijayawada. This report deals with the feasibility of the third link, i.e., diversion of a part of the surplus Godavari water from the proposed Polavaram Reservoir to the Prakasam Barrage on the Krishna River through the Godavari (Polavaram).The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has been carrying out water balance and other studies on a scientific and realistic basis for optimum utilization of water resources for preparing feasibility reports and thus to give concrete shape to the proposals of the NPP. The objective of preparing the feasibility report is mainly to facilitate firming up of the proposals and for discussions among the concerned states to arrive at broad agreements on the quantum of diversions and utilizations of water, sharing of cost and benefits, etc. This report has been prepared keeping in view the various comments offered by the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka on the topo-sheet study and pre-feasibility study of the Godavari (Polavaram)-Krishna (Vijayawada) Link project.The Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT) award stipulates, among other provisions, transfer of 2,265 Mm 3 of water from Godavari at Polavaram to Krishna above the Prakasam Barrage at Vijayawada, thereby displacing the discharges from Nagarjunasagar project for the Krishna Delta, and thus enabling the use of the above quantity for projects upstream of Nagarjunasagar. However, considering the possible full development of irrigation in the basin and projected in-basin uses for domestic and industrial requirements up to the year 2025 and also considering the proposed transfer of 6,500 Mm 3 from Mahanadi to Godavari through the Mahanadi (Manibhadra)-Godavari (Dowlaiswaram) Link, NWDA by simulation studies, has assessed that it is possible to transfer an additional quantity of 1,236 Mm 3 through the proposed Polavaram-Vijayawada Link Canal from Godavari to Krishna. An equal quantity of water can be made available for possible use in the water-short upper regions of the Krishna Basin by way of substitution. The Polavaram project has been formulated by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for the utilization of Godavari water for irrigation and other benefits by creating a reservoir and canal systems at Polavaram about 42 km upstream of the existing Godavari Barrage at Dowlaiswaram near Rajamundry. The Polavaram project will also cater to the transfer of 2,265 Mm 3 of Godavari water to Krishna as agreed to by the states concerned and reflected in the GWDT award. A detailed project report on the Polavaram project has been prepared by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The project proposals include the construction of an earth-cum-rockfill dam across Godavari at Polavaram for creating a reservoir of 2,130 Mm 3 live storage capacity; a Left Main Canal with a capacity of 250 m 3 /sec. for providing irrigation to a culturable command area (CCA) of 1,74,978 ha and supplying 664 Mm 3 to the steel plant and other industries of Visakhapatnam; and a Right Main Canal with a capacity of 453 m 3 /sec. for providing irrigation to a CCA of 139,740 ha besides transferring 2,265 Mm 3 of Godavari water to Krishna. The project also includes a hydropower component for generating 60 MW of firm power with an installed capacity of 720 MW.The Polavaram-Vijayawada Link Canal now proposed by NWDA and detailed in this feasibility report will be incorporated in the Polavaram project of Andhra Pradesh. The link canal will replace the Right Main Canal of the Polavaram project. In fact, the alignment of the link canal has been proposed to be the same as that of the Right Main Canal as proposed by the State Government.The Godavari (Polavaram)-Krishna (Vijayawada) Link Canal takes off from the right bank of Godavari at the proposed Polavaram Reservoir. The canal, after traversing 174 km, falls into the Budameru River (which drains into the Kolleru Lake) at a point upstream of the Velagaleru regulator. From the regulator, the canal water is let into the existing Budameru Diversion Channel that, after traversing 12 km, joins the Krishna River at about 8 km upstream of the existing Prakasam Barrage at Vijayawada. Diversion of 5,325 Mm 3 of water is envisaged through the canal. This will cater to (i) a transfer of 2,265 Mm 3 to the Krishna Delta as committed under the GWDT award, (ii) an en-route irrigation requirement of 1,402 Mm 3 , (iii) en-route domestic and industrial requirements of 162 Mm 3 , and (iv) transmission losses of 260 Mm 3 . The remaining 1,236 Mm 3 of water will be utilized for stabilizing the existing ayacut under the Krishna Delta. With 1,402 Mm 3 of water available for en-route irrigation, an area of 139,740 ha (CCA) will be benefited with 150% intensity of irrigation. The entire canal and the command areas lie in Andhra Pradesh.The total length of the link canal from Polavaram to Budameru will be 174 km. The canal will pass through West Godavari and Krishna districts of Andhra Pradesh. The design discharge at the head of the canal is 405.12 m 3 /sec. The canal will be trapezoidal and lined throughout its length. The bed width will be 68.5 m and full supply depth 4.9 m. The bed slope will be 1: 20,000. The link canal is proposed to be operated throughout the year.The total cost of the Polavaram-Vijayawada Link project including the cost of command area development, but excluding the apportioned cost of head works, i.e., Polavaram Dam and appurtenant works, is estimated to be Rs 14,839.1 million at the 1994-95 price level. The net value of annual benefits from irrigation in the en-route command due to the project works out to Rs 2,011 million against the annual cost of Rs 1,646.274 million. Thus, the benefit:cost ratio works out to 1.22.The structures including the main link canal pass through the districts of East and West Godavari and Krishna. These two districts have coastal alluvial soils in the east of the canal and lateritic soils on the western parts of the canal. The western parts tend to be on a higher elevation and water from the canal will not flow to them under gravity. The deltaic regions are agriculturally very rich with crops such as sugarcane, paddy, banana and oil palm. Tobacco is grown extensively on both the eastern and the western land masses of the canal. The Koleru Lake widely known for its fish production lies to the east of the canal. The region has a tropical humid climate.There is widespread scarcity of potable water in the northwestern part of the state, which is the area under IGNP. In the first place, groundwater is generally saline and unfit for human consumption. Second, the existing surface water resources are not adequate or dependable. The canal has become in its true sense a \"life line\" for this area. When the first revised estimates for Stage-II of IGNP were sanctioned in May 1972, the available quantity of water was to be used for agricultural purposes besides meeting the drinking water requirements of the villages and abadis located in the command areas. Subsequently, requirements for water for drinking and industrial purposes went on increasing. A provision of 1,073 Mm 3 was kept for nonagricultural purposes in the 1984 revised estimate of the project. The Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), vested with the task of provision of drinking water, asked for more reservation of water for drinking and industrial activities in the command area on the basis of expected population rise in the following two decades.The PHED supplies, on average, 1,344 million liters of water a day. Surface water contributes 604 million liters (45% of the total), and groundwater the remaining 740 million liters for Rajasthan (Tables 1 and 2).  It is being proposed to provide water from IGNP not only for the project area but also for cities and villages located outside the command area. At present, IGNP water is being supplied to villages and towns partly or fully in eight districts. Two more districts will be added. Ultimately, a population of about 20 million located in 24 cities/towns and 5,300 villages/settlements would draw drinking water supplies form this canal by the year 2045 (GoR 2002).Sources of drinking water in the areas of PV Link canal are the main groundwater-based. Vishakhapattanam City slated to be among the main beneficiaries of the link in terms of supply of water for domestic and industrial applications (Table 3). At present, out of a total 65.12 Bm 3 water use, drinking water supply is 0.59 and industrial water use is 0.28 Bm 3 , while irrigation receives the lion's share of 64.21 Bm 3 (GoAP 2003 b). There are several issues such as inequality in distribution of water supply in rural as well as urban areas, deterioration of water quality due to municipal/domestic, industrial and agricultural pollution, pricing of water, competing interests in the use and management of water and more efficient use of water in all the sectors. According to the Public Health and Municipal Engineering Department of the Government of Andhra Pradesh, only 33 out of 117 municipal bodies are being supplied with adequate water. An average supply of only 48 liters per capita per day (lpcd) could be achieved against the standards of 140 lpcd. Out of the 69,732 rural population in the stateprotected area, water supply has been provided to only 44,951, and the remaining population is yet to be supplied with water. Nearly 75% of the rural drinking water requirement is met using groundwater, which is around 800 Mm 3 and likely to be 876 Mm 3 by the year 2020 (Table 4). Already, a population of more than 21,000 is affected with poor-quality groundwater (Panchayati Raj Rural Development Department RWS). According to the Public Health and Municipal Engineering Department of the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the cost of water supply from groundwater sources (bore wells and subsurface water) is Rs 5 per kiloliter while that from surface water sources is Rs 10 per kiloliter; at the same time, the cost recovery is only Rs 2.25 per kiloliter. At present, diversion of surface water for drinking water schemes is 5 mld, 14 mld million liters per day and 10 mld from Godavari, Krishna and Pennar river basins, respectively. In the future, the quantity of water diverted will have to be increased to 414, 378 and 90 mld from Godavari, Krishna and Pennar river basins, respectively (GoAP 2003b).Except for some village-level wool manufacturing and leather and carpentry works, there were hardly any industries in the project area before IGNP. In 1951, there were 17 registered factories in Sri Ganganagar District, which rose to 85 in 1961. By 1980, the figure went up to 828, with 14,500 employees. The major contribution in the rapid growth of industries between 1961 and 1981 is due to IGNP, after the project commenced in this region in 1961. Now there are many agro-based industries flourishing in the project area.Andhra Pradesh ranks sixth in industrial production in India. Major industries cover information technology, bulk drugs and pharmaceuticals, basin chemicals, agro-processing, mineral-based industries, metal industries, engineering, textiles, leather, cement, sugar, power, fertilizers, gems, jewelry, papers, petrochemicals, etc. There are 242 industrial estates in the states, 3,055 medium-and large-scale units, 16,000 registered factories and 140,000 registered small-scale industries. A considerable concentration of industries can be found around the Hyderabad and Vishakhapatanam urban conglomeration. Employment in the industries increased from 0.4% in 1961 to 1.5% in 2000. By 2025, the industrial sector is expected to grow 13-fold at a growth rate of 11% per annum (GoAP 2003b). Industrial water requirement is likely to increase to 1.44 Bm 3 by 2025 from the present 0.28 Bm 3 .In the IGNP areas, water quality issues are connected with high levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) in groundwater. Fluoride contamination is known to occur in several patches in the area. The problem caused by high TDS and fluoride is exacerbating over time, and one of the chief advantages of the domestic water supply from IGNP is seen as the reduction in health syndromes arising out of poor water quality. In fact, the areas severely affected with these issues will be given priority in the supply of domestic water from the IGNP and the task of establishing relevant structures is expected to be completed by 2010.The issues of water quality in the PV Link Canal areas are somewhat muted at this point in time. Coastal salinity ingress in the East Godavari District has been reported to be rising. Also, chemicals used in coastal aquaculture are said to be causing groundwater pollution which is on the rise in the Krishna District. The supply of drinking water to these areas is thus likely to have positive though somewhat less-prominent effects.This review mainly relates to literature pertaining to valuation of domestic and industrial water gains. Possible methods of valuation include the Techniques of Valuation (source: www.ecosystemvaluation.org accessed on 5 October 2006). Historically, there are four major techniques that have been used to estimate economic value of ecosystem services. In this study we used the economic value of IBT water for domestic and industrial purposes.This approach is used to estimate the economic value of ecosystem services or products (in this study, IBT water), which contribute to the production of a market good (textile in the case of the textile manufacturing unit in Jodhpur). The production function approach can then be used to find out how changes in the quantity or quality of water supply through transfer of IBT water affect the quality or quantity of water in terms of price change (Consumer Surplus 2 ) or cost changes (Producer Surplus 3 ). This method is applicable when the particular resource in question is a perfect substitute for other substitutes for other inputs (e.g., import of fresh IBT water results in less usage of treatment chemicals of hitherto polluted groundwater). However, the method suffers from a critical problem of attribution where the particular resource may not be related clearly or solely to the production of marketed goods (that provision of IBT water may not be the sole reason why production will rise or, in other cases, may not be related to production of marketed goods as in the case of provision for drinking purposes).The TCM is used to estimate the economic value of ecosystem services used for recreational purposes. The value of a new water body used for recreational purposes having both use and nonuse values (use value as boating and fishing and nonuse value as mere enjoyment of watching good scenery) is analyzed using TCM. The crux of this method is based on the Revealed Preference Approach where actual spending of a visitor in terms of Actual Travel Cost and Opportunity Cost of time spent in travel which are combined together and plotted against the rate of visits to derive a demand function that surrogates the number of visits purchased at different prices. The Consumer Surplus from this demand function is then used to calculate the economic value of this resource. Since we do not consider any recreational component in our study we opt not to use this technique.The CVM is used to estimate the economic value of environments and ecosystem services and can be used for both use and nonuse values. This technique aims to compute individuals' willingness to pay contingent on certain hypothetical scenarios. Thus, the crux of this technique is based on the stated preference approach. This technique is particularly used where the value of an ecosystem service is mostly nonuse in nature and does not involve any market purchase. In this context, the import of fresh IBT water in a high TDS area will actually recharge groundwater and dilute the TDS content. But this passive use of IBT water remains outside the market, which can be captured through this method. Although flexible, the methodology of asking people questions rather than observing their behavior has made the technique very controversial and the economic value computed using this technique is generally taken with a pinch of salt!The cost-based approach of valuation is often used to estimate the economic value of ecosystem services in terms of Damage Cost Avoided, Replacement Cost and Substitute Cost. The approach is based on the theoretical assumption that if the people incur costs to avoid damages or provision for substitute services in the absence of the service in question then the services must be worth at least what is paid to avoid, replace or substitute those services. Damage Cost Avoided Method uses either the value of property protected or the cost of actions taken to avoid damages as a measure of economic value of that service. In the context of this study, the cost incurred in setting up a filtration plant or reverse osmosis (RO) plant in the case of industrial use or fuel cost in boiling water in the case of domestic use would be an appropriate surrogate of value of supply of fresh IBT water for domestic and industrial purposes.The Replacement Cost Method uses the cost of replacing an ecosystem or its services as an estimate of the value of those services. In the context of our study, if high TDS content of groundwater causes erosion of boilers in the chilling plant of URMUL Dairy and thus compels the industry to frequently replace the boiler or if a textile unit located in Jodhpur plans to shift its entire production unit to another place because the contaminated groundwater in Jodhpur actually affects their production then the cost of this replacement or relocation can act as a surrogate value of supplying fresh IBT water to industrial units.The Substitute Cost Method uses the cost of providing substitute services as an estimate of the economic value of the ecosystem service. In the case of our study, the value of supplying fresh IBT water could be the extra cost that the people (or units) incur while extracting groundwater (which may include both pumping cost and quality impacts) or opportunity cost in the case of an alternate source (in the case of purchase of tanker water or walking long distances to a canal source or another village source to collect freshwater).Humans and cattle, among others, have to obtain a minimum supply of water for survival. The costs involved in obtaining the water are direct, indirect as well as in the nature of opportunity gain/loss.• Direct costs are those costs the consumers pay.• Indirect costs are those imposed upon the users due to aspects of reliability and water quality.• Opportunity gains or losses arise out of saving or increase in drudgery, labor, investment (saving) of time and the consequential effects such as reduction in dropping in school attendance, effect on health, etc. Direct costs paid out for obtaining water supply from alternative sources are the easiest to justify save for the fact that in a majority of the cases there is a significant element of subsidy given by state agencies to the actual users. Thus, the costs paid out by actual user households are not economic costs. 4 The economic costs are absorbed by the water supply agencies and the decisions on water levies to users are taken on the basis of parameters only one of which is these direct paid-out costs. Thus, wherever households use water supplied by public agencies, we need to look at costs incurred by these agencies and not by the households themselves except so far as the households have to resort to self-provisioning when the public institutions perform inadequately or unreliably. An assessment of the reliability and adequacy of the water supply by public agencies and the costs paid out by users when the water from these sources is not available is therefore necessary. The costs paid out by these agencies would be in the nature of revenue expenditure on staff salaries, maintenance and power consumption, etc., as well as amortized components of the capital costs in installing water extraction, storage, and purification and distribution systems. Some of these systems are/would be used by these agencies even if the IBT water replaces current sources. Further, the use of IBT water would perhaps entail installation of devices for conveying water from canal heads to cities, etc. The gain to the system is therefore the difference between the existing paid-out costs and the new costs.Indirect costs arise due to effects of water quality. Wherever groundwater has high TDS or has contaminants such as fluorine, treatment costs as well as costs in terms of lost wages are imposed on users. Efforts have been exerted elsewhere to quantify these costs. There is a wide diversity in situations concerning occurrence of contaminants and dissolved salts across the region where IBT water is expected to flow in both the regions. Second, the assessment of treatment costs and lost wages is a somewhat speculative exercise. In view of this, although we propose to recognize these costs exist we choose to ignore them.Householders who had to fetch water from far-off sources previously get opportunity gains. Since fetching water is a task most often left to women and children of the households, the task imposes severe drudgery on women and also leads to reduced attendance in schools and health effects on young children. Easier and smoother supply of water using IBT water coming into the village reduces this drudgery and investment of time and also contributes to enhanced health and school attendance. Among these costs, the most directly measurable are the \"equivalent lost wage costs\" for the time an adult woman has to spend on fetching water, assuming, of course, that she has wage opportunities available on all the days of the year. The gains due to health effects or increased attendance in schools, etc., are real but pose much difficulty in valuation as they involve speculative assessment. Hence, we will consider only the reduction in lost wage opportunity as the net gain due to IBT water.Often, industrial activity in a location in India fails to come up only for want of a reliable water supply. It is only when the entire value-addition in the industries which progress in a location after IBT water reaches it that it can be directly attributed to the water supply. However, it can be argued that industries which fail to progress in place A do so in place B within the country. As one is looking at costs and benefits at the national level and so long as one does not explicitly place a value on a specific location of industries this is not a material consideration.To argue that a certain industrial activity arises solely because water has become available from IBT is untenable unless one can demonstrate that water at a specific place has a particular contribution which another place would not have. In view of this, we do not choose to value industrial activity made possible by the arrival of water from IBT at the full value-added level.The other advantage of water supply from IBT water comes in two forms. The first is in avoidance of costs (both, amortized capital costs and revenue costs of electricity consumed, etc.) incurred in obtaining water from alternative sources. Thus, if an industrial unit obtains water from groundwater sources and subsequently starts obtaining water from IBT sources, then the net consideration is the savings made by the industrial unit in terms of electricity consumed, etc. The second benefit arises from the fact that the treatment costs on freshwater supply from canals in the IBT schemes may possibly be lower than the treatment costs for water obtained from alternative sources. It is tenable to argue that costs in demineralizing water obtained from IBT sources would be smaller compared to those in demineralizing water from groundwater sources (Kumar et al. 2002). The third benefit that arises in certain cases is because use of better-quality water may enhance the quality of the product and hence fetch a better price. We propose to consider these three benefits. b. Primary data at the level of households and villages were obtained by conducting a primary survey as outlined below.The survey was conducted in 10 districts of Rajasthan. In eight districts IGNP water is being supplied for drinking and industrial purposes. These are Hanumangarh, Sri Ganganagar, Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhanu, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Barmer. Sikar and Najaur will receive IGNP water very shortly. By and large, the study covered 497 households from 50 villages of 10 districts. The data represent the population of more than 225,000.The sample villages were identified based on three criteria: villages depending upon canal water, villages depending solely on groundwater and villages with a combination of these two. Cities were identified based on the urban classifications, i.e., Class-I to Class-VI. Representative towns/cities from all the urban classes were identified for the sample survey. Altogether, 17 towns/cities were identified. Lists of the sample villages and towns/cities are given in Tables 10 and 15. Households in these villages were identified randomly. In most of the villages, one household from each vaas (hamlet) was identified and the householders interviewed with the help of a questionnaire. The household survey form comprised information related to family members, age, income, primary and alternative sources of drinking water during normal and scarcity periods, direct cost paid out to obtain the water, time spent to collect from sources, etc.Apart from the household survey, village-level information was collected using the village-level survey form, which mainly covered data pertaining to water supply, its source, head works, methods of water supply, number of connections, tariff structure and recovery, type of treatment given, etc. Similarly, town-and city-level survey forms were filled out. These forms were filled out by the survey team as per the information given by the administrative personnel. The survey was conducted by a team of five persons from December 2006 to February 2007. This team had conducted surveys in all the 10 districts in around 10 weeks' time. To reduce sample biases, the same survey team had covered all the sample villages and households.A similar procedure was followed in Andhra Pradesh. The survey work was done in Vishakhapattanam, East Godavari, West Godavari and Krishna districts. In these districts, 359 households in 36 villages were covered. The survey instruments for the two regions of IGNP canal command area and PV Link were the same. These were translated into the local language and administered with the help of the partners: URMUL Trust in the case of IGNP and a consultant, Nikhil Mathur, in the case of AP. Prior to a full-fledged survey, the instruments were tested in Anand and the two respective areas.Data from urban centers were obtained through personal interviews with the appropriate municipal authorities as well as selected key informants as outlined below. In urban centers, information from the secondary sources was collected to determine the cost paid out by the households. Survey of tanker water suppliers, interviews of water supply department engineers, and several indirect methods were used to estimate the economic costs of urban water scarcity. These include using alternative costs of shortages paid out by the households and the average number of days of water scarcity.In the IGNP areas, 497 households were surveyed. In the sample, the average age of the respondents was 47 years, while the average family size was 7.3 persons per household, with the lowest, 5.9, in Barmer and the highest, 9.5, in Bikaner. A family's average monthly income was found to be Rs 3,643. The highest monthly income (Rs 5,909) was found in the Sikar District and the lowest (Rs 2,481) in Churu. Mean monthly income was found to be Rs 3,646 (Table 5). The occupations of the heads of the households are given in Table 6. As can be determined, 35% of the households were agriculturists, 43% engaged in other diverse occupations and the rest primarily wage earners, mostly in agriculture.Households discussed problems of fetching domestic water in \"normal\" months and \"months of scarcity.\" The durations of the normal and scarcity periods across the sampled villages are given in Annex 1, and for districts are in Table 7. The average water consumption (liters per capita per day, lpcd) by households as well as the storage capacity (in number of days of supply) created by the households at the home level are given in Table 8. The average water consumption in the study area is 47.1 lpcd and mean storage capacity is about a week. It may be noted that a few households had in-house sanitation facilities and, hence, that this suppresses the daily water consumption. The data on consumption and storage were related to reported household incomes. The difference in consumption levels as well as storage capacity across income levels is insignificant (Table 9). Note: Average water use and storage capacity in number of days may not be the same in Tables 8 and 9, as around 10% of samples did not give information about the monthly income.Table 10 shows the main source of domestic water for the households. There are three groups of villages: those adjacent to the canal as they get their water from the canal without the creation of any new systems; those which are primarily dependent on the groundwater and will eventually be brought under the schemes and the third group where both sources are currently in use. The data show that 307 households depended on groundwater for their domestic water requirements (Table 10). The average travel distance to fetch water as per the main source of village is given in Table 12. This is given for the normal period and the scarcity time. Not many people rely on alternative sources during normal time and similarly not many people rely on primary sources during scarcity time. Very interestingly, it was found that villagers depending only on groundwater sources were traveling longer distances than those depending on canal water sources. The fees were paid not only to owners of water sources including the Panchayats, but also to tanker suppliers and other individuals or institutions. The data show that households paid, on average, Rs 6.50 per month for fetching their water during normal periods and around Rs 24 per month during scarcity periods (Table 13). Many people did not pay any fee for water including Panchayats (188 of 497 respondents). Similarly, it can be seen from the Table that the cost paid by the people residing in canal water supplied villages was lesser than that paid by villagers depending on groundwater. It was found in the samples that the average paid-out cost for water was 4% of the income though it varied from 0% to 40%The time spent by the households in fetching their water each day as well as the breakup of this time across the category of individuals engaged in the task are given in Table 14. It was found that average time taken to fetch water was higher during a normal period than in a scarcity period. Of the 16 urban centers studied, four obtained their domestic water purely from surface water sources, another four from both surface water and groundwater sources while the remaining eight depended entirely on groundwater. The mean water supply given to these centers by the municipal authorities ranged between 70 and 191 lpcd (Table 15). There are no major industries in the ten districts where the survey was undertaken except for a few thermal-or lignite-based power projects (the information for the same is given in the report in the subsequent section). Altogether, 25 industries were surveyed, which covered cotton ginning mills, textiles, agro-based industries, food processing units and others. All the samples were from small-scale industries. We found that almost all the industries depended on the Rajasthan Industrial Investment Corporation (RIICO, Government of Rajasthan) for water supply for daily needs. The water supply by RIICO is often not enough; hence, undersupplied water was managed from private bore wells. Now, very few industrial estates are supplied with IGNP water by RIICO.Industrial estates in Hanumangadh and two industrial estates in Bikaner are currently supplied with IGNP canal water. Quality requirement of water varies across industries. Industrial water requirement is mainly for process and waste disposal (chemical, pulp and paper, petroleum refining and primary metal) and cooling (thermal power plants). Except for most of the small-scale industries (SSI), water is mainly required for drinking, sprinkling, gardening and other housekeeping activities. A modicum of water is needed for these purposes. Among the SSI, only textile units (bleaching and dying units) need water preferably potable. If the desirable quality and quantity of water are supplied or undersupplied to these industries, the latter manage to get the water from private tanker owners, who normally get water from groundwater from nearby sources. For example, in the Balotara industrial estate of Pachpadra block of Barmer District, textile units for bleaching are flourishing because of the rich groundwater aquifer. But the quality of water is still not good enough for dying the bleached cloths. Jodhpur enjoys a great advantage because of its good-quality (less-saline) canal water (IGNP) and its proximity to Balotara; all the dying work is carried out in the textile units of the Jodhpur industrial estates.The average age of the respondents in the Vijaywada project was 39 years while the average family size was five. The district-wise details are given in Table 16. Almost half the population was associated with agriculture, either in direct farming or as agricultural laborers (Table 17). It was seen that water supply in the region is quite reliable. A very few days in a year were felt to be water-scarce compared to the IGNP area in Rajasthan (Table 18). The average water consumption was found to be 72 liters per person per day. Because of an ensured water source (groundwater or surface water) the need for household storage was very low. On average, the storage for only half the daily water requirement was created at the household level (Table 19). The average distances of sources of water for villagers are given in Table 20. The average distance traveled was 1.6 km during the normal period and 2.3 km during the scarcity period. The total number of samples surveyed in the Polavaram-Vijaywada project are given in Table 21. Around 300 samples were taken from villages depending on groundwater and 50 samples were taken from villages depending on surface water. Ten samples were identified from a village having both surface water and groundwater as a source of domestic water use. Table 22 shows the average paid-out cost for water to private suppliers and also to the Panchayat. On average, Rs 7 was spent by families, with a maximum of Rs 1 in the Krishna District and around Rs 15 in the West Godavari District. The data show the time spent by household members for each category, i.e., male, female and child during normal and scarcity periods. On average, an hour was spent by each category to fetch water during normal periods. The time taken during the scarcity period was 2-4 hours, spent by adult female or male members of the household. Child labor for fetching water was used only in the West Godavari District (Tables 23 and 24).  One of the most important duties of the PV project are to fulfill the needs of the industrial sector, flourishing in Vishakhapatnam, East Godavari and West Godavari districts. Vishakhapatnam is an especially important industrial and port city. There are large and water-intensive industries around Vishakhapatnam, such as the Vizag Steel Plant, NTPC, BHPV, HPCL, Hindustan Zinc, etc. In 2004, the Vishakhapatnam Industrial Water Supply Project (VIWSP) 6 was conceived to 6The Vishakapatnam Industrial Water Supply Project (VIWSP) envisages capacity augmentation of the existing 153 km long Yeleru Left Bank Canal (YLBC) system in the East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh, on a Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) basis. The YLBC presently delivers about 180 million liters per day (mld) of water from the Yeleru Reservoir to the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP). The demand in the immediate future 260 mld, would in the long run, increase to 600 mld.. The other beneficiaries will include the NTPC Power Plant, Parvada Industrial Development Area, the Vishakapatnam Municipal Corporation, the proposed Special Economic Zone and the proposed Gangavaram Port near Vishakapatnam and other upcoming industries in the Vishakapatnam-Kakinada belt.fulfill the industrial sector's water requirement around Vishakhapatnam. Initially, a 388 mld water supply project from the Yeleru Reservoir through the 153 km long Yeleru Canal and another 388 mld water supply project from the Godavari River through a 56 km long MS (mild steel) pipeline were commissioned. It was envisaged that supply provision would double once the Polavaram project is completed.The basic premise, on which our methodology is based, is to find out the cost paid for the NEXT BEST option for the water. The difference of the cost between IGNP benefited villages/ towns/cities and non-benefited areas (depending solely on groundwater) would be the direct benefit accrued. This will be calculated based on the following formula:V 1 = (P 1 -P 2 ) x Q 1 where, P 1 = price in non-benefited area P 2 = price in benefited area Q 1 = quantity of water used in non-benefited area.In addition to this, there is a value in the time saved each day in fetching water because people may now use that time for work or other activities.where, T1 = time spent water hauling in non-benefited area Q 1 = quantity of water used in non-benefited area T 2 = time spent water hauling in benefited area Q 2 = quantity of water used in benefited area W = wage rate for time spent on water hauling (daily or hourly as appropriate)While the above difference gives the gross benefit, the net gain due to IBT would be obtained by removing the amortized capital costs of the hardware necessary for bringing the IBT scheme water to villages/cities and the O&M costs on these schemes. Thus, an estimate of these two would have to be deducted from the gross benefit.Second, for the urban centers, we have data from the municipal authorities. The rate at which urban consumers are charged for water is an administrative decision of the concerned authority and need not enter our calculation. The actual cost incurred is the cost of accessing water as of now and the gain is likely to accrue from reduction in this access cost. For the eight cities dependent on groundwater alone this access cost is essentially the cost of pumping the water from underground aquifers. This is assessed by considering the volume and fixing a standard rate for power consumption per unit of water as well as a standard power rate of Rs 4 per kWh. The pumping cost would vary by the depth of the aquifer in the concerned city and the age of equipment. While refinement in these numbers is possible, we have taken representative numbers for illustrating the gain.Under the Apni Yojana scheme, the cost of establishing water supply infrastructure to the urban and rural people in the study areas has been estimated at Rs 4 billion. The estimated life of the scheme is 30 years. We have assumed this to be the gross capital cost in creating infrastructure for reaching the IGNP water for domestic purposes. The O&M costs currently average 15% of the capital costs. We have used these values and have also done sensitivity analyses on the economic life of the scheme as well as on the level of O&M costs.Similar data for industrial water supply are not available. Water infrastructure along with other infrastructure are created by RIICO, and the industrial unit located in an estate charges for it in accordance with the industrial policy in the state. We have assumed that the cost of accessing water is paid out by RIICO at the same level as the above cost of the Apni Yojana.Similarly, the cost of water supply from the canal was calculated as Rs 10 per m 3 for Andhra Pradesh (GoAP 2003 b)Current paid-out costs per household and hence per m 3 for non-benefited areas are given in Table 27.  7 Cost of canal water supply has been calculated from a piped drinking water supply project in Churu and Jhunjhunu districts of Rajasthan called Apni Yojna. Total cost was Rs 4 billion and catering to the population of 900,000 (approximately 700,000 rural and 200,000 urban). There are several assumptions taken; [1] life of the project would be 50 years, [2] urban population growth rate 2% and rural growth rate at 1.2% per annum [3] O&M 20% of capital cost and inflation 5%, [5] rural water supply at 70 lpcd and urban at 200 lpcd.It is estimated that a rural population of 5 million is being supplied by IGNP water. The total rural population in these 10 districts is around 15 million. Hence, a population of around 10 million is still depending on groundwater. Two scenarios are given here. One is as per the present level of consumption of water, which, in average, is 47 lpcd and less than the standard norms. Scenario 2 has been calculated as per the standard norms of 70 lpcd (Table 28). Hence, economic benefits at the present water consumption level of 47 lpcd would be around Rs 4.7-5.3 billion per annum (Table 28). Similarly, water supply as per the standard would be Rs 6.9-7.8 billion per annum.The urban population of Hanumangarh, Ganganagar District, and a part of the population of Bikaner City, Churu Town are being supplied IGNP water. According to an estimate based on the data available from IGNP only 1.2 million of the total urban population of around 5 million in these 10 districts are supplied with IGNP water. Another 3.8 million of urban population needs to be supplied with IGNP water (Table 29). The average present water supply in the urban area is 112 lpcd. If the same supply level is maintained then the net economic gain would be Rs 31 million per annum. If we consider a supply standard of 200 lpcd, then the economic benefits would be Rs 55.5 million per annum. The total net economic gain in the domestic sector in the IGNP area is Rs 4.681 billion and on the conservative side it is Rs 7.875 billion.The total electricity generation by the power projects in the region is, on average, 3,200 million units annually. The average water needed to produce this quantity of electricity would be 496 million liters (Ml) (GoI 1999): wastewater generation rate for the thermal power plant is 155 X 10 3 liters/hour/megawatt. We assume no consumptive use to be on a higher side. The total electricity required to withdraw 496 Ml of groundwater (assuming the alternative source is groundwater) at 0.05 kWh per m 3 would be 24.8 million units. If we attribute these units at the rate of Rs 4.00 per unit, the total attributable cost would be Rs 99.2 million.The net benefits from drinking water supply may be seen in Table 30. It is estimated that presently, out of a total rural population of 17 million, 9 million are still using groundwater. Two scenarios are given here (Table 31). One is as per the present level of consumption of water that, in average, is 72 lpcd. Hence, scenario 2 will not be different from it. A few of the urban pockets in the West Godavari and East Godavari districts are being supplied by the Eluru canal network. The estimated population based on the data available would be 3.5 million, which can be catered to from the Polavaram project (Table 32). The present level of water supply in the urban area is quite low. Its average is 50 lpcd. The net economic gain at the present level of water supply would be around Rs 9 million while at 200 lpcd of water supply the net economic gain would be Rs 35.7 million. The total net gain in the domestic sector in the Polavaram project would be Rs 0.307 billion at the lower side and Rs 1.203 billion at the higher side.As mentioned in the previous sections, industries around Vishakhapatnam and Gangavaram port are withdrawing water from the Godavari River. Eventually, after the completion of the Polavaram project the water supply capacity would be doubled. Hence, we do not attribute additional net gains due to a future Polavaram project (Table 33). An attempt has been made here to estimate the net economic gains from water supply from IBT schemes to domestic and industrial sectors. The exercise is important for the chief reason that seldom does an exercise that aims for economic gains from schemes for creating large water structures explicitly consider the economic gains accruing from the use of water for domestic and industrial purposes per se. Investments in these schemes are sought to be justified by estimating the net contribution these schemes make in terms of increased production in the agriculture sector and, in the case of multipurpose schemes, in terms of value of electricity produced. Benefits such as domestic and industrial supply are mentioned but their values are not computed. We have adopted what we consider the most defensible method. The schemes are expected to supply water to domestic and industrial users. These users currently draw their supplies from some existing sources, such as groundwater. In doing so, they have to incur expenditure on energy for pumping water; and also spend hours trudging to the source of water. We have basically captured the benefits in terms of reduced energy costs and time spent on fetching water. These two benefits accrue to the economy via the agents who are directly benefited. We have valued energy at the market rate and the time saved at the going wage rate.There is a likelihood of a dispute about valuing time as it involves the tacit assumptions that there is abundant demand for labor and that time saved from daily chores of collecting water would be automatically sold in the market. Both these can be questioned on the grounds of their relevance to reality. Yet we submit that what we have obtained is a conservative estimate of the value to these people. We have not really valued the negative utilities of drudgery, much of it regarding women. Nor have we attributed any specific gains to the salutary impacts, thus saving of children's time on improved school attendance and on health. There is little dispute that these benefits, in fact, do accrue, but there are issues about quantifying, valuing and estimating the quantum of these benefits. We have perhaps erred on the conservative side in an obvious manner in ignoring the salutary impacts on reduced health expenditure in the face of fairly known consequences of negative health impacts of groundwater with high TDS as well as contaminants such as fluorine. We have chosen to do so since the data on the extent of prevalence of health syndromes arising out of contaminated groundwater and pertaining to the cost of treatment as well as in terms of lost wages were not collected in these areas. Since we have not measured the impacts in terms of reduced drudgery, improved educational performance and avoided health impacts, we believe the above estimates to be conservative.Demographic as well as ecological factors determine the size of these benefits. In the case of IGNP, the benefited areas are dry, with a small population. In fact, the absence of the canal may well have caused a situation that would require depopulating the region. Clearly, the scheme has high benefits in this situation. On the other hand, the benefited areas of the PV scheme, barring highland areas of Vizag, are in the delataic regions with abundant groundwater.Here the benefits are more muted. The chief advantage of the supply of PV scheme water to the Vizag industrial estate is said to be making industrial growth possible in that region. However, we have not attributed any gains from such industrial growth to the scheme since it is possible to argue that the same projects could easily come up in other regions where water is currently available without any net gains to the economy. This argument does not hold for domestic water supply in the case of IGNP as the people already exist out there and face a crunch.An interesting question is how the benefits compare with the cost of creating the structures. The current estimate of creating the whole PV scheme, including the dam on the Godavari River at Pollavaram as well as the rehabilitation and resettlement is about Rs 13,000 crore, or Rs 130 billion. Against this, net economic gains from the industrial and domestic water supply from the canals are estimated by us here at about Rs 0.75 billion per year. This is about half a percent rate of return on an annual basis. It is, of course, a moot point whether one should consider the entire investment for this comparison, or the investment on just the canals, etc. The total package of benefits from the PV Link scheme includes enhanced industrial production, incremental irrigation and revival of irrigation in the Krishna Delta currently facing a water crisis. When viewed in their totality, the gains are not insignificant even for the PV case. The size of these benefits is much more significant in the case of the IGNP project. Here, the IGNP itself is expected to cost around Rs 20 billion and on that the gains from domestic and industrial water supply as estimated by us come to about Rs 6.9 billion. This is quite a sizeable gain and it would appear in retrospect that the scheme should be seen as making sense even if it were not to provide any irrigation benefits! The dominance of gains from domestic and industrial water supply would be a common feature in all regions which face massive distress on account of paucity of drinking water as in the case of Gujarat, Marathwada, Karnataka, etc. An argument can broached that the chief advantage of the IBT schemes proposed under the NRLP lies in reducing the distress for domestic water faced by millions of people living in western and southern India. The question whether this benefit necessarily involves the proposed configuration of irrigation hardware needs to be thought over. In conclusion, we believe that the contribution of this paper lies in its attempt at demonstrating a way of attributing, valuing and estimating benefits which have hitherto been simply written as being incidental advantages of water structures. Annex 1. Details of time and cost of fetching water and potential wage loss in the sampled villages. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9fa8dc85b98b7c00a9d584aa15f96367","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b31ac92d-2764-4ab4-b6ee-1e858faf4362/retrieve","id":"-824953777"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ade4193c-b0aa-4be8-a17f-2c4d203ccbf6","content":"En el lote de producción de semilla, al momento de la cosecha, arranque las planlas sin cortar la parte aérea, examine las . raíces cuidadosamente mediante una escala de evaluación certificada por el ICA. para verificar la presencia de síntomas muy iniciales o avanzados de la enfermedad. \",En caso de no utilizar en forma inmediata los lallos para semilla , almacénelos en u!1 ¡uga! fresco, ,Preferiblemente a la sombra. Cuando los saque para utiUzarlos como semilla, recuerde !lIJe debe cortarlos con machete o herramienlas tratadas limpido (2 U de llillpidol2 Ude agua).en parte de ellas no las utilice: recoléctelas, amontónelas y quémelas.-. .6. En lotes en donde se haya sembrado yuca en ciclos anteMores, se debe permitir el rebrote de /as socas y antes de sembrar nuevamente, destruirtas mediante aplicación de un herbicida translocable que elimina toda6 las partes vegetalivas de la planla, garantizando de esla manera la eliminación de poSibles fuentes de inóculo.7. Fortalecer sislemas de vigilancia filosanitaria y de cuarentena para impedir el ingreso o movilización de material vegetativo procedente de areas ateciadas por la enff'nnedad.Alvarez, E. , Siga estas recomendaciones cosecha tras cose a. Es la manera de mantener libre la zona de esta enferme ad.  las ralees (le las plantas enfermas son leñosas, de cfIst:ara gruesa. corchoSa, guebradiza, opaca, fas cuales presentan ~siones en forma de labios que unidas entre si, seme~ red o panal. En estados avanzados de la enferineda0,7 61 I!scIerénquima y parénquima son de coloración mar¡OO. En muchos casos las ralces pueden ser muy delgadas} ti base del tallo muy gruesa. Cuando las raices no tubenzan adecuadamente, los tallos tienden a ser mas ~ae lo normal. En general la parte aérea de las plantas • enféImas se observan mas vigorosas y mejor desafT9lladas que las sanas. En contraste, las ralees de las plantas sanas' se presentan bien desarrolladas, con su cáscara delgada, brillante y flexible aiees de ~ , 1( \"'~\" ~dS por Cue o e Sajlü [¡i: • La enfermedad puede manffeslarse parcialmente afectando sólo algunas plantas, cen raices en diferente estado de se\\leridad. permaneciendo algunas sanas, observándose unas pocas hendiduras caracter j ~llcas . • dispersas o localizadas en cualquier parte de la raiz; parte de éstas • quedan en el suelo al momento del arranque, y se hace difiCIl la selección de mateñal sano. En muchas variedades en el primer ciclo del culUvo, los sinlomas son dificilmente detectados; sin embargo, en la medida en que se utilizan estacas afectadas de un ciclo de siembra a otro, la severidad y la incidencia de raices afectadas por planta se aumenta (CIAT 2006).La enfermedad ~edisemina en forma rápida por el uso de estacas procedentes de plantas enfermas (una planta enferma produce unas 10 estacas para la siembra, al cabo de 5 años se habrán producido unas 10.000 pfantas enfermas a partir de fa planta inicial). Adicionalmente el patógeno tiene ceniO posible vector algunas familias de hemipteros como Cicadeflidae y Delphacidae, conocidas por ten er especies vectores de fitoplasmas respectivamente.Es muy importante tener en cuenta que el mayor riesgo de diseminar la enfennedad está en el uso de materiales de propagación infectados, por tanto el control de la misma se fundamenta en el empleo de estacas procedentes de plantas madres sanas. A rranque lal ~am,s y <lamin.: culoidosamrmr sin conar"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/2688744989.json b/main/part_2/2688744989.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"36f914c83ee97018fa68738a9506aa19","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8b218b7d-3824-4736-a7aa-53a67bbf76b1/retrieve","id":"805527878"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ad9339bc-cb44-432c-abbd-0fa71a11898e","content":"is the centre of origin and diversity for many commercially valuable species including apple, apricot and walnut. Wild populations of these species are under serious threat from livestock grazing and climate change, among others. We study the genetic and nutritional diversity and gene flow among wild and home garden populations of each species and survey rural people to understand their management practices. We work with local researchers and managers to increase the long-term value to local women and men and alleviate the impacts of multiple threats from human activities."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/2698263009.json b/main/part_2/2698263009.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e65de29b903b6f7f247a5d696207dd5e1e144240
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e0fa8bd2b5441bf92bcec00b956decbd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/83bc6902-610c-42ca-b567-9479a8df411c/retrieve","id":"-144353729"},"keywords":["OkOTO (Sections 2.2.2","3.4.1","3.7.4","8.3.1 and data analyses)","Kathelyne Craenen (Sections 2.2.5","3.4.1","5.3)","Boniface Dumpe (Section 3.2.3)","lise de Cauwel' (Sections 2.2.6","3 .5.2","3 .7.1)","Rotimi Apanisile (Sections 3.4 .1","8 .2 and data tabulation)","NARS","Regional and International partners in multilocational testing (Sections 3.5 .3","3.6","5.2","5 .7)","Randy C . Ploetz (Section 5.5.1)","K. Afreh-Nuamah"],"sieverID":"354675b1-e0b1-45d4-b203-be3f846d67b3","content":"The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IlTA) was cstablisbed in 1967. This event marked the practical realisation in sub-Saharan Africa of the vision of two private philanthropic organisations, the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations which placed agricultural development at the centre of efforts to overcome hunger and stimulate economic growth in the tropics. The Nigerian government provided 1,000 hec\\areS at Ibadan, southwest Nigeria, for the headquarters and experimental farm and all initial funding came from the two founden. The Institute became truly international in character when its financial support was taken over by the Consultative Group on IntcmIIioaaI Agricultural Research (CGJAR) in 1971. Through the CGIAR, lITA recCives financial coatnbutions from JlhCiOlbCllll and agencies of different countries around the world. The CGJAR is co-tpOIIIORId by the World Bank, the Unltcd Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the Food and Agriculture Orpnisatioo afthe United Nations (FAO).Genetic/phenotypic correlations and potential for multitraitiindirecl selection 3.7.2 AssesIment of genetic variability and breeding potential of derived oiftpring from sornaclonal variants of the False Hom gene pool 3.7.3 Breeding for dwarf plantains to escape wind damage 3.7.4 Bleeding the diploid M acuminata gene pool 3.7.5 Computerizing PBIP breeding program and data archive 3.' Regi.tratiOil of PIT A•9: A Black Sigatoka Reli.tant Hybrid derived from the ,abe Born Gene Pool 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 ('ryol'reserl'alion rljMusa germp/asm (ierml'/tJ.I'ffl ,•ol/.\\'efvalion .\\'l!m<l(lJlil! saeellillg FII.mrium  Plantain and banana (Musa spp.) are important food crops in the humid forest and mid-altitude zones of sub-Saharan Africa, providing more than 25% of the carbohydrates and 10% of the calorie intake for approximately 70 million people in the region. They form an integral component of the farming systems in these agroecological zones. In addition to being a staple food for rural and urban consumers, plantain and banana provide an important source of rural income, particularly for the smallholders who produce them in compound or home gardens.Plantain and bananas are relatively high value products, in common with most other horticultural crops. The gross value of their annual production in sub-Saharan Africa exceeds that of several other food crops such as maize, rice, cassava and sweet potato.World Musa production is around 70 million tonnes per annum of which about 35% is produced in sub-Saharan Africa. Consumption in some traditional gluwing areas can be quite high . In parts of southwest Cameroon, for example, annual consumption per person has been estimated at ISO kg while similar estimates for banana consumption in Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda lie between 220 kg and 460 kg. These are the highest consumption rates in the world, indicating how dependent people are on these crops.Although plantain produces fruit throughout the year, the major harvest in some highly populated regions, such as south-eastern Nigeria, occurs in the dry season (December through February). This coincides with the season of hunger when cereal staples are in short supply and root crop staples are difficult to harvest Plantains and bananas are generally produced in small fields under shifting cultivation and bush fallow, with yields declining rapidly after the first production cycle. They are also produced in intensively-managed home gardens in which application of manure and household refuse ensures continuous high productivity for many years. These production systems have worked well in the past but they are no longer able to produce sufficient plantain fruit to meet the demand associated with increasing population pressure. More efficient systems of production, such as agroforestry, are needed.Most cultivated Musa are triploids (2n = 3x = 33). Almost completely sterile, they develop fruit by panhenocarpy: The genome of the ' ~ultivated species is derived from the diploid wild species, M. acumillala Colla. (A genome) and M. holhisiollo (B genome) . The most important cultivars vary in their genomic constitution:dessert bananas (AAA), East African highland bananas (AAA), plantains (AAB), and cooking bananas (ABB)   Although southeast Asia is considered to be the centre of origin of Muso species, a remarkable diversity of plantains and bananas exists in sub-Saharan Africa. Each of the different types is grown in a distinct sub-region. The AAB plantains are predominant in the humid 10wiands'ofWest and Central Africa, while AAA cooking and beer bananas prevail in the East African Highlands. West and Central Africa harbours the world's greatest variabilityof plantains, and it is, therefore, considered a secondary centre of plantain diversification. Similarly, EastAfrica is considered a secondary centre of diversity for bananas of the Musa AAA group . This secondary diversification is the result of somatic mutations and human selection during the long history of the crop's cultivation in the region .Production ConstraintsMusa production is threatened by pest and disease pressures, which have been increasing during the past 15 years. Rising population pressure on the land has led to shortened fallow periods and a related decline in soil fertility . These trends underlie the urgency of lIT A's work on Musa. particularly that which aims at developing appropriate and ecologically sustainable technology for resource, crop, and pest management in plantain and banana-based farming systems.I 4 2 Black sig~toka Black sigatoka, a leaf spot disease caused by the fungus Mycosphaerellajijiensls, is genel ally considered to be the most serious constraint to plantain and banana produ ction in sub-Saharan Africa. First identified in Fiji, the disease was accident all v introduced int o southern Africa in the 1970's and spread rapidly, first in Cent ral and West Africa, and later in East Africa. Since the spores of M . flfiensis arc dispersed by wind . disease spread cannot be slowed by plant quarantine measures al one. Once established. the pathogen causes severe leaf necrosi s, reducing yields by 30-50%. All traditional plantain cultivars are susceptible to black sigat oka. as are at least some of the most widely grown banana cultivars in East Africa. Although it is possible to control the disease with fungicides, these are hazard ous and are too expensive for the smallholders who g,ow most of the crop throu ghout Afri ca The most appropriate control strategy for these farmers (one that IITA is actively pursuing) IS to provide them with high-yielding resistant culti vars.An important insect pest of plantain and banana in Africa is the banana weevil ( '()In/(){lOIiII!S mrriiriu.l) whose larvae bore tunnels in the corm, thus weakening the plant Both plantains and the East African highland bananas are susceptible to this insect pest. :n addition, a complex of plant parasitic nematodes (Radophollls .Iimili.., I'ralylmL'hus spp ., Helicutylenchus multidnL'llls) also causes serious root . damage. Both weevil and nematode damage interferes with nutrient uptake and transport , resulting in slow growth, reduced fruit filling and susceptib ility to wind lodging. The accumulation and combination of banana weevil and nematodes becomes a major problem in older fields . Though it is possible to control both pests with chemicals, this not only has adverse effects upon the environment but also is not a viable option for the mostly poor smallholders who grow the crop. For these reasons, liT A is investigating opportunities to develop ecologically sound control strategies for these pests. One example of a suitable control strategy for farmers will be to provide them with high-yielding resistant cultivars. This option is being actively pursued at the Onne Station .I~ 1.4.4 Yield decline syndrome Another formidable obstacle to increasing plantain cultivation in West and Central Africa is the rapid yield decline syndrome which is observed after one or two years of cropping in large-scale field plantations In contrast, plantations of dessen banana remain productive for many years when high levels of fertilizers and fungicides are applied . Similarly, plantain cropping remains perennially producti ve within home or village compound gardens, where plants benefit from regular application of organic matter in the form of household refuse The causes of this problem are complex. In East Africa, declining yields are undoubted ly related to reduced soil fertility and mineral deficiencies of the poorer soils. Yield decline under plantation conditions can be arrested to some degree through mulching which enhances soil organic matter content. Combined with the decline in soil fertility, damage caused by the banana weevil and nematodes also tends to increases with time. In addition, Musa plants easily lodge under field conditions as a result of the plant's characteristic morphology. This includes poor root development, slow ratooning, and \"high mat\" (a tendency of the plant base to grow out cifthe soil). It is likely that all these problems can be resolved through plant breeding.Other major diseases, mainly in East Africa, are Fusarium wilt and banana bunchytop virus . Also. postharvest losses of plantain and banana are a serious deterrent to expanding production in some African countries. Surplus production during the main cropping season is the primary cause, but losses can also be attributed to poor methods of harvest. transportation and storage of the fruit.IIT A's Efforts Thus in 1987 Mllsa genetic improvement was initiated at liT A with a focus on host plant resistance to black sigatoka.IITA scientists expected that it would take at least 10 years to develop improved plantain germplasm resistant to black sigatoka. Therefore. they assessed the potential ofsigatoka-resistant cooking bananas (ABB group) as a possibleshort-term substitute crop while they embarked on the long-term endeavour of breeding plantain through a combination of conventional and innovative crossbreeding techniqu es. Th e intention was that while the long-term effort would clearly be more appropriate. something should also be done more immediately.The short-term strategy chosen was to identifY. multiply and distribute cooking bananas that already had resistance to black sigatoka. Four ABB cooking bananas (Cardaba, )Jzizi, Fougamou and Pelipita) and an AAA banana (Yangambi Km 5) were found to have high levels of resistance under humid lowland conditions in Nigeria. In collaboration with the International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain (lNIBAP, France) these accessions were rapidly multiplied using ill vitro techniques. Since 1988 around 5,000 plants per year have been distributed directly to farmers or to Nigerian institutions (both NARS and NGOs) for the establishment of multiplication plot s and the subsequent distribution of suckers to farmers . This stopgap measure o ffered farmers an immediate substitute to their susceptible plantains. In 1992, the most popular cooking banana, Cardaba, was released as a cultivar by the local government of Rivers State. Although adoption of the resistant cooking bananas was initially limited , they appear to be increasingly accepted Since West African farmers and consumers are not familiar with the aesthetics and preparation of cooking bananas they tend to prefer the plantain to which they are accustomed. However, infonning consumers of appropriate methods of preparation has generally resulted in a greatly enhanced response to this new crop.The long-term goal is continuous improvement of Musa germplasm using all available techniques, to reduce the impact of black sigatoka as well as numerous other constraints, as described in Section 1.4 above . This has involved both st rategic and applied research to overcome. for example. both genetic and agronomic problems.Plantains and bananas are generally considered intractable to genetic improvement due to their triploid nature which results in almost complete sterility.The breeding scheme adopted at liT A involves the production of tetraploid hybrids by 3x X 2x crosses. The maternal susceptible triploid landrace produces \"unreduced \" (2n = 3x) eggs, while the paternal diploid accession, producing normal haploid (n = x) pollen, serves as the source of genes for black sigatoka resistance.In addition to lack of genetic variability and low levels of female fertility within the plantain germplasm, space (6m 2 per plant) and time (1 .5 years from seed to seed) requirements also impede rapid progress in breeding this crop. These problems were reduced by fertility screening of the germplasm, ploidy manipulations and intensive use of tissue culture techniques. By the end of 1989.there was a breakthrough in the crossin9 of susceptible plantains with resistant diploid bananas and the future of plantain was already beginning to IQolC brighter.In five years of breeding work. more than 30 sources of black sigatoka resistance have been identified in the Musa germplasm collection. Annual seed production from crosses of plantains with different diploids has averaged around 10,000 seeds, although only 40% of these have good seed, containing a welldeveloped zygotic embryo. The efficiency of in vitro embryo germination varies from 5% to 30%, depending on the maternal genotype Contrary to the common perception of plantain as a difficult crop to improve, lIT A scientists have managed to identify 37 seed-fertile cultivars ( 29French and 8 False Hom) and to establish several hundred hybrids in the field . An important pre-requisite fo r this achievement was the relatively high seed set obtained under Onne Station conditions. It was found that the average seed set, which ranges from less than one seed to more than 20 seeds per bunch, depends on the maternal genotype used and that levels of seed production vary by season.In selecting for re~istance to black sigatoka, genotype response to black sigatoka infection was measured by recording the youngest leaf spotted (YLS :counting down from the firstJtop unfurled leaf) on plants at flowering (the time at which leaf production stops). Increasing YLS values indicate the presence of more healthy leaves on the plant, and hence, greater resistance to the fungus . On average, it took 1,000 seeds, produced from hand pollination of200 plants (012 ha), to obtain one selected tetraploid hybrid .Thus far, 20 tetraploid hybrids have been selected for their increased black sigatoka resistance, high yields, large parthenocarpic fruits, and improved ratooning. The best tetraploid plantain hybrid (TMPx 548-9) yields J 00% more than fungicide-treated Obino I' Ewai (its maternal genotype) and 225% more than the same cultivar not treated with fungicide . The selected tetraploids are also shorter than their plantain parents, flower earlier and have a shorter production cycle. The diploid paternal genotype of J 7 of these hybrids is Calcutta 4, a wild M.acuminaJa spp. burmannicoides accession that is resistant to black sigatoka but has seeded non-parthenocarpic fiuits. Fortunately, the disease resistance of this wild banana is expressed by its tetraploid progeny but the inferior bunch characteristics are masked.Fourteen of the best tetraploid hybrids have been registered (HortScicllce 28 (9): 9S7-9S9, 1993), in order to place them in the public domain . National program~ in ten countries of sub-Saharan Africa and tropical America are currently testing this germplasm (known as TMPx, Tropical Musa Plantain Hybrids) for release to farmers.In the process of developing new improved germplasm, lIT A scientists have generated significant new information and considerably modified previously held views on Musa genetics. One such view was that genetic improvement of cultivated Musa was confined to breeding at the diploid level, using related Musa species. Based on phenotypes from crosses, liT A scientists identified both diploid and letraploids. They recovered a large percentage of diploid progeny from 3x X 2x crosses, and confirmed ploidy levels by chromosome counting. As a consequence, lIT A scientists are able to improve plantain germplasm at other ploidy levels. A second advance has been the demonstration that there is a greater level of variability available to the plantain breeder than expected. lIT A scientists have generated new evidence to suggest that the triploid genome of the crop undergoes segregation even when its entire compliment of chromosomes is transmitted to the tetraploid progenies.While tetraploid hybrids are of immediate interest as potential new cultivars, the plantain-derived hybrids (HortScience 30 (I) : 147-149, 1995) play an increasingly important role in germplasm enhancement at the 2x level and as a source of plantain alleles. Since 1991, tetraploid hybrids have been crossed with a variety of diploid hybrids and accessions to produce secondary triploid hybrids .The major advantage of such hybrids is the reversal to male sterility which avoids seed set. All the improved diploids have higher levels of black sigatoka resistance than their susceptible plantain parents. Host response to black sigatoka in the partially resistant diploid germplasm is based on slower or delayed disease development resulting in a lower level of leaf spot damage. This type of host response may provide more durable resistance.As a result of other new information generated by IIT A research, the genetics of many plantain traits are better understood. These include: albinism, dwarfism, suckering behaviour, pseudostem waxiness, persistence of male bracts and hermaphrodite flowers, male and female sterility, production of 2n gametes, fruit panhenocarpy, quality and size, bunch orientation and weight, resistance to black sigatoka and banana weevil, and susceptibility to banana virus(es). Major genes controlling albinism, dwartism, black sigatoka resistance, apical dominance, pseudostem waxiness, and non-panhenocarpy were a\\l observed to be inherited in a recessive manner from the plantain germplasm.Individual selection within a ploidy level for each family would also be effective for almost all traits. For this reason three distinct breeding schemes are being employed to improve the plantain gene pool at the diploid level (i) phenotypic recurrent selection for traits with additive gene action, (ii) recurrent selection with progeny testing for traits with non-additive gene action, and, (iii)reciprocal recurrent selection for traits with both additive and nunadditive gene action .Following these recent advances in Musa genetics at lIT A, we are now aware that the triploid plantain genome is not fixed, hence much more variability can be recovered from primary 3x-2x crosses than earlier anticipated. This means that the success of tetraploid hybrids does not depend entirely on the qualities transmitted by the pollen as previously believed by banana breeders. Furthermore, Calcutta 4 (the wild non-edible diploid banana) is not the sole source of alleles for black sigatoka resistance. There are also alleles influencing resistance in plantain genotypes but they are not expressed phenotypically due to their additive/recessive nature. Similarty, although Calcutta 4 donates alleles for non-parthenocarpic fruits, its tetraploid hybrids exhibit parthenocarpic fruits and their bunch weights were not inferior to that of the maternal French plantain genotype. This is again due to the dominant genes in the plantain genome, in this case controlling parthenocarpy.Moreover, it seems that most morphological traits in Muso. including components of yield, are under the control of epistatic genetic systems. This form of inheritance has commonly been reported in vegetatively propagated crops. In conclusion, formal inheritance studies involving triploid Musa cultivars are possible, as well as inferences concerning the genetic basis of disease and pest resistance . Hence elucidation of the inheritance of other economically important traits should be pursued in an effort to develop scientific breeding schemes.Fruit size is an important criterion in market acceptability, as consumers favour large fruits . In this regard plantain hybrids have fruits with similar or larger dimensions than their maternal French plantains. Similarly, dry matter has become an important quality criterion when breeding for improved starchy food crops such as plantain. There is a positive correlation between dry matter content and Musa cooking quality. Plantain hybrids, although derived from a paternal banana type, retain a closer association to the maternal plantain phenotype. Studies of consumer acceptability of new material detected no significant difference in taste between the high yielding TMPx 548-9 and its plantain parent Obino I' Ewai. However, fruit colour was found to be significantly different Since hybrid plantains resemble but are not identical to the maternal plantain phenotype, lIT A scientists have determined the utilization characteristics of these hybrids . Several methods of processing, utilization and for extending storage life of plantain products are under investigation. The most promising products are chips, baked and fried products, wine and vinegar. Bread was successfully made with 25% plantain flour, while an acceptable cake was made with 100% plantain .The management of organic matter and how this affects plantain productivity has been extensively investigated at Onne Station. Early research indicated that sustained productivity of plantain in home gardens is due to the high organicmatter content resulting from the application of manure and refuse. Mulching, which also increases the organic-matter content of the soil, has been found to increase plantain productivity. However. cutting, transporting and spreading mulch may be too labour-intensive to be practical for small holders, for whom labour shortages are often a major problem. For this reason cropping systems which require a reduced level of mulching were investigated at Onne. Various plant species grown in close proximity to the plantain crop were evaluated as possible mulch sources. Agroforestry systems such as alley cropping with multispecies However, the proceeds from fruit harvest may cover some of the costs incurred by the NARS. This arrangement demonstrates commitment of both partners to ensuring the flow of research material and to technology transfer based upon reliable information.liT A staff have provided technical assistance to national research institutions in Nigeria, for the development of tissue culture laboratories, to sustain institutional development. Tissue culture laboratories will play an important role in the distribution and multiplication of clean and improved planting materials of selected genotypes. These facilities can be used not only for MU.m, but also for other crops which are amenable to in vitro culture techniques. It is hoped that in the near future many of the requests to lIT A for planting material will be handled by these national laboratories.Information exchange occurs frequently, through meetings and correspondence, as well as regular publications in international scient ific journals.In 1990 lIT A published a manual entitled 'Plantain cIIltivation under Wesl African COllditions ', summarizing knowledge accumulated from over ten years of research on the crop's agronomy and physiology. In 1993, a plantain and banana newsletter for Africa, MusAfrica, was initiated publishied at an average of three issues a year.The generation of hybrid plants from the most common triploid Mum clones is hampered by low seed set and by low rates of seed germination. Hybrid seeds germinate in soil at a rate of about one percent. Hence, aseptic embryo culture techniques are routinely applied at Onne to increase seed germination rates. V::, to 20,000 seeds obtained from plantain crosses are handled in the ti ssue culture labora!ory each year.Somaclonal variation in plantains derived from tissue culture has been described in detail by lIT A scientists. The narrow spectrum of somaclonal variation and the generally inferior performance of off-types demonstrated that somaclonal variation is oflimited value in plantain improvement. Nevertheless, one black sigatoka-resistant tetraploid hybrid, PIT A 9 (HortScience 30 (2) 395-397, 1995), was derived from the almost sterile False Horn group by using a somaclonal variant of the cultivar Agbagba (exhibiting a reversion to the French type of bunch) crossed with Calcutta 4.More advanced studies in cell and molecular biology are currently under The international research community recently proclaimed that the most tangible achievement of plantain and banana research in the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has been the development of black sigatoka resistant hybrids by liT A. In 1994, liT A was the winner of the seventh King Baudouin Award of the CGIAR. This award for excellence in international agricultural research, named after the late King of Belgium, recognized lIT A's contributions to breeding plantains for black sigatoka resistance and advances in Musa genetics. This is a noteworthy achievement considering that growers have yet to adopt a single hybrid from more than 70 years of banana breeding. The remarkably rapid identification of improved plantain germplasm was possible through the combined application of a wide range of conventional and novel approaches, including interspecific hybridization, ploidy manipulation, embryo culture, rapid in vitro multiplication, field testing and telection. The ultimate impact of the new hybrids will depend on their adoption by national reaearchers and farmers and their efron. towards integrating thit material into the plantain and banana production systems of Africa.1.6.2 Potential impact of Musa germplasm developed at Onne StationThe potential impact of using black sigatoka resistant plantains was assessed in comparison to the use of chemical fungicides. Farmers require an investment of at least US $750 per hectare per year to provide chemical protection against black sigatoka. In a rural south-eastern Nigeria context, host plant resistance was seen to have a cost benefit advantage of 10: lover fungicides during periods of scarcity of production. However, the advantage was reduced to 5.5: I during periods of adequate plantain production because supply dramatically influences the market price of plantain fruit.An attempt has also been made to calculate the potential impact of IlT A's improved plantain germplasm in African agriculture. The gross value of plantain production in Africa has been estimated at around US $2 .8 billion. A potential yield increase of 225% is achievable b~' using the bla~k sigatoka resistant tetraploid germplasm developed at lIT A. This might have the impact of raising the annual gross value of plantain production to over US $9 billion. The total investment by lIT A in plantain breeding during the development of the improved gerrnplasm has consisted of two core scientists (8 germplasm enhancer and a breeder) for a five year period (1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992). The costs to lIT A of these staff over this period were about US S2 million. The ratio of potential gain, therefore, from this investment would be US $6 .2 billion to US 52 million. In other words, for every US SI invested by lIT A in the development of the tetraploid plantain hybrids with black sigatoka resistance, the African economy has the potential to reap an annual gain of about US S31 00. These estimates presuppose that prices will stay constant (ipring elasticity of demand), that th, (e is no chemical control, and that the total area currently allocated to plantain will be cropped with improved hybrids. 1.6.3 Holistic approach to Musa improvement While those potential gains seem impressive in themselves, lIT A's research (in genetics and breeding, biotechnoJogy, crop protection, postharvest utilization and agronomy) continues to pursue a holistic approach to developing sustainable 2' plantain and banana production and utilization systems. The goal is to develop materials resistant to other diseases and pests (such as Fusarium wilt , banana streak virus, banana weevil and nematodes) together with improved plant architecture. This will result in better cultivars fo r the smallholders who produce plantain and banana in compound or home gardens, as well as for those who grow them in large field plantations. Better cultivars must have high and stable yields, adaptation to target areas, resistance/tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, and acceptable quality. Efforts continue on an these factors . Elucidation of the inheritance and associations of morphological descriptors with qualitative and quantitative variation (Section 2.2). This basic knowledge will be applied to the development of new breeding approaches for important agronomic traits.Confirmation of the genetic basis of black sigatoka resistance and validation of the role of the major gene controlling partial resistance to this leaf spot disease in Musa gerrnplasm (Section 5.3.1).Dissection of quantitative trait variation in important economic traits with the aid of conventional genetic markers, which may provide means to assess the value ofma:ker assisted selection iJ) Musa (Section 2.2.5).Determin~,:on of the importance of genotype-by-environment interaction in Musa, which shol,ld allow its manipulation by the breeding program (Section 2.2.6).Assessment of potential durable black sigatoka resistance of the improved Musa gerrnplasm developed by I1TA and with the partnership ofNARSfNGOs in 20 environments (dry and rainy seasons in eleven sites of West and Central Africa over at least two years) (Section 5.2).Improvement of the efficiency of in vitro germination of seeds (from less than 20\"10 to almost 30%) (Section 6.3).Generation of in vitro stocks of liT A's improved Musa germplasm with the high phytosanitary status necessary for international distribution. PI~ts from these stocks have been observed over a three year period and repeatedly tested negative for the presence of viruses. (Sections 5.7 and 6.4) .Identification of promising Musa hybrids (liT A) and exotic cooking bananas in close collaboration with NARS from Ghana, Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire (Sections 3.53 and 3.6). This increases the possibilities of further cultivar release of improved Musa germplasm (within the mid-term plan) in the humid forest of West and Central Africa.Acceptance by Hor/Science of the registration of the improved diploid plantain germplasm (TMP2x) and ofPITA-9, a plantain hybrid derived from the False Horn gene pool through somac1onal variation (Section 3 8).Selection for further evaluation in multilocational testing of the starchy banana hybrid BITA-3 (formerly TMBx 5295-1), the highest yielding entry in the plant crop of the 1993 preliminary yield trial (PYI) (Section 3.4.1). Also the identification of improved diploid and secondary polyploid germplasm after early evaluation trials at Onne Station (Section 3.3).Establishment of the 1994 PYI, which comprises the most promising secondary polyploids (IMP3x and TMP4x) and cooking banana hybrids (BIT A-I and BIT A-2) (Section 3.4. I).Production of segregating materials for further testing and selection by the ESARC team in the mid-altitudes of East and Southern Africa (Section 4.2 and 4.3).A range of products developed by our postharvest laboratory (see PBIP 1993 Annual Report). Regular presentations at local trade fairs and at training courses.The 1994 King Baudouin Award of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGlAR) was awarded to lIT A for our contributions to breeding plantains for black sigatoka resistance and advances in Musa genetics. lIT A received a merit award for presentations of its advances in postharvest technology of the mandate crops (including plantain and banana) at the exhibition organized in Lagos by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council of Nigeria.The High Rainfall Station was fully operational during the mid-year crisis. This was only possible through the commitment of the staff based at Onne.The upgrading of the physical facilities at Onne station were completed during the year and will be inaugurated in 1995 .Very positive audit report concerning the operations of the High Rainfall Station.M\"sArrka has become a regular publication with three issues per year. Articles, reports and letters from NARS in Africa were published in 1994. The distribution of the newsletter increased from 500 copies to 750 copies per Issue.Dissemination of research findings in several journals. seminars, conferences and other publications (see list in Annex 2). In addition one third (about 350 entries) of the global collection ofMusa germplasm (mainly entries of African origin) will be duplicated in vi/yo at Ibadan in response to a special request from INIBAP. This duplication should ensure the safe maintenance of lv/usa genetic resources.The aim of work concening characterisation was to use phenetic analysis to show the taxonomic relationships among the triploid Musa accessions grown in West and Central Africa. Data were collected from 93 accessions of small, dwarf, semi-dwarf, medium and giant French plantains together with medium and giant False Horn plantains, medium Horn plantains, small, medium and giant French Horn plantains, plus cooking, starchy and dessert bananas. Data were recorded from 5 plants of each accession in each plant crop and the first ratoon . Fifteen quantitative descriptors were recorded (Tables 2.1 and 2.2) and subjected to principal component analysis (peA) to determine common patterns of variation among groups and subgroups of accessions.Latent vectors were derived from the correlation matrix. The first principal component (PRINI) accounted for 35% of the total variation in the quantitative descriptors measured. PRINI was unevenly loaded with the latent root (5 .3) defining five characters of greatest influence (Table 2.3). Three of these characters had large positive values (number of fruits per bunch, total number of neutral flowers in the female inflorescence and number of fruits per hand). However, two characters had large negative values (average fruit weight and fruit length). This suggests that high PRINI values correspond to cultivars having heavy bunches with many fruits per hand and many neutral flowers while cultivars with big and heavy fruits have low PRINI values (X axis in Fig. 2.1).The second principal component (PRIN2) accounted for 28% ofthe total variation. PRIN2 was also unevenly loaded but with the latent root (4.2) defining four characters of greatest influence (Table 2.3). Two of these characters had large positive values (total number ofleaves and plant girth at 50 em above ground level), whereas two characters had large negatively values (height of tallest sucker at flowering and total number of neutral flowers in the female inflorescence. Thus, late maturing cultivars with many leaves and wide plant girth have high PRIN2values (e.g. False Horn and Horn plantains, upper left quadrant in Fig. False Hom and Hom plantains are late maturing cuhivars with many leaves and wide plan~ girth but slow ratooning, very few neutral flowers in the female inflorescence and a light bunch with few fruits per hand (Tables 2.1 and 2.2).Conversely, the early maturing cooking bananas have few leaves with many neutral flowers in the female inflorescence and a heavy bunch with many fruits per hand.Most of the False Horn plantains were intermediate between the Hom and French Hom plantains. The plantain Bise Egome was intermediate between theFalse Hom and French plantains as expected for such a phenotypically unstable cultivar. This analysis also suggests that the dwarf giant plantain N'Jock Kon may be a mutant of either the giant French cultivars Ntanga-2 or Osambum (see 'small triangle within large triangle' symbol for French Plantains in Fig_ 2.1).This pattern of quantitative variation does not always agree with the putative A and B genome designations For example, from this analysis AAB French plantains and starchy bananas (Poupolou and Mattui) appear more closely related to AAA bananas than to ABB cooking bananas or AAB bananas (pome or Silk) . Similarly, the AAA banana Yangambi Km. 5 appears more closely related to ABB cooking bananas than to the AAA Cavendish or Gros Michel dessert bananas.Grouping based on this information may help to establish potential heterotic groups which when inter-crossed would maximize hybrid vigour. Comparative analysi s of molecular marker diversity may also be a powerful tool to reveal cladistic relationships and elucidate the phylogenetic relationships between triploid Musa cultivars. The molecular taxonomic characterization of lIT A's Musa genebank is underway (see Section 6)The general objective of the MGIS. under the auspices ofINIBAP. is to develop a reliable germplasm information system. MGIS will be developed through a network of researchers and curators of national and regional collections in order to identify and characterize Musa diversity and to facilitate the efficient conservation and exchange of Mus a germplasm. The first phase ofMGIS involves researchers with expertise in Musa taxonomy located in five diverse i!lstitutions (including PBIP oflIT A) . A identical set of cultivars will be characterized by each group using a list of descriptors provided by INIBAP (MUSAID system) during 1995-1996. In this way it will be possible to define the extent of environmental effect on important morphotaxonomic characters. The results will be used to update MUSAID, an expert system for Musa identification that was developed by Centre de cooperation internationale en recherche agronomique (ClRAD) This updating will lead to the release of MUSAID program package to collaborators worldwide which will allow curators to properly classify their germplasm collections.Endomorphological and anatomical characters of plants are often highly conserved across environments. Such characters arc highlv llseful in characterization and taxonomic delimitation. For this reason a PhD research project was initiated to carry out the anatomical characterization of banana and plantain cultivars. Wax embedded specimens of leaf, inflorescence and cauline tissues are being investigated. Results will be reported in next year's annual report .Genetic Stud iesAlthough genetic information is crucial to the development of scientific breeding strategies, few genetic studies had been undenaken in this crop prior to 1992 .Several authors have claimed that formal genetic studies of nearly or quite sterile triploids were impossible. As a consequence very few genetic mark ers were available in Musa until recently . Several characteristics of the crup ma~ e genetic analysis difficult. The low efficiency of generating hybrid progenies tro m interploidy/interspecific crosses and the resulting small sample size are the major obstacles to genetic analysis. However, it has recently been possible to generate both test-cross segregating populations (from crossing triploid heter0~ygous genotypes with diploid homozygous genotypes) and diploid plantain-banana hybrids. The production of these types of populations have allowed the genetic analysis of plantain and banana genomes in Dnne since 1992 (see PBIP 1992Annual Report).To be of value, characterization descriptors should be highly heritable, easy to visually score and consistently expressed in all environments.Calcutta 4 has been regarded as homozygous (for practical purposes) due to the absence of any character segregation in selfed generations. For this reason crosses using Calcutta 4 are considered to be test-crosses (TC) when Calcutta 4 has a recessive genotype.The expected segregation ratios in F 2 and test-cross generations from 2x-2x crosses are shown in Table 2.4. Segregation was observed in most of the morphological descriptors evaluated in a number of diverse sets of diploid banana offspring at Onne during 1992-1993 (Table 2.5) or during 1993-1994 (Table 2.6).The phenotype of several traits appeared to be affected by the environment/method of evaluation e.g . angle of male and female axes, pedicel length, bract scars on the axis, imbrication of the male bud, apex of male bud, bract waxiness, pollen production, and open pollinated (OP) seed production. Others traits exhibited a variable level of expression indicating that they may be affected by minor modifier genes or incomplete penetrance, e .g . pseudo stem waxiness, peduncle hairiness, bract scars on axis, fruit parthenocarpy, and colour of the ovary.Epistatic gene action was very common in the genetic control of several traits, especially for those showing transgressive segregation, e.g . sucker orientation, petiole margin clasping, coarse peduncle hairiness, external pigmentation of the male bract and development of a purple tinge in compound tepal. This was not surprising because such systems are commonly reported in vegetatively propagated species.Vegetative DescriPto rs Green petiole margin appears to be inherited as a single recessive gene while colo ur of the petiole margin may be controlled by a dom inant gene in Pisang !ilin X Calcultt a 4. While red pigmentation in the pseudo stem (Table 2.S) may be influenced by an epistatic genetic system in progeny from the cross between Pisang lilin and Calcutta 4 and its reciprocal (hereafter pooled data referred to as PI x C4). However, the same trait (Table 2.6) appears to be inherited as a single recessive gene in progeny from the cross between Calcutta 4 and M.acuminala ssp. banksii (herafter C4 x banksii) and its reciprocal. Modifier gene interaction due to a recessive suppressor gene may explain the phenotypic segregation in colour of the pseudostem blotches.Inflorescence Descriptors : Three loci with complementary dominant gene action may control fruit orientation (either erect or curved) in PI x C4 (Table 2.S). It appears that Calcutta 4 possesses two recessive loci (curved fruits) , while Pisang lilin has a third complementary recessive locus (curved fruits) . Similar genetic systems may control imbrication of the male bud. The development of dense bunches may be due to the action of two duplicate loci in PI x C4 (Table 2.S).Acute male bud apex could be controlled by two recessive genes in PI x C4 while obtuse or intennediate apices may be under the control of two independent dominant alleles. The segregation of male bracts with internal bright crimson pigmentation in PI x C4 suggests that four independent loci may be involved in the genetic control of this trait Male Flower Descriptors: At least four independent dominant genes may control the development of a purple tinge in the style and the behaviour of bracts in the offspring of PI x C4. Pollen production in the offspring of PI x C4 may be affected by translocation of PI chromosomes. M acuminata subssp. hanlcsii has been regarded as homozygous line in a similar way to Calcutta 4. Based on this assumption genetic investigations (including molecular genetic analysis) have also been undertaken with the support of international donorsl. However, there has been no published report (to the authors' knowledge) conclusively demonstrating the homozygosity of M . acuminala spp. banksii. Indeed, the observed segregation of ten morphological descriptors in progeny from C4 x banksii clearly conflicts with this hypothesis. Segregation was observed in the following characters: leaf orientation, pseudo stern blotches, morphology of base ofleaflamina, peduncle hairiness, angle offemale axis [or bunch orientation], apex of male bract, ovary pigmentation, stigma and staminode morphology. Explanations for this disparity might include the presence of residual heterozygosity in the loci controlling these traits or a significant environment influence on phenotypic expression. There was no strong evidence for cytoplasmic inheritance of these morphological descriptors .The expected segregation ratios (assuming trisomic inheritance) for a diploid FZ population and the diploid progeny from 3x-lx test-crosses (TC) are shown in Table 2.7 . Again these ratios assume that Calcutta 4 has a homozygous recessive diploid genotype. The last phenotypic class in Table 2.7 belongs to the homozygous recessive diploid parent. Reversion offspring and male sterility affecting pollen production) or several recessive genes (green pigmentation of petiole margin, absence of clasping petiole margins and bract waxiness). Other traits were inherited monogenically but were affected by the environment or showed incomplete penetrance in AAB plantains e.g. appearance of petiole margin, pseudostem waxiness, imbrication of the male bud (in progeny from the French Reversion only) and suckering behaviour. Data collected from the progeny of 3x-2x and 2x-2x crosses suggest that several genes (with sensitivity to the environment) may determine the phenotype for pseudostem blotches. However, the observation of diploid F2 individuals with the parental phenotype suggests that a small number of additive genes may control this trait (Table 2.9) . The white colour of fruit pulp from plantain-banana hybrids may be due to several genes. Incomplete dominance over alleles from the diploid banana parent may underlie the taste of ripe fruit. However, it was not possible to confirm this because the diploid banana parent Calcutta 4 has seeded fruits without pulp.Blunt fruit apex and absence of petiole wing drying (characteristics of ABB cooking bananas) were each inherited as a recessive trait in progeny from Bluggoex C4 (Table 2.9). Also segregation data suggest tha! Bluggoe may be duplex for the PI locus (i.e. two copies of the dominant alleles) . Hence, PI alleles for fruit parthenocarpy may be available in the putative B genome of Bluggoe.The occurrence of first division segregation (Fig. 2.2) and dosage effects can explain the segregation patterns observed in the polyploid offspring from crosses of AAB x AA and ABB x AA. Dosage effects were clear in the inheritance of pseudo stem waxiness, peduncle hairiness and imbrication of the male bud in the tetraploid offspring of French Reversion.A more detailed analysis for each trait may consider data tabulation as shown in Ta~le 2.10. This example shows the segregation of leaf orientation in progeny from 3x-2x crosses and the derived F2 population of plantain-banana hybrids . A test for homogeneity between segregating F 1 offspring at each ploidy level would be required in order to determine whether or not the triploid parents have the same genotypes. Moreover, each observed segregation ratio in the F I should be tested against the expected theoretical ratio (under the assumption of a 3x-2x test-cross, where the diploid parent has the recessive genotype) . Finally, the proposed genetic model (which is based on data from F I individuals) awaits confirmation by the segregation ratios of the derived F2 population (generated from sdfing of the FI)'Tetraploid-tetraploid crosses Table 2.11 shows the expected segregation for black sigatoka resistance based on tetrasomic inheritance in a cross between resistant and susceptible tetraploid plantain-banana hybrids. This model assumes that the maternal genotype is nulliplex for the major resistance locus and the paternal genotype is duplex for the corresponding susceptible locus. While both parental genotypes are assumed to be balanced diallelic for two minor modifier loci. The host response to black sigatoka was measured in terms'ofthe youngest leafspotted (YLS). A YLS score of seven or below was considered susceptible while scores of eight and above were designated as resistant. This analysis was applied to progeny from the cross between resistant (TMPx 582-4) and susceptible (1187-8) full-sib tetraploid hybrids (Table 2.12). The observed frequency distribution in this population was not significantly different to the ratio expected from the genetic model defined above, i.e. 1.7 R • I S 6: 2 = 2.05, n.s.).Simmonds) reported that persistence of male bracts and neutral (or hermaphrodite) flowers i.s under the control of two independent dominant complementary genes which may be affected by the environment. Segregation data in diploid plantainbanana offspring (Tables 2.5 and 2.8) support this hypotnesis. Moreover, the diploid offspring derived from crosses between French plantains and Calcutta 4 (Table 2.8) have similar frequency distributions for persistence of male bracts and neutral flowers . Co-segregation of persistence of both male bract and neutral flowers was also observed in diploid plantain-banana and banana hybrids (Table 2.13). However, persistence of male bracts and neutral flowers is not always coexpressed in the same clone. This suggests that close genetic linkage on the same chromosome (and not pleiotropism) is responsible for the inconsistent association between these two characters.Co-segregation data from four distinct crosses (Table 2.13) was used to estimate the recombination frequencies between co-segregating loci in each population (Table 2.14). In French plantain there is an estimated 13 cM between loci controlling persistence of male bud and neutral flowers . However, significantly different estimates were obtained when using data from reciprocal crosses in bananas. This may indicate that in the diploid banana Pisang lilin, loci coding for persistence of male bracts and neutral flowers are on different linkage groups.However, Pisang lilin has been shown to be a translocation heterozygote (see PBJ1> the use of IIUCh a genotype as male parent may also be responsible for generatedPenistnrJf1c#'aJ characters, somaclonal \\JQTiQJion and evolution in Musa The genetic system proposed by Simmonds 3 does not fully explain how it is possible to recover male fertile somaclonal variants (French ltevcnion) from False Hom cultivars. The hypothesis suggests that Raise Hom plantains could have evolved from French plantains. Thus, it is highly unlikely that dominant mutation(s) should be required for the expression of persistent neutral flowers and male buds. However, the reversion to French bunches from False Hom plantainJ may be due to transposable elements which could have disrupted the function of the dominant gene( s) controlli!]g persistence of male bracts and neutral flowers. The bunches of the plantain cultivar Bise Egome are observed frequently to switch back and forth between False Hom and French (and vice versa). This type of behaviour may indeed be result of mobile transposable elements.Other recessive mutations, e.g. those controlling male sterility, might have also occurred in the evolution from French to False Hom plantains (see Section 2. L 1). Hence, a trend towards sterility (with increasing emphasis upon capacity for vegetative propagation) and the development of fruit parthenocarpy might have been the driving forces in Musa evolution and domestication.Farmers and breeders are mainly interested in traits which have economic importance (either directly or indirectly). Many ofthese traits are influenced by the environment. They are often called evaluation descriptors and are the traits routinely recorded in breeder's trials. Most of them exhibit quantitative variation and may be under polygenic control. For example, number of hands in the inflorescence of euploid F 1 hybrids derived from 3r-2x crosses (Table 2.15) showed a continuous distribution with the lowest values exceeding those of cultivated triploid parent. Moreover, a preliminary genetic analysis, based on the occurrence of transgressive segregation in the diploid F 2, suggests a complex genetic basis of this trait.Analyses of variance (ANOVA) and genetic parameters (such as intradass correlations) are the main tools for determining the extent to which different factors affect quantitative trait variation. A hierarchical (or nested) univariate analysis was applied to data from euploid populations of different poidy levels each of which had been grown in several environments (Table 2.16). This analysis isolated the respective variance components from which it was possible to calculate the intraclass correlations of these segregating populations (Table 2.17).Components of variance Ca2i) and intradass correlations (Pi) for growth and yield parameters were calculated from the plot means of euploid plantainbanana hybrids (Table 2.18). Comparable statistics, using data from both plant and raloon crops, were calculated for the growth and yield parameters of euploid progenies from two further crosses Bobby Tannap X Calcutta 4 and Obino l'Ewai x Calcutta 4 (Table 2.19) . The unequal sample sizes of these populations were taken into account whilst calculating LSD values Cat the 5% level of probability) for each comparison between and within populations.Plant height at flowering, number of hands and fruits, fruit weight and girth, and days to fruit filling were all significantly different between the plant crop and the ratoon crop (Table 2.19). On average, the hybrids took more days to fill their fruit in the plant crop than in the ratoon. In contrast, more hands with fruits of lower weight were obtained in the ratoon than in the plant crop. The shorter fruit filling period may explain why fruits were smaller in the ratoan crop. The plants were also taller in the ratoon than in the plant crop.The genotype-by-environment interaction was significant (P< 0.0 I or P< 0.(01) for bunch weight plus fruit length and girth (Table 2.18). Hence, selection in segregating offspring of bunch and fruit traits may not be reliable if it is based on data solely from the plant crop.The euploid offspring of both French plantain hybrids did not differ significantly for all the quantitative traits evaluated (Table 2.18). Significant differences between ploidy levels within each family (P< 0.00 I) were observed for most tnits (except height of tallest sucker and number of hands and fruits per bunch) (Table 2.11). The tetraploids were taller, had larger production cycles but shorter fruit filling time and heavier bunches than diploids (Table 2.19). The tetraploids 1110 had bigger parthenocarpic fruits but fewer days to fruit filling than the diploids, which have both parthenocarpic and non-parthenocarpic fruits.Simi1arly, there was significant differences (p< 0.001) for almost all traits between clones of the same ploidy level within each family (except days to fruit filling). Hence, individual selection within ~h ploidy will be an effective breeding strategy for the improvement of plantain populations at each ploidy level. The intraclass correlations vllues (Table 1.11) further support the use oflhis a strategy. 3M 2.2.5 Effect of major genes and epistasis in quantitative trait variation Polygenes are often observed to control quantitative trait variation (QTV). However, major genes which are inherited in a Mendelian fashion, may also significantly influence variation in certain quantitative traits. The effect of major genes on QIV can be explained by linkage or pleiotropism and may act in an additive or non-additive manner. The non-additive gene interaction can be either within the locus (e.g. dominance) of be/ween loci (i .e. epistasis).Ploidy and genetic effects in marker loci of segregating euploid plantainbanana hybrids (Table 2.20) were investigated in euploid offspring derived from crosses of triploid French plantains and a wild homozygous diploid banana. The number of copies of the black sigatoka resistance allele (bs j) and of the fruit parthenocarpy gene (P j) in addition to. the ploidy level were all found to significantly affect fiuit weight in euploid plantain-banana hybrids (Figs. 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4 respectively).Euploid hybrids from crosses of Obi no I' Ewai and Bobby Tannap with Calcutta 4 were used for analysis of variance of quantitative traits. Based on two segregating markers (Table 2.21) this analysis revealed that the effect of allele substitution (i.e. additive gene action) at both 'bs j and P ] loci significantly affected (P< 0.001) both bunch weight and fiuit size. Likewise, dominance at both loci significantly affected (P< 0 .05 or P< 0.001) fiuit length and circumference, while dominance at the P jlocus significantly affected (p< 005) the number of hands and fruits in both crosses. Intralocus interactions of bs jlocus affected both bunch weight and fiuit traits.There was a significant epistatic interaction (p< 0.05 or P< 0.01) between the additive and non-additive effects (except dominant x dominant) of both bs 1 and P ] loci for plant height, fruit length and circumference. These effects were only observed in the progeny from OL x C4, while no significant interactions were observed in progeny from BI x C4. Plant height was not affected by the segregation of either marker in progeny from BT x C4. However, additive effects of both loci plus intralocus interaction in bs / IIld epistasis significantly affected plant height in OL x C4. This supports the observation that a dw.arfism locus segregates in progeny from BT x C4 . Similarly, the lack of significant effects of both genetic nwlten IIId ploidy on height of tallest sucker supports the theory that .peal dominance in MIIScz is conti oDed by only one single recessive gene with variable expressivity, incomplete peoetIuce IIId genetic specificity (see PBIP 1992 Annual Report).Significant differences between the three ploidy levels (P < 0001) were observed for bunch weight and fiuit size in both families but only for plant height in OL x C4 and only for number offiuits in BT x C4. There was no significant increase or decrease at difference ploidy levels fo~ days to fiuit filling, number of hands in both crosses and for plant height in BT x C4.Most of the genetic variation for plant height, bunch weight and fiuit size (i.e. H2) was accounted for by the gene action of the markers and ploidy level in progeny from OL )( C4. The level of genetic variation accounted for by the defined parameters is measured by the coefficient ofdetennination (R2 in Table l.ll) of the multiple regression model. In contrast, only a small portion of the total variation for bunch weight and fiuit size was explained by these same genetic parameters in progeny from BT x C4.• This suggests that additional loci may be influencing these traits in progeny from BT x C4.Genetic parameters having significant effects in progeny from OL x C4 were included in the best multiple regression model, following a stepwise procedure. Certain genetic parameters, although significant in the analysis of variance, were omitted in the model because they provided redundant infonnation (i.e. they had singular matrices) In cases of redundancy only the parameters with the highest partial coefficient of regression should be considered.The regression models (based on ploidy and genetic effects in the marker bs I and P jloci) explained 80% to 90% of the genetic quantitative trait variation in bunch and fruit traits expressed by progeny from OL x C4 (Table 2.22). The coefficients ofregression suggest that the additive and non-additive effects in the P f locus as well as ploidy account for a significant portion of the variation in fiuit • weight However. intralocus interaction in the P 1 locus accounted for most of the variation in number of hands aQd fruits per bunch. To the authors' knowledge this could be the first report of dissecting quantitative traits in Musa with the aid of conventional genetic markers.The Durbin-Watson analyses of residuals (Table 2.21) were not significant or were inconclusive in the quantitative traits measured. This suggests that marker assisted selected based on both genetic markers may result in significant gains in bunch weight and fruit weight of plantain-banana hybrids. The accumulation of favourable alleles (either dominant (P f) or recessive (bs I) genes) through recurrent selection and the identification/selection of genotypes which are heterozygous at both loci should result in heavy bunches with wide and heavy fiuits. This is likely to be especially effective in polyploid progeny from OL x C4.2.2.6 Genotype-by-environment (GxE) interaction and site rationalization Measurements of GxE interaction are a very important basis for determining the breeding strategy which is most appropriate for the development of genotypes for specific targeted environments. When GxE interactions are not important breeding materials may be safely tested in the most convenient environment. Otherwise, the breeding material must be evaluated in the specific environments where they are expected to be grown by farmers .When the effects of a particular environmental stress are not taken into account, the gains from a selection program may decrease as the level of that stress increases. Mean yields may be relatively high when these genotypes are grown in similarly stressed environments. However, segregating populations characteristically exhibit low genetic variances in stressed environments.Consequently, this type of selected population is likely to produce low mean yields when grown in non-stressed environments. This type of effect can be a,' counted for in terms of the high metabolic 'cost' to plants for expressing additional trails for tolerance or resistance to abiotic or biotic stresses.Selection for tolerance or resistance to stress: The environment plays an important role in the identification of promising genotypes adapted or resistant to specific stresses. For example, selection for increased efficiency of nitrogen uptake shoLJld take place in environments with a low to medium nitrogen content. Only under these conditions will it be possible to observe clear phenotypic differences between genotypes with high and low efficiencies of nitrogen uptake. Optimum environments, where all individuals are phenotypically normal do not allow the differentiation between different genotypes. Genetic differences still exist in this favourable environment but they are difficult to measure and may also be irrelevant. In contrast, the true genetic differences may be masked during growth in extremely poor environments because all the entries tested will have their phenotypes adversely affected by the stress. The ideal environment for breeders selections would be the one which maximises phenotypic differences between genotypes, i.e. where breeders are able to do visual \"genotyping\". Unfortunately, the optimwn selection environment may be slightly different for each s'pecific trait in need of improvement. For example, selection for black sigatoka resistance in plantai' n (based on measuring the youngest leaf spotted) seems to be more efficient during the rainy than in the dry season. This probably relates the optimal conditions for fungal infection which prevail in the rainy season. As shown in Table 2.23 phenotypic differences between resistant and susceptible genotypes can be observed eoually well during the dry season of certain environments. In addition, these results suggest that there was no axE interaction i.e. no change in the ranking of order of magnitude differences, in the host response to black sigatoka when evaluated in different seasons at Nyombe, Cameroon.Location effects on growth and yield parameters: Significant differences between locations were observed for several characters (Table 2.24). There were consistent differences between Onne and Ibadan in both the plant and ratoon crops. At Onne relative to Ibadan, the production cycle was longer, the total number ofleaves was greater, the tallest sucker had greater height and bunch weight, number of hands and total number of fruits per bunch were greater. At Mbalmayo, the growth performance of the plant and ratoon crops was not consistent which made direct effects oflocation less evident. The plant crop was intermediate between Onne and Ibadan in respect of production cycle and height of tallest sucker but had the smallest totatleaf number of the three locations. In the ratoon crop, the production cycle was longer than both Onne and Ibadan but total leaf number and height of tallest sucker were similar to the Onne ratoon crop. Bunch weight was similar to Onne (and therefore greater than lbadan) in the plant crop, and greater than both Onne and Thadan in the ratoon crop. Number of hands per bunch was similar to that of Onne in both crops but fruit number was greater than Onne in the plant crop and less than Onne in the ratoon crop. The superior bunch weight in the ratoon crop at Mbalmayo relative to Onne arose from the greater weight attained by individual fruits. Overall crop performance was poorest at Thadan. This might reflect a limitation of making selections at Onne. Hybrids selected under a high rainfall regime cannot be expected to be well adapted to the longer dry season at Ibadan. The poorer bunch weights of the Ibadan crops were attributable to fewer fruits per bunch and lower weight per individual fruit relative to the other locations. Significant diffllrences were also observed in fruit dimensions. Fruits were longest at Thadan, intennediate at Onne and shortest at Mbalmayo. The reverse applied to girth with friuts having the greatest circumference at Mbalmayo, intermediate at Onne and smallest at Ibadan with no significant axE interaction for this parameter (Table 2.25).Genotype-b.y-enyjronment effects on growth and vield parameters: There were significant differences between entries in different environments for all parameters measured. The analysis of variance for location (L) and genotype (G) indicated that genotype-by-location (GxL) interaction was important, especially for bunch weight, number of hands, number of fingers and fruit weight (P:;: 0.(01) (Table 2.26). Significant interaction effects (P:;: 0.0') were also obselVed for duration of fruit filling, plant height and ftuit length. These resuits indicated the imponance of and the need for multilocational testing of cultivars before release. In contrast to all other parameters the number of days to ftuit filling was not significantly effected by location. Furthermore, combined analysis of variance showed that most of the parameters were not affected by genotype-by-cycle interaction (Gxe) at Onne (Table 2.27) . Parameters such as bunch weight, number of hands, ftuit length and circumference, as well as the growth parameters (plant height, height of tallest sucker and total number of leaves) did not show a significant GxC in this location. These results suggest that at Onne Station, trials do not necessarily need to be spread over several years to enable efficient selection of elite breeding material. The same could be stated for Ibadan, where all of the parameters, except the number of fruits, were unaffected by GxC interaction. In contrast, at Mbalmayo there was a significant GxC interaction for most traits, inferring that it may also be necessary to carry out early selection trials in this location. Hence, we might conclude that there is more need for multilocation trials rather than single site evaluation over several years in the Musa breedirig station of lIT A at Onne. This may apply both to early selection and later evaluation of elite materials.The need to select and evaluate breeding material in all the target environments where new cultivars might be grown by farmers has been clearly warranted above. However, budget constraints will ultimately compromise this ideal situation. Similarly, the identification or development of an environment which allows the optimum expression of all desirable characters, is equally difficult.A remedy to this puzzle is to consider the performance across two environments, as two different but correlated traits. This allows the testing of whether or not selection in one environment may be efficient to develop cultivars adapted to other environments (i.e, correlated response across environments). This calculation is based on the square root of the trait under selection in each environment (i.e. HX and Hy), and the genetic correlation between the two performances (rG). The correlatedresponse to selection (CRy) will be iXHXHyrQC7py, where iX is the intensity of selection in an alternative environment x, and opy is the standard deviation of the trait under selection in the alternative environment x. The direct response to se1ection in the targeted environment Y (Ry) will be iyH2y , while iy is the intensity of selection. Finally, H2y is the heritability of the trait under selection in targeted environment Y The efficiency of selection in alternative environment X may then be measured by the ratio CRyIRy, which is rG(ixHX)/(iyHy) For example, yield potential (t ha-1 year-I) of Musa germplasm (Iandraces and hybrids) was estimated using data from three lIT A stations in the humid forest (Onne and Mbalmayo) and in the transition zone (Ibadan). The genetic parameters of yield potential were calculated as shown in Table 2.28. Based on this, CRy and Ry were found to be 0.80 and 0.89, respectively. These results suggest that selections at Onne will only effectively select genotypes capable of performing well in Mbalmayo. when the intensity of selection at Onne is 10% higher than at Mbalmayo. This would seem considerably easier than establishing a separate site specifically for the selection of genotypes targeted at farmers in the Mbalmayo region. Similarly, selections from Onne or Mbalmayo are not expected to express their potential at Ibadan due to poor correlated responses (0.40 and 0.13 for Onne and Mbalmayo, respectively).Hence, selection in breeding stations even in the same agroecozone (e.g. Onne and MbaImayo in the humid forest) may lead to the development of different cultivars or populations. Indeed, plant breeders should restrict their selection operations to their specific environments. In this regard, clustering of similar environments may assist in making recommendations for cultivar release across similar environments.When improving multiple traits, breeders should locate their selection trials in the environment where they obtain the greatest heritability for all traits, or by independent culling in the optimum environment for each trait. However, when there is distinct priority ranking of traits for improvement, breeders should pursue a tandem selection scheme.BREEDING PLANTAINS AND BANANAS FOR THE HUMID LOWLANDS OF WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICAPlantain breeding has been the primary activity ofPBIP since 1992. This followed significant progress during 1991 which allowed breeding across ploidy, species and subspecies of Muso. In turn, this has made it possible to decentralize and thereby intensify Musa breeding according to different agroecologies and gene pools. However, there remains a need to consider breeding strategies and determine the most efficient methods for improving this little-researched crop for African conditions and constraints. The breeding philosophy ofPBIP was re-detined at the end of 1993 as follows : to develop cultivars with disease and pest resistance that are well suited to the smallholders who produce plantain and banana in compound or home gardens as well as in large fields.Outcrossing Strategy, Seed Production and Euploid HybridsThis permanent activity of the breeding program is to develop elite plantain and banana hybrids at the primary tetraploid and secondary triploid level. The program is also committed to the continuous improvement of back-up popUlations at various ploidy levels.Crosses constituting a complete diallel and two line by tester designs (Table 3.1) were initiated during early 1995. These are focused on improving the diploid plantain back-up population using recurrent selection. Further new crosses were initiated to generate segregating families for genetic analyses and the production of aneuploid stocks (Table 3.2).During 1994, a total of 1,544 bunches of diploid, triploid and tetraploid accessionslcultivars as well as euploid plantain-banana hybrids were pollinated with pollen from diploid, triploid or tetraploid parents. This resulted in the production of more than 33,000 seeds. A breakdown of the pollinations for the most important breeding schemes implemented during 1994 is shown in Table 3.3. A major proportion of the pollination activities focused on the crossing of diploid and tetraploid euploid plantain-banana hybrids. These crosses were again highly successful leading to the generation of a large number of secondary triploids. A similar commitment was made to triploid-diploid crosses involving cultivars of plantain or East African highland banana. However, these crosses continued to suffer from very low seedset.Gametes with the sporophytic chromosome number are known as 2n gametes (incorrectly called \"unreduced\" gametes). Such gametes are the result of modified gametogenesis which is conferred by mutations of meiosis control elements but is also affected by the environment. The evolution of cultivated forms through sexual polyploidization of most species with a polyploid series has relied upon 2n gametes. Hence, breeders of many vegetatively propagated crops have been takingadvantage of the occurrence of2n gametes (especially in the wild relatives) for the production of high yielding polyploids through ploidy manipulations. This technique has been used in alfalfa, blueberry, blackberry, cassava, peanut, potato, strawberry, sugarcane and sweetpotato. In Musa, 2n eggs opened the path for the genetic amelioration of bananas and plantains.The pro luetion of 2n pollen (characterized by a pollen grain diameter of> 120~) has been observed in accessions of different ploidy level of both wild and cultivated Musa germplasm (Table 3.4). Thus far, all M balbisiana accessions investigated did not have 2n pollen production. All genotypes which were observed to produce 2n pollen also had parthenocarpic fruits. This suggests that 2n pollen production may be a character which evolved late in the domestication of cultivated Musa . The frequency of genotypes producing 2n pollen was 22% in diploid M acuminata, 56% in AAA, 20% in ABB, 12.5% in AAB. The higher frequency of2n pollen producers in AAA relative toM. acuminata suggests that \"conventional polyploid evolution\" through sexual polyploidization has occurred in bananas.Segregation for 2n pollen production in diploid plantain-banana hybrids (Table 3.5) suggests that one locus may be involved in the inheritance of2n pollen production in Muso. Although meiotic mutants are normally recessive, data from segregating Muso offspring suggest that it is the dominant allele in diploid hybrids which is required for 2n pollen production (non-2n: 2n pollen producers fit a 2: I ratio, 7.. 2 = 0.13, NS). The plantain parents Bobby Tannap and Obino I' Ewai, which may have the same genotype at the locus controlling 2n pollen production, are simplex for this locus. This means that had they been male fertile these genotypes would have produced 2n pollen. Segregation data for 2n pollen production in tetraploid hybrids support a simplex genotype for this locus in both plantain parents (non-2n: 2n pollen producers fit a 1: 1 ratio, 7.. 2 = 1.79, NS). The proposed genotypes are based on the assumption of pairing and first division segregation in the chromosome of the heterozygous A genome while the B genome chromosome has the recessive allele. Calcutta 4, the diploid banana parent does not produce 2n pollen and should have a homozygous recessive genotype for the locus controlling 2n pollen production. If this were not the case, non-2n pollen production would be observed in the offspring derived from crosses between French plantains and Calcutta 4.The frequency of the dominant allele for 2n pollen production in diploid M. acuminata was 0.12 while the frequency of this allele was 0.33 in AAA. The higher gene frequency at the triploid level is possibly due to triploid cultivars having arisen through unilateral sexual polyploidization between diploid parents producing n and 2n gametes. Hence, those banana cultivars producing 2n pollen could be at least simplex for the locus controlling this trait.During the 1994 planting season, 248 clonal seedlings were screened in the nursery before field establishment (Table 3.6). Only 127 new hybrids (or 51%) were planted in the EET -94 . The low number reflects the transition to the new breeding schemes and parental material which took place during the previous year (see PBIP 1993 Annual Report).Early Evaluation Trials (EET) 3 J . 1 Field procedure Newly generated hybrids are initially evaluated in small plots (1-5 plants in an unreplicated trial) for black sigatoka resistance (BSR), large pendulous bunch and large fruit size, parthenocarpic fruit development, improved ratooning and dwarfism. The early evaluation takes place at OMC Station and involves observations of several hundred hybrids each year. Segregation after selfing and in crosses with testers of known genotype revealed that TMP2x 1.297-2 (= French Reversion x Calcutta 4) and Galeo were heterozygous for the P J locus. Field observations of segregating material showed that clones with erect bunches often have non-parthenocarpic fruits. This may be due to pleiotropism or genetic linkage between loci controlling bunch orientation and fruit parthenocarpy. Segregation was also observed between full-sib offspring for host response to field infection by virus( es). This may suggest that there is potential for the genetic improvement and development of virus resistant germplasm in Musa through conventional cross-breeding (see Section 5.7) Thus rar only one hybrid clone with acceptable agronomic traits has been selected from progeny of a backcross between a primary tetraploid and its wild banana parent Calcutta-4. This secondary triploid was obtained after backcrossing TMPx 548-9 to Calcutta 4. This hybrid has light orange coloured fruit pulp, suggesting that the white colour of fruit flesh in bananas could be controlled by recessive gene(s).During 1994, PBlP continued to identify combining ability groups in order to maximize heterosis during the production of secondary triploids. Crosses between fuU-sibs and half-sibs produced very weak offspring due to inbreeding depression. This was the case even when high yielding selected clones were used as parental genotypes (e.g. TMPx 6930-1 x TMP2x 1549-5 or TMPx 548-4 x 1586-2).However, crosses between selected tetraploid hybrids and unrelated diploids accessions were sometimes successful in generating hybrid vigour (e.g. TMPx 4479-1 x SH-3362 or TMPx 2637-49 x SH-3362). However, this was unpredictable with an equal number of such crosses failing to generate interesting progeny (TMPx 548-9 x Pi sang lilin, TMPx 4479-1 x Galee, TMPx 548-4 x Galeo). This suggests that breeding schemes should consider specific combining ability during the choice of parental genotypes.The heterotic group ((African 'French' plantains x Calcutta 4) x improved banana diploids ofFHIA {Fundacion Hondurena de Investigacion Agricola} 1 may be useful for further production of secondary triploids with heavy bunches and mUltiple sources of black sigatoka resistance. However, the taste and appearance of fruit from these pi antain hybrids may be affected by the fruit quality genes donated by the diploid banana germplasm produced by FIllA (see Section 7).The cross between TMP2x 2829-62 and Pisang lilin generated interesting offspring combining black sigatoka resistance from at least three sources together with adequate agronomic quality. This cross may be useful for further improvement of the diploid back-up population and for mapping of fruit parthenocarpy loci. In contrast, poor offspring were generated from the cross between 2143 and SH-3362.Preliminary Yield Trials (PYT) and Selection of Euploid HybridsHybrids which combine increased black sigatoka resistance with good bunch qualities are selected for further evaluated in replicated trials at Onne (PYT: two replicates of at least four plants each). All traits which were assessed in EET are again evaluated in the PYT. In addition at this stage, it is now realistic to evaluate earliness, resistance to natural infection by other pest/diseases, fruit quality/palatability and postharvest storage ability. Each PYT consists of25-30 entries.Plantain and banana hybrids combining desirable attributes (e.g. black sigatoka (B S) resistance and heavy bunches with large fruits) have been selected in EETs grown under aIley cropping (AC) conditions using \"live mulch\"provided by Flemingia congesta. Results from multilocational testing suggest tnat some of the plantain hybrids as well as some of the parental landraces may not achi eve high yields under low input c.g. low levels of soil organic matter; or environmental stress such as drought. Hence, the purpose of this experiment was twofold: (i) to compare the yield potential of newly selected hybrids with that of advanced selected hybrids and plantain and banana landraces and (ii) to compare the performance of all these genotypes under resouce poor conditions (i. e. monocropping without additional mulching).Twenty-five entries were planted in the rainy season of 1993, according to a square lattice design with two replications. Each replication consisted of five incomplete blocks, with five plants per clone in each block. All experimental plots were surrounded by borders of black sigatoka susceptible cultivars (either the plantain landrace Agbagba or the dessert Cavendish banana Valery). Data were collected from the plant crop between early 1994 and early 1995.The experimental site was left to fallow for about two years prior to planting and was prepared for planting with minimum disturbance by manual clearing (but no burning). To minimize the adverse effects ofland clearing, a leguminous crop (Pueraria phase%ides) was planted when the fallow commenced.The plantain hybrid 4424-4 was eliminated before flowering due to the presence of stunted growth and virus-like symptoms in all seedlings. All plants of the selected hybrid TMPx 6930-1 showed abnormal bunch phenotype, which may be due to somaclonal variation arising from in vitro multiplication. Similarly, some plants of the banana hybrid TMBx 612-74 which had been multiplied from PBIP's in vi/ro stocks also showed abnormal phenotype (drooping leaves and light bunch). However, plants multiplied from the TMBx 612-74 tissue culture stocks provided by INIBAP's Transit Centre (TC) at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL) resembled the true-to-type.The host response to BS of each genotype was compared in tenns of the index of non-spotted leaves (INSL). This index was calculated from data collected at flowering (Table 3.8) using the equation lNSL = 100 x [(NSL -YLS + I )lNSL],where YLS is the youngest leaf spotted due to BS and NSL is the number of standing leaves. Among the advanced selected hybrids, TMBx 612-74 had the highest level ofBS resistance, which supports previous reports from muItilocationai trials. For most of the registered hybrids, at least two thirds of the standing leaves were not showing advance stages ofBS disease at flowering . These hybrids were TMPx 548-4, TMPx 548-9, TMPx 582-4, TMPx 1112-1, TMPx 2637-49, TMPx 2796-5, TMPx 4479-1 and TMPx 5706. In contrast, the plantain landraces had up to two thirds of their leaves showing necrotic spots due to BS (Table 3.8). New advanced selections such as TMBx 5295-1 , TMPx 7152-2, TMPx 7356-1 had an INSL ~ 75%, with TMPx 7152-2 having the highest INSL in the plant crop of this preliminary yield trial (Table 3.8).Most of the plantain hybrids had shorter plant height at flowering than the medium sized plantain landraces Agbagba and Obino I' Ewai (Table 3.8). TMPx 582-4 and TMPx 7i 52-2, were selected in EETs and characterized as semi-dwarf and small French plantain hybrids, respectively. These hybrids flowered significantly earlier than the French plantain landrace Bobby Tannap, which is the three quarters medium semi-dwarf parental cuItivar ofTMPx 582-4 (Table 3.8).TMPx 548-9 and TMPx 2796-5 were the clones with the heaviest bunch weights in the plant crop of this preliminary yield trial (Table 3.8). This supports the previous report that TMPx 2796-5 had stable heavy bunches throughout the multilocational trials (see Section 3.5.2). Similarly , the above average bunch weight of Obi no I' Ewai (the landrace with the heaviest bunch in this trial) supports the report that this landrace had stable average yields in multilocational trials (see Section 3.5.2).TMPx 548-9 and TMPx 2796-5 out yielded Obino I' Ewai as a consequence of having more fruits (rather than a larger fruit size) than the plantain landrace (Table 3.8).TMBx 5295-1 (a starchy banana hybrid, derived ITom the AAB cultivar Laknau) had a significantly heavier bunch weight than both Obino I' Ewai and the starchy AAB banana landrace Pisang Kelat (Table 3.8). The higher bunch weight ofTMBx 5295-1 was a consequence of having a significantly greater fruit length than Obino I' Ewai (Table 3.8). TMBx 612-74 (a cooking banana hybrid of the ABB landrace Bluggoe) had a significantly higher bunch weight than the ABB landrace Cardaba. The relatively low yield of Cardaba in this monocropping field with low organic matter input might be expected since this landrace will only produce heavy bunches in \"rich\" environments (see Section 3.5.2). However, this is a notable achievement as Cardaba is currently the best performing black sigatoka resistant cooking banana which has been extensively distributed in Nigeria as a potential substitute of plantains.The results from the plant crop of this preliminary yield trial suggest that some hybrids, especially those with stable yields, may out yield the most productive land race even under low input conditions. However, some other selected BS resistant hybrids (e.g. TMPx 548-4 or TMPx 1112-1) had low bunch weights (not signiflcantly different from Obino l'Ewai) These same hybrids were reported to have unstable yields in multilocational trials. This clearly demonstrates the importance of considering genotype-by-cropping system interaction during the selection of improved Mllsa germplasm. Results from the Tatoon crop are required to confirm this prelim inary assessment.Triploid parent-tetraploid offsprini regressions for QUantitative traits The calculation of parent-ofT~pring regressions allows an estitnate of the narrow-sense heritability (h 2 ) This analysis was used to determine whether or not selection of triploid parents (for the production of primary tetraploid hybrids) could reliably be based on phenotypic assessment (Table 3.9). Analysis of h 2 in polyploids producing 2n gametes does not only consider additive gene action (as in diploids) but also non-additive gene interactions (e.g. dominance intralocus interactions and epistasis) .The coefficient of determination values (R2) for total number ofleaves, height of tallest sucker at harvest, days to fruit filling and fruit circumference are listed in Table 3.9. The R2 values indicate that most of the variation for all these traits in the tetraploid offspring can be accounted for by the phenotype of the triploid parent. Likewise. total number ofleaves (a key taxonomic trait) and days to fruit filling had high h 2 (0.80 and 0.78, respectively) indicating that most of the genetic variation was due to additive gene action.Although, days to flowering had high h 2 (0.80), only 19\"10 of the total variation was explained by the phenotype of the triploid parent. This may suggest that h 2 was inflated by the nonadditive genetic interaction controlling days to flowering in Musa . Plant height, bunch weight and number of fruits and fruit length had intermediate to low h 2 (0.20-0 .55). Indeed, most of the variation in these characters in the tetraploid offspring could not be predicted using the phenotype of the triploid parent (R2 ranges from 3% to 38%). Therefore, progeny testing is required to assess and select the best parents for population improvement of some the most important agronomic traits (e.g. plant height and heavy bunches with many big fruits) . In contrast, fruit weight and circumference (which have intermediate h 2 of about 0.50) may be predicted on the basis of tile triploid parental phenotype (R2 > 60%). Thus, phenotypic recurrent selection may be useful for population improvement for heavy fruits with large girth.Finally, height of tallest sucker had a significant intermediate h 2 (0.39).This supports the report that apical dominance may be controlled by a single recessive gene in Musa germplasm (see PBIP 1992 Annual Report). From this original observation a phenotypic recurrent selection scheme was initiated for the improvement of suckering behaviour in plantain-banana breeding populations (see PBIP 1992 Annual Report) . We can now report that two thirds of the phenotypic variation of the progeny can be explained by the phenotype of the cultivated triploid parent. This data strong supports the proposed breeding scheme.Thirty entries were planted in a rectangular simple lattice design with two replications each of six incomplete blocks (Fig. 3.1). Each incomplete block had five plots of five plants. All experimental plots were surrounded by borders of a black sigatoka susceptible check. This trial compares secondary tetraploids and triploids (selected in EET -92) with their parents and grandparents. The 1994 PYT also included a new primary tetraploid plantain hybrid (selected in EET -92), advanced selected primary tetraploid cooking banana hybrids and triploid cultivars.New banana and plantain selections such as TMBx 5295-1, TMPx 7152-2 and TMPx 7356-1 had similar or higher yields than the plantain landrace Obino I' Ewai when grown under the low input conditions of 1993 PVT. However, the short cycle of the plantain hybrids is still likely to result in higher yield potential per unit time than that of the land race through successive ratooning. TMPx 5295-1 and TMPx 7152-2 will be advanced for further testing in multilocational trials (see Section 3.5.4).Multilocational Evaluation Trials (MET) in West and Central AfricaThe black sigatoka resistant tetraploid hybrids which expressed all of the most desirable traits in PYT are included in Multilocational Evaluation Trials. The MET is carried out in a minimum of three different locations using two replications in lattices or randomized complete block designs (ReBD). The number of enries is from 18 t036 genotypes (hybrids and landraces) which are tested with five plants per genotype in each replication. Hybrids from other breeding programs can also be evaluated in METs for direct comparisons with I1TA hybrids (pYT selections)These materials are introduced in collaboration with the relevant breeding programs.The main objective of the MET is to test the performance of the resistant hybrids under a wide range of agroecological conditions in sub-Saharan Mrica. In this way it is possible to assess the genotype-by-environment interaction for specific traits and the stability of both yield and BSR ofthe banana and plantain tetraploid hybrids.The involvement of key NARS in this relatively early stage of hybrid evaluation is an important source of feedback which greatly enhances the selection procedures for Musa breeding at lIT A. The MET also allows lIT A's breeders to decide what material can be further evaluated by NARS in the target area.As applies to all mandate crops, lIT A follows international regulations and governmental laws for the safe distribution of Musa germplasm. The Nigerian Plant Quarantine Service authorize the export of axenic Musa tissue culture material after checking lIT A's mother explants. Each cooperator supplies the appropriate import permit issued by the quarantine authority of their country. In addition, it is realized that no quarantine measures can be 100% effective. For this reason cooperators are informed that they must follow strict post-quarantine measures.These include the constant scrutiny of plants during establishment in the greenhouse nursery and in the field and throughout the duration of the trial. Should any plants exhibit abnormal growth or virus-like symptoms, they are advised to destroy these materials. This information was given to national programs in twelve countries in Africa, tropical America and Australia. N ARS are keen to evaluate newly developed hybrids, especially because of their disease/pest resistance and high yields. They consider that the potential benefits justifY introduction of tissue culture materials and the associated procedures. The data indicate significant differences in growth cycle (Tables 3.11-3.13). total number ofleaves (Table 3.14) and plant height (Table 3.15). The genotype-by-environment interaction (= location x production cycle) significantly affected all components of yield (Tables 3.16-3.22) and fruit traits except fruit circumference .The hybrids were generally shorter than their plantain parents (Table 3.15)and had larger bunch weights (Table 3.17). Shorter plants tended to have a smaller number of leaves. The product ion of heavier bunches is likely to be due to the higher fruit weight (Table 3.22) and larger number offruits (Table 3.19).However, there was a smaller number of hands in the hybrids than in their plantain parents (Table 3.18) The hybrids showed a shorter growth cycle (Table 3.11), with fewer days to flowering (Table 3.12) but a longer fruit filling period (Table 3.13), in comparison with their plantain parents.F or the two humid forest stations (Onne and Mbalmayo) we could consider TMPx 1658-4 and TMPx 2796-5 as high and stable yielding clones based on their bunch weights (Table 3.17) In the moist savanna-forest transition zone (Ibadan) these two hybrids were still high yielding in comparison with the other clones (Table 3.23).Yield stahilily: homeostasis and response /0 environmental change Several methods have been proposed for the statistical analysis of GxE and the determination of the phenotypic response to environmental change (Table 3.24) . The simplest method of testing the response of entries across • environments (locations, years, and seasons) is the combined analysis of variance (ANOV A). This analysis provides means not only to determine when and where to do multilocational testing but also how to allocate resources for proper testing of breeding material.The stability model used to describe the performance of a clone across a series of environments for bunch weight (BW) and yield potential (YLD) in MET-I was:[ y .. = II ' + fl• I' +/i\"]where Y ij is the mean of the i th clone at the jth environment (= location x cycle), ~i is the mean for the i lh clone over all environments, Pi is the regression coefficient that measures the response of the i lh clone to varying environments, 0ijis the deviation from regression of the i th clone at the jth environment, and Ij is the environmental index. Ij was defined as the mean of all clones at the jth environment minus the grand mean:[Ij = (~Yii'C) -(HYijlce)], ~Ij = 0 where s e 2 /r was the estimate of the pooled error or the variance of a clone mean at the jth environment and L IV = [LYi/ -Yi2/e] -(LYij Ij)2/l:It The genotype by environment interaction can be partitioned in two parts, i.e. the variation due to the response of the cultivar to varying environmental indexes, and the unexplainable deviations from the regression on the environmental index (Table 3.25). The regression coefficient (which is one of the stability parameters) was estimated as:(refer Tables 3.26 and 3.27 for BW and YLD respectively).A stable genotype performs comparably in different environments and should have a regression coefficient (b) equal to I and a very small deviation from the regression model, i.e. Sd? = 0 To test the hypothesis that there were no differences in the regression coefficients among the clones (i .e. Ho: b J = b 2 = .. = be>, the F-test MS Z IMS 3 was used .The stability analysis of MET-l considered only the 16 polyploid clones (c) grown in 6 environments (e) and had a complete randomized block design with two replications (r). Stability analysis was performed for bunch weight (BW, kg plant-I) and yield potential (YLD, MT ha-I year I). The F -test for equal regression coefficients among entries was significant at the 0 I % level for BW as well as for YLD. This indicates that the linear model is an acceptable representation of the data. For both bunch weight and yield potential the F-test for differences in environments was significant (P< 0.001). Since the sum of squares (SS) for c1ones-by-environment (linear) was greater than the SS pooled deviations, most attention should focus on the stability parameter b for BW and YLD.Moreover, the pooled deviations were not statistically significant. Hence, the linear models for BW are a good representation of the genotypic response to varying environments, with the exception oftOOse genotypes (TMPx 2796-5, TMPx 1112-S6 I, Bluggoe and Cardaba) which exhibited a significant departure from the model (Table 3.26). Furthermore, the coefficient of determination (R2) was low for the linear models of these four entries. This indicates that the linear regression models accounted for most of the variation in BW across environments. A similar interpretation can be made for YLO.Homeostasis: The identification of high and stable yielding cultivars and hybrids was possible by plotting yield potential (YLO, MT ha-I year-I) against the coefficient of variation (CV) (Fig. 3.2). The CV was considered a measurement of static stability i.e. homeostasis. It measures the dispersion of the dataset where smaller CV values reflect data more closely clustered around the mean. A similar analysis was carried out for bunch weight (Fig. 3.3).Cardaba and Bluggoe had high stable yields and stable heavy bunches.The results support the activity ofIlTA, in cooperation with NARS, to distribute Cardaba to farmers in southeastern Nigeria since 1988 . However, Bluggoe'may have the disadvantage of being severely affected by cigar end rot in regions where this disease is prevalent.TMPx 1658-4 and TMPx 2796-5 had high stable yields with stable high bunch weights. These hybrids are derived from crosses between plantain landraces and the parthenocarpic banana Pisang lilin. In contrast, TMPx 548-4 had high but unstable yields although it had stable heavy bunches. A short growth cycle for the ratoon crop (Table 3.3) may have influenced its perceived unstable yield potential. The very long growth cycle of Fougamou and Pelipita may be responsible for their position in the group of 10w unstable yielders' with unstable heavy bunches.The plantain cultivars (Agbagba, Obino l'Ewai and Bobby Tannap) in the lower left sector of the graphs (Figs. 3.2 and 3.3) showed stable but low to medium yields. Their yield stability was not unexpected since these plantain cultivars are widely distributed across West and Central Africa. Low yields could be due to their susceptibility to black sigatoka leaf spot disease which was introduced to the region after the spread of this germplasm across Africa.Genotypic responses to environmental changes: Interpretations of stability might differ when a more dynamic concept of stability is considered. Yield potential and bunch weight were plotted against the stability parameter 'b' (Figs. 3.4 and 3.5,respectively). TID parameter (i.e. coefficient of regression) measures the genotypic response to environmental change. Clones are considered stable when their 'b' value is close to unity (I) . In contrast to the coefficient of variation, parameter 'b' is a dynamic concept because change across environments may occur as long as it is linear. Bluggoe and TMPx 1658-4 are always found to be top yielders (lower right part of Fig. 3.4). Bluggoe achieved a stable high yield potential by producing stable heavy bunches, while TMPx 1658-4 had stable high yields due to its stable growth cycle (Table 3.11). TMPx 548-9 belongs to the group of top yielders only when grown in 'rich' environments, because it can only produce heavy bunches in such environments. TMPx 548-4 belongs to the same group but its short growth cycle causes it to have a high but variable yield potential. Pelipita . only produces heavy bunches in 'rich' environments, which explains its unpredictable yields. The plantain cultivars and Valery are considered to be 'always low yielders' with small to medium sized bunches possibly due to their high susceptibility to black sigatoka disease. Similarly, low yields were observed in the black sigatoka susceptible but early maturing hybrid 597-4. Genotypic responses to environmental change are shown in Fip. 3.6 to 3.9.From an evolutionary viewpoint these results suggested that wide adaptation was achieved by some banana and plantain cuItivars but these became low yielders when affected by black sigatoka disease. Hence, the Musa breeding programs should aim to develop black sigatoka resistant cultivars with stable high yields by using plantain or banana landraces as female parents. In this respect, plantain hybrids (e.g. TMPx 2796-5 and TMPx 1658-4) derived from an edible parthenocarpic cultivated diploid banana (e.g. Pisang Iilin) show high and stable yields. This may suggest that during domestication of the crop there was human or artificial selection for both fruit parthenocarpy (edible fruits) and stable productivity. If these two characters are closely linked, Musa breeders should increase the frequency of the fruit parthenocarpy alleles in order to develop stable productivity in their breeding populations.Genotype-by-environment (GleE) effects for bunch weight (BW, kg plant-}) and yield potential (YLD, MT ha-l year}) of genotypes harvested in the six environments of MET -I are shown in Tables 3.18 and 3.19 respectively. These interaction values were estimated by: entries in each environment. Some genotypes showed significant GxE effects for both bunch weight and yield potential in a specific environment (TMPx 2796-5 and TMPx 1112-1 in Onne ratoon crop (RC), TMPx 1658-4 in Thadan RC and Cardaba in Mbalmayo RC). Significant GxE interaction was exhibited by most of the entries for yield potential (Table 3.29). Onne plant crop (PC) did not interact with any of the genotypes for yield potential and exceptionally with TMPx 1658-4 for bunch weight (Table 3.28).Principal component analyses (PCA) were performed for each genotypeby-environment matrix. The resulting 'interaction PCA scores' (IPCA) for genotypes and environments were used to construct the AMMI biplots ). These IPCA scores have the units of the square root of either BW (kg plant-I) or YLD (MT ha-I year-I). In these plots environments are represented by open symbols and genotypes with closed symbols. AMMI-I for bunch weight (Fig. 3.10) shows the genotype and environment main effects on the abscissa, and the IPCA genotype and environment scores on the ordinate. The vertical line indicates the bunch weight grand mean (~) while the horizontal line indicates zero IPCA score. Displacements along the abscissa indicate differences in main (additive) effects, while displacements along the ordinate show differences in interaction effects.Bobby Tannap and 597-4 differed only in main effects, whereas Bobby Tarmap and its tetraploid offspring TMPx 582-4 differed only in interaction effects. The hybrids 597-4 and TMPx 582-4 differed in both main effects and interact!on patterns. IPCA-l explained 46% of the interaction variance for bunch weight. The black sigatoka susceptible tetraploid hybrid 597 -4 had the lowest mean across environments, which supports the decision not to select this hybrid as a TMPx. Ibadan PC and RC had low bunch weights which may be an indication of the lack of adaptation of entries to the longer dry season in this location. Heavy bunches were harvested in Onne with the PC and RC having a similar pattern of interaction effects. Obino l'Ewai could be considered as an average yielding stable clone, since it was found close to the centre of the plot. Fig. 3.11 presents the IPCA-1 for bunch weight on the abscisa and IPCA-2 for bunch weight on the ordinate. The two IPCA axes (AMMI-2) account for 73% of the GxE interaction for bunch weight (Le. 2~1e more than the AMMI-l). In the AMMl-2 biplot graph (Fi .. 3.11). pointa near the origin (e.g. Obino I' Ewai) have little interaction. These point. cIoMly fit the additive part of tile model. Points near each other (e.g. TMPx 1112-1 and TMPx 2796-5) have similar interaction patterns (Table 3.21). Conversely. poinII clip_ from each other (e.g. TMPx 2796-5 and 597-4) have completely different values for the interaction effects (Table 3.211).The AMMI-l and AMMI-2 biplots were also constructed for yield potential (Figs. 3.11 and 3.13,respectively). Based on the AMMI-l biplot (Fig. 3.11), Bluggoe and TMPx 582-4 could be considered stable and average yielding clones. Bobby Tannap and Obino l'Ewai are very close to each other, indicating that they have similar geno~ means and interaction effects (Table 3.29). Based on the AMMI-2 biplot (Fig. 3.13), TMPx 582-4 may have stable average yield potential in Mbalmayo, while Bluggoe may have relatively high yield potential at Ibadan. For yield potential the IPCA-l accounted for up to 63% of the interaction effects, while the IPCA-2 accounted for another 20%. Thus, the AMMI-2 accounted for 83% of the GxE interaction for yield potential.The ~T -2 was planted in 1992 to test twelve promising hybrids in several locations across sub-Saharan Africa (Table 3.10). A total of 13 NARS in Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon were involved in this multisite trial, which aimed to determine the production stability and the adoption of hybrids across the different environments of these plantain and banana producing countries.There were significant differences for all traits in both the plant and Tatoon crops at Onne (Tables 3.30 to 3.33), the plant crop at Mbalmayo (Table 3.31) and in the plant crop at Bori (except number of hands) (Table 3.32). Bunch and fruit data from the ratoon crop at Mbalmayo (Table 3.34) should be assessed with caution because plot means were based on few plants. This arose because some plants were lost due to wind damage while others were rogued because they exhibited virus-like symptoms. Furthermore, only approximate values for the least significant differences (Tables 3.30 to 3.33) could be calculated due to the unequal number of plants in each replication from which it was possible to collect data.This section presents the preliminary results of bunch weights in the second set ofmultilocational trials ~T-2). A comprehensive report of the host response to black sigatoka across Afiican environments is reported in Section 5.2.The' best hybrids, based on their consistently heavier bllncllCl u compared to the Iocallandraces, were the black sigatoka resi~.nt TMPx 2637 .... 9,• TMPx 2796-5, TMPx 4698-1, TMPx 5511-2 and TMPx 6930-1 (Table 3,35) Preliminary assessment of consumer acceptability suggests that most hybrids may be adopted by the indigenous population of southeastern Nigeria and southern Cameroon (see Section 7.4). The widespread high performance ofTMPx 2796-5 suppons the repon that this hybrid had a stable high bunch weight in the MET-I (see Section 3.5.2) . Selections from the cross Obino I' Ewai x Calcutta 4 (e.g. TMPx 2637-49, TMPx 4698-1, TMPx 5511-2 and TMPx 6930-1) were again among the highest yielders in the MET -2. This cross has the potential to generate diverse but stable high yielding hybrids for further advanced testing and subsequent cultivar release by NARS.These results indicate that the breeding strategies adopted by liT A are highly efficient Indeed, all selected hybrids tested in MET -2 and the two best . cooking banana introductions (Bluggoe and Cardaba) outyielded the local plantain landraces (Agbagba, Bobby Tannap and Obino I' Ewai) in one or more environments. Moreover, based on the initial reactions offarmers, the Govemmeilt of Rivers State (Nigeria) officially released Cardaba as a new cultivar in 1992. This demonstrates that Musa breeding methods, either through introduction of exotic germplasm or hybridization, are able to provide disease resistant high yielding alternatives for the traditional production systems in the lowland humid forests of Nigeria and Cameroon.Every year new materials are introduced by the Centre Regional Bananiers et Plantains (CRBP) in Cameroon. CRBP has evaluated at Nyombe the MET-2 genotypes and hybrids from their own and other breeding programs (CIRAD-FLHOR and FHIA) as well as new introduction from Papua New Guinea. Evaluation focused on the assessment ofimportant agronomic traits and resistance to black sigatoka.The lIT A hybrids expressed a good partial resistance to black sigatoka. However, many of these hybrids had individuals exhibiting virus-like symptorm. Following confirmation through INIBAP, all hybrids except TMBx 612-74 (from the cross between Bluggoe and Calcutta 4) were rogued.TMBx 612-74 produced a 20 kg bunch with seven hands from the first cycle. This was similar to the first and second cycle yield ofFInA I and FHIA 2. lITA and FHlA hybrids are being multiplied for more intensive testing. The CIRAD-FLHOR hybrid IRFA 904 showed a good agronomic perfonnance but produced seed due to a high level offerna\\e fertility. (The information for the above sub-section was taken from eRBP 1994 Annual Report).The Crops Research Institute (CR!, Kumasi, Ghana) started multilocational testing of improved Musa germplasm (MET -2) provided by lIT A in 1992. Tissue culture plantlets of 19 plantain and banana hybrids and selected Musa clones were provided by PBIP in April 1992. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with two replications each of five plants. The following quantities of fertilizer were provided to each plant: 76 g of sulphate of ammonia, 40 g of single superphosphate and 13 g of muriate of potash. Nematodes and plantain weevil were controlled by the application of Furadan. This was applied three times at the rate of 4.5 g per plant (one month after planting and at two monthly intervals thereafter). Ring weeding was carried out around each stand while weeds between rows were slashed and used as mulch at regular intervals.Assessment of growth parameters and severity of black sigatoka commenced three months after planting. All the Calcutta 4 plants flowered within six months. One plant ofTMPx 2481 and one plant ofTMPx 582-4 were rogued because virus symptoms were observed. One plant ofTMPx 1621-1, which had cigar end rot was also rogued.Five hybrids were selected for further evaluation on the basis of their performance. Selection criteria included low black sigatoka infection score, high bunch weight and excellent or good food fruit quality for Ampesi and Fufu. The selected hybrids were TMPx 548-9, TMPx 2796-5, TMPx 6930-1 , TMPx 582-4 and TMBx 612-74. (Information provided by Dr. O.B. Hemeng. e RI, Kumasi, GhalUl).We expect to receive further information from our NARS partners (from advanced Musa yield trials) to increase the accuracy of our recommendations concerning the utilization of either plantain hybrids or cooking bananas in specific targeted agroecozones (see Section 3.6).Restriction on movement of Musa germpJasm from lIT A to N ARS commenced at the end of 1993 and will continue until virus-tested tissue culture stocks are available. Plants derived from these stocks will be observed under optimum conditions for virus replication and symptom expression. If all plants from a specific stock continue to appear healthy and test negative for the presence of viruses over a prolonged period, these stocks will then be used as the basis of subsequent multiplication for distribution.Meanwhile, IIT A will continue with multilocational trials in its stations at Abuja, lbadan, Onne (Nigeria), Mbalrnayo (Cameroon) and at ESARC (Namulonge, Uganda). This continued activity can be warranted by the high level of control and phytosanitation which is possible at IIT A stations.The objectives of MET -3 are to test the most promising Musa genotypes in a wide range of environmeilts in four major African agroecozones (West African humid forest, forest-savanna transition, and southern Guinea savanna, and the East African mid-altitudes). At Onne the genotypes will be tested under alley-cropping and monocropping. At Namulonge, all entries will be grown in plots infested with nematodes and plots treated with nematicide. Accessions will also be scored for damage caused ~y other pests and diseases such as banana weevil, banana viruses, black sigatoka (across all environments) and Fusarium wilt (only in East Africa).Other important agronomic descriptors will also be evaluated including days to flowering, plant height, number of standing leaves at flowering, days for fruit filling, height of tallest sucker at harvest, bunch weight, number of hands and fruits per bunch, fruit weight, length and girth.The entries to be tested in  are African plantain landraces, exotic Asian cooking bananas, dessert bananas grown worldwide, a Brazilian natural tetraploid hybrid and elite artificial hybrids from four of the most active breeding programs in the world: EMBRAPA (Brazil), FHIA (Honduras), INIVIT/fNIFAT (Cuba) and UTA. The Brazilian selections might withstand drought because they were selected in Cruz das Almas (12°40'19\"8, 3~06'22\"W, 220 mamsl). This location, situated on a part of the great continental elevated plain, has an annual mean rainfall of 1224 mm, an annual mean temperature of 23 .SoC and air relative humidity about SO%.The MET -3 may be considered as an African-Asian-Latin American partnership, sponsored by IlT A, for the benefit of the African smallholder. We acknowledge the cooperation ofINffiAP to obtain virus indexed stocks of some entries included in this trial (see details in Table 3.36)Advanced Musa Yield Trials (AMYT)The Advan~cd Musa Yield Trials (AMYT) consist of eight of the most promising liT A hybrids (either PIT A •for plantains, or BIT A -for bananas) along with the cooking banana hybrid FHIA-l and local cultivars used as checks. This is being undertaken by eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, the results of these wide-ranging trials may be of regional relevance.The objective of the AMYT is to identify elite genotypes for potential release as new cultivars by NARS according to the specific needs and regulations in each country. AMYT evaluates previously selected promising hybrids over a period of at least two production cycles in a RCBD with four replicates each of five plants. Criteria for selection include disease resistance and productivity, but also local preferences which afTect consumer acceptability. The mandate of lIT A to strengthen the NARS is also accomplished through such collaborative efforts .The trial was planted in 1993 at IDEFOR station in Azaguie (50 Km from Abidjan). IDEFOR staff observed that some plantlets ofTMPx 548-4, TMPx 548-9, TMPx 4698-1 and TMPx 7002-1 had virus-like symptoms in the seedling nursery . They rogued all these plants and only established symptomless plants of these genotypes in the field . After field establishment they observed only mosaiclike symptoms in TMPx 4698-1, Obino I' Ewai, Agbagba, and FHIA-3 . The plant crop was harvested in 1994 and data collected will be sent to liT A for statistical analyses . Based on information from the plant crop the most promising genotypes are TMP\" 548-4, TMPx 548-9, TMPx 2796-5 and TMPx 7002-1. They had good bunch weights but the fruits size was not as large as local preferences demand (i.e. the size of False Hom plantains). Initial taste panel results showed that the hybrids had hard flesh suitable for pounding. This supports results obtained from taste panel analysis of similar tissue culture derived material at !DEFOR. This problem was not apparent when taste panel analysis was carried out on material propagated through suckers. Hence, final palatability assessment based on taste panel will be delayed until fruits are harvested from the second cycle. Suckers were replanted in the second half of 1994 to get a more uniform trial in the second cycle.(Information provided by A.N'Guessan, O-i-e, Azaguie St. , lDEFOR) The AMYT was planted in 1993 at Kade Agricultural Research Station of the University of Ghana. Data for the plant crop and taste panels (collected in 1994) was been recently sent to lIT A for statistical analyses. lIT A hybrids showed high levels of resistance to black sigatoka, earlier flowering and a fruit filling period two weeks longer than locallandraces. However, again the fruit size was not as large as demanded by local preferences (False Horn plantains). Based on bunch weights per plant, FHIA-3 (17. I kg), TMPx 5511-2 (15 kg), TMPx 548-9 (14.9 kg) were the most productive hybrids in this trial (Table 3.37). However; some fruits dropped from the bunches ofFHIA-3 at full maturity.Rainfall at Kade is lower than at Dnne, which could explain why some of the hybrids selected at Dnne did not fully express their yield potential at Kade. Nonetheless, most of the hybrids out yielded the local checks (False Horn plantain landraces) in terms of bunch weight per plant: Dsoaboaso (I\\. 9 kg), Borodewuio (7.1 kg), Abomienu (93 kg) and Apantu (4 .4 kg). The local checks were grown in border plots (guard rows) adjacent to the AMYT at Kade. The bananas Cardaba, FHIA-3 and Yangarnbi km 5 were considered to produce too many suckers.Taste panel analysis (see Section 74) revealed that consumers did not like the flavour ofFHIA-3 as much as other cooking bananas such as Cardaba and TMBx 612-74 (BlTA-I). However, BITA-1 had seeds and poor fruit texture when cooked whereas FHlA-3 and Cardaba merely had poor fruit quality when cooked. Similar results have been reported earlier in taste panels at Dnne (see PBIP Annual Reports 1992 and1993). The TMPx were considered to have a \"sweet taste\" when ripe and may be amenable for Fufu . Although, Yangambi km 5 had small fruits it was considered to have a good taste for a dessert banana. The assessment of host plant resistance to banana weevil and plant parasitic nematodes are reported in Sections 5.4. and 5. 6., respectively.Scientists at Kade ARS would like to start improving the local plantain landraces by crossing them with the TMPx developed at lIT A. Some plantain landraces produce pollen in the early stages. so they may be crossed with the TMPx as maternal genotype in order to generate new hybrids. Also, scientists from Karle ARS have requested true hybrid seeds for in-country testing and selection. By diversifying the selection program it should be possible to enhance adaptation of specific material for Ghana. At this time Kade ARS does not have facilities for in vitro germination of seeds. However, training of staff based at University of Ghana (Legon campus) and CRI-Kumasi in embryo culture/rescue by liT A staff would be available to support Musa across-breeding in Ghana, providing funds were obtained for the relevant equipment. (Information provided by K. Afreh-Nuamah, E.K.S. Ahiekpor and J.K. Osei, University of Ghana, Kade ARS). Data collection will start in 1995 and will be sent to lIT A for statistical analyses after the harvest of the plant crop.An AMYT-I was established in Umuahia by the ADP-Abia State in October 1993. All plants grew vigorously in the plant crop helped by to sustained field maintenance and rigourous manual weed management. Poultry manure was applied at the rate of one head-pan per stand in March 1994. The Musa hybrids and landraces were established between alleys of Flemingia and intercropped with cocoyam. Assessment of host response to black sigatoka was carried out in collaboration with lIT A staff eight months after planting. This assessment was based on the youngest leaf with necrotic spots (YLS) and total number of standing leaves (NSL). All IITA plantain and cooking banana hybrids had a YLSINSL natio of about I. The plantain landraces (Agbagba and Obino l' Ewai) and the cooking banana Cardaba had a YLSfNSL ratio of about 2/3 while FHIA-3 had a YLSINLS ratio of4/5. An off-type ofFHIA-3 was observed in the trial . This plant was short with abnormal foliage and thick leaves. Data collection for the plant crop has finished and will be sent to lIT A for statistical analysis . (Information prOVided by E. Okoro, Abia State-ADP).Future Possibilities in Musa Breeding 3.7. 1 An ideotype for Musa improvement -updateThe statistical approach to studying GxE compares the observed phenotypic response of each genotype to a sample of environments. In contrast, in the analytical approach , biotic and abiotic stresses define the environments and phenotypes . Moreover, in the latter approach, individual components of complex phenotypic traits are investigated. This aims to simplify the analysis and to provide tools for the prediction and assessment of environmental effects on the phenotype.The empirical approach for the genetic improvement of a crop consists of \"defect elimination\" and \"selection for enhanced yield\" . While in the analytical approach a model (or ideotype) is established for each specified environment, aiming to increase the productivity in that specific situation. Ideotypes have often been determined with inputs from plant and crop physiology and morphology. The goal of ideo type breeding is \"to define the theoretically most efficient plant type for that crop and then breed towards Iili:, goal\" . In this way, breeders select for and not against specific phenotypes . One of the major benefits of ideotype breeding is that breeders are forced to define their goals and strategies in advance.Musa breeders should aim to select genotypes whose mother plant and sucker de¥eIop deep fast growing highly branched roots before flowering. This may increase plant anchorage and result in more efficient nutrient uptake.In April 1995 , a junior expert partially supported by the Vlaame Vereniging Voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking en Technische Bijstand (VVOB) of Belgium, joined PBIP 10 work on roo I system development in Musa. This PhD project undertakes basic morphophvsiological research in support of the breeding program.Investigalions will compare the rool system development of a variety of genotypes grown in the field with Iho~ glOwn in polybags and hydroponics in the greenhouse. This project will re-assess the early root ideotype envisaged by PBIP breeders.Resis/ance /0 biotic stresses Genotypes with a youngest leaf spotted score ~ 10 at flowering should be selected for black sigatoka resistance. This resistance should be as a consequence of slow disease development in the host plant. Likewise, when selecting for Fusarium wilt resistance, breeders should choose those genotypes with rhizomes showing no tissue browning in transverse sections. As a secondary alternative genotypes can be selected which show isolated infection points in rhizome sections but wbere no external symptoms we apparent.Similarly, genotypes with healthy roots showing no nematode lesions or very light necrosis only in roots, should be considered when selecting for nematode resistance. Banana weevil resistant genotypes should have a coefficient of infestation :::;5%, as measured by the number of tunnels per rhizome at 5 cm below the base, in three year old fields . :':so, genotypes resistant to weevil damage should not have tunnels or traces of weevil infection in cross Sections, i.e. an average score < 0.3 on a scale of 0 (no damage) to 3 (heavy damage).Finally, genotypes resistant to Moko disease (bacterial wilt, Pseudomonas solanacearum Race 2) should have persistent male bracts or no male bud to avoid attraction of insect vectors. Resistance to this disease is only presently required in the Western hemisphere.Potential drought tolerant genotypes should have low leaf conductance to water vapour in the afternoon.Correlations between plant characteristics which relate to yield and the components of yield in the maternal parent, the derived tetraploid hybrids and two cooking bananas are shown in Tables 3.38 to 3.45.Obino I' Ewai and its tetraploid hybrids: TMPx 548-4 exhibited heavy bunches as a consequence of an increased number of hands and large fruits (mainly due to an increase in fruit circumference) (Table 3.38). Tall plants with fast ratooning (i.e. quick development of the follower or sucker) may also account for high yields. TMPx 1658•4 had heavy bunches due to more hands of many large fruits with increased fiuit circumference (Table 3.39). Plants of this hybrid showed heavy bunches perhaps because they had a longer fruit filling period which enhanced fruit circumference and thus fiuit weight. Tall plants with fast ratooning may also account for high yields. Bunch weight of Obino l'Ewai was negatively correlated with the short fruit filling period which may be related to the reducted fruit number and fiuit size (Table 3040). It appeared that a short fiuit filling period was common in short plants of Obi no l'Ewai. This may suggest that such plants were affected by black sigatoka leaf spot disease in their early development, resulting in premature flowering and the production of a small number of hands with few thin fingers. The most important trait affecting stability of bunch weight in Obino l'Ewai and its tetraploid offspring was fiuit circumference which was not significantly affected by GxE interaction (Table 2.24). For this reason, breeders should select hybrids with increased fruit circumference Variation in the genes assumed to confer fruit parthenocarpy was significantly correlated with fruit circumference. The hybrids may have achieved high yield potential due to their short growth cycle. In contrast, plantains exhibited longer growth cycles due to high apical dominance, which slowed sucker development .Bobby Tannap and its derived tetrilploid hybrids: TMPx 582-4 had high bunch weights mainly in tall plants due to many hands with heavy thick fruits (Table 3.41). Fruit length was correlated with days to flowering, i.e. early maturing plants had short fruits. Tall plants ofTMPx 2796-5 had high bunch weights due to many hands with a large number of heavy thick fingers (Table 3.42). High yield potential was achieved in this hybrid due to rapid sucker development . Moreover, high bunch weights may have resulted from an increased total number ofleaves, i.e. more leaves leading to higher photosynthetic area and thereby the higher number of hands. For Bobby Tannap higher yields were associated with many hands with many large heavy fruits . Fruit size, and thereby bunch weight, was significantly correlated with the length ofthe fruit filling period. Moreover, fruit circumference was correlated with the photosynthetic leaf area (i.e. total number of leaves) (Table 3.43). The low yields of Bobby Tannap relative to its hybrids (Table 3.27) may be due to its susceptibility to black sigatoka leaf spot disease. By reducing the host's photosynthetic area the fungal infection may also have shortened the fruit filling period, thereby reducing fruit development.There was no correlation between fruit length and number of fruits in all TMPx and between fruit length and number of hands in the French plantain,. This suggests that dehanding may not modifY fruit sizes.Cooking bananas: Bluggoe had high yields due to its large fruit circumference and fruit weight (Table 3.44) An increased photosynthetic area and an expanded fruit filling period may have contributed to these thick heavy fruits. The short growth cycle of Bluggoe may also be an important component of its high yield potential. The heavy bunches of Car dab a are due to a large number of thick fruits (Table 3.45). Fruit circumference was significantly correlated with the fruit filling period. Also high bunch weights were exhibited by tall plants. The high yield potential of Cardaba could be explained by the fast sucker growth which positively affected the components of bunch weight such as number of hands and fruits Genetic/phenotypic correlations and potefllia/ for \",uitilraitlindirect selection Correlated characters are important for Musa breeders because they are the result of either pleiotropism or genetic linkage. Moreover, genetic or environmental factors are responsible for phenotypic correlations (pp) between traits. The pp has been defined as follows:where PG and PE are the genetic and environmental correlation, respectively, and H2 was the heritability of the trait. Also pp may be calculated as follows: pp = HX 0 Hy PG + ex ey PE where HX and Hy are the square roots of the heritability for each of the traits under consideration, while! eX and ey are [I-HX2)1!2 and [1-Hy2) 112, respectively .The pleiotropy sbould be the main genetic basis of correlation between traits. However, linkage can cause transient correlation tbat may be broken by recombination. Unfortunately, segregation may only occur in progeny derived from crosses between divergent parental genotypes. For example, a significant pp between banana weevil resistance and corm hardness was observed in bananas but there was no statistically significant pp in plantain-banana bybrids (see PBIP 1993 Anooa1 Report). In addition, the environment may cause correlations when both traits are influenced in the same way by differences of enviroMlClltai conditions. Data were coDected from the plant and ratoon crops (1991-) 993) and analyzed in 1994 to calculate pp, PG and H2 in 63 diploid (Table 3.46), five triploid (Table 3.47) and 22 tetraploid plantain-banana hybrids (Table 3.48). Most of the bunch and fruit traits were positively and significantly associated with yidd components, especially at the tetraploid level.When both traits have low H2, pp arises mainly from environmental and non-additive genetic factors. Indeed, pp should be determined chiefly by PE• However, since most of the traits showed high H2, the PG should be more important. This was the case for most of the trait associations irrespective of their ploidy. Moreover, both PG and pp have the same positive (+) sign• in even-(or balanced-) ploidies (Tables 3.46 and 3 .48). This suggests that environmental changes affect the associated characters to a similar degree in both diploid and tetraploid hybrids. This may infer that the physiological mechanisms underlying these associated traits are the same. or interlinked in some way. In contrast, there was a negative phenotypic association between height of tallest sucker and fruit circumference. This oDservation together with the nil PG between both traits at the triploid level (Table 3.47) suggests that this correlation arose soldy through environmental factors in this odd-(or unbalanced-) ploidy. It is possible that competitive but genetically unlinked metabolic pathways which utilize the same substrates influence both sucker growth and fruit widening in the triploid hybrids. thereby causing this negative•pp.Diploid level: For most traits, pp was mainly accounted for by genetic corrdationJ either through pleiotropism or linkage. Therefore, PE among growth parameters of yieid and bunch/fruit traits was almost nil or negative. Positive aild significant pP and PG between fruit size and bunch weight suggest that sdection of big fruits wiD result in heavy bunch weight in the diploid hybrids.Iwlimct Kleaion for diploid lIOJ!UIalion improvement: The advantage of indirect sdection over direct selection can be assessed by the ratio between their expected selection gains (CRx and Rx). CRX is the correlated response in the trait X bued on indirect selection in the secondary trait Y, and RX is the genetic gain when selection was applied directly to the desired trait X. Thus:where iX and iy are the Jespeetive intensity of selection in standard units, and oOlt i. the genetic standard deviation of the trait under direct selection. From this equation, the following i, evident: CRX > RX when iX = iy and Hy > HX .. This infers that indirect selection should be carried out at the same intensity of selection when the secondary trait has higher heritability than the desired trait. For example, indirect selection for heavy bunches based on fruit length in the diploid population may be more efficient than direct selection for high bunch weight. Under equal intensity of selection the ratio CRXIRX = 1.25. Therefore, the intensity of selection based on direct selection for bunch weight needs to be three times that of indirect selection for bunch weight (based on fruit length) in order to achieve the same endpoint4.Polyploid level : Segregation observed in triploid and tetraploid hybrids will depend on the position of the locus with respect to the centromere and the occurrence of chiasmata (crossing overs). Hence, some associations observed at the tetraploid level may not occlir at the diploid level. Significant PG and PP account for how tall tetraploids are rapid cycling high yielding hybrids with heavy bunches of many large fruits obtained after a long fruit filling time. High PG might be due to the mode of2n egg formation in the triploid plantain parent i.e. second division restitution. This modified megasporogenesis in the triploid plantain genome allows the intact transmission of the genotype of the plantain parent to its tetraploid offspring for those loci between the first and second crossing over. The latter seldom occu rs in plantains because Musa chromosomes are small (see PBlP 1993 Annual Report). Genetic linkage between loci coding for traits with highly significant PG could be an alternative explanation for such significant associations.Indirect selection at the polyploid level: Selection for large fruit size at the tetraploid level should lead to high fruit weight, thereby resulting in tetraploid hybrids with heavy bunches. Indirect selection for bunch weight based on fruit length at the tetraploid level will be more efficient than direct selection solely based on bunch weight when iy > iX by about O.l%. This may be expected because the product (HY•PG) > HX (0.80 and 0.72, respectively).Signi1icant PG and PP between plant height and bunch weight at the tetraploid level suggests that selection of high yielding dwarf plantain hybrids may be difficult. A restricted selection index with a negative coefficient for plant height and a minimum but acceptable threshold for bunch weight may allow selection of short plantains with the required yield. Likewise, utilization of large segregating populations may allow breakage of any potential linkage between gene(s) for dwarfism and those for low yield.Linkage or pleiotropism and DG: A significant PG at the tetraploid level but not at the diploid level suggests that a number of associations were due to genetic linkage rather than due to pleiotropism. These associations were sucker development/fruit sizes, fruit filling time/number of hands and finger bunch-I, number of fruits bunchl/fruit girth and fruit filling time/fruit sizes. Such associations may be broken in large segregating populations. However we could not account for the significant PG which occurred between number of hands bunch-I /fruit sizes (weight and length only) in the diploids but not in the tetraploids.Pleiotropism may explain the significant PG between bunch weight and its components (number of hands and fruits) at both diploid and tetraploid level. In addition, pleiotropic gene action may account for the significant PG between height of the mother plant at flowering and height of the tallest sucker at harvest or the significant PG among fruit traits at both ploidy levels. 3.7.2 Assessment of genetic variability and breeding potential of offspring derived from somaclonal variants of the False Hom gene pool A French Reversion of the plantain cultivar Agbagba (PI) was crossed with 'Calcutta 4' (P2) to generate an F I population. A total of eight F I plants were selfed in 1990 to obtain the F2 population. After in vitro seed germination, 33 F2 individuals were transplanted to the field in 1991 . Growth parameters of yield, host plant response to black sigatoka and yield components in parents were assessed in the ratoon cycle of the F I and F 2 generations at Onne during 1992-] 993 (T.ble 3.49). Assessment of the ratoon crop seems to be more reliable (especially for bunch weight) than assessment of the plant crop (see PBIP 1992 Annual Report).The use of third and fourth degree statistics allows differences within an F2 to be detected and genetic control of the trait to be inferred. Examples of such statistics include, skewness (the degree of departure of a distribution from symmetry) and kurtosis (the. gradient of the distribution as compared to that of a normal distribution). Skewness can be calculated as fonows: SKp = (~. mode)/a where ~ and (J are the mean and standard deviation. An alternative formula is: SKp = 3 (~ -median)/a When SKp = 0, the distribution is symmetrical (e.g. normal distribution). Kurtosis measures the shape of the peak of the distribution. A unimodal distribution may have a normal peak, a high peak (acute) or a low peak (flat). The normal distribution has a normal peak (mesokurtic). A distribution with a high peak is called leptokurtic (+) while the one with a low peak is known as platykurtic (-). Kurtosis may be measured by the moment coefficient of kurtosis (132) as follows:where ~4 is the fourth moment about the mean and 54 is the square of the second moment about the mean. Fatal deleterious genes will cause the progeny distribution to deviate from normality. These genes can be expressed after selfing and are a major factor underlying inbreeding depression. Gene interactions can also be detected by estimating kurtosis. 132 will be positive (Ieptokurtic) in the presence of gene interaction and negative (platykurtic) or zero (mesokurtic) in the absence of epistasis.A platykurtic distribution with a negative skewness occurs when deleterious genes increase the frequency of poor phenotypes and reduce the frequency of outstanding phenotypes. In this regard, the degree of deleterious genes may be measured by the coefficient of variation (CV = CJ/~) . Thus, the larger the load of deleterious genes fixed in the population, the more asymmetrical the frequency distribution and the larger the CV. A disproportionate reduction in yield between classes will increase the CV because a reduction in ~ was not followed by an analogous reduction in u .Analysis of frequency distributions in the F2 population (Figs. 3.14-3.29) indicated a significant positive skewed distribution towards low values for each trait. Traits affected were the youngest leaf with black sigatoka symptoms at flowering (p< 0.05), total leaf area attacked by black sigatoka (P< 0.01), bunch weight (P< 0.01), fruit weight (P< 0.01) and fruit length (P< 0.01) (Table 3.50). Kurtosis was significant and positive (Ieptokurtic) for the youngest leaf with black sigatoka symptoms at flowering (P< 0.001), total leaf area attacked by black sigatoka (P< 0.001) and days to fruit filling (P< 0.01) (Table 3.50). The coefficient of variation was high (i.e. CV> 35%) for the youngest leaf with black sigatoka symptoms at flowering, total leaf area attacked by black sigatoka, bunch weight, number of fruits per bunch and fruit weight.Genetic parameters were calculated for populations derived from the cross between Asbagba French Reversion (AAB) and Calcutta 4 (AA). This analysis was based on the phenotypes of parental, F I and FZ genotypes (Tible 3.St). Incomplete generation mean analysis considered the foHowing equations: PI =m+d PZ=m-d FI =m+h FZ = m+O.5 h where PI, P2, F I and FZ are the average phenotypes of each parent and their respective hybrid and segregating offspring. While, 'm', 'd' and 'b' are the mean, additivity and dominance, respectively. Means were weighted to take allowance of unequal precision in the estimation by the reciprocal of the squared standard error. Matrix algebra was applied to solve the system of simultaneous equations with three unknowns (m, d, h). Heritability was calculated as:where a 2 F2 is the variance of the F2 population and a 2 p is the pooled variance (among plants within genotypes) of all the parental genotypes (PI, P2, FI)'This genetic analysis revealed that black sigatoka resistance, plant girth, days to fruit filling, number of hands, fruits per bunch and fruit sizes are highly heritable in the diploid offspring of Agbagba 'French Reversion' x Calcutta 4. Several genes seem to control quantitative variation in bunch and fruit weight, and fruit sizes in this population. Additivity (or incomplete dominance) was important for total number of leaves and number of fruits per bunch. Dominance over the wild diploid banana genotype was observed in plant girth, sucker development, number of hands per bunch, fruit weight, length and circumference. Conversely, dominance over the French Reversion genotype was observed for leaf length/width ratio, number of standing leaves at flowering, and black sigatoka susceptibility. Transgressive segregation was observed for number of standing leaves at flowering. This may suggest that epistatic genes control this trait. Also epistasis was important for the genetic control of black sigatoka resistance, days to fruit filling, bunch weight, fruit weight and length. Most of the genetic systems reported above are supported by previous results (see PBIP Annual Reports 1992 and1993) Significant heterosis from the mid-parent (i.e. F I > [PI + P2]/2) was recorded for total leaf area attacked by black sigatoka. sucker development, number of hands and fruits per bunch, and days for fruit filling . No significant inbreeding depression was observed for any of these traits. However, high CV values suggested thaI deleterious genes may be fixed (i.e. genetic load) in this 7S population for host response to black sigatoka, bunch and fruit weight, and fruit length. It is therefore unlikely to be viable to proceed with population improvement at the diploid level within this gene pool.3 7] Breeding for dwarf plantains to escape wind damage This activity aimed to develop dwarf plantains by crossing dwarflandraces with diploid bananas. However, the dwarflandraces have very low female fertility .During two years of crosses the dwarf French plantains set an average of only 0.1 seeds per bunch while no seeds at all were set by the dwarf False Hom plantains.For the reason the dwarf land races have been relocated in a new plot which will receive high inputs of mulch, manure and pesticides.Concomitantly, an alternative strategy has been developed . This consists of using semi-dwarf and dwarf offspring derived from (Bobby Tannap x Calcutta 4] .Segregation for dwarfism, due to shortening of the false internodes, was observed at both diploid and tetraploid levels in FI and sibj populations (see PBIP Annual Reports 1992 and1993). One single recessive gene dw controls dwarfism in this cross. The substitution of the dominant Dw by its recessive allele reduced plant height by 36 cm 2 in the F I (see PBIP 1992 Annual Report). Therefore, phenotypic selection based on short false internode should be effective to develop a short size breeding population. However, it was observed that the diploid parent and some hybrid offspring showed an increase in false internode length in the ratoon crop resulting in an increase in plant height.The genetic improvement .of Musa was considered to be essentially diploid breeding due to the sterile nature of the most widely grown triploid cultivated types . More recently, of course, there has been success in the direct utilization of a wild non-related banana such as Calcutta 4 in the production of black sigatoka resistant plantains. From the same crosses it has been possible to develop diploid plantains. However, improved banana diploids are still considered an important component of the genetic improvement of Musa species. Diploid parental genotypes are selected on the basis offemale and male fertility, black sigatoka resistance and good bunch characteristics (including fruit parthenocarpy). liT A has selected twelve such diploid hybrids (see PBIP Annual Reports 1992 and1993). Banana breeding for the East African Highlands accounted for around 21 % of the bunches pollinated at Onne in 1994 (Table 3.3). Both AAA and ABB cookinglbeer bananas were used as female parents in 3x-2x crosses with diploid bananas used as male parents. Igitsiri (beer banana) had very poor seed production (0. ) seeds per bunch) from which no viable embryos could be recovered, while Igisahira Gisangwe (cooking banana) appeared to be highly female sterile at Onne, producing no seed in 1994. Crosses between other ABB cooking bananas (Cardaba and F ougamou) and dessert bananas (Yangambi Km 5 and Pisang lilin) produced relatively large numbers of seed. However, the efficiency with which viable embryos could be recovered remained low (4.8%) . Only 142 hybrid plants were generated from the treament of 2921 seeds.PBIP have selected new parental genotypes (see PBIP 1992 Annual Report) for in vitro multiplication and planting in pollination blocks during 1995.Investigations will also be initiated to optimize the embryo rescue technique for crosses using maternal beer and cooking banana genotypes. Through the use of new crossing schemes and imprctved embryo rescue techniques it is hoped to increase greatly the production of new hybrids suitable for East and Southern Africa. Data for bunch weight and its components in the plant crop will be completed during the second quarter of 1995 .Preliminary analysis shows that TMPx 548-4, TMPx 1658-4 and TMPx 5511-2 out yielded the highest yielding plantain cultivar Obino I' Ewai. These hybrids also showed high black sigatoka resistance, earliness and good ratooning (Table 4.1) Other hybrids had relatively lower yields and longer production cycles. This suggests these hybrids selected at Onne (lowland humid forest) were not well-adapted to the mid-altitude zone in Uganda. Although this is still an important disease, the production of resistant plantain and banana germplasm by cross~breeding schemes has allowed priority to be transferred to other biotic stresses: Fusarium wilt, banana weevil, nematodes and viruses.PBIP breeders have generated hybrid populations from crossing parental genotypes with resistance(s) to various pest(s) and disease(s). Screening techniques are being improved at PBIP and at ESARC to select for resistance to Panama disease, banana weevil, nematodes and viruses. The overall aims are to develop back-up populations which contain a combination of specific resistance genes. Individuals from these populations will then be used in the regular cross-breeding program for cultivar development.The main area ofIlTA-NARS interaction in Musa research since 1992 has been the genetic improvement of plantain and banana through the distribution and testing of breeding material. liT A and NARS are equal partners dedicating their own resources towards the success of multilocational trials. NARS and lIT A scientists are not carrying out multilocational testing solely to identifY clones suitable for furth er cultivar rel ease by African nati onal programs. They are also und ert aking basic studies to gain more knowledge in areas such as host-response to black sigatoka disease. This Section discusses the genotypic response to black sigatoka (Myco~phaere/la jijiensis) of plantain-banana hybrids and their parental genotypes together with landraces and non-African (exotic) germplasm when cropped in West and Central Africa.Twelve hybrids, three plantain landraces, two Asian cooking bananas, two diploid banana parents and one export dessert banana were evaluated through the dry and rainy seasons of 1993 and 1994. These genotypes were assessed across eleven locations in West and Central Africa: Ghana (I), Nigeria (8) and Cameroon(2) (Table 5. This provides an estimation of the available photosynthetic leaf area prior to fruit filling .There were significant differences between genotypes (P< 0 .001) in hostresponse to black sigatoka (Table 5.2). Calcutta 4 exhibited a 'high level of resistance' to black sigatoka (i.e. no necrotic spots on any leaves), while Pi sang lilin and TMBx 612-74 were regarded as 'resistant' because they did not show typical latc stage symptoms in mos: environments. Most of the plantain hybrids (TMPx) tested exhibited 'partial resistance' to this leaf spot disease. This type of host-plant response is under the genetic control of recessive/additive alleles which slows the progress of the epidemic (see PBIP Annual Reports 1992 and 1993 and Section 5.3 :n this report) . This type ofresistance is preferable to complete immunity which inhibit s disease initiation and puts a greater pressure on the pathogen to overcome the resistance TMPx 162 J -I. TMPx 1658-4 and the cooking bananas were less susceptible to blac k sigatok a as measured by both YLS and INSL. However, all the plantain landraces and the export banana cuItivar Valery were susceptible to M fi jiensis There were significant differences (P< 0 00 I) for the severity of black sigatoka across eilVironments. Scores of INSL in the dry season were always higher than those of the rainy season (Table 5.1). This could be due to the presence of high ascospore concentrations during humid conditions while in the dry season both the severity and incidence of black sigatoka were low (Table 5There was also a significant genotype-by-environment interaction (p< 0 .001), which accounted for 22% of the sum of squares ofINSL. However, there were no significant cross order season-by-year interactions. Hence, the genotypic response to this disease should be assessed in the rainy season, when ascospore production is high .The stability of black sigatoka resistance has been reported }Jrevlous ly in the TMPx germplasm (see PBlP 1993 Annual Report) . However, this approach was based on a dynamic concept of stability i.e. host response in relation to the degree of severity in each environment. It would be more convenient to assess the \"homeostatic\" host response to black sigatoka through the coefficient of phenotypic variation (PCY). This is calculated as follows :where Si is the phenotypic standard deviation and Xi is the genotypic mean. To enable selection of clones with potential durable resistance a graph was drawn by plotting the genotypic means (abscissa) against the PCY (ordinate) (Figs. 5.1 and 5.1). High genotypic means and low PCY reflect a very low level of variability in the resistance to black sigatoka across environments. This may be an indicator of potential durable resistance . Almost all the hybrids tested (Fig. 5.1) ann their diploid banana parents exhibited this type of genotypic response (rigftt lower quadrant in Fig. 5.1) However, the cooking bananas, TMPx 1621-1 and TMPx 1658-4 had a stable but 'less susceptible' host-response to black sigatoka.To understand the host-pathogen interaction across environments. the interaction values (e ge ) were calculated (Tables 5.3 and 5 Y. is the degree of black sigatoka severity in the e th environment (as measured by the mean of the host response of all the entries in that environment) and Y . is the grand mean. Principal component analyses (PCA) were performed to investigate the interaction between the genotypic response to black sigatoka and the degree of severity in each environment. A biplot was constructed by plotting the interaction PCA scores (IPCA) I and 2 on the abscissa and the ordinate, respectively (Figs.5.4 and 5.6). Forty-five percent of the axE interaction for host response to black sigatoka disease (as measured by INSL) was accounted for by the [peA axes.Points near to the origin (0,0) had little axE interaction, e.g. environments such as the dry season of 1994 at Dnne (marked as 094D in Fig. 5.4). There was also little axE interaction of 'highly resistant' genotypes such as Calcutta 4 and its 'partially resistant' hybrids TMPx 548-9 (marked as 2 in Fig. 5.4), TMPx 1621-1 (4). TMPx 4698-1 (9) or Pi sang lilin and its hybrid TMPx 2796-5 (8). The black sigatoka resistant cooking banana hybrid TMBx 612-74 exhibited a significant GxE interaction because it showed typical black sigatoka induced leaf spots in only some environments. The environments showed different interaction patterns irrespective of the season or the location. Hence, the host-plant response may differ depending on the environmental conditions. Full-sib hybrids such as those derived from the cross between Obino l' Ewai and Calcutta 4 ( IabeUed 1,2,4,7,9,10 and II in Fip. 5.3 and 5.5) exhibited different host response to blaclc sigatoka as well as different interaction patterns (Fip. 5.4 and 5.6). This demonstrates that one single offspring from a specific family will not suffice to asseas the value of a particular cross in multilocational trials.There is reason te hope that the resistance exhibited by Calcutta 4 and its hybrid offspring may be durable in African environments. Although conclusions relating to durability of resistance based on multilocational testing are not unreasonable, both widespread and prolonged cultivation are the only true test of durable resistance.In conclusion, this joint NARS-IIT A epidemiological research shows that powerful statistical tools as well as field testing provide means to determine levels of resistance in the host plant as well as to elucidate host plant-pathogen interactions.Mechanisms of Resistance to Black SigatokaResistance to black sigatoka in plantain-banana hybrids is conferred by a major recessive gene (bs}) and two minor additive modifiers (bsrj) which enhance the resistance to this fungal leaf spot disease (see PBIP 1992 Annual Report). This experiment was performed to quantify the additive effect of the allele bs} as well as the intralocus interaction.The genotypes of the bs} locus in the euploid hybrids evaluated for host plant response to black sigatoka leaf spotted disease which were used in this experiment are shown in Table 5.5. Genotyping of the bs}locus was confinned by selfing or sibmating a sample of euploid hybrids (see PBIPAnnual Reports 1992 and 1993 and Section 2.2.2 in this report). Putative recessive or nulliplex genotypes for the bs} locus did not show segregation after selfing or sibmating among themselves. However, the offspring of susceptible hybrids displayed all the phenotypic variation expected for heterozygous genotypes. The euploid hybrids were derived from crosses between a French plantain (Obino l' Ewai or Bobby Tannap) and Calcutta 4. Host response to black sigatoka leaf spot disease at flowering was assessed in the plant and ratoon crops at Onne from 1991 to 1993 . The level of disease was measured in terms of the youngest leaf spotted, the youngest leafwith any symptoms, total leaf area attacked by black sigatoka disease in a 0-6 scale (converted to percentage) and by an index ofleaves with necrotic spots. The number of standing leaves at flowering was also recorded . Data were analyzed following a nested analysis of variance (clone/ploidy/family) over the ratoon and plant crops. The analysis took account of the unequal sample sizes within ploidies for each cross.There was a significant interaction between genotype and production cycle for most of the methods used to assess host plant response to black sigatoka.However, the analyses of variances (Table 5.6) suggested that genotypic differences accounted for most of the phenotypic variation in host response to this disease. Significant differences were observed between genotypes within each ploidy (P< 0.05 or P< 0.001) in diploid progeny from both crosses and in tetraploid progeny from Obino l' Ewai x Calcutta 4. Means for host response to black sigaloka leaf spot disease at flowering were calculated across cycles, families and ploidies within families (Table 5.7).Variance components were calculated based on plot means per cycle for genotypes (cr 2 G), environments (cr 2 E), genotype-by-environment interaction (cr 2 GE/r), families (o2 F ), ploidies within families (cr 2 X1P) and clones within ploidies within families (cr 2 CIX/P). This allowed the estimation of repeatability (R), broad sense heritability (H2) and intraclass correlation coefficients for families (Tf), ploidies (rx) and clones (re), for host response to black sigatoka leaf spot disease in the segregating euploid plantain-banana hybrids (Table 5.8). As shown by the analyses of variance most of the genetic variation (measured by H2) depended on the individual genotypes irrespective of their ploidy in each family.The analyses of frequency distribution for number of standing leaves at flowering (Fig. 5.7), host response to black sigatoka leaf spot disease at flowering as measured by the youngest leaf spotted (Fig. 5.8), youngest leaf with symptoms (Fig. 5.9), total leaf area attacked by black sigatoka disease in a 0 to 6 scale (Fig. 5.10), or in percentage (Fig. 5.11), and index ofleaves with necrotic spots (Fig. 5.12) are shown in Table 5.9. Almost all the traits showed a normal distribution irrespective of their ploidy level. Hence, additive gene action may play an important role in the host response to black sigatoka. Transgressive segregation which maybe due to epistasis, was observed for number of standing leaves at flowering. Due to the small sample size, no hybrids were observed to have the 'highly resistant' phenotype of Calcutta-4. This may suggest that the host response to black sigatoka of Calcutta 4 could have a polygenic basis.All genetic analyses suggest that both Obino I'Ewai and Bobby Tannap have similar genotypes for the bs jlocus (see PBIP 1992 Annual Report). Analyses of variance of host response to black sigatoka leaf spot disease. based on the genotype and net effect of intralocus interaction of bs jlocus are shown in Table 5.10. The GxE interaction was not important when the analyses were based on the marker genotype. This was expected since Mendelian genetic markers are seldom affected by the environment.The host response to black sigatoka was significantly enhanced by the bs j allele frequency and the interactions at the bs jlocus as shown by the least square means (Table 5.11) . The means across triploids should be approached with caution due to their small sample size. improper assignment of genotypes or imbalance of gene action due to triploidy. Nonetheless, the disease developed slower in the putative 'partial resistant' triploids than in their full-sib susceptible triploids .Simple regression and correlation analyses revealed that genetic effects rather than ploidy level affected the host response to black sigatoka (Table 5.12).However a significant dosage effect may be expected since there was a significant correlation between the bs j allele frequency and host response to black sigatoka.The correlations between ploidy levels and the descriptors for black sigatoka host response were not significant (P> 0.05) within and between crosses. Multiple regression models based on intralocus interactions (X 1) and allele frequency (X2) in the bs jlocus (Table 5.13) were significant for the following descriptors (Yi) scored at flowering : number of standing leaves. youngest leaf spotted. youngest leaf with symptoms. total leaf area with symptoms of black sigatoka disease on a 0-6 scale. or in percentage (except in Bobby Tannap x Calcutta 4) and index of leaves with necrotic spots (except in Obino I' Ewai x Calcutta 4).The net effect on the bs j locus was significantly more important than the additive effect (as measured by the bs j allele frequency) for total number of leaves and the youngest leaf with symptoms. However, both were equally important for the youngest leaf spotted when results were combined over the two crosses. This was determined by the significance of the partial regression coefficients (Table 5.13). Non-3ignificant regression coefficients should be discarded from the statistical model because they were initially considered due to their significant correlation with the other independent variable. This analysis suggests that intralocus interactions (i.e. the net effect of bs j locus) controlled the appearance of black sigatoka symptoms on the leaf surface.However, both the additive effect and the intralocus interaction of the bs jlocus controlled the development of the disease in the host plant (as measured by the youngest leaf spotted). Hence, the overall gene action of the bs jlocus may provide i: ., durable resistance to black sigatoka because as it slows the disease development in the host plant. As a consequence, resistant hybrids show more healthy leaves, i.e. more photosynthetic leaf area, than their susceptible full-sibs. This may partially account for their high yields. Each genotype was represented by live plants and each leaf was considered as a sampling unit. Host plant response to the disease was measured in terms of the incubation time (IT), the evolution time (ET) and the disease development time (DDT). IT measures the days between the early unfolding of the leaf (stage B in Brun's scale) and the appearance of small depigmentation spots on the underside of the leaf (or stage I in Foure's scale). The number of days between Foure's stage I and the appearance of mature lesions with dry spots surrounded by a clearly defined yellow halo (or stage 6 in Foure's scale) has been called ET. DDT measures the days between Brun's stage B and Foure's stage 6. DDT has proven to be a reliable descriptor for the genotypic reaction of Musa germplasm to M. jijiensis. Also the leaf emission time (days from planting to Brun's stage B) and leaf lifetime (days from Brun's stage B to leaf death, either due to leaf hanging or 100\"10 leaf area spotted by black sigatoka) were calculated.Data collection has been completed for the plant crop and the results from analyses (of both plant and ratoon crops) will be reported in next year's annual report. Similar investigations were carried out using the 1993 PYT -plant crop.These results are currently being analyzed and will also be published in the PBIP 1995 Annual Report.Banana weevil damage was assessed in the plant crop of the AMYT at Kade (Ghana) (see Section 3.6.3). The percentage of the conn damased by weeW was assessed in cross-Sections of the outer and inner conn at 0 cm, 5 em and 10 an from the base. In the original data both skewness and kunosis were significant because some plots had no weevil damage. Hence, square root transformation was required to obtain lower coefficients of variation (15-50%) than those of the • original data (100-5000;.,). However, the original data was used for biological comparisons (Table 5.14).The results were very similar to those reported It OMe (see PBIP 1993 Annual Report). BIT A-I (TMBx 612-74) was the most resistant genotype in the AMYT-Kade. No weevil damage was observed in any of its conns. In contrast, Agbagba was the most susceptible to weevil damage, especially in the outer conn. The level of susceptibility to weevil damage in the outer conn exhibited by Obino I' Ewai was not significantly different from most of its hybrids except PIT A-J (IMP 5511-2). Although PIT A-8 (TMPx 7002-1) had been scored as susceptible at Onne (see PBIP 1993 Annual Report), it showed high levels of resistance to weevil•at Kade.Fusarium Wilt Resistance 5.5.1 Laboratory/Screenhouse assessment A preliminary screening of cooking banana hybrids for Fusarium wilt (or Panama disease) resistance using single plantlets was perfonned at the University of Florida (Homestead, USA) (Table 5.15). None of the nTA hybrids showed a host response significantly different (P> 0.05) from that ofBluggoe or Pisans awak when screened with South Florida isolates (Race I) under greenhouse conditions. However, most hybrids (except TMBx 1378) showed a significantly bigber level of resistance than Pisang Iwak to South Florida Race 2 isolates. TMBx 612-74 showed significantly higher resistance than Pisang awak (but lower than Blugoe) when screened with an East African isolate (recovered &om the AAA banana Kibuzi) under incubator conditions. furthermore, TMBx 612-74 and Pi sang awak showed statistically similar host response to another isolate recovered from the AB East African banana Sukari Ndizi (VCG 0124). On this basis, it seems that lIT A's cooking banana hybrids do not have high levels of resistance to Panama disease.Fields known to have high infestations of Fusarium wilt spp. are suggested as \"hot spots\" to assess host response to Panama disease . Under these conditions precise experimental design is crucial to avoid escapes that might be reponed as true resistance to this disease.TMBx 1378, a cooking banana hybrid, was planted for resistance screening in a Fusarium wilt infested plot at NARD's Research Station at Kawanda (Uganda) in March 1995. If this hybrid exhibits a good level of resistant to Fusarium wilt together with adequate yield and acceptable fruit quality, it could replace the widespread cultivar Kayinja which is succumbing to Panama disease in Uganda.The first honeycomb trial to assess Fusarium wilt resistance at Onne was abandoned since after 2 years the susceptible check Gros Michel showed high survival rates (;90%). The \"hot spot\" status of this site is now in serious doubt.Selected banana diploid hybrids (TMB2x 5105-1, TMB2x 6142-2, TMB2x 9128-3) were planted in a second honeycomb trial (Fig. 5.12). The new location is a section of an Onne field reported to have Fusarium wilt during the mid-80's. Al so the diploid hybrids have been sent to ESARC for Fusarium wilt fieid screening under East African conditions.ResistaDU to NematodesThis activity involves the development of reliable screening and sampling methods which will allow the accurate assessment of host response to nematodes and evaluation of gerrnplasm for nematode resistance. In addition, a joint project with the KUL (see ~ 4) will commence in 1995 . This project has been partially The different components of host response to nematodes need to be assessed and described . These are :-root and corm health -mat appearance as measured by the percentage of lodged plants -species profiles and numbers -reproductive parameters (male/female ratios, reproductive capacity (pfi]) -index of damage development time (preferably done in vitro, in hydroponics, or in a rhizotron) .Appropriate analysis and evaluation of these parameters could provide the basis for grouping different host responses and to define these into nematode resistance, tolerance and susceptibility groups. In addition, appropriate sampling methods still need to be developed . Adequate field plot techniques for the evaluation of host response to nematodes will be determined using uniform trials at ESARC (for East African highland bananas) and at Onne (for plantains). Optimum plot size, number of replications and number of samples per mat also need to be defined and standardized.Host plant response to nematodes and root health were assessed by nematologists of IIT AlESARC and University of Ghana.Preliminary results from MET -2 trial suggested that plant parasitic nematodes caused 50% plant loss in infected versus clean plots. However, host response to nematodes was highly variable among the banana genotypes (Table 5.16). The nematode Radopholus similis caused most of the root damage.Furthermore, a number of cultivars and plantain hybrids produced good yields, irrespective of nematode infection. Analysis of this difference in host response should soon provide us with a better understanding of yield loss and of resistance and toleraltce to nematodes.Kade ARS (University a/Ghana)Nematode counts and number of healthy roots in the AMYT -Kade had normal distributions, except counts of Pratylenchus spp. which had a significant kurtosis. Their combined analyses of variance over plant age showed low coefficients of variation (5%-15%). Therefore, no data transformation was required.Preliminary analyses showed that all genotypes tested had nematodes associated with their roots (Table 5.17). There were no significant differences (p> 0.05) between genotypes for the number of healthy roots and for nematode populations associated with 109 of Musa roots at different plant ages (Tabla 5.17 and 5.18). Nonetheless, the roots of PIT A-S (TMPx 7002-1) and PIT A-3 (TMPx 5511-2) had the lowest densities of associated nematodes (Table 5.17). However, the number of healthy roots were also among the lowest in this trial (Table 5.1There was a significant (P< 0.001) genotype-by-age interaction for plant parasitic nematodes counts obtained for 109. of Musa roots. Moreover, this interaction was significant for all nematode species except Helicotylenchus multicinctus (P> 0.05). Therefore the assessment of nematode resistance, based on counts of the parasite associated with the roots, may be affected by plant age and the genotype of the plant host. At Kade, Radopholus simi lis was not observed to be associated with PITA-S (TMPx 7002-1) nor were Meloidogyne spp. associated with PITA-3 (TMPx 5511-2) (Table !U8). PITA-i (TMPx 548-4) had on average the lowest nematode counts for Helicotylenchus multicinc/Us whereas the lowest nematode counts for Pratylenchus spp. were recorded in PITA-8 (TMPx 7002-1) and Agbagba (Table 5.18).A significant (P< 0.001) increase of nematode density with plant age was correlated with a significant (p< 0.00 i) decrease in the number of healthy roots. This was expected since no new roots emerge after shooting but roots are still functional at harvest. However, there was no significant phenotypic correlations between the number of healthy roots and associated nematode density at different plant ages (p> 0.05). Hence, root health assessment shOuld not be regarded as a reliable method for nematode resistance screening.Of the 30 phenotypic correlations among nematode counts at each plam age only two were significant except for PratyienchuslRadopholus counts at three weeks after flowering and nine weeks after flowering (r = 0.656, P = 0.026 and r = 0.677, P = 0.020, respectively). The significant phenotypic correlationslDgbt have arisen by chance (i.e. 2/30). It may be that there are independent genetic systems of the host plant which control tolerance of specific plant parasitic nnnatodes in MIISQ roots. MoreOver, the results suggested that nematode resistancti in MIISQ may be • complex polygenic epistatic trait. Hence, the development of nematode resistant populations may be slow since progeny testing will be required to determine the breeding value of the parental genotypes. This is not exceptional because moderate to low probability of success in host plant resistance to nematodes was reported for other crops in the early 1980's.MuSIl clones have been identified which have exhibited rerennial vigour after more than five years continuous cropping in field geneban1cs on the poor soils ofOnne Station (Table S.19). This may be indicative ofa good root system and/or nematode resistance.At the end of 1994, parental genotypes (Agbagba French reversion, Bobby Tannap, Calcutta 4, Fougarnou, Pisang jari buaya, SH-3362), primary tetraploids (TMPx 1112-1, TMPx 4479-1 , TMBx 1378) and secondary triploids (TMP3x 15108-1, TMP2x 15108-2, TMPx 15108-6) were sent to the Deptartment of Agriculture at University of Reading. Screening for nematode reSistance, especially Rodopholus similis. under glasshouse conditions has conimenced as part of a PhD Thesis.Genotypic Respooses to Baoana Virus(es)There are several prerequisites to the initiation of a virus resistance breeding program. It must be possible to recognize the range of genotype specific reactions to virus infection. It is crucial that symptomless tolerant plants can be distinguished from truely resistant genotypes. This necessitates a highly precise diagnostic test.In addition, it should be possible to identity ttte most abundant vectors of viruses such as banana streak virus (BSV) in order that resistance to the feeding of these insects might also be targeted in the breeding program.The occurrence of viruses in multilocational trials has provided the means to assess the genotypic responses of Musa germplasm to viral diseases occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. Data sets of virus incidence, based on visual assessment of symptom expression in the experimental fields, were analyzed following conventional two-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) and the additive main effects multiplicative interaction model (AMMI). Such an approach would be expected to facilitate the identification of potentially resistant germplasm and allow a preliminary study of host-plant/virus interactions across environments.Environments were defined as a combination oflocation by date of evaluation.There was a statistically significant difference between virus symptom incidence across environments (Table 5.20). This followed the trend of higher in the cool rainy season (14-42%) and lower in the warm dry season «10%). There were significant differences between genotypes in their responses to virus(es).However there was also a significant genotype (clone) by environment interaction (Table 5.20).Bananas, especially those derived fromM acuminata (Calcutta 4, Pisang The AAB French plantains Bobby Tannap and Obino l' Ewai had a similar genotypic response to the virus( es ) (about 10\"/0 incidence) and were regarded as less susceptible than tbe False Hom plantain Agbagba, which showed virus-like symptoms in most of the environments (average 21 % incidence) (Tables 5.21 and   5.21) .. AII plantain hybrid. showed virus-like symptoms, however, there were significant differences in genotypic response to the virus( es) between different hybrids (Tabla 5.11 and 5.22). The hybrid 597-4, TMPx 548-9, TMPx 4698-1, TMPx 548-4 and TMPx 2637-49 were among the most susceptible plantain hybrids (> 40% virus incidence) .. TMPx 6930-1 was tbe least susceptible plantain hybrid with a similar genotypic ~sponse to virus(es) as its parental plantain landrace Obino l' Ewai. The other susceptible hybrids (TMPx 1112-1, TMPx 5511-2, TMPx 2796-5, TMPx 2481, TMPx 582-4, TMPx 1621-1, TMPx 1658-4) exhibited 23% to 3S% incidence of virus-like symptoms. In light of the fact that a dift'erent randomizItion wu UMd at each site, the highly highly significant value for genotypic variation among clones (P< 0.001) suggests a very low potential for escapes of virus infection . The occurrence of transgressive segregation (i.e. the appearance in the segregating generation of offspring exceeding the limits of variation defined by the parents) in the genotypic response of the hybrids suggests that epistasis may be the main non-additive gene interaction system controlling the su~ceptibility ofTMPx germplasm to Mum virus(es). Epistatic gene interactions could have arisen due to the genetic combination created from cross breeding of the susceptible plantain . landraces and the diploid bananas. TMPx may have inherited gene(s) for susceptibility from their plantain parents, which enhanced the expression of virus susceptibility by interacting with genes inherited from tht' banana parent.Repeatability (R) was calculated individually for ead! set of trials (MET-I and MET-2) from the ratio of the variance components as follows:where cr 2 G is the intergenotypic (or genetic variance), (12GE is the variance of the genotype-by-environment interaction, and cr~ is the environmental variance. R measures the relative importance of each variance component in the phenotype and varies from 0 (i.e. no genetic variance) to infinity (i.e. nil environmental effect and nil genotype-by-environment interaction). R was larger in MET-I than in MET-2 (Table S_20), because larger relative genetic variation was observed in MET-I than in MET -2 (despite MET -2 having more diverse material). Nonetheless, the variance components ofMET-2 should be more reliable than those of MET-I since an increase in the number of diverse environments results in unbiased estimates of statistical parameters. Hence, AMMI analysis was performed only in MET-2.The AMMI model was developed to analyze trials with a focus on the genotype-by-environment interactions. AMMI uses the ANOY A to study the main effect~ of genotypes and environments and principal component arWysis (PeA) for the residual multiplicative interaction. AMMI model I (Fig. 5.13) captured 75% of the total variation: 6OYo due to the main clonal and environmental effects (m X axis) and 15% due to their interaction (Y axis). All the plantain hybrids derived from [Obino l'Ewai x Calcutta 4] (except TMPx 693G-I) and TMPx 2796-5, a hybrid of [Bobby Tannap x Pisang lilin], are in the highly unstable susceptible qvadrant (upper right). Conversely, their pseudo-reciprocals TMPx 582-4 (=Bobby Tannap x Calcutta 4) and TMPx 1658-4 (=Obino l'Ewai x Pisanglilin) were close to the centre. This supports the epistatic: genetic modd for virus susceptibilify since clones with related pedigrees (i.e. half-sibs) were not grouped together. An increase in clonal susceptibility resulted in a more unstable response to the virus.Similarly an incn-.ase in clonal resistance also resulted in a more unstable mpoase Finally, the significant GxE interaction may be interpreted as a warning signal for strain differentiation in the testing sites. However, AMMI 2 biplot clearly shows that seasonal rather than locational diversity accounts for most of the interaction patterns (Fig. 5.15). Also the putative non-systernicity of the virus may affect the susceptible host response, thereby increasing the magnitude of the GxE interaction.After the first ratoon (end of 1994) all multilocational evaluation trials (METs) at IITA stations in West and Central Africa were. destroyed due to the development of high incidence of virus-like symptoms in both hybrids and landraces. Similar recommendation were given to our partners in African NARS. Propagation of Selected GenotypesMusa germplasm had heen multiplied at Onne station and supplied to leading laboratories in Europe and the USA to support a wide range of collaborative projects. In each case phytosanitation certificates were obtained from the Nigerian Plant Quarantine Service together with import permits from the quarantine service of the recipient country. Plants sent across national barriers are supplied as axenic tissue cultures in the form of proliferating cultures of rooted plantlets. Material distributed within Nigeria was supplied as two month old nursery plants ready for field establishment. However, when recipients have access to nursery facilities PBIP prefers to supply rooted tissue culture plants in order to reduce logistics of collecting the material and maximize utilization of our own facilities. A total of 7,800 plants were distributed during 1994 while over 11,500 were multiplied for experimentation and distribution during 1995.Around 80 plants from 16 diverse genotypes were multi plied for studies concerning the development of a cryopreservation protocol at the University of Reading during 1994 (see Section 6.5). The following genotypes were involved : plantains (Obino I'Ewai, Agbagba, Ubok Iba), cooking bananas (Cardaba, Bluggoe, FHlA 3), dessert bananas (Valery, FHlA I, FHlA 2, Yangambi km 5), wild bananas (Calcutta 4), lIT A plantain hybrids (TMPx 54S-S, TMPx 2796-5, TMPx 1112-1) and I1TA cooking banana hybrids (TMBx 612-74, TMBx 137S)Five plants of the banana accession Ukom were supplied to KUL in early 1995 for germplasm conservation purposes.Around 300 plants from twelve genotypes of three distinct families were multiplied for detailed investigation at the University of Reading during 1994 and 1995 (see Section 5.6.3). A tetraploid plantain hybrid (TMPx 1112-1), a tetraploid banana hybrid (TMBx 137S) and a secondary triploid family (l510S) together with their parental genotypes were challenged with a variety of nematode species from three different genera. The plantain hybrid was studied together with its parental genotypes (Agbagba 'French Reversion', Calcutta 4). Similarly, the banana hybrid was compared with its parental genotypes (Fougamou, M balbisiana). While the secondary triploid family (151 OS-I, 15108-2, 15108-6) was studied along with its parental genotypes (SH3362, TMPx 4479-1) and the parental genotypes of the TMPx hybrid (Bobby Tannap, Calcutta 4).Around 400 plants were multiplied for experimentation at the University of Florida during 1994 (see Section 5.5.1). lIT A hybrids and parental genotypes were challenged under glasshouse conditions with a variety of isolates of Fusarium spp., the causal agent of Panama disease. The following genotypes were involved: TMBx 612-74 'field true-to-type', TMBx 612-74 Onne, TMBx 1378, TMPx 1658-4, Bluggoe, Fougamou and Calcutta 4.Over 500 plants from ten diverse genotypes were multiplied for transformation studies at Texas A&M University during 1995. The genotypes involved were: wild bananas (Calcutta 4, M balbisiana), plantain landraces (Agbagba), cooking banana cultivars (Bluggoe), IIT A plantain hybrids (TMPx 548-9, TMPx 2796-5), and East African Highland bananas (Nakitengwa, Mbwazirome, Igisahira gisanzwe, Igitsiri).Around 20 plants from four diverse Musa genotypes were multiplied for use in tests of an in situ hybridization protocol for MUM at the University of Birmingham during 1995 (see Section 6.7). The accessions used were Calcutta 4 (AA), Mbalbisiansa (8B), Kisubi (AS) and Kamaramasenge (AS).Around 90 plants from 30 plantain genotypes were multiplied in order to test the efficiency of molecular genetic fingerprint techniques at the University of Birmingham during 1995 (see Sections 6.6 and 6.8). It is proposed that rapid DNA extraction systems should be combined with PCR-based analysis for the characterizatic;>n of MUM germplasm collections across the world. In this way the true level of diversity held in different collections can be determined leading to improved management and conservation of MUM genetic resources.Around 100 plants from 20 genotypes were multiplied for studies concerning the development of antiserum and PCR-based diagnostic tests for BSV at the John Innes Centre (nC, UK) during 1994 and 1995 (see Section 6.4). The genotypes involved included the TMPx hybrids and a number of reference hybrids, landraces and cultivars.Germplasm has also been multiplied at Onne Station to support the collaborative research activities of scientists based in other liT A programs, divisions and stations.Germplasm was supplied to ESARC for pollination blocks, germpJasm evaluation, MET-3 and for studies ofmechani~ms ofbJack sigatoka resistance (see Section 4) New pollination blocks: Around 150 plants were supplied to support the expansion of the ESARC breeding programme during 1994 and 1995 (see Section 4.4). The following genotypes were involved: Cardaba, Fougamou, TMB2x 1297-3, TMB2x 5265-1, TMB2x 8848-1, TMB2x 5105-1, TMB2x 6142-1 , TMB~x 7197-1 , TMB2x 8075-7, TMB2x 9128-3 . Germplasm supplied to PHMD was for early screening for resistance to Fusarium wilt, analysis of black and yellow sigatoka attack on plantain hybrids, assessment offield damage and yield loss due to nematode attack at OMe, BSV indexing and experimentation, assessment of microbial contamination of Musa seed.Early screening for resistance to Fusarium wilt: More than 150 plants from 30 genotypes were multiplied fOT Fusarium screening experiments during early 1995. Seedlings of plantain landraces and hybrids were challenged with Fusarium spp.under nursery conditions at OMe. The genotypes involved were the same as those used for investigations ofblack sigatoka resistance mechanisms (see Table 5.3 of PBIP 1993 Annual Report).Analysis of black and yellow sigatoka attack of plantain hybrids: Over 300 plants from twelve genotypes were multiplied in order to establish a field experiment at Onne Station in rnid-1995 . This study will assess the relative resistance of plantain hybrids to the two classes of sigatoka. IITA hybrids (15108-1, 14280, 8075-7, 8084-2 ) will be compared with their parental genotypes (SH3362, TMPx 548-9, \\01 4479-], Calcutta 4. Bobby Tannap, Obino l'Ewai) and contrasted with a plantain landrace (Agbagba) and a banana cultivar (Valery).Assessment offield dame\", and yield loss due to nematode attack at Onne: Over 600 plants of ] 5 genotypes were muhiplied for detailed field analysis of the effects of nematode damage on root development and yield. The genotypes to be studied are as follows: Asscasmegt ofmjcrobjal contamination of Mum seed: During 1994 around 500 seeds from 4\"-4,, crosses together with around S()() seeds from self-pollinations of TMPx hybrids and Calcutta 4 were sent to the Seed Health Unit at lIT A, !badan for assesamml of the microbial contamination within and on the surface of these seeds.About 400 plants ofTMPx 2796-5 were mUltiplied for root system studies at the UTA Humid Forest Station, Cameroon during 1994.A large number of plants were also multiplied to support the breeding activities at Onne Station.Over 300 plants were multiplied to replace dead or diseased plants in the germplasm collections and experimental fields across Onne Station during 1994 and early 1995.More than 300 plants ofthe following genotypes were used to establish new pollination blocks in early 1994: Fougamou, TMPx 1112-1, TMB\" 1378, TMBx 612-74 'field true-to-tvpe', TMBx 612-74 Onne, TMB\" 612-74 KUL . A further 300 plants were multiplied for establishing new pollination blocks in mid-1995 : TMPx 4479-1, SH 3362 2x, SH 3362 4x, Bluggoe, lkimaga, Ingoromoka, Intarna, Kibungo.Around 1,000 plants were multiplied from six distinct families ofunselected secondary triploid hybrids during early 1995. In addition, a further 250 plants were multiplied of the relevant parental tetraploid hybrid genotypes together with the respective grandparental genotypes (triploid plantain landraces and wild diploid bananas). Pedigree comparisons will be used for the development of optimum selection strategies including the use of marker assisted selection.Around 260 plants from 26 genotypes were multiplied for the PYT established during 1994 (see Section 3.4.1)Over 2,500 plants from 36 genotypes (plus guard plants) were multiplied for MET -3 experiments as monocrops in Onne, Ibadan, Abuja and also as an alley crop in Onne. All experiments will be established in the field during mid-I 995 (see Section 3.5.4).More than 300 plants from eleven diverse genotypes were multiplied for investigations of root system development under nursery and field conditions. The following genotypes will be studied throughout 1995 and 1996 plantain hybrids (TMPx 548-9, TMPx 1658-4), plantain landraces (Agbagba, Obino I'Ewai), cooking banana hybrids (FHIA 3), cooking banana cultivars (Cardaba, Fougamou), dessert bananas (Pi sang lilin, Yangambi km 5), wild bananas (Calcutta 4, Pisang lilin).There have been many reports that certain plantain landraces produce two or even three bunches per plant. However, there are no published reports concerning the basis of this phenomenon nor any details concerning its consistency through generations and across environments. One such genotype was recovered from the University of Nigeria at Nsukka for more detailed analysis. During 1994, ill vitro cultures were initiated from this genotype and 100 plants were multiplied.These will be established in the field at Onne Station in mid-1995 to determine the frequency of the double bunch phenotype. Molecular genetic analysis will then be carried out on plants with contrasting phenotypes.Over 600 plants of two plantain landraces (Agbagba, Bise Egome) were multiplied for investigations of somacJonal variation. This is a collaborative study with scientists at the Birmingham University (UK). These plants were used to establish and field experiment at Onne Station during early 1995. Freeze-dried leaf material will then be sent to Birmingham University for molecular genetic analysis (see Section 6.8).A corisiderable amount of material was also multiplied for distribution to public and private N ARS, especially in south-eastern Nigeria. Around 5,000 plants were multiplied for distributed during 1994 while a further 5,400 plants were multiplied for distribution during mid-I 995 (see Section 9.2). Low seed set and low seed viability are major constraints to Musa breeding. Axenic in vitro germination of hybrid seed has been a cornerstone of Musa breeding at lIT A and elsewhere. During 1994, 1,900 new hybrids were generated from the in vitro germination of over 9,000 embryos (Table 6.1) . This resulted in an average embryo gennination efficiency of 21 %, as compared to an average of 5% the previous year (see PBIP Annual Report 1993). There were at least two factors contributing to this increased level of efficiency. Firstly, more than 75% of the seed treated during 1994 was generated from 4x-2x crosses (see Section 32.2) .While seed from 4x-2x crosses accol.=.,ed for less than 10% of the seed treated during the previous year (see Section 3 ofPBIP 1993 Annual Report). Crosses between 4x and 2x genotypes (to produce putative secondary triploid hybrids) tend to have a higher number of viable seeds than other interploidy combinations. In addition, the duration from bunch harvest to seed extraction and in vitro germination was reduced to less than a week were possible. This considerably improved the efficiency of in vitro gennination of seed from al\\ crosses.Over 18,000 seeds were treated during 1994. However, in common with previous years, less than 50% of well fonned seed contained embryos. Thus, it was only possible to recover hybrid plants from around 10.5% of the seed (Table 6.1). This compares to an efficiency of2.4% the previous year.lIT A is committed to involving NARS in plantain and banana breeding at every level. In addition, there is clearly a tremendous selective advantage to carrying out early evaluation of new hybrids in a range of target environmental conditions. However, many NARS do not have access to tissue culture facilities. For this reason lIT A scientists are investigating new methods of improving natural seed germination protocols. Based on such protocols seed or seedlings of segregating families will be supplied to NARS for their own selection and subsequent evaluation.Station generated plants at a rate ofless than 1%. Whilst soil germination of seed produced from crossing wild bananas had achieved a modest 3% success rate (see Section 6 ofPBIP 1993 Annual Report) . Thus, further efforts were made to \\05 improve the efficiency with which seed could be germinated directly in soil . Initial experimentation was carried out under normal nursery conditions during the dry season oflate 1994. Over 4,000 seeds from 4x-2x crosses were placed into soil in polybags at a variety of durations after bunch harvest. A proportion of seed was pre-treated with a cold shock treatment and/or desiccation of various durations. A total of 129 plants were recovered from these seeds. Average germination rates of II % were achieved for seed placed into soil within one week of bunch harvest. This contrasted with average germination rates of 2% for seeds placed into soil more than one month after bunch harvest. Cold shock and desiccation pretreatments all had a negative effect upon germination rates. These observations may suggest that the embryos of seeds from 4x-2x crosses are fully mature upon fruit ripening anjl that they do not require a dormancy period before germination. Furthermore, it is clear that seed viability rapidly declines after fruit harvest. Subsequent more detailed experiments involving nearly 10,000 seeds were initiated during early 1995. Initial results support the above hypothesis. Subsequent experiments will focus on the application of rapid pre-treatments which might enhance embryo survival and seedling emergence. The results from these experiments will be reported in the PBIP 1995 Annual Report.Virus Diagnostics and EliminationBanana streak virus (BSY) has become a serious problem in plantain landraces and hybrids. Its occurrence in several African countries has serious implications for the safe distribution of improved hybrid germplasm. For these reasons, lIT A scientists have been collaborating with scientists at the John Innes Centre (TIC, Norwich, UK) and the University of Minnesota (USA) towards the development of precise and accurate diagnostic tools which may be used to identifY tissue culture stocks harbouring BSV. During 1994, lITA received substantial funds from the World Bank to expand activities in this area of research (see Appendix 4). There are two main purposes for this project: (i) to develop improved diagnostic tools for the precise identification of all known forms of BSV, and (ii) to use these tools in order to develop reliable protocols for the elimination ofBSV from MuSQ germplasm. This project will also study the interactions between host plant, insect vectors and the virus itself with the aim of identifying or developing BSV resistant germplasm.The results from initial experimentation are reported below. However, many of these observations await confirmation through stringent testing of plants grown under isolated conditions. To facilitate this type of work, the World bank has funded the construction of an insect-proof screenhouse at Onne Station which will be dedicated to BSV experimentation. The res).llts of confirmatory experiments using this new facility combined with new diagnostic tools will be reported in the PBIP 1995 Annual Report.Initial observations suggest that BSV is transmitted through suckers as well as in vitro germination and natural germination of seed in soil. Further studies are required to confirm that BSV is indeed readily transmitted through both sexual and vegetative propagation.BSV does not appear to be mechanically transmitted. However, there is reason to believe that it is transmitted by insect vectors. Although mealy bugs have been implicated in this role and aphids have been discounted, no conclusive experimentation has yet been reported in this area.Since BSV transmission may not be 100\"10 efficient, initial experimentation focused upon the selection of p1artts in which virus particles could not be detected. More recently, low temperature (22°C) growing conditions have been shown to increase symptom expression. Over 250 plants from 50 plantain and banana hybrid and landrace genotypes have been supplied to liT A virologists for prolonged observation and testing under these conditions. In vitro cultures have been initiated from plants which have passed through this initial phytosanitary check. Plants which have been multiplied from these tissue culture stocks will be retested with stringent diagnostic tests. When these derived stocks have successfully passed through further prolonged observation and retesting they may be offered for international distribution.Under field conditions the symptoms ofBSV infection may only be observed in a proportion of plants and frequently 'only during the rainy season. The basis of symptom expression is not clear but is being studied by IIT A scientists. Clearly, the identification• of BSV infected plants through the assessment of symptom expression is extremely difficult. Furthermore, current diagnr\";~ tAAts can not guarantee the detection of extremely low virus titres. However, plants from certain tissue culture stocks of TMPx 4698-1 consistently express virus-like symptoms at the seedling stage regardless of environmental conditions. For this reason, BSV studies at anne Station have focused on this accession.A number of therapeutic approaches have been evaluated for their potential to eliminate BSV from tissue culture stocks. There are many reports describing the use of chemotherapy to eliminate viruses from plant germplasm. One of the most effective compounds is Ribavirin (I Error! Reference source not foond.-Dribofuranosil-l-H-l,2,4-triazole-3-carboxamide). Tissue culture plants of the infected TMPx 4698-1 stocks were grown on standard medium supplemented with a range of concentrations ofRibavirin. In this way it was possible to determine the level at which Ribavirin is phytotoxic in Musa. Unfortunately, a proportion of plants which survived this treatment were observed to express typical virus-like symptoms. All plants are currently being tested for the presence ofBSV through immunosorbent electron microscopy (ISEM). Further experiments will be carried out using this treatment coupled with the use of a new diagnostic analysis of plants grown under isolated conditions.Other chemotherapeutic treatments will also be tested. Current characterization ofBSV suggests that it has a double stranded DNA genome.More recent analysis confirms that it is a para-retrovirus belonging to the subgroup of bacilliform badnaviruses. It may be that the nucleic acid replication cycle ofBSV is similar to that of the related para-retrovirus cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMY).Studies of CaMV suggest that the viral dsDNA is processed in the host plant . nucleus and transcribed to RNA which is then passed to the host cytoplasm where it is reverse transcribed into DNA. This infers that the reverse transcriptase enzyme is crucial to its replication. For this reason, inhibitors of reverse transcriptase (such as ammonium 21-tungstate-9-antomonate) will be assessed for their potential to eliminate BSV from tissue culture plants. An advantage of this approach is that higher plants do not possess the reverse transcriptase enzyme. This may mean that inhibitors of this enzyme will not be phytotoxic to the host plant.The use of thermotherapy has also been reported as a means of eliminating viruses from certain plant species. However, high temperature treatment has been reported to be ineffective against a closely related virus of sugarcane. Experiments have been initiated to confirm whether or not this technique has any effect upon BSY The in vitro culture of small regions of meristematic tissue has also been reported as a method of eliminating certain viruses. For this reason a number of experiments were carried out to determine the minimum size and appropriate orientation for microsections of meristems from plantain suckers and in vitro plantlets.The mutagenic effect of various therapeutic techniques will also be assessed. It may be necessary to combine various contrasting treatments at low intensity in order to minimize these effects while effectively eliminating BSV.There is a very high level of genomic diversity between BSV isolated from different locations across the world. This has proved particularly troublesome to the development of a highly precise diagnostic test. Around 100 plants of 20 genotypes were supplied to collaborative scientists at HC together with a large amount of symptomatic leaf tissue and suckers from symptomatic field plants. Using this material HC scientists are testing a number of techniques which may eventually be developed into suitable diagnostic tools. JIC scientists have cloned and partially sequenced the BSV genome. This sequence data confirms that BSV is a badnavirus and suggests that it is distantly related to sugarcane badnavirus.There is clearly an immediate need for a precise routine test to detect BSV in liT A improved hybrids. Thus, He scientists are also focusing on the development of a molecular genetic test which would adequately detect BSV in the infected TMPx 4698-1 stocks. This will then be used to test the efficiency of various therapeutic methods (as discussed above).Gennplasm Conservation and Cryopreservation lIT A Onne Station has a field germplasm collection of over 400 accessions.Around 110 West Africa plantains and over 300 selected plantain hybrids are also held in an in vitro collection. The maintenance of these collections is highly labour intensive. For this reason liT A scientists have been investigating the potential of low temperature in vitro conservation systems. The Onne Station tissue culture growth rooms are currently held at 22-2SoC . Under these conditions each accession must be sub-cultured once a month.In the PBIP 1993 Annual Report (Section 6.6) we reported attempts to regenerate cell suspension cultures in collaboration with scientists at KUL.Following continued efforts in this direction the protocol remains limited to a narrow range of genotypes. Cell suspension culture promised to be useful for bothMusa transformation and cryopreservation. However, utilization of cell suspensions in these activities awaits the development of a routine regeneration protocol applicable to a wide range of genotypes. Meanwhile, alternative systems are being investigated. Agrobacterium mediated Musa transformation has been reponed by scientists at Texas A&M University (USA). Following these reports, over SOO plants of 10 diverseMusa genotypes (IITA plantain and banana landraces) were supplied for experiments to expand these transformation studies.In panicular, efforts are being made to transform West African plantains and East Afiican highland bananas.With respect to cryopreservation studies the emphasis has now been focused upon the use of encapsulated meristems. This technique appears to be appropriate to a wide range of genotypes and regeneration is straightforward.Thus, in collaboration with scientists at Reading University (UK) studies have beeIl initiated towards the development of a routine method for the cryoprescrvation of Musa germplasm. Sixteen diverse genotypes from Onne Station have been established at Reading University. Current experimentation involves the encapsulation of meristematic tissue followed by controlled freezing prior to long term storage in liquid nitrogen. Similar studies have also beeIl carried out at KUL. It is proposed that a three way collaboration between liT A, Reading University and KUL will be formed in this area during 1995During 1994 and early 1995 a molecular genetics laboratory was established at Onne Station which will become fully operational during mid-l 995 . This new facility was partially funded by complimentary funds from ODA (see Section 6.8) and will allow more efficient collaboration with leading molecular genetics labs. in Europe and USA. In addition, it will facilitate studies of current breeding populations which have not been previously possible. Only through a close integration between molecular genetic analysis and field based selection will it be possible to determine the potential of these new techniques to enhance the efficiency of the current breeding prograntme. Molecular genetic analysis based on restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) appears to have limited application in Musa. This is due to the low number of polymorphic loci which can be detected using this technique. In addition, the common use of radioactive probes in this technique would not be appropriate to the set-up at Onne Station. For these reasons, analysis will focus on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which appears to more readily detect molecular genetic diversity. DNA extraction and PCR-based analysis systems are now operational.PCR primers are being generated from Musa microsatellite sequences in collaboration with USDAIARS (USA). While informative random primers are being selected in collaboration with the Birmingham University. Initial studies will focus on two main areas: (i) germplasm characterization and definition of heterotic groups to maximise hybrid vigour, and (ii) marker assisted selection of those characters which are difficult to score or expressed late in the growth season. Plantain and banana phenotypes are poor indicators of genetic constitution which severely restricts the development of a reliable breeding scheme. In particular, it hinders attempts to maximize heterosis, since we are currently unable to reliably predict the specific combining ability of parental genotypes. Hybrid vigour is likely to be a crucial basis for future advances in yield, as it has proven to be for many other food crops. Through molecular genotyping it should be possible to estimate the level of useful variation which is directly or indirectly available to the Musa breeder. Comparative analysis of molecular genetic data and phenotypic data of established hybrids will facilitate the definition of specific heterotic groups within the Musa genus.Molecular genetic analysis may also locate duplicate accessions in the lIT A germplasm collections and identifY a core collection representing the extent of the presently available diversity. This will result in improved conservation and management of Musa genetic resources. These techniques will also be used to test putative theories of Musa taxonomy, phylogeny and genetic behaviour (see Section 2). Such information will be of crucial importance to the development of efficient breeding strategies.liT A scientists will evaluate the potential advantage of integrating molecular genotyping over conventional phenotypic assessment and selection. From this analysis it will be possible to define the scope with which marker assisted selection can be effectively applied to specific characters in Musa breeding. Furthermore, this will be assessed in terms of the improved selective power and efficiency in relation to the relative costs involved.Preliminary studies have used microsat. ellite primers to screen a diverse set of Musa accessions and segregating plantain hybrid populations. A high proportion of these primers have detected polymorphic loci in both germplasm collections and hybrid populations. This suggests that micro satellite primers will be extremely useful tools for characterizing Musa germplasm and for distinguishing full-sib hybrids with contrasting phenotypes. The results of these studies will be reported in the PBIP 1995 Annual Report. III 6.7The manipulation of chromosome number and constitution is one of the most important methods available to plant breeders for introducing novel variation into breeding populations. Indeed, the development of characterized aneuploids in wheat, for example, has proved invaluable not only to the breeding of this crop but also to fundamental studies of gene action in trait expression. The use of such genetic stocks can also facilitate the linking of molecular markers with their physical position on chromosomes. The generation of this type of information is likely to become a crucial step in future efforts precisely to direct genome manipulation through modem molecular genetic techniques.In Musa, we have noticed that during production of hybrids, after 3x-2x crosses, a proportion of progeny exhibit phenotypes consistent with aneuploidy. The proportion of such aberrant types varies considerably with different parental combinations. However, only in the context of a large scale crossing programme is it feasible to generate a substantial number of such plants. Nevertheless, this is still likely to be a long-term endeavour in Musa, as compared with seed crop species. Yet the presence of well characterized stable genetic stocks in Musa will be a considerable resource for basic and applied genetic research at nT A, African NARS and leading laboratories in Europe and the USA.The first task has been to determine the frequency and level of chromosome additions or deletions in plants showing aberrant phenotypes. Initial studies suggest that secondary triploid hybrids with aberrant phenotypes are in fact euploid. While 3x-2x crosses aimed at the generation of tetraploid hybrids are more likely to produce true aneuploids. A number of diverse crossing blocks have been established to support this activity (see Section 3.2.1). From these parental combinations it is theoretically possible to generate hybrids which have lost either A or B genome chromosomes. Ongoing experiments will define which parental combinations generate an acceptable proportion of useful aneuploids. Subsequently, investigations will determine whether or not the precision of flowcytometric analysis can be optimized sufficiently to distinguish aneuploids of different chromosome compliments. If feasible, flow-cytometric analysis would facilitate the analysis of a much higher number of hybrids than conventional microscopy. The results from these preliminary studies will be reported in the PBJP 1995 Annual Report.In collaboration with scientists at the nc it is proposed that monosomic and nullisomic aneuploid genotypes will be analyzed through in situ hybridization.In collaboration with molecular mapping studies (see Section 6.6) it will be possible to .... _ ....... ,\"'*'IDe IIId ......... 0& ..... : .. ,,, ptobei OIl wbictI to base subtcqueal pbysicII iiiipjiiDg Ittutiee Around 20 plants Rom the AA, BB ... AS ICC \". mil have aIIo beeD lad to the UDivenity of BirmingJunn tor dewIoa!l!l!lllt IIId _de of m iIIliIII hybridization protocol for MIutJ. COIjIC*M,i\"'dly, Ittvtia lave beeD -md III Onne Station towards the development of. fbIl karyotype of MIutJ A IIId B genome chromosomes. Progress OIl these cytq; ittic: Ittidies wiD be reported ill the PBIP 1995 Annual Report.DNA FiDflel'Pl\"iiltiD& to detect Sowr.,.' Vuiua Somac10nal variation is a commoa pbmomenon of both in vitro and in viw> grown MIISQ plants. Certain genotypes are known to exhibit • high rate of aid! variation while others very rarely generate somednnal variants.A project was initiated ill 1994 to g_* mo1ecu1ar generic markers to specific mutations believed to have arisen through sonw:lonll VIriItion. This project is funded by Overseas Development Administration (ODA, UK), through the International PIanI Genetic Resources Institute (1PGRI. Italy). aod joiDs fiT A with scientists at Birmingham UnMnity (UK) .. Funds from this project have also partially funded the development of. oc:w moJec:u'er sm«ic:s IIboratory It CloneA IlWlJOer of moIeadac markers have beeD identified for Ipecitic: IberraDI phenotypes. It is now necessary to \\lie tbese mukers to screen a well cbanic:terized population. For thiS reason, over 600 plants of the r\"nt'iII cu1tivan Agbasba and Bise Egome were muJtiplied at Onne Station during 1994. During the multiplication of these two populations, JIIl'Cise records were kept It eadI subculture. From this it is possible to defiDe the heritage of each plant. O!dy ill this way will it possible to distinguish the following dasses of mutation: (i) similar aberrant phenotypes which arose from ODe mutltion and were IUbaequent1y multiplied through successive sub-aJltures, (Ii) similar aberrant phenotypes which arose independently due to the same lIlUtation ill the geootype, and (Iii) similar aberrant phenotypes which arose independently from ditfaent III\\ItIItions.Leaf samples will be collected from plaDts with aberrant and normal phenotypes and freeze-dried. These will then be sent to Birmingham UniveBity for molecular genetic analysis. This will a1Iow the testing of previously identified markers together with the generation offurther mukers to additional aberrant phenotypes.assessed for their ability consistently to detect somaclonal mutants in the Onne Station germplasm collection and hybrid populations. These markers may then be used to screen routinely for off-types in new breeding populations and during the multiplication of material for distribution. They may also be of value for identifying -which accessions in the germplasm collection are somaclonal variants of other accessions. In this way it may be possible to increase the efficiency of germplasm conservation and management and to eliminate unwanted somaclonal variants from breeding populations and material for distribution. TetTap\\oid plantam hybrids are mainly derived from wide crosses between wild diploid (AA) bananas and cultivated triploid plantain (AAB). The hybrid parems have diverse fruit characteristics which may affect the fruit quality. Therefore, research is required to assess the quality of the new hybrids in terms of acceptability to farmers, retailers and consumers. The main focus of research over the past three years has been to investigate fruit durability (shelflife, ripening, handling and storage aspects) and palatability (flavour, texture, response to cooking pr~ures) . The aim is to determine important quality parameters and to provide a quality profile on each of the new hybrids compared with the local plantain. It is intended that the most important profile data will be used to develop a rapid quality screening technique. The methodologies involve objective physicochemical measurements and sensory evaluation (taste panels). Additional studies are concerned with farmers' reaction to new germplasm, socio-economic evaluation of the new materials and product development.The data discussed in the following text is derived from MIISQ fruit obtained malDly from the MET-I and MET-2 at Onne from 1993 to early 1995.Physito-dlemical Evaluation of Mllsa Fruit QualityDry matter content (DMC) has become an important selection criterion during genetic improvement of perishable staple crops. DMC is particularly important when breeding strategies involve wide crosses and ploidy manipulation. Data from cassava have shown that in some cases increased yield associated with increased ploidy was caused by larger cells retaining more water rather than an increase in dry matter yidd. In tenus of quality, DMC is highly correlated with both cooking quality and for some crops, storage life. The pulp DMC of various genotypes was tested as the fruit ripened. The stases numbered 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 refer to peel colour stages (Table 7.1). Most of the fruit characteristics are presented as a function of ripening stases. This is because physical and quality measurements for this crop are highly dependent upon lIS harvest maturity and ripeness stage, which researchers should consider when comparing data sets.As fruit ripened from stage I to stage 9 the pulp DMC decreased (Table 7.2). This was caused by the increase in osmotic potential of the pulp and the consequent movement of water from the peel to the pulp. Osmotic potential of the pulp increases due to the hydrolysis of starch to sugar during ripening. Therefore, DMC measurements should indicate ripeness stage of fruit.In order to generate a reliable DMC average, data from stage 1 and stage.3 were pooled (Table 7.3). The plantain landraces, Obino l'Ewai and Bobby Tannap had the highest DMC at 36%, the plantain hybrids ranged from 31 % to 34% DMC, and Valery had the lowest DMC (23%). These observations suggest that there is a potential to discriminate genotypes by DMC, where higher DMC would imply better cooking quality. The point of most interest in terms of breeding quality was that hybrids showed a DMC closer to their plantain parent than to banana cultivars.Individual fruit size is important in terms of market acceptability. Consumers favour larger fruits and associate high quality with bunches which have 10-20 large fruits.Fruit dimensions were assessed during ripening. However, there were no significant changes in circumference and length over time (Table 7.4).Fruit weight was estimated using the second hand of each bunch. Fruit weight decreased with time after harvest (Table 7.4). This is assumed to be caused by water loss as the fruit desiccates and is correlated with ripening time. The faster the rate of weight loss, the shorter the ripening time.The cooking banana Bluggoe produced the heaviest fruit followed by the French plantain Obino l'Ewai. All the hybrids, except TMPx 582-4 and TMPx 2481, had a fruit weight in the range of 110-150 g. which was significantly less than the plantain parent Obino I'Ewai. The hybrids tended to have more fruits than Obino l'Ewai but a lower individual fruit weight. The dimensions of the cooking banana fruits were less attractive to consumers. Cardaba and Bluggoe had a higher fruit weight than the plantain landraces yet their shape may have make them less acceptable in the market. 1I6 7.2.3 Pulp and peel data Tables 7.5 to 7.9 provide information on the components of bunch weight. Pulp and peel data are normally presented as a ratio. However, due to the difficulties of comparing ratios the data sets are presented as peel weight (Table 7.6). pulp weight (Table 7.8) and their respective percentages of the whole fruit weight (Tables 7.7 and 7.9). The changes in peel weight and peel percentage indicate the relative rates of water loss from this tissue. The peel percentage can be used to indicate the relative thickness of the peel. However, there is only a weak association between peel thickness and ripening time . Nonetheless, peel integrity plays an important role in water retention and protection from damage.Pulp weight increased with time until stage 7. Increasing pulp weight after harvest and the commensurate decrease in DMC was caused by changes in osmotic potential of the pulp relative to the peel during ripening. As sugars increased in the pulp, water was extracted from the peel. After stage 7 the decrease in pulp weight was associated with loss of peel integrity which accelerated water loss directly to the atmosphere. After stage 7 Musa fruit desiccated rapidly, the peel became brown and fruit quality fell dramatically.As a direct measure of yield, the pulp percentage values are easier to compare than pulp : peel ratios. This provides an idea of edible yield . Ten percent of the total bunch weight was subtracted since this was the approximate weight of the peduncle of plantain and banana bunches. After deducting this value from the bunch weight, the edible weight was a product of plant density x growth cycle x bunc!: weight x pulp percentage.Several of the plantains hybrids had similar percentages of pulp to those of the r lantain land races. As expected the cooking banana hybrid had a significantly lower percentage of pulp than both the plantain landraces and hybrids. This sug.~ests a significant parental effect on progeny fruit characteristics.A penetrometer was used to provide an objective method of determining the If. :xture or hardness of fruit. In this way the peel and pulp hardness were tested over the ripening period (Table 7.10). After stage 5 the hardness of the peel decreased dramatically. Significant clonal differences for peel hardness were observed when fruits were evaluated at stages 7 and 9. However, the data set appeared somewhat erratic. This may suggest that this test requires further optimization prior to the generation of conclusive data . Nonetheless, clones showed significantly different pulp hardness (Table 7.11). With the exception of Obi no l'Ewai the plantain landraces had a significantly harder texture than the other clones. Pelipita, a cooking banana, had a high initial fruit hardness and this may be due to the high fruit DMC.FHIA-l and FHIA-3 had lower fruit pulp hardness at all stages as compared with the other clones. However, FHIA-4 had a pulp hardness comparable with that of both the lIT A hybrids and the plantain landraces. This is likely to be due to the parentage ofFHIA-4. FHIA-l and FHIA-3 are banana hybrids whereas FHIA-4 is a plantain hybrid. Pulp hardness, as measured by the penetrometer, at stage 7 and stage 9 is shown in Table 7.12. These observations are from the fully ripe stages. At these stages the plantain landraces are significantly, harder than the lIT A hybrids, cooking bananas and FHIA hybrids, except FHIA-4 . Peel decreased in thickness with stage of ripeness (Table 7.13). However trends within stages were not apparent.In the MET-2 at Onne, the fruits of the plantain Bobby Tannap were significantly harder than those of the plantain hybrids but the plantain Obino l'Ewai had lower fruit hardness at stages 1 and 3 than the hybrids (Table 7.14). As expected the cooking banana hybrid and the dessert banana Valery had lower fruit hardness than the plantain hybrids and the landraces.When the fruit showed clear signs of ripening the rate of pulp softening was slower in the landraces than in the hybrids. Fruits of the plantain hybrids were significantly softer than the landraces (Table 7.15). This is an important faCtor because plantain fruits are eaten when green and unripe and also when fully ripe.Differences in the pulp texture may not be so apparent when boiling unripe fruits but when the fruit ripens the differences will be more apparent to the consumers. At the ripe stage the fruit is fried and if the pulp is too soft the fried chip/slice will either lose texture, absorb more oil or, in the worst case, the fruit will disintegrate during the frying process. The rapid loss of pulp texture exhibited by the plantain hybrids suggests that the parental banana genotype has a stong influence in the hybrid genome. Whilst this difference in quality may be of some concern, it is not yet known how a small but detectable difference in texture will influence market demand. Although the paternal Calcutta 4 genotype may confer many good traits to the progeny (e.g. black sigatoka resistance, short cycle and small plant stature) it has a negative effect on tiuit quality. Consequently, improvement of the diploid parental population is necessary in order to reduce or eliminate the differences between plantain hybrids and landraces. liB 7.2.5 Fruit ripening Ripening was assessed by randomly selecting individual fruits from the second and third hands of each bunch. The bunches were harvested when fruits were fully mature and taken immediately to the laboratory where the fruits were cut prior to selection. Temperature in the experimental area was maintained at approximately 25 0 C and was vented every 2 hours to prevent build up of ethylene. The ripening period was measured in terms of changes in the peel colour over time (Table 7.1). The duration from harvest for fruit to reach each stage of fruit ripeness is shown in Table 7.16, and rankings days to full ripeness (stage 10) for the different materials are given in Table 7.17.Although plantain fruit may be sold at all stages of ripeness tbese data provide an idea of market life. Fruit ripening period is of considerable commercial interest to farmers, retailers and the consumer. For this reason the ripening period of the hybrid should be consistent with that of the parental plantain genotype. The fruits of the hybrids had a significantly longer ripening period than those of the cooking bananas and more importantly had a longer ripening period than those of the plantain 1andraces used as female parents. These observations were consistent with previous studies (see PBIP 1992 Annual Report).Fruit ripening studies were also conducted on entire bunches. The coefficient of variation values (Table 7.18) suggest that the researcher should avoid collecting data from the first hand in this type of assessment. Coefficients of variation, although high, were stable after the second hand.Fruits ofPelipita had the longest ripening time which was consistent with previous observations (see PBIP 1992 Annual Report). Fruits of the other cooking bananas (Fougamou and Bluggoe) ripened rapidly across the bunch as did the banana Pisang Berlin. Generally fruits ofIIT A hybrids showed a similar ripening pattern to the plantain landra<::es, although one hybrid(TMPx 2637-49) was relatively faster ripening that the others. FHIA hybrids included in this study were slightly faster ripening than the IITA hybrids, with the exception ofTMPx2637-49 Data concerning the fruit ripening of a larger sample ofFHIA hybrids when grown under Onne Station conditions are shown in Table 7.19. The mean fruit ripening period (7-8 days) was similar to that of Obino l'Ewai. FHIA-l IIId FHIA-4 had a significantly iongel' fruit ripening period than the other clones. However, there is a need to repeat this analysis with more replication before finn conclusions can be made.Analysis of pasting properties was conducted as a means to assess the potential cooking quality of Musa flour. Flour from all plantain hybrids exhibited a similar viscosity during cooking (Table 7.20). However, there were significant differences in viscosity between Agbagba and Bobby Tannap. Agbagba had a significantly higher viscosity across temperatures than Bobby Tannap. The cooking banana had unexpected low viscosity values. Pelipita, which had a high DMC (39-40%) would be expected to have a comparably high viscosity due to its increased level of starch.However, this was not the case indicating that more research is required to aScertain the properties of Musa starch. The time and temperatures of gelation were similar across all genotypes.Early investigations showed that the rate of ripening of plantain fruit was associated with the rate of weight loss. Therefore daily recordings of fruit weight loss were taken together with monitoring of fruit ripening by the changes in peel colour (Table 7.21). There was a sigmoidal relation between time and weight loss (Gompertz method). The rate factor from the linear analysis was used to compare clonal differences using analysis of variance and average linkage cluster analysis. There were. no clear differences when the values for the inflection point and asymptote were analyzed Pelipita, which had the longest ripening time, showed the lowest rate of weight loss whereas Calcutta 4, the fastest ripening accession, exhibited the highest rate of weight loss. However, Valery and Pisang Iilin, which had relatively high ripening periods, showed high rates of weight loss. This result may have been caused by the shape of the curve, i.e. the line was linear and did not fit a sigmoidal model which was applied to the data set. To avoid this analytical problem only the linear sections of the data sets should be considered which can then be correlated with ripening time.Clonf~s were clustered, through average linkage analysis, in two stable groups at th e 80% level (Table 7.22). Clones which remained ungrouped were those with very high (Calcutta 4) and very low (Pelipita) rates of weight loss.However, the overall grouping was not associated with a threshold rate of weight loss and was not well correlated with the number of days to ripening (stage 7).Colour change was also analysed using a Gompertz sigmoidal model and then grouped with average linkage cluster analysis. Clones were mainly assigned to 2 relatively stable groups at the 70\"10 level (Table 7.13) while Pelipita and Valery were ungrouped. The colour offruit from Valery might have been severely affected by black sigatoka. Fniits of Valery were often harvested before the bunch reached the full state of maturity because the plant was effectively dead due to its high level of susceptibility to this disease. Harvesting of these immature fruit could have had an effect on ripening and hence the ripening process was erratic. Most clones fell into group I and only Fougamou, Cardaba and Calcutta 4 were in group II. This group of clonc:,s ripened most rapidly, within 7 days from harvest, in this trial.The data shown in Table 7.24 were obtained from segregating plantain-banana hybrid populations. The data sets have not been statistically analysed due to the low number of replications. This information may provide the breeder with a rapid means to assess fiuit characteristics of the material at an early stage and could form the preliminary screen prior to a full physical quality screen. One of the problems encountered with penetrometer assessment of pulp hardness was the production of seeds through the open pollination of euploid hybrids. This explains the very high value for the diploid hybrid 9007-4. At Onne Station there is a high level ofpolJen due to the pollination blocks. For this reason seed production is not uncommon in both the hybrids and cooking bananas. Means of pollination may also affect the quality testing. Hence, those hybrids which are prone to seed set will not score well in both physical or sensory tests. The level of seed set of these genotypes in a environment with less pollen i.e. in the farmers field, is unknown at this time. However, It is clear that farmers and consumers will not be attracted to seed bearing fruit.Fruit Damqe and RipeninlAs part of the quality testing procedure fiuits were evaluated for their tolerance to damage. Although fruit damage often has little direct effect on price, the ripeness stage may have considerable effect on market value. Once fruit becomes over-ripe in the market, i.e. above stage 8, the value falls rapidly. Therefore, studies were undertaken to assess the effects of different types of damage on fruit ripening and also to determine whether there were any clonal differences in damage susceptibility. Damage treatments were applied to the mid-section of each fruit, on the flattest available surface.The area of abrasion was 25% of the peel surface. Peel was abraded with a scalpel blade without any dOWl1ward pressure so as not to affect the pulp tissue . Table 7. to an increased rate of weight loss, i.e. moisture loss from the damage region of the fruit (Table 7.26). It is likely that moisture stress then triggered the climacteric which caused accelerated ripening.Abrasion of the fruit at stage 1 caused the peel at the site of the damage to desiccate. This produces a leathery area of tissue which was highly resistant to the penetrometer, hence the high values for stage 1 (Table 7.27). The effect of abrasion on peel and pulp texture depended on the stage of ripeness when the damage was applied. At the unripe stage the fruit tissue desiccated to form an inedible portion of fruit . The fruit peel also fused to the pulp where a large corky area was formed. As the fruit ripened the pulp tended to bruise rather than to desiccate. Thus, when the fruit began to yellow the effect of abrasion on ripening diminished (Fig 7 .2).Although abrasion causes a reduction in ripening period this effect is . dependent upon environmental factors, i.e. temperature and particularly relative humidity (RH). At 50-/0 RH, the ripening period of abraded fruit was reduced by 40% as compared with the untreated control (Table 7.21). However, when the abraded fruit were held at 100010 RH there was no effect on ripening period. This information indicates that the physical damage caused by abrasion was not the cause of the fast ripening. This suggested that abrasion is a passive form of damage which increased the rate of water loss as RH was decreased from 100010. Hence abrasion increased fruit water stress which was the factor initiating the climacteric response and thereby causing premature ripening.A pendulum was used to provide an energy density of approximately 0.75 Newton metres (Nm) cm-2 at the point of impact. Impact damage increased the rate of ripening of Musa fruit but to a lesser degree than abrasion. When impact injury was applied, the ripening periods ofthe plantain hybrids at stage 1 and stage 4 were reduced by 25% and 20% respectively relative to the controls (Table 7.29). In contrast impact had no significant effect on the ripening of the plantain land races or the cooking banana Bluggoe. Although the ripening period of the plantain hybrids was reduced by impact, there was no effect on weight loss due to loss of moisture content (Table 7.30). Unlike abrasion, the impact damage became more pronounced when fruit started the ripening phase (Table 7.31). Hence, ripe fruit suffered more pulp damage by the impact treatment than unripe fruit. This is important in terms of transportation and storage. Clearly when unripe the packing process should take all measures to prevent abrasive injury and when ripe should aim to avoid impact and injuries arising from pressure.A known weight of 26 kg was applied to the fruits for two minutes to provide a quasicstatic loading damage. Quasi-static loading did not have any effect on ripening (Table 7.32).Incision damage was made with a scalpel blade. A 5 em long incision to a depth of I em was performed along the longitudinal axis of the fruits. Incision caused both pulp and peel damage. Incision increased the rate of weight loss in all genotypes tested (Table 7.33). As with abrasion damage, the increased rate of weight loss caused by the incision was concomitant with a reduced ripening period (Table 7.34).It was evident that the abrasion and incision treatments caused the most dramatic reductions in ripening period (Table 7.34). Abrasion reduced the fruit ripening time of the plantain hybrids by 50\"\";' to 60\"\";' as compared with a reduction of 10% to 20% in the plantain landraces. However, it was notable that even when damage '*Ised a reduction in the fruit ripening period, the damaged fruits of the hybrids still had a ripening period which was equivalent to those fruits of the undamaged landrace plantains. This was due to the longer ripening period of the untreated fruits of the plantain hybrids. Hence, the longer fruit ripening time of the hybrid plantain is an importot factor in the potential acceptance of this germpIasm by the farming and marketing communities. One factor which has caused problems with the introduction of coeking Iaananas is the rapid rate of ripening. However, liT A's-tJlack sig&tolca resistant plantain hybrids have a considerably longer ripening period than the local plantain landraces. This may enable the plantain hybrids to sustain fruit injury and yet still maintain a reasonably long fruit ripening period.Incision caused the greatest damage to the fruit pulp (Table 7.35) whereas abrasion caused the greatest reduction in ripening period (Fig 7 .3) and the highest rate of weight loss (Fig 7 .4).Sensory eValuation of Mllsa fruit qualityMusa breeding was initiated more than 75 years ago. However, untn recently hybrid genotypes have not been generated which combine improved yield traits wfri<:h could be tested on a large scale. Lack: of interest from the commercial sector in Mllsa hybrids resulted from the inability of breeding programs to provide hybrid matQrial with disease resistance but also with improved agronomic and fruit quality characteristics compared with available landrace cultivars. However developments in Musa research during the past ten years have overcome some of the problems in Musa breeding and in the last five years breeding programmes e.g. FHIA. and ITr A,have produced a number of advanced hybrids which are considered to have commercial prospects.Havi ng selected hybrids, based on disease resistance and yield, postharvest research aims to provide a means to differentiate the selected hybrids in terms of fruit quality and final product quality. Physical tests can provide an important range of information in terms of appearance, ripening, durability and calorific content. However the final consumer tests are concerned with the quality of the product when cooked using the traditional techniques. Hence to gain a balanced perspective of fruit quality the physical assessments must be combined with taste panel evaluations. Sensory tests are fairly straight forward for dessert bananas as the fruits are only eaten in one form, i.e. raw at the ripe stage. However, prior to comsumption, plantain is cooked according to a variety of recipes and procedures using fruit from all the different stages of ripeness. Therefore, the challenge to the plantain breeder is to develop high yielding clones with fruits having good quality when boiled green or when cooked in the ripe and fWIy ripe forms.Taste panels were carried out on three major forms of cooked product in order to test the quality of plantain hybrids and cooking bananas for West African consumers: (i) boiling unripe green fruits, (0) boiling a pounded dough of SO% unripeMusa and SO% cassava (known asftJftJ in Ghana), and (iii) frying alioes of ripe fruit (known as dodo in Nigeria). As fruits became available taste panels were conducted to provide the breeder with a I\"efaCnc.e matrix and this infurmation wu studied in more detail using taste panel qucstiOllll8ires.The philosophy behind the improvement of agronomic traits hu been to produce heavy bunches with big fruits. In terms of cookin8 quality it wu considered that producing a hybrid with a better eatina quality when UIias wide and exotic material was tmlikely. However, the DT A hybrids have been used to determine which factors consumers associate with quality and to deYelop a means to select the most acceptable hybrids based on thoae traits.Objective physiological measurements were complemented with subjective studies on fruit palatability which was determined using taste panels. These data provided information on important fruit quality characteristics for consumers and indicated potential for consumer acceptability. Taste panels at Onne Station were used for sensory evaluation of boiled unripe and fried ripe fruit. Criteria for testing included taste, colour, sweetness, texture and acceptability. Fruit samples were abo ranked for preference in order to compare 1andraces and hybrids. In addition, taste paneIa were carried out in Ghana at the Crops Resean:hlnstitute (Kumasi) for fitfit, and'itUniversity of Ghana-Legon (Kade Station) for boiled samples. Studies on matoolce and beer preparation will be made in Uganda when liT A hybrids are harvested. Taste panels consisted ofa pool of staff from Onne Statwn. These were conducted as fruit became available and each panel consisted of a minimum often people. During the season ofmaximurn harvest panelists were presented with ten bunches and asked to rank them for preference based on bunch weight and fruit size. Fruit quality tests were conducted on five genotypes and the tests were recorded on a test questionnaire. Panelists were initially presented with five cut fruits which they scored for preference. This test attempted to determine consumer preference for the fruit as sold in the market. Panelists were then presented with samples of the same clones which were prepared by boiling unripe fruit or frying ripe fruit. Tests had a duration ofapproximately 45 minutes.Boiling green unripe fruit Table 7.36 shows the results from taste panel comparisons of 36 Musa clones where fruits had been prepared as boiled sections. The preference for a genotype in each column was compared with that of another genotype in each row. The mean score was used to rank and analyze the overall preference for a clone in all comparisons.The most preferred fruits were those of the plantain landraces Ubok Iba (True Hom) and Agbagba (False Hom), followed by TMPx 2481, TMPx 7002-1, and Obino l'Ewai (French plantain from Nigeria). The ranking ofTMPxgenotypes higher than their materna1 Obino l'Ewai genotype was unexpected. However, this data set may have been biased by the method of analysis and missing values. Some clones which happened to be compared with other poorer quality clones attained a high mean. Conversely, those clones which were tested against higher quality fruit could attain only low values. Despite these obvious limitations there was still evidence of definite preferences. Clearly, the more times a clone was compared the more reliable the result became. The analysis of variance revealed significant clonal differences (Table 7.37). However there were wide bands of similar products due to high coefficient of variation. In terms of fruit quality this was in favour of the hybrids. The plantain landraces had a mean of75 ±12.5%. Hence all those clones which had a mean score of above 40% were not significantly different from the plantain landraces.FHIA-4 had a high score as compared to FHlA-l and the liT A hybridsTMPx 5511-2 and TMPx 582-4. This relates to differences in parental genotypes.  7.36 indicates the preference for each genotype IS compared with the others. For example, the first cell for Ubok Iba shows that when,Ubok Iba and Agbagba were compared, 60% of the panelists favoured Ubok Iba. This data set provide~ information on how individual clones performed against standard clones and other hybrids.The basis for clonal preference in Table 7.36 was explained in more detail by the descriptive analysis (Table 7.311). The quality of the fruit was assessed for colour, taste, sweetness, texture and overall acceptability. The panelists were first required to state whether the fruit sample was good or bad. They were then presented with a number of choices of possible factors underlying their quality assessment.The plantain cultivars were scored as having a very good colour quality. Their pulp had a dark yellow colour after cooking. Also, the panelists considered that TMP3x 14604-2, TMPx 5511-2 and FffiA-6 had very good colour quality. Poor fruit colour was exhibited by TMBx 612-74-offiype, TMPh 15108-6, FHIA-I, FHIA-2, FHIA-3, Tuu Gia and Valery. The colour was considered poor as these fruits were a light yellow or white.Taste scores indicated that the plantains were either ofvery good or good quality. The only other very good tasting fruit was that of TMPx 4479•1 . The hybrid 597-4, TMPx II 12-1, TMPx 6930-1 , TMPxI621-1, TMPx 5511-2, and TMPx 2637-49 had a good flavour. The remaining genotypes were considered to have a fair, poor or unacceptable flavour.Clones with soft fruit texture were the least favoured by the panelists. This indicates that the boiling process was able to break down the fruit structure. In traditional methods of cooking, fruits are boiled in a stew for up to one hour. Therefore, fruits should remain firm during cooking. lIT A plantain hybrids had fruits with the preferred firmness. TMBx 612-74 offiype was initially a cooking banana hybrid derived from a cross between Bluggoe and Calcutta 4. Fruits of Bluggoe had 5% to 6% less dry matter content than those of plantain landraces.This may reduce the boiling quality. Similarly, poor fruit quality was attributed to the des sen banana Valery, which rapidly broke down when boiled.The fruits of plantain landraces were scored as very good to good by the panelists. The fruit quality of the TMPx ranged from very good to fair and only TMP3x 151 OS-6 was considered poor. TMPxh l510S-6 and TMP3x l510S-2 are secondary triploids derived from the cross between an lIT A primary tetraploid (TMPx 4479-1) and a FHIA selected diploid (SH-3362). The fruits of the cooking bananas and the FHIA hybrids ranged between fair to poor. Boiled unripe fruits of the bananas Tuu Gia and Valery were considered poor to unacceptable.In addition to the poor colour and tissue softening during boiling, poor scores could also be associated with seed production in the fruit. Seeds are extremely rare in plantain landraces due to the high female sterility of the crop.Musa seeds are pea-sized, hard, black objects which distinctly reduce the perceived quality of fruit. Seed set may be a problem with the more fertile tetraploid plantain hybrids. It is uncertain how imponant seed set in tetraploid hybrids will be in the future . However, the generation of secondary triploid hybrids is likely to resolve this problem.The results from the sensory assessment were also analysed using correlation, regression, cluster and multivariate analyses to determine groupings based on fruit quality among the clones being tested.Of all the parameters colour was the least reliable as revealed by correlation analysis (Table 7.39). This was surprising since it was assumed that distinct fiuit colours would be easily detected by the panelists. The correlation value (0.7S3, N=36) was probably because the majority of the genotypes (i.e. the lITA hybrids) had a colour which was fairly close to the plantain landraces. All the other quality parameters had highly significant correlations with preference ranking.The linear relationships between preference ranking and the descriptive scores are shown in Figs. 7.5 to 7.9. Plantain landraces are near the origin and the banana landraces are at the opposite extreme.In addition to the assessments of fruit texture which the taste panelists . made, fruit hardness was measured by the penetrometer. If a significant correlation between fruit hardness and the panel scores for fruit texture could be established, this could result in the elimination of fruit texture assessment by the taste panel. This would save time for the taste panel and could provide a rapid test for the fruit quality profile.The average linkage cluster analysis, based on descriptive data, establish three stable groups at.the 75% level (Table 7.40). Only group II may be considered homogeneous since most bananas or their hybrids were in this cluster (Fig. 7.10). Also , principal component analysis did not distinguish any grouping based on taxonomic genomes or parentages.Comparisons of38 Musa genotypes whose ripe fruits were prepared as fiied sections are shown in Table 7.41 . The mean values (Table 7.42 The distinct separation of the plantain landraces from their hybrid genotypes showed the potential problem when breeding a crop which has multiple end-uses. A hybrid may be successfully adopted if this genotypes could perform well when cooked both unripe and ripe. The data suggested that the most critical test for cooked fruit was at the ripe stage since panelists were able to discriminate the higher quality of the plantain landraces. Fruits from banana hybrids and secondary triploids were unacceptable to the taste panel. This suggests that introgressing more banana genes into the hybrid populations may affect fruit quality. Therefore, the fruit quality ofthe parental diploid plantain population should be improved.The quality of unripe boiled fruits was assessed by researchers of the University of Ghana-Legon at Kade ARS . Results were similar to those obtained at Onne (Table 7.46). Boiled fruits of local plantains were the most preferred by the panelists, followed by those of the lIT A plantain hybrids, liT A cooking banana hybrid, the cooking banana Cardaba and FHIA-3 . Descriptive scores provided information for preference ranking (Table 7.47).Taste panels for Juju assessment were carried out by the Crops Research Institute at Kumasi. FuJu using fruits from the lIT A hybrids and the cooklng banana Cardaba were preferred to that cOoked with fruits from the local plantains (Table 7.411). FuJu was made from 50''!. plantain and 50\"10 cassava. This mixture provided a smooth dough-like paste. Plantain hybrids had good taste, texture and elasticity for Juju (Table 7.49). (Information provided by E.K.S. Ahie/cpor, University of Ghana, Katie ARS and Mr. K. Yeboah, Crops Research Institute, Kumasi, Gha\"a) COfIC/usion to taste panel data When taste panels are completed the data sets become more reliable and more stable rankings are recorded. This provides an overall assessment of fruit quality based on the information from the products tested e.g. unripe boiled fruit, ripe fried fruit andJuJu. Hence, taste panels provide a relatively simple method to select clones for further testing.The profile data At a later date when selections for national releases are considered the same fruit quality traits should be regarded as an important aspect for adoption. The best clones in terms of fruit quality would be those which are most acceptable in all fonns oflocal processing.Black Sigatoka and Fruit QualityIt has been established that black sigatoka has a significant effect on fruit maturation (i.e. the period between flowering and harvest). Sigatoka-infected plants have a shorter fruit filling period than fungicide-treated fruit (see PBIP 1992 Annual Report). Effects of sigatoka on fruit ripening remain unclear and this study aims to determine whether sigatoka also causes a reduction in ripening period and how sigatoka affects fruit quality characteristics and shelf-life.Plants of Agbagba (medium False Hom plantain), Mimi Abue (giant False Hom plantain), Obino I' Ewai (medium French plantain) and TMPx 5511-2 (plantain hybrid) are growing in fungicide-treated and non-treated plots in a completely randomized design with six replications each of five plants at Onne Station. All plots are surrounded by the susceptible banana cultivar Valery. The plant crop will be harvested during 1995.Plantain UtilizationHybrid plantains closely resemble but are not identical to their parental plantain genotypes. Hence, there is a need to compare the utilization characteristics of these hybrids with their parental genotypes in terms of product quality. Utilization studies have also proven very useful for extension services, especially with cooking bananas, which have been distributed by UTA since 1988 (see Section 9.7).Several methods of processing, utilization and storage life of plantain products were under investigation in 1994 and were exhibited at trade fairs, farmer's days.etc. This may promote the use of plantain and banana in improved or novel products.Plantain utilization may have an impact when selection is based on potential demand for a product. Utilization studies concentrated on three topics: baby weaning food, expanded snack foods, and wine production as these products were identified as having the most likelihood of commercial and social success.Musa flourlstarch for fructose production and the utilization of flour in drilling mud for petroleum extraction are also being considered for further investigations by PBIP's postharvest team.A project was set up in collaboration with the Grain Legume ImprovementProgram ofIlTA and UNICEF to develop a high quality cheap source of baby food using available products in the local markets. This project was based on earlier work developing baby foods by NIJiORT (Thadan, Nigeria). NrnORT has developed • SoyaMusa\", a blend of soybean and plantain flours .The plantain flour was replaced with cooking banana flour, which was cheaper than that of plantain. The ingredients/formulations (Table 7.50) were cooked through extrusion processing. Extrusion processing rapidly cooked the product at both high temperature and pressure. The resulting exudate was then ground into a free flowing flour . The advantages of extrusion cooking were speed, unifQrmity, hygiene and continuous feed processing rather than batch processing.The process also removed anti-nutritional factors such as the trypsin inhibitors present in uncooked soybeans. The final product was a highly uniform, odourless flour which absorbed water easily to prepare the weaning paste. Once the flour has been produced vitamins and milk powder could be added to produce a highly nutritious product.A good quality baby food should have a high water binding capacity to absorb water rapidly, good water dispersion to rapidly form a uniform paste and a low gelatinous concentration. The relative physical characteristics of the formulations tested are shown in Snack foods were also made using the extrusion process. A series of recipes were tested for physical and sensory characteristics. Physical properties of each formulation are shown in Table 7.53. The products varied significantly across panelists in two Nigerian locations (Table 7.54). There was a significant interaction between site and treatment for appearance, flavour and overall acceptability. A good quality product should have a low bulk density and a high water binding capacity. The extruded snack food had the advantage of being highly nutritious and had low fat as compared with most similar snack foods which were fried in oil. The products varied in quality (Table 7.55). The sensory evaluation of the snack foods identified \"821\" as the most acceptable formulation (Table 7.56).Over-ripe plantain pulp may be used for wine production. Standard brewing resulted in a wine with an alcohol content of about 7-8%. The wine was coloured, using food colouring agents, to produce a \"red wine\" . This cheap wine may be an alternative to the imported altar wine in West and Central Africa. Consequently, the flowering of PITA-l was delayed in the plant crop. In addition, the host response of both genotypes to the black sigatoka (BS) was evaluated in terms of the youngest leaf spotted (YLS).Early records (i.e plant height 4 MAP) showed that the BS resistant hybrid grew faster than the susceptible plantain landrace even under 0 NPK (Table 8.1).However, this early vigorous growth of PITA-I did not result in a higher plant height at flowering due to the pseudostem rotting of PIT A-I . The suckers, which became the \"new\" mother plant in the plant crop, took longer to flower than Agbagba, especially in the alley cropping plots without external synthetic fertilizer (Table 8.1)The high number of plants showing no apical dominance in terms of sucker development before the flowering of the mother plant was most severe in alley cropping fields . This may be a consequence of the farming system as well as the utilization of synthetic fertilizer. More suckers were produced in the control plots (farmer type management) than in the alley cropping plot which had no application ofNPK Similarly more suckers were produced in the alley cropping plots which had fertilizer applications than those which received no additional NPK (Table 8.1). Thus increased production of suckers may be a consequence of enhanced nitrogen fertilization. Indeed, nitrate has been extensively considered as a germination promoter in seed physiology experiments. Moreover, additional nitrate may be produced from the decaying residue of the mother plant.The production of significantly more suckers by the hybrid than the plantain landrace is likely to be the consequence of the genotype of each clone at the apical dominance (Ad) locus. Plantains have slow and poor sucker development because they are homozygous recessive (i.e. nulliplex) for this locus whereas the tetraploid hybrid has one copy of the dominant allele (i .e . simplex) . This gene was inherited in the hybrid from its diploid parent, the non-edible banana Calcutta 4 (see PBIP 1992Annual Report). The Ad gene regulates the production of gibberellic acid, a growth regulator which breaks dormancy and strongly influences sucker development .The increase in levels of synthetic fertilizer shortened the growth cycle, especially in the hybrid (Table 8.1) which responded linearly (R2 = 982%) to the application of NPK The growth of the landrace had a linear response to the application of the fertilizer (R2 = 99 .9%) but only in its early stage (4 MAP) The response of growth parameters of yield to increasing application of synthetic fertilizer followed a quadratic regression. However, this may be a statistical anomaly resulting from the limited number of three fertilizer treatments.Results from this experiment (Table 8.1) indicate that the host response to black sigatoka was only affected by the genotype but not affected by either farming system or the addition of synthetic fertilizer or mulch from the hedgerows.Moreover. the treatments did not have any significant effects on the bunch weight and other yield components in the landrace Agbagba ( Removal or emasculation of the male bud (debudding) may improve fruit size and qUality. In the tetraploid fertile hybrids this cultural practice may avoid seedset since the pollen source has been eliminated. Furthermore, debudding stops insect transmission ofMoko disease through dehiscing bracts.This experiment was set-up during 1993 in the multiplication plots of landraces and hybrids at Onne. Within the same plot, 30 plants of each genotype were chosen at random and 50% of them had their male bud emasculated. The peduncle was broken about IS cm below the last female hand. Data collection for the plant crop (hybrids) and ratoon (landraces) started in 1994. Statistical comparisons were made only within each cultivar but not across cultivars due to the experimental design.Male bud emasculation significantly affected bunch weight or its fruit traits in the plant crop of the ABB cooking banana Cardaba and its derived hybrid FHIA-3 (Table 8.3). FHIA-3 had heavier bunches with many large heavy fruits in those plants in which the male bud was removed. However, Cardaba plants with emasculated male buds showed only a significant increase in tiuit weight. This was concomitant with a significant decrease in number of hands, thereby diminishing significantly the total number offruits per bunch.The bunch weight was not significantly affected by the removal of the male bud in the plant crop of the French plantain landrace Obino I' Ewai and the French plantain hybrids (Table 8.3). Nevertheless, after male bud emasculation larger fruits were harvested in Obino I' Ewai and its offspring TMPx 4698-\\ ,and broader heavy fruits were obtained in TMPx 2796-5 and TMPx 4698-\\ (Table 8.3). This experiment shows the potential of male bud removal nQt only to avoid seed production in the tetraploid hybrids but also to improve their fruit quality.Fruit size appears to be an important quality trait as revealed by taste panel analysis The use of mulch as an organic fertilizer is a technique used throughout the world to promote and maintain soil fertil ity. However, the process of mulch production can range from intermediate use of organic material (as used in backyards) to more sophisticated techniques such as compo sting and sludge recovery. The technique being used in this experiment is composting. This method converts a combination of unpleasant high liquid kitchen wastes and cumbersome garden waste offcuts into an odourless, uniformly sized pre-digested soil conditioner .A 25 m x 4S m field was planted with in vitro propagules of Cardaba at a spacing of 3 m between rows and 2 m between plants within rows. The treatments were: 0 (control), 200, 400, 600, and 800 tonnes of mulch ha-I year-I Tile mulch application was sulHiivided into three equal measures and applied every four months to ensure that plants receive a constant covering of mulch throughout the year. The soil nutrient status in the experimental plots was measured at planting (Table 8.4). This will be repeated on an annual basis to record potential changes in soil fertility. Samples of tile mulch have also been sent for analysis.Based on plant height, a preliminary assessment of the treatment was made at six months after planting (6 MAP). Plots receiving mulch at rates of 400, 600 or 800 MT ha-I year I had significantly taller plants than those receiving 200 Mf ha-I year I or no mulch at all (Table 8.5). The early vigorous growth in plots mulched at a rate of at least 400 MT ha-I year I may result in higher yields. The likelihood for successful transfer of new agriculturaJ technologies to fanners is significantly improved when technologies are delivered as part of a sustainable farming system which considers appropriate access to the market. Moreover, farmers must be able to see a clear benefit of the new cultivars and/or other technology before they will consider adoption in their farming systems. The introduction ofimproved black sigatoka resistant gennplasm will be only effective if farmers provide a beneficial environment for plantain growth. Furthermore, the development of a cultivar profile (rate ofN-P-K fertilization, planting density; type of alley cropping, etc.) should be fine-tuned through on-farm testing (OFT) of the improved germplasm compared with a local cultivar. Two joint activities in southeastern Nigeria with Shell Plc.-Extension Services (Sections 8.5.2 and 8.5.3) were set up to address these issues. 8.5.2 Yield and qUality loss from black sigatoka Loss of plantain yield and fruit quality due to black sigatoka leaf spot have been assessed at UTA stations {see PBIP 1992 Annual Report). These plots are subject to high inputs of fertilizer and management practices and may not be fully representative ofreai farming situations. Further assessment of the host-pathogen interaction requires information from farmers plots to determine the effects of sigatoka disease on yield and fruit quality. Hence, on-farm yield loss assessment from sigatoka and evaluation of hybrid performance under farmer's conditions are the specific goals of the first set of off-station trials carried out by liT A in southeastern Nigeria.Agbagb .. and PITA-2 (TMPx 548,9), under fungicide and non-fungicide treatments, were grown in 38 backyards and 17 farms in Rivers State, Nigeria. Data collection (Tables 1.6 to 8.9) from the plant crop commenced in 1993 but ended in 1994 due to the high incidence of plants (both hybrid and landrace) showing virus-like symptoms. All plots were destroyed. Incomplete data collection does not allow a proper analysis of this experiment. Hence, preliminary results reported below should be taken with caution.AlI genotypes had more healthy standing leaves at flowering in the backyard than in the farmer's fields (Table 8.9). Bunches were heavier and had bigger fruits in the backyards than in the fields. PIT A-2 had higher yield than Agbagba in both backyard and farmer's fields even when fungicide was applied to Agbagba plots (Table 1 .9). This hybrid outyielded the locallandrace by 140% in backyards and 60\"10 in farmer's fields (Table 1.9). Fungicide treatment did not have a beneficial effect on the bunch weight of this hybrid. Fungicide-treated plots of Agbagba in farmer's field had 25% higher yields than the Agbagba control plot (Table 1.9).In 1995, a new set of trials in backyards and farms will be planted in southeastern Nigeria to determine the main components for farmer acceptanwrejection of new germplasm in this region of Nigeria. Black sigatoka resistant cooking bananas (Bluggoe, Cardaba, Pelipita) and dessert bananas (Yangambi km 5) will be compared with local plantain landraces (e.g. Mimi Abue), which will be provided by the farmers as checks. All the propagules of the resistant bananas were in vi/ro mllitiplied between late 1994 to early 1995 .In past yean, PBIP has strengthened its linkages with international, regional and national programs in sub-Saharan Africa and dsewhere. PBIP aims to strengthen NARS through : cooperative research, consultant support, individual degree wining, group training. visiting scientist scheme, transfer of improved MIIsa genetic material. and production packages together with the publication of production manuals, research guides and other training materials.9.2IITA shares germp1asm with partners in developed and devdoping countries under the agreement that this material will not be licensed for commercial purposes.Hence, plantain or banana hybrids developed at lIT A cannot be patented or registered for restricted release. Shoot-tip culture is used as a vehicle for the exchange of Musa gennplasm. A limited number of virus-indexed hybrid genotypes (in the form of proliferating shoot-tip cultures, rooted in vitro plants or nursery seedlings) will be available towards the end of 1995 following requests to PBIP. In 1994 a total of 5000 seedlings/suckers were distributed to NARS and NGOs in southeastern Nigeria. Also, more than 5400 seedlingS/suckers of the Bluggoe, Cardaba, Pelipita and Yangambi km 5 were multiplied for further distribution to public and private NARS in 1995.In 1994, lIT A started      Cooking bananas were introduced from southeast Asia and, therefore, it was not surprising that West Africans preferred the appearance and taste of their traditional plantains. Consequently there has been a predictable slow rate or t'armer Idoption and market acceptance. However, extension services in Nigeria have persevered with the distribution of cooking bananas because of their high yield potential and the threat of black sigatoka. Reports from extension services in southeast Nigeria suggested that reactions to cooking bananas were mixed. In certain areas, IIU1Idy those which have had experience with cooking bananas for more than four to frye years, there is evidence that certain cultivars are being accepted. The major problem for farmers was to find a market in which to stU their produce. In areas which have rejected cooking bananas there was evidence that this may have been due to lack of information on how to process the cooking banana fruit or the absence of a high disease pressure from black sigatoka. This ~tudy was conducted to collate information on the yield performance, cooking quality and current market status of cooking banana in southeast Nigeria.Resistance to black sigatoka was defined as a function between the total number of standing leaves and the youngest leaf with black sigatoka spots at flowering. After flowering, leaf production ceases and the ability of the plant to fill the bunch is thereafter dependent on functional leaf &rea. Therefore closely related genotypes with a higher number of standing leaves without advanced symptoms of sigatoka tend to have higher potential yields. According to this system Agbagba and Obino l'Ewai were classified as susceptible, having 9 standing leaves with a youngest leaf spotted value of 5 at flowering (Table 9.1) . Bluggoe was classified as less susceptible, Cardaba and Pelipita as partially resistant to less susceptible and Fougamou as resistant to partially resistant. Calcutta 4 has been added to the data in Table 9.1 to show that highly resistant cultivars have no signs of advanced leaf spotting due to sigatoka.Triploid landrace cooking bananas were more resistant to black sigatoka than plantains and there was also a resistance range within the cooking bananas (Table 9.2). Cardaba, Pelipita and Fougamou were the most promising cultivars in terms of black sigatoka resistance.Due to the higher level of black sigatoka resistance, cooking bananas significantly (p< 0.05) outyielded Agbagba, producing a 2:3 fold increase in bunch weight (Table 9.2). All the cooking bananas also produced heavier bunches than Obino l'Ewai although this was only significant for Fougamou. Although the bunches of cooking bananas were larger than plantains, plantains are typically sold in terminal urban markets as individual fruits . Therefore fruit characteristics can be equally or more important with respect to market value than total bunch weight.The marketing preference in Nigeria is for large fruits which explains the higher demand for False Horn plantain which produce few, large fruits per bunch.Analysis of fruit number and weight separated the cultivars into four groups. Agbagba produced the lowest number of fruits, an average of 15 fruits per bunch but the largest fruits (P< 0.05) with a mean weight of approximately 300 g.The cooking banana Bluggoe produced the second largest fruits with ali average of 56 fruits per bunch and a mean fruit weight of approximately 200 g . Obino l'Ewai, Pelipita and Cardaba produced between 75-90 fruits per bunch with fruit weights of between 130g and 170 g . Fougamou produced the highest number of small fruits, (p< 0.05) weighing approximately 100 g. In the market, traders actively select for bunches with large fruits which indicates that Fougarnou would be an unsuitable candidate for widespread delivery to the farming/marketing sector.The fruit weights of the cooking bananas, Bluggoe, Cardaba and Pelipita were of approximately the same weight or heavier than fruits of Obino I'Ewai. This would suggest a possible market advantage for cooking bananas compared with French plantain. Unfortunately market value is further complicated by fruit shape.Plantain consumers in West Africa are conditioned to favour the overall appearance and dimensions of plantain fruit. Cooking bananas are typically shorter and fatter than plantain (Table 9.2). Although cooking banana fruit may be heavier than plantain, the different shape makes cooking bananas conspicuous in the market. This clear difference in shape makes cooking bananas less attractive to consumers which presently reduces their market value.Aoother important component of yield is the growth cycle, this is the time from planting until harvest and then from harvest to harvest of the subsequent ratoon crops. Analysis of growth cycle revealed that Cardaba, Bluggoe and F ougamou had an average of 400 days compared with approximately 460 days for Agbagba, Obino l'Ewai and Pelipita (Table 9.2). Therefore, Pelipita and the plantains produced fewer bunches per unit time than the other cooking bananas which would result in a reduced income for farmers.The cooking bananas Cardaba and Fougamou produced the highest total bunch weight, Cardaba and Bluggoe produced the largest fruit size and Cardaba, Bluggoe and F ougamou had the shortest crop cycle. Disregarding the current marketing bias .towards the familiar shape of the plantain fruit, the agronomic data set suggested that Cardaba and Bluggoe were the most promising cultivars.When introducing a new crop type to the market, disease resistance and higher yield may not be sufficient to attract traders and consumers. Having established that the cooking bananas were less desirable than local plantain landraces due to fruit dimensions, tests were conducted to assess the fruit quality compared with plantain.Dry matter content is an important quality screening attribute as it can be measured routinely and is highly correlated with cooking quality and often ripening period. Dry matter is also important when comparing genotypes in order to assess whether a given bunch weight is due to a real difference in yield or simply a difference in cell water retention. Pelipita had a dry matter content of 43% which was significantly higher (P< 0.05) than that of plantain (Table 9.3). The plantain cultivars had a similar dry matter content to Fougamou (36-38%) which was significantly higher (P< 0.05) than those ofBluggoe and Cardaba. Cooking quality is also associated with starch content and despite the clear range in dry rnauer contents between cultivars there were no significant differences in starch content (Table 9.3) Crop harvest is the product of yield, plant density and bunch weight but this does not consider the food value. For Musa, food value is related to pulp content which is considerably reduced after the peel has been removed. Differences in cultivar food value is usually established by comparing the pulp:peeI ratio. However this is a difficult measurement to use for rapid comparison, hence the data are represented as percentage of pulp. Fougamou had a significantly bigher food value (P< 0.05) than the other cultivars with nearly 70\"10 of the fruit being pulp . The plantains and Cardaba had 62% to 63% pulp whereas Bluggoe and Pelipita had a significantly lower (P< 0.05), 57% to 58% pulp . The lower pulp content (4-5%) ofPelipita and Bluggoe compared with the plantain represents a considerable reduction in food value indicating the importance of this parameter in terms of yield comparison.Fruit ripening period was measured to determine the potential marketing period (PMP). Pelipita had a PMP of 18 days from harvest until the fruit reached peel colour stage seven. This time period was significantly longer (P< 0.05), than the other cultivars (seven days longer than Agbagba and at least ten days longer than the other cooking bananas). This extended marketing period may be useful in ripening studies or for marketing fruit regions where produce is transported over long distances or difficult road systems with limited transport facilities. The plantain cultivar Obi no l'Ewai had a marketing period of approximately eight days which was one or two days longer than the other cooking bananas. As Obino l'Ewai is accepted in the marketing system then it is likely that the slightly shorter marketing period of the cooking bananas would be acceptable for transportation and rapid urban marketing.The physico-chemical tests generated information on the plantains which provides a benchmark for fruit quality. The cooking banana Pelipita had a significantly higher dry matter content and longer ripening period (P< 0.05), than the plantains but had a poor percentage ofpu!p. Fougamou had a dry matter content comparable with the plantain and a high percentage of pulp but had the lowest ripening period. Cardaba and B1uggoe had a poor dry matter content, low ripening period and Bluggoe also had a low percentage of pulp. However the tests indicated that the cultivars Pelipita and Fougamou were the most promising cultivars.In 1992 more detailed tests of processing qualities of a range of Musa genotypes were initiated at Onne (see PBIP Annual Reports 1992 and1993). As part of these tests the food quality of the cooking banana culti'lars was compared with plantain.Simple food preparations were selected for the tests and food quality was assessed in terms of colour, flavour, texture and overall acceptability. Sensory analysis was carried out using taste panels because these parameters are difficult or impossible to measure reliably with a physical test.Plantain consistently scored better than the cooking banana. This was expected, as the panelists were familiar with plantain and unfamiliar with the appearance and taste of cooking bananas. However, it was of interest to ascertain whether the cooking banana fruit was considered acceptable and whether or not there was a range in the fruit quality of these cultivars. The scores for Valery a dessert banana were added to the results to provide the full range of response.In the sensory evaluation of boiled unripe fruit, colour data showed a quality scale from 'very good' to 'poor' which related to a colour scale from 'dark yellow/orange' sample to 'pale yellow' (Table 9.4). The plantains scored as 'very good' for colour, the cooking bananas 'fair' and Valery 'poor'. The plantains had a 'very good' flavour, Pelipita and Fougamou scored as 'acceptable' whereas Cardaba, Bluggoe and Valery scored as having a 'poor' flavour. In terms of texture, Pelipita and Bluggoe were scored as 'good', having the same or in the case of Pelipita a 'slightly too hard' texture compared with plantain. Cardaba, Fougamou and Valery fruit were considered 'too soft' after the cooking process. In terms of an overall assessment of boiled unripe fruit, the plantain samples consistently scored from 'good' to 'very good' quality. Pelipita was considered to be of , good' to 'acceptable' quality. Cardaba, Bluggoe and Fougamou were considered to be of , fair' to 'marginal' quality and only Valery was consistently scored as 'poor' and of 'unacceptable quality'. This series oftests clearly established that the panelists could identify plantain samples from a blind test and could also differentiate between the qualities of new cultivar samples. The cooking bananas which scored best from the boiled test were Pelipita and Bluggoe. Rank order showed a consistent trend.A similar test was conducted using fried ripe slices of plantain and cooking banana (Table 9.2). The quality scale ranged from 'very good' to 'poor' which related to a colour scale from 'golden-brown' to 'white'. The plantains and Pelipita scored as 'very good' for colour, Cardaba and Bluggoe as 'fair' and Fougamou and Valery as 'poor'. The scores for taste were in the same cultivar order as colour, except that only the plantains and Pelipita were considered to be of 'good' to 'acceptable' flavour. The other cultivars were all considered to be of 'poor' flavour.Texture data indicated that Pelipita and Bluggoe were of a similar texture to plantain whereas Cardaba, F ougamou and Valery were all considered too soft. The overall acceptability scores showed that Pelipita was the only cooking banana considered to be of a 'good' or 'acceptable' quality. Bluggoe and Cardaba were considered to be of 'fair' to 'marginal' quality, Fougamou was considered as 'poor' to 'marginal' quality and Valery was scored as 'very poor' and 'not acceptable'.The sensory data for the fried ripe samples showed that Pelipita was clearly the best cooking banana in terms of cooking quality. In contrast, Fougamou was considered poor due to the fruit structure breakin down during frying. The fruit colour ofFougamou was too pale and in some cases the vascular tissue turned red during flying providing a most unattractive sample. When fried Fougamou behaved more similarly to the dessert banana Valery. In terms of acceptability Fougamou would only be suited to areas which boiled the plantain in the unripe stage but would be most unlikely to succeed in areas where the predominant form of processing was frying ripe fruit.The taste panel data indicated that Pelipita was the most promising cooking banana in terms of cooking quality. The food quality scores for Pelipita when boiled and fried were similar to the plantain which suggests that this cultivar would be readily accepted in the diets of people in the region. Bluggoe and Cardaba were considered of marginal quality due to their taste and soft texture after cooking.Fougamou was only considered acceptable when boiled. Pelipita and Fougamou were found to be less favoured compared with Bluggoe and Cardaba due to their small fruit size and the fact that bunch preference was for plantain type as opposed to the cooking banana type.During interviews with farmers it appeared that many cooking banana growers used the fruit for home consumption. Although bunch weights of up to 35 kg were recorded for cooking bananas, farrr.ers were reluctant to sell the fruit due to its poor market value. Farmers reported that early attempts to sell the cooking banana fruit at the local markets proved difficult. •In 1989 and 1990 farmers were unable to convince consumers that cooking bananas were an acceptable alternative to plantain. Since that time the value of cooking banana bunches has slowly improved as more farmers sold bunches at the market and consumers became more familiar with the fruit type. Currently, bunches ofBluggoe and Cardaba are being sold at approximately half the price of plantain (Table 9.6). Agbagba held the highest price at approximately 9 Naira per kg. The French plantain Obino l'Ewai was being traded at approximately half this value at 3.5 Naira per kg and cooking bananas were being traded for approximately 1.8 Naira per kg. These data supported the opinions of several farmers that the sale value of cooking bananas was between 30010 to 40010 of plantain.Although this price discrepancy appeared large, when market price data were combined with the yield data from lIT A trials, to generate a gross margin per ha per year, the difference in crop revenue was less extreme (Table 9.6). The values of Agbagba and Obino l'Ewai were then reduced compared with the cooking bananas due to yield losses caused by susceptibility to black sigatoka. In addition the cooking bananas increased in value due to their higher bunch weight and shorter cycling time .Alongside the lIT A studies, extension services involved in this project also made observations on the acceptance of cooking bananas in the villages. These studies have shown that cooking bananas have received a mixed reaction from the farmer community. In the second year of distribution it was found that the cultivar Nzizi was not adaptable to the lowland conditions in Nigeria. Nzizi was only able to produce small bunches and was subsequently withdrawn from the project.In several areas Fougamou was not well received due to poor fruit size but this cultivar was sold in some regions as a dessert banana where it achieved reasonable market prices. Farmers found that Pelipita performed well on fertile. soils with good crop management. Reports concerning Bluggoe and Cardaba were most favourable as bunch sizes were consistently good and the only concerns were related to the poor market value of these cultivarsThe most negative reports on cooking bananas came in 1994, when lIT A was informed that farmers in one region of Rivers State had asked their extension officers to remove the cooking bananas. It was discovered that the farmers in this area had received large numbers ofNzizi . The area extension service, run by NAOC-Green Rivers Project, advised that Nzizi plants be replaced. It was also found that the people were unsure about how to process cooking bananas and consequently all the cooking banana cultivars were being sold as dessert bananas.At the request of the Green Rivers Project, lIT A sent a postharvest team into the region to meet with womens' groups and give advice on methods and recipes for cooking banana preparation. This work has significantly improved the acceptance of cooking bananas in the region .Introducing new germplasm into a region inevitably produces some unforeseen results and it was only after some time that yield stability analysis could be evaluated. This analysis has revealed that Pelipita and Fougamou have high but unstable yields, whereas Bluggoe and Cardaba are more stable (see Section 3.5.2). This would suggest that Fougamou and Pelipita are more suited to backyard production where the plants can receive high input levels, whilst Bluggoe and Cardaba are suitable for both field and backyard production (Table 9.6).Recent reports indicate that Agbagba, Obino I'Ewai, Fougamou, Pelipita and Bluggoe are susceptible to the fungal disease cigar end rot. This disease attacks the fruits during bunch filling, infecting dying flower parts and in severe cases causes total fruit loss. A limited survey showed that Bluggoe and Fougamou were most susceptible to this disease and bunches have been observed in which all the fruit were necrotic. Similar symptoms have also been observed on Pelipita (Table 9.6) Agronomic data indicated that the best cooking banana cultivars were Card aba, Bluggoe and Pelipita, while food quality evaluation found that Pelipita was the closest to plantain and the extension services favoured Bluggoe and Cardaba in terms of market potentiaL Recent information suggests that Cardaba is probably the most consistent cooking banana cultivar in terms of yield stability and overall disease resistance and Pelipita is a strong candidate when cropped in fertile soils.The future demands on cooking bananas in West and Central Africa will depend mostly on the regional severity of black sigatoka. In southeast Nigeria, plantain production continues unabated in backyards and on feltile land and this may explain low market value and slow rate of cooking banana adoption . Yield loss due to black sigatoka is most apparent on less fertile land and the future of cooking bananas probably lies in targeting cooking bananas to those areas which are suffering major losses due to black sigatoka.The experience of introducing cooking banana into West Africa highl ights the need for effective links between farmers, extension services and research institutes. An important lesson from the NARS partnership was that information should be disseminated to the farming community at release, and postharvest information should also be made available prior to the initial marketing phase. The links set up during this project provide the opportunity to channel information to the farmers and to conduct more detailed studies on reasons for adoption and rejection of new cultivars. Specific sites can be used to evaluate sigatoka severity and to continue the process of testing other high yielding cooking banana cultivars which are available in southeast Asia. Results from more detailed studies may enable better targeting of the cooking bananas in the future which may improve their market value. Developing this pathway to the farmers is also a vital prerequisite for the efficient future delivery of black sigatoka resistant plantain hybrids to the farming communities in West Africa. The station is representative for the humid lowland tropical rainforest ecosystem with characteristically high rainfall and only three months when potential evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation.Onne (longitude 7 0 10'E, latitude 4046'N. 10m above mean sea level) has an average annual rainfall of 2400 mm which is distributed monomodally from February to November. Temperatures are high, averaging 270C in the warmest months (February, March and April) and 25°C in July and August, the coolest months. Relative humidity remains high throUghout the year. with average values ranging from 78% in February to 89\"10 in July and September. On average there are only four hours of direct sunshine each day. The range•is from two hours per day in JUly and August to six hours per day in February.A summary of monthly and annual weather data at ORne in 1994 is shown in Table It.l. Total rainfall for the year (2393mm) was close to the long term mean. On 4 November 1994, 116 mm ofrainfaJI were recorded at Onne. About 100 mm rainfall with wind speed of3 .1 Ian h• 1 were recorded in the first 75 minutes alone, accounting for 40\"10 ofthe total rainfall for the month. This was a new record for the station. To maintain the productivity of the soil, shifting cultivation and the related bush fallow systems have been practised in the humid and subhumid tropics. However, with increasing population pressures, fallow periods are becoming too short for soil fertility to be restored. Improved systems for producing food crops are needed. The success of these systems will depend on managing the soil in a way that fertility is maintained.The highly weathered and leached ultisols of the humid forest zone have low base saturation «35% of the effective cation exchange capacity) and very low nutrient levels in the soil solution. Consequently these soils have a low capacity to provide nutrients to crops. Because of their low structural stability, these soils are prone to physical degradation following land clearing. Both soil compaction and surface crusting which result from soil physical degradation reduce the infiltration rate, which in turn increases water runoff and soil erosion. The eventual result is a highly degraded soil. The low productivity ofthese soils has also been attributed to high aluminium (AI) and manganese (Mn) levels which are toxic to plants.Organic matter is a key component of soil fertility, as a reservoir of nutrients, as a main source of cation exchange capacity and as major promoter of aggregate structural stability. Under intensive cultivation the soil degrades very rapidly. This is associated with a substantial decline in organic matter status.Nutrient limitations become apparent and the acidity and aluminium toxicity increase. Furthermore, the structural coherence is diminished which results in accelerated runoff and erosion.Weeds are also a major impediment to food production which is exacerbated by the shortening of the fallow period. ]n some parts of the humid forest zone the weed Imperato cylindrica has become dominant . When this occurs it is almost impossible to return the land to productive cultivation. Biological activities in the soil have a pronounced effect on soil productivity. Soil biological processes contribute to fertility by increasing the amount and efficiency of nutrient acquisition and recycling by vegetation, by the synthesis and breakdown of soil organic matter, by regulating the retention and flow of nutrients, and by the maintenance of good soil physical structure and water regimes.Soil fertility problems of ultisols can be corrected by liming, appropriate fertilization and appropriate agronomic practices. However, socioeconomic constraints often limit the application of these crop production technologies.One of the major objectives of research at Onne Station is to alleviate the constraints of soil fertility which limit the sustainability of crop production systems. Special consideration is given to smallscale farmers who have limited resources to purchase inputs. Results have shown that low applications ofHme are sufficient to reduce toxic levels of Al and Mn. While modest amounts offertilizer application combined with appropriate agronomic practices including intercropping, agroforestry and fallow management systems can sustain high yields.Research has shown that there are a number of processes by which soil productivity can be sustained with low external inputs. These are processes that contribute to the production and maintenance of in situ mulch, soil protection, and recycling of nutrients. Technology developments at Onne Station seek to couple biological processes with improved cropping systems, which enhance the stability and increase the efficiency of resource use. Two main farming systems are being evaluated, namely imprOVed bush fallow management and agroforestry.A key feature of the cropping systems design is to have a flexible system which can be adapted to meet location-specific cultural and environmental needs. liT A's priority crops in the humid forest are cassava, maize, plantain and yarn since they are important components of the cropping systems in this agroecozone. Other crops such as cowpea, are considered as part of the farming system where appropriate.Cassava grows well in acid soils. Since it performs so well under such adverse conditions, cropping systems that are based on this important root crop are essential. Such systems, which have been evaluated at Onne Station, include intercropping of cassava with maize and the rotation of cassava with leguminous species such as cowpea and pigeonpea and leguminous cover crops.Research on intercropping has quantified the productive potential of cassava-based mixtures and cereal-legume combinations. Low-growing species such as egusi melon (Citru/us lunatus) and white melon (Cucumeropsis manii) have been confirmed to have favourable effect on soil conditions and weed control.The use of perennial trees and shrubs in cropping systems has also been studied at Onne Station. In an agroforestry arboretum maintained at the site since 1979, various perennial trees and shrub species have been evaluated for their adaptation to the humid, lowland tropical conditions. They are also evaluated for their potential use in alley cropping (an agroforestry system of growing food crops in alleys formed by hedgerows of trees or shrubs) and other cropping systems.Substantial seed and live germplasm collections of indigenous and exotic multipurpose tree and shrub species have been established and are presently being screened for appropriate agroforestry use in collaboration with the International Centre for Research on Agroforestry (ICRAF, Kenya) and Oregon State University (OSV, USA).Easily established species such as Dactylm:knia (was Acioa) barteri, Alchornea cordifolia, Cassia siamea, Flemingia macrophylla and Gmelina arhorea have been widely tested in alley cropping systems. Such systems show great potential for maintaining soil fertility through the mulch and green manure provided from pruning the trees and shrubs. The mulch also protects the soil during intense rainfall and conserve soil moisture during the drier periods in addition to suppressing weeds. Some of the pruning can also be used as browse or fodder for livestock. The trees or shrubs also provide staking material for food crop plants as well as firewood for the farm family. A further advantage of alley cropping is the recycling of nutrients from deep soil layers. However, results indicate that the trees or shrubs need to be carefully selected for favourable characteristics such as deep root systems which do not compete with the roots offood crops for nutrlents and moisture and that recycle nutrients from deep layers. These trees or shrubs should also have high biomass production of a high quality mulch that suppresses weeds, conserves soil water and requires a low pruning frequency in order to reduce labour costs. Dactyladenia harleri has performed particularly well under this environment and is recommended for on-farm testing. The system is being improved to include a nitrogen fixing legume to enhance soil productivity.Researchers at Onne Station have developed a fallow management strategy in which Tephrosia candida (a nitrogen fixing shrub) is introduced in shifting cultivation or bush fallow systems at the beginning of the fallow cycle. Tephrosia candida enhances the soil regeneration process by increasing the nitrogen content of the surface soil, recycling nutrients from deeper layers and improving soil physical properties in one or two years as opposed to the six or more years required by natural bush fallow.A continuous maize/cowpea rotation has been developed at Onne Station. In this system a maize monocrop is followed by a cowpea crop planted in the rainy season and harvested in the dry season. With an adequate supply of nutrients, low levels ofliming and recycling of all crop and weed residues, maize and cowpea Yields can be maintained. However, cowpea is susceptible to several insect pests and consequently grain yields rer.lain low when insecticides are not used .The inherent infertility and fragility of the soils and the high risk of weed and pest impact are the major constraints to be overcome by viable resource management technologies. The highest priority is to study and develop cropping systems that integrate food crops, multipurpose trees and other plants which have environmental or commodity value. Studies should be intensified to address the rapid decline in productivity observed during continuous plantain cropping in field conditions, as compared with household compound gardens. The 100 hectare farm is divided into blocks mostly 4 hectares each. These are allocated to meet research needs or fallowed with green manure crops to keep fertility and control weeds. Roads and drains are kept cut to enable free movement and maintain tidiness. A complement of machinery is kept to perfonn maintenance, material transport Of research tasks including field preparation. A farm store is kept stocked to provide fertilizers and pesticides for experiments. Tools for farm work are also kept and loaned to the workforce.On-site workshops service and repair all station motor vehicles, motorcycles and agricultural machines. These same workshops also service and repair other research equipment and household appliances,both mechanical and electrical.Staff in this section perfonn building construction and maintenance, other civil works, steel fabrication of research equipment, and woodwork ranging from furniture to large structures.The station electricity supply with standby generators, water supply from deep borehole to overhead tanks, sewage and waste system are all serviced and maintained using latest materials and technology. The unit also extends some of its services to local communities and neighbouring establishments in times of need within practical limits.Onne Station has proved to be valuable for studying management of acid soils, crop production techniques, and screening for resistance to insect pests, fungal , bacterial and viral diseases in most crops. More recently, there has been much success in cross-pollination of plantains and banana, producing unusually large numbers of viable seeds. This enabled lIT A to establish its Musa breeding program.On-farm trials are currently being carried out in cooperation with extension services of public and private organization in the region to test not only disease and pest resistant material but also the potential of improved germplasm and new   , 1991-1993) Tallie 2.10 Genetic eIfccIs in marker loci of segregating euploid planlain-banana hybrids Tallie 2.11 Analysis ofvariance for quantitative traits based on two segregating markers (bs J.black sigatoka resistance, P J. frUit parthcnocarpy) and ploidy in the euploid hybrids derived from crossing Iriploid female fertile plantains with diploid male fertile bananas Table 1.21 Best multiple regression models (stepwise procedure), based on ploidy and genetic effects in marker loci (bs J' P J), which explain heritable quantitative trait variation in bunch and fruit traits of the segregating offspring of Obino I' Ewai x caIcutta 4 Ta~ 2.13 HOSf-rcspoose 10 black sigatoka, as measured by the youngest leaf spotted, of resistant tetraploid hybrids and their susceptible plantain parent (Nyombe, Cameroon 1992-1993) Table 1.24 Means for growth and yield parameters in each environment (cycleJlocation) Tallie 1.2~ Analysis of variance for growth and yield parameters of 18 Musa accessions grown in six clwironments Table 2.26 Analysis of variance for growth and yield parameters of 18 Musa accessions grown in three locations TUie 1.27 Analysis ofvariaDce for growth and yield parametcn of 18MILfo \"'X\"'Sftons grown in IhRe Ioc:ations with two cycles for each iocatiOll Tlible 1.2I'<leKtic; pa1:rmcten of yield po«cntial (MT hi-I year-I) from MllSO gennplasm (Iandraces and hybrids) grown in IhRe lIT A SI8IiOIIs in the humid fORSt (0,-and MbaImayo) and in the forest-savanna transition (JbId;m) 7.onesci West and Centnll Africa Table 3.1 PoIIiDation scheme (complete diaIlel and 2 line x leSter designs) for the improvemenl of diploid pIanIain pal'''I''ions TUie 3.2 New crosses for gendic anaIyseI TaMe 3.J Bunches pollinated, \\alai teed production, average teed set (seeds bunch-I) according to di1ferent \\)lIeS of female parenlJ (0,-, 1994) table :1.4 NOlI 20 po1Ien and 20 poUen pr~ in Mllsa germplasm Table 3.S Non 2n pollen and 2n pollen producen in planlain-banana derived hybrids Table 3.6 Number of clones and -'ling., acaxding to the bleeding scheme, planted in the 1994 Early Evaluation trials (EET -94) Table 3.7 Selected clones in EET-93 (0,-, 1994) Table 3.8 Preliminary yield trial of MlISO germplasm (Oone, 1993(Oone, -1994) ) Table 3.9 Triploid parenl-tetraploid offspring regRSliOO5 for quantitative: traits (PYT -93 -Oone, 1993-1994) Table 3.18 Agroccologic:al characteristics of the testing silts in multilocatioaal trials (MET-2, 1992-1995) Table 3.11 Growth cycle (clays) of plantains, bananas, and their black sigalOD resistanl plantain hybrids (TMPx) al lIT A stations in the humid forest (Onne and Mbalmayo) and forest-savanna tranSition (lbadan) zones in Nigeria and Cameroon (plant and raloon crops, 1991-1994) Table 3.ll Days 10 Oowcringofplantains, bananas etc (as for Table 3.11) Table 3.13 Days for fruit filling of plantains, bananas etc (as for Table 3.11) Table 3.14 Total number ofleavcs of plantains, bananas etc (as for Table 3.11) Table US Plant height (em) of plantains. bananas etc (as for Table 3.11) Table 3.16 Height of tallest Slder (em) at bIrvest of plantains, bananas etc (as for Table 3.(1) Table 3.17 BuDch weight (kg plant-I) ofplantaina, bananas etc (as for Table 3.11) Table 3.18 Number of hands of plantains, bananas etc (as for Table 3.11) Table 3.19 Number offruils ofplaluins, baMO\" etc (as for Table 3.11) Table 3.10 Fruit ien8Ih (em) ofplantajos, bananas etc (as for Table 3.11) Table 3.21 Fruit ciralmfereoce (em) of plantains, baoams etc (as for Table 3.11) Table 3.ll Fruit weight (g) ofplantajns, bananas etc (as for Table 3.B) Table 3.23 Yidd po«entiaJ (MT ha-l yeacl) of plantains etc (as for Table 3.11) Table 3.24 Evolution of additive linear stochastic models 10 explain genotypc-by-environmenl interaction Table 3.l!I Analysis of variance when stability parameters were estimaled in experiments consisting of 16 clones (c) grown in 6 environments (e) Taltle 3.26 Stability parameters for bunch weight (kg plant\" I) of Muso germplasm in WCS1 and CentraJ Africa Table 3.27 Stability parameICI$ for yield potential (MT ha-I year\" I) of MIlSO germplasm in West and Centnll Africa. TIIIIIe 3.lI! Genotype-by-environment cffcx:ts for bunch weight (kg plant-I) of genotypes harvested in the six environmenlJ of MET -I Table 3.l' Geootype-by-environmenl cffcx:ts for yield potential (MT ha-l yeal'\" I) of genotypes lwvest.ed in the six CllVironmen1l of MET-I Table 3.30 GIowth parameIen of yield and yield components of MI/SO gennplasm (plant crop -Onne, 1992-1993) Table J.3. Growth paramclCn of yidd and yield compooents of MlISO germplasm (plant crop -  135 Top yielding clones based on bunch Mighb (kg plant• l ) in MultiloclliooJa1Evalualion Trial 2 (MET.2) in plant CRIp aDd ratoon crop, 1992•1994 Table 3.36 Enuics in Multilocalional Evaluation Trial 3 (MET•3): An Africm•AliaD-LaIin America putnmbip, spoosored by m A, for the bcndit m . . Africm mwllboldr.r Table 3.37 Growth parameten of yield aDd yield components of MII8Q gmnpIMm (plant crop • Kade, GhaJIa 1993-1994) Table 3.38 Correlation based on plot means ofTMPx 548-4 for growth aDd yield paramden across six environment in West and Central AfriI:a (1991-1994) Table 3.~ Correlation based on plot means ofTMPx 16S8-4 for growth aDd yield parameters across six environment in West and Central Africa (1991)(1992)(1993)(1994) Table 3.40 Correlation based OIl plot means of Obino I' Ewai for growth and yield parameters across six environment in West aDd Central AfriI:a (1991)(1992)(1993)(1994) Table 3.41 Correlation based on plot means ofTMPx S82-4 for growth and yield parametCrs across six environmentin West and Central Africa (1991)(1992)(1993)(1994) Table 3.42 Correlation based on plot means ofTMPx 2796-5 for growth and yield parametcn across six environment in West and Central Africa (1991)(1992)(1993)(1994) Table 3.43 Correlation based on plot means of Bobby Tannap for growth and yield parameteJs across six environment in West and Central Africa (1991-1994) Table 3.44 Correlation based on plot means ofBluggoe for growth and yield parameters across six environment in West and Central Africa (1991)(1992)(1993)(1994) Table 3.45 Correlation based on plot means of Cardaba for growth aDd yield parameteJs across six environment in West and Central Africa (1991)(1992)(1993)(1994) Table 3.410 Genetic (above diagonal) and pbenotypic (below diagonal) com:latiODl and broad sense.heritability (in the diagonal) in 63 diploid plantain-bmana hybrids (plant and ratoon crops• Onne. 1991•1993) Table 3.47 Genetic (above diagonal) and pbeDotypic (below diagoaal) correlatious and broad sense heritability (in the diagonal) in 5 triploid plantain-banana hybrida. (plant and ratoon crops -Onne, 1991-1993) Table 3.48 Genetic (above diagonal) and phenotypic (bcIow diagonal) com:laIionI and broad sense heritability (in the diagonal) in 22 tetraploid plantain-banana hybrids, (plant and ratoon crops -Onne, 1991-1993) Table 149 Growth parameters (means and standard errors) ofyieJd, host plant lupouse to black sigalOka and yield COIIlpOJlCIIIs in parents. F I and F2 genaationa or the cross Agbagba French Reversion (PI) x Calcutta 4 (P2) (ratoon crop -Onne, 1992-1993) Table 3.50 Statistics ofmquency distribution ofF2 genCllltiOD in cross 'Agbagba' French Reversion x Calcutta 4 (Ratoon cycle, Onne, 1992Onne, -1993) ) Table 3.S1 Broad sense heritability (H2) and types of gene action in 'Agbagba' Fmx:h Reversion (AAB) x Calcutta 4 eAA) derived F2 population (ratoon crop -Onne, 1992-I 993)  5.10 Analyies of variance of bast response to black sigatokl leaf spot disease: at flowering as measured by number of .... ndi n , lcaves, Y\"\" • ..,.. leaf spottcd. >\"\"'\"CCsI leaf with sympIDIIIs, totaIlc:af area attacked by black sigatok-eli-..: in a ()..6 scale, or in ~ and index of _ _ with occropc spots, based on the gcaotypc and oct efI'ect of intralocus interaction of bs riocus in euploid hybrids derived from croues betweeu the FreDCb plantains Obino I' Ewai and Bobby TmDIp with Calculla 4 (Chlac, 1991(Chlac, -1993) )    5.17 Roof health and nellJ8lOdc population in MIISQ germplasm from flowering to barvcsI ~ Ghana 1994) Table S.18 Incidence of nematodes in 10 g of Mum rooIs from flowering to harvcat (H) (Kade, Ghana 1994) Table 11.19 Musa clones exhibiting pcn:nniaI vigour after > .5 years in the same field genrhanks on the poor soils whicb may be indicative of a good root system andIor _todc resistance (Onne, 1994-199.5) Table S.1O ANaYA of virus like-symptoms incidence in MET trials (based on indivickial clonal means per each environment) (West and Central Africa, 1992Africa, -1994) ) Table 5.11 Environmental and clonal means of virus-like incidence (%) in MET-I (Nigeria andCameroon, 1992-1994) Tablc: S.ll Environmental and clonal means of virus-like incidence (%) in MET -2 (Ghana, Nigeria andCameroon, 1992-1994) Table 6.1 Monthly overview of ;/1 vitro germination of seeds bandied by the Plantain and Banana Tissue CultuJe Laboratory (Oone,I994)  Iandraces andbybrids (Oone. 1993-1994) Tablc: 7.3 Mean fruit dry matter content (DMC, %) during ripening stages I and 3 for a selection of Musa 1andraces and bybrids (Oone, 1993-1994) Table 7.4 fruit cbaracteristics for a selection 01 Musa IaDdraces and hybrids at dift'erent ripening stages (Onne, 1993-1994)   Table 7.5 fruit physical characteristics at ripening stages I and 3 for a selection of Mum landraces and bybrids (Onne. 1993-1994) Table 7.6 Peel fresh weigbt (g) at different stages of fruit ripening for a selection of MUSQ landraces and hybrids (Onne. 1993(Onne. -1994) ) Table 7.7 Changes in peel fraction (\"/0 of fresh fruit weight) during fruit ripening for a selection ofMIlsQ landracesand hybrids (Onne. 1993(Onne. -1994) ) Table 7.8 Pulp fresh weight (g) at different stages of fruit ripening for a selection of Musa landraces and hybrids (Onne. 1993(Onne. -1994) ) Table 7.9 Changes in pulp fraction (0/. of fresh fruit weight) during fruit ripening for a selection of MllSa landraces and hybrids (Onne, 1993(Onne, -1994) Table 7.10 Peel hardness (penetrometer readings. max Nm mm-2 ) at different stages offruit ripening in a selection of MUSQ Iandraces and improved clones (Onne. 1993-1994) Table 7.11 Pulp hardness (penetrometer readings. max Nm mm-2 ) at dift'erent stages of fruit ripening in a selection of Musa Iandraces and improved clones (Onne. 1993(Onne. -1994) ) Table 7. 12 Mean pulp hardness (penetrometer readings. max Nm mm-2 ) during fruit ripening stages 7 to 9 in a selection of Mum landraces and Improved clones (Oone, 1993(Oone, -1994) ) Table 7.13 Peel thickness (em) at different stages of fruit ripening in a selection of Musa landraces and improved clones (Onne. 1993(Onne. -1994) ) Table 7. 14 Pulp hardness (penetrometer readings, max Nm mm-2 ) at different stages of fruit ripening for a selection of Musa clones (Onne, 1993-1994) Table 7.15 Mean pulp hardness (penetrometer readings, max Nm mm-2 ) during ripening for a selection of Musa clones (Oone, 1993-1994) Table 7.16 fruit ripening time (days after harvest) for a selection of MllSa Iandraces and hybrids (Onne. 1993(Onne. -1994) ) Table 7.17 Rank order of days to fruit ripening (pooled data for stages 6,7 and 8) for a selection ofM\"sa Iandraces and hybrids (Oone, 1993(Oone, -1994) ) Table 7.18 Buneh ripening (days after harvest) for a selection of Musa clones (Onne.1993(Onne. -1994) ) Table 7.19 fruit ripening time (days after harvest) for six Musa clones from FHIA and one wild diploid banana (Onne, 1992(Onne, -1993) ) Table 7.20 Pasting properties for selected Musa clones (Onne. 1992(Onne. -1994) ) Table 7.21 Coefficient of[ruit weight loss (0/. day .1) for a selection of MUSD clones (Onnc,1993(Onnc, • 1994) ) Table 7.22 Average linkage cluster analysis based on rate of fruit weight loss of Musa clones (Onne, 11193•) 994)Table 7.23 Average linkage cluster analysis at the 70\"/0 level based on change of fruit colour of Mwsa clones Table 7.14 Physical fruit characteristics of Musa hybrids in segregating populations Table 7.lS Effect of abrasion on fruit ripening period (days) of plantain, banana and their hybrids. Table 7.16 Effect of abrasion on rate of daily fruit weight loss ('Yo) of plantain, banana and their hybrids Table 7.17 Effect of abrasion on hardness (penetrometer readings, max Nm mm' 2 ) of fruits of plantain, banana and their hybrids Table 7.21 In1luena: of rdative humidity (RH) on fruit ripening period (days) of abraded fruits Table 7.19 Effect of impact injury on fruit ripening period (days) ofplantain, banana and their hybrids Table 7.30 Effect of impact injury on daily fruit weight loss (%) of fruil of plantain, banana and their bybrids TMie 7.31 Effect of impact injury on pulp (% damage) of plantain, banana and their hybrids Table 7.31 Effect of compressing pressure on fruit ripening period (days) of pllIJIIain, banana and their hybrids Table 7.33 Effect of incision on fruit weight loss (0/. day.l) of plantain, banana and their hybrids  7.45 Average linkage cluster analysis, at the 7S% level. based on quality traits for dodo as measured by taste panelists at Onne Table 7.46 Taste panel preference for unripe boiled fruit (Kade, Ghana) Table 7.47 Descriptive analysis for taste panel data on unripe boiled fruit (Kade, Ghana) Table 7.48 Taste panel preference for fofu (Kumasi, Ghana) Table 7.49 Descriptive analysis for taste panel data onfofo (Kumasi, Ghana) Table 7.50 Recipes for cooking banana(ABB)-and plantain(AAB)-based extrudates Table 7.51 PhYSical and functional properties of cooking banana• and plantain• baaed extrudalcs Table 7.51 Nutritional composition of cooIting banana-and pIaDtain-based snack food Table 7.S3 Scores of different extrudates in adult's sensory evaluation test (using a 9-point hedonic: scale) Table 7.SoI Analysis of variance on adult's sensory evaluation ofCruit extrudates at Ibadan and Onne Table 7.55 Analysis of variance (F.ratio) for fruit quality attributes of the extrudatcs (based on child's sensory evaluation) Table 7.56 Scores of different extruclates in child's sensory evaluation test  [1993][1994] Table 1.3 Bunch weight and its components of nine Muso clones with male bud W2S retained (+)orrcmoved (-) (Onne, 1993(Onne, -1994) ) Table 8.4 Soil nutrient slatus at planting of mulching experiment (Onne, 1994) Table I.S Plant height in mulching experiment at six months after planting (Onne, 1995) Table 1.6 Plant height <em) of a Iocallandrace and a plantain hybrid in fungicide treated and control plOCS grown in farmers' fields Table 1.7 Number of standing leaves at flowering of a Iocallandrace and a plantain hybrid in fungicide treated and control plots grown in farmers' .fields Table 8.11 Percentage of healthy leaves, as measured by the\" index of non-spotted leaves, at flowc:ring of a Iocallandrace and a plantain hybrid in fungicide treated and control plots grown in farmers' fields Table 11.9 Host-response to blade sigatolca, bunch weight and components of a locaIlaDdrace and a plantain hybrid in fungicide and non-fungicide treated plocs in backyards and farmers' fields Table 9.. Host response of plantain and cooking banana to blacl< sigatoka in southeastern Nigeria (1991-1994)   Table 9.2 Agronomic comparison of plantain and cooking banana cultivars in southeastern Nigeria (1991Nigeria ( -1994) ) Table 9.3 PhysiC<Khemical comparison of fruits from plantain and cooking banana cultivars in southeastern Nigeria (1991)(1992)(1993)(1994) Table 9.4 Sensory analysis of boiled unripe fruits of plantain and cooking banana cultivan in southeastern Nigeria (1991)(1992)(1993)(1994) Table 9.S Sensory analysis of fried ripe fruit of plantain and cooking banana in S(IIdbeaslem Nigeria (1991Nigeria ( -1994) ) Table 9.6 Problems and prospects of plantain and cooking banana in southeastern Nigeria (1991)(1992)(1993)(1994) Table 10.1 Monthly and annual summary of weather data at Onne in 1994  ------------------              Table 2.11 Segregation for bla,'k sigatoka resistance assuming tetrasomic inheritance after crossing resistant (R, nulliplex for major locus and balanced diallelic for U,e other 2 minor                                 Coefficient of Variation (%) 23.4   Diploids : 565-16 , 566,32, 1199-6, 1586-2. 5020-1 , 5620-1. 1448-1, 1549-5, 1549-7. 9243-2 , 9243-5. 14558-1 , 14676-2. Triploid: 1199-1Tetraploids : 1621-1. 4424-1. 4744-1 . 4698-1 , 5860-1 , 7002-1. 597-4, 2637-49, 6562-1.Bobby Tauap I Calcutta 4Dip: ~i Is: 11 35-1. 148735-1. -3, 148935-1. -3, 165935-1. -2, 166835-1. -7, 208535-1. -1 , 262535-1. -5, 151835-1. -4, 262535-1. -20,282935-1. -62 . 2625-20,3564-8, 4250,1,4250-2, 4281-2, 4400-3, 4400-5, 4600-15, 3564-7, 4281-3,4364-1, 4800-1 , 4885-1,5233-1 , 5233-2,5837-1 , 9007-4, 10033-5. Triploid: 7261-3 -20,3564-8, 4250,1,4250-2, 4281-2, 4400-3, 4400-5, 4600-15, 3564-7, 4281-3,4364-1, 4800-1 , 4885-1,5233-1 , 5233-2,5837-1 , 9007-4, 10033-5. Triploid: 7261-3 Tctraploids: 1187-8, 2870-20, 4479-1,8223-1.Bobby Tanaap I Piung lilia Tetraploid: 27%-5A~agba Frcach Reversion x Cakutta 4F 2 : 8096-12, 80%-13, 80%-22, 80%-26, 8256-4, 8256-4.   with parthenocarpic orange flesh fruits Kamaramasenge x C4 BSR, average yielding bunch but with many small seeded fruits, potential parent of cookinglbeer banana hybrids for ESARC? TMP2. 2829~2. Pisan Iilin (PI) BSR (maybe 3 sources), subhorizontal bunch with big parthenocarpic fruits TMP2x 2625-20 x PI BSR (maybe 3 sources), tall plant with regulated suckering behavior, heavy subhorizontal bunch with medium size parthenOC3Jllic fruits TMP2x 2829~2 x PI BSR (maybe 3 sources), pendulous average yielding buncn with big fruits TMP2x 2829-62 x PI LSBS, low apical dominance, subhorizontal average yielding bunch with parthenocalJ'ic fruits 'IntellSity of selection was about 1%• Direct soil germination of the seed, otherwise through in vitro germination (\").        \"' . .     -The experimental design was a randomized complete block with 2 replications (r) --------------------------------------.---------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------------   • indicates that the effect of the interaction was ignificantly different from zero. • indicates that the effect of the interaction was ignificantly different from zero.      OF -dayI to flcnmiD&\". TNL -toIaI number of 1 _; PHplanl bcighl, em; HI'Shbcigbt of IalJeat sucker at harvaI, em; DFFdays for fruit filling; BW -bwK:h Mighl, q; H -IIUIIIbcr of bands; F -number of fruiII; FL -fruit \\enath. cm; FCfruit circumfcmlce, em.      Z ni were 14 and 17 for those traits recorded at harvest in PIT A-3 and Agbagba, respettively.(Original data provided by E.K.S Ahie!rpor. University a/Ghana. Katie ARS).                             • Coe1ficicnt of con-elation (r) was significant at the5% or at \\be 1% when r was either 0.8110r 0.917 .respectively.   -------_.._--   ._---• Means followed by the same letter are not statistically sIgnificant at the 5% according to Studcnt-Neuman-Keul's Multiple Range Test.   • Indicates that the genotype-by-environment effect was Significantly different than zero at \\be 5% level.  (Onne. 1991•199:1) .-----_ ._--_ . .    , indicates significance at the 5% and 1% levels, respectively . 3,2    (l'abulated data provided by K. Afreh-Nuamah, University of Ghana. Katie ARS).•DAF = days after flowering A W AF = weeks after flowering   Coefficient of variation = 6.0%                LSDoool between geoot)pes (G)               Z on a scale: I = excellent to .5 -very poor Yon a scale: I = white; 2 -yellow; 3 -darlt yellow;                       (sed): between genotypes (G) = 0.2; between treatments (T) = 0.2; between sites (S) = 0.4; between GT = 0.2; between GS = 0.5; between ST = 0.5; between GTS = I; Coefficient of variation = 23% (sed) : between genotypes (G) = 2; between ueaunents (T) = 2; between sites (S) = 6; between GT = 3; between GS = 8; between ST = 8; between GTS = 11 ; Coefficient of variation = 38 %   Max.Mia. Max. Me ..(5) (6)        Effect of abrasion on rate of fresh fruit weigth loss of plantain, cooking banana and plantain hybrids The fusing tolerance of plantain, cooking banana and plantain hybrids after abrasion Mechanical injury and fruit ripening period (days) of plantain, cooking banana and plantain hybrids Effect of postharvest injury on decremcntal coefficient of the initial fresh fruit weight of plantain, cooking banana and plantain hybrids Relationship between fruit colour and preference ranking for unripe boiled fruit in taste panels Relationship between fruit taste and prd\"enmce ranking for unripe boiled fruit in taste panels Relationship between fruit texture and preference ranking for unripe boiled fruit in taste panels Rdationship between fruit sweetness and preference ranking for unripe boiled fruit in taste panels . Relationship between fruit overall acceptance and preference r~g for unripe boiled fruit in taste panels Dcndogram from non-hierarchical cluster analysis using sum of squares and cross products based on quality of unripe boiled fruit . Relationship between fruit oolour and preference ranking for dodo in taste panels Relationship between fruit taste and preference ranking for dodo in taste panels Relationship between fruit texture and preference ranking for dodo in taste panels Relationship between fruit sweetness and preference ranking for dodo in taste panels Rel3tionship between fruit overall acceptance and preference ranking for dodo in taste panels Dcndogram from non-hierarchical cluster analysis using sum of squares and cross p~ucts based on fruit quality for dodo   . .    ..     Youngest leaf with symptoms      "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ca70d819bb35fb0db7e4e11bb3fd310d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8f885757-9f53-44b4-9c3c-709247fae503/retrieve","id":"-1312778403"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"84f7eb2c-6676-4c44-a179-accbc94c8c78","content":"Despite African consumers under-consuming nutrient dense fruits and vegetables (FV) and animal products (AP), and the farm production and supply chains of these products are fraught with constraints that keep them from operating optimally, we find abundant recent evidence of dynamism in these sectors. To wit: (1) consumption of these products in levels and shares is already substantial and growing rapidly; (2) supply of these products is growing rapidly, just not yet much faster than population growth;(3) supply growth is manifested in a number of countries by dynamic \"meso booms\" with diffusion of farming and growth in midstream (\"Hidden Middle\") value chain segments; these booms are \"grass roots\" driven, without subsidy or management by government or NGOs or large companies. We reviewed recent survey-based evidence of these booms and discussed the drivers. The policy implications are the need for governments to invest in the conditions we found to be enabling these booms, that is, roads and wholesale markets and electrification and other infrastructure hard and soft.The supply and demand of nutrient-dense foods, such as fruits and vegetables (FV) and animal products (AP), have been found to be inadequate and too expensive for most consumers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, WHO, 2023). The international debate has mainly focused on the constraints and problems fueling this inadequacy. While we acknowledge the challenges and inadequacies, we believe that the debate's focus on them has led to inadequate attention to the rapid growth of consumption and supply of these products, and to a widespread reference to a \"missing middle\", the idea that there has been little to no growth in the midstream segments of domestic value chains (VCs) of the products in SSA.By contrast, we find substantial levels and rapid growth of both demand and domestic supply of these products, and \"meso booms\" including rapid growth in farming of these products and dynamism in the growth of the midstream of their VCs. We contend that rather than a \"missing middle\" there is a \"hidden middle\" (Reardon 2015;Reardon et al. 2021), as the dynamism of the midstream, and the rural production that fuels it, has been \"hidden\" from the debate. We believe that the debate's focus on the constraints has caused a relative neglect of the evidence of this growth. That neglect limits the international debate's ability to learn policy lessons from these booms and better support the growth of these value chains in a way that can improve the per capita consumption of these products.In this paper we lay out evidence of substantial (but still inadequate) and growing consumption and supply of these products. We use a mix of macro supply data, micro consumption and enterprise survey findings, and \"meso\" level analysis of findings from survey data on spontaneous (as opposed to government or NGO managed) clusters of farms and midstream firms, supplying inputs and agricultural services, wholesaling and processing output, and providing third-party logistics or 3PLS.Our case illustrations focus on \"meso booms\" that feature \"endogenous growth\", that is, spontaneous and \"grass roots\" rapid development in situations where enabling conditions were present. We chose this focus for three reasons. First, we want to show that when enabling conditions exist, in particular where there is a demand pull from urban growth and governments invested in roads, electricity and wholesale markets, rapid spontaneous growth in local SMEs occurred. That challenges the myth that domestic SMEs are stymied and not demand responsive. That further opens the debate about how to get governments to make more of these crucial investments. Second, we want to show that SME farms and midstream firms made their own investments when the enabling conditions were in place. This counters what we think is a skewed focus in international debate on investments made \"for them\" by external actors (like big companies or agroparks or NGOs or government subsidy projects).We pointedly do not discuss cases where NGOs or governments or large companies set up and/or subsidized growth, because we think these cases are already very visible in the debate and literature, and these programs form a small share of supply. We seek to show what the market actors are doing in non-artificial (non-subsidized) situations where only the enabling environment was in place. We focus on domestic markets, not export markets. This is again because we want to consider the most common situations; exports are less than 1% of output of FV and AP in SSA (Awokuse et al. 2019). We also focus on cases of proliferation and growth of small and medium enterprise (SME) farms and midstream firms. This is because the great majority of the SSA food economy is in the \"transition stage\" of VC transformation where SMEs dominate. The \"modern stage\" is still small and just emerging in Africa (Reardon et al. 2019), although there is evidence of its emergence spurring inclusive development in some situations (Maertens and Swinnen, 2009).We proceed as follows. Section 2 shows macro data concerning the growth in supply (and consumption) of FV and AP foods in SSA. Section 3 reviews micro data showing substantial levels (though still inadequate) and growth in consumption of FV and AP. Sections 4 and 5 present recent survey-based studies of \"meso booms\" of farms and firms in value chains (VCs) of FV and AP in various countries in SSA: fish in Nigeria, dairy in Ethiopia, and vegetables in Tanzania, Zambia, and Ethiopia. Section 6 concludes with policy implications and an agenda for further research. Dolislager et al. (forthcoming) shows macro data adapted from FAO Food Balance Sheets for domestic output and imports and the degree of adequacy (relative to requirements for a healthy diet drawn from Harris et al. 2022). They cover 10 years (2020 versus 2010). Several points stand out.First, the great majority of supply (and consumption) of animal products, fruit, and vegetables in SSA is from domestic supply: 90% of animal products, 98% of fruit, and 96% of vegetables. Imports (in tonnage terms) form only 10%, 2%, and 4% of the consumption by disappearance of these three product categories in SSA. The low shares of imports for FV and AP are at odds with what we believe to be the widespread view that SSA is strongly import dependent for these products. SSA's import shares are close to those in Asia and both are below the average import shares globally.Second, SSA's per capita supply of AP and FV is starkly below (about half) that of Asia and the world. It is also well below (33%, 40%, and 55%) the healthy-diet adequacy level for AP, fruits, and vegetables, respectively. Asia by contrast is above adequacy by 18% and 9% for AP and vegetables, but in fruit inadequate in a degree similar to SSA. SSA's degree of adequacy in these products barely changed from 2010 to 2020.Third, in contrast to the problems of adequacy and stagnancy per capita over a decade, total output of these products soared over the decade in SSA: 29% for animal products (versus 31% in Asia), 43% for fruits (versus 26% in Asia),and 35% in vegetables (versus 25% in Asia).We next explore the trends with a longer time lens, focusing on AP. Delgado (2003) noted that there had been a \"livestock revolution\" -a rapid growth in AP consumption per capita in developing countries from the 1970s to the mid-1990s, driven by increases in population, urbanization, and incomes. The increase in meat and milk consumption was more than twice the market value of the increase in cereals consumption that occurred in the \"Green Revolution.\" While the growth was rapid, by the late 1990s, consumption per capita was still only one third the meat and one fifth the milk consumed in developed countries.In sharp contrast to Asia, SSA's meat and milk consumption stagnated per capita in the 1980s-1990s (Delgado 2003). We analyzed FAOSTAT FBS (food budget sheet) data comparing 2000 to 2020 to see if the situation had improved. Keep in mind that SSA population increased nearly 2-fold over those two decades.We found that in absolute terms output grew rapidly but did not exceed population growth in red meat (whose output increased 2-fold) and fish and seafood (whose output grew 1.7-fold). Thus though both sets grew fast they just kept up with population growth so per capita output did not grow. By contrast, dairy output grew 2.6-fold and poultry and eggs, 3.8 fold, both faster than population growth, so output per capita grew. This points to an important paradox. While SSA is experiencing major success in increasing total supply (still largely domestic), SSA still has limitations in the adequacy of these nutrient-dense foods. This inadequacy is because supply (though increasing) is not yet outpacing population growth except in fruit and dairy and poultry. The good news is that there is rapid growth in these foods and this is reflected in a number of booms at the meso level in the supply of these products. The challenge is that the growth of these products in the aggregate is not yet sufficient to remove the macro level inadequacyand thus the need for domestic supply to grow even faster.3.1 Urban SSA shares of AP+FV already exceed those of starchy staplesand are similar to developing Asia Dolislager et al. (forthcoming) analyzed LSMS consumption data for 11 SSA countries and compared \"high-food-budget countries\" (in relative terms), including Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal with \"low-food-budget countries\" (including Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Niger, and Togo). Note that these are not higher income and lower income countries, just higher food budget and lower food budget. Here we examine their urban findings.Consumption patterns in urban SSA are of special interest for several reasons: (1) urban areas consume around 50-60% of all food consumed in SSA and 60-70% of marketed food (Liverpool-Tasie et al. 2021); (2) urban areas form the main market for farmers and thus are crucial in creating the incentives for farmers to produce AP & FV; (3) while consumption patterns in urban areas usually have higher rates of consumption of AP and FV than rural areas (in part because of Bennett's Law; Popkin and Bisgrove, 1988), historically it is common for the rural consumption patterns to eventually shift toward the urban ones.For urban areas of high-food-budget SSA countries, Dolislager et al. (forthcoming) found that the consumption share of AP+FV 1 exceeds that of starchy staples (grains and roots and tubers): 34% (AP+FV) versus 30% (starchy staples). Urban areas of low-food-budget SSA countries show a surprising similarity with the high-food-budget countries. Again, the consumption share of AP+FV exceeds that of starchy staples: 40% versus 28% (starchy staples).These urban patterns are similar to those of developing Asia. For example, Indonesia urban food consumption is 37% AP+FV versus 26% for starchy staples; Nepal urban food consumption is 39% AP+FV versus 28% for starchy staples (Reardon et al. 2014).In upper-food-budget SSA countries the share of AP+FV is 26% versus 42% for starchy staples. Again surprisingly, in lower-food-budget countries the shares are close, with 29% of AP+FV versus 43% for starchy staples. If one can call a diet where starchy staples dominate diversification foods a \"traditional diet\", the rural areas are still in that mode, but arguably more diversified than decades ago.As with urban areas, there is a similarity, but somewhat lower in AP+FV of rural SSA compared with developing Asia. For example, in Indonesia in rural areas AP+FV form 37% and starchy staples, 34%. In Nepal, the shares are 35% for AP+FV versus 36% for starchy staples (Reardon et al. 2014).Normal First, there are several studies that show substantial shares of FV in food consumption. Using LSMS data, Dolislager et al. (forthcoming) show for high-food-budget countries that 15% of urban, 13% of peri-urban, and 12% rural of rural food consumption (in value terms) is in FV. Low-food-budget countries show 17%, 16%, and 15% for the three areas, respectively. This is interesting for several reasons:(1) the shares are similar to developing Asia (as discussed below); (2) contrary to the conventional view, the shares are similar over urban and rural areas and over high and low food-budget countries. There is thus evidence of convergence in patterns of behavior.There is of course substantial variation over countries. For instance, in Ethiopia, Minten et al. (2020) show, using HCES data for 2016, a share of FV of 9% overall (but 19% in the capital city, Addis Ababa). By contrast, for Senegal, Faye et al. (2023) show 27% for urban areas and 17% for rural areas; interestingly, they show there is little variation in shares over zones of the rural area, with rural peri-urban at 17%, intermediate zones at 16%, and hinterland (far from towns) at 16%, suggesting penetration of FV supply chains deep into rural areas. Amfo et al. (2019) found 34% for urban Ghana. Smale et al. (2020) found 13% in rural and 20% in urban areas in Mali. In earlier work, Ruel et al. (2005) found (we round)14% for FV for rural and urban together in Mozambique, 12% in Tanzania, 10% in Kenya and 11% in Ghana. Ayieko et al. (2005) found 26% for Nairobi.Again, we note that these FV shares in Africa, despite variation over countries and zones, are substantial and roughly similar to findings from developing Asia. Examples include in Nepal where 15% of food consumption in value terms is in FV in urban areas and 14% in rural areas, and in Indonesia, 15% urban, and 17% rural.Second, Bennett's Law and the few regression studies of FV shares (e.g., Faye et al. 2023) show that the share of non-staples in the diet rise with income. Yet survey evidence also shows that this increase starts even among households with incomes below the poverty level (Dolislager et al. 2022).Moreover, lumping fruits and vegetables masks differences between fruit (usually a luxury) and vegetables (usually a necessity) in the few studies that break down these by income groups or income elasticities. For example, in Nigeria, Parkhi et al. (2023) find most vegetables to be income inelastic while fruit is highly income elastic. Dolislager et al. (forthcoming) found for \"high food-budget countries\" in Africa that vegetables had a steady 11% over income terciles, while the share of fruit went from 2% for the lower and middle tercile to 3% for the upper. In low-food-budget countries, the share of vegetables in food consumption dropped with income tercile, from 14% to 13% to 13%. This makes sense when one thinks of fruit mainly as a dessert in those food cultures while vegetables are a basic element of sauces for lunch and dinner.Third, as expected from Bennett's Law, macro data show that FV consumption is growing much faster than cereals consumption in SSA. For Senegal, cereal consumption grew 2.6-fold and FV consumption grew 4.4-fold over 1990 to 2018 (Faye et al. 2023). The few household survey studies that show FV shares over time have often shown a rise. For Ethiopia, Minten et al. (2020) show the share rose from 4.5% to 9% over 2000-2016;Hassen et al. (2017) show the rise in the share FV was partly at the expense of the cereals share; the latter dropped from 46% in 1996 to 36% in 2011.The evolution of FV shares can differ by the level of economic development of a country's region and by fruits versus vegetables. Parkhi et al. (2023) for Nigeria show over 2010-2019 that the share of households consuming fruits (a relative luxury) jumped from 32% to 63% in the poorer North, versus 58 to 83% in the richer South (while the share of households consuming vegetables stayed near 100% over the period in both regions). The share of FV in overall food consumption stayed at around 12-13% over the decade in the combined urban plus rural North versus growing from 13 to 16% in the richer south.Fourth, levels of FV consumption have risen, even in per capita terms in some countries and zones (but with levels still inadequate when with the WHO-recommended minimum consumption of 146kg/capita of FV per year; Harris et al. 2022). For example, for Ethiopia, Bachewe and Minten (2023) show that consumption of FV per capita grew 1.6-fold in urban and 1.3-fold in rural areas from 2011 to 2016. This is rapid growth, but it should be noted that it starts from a low base and reaches a still-inadequate consumption level of 59 kg/capita overall in 2016 (with urban at 72 and rural at 56kg).For Senegal, consumption per capita is 80kg/year (similar to Ruel et al. (2005) finding for Ghana of 75kg/year), with urban Senegal at 128kg and rural Senegal at 63kg by 2018. Note that in Dakar the consumption is at 137/kg, near to adequacy levels (although it is below the 177kg/capita found by Ayieko et al. (2005) for Nairobi, a higher average income city than Dakar).For Nigeria, Parkhi et al. (2023) found for 2019 FV consumption at 89kg/capita in the richer South, and 54 in the poorer North (as low as rural Ethiopia). Moreover, they show that the North had even declined over the decade from 58 to 54, while the South had increased from 65 to 89, a 1.4-fold increase in a decade.Fifth, another indicator of rapid transformation is that the composition of FV consumption in Africa has changed over several decades. It has undergone what can be called \"Westernization\" with a shift from a focus on traditional vegetables (such as African eggplant, okra, and indigenous green leafy vegetables) to non-indigenous vegetables and fruits especially tomatoes, onions, and chili peppers, now the dominant vegetables in the diet (e.g., in Senegal, Faye et al. (2023), andNigeria, Parkhi et al. (2023)).An important driver of the rise of tomatoes/onions/chili peppers is that they are versatile to adapt to traditional dish forms as well as relatively new (over a half century) dishes such as rice jollof in Nigeria.Sixth, purchases now form a high, even majority share of rural FV consumption in SSA (for Senegal, Faye et al. 2023;Mali, Smale et al. 2020;Nigeria, Parkhi et al. 2023). This jibes with Sibhatu and Qaim (2018) finding that there is little correlation in SSA between diversity of diet (such as in FV) and ownfarming of FV. For example, in Senegal, in rural peri urban areas, 75% of FV (in value terms) is purchased; that share is 78% in intermediate rural areas and 75% in hinterland rural (Faye et al. 2023).Much of SSA's FV production takes place in a few commercial zones (focused on domestic markets) supplying via medium to long VCs the urban areas (and other rural areas). Examples include vegetables from the Rift Valley three hours to Addis Ababa (and other cities) (Minten et al. 2020), tomatoes from a few main irrigated tomato zones to consumers all around Tanzania (Ijumba et al. 2023), and tomatoes mainly from a few areas in Northern Nigeria to Southern Nigeria (Liverpool-Tasie et al. 2023b).First, there are several studies that show substantial shares of AP in food consumption in SSA. Using LSMS data, Dolislager et al. (forthcoming) shows for high-food-budget countries that 19% of urban, 14% of peri-urban, and 14% rural of rural food consumption (in value terms) is in AP. Low-food-budget countries show 23%, 16%, and 14% for the three areas, respectively. As with FV, these findings for AP are interesting because contrary to the conventional view, the shares are similar over urban and rural areas and over high and low food-budget countries.Keep in mind that the above shares of AP are underestimated. This is because food-away-from-home is an important share of food consumption in high-food-budget countries (averaging 11%) and 5% in low-budget countries, and that many \"food service\" dishes at street vendors have animal products in them (such as dairy with grain porridge; meat in traditional sauces; and the popular \"chicken with chips\" found in many SSA cities). LSMS data in SSA generally do not show the composition of food away from home.Shares of AP in food consumption in SSA are only (we say \"only\" because we feel the conventional wisdom is that there are sharp differences with Asia) a bit below findings from developing Asia. Reardon et al. (2014) shows the AP shares in food consumption in Indonesia as 22% in urban and 20% in rural; in Nepal, 24% in urban and 21% in rural.Second, Dolislager et al. (forthcoming) found for \"high food-budget countries\" in SSA that AP in food consumption was 10% for low, 14% for middle, and 19% for upper tercile households. In low-foodbudget countries, the pattern was similar: 11%, 15%, and 23% over the three terciles. The finding of AP as luxury foods is expected (and similar to other findings in SSA, such as for Ethiopia (Abegaz et al. 2018), and in developing Asia, Reardon et al. 2014).Third, as expected from Bennett's Law, macro data show that AP consumption is growing much faster than cereals consumption in SSA. Moreover, the few household survey studies that show AP shares over time have shown a rise in the share. For example, for Ethiopia, Minten et al. (2020) show the share rose from 8% to 13% over the period 2000-2016.Fourth, levels of AP consumption have risen over 2000-2020, during which dairy macro data showed for overall SSA a 2.4-fold rise in consumption per capita. Some micro studies reflect this. For Ethiopia dairy, Minten et al. (2020) show for Addis Ababa that annual intake per adult equivalent increased by 31% in only 10 years (2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016). For fish in Nigeria, Liverpool-Tasie et al. (2021b) show that the share of households consuming fish rose from 59 to 72% over just 5 years, 2010-2015. That masks sharp regional differences: in the poorer North the share only went from 46 to 49%; while in the south, from 71 to 90% in those 5 years. In the North, the kg/capita stayed at about 6.3kg, while in the richer South, from 17 to 18.7 kg.For chicken and eggs, in Ethiopia, Abegaz et al. (2018) show that intake doubled from 3.8 birr/capita per year to 7.1 in 15 years (1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011). In Ghana, Knößlsdorfer and Qaim (2023) show that intake of chicken rose from 40,000 tons in 1999 to 260,000 tons in 2018, although 75% is supplied by imports. The latter is far higher than the all-SSA share of imports in chicken/egg consumption of 22%, with an even lower rate (15%) in Nigeria (Ogunleye et al. 2016).Research is emerging on fish-capture and aquaculture clusters and rapid development (\"booms\") in domestic supply in SSA, such as in Kenya (Naziri et al. 2023) and in Nigeria, which we illustrate here. Nigerian domestic fish output in tons (per FAOSTAT data) grew 4.1-fold (twice the pan-SSA rate noted above). Imports into Nigeria rose only 2-fold. These data point to a boom in domestic fish supply. By 2020 this supply was 75% by (equal parts) marine capture and inland capture and 25% by aquaculture (which was nearly 0% in 2000) (Liverpool-Tasie et al. 2023).There are several important aquaculture and capture fishery clusters feeding the fish supply boom in Nigeria. We focus here on three, in the Southwest in Oyo State (near Ibadan and Lagos), the Southeast in Ebonyi, and in the North in Kebbi State, drawing on a rapid reconnaissance study of hundreds of supply chain actors (Liverpool-Tasie et al. 2023); and Gona et al. (2018) based on a \"meso inventory\" with a 10-year recall of supply chain actors in the four main fishing/fish farming clusters in Kebbi State.All three of these cluster-sets: (1) are based in areas with good enabling conditions for fish production (well-watered); (2) due to government investments are well-connected by highways to major cities near and far and well served by wholesale markets; (3) have displayed dynamic transformation of both the structure and the conduct of the value chains/clusters; (4) are characterized by dominance of SMEs who responded to increasing demand and favorable conditions;(5) supply in their large majority domestic markets in general and urban markets in particular.To illustrate the size and growth of primary producers in these clusters, we focus on findings from the Kebbi State clusters (one big cluster and a few smaller ones), by 2018 around 21,000 fishers and fish farmers. (Small scale farms form 61% and medium farms 28% of the total). Over the prior 10 years there had been a 182% increase in fishers and a 200% increase in fish farmers (Gona et al. 2018). This growth rate was even greater than a boom qualified as a \"Quiet Revolution\" in aquaculture in Bangladesh (Hernandez et al. 2018).There has been transformation of the conduct of primary producers in the Kebbi as well as the Oyo and Ebonyi clusters, in particular intensification of aquaculture (Liverpool-Tasie et al. 2023).Examples include: (1) diffusion of mobile fiber and tarpaulin tanks to adapt to small landholdings and high pond construction costs; (2) and diffusion of antibiotics and commercial fish feed use (at all scales of farms).There has been rapid growth in the fish farm inputs value chains (Liverpool-Tasie et al. 2023): (1) emergence of long-distance (cross state) trade in fish seed from clusters of hatcheries in areas with good environmental conditions and transport (similar to what happened in Bangladesh, see Hernandez et al. 2018); (2) emergence of markets for broodstock for hatcheries; (3) emergence of specialized long-distance fingerling traders; (4) spillovers from poultry feed sector (processing and marketing) development to supplying fish farms, again, similar to what has happened in Asia; (5) emergence of \"rural-hub one-stop-shops\" such as Chi Farms in Oyo that sells and distributes juveniles, live catfish, frozen catfish, fillet, and fish feed to fish farmers and provides training to farmers.There were nearly 9,000 midstream actors (wholesalers, processors, and transport logistics) in the Kebbi clusters by 2018. Growth in these segments was dynamic. For example, the number of rural and urban wholesalers in the clusters grew 1.3-fold over the decade (as fish producers increased 1.9-fold, this implies an increase in trader scale over the decade). Urban fish retailers in the state jumped 2.5-fold. These midstream intermediaries were in urban and rural retail markets, rural and urban wholesale markets, farmgate markets, and trader collection points totaling around 255 over the period (Gona et al. 2018).The conduct of midstream actors transformed in the Kebbi as well as the Oyo and Ebonyi clusters (Liverpool-Tasie et al. 2023). Examples include: (1) indigenous innovation in processing, such as locally manufactured kilns and adoption of gas burners for fish frying (reducing wood use); (2) lengthening of value chains of smoked fish to markets around Nigeria and to neighboring countries; (3) improvements in cold storage infrastructure by private and public investments; (4) rapid development of third party logistics (3PLS) in private and public transport (again, similar to what occurred in Asia, for Myanmar see Belton et al. (2018)).Above we noted that in one decade (2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016), dairy consumption per capita in Addis Ababa (a city of 4.5 million) grew 31%. The city was expanding and household incomes were rising quickly in that decade and it became the demand, and partly the supply, center of a boom in dairy. To supply this increase there was a rise in dairy farming and processing.Milk farming has developed quickly both inside and around the city. Minten et al. (2020) found that 31% of the city's supply comes from 29,000 dairy cows inside the city: 26% from suburban areas, and 37% from rural areas. 89% of the milk supplied to Addis comes from small farms (below 25 cows).Medium farms with more than 25 cows supply 11% of the milk supply but are growing much more quickly than small farmers: they increased 8-fold from 2007-17 (mainly in the suburban areas). Moreover, medium farms have nearly 5 times greater productivity per cow and 15 times higher per worker than small farms. Productivity is also correlated with proximity to Addis: milk yields are 5 times higher for farms close to Addis versus those far out. Milk yields among medium farms grew substantially over the decade while those of small farms stagnated. The medium farms tend to be urban or peri-urban; this phenomenon has also been noted in India (Burkitbayeva et al. 2023). Medium farms are the \"change agents\" driving the boom in the farm sector of the dairy supply chain to Addis. Minten et al. (2020) show that the medium farms are much more likely to undertake capital-led intensification: (1) cross-bred cows rather than traditional breeds;(2) use artificial insemination;(3) commercial feed; (4) access to animal health and dairy-related extension services. These in turn were supplied by growing input and services supply chains, and the proliferation of commercial feed mills. As expected, concentration in processing has proceeded faster and further than in the farming sector: the four largest processors produced three-quarters of the pasteurized milk. The concentration is far less among processors producing unpasteurized milk as expected. Cooperatives only have a 5% share in processing.Aggregate supply of domestic FV grew very rapidly over the past several decades: Tanzanian FV output in tons (per FAOSTAT data) increased 4.1-fold from 1990 to 2020; vegetable output grew 2.3 times and fruit output, 7-fold. This rapid growth kept up with population growth (2.4-fold) in for vegetables and well exceeded it for fruit. Fruit supply responded to growth in fruit demand which is income-elastic while for vegetables is inelastic. Tanzanian income per capita increased 6-fold in constant dollars over the 3 decades (per World Bank data).This domestic supply growth translated nearly fully into domestic consumption growth: less than 1% of SSA agricultural output is exported and less than 1% of consumption is imported. The composition of vegetable output changed, with tomatoes shifting from 9% to 17%, and onions from 3% to 7%, mirroring a consumption shift toward tomatoes and onions in Tanzania as in other SSA countries (as discussed above). Tomato output leapt 4.4-fold in those three decades. These macro trends were reflected in evidence of meso booms as follows.Farmers were responsive to the growth in domestic demand. There was a rapid diffusion of FV farming per agricultural census data (NBS 2021). In 2008, 9.5% of Tanzania farms grew FV; just 12 years later (2020) the share doubled to 21%. The fastest shift was among small farmers, from 8% of farms to 20%. For medium farms, the shift was from 24% to 38%, and large farms, from 16% to 26%. Overall, area under FV jumped 130% -adding 240,000 hectares in that decade. Half of that increase in area was a jump in area under tomatoes. By contrast, cereal area expanded only 27%.While green leafy vegetables are grown throughout Tanzania in small plots in rural areas or near cities, most of the other main vegetables and fruits are grown on farms clustered in specific zones with favorable climates and soils and water. Examples are citrus and bananas in the hot areas of the coast; and tomatoes in well-watered areas mainly in the interior and near highways.The combination of similar FV consumption patterns all over Tanzania (Ijumba 2021) combined with FV-growing farms (apart from green leafy vegetables) producing in specific \"lead zones\" has meant that these commercial FV zones send FV all over the country in long supply chains. An example is the clusters of irrigated tomato farms, such as in the center of the country (Morogoro-Dodoma), in the Southern Highlands (such as Iringa), and in the eastern region of Dar es Salaam, send out tomatoes to cities and rural areas all over the country. This reality is in sharp contrast to the traditional view of FV produced in backyard gardens (an image dating from decades ago when most FV consumption was subsistence and most of the population rural and little purchased) or small bands of \"peri-urban horticulture\" around the few cities such as in the 1990s and 2000s in Tanzania.The long supply chains noted above feed an urban population that has been growing rapidly: from 1990 to 2020 the urban population grew 4.5-fold and went from 19 to 35% of the population (World Bank). The urban share of consumption of FV reached 60% by 2012 and nearly 100% of urban consumption of FVs comes from purchases from supply chains (Ijumba 2021). Long supply chains are not aimed only at cities. Ijumba (2021) found that nearly 60% of rural consumption of FV is from purchases and most of those purchases of a given zone are of FV (like tomatoes and onions) that are not grown in that rural zone.Urban and rural consumers are supplied via retailers who are in turn supplied via urban and peri-urban FV wholesale markets. These markets have spread very quickly in a short time, keeping pace with rapid urbanization and income increases. The first multiple city survey of these markets was undertaken in 2023 (Ijumba et al. 2023). They found 55 FV wholesale markets in 8 cities in Tanzania, of which 31 wholesale tomatoes. Nearly all started in the past 3 decades and two-thirds of them in only the past 20 years: about 10 of those markets were started in each of the past 3 decades. 84% of the markets were started by municipal/district governments and represent important public investments in the \"enabling environment\" over time. Moreover, the number of wholesalers in these 31 markets nearly doubled in just the past 10 years.First, there has been a rapid ingress of SME farmers into horticulture as well as commercial horticulture per se. Kabwe et al. (2023) shows that the share of SME farms growing fruits and vegetables jumped from 38% in 2007 to 79% in 2018; the share of SME commercial farms in the total of SME farms (growing all crops) jumped from 18 to 30% over those 10 years.The latter implies a 1.6-fold leap in a decade in the number of commercialized farms. In absolute numbers, 664,000 started horticulture, of which 188,000 farmers entered commercial horticulture.The result was that by 2018, 1.3 million farmers produced fruits and vegetables, and 486 thousand sold them. This boom in SME commercial horticulture can be compared with the only 1.1-fold increase in maize farmers, and 1.4-fold increase in maize sellers, to 1.4 million maize farmers and 489 thousand maize sellers. Moreover, the commercial horticulture farmers are 3.8 times more numerous than cotton sellers (although cotton commercial farming dominates the debate on \"cash cropping\").Second, the farming boom has involved in some cases shifting from grain farming into vegetables for some plots while staying in the traditional communal farming areas, and in other cases starting vegetable farms outside communal areas, in peri-urban areas, along rivers, and near roads to access water and transport to urban markets. These new areas became \"spontaneous clusters\" of vegetable farms with complementary services such as input retailers, rural traders, and truckers. They were not formed by or coordinated by large firms, any NGOs, or the government.Third, vegetable commercial farmers early in the decade were mainly small scale; over the decade many scaled up into medium and even some large commercial farms. While there are many small farms participating, the bulk of the vegetable marketed volume is formed by medium farms.Many have sunk boreholes for irrigation both in communal and non-communal lands.Fourth, vegetable farm output composition diversified and \"climbed the value ladder\" over the decade, from half tomatoes, a quarter leafy greens (\"low entry costs\" basic greens, cabbage and rape), and a tenth other (high value) vegetables, to two-fifths tomatoes, a quarter greens, and a quarter, other vegetables. The other tenth is fruit.Fifth, vegetable farming has intensified. Compared with traditional off-season vegetable farming in communal villages, which relies little on inputs other than labor, the vegetable boom clusters grow vegetables with irrigation (from rivers or from the ground via boreholes and pumps) and with external inputs (seeds, including hybrid tomato seeds, fertilizer, fungicides, and insecticides to control the heavy disease pressure during the growing season).Vegetable farming has commercialized with a concomitant growth in the VC midstream. There has been a shift of over time from the bulk of vegetables being home produced and consumed in rural households decades ago to the commercialized SME producers mainly selling their produce.Most is sold to urban areas such as Lusaka, a city with a metro area of 3 million, or Kitwe, a city of nearly a million, as well as a dozen other large and medium cities and to Kasumbalesa the border town in the Democratic Republic of Congo.The great bulk of vegetables are sold through wholesale markets by wholesalers, with the great majority going to the domestic market (Tschirley and Hichaambwa 2010). The wholesale markets are crucial public goods in the rapidly expanding and already huge volume of marketed vegetables. But one should keep in mind what an achievement the markets and the wholesalers working them have made: the total sales volume jumped 4-fold in just 10 years, a massive influx that the markets handled to feed cities. Moreover, the government has upgraded the infrastructure of several large markets such as the Soweto Wholesale Market in Lusaka in the past decade. Second, rural nonfarm employment and migration remittances funded at least in part the start and development of SME vegetable farmers. Formal credit sources played little to no role. After starting, own savings were important to funding the farming development, such as for purchase of pumps.Third, private input suppliers such as sellers of pumps and seeds and chemicals, and seedling producers played an important role. Government and NGO sources of these were minor or nil.Fourth, there was little role played either by NGOs or donor schemes, in terms of the share of total vegetable output affected, and no role by multinational firms, except for supermarket chains buying a small share of the vegetables. It was a \"grass roots\", SME-driven spontaneous undertaking.d) Government investment and policy drivers of the boom Kabwe et al. (2023) outline several public sector drivers of the above boom. First, clusters of farms, seedling nurseries, wholesalers, and truckers spontaneously formed in the main vegetable areas near cities and rivers and main roads, there was no \"management\" of those clusters by government. Moreover, there were no government subsidies of any kind for the vegetable boom, not for pumps, nor inputs, nor land.Second, however, government investment in infrastructure was crucial, in particular in rural electrification (important for pumps), wholesale markets, and roads. But the government National Agricultural Research System (NARS) has so far played little role in the vegetable boom. The hybrid tomatoes were the main varietal innovation and those were adopted from foreign seed sources.There was also little role of public extension services as the latter are focused on foodgrains in Zambia.a) Ingress of small and medium farmers and boom structure Minten et al. (2020) present survey findings regarding a vegetable farming boom in the Rift Valley of Ethiopia. They showed rapid entry of SME farmers and growth of output and commercialization. A \"spontaneous cluster\" developed of vegetable farms, wholesalers, input retailers, and outsource agricultural services. This cluster mainly supplies the huge Addis Ababa market, with none of the products exported; moreover, the Addis vegetable market is mainly supplied by this cluster. The main findings are as follows.First, there was a rapid increase in vegetable production in the 2010s in the Rift Valley. The boom was driven on the supply side by private (farmer) investment in pump irrigation. The irrigated area in the cluster more than doubled over a 10-year period.Second, while 40% of the area is operated by small farms, almost 60% of the vegetable area is cultivated by medium-scale tenant (land renting) farmers who produce 70% of the vegetable output of the cluster. The medium farms cultivate on average almost 5 hectares of vegetables. The area operated by the medium farmers tripled over the decade, pointing to concentration in farming.b) Conduct: value ladder and technological change (intensification) Minten et al. (2020) found that the small farms in this cluster, as shown for Zambia above, specialize in \"easy entry\" (low investment) green leafy vegetables such as Ethiopian kale. The medium farms specialize in vegetables that require more investment, such as (high return) tomatoes. Tomatoes require more labor and spraying than do other vegetables like onions. But tomatoes and onions are both higher value and have higher production costs than leafy greens, so medium farmers grow the two former items.Second, the farms in the cluster have undertaken rapid intensification of production, with large investments in pump irrigation, purchase of seedlings, fertilizers, and pesticides. Farming costs for the medium farmers were twice those for small farmers of vegetables. But these costs are about 10 times more than costs for producing staple grains and thus there are significant entry costs. The great majority of seeds, including hybrid seeds, as well as pesticides, are from private agro-dealers (with the government supported cooperatives playing a small role). Fertilizer is bought mainly from the cooperatives.Pump ownership a decade before was about half by the farmers themselves; a decade later threequarters were owned by the farmers themselves. The pumps are mainly imported from China. Minten et al. (2020) cite Hossain (2009) who noted that the availability of cheap pumps (imported) was crucial to the intensification and yield increase of rice in Bangladesh. Minten et al. note the similarity with the drivers of the vegetable boom in Ethiopia.First, driven by the medium farmers requiring heavy inputs of labor and inputs, combined with their assets constraints (equipment and skills), SME outsource services have rapidly developed and sell the farmers the following: (1) equipment and labor teams (managing migrant labor) for digging wells and ponds; (2) mechanized plowing;(3) planting seedlings; (4) applying chemicals;(5) harvesting; (6) loading of trucks; (7) marketing. This is similar to \"one-stop-shop\" outsource services in mango areas in Asia (e.g., for Indonesia, Qanti et al., 2017).Second, the commercialized SME farmers in the cluster market the great majority of their vegetables to urban areas, especially to Addis Ababa, a city of 5 million. In Ethiopia, the great majority of vegetables are sold through wholesale markets by wholesalers. The wholesale markets are crucial public goods in the rapidly expanding and already huge volume of marketed vegetables.First, of fundamental importance to the vegetable boom in the Rift Valley has been the large and growing demand from urban areas, and overall income growth. The urban population of Ethiopia nearly tripled in 20 years from 10 million to 26 million. Average per capita income in Ethiopia has nearly doubled in 2 decades: Ethiopian GDP/capita more than tripled from 262 (constant USD) in 2000 to 852 in 2021.As one can predict from Bennett's Law, with such rapid increase in income/capita, the FV share in consumption baskets doubled over 10 years, from 4.5% in 2006 to 9% in 2016. FV consumption per capita increased 1.3-fold in urban areas and 1.4-fold in rural areas between 2011 and 2016.In the case of Addis Ababa, 19% of the food basket was going towards vegetables in 2020, significantly higher than national levels. In 2020, per the survey in Minten et al. (2020), almost threequarters of the four main vegetables in Addis Ababa were procured from the Rift Valley vegetable cluster.Second, there was a major role by private input suppliers such as sellers of pumps and imported seeds and chemicals, and seedling producers. The outsource services noted above were major facilitators of the boom.Third, factor markets have played major roles. On the one hand, there has been a major influx of intra-Ethiopian migrant labor into the vegetable cluster. About 4300 workers are employed in the cluster. On the other hand, land markets especially for rental land have been crucial as many medium farmers entered by renting land.Fourth, there was very little role played either by NGOs or donor schemes, nor by microcredit institutions or banks. It was a \"grass roots\", SME-driven spontaneous undertaking.Fifth, the natural and constructed context was favorable to the rise of the cluster. The Central Rift Valley is near lakes and crossed by rivers and endowed with shallow water tables, all good for irrigation. The area is on a good road and a three-hour drive to Addis Ababa. It is close to three major secondary cities. The area's climate zone (sub-tropical semi-arid) is good for vegetable farming when irrigation water is available.First, there was no \"management\" of that cluster by government or any entity. Moreover, there were no government subsidies of any kind for the vegetable boom, not for pumps, nor inputs, nor land.Second, government investment in infrastructure has been crucial, in particular in rural electrification (important for pumps), ICT infrastructure, wholesale markets, and roads (Dorosh and Minten, 2020).Third, the government National Agricultural Research System (NARS) played little role in the vegetable boom. Hybrid tomatoes were the main varietal innovation and those were adopted from foreign seed sources. There was also little role of public extension services as the latter are focused on foodgrains in Ethiopia.This paper showed that despite the incontrovertible facts that SSAs under-consume nutrient dense fruits and vegetables (FV) and animal products (AP), and the farm production and supply chains of these products are fraught with constraints that keep them from operating optimally, there is abundant recent evidence of dynamism in these sectors. To wit: (1) consumption of these products in levels and shares is already substantial and growing rapidly;(2) supply of these products is growing rapidly, just not yet much faster than population growth; (3) supply growth is manifested in a number of countries by dynamic \"meso booms\" with diffusion of farming and growth in midstream VC segments. We reviewed recent survey-based evidence of these booms and discussed the drivers of them. That leads to policy implications as follows.First, the policy debate itself has to \"refresh\" and take into account the dynamism that already exists along value chains across Africa where the enabling conditions are present. The policy debate also needs to recognize that this dynamism is \"grass roots\", that is, it is a product mainly of domestic SME farms and midstream enterprises investing vigorously and spreading and growing. There is little need to \"reinvent the wheel\" based on what we contend is a myth that there is a missing middle, that growth is absent. Rather, transformation is afoot and rapid, spontaneous clusters are emerging over the past several decades, and the middle is not missing but rather is a \"hidden middle.\" (Reardon 2015).Second, the SME farms and midstream firms discussed in the cases presented were responding to the enormous pull of both urban and rural demand of consumers to purchase FVs and APs. We contend that demand is the builder of both incentives and eventually capacity for this supply response and we emphasize the massive domestic market opportunity in SSA fueling these booms.Third, there was a fascinating consistency over the five case studies (and more that we did not have space to include) in the elements of the enabling environment of the meso booms. Important is what was consistently absent; i.e., the direct \"hand\" of the government actually starting and managing the clusters, or the hand of NGO microcredit actions or contracts and help from large companies, or government subsidies, or special economic zones or \"agroparks\".Rather, government investment was always an important context and foundation of the booms: government investment usually at the district and municipal level (not national level) in wholesale markets; national government investment in roads and in some cases electrification; in some cases government investment in NARS providing adapted breeds of cows and varieties of tomatoes. Not directly noted was government provision of a modicum of security at least for the immediate clusters. We did not discuss policies of certification and registration because the great majority of the actors in all segments of these chains were informal and small to medium.There is much left out of this paper and much still to do in research; the most glaring and promising ones follow. First, there is more research to do to study these spontaneous clusters in the meso booms from the perspective of \"empirical industrial organization\", understanding their effects on the efficiency of value chains bringing food to consumers, on consumer pricing, on sector restructuring, and on the development of \"relational contracts\" between these SME clusters and small farms (Macchiavello et al. 2022;Liverpool-Tasie et al. 2020) as well as their resilience to climate shocks and violent conflict (Reardon and Zilberman, 2018;Vargas et al. 2023).Second, there is research to do on what might be constraining the further growth and proliferation of these meso supply booms such as input costs and transaction costs. That would also help to point the way to further development of policies and public investments.Third, there is more research to do on the implications for employment of youth and women and alleviation of poverty by these growth cases, including how \"inclusive\" they are of the asset poor in these areas, and what conditions their degree of inclusion.Fourth, there is more research to do on food safety and hygiene, as well as environment issues facing these clusters and the existing and potential institutional arrangements that could improve on the ability of these clusters to be an environment where affordable, safe and nutritious foods could be accessed by consumers. These crucial issues could imply important trade-offs between food quality, environment-friendly practices and affordability of and access to food, that requires further research to assess the dynamic growth seen on merits against these multiple food system objectives. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"06532fb7c88092b71c1111f544a9df73","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/69c7b313-5ed3-46a0-b79e-28ca225514c8/content","id":"-141535176"},"keywords":["Characterization","genetic diversity and variability","genotypes","Citrullus lanatus"],"sieverID":"f3a52d88-1b76-42ab-ad7c-ab543b797eaf","content":"This experiment was carried out to study the genetic variability of watermelon (Citrulluslanatus) genotypes in the southern region of Bangladesh at Regional Horticulture Research Station, BARI, Lebukhali, Patuakhali during Rabi season, 2017-18. Sixteen commercially cultivated hybrids collected from different seed companies as well as from farmers' collection were used. Significant variations were recorded among the watermelon accessions in terms of different parameters. The genotype World Queen (7.4) and Sugar Kis (4.5) showed the highest performance for fruit weight and fruits number/plant, respectively. The highest genotypic and phenotypic coefficients were recorded for fruit yield/plant (55.14% and 58.69%) followed by single fruit weight/plant (34.51% and 37.65%). The number of male flower, fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, leaf shape, and fruit yield were found to be highly correlated characters among the watermelon genotypes. The number of female flower was negatively correlated with vine length. The number of fruit showed negative correlation with rind thickness and positive correlation with fruit yield. The results of principal component analysis revealed that the important characters responsible for genetic divergence in major axis of differentiations are days to first male flower opening, number of male flower per plant, fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit yield, and leaf shape. Cluster analysis grouped the genotypes into five classes. Larger intercluster distances in all cases than intracluster distances suggested wider genetic diversity where Cluster I had highest vine length with higher internodal length. Cluster II had the highest mean value for number of fruit and fruit yield. Cluster III has the highest number of male flower, highest number of branch, and fruit length. Cluster V produced the largest fruit with highest fruit diameter and rind thickness. It also required maximum days for male(Citrullus lanatus) belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family and a member of the sub-family Cucurbitoidae (Dane and Liu, 2007). It is cultivated in 6.2% of the world area devoted to vegetable crops (FAOSTAT, 2019). China is the largest producer of watermelon with 52.3 million tons of the total world production. Other major producing countries are Turkey, Iran, Brazil, Uzbekistan, Alzeria, USA, Russia Egypt, and Mexico (FAOSTAT, 2019). In Bangladesh, watermelon production is not uniformly distributed in all of the regions due to the prevailing climatic and edaphic factors and most are produced in the southern parts of the country. In Bangladesh, watermelons are cultivated annually in approximately 15,740 hectares of land and 274,000 metric tons are produced with an average production of 23.3 Mt/ha. Only in the eight specific watermelongrowing regions of Patuakhali district with 13,718 hectares this fruit is usually cultivated (BBS, 2019). It is usually cultivated in the southern part of Bangladesh and it is one of the major crops grown here. Watermelons from this region have high demand due to their high quality and bigger size. Both hybrid and open-pollinated varieties are cultivated by Bangladeshi growers but the demand for hybrid varieties is much higher than the open-pollinated ones. Watermelon is an ideal health food because it doesn't contain any fat or cholesterol and is an excellent source of vitamins A, B6, and C. It is a popular summer fruit well known for many potential attributes. It contains appreciable amount of soluble solids, beta carotene, and high amount of potassium which make watermelon juice to posses' variable diuretic properties. Although watermelon is primarily eaten fresh, it is also eaten as a cooked vegetable in Africa. Another use of watermelon is as a source of drinking water during Table 1. List of watermelon genotypes and their sources.Genotypes Source a.Tropical Dragon Golachipa (Patuakhali) b.Sonya Golachipa (Patuakhali) c.Asian-2 Golachipa (Patuakhali) d.Dragon King Golachipa (Patuakhali) e.Black Giant Barguna (Patuakhali) f.Sweet Black Barguna (Patuakhali) g.Red Sugar Barguna (Patuakhali) h.World Queen Dumki (Patuakhali) i.Kanya Dumki (Patuakhali) j.Dragon-2 Dumki (Patuakhali) k.Big Badshah Dumki (Patuakhali) l.Big Sweet Bhola m.Anarkoli Bhola n.Sugar Kis Bhola o.Sweet Dragon Bhola p.China Sugar Bhola summer seasons, which is well known in parts of Sudan and Nigeria ( Vander-Vossen et al., 2007). Bangladesh is a country with diversified ecological conditions including climate, vegetation, and soil, which result in an enormous wealth of diversified indigenous genetic resources of crops of which watermelon is an example. The southern part of Bangladesh is an important region for the diversity of watermelon where different cultivars and uses are known, especially in the Patuakhali region (Nasim et al., 2017). Despite the extent of its distribution, cultivation, and its importance, watermelon is a poorly described species as no standard descriptor list has been developed and published yet by the genetic resources community. Hence, available information on watermelon genetic diversity within the germplasm is very scarce. Successes in genetic improvement are largely attributed to the appropriate evaluation and use of genetic diversity.interest to this valuable crop was achieved through the studies on its constituents, but no systematic research on genetic variations has so far been done to evaluate the genetic potentialities of the available hybrids with a view to releasing modern varieties, and to meet up with increasing demands to come. Under such circumstances, this study was conducted to identify genetic variations within each of the watermelon germplasm, so that level of morphological variability and genetic distances among watermelon germplasm can be established using morphological marker.commercially cultivated watermelon hybrids from different parts of southern regions of Bangladesh were used in this study (Table 1). The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications.Each replication was divided into 16 unit plots where plot size was 4.5 m length by 1.5 m width with recommended spacing at 1.5 m from plant to plant and 1.5 m from row to row distance. Those 16 genotypes were allocated randomly on 16 unit plots.Recommended doses and application methods of manure and fertilizers were applied in the experimental field with NPK @ 110/312/83 kg/ha, respectively. The healthy single seedlings of 30 days old were transplanted in the pits of the experimental field. Necessary intercultural operations and irrigation were done during the experimental period to ensure normal growth and development of the plants. Control measures were taken against red pumpkin beetle at seedling stage and fruit fly at fruiting stage. Observations were recorded for days to first male and female flower opening, node number of first male and female flower, main vine length (cm), number of primary branches per vine, nodes on main vine, number of fruits per vine, average single fruit weight (g), fruit yield per vine (kg), fruit length (cm), fruit diameter (cm), thickness of the fruit flesh(mm), thickness of the rind (mm) etc. Genetic diversity was studied following Mahalanobis's (1936) D2 statistics extended by Rao (1952). Clustering of genotypes was done in accordance with Tocher's method (Rao, 1964) and principal component analysis (PCA), principal co-ordinate analysis (PCO), canonical vector analysis (CVA) were done with a computer by using GenStat 5.13 (Payne et al., 1993). Intracluster distances were computed by using the values of intergenotype distance from distance matrix of PCO in accordance with Singh and Chaudhry (1985).Results showed that days required to first male flowering, node order of first male flower, number of male flower plant −1 , days required to first female flower opening, node order first female flower, and number of female flower per plant were not significantly different among the accessions. The genotype Big Badshah required the minimum days to first male flowering (54.4 days). On the other hand, Tropical Dragon and Sonya took maximum days to first flowering (58 days). The lowest node order per vine was recorded (3) in accession World Queen and the highest node order (5) was recorded from Black Giant. Number of nodes per vine increased with increase in length of vine. Singh and Singh (1988) also reported the wide range of variability in pointed gourd for node order of first flowering and number of nodes per vine. Genotype World Queen produced the maximum number of male flowers per plant (37), whereas Big Sweet produced the minimum number (25) of male flowers. The accession Kanya required the minimum days to first female flowering (60 days), whereas Anarkoli took maximum days to first female flower opening (67 days). The lowest node order per vine was recorded (11) in China Sugar and the highest node order (18.0) was recorded from Sugar Kis. The plants of accession Kanya produced the maximum number of female flowers (22) and Black Giant produced the minimum number of female flowers (17). High amount of fixable variation in watermelon has been reported by Lalta et al. (2008).The vine length, number of branching per plant, internode length, number of fruits per plant, single fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, rind thickness, and fruit yield were significantly different among the accessions. Highest vine length was found in Dragon King (281.7 cm), whereas the germplasm Red Sugar get lowest (161.7) vine length (Table 2). Kumaran et al. (2005) also observed significant variation in plant height of three pointed gourd accessions. Vine length depends on genetic makeup of the vine. Highest branching per plant, maximum length of internode, maximum number of fruits per plant, longest fruit, highest fruit breadth, and rind thickness were recorded from the China Sugar (9), Dragon King (12 cm), Sugar Kis(4.5), China Sugar (27.3 cm), Dragon-2 (22.3 cm), and Sweet Dragon (2.0 mm) respectively. On the contrary, the lowest branching per plant, maximum length of internode, maximum number of fruits per plant, longest fruit, highest fruit breadth, and rind thickness were recorded from the genotype Red Sugar (3.5 cm), Sweet Black (8.9 cm), Dragon King (1.5 cm), Sonya (14.5 cm), and Kenya (0.6 mm), respectively. The accession World Queen had the highest fruit weight (7.4 kg) that was significantly different from other accessions. Sonya produced the lowest weight of fruits (2 kg) compared to other accessions. The variation of fruit weight could be due to the genetics, physiological, nutritional or environmental influences. The maximum yield of fruit (29.6 kg/plant) was obtained in World Queen, whereas the minimum yield of fruit yield (5.5 kg/plant) was obtained in Dragon king. Considerable differences between genotypic and phenotypic variances, as well as genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variations, indicates the considerable environmental effect upon the expression of the above mentioned morphological characters of all the genotypes (Table 3). These results indicated that there were greater variations among the cultivated hybrids that might support the design of a breeding program for watermelon improvement. As stated, the PCV (phenotypic coefficient of variation) and GCV (genotypic coefficient of variation) values are ranked as low, medium, and high with 0 to 10%, 10 to 20%, and > 20%, respectively. High GCV were recorded for fruit yield (55.1), fruit weight (34.5), number of fruit ( 29), node order of first male flower (25.2), number of male flower per plant (25), and rind thickness (23.1); while number of female flower per plant (18.9), branching (18), fruit length (14.7), and fruit diameter (10.6) showed medium GCV and vine length (10.0), node length (8.3), node order of first female flower (6.7), days to first female flower open (5), and days to first male flower open (4) exhibited low GCV. High phenotypic coefficients of variation (PCV) were also recorded for fruit yield (58.7), fruit weight (37.7), rind thickness (33), number of male flower per plant (33), and node order of first male flower (31.9), but moderate PCVs were recorded from branching (28.5), node order of first female flower (19.4), vine length (18.6), and fruit length (16.8); in contrast, remaining traits showed low PCV (Table 3). The estimated phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was higher than genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all the traits indicating greater environmental influence on these traits for total variation.   Correlation coefficient and factor loadings of the morphological traits were measured in 16 watermelon genotypes were shown in Table 4 and  10. Days to first male flowering was found negatively correlated with number of male flower. This trait also has correlation with fruit skin color. Node order of male flowering was found negatively correlated with number of fruit. Number of male flower, fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, leaf shape, and fruit yield were found to be highly correlated characters. Number of female flower was negatively correlated with vine length. Number of fruit showed negative correlation with rind thickness and positive correlation with fruit yield. Fruit yield showed very poor correlation with days to first female flowering, number of female flower, vine length, branch number, node length, rind thickness, fruit shape, skin color, and flesh color.Estimation of phenotypic distance was obtained from qualitative and quantitative data measured from the total samples. This assumes that the differences between the characters reflect the genetic divergence of the accessions being compared. Distance coefficients between pairs of the varieties using Euclidean geometry are shown in       and rind thickness. It also required maximum days for male flowering and highest number of female flower (Table 7 and Table 8).PCA was used to identify the most significant variables in the data set (Table 4). The screen plot of the PCA (Figure 2) shows that the first six eigen values correspond to the whole percentage of the variance in the dataset. The first six main PCAs were extracted from the complicated components, the total cumulative variance of these six factors amounted to 81.7% and these components had eigen values > 1 (Table 9). The PCA simplifies the complex data by transforming the number of associated traits into a smaller number of variables as PCAs. The first PCA accounts for maximum variability in the data with respect to succeeding components. The PCA grouped the estimated variables into six main components of , which PCA1 accounted for approximately 27.8% of the variation; PCA2 for 15.4%, PCA3 for 14.1%, PCA4 for 11.4%, PCA5 for 6.7%, and PCA6 for 6.3%. The first PCA was related to days to first male flower opening, number of male flower per plant, fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit yield, and leaf shape, whereas the second PCA was related to days to first female flower opening, node order of first female flower per plant, node length, and fruit skin color (Table 4).The third PCA contrasts variables that were related to number of fruit, node order of first male flower, and branch number. The forth PCA was related to vine length, number of female flower and, rind thickness. By contrast, the fifth PCA was related to fruit shape and the sixth PCA was related to stripe color. The first two principal components contributing approximately half of the variance were plotted to observe the relationships between the measured traits of watermelon (Figure 2). The correlation coefficient between any two traits is approximated by the cosine of the angle between their vectors. The correlation coefficients among the traits indicate that the plot currently shows the relationship among the traits that had relatively large loading on both PCA1 and PCA2 axes.The most prominent relations shown in Figure 3 are a strong positive association among NMF, FW, FD, FL, FY, and LS, between DMF-SC, between NF-FY as indicated by the small obtuse angles between their vectors (r = cos0 = +1). There was a negative correlation between DMF -NMF, between NOMF-NF, between NFF-VL, and between NF-RT (Figure 3) as indicated by the angle of approximately 180° (r = cos180 = -1). Some discrepancies of the plot predictions and original data were expected because the first two PCAs accounted for <100% of the total variation.Correlation between the traits like number of male flower, fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, leaf shape, and fruit yield indicated that positive change for one of them will be positive for others and these are the important trait to increase yield. Number of fruit     The results of the PCA revealed that in PCA1 the important characters responsible for genetic divergence in major axis of differentiations were days to first male flower opening, number of male flower per plant, fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit yield, and leaf shape. In PCA2, days to first female flower opening, node order of first female flower per plant, node length, and fruit skin color played a major role while the rest of the characters played minor role in second axis of differentiation. Alam et al. (2006) reported days to heading, 1000 grain weight, and yield per plant were the major contributors toward divergence in hull-less barley. Mondol et al. (1989) found that number of fruits per plant and yield per plant were important contributors towards divergence of pumpkin. Moreover, Habib et al. (2007) reported same for grains per panicle, grain length, and harvest index for rice.In cluster analysis, the distribution pattern indicated that the highest number of genotypes (7) was included in Cluster III and the lowest were in Cluster V. Larger intercluster distances in all cases than intracluster distances suggests wider genetic diversity among the genotypes of different groups. The highest intercluster distance was observed between I and V while the lowest distance was observed between the Cluster III and IV. Cluster I exhibited the highest intracluster distance while the lowest distance was observed in Cluster II. Somayajullu et al. (2011) reported the clustering revealed instability due to relatively lesser divergence. Whereas, widely divergent clusters remain distinct in different environments. The result was also supported by Raut et al. (2005). In this study, it was observed that Cluster II was highly diverged. So those would be more stable. The genotypes of the distant clusters could be used in crossing programs for obtaining wide range of variation among the segregates. Jagadev and Samal (2001) obtained segregants with wider variations among the genotypes in Niger from the crossing between the clusters involving the parents, which belonged to distant clusters. The crosses between the clusters-I and V were expected to exhibit higher heterosis and also likely to produce new recombinants with desired traits.The results of this study revealed that a wide variability existed among the collected commercially cultivated watermelon hybrids. Also, there was correlation of different yield contributing characters with the yield of watermelon genotypes. From the correlation coefficient analysis, it was observed that the number of fruits per plant had maximum direct and positive effects on yield of fruit. This character contributes indirectly to yield per plant via days to first flower, number of node at first flower, fruit length, and weight of fruit per plant. Cluster analysis revealed that there was wider genetic diversity among the accessions. In cluster analysis, the intercluster distances in all cases were larger than intracluster distances suggesting wider genetic diversity among the accessions of different groups. In PCA, the first PC accounts for maximum variability in the data with respect to succeeding components. These results could be used for generation of a core collection of watermelon accessions by elimination of redundant ones and for watermelon breeding programs by helping to identify useful, genetically distinct lines."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a86269c49d9c0c68516cc4b35f51bbcd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/9fe5b76c-70f3-46f6-b900-6eee7328c0f5/content","id":"-1292929630"},"keywords":["drought exposure","drought tolerant maize adoption","farm input subsidy programme","Malawi","Mundlak-Chamberlain O13, O33, Q18, Q56"],"sieverID":"4bd3f844-8a72-4e62-93a7-8d7bb5d8c76e","content":"We examine adoption of drought tolerant (DT) maize varieties using a four-round panel dataset from six districts in Malawi. There is an increase in adoption of DT maize from 3% in 2006 to 43% in 2015 in our data. We focus on the effect of past drought exposure on adoption and the likelihood of DT maize being distributed under the Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP). Results show that past exposure to drought increases the probability of DT maize seed being distributed through FISP. Farmers who accessed maize seed subsidy coupons and were previously exposed to late season dry spells are more likely to use the seed subsidy coupon to redeem DT maize seed. The likelihood of adoption and adoption intensity (area under DT maize) are positively influenced by previous early season dry spells and access to seed subsidy. Previous late season droughts also positively affect adoption intensity. On the other hand, area share under DT maize is positively correlated with early season dry spells and past exposure to late season dry spells but negatively related to seed subsidy. FISP in Malawi appears to have stimulated adoption of DT maize directly through subsidy and indirectly through generating farmers' experiences of the performance of DT varieties under drought conditions.Weather shocks such as droughts and floods undermine crop yields and aggregate production thereby reducing food availability and agricultural incomes (Davies et al., 2009;Kassie et al., 2009;Pauw et al., 2011). Farm households' failure to adapt to climate change could aggravate the negative effects and can inhibit further investment and economic growth (Nangoma, 2007;Kato et al., 2011;Kassie et al., 2015). Weather shocks can cascade through low production to food insecurity and local and national economic disruption (Devereux, 2007). The problem is particularly serious among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), who are repeatedly exposed to weather extremes but with limited adaptation options. For example, Malawi has experienced several weather shocks during the last two decades that have led to severe crop losses, infrastructure damage and occasional displacement of people (Nangoma, 2007;Pauw et al., 2010). The most recent shocks include the droughts of 2001/02, 2004/05 and 2011/12 (Nangoma, 2007;Denning et al., 2009;Holden and Fisher, 2015;Msowoya et al., 2016) and the 2014/15 flash floods early in the growing season and droughts thereafter.Investing in agricultural production methods to boost farmers' resilience against weather shocks is a key strategy to reduce negative impacts (Davies et al., 2009;Pangapanga et al., 2012). In a country like Malawi and most countries in the SSA region, with poor or missing markets for insurance and credit and limited off-farm employment opportunities, adoption of agricultural management strategies that reduce production risks is an important option for smallholder farmers (Kassie et al., 2015). Drought tolerant (DT) maize is one potential technology that has the capacity to help smallholders adapt to drought risks. It is estimated that DT maize can produce up to 30% of their potential yield after 6 weeks of water stress, before and during flowering and grain-formation (Magorokosho et al., 2009). It is also estimated that DT maize can give a yield advantage of up to 40% over other maize varieties in severe drought environments (Tesfaye et al., 2016).We examine the adoption of DT maize among smallholder farmers in Malawi, focusing on how past exposure to dry spells affects adoption and the probability that DT maize is included in the seed subsidy programme. The paper combines household panel data spanning 9 years from 2006 to 2015 and daily rainfall data from 2003 to data from 2012 and perception data on lagged exposures to weather shocks (drought). In contrast, we use four rounds of household panel data to assess changes in DT adoption over the period 2006-2015, which includes substantial variation in rainfall shocks, and controlling for (stable) household preferences. We construct a more independent dry spell variable using measured daily rainfall data as opposed to farmers' perception/memory of recent droughts. We define a dry spell as a period of 5-15 days with a total rainfall of less than 20 mm following a rainy day of at least 20 mm. 2 Using this definition, we identified the length (days) of the longest dry spell in each of the survey years, namely 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2015, and the previous three seasons of each survey year.We hypothesise that the length of dry spells should have a positive effect on adoption of DT maize in later years (assuming farmers have learnt that DT maize performs better than other maize varieties). To learn about the relative performance, farmers need to be able to observe the performance of alternative varieties under those growth conditions. Conversely, lack of recent droughts may reduce the likelihood of adopting DT maize. Areas with higher average rainfall are less likely to have droughts or have longer growing seasons and this may reduce the probability of farmers planting earlymaturing DT maize varieties.Our third difference from the Holden and Quiggin (2017a) is that we disaggregate the dry spell variable into early season and late season dry spells. The early dry spells cover a period between December and early January that coincides with planting time while late dry spells coincide with maize grain formation between February and early March. DT maize performs relatively better than other maize varieties in case of late season droughts. Exposure to late droughts may have revealed this to farmers who have seen this on their own or neighbouring farms. Our expectation is that exposure to late droughts is more likely to have a significant positive effect on adoption of DT maize among farmers that have observed this through exposure to late droughts in earlier years. Such exposure, in combination with the FISP, should enhance adoption of DT maize.Maize varieties cultivated in the SSA region are classified into three major categories: traditional/local, hybrid and open pollinated variety (OPV) (Lunduka et al., 2012;Abate et al., 2017). The hybrids and OPVs are improved varieties whose breeding programme dates back to the 1930s in Zimbabwe (Magorokosho, 2007) and 1940s in Malawi (Mason and Ricker-Gilbert, 2013). The locally bred hybrid (LH7) in Malawi was first distributed in 1959 (Cromwell and Zambezi, 1993). Since then over 1,700 varieties have been released between 1950 and 2014 across countries in SSA, of which 68% are hybrids and 32% OPVs. As of 2014, improved maize occupied 57% of the land area under maize production in SSA (Abate et al., 2017). The hybrid maize varieties are high yielding while OPVs are early maturing, compared with local varieties, hence providing farmers with yield advantage (Lunduka et al., 2012). However, local varieties are still popular among farm households, despite proliferation of hybrids and OPVs, because of favourable processing and consumption traits such as taste, storability, poundability, high flour-to-grain ratios and lower requirements for inorganic fertiliser (Smale et al., 1995;Denning et al., 2009;Lunduka et al., 2012). Thus, while hybrids and OPVs have production advantage over local varieties, they do not yet have the consumption attributes that farm households prefer in local maize.Considering the subsistence nature of most smallholder farmers who produce mainly for own consumption, and non-separable household production and consumption decisions, farmers face a trade-off between planting improved maize varieties with good production attributes and a local variety with preferred consumption characteristics. Farmers tend to adopt a portfolio of maize varieties combining both traditional and improved (Smale et al., 1995;Lunduka et al., 2012). Smale et al. (1995) reported risk aversion, future utility prospects of the variety and rationing in input supply markets or credit as some of the reasons for joint production of local and modern varieties. Abate et al. (2017) report adoption rates of 32% hybrids; 23% OPVs; 46% local in SSA. Farmers weigh options as to whether to allocate more land to high yielding varieties with poor post-harvest attributes or put more weight on post-harvest attributes at the expense of high yields. With the apparent recent increase in droughts, farmers not only weigh high yielding against post-harvest characteristics, but also drought tolerance as a hedge against droughts.Drought tolerant maize seed became an integral component in breeding programmes across SSA countries during the late 1990s because of recurrent droughts (B€ anziger et al., 2006). The programme received support from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) with the launch of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project in the mid 2000s. The project supported production and dissemination of DT maize varieties in 13 countries in SSA. Over 200 varieties were released before the project phased out in December 2015. The project was implemented jointly with national agricultural research systems who were responsible for seed delivery with support from public and private seed companies (Setimela et al., 2013;Wawa, 2016).In Malawi, as of December 2015, 18 DT maize varieties (15 hybrids and 3 OPVs) were released under the DTMA project. There are also other varieties developed outside the DTMA project that have been certified as drought tolerant by maize breeders (Abate, 2015;Holden and Fisher, 2015). The Government of Malawi includes DT seed in the FISP, making it more accessible (Lunduka et al., 2012;Holden and Fisher, 2015). FISP beneficiaries are officially entitled to two 50-kg bags of fertiliser and either one 2-kg bag of hybrid maize seed or a 4-kg bag of OPV seed (Ricker-Gilbert and Jones, 2015).Production under uncertainty can be presented as a state-contingent production function as proposed by Chambers and Quiggin (2000) and Quiggin and Chambers (2006). The model assumes y distinct outputs, x distinct inputs and s possible states of nature. A farm household allocates input x 2 < X þ and chooses state contingent output y 2 < SÃY þ . before the state of nature is revealed (ex ante), where; < þ implies that x and y are positive real numbers. Inputs are then fixed and output produced ex post (Quiggin and Chambers, 2006). If the household chooses output y and state of nature s is realised then the observed output is y s .The technology can then be summarised as T = [(x,y): x can produce y]. Given p y as output price and p x as the price of inputs, we can express the technology as a cost function C(p x ,y) = min[p x x:(x,y)2T], or as a demand function x(p x ,y) = argmin[p x x: (x,y)2T]. Assuming a simple case of two states of nature, one of which is unfavourable, the farmer's interest is to maximise output (y). The producer's problem is choice under uncertainty whereby state one is unfavourable if and only if output y 1 < y 2 . We may distinguish between inputs that are risk-complementary or risk-substituting in this kind of setting. If a shift from a state-contingent output vector y to a riskier output y' leads to an increase in demand for an input x j that is x j (p x ,y) < x j (p x ,y 0 ), then input x j is risk-complementary, otherwise it is a risk-substitute if x j (p x ,y) > x j (p x ,y') (Holden and Quiggin, 2017b). An increase in probability of a less favourable state will lead to an increased share of risk-substituting inputs in the input mix for a given expected output.Given that the farmer's objective is to maximise expected utility [EU(.)] from output y under the expected utility theory, the adoption decision of alternative inputs can be modelled as an optimal land allocation problem (Ding et al., 2009). Since smallholder farmers are price takers, and prices are assumed to be non-random, the only source of uncertainty is climatic risk. An individual farmer will allocate a mix of inputs to maximise expected utility from output (y). The farmer's optimal land allocation problem can therefore be specified as Max X E[U(p) ¼ MaxEU½p y y À p X ðXÞ. Our hypothesis is that experience of droughts will increase the likelihood of adopting DT maize. On the other hand, other improved maize (OIM) varieties are considered risk-complementary because they are optimal only under normal rainfall.However, the farmer's adoption decision will not only be affected by production factors but also consumption characteristics of the seeds. The risk-averse farmer is likely to adopt a portfolio of maize varieties to meet both production and consumption needs (Smale et al., 1995;Lunduka et al., 2012). DT maize will be preferred for early maturing and drought tolerant traits but is low yielding compared to other improved hybrids under normal rainfall, while local maize varieties will be chosen for consumption traits. The key question is the land area allocated to each variety. We first model the farmer's decision on whether to adopt DT maize varieties as a binary decision and then model the decision on area (ha) and area share allocated to DT maize varieties.The farmers' decision to adopt DT maize can be modelled using the latent variable approach (Wooldridge, 2014). The choice is based on the seed's characteristics and weather expectations for that season (Ding et al., 2009), and maximising utility implies partial adoption and farmers choosing a portfolio of seeds. Both market imperfections and household circumstances mean that production and consumption decisions are inseparable. The seed demand functions are therefore based on both wealth (consumption) and production characteristics. We therefore model the adoption decision of DT maize as follows:Ó 2018 The Authors. Journal of Agricultural Economics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Agricultural Economics Society.where DT it is the dependent variable representing the adoption of DT maize by household i in year t. R dt is a vector of variables capturing rainfall stress in the farmer' district d. Lagged dry spell variables are included to capture adaptive expectations of farmers on rainfall pattern for the forthcoming season. S it is a dummy for access to the FISP package of seed and fertiliser subsidies.M it represents market factors, including distance to agricultural markets (km) and the real price of inorganic fertiliser. H it denotes household characteristics such as education (years), age (years) and sex (1=female) of household head, male and female labour (adult equivalent/ha), off-farm labour (adult equivalent/ha), household size (number of persons), tropical livestock units (TLU) and asset values in Malawi Kwacha (MK). P it controls for observable farm characteristics such as farm size (ha) and number of plots. T it represents year dummies with 2006 as base year. a i captures unobservable time-invariant characteristics of households and plots such as timeinvariant observable and unobservable preferences, managerial ability and land quality. ɛ it is a normally distributed error term.Parameters in equation ( 1) are estimated using the Mundlak-Chamberlain (MC) models with a Control Function (CF) approach (Mundlak, 1978;Chamberlain, 1984;Wooldridge, 2010). In this MC framework, we include means and deviations of all household and farm characteristics. We model the adoption decision as a binary (zero/ one) decision, using a probit estimator (Wooldridge, 2010). For adopters, the second hurdle (decision) is how much land area (ha) to plant with DT maize varieties. We use a Tobit estimator to account for those who do not adopt DT maize, assuming normal distribution of the error term, ɛ it , (that is e it |X it ~Normal(0,r 2 )) (Tobin, 1958). Finally, we model the area share planted with DT maize varieties, using a fractional probit estimator to constrain the predicted value between zero and one (Wooldridge, 2011).Estimation of equation ( 1) can suffer from attrition bias due to non-random loss of sample households between the first and subsequent waves. Following Wooldridge (2010) we test whether attrition is random, and the results give evidence of attrition bias. Fortunately, with proper adjustments, unbiased estimation is possible even with high attrition. Using the MC device, for instance, allows us to control for time-constant unobservable factors that affect attrition. On the other hand, attrition bias due to observables can be controlled using an inverse probability weighting (IPW) approach (Fitzgerald et al., 1998;Wooldridge, 2010). IPW is, however, not available for our non-linear models.Another problem in this model could be sample selection bias and endogeneity due to non-random access to FISP by the households. To control for sample selection and endogeneity bias, we use a two-step control function (CF) approach (Petrin and Train, 2010;Wooldridge, 2011). In the first step, S it is written as a function of all exogenous variables entering the adoption model and the instruments that do not enter the adoption equation: where Z it are instrumental variables (IV) that can affect access to FISP but have no direct impact on adoption. Our choices for IV are: the number of children residing in the household; whether the area has a Member of Parliament (MP) from the ruling party, which can influence access to FISP based on previous studies (e.g. Holden and Lunduka, 2012;Mason and Ricker-Gilbert, 2013).We estimate two separate probit reduced form equations for seed subsidy and fertiliser subsidy as a first stage in this procedure and observe the significance of the instruments. If the instruments are jointly significant and hence relevant we then predict the error terms from each equation that are used to create control functions ( l it and c it ). Equation ( 2) is also used to test the first hypothesis on whether recent droughts result in an increase in the probability that DT maize was distributed related to the seed subsidy program. Having ascertained appropriateness of the instruments, we compute residuals ( l it and c it ) from both reduced form equations to include in the structural equation. The structural equation is thus estimated as:3. Data and Descriptive StatisticsWe  1). Our primary unit of analysis is the farm household. The household panel data are combined with daily rainfall data from the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services from 2003 to 2015, which allows us to generate dry spell variables that include lags for the past three seasons of each survey year. We use three seasons as the basis for farmers' expectations and experience in comparing the performance of alternative maize varieties under varying rainfall patterns. For previous early dry spells, the third season coincides with the early dry spell for the survey year, hence we limit the lags for the early dry spells to the past two seasons.In Table 2 we show adoption of DT maize disaggregated according to access to seed subsidy. Adoption was measured as whether farmers reported buying and using a DT maize variety. We consider both buying the seed through FISP or commercially at market price. The results show that adoption of DT maize varieties increased from 3% in 2006 to 43% in 2015. It is interesting however to notice that adoption of DT maize outside FISP is very low.Table 2 suggests some correlation between adoption of DT maize seed and possession of seed subsidy coupons. However these results also show that while seed subsidy may contribute significantly to adoption of DT seed, some adopters buy the seed commercially. The seed subsidy package contains hybrid and OPV seed coupons, which are both DT and non-DT seed so farmers have an option to redeem either DT or non-DT maize seed. Lunduka et al. (2012) reported that 98% of the beneficiaries preferred hybrid seed, with Holden and Fisher (2015) finding 69-82% redeeming DT maize seed.Table 3 shows the descriptive statistics for the dependent and independent variables. The dependent variables are 'adoption' equal to one if the household bought and used DT maize variety, and zero otherwise, 'maize area' (ha) allocated to DT maize and 'area share' under DT maize varieties. The key explanatory variable in this paper is 'dry spells'. The results show that, on average, the longest early dry spell lasted 9.3 days in 2006, 9 days (2009), 7 days (2012) and 5.7 days in 2015. In previous years to the survey year, farmers were exposed to the longest early dry spells in 2004 with an average of 10 days, while the longest late dry spell was in 2005 with an average of 13 days. We expect early dry spells in survey years to affect adoption as early warning of potential drought and/or a short rainy season. On the other hand, we expect previous exposure to late droughts to affect adoption through risk aversion. Also included in Table 3 are seed and fertiliser subsidy variables and household and farm-level factors. The 'farm size' (ha) variable is a total of all the plots cultivated by the household in a particular year. To enhance accuracy, all the plots were measured with a Global Positioning System (GPS) device.Table 4 presents results for access to seed and fertiliser subsidy and use of DT maize seed conditional on seed subsidy access. All the models are estimated using the MC framework. We include variables, ruling party Member of Parliament (MP) and number of children in the households, in seed subsidy and fertiliser subsidy models as instruments to compute residuals for the structural equations for the second hypothesis. The variable ruling party MP is positive and significant suggesting that the area whose Member of Parliament is from the ruling party is more likely to access seed and fertiliser subsidy coupons. With respect to exposure to recent dry spells, there is a positive correlation with DT seed distribution and use. Two-and three-year lags of longest late season dry spells are positive and significant on the probability that the household received seed subsidy coupons. Further, 1-year lag of early season dry spells and 2-year lag of late season dry spells significantly increase the likelihood that the household used the seed subsidy coupon to redeem drought tolerant maize seed.On the other hand, 3-year lag of average rainfall (mm), a proxy for rainfall distribution is associated with less likelihood of a household using the seed subsidy coupon to redeem DT maize seed. These results suggest that areas that have been exposed to more droughts in recent years are more likely to choose and redeem DT maize seed in the Farm Input Subsidy Package. Our results also suggest that farmers who were previously exposed to late dry spells are more likely to use the maize seed subsidy coupon to redeem DT maize seed varieties. Although the Government of Malawi tries to match seed varieties with appropriate agro-ecological zones and with farmer preferences (from demonstration trials), it does not relate varieties to recent weather experience.Table 5 presents our adoption results, estimated with the MC device with a control function (CF) approach. The three columns are: (i) DT adoption (Probit), (ii) area (ha) under DT maize (Tobit); (iii) area share allocated to DT maize varieties (Fractional Probit). The fertiliser subsidy residual is significant in area and area share models while the seed subsidy residual is significant in the area share model. Thus, we reject exogeneity of fertiliser subsidy and seed subsidy variables in these models 3 and deduce, therefore, our CF approach is appropriate.The results show that the likelihood of adoption of drought tolerant maize varieties is positively correlated with a 2-year lag of longest early dry spells and seed subsidy access, but there is negative correlation with 3-year lag of average rainfall. Intensity of adoption measured as area (ha) under DT maize is positively correlated with 1-year and 2-year lag of early longest dry spells, 2-year and 3-year lag of longest late dry spells and seed subsidy but inversely related to 1-year lag of late dry spells and fertiliser subsidy. Area share under DT maize has a positive and significant relationship with early longest dry spell and 2-year and 3-year lag of late dry spells but is negatively correlated with seed subsidy access.This positive impact of early dry spells can be explained by the fact that early drought acts as a warning to farmers of a potential drought season so that farmers are more likely to increase area share under maize varieties that are drought tolerant. Another possible explanation is that early drought signifies a short rainy season, so that previous exposure increases the likelihood of adopting early maturing maize varieties to fit into the growing season as Malawi has a unimodal type of rainy season. Although other hybrids are also early maturing, the 2012 experience shows that most farmers opt for DT early maturing maize varieties (Holden and Fisher, 2015) such as SC403 (Kanyani) which matures within 90 days after planting. Such varieties are not only drought tolerant but also suitable for replanting after an early drought.For late droughts, the positive impact of 2-year and 3-year lags suggest that farmers respond to previous late droughts by adopting technologies that hedge against resulting yield losses. These results suggest that farmers are influenced by previous exposure to droughts. The most important advantage of DT maize is its performance over other maize varieties under rainfall stress before and during the flowering period for maize, as reported by Magorokosho et al. (2009). If farmers' experience is in line with this, then more adoption will follow in years after early droughts where DT and other maize varieties were planted and their relative performance could be assessed. However, the negative impact of 1-year lag of late dry spells on DT area is unexpected and not easily explained.The findings overall suggest that the more severe (longer) the dry spells, the more the farmers become aware of the risks associated and hence a need to adopt DT seed. These results are consistent with our expectations and the findings of Holden and Fisher (2015) and Holden and Quiggin (2017a) that farmers who have been exposed to drought previously are more likely to adopt DT maize as an adaptive mechanism. Ding et al. (2009) also reported that farmers' experience with drought increases their likelihood of adopting risk-reducing agricultural systems such as conservation tillage. Our results, however, have specifically shown how early and late dry spells affect adoption and adoption intensity, a component not addressed by either Holden and Fisher (2015) or Holden and Quiggin (2017a).Access to seed subsidy is positive and significant in adoption and area models (consistent with Holden and Fisher, 2015) but negative in the area share model. On the other hand, fertiliser subsidy is negative on adoption and area but positive though insignificant on area share under DT maize varieties. The negative impact of seed subsidy on area share could be related to the small quantities of subsidised maize seed (2-kg bag of hybrid seed or 4-kg bag of OPV seed (Ricker-Gilbert and Jones, 2015)). Such quantities are too small to allow a significant increase on area share under DT maize varieties.Weather extremes, especially recurrent droughts, threaten agricultural productivity and food security in many countries especially in sub-Saharan Africa whose population largely depends on agriculture and maize for food. Drought tolerant maize is one promising technology to minimize the impact of droughts. Several drought tolerant maize varieties have been developed by national research institutions in collaboration with international research institutions such as CIMMYT and have been distributed across the countries. Examining determinants of adoption and adoption intensity of this promising technology is becoming increasingly important. Following Holden and Fisher (2015), Fisher et al. (2015) and Holden and Quiggin (2017a), we use a Mundlak-Chamberlain device with a Control Function approach to understand adoption of DT maize varieties in Malawi under rainfall stress.We combine data from farm households in six districts collected in 3-year intervals between 2006 and 2015 with experience of previous dry spells computed from daily rainfall data from 2003 to 2015. We include lagged early and late season drought variables in the panel data analysis to assess how adoption and adoption intensity is affected by drought exposure experience. We define adoption intensity in terms of maize area (ha) allocated to DT maize varieties and area share under DT maize. DT maize is known by scientists to perform better than other maize varieties under late drought conditions but not necessarily under early drought conditions, except that DT maize varieties are early maturing. We also extend the Holden and Quiggin (2017a)  seed subsidy programme. Farmers previously exposed to late season dry spells are more likely to redeem DT maize seed varieties using the seed subsidy coupon. We also find positive correlations between the likelihood of adoption of DT maize seed and 2-year lagged longest early dry spells and also seed subsidy access. Areas under DT maize are positively influenced by 1-year and 2-year lag of early season longest dry spells, 2-year and 3-year lag of longest late season dry spells and seed subsidy, but there is an unexpected and unexplained negative effect of 1-year lag of late season droughts and fertiliser subsidy. We also find positive correlations between area share under DT maize and early season longest dry spell, 2-year and 3-year lag of late season dry spells, though, again unexpectedly, a negative correlation with seed subsidy access.Our results suggest that farmers respond to occurrence of early dry spells in current and previous seasons and exposure to previous late dry spells by adopting technologies that can minimize drought-related yield losses. Early droughts may signal a short rainy season, hence farmers are more likely to adopt early maturing varieties of which some are drought tolerant. Farmers' response to late droughts suggest that they are aware of the negative effects of late droughts and one way of hedging against such risks is by adopting drought tolerant maize varieties. Finally, the positive impact of seed subsidy on likelihood of adoption and area under DT maize is consistent with previous studies (e.g. Holden and Fisher, 2015) that FISP is a strong driver of DT maize adoption in Malawi. However the negative impact of seed subsidy on area share may reflect the small quantities of seed eligible for subsidy, suggesting that increasing the quantities of maize seed eligible for subsidy could significantly increase the area share allocated to DT maize seed.Our paper has generated new evidence that previous early droughts affect adoption of DT maize varieties by increasing farmers' adaptive expectations with respect to duration of the rainy season. Farmers previously affected by early droughts are more likely to adopt early maturing DT maize varieties. On the other hand, previous late droughts affect adoption through risk aversion as farmers adopt technologies that hedge against late drought risks. In a country facing persistent weather shocks, mainly droughts and floods coupled with missing or poor markets for weather insurance and credit, these findings are of great importance to enhance agricultural productivity. Farmers' adoption of drought tolerant maize, a drought risk-substituting technology is an indication that farmers in drought-prone regions in SSA countries are more willing to adopt a drought-resilient technology. As discussed in the conceptual framework, late drought risks increases adoption of risk-substituting technologies such as DT maize varieties at the expense of other hybrids and local maize.The understanding that farmers respond to exposure to weather shocks is an important observation not only for Malawi but other countries in the SSA region for the promotion of climate risk-reducing technologies. Promotion of technologies that are perceived by farmers themselves as climate-smart based on their experience are more likely to receive high adoption rates and make an impact on general household livelihood conditions. As the Government of Malawi is promoting adoption of climatesmart agriculture (CSA) technologies (Government of Malawi, 2016), extension messages should emphasize drought tolerant maize seed as a key component in the CSA campaign, with extension and promotion messages on the significance of DT maize under drought. Ensuring availability and affordability of the DT seed should continue being the priority strategy for the Government of Malawi. The government should make deliberate efforts to distribute more DT maize seed varieties in areas previously and frequently exposed to drought shocks, and consider increasing seed subsidy quantities from the current 2-4 kg. However since adoption outside FISP is low and this may present a sustainability problem, the agricultural extension service should do more to enhance awareness of DT maize seed so that farmers can continue using it even after FISP."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4735c1cffdd824486b397064545cec92","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/19c0eb57-c658-4131-910c-798624c5f12e/retrieve","id":"2105265695"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f39aaa4a-7835-4019-8579-320ba63fb777","content":"• ASF is completely different disease from Classical Swine Fever (CSF) and Swine Flu. • ASF does not cause any health risk to human, pork is safe for human consumption. • CSF vaccine neither prevents pigs from ASF nor it causes ASF.and gather the feed waste, bedding materials, gunny bags, dart adhering in the pig sty, etc. Burn these within the farm premises as far as possible, taking necessary precaution. • Thoroughly clean the floor, railing, wall, drain, central passage, feeding and water trough and farm utensils using water and cleaning agents (soap/detergent). • Disinfect the above with disinfectants such as -bleaching powder, phenol, formalin, sodium hypochlorite, lime, etc. as advised by local veterinarians. • Disinfect the pig sty and entire farm premise using disinfectants.• Clean and disinfect your personal clothes, gum boots, chappals, etc. and take bath with soap and water after completion of whole cleaning process.Bio-security is the best preventive measure • Neither buy nor sell diseased pigs/pork/pork products under any circumstances during this period. • Do not feed kitchen waste, hotel waste, slaughter waste, etc. having pork particles. If feeding of kitchen waste is essential, feed them only after boiling for 30 minutes. • Stop rearing of pigs under free ranging/tethering system. Construct a small pig sty with concrete floor. • Do not sale or buy pigs and pork, etc. during an outbreak. Ask your fellow farmers not to do it. • Do not take your pigs out of the farm for breeding purpose. Either rear a breeding boar or adopt Artificial Insemination (AI). • Thoroughly clean the sties, drains, utensils, equipment, clothings and the surroundings of your pig farm followed by disinfection with bleaching powder,phenol,formalin, sodium hypochlorite or lime. • Dispose of the feed waste, excreta, etc. of the farm in a manure pit dug inside the farm premises. • Arrange for a \"Foot-bath\" in front of each sty and a \"Wheel dip\" in front of the farm and keep it filled with potassium permanganate / bleaching powder solution, replace the solution daily. • Leave the ASF affected farm vacant for at least 40 (forty) days after properly cleaning and disinfecting. • Never buy new piglets from ASF infected farm or from the market.Only buy from a known bio-secured farm after gathering all the relevant information.• Initially introduce only 10% of the total strength of your farm.Keep this stock under strict observation for 6 (six) weeks for any reoccurrence of ASF. • Later on, if you buy new piglets, keep them in under quarantine for 21 days for observation. Introduce to in the main farm only when no symptom of ASF and other diseases is exhibited.Published by the ARIAS Society, G.S. Road, Khanapara,Guwaha -781022"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6549986e4695bdbcf9f716e1eeb5ce34","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/Latin_American_Series/pdf/4.pdf","id":"-1494603488"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"dc8ca021-276e-4553-8220-a44a8552e6cb","content":"Aunque la idea inicial es dar cabida únicamente a aquellos trabajos directamente relacionados con el Instituto, no pensamos descartar, en manera alguna, la posibilidad de dar espacio a otras contribuciones consideradas pertinentes a las metas globales del Instituto.Como puede esperarse, el futuro de la serie dependerá de la aceptación y retro-alimentación recibida de parte de la comunidad a la cual esta dirigida: forjadores de políticas relativas al recurso agua, investigadores afines a la problemática del recurso, organizaciones e individuos involucrados, en una u otra forma, en aspectos técnicos, institucionales, económicos y sociales del manejo del agua, particularmente a la región latina pero en general a nivel global.Para sus comentarios, en español o inglés, puede comunicarse a cualquiera de las 2 direcciones que aparecen en el reverso de esta publicación.Figura 1. Figura 2. Figura 3. Figura 4. Figura 5. Figura 6. Figura 7. Figura 8. Figura 9. Figura 10. Figura 11.El presente estudio del Instituto Internacional del Manejo del Agua (IWMI) fue realizado en el periodo abril 1996 a abril 1997 en dos acequias privadas en la subcuenca del río El Angel en la provincia Carchi en el norte del Ecuador. El objetivo del estudio fue evaluar el desempeño técnico y los impactos hídricos, agrícolas, económicos e institucionales del manejo de riego en las dos acequias, tal como recomendar mejoramientos en el manejo del agua.El estudio se ejecutó dentro del contexto del trabajo del Consorcio para el Desarrollo Sostenible del Ecosistema Andino (CONDENSAN), el cual tiene los siguientes antecedentes. El Centro Internacional de Investigación para el Desarrollo (CIID) y el Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP), investigadores e instituciones de desarrollo del área andina, tomaron la iniciativa de establecer un proyecto regional que promueva el desarrollo sostenible de los ecosistemas de los andes altos. Este esfuerzo conjunto originó el CONDENSAN, que con el auspicio y la participación activa del Centro Agrícola del Cantón Espejo (Provincia del Carchi), de la Fundación para el Desarrollo Agropecuario (FUNDAGRO) y, del Instituto Autónomo de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIAP), inició sus actividades en el proyecto Carchi, en octubre de 1993de (CONDESAN 1995)).En la actualidad forman parte de la mesa de concertación del consorcio Carchi las siguientes instituciones: Facultad de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), CIP-Ecuador, CARE-PROMUSTA, INIAP, CONDESAN y los alcaldes de los Municipios de Espejo, Mira y Bolívar ( CONDESAN 1995).En octubre de 1995 fue invitado el IWMI a participar en la mesa de concertación del consorcio Carchi. La participación del IWMI en el consorcio enfocaría en el uso del agua de riego en las zonas altas y bajas de algunas acequias en la cuenca del río El Angel, en la cual la mayoría de los estudios de los miembros del consorcio fueron hechos. El IWMI estaba particularmente interesado en este tipo de estudio por tratarse de pequeños sistemas privados de riego en ladera. Esto permitiría no solamente identificar posibles impactos ambientales del riego en ecosistemas frágiles, sino también evaluar el desempeño de los mismos. Lo que además permitiría mas adelante comparar resultados con sistemas públicos de características similares.En el presente estudio el IWMI pretende dilucidar las siguientes preguntas con relación al desempeño y manejo de las dos acequias Garrapatal y El Tambo:? ¿Cómo está organizado el manejo de riego en las dos acequias privadas Garrapatal y El Tambo?? ¿Cómo es el uso del agua en diferentes tramos de las acequias, en términos de suficiencia, disponibilidad, oportunidad y equidad de la distribución?? ¿Cuáles son los impactos agrícolas, económicos y financieros, así como los impactos ambientales del manejo de agua?El área de influencia es el ecosistema húmedo altoandino de la provincia del Carchi, que se ubica en el norte de Ecuador entre los 2.800 y 3.000 m.s.n.m.(véase Mapa 1). El clima es frío con temperatura media que varía entre 9 y 11?C. Los extremos absolutos están entre 0?C y 22?C, y lluvias muy irregulares, que varían entre 1.000 y 2.000 mm por año. En la clasificación de las zonas de vida de Holdridge, la zona corresponde a bosque muy húmedo montano (bmh-Montano), bosque húmedo montano (bh-Montano) y, bosque húmedo montano bajo (bh-Montano Bajo) ( CONDESAN 1996).El área total de influencia es de 150.800 hectáreas ubicadas en los cantones Bolívar, Mira, Tulcán, Montúfar y Espejo. Se ha establecido una área piloto de intervención, que corresponde a la subcuenca del río El Angel y que coincide con los límites del cantón Espejo. La subcuenca cubre aproximadamente 19.000 has (CONDESAN 1995).En el área piloto se encuentra la reserva ecológica de El Angel, la misma que constituye un importante reservorio de diversidad biológica animal y vegetal de los páramos del norte del Ecuador y la fuente de captación de agua para los ríos: El Angel, Bobo, Grande, Chiquito, Plata, Morán, Chalguiyacu, Haurmiyacu y Cariyacu, como también de muchas quebradas ( CONDESAN 1996).El estudio del IWMI se circunscribe al área comprendida entre las coordenadas: 0?30`00\" y 0 ?37`30\" de latitud norte y 77?59`24\" y 78? 03`45\" de longitud occidental.De acuerdo a la clasificación de Thorntwaite, en el área se presentan dos tipos climáticos. Hacia el norte el sub-húmedo mesotérmico (CB), y en el sur semiárido mesotérmico (DB). Como es general en los valles interandinos, los valores medios anuales de temperatura oscilan entre 7 ?C y 18? C. En las estaciones meteorológicas de El Angel (3.055 msnm) y de Ibarra (2.228 msnm) la temperatura es de 11.6? C y de 15.9? C respectivamente (INMH 1974(INMH y 1976)).La precipitación y la evapotranspiración de las estaciones San Gabriel (representativa para la zona alta de las dos acequias), y de Ibarra (representativa para la zona baja) están presentados en las Figuras 1 y 2 (INMH 1997). Gabriel, abril de 1996 -marzo de 1997. La precipitación anual total en este año agrícola (96/97-San Gabriel) fue de 983 mm, mientras la evapotransporación era 1434 mm, lo cual significa un déficit de 451 mm en la zona alta. Con excepción del mes de enero, todos los meses muestran un déficit de agua. Figura Error! Unknown switch argument.. Precipitación y evapotranspiración, Estación meteorológica de Ibarra, abril de 1996 -marzo de 1997.La precipitación anual total en este año (96/97-Ibarra) fue de 632 mm, mientras la evapotranspiración fue 1562 mm, lo cual significa un déficit de 930 mm en la zona baja. En todos los meses la evapotranspiración es mas alta que la precipitación.De acuerdo al informe geológico del INERHI-DGGM en la sierra norte, el basamento está constituido por rocas metamórficas (posiblemente Paleozoicas) sobre las cuales se depositaron en el Cretásico como producto de una fuerte actividad volcánica lavas básicas de estructura en almoadillas, que se intercalan con productos vulcano-sedimentarios que se manifestaron hasta el Eoceno.En el Terciario superior continúa la acumulación de depósitos continentales de las Formaciones Tumbatú y Chota. En el Plio-Pleistoceno, se produce una gran actividad volcánica, consistente en lavas y piroclastos, que configuraron el actual paisaje andino y cuya influencia continúa actualmente en menor grado. Los volcanes formados en esta última fase pleistocénica fueron fuertemente erosionados por la actividad glaciar, quedando vestigios como lagos, tilitas, estrías, etc.Actualmente, los ríos por su acción erosiva se han profundizado dejando al descubierto fuertes escarpes, como también material de niveles aterrazados y depósitos aluviales (INERHI 1979).La vegetación constituye un elemento importante que impide los efectos erosivos en aquellos sitios donde existe alta susceptibilidad a la erosión, como es el caso de las áreas especialmente bajas del proyecto Carchi. Según el croquis ecológico, preparado en base al sistema Holdridge, la zona corresponde a la formación bosque seco montano bajo (bs-MB), la misma que ocupa la mayoría de los valles interandinos al sur de Bolívar, áreas aledañas al río El Angel y se ubica alrededor de los 2.500 msnm con una precipitación de 760 mm y una evapotranspiración de 730 mm.La vegetación natural ha desaparecido, la poca existente corresponde a formaciones arbustivas, la topografía es entre plana y ondulada, apta para cultivos hortícolas y frutícolas (Coello Hinojosa 1994).Los suelos en el área del estudio corresponden a la agrupación fisiográfica denominada relieve colinado a fuertemente socavado. En esta forma de relieve se caracterizan los suelos por la presencia de \"cangahua\" (una capa dura de suelo) y ceniza volcánica. Ocupa pequeñas áreas ubicadas en los valles interandinos, en San Isidro, García Moreno y Mira en altitudes de 2.000 a 2.800 msnm. El relieve predominante es el colinado a fuertemente socavado, con pendientes del 20% al 70%, existiendo áreas con declives menores al 20%.Los suelos son de color negro a pardo obscuro, de textura arenosa fina a limosa con un horizonte argílico de 5 a 10 cm de espesor; suelos muy superficiales (menos de 25 cm.) a moderadamente profundos (de 50 cm a 90 cm.). Son influenciados por cenizas volcánicas y limitadas por la presencia de \"cangahua\" poco meteorizda a menos de un metro de profundidad. El drenaje varía de moderado a imperfectamente drenado. Los resultados de los análisis químicos de los suelos indican que son normales en nitrógeno, muy pobres en fósforo y medianos en potasio. El pH varía de 6 a 7 (medianamente ácido a neutro). Taxonómicamente, los suelos corresponden al gran grupo Duriudoll (INERHI 1979).Conforme se desciende hacia el valle del Chota, el relieve se torna \"plano a ondulado suave\", con influencia de cenizas volcánicas y drenaje excesivo. Los estratos son de granulometría gruesa (arenosa media y gruesa), profundos (más de 90 cm.), mezclados con gravas de pómez y piedras. En algunos sitios hay presencia de micelios de carbonatos. Químicamente, son bajos en materia orgánica (menos del 1%), muy pobres en nitrógeno y fósforo y muy altos en potasio. Estos suelos han sido incluídos dentro del gran grupo Torripsament.El área del proyecto está situada en la cuenca hidrológica del río Mira que tributa al río Chota, el mismo que drena en el océano Pacífico. El río El Angel, afluente del Mira, constituye el recurso hídrico más importante (véase Mapa 2). En la subcuenca del mismo nombre, captan y se asientan los sistemas de riego particular, que benefician especialmente las tierras bajas de la subcuenca. La situación hídrica del río El Angel es crítica durante los meses de junio a septiembre (CONDESAN 1996).En consideración a que el 80% de la precipitación anual se produce en ocho meses (octubre a mayo), gran parte de esta lluvia, al no existir estructuras de almacenamiento, se drena hacia los ríos, no siendo por tanto factible utilizarlas en beneficio de extensas zonas agrícolas y muy especialmente en las zonas actualmente regadas, que acusan en el verano un déficit importante.Los recursos hídricos, provenientes de la cuenca son destinados al consumo humano, agrícola, energético e industrial, constituyendo la demanda para riego y agua potable las más importantes, ésta última a consecuencia de la falta de ordenamiento territorial -dispersión de los centros poblados y caseríos-los servicios de agua potable para usos doméstico, se han incrementado significativamene (CONDESAN 1996).Las condiciones orográficas de la cuenca y el recurso superficial abundante en el período lluvioso, favorecen un importante potencial de regulación con fines de riego.La Ley de Aguas, sancionada mediante decreto número 369 de 18 de mayo de 1972, faculta el aprovechamiento común de las aguas. Una vez el agua es captada y conducida por tubería, cada usuario puede derivar la cantidad que le corresponde sin perjuicio de los otros beneficiarios. Esta repartición se hace de común acuerdo entre los usuarios o por medio de las Agencias de Agua. En el área de estudio corresponde a la Agencia de Agua en Ibarra. Los usuarios del acueducto común contribuirán según sus derechos a la limpieza, reparación y sostenimiento administrativo del mismo. Así como para la construcción de obras indispensables o necesarias para su conservación o mejoramiento (GdE 1972).Si más de cinco personas fueren titulares de derecho de aprovechamiento, conferidos por la Agencia, en conformidad con la Ley y el Reglamento de la Ley de Aguas, se asociarán y constituirán el correspondiente Directorio de Aguas. Este directorio es un organismo de dirección y administración del recurso agua, que llevará el nombre del acueducto que les beneficia, a objeto de identificación y registro. Sus estatutos serán aprobados por la Agencia y ellos determinarán la organización, funcionamiento y vida de los mismos, así como el reparto, explotación y conservación de las aguas. Estos directorios se sujetarán a expresas disposiciones técnicas, legales y administrativas de la Agencia de Aguas. (GdE 1973).Para el aprovechamiento de las aguas, las personas naturales o jurídicas deben obtener una concesión volumétrica (expresada en un caudal entregado en la bocatoma, l/s) del Estado y asumir a su cargo la construcción, la operación y el mantenimiento de la infraestructura. En la práctica el estado no realiza ninguna inversión, no obstante que el riego particular cubre el 81%, de una superficie regada de 708.914 ha en territorio nacional a diciembre de 1993 (Sotomayor y Garcés 1997).Con los objetivos ya mencionados se realizó una inspección y análisis de la situación del riego particular en la subcuenca del río El Angel, habiéndose recorrido las acequias Pisquer, Puermal, Huaquer, Garrapatal y El Tambo (véase Mapa 2). Las conclusiones de los recorridos realizados, como del análisis de la información existente, es la siguiente:? La subcuenca abastece de riego y agua potable, mediante la captación de once acequias, localizadas a lo largo del río El Angel y de sus afluentes. Las superficies de riego y las fuentes de captación son presentados en el Cuadro 1, mientras algunas otras características son presentadas en Cuadro 2.Cuadro Error! Unknown switch argument.. Superficies de riego y fuentes de captación de las 11 acequias en la subcuenca del río El Angel. ? En lo relacionado con la distribución, la infraestructura secundaria no funciona como estructura de transporte del agua, sino de entrega parcelaria. Las redes terciarias y cuaternarias de riego a nivel predial no existen.? Los largos trayectos (existen acequias que tienen 42 km), que atraviesan lechos de alta permeabilidad, ocasionan pérdidas significativas de agua, que determinan que la disponibilidad de agua en la cabecera de la entrega parcelaria sea muy deficitaria y más aún para quiénes son los últimos regantes.En términos generales, los aspectos arriba mencionados han provocado a lo largo de los años ineficiencia de los sistemas de riego, desperdicios de volúmenes significativos de agua para los usuarios 1 de las acequias, constantes interrupciones del servicio de riego y daños a los suelos.En consideración a las limitaciones de tiempo y financieras, se escogieron las acequias, Garrapatal y El Tambo. Luego del análisis, estudio y recorrido de las acequias de la subcuenca del río El Angel, el propósito fue realizar en ellas un diagnóstico pormenorizado, que permita conocer el estado de la infraestructura, la operación y mantenimiento de los sistemas, la estructura de la organización campesina, el desarrollo del riego y el desarrollo agrícola.Estas dos acequias se consideran representativas del área tanto en términos de sus recorridos como de su infraestructura, patrones de cultivos y arreglos organizativos. La Garrapatal representa más la acequia 'moderna', mientras que El Tambo representa las tradicionales. Sin embargo, debe reconocerse que ambas acequias ofrecen limitaciones a un adecuado manejo de sus aguas.Ubicación. El área de la acequia se encuentra ubicada entre las coordenadas 0? 4` y 0? 35`de latitud norte y 77? 57`y 78? 88`de longitud occidental y cubre los sectores de San Antonio, Garrapatal, La Providencia, Chilcal, San Joaquín, Uyamá, Santa Rita, entre otros, pertenecientes a las parroquias de Mira y San Isidro, de los cantones Espejo y Mira. La superficie bruta es de 700 hectáreas. La bocatoma ha sido construída a la altura del nuevo puente Ayora. El área de riego dispone de caminos vecinales, que conectan con todos los caseríos existentes (MBS-INERHI 1991) (véase Mapa 2).Reseña histórica. La acequia fue construída hace más de cien años por iniciativa de los propietarios de las haciendas que exisitían en el sector, las cuales se extendían desde la zona de Ingueza en la parte alta hasta la zona de San Nicolás y Uyamá en la parte baja. Algunos de los moradores de la zona que trabajaban en las haciendas aún recuerdan las \"mingas\" (trabajo colectivo) que se realizaban para la limpieza y mantenimiento de la acequia organizadas por los dueños de las haciendas. En los años 60 en la provincia del Carchi se comienza a dar un proceso natural de parcelamiento de las haciendas previo a la reforma agraria. Los dueños de las haciendas comienzan a dividir sus terrenos con el objeto de vender sus propiedades y al mismo tiempo entregaron parte del terreno a los peones y \"huasipungueros\" 2 que habían trabajado para ellos. La entrega o venta de las tierras venía acompañada con el correspondiente derecho a la utilización del agua de la acequia. En el año de 1972, luego de la promulgación de la Ley de Aguas, los grupos de usuarios de la acequia Garrapatal se organizan en una Junta General para ser legalizados por la Agencia de Aguas del Ministerio de Agricultura.El sistema de riego. El sistema de riego tiene una dotación de agua concesionada de 244 l/s. Esta agua es proveniente del río El Angel, en la cota 2.665 msnm. La obra de captación consiste en una estructura para el tránsito de crecidas que dispone de azud, cuenco de disipación de energía y muros laterales. Lo bocatoma está en buen estado de funcionamiento. Al pie de la rejilla, a un costado del azud, existe una compuerta de limpieza. La estructura dispone de una rejilla y se comunica a un canal revestido de 1.2 m de ancho por 0.80 de alto, al final de este canal está instalada una compuerta de control de caudales y un vertedero lateral para evacuación de excesos al cauce del río.La conducción se inicia por la margen derecha del cauce y se dirige hacia el área de riego mediante una conducción de 10.77 km de longitud, de los cuales 6.68 km corresponden al tramo de conducción y 4.09 km a las redes de distribución secundaria. Para la entrega del agua a nivel de las zonas módulos, la acequia dispone de estructuras de derivación y control; 9.0 km corresponden a tramos de acequia con sección media de 0.80 m de ancho por 0.7 m de alto, y de varios túneles que totalizan una extensión de 1.8 km. En el trayecto están construídas algunas obras: secciones revestidas, embauladas, muros de protección, pasos vehiculares y derivaciones secundarias que transportan el agua a los 11 módulos de riego. La mayoría de las obras están en regular estado de mantenimiento, el mismo que mejora substancialmente en la época de riego (MBS-INERHI 1991).Cuadro Error! Unknown switch argument.. El número de los usuarios, la superficie y la concesión para las zonas de la acequia Garrapatal. Organización. La junta de usuarios de la acequia Garrapatal está organizada en subjuntas, las cuales tienen una directiva conformada por un presidente, tesorero y secretario. Los presidentes de cada una de ellas, forman la directiva de la Junta General de la Acequia. Según los Estatutos y Reglamentos de la Junta de Aguas, los mismos que son aprobados por la Agencia de Aguas de Ibarra, la junta general se debe reunir periódicamente (cada dos meses) con el objetivo principal de proponer fechas para la limpieza total de la acequia y conocer los problemas y logros de cada subjunta en lo referente a la administración de la acequia. En la actualidad la junta general se reune solamente dos veces al año y la asistencia de los usuarios no es mayoritaria. Las elecciones de la Directiva General, se realizan cada año, aunque los últimos tres años ha sido reelecta la directiva actual.Las elecciones en las directivas de las subjuntas, también se realizan según el reglamento de la junta general. Estas directivas han sido reelectas en formas reiterada, manteniéndose sus personeros por períodos de cinco a diez años. Existen casos como en el de la subjunta La Cocha, en la cual su presidente y los miembros del directorio han permanecido por más de quince años en funciones prorrogadas. En las subjuntas se presenta el mismo problema de la falta de asistencia por parte de los usuarios a las reuniones que realizan las directivas.La principal obligación de cada subjunta, es la de realizar la limpieza y el mantenimiento de un tramo determinado de la acequia, (canal principal). Existen once subjuntas: La Cocha, Grandeza Nacional, Loma Chilcal, Loma Seca, San Joaquín, San Andrés, San Nicolás, San Marcos, San Francisco, Playa Rica y Uyamá.La distribución del agua. Los directivos de la junta de usuarios de la acequia Garrapatal, realizan el reparto del agua de riego de acuerdo a los turnos que fueron fijados en los estatutos, los cuales fueron aprobados a mediados de los años 70 por la Agencia de Aguas en Ibarra y supervisados por técnicos del INERHI. Los turnos se basan en el caudal concesionado de la zona, tiempo y superficie regada. El criterio utilizado varía en las diferentes zonas de riego. En algunas zonas el criterio es el de conceder 12 horas de uso de agua por hectárea, mediante turnos cada 15 días. En otros casos son turnos de 6 o 7 horas de uso de agua por hectárea (Cuadro 4). Esta disposición se fundamenta en que el caudal que discurre en el canal principal se distribuye en forma proporcional a la superficie de cada módulo y a un caudal característico teórico.En ciertos módulos existen variaciones en cuanto a la utilización de estos turnos y distribución de agua. En el caso de la Cocha no existe el respeto de turnos de riego. Los usuarios riegan en el momento que ellos consideran necesario. Según los usuarios hasta el momento no ha existido la necesidad de organizarse por turnos debido a que existe suficiente agua. En otros módulos existen usuarios que reciben más horas de agua de lo que normalmente les correspondería por hectárea según la distribución de los turnos. Esta situación se da por la venta de derechos de agua. Aunque de acuerdo a la Ley de Aguas es ilegal la venta de derechos de agua sin terreno, existen casos de usuarios que vendieron sus horas o turnos de agua a otros usuarios quedándose con los terrenos.Cuadro Error! Unknown switch argument.. La organización de la distribución del agua en las zonas de la acequia Garrapatal. El cuadro 4 permite observar que, según las concesiones y el sistema de turnos de cada zona, no existe equidad en términos de la cantidad de agua en los turnos. Esto debe interpretarse cuidadosamente ya que parecen existir derechos de agua adquiridos que tienen prioridad legal. Igualmente, se menciona venta de derechos de agua, aunque sea ilegal. Finalmente, es de anotarse que la desigualdad en la distribución no está relacionada a la posición geográfica del predio en la cuenca ya que se dan valores altos y bajos en cada tramo. Método de riego. En las once áreas modulares de riego, los agricultores son los responsables de la operación y mantenimiento del sistema de riego, el mismo que se realiza generalmente por surcos, en curvas de nivel, siendo este método de riego el más generalizado. Los cultivos principales son maíz, cebada, fréjol y tomate, entre otros (ver Cuadro 2).Estructura agraria. La estructura agraria en la acequia Garrapatal, de 236 explotaciones agrícolas, están presentados en el Cuadro 5. La mayoría de los usuarios tiene una superficie entre 1 y 5 ha. La superficie promedia es 2.8 ha.Cuadro Error! Unknown switch argument.. La estructura agraria en la acequia Garrapatal.< Ubicación. La Acequia \"El Tambo\", está ubicada entre las coordenadas geográficas 0? 4`y 0? 35`de latitud norte y, 77? 57`y 78? 88`de longitud oeste. Comprende los sitios denominados El Tambo, Los Andes, San Pablo de la Cangahua y, las haciendas San Francisco y Tutapiz, pertenecientes a la parroquia García Moreno, del cantón Espejo y, al cantón Bolívar. El acceso a las zonas de riego se realiza a partir de la carretera El Angel-Bolívar, a la altura de la población de García Moreno. La población de El Tambo se une, mediante una carretera de segundo orden, a la carretera panamericana que une Ibarra-Bolívar (véase Mapa 2).Reseña histórica. De acuerdo a la información de los moradores del área, la acequia El Tambo, tiene más de cien años. Ningún usuario actual recuerda la construcción de la misma. De acuerdo a los relatos la acequia fue construída por las haciendas del sector que se extendían desde la población de El Angel hasta el río Chota. La construcción se realizó mediante \"mingas\", en las cuales participaban los peones y \"huasipungueros\" de las haciendas. En el Tambo se dió el mismo proceso de parcelamiento de las grandes haciendas antes del advenimiento de la Reforma Agraria, proceso que caracterizó a la provincia del Carchi. Los dueños de las haciendas parcelaron sus tierras entregando parte a los \"huasipungueros\" que habían trabajado para ellos y otra parte vendieron a partidarios y peones. En este caso también junto con las tierras obtuvieron el derecho al agua, en la parte proporcional que les correspondía. Los grupos de usuarios deciden formar cooperativas para organizarse y manejar los asuntos relacionados con el riego. En el año de 1972 aproximadamente se organiza la primera junta de la acequia El Tambo la cual es legalizada por la Agencia de Aguas.El sistema de riego. A este sistema de riego privado, la Agencia de Aguas de Ibarra concesionó 227 l/s. Para la captación del recurso agua, no se ha construído la bocatoma, en el sitio de concesión, en el río Bobo. Los usuarios colocan materiales (chambas y piedras), para llevar el flujo del agua hacia el inicio de la acequia. La conducción se inicia por la margen izquierda del río, tiene una sección media de 0.80 m. de ancho por 0.70 de altura. En el trayecto de la acequia están construídas algunas obras: muros de protección, secciones revestidas y embauladas, pasos vehiculares, pasos peatonales, derivaciones secundarias hacia las zonas de riego y, un acueducto. Es necesario realizar el mejoramiento y construcción de obras complementarias, para garantizar su funcionamiento (MBS-INERHI 1991).La conducción se inicia por la margen izquierda del cauce, hasta la zona de riego, mediante una acequia de 26.1 km de longitud, de los cuales 18.1 km corresponden al tramo del canal muerto y 8 km a las redes de distribución en el área de riego. El sistema de riego dispone de estructuras de derivación a nivel de módulos, las mismas que se encuentran en satisfactorio estado de mantenimiento.Este sistema de riego beneficia a varias zonas, que captan los recursos hídricos concesionados, en varias tomas a lo largo del canal principal. Esta circunstancia conspira con un normal y oportuno mantenimiento del sistema que debe compartirse con varios usuarios, que tienen la responsabilidad de financiar el costo de mantenimiento, independiente de su sector, de aproximadamente 44 km., correspondientes al canal principal.En el Cuadro 6 se presenta el número de usuarios, la superficie y el caudal concesionado para cada zona. La principal zona de riego es el área circundante a la población de El Tambo en la zona baja; está a 2.200 msnm.Organización. La Junta de la Acequia el Tambo está integrada por un total de doce directivos (presidente, vicepresidente, tesorero, secretario, síndico y siete vocales). De acuerdo a los estatutos, la junta se reúne periódicamente y cada año se elige la directiva en el mes de diciembre. Las principales atribuciones de la directiva son: cuidar y mantener la acequia, nombrar y remover a los empleados necesarios para la administración del canal, acordar y determinar las cuotas mensuales que deben contribuír los usuarios para la conservación, limpieza y reparaciones de la acequia y, determinar y hacer respetar los turnos de riego (Estatutos de la Acequia El Tambo). El directorio de la junta de usuarios se ha mantenido en ejercicio desde 1988. La razón es que han sido reelegidos sus miembros, fundamentalmente porque gran parte de los usuarios de la junta no asisten a las reuniones y al momento de las elecciones generalmente no existe el quórum (Estatutos, Acequia El Tambo).La distribución del agua. De forma parecida a la situación que presenta la acequia Garrapatal, el reparto del agua de riego se realiza de acuerdo a los turnos que fueron fijados en el año 1972. Estos turnos fueron legalizados por la Agencia de Aguas en Ibarra, bajo la asesoría de un técnico del INERHI. Los turnos se basan en el caudal del módulo, tiempo y la superficie regada. El criterio usado es el de conceder cuatro horas de uso del agua por hectárea mediante turnos cada siete días. En este caso también los turnos se basan en que el caudal adjudicado que discurre en el canal principal se distribuye en forma proporcional a la superficie de cada módulo (Cuadro 7).En esta acequia también se encuentra casos en los que no se respetan los turnos establecidos. Existe un grupo de aproximadamente 15 usuarios, conformado por antiguos \"huasipungueros\" de las haciendas, los cuales desconocen el reparto realizado en el año 72 y exigieron a la directiva de la junta de aguas de ese entonces que les permitan quedarse con el turno de agua que ellos recibían cuando aún eran parte de la hacienda. Por esta razón este grupo de usuarios reciben su turno desde el día sábado a las 12 del medio día hasta el día domingo 12 del medio día. Esta decisión ha sido respetada a lo largo de los años por los usuarios y las directivas, aunque no consta en los estatutos de la acequia. En cada una de las dos acequias se identificaron las zonas modulares de riego. Para la selección de cada una de las zonas se utilizó el criterio que cada zona tendría que tener su propio punto de entrega de agua , en tal manera que se podría fácilmente medir los gastos entregados a cada zona. Para la acequia Garrapatal se seleccionaron 6 zonas: las primeras dos en la parte alta y 4 en la parta baja de la acequia. También para la acequia El Tambo se seleccionaron 6 zonas de riego: 2 en la zona alta y 4 en la zona baja.Siete componentes forman parte de la estrategia de la investigación en campo, que se llevó a cabo en el verano de 1996:? Primero, con el propósito de establecer los volúmenes, gastos y láminas diarias que se han venido entregando a las tierras beneficiadas con el riego de las acequias Garrapatal y El Tambo, se instalaron en las bocatomas y en cada una de las entradas de las zonas mencionadas en Cuadro 5, reglas limnimétricas, en total 17. Las mismas fueron leídas por personal contratado, todos los días, en la mañana y en la tarde, desde el mes de julio de 1996 hasta el mes de marzo de 1997. Su propósito es conocer las descargas que diariamente se entregaban a los terrenos beneficiados, en los dos ciclos de riego: verano e invierno. Se presenta la ubicación de las zonas de riego y las reglas instaladas en las Figuras 3 y 4.Figura Error! Unknown switch argument.. Ubicación de los puntos de medición en la acequia Garrapatal.Figura Error! Unknown switch argument.. Ubicación de los puntos de medición en Jorge Sotomayor, et. al. la acequia El Tambo.Para conocer la relación entre la lectura diaria y el gasto, se calibraron todas las reglas y se calcularon 17 \"curvas de descarga\", 9 en la acequia El Tambo y 8 en la acequia Garrapatal. Para ello, se efectuaron 60 aforos, a diferentes alturas. La determinación de estas curvas, nos permite, junto a las lecturas diarias, establecer el gasto y las láminas diarias que efectivamente llegaron a nivel de cada zona. Los parámetros y coeficientes de cada curva gasto-lectura (Q-H) se presenta en Anexo 1. En el Anexo 2 se presenta un ejemplo del cálculo de la ecuación Q-H.? Segundo, se calculó la eficiencia de conducción en algunos tramos de la red.? Tercero, para cada zona de riego se establecieron los patrones de cultivo, que se vienen sembrando en las acequias Garrapatal y El Tambo, para los ciclos de verano (marzo-junio), e invierno (septiembre-abril). También, para poder calcular la productividad de cada zona, se obtuvo información sobre los rendimientos de cada cultivo y sus precios.? Cuarto, para obtener los requerimientos de agua de los cultivos en las zonas altas y bajas de las dos acequias, se utilizó el método indirecto CROPWAT. Este método fue desarrollado por la Organización Mundial de la Agricultura y la Alimentación (la FAO) y se basa en la fórmula de Penman-Montieth para estimar la evapotranspiración potenciál (ET 0 ) del cultivo (FAO 1996).? Quinto, para los datos climáticos se utilizó la información de las estaciones climáticas localizadas en San Gabriel (para la zona alta) e Ibarra (para la zona baja). Los datos mensuales usados fueron: precipitación, temperatura, radiación, humedad relativa y velocidad de vientos.? Sexto, se hicieron observaciones directas de las actividades relacionadas con el manejo del agua. En forma consistente se observaron la tareas realizadas por los aguateros y las juntas de regantes.? Séptimo, se entrevistaron a los presidentes, tesoreros y los secretarios de las juntas con motivo de captar información relacionada con la historia y la organización de las juntas, y también para captar información relacionada a la recaudación de las tarifas de agua.El IWMI usa un método estándard para cuantificar y medir el desempeño de los sistemas de riego y sus impactos agrícolas (productividad), económicos y ambientales. Para ello se usa un grupo de indicadores que están aplicados en todos los proyectos de investigación del instituto.Los indicadores son esencialmente externos. Haciendo una analogía, considerarse el sistema de riego como una caja negra al cual le entran insumos (agua, gastos de operación, recursos humanos, etc) y salen productos (rendimientos de los cultivos) que al venderlos generan un valor bruto de producción. Los indicadores, si se aplican juiciosa y extensamente, pueden dar la pauta para identificar que está funcionando bien y que funciona mal.Los indicadores usados para cada zona de riego investigada en el presente estudio son los siguientes:1. Disponibilidad Relativa del Agua (DRA), definido como: = El Total del Agua Suministrada (Riego + Precipitacion total) Demanda de Agua del CultivoEs una variable que relaciona el suministro total de agua al cultivo y la demanda del mismo, establecida en este caso por el CROPWAT. Es una variable adimensional. A fin de guiar al lector en el significado del DRA -a nivel parcelarioun valor de 1 correspondería a un cultivo al cual se la ha suministrado estrictamente los requerimientos de agua sin que haya habido lugar a pérdidas de agua en el proceso. Un valor menor de 1 significaría que no fue posible siquiera proporcionar lo requerido por el cultivo y valores muy bajos estarían asociados con bajos rendimientos. A medida que el valor de DRA se hace múltiple de 1 se estaría enfrentando una situación de abundancia del recurso con altas pérdidas en la acequia (Levine 1974 Es una variable que relaciona el suministro del agua de riego y la demanda de riego. La demanda de riego se calcula con la demanda del cultivo menos la precipitación efectiva. La precipitación efectiva es la parte de la precipitación total que es realmente usada por los cultivos en la parcela. Existen varios métodos de calcular la precipitación efectiva, y el programa CROPWAT permite tres opciones. El método mas apto para las condiciones climáticas y geográficas de la área del estudio, es el método desarrollado por el United States Bureau of Reclamation.Hay cuatro indicadores para calcular la productividad económica del (sub)sistema. La productividad se calcula tanto por unidad de superficie (actualmente regada y la que potencialmente se puede regar) como por unidad de agua (consumida y entregada). Todos los valores de producción son valores brutos, los cuales se calculan utilizando la siguiente fórmula:Valor Bruto de la Producción ($): = Producción Total (toneladas) * Precio del Producto ($/ton) Sin embargo, generalmente se siembra más de un cultivo en una zona. Por ello, hay que convertir los rendimientos (ton/ha) de todos los cultivos en Rendimientos Estandarizados. La estandarización de la producción consiste en llevar todos los rendimientos de los cultivos a un rendimiento equivalente al cultivo principal del área bajo estudio. Por ello, se utiliza la siguiente fórmula: La base de los cálculos de las demandas de agua y la producción, tanto por unidad de superficie come por unidad de agua, es el patrón de cultivos para los dos ciclos estudiados. En los Cuadros 9, 10, 11 y 12 se presentan los cuatro patrones de cultivos para todas las zonas de riego de las acequias Garrapatal y El Tambo. Analizando los cuadros 9 y 10 pueden harcerse las siguientes anotaciones:? El principal cultivo en las dos acequias es el fréjol.? En la acequia Garrapatal, el segundo cultivo en importancia es el maíz , junto con el fréjol cubren el 73% de la superficie sembrada. ? En la acequia El Tambo, al cultivo del fréjol, siguen en importancia el anís. ? En ambas acequias hay gran diversidad de cultivos, once en cada una. ? Hay mayor diversificación en las zonas bajas que en las altas, seguramente por razones climáticas. Analizando los cuadros 11 y 12 pueden harcerse las siguientes anotaciones:? El fréjol ocupa el primer lugar, tanto en la acequia Garrapatal como en El Tambo.? En la acequia Garrapatal , siguen en importancia los cultivos de maíz, junto al fréjol.? En la acequia El Tambo, el segundo cultivo en importancia, después del fréjol es el anís.En el Cuadro 13 se presenta los valores de requerimientos de agua para algunos cultivos y para los ciclos de verano 1996 e invierno 1996-97. A causa de las grandes diferencias climatológicas entre la zona alta y la zona baja (véase las Figuras 1 y 2), hubo que calcular los requerimientos para ambas zonas. Como ya hemos mencionado, los valores son obtenido por medio del programa CROPWAT. Estos valores constituyen el denominador en la fórmula de la DRA. Como es de esperarse, la demanda varía con el cultivo, con los valores para maíz y anís mayores en virtud de sus períodos vegetativos más largos, y con los valores para hortalizas menores. También, los valores en las zonas altas son un poco menores a los de las zonas bajas.Combinando los patrones de cultivo de cada zona con los requerimientos de cultivos mostrados en el Cuadro 13, se obtienen los volúmenes requeridos para cada zona y para cada ciclo. En los Cuadros 14 al 17 se presentan estos volúmenes brutos requeridos, tanto en términos de la demanda total para el ciclo (mm), como en l/s/ha y l/s para ambas acequias y ambos ciclos. El volumen neto es el volumen bruto menos la precipitación total. Para poder comparar los volúmenes netos requeridos con la dotación legalmente concesionada por la Agencia de Aguas en Ibarra, se convirtió la precipitación también a l/s. El volumen promedio requerido en la acequia Garrapatal es 482 mm para el ciclo de verano 1996. A consecuencia de la diferencia en el patrón de cultivo (más anís), ya que la mayoría de la zona regada está ubicada en la zona baja, el volumen requerido en El Tambo es mayor: 537 mm. Estos volúmenes corresponden a caudales de 130 l/s y 158 l/s para Garrapatal y El Tambo, respectivamente. Los volúmenes netos son aún mas bajos. La observación principal para el ciclo de verano, es que los volúmenes netos requeridos son siempre menores a las concesiones que teóricamente son entregados a las acequias y a cada una de sus zonas. Sin embargo, como mostraremos mas adelante, ello no necesariamente significará que los usuarios realmente están recibiendo las dotaciones concesionadas. También hay que recordar que las concesiones están determinadas a nivel de las bocatomas de las acequias y de las entradas de cada zona, mientras los volúmenes requeridos están calculados a nivel parcelario. Hay que considerar que las eficiencias de conducción y aplicación son generalmente muy bajas y que por ello se pierde mucho del volumen.La situación en el invierno es todavía mas favorable por causa de la precipitación, sobre todo en la zonas altas. En estas zonas la precipitación es mayor al requerimiento, lo cual significa que la necesidad para riego es mínima. En este ciclo la precipitación es mucho menor en las zonas bajas. Sin embargo, las dotaciones concesionadas superarían los volúmenes requeridos netos.Una vez analizados los requerimientos de los cultivos y las dotaciones teóricamente concesionadas y entregadas, se puede analizar si los volúmenes realmente entregados a las acequias y sus zonas son iguales a los requeridos y a los concesionados. Como ya se mencionó en la sección sobre la metodología aplicada en este estudio, se tomaron 2 lecturas diarias de cada una de las 17 reglas instaladas. Así se obtuvieron cada día los gastos y los volúmenes entregados a cada zona en las acequias. En los Cuadros 18 y 19 se presenta los volúmenes totales entregados para los ciclos de verano 1996 y invierno 1996-97 respectivamente. Para poder comparar los volúmenes entregados con las demandas de los cultivos y los caudales concesionadas, los 'volúmenes´ son convertidos en láminas de riego aplicadas, en l/s/ha y en l/s. El periodo de riego fue de 77 días en el verano y de 112 días en el invierno.La primera observación que se puede hacer del cuadro 18, es que la cantidad de agua suministrada por unidad de superficie a los usuarios en Garrapatal es casi el doble a la suministrada a El Tambo: en promedio 487 mm ( ó 0.7 l/s/ha) contra 249 mm (ó 0.4 l/s/ha). También se puede observar que los usuarios en las zonas bajas de las acequias reciben mucho menos agua que los que están en las zonas altas. Por ejemplo, la zona La Cocha en Garrapatal recibe 487 mm, mientras San Marcos, Playa Rica y Uyamá reciben 298 mm. La situación más crítica es en las zonas bajas de El Tambo (con excepción de Potrero Grande): El Tambito (la zona más grande de toda la acequia) solo recibe 43 mm, o 0.1 l/s/ha, lo cual es por ejemplo el 20% del caudal que recibe San Pablo de la Cangahua en la zona alta.Otra observación importante es que en general las zonas en Garrapatal reciben más agua que el volumen concesionado: en promedio 40% más. Las dos excepciones son San Nicolás y la Loma Seca. En el caso de El Tambo, la situación es el contrario: en general la acequia recibe solo el 57% de lo concesionado, mientras El Tambito solo recibe el 10%. La unica zona que recibe al menos el volumen concesionado es Potrero Grande. La situación en el invierno es parecida a la del verano, pero los contrastes entre algunas zonas parecen ser todavía más grandes. Otra vez, se puede observar que Garrapatal recibió cantidades de agua muy altas: hasta 1588 mm en La Providencia. Es interesante que las zonas bajas reciben volúmenes más altos que las zonas en la parte alta. La causa de este hecho es que los usuarios en las zonas altas casi no usan el agua de riego en el invierno a consecuencia de suficiente precipitación (véase Cuadro 16) y no usan el agua en sus parcelas. Este agua inutilizada pasa a las zonas que están mas bajas.El volumen entregado a la acequia Garrapatal es mucho mayor al volumen concesionado, mientras El Tambo recibe menos que su derecho. Las figuras 5 y 6 muestran que esta diferencia entre las dos acequias es consistente durante todo el año agrícola. Solo en la última semana del ciclo invierno el volumen entregado es menor al concesionado.En el caso de las acequia El Tambo solo hay dos o tres semanas en las cuales los volúmenes realmente entregados se acercan a los volúmenes concesionados. Una de las razones por las cuales en muchas zonas el volumen suministrado no alcanza el volumen concesionado (véaso Cuadros 18 y 19) es la baja eficiencia de conducción en la mayoría de los tramos de las acequias. En el Cuadro 20 se presentan las pérdidas del agua en algunos tramos. Las pérdidas son expresados tanto en porcentaje de la pérdida del gasto que entre en cada una de las zonas como en porcentaje del gasto total que entra en el primer punto de medición.El cuadro permite observar que las pérdidas en la red de conducción son muy altas en los tramos entre la Grandeza Nacional y La Providencia, y entre San Pablo de Cangauha y la entrada de la zona baja de El Tambo.En las dos secciones anteriores se analizó la relación entre los requerimientos de agua de los cultivos (total y de cada zona de riego) y los volúmenes concesionados. Igualmente, se analizó la relación entre el volumen concesionado y el realmente entregado. Ya se concluyó que, en general, teóricamente los volúmenes concesionados cubren los volúmenes requeridos. Si se consideran las bajas eficiencias de conducción, algunas zonas tendrían problemas en recibir suficiente agua con base a los volúmenes concesionados. También, se concluyó que en realidad, los volúmenes entregados difieren mucho de los volúmenes concesionados. Generalmente, en Garrapatal se recibe un caudal que es mucho mayor al concesionado, mientras en la acequia El Tambo se recibe apenas la mitad de lo concesionado.En la presente sección se analizará la relación entre los volúmenes requeridos y los suministrados. Para ello, se utiliza el primer indicador ya definido arriba: la disponibilidad relativa del agua (DRA). En los Cuadros 21 y 22 se presentan los tres parámetros del indicador (suministro de riego, precipitación y demanda del cultivo), más los valores de DRA, para cada zona estudiada. Los valores del DRA presentados en el Cuadro 21 nos muestran que los usuarios en las zonas altas de la acequia Garrapatal no tendrían problemas en recibir suficiente agua para cubrir los requerimientos de sus cultivos. Valores mayor de 1.5 les permiten a los usuarios que se pierda aproximadamente la mitad del agua entra la entrada a la zona y la parcela. Dependiendo de la distancia entra la entrada a la zona y la parcela, hasta un valor de 1.3 (como en el caso de la Providencia en San Pablo de Cangahua) podría ser suficiente para cubrir la demanda de agua. Tanto en las zonas bajas de Garrapatal como en todas las zonas de la acequia El Tambo, el suministro y la precipitación no son suficientes para alcanzar los requerimientos de los cultivos. El valor de 0.5 en el caso de la zona El Tambito (la cual es la zona regada mas grande de la acequia) significa que al nivel parcelario los usuarios solo recibe la mitad de la cantidad de agua requerida para obtener una producción óptima. Con la excepción de San Marcos, Playa Rica y Uyamá, las zonas de Garrapatal no tuvieron problemas en alcanzar sus demandas del agua en el ciclo invierno. En la parte alta, la precipitación sería suficiente para los cultivos sembrados. Los valores altos de la Providencia y Loma Seca muestran que los cultivos reciben aproximademente tres veces la cantidad el agua (riego mas precipitación) requerida. Aunque las zonas de San Pablo de Cangahua y San Francisco no tuvieron problemas, la zona baja de la acequia El Tambo no recibió suficiente agua para cubrir sus demandas. Igual que en el ciclo de verano esta zona solo recibio la mitad del agua requerida para su cultivos.La Disponibilidad Relativa del Riego (DRR) es un indicador my relacionado al DRA y trata de hacer una corrección debido al aporte que la precipitación hace al requerimiento del agua de riego. Es útil porque deja entrever el manejo mismo que se hace del riego. Valores cercanos a la unidad (1) sugieren buen manejo, mientras que valores altos y muy bajos indicarían mala utilización del agua de riego disponible, o escasez de esta. Se presentan los valores de DRR para el verano y el invierno en los Cuadros 23 y 24, respectivamente. Los valores de DRR en los cuadros 23 y 24 son consistentes con lo expresado con el indicador DRA. La acequia Garrapatal tiene mayor disponibilidad de agua que la de El Tambo, tanto en el verano como en el invierno. Los valores cercanos a 2 y mayores en el Garrapatal sugieren que no dependen tanto del agua de riego y de hecho ya vimos que en las partes altas simplemente la dejan pasar. Los valores del Tambo, mas cercanos a la unidad, sugieren que el agua es mas escasa y que los usuarios tratan de aprovecharla al maximo. En el caso de la zona baja del Tambito la falta de agua es aparente.En las secciones anteriores se analizaron el sumistro del agua en relación con la demanda de los cultivos y las dotaciones concesionadas. En este respecto, la conclusión general es que en las zonas bajas de las dos acequias el suministro no es suficiente para alcanzar los requerimientos de los cultivos, y que la situación del riego suministrado es más critica en el ciclo de verano que el en invierno. Para poder evaluar los impactos de la escasez del agua en la producción agrícola, el IWMI utiliza algunos indicadores, los cuales ya fueron definidos en la sección sobre la metodología del estudio. En los Cuadros 25 y 26 se presenta los rendimientos y los valores brutos de la producción estandarizados. Estos últimos están calculados por unidad de superficie realmente regada y potencialmente regable. También se calcularon los valores por unidad de agua realmente suministrada , y por unidad de agua consumida por los cultivos. Para poder comparar los rendimientos y los valores de la producción entre zonas que tienen patrones de cultivos distintos, todos los rendimientos fueron convertidos a rendimientos equivalentes de fréjol.Aunque en el verano de 1996 el rendimiento promedio de fréjol fue aproximadamente de 0.8 toneladas por ha, debido a otros cultivos con rendimientos y precios mayores a los de fréjol, los rendimientos equivalentes son alrededor de 1.2 ton/ha. Las zonas con rendimientos más altos son las zonas que sembraron relativamente mucha arveja (Loma Seca) o anís (Torrealba y Potrero Grande) (véase Cuadros 9 y 10).El promedio del valor bruto de la producción estandarizada en el verano es alrededor de S/. 4.500.000 por hectárea en Garrapatal y 4.900.000 en el caso de El Tambo 3 . Desafortunadamente, por falta de estudios parecidos, no es posible comparar estos valores con los de otros sistemas de riego en Ecuador. Comparación con algunos valores obtenidos en otros países sugiere, por ejemplo, que los valores obtenidos en las dos acequias son el doble de los valores en algunos sistemas privados en el estado de Guanajuato en México (Dayton-Johnson 1997), parecidos a los del grande Distrito de Riego Alto Río Lerma en México (Kloezen 1997;Kloezen y Garcés 1997) o el Distrito RUT en Colombia (Alvarez 1997), pero mucho menor a los de los tres distritos colombianos de Samacá (Mora Peña 1997), Coello y Saldaña (Vermillion y Garcés 1996).El valor más bajo es él de la zona de Grandeza Nacional (en donde se siembra mucho maíz, lo cual tiene un precio relativamente bajo). Los valores más altos se obtienen en Torrealba y Potrero Grande, debido al buen precio para el anís. Dado que muchos usuarios no siembran toda la superficie de sus parcelas, generalmente los valores por unidad de la superficie regada son menores a los valores por unidad de superficie regable .Los valores de producción por unidad de riego suministrado en el Tambo son más que el doble que en el caso de Garrapatal. Como está analizado arriba, El Tambo recibe mucho menos agua, lo cual significa que (con el mismo rendimiento) el valor por unidad de agua recibido es más alto. Debido al alto porcentaje de fréjol sembrado en lugar de los cultivos que tiene mejor rendimientos y precios, los rendimientos equivalentes para el ciclo de invierno son generalmente menores a los del verano. La mayoría de los usuarios en Grandeza Nacional y San Pablo de Cangahua sembraron maíz, lo cual explica el bajo rendimiento equivalente en estas zonas (véase Cuadros 11 y 12). Las zonas con anís obtuvieron rendimientos equivalentes a fréjol más altos ya que el precio de mercado para anís es más alto que el de fréjol: S/.4,615,000 por tonelada para fréjol y S/. 9,011,000 por tonelada para anís en el invierno 1996-97. Sin embargo, hay que mencionar que los costos de la producción para anís son más altos que para fréjol o maíz (Cuadro 27). Los valores brutos de la producción por unidad de superficie (regada y regable) son menores en el invierno que en el verano. Los valores de producción por unidad de agua suministrada en el invierno son mucho menor a los del verano porque hubo más riego. En la Figura 7 se presenta la relación entre los valores de DRA y los valores brutos de producción estandarizados para verano 1996. Aunque la muestra de las dos acequias con 12 zonas es demasiada pequeña para poder hacer un análisis estadístico confiable, los valores presentados en la figura sugieren que no hay ninguna relación entre la disponibilidad del agua y el valor de la producción (R 2 = 0.05). Este sugiere que los usuarios son muy capaces de adaptar sus patrones de cultivos al nivel de escasez de agua en sus zonas.Acequia Garrapatal. Las tarifas de agua que cobra la junta general a todos los usuarios se destinan para el pago del aguatero general de la acequia, quién labora únicamente dos días a la semana controlando que el paso del agua en la acequia sea normal. Anualmente la junta paga un total de S/.1,440,000 de tarifa fija por concepto de aguatero. Este valor se divide proporcionalmente a los litros de agua que recibe cada zona y que es recaudado por cada subjunta. Para el mantenimiento de la acequia se realiza una limpia general anual en el mes de agosto. Cada subjunta esta encargada de organizar los trabajos correspondientes a su tramo, cobrando una cuota de S/.15,000 /ha a cada usuario o controlando que el usuario ponga un día de trabajo por hectárea regada. De igual forma todas y cada una de las subjuntas de usuarios están en la obligación de mantener su tramo de acequia en buenas condiciones durante el resto del año. En el caso de que los daños en el canal sean demasiado grandes y por lo tanto costosos, previa verificación de la Directiva Central de la Acequia, todas la subjuntas están en la obligación de aportar con la mano de obra que se necesite o aportar con el equivalente en dinero correspondiente de acuerdo a los litros de agua que recibe cada zona. En el año 1996 hubo dos casos de cuotas extraordinarias relacionados con daños en la acequia. La subjunta de Grandeza Nacional invirtió S/. 713,000 para reparar el canal principal en el tramo La Cocha-Grandeza Nacional.En abril de 1996 se destruyeron 15 metros del labio inferior del canal en el tramo Grandeza Nacional-Loma Seca.. Su reparación mediante la construcción de un muro de contención significó una inversión de S/. 3,000,000, monto que fue cubierto por todas las subjuntas mediante una cuota extraordinaria.Como está mostrado en el Cuadro 28, el costo anual total por usuario es bajo: en promedio S/. 23,800 por hectárea por año, lo cual significa menos que 1% del valor bruto de la producción. Este sugiere que la tarifa de riego no es un gran obstáculo financiero para los usuarios. Sin embargo, la deuda total de las subjuntas para los conceptos de aguatero (tarifa fija), mantenimiento y cobros anteriores es S/. 3,386,000, o sea en promedio alrededor de S/.14,700 por usuario o S/.5,600 por hectárea (Cuadro 29). Esta significa que la deuda acumulada es el 23% de la recaudación planeada de un año completo.Cuadro Error! Unknown switch argument.. La tarifa de riego (S/. x 1,000) para la acequia Garrapatal, 1997. Uno de los principales problemas para la adecuada administración de la acequia es la morosidad en el pago de las tarifas fijas y extraordinarias. En la mayoría de los casos no todos los usuarios pagan estas cuotas y la acequia se mantiene con el esfuerzo de unos pocos usuarios Al momento del estudio, las cuentas de tesorería se encontraban actualizadas hasta diciembre de 1995. Un análisis realizado de lo ocurrido para el período junio a diciembre de 1995 demostró que hubo una cartera vencida por S/.10'455.000, la cual corresponde con aproximadamente 40% de la recaudación planeada anual. Algo similar ocurre con el pago de la cuota correspondiente a la quinta parte de los gastos de operación que deben cubrir cada una de las haciendas Tutapíz y San Francisco. Las mismas que hasta diciembre de 1995 deben S/. 4,218.000 y S/. 2,563,.000 respectivamente (Cuadro 31). ? Desestabilización morfodinámica y degradación de suelos. Este impacto es particularmente importante en las áreas aledañas, a las zonas planas o levemente onduladas, que tienen una pendiente mayor al 15%, cuyos procesos erosivos son acelerados, especialmente en terrenos desnudos y de granulometrías gruesas y, dentro de las zonas planas, las áreas regadas, que por efecto de las malas prácticas de aprovechamiento hidroagrícola, son susceptibles a procesos acelerados de erosión hídrica, laminar y en cárcavas. Este impacto se ha incrementado por la ampliación de la zona agrícola, hacia áreas de fuerte pendiente y alta inestabilidad morfodinámica, por la utilización de riego por surcos, en áreas de ladera, que favorecen el proceso erosivo y, la labranza en el sentido de la pendiente, que aunque no es generalizado, se presenta en ciertos sectores.Es innegable que la utilización del riego por surcos está contribuyendo a un proceso de erosión muy acelerado y más aún en terrenos de fuerte declive dedicados a la explotación de cultivos de escarda; esta situación se agudiza con el advenimiento del invierno, en cuya época se precipita entre el 72 y el 79 %, (octubre-abril) de la lluvia anual; este fenómeno atmosférico es el causante de la presencia, en las partes altas de las laderas, de cárcavas, cuyos efectos erosivos afectan a los terrenos bajos, planos a levemente ondulados, destinados a la producción, situados al pie de las laderas ? Deterioro de la calidad del agua de riego. Un aspecto importante es la contaminación que tienen las aguas de riego, no por efecto de la operación del sistema, sino por la presencia de efluentes químicos por la utilización indiscriminada de pesticidas y el vertido de aguas servidas, de la poblaciones aledañas. El análisis realizado a las aguas de las acequias Garrapatal y El Tambo, determinan que no son aptas para el consumo humano, por la excesiva presencia de coliformes (2.400 y 1.500 NMP/ml, respectivamente) y muy alto contenido de mohos (40 y 15 UFC/ml, respectivamente). Sin embargo, no teniendo otras fuentes de aprovisionamiento de agua potable, son utilizadas las aguas que discurren en los sistemas de riego.Se observa, a lo largo del canal principal, el uso que los usuarios, en este caso las mujeres, hacen del agua, para lavar la ropa, aseo personal y desechos sólidos, contribuyendo a generar problemas en la zona especialmente de orden sanitario como brotes de cólera y epidemias gastrointestinales.La relación entre el uso de los recursos ambientales existentes y el mantenimiento de la productividad de los ecosistemas en una perspectiva futura, demuestra que las tareas de utilización de los recursos de agua y suelo por los beneficiarios, de los sistemas de riego en la cuenca del Mira no contribuyen ni se orientan a los objetivos mencionados. Entre otros, la utilización de cultivos de escarda, la generalización de riego por superficie (en terrenos muy arenosos y de pendiente pronunciada) y la limitada incorporación de materia orgánica (en suelos altamente permeables) con tasas de infiltración elevadas, está especialmente grave en las áreas bajas de la subcuenca.? El estudio demostró que no es aconsejable hacer planes de distribución de riego (tanto a nivel acequia como a nivel de las zonas) basados en los volúmenes concesionados ya que los volúmenes reales fluctúan considerablemente. Por ejemplo, durante el periodo del estudio los caudales reales en la acequia Garrapatal siempre superaron a la concesión. En la acequia El Tambo sucedió exactamente lo contrario.? Tanto el indicador DRA como el DRR demuestran que algunas zonas de riego no reciben suficiente agua para suplir los requerimientos de los cultivos. Como podría esperarse, los déficits en el verano son mayores que en el invierno. La acequias Garrapatal tiene relativamente mas agua que la acequia El Tambo. Hay una tendencia de mayor disponibilidad de agua en las zonas altas sobre las bajas.? La pérdidas por conducción son relativamente altas en ambas acequias. Las pérdidas en diferentes tramos aparecen aumentar de la cabeza hacia la cola en ambas acequias. Esta situación podría aliviarse con un buen esfuerzo en el mantenimiento de tramos a especificar por parte de los usuarios.? Un estudio del balance hídrico a nivel de la cuenca del Río Mira (que incluya la subcuenca del río Angel) debe realizarse a fin de obtener una mejor información sobre la disponibilidad de agua en la región, en general, y en particular en las subcuencas que alimentan las 11 acequias privadas del área de estudio. Solo así podrá llegarse al diseño de un plan integral de manejo de aguas en la zona.? Los rendimientos económicos en las diferentes zonas de riego en ambas acequias son sorprendentemente mayores que la percepción que se tiene en la zona sobre la rentabilidad agrícola. Además, el estudio mostró que los usuarios en las zonas con escasez de agua relativamente altos, adaptaron sus patrones de cultivos para poder obtener valores brutos de la producción parecidos a aquellos que tienen mejor acceso al agua.? Un estudio mas profundo sobre el valor económico del recurso agua a medida que se desciende del páramo contribuiría a explicar mejor los cambios en los patronos de cultivo que se observan en toda la zona y permitiría establecer mecanismos para distribuir mejor el agua en acorde con los requerimientos de los cultivos.? El desarrollo institucional de las juntas de regantes necesita reforzarse. La poca dependencia del riego para la producción de los cultivos, especialmente en las partes altas de las acequias, no han permitido consolidar las organizaciones de regantes. Prácticamente se ha dejado la responsabilidad de la gestión administrativa de los sistemas de riego a la Directiva, que poco puede hacer, sin la colaboración permanente de los beneficiarios.? El régimen tarifario que se ha implantado en las dos acequias no es suficiente para solucionar los problemas existentes como rehabilitar la infraestructura y garantizar una adecuada y oportuna operación y mantenimiento del sistema. Aunque en costo de los servicios de riego (por concepto de los aguateros, el mantenimiento y las reparaciones) es muy bajo (menos que 1% del valor bruto de la producción), la tasa de recaudación de la tarifa es baja. Como consecuencia de ello, la morosidad en el pago de las tarifas es uno de los principales problemas en ambas acequias.? Es necesario profundizar en los aspectos organizativos e institucionales de las asociaciones de regantes de las diferentes acequias a fin de entender mejor su funcionamiento en lo que se refiere propiamente al riego. De especial interés sería la problemática que enfrentan en lo referente a tarifas de agua, acción colectiva en el mantenimiento de las acequias y el papel y responsabilidades de los miembros.? Las acequias Garrapatal y El Tambo tienen una infraestructura de riego incompleta. Por ello, es aconsejable la rehabilitación y complementación de la infraestructura de riego en las dos acequias. Para poder mejor esta situación, una asistencia técnica y crediticia a los usuarios de las acequias es necesaria y debe ser permanente.? El estudio presentó resultados muy diferentes en cuanto a la disponibilidad de las aguas aunque altas pérdidas en el sistema de conducción parece ser un problema común. Siguiendo la misma metodología empleada debe establecerse en forma rápida la situación en las otras acequias a fin de sentar prioridades en la rehabilitación de puntos críticos en la red de riego de las respectivas acequias."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d753d7b817ce0f4331961123444d3dbb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7c0c90b5-9a67-4684-8cf7-16a1082750ee/retrieve","id":"-1630205344"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b7dbb054-5ead-4dee-ad88-b4f714c75417","content":"The information in this guide can be freely reproduced for non-commercial use, if credited as coming from CTA.Reproduction for commercial use requires prior authorization from CTA.allowing it to soak into the soil. Excess water drains around the tips, where it can be caught in more hoops further down the slope.The size of the hoops can vary from small (2 metres across) to large (60 metres across). The smaller hoops can be used to grow better crops, shrubs and trees. The larger ones can be used to grow better grass or fodder and also help in rangeland rehabilitation.There are different methods of harvesting rainwater suited to different uses. For example, water for domestic use can be harvested from roofs using gutters and stored in underground or raised tanks. Water for irrigation can be harvested using canals and stored in pits, tanks or dams. But water for rain-fed crop or pasture production can simply be harvested and stored in the soil for use by the crop -that is by using semi-circular hoops. Use of semi-circular hoops is the recommended method for harvesting rainwater for pasture production in dry areas because it is simple and cheaper.They are suitable in dry areas where rainfall is too low for reliable growing of crops or good-quality pasture but can still cause erosion. Runoff and erosion can occur even where there is very little rainfall. For hoops to work, the land needs to have a gentle slope (ideally about 3%) but they can also be used on land with a steeper gradient if spaced closer together. They can also be used on most types of soils, but are unsuitable for use on cracking clays. Gradients can be assessed using an A-frame -your local extension officer can assist you if necessary.1What is rainwater harvesting?It is the collection and concentration of runoff water from the land surface before it is lost to a stream or river. Rainwater harvesting makes more water available for agricultural, household or other needs.• In dry areas rainfall is low (less than 700 mm a year) and poorly distributed. • Available rainfall is not enough to support growth of many crops or good quality pasture. • Most of the rainwater is lost as runoff due to lack of vegetation cover. • Runoff can cause erosion and loss of soil.Simple methods are available that reduce runoff, prevent erosion and allow more time for rainfall to soak into the soil and be available to crops and pasture. This process is called rainwater (or runoff) harvesting.This leaflet describes one method of rainwater harvesting -using hoops. This method is particularly suited to pasture production in dry areas.They are raised earth structures (bunds) constructed as semi-circles on gently sloping land. They are made so that the tips of the bunds or hoops point up the slope and are on the same level with the contour line. The hoops capture rainwater that runs down the slope,What are the benefits?Harvesting water using hoops has many benefits. These include:• increased pasture production • more productive and healthier livestock • increased milk production • extra income from sale of hay and grass seeds • reduced erosion and soil loss • simple and affordable method • ordinary skills and simple tools.• Land with a gentle slope • Tools: hoes (jembes), forks, spades, machetes (pangas) • Labour • Desire to increase pasture production • Suitable pasture seeds, such as Cenchrus ciliaris, Eragrostis superba or Digitaria macroblephara. For pasture species suitable for your area, consult your local extension officer.A rough position for a semicircular hoop can be found using only your eyes -in the same way you may be able to identify the correct position for a bench terrace. If you are not sure how to do this, ask your local extension officer.3 4Step 1:Use a hoe (jembe) and start from the contour line. Dig shallowly in a semi-circle, throwing the soil on the lower side (downhill slope). The hoop should be about 30 cm high in the middle, gradually decreasing in height and reaching ground level at the tips.Step 2:Construct a series of hoops in this way along a contour line to form a row. The distance between two hoops in a row should be slightly less than the width of one hoop.Step 3:Make another row of hoops, 4.5 metres below the first row. The second row of hoops is placed in line with the gaps in the first row (see diagram).Step 4:Continue making hoops in this way until the intended area is covered.Step 5:Sow grass and legume seeds recommended by your extension officer. Grass should be sown inside the hoop and legumes, such as cowpeas, inside and on top of the hoop. A crop of cowpeas can be harvested during the first season.Step 6:Before grazing or making hay, allow grass to grow for 2 wet seasons or until the pasture is well established (a uniform and continuous stand of grass 30 cm high or taller).Livestock or wild animals damage hoops They fenced the area to protect it from stray animals and, when the grasses matured, harvested the seeds and used them to expand the area planted with the new grasses.Thanks to their increased grass production, they were able to increase their herd from six to 12 indigenous zebu and saw daily milk production double to 2 litres per cow. They were able to save from their increased income and bought an additional 9 hectares of land.They have now planted a total of 11 hectares with the improved grass. On average they harvest 120 bales of hay per hectare each year. They use a simple hay-box method and store the bales under shade. The hay is used for their own animals and they also sell the surplus to neighbouring farmers for US$2.85 per bale. In addition, they rent grazing land to other farmers and harvest more than 100 kg of grass seeds each year, which they sell for US$4.30 per kg.The Ngayas are a happy family. The demand for their hay and seed exceeds their supply. They now plan to build more semi-circular hoops and plant the remaining part of their land with the new grasses."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"95bd70879c36331609213eae4743617f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps_oa/m442p071.pdf","id":"714894990"},"keywords":["Habitat suitability modelling","Niche modelling","Marine ecosystems","Macrofauna","Benthic communities","North Sea"],"sieverID":"f5a59fcd-d195-4350-bc3b-e4c6c91d58f4","content":"Species distribution models (SDMs) were applied to predict the distribution of benthic species in the North Sea. An understanding of species distribution patterns is essential to gain insight into ecological processes in marine ecosystems and to guide ecosystem management strategies. Therefore, we compared 9 different SDM methods, including GLM, GBM, FDA, SVM, RF, MAXENT, BIOCLIM, GARP and MARS, by using 10 environmental variables to model the distribution of 20 marine benthic species. Most of the models showed good or very good performance in terms of predictive power and accuracy, with highest mean area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.845 and 0.840, obtained for the MAXENT and GBM models, respectively. The poorest performance was shown by the BIOCLIM model, which had a mean AUC of 0.708. Nevertheless, the mapped distribution patterns varied remarkably depending on the model used, with up to 32.5% differences in predictions between models. For species with a narrow distribution range, the models showed a better performance based on the AUC than for species with a broad distribution range, which can most likely be attributed to the restricted spatial scale and the model evaluation procedure. Of the environmental variables, bottom water temperature and depth had the greatest effect on the distribution of 14 benthic species, based on MAXENT results. We examine the potential utility of this strategy for predicting future distribution of benthic species in response to climate change.Knowledge of the spatial distribution of species and communities in ecosystems is an essential prerequisite for the understanding of ecosystem functioning and processes as well as conservation and spatial planning issues. Especially in the marine environment, where fauna is more difficult to access and monitor than in terrestrial systems, these requirements are often addressed with fragmentary information about the species and habitats. Therefore, predictive methods became important to overcome these problems (Guisan & Zimmermann 2000, Guisan & Thuiller 2005). Species distribution models (SDMs), also known as habitat suitability models, ecological niche models or bioclimatic envelopes, are correlative approaches that use full spatial coverage data of environmental variables to explain patterns of species distribution (Elith & Graham 2009). Terrestrial ecology uses these statistical and machine-learning methods to predict species distribution not only for conservation and management purposes, but also for forecasting the effects of environmental or climate change (Guisan & Thuiller 2005, Heikkinen et al. 2006, Pompe et al. 2008, Elith & Leathwick 2009, Kharouba et al. 2009).The application of SDMs in the marine environment is recent (Robinson et al. 2011), stimulated by increasing availability of large-scale environmental data, better understanding of the relationship be tween environmental variables and species distribution, and the need for prognostic tools to predict changes in species distribution in response to environmental or climatic changes (Degraer et al. 2008, Glockzin et al. 2009, Gogina et al. 2010). Given the need for ecosystem-based fisheries management, most recent studies using SDMs in marine ecosystems have focussed on the distribution of commercial fish species (Venables & Dichmont 2004, Maxwell et al. 2009, Moore et al. 2010, Lenoir et al. 2011). In contrast, few studies have applied SDMs to the distribution of marine invertebrate benthos. Ysebaert et al. (2002) used logistic regression to model benthic species distribution in the Westerschelde estuary in the Netherlands, and Thrush et al. (2003) and Ellis et al. (2006) modelled the distribution of macrobenthic species in New Zealand estuaries with a similar ap proach. In the North Sea, most studies applying SDMs were carried out on a local scale, such as polychaete distribution in the German Bight using multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS; Meißner et al. 2008), as well as community type and polychaete distribution in Belgium waters using discriminant function analysis, and artificial neural networks plus generalized linear models (GLMs), respectively (Degraer et al. 2008, Willems et al. 2008). Gogina et al. (2010) and Gogina & Zettler (2010) also modelled macrobenthic patterns in the Baltic Sea using GLMs.The North Sea is one of the most intensively exploited and studied marine ecosystems in the world. The shelf sea area is characterised by high (seasonal) fluctuations of environmental variables in the shallower southern parts and less variable conditions in deeper waters towards the north. The increasing anthropogenic pressures on the entire North Sea, such as commercial fisheries, aquaculture, wind farms and transport routes, result in an urgent need for effective spatial marine planning and management to minimise adverse effects on the ecosystem. The benthic fauna is an important ecosystem component, playing a vital role in nutrient cycling and detrital decomposition. As a food source for higher trophic levels and a consumer of primary producers and other first order consumers, it is affected by bottomup and top-down processes. Intensive studies in the last decades on the importance of different environmental factors in structuring benthic communities and species distribution in the North Sea show that food availability, sediment structure, and hydrody-namic regime influence distribution on various spatial scales (e.g. Callaway et al. 2002, Wieking & Kröncke 2003, Reiss et al. 2010). Nevertheless, full coverage predictions of species and community distribution for the entire North Sea area are lacking.Therefore, the objectives of this study are (1) to apply and compare several species distribution modelling methods on marine benthos and (2) to predict the distribution of selected characteristic and dominant macrobenthic species of the North Sea. This is the first study of modelling benthic species distribution for the entire North Sea area.The benthic species data were extracted from the benthic data sets of the ICES North Sea Benthos Project 2000 (NSBP 2000) and the EU Project Managing Fisheries to Conserve Groundfish and Benthic Invertebrate Species Diversity (MAFCONS). Only infaunal samples with grabs or corers were used in this study, representing 1820 stations for the entire North Sea area for the period 2000 to 2004. Details of sampling and sample processing are given by Rees et al. (2007) and Callaway et al. (2007). Based on previous studies of North Sea benthic communities (e.g. Rees et al. 2007, Reiss et al. 2010, Kröncke et al. 2011), we selected 20 characteristic or dominant benthic species that represented rare species as well as widely and narrowly distributed species.A set of environmental data were selected and further resampled by bilinear interpolation to a resolution of 0.6 arc-minutes with ArcGIS 9.3 (ESRI), R (R Development Core Team 2009) and ERDAS Imagine 9.1 (ERDAS).Sediment data were collected during the sampling campaigns of the NSBP 2000 and the MAFCONS projects. As sampling processing was not standardised for NSBP 2000, the datasets for which fractional data were available were reprocessed to yield uniformly calculated means, sorting coefficients and descriptive assessments, which we then analysed in GRADI-STAT, Version 4.0 (Blott & Pye 2001). The granulometry of the MAFCONS samples was determined with a Laser Particle Sizer ('Analysette 22 Economy', Fritsch) for mud content and median grain size (for details see Callaway et al. 2007). All sediment data were compiled and interpolated to the entire area by inverse distance weighting.Depth data were derived from the General Bathymetric Charts of the Oceans (GEBCO) global bathymetry data set from the British Oceanographic Data Centre with a spatial resolution of a 1 arc-minute grid (GEBCO 2003).Data on temperature, salinity and primary production were provided by the Institute of Oceanography (Hamburg, Germany). Bottom temperature and salinity were derived from the hydrodynamic Hamburg Shelf Ocean Model (HAMSOM), a 3-dimensional, baro clinic primitive equation model for simulations of oceanic and coastal and shelf sea dynamics (Backhaus 1985). The model's horizontal resolution is 12' of latitude and 20' of longitude with a maximum vertical resolution of 19 layers. For details on the specific HAMSOM application see Pohlmann (1996). Instead of using annual mean values, data from the months of February and June 2000 were used for the distribution modelling to reflect the general seasonal patterns of temperature and salinity in the North Sea.Annual primary production data of the water column for the year 2000 were based on the ECOlogical North Sea Model HAMburg (ECOHAM1). The ECO-HAM1 model can calculate annual and long-term phytoplankton dynamics, nutrient transport and primary productivity for shelf seas in a 3-dimensional physical environment (Skogen & Moll 2005). The horizontal grid size of the numerical model is 20 × 20 km and the vertical resolution is 5 m for the upper 50 m with increasing layer thickness below 50 m up to a maximum of 19 layers. The ECOHAM1 model was validated using observed chlorophyll (Moll 1998), phosphate concentrations (Moll 2000) and primary production values (Skogen & Moll 2000).Chlorophyll a pigment concentrations were provided by the Marine and Coastal Information Services (MarCoast) project, based on remote sensing images derived from the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS). The concentration of chlorophyll a was derived from the sea surface between 2 to 15 m water depth, depending on the turbidity of the water (for details see ESA 2006). Mean values for the period February to April 2008 and 2009 were used in this study to cover the spatial extent of the characteristic spring phytoplankton bloom in this region.Data on peak wave stress and stratification were provided by the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (Liverpool, UK) and generated using a 3-dimensional hydrodynamic model (Davies & Aldridge 1993). Peak wave stress was calculated from a 1 yr model run covering the period September 1999 to September 2000, on an approximately 12 km grid, using the Wave Analysis Model spectral wave model run at the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (Osuna & Wolf 2005). The stratification parameter 'S' was derived from the formulation presented by Pingree & Griffiths (1978), using modelled M2 tidal velocities and measured depths.The different models were trained using the Maxent v3.3.3a software for the maximum entropy model (MAXENT) (Phillips et al. 2006), the R environment software with the BIOMOD package 1.1-5 for GLMs, generalised boosting models (GBM), MARS, random forests (RF) and mixture discriminant analysis (MDA = FDA) (Thuiller 2003, R Development Core Team 2009), and the openModeller 1.0.9 framework for the Bioclimatic Envelope (BIOCLIM), the genetic algorithm for rule-set prediction (GARP) and the Support Vector Machines (SVM) (Muñoz et al. 2011). The models were trained using 1000 and 10 000 pseudoabsence points in BIOMOD/openModeller and MAX-ENT, respectively.MAXENT. MAXENT estimates a target probability distribution by finding the probability distribution of maximum entropy (i.e. that is most spread out, or closest to uniform) and constraining the expected value of each environmental variable to match its empirical average (Phillips et al. 2006). For presenceonly species distribution modelling, MAXENT fits an unknown probability distribution within the environmental space defined by the input variable to the pixel values of known species occurrence records. The unknown probability distribution is proportional to the probability of occurrence (Elith et al. 2006(Elith et al. , 2011)).GLM. GLMs are regression-type models closely related to the statistical methods used in linear modelling and analysis of variance. GLM not only uses linear relationships be tween response and predictor variables, it also uses parametric functions such as a combination of linear, quadratic or cubic terms. An automatic stepwise procedure generates the best model by minimizing the Akaike information criterion (AIC). This stepwise procedure removes redundancy in variables and reduces multicollinearity (Thuiller 2003, Thuiller et al. 2009).GBM. GBM fits a large number of 'simple' models and combines the prediction to generate a robust response estimate. In GBM, each individual model consists of classification or regression trees, also called boosted regression trees (BRT). In an iterative process a final model develops by progressively adding trees, while re-weighting the data poorly predicted by the previous tree (for more details see Ridgeway 2007, Elith et al. 2008). Prior to modelling, we defined 3000 trees as a basis for fitting.MARS. Compared to other methods based on linear relationships, where the coefficients remain constant across different levels of environmental variables, the MARS approach identifies and estimates a model whose coefficients differ depending on the level of the predictor variable. It combines linear regression, mathematical construction of splines and binary re cursive partitioning to model linear or nonlinear relationships between environmental variables and species occurrence (Friedman 1991).RF. RF is a classification and re gression model that generates multiple classification trees with a randomised subset of predictors. The number of predictors used for the best split at each tree branch is a random subset of predictors, and trees are aggregated by averaging (Prasad et al. 2006). In this study we used 500 trees.BIOCLIM. BIOCLIM is an envelope model that uses mean and standard deviation for each environmental variable to calculate bioclimatic envelopes (Busby 1986, Nix 1986). Only species presence data are required. Points are classified as suitable if all associated environmental values fall within the calculated envelopes, marginal if one or more associated environmental value falls outside the calculated envelope, but still within the upper and lower limits, and unsuitable if one or more associated environmental value falls outside the upper and lower limits. The categorical output of BIOCLIM is given as probabilities of 1.0, 0.5 and 0.0, respectively.GARP. GARP is a machine-learning approach using a ge netic algorithm to select a set of rules (e.g. logistic regression, bioclimatic rules) that best predict the species distribution (Stockwell & Peters 1999). We have applied the 'best subset' procedure implemented in openModeller, which selects the best models based on omission and commission error statistics (Peterson et al. 2007). A general description and technical details of the GARP modelling approach have been provided by Stockwell & Peters (1999).SVM. SVM is a machine-learning method that belongs to a family of generalised linear classifiers. To estimate the potential distribution of a species subject to the environmental conditions, the eco-space (spanned by the en vironmental variables) is separated by a hyperplane into 2 target classes (Guo et al. 2005): suitable and unsuitable environmental conditions. The optimality criterion used to find the separating hyperplane is maximised distance to the (nearest) training data points (large margin separation). With the help of a kernel function, the data points (representing known presence and absence records in the ecospace) can be mapped in a higher dimensional space in which complicated patterns can be more simply represented (Drake et al. 2006).FDA. FDA is an extension of linear discriminant analysis. Linear discriminant analysis assumes that the distribution of each class (presence and absence) follows a Gaussian distribution. This restriction is extended in FDA by allowing a mixture of Gaussian distributions (Mar mion et al. 2009).In general, model accuracy was evaluated by datasplitting using 70% of the data to train the model and the remaining 30% to test the performance. The results were evaluated by using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and Cohen's kappa (κ) as evaluation measures. Both measures were calculated by using the ROC-AUC v 1.3 software (Schröder 2006). The AUC is a thresholdindependent measure representing the relationship between sensitivity and the corresponding proportion of false positives (1-specificity). The AUC varies between 0 and 1, with values above 0.9 indicating excellent prediction, between 0.7 and 0.9 indicating good prediction, below 0.7 indicating poor predictions, and below 0.5 indicating a prediction no better than random (Hosmer & Lemeshow 2000). For the AUC calculation we used 10 000 randomly chosen pseudo-absence points. We tested AUC values for significant differences to a critical AUC of 0.7 following the method of Beck & Shultz (1986). The AUC is considered a highly effective measure for the performance of SDMs, because it does not require a specific threshold and is independent from prevalence (the proportion of sites in which the species was predicted as present) (McPherson et al. 2004).Cohen's kappa is another commonly used evaluation measure in ecological SDM studies with presence− absence data and is often applied when a specific threshold level is required. Kappa is based on a confusion matrix with a threshold at which κ is maximised (Fielding & Bell 1997). It ranges from −1 to 1, with κ values below 0 indicating a prediction no better than random (Cohen 1960). Values above 0.75 indicate excellent prediction, between 0.4 and 0.75 indicate good prediction and below 0.4 indicate poor predictions (Landis & Koch 1977). In contrast to the AUC, κ is dependent on prevalence (McPherson et al. 2004). For the calculation of κ, we randomly generated pseudo-absence data in a 1:1 ratio with the number of presence records.We identified collinearity among the environmental parameters, using Pearson's correlation with r > 0.7 as a threshold level for collinearity (Booth et al. 1994). Only summer and winter salinity were highly correlated (r = 0.905), thus we omitted winter salinity prior to further analyses and modelling.For further evaluation of the model predictions, we performed pairwise comparison of the output of any 2 models. For each model and species, we determined the number of grid cells for which the predicted occurrence was likely as well as unlikely. The probability that maximised κ was used as a threshold for each model and species. We then calculated the percentage of the area with differences in the predictions. Thus, the percentage of area disagreement gives the proportion of the area where the probability of occurrence of one model is above its threshold value whereas the probability of the compared model is below its threshold. We calculated the mean percentage across all species for each pair of models.The relative contribution of the environmental variables was quantified exemptively for the MAXENT model by using a jackknife cross-evaluation procedure. Here the model is calculated with 1 environmental variable and then without that variable but with all remaining variables. This procedure therefore quantifies the explanatory information in each variable when used in isolation and determines the individual effect of each environmental variable (Phillips 2005).The 20 benthic species used for the application and comparison of the different SDMs were chosen inter alia because of their differences in geographical distribution patterns and widespread occurrence. Nonetheless, AUC values, as one measure of model performance, significantly exceeded the threshold of 0.7 indicating good or very good performances for most species and models (Table 1). Only the GARP and BIOCLIM models produced results that were not significantly above an AUC value of 0.7 for more than 5 species (GARP: 9 species; BIOCLIM: 13 species), whereas the other models revealed fewer nonsignificant results (Table 1). Fig. 1 shows mean AUC plotted against mean κ for all models, reflecting a linear gradient in model performance. In general, BIOCLIM performed poorly with the lowest AUC value of 0.708 ± 0.076 (mean ± SD), followed by GARP and GLM with intermediate performance and AUC values of 0.780 ± 0.081 and 0.808 ± 0.088, respectively (Fig. 1, Table 1). All other models clustered together in the upper part of the graph indicating similar good performance, with the best performance for GBM and MAXENT. For the latter models, the mean AUC value was 0.840 ± 0.068 and 0.845 ± 0.068, respectively (Table 1).In general, the lowest AUC values were obtained for species widely distributed across the North Sea area, such as the polychaetes Owenia fusiformis, Spio phanes bombyx, Nephtys hombergii and Myrioche le spp., and the echinoderms Amphiura filiformis and Echino cardium cordatum. In contrast, the highest AUC values were obtained for species with distributions restricted to a specific area of the North Sea, such as the echinoderm Acrocnida brachiata, the amphi pod Urothoe poseidonis and the bivalves Cor bu la gibba and Tellina fabula (Table 1).Despite the overall high AUC and κ values, the maps from the different models showed remarkable differences in predicted distribution patterns. Fig. 2 shows the predictive maps of 4 selected species with contrasting distribution patterns, i.e. Acrocnida brachi ata with a narrow southern distribution in the North Sea, Amphiura filiformis with a wide distribution, Paramphinome jeffreysii with a northern distribution and the rare species Arctica islandica. Although the models produced different predictions for the potential distribution patterns to some extent, most models ascertained core distribution areas. For example, all models indicated the main distribution area of Acrocnida brachiata as the German Bight (southeastern North Sea) and the Dogger Bank (southern central North Sea), and the unsuitability of the northern North Sea (Fig. 2).The largest differences in the percentage of area disagreement was found between BIOCLIM and any of the other models tested, with more than 28% differences in predictions in most cases (Table 2). The lowest percentage of area disagreement was between GBM and MAXENT (8.4%), GBM and SVM (12.1%), and MAXENT and SVM (12.2%) (Table 2). These models predicted similar patterns as confirmed by visual comparison of predictive maps (Fig. 2). As with model performance, the highest disagreement was for species with a wide distribution range compared to geographically restricted species (results not shown).The MAXENT model quantified the relative contribution of the environmental variables quite well (for predictive maps see Fig. 3). For 14 species, depth and bottom water temperature (summer and winter) were the most important determinants of distribution (Fig. 4). Species response to depth peaked mainly between 20 and 50 m for species with a southern distribution, which are consequently more broadly distributed than species in the deeper northern parts of the North Sea (Fig. 5). In contrast, summer bottom water temperature response showed more gradual progression (Fig. 5).Few previous studies have modelled distributions of marine species, although the information is highly relevant for understanding marine benthic systems, for their protection, and for predicting future changes in marine ecosystems (Leathwick et al. 2008, Elith & Leathwick 2009). Thus, the objectives of this study were to apply and compare multiple species distribution modelling methods by generating distribution predictions for 20 characteristic North Sea benthic species.The results of our comparison of the different modelling approaches parallel recent extensive comparisons for terrestrial systems (Elith et al. 2006   performed best, followed by MARS, GLM, generalised additive models (GAM) and GARP. Methods such as BIOCLIM and Domain performed poorly. Our study also found that MAXENT and GBM performed best, based on AUC and κ scores. Most of the other modelling algorithms such as SVM, MARS, FDA and RF, as well as GLM and GARP, were largely indistinguishable from each other, but also performed well.In contrast, BIOCLIM performed poorly based on AUC and κ values (Fig. 1). Most previous species dis-  tribution modelling in the marine environment has focused on regression-based models such as GLMs (e.g. Venables & Dichmont 2004, Willems et al. 2008, Chatfield et al. 2010, Gogina et al. 2010), but our results show that machine-learning and other methods were successful in predicting North Sea benthic species distributions (see also Willems et al. 2008). Nevertheless, visual assessment of the mapped predictions revealed remarkable differences between the methods. Models such as GARP overpredicted habitat suitability for different species, whereas RF, FDA and MARS underpredicted habitat suitability (Fig. 2). Elith & Graham (2009) showed that GARP could not identify the true relationship between simulated plant species and environmental data, and output maps overpredicted distributions. In contrast, methods such as MAXENT and BRT (similar to GBM) recreated the distribution patterns more precisely (Elith & Graham 2009). Both methods also generated very similar predictions of potential species distribution across all species in our study (Table 2). How-ever, the choice of modelling method depends on the specific application. Methods which tend to underpredict distribution patterns might be useful for species protection applications (e.g. Marine Protected Areas), whereas overprediction can be more useful for other precautionary management strategies (e.g. to limit the spread of invasive species).The model evaluation in this study was primarily based on the AUC, since it neither requires a specific threshold nor depends on prevalence (e.g. Cohen's kappa;McPherson et al. 2004). Nevertheless, recent studies on the drawbacks of using the AUC (Austin 2007, Lobo et al. 2008) showed that the influences on the AUC scores of the total extent to which models are carried out are highly problematic (Lobo et al. 2008). Despite differences in performance between models, our results agree with previous studies of terrestrial ecosystems that show higher accuracy for species with a narrow ecological niche compared to species with a broad niche (see Tsoar et al. 2007 and references therein). A possible ecological explana-  tion for this pattern is that the species inhabiting most parts of the area for which the model was trained might not be limited by any of the environmental variables at this spatial scale (Brotons et al. 2004, McPherson & Jetz 2007). Intraspecific genetic differences may also lead to differences in local adaptations and small-scale population differentiation within the spatial range of the species, which are not accounted for by modelling the potential distribution of the species as an entity (Stockwell & Peterson 2002, Rissler & Apodaca 2007). The pattern may just be an artificial function of the spatial extent of the analyses. Lobo et al. (2008) pointed out that different species have distinct ratios between the extent of occurrence and the extent of the area under study, which is smaller for species with a narrow ecological niche (based on the limited spatial extent). The smaller this ratio, the higher the number of (pseudo-)absence points that are more environmentally distant from the presence points, which leads to higher AUC scores (Elith et al. 2006, Jiménez-Valverde et al. 2008, Lobo et al. 2008). Thus, the comparison of model performances for different species within the same spatial extent must be interpreted with caution when applying and evaluating species distribution models. In contrast, the consistent relationship between number of occurrence records and model performance indicated by previous studies (e.g. Stockwell & Peterson 2002, Kadmon et al. 2003, but see Elith et al. 2006), was not obvious in our study, in that species occurrences ranged from 26 to 568 records.Although our results indicate that most of the SDM methods generate sufficient predictions of potential distribution for most of the selected benthic species, there were some remarkable differences in performance. Autecological characteristics of the species can significantly affect model accuracy. Species range (see above), mobility and migratory behaviour,   endemism and even body size can influence predictive models (Pearce et al. 2001, Kadmon et al. 2003, McPherson & Jetz 2007, Marmion et al. 2009). The mobility and dispersal range might be of specific importance in marine ecosystems, where most species have either mobile adult stages (e.g. epibenthos, fish) or highly mobile early life stages (e.g. pelagic larvae). Furthermore, dispersal barriers are less distinct in marine than in terrestrial systems (Carr et al. 2003). Dispersal of pelagic larvae or secondary dispersal of juvenile invertebrates can facilitate recruitment to suboptimal habitats where species can persist for longer time periods as sink populations (Pulliam 2000). The possible effect of sink populations and dispersal ability have to be considered when applying and interpreting species distribution models (McPherson et al. 2004, Tsoar et al. 2007). In order to account for mobility and dispersal abilities of individual species, some approaches incorporate dispersal into distribution modelling approaches (e.g. by coupling SDM to dispersal simulations; Bahn et al. 2008, Václavík & Meentemeyer 2009). However, our understanding of dispersal pathways and species interactions is often limited for marine benthic ecosystems and their inclusion into prognostic SDM approaches remain a challenging but important need (Pearson & Dawson 2003, Elith & Leathwick 2009, Van der Putten et al. 2010).Environmental measurements on relevant spatial scales provide the fundamental basis of species distribution modelling. Especially for marine ecosystems, the availability of large-scale environmental data has significantly improved in the last decade, through increased research in habitat mapping and remote sensing techniques, and regular monitoring of the seafloor environment.To be useful in a distribution modelling context, environmental variables should ideally represent limiting factors, resources or disturbances (natural or anthropogenic) causally linked to the species of interest and its habitat (Guisan & Zimmermann 2000, Guisan & Thuiller 2005, Elith & Leathwick 2009). For our predictors, we chose 10 environmental variables thought to influence benthic habitat and species (e.g. Pearson & Rosenberg 1987, Heip & Craeymeersch 1995, Callaway et al. 2002, Wieking & Kröncke 2005). However, in many cases we used modelled environmental data (e.g. bottom water temperature and salinity, tidal stress, annual primary production), which might have added to uncertainty of the SDM outputs. Nevertheless, variables acting near the sea bottom are particularly influential for benthic ecosystems. Thus, sea surface data, which are often more readily available, may not reflect seafloor conditions sufficiently. The differences in the spatial resolution of the original environmental variables and the interpolation to a standardised grid size needed for the application of the models may also have impacted the predictive output of the SDM (e.g. Guisan & Zimmer mann 2000, Austin & Van Niel 2011). Environmental variables with a distinct small-scale patchiness (e.g. sediment composition) will be more affected by differences in resolution than variables with less intrinsic variability (e.g. temperature). Thus, the sediment composition variables used in this study might only partly represent the fine-scale resolution necessary for a predictor variable over such a large scale. Indeed, the contributions of single environmental variables to the MAXENT results in our study showed that sediment composition was of minor importance for the distribution predictions of most species, with the exception of the echinoderm Brissopsis lyrifera (Fig. 4). Sediment characteristics have often been found to affect benthic infaunal community patterns (e.g. Rees et al. 1999, Callaway et al. 2002, van Hoey et al. 2004, Schratzberger et al. 2006) and were primarily used to develop a SDM for polychaete distribution in the southern North Sea (Meißner et al. 2008). Besides the methodological problems mentioned above, we assume that the relative importance of the influencing factors may vary with the spatial scale and the autecological characteristics of the species. Thus, on a smaller spatial scale, the distribution of benthic species might be more closely linked to sediment characteristics and small-scale bottom topography, whereas on larger scales, hydrologic and climatic variables might be more important (Reiss et al. 2010). This possible scale dependency should also be considered when transferring models developed for one region to another (e.g. Randin et al. 2006, Elith & Leathwick 2009).Bottom temperature and depth influenced distributions of many benthic species in our study. While depth is an indirect proxy for several environmental variables, many studies assume temperature to be an important variable for benthic species and community distributions (e.g. Callaway et al. 2002, Neumann et al. 2009, Reiss et al. 2010). For example, the amphipod Megaluropus agilis and the echinoderm Acrocnida brachiata are sensitive to changes in water temperature in the North Sea (Wieking & Kröncke 2003), which was also evident in the MAX-ENT results. Temperature also influenced the distribution of other characteristic species, such as Corbula gibba, Magelona johnstoni, Tellina fabula or Urothoe poseidonis. It is important to recognise that correla-tive approaches such as SDMs do not reveal cause-effect relationships between environmental variables and benthic fauna. Surrogate variables, such as water depth, might be especially useful in a correlative approach to predict actual distribution, but cause-effect relationships must be better understood to enable reliable predictions of distribution shifts in changing environments.One main objective of applying distribution modelling methods to marine benthic species is to predict changes of distribution patterns in response to climate change. Our results demonstrate the utility of the different models for predicting potential distributions of North Sea benthic species and the importance of climatic variables such as bottom temperature. We do not suggest equal applicability of these models for the prediction of future distributions under different climates (Pearson & Dawson 2003, Hampe 2004, Thuiller 2004, Araújo et al. 2005). The main problem for prognostic species distribution modelling is that processes such as species interactions, habitat change, rapid evolutionary changes, and dispersal range and barriers are not included in most of the modelling approaches. Changes in species interactions (predation, competition, symbiosis) can significantly affect species distributions (e.g. Mouritsen et al. 2005, Traill et al. 2010), which might be further altered by invasions of non-native species facilitated by climate change, resulting in novel combinations of species (Walther et al. 2009). As the modelled species distribution is based on present-day conditions, future changes in species interactions are not considered and this can lead to erroneous model predictions. Although species interactions are expected to be less important on a global or regional scale (e.g. North Sea) than on a local scale, Araújo & Luoto (2007) have demonstrated effects of species interactions on these macro-scales.This study focused on predicting the probability of species occurrences, but quantitative predictions (e.g. abundance or biomass) of marine benthic species are also needed in order to understand largescale ecosystem processes. Estimating abundance simply by using the probability of occurrence as a proxy is not possible (at least for the benthic species analysed in this study), because these 2 parameters are not significantly correlated (H. Reiss unpubl. data). Thus, Bayesian and other modelling approaches will be necessary tools in future prediction of quantitative characteristics of species distribution (Pearce & Boyce 2006, Potts & Elith 2006, Anadón et al. 2010, Chakraborty et al. 2010). These approaches will be especially valuable for the marine benthic en -vironment, where sampling and observation depend on point data records. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bb67e014d35abb4019f282d349d15aa3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f5e39a26-58bf-42a7-ba5f-1f2849866612/retrieve","id":"1920147546"},"keywords":["agroforestry","banana-associated Gammaproteobacteria","banana-coffee intercropping","Gros Michel","Musa"],"sieverID":"a2eca7e2-0b8c-4342-bb09-c6242a035896","content":"Bananas (Musa spp.) belong to the most important global food commodities, and their cultivation represents the world's largest monoculture. Although the plant-associated microbiome has substantial influence on plant growth and health, there is a lack of knowledge of the banana microbiome and its influencing factors. We studied the impact of (i) biogeography, and (ii) agroforestry on the banana-associated gammaproteobacterial microbiome analyzing plants grown in smallholder farms in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Profiles of 16S rRNA genes revealed high abundances of Pseudomonadales, Enterobacteriales, Xanthomonadales, and Legionellales. An extraordinary high diversity of the gammaproteobacterial microbiota was observed within the endophytic microenvironments (endorhiza and pseudostem), which was similar in both countries. Enterobacteria were identified as dominant group of above-ground plant parts (pseudostem and leaves). Neither biogeography nor agroforestry showed a statistically significant impact on the gammaproteobacterial banana microbiome in general. However, indicator species for each microenvironment and country, as well as for plants grown in Coffea intercropping systems with and without agri-silvicultural production of different Fabaceae trees (Inga spp. in Nicaragua and Erythrina poeppigiana in Costa Rica) could be identified. For example, banana plants grown in agroforestry systems were characterized by an increase of potential plant-beneficial bacteria, like Pseudomonas and Stenotrophomonas, and on the other side by a decrease of Erwinia. Hence, this study could show that as a result of legume-based agroforestry the indigenous banana-associated gammaproteobacterial community noticeably shifted.Musa spp., including dessert and cooking bananas, are large perennial monocotyledonous herbs of the order Zingiberales. Their domestication process started about 7000 years ago and involved hybridizations between diverse species and subspecies and the selection of sometimes diploid, but generally triploid seedless, parthenocarpic hybrids, which were thereafter widely dispersed by vegetative propagation (Perrier et al., 2011). The cultigens are landraces and belong to the most important agricultural crops in the tropics and sub-tropics. Worldwide, over 100 million metric tons of fruits are produced annually. Cultivars that enter international commerce are worth $5 billion per year, and locally consumed fruits are major staples for 400 million people in Latin America and Africa (FAOSTAT, 2005).The Musa acuminata cultivar Gros Michel, also known as Big Mike, was the main exported banana variety from the nineteenth century until the late 1950s. However, in response to the susceptibility of this cultivar to the fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) race 1, Gros Michel was widely replaced by the resistant Cavendish variety (Ploetz, 2006;Butler, 2013). In many countries in Central America, such as Costa Rica and Nicaragua, the Gros Michel variety is still grown, mainly by smallholder farmers in banana-coffee intercropping systems, sometimes in combination with agroforestry systems, where a lower disease incidence is reported in comparison to monocultures. Gros Michel fruits are praised for their fabulous flavor and, due to their thicker skin, for a better robustness to bruises in comparison to Cavendish. Agroforestry in general is a collective name for land-use systems in which woody perennials are grown in association with herbaceous plants or livestock, in spatial arrangement, a rotation or both (Lundgren, 1982). These practices are considered as functionally biodiverse, environmentally friendly and sustainable land-use alternatives. It was shown that such systems were able to enhance soil fertility and productivity by improving certain soil physical properties and protective functions, such as nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration (Montagnini and Nair, 2004;Seobi et al., 2005;Udawatta et al., 2009). Undeniably, it can be assumed that these environmental benefits are associated with soil microbial activity and soil biological parameters. In addition, the plant-associated microbiome has substantial influence on plant growth, quality, and health (Berg et al., 2014). However, despite the importance of banana for grower's livelihoods on these agroforestry systems in Central America and the hypothesized role of soil and plant microbiome on building healthier environments, knowledge on the microbial diversity of representative productions areas is still scarce.The objective of this study was to decipher the gammaproteobacterial microbiome of banana plants cultivated in Central America. In order to obtain an almost complete picture of the banana-colonizing Gammaproteobacteria under diverse conditions, different plant parts and microenvironments were investigated: the rhizosphere soil surrounding the roots and represents the interface to the bulk soil, the inner tissue of the roots -the endorhiza, the banana leaves, as well as the pseudostem. The cylindrical succulent pseudostem is a peculiarity of the herbaceous banana plant which consists of closely packed leaf-petiole sheaths (Saravanan and Aradhya, 2011). It provides a unique microhabitat for endophytic microorganisms and was recently identified as a bacterial hot spot colonized by an extraordinary high abundance and diversity of enterics (Rossmann et al., 2012). Consequently, we hypothesized a key role of the Enterobacteriaceae for plant health especially in the endophytic microenvironments. To additionally capture the group of often plant-beneficial fluorescent pseudomonads (Ayyadurai et al., 2006;Weller, 2007), and at the same time to preserve the necessary sequencing depth, we decided to focus on the whole gammaproteobacterial fraction by employing a comprehensive 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing approach. Comparisons between colonization patterns reveal the impact of (i) biogeography (Nicaragua vs. Costa Rica), and (ii) agroforestry conditions (banana-coffee intercropping with vs. without agroforestry) on the banana-associated gammaproteobacterial microbiota.Samples were taken in November 2012 from M. acuminata Colla (AAA group) cultivar Gros Michel in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. In each country, samples of banana roots, pseudostem, leaves, and rhizosphere soil were collected from three different farms (Figure S1), where bananas were cultivated in intercropping systems with Coffea spp. To understand the effect of agroforestry on the banana-associated microbiome, samples were collected on each farm from sites with and without associated Fabaceae trees. The predominant trees were Inga spp. in Nicaragua and Erythrina poeppigiana in Costa Rica. Each site was under the respective production system since more than 50 years. Composite samples consisting of sub-samples from five appropriate plants without visible infestation of any disease were taken for each microenvironment.For extraction of metagenomic DNA from the rhizosphere, 2 g of rhizospheric soil were mixed with 15 ml of 0.85% NaCl for 10 s on the vortex. To isolate total community DNA from the endorhiza, 5 g of roots were surface-sterilized with 4% NaOCl for 5 min. Afterwards, roots were washed three times with sterile distilled water and transferred to sterile WhirlPaks (Nasco, Fort Atkinson, USA), then 10 ml of 0.85% NaCl were added and the surface-sterilized roots were homogenized using mortar and pestle. Pseudostem samples (5 g) were washed with sterile distilled water, transferred to WhirlPaks, and after 10 ml of 0.85% NaCl were added, homogenized with mortar and pestle. From phyllosphere samples, 5 g of leaves were washed three times with sterile distilled water, before homogenization with 10 ml of 0.85% NaCl. From the liquid parts 4 ml were centrifuged at high speed (16,000 × g, 4 • C) for 20 min and resulting pellets were stored at −70 • C. Total community DNA was extracted using the FastDNA SPIN Kit for Soil (MP Biomedicals, Solon, USA) according to the manufacturer's protocol. Metagenomic DNA samples were encoded using abbreviations indicating: (1) country (N−, Nicaragua; C−, Costa Rica), (2) microenvironment (S, rhizosphere soil; Re, endorhiza; Ps, pseudostem; L, leaves), ( 3) farm (1-3 in each country; Figure S1) (4) agroforestry conditions (T+, with trees; T−, without trees).For a deep-sequencing analysis of the banana-associated Gammaproteobacteria community, the hypervariable V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was amplified in a nested PCR approach with the Gammaproteobacteria specific primer pair Gamma395f/Gamma871r (Mühling et al., 2008) and the universal primer pair 515F/806R (Caporaso et al., 2011), which carried sample specific tags. The reaction mixture for the first PCR (20 µl) contained 1 × Taq&Go (MP Biomedicals, Eschwege, Germany), 2 mM MgCl 2 , 0.1 µM of each primer and 1 µl of template DNA dilution (96 • C, 4 min; 30 cycles of 96 • C, 1 min; 54 • C, 1 min; 74 • C, 1 min; and elongation at 74 • C, 10 min). The second PCR (30 µl) was performed by using 1 × Taq&Go, 0.2 µM of each primer and 1.2 µl from dilutions of the first PCR mixtures (94 • C, 3 min; 32 cycles of 94 • C, 45 s; 60 • C, 1 min; 72 • C, 18 s; and elongation at 72 • C, 10 min). PCR products of three independent reactions were pooled in equal volumes and purified by employing the Wizard SV Gel and PCR Clean-Up System (Promega, Madison, USA). Sequence libraries were generated by a paired-end approach using the Illumina MiSeq platform (Eurofins MWG, Ebersberg, Germany). The nucleotide sequences are available in the European Nucleotide Archive (www.ebi.ac.uk/ ena) under the accession number PRJEB8107.Data analysis was performed by employing the open source software package QIIME 1.8 (Caporaso et al., 2010a). Sequencing reads with more than three consecutive low quality base calls (Phred quality score ≤ 20) were truncated at the position where their quality began to drop, and only reads with >75% consecutive high quality base calls, without any ambiguous characters, and longer than 200 nucleotides in length were retained for further analyses. All quality sequences were adjusted in the same orientation and clustered into operational taxonomic units (OTUs) with uclust (Edgar, 2010), using 3, 5, and 10% dissimilarity thresholds. From each OTU the most abundant sequence was selected as the representative one, and the taxonomy of the representative set was assigned with the uclust-based consensus taxonomy assigner using an 80% confidence threshold. The representative sequence set was aligned with PyNAST (Caporaso et al., 2010b). Chimera check was performed with ChimeraSlayer and potentially chimeric sequences were discarded. OTU tables at the different dissimilarity levels were constructed, and OTUs not assigned to the class of Gammaproteobacteria as well as singletons were removed from the dataset. For alpha and beta diversity analyses, OTU tables were rarefied at 13,610 reads. Diversity indices Shannon (Shannon, 1997) and Chao1 (Chao and Bunge, 2002) were determined based on the normalized clustering data. Significant differences were calculated with PASW Statistics 18 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) using Tukey and Games-Howell post hoc tests, depending on the homogeneity of variances. Beta diversity was analyzed based on weighted UniFrac distances (Lozupone et al., 2007) and 10 jackknife replicates of the total rarefied datasets. Statistical analyses were performed using the adonis test with 999 permutations. Taxonomy based ring-charts were created with Krona 2.2 (Ondov et al., 2011).Profile clustering network analyses were performed in order to highlight single taxonomic groups corresponding to genus level (OTUs at a dissimilarity level of 3% summarized at taxonomic level 6) with considerable differences between banana plants grown in Nicaragua and in Costa Rica and between those grown with and without associated trees. The network analyses were carried out with taxa exhibiting a mean read change of more than 0.2% of the data set. If the ratio of relative mean abundances exceeded 1.5, the taxa were regarded as altered and assigned to the respective profile. Networks depicting community changes resulting from biogeographical location were restricted to taxa which significantly differed between countries. Significant differences were ascertained with Metastats (White et al., 2009), where p-values were computed using a combination of the nonparametric t-test, exact Fisher's test, and the false discovery rate with 10 3 permutations. For networks showing differences caused by agroforestry, only taxonomic groups featuring the same pattern in all three farms of a country were considered. Visualization of the networks was carried out using Cytoscape 2.8.3 (Smoot et al., 2011).The gammaproteobacterial microbiota associated to the rhizosphere, endorhiza, pseudostem, and foliage of healthy banana plants grown under different agroforestry conditions in Nicaragua and Costa Rica analyzed by a barcoded 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing approach based on Illumina MiSeq sequencing yielded in 2,234,043 quality sequences with a read length ≥200 nucleotides, between 13,619 and 111,332 quality reads per sample. Rarefaction analyses of the sequencing libraries at a genetic dissimilarity level of 3% are depicted in Figure S2.Comparisons of observed OTUs with their estimated richness by the Chao1 index revealed coverage between 87.3 and 47.4% per sample at order level (Table S1). The sequencing efforts at genus and species level reached 74.1-39.9% and 68.8-31.5%, respectively. The computed Shannon indices of diversity (H ) ranged from 7.56 to 1.47 at a genetic distance of 3% (Table S1). In general, rhizosphere and endorhiza samples exhibited higher gammaproteobacterial diversity than pseudostem and leaves (Figure 1). Within samples from Nicaragua, the highest values were observed for the rhizospheric soil (5.46 on average ± 0.90 confidence), but without a significant difference (p ≤ 0.05, Tukey post hoc test) to the endorhiza (4.46 ± 1.02). Significantly lower Shannon indices than in the rhizosphere soil were detected for pseudostem (2.61 ± 0.45) and leaves samples (2.59 ± 0.49). Banana plants from Costa Rica revealed the highest diversity in the endorhiza (6.08 ± 0.85), which not significantly differed from the rhizosphere soil (4.45 ± 1.18). Significantly lower values than in the endorhiza were observed for leaves (3.38 ± 0.73) and pseudostem (3.11 ± 0.46). Between the same microenvironments of banana plants from the two countries, no significant differences were observed. Agroforestry did not show a significant impact (p ≤ 0.05, Games-Howell post hoc test) on the gammaproteobacterial diversity of the different microenvironments.Nearly all quality sequences could be assigned below the class level, and over all banana-associated communities, high abundances of Pseudomonadales, Enterobacteriales, Xanthomonadales, and Legionellales were found (Figures 2, 3). The rhizosphere of bananas from Nicaragua was colonized by a significantly higher abundance (p ≤ 0.05, Metastats) of Pseudomonadales, Thiotrichales, as well as of unclassified Gammaproteobacteria than the rhizosphere soil of Costa Rica. Conversely, the plant rhizosphere from Costa Rica was inhabited to a greater extent of Legionellales and Enterobacteriales. The endorhiza of bananas from Nicaragua exhibited significantly higher relative abundances of Pseudomonadales, while Xanthomonadales occurred in higher abundances in endorhiza samples from Costa Rica. The pseudostem in general was highly dominated by Enterobacteriales and Pseudomonadales and showed no significant differences between countries at order level. The foliage exhibited a similar gammaproteobacterial colonization to the pseudostem. However, the leaves from Costa Rica revealed in addition to the dominant orders higher abundances of Oceanospirillales than those from Nicaragua.At lower taxonomic levels, Pseudomonadales could be assigned to Pseudomonadaceae (genus Pseudomonas) and Moraxellaceae (genera Acinetobacter, Perlucidibaca, and Enhydrobacter), whereby in general Nicaragua samples were highly dominated by Pseudomonadaceae and samples from Costa Rica revealed a high abundance of Moraxellaceae. The enterobacterial fraction was dominated by Erwinia with lower abundances of Enterobacter, Citrobacter, and Serratia. Xanthomonadales sequences could be assigned to different Xanthomonadaceae (Stenotrophomonas, Pseudoxanthomonas, Luteimonas, Dokdonella, Rhodanobacter, and Luteibacter) and Sinobacteraceae (Steroidobacter, and Nevskia). Legionellales could be divided into the families Coxiellaceae (Aquicella) and Legionellaceae (Legionella, and Tatlockia). Further genera identified for taxonomic groups with a relative abundance over 1% per sample belonged to Alteromonadales (Cellvibrio, and Rheinheimera) and to Oceanospirillales (Halomonas).Considering the total gammaproteobacterial community, no significant differences (p ≤ 0.05, adonis test) based on weighted UniFrac distances could be calculated for individual microenvironments between banana plants grown in Nicaragua and Costa Rica (Table S2), and for none of the countries a significant impact on the banana-colonizing Gammaproteobacteria resulting from tree presence was found (Table S3). However, profile clustering network analyses revealed differences of individual taxonomic groups in the colonization patterns between banana plants of the two Central American countries as well as between plants grown in agroforestry systems and those grown without associated trees (Figure 4). Each network subdivides the four investigated microenvironments (rhizosphere soil, endorhiza, pseudostem, and leaves), leaving out taxonomic groups without considerable differences between different conditions. In the networks visualizing the impact of biogeography, only taxa with significant differences (p ≤ 0.05, Metastats) between the sampling countries were shown, while in the networks depicting the impact of agroforestry, only taxa featuring the same pattern in all three farms of the respective country were considered.Without the influence of different agroforestry trees, banana plants from Nicaragua revealed a significantly higher abundance of Pseudomonas, unclassified Sinobacteraceae, Piscirickettsiaceae, and other unclassified Gammaproteobacteria in their rhizosphere (Figure 4A), while the rhizosphere and also the endorhiza from plants in Costa Rica was colonized to a greater extent by Legionellales (unclassified Coxiellaceae and others). The pseudostem did not show significant differences in its gammaproteobacterial colonization between the two countries in plants grown without associated trees. However, the leaves from plants grown in Nicaragua exhibited higher numbers of unclassified Enterobacteriaceae, while those of plants from Costa Rica had higher abundances of Acinetobacter and unclassified Xanthomonadaceae. Under agroforestry conditions, the below-ground habitats of banana plants grown in Nicaragua in association with Inga spp. were characterized by much higher abundances of Pseudomonas than bananas cultivated under agroforestry conditions with E. poeppigiana in Costa Rica (Figure 4B). The rhizosphere of plants grown in the Inga agroforestry system further revealed higher abundances of unclassified Alteromonadales and other unclassified Gammaproteobacteria, while banana plants grown in the Erythrina agroforestry system were more inhabited by unclassified Sinobacteraceae in their endorhiza and by Erwinia in their rhizosphere. Conversely, banana leaves from the Inga agroforestry system in Nicaragua showed a significantly higher number of Erwinia, while the aerial plant parts of Costa Rica's bananas from the Erythrina agroforestry system were colonized to a greater extent by Acinetobacter. In comparison to banana plants grown without associated trees, plants cultivated in agro-ecosystems in Nicaragua harbored an increased number of Pseudomonas (species unclassified) in their endorhiza (Figure 4C), as well as of Xanthomonadaceae (Stenotrophomonas and others) in their above-ground parts. Costa Rica's plants grown in a system without trees revealed a significantly higher number of Erwinia in their phyllosphere than appropriate plants grown in an agroforestry system (Figure 4D).A deep sequencing analysis of the gammaproteobacterial microbiome associated with the Gros Michel banana variety in Central America revealed an extraordinary high diversity within the endophytic community. Considering the below-ground microhabitats, the endorhiza of plants grown in Nicaragua unveiled a diversity comparable to that of the rhizosphere soil. The succulent pseudostem which can be considered as an above-ground endophytic microhabitat revealed a diversity comparable to that of the leaves encompassing endo-as well as ectophytes. A 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing approach targeting only the enterobacterial community of the banana plant revealed a strikingly diverse colonization of its endosphere with a Shannon diversity index for the pseudostem (H = 0.55) similar to those of rhizosphere samples (H = 0.40-0.55), even though based on only one pseudostem sample (Rossmann et al., 2012). But normally, what we know from other plants, we face a contrasting picture; due to root exudates and the resulting high nutrient content, the rhizosphere represents a favored microenvironment for microbial colonization and is characterized by a high abundance and diversity (Berendsen et al., 2012;Berg et al., 2014), and only a fraction of this root-associated microorganisms is able to invade, compete with other well-adapted endophytes, and successfully colonize the inner plant tissue (Germaine et al., 2004;Chi et al., 2005). Several endophytes are known for their advantageous associations and close interactions with their host plants. They have been shown to enhance plant growth and quality (Berg et al., 2005a;Köberl et al., 2013), increase plant resistance to abiotic stresses, pathogens and even herbivores (Rodriguez et al., 2009;Marasco et al., 2012;Yi et al., 2013), and contribute to plant-assisted bioremediation (Lodewyckx et al., 2001;Siciliano et al., 2001). The generally high diversity within the endophytic community of the banana plant can be explained by the permanent nature of its corm serving as a reservoir for endophytic diversity and the transmission to following generations via vegetative suckers.In addition to the diversity, the gammaproteobacterial taxonomic composition was highly similar between the endophytic pseudostem and banana leaves as well, revealing a predominant colonization by Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonadales. Pseudomonadales, in particular the genus Pseudomonas but also Acinetobacter (both identified as dominant groups in this study), are well-known plant colonizers and among others often accountable for beneficial plant-microbe interactions (Weller, 2007;Rolli et al., 2015). Interestingly, while the Pseudomonadales community in samples from Nicaragua was highly dominated by the genus Pseudomonas, banana plants from Costa Rica revealed significantly higher relative abundances of Acinetobacter. Although it is well-known that the plant microbiome is shaped by both soil community and the plant cultivar (Berg and Smalla, 2009), the dominance of enterics in the banana pseudostem described for the East African Highland banana of Uganda (Rossmann et al., 2012) could be confirmed for the Gros Michel variety cultivated in Central America as well and could be extended to the entire perennial above-ground plant parts of the banana. However, while the colonization study of the East African Highland banana in Uganda (Rossmann et al., 2012) revealed Enterobacter as the predominant enterobacterial genus in plant-associated microenvironments, Erwinia was identified as the most dominant genus in the Central American Gros Michel variety. In contrast to Enterobacter which comprises several opportunistic human pathogenic strains (E. aerogenes, E. cloacae) (Berg et al., 2015), Erwinia is mainly known as plant pathogen (E. amylovora, E. tracheiphila) (Eastgate, 2000;Rojas et al., 2013). However, as this study encompassed only healthy banana plants without symptoms of Fusarium wilt or any other disease, there is no indication that the Erwinia strains observed within the banana-associated microbiome are in any manner harmful to the plant. A recent study of the lettuce (Lactuca sativa) microbiome also revealed a preferential occurrence of enterics in the phyllosphere (Erlacher et al., 2014).In general, a higher impact on the banana-associated gammaproteobacterial microbiome was observed for the biogeographical location than for the agroforestry conditions. The biggest differences between the sampling countries were observed for the rhizosphere communities, representing the most probable source of all other plant colonizers. Consequently, based on the different rhizosphere microbiomes, disparities were found for all investigated microenvironments, whereby above-ground plant parts shared higher similarities, possibly due to a rigorous selection process with subsequent enrichment especially of enterics and pseudomonads. In addition to generally high contents of polyphenols and antioxidants in the succulent banana pseudostem, Saravanan and Aradhya (2011) could recently measure high concentrations of flavonoid compounds. Flavonoids are widely distributed secondary metabolites with diverse metabolic functions in plants; among several others, some of them are wellknown for their antimicrobial activity (Falcone Ferreyra et al., 2012) and have been identified to be involved in the plant-driven selection of microbes (Bais et al., 2006;Weston and Mathesius, 2013).For both countries and different agroforestry systems, a slight shift of the gammaproteobacterial microbiome resulting from associated Fabaceae trees could be observed. Banana plants grown in the agroforestry system with Inga trees in Nicaragua revealed significantly higher abundances of Pseudomonas and Stenotrophomonas. Both genera comprise several potential plantbeneficial species. For instance, Stenotrophomonas rhizophila has become a model bacterium among the plant growth-promoters and stress protecting agents (Alavi et al., 2013), particularly because of its beneficial effects on plants in salinated soils (Egamberdieva et al., 2011). Positive Pseudomonas-plant interactions are well-known (Weller, 2007) and have already been discussed. However, the genus Pseudomonas also includes some species with potential deleterious effects on plants (P. syringae, P. viridiflava) (Jakob et al., 2002), and moreover some species of Pseudomonas and also of Stenotrophomonas are known as opportunistic pathogens in humans as well (P. aeruginosa, S. maltophilia). Several studies provided evidence that similar or even identical functions are responsible for the beneficial interactions with plants and virulence in other eukaryotic hosts (Berg et al., 2005b;Alavi et al., 2014). For banana plants grown in association with E. poeppigiana in Costa Rica, a significant decrease of Erwinia spp. was recorded. Although this study targeted exclusively the gammaproteobacterial fraction, results could show that as a consequence of legume-based agroforestry the indigenous banana-associated microbial community was noticeably shifted."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e4358d46a1c6cf34725d71120f37426c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0a734c1f-0c05-4925-91eb-afdc19202c61/retrieve","id":"-599837923"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4083e79d-e8c5-4455-bba4-45f9cf56c8cc","content":"Introducción 84 Factores climáticos que más afectan el arroz 84 Temperatura 84 Radiación solar 91 Agua 94 Viento 96 Humedad relativa 96 Referencias bibliográficas 97El arroz es un alimento básico en la dieta de más de la mitad de la población mundial. El arroz se cultiva en condiciones ambientales tan diversas que ha suscitado, a su vez, una diversidad de criterios entre los investigadores y especialistas de este cereal. Algunos autores sostienen que es un cultivo especial de las zonas húmedas del trópico o de los climas de temperatura alta; otros informan que florece en diversas condiciones ambientales entre los 45° de latitud norte y los 40° de latitud sur respecto al ecuador. Se ha informado también que el arroz puede cultivarse desde el nivel del mar hasta los 2500 metros de altitud, una extensión que le permite crecer en áreas donde la temperatura, la longitud del día y la disponibilidad del agua son muy diversas.El análisis de los factores que regulan el crecimiento de la planta de arroz ha revelado a los investigadores las limitantes relacionadas con el desarrollo del arroz y con su adaptabilidad al medio que lo rodea.En las zonas tropical y subtropical de baja altitud, las temperaturas media y extrema son, prácticamente, las adecuadas para este cultivo; ahora bien, la temperatura disminuye con la altitud y esta condición puede convertirse en los trópicos en una limitante para el cultivo del arroz, en dos situaciones: cuando se suaviza la temperatura al principio y al final de la temporada de cultivo, y cuando existe la posibilidad de un descenso de temperatura durante el período vegetativo de la planta.Los valores medios mensuales de la temperatura y de la duración del día durante el período de crecimiento del arroz permiten hacer una valoración aproximada de la evapotranspiración de las plantas de arroz durante este mismo período; por consiguiente, permiten conocer la necesidad absoluta de agua del cultivo para compensar por esa evapotranspiración.En esta sección se analizarán separadamente los distintos factores ambientales que influyen en la producción de grano del cultivo de arroz.La temperatura afecta el crecimiento y el desarrollo de la planta de arroz. Durante las distintas fases del desarrollo, la planta no responde a iguales rangos de temperatura; podría decirse que hay un rango favorable para cada fase. Los fitomejoradores desarrollan variedades que pueden adaptarse bien a diferentes rangos de temperatura para que puedan expresar libremente su potencial genético, no sólo en rendimiento sino también respecto a su respuesta a las plagas y enfermedades que limitan el cultivo.El efecto de las temperaturas bajas (incluyendo la de congelación del agua) en la planta de arroz se ha estudiado bien; por ejemplo, los cambios bioquímicos ocurridos en ella entre 0 y 4 °C están bien determinados. Los resultados de este estudio permiten planear adecuadamente una explotación arrocera; sin embargo, la bioquímica de la planta en el rango de 10 a 21 °C no ha sido bien estudiada.Las plántulas de arroz expuestas a temperaturas bajas pueden sufrir un estancamiento en su crecimiento porque se retardan o cesan sus reacciones químicas y sus procesos físicos; no obstante, el fenómeno puede revertirse y la planta se recupera cuando la temperatura del medio es favorable. Las hojas que se formen durante el tiempo de exposición a la temperatura baja experimentan una elongación.Las plantas más desarrolladas expuestas a temperaturas bajas pueden sufrir un daño irreversible o un colapso de sus funciones -y, en ocasiones, la muerte. Son ejemplos, respectivamente, las plantas que sufren un vaneamiento total de los granos, y las que mueren a consecuencia del intenso amarillamiento de las hojas-debido, posiblemente, a la impotencia de las raíces para absorber los nutrientes del suelo helado.Las temperaturas bajas (de 15 a 19 °C) que afectan las plantas durante el estado de meiosis de las células madre del polen, o sea, de 10 a 11 días antes de la floración, causan una alta esterilidad en las plantas (Satake, 1969). Nakayama (1974) considera el efecto de la temperatura alta como un factor adverso a la producción de arroz, inclusive en algunas regiones frías de Japón. La combinación de temperaturas altas y baja radiación solar durante la maduración del grano acorta esa etapa y es una causa importante de los rendimientos bajos.En condiciones controladas, Moriya y Nara (1971) observaron un alto porcentaje de esterilidad y de granos parcialmente llenos cuando las plantas de arroz fueron expuestas durante la floración a una temperatura promedio de 31.5 °C (máxima de 36 °C y mínima de 27 °C). Resultados similares obtuvieron Sato et al. (1973) y Kusanagi y Washio (1973) en experimentos en que la temperatura máxima oscilaba entre 35 y 30 °C y la mínima entre 35 y 25 °C.Las temperaturas extremas causan serias perturbaciones en el desarrollo de la planta de arroz y, por ello, no favorecen el ambiente en que puede completarse el ciclo de vida de la planta. Las temperaturas críticas para la planta de arroz están, generalmente, por debajo de 20 °C y por encima de 30 °C, y varían según el estado de desarrollo de la planta. Varían también según la variedad de arroz, la duración del efecto de esa temperatura, el cambio de condiciones diurnas a nocturnas, y el estado fisiológico de la planta. El Cuadro 1 muestra la variación de la temperatura crítica frente a las distintas fases de desarrollo de la planta.Cuando se somete la planta a una temperatura inferior a 20 °C durante el estado de reducción en la división de las células madre del polen, se induce en los granos un alto porcentaje de esterilidad (Satake, 1969). Sin embargo, temperaturas de 12 °C (y un poco menores) no causarán esa esterilidad si el tiempo de exposición a ellas no sobrepasa los 2 días, pero causarán hasta un 100% de esterilidad si la exposición se prolonga durante 6 días.La esterilidad debida a las temperaturas bajas se atribuye, generalmente, al efecto de la temperatura nocturna, porque la temperatura diurna alta puede contrarrestar el efecto de la temperatura baja de la noche. Este fenómeno se demostró cuando se expusieron plantas de arroz en estado de reducción celular a una temperatura constante de 14 °C, de día y de noche, durante 9 días: la esterilidad registrada en los granos fue de 41%; en cambio, cuando las plantas pasaron de la temperatura nocturna de 14 °C a una diurna de 26 °C, el porcentaje de esterilidad se redujo a 12%. Matsushima (1976) indicaron que, en el período de desarrollo anterior a la floración, la temperatura óptima diurna era de 31 a 32 °C, mientras que la óptima nocturna variaba entre 21 y 22 °C. En cambio, para un período de desarrollo 15 días después de la floración, dicha temperatura era de 29 °C en el día y 19 °C en la noche. Finalmente, para el período de desarrollo 30 días después de la floración, esas temperaturas eran de 26 °C en el día y 16 °C en la noche.El mismo autor concluyó que el rango de temperaturas durante la etapa de maduración del grano no era, necesariamente, el rango de temperaturas óptimas del día y de la noche, y que la maduración del grano estaba fuertemente influenciada por la temperatura nocturna. Esta conclusión se sustenta en dos hechos: por un lado, la pérdida de carbohidratos debida a la respiración de la planta aumenta cuando la temperatura nocturna es alta y, por otro lado, la temperatura nocturna baja afecta otras actividades fisiológicas. En otras palabras, las temperaturas nocturnas muy altas o muy bajas no favorecen la maduración del grano y hay, ciertamente, una temperatura óptima para esta maduración.Las temperaturas críticas altas pueden afectar el rendimiento de la planta porque tienen influencia en el macollamiento, en la formación de las espiguillas y en la maduración de éstas, efectos que varían también según la variedad.Experimentos realizados por Yoshida (1973) demuestran que la tasa de crecimiento de la planta de arroz aumenta linealmente con la temperatura, en el rango de 22 a 31 ºC (Figura 1). Durante el período inicial de crecimiento, la temperatura afecta muy levemente el macollamiento y la tasa de crecimiento relativo, excepto la temperatura más baja estudiada en los experimentos (22 ºC).El mismo autor encontró que el efecto de la temperatura en el macollamiento está regulado por el nivel de radiación solar. Sus resultados indican básicamente que, a temperatura alta, Cuadro 1. Correspondencia entre las principales etapas de desarrollo de la planta de arroz y las diversas temperaturas (crítica y óptima) que pueden afectar esas etapas.Etapas Tomado de Yoshida (1977).Tasa de crecimiento (0-1 semana) aumenta la tasa de emergencia de hojas y aparecen más yemas (de macollas) que las producidas a menor temperatura; cuando la iluminación es baja, algunas de las yemas no se desarrollan hasta convertirse en macollas, porque faltan los carbohidratos necesarios para su crecimiento.El mismo experimento mostró que, durante la fase reproductiva de la planta, el número de espiguillas por 22 25 28 31planta aumentó cuando disminuyó la temperatura; esto indica que, a diferencia del resultado anterior, la temperatura óptima cambia de alta a baja a medida que avanza el crecimiento de la planta, es decir, de la fase vegetativa a la reproductiva.La temperatura media óptima para la maduración de las variedades japónicas está en un rango de 20 a 22 °C, según varios informes (Matsushima y Tsunoda, 1957;Matsushima et al., 1957;Airni et al., 1959). Los resultados de los experimentos de Murata en 1976 mostraron que el peso de 1000 granos de una misma variedad varía de 24 a 21 g cuando la planta se expone, durante 21 días a partir de la floración, a un cambio de temperatura de 22 a 28 °C (Figura 2).En el trópico, una temperatura diurna de 29 °C, en promedio, no resulta muy perjudicial (respecto a la producción de macollas y granos) cuando hay suficiente radiación solar. Por eso, las variedades de tipo índica se adaptan mejor a las temperaturas altas, mientras que las de tipo japónica necesitan temperaturas bajas para lograr una adecuada madurez del grano. Yoshida y Hara (1977) encontraron, en experimentos hechos bajo condiciones controladas, que la temperatura diaria promedio que requiere el llenado del grano del arroz de tipo índica (Fujisaka 5) está entre 20 y 27 °C, mientras que la requerida por el arroz de tipo japónica (IR20) está entre 16 y 25 °C (Figura 3).La temperatura afecta directamente el desarrollo de la planta de arroz que se cultive en condiciones de inundación y bajo láminas de agua de diferente espesor. La intensidad de ese efecto depende de la posición de los puntos de crecimiento de la planta respecto a la superficie del agua (Tsunoda y Matsushima, 1962). Desde los primeros estados de crecimiento hasta la iniciación de la panícula, las yemas responsables de las hojas, las macollas y la panícula permanecen bajo el agua; su Figura 2. Efecto de la temperatura en el peso de 1000 granos de arroz en la etapa de maduración de la planta (21 días después de la floración). (Tomada de Murata, 1976.) desarrollo, por tanto, recibe el influjo de la temperatura del agua. Ahora bien, el crecimiento y la elongación de toda la planta reciben la influencia de dos temperaturas, la del agua y la del aire, dado que el ciclo de vida se desarrolla, principalmente, en un medio aéreo.A medida que la panícula se desarrolla y sobresale del nivel del agua, la influencia de la temperatura del agua en el crecimiento y en la madurez de la panícula disminuye, y estos fenómenos empiezan a depender cada vez más de la temperatura del aire (Tsunoda y Matsushima, 1962;Matsushima et al., 1964). Se puede concluir, por tanto, que el efecto de las temperaturas del aire y del agua varía según el estado de crecimiento de la planta. De este modo, como indican Matsushima et al. (1964), durante los estados iniciales del desarrollo de la planta la temperatura del agua afecta el rendimiento porque influye en el número de panículas por planta, en el número de granos por panícula, y en el porcentaje de granos maduros que se pueden obtener. En estados más avanzados del desarrollo, la temperatura del aire puede afectar el rendimiento, porque influye directamente en el porcentaje de granos llenos y en su peso.El efecto de la temperatura del agua depende de la magnitud de ésta y de la profundidad de la lámina aplicada. En la mayoría de los casos, la temperatura del agua es mayor que la del aire; a medida que aumenta la profundidad de la lámina de agua, el crecimiento de la panícula depende más de la temperatura del aire. Cuando la planta se encuentra en el estado de reducción celular (en la división de las células del polen), y si la temperatura del aire desciende por debajo de su nivel critico, se puede proteger la planta contra la esterilidad causada por esa temperatura baja aumentando la profundidad del agua hasta 15 ó 20 cm (Nishiyama et al., 1969).Según su estado de desarrollo, la planta puede sufrir daños cuando la temperatura desciende cada día, en promedio, por debajo de 20 ºC. Este daño por frío puede ocurrir no sólo en las zonas templadas, sino en el trópico y en el subtrópico durante las noches de la época seca o de verano. Los daños causados por el frío a los cultivos de arroz se han reportado en Australia, Bangladesh, China, Colombia, Corea, Cuba, Estados Unidos de América, India, Indonesia, Irán, Japón, Nepal, Pakistán, Perú, Sri Lanka, en la antigua Unión Soviética y en otros países. Los principales daños observados son los siguientes: la semilla no germina, la emergencia de la plántula se retrasa, y aparecen las siguientes condiciones negativas: enanismo, amarillamiento de las hojas, esterilidad apical, emergencia parcial de la panícula, retraso en la floración, alto porcentaje de granos vanos y maduración no uniforme (Yoshida, 1978).Los estudios realizados por Sasaki y Wada (1973) indican que la máxima susceptibilidad del arroz a las temperaturas bajas ocurre durante la época del 'embuchamiento', es decir, de 14 a 17 días antes de la emergencia de la panícula; después de esta época, la 'floración' es la etapa en que el arroz es muy susceptible al frío. No obstante, Shibata et al. (1970) encontró que la planta de arroz sometida a una temperatura baja durante 3 días era más sensible al frío en la floración, y que esa sensibilidad era igual, o incluso mayor, que la manifestada en el 'embuchamiento'.Cuando la temperatura sobrepasa los 35 °C, en la antesis del arroz, y esta exposición al calor pasa de 1 hora, se observa en las plantas un alto porcentaje de esterilidad. Yoshida (1978) informa que las plantas de arroz expuestas a temperaturas superiores a 35 °C sufren daños que dependen de su estado de desarrollo. Por ejemplo, durante la fase vegetativa se observan los siguientes síntomas: la punta blanca de la hoja, las bandas cloróticas, una reducción del macollamiento y una disminución de la altura de la planta. Durante la fase reproductiva aparecen síntomas como la panícula blanca, una reducción del número de granos y una mayor esterilidad; en la etapa de maduración se reduce el número de granos llenos por panícula.El mismo autor concluye que el estado de desarrollo del arroz más sensible a las temperaturas altas es la floración; siguen a ésta los 9 días anteriores a la salida de la panícula en la etapa de 'embuchamiento'. Durante la antesis, 1 ó 2 horas de temperatura alta aumenta definitivamente el porcentaje de esterilidad.En la mayoría de los casos, lo que determina el rendimiento es el número de granos por unidad de área. Yoshida (1978) informa que existe una alta correlación positiva entre el número de granos por unidad de área y el total de nitrógeno tomado por la planta al momento de la floración. Él observó que el número de granos era mayor a medida que aumentaba la cantidad de nitrógeno (N) suministrado. Por otro lado, en un ensayo similar realizado bajo condiciones controladas, se encontró que el número de granos aumentaba a medida que la temperatura disminuía bajo un determinado nivel de N, siendo más evidente este resultado cuando el nivel de N era más alto. Sin embargo, la eficiencia del N para producir granos llegaba a su nivel máximo cuando la temperatura y el nivel de N eran los más bajos (Cuadro 2).Los experimentos realizados por Sasaki et al. (1973) demostraron que el N puede hacer variar el porcentaje de esterilidad que causan las temperaturas bajas cuando las células reproductivas se hallan en la etapa de reducción de la división celular. Cuando la temperatura baja está por encima, o muy por debajo, de la temperatura crítica, el suministro de N tiene muy poco efecto en la esterilidad; en cambio, cuando la temperatura es moderada (16 ºC), el porcentaje de esterilidad aumenta si hay un incremento en el nivel del N aplicado. Otros experimentos reportados por Sasaki y Wada (1975)  Tomado de IRRI (1979).cuando la temperatura es baja, puede contrarrestarse con un aumento del nivel del fósforo aplicado (Figura 4).La mayor parte de la energía radiante proveniente del sol tiene una longitud de onda comprendida entre 0.3 y 3.0 micras (o unidad μ = 1 millonésima parte del metro) y por ello se considera, generalmente, como radiación de onda corta. La tierra emite, por su parte, una radiación de onda larga que mide de 3 a 50 micrones.El tejido verde de las hojas utiliza en la fotosíntesis la energía solar cuya longitud de onda tenga de 0.4 a 0.7 micrones;esta energía se denomina en biología 'radiación fotosintética activa' (PAR, del inglés) o, simplemente, radiación solar o luz solar. El total de radiación solar es de 0.50 micrones, aproximadamente, tanto en la zona intertropical (el trópico) como en la zona templada (Monteith, 1972).La unidad de radiación solar que ha resultado más útil para la agricultura es la cal/cm 2 por día, aunque un buen número de físicos y científicos emplean otras unidades. Yoshida (1978) observó que la radiación solar media en 26 sitios de 15 países arroceros variaba, por ejemplo, de 50 cal/cm 2 por día en Milán (Italia) a 700 cal/cm 2 por día o más (en junio-julio) en Lisboa (Portugal) y en Davis (California, EE.UU.). Sin embargo, la mayoría de los sitios mencionados por Yoshida recibe, en promedio, 300 cal/cm 2 por día o un poco más durante el período de maduración del arroz.La radiación solar requerida para el cultivo del arroz varía según los diferentes estados de desarrollo de la planta. Una radiación solar baja afecta muy ligeramente los rendimientos y sus componentes durante la fase vegetativa, mientras que en la fase reproductiva causa una notoria disminución en el número de granos. Por otra parte, durante el período que va del llenado del grano a su maduración, baja drásticamente el rendimiento de la planta cuando se reduce (si se presenta un nivel bajo de radiación solar) el porcentaje de granos llenos.Una relación cuantitativa entre el rendimiento y la radiación solar se puede observar en el Cuadro 3, elaborado por Yoshida y Parao (1976). El cuadro muestra que la radiación solar influye mucho en el rendimiento durante la fase reproductiva de la planta; influye también, aunque menos, en la fase de Figura 4. Efecto de la aplicación de fósforo (P 2 O 5 ) en el porcentaje de esterilidad causado por las temperaturas bajas durante la etapa de reducción de la división de las células reproductivas (Sasaki y Wada, 1975). Partiendo de muchas investigaciones realizadas en diferentes años, se ha concluido que la radiación solar influye en el rendimiento de la planta de arroz, principalmente durante la etapa de maduración del grano, ya que ejerce un notorio efecto en el número de granos llenos de la panícula. Esta conclusión permite afirmar que la traslocación de carbohidratos al grano de arroz ocurre principalmente durante el día, y que alrededor de ¾ del total de los carbohidratos producidos por la planta se elaboran en el día. Bonner y Galston (1952) encontraron que, en general, la traslocación de carbohidratos desde la hoja hacia otros tejidos es inducida por el proceso fotosintético de acumulación específica de azúcar en la lámina foliar. Se puede afirmar entonces que la radiación solar es necesaria no solamente para la asimilación del carbono, sino también para desempeñar un papel importante en la traslocación al grano de los carbohidratos cuya síntesis sigue a la asimilación.En la Figura 6 se observa que el porcentaje de granos llenos aumenta con la intensidad de la luz hasta un valor de ésta de 250 cal/cm 2 por día, y que se incrementa ligeramente cuando esa intensidad es mayor (entre 300 y 450 cal/cm 2 por día). El autor de este trabajo buscó una explicación de dicho resultado y encontró (Figura 7) lo siguiente: hay una relación similar entre la tasa de asimilación del carbono y la intensidad solar, y la intensidad solar superior a 0.6 cal/cm 2 por min no tiene casi influencia en la tasa de asimilación del carbono.De las Figuras 6 y 7 se puede deducir que la relación entre el porcentaje de granos llenos y la intensidad de la luz se puede considerar dependiente de la relación entre la tasa de asimilación de carbono y la intensidad de la luz solar.Cuadro 3. Efecto del descenso de la radiación solar (medida en tres fases del desarrollo de la planta) en el rendimiento y en los componentes del rendimiento de la variedad de arroz IR-747B2-6.   Radiación solar (cal/cm 2 por día) Se puede afirmar finalmente que, cuando la intensidad de la luz es baja, el porcentaje de granos llenos puede aumentar si se incrementa la luz solar; en cambio, si la intensidad de la luz supera cierto nivel establecido como crítico, el porcentaje de granos llenos no aumentará al incrementar la luz solar en la forma en que lo hizo en el caso anterior.La fotosíntesis es el proceso en que la energía solar es atrapada por el tejido verde de las plantas y convertida en energía química, que es almacenada en forma de carbohidratos. De 80% a 90% (en peso) de la materia seca de las plantas verdes proviene de la fotosíntesis; el resto viene, normalmente, del suelo en los minerales absorbidos por las raíces de las plantas.En un cultivo de arroz, la fotosíntesis depende, principalmente, de la incidencia (cantidad y ángulo) de la radiación solar, de su relación con el área foliar (tasa/ unidad de área), del índice de área foliar y de la orientación de las hojas. Si la radiación solar es baja, la tasa de fotosíntesis también será baja (Tsunoda, 1972;Tsunoda et al., 1968).El agua es indispensable para la planta de arroz. El contenido de agua de la planta varía según la estructura considerada (hoja, tallo) y el estado de desarrollo de la planta. La planta absorbe por las raíces la mayor parte del agua que necesita; emplea menos del 15% del agua absorbida y transpira el resto a través de los estomas de las hojas. El adecuado suministro de agua es uno de los factores más importantes de la producción de arroz. Muchas áreas productoras de arroz sufren por exceso de agua o por sequía, ya sea porque las lluvias son irregulares o porque falla el suministro de riego.La principal razón para inundar un cultivo de arroz es que la mayoría de las variedades de arroz crecen mejor y dan mayor rendimiento cuando se cultivan en un suelo inundado. Esta agua cumple tres funciones esenciales:• Modificar las características físicas de la planta.• Cambiar las características físicoquímicas y el estado nutricional y físico de los suelos. En un cultivo de arroz con riego se pierde agua por la transpiración de las plantas, por la evaporación en la superficie del agua y por percolación a través del suelo. Las pérdidas por percolación son las más variables y dependen de condiciones del suelo como la textura, la topografía y el nivel freático.La cantidad de agua requerida por el arroz en diferentes funciones y etapas del sistema con riego se presenta en el Cuadro 4. Las cifras son promedios de un rango de valores reportado por más de 40 países cultivadores de arroz.El arroz se cultiva no sólo con sistemas de riego, sino en zonas bajas con alta precipitación, en láminas de agua profunda y en condiciones de secano (lluvia estacional y suelo bien drenado). En las tierras bajas, las plantas de arroz están expuestas a daños debidos a la sumersión en los sistemas de inundación; en las zonas altas, en cambio, pueden sufrir los efectos de la sequía, que se presenta con frecuencia.Se ha informado también que la precipitación fuerte puede agravar el volcamiento de las plantas, porque las hojas largas y cargadas de humedad son pesadas y, cuando tienden a juntarse, hacen volcar la planta (Kung, 1971).Cuando se cultiva arroz con agua de lluvias y la temperatura está en el rango de los niveles críticos, la precipitación es el factor limitativo del desarrollo. Cuando se cultiva arroz con riego, el crecimiento y el rendimiento de las plantas están determinados, en gran parte, por la temperatura y por la radiación solar.La transpiración es la pérdida de agua en forma de vapor a través de la superficie total de la planta. La planta se marchitará o morirá, a menos que se le suministre agua para sustituir la que pierde por transpiración. Este fenómeno ocurre principalmente a través de los estomas de las hojas y, en pequeña proporción, por la cutícula foliar y la de otros tejidos.La pérdida de agua por transpiración está directamente relacionada con la tasa de crecimiento absoluto (TCA), de manera que la transpiración puede considerarse Cuadro 4. Agua requerida por el arroz cultivado con riego.Por pérdida en plantas (uso fisiológico) y en suelo (agua subterránea) (mm/día) Tomado de Kung (1971).como los gramos de agua transpirada por cada gramo de materia seca producida. Esta relación varía según la humedad del suelo, el clima, la variedad, el estado de desarrollo de la planta y el momento del cultivo. Según Matsushima et al. (1964) y Yoshida (1978), esta relación está entre 250 y 350 g de agua por gramo de materia seca producida.Los suelos en que puede desarrollarse el arroz son tan variados como el rango de climas a que se expone el cultivo. Su textura varía de arenosa a arcillosa; su pH oscila entre extremos de 3.0 y 10.0; su contenido de materia orgánica puede estar entre 1% y 50%; su concentración de sales entre 0 y 1%; y su disponibilidad de nutrientes puede ir desde la deficiencia notoria hasta el exceso. Dos factores determinan, en gran parte, la productividad de la tierra en que se siembra arroz: las condiciones del suelo y el agua disponible.El arroz es la única especie comercial que se cultiva en suelos saturados de agua (en algunos sistemas, las plantas se mantienen sumergidas) durante una parte (o la totalidad) del ciclo de vida de las plantas; por tal razón, las propiedades físicas del suelo tienen menor importancia relativa que el suministro adecuado de agua.La textura del suelo tiene un papel muy importante en el manejo del agua de riego y de la fertilización. Si la textura es fina, el tamaño pequeño de los poros del suelo sólo permite un movimiento lento del agua; en cambio, si la textura del suelo es liviana, el excesivo suministro de agua y de fertilizantes aumenta las pérdidas de ambos recursos por causa del lavado y de la percolación.El arroz soporta bien los suelos cuyo pH esté entre 4.0 y 8.4; sin embargo, se desarrolla mejor cuando la acidez de éstos no baja del pH 5.0 ni sobrepasa el pH 6.5. El arroz tolera bastante bien la salinidad y se obtienen buenas producciones de grano en suelos salinos; estos suelos, a su vez, son lavados por los continuos riegos que se dan a las plantas en el sistema con riego.El viento desempeña un papel importante en la vida de la planta de arroz. Se ha informado que, cuando el viento sopla con poca velocidad, el rendimiento de la planta aumenta gracias a la turbulencia que se crea en medio de la comunidad de plantas. En los años 70, algunos investigadores japoneses hallaron que la tasa de fotosíntesis era mayor cuando aumentaba suavemente la velocidad del viento, ya que la turbulencia incrementaba el suministro de gas carbónico (CO 2 ); este resultado confirmaba el obtenido en los 60 por un investigador australiano de que una velocidad del viento mayor que el rango de 0.3 a 0.9 m/seg causaba un pequeño efecto en la fotosíntesis de la planta.Por otro lado, los vientos fuertes con características de vendaval son perjudiciales para las plantas de arroz, puesto que incrementan el fenómeno del volcamiento. Los vientos muy secos han causado secamiento en las hojas, que es grave para los cultivos de secano. Los vientos secos y calientes han producido laceraciones en las hojas y en los granos y, en muchos casos, han hecho abortar las flores.La evaporación es un fenómeno inverso de la humedad relativa, que se puede definir como el vapor de agua ya contenido en el aire. Se ha demostrado que, manteniendo los demás factores constantes, un aumento de la humedad relativa reduce la intensidad de la evapotranspiración, puesto que el gradiente de presión de vapor de agua entre la atmósfera y una superficie húmeda es alto. La capacidad del aire para retener vapor de agua aumenta rápidamente con la temperatura: por tanto, el aire caliente del trópico contiene más vapor de agua que el aire frío de otras zonas."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2adb7a9c38e34061d5a9cce3c1a9f713","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c6c52be5-c83a-40a1-882b-2598af16f9a9/retrieve","id":"-376202582"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7abf703f-d0e4-40b0-89ea-c6d9bd531caf","content":"Crop production in Kenya is over 90% rainfed, making it highly vulnerable to changing weather patterns and extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods. In the recent past, many parts of Kenya have suffered droughts, while at the same time other parts have endured flooding because of intense rain causing major crop losses leading to food insecurity. There are currently about 1.3 million Kenyans chronically foodinsecure due to drought conditions, primarily in ASALs, which increases to 3.4-3.7 million Kenyans during severe droughts. It is further estimated that 9 out of 10 crops will experience reduced growth rates (10-20%) with dramatic price increases (45-90%) by 2030 in part due to climate change. Beyond crop losses, these extreme events lead to loss of farm income, market instability and impacts on trade. These severe climate change impacts show that Kenya needs to make a paradigm shift in managing agriculture and invest in climate-smart agricultural practices to match the changing environment and increase productivity. Furthermore, compounded climate factors can decrease plant productivity, resulting in price increases for many important agricultural crops.Timely interventions and support to farmers are urgently required to mitigate these events. Given the national economic, food security, nutritional and health importance of crop production, there is an opportunity for national policies on agriculture and climate change to support a more robust and resilient future for Kenya's food production.TRENDS AND PROJECTIONS: Kenya's average annual temperature has increased by 1°C since 1961, though this hides considerable variation: temperatures in western Kenya rose by 0.5°C, while in the drier parts of the country, temperatures went up by 1.5°C during the same period. Extreme climate events have become increasingly frequent in recent years, with direct negative consequences for annual agricultural production. Projections suggest further increases in mean annual temperature of 1.5°C to 2°C by 2030 and up to 3°C by the 2050s. In addition to rising temperatures, rainfall is projected to change in timing of the onset, distribution across the country, amount, and cessation of season, with extremes of too little and too much rain becoming more common. This causes impacts to crop productivity and other affects, such as land and soil degradation. Maize and beans-Kenya's most commonly grown crops-are projected to be most severely impacted by the changing climate, whereas sorghum, millet, cassava and potatoes are projected to be less impacted by climate change. 1. DEVELOP Kenya's long-term vision for climate change and agriculture and contribute to updating the agriculture component of Kenya's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).2. STRENGTHEN the coordination of climate change issues in the agricultural sector.3. STRENGTHEN acquisition and dissemination of climate data and information for enhanced advisories to farmers through extension services and ICTs.4. SUPPORT research, technology development, innovation and application of climate risk management tools and smart management practices, such as Early Warning Systems (EWSs), climate-smart micro-lending, food security risk financing and agricultural insurance along with providing incentives for increased private sector participation.5. IMPROVE a holistic and inclusive soil carbon, soil health and soil fertility alongside nutrient management mechanism/system that ensure realization of the full potential for increased productivity in contributing to food and nutrition security, adaptation and mitigation co-benefits. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5fd4745abaa37943d0337e13eca52140","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1288cb9f-c27b-48ef-8ce8-2486bfc0806a/retrieve","id":"1704610673"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a45d22ac-a9fd-4da1-8a44-02d146140fd9","content":"The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the publishers and partners concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this information product are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the institutions mentioned.Cover photos Chafa Spring, Kenya (Hanspeter LinigerEcosystems and their services -livestock and non-livestock rangeland production, wildlife and tourism -can only be sustained and improved if the resources they provide and the people who depend on them are healthy.Rangelands take pride of place among Sub-Saharan Africa's varied ecosystems. They make up nearly half (48 percent) of the land, or up to 62 percent if woodlands are included, and provide a rich range of resources, including soils, water, vegetation and genetic diversity. These landscapes also have a critical role to play in achieving multiple development gains, including food and nutrition security, water, rural jobs, livelihoods and growth in rapidly transforming economies; climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts; as well as peace, security, stability and natural resource-related conflict prevention.More specifically, Sub-Saharan Africa's rangelands feed over 55 percent of Africa's livestock and provide a major source of income to 268 million pastoralists and agro-pastoralists, including in some of the most vulnerable areas.These Guidelines on Sustainable Rangeland Management in Sub-Saharan Africa come at a critical moment. Rangelands are under growing pressure from land degradation as well as crop and urban land expansion, among other threats. Moreover, the capacity of rangelands to sustainably supply markets will be tested over the coming decade as the global and regional demand for beef and sheep continues to grow. African governments, stakeholders and other partners are fortunately taking note of the importance of rangelands. For example, the African Union has contributed to the renewed promotion of pastoralism under its 2013 Policy Framework for Pastoralism in Africa. Similarly, the World Bank, along with Sahelian countries, regional organizations and the UN, has committed to promote it under the Declaration of Nouakchott on pastoralism in the Sahel in 2013. In addition, considering their spatial dominance, rangelands should continue to receive sustained attention within the land, forest restoration and climate change commitments made by governments. This interest by governments in sustainably managing rangelands has increased demand for technical information and guidance on how this can be done. That's where we think these guidelines, which synthesize recent knowledge and practices about managing rangelands effectively, will be particularly useful.This substantial piece of work was prepared by Swiss-based Centre for Development and Environment and the World Overview on Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) network for the World Bank on behalf of the TerrAfrica partnership on Sustainable Land Management (SLM). The 30 new case studies presented in this research cover the different regions of Sub-Saharan Africa and a diverse range of practices and systems, from small scale settled pasture to bounded rangelands with wildlife management and pastoral rangelands.We expect that these guidelines will also contribute to informing the necessary dialogue between rangeland stakeholders dealing for example with livestock, protected areas, wildlife, agriculture and forests. Since knowledge is constantly being developed, we hope these guidelines will stimulate further work to assess, document and share more rangeland management practices, stimulate knowledge exchanges between Africa's regions, and hence inform the preparation and implementation of impactful interventions in Africa's valuable rangelands.Diverse landscapes in the Sub-Saharan rangelands. Of special attraction to wildlife, livestock and their herders are water sources and seasonal rivers. These also provide grazing grounds, and rich habitats for wildlife as well as opportunities for tourism. Buffalo Springs, Kenya § (Hanspeter Liniger).are trekked or trucked from the Sahel to coastal countries in West Africa (de Haan et al. 2016).Furthermore, rangelands in Sub-Saharan Africa are increasingly being recognised as providing a wide variety of ecosystem services, and while many of these do not have any direct market value, they represent a key role. Rangelands are home to wide variety of ecosystems with extraordinary biodiversity. Their unique wildlife, and especially the 'charismatic megafauna' -rhino, lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra and others -remain a magnet for tourism (Balmford et al. 2015). Benefits for society include the provision of a wide range of products from meat, milk, hides and wool, to non-livestock rangeland products (NLRP) of fibre, fruits, medicinal and cosmetic products, minerals and oil. Importantly, discussion is opening up about the regulating ecosystem processes of rangelands. These include climate regulation and flood control. Furthermore, the sheer size of rangelands makes them significant contributors to global carbon sequestration and storage (Reynolds and Buendia 2017). Rangelands are also important in the context of cultural services, with their strong links to ethnic identity of many pastoral and agro-pastoral groups. All-in-all, these services, which are often of national and global importance, are not sufficiently appreciated and valued by policy makers, by implementing agencies or by the public at large.Since the domestication and introduction of livestock several thousand years ago, the influence of pastoralists and their animals has grown to the point that they now dominate both the ecological processes and the economies of large tracts of Africa's rangelands (du Toit andCumming 1999, Hempson et al. 2017). In those parts of the rangelands occupied by pastoralists, their management has had a significant impact on the vegetation -and this varies from location to location. Profound local knowledge about fauna, flora, water sources and the landscape has informed a wide range of traditional and indigenous rangeland management practices -as explored in these guidelines. However, the mechanisms and patterns of pastoral managementChapter 1 Setting the scene and aim of these guidelinesIn Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the popular perception of rangelands and their management is almost always negative. These vast areas are seen as a problem without a solution: the common narrative focuses on overgrazing, herds of undernourished livestock, erosion and desertification, drought, famine, and conflict. However, evidence compiled and analysed in this book show that such a view of rangelands -as being unproductive and mismanaged systems -does not reflecting reality. It needs reconsideration and revision. Indeed the considerable contribution of rangelands to livelihoods and national economies is being increasingly recognised (Behnke et al. 1993, Davies and Hatfield 2007, Vetter et al. 2013, Kratli 2015). While acknowledging the very specific and widespread challenges of the rangelands, a profound reassessment of their role and potential is emerging. This change in position has been informed by better understanding and appreciation of their social, ecological and economical dynamics, and the management systems that have developed over centuries -and are still evolving. Nevertheless, there remains confusion about many aspects, and the discourse around rangelands is full of contradictory statements and differing conclusions about their importance, role and future.While different definitions of rangelands exist, it is undisputed that their spatial extent is enormous, there is a wide variety of land management practices and uses, and their impacts on the environment, ecosystems and livelihoods are huge. Thus, it is common to find statements that underestimate the economic role of rangelands in Sub-Saharan Africa -and can be simply contradicted by facts. In the broad belt from Mauritania in the west, across through Mali, Niger, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia and on to Somalia in the east -the livestock sector is hugely significant. Meat and milk production typically comprise up to 60% of agricultural GDP and 5-15% of total GDP (de Haan et al. 2016).Often overlooked, the drylands livestock sector is also an important source of foreign exchange. Millions of sheep are shipped every year from the Horn of Africa to the Gulf States, and more than one million head of cattle each yearChapter 1 Setting the scene and aim of these guidelinesDifferent rangelands: from desert fringes with sandstorms, Namibia (left) to grasslands close to forested hills and mountains in Kenya (centre) to the wetlands of river deltas, Okavango, Botswana (right). and their changes over time have been poorly understood, respected or valued by non-pastoral communities since the start of the colonial era. Much of the most productive pasture has been converted into crop farming, cross-border and regional mobility has been constrained, traditional governance systems have been undermined, and there are ever-increasing claims on the land from both non-pastoral communities and external investors.Many associated development policies have undermined the integrity of traditional and innovative local rangeland management systems. Such systems have evolved together with the changing environment and climatic patterns over thousands of years. Cultural institutions and traditional governance structures that had managed natural resources have been eroded in many locations.Unsurprisingly, there have been widespread disruptions to rangeland management. These have been further fuelled by other factors, including the continued growth in human population increasing demand for agricultural products, security threats created by livestock rustling, trafficking of arms and open domestic and international conflicts, and more recently the growing reality of climate change and associated extreme events.Rangelands in SSA have regularly been reported as being some of the most degraded ecosystems in Africa: \"mismanagement\" is often cited as the underlying reason. Specialists and development reporters are quick to diagnose degradation in the rangelands -but equally slow to suggest sound and sustainable remedies to guide policy makers. Meanwhile it usually goes unnoticed that a share of rangeland areas and the livestock they support are sustainably managed. This may be based on traditional community practices, or through the introduction of innovative methods, or, increasingly, a combination of the two. As this book shows, there are many and varied experiences in sustainable rangeland management (SRM) in SSA. These embrace a wide range of different land/ resource management practices in different ecosystems. Without doubt, there is a knowledge base that is continuously evolving -yet is hardly known to the wider development community. On the other hand, there is also considerable technical expertise, information, and knowledge about current rangeland issues in SSA, which is fragmented and largely hidden.Exchange of experience and knowledge between African countries and institutions remains weak and localised, with minimal opportunities for \"cross-fertilization\". Furthermore, there is no comprehensive, contemporary compilation of rangeland management knowledge and practices in SSA. Their evolution and recent adaptations to a changing human and natural environment remain mainly unknown.The growing knowledge about rangeland management has not been synthesized or disseminated.The overall goal of the guidelines is to contribute to improved rangeland management by illustrating a wide range of innovative rangeland management practices, grouping them, clarifying their characteristics and requirements, and by illustrating their impacts on ecosystem services and human wellbeing. The ultimate aim is to demonstrate -through this unique set of convincing case studies -the value and potential of investment in rangelands. It is also hoped that this exercise will stimulate, and assist, the identification of further cases. The guidelines attempt to provide: 1. A practical guideline for the formulation of rangeland policies and investments programmes in rangelands 2. A common knowledge base for improved decision-making 3. A starting point for 'how-to-do' that can be complemented and expanded in future 4. The basis for knowledge sharing workshops and programmes with various African stakeholders, and training beyond the mere dissemination of these guidelines 5. An attractive, illustrative, straightforward and readerfriendly book to help inform the future development of SRM.This book is meant, in particular, for those involved in programmes and projects, specialists, and rangeland users to use the wealth of their experiences for improved decisionmaking, in order to upscale and outscale SRM. The target group thus comprises:• Professionals who design and implement rangeland projects • Technical support/ extension services, project implementers/ advisors and other actors working at field level • National/local leaders and decision/ policy makers involved in rangeland policies • Research organisations focussing on rangelands and their management • Development partners at international and regional levels • Knowledge and information services in or related to SSA-Saharan countries • Livestock owners/ keepers, conservationists and other rangeland users • The broader public -to raise awareness about, and engagement in, SRM.left: Typical savannah rangelands with grassland and a wetland in the background offering rich habitat diversity and refuge for wildlife such as buffaloes and egret herons, Chafa wetlands, Kenya (Hanspeter Liniger).centre: Chafa spring in a protected area in Kenya fenced against intrusion of animals at the head of the spring, 2016. Wildlife and livestock have access to the water below the spring head (Hanspeter Liniger).right: The same Chafa spring during a prolonged drought period in 2018. The fence has been removed and livestock have been watered in the fragile spring source zone. This illustrates the challenge of sustainable rangeland management with increasing pressure by users and within high natural and climate variability (Hanspeter Liniger).Chapter 1 Setting the scene and aim of these guidelines Given the vast variety of different environments and rangeland management practices and the large rangeland area in SSA, this book presents a selection of case studies. It cannot be comprehensive: it is impossible to do full justice to what is currently underway. Despite efforts to compile a full representation of SRM practices, there remain gaps in terms of regions and practices. The guidelines offer neither \"one-size-fits all\" solutions nor comprehensive \"how-to-do\" instructions. However, it is hoped that the book will stimulate the further compilation and identification of options and potentials for spreading SRM in SSA. The more knowledge and data is collected that covers different/ all regions and a wide range of SRM practices, the better the evidence base for decision-making.Thus, this book aims to identify \"good practice\", taking lessons from both the ancient and the modern, and steer a new course that will encourage managers across the continent to restore and improve sustainable management of the rangeland. The guidelines present a compilation of a wide range of sustainable rangeland management practices from Sub-Saharan Africa, for different rangeland use systems (RUS) and different SRM groups. These include indigenous and traditional practices, innovations, trials, and emerging trends implemented by the land users themselves, and/or various agencies and research institutions.At the outset, concepts of rangeland management are discussed, a working definition proposed and an operational classification system set out. Challenges faced in rangeland management, with potential solutions and their impact on natural resources, as well as ecosystem services, are discussed and synthesized. Supported by the literature, this is based on an analysis of the SRM practices from SSA documented in the global sustainable land management (SLM) database of WOCAT (World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies). Forty-two (42) approaches and 69 technologies from the WOCAT SLM global database have been included in the data analysis. The cases are distributed over a number of countries (Figure 1.1). Of these, 28 approaches and 28 technologies are newly documented.Part 1 is composed of five chapters, which contribute as follows:• Chapter 1: An introduction to the rangelands and to these guidelines. • Chapter 2: Defining the rangelands begins with, in 2.1, key characteristics such as vegetation cover, the climate with a focus on droughts, the inhabitants, livelihoods, land tenure, user rights, conflict, protected areas, fire and land degradation. In 2.2 there is an overview of the importance of the rangelands underpinned by data. 2.3 then goes on to look at 'changing concepts' of rangelands and development issues over the last century. divided into 6 categories, and in 3.2 Sustainable Rangeland Management (SRM) groups are categorised into 9 types. Each is explained. • Chapter 4: Drivers, land management responses, impacts and change are covered in five sections. In 4.1 the key drivers are identified, and then in 4.2 SRM practices are presented and analysed. 4.3 looks at the impact of SRM on the 'health' of the land, and 4.4 focuses specifically on SRM and its effect on ecosystem services and people. 4.5 then analyses feedback mechanisms on the drivers. • Chapter 5: The way forward is summarised -tying together what has been discussed in 6 sub-sections covering the need for a greater focus on rangelands (in 5.1), principles of SRM technologies (5.2), principles of SRM approaches (5.3), capacity requirements (5.4), the future of rangelands (5.5) and finally how to overcome barriers to SRM (5.6). Through this chapter, there are \"Focus boxes\", which encapsulate the key guidelines themselves.Part 2 of the guidelines provides case studies classified in five SRM technology groups and four approach groups. For each group, examples of \"good practice\" case studies have been selected and are presented in a standardized and consistent format -as pioneered by WOCAT.Additional practices included in the analysis but not presented in Part 2 are listed in the Annex and are available in the WOCAT database 1 .The process: From the very beginning of the exercise, it was evident that rangeland management was very complex and extremely challenging and developing rangeland management guidelines would require considerable support and commitment from local and regional rangeland specialists and practitioners. The strategy adopted was to compile case studies and examples from the field that were as comprehensive and diverse as possible. Then through analysing and synthesising the results, to try to come up with guiding principles and best practices for rangeland management.Finding the right partners with the knowledge and experience to identify and document the wide variety of current successful and innovative good rangeland management practices was a challenge. It was felt important from the start that there should be co-ownership by African institutions as a prerequisite to a widely accepted and supported process and product.Two workshops with local and regional rangeland specialists from different organisations and institutions were held: in Nairobi, Kenya during August 2016, and then Pretoria, South Africa in February 2018. During the first workshop, ten experts from West, East and Southern Africa brainstormed on how to structure the book, how to involve key partners, how to compile the available knowledge related to rangeland management and which specific practices to document in details. Nine experts came together in the second workshop to review the draft, discuss results from the data analysed and identify gaps in the documentation of interventions where attention was still required.Throughout the whole process of working on the book, documentation of good rangeland management practices was ongoing, and there was a continuous feedback loop to ensure that the cases were complete and the data robust.Challenges were faced in compiling a full set of representative, good quality case studies. Rangelands, by their nature are often remote, and contact with people working there was difficult. Another problem is that experiences and knowledge are scattered. Furthermore, in contrast to cropland, the complexity of rangelands and the associated management systems is much higher. This made the compilation of the case studies all the more complicated.The involvement of a number of key experts from different organisations during and outside the workshops has been a big asset -and needless to say without them this book would not have been possible. However, specialists come with their own experience, institutional background, language, agenda, visions and beliefs: this meant that there needed to be a very careful and complex process of sorting out and editing. The aim was to represent various opinions while seeking common denominators in experiences.It has not been an easy exercise, but having in mind the complexity of rangelands and the vast diversity of users and organizations involved, hopefully this publication leads to a better appreciation and understanding of rangeland management, does justice to rangelands and the people that manage them, and supports current and triggers new initiatives for sustainable rangeland management worldwide and specifically in Sub-Saharan Africa. centre: Typical savannah -grasslands dominated by spread-out acacia trees and grasslands at the foot of Kilimanjaro (Hanspeter Liniger).right: Herd of cattle moving within a river bed, Kenya (Ibrahim Jarso).Chapter 2 Sub-Saharan Africa rangelands defined1 Area of Africa south of the Sahara and the 20 degrees north latitude lineHorn and East Africa, the closed forests of Central Africa and the wet mountain areas in East and Southern Africa.Towards the croplands and forests the boundaries are not sharp, and there is some overlap. The transition zones in the three regions of SSA is illustrated in the inserts of Figure 2.1. Mainly driven by rainfall availability and seasonality, there is a gradual transition from sparse grassland at the dry end of the scale, through grassland, open shrubland, savannah, woodland, and on to dense woodland at the wetter end of the climate spectrum.Low temperatures limiting the growth of vegetation in SSA's rangelands occur in Southern Africa during the winter, with average temperatures of 5-10 degrees. Other areas affected by cold are the mountain regions of the Horn and East Africa, where there are merely patches of rangelands amongst the croplands and forests. Apart from these areas, there are no low temperature restrictions to continuous growth of vegetation. However, high temperatures where averages reach 30 degrees or more put stress on the vegetation -when moisture availability becomes the limiting factor under the dry conditions of many rangelands. This is the case for most of the year for the West African Sahel and the lowlands of the Horn and East Africa (Figure 2.2a).Looking at seasonal rainfall (Figure 2.2b) this clearly depicts the movement of the inner tropical convergence zone, with its associated rainy seasons starting in the first quarter of the year in the south (southern summer) and reaching the north in the third quarter of the year after the peak of the northern summer. In the second and last quarters of the year, the main rains fall in the inner tropics within the equatorial zone. This implies that this zone has a bimodal rainfall regime (two rainy seasons each year), whereas the northern and southern areas in the subtropical zones around the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn only have one rainy season (a unimodal regime) with a single prolonged dry season.Whether a region has one or two rainy seasons has significant implications on forage reserves and the movement of animals -as the unimodal regime dry season is aroundChapter 2 Sub-Saharan Africa rangelands definedThere exist numerous definitions of rangelands. For these guidelines the definitions of Blench and Sommer 1999, Allen et al. 2011, McGahey et al. 2014 are merged.\"Rangelands are spatially defined ecosystems that are dominated by grasses, grass-like plants, combined with various degrees of bush and tree cover that are predominantly grazed or browsed, and which are used as a natural and semi-natural ecosystem for the production of livestock and safeguarding of wildlife and additional ecosystem services.\"Rangelands in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) 1 cover areas with a broad span of characteristics: vegetation and cover (grasses alone, or combined with bushes and trees), topography (mostly gentle slopes, but some hills and mountains or escarpments especially in East Africa), water (high variability of access to surface water, with a mixture of seasonal and some perennial sources, and often access to groundwater) and use (grazing and browsing by wildlife and/ or livestock).The type and use of rangeland is, in turn, determined by the climate (rainfall and temperature), climate variability and change, fire whether natural or human-induced, but also topography and altitude.The maps of rangeland derived from vegetation and land use data, resemble a banana-shape around the forests of Central Africa -the \"SSA rangeland crescent\". They stretch from the Sahelian zone of West Africa to Sudan and the lowlands in the Horn and East Africa, to Southern Africa. Rangeland limits are determined by aridity of the deserts in the north towards the Sahara, and in the south to the southwestern deserts of the Namib and Kalahari. Rangelands are also limited by the wetter spectrum of the climate, towards conditions more favourable for cropping -for example in the southern regions of the Sahel, the highlands of the seven to nine months while the bimodal regime has two dry periods of around two to three months each. Where there is only one rainfall season, a failure can be catastrophic, while with two seasons a single failure can be partially compensated by the second rains -as in the equatorial zone (Figure 2.2b). Additionally, in the equatorial and northern hemisphere, there is rainfall gradient from the west with higher amounts, to the east with lower rainfall; in the southern hemisphere it is the opposite. This can be attributed to global atmospheric circulations and warm, or cold, sea currents. Rainfall, its variability, reliability and seasonality is the main driver of production in the rangelands of SSA.With the movement of the rains the vegetation growth and the available biomass changes, as indicated by the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) \"greenness\" value (Figure 2.2c). This index picks up the movement of the greenness and availability of fresh fodder. It clearly indicates if animals (whether wildlife or livestock) will need to follow the available fodder through migration, or whether they will have enough biomass production during the rains to tide them over the dry season.The high variability and unpredictability of rainfall, in both space and time, characterises rangelands, and gives rise to heterogeneous forage resources. This heterogeneity is a defining feature of rangeland ecology. Both wildlife and livestock require mobility at a scale which allows them to adapt to, and capitalise upon, this inherent variability (see Chapter 3.1.1). Climatic variability also leads to challenges of water scarcity, both seasonally and spatially, which affects rangeland ecology and limits both land use and management options. While rainfall is the primary factor governing plant growth and productivity, water availability also depends on the landform. While mountains in Africa are often termed \"water towers\" (Liniger and Thomas 1998, Liniger and Weingartner 2000, Notter et al. 2007), the rangelands can equally claim to be important \"water reservoirs\". Vast rangelands situated in dry lowlands are often connected with wetter and resource-richer mountains. Perennial and seasonal rivers and \"wetlands in drylands\" are strongly depend on water and land use in the mountain areas. Depressions in the landscape create wetlands, swamps and floodplains, all acting as reservoirs and this concentration of water is a vital resource because it provides a source of drinking water (in places) and creates pockets -microclimates -of high productivity within the overall rangelands. There are many wetlands and lakes situated in the rangelands of SSA -receiving flows directly from the drylands and the mountain areas and providing services for rangeland users: Lake Victoria is one, Lake Chad and Lake Tabalak (in Niger) are other large and significant lakes with associated wetland. Rivers bring water from mountains to drylands provide special habitats and valuable resource along their riparian zones and end up in swamps, wetlands, lakes and deltas. Examples are the expanses of the Okavango swamp in Botswana (Murray et al. 2006, see Box 4.23), the Gash Delta in Sudan, the extensive and biodiverse Masura swamp adjacent to the Serengeti in Tanzania, the Niger in West Africa, and the Ewaso Ng'iro in with the Lorian Swamps in Northern Kenya. All have a massive impact on rangelands.In the West African Sahel, sub-surface water stored beneath the drylands, dependent on rainfall infiltration, constitutes a lifeline to inhabitants who tap into it through wells.A drought is a continuous period of dry weather, when an area receives below-average rainfall, over weeks, months or even years, resulting in prolonged shortages of water supply.As rainfall is such a strong driver of conditions in the rangelands, drought periods closely affect water availability for the vegetation, animals and people. Impacts range from mild to severe. Droughts are characteristic of climate variability in the rangelands. The regular -but inherently unpredictable -reoccurrence of droughts is stressful to vegetation and thus forage availability for livestock and wildlife. Forty-three percent of globally recorded droughts between 1975 and 2014 occured in Africa -the continent most affected (Figure 2.3).Changes in the frequency of droughts show that rangeland regions most affected are found in West Africa (Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Nigeria) and in Angola and Zambia. The Horn of Africa and western parts of Southern Africa have decreasing drought frequencies (Figure 2.4).At the global level, a hotter and (often) drier climate coupled with more uncertain precipitation for most of Sub-Saharan Africa is projected (IPCC 2014). At the regional and local level, impacts will manifest themselves mainly through the increase in frequency and severity of dry weather conditions, and through altered patterns of precipitation. Interannual and intra-annual variability (year-to-year, and within years and seasons), especially in terms of precipitation, are expected to increase. The main challenge of climate change for livestock and wildlife is that hotter conditions will mean longer and more severe dry seasons, and increasingly patchy and unpredictable rainfall will make it more difficult to access fresh high-quality grazing. This is being exacerbated by growing fragmentation of rangelands and associated reduced mobility, resulting in an inability to reach critical seasonal habitats such as areas of drought-reserve forage in high rainfall regions or wetlands (Homewood 2009, Fynn et al. 2015). The Mediterranean areas of both North Africa and Southern Africa are likely to receive less rain, whereas, contrastingly, precipitation could increase in East Africa (Hoffman and Vogel 2008). The continued warming of Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to result in temperatures 2-4 degrees higher by the end of the century (IPCC 2013, Serdeczny et al. 2017). Such increases will most likely be greater in Northern and Southern Africa than in the moister areas of West, Central and East Africa (Hoffman and Vogel 2008). This will have impacts on the production potential of rangelands, and at a broader level on various rangelandbased ecosystem services. A recent analysis of the Mount Kenya area and its surrounding drylands, using the densest and longest possible data records from early colonial times Drought frequency change of Africa relative to other areas, due to their remoteness but also to a long history of marginalisation of rangeland users (Holechek et al. 2017).Additionally, many inhabitants rely on animal products (meat, milk, blood, hides and skins) to buy their daily diet, which is generally based on cereals, most often purchased from agricultural neighbours or on the open market. Even though they produce a variety of different items for their livelihoods, they still depend heavily on the rains, and thus are very vulnerable to unpredictable stressors, especially droughts and land degradation. Poverty diminishes the adaptability of rangeland users, reducing the resilience of communities to shocks. Compounding these problems is the fact that these stressors do not work in isolation. When coupled with poor management practices, development priorities and policies (especially those that undermine traditional rangeland management strategies), risks and vulnerabilities will continue to increase.The need to increase productivity is indeed high on the agenda of the African Union and is documented in the poverty reduction strategies of many states, for example Les Nigériens nourrissent 2 , the Food and Nutrition Policy for Tanzania 3 , Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper of Mozambique 4 .Many rangeland inhabitants are involved in complex livelihood systems that include a variety of non-livestock rangeland products (NLRP). There are many non-livestock rangeland products already commercially viable-tapping biodiversity.Medicinal products are to be found in the driest of regions (e.g. the endemic \"devils claw\", Harpagophytum procumbens, as a treatment for arthritis), some foods and beverages are also endemic (e.g. Rooibos, Aspalathus linearis, infused as a tea and has growing popularity worldwide) and the widely used, commercially valuable gum arabic (from Acacia senegal) is found across most of the rangelands (some starting in the 1920s), revealed the \"long rains\" (April-June) to be decreasing in amount while the \"short rains\" (October-December) were increasing (Schmocker et al. 2015, Box 2.1). The total annual rainfall showed a slightly increasing trend. Rainfall intensities, as well as the length of dry spells, also showed an upturn, indicating more erosive and more erratic rains. However, there were marked differences within the region, depending on their position in relation to the mountains.The aridity index is defined as the ratio of precipitation over potential evapotranspiration (the amount of water needed to maintain constant green vegetation cover). For the immediate future, 2011-2040 aridity as an indicator of expected climate change shows that most of the SSA region will get drier, especially in Southern Africa. The rangelands in East Africa are expected to get wetter, as is the northern fringe of the Sahel. Only in those regions where the aridity index is increasing -meaning areas are expected to become less arid -will the impact of climate change trigger better vegetation growth; in all the other areas the water stress on the vegetation will increase (Figure 2.5).Rangelands in SSA are inhabited by 384 million people (Figure 2.6), at an average density of 27 people per square kilometre (in 2015). Population density within of the rangeland crescent is the highest in the wetter parts (towards the cropland regions, as clearly illustrated in Burkina Faso and northern parts of Nigeria, as well as the highland of Ethiopia and Kenya, and in Zimbabwe (Figure 2.6a). The average population density in the savannah and open shrublands is around 30 person per square kilometre. In the drier parts of the rangelands only 10 persons per square kilometre were recorded. A closer look reveals the population being concentrated close to urban centres, towns and cities.The change over the 40 years from 1975 to 2015 shows an increase in the population, and most growth in the wetter regions of the rangeland and also close to agricultural and urban areas and rural centres (Figure 2.6b). As far as analysis of the data allows (given their limited accuracy and availability) the population has been growing, in general, all over the rangelands, with some decreases in specific locations. Over the last 50 years SSA's population has more than tripled (Tabutin and Schoumaker 2004).In SSA, many rangeland areas unsurprisingly, lag behind in terms of development and provision of basic services A recent study by Schmocker et al. (2015) carried out an analysis of mean and extreme rainfall in Mount Kenya region in Kenya using a unique dataset, combining both the measurements from private raingauges and several governmental agencies such as the former District Ministry, the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), and the Kenyan Meteorological Department (KMD). The study used four climate change indices from ETCCDI. The adopted indices are: total precipitation (PRCTOT), the number of heavy rain days (R10 mm); where rainfall ≥10 mm in a day; maximum of consecutive 5-day precipitation (Rx5day) and the maximum number of consecutive dry days (CDD); days recording <1 mm. The findings of the study showed that R10 mm and intensity of extreme events are increasing, especially in the October-December (OND) rain season. It was also noted that CDD was on the increase (Ongoma et al. 2018).Change of aridity 2011-2040Figure 2.5: Change of aridity index in Africa (2011Africa ( -2040)). Data source: WAD 2018.in SSA; shea butter from the tree Vitellaria paradoxa is a another example of an NLRP with international, commercial prominence. Aloes -native to semi-arid areas all over Africa -provide the basis for cosmetics.Because of the underlying climatic variability, rainfed crop production is problematic within the rangelands. Rangeland users, despite some having relatively diversified income earning strategies, are basically reliant on livestock and wildlife for their livelihoods. There is a very long history of livestock keeping within the African rangelands, primarily through pastoralism, which has been practiced across the continent for thousands of years. Livestock in SSA rangelands include mainly cattle (with its many breeds), sheep, goats, and a smaller number of camels and donkeys: numbers and distribution vary considerably and accurate data are difficult to attain.Using the most recent and reliable source, maps of densities for cattle, sheep and goats have been produced (Figure 2.7) -bearing in mind that accuracy differs for the various regions and countries. Nevertheless, the available information for the different zones in the rangelands of SSA has been analysed. The total livestock number in SSA can be approximated to 138 million cattle, 123 million head of sheep and 144 million head of goats (Wint and Robinson 2007).Looking at the distribution of cattle, sheep and goats and their density in SSA, this shows that the highest numbers are reported in the rangeland crescent that curves around Central Africa, with the largest concentration in the middle; neither at the driest nor at the wettest fringes (Figure 2.7). This confirms the central role of rangelands for production of livestock in SSA. Densities of the three main species of livestock in the rangelands vary greatly, but in many locations cattle numbers are similar to, or greater than, goats or sheep. There are some regional differences that need to be Population count 2015 Population dynamics 1975-2015 highlighted, however these are often difficult to explain.In the western part of the Sahel, sheep extend the furthest north to the sparse grasslands along dry river valleys, especially in Mali, Mauritania and Niger. Cattle densities are highest in Burkina Faso in woodlands and savannah, and in the contact zone with crop land. It is remarkable to note the sharp difference between Chad with very low livestock densities especially sheep and goats, and Sudan and South Sudan with medium to high densities. Due to conflicts and theft many herds from Chad are moved more south crossing the border. Southern Somalia has mainly cattle, while the northern part around the Horn and the lowlands, southwest of Ethiopia, have high sheep densities, and patchy goat distribution. Combining all three livestock species, the dry lowlands of Kenya have the highest density compared to neighbouring countries. The boundary with Tanzania is distinct in terms of sheep and goats densities, less so for cattle. In Southern Africa, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia generally have low livestock densities. Cattle densities in Southern Africa are high in Zimbabwe and the eastern regions of South Africa, including Swaziland and Lesotho, and south western areas of Angola. Sheep are mostly found in the southern and eastern parts of South Africa and Lesotho. Goats are concentrated along the south eastern part of Southern Africa with the highest densities in Lesotho and Swaziland. In some areas, camels and donkeys are also important -though their number is small and the distribution is very variable over SSA.Camels deserve special attention, as they are specifically adapted to dryland conditions being browsers, feeding mainly on bushes and trees. Thus they do not add to pressure to the grasslands -and can complement herds of grazing According to FAO and IRLI, the SSA rangelands can be subdivided into different ruminant livestock production systems (Robinson et al. 2011). Figure 2.8 shows that rangelands in SSA mainly consist of two main production groups -one where ruminant livestock (cattle, sheep and goats) play the dominant role, and one where livestock and cropping play closely interactive roles. These two larger groups are mainly:• The 'livestock only' group, in areas ranging from hyper arid to arid, humid and temperate-tropical highland areas.• The 'mixed-rainfed' group, also located in hyper arid, arid, humid and in temperate-tropical highland areas.Mixed rainfed production systems are characterised by a combination of rainfed agriculture and livestock in an integrated and complementary way: livestock benefit through feeding on crop residues (straw, harvested by-products and weeds) and in turn produce dung and urine (used as fertilizer for crops) and provide draught power (to pull ploughs and carts). These systems are only possible in areas with climatic conditions that make crop farming feasible.In 'livestock only' production systems, there is not enough production from cropping to make any significant contribution to the diet of the ruminant livestock -apart from small seasonal supplements. Thus the livestock -cattle, sheep and/or goats -need to be mobile to access forage and secure sufficient dry matter intake. The less reliable the forage supply, the more mobile the herds need to be.Over the course of the year, in livestock-only systems, the animals move away from areas of settled cropping in the wet season, but back towards these zones when it becomes drier. Thus they reciprocate between the rangelands and the mixed zones (see arrows in Figure 2.8). During dry cycles, livestock move into the wetter areas close to the mixed rainfed production systems. Then, during wet periods, livestock move out of these zones into the drier rangelands where vegetation has recovered. These north-south seasonal migrations are characteristic of the 'livestock only' systems in West Africa. Mobility of livestock is the key tool to enable this dynamic to function. A similar dynamic is at work in the SSA highlands: in the Horn and East Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda) and Southern Africa (Lesotho and Swaziland).herbivores to better utilise the available vegetation. Furthermore, analysis of the rangelands shows that they have a substantial tree and bush cover, which in most areas is stable or increasing (see Figure 2.1). Thus this is a large fodder resource for browsing livestock and wildlife.The Horn of Africa has the largest concentration of camel herds in the world, with Somalia estimated to have the highest population globally. Large camel populations are found in the eastern lowlands of Ethiopia, northern, western, and north-eastern Kenya, and in most parts of Somalia. According to FAO, Somalia had seven million camels in 2008, while Ethiopia and Kenya had about 2.4 and 0.95 million camels in 2009, respectively (Catley et al. 2013).While some management systems largely depend on a single type of livestock, in most areas land users combine several species. This mimics the natural ecological coexistence of multiple types of herbivores, enabling them to exploit different niches and to use resources efficiently. Furthermore, some livestock keepers split their herds, keeping some animals close to the homesteads (often those producing milk, and younger livestock) while others exploit pastures far away. It is also common practice to lend animals to other herders, to reduce risks.While casual observers may perceive goats as being the root cause of degradation because they are a threat for the rejuvenation of shrubs and trees, the real threat for the grass cover are actually sheep. Unlike cows, they can graze pastures area-wide down to the soil surface, a major threat for the regeneration of the grass cover (see Figure 2.12).Although rangelands consist primarily of indigenous vegetation, landscapes may be natural (edaphic) or man-made (anthropic). They are untilled -apart from pockets of cropping practised by agropastoralists -and influenced most by the actions of herbivores; wild and domesticated. The varying degrees of human interference mainly through livestock management, fencing-off wildlife and deliberate use of fire, has transformed large rangeland areas away from their natural state into semi-natural environments, or into environments characterised by high levels of human interference which has modified the composition and densities of trees, grasses and herbivores. Southern Africa: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.In much of SSA, grazing lands and use of rangeland resources, water resources and forage resources have historically been governed under traditional common property regimes. These have been guided by indigenous institutions -through traditional groups of elders -which set rules and regulations in respect to use of resources and control of livestock. While it is popularly thought that most rangelands have slipped into an open access, free-for-all 'tragedy of the commons' situation, many continue to be governed to one extent or another by local institutions. Traditional management systems enabled rangeland users to pool and reduce the temporal and spatial risks associated with the climatic variability of the rangeland, in particular spatially and temporally heterogeneous and variable forage production (Bationo et al. 2015). Because of the long history of pastoralism and rangeland management in SSA, land and water use rights in rangelands are complex and are often a result of traditional practices. However, traditional land management practices on rangelands in many SSA countries are increasingly running up against modern law, especially as a result of the increasing demand for alternative use of the rangelands. The challenges which traditional land tenure systems in many SSA countries face require not only better understanding about, but also adaptation of, traditional systems.In terms of the future of rangelands, the mixed rainfed systems and their fringes play a key role. They provide the basis for intensification of livestock production -in combination with cropping -which, if better developed and expanded can reduce the pressure on the core rangelands. However, this intensification may also reduce areas available for pastoralists and my reduce mobility.Extensive grazing land in Africa is concentrated in the semiarid environments for several reasons: (i) crop production in these regions is limited by rainfall, thus reducing to some degree competing demands for land, (ii) forage production in the arid and semi-arid regions, although less in terms of biomass, is generally much better in terms of nutritional value compared to forage from the mesic savannahs and humid zones, and (iii) most ruminants suffer increasing disease incidence in more humid regions, reducing their utility for meat and milk production (Milne and Williams 2015).It has been argued that land-grabbing displaces local communities and small farmers to replace them with large-scale agriculture and that this will ultimately increase, instead of diminishing, food insecurity in the \"global south\", while further deteriorating the environment and causing both livelihood impoverishment and biodiversity loss.The Sub-Saharan rangelands seem to be loaded with fuel for hidden and open conflicts. Such conflicts have been concentrated in the rangeland crescent, particularly in the regions across West and East Africa: currently mainly in Mali, Nigeria and South Sudan. The highest intensity involves \"remote violence\" (e.g. bombings and explosions) and open battles (Figure 2.10).In recent years, the formalisation of property rights has allowed for small-scale and large-scale land acquisition often nicknamed \"land grabbing\" (Figure 2.9, Box 2.2). Africa remains by far the most targeted continent accounting for 42% of all global agricultural deals (422 concluded) and 37% of the area (almost 10 million hectares) (Nolte et al. 2016).The map shows a concentration of land acquisitions in West and East Africa. It highlights the patterns of concentration of land deals within countries. This gives an indication of the factors that may influence the choice of location for a land deal. For example, the area along the River Nile is visible, indicating that in a dry area, agricultural land deals are concentrated where water is available. This effect can also be observed in northern Senegal, where a large number of land deals have been completed along the Senegal River, and in Mali along the River Niger. The countries targeted are those with a high Global Hunger Index, those where the agricultural sector is a particularly important part of the economy, and those where tenure security is weak. The land targeted by such deals in Africa were formerly used as smallholder agriculture (36%), forestry (29%), commercial large-scale agriculture (23%), conservation (7%) and pastoralism (5%) (Nolte et al. 2016).Large-scale acquisition of land for agricultural and forest products by foreign investors has increased since the 2007-2008 world food price crisis, which prompted a renewed interest in foreign lands as a means to achieve food security, and as a financial investment. The governments, agribusinesses and investors that have bought or leased these lands are using them for the cultivation of food crops that are then exported, and for the production of cash crops and biofuels 6 .Land deals Africa Loliondo is very close to the world-renowned Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. The struggle over land access has simmered for almost 20 year because of the government's leasing of land to a foreign hunting company. That company claims exclusive access rights to the allocated area. In 2009, the Government of Tanzania evicted several hundred Maasai households from the area. A study by the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), a Danish NGO working with local communities, estimated that 185 homes were burned in an act of forced eviction, leaving thousands homeless and their livestock scattered.The Government argued that it held the ultimate authority, and that the rights to the land, claimed by the Maasai, were nowhere documented. Furthermore, it was asserted, the sheer numbers of animals kept by Maasai constituted an environmental threat. International media coverage was intense at the time and the heat of the arguments has simmered on -with no sustainable solutions found to-date.The latest developments are that on 21th September this year -2018 -residents from four villages in Loliondo have filed a case with the East African Court of Justice in an attempt to stop further evictions. At the heart of the matter are questions about the Government's rights to attract investors and allocate land -and the concern of the Government about the future of pastoral livestock production.https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/oct/16/landmeans-life-tanzania-maasai-fear-existence-under-threat Loliondo Division of Ngorongoro District, Arusha Region (https://www. iwgia.org/en/tanzania/2502-tanzania-forced-evictions-of-maasai-peoplein-loliondo)While rangelands may be dominated by livestock, they also include areas exclusively inhabited by wildlife, or areas that contain a mix of wildlife and livestock. Rangelands represent some of the most important areas of biodiversity globally. In East and Southern Africa especially there exist large areas inhabited by very high concentrations of wildlife including the large herbivores -elephant, rhino, buffalo, giraffe and zebra, and carnivores -lion, leopard and cheetah, sometimes termed 'charismatic megafauna'. Figure 2.11 shows the highest species richness in the rangeland crescent with a concentration in East and Southern Africa.But it is not only the megafauna, it is also the unique landscapes, the vast savannahs stretching to distant mountains, the rivers and patches of wetlands, that fascinates and touches those who have the opportunity to visit and experience these ecosystems. These areas are of vital importance in terms of biodiversity, but simultaneously in terms of economic value for their countries. This has led to largeThe World Development Report 2011: Conflict, Security, and Development (WB 2011) gives an insight into the theory of conflict drivers, which illustrates security, economic, and political stresses, and is particularly relevant to the Sahel. Table 2.2 summarizes the main types of conflicts, their key defining factors, causes/ drivers, and consequences.There are a number of conflicts related to rangelands which include those fuelled by ethnic mistrust, dwindling natural resources, poor land management, population growth, insecurity and banditry. Any kind of conflict, irrespective of the reasons, poses multiple threats and constraints to rangeland management and food security -while further limiting the pursuit for progress and development. Conflicts can have different origin and reasons:• Geo-political interests can contribute to conflicts over borders, access to resources like water and grazing lands, to strategic places such as the sea (e.g. in East Africa conflict between Sudan and South Sudan over land access in Abyei administrative area; FAO 2018).• Insecurity: National governments' neglect of marginalized areas, in which rangelands are generally found, has sometimes resulted in the absence of a security framework and basic services, creating a power vacuum that has in some cases been filled by armed groups. An increasing recent proliferation of arms in pastoral communities 7 has escalated cattle rustling -which previously served specific purposes of restocking or cultural rituals amongst the Turkana and Karamoja 8 -into open conflict.• Environment and natural resource scarcity due to desertification and droughts is creating land and water shortages that continues to exacerbate conflicts 9 . In the Sahel, recent reports show that as droughts become more frequent, pastoralists are not staying within traditional transhumance routes, thus leading to conflicts with settled farmers. Symbiotic relationships that existed between pastoralists and farmers, such as exchanging manure for crop residues, has weakened and has also been a cause of conflict in the Sahel as farmers start keeping livestock and some pastoralists embark on crop farming.• Conflicts related to land rights, privatization of land and population increases can also contribute to conflict.Conflict can interfere with traditional mobility routes leading to land degradation during the dry season. In the Horn of Africa, armed groups such as Al-Shabaab, restricted movements of people and livestock during the 2009-2010 droughts leading to degradation of resources, loss of lives and property 10 . Can upscale to broader conflicts.Criminal activities.Level of risk and attractiveness of payments, social status.Poverty and inferior perspective of other sectors.Destabilize social cohesion in pastoral societies, upset management.Rebellion and irredentism. Strength of social cohesion in group, hierarchial structure.Neglect or repression by central authorities, combination of localized alliances and grievances.Disruption of central services (for example animal disease control), interruption of migratory husbandry practices by other groups.Religious extremism. Weakness of social cohesion, degree of infiltration of other extremist group.Lack of livelihood prospects for future. Destruction of social services, accelerated trends in criminal activities.  Political conflicts parts of the SSA rangelands being designated as protected areas, for the preservation of wildlife and for tourism. The density and the size of the protected areas has increased in the rangeland crescent of SSA. Analysis shows that 17.4% of the rangeland area is currently under some state of protection, compared to 13.2% of protected land outside the rangelands. The percentage of protection is lower in the grasslands and shrublands -the drier parts of the rangelands, where it is around 10%, and the highest in the woodland and savannah -the wetter parts of the rangelands, reaching almost 20%. Adding up all protected areas in woodlands and savannahs shows that they host more than three quarters (78%) -and the savannah alone more than half (52%) -of all protected areas of the rangelands in SSA.Figure 2.11 illustrates the wildlife and associated with it the biodiversity richness of the SSA rangeland crescent. The 'charismatic megafauna' species are clearly more abundant in East and Southern Africa, while the Sahel has less extended areas, and for some of these species only pockets remain (e.g. elephant, lion, cheetah) and some have almost disappeared (e.g. zebra).Despite some conservation gains, overall biodiversity is declining and human-wildlife conflict is increasing. Recognizing that wildlife require far more space than the protected areas offer, and that most biodiversity resides in human-modified landscapes, conservation efforts are turning to rural landscapes where people directly manage the land. Biodiversity conservation in these areas hinges on landowners accommodating wildlife, and resolving the human-wildlife conflict that undermines their willingness to conserve. Recent studies have led to a conclusions that \"devolving the rights and responsibilities for biodiversity conservation from national to local levels calls for reviving the incentives and skills for making wildlife an important component of livelihoods, based on maximizing the ben-efits and minimizing the costs and conflicts. Paradoxically, such devolution draws the focus of conservation back to the skills and methods of coexistence traditionally residing in communities which is not available to, or considered by, national agencies and NGOs\" (Western et al. 2015).Wildlife may offer opportunities for supplementary -or even main -income generation and may provide an alternative to livestock production. But for rangeland users, competition between wildlife and livestock can pose a set of challenges: ecological and economic amongst others. It is in East and Southern Africa that most livestock-wildlife interaction occurs.A rich diversity of wildlife is found both in protected areas and outside. The interaction 'issue' between livestock and wildlife is concentrated outside the protected areas. The type of this interaction is now altering due to a changing landscape, with more competition for resources (water, pasture and migration routes) leading to increased contact between wildlife and livestock (Osofsky et al. 2005). The underlying problem is the decline in wildlife habitats. The impact of this can be increased wildlife-livestock-human conflicts arising from damage caused by livestock, humans and wildlife to each other (African Union 2015). Despite the importance of this interaction for the economic and environmental futures of the region, there has been little scientific progress in understanding the nature of livestock-wildlife competition in pastoral landscapes. However, grazing by different ungulate species on the same \"patch\" may not effectively be sharing the same resource. Contrary to popular impressions, the presence or absence of dietary or habitat overlap is insufficient to claim competition between livestock or wildlife. Such thinking not only leads to over-estimations of competition, but also leads to land-use decisions that exclude grazing wildlife from pasturelands or livestock from protected areas -decisions that will increase the vulnerability of the whole wildlife-livestock-grassland system (Butt and Turner 2012).One standard practice in livestock production on rangelands, espoused by commercial ranchers and subsistence pastoralists alike, is the eradication of large, indigenous herbivores that are believed to compete with livestock for food. These eradication efforts have increasingly problematic implications for biodiversity conservation. In an East African savannah renowned for its large herbivore diversity, it was revealed that cattle do indeed compete with herbivores such as zebras and gazelles during the dry season, when food quantity is low. In contrast, during the wet season, when food quantity is high, grazing by wildlife actually benefits cattle by improving the quality of forage. These findings highlight ecological processes that support the promotion of coexistence among large herbivores in grasslands and savannahs, and hence could be useful for conservation (du Toit 2011). Additionally, as rangelands undergo irreversible changes caused by invasions of undesirable plant species and \"climate forcing\", the future perspective favours a proactive shift in attitude towards the livestock-wildlife interface, from problem control to asset management (du Toit et al. 2017) (Figure 2.12).Competition between wildlife and livestock is hard to quantify, and the evidence for the magnitude and type of competition is weak (Prins 2000and Young et al. 2005in Niamir-Fuller et al. 2012).Fire has always been part of rangelands whether natural (through lightning strikes) or ignited by humans. Thus, fire is an important ecological phenomenon in rangelands. Burning has, over millennia, shaped the species composition and structure of flora in rangelands, and has helped to create and maintain a mosaic of vegetation. Fire alters the balance between woody and herbaceous plants across the landscape, tending to reduce the prevalence of woody vegetation and increase the occurrence of herbaceous cover -and thus forage availability. The distribution of reoccurring fires shows that the areas most affected are situated around the Congo Basin, from the wetter woodland areas to the savannah and shrublands and the north (Figure 2.13a). Fire incidence is high also in the whole of the Sudano-Sahelian zone, the entire northern and eastern part of Southern Africa, inclusive of Madagascar. Savannah zones are generally subjected to the most fires: only along the driest northern fringe of the grasslands with their sparse cover are fires less common. The Horn of Africa and Kenya are the least affected. This could indicate heavy grazing and removal of the grass biomass, reducing the amount potential fuel and creating a patchwork of grass cover -meaning fires are less likely to catch or spread. In well-conserved areas like in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and the W-Arly-Pendjari Biosphere Reserve in West Africa, enough fuel builds up and fires are more frequent than in the surrounding areas. Reduced fire frequencies can have negative consequences, especially increased encroachment of woody plants, which suppress grazing species. The impact of fires on productivity and habitat heterogeneity and biodiversity, and the use of fire in the management is further discussed in Chapter 3.1.3).In the World Atlas of Desertification (WAD 2018), five major global fire regimes, are distinguished in terms of their size, frequency and intensity (Figure 2.13b). Frequent Intense Large (FIL) and Frequent Cool Small (FCS) fires occur largely in grassy systems. Rare Intense Large (RIL) fires, where an entire forest canopy can burn with a very high intensity, means that the forest takes considerable time to regenerate. Rare Cool Small (RCS) fires occur where conditions are not often flammable: this is the case on the fringe of dryland and deserts.Intermediate Cool Small (ICS) fires are also found in wetter Figure 2.12: Foraging habits of giraffe (left) and camels (centre) in northern Kenya: studies show that there is little competition as they use different feeding heights (O'Conner et al. 2015). Cows graze the grass and herbaceous layer up to a few centimetres and sheep to a few millimetres above the soil surface (right) (Hanspeter Liniger). The different grazing heights of wild or domestic animals have implications on the recovery of the vegetation and the soil cover especially after heavy grazing.parts of the world, but are closely associated with people, who tend to increase fire frequency. Switches from one fire regime to another are often associated with degradation of the ecosystem, because organisms (notably vegetation) are adapted to particular fire regimes (Archibald et al. 2013).Land degradation in the Sub-Saharan rangelands is omnipresent (Box 2.3). The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment found that degradation was actually worse in semi-arid and subhumid areas -due to population pressure, overuse of the vegetation and thus expose of denuded soil to erosion by wind and water -whereas arid areas were not so degraded.One of the ways of assessing land degradation is to analyse land productivity change over previous decades. Decreasing land productivity occurs in 22% of African rangeland (WAD 2018). Satellite image analysis permits the interpretation of the greenness of the land and the vegetation biomass -and the monitoring of any change. Severe declines have been mostly recorded at the drier fringe of the rangeland crescent: in Southern Africa, especially in the central part (e.g. Botswana); along the south-eastern coast; in the southwest of Madagascar; in East Africa, especially Kenya and Tanzania; in the Horn of Africa, notably the north-western part of Ethiopia; South Sudan; and smaller pockets distributed over the drier Sahelian zone of West Africa. The regions becoming greener and increasing in productivity are mostly located along the wetter fringe of the rangelands: that is the woodland to savannah zone (Figure 2.14).The scale of land degradation -and potential solutionshave been hotly debated for more than 100 years. And the debate continues intensely. This is partly due to lack of agreement on what constitutes land degradation and its spatial extension, coupled with lack of rangeland monitor- Fire regime ing, although this is changing. According to the African Union (2012) 75% of Africa's drylands, most of which are rangelands, are considered affected by desertification. The extent and degree of land degradation remains unclear, even after the launch of the World Atlas of Desertification in 2018 (WAD 2018). The atlas does not provide an updated version of previous global desertification and land degradation maps. It presents an assessment and maps on \"global change issues\", which have been identified to play key roles in desertification and land degradation. In total 14 issues were analysed, including decreasing land productivity, reoccurrence of fires, change in aridity, population density and change, and livestock density (Figure 2.15a). The more overlap of the issues in the same area, the higher the probability of land degradation/ desertification: this is termed \"convergence of evidence\". Figure 2.15b shows that the highest number of global change issues are found in parts of Senegal, Sudan, South Sudan, Somaliland, Mozambique, southwest Madagascar and Botswana.The most common problematic issues in these areas are aridity, population change, income level, population density, livestock density, fire and decrease of land productivity (Figure 2.15a). Interestingly, at the northern fringe of the rangeland in the Sahel, in north-western Kenya, in south-eastern Ethiopia to northern parts of Somalia in the In the FAO/ LADA project land degradation is defined as a change in the land's health resulting in a diminished capacity of the ecosystem to provide goods and services for its beneficiaries (Bunning et al. 2011).Desertification is land degradation in dryland areas. Frequency of fire soil erosion modelling results do not show a severe problem on rangelands, soil erosion has been reported one of the main degradation types under the cases analysed in this book. It must be noted that land relief has a strong influence on erosion and its modelling. However, vegetation cover is the main determinant in soil degradation through erosion. Steep slopes with dense cover do not have erosion problems, while gentle slopes with sparse/ practically no grass cover -at least at the start of the rainy season -are common in rangelands and these do experience high local rates of degradation. As most of the soil erosion is caused by water runoff, this indicates another major issue: loss of soil moisture and groundwater and change of surface water availability.Sand and dust storms occur when wind mobilises exposed, loose soil (Figure 2.17). These conditions are common in semi-arid and arid regions. Sandstorms typically occur relatively close to the ground surface, but fine dust particles may be lifted high into the atmosphere (several kilometres) where strong winds can transport them vast distances across oceans and continents (WAD 2018). Most dust storms in the Sahara and Kalahari deserts are natural phenomena.Although anthropogenic sources currently constitute only 25% of global dust emissions, the potential for increasing this is great. In SSA, the areas mostly affected by humaninduced sand and dust storms are along the driest zone of the Sahel from Lake Chad to Niamey, in southern Mali and Mauritania, southwest Madagascar and the Northern Cape of South Africa. Dried-up water surfaces (e.g. Lake Chad) pose a corresponding increased risk of sand and dust storms. This drying is due to water withdrawals and/or changed land use with reduced vegetation cover because of unsustainable land use and land degradation, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. This may be exacerbated by prolonged droughts and increased fire occurrences.Horn of Africa, and in the western regions of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia, the green colours indicate only a few of the issues mentioned above (Figure 2.15b). Some of the \"global change issues\" leading to land degradation and that were found to be prominent in SSA were soil erosion by water and wind, as well as a change (decrease) in surface water.The map in Figure 2.16 illustrates rates of soil erosion by water divided into seven classes according to the European Soil Bureau classification. The colour gradation from green, with a low and acceptable annual soil loss of less than one tonne per hectare, to red with a severe annual loss of over 50 tonnes per hectare, indicates the intensity of the predicted erosion rates (Borelli et al. 2017). Within SSA the areas most affected are characterized by sloping land and crop production systems. Even though, at the continental scale, 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Chapter 2 Sub-Saharan Africa rangelands defined Surface water change in rivers and lakes is crucial because this constitutes the most accessible form of water for people and animals. Figure 2.18 illustrates the loss of permanent and seasonal surface water (red and pink) in Africa, and the new permanent and annual water (dark green and light green). Major rivers in the eastern part of Africa, and also in South Sudan, appear to be decreasing in flow, changing from permanent to seasonal flow -or even disappearing altogether in the dry lowlands. This provides a major challenge to rangeland communities and their livestock, as they depend closely on these permanent or seasonal rivers. In the West African Sahel, there is evidence of increase rather than decrease in surface water -due to greater occurrence of flooding.In Sub-Saharan Africa, there have been changes in surface water (river water and lakes) but they do not conform to a simple pattern (Figure 2.18). These changes may be the result of three factors, separately or combined: (i) climate change -that is altered rainfall within the watersheds leading to more, or less, surface water. However, there is little evidence that this is the main cause; (ii) direct water abstractions and water use, mostly for irrigation purposes along the rivers, diminishing river flows and water availability downstream. This is a major reason for change in larger watersheds, where the rivers originate in wetter areas (especially mountains) and flow into increasingly dry lowlands. Examples are the Tana River in Kenya, the Juba River in Somalia, and the Senegal River, where the upper stretches show increasing water surfaces (due to irrigation) while the lower reaches of the river are drying up. High and increasing rates of water withdrawal by crop producers in the drylands are resulting in decreasing surface water and reduced river flow in the lowlands and their rangelands; (iii) when rangelands are overused and the vegetation cover is reduced, higher rates of surface runoff occur, less water infiltrates into the soil and more erratic river flows result, with more incidences of flooding demonstrated by seasonal surface water -as in West Africa. The very variable pattern of changes means that in some locations surface water is disappearing, while in others it is emerging: this seems to be the result of the high variability in water abstractions and in runoff, which in turn mainly reflect complex land use changes within the watersheds (Aeschbacher et al. 2005, Liniger et al. 2005, Notter et al. 2007). At the local level, surface water availability and its seasonal, as well as longterm, change is key to the management of the rangelands. These rivers are the lifeblood of the drylands; their flow is crucial for people, livestock, wildlife and ecosystems along the rivers and in wetlands. Large-scale dam projects for irrigation of hydropower generation, mass abstraction of water for irrigation combined with land use change affecting surface runoff and climate change -all these combined have a profound effect on river flow, including peak flows and floods as well as base flows during the dry season when water is most precious.The rangeland characterisation of West, the Horn and East, and Southern Africa shown in Table 2.1 and 2.3 is general and not definitive. It is a broad categorisation that is also dynamic because the degree of human interference, either directly (e.g. through gradually changing land use) or indirectly (e.g. climate change) has a continuous impact. Thus, what were once pastoral rangelands may now be being converted (in part) into game hunting areas, seasonal cropping is sometimes turning into permanent systems, and large-scale commercial plantations are emerging. Figure 2.17: Dust emissions in Africa and causes: mainly natural (blue) or anthropogenic (red). Source: WAD 2018.2.2 Why are rangelands in SSA important?Rangelands cover a significant part of Sub-Saharan Africa's land area (62%) and host a significant proportion of the African population (38%) and livestock (56%). With current demographic trends, rangelands and all drylands in general will continue to experience increasing population and settlements as growth demands more space -and that is most clearly available in the drylands. In addition, rangelands represent diverse ecosystems, natural resources, people/ societies and multiple uses and functions and are therefore vital for the ecological, environmental, economic and social functions they play. Rangelands support life for those living within them, and also for those living outside. Key economic activities supported by rangelands include livestock production, wildlife conservation and related activities -and to a lesser extent crop farming, mining, production of cosmetics and handicrafts. For many countries with high proportions of savannah-based rangelands, especially in East and Southern Africa, wildlife tourism ranks amongst their top income generators. Kenya, for example, received 1.5 million tourists in 2017, contributing to 9.7% of total GDP and 3.4% of total employment (WTTC 2018).Rangelands occupy a strategic position at the centre of the zones in SSA where some of the most pressing challenges for human development and security are being played out. When there are problems in the marginal border territories of the Sub-Saharan rangelands -such as droughts, breakdown of markets, insecurity, conflicts -all of these create major set-backs to development. Over the past decades, many of the responses from national and international agencies have been ineffective in securing food security, peace and improvements in the livelihoods of people. This is largely because they have ignored or not sufficiently used the potential for positive roles to be played by the range-  Africa (1984Africa ( -1999Africa ( to 2000Africa ( -2015)). Data source: WAD 2018.In much of SSA, grazing lands and use of rangeland resources, water resources and forage resources have historically been governed under traditional common property regimes.It has been argued that land-grabbing displaces local communities to replace them with large-scale agriculture that will ultimately increase food insecurity.Despite some conservation gains, overall biodiversity is declining and humanwildlife conflict is increasing.Conservation efforts are turning to landscapes where people directly manage the land. Biodiversity conservation in these areas hinges on landowners accommodating wildlife.Contrary to popular impressions, the presence or absence of dietary or habitat overlap is insufficient to claim competition between livestock or wildlife.Fire has helped to create and maintain a mosaic of vegetation.The MEA found that degradation was worse in semi-arid and sub-humid areas -due to population pressure and overuse of the vegetation -while arid areas were not so degraded.According to the African Union (2012) 75% of Africa's drylands, most of which are rangelands, are considered affected by desertification.Gentle slopes with sparse/ practically no grass cover -at least at the start of the rainy season -are common in rangelands and experience soil erosion.Major rivers in the eastern part of Africa, and also in South Sudan, appear to be decreasing, with flow changing from permanent to seasonal.High rates of water withdrawal by crop producers are resulting in decreasing surface water and reduced river flow in the lowlands and their rangelands.Reduced vegetation cover leads to higher rates of surface runoff and more incidences of flood.Rivers are the lifeblood of the drylands; their flow is crucial for people, livestock, wildlife and ecosystems. • Most deals in Southern part of the Sahel (Senegal)• Almost the whole region of Ethiopia and Sudan, has a high number of land deals.• Zambia and the west coast countries and Madagascar have high concentrations• Not very common • Famous are:-W-Arly-Pendjari -Giraffe conservancy • Lower area coverage than in East and Southern Africa• Natural reserves, parks, private and communal conservancies • High numbers of various sizes • Famous parks include: Serengeti, Maasai Mara, Amboseli, Tsavo• Large-scale parks and reserves.• In the northern part of Southern Africa • Famous parks are: Krüger, Moremi, Chobe, Etosha, Selous, Luangwa• Medium prominence in the Sahel. High in Chad• High to medium numbers of fire incidence, especially south Sudan, west Ethiopia• Mostly high incidence in the northern part (woodland zone and savannah)Convergence of global change issues (as a proxy of land degradation)• Medium to high number of coinciding GCIs (in the whole Sahel except the northern fringe)• Medium number of coinciding GCIs • Low to medium in the southwest and medium to high in Botswana and southwest of Madagascar Table 2.3: Characteristics of Sub-Saharan rangelands according to regions: additional key characteristics for countries in regions land people themselves -the inhabitants of these regions. Yet, these are the very people who know these critical areas best, because they live in and depend on them for their livelihoods.More recently, there has been a growing realisation that engaging positively with the rangeland societies and institutions can help to unlock the knowledge and potential of the populations of these areas. The local institutions and actors can then be enabled to play their natural roles in surveillance of the landscape and their natural and human resources, securing and managing the vastness of their rangelands and regulating the flows of people and commodities that traverse them.Normalizing relations between communities and neighbour states is recognized as one of the greatest development challenges in the rangelands across the region 11 . There are many shared challenges in these inter-country border zones where droughts are frequent and often devastating to livestock and people. In the direst situations, emergency food-relief camps are established: and while lives are saved, these settlements may leave psychological and environmental scars that take decades to heal. Sustainable rangeland management practices and approaches enable communities to respond to these challenges, working together to conserve and share scarce pasture and water to the benefit of all -building relations, reducing clashes, rebuilding contemporary institutions and securing the foundations of forward-looking devolved government in African states.Rangelands have been dismissed and devalued as degenerate and degraded spaces and societies where insecurity is perennial. Numerous governments in Sub-Saharan Africa continue looking at rangelands through narrow 'economicproductive' functions/ perspectives and reason that the production potential of rangelands is inferior to the highpotential croplands. The various massive economic, environmental and socio-cultural functions that rangelands fulfil include many that are unperceived and do not have a marketable price -and are therefore often insufficiently included in development plans.Several recent developments are influencing the potential value of rangelands and the perception of actors towards rangelands:1. Growing recognition of the economic value of livestock production that has often escaped national statistical services, due to subsistence economies and informal or illegal cross-border trades (King-Okumu et al. 2015).2. Increasing importance of the value of tourism enterprises based in the rangelands: this give them special importance.3. Better understanding of the economic value of non-marketed services provided by the rangeland environment.It is only since the concept of 'ecosystem services' gained international prominence at the turn of the century that rangelands are looked at from an 'environmental service' and 'cultural values' angle. They are thus beginning to be reassessed for their importance in providing a wide range of ecosystem services, although this is not yet sufficiently recognized and appreciated (Davies et al. 2015). This includes the intrinsic value of biodiversity and marketing of carbon.Multiple claims from land use change and/or intensified agricultural and animal production, setting aside rangeland areas for nature conservation as well as for carbon sequestration, large land acquisitions for investment of various kinds, mining of minerals, oil and water resources as well as controversial and competing policy directions are likely to lead to an increase in the vulnerability of ecosystems and livelihoods and dubious development strategies. Increasingly Sub-Saharan rangelands are not \"marginal lands\" any longer as they have been termed for decades in the past. Rangelands have become objects of interest for survival, for livelihoods, for investments, and for climate change mitigation (Box 2.4).Rangelands in Sub-Saharan Africa have been perceived as a problem for over a century. These areas have been talked about as being inhospitable, fragile and on a one-way path to inevitable degradation. To many observers, rangelands used by pastoralists under common property regimes present a perfect example of the \"tragedy of the commons\": free-for-all grazing triggering a downward spiral towards desertification. Various remedies have been suggested. Often these followed ranching models. But failures in rangeland development projects have been commonplace.As a result range ecology and processes were re-examined, and in the 1980s a new thinking emerged. This embraced the concept of enhancing livestock movement and respecting traditional knowledge and \"opportunism\". But little seems to have been translated into action -and new challenges have emerged, notably increasing population pressure, livestock-wildlife conflicts, and climate change. New ideas have followed. This section explains these different, evolving and often conflicting, attitudes towards the \"problem\" and the \"solution\".Early 20 th century: Fears, warnings and the \"mainstream view\" It was early in the 20th century that concerns were first voiced about land degradation in Africa's rangelands. The South African Drought Commission, established as a result of the widespread livestock losses of 1919/20, gave dire warnings in its 1923 report about the dangers of overstocking. It predicted \"a newly-created South African desert\" (Beinart 1984). Rangelands in Sub-Saharan Africa indeed constitute vast expanses of drylands prone to drought, livestock mortality and, potentially, desertification. Little wonder then that there have been fears about their future -popular views which have changed remarkably little over the last century. The jargon and narrative has also remained remarkably constant: fragile lands exploitation by pastoralists through overstocking with herds of emaciated cattle and goats, destroying vegetation and exposing the soil to wind and 4. Increasing knowledge of the amount of mineral and energy resources in the rangelands and the possibilities of exploring, exploiting and transporting them. While this may create opportunities for improved livelihoods and the economic status of rangeland users, it also challenges traditional rangeland commmunities and their historical use of the land.As the stakes are growing higher in the rangelands, the controversies about what is or is not \"sustainable rangeland management\" -and how best to achieve it -are growing.The misunderstanding or misapplication of the theories, concepts and paradigms of rangeland management have often in the past provided excuses for external actors to pursue agendas that have marginalized, oppressed and blocked development of societies in the rangelands. There exist various controversial and unresolved issues in the rangeland sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. The competition for land and water, population increase in many African states and pastoralist societies, impacts of land degradation on the rangelands' health exacerbated by climate change, land tenure and land/ water use rights, poverty, security and conflicts are all having a significant influence on defining and implementing sustainable growth in the rangelands.Box 2.4: Sub-Saharan African rangelands at a glance • Rangeland systems spread out in a rangeland crescent spanning from West Africa to the Horn of Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa, positioned largely between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.• Approximately 25 million pastoralists and 240 million agropas toralists in Sub-Saharan Africa depend on livestock as their primary source of income (AU-IBAR 2012, FAO 2018).• Between 2000 and 2010, production of livestock increased by 3% in SSA (Milne and Williams 2015), a relatively small increase compared to the rising demand driven by an annual human population growth of 2.7%.• Rangelands are currently being lost due to land degradation, conservation projects, to crop and urban land and other factors at an alarming rate (Milne 2016).• Pastoral and agropastoral systems in the Sahel contribute more than 80% of the animal product supply. Pastoralism accounts for 70% to 90% of cattle rearing and 30% to 40% of sheep and goats. Transhumant pastoralism supplies an estimated 65% of beef, 40% of mutton and goat meat, and 70% of milk (ECOWAS 2008).• Animals that have traveled more than 450 miles from southern Somalia to the markets in Nairobi account for 26% of the beef eaten in Kenya and 16% of the beef eaten in Nairobi. Traditional herding in Tanzania is the source of 70% of national milk production, which totalled 770 million literes in 2006 (Grandval 2012).Rangelands occupy a strategic position where some of the most pressing challenges for human development and security are being played out.Rangelands have been dismissed and devalued as degenerate and degraded spaces and societies where insecurity is perennial.Rangelands are beginning to be reassessed for their importance in providing a wide range of ecosystem services.Increasingly Sub-Saharan rangelands are not \"marginal lands\" any longer -as they have been termed for decades in the past.water erosion. A mid-20th century review of rangeland management in East Africa (Heady 1960) confirmed the common position that \"range deterioration has assumed alarming proportions in many areas\". This was referred to by Sandford (1983) as the \"mainstream view\". It saw severe and rapid desertification on the horizon, was distrustful of traditional institutions, and above all perceived the central problem as being overgrazing by too many, mismanaged, and unproductive livestock maintained often as symbols of wealth.Mid-20 th century: Colonial responses by governments and development agencies -seeking equilibrium This \"mainstream view\" therefore held that control of livestock numbers was the key to action. Thus destocking followed by grazing management schemes comprised the central initiative put forward for East Africa. Pratt and Gwynne (1977) in their standard text entitled \"Rangeland Management and Ecology in East Africa\" talked of systems that would restore \"order out of chaos\". Their remedy to the problem of the communal rangelands was to introduce ranchstyle models which would achieve an 'equilibrium' or steady state -in other words an even, steady balance between livestock numbers and vegetation (Mwangi and Ostrom 2009). But stocking rates were not simple to set, and even more difficult to enforce. To create and fence large ranches in landscapes with a diverse mixture of lowlands and hills, areas with swamps and other zones with only wet-season water available proved practically impossible. Furthermore this meant cutting across traditional routes of movement, and age old rights to grazing. Naturally this model could work -but only in those few cases where natural and social conditions permitted it. For example on the wetter fringes of dryland areas where private ownership (whether by individuals or groups) was possible. Some group ranches have proved indeed viable. But they are the exception. Large-scale settlement of nomadic pastoralists, however desirable it seemed to governments, for ecological, developmental and (often) national security reasons, has proved impractical. As Behnke and colleagues observed \"few range management schemes in dry Africa have had a discernible and permanent impact on the way communal rangeland is used\" (Behnke et al. 1993).Late 20 th century: The concept of \"opportunistic management\" -non-equilibrium state The proceeds of a seminal meeting held in 1990 sought to get to the root of the problem. The \"mainstream view\" was held to be flawed (Behnke et al. 1993). The basic misunderstanding, they pointed out, was that the pastoral rangelands didn't act in equilibrium like many agricultural ecosystems; they behaved in an unpredictable way. This means that a strict balance between animal numbers and fodder was simply not possible to maintain, and no fixed carrying capacity could be calculated. Neither were rigid stocking rates applicable. The whole ecology of the drylands is, and always has been, subject to high variability with extremes like droughts and floods -as well as outbreaks of livestock sickness and mortality. Over millennia, pastoralists have learnt to ride these highs and lows, to cope with periods of drought and livestock losses, and most importantly to \"bounce back\" rapidly by rebuilding herds and using their mobility to seek out grazing where vegetation had recovered.While the ecological, social and political systems vary considerably from East to West to Southern Africa, the basic arguments and principles are similar. For instance for West Africa a World Bank publication arrived at the conclusion that to counter desertification pastoralist associations could be an effective new instrument -and very importantly that the users of any new land management system must also be its managers: traditional principles of land rights needed to be recognized (Falloux and Mukendi 1988). In Southern Africa, where the apartheid regimes have grossly distorted land tenure regimes and traditions of communal land use have been eroded, the discourse is even more difficult. This has been compounded by the need to reconcile the often conflicting aims of game tourism and community livestockbased livelihoods, and to seek ways of integrating the two (e.g. Madzudzo 1995).This new approach, termed \"opportunistic management\", began to emerge during the 1980s -which was a watershed decade in sustainable land management with the new emphases on participatory approaches, appreciation of indigenous knowledge and the merging of conservation and production strategies. The aptly titled book \"Living with Uncertainty\" (Scoones 1994) sums up the opportunistic management school of thought. It embraces the principles of recognizing the objectives of pastoralists and their traditional management practices based on flexible and responsive mobility in the face of an ever-changing, nonequilibrium, landscape. There are strong cultural affinities and bonds between these groups, their livestock and the landscape: these must be respected. This is not to say that help and assistance aren't required: but they need to be tailored to acceptance of this reality. Thus marketing infrastructure was held to be vital, as was veterinary support.In terms of management, devolution of decision making to the land users was looked upon as vital.There have been many other theories and ideas regarding rangelands and their development. Most have come and gone, but there is one that has persisted since the early 1980s and continues to be supported by some followers of the founder, Allan Savory: namely 'holistic management' (Savory 1983;2013). The fundamental principle is that a large herd grazed very intensively in one area -then moved on to another -will make better use of vegetation than allowing livestock to graze selectively. Savory holds that, in many ways, the problem is undergrazing rather than overgrazing. Chapter 5 reflects on some of the (mixed) experiences with this system as documented in the case studies in Part II of these guidelines.21 st century: Current realities, new challenges and a broader perspective Moving on to the 2000s this concept of non-equilibrium models and opportunistic management has further evolved into making use of \"heterogeneity\". Owen-Smith (2004), Fryxell et al. (2005), Hopcraft et al. (2010) re-emphasise the fact that transhumance pastoralism is optimally adapted to accessing critical resources in the highly seasonal, unpredictable and extensive landscapes of African savannahs.Despite the new concepts of the 1980s and 1990s, the continued trend in government policies has been to privatize land and sedentarize pastoralists (Homewood 2009, Western et al. 2009b, Lovschal et al. 2017), which fragments key ecological gradients and large landscapes, reduces pastoral mobility and their ability to adapt to seasonal changes in forage resources, which will be further compounded by the effect of climate change. Moreover, sedentarization of pastoralists is destructive to wildlife (Western et al. 2009a, Groom andWestern 2013). The functional heterogeneity concept is also relevant to the management of livestock on ranches, where enabling animals to make decisions facilitates adaptive foraging options. Thus the continued, popular approaches to rangeland management, which are regularly advocated by international development agencies, violate key ecological principles (Fynn et al. 2017).It must be pointed out that the debate continues. The notion of non-equilibrium models has been contested by Illius and O'Connor 1999, who note that animal numbers are indeed in equilibrium -with more reliable key resources in the system that provide critical forage for survival during drier periods -and have the potential to degrade these key resources. This line of argumentation asserts that most rangelands in semi-arid regions clearly can be degraded by excessive livestock numbers, leading to loss of perennial grasses, reduced grass production and soil erosion (Milton et al. 1994, Fynn and O'Connor 2000, Fynn et al. 2017). However, in regard to discussions about the sustainability of pastoralism in relation to demographic growth and ensuing land degradation through overstocking, there is no linear relationship between demographic growth in pastoral populations and growth in the number of livestock. Demographic growth out of step with herd growth is more likely to lead to impoverishment than to land degradation through overstocking -although impoverishment can also lead to overgrazing by reducing mobility (Krätli et al. 2015).Despite predictions, debates and theories about \"new deserts\" foreseen 100 years ago, there is still no consensus about how much land has actually suffered desertification. While there has been continued widespread land degradation in rangeland areas, and it's still a major concern, it has not matched the dire predictions of all those decades ago. Many areas have simply continued to ride the cycles of droughts and then recovery. While in some areas the natural resilience of the drylands and its inhabitants has been largely underestimated, other areas suffered serious land degradation and demand large restoration efforts. In this context it is helpful to make some comments about the changing schools of thought, to set the perspective more broadly, and to bring the debate up to date.First of all, much of the discussion in the concepts discussed above related almost solely to a narrow focus on transhumant pastoralists and their livestock. It also tended to focus strongly on East Africa. But the rangelands cover a much wider constituency. Many of its inhabitants are actually semi-settled, or even settled agropastoralists, who crop small areas of land opportunistically (see Chapter 3.1). After all, the drylands are where water harvesting for crop production has its traditional roots (Critchley et al. 1992). In a broad swathe across Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia livestock holders also raise some crops -which even in a year of crop failure provide some fodder for livestock.Concepts and theories are fine, but what is actually happening on-the-ground? This compilation of case studies in this book undercover myriad different initiatives -many of which help to point to a path forward, generally or at least for specific situations. The analysis of the ongoing changes and challenges, and the experiences -failures and successes made so far -will help directly in shaping guidelines for the future.To many observers, rangelands used by pastoralists under common property regimes present a perfect example of the \"tragedy of the commons\".Failures in rangeland development projects have been commonplace.A mid-20th century review confirmed the common position that \"range deterioration has assumed alarming proportions in many areas\". This became referred to as the \"mainstream view\".The mainstream view supported control of livestock numbers through destocking followed by grazing management schemes to achieve an \"equilibrium state\".But the \"mainstream view\" was flawed because pastoral rangelands didn't act in equilibrium; they behaved in an unpredictable way.Despite efforts with creating large ranches and settling pastoralists -by 1990, few range management schemes in dry Africa had an impact on the way communal rangeland was used.The new approach of opportunistic management recognises pastoralists' traditions based on flexible and responsive mobility in the face of an everchanging, non-equilibrium, landscape.Many other theories and ideas have come and gone, but one has persisted since the early 1980s namely \"holistic management\".Moving on to the 2000s this concept of non-equilibrium models and opportunistic management has further evolved into that of making use of heterogeneity.Despite the new concepts of the 1980s and 1990s, the continued trend in government policies has been to privatize land and sedentarize pastoralists.The continued, popular approaches to rangeland management advocated by international development agencies, violate key ecological principles.Despite predictions, debates and theories about \"new deserts\" foreseen 100 years ago, there is still no consensus about how much land has actually suffered desertification.While in some areas the natural resilience of the drylands and its inhabitants has been largely underestimated, other areas have suffered serious land degradation and demand large restoration efforts.The mobility of livestock within the Sub-Saharan rangelands has been a central element of management for thousands of years. Traditionally, rangeland systems were open areas and vast spaces were interconnected. Mobile and semi-mobile livestock production systems are the most prominent traditional uses of rangelands. These systems are dynamic and responsive, giving herders the potential to react to changing rangeland conditions through the seasons. Mobility relates to livestock managers and livestock.Mobility is a logical method of accessing water and pastures in order to maximize animal productivity, reach markets and escape risk -including diseases, conflict with other herders, and wildlife. Many of these factors that dictate the movement of pastoral herds are similar to the forces that drive wildlife in search of fodder and water.Mobility of livestock and their managers ranges from fully mobile nomadic, semi-mobile nomadic systems along opportunistic or clearly regulated routes (transhumance), partial family/ livestock movement, to fully sedentary systems.The mobility of livestock is characterized by:• The type of movement: from opportunistic to well-defined routes; across climatic and ecological different zones (e.g. from dry north to wetter south; from plains to hills). Opportunistic grazing movements enable access to heterogeneous and unpredictable pasture resources to make best use of spatial and temporal variation of the resources.• The timing or seasonality of movement: from following a fixed calendar to remaining flexible according to prevailing conditions.• The distance of movement: this may vary considerably year-on-year depending on seasonality, rainfall, resource availability and 'freedom'/ boundaries to movement. Distances can range from a few kilometres (small-scale) to hundreds of kilometres (large-scale).As might be expected there is a very broad range of both rangeland use systems and management practices in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Therefore, unsurprisingly, there is considerable confusion about the different types of rangeland and the associated land management systems. This lack of clarity can prevent focused discussion on rangeland development and policies, and often leads to ill-informed decisions. This confusion furthermore underlies the difficulties in arriving at informed approaches and strategies to guide good rangeland management under the current dynamic situation that prevails.Based on the documentation of rangeland management practices, of which a selection is presented in Part 2, a literature review and expert consultations, criteria were identified to help define the classification of rangeland use systems and their management.In Chapter 2.1 the following definition was proposed: \"Rangelands are spatially defined ecosystems that are dominated by grasses, grass-like plants, combined with various degrees of bush and tree cover that are predominantly grazed or browsed, and which are used as a natural and semi-natural ecosystem for the production of livestock and safeguarding of wildlife and additional ecosystem services.\"The classification accommodates all the common land use systems that will be defined and addressed in this chapter.As rangelands cover a wider variability in different natural conditions and uses, three key characteristics and considerations must be kept in mind to guide the identification and definition of rangeland use systems. These are mobility, boundaries, combined crop and wildlife management. Enabled mobility is of key importance for rangeland management, be it for daily or seasonal movement of animals, Somaliland (Christoph Studer).• The guidance of the livestock: managed by hired herdsmen, family members, the whole family or groups within a community. Mobility relies on effective social organization and networks.• The reason for movement: whether movement is to access high quality grazing, high quantity grazing (or to seek any available grazing), avoid diseases, or search for markets etc.The mobility of rangeland users and wildlife is increasingly in conflict with the growing pressure on rangelands, where these are being converted to land uses such as cropland, protected areas, fenced-off areas, and urban expansion -all of which limit free movement. Such restricted mobility is one of the major challenges facing livestock keepers on rangelands.The extent of rangelands and their use is defined or limited by various boundaries. These comprise climatic conditions (mainly rainfall, temperature), topographic boundaries (mountains, rivers, lakes, the sea), access to resources (distance from water points, availability of forage and grazing grounds), as well as areas affected by diseases. Furthermore, there are boundaries with other land users and land uses (cropland -rainfed or irrigated -settlements, national parks, mining areas, forests etc.). Boundaries are also influenced or defined by tenure, including user rights: some users claim exclusive use and have formal users' rights or even title deeds, others claim customary or communal rights. Boundaries are also created by political and administrative borders which often limit the mobility of livestock and rangeland users.Even though the focus is on rangeland, some of the livelihood systems include crop production, to varying degrees, as a complementary part of rangeland management. Cropping can be important not just as a supplementary source of food and income for households, but also as a means of mitigating risks. The type of cropping system depends closely on the climatic zone and availability of labour. In some areas cropping can be reasonably reliable -in others it is simply opportunistic.Wildlife have always been an integral part of rangeland systems, as this forms their natural habitat, and rangelands have evolved alongside the indigenous fauna that they sup-port (see Chapter 2.1.7). Wildlife can be part of a livestock production system without providing any additional benefit (e.g. where wildlife comes and goes), or in co-existence with managed livestock within the same area, increasing overall benefits (e.g. where they make use of different forage resources and are harvested), or they can be in competition for the same resources (e.g. through grazing the same vegetation). The nature of wildlife-livestock interactions vary across rangelands, and the impact of competition, disease transmission, and human-wildlife conflict also vary, based on the characteristics of the human and natural context. In the best case scenarios, wildlife can be managed non-competitively alongside livestock, and can offer an additional form of income to rangeland users through both consumptive use (e.g. hunting and cropping for game meat), and non-consumptive use (such as tourism). Additionally, the costs of coping and interacting with wildlife can be reduced through a variety of management practices. In many areas across SSA, livestock are completely excluded from rangeland for the conservation of wildlife in strictly managed protected areas (see Figure 2.11a).Here a typology of rangeland use systems (RUS) is proposed to aid analysis, and in the planning of rangeland management interventions. For purposes of developing a manageable and helpful categorization system, the focus is on scale, boundaries, mobility, inclusion of cropping within the system, and the approach to wildlife management. Based on the case studies documented and described in Part 2 and international discussions and debate on rangelands, six categories are differentiated (Figure 3.1). The attempt to subdivide rangelands into different use systems fully recognizes the variation across, and complexity within, each of these systems as well as 'fuzzy borders' between them. While such a categorization always runs the risk of oversimplification, the aim is to differentiate and focus the discussion on the main, broad types of rangeland uses -and still respect complexity -to help in the analysis of practices and informed decision-making. Furthermore, rangeland managers my shift between different rangeland use systems according to seasons and emergency situations as an adaptation strategy to challenging conditions particularly during droughts or conflicts. The classification is presented in Figure 3.1 and key characteristics of the different RUS are summarized at the end of the chapter in Table 3.1. The main categories of RUS are as follows: right: Former rangeland is being subdivided and settled: small-scale grazing is restricted to areas that are not yet converted to crop production, Kenya (Hanspeter Liniger).1. Large landscape pastoral rangelands (pastoral) 2. Large landscape agropastoral rangelands (agropastoral) 3. Bounded rangelands without wildlife management (bounded without wildlife) 4. Bounded rangelands with wildlife management (bounded with wildlife) 5. Parks, wildlife & nature reserves (parks & reserves) 6. Small-scale settled pastures (pastures)In rangeland use systems (1) and ( 2), people and livestock move over large landscapes. Movement is driven by multiple factors: rainfall gradients which influence the availability and quality of forage, availability of water and mineral resources, security, disease, availability of markets and related services, and grazing and water rights. They tend to follow natural gradients of quality and quantity of pastures and water availability, and are commonly founded in historic community traditions. This movement may be across rainfall and altitudinal gradients, or in and out of wetlands and swamps. It may include transhumant systems where movement typically takes place across different ecological zones and along predictable routes. Or they may be more opportunistic, nomadic or semi-nomadic movements following patchy rainfall and better forage, such as after fire. Legend for the  1. PASTORAL RANGELANDS These are systems in which the majority of the population are pastoralists, whose livelihoods are overwhelmingly based on mobile livestock keeping.Pastoral systems are defined as grassland-based, where more than 90% of dry matter grazed or browsed by livestock is from grasslands and rangelands, and more than 50% of household income is from livestock (as defined by de Haan and Cervigni 2016). They are found mainly in the more arid zones of SSA.Pastoralism is an animal production system -and lifestylewhich is adapted to the heterogeneity of rangeland environments, where key resources of pasture and water for livestock become available erratically and unpredictably across both space and time. Animal and livestock manager movement may be more or less constantly opportunistic throughout the year (full nomadism). Seasonal movement may be according to fixed routes, where herds are driven -with often little grazing along the route -from one grazing ground to another before returning home (transhumance) (Figures 3.2a and 3.2b).• Distances between the night corrals covered during the year: hundreds of kilometres. Area used: tens to hundreds of square kilometres. • Livestock move with no permanent night resting place/ enclosure (fully nomadic) or with a season-long resting place for livestock and herders (semi-nomadic, transhumance). • Animals and herders are mobile along flexible routes, grazing may be planned or opportunistic, and no regular crop cultivation is practiced (nomadic, semi-nomadic).Scale: hundreds of kilometers Ecological gradient HP. Liniger Transhumance systems involve regular movements of herds between fixed areas in order to opportunistically exploit the seasonal variability of climates, pastures and water. Typically they have distinct grazing areas that are used during specific periods, and animals are moved within short periods of time along clearly defined routes and corridors to avoid conflicts and reach other designated grazing grounds. At times this movement may even be carried out by trucks. • There are basically two types of movement: one following the rains and the ecological gradients north-south (e.g. West Africa), the other following ecological gradients from the drier lowland to the wetter highlands and mountains (e.g. East Africa). • Livestock owners/ managers may have a main residence.Herders (owners, managers, family members or hired herders) move with the livestock according to seasonal cycles. Some of the family, and some livestock, may remain at the home-base all year. • Pastoral large-scale rangeland systems are practiced on open access and communal land. Livestock owners and herders in most cases do not own the grazing land, but they almost always have (often complex) customary grazing and water rights. • Purely nomadic systems are on the retreat. Some systems still remain in West Africa in Sudan and Somalia. However, a recent development is the growing number of contract herding systems, where absentee livestock owners contract herders to manage their livestock on rangelands, despite the fact that they may not have water or grazing rights. • Herd sizes range from tens to hundreds of livestock (cattle, camels and donkeys -but also goats and sheep). • Livestock have a seasonal night corral during (during the wet season) but move part of the year without a fixed corral. • Grazing is mainly practiced on communal land (grassland, shrublands and woodlands) but livestock keepers have rights to land for fodder and crop production. • Livestock are mainly dependent on natural forage complemented by crop residues. Crop production may be substantial but is complementary to, and integrated with, grazing and livestock management. • Herds may range from tens to hundreds of animals (cattle, goats and sheep -sometimes camels and donkeys also). These herds are, on average, smaller than other pastoral systems, explained by the fact that rangeland users in this category do not rely solely on livestock.The next three categories are rangelands that are bounded and clearly delineated -thus rangeland use primarily takes place within a defined area. These are 'Bounded rangelands without wildlife management', 'Bounded rangelands with wildlife management' and 'Parks, wildlife & and nature reserves'. The borders of the area may be enforced with physical fences, and/or social fences such as agreed limits to user/ grazing rights between communities, and/or delineated administrative boundaries. Movement out of the area to pastures elsewhere across the larger landscape, especially during dry seasons or during droughts, may sometimes take place. centre: Pastoral systems combined with wildlife management can provide an additional source of income from tourism. Even if not \"used\" for tourism, many of the pastoral areas also have wildlife such as zebra, gazelle, antelope which may compete for the same pasture resources. Avoiding or reducing human-wildlife conflicts poses a special challenge for rangeland management (Hanspeter Liniger).right: Cattle grazing crop residues in agro(silvo)pastoral system, Niger (William Critchley).Agropastoral systems are those in which livestock keepers derive a considerable part of their agricultural income from crop farming -and in which crop residues can make up a significant share of the livestock ration. Generally more than 10% of the dry matter fed to animals is derived from crop by-products/ stubble and more than 10% of the total value of production comes from non-livestock farming activities (as defined by de Haan and Cervigni 2016). They are found mainly in semi-arid zones and subhumid zones.Agropastoralism combines cropping close to the main household with mobile herds of livestock (Figures 3.3a and 3.3b).It has long been a common security strategy in Sahelian and Sudanian zones because of the high level of complementarity between the two activities. The distinction between pastoralists and agropastoralists is becoming more and more blurred, as pastoralists are increasingly engaging in opportunistic planting of small plots in wetter areas or years as a diversification strategy. This is currently the most frequent security strategy in Sahelian and Sudanian zones because of the high level of complementarity between the two activities (Grandval 2012).• Distances covered between the night corrals during the year: tens to hundreds of kilometres. Area used: tens to hundreds of square kilometres. • Herders/ livestock managers have a seasonal or permanent place of residence, and land for cropping which yields agricultural produce for household consumption and fodder for livestock. They may engage in haymaking and local improvement of pastures.Scale: hundreds of kilometers along ecological gradients and/ or seasonal differences Ecological gradient These systems may be privately or communally owned. While they often have a significant amount of wildlife present, commercializing the wildlife is not part of the management system (Figures 3.4a and 3.4b). In the arid and semi-arid zones of East and Southern Africa many of these systems are found as \"community ranches\" or, where owned by individuals, \"private ranches\". Ranches are also found in the humid zone of Central and West Africa but are not common there.In community ranches, land is owned under communal ownership and many have title deeds. A group of herders maintain agreed stocking levels, and while they manage their livestock collectively, they own individual animals. Community ranching in East Africa is implemented in various ways in different countries. For example, in Kenya, community ranches are termed \"group ranches\" and have been officially recognised under the recent Community Land Act, while in Uganda and Tanzania they are commonly referred to as \"communal grazing lands\" and \"ujamaa ranches\" (community ranches), respectively. The production focus is partly subsistence, and thus generally less market-orientated than private ranching. Land management practices including seasonal movement and rotational grazing may also be employed. Bounded systems are also found where official ownership rights are unclear, but social-cultural boundaries effectively create barriers.Private ranches are generally commercial enterprises, with income generation being the primary function of the livestock raised. They specialise in one or more livestock species and produce mainly animals for slaughter (for meat, skins and hides), but also for wool and milk. Large private ranches in East and Southern Africa are generally owned by companies or family businesses. These enterprises use a variety of techniques for range management. Animal movement and pressure are often adjusted to the available forage within the ranch by controlled and rotational grazing, which is influenced -or even manipulated -by the distribution of water points. Herding patterns are closely adapted to the needs of different animal groups, and significant external inputs are required (labour, purchased feed, veterinary medicines etc.). In some ranches, monitoring of ecological and economic factors are also carried out as part of the management system.• Distances covered between the night corrals during the year: several to tens of kilometres. Area used: tens to few hundreds of square kilometres.  right: Private ranches combining cattle production and wildlife. Laikipia, Plateau (Hanspeter Liniger).• Livestock movement is practiced but within the bounded areas. In these systems, livestock keeping takes place alongside explicit management of wildlife and biodiversity (Figures 3.5a and 3.5b). The objective of the wildlife management may be conservation for its own intrinsic value (sometimes funded by voluntary conservation donations and/or dedicated organizations), or for commercialization through non-consumptive uses, such as wildlife viewing and tourism and/or consumptive uses, such as hunting.Scale: tens of kilometers Community and private ranches with wildlife and tourism host significant proportions of East Africa's (especially Kenya's) large mammalian wildlife populations (see Figure 2.11). Some ranches in East and Southern Africa have declared themselves 'nature or wildlife conservancies', and work towards enhancing ecologically and economically thriving landscapes that simultaneously support people and wildlife. Conservancies typically have a multi-faceted development approach aiming at (i) building a rangeland governance structure, (ii) improving rangeland management, (iii) boosting income generation activities and, (iv) supporting wildlife and biodiversity conservation.Conservancies on private land are usually individually owned and fenced. However, this is not always the case, and some conservancies -such as those surrounding the Maasai Mara in Kenya -are not fenced, and are managed by groups of private landowners. Private conservancies tend to support a low population density of people, since tenure is generally individual and production is labour-extensive. Due to the reduced mobility of herds, private ranches are obliged to have high quality management standards for livestock and wildlife. Key is management of pasture and water -making sure there is established access to additional fodder and feed during droughts. Many of these private, fenced ranches are found on higher productivity, lower variability areas, which makes this intensive form of management easier.Characteristics of bounded rangeland with wildlife are: • Distances covered between the night corrals during the year: several to tens of kilometres. Area Used: tens to few hundreds of square kilometres. • Livestock managers are often permanent residents.• Management is either individual with private land ownership (private ranching) or by a group of land users (community ranching). • Livestock movement is practiced but within delineated areas. • Livestock management may include rotational and seasonal grazing system. • Community ranches (to varying degrees) and private ranches (generally) have emergency grazing grounds or the financial capacity to produce or purchase feed during times of drought.• Wildlife is \"managed\" by translocation, by the strategic management of resources to influence the functioning of the ecosystems, and marketed through tourism, commercial culling and/or game hunting. This requires extra infrastructure (water, roads, extra reinforced and high fences, security, lodges, etc.) and specialised management capacity. • Managing potential conflict, and competition for resources, between wildlife and livestock is a major challenge for this rangeland use system. • In East and Southern Africa this rangeland use system is often termed \"conservancies\", with a variety of different management models. • Typically herd sizes in private ranches are in the range of several hundreds of animals (mostly cattle and sheep); in communal ranches up to several hundreds of mixed livestock: both smallstock (goats and sheep) and cattle.In both cases the numbers of wildlife vary enormously. Furthermore with migration of some species of wildlife, numbers are not static either.Protected areas situated within rangelands are generally parks or various kinds of reserves (Box 3.1, Figure 3.6). These conservation areas receive protection because of their recognized natural, biodiversity, ecological or cultural values. Within these areas livestock are usually not permitted. However if livestock are allowed, they are regulated in terms of numbers and periods, and are restricted to specific zones. centre: Elephants scooping for water. In the sand holes, the water stored during the floods is less saline than the surface water fed by groundwater from springs (Hanspeter Liniger).right: It is not only the megafauna that attracts people from all over the world. The richness of habitats provides high biodiversity with a rich bird life. Secretary bird in Buffalo Springs National Reserve, Kenya (Hanspeter Liniger).areas in the absence of livestock largely relies on the culling and translocation of wildlife, the use of fire, and strategic location of water sources.Characteristics of parks, wildlife & nature reserves:• Area used: tens to hundreds and a few thousand square kilometres. • Land is owned by state government, non-government organization and private owners. • The areas are delineated and protected through restrictions on use by tourists, nature conservationists, researchers, hunters, and pastoralists, depending on the status of protection.Box 3.1: Protected areas IUCN defines a protected area as: \"A clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.\"The definition is expanded by six management categories:Ia Strict nature reserve: Strictly protected for biodiversity and also possibly geological/ geomorphological features, where human visitation, use and impacts are controlled and limited to ensure protection of the conservation values.Ib Wilderness area: Usually large unmodified or slightly modified areas, retaining their natural character and influence, without permanent or significant human habitation, protected and managed to preserve their natural condition.Large natural or near-natural areas protecting large-scale ecological processes with characteristic species and ecosystems, which also have environmentally and culturally compatible spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational and visitor opportunities.III Natural monument or feature: Areas set aside to protect a specific natural monument, which can be a landform, sea mount, marine cavern, geological feature such as a cave, or a living feature such as an ancient grove.IV Habitat/species management area: Areas to protect particular species or habitats, where management reflects this priority. Many will need regular, active interventions to meet the needs of particular species or habitats, but this is not a requirement of the category.V Protected landscape: Where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced a distinct character with significant ecological, biological, cultural and scenic value: and where safeguarding the integrity of this interaction is vital to protecting and sustaining the area and its associated nature conservation and other values.Areas which conserve ecosystems, together with associated cultural values and traditional natural resource management systems. Generally large, mainly in a natural condition, with a proportion under sustainable natural resource management and where low-level non-industrial natural resource use compatible with nature conservation is seen as one of the main aims.Not applicable: Any protected area that is not legally/officially designated or proposed (e.g. World Heritage Sites and UNESCO MAB Reserves) or does not fit the standard definition of a protected area.The protected area meets the standard definition of protected areas but the data provider has chosen not to use the IUCN Protected Area Management Categories.Not reported: protected areas where an IUCN category is unknown and/or the data provider has not provided any related information.Scale: less than one to a few kilometers HP. Liniger agropastoral and bounded systems. In these cases part of the herd -sick animals, lactating females, young livestock, but also particular animals targeted for sale or slaughter for special occasions (e.g. rams in the Sahel) -are stall-fed or graze on nearby pastures for a variety of reasons.Characteristics of small-scale settled pastures are:• Area used: less than one to a few hectares.• • Wildlife may be confined by fences or allowed to move outside the boundaries or to migrate into dispersal areas -and on to other parks or reserves. • Area of specific importance for plant biodiversity may be given special, localised protection from grazing/ browsing/ fire etc. • The land is predominately used by wild herbivores and carnivorous predators and, at least partially, permits their daily, seasonal and migratory movement. • Access by livestock for grazing may be limited and regulated or prohibited. • Management involves securing conditions that stop poaching, manage visitors/tourists, facilitate research, provide services and manage income. • The range of wildlife species and numbers is so larger that it is impossible to give 'typical' numbers. There may be small numbers of particular wildlife species in specialised parks with defined limits, or at the other extreme, huge herds of thousands of wildlife in the larger parks (especially in East and Southern Africa).In these systems, where climatic conditions allow (high rainfall and lower variability), people and their livestock are permanently settled. Livestock movement is restricted, within small-scale pasture areas or \"paddocks\", which are managed in an intensive manner to produce more, and better quality, forage and fodder (Figure 3.7). Livestock graze these pastures and/or are fed in stalls, where fodder grown on pastures within the confines of their farmland -or gathered from common land -is brought to the animals under \"cut-and-carry\" systems. They may also graze stubble after crops have been harvested, or fed hay which has been produced on the farm holdings. Crops and pastures are integrated on predominantly small-scale farms, with relatively small herds/ flocks of higher quality livestock.Commonly, animals are grazed on pastures but also partly fed on crop residues (stover/ stubble grazing, etc.) and may be given hay during the dry season. Crops and livestock have the same owner. These systems are widespread in higher rainfall areas, and form the backbone of smallholder agriculture. They predominate in humid and sub-humid agro-ecological zones but as population pressure increases they are also increasingly found in the semi-arid tropics of East and West Africa (Bationo et al. 2015, Krätli et al. 2015).In the Sahel and in many agricultural areas in East/West Africa, this system can be a sub-component of pastoral, without wildlife', followed by 'bounded with wildlife' ( 6) and then the 'pastoral' system (5) (Figure 3.8). This confirms that projects tend to focus their attention on supporting agropastoralist systems to create better conditions for the implementation of sustainable rangeland management (SRM) practices. The least number of approaches, apart from 'parks & reserves' were documented for the 'pastures' (4). For the latter, the focus is rather on spreading various technologies that have proved successful. Some approaches support sedentarizing pastoralists and stimulating diversification and income from crop production on the one hand -while recognising mobility as an important aspect of sustainable rangeland and livestock management on the other.Cases of SRM technologies covering 'pastures' are mainly reported from the Horn & East Africa and West Africa whereas 'pastoral' and 'agropastoral' systems are mostly reported from West Africa -with few from the Horn & East Africa and Southern Africa (Figure 3.9a). This may be an indication of how widespread small-scale settled pastures systems are in the different regions, but it is more likely to show where development agencies are making an effort to promote SRM technologies. Interestingly, the number of documented technologies for 'pastures' is much higher than the different approaches, indicating that many SRM technologies can be implemented without specific investment into approaches. However, special efforts are evidently needed for planning and developing an enabling framework for the more demanding large-scale interventions: 'pastoral', 'agropastoral' and 'bounded' systems (Figure 3.9b). • Livestock move short distances that are accessible within one day. Apart from grazing in pastures, they feed on crop residues, and may receive supplementary feed gathered from around the farm. Livestock need full-day attendance. • Apart from grazing, animals are stall-fed with green or preserved fodder (i.e. freshly cut grass or hay), tree/bush leaves, residues from crop production and /or animal feed (harvested or processed). Sometimes fodder is collected from outside the farm. • Common numbers of livestock holdings are a few cattle (usually improved breeds) and varying numbers of goats and sheep.The WOCAT database was used to better understand different rangeland use systems (RUS) and the practices implemented in each. In the following, the 111 relevant practices (69 technologies and 42 approaches) that have been compiled over the last 10 years, including 56 specifically for this book, are analysed and key insights are presented (see Table in Annex). This analysis is aimed at identifying \"good practice\" and thereby generating guidelines for good rangeland management.Out of the 69 technologies analysed from the database, 25 (less than one third) pertain to the RUS 'pastures', around a quarter to 'agropastoral' ( 16), 13 to the 'bounded without wildlife' and 7 to the 'bounded with wildlife' systems, and 6 cases belonging to the 'pastoral' system (Figure 3.8). The low number of large-scale 'pastoral' systems reflects the difficulties in locating and recording these large-scale systems and identifying successful practices amongst them. Documenting a single farm production system, and interviewing one householder is considerably easier than researching a system that covers a community that is on the move in semi-arid areas with mixed herds and complex, traditional rules and regulations. However, the preponderance of settled systems in the sample may also indicate a trend towards loss of mobility, or a search for alternative or complementary livelihoods within increasingly settled pasture systems. In truth, many large-scale pastoral systems have traditionally relied on some sort of opportunistic crop production. But this new dynamic may indicate a trend towards the subdivision of land and intensification of animal production -especially near urban areas and the higher potential zones (e.g. Box 3.2).Out of the 42 approaches, less than one third (16) pertain to the 'agropastoral' and around one fifth (9) to the 'bounded More than 70% of the documented cases, whether technologies or approaches, were introduced or promoted by projects and research (Figure 3.10). This is most likely to be because projects tend, naturally, to document their own achievements rather than to invest in identifying existing traditional and innovative practices and documenting them. For all RUS, about 20-30% of the cases, can be assigned to land users' traditional knowledge or recent, independent innovation such as in the 'agropastoral' system with the approach of 'Empowering traditional Dedha institutions, Kenya' (Box 3.3) and making 'Arrangements to convert degraded rangeland, Namibia' (Box 3.4).In the following, the natural environment of SRM technologies implemented in different RUS is characterized with respect to rainfall, agro-climatic zone, slopes, soil organic matter, biodiversity, availability of surface and groundwater (Figure 3.11). Note that 'parks & reserves' have been omitted from the graphs because the very small sample size (2) distorts the data.Rainfall regime and agro-climatic zone: In three RUS, namely 'pastoral' and 'agropastoral', 'bounded with wild-life', more than 80% of the SRM technologies are reported from areas with less than 500 mm annual rainfall (Figure 3.11b). For the same systems, more than three quarters are categorized as lying in the semi-arid to arid zones (Figure 3.11c). Looking at the rainfall map provided in Chapter 2 (see Figure 2.2b), it can be seen that they are concentrated in the northern part of the Sahelian region of West Africa, in the north-eastern lowlands of East Africa and the western parts of Southern Africa. These areas comprise grasslands, open shrublands and savannahs. Even though 'pastoral', 'agropastoral' and 'bounded with wildlife' systems may cover a wide range of rainfall regimes, the practices documented are located in low rainfall areas. Practices in 'bounded without wildlife' and 'pastures' systems are mainly recorded from drier regions, but some are documented from subhumid and humid areas.Topography is illustrated by the slopes on which the SRM technologies are implemented (Figure 3.11d). The cases documented are generally found on flat and gentle slopes. 'Bounded without wildlife' and 'pastures' systems -latter mainly from Ethiopia -are also recorded as being on hilly and steep slopes. 'Pastoral', 'agropastoral' and 'bounded with wildlife' systems are typified by moderate to rolling slopes.Even though the majority of the land used by single practices is in flatter areas, livestock have access to hilly and mountainous areas, generally with higher rainfall and forage resources, and animals can then move between different topographic environments. However, in the 'pastures' system, cases are generally restricted to a single topographical category.Soils and soil organic matter: Soils in the rangelands vary considerably with respect to soil organic matter -which is an indicator of productivity (Figure 3.11e  Bourgou or \"hippo grass\" (Echinochloa stagnina) improves the availability of fodder for livestock in the Niger river's inland delta region. Agropastoralism is taking precedence here over pure pastoralism, and is helping reduce conflict with agriculturalists. There are some interesting initiatives in terms of fodder production techniques: bourgou culture is one of these. Given the lack of forage and pastureland for livestock, land users have taken to replanting and cultivating this indigenous grass.Bourgou pastures can produce up to 30 tonnes of dry matter per hectare in one year, possible due to the wet conditions in the delta. The regeneration techniques used are layering and transplanting of bourgou cuttings or splits. Bourgou has good prospects for the future in areas where it can be grown -based on its nutritional value and yield during the 'lean' season. There is keen interest within the Central Niger Delta -and this forage is in high demand by local livestock keepers.https://qcat.wocat.net/en/summary/1638/; E. Botoni pers comm.(Malian Ministry of Environment)In the following, the human environment of the of SRM technologies implemented in different RUS is characterized with respect to land and water use rights, land size, market orientation and off-farm income (Figure 3.12).Land and water use rights as indicators of land tenure: For 'pastoral' systems, communal rights apply to all of the practices reported, and in over 60% of the cases, with respect to water (Figure 3.12b and c Chapter 3 Rangeland use systems and their management less than 0.5% SOC, and 38% contained between 0.5% and 2% SOC. The study concluded that the rangelands of South Africa are characterised by topsoils with very low organic matter levels. The main natural factors influencing the organic matter content in the cases throughout SSA were listed as rainfall, vegetation cover, topography and parent material. However, particular management practices such as heavy grazing and burning tend to decrease the level of soil organic matter (and thus carbon). Because of the low levels of soil organic carbon in rangeland soils, there is good potential for sequestering carbon in the soil from the atmosphere through better perennial vegetative cover.In systems with wildlife management, species diversity of fauna is high -in terms of richness that is the number of different species (see Chapter 2.1.7). In the others, species diversity is mostly medium to low (Figure 3.11f). It is low particularly in systems where crop cultivation is prominent such as within the 'pastures' system. Biodiversity in rangelands especially in relation with wildlife management is an important issue, however not addressed sufficiently as the limited examples and data confirm. Moreover biodiversity does not just relate to wildlife, but to vegetation also -and to organisms within the soil which help to drive ecosystem function. The data available in the case studies do not, and could not be expected to, give a full assessment of biodiversity status.Surface water availability: Surface water availability in rangelands is poor to medium (Figure 3.11g). Other than in the 'pastures' system, which can receive high amounts of rainfall (750 to 1500 mm), surface water availability is estimated to be medium. In 'agropastoral' systems, which are generally practiced in areas with less rainfall than in 'pastures', there is less surface water available.Groundwater availability: In many areas, rangelands do have potential groundwater supplies, but wells often have to be drilled to 50 m or more. An exception is under 'pastures', where groundwater tables are at 5-50 m: these are situated in the wetter regions with better surface and rain water availability, whereas the other systems not only have less rainfall and less surface water, but also deeper aquifers (Figure 3.11h). The Jarsa Dedha is an indigenous institution, through which customary laws and provisions guide the management of natural resources. The Boran of Isiolo County, Kenya, like their kin in southern Ethiopia, derive their customary laws from an overall supreme general assembly called the Gadha -under which the Jarsa Dedha falls. The Gadha governing council preserves traditional laws and codes of conduct, as well as issuing amendments and additions based on the evolving environmental, social and cultural context. The system has a set of laws and provisions (seere), customs and culture (aada), and norms and values that govern society.The traditional system, which was devised by the Boran pastoral community and honed over centuries to suit the challenges of the rangelands, has been steadily eroded by external factors and formalised systems after the emergence of the nationstate. This approach -driven by communities and supported by various agencies -aims to revive and strengthen the traditional natural resource management institutions of Boran pastoralists in Northern Kenya. Land size and scale of land use: In the systems where crop cultivation is an integral part of the system, land use is mainly declared as being small-scale; for 'pastures' systems, and for 'agropastoral', 70% and 60% respectively of reported practice are small-scale (Figure 3.12d). This is unexpected for the 'agropastoral' system, however examination of the data shows that land users only referred to their cropland. The 'bounded with wildlife systems' are more than 55% large-scale, compared with 30% in the 'bounded without wildlife'. Conservancies and ranches that include wildlife have, in general, to be large in order to sustain and feed wildlife and livestock.Market orientation and production focus: In the systems where crop production is involved ('agropastoral' and 'pastures') land users have a mixed (subsistence combined with commercial) or subsistence market orientation (Figure 3.12e). According to the examples documented, 'pastoral' systems (e.g. 'Securing pastoral mobility, Chad'; page 127) mainly follow a mixed market orientation. Pastoralists earn money by selling their livestock for slaughter. In 'bounded' systems, production is to a large extent for the market, particularly when wildlife is part of the system and tourism provides revenues (e.g. 'Il Ngwesi Holistic Management, Kenya' (page 157). Where wildlife is not part of the system, subsistence farming is also common.The market orientation of the different rangeland use systems differs considerably, and includes the following products: meat, milk, cheese, blood, hides, honey, medicinal and cosmetic-producing plants (gum arabic, shea nuts, aloe etc), charcoal, and draught animals for hire. There are also incidences of raising and keeping animals as insurance and 'mobile banks', as a statement of wealth, social prestige, and for cultural value. One production focus is income from tourism or grants from agencies for keeping and enhancing wildlife biodiversity -and from protection of endangered species. For the different production systems, herd composition of large stock, small stock, a mix between grazers/ browsers and wildlife plays an important role in marketing and income generation. All of this illustrates the wide variety of different products and markets that rangeland users are involved with; both subsistence and commercial, and both livestock products and non-livestock rangeland products (NLRP).Off-farm income is defined as income not directly from the rangelands, such as part-time employment in business (other than marketing agricultural rangeland products). In all rangeland use systems, except the 'bounded with wildlife' system, off-farm income is usually less than 10% of all income, indicating that a high proportion of rangeland users depend almost entirely on their rangelands (Figure 3.12e). In 'bounded with wildlife' systems, off-farm income of 10-50% is reported in more than half of the cases. In 'Rangeland restoration, Kenya', and 'Grass reseeding, Kenya'; pages 221 and 215) off-farm income is even larger than 50%. In these cases the main income is from employment in tourist lodges or in providing transport for livestock and products.For the characterization of the rangeland use systems, emergency feed and drought need to be considered. All RUS can, and are, affected by unpredictable droughts with growing frequency (see Chapter 2.1.2). The systems with the highest levels of mobility rely on rights and access to supplementary dry grazing grounds, usually integrated into the system, which means adaptation through mobility ('pastoral' and 'agropastoral' system). For the 'bounded' systems livestock and wildlife need fodder and the ability to store emergency Chapter 3Rangeland use systems and their management Box 3.4: Innovative arrangements to convert degraded agropastoral rangeland into fruitful landscape, NamibiaArrangements between a commercial farmer and agriculture students have been made to raise the productivity of rangeland -through managing runoff to grow multipurpose trees and bushes. The objective is to share knowledge and experiences gained by the land user to grow valuable woody plants, grass and herbs, which students can then apply elsewhere.Trees included large canopy species, shorter thornless types for \"chop and drop\" mulching and those that produce fruits or edible leaves. While the banks become crucial fertile patches in this arid landscape, they also act as broad barriers to sheet flow, slowing it down and increasing infiltration rates locally. Thus degraded \"leaky landscapes\" turn into \"sponge landscapes\" and restore deeper and more persistent soil moisture.    Apart from classifying the main rangeland use systems (RUS), the sustainable rangeland management practices -technologies and approaches -also need to be grouped to identify common principles and intervention strategies for improved management of the rangeland.Sustainable rangeland management (SRM) is a subset of sustainable land management (SLM) and uses the same definitions with \"land\" being substituted by \"rangelands\" (Box 3.7). In total, 69 SRM technologies and 42 SRM approaches from 16 countries in SSA have been documented in the WOCAT database, and analysed in these guidelines. Out of those, 28 technologies and 28 approaches were documented specifically for these guidelines. Firebreaks are used on rangeland with rainfall between 150 and 300 mm per annum, and are employed as a precautionary measure -to protect forage on rangelands during the dry season following good grass growth. Bushfires are frequent on productive rangelands where there is over one tonne of standing biomass per hectare. Firebreaks cut continuous tracts of rangeland into smaller areas, thus containing and limiting damage in the event of fire. They may be established along traditional tracks, by broadening the width of the pathways. Firebreak gaps simultaneously make it easier to extinguish fires along these corridors, by facilitating rapid access. Preventing spread of fire is achieved through removing combustible material. There are two techniques for creating firebreaks: (i) manually and (ii) by machine. In both cases, a 10 to 15 m wide corridor is cleared, perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction.https://qcat.wocat.net/en/summary/1616/ (GIZ)More than 70% of the cases documented, whether technologies or approaches, were introduced or promoted by projects and research.About 20-30% of the cases, can be assigned to land users' traditional knowledge or recent, independent innovation.More than 80% of the SRM technologies are reported from areas with less than 500 mm annual rainfall.Cases documented are generally found on flat and gentle slopes.Practices are from areas that have low to medium organic matter content, indicating that they are either from areas with less developed or fertile soils (marginal lands) or from areas affected by high land degradation.Species diversity of fauna is high -in terms of richness (the number of different species).Wildlife management is an important issue in rangelands.Surface water availability in rangelands is poor to medium.For 'pastoral' systems, communal rights apply to all of the practices reported.The 'agropastoral' systems are under communal (organised) and open access (unorganised) regimes.In the 'pastures' systems, land use rights are individual in just under half of the cases.The market orientation of the different rangeland use systems differs considerably, and includes: meat, milk, cheese, blood, hides, honey, medicinal and cosmetic-producing plants (gum arabic, shea nuts, aloe etc.), charcoal, and draught animals for hire.In all rangeland use systems, except the 'bounded with wildlife' system, off-farm income is usually less than 10% of all income.For the characterization of the rangeland use systems, emergency feed and drought need to be considered.Systems with the highest levels of mobility rely on rights and access to supplementary dry grazing grounds, usually integrated into the system.Regulated fire can help control woody species and create space for grassland regeneration -but uncontrolled fires can destroy useful vegetation.Following on from the definitions of SRM and of technologies (Box 3.7) and analysing the similarities and differences of the collected SRM technologies, it is possible to group the technologies according to their main focus in relation to three criteria: movement, forage and water availability. Thus the practices have been examined and the question asked: \"what is the main technical focus?\" and then the SRM technologies allocated within five groups. In some cases, a single practice may fall into two groups -where it was found to have two equally important focuses.The documented practices were classified into the following SRM technology groups (TGs):Enabled mobility (TG1) (including improved access): comprises practices that assist grazing over large areas or diverse zones to seek forage and water using traditional knowledge and innovations, or new technologies e.g. satellite image analysis, early warning systems at large-scale.Controlled grazing (TG2) (including seasonal grazing): involves enclosures, physical or social fencing, rotations, grazing reserves (fodder banks), regulating grazing and mobility.Range improvement (TG3) (including soil improvement): involves management of fire/ prescribed burning, firebreaks, enrichment planting, seeding of leguminous species, control of bush encroachment and alien invasive species, natural regeneration, soil fertility amendments (manure), erosion control, soil moisture (water harvesting micro-catchments), reducing evaporation losses.Supplementary feeding (TG4) (including emergency feeding): may involve (a) fodder collection within or outside the rangeland areas: fresh fodder material, hay making, tree pod collection; (b) production or buying of processed or compound feed: silage, animal feed supplements (bales, pellets), urea and molasses blocks, minerals and salt licks, etc. Supplementary feeding can be applied for increased milk and meat production during normal years and as lifesaving strategy during emergency e.g. droughts.Box 3.8: Sustainable propagation of the fodder plant \"samata\" in MadagascarIn the semi-arid Mahafaly region in southwestern Madagascar, the local agropastoral population relies on livestock keeping.Possibly related to ongoing climate change with shorter rainy seasons and more droughts as well as increasing risks of cattle raids on the inland plateau, the return of the cattle herds to the coastal plain from their annual transhumance tends to start earlier each year. As a result, the grazing pressure on the fragile coastal vegetation increases. During the dry season, livestock keepers use the cut and latex-rich branches of a treelike spurge locally named \"samata\" (Euphorbia stenoclada), an evergreen succulent, as a feed supplement for animals, especially for their zebu cattle. Propagation of \"samata\" through tree nurseries and compliance with recovery periods are important measures to sustain the local livestock system while reducing the pressure on natural vegetation.  Infrastructure improvement (TG5): includes the establishment of water points, wells, boreholes, ponds, pans and dams (macro-catchments), floodwater spreading, trenches, drinking water quality protection, livestock corridors, access roads and transport roads of animals and animal feed.Note: the SRM technology groups above apply to livestock management but may also facilitate wildlife managementIn the three SSA regions more than half of all documented SRM technologies (69) are characterized by 'range improvement' (Figure 3.13). One out of seven practices focusses on 'controlled grazing', followed by 'infrastructure improvement', 'supplementary feeding' and 'enabled mobility'. 'Enabled mobility' is missing altogether in Southern Africa -which is because there were no 'pastoral' systems reported from that region (see Figure 3.9a The SRM approaches have been classified into four groups according to their main function. The three criteria used in this classification were the (i) scale of planning and intervention, (ii) market orientation and (iii) income generation.The documented practices were classified into the following SRM approach groups (AG):Community based NRM (Natural Resource Management) (AG1): involves community organisation, formation of savings groups and user groups to plan and govern improved management of the natural resources: vegetation, soil, water and animals (including land use planning at the smallscale).Land & water use planning (AG2) (medium to largescale): includes the establishment of concepts and management plans for conflict management, livestock and wildlife routes or corridors, set-up of water points, resting, rotation, facilitation of multi-level support, multi-stakeholder interaction and agreements, and support for improved medium to large-scale planning and implementation of rangeland practices.Marketing & alternative income (AG3): promotes improved marketing to adapt the products and sales according to market information, through value chain development to shift to high-value (and origin-specific) labelled products (e.g. for 'naturally produced' grass-fed beef or game), to improve abattoirs and value of the meat; non-livestock rangeland products (NLRP), e.g. to legally produce charcoal, firewood, grass for thatching, fruits, nuts (e.g. for shea nut butter), gum arabic, medicinal plants, milk, and payment for ESS.Wildlife & nature tourism (AG4): using and managing the \"value of nature and wildlife\" in parks, reserves and protected areas by providing and managing tourism and collecting revenues from tourists, protection of the land and animals against poaching or interference by other land uses and users.In The analysis of approaches shows that the same condition (e.g. 'land governance') can constrain or stimulate an SRM practice (a specific approach or technology) depending on the situation and specific context (Figure 4.2a). For example, a law on rangeland use could support the implementation of a specific SRM technology, but the same law might hinder another.A comparison with the global WOCAT database -coveringChapter 4 Sustainable rangeland management -drivers, impacts and continuous changeRangelands have continuously undergone, and are still undergoing, changes -albeit at different rates and in different ways across the various regions of SSA. Although generations of rangeland users have lived with change, the current pace and scale is unprecedented (IIED and SOS Sahel 2010). The response from users has been to adapt livelihood strategies to cope with new political, economic, climatic and environmental forces -but the pace of this transformation has sharply accelerated in recent years (Krätli et al. 2014).In order to identify causes of unsustainable practices and to help identify sustainable rangeland management (SRM) solutions, a conceptual framework is proposed to show drivers and impacts related to SRM (Figure 4.1). It focusses on drivers behind land management, their influence on the choice and implementation of rangeland management practices, on the health of the land and the resulting impacts on ecosystem services. This framework has, at its core, a cycle of changes and impacts where SRM is implemented. It illustrates that this is a dynamic process, where the impact of a land management practice in turn influences and changes its drivers. Thus, the altered drivers will lead to a different response, namely a change or adaptation of management, which in turn will have an influence on the state and impact -and so on. Additonally, the framework includes the interaction with external drivers such as global markets (for rangeland products, and rangeland ecosystem services including carbon sequestration), policies for conservation (e.g. support for protection of landscapes and animals), but it also includes the natural hazards of droughts and floods that are increasingly being brought by climate change.Chapter 4 Sustainable rangeland management -drivers, impacts and continuous change Local-national drivers including shocks and extreme events:• Ecological/ natural all land uses -shows that rangelands demonstrate similar hindering conditions: (lack of/ inadequate) 'knowledge about SLM', 'legal frameworks,' 'institutional settings' and 'social/ cultural norms' (Figure 4.2b). But, contrastingly, the same comparison indicates that rangelands are much more sensitive than cropland in relation to 'policies' (mentioned in more than 75% of the rangeland approaches compared with 8% of the global database), 'collaboration and coordination of actors' (68% / 4%), 'markets' (62% / 8%), 'land governance'(62%/ 8%), and 'workload, availability of manpower' (52% / 19%). It could be seen that, when the entire set of documented cases was analysed, these factors were mentioned much less often. Another clear difference is the specific mention of multiple factors enabling the implementation of SRM. In the global database (once again: covering all land uses and not only rangelands) it is only the 'legal framework' that is commonly mentioned as an enabling factor. These results highlight the fact that SRM is hindered by many more issues than other land uses; but also multiple factors are recognised as being favourable.The most important hindering condition mentioned in the SRM approaches is 'policies' followed in importance by 'collaboration/ coordination of actors'. Misguided policies place straightjackets on rangeland management, by leaving little room for flexibility. Furthermore, rangelands with all the complex ecological and stakeholder interactions depend much more on collaboration and coordination of actors to be successfully managed. The same is true for 'land governance', 'institutional setting' and 'legal framework', all of which were mentioned as hindering the implementation of the technologies in more than 50% of the cases.As shown in Figure 4.2a, socio-cultural acceptability, sufficient manpower, favourable policies, governance and legal frameworks, and access to markets for inputs and sales are preconditions for action. Any technology that reduces workloads -and with this requirements for labour -encourages diversification of investment and activities. Lack of knowledge and technical support, and financial resources, are also factors that strongly impede action. Often, exposure to new ideas and innovations, as well as training, trigger action and different kinds of financial support permit action in the first place.Legal framework is mentioned amongst the top ranking factors as being hindering and/or enabling: whether it hampers or helps clearly depends on the specific nature of the legal framework. Even when rules and laws are in place, they are commonly not followed -as for example in 'Integrated approach, Tanzania' 1 and 'Initiative for animal water supply, Tanzania' 2 . Examples of an enabling legal framework are to be found in 'Community participation in GGW, Niger' (page 303), where securing access rights to land and water resources encourages investment in land restoration. The legal framework is also positive in 'Participatory mapping, Kenya' (page 311) and 'Joint village, Tanzania' (page 319). Tanzania's legislation, if implemented well, provides an enabling environment to secure community/ village rights for both individuals and groups. However, the same legislation allows village land to be transferred into public ownership if that is in the \"public\" or \"national\" interest: this then brings insecurity with respect to village land, and hinders SRM.Depending on the technology to be implemented, funds ('availability/ access to financial resources') is often a limiting factor. However, where projects are involved, financial resources are invariably provided -either fully or partially -and hence this becomes an enabling factor, for at least as long as the project lasts. Social and cultural issues, as well as religious norms and values, are also named as hindering factors on the one hand, but contrastingly as enabling on the other. Examples are: 'Transboundary transhumance, Niger and Benin' (page 297), where the approach facilitates the arrangement of social agreements for securing land resources for livestock keeping, but there are still constraints related to the lack of knowledge by herders of the regulations on mobility across the border. QA 2.9 Conditions enabling and hindering the implementation of the approach 60 there is a clear understanding of the benefits of reactivating the traditional social structures and management systems. However, current cultural norms and socio-political systems hinder this, therefore adaptations need to be applied to make them viable under current conditions. 'Kenya Livestock Insurance Program (KLIP), Kenya' (page 337) shows that apart from being the main source of livelihoods, pastoralism is a cultural practice that has been passed on from generation to generation. Pastoralists aspire to protect their herds from all manner of perils, including drought. On the other hand, many of them believe that people should not interfere with God's will and doubt whether insurance is \"halal\" in the context of Islamic Shariah. Such challenges have been addressed by KLIP, through awareness creation and sensitisation in consultation with religious leaders, insurance companies and the local communities. In 'Bush control, Namibia' (page 229), norms and values are enabling factors, but the low level of cooperation and information exchange hinder its implementation. 'Joint village, Tanzania' (page 319) holds that the history of collective tenure, management and sharing of rangeland resources are part of SRM practices. However, marginalisation of pastoralists from decision-making processes at local and higher levels remains a hindering factor.SRM is hindered by many more issues than in other land uses; but multiple factors are also recognised as being favourable.The most important hindering factors in over half of the documented practices are 'policies', 'collaboration', 'land governance' 'markets', legal framework', 'institutional settings', 'knowledge' and 'workload'.If these multiple issues are addressed they can be turned into key enabling factors underpinning successful implementation of SRM.There are a wide variety of purposes cited for applying the technologies (Figure 4.3). Most of the SRM technologies (75%) indicate that taking action against land degradation is the main purpose -even above 'improve production' and 'create beneficial economic impact'. This is logical, since the practices described -especially those associated with projects -specifically address SRM. To be able to improve production, limiting factors such as land degradation have to be addressed first.Around 20% of the cases mention 'adaptation to and mitigation of climate change', 'disaster risk reduction' and 'watershed protection' as specific purposes. These concepts may have been unclear to many respondents -or (in the case of watershed protection) not meaningful at the scale of the particular technology. Off-site impacts are, currently, not given adequate attention compared with on-site effects, which are more immediately rewarding. On the other hand 'conservation of ecosystems' and 'protection of biodiversity' are evidently a real concern.Analysis of the SRM technologies reveals the perceived drivers related to climate change that justify the adaptation or coping strategies offered by the particular technologies (Figure 4.4).More than 90% of the cases report an increase in annual temperature, and more than 40% of cases a decrease in annual rainfall. A change in annual temperature increases evapotranspiration (higher loss of water from the soil surface, and a higher transpiration demand from the vegetation). Furthermore, as shown in Figure 2.2a, high temperatures can create heat stress, which interferes with plant growth and development. As the majority of rangelands are situated in the drylands, higher temperatures increase their aridity in most of Sub-Saharan Africa with major implications for productivity (Lovei et al. 2017, Serdeczny et al. 2017). The popular perception is that rainfall is decreasing across the rangelands. However, in Kenya, investigations in one dryland area generated long-term data that showed an increasing trend (Schmocker et al. 2015, Kihara et al. 2015, Zougmoré et al. 2018), despite the perception of land users that rain was becoming less. This apparent contradiction could be attributed to the reduced response of the land to rainfall, implying that despite the same, or better, rains the land appeared no greener -due to increased evaporation and greater runoff losses associated with degradation. These losses of water can be further exacerbated by a proven trend of increasing rainfall amounts and intensities within single storms and longer dry spells within rainy seasons (see Box 2.1). Of course, it might also be explained by the fact that people, by nature, tend to be pessimistic about the climate.In the last 10 years, 'droughts' are perceived as the most important and increasing climate extreme in the locations where SRM is practiced (>60%) (Figure 4.5). This trend is confirmed by the drought frequency map (see Figure 2.4). Sub-Saharan Africa in general will have to deal increasingly with, and adapt to, drought incidences and lengths in the future. The second most important climate extreme mentioned is 'local rainstorms' (more than 40%).Change in rainfall regimes and intensities were perceivedLand users and specialist implementing SRM focus on the following key concerns in rangelands and related activities: addressing land degradation, improving production, conserving ecosystems, creating economic benefits and preserving biodiversity.Many are also adapting to climate change and extreme events, mitigating climate change and protecting watershed and downstream areas.to increase 'general floods' (30%), 'flash floods' (9%) and 'local hailstorms' (6%) -indeed all can be devastating when they occur in drylands. 'Local windstorms' (32%) and 'sandstorms' (4%) were also said to be increasing.   In Senegal a risk assessment and prioritisation survey showed that the main risks in the livestock sector based on severity, frequency and impact ranks were: risks associated with bush fires (ranked 1 st ), followed by risks linked to animal health and diseases (2 nd ), rainfall (3 rd ), markets (4 th ), conflicts (5 th ) and plagues of locusts (ranked 6th and last) (Wane et al. 2016).Climate change, and climate-related extreme events are serious issues to be addressed in SRM Thus a major aim is to increase the resilience against shocks and extremes: first and foremost are drought, floods and wind storms.of cattle has been provided to build resilient livelihoods for local pastoralists. The model works to first buy cattle from NRT-affiliated conservancies, these cattle are sold on weight and grade. It attempts to embrace a more marketdriven approach. Another example of a livestock to markets programme is presented in Box 4.2.Access to financial resources and services: For large landscape 'pastoral' and 'agropastoral' systems, livestock represent, overwhelmingly, the most important form of financial capital for pastoralists. They are the primary source of pastoral income, savings, loans, investments and insurance. Social networks assist in sharing, buffering and minimising risks related to this single-asset economic system under such uncertain conditions. Threats to the herd or to the clan are therefore serious blows to pastoral financial capital. Variations in market prices and problems also represent major financial threats. Lack of access to other sources of income -such as government employment -can also be perceived as evidence of injustice, as the Touareg rebellion in the 1990s attested (Nori et al. 2005). For 'bounded' and 'pastures' systems privately owned ranches and farms have more opportunities for access to financial resources.Access to Infrastructure and services: According to the analysis in Figure 4.6, 'employment' and 'financial services' are poor and are seen to be the most pressing issues constraining the implementation of SRM. Only around 4 to 12% considered the situation of infrastructure and services to be good in the areas where the technologies are applied. Availability of 'drinking water and sanitation', 'education', 'health' and 'roads and transport' were rated slightly better than financial and technical assistance, or access to markets and opportunities for employment.Marketing diversity of livestock and non-livestock rangeland products: In the drylands of SSA, production systems are centred on the rearing and marketing of livestock and animal products. Some practices include commercialised forms of livestock-keeping oriented to large domestic and regional export markets, and smaller scale livestock-keeping for subsistence and local marketing combined with crop production and other rural activities. However, these systems are often complemented by a broad range of non-livestock livelihoods and productive activities. Not all rangeland user focus on animals alone -\"non-livestock rangeland products\" (NLRP) including the service sector (for tourism), and both cosmetic and medicinal produce, constitute a growing part of a wider political economy in the drylands (see Chapter 2.1.3).Accessibility to attractive markets for buying and selling of livestock: Despite livestock production being key in SSA, markets for livestock in the region are faced with significant price disincentives. These disincentives arise from issues related to market inefficiencies, such as exploitation by middlemen, high transport costs, government taxes and fees imposed on cattle trekkers, lack of market infrastructure, financial and technical service constraints, and inadequate market information system (Aklilu 2002, Ahuya et al. 2005, Muthee 2006, Makokha et al. 2013). Given the challenges facing livestock markets and rural households to improve their livelihoods, rural households are likely to explore the possibilities of more profitable uses such as conversion to crop farming, land leases, or sales to immigrant crop farmers (Markelova et al. 2009).Fair prices for all rangeland products: The ability of rangeland users to raise their incomes also depends on their ability to compete effectively in the market. Even though access to markets and improving marketing are a key factor in SRM -either hindering or helping -only a few documented practices have addressed and improved the market situation or facilitated access to financial resources. This needs further attention.Infrastructural services in rangelands are only rarely considered good. Improvements in infrastructure are a prerequisite for the future of SRM.As noted already, polices -or their absence -hinder the implementation of SRM in 75% of the practices analysed under these guidelines, though in 55% of cases they were seen to enable implementation (note: in some case various policies had different effects, thus the total adds up to more than 100%). Lack of policies, existing policies not effectively implemented, or new policies that are in direct contradiction to traditional and customary systems and not consistent with the needs of different rangeland users, all hinder SRM. Two critical issues underlie the problem of missing policies: a knowledge gap and power imbalance. Lack of knowledge hinders an objective view of the merits and demerits mainly of existing pastoral systems, while the power imbalance is responsible for pastoral people not being sufficiently organised and therefore unable to advocate their arguments (ODI 2009). Issues that need to be addressed as priorities are improved tenure security, a closer role for pastoral communities in rangeland management, equal access to pastoral resources for women and other vulnerable groups, the establishment of processes for the resolution of cross-boundary disputes, and improved resource-use technologies and promotion of participation of pastoral communities in decision-making processes (African Union 2013).In Kenya, the most recent policy change, with the acknowledgment of community land in the national Constitution and the adoption of the Community Land Act (2016), provides positive direction for the management and tenure of the remaining community grazing areas. Within the act there is provision for the sustainable management of grazing, while encouraging broader movement of pastoralists within and between community areas through reciprocal grazing agreements among communities. In addition, the Wildlife Act of 2013 includes provision for wildlife conservancies, which across much of Kenya have been a key tool in encouraging the improved use of natural resources, including grazing management. However, despite recent strides, much of Kenya's broader strategies and policy direction relating to country-wide development, such as the National Land Strategy and the LAPPSET (Lamu Port, South Sudan, and Ethiopia Transport Corridor) developments, do not acknowledge the importance of pastoralists and livestock production for the local or national economies. Under these plans, many pastoral areas are labelled as 'undeveloped' and embrace large-scale planned infrastructural and development projects (Mwangi and Ostrom 2009).In Uganda, national policy has taken strides towards supporting pastoral production systems, yet the implementation and detail is missing. For example, the current government has effectively subsidised the conversion of rangelands into agricultural areas through the provision of free tractors and materials to farmers. There is some positive policy in Uganda: Section 47 of the National Environment Act (1995), for example, provides for the sustainable management and use of rangelands, and The National Land Policy (2013) provides for the establishment of appropriate agro-ecological zones, pastoral resource areas and maintenance of an equitable balance between use of land for pasture and agriculture. However, this has not yet been implemented under the National Development Plan (Byakagaba et al. 2018).In Tanzania, policy and legislation differ over the rights and importance of pastoral production and livelihoods. The National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty ( 2004) acknowledges pastoralism as a livelihood, and encourages efficient utilisation of rangelands resources -empowering pastoral institutions. However, other policy, such as the Rural Development Strategy (RDS) 2001, pushes for the sedenterisation of pastoralists. In addition, more recent policy, such as the National Livestock Policy (2006), under Vision 2025, urges the commercialisation of livestock production in the pastoral sector. This has also encouraged sedenterisation and individual pasture ownership. Additionally, Kilimo Kwanza (\"agriculture first\"), the Tanzanian plan to transform the agricultural sector has little support for pastoral management of rangelands. Furthermore, governmental initiatives to confiscate cattle from Kenyans in northern Tanzania, coupled with the registration of Tanzanian pastoralists, may further reduce mobility and decrease pastoral resilience.Policies (and to some extent, legislation) can be in direct conflict with the customary systems of management upon which rangeland management is based. Control of access to, and management of, dryland resources under traditional institutions has, over time, been weakened mainly by unsupportive national policies.International regulations, such as those imposed on import of beef into the lucrative EU market, have resulted in the erection of veterinary cordon fences that disrupt wildlife migration and have contributed to rangeland degradation. This is further exacerbated by the carving up of communal land into leasehold ranches and the segregation of land use into well-intentioned but poorly thought-through zoning as part of land use planning. On the positive side, the partial devolution of wildlife and forest resources to conservancies and community forests has reinstated some incentives for improved management of natural resources.Rangelands span local and national political boundaries, necessitating sharing of resources and ecosystem services. This implies the crucial need for integrated land use planning at various scales and links to be drawn with transboundary agreements.Transboundary natural resource management is important, not only in promoting sustainable natural resource management, but also for stronger regional and subregional integration and cohesion, as well as reducing cross-border tension: hence the alternative name of 'Peace Parks' (used especially in Southern Africa). actors at various levels, and between interests in conservation (for 'green' purposes) and exploitative investments, can lead to conflicts and constraints on rangeland management (Box 4.4). Of all the concluded agricultural deals in Africa, 70% are in SSA, out of which a substantial share is in the rangelands (see Chapter 2.1.5). This underlines the importance of large-scale land acquisitions as a driver of land use change in the rangelands.The loss of large parts of the rangelands to outside players represents a systematic, increasing, weakening and fragmentation of pastoral systems that has important consequences well beyond the pastoral economy as such (Krätli et al. 2014).Tenure Between 2005 and 2009, there was keen global enthusiasm for the shrub jatropha, which many investors, government actors and NGOs perceived as a 'miracle' crop. The reason was simply that plant-based alternatives were looked upon as the answer to shortages of fossil fuels: these were the \"biofuel boom years\". Thus jatropha was ideal: rich in hydrocarbons, it thrived in dry environments and could readily be processed into biodiesel. Plantations were established on a large-scale in Kenya, Mali, Mozambique and Tanzania. Ghana generated a great amount of interest too. Here, a number of private companies were ready and eager to make substantial investments in jatropha farming. Indeed Ghana was set to host a million hectares of plantations under agreements between the government and foreign-owned companies. But, as with many such speculative enterprises, the sector collapsed -failing to realise the initial over-optimistic projections. A start was made, 12-months-Jatropha plantation -Smart Oil (Pietro Fabeni).but unforeseen hurdles and barriers proved insurmountable.The lands acquired through the traditional authorities and Ghanaian middlemen were fertile lands that were, in most cases, under active use by the community for grazing and crop farming: thus conflict could not be avoided. Furthermore, very considerable initial capital was needed, high volumes had to be rapidly achieved, and to compound this, the global financial crisis of 2008 led to many investors pulling out due to lack of funds and fears of volatile oil prices. Low levels of learning and knowledge-sharing between jatropha niche actors in the country, alongside weak public R&D support, reduced access to locally specific technical and managerial information. Rather than land users being involved they were alienated. All-in-all the jatropha 'mirage' in Sub-Saharan Africa proved to be a salutary lesson in how not to develop the drylands.Nygaard and Bolwig 2017; http://news.trust.org//item/?map=jatropha-biofuel-push-in-ghana-runs-up-against-protests; https://beahrselp.berkeley.edu/blog/land-grabbing-and-jatropha-boom-in-ghana/ Jatropha seeds from Ghana (Jatrophaworld.org).An example where lack of rights hinders implementation is: 'Mugie Livestock to Markets, Kenya' (see Box 4.2).In this case, laws encourage sub-division of rangelands into small units that are unviable in terms of maintaining essential ecosystem services or economic use. The 'Chyulu Hills Community REDD + , Kenya' 3 highlights the problem of management of different parts of the landscape by various authorities following different laws: this leads to confusions and conflicts that hinders the implementation of SRM.Land use rights documented are mainly communally organised (35%) followed by individual/ rights (31%) (Figure 4.7).Water use rights are mainly communally organised (31%) with open access unorganised use rights a little less (21%).According to Figure 3.12, most of the individual (and leased) land use rights are found in 'small-scale settled pastures', as well as 'agropastoralist' systems.Due to an increase of multiple claims over rangelands, compounded by increasingly limited resources, land and water use rights play a key role in enabling or hindering implementation of SRM. There are basically two categories of rights: formal/ legal rights and informal/ customary rights. In some situations these two rights are in conflict.Efforts to harmonise the two -e.g. by formalising customary rights -can remove obstacles to successful spreading of SRM: see for example the technology 'Dedha grazing system, Kenya' (page 149). Another example of formalising customary rules is the effort to ensure wide dissemination of community legislation governing the management of transhumance practices, and thus enabling conflict-free and sustainable access to resources for livestock keeping, as that lend themselves to crop production and more intensive forms of livestock keeping within integrated systems, in place of traditional mobile pastoralism (Woodhouse 2003, Sonneveld et al. 2010, Awgachew et al. 2015). Land titling is favoured by many current global development cooperation efforts, leading to fencing and fragmentation (Lovschal et al. 2017).Common types of fragmentation -all of which transform habitats -include residential and urban development, establishment of ranches, commercial/ large-scale agriculture, conservancies, small-scale agriculture and perhaps unexpectedly, encroachment by invasive plant species (Flintan 2011a), for example Prosopis spp in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan 5 (see Box 4.10 Woody Weeds). Agriculture compartmentalises rangelands by introducing fences and water channels and by utilising dry season grazing lands as farms (Kariuki et al. 2018). Land fragmentation is a direct threat to both wildlife conservation and pastoral mobility (AU-IBAR 2015).Pastoralists sometimes encourage land subdivision when they want to protect their land from agriculturalists and conservationists, or when there is uncertainty over the leadership and effectiveness of communal land tenure. The outcome of land privatisation is a decline in exclusively pastoral systems, increased sedentarisation and livelihood diversification (Kariuki et al. 2018).In the Sahel, settled families have increasingly privatised resources, putting more pressure on herders, while in East Africa there is growing subdivision of rangelands -'landscape fragmentation' -that has led to declines in wildlife and livestock numbers (Mwangi 2009, AU-IBAR 2015). The impact of these trends has been to increase conflicts, impoverish herders and has led to further degradation of the environment (AU-IBAR 2015).Chapter 4 Sustainable rangeland management -drivers, impacts and continuous change The context of many pastoral societies in SSA is changing and so is the role of women in these societies (Flintan 2011b). In many instances, changes to pastoral communities, for example those based on greater commercialisation, further marginalise agropastoral female livestock keepers (Esenu and Ossiya 2010). However, the role and resource rights of women are being increasingly accommodated in new laws and codes with the aim of removing gender bias as an obstacle to change.• Under the new Kenya Land Act, gender equity is a given right and protects women's access to matrimonial property and land. Within the same law, women can also inherit land from their parents (previously, only male children were entitled to inherit property) and contributions to accrual of property including non-monetary contributions is now taken into account during divorce. Under the Community Land Act, 2016 also in Kenya (where many rangelands fall under communal management), gender discrimination is not permitted. Through marriage, men and women gain automatic membership to the community, and thus to community resources, which only ceases in case of divorce 4 .• The Ethiopian National Action Plan for Gender Equality 2006-2010(MoWA 2006) identified severe gender inequalities especially in pastoral and agropastoral societies. The plan called for specific measures to increase gender-balanced representation within the political and public sphere with special attention to women in pastoral regions.• The African Union's policy document on pastoralism is the \"Policy Framework for Pastoralism in Africa\". Strategy 1.5 specifies that the role and rights of women in pastoral communities is to be strengthened (African Union 2010). A series of policies and pastoral laws have been approved and in general they support SRM. Implementation should focus on adherence to the laws and the proper interpretation and implementation in practice.Efforts to clarify and formalise customary rights and harmonise them with formal legal rights are rewarding in terms of SRMThe issue of mobility against sedentarisation must be continuously addressed and questioned.Multiple and especially transboundary claims over rangelands need to be addressed and solved to avoid pastoral use becoming increasingly marginalised Land grabs must be addressed and reduced in the rangelands.Tenure, land and water rights are a key challenge to SRM: clarity on tenure and rights and finding practices that work well is the starting point.Care must be given where different tenure and rights -communal, individual or open access -apply to separate parts of the rangelands.Due to increasing claims over rangelands, compounded by decreasing resources, land and water use rights play a key role in enabling SRM.A critical issue regards droughts and the need for emergency grazing grounds or access to fodder supply and /or fair markets to sell animals.The role and rights of women are increasingly being accommodated in new laws and codes. Nevertheless, gender bias needs further attention.areas will thus require substantial adaptation interventions in rangeland management to ensure sustainability (Rigaud et al. 2018). For the remaining part of Sub-Saharan Africa aridification is predicted to increase re-enforcing pressures on outmigration.In more than 50% of the approaches the higher workload and lack of manpower are reported as hindering SRM, while 45% actually cited a reduction of the workload and associated need for manpower under the new technology/ ies as being an enabling or stimulating factor (see Figure 4.2a). Often cited reasons for labour constraints are outmigration and HIV-AIDS.Sub-Saharan Africa is home to only 12% of the global population, yet accounts for 71% of the global burden of HIV infection 6 . East and Southern Africa is the region hardest hit by HIV. Countries mostly affected are South Africa (25%), Nigeria (13%), Mozambique (6%), Uganda (6%), Tanzania (6%), Zambia (4%), Zimbabwe (6%), Kenya (6%), Malawi (4%) and Ethiopia (3%) 7 .Data analysis shows that in almost 45% of the documented technologies conflict, was an issue (Figure 4.9). Furthermore, in almost 55% of the documented approaches, conflict mitigation was cited as an issue. Many conflicts within the rangelands are actually between groups of pastoralists competing for the same resources of grazing and water: and this situation is getting increasingly serious. Other conflicts -perhaps better publicised -are between pastoralists and farmers. Although conflict mitigation was not often the primary motivation behind SRM (though around 35% of the approaches it was: see Figure 4.30), it was influenced -showing that often conflict, in its diverse forms, may be a root cause and an underlying driver of improved SRM. Since conflicts are often about human relationships, approaches to improved SRM, rather than technologies themselves, would be most appropriate to tackle these problems. In the 'Community based rangeland management, Kenya' (page 287) involvement of customary institutions has contributed to mitigation and resolution of conflicts. 'Farmermanaged natural regeneration (FMNR), Kenya' 8 brings local stakeholders together for a dialogue and solving conflicts e.g. between livestock keepers and farmers.The growing population, and current levels of malnutrition, in most African states will require a massive and continuous increase in agricultural production over the coming decades (see Figure 2.6). There is an expected population growth of 3% per year for pastoralists and 2.5% for agropastoralists, assuming the same ownership patterns, and based on a \"business-as-usual\" scenario characterised by current policies (de Haan and Cervingi 2016). Touré et al. (2012) recorded an increase in the overall rural population of the West African drylands of 2.4% per year between 2005 and 2010. Almost all countries in Sub-Saharan Africa need to increase agricultural production. Land shortages are one inevitable consequence, where farming communities \"spillover\" into rangeland areas in search of cropland (Liniger et al. 2011). Thus crop production is encroaching into rangelands together with rapid urbanisation, which often occurs on the best alluvial land, alongside perennial water sources.If rangelands remain marginalised, with marginal services, and marginal opportunities -the younger generation will simply move away, leaving women and older people behind. Therefore, even if population density does not increase as predicted, the composition of people in terms of age and gender will continue to alter throughout the entire Sub-Saharan rangeland crescent. This is a strong driver of change with respect to land use and its management.It is often assumed that migration from rural to urban areas and the resulting concentration of populations in cities will ease the pressure on natural habitats. In many remote parts of SSA's rangelands, out-migration and subsequent concentration of people in urban areas has indeed reduced populations, thus leading to reduced rates of resource use: but closer to rural centres (with better infrastructure) and urban areas, the population of rangelands is still growing. Furthermore, land speculation by wealthy urban residentsencouraged by lack of land-use planning and control -has also driven the loss and fragmentation of rangelands close to towns and cities in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda. In West Africa, the increased demand for food in cities has incentivised some groups to convert forests to agricultural fields to meet this demand. These examples underline the fact that any relief from pressure on habitats from rural-urban migration may be overtaken by the increased demand for food and other natural resources from rapidly growing African cities (Güneralp et al. 2018).Figure 4.8 demonstrates that internal climate migration is likely to increase in Sub-Saharan Africa under three climatic scenarios -due to lower water availability and crop productivity, alongside rising sea level and storm surges. Two factors may be driving this. First, Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate impacts, especially in already fragile drylands and along exposed coastlines. Second, the region's agriculture sector, which employs a significant portion of the labour force, depends on rainfall for almost all its crop and livestock production (Rigaud et al. 2018).In East Africa, where aridification is predicted to remain stable, or to decrease, due to increasing rainfall (see Figure 2.2b, Figure 2.5 and Traditional natural resource access rules are rapidly changing. These were often based on a symbiotic relationship between crop farmers, who benefit from manure and the availability of draught animals as well as meat and milk, and pastoralists, who profit from crop residues, stubble grazing, and barter of their products for grain. However, in many areas, crop farmers are increasingly investing in livestock, while simultaneously pastoralists are taking up cropping as herd sizes fall below the minimum to sustain their households. The symbiotic relationship between crop farmers and pastoralists is, therefore, eroding. Furthermore, both groups are losing land to expanding agribusiness and real estate development. As a result, increasing competition for access to water and dry season grazing is marked by occasional outbursts of violence (de Haan et al. 2016) Livelihoods, poverty and market orientation Livelihoods in the rangelands, as has been noted, are diverse. Furthermore, there is a distinct disparity in wealth, between the few with substantial herds and the many with a small number of livestock.In order to better understand drivers originating from the livelihoods of the people, a number of characteristics about the households and their market orientation have been analysed, based on the rangeland practices documented (Figure 4.10).• Around half of the documented cases cover small-scale land use, about one fifth cover medium -and one fifth cover large-scale land use. However, this may not be representative of the different rangeland use systems in the SSA rangelands, where large-scale and mediumscale account for the largest area.  • Over all technologies, the highest percentage (42%) is characterised by mixed (subsistence/ commercial) market orientation, followed by subsistence (32%) then commercial (16%).• About the same number of SRM practices are implemented by individuals (42%) as by groups (38%). The rangeland use systems that integrate crop production depend more on individual land users than systems based solely on livestock production. • Furthermore, 'collaboration/ coordination of actors' was cited as being one of the top hindering factors (Figure 4.2a). This is to be expected, as effective rangeland interventions mean communal and multi-stakeholder involvement and large-scale coverage. Responding to this requirement, there is a new movement emerging which organises and legitimises groups and associations. These include pasture user groups, group ranches, cooperatives and user associations (Box 4.5). The goal is to overcome constraints to investment and detrimental changes in rangeland management.• Most of the technologies are applied jointly by men and women (60%) compared to men alone (22%). Women, perhaps unsurprisingly, rarely apply SRM technologies independently. • However, with changing dynamics, especially men leaving for urban areas in search of employment, women are increasingly finding themselves in positions of dayto-day decision-making, but seldom make major decisions such as sale of land. This outmigration of men is, however, leading to a 'feminisation' of agriculture and rangeland management (though seemingly less so), but with little associated decision-making power. This scenario, therefore, has implications on both labour and management.• In 35% of the technologies 'middle-aged' land users carry out the main role in livestock rearing/ range management activities, followed by 'youth' (18%) and 'elderly' (5%). • However, the results show a picture contrary to what might be predicted. The expectation would be more and more outmigration and diversification of income by 'middle-aged' and the 'youth', leaving behind 'elderly' land users to carry on with the lead role in livestock rearing. However, the documented results show that this has not happened -at least not yet, or at least in the areas analysed. Access to SLM knowledge and technical support was mentioned in more than 50% of the approaches as hindering implementation of technologies and in slightly less than 45% as enabling (see Figure 4.2a). Knowledge was often seen as insufficient and limiting.• Valuable traditional knowledge is continuously being lost, but it could be argued that it is no longer applicable to the same extent as before, since many of the challenges to rangelands are new. But it is widely agreed that loss of traditional knowledge, and poor integration with new ideas and concepts, constrains adaptation to changing conditions in the rangelands (Jandreau and Berkes 2016). • Knowledge about recent experiences, innovation and research are not sufficiently shared. • Land degradation processes in rangelands are still (even after decades of concern) not well understood, and shortcomings in knowledge have contributed to poorly informed interventions -even leading in some cases to increased degradation. Knowledge gaps result from a limited understanding of rangeland ecology (Davies et al. 2015).Population growth and migration are still major drivers of change in land use and rangeland management.Outmigration, especially of young males, tends to lead to feminisation in several rangeland use systems. Practices more focused on gender and reduced labour input have higher rates of successful implementation.There is increasing migration of people predicted due to aridification especially in Western and Southern Africa.Security and conflict resolution is reported to be a key issue in half of the cases and thus represents a top priority.There is a bias on reporting (and supporting) of small-scale practices which cover a small proportion of the rangeland. Large-scale mobile systems are less supported as they may be too complex and demanding for projects.Implementators should consider that more than half of the rangeland users implementing SRM are considered poor to very poor: they need support to implement SRM, or they have to implement low cost practices.Successful practices are implemented by both individuals (especially where crop production is integrated) and groups.There is a new movement towards organising and legitimising pasture user groups and associations, group ranches, and cooperatives.In West Africa at regional level, the Billital Maroobe Network (\"Reseau Billital Maroobe\") for livestock keepers and pastoralists works to defend the interests of its members. The network is convinced that pastoralism, based on spatial and seasonal mobility, represents an essential form of production through its economic, social, cultural and ecological contribution to arid and semi-arid areas. Training and capacity building to improve SRM knowledge and skills at different levels and extension services are suffering from decreasing financial support in many countries within SSA. Furthermore, constraints include shortage of trained personnel, and inadequate advisory and extension services.A wide variety of drivers seem to be important for rangelands. The magnitude, combinations and change of these drivers make rangeland management especially challenging.Rangelands throughout Sub-Saharan Africa are currently subject to three major new, additional or aggravating pressures: (1) increasing demands and claims on rangelands (driven by land demand for agriculture and nature conservation), (2) habitat fragmentation (changes in land use and land use rights) and (3) climate change (altered rainfall and seasonality patterns).Chapter 4 Sustainable rangeland management -drivers, impacts and continuous changeImproving knowledge is key in successful SRM. Poor understanding of land degradation and its consequences needs special attention.Training and capacity building at all levels to support planning and implementation of SRM emerge as a major need.Policy is very important but not always well thoughtthrough and not always implemented even when on the books. However, new and more enlightened policies are emerging on the one hand (rights to land and passage; transboundary agreements etc.) and on the other hand customary law is beginning to be accepted as legitimate.Conflicts and security play an important role in policy formulation, especially at national level.The following presents an analysis of the SRM practices -technology and approach -in the context of responding to the drivers discussed above (see Figure 4.1). While not meant to provide an exhaustive and comprehensive description of all options available, this section seeks to showcase most promising practices for upscaling. These are presented by groups.In the following, the five SRM technology groups (TGs) (see Chapter 3.2.1) will be further characterised based on the analysis of the cases available for SSA. The SRM TGs are:Enabling mobility and access to grazing -TG1 (5 cases) Controlled grazing and seasonal plan grazing -TG2 (11 cases) Range improvement -TG3 (38 cases) Supplementary feeding -TG4 (6 cases) Infrastructure improvement -TG5 (9 cases)Origin/ introduction of the technology: In the technology groups 'range improvement', 'supplementary feeding' and 'infrastructure improvement' the technologies were predominantly introduced by projects (Figure 4.11a). In 'enabled mobility' and 'controlled grazing', where 'pastoral' and 'bounded' systems are involved (see Figure 3.14), i.e. covering larger areas, the technologies implemented are also based on traditional practices or are innovations by land users.Improvements in infrastructure are also often applied largescale, but because they frequently involve high establishment costs and need maintenance, funding through projects or subsidies is often necessary. 'Research' was mentioned as being integrated into around one third of the cases documented under 'supplementary feeding' and one fifth of the cases of 'range improvement' and 'enabled mobility'.In 'enabled mobility', prevention and reduction are the focus of addressing land degradation. In controlled grazing and infrastructure, improvement inventions are done almost evenly at all stages (Figure 4.11b). 'Range improvement' and 'supplementary feeding' (e.g. cut and carry) are primarily implemented to reduce land degradation or restore land -but obviously both lead also directly to improved production as a result. These two groups directly manage the range, in contrast to 'controlled grazing' where the range is managed through the grazing of livestock and/or wildlife.  mal recovery from the previous full year's grazing. In 'Il Ngwesi Holistic Management, Kenya' (page 157), grazing in villages is planned for the rains, then \"bunching\" and moving of all animals in herds is practiced during the dry season. Denuded land is recovered by a \"boma\" (corral) technology: i.e. strategic corralling of animals overnight, and reseeding (a vegetative measure).'Range improvement' and 'supplementary feeding' are based mainly on vegetative measures, but are often combined with specific management, structural and agronomic measures. For example, firebreaks to stop the progression of fire into large areas of grazing land, and bush thinning to stimulate the re-growth of grasses, are of paramount importance for protecting and securing grazing -as described in 'Firebreaks, Niger' (page 195), and 'Bush thinning and biomass processing, Namibia' (page 229), respectively. In 'Grass reseeding, Kenya' (page 215), the vegetative measure is combined with a structural measure in the form of furrows capturing rainwater where it falls, to increase availability of water for emerging seedlings.'Infrastructure improvement' clearly consists, by definition, mainly of structural measures. An example is 'Forage Christine, Burkina Faso' (page 263), where a main well with submersible pump is combined with a secondary well, which is equipped with a hand-operated pump are installed for watering livestock in the dry season. However, to a lesser extent (than the previous two technology groups) it can be combined with management as well as vegetative measures.In the 'Vallerani system, Burkina Faso' (page 183), a special tractor-pulled plough constructs micro-catchments for the sowing of indigenous species.   Soil organic matter in rangelands has already been identified as low to medium (see Figure 3.11). This applies to all technology groups (Figure 12e). Only in controlled grazing are the cases mostly under soil with medium levels of organic matter. The few cases with high soil organic matter content are within the supplementary feeding and infrastructure groups -again typical of the higher rainfall areas with better soil fertility.Species diversity was reported highest in controlled grazing and lowest where 'range improvement' and 'supplementary feeding' was applied -in areas with more intense land use and less biodiversity (Figure 12f). In the other SRM technology groups, species diversity was generally medium.Surface water availability under all SRM technology groups mostly reported to be medium to poor: this is to be expected from the rangelands (Figure 12g).Groundwater availability in the 'enabled mobility' and 'controlled grazing' groups, is a constraint as the level of the groundwater table is deep (> 50 m) (Figure 12h) and this prevails in the 'pastoral' rangeland use system and in the Off-farm income is generally less than 10% of the total (Figure 4.13f). The implication is that rangeland users depend very closely on their livestock, on supplementary crop production, and in some areas on non-livestock range products (NLRP), which are also considered on-farm income (see Chapter 3.1.3). An exception is the 'controlled grazing' technology group where off-farm income of between 10 to 50% is common, resulting mainly from wildlife, and thus tourism, being part of the system. In 'Borana ranch grazing, Kenya' 9 , livestock production is combined with conservation and tourism, which generates 10-50% of off-farm income.Costs of inputs needed for establishment and maintenance:'Range improvement' and 'infrastructure improvement' are the most demanding groups in term of establishment costs, as they require high labour input, costly equipment, and construction material to implement the technologies as well as to maintain them (Box 4.7, Table 4.2). Labour is the main requirement for maintenance. 'Range improvement' needs initial investment in plant materials, for example for reseeding of grass and its 'maintenance'. 'Supplementary feeding' shows a medium to high level of need for labour and plant material. Fertilizers, and probably less so biocides, may also contribute to costs in the 'range improvement' and 'supplementary feeding' groups.Regarding 'enabled mobility and 'controlled grazing', these groups are 'undemanding' to implement and maintain, as they don't require much labour or input costs.However, it has to be noted that the results discussed above do not constitute a full set of data. Only the cases that have given their costs per hectare are comparable.   Maintenance costs are those that relate to maintaining a functioning system. They are regularly incurred and are accounted for on an annual basis. In general these are made up of labour, equipment and agricultural inputs.The four SRM approach groups (AGs) (see Chapter 3.2) will be further characterised based on the analysis of the cases available for SSA. The SRM AGs are: International organisations are also well represented in all four groups. Since rangeland management is complex and challenging -combining different livelihoods, and requiring various skills -land users and livestock keepers can often benefit from outside expertise and support. Multistakeholder involvement and dealing with their diverse aims and objectives is key to successful implementation of SRM.Under 'community based NRM', decisions on the selection of the technology were taken mainly by land users supported by SLM specialists, or alone as an independent initiative. In the 'land & water use planning' and the 'marketing & alternative income' groups, it was most common that all relevant actors took part in the decision making process.Land user and community involvement in different phases: In more than 55% of the cases, land users and local communities have been interactively involved in all phases of the approach (Box 4.8), most particularly in the planning phase (in almost three quarters of the cases; Figure 4.15). External support is sometimes needed in the implementation phase as a subsidy or an incentive to trigger initial action. Land users are almost always part of the implementation phase, either interactively (64%), or through self-mobilisation (17%). In the monitoring phase, land users were interactively involved or self-mobilised in two-thirds of the cases, though they were passive or not involved at all in a quarter. This stage is key in conferring a feeling of responsibility, and land users should always Take-home messages 'Range improvement' and 'supplementary feeding' directly manage the range, in contrast to controlled grazing where the range is managed through the grazing of livestock and/or wildlife.'Range improvement' is generally implemented in semi-arid and sub-humid areas, while 'supplementary feeding' predominates in the sub-humid and humid areas where fodder crops can be most readily grown.Even though most of the rangelands and their use is in the flat lowlands, mountains and hills provide valuable resources during droughts.Costs are hard to compare: in many technologies inputs are not fully reported and some calculate by area -but others by unit of infrastructure (wells; firebreaks etc.). Some technologies are prohibitively expensive.Land use rights are most frequently communal: all of those cases assigned to 'enabled mobility'. However, individual land use rights are much the most frequent in small-scale systems.Water use rights in the cases documented are mainly open access and communal: typical of classical rangelands.Scale of land use varies considerably except for 'enabled mobility' where largescale rangeland management is predominant.The commercial sector dominates 'controlled grazing' typical of commercial ranches. All other technology groups are mainly mixed, or subsistence.Off-farm income is generally less than 10% of the total except where wildlife, and thus tourism, are part of the system.Interactive: means that local people and the project team jointly analyse the situation, jointly develop action plans and form institutions, and jointly decide on the use of resources.External support: means that local people participate in return for food, cash, or other material support.Passive: means that local people participate by being informed what will happen or has already happened. They may also participate by being consulted or by answering questions, but they do not decide.be involved. It hardly needs to be re-emphasised that high levels of involvement and active roles of land users in all stages of implementation is fundamental to the success of upscaling SRM. This is essential to create a better sense of ownership -and to ensure continuation of activities after external support has been withdrawn. All efforts should support their involvement while simultaneously building their capacities to initiate further SRM initiatives that are appropriate, and adapted to changing conditions. Technical and financial support: The support needed and most demanded in the documented approaches was for capacity building, and for monitoring and evaluation (Figure 4.16). In 'Integrated management of savannah, Tanzania' 16 , knowledge acquisition and skill development was achieved through extension advisory services, demonstration plots, and on-the-job and action based training.In 'Pastoralist field schools, Ethiopia' (page 279) hands-on experimental and participatory learning improve livelihoods and resilience of pastoral communities.Given the fact that knowledge has been stated as being one of the top constraints to successful implementation of SRM, the value and importance of capacity building and training cannot be overstressed. Advisory services were provided only under 'community based NRM', but it is heartening to note that research was an integral part of the approach in all four groups. Financial and material support were received by land users for implementing the technology in every group, but to a varying extent: half of the cases under the 'land & water use planning' group, 60% under 'marketing & alternative income group', 78% under 'community based NRM', but all cases under 'wildlife & nature tourism'. Since most of the technologies are project-based, this nature of support is to be expected. In all four groups, organisational development is missing and the indication is that this issue was not an objective of the projects. This is a paradoxical finding as institutional set-up was stated to be an important hindering factor.Cost and investments: Annual budgets for SRM diverge widely (Figure 4.17), indicating the very wide range and scale of approaches; these include, for example, traditional, innovative and project-supported approaches and corresponding technologies and different scales from local to transboundary to joint village approaches.Under 'community based NRM' a wide spectrum of annual costs are involved, with 35% lying in the USD 10,000 -100,000 range and almost 20% between USD 100,000 and 1,000,000.  < 2,000 2,000−10,000 10,000−100,000 100,000−1,000,000 > 1,000,000 NALand & water use planning AG2Wildlife & nature tourism AG4Figure 4.17: Annual budget in USD of the SRM component of the approach in percent of total number of approaches within each approach group. NA = data not available.However, clearly, as with the technologies, costs should be related to the benefits of the investments. If, compared with the costs, the benefits are much higher than current practices then further investments can be justified. Obviously, the level of investment in the interventions depends on the available financial resources of land users and projects. Costbenefits are discussed further in Chapter 4.4.Subsidies are costs not borne by land users, and can be an important incentive and motivating factor. Over a third of the documented approaches did not receive any subsidies, with the exception of the 'wildlife & nature tourism' group (Figure 4.18). Of the 'marketing & alternative income' group, not one of the six cases subsidised labour -in contrast to the other approach groups (> 30% of the cases). However, one fifth of the cases received subsidies for equipment, agricultural inputs -such as seeds -and infrastructure.A wide spectrum of different technologies and approaches have been identified. Dividing technologies and approaches into groups helps to focus on specific types of problems and targeting solutions. It furthermore helps to streamline actor involvement, SRM measures and investments.Annual Budget USD 10,000-100,000 USD 100,000-1,000,000 In most cases, land users and local communities are interactively involved in all phases of the approach; most particularly in the planning phase. This proves to be a prerequisite for successful implementation of SRM.Since rangeland management is complex and challenging, land users and livestock keepers can often benefit from outside expertise and support. This is an opportunity for valuable project interventions.Another key to successful implementation is to recognise the origin of SLM approaches. Increasingly many projects build on already existing SRM approaches and technologies, adapt and develop them further.Multi-stakeholder involvement is key to successful implementation of SRM.Capacity building and support for monitoring and evaluation are top priority in all AGs.Organisational development is missing as an objective of the projects. This is a paradoxical finding as institutional set-up was stated to be an important hindering factor. .18: Subsidies to specific inputs and labour of the approach in percent of total number of approaches within each approach group. NA = data not available.Each land management practice, and change in practice, has an impact on the rangeland's resources: on the soil, the water, the vegetation and the animals it carries. In the following, various impacts of SRM technologies on the \"health\" (or \"state\") of the land are analysed and discussed. Dependent on the technology, these impacts may be negative -continuing and accelerating land degradation if the practices are not adapted or suited to the particular site where applied -or alternatively impacts may be positive, reducing degradation, restoring land, or preventing land degradation where the land is still healthy if the practices fulfil the criteria of SRM. Indicators of the health of the land's resources on-site are presented in Table 4.4 and are further elaborated in this chapter. Impacts of land management also affect health of land off-site (see Chapter 4.4).The main purpose/ objective of applying SRM technologies is to reduce, prevent and/or restore land degradation (see Figure 4.3). The practices documented show that the urgency of addressing land degradation in the rangelands is recognised, and it is being specifically targeted.Biological degradation of the vegetation cover is a major problem cited in all groups, followed by soil erosion by water (Figure 4.19; Box 4.9). The exception is the 'enabled mobility' group where water degradation is perceived to be as important as biological degradation (the two major degradation factors limiting livestock production). 'Infrastructure improvement' technologies also address water degradation through, for example, weirs that span the entire width of a valley to spread floodwater over the adjacent land area ('Water spreading weirs, Chad' 17 ). Soil erosion by wind appears to be more of an issue in the 'controlled grazing' group, as does soil fertility in the 'range improvement' group.Water degradation (decrease in water quantity and/or quality) is found throughout the SRM technology groups, but perhaps because it is generally accepted as inherent and inevitable in the drylands it does not appear to be the main focus of the technologies. However, given that soil erosion by water (and accompanied loss of runoff) is such a  serious problem, then logically water degradation should also be cited -as the two go hand-in-hand. Chemical (fertility) and physical (compaction) deterioration are also issues that are addressed via the SRM technology groups -given varying, but in general low, importance.Closer inspection of the different degradation types addressed by technologies in Figure 4.20 reveals the following:For vegetation, a reduction of cover is the major problem under all technology groups. This represents a loss of biomass -most importantly perennial grass cover -and thus reduced forage availability. Furthermore, there is degradation in the quality of the biomass and species diversity decline indicated in all groups. This compounds the problem. Not only is there less biomass but it is of poorer quality: the implication is a loss of forage/ fodder resources for livestock and Reduced cover leads to additional negative impacts: compaction, sealing and crusting, resulting in increased runoff, and erosion by water and wind. Thus, addressing vegetation degradation must be seen as the key priority. Vegetation -comprising the grass and herbaceous layer beneath the bushes and trees (where present) -is the basic resource of the rangelands.Degradation due to fire appears to be only seen as an issue in the 'controlled grazing' 'infrastructure improvement' groups (mentioned in around 30% of the cases). Do fires impede or improve pastures? Probably either, depending on the frequency and the heat of the fire, and the context in which it is used (Box 4.11; see Chapter 2.1.9).Soil loss due to erosion by water is, in all groups, the most commonly perceived degradation type that technologies are designed to address. Considering that most of the rangelands are in the drylands, it seems paradoxical that the most serious problem is runoff causing serious erosion, but lack of vegetation cover at the beginning of the rainy season explains this phenomenon. Soil erosion by wind is also seen an issue, but less than erosion by water in all technology groups except under 'enabling mobility', where it is absent. Soil fertility decline is an issue that is addressed to a certain extent in all technology groups, but particularly in the 'range improvement' group. Soil compaction is more prominent in the 'infrastructure improvement' group, where it is mentioned in more than 40% of the cases. Micro-organisms within the soil itself constitute a factor that has not been documented or analysed here, but this aspect of below-ground biodiversity is of immense importance to maintenance of soil health. All soil degradation types threaten the productivity of vegetation. However, any soil degradation also affects water availability: first by reducing rainwater storage in the soil, as a result of crusting and sealing, which reduces infiltration and increases runoff; secondly by reducing the soil's water storage capacity. This leads to a vicious cycle of degradation, where vegetation degradation increases soil degradation, which leads to further vegetation degradation -and so on in a descending spiral (Box 4.12). A fundamental challenge for SRM is to break out of this cycle.Water: Aridification may be accelerated by climate change, but the more urgent issue is aridification caused by people through poor land management. The vicious cycle depicted in Box 4.12 shows how the soil is deprived of precious rainwater: increased runoff and greater evaporation of water from the barren soil surface lead to more arid conditions. A very considerable, but unperceived, loss of water is direct evaporation from the surface or the top soil, amounting to 60-80% of the rainfall in areas with sparse grass cover (Liniger et al 2011). This is a shockingly large loss of precious rainwater in water-scarce rangelands. However, aridification due to reduced soil water availability/ moisture is only reported from around 20% of all technology groups. In the 'enabled mobility' groups the focus is more on surface water availability, and is mentioned in 60% of the cases. The 'infrastructure improvement' group's emphasis is on changes in groundwater level and surface water availability. Aridification in rangelands, despite its severity, is the least perceived face of degradation: it is a hidden threat, a stealthy process with multiple detrimental impacts.Surface water degradation is also a consequence of the vicious cycle of degradation; more runoff leading to floods, and causing erosion. Heavy sediment loads in rivers pollute the water, and siltation reduces the capacity of dams and lakes. Droughts are exacerbated when there is less water in the soil -and in dams also. It is a sad irony that areas already suffering from water scarcity lose so much in runoff and floods. This process can be exacerbated by inappropriate location, alignment and design of infrastructure such as water points, fences, roads, bridges and culverts 18 .Biodiversity: All SRM technology groups address loss of biodiversity. 'Range improvement' practices pay more attention to quantity, species composition and diversity decline than to habitat diversity. Around half of 'controlled grazing' and 'infrastructure' cases mention that both aspects of biodiversity are being addressed (Box 4.13).Many alien trees and shrubs have been deliberately introduced in SSA by development projects for timber, firewood, fodder, or other purposes. However some have 'escaped', invaded productive land and threaten native species and ecosystem function. Across East Africa and the Horn, prosopis species native to Central and South America are now a severe threat to grassland ecosystems. The consequences for ecosystems are serious, since prosopis at a cover of over 60% completely displaces perennial herbaceous vegetation, as it is a heavy water user and competitor with the grasses. In Afar Region, Ethiopia, prosopis was first planted in the early 1980s; now the evergreen Prosopis juliflora has invaded more than one million ha (Figure 1), while grassland cover has dropped by 25%. The most rapid change is on the Awash River's floodplains -priority areas for dry season grazing. Combined with the expansion of cropping, the invasion has led to an almost complete loss of grasslands in the upper parts of the floodplains (Figure 2).At low densities, prosopis may provide some useful services, including urgently needed firewood and charcoal. While the leaves of prosopis are hardly eaten, the pods are palatable to a range of domestic livestock and can be included in mixed diets. However, as livestock go in search of ever-decreasing grazing land they carry the seed of prosopis and spread it in their dung. Also, the aggressive invasiveness of prosopis and its tendency to form impenetrable thickets changes the ecosystem and its services, including an almost total loss of fodder productivity for livestock and wildlife, a decline in biodiversity -including medicinal plants -and a depletion of soil water and groundwater. Modelling has revealed that almost all floodplains in Afar region are suitable for prosopis. Hence, further spread is highly likely and unless remedial measures are taken, it will displace the remaining grasslands. This in turn increases the likelihood of ethnic conflicts as pastoralists compete for diminishing forage.Restoring prosopis-invaded areas poses a serious and urgent challenge. As Prosopis juliflora, the most invasive species in East Africa and the Horn, is largely fire-resistant, management by fire is no option. Some projects claim that prosopis could be a potential income source through carbon credits. A better alternative may be cutting prosopis, killing the rootstocks, planting and assisting regeneration of native grasses, shrubs and trees, and combining this with allocation of secure land use rights -as pioneered in Baringo County, Kenya.Here, there has been a huge local increase in fodder, while soil organic carbon has been restored to higher levels than on prosopis-invaded land (Fig 3). Another possible strategy is to introduce natural enemies, specific to prosopis, native to Latin America, into East Africa for biological control. This approach is being successfully applied in Australia, where the wisdom of introducing another alien species is seriously questioned.Box 4.10: Invasive alien species as drivers of rangeland degradation: the example of prosopis   Chapter 4 Sustainable rangeland management -drivers, impacts and continuous changeManagement of fire is crucial to its utility as a tool for increasing rangeland productivity. Poor management of fire, or over-occurrence -perhaps as a result of climate change -can lead to the decline of vegetation types that are fire-sensitive. This alters the composition of plant communities more radically, reducing rangeland biodiversity (Polley et al. 2017). Strategic management of fire, however, can help ensure sustained rangeland productivity. Controlled burning can also assist in reducing fuel loads and thus the risks of large-scale unplanned fires, which may cause loss of pasture across vast landscapes. Furthermore, rangeland management by fire can help manage invasive plant species; on the other hand fire can promote certain invasive species that are resistant to burning. Grazing in planned locations can be a tool to manage fire, by effectively creating firebreaks in the landscape through reducing biomass. However, overgrazing, where too much vegetative biomass is lost overall, can lead to the end of traditional fire management techniques in rangelands.Landscapes that have been shaped by controlled fires show a greater functional heterogeneity than those in which fires occur less often (Fuhlendorf et.al. 2017). Little is known about the specific effects of rangeland fire management on livestock production, despite pastoralists using burning since time immemorial. It is known however that livestock gain proportionally more weight from equal quantities of vegetation on burned sites. This is due to the increased digestibility and higher concentrations of nutrients in regrowth. The protein content and digestibility of grass is higher from regularly burned sites. Unsurprisingly, herbivores prefer grazing on recently burned sites (Sensenig et al. 2010, Limb et al. 2016).Box 4.11: Fire management Prescribed burning in South Africa at the end of the dry season (left) triggers a green flush of grass growth after the first rains (right) (Hanspeter Liniger).Species diversity: a measure of diversity within an ecological community that incorporates both species richness (the number of species in a community) and the evenness of species' abundance; species include all fauna and flora above ground and in the soil (modified from eoearth.org).Habitat diversity: refers to the variety or range of habitats in a given region, landscape, or ecosystem (modified from oecd.org).The practices documented show that the urgency of addressing land degradation in the rangelands is recognised, and is being specifically targeted.A reduction of the vegetation cover is the major problem under all technology groups, most importantly perennial grass cover. Not only is there less biomass but it is of poorer quality.Management of fire is crucial to its utility as a tool for increasing rangeland productivity. Poor management of fire can lead to the decline of vegetation types that are fire-sensitive.A vicious cycle of degradation can occure where vegetation degradation increases soil degradation, which leads to further vegetation degradation -and so on in a descending spiral.Aridification in rangelands, despite its severity, is the least perceived face of degradation: it is a hidden threat, a stealthy process with multiple detrimental impacts.According to the technical reference on \"interpreting indicators of rangeland health\" (Pellant et al. 2005) rangeland health is defined as \"the degree to which the integrity of the soil, vegetation, water, and air, as well as the ecological processes of the rangeland ecosystem are balanced and sustained.\" Different land management practices have varying impacts on the state or \"health\" of the land resources, which can be assessed through several indicators. An assessment was carried out by land users and SRM specialists -based mainly on observations -but supported with measurement where possible. Figure 4.21 shows the impact of the implementation of the SRM technologies on the state of the land using the indicators of vegetation, soil, water and biodiversity.The application of most rangeland management practices from all five SRM technology groups improve soil cover by almost 60% (Figure 4.21) but most prominently in 'range improvement' and 'controlled grazing'. Furthermore, almost half of all technologies have improved the above-ground biomass, thus increasing the carbon stock. However, in the 'supplementary feeding group' 18% of the cases reported a negative impact. For 'supplementary feeding' grass is cut and carried to the animals, thus removing the biomass from the fields. Soil cover (in contrast to 'vegetation cover') includes any material that covers the soil: dead or alive. Vegetation cover is by living plants. Under the technologies cited, green vegetation cover is improved -but not as much as total soil cover, indicating that decomposing vegetation and dead material have also increased.Maintaining healthy and productive rangelands needs a continuous effort to maintain a high cover of vegetation, good soil properties, high water use efficiency and biomass productivity.The aim is to establish a sustainability cycle. If vegetation cover is reduced, soil properties, water availability and biomass productivity begin to decline, and this triggers a downward spiral with further degradation of cover, soil, water and biomass. At any stage of the downward spiral, interventions can be made to stop the trend and redirect it into an upward spiral. The earlier the intervention and investment in SRM the less input needed and the easier it is to use the capacity of nature to restore itself: so crucial in the rangelands. Most effective interventions relate to vegetation cover improvement -especially grass -and this can be assisted by water harvesting measures and manure application (see Box 4.14).Box 4.12: Land degradation and land improvement spiral Where the soil was bare, the surface was sealed, the topsoil was hard and sterile, and no water infiltrated. This vividly illustrates the spiral towards degradation and the impact of SRM less than one meter apart (Hanspeter Liniger).  Structural changes in plant cover, notably the loss or gain of shrubs and trees, also affect grass and herbaceous cover and productivity. On the one hand, browsing, tree and bush cover destruction by elephants, gathering of fuelwood and charcoal making, as well as clearing and burning for agriculture, can reduce the tree and bush cover. On the other hand, bush encroachment and tree cover increase due to reduced competition from grasses and less frequent and less intense fires (e.g. Rogues et al. 2001) and lead to degradation, for example in Southern Africa -due to invasion of thicketforming acacias (see Box 4.10).Practices for removal of invasive species can improve soil moisture availability and help to conserve the water table and in-stream flows. Invasive species such as the non-indigenous tree prosopis (Prosopis spp. or 'mesquite') reduce access to productive resources of pasture and water, by forming impenetrable thickets, suppressing indigenous vegetation, and by lowering water tables. Their economic impact is often profound. SRM practices to reduce invasive species and increase perennial grasses are 'Rangeland restoration, Kenya' (page 221) and 'Combating invader plants, South Africa' 19 . Other examples of loss of quality due to bush encroachment include 'Bush control, Namibia' 20 and 'Bush thinning and biomass processing, Namibia' (page 229).Among Sub-Saharan African ecosystems, savannah vegetation has been identified as one of the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Over the last century, the encroachment of woody plants has already affected savannahs. Observed expansions in tree cover in South Africa have been attributed to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and/or nitrogen deposition (Wigley et al. 2010). In the western Sahel, however, a 20% decline in tree density, and a significant decline in species richness across the Sahel was observed over the second half of the twentieth century, and mainly explained by changes in temperature and rainfall variability (Gonzalez et al. 2012). However, increased rainfall, a revision of laws governing ownership of trees, and a surge in land users' protection of emerging seedlings and trees has led to a reversal of this trend in many parts of the region (Critchley 2010). Sustainable rangeland management practices that address this problem include 'Assisted natural regeneration, Niger' (page 205).However, the major concern is the loss of perennial grass cover -its replacement by forbs and weeds -and the exposure of barren, locally hard-crusted soil surfaces, changes in the micro-climate and increases in the aridity of rangeland through greater loss of rainfall in runoff (see Box 4.18). All of this hinders revegetation, and the rehabilitation of rangeland becomes difficult or even impossible, with a marked reduction in overall productivity and loss of many valuable plant species. SRM practices to address this include various water harvesting technologies (see Box 4.16) that capture runoff and use it for better vegetative growth (e.g. 'Vallerani system, Burkina Faso', page 183) -and protection of the natural water harvesting system such as \"brousse tigrée\".High levels of cover by perennial grasses play a key role in protecting the soil surface against raindrop impact; it holds soils and reduces runoff. Crucially these species, by definition, provide at least some cover at the end of the dry season. Overgrazing and poor management of livestock has the potential to greatly reduce perennial grass cover (e.g. Pratt andGwynne 1977, Briske et al. 2008), thereby greatly accelerating rates of soil erosion and rangeland degradation (Milton et al. 1994, Liniger and Thomas 1998, Fynn and O'Connor 2000). Apart from the problems of loss of soils, loss of deep-rooted perennial grasses decrease productivity of the rangelands (Box 4.14;O'Connor et al. 2001). Thus, for most of the practices, a major aim is to create better conditions for perennial grasses to spread -either by seed, rhizomes or stolons.A decrease in soil loss (in 55% of the cases), reduced surface water runoff (in 42%), and increase soil moisture content (in 44%) have been the reported positive impacts of the rangeland management practices documented (Figure 4.21). The impact is moderate or substantial, especially in the 'range improvement' and 'infrastructure improvement' groups.There are associated increases in soil cover, improvements in range health and species compostion, improved water infiltration and better recharge of soil water. Several technologies illustrate the attempt to do so: 'Rangeland restoration, Kenya' (page 221), 'Reshaping gullies, South Africa' (page 235), 'Grass reseeding, Kenya' (page 215) and 'Assisted natural regeneration, Niger' (page 205). Additionally, structures to harvest water mainly for livestock, but also from people and small-scale crop production have the effect of capturing runoff, thus reducing water loss and soil erosion considerably, and with that comes improved soil moisture and fertility. Better soil organic matter and nutrient cycling, in other words improved soil fertility, is also reported in 30% of the cases. Box 4.15 shows an example of top soil organic matter enrichment due to corralling.Nearly half of the technologies implemented had a slight to very positive impact on regulating surface water runoff (Figure 4.21). This was (to a greater or lesser extent) observed in all technology groups except for 'enabling mobility'. Examples of positive impact on water runoff in the group 'controlled grazing' is 'Assisted natural regeneration, Burkina Faso' 21 ; in 'range improvement' is 'Gully erosion management, Ethiopia' 22 ; in 'supplementary feeding' is 'Intensive Livestock Management, Uganda' 23 and in 'infrastructure improvement' is 'Permeable rock dams, Burkina Faso' 24 . Most observations of water harvested come from the 'infrastructure improvement' group. In two cases within the 'range improvement' group, a negative impact on surface runoff was reported, for example in 'Firebreaks, Niger' (page 195) where surface runoff increased to at least 20% after the clearing of a firebreak. Technologies that enhance groundwater recharge include 'Sub-surface dams (SSD), Kenya' (page 271) and 'Infiltration ditches and ponding banks, Namibia' 25 .Rangeland management is recognised as being able to affect water supply both in terms of quantity and quality.Ensuring water availability for domestic and livestock supplies is essential for productivity and human well-being in the rangelands. In dry areas, this requires installation and operation of infrastructure, which is often expensive. SRM technologies can increase on-site water availability at a relatively low financial and ecological cost by harvesting runoff, reducing evaporation and improving the management of livestock watering points. An efficient and strategically located network/ distribution of water points is a key element of sustainable pastoralism: it helps to assure a balanced distribution of herds, and thus avoids overuse of vegetation around a limited number of wells (e.g. 'Improved well distribution, Niger' 26 and 'Indigenous livestock watering, Tanzania' 27 .Water quantity: Making productive use of potentially damaging runoff through in situ water conservation and water harvesting methodologies (Box 4.16), conserving soil and water, and promoting practices to improve cover within the different SRM technology groups are key issues.Appropriate improvements in water infrastructure however can play a key role in the rangeland use systems (see Chapter 3.1). One particular sub-set are water harvesting structures that harness and hold or spread runoff, for example and especially permeable rock dams and water spreading weirs (Box 4.17), or reshaped gullies. However, land and water rights must be in place to assure the effectiveness of water harvesting systems. For example, in Ethiopian spate systems water rights are different from the rights that govern the sharing and allocation of perennial flows (van Steenbergen et al. 2011). They are more dynamic and respond to a situation that differs from year-to-year, as well as seasonally.Pasture management affects the proportion of rainfall that is lost as runoff, as it creates the ecological conditions for improved water infiltration -thereby maintaining water tables and surface river water flows (Descheemaeker 2009, Blignaut et al. 2010, Taye et al. 2018) Regeneration of rangeland productivity in communal grazing areas through grazing plans and merging herds was begun in 2006 at Erora, Namibia. Approximately 1200 cattle from 12 households were combined. Livestock owners noticed higher densities of annual grasses after the first season, then a dramatic improvement in soil cover after three years with emergence of grass seedlings where none had grown for decades.Then after another three years, perennial grasses returned with increased biodiversity in many parts.Movable night corrals (bomas or kraals) are located on bare patches of soil to recover the degraded land through dung accumulation and breaking of the soil by hooves. Traditionally, these are formed by thorn-fence corrals used for months or years, but there are also metal-fence mobile corrals which can be moved after few weeks or even a few days (Porensky and Veblen 2015).Results from an experiment in the semi-arid Laikipia rangelands of Kenya show not only improved spread of grass but also that former corral sites have significantly higher amounts of soil organic carbon (SOC), as well as macronutrients in topsoil compared to close-by reference sites (Herger 2018). Improvements are more pronounced after a number of years: thus former corrals turn into 'ecological hotspots' with improved grass cover -and stay that way for long periods of time, dependent on management (Figure 1).On the investigated sites, each night corral was moved on average, after one to two weeks during the dry season and one week during the wet season. In one corral of 1000 m2, 400 cows were corralled at night. Former bare patches with this corral treatment recovered well after a few years (Figure 2). Box 4.15: Grassland rehabilitation and topsoil organic matter enrichment: the impact of strategic 'mobile' corralling In Uganda, an enterprising community has been restoring denuded land in this way for a number of years through its own initiative (Muwaya et al, 2016). Night corrals are fenced with cut thorn bush and used for several months before being moved. The aim is to achieve a depth of 5 cm animal manure over the whole area. The naturally occurring stargrass, Cynodon spp, spreads through its vigorous stolons, which colonise the enriched area, forming a dense sward (Figure 3). Pasture dry matter was recorded to have increased to 4,500 kg/ha (from virtually none) and soil organic matter increased from 1.3% to 3.1%.In this technology, land restores through localised nutrient enrichment, altering soil texture, grass recovery, and attraction of livestock and wildlife (Veblen 2012, Porensky andVeblen 2015). This positive effect has been proven to be long lasting for this reason (Augustine and Milchunas 2009). This means that the concentrated supply of dung is continued through this preferential grazing and resting also long after the corral has been removed. Thus former corrals sites can still be detected today as tree and shrub free vegetation patches with rich grasses -often surrounded by bare ground. In-situ moisture conservation keeps rainfall in place by improved rainwater infiltration and reduced evaporation (soil and vegetation cover) and improved soil water holding capacity (soil organic matter content and structure); Water harvesting captures precipitation falling in one area and transfers it to another, e.g. micro-and macro-catchments; basic components are a catchment or collection area, the runoff conveyance system, a storage component and an application area.\"Tiger bush\" (brousse tigrée) is a naturally occurring WH system occurring in low slopes of arid and semi-arid regions such as Sahelian West Africa. It consists of alternating bands of trees or shrubs, separated by bare ground or low herb cover, that run roughly parallel to contour lines of equal elevation. On the bare soil, 80 -90% of the rains is translated into runoff. Trees and grasses capture the runoff and utilise it after infiltration.In the dry valleys of Chad where water flows in the rivers for only a few days a year, weirs serve to distribute the incoming runoff over the valley floor and allow as much water as possible to infiltrate the soil. The aquifer is thus replenished and is then available for agricultural use.In Niger, a weir enabled expansion of a production area from 2.85 ha before to 5.29 ha after (effects in Chad were similar). In Chad millet yield increased from 160 kg/ha before construction of a weir to 655 kg/ha afterwards. Users of water-spreading weirs had 112% higher incomes compared to farmers outside the impact zone from sales of vegetables and surplus grain.In some communities, groundwater has risen to a depth of 6m below the surface. The increase in groundwater level has led to a significant increase in the number of cattle that can be watered -from 6,000 before to 16,000 cattle afterwards Box 4.17: Water-spreading weirs for the development of degraded dry river valleys; ChadAerial view of a water-spreading weir, Chad (Heinz Bender).https://qcat.wocat.net/en/summary/1537/; (Nill et al. 2011) Water-spreading weir, Mali (Klaus Wohlmann).managed, continue to maintain the water cycle and maximise productivity with relatively little additional investment by rangeland users. But where vegetation cover over large areas has been lost, this can make runoff more difficult to handle and causes alterations in the hydrology of the system.In short, sustainable rangeland management can play a positive role in the dryland water cycle. This is difficult to quantify, but where rangelands are being degraded or converted to other uses, and the on-site capacity to hold runoff is lost, the negative effects on hydrology both on and off-site become more apparent as downstream water supplies are affected. Water quality: Vegetative cover, root systems and soil properties are recognised as playing essential roles in not only regulating water flow but also in improving water quality. In around 10% of the practices a positive impact on water quality was reported. Vegetation, microfauna and microflora in healthy soils reduce pollutants from overland flow and in groundwater through various means.These include trapping water and sediments, adhering to contaminants, reducing water speed and enhancing infil-tration, biochemical transformation of nutrients, absorbing water and nutrients from the root zone, stabilising eroding banks, and diluting contaminated water (Elmqvist et al. 2010). Questions regarding water quality take second place to the more pressing issue of water shortage and availability. However, the value of potable water -and danger of deterioration of water quality especially when humans and livestock share the same sources, should not be underestimated. An example reporting benefits to waterFrom a series of studies carried out on two neighbouring ranches, one a private ranch and the other a group (community) ranch, with similar environmental conditions -but very different management practices and grazing pressures -productivity and environmental impacts were assessed and compared (Figure 1).Box 4.18: Comparing neighbouring private and group ranches in Kenya: impact on the land Figure 1: Biomass total and grazed, soil organic carbon, surface temperature, (infiltration) and runoff from a private and the neighbouring community ranch (Hanspeter Liniger based on Kironchi et al. 1993, Okello 1996, Liniger and Thomas 1998, Herger 2018). Characteristics of the two neighbouring ranches:The grazing pressure in the community group ranch is six times higher yet the biomass available is less than half than in the private ranch. While it could be argued that the group ranch is over ten times as efficient -in terms of maintaining livestock numbers -livestock growth rate was not measured. Furthermore, the livestock from the group ranch are not entirely restricted to stay within their own demarcated areas, especially during dry seasons and droughts (grazing on neighbouring private ranches, on farms of agro-pastoralists or in forest reserves).There is a marked difference both under trees and in the open grassland areas where the private ranch has around double the biomass -and twice the amount that is grazed. Soil organic carbon (SOC) of the topsoil under trees in the private reaches 2% compared with about 1% in the community ranch. Under open grass cover SOC in the private ranch is 1% compared with 0.78 % in the group ranch -where perennial grasses have almost disappeared.Measuring surface temperature in the early afternoon reveals very wide differences. Under trees 25-29 degrees are recorded depending on herbaceous cover. On patches of good perennial grassland the temperature is around 30 degrees, while where the red soil is exposed, it heats up to 50-60 degrees.There are major implications for water loss by evaporation and runoff and also for soil biodiversity: the earth becomes dried out and, eventually, sterile (see Box: 4.22).Runoff rates also change dramatically depending on the cover and the management: bare land in the group ranches can lose 60% -90% of daily rainfall. Combined with direct evaporation from the surface this means greatly reduced vegetation growth. Yet, keeping land covered with perennial grasses not only maintains cooler conditions but also captures rainfall and even runon water from neighbouring bare soil patches: a \"virtuous cycle\".Box 4.18 continued: Comparing neighbouring private and group ranches in Kenya: impact on the land This example illustrates how different land management can have a fundamental impact on the soil, microclimate and vegetation -and how vegetation itself can contribute to improved growing conditions. Apart from a reduced biomass production, there is also an increase of undesirable plant species (e.g. opuntia) in the community ranch. Striking is that these differences occur next to each other within a few meters distance.Figure 3 illustrates the effect of cover on runoff and soil loss for soil derived from metamorphic gneisses. The straight line in (a) encloses the maximum percentage of runoff that occurred. With a herbaceous cover of less than 5%, over 90% of the rain can be lost through runoff; at a cover of 40%, runoff is reduced to practically zero. For soil loss, the figure shows that with a cover of more than 20 %, topsoil loss is reduced to almost zero. However, on long slopes, gully erosion can occur if enough surface runoff is accumulated and able to cut into the topsoil. quality is 'Indigenous livestock watering, Tanzania' 28 , not allowing animals to enter into the water ponds but drink from troughs instead. The impact of good land management on water quality -and thus water-borne diseases and livelihoods -has not been sufficiently established, but the connection is clear.Over all the documented practices almost 20% indicated a positive impact on habitat diversity, with as many as 45% under 'controlled grazing' practices (Figure 4.21). The fact that habitat diversity is recognised in so many cases indicates an element that would be worthwhile further exploring. In particular the role of alien -and some native -invasive species leading to the loss of grass cover and increasing land degradation still needs keen attention (see Box 4.10).The role of fire on its own, or in combination with bush encroachment, has been reported to affect biodiversity (see Box 4.11). 'Enabled mobility' is a group where there are almost no remarks about how it affects the state of the land -though it would be expected that grazing pressure would diminish. But evidently the impacts are not perceived -possibly because the scale is too large to allow recognition of changes in degradation status.Box 4.18 shows and example of of contrasting differences in land management and the impact on the health of the land.This section describes the nature and value of SRM impacts on ecosystem services, in water-stressed and droughtprone rangelands across Sub-Saharan Africa. It highlights the benefits of SRM from cases documented by WOCAT in different parts of SSA. Each technology and approach generates an array of social-cultural, economic and ecological impacts which must be taken into account for planning and decision-making for further implementation. The influence of SRM on ecosystem services can include both on-site and off-site impacts. On-site impacts are directly important to the rangeland users, but off-site impacts also affect other groups in society. Table 4 .5,Figures 4.22 and 4.23 show and analyse the impact of the technologies and approaches on the services for production, nature and people.Bush encroachment and tree cover increase due to reduced competition from grasses.Among Sub-Saharan African ecosystems, savannah vegetation has been identified as one of the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.A high level of cover by perennial grasses plays a key role in protecting the soil surface against raindrop impact; it holds soils and reduces runoff.A major aim is to create better conditions for perennial grasses to spread -either by seed, rhizomes or stolons.Rangeland management is recognised as being able to affect water supply both in terms of quantity and qualityMaking productive use of potentially damaging runoff through in situ water conservation and water harvesting methodologies conserving soil and water, and promoting practices to improve cover are key issues.Sustainable rangeland management can play a positive role in the dryland water cycle (quantity and quality)Providing forage and fodder: The technologies applied had a positive impact on fodder/ forage production (in around 75% of the cases), on livestock production (60%) and on fodder/ forage quality (50%) (Figure 4.22). Fodder/ forage production improved considerably in 80-100% of the cases pertaining to 'controlled grazing', 'range improvement' and 'supplementary feeding' (data from WOCAT DB). Under 'infrastructure improvement', fodder production was improved in only 40% of the cases: it is not the primary objective in those situations.However, improved fodder/ forage production was adjudged to be of overall priority for rangeland management, ranked even above livestock production. This is promising for those implementing SRM, when despite the widespread degraded conditions of the vegetation, other rangeland users often stated that livestock (particularly cattle) were valued more than the land. Where efforts are made towards SRM, the value and importance of improving forage and fodder production -as the foundation of animal production -should be seen as the number one priority.Providing water for livestock and people: Water availability for livestock improved in 20% of the cases, and mainly in those cases where it was specifically targeted (Figure 4.22). These included a number of technologies under 'enabled mobility', 'infrastructure improvement' and 'controlled grazing'.Boreholes, water pans (excavated earthen reservoirs) and small dams are common features of many Sub-Saharan African rangelands. But a relatively new development is that vast areas of rangeland, previously utilised only seasonally by domestic livestock, are now accessible year-round as a result of the expansion of borehole technologies (Le Houerou 1989, WRMA 2016a, WRMA 2016b). Climate change and associated water scarcity are contributing to a situation where many rangelands are becoming increasingly dependent on boreholes for a greater part of the year. During dry seasons and droughts, large numbers of people and livestock gather around boreholes, available water pans, permanent rivers and wetlands -and also seasonal rivers where, though apparently dry, water is stored in the sand beds and can be tapped (e.g. 'Sand dams, Kenya' 29 ). During these periods, wetlands and floodplains come into use. However, permanent or prolonged availability of water increases pressure on the land as animals can graze in the vicinity for longer. Likewise, poorly sited watering points may increase degradation by encouraging grazing where land would have been better rested.A range of technologies and innovations are available for constructing and improving water pans and small dams. However, these have a limited lifetime if they are not well protected against sedimentation. Good practice includes attention to siting, design of inlets/ silt traps, fencing and barriers to prevent animals from entering the water, and dredging for the removal of sediment -though this latter practice is expensive and a last resort. Dams and pans are very sensitive to management of their catchment area. If the land and its vegetation cover is degraded then the dams and pans will be rapidly degraded in turn. Investment in the catchment area to improve cover, biomass production simultaneously improves long-term water availability. Where water pans and dams can be constructed and managed effectively, these generally supply water at a lower cost than boreholes (Box 4.19).In Burkina Faso 'Permeable rock dams' 30 -which allow water to flow through, while sediment is trapped -serve to restore seriously degraded forest/ rangeland.  4.5: Ecosystem services for production (provisioning), for nature (regulating and supporting) and for people (sociocultural). In bold are issues that are specifically addressed in this chapter (WOCAT Technology Questionnaire 2018).raising the water table in wells and in protecting the bottomlands from sand filling and gully erosion.Changing the types of watering points that are available in rangeland (e.g. from naturally occurring seasonal water pans to boreholes) can give greater control to local rangeland managers. This is because at boreholes they can choose to turn water supplies on and off at different times of the year, whereas pans remain open for anyone to use -free of charge -until they dry up. In Namibia, herders rely on over 50,000 boreholes that tap deep underground aquifers for their water: solar energy has been used for pumping for over 30 years, and between 2001 and 2006, 669 new solar-powered wells were installed (McGahey et al. 2014). It is not only in Southern Africa, but throughout the rangelands of Sub-Saharan Africa, that more and more boreholes are being dug and groundwater tapped (Box 4.20). The recharge of these groundwater aquifers is in most cases not assured, and sinking groundwater levels are commonly reported. The longer-term consequences of this increasing number of boreholes is a growing worry: increased use of groundwater in drylands without knowledge of the recharge rate and the source of water, means that it is unsure for how long these supplies will remain viable and how soon the aquifers, upon which they depend, will be depleted. Yet, as demands on water increase and surface water has become scarcer, more and more groundwater is being tapped especially during drought periods.There is need for operators to manage the water points, and for institutional structures to organise them (Box 4.21). These may involve customary institutions that have evolved in the 28 https://qcat.wocat.net/en/summary/3880/ 29 https://qcat.wocat.net/en/summary/3588/ 30 https://qcat.wocat.net/en/summary/1618/ rangelands according to local traditions (e.g. as described in Tari and Pattison 2014) or, where such structures do not exist, governments may seek to create water user associations. These institutions also require funds to pay for staff time and operational costs. In some cases, these are included in the fees that are paid by the water users.Water productivity: Beef production 'water footprint' studies have shown that industrial livestock systems have a far higher freshwater footprint than livestock raised in extensive grazing systems -meaning they are much less efficient in water use, basically because they use so much grain (itself a 'thirsty' crop) which then has to be converted into meat. Industrial livestock also produce 'grey water', that is dirty wastewater that has to be disposed of; however this is not an issue for rangelands (McGahey et al. 2014). Significantly, Kenya has made the case for evaluating rangeland productivity on the basis of economic productivity per unit of water, rather than per unit of land (Government of Kenya 2017). Analyses of productivity per unit of water tend to demonstrate that extensive rangeland management systems can be highly efficient, compared to other more water-intensive production systems. In many dry and drought-prone areas, productivity per unit of water is more critical than productivity per unit of land -which is less limiting. The impact on services for ecological benefits were little evident from the cases analysed -probably because not all technologies were intended to address the same service, and furthermore, ecological changes usually take time, and are also mainly off-site. The greatest impacts were recorded for downstream siltation, according to almost 25% of the cases, followed by drought (23%), downstream flooding (almost 20%), water availability, reliable and stable downstream flow and fire (about 15%). Some improvements in micro-climates were recorded in 10% of the technologies (Figure 4.22).At Har Buyo water pan in Garba Tula, Kenya, in 2014 the Abaerega (natural resource manager), reported that he used one litre of diesel per day to pump water to a trough. To cover these costs, and any others arising, he collected levies from users as follows: US$ 0.11 (Ksh 10) per camel, US$ 0.03 (Ksh 3) per cow, US$ 0.1 (Ksh 1) per goat or sheep, no charges for peo-ple, donkeys or young livestock (Awuor, 2014). Generic water requirements for animals can be estimated, and used to derive the price paid per unit of volume, and the overall demands of livestock populations (see table below). However, these do not reflect the value of the water, and indeed barely cover the costs of the equipment and energy used to pump it.Box 4.19: Improving the management of Har Buyo pan in Garba Tula, KenyaWorking group on domestic and institutional uses of water and energy, Garba Tula (Ibrahim Jarso). Micro-climate: Importantly, observations and measurements reveal that reduced or improved vegetation and soil cover have a dramatic impact on the micro-climate, as demonstrated in Box 4.22. Soil surface temperature between adjacent sites show a difference of more than 30 °C: thus on a site with about 50% dry grass cover, compared to a site a few meters away with a bare soil surface, the temperature can rise from around 30 to over 60 °C. The extremely hot surface of a bare soil destroys soil life and is a factor in sterility and aridification. The impact and the importance of a favourable microclimate is often underestimated, and unperceived. Favourable micro-climates can lead to improved soil moisture and air humidity, balanced temperature extremes and radiation, and protection against wind damage.Fire risk: Implementation of the SRM technologies also showed negative impacts -as with fire risk (in 9% of cases). More biomass and 'improved' rangeland can increase the risk of spontaneous fire under long dry periods and drought. Further analysis showed that a fire risk increase has been reported from 'range improvement' (e.g. 'Infiltration ditches and ponding banks, Namibia' 31 ; 'Pitting to restore degraded catchment, South Africa' 32 ) and 'supplementary feeding' (e.g. 'Area closure, Ethiopia' 33 , affecting around 15-18% of the cases, due to greater biomass production.Water availability was improved in around 20% of all documented technologies (Figure 4.22), but mainly in the 'enabled mobility' (60%) and the 'infrastructure improvement' (56%) groups. Both of them involve better distribution of water points and/ or water harvesting and surface water management.Coping with gradual climate change and climate-related extremes/ disasters: Figure 4.24 shows that more than 35% of the technologies were appraised to be able to cope well or very well with drought, almost 30% with increasing annual temperatures, and 25% with local rainstorms and windstorms. Further analysis showed that 'Enabled mobility' (60%), 'range improvement' (42%) and 'infrastructure improvement' (42%) coped best with drought. In these TGs 'Index based livestock insurance, Kenya' 34 , 'Vallerani trenches, Niger' 35 and 'Indigenous livestock watering, Tanzania' 36 are examples showing different drought coping strategies, respectively. 'Range improvement' technologies were found to tolerate an increase in annual temperature the best, as they create favourable micro-climates through improved soil and vegetation cover.The technologies applied improved the capacity to cope with droughts and water availability (on-site), and protected against downstream flooding and siltation (off-site) -probably as a result of better soil cover and less runoff. Through 'enabled mobility', the effects of drought were mitigated in 60% of the cases in a positive/ very positive way. This technology group has, by far, the best coping mechanism during droughts. This is followed by controlled grazing, where parts of the rangelands are rested to build up fodder and forage reserves for the dry seasons and droughts. High impacts of drought in one year are acknowledged to have significant effects on households' abilities to cope in subsequent years, but SRM practices act in multiple ways to cope with long dry periods and droughts. Investing in the land and its productive capacity are vital in strengthening people's resilience to drought and climatic shocks. Sustaining rangeland water and pasture resources and avoiding the depletion of household assets can help to reduce the needs for large-scale movements of people during droughts. This reduces the risk of situations where very large numbers of people and animals are crowded into areas with little water or food resources to support them.Traditional mechanisms that pastoralists have used to adapt to drought have in many cases have proved no longer effective in many cases. For example, in Ethiopia's pastoral Borana zone, the local institutions that support social safety networks have been weakened by time, compounded by years of cyclical drought. Their place has been filled by external aid and state support schemes -but these are not able to make up for this loss of adaptive capacity (Holden and Shiferaw 2004). Furthermore this has eroded local 'ownership' of the processes.Off-site impacts of land management (downstream and downwind): In water-stressed basins, where water demands for domestic and other needs are increasing, there can be growing competition between livestock and human populations for finite supplies. In many parts of West and East Africa, seasonal floodplains used by pastoralists for grazing and water during dry seasons have been altered by upstream extractions of water for irrigation and hydropower -resulting from the lack of recognition of the seasonal rangeland production systems that would be impacted. Examples include the extensive rangeland systems of Northern Nigeria (Barbier 2011) the Inner Niger delta in Mali (Aich et al. 2016) and parts of Mauritania (Shine and Dunford 2016). A similar situation is potentially developing in Southern Africa also, for example in Namibia where water is extracted from the upstream Okavango river to irrigate maize, while the Okavango is the very river that nourishes the delta floodplains of the Okavango in Botswana (Box 4.23).Water is both an input (cost) of rangeland production, but also an output or service provided to people and animals by naturally occurring wetlands in the extensive open access Ward Adaptation Planning Committees (WAPCs) have dug new boreholes and also improved the management of existing water points. They also added troughs to accommodate more livestock, together with separate taps for domestic water collection and toilets. This has eased congestion, saving time and averting conflicts. As a result, women can use water points more frequently. Women using Yamicha and Urura boreholes in the remote northwest can now fill ten jerrycans (20 litres capacity) each time they visit. If they do this daily, it will cover the minimum needs of 20 litres per person for a household of six, and still leave an additional 80 litres for washing and caring for smallstock.Box 4.21: Improving the management of boreholes in Merti, KenyaParticipatory resource mapping under solar panels in Merti (Caroline King-Okumu).http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/17345IIED.pdfThe WAPCs have also improved water quality at both boreholes and water pans. Covering storage cisterns and fencing water pans, for example, has prevented contamination by birds and livestock. Livestock used to wander into unfenced water pans, making the water unfit for human use. Once the water became too dirty even for livestock, the women would abandon the water pans and either buy more water from kiosks or search for it elsewhere. By protecting its quality, humans and livestock have been able to make better use of more of the available water.Pastoralists loading donkeys with water for domestic use at Duma borehole (Jane Kiiru).rangeland management systems. Wetlands buffer water by absorbing flood flows and providing a permanent source of water -and forage -for pastoralists and their livestock, as well as wildlife, during dry seasons and periods of droughts.As with most natural resources in the rangelands many wetlands are subject to increasing pressure. On the one hand, water supply to the wetlands is changing due to increased water abstraction upstream -and the combination of increasing rainfall intensities and land use change is likely to lead to increased flood flows for wetlands to absorb. On the other hand, there is greater use of the water and vegetative biomass, and inadequate recovery time. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence from wetland users but little data regarding change, and impact on wetland resources and their services.Apart from being affected by climate change and greater variability of rainfall, wetlands also have to absorb changes in the upstream land use and its implications on flow and sediment delivery. Also the demand on the wetland resources attracts people, their livestock and the wildlife from far away making monitoring and management of wetlands a real challenge (Box 4.24, see Chapter 2.1.1). Changing the management of the rangeland system can affect the demand for water -for example for inputs to crop production -and also the ability of the system to provide clean water supplies at low cost.In terms of off-site impacts, 25% of the cases coped positively with downstream siltation, almost 20% were able to deal with downstream flooding -which could lead to off-site damage of infrastructure -and 15% showed an improvement in terms of a reliable and stable stream flow regime (Figure 4.22). 'Enabling mobility' and 'controlled grazing' which are mainly managed through livestock and wildlife grazing, did not show any effect on downstream siltation or flooding, in contrast to the other three technology groups. This is surprising, as controlled grazing should improve cover, which would mean a reduction in runoff and soil loss. The reported cases have probably not monitored -or perhaps not even perceived -the impact downstream.High priority questions requiring attention from rangeland managers -in association with researchers -concern the effects of their SRM practices, either individually or collectively, on watershed scale hydrology (George et al. 2011;Box 4.25). Managing rangeland watersheds to deliver improved quality and quantities of water to urban consumers has been identified as a critically important way in which SRM can affect ecosystem services that are of value to people (Goldstein et al. 2011, Gammie andBievre 2015).Two examples demonstrate the enormous differences in the afternoon temperature of surfaces with vegetation cover, and those with bare and exposed soil.Figure 1 shows a location in the highlands of Kenya at 1800 m a.s.l. with perennial grass and tree cover -where surface temperature at 2 pm on clear and sunny days is around 25°C (left).In sharp contrast, closely neighbouring it, is the bare soil of an overgrazed area where the surface temperature is more than double: around 56°C (right). Figure 2 show a similar comparison in the lowlands (800 m.a.s.l.). Here the temperatures rise from around 35°C on patches with about 50% grass and tree cover, to around 43°C on surfaces with 50% dry grass, and up to 63°C on bare soil patches: this latter temperature is as high as that of an exposed gneiss rock surface. This remarkable difference, due to removal of vegetation cover, is clearly detrimental to the health of the land, the livestock and wildlife, and the people (see Boxes 4.12 and 4.18). Considering the extended areas of degraded land with an increased fraction of bare soil, the contribution of land degradation towards global warming would be worthwhile investigating.  Water storage in aquifers and base flows in surface waterways provide services that are useful to people, as a consequence of water remaining in the system. SRM practices can affect groundwater recharge and flows through sub-surface, as well as surface, water flows off-site.Increased runoff and erosion on-site (upstream) and resultant altered water flows off-site (downstream) cause floods as well as shortages. Compound disasters of floods and droughts following each other have received considerable attention in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. SRM can offer, at least in part, a disaster risk reduction solution.Avoiding downstream sedimentation and pollution of water bodies is another potential positive impact of SRM. Offsite sedimentation is a major concern that is associated with land degradation. In East Africa, significant problems due to sedimentation in the great lakes have been attributed to population pressure and inappropriate land management over many decades, including the pastoral rangelands (Tanaka et al. 2011). This leads to unwanted sediment movement and stream flow changes that mainly affects downstream human communities and natural ecosystems through increased loading of non-point pollutants. Increased sedimentation in the rivers and lakes has many impacts. For example, it alters aquatic habitats and communities, abets the proliferation of algal blooms and the invasive weed, water hyacinth -which in turn has further reduced the amount of dissolved oxygen and contributed to eutrophication.Extreme climatic conditions and drought, combined with overuse of vegetation favour wind erosion, \"sandification\" and moving sand dunes. The consequences are loss of soil but a reduction in quality also, as wind erosion is selective: the finest and most nutrient-rich particles are removed preferentially. Thus in the topsoil that remains, organic matter levels and fertility are reduced. This can, in turn, increase runoff meaning a loss of precious water (in regions that are often water scarce) while simultaneously causing soil erosion.In arid and semi-arid areas, wind erosion results in the displacement of sand from the source and its accumulation and deposition elsewhere. This destination is often near an obstacle -for example buildings, fences, or wind breaks of trees.In the Sahel, sand dune encroachment can lead to loss of agricultural and pastoral land, and threaten villages (Box 2.26). The dunes may form as a result of an increase in wind erosion, but are commonly triggered by formerly stabilised dunes that have become mobile again following the disappearance of vegetation. Dune stabilisation techniques can be: (i) mechanical fixation (fences, hedges, palisades etc.) that stabilises moving sandy masses or blocks, further movement, and/or (ii) biological fixation that comprises the creation of permanent vegetative cover on the dune. Palisades and vegetation furthermore provide shade that, in turn, lowers soil temperatures and maintains organic matter. With increasingly strong winds and accelerated degradation of the natural vegetation growing on sand dunes -a widespread phenomenon at present -it is very likely that the problems caused by shifting dunes will worsen in the future. Techniques to stabilise shifting sand dunes will therefore become more important.From the analysis displayed in Figure 4.22, it was found that technologies with the highest impacts on people were improving SLM/ LD knowledge (56%), improving community institutions (42%), followed by food security (40%), conflict mitigation (36%) and empowerment of disadvantaged groups/ gender equality (21%).The Okavango Kopano Mokoro Community Trust offers opportunities for community-led tourism in the famous Okavango Delta. The aim is to provide affordable game and nature trips with camping at night -to allow more people to enjoy the delta while providing jobs in the impoverished local villages.The trust was legally registered in 1997, and its board members are from the communities themselves. Community-based natural resource management is the overall objective. This includes sustainable utilisation of natural resources through direct participation in managing the environment, animals and plants abundant in the delta. In this way, the trust uses tourism to protect the rich natural resources while deriving a source of income to sustain local livelihoods.Community guides know best how to access and explore the delta during the different seasons. Overnight camping, combined with day and night trips in local Mokoro dugout canoes has become a popular way to experience the tranquillity of the Okavango Delta -at an affordable price. A highlight is gliding silently through the serene landscape -offering a special perspective of the abundant wildlife, and enjoying the beauty and richness of nature in silence. The delta is home to a vast array of wildlife, including elephant, wildebeest, giraffe, zebra and antelope. The local guides know the special spots within the unique Okavango landscape and wildlife. They can rightly claim this is the best way to experience the true, wild, Africa.The benefits don't accrue to a tourist agency but directly to the local community. Many tourists appreciate this concept-and it offers excellent value for money. Community-led tourism offers untapped potential for the use and conservation of rangelands, while simultaneously benefiting local people. It is surely worthy of further attention. Chapter 4 Sustainable Rangeland Management -drivers, impacts and continuous changeResponses in the approaches concerning 'services for people' presented a similar picture to the technologies. In almost 70% of the approaches, positive impacts on knowledge and capacity building were reported (Figure 4.23). This is followed by institutional strengthening (60%), empowerment of disadvantaged groups (59%), food security (53%), conflict mitigation (52%) and gender equality (50%).The importance of SRM knowledge has already been highlighted as a critical constraint to implementation (see Chapter 4.1.7). The second highest impact is related to improving community institutions. It is striking that in some technology groups, the empowerment of community institutions was rated more highly than SLM/LD knowledge: these groups include 'enabled mobility' (of whom 100% cite improved community institutions), 'infrastructure improvement' (82%) and 'controlled grazing' (55%). This confirms the importance of strengthening local institutions in orderIn Sub-Saharan Africa, 4.7% of the surface area is covered by wetlands: this figure rises to 6.0% when lakes, rivers and reservoirs are included (Rebelo et al. 2009). Rivers flowing through the rangelands or draining into wetlands are arteries of life for people, animals -but also for vegetation -especially when surrounded by drylands'. Examples include the River Niger, Senegal, rivers and streams flowing into Lake Chad, the Lorian Swamps in Northern Kenya which drain into Somalia, and the Okavango Delta in Botswana. River flows, and their flow regimes, change from season to season. However a trend towards extremes is being increasingly observed, with higher flows and more violent floods damaging and destabilising river beds and banks and, during the dry season, diminishing flows or water courses drying entirely. Upstream development, especially increasing irrigation, significantly affects river flows in some basins -yet the extent of the impact and the consequences for the rangelands are unclear and contested. Evidence is still lacking though research is underway in some basins, notably the Ewaso Ng'iro Basin in northern Kenya (Providoli et al. 2019) and the Okavango Basin in Southern Africa (Liniger et al. 2017).Box 4.24: Wetlands and Rivers: their key role in the rangelands of SSA   areas. Improving gender equality is a real concern in SSA, and it is important to note that good land management has a positive impact. The role of women in decision-making, use, access, ownership and control of rangeland resources differs from that of men (Box 4.27). In practice, women are owners and managers of some natural resources, particularly those situated near homesteads. They may certain specific pastoral products -such as milk. These roles are often well recognised and nested in customary tenure systems, although some beliefs and taboos may not promote an active role of women in sustainable rangeland management: especially those that hinder decision-making by women. In 'FMNR approach, Kenya' 37 women are included in discussions and trainings and are empowered to take decisions although old traditions (\"clean agriculture\") hinder women from planting and working with trees and from participating in meetings.Women clearly hold intrinsic knowledge about rangeland management in line with their use of the range. This knowledge, coupled with skills, management and access to resources, is key to addressing issues of land degradation and climate change. However, it needs to be re-emphasised that these issues impact on women and men differently. For example, the amount of time and effort needed by women to accomplish their traditional roles of (for example) fetching water for domestic use and taking care of sick or lactating livestock can increase very considerably with resource scarcity and degradation.Chapter 4 Sustainable Rangeland Management -drivers, impacts and continuous change to achieve successful implementation of SRM, but also probably highlights the fact that many development agencies are increasingly working through local institutions in the search for long-term sustainability.Food security is being improved in all technologies and approaches groups to almost the same extent (between 40% and 60%). Only in practices under 'supplementary feeding' is the impact on food security said to be much lower: but that could indicate that in this group, people are better-off and food security is not a major concern.Some technologies and apporaches had a positive impact on conflict mitigation (36% and 20-55% repectively). However, 8% of the technologies described were associated with a negative impact. This was mainly within the 'controlled grazing' and the 'range improvement' groups. In both of them, improved grazing land conditions also attract neighbours to invade those \"green spots\", especially during droughts.Land use rights improvement were mentioned in 50% of the approaches -which was lower than expected. Despite the urgency of the need to achieve better land tenure, having a significant impact on land use right issues is evidently both difficult and time-consuming.Empowerment of disadvantaged groups and gender equality were greatly to moderately affected in more than half of the approaches documented: the impact was similar in all approaches groups except in 'marketing & alternative income', where, in all cases, positive impacts were recorded for disadvantaged groups such as ethnic minorities in remoteThe Olifants basin in South Africa is an example where rangeland uses are located upstream. In this basin, a 31.6% decrease in rangeland with matching increases in agriculture lands (20.1%), urban areas (10.5%) and forest (0.7%) led to a 47% increase in surface runoff generation (Gyamfi et al. 2016). The implication is that water was not retained on the land, and higher surface runoff is usually correlated with higher peak flows and sediment losses also. Another example of an African basin where ecological effects have been observed following the loss of upstream rangelands is the Lake Bosomtwe basin in Ghana (Adjei et al. 2017).In the Mara basin, which is shared between Kenya and Tanzania, Mati et al. (2008) found that land-use change between 1973 and 2000, including deforestation and conversion of rangelands to croplands, increased the peak flow of the Mara River by 7%. Mwangi et al. (2016) estimated that land-use change in the last 50 years contributed to about 97% of the observed increase in the mean streamflow of Nyangores River (a headwater tributary of the Mara River). Deforestation and intensification of agriculture are likely to cause an increase in surface runoff due to degradation of the watershed, which reduces its capacity to absorb rainwater (Mwangi et al. 2017).In the Gilgel Tekeze catchment, Northern Ethiopia, major increments of cultivated land and settlements of 15.4% and 9.9%, respectively, at the expense of shrubland and grazing lands have caused an increase in annual surface runoff of 101 mm, and a decrease in groundwater recharge of 39 mm over the period 1976-2003 (Haregeweyn et al. 2015). These results signify an increasing threat of moisture unavailability, and suggest that appropriate land management measures under the framework of the integrated catchment management (ICM) approach are urgently needed.Olifants Basin, Southern Waters (www.drift-eflows.com).Source: http://www.okmct.org.bw/ Lake Bosomtwe basin in Ghana (http://ghana.arocha.org).based NRM'. Main strategies are to establish insurances, to regulate dry season or emergency grazing and to establish fodder reserves and emergency markets.Benefits and costs of rangeland management practices Benefits and costs are crucial in justifying interventions and encouraging adoption of SRM. So far, the majority of available studies on the benefits and costs of SLM concern crop production systems. Far fewer assessments have been devoted to benefits and costs of rangeland management systems (Rota 2018). Frameworks for assessment of the value of dryland ecosystems, and the potential benefits of managing them sustainably have only recently begun to emerge (King-Okumu 2017). Due to the wide extent and diffuse nature of rangeland systems, the broad range of management practices, multiple benefits, variable outcomes and uncertainties (Sandford and Scoones 2006), the benefit/cost calculations are often considerably more complicated and problematic for agricultural economists than the economics of monocropping or agroforestry systems. Furthermore, input requirements and costs are also not as predictable as they are in cropping systems. Nevertheless, it has been argued that the potential returns on restoring rangelands can be higher than those for any other dryland ecosystem type -hence the importance of attempting analyses (IPBES 2018, De Groot et al. 2013).To assess the benefit -cost ratios for the SRM technologies identified in this book, the perspective of land users and/ or other stakeholders of short-term and long-term of establishment and maintenance benefits and costs has been used asThe encroachment of sand dunes particularly affects oases, threatening 9% of the productive land in the oases of Niger. Additionally in the oases and lowlands of the agro-silvo-pastoral zone, sand dune formation and dust bowls threaten 60% of the infrastructure -water points, roads and settlements etc. Sand dunes are stabilised by setting up dead or living windbreaks arranged in a checkerboard pattern or in strips aligned against the prevailing wind direction. The windbreaks are formed by palisades (e.g. from millet stalks, branches of doum palm trees or other plant material) or by hedges (e.g. Euphorbia balsamifera) and trees (Acacia senegal, Balanites aegyptiaca).From an economic point of view, the advantage/ impact of the technology is the increase in agro-silvo-pastoral income, livestock production, straw and pasture production, and fruit production (dates, mangoes, citrus, etc.). Ecologically, the advantages/ impacts are the increase in vegetation cover/ soil fertility, the reduction of wind and water erosion, and an increase in biodiversity. At the socio-cultural level, this technology reduces conflicts between land users and strengthens the institutional capacities of local communities. Use of the Gender Evaluation Criteria: a tool to assess land policies and laws against gender justice.http://www.landcoalition.org/en/regions/africa/blog/gender-evaluationcriteria-key-moment-scaling a proxy indicator. According to WOCAT, short-term covers 1 -3 years, and long-term at least 10 years. Land users were asked their opinions of whether the ratios were positive or negative. Generally, from experience, such assessments place a quite low value on people's time and in-kind investments, and also do not take into consideration the cost of establishing necessary approaches, institutional frameworks, capacities, etc. that the technologies need to be embedded into.Results show that, for the short-term, in all technology groups, more than half of the cases demonstrate positive returns (Figure 4.25). The highest were recorded under 'infrastructure improvement', 'enabled mobility' and 'range improvement'. Compared to the costs involved for establishment, the practices requiring high inputs also show rapid beneficial returns -such as 'infrastructure improvement'. Those needing less input (see Figure 4.14) also give high benefits such as the 'controlled grazing' and 'supplementary feeding' groups.However, establishment costs often exceed short-term benefits, as reported in around 30% of the cases. The most negative benefit/ cost ratio in the first 1 to 3 years are recorded under 'controlled grazing', 'range improvement' and 'supplementary feeding'. 'Infrastructure improvement' showed less negative benefit-cost ratio than expected. In the 'enabled mobility' technology group, benefits already exceed costs in the first years. Here the perceived investment costs are relatively low compared to the other groups, as these are mostly related to a management change. Surprisingly, in around 10% of the 'controlled grazing' group, the returns are rated as being very negative. This could be explained by reduced grazing or even exclusion of grazing in the first few years. 'Rotational grazing, South Africa' 38 has very high establishment costs, which discourages land users from using the multi-paddock grazing system.Long-term, the investment pays back in all technology groups. This is particularly so, and in a very positive way, for 'infrastructure improvement', 'and 'range improvement' both of which need time (10 years or more) to fully manifest their benefits.In terms of maintenance returns (benefit-cost ratio), in the short-term as well as the long-term, there is a similar pattern to establishment returns. One exception is the 'enabling mobility group', where long-term maintenance benefits are perceived as less positive than long-term establishment benefits, probably due to a withdrawal of support after 3-5 years of project duration. Furthermore, in a few cases of 'range improvement', long-term maintenance returns are rated slightly negative, probably due to less financial support for inputs and repairs after projects pull out.SRM should aim, ideally, to achieve both short-term (rapid) and long-term (sustained) paybacks. Practices (technologies and approaches), as documented by WOCAT, include a majority, and other disasters (Flint and Luloff 2005, Bond et al. 2017, Venton 2018). It also includes consideration of the value that managers place on avoiding, or insuring against, these risks and losses. Since the loss of livelihoods in marginal rangeland areas cause famines and conflicts, this can have disastrous consequences for national economies, security, and for society as a whole. Recognition of this point has important implications not only for the selection of optimal management strategies, but also for economic assessment of their benefits. Although most available assessments of benefits and costs of interventions to build resilience to drought in rangeland areas focus on the household level economies, some do also consider effects on the wider regional and national economies or even global environmental benefits, such as carbon sequestration (Vardakoulias and Nicholles 2014a and 2014b, Siedenburg 2016, Venton 2018). A recent assessment by FAO (2018) demonstrated that giving livestock owners fodder for their animals during drought saved lives and achieved a 3.5:1 return on investment costs to procure and distribute the fodder. But if rangeland users were better able to protect forage resources -or make hay -they could achieve the same outcome in terms of avoiding livestock losses. In such cases, their coping systems are also strengthened, and they would not be dependent on handouts.Recently, rangeland managers have begun to consider the need to involve off-site as well as on-site stakeholders in shaping their assessments of SRM impacts (Tanaka et al. 2011, Brown andMacleod 2017). In cases where some benefits are of more value to off-site stakeholders than they are to on-site resource users, there can be rationale for the off-site beneficiaries to offer incentives to the rangeland users for maintaining or improving relevant practices -for which report high returns anticipated over longer (10-year) timeframes (Table 4.6). Even in the short-term, slightly positive to very positive returns are common. Generally, the move towards more positive returns in the long-term is reflected.In relation to rangeland use systems, and also the technology groups, no distinct patterns emerge.However, it is important to note that assessments of ecological restoration often deal in much longer timeframes than this, that is 25-or 30-year time horizons (e.g. IPBES 2018).Valuation of ecosystem services is important to enable economic assessment of the benefits of SRM, in order to weigh these against the costs of implementation (see Figure 4 The economics of risk reduction and improved resilience in the rangelands is an emerging field in which particular attention is paid to the costs of losses due to drought Short term: 1 -3 years; long term: 10 years  Balana et al. 2012). Drinking water for people and livestock often has a range of different market prices that will escalate during shortages. The majority of available studies on the benefits and costs of SLM concern crop production systems. Far fewer assessments have been devoted to benefits and costs of rangeland management systems. Due to the multiple benefits and uncertainties that characterise the rangeland systems, these calculations are often considerably more complicated and problematic for agricultural economists than the economics of monocropping or agroforestry systems.The economics of carbon sequestration is often discussed in relation to the economics of sustainable rangeland management and payment for ecosystem ser vices (Box 4.28). But these values still can only be realised in very few rangelands in SSA -where there is sufficient institutional support to make payments for carbon credits (Lipper et al. 2010).On the other hand, the economics of land claims and mining rights (subterranean resource exploitation) can be more tangible to rangeland users -even under communal systems. Rangeland communities can receive payments from mineral exploration, and land developers of different kinds if they can establish their claim on their land and oblige investors to pay for the rights to access resources there.There are more issues and benefits involved related to sustainable land management as illustrated in Figure 4.26. Each of them would need to be assessed and valued, and trade-offs and co-benefits between them to be assessed, in order to paint a comprehensive picture of the value of rangeland management.Chapter 4Sustainable Rangeland Management -drivers, impacts and continuous changeThe Chyulu Hills REDD+ project combines two government agencies, three local NGOs and four communities together under a unified banner, the Chyulu Hills Conservation Trust (CHCT). The project aims to protect its rangeland and forest landscapes by creating an alternative income opportunity, and improving both livestock and rangeland management, while preventing the emission of over 18 million tons of carbon dioxide over the project's 30-year lifetime.A main goal of the project is to improve grazing and livestock management to prevent further degradation of the rangeland and forest resources. example to reduce erosion and sedimentation of downstream water supplies or increase carbon sequestration (Blignaut et al. 2010). This is a form of payment for ecosystem services (PES).The economics of hydrological regulation is difficult to assess in terms of use values for the stored water, or replacement costs for wells or water treatment instead of water availability in the surface waterbodies and near subsurface. This has been attempted in various studies carried out in rangeland areas in different parts of Sub-Saharan Africa (Acharya and Barbier 2002, Blignaut et al. 2010,The influence of SRM on ecosystem services can include both on-site and offsite impacts.Where efforts are made towards SRM, the value and importance of improving forage and fodder production -as the foundation of animal production -should be seen as the number one priority.Climate change and associated water scarcity are contributing to a situation where many rangelands are becoming increasingly dependent on boreholes for a greater part of the year.Dams, pans and lakes are very sensitive to management of their catchment area. If the land and its vegetation cover is degraded then the waterbodies will be rapidly degraded in turn.Changing the types of watering points that are available in rangeland (e.g. from naturally occurring seasonal water pans to boreholes) can give more control to local rangeland managers.As demands on water increase and surface water has become scarcer, more and more groundwater is being tapped especially during drought periods -the longer-term consequences of this is a growing worry.Beef production 'water footprint' studies have shown that industrial livestock systems have a far higher freshwater footprint than livestock raised in extensive grazing systems.More than 35% of the technologies were appraised as being able to cope well or very well with drought.Investing in the land and its productive capacity are vital in strengthening people's resilience to drought and climatic shocks.Managing rangeland watersheds to deliver improved quality and quantities of water to urban consumers has been identified as a critically important way in which SRM can affect ecosystem services that are of value to people.Compound disasters of floods and droughts following each other have received considerable attention in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. SRM can offer, at least in part, a disaster risk reduction solution.The costs showed that they are affordable and already pay back in the short-term: so rangeland users can spontaneously adopt these practices. 'Controlled grazing' also has good adoption rates -in around 35% of the cases, with more than 50% adoption in some. Again, the reasons are that they are affordable and pay back quickly. In all the other technology groups, adoption is less, but it still exists. In these cases more inputs are required, especially 'improved infrastructure' and thus rely more on support from outside agencies. However, the high proportion of 'not available' data on adoption is an indication of insufficient monitoring of the spread and takeup of land management technologies.Further analysis showed that only 25% of the cases reported adaptation of the technologies by land users to suit local context and changing conditions: about the same number indicated no adaptation and almost half did not, or simply could not, answer the question. Of those who adapted the practice, 13% indicated climate change, 3% market change but 84% could not specify the reason. The high number of 'no replies' to critical questions like adoption and adaption rises serious concerns about monitoring and evaluation of the spread of SRM.Ecosystem services (ESS) provided from rangeland management, and the changes due to investments in sustainable land management practices, influence and change the original drivers of the management of the rangeland. This feedback mechanism closes the cycle in the framework of sustainable rangeland management (see Figure 4.1). New drivers are formed, which in turn drive land users to make changes and further investments, or to maintain the services provided by the land use. Thus assessment of the impacts on ESS shows how drivers are changed, creating the enabling environment ideally towards improved conditions for further spread ('outscaling') of SRM practices.The main motivation of land users for implementing SRM has been reported to be increased production (Figure 4.27).Along the same lines, increased profitability is mentioned as being very important under a number of approaches.Reducing land degradation and environmental consciousness are also driving forces or at least strongly motivating factors. Enhanced SRM knowledge and skills, as well as conflict mitigation, are recurring themes throughout this chapter, indicating their importance as a driving force.Activities from the 'community based NRM' group can all be fully sustained or continued once any external project support has been terminated or has pulled out (Figure 4.28).For around 70% of the 'land & water use planning' cases and 50% of those under 'wildlife & nature tourism' continuation of implementation of activities has also been reported. However, for around 80% of the cases of 'marketing & alternative income' and around 30% of 'land & water use planning', continuation is unlikely or even impossible without the support of a project or government agency.With respect to take-up of the practices, 40% of the cases reported spontaneous adoption. Adoption of technologies pertaining to the 'enabled mobility' group are by far the highest (Figure 4.29). Forty percent of the cases reported that 10-50% of the land users have adopted the technologies, and 60% of all cases reported an adoption rate of more than half of the land users within the region. This is a very encouraging sign and shows that practices promoted under 'enabled mobility' are first, clearly needed, and second, attractive.Women clearly hold intrinsic knowledge about rangeland management in line with their use of the range.So far, the majority of available studies on the benefits and costs of SLM concern crop production systems. Far fewer assessments have been devoted to benefits and costs of rangeland management systems.Results show that, for the short-term, in all technology groups, more than half of the cases demonstrate positive returns.Long-term, the investment pays back in all technology groups. In terms of maintenance returns, in the short-term as well as the long-term, there is a similar pattern to establishment returns.In some cases, long-term maintenance returns are rated less positive than longterm establishment benefits, probably due to a withdrawal of support after 3-5 years of project duration.If rangeland users were better able to protect forage resources -or make hay -they could avoid livestock losses.Recently, rangeland managers have begun to consider the need to involve off-site as well as on-site stakeholders in shaping their assessments of SRM impacts.  Closing the cycle in rangeland management: Technical interventions in rangelands will fail if impacts on the economic, political, cultural and social well-being and the people, and the health of the land and ecosystem are not positive and not recognised. Rangelands are complex socio-ecological systems.Many factors are localised in nature, and can only be tackled through an appropriate and tailored approach. Others are relevant at landscape, or national, or even transboundary scale and others at global level: their effects on the functioning of the rangeland system may be out of the control of local managers, yet interventions must account for these to ensure success (Hruska et al. 2017). The proposed 'rangeland management framework' on drivers, land management practices, health of the land resources and ESS -including human wellbeing -allows manager and practitioners to understand and interpret these interacting factors, and create management intervention that are holistic in nature, and recognise the complexity and dynamic interaction in rangelands.Rangeland management involves actions at multiple scales, both temporal and spatial. Management interventions which don't appreciate the need to manage across these multiple scales, incorporating the varying political, ecological and social dynamics, will often fail to meet their goals.The analysis of the documented practices, as well as experiences described in the literature, clearly show that there is a continuous change of drivers. It is the land management practices and their impacts on the health of the natural resources and the ecosystem services, which influence and propel the change of drivers. This ever-ongoing change, namely \"what is good today might not work tomorrow\" combined with the intricate complexity related to ecosystems, stakeholders and their interactions is particularly dynamic. It has even accelerated in recent years and is increasingly challenging for the rangelands of Sub-Saharan Africa. Highly flexible adaptions and coping mechanism are clearly needed, as indicated by the strong demand for knowledge and capacity building expressed by land users -echoed by SRM specialists. Take-home messages Adoption of technologies are by far the highest within the 'enabled mobility' groupThe high number of 'no replies' to critical questions like adoption and adaption rises serious concerns about monitoring and evaluation of the spread of SRM.Technical interventions in rangelands will fail if impacts on the economic, political, cultural and social well-being and the people, and the health of the land and ecosystem are not positive and not recognised.Rangeland management involves actions at multiple scales, both temporal and spatial.It is the land management practices and their impacts on the health of the natural resources and the ecosystem services, which influence and propel the change of drivers ever-ongoing change, namely \"what is good today might not work tomorrow\" combined with the intricate complexity related to ecosystems, stakeholders and their interactions is particularly dynamic.Highly flexible adaptions and coping mechanism are clearly needed, as indicated by the strong demand for knowledge and capacity building expressed by land users -echoed by SRM specialists.ing by urban elites etc.; growing conflicts between resource users; a plethora of historical development projects -many of which failed and left a legacy of pessimism. Management interventions which don't appreciate the need to manage across multiple scales, incorporating the varying political, ecological and social dynamics, will fail to meet their goals.Rangelands have become hotspots as their potential is better appreciated -but at the same time they are subject to increasing threats of degradation.A main aim of rangeland development is to achieve improved and sustained ecosystem services and provide better livelihoods by investment in, and upscaling of sustainable rangeland management (SRM) profoundly based on experiences gained so far. Better management of the vegetation, the water and the soil must be afforded top priority for planning and further investments -for the future of the Sub-Saharan Africa's rangelands and its peoples.The way forward -strengthening sustainable rangeland management in Sub-Saharan AfricaThis chapter brings the book to a conclusion by synthesising and integrating the findings of the literature review and analysis of the case studies. These are assembled under the thematic headings of technologies, approaches and knowledge management. A final section then reviews the prospects for the future of sustainable rangeland management.Within the text there are \"Focus boxes\" -each of which highlights key issues or summarises guidelines. In summary, the conclusion underlines the conviction that there needs to be a greater emphasis on the rangelands and their management in Sub-Saharan Africa.But first, it is important to re-iterate the strategic importance of the rangelands to Sub-Saharan Africa. They cover 62% of the land area, are home to over 55% of its livestock and provide livelihoods for 38% of the region's inhabitants. Rangelands also provide a wide range of ecosystems services including carbon storage and hydrological regulation -and they also host unique and globally important biodiversity. However, the state of these lands is in peril, with large-scale losses of productivity and threats to livelihoods, due to pervasive deterioration of the natural resources -increasingly exacerbated by climate change and growing demands by various stakeholders.A multitude of different drivers are involved in the current dynamic situation, all impacting and affecting rangelands and their management: these include human population growth and increasingly unsustainable resource use; in some areas, growing livestock densities and changing livestock composition; climate change with increased frequency of droughts and floods; losses of mobility as a result of policies and land fragmentation; increasing claims on resources -for mining, oil exploration, biofuels, large-scale farming, contract herd-What is the future of the rangelands in SSA? Transformation into other land uses due to growing alternative claims? Will an assessment of the value of the diverse services and functions of the rangelands help in clarifying the way forward? left: Conversion of rangelands and their wetlands might yield shortterm economic benefits but a loss of services related to disaster risk reduction, biodiversity and provision of water, northern Uganda (Hanspeter Liniger).right: Assessing the value of biodiversity and rich habitats of African wildlife -and the value of grasses, in some parts of the world termed \"green gold\" -remains a challenge compared to assessing the value of mining mineral resources e.g. gold, South Africa (Hanspeter Liniger).Focus #02: Review rangelands as social-ecological systems.Development interventions in rangelands fail when we do not consider impacts on economic and social well-being, in addition to the ecology. Rangelands are complex social-ecological systems where climate, ecology, management, culture, institutions, policy, and market forces, all interact. Rangeland interventions thus need to address all aspects of sustainability: the social, economic and ecological dimensions of sustainable rangeland management.Focus #03: Appreciate new and growing pressures and their significant impact.Rangelands are under intense and growing pressure, with a multitude of global and local changes. Land degradation is a clear and present danger. Simultaneously, historical views of rangelands and their people as \"marginal\" are rapidly receding: these are lands growing steadily and strongly in importance as claims on them, for multiple purposes, proliferate.Focus #01: Appreciate the importance of healthy rangelands in Sub-Saharan AfricaFor the future of Sub-Saharan Africa, rangelands and their ecosystem services will be increasingly crucial: but their contribution can only be guaranteed if the land and its resources are kept in a \"healthy\" condition through sustainable management.The first priority behind sound SRM technologies -valid for all rangeland use systems -is to seek to establish and maintain healthy land. Nurturing productive conditions helps land to achieve its natural potential, while maintaining and improving ecosystem function and services. Furthermore, it breaks the vicious spiral of degradation (see Box 4.12). It also provides resilience against shocks and extremes inherent to rangelands, but made worse by a changing climate (see Chapter 2.1.2). The combination of improving and maintaining both health and productivity of the land has top priority for all interventions in SRM.Healthy rangeland can only be fostered by practices that maintain a good level of ground cover -with a special emphasis on perennial grasses, including the improvement of forage/ fodder quality: the nutritional value of the range needs to be considered alongside the productivity. Therefore, what is urgently needed is a \"GRASS revolution\": Grass Restoration for Africa's Sub-Saharan rangelands. As this revolution is also needed outside Africa it could also stand for Grass Restoration for Arid and Semiarid Soils. This helps achieve the objective of increasing vegetation/ biomass quality and production, which in turn increases water availability and water use efficiency by reducing surface evaporation and runoff. Collected runoff can be used productively through water harvesting.Other goals are an increase in soil fertility, in soil organic matter, and in soil fauna and flora and creating favourable micro-climates, SRM technologies that favour healthy land are based on grazing management systems at very different levels of scale -across all rangeland use systems (RUS). However, when working effectively, all provide rest periods for grasses to replenish their reserves. Judicious fire management may be employed in some situations to prevent or control bush and tree encroachment by invasive exotic -but also native -species and allow perennial grasses to establish.Because of the high level of diversity and the heterogeneity of the rangelands, there needs to be a differentiation in focus between the different rangeland use systems (RUS). Although there can be overlap between the different RUS, each requires specific interventions.Experiences with sustainable rangeland management have been documented using the standardised WOCAT format, and are presented in Part 2 under \"technologies\" and \"approaches\". The analysis of the practices documented revealed principles underpinning successful SRM. Some are valid for all rangeland use systems -others are more specific to certain systems.Focus #05: Address different rangeland use systems (RUS).In order to deal with the high complexity and diversity, six rangeland use systems need to be addressed -separately but also the interactions between them -in the search for solutions, these comprise:1. Large landscape pastoral rangelands (pastoral).2. Large landscape agropastoral rangelands (agropastoral).3. Bounded rangelands without wildlife management (bounded without wildlife).4. Bounded rangelands with wildlife management (bounded with wildlife).6. Small-scale settled pastures (pastures).Focus #06: Follow three guiding principles for SRM technologies.1) Maintain healthy and productive land.2) Employ adaptive and ecological heterogeneity-based management of livestock and wildlife.3) Focus on resilience-based interventions that cope with shocks, threats and risks.Focus #07: Emphasize Grass Restoration for Africa's Sub-Saharan rangelands, GRASS.A popular misconception is that deforestation is a major issue in the rangeland crescent of SSA. For donors, trees have \"green credentials\", and a simple appeal. However a focus on tree planting programmes should not detract from the main priority: re-establishing perennial grass cover and species for herbivores -and for protection of the land.Focus #04: Spread SRM derived from experience.To ensure relevance, impact and spread, SRM must be based on principles derived from the wealth of existing experiences. This book has collected and collated many of the most important current practices: the evidence is here.nah and grassland plant communities. There is now a strong conceptual basis for wildlife-livestock co-existence and empirical evidence to show that these concepts work.Thus community and private conservancies can play a role in restoring wildlife movement across large landscapes in African savannahs. But conservancies are not a panacea for development in the rangelands and cannot replace public institutions that function at a broader spatial level.As noted, good rangeland management practices lead to healthy landscapes which build up resilience and make systems \"climate-smart\" -namely productive and more robust to climate extremes and changes, while simultaneously sequestering carbon in vegetation and the soil. Further, specific measures include installing emergency mechanisms for situations where the shock is too large to be absorbed by even a healthy system. This may include securing additional emergency feed by building up a hay reserve (e.g. in 'pasture' but also in 'bounded' systems) or securing an emergency grazing area -though such areas are very vulnerable to competition and conflicts. Another key aspect of this strategy is sourcing emergency markets: possibilities for sale and slaughter during critical periods. Finally contingency plans should be drawn up in case of exceptional droughts or other disasters where food (or cash) aid is required: in these cases the World Food Programme may step in and propose \"work-for-asset\" programmes where the \"assets\" comprise infrastructure for community benefit.Enabling mobility and movement through opportunistic (large-scale pastoral and agropastoral systems), or controlled, rotational grazing (in bounded systems) allowing natural regeneration and resting periods is central to utilising heterogeneity in vegetation and climate.The key elements are grazing intensity, timing and pressure that need to be carefully -and opportunistically -adjusted in order to allow the grass and herbaceous cover to regenerate from use and to remain productive. It is of paramount importance to guarantee sufficient duration and regularity of resting periods to maintain rangeland health. Rangelands evolved with a wide range of different herbivores. However, land users -through selecting different livestock species with their specific browsing and grazing habits -have changed the composition of rangeland vegetation.A vital intervention is to improve infrastructure including the number and distribution of water points and reservoirs. The key here is strategic placement to regulate water availability at different periods. Markets and slaughterhouses are always important -but access is imperative when lengthy droughts occur. Another area of attention is adjusting the balance between grazing and browsing: the mix between types of livestock, or in combination with wildlife.Wildlife and biodiversity should be seen as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. Many systems can benefit from wildlife for more efficient use of vegetative resources, for tourism and income generation for game meat. Furthermore, new strategies are needed to integrate pastoral and conservation objectives. Pastoralists can create \"functional heterogeneity\" that facilitates co-existence of wildlife and livestock and the interrelation of their grazing with savan-Chapter 5The way forward -strengthening sustainable rangeland management in Sub-Saharan AfricaLeft: Large-scale restoration grass cover is a key, if not the key, challenge for the rangelands in Sub-Saharan Africa (Hanspeter Liniger).right: Clearing of invasive bushes and spreading their branches on the bare ground enables grasses to grow under the cover, due to the favourable microclimate and the activities of termites breaking the soil crust, near Johannesburg, South Africa (Hanspeter Liniger).Focus #08: Maintain healthy and productive land.• Improve and maintain grass and herbaceous cover for production and protection.• Increase water availability by reducing water loss from direct evaporation from the surface and by uncontrolled runoff; harvest runoff water for productive purposes.• Maintain and increase soil fertility by reduction of water and wind erosion and improved manure management.• Reduce or prevent encroachment of invasive bush and tree species.Focus #09: Employ adaptive and ecological heterogeneity-based management of livestock and wildlife.• Adjust grazing intensity, timing and pressure by movement of livestock.• Allow regular resting periods for productive regeneration.• Select livestock species and composition according to availability and change of the rangeland vegetation.• Improve number and distribution of water points to access diverse grazing lands.• Give attention to markets and slaughterhouses: location and accessibility especially during droughts.• Manipulate herd composition (grazers and browsers; largestock and smallstock) to make use of the heterogeneity.• Manage livestock and wildlife interaction.• Arrangements with neighbours are needed to agree on dry season/ drought forage. • Securing the rested areas from use or invasion is essential; this also helps to ensure enough dry season/ drought forage. • Because of pressure from other rangeland users and drought, additional strategies may be required, such as emergency markets.• Improved land is directly addressed through restoring grass cover e.g. by reseeding, water conservation and harvesting, clearing of invasive and unproductive species. • As with 'controlled grazing' the rights and security over the land in times of crisis (droughts etc.) is a major issue. Range improvements are often done under 'bounded' or 'pasture' systems, where land rights are firmly regulated.• The impact on the land and its health is restricted in area but where applied, it is usually well done and productivity is improved. • Resilience to shocks and emergency feeding is usually better prepared for than in other groups. • In more intensive systems for animals at particularly stages (young, gravid, lactating), feed is often from residues, or fodder -fresh or preserved as hay.• Water availability is effectively a grazing management tool: water and forage access go hand-in-hand. Areas without water may be underutilised. When water points dry -or are turned off -animals are obliged to move: this helps to introduce resilience into the system. • However, this group also has the greatest potential to accelerate degradation especially in the vicinity of infrastructure through prolonging access to water and thus forage. Specific management options are needed (e.g. the movement of corrals, temporary closure of water points, change of stock routes). Development of water resources and its management must be designed carefully to avoid this pitfall. • Emergency situations can be addressed through infrastructure (stock routes for example) that permits ready access to forage, and through improved market opportunities.Diversifying production and sources of income is another option -though not available to all, for example those systems characterised by opportunistic movement and transhumance. Diversification can include using wildlife and tourism for additional income: this is an opportunity for two RUS, namely 'bounded with wildlife' and 'parks'. Other diversification pathways may include expansion of agropastoral and settled pasture systems, though this is limited by climatic factors. Non-livestock rangeland products (e.g. honey, medicinal and cosmetic products) are an option for exploitation, to a greater or lesser extent, under all RUS. An option for the future could be acquiring carbon credits for sequestering carbon under climate change mitigation programmes -for example as is being pioneered in the Chyulu Hills of Kenya.Whereas all the three principles elaborated above have their potential and role in the different groups of technologies, some of them have a special emphasis in particular technology groups:Enabled mobility (TG1)• Incorporates the principles of reaching a healthy state by avoiding overuse through movement and providing rest periods, while exploiting gradients of forage quality and quantity. Has best potential to exploit rainfall variability. • Requires strong governance systems to ensure adherence to grazing rules and arrangements. • Even though mobility has high potential to cope with shocks and variability, access to emergency areas and emergency markets is a growing constraint.• Smaller-scale form of mobility: rotation and regular resting is a key principle to avoid detrimental impacts on vegetation of non-rotational regimes.Focus #10: Focus on resilience-based interventions that cope with shocks, threats and risks.• Adapt through becoming resilient: invest in climate-smart systems.• Install emergency mechanisms for feed and market access.• Diversify production and sources of income (tourism/ wildlife, non-livestock rangeland products).• Be prepared for disaster interventions: develop plans for disaster relief programmes.Clarification and communication of the potential benefits and the impact on land users' livelihoods for each of the SRM practices are a prerequisite to encourage adoption of SRM. There needs to be particular attention to gender and youth.The following are the main considerations:In order to facilitate the implementation of SRM technologies six guiding basic principles for successful SRM approaches are:An enabling environment constitutes the factors that support or \"surround\" the implementation of SRM practices. Many are out of the direct control of project or programme implementers -such as as national policies. Some, though, are closer to home such as the development of local rangeland management committees. Before selection of an SRM practice, an analysis of the \"hindering environment\" and how to turn it into an \"enabling environment\" is a must. This requires attention to the following issues:left: Local people sowing indigenous trees, shrubs and grass seeds in microbasins opened up by the Vallerani Delfino plough into a extended degraded area. Sowing days are important and joyful events for the communities, Oudalan, Gorom-Gorom, Burkina Faso (Lindo Grandi).centre: During the rainy season the microbasins collect rain and runoff and the grasses re-establish quickly and first cover the microbasins while the unploughed soil remains bare (Amadou Boureima).right: After five years in the same area, the grass cover also between the ploughed lines is almost closed and desirable trees and bushes establish. The area has changed from basically unproductive degraded land to high value pasture land (Verena Grandi).Focus #11: Follow guiding principles for SRM approaches.1) Improve the enabling environment.2) Consider livelihoods, gender and youth.3) Enhance planning through participation and evidencebased decision-making. Focus #12: Improve the enabling environment.• Improve and utilise legal frameworks, institutions, governance, and policies.• Ensure security of rights to land and resources (formal, informal or customary).• Assure financial resources are available to support SRM.• Ensure better knowledge and capacities for decisionmaking and implementation.• Includie social/ cultural/religious norms & values as part of an enlightened approach.Focus #13: Consider livelihoods, gender and youth.• Clarify impact of SRM technologies on the land (vegetation, soil, water) and implications for livelihoods.• Reduce out-migration by promoting profitable and productive SRM.• Calculate costs and inputs needed for the implementation of SRM.• Estimate overall benefits as well as trade-offs: short-term and long-term.• Weigh up the potential for additional income through diversification of activities.• Improve access to services• Consider gender-related differences related to technologies and livelihood.• Assess the relevance to the youth: some '\"high-tech\" options may appeal to them.• Analyse consequences of different technologies on risks and security.Better marketing of livestock, and high-end livestock products as well as branding and origin-labelling can help in adding value to products. Additionally, there is unexploited potential for marketing of non-livestock rangeland products -and finally the potential for carbon credit schemes based not on trees but on rangeland vegetation.These are summarised below.Wildlife, and its role, is controversial within the debate surrounding rangeland management. Some see new opportunities for mixing wildlife and livestock, others view wildlife as a threat to livestock production. There are rangeland users who are caught up in wildlife-livestock or humanwildlife conflicts, while others make profitable use of wildlife and protected areas. Those growing crops on the rangeland fringes are especially vulnerable to wildlife: here lies the greatest potential for conflict. Below, some of the main issues are summarised.Multi-use with multi-users at multi-scales in a world of multiple claims is a great challenge that has to be met while planning. To turn a barrier into an opportunity, the following issues must be considered:Droughts and their implications for the rangelands have been identified as a key, and sensitive issue for all rangelands use systems and SRM practices. While resilience has already been discussed in terms of appropriate technologies, resilience strategy is integral to sound approaches:Focus #15: Build in strategic resilience to drought/ shocks and climate change adaptation.• Select and implement SRM practices that have proven levels of resilience.• Establish drought risk management plans and strategies.• Facilitate establishment of fodder stock and storage.• Enable access to dry season/drought/ emergency grazing grounds and water points.• Set-up early warning systems for preparedness.• Facilitate \"fair/ honest trading\" emergency selling.• Establish insurance schemes where this is an option.• Manage a range of livestock and wildlife species for optimum use of land's resource.• Encourage breeding strategies and natural selection which favour resilience.Focus #14: Enhance planning through participation and evidence-based decision-making.• Tap the wealth of experiences in good rangeland management and the lessons learnt from mistakes.• Assess costs and benefits of different land management options.• Identify and negotiate multiple claims, functions and uses of rangelands involving all stakeholders.• Engage in open dialogue and develop consensus during negotiations.• Plan for conflict resolution; if resolution is required, full stakeholder involvement is best.• Involve multiple stakeholder and users at all stages from planning onwards.Focus #16: Improve marketing and labelling products.• Improve marketing of livestock: high-end products, branding and origin-labelling.• Explore non-livestock rangeland products: medicines, cosmetics etc.• Establish functioning carbon credit schemes for rangelands.Focus #17: Integrate wildlife.• Continue exploring benefits and potentials of integrating wildlife.• Reduce human-wildlife conflicts and identify if wildlife corridors are feasible options.• Seek new opportunities and philosophies to incorporate wildlife and protected area benefits for local people.• Further explore a 3-circle approach often promoted in parks: from (1) protected areas in the centre, to a middle ring (2) for livestock grazing, and an outer ring (3) for settlement/ cultivation.• Further identify and document SRM practices related to parks & reserves and identify their potential for outscaling, especially in West Africa.paradoxes: for example bush encroachment is considered a form of degradation, but management systems with camels and goats may benefit -and herders may respond by increasing the proportion of browsers in their herds.For poor families both goats and sheep can be readily sold to realise cash. Cattle are large, so less of a \"liquid\" asset than small stock. In fact some communities refer to sheep and goats as their \"ATM cash machines\".Wildlife & nature tourism (AG4) Some of the rangeland use systems combine wildlife and nature resource management: for example 'bounded with wildlife' and 'parks & reserves'. The unique wildlife and nature of the African rangelands is a key asset and offers possibility and potential in many ways for improved management.The approach is strongly linked to improved marketing and seeking alternative income sources. The rich biodiversity and unique attractiveness of the rangelands provide a great asset for improved marketing and livelihoods of rangeland users.Clearly, there are a series of important and crucial awareness and knowledge gaps surrounding rangelands and their management. The compilation of the guidelines has been a stark reminder of how little is known, or understood, about the complexity and multitude of factors.Heightened awareness is needed to ensure that recognition of the status of rangelands and the changing and growing claims on them for the services they provide by a multitude of users is enhanced, and a general shift in perception about rangelands potential is encouraged -to reflect their growing importance yet increasing vulnerability.Chapter 5The way forward -strengthening sustainable rangeland management in Sub-Saharan Africa Chapter 5The way forward -strengthening sustainable rangeland management in Sub-Saharan Africa left: Hawai Gufu, a community member from Badana Village makes her contribution in community consultation meeting, Garbatulla, Kenya (Hussein Konsolle).centre: Herero pastoralist planning meeting, Namibia (William Critchley).right: Livestock insurance in remote rangelands illustrates the importance of risk reduction by an insurance against extreme events link droughts or ourbreaks of diseases. The insurance is as important as the basic goods sold in a small shop in the remote north of Kenya (Hanspeter Liniger).Whereas all the six principles elaborated above have their potential and role in the different groups of approaches, some have a special emphasis in particular approach groups:The main concern is to build from the community level, involving land users and their initiatives from the beginning to the end. It stresses participatory planning and decisionmaking and identification of community-based traditions, innovations and adaptations, and mobilises a wide span of stakeholders from community-based organisations (CBOs), to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to the government (GOs), and international organisations.Land & water use planning (AG2) Particular emphasis is on evidence-based decision-making informing participatory planning: as this has been identified as one of the key shortcomings, leading to widespread failures of interventions. Planning involves another set of \"multi-challenges\" involved in success: multi-stakeholders, multi-functions and multi-levels of scale. It also builds up a strong, well-informed knowledge base covering SRM already applied in the region. This is a real challenge, but approaches addressing improved planning and knowledgebased decision-making surely speak to a core issue within successful implementation of urgently needed SRM. Furthermore, planning for in-built resilience to deal with shocks and extremes has an important role in this group.All approaches need to address the economics of land degradation and SRM. The group 'marketing & alternative income' is focussed on efforts to identify improved marketing of livestock and non-livestock products, improved labelling and value-addition to rangeland products, and synergies including marketing of wildlife and nature, and exploring the potential carbon credits for CC mitigation.The choice of livestock breeds in management systems with restricted mobility is generally fine-tuned to meet market demands. While the herd composition in sedentary systems on rangelands is mainly adjusted to market demands, the composition of herds in pastoral systems further needs to consider type and availability of forage vegetation in an area as supplementary feeding is limited. In turn, changing herd composition may influence, over a long period, plant composition. There are complex dynamics and even Focus #18: Follow the guiding principles: awareness, knowledge & capacity.1) Improve awareness to induce a shift in perception.2) Identify current and future knowledge gaps.3) Address knowledge gaps and improve knowledge management and at all levels.4) Enhance capacity throughout: from land users to decisionmakers.While it is true that policies and governance are a limiting factor, ignorance of specific aspects, including impacts of interventions and indeed how to use previous experiences is a basic bottleneck to implementation of SRM.WOCAT tools and methods are already available, and are being increasingly applied to further elaborate the database and fill current knowledge gaps. In order to enhance the sharing and use of the existing knowledge local land users, practitioners and implementers need enhanced capacity-building and the assignment of time for monitoring. However, this needs political, institutional and global conviction and support. If experiences are not shared and monitoring of the impacts is not an integral part of any rangeland project, both time and resources are being wasted. Multiple development experiences and research projects have a long history in SSA -it is simply foolhardy to let these lessons and findings lie untouched on dusty shelves.Development initiatives have seen successes as well as failures -the latter including controversial recommendation (e.g. promotion of exotic trees which have become invasive). The current analysis underlines the complexity of the challenge: a vast range of different land use systems combined with knowledge gaps and inadequate skills to address the challenges related to SRM. The requirements for knowledge about ecosystems and their processes, vegetation, hydrology, fire, conflict occurrence, population dynamics (people, livestock and wildlife) -and the different rangeland use systems and practices currently applied are vast and are increasing. This includes understanding of the land users, their customs, traditions, claims and aspirations. Involving research organisations as well as academic institutions and students must be seen as a vital precondition to address the complexity and wide array of issues that emerged from the analysis of experiences.Focus #19: Improve awareness to induce a shift in perception.• Disseminate proven sustainable rangeland management practices.• Give voice to the various rangeland users to spread their experiences.• Raise awareness about the challenges and opportunities of SRM solutions.• Illustrate the complexity of human interaction with rangeland ecology.• Demonstrate the multiple impacts of good rangeland management.• Support platforms for awareness-raising, knowledge sharing and solution finding.• Bridge the barriers between the French and English speaking regions of SSA by creating multi-lingual knowledge sharing platforms.• Implant rangeland development issues into the policy level debate.• Involve researchers, postgraduates in training to address rangeland-related questions and help raising awareness.Focus #20: Identify current and future knowledge gaps.• Clarify changing and evolving claims about rangelands.• Better understand the complexity of rangeland management.• Assess and quantify on-site impacts -social, economic and ecological -of different land management practices.• Identify and assess off-site impacts -social, economic and ecological -of changes in land management related to drought, floods and sedimentation, or deposition of windblown particles.• Explore off-site impacts of climate change and especially climate extremes such as droughts.• Carry out cost-benefit analysis, with quantification of synergies and trade-offs.• Map and monitor of change of different land management practices, land health and ecosystem services.• Invest in better understanding of aspects of ecological, habitat and climatic heterogeneity.• Clarify about roles of protected zones, riverine areas, wetlands and mountains.• Clarify the role of improved rangeland management with regard to conflict resolutions and reduction of migration.The vital importance of rangelands for various users and uses has been one clear outcome of this exercise. So has the need to improve land management and push for significant outscaling of SRM practices. Impact can be achieved, but only if a large area is simultaneously improved by rangeland users who agree to jointly implement SRM practices -then pressure on the land can be reduced, conflicts averted, and the vicious spiral of land degradation can be broken.To make a real difference, externally sponsored initiatives need also to break out of the typical project cycle of 3-4 years and become long-term investment and capacity building programmes.Specific areas have been identified as key to the wider spread of SRM. These are: the potential for outscaling, the need to understand how rangelands function, in terms of their heterogeneity and how this can be best utilised; the prerequisite of reducing overcoming conflicts over land and its resources; and the need to be sensitive to rangeland users and their aspiration and values.In areas with higher land productivity -on the wetter fringe of the rangelands -and higher population of land users with small plots of land, people can make a significant difference in spreading SRM and improving land health if the majority of the land users work together. If they have the same goal and mobilise themselves in the implementation of SRM practices, the impact can be clearly seen.However, in most of the drier parts of the rangelands, the population density is lower and labour is restricted, and thus the potential to mobilise land users in large-scale and long-term endeavours is low. Here, to make a change to the land, there are two possible technical pathways: indirectly,Given the complexity and diversity of rangelands, the accelerated dynamics of change and their management practices, particular human capacity needs to be developed at all levels. The list of knowledge required already points to the need to sharpen skills. When working in rangelands -more than in cropping systems -there is a need to be aware of both traditions and traditional knowledge and their integration with modern \"scientific\" notions. A further point has been made many times over the last 50 years: the mutual benefits that can be derived from exchange and interaction across SSA, especially those bridging the linguistic divide between West and East Africa.left: Open surface water as drinking supply for cattle in pastoral systems (Friederike Mikulcak).centre: Transhumant herdsmen water their livestock at Dig Diga well, Niger (Abdoulaye Soumaila).right: Wind pump for lifting borehole water from a deep groundwater table, Laikipia, Kenya (Hanspeter Liniger).Focus #21: Address knowledge gaps and improve knowledge management at all levels.• Involve researchers and postgraduate field workers in knowledge gaps including spread of SRM practices, cost-benefit analysis and impacts on-and off-site.• Improve compilation of and sharing SRM experiences using standardised tools.• Improve knowledge management and evidence-based decision making in implementation projects and agencies, in planning processes at local to national levels and in advisory services.• Improve support for a knowledge sharing platform for the rangelands of SSA and other rangelands worldwide.Focus #22: Enhance capacities throughout: from land users to decision makers.• Understand of rangeland use systems and sustainable rangeland management.• Improve exchange of knowledge and networking -sharing, analysing and using knowledge from different regions of Africa and applying it in local and regional contexts.• Continue documentation of multiple unrecorded SRM practices and experiences.• Develop skills for impact and cost-benefit assessments onand off-site.• Improve capacities in evidence-based decision making at local, landscape and national levels.• Use high-tech satellite image data, combined with participatory assessment and mapping.• Use scenario building to project impacts of different land management options.Focus #23: Secure the future of SRM.1) Enhance \"vast and fast\" outscaling of SRM through direct and indirect pathways.2) Embrace complexity, heterogeneity and opportunism.3) Address hidden and open conflicts in the search for SRM.4) Embed values, perceptions and aspirations of rangeland users into solutions.for diversification and intensification remains and a new strategy emerges to replace expansion. That is \"enhanced heterogeneity\" meaning tapping and broadening natural heterogeneity, both for production and for protection of ecosystem services.There isn't any grazing system that fits all situations: for example the 'Holistic Management' system has proved only marginally suitable in Kenya. Creation of grassland heterogeneity by strategic grazing of livestock has potential for conservation strategies at the livestock-wildlife interface.A clear differentiation between rangeland use systems (RUS) is not only fundamental for the selection of SRM practices, but it is crucial at the planning and policy levels for understanding of the potential for conflict. It is important at the political level between countries -as well as within countries -in order to settle old conflicts or avoid new conflicts and disputes. Hidden and open conflicts often arise over access to forage and water, and rights or property over them. Without accepted and followed agreements at local, national and even cross boundary levels, there can be no peace and effective sustainable rangeland management -though SRM can be a tool in helping to resolve conflict.through the management of animals e.g. through agreed grazing plans or regulating and providing water as a measure to control and guide grazing; and directly, through large-scale vegetative and structural measures e.g. microcatchments or clearing invasive species.The \"mainstream view\" that was widespread in the mid-20th century held that overgrazing was the central problem, and therefore widespread destocking was necessary. This would then bring animal populations down to a theoretical equilibrium based on calculated and regulated \"carrying capacity\". In the late 20th century new theories challenged this view. They said that rangelands were not predictable nor homogenous, but unpredictable and heterogeneous, and the best way to use them was to be opportunistic. Indeed opportunistic strategies based on mobility have indeed always been used by pastoralists to make use of heterogeneity. But there is also a role for rotational grazing strategies especially in 'bounded systems' (RUS 3 and 4) -as long as these do not involve overemphasis on complex fencing infrastructure and intensive rotation: a successful example of using \"functional heterogeneity\" -in other words careful planning and allowing animals to use heterogeneity.Whereas diversification, intensification and expansion of area are common strategies to improve and increase agriculture productivity on cropland, for rangeland this needs modification. In SSA rangelands, the potential for expansion is -in most situations -limited and in many cases, it is the opposite: rangelands are being \"devoured by other land uses\" and reduced in area. However, the potential Focus #24: Enhance \"vast and fast\" outscaling of SRM through direct and indirect pathways.Direct:• Support approaches for mass mobilisation for small-scale interventions involving the majority of land users.• Promote large-scale mechanised practices covering vast areas in a short period.Indirect:• Find agreement on joint actions for SRM involving the majority of land users within a Rangeland Use System (RUS) and land users from neighbouring RUS.• Find consensus on how to regulate availability and use of water points and access to grazing pastures.Focus #25: Embrace complexity, heterogeneity and opportunism.• Appreciate that there are more complex and multiple interacting factors than in other land uses.• Embrace that it requires to understand terms & concepts and their evolution over the last 50 years.• Acknowledge that heterogeneity needs to be integrated into management systems as a strategy to replace expansion.left: Heavy pressure with potential conflicts on springs in the drylands. Different tribes of pastoralist come from far to Chafa Spring, northern rangelands of Kenya (Hanspeter Liniger).centre: Big Life anti-poaching Rhino unit goes out for their morning patrol looking for tracks and camera traps in the field, Chyulu Hills, Kenya (© Charlie Shoemaker).right: Nearby the Kouré Giraffe Zone in Niger, local subsistence farmers are angry that giraffes are causing damage on their farms (William Critchley).Focus #26: Address hidden and open conflicts in the search for SRM.• Give conflict resolution top priority, and if possible strengthen local institutions in their role of resolving conflicts.• Address and resolve common conflicts about access to forage and water and property as part of all SRM approaches.• Support the formation of user groups within the same RUS, focusing on making joint decisions about implementation and reducing conflicts over resources.• Between different RUS (e.g. pastoral-agropastoral and settled crop farmers), and other users and claimants (e.g. mining industries and settlement developers) identify increasing disputes and seek to mitigate them by clear arrangements incorporated in SRM.• Avoid concentration of power or introduction of discrimination which can become a source of conflict.Pastoralists (with the exception of private and community ranchers) often have no, or little, security over the land or guarantee to its resources for the future -in contrast to most crop farmers. And the age-old question is: why should they care for the future of the land and its resources? If they improve their land it may attract others to lay claim to it. Thus, pastoralists often have slender incentive to maintain their land and protect its health.For many communities, livestock still form their savings, as well as being their pride and an historical symbol of wealth and prosperity. Additional off-farm income (remittances in particular) from a family member often means that this is converted into buying additional livestock -and additional grazing areas and water resources then have to be identified. Areas that are not well protected and even those that are (e.g. private ranches, game reserves and national parks) may be overrun and invaded especially during periods of droughts. The urge to increase herds is therefore a constraint to sustainable land management.Focus #27: Embed values, perceptions and aspirations of rangeland users into solutions.• Respect that pastoralists' cultures are rich, historically embedded in their livestock and the land.• Embrace that cultural identity is usually strong and traditions longstanding.• Clarify the role of land and water rights and tenure security as incentives to maintain land and its health.• Address the issue that, for many pastoralists, livestock represent savings and a visible symbol of wealth and prosperity.Sustainable land management on cropland is a question of radically modifying and simplifying natural systems: growing one or more crops on fields, that are made more or less uniform through intensive land husbandry. Rangelands are very different in that they are highly variable, seminatural ecosystems, where the interference of people is limited. Thus while croplands are typified by \"homogeneity\", rangelands are characterised by \"heterogeinity\". Historically the main methods of altering vegetation have been through range users' management of livestock, control of wildlife -and through burning. Vegetation can further be influenced by enrichment seeding of grasses and other species, and through assisting natural regeneration and regrowth, but the ecosystem remains essentially heterogenic and semi-natural with its own dynamics and responses to change. If indigenous perennial grasses are overgrazed, for example, they disappear and allow space for less desirable annuals -or invasive species whether indigenous or alien.Nature responds to human interference and changes. Therefore, the challenge to rangeland management is to understand and use the power of nature and its principles, cycles, responses and interactions with human interference, and to find a productive but nature-based system for the benefit of people -while maintaining a healthy, functioning ecosystem. This poses an enormous challenge and requires profound knowledge, continuous observation and responses to environmental change through adaptations in management.Given the wide range of topics, environments, cultures and institutions, rangeland management is much more complex than productive systems under other land uses. Visions, beliefs and doctrines needed to be faced and filtered out.There have been -and continue to be -endless discussionsand disputes related to the state of the rangelands, whether there is overgrazing or not, overstocking or not, if fire is good or malign, whether \"holistic rangeland management\" can work: the list goes on. A basic issue is whether rangeland users can or indeed cannot afford to balance their short-term productive interests with a longer term vision of healthy land and water resources. If they reach the state of being detached from the land, a fresh crisis and renewed vicious spiral of degradation will be inevitable. Happily, just as many rangelands have become degraded, there is huge potential for improvement. However the most fundamental question is whether viable options actually exist for rangeland management in the future, given continued fragmentation, limitation of movement, claims on resources, and reduction of the land available with a growing population?Indeed, rangeland management and pastoralism have experienced shifting perceptions and attracted increased attention from African governments, stakeholders, and their international partners over the last decades. This has translated into a host of projects and programmes throughout SSA. Experience has been far from universally positive -nevertheless efforts continue to be made to invest in the rangelands for their improvement. And design simply must be informed by past experience. Indeed there is strong demand for evidence-based decision making, tapping on the experiences gained so far in SSA 1 on SRM approaches and technologies to support implementation of these developments now. This can be strengthened by continued documentation and sharing of knowledge.Is there a future for the rangelands? If so, what might it look like? It is not within the scope of this book to answer those questions. The question here is whether sustainable rangeland management can make a difference. Certainly rangeland health has been, and is increasingly being, seriously affected in vast areas through West, East and Southern Africa. Nevertheless, there are many development initiatives in the rangelands that have been uncovered, brought together and analysed here. They demonstrate a very wide range of ways in which the rangelands can be improved -and the livelihoods of its peoples uplifted. If there is a future for the rangelands, it has to be founded in sustainable rangeland management, and in the positive trends are summarised below:Focus #28: Recognize fifteen positive trends for sustainable rangeland management in Sub-Saharan Africa:1 A huge number of experiences in SRM are yielding important lessons: continuing this process will uncover further trends & visible achievements.2 Enlightened policies are emerging at national and regional levels recognising the growing importance of rangelands.3 Traditional institutions are being revived and strengthened.4 Wildlife is increasingly being seen as compatible with livestock.5 \"Non-Livestock Rangeland Products\" can help diversify livelihoods.6 Agropastoralism is no longer underestimated in its extent and potential.7 Novel marketing mechanisms and partnerships are being developed.8 Water points are opening up new areas, and being used to control grazing. 9 Conflict management is being addressed at all levels from local to regional.10 Livestock -and wildlife-corridors are becoming legitimised and protected.11 Participatory planning of land use has become the accepted norm.12 Using nature-based solutions to strengthen SRM is backed by evidence: e.g. opportunistic use of heterogeneity.13 There is growing recognition that solutions must be tuned to specific rangeland use systems but also embedded in interactions and synergies with others.14 Rangelands are now being taken seriously for products & services: where once these areas were ignored, they are now desired for their resources.15 Specific modern technologies -for example the use of mobile phones and satellite image interpretation -are being used to guide rangeland management.left: Rangeland users and specialists discussing the rangeland health and appreciating the good perennial grass cover as one of the key indicators for good rangeland health, Enonkishu conservancy, Kenya (Lippa Wood).right: Four different management practices: from very recent bush clearing (below) to current heavy grazing (left) to resting (above) and clearing and fertilizer use (right) Ghanzi, Botswana (Hanspeter Liniger).Focus #29: Use the checklist to identify healthy rangelands:1 Soil is more than 50% covered in the wet season and more than 30-50% in the dry season.2 There are no patches or extensive areas with bare soil, hard surfaces and crusts (with exceptions: e.g. the natural system of the \"tiger bush\" or brousse tigrée).3 Perennial grasses constitute more than 50% of the vegetation cover.4 Undesirable and unpalatable species of weeds, herbs or bushes are less than 30% of the cover.5 Tree and shrub encroachment and impenetrable thickets (especially by non-native species) do not dominate over a larger area.6 There are no clear signs of surface water runoff or rill and gully erosion.7 Trees or shrubs are present except at the dry fringe of the rangelands in the grasslands towards the desert and in temporarily waterlogged grasslands.8 Native riparian forest/ woodlands are intact and not destroyed by cutting or river bank erosion. 9 Wetlands are not drying up or are overused by livestock.10 Water sources are not polluted and infrastructure damaged by unprotected and regulated access of large numbers of animals.Focus #30: Use the checklist to identify and promote \"healthy\" rangeland management practices:1 Knowledge about implementation of good rangeland management is easily available.2 People use knowledge to improve or initiate SRM.3 Institutional cooperation and support is sufficient to facilitate large-scale interventions.4 Rights and access to grazing land and water are clearly defined and secured 5 Users feel less vulnerable to droughts as there are clear arrangements for drought and emergency situations.6 There are mechanisms to deal with multiple claims for specific rangeland resources and times.7 Conflicts over the use of the rangelands are addressed and mechanisms for resolving conflicts are in place.Goats in Wajir (ILRI). Part 2 showcases examples of SRM technologies and approaches classified under the five SRM technology groups and four SRM approach groups. Each group starts with a 2-page summary, entitled \"In a nutshell\" followed by examples of \"good practice\" case studies. Selection of the 30 examples presented took into account a wide range of countries and good practices as well as recognition of compilers and institutions. This \"strategy\"-and the limited number of examples that could be included -made it impossible to present technology-approach \"packages\" but rather a selection of either the approach or the technology. The case study table in the Annex is an overview of all the SRM technologies and approaches that were studied in these guidelines and records which technologies were linked to which approaches.  Technologies that help enable the mobility needed to graze over large areas or diverse zones to seek forage, water and mineral licks using traditional knowledge and innovations, or new technologies e.g. satellite image analysis, early warning systems at a large-scale.Mobility is a key characteristic of pastoralism. It enables access to water, pastures and markets, maximizes animal productivity, and reduces risks. By moving herds, rangeland users respond to fodder and water availability, and to challenges from diseases. Mobility relates to both livestock managers, herder families and animals (livestock and wildlife). The term pastoralism is used when mobility is opportunistic and follows pasture resources (nomadism), or characterized by regular back-and-forth movements between relatively fixed locations to exploit seasonality of pastures (transhumance); and agropastoralism when pastoralists settle and also cultivate significant areas to feed their families from their own crop production. This technology group includes measures that regulate or facilitate access to wet and dry season grazing areas and drought/ emergency reserves.• Enables a healthy state of the land by avoiding overuse through movement and providing rest periods, while exploiting gradients of forage quality and quantity. • Has good potential to exploit rainfall variability.• Copes with shocks and variability by enabling access to emergency areas and emergency markets. • Requires strong governance systems to ensure adherence to grazing rules and arrangements.Interventions that contribute to improved and more secure mobility include water points that allow better access to underexploited rangelands, land use planning designed to facilitate movement of herds through migration corridors to dry season grazing areas and access to markets.Traditional knowledge: (i) drawing on inherited knowledge (adapt) -accumulated over many generations -plus their personal experience, pastoralists are skilled at moving their animals to take advantage of seasonal feed and water resources, and set-aside grazing areas that they use as a bank during the dry season or droughts. They often use a mixture of grazers and browsers to make better use of the available forage. (ii) modernize and upgrade \"traditional\" pastoralism to continue to integrate variability and take advantage of it. One path is intensification in rangeland management by e.g. carefully supporting current mobile practices and focusing on improving livestock-related value chains.  Custom grazing maps help pastoralists make better migration decisions in the face of increasing drought risks. Automatically updated every 10 days, grazing maps are generated using community knowledge digitized and integrated with satellite derived vegetation data, and distributed to pastoralists to improve their herd management and migration decision-making. In the first half year of use, livestock deaths were cut in half. In the Netherlands Space Office funded 'Sustainable Technology Adaptation for Mali's Pastoralists' (STAMP) and 'Mobile Data for Moving Herd Management and better incomes' (MOD-HEM) projects in Mali and Burkina Faso, SNV and private sector partners (including Orange, Hoefsloot Spatial Solutions, Ecodata and SarVision) provide pastoralists with detailed information on biomass and water availability and quality, herd concentrations, weather information and market prices -all easily accessible through their mobile phones. This supports them in planning their transhumance, and in selling their animals at a good price, enabling them to better adapt to droughts. The information is derived from a combination of data collected in the field and from geo-satellites.http://www.snv.org/public/cms/sites/default/ files/explore/download/cc_drylands_20-10.pdf;www.snv.org scale, access to and use of geo-satellite derived data (biomass availability and quality, surface water availability, herd concentration and market prices for livestock and grain), geographic information systems to map the state of rangeland resources and image analysis, models, indexes calculations. Development of early warning and response systems can support early destocking when a drought shock is impending. Modelling and mapping as a tool can also play an important role in reducing exposure to shocks, in conflict resolution in areas in which livestock-keeping competes with other livelihood activities, to ensure cooperative land use. Conflict resolution must be an integral part of drylands development. Telecommunication (radio, mobile phones) can be used to transmit detailed information to mobile communities.Mainly large landscape 'pastoral', transhumance and 'agropastoral' rangeland systems.• Allows space and flexibility for securing livelihoods in dryland marginal land.• Adapted to climate change/ extremes and its impacts: strengthens risk management and resilience. • Favours following the availability of water and forage, and allowing resting for recovery and deal with unpredictability of available resources. • Helps to provide essential ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation. • Maintains conflict resolution mechanisms (e.g. traditional agreements between pastoral groups), can help prevent organized crime and international terrorism.Main disadvantages • Adaptations or changes take time especially where land is communal and customs are key.• Limited recognition of the rights of mobile pastoralists. \"Modern\" tenure systems have largely failed to consider the way land is used in mobile pastoral systems. • Underrepresentation of pastoralists and little participation in design, land planning and monitoring. • Often no laws protecting mobility.• Inadequate basic service delivery in relation to mobile lifestyles.• Modern information technology supporting knowledge about the availability of fodder and water resources is inadequate, inappropriate to people's needs or simply not available.Enabled mobility is applicable in semi-arid and arid regions where seasonal movement is required because of long dry periods, fluctuations in rainfall and inherently poor soils.Interventions that contribute to improved and more secure mobility have potential. They ensure consultation and conflict prevention and identification of conflicting issues.Most of the technologies under this group showed a moderate to high trend of spontaneous adoption.IBLI is designed to help protect pastoralists and their livestock against the effects of prolonged forage scarcity. IBLI triggers payment to pastoralists when the forage situation deteriorates to levels considered to be severe, as compared to historical conditions over time. IBLI uses Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a satellite-derived indicator of the amount and vigour of vegetation, based on the observed level of photosynthetic activity. It measures forage conditions over a defined time period and compares the observed NDVI over a particular season, with the observed NDVI over a given historical period (e.g. 15 years). A set threshold below which payouts must be made is called the trigger level. https://qcat.wocat.net/en/summary/4012/ ILRI A system for ecological monitoring provides accurate observations on the development of sylvo-pastoral resources, the management of which is handed over to land users who are organized in a local association. In order to monitor the ecological status of the land, a method to record the Vegetation Cover Index (VCI) was developed to register changes compared with an initial survey.Ecological monitoring, based on the index of vegetation cover, is a suitable technology for the following purposes: (a) to check to which degree the objective to mitigate land degradation is achieved; (b) to provide authorities with a tool to assess sustainable land management; (c) to increase the transparency of the procedure to assess efforts from land users to protect the environment; (d) to implement corrective measures through specific management regimes (for instance prohibition on grazing); (e) to assess changes in income at the level of individual households, at the level of areas which are managed collectively, or at the level of the entire intervention zone; (f) to monitor the carbon stocks of woody vegetation.The vegetation cover is therefore the target variable of the technology. The main components of the vegetation cover are described, which are the cover of woody and herbaceous vegetation. The woody vegetation cover consists of three sub-strata: the tree cover, the cover of regenerating trees and the shrub cover. Each of these strata is assessed in square meters (m2) below the top of the woody plants. The total of the three strata of woody vegetation provides the indicator of the woody vegetation cover. The herbaceous cover is indirectly assessed through the extent of soil surfaces which are clearly without vegetation (crusts, hard pans or glacis slopes). Furthermore, the diversity of woody species is considered through an indicator. The three indicators are weighted to obtain the Vegetation Cover Index (VCI).The vegetation cover varies in space. The following major zones are distinguished: savannah with vegetation ranging from shrubs to woody vegetation (C), forested savannah (S), wooded mountainous savannah (M), forest galleries or wet zones (G). As part of the ecological monitoring, the development of the Vegetation Cover Index (VCI), calculated for the four zones (C, S, M and G) of an area, is compared with the development of the VCI in a control area. The control area represents the ecological state of a shrubland to which the rules for the management of natural resources, which are adopted in the Local Convention or in special arrangements, are not applied. The control area consists of equal parts of the four ecological zones (C, G, M and S). Comment: 7,000 km 2 in the region of Guidimakha (coverage 61%), the main drinking water points for livestock on the three axes of transhumance in Hodh El Gharbi. In general, due to the limited surface area of the forest galleries or wet zones, the distance between the plots should be modified, and is therefore fixed at 100 m. The total number of observation plots for the control area is 64, or 16 groups of 4 plots. The 16 groups are distributed evenly over the four ecological zones C, G, M and S (four groups per zone). As for the control area, the total number of plots in each area of an AGLC is fixed at 64. The number of groups per ecological zone is proportional to the fraction of the surface area of the zone in the total area. Labour costs.The time required for the field surveys, including the manual processing of the data, for a team of three persons varies between 3 and 5 days per area of an AGLC, depending on the distance from the area and the extent of the vegetation cover, particularly of the forest galleries. When the data are processed and analysed by computer, an extra half day is needed for an AGLC area. The costs of implementing the ecological monitoring are between 200.00 and 310.00 US$ per area and per annual survey. For the total extent of the areas managed by AGLCs in Guidimakha and Hodh el Gharbi (37 organisations), over a period of ten years and with three surveys per area, the costs are estimated at 25,000.00 to 30,000.00 US$.1. field surveys (Timing/ frequency: None) 2. manual data processing (Timing/ frequency: None) 3. computer analysis (Timing/ frequency: None)The survey of the Vegetation Cover Index (VCI) is done once a year or once in two years. The ecological monitoring is a sovereign task, and therefore is a service of the State.Percentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology single cases/ experimental 1-10% 10-50% more than 50%Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have did so without receiving material incentives? 0-10% 10-50% 50-90% 90-100%All the areas managed by the Collective Local Management Organisation in the two provinces apply the monitoring.• To improve the transparency for land users of the procedure to assess their efforts to manage sylvo-pastoral resources sustainable through their compliance with the rules of the local convention.• Enabling supporting organisations to check to what extent the objective to mitigate land degradation is achieved, based on indicators of impact. • Provides information to apply and refine the rules for land management and specific arrangements (for instance the prohibition on grazing).• Dependency of local organisations on the technical services due to the sovereign nature. g not possible• The resources of the technical services for an annual survey are limited. g A frequency of once in five years could be justified, given that the impact of the sustainable land management will only be visible after that period.Access to services and infrastructure health Livestock keeping is one of the main economic resources in Chad (in support of 40% of the population and 18% of the GDP, Ministry of Livestock, General census). Pastoralism in the country is based on the mobility of herds in a context of irregular precipitation and variable forage resources in time and space, and benefits from complementary relationships between the different ecological zones. In Chad, herds are taken in regular movements with the seasons between the Sahelian and the Sudanese grazing areas. The former are nutritious but limited in quantity, while the latter are more abundant but of lower quality, and not accessible until the fields are cleared after the harvest (meta-evaluation of projects on pastoral water sources, IIED, 2013). Thus, pastoral livestock keeping is founded on mobility and rangeland management, and on building complementary relationships and trade around farming systems and cultivated areas. The pastoralist systems are economically competitive (limited use of food inputs), and occur in marginal land which is characterized by conflicts, riots and a high level of insecurity (Conference of N'Djamena: 'Pastoral livestock keeping: a sustainable contribution to development and security in Saharan and Sahelian regions'). In the pastoral zone of Chad, where access to water is limited, the management and control of water sources by a social group in practice also leads to the monitoring and control of the use of grazing land which becomes available when water is present.The project Almy Al Afia (2004Afia ( -2016)), developed by a partnership between the AFD and the Ministry of Water of Chad, operated in two regions of central Chad. The project Almy Al Afia was based on an entry 'development', concurrently with a process to consult and involve joint agencies. The project has improved approaches of preceding initiatives: concerted action and identification of water sources derived from the dialogue between users and authorities, and development of the local management of infrastructures and rangeland. The latter counteracts an exclusively private management or, instead, an ineffective public management which promotes free access to water sources and grazing land.The project has enabled to address the following points:1. Support mobility in pastoralism by enhancing the access to water (rehabilitation and construction of 160 wells; digging of 31 ponds for pastoral use);2. Maintain or build processes of consultation and restoring security (joint committees for consultation and prevention of conflicts during transhumance);3. Promote the proper use of water supply structures, in time and space (rehabilitated and new wells, excavated ponds) by context-specific management (strengthening of traditional management systems) and encourage the maintenance of infrastructure. The strip between these two zones is used for agropastoralism. Herds cannot remain there. Therefore the project has facilitated the movement of the herds to the zones further south. The pastoral ponds close to the livestock routes for the transhumance were created in a way to be easily used by the herders, but also to encourage short stays.The approach was combined with consultation through joint committees for the prevention of conflicts, and at a later stage by marking of sections of the livestock routes for the transhumance. Many meetings were held with the users of the land management structures and policy makers, with the aim to identify and negotiate the target sites and to anticipate methods for the management and maintenance of the structures. This has enabled to maintain an atmosphere of social stability conducive to cooperation. Along almost 550 km of the livestock routes for the transhumance, sections were marked ('mourhals' in Chadian Arabic). The demarcation was not intended to enclose the herds in the livestock corridors (from which they can move freely outside the growing seasons for agricultural crops), but rather to implement the results of the consultations on the land use on the ground. The committees for the prevention of conflicts, which were supported by the project, also played a major role. • pastoralism and grazing land management.• ground water management.SLM measure structural measures -S8: Sanitation/ waste water structures management measures -M2: Change of management/ intensity level, M3: Layout according to natural and human environmentThe wells (new and rehabilitated) and the demarcation of the livestock routes are the outcome of a long process of outreach. The communications between the local level (taking account of the views of future users) and the level of decision-making (administration) enable social agreements to be formalized. These agreements set the rules for the selection of the locations of the water supply structures, their management and maintenance.Author: Project Almy Al Afia. The costs of the constructions are highly dependent on their location (costs for the supply and disposal of equipment and materials), on the price of inputs (cement, etc.), and especially on the type of structure (depth of the wells, geological environment). The costs of the supply and disposal of equipment and materials include costs for the installation of the structures (water, cement, labour, machinery) on the construction sites (which are often far away from routes and towns), and costs for the disposal of the equipment after the construction is completed.The costs of supply and disposal can be significant with respect to the costs of the structure itself.1. Outreach/ awareness raising (Timing/ frequency: Four to six meetings prior to the signing of the social agreements).2. Construction of the facilities (Timing/ frequency: Four to six months, depending on the type of structure and its depth).3. Monitoring the management (Timing/ frequency: Regular visits of the project team to support the implementation of adapted management practices). Comment: The context of pastoralism has taken the project approach to not ask compensation from users: if the users are never the same, then who should be charged? Who will collect the payments and manage the collected funds? In addition, most of the water supply structures are far from financial institutions, which causes problems in securing these funds. Therefore the users contribute in terms of day-to-day maintenance of structures, by mobilizing labour in particular.The implementation of the different phases varies greatly in terms of the location of the outreach activities and the duration of the construction work. Comment: The amount of financial support varied with the type of structure (more support for management and maintenance is needed for new structures than for rehabilitated structures) and with their location or specific problem (in the case of structures located in the agropastoral zones). Financial support to the markings of the livestock corridors was indirectly provided through the committees for the prevention and management of conflicts. Comment: The profitability is considered in relation to the number of animals/herds involved. The costs of construction and rehabilitation are certainly significant, but the water supply structures are used for thousands of animals (in case of the most heavily used wells); most animals drink every two days. Therefore the costs per head of livestock are limited. The wells are long lasting, and therefore the returns are positive in the short and the long term.  Percentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology single cases/ experimental 1-10% 10-50% more than 50%Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have did so without receiving material incentives? 0-10% 10-50% 50-90% 90-100%The technology responds to a substantial need, but also corresponds to the capacity of land users to use and maintain the structures.The energy supply is provided by animal traction, and does not require external energy sources.• Permanent access to water.• Reopening of water supply structures and consolidation of access to water at some degraded sites. • Agencies and authorities for conflict prevention.• Marking of sections of livestock corridors with conflict situations.• Full commitment of groups (access to water is a major problem).• Continuation of the approach through the development of other projects and inclusion at the national level.Land user's view • Interventions are limited with regard to the needs (rehabilitation in particular). g By larger investments and better integration of the approach in public action. • There is a need to extend the approach, in particular the support to the consultative bodies. g Formalize support to the consultation process.• Recognition of the experiences, the approach and the methodology in other interventions. Outreach and awareness raising are performed during the project, but at the end the management of the infrastructure is no longer supported. The government should be able to follow up on the support (mechanism for monitoring and maintenance). g Formalize support to the consultation process. • There is a need to mainstream outreach and consultation (lengthy process). g Formalize support to the consultation process.IMPACT Comment: Access to water is such a large problem that it requires all the land users who enter the zone to be informed when a water supply structure is rehabilitated or constructed.The involvement of traditional leaders in the management of the structures, and the system of representatives of the traditional leadership in the various other zones (Khalifas) contributes to the spontaneous dissemination of the information. The purposes/ functions of the STDM: The functions of the technology as have been piloted by RECONCILE and partners has focused around land tenure. It addresses security of tenure for vulnerable poor communities living within informal settlements, through participatory common resource identification, mapping and documentation, key resources including cattle dips, salt lick areas/ fields and water points management has improved. This is due to the recognition of boundaries anticipatory defined leading to revival of and establishment of community resources management committees especially around water and grazing lands. This in return has improved/ increased production of both plants and animals. However, the technology can be customized to serve other purposes of information storage and management.Enumerators in the field (Ken Otieno). Small-scale dairy farmers have been able to manage grazing lands, water and salt licks to improve production of animal products. Information captured and managed by the technology has enabled communities within informal settlements to negotiate with government authorities to enable land allocation and thus security of tenure and improved livelihoods.What do land users like/ dislike about the technology?Likes: The technology is flexible, it can be customized to capture information in any form desired. It is based on a GIS platform which is easy to manipulate and is open source.Dislikes: Users sometimes encounter errors that are a result of incorrect information entered, and these errors are written with the programming format: thus it requires good knowledge of the technology to remedy this.Enumerators practicing the on how to use a GPS (Ken Otieno).The enumerators get instructions from the GIS expert on the use of the GPS (Ken Otieno). 2,000 to 3,000 depending on the kind of labour required and can go down to a compromised rate of Ksh. 1,000.The technology costs are dependent on the size and number of resources targeted by the process. It will therefore define the costs accordingly.1. Enumeration of at least 1000 farmers (Timing/ frequency: 9 months) 2. Mapping of communal resources water points, salt lick areas, cattle dips etc. (Timing/ frequency: 9 months) 3. Mapping of private resources water points within the private areas (Timing/ frequency: 9 months) 4. Data Management (Timing/ frequency: 3 months) 5. Preparation of data collection including testing of the tools (Timing/ frequency: 1 month) 6. Dialogue sessions with community leaders (Timing/ frequency: 2 months) 7. Negotiations on the methodology for data collection and the kind of information to be collected/asked (Timing/ frequency: 1 month) 8. Technical reviews and reflection with project team and partners (Timing/ frequency: 1 month)Comment: The kind of tasks undertaken in this process is more project oriented combined with advocacy and policy processes.The overall space or measurements for the project areas were within the range of 25 to 75 square kilometres.Author: RECONCILE. The project was supported by the UNHABITAT with contributions from RECONCILE and partners. the community contribution in kind is not included since it has not been tabulated in terms of cash.The project did not have physical structures developed. However, as a result of the work structures like cattle dips have been rehabilitated and are currently being maintained by the the communities themselves. This does not need recurrent costs for maintenance or otherwise by the project. Percentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology single cases/ experimental 1-10% 10-50% more than 50%Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have did so without receiving material incentives? 0-10% 10-50% 50-90% 90-100%The technology covered around 500 individual farmers.Comment: The technology was more of the urban oriented tool but had to be modified to adopt to the local demands.The technology application did not attract any material gains or incentives but, the process was community centred thus the adoption.• Ability to define spatial space and common and private resources including those resources associated with milk production such as milk coolers, water points, cattle dips, food stores, grazing areas, salt licks, crushes, animal corridors, forest etc. • Establishes the carrying capacity of communal shared resources.• Establishment of the land tenure system of shared communal resources and issues arising. • Status (management) of private resources within the rangelands.• Production and income generated against household size.• The nature of the problem required innovative use in the mapping of the land and natural resources. • The technology addressed immediate needs and provided a foundation for future updates and demands. • The technology benefited from the existing data and improved delivery of output without any impediments. • The technology bridged the gap through skills transfer and capacity building and in facilitating dialogue on issues affecting the community (Maps, reports). • Ability to adapt the technology in a simple manner that the users can relate to, and find value in their use contributed immensely to success Introduced even a more user-friendly use of mobile and smartphones. • The 'quick win' could be seen in the transformation of mobile phones into data collection tools and the data can be seen, verified and shared, replacing the tedious manual process which many were struggling with. • STDM databases accommodate the inclusion of social, economic and spatial data that can be maintained, accessed and updated by the communities anytime. • Provided visual representation of available resources and their distribution and people can relate to spatial information on the map. • Ownership of technology by local people who are now leading on data collection, customizing the template, developing reports and innovating on its use.Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks g how to overcome• The design of the tool was more urban oriented and it took time to be adapted for rural use especially where land is communal and customary rights are key. g Created more awareness.• Difficult to set-up the server environment where no internet is available. g The internet component remains a challenge. • Technology is evolving and needs systematic information channels between the community members. • Engaging other service providers may be difficult and takes time (Internet service provider need to authorize setting up additional server). g The process requires proper funding in order not to have a break in between. • Appropriate devices for capturing data may require an additional budget.IMPACT ANALYSIS AND CONCLUDING STATEMENTSCompiler: Ken Otieno (peterkenotieno009@gmail.com)Resource person: Ken Otieno (peterkenotieno009@gmail.com) -SLM specialist There is also water governance based on a traditional hierarchy of rights. Through this system, Boran pastoralists adapt to severe and recurrent droughts.This grazing system is applied in Isiolo County, Northern Kenya. The Waso rangelands are inhabited by Boran pastoralists with Somali, Samburu, Rendille and Turkana herders sharing cross-border resources through negotiation. The technology is based on the maintenance of a delicate balance between livestock numbers, the supply of water, and the amount/ quality of standing pasture within the vast grazing area which is water scarce and prone to extreme seasonal variations. Through its main tenet of governing grazing patterns (wet, dry season grazing area and drought reserve) planned use of pasture is decided in large pastoralists' assemblies attended by elders from a particular 'Dedha' (a grazing area, which administratively can be as big as two wards). This process is complicated by dry seasons and droughts of unknown length, with pressure from the community to open grazing reserves. Wrong decisions can spell the end of livelihoods for some families. An ability, which has been gradually eroded over time and by external factors which don't understand its enormous benefit but there is a project which is using an integrated approach to revive and empower this system.The Jars a Dedha use water points to manage grazing. Different types of water sources need specific forms of management. The most intensive management occurs during droughts at deep wells and boreholes which require the most labour to operate and maintain, and are the most reliable sources of water. Due to the strategic importance of these resources, management falls to the Jarsa Dedha (council of elders). The use of shallow wells is tightly controlled by both the aba ella (the person who first dug it) and aba erega (the owner of the rotter ) working together. Aba ella is assigned first rights to water. If there is spare capacity then 'second rights' are decided by aba erega. Second rights would typically fall to those of a different clan, while 'third rights' might fall to a different ethnic group. The Borana customs and culture defines both access to certain wells but also the order of priority for watering animals.In addition, in consultation with the Dedha council of elders, aba erega manages the use of dams and access to rivers. Generally, use of flowing river water is restricted to the dry season and access is limited to designated watering points. These are located some distance downriver from settlements to minimize disruption to inhabitants and to reduce contamination. Temporary water sources during and after the rains are not subject to control except when their use conflicts with restrictions on grazing areas. After watering their livestock, pastoralists traditionally fill their troughs for wildlife at night. This is intended to prevent wildlife from falling into wells -and to seek God's blessings.Boran livestock in a wet season grazing area (Ibrahim Jarso).  The high variability of rainfall in pastoral areas leads to similarly variable pasture availability. Therefore, management of grazing resources needs to balance maximizing productivity while ensuring survival. Long-term viability of the system depends on the maintenance of adaptive traits within local breeds, and both maintaining and managing resources strategically. Only within these broader goals is the concept of 'maximizing productivity' meaningful.Mature livestock (gues) which are not lactating are moved to remote pastures. The guess, which make up the majority of community livestock, are herded by young unmarried men. By utilizing remote pastures, grazing resources closer to permanent water sources can be preserved for the dry season and droughts. Pasture within the vicinity of homesteads (maar qaae -literally 'near grass') is protected from grazing by non-lactating livestock (this is similar to kalo but a kalo reserve need not be next to the homestead ). This pasture is set aside for young animals (calves, lambs, and kids). Migrating livestock have predefined routes that maintain distance from maar qaae. The Dedha council of elders, therefore, controls settlement patterns to preserve key migratory routes. Movement of livestock between different Dedhas must be prearranged with the respective Dedha council of elders who assess spare capacity in terms of water and grazing. Comment: The pastoralists depend on attendant pasture after the rains which are bi-modal in Isiolo County (Long and Short rains).The Author: Ibrahim Jarso.• pastoralism and grazing land management.SLM measure management measures -M2: Change of management/ intensity level, M3: Layout according to natural and human environment, M4: Major change in timing of activities.SRM Technology Dedha grazing system as a natural resource management technology, KenyaAuthor: Ibrahim Jarso.Comment: Regarding Surveillance of grazing areas, they observe pasture conditions and unwarranted access to preserved grazing areas and report on conditions. The surveillance is elevated after the rains as communities are in wet season grazing area depending on sub-surface water from the rains. Percentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology single cases/ experimental 1-10% 10-50% more than 50%Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have did so without receiving material incentives? 0-10% 10-50% 50-90% 90-100%Number of households and/ or area covered 80% of Isiolo County (Around 24,500 Households).Comment: The grazing patterns were made more flexible and the rules made stricter.• It is the cheapest and easiest way of managing the rangelands for now and for posterity. • It provides room for flexibility of decision making as seasonal variations occur.• It is conservative and less costly to implement in the vast rangelands with few incentives. • It is a legitimate system recognized by all pastoralist for management of their rangeland resources. • It can easily be adapted to govern any pastoral rangelands all over the world (Universal).• There is no law protecting it. g Government needs to establish a law that recognizes and protects this technology. • Rich pastoralists can forego local rules and corrupt the systems overseeing the grazing plans. g Ensuring accountability for decisions made. As few lead elders can be corrupted and their decisions compromised but when the decisions on grazing are largely made in common meetings of all elders, the decisions are normally watertight and cant be influenced negatively.• Cross-border pastoralists are not aware of the Technology and tend to undermine it. g Improve awareness of the technology among the cross-border pastoralists that also access Isiolo rangelands.Compiler: Ibrahim Jarso (jarsoibra@gmail.com)Resource person: Ibrahim Jarso (jarsoibra@gmail.com) -SLM Specialist To which changing conditions? climatic change/ extremes changing markets labour availability (e.g. due to migration)Controlled grazing includes any system in which the producer controls the grazing pattern of the livestock. It covers seasonal grazing, may involve enclosures, physical or social fencing, rotations, grazing reserves (fodder banks), regulation of grazing and mobility. The manipulation of animal movement is used to control when, what and how much the animals graze. Grazing management involves evaluation of the nutritional and forage needs of animals, assessment of forage quality and quantity, and then the regulation of access to the pasture/ range.Fencing plays a critical role in the success of controlled grazing. Controlled grazing is often equated to 'rotational grazing' where pasture is subdivided into several smaller paddocks by fencing. Livestock then graze in one of the paddocks until the forage has been eaten, and then are rotated sequentially to the next paddock, leaving the grazed paddock to recover.• Rotation and regular resting is a key principle.• Arrangements with neighbours to agree on conservation of specific areas for dry season/ drought forage. • Securing the rested areas from invasion to ensure enough dry season/ drought forage.• Additional strategies against pressure from other rangeland users and droughts may be needed, e.g. emergency markets.Enclosures involves temporary or permanent access control of livestock to a designated area by physical/ social fencing. Fencing is most often used to exclude livestock from cropland, along livestock corridors as well as environmentally sensitive areas such as streambanks, wetlands and woods, including restored wildlife habitats and buffer strips for conservation purposes. National grazing reserves are areas set aside for the use of pastoralists. They are not assigned to individual ethnic groups, but are held in reserve for usage during emergency conditions.Rotational grazing and rangeland resting is based on the subdivision of the grazing area/ pastures into a number of physical enclosures or areas with social fencing. There is systematic, sequential grazing of these paddocks or areas by livestock in rotation to prevent overgrazing/ selective grazing and to optimise grass growth. Rotational grazing can be considered a management-intensive grazing system.Combined herding: (a) daily combining of livestock into a single herd to be driven to different designated portions of the communal grazing area; (b) separate, planned grazing in villages during the rains, then \"bunching\" and moving of all animals in herds during the dry season.Controlled grazing in western Kenya (ILRI/Dorine Odongo).In a nutshell Holistic Management is based on planned rotational grazing that 'mimics nature' with the aim of building up organic matter and water in soils and thus increasing pasture productivity. To simulate this function livestock are \"bunched\" in large herds and frequently moved between different areas. Denuded land is recovered by a \"Boma\" technology: i.e. strategic corralling of animals overnight, and reseeding.Split ranch grazing involves grazing half the available area for a full year -concentrating livestock. The consequent grazing pressure maintains the grassland in an immature, high-quality state, while resting the other half, allowing optimal recovery from the previous full year's grazing.Mainly in 'bounded' systems with and without wildlife and 'parks & reserves'.• Resting periods followed by intensive grazing mimics the \"nature\" of the rangelands as they evolved. • Better grass cover and greater abundance of high-quality perennial grasses. Control of less desirable vegetation. • Increased forage production reducing need for supplementary feeding and salt and mineral licks. • Increased resistance of system to drought.• Regulates the coexistence of wildlife, domestic livestock, and people.• High costs and labour input for construction and maintenance of physical fences.• Social acceptance to maintain and manage social fencing including high labour input.• Concentration of livestock in a fenced area can increase the risk of predation by carnivores/ rustling by people. • Danger of disease outbreaks in big herds, and from wildlife -livestock interaction.• Potential over/under use of certain habitat type through mismanagement.Developing a controlled grazing system and putting it into practice requires planning and rangeland users involvement. Each area differs in soil type, availability of water, forage species, pasture conditions, availability of labour, slope of land, type of livestock. These factors should be assessed in order to ensure successful applicability of the controlled grazing system. 'Controlled grazing' is typical of commercial ranches. All other technology groups are mainly mixed, or subsistence in their market orientation.Most of the technologies under this group showed a moderate to high trend of spontaneous adoption.In Olkiramatian and Shompole, seasonal livestock movements and herding practices are formalised by group ranch grazing plans governed by local committees. The wet season grazing areas are termed \"livestock rearing zones\" (east of the Ewaso Ng'iro river). The dry season grazing areas are retained as \"grass banks\", and since the early 2000s, have been used additionally as wildlife conservancies for ecotourism (west of the Ewaso Ng'iro river). Creating a gradient of quality and quantity of pasture across the landscape is achieved through clearly designated seasonal grazing areas for livestock and tight controls on settlement areas, grazing patterns and water points.At the individual herder level, traditional ecological knowledge plays a strong role in the decisions made to improve livestock. https://qcat.wocat.net/en/summary/4026/ Wildebeest and livestock grazing in the wet season (Guy Western).Three hectares of degraded land are enclosed with a fence. A dense living hedge of local thorny trees (e.g. Acacia nilotica, Ziziphus mauritiana etc.) is planted. A strip of 10 m along the hedge is dedicated to agriculture, equivalent to approximately 10% of the protected area. The rest is dedicated to natural regeneration of the local forest and woodland. The protected area is of paramount importance for biodiversity conservation and fodder production. The grass is cut and carried to feed livestock outside the regeneration area.  Borana is a private ranch which combines extensive livestock production (beef, dairy, sheep) with conservation and tourism. There is strategic fattening and offtake for sales in harmony with conservation principles. Grazing comprises \"bunching\" and planned rotational movement of all animals in herds acting as a \"plough\" by breaking the soil to help incorporate seeds and nutrients. Water also infiltrates better. The aim is to improve plant growth and soil. On Il Ngwesi Masai Group Ranch, livestock production management is a combination of traditional livestock keeping and holistic grazing management principles which were introduced in 2007. Livestock production at Il Ngwesi is for subsistence and sales -and has very high cultural significance. 80% of the land is used for conservation, where wildlife and their habitat are protected. The vision is to integrate community development and sustainable environmental management.Holistic Management (HM) was originally conceived by Allan Savory (1988), and is promoted by the Laikipia Wildlife Forum. It integrates decision-making, planning, and livestock keeping. On the land, this means bunching of all livestock close together (in order to act as a 'plough' and break the soil to allow seeds, nutrients, and water to infiltrate) resulting in better plant growth. By moving the animals together from block to block, HM aims at managing high numbers of livestock while restoring degraded land. Instead of individual livestock-owning families herding and trekking their own animals, consolidated herds are now managed and moved together, and overseen by herders and supervisors. This allows intensive grazing in restricted areas while resting the remaining land -instead of continuous open grazing. However, Holistic Management principles are still a matter of controversy. While advocates of these management principles do not limit herd sizes, opponents see the root cause of degradation exactly in too high stocking rates. Criticism is plentiful and reviews of the method state that there are no peer-reviewed studies that prove that Holistic Management is superior to conventional grazing systems in outcomes (Carter et al. 2014, Briske et al. 2014).The group ranch land consists of a settlement and a conservation area. The conservation area is further subdivided into a small core zone, measuring 500 hectares and a larger buffer zone of 6,000 hectares. Within this buffer zone, pastoralists are permitted to graze livestock during the dry season.Besides these two main grazing areas in their group ranch, they use additional grazing areas outside their territory such as pasture in forests. In one forest -Mukogodo -they have settled officially; in Ngare Ngare and on Mount Kenya, on the other hand, it is more of an informal agreement. In Il Ngwesi, HM principles are very strictly applied in the conservation area; elsewhere only partly or not at all. During the movements to the forest glades and Mount Kenya, HM principles are maintained as far as possible.This documentation describes the combined grazing management system. During the rains, the grazing system is largely by traditional management: animals remain in and around villages managed individually by households. During the dry season, all livestock are bunched together and managed as one herd. Comment: Il Ngwesi has an area size of 87 km 2 . However, the total affected land by livestock is 157 km 2 . The technology is also applied on other ranches (mainly private ranches, see the documentation for neighbouring 'Borana') in Mukogodo division. Livestock from Il Ngwesi Group Ranch. Il Ngwesi Group Ranch, Laikipia (Michael Herger).Example of a (permanent) boma. Mobile bomas are usually only constructed with cut thorn bush. This boma is not on Il Ngwesi. (Michael Herger). During the wet season, grazing at Il Ngwesi Group Ranch is organized by elders within their seven villages. HM principles are only partly applied. During the dry season, once all the grazing land is eaten, livestock are bunched together and managed by a few herders and overseers. The block system rotation starts. To seek new pasture and water, cattle and smallstock are led to forest glades, and then to the Il Ngwesi conservation area. As soon as the forest pasture is gone, they move on to the conservation area. Usually, this movement of livestock to forests and conservation area starts in February; then they return to the villages in April; and then back to the forests and conservation area until the next rains in November.Whilst the livestock are bunched together, large bomas (corrals in Kiswahili) are constructed for overnight enclosure. Bomas are sited on bare land where dung accumulation and crust breaking by hooves helps rehabilitate land. Every year the boma sites are shifted slightly according to a plan. The total area that can be restored per year is almost 1% of the area of Il Ngwesi.Purpose related to land degradation prevent land degradation reduce land degradation restore/ rehabilitate severely degraded land adapt to land degradation not applicable• pastoralism and grazing land management Comment: Across the grasslands and rangelands an increase in bare land and bush has been a clear trend all over Laikipia for many years, both on community-owned lands and private ranches. Major identified ecological problems (partly) caused by livestock production are: bare ground, low contents of soil organic carbon and plant-available nutrients, soil erosion (sealing, crusting, rills and gullies, water flow patterns, sheet erosion, pedestals), poor soil properties, undesirable species, and (increasing) woody and invasive species.The technology aims at improving vegetation cover of the land and thereby reducing further degradation and restoring degraded land.Grazing Principles:-Rotational, planned grazing -Bunching -Resting periods for pasture -Bomas for bare patches (night corrals) Author: Michael Herger.Il Ngwesi Masai also started to buy land outside their Group Ranch. Managing of one big herd, many supervisors needed. -Movement of bomas -Livestock-owning families (although they obviously don't receive any salary): this is simultaneously their livelihood and used for subsistence. But once all their livestock is bunched in a big herd, they lose their nutritional source (milk, blood) and livelihood (sometimes they keep back a few units for this reason).1. Training of elders and community by project leaders (Timing/ frequency: None). 2. Grazing planning for bunched animals (livestock from all households) (Timing/ frequency: None). 3. Hiring herders, supervisors, watchmen etc. (Timing/ frequency: None).Comment: Trainings were funded by NRT, LWF and Lewa Conservancy. No figures on this.Overall additional costs since introduction of new technology are estimated at 20% higher than before. 50% are covered by project funding (LWF, NRT, Lewa Conservancy).Comment: Costs per unit are multiplied by days. According to the interviewed manager, total costs are only USD 18,000 (without herders). However, the listing of all costs results in much higher total costs. Total animal treatment costs for Makurian Group Ranch in comparison are USD 428,000 (labour USD 380,000, animal treatment USD 48,000, without livestock-owning families). Also, people living in the area (population of 8,000 inhabitants) are involved in livestock keeping and are included here in calculations as labour (for 3 months, wet season, 10% of total population). Cost/ benefit is currently negative for livestock keeping. Income due to livestock sales is roughly estimated USD 340,000 (price for cattle on average USD 400 per unit, sales around 500 p.a., price for goats and sheep each USD 40 per unit, sales around 2,000 p.a., slaughtered units (for subsistence use) cattle: 50, shoats: 1,000 -detailed figures available Herger 2018). Comment: All listed impacts are as perceived by land users according to Patrick Leseri, Conservation Manager. In his opinion, vegetation cover has thanks to the new technologies improved. Planning activities significantly increased and therefore also socio-economic and ecological conditions improved. Results from a rangeland health assessment (only ecological conditions) show on the other hand partly heavily degraded ecological conditions (poor soil and vegetation, erosions features, inability of producing annual grasses after rains etc.) (Herger 2018). Land users and experts are aware that the ecological conditions of this Group Ranch are still far from optimal, but do see good progress and exemplary management as well as slightly better conditions than on other Group Ranches.Greater variation of seasonal rainfall, higher intensity of rainfall events, change in rainfall regimes in general (see Schmocker 2013 andImfeld 2016). increase not well at all very wellheatwave not well at all very wellPercentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology single cases/ experimental 1-10% 10-50% more than 50%Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many did so without receiving material incentives? 0-10% 10-50% 50-90% 90-100%To which changing conditions? climatic change/ extremes changing markets labour availability (e.g. due to migration)Comment: Masai people have changed their livestock composition towards owning more smallstock (goats and sheep) than cattle. Goats are tolerant of drought, and as browsers, they don't need any grass. Also, they can be turned into money much quicker than a cow in times of need and because of their more rapid reproductive cycle. They can also recover number more quickly after livestock losses through drought.• Proper utilisation of pasture -controlled usage/grazing • Land recovery (more cover, more water, more fodder, less erosion).• Carrying capacity increased.• Traditional knowledge is still used.• More dialogue in community: brings everyone in the community together -they have a common point -everyone has the same interest. • Improving breeds is easier (because all are bunched together).• Easy vaccination of all livestock at once. • Approving cultural lifestyle of Masai: the higher the livestock numbers -the better for the land. • Better for disadvantaged community members: for instance for those who could not afford to move their livestock to Mt Kenya on their own before.• The listed advantages from Patrick Leseri, the land user, are for the most part shared share with the compiler's view. Improved planning of livestock production with planned grazing and long resting periods, improved dialogue in the community, and the named advantages of a big herd (like easy vaccination etc.) are important advantages. Regarding Holistic Management (HM) principles, there remains uncertainty about land recovery. On the one hand, it is generally questionable to state as in HM: 'the more animals the better' (as long as they are managed properly they can even recover degraded land), which seems dangerous in areas with such high livestock numbers and cultural value of livestock keeping -without scientific proof of the principles in similar ecological conditions. We have witnessed rather poor condition of the land, and the much-vaunted good land was difficult to find. Favourable descriptions might also be related to funding of the project. Results from a rangeland health assessment show (partly) heavily degraded ecological conditions (bare ground, poor soil and vegetation, erosion features, partly an inability of producing perennial and annual grasses after rains etc.) (see Herger 2018). However, an evaluation of change over time is impossible to assess. Further monitoring is necessary. Land users and experts are aware that the ecological conditions of this Group Ranch are still far from optimal, but do see good progress and exemplary management as well as slightly better conditions than on other Group Ranches. However, the efforts towards good management and a sense of community was not difficult to notice.Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks g how to overcome• Higher costs. Above 20% more than normal costs. Northern Rangeland Trust (NRT), Laikipia Wildlife Forum and Lewa conservancy as main funders for applying holisitc management principles. Since 2007, they covered about 50%of all costs. • More labour intensive. 20-30% above normal (supervision, watchmen, moving big bomas). • Challenge to bring people together (and their livestock) and agree on a joint management. • Some families still prefer to manage their livestock on their own and make their own decisions. There are no individual decisions anymore: principles apply to everyone. • Breeding can also be a problem -those with good genetic material (better livestock) may lose and those with poor may win by mixing. • Conflicts among animals; bulls fight a lot. No separation of heifers, cows, steers and bulls. • Management of high numbers of big herds is a challenge.• Diseases are easily transmitted.• Once livestock is collected to big herds, individual families lose their nutritional basis (milk, blood). However, some also keep a few livestock units back. • Sometimes trees are cut for bomas.Split Ranch Grazing involves grazing half the available area for a full year -concentrating livestock. The consequent grazing pressure maintains the grassland in an immature, high-quality state, while resting the other half, allowing optimal recovery from the previous full years grazing. The technology is simple, requiring less fencing than more complex systems, without compromising sustainability or ecological function. These concepts can also be used for management in pastoral-wildlife systems to create habitat heterogeneity (short and tall grassland).The Split Ranch Grazing Strategy (SRG) was developed by Riaan Dames in the North West province, South Africa. It is fundamentally different to popular rotational management systems and contains several conceptual advances. One key difference is that SRG provides a full-year uninterrupted recovery period for rangeland after grazing. This enables grasses to maximize nutrient recovery over the main pulses of nutrient mineralization in the early wet season, and to maximize root growth and associated nutrient storage over the late wet season and early dry season -when most root growth occurs. Optimal recovery periods should ideally, therefore, encompass the full wet season and the early dry season. This contrasts with rotational grazing where recovery and grazing periods are apportioned across these two periods, with resting periods often not occurring in key periods of nutrient uptake and root growth.A major problem with having both grazing and recovery periods in the same season is that grassland is able to mature during recovery periods, greatly reducing forage quality and grass growth rates, thereby negatively impacting animal production. Another problem is that complex rotational grazing requires strategies investing much in a complex and expensive fencing infrastructure. The solution is a fundamentally different strategy where some paddocks are grazed the whole year to prevent grassland maturation and other paddocks are simultaneously rested to optimize recovery. In addition, paddocks should be as few, and as large as possible, to maximize livestock access to functional resource heterogeneity, thereby improving adaptive foraging options, while reducing costs of fencing (fencing can even be replaced by using physical boundaries (e.g. roads, rivers, etc.) and herding the livestock.Livestock are maintained in the grazing paddocks until mid-dry season to ensure that grasses in the rested paddocks have completed root growth and ceased all other growth -thus fully rested and recovered. A full years rest allows maximum uptake and storage of nutrients in deep, strong root systems and crowns. Thus when these grasses are grazed in the next season they have not only efficient root uptake of moisture and nutrients from the soil but also can re-allocate nutrients stored in roots to leaf production after each grazing event, resulting in a productive supply of high-quality fresh leaf to livestock over the growing season.Photo showing a contrast between a grazed and rested paddocks in the early dry season (June) at Tiisa Kalahari Ranch, Ghanzi. Note the reserve of forage for the mid and late dry season in the rested paddock (the cattle will moved into this rested paddock in July). Also note the even utilization of grasses in the grazed paddock by the end of the wet season (Photo Richard Fynn). Grasses in the grazed paddocks are kept in an immature, leafy state during the wet season by sufficient sustained grazing pressure (Theresa Fynn).Photo showing a cattle preference for short high-quality green grass in the mown strip along the Charleshill road, avoiding the taller and lower quality unmown areas further away from the road. This demonstrates the importance of maintaining grazed paddocks in a short high-quality state (Photo Richard Fynn).Purpose  SRG can be implemented as simply as dividing the ranch into two paddocks with livestock spending alternate years in each paddock (A) or the ranch can be divided up into several cells according to needs, such as having to separate breeding herds, bull herds and weaners (B). In scenario A it is important to ensure good water distribution in each paddock to ensure access to the whole paddock. This simple scenario (A) is ideal for rural development schemes owing to minimal infrastructure costs and is easy for rural communities to implement. Another advantage is that it gives livestock much greater adaptive foraging options. In scenario B a central water point provides a convenient way of changing the livestock between paddocks. The gates can be left open between diagonal paddocks to allow livestock freedom of access to either of the diagonal paddocks or they can be actively moved between diagonals during the grazing year according to the rancher's decisions. If paddocks are extremely large then other water points should be provided across the paddocks to allow livestock even access to all parts of the paddock.Author: Richard Fynn. Fencing and infrastructure have been shown to be major factors increasing establishment and maintenance costs and reducing profits. Thus SRG aims to reduce these costs by having fewer larger paddocks, which also has benefits for the animals. Another major cost is that of supplementary feeding, especially if forage is depleted during the dry season. This technology aims to ensure that a reserve of forage is created for the dry season, to overcome this. It also aims to improve the quality of forage during the wet season so that supplementary feeding is not needed for fertility improvement. Percentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology single cases/ experimental 1-10% 10-50% more than 50%Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have did so without receiving material incentives? 0-10% 10-50% 50-90% 90-100%In Ghanzi region of Botswana probably about five ranchers have adopted the technology.Comment: This technology aims to reduce infrastructure and maintenance costs by reducing the amount of fencing. It also aims to reduce reliance on supplementary feeding.They have adopted the technology because of seeing the results of those using the technology and from farmers day talks.• Management complexity is reduced -fewer paddocks and less frequent movement between paddocks. • Establishment and maintenance costs are lower than complex rotational grazing systems owing to less fencing required. Livestock production increased relative to costs. Daily combining of livestock from all households into a single herd to be driven to different designated portions of the communal grazing area. Grass can then recover by replenishing its reserves before being re-grazed some months later.This technology is currently being applied in communal areas as well as commercial farms of Namibia. It is particularly effective in areas with no fences, and areas with high incidence of stock theft and predator losses. The technology aims to replace continuous, open grazing with a planned system. This gives grass a chance to recover in the growing season, and prepares the soil and grass for the forthcoming rainy season. In addition, fixed stocking rates based on carrying capacities are replaced by flexible stocking rates which track availability of forage. Two grazing plans are developed for one year; one when perennial grasses are growing and the other when they are dormant. Grazing plans may change, depending on the season and unanticipated events such as fire. A grazing plan is put in place for the growing season, that ensures plants are not re-grazed before they have recovered their root reserves. It is targeted at good animal performance. In the non-growing season, animal numbers are adjusted to ensure that there is sufficient grass to last until the next rains.The grazing plans must take into account all factors that affect livestock performance as well as capacity of the livestock owner. These factors include occurrence of the first rains, presence of natural water pans, current and projected animal performance, availability of good quality forage for cows prior to bulling, avoiding poisonous plants, and timing of vaccinations, etc. Once the plan has been developed, the animals are moved by herders using low stress handling techniques to various parts of the farm or communal grazing area, according to the plan. Strategic moving of livestock by herding enables fire breaks to be created by deliberate over trampling. Each night the livestock are brought back to a kraal ( Afrikaans for corral) where they are kept overnight. Watering of livestock can take place in the kraal at night, in the morning, or alternatively in the field depending on water availability. This process is repeated day after day by the herders.At the end of each growing season, the amount of forage available to the current herd is estimated. Animal numbers are adjusted to make sure that there is still sufficient forage to support them before the rains -and to leave enough ground cover to feed the soil organisms and protect the soil from erosion. Deciding when the forage produced will run out needs to be done using a method that livestock owners relate to. Livestock owners may decide to meet and reach consensus on this based on their knowledge and past experience of the effectiveness of rainfall. If it is decided that there is sufficient food to see the animals through until the next rains, then livestock owners will be satisfied; if there is excess forage they may be able to re-stock. If, however, a forage shortage is expected then de-stocking is required: the severity of the forage shortage determines how many livestock can be carried on the land during the off-season. Again, livestock owners can reach consensus on this. Deciding whose animals to sell and how many is always a thorny issue, so livestock owners will always move excess livestock to other areas if possible, or alternatively sell unproductive animals. Comment: Community projects facilitated by NGO 'Conservation Agriculture Namibia'.Map used for developing the grazing plan for Outokotorua communal grazing area (Colin Nott).Grazing chart used for developing the grazing plan for Outokotorua communal grazing area (Collin Nott). The grazing plan means that livestock will only be on a particular piece of land twice in any given year (once in the growing season and once in the non growing season). The animal density is however high, leading to increased impact for a very short period.Schematic of planned growing season grazing. In this diagram grazing started in the bottom left hand camp (plot), marked d1, and the livestock were grazed in this area for one day.The next day the herd of livestock were taken to the area marked d2 and grazed there. This continued until day 41 where the livestock are currently. If deviations from the plan occur then the grazing map is marked according to what actually happened. This is the map that helps inform next year's grazing plan -to avoid using certain camps at the same time of year. The degree of greenness in the diagram indicates the recovery of grass. It is lightest in the area just grazed, marked d40. By the time the herd reaches day 120, which has the darkest green indicating readiness to be re-grazed, then the grass in the area marked d1 was calculated to have recovered sufficiently to be re-grazed. This plan has a built-in recovery period of 120 days. It is possible that growth rates are slower than expected and it may be necessary to reduce numbers of cattle in the herd to slow down movement to ensure an adequate recovery period.Author: Colin Nott.• Costs are calculated: per Technology area (size and area unit: 5,000 ha) • Currency used for cost calculation: US Dollars • Average wage cost of hired labour per day: USD 4 Appreciation by land users that investment in herders will pay back, especially from the second year onwards.1. Three meetings for mobilization of communities (Timing/ frequency: Month 1) 2. Exchange visit to local livestock owners using this practise (Timing/ frequency: Month 4) 3. Assess water infrastructure, site and drill and install additional water point (Timing/ frequency: Month 6) 4. Grazing planning meeting with stakeholders (Timing/ frequency:After adequate grass growth to enable planned grazing) 5. Appoint, equip and train herders (Timing/ frequency: After 4) 6. Planning meeting and determination of starting date (Timing/ frequency: After 5) 7. Build overnight kraals at new water points (Timing/ frequency: When needed) 8. Build temporary kraals for improved grass growth (Timing/ frequency: When needed)Comment: Grazing maps and charts produced by CAN (support NGO), but will be taken over soon by farmers. The ability to bring back perennial grasses into the system allows higher stocking rates, less drought risk and better quality animals, therefore higher income over time and consequently a better cost-benefit analysis.Percentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology single cases/ experimental 1-10% 10-50% more than 50%Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have did so without receiving material incentives? 0-10% 10-50% 50-90% 90-100%Comment: Addition of erosion control and overnight kraaling to assist with gully control. Refining re-planning in response to monitored results that deviate from aims.Comment: This is a key issue undergoing lobbying of government and the communal farmers union to establish through a consultative process legislation that enables grazing plans to be enforced from within and from outside. This is lacking at the moment.To which changing conditions? climatic change/ extremes changing markets labour availability (e.g. due to migration) adaptive management• It is cost-effective; genuine improvement is seen in grass production, while livestock losses to predators are significantly reduced. • For absentee owners they can leave a manager and herders in place to get on with the work and this can be easily evaluated after time since animals wondering around leave evidence. • Livestock are better cared for than they used to be, and a sense of community has been restored.• This is a viable and upscaleable technology for both communal and commercial farmland in Namibia and beyond. • It addresses the root cause of livestock related degradation and on a larger scale could have a significant impact on mitigating climate change if all the degraded rangelands of the dry climates of the world were restored by using the principles embodied in this approach -one which has been adopted in the National Rangeland Management Policy and Strategy. Moreover it can improve the quality of lives of millions of people who live in areas where livestock is the only viable land use. • This is a true 'triple bottom line' technology that improves the resource base whilst increasing profits and enables improved quality of life for residents.Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks g how to overcome Land user's view • Herders are difficult to find, train and keep. g National level vocational training of herders is required. • Water infrastructure tends to result in overtrampling of the same routes. g The Directorate of Rural Water Supply should change its water specifications to include the provision of water for livestock -which can be cheap and effective. • Grass poaching takes place by neighbours and the majority will of people in an area is sometimes overrun by a small minority. g Farmers Unions must address these issues and get enforceable mechanisms in place for improved rangeland management.• There is insufficient national buy-in from line ministries in terms of implementation to address many of the issues that have been raised. g Line ministries should support implementation to address these problems. Joint implementation, joint review and adaptation by government, unions, livestock owners and support providers will assist in solving many issues for resource-base improvement.Range improvement including soil improvement involves management of fire/ prescribed burning, firebreaks, enrichment planting, seeding of leguminous species, control of bush encroachment and alien invasive species, natural regeneration, soil fertility amendments (manure), erosion control, soil moisture (water harvesting by micro-catchments) and reducing evaporation losses.• Develop and implement a grazing management plan.• Improve range health by managing soil health and improving forage quantity and quality.• Improve range through restoring grass cover e.g. reseeding, clearing of invasive and unproductive species, and fire management. • Improve plant water availability and water use efficiency, by in-situ water conservation and rainwater harvesting. • Improve soil health by increasing organic matter and hence improving soil aggregate structure, soil's ability to store water and nutrients, and soil microorganism content. • Secure rights over the land and water.Reseeding and planting: can be an effective and inexpensive method to improve the quality and quantity of forage (pasture and hay) including right species selection to reduce competition and avoid spread of invasive species. After reseeding a management change is needed to favour the continued growth of the seeded grasses.Fertility improvement: through livestock manure collection and spreading (adding organic matter and nutrients) or by incorporating nitrogen-fixing leguminous species in the range.Control of bush encroachment and alien invasive species: often associated with high grazing pressures. Unpalatable shrubs increase when the more palatable ones are overgrazed. Several control mechanisms are involved: fire, mixed grazing use by grazers and browsers, mechanical uprooting, pesticide or biological control.Fire management (natural and prescribed burning): enables regrowth and access to palatable and nutritious regrowth especially of perennial grasses. Fire is also used to control invasive woody vegetation (indigenous and alien). Effect of fires depends on intensity, seasonality, frequency and type. Herbaceous biomass is the key determinant of fire activity. Trees promote fires at low densities but suppress fires at higher densities. Firebreaks are strips of land from which the trees and vegetation have been removed to prevent fire from spreading.Land user managed natural regeneration: woodlands are restocked by trees that develop from seeds that fall, germinate in-situ and are protected from browsing in early stages -until they are out of the reach of animals.Plateau with Nardi/ Vallerani pits, planted with grass and trees, Niger (GIZ). Enclosures: rehabilitate and restore the natural resource bases (soil, vegetation and soil water) by prohibiting grazing and allowing resting and recovery.Erosion control: prevent loss of soil due to water runoff and wind (e.g. gully stabilisation, dune stabilisation). It involves mainly vegetative and structural measures.Soil water management: protect soil moisture by reducing evaporation losses and improving rainwater infiltration. Water harvesting by microcatchments such as planting pits and half moons.Reseeding and microcatchments found in 'agropastoral' and 'bounded' systems and 'small-scale settled pastures'.Fertility improvement and enclosures are applied in 'small-scale settled pastures'.Control of bush encroachment and invasive species is often done under 'bounded' (trees and bushes) or 'pastures' (herbaceous species) systems, where land rights are firmly regulated.Firebreaks: 'pastoral' and 'agropastoral' systems.Managed natural regeneration and dune fixation: in systems where crop production is integrated -'agropastoral' and 'pastures'.• Improves rangeland health. Soil and water conservation improves soil and vegetation health as a basis for improved fodder/ forage productivity. • Increases vegetative cover and fodder production.• Improves pasture quality (regeneration of perennial grasses, control of invasive species).• Protects grazing lands from erosion and sand encroachment.• High cost input of implementation.• Susceptible to conflicts as improved green land attracts neighbours and invasion.Pasture and soil improvement practices are scattered throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. These systems are most common around settlements and urban centres in the Sahel and in many agricultural areas in in East and West Africa. This group of technologies is mainly applicable in more intensively managed systems. Seeding of degraded rangeland is more costly than resting for recovery and natural regeneration.There is a strong trend towards spontaneous adoption, thanks to high effectiveness regarding increasing productivity and soil and water conservation.The grazing areas are communal lands set aside for the animals in the rainy season, enabling the reduction of conflicts between farmers and livestock keepers. For more than two decades these areas have been invaded by Sida cordifolia, a species disliked by animals. A method was successfully tested that combines tillage and weeding with seeding of Hibiscus sabdariffa, or roselle -a plant normally used to make tea or eaten as a vegetable, but also valuable as a fodder. Because of its rapid germination, the hibiscus invades the area very quickly, and suppresses the first seedlings of the Sida cordifolia.https://qcat.wocat.net/en/summary/3442/ Grazing land invaded by Sida cordifolia (Issaka Dan Dano).The most common way of manure concentration is by corralling or tethering livestock during the night. During the day the animals are allowed to graze rangelands, fallows or crop residue fields. Corrals are moved to a new spot every 4-5 nights in order to spread manure evenly. While a 250 kg cow produces about 1 kg of manure (dry matter) per night, 7 sheep or 7 goats are needed to produce this same amount. To cover 1 hectare of land with 2.5 tons of manure, a herd of 15 cattle would need to be corralled for 3.5 months. Thus, it is recommended to organise corralling within a community of farmers and especially to revitalize the traditional corralling contracts contrats de parcage with transhumant herders. https://qcat.wocat.net/en/summary/3608/ Cattle corralled on a crop field to improve soil fertility, Niger (ILRI/Stevie Mann).The catchment of the Mount Fletcher dam in the Eastern Cape is affected by severe sheet and rill erosion due to overgrazing and veld (grassland) fires on the highly erodible soils resulting in severe siltation of the dam. The main purpose of pitting is to enhance infiltration of runoff water by capturing and ponding it on capped/ crusted bare soils. It is combined with brush packing (laying cut bush on the soil's surface) or mulching, and the construction of silt fences (low barriers across the slope) to further improve sediment trapping. Re-seeding in pits with commercially available grass seed mixes can enhance vegetation cover. https://qcat.wocat.net/en/summary/3659/ Rehabilitation of eroded land in the Mount Fletcher dam catchment, South Africa (Jacob Buckle).The Technology mechanizes the traditional technique of zai and semi circular bunds for water harvesting using a modified plow named Delfino3s pulled by a 180hp tractor. A normal plow on flat land excavates a symmetrical, continuous furrow, and earth piles up equally on both sides of the furrow. The Delfino3s plow has a single reversible plowshare that creates an angled furrow and piles up the excavated soil in half moon shaped ridges only on the downhill side. The plowing must be done along the contour to collect and slows down runoff water as it flows downhill. The plow's blade moves in and out of the soil creating micro basins about 5 meters long, 50 cm deep, 50 cm wide and spaced 2-3 m. The ripper placed before the plow cracks up the soil to a depth of 70 cm facilitating the infiltration of water into the soil profile and the growth of deep roots. After plowing, the local population sows seeds of plants of indigenous species. They are sown along the ridges of the basins and in the furrow of the ripper. While for most species seeds are collected by the local population, for species rarely present in the region, seeds are purchased from tree nurseries. Sowing the manure of goat containing seeds has also been very successful with about 95% of all micro basin having at least one tree growing.The intervention on a big scale, the effects of water infiltration in depth, erosion reduction and vegetation growth, boost a long lasting rehabilitation process. Each day the Delfino plow can plow up to 20 ha, digging 6.000-7.000 micro basins. The speed, the capability to plow hard, abandoned land, the effectiveness of the Delfino3s plow are its major advantages for the ecosystem rehabilitation process but require a big commitment. To make the best out of it, a great motivation and organisational work is necessary to: find great availability of land; train accurately the technicians; have well-rooted Subjects in the region. The technological aspect is just part of the recovery process, an important work with the Communities is required upstream and downstream. Communities are involved in the management process -in identifying the areas to be restored, clarifying the land uses of the affected areas, planning and implementing e.g. gathering and keeping seeds of local ecotypes, sowing, in the management of plantations and in the monitoring and evaluation of the results.Rules for SLM are adopted and respected by all. The Technology is applied in a degraded agro-sylvo-pastoral area of the Sahel Region, in the north east of Burkina Faso with 200-500 mm of annual rainfall. The soil is sandy-loam, strongly degraded with surface crust. The population is mainly composed of semi-nomadic herders. At the beginning of the project, the NGO Reach Italia was promoting schooling; they soon realized that during the dry season most kids left school and that to avoid it they should face food security and pasture improvement. So they started applying the Vallerani System and developed the participatory approach. The vegetation growth reduces the need for fodder search and long-range transhumance which also allows children to go to school regularly. The Degraded field after plowing (Lindo Grandi).Local people sowing indigenous trees and shrubs seeds in the tilled lines. Sowing days are important and joyful events for the communities (Lindo Grandi).Main purpose improve production reduce, prevent, restore land degradation conserve ecosystem protect a watershed/ downstream areas -in combination with other Technologies preserve/ improve biodiversity reduce risk of disasters adapt to climate change/ extremes and its impacts mitigate climate change and its impacts create beneficial economic impact create beneficial social impactGrazing land -Extensive grazing land: Semi-nomadism/ pastoralism Intensive grazing/ fodder production: Improved pastures Main animal species and products: Goats, cattle.Unproductive land -Specify: Hard abandoned land.Remarks: Especially at the beginning of the project, some communities agreed to try the system on their most unproductive land. After seeing the results, they started to request the intervention on less degraded soil and on fields that are closer to their villages. Upfront costs for the acquisition of the required implements are around 40,000 EUR for the plow and 75,000 EUR for the tractor. Depending on the maintenance activities, the spares and fuel costs can be reduced. Fuel, oil and spares also greatly depend from the characteristics of the soil and the purpose of the project. The NGO REACH AFRICA which implements the project is also supported by REACH ITALIA which mainly works for fundraising. They have many different founders. After the first years, thanks to the collaboration and funding by the Swiss Association Deserto Verde Burkinabé and the good results achieved, founders are more likely to be found. The main are: different NGO's, some Italian Municipalities, a Swiss school, the Government of Burkina Faso, FAO, international cooperation agencies of Luxembourg and Belgium, a mining company and others.The actual (2018) total cost of each implemented hectare is $170. This cost can be considerably reduced by around 22% in the case of an optimal use of the Technical Mechanization Unit, ie 800-1000 hours of work per year. This means that an operator who works with the plow Delfino has a gross investment cost which can vary according to its technical and organisational experience and by the amount of the plowed surface each year.1. Pasture management to avoid overgrazing (Timing/ frequency: After the rain and in the dry season) 2. Vegetation growth management (Timing/ frequency: During the first 3-5 years) 3. Woodcut management (Timing/ frequency: After 4-7 years) 4. Equipment maintenance (plow, tractor) (Timing/ frequency: Daily, weekly, seasonal) Comment: Maintenance costs of plow and tractor greatly depend from the attention and technical skills of tractor drivers and mechanics and from the diligence and frequency of the maintenance activities of the implements. No other maintenance costs are foreseen for the Technology. Comment: Up to 30-50 years ago biodiversity was rich and soil coverage higher.Comment: During the dry season men often migrate(d) to the nearby mines or cities for off-site income. After the implementation of the Technology the need for seasonal migration reduced. Difference in gender involvement: the project involves reforestation and pasture improvement for the grazing of livestock which is a men dominated activity. Since 2010 women have sown and protected from grazing some special plants for medical and domestic use and as raw material for handcrafts. Population density: 10-50 persons/km 2 . Annual population growth: 3%-4%. Off-farm income specification: The only activity people of the region are engaged in is goat and cattle breading. Crop production is practiced only for subsistence use.Area used per household < 0.5 ha 0.5-1 ha 1-2 ha 2-5 ha 5-15 ha 15-50 ha 50-100 ha 100-500 ha 500-1,000 ha 1,000-10,000 ha > 10,000 ha The system includes the use of a heavy duty tractor and a special plow whose costs are high though difficult to sustain by the local population. Most financial costs are covered by founders and donors, the land user's participate to the project with their work so even if the benefits in the short term are fewer than in the mid and long-term, for them it is still very positive. Percentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology single cases/ experimental 1-10% 10-50% more than 50%Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have did so without receiving material incentives? 0-10% 10-50% 50-90% 90-100%Number of households and/ or area covered 330 villages and around 33,000 beneficiaries.Comment: The design of the plow has been adapted to increase the performance of the implement and reduce the running costs of plowing. The reversibility of the plowshare reduces the need for empty rides. The different parts of the plow are adjustable to adapt it to the needs of the project and the soil characteristics.Comment: Except for plowing, the other activities part of the Technology are practicable by the population under an initial guidance of a promoter with specific training. These are done without any material incentives/payments. The technology is well known in the Region and there is an active participation of the local people and a strong demand for new interventions. • Highly degraded, abandoned land becomes fertile and rentable again. Fodder increases in quantity and improves in quality and lasts all year round. Food security also in drought years. Herds are healthier and more productive. Fodder and water availability for animals is closer to the villages. Some plants can be sown for different uses: crops, medicine or for the production of mats or other handcrafts products that can be sold. • Better life conditions, more income opportunities and diversification. Food is diversified and more nutritious. Less hunger and diseases. • Greater community cohesion and less migration, better environmental consciousness and commitment, education and security. People gain back dignity, confidence in the future and hope.• The Technology allows the rehabilitation of rangeland and highly degraded areas in a fast and natural way on a large scale. This can boost a longlasting effect and the shift of the whole ecosystem. The Technology confers drought resilience and reduces the effects of climate change. It allows the sequestration of CO 2 and can contribute to achieve the Land Degradation Neutrality Goals. • The participatory approach is essential for the sustainability of the project. The local Communities improve their life quality, awareness, cohesion and resilience. The need for migration is reduced and people has the chance to stay in their Lands. • The sown tree and shrub species are mainly indigenous and locally adapted species. Each specie can follow it's own growing laws and adaptation strategies. Through the tillage process the technology offers the highest degree of efficiency in the first years from processing. Its effects last for a long time so it does not need to be repeated on the same site. • The VS does not use any water (except rain) in countries where water is rare and precious. • The use of a mechanized implement allows to rehabilitate very hard, degraded and abandoned land on large areas with reduced population. As the Delfino3s can plow strongly degraded land, the local people often ask to work their worse land which they would never be able to use.Land user's view • Land that was unproductive and nobody claimed becomes productive: it can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts. g Land use and production exploitation rules must be cleared and accepted by all Subjects at the beginning of the project. • Good pasture attracts animals and herders from the nearby Region (also from far away and abroad). g Rules must be clear.• The investment and running costs for the machinery are high and cannot be covered by single land users or small Communities. g The projects must be financed by donors or founders.The Community can participate to some extent to cover the running costs. • The speed and effectiveness of the Delfino3s plow are its major advantages in the ecosystem rehabilitation process but can also be its major limitation. To make the best out of it, it is necessary to have a great availability of land (1,000-1,800 ha) every year. g A big organisational capacity is needed. The spreading 'like wildfire' that has characterized the case study was possible by the presence on the territory of an NGO already active and rooted in the territory for many years and by perseverance, respect and competence of all involved subjects. • Since great extensions will be processed, a big organisation is needed for all connected activities (awareness raising, seed collection and stockage, training, logistics, etc.), g Must be well organized and should operate already before starting with plowing. • The professional level of the tractor drivers and the mechanics as well as the lack of a well-organized mechanical workshop and spares stock can lead to long interruptions of the work and high extra costs. g Professional technical trainings and monitoring are very important. The organisation of a well managed mechanical workshop and spares stock are essential. This can also be a great development opportunity for the Region. • The increased amount of fodder can induce the shepherds to increase the number of animals. g An important work with the Communities is essential to achieve shared and sustainable management goals.Firebreaks are strips from which dry vegetation -straw -is removed in order to stop the progression of fire into the large areas of grazing land. They are of paramount importance for protecting and securing available grazing.In Niger, firebreaks are constructed in pastoral and agropastoral zones, which are characterized by abundant grazing after the rainy season -but also by a high risk of bush fires.Every year, at the end of the rainy season, thousands of hectares of grazing land go up in smoke due to bush-fires. This causes enormous losses of fodder, which is essential for the survival of livestock in this Sahelian region which has lacked adequate grazing over the last decades.Firebreaks, as their name indicates, are strips of land set-up perpendicular to the dominant wind direction. They are between 20 and 30 m in width and spaced 3 to 4 km apartaccording to the national standards in Niger. Along these strips, which can exceed 10 km in length in the pastoral zones, dried vegetation is removed. This creates firebreaks which stop the progression of fires into the large areas of grazing, thereby protecting and securing fodder supplies. In general, firebreaks are implemented according to a 'cash for work' approach, with the aim of supporting the local economy and strengthening the resilience of the population, and of the livestock, during the lean season. Three specific objectives are set for this technology in Niger: (i) the clearance of the firebreaks is part of the annual plan for preliminary support to the populations experiencing food insecurity. These plans are implemented by the National Mechanism for the Prevention and Management of Disasters and Food Crises (DNPGCCA).The main activity in the implementation and maintenance of the firebreaks is weeding with local tools (Hilaire, daba, machete) and the collection and storage of the cut straw. These activities require a large number of laborers (men and women). The main advantages of the technology are low implementation costs, ease of scaling-up, contribution to efficient management of the fodder resources, and a contribution to the training/ mobilization/ organisation of the pastoralist populations. Finally, it fosters efficient spatial planning of the grazing areas. The direct impacts are reduction of bushfires, improved protection of grazing areas, and an increase in the income of the local people. The indirect impacts consist of the increased financial resources of the land users, and the impacts of the measures for the prevention, and management, of disasters and food crises.This technology, while combating bushfires and fostering the increase of incomes, contributes to improved livelihoods of livestock keepers and to sustainable land management. However, the systematic commercialization of the cut straw may reduce the potential for regeneration of the vegetation cover in the grazing areas, and may cause conflicts between the traders of straw and the land users. This technology, while combating bushfires and fostering the increase of incomes, contributes to improved livelihoods of livestock keepers and to sustainable land management. However, the systematic commercialization of the cut straw may reduce the potential for regeneration of the vegetation cover in the grazing areas, and may cause conflicts between the traders of straw and the land users. The project concerned is a micro-project, financed by the Food Crisis Unit (CCA/the Prime Minister's Office), in the framework of the Annual Plan to Support Vulnerable Populations. The CCA/ Prime Minister's Office is an institution of the DNPGCCA.Firebreak in Ameidida (Abalak, Tahoua, Niger) (Abdoulaye Mahamane).Young men and women clearing a firebreak. The straw that is removed is piled up on the sides of the firebreak (PAAPSSP). Livestock density: The livestock numbers (in tropical livestock units) are between 200,000 and 300,000 over the five last years, which is high considering the overall area and the human population dependent on them.The clearance of the firebreaks is part of the annual plan for preliminary support to the populations experiencing food insecurity. It is an instrument to distribute income and food supplies to people through the work accomplished under the \"High-Intensity Labour\" (HIMO) initiative through the approach of \"work for food supplies and/or cash\". (ii) Selling of the straw was developed to enable people on the one hand to increase their financial resources, and on the other hand to implement strategies for storage and optimal use of the fodder resources. Author: Abdoulaye Sambo Soumaila.Firebreaks, Niger RANGE IMPROVEMENTThe firebreaks contribute firstly to preventing effects from bush fires on the available grazing land, by mobilizing the local populations in regular activities of surveillance, monitoring and control of the bush fires in the grazing areas, and in imposing penalties to those responsible for the bush fires. Secondly, in case of bush fires, the effects for grazing are limited; the firebreaks therefore reduce the land degradation which would result from these bush fires.Comment: The firebreaks contribute to limit the effects of bush fires on the vegetation cover and the biomass.1. Information/ awareness-raising/ mobilization of the local populations (Timing/ frequency: At the start of the project, after the harvest and the clearing of the fields in the agro-pastoral zone.In the pastoral zone, this activity is after the end of the rainy season.) 2. Planning workshop to identify the direct beneficiaries (Timing/ frequency: After the campaign of information/ awareness-raising/ mobilization of the local populations, during one day.) 3. Training of fire guards (Timing/ frequency: After the identification of direct beneficiaries, over three days.)4. Laying-out of the firebreaks (Timing/ frequency: After the rainy season and following the training of fire guards.) 5. Weeding (Timing/ frequency: After the laying-out the firebreaks.) 6. Collection, transport and storage of the straw (Timing/ frequency: At the same time as weeding of the outlined strips.) 7. Selling of the straw on the markets (Timing/ frequency: During the lean season (March-June).) 8. Monitoring and evaluation (Timing/ frequency: During the period of implementation of the technology, and after the end of the project.) The most important factor affecting the costs of the technology is unskilled labour; this technology requires a large amount of labour, both for the implementation and for the maintenance.The main activities in the implementation of the firebreaks are the weeding, the collection and the storage of the straw. In some cases, the straw is distributed between the livestock keepers (direct beneficiaries), who use it for their livestock. Monitoring and evaluation are carried out by the local contracting NGO, the technical departmental services, and by members of the sub-regional committee for the prevention and management of food crises (agriculture, livestock keeping, environment).The mule and oxen carts for the transport of the straw were provided by the local populations. In the cost assessment, the 20,000 CFA francs represent the rental cost for each cart. The firebreaks are implemented in the framework of the annual plans to support vulnerable populations in all regions of Niger. They are realized with the approach 'cash for work' after the rainy season. In a few cases, the firebreaks are cleared during the rainy season. This is not according to the national standards and does not fit in the framework of sustainable land management. Ultimately, all costs are covered by the Food Crisis Unit, except for the costs for the use of mule and oxen carts, which are owned by the direct beneficiaries. The maintenance activities consist of weeding the strips after each rainy season. This activity should be continuously performed during the entire period of high fire risk in the agro-pastoral and pastoral zones (October-February).The maintenance costs are covered by the local populations, who ensure their own compensation by selling the straw.The success of the maintenance is highly dependent on the income that is generated with the sale of the straw. Therefore, the livestock keepers organize themselves to maintain the firebreaks, which are used as corridors and rest areas in the majority of cases. These costs are calculated for each unit of 3 km 2 .The firebreaks are constructed in the grazing areas, generally on flat or gently sloping terrain. These regions consist of plateaus/glacis, plains and valleys. Several sand dunes have formed over the last four decades.Comment: There are two main soil types: (i) sandy soils and sandy-loam soils in the dune formations, and (ii) clay soils and loamy clay soils in the valleys and depressions. On the hillslopes glacis and stony soils are found.Area used per household < 0.5 ha 0.5-1 ha 1-2 ha 2-5 ha 5-15 ha 15-50 ha 50-100 ha 100-500 ha 500-1,000 ha 1,000-10,000 ha > 10,000 ha Comment: In the pastoral zone, the grazing land was declared communal by the scheme on pastoralism of 2010. Private land ownership in this zone does not exist according to the law. The scheme of 2010 regulates the access to resources (water and grazing land). It should be noted that private land ownership only exists in agglomerations and urban centres.Comment: In the pastoral zone, private land ownership does not exist according to the law. The livestock keepers install themselves on the lands and cultivate these. However, private ranches increasingly appear in this zone, challenging the socio-economic and environmental equilibrium. The deployment of fire guards mobilizes all stakeholders for natural resource management. This increases dialogue and improves the peaceful co-existence in the zone. However, in the agro-pastoral zone, the pressure on resources leads to conflicts between the agro-pastoralists and the young traders of straw. Comment: From the perspective of the livestock keepers and the agro-pastoralists, there is no doubt about the economic and financial viability of the firebreaks. They enhance rational management of the available grazing land, by establishing a dynamic of conservation and protection. The costs of implementation and maintenance are much lower than the income generated and received from the DNPGCCA (National Mechanism for the Prevention and Management of Disasters and Food Crises), and especially lower than the opportunity costs (of the grazing land saved from bush fires) in the short/medium and long term. Comment: The weeding of the firebreaks could increase the risk of water erosion due to surface runoff in the weeded part.The loss of vegetation cover in some parts of the grazing areas could also promote wind erosion, with sand from outside the sites being transported to the treated zones. The firebreaks have small off-site impacts. It should be noted that the transport of the straw leads to the movement of some forage seeds to other zones, where they could become invasive plants.Percentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology single cases/ experimental 1-10% 10-50% more than 50%Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have did so without receiving material incentives? 0-10% 10-50% 50-90% 90-100%Almost 10% of the livestock keepers in the zone have adopted the technology, focusing on the collection and storage of the straw.Comment: These livestock keepers have adopted the technology spontaneously on small surfaces. They understood the need to stockpile straw for the lean season.The adaptation consisted of developing markets for the straw, and especially for forage seeds, which are collected during the weeding of the firebreaks. This adaptation led to increased marketing of the straw, and in this way transformed the management of the natural resources. According to the organisations of livestock keepers, like the 'Association to Revitalize Livestock keeping in Niger' (AREN), the effect of sale of the straw is negative: it puts an additional pressure on this resource, which cannot effectively recover due to climate change.To which changing conditions? climatic change/ extremes changing markets labour availability (e.g. due to migration)• The protection of the grazing land. In this region, where bush fires are common, a significant reduction of the impacts of these fires on the grazing land decreases the vulnerability of the local populations. • The marketing of the straw. Significant income was generated following the implementation of the firebreaks. • The ease of implementation and maintenance of the technology, and its low costs, apart from labour.• The protection of the grazing areas from the impacts of bush fires, which have become a disaster for the transhumant livestock keepers in the last decades. • The approach of 'cash for work', which was implemented during the construction of the firebreaks, enables on the one hand support of the vulnerable populations during the lean season, and on the other hand the creation of positive momentum for the conservation and protection of the grazing land. The combination of measures for sustainable land management and food security is, without doubt, an effective strategic instrument for this pastoralist zone, which is in an almost chronic state of crisis.Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks g how to overcome• The implementation of the technology could threaten the extensive management of the grazing land through the marketing of the straw. g The regulations for the marketing of straw should be strengthened, and especially the rural markets should be regulated. • The transport of the straw carries along certain forage seeds to other zones, where they could become invasive plants. g An effective transport system for the straw should be put in place.• The systematic marketing of the straw is a major weakness. This may reduce the potential of the vegetation cover to regenerate in the grazing areas, and cause conflicts between the traders of straw and the land users (livestock keepers, agro-pastoralists).g Conservation measures for herbaceous species and measures to control soil degradation should be put in place in the firebreaks.Compiler: Soumaila Abdoulaye (leffnig@yahoo.fr)Resource persons: Soumaila Abdoulaye (leffnig@yahoo.fr) -SLM specialist; Mahamane Abdoulaye (ongadr2016@gmail.com) -SLM specialist The significant growth of the population is dramatically increasing pressure on natural resources. In combination with the impacts of climate change and desertification, the process of land degradation has accelerated, resulting in chronic deficits in food and forage throughout the country. Facing these multiple environmental and ecological challenges, the state and its development partners have been testing and refining the technology of ANR since the 1990s. Assisted Natural Regeneration involves accelerating the process of natural regeneration of vegetation resulting from natural seedlings or from stumps inherently present in the area. Shoots from tree stumps with living root systems grow faster than seedlings derived from seeds. In the agricultural zone, ANR is a technique suited to improved land clearing, which involves locating and preserving shoots from stumps of desirable species of woody and herbaceous vegetation during the process of opening of land for cultivation. On sylvo-pastoral communal land this results in an increase of desirable vegetation species with the best potential for ANR. These include those with a strong ability to sprout from roots or those that can be propagated by layering.In the pastoral zone the practice was developed by livestock keepers to optimize the length of the grazing period during transhumance. Techniques employed are tree trimming, selection of the livestock routes for transhumance to enhance ANR through the movement of animals, monitoring and protection of palatable species, seeding of local forage crops in areas with low vegetative cover, and protection of particular species that enhance the development of understory vegetation. of firewood or timber, (iv) production of forage for livestock, (v) reduction of evapotranspiration, and (vi) restoration and preservation of forage resources in the pastoral zone.The following results are expected for the agricultural and agro-sylvo-pastoral zones: (i) a significant increase of woody biomass for energy provision, forage and timber, (ii) an increase in agricultural yields, and (iii) new sources of income enabling farmers to improve their living standards. Results expected for the pastoral zone include: (i) conservation and preservation of palatable vegetation species for livestock in the grazing areas, (ii) an increase in forage resources and woody biomass, and (iii) restoration of the vegetation cover on degraded pastoral land.ANR requires labour and hand tools (hoes and machetes). The low costs of implementation and maintenance are the major advantage of this technology; these explain the ease of adoption and the broad dissemination among agro-pastoralists and livestock keepers. However, due to the lack of regular monitoring of achievements and the weak enforcement of laws that regulate the management of forest resources, the ecological and socio-economic impacts of ANR in Niger are limited, especially in the pastoral zone.Herd and a shepherd girl on a grazing area and transhumance during treatment with Assisted Natural Regeneration (Abdoulaye Soumaila).Agro-pastoral producer applying RNA on an agro-sylvo-pastoral land (Amadou Adamou Kalilou, GREAD).Main purpose improve production reduce, prevent, restore land degradation conserve ecosystem protect a watershed/ downstream areas -in combination with other Technologies preserve/ improve biodiversity reduce risk of disasters adapt to climate change/ extremes and its impacts mitigate climate change and its impacts create beneficial economic impact create beneficial social impactGrazing land -Extensive grazing land: Nomadism, Seminomadism/ pastoralism Main animal species and products: cattle, dromedaries, sheep, goats and donkeys. In this zone, the implementation of ANR is part of the management framework for herds and forage resources. Purpose related to land degradation prevent land degradation reduce land degradation restore/ rehabilitate severely degraded land adapt to land degradation not applicableComment: Apart from preventing and reducing land degradation, ANR also contributes to the restoration and rehabilitation of degraded land, that otherwise would have required considerable investments. In that case ANR is linked to the closure of certain areas for grazing to enable a full recovery of the land.  Small equipment (machete, hoe, short-handled hoe, etc.) set 1 3,000.00 3,000.00 100Total costs for establishment of the Technology 45,000.00Comment: These activities are part of the implementation of a development project. If ANR is implemented spontaneously, the agropastoralist or livestock keeper directly initiates ANR without an awareness campaign or supervisory committee in place.Sketch 1 shows tree seedlings which are pruned to fewer stems to enhancedevelopment.Sketch 2 presents the structure of a patchof doum palm seedlings, showing theinterdependence between the differentsprouts. Sketch 3 presents a scheme for a doumpalm plantation in the agricultural zone, inan arrangement of cells with trees invarious stages of regeneration over aperiod of 30 years.Author: PASADEM, Maradi, Niger.Author: Peltier Régis, Claudine Serre Duhem and Aboubacar Ichaou.  The mean annual precipitation in the pastoral zone does not exceed 300 mm. In the southern regions of Niger (the Sahelian zone), annual precipitation is between 500 and 600 mm. Recent decades have been marked by a large variability in rainfall in space and time across Niger.Name of the meteorological station: meteorological stations of Abalak and Tillabéry.The pastoral zone of Niger has a Sahelian-Saharan climate. The agro-pastoral regions of Niger are characterized by a Sahelian climate.In case the implementation of the technology was conducted in the context a development project, only the costs of training are not borne by the land user, but covered by the project. In some cases the project also provides technical support, such as the installation of a tree nursery or food distribution.The total costs are indicated for the establishment of ANR through a development project. When the land user accomplishes ANR himself, the costs are 24,000 CFA francs/hectare, that is the costs for labour and depreciation of equipment. Labour costs represent almost 90% of the total costs for establishment of the technology. The costs for installation of a nursery are not included in the cost calculations. In the strict sense, ANR is not combined with the production of nursery plants.The maintenance costs exceed the costs for establishment of the technology due to the efforts to secure the ownership of treated land throughout the year. Labour accounts for the major share of the costs. Operations are more intensive during maintenance compared to establishment of the technology. The production of nursery plants is not included in the cost estimation. In several cases the trade is combined with the production of seedlings in nurseries, which are sold to land users. In the pastoral zone ANR has led to the marketing of forest products (e.g.gum arabic from acacia trees) and hay/straw in some regions. In addition ANR enhances dairy production and the production of cheese.economic disparities decreased increased Before SLM: NoneAfter SLM: In the short term there is no evident impact.Comment: ANR contributes to reducing economic disparities between vulnerable and wealthy land users in the medium and long term. In the pastoral zone, ANR benefits the entire population. This applies especially to the poorest livestock keepers, who lack the financial resources to buy imported animal feed.  Comment: Above-ground biomass increases especially on pastoral and sylvo-pastoral land. An increase is also observed in agricultural fields, mainly due to the high density of woody vegetation.Percentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology single cases/ experimental 1-10% 10-50% more than 50%Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have did so without receiving material incentives? 0-10% 10-50% 50-90% 90-100%The majority of transhumant livestock keepers in the pastoral zone (60%) have adopted ANR over an area of approximately 2,000 km 2 of grazing land. In the agro-pastoral zone within the regions of Tillabéri, Maradi and Tahoua the area treated with ANR exceeds 10,000 km 2 .Comment: Several projects have adapted ANR by complementing the implementation with tree planting and seeding local or external forage species in sylvo-pastoral land. Some projects have combined the technology with the control of invasive plant species and plants that are harmful to livestock. ANR is based on the selection of species that have high potential for the production and marketing of forage and timber.To which changing conditions? climatic change/ extremes changing markets labour availability (e.g. due to migration) The establishment and maintenance costs of ANR are very low. Therefore the short-term returns are still slightly positive. In the pastoral zone observations show positive returns of the technology, even in the short term. The impacts are clearer in the medium and long term, and the cost-effectiveness is highest at these time scales. • The strength of ANR is that the technology is easy to implement and maintain, and therefore entails very low costs. This has led to the widespread adoption of the technology in all regions. • The second strength is the improvement of soil fertility and the increase of crop and fodder yields. The improved soil fertility leads to an increase in production and improved food security, both for humans and livestock. • The third strength is that resources are being renewed, and that needs for timber and forage are met. According to land users, these supplementary resources enable them to improve their living standards.• The ease of adoption, which has enabled the dissemination of the technology across the country. The technology is a local innovation, which was disseminated and scaled-up by development projects. The implementation and maintenance are in line with the project cycle. • The effect of ANR in reducing the evaporation of soil moisture is a major strength in a Sahelian country like Niger. The ANR technology has positive impacts on the vegetation cover, the soil biodiversity and the density of woody vegetation. These constitute a major advantage in a region subject to accelerated desertification and to the effects of almost chronic droughts. • Conservation and restoration of the environment through ANR are a major advantage in this region of the Sahel, which faces accelerated environmental degradation due to human activities and climate change.Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks g how to overcome• The impacts of investments in the technology are only significant in the medium and long term. A long period is required to benefit from the results. g Land users should be supported by implementing the technology in the first year in which ANR is adopted, in the form of cash or food for work. • The technology requires that tenure of fields and sylvo-pastoral land are secure. g Establishing community-based brigades to supervise the land under treatment.• Illegal logging both in the fields and in the grazing areas. g Establish a communal system to supervise treated areas in partnership with all stakeholders. • Lack of a monitoring mechanism and of guidelines for the rational use of resources. g The land commissions at the local level and at the level of villages or tribes should be supported to establish community-based mechanisms to supervise and monitor the implementation of laws on pastoralism, and of the rural code in general. • Lack of legislation on forestry incorporating the status of regenerating trees in fields and in the pastoral zone. g The legislation in force should be adapted to the context resulting from the implementation of ANR in fields and in the pastoral zone.Grass reseeding is a sustainable land management practice aimed at rehabilitating degraded pastures and providing livestock feed. This is mainly carried out with indigenous perennial grass species.Grass reseeding is a sustainable land management practice especially appropriate for pastoral and agro-pastoral communities inhabiting the arid and semi-arid rangelands of the world. Seedbed preparation involves clearing of invasive bush patches and creation of furrows across the slope using an ox-plough (traditional) or shallow and light ploughing using a tractor (modern). Grass seeds are sown along the furrows which are created directly in the degraded grazing land. The seeds are lightly covered with soil because the indigenous grass seeds are very small. This encourages faster emergence of grass seedlings. The slope should be generally flat or very gentle (<5%) to reduce the speed of runoff, thus prevent soil erosion and consequently the washing away of the grass seeds. Eroded and deposited seeds will eventually lead to uneven establishment of pasture, mainly concentrated downslope. Minimal soil disturbance by ox-plough or tractor facilitates root penetration of the seedlings and also helps breaking the soil surface hardpan formed by continuous hoof action.Furrows constitute a form of in-situ moisture conservation, capturing rainwater where it falls, thus increasing availability of water for emerging seedlings. The main purpose of this technology is to rehabilitate degraded natural pastures and provide a continuous source of livestock feed especially during lean periods. Use of indigenous grass species e.g. Eragrostis superba, Cenchrus ciliaris, Enteropogon macrostachyus and Chloris roxburghiana is advocated for better establishment and subsequent development. Ecological impacts of this technology include improved soil cover and reduced soil erosion. In addition to rehabilitating degraded natural pastures and improving quality and quantity for livestock production, grass reseeding has additional socio-economic impacts, thus benefiting rural livelihoods. This is through the sale of hay and grass seed and surplus milk in the local market, which provide supplementary sources of income.  Grass seedlings emerging along the furrows (Kevin Mganga).15-20 cm deep and 10-15 cm wide furrows across the slope. Spacing between furrows is 15-20 cm and depends mostly on plant species. Seeds are sown along the furrows intentionally built to capture and hold rainwater. Flat or very gentle (<5%) slope to reduce runoff. Seed availability in the 'informal markets' i.e. between farmers and farmer groups, research organisation, influences the cost of grass seed. This is mainly determined by the preceding rainy season.1. Creation of furrow micro-catchments with ox-plough (Timing/ frequency: Before onset of the rains). 2. Sowing (seed placement and covering with soil) (Timing/ frequency: Before onset of the rains). 3. Gapping (reseeding gaps with poor establishment and cover) (Timing/ frequency: After establishment).  Comment: Gapping is done to ensure uniform plant cover. Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have did so without receiving material incentives? 0-10% 10-50% 50-90% 90-100%This 'Rangeland Restoration' technology is part of a 'Holistic Rangeland Management' approach. It involves clearing of invasive vegetation (predominantly Acacia reficiens) and reseeding with grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) and allowing resting and reduced grazing pressure to rehabilitate degraded communal grazing land.The 'Rangeland Restoration' technology is applied in degraded sites within the 3,100 ha 'core conservation area' (an central area with minimised grazing pressure designated for tourism) and 'buffer zone' (an area surrounding the 'core conservation area' with reduced grazing pressure) of the Kalama Community Wildlife Conservancy (total area: 9,500 ha).The main characteristics are clearing of invasive woody vegetation (predominantly Acacia reficiens) and reseeding with grass (Cenchrus ciliaris). Acacia reficiens (commonly known as red-bark acacia, red thorn or false umbrella tree or thorn) is a native tree or shrub but is considered an invasive species as it can encroach degraded areas with bare and disturbed soil. It is very opportunistic and hardy and can subsequently take over large areas of native vegetation. The invasion can reach a closed or nearly closed canopy with A. eficiens thickets, which are hindering animals to enter and access fodder thus making the area inaccessible for grazing and browsing. Additionally it can be observed that the soil underneath the canopy remains bare and the grass growth seems to be suppressed. As a result the top soil is compacted or forms crusts, which hinder infiltration. During the erratic but heavy rains most of the water flows away as runoff (research in close by areas show that runoff is between 60-80% of the rainfall) and increases soil erosion and further degradation of the land despite a rather good tree cover. Rangeland grass and fodder productivity in these areas are reduced to a fraction of their potential.The main activity is the cutting of the trees and shrubs at a height of ~1 m. The main trunks and branches can be used for fencing, temporary house constructions, firewood and charcoal. Most of the cut trees and the remaining branches are used to spread on the bare land where the trees and shrubs are cut. Underneath this dead material the bare soil receives some cover, which creates favourable conditions and microclimate for termites and other fauna in the soil to brake the hard top soil and crust and enable infiltration of the water during the next rains. This allows regrowth of grasses, particularly in the areas protected by the branches. In the following seasons the spread of the grasses can increase also the the area not protected by the branches. Additionally, seeding with Cenchrus ciliaris (buffel-grass or African foxtail grass), a grass species which is native to most of Africa, enhances the growth of a highly valuable fodder grass. Seeds are hand-broadcasted in the treated areas and germinate during the next rainy season. The first greening is visible in the places where the branches and the wood pieces cover the soil. From there the local annual and perennial grasses start colonising and expanding in the following seasons until, ideally, the whole area that has been bare is covered by valuable perennial grasses. Parallel to the cutting and reseeding is reduced grazing pressure and a resting period over Rangeland Restoration by cutting invasive species and grass reseeding and managing grazing, KenyaComment: Acacia reficiens was already selectively cleared traditionally when constructing livestock corrals ('bomas'), but the introduction of more extensive clearing and grass-reseeding to rehabilitate specific areas was facilitated by Northern Rangeland Trust and Grevy's Zebra Trust.at least one dry season, which is facilitated by the fact that treated areas are situated in the core conservation area or in the buffer zone. This involves the cooperation of the members of Kalama Conservancy, who agree to restrict grazing in the buffer zone and more so in the core conservation area. The exact duration that grazing is allowed in each of these two areas varies year to year depending on drought severity and forage availability. Whereas the grazing pressure by livestock can be regulated, there remains uncontrolled grazing by wildlife. The major herbivores are zebra, elephants and a number of different gazelle and antelope species the grazing pressure by wildlife varies but can be substantial at certain times.Rehabilitating degraded grazing land is the primary purpose of the technology. Other benefits of the technology include: 1) augmented forage availability for the community; 2) increased livestock production; 3) reduced soil erosion and flooding. Land users enjoy these benefits but would like larger areas to be similarly restored. However, the limiting factor is the funding required to pay for labour, which is the major input required for the clearing and reseeding activities. Establishing a market for removing the main stems and producing and selling charcoal is still an opportunity to further explore immediate benefits and cash income in order to pay for the investment into the clearing.Recently treated site with cut Acacia reficies branches laid on bare ground and in erosion gully (Hanspeter Liniger).Site treated approximately 10 years previously (Hanspeter Liniger).Main purpose improve production reduce, prevent, restore land degradation conserve ecosystem protect a watershed/ downstream areas -in combination with other Technologies preserve/ improve biodiversity reduce risk of disasters adapt to climate change/ extremes and its impacts mitigate climate change and its impacts create beneficial economic impact create beneficial social impactGrazing land -Extensive grazing land: Semi-nomadism/ pastoralism, Ranching Main animal species and products: Cattle (milk, beef), Sheep/Goats (milk, meat), Camels (milk, meat), DonkeysUnproductive land -Specify: Bare and/or degraded land Remarks: The area has been overused and continuously grazed for a long period of time without given the land and vegetation a break to recover. Thus a vicious spiral developed: the reduced grass cover lead to degradation of the soil to compaction and crusting, reduced infiltration thus reduced runoff and reduced vegetation growth, which in turn increased the pressure on the remaining vegetation and thus more base soil etc. Holding membership of multiple community conservancies facilitates the movement between wet season and dry season grazing areas. For example, many of the local communities move their livestock to Losesia, in Sera Conservancy, for dry season grazing. These porous boundaries relieve pressure from Kalama Conservancy during some parts of the year, potentially facilitating recovery of treated areas, but also allows neighbouring communities to access treated areas rendering their grazing management challenging.   Comment: These are the costs associated a 55 ha treated area. Six sites of a similar size were treated with similar budgets totalling 279 ha. Percentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology single cases/ experimental 1-10% 10-50% more than 50%Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have did so without receiving material incentives? 0-10% 10-50% 50-90% 90-100% Land user's view • Land that was previously considered unproductive is now considered grazing land. • Increased infiltration and decreased runoff and water erosion.Cenchrus ciliaris after 1-2 years provides nutritious forage (particularly the forbs) for livestock.• Decreased impact of the invasive Acacia reficiens on vegetation and soil within treated areas. • Increased biomass of herbaceous vegetation for livestock and wildlife forage. • Augmented biodiversity after reseeded Cenchrus ciliaris replaced by local grasses and forbs.Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks g how to overcome• Creates overly high expectations from the community regarding the potential to restore larger areas. g Raise awareness among community members regarding the limitations of large-scale restoration. • Lack of funds to pay labourers. Paying community members to undertake restoration activities rather than these activities being voluntary is now, in hindsight, perceived to have been a mistake. g There will never be enough funding as labourers will continue to expect ever-increasing wages. However, over time, community members may decide to restore land voluntarily. Explore the potential for marketing the main trunks for charcoal production of firewood to pay for the labourers. • Controlling grazing in recovering areas. g Raise awareness about the restoration projects within immediate and neighbouring communities. Also, ensure grazing by-laws are implemented and offenders fined. • Land users unwilling to voluntarily take part in restoration activities. g Increase ownership by conducting restoration projects at more local zonal-levels rather than at the conservancy-level. Create additional incentives by using and marketing of some of the wood material (for legal charcoal production).• Inability to provide adequate rest to treated areas (i.e. by controlling grazing pressure) leading to unsuccessful establishment of Cenchrus ciliaris or other herbaceous vegetation in treated areas, particularly in 'buffer zone'. g Implement grazing rules more stringently. • Lack of capacity regarding how to reseed Cenchrus ciliaris in some treated areas. In one case, seeds were buried (as farmers do with maize seeds), which is reported to have contributed to low establishment success of Cenchrus ciliaris seeds. g Capacity building.• Germination and establishment of Cenchrus ciliaris depends on timing in relation to the onset of rains, which are unpredictable and led to unsuccessful rehabilitation of some treated areas. g Provide most accurate weather forecasts available.In Namibia, excess bush is harvested to reduce competition with other plants, especially grasses. Bush can be thinned manually (e.g. with axes), semi-mechanised (e.g. chainsaws) or fully mechanised (e.g. customised equipment). After cutting, the bush is left to dry and then processed into chips or other products.Bush thinning is carried out in Namibia to restore degraded rangeland by stimulating the re-growth of grasses -which are suppressed by excess bush. About 30-45 million hectares are affected by bush encroachment, and this affects biodiversity, groundwater recharge and the carrying capacity of rangeland. There are many causes of bush encroachment, including overgrazing and reduced frequency of wildfires. Most bush encroachment involves indigenous, rather than invasive, species.While natural transitions in the ecosystems may lead to reductions in bush encroachment, active rehabilitation measures are required for the short-term improvements. This is an absolute necessity for many farmers, who experience severe economic difficulties due to the reduced productivity of their rangeland.Bush control comprises responsive measures (bush thinning), follow-up measures (aftercare) as well as preventative measures (good rangeland management). Since vast areas of Namibian rangeland are heavily encroached by bush, the focus is currently on bush thinning. This entails selective harvesting of bush. To determine the density of bush remaining after thinning, a formula based on tree equivalent (TE) and average annual rainfall is used. One TE is defined as a woody tree or bush of 1.5 metres in height.As rule of thumb for attaining optimal bush density, about 30-35% of encroacher biomass should be removed. This is based on research carried out mainly in South Africa, measuring and comparing the re-growth after bush removal. Where too much bush was removed, this often resulted in even heavier encroachment.Bush thinning follows strict environmental guidelines set by the Directorate of Forestry (DoF) through the Forestry Act and the Directorate of Environmental Affairs (DEA) through the Environmental Management Act. This governs the equipment used (to avoid soil disturbance) and the amount of bushes harvested (to achieve a healthy number of the desired bush species). The amount of bushes to be harvested is determined by an expert and depends on various factors.While there is a lack of precise knowledge on the long-term effect of bush thinning, there is no doubt that control has an overall positive effect on the savannah ecosystem in Namibia. The need is widely recognised among land owners and acknowledged on the national political agenda.To render bush thinning economically feasible, value chains have been developed. Through processing and utilisation of the woody biomass, income can be generated. Processed bush biomass can, for example in the form of chips, can be used for thermal and electrical energy applications (e.g. local biomass power plants or biomass boilers for Manual bush harvesting with axes and mechanised processing into wood chips, Otjozondjupa Region Namibia (Cheetah Conservation Fund).Comment: Since the 1950s the phenomenon of bush encroachment has been recognized by farmers in Namibia and counter measures have been implemented over the decades. industry). Currently two such energy installations exist in Namibia, one at a local brewery and one at a local cement factory. In addition, the national power utility NamPower currently considers the construction of a 20-40 MW biomass power plant.Other existing value chains include the production of charcoal, firewood, poles, as well as bush -based animal feed. Further value chains under consideration include composite materials, such as wood-plastic, as well as biochar.Scientific observations have shown, that bush thinning requires regular follow-up. These measures ('aftercare') include the prevention of coppicing and re-growth. This can be achieved by applying aboricides selectively to the cut stems, stem fires or the introduction of browsers (e.g. goats). Research on the effectiveness and possible side effects of each of these methods is limited.A major challenge is the limited suitability of available machines. The process leads to high wear and tear on the equipment (both harvesting and processing technology, (like chippers and pelletisers), often rendering operations unprofitable. Research into, and development of, more suitable machinery is necessary. Other requirements are improved skills training and continuous monitoring of the long-term effects on rangeland.Mechanised bush harvesting using a customised excavator with hydraulic shear (Ohlthaver & List).Manual bush cutting with axes (Cheetah Conservation Fund). Drawing of a bush harvesting site layout. The drawing depicts fully mechanised bush harvesting and immediate processing into wood chips. This set-up is most suitable for large-scale bush thinning, e.g. for the purpose of supplying biomass in larger quantities. Such off-take includes the potential export of bush in processed form (pellets) or energetic utilisation (e.g. local biomass power plants or biomass boilers in the industry). Currently two such energy solutions exist in Namibia, one at a local brewery and one at a local cement factory. Note that a range of bush harvesting methods exist, ranging from fully mechanised (as depicted) to manual bush harvesting (e.g. with axes). The site layout and principles are the same in all scenarios, but harvesting speed and costs differ.The bush harvesting process: Bushes are harvested selectively with and excavator, to which a hydraulic sheer cutter is attached. The biomass is stacked in rows and left for drying some six to eight weeks (depending on weather conditions). The biomass is then further processed with a chipper and collected with a trailer for further transport off the farm (e.g. to a biomass power plant or industrial off-taker). As a rule of thumb, one third of the standing biomass is removed, leaving two thirds standing. Harvesting starts with smaller plants and then moves to larger ones, cutting only plants with 15 centimetres of diameter or less (as per Namibian forestry regulations).Author: M.J. de Wet Pr. Eng., NRGen Advisors (Pty) LTD. (1) Investment in machinery (if not applied manually). ( 2) Maintenance of machinery (high wear and tear due to hardness of wood and high mineral content).(3) Remoteness of farms/land from buyers/ markets.1. Bush harvesting/felling (Timing/ frequency: Year around) 2. Stacking (and drying) (Timing/ frequency: Year around) 3. Feeding the chipping operation (Timing/ frequency: Year around) 4. Transport (Timing/ frequency: Year around)The restorative measure includes bush harvesting/ felling as well as aftercare measures. Additional activities include the processing (e.g. into chips) and transport of the woody material off the farm/ land. Comment: Cost of bush harvesting can be calculated per hectare (e.g. land owner's perspective) or per tonne (in fuel supply agreements with off-takers). All given costs are approximations, as costs vary widely depending on the local framework conditions on a given piece of land. Typically the costs to harvest and process bush on one hectare range from 2,000 NAD to 4,000 NAD.1. Aftercare (Timing/ frequency: Annually)Total maintenance costs (estimation) 500.00Comment: When land is thinned it creates a vacuum in which weeds and woody plants (sometimes more aggressive colonisers than the original encroacher species) will quickly establish themselves. Regular aftercare needs to be applied in order to prevent the excessive re-growth of bush (and therewith new degradation of the land). Various methods are in use to manage the re-growth of bush following harvesting. These include selective application of arboricides, stem burning, and intensive browsing by goats or antelopes. Comment: Bush thinned land takes 3-5 years to fully recover its productive grass layer, thus direct economic benefits are only experienced with a delay.Climate-related extremes (disasters) drought not well at all very wellThe rehabilitation of active gully erosion by re-sloping the banks of the gully in an effort to manage the energy of the water entering the system. Bare soil is protected from erosion by covering it with erosion blankets, brush packing and the establishment of silt fences.This gully reshaping project was conducted in the Mapungubwe National Park in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The area receives summer rainfall with an annual average of around 600 to 700 mm. Thunderstorms are common. Due to overgrazing on highly erodible soils, gully headcuts are actively migrating upstream. The reshaping technology can be considered for any gully of up to 2 meters in depth (even on duplex -highly erodible soils -gypsum must, however, be added to the relocated topsoil in this case).The purpose of re-sloping is to reduce the gradient of gully heads and sidewalls, thereby reducing the energy of runoff water. This also leads to enhanced vegetation cover and reduced sediment transport in the gully. Resloping of gullies is performed in stages:Stage One: Remove all viable and useful plants in and around the active gully system that will be affected by the reshaping -store these for replanting.Stage Two: Relocate the usable topsoil to the edge of the gully reshape footprint.Stage Three: Reshaping of the gully banks to a 1:3 slope (relative to the new valley floor level after refilling with bank material -see figure). Start by removing the top of the bank and placing it on the gully floor. Make sure to compact the soil from the banks -breaking up clods to smaller particles. Continue to remove more of the bank material and compact it in layers to form a disk shape profile (cross section -see sketch).Stage Four: Spread the topsoil evenly over the newly created gentle sloping profile. Add indigenous grass seed (if available: if not, exotic grasses).Stage Five: Construct silt fences (made of fabric filter cloth -Geotextile) above the water entry points and inside the newly formed profile (around 10 mapart).Stage Six: Cover the area with soil erosion blankets (bio-jute) and/or mulch and/or brush packing with thorny local woody biomass.Stage Seven: Replant recovered plants -protect the area with fences if possible until grass cover established. Gully erosion occurring in the Mapungubwe National Park (J Buckle).Reshaping of the gully (J Buckle). Reslope gully banks from vertical to an approximately 30-degree slope.Silt fences are established above gull head-cut -silt fences inside the reshaped gully -in the region of 10 m apart.Brush packing with thorny biomass to prevent grazing and provide a microclimate for grass seed to germinate and establish.Silt fences are temporary sediment control devices used on rehabilitation sites to reduce sediment movement downhill. A typical fence consists of a piece of synthetic filter fabric (also called a geotextile) stretched between a series of wooden or metal fence stakes along a horizontal contour level.• Costs are calculated: per Technology area (size and area unit: 0.017 ha) • Exchange rate (to USD): 1 USD = 12.00 • Average wage cost of hired labour per day: R140/ day Labour availability, soil hardness, availability of material, transport cost.1. Remove plants (Timing/ frequency: 2 to 3 months before the summer rain). 2. Remove topsoil (Timing/ frequency: 2 to 3 months before the summer rain). 3. Reshaping, compacting, layering (Timing/ frequency: 2 to 3 months before the summer rain). 4. Reseeding (Timing/ frequency: 2 to 3 months before the summer rain).5. Soil erosion blankets installation (Timing/ frequency: 2 to 3 months before the summer rain). 6. Silt fences (Timing/ frequency: 2 to 3 months before the summer rain). 7. Brush packing (Timing/ frequency: 2 to 3 months before the summer rain). Author: J Buckle.Maintenance activities 1. After floods restore site (silt fences and brush packing) (Timing/ frequency: After floods). Percentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology single cases/ experimental 1-10% 10-50% more than 50%Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have did so without receiving material incentives? 0-10% 10-50% 50-90% 90-100%To which changing conditions? climatic change/ extremes changing markets labour availability (e.g. due to migration)Preventative erosion measures above the intervention.Additional feed, or supplements, provided on a regular basis to livestock beyond the normal ration level for increased milk and meat production or in times of drought for maintenance. In emergency may involve (a) fodder collection from within or outside the rangeland area: comprising fresh fodder, hay, tree pods; (b) production or buying of processed or compound feed: namely silage, feed supplements (bales, pellets), urea and molasses blocks, minerals and salt licks, etc.Emergency feeding is especially important in preventing mortality -but also to avoid excessive weight loss particularly in young stock, pregnant and lactating animals. If during floods and droughts livestock are unable to access vegetation for grazing and cannot feed elsewhere, some supplementary feeding is necessary.• Fodder quantity and quality are substituted or added to supplementary feed.• Reduces localised overgrazing.• Is a resilience strategy to cope with shocks and emergencies.• More intensive systems strongly depend on supplementary feeding for animals and require high and balanced levels of energy, protein and minerals at particularly stages of their growth (young, gravid, lactating).Dryland fodder: possible in some rainfed regions especially through cereal crop residues (maize in wetter zones; sorghum and millet in drier areas) as well as legume crop residues (especially cowpeas in the Sahel).Irrigated pastures: (i) intercropped spatially integrating fodder into small-scale irrigation e.g. vetch, cowpea; (ii) irrigated fodder where pastoralism dominates: multiple-cut perennial fodder varieties can be considered e.g. napier grass, or alfalfa (lucerne).Fodder/ forage banks: may be planted, or, more commonly (and traditionally), established through resting enclosures for in-situ conservation and rehabilitation of vegetation as dry-season fodder reserves (e.g. Ngitiri/ Ngitili traditional agroforestry system). Agroforestry (trees integrated with crops and other productive land uses) and silvo-pastoralism (a specific form of agroforestry, mixing trees with pasture) have multiple benefits -including fodder. Land users allow and protect emerging seedlings to grow on their land.Cut-and-carry grazing system: fodder production fed green or conserved to supplement grazing or for fattening or dairy production to livestock that are usually stalled, tethered, or kept in pastures close to home: (i) fresh fodder: rainfed, cultivated -or sometimes irrigated -fodder. The fodder is cut, bundled and fed to herder's own cattle, or sold to livestock traders; (ii) hay making: dried and stored fodder is becoming more common as dry season/ supplementary fodder; (iii) zero grazing is at the fringe of Hay for animal feed and dried manure for cooking fires in Debre May, Amhara, Ethiopia (ILRI/ Phil Norton).In a nutshell rangelands and increasingly belonging to the settled crop production system with various degrees of supplementary feeding.Minerals and salt licks: provide animals with essential minerals as well as salt. These may be from natural deposits or artificial blocks. Phosphorus deficiency (for example) is widespread and acute in SSA. Herders take their livestock long distances for periodic access to natural salt/ mineral licks (e.g. cure salée, Niger).Processed and compound feed: these include silage (fodder preserved through fermentation), urea and molasses blocks.options: Producing and using improved forage for animal feeds is most suited to intensive and semi-intensive dairy farms and mixed systems in the higher potential areas to feed animals on farms with limited grazing. LED could potentially reduce emission intensities by 8-24% in Kenya, and by up to 27% on mixed systems in Ethiopia (Ericksen and Crane 2018).Found mainly in systems where crop production is integrated -'agropastoral' and 'pastures' systems, to a lesser extent in 'bounded without wildlife' system.• Improves utilisation of existing dry pasture.• Meets livestocks' requirements and potential by providing extra (and balanced) nutrients.• Improves production to ensure that meat or milk quantity and quality targets are met.• Reduces pressure on vulnerable pastures to avoid overgrazing and ensure that pasture growth rates are optimised. • Offers additional source of income.• High cost of implementation.• The direct impact on the land and its health is minimal in extent.Little used in the traditional pastoral systems of SSA but is increasingly employed under agropastoral regimes as grazing land is diminishing. The more intensive producers, especially those with stall-fed animals based around cut-and-carry and having access to markets of such supplements are aware of the value of supplementary feed (e.g. hay, cakes, molasses, mineral licks).The adoption of the different technologies are from low to medium, as many are closely dependent on external financial support. There is often a lack of availability of quality seed and suitable land. There are furthermore insufficiently developed fodder markets.After identifying the area to \"be closed\", ditches and terraces are constructed using stones combined with grasses and/ or multipurpose shrubs such as vetiver grass, dinsho grass, sesbania trees, etc. Commonly, the shared benefits from area closures are green fodder or hay for livestock (cut-and-carry), timber from plantations, and honey. https://qcat.wocat.net/en/summary/1599/ Hay and apiculture for youths' income generation (WLRC, Gizaw Desta).Open access to land is reducing, land fragmentation increasing and grazing mobility more and more restricted. To adapt pastoralism, eight Maasai households in Kajiado County have decided to venture into intensification and joined efforts to set aside land for haymaking and build a storage. Reseeding has led to good cover of leafy grasses, and cutting grass to a protective mulch/ litter layer on the soil surface.  In the predominantly annual cropping systems, free grazing livestock often damage crops and are a cause of conflict. However, farmers observe that crop yields have declined due to nutrient mining and soil erosion on steep slopes. Stall-fed livestock is an efficient method to produce organic fertilizers (manure) and reduce labour by cutting and storing fodder for use over a period instead of grazing in distant pastures daily. Alliance farming is partnership between pastoralists and subsistence farmers to share resources. They agree to use the same land and related resources sequentially: growing crops during the rains, and grazing cattle in the dry season. It is a further development of the conflict mediation process under which cattle are allowed to graze on cropland after harvest. The cattle consume crop residues and weeds (including some grass) on the farm and they produce dung and urine in turn, which increases nitrogen content and organic matter in the soil. This enhances its fertility and makes it more productive for the next round of crop cultivation. The crops grown are mainly annuals including maize, beans, soybeans and groundnuts. The livestock are mainly zebu cattle for beef (Bos indicus). There exists several variants (or components) of this arrangement: 1) The farmer constructs a night paddock (a corral) in farmland and invites pastoralists to kraal their animals in the paddock overnight; 2) The farmer arranges with the pastoralist to farm on areas where animals have been held overnight, in grazing land -and constructs a fence to protect the crops; 3) In communities where transhumance is common, the farmer allows a pastoralist to graze his cattle on crop residues remaining after harvest; 4) Pastoralists allow farmers to collect dung and apply it in their farms. Contracts for the most part are verbal and non-written, and each party counts on the good conscience and honesty of the other. No. of Technology sites analysed: 100-1,000 sites Geo-reference of selected sites • 10.52037, 6.37028 Spread of the Technology: applied at specific points/ concentrated on a small area.Date of implementation: 2011; less than 10 years ago (recently).through land users' innovation as part of a traditional system (> 50 years) during experiments/ research through projects/ external interventionsComment: Some aspects of this technology were already in practise in the region over the decades but due the facilitation of Mbororo Social and Cultural Development Association (MBOSCUDA) this technology is being adopted now by many locals.Alliance farming beneficiary in Boyo Division (Mboscuda North West Region).Alliance farming beneficiary: crop farmer in Boyo Division (MBOSCUDA North West Region).Alliance farming beneficiary: pastoralist strategically herding his animals between fences erected by farmers in Wum, Menchum Division.(MBOSCUDA North West Region).Main purpose improve production reduce, prevent, restore land degradation conserve ecosystem protect a watershed/ downstream areas -in combination with other Technologies preserve/ improve biodiversity reduce risk of disasters adapt to climate change/ extremes and its impacts mitigate climate change and its impacts create beneficial economic impact create beneficial social impactPurpose related to land degradation prevent land degradation reduce land degradation restore/ rehabilitate severely degraded land adapt to land degradation not applicableGrazing land -Extensive grazing land: Nomadism, Semi-nomadism/ pastoralism Main animal species and products: Zebu cattle under extensive production which produce dung and urine.Mixed (crops/ grazing/ trees), incl. agroforestry -Agro-pastoralism Main products/ services: Annuals such as maize, beans, soybeans and groundnuts, while livestock kept under extensive system of production produce dung and urine to enrich the soil. • Alliance farming is an advanced outcome of the conflict mediation process whereby cattle are allowed to graze on crop lands after harvest.• Livestock consume crop residues and weeds (including grass).• When the land is used to paddock cattle, their manure and urine fertilize the soil making it more productive when the crop farmers return to cultivate. • Crops are planted on the plot of land once the cattle are taken away.Most important factors affecting the costs• Costs are calculated: per Technology area (size and area unit: 0.5 hectares) • Currency used for cost calculation: FCFA • Exchange rate (to USD): 1 USD = 569.495 FCFA • Average wage cost of hired labour per day: 1,500.00 FCFA The only costs pertain to herding the animal to farmer's farm which is done by pastoralist or his a herder he has paid.1. Farmer harvests annual crop e.g. maize, beans (Timing/ frequency: At the end of growing season which is usually in October). 2. Farmer invites pastoralist to bring herd to graze off crop residues (Timing/ frequency: After harvest of crops in October). 3. Cattle graze on crop residues and weeds on farm (Timing/ frequency: During grazing in the dry season from mid-November onwards).4. Dung and faeces passed out by animal increases N content of soil (Timing/ frequency: During grazing, mostly in the dry season mid-November to mid-March). 5. Pastoralist takes animals away from farm (Timing/ frequency: At the beginning of the rains in mid-March). 6. Farmer then returns to till soil and plant annual crops in the field (Timing/frequency: At the beginning of the growing season by mid-March).  Comment: Soil organic matter has also being improved from the increase crop residues which animals do not eat all.invasive alien species increased reduced Before SLM: -1After SLM: 1Comment: The spread of alien species such as bracken fern on rangelands is being controlled since farmers are being invited by pastoralists to come and cultivate crops on rangelands. The tilling of the soil is a good mechanical method of controlling the spread of these invasive species.Short-term returns Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have did so without receiving material incentives? 0-10% 10-50% 50-90% 90-100%More than 800 alliance farming pairs have been facilitated by this process.• Technology leads to increased crop yields because of the improved soil fertility. • Technology leads to improved crop quality because of the use of organic manure and less chemicals fertilizers. The use of chemical fertilizers can lead to leaching of inorganic nutrients into ground water, and also eutrophication of water bodies. • It has led to stronger social relationships between farmers and pastoralists. • Invasive species such as Pteridium aquilinium (bracken fern) that has invaded rangelands is being controlled. Tilling of the farms is a mechanical method of stopping its growth and spread.• More productive use of land than when two land uses were separate. • More environmentally friendly since organic manure is being used.• The ratio of pastoralists to farmers is really low (about 1:6) meaning that there are not many pastoralists to form Alliance Farming pairs with willing farmers. g Increasing herd sizes to ensure more production of manure could alleviate this problem.• Agreements are verbal. g Formalizing the contracts.• Some variants of the technology, for example that in which pastoralists allow farmers to collect dung to go to farm in another area may lead to nutrient export. The dung does not contribute to improve the fertility of the soil where it was collected but does so at a different site where farming will take place. There is no net loss of nutrients out of the whole system though. g Transportation of dung to different sites should be discouraged. Farming should take place as much as possible on the farm that supplied crop residues to feed the animals. High quality fodder for livestock is made by mixing chaff of elephant grass (Pennisteum purpureum) and calliandra (Calliandra calothyrsus) with maize bran, cotton seed cake and molasses. These fodder pastures are grown on a 10 acre piece of land and harvested twice a week for chopping into chaff. For calliandra (a leguminous tree), leaves are harvested while elephant grass is cut at ground level. This vegetation is transported to the electric chaff cutter by tractor. At its best, the chaff is evenly cut, free of dust, of good colour and has a fresh aroma. The chaff is chopped into small pieces which allows for easy mixing with supplements. Chaff in Uganda can be produced on farm or purchased from commercial chaff cutting mills, which grow pastures and process them for sell to farmers during pasture scarcity in the long dry spells.The farmer in Bushenyi District learnt the technology at a trade show. Today, he processes fodder for his 50 dairy cattle under an intensive system. His grazing/paddock land is about 20 hectares in total and is divided into 8 paddocks which are used in rotation. The cows graze for 8 hours daily. Every evening their diet is supplemented with the processed fodder in the milking parlour. The fields are allowed to mature at intervals to produce a continuous supply of grass for fodder throughout the growing season. The fodder processing procedure includes:i) Cutting mature pasture grass at ground level and collecting the grass from the fields;ii) Transportation of elephant grass and calliandra from the fields to the fodder shed;iii) Offloading and sorting of pasture grass/ fodder into different classes of similar diameter and lengths for easy handling during chaff cutting; iv) Chopping of pastures/ fodder into small pieces using the electric chaff cutter; v) Mixing the chaffed fodder, cotton seed cake, molasses and maize bran to improve the palatability and nutrient quality of the chaffed fodder.vi). Putting the processed fodder into troughs for cattle to feed on during milking.Processing enough pasture grass into chaff for cattle feeding is described by the farmer to be a relatively expensive and a labour intensive process. The key expenses in establishing the system include costs of buying fodder (if not readily available on the farm), purchasing a chaff cutter and buying supplements. The farmer requires 0.5 tonnes of chaffed fodder mixed with supplements to feed 50 dairy cows on a daily basis. The main costs are labour, fodder supplements, the electric chaff cutter, tractor hire and daily operation costs.Dairy cattle fed with supplementary fodder (Uganda)Ebinyasi bye ente DESCRIPTION Dairy cattle feeding on fodder in the parlour (Amon Aine). The fodder cut into small pieces mixes easily with supplements to make a well nutrient balanced ration. This is palatable and encourages cattle to eat non-selectively and without spilling,hence minimizing wastage. The processed fodder is easy to store in bags and can be kept on wooden pallets raised off ground in a cool store. The farmer notes that the chaffed fodder can further be processed into hay or silage for storage to be fed to cattle during the seasons of pasture scarcity, especially the long dry spells of early June to late August and early December to late February. The system enables the farmer to keep more productive animals on his land than he could using other feeding regimes: in other words this is an intensive system that maximizes production per unit area.Inside the fodder shelter: a bundle of sorted fodder awaiting chaffing (Aine Amon).The farm with paddocks, fish ponds and tea (Amon Aine). • pastoralism and grazing land management • integrated crop-livestock management • improved plant varieties/ animal breedsThe process is for making high quality pasture supplement for cattle.The key requirements for the system are the fodder shed, chaff cutter and sources of pastures  Total costs for establishment of the Technology 5,683,000.00Maintenance activities 1. Cutting and collecting of mature elephant grass (Pennisteum purpureum),and calliandra (Calliandra calothyrsus) to one point in the fields. (Timing/ frequency: each morning.) 2. Transportation of pasture grass to the fodder shed. (Timing/ frequency: After cutting.) 3. Offloading and sorting of pasture at the fodder shed. (Timing/ frequency: None) 4. Chopping of grass into small units using the electric chaff cutter. (Timing/ frequency: None) 5. Mixing the chaff with supplements. (Timing/ frequency: When the pastures are well chopped.) 6. Feeding the processed fodder in troughs. (Timing/ frequency: 30 minutes to milking time at dusk.) Percentage of land users in the area who have adopted the Technology single cases/ experimental 1-10% 10-50% more than 50%Of all those who have adopted the Technology, how many have did so without receiving material incentives? 0-10% 10-50% 50-90% 90-100%Has the Technology been modified recently to adapt to changing conditions? yes no FEEDING SRM Technology Dairy cattle fed with supplementary fodder, Uganda• The animals feed in the paddocks during the day and are supplemented with more palatable fodder at the milking parlor, to improve their diet. • The nutrient quality of the fodder is supplemented to make a more balanced ration for the animals. • Under this semi intensive farming system, more animals can be reared per unit area in contrast to a paddock-only system.• The farmer can further process the pastures into hay or silage for storage. • The animals are not so much affected by pasture scarcities.• There is chance to irrigate the pastures to cope with the long dry seasons.Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks g how to overcome• Expensive to maintain. Production of enough grass at one go and storage for use in the next few days. g Production of enough pastures at ago and storing them for use in the next few days.• Need for labour for processing. Further mechanization of the process. g Further Mechanization of the process.Compiler: Aine Amon (aine3amon@gmail.com) Infrastructure improvement includes the establishment of water points, wells, boreholes, ponds, pans and dams (fed by macro-catchments), floodwater spreading, trenches, drinking water quality protection, livestock corridors, and access roads and transport routes for animals and livestock feed. Infrastructure implies structural measures that allow greater mobility of livestock herds, and rangeland management improvement -particularly regarding access to water resources and pasture.Water sources in the arid and semi-arid lands include natural rivers, springs, waterholes and constructed sources such as shallow wells, boreholes, dams, ponds, sand dams, subsurface dams and berkads -underground cisterns common among Somali pastoralists.Rivers are open to all, whereas springs, boreholes and dams might be managed by government institutions, privately or at a community level. These differences in user rights have implications for water and rangeland management.• Water availability is a grazing management tool: areas without water may be underutilized. • Strategic placement of waterpoints can provide for healthy livestock and sound rangeland conditions. • Development of water resources and its management must be designed carefully to avoid accelerated degradation through prolonging access to water and thus forage or polluting water points. • Emergency situations can be addressed through infrastructure (e.g. stock passage routes) that permits ready access to forage and water, and markets.Water supply/ water points: wells and boreholes (artesian or pumped), dams, pans and ponds. Various methods of water harvesting and storage are used in semi-arid, such as berkads (cistern) in Somalia and hafir (dug tanks) in Sudan.Floodwater spreading and storing: spate irrigation has been traditionally practised: (a) floodwater harvesting within streambeds (e.g. water-spreading weirs); (b) floodwater diversion, where the floods -or spates -from the seasonal rivers are diverted into adjacent embanked fields. Sub-surface dams and sand dams are weirs, built on impermeable rock layers, in rivers, which dry seasonally. They hold back subsurface flow -which is then stored in sand behind the structure.Livestock/ transhumance corridor: formally defined passageways, which channel the movements of livestock herds through farming areas by linking pastures, water points and corralling areas. The main goal is conflict prevention between agriculturalists and pastoralists regarding the use of limited land and water resources. Characteristics include:Water supply for livestock at Dangol borehole, Mopti, Mali (Amara Keita).In a nutshell Transport roads and marketing infrastructure such as access to markets for animals and feed, slaughter facilities, holding grounds -as well as veterinary clinics -are central to rangelands and can be the difference between maintaining economic livestock enterprises and the inability to make a viable living.General infrastructures: schools, grain banks, and health centres are also essential to livelihoods in the rangelands.Applied in 'agropastoral' and 'pastoral' systems as well as 'bounded without wildlife' and 'pastures' systems.• Improves accessibility of water all year round -or seasonally. Reduced distances covered and time spent in search of water for livestock. • Allows recovery of vegetation and biodiversity • Provides effective measures for adapting to climate change in regions experiencing increasing variability in rainfall. • Improves resilience of pastoral communities.• Reduces conflict incidences (depending on the situation).• High technical expertise required; management and often external material support needed. • Often expensive for establishment as well as maintenance (e.g. building materials, transport, labour). • Maintenance often proves to be the bottleneck to rangeland communities.• Can lead to conflict (depending on the situation).• Need continuous planning and development in order to be able to adapt to changing needs. • Potential loss of pastoral culture and traditional practices.A minimum level of infrastructure is needed in all rangeland systems and must include flexibility to changing needs. Improvements in rural infrastructure, overall, are rare in the Sahel. In West Africa, there are a number of established transhumance corridors (western and eastern), which depend on continuous infrastructure support and improvement. Information about corridors, water and overnight resting points could facilitate decision-making and policy. Road construction and rehabilitation are currently common across the rangelands of East Africa, spurred to a large extent by external investors. Spate irrigation is found quite widely but particularly in the Horn of Africa (van Steenbergen 2010). Water spreading weirs need specific natural landscapes, large wide-spread valleys with low slopes. They have been applied in Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia and Niger.There is a small to moderate trend towards spontaneous adoption of measures to improve infrastructure and some self-help groups have started pooling together their resources for implementation.Livestock corridors in Niger are regulated through the \"code rural\". Internal corridors are negotiated in a general village assembly involving all stakeholders. For external corridors the involvement of transhumance herders and neighbouring villages is indispensable. Once an agreement is achieved, demarcation with stones and/or selected tree species is carried out by the local land users -with financial and technical assistance of the government or NGOs. https://qcat.wocat.net/en/summary/3358/ A herd of small ruminants on a well established \"couloir\" (Fodé Boubacar Camara, PAFN Niger).The size of the excavated groundwater collection ponds varies depending on the area available, groundwater level, slope and soil characteristics. In this case study they are 4 m long, 3 m wide and 1 m deep (12,000 l capacity), the slope is moderate (5-8%) and the soil is a deep clay loam. Water troughs (known as Elyato locally) are constructed adjacent to the pond to allow livestock access to clean drinking water. https://qcat.wocat.net/en/summary/3880/ Cattle drinking water from a trough, Missenyi, Tanzania (Allan Bubelwa).Under the \"modern sustainable pastoralism\" concept several practices were promoted: establishment of water harvesting structures, better passageways for herds, improved fodder production as well as optimal and efficient distribution of water points. The latter assures a balanced distribution of herds, and thus avoids overuse of vegetation around a limited number of wells. Herds waiting to be watered in southern Somalia (Wolfgang Bayer).A modern hydraulic complex in the centre of the Sahelian region of Burkina Faso for watering livestock in the dry season.The well called 'Forage Christine' was constructed in 1971 by a French engineer, which named it after his wife, and opened it for the first time in 1972. Due to conflicts between Burkina and Mali it was ruined in 1976, and then again in 1985. In 1996 the National Office for Wells and Boreholes (ONFP), a government agency, rehabilitated the well and made two supplementary boreholes. The complex consists of a main well with an operating flow rate of 120 m 3 /h, having a submersible pump of brand KSB, type OPA 150s-65/8, and a pump capacity of 60 m 3 /h. Next to the main well there is a secondary well, which is equipped with a hand-operated pump with a capacity of 18 m 3 /h. The energy for pumping water from the wells is provided by a generator with an engine of brand DEUTZ (type: F3 -6L 912) and a switch of brand LEROY SOMER -Type LSA 42.1 L8L C1/4, a voltage of 400 V and continuous power of 50 kW. The generator has a switch and a battery. A diesel tank with a volume of approximately 9 m 3 was installed for the power supply to the generator. The pumped water is stored in an elevated water tank, which is located at a distance of about 200 m from the well, and has a volume of 50 m 3 . The water from the elevated water tank is distributed to four artificial ponds with a dimension of 50 m x 50 m x 1.5 m at equal distances on all sides of the central reservoir. The water is conducted to the artificial ponds through PVC piping, which is buried underground over a distance of 8 km, or 2 km for each pond. The water flow is controlled by nine valves of type Nr. 4000, Reg. Nr. W 1.129, installed on the pipes. The hydraulic complex was installed in 1996 by the National Agency for Water and Sanitation (ONEA). The complex is managed by the livestock keepers through the User Association of 'Forage Christine' (AUFC). The statutes of this organisation were adopted on 2 May 2014. The well is managed according to a set of requirements which specify the terms for access to water: date of opening and closure of the well, the amount to be paid per animal and the management of the cash money provided.'Forage Christine' is a major water infrastructure, established in the northern part of the Sahel region in Burkina Faso between longitude 0°45'W and latitude 14°48'N, providing drinking water to herds within an area of 100 to 300 km from its central location between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. It was established in 1971 in the context of major droughts that had affected the Sahel, and it was opened for the first time in 1972. It is located in the middle of the Sahel region of Burkina Faso, at two km from the pond of Tin-Arkachen in the department of Déou, at approximately 45 km from the capital of the department, and 85 km from Gorom-Gorom. At the sub-regional level, the well is a around ten km from the border with Mali, and at 100 km from the border with Niger. The climate is of Sahelian type, and has a rainy season of 3 to 4 months (from June-July to September), which is subject to strong temporal and spatial variations in precipitation, and a dry season of 8 to 9 months. The climatic conditions are characterized by highly irregular winds,  precipitation, evapotranspiration and moisture due to fluctuations in atmospheric circulation patterns. Annual precipitation is around 500 mm on average, with roughly 30 rainy days, and is marked by significant inter-annual variations. The stream network of the region consists of several streams, with one permanent river: Béli. To this river, ponds and many depressions are connected, which disappear after the month of January. The soils are very diverse in general, and mostly of sandy texture. They do not provide a good medium for plant growth due to the low permeability, which reduces water infiltration. Therefore water availability appears to be one of the major limitations for rainfed agriculture, in addition to the limited retention and availability of nutrients. According to the phytogeographic division of Burkina Faso (Fontes and Guinko, 1995), the area of 'Forage Christine' is situated in the northern or strict Sahelian phytogeographic sector. This sector is characterized by a set of typical Saharan and Sahelian vegetation species which mainly occur in shrub and woody steppes (49%) and grassy steppes (24%), which form the larger part of the rangelands. This vegetation provides the most important natural grazing land to livestock.With regard to the human environment, the last General Population and Housing Census mentions a population of 25,321 inhabitants for the municipality of Déou. Yet this number varies significantly due to the seasonal migration of people from other regions to use water and forage resources. The ethnic groups in the region are mainly Fulbé, Kurumba, Songhai, Tuareg, Mossi and Hausa people.Economic activities in the region are livestock keeping, farming, craftmanship, fishing, trade, tourism and hunting. Several socio-economic groups are guiding these activities. Some 60 farmer groups, 53 groups of livestock keepers, six of which for female livestock keepers, and three organisations for environmental protection. With regard to infrastructure for education, sanitation and socio-economical conditions, the municipality of Déou has three markets, 18 schools, one middle school, 47 permanent functional literacy centers (CPAF), one recreation centre, six cereal banks, three healthcare and welfare centers (CSPS), three medical stores, one tourist camp and one financial institution.Farming and livestock keeping continue to be the most important socio-economic activities. The agricultural crops produced include millet, sorghum, maize, cowpea, rice and groundnut. In 2009, a total area of 345.5 ha was sown for these crops. The Sahel region in Burkina Faso has excellent conditions for livestock keeping. The animal species found in the region are mainly cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, camels, donkeys and horses and poultry. Several facilities and installations for water supply to pastoral areas are available in the region, as well as storage facilities for agricultural and agro-industrial by-products (SPAI) and infrastructure for trade and animal health care. The municipality of Déou disposes of one reservoir, five artificial ponds, 43 firm wells, ten vaccination centres, one store for agricultural and agro-industrial by-products (SPAI), one animal shelter, a facility for slaughtering and a livestock market.Animals drinking at the main pond of 'Forage Christine' (SNV). Author: SNV.Most important factors affecting the costs The municipality, the management committee and the NGOs operating in the area (SNV).Comment: The soils are very diverse in general, and mostly of sandy texture. They do not provide a good medium for plant growth due to the low permeability, which reduces water infiltration.Comment: Limited water availability appears to be one of the major limitations for rainfed agriculture, in addition to the low retention and availability of nutrients.Habitat diversity high medium low • Existence of a temporary coordinating committee on the site of the well, acting as an interface between the authorities and the livestock keepers using the well. • The arrangement of the use of the artificial ponds according to the terms set by the authorities and the technical services. • Monitoring of animal health and informing the livestock keeping service in case of suspected infectious diseases.• Water availability and access to water for users when the well is operational; potential users are willing to contribute to the operation of the well. • Water availability for livestock.• Strong involvement of the authorities and the technical services in issues relating to 'Forage Christine'. • Implementation of several methods to solve management problems. • Good organisation of the management of the water source.Land user's view • Lack of transparency in the use and management of contributions intended to cover the functioning and the maintenance of the generator and the wage of the guard, who also operates the generator and supervises the related installations. g Good functioning of the management committee and committee meetings will enable to overcome this disadvantage. • A low level of representation of the different population groups in the management committee (only the Djelgobé of Gandéfabou are members; these people settled in the area in Boula and claim to be the indigenous people in the area). g Involving all groups using the well more closely in order to have an appropriate representative in the management committee. • Lack of consultation between the management committee and the livestock keepers having their residence in the area. g Stimulating the management committee to communicate more closely with the neighbouring livestock keepers through a framework for consultation on the way in which they manage the infrastructure of the 'Forage Christine'. • Insufficient awareness of the roles and responsibilities of the management committee by the livestock keepers (only the role of the guard is known to the livestock keepers). • The undemocratic establishment of the management committee (self-appointed members), which explains why livestock keepers consider the committee as an imposed structure.• The non-involvement of livestock keepers (potential users) in the management of the well in some management methods (concession to RMC); their weak involvement in the management of the well, and their continued low representation in the committees (2 to 3 persons). g Involving livestock keepers more closely in the management committees and in the decision-making bodies related to 'Forage Christine'. Increasing the number of representatives of livestock keepers in the management bodies of the well. • The failure to address the concerns of livestock keepers in the implementation of the management methods. g Ensuring that the livestock keepers are considered by the management committee, and that they can effectively participate in the committee.Climate change/ extreme to which the Technology How the Technology copes with these changes/ extremes is exposed Climate-related extremes (disasters) drought not well at all very well• The inappropriate use of contributions from users of the well for operating the facilities of the well in a sustainable way. g Ensuring that the funds generated by the well are managed properly by the management committee. • Competition for water between humans and animals. g Providing wells or pumps for human consumption of water. • Huge inflow of animals which overgraze the area, thereby threatening the environment. g Raising awareness among livestock keepers and herders on the need to manage the natural resources properly in the area influenced by 'Forage Christine', with the aim to mitigate the environmental degradation that could result from overgrazing. The technology functions as underground water storage infrastructure and the typical activities include, excavation of top porous soil, excavation of sample pits within the excavated area, checking filtration rates of soil, compaction of soil on which dam liners are laid, smoothing the sharp liners along which the dam liners are laid, making grooves to anchor the dam liner, laying the dam liner, anchoring the dam liner with a mixture of cement, water proof and sand with water (motor) and finally drying of the motor and filling back of sand.The development of Subsurface Dams (SSDs) was done through Cash for Work programme where local labours comprising of 40-50 persons are engaged in excavation, compactions and developing the liners. Farm tools like jembe, panga, spades and human labour are required to develop the SSD. The technology improves water supply/availability, thereby extending the period of livestock grazing in areas where typically water is depleted before the pasture hence improves water access for livestock in ways that support wider management and utilization of the rangeland and as such strength the resilience of pastoralists to droughts. This effectively gives pastoral groups, an extra grazing time (typically 2 extra months), a period usually not too long to encourage land degradation through over-grazing but long enough to enable pastoralist utilize the remaining pasture in wet season grazing areas. In so doing, the technology enable balanced use of vast communal lands without livestock retreating to dry season grazing areas.In the process of the landscape level participatory planning with the communities: i) they identified different challenges, including need for decommissioning certain water points that they consider are contributing to over grazing and also attracting other communities, hence drive frequent conflicts, secondly, ii) they mapped areas in the rangeland where there is mismatch between water and pasture availability, most of these areas are in wet season grazing areas. So the next discussion was on what strategic water infrastructures that will enable herders to graze for 2-3 extra months to enable them utilize the grass before they migrate to the traditional dry season grazing areas. So by design, the technology should only yield water that can allow settling for those extra months, not longer to the detriment of the rangeland.Excavation at Leyhele (IUCN archieve). Comment: Subsurface Dams are only suitable in areas along the river, with suitable density of sand deposits.through land users' innovation as part of a traditional system (> 50 years) during experiments/ research through projects/ external interventionsThe technology was instrumental in fostering both balanced utilization of land and strengthening sustainable use of the vast rangeland by ensuring that herders utilize available pastures in the wet seasons grazing areas before moving to dry seasons grazing areas. The water stored through the technology stays longer, in this case study, the water lasted for 5 months after the end of the rainy season.The area receives bimodal rainfall, long rain in March-May and short rain in November-December. With changing seasons/climate, the dry seasons can last up to 1 year in case of rainfall failure. Typically, dry seasons are 6-7 months (May-November).Normally, the water is depleted within 2 months after the rainy period. The technology is also cheap and easy to understand and construct (especially in areas with clay as the underlying impermeable material) with a possibility of the communities to be taught how to identify suitable site and the entire process of construction. However, in areas without clay soil, the excavation of clay and transportation can be labour intensive and expensive.Excavation process (from IUCN archive).(IUCN archieve).Main purpose improve production reduce, prevent, restore land degradation conserve ecosystem protect a watershed/ downstream areas -in combination with other Technologies preserve/ improve biodiversity reduce risk of disasters adapt to climate change/ extremes and its impacts mitigate climate change and its impacts create beneficial economic impact create beneficial social impactGrazing land -Extensive grazing land: Semi-nomadism/ pastoralism Comment: Communal grazing area that is shared by 2 and more pastoral groups.Water supply rainfed mixed rainfed-irrigated full irrigationLivestock density: Fluctuates, depending on seasons and pasture availability.Comment: Mismatch of pasture and water resources -there are areas where pastures are plenty but surface rain water is depleted earlier than pasture.Purpose related to land degradation prevent land degradation reduce land degradation restore/ rehabilitate severely degraded land adapt to land degradation not applicableThe SSD technology increase water availability is period immediately after the rain, hence ensuring better pasture utilization and more sustainable use of land.• pastoralism and grazing land management SLM measures structural measures -S5: Dams, pans, pondsThe SSD has initial excavation works. The construction of the SSD was constructed by 50 labourers. The area of excavation is subdivided into 45 square chambers of 4x2.3x2.2 = 20.2 m 3 (not to scale). Each of the chambers were excavated by 5 labourers. The estimated time for excavation as per the plan was estimated to be five days. Excavation and transportation of the clay from the clay pit was estimated to take an approximate of five days while the compacting of the clay will follow one week later, and laying out of the concrete and refilling of the sand for another week. The liner will then be finally placed. In summary, the excavation of sand takes 5 days, and the excavation of clay soil takes another 5 days while concrete placing, compacting of clay as well as putting of liner and refilling of sand takes 10 days. Establishment activities 1. Removing sand over dyke and man-days for excavating and transporting soil to dam site (Timing/ frequency: 21 days for 45 casual labourers). 2. Building and compaction soil in dam wall (Timing/ frequency: 3 days for 45 casual labourers). 3. Supplying water for compaction (Timing/ frequency: 0.5 day for 45 casual labourers).4. Back-filling sand on dam (Timing/ frequency: 1 day for 45 casual labourers). 5. Supplying water for compacting clay in dam wall (Timing/ frequency: 2 days for 45 casual labourers). 6. Compacting soil and placing liners (Timing/ frequency: 12 days for 45 casual labourers).Author: Guyo Roba. Community based natural resource management (CBNRM) refers to the collective use, management and planning of natural resources, and gives rural communities a stake in the management of their land (small to medium-scale) and a feeling of ownership. It reduces poverty, inequality and exclusion, vulnerability and risks faced by the rural population especially the poor. CBNRM involves organisation of communities, formation of user groups to plan and govern improved management of the natural resources -namely vegetation, soil, water and animals. It includes land use planning at the local scale. Savings groups may also be formed. CBNRM combines the generation of economic benefits for rural communities.-Build from the community level, involving land users and their initiatives from the beginning to the end. -Ensure participatory and collaborative planning, activities and accountability, involving and giving communities responsibility at all stages. -Identify and build on community-based traditions, innovations and adaptations.-Develop links connecting a wide span of stakeholders from community-based organisations (CBOs), to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to the government (GOs), and international organisations (multi-stakeholder integration).Local level participatory planning: involving all land users and communities in planning, implementation and evaluation.Participatory resource mapping: enabling communities to jointly plan rangeland management through consensus. They map out in detail the resources they depend on, the qualities they attribute to these resources, who uses them, who depends on them and how they manage them.Joint rangeland management planning: involving all livestock keepers, seasonally, in planning how they manage livestock and as well as cropland to improve livelihoods through informed, sustainable use of their resources, in an equitable manner.Pastoralist field schools and demo sites: pastoralist field schools are \"schools without walls\" that introduce good agricultural and marketing practices while building on local knowledge through hands-on experimental and participatory learning 1 . Demonstration sites can help accelerate the adoption of innovations alongside traditional practices.Conflict resolution: e.g. dialogue platforms, alliances, information sharing and decision making forums. All aim to prevent -or resolve -conflict.General assembly of the pastoralist field school \"Champ Ecole Pastorale\", Niger (Mahamane Abdoulaye).In a nutshell The \"Rangelands Initiative Africa\" is working to make rangelands more tenure-secure. The Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM) recognises that secure tenure builds confidence among the resource users, and therefore promotes confidence in investment at different levels: small-scale, large-scale, urban and rural investors who all benefit from security of tenure.Savings and pasture user groups and/or associations: Savings groups are composed of individuals who save together and take small loans from those savings. They are a powerful economic and social development platform, enabling minor investments and acting as a type of insurance buffer in cases of stock loss etc. 2 Savings groups (SGs) are especially prevalent across sub-Saharan Africa (e.g. rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs)). 3CBNRM is mainly relevant to systems where crop production is integrated -'agropastoral' and 'pastures'. Also, found in 'pastoral' and 'bounded with wildlife' systems.Main benefits -Close interaction and exchange between the different stakeholders (land users, NGOs, local government officials, SLM specialists, universities). -Can provide a science-practice link.-Capacity built through \"learning by doing\" (e.g. through field schools).-Inter-community dialogue in natural resources sharing and access.-Conflict resolution and mitigation.-Danger of poor financial management.-Lack of accountability from the leaders -and lack of demand for accountability from the members. -Conflicting group and individual interests.-Lack of a written constitution and grazing by-laws to reinforce traditional decision making.CBNRM is the most \"natural\" way of managing common resources (pastureland and water) in agreement and inclusion of all concerned. There are new initiatives to \"restore\" CB-NRM by the formation of user groups. Customary land tenure systems play a major role in rangeland governance. Pastoralists have (or have had) strong traditional institutions that play a significant role in regulating natural resource use and conservation, manage risks, protect resources and promote collective action. Improve and utilise legal frameworks, institutions, governance, and policies.2 https://seepnetwork.org/Thematic-Areas-Savings-Groups 3 http://sg4africa.org/ Dialogue platforms (DP), Cameroon DP facilitate consultations in managing rangelands. They bring together rangeland users including farmers, pastoralists/ agropastoralists to learn, discuss and implement low stake conflict mitigation strategies and mutually beneficial alliances. In alliance farming they agree to use the same land and related resources sequentially: growing crops during the rains, and grazing cattle in the dry season. The Pastoral Field School (PFS) approach was the key development tool used in the FAO project entitled 'Improved food security, livelihoods and resilience of vulnerable pastoral communities in the Greater Horn of Africa through the pastoralist field school approach'. The project was implemented between June 2011 and July 2015 and targeted agropastoralists in the West Pokot and Turkana areas of Kenya, the Karamoja area of Uganda and Borena and Guji Zones of Ethiopia. Indirect beneficiaries included Non-governmental organisations (NGO) and development actors involved in PFS actions across the region, largely through capacity building. The project was implemented through FAO regional and country offices in close collaboration with selected implementation partners in the countries, including communities, both local and international NGOs and governments.The PFS approach is an adaptation of the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach. The FFS approach emerged in South East Asia in 1989 as a way to better engage farmers in a field-based enquiry for participatory identification and adoption/adaptation of solutions to local problems. The approach builds on the principles of adult and non-formal education, and experimental and emancipatory learning with a focus on learning processes and building analytical capacity as opposed to traditional extension approaches that focus on top-down dissemination of information to farmers. The PFS approach was first tested in 2006 in Kenya by FAO, Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Belgium and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).A PFS can be described as 'school without walls' that introduces new pastoral techniques and practices (including SLM technologies) while building on indigenous knowledge, with community empowerment as a result. Through experiential and participatory learning techniques applied in a group setting (25-30 members), with regular meetings over a season/production cycle, (agro-)pastoralists learn how to analyse their situation and make informed decisions about their livelihood practices and resource use strategies. When empowered to make informed decisions and adapt to changes in the environment, community members are better able to support disaster risk reduction and mitigation of climate change impacts. A facilitator (trained by an experienced field schoolmaster trainer and with a good understanding of pastoral issues) guides the learning process and ensures that the group activities are interlinked with a community managed disaster risk reduction plan. The technical topics covered can include animal production and health, pasture and range management, dryland farming, livestock fodder production, community-managed disaster risk reduction and alternative incomes. The informal nature of the approach fur- Mobility is an important factor to be considered in PFS as it bears on aspects such as the frequency and location of meetings. In some cases, PFS activities have to be interrupted during pastoral movements while in others the facilitator has to follow the field school group during migration. Agro-pastoralists may not always be available to participate in PFS activities as they may spend many hours or days with their livestock in search of water or fodder. Generally, PFS has a longer cycle than groups focusing on small-scale farming, and flexibility is needed when unforeseen events disrupt learning activities. Pastoralists and agro-pastoralists often live in conditions of high environmental uncertainty.Pastoralist field school meeting (FAO). PFS member presenting the results of the agro-ecosystem analysis (AESA) during a PFS session (FAO).To strengthen the capacity of pastoral communities and support improved natural resources management and disaster risk management to reduce food insecurity vulnerability.• Social/ cultural/ religious norms and values: Pastoralists were able, committed and willing to work in teams and to invest their time in PFS learning activities. -The community had a positive attitude to change and the local culture allowed for innovations.• Availability/ access to financial resources and services: PFS activities, learning and group action facilitated leveraging of financial resources and services. All PFS groups developed savings and credit schemes.• Institutional setting: Efforts towards institutionalization enhanced PFS sustainability, improved quality, and strengthened impact and continuity.• Knowledge about SLM, access to technical support: PFS facilitators received technical support from subject matter specialists (e.g. animal scientists, veterinarians, agronomists). The specialists were invited to the PFS by the facilitators whenever technical inputs and assistance in designing appropriate experiments were needed. -SLM technologies/ PFS practices were built on indigenous knowledge and local practices.• Markets (to purchase inputs, sell products) and prices: Promoting the use of locally available resources (e.g. agricultural and livestock inputs) was crucial to ensure PFS sustainability and the continuity of PFS activities.Conditions hindering the implementation of the Technology/ ies applied under the Approach• Collaboration/ coordination of actors: Networking among implementing actors and key stakeholders could have been stronger.• Policies: The PFS approach wasn't part of Government structures and procedures, so no enabling policies were in place. Implement Pastoralist Field School in the Borena zone.Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).FAO was responsible for overseeing the overall implementation of the intervention, providing mentoring and technical support, create platform for harmonizing the field school approach and allocate required resources for implementation, provide guidance on linkages with related regional pastoral initiatives. The overall day-to-day management of the project was led by FAO's Resilience Team for Eastern Africa (RTEA), drawing on the technical expertise and experience of its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya and its Subregional Office for Eastern Africa in Addis Ababa. Activities in Ethiopia were supported by the FAO Country Office. FAO field offices implemented the project in the targeted field locations, in collaboration with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Government partners.Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). none passive external support interactive self-mobilizationThe PFS approach was presented to pastoral communities and their leaders as well as to local stakeholders (e.g. local government, development partners) to seek buy-in and collaboration. planning Needs, priorities and opportunities for improvement were identified through a consultative process with the community before and throughout PFS implementation. The PFS members, not the facilitator, decided what was relevant to them and what they wanted the PFS to address. implementation As per PFS principles, the pastoral community was involved in all activities during project implementation and had a decision-making role. The dissemination of PFS practices/SLM technologies was encouraged among members and pastoral communities.Exchange visits (educational tours to other PFS), field days (getting non-PFS members involved in PFS activities), and share fairs were organized to promote trade and exchange of ideas. monitoring/ evaluationThe expansion of monitoring and evaluation tools and processes was part of the regular PFS implementation, with exercises and tools embedded in the PFS sessions to assess progress and allow members to take corrective action based on the results.impact assessment A major achievement of the intervention was the participatory impact assessment. The assessment was conducted using a mix of methods, including focus group discussions with PFS members, case stories, semi-structured interviews and scoring of perceived change before and after PFS membership.Phases and steps of Pastoral Field Schools. The following activities or services have been part of the approach Capacity building/ training Advisory service Institution strengthening (organisational development)Advisory service was provided on land users' fields at permanent centres Comment: PFS are 'schools without walls' where capacity is developed from existing local knowledge. They are learning by doing and problem based, on the fields/ rangelands of the community. PFS usually comprises a group of 25-30 pastoralists who meet regularly in a local field setting, under the guidance of a trained facilitator. They make observations on livestock production and rangeland ecosystem, focus on a topic of study, and compare the effects of alternative practices. As a result of the observations and analyses done directly on-site, participants make decisions on how to improve their practices. All PFS follow this systematic action learning process where the key steps are observation, reflection, group discussion, analysis, decision making and action planning.Training was provided to the following stakeholders land users field staff/ advisersThe curriculum of PFS groups generally focused on: methodology and implementation, participatory learning and facilitation, group management and technical topics.Some of the technical topics covered by the facilitator include gender, NRM, nutrition, forage production and health, conflict management, business skills development, village community banks (VICOBA), rangeland management, soil and water conservation and community-managed disaster risk reduction (CMDRR), and water scheme management.The following services or incentives have been provided to land users financial/ material support provided to land users subsidies for specific inputs credit other incentives or instrumentsAnnual budget in USD for the SLM component < 2,000 2,000-10,000 10,000-100,000 100,000-1,000,000 > 1,000,000Comment: The budget range above refers to the costs incurred for implementing a single PFS within the project. Financial/ material support provided to land users Each PFS group received direct grants of USD 940 for their learning activities and to purchase inputs for PFS experimentation.no yes, little yes, moderately yes greatly Did the Approach empower local land users, improve stakeholder participation? PFS enabled and empowered pastoralists, their families and pastoral communities to understand and respond to local challenges. PFS members improved their understanding of the environment, obtained knowledge and learned additional skills which lead to improved capacity to manage available resources. PFS groups showed a greater level of cooperation and mutual help compared to the situation prior to the PFS project. PFS groups demonstrated enhanced capacity to seek self-generated solutions to problems identified by the group, generally developed through the experimentation and field analysis component of PFS, which in turn positively impacted on adoption rates of new practices and technologies.PFS helped pastoralists to develop the skills required for informed decision-making in their environmentAs PFS members carried out PFS practices themselves and saw the direct results of the processes, they took ownership of the innovations and decisions on their livelihood activities. This was further enhanced by reduced production costs and the proceeds which the groups received from PFS practices that encouraged the members to continue with the efforts since they paid off.Did the Approach lead to improved access to water and sanitation?Water for human and livestock use was improved through the improved water management practices applied by the group.Did the Approach lead to more sustainable use/ sources of energy? By closing off grazing areas, shrubs and trees were also protected. These species can be a source of fuelwood, but are often degraded.The PFS members developed different alternative income generating activities which range from petty business especially for women, beekeeping, purchasing animal for fattening and re-sale, and purchasing and sale of animals without fattening. • This activity has improved the status of women through enabling them and offering them a greater spectrum of livelihood options. • PFS activities increased the awareness on sustainable management of the natural resources. This is an achievement as the PFS communities increase their income diversity and income generating capacity facilitated through natural resources. • The groups decided by discussion on emerging issues to be dealt with. This built considerable coherence within the group and ensured that those topics that were important were selected.• The PFS approach in general contributed to generating increased, appropriate and self-defined livelihood options.Members have therefore the opportunity to improve their livelihood portfolio by spreading their activity base and thus prepare better for emerging challenges of greater variability than the community is used to. • The opportunity for members, especially women to meet, discuss at equal level with men and focus on problem solving. This is very much appreciated in a community setting where tribal institutions are respected. PFS groups show a greater level of cooperation and mutual help as compared to the situation prior the PFS intervention. • The approach does not rely on highly trained external advisors but on pastoralists' own discovery and reflection. It can function well even with facilitators of relatively low technical skills. This allows for scaling up of interventions more easily, since solutions are obtained jointly through an experimentation process.Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks g how to overcome Land user's view • Attending PFS sessions requires time and effort, something participants not always have. g This is mostly a problem at the beginning. As soon as it becomes clear to participants what the added value of the approach is then they are perfectly fine with putting in the required effort and time. It is therefore important to make clear right from the beginning what the (expected) benefits to participants are. • Quality of implementation of PFS largely depends on the organisational, communication and methodological skills of facilitators as well as on their regular availability throughout the FFS cycle. In some instances, poor quality of facilitators has led to inadequate experimentation and ecosystem analysis. g Continuous support is required to improve the facilitation skills of facilitators. • Aligning PFS approach into the government extension system requires commitment of policy makers. g National platforms, policy makers visit of PFS activities and use of public media are some the mechanisms for creating awareness for institutionalizing PFS into the government extension system.• There is room for improving experimentation and linking it more strongly to an ecosystem analysis. g Better training of facilitators. • While taking up the issue of conflict and conflict management, the approach does not always fully cover the complete socioeconomic interconnections that the problem of conflicts in pastoral areas is linked to. g Make sure that a detailed socioeconomic analysis is undertaken before the interventions start. This will help in ensuring better coverage of all the complex relationships and interconnections. • Different institutions implement PFS differently. g Harmonization of the field school approach is critical among the field school practitioners.Olkiramatian Group Ranch strengthened the capacity of its community governance structures and began to engage in more rigorous implementation of seasonal grazing plans. This was based on traditional ecological knowledge and rangeland management practices. The group ranch incorporated conservation, research, and joint rangeland management planning with neighbouring communities.Prior to implementation of the approach described here, rangeland management was carried out through customary institutions supported by a group ranch committee. However, many challenges hindered effective management of livestock and natural resources. These included:• Poor financial management.• Lack of accountability from the leaders -and lack of demand for accountability from the members.• Conflicting group and individual interests.• Lack of a written constitution and grazing by-laws to reinforce traditional decision making.To minimize and overcome some of these weaknesses, the African Conservation Centre (ACC), a conservation NGO and Southern Rift Association of Land Owners (SORALO), a Maasai land trust, worked with Olkiramatian and other communities to help them strengthen their planning and governance and to reinvigorate the traditional system of grazing management. Initially, ACC worked with the community's governance and resource management committees to build local capacity for decision-making and resource management. Institutions previously responsible for resource management, which had existed under traditional systems, had begun to weaken from both internal and external pressures, undermining the long-term sustainability and equity of rangeland management. The group ranch emerged as the key modern institution within this community and needed to be strengthened to support traditional management. To do this several sequential steps were taken:(i) First, the group ranch committee instituted a more objective way of identifying and electing office holders, to ensure a credible base for resource governance and building consensus among resource users;(ii) Registration of group ranch members was re-initiated to ensure equal access and rights to resource use, and to provide clarity around membership;(iii) Institutions responsible for rangeland management, including the group ranch committee, and the conservation and grazing subcommittees, were reinforced primarily through the strengthening of internal capacity;(iv) ACC facilitated a process for consolidating the group ranch's governance and by-laws to help guide the implementation of the strategy, including enforcement; (v) The group ranch implemented provisions for holding leaders accountable, allowing the group ranch members to demand their rights;(vi) Decision-making processes were facilitated by laying down procedures for sharing information and apportioning responsibilities among the leadership -as decided at annual general meetings;(vii) Rangeland monitoring groups and rangers, mostly local youth, were trained and positioned;(viii) Finally, the Lale'enok Resource Centre was established, together with community enterprises based on the use of natural resources. A women's group was included.An important catalyst in the approach was the establishment of a community conservation area and lodge within the group ranch for the development of wildlife tourism. The conservation area capitalized on the existence of the community's dry season reserve where wildlife such as zebra and giraffes were abundant, which is only grazed by livestock after pasture is utilized elsewhere. This creation of a conservation area, coupled with the desire to generate revenue through tourism with its semi-exclusive access rights to parts of the conservation area, worked to reaffirm the traditional grazing management strategies by preventing settlement within the conservation area and encouraging longer resting of pasture following rain. This happened alongside the development of a research programme, which has helped to put community rangeland management on an evidence-based foundation.With guidance, the community revised its grazing plan and zoned its land into four resource use areas, now embodied in the new group ranch constitution:-Conservation or wildlife areas (which then allowed the creation of the conservancy); -Agricultural/crop production areas; -Livestock grazing areas (dry season and wet grazing areas); -Human settlements.The grazing sub-committee of the group ranch makes and implements decisions on livestock access to certain areas, with pasture rested between and across seasons. The conservancy is rested from livestock grazing as a 'grass bank' during the wet seasons, which can last up to 6 months. Settlement areas are also tightly managed under this approach to preserve pasture heterogeneity and prevent local degradation. Fines are imposed on herders who break grazing regulations. On a rolling basis the communities now utilize traditional ecological knowledge, ecological monitoring and expert knowledge, to reassess these grazing regimes under changing conditions. These rangeland management activities are also nested within joint, inter-community planning such as regular meetings of the grazing committees of clusters of group ranches.To enhance sustainable livelihoods for pastoralist community members through informed, sustainable use of their resources in an equitable manner.• Social/ cultural/ religious norms and values: Uniform ethnicity. Communal land tenure. The pre-existing customary institutions and the group ranch committees. The government decree on the establishment of group ranches. The strong traditional and cultural knowledge about rangeland and livestock management.• Institutional setting: The group ranch was already established and practicing planned grazing according to customary rules.Stakeholders involved in the Approach and their roles • Availability/ access to financial resources and services: Financial resources are limited for the group ranch committee; they depend on small collections at local markets and some donor financing to enact projects.• Knowledge about SLM, access to technical support: Low capacity of the many community members to tap into the existing knowledge bases. Lack of technical capacity to address specific research needs identified by the community.• Markets (to purchase inputs, sell products) and prices: Low livestock prices at the grassroots present a challenge to the growth of the livestock value chain. A solution may be the facilitation of more direct market linkages.• Legal framework (land tenure, land and water use rights): There is a strong body of legislation developing in Kenya to ensure sustainable use of rangeland resources. This includes the new Community Land Act (2016), which creates local governance institutions with protection of grazing; the Wildlife Act (2012), creating community conservation areas and allowing benefits and compensation from wildlife; the Water Act ( 2016) and the Water Resource Users Association encourage multi-user analysis and cooperation to protect the quantity and quality of water for all users within a catchment.• Land governance (decision-making, implementation and enforcement): The group ranch committee is the highest decisionmaking body. There is a grazing sub-committee which manages the details of seasonal grazing patterns.• Knowledge about SLM, access to technical support: The community is networked to researchers and technical experts from institutions including ACC, SORALO, Universities and TATA chemicals; through the Lale'enok Resource Centre. Mobile phones and access to internet has enhanced access to technical information. There is a wealth of traditional knowledge within the older generation who understand the requirements for sustainable management of the landscape.• Markets (to purchase inputs, sell products) and prices: Livestock markets within reach of the community members -the Shompole crossborder livestock market is in the neighbouring conservancy.• Workload, availability of manpower: The community members are involved in the process as part of their lifestyle. Planned grazing made it easier for them to take of their livestock and reduce the number of people required to herd their livestock.Olkiramatian Group Ranch. none passive external support interactive self-mobilizationThe community invited ACC to come and support conservation work and improve ecotourism. A visiting researcher from ACC identified opportunities for reinvigorating the group ranch structure and nature-based enterprises. The work of the researcher contributed to the approach, but the ultimate push came from the community. planningThe community evolved into an organized group and was determined to employ good resource practices to improve the rangelands and the lives of the people. They sought the help of ACC in strengthening their capacity to fundraise and improve community enterprises. SORALO was established to continue supporting the community in networking and supporting the conservation work. implementationThe committee members, the individual members implement the approach. SORALO and to a less extent ACC, play advisory roles. The community members provide labour and time as their in-kind contribution. ACC help the community raise funds for the implementation. monitoring/ evaluation With guidance from SORALO, monitoring is done by community members. The various committees have a monitoring component in their work. research At the beginning, research was done by a scientist from ACC.Later on in the approach, the community youth have been trained and are actively involved in research activities.Adaptation to evolving challenges through the community's governance structure -the group ranch committee -is at the centre of the approach.IMPACT ANALYSIS AND CONCLUDING STATEMENTS no yes, little yes, moderately yes greatlyAs the approach was community-driven with decisions and actions fully in the hands of Olkiramatian members, this has bolstered them to carry on. In the early days, one of the support organisations-ACC-helped ensure more transparent decision-making and selection of leaders, and stronger accountability to group ranch members. The approach is based on ensuring strong, community-led governance. This has been achieved and is likely to be sustained.• The approaches emanates from a strong community with a working customary rangeland management structure. Communal ownership of land and the community's sense of belonging and customary (tribal) right of access and use of natural resources all make it easier for the approach to be successful.• The approach is a bottom-up one that builds on traditional resource management practices, adapting them to evolving social, economic and biophysical conditions. This contributes to strong sense of community ownership. • As a community driven and implemented the approach, the cost is minimal. With the incorporation of the conservation/wildlife tourism component, a secondary source of income for the community structures and some individuals in the community is realized. • The climatic conditions that allow extensive livestock production and wildlife is also another advantage for the approach. The landscape lies between Nguruman escarpment on one side, Lake Magadi on the northwestern part and the Amboseli/ Mt. Kilimanjaro on the southern part. These contribute to some degree of isolation and protection of influxes of herders from other locations. • The demonstrated success of the grazing management practices put in place has led to changed decisions and management practices reinforcing the community's willingness to continue with the system.Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks g how to overcome• There is concern among some community members about the incorporation of conservation activities potentially leading to restrictions on mobility and access to pastures. g Continued awareness raising about the benefits and pre-empting misunderstandings about the conservation activities. • The community success in rangeland management is sometimes viewed as a source of failure. This is because the community holds some customary beliefs and norms that allow for practices like reciprocal grazing by other pastoralists on their land. In the case that Olkiramatian is the best quality grass bank during extended droughts, livestock from other communities flock there and mostly cause overgrazing, degradation, and social conflict. g The idea of SORALO networking all the landowners in the southern rangelands and are helping them establish similar approaches means the whole rangeland in southern Kenya will become a continuous, homogeneously managed landscape.  Land & water use planning, in general, includes the establishment of concepts and management plans for conflict management, livestock and wildlife routes or corridors, set-up of water points, resting, rotation, facilitation of multi-level support, multi-stakeholder interaction and agreements, and support for improved medium to large-scale planning and implementation of rangeland practices. Land and water use planning is \"the systematic assessment of land and water potential and of economic and social conditions in order to select and put into practice those practices that will best meet the needs of the people while safeguarding resources for the future\" (FAO 2003).-Facilitate planning process and tap the wealth of experiences and the lessons learnt.-Enable capacity for development and negotiation of plans with all stakeholders.-Clearly define the boundaries of the planning area and include relevant interactions of stakeholders. -Create a platform for planning and negotiation.-Allow a rolling planning and adaptation to include changing needs and conditions. -Include modern technology using satellite images as basis for the development of plans. -Establish early warning systems and drought risk management plans and strategies (access to dry season/drought/ emergency grazing grounds and water points). -Take a regional perspective in managing transboundary pastoral resource use and related conflicts.Approaches that work with both government and communities to plan beyond administrative boundaries are:Participatory rangeland management (PRM): addresses land access and tenure security, integrated and collaborative management approach between the various stakeholders.Participatory land use planning (LUP): multi-level support and multi-stakeholder user agreements and interaction supports evidence-based planning, protection and management of shared resources across village boundaries, and watersheds.User groups or associations: e.g. to set bylaws and to share rangeland resources equitably. Or self-help groups who plan regular and efficient cooperation among the livestock keepers and negotiates with land owners regarding access issues.Territorial and watershed multi-stakeholder approach: offers a structure to build consensus among individual communities and development partners on natural resources/ territorial or watershed management and development issues 1 . Conflict management (livestock routes/ livestock corridors, resting, rotation).  Reported from all rangeland use systems but especially from 'agropastoral' systemthough only once from 'parks & reserves'.-Allocating land use to meet the needs of various people while safeguarding future resources. -Including up-and down-stream interactions.-Promote SRM by involving multiple stakeholders and seek to strike a balance among the diverse, and often conflicting, interests of these actors and making claims and rights spatially and temporarily explicit.-Land use planning is becoming complex and multidisciplinary as planners face multiple problems that need to be addressed within a single planning framework. -Difficult to plan the management of such approaches at large-scale, thus decision-makers and land users need to work together for positive results. -Highly dependent on the perception of stakeholders and attitudes to the approach.Key to land use planning is to coordinate current and future societal needs, while minimising the potential for conflicts. Interventions that provide opportunities for reflection, feedback, and adaptations are better positioned to cope with new challenges and problems (identified and solved in a participatory manner), and therefore are more likely to be sustainable in the long term.Pastoralists have (or have had) strong traditional institutions that play a significant role in regulating natural resource use and conservation, manage risks, protect resources and promote collective action.The key for adoption is that people appreciate that the adoption of land use planning, through appropriate management practices, enables land users to maximise the economic and social benefits of land, while maintaining or enhancing the ecological support functions of its resources. Capacity building is crucial also because these approaches combine technologies, policies, and activities aimed at integrating socio-economic principles with environmental concerns: these are complex exercises that need to be guided.This approach transfers the responsibility of sylvo-pastoral resources management from the state to user associations. A local convention defines the rules, in particular for access, use and control of shared resources. The implementation of the convention is governed by a monitoring system. Two stages are necessary: (i) the transfer of management rights to the rural municipalities concerned, and (ii) the delegation of the management mandate by the municipalities to \"Collective Local Management Associations\". Between 2001 and 2011, the transfer of state management created forty local user associations. Since 2011, the approach has been applied by associations without project support, but with monitoring by state services and municipalities. https://qcat.wocat.net/en/summary/3720/ Silvo-pastoral protection zone (Karl-Peter Kirsch-Jung).Students of the Namibia University of Science and Technology learn how to operate a dumpy level for marking contour lines (Ibo Zimmermann).Multi-stakeholder meetings are organised to align visions of the different parties in an inclusive way and ensure investments. Terms of reference are drawn up at the beginning, data collection initiated and presented to all actors for informed decision-making. The aim is (i) to ensure that all actors involved in developing lowland areas participate in the planning process and (ii) to prepare the ground for the self-management of the lowland scheme from the outset of the process. The goal is to steer the identification and prioritisation of interventions carried out by local authorities towards the actual needs of local people. Interventions are agricultural (dams, ponds) or pastoral (improving rangeland, cattle market, route marking). https://qcat.wocat.net/en/summary/2831/ Prioritisation of investments using an inclusive approach (HELVETAS -Swiss Intercooperation).This approach involves multiple actors, and is based on cooperation between them in the border region between Benin and Niger. The aim is to handle the concerns of livestock keepers practicing transhumance, who are victims of harassment and conflicts related to access to resources for livestock. It is a framework of exchange between the various actors in charge of managing the mobility of livestock keepers across the border.The approach aims at the appropriation and application by the multiple stakeholders of the community legislation on transboundary transhumance -as adopted by the Economic Community of West African States (CEDEAO). The context is increased competition for access to natural resources, exacerbated by the effects of climate change. The approach consists of: (i) implementing a framework for cooperative management of transboundary transhumance between Benin and Niger; (ii) ensuring wide dissemination of community legislation of the CEDEAO on the management of the transhumance practices, and (iii) enabling conflict-free and sustainable access to resources for livestock keeping in the two countries.The main methods used are: (i) the development of the Scheme for regional Land Management (SAF); (ii) building the necessary infrastructure for livestock keeping (marking of corridors and grazing areas, restoration and management of rangelands, establishment of vaccination centres, etc.); (iii) the raising of awareness among livestock keepers, through the organisation of livestock keepers on the ground (grassroots land commission, local committee of transhumance); (iv) the organisation of transboundary and local for a; and (v) monitoring of the implementation of recommendations forthcoming from the meetings.The process took place in several stages: the actors of the civil society and the livestock keeping services first identified, together with the livestock keepers, the difficulties related to the transhumance in the two countries. Next they proceeded to inform the livestock keepers and farmers about the community legislation of the CEDEAO. Under the responsibility of the authorities of the two countries, transboundary and local fora were organized periodically to discuss difficulties related to transhumance. The census of all transhumant livestock keepers enabled facilitation of the delivery of travel documents (International Certificate of Transhumance -CIT -and identity document). The committee for receiving the transhumant livestock keepers was established and is functional. It is composed of municipalities, the civil society, and heads of the livestock keepers. Its role is to receive and guide the livestock keepers and to facilitate their stay. A mechanism has been put in place to monitor the implementation of the decisions and recommendations during the periodic meetings between the parties.The regional council is the contracting authority, and ensures the general coordination of the process, and the monitoring of the recommendations. The administrative and customary The regional council planned the activity following discussions with livestock keepers from the region. planningExchanges with the livestock keepers to specify problems and to suggest appropriate strategies and actions. implementationThe initiative to practice transhumance and the compliance with regulatory requirements are within the competence of the livestock keeper. monitoring/ evaluationThe communities provide useful information and take decisions regarding solutions.Stakeholders involved in the Approach and their roles Organisations of livestock keepers (NGOs and associations).Social mobilization and awareness-raising among the livestock keepers.Local and regional authorities: Regional councils and municipalities.Programme management, general coordination of the process, facilitating the issuance of civil status documents.Swiss Cooperation in Niger, Vétérinaires Sans Frontières, Belgium.Funding the process Accompanying the process.The monitoring and evaluation are integrated in the steering of the process through periodic cross-border meetings, and are operated by the regional council with the support of PASEL7.Annual budget in USD for the SLM component < 2,000 2,000-10,000 10,000-100,000 100,000-1,000,000 > 1,000,000Comment: The funding is provided by PASEL7, a programme financed by the Swiss Cooperation in Niger, and implemented under the lead of VSF-Belgium. In the long term, it is envisaged that the actors themselves will be fully in charge of financing the approach.IMPACT ANALYSIS AND CONCLUDING STATEMENTS no yes, little yes, moderately yes greatlyThe compliance with the procedures for transhumance, as defined by the CEDEAO, has slightly improved. Hence the number of International Certificates of Transhumance issued since the start of the approach has increased from 6 to 216.The meeting takes informed decisions based on consultation with the livestock keepers and the administrative and customary authorities. Initially interviews were held to collect the needs and information from the livestock keepers.The livestock keepers have better understood the community regulations (CEDEAO) on transhumance, and the challenges of compliance.The different stakeholders collaborate regularly and exchange information, which facilitates the management of the transhumance on either side between Benin and Niger.There has been a sharp decrease in conflicts between farmers and livestock keepers, as well as acts of violence towards the transhumant livestock keepers. Before the approach was implemented, there were regular arrests by the border authorities in Niger for conflicts related to transboundary transhumance; these have now become sporadic.Did the Approach improve issues of land tenure/ user rights that hindered implementation of SLM Technologies?The approach has enabled the clarification of the ownership status of certain grazing areas, and has strengthened the proportional representation of the grass-roots land commissions.The free movement across the border of the transhumant livestock keepers facilitates the access to the livestock markets in northern Benin. As a result, livestock keepers are now well supplied with live cattle. The approach has fostered contacts between the actors involved; they only need to ensure their continued accountability. The results which have already been achieved will enable actors to sustain the approach in the long term. Considerations will be made on how to secure funding by the actors themselves. The Land Management Scheme will serve to guide such an approach to manage the mobility of livestock keeping.The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has been using a participatory approach to implement large-scale restoration of degraded land in the Sahel. Communities have been central to the programme. In the framework of the Great Green Wall initiative, adapted and useful native tree species, shrubs, and fodder grasses are planted in agro-sylvo-pastoral land. This is response to community needs and preferences while ensuring that the species and varieties are all ecologically suitable.The approach is implemented under FAO's Action against Desertification (AAD) programme in the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI). This is Africa's flagship initiative to combat the effects of climate change and desertification, and to address food insecurity and poverty. It brings together more than 20 African countries with international agencies, research institutes, civil society and grassroots organisations. Through the GGWSSI, the vision is a mosaic of sustainable land use practices and productive landscapes stretching across North Africa, the Sahel and the Horn.Community participation in the Great Green Wall restoration initiative is through a people-centred approach to rangeland management that puts communities at the heart of efforts. It focusses on plant species that support their livelihoods. Specifically these are a selection of well-adapted indigenous trees, shrubs and fodder grasses with proven resilience to drought and usefulness in restoration. Village communities decide on which areas to plant and on the species that they can utilise for food, for fodder, and for medicines. There are also plants that produce economically valuable goods for local, national and even international markets, such as gum arabic (from Acacia senegal) for example.Technically, AAD supports the implementation of land restoration activities through provision of equipment, and by strengthening the technical and functional capacities of individuals, communities, and organisations in restoration techniques and sustainable land management.The three main objectives of this approach are: a) Poverty alleviation; b) Ending hunger; and c) Improving resilience to climate change.The restoration approach is based on a five-step model:-Communities: needs and requirements for restoration are determined through in-depth consultations with communities.-Research: good quality seed is made available for the propagation of economically viable, locally adapted and biodiverse vegetation.-Operational procedure: efficient operational restoration processes are ensured, including land preparation and management, assisted natural regeneration and planting. A woman sows a 'half-moon' after its construction in Tera, Niger.(©FAO/Giulio Napolitano).Farmers harvesting hay in Tera, Douma, Niger (©FAO/Giulio Napolitano).-Monitoring: field performance of species are evaluated, as well as communal activities such as maintenance and management of restored areas.-Capacity development: village technicians' capacities are upgraded in forest seed collecting and nursery techniques, planting, maintenance and management of restored areas, and development of plant products, marketing, and local business management.Key elements and aims of this approach include:• Planting the right species in the right place.• Promoting the use of quality native forest and fodder seeds for restoration.• Ensuring that a wide range of useful plant species is made available.• Managing natural regeneration of species and planted areas through village management committees.• Updating a species database for gene-pool traceability, monitoring, reporting and for future uses of data and information.• Social/ cultural/ religious norms and values: The approach is people-centred, and builds on traditional management of land, traditional ecological knowledge and techniques such as 'half-moons' (demi-lunes in French) for rainwater harvesting that facilitate improved plant establishment.• Availability/ access to financial resources and services: Individuals can acquire finance to buy seeds. On community land, finance may be needed to lease land for production of plant varieties, or for hiring labour to take care of seedlings.• Institutional setting: Better organisation at local level enhances community participation and commitment to achieve interventions at large-scale/community level.• Collaboration/ coordination of actors: There are various levels of collaboration needed for example in establishing which land should/ can be used, in seed selection based on defined needs, and also for the provision of labour. Fundamentally, collaboration is key to agreements to achieve the desired objectives.• Legal framework (land tenure, land and water use rights): Securing access rights to land and water resources is a motivation for investing in reforestation.• Policies: National level policies can protect and ensure supply of seeds as well facilitate access to natural resources such as land.Additionally, policies such as those in support of Great Green Wall activities create an enabling environment within which these activities can be supported.• Land governance (decision-making, implementation and enforcement): Similar to legal framework above.• Knowledge about SLM, access to technical support: Knowledge around SLM contributes to maintenance and management of restored areas, thus ensuring sustainability of activities. The programme has integrated existing/traditional SLM activities such as zaï (wide planting pits)/half-moons in capturing, concentrating and storing water thus keeping soils moist and improving the chances of good plant growth in a very dry environment.• Markets (to purchase inputs, sell products) and prices: Market access and increasing economic capacities of communities can enable active involvement in restoration especially when plant products can earn income thus facilitating local business.• Workload, availability of manpower: Availability of labour facilitates activities such as forest seed collecting, nursery activities, planting, maintenance and management of restored areas. Most of the work is done by women who prepare the land and take the lead in planting. Communities' local knowledge, needs and aspirations were the backbone of the project. Communities were extensively consulted on species identification and prioritization based on needs, including speed of production, personal knowledge and aspirations. This was through questionnaires and village workshops. Commitment and buy-in from the community was also a prerequisite for activities to start, as they had to commit to contribute land and in-kind labour. Selection of villages for restoration was based on, amongst other things, motivation and commitment by communities to participate in restoration activities, and community-based structures and organisations. planningExtensive planning was done with communities before implementation, e.g. to agree on planting times, use of traditional techniques and land preparation. implementation Implementation was done actively with communities who volunteered traditional knowledge as well as labour to the activities. This built on the initial procedures where species were selected and prioritized; planning of activities; and later labour in preparation of land, setting-up nurseries and transplanting. Comment: This is a local initiative that uses traditional ecological knowledge and multi-purpose plant species (of known benefits to the local communities) for restoration. Community participation, lifestyles and preferences and a careful analysis of ecological landscapes are carefully considered and then matched to suitable interventions. This similar approach has been applied by other projects in the GGWSSI region however although has not often been formally disseminated to wider audiences. The use of participatory mapping is not new in seeking to capture communities' understanding and use of natural resources. These maps are typically drawn on the ground using stones, sticks and other locally available materials to depict key features such as schools, water points, and forest areas, etc. However the process used in Isiolo County combines digital mapping with community-drawn perception maps. This offers a number of extra benefits. While fully capturing the wealth of local knowledge, they contain an in-built coordinate system which corresponds to a global reference grid, enabling their linkage to maps used in formal systems. Furthermore, the coordinate system provides a geographically precise basis from which to discuss natural resource management, making outputs of participatory mapping more universally usable. These benefits, however, need to be carefully balanced to avoid the risk that through this process, pastoral resources -which are highly dynamic -are 'frozen' in time and space. The participatory mapping process has adopted GIS workflows within community workshops, enabling the creation of integrated, consistent and standardized geospatial information. The process follows seven steps:Step 1: Community level meetings to develop perception maps drawn on the ground and/or on paper. The product is a community perception map of those resources that are important for their livelihood systems. This map should be created in a community setting to enable the participation of a large group. Several maps may be produced by smaller sub-groups (women, the youth, elders etc.) and then amalgamated. The final map is then copied onto paper.Step 2. Digital mapping is introduced. This step takes place in a workshop setting with a smaller group of key informants chosen by the community -as well as county government planners and technical staff. The presence of the latter is critical to the process of 'legitimizing' community knowledge. Following a quick explanation of satellite imagery, Google Earth is projected onto a wall alongside the perception maps developed under step 1. The use of Google Earth is only for orientation, and to enable participants to navigate the imagery and to cross-reference their paper-mapped key resources against the satellite imagery. iting platform. This produces the coordinates that pinpoint the locations of natural resources in a manner that can be independently and objectively verified. The highly interactive process of geo-referencing local knowledge to a coordinate reference system allows resource maps to be produced to any scale, and in real-time, with the community.Step 3. Qualitative and quantitative attributes describing the key resources are collected. As participants add features to the map, they also describe their specified characteristics or attributes. Attribution data includes a fuller description of the physical characteristics of the resource (e.g. soil type, waterquantity and quality, pasture species) as well as issues concerning their management (e.g. under customary or modern management, land tenure status, negotiated or paid access, area of conflict). Updating this data on a regular basis adds temporal and trend data to the spatial database. This underlines the need to structure data systems well to manage time-based data and to record updates. Steps 4-6: Data verification cycles are integrated into the mapping process in order to capture community feedback and verify the records in the geospatial data and their attribute values against the specification. The mapping includes a series of validation, cross-checking and verification cycles, run with the community -and in a few instances on-the-ground verification termed 'groundtruthing'.Step 7: Field validation. Field validation is carried out where the verification stages highlight gaps in information. Verification consists of targeted field visits to take GPS markers, or holding meetings with the local community to clarify particular issues.Participatory resource mapping in Dadacha Bassa (Caroline King Okumu).Facilitating the identification of features on the GIS platform in Oldonyiro village (Omar Jattani).To allow participation for community groups to inform planners.• To provide the necessary precision for planners to use local knowledge effectively.• To make a 'bridge' for information to flow between customary and formal institutions.• To better share ideas through communication tools using powerful visual language.• To demonstrate the depth of local knowledge about natural resources and with that, demonstrate the importance of these resources.• To identify gaps and risks in the system being mapped.• To compare one plan with another to see how complimentary/contradictory they are.Conditions enabling the implementation of the Technology/ ies applied under the Approach• Social/ cultural/ religious norms and values: Communities are awed by the technology that allows them to see their resources while seated in a single specific location. The approach doesn't conflict with any community social, cultural, religious norms and values.• Availability/ access to financial resources and services: A brief GIS training of four weeks can allow county government staff to develop, add and update the database.• Institutional setting: The approach helps in improving planning at community and government levels, and is accepted by all stakeholders.• Collaboration/ coordination of actors: The product of the participatory mapping process is beneficial to all actors and many are willing to engage in implementation of the approach.• Legal framework (land tenure, land and water use rights): The approach helps in land use planning and supports regulations meant to improve land governance such as a customary natural resource management bill.• Policies: Many policies and laws (including the national constitution) support the mapping of resources to improve land use planning.• Land governance (decision-making, implementation and enforcement): The approach allows communities to develop their land use plans for resource utilisation, and digitize them -making the work of land governance easier. none passive external support interactive self-mobilizationResource Advocacy Programme (RAP) undertook discussions with the local community and also with the county and national government in shaping the idea for the approach. planning All stakeholders (community, RAP, ADA, IIED, Geodata and Governments) were engaged in the planning for the implementation of the Approach. implementationCommunity members and all stakeholders were involved in the implementation of the participatory mapping. monitoring/ evaluationThe county government and the actors (RAP, ADA and IIED) monitor the participatory mapping database and improves it.Participatory mapping of community resources has seven steps, which can be summarised under the main groupings of: consultations with the community where key features are identified and mapped on paper; digitization of community identified points by GIS specialists; processing of the data where community identified attributes are incorporated into the data; and feedback sessions for community validation and verification.Author: Ibrahim Jarso.Decisions were taken by land users alone (self-initiative) mainly land users, supported by SLM specialists all relevant actors, as part of a participatory approach mainly SLM specialists, following consultation with land users SLM specialists alone politicians/ leaders Decisions were made based on evaluation of well-documented SLM knowledge (evidence-based decision-making) research findings personal experience and opinions (undocumented)Comment: The process requires inputs from all the relevant stakeholders. The community provide local knowledge of the features, GIS specialists provide technical expertise and the other local stakeholders provide their knowledge and experience of working in the communities for many years. The approach was implemented with support from donors and county government. Although in theory, it could be possible for resource users to auto-finance the Approach, this has not ever happened previously, and many of the resource users are not wealthy. Support is available for devolved development planning and mapping, but as yet this has not been assigned to participatory resource mapping.• It is a promising new approach that builds on the legitimacy of local/indigenous knowledge, and enables the county government to fulfil its mandate of undertaking participatory planning with communities. • GIS technology helps in the acceptance of the approach by many land users. • The mobility of the technology can provide an opportunity for all community members to add features as they come up.• It is a user friendly approach accepted and recognized by Isiolo pastoralists for mapping their rangeland resources. • IIt provides an opportunity to map all investments of development partners in the county and avoid duplication of projects. • IIt is a powerful tool for communication and advocacy for community land rights.Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks g how to overcome• It requires time and commitment from community members and county officers. g Systematic use of media (e.g. radio, websites, etc.) to publicize the approach and its importance to the community. • It is difficult for illiterate community members to fully engage with the approach and make meaningful contributions. g Provide local translations and interpretation as well as producing good visual maps.• There is a need for continuous updating. g Engage local universities and students. • Observation of key features and resources are sometimes obscured by clouds and thus mapping precision is affected. g Ground truthing visits and observations need to be undertaken to improve precision. • Lack of legislation to support and enforce the use of the approach. g Formulate legislation to support enforcement.agreements and joint land use plan. In addition, a Livestock Keepers Association was established, including 53 founding members -but with most households from the three villages being associate members. A constitution was developed for the Association, which was officially registered on 11 September 2015.In January 2016 the Ministry of Lands approved and registered the village land boundary maps and deed plans for the three villages.The District Council has issued the village land certificates, and the next step is for Village Councils to begin issuing Certificates of Customary Rights of Occupancy (CCROs). The shared grazing area will require three group CCROs to be issued to the Livestock Keepers Association -one from each village -for the part of the grazing area that falls under its jurisdiction. Signboards and beacons marking the shared grazing area are being put in place.In November 2017 a fourth village joined OLENGAPA, expanding the shared grazing area to 30,000 ha. The villages are now working to develop a management plan to improve rangeland productivity.Rangeland resources mapping is an important step in the joint village land use planning process (Fiona Flintan).Mapping livestock routes contributed to an understanding of mobility patterns across regions and villages (Mohammed Said).To secure shared grazing areas and other rangeland resources for livestock keepers, and to improve their management.• Social/ cultural/ religious norms and values: History of collective tenure, management and sharing of rangeland resources as part of sustainable rangeland management practices.• Institutional setting: Strong local government/community institutions for leading process at local albeit their capacity may require building.• Legal framework (land tenure, land and water use rights): Tanzania's legislation, if implemented well, provides an enabling environment for securing of community/village rights for both individuals and groups.• Policies: Tanzania possesses facilitating national land use policy for the joint village land use planning approach, together with guidelines.• Land governance (decision-making, implementation and enforcement): Decision-making has been decentralised to the lowest levels, giving local communities considerable power to decide on the uses of their village land.• Knowledge about SLM, access to technical support: Good local knowledge of rangeland management based on historical practice. Communities understand need for better rangeland management.• Workload, availability of manpower: Well-structured local community bodies ready to provide manpower. Local government experts in place to support VLUP process.Conditions hindering the implementation of the Technology/ ies applied under the Approach• Social/ cultural/ religious norms and values: Marginalisation of pastoralists from decision-making processes at local and higher levels.• Availability/ access to financial resources and services: Village land use planning process is costly due to the requirement to include government experts in the process in order to gather required data and to authorise plans. Lack of government priority to village land use planning, so poor allocation of government funds to the process.• Collaboration/ coordination of actors: Poor coordination of different actors supporting VLUP in the past due to previous weakness of National Land Use Planning Commission (NLUPC). However, this is now changing as NLUPC becomes stronger and takes up coordination role.• Legal framework (land tenure, land and water use rights): Legislation allows village land to be transferred into public land if in the 'public' or 'national' interest -this facility confers insecurity on village land.• Policies: There are conflicting policies over land coming from different sectors including land generally, together with forests, wildlife and livestock. These cause confusion at the local level. Depending on power of actors one set of policies may be stronger than another -wildlife-related policy for example can have a lot of power because there are many strong and influential tourism and conservation bodies lobbying for stronger protection of land, with potentially negative impacts for communities who want to use that land for other purposes.• Land governance (decision-making, implementation and enforcement): The process of village land use planning is costly due to the requirement for having local government experts involved, and the need to follow often complex procedures and steps. Many communities and even local government do not have adequate technical skills and knowledge to complete the long process, as well as not having adequate funds. This has held up the VLUP applications. Further few VLUPs move from their production stage to implementation stage including enforcement of bylaws and, for example, land management.• Knowledge about SLM, access to technical support: Lack of investment in rangeland management and the provision of technical support e.g. through government extension services. Lack of technical knowledge in rangeland rehabilitation and improving rangeland productivity at scale.• Markets (to purchase inputs, sell products) and prices: Lack of local markets and coordinated operations for livestock production.• Workload, availability of manpower: Lack of knowledge, skills and capacity amongst local communities and government experts to complete JVLUP adequately, including such as resolving conflicts between different land users. Comment: The community requires support from local government to protect their village lands including grazing lands from outsiders wanting to settle on the land -this is a constant problem to be addressed (despite the securing of village boundaries etc.). The community also needs capacity building and resources to improve the productivity of the land including the grazing areas. If they get these supports then they can sustain what has been implemented.• Improved the security of access and use to village land including grazing. • Brought attention to the challenges faced by land users in the area in protecting and using their village land, and the need for more investment and support for this. • Pastoralists are now more central to decision-making processes than they were before.• Collaboration of different stakeholders in implementing the approach has supported a new way of working. • Capacity of different stakeholders has been built along the way through joint problem-solving and learning-by-doing. • The approach -with adaptation -has application in other contexts/countries and shows that even if a rangeland is split by administrative boundaries there is opportunity to work across those village boundaries in order to maintain the functionality of the rangeland and land use systems such as pastoralism that depend upon this.Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks g how to overcome• Despite village land being theoretically protected, in practice it can still be encroached upon. g Greater support provided from government to enforce protection of land. • Time-consuming process which became more expensive than anticipated resulting in some gaps in funding. g Process needs to be refined through practice, and adequate funds allocated from beginning.• The selection of villages for JVLUP needs more care to ensure that enabling conditions for JVLUP exist. g In future selection of villages for JVLUP a set of criteria should be used that enable more enabling conditions to exist. • Information has not been methodologically collected on social, environmental and economic impacts of the approach. g In future the impacts of the approach need to be fully monitored and evaluated. • The VLUP is an expensive process to follow. g National government needs to identify ways to reduce the cost of the VLUP so that more villages can undertake it. Government needs to allocate more funds to VLUP. The VLUP is an expensive process to follow. • Need for an enabling environment. g The policy and legislation in Tanzania enables this process -it is not the case in the majority of other African countries.The transhumance pastoral communities of Southern Angola traditionally held gatherings of chieftains and community leaders to discuss management of commonly held pastoral resources. However, the conflicts of the last century led to the breakdown in traditional governance and the majority of the traditional management systems were abandoned. The RETESA Project has supported their recovery as a way to reduce land degradation and improve local livelihoods.The Approach was developed and implemented through the RETESA Project 'Land rehabilitation and rangelands management in smallholder agropastoral production systems in south western Angola'. RETESA is a project owned and implemented by the Ministry of Environment of the Government of Angola with technical and methodological assistance from The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).From an early stage, RETESA identified management itself as the most effective tool to improve pastoral livelihoods and to reduce land degradation over large areas of land. However, the management terms and concepts used in conventional western cultures were difficult to convey to the pastoral communities. Thus communication of the needs and methods of appropriate grazing management were not fully understood and this led to confusion. After struggling initially with these challenges, the project technicians responsible for rangeland improvement and rehabilitation began to investigate the traditional management systems that were in place before the armed conflicts occurred. It was found that they adapted to modern rangeland management theory and practice and had a rich vocabulary which described in detail the timing and movements of the herds. Rather than teach a new way of viewing the natural world, the project's objective became one of resurrecting these lost systems and recuperating what was, in the communities' words, 'the ways of our elders'. In order to provide an underlying methodological basis which guided the process, the 'Green Negotiated Territorial Development' (GreeNTD) methodology was introduced and used to negotiate the terms and agreements of the six management plans created and implemented during the process.In essence, the role of the traditional management systems was to keep the animals in more remote, mountainous areas during the rainy season, the only time of year when water is available in these areas, and gradually bring them back to the lowland, river plains during the dry season. This simple system allowed for rangeland recovery and rest -and for agriculture to be practiced in the lowlands during the rainy season without the threat of intrusion by livestock, something which has become a constant source of conflict within the communities. Often the owners are far from the land, and send their local managers to participate, though they have often have little decision-making capacity. However, their presence and opinion should be sought.Municipal and Communal Administrations and their representatives.Co-coordinate the organisation and logistics of the Jango Pastoril forums. Participate as a stakeholder in the meetings and give feedback and administrative approval of the decisions taken. The Municipal and Communal Administrations usually have the final word on any decisions made so they must actively participate in the meetings.Project 'RETESA', FAO Angola. FAO Angola was responsible for supporting the Angolan Government in its design and execution of the Global Environment Funded 'Project RETESA'.• Policies: Pastoral cultures are still seen by many in power as a threat to education and economic prosperity.• Land governance (decision-making, implementation and enforcement): There still remains much to be done in the area of land governance, from decision-making, implementation and especially enforcement.• Knowledge about SLM, access to technical support: Very little is known about SLM, and technical support is lacking at community and municipal levels.• Markets (to purchase inputs, sell products) and prices: The more traditional tribes rarely sell their animals to local markets, leading critics to claim that their way of life contributes little to the local or national economies.• Workload, availability of manpower: Manual labour is most often carried out by the women of the family, and those under 18 years are responsible for caring for the animals and following them on their daily search for pasture and water.Project 'RETESA', FAO Angola was the lead agency, though plans are for the Municipal Forums to be self-sufficient in 2018. none passive external support interactive self-mobilizationThe first meetings and forums were organised by the Municipal Administrations and the Retesa Project, picking up from previous attempts at organising discussion forums to manage commonly held natural resources. planning Once Jango Pastoril were well established, the decision-making process was transferred to them, with technical support being provided by the SLM specialists and with the Municipal Administrators having final word. implementationThe implementation of the decisions made was based on their type and complexity and often depended on input and action from various stakeholders. Where possible, external support in the form of technical knowledge, materials, food, machinery, etc. were organised to support the agreed upon activities and works. monitoring/ evaluation At the current stage, monitoring and evaluation is being carried out by the RETESA Project and the supporting Administrations.In the best case scenario, monitoring and evaluation would be carried out by the Jango Pastoril themselves, though external support would most likely be needed, at least until the process is well understood by the forum participants.As the initial processes had different entry points and acted at different administrative levels, a graphic representation of the process can be seen in the flow chart provided. Readers are asked to focus on the entry points and how each situation developed, rather than focus on the specific names of the areas.The Approach has overseen the creation of five Jango Pastoril, each with their own contexts and stakeholders, which are highlighted in the flow chart in green. By introducing and implementing the GreeNTD methodology, the five Jango Pastoril also debated and approved land management plans with administrative and community support, which in some cases allowed for the creation of large grazing reserves. The sixth and final plan is the combination of the 5 plans into an encompassing plan which serves a large part of the principal transhumance migration route.PROJECTO RETESA  IMPACT ANALYSIS AND CONCLUDING STATEMENTS no yes, little yes, moderately yes greatlyIn most cases, there are no community forums or public spaces for locals to voice their opinions. By creating the Jango Pastoril forums, participant land users and their representatives were able to voice their concerns and propose solutions.Experience in the area has shown that presenting 'scientific evidence' to communities with little formal education can produce interesting interpretations and consequences. Most decisions in pastoral communities are based on past experience, social conventions and emotions. However there is significant collective memory that has allowed for the evidence of land degradation and climate change to become clear and better decisions are being made.Did the Approach help land users to implement and maintain SLM Technologies? Yes, the approach did help land users implement and improve upon current practices. However, the Jango Pastoril forums were not created as a purely educational environment and they depended on the participants having enough experience and knowledge to provide adequate feedback and make proper decisions.Coordination was improved at various public and administrative levels, though the forums as an institution are still in their early stage.Did the Approach mobilize/ improve access to financial resources for SLM implementation? Funding has been sought for water point improvement works yet none has materialised to date.As the first Jango Pastoril forums in each area did include 2 hours of education on proper rangeland and natural resource management, some knowledge and capacity building was part of the process.The exchange of points of view and communication between the different stakeholders improved the collective knowledge of traditional production systems and the challenges each group faces.The Jango Pastoril forums were the first organised events that brought these different stakeholders to the table to discuss key issues surrounding commonly held natural resources.The Jango Pastoril discussed and dealt with various sources of conflict in the local areas where they were held. In some cases, solutions were found and agreed upon; however, some conflicts were best left in the hands of the relevant authorities, though suggestions and proposals were gathered and presented to Administrative authorities present.Pastoral herders often enjoy a certain amount of standing within their communities, and the majority of the participants were elder male members of the communities. Women farmers and widows were often invited but were overall under-represented in the forums. This is clearly an area of improvement for future interventions.Although a number of women hold high positions within the Provincial and Municipal governments and took part in the forum discussions as administrative representatives, for the most part the participants in the forums were elderly men of standing.A small percentage of young males took part in the forums. As they mostly care for the livestock, it would be good to improve their participation rates in future events.Did the Approach improve issues of land tenure/ user rights that hindered implementation of SLM Technologies? Land rights and tenure were not addressed either by the forums or the Project. The land management plans created and implemented maintained the 'status quo' currently operating in the area.The land management plans should produce improved animal production rates and reduce livestock invasions of crops, leading to improved food security and nutrition.Did the Approach improve access to markets? Sales of livestock is still a sensitive issue in the area and this topic did not form part of the discussions.Water harvesting and access was a common topic and a list of priority areas and works was prepared and presented to Communal and Municipal Administrations, leading to a number of access and storage improvement activities.Did the Approach lead to more sustainable use/ sources of energy? Charcoal production and its effects on the area was raised and debated a number of times but no agreements or solutions were found.Did the Approach improve the capacity of the land users to adapt to climate changes/ extremes and mitigate climate related disasters?The creation of large-scale grazing reserves and institutions that allow for debate and adaptation of management to increasing changes should lead to an improved capacity to adapt to changes in the climate. Comment: Given coordination and willingness, the communities and Administrations have the resources needed to continue on with Approach as it has been, albeit without the technical and logistical support given by the project until this point. In any case, the process has shown to be well accepted.• Through the Jango Pastoril, land users now have available an instrument to voice opinions and bring attention to issues affecting pastoral communities and the natural resources they depend on. • It brings people in contact with decision-makers and others who play important roles in community affairs. • The Jango Pastoril also serve as a source of information, for example, information on water and pasture availability, on livestock theft, on the Administrations point of view on key issues and priorities, on new projects or programmes.• The Jango Pastoril brings together a diverse and important group of stakeholders who normally wouldn't meet with the objective of addressing rangeland management and livestock issues. In doing so, it brings attention to a number of serious problems affecting the base of local livelihoods and promotes understanding and collaboration between those present and the communities they represent. • It is one of the few ways to directly deal with the root cause of land degradation, which in this case is the cause is poor land management. It was management processes which drove the land degradation, and land management should equally be the tool used to address the problems. The land management plans created through the Jango Pastoril hopefully return things to a process by which the land was productive and supported a wide array of life. • It creates an institution whose formalities and objectives are easily understood and appropriated by locals. This institution deals with issues that are of a common concern and that should be receiving more attention than they are. • The Jango Pastoril and the commonly agreed land management plans they produced add weight to the argument for maintaining the commons for public use and grazing. By entering into agreements and producing management plans that improve local resources, the communities can show unity and argue against those that want to divide and privatise land in the area.Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks g how to overcome• It can require a lengthy trip and an overnight stay for participants who have to travel from isolated communities. g The Jangos were scheduled at the same time as other key events and meetings, so as to reduce costs and travel. The Municipal and Communal Administrations usually found accommodation for those that had to stay the night. • The issues discussed and decisions made will have outcomes that will affect some land users. Obviously, there are those that are benefiting from the current situation and they will try and ensure that things remain as they are. g The GreeNTD methodology discussed earlier has a well-established system for involving all stakeholders, assessing their motivations and publically producing a viable plan that addresses key issues. • The withdrawal of logistical and technical support by the RETESA Project will affect the Jango Pastoril forums. g Approach other projects coming into the area and find other funding opportunities to continue to support the growth of the forums.• The Jango Pastoril do little to improve the situation of the disadvantaged members of the population, or to improve gender equality. In other words, they perpetuate current cultural power bases. g Explore ways with the Jangos of bringing in more farmers and women into the discussions. Or create 'Jango Campones' which deal with cropping issues and land rights. • The Jango Pastoril do little to address land ownership issues or land rights. g t should be the Jango that ask for help on this issue, but the Jango Pastoril have proven to be in favour of the rangelands being open and available for community grazing. • Enforcement of laws and regulations is not always easy in such isolated territory. g Establish protocols and systems for dealing with offenders that are known to the local authorities and support all attempts to communicate the plans to land users and invite their feedback. This approach group covers the promotion of improved marketing to adapt the products and sales according to market information, through value chain development. The shift is towards (1) high-value (and origin-specific) labelled products (e.g. for 'naturally produced' grass-fed beef or game), (2) improved abattoirs and value of the meat, (3) promotion of non-livestock rangeland products (NLRP) (e.g. legally produce charcoal, firewood, grass for thatching, fruits, nuts (e.g. shea nut butter), gum arabic, medicinal plants, milk, and payment for ecosystem services (ESS). For rangelands, marketing of livestock is a major source of income. Livestock perform multiple functions in the African economy by providing food, inputs for crop production and soil fertility management, raw material for industry, cash income as well as promoting savings, being central to social functions, and providing employment opportunities.-Improve market infrastructure and access.-Improve marketing of livestock: healthy and high quality livestock; high-end products, branding and origin labelling. -Explore non-livestock rangeland products: medicines, cosmetics etc. -Establish functioning carbon credit and payment for ecosystem services (PES) schemes for rangelands.-Livestock to market programmes: where cattle markets are held in conservancies that have demonstrated efforts to rehabilitate rangelands and implement grass management. Cattle are bought directly from pastoralists on their doorstep, and priced per kilo to ensure fair prices.-Special high value beef/ grass-fed meat label rearing: guarantees customers high animal -welfare standards and good products 1 .-Livestock insurance: livestock market information and measurement of forage conditions made via satellite data on vegetation cover help track changes, support decisions and legitimise insurance programmes.-Improved abattoirs in terms of location and hygiene management: continual improvement is critical to ensure that the abattoirs remain relevant, efficient and effective over time.Value chain development: adding value to pastoral products -livestock and non-livestock products -e.g. by processing milk and dairy products, supplementary feeding, manure for fertility or fuel, firewood or processed into compressed firewood or pellets, deBushing-Value Addition 'I used to be an invader tree' (GIZ).charcoal production, use of medicinal, aromatic and cosmetic plants (devil's claw, shea/ karité, gum arabic, etc.), grass for thatching/ roof building and for weaving baskets, other handicrafts such as bead jewellery and wood carvings.Payment for ecosystem services (PES): provides incentives to land users to supply environmental services that benefit society (e.g. carbon sequestration, upstream/ downstream water availability and quality) 2 . Those who benefit pay those who provide the services.(Eco)tourism: promoted as environmentally sound and locally beneficial tourism. Its growth in Africa is exceptional because of landscape, wildlife diversity and abundance of charismatic wildlife species. Community-based initiatives have emerged from ecotourism with both ecological and socio-economic benefits to rural communities and nations.Reported from 'bounded without wildlife' and to a lesser extent from 'agropastoral' system. -When livestock is perceived as symbol of wealth, there is reluctance to sell.-Private sector, especially insurance companies are profit oriented and might not be fully motivated to venture into remote areas with higher risks. -Carbon benefit funding channels not sufficiently established.Pastoralism and livestock production and markets are of significant importance to the economies of many countries in SSA. Therefore, improving livestock value, markets and value chains are of high priority in all the rangelands. In addition, further marketing of non-livestock products and ecosystem services has a high applicability and potential for adoption. Factors that can affect adoption are available infrastructure, access to markets, proximity to specialized clientele (e.g. tourist lodges, along busy roads), arrangements with industries, continuous adaptation to market fluctuations and changes.This small dairy is a positive example of: (a) appropriate technologies for \"good\" camel milk production; (b) collecting, processing and preserving camel milk and dairy products to ensure safety and quality; and (c) develop standards to facilitate trade and export to the rest of the world.The mini dairy started up in 1989, when camels were used almost exclusively as a means of transport. In 2002, milk deliveries reached 20,000 litres a day, but a drought dealt a severe blow to the sector. Over the years, herders have found that the regular income from milk sales has improved their living standards and enabled them to feed their livestock in dry periods (Rota and Sperandini 2009).Tiviski camel-milk collection center in Mauritania (Courtesy Photo).In line with national development plans, which promote domestic value addition for local resources, the bush control programme strengthens the restoration of productive rangeland piloting various value chains, including modernised charcoal production, bush based animal feed and household cooking fuel. It triggers and drives large-scale bush thinning activities. The programme is implemented through a collaboration of public and private stakeholders. Coordination is ensured through a cross-sector steering committee, which includes the Ministries of National Planning (chair), Agriculture, Environment, Energy, and Industrialisation. https://qcat.wocat.net/en/summary/3396/ Charcoal production (GIZ).. KLIP is a GoK funded drought insurance program for vulnerable pastoralists located in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) of Kenya. KLIP's overall objective is to reduce the risk of livestock mortality emanating from drought. This is intended to help to build resilience of vulnerable pastoralists for enhanced and sustainable food security.Currently, under KLIP, GoK pays insurance premiums for a maximum of 5 Tropical Livestock Units to over 18,000 selected households that are considered vulnerable (i.e. own less than 5 TLUs). (0.1 of 1TLU is equivalent to 1 goat or sheep,therefore 10 goats/sheep = 1 cow (TLU) and 1.7 of TLU is equivalent to a camel or 17 goat/sheep or 1 cow + 7 goats/ sheep = 1 camel). The program is currently being implemented in 8 Arid and Semi-Arid counties in Northern Kenya. In case of severe forage scarcity because of drought, the households enrolled on KLIP receive pay-outs to enable them purchase fodder, veterinary drugs and water to keep their animals alive during the drought season. The expected impact of KLIP on pastoralists' livelihoods protected assets and improved resilience due to better recovery mechanisms from drought shocks. At national level, reduced expenditure on humanitarian emergencies during severe droughts and sustained contribution of the livestock sub sector to the national economy is expected. As a Sustainable Land Management (SLM) solution, the KLIP approach can contribute to reduced pressure on grazing lands by providing pay-outs which are used by pastoralists to purchase animal feeds from outside the KLIP counties during drought periods, leading to reduced land degradation.KLIP was first piloted in 2014 in 2 counties in the ASALs of Kenya i.e. Wajir and Turkana counties. 2,500 households from each county were enrolled to the program, each receiving insurance worth 5TLUs for 1-year renewable period. In August 2016, 275 households in Wajir County received a total of Ksh. 3.5 million pay-out as a result of the failed long rain season of the same year. KLIP later expanded to cover 4 more counties in 2017 which included Isiolo, Marsabit, Mandera and Turkana raising the total number of beneficiary households to 14,000. In February 2017, a payout worth Ksh. 214 million was triggered to 10,000 pastoralists households across the six counties at the end of the failed short rainy season of 2016 (October to December). In 2017 KLIP added to more Counties Samburu and Tana River on its scope. Later in August of the same year, another payout worth Ksh. 319 million triggered across 7 counties leading to 12,000 beneficiaries receiving compensation. Currently KLIP is operational in the 8 counties, with plans underway for expansion to reach all the 14 ASAL counties of Kenya. KLIP pay-outs are pegged to measurements of forage conditions made via satellite data on vegetation cover to derive an index of seasonal forage availability/scarcity, called the Normalized Differenced Vegetative Index (NDVI). The index can be defined as a measure comparing the total amount of forage available across the contract season with the his- toric average forage availability of that season. When the index signals that forage conditions have deteriorated to the point that animals are likely to die, KLIP compensates pastoralists in cash pay-outs immediately after a failed rainy season(s) and just before the start of subsequent dry season to help pastoralists buy fodder, drugs and water to sustain their livestock through the drought period.The use of a satellite based Index eliminates the need for insurance companies to carryout loss verification, which would be logistically and financially impossible to implement if they were to provide livestock insurance in such vast and remote areas as Kenya's ASALs. Satellite data (NDVI) is used to calculate forage conditions in a specific area over a specific season in order to determine whether the index could trigger a pay-out. Once pay-outs are triggered pastoralists registered under the affected areas are automatically eligible for compensation. Payouts are immediately disbursed via either M-Pesa or bank accounts depending on the beneficiaries preferred means as specified during registration.The implementation of KLIP is done through a Public Private Partnership approach (PPP) spearheaded by the State Department of Livestock (SDL) under the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MOALF). The GoK purchases KLIP policies on behalf of the pastoralists targeted under the KLIP program. However, in case of an insurance payout, indemnified households receive their respective share of the payout directly from the underwriting insurance company/ies. Private Insurance companies registered in Kenya provide underwriting services for KLIP. The World Bank Group provides financial and technical support while ILRI provides awareness and capacity development support together with KLIP contract design. Various capacity development and awareness creation tools e.g. radio programs, posters, flyers, cartoon booklets, videos and training manuals have been used by KLIP to target pastoralists, partners and policy makers. A contract design tool has also been developed for KLIP with the support of ILRI and the WBG for insurance firms to use in determining their KLIP pricing options.Ashok Shah (centre), CEO of APA insurance company presenting the National KLIP payout cheque for all the 6 counties under KLIP. He is flunked by representatives of various insurance companies from the KLIP risk underwriting consortium (ILRI).Cabinets Secretary for the Ministry of Livestock Agriculture and Fisheries, issuing cheques to beneficiaries in Wajir County in March 2017. Looking on is the Wajir County governor, Ahmed Abdullahi (ILRI).The overall objective of KLIP is to reduce the risk of livestock mortality emanating from drought and to build the resilience of vulnerable pastoralists for enhanced and sustainable food security. KLIP is intended to enhance the capacity of pastoral communities to minimize weather related risks through provision of index based livestock insurance. KLIP's specific objectives are: i) To build the resilience of vulnerable pastoralists in Kenya's ASALs against the consequences of drought by developing and applying index based insurance products in the provision of livestock insurance services to the pastoralists.ii) To build capacities of the pastoral communities and stakeholders in the use of insurance for the reduction of weather related risks and rebuilding of livelihood support systems.iii) To increase Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) in the provision of index based livestock insurance to the vulnerable pastoralists whose livelihoods are dependent on livestock.Conditions hindering the implementation of the Technology/ ies applied under the Approach• Social/ cultural/ religious norms and values: The belief that rainfall or drought are both God's fate upon man is common both as a traditional and religious belief among pastoralist communities. Most of them hold that human beings should not try to control/ mitigate against such. There is also the concern of whether insurance is 'halal' in the context of Islamic Shariah. Both of these challenges have been widely addressed in the implementation of KLIP, through awareness creation and sensitization efforts done in consultation and involvement of national and local religious leaders together with insurance companies and the local communities.• Availability/ access to financial resources and services: Bureaucratic processes involved in the steps towards policy formulation puts at risk the guarantee for continued funding from the government of Kenya, especially in case of regime change. Efforts are being made to influence and initiate policy formulation at the national level. The SDL has also approached county governments where KLIP is being implemented to encourage them to contribute towards the scheme, in order to cover their local communities.Conditions enabling the implementation of the Technology/ ies applied under the Approach• Social/ cultural/ religious norms and values: Apart from being the main source of livelihoods for many of the communities living in Kenya's ASALs, pastoralism is a cultural practice that has been passed on from generation to generation. Pastoralists aspire to protect their herds from all manner of perils, including drought related livestock losses.• Availability/ access to financial resources and services: Financial support for KLIP mainly from GoK and the World Bank Group. This has been a great enabling factor as huge financial investment is required for premium subsidies, awareness creation, operations etc.• Collaboration/ coordination of actors: KLIP has leveraged academic research, advocacy, private sector partnerships, NGOs and other stakeholders working to improve the livelihoods in the pastoralist rangelands of Kenya. It has managed to tap into emerging innovations and insights from past work done for instance by ILRI and her partners such as AUSAID, DFID, USAID, Cornell University, European Union in the implementation of Index Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI), managing to further draw on both the knowledge generated and lessons learned (see references below).• Policies: KLIP enjoys the goodwill of various partners including the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), county governments, the national treasury, National Parliament, the Presidency and other key stakeholders who are willing to support the program in policy formulation and advocacy to create an enabling environment for the scaling-up of KLIP and further commercialization of index insurance by private local insurance companies and other financial sector players.  Financial/ material support provided to land users Over 14,000 households currently under KLIP receive fully subsidized livestock insurance cover where the government of Kenya fully funds the premiums at an average rate of Ksh. 3000 per TLU, based on the cost of feeding 1 TLU during the months affected with severe drought during in a year. Each pastoralist receives cover for a maximum of 5 cows (5 TLU). However the SDL plans to provide for a partially subsidized KLIP cover, which can be purchased by any interested pastoralist, for as long as they are willing to pay for a partial cost of the premium. Further considerations are underway to assess the possibility of making voluntary insurance more accessible and affordable to pastoralists by partial premium subsidies.partly financed fully financedThe government pays premiums on behalf of the pastoralists but is the policy holder. However, in-case a payout is triggered, the pastoralists receive the indemnity directly. Over time, the GoK plans to reduce the size of public support by transitioning into voluntary type of insurance.no yes, little yes, moderately yes greatlyDid the Approach empower local land users, improve stakeholder participation? KLIP has facilitated regular stakeholder interactions leveraging various partnerships forged within its PPP framework. Local communities, county governments, national government and NGOs are all engaged in the quest to find solutions for the pastoralists, who face repetitive cycles of devastating droughts.KLIP has largely enabled evidence-based decision making within the National treasury and Parliament as both entities have been considerably increasing annual financial allocations for KLIP. Other donors e.g. the World Bank continue to support KLIP implementation as well as there being increased interest from county governments to provide additional funding towards the program. Also more pastoralists are beginning to voluntarily purchase livestock insurance as they have experienced ho the product works through KLIP.The impact of KLIP on the target population with regards to land use and maintenance of SLM technologies is not yet observable as KLIP is only 3 years into implementation. Rigorous impact analysis may need to be conducted to establish such impacts. However, the rising demand for the KLIP product both from the insurance companies (supply side) and the pastoralists (demand side) is an indication of implementation and maintenance of the SLM (KLIP).Did the Approach mobilize/ improve access to financial resources for SLM implementation? Advocacy efforts have been directed at raising decision makers' awareness on the benefits of KLIP is having and the potential it holds for pastoralist communities country-wide. County governments and donors need to appreciate and be motivated towards playing a key role in the implementation KLIP.Did the Approach improve knowledge and capacities of land users to implement SLM? Insurance as a concept is complex and regulated entities in the sector seldom commit resources for awareness creation other than marketing of their individual products. KLIP implementation takes into account this situation and has continuously undertaken publicity and awareness creation about insurance with the aim of ensuring that consumers know about and understand the concept of insurance, and can make informed judgments and to take effective decisions in an insurance transaction. Did the Approach empower socially and economically disadvantaged groups? ILRI conducted a phone survey in 2017, where 643 phone numbers registered to beneficiaries under the KLIP program were selected out of the total 14,000 beneficiaries. Out of the 643, 337 beneficiaries were reached and out of these 300 were surveyed (37 either had no time or did not consent). Questions were asked about the Short Rain Short Dry 2016 and Long Rain Long Dry 2017 seasons. Of the 300 surveyed, 129 reported receiving KLIP payments associated with the SRSD 2016 drought. Out of these 58% indicated having spent the money on food. Based on this therefore, it can be noted that KLIP has moderately contributed to social and economic empowerment of disadvantaged groups.Did the Approach lead to improved food security/ improved nutrition? Under the same study described above, out of 300 beneficiaries surveyed, 129 reported receiving KLIP payments associated with the SRSD 2016 drought, 75 (58%) of these, reported having spent the cash on food stuff for their households. The KLIP study above also indicated increased access to markets as respondents were asked how they changed their response to the drought once they knew that the KLIP payouts were coming. Out of the 63 respondents to this question, more than 50% indicated that they increased purchase of, veterinary drugs & services together with forage and water for their animals.Did the Approach improve the capacity of the land users to adapt to climate changes/ extremes and mitigate climate related disasters? KLIP has so far been able to enhance the capacity of pastoral communities to minimize weather related risks through provision of index based livestock insurance build the resilience of vulnerable pastoralists in Kenya's ASALs. Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks g how to overcome• Full commercialization of livestock insurance might be a challenge to achieve considering that the private sector, especially insurance companies are profit oriented and might not be fully motivated to venture into the hard to reach, remote and poorly infrastructured ASALs of Kenya where KLIP is implemented. g Continuous capacity development and proper policy environment should be created to enable the private sector's desire to venture into the target regions and fully commercialize the product. • Sustainability -There is no government policy or legislative Act on KLIP. Its therefore not a guaranteed possibility that the government will support this in the long term. g Continued advocacy, lobbying and sensitization need to be done targeting the key policy makers. Also a proper exit strategy should be designed and put into action. Mara Beef provides a new direct to market sales approach for pastoralist's in Kenya, in an effort to make livestock production more viable to local landowners. This livestock production model is combined with rangeland management and training in an effort to improve pastoral livlihoods, restore rangelands and prevent degradation, and support biodiversity conservation.Mara Beef is a limited company that raises top quality beef on the edge of the Maasai Mara, Kenya. The Mara Beef company uses their own private land -Naretoi farm -as well as partnering with the Enonkishu Conservancy, to introduce high quality beef breeds to local herds, and sell the beef onto high end supermarkets and restaurants through their own abattoir. There is a large gap in the prime beef market in Kenya, and Mara Beef is trying to fill this gap. Other cuts, not prime cuts, are sold to other less expensive restaurants.The beef is slaughtered and butchered on site. Mara Beef is engaged in many facets of improved rangeland management; the management of Enonkishu Conservancy and Naretoi farms; through the Mara Training Centre, a training hub for rangeland management; and using the Mara Beef network to link pastoral communities with higher value market.The Enokishu Conservancy is a conservancy created on the edge of the Maasai Mara ecosystem, and is registered under the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies association. The conservancy is 6,000 acres in size, and is owned by 34 landowners who are Maasai pastoralists. Mara Beef has worked with the conservancy to develop a grazing plan for the conservancy. This plan encourages seasonal rotational grazing that allows grasslands to be heavily grazed for short periods, and allowed to recover over long periods. Conflict between predators and cattle is minimised through the use of mobile bomas (enclosures), to protect cattle at night. Integrating wildlife and livestock management into this conservancy aims to i) provide financial benefits through livestock sales from community cattle to build resilience to stochastic events, such as droughts; ii) to increase food security through supplementary income generation; iii) establish sustainable livestock production, to reduce rangeland degradation in an effort to restore and protect ecosystem functioning. This includes the improvement of soils, watershed protection, carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation. The conservancy pays each land owner to use the land for cattle fattening, and the average land rent paid to each landowner per year is $20 per acre, spending roughly $119,680 per year. Community members also receive conservancy fees from tourists visiting the area.  Finally Mara Beef also provides market linkages for the broader pastoral community to premium beef markets. This service lets pastoral communities from across the region to sell beef at a guaranteed price based on both weight and grade at the animals. This price is often significantly higher, on average around $50, than any price offered by local markets, and the lower transport costs and less weight loss on transport also benefit the seller. The emphasis on high quality beef, with high weight requirements, should have a broader affect on pastoral communities, encouraging improved rangeland management for improved livestock productivity. Although this process will be slow. Mara Beef, for example, was granted a loan from the Agricultural Finance Corporation in January 2017 to purchase malnourished cattle during the drought -where Mara Beef bought 1,000 animals from 105 individuals at an average of $250 per cow.Enonkishu conservancy (Lippa Wood (2017). Mara Training Centre;(Lippa Wood (2017).• Establish sustainable livestock production and premium market for pastoralists.• Improve grazing management systems through implementation and training.• Conserve and restore biodiversity through an integrate wildlife-livestock approach.Conditions enabling the implementation of the Technology/ ies applied under the Approach• Social/ cultural/ religious norms and values: Cultural and traditional ecological knowledge complements the teaching of the Mara Training Centre and the holistic management of Enonkishu conservancy.• Availability/ access to financial resources and services: Provision of a grant (and loan) through the African Enterprise Challenge Fund allowed for the improvement of the slaughter house; livestock purchases from community members; the establishment of Enonkishu conservation area; and the building of the Mara Training Centre Support has also been provided by WWF to help establish the conservation area.• Institutional setting: Enonkishu is a community onwned conservancy which operates as a legal entity and acts as the interaction point between Mara Beef and the local community.• Legal framework (land tenure, land and water use rights): Enonkishu conservancy has formed under the provisions of the Wildlife Act 2013 to form a conservancy, bringing together private landowners.• Knowledge about SLM, access to technical support: The creation of the Mara Training Centre acts as a hub of knowledge for information sharing and technical support in rangeland management, offering courses and extension services to communities. This is supported by the Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association and the Savory Institute.• Markets (to purchase inputs, sell products) and prices: The creation of the Mara Beef premium market ensures that pastoralists receive improved prices on their livestock compared to normal markets. The farm manager has a long history of working with rangeland management. They consulted with specialists from the region to help advise on the best way to manage grazing on Enonkishu, as well as including community dialogue on best practice. Mara Beef was set up with advise from business experts to build a sustainable and profitable beef business. The Mara Training Centre was developed in consultation with landowners and with experts from the fields of conservation and rangeland management.• Provision of knowledge on improved livestock production and rangeland management. • Provision of an improved market for cattle.• Creation of a production oriented approach provides the potential for improved rangeland management across the region.With pastoralists beginning to produce fewer, higher quality cattle for sale, through efforts to improve grazing management across the region. • This approach has a huge potential to be up-scaled to support community conservation through a sustainable and well managed livestock production and rangeland management model. • Mara Beef has also been a key catalyst of conversation across SSA relating to sustainable rangeland management, livestock production, and mixed livestock-wildlife ecosytems.Weaknesses/ disadvantages/ risks g how to overcome• Lack of ability to practice individual herding within the conservation area. g Use of tradtional Maasai community structures to enforce grazing rules.• The focus on cattle present a great opportunity, but sheep and goats also need a better, readily available market to increase off-take. g Building of a pack-house in Nairobi for goat meat for the export market, to compete with other markets. • Lack of impact on improved rangeland management beyond the Enonkishu area, especially when livestock is purchased from all over the country. There is also a lack of high quality cattle. g Establish links with other conservancies and landowner groups to encourage improved grazing management, producing higher quality cows. The model works to first buy cattle from NRT affiliated conservancies, these cattle are sold on weight and grade, and tries to embrace a more market-driven approach. Once bough cattle is quarantined and vaccinated on Lewa. They are then fattened and sold on to different markets depending on size and age.The program aims to benefit local people through providing an equitable market with similar or better rates than available and through revenue generation for each conservancy -to provide health and education benefit. A key goal of this benefit system is through channelling conservancy levies and behavioural change into improved rangeland management. Improved management, implemented by conservancies, will lead to improved productivity of the rangelands, increased livestock quality, increased revenue for pastoralists, and ultimately contribute to the goals of NRT -Peace and security; resilient livelihoods; productive rangelands; stable wildlife; and growing enterprise.NRT has a fully fledged grazing management team working across the conservancies to enhance pasture and land management is upheld by all members, this working by involving alienation of dry season and wet season grazing corridors in order to guarantee animal -wildlife sustainable grazing. Several technologies are implemented under this approach to improve rangeland management. Strategic destocking and cattle bunching in conservancies is one method. Supplementary feed is also provided to increase the weight gain of cattle before sale.   Kalama Community Wildlife Conservancy has been established with a hierarchical structure led by a board of 13 members (5 female, 8 male), one representing each of the 13 'zones' of the Conservancy. There are also three subcommittees for grazing, finances and tourism. The main aims are to improve the involvement of the community members in the overall management of the conservancy, the generation of additional income from high end tourism and wildlife conservation and the investment into improved land management. The main sources of funding are revenue from contracted high end tourism operation and donations (facilitated by Northern Rangelands Trust). The approximate breakdown of the funding sources is: Tourism including selling of handicrafts (60%), Donors (25%), County Government (5%), Livestock Trading (5%), Camping (5%). Improved livelihood and ownership in the management as well as shared responsibility and benefits are key incentives for the community members.Within the conservancy an attractive site on a hill overlooking the plains has been leased to an investor for the establishment of an exclusive tourist lodge on the principle of 'invest, operate and transfer', where the investor builds the infrastructure operates is for an agreed period and then transfers it to the community. Further several comping grounds are available for lower budget tourists. The conservancy profits from the neighbouring Samburu Game Reserves. This provides regular income from the lease of the land the entrance fees into the conservancy, employment opportunities for conservancy members (for catering, kitchen, house cleaning, rangers providing security for tourists and protection for wildlife as well as guides for safaris and for entertainment) and a market for selling handicrafts and souvenirs. Another cornerstone is their relationships with two trusts (Northern Rangeland Trust and the Grevy's Zebra Trust). They have been supportive in the implementation of several holistic rangeland management practices, which include 'bunched grazing' (livestock concentrated for short duration intensive grazing), short-term 'bomas' (livestock corrals occupied for ~7 days), clearing invasive species and reseeding with grass to assist land rehabilitation/restoration. The main aims are to maintain and/or improve rangeland productivity. Regarding methods, 'bunched grazing' is implemented by a team of herders ensuring the livestock are in a tight herd. Short-term 'bomas' are established on bare ground in the traditional manor (i.e. laying cut thorny  Making agreements for the use and sharing of income from tourism.Northern Rangeland Trust: Grevy's Zebra Trust.Joint planning of land management across the boundaries of the Community Wildlife Conservancy. Agreement for movement across boundaries and sharing of common resources.• Markets (to purchase inputs, sell products) and prices: Limited direct access to markets further afield (e.g. Nairobi or international markets), with better prices.• Workload, availability of manpower: Large areas of land awaiting rehabilitation, which would require large amounts of labour.Kalama Wildlife Community Conservancy.• Land previously considered unproductive is now considered grazing land. • Increased infiltration, reduced run-off and soil erosion.• Regeneration of the grassland in the 'core conservation area' (a central area with minimised grazing pressure demarcated for tourism) attracts wildlife, which in turn benefits tourism.• Where implemented, restoration activities and reduced grazing pressure have increased productivity and diversity or grasses and forbs for livestock and wildlife forage. • Takes advantage of inherent capacity of the land to recover. • Improved attractiveness for tourism.Land user's view • The expectation from the community regarding the tourismrelated jobs and income are too high. g Raising awareness about the limitations of benefits from tourism. • Increased pressure on 'Core Area' due to higher grass/ forage production. g Strictly enforce local by-laws that restrict grazing in the 'Core Area'. • Rangers under-equipped and lack sufficient capacity. g Source more equipment and provide training/capacity building for rangers.• Very few land users are implementing the practices (e.g. shortterm 'bomas' and 'bunched grazing'). g Although likely unfeasible, one possible solution might be for the community to manage the livestock communally and share the produce rather than individual ownership, which creates conflicts in motivation between the individual and the wider community. • Paying community members to undertake restoration activities has limited the area rehabilitated to date and led to a reliance on donor funding for land restoration. This may also be eroding the community's social capital by placing a monetary value on land health and thus devaluing it and replacing the inherent sense of value of land health that may have existed previously. g Encouraging voluntary participation in restoration activities may not only increase the area rehabilitated but also improve long-term maintenance through cultivating a sense of ownership. • Lack of adherence to and enforcement of grazing rules limits the success of sustainable land management efforts. g Strictly enforce local grazing rules and by-laws.Did the Approach improve the capacity of the land users to adapt to climate changes/ extremes and mitigate climate related disasters? Over such a short period, this is difficult to make any statements about.The conservancy structure creates jobs such as: managerial, committee membership, accounting, security, temporary labour. Comment: Lack of funding prevents larger areas from being rehabilitated through clearing of invasive species and reseeding with grass. Moreover, inability to control grazing pressure to give adequate rest to rehabilitating areas has led to unsuccessful restoration efforts. However, restoration efforts may gradually become voluntary in the future and land users may be insentience to adhere to local grazing rules.Comment: Initial costs for the establishment of the practices (e.g. cutting of invasive species are fully covered through income and resources from tourism and support from the trusts aesthetic improvement attractive landscape less degraded and monotonous due to one invasive species. The NamibRand Nature Reserve is a not-for-profit organisation in south-western Namibia. It was founded in 1984 through the initiative of one farm owner, Albi Brueckner, who agreed, with 16 neighbouring farmers, to jointly manage their 215,000 ha for nature conservation and tourism. Its aims are:• To conserve biodiversity for the benefit of future generations and protect the sensitive and fragile environment.• To create a nature reserve with a healthy and functioning ecosystem, providing a sanctuary for flora and fauna, and to facilitate seasonal migratory routes in partnership with neighbours.• To promote sustainable utilisation -through ecologically sustainable and high-quality tourism and other projects.• To achieve a commercially viable operation to ensure continuity and financial independence.The NamibRand Nature Reserve's contributions to biodiversity conservation, in accordance with the environmental management plan, include the following:• Removal of over 2,000 km of fencing to reinstate wildlife migration routes.• Re-introduction of giraffe and cheetah.• Bolstering numbers of red hartebeest and plains zebra.• Removal of alien invasive vegetation such as Prosopis species and replacing these with indigenous Acacias.• Zonation according to land use areas, including the setting aside 15% of the reserve as a wilderness area.• Limiting overnight visitors to an average of one bed per 1,000 ha, and 25 beds per location.• Conducting annual game counts, with results posted on the website www.namibrand.org Comment: The first property was purchased in 1984. The reserve was registered as a Game Reserve in 1992 and registered as the NamibRand Nature Reserve, an Association Not for Gain, in 2002.The approach aims, through participatory land use planning, to restore ecosystem function in the reserve and its surroundings to support high-quality, low-impact tourism that provides the means to support environmental education and other conservation projects.The overall Strategic Vision of the NamibRand Nature Reserve is to manage the Pro-Namib area, alongside the Namib Desert, for the enhanced conservation of the landscape and its biodiversity.School pupils on an environmental education tour (Samuel Fernadez-Diekert).Participants of a vulture awareness workshop (Lee Tindall).• Hosting researchers to study game migration routes. Results of wildlife monitoring, through the use of GPS collars are at: http://www. landscapesnamibia.org/sossusvlei-namib/research• Hosting the Namib Desert Environmental Education Trust (NaDEET), to empower and educate schoolchildren for a sustainable future.It operates an environmental education and sustainable living centre (www.nadeet.org).• A lighting management plan to qualify as an international dark sky reserve that avoids negative consequences of light pollution on biodiversity -which can interfere with animal navigation, reduce the hunting success of predators and prevent moths from pollinating (http://www.darksky.org/idsp/reserves/namibrand)• A water management plan, including monitoring of the impact of a water hole on the surrounding vegetation.• Implementation of tourism and land use zonation plans.• Capture and sale of live game for wildlife population management purposes.• Plans to develop a horticultural project to grow indigenous medicinal plants for commercial production, creating local jobs and income for conservation.Rangeland management is achieved largely through continual monitoring and control of animal populations, and the balance between functional groups of their species, and turning off the water supply where grasses are in need of rest. Local outreach efforts focus mainly on predator-livestock management on neighbouring farms.Stakeholders comprise the land owners, who agree on joint management, and the tourism concessionaires who operate in the reserve under contract. The reserve employs 12 people who are responsible for day-to-day management and maintenance. Biodiversity and land management are funded from park fees collected by the concessionaires from tourists who stay at their establishments. This small management team is possible, because tourism concessionaires offer scenic game drives across the reserve, while on the lookout for required action. For example, guides report issues such as leaking water pipes, unusual wildlife sightings, injured animals, and trespassers (etc.) to reserve managers, who can then react.Land owners who have connected their land to the reserve and are members of the NamibRand Nature Reserve Association have the option of serving as directors of the association, with joint decision making powers. Those who choose not can still contribute to the strategic mission of the reserve at annual general meetings.• Social/ cultural/ religious norms and values: The area was historically visited by migrant San people and more recently by Nama people, who have settled permanently elsewhere. Since no people were living permanently in this hyper-arid ecosystem, the use of the area exclusively for nature conservation remains uncontested.• Availability/ access to financial resources and services: The establishment of the reserve was initially possible through the ample financial resources of wealthy, altruistic and philanthropic investors.• Institutional setting: Progressive government company laws, such as the possibility to register a Section 21 company ('Association Not for Gain') allow financial resources to be re-invested in conservation so as to further the objectives of the non-profit association. Section 21 companies also do not have to pay company taxes to the government.• Collaboration/ coordination of actors: Articles of Association and the management plan allow for the creation of a management team that effectively coordinates all activities on the reserve.• Legal framework (land tenure, land and water use rights): Rights and therefore the possibility to benefit from wildlife are enshrined in the Nature Conservation Ordinance of 1975.Conditions hindering the implementation of the Technology/ ies applied under the Approach• Availability/ access to financial resources and services: The properties that make up the NamibRand Nature Reserve are located in a hyper-arid ecosystem. Farmers who attempted livestock farming there in the past almost all failed to establish economically viable farms, and most of them overextended themselves financially, resulting in the foreclosure of their farms. For this reason, the area became known as the 'Bankruptcy Belt'. Banks were, in the past, extremely reluctant to extend loans to landowners in this area, due to the low value and low agricultural potential. In recent years, the successes of conservation and tourism have changed this situation and banks are now prepared to accept farms with such land use as collateral for extending loans.• Legal framework (land tenure, land and water use rights): The current Nature Conservation Ordinance of 1975 does not allow for the registration of private nature reserves. The status of the land with the government thus remains as agricultural land, and law enforcement has to rely on common law such as trespassing on private property.• Markets (to purchase inputs, sell products) and prices: The remoteness of the reserve, 150km from the nearest town, results in expensive transport charges for goods and inflated prices for professional services.• Policies: Progressive, enabling policies of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, such as the tourism policy and the parks and neighbours policy ensure meaningful collaborations between the public and the private sector. See http://www.met.gov.na• Land governance (decision-making, implementation and enforcement): Good governance is achieved through the adoption of Articles of Association and management plans. These guide decision-making and enable implementation. A set of rules, called the Vade Mecum, enable enforcement.• Knowledge about SLM, access to technical support: Good networking, membership to various professional bodies and collaboration with universities and researchers ensure good knowledge about sustainable land management and technical support.• Markets (to purchase inputs, sell products) and prices: A well-established tourism market to Namibia ensures a steady stream of visitors to the NamibRand Nature Reserve, enabling the collection of park fees and thus ensuring income for the reserve.• Workload, availability of manpower: Guides from tourism concessions on the reserve allow for sharing of workloads. Availability of human resources in the region is ample. Training was provided to the following stakeholders land users field staff/ advisers tourism concessionairesBiodiversity conservation, financial management, tourism best practices, principles of co-management, human-wildlife conflict resolution, rehabilitation.on-the-job farmer-to-farmer demonstration areas public meetings courses exchange visitsEwaso Ng'iro river -source of water in dry rangelands, Kenya (Hanspeter Liniger).Annex GlossaryThis glossary covers the most important technical terms used in this publication. Where there are no references cited for the entries, these are working definitions as employed by the authors -in the context of the book. It must be pointed out that some terms -such as 'rangelands' itself have multiple definitions in the literature. For some entries we give alternative definitions. Bold terms in a definition are defined in the glossary.For a more comprehensive glossary on rangeland related terms the reader is referred to the glossary list of 'Global Rangelands' 1 , the glossary chapter (Appendix 4) of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA 2005b), and 'an international terminology for grazing lands and grazing animals (Allen et al. 2011).Adaptation: Adjustment in natural or human systems to a new or changing environment (MEA 2005).Agrobiodiversity: The variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms that are used directly or indirectly for food and agriculture, including crops, livestock, forestry and fisheries 2 .Agro-ecological zones: Geographic regions having similar climate and soils for agriculture (FAO 1978).Agropastoralism: Systems that, in addition to pastoral livestock production, involve some form of crop cultivation (Allen et al. 2011).Agropastoralists: People who practice agropastoralism.The variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of habitats (based on Convention on Biological Diversity) 3 .Biome: A major portion of the living environment of a particular region (such as a fir forest or grassland), characterized by its distinctive vegetation and maintained largely by local climatic conditions 4 .Browsing: Feeding of herbivores on leaves, soft shoots/ woody twigs, or fruits of high-growing, generally woody, plants such as shrubs and trees.Capacity building: A process of strengthening or developing human resources and skills, institutions, organizations, or networks (e.g. through training, etc.). Also referred to as capacity development or capacity enhancement (MEA 2005).Carrying capacity: The maximum stocking rate that will achieve a target level of animal performance, in a specified grazing system and that can be applied over a defined time without deterioration of the grazing land (Allen et al. 2011).The process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects. In human systems, adaptation seeks to moderate or avoid harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. In some natural systems, human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate and its effects (IPCC 2014).Climate change mitigation (CCM): Efforts to reduce or prevent emission of greenhouse gases. Mitigation can mean using new technologies and renewable energies, making older equipment more energy efficient, or changing to more sustainable management practices or consumer behaviour 5 .The capacity of social, economic, and environmental systems to cope with a hazardous event or trend or disturbance, responding or reorganizing in ways that maintain their essential function, identity, and structure, while also maintaining the capacity for adaptation, learning, and transformation.(IPCC 2014, building on the definition used in Arctic Council 2013)Common property resource: A good or service shared by a welldefined community (MEA 2005).Conservation: The protection, care, management and maintenance of ecosystems, habitats, wildlife species and populations, within or outside of their natural environments, in order to safeguard the natural conditions for their long-term permanence 6 .Conservancy: Land set aside by an individual landowner, body corporate, group of owners or a community for purposes of wildlife conservation 7 .Cropland: Land devoted to the production of cultivated crops. May be used to produce forage crops (Allen et al. 2011).Decision maker: A person whose decisions, and the actions that follow from them, can influence a condition, process, or issue under consideration (MEA 2005).Degradation of land: Reduction or loss of biological or economic productivity of the land (see Box 2.3) 8 .Desertification: Land degradation in drylands resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities (see Box 2.3) 9 (based on MEA 2005).Desert: Land on which vegetation is sparse or absent and is characterized by an arid climate. Deserts may be classified as hot or cold deserts depending on latitude and elevation (Allen et al. 2011).Dry forests: A type of forest characterized by relatively sparse distributions of pine, juniper, oak, olive, acacia, mesquite, and other drought-resistant species growing in scrub woodland, savanna, or chaparral settings, occurs in the southwestern United States, Mediterranean region, sub-Saharan Africa, and semiarid regions of Mexico, India, and Central and South America. 10   Drylands: Ecosystems characterized by a lack of water. They include cultivated lands, scrublands, shrublands, grasslands, savannahs, semi-deserts and true deserts. The lack of water constrains the production of crops, forage, wood, and other ecosystem services. Four dryland subtypes are widely recognized: dry sub-humid, semiarid, arid, and hyperarid, showing an increasing level of aridity or moisture deficit 11 .Ecosystem functions: An intrinsic characteristic of an ecosystem related to the set of conditions and processes through which an ecosystem maintains its integrity. They include such processes as water cycling, nutrient cycling, production, decomposition, and fluxes of energy (MEA 2005).Ecosystem services: The benefits people obtain from ecosystems. These services are categorized into (a) provisioning services such as food and water, (b) regulating services such as flood and disease control, (c) cultural services such as spiritual, recreational, and cultural benefits, and (d) supporting services, such as nutrient cycling, that maintain the conditions of life on Earth (MEA 2005 andLiniger et al. 2017).Ecological gradient: A gradation from one ecosystem to another when there is no sharp boundary between the two. 12.Nomadism: Nomads are members of a group of people who have no fixed home and move according to the seasons from place to place in search of food, water, and grazing land 20 . Their movements are opportunistic following pasture and water resources in a pattern that varies from year to year according to the availability of resources (Liniger et al. 2011).Non-livestock rangeland products: Products from the rangelands that are not livestock related. Sometimes wildlife and tourism (and even carbon credits) are included in this category, but it is normally used to describe medicinal plants, plants yielding products of commercial value such as honey, gum arabic (from Acacia senegal), shea butter, handicrafts, etc.Off-site: Downstream: away from fields or principal area of activity; concerns adjacent areas or areas further away from the area where specific activities are applied. Used to demonstrate that activities in one area also have impacts outside the area (e.g. downstream flooding) 21 .On-site: Refers to the area in which a land management practice is applied, the location itself 22 .Opportunism: Conscious policy and practice of taking advantage of circumstances -with little regard for principles or with what the consequences are for others. Or: the art, policy, or practice of taking advantage of opportunities or circumstances often with little regard for principles or consequences 23 .Pastoral system: A livestock production system found in rangeland areas where livestock grazing is the predominant form of land use (FAO, 2002).Pastoralism: A livelihood system based on open, yet managed, grazing of animals on natural or semi-natural grassland, grassland with trees, and/or open woodlands. Animal owners may or may not have a permanent residence while livestock are moved to distant grazing areas, according to the availability of resources (Jenet et al. 2016).Pastoralists: People who practice pastoralism Pasture: Land used permanently (five years or more) to grow herbaceous forage crops, either cultivated or growing wild (wild prairie or grazing land) for harvest by grazing, cutting, or both 24 (Allen et al. 2011).Productivity: The rate at which goods are produced or work is completed 25 . In the context of this book: mostly related to land productivity as the rate of biomass and the quality produced.Ranch: Commercial raising of grazing animals, mainly for meat but also milk and other products under extensive production systems usually with controlled boundaries and paddocks 26 .Rangelands: ecosystems that are dominated by grasses, grass-like plants, combined with various degrees of bush and tree cover that are predominantly grazed or browsed, and which are used as a natural and semi-natural ecosystem for the production of livestock and safeguarding of wildlife and additional ecosystem services (Blench and Sommer 1999, Allen et al. 2011and McGahey et al. 2014).Rangeland condition: Range condition is the present state of health of the range in relation to what it could be with a given set of environmental and managerial factor 27 .Rangeland degradation: Reduction in the capacity of the rangeland to provide ecosystem goods and services, over a period of time, for its beneficiaries (Bunning et al. 2011). Land degradation includes: soil erosion by water and wind, chemical and physical soil deterioration, and biological and water degradation (WOCAT 2018).The state of the rangeland -reflecting the degree of rangeland degradation and the ecosystem functions and services rendered.Equilibrium/ non-equilibrium: Equilibrium grazing systems and strategies are characterised by climatic stability that results in predictable primary production allowing optimal stocking rates because livestock reproduce and produce at a rate determined by the availability of feed, which is an inverse function of stock density. Non-equilibrium grazing systems and strategies are suited to situations where low and erratic rainfall produces unpredictable fluctuations in forage supplies and hence setting stocking rates is of little value because fluctuation in rainfall has a stronger effect than animal numbers on the abundance of forage (Behnke 2000).Governance: The process of regulating human behaviour in accordance with shared objectives. The term includes both governmental and non-governmental mechanisms (MEA 2005).Grassland: Land where grass or grass-like vegetation grows and is the dominant form of plant life 13 .Grazable forestland: Forestland that produces, at least periodically, understorey vegetation that can be grazed. Trees and shrubs can be browsed. (Allen et al. 2010).Grazing: Feeding of herbivores on herbaceous forage (grass or forbs).Group ranch: A livestock production system or enterprise where a group of people jointly own freehold title to land, maintain agreed stocking levels and herd their livestock collectively which they own individually. Selection of members to a particular group ranch was based on kinship and traditional land rights 14 .Forage/ forage crops: Edible parts of plants, other than separated grain, that can provide feed for grazing animals or that can be harvested for feeding. (Allen et al. 2011).Functional heterogeneity: Spatial and temporal variation in the grass height (structure), productivity, phenology, composition and chemical attributes of grassland and savannah plant communities, which determine the abundance, stability, diversity and spatial distribution of large mammalian herbivores 15 .Heterogeneity: Associated with variable patterns and processes that are dynamic in space and time and lead to complexity that is an essential characteristic of rangelands (Fuhlendorf et al. 2017).Holistic management: \"Manage the relationships between land, grazing animals and water in ways that mimic nature\" 16 .Intrinsic value: The value of someone or something in and for itself, irrespective of its utility for someone else 17 . Hence, every species has a value and role in nature. It has a right to exist, whether or not it is known to be useful to humans.Landscape: An area of land that contains a mosaic of ecosystems, including human-dominated ecosystems (MEA 2005).Land use: Human activities, which are directly related to the land, making use of its resources, or having an impact upon it (WOCAT 2018).Livelihood: Comprises the capabilities, assets (human, social, natural, physical, financial, and political capitals) and activities required for a means of living: a livelihood is sustainable which can cope with and recover from stress and shocks, maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets, and provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for the next generation 18 (based on Chambers and Conway 1992).Natural grassland: Natural ecosystem dominated by indigenous or naturally occurring grasses and other herbaceous species used mainly for grazing by livestock and wildlife (Allen et al. 2011).Natural resources: Resources produced by nature, commonly subdivided into non-renewable resources, such as minerals and fossil fuels, and renewable natural resources that propagate or sustain life and are naturally self-renewing when properly managed, including plants and animals, as well as soil and water 19 . This approach, traditional in nature, consists of a Geographical Information System, which integrates the water resources, the movement of populations, and the spatial distribution of grazing land, also in terms of the quantities of forage resources. The aim of the approach is to provide a tool to support the management of pastoralism and the identification, tracking and prevention of potential food crises. Identifying and prioritizing scheme sites using a territorial, multi-stakeholder approachThe desired objectives are to identify the priority actions for investment that have been agreed by local actors within the framework of the pastoral scheme, and to develop lowland areas.Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ); HELVETAS -Swiss Intercooperation"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f13a5ef5c41cf31a0e5bad031819983a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4427cc8f-861c-4771-b989-8f58e6a7ce23/retrieve","id":"-1844274468"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0f7af4d8-9059-47f5-bf21-0ad56f265d12","content":"La peste des petits ruminants (PPR) est une contrainte major aux moyens de subsistance et a la sécurité alimentaire des petits producteurs/éleveurs. L'épidémiologie et la biologie du virus de la PPR a beaucoup de choses en commun avec le virus de la peste bovine (PB), qui a été globalement éradiqué. Ce document présente une stratégie pour le contrôle progressif de la PPR en s'appuyant sur les enseignements tirés de l'éradication de la peste bovine. Le contrôle progressif de la PPR repose sur une approche modulaire consistant en une série de phases autonomes, chacune des phases ayant son propre ensemble de résultats. Les principaux résultats intermédiaires seront des modèles avérées applicables pour la fourniture de services durables pour le contrôle de la PPR et le renforcement des capacités des institutions de santé animale afin de cibler les services de contrôle pour certains points critiques. Le projet favorisera une méthode de gestion adaptée qui intègre des approches d'apprentissage qui stimuleront l'innovation institutionnelle de la santé animale. Une orientation coordonnée vers des objectifs à long terme en santé animale ajoute de la valeur aux investissements en cours dans la lutte contre les maladies infectieuses.Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), or small ruminant plague, is a viral disease primarily affecting goats and sheep that causes significant economic impact in Africa and Asia. The virus is also known to cause fatal disease in camels and asymptomatic infection of cattle and wildlife. PPR was originally recognized in West Africa in 1942 and for many years was seen as a seasonally epidemic disease in Sahelian regions. The disease was subsequently recognized in Central and Eastern Africa, the Middle East, South Asia in 1970s, 80s 90s respectively (Figure 1). Thereafter it appeared in Central Asia and most recently it entered Tibet and now threatens China.As a disease of small ruminants, PPR is noted for its impact on the livelihoods and food security of the poor and marginalized segments of society. In recent years, PPR has caused major outbreaks in East Africa and has spread to Morocco. The rest of North Africa, Southern Europe, and Southern Africa are now considered at risk of infection unless coordinated action is taken. The socio-economic losses associated with PPR mainly result from the high case mortality rates that is characteristic of the disease. This negatively affects income from production and valueaddition in marketing chains. PPR is a constraint to trade, although this impact is mitigated in local and regional markets due to its wide geographic distribution at present. Small ruminants are recognized as ready sources of food and cash and women and disadvantaged households often rely on small ruminants. Small ruminants are an important means to rebuild herds after environmental and political shocks. Thus, they are an important component of pastoral coping mechanism. The main benefits of sustained PPR control will be enhanced food security, coping mechanisms and poverty reduction.The etiologic agent is a member of the Morbillivirus genus and a close relative of rinderpest virus, a disease of cattle that has recently been globally eradicated. The eradication of RP was aided by features of the disease and available control tools that contributed to successful control. There was only one sero type and live attenuated RP vaccines gave life-long protection against all strains of the virus. There was no carrier state: infection was short lived and resulted in either death or life-long immunity. The virus did not survive for long outside the animal host: it was readily destroyed by heat, sunlight, chemicals and disinfectants. Thus, the virus needed a continuous source of new susceptible animals to survive. Proven diagnostic tests were available. PPR shares all these characteristics. At the level of animal health institutions, the eradication of RP has created an increased awareness and capacity for coordinated control interventions based upon sound epidemiological approaches that are driven by socio-economic incentives. In addition, considerable progress was made to enhance surveillance capacity, regulatory environments as well as private sector and community participation.There is now significant demand for a coherent, long-term strategy for the progressive control of PPR. This document presents a strategy for the progressive control of PPR. The initial objective is to establish sustainable control systems that benefit poor livestock keepers and national economies. The strategy is consistent with a long-term objective of eradication, but does not require a commitment to eradication at the outset. Each phase of the strategy is self-sufficient in that it will provide economically justified, durable outputs with the resources provided. Further, the strategy consists of a set of regional programs anchored in the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and integrated in a continental framework. The principles guiding the PPR progressive control strategy depend largely on experiences to date in the animal health sector. Some salient principles are:$Q DGDSWLYH PDQDJHPHQW DSSURDFK will be taken. The progressive control program will be structured to maximize uptake of lessons learnt during the implementation of the program. The technical and institutional strategy will be updated regularly to ensure maximum relevance to current knowledge and experience.6XUYHLOODQFH DQG FRQWURO LQWHUYHQWLRQV will be risk-based and epidemiologically targeted to maximize impact and economic efficiency. Specific epidemiological research will be carried out to identify critical points for control interventions.7KH SURJUDP ZLOO FRQWLQXH WKH tradition of being innovative in surveillance and control through the incorporation of action research within on-going field activities.3DUWQHUVKLS WR PRELOL]H WKH EURDG resources of animal health institutions at national, regional and international levels 5HJLRQDO VWUDWHJLHV ZLOO EH WDLORUHG WR local small ruminant health priorities. PPR control will be combined with other activities such as vaccination against contagious caprine pleuropneumoia and/ or sheep and goat pox, provision of therapeutic services for the control of ecto and endo-parasites and other endemic diseases impacting on small ruminant production and productivity etc. to increase efficiency, broaden impact and encourage fuller participation.7KH 3DQ $IULFDQ SURJUDP ZLOO EH implemented in the context of global PPR progressive control programs and OIE principles.It is a recognised principle that the probability of disease transmission is not uniform across national populations. There are often a number of risk factors that contribute to the overall risk of disease transmission in a particular community, production system or value chain. These risk factors are often quite simple attributes of the sub-population such as the amount of movement, exchange of animals, distance from services and inter-species contact or interaction with wildlife.When the nature and distribution of risk factors for transmission and maintenance of an agent are known, it becomes possible to target surveillance and control measures to high risk settings. This maximizes impact and minimizes cost. Effective targeting of high risk communities through participatory disease surveillance was one of the factors in the success of rinderpest eradication, but can also make control programs more efficient where the goal is sustained suppression of disease and disease impact rather than eradication.The risk factors for transmission and maintenance of PPR are partially understood, but more information on the interaction of wildlife and livestock as well as on the role of specific production systems/activities would contribute to effective targeting. delivery systems that include payment for services. Thus, a range of proven service delivery models are needed as well as guidance on the conditions under which different models may be appropriate to conditions and objectives.The Pan-African PPR Strategy advocates for a period of experimentation where a series of service delivery options are evaluated under different conditions. This will build an evidence base for making informed policy decisions. The issues to be explored are:&RVW In line with the adaptive management approach, a number of learning and research activities will be undertaken to enhance the institutional capacity, technical tools and ability to target interventions. Underpinning this is the need for a clear and up-to-date understanding of the socio-economic context in which PPR progressive control is being undertaken so that interventions are delivered in a manner that allows socio-economic forces to effectively drive the program to a successful, sustainable outcome.(FRQRPLF DQDO\\VLV RI WKH LPSDFWV EHQHILW cost of progressive control, cost-effectiveness of control options, and incentives for economic contribution and participation (SLGHPLRORJLF UHVHDUFK WR EHWWHU understand transmission dynamics, the different roles of wildlife and livestock species, production systems, ecosystems and viral lineages with the goal of identifying critical points and optimal methods of intervention at critical control points.$FWLRQ UHVHDUFK DQG SROLF\\ GLDORJXH RQ public-private-community partnerships to deliver control and surveillance services. 4XHVWLRQV LQFOXGH WKH EHVW XVH RI FRPPXQLW\\ animal health workers, gender issues, and the role of producers' associations, non-JRYHUQPHQWDO RUJDQL]DWLRQV RU RWKHU FLYLO society actors in service delivery. The goal is to develop and test new business models for the VXVWDLQHG FRPPHUFLDOL]HG GHOLYHU\\ RI GLVHDVH control services *RRG GLDJQRVWLF WRROV H[LVW +RZHYHU refinement and elaboration of diagnostics will add value to the range of existing tools. Work to define minimal performance characteristics of diagnostic assays and establish bench marking procedures for diagnostic networks is QHHGHG 6WDQGDUGL]DWLRQ RI WRROV VKRXOG LQFOXGH tests for confirming outbreaks, tracking molecular epidemiology, supporting diagnostics for the field (pen-side tests) and sero-monitoring of vaccinated flocks.&XUUHQWO\\ UHFRJQL]HG YDFFLQHV EDVHG RQ the Nigeria 75/1 strain of attenuated PPR virus have been found to be safe and effective in both research trials and during widespread field use. This technology is more than sufficient for the initiation of progressive control activities. +RZHYHU LPSURYHPHQWV LQ YDFFLQH thermostability and the ability to distinguish between animals immune through vaccination $+0(' (/6$:$/+< -())5(< & 0$5,1(5 ',&.(16 &+,%(8 +(15< :$0:$<, 6$08(/ :$.+86$0$ :,//,$0 2/$+208.$1, $1' 3+,//,3 72<(The Pan African PPR Strategy will be anchored in the regional economic communities in order to ensure strong ownership and local relevance. Control interventions that address local small ruminant health priorities will be bundled to ensure maximum impact at the household level and strong producer participation. and those that are immune due to recovery from natural infection would be advantageous. 1. Several approaches to thermostable vaccines have been described to the level of proof of concept. More work is needed to compare alternative approaches and to develop a full database on thermostability as an evidence base to support the confident roll out of a thermostable vaccine on a broad scale. 2. Research to develop a marked vaccine and complementary serological tests as part of a differentiating infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA) strategy for vaccines based on the Nigeria 75/1 strain will be supported.The Pan PPR strategy will support research as an integral part of the coordination activity. As was the experience with RP eradication, optimal impact of research resulted from research embedded in the action program. Independent research will also be encouraged. Key research stakeholders in PPR and morbillivirus research are the reference laboratories recognized by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the Joint Division of FAO and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), National Diagnostic Laboratories and National Agricultural Research Services (NARS) and academic institutions where appropriate. As in the past, the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as a source of innovation and a valuable partner for action research and field validation of new approaches will continue.One of the lessons learnt from the global eradication of rinderpest was that effective coordination adds value to animal health investment by channelling otherwise divergent activities towards a coherent and sustainable objective. A sense of ownership among stakeholders contributes to the success of coordinated programs.The role of coordination is to convene inclusive dialogue to define and refine strategies, to harmonize approaches across regions and the continent, to assist in the process of governance including the development of policy, regulations and legislation. Coordination means knowledge management and information exchange. Guidance on monitoring and evaluation activities is considered an important coordination task. Coordination includes strong action to advocate for program support in technical, political and financial terms at all levels.AU-IBAR is best placed to coordinate the Pan African PPR Strategy due to the recognition of their:Continental mandate as the organization of African states for the coordination of the utilization of animal resources Proven leadership in RP eradication African ownership and strong commitment Convening authority in Africa It is the policy of the African Union that programs are implemented through the regional economic communities (RECs) (Figure 2). Following this policy, the Pan African PPR Strategy can develop locally appropriate strategies that address regional small ruminant health problems thus assuring greater participation and impact. Working through the RECs, will also enhance ownership.At the national level, veterinary services will lead program activities. It is anticipated that veterinary services will act in a manner consistent with the principles of good governance and seek to facilitate and manage activities by creating an enabling environment for broad stakeholder participation. It is anticipated that national services will work with private practitioners, veterinary associations, community-based organizations/programs, producers and producer associations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) as well as value chain stakeholders and trading partners to implement PPR progressive control.Key partners for research and diagnostics service networks are the OIE and FAO Morbillivirus Reference Centers, ILRI, national diagnostic laboratories, IAEA and NARS. In terms of vaccine, AU-PANVAC and vaccine producers are key partners. The program will undertake to facilitate the production of high quality vaccine as an essential input.International organizations such as the OIE and FAO are essential partners. It is anticipated that the Pan African Strategy will be implemented in the context of a global program facilitated by the international organizations. The OIE's leadership in terms of establishing standards for participation in trade and achievable pathways to national freedom from disease will play a key role in shaping the strategy.One of the lessons from rinderpest was that the NGOs played several key roles in facilitating eradication. In fact, eradication would not have been accomplished without them. They often stepped forward to create service delivery systems in some of the most daunting and dangerous environments. The NGOs also took the lead in the animal health institutional enhancements that were conditions for the success of rinderpest eradication as well as being positive outcomes in their own right. Finally, the NGOs have been key partners in the validation of new approaches and the empowerment of stakeholders to advocate for animal health institutional change.Effective knowledge management will be an important component of the coordination strategy. AU-IBAR will act as the host organization in terms of collating information on the disease situation and disease impact. National reporting through the ARIS-2 system will be strengthened with appropriate attention to digital reporting technologies for field use. In this manner, progressive control of PPR will have knock-on benefits in terms of better information exchange. Every effort will be made to harmonize disease reporting systems across the region and globally.AU-IBAR will host forums for sharing of knowledge on epidemiology, vaccines and diagnostics, and animal health institutions that bring together diverse professionals specialized in action, learning and discovery. The knowledge management unit will seek to develop new applications for information exchange that take advantage of the revolution in social networking technologies. The goal will be to maximize adaptive learning and to promote progressive evolution in practices and policies. To this end, the knowledge management unit will maintain up to date guidance documents on strategy, technical tools, and policy on the web.The foundation of the adaptive management approach is a complete study of the lessons from RP eradication. To this end, the initial stages of the Pan African PPR Strategy call for objective assessments of the interventions implemented as part of RP eradication. These studies should look at institutional, economic, environmental and epidemiological impact of the global eradication.One salient lesson from RP eradication was that not enough was done to measure impact. The Pan African PPR Strategy proposes that action should be taken to maximize learning in order to institutionalize adaptive management from the outset. To accomplish this, the program will gather baseline information and establish sets of process and performance indicators, impact indicators and desired outcomes. Animal health institutional change and capacity development is critical to the success of progressive control. In order to maximize learning in this area, a more systematic approach to understanding animal health institutions and institutional change will be undertaken. This will include: Institutional mapping Documenting service delivery systems and their performance Documenting surveillance systems and their performance Analysis of incentives and drivers for participation as they relate to the abovePPR is an important constraint to food security and the livelihoods of poor farmers. Existing knowledge, experience and technology provide a solid platform for embarking on program of progressive control of PPR across Africa. The progressive control program will take an adaptive approach that seeks to learn from program experiences to continuously enhance impact and efficiency. The coordination of efforts to control PPR will add value to current investments to mitigate epidemics or activities seeking to promote food security. Responsible coordination and programming of inputs that reflect economic and epidemiological realities of PPR are needed."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"73381856f11451d7eaf29152fe62a6c0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/202c59ba-b3b8-4c61-874d-d305b8fadcb4/retrieve","id":"-1093692669"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f361e4c0-51ca-4826-84a6-6902611ecacf","content":"P771 -Shaping equitable climate change policies for resilient food systems across Central America and the Caribbean Description: This plan, developed participatory consultations in 6 departments, provides clear guidelines to address short and medium-term challenges caused by climate changes in the production and marketing of beans in Honduras.• I2580 -Method to formulate local plan for adaptation to climate change (https://tinyurl.com/2nnojew7)• # of countries/states where CCAFS priority setting is used to target and implement interventions to improve food and nutrition security under a changing climate Sub-IDOs:• 28 -Increased resilience of agro-ecosystems and communities, especially those including smallholders• 35 -Enabled environment for climate resilience"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"405aac2f6b343d5b02aea663d72845e6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/291bba8c-d0de-46b0-968b-ae8c79cd0ecd/retrieve","id":"-1096702087"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"590436c9-f127-4ebe-8e70-aa95cddccb80","content":"This paperpresenls a case study based on Ihe findings in two villages in easlem Vttar Pradesh, India, part of a project started in 1997 to develop, test. and refine methodologíes of participatory research and gender analysis as they apply to the development ofnew technologies in germplasm and natural resouree managemen!. The two villages oecupy different agroecologiea1 areas and also differ in sociocultural characteristics. Both male and female farmers were included in Ihe study, and details oftheirpreferences for Ihe rice varieties studied are presenled in Ihis paperodebate among the members. However, they were able lO agree upon the major domains for each landrace/variety. They also reported that sorne oflhe landraceslvarieties were grown in more than one domain but Ihe cases were limited.In Kachorwa, of Ihe four domains identified by the farmers, two--ucha and pokharí/man-were extreme cases (dry land and rainfed; wet-Iand conditions, respectively). No modem varieties were grown in Ihese areas. Only landraces were found growing under such conditions, and the number of landraces (cultivars) was relatively small compared to other domains. Samtal and nícha represented better growing environments, wilh a grea!er number of landraces and modem varieties growing Ihere. Samtal represented Ihe major domain in terms of area. There was considerable area under uccha bu! no! much area was under nicha and pokahri. Severallandraces and modem varieties (MVs) were common lo both samtal and nicha. These two domains were more productive in terms of crop production as well.Similar results were found when Ihe exercise was repeated in Ihe Begnas eco-site under mid-hill conditions. However, Ihe domain delineation was less c1ear-cut Ihan ít was in Kachorwa because several of Ihe landraces and MV s were found in more than one dornain. Here again, landraceslvarieties were no! repeated in more than two dornains, and lha! in adjacent domains only. Jumping of domains by certain landraces/varieties was not observed in eilher of Ihe exercises. Allhough several ofthe landraces and MV s were found in two domains, Iheir performance was judged as best only in one domain. Based on Ihe information generated from Ihe discussion wilh farmers, it could be deduced that a landrace/variety fits best only in one domain. It exists in olher domains because Ihere ls no competitive variety to replace it.Having achieved a high degree of agreement between farmers and researchers in Ihe defmition of agroecological domains, it was decided to field-verif)' the definitions through a transect walk and to look for consistency in Ihe field implementation. A representative group offarmers made a transect walk of Ihe eco-site along wilh researchers. They identified domains and located landraces/varieties on different farms. The exercise helped in relating different agroecological domains and Iheir characteristics with Ihé landraceslvarieties being grown Ihere. Thus, Ihis exercise needs to be conducted when the rice crop ls mature or when Ihe crop is standing in Ihe field.Based on the analysis oflhe characteristics of different agroecological domains and Ihe distribution oflandraces/varieties within domains, an attempt lo develop a conceptual model of agroecological domains for rice was made (figure 1). In Ihe following subsections, Ihe characteristíc features of the domains have been explained. Nevertheless, Ihe model needs verification in a larger context and further refinement for wider applicability.Local farmers can provide very reliable inforrnation on Ihe agroecological domains for rice. Similarly, farmers can provide detailed features of each domain in terms of soíl type, drainage, fertility status, production potential, cropping patterns, and so on.The size of agroecological domains varies, with more extreme environments (domains) being relatively smaller as compared to more favorable ones. This follows normal distribution curve. How- Doma!n 4 ever, depending upon fue geographic location (high-potential production systems or marginal growing envíronrnents), the size of each domain will vary. For instance, in marginal environrnents for rice, fue extreme domain will be relatively larger as compared to ofuer domains; whereas, in favorable environrnents, the míddle domains will be relatively larger.Until fue distribution oflandráces/varieties across domains, the features of domains, and fue traits of cultivars are analyzed, one cannot appreciate fue complexity of farroers' strategies to manage plant genetic resourees to meet fueir multiple needs. From the analysis, it is apparent that one landrace/variety is best suited or most competitive in only one domain, though farroers might grow the same cultivar in more fuan one domain. This implies that fue cultivar competes wifu ofuer cultivars trom within the domain, and that there is less competition between cultivars across domains, except when fuere is an overlap of cultivars. Overlap signifies the presence of transitional zones between dornains, which explains fue presence of landraceslvarieties in two different but adjacent dornains. Within dornajns, fue area and number of households growing different landraceslvarieties is explained by rnarket forces, farrocrs' socioeconomic status, cultural factors, preferences for specific traits, and ofuer abiotic and biotjc factors.Alfuough landrsces/varieties rnay overlap in adjacent dornains, no case was registered where a landrsce/variety was found in more fuan two dornajns. This suggests fuat landraces/varietíes have very specific adaptatíons. In ofuer words, it reinforces fue idea that a cultivar is most cornpetítive in only one dornaín.Landraceslvanetíes falling wíthin the sarue domaín are more likely to be similar in their genetic cornposition as cornpared to landraces/varietíes frorn dissimilar dornains. The logic behind is that they have been put under similar managernent condítions have been selected over time fo! adaptation. However, this hypolhesis needs lo be proved from laboratory analysis of sorne of the saruples frorn each domaín. If it proves tme, then there ís a strong case, from a conservation point ofview, for disaggregating genetic materials across agroecologícal domains. Nevertheless, this process still holds true where diversity deployrnent is the prime objective of the project.The distribution oflandraces/vaneties in different domains is the result of farmers' experimentation with those landraces/vaneties over years. In other words, they are the \"best fit\" under farmers' rnanagement conditions. Therefore, researchers definítely need to know the characteristics of each dornain, as well as the specific traits of the landraces/vaneties in each domain and their distribution across dornains in order to make any intervention in the present system. The anaIysis of agroecological domains is worth the money and time invested in collecting and analyzing the information.Planning conservation strategies for landraces ldentifYing landraees that are grown in small areas by a limited number of farrners and devising ways and rneans of conserving them might seem to be a straightforward task for conserving endangered landraces. Sornetirnes, weighted diversity, as well, might be computed for facilitating Ihe decision-makíng process in choosing which landraces to focus on for conservation when there are numerous landraces falling in the endangered category. However, all these processes and steps consider the diversity oflandraces at the aggregatedllandscape (cornmuníty) level and thus ignore the influence of agroecological domains in deterrniníng the position oflandraees in different dornains.The need for micro-Ievel analysis emerges from the faet that landraces are conditioned over years by their continued growth and selection over time in specific dornains. As a result, Ihey have developed adaptive traits, wruch are uníque 10 landraces falling in that domain. Therefore, analysis of landrace diversity at the aggregated level fails 10 appreciate the position oflandraces in specifie dornains, which in faet might be harboring genes of irnportanl traits. Selecting landraces frorn an aggregated list rnight exclude, certaÍn strategically important landraces from conservation.PPB has been used as one rneans 10 conserve useful genes in landraces through crossing with modem vaneties. However, there could be number of landraces withín a domain that might require sorne forrn of conservation (through breeding and nonbreeding means). Understanding Ihe features of domains and the distribution oflandraces in them will facilitate decision rnakíng about selecting landraces for conservation. Failing to do this could result in selecting landraces with similar genetic traits for conservation (vía PPB) from jusI one or two domaÍns. This would lead lo the neglect of sorne and overrepresentation of olhers.Diversity deployrnenl in simple terrn means \"províding farmers wilh options of genetie materials 10 choose frorn.\" The introduction ofnew genetic material results in temporal disequilibrium because of competition between existing and new genetic material. The competition is for space in farmers' fields, for farm labor, for capital inputs, and so on. As time elapses, Ihe new entrant finds its rightful ss. Rana el aL place in Ihe given environment. This is Ihe outcome of farmers constantly tryíng to rnaintain an equilibrium (meeting farmers' objectives) in terms ofstabilizing yield and production over time.The strategy for diversity deployment must begin by analyzing the distribution oflandraces/varieties across agroecological dornains. Once this is done, researchers would have a clear picture of each domain, aIong with the dístríbutíon of landraces/varíeties, and the dominance of certain cultivars against others would becorne evident Researchers would also come to know the reasons for this dominance. Only then could Ihey develop their strategy for diversíty deployrnent. In the absence of this ínformation, new genetic materials míght fit into domains where there is not much cornpetitíon.It could also happen that new genetic rnateríals compete with each other landraceslvarieties in similar domains, resulting in limited impact of diversity deployrnent.The conflict between breeding varíeties for wide adaptability or for ruche environments will perhaps go on. (Wide adaptability rneans Ihe dornain for which the suítability ofthe landrace/variety is large. Niche environment means the domain for the given landrace/varíety is limited.) In Ihe truest sense, wide adaptabilíty should encompass Ihe ability of a cultivar to be grown in several different domains and vice versa for the ruche environment. However, such is not the case.Whatever Ihe case, the proponents of PPB rnust bear in mind that the approach has to prove its worth in terms of chuming out farmer-acceptable varieties efficiently on such a scale that Ihe economic return on investrnent is positive. But this is possible only when researchers have a clear knowledge of the size and characteristics•ofthe dornains the new varíety will fit into. In addition, Ihey also need to know Ihe likely existing cultivar to be replaced Without this inforrnation, it would be rather difficult to estirnate the potential adoption ceiling ofPPB varietíes, which irnplíes that the estimation of economic returns at the household leve! ig difficult. This will becorne an increasingly important issue in the future, when enough time has elapsed between Ihe developrnent and adoptionldissemination of PPB varíeties and Ihe evaluation of their irnpact.Another important issue that can be addressed by analyzing agroecological domains is oríenting PPB programs towards \"poverty aIleviation\" and food securíty at the household leve!. Since resource-poor farmers rnainly own marginalland, Ihere is limited varietal choice. By conducting PPB programs using landraces from marginal environments, the chances of providing greater options in such environments is' increased, which would contríbute to food security, particularly in resource-poor households. Targeting PPB for equity ofbenefits for the resource-poor can also be justified aIong similar lines.Agroecological delineation using key informants/farmers from fue given cornmunity can be reliably done. The identified dornains and the associated varieties in each domain have 10 be verífied through a transect walk with the key informants. This exercise helps príorítize landraceslvaríeties in each domain based on Ihe number ofhouseholds growing them and Ihe area covered. Using lhis information, a selection oflandraces/varieties for PPB work could be made. Diversity deployment and conservatíon of certain landraces/varieties could also be planned using this information. The argurnents presented here clearly índicate the need to focus PPB irutíatives on marginal environments for which Ihere are no MVs, and where, al the same time, the majoríty oflhe resource-poor dwell. This exercise has to be conducted prior to initiating PPB work in a given area. Information required to delineate agroecological domains and associated landraces/varieties can easily be gathered using key informants at the vilIage leve!. It has been suggested that this exercise be incorporated as a component of PPB work.Decisions about the adoption oftechnology are conditional to farmers' perceptions ofthe performance of a new technology relative to that of the technology currently being practiced. Farmers may assess a new technology, such as an improved variety, in terms of a range of attributes, such as grain quality, straw yield, and inpu! requirements, in addition to grain yield (Traxler and Byerlee 1993). In Orissa, eastern India, farmers indicated preference not only for the visual appearance of rice grain, but also for attributes such as cooking quality, taste, keeping quality, and straw quality (Kshirsagar, Pandey, and Bellon 1997). If fimners perceive an improved variety to be inferior to traditional varieties in terms of one or more attributes, they are unlikely to adopt such a variety (Adesina andZinnah 1993, as cited by Kshirsagar, Pandey, andBellon 1997). Crop improvement could potentially benefit from farmers' assessments of the relative performance of different varieties under farmer management. Information on the traits desired by farmers and their knowledge of the production system could be invaluable in setting the goals of a breeding program, delineating the target environment, identifying the parents for breeding and defining the management treatment for breeding work (Sperling ･ ｾ ＠ al. 1996; Eyzaguirre and Iwanaga 1996).Varietal preferences may differ, not only between socioeconomic groups bu! also by gender.In a farmer-participª1ory breeding (FPB) project on pearl millet in the Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, India, grain yield, early availability of grain, and the case ofharvesting by hand (lower paniele number and lower plant height) were the main considerations for making selections by women. For the men, yield and quality appeared 10 be a stronger eoneern (W' eltzien, Whitaker, and Anders 1996). WhiJe women have traditionally been seed selectors and managers of germplasm in low-input farrning systems, scientists have no! given enough attention to their local knowledge, eriteria for selection, and perceptions regarding new seeds untiJ recently, F or instance, the criteria for selecting seeds, practices of animal care and food processing, and the consequent preferences for different kinds of blending various food materials are useful starting points for building on women'g perspectives in particípatory research (Gupta et al. 1996). Another example is when high labor demands for manual tbreshing may create incentives for women to adopt vaneties that are easier to thresh (Adcsina and Forson 1995). Including women in the early evaluation of varieties ensures that new seeds can be adopted rapidly, Thus, men's and women's entena and preferences for rice vaneties should be well understood and considered in plant-breeding strategies, In March 1997, a farmer-participatory planl-breeding program for raínfed nce was developed at the Intemational Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in collaboration with the Indían Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), This project inc\\udes síx research siles representing different nce ecosystems in eastem India, The project is under the umbrella ofthe CGIAR's Systemwíde Initiative on Participatory Research and Gender Analysis. The goal of this iniliative is to develop, test, and refine methodologies of participatory research and gender analysis as they apply to Ihe development ofnew technologies in germplasm and natural resource management. This FPB projecl aims lo test the hypothesis that farmer particípation in rainfed nce breeding can help develop suilable vaneties more efficiently, It is also designed to identifY the stages in a breeding program where farmer ínterfacing is optimaL The project has two components: the first is a plant-breeding component, whích aíms to develop and evaluate a methodology for participatory improvement of rice for heterogeneous environments, and to produce and improve adoption of matenal suíting farmers' needs. The second is a socÍal-science component (including gender analysis) that aims (1) to characterize cropping systems, diversíty ofvanetíes grown, and the crop-management practices ofrice farmers, (2) to analyze male and female farmers' selection criteria and their reactions to a range of cultivars and breeding lines, and (3). to enhance the capacities of national agricultural research systems (NARS) in participatory research and gender analysis in plant breeding andrice vanetal selection (Courtoís et al. 2000), Thís paper focuses on farmers' selectíon cnteria and their reactions to a range of cultivars and breeding lines UIlder particÍpatory vanetal selection conducted on farmers' fields,The results of the socioeconomic and gender analysÍs in the FPB project includes only two villages (table 1): Mungeshpur in the Faizabad district and Basalatpur in the Siddathnagar district, eastem Vttar Pradesh. These sites are among the research sites UIlder the FPB project. A similar study was conducted in the other FPB research sites in Onssa and Madhya Pradesh, Basalatpur represents favorable (but submergence prone) lowland, rainfed arcas, Mungeshpur represents shallow, submergence-prone areas that are favorably rainfed during years of low rainfalL Basalatpur and Mungeshpur have a rugher proportion of lowland fields (70% and 60%, respectively) with heavier soil and good water-holding capacity, The flow of natural resources like rainwater (field hydrological conditions) tbroughout the season has also had a major impact on vanetal selection in these villages, F armers in Mungeshpur have more access to supplementary irrigation, wruch enables them to diversífY into other crops, partÍCularly vegetables and fodder crops, Only one diesel pump exists ín Basalatpur and trus limits crop diversífication. The importance of livestock between the two villages also differs, Livestock in Mungeshpur is more importan! than in Basalatpur, In Mungeshpur, bullocks continue to be used for Jand preparation, and tbreshing is done manually, In contrast, land preparation and threshing in Basalatpur is mechanized with the use of tractors, The degree of market onentatíon is higher in Basalatpur (nearer the cíty) where more rice is sold, The majority ofthe farming households are owner-cultivators, and share cropping is oflimited importance. F emale labor participation in rice production is four times hígher than that of males in Basalatpur and three-fourths in Mungesphur. There is wide disparity in terms of access 10 education between men and women. In general, females have lower literacy rates than meno The differences in resource endowments, socioeconomic status, importance aflivestock, degree ofmarket orientation, gender roles and responsibilities in rice production, and family size may determine the choice of rice varieties/cultivars and agronomic management practices.Rice followed by wheat + mustard is the predominant cropping pattem in al! villages. In BasaIatpur, wheat and oilseed are grown mainly for domestic use, but rice is grown for consumption as welI as marketing. On the other hand, in Mungeshpur, rice 18 mainIy grown for consumption because oflow yields and low marketabIe surplus. Rice is followed by wheat + mustard, which are grown for both domestic consumption and sale. Land preparation for rice is started in June after the arrival afthe monsoon. The majority of the respondents belong to the lower social class, with small-sized landholdings.Females are younger and have lower literacy rates, compared to males, and have over 20 years of farming experience. The extent of female participation in rice production is high in both villages. Sorne tasks in rice production and postharvest operations are gender specific. Land preparation and the application of chemicals are men's responsibilities in both villages (10% of fertilizer application is done by women in Basalatpur). In Mungeshpur, women from the lower social status dominate in the work of pulling seedlings (100%), transplanting (70%), weeding (80%), applying farrnyard manure (60%), harvesting (82%), and threshing (82%). In Basalatpur, more men than women participate in pulling seedlings and harvesting. Women do the transplanting of seedlings (100%) and most ofthe weeding (75%), with men doing most ofthe spraying (90%). Women are also mainly responsible for postharvest activities such as cleaning and selecting the seeds for the next season, storage, and processing rice into other food products for home consumption and for sale. They are the primary end-users of rice byproducts and biomass for livestock and other farm use. A village study in eastem India revealed that women from the lower castes provided 60% to 80% ofthe total labor input in rice production (Paris et al. 1996). Aside from their significant contributions in rice production, women also provide labor in non-rice crops, collect green animal fodder, and feed and tend Iivestock. Thus, men's and women'g preferences for specifíc traits in rice varieties may differ, based on gender-specific roles and responsibilities. With inereasing male migration lo cities, women are laking on more responsibilities as farm managers, aside from theír normal household and childcare responsibilities (Paris el aL 1996).The rice varieties eurrently grown by farrners are shown in table 3. Traditional varieties are more cornrnon in Basalatpur than in Mungeshpur. Although modern varieties (MVs) show higher adoption rates in Mungeshpur, these varieties ofien suffer from submergenee, drought, and stress al reproduetive and ripening phases when the erop is planted late. Most farrners felt that traditional varieties are more tolerant to drought, submergenee, pests, and diseases, while MV s performed well under irrigated conditions. The majority of the farrners indieated that they felt that MVs needed better management lhan traditionaI varieties. Modero varieties need more labor, higher levels of fertilízer, and more irrigation, but more farmers prefer to grow MV s because of their higher yields.   Farrners generally match varieties wíth their environment. For rainfed rice, this means an adaptation to the hydrological conditions of their fields, Each field position in the topo-sequence corresponds to a risk of drought or submergence. The drought risk inercases frorn the bottom to the top of the topo-sequence, while submergence risk decreases along the same path, assocíated with progressively lower water depths and earlier recession of the water. This translates into different ideotypes for the different situations. Medium-duration fields are grown mostly in medium land. Varieties such as Sarju-52. Ashwani. NDR-359. Pant-4. -10, and-12. andIndrasan are grownon the fields thatare located in between upper and lower levels oí land type. Fanners of Mungeshpur prefer to grow these varieties on the these land types on the belief that they need optimum moisture during the growth period. Fields dif-in Basalatpur; therefore, sorne farrners prefer to grow medium varieties on upland fields also.To determine whether there are gender differences in perceptions of useful traits in varietal adoption, we used graphic illustrations of traits. We first showed cards that illustrate useful traits in selecting rice varieties. We then asked each farmer what traits he or she consider in selecting rice varieties for specific land types-upland and lowland fields. To assess how farmers valued each trait, we asked the question, \"If you had 100 paisa, how much would you pay for each trait? The value in paisa allocated to a particular trait corresponded to the importance given by the fanner. Because many traÍts are interrelated, we rec1assified them in consultation with a plant breeder. For example, we grouped traits such as ease in hullíng and mílling recovery under postharvest quality. Table 2 shows the seleetion eriteria of male and female fanners for different land types and villages.In the lowland areas in Basalatpur, yield and duratíon are the most important trait5 maJe and female farmers consider in selection rice varieties, In this village, the popular traditional varieties are Bengalía, Oríswa, and Kuwari mashuri. These are short-duration (90-110 days), medium-height varieties, The average yields are 2.5 tons per hectare, Farmers prefer short-duration rice varíeties in the uplands because of the importance of growing early winter crops such as oilseed, linseed, pulses, peas, and potatoes. They prefer to parboil Bengalia; otherwise, its grains break easíly. Women in Basalatpur use traditional rice varietíes for making puffed rice and churra, beaten rice Iike cornflakes .. For women who continue to use the traditional method ofhand-pounding rice, postharvest qualities such as ease ofhulling and mgh milling recovery are additional useful traits. The men did not mention these. The finding that women are more concerned !han men with postharvest traits and milling recovery are similar to the findings in a participatory breeding project in the hígh altitudes in NepaL Sthapít, 10sm, and Wítcombe (1996) also observed that women farmers are particularly skillfuJ in assessing postharvest traits, such as milling recovery, and the cooking and eating quality of rice. They found that the evaluation scores between maJe and femaJe farmers in Chhomrong village showed significant agreement. Women farmers reported ¡hat they would like to decide on varíety selection after the postharvest evaluation. Consumers preferred wmte-grained rice to red-pericarped rice because it saves women time in milling.In Basalatpur, both male and female farmers agreed upon the important traits fo! 10wland rice varieties. Grain price is an important cohsiderlltion for farmers here because they seU traditional varíet-¡es in the market. These, like Kalamanak, command a higher price because oftheir good taste and aroma. Kalamanak gives Iow yields of 1.5 to 2 tons per hectare. In contrast, grain price is not an important consideration in Mungeshpur because rice ís mainly used for home consumption and is seldom sold in the market.In Mungeshpur, both male and female farmers agreed upon important traits in selecting varieties for the uplands. Women gave more importance to postharvest qualities and grain quality such as bold and pure graíns. For the lowlands, both males and females cited better grain yield, medium duration (125-135 days), bioniass, and resistance to abiotic stress as their selection critería for lowland rice varíeties. Women gave greater weight to better adaptation to specific soH types and to grain quality. Women mentioned additional useful traits for varíeties in the uplands and lowlands that were not mentioned by men: competitiveness with weeds and postharvest quality. Weeds are the major problem in the uplands, particularly when rice is direct-seeded. In the lowlands, weeds are more prevalent during drought. These additional traits are related to the roles and responsibilities of female farnily members (e.g., hand weeding and feeding rice straw to livestock).During the 1999 monsoon season, two farmers from each of the villages of Mungeshpur and Saríyawan (rainfed neighboring village) ofthe Faizabad district and from Basalatpur were selected to check the performance of rice genotypes in their fields. The genotypes were (1) advanced lines from a shuttle breeding project from Uttar Pradesh, (2) released varieties, and (3) the most common local varieties. Of the 14 genotypes screened in Basalatpur, two are scented varíetíes (Kamini, which flowers in 136 days, and Sugandha, which flowers in 124 days). Scientists distributed the seeds through the FPB project. In this approach, breeders select the most promising lines with farmers, and farmers are given a \"basket of choices,\" growing several genotypes in their specific environments.Ten farmers (five women and five men) visited the individual plots and ranked the rice genotypes grown on farmers' fields past the maturity stage. Farmers were asked to rank the rice lines from I (exceIlent) to 14 or 16 (worst) on the basis ofvisual assessment. The rankings ofthe new cultivars by the farmers generated an n x k matrix, where n equals the lines being evaluated and k equals the farmers evaluating the crop performance. KendaIl's Coefficient ofConcordance (W) was used to measure the agreement in rankings arnong male farmers and among female farmers, and the correlation between male and female farmers' rankings. High and significant correlation values indicate cIose agreement on the ranking of the rice genotypes by men and women in the sample.Tables 5a to 5d show that in the two villages, male and female evaluators were in cIose agreement in the ranking ofthe lines. The Ws were highly significant, revealing that farmers' and breeders' rankings are ofien acceptable. Table 6 shows the surnmary of the ranking of male farmers, female farmers, and plant breeders indicating their choices. Ofthe 14 and 16 varieties ranked in Basalatpur and Mungeshpur, PVS 1, PVS3, PVS7, PVS9, PVSlO, and PVSI5 carne out as the farmers' and breeders' choices in 1999. The traits of these lines are shown on table 7. During the crop season in 2000, several ofthese lines were compared with local check through PVS. Twenty-three farmers in two villages in Faizabad grew three rice lines, while 50 farmers in six villages in Siddathnagar grew six rice lines obtained from PVS trials.      Mrs. Yadav is 53 years old, iIliterate, and a fuIl-time farmer. Her husband is a full-time worker in the 110ur and oil milis. This makes her ¡he de jacto head ofhousehold. She supervises ¡he farm and makes decisions regarding what crops and varieties to grow. Three years ago, she grew mostly local varieties because of a lack of irrigation facilities. We gave her seeds of NDR 97, a new variety, which she planted on 0.10 ha of land. Later she increased the area planted lo this variety lo 0.5 ha.She told us the positive traits she likes in this variety, such as suitability ro her land type, good taste, shorter duration, good milling recovery, ease of threshing, and medium height, and negative traits such as less rice straw:1 tried many varieties since the las! jour lo five yeors such as Saket4 and NDR80. but because they were damoged by drought and disease, 1 slopped growing Ihem. 1 don 't like the taste of Sarju52. lt is coarse and does not rema in sofi afier cookíng. Jt also does not have many broken grains afier milling. So we sold Sarju52 and used NDR359 for home consumption. One thing 1 noticed with the straw ofNDR359 is that it is sofi. so instead of storing it for a long time, we had lO feed ít immediafely fo our anima/s. 1/ we keep the straw for two to three months, it will not be very easy lO cut and the animals will refuse to eat ít. lnstead ojleaving the rice stalles to dry in the fie/d. which is our usual practice, we immediately thresh afier harvesting. lis short duration also enab/es me to grow another crop during the rabi season.Mrs. T. B Singh, 50 years old, belongs to the upper caste. Due lo labor shortages during the peak season and Ihe lack of male labor (her husband is fully engaged in a nonfarm job), she has been forced to provide physicallabor in most of Ihe rice operations. She was able to finish five years in school. She is the decision maker in !he household and is quite knowledgeable about farming. In 1997, she was one of Ihe collaborators of!he project. Afier testing 13 genotypes on her field, she obtained 5.2 tons per ha from PVS5 (NDRSB9730015), so she decided to continue to grow Ihis variety and expand the area during Ihe 1998 kharif season. She expecled to get six tons per ha, but because of drought, Ihere were many unfilled grains. She told us about Ihe variety's positive traits aside from its high yield:1 prefer PVS5 because of Its medium duration; medium bold, cylindrical grain; resistance to pesls and diseases; and better mil/ing recovery.In 1995, we gave her new seeda of BKP246.1 like this variety too because it is suítable for the lowland rainfed area, has good yields, and is not susceptible to diseases. I like the size and the shape ofthe grain-medium and boldo It a/so has the best milling recovery and commands a high price in the market. In 1998, 1 sold four quíntals of paddy at Rs 400 per quintal, while the o/her varieties are Rs 50 less than BFK246. We use Sarju52 and Saket4 for home consumption. Saket4 has fine graíns and matures early, a trait ideal for the uplands. Our agricultural workers prefer coarse graíns, which last longer in the stomach than paddy with finer grains. I observed that the quantity ofstraw ofBFP346 is less, but grain quality is more important 10 USo Mr. Bansat Lal , 42 years old, an ilIiterate father !rom the backward caste, is a full-time fanner. Hís sons are fully engaged in nonfann activíties and his daughter-in-Iaw supervises fann activities and takes part in decision making. In 1997, he was a collaborator in the plant vanetal-selection program and obtaíned good yields. After threshing and mílling, the female members of his household al so agreed that the PVS5 (NDRSB97300 15) and PVS6 (NDRSB9730020) should be grown the following year. Both Mr. Lal and his daughter-in-law have the same criteria for selection, such as better yield, good qualíty of straw, medium height, resistance to pests and diseases, longer and fine grains, no broken grains after milling, softness and expansion after cooking.My daughter-in-law observed that PVS5 is easy to hull through hand pounding afier parboiling. Jt is a/so good for puffed rice. Mr. Lal shared the seeds ofPVS5 with other fanners. In 1998, he cultivated PVS5 and PVS6 on his 3 bigha (0.3 ha) land area. He was able to obtain a yieldofsix quintals per bigha inone pIot and four quintals in another plot. These yielils were higher than those in nearby fields.Socioeconomic surveys revealed that a major determinant of vanetal choice is the eonsCÍous attempt of fanners to match vaneties with the land type. Each field position in the topo-sequence corresponds to a risk of drought or submergence. In Mungeshpur (shallow and submergenceprone) fanners' eritena for selecting rice vaneties are associated mainly with duration (short to medium), for growing rabi crops after rice in the upland fields, and with better yield. A second determining factor is the adaptation to different user needs: food, livestock fodder, thatching, and cash. A third detennining factor is related to different postharvest operations like ease ofthreshing, good taste, high mil!ing recovery (above 65%), good storage capacity, and premium market price. Gender-specific roles and responsibilíties also determine vanetal preferences. For example, women prefer medium or semi-tal! vaneties that are easier to thresh, as well as vaneties that have a good quantity and quality of rice straw for livestock feed. Moreover, they prefer vaneties for the specific rice products that they make. While it may be difficult to combine all their preferred traits into one unique vanety because of genetic correlations, it is ímportant that both men and women have a \"basket of choices\" of vaneties suited to their needs and agroecosystems. elearly, Iistening to fanners' perceptions and involving both men and women fanners in selecting rice varieties at the early stage of breeding can lead to faster adoption of varieties suited to their specific rice ecosysteros and diverse needs. In many regions of the world farmers routinely produce seeds for their staple crops. 111is i5 partículady cornmon in regions where agricultural production is affected by frequent and unpredíctable droughts, as in most areas where pearl millet (PennÍsetum glaucum [L.] R.BL),a cross-pollínating crop, is grown. Under these harsh climatie conditions, fanners have developed landraces that tend to show good levels of tolerance to these environments. 111e farmers have also evolved strategies for maintaining seed during drought years in order to safeguard food production and animal foddeL Given the fuet that formal plant-breeding programs have failed to develop superior varieties for marginallands and low-input conditions, the main objective ofthe study presented here is to better understsnd farmers' own seed-management pmctices as a basis for planning and implementing participatory strategíes that capitalize on fanners' local knowledge. This approach would aliow researchers to then conCentrate on specific weaknesses that farmers' own selection pmctices cannot effectively address.To date, these local strategies, including the fanners' needs and preferences, along with details of their cropping systems, are not familiar to scientists involved in conventional breeding programs. The objectives of this projeet are listed below: l. To describe farmers' own crop-improvement activíties in regard to yieJd, quality, and diversity of pearl míllet, with special emphasis on seed-management strategies, such as introgression of modem varieties, seJection, storage, processing, exchange, and procurement 2. To quantifY the effects of farmer activities on the genetic structure and performance ofpearl millet populationsRajasthan ís situated in the northwest ofIndia (figure 1). It is a semi-arid regíon wíth a mean annual rainfaU that ranges !Tom < 250 mm in the westem part (Thar Desert) to > 650 mm in the southeast (figure 2). In this study, we refer only to the westem part ofthe state, where farmers must make do with ¡ess than 350 mm of annual rainfall, with high variabilíty!Tom year to year. Experienced farmers often talk of a 10-year cyc1e in which two seasons have good raíns, two have severe drought with crop failures, and the rest usually have fair to good seasons. Soils are mainly sandy, and sand dunes are common. VilIages are typically scattered across wide areas. Pearl míllet is grown tbree to four months during the monsoon season, mostly in mixtures with other crops, such as legumes and cucurbits. Animal husbandry is another important par! of tbe farmíng system. Social conditions in tbe víllages are govemed by the caste system. Even today, the caste system stilllargely determines people's social status, occupation, income, and access to education and information. Farmer's concept 01 a \"variety\"Farmers' seed management can only be evaluated if one fully understands the farmers' concept of a \"variety.\" Ims term, as understood by plant breeders, does not seem lO be fully appropriate for the farmers' pearl míllet seed system in west Rajasthan. In order to learo how farmers perceive \"varieties,\" informal interviews as well as classification and ranking exercises were carried out during workshops with farmers from the study villages. Care was taken to inelude both female and male farmers in the interviewing process. The results demonstrate tha! environrnental adaptation was the main eriterion for farmers' c!assification of pearl millet plants in westem Rajasthan. Potential uses and quality aspeets further eontributed to the farmers' method of grouping different plant types (Christinck and vom Brocke 1998).Traditionallandraces that have adapted to the environment show a high basal and nodal tillering ability, indicating toleranee to drought and low requirements for soil fertilíty. If these eharaeteristies are combined with tmn stems, narrow leaves, and thin, compact panicles with srnall grains, farmers will conclude that sueh a plant will grow under low-input eonditions (Le., in their fields) and produce grain and straw of high nutritional quality. In contrast, the characteristics of modem varieties are low basal and nodal tillering ability, tmck stems with broad leaves, and Iarge panicles with relatively large grains Iha! are mostly round in shape. From the farmers' experience, this plant type is not toleranl lo drought stress, requires higher soil fertility, and has inferior food and fodder qualities. Farmers, however, are aware that pearl millet plants showing such characterístics can produce higher yields under favorable conditions (Chrístinck and vom Brocke 1998). Farmers are therefore concemed about the composition oftheir seed stocks, i.e., wmch plant types and, thus, which properties are present. Farmers expect plant types to change over time, in reaction to environmental conditions such as soil quality and raínfall, so Iha! the seed stock generated in one year cannot be exactly reproduced the next season. They have a strong concept of continuous interactions between plant type and environmenl, as evidenced by their belief, or experience, that any pearl millet cultivar, including modern varieties, that is grown in their fie1d for sorne years will eventually become like their local cultivars.Contrary to the views of professional plant breeders, the farmers' concept of a \"variety\" is not that of a population with more or less uniform and stable plant characterístics based on its genetic background; the term \"variety\" is applied to a plant type that is evolving under or adapting lo certain environmental conditions. This concept is reflected in fue farmers' seed-management strategies.Seed management comprises all activities of a farming faroily that influence their seed stock, including introgression of modern cultivars (open-pollinated varieties or hybrids), seed selection, processing, storage, exchange, and procurement. In this paper, we refer mainly 10 seed selection and processíng, and the ways in wmch farmers deal with modem varieties frorn the market.Ways 01 se/ecting or processing seed Farmers in Rajasthan generally employ two main selection methods. The first is winnowing or grading, which entails cleaning and separating seed grains. The rate of selection can vary greatly. It may be lhat only 10% of the threshed and stored grain will be rejected (rnainly husks and broken"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cc47e27a9387d9f818c62f93cb43db24","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/52fd2c9a-c880-4173-bd1d-badf150acd5f/retrieve","id":"-1489491380"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"32df9ca6-40ab-4d5c-abb3-c8abb3580b73","content":"Over the last few decades, the genetic improvement of crops and livestock has improved productivity and nutrition, reduced the pressure on forests, and made farms more resistant to shocks such as disease, pests and drought. It is estimated that 30-60% of yield increases in farmers' fields can be traced back to the work of geneticists. Despite these advances, breeding programs targeting the developing world need to accelerate the rate of crop and livestock improvement in order to meet the 50-60 percent growth in demand for food expected over the 21st century with increasingly limited resources. Climate change alone will decrease crop productivity by 5 percent for every degree increase in global temperature.The Excellence in Breeding Platform will modernize breeding programs targeting the developing world for greater impact on food and nutrition security, climate change adaptation and development. Drawing from innovations in the public and private sector, the Platform will provide access to cutting-edge tools, services and best practices, application-oriented training and practical advice.There are many proven and emerging technologies from both the public and private sector that can help breeders meet this challenge. However, the pace of breeding program modernization in the developing world has been slow, with breeders lacking the resources and knowledge required to adopt new technologies. Meanwhile, too little information is shared between breeders working on different programs and commodities.The CGIAR Excellence in Breeding Platform provides a space for information sharing, collaborative learning and access to tools and services for partners including CGIAR research centers, national research systems, advanced research centers and the private sector. By joining their efforts, breeding programs in the developing world can achieve the economies of scale that helped revolutionize the private sector, and greatly increase the rate at which crops are improved.In the 1990s, smallholder sheep farmers in Maharashtra, India faced a crisis. The coarse wool of their sheep no longer fetched a good price in the market. Scientists from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) began a project to help them produce more meat instead.Austalian geneticists had traced a highly prolific breed popular in the developed world to sheep imported from West Bengal in the late eighteenth century. This was confirmed when the Booroola profligacy gene, as it was known, was identified and mapped in 2001.With a cheap DNA test now available, the ACIAR team was able to quickly pass only the profligacy trait from the small West Bengali sheep into a large, meat-producing variety familiar to the farmers of Maharashtra. These sheep produced around 50 percent more lambs, showing that DNA technologies can practically benefit farmers in the developing world.In the developing world, farmers face greater challenges such as drought and rapidly-spreading new diseases. As a result, they can especially benefit from any new technologies to speed up the breeding process. Doubled haploid maize breeding is a technique that has swept through the international private sector. It is estimated that 70-80 percent of the new maize hybrids produced by major companies were developed using the technology, which can halve the time taken to develop new varieties.To put this technology to work for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, CIMMYT partnered with the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) to set up the first doubled haploid facility in sub-Saharan Africa, with financing from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.The facility makes doubled haploid breeding available to national agricultural research systems and small-to medium-sized seed companies, and is capable of producing at least 100,000 doubled haploid lines per year, as well as being a hub for training.The Excellence in Breeding Platform aims to become the one-stop place to go for advice, tested resources and best practices for any breeding targeting the developing world.Depending on budget, the Platform will have from 10 to over 30 members by 2020, and a much wider base of users from the public and private sector.Through the communities of practice set up by the platform, a common set of standards and best practices to measure breeding program performance and impacts for farmers. A web platform will be created to evaluate new tools, share knowledge and access training between members and a broader community of breeders in the developing world. By working together, members will be able to access services such as genotyping at reduced cost, while programs with smaller budgets will capitalize on research taking place in public and private sector programs with greater resources.An online breeding toolbox will be created for 5,000-10,000 users Software tools accessed by 1,000-2,000 users Phenotyping costs reduced by 25% A common platform to share tools, information and training modules.Broker access to genotyping services at reduced cost, and support breeding programs to optimize the use of genotyping in their work.Adapt cutting-edge phenotyping approaches for routine use in breeding programs, broker access to phenotyping expertise and improve infrastructure.Harness the power of genotype, phenotype and other data by providing access to integrated bioinformatics tools and biometrics support.Only 5 percent of private sector investment in breeding goes to programs targeting the developing world, even though this is home to 45 percent of the land used to grow major food staples, 48 percent of the global population and 84 percent of all poor.It is not often feasible for the private sector to breed improved varieties for target markets in the developing world. This leaves companies dependent on varieties bred by public sector research programs or CGIAR, or continue to sell varieties that are decades old. We estimate that 200-300 local private companies may be interested in starting or improving a cultivar development program. The Excellence in Breeding Platform and CGIAR cases, it is not feasible to have a national breeding program dedicated to CGIAR mandate crops. Farmers of less important crops in these countries are reliant on the CGIAR or neighbours to deliver improved varieties.With limited resources, the environments and farming systems of the developing world are too diverse to be covered adequately by the private sector or national research systems. As the most prominent source of germplasm and breeding knowledge in the developing world, CGIAR can help reach those farmers that are being left behind. NARS and the private sector will benefit directly from increased access to improved breeds and varieties, or by being enabled to adopt the tools, training and best practices developed and provided through the Platform."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"aa3eefa2316b2059859e649652e630a5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/56a0aea0-2fb6-413b-99d8-b0ee7f11af42/retrieve","id":"2080539340"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d3e3ce47-0e00-45e1-906b-22f2e7e85c43","content":"Los pequeños agricultores andinos han trabajado durante años en condiciones difíciles, con una visión de producir, pero no de responder a las demandas del mercado. Venden en mercados donde hay poca confi anza entre los involucrados, tienen bajos rendimientos, producen para su propio consumo, vendiendo los excedentes, pero agregando poco valor a su cosecha. Carecen de información, créditos y servicios.Para aprovechar nuevas oportunidades de mercado y mejorar sus ingresos, los pequeños agricultores deben involucrarse en la innovación comercial, tecnológica e institucional. Este capítulo explica los principios del Enfoque Participativo de Cadenas Productivas (EPCP) 23 un método que construye confi anza entre los actores de la cadena; mientras hacen innovaciones juntos y crean nuevos productos con más valor agregado, que benefi cien a todos. El EPCP facilita cambios en cadenas débilmente coordinadas, promoviendo la interacción entre los actores, el aprendizaje, la confi anza mutua y la colaboración.El EPCP se aplica en tres fases (Figura 1). Después se realizan actividades pos-EPCP para consolidar los negocios y las innovaciones (Bernet et al. 2011). El EPCP debe ser aplicado por una organización que no esté vinculada a uno de los eslabones de la cadena y los facilitadores requieren de una capacitación previa.El diagnóstico cualitativo permite formar una visión general sobre la cadena productiva, identifi cando las oportunidades y los cuellos de botella. Se realiza con 20 a 40 entrevistas en profundidad, con personas de todos los eslabones de la cadena, usando una guía de pautas. Los datos son procesados en una matriz para visualizar las opiniones de cada eslabón. No es un procesamiento estadístico, sino un análisis de datos representativos que permite conocer la diversidad de expectativas, problemas y oportunidades en torno a la cadena, desde la perspectiva de los actores involucrados. Mientras levanta la encuesta, el equipo trata de despertar el interés de los actores para participar en las siguientes actividades del EPCP.La organización que implementa el EPCP toma el liderazgo en el diagnóstico (ver Figura 1). Los mismos facilitadores levantan la encuesta, que es un primer acercamiento a los actores, procesan la información y la presentan en el Primer Gran Evento, que es una reunión donde se convoca a todos los entrevistados y a otros actores de la cadena, para presentar los resultados del diagnóstico cualitativo.En este evento se forman los \"grupos temáticos\" de acuerdo con las posibles oportunidades de negocio propuestas por los actores de la cadena, realizándose una primera reunión donde se exponen las ideas generales que serán profundizadas durante la fase 2.Los facilitadores trabajan con grupos temáticos organizados con base en el diagnóstico, incluyendo actores como: procesadores, comerciantes, supermercados, restaurantes y organizaciones de investigación y desarrollo, públicas y privadas. Los grupos de interés analizan la viabilidad comercial, tecnológica y económica de las oportunidades de negocio identifi cadas en la fase 1.En esta fase, los actores, poco a poco, empiezan a asumir el liderazgo, según sus intereses en aprovechar las oportunidades del mercado. Los facilitadores dejan que estos líderes asuman su rol con un mayor compromiso. Durante esta fase, el grupo se consolida para trabajar alrededor de un interés común. Deben dejar de ser solo un conjunto de actores y constituirse en un equipo de trabajo que realiza innovaciones concretas.La fase termina con el Segundo Gran Evento, donde se presentan los resultados del análisis de cada grupo temático. Este evento sirve para motivar a los grupos y para convocar a nuevos actores que pueden enriquecer el trabajo.Los actores llevan a la práctica las ideas que analizaron durante la segunda fase, generando productos que lanzan al mercado. Esta fase distingue al EPCP, pues el resultado no son solo planes de trabajo, sino productos concretos colocados en el mercado, por actores organizados. Por ejemplo, el café tostado, molido y envasado, con un nombre de marca; la papa nativa limpia, seleccionada y enmallada; o queso mozzarella vendiéndose en las pizzerías de Oruro.En esta fase, los actores se comprometen más con las iniciativas. Los facilitadores ya solo acompañan las iniciativas de los actores. Todos los actores deben satisfacer sus intereses propios para que la acción fl uya. Por ejemplo, los agricultores venden sus cosechas a mejores precios, los procesadores tienen materia prima de calidad, los comerciantes venden nuevos productos atractivos y los consumidores disfrutan de mejores productos.El EPCP termina con el Gran Evento Final donde se presentan las innovaciones que han sido desarrolladas por los grupos temáticos. En este evento participan las instituciones locales y las empresas involucradas en la cadena, políticos del sector y la prensa. El EPCP estimula diferentes tipos de innovaciones (alcances) entre actores de la cadena:Innovación comercial: nuevos productos y mejor acceso al mercado y a los consumidores. Puede ser a través de nuevas presentaciones como: productos con mejores envases y etiquetas, nuevos nichos de mercado o nuevos canales de distribución y estrategias de mercadeo que satisfacen las necesidades de los clientes.Innovación tecnológica: cambios en la producción, respondiendo a las nuevas oportunidades de negocio, en cualquier eslabón de la cadena (en el campo, la fábrica o el almacén). Frecuentemente son cambios agrícolas, incluyendo mejores técnicas de cultivo o poscosecha, y mejor semilla o variedades más demandadas en el mercado.Innovación institucional: no se refi ere a las organizaciones públicas o privadas, sino a nuevas reglas del juego o relaciones entre los actores de la cadena. Incluye nuevas normas de calidad y redes o plataformas que consolidan las otras innovaciones.El EPCP tiene el siguiente protocolo para asegurar la implementación apropiada.Fase 1: diagnóstico cualitativo de la cadena productiva 2 a 4 meses 1. Mapeo de actores de la cadena productiva.Identifi car a los actores de la cadena. 2. Diagnóstico cualitativo de la cadena productiva. Identifi car oportunidades e ideas de negocios. 3. Primer Gran Evento.Generar interés en los actores, compartiendo los resultados del mapeo y del diagnóstico cualitativo.Formar grupos de trabajo en torno a las ideas de negocios.Fase 2: análisis de las oportunidades de negocios 3 a 5 meses 4. Reuniones periódicas, más o menos cada 15 días. Desarrollar las ideas en planes de negocios.Identifi car e incluir a otros actores. Interactuar y desarrollar confi anza entre los a c t o r e s . 5. Segundo Gran Evento.Presentar los planes de negocios a una audiencia de actores de la cadena. Incorporar nuevos actores.Fase 3: poner en práctica las innovaciones conjuntas 4 a 6 meses 6. Reuniones periódicas cada 15 días Los grupos temáticos ejecutan los planes de aproximadamente.negocios. Los actores interactúan y colaboran. 7. Tercer Gran Evento.Involucrar a la prensa y líderes de opinión para dar una cobertura amplia a los nuevos negocios y otros productos.indefi nido 8. Apoyo y asesoramiento a pedido. Asegurar la sostenibilidad de las innovaciones.3 a 5 meses 4. Reuniones periódicas, más o menos cada 15 días. Desarrollar las ideas en planes de negocios.Identifi car e incluir a otros actores. Interactuar y desarrollar confi anza entre los a c tores. 5. Segundo Gran Evento.Presentar los planes de negocios a una a u diencia de actores de la cadena. Incorporar nuevos actores.Figura 2. Estructura para la capacitación en el EPCP Se publicó una estrategia de capacitación en el EPCP para los facilitadores (Antezana et al. 2008), escrita y aplicada principalmente por Papa Andina y sus socios en Bolivia (Fundación Proinpa), Perú (Incopa) y Ecuador (INIAP-PN-RT). La capacitación tiene cuatro talleres que estructuran el aprendizaje en tres fases (Figura 2).El EPCP logra su impacto vinculando los productos (actividades de los facilitadores) con los alcances (cambios en conocimientos, actitudes, prácticas entre los actores) y los impactos (cambios en el bienestar de los agricultores pobres) (Figura 3). La relación entre los productos, los alcances e impactos se llama las \"vías de impacto. \" Antes de aplicar el EPCP, los facilitadores describen explícitamente las vías de impacto que esperan, para planifi car la línea de base, el monitoreo y las encuestas fi nales (evaluación).El EPCP debe lograr los siguientes productos:1. El mapeo de actores.2. Un diagnóstico cualitativo de la cadena productiva.3. Planes de trabajo, incluyendo ideas de negocio, de los grupos temáticos.4. Eventos y reuniones con actores de la cadena en relativa igualdad.5. Autoridades políticas informadas sobre la importancia de la cadena productiva.En las reuniones, los actores deben mejorar su conocimiento mutuo, para crear ideas y planes de negocios. Para concretar estos planes, el EPCP busca aumentar la confi anza entre actores. No se puede desarrollar un negocio nuevo sin esa confi anza (que va creciendo durante y después del EPCP). Los planes de negocios requieren que los actores de la cadena innoven (ver el círculo al medio de la Figura 3), y que logren los siguientes alcances:1. Establecen nuevos canales de comunicación.2. Instituyen espacios de consenso (plataformas) con participación de los pequeños agricultores.3. Manejan información más completa del mercado, permitiendo por ejemplo, que los transformadores sepan cómo se produce su materia prima, y los productores conozcan la demanda de los consumidores.4. Emprenden acciones conjuntas. 5. Pequeños agricultores mejor organizados con una red comercial ampliada en respuesta a la demandas de la cadena y a las nuevas oportunidades de mercado.El EPCP crea servicios de apoyo para las demandas de la cadena y de los pequeños agricultores, mientras informa a las autoridades políticas y promueve un contexto político favorable. Las innovaciones con nuevas oportunidades de mercado llevan a precios más altos y estables, e incrementos en los ingresos de los pequeños agricultores, para mejorar sus medios de vida.En la siguiente sección se presentan cinco casos de aplicación del EPCP, analizando los productos, alcances e impacto logrados."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"74a32e4a25e507c87b23ef9c82326c07","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4aecccdf-7338-425b-9605-e90f87a79d74/retrieve","id":"383632099"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d540960d-a5b5-4ec2-b1b5-e71211bd3bae","content":"Fiche TechniqueLa collecte des eaux de pluie se pratique depuis des millénaires notamment dans les régions arides et semi-arides. Les eaux de pluies sont plus particulièrement utilisées pour l'irrigation des cultures et pour différents usages domestiques tels que la lessive, par exemple, mais elles peuvent aussi servir à la consommation humaine ou animale.Le facteur climatique a une grande incidence sur la collecte des eaux de pluies : on assiste actuellement à un réchauffement général du climat de la planète et à des pluies plus rares et souvent très violentes, un phénomène encore accentué par la disparition du couvert végétal. Dans certains pays arides ou semi-arides, les pluies qui tombent durant la saison des pluies (généralement quatre mois, de juillet à octobre) ne suffisent plus à alimenter les nappes phréatiques et les puits. Lorsque la saison sèche arrive, les réserves sont donc vite épuisées.Les eaux de pluies peuvent être conservées dans des réservoirs individuels et des citernes de stockage alimentées par des surfaces de captage (impluviums) mais il ne faut pas oublier que la façon la plus courante de conserver l'eau de pluie, c'est dans le sol ! En effet collecter les eaux de pluies ne veut pas seulement dire capter l'eau de pluie mais également encourager une plus grande infiltration de l'eau de pluie et donc la conserver dans le sol en empêchant le ruissellement et l'érosion. La conservation du couvert végétal est donc particulièrement importante car lorsqu'il pleut sur des terres recouvertes de végétation, le ruissellement est ralenti. Ce ralentissement se fait de la façon suivante: les gouttes \"éclatent\" sur les feuilles des arbres ou sur l'herbe au sol et leur force destructrice est donc ralentie lorsqu'elles touchent la terre proprement dite. Une partie de cette eau s'infiltre, mouille le sol en profondeur et s'y accumule pour alimenter la nappe phréatique tandis qu'une autre partie de l'eau coule mais est freinée par la végétation, alimentant ainsi les marigots et les bas-fonds. A leur tour le renouvellement de la nappe phréatique et le gonflement des marigots et des bas-fonds vont aller remplir les puits construits dans les environs. Par contre, sur les terrains sans couvert végétal, les gouttes arrivent très vite et violemment sur le sol, sans être freinées : elles arrachent de la terre, cassent les mottes, bouchent les fentes du sol. L'eau tasse le sol (phénomène de compactage), ne s'infiltre pas et ruisselle, emportant toute la bonne terre arrachée. De plus, en s'écoulant, l'eau prend de la force, creuse des ravines et peut même causer des effondrements de terrain dans certains cas. Enfin si le sol n'est pas imprégné en profondeur, les puits fournissent un peu d'eau en saison des pluies mais plus rien en saison sèche.Il existe de nombreux systèmes de collecte des eaux de pluie mais on peut les regrouper en deux catégories: ceux d'abord qui sont mis en place au niveau individuel ou au niveau de l'exploitation agricole comme par exemple la collecte de l'eau de toiture au niveau domestique ou les techniques de conservation de l'eau de pluie au niveau de chaque plante comme les « zais » et les demi-lunes, et puis ceux qui sont exécutés sur une plus grande échelle comme les aménagements en courbe de niveau ou bien les micro-barrages et retenues villageoises qui sont destinés à retenir les eaux de ruissellement non plus au niveau individuel mais plutôt au niveau de toute une communauté. Dans certains cas les autorités ou des acteurs extérieurs doivent intervenir dans le financement de ces ouvrages, vu les frais importants qui doivent être engagés.Cette série d'émissions vous propose des interviews avec des spécialistes de la collecte des eaux de pluies et également avec des experts de la conservation des sols. Vous y trouverez donc des renseignements sur les impluviums, sur l'importance de la matière organique pour permettre une meilleure infiltration de l'eau dans le sol, sur les différentes techniques recommandées pour favoriser cette infiltration et sur les différents types de micro-barrages, de réservoirs et de retenues villageoises.Un impluvium est un système de captage des eaux de pluie construit pour stocker et fournir de l'eau pendant les périodes de pénurie. Il se compose de quatre parties essentielles :• une aire de captage : cela peut être la toiture d'une maison ou d'un bâtiment ou une aire de collecte des eaux de pluie spécialement aménagée ; • une ou plusieurs gouttières en bambou, en tôle galvanisée ou en PVC : elles servent à collecter les eaux provenant de la toiture et à les canaliser vers les citernes de stockage ; • une citerne hors sol : elle reçoit les eaux provenant des gouttières par l'intermédiaire d'une conduite et les stocke pendant l'intervalle compris entre deux saisons de pluie ou plus ; • un dispositif de déviation des premières pluies : grâce à ce système, les premières pluies qui drainent l'insalubrité accumulée sur la surface de captage sont éliminées et ne sont pas admises dans la citerne. A ces quatre éléments essentiels sont associés un filtre qui permet la rétention de certains débris végétaux et animaux avant leur déversement dans la citerne, un robinet qui sert à l'approvisionnement et un tuyau de vidange des eaux après le lavage de la citerne.Les impluviums présentent de nombreux avantages :• Ils évitent d'avoir à transporter l'eau depuis une source éloignée : ils offrent un approvisionnement sur les lieux mêmes de la consommation ! • La qualité de l'eau est généralement supérieure à celle de certains ruisseaux ou marigots. • Ils sont peu coûteux à l'emploi : il n'y a pratiquement aucune pièce mobile, ni aucune énergie requise. • L'eau de pluie est douce et est donc bonne pour la consommation et le lavage des vêtements. • Les impluviums garantissent l'indépendance de l'approvisionnement en eau puisque les ménages l'utilisant ne sont pas tributaires des ressources de la communauté ou des aménagements collectifs.• Il sont simples à construire: la construction des citernes est facile et l'on peut former localement des ouvriers pour les construire, ce qui peut permettre de réduire les coûts.De plus la technologie en est souple : on peut construire les systèmes en les adaptant à pratiquement n'importe quel besoin.• Ils réduisent le ruissellement et donc les inondations en zone habitée.A côté de ces nombreux avantages, le système présente quelques inconvénients :• Le coût initial de construction est relativement élevé. En revanche, une fois l'eau stockée dans les citernes, le maintien de sa qualité exige une grande rigueur dans l'entretien de l'ouvrage. Cet entretien commence dès la collecte des eaux de pluies et se poursuit jusqu'à la fin de l'utilisation de l'eau stockée. Il consiste essentiellement à :• dévier les premières pluies : l'eau de pluie n'est admise dans la citerne (réservoir) que lorsque la toiture (surface de captage) est jugée suffisamment propre. La même précaution est prise lorsque les pluies s'interrompent pour plus d'une semaine. Le dispositif de déviation des premières pluies doit être facilement manipulable. • nettoyer les gouttières et la citerne au début de la saison pluvieuse.• procéder à la chloration (chlore ou eau de javel) de l'eau stockée avant le début de la consommation pour parer à toute contamination éventuelle. Le compostage est une opération qui consiste à faire fermenter, dans des conditions contrôlées, des déchets organiques en présence de l'oxygène de l'air. Le compost est donc de la matière organique décomposée : feuilles mortes, déchets végétaux de table, gazon coupé, chaumes de maïs, etc. Le fumier est un mélange solide de déjections d'animaux d'élevage et de litière (paille, copeaux, etc.) Le compost et le fumier facilitent l'infiltration de l'eau dans le sol parce que la matière organique se colle aux particules de terre en formant des agrégats qui aèrent le sol et permettent donc la pénétration de l'air et de l'eau. Qui plus est, les matières organiques ellesmêmes retiennent l'eau et les éléments nutritifs. En pratique, un mélange de compost et de sable ajouté aux sols trop compacts permet de les aérer et de les alléger, tandis que l'ajout de compost et d'une terre plus lourde aux sols sablonneux favorise une meilleure rétention de l'humidité et des minéraux.Le paillis (ou mulch) est une couche de matériau protecteur posée sur le sol, destinée à empêcher la terre de se dessécher en ralentissant l'évaporation de l'eau et en maintenant l'humidité dans le sol. Grace au paillis l'eau de pluie ruisselle moins et s'infiltre davantage dans le sol.On désigne par cordons pierreux des dispositifs constitués de blocs de moellons assemblés par séries de 1, 2, 3 ou plusieurs à la fois. C'est un \" chapelet \" de cailloux moyens disposés le long d'une courbe de niveau, sur des terrains à pente faible ou moyenne, qui servent à contrôler le ruissellement de l'eau de pluie. Ils favorisent la sédimentation et l'infiltration de l'eau et permettent d'uniformiser la répartition de l'eau dans la parcelle. Les diguettes utilisent sensiblement le même procédé sauf qu'elles sont construites en terre au lieu de pierre.Pour bien tirer parti de ces deux techniques il faut avoir une notion de la configuration du bassin versant afin de déterminer la pente générale et les différentes lignes de partage des eaux de ruissellement, et savoir déterminer les lignes des courbes de niveau : le bassin versant peut se définir comme une surface ruisselante dont les contours sont délimités par les points de plus haute altitude. L'ensemble des points culminants reliés les uns aux autres de façon imaginaire constitue la ligne de partage des eaux. Une courbe de niveau est donc une ligne imaginaire qui relie tous les points de même altitude dans une aire géographique donnée.Les courbes de niveau peuvent se déterminer à l'aide d'un niveau à eau, d'un triangle à sol ou par un levé topographique. Le traçage se fait alors à l'aide d'une daba ou d'une pioche. Il est conseillé d'utiliser un écartement entre les cordons compris entre 30 et 47 mètres. En moyenne, trois voyages de camions de moellons sont nécessaires pour aménager un hectare. Une fois les courbes matérialisées, il faut ouvrir un sillon d'ancrage de 10 à 15 cm de profondeur et de 15 à 20 cm de largeur, et y disposer une ligne de grosses pierres. Il convient de renforcer cette ligne en aval avec une autre ligne de petites pierres et de rabattre la terre du sillon pour consolider l'assise du cordon pierreux. Il faut ensuite procéder à la plantation d'espèces herbacées ou arbustives (Andropogon, Vetiver, Acacia nilotica, Ziziphus mauritiana etc…). L'étape suivante consiste à effectuer un apport de fumier ou de compost bien décomposé. Il faut toujours travailler le sol parallèlement aux courbes de niveau de manière à ralentir le ruissellement dans le champ. L'entretien des cordons par le remplacement des pierres déplacées est essentiel à l'efficacité de la technique. (« Utiliser le relief pour faciliter l'infiltration. ») Le succès de ces techniques dépend de plusieurs facteurs :• Une pluviométrie d'au moins 300 à 400 mm par an. Les aménagements de collecte des eaux de pluie pouvant exiger des apports importants et suivis de main d'oeuvre et de ressources, l'intégration de cette technologie dans un programme plus global de développement communautaire est fortement encouragée. Si par exemple les eaux de pluie collectées sont destinées à l'irrigation de cultures à fort rapport économique, il pourrait être utile d'associer à cette initiative un programme de commercialisation permettant de garantir aux agriculteurs qu'ils puissent vendre leur production à un prix satisfaisant. A l'inverse, un aménagement de collecte des eaux de pluie peut être utilisé pour irriguer des cultures fourragères et alimenter toute l'année des troupeaux plus importants en pâturage et eau d'abreuvement. Il faudra alors compléter un tel aménagement par des systèmes d'exploitation des effectifs augmentés d'animaux d'élevage, tels que le développement de produits d'élevage à valeur ajoutée, ou en prévoyant l'accès à un marché fiable et profitable. La collecte des eaux de pluie peut aussi servir à compléter les mesures sanitaires pour faire face, par exemple, aux taux élevés de cas de diarrhée chez les enfants.La participation communautaire est également importante non seulement pour la construction des structures de collecte des eaux de pluie, mais aussi pour leur entretien ultérieur. En effet, pour rester efficaces, la plupart de ces structures doivent être régulièrement entretenues. Il faut débourber les bassins et cuvettes, réparer les bourrelets, recreuser les fossés au besoin, et des mesures d'entretien sont généralement nécessaires chaque année. Si les utilisateurs de la technologie ne participent pas à la prise de décision dès le début et n'ont investi ni leur temps ni leurs ressources dans sa mise en oeuvre, ils risquent de ne pas s'être «approprié» le système. Dans ce cas ils n'assureront probablement pas son entretien et il deviendra rapidement inutilisable.Les interviews de cette série donnent de nombreux renseignements pratiques sur les techniques de collecte des eaux de pluie et leur utilité pour les ménages, en en mettant en évidence les avantages et inconvénients. Il serait judicieux de compléter ces interviews avec des informations plus spécifiques au contexte local, surtout en matière de conservation et d'infiltration de l'eau de pluie dans le sol puisque les paysans trouvent souvent des solutions adaptées à leurs propres conditions. En ce qui concerne la collecte des eaux de pluie à usage domestique, un direct au téléphone pourrait permettre de constater si les usagers connaissent les nouvelles technologies, quelles sont les difficultés qu'ils rencontrent et surtout si les coûts initiaux des installations les dissuadent de les essayer.Cette interview avec l'un des spécialistes africains de la collecte de l'eau de pluie les plus connus révèle que la crise de l'eau dans les pays du sud est encore plus pressante qu'on ne l'affirme généralement. L'eau douce dont les êtres humains ont besoin pour leurs besoins de consommation n'est pas accessible facilement puisqu'elle se trouve principalement dans les nappes souterraines et les fleuves. De plus les politiques de développement ne mettent pas le développement du secteur de l'eau au premier plan de leurs priorités. Or la plupart des investissements nécessaires pour apporter l'eau aux populations ne sont pas à la portée des pays du sud en général et il leur faut aller chercher ces moyens auprès de partenaires financiers dont c'est rarement la priorité. Les avantages de la collecte des eaux de pluie sont donc très nombreux : la disponibilité sur place, des économies certaines sur le plan financier, l'amélioration de l'hygiène et de la santé et la prévention des inondations au niveau des ménages.Les deux interviews traitant des impluviums se complètent puisqu'en faisant intervenir chacune un spécialiste différent, elles passent en revue dans le détail les avantages et inconvénients des impluviums mais également les spécificités des citernes de stockage, dispositif principal de l'impluvium. Les deux interviews font également état des précautions indispensables à prendre pour éviter toute contamination de l'eau stockée, telle la déviation des premières pluies qui se chargent des impuretés collectées sur les toits pendant la saison sèche. Pourquoi collecter l'eau de pluie 4'37 Le monde connaît une crise de l'eau ou du moins de disponibilité de l'eau. L'eau de pluie offre donc de gros avantages à faible coût.Les impluviums sont des dispositifs simples de collecte des eaux de toiture à usage domestique qui présentent de nombreux avantages.Le bon fonctionnement du dispositif de l'impluvium dépend de la qualité et du respect des spécificités techniques de la citerne de stockage.4'05 La pluie est naturellement acide et a souvent un goût désagréable. Pourtant elle peut être bue sans effet nuisible pour la santé. Est-ce à dire qu'elle est potable ?6'31 La plantation d'arbres et l'ajout de compost et de fumier par la technique des zais et des demi-lunes favorisent l'infiltration de l'eau de pluie. 4'58 Dans les endroits non cultivés comme les routes et les chemins, l'eau de pluie qui ruisselle peut être collectée et servir à l'irrigation. Alors y a-t-il des dispositions à prendre pour minimiser ces inconvénients-là ?Oui, c'est la sensibilisation, la formation … ou bien l'éducation à l'hygiène et à l'environnement au niveau de la santé. Lors de la sensibilisation il est important de souligner les facteurs d'entretien : les premières pluies doivent être déviées. Ensuite l'entretien même de la citerne : il doit se faire de façon annuelle. Nous utilisons souvent l'eau de javel ou l'eau de chlore pour essayer de traiter cette eau, que nous mettons à la disposition des communautés, et souvent nous avons des relais. Les relais peuvent être des agents d'hygiène ou bien également des relais communautaires qui ont été formés et qui savent faire le dosage de l'eau de javel ou bien du chlore pour la désinfection de cette eau. Comme vous le savez, le Mali est un pays sahélien où il y a la sécheresse endémique mais d'autre part les sols sont très vulnérables et les sols sont pauvres en matière organique ; et quand il pleut, ce n'est pas rare de voir qu'il y a un grand ruissellement qui se produit, qui entraîne l'érosion qui décape la couche fertile de la terre ; donc le thème de l'infiltration de l'eau est un thème particulièrement important. Ça peut se faire par l'ajout de matière organique. Et différentes sources de matière organique existent : il y a d'abord les ordures ménagères qui ont une fonction très importante pour la fourniture de matière organique dégradable et il y a le fumier et ça c'est particulièrement important parce que partout au Mali, les gens font de l'élevage. Ils font de l'agriculture et de l'élevage en même temps. Bon il y a aussi le paillage à partir des résidus de culture qui apporte aussi de la matière organique hein … et il y a la plantation d'arbres. Vous connaissez le fameux arbre qu'on appelle le « Balanzan » c'est-à-dire l'Acacia Albida, certains l'appellent aussi « Faidherbia Albida », qui ne produit pas de feuilles en saison des pluies mais qui produit des feuilles en saison sèche et ces feuilles-là tombent et forment une litière. Il y a aussi les plantes de couverture c'est-à-dire qu'au lieu de laisser le sol nu pendant la saison sèche, on peut mettre des plantes de couverture telles que le Mucuna et la Dolique qui couvrent le sol, donnent aussi des feuilles mortes et constituent de la matière organique. Nous avons aussi des techniques disons de collecte de l'eau telles que le « zai » et les demi-lunes qui constituent tous des méthodes pour collecter de l'eau et tirer le maximum de profit de l'eau qui tombe.Pour être un peu plus précis, est-ce que vous pouvez développer un peu ces techniques-là : le « zai », comment ça se fait concrètement, la méthode de la demi-lune, comment ça se fait concrètement, est-ce que vous pouvez donner quelques indications pour quelqu'un qui voudrait les reproduire ?Bon le zai… bon c'est une technique locale puisque sur les terres qui sont très compactées et sur lesquelles l'eau, quand elle tombe, ruisselle, les agriculteurs font des trous circulaires à peu près de 15 à 20 centimètres de diamètre et à peu près 15 à 30 centimètres de profondeur ; ils mettent soit de l'herbe séchée ou bien même du fumier là-dedans. Donc ils font ça en saison des pluies et avec les premières pluies qui tombent, l'eau s'entasse dans ces trous et avec la matière organique qui est là, après une ou deux semaines, quand ils sèment, ça fait vraiment un micro-environnement et vous voyez, les plantes poussent… et nous avons fait des études là-dessus on a vu que le zai permet d'augmenter souvent la production de 100 à 150%. Donc ça permet de récupérer des terres dégradées qu'on ne peut plus cultiver. Les zais, ça nécessite beaucoup de travail parce que c'est du travail manuel et il y a des tentatives pour mécaniser le système des zais. Bon pour les demi-lunes, comme leur nom l'indique, on creuse un trou mais qui n'est pas complètement fermé et qui a la forme d'un croissant de lune. On le fait un peu en aval de la pente donc quand l'eau ruisselle, elle reste là-dedans. On peut le faire en quinconce, c'est-à-dire de façon éparpillée et ça aussi ça permet de faire un micro-climat, un micro-environnement qui améliore la quantité d'eau disponible et qui permet vraiment à la plante de pousser un peu plus vite et de souffrir moins des périodes de sécheresse…hein … Bon, la technique du paillage, ca consiste, disons, soit des feuilles d'arbre soit de l'herbe séchée, on récupère ça ou bien les résidus de récoltes tels que les cornes de maïs, on les met en tas à la surface du sol et ça crée aussi un micro-environnement… hein … Quand il pleut vous allez trouver qu'en dessous des chaumes de maïs ou bien de la paille qu'on a mis comme mulch, c'est humide ; souvent les termites aussi vont utiliser une partie de ça et ils font des galeries et vous trouvez aussi des vers là-dedans et vous voyez que l'eau s'infiltre dans les galeries que les termites produisent et cela permet aussi de favoriser l'infiltration de l'eau. Parce que vous savez que dans les zones sahéliennes, il y a des algues qui peuvent se développer à la surface du sol et qui forment des croûtes et ces croûtes-là sont difficiles à casser. Les micro-barrages Alors quelles sont les difficultés que vous avez pu rencontrer dans la réalisation de tels ouvrages ?En tous cas ces ouvrages sont coûteux et les paysans, seuls, ne peuvent pas s'y atteler. C'est pourquoi on leur demande de se réunir en coopératives. Quand ils se réunissent en coopératives, ils deviennent solvables. Ils peuvent prendre leur argent pour s'organiser, prendre des spécialistes pour faire la conception et réaliser les aménagements pour eux.On peut avoir une idée du coût ?Pour un aménagement avec une retenue d'eau, le coût à l'hectare peut aller jusqu'à 5 millions à l'hectare. Maintenant pour les « P.auf. » c'est-à-dire les « prises au fil de l'eau » : on met un ouvrage dans le lit de la rivière et lorsqu'il y a une pluie, ils barrent au niveau de cet ouvrage et l'eau remonte à l'amont, à l'amont de l'ouvrage, ce qui permet d'alimenter les différents casiers. Ce genre d'ouvrages, ça c'est un petit ouvrage, ce genre d'ouvrages, ça peut aller à 500 000 ou à 800 000 à l'hectare. Ça c'est un ouvrage qui est adapté aux paysans qui n'ont pas les moyens. Quand il pleut, ils arrivent à recueillir l'eau et puis à l'utiliser directement. Mais l'inconvénient de cet ouvrage c'est lorsqu'il n'y a pas de pluies : ils ne peuvent pas utiliser cet ouvrage c'est-à-dire que si la rivière n'est pas permanente et qu'il n'y a pas de pluies, ils ne peuvent pas l'utiliser.Quels sont les matériaux à utiliser pour la réalisation de tels ouvrages ?Pour réaliser un barrage, on utilise la terre locale c'est-à-dire les gravillons latéritiques, ce qu'on appelle la terre rouge, pour faire la digue. Ce sont les engins qui jouent beaucoup dans la réalisation d'un barrage, pour le compactage de la digue ; ensuite pour la protection, pour éviter l'érosion, on utilise en amont des pierres, c'est-à-dire les graviers et en aval on plante du gazon sur la digue. Maintenant pour la réalisation de la prise, c'est du béton, du béton armé. Les canaux sont réalisés en terre et puis on fait le revêtement en béton ou bien quelquefois il reste en terre."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"01bcd175c0fb684fd6e904e0f32b6a39","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b87108f7-ec25-480c-b7ec-4789c03f922d/retrieve","id":"-1095018108"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"317a38ee-693d-474b-ba43-91d1968a89be","content":"new variety with unique genetic content. From this point onward, there is no further genetic change and segregation among genes. Based on this understanding, Grüneberg et al. (2007) designed an \"Accelerated Breeding Scheme\" (ABS) for sweetpotato (Fig. 2) with the principle to do as much as possible concurrently, what is done in Figure 1 sequentially in several steps over several years. Visual agronomic evaluation is also carried out to identify the worthy genotypes in early breeding stages (seedling nurseries and observation trials (OTs)). The ABS for sweetpotato requires 1 year for crossings and multiplication of planting material (Fig. 2). In the second year, all genotypes developed from seeds that have been cloned in year 1 are planted concurrently in two to four distinct environments as observational trials (OT) in small plots (3 plants per row) without replica-2014 AUG Getting Sweetpotato Varieties to Farmers Faster: The Accelerated Breeding Scheme (ABS)A member of the CGIAR ConsortiumThe most important constraints to sweetpotato production in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are shortage of high quality planting material and lack of improved OFSP varieties. The approach conventional breeding programs have followed for decades start with population development (crossings and generation of genetic variation through production of botanical seed) and end with selection of the \"best\" individuals in the genetic variation / breeding population and variety release. This conventional breeding scheme as illustrated in Fig. 1 takes 7 to 8 years. Given our findings and the pressure to make a difference in farmer's lives faster, this \"conventional\" breeding scheme is no longer adequate.  After evaluating the OTs, the best selections are entered into a series of trials across environments [multi-locational trials (MTs)] as before in the conventional breeding scheme to be evaluated again for storage root yield, upper biomass yields and storage root quality in years 3 and 4. In year 4, these are conducted concurrently with on-farm trials (OFs). Moreover traits are aggregated into an index. This enables the release of varieties in second season of year 4. ABS for sweetpotato has the potential to be applied to other clonally propagated crops. Consensus exists in the sweetpotato community of practice (CoP) that ABS is indeed a powerful tool to generate varieties fast and enhance breeding efficiency. The latter appears to be due to its ability to capture the following traits early in the breeding cycle: yield stability, harvest index stability and storage root initiation stability as well as quality attributes such as dry matter, b-carotene and sugar content. However, ABS is management intensive, as more sites are managed concurrently. Thus, very resource constrained breeding programs may not be able to adopt it.Since 2005, two recurrent selection cycles have been conducted using ABS, with the release of 14 drought tolerant varieties in 2011 by breeding tracing back to true seed and  one additional variety (Gloria) tracing back to farmer material (Gloria was not bred). More varieties are in the pipeline for release in 2014 and 2015. In the first cycle, four distinct sites have been used (Fig 3), with their unique characteristics described in Table 1. Four sites in Mozambique were classified as unique in terms of their agro-ecological characteristics (Table 1).  From August 2005 to December 2009, a crossing block was established, several trials (118), from seedlings (polycross and controlled cross) using ABS gave rise to 59 different AYTs planted at Umbelúzi, Chókwè, Angónia, and Gurué involving the evaluation of a total of 139,508 genotypes (Table 2).From the selection process carried out, 64 clones from 59 AYT emerged for testing in series of variety trials [multi-location (MTs)] and on-farm trials (OFs) in four agricultural research stations and their surrounding areas, respectively.For MTs, the experimental design was randomized completed block design (RCBD) with four replications; net plots had one row with 23 plants. The attributes measured were: Root Yield, Dry Matter, and Beta-carotene in mg/100g (RHS Color Chart), Taste (1-5 Likert scale; 5 excellent taste) virus and weevil damage and vine vigour (1-10 scale; score of 10 being most vigorous).To make sure that the attributes used in the process of selection account for the majority of the variance in the data set, a principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted. The 23 clones remaining after the elimination procedure and index selection were submitted to GXE analysis using AMMI models, to determine the degree of stability across the 4 sites.Six clones showed tendency to be stable over the all the environments (Fig. 4). Another 9 were selected for specific adaptation. In Figure 4 red squares represent environments and blue triangles represent clones for variety release. Clones in the center and to the right of the center line (PC 1 = 0) are high yielding (response in t/ha) stable clones over all environments, whereas those clones close to at least one environment are specific adapted clones to the environment near to the clone(s). For example, 42g and 30g are clones Table 5: Summary of the most important results from the first generation conventional breeding release (G1), the first generation ABS (G2), the second generation ABS (G3).with specific adaptation to the environment Angonia. Table 3 presents the overall results of the selected clones from the first generation (G2).In 2011, the third generation (G3) was initiated, and up to 2014, about 30,836 clones were evaluated under ABS. Table 4 presents the list of the selection trials established during 2011-14 selection cycle. As a result, 76 clones with potential to be released were selected.In 2013/14, these 76 potential varieties are under 4 multi-locational and 88 on-farm trials that will lead to varietal release in late 2014 and another 56 clones are destined for multi-location trials in 2015.A comparison of the most important characteristics of the clones from the first generation (G1) conventional breeding released in 2000, the first generation ABS (G2), and the second generation ABS (G3) is presented in Table 5. Max.Iron (Fe) (mg/100 g DW) Zinc (Zn) (mg/100 g DW)Max.Min.  In conclusion, the ABS clearly reduces the time needed from crossing to variety release and it is efficient. Further research to determine the magnitude of the efficiency of this breeding scheme is warranted. The likelihood is high that it will lead to significantly faster breeding progress in sweetpotato as well as other clonally propagated crops, provided it becomes known and adopted by more breeding programs. Finally, we want to note that ABS is enhancing the efficiency of selection within a given population. Note that ABS is not targeting directly at more elevated population means -see heterosis exploiting breeding schemes (HEBS). ABS and HEBS together appear to us currently the best tools offered by selection theory to enhance in this and the next decade to applied breeding of clonally propagated crops."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5ec3c37c857bc755e2c76e05eaf18df8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/63f12966-dd6f-4ced-bdf0-f56726c1406d/retrieve","id":"-392245326"},"keywords":["vitamin A, hidden hunger, malnutrition, fortification, diet diversification ANOVA, Analysis of Variance","IREC, Internal Research Ethics Committee","PVA, Provitamin A","RAE, Retinol Activity Equivalent","SAMRC, South African Medical Research Council","SD, Standard Deviation","USD, United States Dollars"],"sieverID":"f306cf40-5343-4b55-a105-796ef549a6d3","content":"Background: Evidence of the effectiveness of biofortified maize with higher provitamin A (PVA) to address vitamin A deficiency in rural Africa remains scant. Objectives: This study projects the impact of adopting PVA maize for a diversity of households in an area typical of rural Zimbabwe and models the cost and composition of diets adequate in vitamin A. Methods: Household-level weighed food records were generated from 30 rural households during a week in April and November 2021. Weekly household intakes were calculated, as well as indicative costs of diets using data from market surveys. The impact of PVA maize adoption was modeled assuming all maize products contained observed vitamin A concentrations. The composition and cost of the least expensive indicative diets adequate in vitamin A were calculated using linear programming. Results: Very few households would reach adequate intake of vitamin A with the consumption of PVA maize. However, from a current situation of 33%, 50%-70% of households were projected to reach 50% of their requirements (the target of PVA), even with the modest vitamin A concentrations achieved on-farm (mean of 28.3 μg RAE per 100 g). This proportion would increase if higher concentrations recorded on-station were achieved. The estimated daily costs of current diets (mean AE standard deviation) were USD 1.43 AE 0.59 in the wet season and USD 0.96 AE 0.40 in the dry season. By comparison, optimization models suggest that diets adequate in vitamin A could be achieved at daily costs of USD 0.97 and USD 0.79 in the wet and dry seasons, respectively. Conclusions: The adoption of PVA maize would bring a substantial improvement in vitamin A intake in rural Zimbabwe but should be combined with other interventions (e.g., diet diversification) to fully address vitamin A deficiency.The prevalence of vitamin A deficiency is high in low-and low to middle-income countries [1,2], including (rural) Zimbabwe and neighboring countries [3][4][5]. It can be addressed through dietary diversification, fortification of industrially processed food (such as cooking oil or sugar), biofortification, and/or supplementation (high dose provided in e.g., oral liquid form) [6][7][8][9]. The coverage of vitamin A supplementation programs for children aged 6-59 mo in Zimbabwe was ~40% in recent years but varies widely across years, including a decline during 2020 and 2021, most likely due to COVID-19 [10]. Vitamin A supplementation programs are generally costly and difficult to maintain, and supplementation access varies by sub-population, typically compounding other health and food system inequities (such as vaccination access), including in Zimbabwe [11]. In this context and recognizing that low-income households may not be in a capacity to afford a diverse diet [12], conventional breeding of maize for higher provitamin A concentration-referred to as PVA maize in the rest of the paper-has been presented as having good potential to address low vitamin A intake in rural Africa [13].A breeding target of 15 ppm was set to provide 50% of the estimated average requirement for vitamin A [14]. To date, a total of 76 PVA enhanced varieties have been commercialized in Africa [15]. Under on-station conditions, the PVA concentration achieved through breeding has varied from 7.5 to 15 ppm [16] (against a concentration of non-PVA elite maize 2 ppm [17]). For illustration, consumption of 250 g/d of maize flour with PVA concentration of 10 ppm would deliver 2.5 mg PVA, equivalent to 208 μg Retinol Activity Equivalent (RAE). This compares with an average adult female requirement of 490 μg RAE [18].Although the ability to increase PVA content of maize through genetic improvement has been demonstrated, evidence of the effectiveness of maize biofortification programs on vitamin A status remains scant. Consumption of PVA maize improved children's vitamin A status, serum retinol concentrations among children who were vitamin A deficient at baseline [19], and visual ability to see in low-light conditions [19]. Breastfeeding mothers who consumed PVA maize for 3 mo had an improvement in the vitamin A concentration of their breast milk, and the prevalence of low-vitamin A concentration in breast milk was reduced by >50% [20]. In addition, there have been recent criticisms as to the cost effectiveness and impact of biofortification, and even suggestions that it may have diverted resources and efforts away from more promising strategies such as dietary diversification [21,22].Against this background, the objectives of the study were as follows: 1) to assess the adequacy of vitamin A in the diets of a diversity of households in a site typical of rural Zimbabwe, 2) to project the impact of large-scale adoption of PVA maize and other nutrition interventions under farm conditions, and 3) to model the cost and composition of diets adequate in vitamin A. We hypothesized the following: 1) that dietary intake of vitamin A would differ across farm types, 2) that PVA maize could be a viable option to address inadequate vitamin A intake for some farms but not all, and 3) that the cost of diets adequate in vitamin A would be above the current cost of diets for the majority households.The District of Murehwa (-17.6432, 31.7840, 1400 m.a.s.l.), located within Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe, was selected for the study. This district is predominantly rural, with 80% of the population engaged in small-scale agriculture as their primary livelihood strategy. The prevalence of stunting is greater in Murehwa (36%) than the national average and increased by 6% between 2010 and 2018 [23], indicating persistent nutritional challenges. This is despite agricultural productivity being relatively higher than in most other districts. The area receives a mean annual rainfall of 750-1000 mm [24], mostly falling between October and April. The main soil types include relatively infertile Lixisols and comparatively more fertile Luvisols [25]. Cattle and goats are the main livestock species, and maize is the staple crop [26].The current study was conducted as part of a larger survey, with recruitment methods described previously [27]. Briefly, 2 wards from Murehwa District with contrasting agricultural soil types and elevation were purposively selected: Ward 4 and Ward 27. In September 2020, a total of 306 farms representing around 7.5% of the population were selected at random within these 2 wards, using an adaptation of the Y sampling [28], and the household head was recruited and interviewed following informed consent. From the dataset, 4 farm types were identified using multidimensional scaling and hierarchical clustering [29].Type 1 can be described as larger farms with larger livestock herds, high-food security, high-dietary diversity, and crop sales as the main source of income. Type 2 are characterized by intermediate farm and herd sizes, high-food security, and lowdietary diversity. Type 3 are predominantly female-headed households, with intermediate farm and herd sizes, lower food security, and intermediate dietary diversity. Finally, Type 4 farms tend to be households with younger heads, smaller farms and herds, lower food security and dietary diversity, and off-farm activities as main source of income. Based on this typology, a representative sample of 30 rural households was selected through stratified sampling (using ward and farm type as strata). The sample was limited to 30 households due to resource constraints.Ethical approval was obtained from the institutional review board at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (IREC 2020.016). All participants provided written informed consent for their participation in the study. Food consumption data were generated at household level using weighed food records. For a week (7 d) between the period 7 and 16 April 2021 (end of wet season) and for a second week between the period 24 October and 1 November 2021 (end of dry season), all food and drink items consumed as a meal or snack by the 30 selected households and its weight were recorded. Only items consumed at home were recorded. For recipes, every raw ingredient was identified and weighed before cooking. The source of each food item-food production, purchase, gift, hunting/gathering, or other-was also recorded. Records were made at the time of food preparation and consumption by a trained member of the household, typically an adult female, receiving regular visits from a research assistant during some of the meals to ensure data was captured accurately. Research assistants were advised not to accept food from households, even when offered. During these visits, records made in the absence of research assistants were also checked. The weight of each food item consumed was estimated using containers of various sizes (jug, bowl, cup, cooking spoon, table spoon, and tea spoon). The quantity of some food items was also estimated by counting units (e.g., for eggs, small tomatoes, medium-sized sweet potatoes, etc.). For each food item and in each household, the unit of measure was then calibrated by a research assistant using portable scales with a 0.1 g resolution. Inedible portions and food waste from these food items were not estimated (food waste tends to be negligible in the community studied). For every meal (or snack), household members taking part were also recorded, including their sex and age. A total of 4543 individual food items consumed at household level were recorded, and their weight was estimated-2294 during the wet season and 2249 during the dry season.Market surveys also took place during both monitoring periods to collect the local price of all food items recorded. Prices were collected from more than one source (with a target of 3-5 different sources) for each food item whenever possible, and the median was taken. For some uncommon items (16 items in the wet season and 35 in the dry season), it was only possible to collect market price data from one source. Across both seasons, 564 market prices were recorded (289 during the wet season and 275 during the dry season) for 176 food items (82 during the wet season and 94 during the dry season).Food consumption data sets were first matched to food composition datasets on a like-for-like basis, considering food description and moisture content. Each food item in the consumption data set was matched to a single representative item from composition tables published by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) [30]. We chose this source because the food tables available for Zimbabwe were published >2 decades ago and were relatively limited in terms of the food items they included [31]. For items that could not be found in SAMRC (2017), we used composition data compiled for Malawi [32]. Finally, for wild fruits and vegetables, we used the database published by Stadlmayr et al. [33]. A few items could not be found in any of these sources, and we therefore used the US Department of Agriculture FoodData Central [34]. Cooking oil and margarine were considered industrially fortified with vitamin A, as this is prevalent in Zimbabwe. The full set of consumption-composition item matches is provided in Supplementary materials -Appendix 1. Weekly household intake of energy, protein, vitamin A, and selected other vitamins and minerals were then calculated by summing the products of quantities and concentrations for each food item consumed.For each household and each week of observation, requirements for vitamin A were calculated based on the characteristics of household members present each day and using the mean harmonized average requirement values published by Allen et al. [18]. Based on these values, weekly household intakes were then expressed on a per adult male (25-50 y old) equivalent and per day basis, using the requirement value for vitamin A of 570 μg RAE [18]. This assumed food was distributed among household members according to their vitamin A requirements. Using the median of local prices for each food item and assuming all food was sourced from local market purchases, indicative cost of diets was calculated. These costs are indicative as they are estimates of the cost a household would incur if they were to purchase diets from the local market, whereas households in the study area source a significant share of their diets from their own production (and gifts).To project the impact of large-scale adoption of PVA maize, we modeled the intake of vitamin A assuming all maize products to have a vitamin A concentration equal to one of the following values: the mean concentration recorded on farm (28.3 μg RAE per 100 g of dry matter; [35]), the maximum concentration recorded on-farm (40.4 μg RAE per 100 g of dry matter; [35]), the maximum concentration recorded on-station of a released variety (95.0 μg RAE per 100 g of dry matter; Ndhlela, pers. com.), and to the target concentration according to Bouis et al. [14] (125 μg RAE per 100 g of dry matter).Finally, the composition and cost of the least expensive indicative diets adequate in vitamin A were calculated using linear programming with the Rstats package lpSolve [36]. Models were analyzed for an adult male-25-50 y old-on a per day basis and set to minimize the cost of diets while achieving a daily intake of vitamin A >570 μg RAE (the mean harmonized average requirement value published by Allen et al. [18]). To obtain realistic diets and minimize deviation from current ones, intakes of energy, protein, and selected micronutrients (those displayed Supplementary materials-Appendix 2) were constrained to fall between 100%-200% of baseline values (mean values recorded for the total sample of 30 households). The same rule was applied to intake (in g of dry matter) in food belonging to the food groups 'cereals,' 'dark green leafy vegetables,' and 'legumes, nuts, and seeds' (groups according to Kennedy et al. [37]), as these food groups dominated observed diets. A constraint of intake lower than twice the mean values recorded for the total sample of households was set for the other food groups.Differences between types were tested through ANOVA, followed by a Tukey post hoc test when differences between types were revealed, using the Rstats package stats [38].The size of households included in the study was larger during the wet season than during the dry season: 8.1 AE 5.0 compared with 5.8 AE 2.8, respectively (Table 1). During both seasons, children (aged 1-17 y) represented the dominant group (3.0 AE 2.1 and 2.5 AE 1.9 during the wet season and the dry season, respectively), followed by young female adults (aged 18-50 y; 1.8 AE 1.7 and 2.5 AE 1.9 during the wet season and the dry season, respectively). No statistically significant differences in household size and household composition were found between the 4 farm types, except Type 2 farms having significantly more children than Type 1 farms during the dry season (Table 1).During both seasons, diets were dominated by cereals, with mean daily quantities consumed estimated at 396.0 and 509.1 g/ d per adult male equivalent during the wet and the dry season, respectively (Table 2). Other important food groups were 'legumes, nuts, and seeds,' 'white roots and tubers,' and 'sweets.' Consumptions of eggs, organ meat, and vitamin A-rich fruits were very low (<5 g/d per adult male equivalent) in both seasons. The mean (AESD) energy intake was 14,662 AE 4549 kJ per day per adult male equivalent during the wet season and 13,370 AE 3455 kJ per day per adult male equivalent during the dry season (Table 3). These values are plausible given the minimum recommended dietary allowances published by Otten et al. [39] (2006).Out of the 30 households under observation, only 3 had a diet adequate in vitamin A during the wet season and only 1 during the dry season (Figure 1). During both seasons, 10 households reached at least half of the daily requirement in vitamin A. Inadequacies were also commonly observed for several other nutrients, including protein, riboflavin, vitamin B12, choline, and calcium during both seasons, and vitamin C during the dry season (see values in Table 3 compared with Supplementary materials -Appendix 2). Vitamin A was predominantly supplied by meals, with a small contribution from snacks during the wet season (Figure 1 A and B). The main sources of vitamin A were foods produced on the farm and purchased food, during both seasons (Figure 1 C and D). The food groups contributing to most of the vitamin A were 'dark green leafy vegetables' (55.6% and 55.3% of the average diet in the wet season and the dry season, respectively) and 'vitamin A-rich vegetables and tubers' (25.4% and 23.2% of the average diet in the wet season and the dry season, respectively) (Figure 1 E and  F). Although Type 4 farms in the wet season and Type 2 and Type 4 farms in the dry season tended to have lower average intake of vitamin A compared with the other farm types, vitamin A intake did not statistically differ between farm types during the wet or dry season (Figure 1 G and H, Table 3).The mean (AE SD) indicative cost of current diets was USD 1.43 AE 0.59 day -1 during the wet season and USD 0.96 AE 0.40 day -1 during the dry season (Figure 2). The food groups that accounted for the largest proportion of this cost were 'legumes, nuts and seeds,' 'cereals,' 'other vegetables,' and 'other fruits' during the wet season (20.5%, 20.3%, 12.9%, and 12.6% of the mean cost, respectively), and 'cereals,' 'legumes, nuts and seeds,' 'vitamin A-rich vegetables and tubers,' and 'white roots and tubers' during the dry season (24.3%, 13.7%, 9.4%, and 8.0% of the mean cost, respectively). Kale and covo (2 different cultivars of Brassica oleracea var. acephala) and rape (Brassica napus) were among the least expensive sources of vitamin A during both the wet and the dry season (Figure 3). Kale was the least expensive source during the wet season, and carrot was the least expensive during the dry season.If all maize products consumed were PVA maize with a vitamin A concentration of 28.3 μg RAE per 100 g of dry matter (the mean concentration recorded on farm), diets would only be adequate in vitamin A for 4 households (out of 30) during the wet season, and 2 during the dry season (Figure 4). This means that only 2 additional households during the wet season and one additional household during the dry season would reach vitamin A adequacy compared with the current situation. However, 50% of the households would reach at least half of their daily The estimated minimum cost (per adult male equivalent per day) of a diet adequate in vitamin A was USD 0.975 day -1 during the wet season and USD 0.793 day -1 during the dry season (Figure 5), i.e., above the current cost of diets for only 6 households during the wet season and 12 households during the dry season (Figure 2). Compared with the average current diet, the diet adequate in vitamin A at minimum cost would imply a doubling in the consumption of 'dark green leafy vegetables' (Table 2). It would also require a substantial increase in the consumption of 'flesh meat' during both seasons and 'oils and fats' during the dry season.If all maize products consumed were PVA maize, with a vitamin A concentration of 28.3 μg RAE per 100 g (the mean concentration recorded on farm) and assuming no difference in cost with current maize products, the cost of a diet adequate in vitamin A is expected to be reduced to USD 0.923 day -1 during the wet season and to USD 0.766 day -1 during the dry season (Figure 5). With a vitamin A concentration of 40.4 μg RAE per 100 g (the maximum concentration recorded on farm) and 95 μg RAE per 100 g (the maximum concentration recorded on station) for all maize products, this cost during the wet season would become USD 0.919 day -1 and USD 0.914 day -1 , respectively, and during the dry season USD 0.759 day -1 and USD 0.750 day -1 , respectively. No difference in the cost of a diet adequate in vitamin A would be expected between a vitamin A concentration of all maize products of 95 μg RAE per 100 g or 125 μg RAE per 100 g (the target concentration).To date, all studies (to the best of our knowledge) focusing on the potential health impact of biofortified crops, including  maize, have used crops produced under optimal conditions onstation or on commercial farms [19,20,40,41]. However, the nutritional concentration of biofortified crops decreases under suboptimal conditions and thus when produced by resource constrained smallholder farmers [42]. In the secondary data used in this research, the mean vitamin A concentration of maize grown in smallholder farmers' fields was ~1/3 of that of PVA maize grown under optimal conditions (irrigated, well-fertilized, and nondegraded soils [35]). To our knowledge, this is the first study to account for a range of micronutrient concentrations (in this case, vitamin A) of biofortified crops in the projection of their likely impact.Our results suggest that large-scale adoption of PVA maize in the area (without additional interventions) would not lead to an adequate vitamin A intake for most households unless concentrations currently not achieved on-farm (concentrations of 95.0 μg RAE per 100 g dry matter or more) could be reached (Figure 4). However, the consumption of PVA maize grown under  ensure that most households reach at least half of their daily requirements, which was the original target for PVA maize breeding [14], with a stronger effect during the dry season (Figure 4). Better understanding the links between soil fertility, fertilizer use, and vitamin A concentration remains an interesting avenue not yet fully explored, to potentially increase the benefit of PVA maize produced under typical smallholder conditions. Earlier studies have shown a significant positive contribution of soil fertility management to grain micronutrient concentration in cereals [43][44][45][46]. Pathways between soil fertility and grain concentration would probably be different for vitamin A and for micronutrients that can be supplied through fertilizers and/or organic soil amendments. Recent results in the study area indicate that lower PVA concentrations in the grain on-farm might be related to a generally lower energy status of the plant under limiting conditions [35].In addition to highlighting the likely impact of PVA maize consumption on vitamin A intake, our study points to the importance of complementary nutrition interventions, including diet diversification, industrial fortification, and supplementation. Contrary to our original hypothesis, we found that most households could obtain a diet adequate in vitamin A from food produced on their farms or available in local markets at a cost that does not exceed the current cost of their diets (Figures 2  and 5). However, the large-scale adoption of PVA maizeassuming no price difference between biofortified and nonbiofortified maize products-would only lead to a modest reduction in the cost of diets adequate in vitamin A, even at higher concentrations of vitamin A in maize (Figure 5). Adopting a diet adequate in vitamin A at minimum cost would imply a substantial increase in the consumption of 'dark green leafy vegetables' and 'flesh meat' (Table 2), which could be supported by targeted interventions. The promotion of home gardens in South Africa has been demonstrated to significantly improve the consumption of dark green leafy vegetables and reduce vitamin A deficiencies [47]. Similarly, the promotion of small livestock rearing in Ethiopia has been found to significantly increase the consumption of micronutrient-rich meat and milk [48].In addition to 'dark green leafy vegetables,' 'oils and fats' are a food group that makes a significant contribution to diets adequate in vitamin A during the dry season (Table 2). These food items are industrially fortified with vitamin A in Zimbabwe and represent a cheap source of vitamin A, although mainly for adults rather than infants and children whose food habits tend to differ [9]. The latter group, however, may benefit from high-dose vitamin A supplementation programs that run every 6 mo, targeting children from birth until the age of 5 y [10]. Industrial fortification could also be expanded to include sugar and cereal products, in addition to cooking oil [49]: the universal fortification of these staples would increase dietary vitamin A supplies, including potentially for vulnerable communities, although very low-income households may still have dietary vitamin A shortfalls as seen in Malawi [3]. In addition, local small-scale food fortification of flour is currently being piloted in  parts of sub-Saharan Africa, targeting that milled maize flour is fortified with essential micronutrients before consumption and could be expanded to the study area [50].The lack of association between vitamin A intake and farm type (Figures 1 G and H) demonstrates that vitamin A adequacy is independent of wealth and suggests that complementary interventions, including the promotion of dietary diversification, focusing on vitamin A-rich sources, may be important in the context of rural Zimbabwe, as previously demonstrated in other contexts [51]. Some of the households studied used sun-drying of vegetables, which ensured a consistent supply of vitamin A, including during the drier months, a practice that could be promoted to other households (although vitamin A concentration may be affected by the practice [52]). Although the contribution of wild foods to vitamin A intake was found to be insignificant in this study (Figures 1 C and D), they have been found to be important in other communities of Zimbabwe [53] and could play a role in promoting year-round consumption of vitamin A-rich food in Murehwa.There were several limitations of this study, which are highlighted to guide future studies. First, this research was conducted at household level and assumed foods were distributed among household members according to their vitamin A requirements. Although studies have found reasonably equitable distribution of food within the household context [54] it is not always the case, with household members-mainly children and females-who may be undernourished in households that are nutritionally adequate [55]. Intrahousehold food distribution may be particularly unequal for nutrient-dense food such as animal-sourced food [56]. Therefore, future research should assess vitamin A intake at individual level, with a focus on children aged !5 y, girls, and women of reproductive age as they have the highest requirements for most nutrients [57]. Second, vitamin A intake may have been overestimated. Both storage and processing/cooking (i.e., drying of vegetables) have been shown to reduce vitamin A content [52,58] and were not monitored in this study. Food waste within the household was also not considered, although this tends to be low in low-income countries [59]. Third, food composition data used in this study originated from neighboring countries, which may differ from actual compositions. Finally, this study could be improved by assessing serum retinol concentration as a biomarker of vitamin A status, which may be poorly correlated with vitamin A intake [60].In conclusion, this study confirms that diets in rural Zimbabwe tend to be inadequate in vitamin A (as well as proteins and several other micronutrients, including riboflavin, vitamin B12, choline, calcium, and vitamin C), often only reaching less than half the dietary requirements. Our results demonstrate that the adoption of PVA maize would ensure that most households reach at least half of their daily vitamin A requirement, which was the original target for PVA maize breeding, even when accounting for the lower vitamin A concentration achieved onfarm. However, our study also shows that the adoption of PVA maize alone will not lead to adequate vitamin A intake (i.e., meeting 100% of daily requirements) for most households unless nutrient concentrations achieved under typical on-farm management increased. In addition to PVA maize, this study found evidence that other nutrition interventions could have a positive effect on vitamin A intake, including dietary diversification, industrial fortification (as already practiced for cooking oil and margarine), and supplementation.Although PVA maize can help alleviate the problem of low intake of vitamin A, the current adoption of PVA maize in Zimbabwe remains very low. In a nationally representative survey conducted in 2018, only 6% and 2% of rural households were found to consume and grow biofortified crops, respectively [61]. In a survey of 295 farms in Ward 4 and Ward 27 of Murehwa District conducted in February 2023, 35% of the farms were found to grow PVA maize, but seed was received as a gift or handout from programs running in the area, with no household purchasing seeds [62]. In contrast, 49% declared having knowledge of PVA maize and its benefits but did not grow it, primarily due to limited availability of seed. Strengthening the seed value chain for PVA maize is thus crucial to increasing its adoption. However, the cost and effort of doing so should be weighed against alternative interventionse.g., promotion of home gardening and small stock keeping, small-scale food fortificationas recently suggested [21]."}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"f45e2a25-2278-4e48-b2b3-d76672781327","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"542ca6c96ea92395566a8678273541f4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b3ca392b-4741-4801-a85f-4ee8a83469d9/retrieve","id":"-1352846199"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9ebed218-a9b3-4652-8a24-452fd9398e3a","content":"A Training Workshop for Trainers in Results-Based Monitoring & Evaluation (RBM&E) was held at Adama from 02 to 05 July of 2012. This Workshop was jointly organized by the Oromia Bureau of Agriculture (OBoA) and Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) project upon the request from OBoA. This is the 6 th training workshop and it is part of the capacity building program that IPMS provided for the four regions where the project was operating and for federal MoA. In this particular training about 39 participants from all Oromia zones were expected to attained but due to the county's annual budget closing time only 22 trainees (19 males and 3 females) have been trained with full attendance.The training workshop was officially opened by Ato Dechassa Dugassa, Coffee Production Area Extension Manager. On his opening speech, he said that \"this is really the right time to build more our capacity on monitoring and evaluation as a bureau.\" He has then asked the participants to pay a special attention and grasp the knowledge from this essential training to be equipped with RBM&E and also transfer to your colleagues to build a team in their respected areas. He has also thanked IPMS for coming forward and offering RBM&E training to help in this crucial capacity that our bureau urgently needed for the region as a whole. Before the training started, the trainees were asked to list their expectations from the training workshop. Accordingly, 22 participants gave their expectations which are summarized in Table 1 below. About 20% of them were expected practical application of M&E on their respective areas. The TOT program consisted of 10 different sessions of which 7 of them were with practical group exercises.Two groups were formed from different zones. Each group were allowed to select its own project and discusses then come up with consensus to the preliminary session. During the group presentations, real and important discussions and experience sharing between participants has been made. They have also got critical and supportive comments/suggestions about their presentations both from other groups and especially from the trainer according to the program/sessions. (see Annex 3 for the general program).Group members doing the excercisesAt the end of the training workshop participants evaluated the workshop on a scale of five points ( 1= very poor, 2= poor, 3= fair , 4= good, 5=Very good). The results are presented below. In addition, the participants gave their written assessment about the strength and weakness of the workshop. The facilitation was nice with good materialsCertificate of attendance were issued to the trainees at the end of the workshop. Attendance was twice a day (in the morning and in the afternoon) to make sure that all participants have attended all sessions. The certificate were designed in-house by IPMS, signed by Ato Abebe Diriba, Deputy Head and Surplus Producing Area Extension Manager of OBoA and Dr. Berhanu Gebremedhin of IPMS, sealed by OBoA and handed over by Ato Abdu Haji Kedir, deputy head of OBoA and Dr. Berhanu Gebremedhin.Finally Ato Abdu gave closing remarks by thanking the resource person for the valuable knowledge he shared to the trainees. He has also appreciated IPMS for its important partnership in the region for the last couple of years and he has a hope to strengthen this partnership with the new project (LIVES) too. Ato Abdu also reminded the participants to first internalize the knowledge they gain from this training and share this skill with their colleagues to build a strong team at their respective working areas. Ato Abdu also promised to the participants that the bureau is happy and willing to support and facilitate more capacity building trainings and even to restructure the M&E system in the region. Some of the trainees have expressed their feelings about the training verbally. Most of the feelings are similar and says that they had never get a chance to be trained with such practical and applicable training except a shortage of time for such a big and important subject.By this, the 6 th RBM&E training workshop came to the end by awarding certificate.Certificates handed over by Ato Abdu and Dr. Berhanu"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ed031a9e4369cdd66dc9da6e8f13f667","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8f99870c-1255-4e56-9be4-11006b9f51a9/retrieve","id":"-1200357703"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f308ff8d-ddff-4cbe-b427-dbc47918b54a","content":"Pig farmers are usually smallholders. About 90% of them had sold no more than five pigs in the past year (last 12 months) and they usually sold one animal at a time. There are periods of high and low demand for pigs. The high demand usually coincides with the festive seasons of the Easter and Christmas/end of year. Sales also go up in times when schools are about to open for the new term. Pig farmers are usually price takers. 37% of the farmers indicated that they had received Ushs15,000-90,000 per animal; 53% had received between Ushs 100,000-200,000; while some 10% had received between Ushs.220,000-400,000. Payments are all made in cash. Although men usually take the lead in some of the key expenditure items like school fees, women also play a significant role in providing food, medical attention and clothing for their households.Medium sized sows and finishers make up for most of the sales. They go for average price ranging between Ushs 100,000 to 250,000 per animal. There is no standard method of grading animals. The traders/buyers determine the price to pay the farmer arbitrarily, depending on the visual appearance of the animal. The premium price for good quality may reach Ushs 350,000 if sold to urban traders, farmers and NGOs. Some of the quality attributes buyers consider include; weight and height, breed, and physical health of the animal is important. Swine fever outbreaks are common and these usually wipe out the entire stock. Unfortunately such outbreaks are common and measures such as animal movement permits and quarantines are weak. Qualified Veterinary service providers are few and to fill the void there are also many unqualified personnel offering services to farmers. And because of the high risk involved in piggery, there are no financial institutions that are will lend to pig farmers. Farmers cope with the funding challenge by obtaining personal loans. The interest rates charged are in the range of 36% p.a. and payments are scheduled to be made weekly.This report presents a study on factors influencing successful inclusion of smallholder farmers into value chains in Uganda. Value chains are considered 'inclusive' if they supply agri-food products from smallholder farmers. These inclusive value chains differentiate themselves from marketing channels where smallholder farmers are not producing for a clearly identified market outlet, whether they deliver commodities to markets in an ad hoc way, or are not selling their agri-food commodities because these are bartered within their community or consumed directly by the household. The research was done on three value chains that are relevant to the local context selecting and comparing control and treatment groups of farmers in each value chain. All three value chains already have some linkages between smallholder farmers and agribusinesses in the study area. The three value chains chosen were cooking bananas, one livestock (pigs) and aquaculture. The research endeavored to provide lessons to further understand the factors that influence smallholder farmers' participation in inclusive value chains, the associated relationships within the value chains as well as and constraints.To study farmers that are participating in the cooking banana (also referred to as matooke) inclusive value chains, the Consultant selected to focus the study in the Mbarara-matooke market area. Farmers participating in the inclusive fish value chains were already predetermined in the research proposal. These were the aquaculture farmers that are members of WAFICOS (Walimi Fish Farmers' Cooperative Society). The research team already has a close working relationship with the Kati Farms. These were identified by comparing the list from WAFICOS with fish input dealers' customers. Active members from the WAFISOS membership list formed the treatment sample population of interest while aquaculture farmers that were marketing their fish produce individually consisted of the control group. For the pig value chain, the research was carried out in the same districts as the existing ILRIled Uganda pig projects (IFAD-EU and Irish Aid funded Smallholder Pig Value Chain projects) under the CGIAR research program on Livestock and Fish in order to create synergies and build on the existing research findings.The selected indicators for factors that have a potential to influence participation of smallholder farmers in inclusive value chains included Level of education of the farmer; Financial resources of the farmer; socio-economic factors affecting business relationship; Yield expectations; Organization of farmers in formal or informal groups; Location with respect to commercial buyer's premises; Suitability of soils and climate; product supplied through the value chain; Ease of access to support services/inputs; Government infrastructure provision and policies; Contracts; and Client relationships.The surveys on each of the value chains covered 100 farmers of whom 50 were involved in inclusive value chains and 50 were not. The following observations were made;Pig farmers did not depend on piggery alone for income. Most (65%) of them were also engaged in crop farming, some were either salaried employees of self-employed (30%). Many farmers ranked it as either the second or third (92%) most important source of income. Although men are important players, women were more involved than men in the piggery enterprises at home as shown in the Table 3.2. It is also notable that women were quite involved in pig farming, marketing and sale, as well as decision making in spending the proceeds from pig sales.The correlation analysis of pig value chain farmers showed that the piggery farmers have a trusted ready market that pays them cash on time which negates the need to look for credit facilities. It also suggests that farmers keep pigs as a form of savings (current asset easy to liquidate). This observation probably explains the high sales farmers mentioned that occur during times of school fees and in the festive periods when they require cash. The Logit regression analysis showed that being a member of a credit or a good agricultural practices (GAP) group makes it less likely to be involved in an organized pig value chain. This surprising finding is explained by the multiple products produced on the same farm. By probing pig farmers further on this issue, it turned out that the credit and GAP groups had been created for their crop enterprise rather than the pig enterprise. The results of the regression model further indicate that farmers who had sold more animals tended to look out for bulk market channels, i.e. the urban traders.Analysis of the banana farmer households showed that all the banana farmers (100%) ranked the banana crop as their most important source of income. Crops like coffee and cattle rearing were also common sources of income mentioned. Other sources of income included self employment off the farm (21%) and salaried employment (14%). In the banana value chain, men are more involved in the overall production and management activities as well as decision making compared to the women. What is notable however is that in spite of their involvement in these activities, women do have a say in deciding how proceeds from the banana farm will be used.Bananas are produced for both household consumption and for sale. A greater proportion of the production is sold. 75% of the farmers sell more than half of their production. Banana is a staple crop in Uganda and there are numerous traders of the product due to the high demand. Thus farmers are presented with several options of buyers that include local traders, local markets, and urban traders. There is no standard for grading system for bananas. The price of a bunch of bananas is determined arbitrarily and although prices may vary in the high and low supply seasons, most (81%) of farmers are paid Ushs.5000-10,000 per bunch. Payments are usually made in cash and in most cases; the traders buying from the farm gate do transport their purchases. Banana farmers meet several challenges in production and marketing of their produce. The crop is infested by a host of pest and diseases and the most devastating of these is the Banana Bacterial Wilt. The disease spreads very fast and can wipe out the entire plantation if not well managed. Indeed many farmers in Uganda have reported significant losses due to the disease. Using Pearson's Correlation Coefficient analysis of value chain participants it was found that there is a ready market for bananas with buyers readily available to purchase bananas. However, farmers seem to have developed a strong business relationship with buyers including exchange of information, trust, credit and satisfaction. Also, some indicators of inclusive value chains (a ready market outlet, trust and fair prices) do exist from the perspective of small householder banana farmers. However, the prevailing banana market is large enough to also readily absorb any available produce. The Logit regression analysis showed that there is open completion in the banana market; and farmers who are more educated, have suitable land for production and have a mobile phone connection/access are more likely to participate in an inclusive banana value chain. The analysis showed that investing to improve soil fertility to boost production and mobile phone connectivity to connect with the market can multiply by 2.5 the likelihood that banana farmers will be part of organized value chains.Analysis of the fish farmers showed that only 17% of the fish farmers ranked aquaculture as their main source of income. 8% ranked it as the second and the majority 75% of them ranked it as the third to fifth income source. Other sources of income mentioned included crop farming salaried employment and self employment income from the household head. In the aquaculture value chain, men are the predominant players (in over 80% of households) although women involvement (about 20%of households) is also visible.Aquaculture fish prices are largely uniform nationwide, irrespective of the buyer. Currently the average farm gate price is Ushs6500 per Kg. The price may however rise to 8500 per Kg in times of scarcity. Aquaculture fish competes with the bigger traditional capture fish market, and hence its seasonal variations. Payments are made in cash at the farm gate. Farmers also reported isolated cases where buyers booked their fish and paid for it 2-3 months in advance. There are no set quality standards for fish. However, buyers prefer to buy large size fish that have reached at above 0.5 Kg for Tilapia and 1 Kg for Cat Fish at maturity. Tilapia with a dark shiny black colour is much more preferred, and may fetch a premium price of UShs 5000 above the normal price. Unfortunately farmers do not have the skills, knowledge and capacity to raise their fish to have the desired attributes.Unlike in situations where fish is sold to local markets, the fish is usually sold in bulk to a single buyer. Ideally at harvest time, the fish is removed from the pond or cages in one lot, weighted, paid for, and transported through a cold chain. Normally the buyer pays for transportation of their produce. Transportation through a cold chain is one of the biggest challenges fish farmers face as such vehicles are rare and expensive to own or even hire. And still because aquaculture is not well developed in Uganda, suppliers of fish feeds are few and expensive; and so are the sources of reliable fingerling quality, tools and equipment. The fisheries legal framework also presents challenges for aquaculture farmers.Fish farming has inherent risks to the extent that conditioning the fish natural environment i.e. water, to suit the commercial farming requirements and also maintaining the cold chain necessary to keep the fish fresh from harvest to the final consumer are rather costly undertakings for the ordinary Ugandan fish farmers. And also, because the fisheries sector is largely under-developed in Uganda with little government support, fish value chain players are very few and disjointed. Thus fish farmers have to fend for themselves to keep their businesses alive by all means. Other specific challenges include: high cost of feeds of doubted quality; lack of authentic sources of fingerlings and other inputs; inadequate production and management skills and extension services; high working capital; and an inadequate regulatory environment.The logit regression results showed that at farmer level, the likelihood of being part of an organised value chains went down with the lesser importance of fish farming in household income. Also the less educated the famer was, the more likely they were to engage in organised fish value chains-every year spent in school leads to a 0.2decrease in the odds of getting involved in an organised value chain. Further discussions with the farmers indicated that more educated people are more risk averse and will tend to shy away from aquaculture which is very risky.The results of this study allow the identification of the following factors as significant in increasing the odds of smallholder farmers joining inclusive value chains:  Soil fertility (positive impact)  Amount of commodity produced (positive impact)  Level of sophistication of the mode of transport used to reach market (positive impact)  A good mobile phone network (positive impact)  Membership of a credit group (negative impact)  Members of a group on Good agricultural practices (negative impact)  Share of the enterprise in the farm's income generation (negative impact)  Education level of the household head (positive or negative depending on commodity)  Gender (men are more likely to be involved in inclusive value chains) These findings require further research in order to qualify them and to identify the possible reverse effect that being part of an inclusive value chain could have on the variables that were hypothesized as explanatory in this study.The study showed that support to inclusive value chain development is still critical in developing countries. In Uganda for example, the small and micro enterprises have specific needs that are often neglected in favor of top-down government policies that support medium and large businesses instead. The study results on pig, banana and fish smallholder farmers show that investing to improve soil fertility and mobile phone connectivity can multiply by 2.5 the likelihood that banana farmers will be part of organized value chains. These results can help guide government and donor investment within the agricultural production, marketing and natural resources management systems. On the other hand, the fact that the likelihood of farmers joining organized value chains actually decreased with the lesser importance of fish as the main source of household income or with pig farmers' belonging to a GAP or credit group (indicators that farmers were investing in their other productions) is a reminder that the smallholder production systems in developing countries are very much intertwined and no intervention on one part of the system can be considered separately from the rest of the farmers' enterprises. By neglecting such specific needs, smaller enterprises particularly in agriculture tend to remain informal and produce below their growth potential.The Ugandan agriculture sector employs about 70% of the population in Uganda, its growth in recent years averaged 1.3% per annum between 2005-2012 has remained lower than the population growth rate estimated at 3.2% per annum over the same period. Recent studies in Uganda show that access to productive assets, including all types of livestock, can provide rural households with a tremendous opportunity to generate income and to move out of poverty. Not only do livestock and livestock products play an important role in income generation, they are also sources of high quality protein and contribute significantly to overall household nutrition. Livestock in Uganda is predominantly in the hands of smallholder farmers, with each rearing a few animals at household level.This report presents a study on factors influencing successful inclusion of smallholder farmers into value chains in Uganda. Value chains are considered 'inclusive' if they supply agri-food products from smallholder farmers. The inclusive value chains studied are characterized by a definite sequence of actors involved, actors who collaborate at all stages of the chain to deliver the product that is being requested by its customers and the final consumers. These inclusive value chains differentiate themselves from marketing channels where smallholder farmers are not producing for a clearly identified market outlet, whether they deliver commodities to markets in an ad hoc way, or are not selling their agri-food commodities because these are bartered within their community or consumed directly by the household.The smallholders involved in the value chains studied under this research are located within the Lake Victoria Basin in Uganda, which is characterized by a humid tropical highland agroecological environment. This research is linked to the CGIAR Research Programs on Humid Tropics and Livestock and Fish. The research will contribute to disseminating its findings to Humid tropics multi-stakeholder research-for-development platforms and to Livestock and Fish value chain actors, and to value chain actors and policy makers in other action sites in Africa and the Caribbean. This sharing of lessons learned is likely to contribute to CTA's longterm development outcome of improved efficiency, inclusiveness and profitability of agricultural value chains in ACP countries.The research was done on three value chains that are relevant to the local context. All three already have some value chain linkages between smallholder farmers and agribusinesses in the study area. The three value chains chosen were one crop (banana), one livestock (pigs) and aquaculture. The research endeavored to provide lessons to further understand the factors that influence smallholder farmers' participation in inclusive value chains, the associated relationships within the value chains as well as bottlenecks and constraints. The value chains of focus are described briefly below:In spite of its growth, the pig sector in Uganda has been quite neglected and is not among the priority enterprises selected under the Ugandan Agriculture Sector Development Strategy and Investment Plan for 2010-11 to 2014-15. Pig production has become an increasingly important livelihood activity over the past three decades in Uganda evidenced by the rapid rise in pig population from 0.19 to 3.2 million. The majority of the pigs are in the central and western regions. Most of the pig production, about 85%, is carried out as a backyard activity in smallholder households (owning less than 5 pigs each) in peri-urban and rural areas. Pigs play an important role in the livelihoods of poor families, because they help to generate income to cover emergency needs and pay school fees. It is common that the women and children are the responsible household members for the management of pigs, whereas men are engaged in marketing. The demand for pork has been on the rise due to changes in tastes, rising urbanization, among other factors. In 2011, Uganda had the highest per capita consumption of pork (3.4 kg/person/year) in sub-Saharan Africa including South Africa 1 . Most of the transactions of live pigs and pork products take place in informal markets that include on-farm exchanges, informal slaughter places, road side butcheries and informal ready to eat pork joints. Recently, formal markets have started dealing in good quality premium products for relatively well-off consumers. These formal markets include organized facilities that sell fresh cuts, fresh pork, and frozen pork products. Some of the smallholder producers are linked to these outlets through other traders and agents. The market for pork is still dominated by informal trade. Value addition in the live pigs and pig meat products is largely limited. About 98% of pigs are sold as live animals and are slaughtered for pork that is consumed with limited or no value addition 2 .Given this context, the recently initiated CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish identified the smallholder pig value chain in Uganda as a high-potential target to translate research into major interventions that can stimulate pro-poor transformation and generate benefits at scale 3 .Pork consumption, though popular, remains well below the levels needed to achieve adequate intake of the critical nutrients that meat can provide. The study conducted by ILRI in 2012 confirmed that pork is frequently consumed and consumption is highest during periods of low food availability hence increasing its potential to contribute to nutritional security (Tatwangire, 2013). Improving pork production among smallholder farmers is expected to increase availability of affordable pork to poor households through sales in rural communities and urban markets. Increased pork production strategies if combined with appropriate nutritional messages is expected to give poor households better access to this high-quality source of nutrients and promote increased consumption among the most nutritionally challenged households. During this study, several productivity, marketing and capacity related constraints were identified along the smallholder pig value chain. These constraints limit the chain's potential to contribute to livelihoods of the poor. Thus, the pig value chain was selected for this study to complement the on-going value chain work and to draw lessons for other value chains.The highland cooking banana (Musa spp., AAA-EA genome), also called Matooke, is an important staple crop in Uganda. The crop is the primary food and livelihood base for about 16 million people. (Kabahenda et al, 2010) in central, western and eastern Uganda. Historically bananas have been grown in Uganda where they were important in the Buganda region, from where cultivation spread further. In the western and further south west, bananas have in the last 20-50 years replaced millet as the main staple food. There has been a major shift, with banana cultivation moving to the Western region from its traditional central region, a situation largely caused by the severe soil exhaustion faced by farmers in the central region. Ugandans consume bananas at an annual per capita rate of 200-300 kg (NARO Banana Research, 2009), the highest rate in the world. Banana is one of the most expensive foods, retailing in Kampala markets at prices ranging from 10,000-50,000 shillings for a bunch. Between 1996Between -2006, banana production fell by 78% with a yield gap of 140% kg/ha on farmers' fields as compared to research stations (MAAIF DSIP, 2010). This decline in production and productivity has been attributed largely to soil degradation as well as severe pest and disease outbreaks, (most notably of bacterial wilt, sigatoka and nematodes). Current estimates indicate that total local production is at 9.5 million MT annually (as at 2010), based on FAOSTAT data.There is a strong focus on the part of government and other actors to facilitate innovations through several new product lines in part to deal with the perishability of the product, by processing it into longer lasting products and as a way to tap into regional and international export opportunities. The initiative on value addition is being spearheaded by several actors including development organizations. The biggest effort in this area is being driven by the Presidential Initiative on Banana Industrial development (PIBID). PIBID strives to bring about the establishment of 'state of the art' banana processing enterprises in Uganda, producing value added banana products with competitive market strength both locally and globally, manned by rural farmers and entrepreneurs (PIBID Report, 2010). The potential to tap into export markets to widen the market base for Banana exists, and provides great opportunities for well organized farmers to benefit. As part of the health food and organic movement, dried fruits like bananas are becoming increasingly popular. However, accessing International markets presents significant challenges, such as high operating costs, high volume requirements and specific logistical capabilities.Banana originates from small scale individual farmers. These farmers are estimated to farm on plantations averaging 0.5-4 acres (0.2-1.6 hectares). Over 70% of bananas grown in Uganda consist of different types of highland cooking and beer bananas. An estimated 12 different types of banana cultivars are grown. A key challenge that farmers face is accessing well paying markets. When they sell individually, farmers find themselves at the lower end of a very long chain of agents. There are numerous middlemen between the farmer and the retailer, meaning that farmers get very low prices for their product.From the farm gate, farmers may sell directly to the nearby aggregating markets/agents or to local consumers, or to itinerant traders that approach their farms to collect and bulk bananas for sale to larger aggregating markets through brokers. There are often numerous middlemen between the farmer and the retailer, resulting in low price margins to the farmers. There are farmers who join collective banana marketing groups and benefit by being able to supply to wholesale businesses directly through contractual arrangements. Markets in Kampala and its suburbs are usually the main destination of the produce from where sales are made to household consumers, hotels, restaurants and schools. Some of the major markets are Owino, Kalerwe and Nakawa, among others. The poor road infrastructure in the villages and scattered nature of farmers in the villages makes it unfeasible for lorry traders to transact directly with the farmers. Several challenges abound in the banana value chain. At the producer level, farmers are facing: declining soil fertility; increasing land pressure; perishability; fluctuating seasonal prices; post-harvest losses; Pest and Disease; among others. These challenges are discussed in detail in Section 3.2.Ugandan aquaculture industry is slowly growing and is expected to expand rapidly in the next decade due to the widening supply-demand gap for domestically produced fish products resulting from over-fishing, compounded by environmental degradation and climate variability. There is widespread consensus among stakeholders that the gap can only be narrowed through aquaculture 4 . The smallholder capture fisheries sector is extremely vibrant, but the smallholder aquaculture sector is still struggling. It remains difficult for aquaculture producers to make profits let alone break even because of competition from the relatively low wholesale prices of capture fish (largely from Lake Victoria), the high cost of production associated with aquaculture and absent or weak business development services. The aquaculture value chain is characterized by temporal spot markets that occasionally link small numbers of actors who generally operate in inefficient ways. Despite these challenges some smallholder aquaculture producers have formed a cooperative society called \"Walimi Fish Farmers Cooperative Society (WAFICOS)\" which aims to help members have access to essential services and inputs while also addressing marketing and value addition.Recent market-oriented studies suggest that there is considerable potential for the development of markets for aquaculture products, both in Uganda and the East African region, largely due to rapidly declining catches of Nile perch and the high demand for fish. Efficient markets for the sale of wild fish exist, but very little farmed fish pass through these markets despite a large unmet demand for fish, and as a result the poor are in many places eating less fish. Very few small-scale fish farming enterprises have been shown to be profitable, and any profits are relatively small. There has so far not been enough production from aquaculture systems to make an impact on the Ugandan fish market and a sizeable portion of the fish produced goes to neighboring countries where markets are more lucrative.Among the barriers to development of the sector are that the aquaculture value chain in Uganda and the East African region is currently disjointed and ineffective; some would argue that there is no value chain at all. Other challenges in the sector include; low volumes of production to allow markets to develop; lack of investments in medium and large-scale aquaculture enterprises; high investment costs for small scale producers; low profitability from the production of farmed fish; and low price of fish near lakes due to the availability of wild fish. These and other challenges are discussed further in Section 3.3.2.This research was undertaken to identify factors influencing successful inclusion of smallholder farmers into value chains in Uganda. The survey was conducted on smallholder farmers that are already involved in inclusive value chains and compared their characteristics with a control group of smallholders who are not involved in inclusive value chains, as defined above. The statistical analysis of the data allowed for the identification of the factors that have a statistically significant probability of increasing, and decreasing, the likelihood of smallholders' joining value chains. The results from this research will be useful to organizations supporting the development of inclusive value chains, private sector actors interested in collaborating with smallholder farmers and agricultural policy makers through the identification of different enabling and deterring factors, over which they might have control. The research thus contributes directly to CTA's objectives of equipping institutions and individuals in Uganda and similar African countries to promote more efficient, inclusive and sustainable value chains.The sampling process for each of the three value chains involved the following activities; Site Selection and Respondent Selection. Below is a description of the process for each of the value chains.To study farmers that are participating in the cooking banana (also referred to as matooke) inclusive value chains, the Consultant selected to focus the study in the Mbarara-matooke market area. Located in Western Uganda, Mbarara has the biggest aggregation market in Uganda that supplies matooke to Kampala and the neighboring towns of Mukono, Entebbe, Jinja and as far as Nakasongola on the Northern axis, among others.As an aggregation point, the greater proportion of the bananas destined for Kampala and its environs starts from here. The market also serves as the collection point for the other neighboring matooke producing Districts of Ntungamo, Rukungiri, Ibanda and greater Bushenyi District.Various forms of traders also operate in this market, and these include Kampala based traders, local aggregators and traders, brokers, middlemen, among others: The bananas sold in the Mbarara market come through various channels, that include; Individual smallholder farmers selling to Kampala based traders who in turn sell to outlets/retailers in Kampala;  Smallholder farmers selling to rural based traders (e.g. on a bicycle or small truck/pick-up) who also bulk and sell to the Kampala based traders; or  \"Large scale\" farmers selling directly to the traders. In this arrangement there is some form of unwritten agreement that, the trader will for a specific period of time, buy all the farmers' banana produce for a given period (advance booking) at the prevailing market price on the day of harvest.Because of this apparently established system of farmer -market linkage, we focused on the Mbarara banana market for this study.Below is a description of the respondent sample collection for the treatment and control groups for banana farmers.As described above, there is an already established system for farmers selling to a ready offtake market. Through consultation with the traders operating in the Mbarara market we selected sub-counties and villages from which we developed a list of farmers from the districts of Mbarara and Ntungamo. The farmers targeted were those selling bananas through the channels identified above. The list developed provided the population from which random samples of 50 farmers were drawn from the two districts of Mbarara and Ntungamo. Half the farmers interviewed were women.The farmers selected in the treatment group were used to identify farmers to be included in the control group. After interviewing each of the farmers in the treatment group category, this farmer was asked to name some 2-3 farmers they knew in their community who usually did not produce purposefully for the market, but rather sold directly to consumers in the market, or took their produce to the market in the hope of finding the best price of the day.The contacts of such farmers were obtained, and these formed the sample from which the 50 non-participating (control) farmers in the banana value chain were selected. If the selected respondent was not available for the survey, the next one on the list was interviewed as a substitute. Similarly, half the farmers in the control group were women.Below is a description of the respondent sample collection for the treatment and control groups for fish farmers.Farmers participating in the inclusive fish value chains were already predetermined in the research proposal. These were the aquaculture farmers that are members of WAFICOS (Walimi Fish Farmers' Cooperative Society). The co-operative started in 2004, and currently has a membership of over 1,000 fish farmers, fish seed producers, breeders, trainers, fish feed manufacturers, processors, input suppliers and researchers. WAFICOS offers various member services, and one of these is to link fish farmers to markets. One successful linkage so far is that between WAFICOS fish producers to Kati Farms (U) Limited. Kati Farms (U) Limited is a fish agro-processing firm that makes fish sausages 5 . Currently the company is a regular supplier of quality fish and fish products to 30 local supermarkets, 23 hotels, as well as several road-side fish vending outlets. The research team already has a close working relationship with the Kati Farms Managing Director.The WAFICOS active fish farmer members constituted the treatment group for this study. These were identified by comparing the list from WAFICOS with fish input dealers' customers. Active members from the WAFISOS membership list formed the treatment sample population of interest. A stratified random sample of 50 farmers, based on gender, was drawn from the list of WAFICOS active members.This consisted of aquaculture farmers that were marketing their fish produce individually i.e. not members of inclusive value chains. A list of such farmers was compiled from the customer lists of fish fry/fingerling dealers. These dealers provided the lists of their customers, who were classified into two -those already involved in the inclusive value chain described as the treatment group and those that are not. The list of farmers that were not involved in inclusive value chains then formed the population from which a stratified random sample of 50 farmers, based on gender was drawn.To avoid erroneous inclusion, double checking was done of the farmers in the control sample by including a question that asked if the farmer was involved in a value chain i.e. producing for an identified customer like a fish trader, fish processor or co-operative organized fish marketing or even direct marketing to customers through catch-your-own fish enterprise. If No, then we proceeded with the interview, and If Yes, the respondent name was noted and removed from the control group sample list.The research was carried out in the same districts as the existing ILRI-led Uganda pig projects (IFAD-EU and Irish Aid funded Smallholder Pig Value Chain projects) under the CGIAR research program on Livestock and Fish in order to create synergies and build on the existing research findings.The process for identifying the project sites for the Livestock and Fish program involved 2 steps: The first was geographical targeting using GIS characterization with a focus on pig population density, poverty levels and market access variables in order to identify districts with potentials for improving livelihoods of the poor through the pig enterprise, and variations in the value chain domains. From the GIS characterization 10 potential districts located in Central, Western and Eastern regions were identified as potential sites for the pig value chain research work, and of these, Masaka District was selected.The marketing channel for grown pigs is largely informal without any contracts and largely comprises 2 types of traders: a) Large traders who purchase pigs from farmers through brokers (who identify and bulk pigs) to transport to other districts or have them slaughtered at Wambizi abattoir or other slaughter slabs for pork retail in urban areas; and b) Small traders who purchase pigs directly from farmers for backyard slaughter and sale of pork to local retail outlets.In selecting the treatment group and control groups, farmers participating in the inclusive pig value chains were those selling largely through channel (a) above -those were identified as the treatment group while those selling through channel (b) above were assigned to the control group. The focus was the district of Masaka in the same sub-counties where the pig value chain project operates i.e. Kyanamukaaka and Kabonera. Lists of all pig farmers in each village and their main market outlets and clients were prepared by the pig co-operative and platform representatives in the respective sub-counties. From the list, a stratified random sample of 50 pig farmers, based on gender, was drawn for the control group, and another 50 for the treatment group.The research process involved four activities as outlined below;Activity 1 of the research involved literature review to identify additional already-tested indicators for factors influencing the participation of smallholder farmers in inclusive value chains. This resulted in a sampling protocol and methods and tools for field data collection.The individual questionnaires had a mix of both close-ended and open-ended questions to gather quantitative and qualitative data on the products being studied and some of the explanatory factors. The questionnaire were also used to gather more subjective data on the perception of smallholder farmers relating to their business, marketing, socio-cultural and policy environments where respondents are asked for their level of approval to certain statements using 5-item Likert scales.Activity 2 of the research entailed conducting focus group discussions and key informant interviews with farmers, the respective value chain actors and local knowledge holders in the study area. These preliminary interviews deepened our understanding of any local factors influencing inclusiveness of smallholder farmers and power relations within the value chains so as to add those indicators. A sample of the questionnaire used is in Appendix 4.Activity 3 of the research consisted of sampling of respondents: 50 smallholder farmers involved in an organized value chain with an agribusiness for the product under study for three of the selected value chains -fish, banana and pigs (50 farmers x 3 value chains = 150 farmers) and 50 smallholder farmers not involved in an organized value chain to sell their product, or currently not selling the product under study (50 farmers x 3 value chains = 150 farmers). The sampling procedures took gender into consideration. After pre-testing the questionnaires on six smallholder farmers, comprising 2 farmers for each of the three value chains (one involved in inclusive value chains and another as control), 300 individual smallholder farmers were interviewed in total through individual surveys. The data collected was entered into Microsoft Excel and analyzed using IBM SPSS.Activity 4 of the research involved data analysis using logit regressions. Logit regression is a common statistical tool that allows the identification of factors explaining the probability of the binary distribution of a variable (in this case: involved in inclusive value chains or not). A workshop was organized for the research team to work together on data analysis and writing of the report.Below are some indicators for factors that have a potential to influence participation of smallholder farmers in inclusive value chains. These were taken from past research experiences of ILRI experts. The factors included: Level of education of the farmer  Financial resources of the farmer  Existing products produced and other income-earning opportunities  Cash flow  Risk taking capacity  Farming and farm management skills  Land tenure and security  Other socio-economic factors affecting ability to comply with business relationship.  Yield expectations and availability of cost-benefit analyses: Organization of farmers in formal or informal groups. Location with respect to commercial buyer's premises.  Suitability of soils and climate, access to water, potential impact on environment  Type of product supplied through the value chain.  Quantities required by the buyers, price fluctuations commonly experienced.  Ease of access to support services and inputs.  Government infrastructure provision and policies.  Contracts.  Client relationshipsQuantitative data was collected using the individual respondent questionnaires (see Appendix 2). Responses were captured onto a questionnaire form and entered into the computer. On completion of data entry, the captured data was converted into the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS), which was the main data analysis support tool.Focus Group Discussions -FGDs, and Key Informant interviews -KIs were the main sources of qualitative data. During qualitative data collection, field notes were taken during the KI interviews and FGDs based on the guide questionnaire in Appendix 3.The notes from the various respondents/meetings, and response were compiled. A summary of key messages and themes were identified as well as the explanations/arguments given. By comparing and correlating the qualitative and quantitative data. On that basis, suitable conclusions and recommendations were made.Some of the questions in the qualitative and quantitative data collection tools required the respondents to make estimates and to use their memory as many farmers do not usually keep farm records. This affected their ability to provide accurate responses to some questions and hence the data accuracy. Therefore the findings of this study may be limited to the extent of the ability of the respondent to answer consistently deriving from his estimates and memory.3. Results Presentation, analysis and discussionThe survey of pig farmers covered 100 farmers of whom 50 were involved in inclusive value chains and 50 were not. Table 3.1 is a summary of the selected demographic characteristics of the households surveyed.Below is a presentation of the characteristics and observations of the pig farmer data as well as their general behavior in relation to their pig enterprises.   Pig farmers did not depend on piggery alone for income. Most (65%) of them were also engaged in crop farming, some were either salaried employees of self-employed (30%). Many farmers ranked it as either the second or third (92%) most important source of income.  Most (73%) of the pig farmers own their land as Kibanja owners. Under this tenure system, they have full rights on the land they own although they do not hold land titles. A few (18%) have titles to their land while the rest (19%) rent their land for Ushs 10,000-30,000 per month. Survey results also showed that the male household head owned the land in almost all cases. The land sizes farmed are small. 23% of the farmers had less than 1 acre; 74% of them had 1-3 acres; while 6% had more than 3 acres.  On gender involvement in the piggery enterprise at household level, we observe that although men are important players, women were more involved than men in the piggery enterprises at home as shown in the Table 3.2. It is also notable that women were quite involved in pig farming, marketing and sale, as well as decision making in spending the proceeds from pig sales.  Pig farmers are usually smallholders. About 90% of them had sold no more than five pigs in the past year (last 12 months) and they usually sold one animal at a time.There are periods of high and low demand for pigs. The high demand usually coincides with the festive seasons of the Easter (March-April) and Christmas/end of year (November-January). Sales also go up in times when schools are about to open for the new term, that is January to February; and July to August. The proceeds at this time usually go into paying school fees.  And indeed farmers usually sell their pigs to meet household needs like school fees and essentials, and for emergencies like medical attention. A few (19%) mentioned that they are involved in pig farming as a business. Some sell their animals when they do not look healthy or when curling. The majority (60%) of farmers sell mainly to the nearby butcheries. Some sell to pig traders/agents (15%) while others (24%) sell to individuals and fellow farmers.  Pig farmers are usually price takers. 37% of the farmers indicated that they had received Ushs15,000-90,000 per animal; 53% had received between Ushs. 100,000-200,000; while some 10% had received between Ushs.220,000-400,000. Payments are all made in cash.  In the pig business, animal purchasing is normally done at the farm gate and the buyer is responsible for transporting his animal to its destination. Pig farmers spend most of their income on food, school fees, medical attention and clothing. Table 3.3shows distribution of household expenditure.  The tables also shows that at the household level, although men usually take the lead in some of the key expenditure items like school fees, women also play a significant role in providing food, medical attention and clothing for their households.  The various inputs farmers need included -Cash to purchase the inputs, feeds, veterinary services, veterinary drugs, green fodder supplied from their gardens, extension services, water, and shelter for the animals.Five channels were identified through which farmers sell their animals, namely;Channel 1 -These are locally based pig traders who consist of individuals, middlemen or agents of other traders. They may hold on to the animals bought for a few days before selling it on to a bigger trader.Channel 2 -are the regular butcheries in the locality, such as trading centre, drinking areas and restaurants, where pigs are slaughtered in their backyards and sold on to the final consumers. In addition to selling fresh meat, local butcher may also operate small restaurants where pork is prepared as roasted or deep-fried meat ready to eat. Channel 4 -these are farmers who may buy an animal from a fellow farmer for fattening or for breeding purposes.Channel 5 -consists of the NGOs and government programs operating in the area. These usually buy pigs from local farmers for redistribution to other farmers and animal multiplication schemes.Below are the highlights of the pig farmer market interactions;Medium sized sows and finishers make up for most of the sales. They go for average price ranging between Ushs 100,000 to 250,000 per animal in channel 1 and Ushs 70,000 in Channels 2 and 3.Channel 4 buyers pay an average price of Ushs 30,000 for piglets. However farmers are at times forced to sell at a lower price when they are desperate for cash. Such cases include domestic emergencies, shortage of feeds and disease outbreaks. In such cases the farmers may sell off animals to avoid losing them.There is no standard method of grading or weighing animals. The traders/buyers determine the price to pay the farmer arbitrarily, depending on the visual appearance of the animal. The premium price for good quality may reach Ushs 350,000 if sold to urban traders, farmers and NGOs. Under proper management the weight of the animal should match its age and this is usually related to a proper feeding regime. However in many instances the farmers cannot afford to feed the animals adequately to reach their full potential. Some of the quality attributes buyers consider include;Weight and height. Buyers usually prefer an animal that has put on good weight. A taller animal is usually preferred as it is perceived to have less fat and leaner meat.Breed. Some traders prefer the exotic breeds because they potentially have tender meat and are less fatty. Some traders prefer local breeds. Some farmers consider skin colour as a proxy for animal breed. Farmers however noted that there were no reliable sources of good animal breeds nor breeding programmes where they could get marketable breeds.Physical health of the animal is important. Many buyers prefer good looking healthy animals, although some are indifferent. The condition of the sty is also a quality attribute because buyers relate better looking sties to animal quality. It was observed that only local butcheries and urban traders did not buy animals from areas suspected to have outbreaks or animals that are too fat or too thin. Local butcheries normally reject very fatty animals.Swine fever outbreaks are common and these usually wipe out the entire stock. Unfortunately such outbreaks are common and measures such as animal movement permits and quarantines are weak. Other common diseases include intestinal worms, skin diseases and wounds, foot rot, common fevers and respiratory diseases. Farmers usually keep basic antibiotics and deworming drugs at home as well as herbs as the first line of treatment. In cases where symptoms persist they may either sell off the animal for slaughter or call in a veterinary service provider.Veterinary service providers usually take the form of a Veterinary technician. Institutionally there is one veterinary doctor assigned to a sub-county by the district for extension services and all animal health services as well as meat and pork inspection. There is thus a personnel shortage and to fill the void there are also many unqualified personnel offering services to farmers in the absence of qualified veterinary doctors. This casts doubt on the quality of the service and the drugs provided. There are no standard prices for animal treatment and fees are arbitrarily set at Ushs 1000 to Ushs 5000 per animal visit.Because of the high risk involved in piggery, there are no financial institutions that are will lend to pig farmers. Farmers cope with the funding challenge by obtaining personal loans. The interest rates charged are in the range of 36% p.a. and payments are scheduled to be made weekly.The challenges in the pig sector arise from the fact that the sector is not well developed to attract suitable players to smoothen operations throughout the value chain. Organizations such as NGOs, research, development projects and line ministries of the Central government play limited supporting roles in various nodes of the value chain. Thus farmers encounter structural challenges right from production to the time of selling their animals. Traders too encounter similar challenges in bringing the product to the final consumer. Production is dominated by small scale farmers each with just a few animals (less than 5), although there are some other with over 10 animals. We also observed that nearly all the farmers were involved in other agricultural activities with piggery being one of them. These observations suggest that investment and prioritization of piggery by farmers is low. It was also observed that pig value chain players at all levels are disjointed. There is weak coordination in the pig value chain with few actors engaged in some form of formal or informal contractual arrangements. Animal feeding is one of the main constraints in smallholder pig production systems, largely due to the cost. For example, the cost of commercial pig meal is in the range of Ushs 3,000 per kg. The availability and price of feeds are also affected by seasonal variability as well as quality of feeds. The situation is not helped by the lack of skills to develop nutritionally balanced low cost rations and fodder-based diets by the farmers. The common planted fodder is potato vines which are not sufficient in terms of nutritive value and are highly susceptible to destruction by drought. And indeed in the extended dry seasons farmers are forced to sell off their animals because they cannot afford to feed them. Some farmers try to supplement their feeds with swill feeding, by feeding animals on kitchen left overs. However depending on the feeds source, these feeds carried the risk of potentially transmitting African swine fever. Also being in the rural areas, farmers experienced challenges in availing enough water to the animals especially in the dry seasons. Availability of veterinary services was also a notable challenge. Farmers observed that veterinary service costs were high. Farmers also noted that the quality of both the veterinary drugs and personnel was doubtful. Farmers also expressed challenges in animal husbandry, pig health and poor housing and lack of knowledge on good management practices. African Swine Fever was the highest risk disease that farmers feared. Other diseases included parasites and helminthes which are common parasites. The breeding challenges identified by farmers included abortions and low piglet survival. Farmers also mentioned that they do not have reliable sources for obtaining good quality breeding animals. As a result farmers buy piglets from each other or hire a boar from a neighbor to service their sows. Farmers indicated that there are locally available buyers for pigs. However they felt that the buyers do not offer competitive prices. Furthermore, most pig farmers sell their pigs at about the same time when they require cash e.g. festive periods and during the time to re-opening of schools leads to an over-supply thereby depressing the market prices. In such cases, some farmers do accept any price offered to be able to solve their financial obligations. It was also observed that in order to keep prices low, pig traders operated cartels and colluded in setting prices thereby hindering pig farmers from negotiating for better prices. This challenge is linked to lack of market information on prices, alternative market, outlets and market preferences. Other challenges and risks in the pig value chain included; high cost of labor; lack of extension services; Inadequate capital to operate a piggery business; lack of suitable transport facilities to transport animals to the market, lack of a standard system for grading animals for sale; and animal thefts. In the above 2 cases, the buyer is supporting the farmer with market and credit information. Close observation of the above 2 instances suggest that farmers tend to associate themselves more with the buyers who show interest in their farming business. Such buyers may provide market and credit information that empowers them to improve their product quality and hence a better market price.In addition, the following statements were found to be positively correlated with regards to markets  H3 -\"My buyer buys when I'm ready to sell\"  H6 -\"My buyer pays on time\"  H9 -\"My buyer does NOT reject my product\" This finding suggests that there is a ready standing market for all the pigs available for sale mostly on cash basis.However, the following statement H5 -\"My buyer helps me to obtain credit\" was found to be negatively correlated with the three following statements:  H3 -\"My buyer buys when I'm ready to sell\",  H6 -\"My buyer pays on time\" and  H9 -\"My buyer does NOT reject my product\".These statements are negatively correlated probably because pig farmers do not usually actively search for credit facilities as they normally sell small quantities (one pig at a time) to readily available buyers who pay them cash on sale.In conclusion the above correlations imply that the piggery farmers have a trusted ready market that pays them cash on time which negates the need to look for credit facilities. It also suggests that farmers keep pigs as a form of savings (current asset easy to liquidate). This observation probably explains the high sales farmers mentioned that occur during times of school fees and in the festive periods when they require cash.In developing the regression model, factors that were found not to be correlated were regressed to investigate their influence on the participation of pig farmers into inclusive pig value chains or not. The final model included the following additional variables:  From the Table 3.4 we observe that; i. Involvement in a credit group was found to be significantly (p=0.027) influencing involvement in an organized pig value chain.The farmer who belonged to a credit group had 0.25 chances (CI -0. 38 -0.88) of also belonging to an organized pig value chain.ii. Similarly, farmer involvement in a GAP group had significant (p = 0.04) influence and involvement in an organized pig value chain. The farmer who belonged to a GAP group had 0.20 chances (CI = -0.63 -1.02) of belonging to an organized pig value chain.iii. Pig equivalent was the standardization method used to calculate the numbers of pigs sold in the last 12 months, taking into consideration the animal type i.e. sow, boar, gilt and piglet. In calculating the Pig Equivalent, piglet units sold were multiplied by 0.3; boar by 1.2; sow by 1 and gilt by 0.6.The number of pigs sold by a farmer, in the past 12 months was found to be significantly (p= 0.000) influencing involvement of farmers in an organized pig value chain. An increase in the number of pigs sold by 1 unit raised the chances of belonging to an organized pig value chain by 2.90 times (CI=2. 66-3.14).From the regression analysis we observe that farmers who were found to be in a credit or GAP group were less likely to belong to an organized pig value chain. This is probably because credit and GAP groups were formed for other purposes other than pig farming. For example the common credit groups e.g. Bataka Twezike, Munno mukabi were set-up purposely as community self help groups, while other groups were set-up through NAADS and other NGOs for collective extension service delivery, bulking and produce marketing.The results of the regression model further indicate that farmers who had sold more animals tended to look out for bulk market channels, i.e. the urban traders. Urban traders have the capacity i.e. cash to buy large quantities; they have transport means to reach the farmer; and as discussed in the FGDs, the urban traders were less sensitive to the pig quality (size, fatty, age, breed, etc) as compared to the local buyers.The household survey of banana farmers covered 100 farmers. These included 50 farmers involved in inclusive value chains and 50 who were not.Table 3.5 is a summary of the selected demographic characteristics of the households, their general characteristics and behavior in relation to their banana enterprises. Analysis of the banana farmer households showed that: All the banana farmers (100%) ranked the banana crop as their most important source of income. Crops like coffee and cattle rearing were also common sources of income mentioned. Other sources of income included self employment off the farm (21%) and salaried employment (14%).  In the banana value chain, men are more involved in the overall production and management activities as well as decision making compared to the women. What is notable however is that in spite of their involvement in these activities, women do have say in deciding how proceeds from the banana farm will be used; Table 3.6 shows that in 47% of the households surveyed, women made the decision on the use of farm proceeds compared to 53% households where men made the decisions.  The banana yield per farmer is quite varied. Over the past year,14% of the farmers produced up to 100 bunches; 21% of them produced between 100-200 bunches; 11% of them produced 201-300 bunches;5% produced 301-400 bunches; 21% produced 401-600 bunches; and 13% produced between 600-1000 bunches, 15% of the farmers produced between 1,000-2,000 bunches. Banana sales usually increase in the months of November, December, January and February, March and August when production is high and reduce in the months of April, May, June, and July when production is low. Being a perishable, all the bunches that mature must be harvested.This leads to price falls in the months of high production when there is abundant supply on the market.  Bananas are produced for both household consumption and for sale. A greater proportion of the production is sold. 75% of the farmers sell more than half of their production. Banana is a staple crop in Uganda and there are numerous traders of the product due to the high demand. Thus farmers are presented with several options of buyers that include local traders, local markets, and urban traders. There is no standard for grading system for bananas. The price of a bunch of bananas is determined arbitrarily and although prices may vary in the high and low supply seasons, most (81%) of farmers are paid Ushs.7000-10,000 per bunch. Payments are usually made in cash and in most cases; the traders buying from the farm gate do transport their purchases.  The majority (69%) of the banana farmers are small holders owning 0.25-5 acres of land. Some 20% have between 5-10 acres while 11% of them have between 10-30 acres. Although they have property rights over the land, many (75%) do not have land titles.Figure 3.3 shows the major inputs banana farmers need for production and their sales channels.The various inputs farmers need included -Cash to purchase the inputs and labor, advisory services and land. Six channels were also identified through which farmers sell their bananas, namely; Channel 1 -These are urban traders located in the main towns and cities. They usually have a network of suppliers that include farmers, local traders and supply agents. Urban traders usually have ready buyers/retailers that they supply. Urban traders usually have their own trucks that collect the bananas from the farmers and collections centres in the villages.  Channel 2 -are the local institutions in the area like schools and hospitals that prepare meals for their students or patients.  Channel 3 -consists of local consumers. These are usually residents of the local communities and villages that buy from the farmer food for home consumption.  Channel 4 -these are traders in the local trading centres. They usually sell to the local community and travelers/passers-by.  Channel 5 -these are traders who move around the villages, they buy bananas from the farmers and may either sell it to other traders or may find consumers to buy it in the trading centres.  Channel 6 -these are located in the villages, usually operating in makeshift shelters within the communities. The urban trader and institutions usually pay a higher price, followed by the local consumers. These buyers are usually less price sensitive buyers; they buy in bulk and pay a uniform price per bunch. The local markets, bicycle traders and local markets pay lower prices and are quite price sensitive.Using Figure3.2 above as reference, the current typical prices paid for an average sized bunch of banana are Ushs 15000, 10000, 7000, in Channels 1, 2, 3 respectively and Ushs 8000 in Channels 4, 5 and 6. These prices rise and fall by about Ushs 5000 in the high and low price seasons respectively. There is however a gender bias in the market as women tend to be paid lower prices compared to men across all Channels.Size measured arbitrarily is the only grading system in place for bananas. Thus Small, Medium and Large bunches. All traders prefer large sized bunches with big banana fingers as these will fetch a better price from their customers, and will reject very small bunches. Among the traders, a premium price of Ushs 10000 can be paid for a very large bunch. The local institutions will buy any bunch size.Although credit is not common in banana purchases at the farm gate, some farmers have had long standing relationships with their customers. There are therefore isolated instances of farmers selling bananas to urban traders and local institutions on credit. Traders are expected to pay back within a week while schools may take up to a month. Credit to other types of buyers is not common. It was also observed that even where long farmer-buyer relationships exist, there are no formal contracts or agreements. If they exist, they are informal.Challenges and risks in the Banana Value Chain Banana farmers meet several challenges in production and marketing of their produce. Some of the risks and challenges faced include the following; Banana plants are infested by a host of pest and diseases and the most devastating of these is the Banana Bacterial Wilt. The disease spreads very fast and can wipe out the entire plantation if not well managed. Indeed many farmers in Uganda have reported significant losses due to the disease. Although government and several NGO farmer support organizations have been advising and training farmers on management and control of the Banana Bacterial Wilt disease spread, the threat still remains. This challenge is coupled with the low access to plant chemical and pesticides. Farmers usually use cow dung, different forms of compost manure and mulching to preserve soil fertility. However the manure and chemical fertilizers are expensive, for example a 50kg bag of NPK costs between Ushs 150,000-200,000. This is out of reach for an ordinary farmer, also given that loans structured for agricultural production are lacking. In addition to this there is a shortage of labourers to work in the banana plantations, and if found it is expensive. For example, the labour cost of applying cow dung compost manure to an acre of land is Ushs 300,000. All these tend to raise the cost of production. Because of the high demand and ready market for bananas, thefts of the crop from the fields are common. Thus farmers live in constant fear of loss of their produce to thieves.In addition, the geographical area covered during this study is also a cattle zone. Because of the free grazing system still practiced the banana fields are often at risk of destruction by the freely roaming animals. Banana production is mainly suitable for the climatic and soil conditions in western Uganda. And indeed many farmers in the area are finding it a worthwhile business, and would like to expand their plantations. However they face the challenge of limited land available for expansion and if found, the land is expensive. For example an acre of land in Mbarara area is 3,000,000-5,000,000. In spite of the numerous efforts by the Government and NGO extension service providers in training farmers on good agronomical practices, many farmers continue to realize low yields due to inappropriate crop husbandry techniques like thinning, timely weeding, spacing, pruning, among others. Farmers also feel that the training received is inadequate. The changing weather patterns and adverse weather conditions continue to threaten banana farmers. The dry periods are longer than usual, threatening the survival and productivity of the plantations; and at the same time when the rains come they are so heavy and bring along with them storms, floods, lightening and hail stones which all damage crops in the field. At the time of marketing, farmers located deep in the countryside cannot easily access markets where they can get better prices. They do not have the means of transport, a situation that is exacerbated in the wet season when roads are impassable; they therefore end up selling their produce at lower prices to traders and middlemen. However, even when the farmers are able to reach the markets, there are market dues and other forms of taxes awaiting to be paid. The price of bananas tends to fluctuate following the low and high supply seasons. These price fluctuations affect the profitability and planning of the banana farmers. And much as farmers see the value of collective action for example in marketing, the spirit and drive of co-operatives among banana farmers is weak.Diagram 3.4 illustrates the correlated statements made by the banana farmers.Using Pearson's Correlation Coefficient it was found that the following statements were positively correlated:  H1 -\"I get a fair price from my buyer\"  H3 -\"My buyer buys when I'm ready to sell\"  H2 -\"I trust my buyer\"  H10 -\"I'm generally satisfied with my buyer\"But the statements are negatively correlated with:  H8 -\"I do not feel obliged to sell to my buyer\"This correlation suggests that there is a ready market for bananas with buyers readily available to purchase bananas. However, farmers seem to have developed a business strong business relationship with buyers including exchange of information, trust, credit and satisfaction. This can explain that farmers may feel some kind of obligation to sell their bananas to their buyers.Nevertheless, the statements:  H6 -\"My buyer pays on time\"  H4 -\"I call my buyer for market info\"  H9 -\"My buyer does NOT reject my product\"were found to be negatively correlated with statement  H8 -\"I do not feel obliged to sell to my buyer\"This correlation can be explained by the fact that farmers are not obligated to sell to a particular buyer because they are informed about the available markets and traders that readily pay for any banana produce that is up for sale.The above results suggest that some indicators of inclusive value chains (a ready market outlet, trust and fair prices)do exist from the perspective of small householder banana farmers. However, the prevailing banana market is large enough to also readily absorb any available produce.In the regression model, factors that were found not to be correlated were regressed to investigate their influence on the participation of banana farmers in inclusive value chain. The final model also included the following variables:1. Education level of the household head 2. Suitability of soil for banana production 3. Availability of phone networkThe above factors provided a logistical regression model of best fit for the banana value chain with a Chi-Square Value of 41.557 and (p < 0.001). From the table, we observe that: i. The education level of the household head, who is also the main proprietor of the banana enterprise, was found to be significantly (p < 0.001) influencing the involvement in an inclusive Banana value chain. The model shows that a unit increase (years spent in school) leads to 1.31 chance (CI = 1.25-1.38) of involvement in an inclusive value chain.ii. Suitability of the soils for banana production was found to be significantly (p = 0.021) influencing farmer involvement in an inclusive banana value chain. The odds of a farmer who has suitable soils for banana production are 2.50 times (CI = 2.10 -2.89)greater of being in an inclusive banana value chain compared to a farmer with poor soils.iii. Availability of a mobile phone connection of the farm was found to be significantly (p=0.008) influencing involvement of a farmer in an inclusive banana value chain. This is signified by the observation that farmers who have a mobile phone connection on their farm have 2.48 chances (CI = 2. 14 -2.83) of participation in an inclusive banana value chain compared to their counterparts that have no mobile phone connection.The correlation results and regression model show that there is open completion in the banana market; and farmers who are more educated, have suitable land for production and have a mobile phone connection/access are more likely to participate in an inclusive banana value chain.The survey of fish farmers covered 100 farmers of whom 50 were involved in inclusive value chains and 50 were not. Table 3.7 is a summary of the selected demographic characteristics of the households surveyed.Below is a presentation of the characteristics and observations of the fish farmers as well as their general behavior in relation to their fish enterprises.Analysis of the fish farmers showed that; Only 17% of the fish farmers ranked aquaculture as their main source of income. 8% ranked it as the second and the majority 75% of them ranked it as the third to fifth income source. Other sources of income mentioned included crop farming salaried employment and self employment income from the household head.  Other  In the aquaculture value chain, men are the predominant players (in over 80% of households) although women involvement (about 20%of households) is also visible. This is probably due to the high investment costs involved in fish farming that are beyond the reach of most women, fish farm sites are usually located far from the homestead that women cannot easily access and the risk of working in water a factor that deters many women. Table 3.8is a summary of involvement in fish enterprise by gender.  Two types of fish are mainly farmed. The majority (85%) of the respondents farm the Tilapia-Oreochromis Niloticus species. 15% farmed the Cat Fish Ictalurus Punctatus species. Over the past 12 months 45% of the farmers had harvested less than 1 ton of fish from their farms. 12% had harvested between 0.1-1.0 tons; 17% had harvested 1.5-2.0 tons 26% had harvested more than 2 Tons. On average more than 95% of the fish is sold off leaving about 5% for home consumption.  Fish farmers mentioned that they sold fish through the following as their main market channels: 52% -local markets; 10% -Co-operatives; 5% -individuals; 9% -local markets; and 24% -urban traders. These findings show that most of the aquaculture fish is consumed locally through local markets, local traders and individuals. Urban traders are also an important channel, and these usually process it for export or sold locally. Co-operatives support farmers by linking them to the markets/buyers.Figure 3.5 illustrates the major inputs fish farmers need for production and their sales channels. The various inputs farmers need included -supplies of fish fingerlings; fish feeds, transportation of produce in refrigerated trucks to markets and specialized aquaculture tools and equipment. Three channels were also identified through which farmers sell their fish, namely; Channel 1 -These are traders, exporters and fish processors located in the main towns and cities. These buyers usually have ready buyers/retailers that they supply, and they have their own trucks to move their merchandise from the farmers. Channel 2 -are buyers in the local markets and nearby trading centres and towns. They may also be individuals buying for home consumption or bicycle hawker operating in the neighborhood. Channel 3 -consists of locally based traders, middlemen and agents. They buy in bulk and sell the stock on to other traders. Consumers: These are usually residents of the local communities and villages that buy from the farmer food for home consumption. Aquaculture fish prices are largely uniform nationwide, irrespective of the buyer. Currently the average farm gate price is Ushs6500 per Kg. The price may however rise to 8500 per Kg in times of scarcity. Aquaculture fish competes with the bigger traditional capture fish market, and hence its seasonal variations. The low price seasons are the rainy weather months of March to May when lake fish supplies increase; and the high price seasons are the dry weather months of December to February and from June to August the time when the fish supplies are low. Payments are also made in cash at the farm gate. Farmers also reported isolated cases where buyers booked their fish and paid for it 2-3 months in advance.There are no set quality standards for fish. However, buyers prefer to buy large size fish that have reached at above 0.5 Kg for Tilapia and 1 Kg for Cat Fish at maturity. Tilapia with a dark shiny black colour is much more preferred, and may fetch a premium price of UShs 5000 above the normal price. Unfortunately farmers do not have the skills, knowledge and capacity to raise their fish to have the desired attributes.Unlike in situations where fish is sold to local markets, the fish is usually sold in bulk to a single buyer. Ideally at harvest time, the fish is removed from the pond or cages in one lot, weighted, paid for and transported through a cold chain. Normally the buyer pays for transportation of their produce. Pond fish farmers unlike the cage farmers have the option of harvesting small quantities at a time, and in case they have to sell to market vendors, the farmer is responsible for transporting his fish to the vendor's outlets. Otherwise anyone buying from the farm gate is responsible for transporting their purchases. Fish is a fast perishable item and must thus be kept and transported through a cold chain.Transportation through a cold chain is one of the biggest challenges fish farmers face as such vehicles are rare and expensive to own or even hire. And still because the aquaculture is not well developed in Uganda, suppliers of fish feeds are few and expensive; and so are the sources of reliable fingerling quality, tools and equipment. The fisheries legal framework also presents challenges for aquaculture farmers.Fish farming has inherent risks to the extent that conditioning the fish natural environment i.e. water, to suit the commercial farming requirements and also maintaining the cold chain necessary to keep the fish fresh from harvest to the final consumer are rather costly undertakings for the ordinary Ugandan fish farmers. And also, because the fisheries sector is largely under-developed in Uganda with still little government support, fish value chain players are very few and disjointed. Thus fish farmers have to fend for themselves to keep their businesses alive by all means. Below are some of the fish farmer challenges; Lack of feeds. Fish have to be fed entirely on formulated feed if they are to reach market weight/size in the scheduled time. However there are very few fish feed manufactures in Uganda. This limits competition in the manufacturing business. In such a situation, farmers have few options to select from for the most competitive supplies -best price, quality, etc. Furthermore, the farmers are not exposed to any knowledge of alternative low cost formulations and guidelines. At the current market price of Ushs 6000 per Kg, commercial fish feeds are very expensive. Many farmers also complained of the quality of the fish feeds. Aquaculture fish competes with capture fish for the same market and buyers, yet the capture fish harvest is much higher. Capture fish will therefore drive the market forces. Comparatively, however, the investment cost for capture fish is very low. Short or abundant supply, and hence the price of captured fish, fluctuates depending at times on weather changes. Unfortunately the buyers pay a uniform price for all fish irrespective of the production method. Thus price fluctuations may lead to losses for fish farmers because they have fixed production costs. In the same breath the market channels for fish are limited. Farmers have to rely on selling to the local market vendors and middlemen, and the few processors in the country, and sell at the prevailing price. Information about linkage to markets and market options is limited which exposes farmers to dealing with middlemen rather than the ultimate buyers. Fish farmers in Uganda hardly receive any extension services due to the shortage of aquaculture experts in the country. In addition, because the sector is largely new in Uganda, so standards have been developed and commissioned as the guiding aquaculture fish production and husbandry policies for Uganda. Many farmers have complained about the quality of the fingerlings they buy. Because they lack skills, they are not able to know the quality of the final fish species, and other characteristics based on the appearance of the fingerlings supplied to them. There have been many cases of farmers complaining about the number of fingerlings received versus the number paid for, the sex of the fish bought etc. in relation to the fish pond size. These factors affect the population in the pond or cage, the quantity of feeds to be given, pond aeration and water flow rates, and ultimately growth rate and final fish size/weight. Farmers lack reliable supplies of fish farming equipment offered at reasonable prices. Such equipment includes-fish cages, fishing nets and oxygen pumps, among others. Expert personnel for fish pond construction are also rare. The maturity period for fish Tilapia-Oreochromis Niloticus and Cat Fish-Ictalurus Punctatus is about 6-8 month. This is along waiting period for most small scale farmers who at the same time have to invest in fish feeds for all that time. This presents a strain on the farmers' cash flow. Furthermore, financial institutions are not willing to lend to fish farmers as the business is perceived to be too risky. Fish farmers especially cage farmers who use the natural water bodies are exposed to the risk of theft of their fish especially at night by the capture fishermen. Malicious acts like poisoning fish ponds have also been experienced in the past. Aquaculture is a high investment venture. The high cost is a hindrance for many farmers who may want to expand and develop their fish farms.Diagram 3.5 illustrates the correlated statements made by the fish farmers. Using Pearson's Correlation Coefficient it was found that among the fish farmers, the following statements were positively correlated:  F 2.1. \"I am aware of the latest production techniques for producing fish\"  G 2.7 \"I am satisfied with the interactions I have with government officials in charge of fisheries\"  F2.2 \"I practice the latest production techniques for producing fish\" This correlation suggests that the kind of interaction fish farmers have with the government fisheries officials is awareness building about the latest fish production techniques and that farmers have adopted the new production techniques taught. In addition to this, the statements;  D2G2 \"Mode of transport to the market\"  D2E2 \"Farmers' marketing channel used in the last 12 months\" are both correlated with  F2.2 \"I practice the latest production techniques for producing fish\" Which suggests that fish farmers who have adopted the latest production techniques tend to use the most appropriate means of transporting their fish produce to the market.The resultant logistic regression model results of best fit showed that involvement in fish inclusive value chain was significantly (Chi Square = 73.91, p-value = 0.000) associated with factors such as rank of Fish farming as household's most important source of income during the last 12 months, Amount of fish harvested, mode of fish transportation, education level and gender of the fish enterprise proprietor. Majority of farmers who gave Rank 1 to fish farming as the most important source of income during the last 12 months were also most likely to be involved in an inclusive value chain. A unit increase in number of rank of fish farming as the most important source of income during the last 12 months led to 0.3 odds of getting involved in an inclusive value chain. i. More educated farmers had lower odds of involving themselves in an inclusive value chain as compared to those who had acquired only up to primary level of education.The findings indicate that a unit increase in number of years spent in school by farmers leads to 0.8 odds of getting involved in an inclusive value chain; this translates as a 0.2 decrease in the likelihood of joining an organized fish value chain. Indeed during the FGD meetings, farmers mentioned that the educated people in most cases are more risk averse, they earn a steady income from other sources (e.g. salaried jobs and businesses) as the primary source of income, and not their farm enterprises. The farms they set-up (whether fish farms or otherwise) provide additional income and are rarely run as serious businesses. Typically, such farmers will hire a caretaker to do the day to day tending, will visit the farm once in a while, and will make decisions on phone. A farmer of this nature is less likely to give the due attention to the business and to participate in an inclusive value chain.On the other hand however, less educated people with fewer income opportunities will view the farming businesses as an important investment and source of income. They will thus strive to run it as a successful business and make the highest returns from it.ii. Farmers who were using better modes of transport to transport their fish produce to the market, like motorcycle, car, pickup or truck had better chances (2.40 times) of involving themselves in an inclusive value chain compared to those who used foot or bicycle. This is likely to be linked to the amount of fish being produced, together with the indicator below.iii. Total fish harvested in the last 12 months significantly influenced farmers' involvement in an inclusive value chain. The model in Table 4.3above shows that farmers who had harvested more than 1,000 kilograms of fish in the last 12 months had 22.95 times chances of getting involved in an inclusive value chain compared to those who had harvested less than 1,000 kilograms of fish in the last 12 months. In addition, enterprises where decision to begin fish farming was by a male had about 9.59 times chances of getting involved in an inclusive value chain compared to those where decision to begin fish farming was by a female.Based on the results of the model therefore, getting involved in fish inclusive value chain can be enhanced through involving male, less educated farmers who consider fish farming highly as a source of income.With regards to the pig value chain it is observed that the pig farmers are predominantly smallholders. The main challenges faced in pig production include high feeding costs which compromises animal growth rate and final gate prices; as well as animal health service provision, poor breeds and breeding. The majority of them sell less than 5 animals per day.Although men are the dominant players in the pig business at household level there is prominence of women involvement in owning, management and selling of pigs. Most of the pigs are bought by locally based buyers, and as such, these buyers present a ready market for pig farmers. The lack of standards on quality assessment and a rewarding system for quality is a major disincentive for investment in quality production and probably involvement of farmers in inclusive value chains.The Logit regression analysis showed that among pig farmers, being a member of a credit or a good agricultural practices (GAP) group makes it less likely to be involved in an organized pig value chain. This surprising finding is explained by the multiple products produced on the same farm. By probing pig farmers further on this issue, it turned out that the credit and GAP groups had been created for their crop enterprise rather than the pig enterprise. Also, the piggery farmers have a trusted ready market that pays them cash on time which negates the need to look for credit facilities. It also suggests that farmers keep pigs as a form of savings. However, farmers that sell more animals tend to have access to the high and lucrative markets. But although urban traders do not guarantee better prices to farmers, collaboration with such traders could better help farmers improve their animal quality.In the banana value chain, it is observed that the majority of banana farmers depend on the crop as their main source of income with more men involved compared to women. Bananas are a major staple food crop that is highly demanded in all major towns of the country. Hence there are numerous traders and consumers ready to buy in any quality and quantity of the produce offered and for cash.Banana farmers are however challenged by the rampant crop pests and diseases, the most destructive of these is the Banana Bacterial Wilt. In spite of the high susceptibility of the crop to pests and diseases, pesticides disease control chemicals, fertilizers and other inputs are too expensive for the ordinary farmer, making banana production rather risky. More importantly however are the effects of climatic change-extended drought, heavy rains, flooding hail stones all severely affect the productivity and survival of banana plantations.The correlation and logit modelling indicated that farmers are generally get fair market prices from their main buyers because they have information on prices. There are numerous buyers who present a ready market and open competition in the market. It was however noted that the availability of a ready market that buys anything offered for sale undermined participation of banana farmers in organized value chains. Ownership of suitable land for banana production, education and availability of a phone network on the farm encouraged farmer participation in inclusive banana value chains. The analysis showed that investing to improve soil fertility and mobile phone connectivity can multiply by 2.5 the likelihood that banana farmers will be part of organized value chains.In the fish value chain, most farmers ranked fish as the second, third or fourth important source of household income. The main Species farmed were Tilapia (Oreochromis Niloticus) and cat fish (Ictalurus Punctatus).The investment cost of fish farming is high and probably acts as a barrier to entry. Yields are low with most farmers having produced less than 1 ton in the past year. Fish farming is also dominated by men.The main marketing channels for aquaculture fish are local markets and consumers; local traders and middlemen; and urban traders who buy in bulk.The aquaculture value chain is still under developed and thus exposed to a number of risks and challenges that include high cost of feeds with hardly any alternatives for farmers; poor extension service delivery due to shortage of experienced personnel; lack of reliable suppliers of inputs like fish farming equipment, fish fingerlings, etc.; lack of confidence in the breeds and other factors have been identified in hindering development of fish farming.Correlation and logit analyses showed that farmers are quite willing to adopt the latest technology to improve productivity on their farms and that government fisheries officials are the main sources of such information. It was also found that farmers' participation in inclusive fish value chains is influenced by how high the level of importance attached to fish farming is, as a source of household income; and quantity of fish harvested. It is more likely for male farmers who decided to start the fish farm enterprise to be involved in inclusive value chains. Interestingly also, more educated farmers had lower odds of involving themselves in an inclusive value chain as compared to those who had acquired only up to primary level of education. The findings indicates that a unit increase in number of years spent in school by farmers leads to a 0.2decrease in the odds of getting involved in an inclusive value chain. Indeed during the FGD meetings, farmers mentioned that the educated people in most cases will shy away from fish farming which is perceived to be very risky, and they earn a steady income from formal employment.The results of this study allow the identification of the following factors as significant in the increasing the odds of smallholder farmers joining inclusive value chains: Soil fertility (positive impact)  Amount of commodity produced (positive impact)  Level of sophistication of the mode of transport used to reach market (positive impact)  A good mobile phone network (positive impact)  Membership of a credit group (negative impact)  Members of a group on Good agricultural practices (negative impact)  Share of the enterprise in the farm's income generation (negative impact)  Education level of the household head (positive or negative depending on commodity)  Gender (men are more likely to be involved in inclusive value chains) These findings require further research in order to qualify them and to identify the possible reverse effect that being part of an inclusive value chain could have on the variables that were hypothesized as explanatory in this study.In this research identifying the factors influencing successful inclusion of smallholder farmers in modern value chains, we observe numerous bottlenecks,both structural and inherent, that call for increased support for inclusive value chain development in developing economies. In the developing economies, small businesses, whether in trade, services or agribusiness, account for the biggest share of the private sector. They are mostly informal operators edging a living from whatever means available. For example, from this study it was found that the majority of farmers in Uganda are indeed small operating on less than 2 acres per household. Ironically, as part of its overall development strategies, the Government in collaboration with donors, has tended to channel most of its support to specific industries and sectors through a combination of policy measures, ranging from concessionary financing, tax breaks, and provision of trade credit to subsidies, public-private partnerships, and promotion of foreign investment, as evidenced in Uganda's fish sector. Unfortunately, such support is not accessible to the small and micro enterprisesfor structural and other reasons.A business-enabling environment is a critical determinant of positive impacts in value chain development projects. No matter the country or sector context, support from government actors often dictates the extent to which businesses can thrive and grow or stagnate and collapse. Thepig, banana and fish smallholder farmers studied in this research have specific needs that are often neglected in favor of top-down government policies that support medium and large businesses instead. For example, the study results show that investing to improve soil fertility and mobile phone connectivity can multiply by 2.5 the likelihood that banana farmers will be part of organized value chains. These results can help guide government and donor investment within the agricultural production, marketing and natural resources management systems. On the other hand, the fact that the likelihood of farmers joining organized value chains actually decreased with the lesser importance of fish as the main source of household income or with pig farmers' belonging to a GAP or credit group (indicators that farmers were investing in their other productions) is a reminder that the smallholder production systems in developing countries are very much intertwined and no intervention on one part of the system can be considered separately from the rest of the farmers' enterprises. By neglecting such specific needs, smaller enterprises particularly in agriculture tend to remain informal and produce below their growth potential. This will becomes a challenge for agro-based countries like Uganda where over 70% of the population depends on small scale agriculture.Thus inclusive private-sector development requires government reforms that are more aware of and responsive to the needs of smaller, micro, and informal businesses throughout the market because the reforms currently do not take their perspectives into account. For donor organization engaged in value chain development, understanding the role of government and ways to increase its participation and the quality of its support in such work is crucial to reach sustainable, positive impacts.In failing to view the market system holistically, government policy reforms can exclude such smallerinformal businesses. This presents a missed opportunity, as the informal sector and small and micro businesses often constitute a significant proportion of the economy, presenting an opportunity to achieve more impact on poverty alleviation at the grass-roots level.It is prudent therefore for both governments and donors to promote inclusive business models, as such models tend to sustain the development and uptake of more structured companies in the respective countries and abroad.In order to have a more inclusive development impact, it is crucial that donor support and government reforms become more open to, and supportive of, small, micro, and informal businesses throughout a value chain. In such an approach businesses maintain their for-profit nature, while contributing to poverty reduction by including low-income communities in their value chains.  Who provided money for the expenses?(1. Male or 2. Female)Who decided when to spend?(1. Male or 2. Female)  Farmer perception on buyer satisfaction with respect to quantities supplied during the high season: D/11.3 \"I have negotiated some of the terms of the contract with my buyer before agreeing on it.\" [ _____ ] Indicate if you agree with the statement using: 5-Strongly Agree 4-Agree 3-Undecided 2-Disagree 1-Strongly Disagree D/11.4 \"I am satisfied with the contractual arrangement I have with my buyer.\" [ _____ ] Indicate if you agree with the statement using: 5-Strongly Agree 4-Agree 3-Undecided 2-Disagree 1-Strongly Disagree D/11.5 \"In case I feel my buyer has not respected the terms of the contract, I know the person I should go to talk to help solve the problem\". [ _____ ] Indicate if you agree with the statement using:  To examine:the composition of the value chain, including the main actors, services, and enablers, the main market channels and their relative importance and requirements, and geographical spread, to visualize linkages and demonstrate interdependencies in the chain the major sources of inputs and services and their accessibility to different types of producers the relative access to and control over the different market channels and services by men and women respectively major constraints in selling products and buying inputs and accessing services"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"22c3cbef913da681508367e925a79b59","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4f05a9a4-cec6-4607-be03-0cb44e24c297/retrieve","id":"-1778124662"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4ee0a5aa-5ab2-4b90-ad71-91161367398a","content":"• Taking a broader systems perspective is imperative when introducing a new technology.• Sing the terms 'improved' and 'weed' indiscriminately -and without properly understanding the multiple benefits farmers derive from cultivating their plots -can be highly misleading. • Progressive experimentation, starting from the existing indigenous practice, leads ultimately to greater efficiency e.g. allocating land systematically to both grain and forage production enhance adoption and wider scaling.1. To compare whole plot productivity of traditional and improved faba bean growing practices. 2. To examine the benefits of managing faba bean / forage intercrops to increase total plot productivity and produce quality forages.• Action research with farmers for stepwise intensification; comparing traditional and improved practices, screening competition tolerant varieties, intercropping selected faba bean varieties with improved forage crops.• The traditional practice involved one late 'weeding' whereas improved management practice two 'weedings' which generated insignificant quantities of forage. • Grain and straw yields were slightly higher under the improved than the traditional management practice and vice versa for forage biomass. • The opportunity costs associated with the loss in weed biomass when the improved practices were adopted were not adequately offset by the economic gains from increased grain yield and crop residue biomass (VCR was less than 2). • Intercropping appears to be economically feasible to provide both grain for the household and feed for the household's livestock (Fig 3).• The pathway to successful intensification of the faba bean-based mixed farming system appears to revolve around choosing competition tolerant varieties of bean alongside forage combinations that optimize the production of grain for human consumption, feed for livestock whilst improving income generation and nutrition.• The faba bean / forage intercropping intervention is scalable in the highland areas of the southern region of Ethiopia where the traditional practice is dominant and already accepted by the communities. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"45fca511e48a67d0f4bed369339c7fb9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/22353fa0-f1a9-4511-9c49-4443bb39301a/content","id":"-1767808954"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0e793b76-b5eb-4d07-b16e-a1924548c6ba","content":"Annual gain: 1.63% (Attila= PBW343) and 0.72% (Local Checks) CIMMYT Wheat Breeding Priorities Core traits -High and stable yield potential -Durable resistance to Rusts-Stem (Ug99), Stripe and Leaf -Water use efficiency/Drought tolerance -Heat tolerance -Appropriate end-use quality -Enhanced Zn and Fe content for nutrition (nutritional quality) Key diseases in specific environments Durable resistance to diseases and pests  Septoria tritici blotch  Spot Blotch  Tan Spot  Fusarium -head scab and myco-toxins  Karnal bunt  Root rots and nematodes  Wheat blast-new threat in SA Packaging multiple traits together is essential under climate change scenario to benefit wheat farmersPossible entry points for GS in the CIMMYT wheat breeding programs 1) Predicting the performance of lines that have never or insufficiently been phenotyped2) Reducing the cost of yield trails 3) Separate parental selection from product advancement by estimating breeding values (gBLUPs) as well as performance BLUPs 4) Rapid cycle selection: Cross -predict -repeat 5) Enrich elite germplasm with new genetic variation, select best candidates of wild relatives to be used as parentsImproving genome-wide prediction ability in CIMMYT wheat datasets• Large genotypic, phenotypic and environmental CIMMYT datasets became available• Genome-wide prediction models have been developed or adopted from other research fields throughout the years  -------------------------- ✓ Work is underway to expand genomic predictions for parental selection in earlier breeding generations to shorten the breeding cycle and for multi-environment testing across the South-Asian phenotyping network ✓ Breeder are still skeptical using GS, additional validation is required to build more confidence in using GS at different levels in breeding programs"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4531a923a6e8a865c9ebf0d185dbd087","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10460-013-9425-y.pdf","id":"-798425850"},"keywords":["Urban agriculture","Food security","Dietary diversity","Social capital","Kibera slums","Kenya"],"sieverID":"5a41012c-544d-4c7b-b66b-f20147c0f2a2","content":"Much of the developing world, including Kenya, is rapidly urbanizing. Rising food and fuel prices in recent years have put the food security of the urban poor in a precarious position. In cities worldwide, urban agriculture helps some poor people gain access to food, but urban agriculture is less common in densely populated slums that lack space. In the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya, households have recently begun a new form of urban agriculture called sack gardening in which vegetables such as kale and Swiss chard are planted into large sacks filled with topsoil. This paper examines relationships among sack gardening, social capital, and food security in Kibera. We used a mixed methods approach, combining qualitative interviews with a household survey, as well as focus group discussions with both farmers and non-farmers. We present evidence that sack gardening increases social capital, especially for those households that undertake sack gardening in groups. We also find that sack gardening in the Kibera slums has a positive impact on household food security by improving household dietary diversity and by reducing the need to resort to painful coping mechanisms that are used during food shortages.The first decade of the twenty-first century marked a major shift in the distribution of the world population. For the first time, the number of people living in urban areas outnumbered those in rural areas. Current estimates suggest that by 2030 the world will be over 60 % urban, with most urbanization taking place in developing countries (UN Habitat 2003). Kenya is one such rapidly urbanizing developing country. With urbanization, the proportion of the urban population living below the poverty line continues to rise. Currently between a third and a half of Kenya's population live in urban areas, but by 2020 more than half of Kenya's poor population is expected to be urban. Levels of urban poverty continue to deepen, as the percentage of urban dwellers in the poorest categories, those considered to be 'food poor' and 'hardcore poor' 1 continues to rise (Taylor and Goodfellow 2009). Urban poverty can be particularly debilitating because while the rural poor are often able to obtain or produce their own basic needs such as food, water, and shelter, the urban poor become increasingly dependent upon the cash economy to obtain these goods, rendering them more vulnerable. More than half of Kenya's total 'food poor' live in slum environments, where the poorest urban dwellers may spend up to 80 % of their total income on food (Taylor and Goodfellow 2009). Rising food and fuel prices in recent years have made it increasingly difficult for the poor to afford food (Erulkar and Matheka 2007;IRIN 2009;Satterthwaite 2004).While food insecurity historically was viewed as a result of inadequate agricultural production and food supply at the regional or national level, Sen (1981) showed that a household's food security status depends on its ability to access food by producing or purchasing it with its own assets. Deveraux and Maxwell (2001) characterize the causes of food insecurity in Africa in this way as well. Recent literature characterizes household livelihood strategies as an effort to combine different assets, or capital types, including financial capital and human capital but also natural capital (e.g., soil and water), physical capital (e.g., machines or tools), and social capital (social relationships that support productive efforts) (Bebbington and Perreault 1999;Swift and Hamilton 2001).In this paper we examine urban agriculture as part of livelihood strategies in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya. In densely populated Kibera a new form of urban agriculture called sack gardening has spread during the last several years, with farmers planting kale and Swiss chard 2 in sacks filled with soil. 3 Urban agriculture can be an important part of an urban livelihood strategy; various studies have demonstrated that it can have some impact on household food security, either by providing an additional income source, increasing dietary diversity, or helping to protect against seasonal unavailability in the food supply (Maxwell et al. 1998;Vall and Shalizi 2006). An early study of urban agriculture in Nairobi (Freeman 1991) found that although active urban farmers were often part of the upper or middle class, farming by the urban poor was particularly important as it was frequently used to supplement household food consumption rather than as a business venture.Within the context of the livelihood framework we focus in particular on interactions between urban agriculture and social capital as they contribute to food security. Social capital encompasses the social resources on which people rely when pursuing their livelihoods, including social networks, membership in groups, relationships of trust and reciprocity, and access to wider institutions of society (Rakodi 2002). Social capital can enable households to become urban farmers, helping them gain access to needed supplies and allowing them to work together for increased efficiency and security. Participating in urban agriculture can also influence a household's social capital. This relationship could be positive, for example if households work together as farmers and build stronger relationships, or it could conceivably be negative if a household farms alone, becomes more food secure, and neglects ties with neighbors who have become less important in the household's livelihood strategy. We will explore such relationships below. Social capital in turn can have other effects on food security independent of urban agriculture, for example by having people to turn to in times of need, or contacts through whom to gain employment (Swift and Hamilton 2001).Following this introduction we briefly review the literature on urban agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa and then we present a conceptual framework for examining the interaction of urban agriculture and social capital in contributing to household food security. We introduce Kibera, present our research methods, and then report our findings regarding the contribution of sack gardening to household food security and the interaction of sack gardening and social capital. We find that sack gardening in Kibera has positively impacted household food security by improving household dietary diversity and reducing the need for various coping mechanisms that are used in times of food shortages. We also find that sack gardening increases social capital among farmers.Urban agriculture in Kenya and elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa Urban agriculture is a feature of most if not all cities in sub-Saharan Africa, but the literature on urban agriculture is of relatively recent origin. People have been farming in African cities since these cities were born; however, colonial and post-colonial governments often discouraged or outlawed the practice of urban agriculture because it did not fit with their conceptions of modern cities. This resulted in very little attention to urban agriculture and little formal support.Urban agriculture generally plays a smaller role in providing food security in very dense informal settlements such as Kibera with a shortage of land for farming (Crush et al. 2011). This has changed, however, with the recent advent of sack or vertical gardening. By planting vegetables into both the top and sides of sacks, farmers in Kibera can grow a large number of vegetables in the small spaces available to them (Fig. 1). Sack gardening has been practiced in a limited way for many years, but since 2008 it has spread greatly due to the availability of free seedlings and technical advice from a non-profit organization called Solidarite ´s. Farmers, however, must purchase inputs such as fertilizer and water for their sacks, which can be costly for families with limited financial capital. Anecdotal evidence suggests that sack gardening in Kibera has had a positive impact on household food security.Early studies of urban agriculture in Kenya were mostly descriptive in nature, focused on documenting who was involved in urban crop and livestock production and the ways in which urban agriculture contributed to household food security. These early studies clearly showed that agriculture was an important part of the urban landscape with a third or more of households practicing some form of agriculture (Egziabher et al. 1994;Freeman 1991;Maxwell 1995;Mwangi 1995).The urban landscape of Kenya has changed greatly over the past two decades, with rapid urbanization and an increase in the population of the urban poor. It is now more important than ever to understand the contributions of urban agriculture to household livelihood strategies and food security, because many of the urban poor are unable to afford food, spending up to eighty percent of their household income on food (Maxwell 1996). However, there have been few recent studies on the contributions of urban agriculture to household food security in Kenya. More recent research on urban agriculture in Kenya has tended to focus on the broader contributions of urban agriculture to income generation and household livelihood strategies (Foeken 2006;Foeken and Owuor 2008) or the role of urban agriculture in nutrient waste cycling (Karanja et al. 2010;Njenga et al. 2010).As sack gardening grows in popularity and spreads throughout Kenya, it is important to understand how people are using and potentially benefiting from this type of urban agriculture. Sack gardening has been discussed anecdotally in newspapers and books as being a beneficial activity (Ayieko 2008;Karanja and Njenga 2011;Pascal and Mwende 2009) but there have been no formal studies of its practice nor information about the extent to which it contributes to household food security.A meta-analysis of 49 communities throughout southern and eastern Africa found that increasing poverty and conflict in many communities was linked to a decrease in social coherence and social capital, leading to increasing vulnerability and food insecurity in these communities (Misselhorn 2005). The high levels of food insecurity in Kibera likely reflect the intense levels of poverty and prevalent violence within the Kibera slums, along with a lack of livelihood strategies that allow households to meet their food needs. Urban agriculture is sometimes practiced as a community activity, and if sack gardening were to strengthen relationships among households, it could positively impact household food security beyond just providing an additional food source for the household.Social capital, sack gardening, and food security We examine the relationships among social capital, sack gardening, and food security as characterized in Fig. 2. We suggest that social capital and participation in sack gardening can affect each other, and that each in turn has its separate effects on household food security.First, for a household to engage in sack gardening requires access to materials and inputs, including the sacks, seeds, soil, manure, and water; it also requires space to locate the sacks and the ability to guard them against theft. These requirements can be achieved individually, but for many people they will be easier with the help of others. For example, the NGO Solidarite ´s provides seeds and sacks, so a relationship with Solidarite ´s facilitates participation in urban agriculture. Similarly, topsoil is scarce in Kibera and at times households may obtain it through local organizations, such as churches or mosques. Topsoil is heavy, so transporting it may require assistance from a friend. Perhaps most importantly, space is very limited in Kibera, so much so that some households lack private space even to place a sack. Many households engage in sack gardening in groups using shared space.Second, households that work together in sack gardening may be expected to strengthen relationships with each other, thus building their social capital, particularly if their work is successful. These relationships in turn may enhance a household's livelihood and help it gain greater access to food. On the other hand, one might hypothesize that if a household becomes more self-sufficient in food thanks to sack gardening, it might allow its social capital to weaken due to reduced reliance on social networks to access food. In reality, however, such a situation is unlikely in Kibera, where sack gardens are small and serve more as a way for a household to fill gaps in its food supply rather than serve as a major food source (Karanja and Njenga 2011).Other literature from a range of contexts tells us that building social capital is likely to have wider livelihood benefits. Studies have suggested that higher levels of social capital are related to improved economic development of communities (Midgley and Livermore 1998), decreased crime rates (Sampson et al. 1997), and a variety of positive health outcomes, including improved child welfare and lower levels of teen pregnancy (Putnam 2001). In Ecuador, Bebbington and Perreault (1999) demonstrated that increased social capital was also correlated with improved community access to other important assets such as land, credit, and new technologies.Remarkably few studies have explicitly examined the relationship between food security and social capital. One study of food insecure households in Hartford, Connecticut, USA found that social capital was associated with decreased risk of hunger, even after controlling for various socio-economic factors (Martin et al. 2004). A study in Peru found that families with higher measures of social capital were more likely to be able to obtain food when they needed it (Dı ´az et al. 2002). Given that communities with higher levels of social capital have greater wealth and greater senses of trust and reciprocity, we expected to find that households in the Kibera slums with higher levels of social capital would correspondingly have greater measures of household food security.In our research in Kibera we examine a third relationship more closely: the direct effect of sack gardening on a household's food security. Although sack gardening cannot provide all or even a large proportion of a household's food supply due to its small scale, it can play an important role in allowing access to leafy greens that otherwise would have to be purchased. In this way it can expand overall dietary diversity and the diversity of vegetables consumed, and it can alleviate the need to engage in various coping mechanisms associated with hunger. We examine these effects below.As the largest informal settlement in Nairobi, Kibera characterizes some of the most challenging issues faced by residents in informal settlements in Kenya, and arguably the world, today. Kibera is located about 7 km southwest of downtown Nairobi, within the legal city boundary. It is East Africa's largest slum with approximately half a million residents occupying about 2.5 sq km, making it one of the most denselyFig. 2 Relationships among social capital, sack gardening, and food security populated urban settlements in the world. Kibera is comprised of 10-13 'villages', depending on how boundaries are drawn, many of which are divided along ethnic lines (UN Habitat 2009). For the purposes of this research, we recognized the following 10 villages in Kibera: Makina, Mashimoni, Laini Saba, Soweto East, Lindi, Silanga, Soweto West, Kianda, Gatwekera, and Kisumu Ndogo (Fig. 3).Over half of the households in Kibera live below the poverty line of $1 per day (Erulkar and Matheka 2007), but in reality the number of households experiencing poverty is actually much higher. The income level on which poverty lines are set in Kenya often ignores the cost of non-food essentials in urban areas, such as the cost of water, health care, and education (Satterthwaite 2004). Many poverty estimates are based on a cost of living of $1 per day (80 shillings). 4 While people in Kibera may earn more than 80 shillings per day, this is not nearly sufficient to cover other costs associated with life in the slum. People in Kibera living on $1-2 per day (80-160 shillings) still struggle to pay for the cost of essential goods and services, with family members combining their incomes and borrowing heavily, leaving many families with heavy debt burdens. (Umande Trust et al. 2007). Gulyani and Talukdar (2010) suggest that in reality more than three quarters of the households in Kibera live below the poverty line, when the poverty line is defined based on the urban poverty threshold set by the Kenyan government of 3,174 Kenyan shillings (KSh) per month (USD $40), excluding rent.Many Kibera residents began to garden after the postelection violence of early 2008, and sack gardening is now practiced by upwards of 5,000 Kibera households (personal communication with Solidarite ´s; Karanja and Njenga 2011). The great diversity of the Kibera slums allows comparisons to be made concerning the impact of sack gardening on household food security amongst a wide variety of household structures, income levels, and ethnic backgrounds.The research presented in this paper was part of a larger study conducted during 2010-2011 that examined the impact of sack gardening on farmers' livelihood strategies, household food security, and exposure to environmental risks. 5 Fig. 3 The Kibera slums are located in Nairobi, Kenya. Approximately half a million residents occupy about 2.5 sq km, making it one of the most densely populated urban settlements in the world. Kibera is comprised of 10 villages or neighborhoodsThere is no consensus on the best way to measure social capital because it involves trying to measure social structures and relationships. I t has been measured in a number of different ways in the literature, depending on the scale of interest. At an individual or household level, it is often measured using individual interviews or household surveys, at a community level by using household surveys or focus groups, and at a regional level by using case studies or key informant interviews (Krishna 2002). Measures of social capital need to be culturally relevant, so we chose to focus on exchanges of goods and services between households as well as the quality of relationships people had with their urban neighbors.Measuring household food insecurity can be complicated. A number of methodological approaches are present in the literature, including measuring household production and purchases, measuring food consumption using 24-h recall, or using indirect indicators such as rainfall and marketing data, or anthropometric measurements (Hendriks 2005;Maxwell and Frankenburger 1992). Data for these measures are often time consuming to collect and unreliable. Thus, other types of indicators have been developed to measure household food security. One measure looks at coping strategies that households use when they do not have access to sufficient food (e.g., Maxwell 1996).Coping strategies consist of behavioral modifications such as eating foods that are less preferred, limiting portion sizes, and skipping meals. Our study measured coping strategies used by households using a tool developed by the USAID Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project (FANTA) (Bilinsky and Swindale 2010) that asks households whether they have used a series of eight different coping strategies over the past year.Another method for measuring household food security involves quantifying the diversity of the diet consumed by household members. Several studies in Sub-Saharan Africa have compared household dietary diversity with other measures of household food security. These studies have found that greater dietary diversity scores are correlated with other measures of improved food security (Faber et al. 2009;Hatloy et al. 1999;Hoddinott and Yohannes 2002). We used a modified version of a tool developed by USAID FANTA to measure overall dietary diversity as well as the diversity of vegetable consumption amongst households in Kibera.We used mixed methods to understand the impact of sack gardens on household food security in the Kibera slums, drawing on qualitative interviews, household surveys, and focus group discussions with farmers and non-farmers (Cameron 2005;Dunn 2005). Farming households were defined as any household currently practicing sack farming, and the farmer was the primary caretaker for the sack gardens. Non-farming households were not involved in any form of urban agriculture at the time of the survey.Preliminary open-ended qualitative interviews were conducted in late 2010 with 31 farmers from Makina and Mashimoni villages within Kibera slums. Farmers were chosen for these interviews using purposive sampling, based on the recommendations of other farmers in the area, with the goal of interviewing people with a wide range of experience in terms of length of time gardening, number of sacks, age, and educational attainment. These interviews were conducted in Kiswahili by the primary author and a field assistant, transcribed, translated into English, and analyzed for key themes using thematic analysis (Waitt 2005). During the interviews farmers were asked about a variety of issues including their farming practices and how they felt that gardening was impacting their ability to feed their families, and the variety of foods they were eating.Information from the preliminary interviews was used to design a survey instrument that we used in a survey of 306 households (153 farmers, 153 non-farmers) in Kibera in early 2011. Households were selected using stratified random sampling of nine villages within the Kibera slums. Although there are ten villages in Kibera, one village (Lindi) was excluded for safety reasons. Local field assistants compiled lists of 40 farmers and 40 non-farmers from each village within Kibera, and 17 farmers and non-farmers were randomly selected for interviews from each village list. The interviews were conducted in Kiswahili by a team of four research assistants, plus local assistants who accompanied the research assistants to the households.In the qualitative interviews and the survey, households were asked various questions related to measures of social capital, including participating in informal or formally registered groups (e.g., religious groups, savings groups, or farming groups), their relationships with their neighbors, and exchanges of goods between rural and urban households. We measured their relationship with their neighbors by asking them to rate the quality of their relationship with their neighbors on a scale of 1 to 4, from 1 = very good (speak every day) to 4 = poor (do not get along). 6 We also asked farmers whether they thought their relationship with their neighbors had improved, stayed the same, or worsened since beginning sack gardening. Exchanges of goods between households were measured by asking whether or not, in the month prior to the interview, their household had exchanged items from a list of different goods and services with their rural relatives, urban relatives, or urban friends and neighbors. Goods and services included items such as cash, cash loans, child care, cooked foods, and harvested foods. We asked first about whether they had given these goods, and the frequency with which they were given, and then about whether they had received them.The household survey used a variety of questions to assess household food security. USAID FANTA has created a set of survey tools designed to use food access as a measure of improved household food consumption (FAO 2003). The first component of these tools measures dietary diversity as a proxy for household food security. We measured dietary diversity using a 24-h food recall, where foods consumed were categorized into one of 15 nutritionally unique food groups.Respondents were asked what they ate at each meal during the previous 24 h, including the ingredients used to prepare each meal. This information was used to quantify which food groups the respondent consumed. A total dietary diversity score was assigned to each respondent based on the total number of food groups consumed. We also compared the number of farmers and non-farmers who had consumed foods in each individual food group. In addition to measuring total dietary diversity, we measured the dietary diversity of vegetables consumed over the previous month. Respondents were asked whether or not they had consumed 17 different commonly eaten vegetables in the past month. They were also asked how frequently they consumed each vegetable, and how frequently during the month they were able to harvest this vegetable from their sack garden rather than purchasing it.The survey also measured elements of coping strategies used by households during times of food insecurity by looking at months of inadequate food access over the previous year.Respondents were asked whether or not they had experienced a series of eight different situations where they lacked access to food, such as worrying about not being able to purchase food, skipping meals, or reducing portion sizes (Gulyani and Talukdar 2010). Respondents were asked if they had ever experienced these scenarios, how frequently they experienced them, and if the children in the household experienced them.Data from the household survey was analyzed using SPSS (Version 15). Using a series of independent t tests and Pearson's correlations, we tested the significance of mean values (at a 95 % confidence level) between farmers and non-farmers for indicators of dietary diversity, coping strategies, and social capital.Establishing causality of relationships is very difficult in the social sciences, and even establishing directionality in statistically significant associations is difficult (Moser and Kalton 1971). For example, a finding that sack gardeners have stronger social capital than non-gardeners would leave unanswered the question of whether stronger social capital facilitated sack gardening or the reverse. In this section we present such associations between measures of a household's social capital and its participation in sack gardening, and between both social capital and sack gardening and well-being as in the model depicted in Fig. 2. We draw on evidence from qualitative interviews to help interpret some of the findings.We begin by describing our sample including demographic characteristics of sack gardeners. We present evidence suggesting that participation in sack gardening is associated with higher social capital, and then augment that evidence from the survey and from qualitative interviews that sack gardening contributes to improved social capital. We then present evidence that social capital is associated with improved well-being including food security, and that participation in sack gardening is associated with greater household food security.In our sample (n = 306), 90 % of the respondents were female and 10 % were male. This reflects that the majority of sack farmers are female, which is consistent with findings on urban agriculture elsewhere in instances when this form of agriculture is primarily a subsistence activity. When urban agriculture is more of a commercial venture, then it is more likely to engage men (Freeman 1991;Mudimu 1996;WinklerPrins and de Souza 2005). Farmers were an average of 5 years older than non-farmers, with the mean age of farmers being 34.5 years and non-farmers being 29.5 years. There was no significant difference in the age of the males and females. The farmers we interviewed had lived in Kibera for a significantly longer period of time (14.8 years) than non-farmers (11.6 years). However, there were more immigrants from rural areas among farmers (86.3 %) than among non-farmers (81 %). In addition, the average family size for farming households (5.15 people) was significantly larger (p \\ 0.001) than for non-farming households (4.17 people). With larger families, households may be more drawn to an activity such as urban agriculture as a source of food to feed more people in their households. Smaller households with younger parents may be less likely to begin farming because they feel they are able to support their families with cash incomes alone. The mean level of education for all respondents was upper primary school.For some farmers, sack gardening is a social activity in addition to being a strategy to improve food security. Fiftythree percent of farmers shared space for their sack gardens with other farmers and 19 % of farmers were members of a formal or informal gardening group. Farmers also reported sharing in other activities, with 42 % of farmers helping each other carry soil for the sacks, 52 % helping to construct the sacks, and 75 % consulting each other about farming issues.Farmers reported having significantly (p = 0.003) better relationships with their neighbors than non-farmers. In Kibera, where it is normal for multiple families to share a single housing block, having a good relationship with neighbors is important for household safety and survival, and is thus a good measure of a person's social capital.Another important aspect of social capital is the variety of exchanges that take place among households. Studies in developing countries have examined exchange networks between urban and rural families, with the assumption that urban families remit cash payments to rural areas, while rural areas contribute harvested goods to urban families (Baker and Aina 1995;Linares 1996;Vall and Shalizi 2006;WinklerPrins 2002;WinklerPrins and de Souza 2005). However, as the population of urban areas grows, the exchange of goods between urban relatives, friends, and neighbors is important as well. Farmers and nonfarmers who were part of our study received goods or services from rural and urban relatives with equal frequency. However, farmers received goods from urban friends or neighbors marginally significantly more frequently (p = 0.086) than non-farmers. Although all households tended to receive the same types of goods from rural areas and from their rural and urban relatives, there were significant differences in terms of the types of goods and services that households received from urban friends and neighbors. Farmers receive harvested goods (vegetables) and information from their neighbors significantly more frequently than non-farmers. Both groups received cash, child-minding, cooked foods, or loans with equal frequency.An interesting finding concerns differences between farmers who undertake sack gardening jointly with their friends or neighbors as opposed to those who do so individually. Farmers who share space for sack gardening nearly always work together with other farmers to carry soil, construct their sacks, and share seedlings for the sacks. These farmers also report getting along better with their neighbors (p = 0.006) than farmers who farm individually. Farmers who share space for their sack gardens are also significantly more frequently to be part of an informal gardening group (p = 0.007) or another type of formal group (p \\ 0.0005). Additionally, farmers who farmed individually exchanged goods and services with their rural and urban relatives or urban friends no more frequently overall than non-farmers. These findings suggest that the act of working together as sack gardeners is what is most closely associated with measures of social capital as opposed to sack gardening per se.We were unable to obtain data on how much private space for sack gardening each respondent had access to, but we did find farmers who share space more frequently have a smaller number of sacks than those who farm individually (r = -0.141, p \\ 0.07). This may signify that farmers who share space do so because they lack space of their own, but this correlation is significant only at the 10 % level. Similarly, we found a weak negative association between household income 7 and some aspects of working together in sack gardening. A household's reported income was negatively and statistically significantly associated with consulting with others (p \\ 0.0005), constructing sacks, (p = 0.028), sharing seeds (p = 0.36), and carrying soil (p = 0.06), but curiously it was not correlated with sharing space.The evidence in the previous subsection only demonstrates a positive correlation between sack gardening and social capital. Evidence also suggests that sack gardening contributes to improved social capital. Farmers reported having significantly (p = 0.003) better relationships with their neighbors than did non-farmers. While the previous section demonstrated that farmers who were part of a group had strong relationships with their neighbors, even individual farmers had a significantly better relationship with their neighbors than non-farmers (p = 0.001), which may result from sharing vegetables from their garden with their neighbors. In addition, 32 % of farmers reported that they now interact with their neighbors more frequently than they did before they began sack gardening.During the qualitative interviews, many farmers reported that sack gardening had strengthened friendships or cooperation amongst people in Kibera. Some farmers felt gardening was beneficial because they were now able to share their vegetables with their friends, while others worked together with others by giving them extra seedlings, helping each other carry soil or build sacks, or by pooling money to buy fertilizer and pesticides. Sack gardening has helped to create a sense of community because it has given people reasons to talk with their neighbors. Thirty-two percent of farmers reported that they now interact with their neighbors more frequently than they did before they began sack gardening. They buy water from each other, consult with each other about problems, and create employment for each other. Sack farming has been a way to bring the women of certain neighborhoods together. As one farmer explained, ''Sack gardening brings women together… If it weren't for my kale, I wouldn't have a reason to talk to them… I would only talk to my customers. Now we buy water from others, creating employment and a sense of community here in Kibera.'' Compared to those who farm alone, people who share space for sack gardening report more frequently that their relationships with neighbors have improved since they began sack gardening, though the correlations are only significant at the 5 % level (p = 0.046). 8Studies elsewhere suggest that social capital contributes to economic development and household food security (e.g., Krishna 2002). Given that our data suggest that sack farmers have higher levels of social capital than non-farmers, we then explored the relationship between social capital and food security for farmers and non-farmers, looking at the exchanges of goods between households and their friends and relatives, as well as a respondent's relationship with their neighbors. Not surprisingly, both farmers and non-farmers more frequently reported receiving goods or services from their urban friends or neighbors if they reported having a good relationship with their neighbors. Farmers who reported that their relationship with neighbors had improved since beginning sack gardening reported receiving information (p = 0.026), labor for agriculture (p \\ 0.000), and cash loans from their neighbors (p = 0.061) significantly more frequently than other farmers. Receipt of cash loans is particularly important because it demonstrates an increase in trust between the farmer and their neighbors, thus improving their social safety net as a result of sack gardening.The exchange of goods between households, particularly between urban friends and neighbors is related to improved household food security. Farmers and non-farmers who reported having a better relationship with their neighbors more frequently gave goods or services. Farmers with good relationships more frequently gave cash (p = 0.048), cooked foods (p \\ 0.000), and loans (p \\ 0.000) than other farmers, while non-farmers with good relationships more frequently gave cash loans (p \\ 0.000) or cooked foods (p \\ 0.000) than other non-farmers. Among farmers who reported an improved relationship with their neighbors since beginning gardening, they also reported significantly more frequently giving their friends and neighbors child care (p = 0.015) or labor for agriculture (p = 0.027). This indicates a greater sense of trust and cooperation between these households and their neighbors. Those who received a wider variety of goods from their urban neighbors significantly less frequently reported being unable to eat what they wanted (p = 0.053), eating a limited variety of foods (p = 0.037), eating reduced portion sizes (p = 0.065), and eating a reduced number of meals (p = 0.052).To summarize the overall findings of this section, households with more social capital were more food secure than those who had less social capital. This suggests that neighbors provide a basic support system that prevents households from going without at least some food in times of need. People who participate in sack gardening were shown to have greater social capital than those who did not, possibly because of the opportunities that gardening creates for socializing and sharing with other people. In this sense, gardening contributes more to food security than just the food harvested from the garden. It helps to create a social network that shares food so that people do not find themselves in situations where they need to rely on coping strategies such as reducing portion sizes or skipping meals.In terms of food security, there was a significant correlation between people who have a positive relationship with their neighbors and whether or not they were worried they would run out of food (see Table 1). Respondents who had good relationships with their neighbors were less likely to be worried about running out of food, and they were also less likely to reduce the number of meals they eat. Farmers whose relationship with their neighbors had improved since beginning sack gardening less frequently reported being unable to eat the foods they want (p = 0.035), eating reduced portion sizes at meals (p = 0.041), or finding themselves with no food in the house (p = 0.002). In addition, farmers who reported sharing harvested goods with their urban neighbors were less likely to eat a limited variety of foods. However, this relationship was not true for respondents who received harvested goods from their neighbors.We examine effects of sack gardening on food security in terms of overall dietary diversity, diversity of vegetable consumption, and ability to avoid using painful coping mechanisms to manage food scarcity.We measured overall dietary diversity and diversity of vegetable consumption among farmers and non-farmers in the Kibera slums using the USAID FANTA Index. We found no significant difference in overall dietary diversity between the farming and non-farming households, all of whom consumed an average of 6.4 unique food groups in the 24 h prior to the survey. Amongst the respondents of this survey, there was no significant correlation between dietary diversity and household wealth, the amount of money people spent on food, or the percentage of their income spent on food. There are several reasons why any potential increases in food security that may result from gardening would not show up in an overall dietary diversity index. First, food harvested from sack gardens would be classified only in the category of 'dark leafy green vegetables', which is a category of food that is eaten by most households in Kibera on a regular basis. Second, farmers who reported selling their crop to purchase other food items purchased larger quantities of commonly eaten foods, such as maize flour to make ugali, the staple starch, rather than purchasing food from a different food group, such as meat or fish.In terms of individual food categories, there were few differences between farmers and non-farmers in terms of their consumption. The two exceptions were that farmers significantly more frequently reported consuming green leafy vegetables than non-farmers (p = 0.033) and marginally significantly more frequently reported consuming fruits (p = 0.090). People who naturally consume more fruits and vegetables may be more inclined to plant gardens, or people who plant gardens may have easier access to these vegetables and thus be more inclined to eat them. Non-farmers consumed significantly more seafood (p = 0.023) than farmers, which suggests they may have been consuming omena (small dried fish) in place of kale or Swiss chard with ugali (a maize meal porridge).Leafy green vegetables are central to the diet of households in Kibera. A typical meal consists of ugali, served with some type of leafy green vegetable (fried or boiled) and a simple meat stew if it is affordable. Many households consume vegetables at every meal, but most consume them at least once per day. Historically, Kenyans have eaten a wide range of vegetables including indigenous vegetables such as cowpea leaves, amaranth, and African nightshade, as shown in Table 2. Over the past several decades, especially in urban areas, these indigenous vegetables have been replaced by kale, Swiss chard, and cabbage, which are higher yielding and easier to harvest and thus much cheaper to purchase in the market. Indigenous vegetables, which were foraged from the wild, were also associated with poor, rural farming practices and were ignored by urban consumers. However, this trend is slowly beginning to reverse following campaigns that advocate the consumption of indigenous vegetables by enhancing consumers' nutritional knowledge and creating more favorable attitudes (Herforth 2010). The nutritional properties of these indigenous vegetables are very different than the newer varieties of kale, Swiss chard, and cabbage. For example, amaranth is rich in lysine, an essential amino acid, and can be an important source of this amino acid for people who lack access to meat or other sources of protein (Schippers 2000). People who eat a greater diversity of leafy green vegetables are likely consuming a more nutritionally balanced diet than people who eat fewer kinds of vegetables.In addition to measuring the overall diversity of foods consumed by farmers and non-farmers, our survey asked respondents about consumption of a list of vegetables that we had identified during qualitative interviews as ones that are commonly consumed, and sometimes grown in sack gardens. These vegetables are listed in Table 2. Overall, farmers reported consuming a significantly greater diversity of vegetables than non-farmers (p \\ 0.001) (Fig. 4). In particular, farmers were significantly more likely than non-farmers to consume certain vegetables such as kale, Swiss chard, coriander, beans, terere, kunde, managu, and nderema. There were no vegetables that non-farmers were statistically significantly more likely to consume than farmers. Farmers and non-farmers who consumed any of these vegetables tended to consume them with the same frequency, with the exception of Swiss chard and coriander, which farmers consumed more frequently than non-farmers. Given that these two crops are commonly grown in sack gardens, farmers may be consuming them more frequently because they are readily available. While sack gardening does not appear to have had an impact on the overall dietary diversity of households in Kibera, it has positively influenced the diversity of vegetables that a household consumed. Part of the reason for that is that farming households are able to use money saved from selling vegetables or by not needing to purchase vegetables to buy other kinds of foods. During the survey, when asked how consumption of food from sack gardens affects their household, 87 % of farmers stated that it saved money for the purchase of other types of foods, and 88 % felt that their gardens provided them with extra food. As one farmer explained, ''One benefit of sack gardening is that when I harvest vegetables, I don't have to buy them. I save the money I would have spent, and I can even buy fish.'' Gardening provides farmers with extra money, either from selling their crops or not having to buy them, and they use this money to buy staple foods (e.g., sugar, maize flour, cooking fat) and other kinds of vegetables. In qualitative interviews, farmers also suggested that gardening allowed them to buy the more expensive indigenous vegetables that they prefer from the market. Different indigenous vegetables are associated with different ethnic groups in Kenya, so people often have a strong cultural preference for particular indigenous vegetables (Herforth 2010). Because these vegetables are often more expensive than kale or Swiss chard, non-farming households may have been consuming fewer indigenous vegetables because they were less able to afford them than farmers.The urban poor often lack access to food because they are unable to afford the kinds of foods they would prefer, or cannot purchase it in sufficient quantities. Thus, they develop various coping strategies, sets of actions that include limiting the variety or quantity of food they consume (Maxwell 1995), but also extraordinary measures such as migration, disposal of assets, consumption of highly unattractive items, and unlawful means of procuring food (Corbett 1988).The urban poor who engage in urban agriculture often use it as a means to provide more food and reduce the need for other coping strategies. Therefore, we examined the impact of sack gardening in Kibera on household food security by looking at how frequently farmers experienced various coping mechanisms in the previous 12 months, as well as how households perceived their own food security. During the household survey, respondents were asked a series of questions to capture how food secure they felt their households were over the previous 12-month period. These questions asked about a range of scenarios that varied in terms of the severity of food insecurity, from simply worrying they might run out of food, to reduced portion sizes, to skipping meals, to going an entire day and night without food.Overall, farmers and non-farmers both reported high levels of food insecurity over the previous 12 months. Over 95 % of households reported worrying at some point in the last 12 months that their household would run out of food before they would acquire money to buy more. A majority of households reported using coping mechanisms such as eating foods they do not like, limiting the variety of foods they eat, and reducing their portion sizes or the number of Sack farmers grow all of these crops, but kale, Swiss chard, green onions, and coriander are the most frequently grown. Crops are listed in order of importance, based on the percentage of households who consumed the vegetable in the month prior to the survey meals they eat. Additionally, more than half the households interviewed reported having no food in their house at some point over the last year, and nearly 20 % reported going a whole day and night without food.There was no significant difference between the number of farming and non-farming households that reported these individual events happening over the previous 12 months, with the exception of reducing the number of meals (Table 3). Significantly fewer farmers than non-farmers reported having to reduce the number of meals they consumed (p = 0.059). In addition, there was a marginally significant difference (p = 0.070) in the total number of coping mechanisms that households used during the previous year, with farmers using fewer of them than non-farmers (Table 4). Farmers reported using an average of 5.6 coping mechanisms over the previous 12 months, while non-farmers used an average of 6.1. This indicates that farmers were marginally more food secure than non-farmers.After indicating whether or not they had used these different coping scenarios over the past year, respondents were then asked to rank how frequently they occurred, ranging from never to always or nearly always in all months. Amongst households that experienced these different food insecurity scenarios, there was no statistical difference between farmers and non-farmers in terms of how frequently they occurred. In addition, there was no difference between farmers and non-farmers in terms of whether or not children in the household were affected.Different variables, such as household wealth or level of education, are frequently assumed to impact household food security. Not surprisingly, lower household incomes were correlated with all respondents' inability to eat the types of foods they wanted, eating a limited variety of foods, eating reduced portion sizes, reducing the number of meals consumed, having no food in the house, sleeping hungry at night, and going an entire day and night without food. For both farmers and non-farmers, the lower their monthly income, the less their ability to secure food for their households.While most Kibera households are food insecure, sack gardening appears to have had a positive impact on household food security. By providing the household with extra food, or income from the sale of the crops, households are somewhat less reliant on other coping mechanisms such as reducing the quantity of food consumed at each meal. However, the extent to which sack gardens can contribute to overall household food security is constrained by the number of sacks that each household has. Because space is so limited within the slum, households in our study had limited space for sacks, planting an average of 5.3 sacks. These sacks supplement consumption or provide vegetables to sell, but not necessarily enough to alter behavioral patterns to a more significant extent.Although the impact of sack gardening on household coping strategies is marginal, one important benefit of sack gardening is that it has provided farmers with a perceived sense of security in times of need. Over and over during qualitative interviews, farmers stated that a positive benefit of sack gardening for them was that they knew there was always a source of food to turn to if they ran out of other food in their house. As one farmer explained, when asked about the benefits of sack gardening, ''The first thing is that it helps a lot. I never go to sleep hungry, and even my children will never sleep hungry.'' As part of the household survey, respondents were asked to rate how food secure their household was during the month prior to the interview, on a scale of one to four. Farmers felt that their households were more food secure a Consumption of vegetables, fruits or seafood was part of the overall FANTA dietary diversity index, and was scored as 0 or 1 (not eaten, eaten) in the previous 24-h period. Total vegetable diversity looked at number of vegetables consumed out of a list of 16 vegetables over the past 1 month b Coping strategies measure whether or not the respondent used the coping strategy in the 12 months prior to the interview c Social capital was measured on a scale of 1-4, with 1 being a good relationship with their neighbors and 4 being a poor relationship. Exchanges of goods and services asked whether or not (0 or 1) households had given or received goods in the previous 1 month compared to non-farmers (p = 0.005). While over 90 % of households reported experiencing some food insecurity in the month prior to the interview, farmers more frequently reported getting enough food to eat, just not necessarily the kinds they would like, while non-farmers more frequently reported that they did not get enough to eat (Fig. 5).Sack gardening is relatively new in the Kibera slums and was introduced to the area as a way to improve food security in a place where urban poverty is endemic. Although commonly accepted that it has improved food security, to date no empirical study has demonstrated that sack gardening has in fact done so, nor how. We were able to demonstrate that sack gardening has contributed to improved household food security directly. We also found that while there was not a significant change in overall dietary diversity, there was an increase in the variety of vegetables consumed, with farmers consuming more leafy green vegetables and fruit than nonfarmers. In addition, farmers eat a wider variety of leafy green vegetables, including many indigenous vegetables, which have broader nutritional benefits and are culturally preferred to kale, Swiss chard, and cabbage, which are consumed by most households in Kibera. More importantly, farmers feel more food secure than non-farmers do. They more frequently reported being able to eat enough and less likely to skip meals. Sack gardening has also resulted in an increase in social capital, particularly for those households that undertake sack gardening together with others. This helps food security indirectly. Theories suggest that communities with greater senses of trust and reciprocity have greater social capital. Our findings support this, demonstrating that by helping to improve social capital, sack gardening has helped farmers to strengthen the social safety nets that help to provide them with assistance in times of need.Although this study was conducted in a single informal settlement in Nairobi, it is one of the world's largest and most diverse slums, and we expect that this form of sack gardening would contribute to household food security in a similar manner in other densely populated slums elsewhere in the world, although the extent to which households benefit from sack gardening may vary with the cost of inputs such as seeds, water, and fertilizer. Worldwide, countries are undergoing rapid urbanization with the majority of population growth in urban areas taking place amongst the urban poor. The urban poor, particularly those living in informal settlements such as Kibera, often do not benefit from urban agriculture because they lack access to plots needed for farming (Tevera 1999). A recent baseline survey of urban agriculture in 11 cities across southern Africa found that very few poor residents practiced urban agriculture, partly because they lacked land to farm (Crush et al. 2011). Policies that promote types of low-space agriculture, such as sack gardening, that are more accessible to the urban poor have the potential to improve household food security as well as provide these households with alternate livelihood strategies."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3038769033.json b/main/part_2/3038769033.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b376835a476d347aed39fa0a78b8b781","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2d02fd36-058d-4759-90a6-3ed920274f51/retrieve","id":"1149843048"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ccfeffb6-67dc-479b-b44f-20d6c99b315b","content":"▪ Pig production has dramatically increased over the last three decades in Uganda, owing to the growing demand for pork.▪ Large informal sector characterized by mainly backyard systems with small stock of animals that are kept freeroaming or tethered.▪ Low productivity from limited resources and veterinary support.▪ Compromised animal welfare leads to reduced productivity.  ▪ Across all farms, sow mortality in the last 12 months was reported to be 2.5% (95% CI: 1.7, 4.8%).▪ Animal-based indicators identified 9% (CI: 6.1, 13.7%) of sows with scouring/diarrhea, 7.6% (4.7, 11.5%) with lameness and 92% (CI: 85.1, 96.7%) of dry or lactating sows were found to be 'skinny' with a body condition score of 1 or 2.▪ In addition, piglet mortality was as high as 10.2% (CI: 8.5, 12.9%).▪ A total of 19% of sows were partially or completely restricted from free movement inside pens.▪ 93% of sows had continuous access to water, but only 48.8% of the water supplies were clean. ▪ Wakiso District registered the lowest pig mortality which was significantly lower compared to the other three districts."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9b564d4532c88c47164e8fef12661345","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://data.iita.org/dataset/4892da5e-f059-4a6c-8ece-5e479c376067/resource/5bab5ff9-eb8a-4f16-984f-c3de005f5d28/download/questionnaire_csat_annual_evaluation_ba_2020.pdf","id":"1257093057"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6d0d55a3-1d63-4be2-af85-598a0cf50e5c","content":"Déclaration de consentement L'Institut International d'Agriculture Tropicale (IITA), en collaboration avec IER (Mali) / INRAN (Niger) et d'autres ONG nationales au Mali et au Niger, mène une étude de base pour un nouveau projet intitulé \"Technologies agricoles intelligentes face au climat (CSAT)\" pour améliorer les moyens de subsistance en milieu rural et la sécurité alimentaire au Mali et au Niger \". Votre ménage a été sélectionné au hasard en tant que participant à l'enquête. Je voudrais vous poser une série de questions et cet entretien durera environ une heure. Votre participation est volontaire et votre refus de participer ou de vous retirer de l'étude n'entraînera aucune pénalité ni perte d'avantages. Toutes les informations fournies par vous resteront confidentielles. Votre vie privée sera protégée dans toute la mesure permise par la loi. Si vous avez des questions, vous pouvez me demander ou contacter Bokar Moussa (INRAN-Zinder"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3065109414.json b/main/part_2/3065109414.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a9f2b3ed250f7e884774228e8ddcdab9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3f6b97cc-812a-4f09-acdb-823a4dc4ac53/retrieve","id":"-533641818"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c8b088b2-2dde-46e0-9987-74f3ee556b88","content":"Les techniques améliorées d'utilisation de l'énergie solaire sont peu connues, mais permettent pourtant d'obtenir des produits économiques, écologiques, de meilleure qualité et sont simples d'utilisation. Les cuiseurs et séchoirs solaires permettent de capturer les rayons du soleil pour chauffer et sécher les aliments.Ce guide présente des méthodes simples de fabrication et d'utilisation de cuiseurs et de séchoirs solaires : un cuiseur boîte, un cuiseur à panneaux, ainsi qu'un séchoir solaire direct et un séchoir solaire indirect. Facilement réalisables et utilisés en toute autonomie, ils permettent de satisfaire à moindre coût les besoins alimentaires de populations variées.Sans risque pour l'environnement, le cuiseur solaire permet de gagner du temps, de l'argent et de l'énergie. Tous les aliments (légumes, fruits, viandes, céréales, pain, etc.) peuvent y être cuisinés. Contrairement à la cuisson traditionnelle, la cuisson solaire est plus lente et permet par conséquent d'avoir des plats plus sains en préservant le goût et les nutriments, tout en rendant les viandes plus tendres. Les légumes, les fruits et les viandes cuisent parfaitement sans eau permettant ainsi d'accélérer la cuisson. Par contre, les céréales et féculents doivent être cuits dans une quantité d'eau inférieure d'un tiers à la quantité nécessaire pour la cuisson traditionnelle.Comparés au séchage en plein air, les séchoirs solaires permettent une meilleure conservation des produits. Les températures étant plus élevées, le séchage est plus complet. Les aliments sèchent 2 à 5 fois plus vite dans un séchoir solaire qu'à l'air libre. De plus, il permet de réduire les risques sanitaires en protégeant les produits contre les moisissures, les insectes, les animaux, la poussière et tout autre déchet. Le séchoir solaire diminue les manipulations et réduit le temps de séchage. Il permet d'obtenir des produits de meilleure qualité. La manipulation étant réduite, il n'y a pas de risque d'émiettement des produits.Le séchage des aliments au soleil et à l'air libre est une pratique ancestrale qui ne donne pas toujours des produits de bonne qualité. La cuisson des aliments quant à elle se fait traditionnellement avec du bois, du pétrole, du charbon ou du gaz, ce qui demande beaucoup d'attention et d'énergie. On distingue trois types de cuiseurs solaires :Également appelés « cuiseurs paraboliques », les cuiseurs à concentrateur incurvé atteignent rapidement de très hautes températures, mais nécessitent un ajustement fréquent et de nombreuses précautions concernant la sécurité. D'une puissance estimée à 400 W, ils sont les plus chers. La parabole permet de tout cuire et de réaliser des fritures. Il est préférable d'utiliser des récipients de couleur foncée qui absorbent mieux la chaleur, tandis que les couleurs claires réfléchissent les rayons du soleil.Cuisson impossible 9h -12h 12h -15h Après 15h  Matériel et matériaux nécessaires • 2 boîtes en bois de taille différente, dont l'une plus petite devant rentrer dans l'autre. La boîte extérieure peut être fabriquée avec du bois ou du contreplaqué, celle intérieure à partir de bois, ou de métal (aluminium de préférence).• Au choix et selon la disponibilité : du polystyrène, des blocs de mousse, du papier journal froissé en boules, de la laine de mouton, des fibres de plantes séchées (riz, feuilles de bananier, fibres de noix de coco, etc.), des plumes ou des cendres pour isoler l'espace entre les deux boîtes (pas de polyvinyle, pas de laine de verre ou d'autres plastiques qui dégagent de la fumée à haute température). La laine de mouton ou la cendre devront être disponibles en grande quantité. Toutefois, la cendre augmente le poids du four. >>> Assemblage des deux boîtes • Remplir le fond de la grande boîte avec l'isolant sur une hauteur de 1 à 3 cm. • Placer la seconde boîte à l'intérieur de la première. Rembourrer les espaces vides entre les boîtes avec le même matériau utilisé pour le fond sans déformer les boîtes, tout en s'assurant qu'elles ne bougent pas.* Toutes les mesures sont en centimètres.Le cuiseur boîte est constitué de deux boîtes en bois ou en carton, l'une plus grande que l'autre de trois centimètres dans toutes les directions.Utiliser les schémas ci-dessous pour obtenir les 2 boîtes en bois ou en carton.• Placer des morceaux de mousse au-dessus de l'isolant afin de remplir totalement l'espace entre les deux boîtes.• Fermer l'espace entre les deux boîtes avec quatre tasseaux en bois de sorte que tous les bords se joignent harmonieusement.• Découper des morceaux de carton de la taille des parois intérieures de la petite boîte. Recouvrir de papier aluminium. Coller le papier aluminium sur le carton en veillant à ce qu'il soit bien lisse, sans plis ni bulles d'air ou de colle.• Agrafer le carton recouvert de papier aluminium sur les parois intérieures du four. Tapisser le fond de la boîte intérieure avec du carton noir qui absorbe la chaleur.   • Étaler le carton sur une surface plate et y dessiner les contours du cuiseur à l'aide du plan ci-dessous.• Pour obtenir les formes du cuiseur, découper les 2 fentes avec précision en prenant soin de ne pas les élargir. La largeur des fentes est essentielle à la stabilité de la structure.• Marquer les lignes de pliage à l'aide d'un outil fin (manche de cuillère, manche de couteau, règle). Plier le carton en suivant les lignes de pliage.• Pour une bonne conservation du cuiseur et pour éviter l'humidité, peindre l'arrière du carton (surfaces non réfléchissantes). Laisser sécher.• Coller une feuille d'aluminium sur toute la surface avant du cuiseur. Prendre soin de bien coller les zones de pliage. Laisser sécher.• Ranger le cuiseur à l'abri de l'humidité et des animaux. De temps en temps, essuyer les parois réfléchissantes du cuiseur avec un chiffon sec. Si les panneaux de carton se mouillent, le poser à plat (face brillante contre le sol) jusqu'à ce qu'il soit sec. Prendre soin de ne pas abîmer la surface brillante.• Les sacs en plastique utilisés pour servir d'attrape-chaleur (voir section suivante) peuvent être utilisés plus de dix fois. S'ils se déchirent, les réparer éventuellement à l'aide de ruban adhésif afin de prolonger leur usage.• Plier le cuiseur et le monter. Le cuiseur à panneaux est terminé.• Le cuiseur peut être plié en deux ou de façon à ne plus faire que 33 cm 2 de surface.Pour éviter toute contamination des aliments lors de l'utilisation des cuiseurs solaires, il est indispensable de respecter les règles d'hygiène suivantes : • se laver les mains avec du savon avant de manipuler les aliments • nettoyer et sécher les ustensiles avant utilisation • nettoyer les surfaces qui seront en contact avec les aliments • consommer rapidement les aliments qui ont été cuits.• Avant de commencer la cuisson avec un cuiseur boîte, ajuster le réflecteur pour permettre d'avoir un angle correct et une réflexion des rayons du soleil sur les aliments. L'angle idéal permet la réflexion d'un maximum de rayons du soleil sur la vitre, comme indiqué sur la figure ci-dessous.• Mettre les aliments dans un récipient de couleur foncée avec un couvercle.• Disposer le récipient au centre du cuiseur boîte et laisser cuire le repas sans remuer la nourriture pendant la cuisson. Éviter d'ouvrir le cuiseur pendant la cuisson, car cela provoque une perte de chaleur.• Bien orienter le cuiseur solaire par rapport au soleil pour mieux capter le rayonnement. Réorienter le cuiseur une fois par heure pour obtenir une efficacité optimale.Placer le plat sur un support en fil de fer ou un support fait avec des cailloux afin de créer un courant d'air autour du plat sans perte de chaleur. Prendre soin de choisir un support bien stable, par exemple un support plus grand que le récipient. Le plat doit être fixé sur le support à environ 6 cm de hauteur. Ce support permet aux rayons du soleil d'être reflétés à la fois sur le plat, en dessous et sur les côtés. Fermer le sac.• Mettre les aliments dans un récipient de couleur foncée avec un couvercle.• Pour augmenter l'efficacité des cuiseurs à panneaux, mettre le plat dans un « attrape-chaleur » transparent qui laisse passer les rayons solaires. Utiliser soit un sac en plastique résistant à la chaleur soit un grand récipient en verre retourné. Les bols en Pyrex retournés peuvent être utilisés, mais prévoir dans ce cas un support en verre sur lequel placer le tout pour éviter de gâter le cuiseur. Utilisation du cuiseur boîte ou du cuiseur à panneaux pour la pasteurisation des aliments Outre la cuisson alimentaire, les cuiseurs solaires peuvent être utilisés pour la pasteurisation des liquides et des aliments. Pour éviter toute contamination des aliments, il est indispensable de respecter les règles d'hygiène élémentaires décrites ci-dessus.De plus, il est indispensable de conserver les aliments pasteurisés dans des récipients bien secs et fermés hermétiquement.>>> pasteurisation des liquides et aliments L'eau impure est un problème majeur de santé, car elle cause des maladies telles que le choléra, la dysenterie, la typhoïde, le ver de Guinée ou l'hépatite A. La pasteurisation permet de tuer les germes par exposition à la chaleur. Les cuiseurs solaires permettent de chauffer l'eau à haute température pour la débarrasser des microbes (Escherichia coli, rotavirus, Giardia lambia, virus de l'hépatite A). Le lait et les aliments sont pasteurisés quand ils sont chauffés à 71 °C.Pour s'assurer que la pasteurisation de l'eau a été correctement effectuée, on peut utiliser un indicateur WAPI (Water Pasteurization Indicator). Ce dispositif simple et réutilisable contient un morceau de cire qui fond lorsque l'eau a atteint la température de pasteurisation, permettant ainsi de démontrer que l'eau a atteint la température adéquate. En Afrique, le bois, le charbon de bois, le gaz et les résidus agricoles (déchets de noix de palme, bouses de vache, etc.) constituent la majeure partie de l'énergie domestique. Un ménage consomme en moyenne 5 kg de bois par jour. Les besoins familiaux s'élèvent donc à 1825 kg de bois par an. Le prix du bois étant en moyenne de 80 FCFA par kg, les dépenses annuelles destinées à l'achat du bois sont d'environ 146 000 FCFA (222,50 e) par ménage. Pour ce qui est de la consommation du gaz, elle est en moyenne de 12,5 kg par mois et par ménage, soit 150 kg de gaz par an. Le prix d'une bouteille de gaz de 12,5 kg étant d'environ 6 000 FCFA, les dépenses annuelles de gaz sont de 72 000 FCFA (109,70 e) pour les ménages concernés. Bien que les cuiseurs solaires ne puissent être utilisés que par temps ensoleillé, ils constituent une alternative intéressante en raison de la gratuité de la source d'énergie utilisée et des effets positifs sur l'environnement (pas de pollution de l'air, réduction de la déforestation). Pour le bon fonctionnement du séchoir solaire, la vitre du séchoir doit faire un angle de 45° par rapport au sol et le séchoir doit être orienté face au sud. • Faire des trous au fond et dans la partie arrière. Ces trous permettront d'assurer la ventilation du séchoir.• Fixer les différentes parties ensemble : fixer les côtés sur le fond, fixer ensuite l'arrière et le devant.• Fabriquer deux cadres en bois aux dimensions de la boîte. Poser la vitre sur le premier cadre, fermer avec un joint en silicone, fixer le deuxième cadre sur l'autre côté de la vitre de la même façon.• Fixer deux charnières entre le cadre de la vitre et l'arrière de la boîte.• Fixer des tasseaux à l'intérieur de la boîte comme indiqué sur le schéma.Ces tasseaux permettront de soutenir les claies.• Une plaque en bois ou plusieurs morceaux de bois d'épaisseur de 0,5 cm à 2 cm • Une plaque en plastique type plexiglas ou une plaque de verre de 1 m x 60 cm • Fabriquer deux claies avec des tasseaux. Faire des cadres en bois de 95 cm x 55 cm et fixer une moustiquaire dessus.• Fixer la moustiquaire sur toutes les aérations, ainsi que sous le séchoir et à l'arrière de celui-ci.• Fixer deux morceaux de bois sur chacun des côtés pour surélever le séchoir au-dessus du sol, comme indiqué sur le schéma.Pour le bon fonctionnement des séchoirs solaires directs ou indirects, les deux éléments importants sont l'orientation par rapport au soleil et la ventilation. Il est essentiel de toujours avoir un angle de 35° à 45° face au sud, et de mettre en place une ventilation correcte.Tous les séchoirs solaires indirects sont composés de deux parties : le capteur solaire et la chambre de séchage (voir schéma). Ce guide technique détaille la construction simple et rapide d'un séchoir solaire vertical, c'est-à-dire dans lequel le capteur solaire se situe sous la chambre de séchage. Le plan décrit ci-dessous peut être adapté pour construire des séchoirs de tailles différentes.   Planche de fixation• Installer le séchoir dans un endroit bien ensoleillé, orienté plein sud.• Laver les aliments avant de les sécher, retirer ceux qui sont abîmés.• Pour faciliter le processus de séchage, lorsque c'est possible, découper les aliments en fines lamelles ou en petits morceaux. Les petits aliments ne pouvant pas être découpés pourront être séchés tels quels.• Il faut 1 à 4 jours pour sécher des aliments par temps ensoleillé. En cas de mauvais temps, rentrer le séchoir dans un lieu sec, sous un abri. Si le mauvais temps persiste, il est possible de terminer le chauffage au four doux.• Conserver les aliments séchés dans une boîte hermétique et propre, de préférence dans un lieu sec et frais.• Découper deux morceaux de bois de 27 cm x 27 cm pour fermer les fenêtres latérales. Utiliser des charnières pour fixer ces carrés sur les ouvertures des côtés B et D. Poser des systèmes de fermeture. Tous les orifices du séchoir doivent être fermés ou recouverts de moustiquaire pour éviter que les insectes entrent dans le séchoir.• Fixer des morceaux de moustiquaire sur les fenêtres latérales.• Fixer un morceau de moustiquaire au-dessus de la porte pour la sortie de l'air chaud.• Vérifier l'étanchéité de la porte. Poser des morceaux de bois ou de mousse pour calfeutrer les orifices si nécessaire. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ca32d7ef72764f346eab57bf1476e2d9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/faab1c74-112a-43b5-bdcd-d5c2ec6e70fd/retrieve","id":"-1725540880"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d777cc3b-a122-46e5-8872-7cb47c8f6204","content":"Techniques: visual, palpatory and by incision for the presence of gross lesions and bruises."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"942ff3011d3330e983ccc1502dfd6747","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6a0fcc4e-7e5f-4043-a9cb-cd122cad7a29/retrieve","id":"-384557695"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8be6bfb8-ea46-4fc2-969d-9130d99d082e","content":"Rhizobia inoculation can increase soybean yield, but its performance is influenced by among others soybean genotype, rhizobia strains, environment, and crop management. The objective of the study was to assess soybean response to rhizobia inoculation when grown in soils amended with urea or vermicompost to improve nitrogen levels. Two greenhouse experiments and one field trial at two sites were carried out. The first greenhouse experiment included soils from sixty locations, sampled from smallholder farms in Western Kenya. The second greenhouse experiment consisted of one soil selected among soils used in the first experiment where inoculation response was poor. The soil was amended with vermicompost or urea. In the two greenhouse experiments, Legumefix (inoculant) + Sympal (legume fertilizer blend) were used as a standard package. Results from the second greenhouse experiment were then validated in the field. Analysis of variance was done using SAS statistical software and mean separation was done using standard error of the difference for shoot biomass, grain yield nodulation, nodule effectiveness and nutrient uptake. In the first greenhouse trial, soybean response to inoculation was significantly affected by soil fertility based on nodule fresh weight and shoot biomass. Soils with low nitrogen had low to no response to inoculation. After amendment, nodule fresh weight, nodule effectiveness, nodule occupancy, and shoot dry biomass were greater in the treatment amended with vermicompost than those amended with urea (Legumefix + Sympal + vermicompost and Legumefix + Sympal + urea) respectively. Under field conditions, trends were similar to the second experiment for nodulation, nodule occupancy and nitrogen uptake resulting in significantly greater grain yields (475, 709, 856, 880, 966 kg ha −1 ) after application of vermicompost at 0, 37, 74, 111, and 148 kg N ha −1 respectively. It was concluded that soybean nodulation and biological nitrogen fixation in low fertility soils would not be suppressed by organic amendments like vermicompost up to 148 kg N ha −1 .Soybean (Glycine max L. Merr) is one of the world's most important legumes in terms of production and trade and has been a dominant oilseed since the 1960s (Smith and Huyser, 1987). The crop is well known for its high protein content (about 40%) among the most cultivated crops (Li-Juan and Ru-Zhen, 2010). Additionally, it can improve soil properties and soil biological health by soil nitrogen enrichment through biomass addition and N 2 fixation (Singh and Shivakumar, 2010). In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where over 80% of the soil are nitrogen deficient (Liu et al., 2010), and over 39% of the children under 5 years are malnourined and stunted. This has been related to deficiency of essential nutrients in most of diets, particularly proteins (Müller and Krawinkel, 2005), which has contributed to over one third of child deaths (Bain et al., 2013). Integration of soybean in the smallholder farming systems would thus not only improve human nutrition when the crop is included in the diet practices but also soil productivity. Such benefits would however, materialize when good agronomic practices, including integrated soil fertility management, are implemented in soybean production systems.Crop production, including soybean, faces many constraints which includes among others abiotic and socio-economic factors accounting for production discrepancies across regions in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Therefore, grain yields remain low compared to other regions in the world (Mpepereki et al., 2000). Integrated soil fertility management (ISFM), has been proposed as a viable way towards the sustainable intensification of smallholder agriculture (Vanlauwe et al., 2010). The high cost of inputs for nutrient replenishment or soil amendment has, however, limited their adoption by resource-constrained smallholder farmers (Yakubu et al., 2010). Utilization of soybean varieties with high biological nitrogen fixation potential and application of rhizobia inoculants would represent cost-effective option to reduce mineral N application (Kueneman et al., 1984;Musiyiwa et al., 2005;Zengeni and Giller, 2007;Bekere and Hailemariam, 2012;Thuita et al., 2012;Ronner et al., 2016). Studies on N 2 fixation in soybean using different methodologies revealed that soybean shows a strong demand for nitrogen up to 80 kg N per 1000 kg of soybean grain for optimal development and grain productivity (Hungria et al., 2006;Salvagiotti et al., 2008). Soybean can fix N from the atmosphere ranging from 0-450 kg N ha −1 (Giller, 2001;Unkovich and Pate, 2000). Under favorable environments for N fixation, over 60 to 70% of the N requirement of the soybean can be derived from BNF (Herridge et al., 2008), while the balance could be derived from the soil N stock. Conversely, Mapfumo (2011) reported that BNF could be as low as 5 kg N ha −1 in depleted soils, which are quite common in the smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa. This would imply reliance on nitrogen fertilizers even for legume crops.Low soil fertility in SSA is often characterized by low available phosphorous (P), nitrogen (N), organic matter (C org ), and soil acidity, among others (Sanchez et al., 1997). Such variables must be corrected as they are an integral part of the interaction of legume genotype, rhizobia strain, environment, and crop management which determine the performance of BNF, and legume productivity in general (Gibson et al., 1982;Woomer et al., 2014;Keino et al., 2015;Thuita et al., 2018). Soil organic carbon is a key driver of soil fertility that could even affect the performance of non-limiting factors, when it is below a certain level in a specific soil type (Gruhn et al., 2000). Response to inorganic fertilizers could be enhanced by addition of organic matter (Singh and Ryan, 2015). However, most of agricultural soils in SSA contain low levels of organic carbon due to competing uses of organic residues (Nandwa, 2001;Bationo et al., 2007). Initiatives that promote rhizobia inoculation in legume production in Africa generally recommend application of nutrients such as P. Lately more balanced fertilizer blends have been developed for use with inoculant that do not include N (Streeter and Wong, 1988;Svenning et al., 1996;Woomer et al., 2014;Ronner et al., 2016). This is due to the general assumption that rhizobia would supply the N required by the legume and application in form of mineral N would inhibit nodulation. While such inhibition has been well-documented (Zahran, 1999), this could be different in low fertility soils that are N deficient (Becker et al., 1986). Starter N is sometimes needed to achieve a substantial yield of legumes, including soybean, when the symbiotic N 2 fixation is unable to provide enough nitrogen (Ohyama et al., 2011).The objective of the study was thus to assess whether soils with low inoculation response could be improved by application of nitrogen. It was hypothesized that an organic source of nitrogen would perform better than a mineral N fertilizer, given the expected high correlation between organic carbon and total nitrogen in agricultural soils (Rashidi and Seilsepour, 2009).Two greenhouse experiments were established at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Duduville Campus, Nairobi, Kenya. Soils were collected from sixty farms of Siaya County where low soybean response to inoculation was observed (Masso et al., 2016;Thuita et al., 2018) (Fig. 1) and where varied response to an ISFM soybean package had been observed. Soil was collected at a depth of 0-20 cm, air dried under shade and thoroughly mixed to pass through 2 mm sieve. Sub samples were analyzed for physical, chemical and microbiological properties prior to planting. The soils organic Carbon was determined by chromic acid digestion and spectrophotometric analysis (Heanes, 1984), total N (%) determined from a wet acid digest (Buondonno et al., 1995) and N analyzed by colorimetric analysis (Anderson and Ingram, 1993), soil texture was determined using the hydrometer method, soil pH in water determined in a 1:2.5 (w/v) soil:water suspension, available P using the Mehlich-3 procedure (Mehlich, 1984) and the resulting extracts analyzed using the molybdate blue procedure described by Murphy and Riley (1962), exchangeable cations (Ca, Mg, and K) extracted using the Mehlich-3 procedure and determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Estimation of rhizobia in the soils was done using the most probable number count as described by Brockwell et al. (1975); soybean variety TGx1740-2 F was used as a trap crop grown in N free and autoclaved sterile sand. These were grown to flowering stage.The experiment was laid as Completely Randomized Design (CRD) including: (i) 60 soils collected from the sites indicated in Fig. 1, with N and C org ranges of 0.029-0.21% and 0.53-2.1% respectively, (ii) two treatments uninoculated and inoculated (Legumefix) + fertilizer (Sympal) replicated 3 times for a total number of 360 experimental units. Co-application of Legumefix and Sympal, as an inoculation package, was informed by previous findings of Woomer et al. (2014) and Masso et al. (2016). Sympal is a legume-specific fertilizer blend (i.e. 0N+ 23P 2 O 5 + 15K 2 O+ 10CaO + 4S + 1MgO + 0.1Zn) and was applied at a rate equivalent to 30 kg P ha −1 (assuming 1 ha = 2.24 * 10 6 kg of soil) and thoroughly mixed with the soil for the inoculated treatments (i.e. ≈300 kg Sympal ha −1 ). Soybean variety (TGx1740-2 F) was selected due to its better nodulation with a range of rhizobia than local varieties used in different parts of Kenya (Wasike et al., 2009). Seeds were surface-sterilized by soaking in 3.5% sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) solution for 2 min and rinsed thoroughly 5 times with sterile distilled water. Soils were weighed to fill in perforated 2.5 kg pots. Legumefix (Bradyrhizobium japonicum strain 532c) from Legume technology Inc (UK) was used at a rate of 10 g for 1 kg soybean seeds for the inoculated treatments. Three healthy seeds of uniform size were then planted per pot and thinned to one plant per pot of comparable height and vigor at 2 weeks after planting. Routine management practices such as watering (with distilled water) were carried out until termination of the experiment i.e. at 50% podding. This trial was intended to determine soybean response to co-application of Legumefix and Sympal in various soils characterized by a gradient of nitrogen content.One of the 60 experimental soils (Trial Site 17 in Fig. 1), that showed low response to inoculation in the first greenhouse experiment based on low nodule fresh weight and shoot dry weight observed was used. The soil N levels were amended either with vermicompost (Phymyx) or urea. Vermicompost was chosen as a slow release form of N compared to urea. A slow N release would reduce the negative effect of N application to nodulation at the early growth stages of soybean. The vermicompost is made by composting for 6 months the substrate used in mushroom production (the substrate is made using wheat straw, sunflower cake, cotton seed cake, chicken manure and then sterilized. Mushroom is grown on it and the substrate is added with 10% minjingu rock phosphate and earthworms and left for 6 months. Sieving is done and then packaged as vermicompost). The soil was collected from an area of 4 by 3 m at a depth of 0-20 cm and homogenized after air drying and sieving. Vermicompost (Vc) was applied at 5 levels with even intervals including a control (i.e. at rates equivalent to 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10 t Vc ha −1 ). Equivalent amounts of N were applied using urea (46% N). The rates of N were 0, 37, 74, 111, and 148 kg N ha −1 . Before application vermicompost was analyzed to aid in determining amount of N present to enable application of equivalent amounts from urea fertilizer. The analyses were as follows; total N (0.88%), organic C (7.31%), available P (0.39%), Ca (0.29%), Mg (0.1%), K (0.22%), and pH 6.70. It was also expected to contain trace micronutrients (not determined). Two levels of Legumefix were used as in the first greenhouse experiment. The trial was laid as a CRD and each treatment was replicated 3 times for a total of 60 experimental pots. Planting, management and harvesting were done as described in the first greenhouse experiment. The trial was thus intended to determine whether application of starter N would improve low soybean response to co-application of Legumefix and Sympal in a low fertility soil, and whether there was a systematic difference between vermicompost and urea as sources of N.The plants were harvested at 50% podding. Shoots were cut using a clean, sharp knife at 1 cm above the soil surface. The pots were emptied on a 2-mm sieve and soil washed to isolate the nodules from the roots. Nodule fresh weight, shoot biomass and nodule occupancy were recorded in both greenhouse experiments, whereas in the second greenhouse experiment additional data collected was on nodule effectiveness and N uptake.The field trial was intended to validate the findings of the second greenhouse trials under field conditions with focus on the best performing source of N and determine the yield performance. The trial was conducted at site 17 (Soil B) and site 7 (soil A) (Fig. 1). Site 17 was the farm at which soil was collected for the second greenhouse experiment. Soils from both sites had similar response trends in nodulation and shoot biomass in the first greenhouse experiment even though they did not have the same physical and chemical characteristics (Table 1) and thus were chosen for the field trial validation. The field trial was conducted during the long rains (April to August) 2016 cropping season. The treatments at each site were laid out in a full factorial in randomized complete block design replicated three times. Sympal applied at the rates used in the greenhouse trials (0 and 30 kg P ha −1 ). The five rates of vermicompost used in the second greenhouse experiment was applied i.e. equivalent to 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 t ha −1 , whereas two levels of Legumefix were used i.e. inoculated and uninoculated. The maximum of 10 t ha −1 was based on general recommendation for compost application in the region. The plot sizes were 3 m by 3 m and 0.5 m alley between the plots and 1 m between the blocks. Soybean was planted at a spacing of 50 cm (between rows) by 5 cm (within rows) at the onset of long rainy season (April 2016). Vermicompost and Sympal were applied in furrows and mixed with soil before placement of seeds to avoid direct contact with the seed. Seed sterilization and Legumefix application rate were as done in the greenhouse trials. The trials were kept weed free by weeding using hand hoe.In the field trial, the parameters recorded at 50% podding were nodule fresh weight, nodule effectiveness, nodule occupancy, shoot dry biomass and N uptake, while at harvest grain yield was determined. Eight to ten plants were taken from one of the inner rows about 50 cm from the beginning of the line at 50% podding. Nodules were dug out and washed for nodule fresh weight determination and shoots collected for drying and weighing. A sample i.e. 10% of the total number of nodules counted per treatment was taken and used for determining nodule effectiveness as described by Adjei et al. (2002). At physiological maturity i.e. when 95% of the pods had turned golden yellow, all plants were harvested from the net plot excluding the border rows. Number and weight of all plants were recorded from each plot and grains and haulms separated and weighed. The grains were later ovendried to a constant weight.Fresh shoots were dried at 60 °C until constant weight (approximately 48 h) to obtain the dry weights. The shoots were later milled for total N analysis by modified Kjeldahl method. Nitrogen uptake at 50% podding was determined as the product of shoot dry biomass and the respective nitrogen content in the shoot and reported as g N plant −1 .Nodule occupancy was then done using Polymerase chain reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. This involved amplification and restriction of the 16S-23S rDNA intergenic spacer region. A maximum number of eight nodules from each of the three replicates per treatment (24 nodules) were crushed separately in 150 μl of sterile water and DNA extracted by Krasova-Wade et al. (2003) protocol. Amplification of DNA (PCR) was conducted as described by Navarro et al. (1992) and Ponsonnet and Nesme (1994) using rhizobia specific primers. Due to low number of nodules in the low rates of vermicompost and urea treatments, only the three upper rates and their respective combinations (i.e. 74, 111, and 148 kg N ha −1 ) were examined. In addition, restriction was only conducted for PCR products of a single band of 930-1050 bp using restriction endonucleases Msp I. The strains with identical fragment size and number were classified into the same profile and the profiles used to score the inoculant (Legumefix) efficacy in percentages (Thuita et al., 2012).In the two greenhouse trials and the field trial, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to assess the effects of the various sources of variation i.e. treatments using SAS version 9.4. The effects of the various factors and their interactions were assessed using standard error of difference (SED) on the mean. The significance level of the models was set at p < 0.05. In the 1 st greenhouse experiment, box plots and whiskers were also used to summarize the information on nodule fresh weight and shoot biomass given the large number of experimental soils (i.e. sixty data points). The assessment of nodule occupancy for the greenhouse and field trials was based on PCR-RFLP profiles with similar bp fragments in size after restriction and compared to the IGS profile of strain B. japonicum 532c and converted to a percentage of total nodules examined for each IGS profile group.Selected properties of the experimental soils including details of Trial Sites 7 and 17 before the beginning of the greenhouse and field trials are presented in Table 1. A wide variation in soil properties was noted with coefficients of variance (CV) ranging from 11 to 208% with most of the parameters falling under what is considered low. There was a strong correlation between total N and C org (r = 0.94). Rhizobia population for the selected soils ranged from 0 to 2.83 × 10 2 CFU g −1 of soil; hence, a response to inoculation was expected.In greenhouse experiment one, the nodule fresh weight (NFW) varied significantly (p < 0.05) across the 60 soils tested irrespective of inoculation. This variation was related to the wide variation in soil properties (Table 2; Fig. 2). On average, inoculation + fertilization treatments had higher NFW than uninoculated soils (no inoculum or fertilizer) (Fig. 2). The NFW was generally low in the soils of poor fertility, which calls for further investigation to raise understanding of the inoculation response variability often observed in field trials.In greenhouse experiment two, co-application of starter N in the form of vermicompost or urea, Legumefix plus Sympal significantly increased nodule fresh weight (p < 0.05) (Table 2). Vermicompost coapplied with Legumefix + Sympal consistently produced a significantly higher nodule fresh weight than urea co-applied with Legumefix and Sympal (Fig. 3a). The higher rates of urea led to a decrease in NFW compared to vermicompost, which may be related to the difference in the availability of N from the two sources.In the field experiment, NFW was improved by inoculation (P < 0.05) at Trial site 17 compared to Trial site 7 (Fig. 3b), which could be related to the initial fertility level of the sites (Table 1). Conversely, in the absence of inoculation Trial site 7 nodulation was higher (p < 0.05) than Trial site 17 (Fig. 3b), which could be associated with the abundance of soybean nodulating rhizobia at Trial site 7 (Table 1). Regardless of the sites and inoculation, application of Sympal (Fig. 3c) and vermicompost (Fig. 3d) improved NFW, which implied that the nodulation of soybean by native rhizobia could be improved with good soil fertility management.In the greenhouse experiment 2, N-amendment using vermicompost or urea co-applied with Legumefix and Sympal significantly increased the percentage of effective nodules (p < 0.05) (Table 2; Fig. 4a). Vermicompost co-applied with Legumefix and Sympal consistently had higher percentage of effective nodules as compared to urea co-applied with Legumefix and Sympal (Fig. 4a).In field conditions, inoculation at Trial Site 7 and Trial Site 17 improved nodule effectiveness at both sites, but co-application with Sympal showed better performance at Site 17 than Site 7 when compared to inoculation without Sympal (Fig. 4b). Conversely, in the absence of inoculation, Sympal improved nodule effectiveness at Site 7 than Site 17, while when Sympal was not applied nodule effectiveness was similar at both sites (Fig. 4b). While Sympal contributed to the improvement of the nodule effectiveness, the magnitude of the response demonstrated that inoculation was very critical to enhance the percentage of effective nodules. There was a significant increase of nodule effectiveness (p < 0.05) following vermicompost application. The highest nodule effectiveness was found at total N rate ≥ 74 kg ha −1 irrespective of inoculation and Sympal at both sites (Fig. 4c).In the greenhouse experiment 1, three IGS profile groups were obtained from PCR-RFLP analysis. The IGS profile I (inoculant strain) was dominant in the inoculated soils, while IGS profile II and III (indigenous strains) were dominant in the non-inoculated soils (Table 3). In the greenhouse experiment 2, nodule occupancy by the inoculant strain consistently increased with increase in vermicompost rates in the uninoculated treatment, showing that the strain in the rhizobia inoculant is present in the study region due to previous history of soybean cultivation with the inoculant strain in the two sites (Table 4). Increased rate of N from vermicompost up to 148 kg ha −1 did not suppress nodule occupancy by the inoculant strain. At the rate 148 kg N ha −1 from urea nodulation was suppressed to the extent no nodules were found irrespective of inoculation. This was attributed to the slow release of N from not inhibiting nodulation while the high rates of N from urea did inhibit nodulation. For the rates of 74 and 111 kg N ha −1 , under coapplication of the rhizobia inoculant and Sympal, all the nodule analyzed were occupied by the inoculant strain. Based on the results reported in Fig. 3a (nodule fresh weight) and Fig. 4a (nodule effectiveness) at 148 kg N ha −1 from urea, there was a likelihood some native strains that can nodulate soybean were not detected by the specific primers used to assess the nodule occupancy and thus total number of nodules analyzed were not equal in all the treatments. This often occurs when some bacteria have acquired genes that enable nodulation but may not have all the required genes to allow detection by the set of primers; further investigation would be required.In the field trial, highest inoculant strain recovery (nodule occupancy) was observed with the combination of Legumefix, vermicompost  and Sympal demonstrating the relevance of the combination to supply additional nutrient, organic matter, and rhizobia particularly in the low fertility soil at Site 7 (Table 4). Highest inoculant strain recovery was attained when vermicompost was applied at 74 kg N ha −1 and 111 kg N ha −1 and combined with Sympal and Legumefix at Site 7 (94%), while there was a slight reduction at 148 kg N ha −1 for the same inputs though the inoculant strain recovery was still higher than 66% (Table 4). At Site 17, which was slightly more fertile than Site 7, the value addition of co-applying Legumefix and Sympal in the presence of vermicompost was reduced, except at 111 kg N ha −1 (Table 4). In the absence of the rhizobia inoculant, co-application of vermicompost and Sympal did enhance the nodule occupancy by native strains, although they were less effective based on the results on nodule effectiveness (Fig. 4b). In general, a consistently higher percentage of nodules occupied by the inoculant strain was observed in the inoculated and amended soils for both greenhouse and field conditions at moderate levels of N (i.e. 74 and 111 kg N ha −1 regardless of the source of N). This suggests that the introduced strain was more competitive in the amended soils and explains the higher percentage of effective nodules (Fig. 4b). The recovery of the inoculant strain from the uninoculated treatments (especially in the second greenhouse experiment) was attributed to previous history of soybean cultivation with the same inoculant on the two farms.On average, the inoculated treatment gave a higher shoot dry weight than the uninoculated soils in the first greenhouse trial, with an increase of 38% over the control (Fig. 2), but the improvement of shoot biomass following inoculation significantly varied across soils (Table 2). In the second greenhouse experiment, co-application of N amendments (vermicompost or urea) with Legumefix and Sympal enhanced shoot dry biomass (Fig. 5a). When N was applied as vermicompost, the value addition of Legumefix and Sympal was found at the low rate of vermicompost (equivalent 0 and 37 kg N ha −1 ). Conversely, when N was applied as urea, there were significant differences in shoot biomass between Legumefix + Sympal + urea compared to urea alone in all the urea rates. The difference between the two sources of N can be related to the additional nutrients in vermicompost compared to urea that only supplied N. Across treatments, the highest shoot dry biomass at 50% podding was found at 148 N kg −1 applied as urea and combined with Legumefix and Sympal. This could be attributed to the fact that nitrogen from urea was readily available for uptake and resulted in vigorous vegetative growth and more biomass accumulation at the    early stage of the crop with minimal N losses in the greenhouse conditions.In the field conditions, co-application of vermicompost and Legumefix significantly improved shoot dry biomass compared to vermicompost in the absence of Legumefix, particularly when Sympal was not applied (Fig. 5b). When Sympal was added to both combinations (i.e. vermicompost with and without Legumefix), the difference in shoot dry biomass was reduced, which could be related to improved utilization of N. On average, the shoot dry biomass was higher at Site 17 than Site 7 irrespective of the treatments (Fig. 5c), which was consistent with the initial chemical properties of the two sites (Table 1).In the second greenhouse experiment, co-application of vermicompost or urea as source of starter N with Legumefix and Sympal significantly increased biomass N uptake when compared to the starter N sources in the absence of Legumefix and Sympal (Table 2; Fig. 6a). When vermicompost or urea was not co-applied with Legumefix and Sympal, increased rates of vermicompost enhanced biomass N uptake, while increased rates of urea reduced N uptake. This could be related to the improved soybean growth in the presence of vermicompost related to the additional nutrients in the inputs, which would have improved the root system development (data not collected) and consequently N uptake. Application of Legumefix and Sympal to both starter N treatments further enhanced plant development and therefore N uptake.In the field conditions, co-application of vermicompost and Sympal enhanced N uptake at Site 7 (which was less fertile) more than Site 17 (Fig. 6b). In the absence of Sympal, N uptake was similar at both sites when vermicompost was applied. On average, rhizobia inoculation showed higher N uptake than uninoculated plants, irrespective of trial sites, vermicompost and Sympal (Fig. 6c).When soybean was inoculated, yields were higher at Site 17 than Site 7, while both sites had similar yields in the absence of inoculation (Fig. 7a). Hence, the apparent difference in soil fertility at the two sites (Table 1), was not enough to show a difference in yields without soil amendment. Amendment with vermicompost increased soybean grain yield from N rate of 74 kg ha −1 compared to the absolute control (Fig. 7b); this rate of N was equivalent to five metric tons of vermicompost ha −1 . Grain yields significantly increased on amendment (475, 709, 856, 880, 966 kg ha −1 ) after application of vermicompost at 0, 37, 74, 111, and 148 kg N ha −1 respectively. All the measured parameters reported correlated significantly to grain yields particularly at Site 7 (data not shown), which showed that amending low fertility soils using various combinations of inputs like rhizobia inoculant, Sympal, and vermicompost could enhance soybean growth and yield assuming no In this study, the overall effects of four key factors i.e. site (soil), rhizobia inoculant, starter N (vermicompost or urea), and a legumespecific fertilizer blend (Sympal) and their interactions on soybean productivity traits including nodulation, nodule effectiveness, nodule occupancy, shoot dry weight, N uptake, and yield were evaluated. These productivity traits were improved by various combinations of the three inputs, but in most of the cases there was a significant site or soil effect. Previous studies demonstrated that legume response to inoculation is generally affected by (i) legume genotype, (ii) rhizobia strain, (iii) environmental factors like soil fertility, soil amendments, and water management, and (iv) crop management such as weeding, spacing, pest and disease control (Giller et al., 2013;Woomer et al., 2014;) as well as the nature of existing soil population of rhizobia (Yang et al., 2018). In this study, the focus was on aspects related to soil  fertility improvement to enhance soybean productivity traits. The hypothesis that starter N, particularly in organic form, would improve soybean response to rhizobia inoculants and legume specific fertilizer blends (without N) in low fertility soils was confirmed and it is crucial to understanding the underlying mechanisms.The soils used in the three experiments were low in nitrogen levels as reported by findings of Masso et al. (2016). Nitrogen is a major limiting factor in plant growth and development. In low fertility soils, there is a need to explore various nutrient replenishment avenues to establish best practice management options for improved soybean response to inoculation (Woomer et al., 2014). In soils with low nitrogen, a moderate amount of 'starter nitrogen' is required by the legume plant for nodule development, root and shoot growth before the onset of BNF (Herridge et al., 1984;Goi et al., 1993). In the low N soil used in the second greenhouse experiment, amendment with two nitrogen sources (i.e. vermicompost and urea) significantly increased soybean productivity traits suggesting the nitrogen supplied played a role in soybean growth before a symbiotic relationship of the host crop and rhizobia was fully functional. Although insignificant responses of soybean to starter N have been reported (Mendes et al., 2003), positive responses have been reported by several studies (Lamb et al., 1990;Starling et al., 1998;Osborne and Riedell, 2006;Sohrabi et al., 2012;Janagard and Ebadi-Segherloo, 2016) which demonstrates the need of starter N, particularly in low fertility soils as it was the case in this study. There is still a need to determine the threshold value of soil N content (% or g N kg −1 soil) above which, starter N would not be required.The vermicompost treatments performed better in all the measured variables compared to the urea treatments. Although N supplied by urea was readily available for the plant uptake, N alone could not explain the significant increase in the soybean growth traits observed. Vermicompost not only was a source of slow-released N, but also other essential nutrients such as Ca, Mg K among others, which are essential for optimal plant growth. Organic sources of N also improve soil organic carbon, which has a significant effect on soil fertility including rhizobial survival (Swanepoel et al., 2011). In general, soil total N and organic matter are highly correlated as found in this study. In low organic matter soils, organic amendments act as source of nutrients, improve soil structure, increase biodiversity and activity of the microbial population (Albiach et al., 2000;Liu et al., 2008). Use of organic amendments to improve nutrient-depleted soils of SSA regions in general and western Kenyan in particular (Woomer et al., 2014) would improve physical, chemical and biological characteristics of soil (Albiach et al., 2000). This implies that soil amendment with vermicompost, or similar organic inputs, would be a good practice to improve soybean response to inoculation as nodulation and nodule effectiveness were not suppressed up to a rate of 148 kg vermicompost-N ha −1 . Furthermore, use of organic amendments including organic fertilizers in integrated soil fertility management to supply both nutrients and organic matter would be more conducive to sustainability and resilience of the cropping systems than sole application of inorganic fertilizers.Significant variation of soybean response to rhizobial inoculation was observed across the sixty soils under greenhouse conditions, which was confirmed under field conditions at two sites. Success of soybean rhizobia inoculation depends on soil fertility and site location (Date, 2000). Based on recommendations by Tadesse (1991) and the soil analysis results, the study soils from sixty locations in western Kenya had very low to moderate fertility, which was in agreement with the report of Woomer et al. (2014). This wide variation in soil properties with most of the variables falling under low to very low (Okalebo et al., 2002;FAO, 2006) could explain the variation of the soybean response to inoculation. Similar findings of spatial variation of soybean response to rhizobia inoculants across locations was reported by Masso et al. (2016). Edaphic factors such as nutrient P and N availability and soil pH determine the effectiveness of inoculant used (Masso et al., 2015;Yang et al., 2018). This has also been confirmed in our ongoing investigation on the effect of soil acidity and liming on soybean productivity traits under inoculation (unpublished). Soil amendment to improve the fertility including balanced fertilization is therefore crucial to reduce the spatial variability of soybean response to inoculation, assuming no other limiting factors.Under the field conditions, nodule fresh weight and effectiveness were improved by the application of Sympal and/or vermicompost, shoot dry weight was enhanced by co-application of vermicompost, Sympal, and Legumefix, while combination of vermicompost and Sympal increased biomass N uptake and vermicompost boosted grain yield. This was in line with the findings of Mpepereki et al. (2000); Adeli et al. (2005); Mishra et al. (2010); Tahir et al. (2009), andDevi et al. (2013). Soil amendment improved the effectiveness of the nodules and the competitiveness of the introduced strain to occupy a significant number of nodules, as shown by the nodule occupancy. Vermicompost and Sympal contained various nutrients including macro-, secondary and micro-nutrients, which are essential to plant growth and effective nodulation. A package of fertilization interventions based on proper soil fertility diagnosis in legume cropping systems including among others organic inputs, legume-specific fertilizer blend conducive to nodule formation, and rhizobia inoculants found efficacious would be more effective than sole application of a single component of the package (O'Hara et al., 2002;Zhang et al., 2002;Rathke et al., 2005;Sarr et al., 2005;Tahir et al., 2009); though profitability analysis would be required to inform the package choice to recommend. Hence, current development initiatives that promote rhizobia inoculation without necessary soil fertility diagnosis or only focus on co-application of phosphorus and rhizobia inoculants only must be revisited to consider balanced fertilization. Effective legume rhizobia inoculation only adds N to the cropping systems and there is therefore a need to ensure that the other nutrients are available at appropriate levels for optimum plant growth. Availability of essential nutrients as reported by Schulze (2006); Divito and Sadras (2014) and Yoseph and Worku (2014) and moderate levels of nitrogen generally enhance nodule formation and functioning. High rates of nitrogen fertilizers however have been shown to inhibit nodule formation in both controlled and field conditions (Otieno et al., 2007;Ohyama et al., 2011;Bekere et al., 2013;Keino et al., 2015). Hence, investigations to determine the threshold values, depending among others on soil types, below which starter N would be required to improve legume response to inoculation in low fertility soils, are needed.Response to rhizobia inoculation is expected in soils containing few rhizobia or where the compatible rhizobia of the host legume are absent (Abaidoo et al., 2007;Fening and Danso, 2002). The rhizobia populations in the sixty soils were below 1.0 × 10 3 CFU g −1 of soil, which has been reported as the minimal population of native rhizobia for a response to inoculation to be achieved for legume crops like soybean (Thies et al., 1991). The capacity of an inoculant strain to occupy nodules on the host depends on environmental factors such as presence of soil rhizobia and soil type (Thies et al., 1992;Vlassak et al., 1997). The increased nodule weight and shoot biomass over the control due to rhizobia inoculation indicated that the introduced strain was more effective than the indigenous bradyrhizobia that have become established in the soils tested. This was in line with studies of Rahmani and Saleh-Rastin (2001); Bai et al., 2002Bai et al. (2002); Janagard and Ebadi-Segherloo (2016) and Hungria and Mendes (2015) who reported significant increases in nodulation and biomass with rhizobia inoculation. The soybean increased biomass, nodulation and effective nodules due to inoculation confirms the need to inoculate soybean seeds in the soils of the selected sites. Even though the variety TGx1740-2 F is promiscuous, nodule occupancy analysis confirmed successful inoculation. Inoculation with Legumefix significantly increased percentage of effective nodules and nodule occupancy both in greenhouse and field experiment. Nodule effectiveness and occupancy are important indicators of efficient soybean rhizobia symbiosis (Vlassak et al., 1997;Adjei et al., 2002). The yield increase following application of Legumefix at both sites was in line with findings of Egamberdiyeva et al. (2004); Tahir et al. (2009); Hussain et al. (2011) and Ronner et al. (2016). As mentioned above, to optimize soybean response to rhizobia inoculants like Legumefix, soil amendment with organic sources of nutrients and legume-specific fertilizer blend in low fertile soils will be of great importance not only in the Siaya County of Kenya, but also across sub-Sahara Africa where nutrient depletion is widely spread (Liu et al., 2010;Vanlauwe et al., 2015). In addition, there is need to address issues related to factors like legume genotype, efficacy of rhizobia strains, as well as good crop and water management among others.Soil amendment with vermicompost, Legumefix, and Sympal in low fertility soils increased soybeans productivity traits including yields. Soybean response to inoculation was affected by the soil properties. Vermicompost supplied both nutrients and organic carbon, while Sympal contributed additional nutrients, which improved the nutrient status of the low fertility soils and consequently soybean response to inoculation. To fully benefit from BNF development initiatives with legume inoculation components, there is need to consider soil fertility status of the target areas. The technology must seeks to overcome the possible limiting factors to the genetic potential of the legume and rhizobia to be used to fix N. Starter N in the form of vermicompost in low fertility soils at the rates used in this study did not suppress soybean nodulation, and it improved the productivity traits of the crop. However, further investigation is required to determine the threshold value of soil N concentration above which starter N is not recommended when rhizobia inoculants are applied."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ccecdf30c57c9a627c3abf35eaa51c75","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/dd1588b5-77f6-487f-9bc4-ff1fe3f37b6b/retrieve","id":"1693466136"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cc0691e7-a7aa-42ae-bf80-2ba73999774d","content":"The study was undertaken jointly by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Knowledge Sharing (KS) Project and the Institutional Learning and Change (ILAC) Initiative with the objective of improving understanding of the links between human resources policies and practices and a broad set of progressive management approaches that include organizational learning and KS. The study reviewed human resources policies and practices in 12 organizations, six within and six outside the CGIAR, and identified fruitful avenues for improving knowledge sharing and organizational learning throughout the CGIAR system.The study was exploratory in two senses. Firstly, it explored a management area that is relatively new to the CGIAR, and second, it was based on information provided by only a small number of organizations. The six CGIAR centres were: the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the WorldFish Center. The six non-CGIAR organizations included five international development agencies: Bellanet, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany (BMZ), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the World This Brief reports the results of a study that explored the role of human resources policies and practices in fostering knowledge sharing and organizational learning. The study examined six centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and six organizations that are considered to be leaders in the field of knowledge sharing and organizational learning. Five of these were public or non-governmental and the sixth was a private corporation. All the organizations studied (including the CGIAR centres) are promoting knowledge sharing and organizational learning to some extent, generally in the context of broader organizational change. Some have comprehensive, integrated approaches to organizational change, but most efforts tend to be small-scale, even ad hoc. It is sometimes assumed that CGIAR centres are behind other research and development organizations in knowledge sharing and organizational learning, but our findings indicate that, while most of the centres in the study lack comprehensive strategies, some are actively pursuing promising initiatives from which others can learn. Three key factors seem to influence the success of efforts to foster organizational change through knowledge sharing and organizational learning:• public support from top leaders for such initiatives;• an explicit recognition of they way in which the organization's business strategies are reinforced by knowledge sharing and organizational learning; and• effective internal communication policies and practices that support knowledge sharing and organizational learning.The Brief closes with twelve suggestions for CGIAR managers who wish to engage the human resource management function of their centres for more effective knowledge sharing and organizational learning as well as broader organizational change.Bank; and one private sector corporation, which requested anonymity.Bellanet is housed within the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and its mission is to promote knowledge management and organizational learning in international development organizations. Bellanet aims to support effective development practice by sharing its expertise in information and communication technologies as well as its skills in facilitating organizational learning and the sharing of knowledge.Six of the eight heads of the human resources units or Directors of CGIAR centres were invited to participate in the study and six responded positively. The six non-CGIAR organizations were invited to participate in the study because of their reputation as actively promoting KS and organizational learning. One goal of the study was to determine how far CGIAR centres lag behind the leaders in this field. The study had hoped to include comparisons with more private firms, but this was not possible due to a lack of response. Most of the non-CGIAR organizations were international development organizations that have working contact with the CGIAR.In each of the 12 cases, one or more persons were interviewed by telephone. Individuals were selected because of their intimate knowledgeable of the area under study. Three kinds of corporate documents were also reviewed: a) human resources policies and procedures; b) documents describing efforts to improve KS and organizational learning; and c) statements of organizations' vision, mission, values and strategies. Some of these were obtained from web sites and some from the interviewees.The study findings are reported in relation to the six human resources management dimensions identified in Figure 1.The success of efforts to promote knowledge sharing, organizational learning, innovation and teamwork depends on having the support of senior management. In some organizations (e.g. BMZ, CIDA, SDC and the World Bank), the directors have championed KS and organizational learning for a number of years, and the practices are firmly entrenched in day-to-day operations. Indeed, the mission, vision and strategy of both IWMI and the World Bank are explicitly and directly linked to KS and organizational learning. IWMI's mission statement is clear: 'By 2008, IWMI will be a world-class impact, performance, and service oriented Knowledge Center, specializing in research on Water, Food and Environment'.The Bellanet Secretariat enjoys sufficient top-level support and autonomy within IDRC to be able to innovate in its internal management practices. In many organizations, and in the CGIAR in general, a slow evolution is becoming evident, moving from an exclusive focus on outputs (e.g. publications) towards inclusion of learning from peers and partners, sharing information and investing time in disseminating lessons learned.The strategy documents and mission statements of all 15 CGIAR centres include language that supports and encourages knowledge sharing -referring to innovation, reliance on networks, partnerships and collaboration, generating and disseminating knowledge and technology, sharing knowledge, information exchange and capacity building to position the centres and their partners for success. However, language alone is insufficient. An explicit and operational knowledge management strategy is needed if efforts to become a learning organization are to have an impact on organizational performance.Several aspects of organization and culture were found to influence KS and organizational learning.In all participating organizations, the human resources unit is evolving from performing a purely administrative role to serving a strategic function for senior management. Professional human resources expertise is helping organizations to meet their goals.A community of practice is made up of a group of practitioners who share common interests in a specified discipline or area and volunteer to work together. These communities create tools, documents and processes and share a common vocabulary and ways of working (Rumizen, 2002.) In the Engineering Division of the private business studied, 200 communities of practice have been established during the past 6 years in an effort to promote innovation.These are used by IWMI and SDC to promote sharing of knowledge in both research and administrative areas. The exchange of information fosters collaboration and promotes deeper and broader understanding of what others do. In addition, colleagues are encouraged to talk to each other about their work.Yellow pages and staff directories: Several organizations have installed on-line staff directories to encourage staff to take advantage of in-house expertise. The directories give information about the institutional experience, competencies and areas of expertise of individuals.Organizational culture: When CIAT carried out a 'culture study' (with support from the CGIAR Gender and Diversity Program), one of the main conclusions was that internal communications were poor. CIAT has now looked at the internal communications policies and practices in several well-run organizations and found that each has a sound, formal, internal communications strategy that includes a good induction process for all new staff members.Specialized roles: One of the six CGIAR centres and four of the external organizations have created a 'Chief Knowledge Officer' who reports to the Chief Executive Officer or Director General. This person is responsible for organizing internal consultation among divisions and providing solutions to problems related to knowledge sharing. They undertake knowledge management initiatives and work closely with human resources units to embed KS programs into the policies and practices of the organization.Personnel selection forms used by the private company in recruitment and performance evaluation list 12 required competencies. Four of these (communication, business acumen, change and innovation) are directly related to knowledge sharing and organizational learning.IPGRI has begun to screen prospective employees for specific behavioural competencies that support knowledge sharing alongside more traditional technical competencies. Job profiles and interview questions are based on both technical and 'soft' skills. The process has been well received by selection panels, since it provides a systematic way to assess candidates objectively and it aids equitable treatment of gender and diversity. Support for teams: Teams at the World Bank are supported by 'learning coaches', who help with process issues and problem solving. This formal system enhances team productivity and promotes continuous learning at many levels within the Bank. Organizations are becoming more diverse in terms of language, culture, gender and country of origin. The CGIAR Gender and Diversity Program offers an online course for high performance research teams, which helps promote integration among staff of diverse origins and fills the gap created by limited resources, talent and funding and the desire for fast results.Mentoring: This involves pairing experienced individuals with less experienced ones. Both mentor and 'mentee' benefit from the arrangement and learn from each other and, as a result, the organization is enriched. CIFOR and IWMI have participated in the mentoring initiative sponsored by the Gender and Diversity Program, and ILRI will participate in the same program in 2005. However, at one organization, the program did not flourish because developing staff relations and sharing knowledge were perceived to take valuable time away from research.Organizational learning: At SDC, learning is promoted at all organizational levels and individuals are expected to take responsibility for developing competencies related to their jobs. Unit managers have to identify and secure the competencies they need themselves as well as providing coaching to improve staff competencies, promoting good practices and disseminating lessons learned.Peer assists: These are useful for someone embarking on a new project and are widely used at Bellanet. The person invites colleagues with relevant expertise or experience to a meeting, tells them what the project is about and invites their feedback and advice on how to start the project and any lessons learned from previous similar projects. Peer assist helps get projects off the ground more efficiently and shortens the learning curve. Users of peer assists feel that such meetings have high initial transaction costs but save time in the long run.Review, evaluation and lessons learned: BMZ has implemented afteraction reviews where, after a major event, those involved in its planning meet to review and document lessons learned. These can then be used to improve future events.Procedures for retiring or departing staff: BMZ has developed a 'knowledge bridge' to fill the gap that occurs when people retire. This honours retiring staff at a meeting, at which they also respond to questions posed by their colleagues.Handover procedures: BMZ uses 'handover procedures' to benefit new appointees and promote institutional learning. These emphasise the need to compile high quality and relevant information for new appointees, which, if possible, include two-way questions, answers and discussion and/or detailed handover notes.Most of the organizations studied still focus on evaluating individual performance and struggle with the challenge of how to evaluate team performance. The private sector organization, the World Bank and IWMI all use a technique known as '360-degree' evaluation, which promotes good management and leadership and encourages feedback on managers' performance. The feedback identifies which new skills the managers need to develop, and these are supported by training courses. One of the key goals of 360-degree feedback at the World Bank is to create an environment for learning and knowledge sharing. The technique encourages positive behaviour, such as modelling a blame-free environment that is conducive to learning, sharing knowledge and information, using mistakes as learning opportunities and rewarding knowledge creation and sharing. At BMZ, supervisors use the technique to find out if their staff have the information they need to do their jobs properly.Employee motivation at the World Bank includes on-the-spot monetary awards and an annual team award, presented by the President. The private sector corporation also hosts a team recognition ceremony once a year, while CIDA gives annual team and 'mentor of the year' awards.Research and development organizations -both within and outside the CGIAR -are using KS and organizational learning to improve their overall performance. The World Bank and the private sector company have been working in this area for between 5 and 7 years and their initiatives are well institutionalized. Other organizations, such as BMZ, IWMI and SDC, have been working on KS and organizational learning for shorter periods (2 or 3 years) and their initiatives are less well consolidated. In most of the organizations, the human resources units have supported KS and organizational learning, but have not led these organizational change efforts.Most interviewees in the study believe that human resources policies can contribute significantly to learning and change at the institutional level by fostering KS. However, they note that a number of additional factors are required. They believe that top-management commitment to organizational performance improvement through KS and organizational learning is essential."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1410d8658e9f736f451304e5d7fb5c7c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/627ad410-fad0-4134-89bf-93ae5cc0ac31/retrieve","id":"-1723630689"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0f01856a-4f28-4f6a-a934-9660dd078445","content":"e-: . ... \" .Las estacas de yuca que se utilizan para la siembra, pierden el poder de enraizamiento, germinación y el vigor de sus yemas con el almacenamiento; además, durante este período las estacas pueden ser afectadas por patógenos y pestes. El conjunto de estos factores conlleva a mermas considerables en el rendimiento de la yuca, principalmente por el número reducido de plantas cosechables.A pesar de ser la mejor práctica, usar material de siembra fresco, el almacenamiento frecuentemente es indispensable por diversas razones: En muchas regiones del mundo la siembra de la yuca sigue los ciclos pluviométricos, con intervalos considerables entre cosecha y siembra. A veces existe escasez de terreno preparado para una siembra inmediata o las condiciones climáticas dificultan la preparación y la siembra. Finalmente, razones económicas pueden obligar al agricultor a cosechar en época no apta para la si~mbra.La ,calidad final de las 'estacas, después del almacenamiento, está determinada por la sanidad y la deshidratación que hayan sufrido. Para conservar mejor la calidad del material de siembra y para reducir pérdidas debidas al almacenamiento inadecuado de estacas se está desarrollando una metodología la cual se discute a continuación.La literatura no es muy concluyente respecto al máximo período posible de almacenamiento de estacas de yuca. En general, se sugiere que sea durante un \"periodo razonable, varios meses o algún tiempo\" (Bertoni, 1945;Conceicao, 1975;Lozano ~ al, 1978: Normanha, 1946;Normanha y Pereira, 1953). Sin embargo, teniendo en cuenta su gran efecto sobre la calidad de las estacas, debe evitarse o reducir el tiempo de almacenamiento al máximo posible. Lozano et al (1977) informan que después de 30 días de almacenamiento de estacas tratadas con los fungicidas B~1 y Captan (Bavistin & Orthocide) se obtuvo excelente enraizamiento, germinación de sus yemas y ninguna reducción en el rendimiento. Krochmae (1969) registró buenos resultados después de períodos de almacenamiento de hasta ocho semanas y Mendes (1946) y Lorenzi (sin publicar 1979) mencionan la posibilidad de corservar material de siembra hasta por cinco meses.Existe una gran diferencia de opinión respecto a las condiciones para la conservación de estacas de yuca. Esto puede ser atribuido a diferencias ambientales, diversas metodologías usadas y a diferencias varietales. Sin embargo, se pueden destacar los siguientes aspectos generales (Silva, 1970;Castellar y Mogollón, 1972;CLAT, 1974;Gartner y Pérez, 1975;ClAT, 1978;Correa y Vieira, 1978): l.El almacenamiento de las estacas de yuca parece ser mejor cuando se hace bajo sombra, pues se reduce la deshidratación y los cambios extremos de temperatura.El ambiente para el almacenamiento debe tener una humedad relativa mayor del 80%, pero sin ser excesiva (cercana a la saturación); las temperaturas no deben ser extremadamente bajas o altas. El punto térmico limite que inactiva la germinación de las yemas de estacas de yuca maduras es de 52.5°C.La posición vertical u horizontal de la estaca durante el almacenamiento, no afecta el grado de conservación de ésta ni la germinación de las yemas. Sin embargo, parece que cuando las estacas se almacenan en posición vertical, con las yemas invertidas, la germinación de éstas se retrasa después de la siembra.El enraizamiento de la estaca y la germinación de sus yemas durante el almacenamiento, no indica necesariamente mal conservación.Las estacas largas (1.0 m) parecen conservarse mejor durante períodos prolongados, que las estacas cortas (0.20m).Sólo estacas maduras, provenientes de plantaciones sanas, deben usarse para almacenar.Las diferencias varietales, en cuanto a su capacidad de almacenamiento, se acentúan a medida que se prolonga el periodo de almacenamiento.Se evaluaron diferentes sistemas y duraciones de almacenamiento usando la variedad Q1C 76, una buena germinadora. Todo el material se trató con B01 y Captan a razón de 3000 ppm I.A. El proceso de germi-El rendimiento de ralees fre sca s fue afectado t anto por la duración como por las condiciones de almacenamiento (Cuadro 1). El rendimiento disminuyó como consecuencia de periodos más l a r gos de almacenamiento en todas las condiciones, pero la reducción fue más drástica bajo condiciones no adecuadas de almacenamiento. El efecto de duración, de la condición y su interacción fueron altamente significativos (P•O.OOl) indicando que a medida que se prolonga el período de almacenamiento, ganan en importancia las condiciones bajo las cuales se guarda el material de siembra.Cuando la germinación fue afectada por condiciones inapropiadas de almacenamiento la población final 2 (a la cosecha) fue el factor de mayor influencia en el rendimiento R aQ.90***). En bamcio, con germinación y población final completa, una gran parte de la ~ariación en el rendimiento no se pudo explicar con este parámetro (R aQ.42n.s.). Esto indica que además del factor \"población\" otros factores, posiblemente relativos a la disponibilidad de reservas en las e s tacas al momento de la siembra, determinan el rendimiento de plantaciones de yuca sembradas con estacas almacenadas (Figura 2). Como consecue ncia del almacenamiento, se observó una reducción en el número de ralees totales y ralees comerciales (Cuadro 2). Plantas con menos ralees aparentemente trataron de compensar incrementando el tam~no de l a s ralees, sin embargo el aumento no fue suficiente para estabilizar el rendimiento. Siendo estadlsticamente significativo (R2=0.80***) la reducción en el número de ralees por planta explica parte de la pérdida en el rendimiento.Los resultados y observaciones obtenidos hasta el presente permiten las siguientes conclusiones:1. . El factor de mayor importancia en la reducción de los rendimientos de yuca como consecuencia del almacenamiento de las estacas es la pérdida del poder germinativo de éstas debido a su deshidratación, infestación por patógenos u otras influencias adversas sufridas durante el almacenamiento. La germinación reducida se manifiesta en una población deficiente al momento de la cosecha.En condiciones adecuadas de almacenamiento y con tratamiento qu!mico,las estacas de yuca pueden ser cons ervadas por varios meses, obteniendo altos porcentajes de germinación.En climas tropicales, el almacenamiento del material de siembra en un ambiente sombreado, fre sco y moderadamente humedo resulta m más favorable que el almacenamiento en bodega. f Esto hace precindible el uso de construcciones costosas.e-5 74.Entre más prolongado sea el almacenamiento, más críticas eon las condiciones bajo las cuales se almacenan las estacas.A pesar de conservar el material de siembra en bpen estado y obtener germinación completa, se observan reducciones en el rendimiento a causa del almacenamiento prolongado. Estas reducciones que no se explican con poblaciones reducidas a la cosecha, son posiblemente causadas por otrps factores afectando tanto la formación del sistema radicular como el desarrollo de la parte aerea de la planta. Se manifiestan en un reducido número de raíces gruesas por planta.La identificación y evaluación más detallada de estos factores permitirá establecer prácticas de manejo del material de siembra que además de preservar su germinación también permitirán de reducir las pérdidas del rendimiento debidas a prolongados períodos de almacenamiento.CUADRO l. Efecto de las condiciones y periodo de almacenamiento del material de siembra sobre la población final y el rendimiento de raíces. Variedad Q1C76, ClAT, 1979.Cuarto seco, estaca de lm, ver~ ti cal Campo abierto, sombra, base de madera, estacas de lm, horizontal Campo abierto, sombra, estacas de lm, vertical, en el suelo Silo de tierra, estacas de lm cubierta plástica, horizontal Silo de tierra, estaca de 20 cm, cubierta plástica, horizontal  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b3174cb840adc962fb651749798c6344","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ba2b1cce-633a-4e26-b072-ba8d7fa97723/retrieve","id":"1899397896"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e0643103-92c9-4cc0-a50d-10b7c3efcdfd","content":"During 2014, MAIZE made strong progress on both of its research strategies, stress resilient and nutritious maize and sustainable intensification of maize-based systems. In total, 70 maize varieties were released through MAIZE partners; 48 in eastern, southern and western Africa; 14 in Mexico, one in Columbia; 7 in Asia (Nepal 4 and Afghanistan 3). Some of the key traits stacked in these varieties include: drought tolerance, nitrogen use efficiency, tar spot resistance, increased Provitamin A content (linked to the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health -A4NH CRP), ear rot or mycotoxin resistance, and Turcicum leaf blight resistance (see Figure 1 MAIZE and its partners continued to spearhead efforts to combat the emergence of Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) as a major challenge to the maize sector in Eastern Africa since 2011. MAIZE works closely with both public and private sector partners to identify/develop and deliver new sources of resistance to MLN. Among new CGIAR-derived products, UH5354, was released by the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) in Uganda, and commercialized via the Nalweyo Seed Company (NASECO). In Kenya, H12ML, an elite hybrid with MLN tolerance was produced by Kenya Seed Company. Three more MLN tolerant elite maize hybrids are scheduled for release in 2015. Large-scale phenotypical screening at the MLN Screening Facility established with the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) at Naivasha, Kenya and the use of facility by partners gained momentum in 2014.The Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project supported the commercial release of 33 new droughttolerant varieties, totaling 160 new varieties since 2007 and facilitated the production of more than 40,000 metric tons (MT) of certified seed, sufficient to plant 1.6 -2 million hectares. In two years of the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) Deployment Phase II, 36 hybrids have been approved for commercialization through 23 seed companies in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa; 28.4 tons of foundation seed has been produced. The Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS) project submitted 7 hybrids for release that combine MLN tolerance with performance under low N. In Latin America, three Tar Spot resistant hybrids were released through partners in Mexico in 2014. Three Tar Spot resistant hybrids are scheduled to be released in Guatemala (2) and in Honduras (1) in 2015. In 2014, the Heat Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) project in Asia generated 24 hybrids that were taken forward for large-scale adaptive trials followed by scaling-out in all four partnering countries, including India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh. At least 5 hybrids in Bangladesh and 4 hybrids in Nepal are identified by national program and seed producers for formal registration and advanced to deployment.The Sustainable Intensification strategy in MAIZE addresses challenges to maize-based farming systems through an increasing number of innovation platforms (51 in Africa, 40 in South Asia and 41 in Latin America); which aim to strengthen multi-stakeholder collaboration in Latin America, Africa and Asia. To achieve impact at scale and proposing site and farm specific integrated adoptable solutions requires the use of systems research approaches and the development and use of conceptual frameworks. An example of this is MAIZE's partnership with Wageningen University. Given the increased use of Innovation Platforms for iterative learning and scaling-up and scaling out new technologies and approaches, collaboration with the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) expanded in 2014 to include capacity strengthening of MAIZE partners in Agricultural Innovation Systems thinking and application. In 2014, a new project was launched that combined the systems work of Wageningen with the Innovation Platform work of KIT. \"Enhancing the effectiveness of systems analysis tools to support learning and innovation in multi-stakeholder platforms\" will inform the lines of work for up to four pilot sites in Zambia (Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume cropping systems for food security in Eastern and Southern Africa -SIMLEZA-Africa Rising), Mexico (Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture program -MasAgro), Ethiopia (Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification -FACASI) and South Asia (Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia -CSISA).Among sustainable intensification options, Thierfelder et al. (2014) studied yield response of maize to conservation agriculture (CA) in southern Africa, discovering yield advantages of 1152 kg/ha and 1172 kg/ha in two manual CA systems in Malawi, planted with a dibble stick with sole maize and maize-legume intercropping, respectively. Another study found that DSSAT crop simulation models can be a useful tool to help project future weather effects of climate change on yield, economic returns and risk in conventional tillage (CT) and CA systems, helping farmers to make better informed adoption decisions.A study by the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), funded by a MAIZE competitive grant initiative, found that the Nutrient Expert® fertilizer decision support tool operated by extension workers improved maize yields by 40 percent, and up to 60 percent for marginalized women farmers.In Sub-Saharan Africa, trials showed that a bio-herbicide Foxy2 in combination with Striga-resistant varieties increased grain yield by 1.4 t/ha in on-farm trials, with a net benefit of US$722/ha. The bio-herbicide does not produce known mycotoxins that pose health risks to farmers, attacks all growth stages of Striga, and is compatible with other complementary technologies for Striga control. Molecular detection tools specific to Foxy2 have been developed that unequivocally differentiate the bio-control agent from other pathogenic and mycotoxin-producing fungi. This year also saw funding commitment to and progress on the Cross-CRP Global Study on Gender Norms, Agency and Innovation in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management. MAIZE and WHEAT contributed over US$500,000 in 2014 and will invest the same again in 2015, with data collection already complete for more than 19 out of the 70+ case studies.In October 2014, the 12th Asian Maize Conference was jointly organized by the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Department of Agriculture (DOA)-Thailand at Bangkok, Thailand. The conference, co-sponsored by MAIZE, attracted the participation of nearly 300 stakeholders from 30 countries, including researchers, policy makers, service providers, innovative farmers and representatives of various public and private organizations. The discussions led to 15 specific recommendations for MAIZE Phase 2, capturing the stakeholder priorities, especially for doubling maize production and productivity in the region and strengthening maize value chains.Last but not least, the MAIZE Independent Evaluation Arrangement (IEA) has been very positive, with the Evaluation Team considering it \"highly plausible that MAIZE and its partners will reach the medium term goal, which is to increase maize productivity in the two MAIZE target groups by 7 percent in 2020 and 33 percent in 2030.\" Over 4 million farmers are estimated to have benefited from MAIZE research outputs in 2014. 1 MAIZE technologies have been applied by farmers on at least 2.3 million ha of land as direct result of CRP projects 2 . 1 Evidence based on key bilateral project progress reports and performance information collected in various institutional databases. The key geographic countries in which the adoption has been observed include: Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Mali, Mexico, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe. 2 Use of germplasm by third parties has an additional impact not measured in this report.Based on CIMMYT germplasm, UH5354 (registered by NARO), an MLN-tolerant variety, was released in 2014, and is being commercialized by NASECO. H12M1, another MLN-tolerant maize hybrid, was released in 2014 and is being produced by Kenya Seed Company. Two more MLN-tolerant elite hybrids are in the pipeline for commercialization -H13M2 in Kenya (registered by Kenya Seed Company) and HB607 in Tanzania (registered by Meru-Agro) that were recommended for release in 2014, and UH5558 in Uganda (registered by NARO) that is recommended for release in 2015.An MLN quarantine facility will be established by CIMMYT in Harare to ensure safe introduction of improved maize germplasm from CIMMYT-Kenya, and for continued germplasm support to public and private institutions in southern Africa. A MAIZE competitive grant project implemented by the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) is investigating MLN insect vector dynamics. Through another MAIZE project, the Federal University of Technology, Nigeria, supported by IITA, is making proactive efforts to prevent the potential spread of MLN in Western and Central Africa.Guided by the MAIZE Gender Strategy and Gender Audit, in 2012 to 2014, MAIZE considerably increased investments in strategic gender research, internal capacity-building and mainstreaming gender-responsiveness into an increasing number of projects. MAIZE gender experts are co-leading the Cross-CRP Global Study on Gender Norms, Agency and Innovation in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management, in short referred to as 'Gennovate'. MAIZE and WHEAT contributed over US$500,000 in 2014 and will invest the same again in 2015, with data collection already complete for more than 19 out of the 70+ case studies. MAIZE is helping to secure funds for the critical analysis and write-up phase that lies ahead. In each country a local field team is trained, contributing significantly to local capacity-building in qualitative social research approaches.Other key investments include the KIT-led \"Gender Matters in Farm Power\" project to analyze the opportunities to empower both women and men small-scale farmers through appropriate-scale mechanization in the FACASI project. A recent assessment of maize varietal preferences of men and women farmers in West Africa explored important similarities and differences among male and female farmers. Cultural Practice LLC was commissioned to design and implement a gender competency framework and modular capacitystrengthening program for MAIZE. This Annual Report highlights achievements aligned with the three research strategies. Significant progress was made towards the delivery of 2014 outputs, achieving overall more than 89 percent of the outputs planned in the 2014 POWB. The CRP ranged from 79 percent for FP 4 to 90 percent and above for FP 1, FP 2, FP 3 and FP 5. The 79 percent of the FP 4 is due to a slower than expected performance of the competitive partner grants (Annex 1).Percentage completion was less than 100 percent due to: a) unforeseen circumstances; b) budget insecurities experienced for W1&W2; and c) difficulties experienced by some MAIZE Competitive Grants Initiative (CGI) partners in meeting the exacting schedules for contracted deliverables. In Mexico, studies in Guanajuato in the frame of the MasAgro project found that GreenSeeker technology saves farmers 50 kg units of nitrogen per hectare without sacrificing yield. MasAgro continues to adapt locallyavailable machinery to save on inputs through greater precision, such as the \"Happy Seeder\" technology imported from South Asia. The MasAgro Móvil project saw a 200 percent increase in users (3,148 current total) of its weather and agricultural recommendation text message service.In ESA, an IPNI study was funded by the MAIZE CGI, finding that the Nutrient Expert® fertilizer decision support tool operated by extension workers improved maize yields by 40 percent, and up to 60 percent for marginalized women farmers. Using a gender-informed approach, 50 percent of the 102 extension workers trained were women, as were 40 percent of the 1,200 farmer participants in on-farm demonstrations.In India, weaker and erratic monsoons, patchy irrigation services, depleting water tables and labor demands favor monsoon maize as a food security solution, but the predicted increase of drought and flooding events due to climate change are obstacles. In four successive years, demonstrations at Bihar in the frame of the CSISA project showed that bed planting of hybrid monsoon maize outperformed other options due to improved soil drainage (4.8 t/ha compared to 4.0 t/ha planted on the flat in 2014), while at Karnal, zero-till maize outperformed rice while using 90 percent less irrigation water. Twenty existing commercial and pipeline elite hybrids with a higher germination rate (80 percent) under drought anaerobic stress have been identified and shared with the private sector. Breeding efforts are also responding to this need: in 2014 a genomic region was identified as being strongly associated with combined drought and waterlogging tolerance for potential marker-assisted selection, along with two others that can be used selectively for each trait.MAIZE is market-driven and invests heavily in the development of maize lines and varieties that possess key traits demanded by farmers, their families and the processors and urban consumers of maize. Key biotic and abiotic threats are prioritized, and 'hidden' nutritional traits are developed and advocated. Private sector collaboration and capacity building is key to this approach.Developing and deploying climate-resilient maize through PPPs Africa -The DTMA project facilitated the production of more than 40,000 MT of certified seed in 2014, and supported Ethiopia to replace two hybrids that have dominated the maize sector for over 20 years. Within the first two years of WEMA Phase II, as many as 36 hybrids have been approved for commercialization through 23 seed companies in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa; 28.4 tons of foundation seed has been produced to help them reach the target of 2,000 tons of certified seed. Monsanto is assisting by bulking pre-foundation seed for 35 lines to jumpstart commercialization, and working with the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) to establish the Foundation Seed Crop Plan System. Collaboration between WEMA, DTMA and IMAS has grown through a joint monitoring and evaluation working group as well as coordinated regional on-station and onfarm variety trials. These collaborations culminated in the DTMASS (Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling) project, funded by USAID, for scaling-up and delivering improved maize seed in seven countries in ESA.4Asia -The Affordable, Accessible, Asian (AAA) Drought Tolerant Maize Project is a partnership between CIMMYT, Syngenta and NARS in Indonesia and Vietnam. In this project, funded by SFSA, CIMMYT's droughttolerant germplasm adapted to Asia is being combined with Syngenta's elite germplasm for generating drought-tolerant three-way cross hybrids, besides hybrids derived using only CIMMYT's drought tolerant parental lines. The project combines complementary breeding technologies, development of phenotyping facilities, and comparative advantages of partners to develop and deliver improved stress resilient maize varieties for stress-prone smallholder farmers in marginal environments in Asia. A set of five promising AAA three-way cross hybrids will be deployed in the dry belt of Central India, where they outperformed the best check by up to a ton per hectare in terms of grain yield; five potential private sector partners will perform large-scale evaluation of these hybrids in 2015.The HTMA project, funded by USAID, is being implemented in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan. The project is designed to develop and deploy heat-tolerant elite maize hybrids through public-private partnerships. By the end of the second year (September 2014), a set of 24 first-generation hybrids were identified and taken forward for large-scale adaptive trials, and for potential scaling-out in the partner countries. At least 5 hybrids in Bangladesh and 4 hybrids in Nepal have been identified by the respective national program and seed producers for formal registration and deployment. The project builds on publicprivate partnerships, including seven public sector partners and three seed companies. New public-private partnerships (involving local seed companies) are also envisioned in each country for effective deployment of heat tolerant maize hybrids. For example: in Bangladesh, four seed companies submitted a request for partnering with Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) and CIMMYT, for hybrid licensing and deployment. Similar partnerships are also being built in India, Nepal and Pakistan.The IMAS phenotyping network expanded to over 120,000 research plots at 25 locations in 10 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa; 20 percent of these phenotyping locations are at private sector research stations. A large population of DH lines derived through IMAS project has greatly accelerated breeding progress. In 2014, three confined field trial (CFT) sites for testing NUE transgenics were in advanced stage of certification by regulatory agencies. Forty-one new three-way cross hybrids were submitted for release in partnership with private sector seed companies in 10 ESA countries, along with 7 hybrids combining MLN tolerance with low N tolerance. Closer alignment with DTMA and WEMA projects is enabling more 4 DTMASS aims to facilitate the production of close to 12,000 MT of certified seed of drought tolerant maize varieties in the seven countries by end of the fifth year from the start of the project, benefiting approximately 400,000 households or 2.5 million people through increased production and productivity of maize and increased adoption of improved seed. The project has established strong partnerships with private and public seed companies, community-based organizations, NGOs and national extension systems to achieve its mission; a total of 53 seed companies have signed up to scale up 71 drought tolerant varieties.efficient identification and dissemination of elite products with improved grain yield under water deficit and nitrogen limiting conditions.In response to the growing threat of TSC infection, resistance screening began in 2010 in several hotspots in Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, identifying several promising experimental hybrids. In 2014, MAIZE partners released three TSC-resistant maize hybrids in Mexico, with a further three resistant hybrids (two in Guatemala and one in Honduras) scheduled for release in 2015.DH technology has fast-tracked the development of breeding populations from the TSC-resistant variety CLWN247 in Mexico. Genotyping-by-sequencing was conducted at Cornell University through the Genomic Diversity Facility; genome-wide association study (GWAS) analysis led to the identification of SNP variants responsible for Tar Spot resistance, and a priori candidate gene mining via enrichment analysis was also conducted. Two highly-resistant Maize Germplasm Bank accessions identified in the phenotypic trials have been crossed and backcrossed with appropriate CML lines to both improve them for root lodging, a major defect in these resistant open pollinated populations; and in parallel to enhance disease resistance of elite CML lines. Select open pollinated germplasm produced via this process will be provided to farmers in Tar Spot disease endemic areas after evaluation for disease resistance, agronomic performance and client acceptability.Early generation lines with upward of 75 percent CML background will be made available to breeders to use to enhance Tar Spot Resistance of both elite breeding lines for variety development.MAIZE and partners are also developing integrated tar spot management strategies for farmers, and are investigating the interplay between TSC and conservation agriculture.The Nutritious Maize for Ethiopia (NuME) project works to bring QPM to rural maize producers in Ethiopia, holding 1000 field days and QPM demonstration activities in 2014 and presenting two QPM hybrids, QHYB-1 and T QHYB-2, to the variety release committee. Their work has been greatly supported by the Ethiopian government's decision to plant at least 10 percent of all maize fields in Ethiopia with QPM in the next three years, an initiative created to demonstrate, popularize and promote QPM varieties as well as the potential of QPM as part of a balanced diet for smallholder farmers and urban dwellers, and for use in the food processing industry, livestock sector and export market.A total of 36 studies to assess maize adoption and impact pathways in Africa, Mexico, Nepal and India were published in 2014, providing crucial information for project planning, targeting and evaluation. Gender: Fisher and Kandiwa (2014) found that women farmers were 11 percent less likely to adopt modern maize varieties than their male counterparts. The receipt of a seed and fertilizer subsidy increased the probability of adoption by 222 percent for female heads of household, suggesting that programs such as the Malawian Farm Input Subsidy Program had reduced the gender gap in improved variety adoption. Kassie et al.(2014b) demonstrated a gap between male-and female-headed households in food security, with female headed households less food-secure than male headed households due to unobservable characteristics.In 2014, more than 135 tons of the aflatoxin bio-control agent Aflasafe TM were produced in IITA's Nigeria-based production unit, enough for deployment in 13,540 hectares. Of this, 118 tons were destined for Nigeria, 11 for Senegal, 3.4 for Zambia, and 1 each for Gambia, Ghana and Mozambique. Initial data from a separate study in Nigeria showed that farmers will receive a return of from 20 to 60 percent on investment in Aflasafe TM . Currently, MAIZE supports Aspergillus strain identification/collection in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Malawi. The number of countries requesting Aflasafe TM continues to expand, and in Kenya a new Aflasafe TM production plant is scheduled to be constructed in 2015.During 2014, the Integrated Striga Management for Africa (ISMA) Project directly reached over 270,000 smallholder farmers in northern Nigeria, and 120,000 in western Kenya, with maize varieties that produce grain yields up to 126 percent higher under Striga infestation, as compared to vulnerable commercial checks. A total of 112 tons of certified Imizapyr resistant (IR)-maize seed was produced by two seed companies in Kenya in 2014. IR-maize is conventionally bred herbicide resistant maize varieties combined with Imizapyr, an herbicidal seed coating. Also, in partnership with community based seed producers and private sector seed companies, about 1,243 tons of seed of Striga-resistant maize and 300 tons of Striga-resistant cowpea have been produced and disseminated to farmers in Nigeria through community, government, and commercial channels. Trials in the last three years showed that the bio-herbicide Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. strigae (Foxy2) in combination with Striga-resistant varieties increased grain yield by 1.4 t/ha in on-farm trials, with a net benefit of US$722/ha. This bio-herbicide does not produce known mycotoxins that pose health risks to farmers, attacks all growth stages of Striga, and is compatible with other complementary technologies for Striga control. Molecular detection tools specific to Foxy2 have been developed that unequivocally differentiate the bio-control agent from other pathogenic and mycotoxin-producing fungi.The CSISA project supports a network of more than 1,700 mechanized service providers (or 'change agent intermediary') across India. Service Providers offer agricultural custom-hire services to farmers at affordable rates; for example, charging $14.35 (Rs. 910) per hour for the tiller and $15.78 (Rs. 1,000) per hour for the Mould Board plow. These service providers bring the benefits of modern agricultural mechanization even to the smallest farmers.In 2014, MasAgro reached over 200,000 farmers directly and benefitted more than 600,000 people. Farmers witnessed a 17 percent average increase in maize yields; increasing farm incomes by up to 30 percent. The program is now present in 30 states of Mexico. Data on 36,000 maize farmers was collected to improve targeting and technical support, and a survey of 24 local seed companies selling MasAgro hybrids found that they had sold enough hybrid seed to cultivate over 760,000 hectares in 2014, increasing sales 46 percent from 2011 to 2014 From 14.5 tons of basic seed and 26 tons of pre/commercial seed distributed by MasAgro, its network of 33 small-and medium-sized seed companies produced over 1.92 million kg of 26 new hybrids.In addition to the research achievements highlighted in A.2 and C.1 ('Gennovate', KIT study into gender and mechanization), efforts to integrate gender considerations in participatory varietal selection continued in 2014 and as part of the seed system portfolio, a special study on gender as a customer attribute was implemented and a draft gender strategy for maize seed system development developed. Initiatives to integrate gender considerations in advisory service provision, small-scale entrepreneurship and conservation agriculture have continued.In 2014, a study on gender and post-harvest management technologies was carried out in four countries of SSA, while MAIZE and WHEAT carried out a study to identify avenues to improve gender equality and empower women professionals in research. The write-ups for both studies are expected in 2015.A revised version of the MAIZE gender strategy was developed and endorsed by the MAIZE management committee in November 2014. Scientists and research teams are increasingly demanding gender inputs and attempting to integrate gender considerations in maize research-for-development (R4D). Nevertheless, numerous challenges remain, particularly in relation to bilateral funding and insecurity in W1&2 funding, which significantly limits the basis to increase number of CRP gender staff and consultants.Gender performance self-assessment as per Annex 2: approaching requirements.Given the strength of downstream partnerships funded predominantly via bilateral projects, MAIZE continues to strengthen strategic upstream partnerships. MAIZE  We continue to get a very strong and positive response to MAIZE competitive grants and allocate them on an annual basis, based on mid-year announcements. Allocation towards the end of the year allows better management of fluctuating W&W2 budgets offering substantial opportunities to invest in promising partner collaborations both within and outside the CGIAR. This is outlined in Sections C1 and C2.MAIZE CRP provides a large range of services related to the maize product development chain and conservation agriculture practices to its partners at all levels, promoting individual and organizational empowerment. In 2014, over 30,000 individuals (33 percent female) received technical backstopping and capacity-building. Technical backstopping includes: breeding support, variety testing and registration, and guidance on production of breeders' seed, pre-basic, basic and certified seed, farmers' field days, intercommunity exchanges and events on product deployment and production. Over 3,800 individuals (45 percent women) were involved in capacity-development activities on germplasm development and production in 2014 alone.MAIZE works through an extensive network of private companies. In 2014, the International Maize Improvement Consortium (IMIC)-Asia worked with over 35 SME seed companies. In Mexico, 68 SME partners contribute to over 155 testing sites under MasAgro. In Africa, 72 small, 12 medium and 1 large national enterprises, 3 regional and 1 international companies partner under MAIZE across 13 countries. As a result of capacity-building, 24 SMEs in Mexico increased their sales by 46 percent in 2011-2014, while some SMEs in Tanzania and Uganda have tripled seed production and delivery of improved maize varieties in the last 2 years.In 2014, a risk management matrix was created to regularly assess and manage risks related to the delivery of results by the CRP. The three major risks identified were: (1) W1&W2 budget insecurity and delayed transfer of W1&2 funds, which directly affects CRP research and development operations; (2) unfulfilled obligations by the partners for commissioned and competitive grants; (3) lack of a systematic and integrated approach for monitoring and evaluation at the outcome level.To mitigate risk (1), the CRP Management Committee gives priority to multi-year investments of centers and partners, and uses the issuing of new partner grants as the most flexible component of the budget. MAIZE continues to sign only one-year partner grant contracts, to manage partner expectations and minimize any delays of payments to them. For risk (2), MAIZE regularly monitors the fulfillment of obligations by partners and intervenes when necessary to ensure proper completion of grant requirements. As for risk (3), the MAIZE and WHEAT have hired a shared Senior Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialist to strengthen the CRP monitoring and evaluation system. A number of CIMMYT initiatives were also identified to contribute to minimizing risk, including the implementation of the Research Management System.The information reported in Annex 1 is obtained from detailed data found in a variety of sources, including project technical reports and institutional databases. The program is confident in the quality of the indicator information supplied. However, the program will continue to improve the systematic approach to collecting the quantitative evidence and other types of performance indicators from across the program to improve the process and time required to collect and analyze the information.MAIZE reorganized its strategy around five Flagship Projects in 2014, following a standardization of CRP structure, reflected in Table 1 under indicators 1, 2 and 3. MAIZE endorses the positions of other CRPs on the need for clarified definitions of some indicators to support consistent and reliable reporting across CRPs.Notwithstanding the many positive outcomes achieved by the CRP, additional efforts are needed to improve project management, monitoring and evaluation quality at both the project and program levels.MAIZE developed a standardized process and associated tools for project planning and design in 2014, including clear roles and responsibilities for each step and decision. It has also identified key steps where inputs from specialists (e.g. gender, monitoring and evaluation, communications) are effectively integrated in CRP management.The CRP foresees a number of future efforts to support project and program management, including capacity building in the development of theories of change, impact pathways and monitoring and evaluation plans, and development and implementation of a monitoring, evaluation and learning strategy.There are 9 financial reports:  5 An explanatory note for this item is forthcoming 6 An explanatory note for this item is being preparedThe traffic light indicator sums up the progress achieved of projects under MAIZE, per flagship project in 2014, regardless of their funding (Windows 1& 2 or bilateral funded). It monitors the progress per FP output, per FP and for the CRP as a whole.Overall MAIZE performance was 85% on annual milestones/deliverables associated with FP outputs based on projects reported. Despite a number of smaller delays, which are being tracked, no significant issues were reported. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b3b856513bdeaddb3a2c6d3303cebb2a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e00fbab8-71e3-4b0a-b066-8e1b474c0e8a/retrieve","id":"1822275250"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2e275a7a-4d3f-4611-9bb6-e9e7d4f92d17","content":"Description of the innovation: Rice Crop Manager (RCM) is a decision-making tool designed for use by extension workers, crop advisors, agricultural service providers, and farmer leaders who use RCM through the web browser of a personal computer, tablet, or smartphone. After the interview, collected information can be stored on the computer, tablet, or smartphone until the device is connected to the Internet through a web browser. Each guideline provides an actionable recommendation, with location-specific cropping practices."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f2c54ec957d83b04281e57116fb32743","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://data.cimmyt.org/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=hdl:11529/10548767/1","id":"299773026"},"keywords":["Biological yield","Nitrogen uptake","Permanent bed","Yield attributes"],"sieverID":"75ad8040-946d-48e5-8be6-050d577aeb10","content":"A field experiment was conducted in maize under medium-term conservation agriculture (CA) based maizewheat system at BISA-CIMMYT, Ladhowal, Punjab during kharif 2019 to assess the effect of CA+ practices (CA with sub-surface drip irrigation) with variable N doses on maize. The CA+ treatments were residue retained (WR) permanent bed (PB) with sub-surface drip fertigation (PB-SSD): without N (N0), 120 kg N/ha,150 kg N/ha applied in 4-equal (Eq) and differential splits (Df); CA alone treatment includ PB furrow irrigation with 120 kg N/ha (PBWR-Furrow-N120); conventional tillage (CT) involved furrow irrigation with 120 kg N/ha (CTWOR-Furrow-N120) and other treatments were residue removed (WOR) PB: PBWOR-without N (N0), with 120 kg N/ha, and 150 kg N/ha applied in four Eq-splits and Df-splits. The findings of the present experiment showed that the numerical value of yield attributing characters were higher under CA+ plots as compared to CA alone (PBWR-Furrow-N120) and CT (CTWOR-Furrow-N120). Biological yield of maize was significantly higher in all CA+ plots as compared to CA alone and CT plots. Highest biological yield was recorded under PBWR-SSD-N150 Df (23.45 t/ha). Highest no. of cobs (72800/ha), no. of grains/cob (605) and cob length (22.61cm) along with dry matter resulted highest biological yield in PBWR-SSD-N150 plots. The grain N content remained statistically similar across all the N management plots, but in case of total N uptake, PBWR-SSD-N150 Df (CA+) plots dominated due to higher biomass. Besides, CA+ based PBWR-SSD-N120 (average of Df and Eq) registered 23-24% higher total N uptake than CA alone (PBWR-Furrow-N120) and conventional (CTWOR-Furrow-N120) plots. Improved agronomic N use-efficiency was also recorded under CA+ plots as compared to CA alone (36.4 kg/kg N) and CT (36.7 kg/kg N) plots.Maize-wheat (MW) system is third most important cropping system (~1.86 Mha) and has potential to expand in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) (Jat et al. 2019). MW system with conservation based (CA) based practices have twin benefits of superior food and fodder supply as well as enhanced soil health (Parihar et al. 2016). Precise water management through micro-irrigation/drip irrigation has shown numerous benefits in terms of irrigation water savings, increase in yield and quality, and nutrient use-efficiency in horticulture and vegetable crops (Mohammad 2015). To address the water scarcity problem, nowadays surface drip irrigation has been evaluated as a viable option for the wide spaced cereals like maize (Lamm et al. 1997), rice and wheat (Sharda et al. 2017). To deal with this bottleneck and better farmers' ease for acceptance of drip irrigation in cereal-based systems, sub-surface drip irrigation (SSDI) can be a way forward. In contrast to surface drip irrigation, SSDI system restricts further evaporation losses from the soil surface, facilitate the delivery of water and nutrients directly to the root zone that leads to efficient water use, reduces weed emergence, labor cost, and allows seeding with CA-based no-tillage practices (Sidhu et al. 2019).Along with efficient water management, precise nitrogen (N) application directly to the crop root zone through SSDI may open a new avenue for N management in the context of CA in crops like maize over conventional broadcasting, as large amount of split applied broadcasted N remains over crop residues thereby it undergoes losses particularly through volatilization and microbial immobilization. Fertigation through SSDI system reduces the losses of N through volatilization and leaching thereby enhances the nutrient use-efficiency Hagin et al. (2003). But information on optimization of rate and time of N application through sub-surface drip fertigation (SSDF) and their impact on N use-efficiency in maize under CA-based MW system is lacking in India. Therefore, keeping above facts in mind the present study was planned and carried out to evaluate the effects of residue management and sub-surface drip fertigation on crop performance and N use-efficiency of maize under CA-based MW system.The field experiment was conducted during kharif 2019 at BISA-CIMMYT, Ladhowal (30.99°N latitude, 75.44°E longitude, 229 m ASL), Punjab, India. The region is characterized by a sub-tropical and semi-arid climate with annual rainfall of 734 mm. The total amount of rainfall acived during the crop growing season (20 th June, 2019 to 13 th October, 2019) was 488.22 mm. The soils of this region basically are of alluvial in origin, flat and well drained sandy loam soil.Installation of sub-surface drip irrigation system: Polythene made laterals with 16 mm inner diameter were laid parallel to crop rows at 20 cm soil depth. Laterals consist of line-source emitters spaced at 30 cm interval with 2 litres/hour discharge capacity (at 135 kPa pressure). The laterals were spaced at 67.5 cm and each of them supplied water for one row of maize crop. The system was fitted with hydro-cyclone filter and screen filter (100-micron mesh size) for filtration of groundwater. Venturi injectors were used for fertigation and the required suction was developed by using upstream and downstream pressure.Crop establishment and treatments: The permanent beds (PB) were prepared using a bed planter and were kept undisturbed year after year with only a reshaping (once in a year). The mid-furrow to mid-furrow width of all PB plots was 67.5 cm along with 37 cm wide flat tops, and depth of furrow was 15 cm. In CT plots, initially soil was inverted by one deep tillage followed by 2-ploughings with cultivator and thus the final fresh beds were prepared with the help of bed maker. After harvesting of maize and wheat lach year, 50% and 25% of residues of both crops, respectively were kept on the soil surface in all the CAbased PB plots (PBWR), while in case of CT and without residue retained PB (PBWOR) plots residues of both crops were removed. Maize hybrid (P3396) was sown using maize plants with a seed rate of 20 kg/ha on 20 th June, 2019 and was harvested on 13 th October, 2019. The experiment was framed in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with 12-treatments and replicated thrice.In total 12 treatments were selected in this experiment. CA+ treatments were residue retained (WR) permanent bed (PB) with sub-surface drip fertigation (PB-SSD): PBWR-SSD-N0, PBWR-SSD-N120Eq, PBWR-SSD-N120Df, PBWR-SSD-N150 Eq and PBWR-SSD-N150 Df. CA alone treatment included PB furrow irrigation with 120 kg N/ha (PBWR-Furrow-N120); CT treatment (without residue WoR) involved; furrow irrigation with 120 kg N/ha (CTWOR-Furrow-N120) and other treatments were residue removed (WOR) PB: PBWOR-without N (N0), with 120 and 150 kg N/ha applied in four equal (Eq) splits and differential (Df) splits (25% extra N at knee high stage). A common dose of 60 kg/ha P 2 O 5 + 30 kg/ha K 2 O was applied to all plots as basal. Except N0 (no nitrogen) treatments, all other treatments received 23.5 kg N fertilizer along with the common basal dose of P and K. Rest 96.5 kg and 126.5 kg N was allotted for SSD-N120 Eq (both PBWOR and PBWR) and SSD-N150 Eq (both PBWOR and PBWR) plots, respectively and was fertigated in four equal splits at 15 days interval starting from 21 days after sowing (DAS). Whereas, in PBWOR-SSD-N120 Df, PBWR-SSD-N120 Df and PBWOR-N150 Df, PBWR-N150 Df plots 25% extra N i.e. 30.2 kg and 39.5 kg N, respectively were applied at knee high stage (~21 DAS). The rest amount of N was applied into 3-equal (Eq) splits at 15 days interval. In furrow irrigated plots (CTWOR-furrow-N120, PBWRfurrow-N120) the remaining N (96.5 kg) was top dressed in two equal splits at knee-high stage (~21 DAS) and at pre tasselling stage (~45 DAS).Yield attributes and yield: Yield attributes, yields and harvest index of maize were measured as per the standard procedure described by Parihar et al. (2018) and Nayak et al. (2019).Plant nitrogen analysis and N-use efficiency: N content in stover and grain was determined by CHNS analyser. The N uptake in grain and stover were computed by multiplying N content with maize yields.Nitrogen use-efficiency was calculated as; Agronomic N use-efficiency (ANUE) (kg grain yield increase/kg N applied) = (Grain yield (kg) in fertilized plot−Grain yield (kg) in control plot)/kg of N applied.Statistical analysis: Analysis of variance was performed using the GLM procedures of the statistical analysis system (SAS Institute, Cary, NC) for Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) (Gomez and Gomez 1984). The differences between treatment means were performed by least significant difference (LSD) test at P<0.05.Yield attributes and biological yield: Highest number of cobs/ha was observed in PBWR-SSD-N150 Df (72,800) treatment followed by PBWR-SSD-N150Eq (72,460). On an average the CA-based SSDF N120 PB treatments (CA+) had 1829 and 2029 nos. of more cobs per hectare than the CA alone furrow irrigated N120 PB (PBWR-Furrow-N120) and conventional treatment (CTWOR-Furrow-N120), respectively (Table 1). Similarly, there were 1412 more cobs recorded in SSD-N150 Eq treatments (average of both residue retained and residue removed plots) over the SSD-N120 Eq plots. The number of cobs were higher by 1429 in SSD-N150 Df treatment compared to SSD-N120 Df treatment plots. Cob length was also significantly (P<0.05) affected by contrasting tillage, residue and N management methods (Table 1). Highest cob length (22.61 cm) was recorded in PBWR-SSD-N150 Df plots which were statistically at par with other SSDF treatment except PBWOR-SSD-N120 Eq. Application of 120 kg N/ha through SSDF in residue retained PB plots (CA+) 144 PATRA ET AL.(PBWR-SSD-N120 Eq and PBWR-SSD-N120 Df) did not increase cob length significantly over CA alone PBWR-Furrow-N120 treatment. However, PBWR-SSD-N150 Df treatment (CA+) resulted 2.47 cm and 3.13 cm increase in cob length over PBWR-Furrow-N120 (CA alone) and CTWOR-Furrow-N120 (conventional) plots, respectively. Treatment PBWR-SSD-N150 of and PBWR-SSD-N150 Eq had highest number of granis per row (36). Contrasting tillage practices, N and irrigation management methods also significantly (P<0.05) affected the number of grains per cob. Highest number of grains per cob (605) was recorded in PBWR-SSD-N150 Df treatment, although it was at par with other SSDF treatments. The effect of 120 kg N/ha application through SSDF and surface broadcasting (furrow irrigated plots) were also at par with respect to number of grains per cob. On an average the CA-based sub-surface drip fertigated N120 PB plots (CA+) had 33 and 48 more grains per cob than the CA alone and conventional treatment, respectively (Table 1).The yield attributing characters of maize, i.e., cob length, girth (P<0.05) and number of grains per row (P<0.05) were significantly correlated with maize grain yield (Fig 1A). The degree of correlation between grains per cob and grain yield was more prominent in differential N application (Df) (25% extra during knee high stage) treatments than the equal split treatments (Fig 1B). Yield attributing characters of maize i.e. cob length and grains per cob were more strongly correlated with grain yield of SSDF-N150 plots than SSDF-120 plots (data not presented). All SSDF treatments had significantly higher biological yield as compared to furrow irrigated (CTWOR-Furrow-N120 and PBWR-Furrow-N120) treatments (Table 1). Although, PBWR-SSD-N150 Df treatment plots resulted highest biological yield (23.45 t/ha), the value was statistically at par with PBWOR-SSD-N150 Df (21.90 t/ha), PBWR-SSD-N150 Eq (22.5 t/ha). The significant biological yield difference between CA+ based PBWR-SSD-N120 (both Eq and Df) plots and PBWR-Furrow-N120 (CA alone) was mainly due to adoption of SSDF technology over furrow irrigated and surface broadcasted of N fertilizer. In this experiment we have estimated a decrease in biological yield of CT plots by about 16% over PBWOR-SSD-N120 (average of both Eq and Df treatments) (Table 1). The magnitude of yield gap could be higher if the comparison was drawn among CTWOR-Furrow-N120 and other SSDF treatments. Result of the study showed that there was a positive effect of residue retention and differential N application (through SSDF) on biological yield of maize (Table 1) which may in turn increased N availability and thereby biological yield. Similar results were also observed by Jat et al. (2018) and Parihar et al. (2018).Frequent irrigation and adequate N application through SSDF may have increased number of filled grains per cob, cob length and biomass accumulation which can be again correlated to higher biological yield in SSDF plots as compared to furrow irrigated CA and CT plots. These findings were similar with the result of O'Neill et al. (2008) and Bai et al. (2009). Martinez-Hernandez et al. (1991) also reported greater ear diameter, ear dry matter production, plant height and total dry matter production of maize under SSDF. Higher number of cobs/ha in SSDF plots also indicated that synchronous water and N management is crucial in order to reduce inter-plant competition (Wu et al. 2019). Precision water and nutrient management (application of N @120 and 150 kg/ha) through subsurface drip irrigation technology may have resulted in accumulation of more photosynthates in SSDF plots than furrow irrigated plots.Nitrogen content, uptake pattern, nitrogen use-efficiency (NUE): In present study among the imposed treatments the highest total N uptake was recorded from PBWR-SSD-N150 Eq (150.26 kg/ha) treatment which was statistically at par with other N150 plots (Table 2). Total N uptake in CTWOR-Furrow-N120 and CA-based PBWR-Furrow-N120 treatments were significantly lower than all the SSDF treatments (both CA+ and non-CA+). CA+ based PBWR-SSD-N120 (average of both Df and Eq) plot registered 23 and 24% higher total N uptake than furrow irrigated CA alone and conventional treatments, respectively. On average N uptake was increased by 21.3 kg/ha with application of additional 30 kg N (in N150 plots) over SSDF N120 treatments. The N harvest index ranged from 67.62% (PBWOR-SSD-N0) to 76.20% (PBWR-SSD-N120 Df) (Table 2). NHI of all the N fertilized (both SSDF and surface broadcasted) treatments were statistically similar. Furthermore, the PBWOR-SSD-N150 Df and PBWR-SSD-N150 Eq treatments also remained statistically at par with N0 plots in terms of NHI. The mineral N availability was higher when N was directly applied to the root zone through SSDF. Wu et al. (2019) also observed higher amount of available NO 3 -N for plants in the root zone when supplied through fertigation to conventional method. The higher N uptake under SSDF as compared to CAalone (PBWR-Furrow-N120) and CT plots (CTWOR-Furrow-N120) may be justified with the above facts. Grain N content was statistically similar in all treatments whereas stover N content differed. Higher straw N (%) content was recorded under no nitrogen condition (N0). Under no nitrogen condition initiation of physiological maturity was not uniform and there was considerable overlap between vegetative and reproductive phases in existing population.Plants in these plots may have accumulated soil inherent N in excess, but at the same time incapable to remobilize considerable amount of N into grains as the sink development was poor (Uribelarrea et al. 2007). Comparatively lower stover N% was recorded in residue retained plots than its counterpart (residue removal). More vegetative N remobilization into grain under residue retained condition may be a reason behind low stover N content in residue retained plots. Ultimate N content in grain is a combined effect of both remobilized pre-anthesis N and N absorbed during grain filling process. Highest ANUE (49.4 kg/kg N) was recorded under PBWR-SSD-N120 Df which remained statistically at par with other SSDF treatments except PBWOR-SSD-N150 Eq (Table 2).Among the N fertilized treatments (both SSDF and surface broadcasted) comparatively lower ANUE was recorded under furrow irrigated CT (36.7 kg/kg N) and CA alone (PBWR-Furrow-N120) (36.4 kg/kg N) plots. The average ANUE of CA+ N120 treatments (PBWR-SSD-N120 Eq and PBWR-SSD-N120 Df) were11.6 and 11.2% higher than furrow irrigated CT and CA alone treatments, respectively. With reduction in losses of applied N due to direct sub-surface application (spoon feeding) of N fertilizer, the ANUE found to be increased in all SSDF asaffected by contrasting tillage, residue, N and irrigation management practices (Supporting Information).plots. ANUE was higher under sub-surface drip irrigated condition due to higher yield per kg of applied N (Wu et al. 2019). Lamm et al. (2004) in silt loam soils of western Kansas registered 53 kg/kg ANUE in maize when the crop was supplied with 180 kg N/ha using SSDF. Recently, under a CA-based system study in north-west India, Jat et al (2019) reported that CA+ practice adopted in MW-mungbean system recorded a partial factor productivity (PFP) value of 53.4 (kg maize grain/kg N applied) with application of 140 kg N/ha through SSDF. Increase in N dose by 30 kg over 120 kg increased the crop yield but comparatively at a lower rate which led to slight reduction of ANUEs in SSD-N150.In conclusion the results of our study suggest adoption of SSDF as a means of increasing crop productivity, saving of precious irrigation water, increasing NUE in CA-based maize grown in MW sequence. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"05cd2073ef7ca5b770b43831d5e5740c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e78c8429-5d79-4e61-bbbc-d36afeb4335a/retrieve","id":"1583616750"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3038a5b4-d4ea-4795-a52a-718338e4b4de","content":"production but at the same time disclaim any liability, loss or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.Although suggestions and recommendations given are accurate in most cases, because of the diversity in the region they are sometimes general in nature and may not meet the specific circumstances of individual situations. Moreover, mention, visual representation or inferred reference of a product, service, manufacturer or organisation in this publication does not imply endorsement by the authors. Exclusion does not imply a negative evaluation. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.List of Tables Table 3.1: Performance of rabbits (mean values) fed three different forages with a commercial rabbit concentrate /59 With each passing day, the need to produce healthy and nutritious food in a sustainable manner increases. While scientists and food producers actively seek out alternative ways to produce food to meet this demand, other challenging events to food production now require a redoubling of efforts. The ever increasing impacts of climate change in the Caribbean which have been predicted to be manifested in more frequent extreme events such as stronger hurricanes, longer droughts, severe floods, and more virulent pests and diseases, now demand that sustainable food production should rise to the top of the region's agenda for immediate action.The pressing need for food following extreme events is likely to force producers to engage in non-sustainable practices such as: injudicious use of inorganic chemicals, misuse of scarce water resources, practise extreme land tillage practices, abandon rest periods, and clear virgin forests, all in an effort to produce food rapidly in a period of high demand. All of these, and other likely non-sustainable practices which may be adopted because of urgency to meet the demand for food in a dire situation, could roll back the gains the region has made in the last few years towards implementing more sustainable food production practices.The role of education in the effort to produce safe and nutritious food in a sustainable manner is of paramount importance, and therefore cannot be overstated. Research will have little impact if food producers are not adequately educated and well-equipped to make deliberate and determined efforts to adopt more sustainable approaches to food production over the entire value chain.To support the region's effort to develop a sustainable food production system, the first volume titled Sustainable Food Production Practices in the Caribbean was published in 2012. This second volume is meant to provide a seamless transition from Volume 1. It provides technical information, in an easy reading style on a variety of practices, which if adopted, have the potential to transform present unsustainable approaches to food Isaac Bekele, PhD Dean, Faculty of Food and Agriculture The University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and TobagoSustainable Food Production Practices in the Caribbean -Volume 2 production to those which can meet the region's food needs while reducing stresses and strains on the environment. The quality and appropriateness of the information in this volume, as well as the de-emphasis on technical jargon, makes this book essential reading for students in agriculture at all levels and in particular, the CSEC and CAPE levels and for those pursuing the various Diplomas in Agriculture around the region. While it can be also used as a reference book by students at the higher level, some eager farmers could make use of its offerings. Although the two volumes are useful as essential resource materials for the region's extension practitioners, their content is relevant and appropriate to tropical agriculture generally.The region has taken too long to embark on the road to sustainable food production, and the consequences are ever present, as can be seen in the denuded hillsides in some countries, an over-abundance of weeds, pests and diseases, unusable soils, and the heavy use of chemicals. The region has a long road to recovery. Sustainable production of safe and nutritious food is therefore critical to the welfare of all people in the region. This second volume is aimed at supporting the region's effort to develop sustainable food production systems by promoting the use of appropriate practices, as the region cannot always expect the problems faced internally to be solved externally. Land, water and other non-renewable resources in the region are very limited, and are now being threatened by events over which we have little control. Despite this however, all of us who live in this region can take actions to mitigate any negative impacts. To overcome these imminent challenges, the region must strengthen its efforts to work harder and smarter to achieve more sustainable food production systems, a legacy for future generations of the Caribbean.Sustainable Food Production Practices in the Caribbean -Volume 2 of food for local consumption in the Caribbean with some potential for export. While it is important to note the recent trends in large-scale production, including a long decline in plantation systems geared for the export of single crops, and more recent attempts to boost commercial farming for delivery to niche export markets, the chapter looks at recent and emerging efforts to implement non-traditional systems geared to small-scale farming. These systems are aimed at strengthening local food security and adapting traditional farming methods in the face of climate change.Chapter Eleven traces the historical evolution of the agro-forestry system, and gives a broad overview of agro-forestry from an international perspective. Agro-forestry is presented as an exciting opportunity for farmers but not as a cure-all for all our land-use problems.As with any other land-use option, agro-forestry involves trade-offs, i.e., some short-term gains may have to be given up for the sake of long-term sustainability. Throughout the chapter, references and examples are provided for countries belonging to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).The final chapter in the book, Chapter Twelve, presents a note that introduces a method for growing Tilapia in Atlantic seawater in the island of St Kitts as a sustainable alternative to the traditional coastal fishery systems.In conclusion, it is our deep desire that this book will be a fitting complement to Volume 1 and that all who read it will be greatly enriched by the wealth of information presented by the various contributions.In the world today, there are over 500 million small producers and family farms. Eighty percent of all farm holdings in developing countries, including the Caribbean, are family owned and operated, and although they practise small scale production, grow 80 percent of the world's food that feeds billions every day. Small producers and family farms are also known to be important preservers of the world's natural resources as they conserve ecosystems and biodiversity. At the same time, they experience many barriers because of the size of their operations, systems of production, what they produce, their modus operandi, and their management practices. Further, the areas where women predominate as farm managers, partners, family labour and/or wage labourers, are continuously neglected because of gender discrimination. As a result, it is difficult for many small producers and family farms to move beyond subsistence levels. Consequently most of the world's poor are the very ones producing half of the world's food -the women and men small farmers and their families.Most farming families live in humble homes and operate low-resource farms. They are often stereotyped as uneducated, resistant to technology and modern practices, and are criticized for having a non-profit management orientation. Nevertheless, the data show that small producers and family farms are consistently producing food in sustainable ways. The United Nations (UN) reports that small producers and family farms play a major role in hunger reduction and sustainable development and has designated 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming. They also suggest thatThe Role of Small Producers, Family Farms and Women Farmers in Sustainable Food Production and Food Security Theresa Ann Rajack-Talley agricultural production worldwide should be transformed from predominantly large-scale and intensive farming systems to small-scale sustainable models, in order to alleviate poverty and eradicate hunger (UN 2011). In the Caribbean, this means a tangible shift from the favoured male-dominated, 'cash' crop export-oriented focus to domestic food production and greater emphasis on the role of women in agriculture. This will require a repositioning of the farm family system from the periphery to the centre of the region's agricultural sector. A redirection of Caribbean agriculture is extremely important at this time for two main reasons. First the food import bill has been rapidly climbing and was estimated at US$3-6 billion for the region for the 2012-2013 period. With the exception of Belize and Guyana, most of the Caribbean countries are net importers of food, averaging 60 percent in some cases and as high as 80 percent in others. Such high levels of food importation compete with local food production and gives rise to uncertainties in the domestic agricultural sector and food prices. Further, a heavy dependency on importation to satisfy food demands presents a threat to the region's food security and the dietary patterns and nutrition of Caribbean people. The importation of foods is usually accompanied by a fast food culture and the use of highly processed foods that elevate levels of salt, fats and sugars, and often results in an increase in obesity, hypertension, and other health related conditions. Secondly, the removal of protective markets for some of the region's most important agricultural exports such as sugar and bananas has resulted in a decline in the sales and prices of these products on the open market. Consequently, farm families who depended on the sales from export crops experienced serious losses in income. To a large extent, prior farm owners had no other alternative but to become wage earners and seek non-agricultural sources of income, losing the freedom and autonomy that family farms offered. Additionally, hundreds of farm labourers from rural villages across the Caribbean are now unemployed.These developments in the Caribbean have fronted an urgent call to diversify the agricultural sector and focus on food security and sustainable development. At the core of this plan lies the network of small producers and family farms that are scattered throughout the landscape of the region. Since women play major roles as small producers in local food production and marketing, such a reorientation also necessitates addressing gender issues in agriculture (FAO 2011). In other words, supporting small farming systems and gender equality are both necessary for sustainable agricultural development that meets the food and healthy dietary needs of people, maintains and generates employment, and supports the social, cultural, and economic development of rural communities and society at large.The following analyses and discussions attempt to explain further the role of small producers and family farms in sustainable agricultural production, food security, and economic growth for the Caribbean. In the process, the negative images of the 'peasant'| 3The Role of Small Producers, Family Farms and Women Farmers in Sustainable Food Production and Food Security farmer are demystified and the role of women in domestic food production, processing and marketing, inevitably becomes central to the discussions. They begin with a brief account of the history of small producers and family farms and their role in agricultural diversification.The continued importance of the sector and small farm production systems are discussed along with a profile of the small producer and the family farm. Core to the discourse is the relationship between the plantation system and the family farming system, the export market and the domestic food sector. Within the discourse, women's roles are highlighted, their potential explored, and the challenges they face identified. At the end of the chapter, recommendations are made that tie together small producers, family farms, gender equality, and sustainable food production in the Caribbean. However before we discuss the role of small producers, family farms, and women in food security and sustainable development, it is important to understand what is food security and what do we mean by sustainable development. The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as having three main pillars:• Food availability: sufficient quantities on a consistent basis;• Food access: having sufficient resources to obtain appropriate foods for nutritious diets; and• Food use: appropriate use based on knowledge of basic nutrition along with adequate water and sanitation.On the other hand, according to the Atangana (2012), the President of the Pan-African Farmers' Association, for agricultural development to be sustainable the following basic principles should be adhered to:• The system should be able to feed the family and ensure an income;• The system must work in harmony with the environment and therefore be based on agro-ecological production;• The sector should also be able to sustain employment; and• Sustainable agricultural development should incorporate agricultural diversification as an alternative to industrial type mono-cropping systems Achieving sustainable food production, therefore, ensures food security and having food security means that the basic right of people to the food they need is met. Within these two understandings, the small producer and the family farm appear to be good models on which sustainable food production can be built. Moreover, both the small producer and the family farm have proven to be persistent and strong features of the rural landscape of many Caribbean countries. On these farms women are the main growers of local foods, and in the home they assume responsibility for planning and preparing the meals/diets of families, and society at large. It stands to reason therefore, that regional food security can be increased by changing the focus of agricultural production to support the small producer and the family farm, as well as enhancing the wide ranging role of women. But who are small farmers and how can family farms contribute to sustainable development?Farmers who produce on a small scale are often part of a family farm operation and are sometimes referred to as peasants, small farmers or small cultivators. In the Caribbean, the history of their evolution is tied to the post-emancipation period of plantation production under colonialism. However, peasant-type activities were observed long before emancipation when under slavery (pre-1938 period) enslaved women and men grew most of their own food and were allowed to sell the excess in open-air markets. The small producer and family farming systems as we know them today were started after emancipation and located either on the peripheries of the plantations or on abandoned estates. Some were established in the mountainous interiors -wherever ex-slaves could find land. The now freed peasant workers had no choice but to continue to work on the plantations for cash, however, their orientations were to reject the plantation system of mass production, monoculture agriculture, and a dependence on foreign control.The historical evolution of small producers and family farms Marshall (1983) identified three stages of growth of the small farming system or the peasantry as he called it. The period of establishment (1838-1850/60), during which there was a huge desire by emancipated slaves to acquire land and use the skill and knowledge they gained from working on the plantations to become independent cultivators. Land acquisition, however, varied from one Caribbean country to another. In the smaller territories with well-established sugar plantations, such as Barbados, St Kitts and Antigua, there were fewer opportunities to access and purchase land. On the other hand, in Jamaica, Trinidad, British Guiana, and the Windward Islands, there were greater opportunities for land acquisition and the establishment of small peasant farms.Secondly, there was the stage of consolidation which extended to the 1900s. During this period, the monies earned from selling mainly ground provisions were used by the plantation labourers to purchase their own small farm holdings and become independent cultivators. Many small villages were established at this time and the small-scale farmers expanded their operations to include the production of crops for the export markets. As the small | 7The Role of Small Producers, Family Farms and Women Farmers in Sustainable Food Production and Food Security• Farm lands are either owned, or rented/leased, shared with other family members, or illegally occupied (squatters) on government or absentee landlord-owned estates.It is also common to find farmers utilizing a combination of these different tenure arrangements;• Farm size can vary, but small operations range from 0.2-2.0 ha. There is also a group of landless farmers;• Many farmers have separate plots of land that are dispersed, of different sizes and tenure arrangements; and not all the land is utilized at the same time;• Mixed farming is practiced, which incorporates a combination of crop production, livestock husbandry, forestry, artisanal fishery and small scale aquaculture;• Some farmers practice agricultural diversification, producing food both for the home and the local markets, as well as for the export market;• Farmers devote a major part of their time to cultivation using mainly their own labour and that of family members, with little paid help from non-family labourers. The primary farmer both manages the farm and is part of the farm labour;The livelihoods of family members are dependent on the farm, but many rural households cannot depend entirely on agricultural production and combine income from the farm with cash earned from off-farm agricultural and non-agricultural activities.Information on the socio-economic description of the small farmer is not readily available but the common depiction is of an aged, predominantly male population. This may be the case in many countries such as Jamaica for example, where the average male farmer is 50-60 years old. However, the census of agriculture data for many Caribbean countries record the small farmer as male, ranging in age from 41 to 54 years, while women farmers are recorded as comprising 30 percent of the farming population. In a few countries young people are becoming involved in farming, however in general, youth under the age of 25 years show little interest and women under 35 are absent from the statistics as farm holders. Approximately, 50 percent of small farmers have some level of primary level education, 20 percent have secondary school certification, and a few have post-secondary or tertiary education (FAO 2012). These demographics are important when working with the small farmer as they help to determine the best form of communication, how to exchange information and technology, and overall, how to work with the farming families.Most farmers continue to access their information from informal sources, family members, other farmers, and based on their own experiences. They also talk with agricultural shop owners and extension officers. Radio and to a lesser extent television programmes focused on aspects of farming, are also of interest to them. More recently, farmers turn to their children to access the internet for information and research. Interestingly, while it is common to hear farmers say that they do not want their children to follow in their footsteps and encourage and invest in their children's education, they do engage their children in farming as part of a family business. However, the family farming businesses of these small Caribbean farmers do not conform to your stereotypical business model. As a result, it is often missed by professionals who argue that farmers need to change their approach and become more businesslike -rather than see the family farm model as one of many different business models that can lead to sustainable development.More often than not, farming offers an opportunity when all other doors are closed either because of lack of qualifications, job opportunities, or resources. As a whole farmers comprise a mixed group of individuals. Some are innovators, while others are less willing to change their traditional methods of farming. Most admit that they enjoy farming, have a profound love and respect of the land, and take pride in having a keen sense of the importance of being able to produce food for family and country.Whether small farmers and farming families are innovators or traditionalist is best understood by examining the many reasons why they do not readily change their agricultural practices. The most common factors include inadequate information and the lack of the requisite technical and financial resources. However, even when these are provided some farmers are still hesitant to adapt and improvise because they are not yet convinced that the risks associated with these 'unproven' ideas are worth taking chances. Caribbean small farmers do have what has been described as an aversion to risk under uncertainty (Beckford 2002). Others also suggest that Caribbean small farmers exhibit the characteristics of risk appraisers and/or adoption appraisers (Beckford and Campbell 2013). There is however, one valid explanation for such behaviour that is usually missed by scientists and policy makers, that is, farmers exercise human agency in their decision-making, especially when the survival of their families is at risk.In most small farming households, families are highly dependent on food and income derived from agricultural practices that have sustained them for years, albeit at meagre or adequate levels. When new ideas are presented, it is imperative that farmers and their families appraise the risk of the situation and assess the possibilities of losing everything, along with the potential hunger and poverty that may result. In other cases, the farmer and his/her family may also assess the ability of the household to avert any negative outcome and whether or not they can recover without going hungry and poor, if they fully adopt new ideas. It is because of these types of assessments that small producers and family farms have traditionally practised mixed farming and crop diversification. If one product fails due to a disease, catastrophe in the market, or because of flooding and other natural disasters, they can rely on the other farm enterprise to feed and/or earn an income to take care of their families.Farmers are very sensitive to the outcomes if their farming practices fail. Beckford and Campbell (2013, 50) rightly link the small farmer's 'safety first mantra' to years of experience of not having government and/or other institutional support and safety nets. Small cultivators are members of households and villages and are responsible for making rational decisions in the best interest of all. Their methods of assessment before making decisions are seldom noted and widely misinterpreted as an inherent unwillingness to adapt. Farmers are not necessarily 'diametrically opposed to innovations' but they must first be convinced based on their own assessment that the recommended farming practices are safe, and the methods and technologies are both useful as well as affordable to the household budget (not just the farm), before they adopt (Beckford and Campbell 2013, 51).As it relates to farming families on small farms, Le Franc (2006) has noted that there are other life threatening priorities other than economics. The hesitancy of farmers to change their practices should not be perceived simply as a cultural phenomenon. They are known to make rationale choices as human beings and if they do not adopt what is perceived as an economically sound idea, it is often because they have not been convinced that it can work, and/or that there is a safety net to protect his/her family if it does not. If we give farmers human agency then the typecast of the unresponsive farmer and laggard will be rejected and the frustrations that researchers, scientists and policymakers experience when working with small producers and farming families, could possibly be resolved. Equally important, we will be able to see clearly, why and how, small operations and family farming systems have been able to withstand the wrath of natural disasters and changing market demands, as well as positively view how many of their farming practices relate to food security and sustainable development.Although the tourism, mining and energy sectors are seen as the mainstays of Caribbean economies, agricultural production has always been linked to the region's economic development, export trade, and foreign exchange earnings. Further, the livelihood of manyThe Role of Small Producers, Family Farms and Women Farmers in Sustainable Food Production and Food SecurityAlthough the agricultural sector as a whole may not be the dominant contributor to the GDP of some countries in the region, it does play a significant social role in providing steady employment, food provisioning, and as a source of income for many. The common position however, is that it is the export sector, consisting of the large plantation estates privately owned or operated by individual governments, that is of greater socio-economic importance and core to the development of Caribbean economies. This position is further supported by the idea that the plantation system of production is needed to compete on the 'open' and 'free' market with plantations in Central America such as those owned by Chiquita and Dole. Conversely, the network of small farming systems were and still are, considered obstacles to a more modernized agricultural sector and the development of Caribbean societies. But can issues of food insecurity, poverty, malnutrition and hunger be resolved through large-scale commercial production of 'cash' crops? Moreover, can the UN's call to support the family farm change the region's long history of domination and dependency on male-dominated plantation systems of production, and the importation of food?The importance of small producers and family farms to sustainable development By 2050, the world population is expected to increase to nine billion people, with an accompanying demand for at least 60 percent more food. The FAO Assistant Director General, Latin America and Caribbean, is convinced that small scale farming can significantly contribute to meet this growing food demand (FAO 2012). This projection is based on data for Latin America and the Caribbean which showed that small producers mainly on family farms accounted for more than 80 percent of agricultural production, 27 percent to 67 percent of total food production; and occupied between 12 percent and 67 percent of the agricultural land area. Equally important, approximately 57 percent to 77 percent of all agricultural employment in the region was linked to small-scale agriculture production on these farms (FAO 2012). These statistics are illustrative of how small scale farming on primarily family farm make economically and socially significant impacts to the region's development.Economically they produce food items for their families, neighbours, and other villagers; for the small towns and larger cities; and for the local roadside vendors and domestic markets. Some family farms also produce crops for the export markets subsidising the sales from the large commercial estates. They also supply cross-border markets liaising with intermediaries, such as hucksters and higglers, in the food supply chain across the Caribbean seas. These small family-owned and operated farms are consistent suppliers of food because their livelihoods depend on it…it is what they do. Family farming is a way of life and a way to live. They use all the resources available to them to feed their households and earn an income from the farm that can sustain a decent family life. Profits attained are shared between family and household needs. Extra earnings are re-invested in the farm to improve production capacity. In other words, the farm family is the main investor in the farm, even though the farm is not often referred to as a family business.Since family members are the main source of labour, the farm is also a place of employment. It not only sustains numerous rural household members, but creates jobs and is essentially a consistent source of inter-generational income. Family farms therefore, not only provide the farming families with part (or all) of its food, but also guaranteed employment. Periodically they hire rural labourers on the farm and create link jobs in transportation, packaging, processing and marketing of their produce. Within this context, the well-established network of small producers and family farms generate social safety nets through direct and indirect employment of rural or non-urban populations, and the provisioning of food.Caribbean economies also benefit greatly from agro-industry businesses (food, beverages, tobacco, spices, etc.) that are important to their GDP earnings. In Trinidad and Tobago for example, the 2004 data show that 3.1 percent of the country's GDP was derived from the agro-industry sector and another 45.2 percent from manufacturing. Ironically, this country is a net importer of food, as well as a net exporter of beverages, tobacco and other food exports. While currently small producers are not the major suppliers for many agroindustries they do have the potential, including the family labour, to transform certain products into by-products that add value to primary agricultural products. The region also has a long history of cottage industries in which women pre-dominate. The concept and practice of agro-processing is therefore very much alive in Caribbean culture and in the homes of farming families. Therefore investment in research, training, small business, credit, and sector linkages with agro-processing, are all worthwhile endeavours that can contribute to food security and sustainable development.But development cannot be sustainable if the environment is not first protected. The lay person travelling through the undulating terrain of many Caribbean countries sees the smoke on the mountainside and becomes aware of the 'slash and burn' practices of some farmers. This image oftentimes is transferred to all small farmers. However, it is more common to find that traditional farming families are the protectors of the environment and biodiversity. According to FAO (2012), family farming systems are more inclined to use native varieties, conserve and practise soil improvement, and are less dependent on inorganic ameliorates (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) and other hurtful chemicals. Furthermore, small producers and family farms have always practiced crop diversification, mixed farming and forestry -practices that mitigate environmental degradation.The Role of Small Producers, Family Farms and Women Farmers in Sustainable Food Production and Food SecurityNevertheless, little credence is given to small producers and farming families who have been the guardians of the environment, indigenous knowledge, and good agricultural practices. By passing farming knowledge and traditions across generations, small producers and farming families have withstood the physical challenges usually associated with agriculture. Additionally, because their scale of operations is usually small, it is easier for them to respond to environmental impacts or changing market demands. The lack of resources and support means that their systems of farming may not always move production to high profit-making levels, but they do continue to provide food for families, and practice methods that are safe and sustainable. Interestingly, agricultural diversification is now being highly recommended for the region and the same methods of farming that small farmers have historically practiced are being touted as the 'new' approach for sustainable development.Lastly, small producers and family farms contribute to sustainable development because they stabilize the scattering of villages and small towns located throughout the countryside. Farmers either live on their farms or in nearby villages or towns. Either way, the farming environs are not simply a place of production but a home to many farming families. The network of small producers and family farms in any one location stimulates economic activities, create opportunities for small businesses, and sometimes successfully converts villages into small towns. They balance rural and urban livelihoods, halt rural-urban drifts, and slow down outward migration from Caribbean countries. Conversely, when settlements are stable they become valuable conduits for preserving and enhancing indigenous knowledge, traditions, and customs of local communities. It is therefore imperative that small producers and family farms continue to make a livelihood and economically grow so that there is continuity and preservation of the culture of many rural communities and small towns. This contribution by small producers and family farms is often not valued or perceived as important to sustainable development (box 1.1).In general, while small-scale operations and the family farming system present many advantages for food production, food security and sustainable development, the maledominated plantation production systems that rule the region are currently unsustainable. The revitalization of the small producer and the family farm, as well as the enhancement of women's role in agriculture, will ensure the production of local vegetables, fruits and root crops, as well as the rearing of healthy animals. Small family farms will stabilize the production of staples for the region such as rice, yams and bananas, and provide less processed food products. Moreover, a highly productive peasant sector and family farming system will lead to expanded and/or steady employment, gender equity, healthier families, stronger communities and an overall strengthening of Caribbean economies. Core to these activities is the role of women in Caribbean agriculture.Small producers and/or family farms contribute to sustainable development because they:• Produce food for families, communities, and the local, regional and export markets; • Are a constant source of employment for families, villagers, and income earners in linked activities; • Provide a safety net to generations of families including members of their communities; • Protect the natural environment and biodiversity;• Are more likely to use organic products and native species in their methods of farming; • Practice agricultural diversification and mixed-method farming and can better respond to environmental and market changes; • Are a source of indigenous knowledge and practices that are passed on over generations; • Preserve traditions and local cultures;• Own their labour, farming business, and are free to make their own decisions; • Stabilize rural communities and stimulate economic activities in villages and small towns.The overall proportion of the economically active population (EAP) working in agriculture declined during the 1990s, but the percentage of economically active women working in agriculture at the global level remained at nearly 50 percent through to the twenty-first century. While this percentage of women in agriculture is expected to decrease overall, the percentage of economically active women working in the sector in less developed countries (LDCs) is projected to remain above 70 percent (FAO 2006). The relatively high participation of women in agricultural work is due in part, to the greater involvement of rural male populations in off-farm employment, and/or the increase in male migration to urban areas in search of work. As a result, more women assume responsibility for the family farm because they must provide food and income for their families to survive, along with or in absence of, their male partners.In the Caribbean, women are involved at all levels in the agricultural sector, including small scale production as individual farmers, on family farms, as farm labour on other farms and plantation estates, and in the marketing and processing of fresh foods. The number of women in agriculture varies from one Caribbean country to another as do the populations that are engaged in agriculture. However, in all cases, the contribution of women is highly underestimated in agricultural census data, which are confined to transactions in commercial cash crop production for the formal market sector. Information on the production and marketing of agricultural produce for local use where women are mainly found working, are left out of the agriculture data bases. Women also dominate the regional export food trade buying fruits, vegetables, and root crops directly at farm gate and exporting to neighbouring islands where they are sold in wholesale markets. For example, female hucksters and higglers from Grenada and St Vincent transact business in Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, similar to other hucksters among the Eastern Caribbean countries. While there is some documentation of the regional trade, the participation of women hucksters is also not accurately represented in the agriculture labour force statistics.As a result, women in Caribbean agriculture are almost invisible in the statistics though highly visible as small farmers, on family farms, in local and regional markets, in agroprocessing plants, and in gender specific jobs on large commercial farms. When official statistics underestimate women's participation in the agriculture sector, their contributions to domestic food supplies, households' diets and incomes, as well as the national wealth of a country through agricultural work, are also undervalued. This creates a serious shortcoming in the proper planning for food production, food security and sustainable development.Caribbean women's economic and social contributions to the agricultural sectors is not new but can be traced to their historical beginnings. Under colonization and the peak of the slave trade in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the plantation economies of Caribbean territories were well propelled by imported slave labour of both women and men from West Africa. Sugar was one of the most valuable commodities on the market and slave labour was the cheapest resource for sugar production. Enslaved African women played several roles that contributed to the economic life of the sugar plantations. They provided labour in the cane fields and worked as domestics and nannies in the plantation houses. Slave labour then, was unpaid and women's and men's labour were exploited without any moral or ethical restrictions. Women and men performed the same tasks in the cane fields as there was no sexual division of field labour (Rajack 1991).What is less known about the roles of enslaved women is that outside plantation-related work, they were the primary producers and marketers of food within slave communities (Mathurin 2006;Reddock andHuggins 1988, 1997). It was more profitable for the plantation owners to have the enslaved women and men produce much of their own food. As such, even as they worked on the sugar estates, they also engaged in peasant-like activities cultivating subsistence food crops to feed themselves. Because women were perceived as 'less dangerous' than men, they were permitted to sell any extra food grown, at a common public market on Sunday mornings. The prevalence of women in the local market, and as hucksters/higglers in the municipal markets, is a continuance of the historical dominance of food markets by women throughout the Caribbean.With the ending of slavery in the mid-twentieth century, many of the enslaved African women retired from agricultural fieldwork with the hope of working in other non-plantation type jobs and/or becoming housewives and homemakers. Very soon after, the downward wage pressure and rising food prices promoted large-scale migration of male ex-slaves in search of work in other countries. To fill the void, women once again moved into agricultural production on the plantations, as well as continued growing food to feed their families (Momsen 1991(Momsen , 1993;;Mintz 1974Mintz , 1984)). On the plantations, the freed African women were for the first time employed for wages but under a stringent gender division of labour that paid them lower wages than men. By that time, a gender stratification of labour with differential pay for women and men had emerged under the system of indentured labour (Rajack 1991;Reddock andHuggins 1988, 1997). The wages earned by women and men were so low, that they had to supplement their household incomes by growing some of their own foods and selling the extra produce in local markets, as they had done prior to emancipation. The women drew on their business experiences from selling in the open public Sunday markets and established themselves as the primary marketers in the internal food market systems of the region.In Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and to a lesser extent in other Caribbean countries, the abolition of slave labour led to the demand for indentured labour from India that was also under British colonization. Within the indenture labour regime, women often carried out the same tasks as men -planting, weeding, hauling of trash, applying fertilizers, cutting, bundling and loading of the sugar canes. The plantation owners however, paid women wages well below those of the men and justified the wage differential by categorizing women in the same group as 'weakly' men and boys. In the early twentieth century, the average weekly wage was one dollar for men while women were paid wages that were one half to two-thirds that of men. The gender stratification of labour with wage differentials was carried over into the post-colonial period and adopted by the government-owned sugar companies of the Caribbean (Brereton 1983;Rajack 1991;Reddock andHuggins 1988, 1997).The Role of Small Producers, Family Farms and Women Farmers in Sustainable Food Production and Food SecurityToday, women continue to work as wage earners primarily in labour-intensive jobs on the large estates cultivating sugar cane, banana, cocoa, coffee, coconut, citrus and other plantation crops. They are mainly hired on a seasonal basis for planting, weeding, and harvesting of certain crops and in post-harvest and processing of other produce for sale. Their low wages are normally justified by the job category of their work, similar to the application of labour stratification of the old plantation systems. Nevertheless, the wage earned is an important source of income to many rural, low-income and poor households. Women's participation in the production of 'cash' crops for the export trade contributes to the GDP that is derived from the agriculture sector. However, because of the seasonal and/or part-time nature of their jobs, their participation is not accurately counted in the statistics on the agricultural labour force, which tends to exclude non full-time employees.Similarly, women dominate in the full production, post-harvest processing, and marketing of food crops for the domestic sector. Here again, because the domestic food sector is part of the informal economy it is not as regulated as the commercial production sector and data on women's roles is absent. Nevertheless, women's most significant contribution to food production and food security lies in the roles they play on family farms. There, women consistently engage in the provisioning of food for many homes, as well as for national and regional markets. On the family farms women participate in all aspects of the productive cycle in both crop and livestock production, but there are some noticeable gender patterns in the division of labour by sex (Rajack-Talley and Talley 2000).The concepts of 'sex' and 'gender' are sometimes wrongly used as the same and can be confusing. Sex refers to the innate biological categories of male or female. Gender refers to the social roles and identities associated with what it means to be a man or a woman. Gender roles are shaped by ideological, religious, ethnic, economic and cultural factors and are key determinant of the distribution of responsibilities and resources between men and women (Moser 1989). Being socially determined, however, this distribution can be changed through conscious social action, including public policy. Every society is marked by gender differences, but these vary widely by culture and can change dramatically over time. According to Quisumbing (1996), sex is biology and gender is sociological. Sex is also fixed and gender roles change.Sustainable Food Production Practices in the Caribbean -Volume 2Livestock production by women is an important component of their mixed farming practices or as an enterprise by itself. Women are more likely to engage in small animal production (e.g., sheep, goats, poultry, etc.), while men tend to be involved in large livestock production (e.g., beef cattle and pigs). Even when women participate in large livestock production such as raising dairy and beef cattle, they primarily engage in those activities that are associated with their stereotypical roles as nurturers, homemakers and mothers in the home (Rajack-Talley and Talley 2000). For example, women are commonly found in activities that involve feeding, milking and/or taking care of young and sick animals. As a general rule, the more 'strenuous' jobs are usually done by men, such as collecting forage, building pens, hoof trimming, and machinery operation.As livestock keepers in the Caribbean, women farmers are also managers of the poultry, sheep and goat and dairy farms. Ownership of small livestock is particularly attractive to women because it can be practised close to the home and allows for the balancing of domestic chores with farming activities (Rajack and Hosein 1993). 2 Some of the animal products (e.g., eggs, milk, and meat) are used for home consumption, and part sold locally for cash income. Sales usually occur at those times of the year when demand is high (e.g., Christmas and Easter) and/or when the household needs extra cash (e.g., at the beginning of the school year, for weddings and christenings). According to one farmer, 'having a certain amount of sheep in my backyard is like having money in the bank for a rainy day' (Rajack and Hosein 1993). 3 The slow but steady outward migration of people from rural/non-urban communities has also resulted in a year round increase in the demand for basic food items including eggs, milk, poultry, and fish to feed burgeoning urban populations. The poultry and small scale dairy projects managed primarily by women are therefore important in meeting some of the food needs of the family, extra income for family social events, as well as the periodic increase in consumer demands and growing urban populations.To sustain such needs, women and men livestock farmers also need to expand their size of operations. However, it is more challenging for women farmers because of the gender differential in access to resources, including land, labour, technology, credit and extension services. These gender-based inequalities exist although female-headed livestock enterprises have been shown to be as successful as male-headed livestock production farms. Moreover, research has shown that on small family farms, shifts from subsistence to commercializedThe Role of Small Producers, Family Farms and Women Farmers in Sustainable Food Production and Food Security levels of animal production can result in conflict over control of the livestock businesses between male and female farmers on the same farm (Rajack 1996). This is primarily because, in Caribbean societies, men are stereotyped as the main income earners and women's income are considered supplementary to household budgets. Consequently, there is no stress if women manage subsistence production, but if levels of growth results in major income earnings for the household, gender roles can become strained and the livestock enterprise a contested terrain.If the farm operations of women are subsumed by male farmers on the same farm, or by other male-headed livestock enterprises, then women are more likely to become employees rather than managers and owners of their agricultural businesses. Thus, movement towards sustainable production of the livestock industry has gender consequences unless steps are taken to ensure that women farmers are not negatively impacted by commercialized production. Further, because of where women livestock farmers direct their products, keeping women in livestock production also secures local food supplies as well as home consumption, nutrition, and single female-headed household budgets (FAO 2011).At the same time, caution must be taken not to paint women as helpless victims who are inevitably displaced as the livestock sector grows and develops. Women farmers do have agency and resist attempts to displace them or terminate their source(s) of income (Rajack 1996). Women, particularly in low-resource and/or female-headed households, understand the important role they play in providing basic food and other needs for their families, as they cannot afford to be financially marginalized in their homes. Generally, they also take great pride in feeding their community and society. Unfortunately, in livestock development projects the threat of women being displaced and their resistance to pending marginalization is too often missed by extension officers and animal scientists, as well as policymakers. So too, are the related implications to sustainable production of meat, eggs, milk, and other animal products for local food demands. As a result, a concerted effort should be made to ensure that as the sector grows, women have access to the resources they need, and that gender implications are factored into sustainable development planning and livestock practices. Some women may prefer to rear poultry and other small livestock, and find that these are more appropriate to their farm and family life. Others may want to venture or expand into larger scale operations or bigger animals and should be supported and provided with the technology, information, training and finances required. Moreover, there is a need to move away from the stereotypical beliefs that pigeonhole which livestock enterprise is more suited for women vis-à-vis men, and also the concept of the male as the livestock manager and the female as the livestock farmer and labourer.Sustainable Food Production Practices in the Caribbean -Volume 2A similar parallel is found in crop production where women produce all crop types in the domestic food sector, but there are gender-distinct crop enterprises, orientations and divisions of labour. Women participate mostly in planting, weeding, harvesting and postharvest crop activities. On the other hand, men tend to engage mostly in land preparation, application of agro-chemicals, and the use of farm equipment and machinery (Kleysen  1996 4 ; Rajack-Talley and Talley 2000). As owners of their farms, women tend to have smaller plots of land, use fewer purchased inputs and their output is usually smaller. Yet, they still produce 60 to 80 percent of food in most developing countries, that is, half of the world's food supplies (Momsen 1991;Mehra and Rojas 2008) because they concentrate on local food production for their households, communities, society and the region. The food crops are grown on small family farms on which women are either farm managers, farming partners, farm family labourers, or farm wage labourers. According to Rajack-Talley and Talley (2000), any analysis of the domestic food sector in the Caribbean is essentially an analysis of women's role in food crop production.Overall, gender patterns in the division of farm labour are linked to women's reproductive and other domestic responsibilities. Studies have shown that size and life stage of a family influence the type of farm practice, level of involvement, and time devoted to agricultural work (Barrow 1986;Rajack-Talley and Talley 2000;Overholt et al. 1985;Sen 1981). For example, women with young children elect to work close to or at home, and arrange all their farming activities so that they can accommodate their family needs. Accordingly, women without children (or adult children) have greater flexibility in terms of time, tasks, location, and the type of agricultural work they engage in. These gender distinct familial characteristics are important factors in farm and home management plans when working with farming families in food production for food security and sustainable development. Families in earlier life stages are more likely to be responsive to practices that are manageable and require women's physical presence near or on the farm. The family farming system is therefore a more appropriate fit for these women and their families. Other women may need support in broadening their scales of operations and would require more land, most likely further away from a housing area, a different type of technology, more credit, different crops, and a management and marketing system that is more commercial in orientation.See for example tables 1.10 -1.11.The Role of Small Producers, Family Farms and Women Farmers in Sustainable Food Production and Food SecurityInterestingly, not only are there gender patterns in the division of farm labour in both livestock and crop production, but there are also gender distinct farm management practices on small farm holdings. A common trend observed is that on family farms women and men both engage in joint agricultural production and/or work and manage separate plots and enterprises. Rajack (1996) observed these various arrangements and have identified four gender distinct models of farm management. These are:Separately managed enterprises: Women and men are responsible for separate crops or livestock production. It is common for women's agricultural projects to be located near to, or at home. Decisions on each enterprise are made separately, although the couple usually discusses farming issues and help each other with the work.In this management model, women and men are involved in the same crop and/or livestock production but participate in distinct tasks -stereotypically female and male jobs. Under this arrangement, men are the major decision-makers and farm managers, while women are considered farm family labour. Discussions on farming issues are at a minimum level.This farm management model is based on the understanding that both women and men can do the same tasks -not set gender distinct work. The responsibility for all the farm enterprises is also shared. However, the male is considered the head-of-the-household and as such, is treated as the major decision-maker and farm manager. The woman farmer is not documented as being economically active in agriculture. In these situations, women may seek other forms of independent income generating enterprises such as in cottage industry.Women or men managed enterprise and tasks: In this model, the division of labour, decision making and farm management is simple. It is all done by one or the other where one partner in the couple has very little to do with farming. The person identified as the farmer (male or female) makes the agricultural decisions, performs the lion's share of work and manages the farm.Although there are no recent studies on women farm mangers in the Caribbean, what is known is that all four models exist within the region. Past studies showed that although there are wide variations from one country to another, women as major farm decisionmakers can be as high as 47 percent and as joint managers with men up to 42 percent. Overall, where women perform most of the tasks in the farm enterprise they also tend to be the major decision-makers. Gender specificity was also observed in the types of farming decisions made by women. For example, women participate more in decisions about what type of crop to grow or livestock to rear, how farm labour is to be organized, and where produce is to be sold (Kleysen 1996;Rajack-Talley and Talley 2000).Current research on gender distinctions in farm management practices and decisionmaking are urgently needed. If the trend identified in earlier studies by Kleysen (1996) and Rajack (1996) hold steady, then the high numbers of women who make farm decisions (independently or jointly) and the types of decisions that they make have significant impact on:• How information and resources (technology, labour, and finance) are allocated and managed on family farms;• What is produced and what methods of farm practices are adopted.This data can be useful in assisting the farm family to better plan for improved food production systems and farm management, both of which are important in promoting sustainable development.In addition to pre-and post-harvest activities, marketing has always been an income earning activity historically performed largely by Caribbean women (Lagro and Plotkin 1990;Mintz 1974). The custom of enslaved women selling the extra food that they were allowed to produce for themselves on the plantation in Sunday markets, rapidly expanded immediately after emancipation (Besson 2003). As independent small producers and family farms were established, the common market outlets also expanded to now include sales at the farm-gate to hucksters or higglers, agents and middle men, and also directly to customers at the local domestic or retail markets. Hence, contemporary patterns of marketing at local sites, huckstering or inter-island trading within and between the islands, sidewalk tray or 'fruit stand' selling, are not new practices for Caribbean women. Currently, women are responsible for producing and selling between 12 to 50 percent of local foods, mainly fresh fruit and vegetables, root crops, some export crops such as bananas and rice, as well as a range of other non-traditional (cut flowers, ornamentals, etc.) export crops (Mantz 2007).In the Caribbean, Mantz (2007) identified three distinct forms of market vendors in which women predominate, namely marketers, higglers and hucksters. 5 The women involved are self-employed individuals engaged in economic activities, encompassing bargaining,Men also participate in all three forms, but historically women dominate in each category of the marketing operations.The Role of Small Producers, Family Farms and Women Farmers in Sustainable Food Production and Food Security bartering, and selling of produce. The traditional market vendors sell their goods at centralized market locations, or at regular fruit stalls on the side of the road, or in an arcade of stalls. Higglering occurs at street corners, busy intersections, or any high traffic where for example, there is road construction and a slowing down of traffic. Both these forms of operations involve simple transaction of goods and are local/domestic marketing systems.The third category of women marketers are the hucksters. In this group, women function more like entrepreneurs and are involved with inter-island trading that requires more than just buying and selling of goods but also the shipping of produce, travelling, and foreign exchange activities. The economic roles of these women have never been captured, although they serve as important forms of providing food and generating economic activities. Mantz (2007) for example found that 'huckstering' by the predominantly Dominican women accounts for the second largest foreign exchange earnings for that country.These trading patterns continue to be under the aegis of women and are sustained with little or no capital from governments or the private sector, but from women traders, small producers, and family farms. The trade requires the establishment of some level of relationship with clients and sellers, and must maintain a reputation for providing farm fresh and safe produce cultivated locally/regionally. Market selling is also a tenuous activity that requires high levels of financial competence, as well as negotiation and business skills. Pricing information is attained mainly via the radio, daily newspapers, telephone calls to current or potential customers, other marketers and agents. The level of trade and capital exchange is often not recorded and thus undervalued, alongside the entrepreneurial abilities of women.Little research has been done on women traders but what is known suggests that it is a long-standing matrilineal vocation, in which marketing skills are passed from mother to daughter and other female members in the same family. It is not unusual to find, aunts, nieces, sisters and others plying the same trade. Mantz (2007) describes this occurrence as 'women for women' and a most a vibrant and self-sustaining economic activity. Although several hundred women remain committed to the trade, their numbers are shrinking for a myriad of reasons. Labour shortages and the education of young female family members are possible push factors away from a risky and difficult female business. However, there is still an active movement among the islands of Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua, St Kitts, St Martin, and The Virgin Islands, St Vincent, St Lucia, Grenada, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago, among others. The socio-economic importance of the three categories of marketing activities at the local and regional levels has been seriously undervalued and unrecognized as a key link in the food security chain of the region. Consequently market vendors, higglers and hucksters have not been given much support although they have managed to survive. The lack of attention is due, in part to the fact that the activities occur in the domestic food systems of the informal economy, and also because they are 'women's' activities. Given the more recent downward trends, if these important food marketing systems are to be sustained, support is required to make the trade a viable one in which male (and female) marketers do more than just survive but make a decent income that can comfortably support a family. Equally important, any kind of support provided should have a gender focus that involves women themselves in areas such as training, mentorship, and skills building, as well as methods of accessing credit and the conduct of business and financial transactions. Only through this involvement and further research on the women will we be able to understand what are these gender specific ways that have worked for years. It will also provide recommendations for growth and development for women by women. In other words, efforts must not only be focused on food marketing sustainability, but also on how women can remain the leaders of the trade.There is no doubt that women play crucial roles in food security for their homes, their communities, the domestic market, in the wider society in which they live, and across the blue ocean to others where fresh fruit, vegetables, root crops and other food items are scarce. In the process they manage the natural resources and biodiversity of farmlands (FAO 2006). Despite years of proven capabilities and contributions, many women small farmers are still unable to move from subsistence to more commercial forms of agriculture so that they can grow additional food to feed the region, and at the same time earn enough to comfortably support their families. They are prevented from doing so because they experience discrimination at two levels.Firstly, as small producers focused on food crops, domestic livestock, and agriculture byproducts, women are not perceived as important as the larger cultivators who are producing for the export markets. Consequently, women as small farmers are not given the type of resources and support as the bigger farmers and the plantation systems of monocultures. More recent, the food import crisis in the region has stirred governments, along with regional and international organizations to advocate for greater support for the farm family and its role in providing food for the region. But this is a recent initiative and will take a long time for resources to reach women and men small producers and farming families before their agricultural endeavours can become more desirable and economically viable.Secondly, because of their gender, women farmers are exposed to the same gender discrimination present in mainstream society. Gender discrimination in the CaribbeanThe Role of Small Producers, Family Farms and Women Farmers in Sustainable Food Production and Food Security is partly based on stereotypes founded on the Eurocentric notion of the role of women as housewives. The process of 'housewifisation' has led to gender specific tasks and responsibilities on the farm and a particular perception about women's capabilities. Women are rarely thought of as farm managers and producers of export cash crops and livestock products. Instead, they are viewed and treated primarily as farm labour and helpers to male farmers on peasant and family farms, and low-wage employees in packaging and processing of export products. This double subjugation of women farmers has restricted their access to agricultural resources and services such as land, credit, training, technical assistance technology and institutional support. Conversely, more resources are allocated to the export-oriented agriculture sector in which men typically own and/or are more actively employed. In particular, land distribution patterns are very uneven with respect to farm size, and this further limits women's access to credit and other farming resources.As a result, compared to men, women farmers are more likely to:• Operate smaller farms, on average one half to two-thirds the size of men farmers;• Farm on small and fragmented pieces of land either family-owned, rented or occupied without permission;• Keep fewer livestock, typically of smaller breeds, and earn less from the livestock they do own;• Have a greater overall workload that includes a heavy burden of domestic activities• Have less education and less access to agricultural information and extension services;• Use less credit and other financial services as most credit schemes favour middle to large farms in which men produce cash crops. Consequently, they tend to draw on indigenous loan schemes such as 'sub' in Dominica, the 'box' in Guyana, and 'sou sou' in Trinidad;• Purchase less inputs such as fertilizers, improved seeds and mechanical equipment;• Employed in part-time, seasonal, and low-paying jobs in which they receive low wages;• Receive less agricultural training, technology, extension services and technical assistance (less than 10 percent of women farmers are reported to receive these services).According to FAO (2010, 3):If women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30 percent. This could raise total agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5 to four percent, which could in turn reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12-17 percentAs the region's agricultural sector is integrated deeper into the global market it faces high trading competition for all its traditional 'cash' crops, as well as a burgeoning food import bill. This can (and already has) stifled the Caribbean's agricultural sector, both in the export markets and the local production of food in the domestic markets. As a result, there is a steady decline in GDP earnings, farm household incomes, and wage employment in the sector overall. Equally important is the social impact of this trend on the region's food security due to the increase in reliance on external supplies for food and other agriculture related by-products. If this pattern is not halted soon, then the argument made by Caribbean scholar George Beckford in the 1970s that the region will be in a state of 'persistent poverty' if it does not move away from the domination of the region's agriculture by external forces, is still relevant today (Beckford 1972).Recently a similar proposal was made by FAO that 2014 be designated as the year of the farm family, and that the Caribbean should focus more on supporting small family farms rather than the larger systems of food production. Several meetings were held in the Caribbean during 2011 to discuss the region's agricultural policies and food prices (FAO 2012), 6 at which participants more or less agreed with Beckford's theory that the agricultural policies of the past favoured the larger private agricultural enterprises and neglected the small producer and the family farm. As a result, once the vulnerable and insecure plantation crop industries were placed on the 'free and open market' many farmers, particularly the banana farmers in Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent and others were forced out of the market and placed several families in severe economic crisis. Consequently, large numbers of people migrated from the rural areas of the islands, and for a period of time, communities were being emptied of their populations. Images of 'padlocked' homes of banana farmers who fled in search of other ways to make a living, were observed in small villages. The sugar caneMeetings were held in Santiago, Chile (June 7-8 ,2011) Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (June 13-14, 2011), San Salvador, El Salvador (June 15-16 2011), and Mexico City, Mexico (October 17-18, 2011).| 27The Role of Small Producers, Family Farms and Women Farmers in Sustainable Food Production and Food Security farmers and wage employees in the region's sugar industry also faced a similar situation whereby farmers and employees in the sugar industry in St Kitts, Trinidad and Tobago, and other countries had to search for other sources of income to support their families. The impact of the collapse of the guaranteed export markets that traditionally supported many Caribbean households was also felt by the many villages and small towns that depended on the economic activities generated from these households. Businesses began to suffer and the economic and social life of these communities has since paused.Poverty studies conducted by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in the last decade report on the impact of these shifts on poverty, particularly on the health, nutrition and education of farming families and rural/non-urban populations. 7 Farmers are no longer able to support their family needs and as such there is a greater dependency on government assistance. For women, many of whom historically played central roles in their families' household budgets as farmers, small producers, and/or wage earners in commercial agriculture enterprises, not only are the survival of their families threatened, but also their economic independence. On a larger scale, these macroeconomic constraints experienced by small producers and family farms have directly impacted the region's food production, food security and the sustainable development of every single Caribbean country.Earlier discussions showed how small producers and family farms contribute directly to: (i) the sustenance of their families, neighbours and communities; (ii) employment generation for many; (iii) the production of food for local and regional markets; and (iv) the sustainable development of the region. Small producers and family farms make it possible for millions of people across the region to have access to fresh vegetables, fruits, root crops, fish, meat and other animal products. In addition, they play an important part in the cultural customs and indigenous knowledge-base for generations of people. Collectively they have a multiplier effect in the creation of economic and social wealth in rural villages and small towns. And yet, their modus operandi has been criticized because it is not primarily focused on profit making, but in providing a valued product and/or service based on family values rather than corporate values. It is for this same reason that since colonization there has been a tendency for governments to support the male-dominated plantation systems centred on the production of 'cash' from crops and livestock, rather than on small producers and family farming systems.Conventional agricultural education has also paid little attention to small scale farming including that of family farming systems. Moreover, the information generated focuses 7.See Caribank.org more on what does not work on these farms and less on their potential. What is taught to agricultural students about best practices is not positively linked to what is actually taking place on the farm. Similarly, agriculture census collect data on size of farm and what is on the farm; gender-disaggregated data is absent and a proper understanding of the systems that farmers use that are safe, sustainable and can be enhanced, is also missing. As a result, small producers and family farms are associated with subsistence production, and as such patronized as recipients of government assistance. Thus, parents themselves encourage their sons and daughters to become educated and leave farming and at the same time, hope that the family farm will remain as a family owned enterprise that has existed for generationsproviding food, incomes, and self-employment. They know that circumstances beyond their control make this hope difficult and some changes are needed. Women are particularly strong-minded about keeping the family farm because it allows them to provide some of their family dietary needs, and have an independent source of income without having to leave the farm and the home.There is no doubt that the region's food production systems, food security and the sustainable development of villages, towns and societies are heavily dependent on the small producers and the family farms of the Caribbean. However, because of years of neglect, negative stereotyping, and lack of support from government policies as well as agricultural research, education, technical and extension services, many have fallen below, or are at subsistence levels of production, others have simply migrated entirely out of agriculture..To strengthen the small producer and the family farming system we need to fully understand the nature of the farmer, the family, the systems of production, gender issues and the rationale behind the farming practices adopted by the small producer and the farm family unit. Participatory research and development (PRD) approaches have been found to be the most suited to collect and analyse this information along with the farming family. The process can be a dialectical one in which the scientists/extensionists collects data and at the same time disseminate information that can help the small-scale food producer to enhance her/his adaptive capacity and resilience. Through the PRD process the farming members can become architects of their own farming practices and farm management.Data collected from PRD can be used to inform policies and national investment decisions that can revitalise family farming and enhance the role of women farmers. Further, the following recommendations are made that may be interrelated and therefore not exclusive or exhaustive.• Increase access to and control over productive resources, including land (tenure), water, credit, technology and extension services;| 29The Role of Small Producers, Family Farms and Women Farmers in Sustainable Food Production and Food Security• Additional agricultural biodiversity support for plant and livestock materials that can strengthen the resilience of local food systems and ensure food safety;• Closer linkages between what farmers are producing and the nutritional value recommended by the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI);• Improve local and regional food markets and place them under the control of small producers and family farms. Designs of systems should collectively evolve from farmers, scientists, marketers and consumers so as to provide high quality food from farmers that are accessible to all;• Engage in more collective use of resources and lobbying (because of economies of scale) through establishing or strengthening farmers' organisations and cooperatives;• Strengthen the organizational skills, financial accountability and economic viability of individual farm enterprises as well as farmers' groups so that in the long term the management of certain support services can be transferred from governments to farmers and their organizations;• Work with farmers to develop a system of direct financing tailored towards farm families, small producers, and women farmers. Thus, specific credit lines will be established to support self-managed funds of individual farming enterprises as well as for farmers' organisations and co-operatives;• Continue enhanced vocational training for farmers, women and rural youth in all areas of food production, food security and sustainable development is required.Training should include entrepreneurship skills and innovative technologies, but should be in harmony with what is already being practiced on the farm and within the families. This includes how to include young women and men in modern farm technologies and social media that can enhance small producers and family farms without adding high risks, real or perceived. Farmer to farmer training methods has proven to be most appropriate and should be readily adopted;• Provide socio-economic safety net packages to small producers and family farms that protect then from the repercussions of natural disasters, failed new methods of farming, as well as change in market demands. This should include remittances to reinvest in farming activities as well as for meeting the needs of households and families.While all the recommendations discussed above should be gender sensitive, gender specific considerations and recommendations are also suggested. Currently, most national, regional and international food production policies and plans included addressing gender issues and women's role in agriculture. However, invariably these are included as add-ons and/or treated as separate concerns and solutions. By themselves, they fail to address the differences in the resources available to men and women, their roles, the constraints they face -and how these differences might be relevant to proposed interventions for women farmers. It is also assumed that interventions in areas such as technology, extension services, credit, infrastructure, and market access will have the same impacts on women as they do for men, when in fact they do not. As a result, the following gender specific recommendations are suggested that can enhance women's full participation in food production and food security strategies:• Increase efforts to collect and analyse gender disaggregated data in order to understand role differences in food and cash crop production as well as men's and women's differential managerial and financial control over production, storage and marketing of agricultural products;• Ensure that women have equal opportunities as men to own land, have access to agricultural services, including technology, farming incentives, training and extension. Equally important too, is that these services and resources should be tailored to meet women's specific farming needs;• Focus on appropriate inputs and technology that can 'free up' women's time on the farm and in the home so that they can balance their domestic responsibilities with farming activities;• Link what is grown, sold, processed or prepared for the home to the nutritional status of families especially children, as well as the general population;• Review government policies and re-orient them to ensure that all constraints to women's roles in food production and in food security are addressed. This includes access to resources and services for women managed farms, as well as better employment and income earning opportunities for women with equal pay and social benefits linked to family care taking;• Support and encourage women's organizations and networks. Include representation from these groups at all levels of planning, training, decision-making and policy formulation that relate to small producers, family farms, and women farmers.The average age of farmers in the region is estimated to be over 50 years with some countries averaging over 60 years. The drudgery, hard work and little financial rewards associated with agriculture seem to be the major deterrents to young persons entering the sector. This perception of the sector as not being profitable has been actively promoted by many successful farmers, who for reasons of tax evasion and concessionary treatment, proclaim a litany of woes and do all in their power to discourage new entrants. While several initiatives have been tried in the region to reverse this situation, the problem still persists and has now become more urgent.We live in a changing world that has the ability to provide the youth of today a life incomparable to their ancestors. They have access to educational systems that prepare them to be forward thinkers, access to resources that can provide them a sense of financial security, and technology that puts the world at their fingertips. Despite this plethora of resources and access, many youth across the globe will never have a taste or a glimpse of this life. Their lives will be shaped by a more dismal side of life that plagues over three quarters of youth living in developing countries (Bennell 2007;World Bank 2006). These youth experience successes and failures due to the political frameworks and bureaucratic arrangements in society. There is however, the opportunity to challenge these conditions through policies and actions that deepen the context of living for youth, especially those who live in the rural bellies of society.To a large extent, the successes and failures in rural communities across the globe are shaped by agriculture. Typically, one thinks of agriculture as the bread of life for rural communities because of its ability to provideYouth: Adding Value to Agriculture in the Caribbean and sustain individuals. Agriculture has multiple objectives such as creating employment opportunities, providing raw materials for agro-based industries, ensuring self-sufficiency in food production and food security, servicing of balance of payments, and contributing to the gross domestic product (GDP) (FAO 2002;Young et al. 2001). In some cases, it is the backbone of society and determines the standard of living for large segments of the population. Increasingly agriculture is being viewed through the climate change prism wherein there is significant support for its role in mitigation. For youth, especially those in rural areas, agriculture is a way of life. As such, development experts have suggested that training and programmes should be targeted towards them early in life so that these future farmers may develop critical skills related to new practices, and as adults, will generally be more receptive to the changing face of agriculture. Early exposure will provide youth valuable skills and help them acquire experiences in group processes that will enable them to easily step into adult leadership roles in their communities as part of peoples' participation in activities that contribute to sustainable agricultural and rural development.This chapter is positioned from a context of change and empowerment for youth engagement in agriculture across the Caribbean region. We contend that in order for young people to be fully integrated in society, they must be given the resources to become fully empowered for productivity. Based on an analysis of rural youth agricultural programmes across the globe and the formal reports of Caribbean youth leaders, a model for engagement is proposed. Because of the diversity in the region, a flexible rather than a fixed model is suggested, with each country being able to choose from the essential components to make its own model. Using this approach, we believe that the face and more importantly, the productivity of agriculture can be changed. For this to happen however, young people within the Caribbean must be supported by appropriate, sustainable interventions that allow them to fully engage the sector.The changing face of the twenty-first century must incorporate the new faces of the millennium. Policies and practices must speak to the immediate and long-term needs of youth. They are the future and must be given a template that challenges the status quo and converts theory into practice with a new-world twist. This systematic approach to programming will assist in developing the farming community and agriculture for the next generation. Of the nearly one billion youths between the ages of 15 and 24, approximately 85 percent are from low income countries (Bennell 2007;FAO 2005;ILO 2005), where numerous problems such as inadequate housing, sub-standard health care, pollution, food deficits and deficiencies, rural to urban migration, and high unemployment rates plague the society (Deshingkar 2004). This current situation leads us to believe that it will be difficult to attain sustainable development under such conditions; however, a change is possible if policies and programmes are structured to systematically address these problems. For example, in Africa, nearly 200 million young people are waiting to be educated and prepared for employment. In the Caribbean, Asia, and the Pacific we find a similar situation, whereby youth, especially the rural population on the fringes of society, are last to receive the assistance and support from society. Among all these regions of the world, it has been estimated that the number of rural youth will continue to rise at exponential rates (ECLAC 2008). Unless addressed, today's problems will continue to plague the rural segments of society at ever increasing rates.Youth, in one sense, can be seen as a collective group of people who have the potential to change the world. Despite their age, gender, and geographic location, they have a unique way of approaching life; from a fresh perspective and with zeal. However, due to financial and social barriers for example, many are not given the opportunity to create change or see change happen. For youth in the rural context, especially those in the agricultural sector of society, they are often left out of the equation for development and change. Young people find themselves sitting at the fringe of society looking on as others define their potential. Their lack of access to educational opportunities and limited voice in society are roadblocks to success.The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) estimates that roughly 30 percent of Latin America's populations are located in rural areas (ECLAC 2008). This astonishingly low figure, translates into an awareness of the needs of this vulnerable population, and rural squatter camps and slums found within the region support a life of hardship for its inhabitants. Rural people, especially the rural poor in developing countries, depend heavily on agriculture as a means of subsistence. Research has shown that between 75 and 85 percent of the rural population in Asian and African countries is engaged in agricultural production (Godfrey 2005). Although these numbers are slightly higher than one would find throughout the Caribbean and Latin America (nearly 50 percent throughout the region), the agricultural sector makes an important contribution to the GDP in many countries in this region. Even more important, is the impact of agriculture on the quality of life of individuals who live in these communities, including rural youth.Youth: Adding Value to Agriculture in the CaribbeanThe ability to keep rural youth interested in living and working to sustain a quality of life is non-negotiable in today's world, and involves the creation of a blueprint of policies to improve inmpoverished conditions. Funding must be provided, and the level of resources available must be improved to deliver a higher quality of life. Policies regarding rural youth must be specific with clear strategies and guidelines to keep them from remaining on the fringes. In addition, in situations of limited resources, as is the case with most Caribbean countries, the funding made available to meet their needs and solve their problems must be used in an efficient manner. While these issues are significant, what is even more important to the development of rural youth, is addressing the changing face of agriculture and farming that confronts this present generation.In the Caribbean as in many other developing countries, while the population of farmers is becoming smaller, the average age of farmers in increasing, and the rate of replacement of older farmers by younger ones is not the same as in the past. Moreover, many countries have dwindling extension services to support farmers, both young and old, while simultaneously budgets are being redirected to support other programmes deemed more important. Youth in agriculture programmes are therefore not given the attention that is required. Under the circumstances with these challenges a decrease has been observed in the size of local and national economies, something which impacts the quality of inputs, agricultural production, staff and particularly extension and training for farming communities. Rural youth agricultural programmes that focus on building leadership skills and agriculture knowledge, and reinforcing critical thinking and moral development suffer curriculum and staff cutbacks. There has also been a discontinuation of financial incentives to stimulate and support youth involvement.Moreover, the non-formal educational component which has been a staple component in rural agricultural learning is often not given the adequate attention it deserves in order to meet the needs of rural youth. The lack of staff, resources, training, and funding hinders the total growth and development for rural youth, and while these issues may be seen as formidable challenges for governments to overcome, they can be improved in the short to medium term. In this discussion, the essential components of a model for the constructive engagement of young people are being suggested. It is hoped that this will assist the youth to become more engaged in the agricultural sector as productive constituents empowered by facilitating policies and organizations, thus enabling them to utilise modern technology in a business-like manner to achieve economic independence. At the same time, they will also become vested citizens in society helping to address societal issues such as criminal activity, poverty and economic destabilization.Transformational learning as defined by Hart (2006) is regarded as the intersection between service learning and critical pedagogy. Students learn to analyse their civic attitudes, assumptions, and actions through political, economic, and social conditions and inequalities that exist in everyday life. Daigre (2000) contended that young people engaging in transformational learning must begin by problematizing the power structures they experience in their community, and to a larger extent in society and should be encouraged to ask critical questions about the implications of these structures. One practical way students can analyse power structures is by re-examining the formal classroom versus the informal classroom structure. Instead of viewing schools as the keeper and disseminator of knowledge, students work to solve problems and become engaged as agents of change in their communities. In this way they become both leaders and teachers helping to change the society in which they live. Young people are in positions to transform 'facets of school life that may have served to alienate and oppress students' (Hart 2006).As young adults and youth become aware of concepts of leadership and change, they should then also begin examining how to create meaningful change. Only through an examination of these structures will students begin moving toward a true appreciation for agriculture (Hart 2006). For example, students who live in communities with rampant poverty could learn to openly create spaces with politicians, community leaders, social policy, and media messages to find solutions for the problem. For this to happen however, youth relationships with agriculture must be actively supported by opportunities within the current infrastructures and powers that exist.To facilitate the inquiry of change, youth and communities must re-frame the inquiry from the individual to the systemic (Bickford and Reynolds 2002). For example, when investigating issues of participation in agriculture, youth should re-frame, 'what can this do for me?' to a state of 'what can I offer to this?' Similarly, Daigre (2000) advocated for the analysis of the root cause of social problems by questioning the current political system and the social injustices embedded within them. Youth must be encouraged to look for the links between the entrenched institutional systems and how these impact their present position. Just as imperative as questioning the political systems, students must also learn to critically analyse their personal role in the system (Freire 1998). Hart (2006) suggested that youth must constantly reflect on stereotypes and assumptions they may have about the population they are serving, how their individual actions affect power dynamics, and how their work connects to the larger political and social structures. This is essential for youth to make a difference in any sphere, more so in the area of food production.Youth: Adding Value to Agriculture in the CaribbeanIn order to effect a true change in the lives of rural youth, especially those engaged in agriculture, the central thesis of the discussion posits that there must be a rethinking, a paradigm shift in how we view youth in these areas. Youth must now be seen as viable individuals who have the ability to meaningfully contribute to the fabric of society. They have the ability to think, develop and act in a way that can cause serious change. They must not be treated as outcasts of the society, but rather as individuals who, when given the opportunity along with the correct tools and resources, and with sincere, meaningful support and guidance, can make a difference. They can, if their potential is properly directed, add tremendous value to agriculture. The YMD approach also makes some basic assumptions about government and its position on youth and agriculture. These include:1. Promoting youth in agriculture high on the agenda of national governments.2. Full commitment by governments to providing the funding and resources needed for youth development and agriculture.3. Incorporating youth and agriculture as key aspects of their plans of work.4. Setting realistic goals and benchmarks to measure development.5. Including youth voices in the vision for agricultural development.6. Viewing youth as part of the solution and not the problem.These points, juxtaposed against our vision of youth engagement can lead to a paradigm shift in the way we approach programming for rural youth involved in agriculture.A review of several programmes across the Caribbean, Latin American, and the West African region reveals that most youth agricultural programmes within rural regions focus on building skills and moral development. Many programmes are grounded in developing positive character development and morals through Christian-based activities, such as the Young Boys and Girls Programme of Kenya. These programmes primarily focus on young people between the ages of eight and 18 who are still living with their parents. Young people attend day camps or after-school activities, which are monitored and/or facilitated by an adult. The take away message for youth involved in these programmes appears to be that in order to make it in life, one needs to be a good citizen. No emphasis is placed on building agricultural or leadership skills, as is the case in other youth programmes in the more tropical regions of the world.Among many Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries, the thrust of youth development programmes is built on the US model of 4-H. While the basis of this model was created to train rural youth throughout the United States in the early 1800s in agricultural production and canning, the format has morphed into a program for engaging youth in positive activities in the twenty-first century. This programme provides youth with opportunities to build important skills such as leadership, communication, and character building. The overwhelming majority of these experiences are embedded within a nonformal educational framework to allow for flexibility and making the youth voice heard. Within the LAC context, the 4-H model entails a number of key characteristics of the US model, while embracing local culture and context. For example, the curriculum is translated into local languages and is often tailored to meet the specific needs of the targeted youth. While these activities focus on the overall development of the youth, many do not incorporate the agricultural knowledge needed to thrive in today's agricultural industry, perhaps as a result of the institutionalization of 4-H in society. In some cases, countries incorporate 4-H as fully funded and supported programme within a Ministry (i.e. Ministry of Education or Ministry of Agriculture), while others treat it as a stand-alone programme that requires a cast of dedicated volunteers and funding for support. Because many young people view the 4H programme as a school activity, very few make the transition to becoming full-fledged members of the farming community.An offshoot of the 4-H model have been the grassroots efforts observed in countries such as Jamaica and Barbados, where concerned individuals who see the need to educate the young while preserving culture and agriculture, have started local programmes for youth, which involve bringing youth onto their farms to teach them about agriculture and its benefit to themselves and their country. These programmes, which also have a mentorship aspect, teach young people about farming practices that are sometimes seen as traditional, but yet are being promoted by scientists in classrooms in other parts of the world as sustainable methods. Fundamental to this type of programme is recognition of the benefits to be derived from engaging youth in a waning industry, while also teaching them about a culture that has fed and sustained society. As such, the creation of a core cohort of youth who are able to become citizens who have an appreciation for farming while also being able to sustain their own lives in a holistic manner, is considered a major outcome of this drive. In spite of their good intentions however, these programmes do not form an integral part of the institutional fabric of developing nations.Youth: Adding Value to Agriculture in the CaribbeanProgrammes such as the Youth Apprenticeship Programme in Agriculture (YAPA) and the Youth Enterprise Initiative in Trinidad and Grenada respectively, are examples of programmes embedded into the core of the central government. Ministries of agriculture and education take a vested interest in the development of young people and help to create programmes that assist in enhancing their agricultural knowledge and skills. In the case of the YAPA programme for example, youth are able to gain agricultural knowledge through hands-on activities, which are facilitated by local farmers who share their knowledge via on-farm demonstrations and other types of experiential activities. These government-led programmes provide a realistic view of agriculture and give their participants a template from which to begin their agricultural careers, with the youth involved being given the opportunity to put their knowledge to practice through the management of their own plots and small enterprises, something that is considered a necessary and beneficial component of the skill building process. Nevertheless, despite serving as a mechanism to provide youth with a chance to venture into commercial agriculture, the efficacy of the programme has been questioned as a result of the lack of government follow through in areas such as training, pre-and post-funding and land for farming. The depth and breadth of the programmes have also been queried due to a lack of vision and questionable management practices.The Agricultural Professionals Development Programme (APDP) in Trinidad and Tobago was initiated by the Ministry of Food Production as a means of increasing the number of farmers in the country. It was designed to boost the capacity of agriculture graduates to meet the challenges impacting the domestic agricultural sector, and is in line with the Ministry's National Food Production Action Plan for the period 2012-2015. The APDP operates as a platform for engagement of graduates with a vision, 'to assist Trinidad and Tobago to become a more food-secure nation through the creation of a globally competitive workforce of agricultural graduates through professional and technical skills enhancement within a motivational and structured environment' (IICA 2012). Graduates with a degree in Agriculture or Agribusiness have an opportunity to embark upon a one year customized internship in one of five areas namely Crop Production, Livestock Production, Aquaculture, Agribusiness or Agro-processing (IICA 2012).The Helping out our Primary and Secondary Schools (HOOPSS) programme in St Lucia is described as playing an important role in the socioeconomic fabric of St Lucian households, especially in rural areas (IICA 2012), due to dwindling youth participation in agriculture. HOOPSS is built on a philosophy that only the actual engagement of young persons in theoretical and practical farming best-practice can provide that critical knowledge necessary for sustainable employment and ultimately, household food security (IICA 2012). The project also seeks to sensitize and expose students to the viability of agriculture as a business, and to promote the creation of agricultural leaders through school gardens and farm activities. Ultimately, it is hoped that this will drive the development of agriculture in St Lucia and as well, address food security and nutritional concerns of the school feeding programme. Success is based on continuous collaboration amongst its many stakeholders, mainly, the Ministry of Agriculture (technical support), IICA (implementation support), and a number of formal linkages with actual markets such as the primary school feeding programmes, local restaurants, hotels, and most notably, Consolidated Foods Limited (CFL) a major supermarket on the island.The Gilbert Agricultural and Rural Development Centre (GARDC) in Antigua started as a pilot project before being formalized with external funding (Maximay 2005). Its mission is to develop and maintain a demonstration centre to serve the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), by providing a place for practical, hands-on training in sustainable good agricultural practices that protect natural resources to assist the nation with food security and poverty alleviation. The centre, which has offered agricultural and enterprise training mainly to youth between the ages of 16 and 30 years since 1993, focuses on life and entrepreneurial skills development, with a specific emphasis on the use of natural resources in agriculture and other forms of rural enterprise.The above review suggested that agricultural development directed at youth in rural areas of the world has been supported by a variety of models ranging from government supported, top-down approaches, to a more grassroots-type orientation funded by local citizens, and others supported by regional agricultural organisations. Notwithstanding, the economic hardships, agricultural downsizing, and inadequate funding for youth programmes and agricultural services, for any intervention to have meaningful impact, it must incorporate basic youth development elements along with core agricultural components. The review of a number of youth agricultural programmes across the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa, has brought to the fore essential issues that can promote youth involvement in the sector, and allow them to add value to the sector.Taking all this into consideration, the essential components of a model will now be offered to help address some of the inherent issues countries face when trying to assist rural youth. Any, or all of these components, can be used by countries to construct their own templateThe framework presented in figure 2.1 serves to explain the central thesis of the discussion, that youth should be seen as key actors in the chain who can add value to agriculture. As presented by the FAO ( 2013), the framework is built around the core value chain in which value chain actors, i.e., those who take ownership of the product, and who produce or procure from the upstream level, add value to the product, and then sell it on to the next level. Value chain actors are mostly private sector enterprises, but can include public sector organizations such as institutional buyers (e.g., food reserve agencies, emergency food buyers such as the World Food Programme [WFP]), and even youth. Value chain actors are sustained by business development support providers who do not take ownership of the product, but who play an essential role in facilitating the value creation process. Along with the value chain actors, these support providers represent the extended value chain. Three main types of support providers can be distinguished. Firstly, there are those who supply physical inputs, such as seeds at the production level or packaging materials at the processing level. Secondly, there are the service providers in areas such as field spraying, storage, transport, laboratory testing, management training and market research. Thirdly, are the providers of financial services, which are separated from other services given the fundamental role played by working and investment capital in getting the value chain on a path of sustained growth. The facilitation of access to inputs and services then becomes essential for youth if their roles as actors in a value chain are to be fully actualised. A critical element of the core value chain is its governance structure.Governance refers to the nature of the linkages between actors at different links in the chain, and within the overall chain. As related to youth, some higher levels of governance and management of youth development in the sector would be another critical element for youth as agriculture promoters.Value chain actors and support providers operate in a particular enabling environment in which social and natural environmental elements can be distinguished. Social elements refer to the man-made creations that make up a society, and which can be grouped into four types: socio-cultural elements (consumer preferences, religious requirements), organizational elements (national inter-professional associations, research and educational facilities), institutional elements (regulations, laws), and infrastructural elements (roads, ports, communication networks, energy grids). Thus communities, schools, neighbourhoods, regional and international organisations, concerned leaders of farmer groups, and civic minded citizens, all have roles to play in creating the enabling environment for increased youth participation in the food sector. The sustainability of the value chain plays out simultaneously along three dimensions -the economic level, the social level and at the level of the environment, all of which must be given adequate attention by all youth supporters.As a constituency, youth add value to the chain of food production as key actors and their views must be factored into any decisions to be taken concerning their sustained involvement in the agriculture sector. A key statement by a youth leader in the region advised that 'youth need to be properly prepared for the positions made available to them. There shouldn't be a strong sense of entitlement that the government should provide any and all opportunities' (CARICOM 2012). Nevertheless, there are issues that constrain youthYouth: Adding Value to Agriculture in the Caribbean participation in the food production sector, which were extensively discussed at the regional level meeting of Caribbean youth leaders in Antigua, in 2012. Some key issues raised are listed below (CARICOM 2012);• Technical competence achieved through training programmes Many opportunities and action areas were suggested by participants at the forum which they genuinely believed would assist them to make a successful entry into, and have a sustainable livelihood in the sector. These included:• Focusing on specialty production modes such as nutraceuticals, culinary herb trays, branded produce (e.g. Fairtrade)• Exploring linkages with tourism• Informing youth of the opportunities that exist in the agribusiness sector• Initiating an internship programme to allow students to hone their skills• Exposing youth to all forms of protected agriculture and other climate-smart production systems• Providing services in marketing, landscaping etc.• Rebranding 'farming' to 'food production' in an effort to delink with the negative connotations of traditional farming• Teaching agriculture at all the primary and secondary schools• Developing a mechanism for information sharing among youth and more experienced farmers in the technical aspects of food production to enable them to become entrepreneurs, as against being labourers• Encouraging greater use of modern technology and the social media• Teaching agriculture in an interactive manner rather than classroom/textbook mainly • Considering opportunities in culinary tourism• Exploring post-harvest areas such as packaging and marketing of products• Considering nutrition security as an issue to be of equal or greater importance than food security• Revitalising the 4H movement as an organisation which can help promote agriculture among youth• Highlighting the successes in agriculture so that young persons may be encouraged to consider getting involved in the sector• Developing a regional initiative to promote youth in agriculture The two major recommendations coming out of the exercise included:• Inviting policymakers to future youth fora so that they can be more enlightened on the issues; and• Advocating and lobbying for greater collaboration between the Ministries of Agriculture and Education since both have a tremendous impact on the decision made by youth to enter the agriculture sector.Taking all of the above into consideration, Figure 2.2 is a diagrammatic representation of several issues that we believe impact youth development on the food production sector. Each of these issues is now discussed under three  Identify the constituents: the focus should be primarily on graduates, whether from the universities in the region or technical colleges. New agriculture requires persons prepared to innovate, use modern technology and who are business oriented, something for example, that is in line with the Sudanese model project titled 'Graduate Employment Fund Program for 2005-2008' 1 . Agriculture must be seen as a worthy profession and not as something only pursued by those who fail in the formal education system. While there will always have to be training for young persons who are not academically inclined, a development model must of necessity focus on those constituents who are most likely to succeed in the achievement of national food security goals.Promote education and training: opportunities for youth to be trained to understand the sector and work efficiently in the sector are important. These educational experiences must prepare youth to tackle the changing tides of agriculture. Cutting edge resources, technology, and other innovative tools must be introduced in order to truly prepare youth for the agricultural industry.Emphasise experiential learning: while classroom work is important, more emphasis is required on practices. Although the YAPA model in Trinidad and Tobago was assessed and found to have a good mix of classroom and experiential learning activities, the latter were called into question particularly as there was inadequate preparation for the 'new agriculture', with still too much emphasis placed on traditional methods of field-based farming in the sun for long hours using minimum technology (Ganpat and Webster 2007). This is certainly not going to attract young persons into agriculture, so it is important that an engaging and interactive curriculum, together with use of latest technology and techniques, be developed to fully engage youth in the field.Encourage mentorship: the use of business and technical mentors will always be a critical aspect of the proposed transformation of youth involvement in the food sector, especially in the Caribbean, where there are few role models in the form of successful farmers who are prepared to state publicly that the sector is a lucrative one. What one however generally finds is an environment in which the elders convey extremely negative messages to youth about the sector so that it becomes more difficult to encourage youths, especially where they have access to other options, to take an interest and be involved in agricultural production.Youth: Adding Value to Agriculture in the Caribbean Mentors with positive dispositions can therefore help direct youth to successful engagement in the sector.Promote the sector: the food sector has never been proactively sought out by the brightest and the best to lead the transformation, and is not promoted as one of first choice, despite its importance, profitability and current high profile as a mitigation avenue against climate change. National, and even regional communication/promotional programmes or campaigns on a sustained basis can bring the message to an otherwise distracted youth population.Highlight linkages: the importance of agriculture can be reinforced by demonstrating its linkages to other sectors such as health (from a nutritional standpoint), tourism, infrastructure (e.g. soft engineering solutions for slope protection) and sport (field/pitch/ course management). Youth can also assist in bringing to the fore other areas which can be directly or indirectly linked to agriculture.Teach values: this includes respecting and valuing the environment (flora and fauna, water, and the earth). It is insufficient to teach future farmers skills without providing a sense of value for the environment and encouraging sustainability.Teach self-reliance: an emphasis must be placed on broadening the scope of agriculture for it to be viewed as a sustainable and acceptable career. Caribbean youth need to be encouraged and empowered to become problem solvers. The time has passed for the promotion of the traditional approach, which upholds the government as some sort of generous benefactor that provides all that is needed. Actions that build self-confidence and self-reliance will not only contribute to transforming Caribbean agriculture, but societies in general.Encourage innovation: young persons must be taught to experiment and innovate. New agriculture will require constant innovation for farmers to maintain a competitive edge over foreign products. This skill has to be learnt and should form part of the learning experiences. Youth should be encouraged to be innovative and both adopt and adapt strategies that can be used to explore new and emerging opportunities in intellectual property, including branding and utility models, agriculture, and in science and technology.Teach business skills: traditional training is generally insufficient as it is geared towards improving production skills in situations where there is generally poor farm record keeping across the region. This is insufficient. Post-production and marketing skills are equally important for young people to successfully engage the market economy, and source external markets. Computers and other communication devices must be seen as primary tools for young people in this regard.Teach sustainability: the resources in the region are quite limited and must be used in a productive manner in the present, while maintaining productivity for future farmers. This will require a reorientation of training at all levels, starting at the university level, where issues of sustainability do not take precedence in most curricula.Provide land for farming: farmers in the region cannot practise extensive forms of agriculture due to limited land areas. Modern agriculture, which is land intensive, requires smaller parcels of land and is regarded as the preferred option today. There are several forms of agriculture that do not require very fertile lands, e.g., protected agriculture using soil-less media, vermiculture, and biotechnology. Agro-based industries also do not require large land spaces to be successful.Create a credit/Fund programme: this can be set up to assist graduates who wish to engage in small-and medium-sized projects. This is in line with the aforementioned Sudan model, and the 'Youth Window', a former project of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) in Trinidad and Tobago, which had some success. There is also a need for venture capital and humane financing provisions to encourage youth to engage credit arrangements.Development of partnerships: linkages with organizations and institutions should be actively promoted, and because the sector is diverse, assistance may have to come from a range of sources. Young farmers must be placed in direct contact with these agencies to access information and other support in a timely manner. Linkages with other sectors are also crucial. The tourism and food and beverage sectors can promote wider markets for products.Continuous monitoring and evaluation: any model geared at effective change would need to be constantly monitored, evaluated and modified where necessary. In a dynamic sector like agriculture, to allow mechanisms to run on for years without evaluation is tantamount to abandoning a seedling or new born livestock.To outsiders, the Caribbean may appear as one people, and indeed, it is in some respects. However, a closer look will reveal tremendous diversity, and while this is cherished among Caribbean people, it makes development planning somewhat difficult. In the foregoing analysis, this diversity in social and cultural areas, economic resources, human resource capacities, land availability and topographies is acknowledged. It is for this reason thereforeYouth: Adding Value to Agriculture in the Caribbean that neither the pattern of other development initiatives is followed, nor is a fixed model offered for promoting youth involvement in the agriculture sector. Instead, based on a review of international experiences with youth in agriculture programmes, a range of components is proposed that could be included in any intervention. A particular country or grouping of countries may choose to incorporate componenets into a culturally and socially acceptable model that is in line with resources and development goals. Because the construction of a definitive model will take a multitude of Caribbean experiences gathered overtime, for now, only the essential components have been identified as we edge towards a model.The Caribbean, like many other regions in the tropical ecological zone, has serious food and protein security issues given the escalation in grain prices. This is primarily because 80 percent of the region's meat supply comes from poultry. To address this issue, rabbit production was identified by governments within the Caribbean Region as a viable alternative to enhance protein security and food sovereignty. The production of rabbits and ducks in the Caribbean is generally based on small-scale, backyard and low input systems. The fast growth rate of rabbits (compared to chicken), their short generation interval and ability to convert forages into high quality protein (Leng 2008) are attributes that make them ideal for a role in enhancing protein security in the Caribban Region. Over the last decade, while levels of rabbit production have increased in Trinidad and Tobago, demand still outstrips supply. This has resulted in a move from small backyard production to medium-sized intensive commercial and semi-commercial production systems.In tandem with this, there has also been an increase in duck production regionally and globally, with a similar trend observed towards intensive and semi-intensive type production systems. For centuries, ducks have provided an important source of animal protein for the people of Asia, where domestic duck farming originated. For these populations, duck meat and eggs have, and continue to be, important sources of high quality dietary protein, energy, vitamins and minerals. In 1996, over 2.5 million metric tons (MT) of duck meat were produced globally, an increase of 11 percent over the previous year. This was the highest increase in the poultry sector for the corresponding period, with chicken increasing only by 4.3 percent Small Animal Production Systems: Rabbits and Ducksand turkey by 3.2 percent. Similarly in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname, such trends can also be observed. Many farmers are either increasing their stock or new farmers are establishing duck enterprises. Several factors have helped to sustain this trend, including the duck's ability to adapt to a range of environments and the fact that ducks are considered to be hardy animals and show greater resistance to many common diseases and parasites than other domestic poultry. Ducks therefore require a less rigid vaccination programme than broiler chickens. They are however, very susceptible to mycotoxins, and as a result, management of this factor is very important in their production. Another factor also driving increased duck production is the mushrooming of Chinese restaurants, particularly in Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and Guyana.Before starting a farm, or when evaluating an existing enterprise, farmers should make every effort to gather as much information on all relevant aspects of production and marketing. The information acquired should be used to guide both the establishment and day-to-day management of the farm. The following are some key areas that should be taken into consideration when beginning an enterprise, and which can serve as a guide for success:• What to sell: Identify and define exactly the products that are to be producedbreeding stock, fryers, fertile eggs, day-old ducklings, rabbits and ducks for the live or processed market.• What the market requires: Find out exactly what are the market requirements and standards in terms of breeds, market weight, and carcass quality.• How much the market requires: This influences the scale of the operation necessary to produce a set level of output.• When the product is required: Determine trends in market demand and market prices. Is it a seasonal or year-round market?• Who are the consumers: Identify the target market(s).• The best way to get the product to consumers: What is the best method of marketing or selling the product?• Breeds and adaptability: Consider the breeds available, their uses and performance under the prevailing environmental conditions in which they will be reared.• Performance standards of the breeds: The ability of available breeds to produce the desired output in the environment in which they will be producing.• How best to house and manage the stock: Identify the most appropriate production system and technology that should be used, considering the level of available resources and the planned output of the farm.| 55Small Animal Production Systems: Rabbits and Ducks• Source and availability of duck and rabbit feed: The availability of a continuous source of high quality life cycle feeds.• How to keep the stock healthy: Seek guidance on the best health maintenance programme.• Plans for expansion: Current demand and market trends are good indicators of future demand, and ultimately influence the scale of the operation and plans for expansion.• Rabbits are reared mainly for their meat in the Caribbean, with a number of breeds and their crosses being found in the region. The most popular ones include:• Flemish Giant: weighing more than 5.5 kg at maturity• Californian: a medium-sized breed, which can reach 4.0 kg at maturity• New Zealand White: animals can attain a weight of more than 4.5 kg at maturity• Chinchilla: there are different strains of this breed, e.g. the giant strain, which can generally weigh more than 6.5 kg at maturity• Crossbreeds: including New Zealand White x Californian, Flemish Giant x New Zealand White, Flemish Giant x Californian, Chinchilla x New Zealand White, Californian x Chinchilla x New Zealand WhiteThe most popular cross however is the New Zealand White and Californian, largely because these breeds and their crossbreds have shown good adaptability to the tropics, as it relates to their 'thermo-tolerance' and performance. The Flemish Giant and Chinchilla are used mainly as terminal sires. The crosses of these breeds show excellent meat: bone ratio.Terminal sires: Sires used in a crossbreeding system in which all their progeny are marketed.The rabbit is a monogastric herbivore and a hind gut-fermenter, with the caecum making up 40 percent of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Thus, the digestive system and the feeding strategy (caecotrophy, the practice of ingesting soft faeces of caecal origin) give the rabbit an advantage over poultry and pigs for use in sustainable farming systems. The caecum with its microbial activity, caecotrophy and high feed intake (between five and 8 g/100g body weight [BW]) is important for digestion, nutrient utilisation and meeting the nutrient requirements of the rabbit. Recycling of nutrients via the consumption of soft faeces (caecotropes) produced from the materials that pass through the caecal cycle, compensate for low or poor quality protein in the diet. 1 The nutrients rabbit require in their feed are grouped into the following categories: protein, carbohydrates, fat, minerals, and vitamins:• Protein -is important for muscle building, and is a major component of the cell membrane, hormones and enzymes. The nutritive value of proteins is dependent on its amino acid composition, the amount of protein consumed by the animal, the portion that is digested in the gut and the portion absorbed as free amino acids or peptides. Because rabbits are non-ruminants they require essential amino acids. In all the amino acids, lysine and methionine are found to be the most deficient because the ingredients used in feed formulations tend to be low in these amino acids. Other amino acids include: isoleucine, tryptophan, leucine, phenylalnine, threonine and valine.Plant proteins used in feeding rabbits fall into two major categories: seed and leaf proteins. Generally, protein meal from legumes and oilseeds are higher in albumin and globulins (soluble protein) thus, the proteins of legumes are normally higher in essential amino acids than cereal grains (high in storage/insoluble protein) (Villamide, Nicodemus, Fraga and Carabaño 2010). Nevertheless, a major constraint associated with their use in the unprocessed form relates to the presence of antinutritional factors (e.g. tannins, trypsin inhibitors, and lectina carbohydratebinding protein), which limits their use. The major protein source used in rabbit concentrate feed is soybean meal.• Carbohydrates -in rabbit feed these comprise sugars and starches, located largely within the plant cell (which are hydrolysed by the endogenous intestinal enzymes of the animal), and cellulose found principally in the cell wall (which is hydrolysed by microbial enzymes, and provides fibre). Compared to starch, sugars (e.g. glucoseSmall Animal Production Systems: Rabbits and Ducks and fructose) are readily digested by the animal and absorbed in the small intestine to provide a source of energy (Blas and Gidenne 2010). Starch on the other hand, is nearly completely digested in the GIT of the rabbit but the amount is dependent on the source of the starch and the age of the rabbit. Because rabbits are hindgut fermenters, they are able to digest cellulose and utilise it as an energy source. The fermentative process by caecal microbes produce volatile fatty acids (VFAs) such as acetate, butyrate and propionate, which are absorbed in the hindgut and provide a source of energy for rabbits (Gidenne, Carabaño, Garcia de Blas 2010). Digestive disorders in weaned rabbit may be due to stress brought about by management changes and stress due to physiological changes in the animal. It was normally accepted that digestive disorders in weaned rabbits were due largely to an overload of rapidly fermentable carbohydrate; however the thinking is that the incidence of digestive disorder may be more related to dietary fibre level and a reduction in the starch to fibre ratio in the diet (Gidenne et al. 2010), which can be corrected by increasing the fibre requirements, and lowering the starch content of the diet.• Fat -functions as a primary source of energy, to increase the palatability of the feed and as lubrication in the pelleting process. It also enables the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins in the gut. Adult rabbits appear to have little capacity to digest fat in the small intestine because lipase activity is restricted to the caecum. A high amount of fat in the diet may limit cellulose fermentation in the caecum, resulting in its excretion as a component of the hard faeces.• Minerals and vitamins -these can be satisfied by the use of calcium and phosphorus supplements and a trace mineral salt and vitamin premix in the commercial concentrate, or from the forage portion of the diet.In the Caribbean, rabbits are primarily fed on a forage-based diet supplemented with commercial rabbit feed in a 2:1 ratio to enable a feed conversion ratio (FCR) of 3.0-3.5 g DMI/g BW in grower rabbits. Small-scale backyard farmers generally use higher levels of forages for feeding, as against medium-sized intensive commercial systems, and a commercial rabbit concentrate is fed ad libitum, along with some wilted forage. Rabbits given concentrate (high energy density) will consume 5 g/100g BW. When fed forages alone, they need to consume over 8 g/100g BW. Growing rabbits fed concentrate + wilted forage consume 6.0 to 6.6 g/100g BW on a dry matter (DM) basis and average daily gain (ADG) is between 30-32 g/d in Trinidad (Table 3.1). The following are suggested rates for feeding commercial rabbit concentrate and with forages fed ad libitum: Local forages used to feed rabbits include grasses (e.g. elephant grass -Pennisetum purpureum, para grass -Brachiaria mutica and tanner grass -Brachiara arrecta), legumes (e.g. leucaena -Leucaena leucocephala, tropical kudzu -Pueraria phaseoloides and gliricidia -Gliricidia sepium) and protein tree forages (e.g. Trichanthera -Trichanthera gigantean and rabbit meat -Alteranathera tenella), in which protein is concentrated in the leaves. Forages are normally supplemented with a commercial rabbit concentrate feed in intensive commercial production systems in the Caribbean. There are also some producers who feed a concentrate that has been specially formulated by the feed millers to meet all the nutrient requirements of the rabbit, including the fibre requirements. Agro by-products such as spent brewers grains, vegetable scraps, cassava leaves and meal, and sweet potato slips are also used for feeding rabbits.The greatest challenge to developing sustainable production systems for the Caribbean lies in feeding, as feed costs make up more than 60 percent of total production costs. The escalation in grain prices means that the use of concentrate will have to be minimised, and a greater amount of forages and by-products must be fed. Research has been initiated in the Department of Food Production, Faculty of Food and Agriculture, the University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine, Trinidad, in this regard. One study, which examined the use of a combination of forages with reduced concentrate levels for growing rabbits, showed promising results as Table 3   Productivity in the breeding unit is defined as the number of young per doe per unit of time (normally measured over a year). Productivity depends on: the interval between successive kindlings, litter size at birth, and the survival of the young (mortality rate). Rabbits, like all other animals will respond to gentle treatment, thereby allowing the breeder to easily handle and manage them. An animal's temperament is therefore something that should be taken into consideration when selecting rabbits for breeding. For example, if one has an aggressive doe, culling may be advisable since she may produce aggressive off-spring. Formerly, the recommendation of one buck for every ten does was used, however at present this has been adjusted to one buck for 25 to 30 does. Nonetheless, under different climatic conditions and management systems, the breeder will have to make a judgment call to determine the buck: doe ratio best suited for his/her system.Reducing the unproductive period before the first litter can increase rabbit productivity; however, both body development and age must be taken into consideration in order to determine the proper time to breed animals. For example, smaller breeds mature much earlier than the heavier breeds, and does may become receptive to males at 3.5 months of age and so capable of conception at 4-4.5 months. However, the time animals are bred is not only dependent on age but also based on physical observation of body condition. At the University of the West Indies field station (UFS) in Trinidad, mating is done at 6.5 months, which is usually the time when the animal is sexually mature, and has the body condition to sustain the reproductive function. Medium-sized breeds like New Zealand White and When feeding rabbits you should:• Preferably feed them in the evening, at the same time each day• Provide a good fibre source to prevent enteritis• Not feed large amounts of highly soluble carbohydrate• Wilt green forages overnight when these are to be fed• Ensure a supply of fresh potable water is available at all times (1 nipple /2-3 animals is sufficient)Californian can be first bred at five to six months of age, while this is done at six to seven months of age with a larger breed such as the Flemish Giant. It should be noted too, that nutrition has a strong influence on the age at first mating, and does should not be served until they reach 80-85 percent of the mature body weight recommended for the breed, even if they may have attained the appropriate age.In most domestic mammals, ovulation takes place at regular intervals when female is in oestrus (heat). The female rabbit does not have an oestrous cycle with a regular period of heat, and so does are considered to be in oestrus 'permanently', with ovulation occurring only after mating. The rabbit is therefore referred to as a reflex ovulator. Ova released without fertilisation may accompany a pseudo-pregnancy which may last 15-17 days. Signs of heat in rabbits include: chinning, attempts to join other rabbits in nearby cage, and the vulva appearing pink and moist. Does are always taken to the male for mating where she will readily accept the buck (Figure 3.2). The doe may fight with the buck if he is placed in her pen and may cause injury to the buck. Sometimes, a doe may need to be restrained in order for mating to occur. In other cases, she may refuse one male, but when placed with another male, will readily accept him and mate.The gestation period in the rabbit generally averages 31-32 days and is influenced by the size of the litter being carried. Prior to parturition, the does will show maternal behaviour such as nest building, so that part of the management process must be the provision of a nest box measuring 40 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm. During this period the doe will pull hair from around the nipple area on the belly and dewlap, which will be used to build the nest in the box provided (Figure 3.3). The nest building behaviour observed appears to be linked to an increase in the oestrogen: progesterone ratio, as well as the secretion of prolactin. Note however, that the doe does not always make a nest and may sometimes kindle (give birth) outside the nest box. As with other animals, the secretion of corticosteroids by the adrenal glands of the young appear to play a role in signalling the onset of parturition, which usually occurs early in the morning, and lasts approximately 30 minutes, with kits being born at intervals of one to five minutes. Box 3.2 provides a summary of the best practices that can be used for breeding rabbits.Small Animal Production Systems: Rabbits and DucksIn breeding rabbits it is important to remember that:• The female should always be taken to the male for mating• After copulation the female should be immediately removed from the male and returned to her pen for maternal preparation• The doe should not be mated if she is not at the required weight, even if she has attained the age of puberty• Females that have a high service to conception ratio should be culled• Females with more than eight parturitions should be culled• A nest box should be provided at least two days before parturitionRabbits should never be lifted by their ears or legs, as this can lead to permanent damage. Small rabbits or fryers should be lifted and carried by gently grasping the animal firmly with the heel of the hands in the areas on its back close to the tail to avoid damaging the pelt or carcass (Figure 3.4). Heavier rabbits should be carried by grasping a fold of skin over the shoulder with one hand, and placing the other hand under the rump to support the weight of the animal (Figure 3.5).El Kholy (2011) indicated that the thermoneutral zone (TNZ) for rabbits ranged from 21°C-25°C. Alnaimy, Fayez, Habeeb and Marai (1994) however cited a temperature of 21°C. For temperatures outside this zone, the rabbit will experience heat stress and has to expend energy to maintain its core temperature. Thus, when the ambient temperature is above 25-30°C, the animal changes its posture and stretches itself out in order to lose heat by radiation and convection. During this period the ear (which acts like a radiator) temperature increases, and the efficiency of cooling will be influenced by the air speed around the animal (Habeeb, Marai, El-Maghawry and Gad 1997). French researchers have recommended a relative humidity of 60-65 percent as optimum for rabbits. Within the tropics temperature and humidity are two key elements that influence thermoregulation, with temperature being the most dominant factor. Because these two factors influence the heat stress experienced by rabbits in a tropical environment, they have consequences for housing design.Environmental stress has a negative impact on the production and performance of rabbits, which tend to achieve homeostasis by regulating their internal body temperature through changes in skin temperature, ear temperature, and respiratory rate under unfavourable environmental conditions. As temperature increased from 20°C to 33°C, Lebas, Coudert, De Rochambeau and Thébault (1986) reported an increase in rectal temperature by 3.6 percent for New Zealand White and 3.1 percent for Californian White. Skin temperature increased by 0.27°C, and respiratory rate increased by seven percent for every 1°C change in ambient temperature. A 50 percent increase in water consumption was reported as temperature rose from 20°C to 30°C (Marai and Ali 2004).Thermoneutral zone: The range of environmental temperatures over which the heat produced by a warm-blooded animal remains fairly constant.The ability or tendency of an organism or cell to maintain internal equilibrium by adjusting its physiological processes.Housing systems recommended for commercial rabbit production in the Caribbean are hutches made entirely of wire mesh, situated in covered areas, either suspended from the roof or placed on stands which are further enclosed in an open-sided-house (Figure 3.6). Utilising the open-sided house design facilitates a favourable environment. The design and dimensions of housing systems are important since these can have a direct impact on the housing micro-climate (i.e. environment), the animals' metabolic rate, health, welfare and production (depending on the stocking density). Rastogi (1991) recommended a hutch size of 0.76 m x 0.76 m x 0.46 m for rabbit production in Trinidad. The NRC (1996) has recommended a space allowance of 1,350cm 2 for rabbits less than 2 kg, and 1,200cm 2 for growing rabbits less than 10 weeks old, to allow for the appropriate cage space required to facilitate the increased activity and rapid locomotion of the growing rabbit (Figure 3.7).Stocking densities above the optimum have been found to negatively affect animal health, performance and carcass quality (Yakubu, Adua and Adamude, 2008;Szendro and Zotte 2011), but improve the economics of rabbit production (Verspecht et al. 2011;Yakubi and Adua 2010). Studies done on stocking densities for rabbits housed in cages located in naturally ventilated open-sided house at the University of the West Indies Field Station (UFS) rabbitry indicated that 11 to 13 rabbits/m 2 was optimum for animal performance and profitability. The study also indicated that the final market weight of the animal wasSmall Animal Production Systems: Rabbits and Ducks influenced by the stocking density (Figure 3.8), due to the impact on feed and water intake (Paul and Lallo 2014).As group size increased, aggressive behaviour was also reported to rise, resulting in animals sustaining lesions to their ears, bodies, tails and genitals (Szendro et al. 2009;Ibrahim, Marai and Ali 2004). Increasing stocking densities have also been found to result in abnormalities in body and fur condition, but Iyeghe and Olorunju (2005) reported that that there is no significant interaction between increasing density and abrasions caused by bites.A sound proper biosecurity programme, along with preventive hygiene, cleaning and disinfection, and adequate ventilation must be put in place to maintain the right environment for healthy rabbits. Rabbits are very susceptible to digestive disturbances and fryers and post-wean kits losses may be greater than 40 percent due to diarrhoea. This can have a severe economic impact on commercial rabbit production in the tropics, and is one of the most common health problems associated with rabbits. There are two principal types of enteric diseases:• Mucoid enteritis (caecal impaction)• Enterotoxaemia caused by Clostridium perfringes and C. spiroforme proliferation in the caecum, both of which produce very potent toxins Several factors lead to enteritis such as: the age, genetics and immune status of the animal, presence of pathogenic microbes in the environment, and environmental factors (e.g. micro-climate and heat stress, biosecurity and nutritional factors). Diets high in fermentable starch (such as carbohydrates) predispose post-weaned rabbits to increased incidences of enteritis, and can be prevented by feeding diets low in starch and high in fibre. Enterotoxaemia is caused by carbohydrate overload of the hind gut, thus providing a substrate for the proliferation of pathogens (e.g. C. spiroforme requires the presence of glucose).Fibre promotes normal motility of the hindgut so that where low fibre diets are fed, these promote hypo-motility resulting in prolonged retention time of digesta in the caecum and changes in caecal pH causing a proliferation of caecal microbes. In a review of several studies, Gidenne et al. (2010) reported that dietary fibre has a favourable effect on rabbit digestive health. In Trinidad, many rabbit farmers place a dry, un-husked coconut in the cages to ensure that animals obtain an adequate supply of dietary fibre in their diet. Excessive protein in the diet of the rabbit has also been linked to digestive disturbances, and Gidenne et al. (2010) also reported that a protein level of 1.8-1.9 g CP/ MJ DE seems adequate to prevent this.Sustainable Food Production Practices in the Caribbean -Volume 2Symptoms: affected rabbits display infected or abscessed areas on hocks, and animals tend to shift their weight onto the non-affected foot.Causative agents: wet floors, irritation from wire rust or rough areas on floors, frequent thumping of feet.Control/prevention: thus involves cleaning the area around the lesion and removing any blood or inflammation, applying the recommended antibiotic ointment, checking for uneven or damaged floors, and in severe cases, culling affected animals.Domestic ducks fall into two genetic classes: the common duck (Anas platyrhynchos) and the Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata). The Muscovy is a breed unrelated to the common duck and has its origins in Brazil, South America (neo-tropics), while the common duck has its origins in Asia. The Pekin duck falls into the classification of common ducks, and along with the Muscovy, are the two most important commercial meat ducks worldwide. The cross between the common duck (Pekin) and the Muscovy is sterile, and is referred to as a 'Mule' duck, which is a fast growing meat-type bird. Depending on the country, this cross is also called the Mulard, Mullard or Moulard duck. Although the origins of the Mule duck are uncertain, it is said to have been developed more than 250 years ago by farmers in Taiwan, who crossed Muscovy males with indigenous females in order to combine the high meat yield of the former, with the high laying rate of the latter. Today, although Mule ducks are grown in large numbers in France and Eastern Europe, the principal production of Mule ducks for meat occurs in the Far East and South East Asia.This breed (Figure 3.9 -page 99) is probably the most popular duck breed reared for meat production. It is well adapted to confinement, making it ideal for commercial production. The Pekin duck is well known for its rapid growth rate and, can reach 3.2 kg in about eight weeks. The mature weight of this breed is about 3.6 and 4.1 kg for ducks and drakes, respectively. The drakes are very fertile, and females are very good layers, producing 150 to 200 eggs per year, with very good shell texture. Pekin eggs usually have good hatchability and are easily incubated artificially. The incubation period lasts for a duration of 21 days like chickens, as against 35-38 days for Muscovy ducks. Nevertheless, a major disadvantage ofSmall Animal Production Systems: Rabbits and Ducks this breed is that the Pekin is not a very good setter, and very seldom broods its own eggs or raises its young. This represents a major limitation to small farmers who are forced to use a broody layer hen, (Muscovy ducks or a small artificial incubator). The Pekin duck can also be noisy and is very nervous.The Muscovy duck (Figure 3.10A and 3.10B) is the best multi-purpose (i.e. meat and eggs) breed of ducks. It is normally the breed of choice by small and backyard producers in the region but is also reared by commercial duck farmers. While there are several strains with varied colours, the white is preferred by commercial producers as they produce a high quality carcass. The carcass is larger than that of the Pekin duck, has less fat and larger pectoral muscles. The drakes are approximately 40 percent heavier than the ducks at maturity, weighing up to 5.5 kg, and have a high breast meat yield. The duck weighs approximately 3.2 kg.The Muscovy is classified as a fairly good layer, producing 120 eggs per year, which are medium to fine in texture, have good shell characteristics and excellent hatchability. The ducks lay 20 to 25 eggs per clutch and will proceed to hatch and rear their young. If the number is restricted to about 20, it is not unusual for the duck to hatch and rear all. This makes them good setters with good mothering ability. They are therefore highly favoured by small farmers who use natural incubation. The meat has a gamely taste, is leaner than the Pekin, and is highly favoured by consumers. Since these ducks are nearly mute, this breed is favoured because it is not very noisy, but is however prone to praedial larceny. The Muscovy duck has good grazing or foraging habits, and is therefore excellent for small backyard, semi-intensive or extensive production systems.One disadvantage of this breed is that they exhibit sexual dimorphism. Males are larger than the females, which only attain 60 percent of the weight of males at maturity. The Muscovy is not well-suited to large commercial operations because its level of egg production is lower when compared to the Pekin. The Muscovy can fly well, so it is normally recommended that pinioning be done, particularly where the unimproved strain is being reared. Like chickens, the wild unimproved strain of Muscovy likes to roost at nights. The incubation period for the Muscovy egg is 35-38 days compared to the 21 days the Pekin, as stated above. Because the young take a month longer to come into feather, a longer brooding time is required. Since the plumage is less oily and downy than that of other ducks' feathers, care has to be taken when putting the Muscovy on water, as it is possible that birds can drown, especially the heavy long-winged drake. The claws on the feet are sharper than those of other ducks, so that these birds must be handled carefully, especially the large drakes which are very temperamental and can cause damage to workers.Sexual dimorphism: differences in appearance between males and females of the same species, such as colour, shape, size, and structure.Pinioning: the act of surgically removing one pinion joint, namely the joint of a bird's wing, farthest from the body, to prevent flight.Various strains of this duck, namely multi-coloured and white (which is preferred by commercial producers), can be found (Figures 3.11A and 3.11B). The Mule duck is fast growing and it grows relatively faster than Pekin and Muscovy ducks. Good lines can produce a live weight of 3.7 kg at ten weeks of age and at a FCR of 2.5 (i.e. 2.5 kg feed per kg live weight). This duck does not exhibit sexual dimorphism and produces a good quality carcass that is high in lean meat. The meat also has a soft texture, and similar to that of the Pekin duck. The carcass, while leaner than the Pekin, also retains sufficient subcutaneous fat to produce a succulent flavour following cooking. Mule ducks show good disease resistance, but are sterile.Central Farms is the leading duck producer in Trinidad and Tobago, and also is a major partner in the duck research conducted locally. In collaboration with the Department of Food Production, UWI, St Augustine, a programme was developed to test improved duck breeds and strains from a major international duck breeder under our local conditions. In light of this, studies were undertaken on the performance of Pekin, Muscovy and Mule duck breeds from France and North America. The findings of this research are presented in Tables 3.3 and 3.4, which provide summaries of the performance of Pekin and Mule ducks and Mule ducks alone reared at Central Farms, respectively. Based on the results it was concluded that the Mule duck was the best breed to use locally for commercial production.A major drawback to sustainable duck production however, is the reliance on imported soybean meal and corn. Further, the price increases to which these commodities are subjected, can threaten the sustainability of monogastric animal production in CARICOM (Lallo 1998). Central Farms along with UWI has begun research into this issue since feed costs represent more than 60 percent of total production costs. Work is being done to identify a feed supplement, which is based on by-products from different industries suchSmall Animal Production Systems: Rabbits and Ducks as bakeries, snack and cereal manufacturers. The use of ensiled fish waste, protein forages and legumes as a way forward to developing more sustainable feeding systems is also being explored.  Source: Lallo and Ramraj (2008)In order for ducks to grow at an optimum rate economically, their nutrient requirements for energy, protein, vitamins and minerals must be met. These nutrients are needed each day to support maximum weight gain in the ducks, and therefore must be present in adequate amounts with no imbalance or excess. As against broilers, the growth of ducks is not influenced by dietary energy concentration and as such, energy must be provided at a level that is most economical (i.e. between 2,890 Kcal/kg and 3,200 Kcal/kg). Since ducks are almost insensitive to excess protein in their feed, the utilisation of diets high in protein is ineffective in attempting to reduce fatness in ducks. Feed restriction may reduce fatness, but will also result in a lower feed conversion. Protein levels in starter rations may range from 18 to 20 percent CP (crude protein) and in grower-finisher rations from 15 percent to 18 percent CP. Scott and Dean (1991) have noted that the ratio of energy to protein (ME: P) is also critical to duck performance. While French researchers have recommended ratios of 17.2 and 20.7 for starter and grower diets (Larbier andLeclercq 1994), the NRC (1994) | 73Small Animal Production Systems: Rabbits and Ducks suggested values of 13.0 and 18.8 for these various rations respectively. With respect to the vitamin and mineral requirements of ducks, in commercial diets these are supplied by premixes. There may also be differences in the nutrient requirements among the Pekin, Mule and Muscovy.In intensive systems of production, because the ducks are confined, concentrate feeds are used to supply all their nutritional needs in order to promote a rapid growth rate and high quality carcass. In semi-intensive systems the objective is similar, and while the ducks may forage and consume insects, the contribution of foraging to supplying their nutritional needs is insignificant. In extensive or backyard production systems, the nutritional needs of the ducks are met to some extent by foraging and insect consumption. In such systems however, a large hectarage of land is required, as only 20 to 25 ducks can be supported on 0.4 ha (approximately one acre). Production within this system is also further influenced by the quality and quantity of forage available, and some level of supplementation may therefore become necessary. Generally, large intensive commercial producers use duck feed prepared by feed millers made solely from imported ingredients, thereby posing a challenge to the sustainability of the industry. To address this, locally available agro byproducts can be used in the formulation of custom-made supplements, which can not only meet the nutrient requirements, but also reduce feed costs.Duck feed must be stored away from rodents and insects and in a clean dry place to prevent contamination and mould growth. It should be used within three weeks of the manufactured date or sooner during the rainy season when it is hot and humid, to prevent vitamin loss and mould development. Stale, bad smelling or mouldy feed should never be fed to ducks, as they are extremely sensitive to mould toxins; feed containing as little as 30-40 ppb aflatoxin has been shown to impair protein utilisation. Mould toxins at levels between 60 and 80 ppb can cause damage to the duck's digestive organs, liver, kidneys, muscles and plumage, and reduce growth and feed conversion ratio. Most species of ducks seem very susceptible to heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, and arsenic, which are usually not present at toxic levels in uncontaminated commercial feeds. Because the quality of feed ingredients is also very important, old vitamin/mineral packs should not be used.Feed form is also important to duck performance due largely to the anatomical structure of the bill. The use of a high quality pelleted feed is important to optimise the growth rate and feed efficiency. Performance will decrease as the amount of fine material increases in a bag of pelleted feed, so that although ducks can be fed mash feed, a reduction in growth performance by approximately 10 percent, will be observed when compared with ducks fed pelleted feed. There will also be an increase in feed wastage. Ducklings should be fed a starter diet consisting of pellets of 3.2 mm in diameter, or as crumbles, and after two weeks of age, a grower diet consisting of pellets of 4.8 mm diameter can be fed.The anatomy and feeding habits of the ducks must be considered when designing or selecting feeding and watering equipment. Ducks use a shovel-like action when eating, which the feeders used should facilitate. An adult duck requires approximately 10 cm of feeder space, and feeders and drinkers should be evenly distributed throughout the pen and provided in quantities that would discourage overcrowding, particularly at feeding time.In production systems where feeders are placed outdoors, the feed may get wet when it rains and if left for extended periods could pose health risks to the ducks. Over exposure to sunlight can also affect the vitamin content in the feed so that it is advisable to place it in a covered area. Because of their susceptibility to mycotoxins, ducks should never be fed old or mouldy feed. Feeders should be emptied, cleaned and feed replaced on a daily basis.Compared to chickens, ducks eat a lot during a single feeding, as a result of their welldeveloped oesophagus, which compensates for the absence of a crop. This however could result in birds choking if they do not have easy access to drinking water when eating, which also should be clean and cool. Because of their drinking habits, water spillage from drinkers is quite common, which means that these should be so designed to enable the ducks to easily submerge the tip of the bill in them. Spillage can be minimised by correctly adjusting the water level in the drinkers, and placing drinkers at the appropriate height. Where ducks are reared on deep litter, it is advisable to place the drinkers on wire grids. Nipple drinkers can also be used to help reduce wet litter problems. Where these are used however, they should be checked regularly to ensure that they are all functional.In ducks, niacin deficiency can be recognised by bowlegs, curled toes and swollen knees. Treatment includes the use of a vitamin supplement rich in niacin. Vitamin D and calcium deficiencies lead to lameness, thereby preventing affected birds from accessing feeders and drinkers, leading to a decrease in feed intake. A vitamin supplement rich in vitamin D 3 can be used to correct this problem. The main symptoms of a vitamin E deficiency are ducks falling on their side and paddle, twisted neck. Cannibalism may be caused by imbalances in certain nutrients, such as methionine, along with overcrowding in pens. Where this occurs, affected ducks should be immediately removed and isolated. To prevent cannibalism, the beaks of Muscovy and Mule ducks should be trimmed at two weeks of age.Small Animal Production Systems: Rabbits and DucksDucks can be reared under a number of different production systems, either as a single enterprise or in combination with other livestock, including fish. However, in most commercial farms ducks are reared as a single enterprise. Ducks use water for swimming, wading and mating, but the provision of water for these activities is not absolutely necessary for successful duck production. However, when water is available, it enables the ducks to dissipate an appreciable amount of heat into water via their feet and bills, which aids in reducing heat stress. The type of production system and housing depend on a number of factors such as availability of credit, labour, technology and also the market requirements. The three main systems used for duck production include:• Intensive system in which ducks are totally confined• Semi-intensive system in which ducks are partially confined• Extensive system in which ducks are reared on large hectaragesThe two most widely used systems on commercial farms are the intensive (Figure 3.12A and 3.12B) and semi-intensive systems (Figure 3.12C and 3.12D), which to varying extents involve a restriction in the floor space provided for the ducks. Careful attention is also paid to the provision of a high quality, nutritionally balanced diet, in order to attain efficient feed conversion, rapid growth rate and the maintenance of a profitable enterprise. The genetic quality of the stock, as previously mentioned, as well as the health maintenance programme is also important areas of focus. In the extensive system, management of these parameters is not as rigid. Ducks are also kept in integrated systems (Figure 3.13) e.g. in combination with aquaculture or with crop such as rice, commonly seen in Asia. There is also the subsistence or backyard system of production, where ducks are kept mainly for household use and are fed household scraps and sometimes allowed to forage (Figure 3.14).Many different housing designs are used in both the intensive and semi-intensive systems. Ducks may be housed either directly on a dirt floor or on litter material. Deep litter floors are preferred compared to dirt floors because the ducks are much cleaner and the environment is generally much better for the animals' welfare. They may also be housed in cages with slatted or wire floor. Each of these floor systems has its associated advantages and disadvantages. For example, while the dirt and litter floors are cheaper to establish, they are more difficult to clean and puddles of dirty water can develop. The ducks are also in direct contact with their droppings in this system. Such floors therefore represent potential sources for the spread of diseases within the flock. Slatted and wire floors on the other hand are more expensive to establish but provide additional benefits, including higher stocking densities, cleaner ducks, and reduced risk of disease transmission due to direct contact with droppings.The intensive and semi-intensive systems have similarities. They both provide some covered area for the ducks, especially for laying and brooding. They also allow for separation by age or stage of production, whereby for example, the breeders can be separated from those ducks being fattened for market. This is particularly important if the sale of live animal takes place on-farm, as buyers generally want to purchase the larger ducks which are normally the breeders. This practice could however eventually has a negative impact on the quality of the breeding stock, since a number of associated parameters such as growth rate and market weight are influenced by the genetic quality of the breeding stock.Ducks for use as breeding stock should be healthy and alert, have good body conformation e.g. be full breasted, have a deep keel and with good width between their legs, and have attained the required weight for age for the given breeds. A major objective of the breeding unit is the production of fertile eggs with high hatchability, but its ultimate objective is to produce healthy ducklings to be reared to give high carcass yield and quality.Once selected as breeding stock the ducks should be fed with this objective in mind, but not be allowed to become too fat. If the ducks become too fat, this negatively impacts the level of egg production, while in drakes, their ability to mate is affected, something which in turn, affects the hatchability of the eggs produced. The feeding programme and general nutrition of breeders must therefore be carefully monitored in order to maintain this delicate balance.A key factor in the achievement of the objective of a breeding unit is the provision of the correct ratio of ducks to drakes, with a range of 5-8 ducks to one drake being usually sufficient. Breeder ducks in intensive and semi intensive systems, as well as in the extensive or backyard systems may be kept for four to five years. Oftentimes, when younger drakesSmall Animal Production Systems: Rabbits and Ducks are mated to older ducks in their first breeding season, because of sexual immaturity egg fertility may be affected, so that egg fertility in the flock should be regularly monitored. As such it is therefore advisable to use older males with older females and younger males with females of their own age.While ducks may start to lay at 23-28 weeks of age, in a well-managed flock laying can start at 21 weeks. Drakes used for breeding should be at least 27 weeks old. Similar to commercial layers, egg production in ducks could be stimulated by the use of a proper lighting programme, which involves increasing the number of light hours to around 14, approximately three weeks before the onset of laying. During the laying period, light hours should be maintained at about 16 hours. The increase in feed quality and quantity will also bring ducks into lay, and the ration should be changed from one used to support maintenance, to one for breeders. Egg production usually peaks about five to six weeks after the onset of lay, and in most cases if properly managed, is maintained around 50 percent for about five months. Unlike layer chickens, ducks do not like to perch. Therefore nest boxes should be placed at ground level.The provision of adequate nest boxes for breeders is important. A ratio of one nest box for every three ducks is recommended. Nest boxes should be about 35 cm wide x 43 cm deep x 33 cm high) and must allow only one duck to enter and sit. In order to minimise the number of dirty eggs, the nest boxes should be placed in the pens about one to two weeks before the onset of lay, thereby allowing soon to be laying ducks to become familiar with them. A layer of about 10 cm of clean, dry litter should be maintained in the nest boxes at all times. Droppings from the ducks should not be allowed to build up in and/or on the nest boxes, which should be located in a sheltered and isolated area to minimise disturbance, especially during brooding.It is possible to produce fertile eggs and have a poor hatch, as factors other than fertility, also impact on hatchability, for example, egg collection, storage and handling. Every effort should therefore be made to produce clean eggs and store them properly. Provision of an adequate number of nest boxes, proper nest box management, frequent collection of eggs, proper cleaning of any dirty eggs, reduced length of storage and proper storage conditions for fertile eggs all help to improve hatchability. Frequent egg collection also minimises soiled and cracked eggs. Proper egg storage is important to ensure that fresh, vigorous embryos are placed in the incubator or under the broody duck. If eggs are to be stored for more than two weeks they should be turned at least three times per day to avoid the yolk sticking to the shell. Eggs should be stored at 13°C, a relative humidity of 75 percent, and with the small end downward.The conditions during incubation impact directly on the percentage hatchability, when artificial incubation is used. It is critical that the manufacturer's guidelines be followed in relation to the maintenance of the correct temperature and relative humidity, regular turning of the eggs, and their timely removal from the incubator to the setter. Most commercial incubators automatically regulate the temperature, humidity and turning of the eggs and are also designed to alert the operator if the equipment malfunctions. Nevertheless, continuous monitoring of the equipment remains critical to the success of the hatch.Not all fertilised eggs develop into ducklings, as some embyos may die right after fertilisation, while others die during various stages of incubation. Candling will help to determine whether there is a fertility or hatchability problem. The best time to candle is between the 17th and 18th day of incubation. With Muscovy ducks candling can be done on the seventh day, and again on the 32nd day of incubation, while for Pekin and other breeds, this can be performed on the seventh and 18th days. When candling, a light is shone through the egg so that the interior of the egg can be observed through the shell. Eggs that appear clean with no signs of embryonic development are called 'clears'. Because some eggs may have been fertilised but the embryos may have died too early to be detected by candling, they will have to be examined ('break-out') for evidence of embryonic development. If 15-20 percent of the clear eggs are \"broken out\" and show no sign of embryonic growth, the problem is fertility. While a dead embryo will generally show as a dark spot stuck to the shell membrane, a live one will be located near the air space as a dark spot with blood vessels radiating away from it.Hatchability: the percentage of fertilised eggs that hatch into ducklings.Small Animal Production Systems: Rabbits and DucksMany small farmers use broody ducks to hatch their eggs, so that for these farmers, the brooding tendency is very important. Since the duck usually becomes broody after she lays a clutch of eggs, she can be allowed to sit on her eggs in a nest box in a relatively undisturbed area. She will leave the nest box for food and water, and should have easy access to both. The brooding tendency is therefore an important aspect of the duck's mothering ability, and in this regard, the Muscovy is a much better mother than the Pekin duck, which would seldom sit on her eggs. Some farmers also use broody hens (chickens) to incubate duck eggs.If chickens are used it may be necessary to sprinkle the eggs daily with lukewarm water to achieve a higher humidity. The incubation period for the Muscovy is 35 days while Pekin eggs take 21 days to hatch. Brooding tendency is less of less importance to large farmers who hatch their eggs using incubators, and whose main objective is to have the ducks lay as many eggs as possible without going broody. As such, these producers would prefer the Pekin.Broodiness: the natural tendency of the duck to set on her eggs until they hatch into ducklings.Duckling mortality impacts directly on the profitability of the farm, and should therefore be minimised by farmers as far as possible. A number of factors contribute to mortality levels, including brooding conditions, trampling of early-hatched ducklings by their mothers, feeding and nutrition, diseases and predators. It is advisable to remove early-hatched ducklings from their mother to reduce trampling and mortality of early-hatched ducklings, and also to encourage the mother to sit on the remaining eggs until they hatch.Brooding refers to the care and management of the newly hatched ducklings for the first few weeks, and can be done naturally. The duck huddles the ducklings under her to keep them warm, especially at nights, and protect them from danger. Broody hens (chickens) also do a good job, but they should be confined since the hens are likely to tire the ducklings by wandering too far. Wandering may also expose the young ducklings to predators.Artificial brooding conditions for ducklings are similar to those for brooding layer and broiler chickens and any type of equipment that is suitable for chickens is also appropriate for ducks. Brooding involves the provision of heat to keep the ducklings warm because their temperature control mechanism (i.e. thermoregulation system) is not fully developed, making them susceptible to chills. A 250-watt infrared brooding lamp, hung about 45 cm above the floor can be used in the brooder. If a hoover is used, it should be hung 10 cm to 13 cm higher than the height used for chickens. When infrared brooding lamps are not available, many farmers with small production systems use incandescent light bulbs for brooding. The following are some temperature recommendations for brooding ducklings: Week 1: 29.4°C -32.2°C Week 2: 23.9°C to 26.7°C Week 3 and beyond: 21°CIt is critical to monitor the ducklings during the first five days post hatch. If ducklings experience heat stress, they will spread out away from the heat source, pant and make a high pitch chirping noise. When they are too cold, ducklings will huddle under the heat source in groups, something that can result in crushing if they pile too high in the groups. It is important to observe the ducklings' response to the heat provided; an even distribution in the brooding area is a good indicator of their comfort.The brooding area should be dry, well-ventilated, draught-free, protected from predators and provide sufficient floor space for the rapidly growing ducklings. Wire or litter floors should be used during brooding. Wire is preferred because it reduces of the risk of aspergillosis associated with the use of some types of litter. Where litter material is used on the floor it should be about 10-15 cm deep. The litter should be treated for fungus, as this grows well on wet litter and ducklings are extremely susceptible to the aflatoxins produced by some fungi. The litter for young ducklings should therefore be kept dry at all times. Aflatoxins could cause high mortality and morbidity, and decreased growth rate of ducklings. In Trinidad and Tobago for example, the best brooding results have been obtained when specially built crates with rubberised or plastic coated wire mesh no more than 2 cm in diameter have been used for this purpose. The crates also provide the ducks with protection against predators such as dogs, cats and rodents, and also prevent aspergillosis since no litter is used.Small Animal Production Systems: Rabbits and DucksCare should be taken with the feeding of ducklings as mortality may result from starvation or from choking on dry feed. Starvation can arise when ducklings receive insufficient feed, are unable to access the feed provided, or if the feed particles are too big for the young duck to consume. If the ducklings do not have enough water to drink while eating the dry concentrate feed they may choke and die. Young ducklings should be fed a duck starter ration in the appropriate feeders, and must be provided with good quality (clean and cool) drinking water. During the first few days, the feed may be placed in flat feeders, which should not be placed on a smooth surface, as this could cause the young ducklings to slip and sustain leg injuries. Drinkers should be placed on wire grids to minimise wetting of the litter. Feeders and drinkers should be adjusted so that ducklings have easy access to them. Ducklings should be given fresh feed each day, and old or mouldy feed must never be fed. Drinkers should be located close to the feeders and should be washed and sanitised daily. The rinse water should not be poured in the house, but preferably into a bucket and removed from the pen to help maintain a clean healthy environment for the ducks. Drinkers and feeders should be checked daily to ensure that they are working properly.Food quality and human health issues have become more important in recent years, in addition to which, the concept of food value has changed. For example, high energy meat sources are less desirable because of excess calorie, and health concerns about total fat intake in the human diet. In the area of food safety, the primary concerns revolve around the food-borne illnesses caused by chemical contaminants and pathogenic bacteria. It is therefore important to keep ducks healthy at all times. A healthy and disease-free flock will provide good returns to farmers in the long run and a wholesome product to consumers. In order to achieve these objectives, farmers should have a disease-free farm, purchase disease-free ducklings, restrict the movement of visitors, disinfect all shed and utensils after every batch, and follow the advice of a veterinarian to prevent sickness and disease in the flock. The farm should be kept free of any materials that harbour vermin and insect pests. Biosecurity, as with all poultry, is of great importance on the duck farm and the key to maintaining a healthy flock (Box 3.3). Ducks raised in small numbers and in relative isolation, suffer little from diseases, but where there are large flocks, diseases may be extremely widespread. Muscovy and mule ducks appear to be resistant to many diseases common to Pekin and mallard-type ducks. The list of common diseases which follows is far from complete both in number and details, and should not be used as a substitute for accurate diagnosis and treatment by competent animal health personnel. Farmers should only administer antibiotics and vaccine when absolutely necessary or on the advice of animal health personnel. Failure to do this could result in the introduction of new pathogenic organisms into the environment.These are a group of toxic chemicals produced by moulds or fungi growing on certain feedstuff or litter material. Ducks are extremely susceptible to mycotoxins, especially aflatoxins, and this is therefore a major concern throughout the duck industry, especially in the humid tropics. Recognising this susceptibility and the potential for losses in the duck industry, good feed mill manufacturing practices will prevent the use of sub-optimal ingredients and duck rations are enhanced with both mould inhibitors and mycotoxins binders. Good management, storage and handling and timely usage of feed on theSmall Animal Production Systems: Rabbits and Ducks farm will also go a long way to minimise this problem. Aspergillosis, a fungal infection of the respiratory tract also referred to as brooders' pneumonia, is a common disease in ducks resulting from the inhalation of fungal spores in the air and by aflatoxins produced by fungi of the Aspergillus species, such as A. fumigatus and A. flavus. It is more common in ducklings reared on deep litter, especially on bagasse-based litter.Common signs include: reluctance to move, decreased feed intake, differential growth patterns in flock, ruffled feathers, whitish diarrhoea, difficult breathing or gasping, accelerated breathing, emaciation and death. Treatment of this condition is expensive and usually ineffective. Mortality from Aspergillosis can be quite high, especially in ducklings. Good litter management and a dry brooder house are absolutely essential to help prevent this disease.This disease is caused by the bacterium Clostridium botulism, an anaerobic spore forming organism, which grows in decaying plant and animal material particularly in hot humid climates. Stagnant pond water with decaying carcasses and vegetation are sources of the bacteria, which produces toxins that can cause botulism, and may result in high mortality in the flock. Ducks feeding on materials or drinking water containing the deadly toxins produced by the bacteria tend to lose control of their neck muscles and they usually drown if a swimming facility is available. The disease occurs both in young and adult stock. Common signs of botulism are weakness, paralysis of the neck muscles, and death, usually within 24 hours. The removal and/or isolation of birds from sources of contamination such as dead birds, is important in the control of this disease. Maintenance of clean facilities and the quality of the drinking water are very important in the prevention of this disease.Common signs include depression, septicaemia, navel infection, and some level of mortality within the first week of brooding, and ducklings also look and feel wet. Post mortem reveals the remains of a bluish or blackish yolk sac, something that is commonly observed in ducklings hatched from eggs on the floor or otherwise dirty eggs. While the infection may be caused by different bacteria, the Escherichia coli organism, which is normally associated with environmental hygiene, is the common causative agent associated with this disease. Prevention of this disease involves paying attention to good hygiene with respect to housing, nest box management, the hatchery and flock in general.Although not as troublesome as in chickens, this disease causes some measure of distress occasionally in flocks. The organism causing the disease in ducks is different from those causing it in chickens.External parasites are generally observed in ducks subjected to very poor management. They cause discomfort to the ducks along with varying levels of damage to the feathers.With careful examination, they can be seen at the base of the feathers, and in cases of heavy infestation, can be easily observed.While foraging, ducks may ingest undesirable foreign bodies such as nails and small pieces of wire. These items may puncture and cause damage to the internal organs.Affected animals may appear sick and post mortem examination generally reveals the extent of the injury. Similar items may also penetrate the duck's body and cause injury to the skin.Blisters -these usually occur on the footpads and breasts, and are usually caused by ammonia emanating from poorly managed deep litter. While the blisters on the footpads cause discomfort to the ducks and affect their access to feed and water, breast blisters affect carcass quality.Sticky eye -this is caused by dust or feed particles getting into the eyes of the duckling, resulting in around the eyes appearing wet and sticky. Providing the birds with containers of sanitised water to wash their bills assists in alleviating this problem.Duck cholera -this disease causes high mortality in adult and young stock, and can be controlled by strict sanitation.Duck virus enteritis (duck plague) -an acute fatal disease that affects ducks as well as geese, swans and other aquatic birds. It is caused by a filterable virus that is transmissible by contact, and commonly occurs where water is available for swimming.New duck disease (infectious serositis) -one of the most serious diseases affecting ducklings, caused by the bacterium Moraxella anatipestifer. Symptoms resemble those of chronic respiratory disease of chickens, and stricken ducklings fall over on their sides and backs.Small Animal Production Systems: Rabbits and Ducks Virus hepatitis -serious outbreaks of virus hepatitis can cause 80-90 percent mortality in flocks of ducklings. This highly contagious disease strikes swiftly and without warning and affects ducklings from one to five weeks of age. A vaccine, which can be administered to female breeding stock is available.Ducks are mainly marketed as whole birds in Trinidad and Tobago through pluck shops (cottage processors) or as live birds sold at the farm gate. Recently however, an increasing trend has been observed whereby local duck meat is cut up and sold in 'tray-paks' in supermarkets. Eight to ten hours prior to slaughter, feed should be withheld from the birds, but water may be provided up to the time of killing. Clean and un-crowded rearing, transportation and holding facilities will help to prevent bruising, cutting, stress and other factors that cause poor market acceptability. Ducks should be transported in crates or herded into a trailer-type transport, when the slaughtering facility is not done on farm. Construction of elaborate slaughtering facilities is justified only for large commercial operations. If live markets are not available, small farm flocks can be processed by using facilities similar to those used for chickens (i.e. pluck shops/cottage processing) (Figure 3.16).When slaughtering ducks, birds can either be hung by the feet, or placed in a special slaughtering funnel. Using a long, thin, sharp knife, a cut is made across the outside of the throat high up on the neck and just under the lower bill. This will sever the jugular vein and allow swift and complete bleeding. When bleeding has ceased, birds can be scalded by immersing them in hot water (60°C) for three minutes and de-feathered immediately after scalding. All remaining pinfeathers should also be removed by grasping them between the thumb and a dull knife and pulling sharply. Under local cottage processing it is common to flame off pinfeathers.In large commercial slaughterhouses, ducks are dipped in a molten wax after they have been de-feathered. The wax hardens when the birds are immersed in cold water, and the pin feathers are extracted when the wax coating is removed from the carcass. The wax can be reused if it is melted and the feathers are separated out. Small quantities of wax can be purchased for use in small slaughtering operations, however it is highly combustible and care must be taken to prevent it from coming in contact with open flames.After de-feathering, birds must be eviscerated immediately. The eviscerated carcass is then thoroughly washed, and placed in slush ice for rapid cooling, and the giblets placed in the body cavity of the chilled birds. If birds are to be marketed frozen, they should be packaged in shrinkable plastic bags (Figure 3.17). Protocols and standards are currently being developed for CARICOM with respect to cottage processing that cottage processors of ducks will have to adopt. Further, packaging and labelling requirements are also being developed for farmers' use.The three main purposes for keeping records are to: check on performance, guide future decisions, and provide planning data. Farmers must keep proper records if they are to effectively run a profitable duck enterprise, as flock production records are a necessary part of good flock management. Figure 3.18A represents a growing ducks record sheet, and provides a summary of flock behaviour from day old to market. Records on mortality and feed consumption are kept on a daily basis, but summarised on a weekly basis. Body weight of birds is monitored on a weekly basis, and this weekly weight can be plotted to give a visual analysis of how birds are performing, and can be compared with the expected performance based on the breeder's standard.Records should reveal the strengths of a business that can be exploited and the weaknesses that must be removed. It is therefore important for the duck producer to understand that this enterprise is not only a biological entity but a business and an economic entity. Thus, the cost of production and returns must also be a part of the recording systems, as illustrated in Figure 3.18B, which outlines the parameters to be considered in evaluating the cost of production of broiler ducks.Small Animal Production Systems: Rabbits and Ducks   Marketing has historically provided women and their families with a source of income.CHAPTER ONE The identification and implementation of technologies and systems with the potential to increase agricultural production and productivity, have been the main strategies used to maximize the value of the vegetable sub-sector of the Caribbean. These strategies are seen as important to satisfy local demands for vegetables, decrease vegetable imports, which amounts to an average annual expenditure of US$265 Million in the Caribbean (Walters and Jones, 2012), and to increase food security. Protected agriculture is currently viewed as one such strategy, which can be used to profitably produce crops in the region. Jensen and Malter (1995) define protected agriculture (PA), as the modification of the natural environment to achieve optimum plant growth. It is viewed as a means of addressing the limitations of traditional open-field vegetable production systems, particularly low and inconsistent crop yields and productivity. PA employs technologies such as greenhouses (GH), rain shelters (RS) and net houses (NH), which primarily differ based on the type of protective material used, the size and complexity of the structure, and the degree to which the environment is manipulated or controlled. A greenhouse is a framed or inflated structure, covered by a transparent or translucent material that permits optimum light transmission for plant production and protects against adverse climatic conditions (Jensen and Malter 1995). By contrast, a rain shelter is a greenhouse-like unit, in which, only the roof is covered with a transparent or translucent material that is impervious to rain. It can either have no, or open sidewalls but has no mechanical ventilation or heating system. On the other hand, NH are greenhouse-like units, that are usually covered with insect proof netting that is pervious to rain. The net house may provide some degree of shading but does not normally consist of mechanical ventilation or heating systems.Regardless of the type of protective structure or the scale of commercial production, farmers are required to have a more comprehensive knowledge of agronomic and crop management principles than for traditional agriculture (Jensen and Malter 1995). Moreover, the success of any of these PA technologies is very much dependent on the level and quality of the applied technology, adequate research, and the provision of efficient technical support systems. The success of PA technologies is also dependent on factors such as local climate, marketing intelligence, and market access.In the Caribbean, such factors have either been limited or inadequately harmonized, resulting in several failed attempts at adopting PA technologies as a means of profitably producing vegetable crops. Such is the case with the recent re-introduction of greenhouse technology where farmers have not been able to achieve or sustain expected production, productivity, and profitability. This is mainly due to constraints, which have existed since the 1950s across reintroduction cycles of this technology. These include high greenhouse temperatures (>35°C) and relative humidity (> 90 percent), pest and disease management challenges, ineffective production systems, and plant growth media and nutrient management issues (St Martin and Brathwaite 2012a;St Martin et al. 2008). All of which often resulted in the abandonment of facilities after a few crop cycles.This raises the question of which crop production and/ PA technology is most appropriate and sustainable for use under the climatic conditions of the Caribbean. As is evident by the numerous structural modifications made to totally enclosed greenhouses by many farmers, including replacing plastic roof or sidewalls coverings with saran netting or 17-25 or lowermesh screens and producing in open-sided structures with plastic roof coverings, appropriate and sustainable PA technology is being intuitively defined as RS and/or NH. In fact, many novice greenhouse farmers are opting to establish, RS or NH instead of fully enclosedplastic roof covered GH. RS and NH are increasingly being viewed as more sustainable than greenhouse because they require a much lower initial capital investment, temperatures in these structures are generally lower than in GH, and if appropriately managed, yields and productivity are arguably higher than in GH or open field production.In light of this emerging trend, the objective of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive overview of best management practices (BMPs) for sustainable production of vegetables in RS and NH. In contrast to the first volume of this book, focus is placed on the production of leafy vegetables, mainly lettuce, rather than tomato (St Martin and Brathwaite, 2012b). However, owing to similarities among protective structures, some of the principles and practices, which are described in detail in the first volume, have either been summarized into 'audit verification checklists', or not included. This is particularly so, for BMPs relating to site selection, RS/NH design and structure, and some cultural practices. These checklists provide a quick and practical means of evaluating the implementation of BMPs.Rain Shelters and Net-houses for Vegetable ProductionThe collation of information on recommended practices was done using the same methodology described by St Martin and Brathwaite (2012b). This included sourcing information from research done under the climatic conditions of the Caribbean, growers' and the author's experiences/ or on-site research, and RS/NH or GH manuals relevant to crop production in tropical and temperate conditions. All best practices and principles are rooted in, or linked to GLOBALG.A.P standards (GLOBALG.A.P 2011) and are addressed under the relevant subheadings. 'Rules of thumb', which were mainly adopted or modified from Talekar, Su, and Lin (2003) were used to highlight and summarize key points in this chapter.BMPs in this chapter will be related only to structural and cultural practices. BMPs for monitoring environmental factors, disaster preparedness, and business will not be discussed in this chapter since they are similar to those for GH production, which were thoroughly discussed in the first volume of this book. A first step to successful rain shelter or net-house vegetable production is a good location. Structures on higher lands are less likely to be flooded and have lower temperatures.Many of the rain shelter designs in the Caribbean have been developed \"on-farm\" by growers, mainly through modifications done to totally enclosed GH. As such, designs and sizes of RS vary, as do the materials used to construct these structures (Figures 4.1-4pages 106-7). In contrast, net-house designs are more standard than those for RH, and vary mainly with reference to the type and color of netting used, degree of shading provided, and the size of the structures.Orientation and light 9 RS or NH orientation is in any direction that allows for maximum airflow given that neither topography nor canopies do not shade the structure during sunrise and set and/or the orientation of RS or NH is not limited by plot size. 9 Vent openings of NH are oriented in the direction that the wind is coming from rather than against it.9 Mean daily temperatures are not above 35°C. 9 RS or NH are located in areas with cooler temperatures, which in the Caribbean, usually occur at elevations > 500m above sea level. 9 RS or NH structures are sited on soil that is well drained, particularly for crops that are to be cultivated directly in the soil.9 Soil is amended with organic materials such as mature compost as a cost effective strategy for improving the drainage and fertility of the soil. 9 In the case of soil-less production and in low-lying areas, RS or NH is built on elevated earthen pads that are at least 0.9 m larger than the structure in all directions, high enough to prevent excess rain water from flowing into the structure and with a gentle slope of 1-2 percent to the exterior to allow for good drainage.9 Soil-less cultivation systems and the establishment of the structure on a gravel base, 15cm to 30cm above grade are used where access to good quality soil is limited or not available.9 Water needs for RS or NH vegetable production were estimated and evaluated against water supply, access, price, and quality in the area, particularly in countries such as Jamaica, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Kitts and Nevis, where the domestic water supply for the cultivation of crops may not be readily available year round, or the cost is prohibitive. RS or NH operation requires 8,000 liters of water per square meter (196 gallons per square feet) of growing space per year. 9 Water quality analyses were done and the analyses consisted of key variables such as pH (6.5-8.5), electrical conductivity (250-2000 µS/m), sodium content (20-60 percent), sodium adsorption ratio (3-10), E. coli (≤77 CFU/100ml), Enterococci (≤20 CFU/100ml), and faecal coliforms (≤200 CFU/100ml). 9 Potable water is used for irrigation, as river and well water are usually less ideal as they may contain pathogens and require filtration to remove silt and particulate matter that might clog irrigation systems. 9 If it is affordable, water used for farming is tested for pesticides, fuel oil, and other contaminants.Other site selection considerations. 9 Proximity to markets, access to labor and utilities, potential hazards and/or disasters such as land slippage, tall trees, flooding, hurricanes, and industrial pollution have been considered when siting RS/NH. 9 Space for future expansion of the operation as well as the social construct and norms of the neighbourhood where the structure will be established have also been considered. Source: St. Martin and Brathwaite (2012b), Chandra, Srivastava, and Maheshwari (1982), USAID (2008), Mirza (2008), Torres and Lopez (2010), Kumar, Tiwari, and Jha (2009), Chen, Shen, and Li (1982), St Martin et al. (2008)  and Dey (2001) | 111Rain Shelters and Net-houses for Vegetable ProductionWith respect to the appropriate PA design structure for vegetable production under the climatic conditions of the Caribbean, rain shelter designs with opened sidewalls, definitely address to some extent, the issue of high mean daily temperatures (>35°C), which have been observed in totally enclosed greenhouse structures. However, this heat problem may persist in totally enclosed NH that are completely covered with insect-proof netting (50mesh) and have no vent system. Furthermore, over time, the transmission of sunlight is also significantly reduced due to the blockage of insect-proof netting by dust particles.Although temperatures are generally lower in opened-sided nethouse designs, these structures provide little or no protection against rains, which may limit vegetable production in the wet season. On the other hand, RS are impervious to rains; however do not limit the entry of pest and pathogens into the structure. Therefore, a more rigorous and/or demanding pest management system, similar to that used in open-field cultivation is needed. However, opened-sided RS or NH may limit the need for hand pollination in crops such as tomato, which may be high cost and time consuming. The substitution of lower size mesh netting (32-mesh) for insect-proof netting (50-mesh) in totally enclosed NH, may result in lower temperatures, while limiting the entry of several insect pests such as aphids and thrips.In light of these 'trade-offs' between types of protective structures and designs, it is recommended that the grower select structures that pose the lowest risk to the production of a specific crop and for which he/she has greater managerial strength. For example, in areas with high rainfall, and the vegetable crop selected for cultivation has a relatively short production cycle (e.g. lettuce) and no or few major pest or diseases, RS are recommended for use rather than NH. In contrast, in cooler areas, where rainfall is low to moderate, and the vegetable crop selected for cultivation has a relatively longer production cycle (e.g. tomato) and is susceptible to major pest or disease infestations, NH are recommended for use rather than RS.All protective structures, whether RS or NH, should be built to withstand strong winds in locations where severe storms occur. As a result, it is recommended that growers use galvanized iron pipes to construct the frame of these structures. Steel clips should also be used for fastening, where possible. Wood or bamboo should only be used for the construction of semi-permanent RS or NH.Two critical factors that must be considered when designing totally covered NH are:1. The choice of mesh size of netting, and 2. The design and location of two double doors to the structure Best-practices relating to these two factors and the issue of proper design and structure are detailed in the audit verification checklist provided in Box 4.2.Rain Shelters and Net-houses for Vegetable Production In this section, the focus is placed on the construction of a single-bed rain shelter with an arched roof (Figures 4.2), which is a simple and affordable design. This structure can be made into a net house by using nylon mesh for roof and side-coverings instead of plastic covering on the roof alone. The size of this structure can also be increased to accommodate more beds by incorporating centre posts and more reinforcements in the design (Figure 4.3). The following description of the construction of RS was adopted mainly from Palada, Roan and Black (2003).Components of RS or NH structures are classified as:• Structural -consisting of pillars, frames, pipes, and side braces (Figure 4.6).• Covering materials -comprising polyethylene film, polyvinyl chloride, polyolefine, or nylon netting.• Connecting and fastening accessories -consisting of fastening pins, hooks, clips, and plastic belts (Figure 4.6).The positions of the two corner posts should be firstly marked out at each end of the bed/area (i.e. four-corner posts in total) . Holes should be then dug and the posts buried at least 30 cm deep . For a more permanent and secure structure, the grower may opt to dig a hole 15cm wide x 15cm long x 40cm deep, split (18-25 cm) then bend end sections of the corner posts and set them in concrete, ensuring that the corner posts are at the same height and level . The rest of the foundation posts should be equally spaced (approximately 70cm apart), starting from the corner posts, and buried at least 30 cm deep.The arch tops are connected to the foot pipes (foundation posts) by inserting both ends at 5 cm to the pointed end of the foot pipe post . Steel clips should be used to attach horizontal and diagonal side pipes to the structure to reinforce the sides (Box 4.3 -Steps 2A, B and D), and the centre top pipe installed into the arch top .The UV polyethylene film cover should be carefully cut to fit the arched top roof. To adequately fit a RS with a single bed measuring 5m long (Figure 4.2), a sheet of polyethylene film measuring 5.3 m long x 3.75 m wide is required. Half-inch (1.30 cm) polyethylene plastic clips should be used to attach the film covering to the arch and side brace galvanized iron pipes (Box 4.3-Step 3).The plastic covering on the side horizontal pipes and upright post can be reinforced using steel clips. Plastic wire belts should be run across the top of the plastic sheet and fastened to upright posts to reinforce the covering against strong winds (Box 4.3-Step 4).The use of side-coverings is recommended only if there is a major insect pest problem and to prevent rain from blowing in. In cases, where white-fly transmitted viruses are problematic, and the RS are located at high elevations (>500m above sea level) in a cool environment, a 60-mesh nylon netting is recommended as a side covering. At lower elevations, 32-mesh nylon netting is recommended. The nylon mesh netting should be cut at least six to eight percent longer than the length and height of the side wall to ensure that enough material is present for fastening and securing. For example, for the RS in  This section on cultural BMPs will focus on crop and variety selection, nutrient requirements, pest, disease, harvest, and post-harvest management. Water management and weed control are also categorized under cultural practices. These topics will however not be discussed in this chapter because there is little variation in water management and weed control principles and practices in tomato production compared with that of lettuce under protective structures. 1The selection of the type of vegetable crops and crop varieties to be cultivated is one of the most important decisions to be made in crop production using RS or NH. Market demand and prices and cost of production are the primary factors which should be considered when selecting leafy vegetables for net-house production. However, growers must also choose leafy vegetables and varieties that are high yielding and most appropriate for the production system employed. Whenever possible, high quality, hybrid seeds from reputable, seed companies, which are bred for greenhouse conditions with heat tolerant characteristics and resistance to multiple common diseases e.g. bacterial leaf spots, bottom rot, and crown and head rots are desired. Information on disease resistance properties can often be found on the label of the seed container. However, growers should be aware that 'resistance' labelling does not indicate that a crop will be completely immune to a disease and/or pest. Therefore, selecting a crop variety with high resistance to diseases is no substitute for a good crop rotation system that consists of leafy vegetables from diverse families (i.e. crucifers and non-crucifers) Figure 4.8.Such a crop rotation system, which is based on the rotation of crucifers such as Chinese cabbage and pak-choi with non-crucifers e.g. lettuce and amaranthus, will assist in minimizing insect and pest damage, and maximize crop performance. This is particularly so for crucifers, where cultivation of these crops season after season in the same substrate leads to poor crop growth and low yield due to the accumulation of undesirable crucifer root exudates (Talekar, Su and Lin 2003). If market demand requires a farmer to grow crucifers continuously, it is suggested that the net-houses be divided into two; one half is planted to crucifers and the other to non-crucifers in each crop cycle (Talekar, Su and Lin 2003). During succeeding crop cycles, the crop should be rotated, and non-crucifers planted 1.For an extensive discussion on BMPs on water management and weed control, it is recommended that the reader consult St. Martin and Brathwaite (2012b).| 117Rain Shelters and Net-houses for Vegetable Production over the half of the net-houses that was planted with crucifers in the immediate preceding season and vice versa (Talekar, Su and Lin 2003). Hybrid varieties generally produce stable higher yields with greater uniformity of size, compactness, and yield than inbred varieties (Singh, Dasgupta and Tripathi 2005). Varieties bred to limit physiological problems such as bolting (or, the shooting of sled stalks occurs) and tipburn should also be selected for production in these protected structures. Besides the high cost, the major drawback of hybrid seed is that saved seeds will not produce a 'true to type' plant in the next growing cycle. This means new seeds must be purchased for each season, which will most likely increase production costs.Rotate the crop and your plants will remain tip-top.For lettuce production, growers should be familiar with the climatic requirements for different lettuce types such as leafy, head, romaine, or specialty types, which may be red or red and green. For example, some head type lettuce such as iceberg or crisphead, require rather exacting temperatures (10-20°C) to form compact good quality heads (Valenzuela, Kratky and Cho 1996). The formation of heads is limited at 20-27°C. Cool nights are also necessary for good quality head type lettuce, as with high night temperatures, lettuce tends to become bitter. Tip burning also occurs at high temperatures. For these reasons, head type lettuce is recommended for cultivation in NH at high elevations (150 -900m above sea level) or in areas with cooler temperatures. In contrast, leafy (Minetto) and semi-head (Green Mignonette) lettuce may be grown year-round at lower elevations (Valenzuela, Kratky and Cho 1996). Cultivars of lettuce that are commonly grown in the Caribbean include Minetto, Mignonette Trini Star, Trinity, and Tropical Emperor. Growers are encouraged to continually search for and test new varieties that provide the best possible advantage in terms of environmental conditions and profitability of the enterprise.Table 4.1 provides a summary of the key physical and chemical properties, which must be considered when selecting soilless substrates for the production of leafy vegetables. Net-house vegetable production is commonly done in soil-less substrates whereas in RS, production is mainly done in the soil. As it pertains to production in soil, lettuce yield and quality tends to be highest in well-drained, slightly acid to neutral soils (pH 5.5-7) with high organic matter content.Irrespective of the type of substrate used i.e. soil or soilless, key physical and chemical properties must be assessed before a final decision on a substrate is made. This is important since these properties affect the ability of the growth substrate to effectively perform its basic functions. This not only includes providing the appropriate root environment, plant support and supply of nutrients, but also facilitating water delivery to the crop. A checklist of factors that must be considered when selecting plant growth substrates and recommended practices for managing growth substrates are provided in Boxes 4.4-4.7. 50-80 percent 10-30 percent 45-65 percent 25-35 percent 0.19-0.70g/cm 3 5-6.0 0.2-1.5 dS/m i. Physical and chemical properties of soilless substrate listed in the table are after irrigation and drainage, done on a percent volume basis. ii. For seedling production the ideal electrical conductivity of the substrate is at a lower range of 0.2-0.5 dS/m (Yeager et al., 2007).Source : Maronek, Studebaker, and Oberly (1985) | 119Rain Shelters and Net-houses for Vegetable ProductionCost effective substrates that are preferably locally available in large quantities, renewable, possess good physical, chemical and if possible, disease suppressive properties are selected for crop cultivation.The inherent fertility of soil-less media has not been considered as a primary factor in selecting an appropriate substrate for crop growth, since fertilizer management plans are designed to supply all the nutrients needed by the crop during the production cycle. Soils usually do not provide optimal aeration and drainage required to maximize crop performance and usually need to be disinfected to prevent the build-up of soil-borne disease, insects, and weed seeds.In the event where the use of soil-less media is cost prohibitive, soil that has been amended with well-matured compost, solarized or steam treated is used for crop cultivation. Raised beds have been established for the cultivation of leafy vegetable crops.Ready mix commercial substrates such as PRO-MIX® are used for seedling production, particularly for new vegetable producers.Growers experiment with compost mixes made from locally available material as possible alternatives to peat moss based substrates.Raw bagasse and sawdust or coconut coir that have not been retted (leached), are not used as components of or as substrates as they contain phytotoxic compounds such as phenolics and also immobilize nitrogen.Composted rather than uncomposted coconut coir is used as container substrate for soilless cultivation of leafy vegetable crops, particularly by new growers.Raw or composted coconut coir that has been pre-soaked and leached (retting) over 48 hours is used for crop cultivation unless the raw material has disease suppressive properties, which may be lost through this process.Source: St Martin and Brathwaite (2012b), Ma and Nichols (2004) and Handreck (1992) Box 4.5: Audit verification checklist for disinfecting growth substrates Chemical methods are not used for the sterilization of growth substrates since the most effective chemicals are highly toxic to humans and animals and have negative effects on the environment. Solarization and steam pasteurization are used for sterilizing substrates. Solarization is used for sterilization, if capital is limited and there is a lag of at least a month or two between the end of one crop cycle and the beginning of another.To increase the efficiency of solarization, two layers of polyethylene, separated by fillers (i.e., PVC pipes) spaced every few feet are used to create an air space. Though faster than solarization, steam pasteurization may be cost prohibitive to producers because it requires investment in equipment and materials such as steamers and thermometers. The steaming process has been done for at least 30 -45 minutes, during which time the substrate has been exposed to steam at approximately 100°C. Temperature has been monitored during the process to ensure that uniform heating is achieved and that all sections reach at least 82°C. Substrates have not been over-steamed since this may have killed disease suppressive microbes and may cause the release of toxic substances. Substrates that have had slow-release fertilizer blended into it have not been steam pasteurized.Source: Sethuraman and Naidu (2008) and Robbins and Evans (2011) Adjustments of the pH of media are made when the values are outside the optimum range recommended for the production of leafy vegetable crops. pH most often needs to be raised rather than lowered. Calcitic (CaCO3) or dolomitic limestone (mixture of CaCO3 and MgCO3) in the form of fine powder or pelletized granules have been incorporated into substrates prior to planting, to increase pH. Fine powders calcitic or dolomitic limestone, which are faster acting than coarser prills (pellets), have been thoroughly mixed with media used, as they tend to settle and leach out of the bottom of the pot/container. The amount of lime required has been determined based on the starting and desired pH, the particle size of the limestone (small particles are faster acting than large ones), the type of media and the alkalinity of irrigation water used. Lime rate recommendations generally range fromRain Shelters and Net-houses for Vegetable Production Box 4.7: Audit verification checklist for managing electrical conductivity of substrate 9 A consistent electrical conductivity value of > 3.0 dS/m before and after the application of fertilizer is a cause for serious concern as it may negatively affect crop performance. 9 To address the problem of high EC, growers have first determined the source of or practices resulting in elevated salt accumulation. If possible, the grower has reduced or eliminated the source of elevated salts, which is usually from irrigation water, the amount or type of fertilizer used, or the media. 9 Manures and compost (immature and mature) usually have high EC levels; therefore they may have to be substituted for peat moss at a rate of 20-40 percent by volume for a growth substrate mix. 9 High EC levels are being managed by keeping the percentage of water that leaves a container relative to what is applied (leaching fraction) at 20 to 30 percent and not allowing pots to dry out. 9 Substrates are not kept too wet as this may lead to the development of secondary problems such root and stem rot.Source: Ayers and Westcot (1985), Robbins and Evans (2011) The grower should prepare the land under the RS/NH by tilling with a tractor or hand tiller. It is recommended that the grower construct raised beds of approximately 30 cm high and 1.5 m wide and at least 2.4 m long (Palada, Roan and Black 2003). Longer beds, extending almost the full length of the RS/NH may be constructed if production is being done on well-drained soil. Hand hoes should be used to straighten the beds before applying basal fertilizer. The use of silver or black plastic mulch (0.01-0.04 mm thick) is recommended as an effective means of weed suppression, retaining soil moisture, moderating soil temperature, and deterring some pests. Plastic mulch should be rolled over the bed and the side edges of the plastic secured by throwing soil on both sides of the bed (Figure 4.9). Drains approximately 0.45-0.6 m wide between beds and running the length of the RS/ NH should be constructed between raised beds.To assure a uniform and proper stand establishment, it is recommended that most leafy vegetable crops including lettuce, should be transplanted rather than direct seeded. The amount of seed required for transplanting lettuce is usually lower than that needed for direct seeding. For example, for head lettuce approximately 85-170g of seeds are required for cultivating an acre (210-420g/ha), compared to 454g/acre (1122g/ha) for direct seeding.For leafy types, approximately 57-142g/acre (141-351g/ha) is required for transplanting compared to 907-1,360g/acre (2240g-3359g/ha) for direct seeding. Apart from requiring less seeds for cultivation, transplanting lettuce also has the advantage of easier weed control, less damage due to birds, and higher water, land and fertilizer use efficiency since the plants are in the RS/NH production system for a shorter period.Growers should be aware that lettuce seeds germinate best at 15-20°C, and will fail to germinate at > 27°C, if they are not primed to overcome thermo-dormancy (Valenzuela, Kratky and Cho 1996). Therefore, for year-round cultivation particularly at low elevations, growers should purchase primed lettuce seeds from a reputable seed company. High quality seed generally emerges three to five days after sowing. Except when planting, lettuce seeds should be refrigerated at all times as they quickly lose viability when exposed to high temperatures and humidity. Open-pollinated seed requires a dry storage period prior to sowing.Slow release starter fertilizers can be incorporated in the substrate before trays or containers are uniformly filled with the seedling starter substrate. If a slow release fertilizer was not incorporated in the media, seedlings should be fertigated once at the two true-leaf stage with 6 grams of an 8-32-8 homogeneous fertilizer per litre of growing media, plus 200 ppm of a 13-24-24 plus micronutrients foliar fertilizer applied in the irrigation water. Growers may also apply suitable commercial fertilizer at a rate and time as guided by the label and other factors such as properties of media and the crop type. Growers should ensure that the seedlings are not excessively fertilized, particularly with nitrogen, which will result in soft-tissued seedlings. On the other hand, under fertilization will result in nutrient deficient seedlings.As a general rule, vegetable crop species should be ready to be transplanted at the four to five true leaf stage, which usually occurs four to six weeks after sowing. However, for cultivation in raised beds under RS/NH, transplanting of lettuce can be done as early as two to four weeks after sowing. For novice growers, it is recommended that head type lettuce transplants be spaced at 38-45 cm between rows and 30-38 cm between plants and semihead types, 20-30 cm between rows and plants. For leafy type lettuce, 38-45 cm between rows and 25-30 cm between plants should be used. These spacings usually result in three to four rows per bed. For production in soilless substrates, transplanting can be done earlier at one to three weeks after sowing depending on the sturdiness and health of the seedlings. Transplants should be cultivated at a planting density of two seedlings/0.1m 2 . The time from transplanting to harvest ranges from four to seven weeks depending on the variety and type of lettuce. Audit verification checklists for propagation, transplanting, and spacing practices are presented in Boxes 4.8 and 4.9.Rain Shelters and Net-houses for Vegetable ProductionAll propagation is done in an appropriate sheltered structure separate from the RS/NH, where production will take place.For ergonomic reasons and to improve productivity, all propagation is done on benches and/or tables that are at least 1m high with solid netted or meshed surfaces consisting of apertures approximately 2 to 3 cm 2 .All tools, supplies including new seedling trays as well as the propagation area have been disinfected following the instructions on the label of a suitable sanitizer, such as bleach.A contingency 3-10 percent has been factored into the equation when calculating the number of seeds needed per area. This is done to allocate for losses due to pest and diseases.Seeds have been placed in the centre of the cell containing growth media, and lightly covered with the substrate.Seeds have been sown at a depth of approximately 2.5 times the average length of the seed. Seedlings have been very gently watered until water drops are seen coming from the holes in the bottom of the germination tray.Germination trays have been wrapped completely with a black plastic (germination chamber) and placed in a cool area.Seedlings have been regularly monitored (at least 3 times/ day) to avoid etiolation. Germination trays were unwrapped as soon as the first seed germinates. Seedlings were kept in an area with optimum conditions (11-16 klx and a temperature of 24-29˚C).Source: St Martin and Brathwaite (2012b), USAID ( 2008), Smith and Lopes (2010) and Valenzuela, Kratky and Cho. (1996) Box 4.9: Audit verification checklist for transplanting and plant spacing in a containerized-production systemPreparations for transplanting started at least 12 hours before seedlings are removed from seedling trays. Irrigation systems were made operational and plant containers appropriately arranged, spaced, and filled with growth substrate.Growth substrates were pre-moistened before receiving transplants. Seedlings were transplanted in the late afternoon when it is not very hot (24-29°C) so that they can adjust to temperature and substrates changes overnight.Growth substrates were firmly pressed around the root of the transplant, and then lightly irrigated after transplanting.Since light is generally not a limiting factor to vegetable production in RS/NH in the Caribbean, selection of plant density was primarily based on the potential effect on ventilation rates on crop performance and the resources available to produce the crop.The experienced growers has decided to adhere to, or further adjust transplant spacing to the production systems and planned economic goals.Caution was taken to avoid overcrowding as it will result in decreased yield per plant and also tends to promote disease development due to high relative humidity and the inability of pesticides to easily penetrate the thick foliage.Source: St Martin and Brathwaite (2012b) USAID ( 2008) and Hanson et al.(2000) Plant uniformity starts in the germination tray.To effectively employ BMPs for nutrient management, growers must be knowledgeable about the nutrient requirements and growth pattern of the crop cultivated. A good starting point is to obtain information on the amount of nutrients that a crop removes from a growth medium (Table 4.2). Such information can be used to estimate crop nutrient requirements, and develop an appropriate fertilizer programme (St Martin and Brathwaite 2012b). The focus of this integrated nutrient management programme will be to:• match fertilizer application with the nutrient requirements of the plant across growth stages;• limit the loss of nutrients from plant containers to rain shelter or net-house floors during top-watering or from the soil; and• limit nutrient and water loss from irrigation and leaching by containing the effluent. | 125Rain Shelters and Net-houses for Vegetable ProductionThe fertilizer programme developed should take into account: fertiliser type, application method, fertilization rate and frequency, volume of fertiliser solution, leaching fraction, plant growth rate, and environmental conditions. An audit verification checklist for nutrient management is presented in Box 4.10.Growers should pay particular attention to phosphorus availability since it has been shown to account for the single largest variation in lettuce yield production among various substrate types (Valenzuela, Kratky and Cho 2003). Moreover, substrates deficient in phosphorus may result in increased bacterial infection rates in lettuce, and in some cases, harvest delays by several weeks compared to well fertilized plants (Valenzuela, Kratky and Cho 1996). The only symptom of a P deficiency in lettuce is stunted growth, and not the reddish pigmentation and leaf 'feathering', which are characteristic of phosphorus deficiency in other vegetables crops.Growers should also ensure that adequate levels of nitrogen are available in the substrate for plant uptake since nitrogen levels are associated with the formation of solid heads, as well as size, colour and earliness of maturity in lettuce (Valenzuela, Kratky and Cho 1996). Nitrogen deficiency in lettuce appears lighter green and often results in delayed harvest and/or in failure of heads to achieve marketable size and quality. Growers should be aware that while corrective nitrogen applications are effective during the early vegetative stages of the crop, they often result in a 3-10 days delayed harvest (Valenzuela, Kratky and Cho 1996). However, corrective nitrogen applications made during the head-formation stage will not result in increased head size or final yields.The recommended approach for pest and disease management is the formulation of an integrated pest management (IPM) programme, which includes crop, pest and disease identification and monitoring, the use of resistant cultivars, sanitation, and appropriate cultural, chemical and biological control strategies (Smith and Lopes 2010;St Martin and Brathwaite 2012b). A summary of the key points for the respective components of this programme is presented in Boxes 4.11-13 and the key disorders and diseases of lettuce in the Caribbean are discussed. Important pests of lettuce include caterpillars, aphids, leaf miners, leafhoppers, mites, thrips, and whiteflies. These pests can be successfully managed using most of the strategies and protocols described for disease control in Boxes 4.11-13.Rain Shelters and Net-houses for Vegetable ProductionInformation on the major diseases that affect the crop, particularly in the area where the RS/ NH are established, was obtained before cultivating the crop.The assistance of suitably trained personnel to help design and implement an effective IPM programme was solicited.The IPM programme consists of a monitoring or scouting plan, which should form the basis of IPM decision making, regardless of the control strategies used.A scouting plan consists of a pre-crop site evaluation, inspection of incoming plants, the use of sticky cards and indicator plants.The pre-crop site evaluation was done at least 4-6 weeks prior to the introduction of a new crop or at the beginning of another cropping cycle.An evaluation of the surroundings of the RS or NH extending at least 8 m from the structure, was done by collecting information such as, types of weeds, crops growing in the field, soil type and drainage problems and methods used to control pests.One-third to all the plants were thoroughly examined for signs of insect and disease before being introduced into the RS or NH, or not more than 48 hours after they have been introduced into the RS/NH. This examination was done before the plants were transfered to the main growing space in the RS or NH, or in a separate receiving shelter.Once the crop has been established, numbered yellow sticky cards were spaced equally throughout the RS or NH in a grid pattern at the minimum recommended rate of 90 m 2 . These cards are used to monitor infestations of adult flying insects.The cards were also placed near all entryways and vents. They were replaced weekly unless the level of infestation is so high as to demand an earlier removal. Threshold levels for particular crops are being developed with the assistance of suitably trained personnel, using data collected from these cards, such as the number and type of pest and beneficial insects. A scouting unit is not > 370m 2 . Large RS or NH can be divided into several scouting units of ≤ 370m 2 . Diseases are being monitored using similar inspection systems, record keeping and a selected decision-making process.Every attempt has been made to accurately identify diseases so that appropriate treatment or action can be taken. This has been done using diagnostic laboratory services or specialized consultancy services.Source: St Martin and Brathwaite (2012b), Smith and Lopes (2010).| 129Rain Shelters and Net-houses for Vegetable Production Box 4.13: Audit verification checklist for cultural and chemical practicesCrop barriers and trap crops such as corn outside the RS or NH are established.Repellent or companion crops such as marigold, chive, and rosemary are established in and around the RS or NH.Well-drained substrates are used to prevent root diseases.Appropriate plant spacing is used to allow for good air movement, lower humidity levels, and better pesticide coverage.Irrigation is appropriately done to prevent puddling or excess water on the floor.Irrigation is done early in the day to allow foliage to remain dry overnight.Chemical pesticides are used as the last resort for the control of pests.'Green chemicals' such as bio-pesticides and bio-fungicides are used in RS or NH, on a disease preventive basis.Fungicides are only applied on a preventive basis to valuable crops when conditions are favorable for the development of a prevalent disease.A broad-spectrum fungicide is used on a preventive basis to control root diseases.For foliar diseases, pesticides are applied when the disease is first evident.For effective foliar disease control, foliage is thoroughly covered with pesticide.To prevent or minimize the development of resistance by the pest, pesticides with different modes of action, chemical groups e.g., systemic/contact fungicides are used.All Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) related to pesticide use, handling, storage, and disposal are employed when dealing with chemical pesticides.Copper-based pesticides approved for use in RS/NH are used to control bacteria and most fungi.Diseased plants are removed or isolated from healthy plants.Viral diseases are controlled by controlling the insect vector, removing the diseased plants from the RS/NH and burning them, eradicating host plants such as weeds, and starting with virus-free seeds or propagating materials. There are no effective chemicals for the control of plant viral diseases.Sterile growth substrate is used to prevent nematode problems.Botanicals such as neem-based products are used as a chemical strategy for nematode control.Growth substrates containing nematodes are not used for another cropping cycle.Source : Valenzuela, Kratky and Cho (1996), St Martin and Brathwaite (2012b) and Smith and Lopes (2010) Symptoms of russet spotting include small olive brown spots on the lower midribs of the outer leaves. The symptoms develop at least four days after exposure to excessive ethylene levels of 20-35 ppm at 2-15˚C, and are visible on both sides of the leaf (Valenzuela, Kratky and Cho 1996). However, the inner leaf side is mostly affected and symptoms tend to be more severe on over-matured lettuce or lettuce produced in hot, dry areas. To reduce russet spotting, growers should maintain storage temperatures just above freezing, and ventilate properly. Harvested lettuce should also be kept away or separated from climacteric fruits e.g. bananas and pineapples, and other sources of ethylene or ethylene derivatives such as gasoline engines.When exposed to high temperatures and dry conditions lettuce tends to bolt or flower. Cultivars vary in their tendency to bolt. Therefore, premature bolting can be managed by selecting a variety that has a low tendency to bolt, cultivating lettuce in areas with cooler temperatures, and by the use of best practices for water management.Initial symptoms include small translucent spots close to the leaf margins, which eventually result in darken lesions and death of leaf margin tissues. These spots and lesions, which arise due to localized calcium deficiency in the foliage, provide openings for secondary bacterial pathogens. Tipburn, which can be controlled to some extent by planting tolerant cultivars, is particularly severe under hot weather and fast growing conditions. Increasing soil calcium supply prior to planting, liming highly acid soils, foliar calcium sprays on leafytypes, slowing growth through lighter fertilizer application (particularly N), keeping the soil sufficiently moist, and shading with up to 35 percent shade cloth, are some strategies that can be used to manage tipburn (Koike and Davis 2014;Valenzuela, Kratky and Cho 1996). For best results, growers should use a combination of these strategies and not rely only on one practice. The use of calcium sprays alone is often ineffective, especially on head lettuce, because calcium is inefficiently translocated to those leaf tissues deficient in calcium (Koike and Davis 2014). Head types are generally more susceptible to tipburn than leafy lettuce.Bottom rot is a fungal disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani. Early symptoms include slimy rotting of the lower leaves in contact with the soil and rust-coloured, sunken spotsRain Shelters and Net-houses for Vegetable Production on petioles and mid-ribs (Koike and Davis 2014). Eventually, the lesions expand, spread, become darker, and result in decay of the entire plant (Koike and Davis 2014). Control is difficult. However, it is recommended that the grower do the following, as suggested by Koike and  Davis (2014): 1. Keep the foliage dry and the fertilizer level low so that foliage growth is not overly succulent.2. Plant on raised beds to improve drainage as bottom rot is more severe under moist and warm conditions.3. Avoid flooding as a means of controlling the disease.4. Rotate crops.5. Direct fungicide applications towards the base of the plants.6. Avoid disturbing the soil after application of protectant fungicides for bottom rot management.Bacterial leaf spot is caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. Vitians, a bacterium, which is highly dependent on wet, cool conditions for infection and disease development (Koike and Davis 2014). Early symptoms of bacterial leaf spot are small, water-soaked leaf spots on the older leaves of the plant (Koike and Davis 2014). These lesions, which are typically bordered by leaf veins and angular in shape, quickly turn black. This is a diagnostic character of the disease. To manage the disease, it is recommended that the grower do the following:1. Use pathogen-free seed.2. Avoid using sprinkler irrigation, whenever possible.3. Practise crop rotation.Destroy alternate hosts such as weeds.5. Use can be made of copper-based bactericides, but these are not very effective, and should be applied before infection occurs. Spreader-stickers should be used with bactericide treatment, particularly during rainy weather.This fungal disease is caused by Bremia lactucae, a complex organism consisting of multiple races (Koike and Davis 2014), which require damp, cool conditions and moisture on leaves to infect lettuce. Symptoms include light green to yellow angular spots on the upper surfaces of leaves, with white fluffy growth of the pathogen on the lower sides of these spots. Lesions eventually turn brown and dry up (Koike and Davis 2014). The pathogen can become systemic and cause dark discoloration of stem tissue. The grower should manage the disease by using resistant cultivars with fungicide (applied before the development of the disease), crop rotation, and sanitation.This bacterial disease, which is caused by Pseudomonas marginalis, usually occurs on over-mature heads, causes a diffused but distinct pink area at the midrib base (Koike and Davis 2014). The symptoms intensify during shipping and storage extending toward the leaf veins (Koike and Davis 2014). Growers can manage this disease by not harvesting and packaging over-matured lettuce, good sanitation practices, crop rotation, and providing optimal storage conditions.Harvest time for lettuce, which usually occurs four to seven weeks after transplanting, should be informed by consumer preferences, distance, and time needed to market the produce. Maturity is often judged according to the number and colour of leaves and/or by head development in semi-head and head type lettuce. For example, lettuce heads with <30 leaves before trimming are considered immature, whereas mature heads have approximately 35 leaves (Valenzuela, Kratky and Cho 1996). Nonetheless, both immature and mature lettuce generally have a better flavour and fewer post-harvest problems than over-mature heads, which tend to be bitter. Head-type lettuce with a very loose or easily compressible head is generally considered immature, whereas over-mature lettuce have very firm or hard heads (Kader, Lipton and Morris 1973). What is critical however, is that the grower should harvest the lettuce before the heads bolt, crack, yellow, or turn bitter. With improved cultivars and cultural practices, uniformity of the crop yields and quality have increased, therefore growers can harvest up to 90 percent of their crop in one harvest. In most cases, this has resulted in > 5 harvests per year, with an average yield of 3 kg/m 2 / crop (300 grams/sq. ft. crop).Lettuce should be harvested when leaves are bright to dark green, crisp and turgid and free from insects and decay, as consumers often perceive higher nutrient content and overall better quality in such leaves. Lettuce without discoloration at the butt and signs of mechanical damage are also perceived as fresh and safer to eat by consumers (Kader, Lipton and Morris 1973).Rain Shelters and Net-houses for Vegetable ProductionIn non-containerized-soil production systems, growers should cut the lettuce at soil surface, with a sharp, sterilized knife, leaving the roots in the soil. This minimises the removal and transportation of soil to unintended areas, which in turn significantly reduces the risk of spreading pathogens or pests to other fields. However, the land should be cleared of all plant debris immediately after harvest. This will reduce carryover of pests and diseases to subsequent crops.In containerized-soil-less production systems, lettuce should not be cut at the surface of the soil-less substrate since it is may be difficult and require additional labor and costs to remove or clear roots and other plant debris from each container. The root system can be cut off some time after the entire planted is uprooted from the substrate, usually before washing or cooling the lettuce.For head-type lettuce, the heads should be harvested leaving as many of the wrapper leaves uninjured as possible. That is, at least four to five wrapper leaves on each head of lettuce. To minimize wrapper leaf damage, lettuce should not be cut when the heads are wet. Before packing or immersing in water for cooling, growers should remove soiled and spoiled leaves at the base of the lettuce head. All lettuce heads showing traces of disease infection or any other disorder should be discarded.Lettuce is a perishable commodity, has a high respiration rate, is sensitive to ethylene, and is readily susceptible to damage due to wilting because of its high surface to volume ratio. Therefore, the key guidelines in maintaining post-harvest crop quality are:1. avoid mechanical injury such as those resulting from impact, puncture, compression, vibration, and abrasion;2. promptly and thoroughly cool lettuce;3. maintain the optimum storage temperature (0°C to 2°C) and relative humidity (95-100 percent) for lettuce; and 4. avoid water loss.Vacuum cooling is the recommended method for promptly cooling lettuce. However, in the Caribbean, where small-scale production vegetable systems are predominant, cold water (4-12°C) can be useful in pre-cooling lettuce. As such, in rain shelter or net-house systems, containers with potable cold water can be brought directly into the RS or NH and used by the harvester as a field container. Alternatively, large containers with potable cold water can be strategically located in RS and NH, at points which minimise the time between harvest and pre-cooling (preferably <20 minutes). The harvester should use clean water with each harvest of lettuce. Lettuce should be packed in stackable containers, which allow for maximum air circulation around pre-cooled lettuce, and reduce mechanical injury.At the recommended temperature of 0-2°C and relative humidity storage conditions of 95-100 percent, leaf type lettuce has an expected storage life of one to two weeks, and head-type lettuce two to three weeks. Harvesters and packers should avoid storing lettuce next to climacteric crops and in low CO 2 (< 5 percent) and O 2 (<1 percent). Under such conditions, lettuce tends to develop off-flavours and various disorders, including russet spotting and brown stain. An audit verification checklist for harvest and post-harvest is provided in Box 4.14.Keeping the product cool is the most important rule.The grower should disassemble and safely store the components of rainshelter or nethouse structures if they will not be used for an extended period (> 6 months). Plastic roof and side netting coverings should be washed with a detergent solution, using a high-pressure hose to remove dust, insect eggs, and algae. If compatible with the detergent solution, bleach should be added to the detergent solution, to kill algae. Cleaning the plastic roof and side netting will increase the transmission of sunlight in the rainshelter and net-house structures. Growers should clean the net from the inside-outside direction, as this will reduce accumulation of water inside the NH and facilitate the planting of crops without delay. The grower should promptly repair any damaged parts of the structure.2. To some extent, RS or NH addresses the major factor that limits crop performance in totally enclosed GH, i.e. high mean daily temperatures (>35°C).3. The level of knowledge and skills required for agronomic, crop, environmental and technological management in totally enclosed GH, is arguably higher than what is required for operating RS and NH.In an effort to avoid the technical pitfalls at adopting rain shelter or net-house technologies in the Caribbean, therefore, the following key summary points are presented:1. Avoid locating RS and NH on flood prone land or areas that are below or near sea level (<100 m above sea level).2. There are 'trade-offs' between the types of protective structures and designs utilized, therefore growers should select structures that pose the lowest risk to the production of a specific crop and for which he/she has greater managerial strength.3. All protective structures, whether RS or NH, should be built to withstand strong wind in locations where severe storms and environmental conditions occur.4. When selecting crops for production in RS or NH consider market demand, prices, and cost of production.5. Net-house designs should include two double doors systems as a means of restricting the entry of pest and diseases into the NH. This is an important preventive strategy in pest and disease management in NH.6. Use should be made of an integrated nutrient and pest and disease management systems in crop production.7. Avoid continuously cultivating the same crop in the same substrate or area of land. Use a crop rotation system in the RS and NH.8. Identify and monitor pest and diseases.9. Reduce post-harvest damage by harvesting the crop at the appropriate maturity index, cooling produce promptly and thoroughly, and storing it under the recommended conditions.10. Keep proper and accurate records.With the ever increasing population throughout the Caribbean, satisfying the demand for food becomes the very basic goal of regional agricultural production efforts. Crop production is, however, particularly at risk as substantial losses may occur due to high infestation of insect pests, diseases, weeds and other potentially harmful organisms. For crop production to meet food security objectives, there must be marked improvement in insect pest, disease and weed management. During the 1970s and 1980s, crop protection experts advocated the increased use of broad-spectrum synthetic pesticides to promote crop production. Consequently, the majority of small, resourcepoor farmers throughout the Caribbean have developed an unhealthy reliance on pesticides which has become a crucial component towards achieving optimum farm productivity. Fernandez et al. (2007) noted that increased pesticide use results from poor land management practices together with loss of agricultural lands to other economic activities. The resulting massive pest outbreaks from this unhealthy reliance on pesticides therefore demands reconsideration of crop protection approaches throughout the Caribbean.Before the advent of synthetic pesticides, most farmers and agricultural practitioners throughout the Caribbean relied entirely on local or natural crop protection methods. Crop protection methods were based on natural products which were not only environmentally friendly, but also culturally acceptable, affordable, cost effective and sustainable. Cultural control measures are knowledge-based and the methods and practices associated with this type of control are easily accepted and adopted. Natural and/or cultural control strategies are very diverse and practices are complementary in most cases. For clarification, some cultural control strategies include:Natural Crop Protection Methods in the Caribbean • Use of disease free plant material and seeds• Practice of crop rotation as this interrupts the life cycle and feeding habits of insects • Intercropping and multi-cropping for control of weeds and insects • Use of plants as sources of bio-rational pesticides (e.g. marigold, neem)• Field sanitation -keeping fields clean at all times Contrary to widespread beliefs, the use of natural, non-chemical crop protection evolved mainly as a result of socio-economic constraints, environmental conditions, natural habitat and the determination to survive (Stoll 1988). Stoll (1988) further stated that 'non-chemical protection practices by small holders and organic farmers attempt to make maximum use of local knowledge resources'.Local knowledge is defined as the knowledge of a person or people within various communities that is considered holistically correct. This local knowledge has been developed over centuries. Local knowledge is not confined to specific areas. It can be rural or urban. All developing communities possess local knowledge. It is knowledge that has been tested and proven by past experiences and then adapted into culture and rituals. Local knowledge is passed from one generation to the next by word of mouth. It has its uniqueness in certain geographical areas. It is not uncommon to find different people in different countries who share the same practices.According to Warburton and Martin (1999), local knowledge relates to the entire system of concepts, beliefs and perceptions that people hold about the world around them. This includes the way people observe and measure their surroundings, how they solve problems and validate new information. It includes the processes whereby knowledge is generated, solves problems and transmitted to one another.Indigenous knowledge on the other hand is a knowledge system that is unique and sacred to a particular society. Its movement or passage between generations occurs through what is known as oral traditions. The preservation of various customs and beliefs through this type of knowledge system enabled the conservation of agricultural practices, health benefits and environmental protection. This knowledge is often compared with local knowledge and often times the definition is used interchangeably. According to one writer, indigenous knowledge is local knowledge that is unique to a culture or society. Indigenous knowledge has also been referred to as 'folk knowledge' or 'people's science' (Senanayake 2006).Indigenous knowledge systems have played important roles in the debate on cultural policies and developmental planning in some countries. Warren et al. (1995) noted that 'local people know a great deal about their environment in which they have lived for generations. ' Darkoh (2009) stated that a blend of modern science and local knowledge will be required to face the challenges of the environment on a sustainable basis in the decades ahead for many in Africa. Certainly, this view is relevant not only for Africa, but for most developing countries, and in particular the Caribbean region.Local knowledge must be preserved to promote sustainable agriculture. Within the confinements of agriculture and food security, the incorporation of local knowledge would impact the dependency on synthetic chemical methods of crop protection. Communities have successfully utilized local knowledge for centuries and its worth should never be underestimated.Prior to synthetic chemical inputs, farmers and practitioners relied entirely on natural protection methods. Today however, there is a grave risk that much local knowledge is being lost and, along with it, valuable knowledge about ways of living sustainably.This chapter focuses on local and natural, non-chemical crop protection practices used on various crops throughout the Caribbean region. It will detail the significance of promoting and supporting these ecologically based strategies for the sustainable production of food for small producers to ensure food security in the region. It will provide a compilation of surveys conducted among aging farmers of successful practices used throughout the Caribbean and will also explore other examples which could be successfully adopted from other countries. It attempts to not only to promote the use of local knowledge of small farm holders but also to strengthen it with external knowledge and scientific references. Research has shown that an integrated or holistic approach to crop protection is recommended. For such an approach, it is clear that appropriate crop protection strategies for small farmers can only result from a thorough understanding of the interrelationships between the natural, technological and socio-economic conditions. It is therefore important for farmers to understand the principles of crop protection and then adapt, rather than adopt, promising pest management techniques to their unique situations.Pest management presents one of the greatest challenges to farmers throughout the Caribbean region. Collectively, a group of farmers interviewed to assess their local crop protection knowledge experienced the same types of pest problems. Pest damage caused by insects included damage to leaves, stems, fruits, tubers, and even entire plants. A wide range of non-chemical, natural materials and methods are employed for pest management across the region. Some of the more important ones include:Ash: which is obtained by burning of leaves, branches, parts of trees and grasses is sprinkled on plants to prevent damage by pest insects. Ash is also placed around the rootsNatural Crop Protection Methods in the Caribbean of plants, trees and other crops showing signs of insect damage. This is a very common practice on banana and plantain (Musa spp.) farms in the Caribbean. Most farmers believe that it is the best remedy for nematodes and weevils which attack these crops. Ash is also used as a protective covering against biting insects in particular on some vegetable beds. After harvesting of some crops (eg. yams (Dioscorea esculentum), the exposed area is dipped into ash before storing to protect against post-harvest storage insects. Dried seeds and beans are also stored with a mixture of ash and ground black pepper (Piper nigrum). The use of ground bay leaf (Pimenta racemosa) leaves together with ash was reported to be effective against stored pest insects.The use of soapy water is also very common among farmers. This solution was made primarily with \"blue soap\" (detergent bar) and is sprayed or sprinkled on insect affected plants. This practice was used to control aphids, mealybugs and scale insects.Marigold: Grainge and Ahmed (1988) noted that a variety of plants and their extracts can also be used against many pest organisms. The planting of marigold (Tagetes spp.) between certain crops reduces the incidence of insect damage. Marigold flowers produce an unpleasant odour which acts as an insect repellent. The leaves and flowers are crushed and soaked either overnight or for a few days in water. The mixture is then strained to remove the solid parts and the remaining mixture is used to spray vegetable and other food crops for the management of various caterpillars and aphids.The use of garlic either alone or in combination with other plant extracts (eg. hot pepper (Capsicum spp.) as an insect deterring agent is quite common. Like marigold, it has an unpleasant odor that repels insects and produces a burning sensation on contact with the skin. Two bulbs of garlic, crushed and soaked in about 2 litres of water would make a strong enough concoction that can be applied to plants and other infested crops.Neem: Some farmers also experiment with neem (Azadirachta indica). The leaves and seeds were either crushed and soaked in water for several days or boiled to make a strong solution which is then used to protect crops against insect damage and infestation. The use and effectiveness of neem is highlighted by Stoll (1988).Urine: Both human and cow urine are also commonly used in crop protection throughout the region. They are either administered in their fresh or stale form by collecting urine from the household or farm each morning. The urine is then poured into cut bamboo joints (about 9 joints in total) and left for seven to nine days to ferment, producing a very pungent scent. The resulting fermented urine can be diluted or used as is. The stale solution is believed to be a good insect repellent. The use of urine is particularly prevalent among farmers who cultivate banana, plantain, vegetables and citrus. The application of urine to plants is usually done during the evening time as most insects pests associated with these crops feed at night. Kerosene: Both kerosene and diesel are also utilized as pest management options in the destruction of ant nests by burning and also along the crop field perimeter or along fences to avoid the intrusion of pests. Disinfectants (e.g. 'black disinfectant' or Jeyes Fluid) are also used in the same manner as kerosene and diesel.Larger pests: Most studies of natural pesticides are concerned with their effects on insects. However, in many cases, the management of larger pests including birds, lizards, rats, squirrels and snakes also present a serious challenge. In some instances, farmers have reported using substances such as diesel and kerosene around the boundaries of their fields to restrict to the entry of snakes, lizards and rats in particular while others are destroyed by the use of shot guns or homemade devices (e.g. slingshots). Despite its significance as Tobago's national bird, the Cocrico (Ortalis ruficauda), is considered a pest by some farmers and home-based practices such as soaking fruits in alcohol to cause intoxication of the birds is also utilized. Scarecrows are sometimes also utilized to control the Cocrico. Farine, a local product made using cassava is soaked in water and then left in the field as a trap for birds. When eaten, it chokes the birds and allows them to be easily caught and destroyed. Traps are made for some types of birds using the latex from the outer bark of selected trees, especially breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) and locally referred to as 'laglee'. This is then left to 'set' and becomes very sticky. This sticky substance (laglee) is then spread over very thin pieces of sticks and placed in strategic locations in the field to trap birds. Various traps are made to capture mammalian pests including rats (Rattus spp.), manicou (Didelphis marsupialis), agouti (Dasyprocta leporina) and squirrels (Sciurus granatensis) in particular. Uncultivated sites can provide refuge for weeds during the non-crop period. Traditionally, most weeds are controlled physically by 'cutlassing' or burning. Some Caribbean farmers practise mulching or intercropping of cover crops as a form of, or to facilitate weed control. Intercropping also minimizes the incidence of insect pests as the case of Thrips palmi Karny (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) in Cuba where damage to vegetable and row crops is reduced when they are intercropped with corn (Venotola 2013).Farmers in some Caribbean islands practise biological control on their farms. Cuban farmers are an excellent and successful example of the use of this form of pest management. Venotola (2013) stated that Cuban farmers use the natural enemy, Trichogramma spp. (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae). These are small wasps which parasitize the eggs of a range of crop pest insects including the cassava hornworm (Erinnyis ello L. (Lepidoptera:| 145Natural Crop Protection Methods in the Caribbean Sphingidae), the tobacco budworm (Heliothis virescens F. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and the sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis F. (Lepidoptera:Crambidae). Additionally, farmers also use homegrown biopesticides including Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) to control mosquitoes and lepidopterous pests which affect crucifers and corn, citrus, potato leafminers and mites. A local strain of the entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana, is used to control the sweet potato weevil Cylas formicarius F. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) with much success. Farmers also use the carnivorous bighead ant, Pheidole megacephala F. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) which is found in banana plantations to kill the sweet potato weevil. Korada (2010) described the Cuban farmers' technique of rolling these ants in banana leaves for transport to sweet potato fields. The whitefly Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) which is a pest of a range of crop plants is controlled by farmers who spray a suspension of the fungus Verticillium lecanii on their crops, particularly tomatoes and beans (Nicholls et al. 2002).    • Intercropping cabbage with tomato and the application of neem extracts has shown promising results (Shankar et al. 2007) • Planting marigold (Tagetes spp.) as a trap crop has given 30-50 percent reduction of the larval population (Stoll 1988) • Early morning overhead irrigation reduces egg laying and causes adults to fall to ground where they are consumed by predators (e.g. ants)• Field sanitation -removal and destruction of crop residues reduce incidence of diamondback moth in subsequent cropThe use of insect repellent plants is also recommended (Stoll 1988). These include: Annona spp., Chilli, Mammea americana, Neem seed extracts, Tephrosia candida and tumeric. Other methods include the use of Bacillus thuringiensis and saturated green sticky traps (Hallett et al. 1995) Liriomyza sativae (Blanch.) and Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) (Diptera:Agromyzidae) Main crops affected: cabbage, cucumber, legumes, tomatoPreventive measures:• Use non infested planting material (Hymenoptera:Braconidae) can provide as much as 50-90 percent parasitism for these leafminers (Cock et. al. 1985). Use insect controlling plants/plant extracts such as neem, quassia and hot pepper. Aqueous quassia extract gave better control than the synthetic insecticide malathion (Pluke et al. 1999). Other methods of control include the yellow leafminer sticky trap and ash.Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Homoptera:Aleyrodidae) Main crops affected: Tomato, sweet pepper, melongene, sweet potato, poinsettia, crucifersCultural practices:• Use of disease free plant material as infected plants may spread viral diseases• Encourage natural enemies (parasitoids -Encarsia spp. (Hymenoptera:Aphelinidae)| 151Natural Crop Protection Methods in the Caribbean and Eretmocerus spp. (Hymenoptera:Aphelinidae) and predators -ladybird beetles, syrphid fly, lacewing insects).• Entomopathogenic fungus, Paecilomyces fumosoroseus -kills the whitefly adults but has no effect on the plants (Matthew and Khan 2013) • Use yellow sticky traps hung just above the crop canopy• Other traditional methods (e.g. the use of kerosene-soap emulsion and milk powder spray to keep the adults from flying).• Intercrop vegetable crops with corn (Venotola 2013)Cylas formicarius (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Main crop affected: Sweet potatoPreventive measures:• Frequent scouting of fields for adult weevils and remove and destroy• Planting in late rainy season, as practised in Kenya. Pest attack is high on the foliage before the onset of the dry season. The tubers begin to enlarge when it rains again, but few soil cracks are present. As a result, weevils cannot gain access to the tubers and their numbers diminish.Cultural methods:• Crop rotation or fallow to reduce the weevil population• Manage host weeds belonging to the Morning Glory family• Thick skinned, early maturing varieties and those which form tubers deeper in the soil should be planted• Use clean, uninfested cuttings as planting materials to reduce incidence of pests (weevils, moths, diseases)• Practise field sanitation by removal of crop residue as this reduces weevil populations• Moulding vines fills cracks in the soil and prevents access to tubers by weevils• Pheromone traps should be used for early detection and mating disruption• Tubers for storage can be covered with a layer of sand (at least 5cm) or dusted with ashCosmopolites sordidus (Germar)(Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Main crops affected: Banana and plantainSeveral natural enemies have been introduced into the Caribbean to control C. sordidus including Plaesius javanus Erichs (Coleoptera: Histeridae), Dactylosternum hydrophiloides (Macleay) (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae) and D. abdominale (F.) (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae) from South-East Asia and Hololepta quadridentata (F.) (Coleoptera: Histeridae) a native species of Trinidad (Cock et al. 1985). Entomopathogenic fungi such as Metarhizum anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana can also be used and provide some degree of control (Khan and Gangapersad 2001).Cultural methods:• Use of clean planting material (infestation drops from 24 percent to five percent)• Cutting old pseudostems off at ground level Dysmicoccus brevipes Cockerell (Hemiptera:Pseudococcidae) Main crops affected: pineapple, sugarcane, coffee, plantainA number of natural enemies attack this mealybug in the Caribbean including Hambletonia pseudococcinna Compere (Hymenoptera: Encrytidae) which is found in several islands of the Lesser Antilles (Cock et al. 1985). Management of this pest is essential not only due to crop losses as a result of direct feeding but also because of its ability to spread pathogens. This pineapple mealybug spreads the associated wilt viruses which have recently been detected in the Caribbean (Cuba) for the first time (Hernandez et al. 2010). A hot water treatment of pineapple crowns at 50°C for 30 minutes gave complete control of theNatural Crop Protection Methods in the Caribbean pineapple mealybug associated wilt virus and also allowed 100 percent plant survival (Ullman et al. 1993) Cultural methods:• Bait made of powdered skimmed milk, wheat flour, wheat middling and insecticide was attractive to ants tending pineapple mealybug. Death of ants after feeding on bait caused 75 percent reduction in mealybug population (Rai and Sinha 1980) • Removal and burning of crop residues before replanting reduces ant and mealybug population in new cropAnastrepha spp. (Diptera:Tephritidae) Main crops affected: guava, (Psidium guajava L.), sapodilla (Manilkara zapota), and numerous soft fruitsManagement of Anastrepha spp. requires a multi-pronged approach (i.e. IPM). Several natural enemies have been introduced into the Caribbean for management of these fruit flies but limited success has been recorded (Cock et al. 1985).• Regular collection and destruction of fallen fruits• Bagging of individual fruits may be an option for small farms and backyard gardens There are several ways in which a farmer can manage agricultural pests and diseases without relying on chemicals. The following is a list and brief description of some of these methods:Improving and changing the conditions of the garden area can make it difficult for pests to survive. This can be achieved through destruction of food sources and habitats and breeding areas for pests, controlling weeds, practising crop rotation, using companion crops that attract beneficial insects, proper water and fertilizer management and using plant species that are tolerant to pest and disease attack. Such an integrated crop management approach is considered as one of the easiest and cheapest methods that the farmer can adopt without the use of chemicals.• Cowpea weevil (Callosobruchus chinensis/maculatus) -can be controlled by using custard apple, neem, Christmas bush (Chromolaena odorata) and marigold.• Thrips (Thrips palmi) -can be controlled using fresh red chili, garlic, pepper, bitter gourd/carille (Mormodica charantis), custard apple, billy goat weed (Ageratum conizyoides) and Christmas bush.• Damping off -moringa leaves and garlic can be useful• Fusarium wilt -moringa root, celery and seed under leaf (Phyllanthus niruri) can be useful• Fungi -can be controlled using aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis) and garlic (Allium sativum).• Root rot -can be controlled using seed under leaf, citronella and eucalyptus.| 155Natural Crop Protection Methods in the Caribbean Box 5.2: Prevention and control methods for insects and diseases Tancho, 2013).• Regular field scouting is recommended to look for insect pests and infected plants.Where there are low cases of insect or disease incidence, remove pests manually from infested plants and burn to avoid further infestation and contamination. Spraying with concentrated lime water mixed at a ratio of one part per lime water to three parts water, or use 0.5 kg, plus 0.5 kg of ashes from hardwood trees mixed with 20 litres of water may also be useful. Mix together, filter and then spray over the collected, infested plants.• Practise companion planting using plants such as marigolds, tomatoes and chive with vegetables. The smell of these plants serves to repel insects when their leaves are crushed.• Use of colour and light to trap and trick insects. Insects can be attracted to various colours such as blue, red and yellow. Yellow sticky traps can be used to capture insects while insect-luring lights can be used using blue light. A simple insect-luring light can be made as follows:Place a big bowl of water under a light source. Add petroleum oil to the water to entrap any fallen insects. If a blue light is not available, you can wrap the bulb with blue paper or tape. Take all necessary precautions.• Use sulphur powder for mite outbreaks by diluting 75 ml in 20 litres of water. This solution can be sprayed over and under the leaves of infected plants. Diluted fermented cow urine can also be used as a substitute for sulphur sprays.• Adjust soil pH before planting using dolomite, egg or sea shells or burned animal bones pounded and mixed into the soil. This will also help to reduce disease and water logging in the soil. For sandy soil, add 250 kg of dolomite mixture per acre (617 kg/ ha); for loam soil, add 500 kg of dolomite mixture per acre (1,235 kg/ha) and for clay soil, add of dolomite mixture 700 kg per acre (1,729 kg/ha).• Avoid application of too much nitrogen fertilizer as plants will grow too quickly, use too much water, and their cell walls will become susceptible to the penetration of fungi.• Remove infected plants immediately when discovered and spray trees with fermented bio liquids such as compost teas.Source: Tancho, 2013There are several plants which may have natural pest repellent properties. The use of plant extracts is not new and extracted plant compounds such as rotenone, nicotine and pyrethrins have been used by small-scale subsistence and even commercial producers.There are a few things to consider before collecting parts of desired plants. The age of the plant will affect how much substances can be extracted. The time for collection is also very important because each substance will be available in varying amounts depending on the season and time of day. The effective substances originate from the plants' own biochemical processes and are stored in specific places as part of their own defense system. In some plants such as tobacco, it is found in the leaf. For peppers, it is located in the fruit. Neem and custard apples store their insecticidal substances in their seeds. Lemon grass provides the maximum effects at 7-11 months. Collection from leaves should be done during the day in dry weather. It is necessary, therefore, to know each type of plant and where their effective substances are stored in order to be able to collect them correctly for use against pests. For plants which contain volatile oil, such as basil and Christmas bush, the maximum amount can only be collected in the morning. In these plants, sunlight reduces the amount of volatile oil in the leaf. The most common extraction methods include: fermentation, steam distillation, compression and extraction using solvents. Table 5.5 offers some useful generalizations on the best time to harvest plants.• There are about 2,500 different plants with insecticidal properties. Many of them contain potent substances such as alkaloids, ricin, capsaicin, rotenone, thiopene, terpenoids, phenols, azadiracthin, pyrethrum, nicotine, solanine, etc.• Natural plant substances are usually safe and non-toxic to humans and animals.• They do not leave any toxic residues.• Chances of insect resistance are minimal compared to synthetic chemicals.• They are cheap to produce and readily available or can be easily made by the user.• They have huge economic potential and can be used in extract form.| 157Natural Crop Protection Methods in the Caribbean The following common plants found throughout the Caribbean have been reported as having pest repellent properties:Family: Sapindaceae Ethanol and acetone extracts of ackee were also recorded as repellent to three pests (Khan and Gumbs 2003) while extracts in hexane were toxic to the sweet potato weevil C. elegantulus (Wilson and Mansingh 2004). Wilson (1993) also concluded that ethanolic extract from ackee gave better control of diamondback moth 2 weeks after field application compared to neem extract.Powdered seeds of ackee were toxic to three stored product pests -cowpea beetle Callosobruchus maculatus F. (Coleoptera:Bruchidae), Rusty grain beetle Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) (Coleoptera: Cucujidae) and maize weevil Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) (Khan et al. 2002).Family: AnnonaceaeThe unripe fruit, seeds, leaves and roots have been found to have potent ovicidal, insecticidal, repellent and nematicidal properties. Compounds isolated from A. montana have been shown to possess powerful antifeedant activity (Mootoo et al. 2000). The active chemical is called, acetogenin.Grind seeds into powder and soak one kg of the powder in 10 litres of water, leaving undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Filter with a thin white cloth.Before using, mix the solution with a sticking agent such as powdered detergent or dishwashing liquid at a rate of one tbsp. detergent to ten litres of solution.The dark green leaves can be ground or crushed before soaking in water for 24 hours. Mix the solution before using and add a sticking agent at the same rate as above.Powdered seeds of custard apple have also been used to control lice (Ayensu 1981), aphids, diamond back moth caterpillar, leafhoppers and various types of grasshoppers.Family: LamiaceaeThe plants have insecticidal, fungicidal, repellent and molluscidal properties. O. sanctum seeds are used as a mosquito larvicide. It can also be effective against the housefly larva and the sweet potato weevil (Sujatha et al. 1988). Essential oil can also be extracted from the leaves. About 20 mls of the essential oil of basil mixed into 1 litre of water can be sprayed onto vegetables to control pest and diseases.Family: Phyllanthaceae A powder of its roots is used to control melonworm (Diaphania hyalinata) and diamondback moth (P. xylostella) (Pluke et al. 1999).Family: Piperaceae Contains essential oils that repel insects. Grind dried black pepper fruit then soak in rice whisky. Filter out the solids and spray the remaining solution. Effective against aphids and the cabbage-heart caterpillar (Tancho 2013).Family: Euphorbiaceae Can be grown around the garden to keep away pests. The active chemical is called ricin. The leaves and seeds are effective against termites, crickets, nematodes and rats.Natural Crop Protection Methods in the CaribbeanFamily: SolanaceaeThe skin and seeds of ripe fruits contain active insecticidal substances. Its actions include -stomach poison, repellent, antifeedant, fumigant and viroid. It is listed as being effective against ants, aphids, rice weevil and other beetles (Pluke et al. 1999). Amoabeng et al., (2013) conclude that field application of C. frutescens extracts provided better control of diamondback moth than some synthetic insecticides and also had less detrimental effects on natural enemies including ladybird beetles, spiders and wasps which continued to feed on the pest after applicationFamily: Asteraceae Contains eupatal which is a natural insecticide. Grind the dried leaves and stems into a powder and soak 400g of the powder in eight litres of water. Shake the mixture thoroughly before filtering. Spray the solution every seven days for a total of six applications (Tancho 2013).Can be used for the control of aphids, common cutworm, diamondback moth and grain storage pests.Family: Myrtaceae Contains essential oils that effectively repel and control many insects. Combine one kg of eucalyptus leaves with two tbsp. of ground ginger. Boil the leaves for 15-20 mins and filter. The stock solution can be used with other sprays (Tancho 2013).Effective against diamondback moth, common cutworm and grain storage pests.Family: PoaceaeLemongrass extracts have been reported to possess powerful insecticidal and repellent properties (Anon 2014).Grind the dried lemongrass and soak in water (400gm ground leaves to eight litres of water) for 24 hours.The ground dried lemongrass can be blended with mung bean.Both the oil and dry powder is efficient at protecting stored seeds against the cowpea beetle Callosobrachus maculatus by inhibiting oviposition on the seeds (Ketoh et al. 2000).Extracts from lemongrass were also toxic and repellent to the maize weevil S. zeamais (Ramlal 2014). Also effective against the common cutworm and diamondback moth.Family: Amaryllidaceae Alicin, which is a compound derived from garlic is effective against many types of fungi and can also be used as an insecticide and repellent as it inhibits feeding.To 150 gms of crushed garlic, add half litre of hot water and leave undisturbed for 24 hours before filtering. Add another four litres of water and mix with a sticking agent such as dishwashing liquid before spray. Spray at least twice a day.Effective against beetles, aphids, nematodes, white flies, downy mildew, leaf rusts, fleas and ticks (Tancho 2013).Family: FabaceaeThe active ingredient in gliricidia is coumarin and rotenone. The leaves, bark and fruit of this plant all have insecticidal properties.Leaf extracts of G. sepium in ethanol were shown to cause high mortality and reduced egg laying in the carmine spider mite Tetranychus cinnabarinus (Sivira et al. 2011). The smoke from burning leaves and branches of G. sepium is used in the Philippines as a repellent against blood feeding insects (Obico and Ragragio 2014).Family: Verbenaceae Contains lantadine and lantamine which is toxic to the nervous system of insects One kg of the lantana seeds can be ground and then soaked in two litres of water and left for 24 hours. After filtering, spray as an insecticide.Can be used for the control of the army worm in corn. It also repels insects that lay eggs in vegetable gardens (Tancho 2013).Family: GuttifereaeThe seeds of the mammey can be finely ground and four kgs dissolved in 400 litres of soapy water or kerosene. This can be used to control caterpillars.225 gms of the leaves of the mammey can be soaked in 1.2 litres of kerosene. This is effective against cockroaches, houseflies and ants.Natural Crop Protection Methods in the Caribbean Powder from the dried seeds has insecticidal properties with stomach poison, contact and repellent activity against aphids, diamondback moth, beetles, banana borer weevil and acoushi ants (Atta cephalotes). Dusting cabbage with the dry powder early in the morning to allow it to stick on the leaves (wet with dew) and effects good control of diamondback moth (Pluke et al. 1999). The powder from dried leaves of mammey gave 59 percent and 75 percent control of S. frugiperda and D. hyalinata respectively (Morton 1987). Wrapping young tomato plant stems with a mammey leaf and then planting so that half is covered with soil and the other half exposed above ground prevents damage by mole crickets (Morton 1987).Family: CompositaeThe active chemical is called thiopene. 500 gms of marigold leaves can be boiled in four litres of water. Allow to cool then filter. Add another four litres of water and spray onto infested plants.The extracts of the leaves are effective against the diamondback moth, nematodes, beetles, aphids and cabbage heart caterpillar (Tancho 2013).Family: Euphorbiaceae Stems of the milk bush can be crushed and about 1 kilogram can be soaked in 15-20 litres of water. Leave for a day. Filter out the liquid and spray onto infested plants.The crushed stem can be used to control cowpea weevils, common cutworms, aphids and grain storage pests (Tancho 2013).Family: Moringaceae Contains substances that kills fungi and bacteria. Both seeds and leaves are effective. Mix moringa leaves with soil being prepared for sowing seeds; leave undisturbed for one week.Effective against root and stem rot of cucurbits, tomato fruit rot, and damping off.Family: MeliceaeThe leaves and seeds of the neem tree are known to possess insecticidal compounds, some of which is commercially available. The active chemical is called azadirachtin.Grind the dried seeds and soak in the water in the proportion of one kg of neem seed to 20 litres of water. After leaving undisturbed for one to two days, spray onto infested crops.For dried neem fruit, soak one kg in ten litres of water. Aqueous extracts of either the seed or leaves provide good control of both lepidopterous and coleopterous larvae as well as leafminers, aphids and grasshoppers (Pluke et al. 1999). Dried seed powder can also be used effectively to control stored product insects.Family: Myristicaceae Nutmeg oil extract was both toxic and repellent to adult maize weevils S. zeamais (Ramlal 2014). Nutmeg oil has strong insect feeding deterrent properties against stored product insects (Parthasarathy et al. 2008).Family: CaricaceaeThe leaves of the papaya can be finely chopped and about one kg placed in one litre of water. Separate the liquid by filtering with a cloth. Combine the liquid with four litres of water and then mix in 16 gms of detergent and spray onto infected plant.Can be used to manage rusts and powdery mildew (Tancho 2013).Family: EuphorbiaceaeThe whole plant, particularly the seeds have insecticidal properties.Both the dried powder and oil from the seeds of physic nut are known to be insecticidal. The oil has been recorded as having low environmental persistence and non-toxic to beneficial insects (Pluke et al. 1999). Physic nut seed oil reduced the hatching of eggs of the sugarcane borer Diatraea saccharalis Fab. (Lepidoptera:Crambidae) (Oliveira et al. 2013).Family: Portulacaceae Pursley has been reported to contain insecticidal compounds which are toxic to diamondback moth (Grainge and Ahmed 1988;Iwu 1993).Family: Simaroubaceae Contains quassin, a natural insecticide.Natural Crop Protection Methods in the Caribbean Boil small pieces of the plant (500 gms) in 10 litres of water and leave undisturbed for 24 hours. Filter out the solids before dissolving two kgs of soap in three litres water to the solution. Add more water for a total of 100 litres.The bark of bitter ash is known to have insecticidal and nematicidal activity. Bark extract acts as a contact insecticide, a stomach poison and also systemically and hence can be applied to plant roots for protection against sucking and chewing insect pests. Aqueous extracts applied to plants also deter insects (e.g. sweet potato whitefly B. tabaci) from feeding on the treated plant parts Flores et al. (2008). Bitter ash extracts have also been used in organic agriculture (Psota et al. 2010). Can be used to control aphids, diamondback moth, leafminers, mites and cucumber worms (Tancho 2013).Family: Solanaceae Repels insects and inhibits feeding and egg laying. Grind three gms of fresh tomato leaves and add five litres of water or grind 50 gms of fresh leaves and add to two litres of warm/hot water. Allow to soak for five hours then filter with a thin white cloth. Add sticker to mixture such as dishwashing liquid at a rate of one tbsp per ten litres water. Spray every two days in the evening.Effective against the flea beetle (Phyllotreta sinuata), stem borers, houseflies, the diamondback moth, nematodes, cockroaches and red mites (Tancho 2013).Family: Verbanaceae Ethanolic extracts from the leaves of S. jamaicensis had antifeedant effects against the fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda in Trinidad (Moustache and Khan, 2012) while extracts from the leaves of another species (S. mutabilis) in Guyana exhibited antifeedant effects against locusts and armyworms (Pluke et al. 1999).Family: Bombacaceae Used for trapping the cocoa beetle Steirastoma breve. Branches are cut and placed in wire baskets, beetles are attracted to it to lay eggs. Branches are burned every few days and new traps set up (Hall 1914).Family: Leguminosae Leaves of wild coffee are used as a seed protectant against the cowpea beetle C. maculatus (Lienard et al. 1993) and also against termites which can be a serious problem in agriculture (Abdullah et al. 2012). Leaf extracts were also toxic to mosquito (Aedes aegypti) larvae (Chariandy et al. 1999).• Amaranthus, bhaji or callalloo (Amaranthus spp. -stems, flowers and leaves used),• Annatto (Bixa oreliana -fruits and roots used),• Bougainvillea (Bougainvella glabra -leaves and flowers used),• Cashew (Anacardium occidentale -leaves, seeds, seed oil used),• Fish bean (Tephrosia spp. -whole plant, leaves, twigs and roots contain rotenone),• Goat weed (Ageratum conyzoides -all parts of plant used),• Jimson weed (Datura stramonium -whole plant, especially leaves used),• Oleander (Nerium oleander -all parts of plant used),• Onion (Allium cepa -bulb and leaves used),• Pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum cinerarieafolium -flowers contain pyrethrum),• Soyabean (Glycine max -stems used),• Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas -leaves and starch water used),• Tamarind (Tamarindus indica -leaves and fruit used),• Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum -leaves and stems contain nicotine).Natural Crop Protection Methods in the CaribbeanA combination of local and natural crop protection measures blended with certain aspects of modern agriculture is recommended to achieve sustainable agriculture practices. In order to ensure the adoption and continuity of some of these ecologically friendly practices, researchers, scientists and extension workers must ensure that this knowledge is disseminated effectively. The focus on one or two plant species used as pesticides could be expanded since there are diverse plant species that possess pesticidal properties. This will require further validation trials and basic research. To avoid ad hoc application of non-chemical pesticides, appropriate testing of materials and ingredients should be done to avoid toxicity. This would ensure that the correct amounts are applied to crop and insect pests. The effectiveness of each application of pesticide due to its active ingredients on each specific type of insect should be tested and documented. This would result in grading of the various formulations according to strength. Information on non-chemical crop protection methods must be reliable and made easily available through workshops, books, journals, media and the internet. The adoption of these indigenous and natural crop protection practices should be encouraged and considered a priority in the region in order to curb the heavy dependence on synthetic pesticides.Water is one of the most valuable resources on the planet earth. Threefourths of earth's surface is covered by water, which constitutes 60-70 % of the weight of the living world. Water is used for many purposes including drinking, domestic and industrial use, and agricultural production. Water also determines the density and function of vegetation and biodiversity richness in an ecosystem, making it ecohydrologically important. It is implicated in many biogeochemical processes exerting a strong control on microbial activity, nitrogen mineralization, and biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen and carbon (Robinson et al. 2008). Water is also important for many physical and chemical weathering processes on earth and transportation of large amounts of sediments. As a fundamental raw material in photosynthesis, it is central to acid-base neutrality and enzyme function. Therefore, the state of this resource, with respect to its quality, and availability (i.e. whether there is 'too much' or 'too little'), can have economical, biological and ecological implications.In spite of the large volume of water on the planet earth, only three percent is fresh water and 0.06 percent easily accessible for human use (Ekwue, Dhanraj and Birch 2013). Professor Henry Lin of Pennsylvania State University (Schneider 2013) in describing the dwindling nature of this important resource, asserted that 'if a beer barrel -13 gallons -represents all of the water on earth, the total amount of fresh water is just ten drops. Not only that, but out of that ten drops, only one-tenth of one drop is surface water that we can see and directly access' (Schneider 2013). With the expected increase in the world's population to nine billion people by the year 2050, demand for food will increase. In order to meet the food demand for this teeming population, food production will have to increase correspondingly by Sustainable Water Management Practices for Food Production in the Caribbeanabout 70 percent (Schneider 2013). Presently, irrigated agriculture which uses 70 percent of fresh water produces 40 percent of the world's food. With an increasing demand for food, coupled with competing demands from industries, urbanization, recreation, continuing pollution and climate change, the world's water resources will become even more strained (Schneider 2013). This situation will have a more precarious impact where land is limited as in the case of small island developing states (SIDS) like those of the Caribbean region, which are already densely populated, limited in reservoir storage facilities, vulnerable to climate change impact, and with agriculture that is estimated to utilize 60-70 percent of the total fresh water resources (Farrell, Nurse and Moseley 2007).The quality and quantity of available water resources in the Caribbean are already being strained. Climate change is having a strong impact on the water resources. Intense rainstorm activities have increased over the years resulting in colossal runoff generation and flooding problems, causing a decrease in groundwater recharge and aquifer depletion. Concomitantly, sea level rise due to climate change has increased the proneness of lowlands to flooding and salinization, and saltwater intrusion into coastal aquifers. In addition to climate change impacts, population growth and urbanization have put more strain on the existing water resources through agricultural chemicals and human waste which pollute both aquifers and surface water. There is also the problem of over abstraction, which depletes aquifers and changes in land use, which increases runoff and decreases recharge to aquifers. Soils in the Caribbean, except in islands with volcanic soils, are mostly medium to heavy in texture, with impeded drainage. Most of the soils have a restrictive layer that can easily develop a perched water table with attendant waterlogging issues that significantly affect plant water relations. The soils can therefore be exposed to prolonged waterlogging and high water tables under intense rainfall. This lowers the productive capacity of the land for food production. Sustainable water management must therefore address water issues related to its scarcity and excess.As Caribbean nations seek to attain food security, therefore, adequate water of good quality is required to maximise both yield and quality. Consequently, there is heavy reliance on fresh water for domestic, agricultural and commercial uses. However, sustainable management of water resources has not been given the priority it deserves in many Caribbean islands. Unsustainable use of water resources will intensify our water woes leading to food insecurity and slows the advancement of the Caribbean region towards meeting poverty and hunger reduction targets. The following economic, social and environmental impacts have been identified as repercussions for failure to sustainably use and manage our water resources (Taylor, Stephenson and  • Reduction in subsistence and commercial agricultural production of such crops as vegetables, bananas, and coconut with attendant food insecurity issues• Increasing dry spells and sea level rise, intensifying the risk of saline water intrusion into river estuaries and coastal aquifers compromising both the quality of surface and groundwater sources• Increased risk of dengue fever, malaria, cholera, typhoid fever and diarrhoeal diseases• Increasing human conflicts and sufferings.Therefore to achieve a sustainable functioning environment and a food secure Caribbean region, appropriate and sustainable water management practices must be an integral part of the way we use our water resources. Adopting sustainable water management practices will assist in alleviating the economic, social and environmental impacts listed above and will have far reaching benefits to cope with the myriads of constraints that are inimical to achieving food security in the Caribbean region.The Caribbean region is essentially characterized by a humid tropical climate. Rainfall is almost bimodal with two distinct seasons; a dry season from January to May and a wet season from June to December. The rainy season coincides with the hurricane season of June to November, with peak rainfall occurring at the start and end of this season (Cashman, Nurse and John 2010). The mean annual rainfall is large and varies from 1127mm in Antigua and Barbuda to 4500mm in Dominica (Ekwue et al. 2013). Roughly 20 percent to 25 percent of the rainfall received in the Caribbean falls in the dry season, with 75-80 percent falling in the wet season months. The major water management issue in the Caribbean, therefore, is really how to cope with excess water in the wet season to ensure adequate supply allyear round (Ekwue et al. 2013). Even though the Caribbean does not have a steady spatiotemporal rainfall trend, projections reveal that there will be more pronounced dry days and fewer successive wet days, which will become more intense. The annual precipitation, however, is not expected to change drastically; day and night time temperatures are however expected to increase.The hydrological cycle inextricably links climate to water resources. It defines water transfer from bodies of water to the land for storage. Essentially it involves the movement of water from different reservoirs by the physical processes of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, run-off and sub-surface flow. The following equations (1 and 2 respectively) are used to calculate the water balance for ground water and surface water respectively:P is precipitation in the form of rain, ET is evapotranspiration, RO is surface water runoff, GW i and GW o are groundwater inflows into and groundwater outflows from the system respectively and ΔGW represents change in subsurface storage. ΔSW represents the change in surface water storage, SW i represents the surface water inflows into the system, SW o represents surface water outflows from the system, G i represents groundwater inflows into the system and G o represents outflows from the system to the groundwater system.Water resources management is strongly influenced by the water balance equation, which in turn is determined by the impact of climate on the hydrological cycle. This is shown by the fact that the interactions between the different variables in the water balance equation can be very intricate and are largely dependent on climate. For instance, temperature and humidity can affect water loss via evaporation and transpiration, while rainfall intensity can affect surface run-off.Climate and weather have many significant impacts on food production within the region. Plant growth and thus yields in the Caribbean are a consequence of the climate experienced in the region. Temperature, precipitation, soil moisture availability, humidity, radiation intensity, day length and wind all vary with latitude. The atmospheric conditions experienced in the region are therefore an expression of our unique location in the world. Climate can also have an effect on livestock. Increases in temperature can cause heat stress to animals thus reducing productivity, increasing animal diseases and altering the quality of food. The increase in invasive species of weeds can also be an effect of climate and weather patterns. An increase in temperature and precipitation can favour one species of plant over the next causing certain species of weeds to out-compete agricultural crops for limited resources thereby reducing crop yield and productivity. Pests and diseases also respond to increased temperature and precipitation favourably, something which may influence their distribution and development. Humidity and evaporation can also play a role in increasing | 173Sustainable Water Management Practices for Food Production in the Caribbean some pest and disease activity. Most processes that occur in the soil are largely influenced by temperature and precipitation and changes in CO 2 . These can affect soil development and therefore determine its characteristics.'Water is not a commercial product like any other but, rather, a heritage which must be protected, defended and treated as such' (Water Framework Directive 2000). The total amount of water on the earth today is nearly the same as 1000 years ago. However, threats of water crisis continue to loom on us. Billions of people lack basic water services, and millions die each year from water-related diseases. This is partly due to the increasing unsustainable use of water resources that degrades the quality of easily accessible fresh water converting it into forms that require expensive technological treatment for remediation.The Caribbean region is endowed with an abundance of water resources (Table 6.1) so that the availability of fresh water should currently not be an issue. However, threats from population growth, unsustainable agricultural practices, and climate change have highlighted the issue of accentuated water insecurity in the Caribbean. Based on Table 6.1, the water resources in the Caribbean are adequate to meet the current water demand for domestic and industrial purposes, except in the low-lying more arid islands of Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, and the Virgin Islands, where surface free-flowing water is scarce. The limited data on water resources presented in the FAO Aquastat database (FAO 2013) indicate the critical role of rainfall in determining a nation's water resource supply system. For instance, the lack of perennial rivers in the drier Caribbean islands of Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda as a result of mean annual rainfall that is <1500 mm, indicate that these islands are water scarce. Here, the recharge of ground water as the sole source of water supply by precipitation is critical or else precipitation is lost to the ocean. Therefore, the use of surface ponds and reservoirs as storage facilities is important in alleviating shortages. Sea water desalination has become an important source of water in these islands. Nonetheless, the increased frequency of intense weather conditions, sea level rise and population growth, with their associated decrease in ground water recharge, reduced water quality due to saline intrusion and pollution, pose a serious threat to the continuous supply of water in adequate amounts and quality from these ground water sources.Caribbean countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica and Jamaica on the other hand, have mean annual rainfall values of > 2000 mm and a water resource supply that is well above the water scarce threshold. These islands have multiple water sources and their water withdrawal is below available resources. Increased water withdrawal via irrigated agriculture in some countries such as Guyana, Belize, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, however, indicate an increased demand on water resources. Consequently, shortfalls have been experienced during the dry season. Drought episodes were very severe in Trinidad and Tobago among other Caribbean countries in 2009 extending to 2010 (ODPM 2013). To sustain water supply, water for domestic, agricultural and alternative uses was regulated. The accompanying ills of the drought episode, such as forest fires, incidences of crop failure and flash flooding caused by rainfall events following the drought, were severe. Therefore whether too little or too much, the demand for water will increase, requiring us to sustainably manage water resources.Water resources usually take three main forms in the Caribbean region; groundwater, surface water (rivers, springs, lakes, and reservoirs), and sea water. Ground and surface water are the primary sources used to meet public and industrial demands. Desalinization of sea water has, however, become an important supply of potable water to a number of Caribbean Islands (Table 6.1). Water resources may vary among islands depending on geology and topography. For instance, for the islands of Barbados and Antigua with calcareous geology, ground water is the principal natural source of water with desalination supplementing these natural sources.Groundwater constitutes 30 percent of global fresh water stocks, making it by far the largest freshwater resource on earth other than water stored as ice. Groundwater resources are relatively clean, reliable and a cost-effective resource as a source of drinking water, for agricultural irrigation and for maintenance of surface water systems, biodiversity and habitats of sensitive ecosystems (Tharme 2003). Groundwater is water located beneath the earth's surface in aquifers. An aquifer is a layer of porous substrate that traps groundwater in amounts which can then be available to the population. Groundwater resources are an important source of water in the Caribbean, the quantity and quality of which are influenced by a number of factors, including: the location of the aquifer (coastal or inland), whether it's confined or unconfined, the size of the aquifer, the characteristics of the soil around the aquifer, the geology, climate change and variability. Caribbean islands, for example Barbados depend heavily on groundwater for their national supply (Table 6.1).Surface water resources in the Caribbean region take the form of rivers, small lakes and small impoundments. This water resource is the primary source of potable water in most Caribbean countries and is an important component of a nation's water supply system. It is influenced by precipitation, run-off, evaporation and exchanges with the underlying groundwater system. Countries such as St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica, and Trinidad and Tobago all rely on surface water resources to meet the national demand (Table 6.1).Saline bodies of water through the process of desalinization contribute to the water resources of the Caribbean region. Desalinization is the process where salt and other mineralsSustainable Water Management Practices for Food Production in the Caribbean are removed from saline water. It is considered to be one of the few rainfall independent water resources. Salt water is desalinized to produce fresh water for human consumption or irrigation. In Trinidad and Tobago, desalination plants are used to provide fresh water suitable for industrial use as a good alternative of supplementing the country's supply of fresh water leaving more naturally-occurring water for domestic purposes.Soil water is the amount of water that is stored in the soil from rainfall after losses via evapotranspiration, runoff and deep drainage. Soil water is an important water resource particularly because of its role in the ecosystem, the hydrological cycle and in modulating other critical elements of the hydrological cycle. Ecohydrologically, soil water is a vital ecosystem resource that provides the transpiration water needs of plants. It controls the structure and function of vegetation, and diversity in ecosystems. In spite of its overall small amount (~0.05 percent) in the global hydrological cycle, it plays the vital function of regulating the global energy balance and the distribution of precipitation. Soil water governs microbial activity affecting vital biogeochemical processes such as nitrification and CO 2 production via respiration (Robinson et al. 2008).Soil water is important in determining the profile storage for determining antecedent conditions, thereby controlling rainfall-runoff response in systems where saturation excess runoff dominates (Robinson et al. 2008). Soil water performs a critical hydrological role in an ecosystem by controlling infiltration and water recharge to aquifers. By influencing infiltration, runoff generation, evaporation and exchanges with the underlying groundwater system, it determines the quantity and quality of both surface and groundwater.Soil water can be expressed as the soil water content (equation 3) on a mass (gravimetric water content) or volume basis (volumetric water content).• Gravimetric water content (θ g ) is the ratio of the mass of water (M w ) relative to the dry mass of soil (M s ):or, volume basis (volumetric water content)• Volumetric water content (θ v ) is the ratio of the volume of water (V w ) relative to the total volume of soil (V t ):indicating that air and water in the soil occupy the soil pores.Where V a is the volume of air, V s is the volume of solid particles and V f is the volume of pores.To fully characterise soil water, however, the amount of water in the soil (soil water content) and the matric potential (the force by which water is held in the soil matrix) are key factors. Both matric potential and soil water content are related to each other via a function referred to as the soil water characteristic. The status of soil water determined by soil water content and matric potential affect among other things the water available for plant use, rate of exchange between liquid and gaseous phases, the hydraulic conductivity in the soil and exchange between the soil water and groundwater.Available soil water is used by plant for growth and development. Under drought conditions there is less available water for plants, which results in reduced productivity. Under intense rainfall, soils may become waterlogged resulting in transient low aeration. Also soil aggregates are degraded resulting in high runoff generation and erosion reducing the productivity of agricultural crops (Wuddivira, Ekwue and Stone 2010). Consequently, soil and water management practices are required to maintain this pool of water for sustainable food production in the Caribbean.The Caribbean region is extremely vulnerable to water scarcity. Too much or too little rainfall can pose a serious effect on surface and ground water resources in the region. Increased rainfall intensity can result in increased surface runoff reducing recharge into aquifers, while, a reduced rainfall amount coupled with increased temperatures and evapotranspiration rates reduces soil moisture, infiltration and aquifer recharge. It has been shown that in the tropics, approximately 90 percentof net radiation produces evaporation over the oceans (Budyko 1974). Net radiation over the continents heats the surface driving evaporation of water from surfaces of water bodies, soil surfaces and providing energy to plants to remove water from soils. Inconsistent rainfall patterns coupled with high evapotranspiration rates create a water deficit within the region. This occurs especially during the dry season.With the expected impacts of climate change, decreases in crop yields are anticipated with reductions in surface water causing less water to become available for irrigation. Prolonged high temperatures can also cause cracking in heavy clay soils which can also cause soil loss. Higher ocean levels will lead to salt water intrusion in groundwater supplies, threatening the quality and quantity of freshwater access to large populations. Saline water intrusion percolating through underground channels can affect the quality of fresh water in aquifers.Sustainable Water Management Practices for Food Production in the Caribbean Saline water intrusion usually occurs as a result of sea level rise, which is a consequence of climate change and can be devastating to a country's economy, as a substantial portion of most islands' economic activity occurs a few kilometres inland. Saline water intrusion is already a problem in many countries including small islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Caribbean Sea.Increased rainfall intensity and poor irrigation practices which characterize the Caribbean region can also cause excess water to accumulate in the root zone, causing waterlogging damage and a decline in the vigour and productivity of crops. This often occurs in soils with poor natural drainage caused by restricted layers beneath the root zone. Additionally, soils found in low elevations and flat landscapes are prone to excess water accumulation in the root zone. Therefore, effective water management should include the drainage of the excess soil water from the root zone in poorly drained soils and using appropriate water conservation measures to protect water resources from pollution and loss of water from the root zone.Water is one of life's most valuable resources. As such, responsible and efficient water management practices are mandatory to alleviate the increasing pressures on our water resources. One significant way to reduce the threats that water insecurity presents in the Caribbean is through an integrated water management plan. This plan involves differentiating water into different shades (blue, green and grey) and ranking its importance for human use. Proper management that involves the use of blue, green and grey water can improve water security in the region. As we look for new ways of preserving water for future generations, these three categories of water when used in an integrated management plan can lower energy costs, recycle nutrients and increase water security. They are:i. Blue water: refers to surface and groundwater in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and aquifers. In terms of importance to humans, blue water is the most vital for drinking purposes, water for homes and businesses and for irrigation. Agricultural irrigation uses 70 percent of the blue water in the world. In the Caribbean, the primary source of blue water is precipitation which feeds all sources of ground and surface water resources. An increasing demand for food results in a heavy dependence on blue water. This situation is further worsened by over-abstraction and increased discharge of pollutants into groundwater and surface water resources thereby decreasing the fresh water quality and quantity in the region's watersheds and coastal zones. Urban expansion that results in paving of the ground surface also affects the recharge of blue water and replenishment of ground water supplies.Pollution degrades the quality of surface and groundwater resources and climate change in the form of flash floods or droughts can also threaten both water and food security within the region. Water management that is sustainable must therefore employ practices that increase the storage of blue water, protect blue water from pollutants, increase groundwater recharge and increase water security by integrating green and grey water resources into the water supply chain. Some of the practices are discussed below.ii. Green water: this is the water available in the soil for plants and soil microorganisms. 90 percent of the water used by plants is green water. Green water sustains terrestrial ecosystems. Through the processes of transpiration, evaporation and surface run-off, green water is lost. Green water, however, is only considered productive for plants when it increases plant growth and crop yield.While only 15-30 percent of water is used for transpiration, a greater amount is lost (30-50 percent) via evaporation and 10-25 percent as run-off. Sustainable water management to prevent green water loss must therefore include soil and water conservation practices. Increasing plant water use efficiency can also help reduce water loss by increasing the productive use of green water, decreasing evaporation and increasing the rate of transpiration. By better utilizing available water, resources can be secured for increased crop production thereby reducing the strain on blue water. Sustainable soil water conservation practices that minimize soil water loss are discussed in the following section.iii. Grey water: can be described as treated wastewater and may contain impurities.It is used mainly for cities, households and industries. Waste water is largely produced by households and industries. The amount of waste water increases as the population grows; according to United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), in 2025 wastewater inflows can amount to 52 trillion gallons per day (Schneider 2013). The use of grey water saves blue water and creates more green water for plants as well as providing other benefits such as nutrient recycling. Great care, however, is needed when using grey water to avoid salinization or other environmental problems. Permits regulating the use of grey water are therefore necessary to avoid environmental degradation. Sustainable practices will involve encouraging household water conservation by using grey water for washing, bathing, to water gardens and for livestock purposes.| 181Sustainable Water Management Practices for Food Production in the CaribbeanHarvesting and storage of rainwater is an important practice which ensures water security particularly in the Caribbean region where there is an abundance of rainfall but concentrated between June to December. Rainwater harvesting can be described as the accumulation and deposition of rainwater before it reaches aquifers or other forms of ground and surface storage. Some of its uses within the Caribbean generally include water for plants, livestock, irrigation, drinking water. Efficient harvesting and storage of rainwater is a sustainable water management practice that provides an independent water supply that often supplements the main supply. This practice should be promoted in the Caribbean to augment existing supplies. The advantages of rain water harvesting is that it can provide water during periods of dry spells, reduce flooding in low lying areas, replenish groundwater and surface water storage, and is an excellent source of uncontaminated water that does not contain fluoride, chlorine or dissolved salts, minerals and chemicals (CEHI 2009).Within the Caribbean, rainwater harvesting is mostly done through the roof catchment, where the size of the roof and tank must be large enough to maintain adequate flow and storage. The size of the rainwater system is usually set up to meet the individual farmer's demand or household demand throughout the dry season. Apart from rooftop harvesting, the use of contour bunding, gully plugging, and check dams and dykes to catch rainwater can also be efficient ways of sustainable water management. In many of the drier Caribbean islands such as the Grenadines, the Virgin Islands and the Bahamas, with annual rainfall of <1500 mm, free-flowing water is scarce. As a result rain water harvesting remains the main source to meet water needs. Due to seasonality of rainfall, rainwater harvesting is also an attractive low-cost option to meet shortfalls in water supplies during dry months even in the wetter islands (i.e. >2500 mm per annum of rainfall). CEHI (2009) provides a comprehensive overview of typical rainwater harvesting systems found in the Caribbean. According to CEHI (2009) the typical rain harvesting system comprises four main parts: 1  • Catchment area: usually a roof surface or pavement with applications that can range from agricultural or commercial uses with large water requirements.• Conveyance system: this is a network of guttering and pipes to transfer the rainwater from the catchment to the storage tank.• Storage device: This is usually a tank situated above, underneath or partially below the ground.• Distribution system: this ranges from a simple container to extract the water from the storage tank, or a pipe functioning solely as an outlet or a complex network of pipes serving multiple users. The distribution of the water can be assisted by using a pump.Recycling of drainage water can be described as the storing of run-off water from agricultural farms and after heavy rainfall for reuse as irrigated water into these farms. The water collected passes through a controlled irrigation system. This system requires a suitable area for the collection and storage of run-off and rain water. The advantages of this system are that it returns nutrients to the soil, a positive economic benefit, and it also supplements the use of fresh water, which is becoming more limited. Care must be taken to ensure that the quality of drainage water is good enough to prevent contamination of the soil and ground water supplies.The use of effluent and wastewater can be described as the recycling of water previously used by industries and households. This water includes sewage effluent, storm water runoff, and industrial discharges (OAS 1997). Water recycling has created a new and reliable source of water without compromising environmental, public health or agricultural resources. The advantages of using recycled water are that it provides an additional source of water, it reduces the diversion of water from river and wetland ecosystems, it decreases wastewater discharge into waterways and it can be used as irrigation water for agriculture. Effluent and waste water must be treated adequately to ensure water quality is appropriate for the intended purpose. Effluent can pose environmental, public health or agricultural resource risks if not managed appropriately. Urbanization and industrial development have led to the production of large amounts of wastewater in the Caribbean. The integration of this grey water into the water supply chain will help alleviate the water woes of the Caribbean. Countries around the world have included treated wastewater to supplement their waterSustainable Water Management Practices for Food Production in the Caribbean supply particularly for agricultural and industrial purposes. Although in some countries wastewater has been treated to drinking standards, public health, religious and cultural concerns among consumers poses a hindrance to this use of wastewater.Essentially in the Caribbean, wastewater reuse has been restricted to irrigation and industrial applications. Wastewater treatment effluent in Jamaica has been used for golf course irrigation, in some hotels and for the industry, as in the case of extensive recycling in the bauxite/alumina companies. In Barbados and Curaçao, extended aeration sewage treatment plants supplies water for lawn irrigation and hotel use. Large-scale wastewater treatment plants in Trinidad and Tobago have been used to treat wastewater to industrial standard for industrial use. For instance, the severe drought in 2009/2010 in Trinidad and Tobago left the Water and Sewage Authority (WASA) with no option but to significantly reduce supply to industries to meet the need for domestic use. As a result treatment plants like the Beetham Wastewater Treatment Plant have been used to supply water to the Point Lisas Industrial Estate, Trinidad. Also in Trinidad, river water fed by wastewater treatment plants is actively used by farmers to irrigate crops in areas like Caroni (Central Trinidad) and Maloney (East Trinidad). However, in order to expand the irrigated acreage to attain food security, large-scale treatment plants must treat grey water to agricultural standards in Trinidad.Water conservation systems are necessary tools in light of a growing population and changing climate. These systems are essential for the Caribbean region to ensure viability of its agricultural sector. Water conservation systems involve the preparation of fields for efficient water use, for example, conservation tillage, scheduling irrigation and efficient irrigation systems such as drip irrigation. The advantages of water conservation systems are that they help to preserve the quality of water, reduce or eliminate drainage problems, conserve energy, increase food production and save money.One of the ways to ensure sustainable water management is to increase the efficiency of irrigation systems. Irrigated agriculture uses 60-70 percent of fresh water resources globally. With population growth, competing demands and climate change impacts, available water resources will become scarcer, therefore more emphasis must be given to efficient use of irrigation water for maximum economic return and water resources sustainability. Irrigation efficiency requires that appropriate methods of measuring and evaluating how effectively water extracted from a water source is used in crop production. It avoids crop water stress and yield reduction from inadequate irrigation application and also the pollution of water sources from the loss of plant nutrients through leaching, runoff, and soil erosion due to excess irrigation application.Increasing irrigation efficiency helps to get 'more crop per drop of water' (Kranz 2013). Surface irrigation which constitutes about 90 percent of irrigated agriculture is poorly controlled and does not result in uniform distribution of water to the field, leading to heavy water wastage. Pressurized irrigation facilities that ensure uniform distribution of water in the field, result in less wastage. Drip (micro) irrigation is highly efficient, as almost every drop of water from the source can reach the root system with minimum water losses. Drip irrigation is the process whereby small amounts of water are frequently dripped onto the soil area surrounding the plant roots through tubing with built in emitters. This system allows for a carefully managed amount of water to be applied, thereby avoiding deep percolation and run-off. The advantages of drip irrigation is that it reduces salt build up, plant stress, farm operations and maintenance costs, increases crop yield and enables efficient water use on steep slopes.Enhanced surface water storage within the Caribbean usually takes the form of damming and water catchment. Examples of where this was successful are the Roseau Dam in St Lucia, which is also the last relatively large water catchment project in the Caribbean. Enhancing the surface water catchment does not only take into consideration its size but also the number of water catchment facilities that are able to improve the water quality supply of the country. Recently, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago constructed over three hundred (300) on-farm irrigation rain-fed ponds to serve as an incentive to increase irrigated acreage and encourage agricultural production to meet the food needs of the nation.Saline water intrusion into fresh surface water and groundwater systems can decrease the quality of fresh water resources for drinking and agriculture. It can also increase the area of marginal unsuitable lands for agriculture. Therefore, measures to curb saline water intrusion can result in sustainable supply of fresh water from surface and groundwater sources, and can sustain the agricultural productivity of wetlands. In the Caribbean, sluice gates have been used to regulate the flow of salt water at high tides into river channels and adjoining wetlands, thereby protecting the sensitive wetland ecosystem and surface and groundwater resources. Sluice gates efficiently drain upstream lands, preventing saline water intrusion and back flooding during high tides. The use of sluice gates therefore prevents the conversion of fresh water systems into saline/brackish systems.Sustainable Water Management Practices for Food Production in the CaribbeanSoil and water conservation methods help in increasing the amount of green water for crop production and ecosystem diversity and protect surface and groundwater resources from pollution hazards. Some soil and water conservation practices that are relevant to sustainable water management in the Caribbean are already discussed elsewhere (Wuddivira and Atwell 2012). Soil conservation practices include: i. Cover cropping: an effective method of soil and water conservation, which decreases water loss from the soil surface and increases the quantity and quality of green water. Cover crops protect the soil from the elements of soil erosion and evaporation. They therefore prevent soil erosion and runoff and encourage water to soak into the soil instead of running off the surface. Cover crops also increase soil organic matter content which improves and maintains soil fertility, conservation of soil moisture and soil structural stability. Cover crops capture, recycle and promote nutrients in the soil profile, suppress weeds and improve soil quality and thus greatly influence water storage and use.ii. Conservational tillage: a soil and water conservation system that promotes reduced frequency of tillage and the retention of crop residue at, or near the soil surface. This practice significantly alleviates soil susceptibility to erosion under intense rainfall. Crop residues retained at or near the soil surface usually dissipate raindrop energy by providing surface protection against the direct impact of the raindrops. This minimizes aggregate breakdown and surface sealing and retards surface water flow, thus providing more time for infiltration into the soil.iii. Mulching: soil and water conservation are achieved by using or applying a layer of plant residues or other suitable material on the soil surface. Instead of leaving the soil in between crop stands unprotected; residues are applied as mulch on the soil surface to enhance soil water infiltration and storage. This is achieved by stabilizing the soil temperature and moisture, and preventing sunlight from germinating weed seeds. Mulches also warm the soil by helping it retain heat that is lost during the night, and additionally minimise the effect of soil erosion, runoff, aggregate slaking forces and raindrop impact by improving soil structure.Mulching protects the soil surface from direct impact of weather elements such as the sun thereby reducing evaporation. In an environment like ours, characterised by intense and energetic rainfall, a layer of residue on the soil surface acts as an \"impact absorber\", reducing direct hitting of the soil by raindrops. Mulches also modify temperature and moisture regimes thereby increasing the activity of soil fauna and flora, and suppressing weed growth.iv. Crop rotation: under a continuous cropping management system, soil and water conservation are achieved by growing crops in a planned sequence on the same field. This planned sequence of growing crops is referred to as crop rotation. A crop rotation system that includes the rotation of annual crops with grasses and legumes, improves soil structure, reduces erosion and increases soil fertility. The benefits of crop rotation include the improvement of soil structural stability, the reduction of erosion, improvement and maintenance of soil fertility, reduction of the build-up of pests, reduction of the risk of weather damage and reduction in the reliance on agricultural chemicals. These promote green water storage and the quality of surface and groundwater resources.v. Conservation vegetative barriers: the use of vegetative barriers as a soil and water conservation practice involves planting strips of rigid, dense vegetation mostly of bunchgrass and shrubs on the contour. Vegetative barriers drastically reduce runoff velocity and thus prevent potential pollutants from running off into surface waters. In addition, vegetative barriers control overland water flow, trap sediments and reduce pollution in the surrounding environments.vi. Contour farming: this is a good conservation practice for water management on sloping lands. It involves carrying out farming practices such as ploughing, ridging, planting, cultivating, fertilizer application and harvesting across the slope rather than along the slope. The contour farming practice slows down runoff and increases the detention time of water on the slope, thereby allowing more water to soak (infiltrate) into the soil. When more water infiltrates, sheet and rill erosion are reduced. Reduction in erosion means reduction in the transport of sediments, other solids and associated contaminants to the surrounding environment. Therefore, contour farming conserves soil, water and ensures the preservation of environmental quality.Many sectors in the Caribbean are affected by water scarcity. Inappropriate water management practices, climate change and climate variability impacts, increase rates of abstraction, pollution from agro-chemicals and other contaminants, inefficient and inadequate water storage facilities, failure to exploit recycling technologies and implement water-use efficiency measures all compound water scarcity problem of the region (Farrell et al. 2007). This will go unabated unless by-laws are put in place to deal with water wastage and discharge of pollutants into water bodies.Sustainable Water Management Practices for Food Production in the Caribbean Currently, policies and legislation for water management are either inadequate or non-existent in the Caribbean. However, legislation is in place in countries like Antigua and Barbuda and Barbados for compulsory rainwater harvesting and storage from new buildings with large floor size (Ekwue 2010). Trinidad and Tobago has developed ad-hoc laws to legislate on water use in times of scarcity during unusually long dry spells. Urgent legislation is however required in the Caribbean to protect water resources from misuse and pollutant discharge. 2To achieve sustainable water management in the Caribbean public education on water conservation is essential. Strategies on how to save water from wastage and protect degradation of water quality can be incorporated into posters, leaflets, print and electronic media for the public to read and adopt. Information on proper and efficient irrigation systems, frequency of watering and mulching will go a long way in empowering the public to use water sustainably.In the Caribbean, there is a preponderance of poorly-drained soils due to heavy clay textures, low elevation, flat landscape, and the presence of a restrictive layer beneath the root zone. With above-average sea-surface temperatures, rainy seasons are expected to be wetter, with waterlogging problems hampering food production. Waterlogging interrupts seeding and germination, increased incidences of crop diseases and increased cost of tillage implements and production. Under waterlogging conditions, farmers must plant crops on raised beds to create a zone of unsaturated soil volume for optimal root growth. This will reduce the harmful effects of waterlogging on crop productivity. Effective water management is also required for profitable crop production, and should include the drainage of the excess soil water from the root zone in these poorly drained soils. Therefore, fields that are prone to water settling will benefit from drains that are dug to move excess water to lower lying areas away from the root zone. Drainage removes excess water and improves the supply of oxygen at the root zone for beneficial microbial activities as well as plant roots growth (Boman and Tucker 2012).In fields with restrictive layers and those prone to waterlogging, the water table level should be monitored to maintain it at an optimal zone for crop production (Boman and Tucker 2012). There are many devices for monitoring the water table ranging from a 2.Note: there is water quality legislation in some islands.ruler to electronic sensors. The selection of which device to use should be guided by the level of accuracy required. To deal with waterlogging problems, surface and subsurface drainage will be required in the poorly-drained soils of the Caribbean. Drainage systems to be employed should consist of canals, retention areas, detention areas, open ditches, subsurface drains, beds, water furrows, swales, and pumps to remove the excess water. For the drainage systems to remain effective, proper maintenance must be employed to ensure that the prolonged exposure of roots to waterlogged soils under intense tropical rainfall is avoided. For successful productivity of poorly drained soils, the design of the drainage systems should be such that it permits a daily drop of the water table to between 10 and 15 cm (Boman and Tucker 2012). This will create an optimal zone of unsaturated soil volume sufficient to prevent root damage.To successfully surmount bad drainage, effective land reclamation, design and installation of adequate water management systems, effective drainage and irrigation systems as well as land layouts that use cambered beds is necessary. The beds can vary in width from 3m to 20m, depending upon the crops to be grown (Ahmad 2011). Ridges that are individually used or constructed on top of already cambered beds are also important to overcome waterlogging problems. These practices have proved successful in those cultural production systems involving sugarcane, in Caribbean countries like Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. Also growing of crops that are tolerant to poor soil aeration such as dasheen (Colocasia esculenta) is an important practice.Livestock production is a vital agriculture sub-sector in the Caribbean. Production and consumption of animal products increases at about 2.5-4 percent per year in developing countries, and 0.5 percent per year in developed ones. Livestock production systems sustain the lives of four billion people globally, of which 32 percent are poor and 13 percent poor livestock keepers. Livestock production systems are heavily reliant on water for feed production, general maintenance and the production of animal products. It has been estimated that one litre of milk requires 3,000 litres of water (Times of India 2004), while producing one kilogram of grain fed beef requires about 100,000 litres of water (Pimental 2000). Compared to the production of potatoes, which only uses 500 litres, it takes much more water to produce animal products than crops. As a result, the sustainable utilization of water within the livestock industry is necessary in the face of uncertain water sources and variable weather patterns. Some sustainable water management practices that will be beneficial in the Caribbean include:| 189 Sustainable Water Management Practices for Food Production in the Caribbean• Feed sourcing and management: involving the utilisation of feeds with a low water cost of production. The effective use of food-feed crops decreases the water cost of production. For example, crop residues for livestock feeding and importation of feed places no additional demand for water.• Production-enhancing strategies such as veterinary care, provision of appropriate nutrients and a stress free environment limits the need to use water on sick or dying animals and increases livestock water productivity. By using these strategies one can maximise the benefits derived from animal production per unit volume of water depleted.• Water conserving strategies help to shift evaporation to transpiration, by the implementation of better pasture management in the form of sustainable stocking rates, rehabilitation of degraded areas, replenishing soil fertility and maintaining a critical mass of live biomass. These help to increase livestock water production by fostering higher transpiration rates, encouraging infiltration of rainwater and reducing water contamination by sediments and zoonotic pathogens.• Spatial and temporal distribution of livestock, drinking water and feed resources will improve livestock water productivity. Low to moderate livestock stocking densities and rotational grazing decrease cumulative grazing pressure, soil compaction and decrease the risk of damage to vegetation. Animal movements should be adapted and supplementary feeders and supply of drinking water for livestock should be positioned accordingly to avoid excessive soil compaction. This will reduce soil erosion, runoff volumes and evaporation improving soil water retention and reducing environmental pollution.• Protection of water courses: livestock should be prevented from direct access to surface water at any time. Water courses should be fenced off in fields away from livestock. Grazing of environmentally sensitive areas as well as areas with concentrated livestock wastes should be properly managed. Areas where waste is collected should not be on permeable soils to avoid nitrate and bacterial contamination from leaching into the ground or surface water. Waste collection areas should be located further than 30 m away from waterways and streams and should be regularly cleaned.• Minimising and reducing water spillage and contamination: when rearing livestock intensively, a formal wastewater management plan should be put in place to prevent potential sources of water pollution in storage areas. The installation of stock drinkers for livestock is also important to avoid water spillage.• Promoting water use efficiency and reusing water whenever possible: water supply systems should be monitored using metering to allow for the rapid identification of inefficiencies in the water system. Breakages (e.g. in troughs or pipes) and leaks in livestock areas should be mended, and potential areas where water can be reused, sought. For example clean rainwater can be channelled and collected from roofs for livestock drinking, if there is no health risk.• Minimise water wastage by animals: consider alternative drinking water designs such as troughs, nipple and cup or bite-type drinkers in bowls as these can reduce the amount of water wasted by animals.In a changing Caribbean region with mounting demographic pressures and growing threats of water quality degradation, improving the security and resilience of water is vital for the provisioning of good quality water for drinking and agricultural production. Although endowed with an abundance of water resources, the year-round supply of fresh water remains an enormous challenge in the Caribbean. This challenge is worsened by strong competing sectoral demands. Over abstraction and increased pollution of fresh water resources decreases water quality and can exacerbate the scarcity of fresh, easily accessible water. While using our water resources, practices that ensure its continuous supply in adequate and safe amounts to meet the needs of the population for drinking and food production must be adopted.The adoption of appropriate sustainable water management strategies as suggested above is of paramount importance to meet the water needs and to ensure a water and food secure region. The realities of water quality degradation, increased frequency of extreme rainfall patterns, and dry spells are looming. To have a region that is water and food secure, coping with these threats will involve reducing our regional water footprints through these sustainable water management practices and other suitable treatments that protect our water resources and increase the quality and availability of surface and groundwater resources.   A complex interrelationship exists between food production and the environment. The prevention and control of environmental risks associated with food production is important for the preservation of human health and communities within which they exist. Agriculturists, in addition to their struggle to increase food production efficiencies, must consider environmental preservation to make food production sustainable. The agri or agro environment can simply be defined as the interactional impacts of agricultural practices on the environment. Agricultural Environmental Management (AEM) must be given more importance as countries strive towards food security within the context of promoting sustainable agroecosystems. Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) must be employed to sustain the environment taking into consideration all dimensions of the agricultural production system. However, commitments to the management of agricultural environments must seek to not only include GAPs, but must go beyond and specifically address the associated food safety and environmental risk elements related to the food production and agro-processing sector.Agricultural intensification has further contributed to environmental degradation since primary production agriculture is known to affect every component of the environment: surface and ground water, agricultural and non-agricultural land surfaces, the atmosphere and biodiversity. The main agricultural pollutants include pesticides, fertilizers, animal waste products and untreated manure. There are intervention and preventative approaches that can go a long way in attempting to safeguard the environment from the negative impacts of food production. Environmental-friendly agriculture, through sustainable agricultural intensification efforts, will ensure minimal contamination and disturbance to the natural environment from farming Sustaining The Environment: Farm and Beyond the Farm and other agricultural related activities. The first step towards achieving agricultural sustainability would be to diagnose the impact of agricultural practices on the environment (Payraudeau and van der Werf 2005).This chapter focuses on several of the complex interrelationships that exist between food production and food safety within an environmental context. Additionally, the chapter will provide recommendations to reduce the adverse impacts of agro-environmental hazards and food safety considerations which have a direct impact on people and societies in the Caribbean. The sources of environmental impacts from crop (pesticides, toxicity and fertilizers) and animal production (housing and waste management), identification of the key sources of contamination within the food value chain, along with considerations to reduce food safety hazards, food safety regulations and food traceability systems are addressed.Non-point source (NPS) pollution refers to the contaminants found in surface and subsurface soil and water resources that are diffused in nature and cannot be traced to a point location. In contrast to industrial and sewage pollution, it is less toxic and does not have one specific source of origin. Although it is less toxic, it poses serious threat to the health of human beings and their community. NPS pollution is not concentrated within a specific area, but has a dispersed character. It can affect a water body from sources such as run-offs from agricultural areas draining into rivers. The run-off from agricultural areas may contain bacteria, nitrates, ammonia, pesticides, phosphorous, minerals and sediments. Chowdary et al. (2001) for example have suggested that agriculture is the largest contributor to nonpoint pollution to ground and surface water to the environment.From a chemical pollutant (man-made) perspective, the sources of non-point pollutants from crop production are seemingly more diverse than from livestock production. Livestock production on the other hand specifically contributes to non-point pollution contaminants from animal waste and from the slaughtering processes. These two (2) types of production systems however, have similar adverse impacts on land surfaces related to: over-cropping, improper land preparation, over-grazing and over-stocking. Figure 7.1 shows the possible sources of non-point pollutants from crop and livestock production systems.Non-point pollutants from the agriculture include the excessive use of fertilizers and improper fertilizer application; excessive use of pesticides, improper pesticide application and disposal of containers; sediments from hillsides which enter rivers and lakes, resulting from improper land preparation practices including deforestation and 'slash and burn' practices; and bacteria (faecal coliforms and Streptococci) from animal waste.• Insecticides used to spray animals for external parasites such as ticks. Large volumes of these are used in spray races and animal dips and are discarded into the environment after use• Detergents and disinfectants that are used in operations such as dairying.Eleftherohorinos ( 2008) pointed to the inappropriate use of pesticides which has resulted in adverse effects on non-target organisms (e.g. reduction of beneficial species populations); water contamination from mobile pesticides or from pesticide drift; air pollution from volatile pesticides; injury on non-target plants from herbicide drift; injury to rotational crops from herbicide residues left in the field; crop injury due to high application rates, wrong application timing, or unfavourable environmental conditions at and after pesticide application. The reported impacts of pesticide exposure on human health include the development of cancers, tumours and lesions, disruption of immune and endocrine systems, reproductive impairment and congenital defects and are consequentially the result from long term pesticide exposure, bio-concentration (mechanisms by which pesticides concentrate in fat tissue) and bio-magnification (increase in pesticide concentration throughout the food chain).Positively charged chemical pesticide is attracted to negatively charged clay particles and organic matter.Runoff: the movement of water along a sloping surface.Volatilization: the conversation of a solid or liquid into a gas Leaching: the movement of the pesticide through the soil rather than over it Pesticide drifts: the unintentional airborne movement of droplets during pesticide application.Chemical degradation: the breakdown of the pesticide by non-living factors e.g. temperature, moisture, pH and the pesticide's chemical characteristics.Biological degradation by microorganisms. Photo-degradation: the breakdown of the pesticide by sunlight.Source: Fishel (2007)| 213Sustaining the Environment: Farm and Beyond the FarmThe fate processes of a pesticide when applied to the environment fall into three (3) categories; adsorption, transfer and degradation. What is critical however, is the interaction of each of these factors and their interplay with the particular soil type and environmental conditions that determines the pesticide behaviour within the environment. Table1 summaries the fate processes of pesticides in the environment and the mechanisms associated with the processes.The four major properties that are important to a pesticide's fate after application are: i. Vapour pressure (volatility): relates to the ability of a pesticide to be converted into a gas.ii. Adsorption: the process by which a pesticide is bound to or adsorped to soil or organic matter within the soil. When pesticides are adsorbed they are less likely to be leached.iii. Water solubility: the more soluble a pesticide is, the greater its mobility within the environment and it is less likely to be leached.iv. Persistence: or the length of time a pesticide remains active in the environment.It is a function of the chemical composition of the pesticide and the chemical and biological degradation processes, which break down the pesticide into a less harmful form.There are several conditions which will hasten the process by which pesticides volatize; these include soils of a sandy composition and hot, dry, windy conditions. The size of the droplets being emitted from the spraying equipment also determines the rate of volatilization: -the smaller the droplets, the greater the rate of volatilization. To therefore avoid the hot and windy conditions experienced during the day, it is recommended that volatile pesticides be sprayed late in the evening. The resultant loss of pesticide by this process will be considerably reduced, and there will be a long mode of action during the night time period into the sunrise.Pesticide toxicity can either be classified according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) or Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as shown in Table 7.2. The assignment of pesticides into toxicity classes will enable the applicator to assess the potential risk using the relationship:Based on the above formula, it can be seen that the level of risk can be predicted such that in the case of a very lethal pesticide, if there is very little exposure to the applicator or handler, the risk will not be great. On the other hand, pesticides of low toxicity with prolonged exposure, can pose a high level risk of harm to the applicator or handler.The pesticide drift is dependent on the size of the droplets exiting the nozzle of the pesticide application equipment, the wind velocity and the distance between the point of exit from the equipment and target. The greater the distance from the point of exit to the target, the more likely is the potential for pesticide drift. In knapsack sprayers, the pressure of the spray exiting the tank has an impact on the size of the droplets.The risk of pesticide contamination to ground water contamination is based on the solubility of the pesticide, level of adsorption, degree of persistence, the amount of clay and organic matter present, the size of the pore spaces within the soil, depth of the ground water and the amount and frequency of rainfall and irrigation. Table 7.3 provides a summary of the ground water contamination potential as influenced by water, pesticides and soil characteristics. It should be noted that although botanical pesticides such as pyrethrins, extracted from chrysanthemum flowers are relatively non-toxic to mammals there are highly toxic to fish, tadpoles, aquatic invertebrates and honeys bees. Additionally, pyrethrins are unstable in sunlight and have a half-life of 12 days.Half-life is the amount of time it takes for ½ of the original material to be broken down or removed. For each additional half-life period, 50 percent of the remainder will be lost.Sustaining the Environment: Farm and Beyond the Farm Pesticides from agricultural and public health sources (eg. mosquito spraying programmes) will inevitably be leached into the environment. The following strategies can be used to reduce the entry of chemicals into the environment.The impact of pesticide entry can be reduced through careful examination of the pest life cycle and implementing an IPM approach, which places focus on knowing the pest's biological characteristics and monitoring the pest behaviour in order to advance a control strategy. The IPM approach uses one or more of the following methods; biological, cultural, mechanical and physical, and chemical control. IPM is used as a long-term approach for controlling, but not eradicating the pest. Chemical control methods are used last in the line of defence. labels for warnings regarding use near bodies of water such as streams, rivers, and lakes.Calculate the expected quantity of pesticide required before purchasing to avoid the need to store excess, or incur possible wastage. Empty pesticide bottles should be washed at least three times and the resulting water added to the application mixture. Do not burn pesticide packaging. Contact the relevant municipal authority or national waste management authority for information on the safe disposal of your pesticide packaging.Consider the soil texture, organic matter content, depth to ground water and slope of the site. Soil texture affects the movement of water and the movement of dissolved chemicals such as pesticides. The presence of organic matter will hold water and dissolved pesticides and within the root zone reducing the volume of runoff. The shallower the depth to groundwater, the less soil there will be available to act as a filter. The greater the slope's gradient, the greater the volume of runoff, leaving the pesticide application site. The retention of pesticides within the soil as opposed to runoff pesticides will enable degradation and adsorption processes to occur.Avoid applying pesticide (also fertilizers) when rainy conditions are forecasted, during rainfall, or when irrigation can influence runoff into surface water and leaching into ground water.7. Mixing: Carefully mix pesticides according to the rate specified on the label.8. Equipment: Maintain application equipment and calibrate accurately. 9. Buffer zone: Establish buffer zones to maintain a safe distance from wells and surface water (a minimum 15 m -30 m is recommended); do not apply pesticides in buffer zones.As a consequence of rapid population growth and industrialization, the amount of arable land available for farming is rapidly decreasing. Soils become depleted of nutrients from crop uptake, from harvesting which breaks the natural nutrient recycling, or through leaching and surface run-off. The use of fertilizers therefore has become more or less the accepted practice to ensure the realization of sustainable crop yield. It is also needed to replenish nutrient-depleted soil in order to maintain and enhance soil fertility to ensure food production.Sustaining the Environment: Farm and Beyond the Farm In addition to the need for the use of fertilizers in the agricultural sector, there is an inadvertent risk to the environment attributed to excessive fertilizer application. There has been a projected upward global trend in the use of fertilizers from seven percent per year (Pluncknett 1995), 3.8 percent annually between 1989/1990and 2010(Alexandratos 1998) and an expected nitrogen use to grow by 1.1 percent annually from 1990 to 2070 (Frink, Waggoner and Ausubel 1999). The improper use of fertilizers can have several deleterious impacts to the environment, including:1. Negative impacts on soil quality: The improper use of fertilizers can increase the soil acidity and impact the beneficial soil macro and microorganism.2. Negative impacts to water bodies: Excessive and improper use of fertilizers can cause eutrophication, or the process by which nutrients from sediments are carried by runoff water into surface waters providing nourishment for algae in the aquatic ecosystem (nitrates and phosphates). Where excessive plant growth in water bodies is attributed to human activities, it is known as cultural eutrophication, which is the primary environmental concern of surface water today (Yannawar and Bhosle 2013).The impact of fertilizer or manure application on the environment is dependent on the fertilizer source, the rate of application, the placement of the fertilizer and the timing of application. Bruulsema (2009) refers to this approach as the 4R nutrient stewardship concept, and underscores the importance of best practices, which require that a soil analysis is always done before implementing a fertilizer programme. Nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) are two critical fertilizer nutrients, which can adversely impact the quality of ground and surface water. In this regard, it is very important that these two nutrients are carefully managed in crop production activities.It will also be critical to know when to apply plant nutrients in order to optimize the benefits from the fertilizer application. The recommendation is that nitrogenous fertilizers be applied during the maximum growth phase of the plant, for them to be efficiently utilised. This will ensure that the fertilizer is efficiently used, and that less opportunity exists for residuals in the soil and loss from surface run-off or leaching. Split application of fertilizers will ensure minimum losses resulting from surface run-off and leaching, particularly in the case of nitrogen fertilizer management. Other methods, by which nitrogen fertilizers can be managed, include: the use of slow release fertilizers which can significantly reduce nitrogen losses, and the use of nitrification inhibitors which delay the microbiological transformation of ammonium to nitrates. Iron supplements can be used alone, or in combination with reduced nitrogen fertilizer to elicit a greening response, thereby reducing the amount of nitrogen leaching from crop production activities. Careful consideration must be given to the application of fertilizers on slopes as this must be kept to a minimum and always placed on the uphill side of the slope, shown as 'X' in Figure 7.2.The management of phosphorus loss from crop fields into waterways can be prevented by ensuring that it is applied at the recommended rate based on a soil test. The notion that high rates of phosphorus will not be injurious to plants, and as such can be applied in high rates to build up soil levels, is no longer an acceptable practice. Although phosphorus moves very little within the soil, soil erosion and run-off are processes that cause phosphorus pollution of water. The following approaches can be used to reduce phosphorus movement into runoff water: conservation tillage, terraces, contour farming, grasses way, vegetative filter strips, and cover crops. Strips of unfertilized grass or natural vegetation near water channels or water bodies can assist in reducing soil erosion, and behave as a trap for unwanted nutrients, thereby preventing any deleterious impacts to the environment. Grass barriers are narrow strips (approximately 1.2 m) of tall, erect, stiff-stemmed, native warm-season perennial grasses planted on the field contour (Kemper et al. 1992). Grass barriers and strips have proven to be economical means to:i. Reduce run-off and promote infiltration (Meyer, Dabney and Harmon 1995) ii. Enhance deposition of soil and organic matter ( Melville and Morgan 2001) iii. Promote degradation of sediment-bound chemicals (Groffman et al. 1991) | 219Sustaining the Environment: Farm and Beyond the FarmThe misconception also appears to exist, that organic fertilizers such as manures cannot be detrimental to the environment when in fact, manure application to crop lands contributes significantly to both nitrogen and phosphorus-loaded run-off into streams, rivers and lakes. Figure 7.3 shows algal growth attributed to nutrient rich run-off from animal waste. Additionally, there is a belief that increasing fertilizer use can increase yield. This occurs up to a point, beyond which, any further increase in fertilizer application will not be effective, resulting in economic losses and environmental harm.World population growth along with demographic factors such as age, structure and urbanization has influenced the demand for livestock food products tremendously. In addition to this, economic growth and a concomitant increase in individual incomes and by extension the standard of living, have also contributed to a shift in dietary choices and a subsequent increase in the demand for animal products. The livestock sector has responded to this increase in demand by improving production efficiencies via strategic changes in animal breeding and genetics, reproduction, nutrition, animal health care and housing. These controlled modifications have led to the intensive model of livestock production.Animal production systems may be broadly categorized as being either intensive or extensive, however it must be noted that some systems show features of both categories and are hence categorized as semi-intensive. Intensification, as it relates to animal production, may be defined as the rearing of many animals in a single location in close proximity to each other. The drastic increase in animal population densities associated with intensification usually result in attending problems associated with the animals' requirement for nutrition and feeding, health and environmental management. In the regional context, because of the relatively small size of states, competing interests for land use, praedial larceny, hilly topography and the need to control the environment for animal production exist, resulting in many of our livestock production systems moving towards the adoption of intensive systems for production. Examples of intensive systems used in the region are:i. Large tunnel ventilated houses for broiler production (with bird density of less than 0.09 m 2 per bird), which utilises the deep litter system of production.ii. Open side naturally ventilated houses for broiler production using the deep litter system.iii. Slatted floor and deep litter systems for small ruminant (sheep and goats) production.iv. Feedlot systems for cattle and water buffalo production.v. Intensive swine production facilities.The term industrial farm animal production (IFAP) has been used by Halden and Schwab (2010), to describe this type of intensive production on a very large scale in some developed countries. Specifically for the Caribbean, two key features of intensive systems are found, involving the use of relatively small land areas, resulting in high animal to land ratio and the use of housing structures and equipment designed to:• protect the animal from the environment and predators• ensure timely and controlled supply of feed nutrients and water• exclude disease causing organisms and prevent spread of diseases• facilitate the easy handling of animals• facilitate timely and efficient removal of wasteThe biggest environmental concern with respect to intensive systems, is the timely removal and safe disposal of animal waste. Conversely, within extensive animal production systems, animals are not kept in close proximity to each other and animal production densities are comparatively low. The term range operation is often used to describe the release of animals on large expanses of land where they have to seek their own food and water supplies. Within this type of system, land degradation from overgrazing constitutes a major environmental concern.In general, animal production operations impact the environment (water, soil and air) due to the large volume of animal waste produced. In situations where there is a lack of adequate regulations and monitoring policies to reduce the incidence of pollution, the environment is negatively impacted. The major effects are as follows:1. Nutrient pollution of ground and surface water resources from inappropriate management of animal waste (manure).2. Contamination and pollution of ground and surface water resources by the various chemicals used in animal husbandry.3. Contamination of ground and surface water resources with microorganisms.4. Overuse of fresh water resources leading to depletion.5. Degradation of land from overgrazing.6. Production and release of odorous gases and toxic substances.7. Release of particulates and bio-aerosols containing pathogens into the atmosphere.8. Consumption of non-renewable energy for feed production and transport.Sustaining the Environment: Farm and Beyond the FarmAnimal production produces much more waste than the amount produced by humans. Notwithstanding this, animal waste is less strictly regulated in terms of its management and disposal. In the past, with traditional extensive systems, manure did not present as much of an environmental problem as it now does, due to much lower animal populations, lower stocking densities and correspondingly, lower animal manure output. As a consequence, the natural cleansing systems found in many ecosystems were not overburdened.It is essential that the waste disposal from livestock production is carefully managed to prevent harmful impacts on human health, water quality, air quality and soil properties. Large volumes of both solid and liquid waste (Figure 7.4) are produced from animal feeding lots, the major fraction of which is manure, but the waste also contain many chemicals used in modern animal husbandry.Overgrazing is considered to be the major cause of soil degradation worldwide (Oldemann, Hakkeling and Sombroek 1991), accounting for 35.8 percent of all forms of degradation. Land degradation refers to those processes that render the land no longer useful for agricultural purposes due to deterioration in quality. Grazing livestock can alter and damage the ecosystem of the lands they graze. Overgrazing of an area can lead to insufficient time for grass regeneration, resulting in soil depletion, erosion and desertification. Overgrazing is a function of time and not necessarily a function of animal numbers on a specific area of grazing land. Farmers have moved to reduce overgrazing by rotating livestock in different pastures to allow plant growth to continue. However, this is not always carried out for long enough periods to enable the soil to fully recover. Animals should not be turned out to the pastures before the plants have fully recovered. In many of the Caribbean territories where the extensive/semi-extensive system of production is practiced, the limited acreage of available land for livestock production and the nature of the terrain of available lands often lead to overgrazing and soil erosion. This occurs as the animals are left in a single pasture for an extended period of time. In many situations, small ruminants such as sheep will graze so close to the ground that the soil is left exposed. To prevent the negative effects of overgrazing, the following should be integrated into livestock production systems. These include: land and soil management (e.g. pasture rotation and fertility management), animal management (e.g. managing animal distribution and their proximity to water supply), and strategic marketing to avoid overpopulation of herds/flocks and to reduce herd/flock size in times when forage availability is low e.g. in the dry season. Table 7.4 provides the commonly used stocking densities for livestock and poultry production in the region. Agriculture is the largest consumer of fresh water, accounting for 70 percent of total fresh water use (Steinfeld et al. 2006). It also accounts for in excess of 90 percent of total water depletion rates. Some areas where water is specifically used in animal production include:• Drinking purposes -A large lactating dairy cow that is producing 35 l of milk per day will consume in excess of 120 l of water in hot dry conditions.• Washing and cleaning -a tremendous volume of fresh water is used in animal agriculture on a daily basis for washing and cleaning feedlot facilities, washing animals, and the managing of animal waste in the form of slurry. A classic example are the large commercial swine units, which often use flushing systems and where water consumption is often several times the drinking water needs.• Cooling of animals, facilities and products e.g. misting and drip cooling for animals, milk cooling facilities, etc.• Product processing -such as animal slaughtering and processing of meat and milk processing amongst others. In addition to slaughtering, water use in these facilities includes that which is used for offal processing and rendering.• Evapo-transpiration losses associated with livestock evapo-transpiration is the main mechanism by which crop and grassland deplete water resources (Steinfeld et al. 2006).Most of livestock's contribution to evapotranspiration losses is due to the production of corn and soybean. In the Caribbean region, the contribution to water depletion by this means is minimal, since little grain for feeding animals is produced, and pasture irrigation is carried out on a limited scale during the dry season. However, it must be noted that the region imports large volumes of corn and soybean meal which constitute 100 percent of the ration fed to monogastric animals (poultry and pigs in particular), and approximately 40 percent of the ration fed to ruminants. Therefore the regional contribution to the depletion of water resources in this way is indirect.Not all the nutrients consumed by the animal are digested, a considerable fraction is undigested and passed out in the excreta. Manure contains solid and liquid animal waste, much of this is returned to the environment when livestock facilities are cleaned. The manure contains a large volume of nutrients such as N, P and potassium (K). In addition to nutrients, drug residues, heavy metals and pathogens are also carried in animal waste and constitute a pollution concern. Contamination of water sources from animal waste usually stem from runoff from facilities directly in drainage systems, disposal in the waterways or watersheds, and from percolation through the soil and into water sources.The two nutrients of major concern are N and P, with P tending to be more of a problem with surface water quality and Nitrogen more of a problem with ground water quality when nitrate leaches through soil layers (Steinfeld et al. 2006). High concentrations of nutrients in these water resources contribute as previously stated, to eutrophication. Animal farming therefore markedly increases the quantity of nutrients reaching the water. When these nutrients enter the water systems, algal growth is stimulated and the clarity of the water is reduced. Algal blooms and resulting microbial activity exhaust the dissolved oxygen in the aquatic ecosystem and impairs the proper functioning of the ecosystem. The process of decomposition of the algae also utilizes oxygen which reduces the bioavailability for fish and other aquatic life. The end results are diverse, and in addition to damaging the functioning of the ecosystem, include:• A shift in habitat characteristics• Replacement of desirable species of fish with less desirable ones Nitrogen in manure may occur both in organic and inorganic forms. Depending on the form, it may be stored and immobilised within the soil, leached to ground water, or can be volatilized. Loses from excreta can take four main forms:1. Ammonia (NH 3 ) -volatilization of inorganic N from housing, storage or pasture.2. Dinitrogen (N 2 ) -nitrates are transformed to N 2 (harmless form).3. Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) -a harmful by-product produced under conditions of organic carbon deficiency.4. Nitrate (NO 3 ) -lost to water resources in this form as it is very mobile in soil solution and can easily enter ground water. High nitrate in water resources present health issues such as poisoning in infants (methemoglobinemia), and abortion and stomach cancer in adults. Steinfeld et al. (2006) identified five levels at which strategies to improve waste management should be targeted. These are at the:Sustaining the Environment: Farm and Beyond the Farm 1. Production level -the focus here is to increase feed use efficiency by the animal and reduce the quantity of excreta and hence the quantity of nutrients voided into the environment. Digestibility and therefore bioavailability of feed nutrients are two key components. Nutrition and feeding strategies strive to meet the nutrient needs of the animals without overfeeding so that there are minimal nutrients in the excreta. Animals that are overfed usually have lower levels of digestibility.Increasing feed efficiency can be accomplished by using a number of approaches including :Utilisation of feed ingredients with easily digested and absorbed nutrients e.g. low phytate corn. P excretion will be reduced as it is contained in phytate in a form that is not available to the animal.Not overfeeding, as this leads to excess nutrients such as minerals (macro and micro) being voided in the faeces. In addition, if protein is overfed, more N will be present in the urine.Utilisation of feed additives e.g. enzymes, to aid in improving digestibility and hence bioavailability of nutrients. One classical example of the application of this technology exist where much of the P in feed ingredients used for monogastric animals (pigs and poultry) exists in the phytate form. These animals do not have the enzyme phytase which will make the phytate-P available. Adding phytase to the diets of both pigs and poultry has been shown to significantly reduce P voided in the faeces, and hence result in an increase in the bioavailability of P in these feed ingredients.Pelleting feed to increase digestibility.Breeding and selection of animals with better feed efficiency and growth rates.Improving general environmental conditions and reducing the animal's exposure to stressors.2. Collection level -manure is usually collected in a relatively solid form (as it is produced by the animal), or in a more liquid form where water is added to bring it to a slurry. Adding water to it increases its volume due to the dilution process (LPES, 2005). In this state, it facilitates pollution from runoff. In general it is best to minimize the amount of water coming into contact with the manure to reduce the amount of run-off.3. Storage level -the aim of storage should be to reduce components of the manure escaping into the soil and water ways. Most of the storage systems utilized in the Caribbean involve collecting the waste and stockpiling it in an area on the farm where it is exposed to the climatic elements. In some production systems such as the slatted floor for sheep and goat production, manure is allowed to accumulate under the raised floors for extended periods (sometimes up to six months). The challenge is to keep the accumulated manure dry. This is unachievable in most instances, and the end result is a malodour associated with the breakdown of the manure and release of associated gases into the atmosphere along with runoff into drains and eventually into larger waterways. In addition to this, it often presents a suitable habitat for rodent infestation and proliferation.4. Processing level -options available for processing manure with an aim to reduce pollution include aeration technology, anaerobic digestion to reduce chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand and produce methane gas, sedimentation of biosolids, flocculation, composting, drying of manure and lagooning systems favouring natural biological activity and reduced pollution.5. Utilisation level -when used as a fertilizer option for crop production, manure not only provides nutrients for plants but also improves soil characteristics such as soil structure, soil aeration, and water holding capacity, increases biological life in soils, improves cation exchange capacity, improves soil fertility and soil aggregate stability. Manure can also be used in the form of feed for fish and some other species to provide nutrients, although this may have some stigma attached to it. In many parts of the world manure is also used to produce energy in the form of methane gas that may be used in households on farms or in slaughter facilities.Manure may contain many pathogenic organisms and parasites which pose serious implications for human health. Many of these pathogens and parasites have a long residential time in the environment and lie dormant until conditions are favourable for their activation. Some of these pathogenic organisms associated with manure that has human health implications are: Campylobacter spp., Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Clostridium spp., viruses (e.g. picornavirus, parvovirus, adenovirus, Rinderpest virus), protozoa and internal parasites.Hormones are other biochemical compounds that are commonly used in production enterprises as ear implants or as feed additives to control growth and metabolism. Some are also used in reproduction to control the oestrous cycle by inducing or synchronizing oestrus. Some of these hormones may be natural e.g. estradiol and progesterone, while others are synthetic e.g. zeranol, melengestrol acetate and trenbolone acetate. No direct implications on human health have been scientifically proven when they are used at the correct application rates. The concern however relates to the potential effect as endocrine disrupters in humans and wild life. Some of these synthetic hormones can remain in the environment for a very long time e.g. trenbolone acetate in manure piles and therefore can find their way into fresh water resources.Trace minerals are those required in the animal diet at levels lower than 0.01 percent in the ration, these include iron, copper, zinc, molybdenum, cobalt, iodine, manganese and selenium. Some of these are considered heavy metals and their improper use can lead to accumulation in soil and waterways in many ecosystems. In addition copper and zinc are commonly used in footbaths and as a disinfecting agent, and are routinely disposed of in the environment.Livestock production contributes significantly to soil erosion, not only leading to soil and fertility loss, but also to sediment loading of streams, rivers, lakes and marine ecosystems alike. Livestock contribution to soil erosion and sedimentation is a consequence of animal feed production and the improper management of the cultivated lands, as well as the impact of livestock hooves on the land and the effects of overgrazing on pastures. Animal hooves cause significant compaction of the soil in areas where they are concentrated such as feeding, shading and resting, grazing and watering areas. The impact of the hoof is twofold, whereby in the wet season the compaction effect is more pronounced, and in the dry season the surface of the compacted areas is loosened and the soil is carried away easily by the first heavy rains. Soil compaction in general will serve to reduce infiltration rates and consequently increase surface runoff, which is a major contributor to soil erosion. Steinfeld et al. (2006) summarised the sum total of the effects as follows:i. Reduced water holding capacity of the soil in the areas grazed and occupied by livestock Climate change and the global increase in average temperatures are often attributed to an increase in the production and release into the atmosphere of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Activities related to livestock production emit considerable amounts of these gases (18 percent of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions), and therefore contribute to climate change. The following provides approaches essential to addressing the reduction of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ammonia emissions into the environment from livestock production:1. Carbon dioxide emissions -it is essential that the environmental focus be specific in addressing issues of land degradation and land use change, which can be achieved by: Establishment of improved pastures and rotational grazing management.Reducing deforestation while intensifying agricultural production, i.e. the creation of incentives for forest conservation and reduced deforestation. This option will have to be supported by intensification of agricultural production to meet food security needs. This will involve the use of improved varieties (in terms of acclimatization, yield and disease resistance), better water management and increased fertilizer use, as the resulting decrease in carbon emission due to more forest conservation will outweigh the increased emissions due to more fertilizer use many times over.Restoring soil organic carbon to cultivated soils via the utilisation of conservation tillage options, agricultural intensification and erosion reduction.Using agroforestry options in livestock production.These can be reduced by:Improving the nutrition of the animal, as methane emissions from the rumen increase with poorer quality diets. Options include improving digestibility or the digestive process. Increasing the starch content in the diet also provides an option for more readily fermentable carbohydrates which will reduce methane production.Improved genetics, whereby animals with better feed conversion efficiencies and growth rate are available so that animal productivity increases.More advanced options that need additional evaluation include the reduction of hydrogen production in the rumen by stimulating acetogenic bacteria, eliminating certain protozoan from the rumen (defaunation), and vaccination to reduce methanogens.3. Methane production from the manure as anaerobically managed manure will result in methane release Proper balancing of feed will result in lower methane emissions as lower carbon to nitrogen ratios in feed lead to methane emissions.The storage temperature of manure is important as at lower storage temperatures the methane production is highly reduced.The use of biogas digesters where there is controlled anaerobic digestion of the manure in an enclosed environment, and the methane produced can be captured and utilized in the production framework or disposed of safely.4. Nitrous emissions and ammonia volatilisation through improving the efficiency with which nitrogen is used Balanced feeding -giving the animal its daily protein/amino acid needs and not overfeeding protein.Improved feeding practices such as grouping physiologically similar animals.The use of an enclosed tank during storage to prevent volatilisation.With grazing animals, avoid overgrazing and grazing animals on pastures with young lush forages that may have highly soluble nitrogen.Sustaining the Environment: Farm and Beyond the FarmOne-third of all food produced in the world is lost or wasted from farm to fork, according to estimates produced by the FAO (2011). This wastage not only has an enormous negative impact on the global economy and food availability, but it also has major environmental impacts. Recent studies suggest that the world will need 70 to 100 percent more food by 2050 (Godfray et al. 2010). According to the FAO ( 2001), food security is defined as 'a situation that exists when all people at all times have physical or economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life'. Additionally, an inherent assumption of food security is that food is nutritious and safe. Food production in developing countries can be severely affected by market interventions in the developed world, such as subsidies or price supports (Godfray et al. 2010). Such is the case in the Caribbean region where preferential access to EU markets for exports such as banana and sugar has been lost. The effects of climate change, as well as the harsh competition in world markets underscore the openness and vulnerability of small, trade-dependent economies. The Caribbean is one of the most food insecure regions in the western hemisphere and has a high dependence on imported food. Food and nutrition security and safety are now important items on political agendas in the Caribbean region. The region must seek to find sustainable solutions to the challenges in the food and agriculture sector, as well as its vulnerability to global trends in food safety.Food safety is a priority issue in agriculture, particularly in developing countries due to its linkage with food security and agricultural trade. The issue of genetically modified (GM) foods is also closely linked to food safety. Food safety is defined as 'providing assurance that food will not cause harm to the consumer when it is prepared and/or eaten according to its intended use (FAO 2001), while the WHO ( 2004) refers to it in terms of food-borne illness, and defines it as diseases, usually either infectious or toxic in nature, caused by agents that enter the body through the ingestion of food'. Food safety refers to the conditions and practices that ensure foods are protected from unintentional contamination, thus rendering them safe to eat. It is a function of the nature of technology used to produce and process food. As such, it can be manipulated through genetic improvement, agronomic practices and post-production storage and processing (FAO 2001).Food consumption all over the world is a mixture of imported agricultural products and domestic products making it difficult to find the contamination source in the case of a food scare. The globalization of the food production and the intensification of food trade enhance the risks associated with food safety (Polimeni, Iorgulescu and Bălan 2013). Food safety involves the implementation of several practices and strategies, aimed at avoiding the contamination of food, and the growth and proliferation of organisms, along the continuum of production to consumption or 'from farm to fork' (Figure 7.6). Contamination can occur at several points along this food value chain such as on the farm or in the field, at the slaughter house, during processing, during transportation, in traded products, and in the home.Management of food safety at the primary stage of production (i.e. the farm), is accomplished mainly through prevention of contamination as illustrated in Table 7.5. Onfarm food safety practices help producers reduce the potential for hazard contamination of crops, livestock, personnel (farm workers and other employees) and facilities. Such contamination could lead to risks for crop or livestock produce, product spoilage (reduction in quality and subsequently quantity) and human injury or illness (choking, infections, diseases, illnesses and death). Once a hazard of any kind has been identified, it is important to assess the risk of injury or harm.Failure to reduce food safety risks leads to an increasing strain on farm, and by extension, national economies, due to loss of productive work time, increasing cost of health care, costly surveillance programmes, loss of life, impact of vulnerable segments of the population (including children, aged persons and low income groups), impact on trade, and reduced food security.   • Ensure soil is not acidic.• Ensure organic matter content is acceptable to stabilize heavy metals.• Avoidance of phosphate based fertilizers as they contain high contents of cadmium.• Establish records that indicated the date sampled, site sampled, tree sampled, water source sampled. All records must be signed by the relevant person at each stage throughout the sampling and testing procedures. All testing should be done at a certified laboratory. Analysis of soil pH, organic matter, heavy metal levels Analysis of water to determine that levels of heavy metals are within the acceptable range.• Ensure soil pH is not acidic.• Ensure organic matter content is acceptable to stabilize heavy metals.• Avoidance of phosphate based fertilizers as they contain high contents of cadmium.• Establish records to include date sampled, site sampled, tree sampled, water source sampled. All records must be signed by relevant persons at each stage throughout the sampling and testing procedures. All testing should be done at a certified laboratory. Contaminants, such as mycotoxins, veterinary drugs or dyes can be introduced into foods either as a result of their occurrence in the environment, natural infection by fungi, or other human activities. Other chemicals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, chloroform, benzene and polychlorinatedbiphenyls (PCBs) can get into the water supplies that are used to process foods. IPM, required by both domestic and export markets can bring about a reduction in chemical use and help in the protection of the environment. It involves the application of pesticides and herbicides only when necessary, preferring environment-friendly chemicals, and promoting the use of biological control and can be used in a variety of crops such as avocado, mango, pepper, tomato and citrus.Poor sanitation during each stage of the transport process greatly increases microbial contamination of fresh produce consumption of which, can result in food-borne illness. Most of the reported outbreaks have been associated with bacterial contamination, particularly members of the Enterobacteriaceae, followed by viruses, and then parasites. The most commonly recognized foodborne infections are caused by Campylobacter, Salmonella and Escherichia coli O157:H7. The viruses involved in outbreaks have a human reservoir (e.g. Norwalk-like and Hepatitis A), and can be associated with products grown in contact with the soil and/or water. Outbreaks linked to protozoa (e.g. Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora, Giardia) have been associated more with fruits than vegetables. Protozoa and viruses are most often associated with contaminated water or food handlers (European Commission 2002).Since no farmer or food manufacturer can guarantee neither food safety on their own, nor safety throughout the food value chain, certification standards such as Global GAP, HACCP and ISO 22000 play key roles in ensuring food safety. Global GAP focuses on the farming side of the value chain while the ISO 22000 and HACCP can be applied to every stage of the food value chain. Capacity building in the form of post-harvest extension and training programmes which include traceability and record keeping procedures are also components of these standards. Independent third parties or certification bodies can conduct audits of farms, organizations and suppliers along the entire value chain, and issue a certificate to confirm a successful audit. However, the acceptance of food safety standards and certification may vary from market to market.National food control systems are essential to protect the health and safety of domestic consumers, as without these, consumers can be susceptible to food borne illness outbreaks. They are also critical in enabling countries to assure the safety and quality of their foods entering international trade, and to ensure that imported foods conform to national requirements. The new global environment for food trade places considerable obligations on both importing and exporting countries to strengthen their food control systems and to implement and enforce risk-based food control strategies. In many countries, including the Caribbean islands, effective food control is undermined by the existence of fragmented legislation, multiple jurisdictions, and weaknesses in surveillance, monitoring and enforcement. Information exchange, technology transfer and capacity building are also critical strategies for food security in the Caribbean islands. In the absence of public standards (many of which have been adopted from the Codex Alimentarius Commission), farmers should be encouraged to apply voluntary standards such as Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) while manufacturers and food processors should adhere to current Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs). Farmers and food processors targeting export markets however, must ensure compliance with the laws of the exporting country and may be forced to adopt private standards to gain entry into the foreign markets. Governments, on the other hand must demonstrate the political will, through the provision of regulatory, financial, technical and infrastructural support mechanisms to assist farmers and food producers.In the case of Trinidad and Tobago, the annual food import bill in 2013 was estimated at TT$4 billion (approx.US$620.2 million). Imports of food and beverages into Trinidad and Tobago fall under the Food and Drugs Act of 1960. Additional laws for fish and fish products were incorporated into the Food and Drugs Act, while amendments were made for alcoholic beverages and other products. The Chemistry, Food and Drugs Division (CFDD) falls within the purview of the Ministry of Health, which also enforces some components of the Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Act. Most of the food safety laws are outdated and while revisions have been made, many are still in the drafting stage, and have not been proclaimed into law. The Ministry of Food Production administers the laws regulating Plant and Animal controls. Table 7.6 illustrates the legislation under which food safety is monitored and enforced in Trinidad and Tobago.The regulatory climate is changing very rapidly, and regional countries need to ensure regulations are updated and enforced related to both the importation and exportation ofSustaining the Environment: Farm and Beyond the Farm food. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) passed by congress in the USA on 4 January 2011, represented a significant event for the US Food and Drug Association (FDA). The FSMA allows the FDA to enforce more stringent compliance regulations and equips manufacturing and distribution companies with better response strategies to problems as they occur. Furthermore, the act extends to creating a uniform standard for imported foods to match those of domestically produced foods within the US. With limited exceptions, the rule would require domestic and foreign facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold human food to have written plans that identify hazards, specify the steps that will be put in place to minimize or prevent such hazards. In addition, manufacturers will be able to identify monitoring procedures, record monitoring results, and specify what actions should be taken to correct problems that arise. The FDA evaluates the plans developed, and continues to inspect the facilities to make sure the plans are being properly implemented. • Understanding the sanitary and phyto-sanitary requirements for the export markets and the application of non-chemical pest control practices are necessary to maintain food safety requirements.• There are no legal requirements for maximum residue levels (MRLs) of chemicals, traceability nor farm certification systems.• Limited efforts at capacity building in GAPs and farm registration are currently undertaken by the National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation (NAMDEVCO) in Trinidad.• Laboratory upgrade of infrastructure is required. • Update legislation on importation of animals and animal products.• Licensing and regulation of veterinarians is needed.• Training in the diagnosis of diseases related to animals, bees, etc.• Licensing requirements for the operation of bee hives, poultry depots, and livestock units.• Laboratory upgrade of infrastructure is necessary.Current gaps in existing legislation related to food safety • This will be superseded by the Fisheries Management Bill, 2011and provides a more controlled access to the fisheries resources of Trinidad and Tobago.• There is need to address the importation of live and processed fish and certification systems such as GMPs and HACCP.• Laboratory upgrade of infrastructure is required. • Public health inspectors do not have authority to close noncompliant plants nor retail markets.• No legislation with respect to levels of chemicals and mixtures of chemicals that farmers can use on crops.• No residue (MRLs) testing, nor penalties for use of banned chemicals.• No legislation for organic farming.Food traceability according to Alli (2012), can be defined as the identification of the origin, past or current location, condition and application of an item's known history throughout the supply chain, or the tracking of a food item forwards or backwards throughout the food supply chain from farm to table. Tracking (forward) is following the path of a traceable item through supply chain as it moves between parties. Tracing (back) is identifying the origin, attributes, or history of a traceable item located within the supply chain in order to improve food safety and reduce the potential of food recalls. Traceability systems from farm to fork should be implemented and some of the key steps in implementing such a system include: identifying key items that are traceable, determining for each item what details are required, developing a record keeping system, and developing an internal traceability programme. The benefits of such a system include:• compliance with best practices worldwide• risk reduction of unsafe foods to the consumer• consumer confidence (assurance that foods are safe and wholesome)• reduced costs, improved marketability and more competitive businesses both in local and foreign marketsSustaining the Environment: Farm and Beyond the Farm• decrease in food borne illnesses• faster recall of foods from the supply chain (production, processing, distribution, transport, retail and consumer).To remain competitive in today's global business environment a thorough understanding of all parts of the agri-food value chain is important (Devanney, 2006). However as value chains become sophisticated and vital to the competitiveness of many industries, this interlinked, global nature also makes them increasingly vulnerable to a range of risks. To ensure long-term food security under constantly changing agro-ecological and environmental conditions, considerations should be given to the implementation of sustainable agricultural practices such as:• plant genetic resources which are resilient to climate change and pests and diseases through genetic manipulation, for example, the insertion of a gene for herbicide resistance or another for resistance to pest-insect toxin.• identifying and developing alternatives to chemical methods for the control of postharvest pathogens and pests such as the reinforcement of host resistance, biological control and applications of physical treatments.• reducing risks associated with potential microbiological outbreaks of human pathogens that may reside on produce utilising novel methods to sanitise produce.• exporting sensitive produce by sea under controlled conditions in order to reduce environmental problems and costs associated with air transportation must be considered.• recycling of bio-waste for energy, feed and fertilizer can reduce the environmental impact.In the area of biotechnology, the next decade will see the development of combinations of desirable traits and the introduction of new traits such as drought tolerance for climate change mitigation effects. The production of cloned animals with engineered, innate immunity to diseases that reduce production efficiency will have the potential to reduce substantial losses arising from mortality and subclinical infections. Biotechnology could also be used to produce plants for animal feed with modified composition that increase the efficiency of meat production and lower methane emissions. While the use of biotechnology can lead to improved food safety through reducing pesticide use and improving postharvest quality of crops, the issue of trust and public acceptance of the technology has been highlighted in debates over the acceptance of genetic modification (GM) technologies. This technology may also pose health risks due to the possible transfer of toxins and allergens between species as GM involves germline modification of an organism and its introduction to the environment and food chain. Thus, a number of particular environmental and food safety issues will need to be assessed (for example FAO 2001;Godfray et al. 2010).Many effective options are available for reducing the polluting and degrading effect and food safety risks associated with agricultural production practices. An increase in education and awareness among food products is only one small aspect in the fight to mitigate agricultural pollution and food safety concerns. It is essential that environmental policies and relevant legislation be put in place to combat these existing problems. The policies and legislation must be in sync with the scientific and technical options, some of which are provided in this chapter for consideration. It is to be noted that many of the available options are associated with some direct costs, however these immediate cost should be viewed as an investment that will yield long-term benefits.Fresh fruits and vegetables undergo continuous changes throughout the supply chain, from the point of harvest until consumption. As such, the postharvest handling logistics of these commodities are different from those of other food products. Because of their living and perishable nature, fresh commodities are subject to biochemical and physiological changes resulting in deterioration over time as the commodity moves along the postharvest handling system (Figure 8.1).The quality of freshly harvested fruits and vegetables is determined by biological variations, environmental conditions, handling methods and sanitation practices. These parameters are further influenced by logistic activities such as the type of packaging, loading and unloading activities, availability of temperature controlled transport vehicles, storage facilities and the types of postharvest treatments that are implemented (Mazini and Accorsi 2013). While these postharvest activities cannot stop the rate of quality deterioration, they can impact the speed of quality loss by either slowing down the process via low, safe non-chilling temperature and high relative humidity, or speed it up by abusive handling whereby physical damages are incurred. Accordingly, the perception of product quality in the supply chain cannot be solely restricted to the properties of the commodity but also to the supply chain agents, processes and activities along the supply chain. Time and coordination are required to efficiently move perishable fruits and vegetables along the postharvest handling system, every delay can have negative quality consequences. In many countries, a high percentage of produce losses occur before fresh commodities reach the targeted consumers. Fonseca and Vergara (2014) estimated that postharvest losses can range from 37 percent for roots and tubers to 50 percent for fruit and vegetables. Such high losses compromise the income to producers and handlers, and eventually increase costs to consumers, thereby impacting household food security. Pullman and Zhaohui (2012) emphasised that in order to combat losses of horticultural commodities and their subsequent impact on the well-being of societies, efficient logistics systems need to be established to deliver the right product at the appropriate time. Logistics, according to Fonseca and Vergara (2014), are fundamental for horticultural products as their high perishability requires complex planning, including short-term decisions on transportation modes, handling, packaging and storage arrangements. To ensure fresh commodities do not become damaged or compromised throughout the postharvest handling system there must be a greater reliance on maintaining the cold chain. This involves the movement of temperature sensitive commodities along a supply chain through thermal and refrigerated packaging methods, and the logistical planning to protect the integrity of these perishable commodities. The cold chain therefore can be considered:• A science, because it requires an understanding of the chemical and biological processes linked with perishability.• A technology, since it relies on physical means to ensure appropriate temperature conditions along the supply chain.• A process, because of the series of tasks must be performed to prepare, store, transport and monitor commodities that are sensitive to chilling injury and heat injury.Appropriate Logistics to Reduce Losses in the Postharvest Handling System: Case of MangoIn Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), trade globalization has become a challenge for logistic operations in the fresh produce industry (Fonseca and Vergara 2014). Currently all LAC countries engage in importing some portion of the fresh produce they consume. While the USA is the dominant trading market for export commodities from LAC, it is also the largest hub for the re-shipping of consignments from and to other regions. For example, pineapples shipped from LAC to the Caribbean normally enter a seaport in USA, which means that LAC produce is in transit for long distances before getting to its final destination (Duran Lima and Lo Turco 2010). Unless logistics operations are optimized, long travelling distances increase the risk of low shelf life in imported produce when it arrives at the destination market (Fonseca and Vergara 2014). In LAC, the transformation of retail marketing of fresh produce has impacted on logistics as well. Development of supermarkets with distribution centres or market chains continue to grow, accounting for more share of the retail market for fresh produce in the region. Supermarkets and associated chain stores have adopted strict quality parameters which have ultimately created the need for improved logistics necessary to reduce losses during transit. At the same time, these high stringent quality standards have also influenced a higher risk of losses from rejections due to unacceptable quality (Lundqvist, De Fraiture and Molden 2008).The following is a list of limitations in logistic operations in LAC for which key interventions are required in order to address the problems associated with high postharvest losses: a. Inadequate infrastructure for proper coordination of postharvest activities, this is primarily due to underdeveloped secondary and tertiary roads often punctuated with potholes, slippery surfaces (especially in the wet season), and unpaved surfaces which lead to extensive physical damage such as abrasions, compressions, punctures, which create avenues for secondary infections. Adequate facilities to pre-cool, sort, grade, apply post-harvest treatments, along with storage and packaging, have also been found to be wanting. Levels of physical and pathological defects of mango fruits when subjected to grading requirement and tolerance are classified in Table 8.1.b. Limited information and communication technologies and their application -these also represent a major constraint to the growth and competiveness of the fresh produce industry throughout the region, particularly in rural areas. Mangoes must be of superior quality.They must be characteristic of the variety. They must be free of defects, with the exception of very slight superficial defects, provided these do not affect the general appearances of the fruit.5 percent by number of weight of mangoes not satisfying the requirements for the grade, but meeting those of Class I or exceptional, coming within the tolerances of that grade.Class IMangoes must be of good quality and characteristic of the variety. Mangoes may have the following slight defects, provided these do not affect the general appearance of the produce, the quality, the keeping quality and presentation in the package:-slight defects in shape; or -slight skin defects due to rubbing or sunburn, suberized stains due to resin exudation (elongated trails included) and healed bruises not exceeding 2,3,4,5 sq.cm. for size groups A, B, C, and D respectively 10 percent by number or weight of mangoes not satisfying the requirements for the grade, but meeting those of Class II grade or, exceptional, coming within the tolerances of that grade.The grade includes mangoes which do not qualify for inclusion in the higher grades, but satisfy the minimum requirements. Mangoes may have the following defects, provided they retain their essential characteristics as regards the quality, keeping quality and presentation: -defects in shape; or -slight skin defects due to rubbing or sunburn, suberized stains due to resin exudation (elongated trails included) and healed bruises not exceeding 4,5,6,7 sq. cm for size groups A, B, C, D respectively.10 percent by number or weight of mangoes not satisfying the requirements of the grade, but meeting the minimum requirements.| 247Appropriate Logistics to Reduce Losses in the Postharvest Handling System: Case of Mango c. Inadequate cold chain facilities -fresh produce demands proper temperature and relative humidity management in the entire logistic process. The development of telecommunication, information technology and information systems, especially the rise of wireless sensing technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and wireless sensors, provide a feasible way to improve the safety and quality of cold chain facilities. Integrating RFID systems with conditionsmonitoring systems will also enhance existing track and trace applications, not only in terms of the location and movement history, but more importantly, as it relates to the condition of perishable commodities. Moreover, the availability of commodity-trace history data in combination with historical monitoring data can facilitate numerous decision-making processes.d. Lack of trained human capital -particularly to determine rejections arising from inappropriate harvesting and handling protocols due to overexposure of chilling sensitive commodities to extremely low temperatures, as well as the use of unsanitized water to wash and hydro-cool fruits and vegetables. Such problems can arise where there are untrained personnel working at different points in the postharvest handling system. Logistic service providers often lack sufficient knowledge in the postharvest handling of horticultural commodities. Further, many produce managers employed at supermarkets lack training in logistics concepts and procedures, which may in turn limit their ability to design appropriate solutions to store and transport commodities in an efficient manner (Rodriguez and Respetto 2013).A logistical system is composed of a number of elements which have to be managed properly in order to deliver final products in the right quantities at the right time and quality at the right place, and at a reasonable cost. This puts challenging requirements on the agro-food chain (Van der Vorst, Silva and Trienekens 2007) and there is need to make the specific logistics decision in order to meet customer expectations. For example, whilst temperature and relative humidity are critical factors affecting fruit quality (Kader, 2002), logistics decisions heavily determine these conditions by defining storage time and time of transporting perishable commodities (Luning and Marcelis 2007).All logistics activities are dependent on time-dependent product information obtained through quality control activities. Time-dependent quality information of product properties could assist in ensuring that products reach intended consumers before the development of defects. Thus, a higher level of integration of quality control and logistics control is required to predict incidences of fruit defects as well as to encourage exchange of quality information in the chain and the level of flexibility of the delivery systems to match specific consumer requirements. In underscoring the importance of quality control and logistics in the postharvest handling of fruit and vegetables, a detailed examination of these systems in mango will now follow.Varietal differences, growing regions, climatic conditions and agronomic practices influence the expression of fruit maturity in all commodities including mango, with the stage maturity at the time of harvest also being crucial to the eating quality of the ripe fruit (Figure 8.2 and 8.3). Therefore, selection of the appropriate mature fruit at harvest is based on several parameters such as fruit shape, peel colour, peel texture, flesh firmness, flesh colour development, soluble solids content and latex content. As such, it is important that mango producers validate those parameters that are most effective and dependable for their own conditions (Brecht 2010).Knowledge of the maturity indices of the particular cultivar will enable harvesters to determine the best time to harvest fruits. Logistical arrangements to speed up the harvesting process will depend on availability of harvest aids such as ladders, clippers, nets, and harvest baskets. While harvesting mangoes at the optimum stage of physiological maturity facilitates synchronised ripening, the use of the correct harvesting aids ensures minimal physical damage and lower postharvest losses.Protection of harvested fruits from exposure to direct sunlight while awaiting transport to packinghouses, which can vary from half an hour to six hours, is critical in order to maintain fruit quality. Direct exposure to sunlight for prolonged periods of more than six hours results in higher flesh temperatures, thereby increasing the rate of respiration, transpiration and ethylene production, all of which have the potential to shorten the shelf life.Latex exudation from mango stems at the time of harvest (Figure 8.4 ) can cause severe skin injury and staining, along with blister formation when fruits are subsequently ripened, resulting in unacceptable cosmetic appeal (Figure 8.4). Latex stains are aggravated when mangoes are exposed to heat and timely logistical procedures must be implemented to avoid this damage to fruits. To avoid latex damage of mango fruits in Brazil for example (Brecht 2010), mango producers train their harvesting crew to harvest mangoes with stemsAppropriate Logistics to Reduce Losses in the Postharvest Handling System: Case of Mango over 5 cm in length and immediately transport them to packinghouses where the stems are trimmed after 12-24 hours. This procedure ensures that latex drip would no longer occur even if the stem is clipped shorter. Other suggested methods include: de-sapping in a one percent solution of calcium hydroxide; washing fruit in one percent potassium sulphate; applying a surface coating to fruit prior to de-sapping; trimming and de-sapping at the packinghouse, followed by inversion on a stationary rack or a roller-conveyor; running below water or water and detergent sprays for 20 minutes (Yahia 2011).It is best to transport mangoes using trucks or pick-up vans that allow air circulation as the vehicle moves from the field to the packing house. To minimise physical damages (Figure 8.5), harvested fruits should be carefully placed in light coloured plastic crates that are stackable and well ventilated. Vehicle loads must be protected from sunlight by covering the top layers of mangoes with a light coloured tarpaulin. This will reduce respiration and water loss resulting in longer shelf-life. In some Caribbean islands the national marketing boards provide refrigerated transport from the field to packing houses for a small fee. Refrigerated transport would initiate pre-cooling and further reduce respiration and water loss once accompanied by a relative humidity of 90-95 percent.Alternatively, logistical arrangements to facilitate early morning, late evening or night time harvesting, loading and unloading operations and transport from field to packing house would also favour lower fruit temperatures that can better preserve the quality and shelf life of mango fruits. Equally important, is the need to have timely, well-coordinated schedules to allow for controlled quantities of mangoes to be delivered to the reception area at the packinghouse. If mango loads exceed the capacity of the reception lines then it will take a longer period for fruits to be unloaded on the reception lines. When mangoes, which have a climacteric pattern of respiration are exposed to high ambient temperatures are subjected to delays prior to unloading on packing lines, they would incur losses in quality due to accelerated respiration, ethylene production and transpiration rates. A smooth, timely flow of mango fruits from the field and rapid unloading onto reception lines requires logistical procedures to be programmed, monitored, controlled and expedited in an efficient manner.Optimizing the use of space in the packing house as well as the efficiency of resources on the mango reception line is critical for quality maintenance. A large unloading area would cater for more transport vehicles with fruits to be unloaded in a shorter time period. Packinghouses with large, open unloading areas have less traffic congestion and also provide protection of mango fruits against sunlight, and inadequate ventilation. They also make representative sampling and inspections for quarantine and quality control purposes more effective. Minimizing delays wherever possible is essential, as mango fruits are known to undergo rapid compositional changes in the hours following harvest (Brecht 2010).Major changes in total soluble solids (TSS) content, flesh firmness, skin and flesh colour can be manifested in mangoes as little as 24 hours after harvest. According to Brecht (2010), a 24-hour wait period prior to heat treatment of mango resulted in a reduction of heat injury symptoms. Furthermore, a time delay prior to heat treatment can be beneficial for low maturity mangoes. Average maturity, based on internal flesh colour, can be changed by one full stage in 24 hours under typical ambient temperatures, and TSS can increase by two to three percent, while flesh firmness decreases by two to five pounds force (lb/f ) according to Brecht (2010).Regular monitoring and application of sanitation protocols of packinghouse equipment and facilities must be implemented. Containers, packing line equipment (sorters, graders, dryers), refrigeration units, transport vehicles, forklifts and floors must be sanitised using a chlorine solution of 200 ppm between 25 and 43°C, and adjusted to a pH 7 with citric or acetic acid. Pets, rodents, birds and insects must be excluded from all areas.Temporary storage of mangoes in the shade prior to unloading on packing lines should be implemented. Fruits exposed to the sun in excess of 1 hour can be 14°C higher than fruits held in the shade, thereby resulting in heat injury. Likewise, flesh temperatures above 30°C for extended periods after harvest will result in poor ripening and flavour.Hot water treatment (HWT) is recommended for mango fruits as an effective postharvest treatment to minimise fruit fly damage and the fungal disease Anthracnose. There are specific requirements for successful hot water treatment of mangoes. Fruits are immersed in hot water at 46°C, with the time interval varying according to fruit shape and fruit weight. For example, mangoes with a round shape (e.g., Tommy Atkins, Haden, Keitt and Kent), weighing less than 500g will require 75 minutes, fruits between 501 and 700g need 90 minutes, while fruits between 701 and 900g will need 110 minutes. Mangoes with a flat shape such as Manila and Frances and weighing less than 375g require 65 minutes, and those weighing 376-570g need 75 minutes (USDA 2010). Accordingly, logistical protocols must be instituted to ensure that mangoes are graded by weight and size prior to hot water treatment in order to control fruit fly and at the same time to reduce fruit injury.Appropriate Logistics to Reduce Losses in the Postharvest Handling System: Case of Mango Furthermore, packing house managers should advise packing line operators on certain strategies that could improve the hot water treatment and overall fruit quality. Brecht (2010) has identified these as:1. allowing only mature fruits to be given the treatment since immature mangoes are more susceptible to damage by hot water;2. eliminating latex contact with fruit surfaces during harvest since latex damage is accelerated by hot water;3. using potable water only, or sanitized water the first time the water is heated; and 4. improving temperature control in hot water tanks to allow treatment at the lowest allowable temperature since even 0.5°C above the required temperature could make a difference in fruit tolerance.Hydro-cooling mangoes after hot water treatment decreases flesh temperature more rapidly than holding in air, thereby reducing hot water injury. This pre-cooling treatment requires specific time-temperature procedures. For example, mangoes should be hydrocooled immediately after heat treatment, by adding an additional 10 minutes to the hot water protocol. The hydro-cooled water temperature must be maintained at 21-22°C, and the duration of hydro-cooling should allow fruit flesh temperature to be between 27 and 29°C. Sanitizer levels in the hydro-cooled water should be maintained, such that effective free chlorine is 50-100ppm (Brecht 2010). Hydro-cooled mangoes must be immediately packed to minimize re-warming of fruits.Sorting and grading must be done to remove fruits with physical injuries, incipient decay, misshapen fruits, and fruits with physiological disorders, such as heat injury or internal breakdown, lenticel damage and surface scald. Grading mangoes provides the following advantages. It:• provides common basis for assessment by all, and is therefore beneficial to the producers, traders as well as to the consumers;• enables producers to get a better price for their mangoes;• assists producers and other intermediaries in preparing fresh mangoes for market with appropriate labelling;• helps consumers to get standard, quality mangoes at fair prices;• allows consumers to compare the prices of different qualities of mango in the market;• assures quality of the mangoes and also reduces cost of marketing and transportation;• enables mangoes of similar grade can be stored in bulk;• facilitates a better understanding of market values;• enables e-trading so that mangoes can be bought and sold without inspection;• provides an authentic and scientific basis for promoting and managing marketing systems;• serves as a realistic and common basis for market intelligence and reporting.Waxing Brecht (2010) recommended waxing of mangoes due to the resultant improvement of appearance, glossiness, and reduced water loss, but cautioned about the need for uniform wax distribution and wax formulation strength. For example, application of full-strength carnauba-based wax can induce lenticel damage on immature mangoes as well as peel damage, which could develop after a period of refrigerated storage and transport. The use of water-soluble coatings ought to be avoided since this can be dissolved during subsequent handling when condensation occurs, if and when cold fruits are subjected to warmer temperatures.Mangoes should be packed in single layered, one or two-piece full telescopic, self-locking fibreboard cartons with bursting strength requirements of 250-275lb/in 2 ). Ventilation and handle holes are recommended to provide adequate ventilation and for ease of handling. A layer of shredded paper at the base of the carton is desirable to assist in cushioning the fruits. Each alternate mango in a carton should be wrapped in tissue to reduce fruit to fruit rubbing. Small identity labels attached to alternate fruit will enhance product presentation. Palletisation is essential to minimise fruit damage due to multiple handling, and can also aid in the movement of fruit within the packinghouse, or during temporary storage (Medlicott 1990).Attention to strict logistical procedures is necessary to optimize the ripening of mangoes. Although fruit ripening varies according to the variety and origin, a temperature of 20-22°C and 90-95 percent relative humidity is recommended. It must be noted however, that ripening at 15.5-18°C may result in the most attractive skin colour, but the flavour will remain tart and the mangoes will require a further two to three days at 21-24°C to attain a sweet flavour. Ripening at 27-30°C may result in mottled skin and strong flavour, and is retarded above 30°C. Initiation and synchronisation of ripening and a shortening of theAppropriate Logistics to Reduce Losses in the Postharvest Handling System: Case of Mango ripening time of mangoes can be achieved with exposure to ethylene gas. Treatment with ethylene gas is carried out in an air-tight room for 24 hours at 20-25°C and 90-95 percent relative humidity. The concentration of gas required during exposure is 10-100ppm. Airtight rooms should have adequate air circulation to enable uniform distribution of ethylene throughout the room.Prolonged storage of more than three to five days should not be used for fruits to be airfreighted. At storage temperatures below 12°C, unripe mangoes will develop chilling injury, which will cause a drastic reduction in fruit quality and increase spoilage. Symptoms of chilling injury include inhibition of ripening, pitting, internal discolouration, grey, scaldlike discolouration of the skin, increased water loss, increased susceptibility to decay and undesirable changes to flavour. Chilling injury can be reversed if the time of holding at low temperature is prolonged. Variations exist in the degree of sensitivity of the different cultivars to chilling injury.While most cultivars show injury below 10°C, if fruit have just reached maturity, tolerance to chilling injury increases as fruit ripen (Mohammed and Brecht, 2002). Other measures include maintenance in modified /controlled atmospheres, and conditioning at high temperatures (35-38°C) for a few hours before storage at low temperature. Chilling injury symptoms for example in cv. Keitt mangoes kept at 38°C for zero, 24 or 48 hours before storage at 5°C for 11 days decreased with increased duration at 38°C, while non-heated fruit developed severe chilling injury symptoms (McCollum, D'Aquino and McDonald 1993). Storage at 12°C and 90-95 percent relative humidity will maintain mangoes in an acceptable condition, and they will ripen in a satisfactory manner on transfer to warmer temperatures. This however will depend on variety, harvest maturity and the time of harvest in the season. Strict levels of quality control in fruit stored at low temperature is essential, as blemishes, bruises, and infections will manifest themselves to a greater degree as against when the fruit is exported by air, and marketed rapidly (Medlicott 1986). Flesh firmness is a good indicator of the stage of ripeness and can be used for managing mango ripening as shown in Table 8.2. Mango is the only known host for the mango weevil (Cryptorhynchus mangiferae) which is found throughout most mango-growing regions and therefore it is a pest of quarantine significance. The weevil is primarily a pest of the seed, with one seed supporting up to five larvae, although occasionally it may be found in the flesh of the fruit. Eggs are laid on the outside of the developing fruit and the larvae penetrate the young seed, where the weevil completes its development (Yahia 2011). Mango oviposition occurs when the fruit is marble size, and may occur in less than eight days or up to 90 days (Shukla and Tandom 1985). As the fruit matures and the seed covering becomes hard, the first instars will not be able to penetrate the endocarp. Fruits, which fall to the ground, can become sufficiently damaged to allow the weevils to move out of the seed and seek hiding places where they can survive (Yahia 2011).Mango seed weevil is an important limiting factor for the international trade of mango and prevents the export of fresh fruit to areas not infested with this pest (Figure 8.6). The flesh of ripe fruit is damaged when adults emerge from the seeds, and the weevil-damaged seeds may limit plant propagation in nurseries and orchards (Yahia 2011).Many of the losses that occur during transportation of mango fruits are due to inappropriate packaging and box arrangement inside transport vehicles. Common types of mechanical damage during transportation or distribution are impact damage through dropping, compression damage due to high stacking, punctures from container protrusions, and vibration damage (Figure 8.7). Vibration damage of mango fruits results in abrasion marks and cuts ranging from light scars to skin removal and possibly some flesh. Compression injury of mango fruits is associated with bruises, cracks, splits and deformation. Proper packaging and configuration of mango fruits help to immobilize the fruits within the container and reduce abrasion injury due to fruit-to-fruit contact during transportation. It is also important to stack fruits during transportation and distribution to enable proper air circulation to facilitate the removal of heat from the fruits as well as to dissipate incoming heat from the atmosphere.Many of the losses that occur during transportation of mango fruits are due to inappropriate packaging and box arrangement inside transport vehicles. Common types of mechanical damage during transportation or distribution are impact damage through dropping, compression damage due to high stacking, punctures from container protrusions, and vibration damage (Figure 8.7). Vibration damage of mango fruits results in abrasion marks and cuts ranging from light scars to skin removal and possibly some flesh. Compression injury of mango fruits is associated with bruises, cracks, splits and deformation. Proper packaging and configuration of mango fruits help to immobilize the fruits within the container and reduce abrasion injury due to fruit-to-fruit contact during transportation. It is also important to stack fruits during transportation and distribution to enable proper air circulation to facilitate the removal of heat from the fruits as well as to dissipate incoming heat from the atmosphere.Mango fruits destined for shipping overseas should always be pre-cooled. Pre-cooling is essential to remove field heat, and slow the rate of the various biochemical and physiological processes within the fruit, as well as to decrease the refrigeration demand during cold storage or refrigerated transport. The selection and use of boxes for marine container shipment of mango fruits should include the following logistical procedures:• corrugated boxes should be strong enough to withstand the effects of high humidity during storage and transport;• boxes must never be stacked beyond edges of pallets;• pallet loads should be unitized and secured;• boxes and inner packaging should allow vertical airflow, especially if fruits are warmer than the refrigeration set point temperature when stowed;• box vents should be aligned between layers of boxes;• pallets should be used where deck board spacing aligns with box vents; Thompson et al. (2000) have devised a container loading checklist, applicable to mango fruits for export to regional and extra-regional markets. Steps should be taken to ensure that the:• interior of container is clean and odour-free;• container is not damaged and door seals are in good repair, and floor drains are open;• refrigeration unit is operational and the container is cooled to desired loading temperature;| 257Appropriate Logistics to Reduce Losses in the Postharvest Handling System: Case of Mango• mango loads are at the specified pulp temperature and properly stowed;• portable temperature recorder charts are marked with load identification, start time and date;• thermostat is set to the correct temperature and fresh air exchange is set properly;• security seal is properly attached to rear door of container.The fresh-cut mango industry is developing rapidly throughout the Caribbean. The quality of the whole fruit of the fresh mango fruit is an important requirement for maintaining the wholesomeness and overall acceptability of fresh-cut mango slices or cubes. Other factors include the cultivar, pre-harvest cultural practices and climatic conditions, maturity at harvest, method of harvesting, postharvest harvest handling practices cited above, time between harvest and preparation of the fresh-cut fruit (Figure 8.8). The method of preparation, such as, sharpness of cutting blade or device, size and surface area of the cut pieces, washing, use of sanitizers and removal of surface moisture, and subsequent handling conditions (packaging, speed of cooling, maintaining optimum temperature and relative humidity, expedited marketing), must also be integrated into the overall quality logistics management to attain a high quality product.In Trinidad and Tobago for example, the cultivars most suitable for fresh-cut purposes are cv. Long, cv. Rose, cv. Tommy Atkins, while in Guyana, it is mainly cv. Buxton spice. Regardless of the cultivar used for fresh-cut mango, fruits must be harvested mature-green to mature with light yellow flesh colour to ensure better flavour quality. The post-cutting life of fresh-cut mango at 5°C is eight to ten days, but depending on the cultivar this could be limited by flesh browning and softening (Yahia 2011). Peeling fruits to a depth of at least 2 mm and trimming flesh near the stem could however minimize fruit discolouration (Limbanyen, Brecht, Sargent and Bartz 1998). In other studies, Allong, Wickham and Mohammed (2000) indicated that fresh-cut slices from half-ripe (12.5 to 14 percent TSS) and firm-ripe (14.5 to 17 percent TSS) cv. Julie and cv. Graham mangoes had a shelf life of eight days or four days at 10°C. Half-ripe (13 to 16 percent Soluble Solids Content) mangoes were found to be ideal for fresh-cut in terms of maintenance of acceptable appearance, texture, and taste during post-cutting life at 5°C.A major quality logistics requirement for fresh-cut mangoes is the use of very sharp tools to peel fruits and cut flesh into slices or cubes in order to reduce cellular damage and leakage of cellular contents and enzymatic browning. Selection of packaging containers is another important logistical option. The use of rigid containers reduces water loss and mechanical damage during distribution. Shelf life of fresh-cut mango cubes or chunks (Figure 8.9page 210) is limited by browning and softening, but cubes treated with one percent calcium chloride and stored in sealed modified atmospheric packages had a shelf-life of 12 days compared to nine days for those dipped in one percent calcium chloride and stored in air. Sanitation of the whole fruit and the processing equipment, tools and facilities as well as the maintenance of a low temperature environment during all fresh-cut process are all important to reduce potential microbial problems.Mangoes are processed into several products such as, juices, nectars, jelly powders, fruit bars, flakes, dried products, jams, puree, dehydrated products and canned slices. However, only about 0.22 percent of mangoes produced in the world are processed (Yahia 2011). Green mangoes are processed into pickles, brine stock and chutney (Figure 8.10 -page 210). There are two classifications of pickles; salt pickles and oil pickles, processed from whole and sliced fruit with and without stones. Diverse types of pickles vary mainly in the proportions and kinds of spices used in their preparations. The ingredients are mixed together and filled into wide-mouthed bottles, and extra oil added to form a 1-2cm layer over the pickles (Yahia 2011). Chutney is prepared from peeled, sliced or grated mature or semi-ripe mango by cooking the shredded fruit with salt over medium heat for five to seven minutes. Sugar, spices and vinegar are added, and cooking is done over moderate heat until the product resembles a thick puree. The remaining ingredients are added and simmered for another five minutes, cooled and preserved in sterilized jars. Spices usually include cumin seeds, ground cloves, cinnamon, chilli powder, ginger and nutmeg (Yahia 2011).Drying procedures such as sun-drying, tunnel drying, vacuum drying, or osmotic dehydration can also be applied to sliced mango with or without the peel. However sun drying is more popular in most countries because it is inexpensive. The product is however, susceptible to contamination by dirt, insects, rodents and microorganisms. At the same time, it must be noted that the process requires several days based on sunlight availability and temperature control. More hygienic and equally cost effective systems such as solar dryers are available. These have been adopted by medium to large-scale processors. Spray-dried mango powders are used for flavouring confectionery and pharmaceutical preparations as well as in the manufacture of baby foods and tropical fruit drinks which are fortified with nutrients to replace those portions lost during processing (Raymundo, Ombico and de Villa 2009).Appropriate Logistics to Reduce Losses in the Postharvest Handling System: Case of MangoThe puree of the green mango can also be converted to a powder similar to the puree of ripe mangoes by spray drying. The spray dried powders can then be mixed with other condiments and used as a souring agent for some dishes, or as raw material in the manufacture of instant green mango shake (University of the Phillipines Los Banos 2005). Edible pulp makes up to 33-85 percent of the fresh fruit, while peel and kernel amount to four to seven percent and 9-40 percent respectively (Wu, Chen and Fang 1993). By-products of mango may amount to 35-60 percent of the total fruit weight. Other parts of the mango fruit are also utilized, such as the mango kernels, which are a source of fat, natural antioxidants, starch, flour and feed. Studies have been conducted on the peel for possible use in the production of biogas, dietary fibre with high antioxidant activity and as a source of pectin (Berardini, Knodler and Schieber Carle 2005).Mangoes grown throughout the LAC region are highly susceptible to Anthracnose which is caused by a fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Figure 8.11). Infection occurs during flowering and fruit set and its severity increases with high humidity and rainfall. Disease symptoms include small, dark spots that become enlarged to irregular, dark brown areas as the fruit ripens. Accordingly, the fungus often remains dormant on green fruits and develops as the fruit ripens and loses its natural resistance. The timing of pre-havest fungicidal treatments is therefore critical in reducing the incidence of this disease (Table 8.3). If this is done then consumer satisfaction for disease free fruits will increase and eventually the reputation of high quality fruits will impact positively on demand and prices. Some cultivars of mango such as cv. Julie and cv. Tommy Atkins are highly susceptible to internal physiological disorders in which there is disintegration of the flesh around the seed into a jellylike mass. Soft nose also occurs where there is partial ripening of the flesh at the distal end of the fruit, with stem-end cavity resulting in necrosis of the flesh around the cavity. According to Brecht (2010), some of these disorders can be reduced by increasing the calcium content via proper pre-harvest calcium applications (Table 8.3). • Sunken discoloured areas ( due to chilling injury) • Sunken shoulder areas (due to heat damage to the flesh below) • Uneven (blotchy) ripening (due to heat injury or chilling injury) • Void spaces in the flesh (due to heat injury or irradiation damage)Logistical demands for mangoes are influenced by their importance as a local and export product. Mango fruits harvested at the immature stage can be utilized as a range of valueadded products such as pickles, chutney, amchar, frozen slices and cubes, kuchelar, dried products, juices, nectars, canned slices and leathers. Mango fruits that are ripe can be eaten as a fresh fruit or in fresh-cut salads, and may also be processed into jams, jellies, squash, puree, dehydrated and canned slices. However, these fruits are easily bruised, affecting their taste and appearance, thus reducing the selling price. Being perishable, mango fruits, which have an average shelf life of two weeks require certain handling and storage conditions. The need for logistics management of mango fruits has come to the fore following the recent global energy crisis followed by the global financial crisis. Logistics management is therefore an important tool to enhance competiveness, while ensuring a focus on serviceability. Accordingly, considering the perishable nature of mangoes andAgriculture is now facing a new challenge, as it is not only expected to maximize production while reducing adverse impacts on the environment, but also ensure various ecosystem services (ES) and to diminish disservices (harmful effects). The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), which pointed out the importance of proper ecosystem functioning for human well-being, was a turning point in the consideration of the services provided by agriculture. As a result, a transformation of agricultural systems from conventional agricultural systems is therefore expected. Since agrosystems are ecosystems controlled by humans, farming practices lie at the core of this transition of agriculture. Integrated systems are the main forms of farming systems observed all over the world, and in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), they represent a vast legacy of experiences in the history, tradition and culture of such countries.The multiple ways by which people benefit from ecosystems e.g.:(i) Food: Ecosystems provide the conditions for growing food. Food comes principally from managed agro-ecosystems but marine and freshwater systems or forests also provide food for human consumption.(ii) Raw materials: Ecosystems provide a great diversity of materials for construction and fuel including wood, biofuels and plant oils that are directly derived from wild and cultivated plant species.(iii) Fresh water: Ecosystems play a vital role in the global hydrological cycle, as they regulate the flow and purification of water. Vegetation and forests influence the quantity of water available locally.(iv) Medicinal resources: Ecosystems and biodiversity provide many plants used as traditional medicines as well as providing the raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry. All ecosystems are a potential source of medicinal resources.Audrey Fanchone, Jean-Louis Diman, Gisèle Alexandre,More generally, in the Caribbean, multispecies systems whether mixed cropping systems, livestock farming systems or integrated ones, provide several ES. Using these systems as examples, this chapter examines the major driving forces that condition changes in farming practices. Agro-ecological engineering which relies on the ecological paradigm, is regarded as a suitable concept and approach to support this transformation. The chapter also proposes methods that might support the design of innovative agricultural systems, namely the step by step method and the de novo method. These methods are supported by concrete examples coming from several Caribbean or other tropical environments.After the Second World War, the shift from the concept of subsistence farming to the 'Green Revolution' represented a change in the prevailing agricultural paradigm, whereby the main objective assigned to agriculture was that of ensuring food security by securing an adequate market supply, a reasonable standard of living, and increasing farmers' incomes. During the 1980s, this production objective was largely achieved, and surpassed the requirements in Europe and many industrialized countries. This new standard involved the use of seeds of high-yielding varieties, primarily of wheat and rice, and the adoption of a modern package of agricultural tools and practices involving chemical fertilizers, tractors, pesticides, irrigation, mechanical threshers, electric and diesel pumps, among other things (Parayil 2003). This system, however, led to a decrease in farm numbers (rural exodus, loss of rural jobs), specialization and marginalization of territories, standardization of landscape, and deterioration of natural resources. The 'Green Revolution' also caused enormous environmental impacts, including soil degradation, water pollution and loss of biodiversity.Agriculture is not only expected to produce food and fibre either for direct consumption or for industrial use, but also has to provide some other functions while at the same time minimizing adverse effects on the environment (Zhang et al. 2007). The new challenges faced by agriculture are to ensure various ES, to resolve apparent conflicts between them, and to diminish its disservices (Doré et al. 2011). The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment provided a new conceptual framework for analysing these multiple ES (MEA 2005). In new agrosystems, ES are not externalities, but are intentionally produced by stakeholders, who create such services by implementing practices (minimum tillage, crop association, organic fertilisation, integrated control of pests) which modify the production sequence. A new issue for researchers is therefore the evaluation of the cost of the production of such ES. In the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology forEcological Modernization of Caribbean Agrosystems: From Concept to Design Development report (IAASTD 2008) it has been argued that the challenge to achieving this multi-objective agriculture not only requires continuing the development of disciplinary knowledge, but also more systemic approaches, and has recently officially called for a reorientation of agricultural science and technology towards more holistic approaches. New concepts such as 'agroecology' and 'ecological intensification' have been developed to support this transformation. Vanloqueren and Baret (2009) have defined agroecological engineering as 'an umbrella concept for different agricultural practices and innovations such as biological control, cultivar mixtures, agroforestry systems, habitat management techniques (e.g. strip management or beetle banks around wheat fields), or natural systems agriculture, aiming at perennial food-grain-producing systems. Crop rotations, soil fertility improvement practices, mixed crop and livestock management and intercropping are also included. Some applications involve cutting edge technologies while others are old practices (e.g. traditional systems that provide significant insights to agroecology). For these authors, 'the scientific paradigm on which agroecological engineering relies is ecology (and holism)'. As such, the objective is the design of productive agricultural systems that require as few agrochemicals and energy inputs as possible, and instead rely on ecological interactions and synergisms between biological components to produce the mechanisms that will enable the systems to boost their own soil fertility, productivity and crop protection (Altieri 1995).Some aspects of agroecological engineering may be related to biomimicry (Benyus 1997), as illustrated in Figure 9. 1. Doré et al., (2011) noted that in natural ecosystems, as a result of the various animal and plant species, the final ecosystem is provided with a number of services, for instance pollination. In standard cropping systems, these interactions may lead to pest damage on crops, and so must be managed utilizing various control methods to limit yield loss. An increase in plant species diversity in systems mimicking natural ecosystems could allow natural enemies to control pests and generate ES (Doré et al. 2011). The concept of agroecological engineering, which sets out to improve the structure of the agricultural system and 'to make every part of the structure work well' (Liang 1998), differs from genetic engineering for example, which has as its primary objective the improvement of only a single element of the agroecosystem, for example (modifying existing plants or designing new plants).Because agrosystems are ecosystems controlled by humans, farming practices are at the core of this transition of agriculture. According to Meynard et al. (2006) four major driving forces promote the transformation of farming practices. These are: i. the recognition of the responsibility of agriculture in the deterioration of the environment;Sustainable Food Production Practices in the Caribbean -Volume 2ii. the evolution of the demand for food and non-food products;iii. the consideration of work and incomes of the farmers; and iv. the evolution of the place of agriculture in the territories.However, this transformation of agricultural practices presents some challenges. The first challenge is between the economy and the environment, because of the necessity to decrease inputs (e.g. fertilizers, phytosanitary products) and the absence of compensation for production losses or additional workload, with the second being between the individual logic of the farmers and that of the collective governance. This latter challenge is related to supply chains in the same territory, which compete directly or indirectly for the same raw materials such as fertile soils, flat lands, irrigated water and local breeds (Le Bail 2000). | 267Ecological Modernization of Caribbean Agrosystems: From Concept to DesignIn some parts of the world, integrated systems (IS) are the predominant forms of farming systems (Herrero et al. 2010). Nowadays, IS produce close to 50 percent of the world's cereals and most of the staples consumed by poor people: 41 percent of maize, 86 percent of rice, 66 percent of sorghum, and 74 percent of millet production (Herrero et al. 2009). They also generate the bulk of livestock products in the developing world: 75 percent of the milk and 60 percent of the meat, and employ many millions of people on farms, in formal and informal markets, in processing plants, and other parts of the value chain. Although there is a lack of available information in LAC, IS have an informal background of rich experiences in the history and tradition of these countries (González-García et al. 2012). In these countries, IS have persisted over time because as natural ecosystems, they appear to be well adapted to local constraints, after a long process of natural selection (Dawson and Fry 1998;Ewel 1999). This is even more the case for most of the small and large islands of the Caribbean where there are added constraints such as: the shortage of arable land and the high competition between agriculture and other uses such as urbanization and tourism. In these countries, the urgent need to increase outputs of each piece of agricultural land by producing food, feed, and other ES, tests the boundaries of conventional agriculture. The challenge in the Caribbean zone therefore becomes to promote IS which enable the provision of ES.Agriculture fulfils three main functions, namely:1. production (including economics aspects) -of food and non-food goods, and the provision of raw material for industry;2. socio-cultural -to maintain the social fabric of rural areas, planning in territories and transmitting of a cultural heritage; and 3. environmental -biodiversity preservation, regulation of the environment, conservation and regulation of water quality, and to decrease energy consumption.Despite an awareness of the multifunctional character of agriculture, this concept has not been embraced within the public policy context. According to MEA (2005), the acknowledgement of the importance of ecosystem functioning for human well-being, provided a turning point in the consideration of the services provided by agriculture.The concept of ES not only encompasses the same functions as those expressed by multifunctionality, but also embodies the maintenance of the good functioning of the ecosystem. ES emphasize the human usage of natural processes through the supply of material goods, determine ecological regulation modes, and the role of the ecosystem to support both productive and non-productive activities. The MEA defined four categories of ES; supporting, provisioning, regulating and cultural (Figure 9.2). The supporting services relate to services that are necessary for the production of all other ES. They differ from provisioning, regulating, and cultural services in that their impacts on people are often indirect or occur over a very long time, whereas changes in the other categories have relatively direct and short-term impacts on people. While the provisioning services relate to the products obtained from the ecosystem, the regulating services are the benefits obtained from the regulation of ecosystem processes. Finally, the cultural services relate to the non-material benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experiences.As the figure shows, many of the services listed within the MEA framework are highly interlinked and involve different aspects of the same biological processes. Moreover, MEA services only relate to the positive impacts of ecosystems on human well-being. The basic concept adopted by the MEA, is based on a multi-scale and multi-disciplinary approach that provides an integrated perspective by emphasizing the interdependence between socioeconomic and environmental issues. The sustainability of agrosystems presupposes the preservation of their economic and ecological viability, i.e. the preservation of their productive capacity, as it relates to the maintenance of the good ecological functioning of the soils and the economical production of this system (market and societal value). Zhang et al. (2007) presented a conceptual framework for agrosystems and introduced the concept of disservices (Figure 9.3).The following sections provide an overview of some of the ES provided by multispecies systems in tropical areas.In considering the provisioning of services, productivity per unit area can be increased when crops are combined, compared to single crops systems (Willey 1979;Jolliffe 1997), provided that the combination is suitable. Yield advantage occurs because growth resources such as light, water, and nutrients are more completely absorbed and converted to crop biomass by the intercrop over time and space. This is as a result of differences in the competitive ability for growth resources between the component crops, in characteristics such as rates of canopy development, final canopy size (width and height), photosynthetic adaptation of canopies to irradiance conditions, and rooting depth (Midmore 1993; Morris and Garrity 1993;Tsubo, Walker and Mukhala 2001). Biotic factors such as the presence of mycorrhizae, bacteria, fungi, termites and insects also play equally important roles (Derelle 2012). When tubers are used in combination with legumes/maize, the land equivalent ratios (LER) of the sweet potato and bean combination, ranges from 1.69 to 1.79, depending on density of beans. For a yam and maize/peanut combination, the LER ranges from 0.98 to 1.60, and was found to result in favourable yields/unit area, as well as yam tuber size (Cornet, 2005;Lyonga 1980;Odurukwe 1986). A tomato and cowpea combination produces a LER of 1.08 to 1.31 depending on their respective densities (Obedoni et al. 2005).Soil protection/conservation services are also part of the regulating services. Cropping combinations and the hedges or trees associated with them, due to the high crop density, play a significant role in reducing soil and water erosion, thus contributing to the conservation or resilience of soils. An example of this can be found in West-Cameroon, where, as compared with mixed cropping systems, intensive monoculture was found to offer less soil protection against the 'splash' effect of raindrops that have high kinetic energy (Valet 1999). For andosols cultivated with maize monocrops on a 25 percent slope, such erosion can reach 122 T/ha/year (1996).Ecological Modernization of Caribbean Agrosystems: From Concept to Design Pest and disease control represents yet another regulating service provided by multispecies systems. Five hypotheses are generally advanced to explain the ability of crop combinations to regulate plant pests:1. The disruption hypothesis (push): one of the associated species disrupts the ability of the pathogen to attack the host plant by confusing it through the emission of volatile substances, visual effects, and a barrier effect (Khan et al. 1998).2. The hypothesis of the trap plant (pull): one of the associated species attracts pathogens, keeping them out of reach of the more vulnerable crop and also attracts predators to the pests.3. The natural enemies' hypothesis: based on the ability of mixed systems to favour greater diversity of predators and parasites.4. The hypothesis of micro-environment modification: mixed cropping systems can either create more favourable conditions for the plant under attack, or less favourable conditions for the development of the parasite, or more favourable conditions for the development of its natural enemies.5. Vertical and horizontal barrier effect -enabling plants to be concealed from insects, diluting the vector, modifying temperatures and the exposure that favours insects climbing up a stem.One of the major roles of crop combinations is their ability to resist attack by multiple pests and diseases. An analysis performed by Risch (1983) on an assessment of pests and natural enemies in polyculture as against monoculture, showed that in 53 percent of cases, in the former, less serious attacks occurred than in the latter. More importantly, the percentage of natural enemies of mixed crops is greater than in monocultures (59 percent vs. 9 percent ), yet in only 32 percent of the studies it was shown that there was no difference between monocultures and mixed cropping systems. The beneficial effect of mixed cropping in controlling disease and parasites was confirmed by other researchers (see for example Rämert, Lennartsson and Davies 2002;Root 1973;Szumigalski and Rene,2005;Vandermeer 1989). The beneficial effect is however not easy to demonstrate, as it is complex and unpredictable (Trenbath 1999). A cropping system with plant species used for different purposes can therefore assist in effectively addressing the issue of insect pests.Particularly under tropical conditions, a major challenge associated with livestock farming systems (LFS) has been a lack of recognition of the importance and benefits to be derived from the non-productive functions of animals, as well as the husbandry activities for the farmer/household and society (Lhoste et al. 1993). The LFS is not only concerned with the production of high-quality commodities, to meet the objective of food security, but also with the provision of multiple ecoservices as prescribed by MEA (2005). Animals and LFS are considered as highly multifunctional in tropical agroecosystems (Dedieu et al. 2011). With respect to the framework provided by Zhang et al. (2007), in the Caribbean, the first ES of LFS remains the provision of services (i.e. production of food, fibre, fuel). LFS also fulfil other categories of ES including: supporting services (soil structure and fertility, nutrient cycling, and genetic biodiversity), regulating services (soil retention, dung burial, atmospheric regulation), and non-marketable services (soil conservation, climate change mitigation, and wildlife habitat).In most farming systems in the world, LFS are practiced in association with crops (Herrero et al. 2010). In such integrated systems, crop and livestock activities compete for the same scarce resources which include land, labour, capital and skills. Consequently, in general, the productivity of livestock in mixed systems (e.g. milk production/animal/day, growth and reproduction rates), is lower than in specialised systems, so that the provisioning ES can be considered somewhat reduced, leading to the conclusion that IS are less productive. However, while there may be lower productivity per unit land or animal in one enterprise, higher overall productivity is common. This has been demonstrated for example in the case of integrated dairy systems in Cuba that have been assessed to be as productive as intensive single systems and totally more sustainable (Funes-Monzote and Monzote 2001). From the IS perspective, livestock plays many vital roles in the households and economies of the developing world, including producing food and power, generating income, storing capital reserves, and enhancing social status (Alexandre et al. 2014). In addition, livestock can be used for weed control, production of manure for fertilizer (Boval, Bellon and Alexandre 2014) and also for fuel (Preston and Rodriguez 2014).Crop-livestock integration is generally driven by increased population pressure, the main feature characterizing the Caribbean islands, which is often the main reason for farmers to intensify their farming systems. Livestock can affect the cycling of nutrients, opening alternative pathways, such as importation of nutrients from common land, and affect the speed and efficiency with which nutrients can be converted to plant-useable forms (Delve et al. 2001). Inclusion of livestock in mixed farming systems can provide an alternative use for crop residues. For example, if farmers need to plant a crop soon after harvesting a previous one, stubble incorporation may not be feasible, so that farmers may resort to burning it, resulting in increased carbon dioxide emissions. In contrast, livestock in IS can be used to remove and process stubble, potentially reducing the losses of carbon and nutrients. Blending crops and livestock has the potential to maintain ecosystem function and health and help prevent agricultural systems from becoming too 'brittle', by promotingEcological Modernization of Caribbean Agrosystems: From Concept to Design greater biodiversity and an increased capacity to absorb shocks to the natural resource base, something which Holling (2001) defined as resilience.From an ecological viewpoint, grasslands are ecosystems which exhibit a strong link between herbivores and floral diversity (Gliessman 2009) and when well-managed, can be a tool for ecological and regulating services, notably to maintain and restore biodiversity of the open landscape (Ma and Swinton 2011). Moreover, grasslands can potentially offset a significant proportion of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Appropriate management strategies, in the areas of stocking rate, grazing pressure and application of nitrogen fertilization would however be key (Boval et al. 2014). Animals contribute to improving the quality of the ground cover, important for soil erosion prevention and the watershed processes of infiltration and water retention (Gliessman et al. 2009). Thus, pastoral nomadism, a complex set of practices and knowledge, ensures the long-term maintenance of a sophisticated 'triangle of sustainability', which includes plants, animals and people.Beyond the ecological services, natural resources and landscapes may provide numerous social, cultural, recreational, and aesthetic services which satisfy human need and well-being (Ma and Swinton 2011;Boval and Dixon 2012). As such, most traditional agroecosystems have remarkable characteristics which are regulated by strong cultural values and collective forms of social organization, including customary institutions for agro-ecological management, normative arrangements for resource access and benefit sharing, value systems and rituals (Altieri and Toledo 2011). Livestock production systems based on grasslands therefore have great potential for social equity, poverty alleviation, risk reduction and gender equality (Gliessman 2009). These services must be seriously considered as they are well supported by agro-ecological concepts. The development of local food chains, in addition to renewing the meaning of farm work and the social links between city and country, also has an impact on energy consumption (Mundler and Rumpus 2012). These are important in the context of the exploitation of grassland eco-economic factors and are properly taken into account in the agro-ecological concepts.From Creole garden to simplified multispecies systems Multispecies cropping systems cover many modes of spatial distribution: on the surface, above and below the ground level, and time distribution, in relay with perennial or annual species (Valet and Ozier-Lafontaine 2014). The archetype of multispecies cropping systems in the Caribbean is the Creole garden that combines very different plants (e.g. grasses, shrubs and trees) in varying combinations, and in contrasting environments (i.e. lowlands and highlands). These systems are very close to agroforestry systems which incorporate trees and shrubs (Figure 9.4).The principles of the Creole garden are very similar to those of agroforestry systems, as they involve the growing of annual or biennial agricultural crops along with forest species. The long-term effects of this system on soil fertility will however depend on the management practices adopted at establishment, as well as at subsequent re-establishment. Complementary, supplementary and competitive interactions exist between trees and crops, and higher crop yields have been obtained when some agricultural crops are interplanted near leguminous trees such as Faidherbia albida (Acacia) (FAO 1994). Allelopathic interactions between trees and agricultural crops have also been investigated and such interactions have been reported (Susesh and Vinaya 1987). Many variations of this system are found in small family farms, involving between two and three species in the plots (Figure 9.5), which are not only chosen for human or animal consumption, but also for ES, namely in the form of the supply of nitrogen by legumes, and quick ground cover of creeping species for weed control.According to Valet and Ozier-Lafontaine (2014), while the idea that 'intercropping was only for peasant farming and has no place in modern agriculture', has persisted for a long time among researchers and developers, it appears that in many areas of the world, traditional farmers developed or inherited complex farming systems in the form of polycultures that were well adapted to the local conditions. It has been further suggested (Valet and Ozier-Lafontaine 2014) that this has helped farmers to sustainably manage harsh environments and to meet their subsistence needs, without depending on mechanization, chemical fertilizers, pesticides or other technologies of modern agricultural science. These practices, which are generally more efficient than the high-intensity agricultural systems, highlight the 'agroecological engineering' developed over centuries by many peasants in tropical zones. Preston (2009) has noted that farming systems should aim at maximizing plant biomass production from locally available diversified resources, processing of the biomass on the farm to provide food, feed and energy, and recycling of all waste materials. In addition, the generation of electricity can be a by-product of food/feed production instead of developing biofuels, which threaten food security (Suárez and Martín 2012). Biomass is fractioned into inedible cell wall materials that can be converted, through gasification into a source of fuel for the internal combustion engines driving electrical generators. The cell contents and related structures are used as human food or animal feed. It also offers opportunities for sequestration of carbon in the form of biochar, the solid residue remaining after gasification of the biomass, which in turn is used to enhance soil fertility and crop productivity.Ecological Modernization of Caribbean Agrosystems: From Concept to Design On the Tosoly farm, located in a humid, tropical region of Colombia, the integrated foodfeed-fuel model has been implemented by Preston and Rodriguez (2013). The farm is a medium-sized unit (7 ha), and in order to promote biodiversity, the crops (sugar cane, fruit and forage trees, and some forage plants) on the farm, are replicated in different areas. The livestock and fuel components are chosen for their capacity to utilize the crops and byproducts produced on the farm. All crops must be at least dual-purpose, have good biomass productivity, as it relates to the efficient capture of solar energy (new energy revolution), and adequate chemical composition (in mixed diets).The inclusion of livestock in the farming system is seen as a means of optimising the use of highly productive perennial crops such as sugar cane and multi-purpose trees. Sugar cane is easily separated into energy-rich juice, which can replace cereal grains in the feeding of pigs, as is done in Trinidad and Tobago, and Guadeloupe (Archimède et al. 2013), and residual bagasse, which can be used as one of the feedstocks for the gasifier. Forage trees are the natural feed resources for goats, which selectively consume the leaves, leaving the fibrous stems as another feedstock for gasification. Other farmyard animals are combined to maximize the use of feedstuffs, providing manure or draught power, and livestock products such as eggs, rabbit meat and honey. Any surplus commodities which remain after the family needs have been satisfied, are sold in the village market. Waste water from coffee pulping, family washing, and also all high moisture wastes from pigs and other animals are recycled through polyethylene biodigesters. Effluent from all biodigesters is combined and recycled to fertilise crops.Due to the wet climatic conditions found in Martinique throughout the year, fast weed growth is fast, resulting in the need for the implementation of permanent control measures in fruit tree crop systems, as this has a strong negative impact on yields. Weed control however generates high maintenance costs to fruit producers. Chemical weed control is the most common method used, but this is not a sustainable method due to issues related to water pollution and soil erosion (Hipps and Samuelson 1991; Duran-Zuazo and Rodriguez-Pleguezuelo 2008). Grazing animals which do not harm the cash crops therefore constitute a viable alternative. In Martinique for example, poultry (chickens and geese) were used in an orchard of guava trees and the feasibility and effectiveness of weed control were evaluated (Lavigne, Dumbardon-Martial and Lavigne 2012). It was found that although geese can be used to effectively control the herbaceous biomass, weed selection by the birds leads to a significant modification of the flora. The use of grass and perennial legumes in the orchard can also serve to enhance this cultivation system. The long-term effect of such an association however, remains to be assessed. Management of the stocking rate also plays a crucial role in such systems. In high stocking rate systems, over grazing can lead to deforestation and loss of associated biodiversity. This example shows how management practices can encompass both the provision of ecological services (weed management) and ecological disservices (loss of biodiversity).Added to the previous ES of production and regulation functions, this section underlines some other environmental and socio-economic services provided by livestock via the utilisation of an original case study. Tropical LFS have exhibited rich and high diversity not only for domesticated animals, but also for wildlife (species best adapted to their natural habitat). One is presented through the neo-tropical animal wildlife program implemented in the Caribbean (Garcia 2005). Around 30 important neo-tropical animal wildlife species are found in LAC. Twelve of these species are native to Trinidad and Tobago, where they are sold at higher prices than domestic animals. The neo-tropical animal wildlife programme fosters the high biodiversity of wildlife, building a whole concept to sustain a viable economic activity on the basis of AE principles developed at the food system level. According to Garcia (2005), the value of neo-tropical animal wildlife is varied, and can be broken down into an ecological role, economic importance, a nutritional function and socio-cultural significance. All of these features have a real impact on farmers' or hunters' income, gastronomy and agro-tourism in the country, something that is very difficult to assess.The San Juan farm is one of the more than 100,000 farms distributed by the Cuban government in the recent years. It is located in Junco village in the Cienfuegos valley and is currently owned by the Rey-Novoa family, which has extensive experience in traditional agriculture. Funes-Monzote (2009) studied the agroecological transition process of this agroecosystem over a period of eight years (2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011), taking into account criteria of social equity, economic rationality and ecological sustainability. It is a traditional peasant farm, in which agroecological transition started in 2004, from land which was managed in a conventional agriculture mode and then abandoned for nearly a decade. A detailed characterization was performed which considered the attributes of sustainable agroecosystems in an annual cyclical process of assessment, design, management and evaluation, according to the methodologies proposed by Masera et al. (1999); Funes-Monzote (2009). The family was involved in the identification, selection and implementation of the indicators of sustainability.Ecological Modernization of Caribbean Agrosystems: From Concept to DesignThe key lessons derived from the Rey-Novoa family experience with an innovative process of agroecological transition were (Rey-Novoa and Funes-Monzote 2013):1. greater food self-sufficiency and traditional production;2. promotion of local, drought-tolerant pasture in rotation or silvopastoral systems;3. increased nutrient recycling, water, soil and forest conservation, and the biodiversity associated with native crops and animals;4. account of natural conditions (male effect) in bovine reproduction;5. genetic and species diversification on the farm via the integration of trees with crops and animals;6. minimal dependence on external inputs for the basic infrastructure of housing, transportation, production, supply sources and reservoirs, irrigation of low power energy and water consumption.The experience of the Rey-Novoa family farm shows that efforts to promote agriculture and knowledge processes in harmony with nature and society, must consist not only of actions to preserve and strengthen the productive logic of peasant families, but also a broad process of empowerment, capacity building and agricultural innovation at the local level, based on the participation of families with help from researchers, local institutions and rural organizations to redesign the agricultural land (Funes-Monzote 2013).An agroecological transition model adopted in the context of the family farm is something that can be replicated within the framework of other agricultural systems found within the Caribbean in the quest for sustainability. As has shown, the process of agroecological transition helps to mitigate the degradation that exists in several agroecosystems. It is therefore critical that such studies should be continued. This will allow for the development of an agricultural model that is less dependent on oil, has a low environmental impact, is better suited to climate change, and can be characterised as a local and multifunctional agriculture.In light of the foregoing, a number of tools are available for use, in addition to which, a number of practical recommendations can be made, which can be adopted to help in the management of these ecosystems.At the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) in Guadeloupe, an expert system, SIMSERV was developed to assist with the selection of cover crops (Ozier-Lafontaine et al. 2011). 1 This tool was created to optimise the selection of potential species to one or more services, while shortening the time of selection. This approach offers the advantage of capturing expert knowledge in an easily accessible and reusable database. For each cover crop, SIMSERV calculates the potential for it to provide a service in a given context, which is defined by the user who provides required information related to the: i) required service, ii) description of agroecological and socio-economic characteristics, iii) mode of establishment -in rotation or association, and iv) a cash crop.The system matches the data defined for the particular context, with information from the database, which is then used to calculate the capacity for each cover crop to provide the service or not. The method of calculating is based on the aggregation of decisions in a \"decision tree\". Three profiles are given in the application: i) the administrator builds the decision tree; ii) the expert assigns values to the indicators to describe the cash crops and the cover crops; and iii) the user uses this information to describe his/her scenario, then chooses a context. Based on the analysis for each cover crop, the results, which are presented in tabular form, provide the user with an indication of the name and the qualitative assessment obtained for the selected service. Cover crops -'very good', based on their capacity to provide the service, in response to the selected context.The soil organic matter (OM) is one of the essential components of agrosystems. Among its agro-environmental functions, OM helps maintain the structure and porosity of the soil (effect on water storage, its ventilation and the risk of erosion), stimulate biological activity, preserve biodiversity of the soil, provide nutrients to the crops (nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur) and also helps to retain some micro pollutants (i.e. an effect on water quality). Changes in the OM content due to improper land use and farming practices, greatly affect all soil functions; the physical, chemical and biological quality. To address this, the MorGwanik © tool was developed. 2 It is based on the results obtained at the INRA French Antilles and Guiana Research Centre, with respect to the functioning of tropical soils, the fate of crop residues and the organic inputs (compost and agricultural reusable waste). It also takes into account the effect of the great diversity of soils and microclimates present in Guadeloupe on the OM content. MorGwanik © was designed to estimate the evolution of the OM content in agricultural soils of Guadeloupe according to some user-defined choices,Ecological Modernization of Caribbean Agrosystems: From Concept to Design such as location of the farm, useful crop rotation, type and rate of organic fertilizers used. It is intended for agricultural stakeholders such as farmers, technical advisors, policy makers, researchers, agronomists, and environmental professionals, and can also be easily adapted to systems found in the other Caribbean islands.Both the quantity and quality of feeds are deciding factors not only for animal survival but more importantly to meet their nutrient needs for maintenance and production. Feeding and nutrition-related factors also impact upon, and often determine individual vulnerability to climatic constraints or potential diseases. Feeding practices should ideally match the available local resources as previously stated (Preston 2009). Many authors have recommended exploiting available feed and by-products instead of building a feeding system according to animal requirements (refer to the examples of sugar cane and cocoyam outlined in the section on the Tosoly farm). It is not a question of maximising the biological function of production, but rather optimising the feed resource partitioning at both the farm and territory levels, in the absence of competition between users.The following section provides some recommendations in the area of feeding animals based on data gathered from Caribbean and Latin American experiences in the area of domestic animal (Table 9.1) and wildlife production (Table 9.2) suited for the region. Brown-Uddenberg et al. (2004) for example, reported that the agouti (Dasyprocta leporina) can eat any kind of vegetable matter, and in Trinidad, these animals, both in the wild and captivity, were reported to eat a wide variety of fruits from trees and shrubs (40 species), herbs and grasses (four species), garden crops (17 species) and livestock feeds. The peccary (Tayassu tajacu), a pig-like mammal, is known to be herbivorous and frugivorous in Brazil and Trinidad (Young et al. 2012) and is regarded as a pseudo-ruminant, thus indicating a potential for non-conventional farming.Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas)• foliage x X 2] and 4]• tuber X 2] and 4] Cassava (Manihot esculenta)Water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica)Mulberry (Morus alba), 2] and 3]Cocoyam (Xanthosoma saggitifolium)• foliage X 2] and 4]Gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium)• foliage x 1], 3] and 4Erythrina (Erythrina glauca)Banana (Musa paradisiaca)Sugar cane (Sacharum officinalis)**after detoxification; ***goat -green; pig -green and ripe; x -study undertaken  Cassava (Manihot esculenta)• foliage x X 1] and 4]• tuber** x 2] and 4]Water grass (Commelina elegans)Sugar cane (Sacharum officinalis)** Agouti -ripe fruit; Peccary -green Source: Garcia et al., (2006)  Meynard et al. ( 2006) listed four major driving forces behind changes in farming practices. These are: the deterioration of the environment and the recognized responsibility of agriculture; the evolution of the demand of food and non-food products; the consideration of work and incomes of farmers in a globalized world; and the evolution of the place of agriculture in the territories. Because of these forces, some radical changes to cropping and livestock farming systems are emerging. The improvement of agricultural systems clearly calls for innovative measures to facilitate an improvement of the ES, the adaptation to climate change, the integration of territorial dynamics, and the design of agri-food systems.The classic challenge remains between economic and environmental requirements. The other challenges are between the individual farmer's decisions and territorial dynamic, and between sectors of a same territory, associated with competition among different productions for territorial resources.Resolving these challenges and reconciling contradictory demands require either the working out of new compromises, or the proposal of new solutions to resolve them, as against focussing on the somewhat unattainable desirable innovations or ideal farming systems. A systematic approach to innovation is required, which involves: identifying a range of solutions; leaving the decision-making to farmers and other stakeholders; helping them to build their own systems adapted to their specific realities; and in the process, compromising where necessary.These encompass a consideration of the objectives and constraints of each actor in the innovative process, both at the farm level and at the country level. At farm level, in order to support farmers in the design of systems adapted to their situation, two major approaches can be distinguished: the 'de novo' design and the step-by-step design (Meynard et al. 2012). The 'de novo' design aims to design cropping or farming systems that break away from existing systems (very often model-based design), whereas, the step-by-step design incorporates the transition towards innovative systems by improving the existing systems step by step, in a progressive manner. This latter system is primarily based on a spiral of continuous improvement including diagnosis/development of possible systems/ implementation/and new diagnosis.At the country level, interactions of stakeholders around resource management need to be supported. Innovations relating to the co-ordination of farming systems at the country level can assist by taking into account the different interests of the various stakeholders which can be contradictory and often irreconcilable. Identification of action items for public authorities is at the core of the designing process since these constitute the means to facilitate the transition process. Public actions have to be taken carefully because: i) they sometimes strongly limit the capacity of farmers to adapt to the diversity of soils, climates and situations; ii) they are codified at the elementary agricultural technique level whereas environmental impacts often depend on interactions between several techniques; and iii) they are often felt to be constraints. Within this context, institutional innovation is required that will favour agronomic or agro-ecological innovation.Scientists are then faced with a paradoxes since innovative design cannot be programmed (by definition) and yet it is essential if it is to fully feature in the programmes ofEcological Modernization of Caribbean Agrosystems: From Concept to Design research institutions/organisations and contribute to the shaping of scientific priorities, interdisciplinarity and partnership. The following section elaborates how this pathway was used to design systems adapted to the Caribbean region. Two examples are provided: the step-by-step design of citrus systems (Le Bellec et al. 2012) and the de novo design of banana farming systems (Blazy et al. 2010 andArchimède et al. 2012).This design methodology has been used for citrus farmers in Guadeloupe as a mechanism to reduce herbicide load. Where changes were made in the field, the expectation was that there would be impacts felt within the whole farming system (local), in the agricultural sector (regional), and the pesticide industry (global). These represent some of the 'cascading effects' that are mostly unpredictable, but would nevertheless influence the general sustainability of the modified regional socio-economic and agricultural landscape (Kinzig et al. 2006). This demands a need for dynamic, non-linear, multi-stakeholder, and transdisciplinary approaches (Veldkamp et al. 2009) to sustainable development, in order to preserve the structure, identity, and functions of a 'socio-ecological system' (Walker et al. 2004).With a view to redesigning an alternative citrus production systems adapted to the Guadeloupe particular context, Le Bellec et al. (2011) developed the DISC method (DISC: an acronym for re-Design and assessment of Innovative Sustainable Cropping Systems), which involves, a multi-scale, multi-stakeholder, participatory approach, and represents an improvement on the classical prototyping methods developed at field level. The DISC method involves four categories of stakeholders distributed into two distinct groups; professional stakeholders (farmers, researchers, and agricultural advisors), and public stakeholders (representatives of the State, regional institutions, civil organizations), and has been used to address citrus production in Guadeloupe (Figure 9.6), where local demand for citrus is covered mostly by imports. To satisfy this demand, producers had to increase production while reducing the use of pesticides, in accordance with French government objectives (Ecophyto 2008). This ruling was introduced at a time when citrus producers were still facing unresolved technical difficulties and were struggling to improve the quality of their products on the local market. The main concern in re-designing citrus cropping systems therefore was to develop lower-input cropping systems with improved economic and quality performances, in a move toward sustainable citrus production in Guadeloupe (Le Bellec et al. 2012). Two workshops were held for the main actors involved in the citrus industry, and included farmers implementing citrus production and specialist researchers in the area of citrus production. A study was undertaken by the researchers with the objective of identifying the types of farming strategies implemented by producers and the constraints they face (Le Bellec et al. 2011). While the goal of the workshop with the stakeholders was aimed at focusing on the design of cropping systems prototypes, the other one for public stakeholders was aimed at establishing objectives for the new cropping system based on an integrated regional perspective. Experiments were performed at the local experimental station to test and adjust the prototypes to performance objectives, and an assessment tool was constructed to evaluate prototypes. It was found that the two main technical constraints that needed to be overcome to improve Guadeloupian citrus cropping systems were: i) the inability to mechanise many fields due to steep slopes and stony soils; and ii) the lack of producer-specific skills regarding the use of chemicals in the management of orchards.Based on these results, it was collectively agreed that the focus of the redesign process should be on the development of an alternative low-chemical weed control management strategy that would be compatible with the absence of mechanisation on the farms (Le Bellec et al. 2011). Five weed control prototypes were jointly designed as well as two multicriteria assessment tools. Results indicated that farmers involved in the study independently transferred the new technique to their own farms, and as such automatically became pilot farmers. The DISC method created an ongoing dynamic relationship between agricultural and public stakeholders that enabled them find solutions that can be continuously adjusted to stakeholder's, expectations (Le Bellec et al. 2012). Blazy et al. (2010) and Archimede et al., (2012) performed an ex ante assessment of agroecolgical innovations in banana production in Guadeloupe using modelling. In the case of Blazy et al., (2010), BANAD was used. This is a computer bioeconomic model that jointly simulates bioeconomic and 'technico-economic processes' of resource management at the farm level for assessing several innovative prototypes of environmentally-friendly management systems. The outputs of the BANAD model are dynamic, and based on a weekly time-step. They also include information on the banana production, cash flows, workload and environmental impacts (Figure 9.7). The inputs of the model are the: (i) farm's economic, technical and environmental characteristics; (ii) innovative crop management system parameters; and (iii) policy and market conditions (Blazy et al. 2010). On the other hand, the model employed by Archimede et al. ( 2012) was a mechanistic model, which was conducted at the farm level. The outputs of this model are also dynamic, but are however based on a yearly time-step and relative to the crop production (total level of biomass of the land fallow and of each compartment of the banana plant including marketable and non-marketable fruits) and animal production (desired stocking rate of animals for the required meat production). The main input data were the total area An innovative organic banana system consisting of an improved fallow with Crotalaria juncea, intercropped with C. ensiformis, new hybrid cultivar, and organic fertilisation, with no chemical inputs, was assessed on three different farm types (characterised according to their biophysical and economic parameters). These parameters included the physical state of the land, and the parasite load, climate and soil types, crop rotation, management decision rules and manpower characteristics (cost and efficiency). Using a similar methodology, Archimede et al. ( 2012) studied the opportunity to transform monoculture banana farms into mixed farming systems with ruminants feeding on banana by-products (leaves, pseudostems and non-marketable fruits), and forage from land left fallow to break the cycle of the nematode R. similis.Five theoretical farm types were established based on the following: presence or absence of the fallow, and the type of ruminants used (i.e. cattle, sheep, or goats). Blazy et al. (2010) found that the impacts of agroecological innovations vary considerably according to: i) the farm type in which the innovation is integrated; ii) the nature of the agroecological innovations; and iii) the criteria considered and the time span of the assessment. The study conducted by Archimede et al. (2012) also revealed that increasing farming system sustainability through alternatives such as using fallow land (rotation) and the integration of ruminant production is feasible from a biotechnical point of view. The methodology employed by these two groups facilitated a rapid assessment of the relevance of innovations under 'real' farm conditions. Such assessment studies would be almost impossible to be made through on-farm trials, and so are more easily accommodated via the utilisation of computer models. This approach would enable the development of policy initiatives to promote the adoption of environmentally-friendly innovations, which for the sake of completeness would still require on-farm validation by stakeholders.Agriculture in the region is extremely diverse and mainly driven by mixed farming systems which include crops and livestock and is practised mainly by rural households. This type of agriculture has nevertheless been excluded for a long time from the political, scientific and technical spheres, giving way to the promotion of export crops. Today, in light of the MEA, the complex diversity and multifunctionality of such agricultural systems is being promoted as an innovative approach to renew productive practices for a sustainable development. Researchers in the region are now able to offer different methodologies to design innovative systems corresponding to the current societal expectations, which can either be gradual (step by step), or sudden (de novo). These have been tested in Guadeloupe in response to certain phytosanitary restrictions faced by the banana and citrus farmers. Other countries This chapter considers the challenge of creating a sustainable supply of food for local consumption in the Caribbean with some potential for export. While it is important to note recent trends in large-scale production, including a long decline in plantation systems geared for the export of single crops, and more recent attempts to boost commercial farming for delivery to niche export markets, the focus here is not primarily on commercial or export agriculture. Rather, the chapter looks at recent and emerging efforts to implement non-traditional systems geared for small-scale farming. These systems are aimed at strengthening local food security and adapting traditional farming methods in the face of rapidly changing climates. In the context of this chapter, traditional agriculture is considered as the cultivation of crops in the ground, depending mainly on rainfall and with minimal use of irrigation. It is a system practiced widely for the past several decades and even centuries in the Caribbean.The following pages focus mainly on the production of food crops, with some mention of livestock. Drawing mostly on examples from the Eastern Caribbean and Haiti, the authors describe a range of non-traditional techniques currently being developed in the region. A more detailed look at one non-traditional approach spearheaded by researchers in St Kitts and Nevis is then provided. This system, founded at Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC) in St Kitts is now poised for implementation in Nevis, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Haiti. It  agriculture shade house technology with a combination of hydroponics, organoponics, and hybridponics growing systems. The prospect summed up in the conclusion is to confront barriers of regional fragmentation and vulnerability with regional collaborations that transfer knowledge, adapt it to community-based needs, and improve food security and social resilience at the local level throughout the Caribbean.In most Caribbean countries, particularly in the smaller island nations, food imports have been increasing while exports of agricultural products have been decreasing, as seen in Figure 10.1.  The situation in St Kitts and Nevis as illustrated in Figure 10.2 is typical of the trend among its Caribbean counterparts. Agricultural production for local consumption has also been decreasing and, in the case of St Kitts and Nevis, the contribution of agriculture to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) accounted for only 4.5 percent in 2000, with sugar cane accounting for close to half of that amount.Many Caribbean economists, historians, and other writers on the political economy of agriculture in the region (Marie 1979;Codrington 1984;Marshall 1991;Barrow 1992;Beckford 1994) have pointed out that plantation systems for commercial crops such as sugar and bananas tended to de-emphasize food production for local consumption thereby creating a dependence on imports. Indeed, the plantation economies have shaped Caribbean agriculture practices for centuries with an export-oriented focus on cash crops, while local food production remained minimal. Given the legacy of the plantation system, Caribbean people often find themselves without the necessary mindsets or practical models to develop and implement new approaches to growing food, making the problem of local food production an even more severe challenge. The plantation system, while it casts a long historical shadow, was in decline more than a century before the recent final closure of sugar mills in Barbados, Trinidad and Toboago, and St Kitts and massive down-sizing in other countries. As many as five decades ago, some Caribbean countries began making attempts to manage the shift away from plantation economies and simultaneously address the problem of local food production. Initially, these efforts took place within a framework of agricultural diversification, and more recently have been motivated by additional concerns about food security and rapidly intensifying climate change.According to Wilson and Bekele (1999), agricultural diversification refers to increasing the range of agricultural output at farm, sectoral or regional levels either through expanding the number of crop or livestock species produced, or by vertical integration of one or more species into a diversified product mix, through processing. With such processing, diversification could also be achieved by internationally sourcing raw material, e.g. fresh fruit to achieve all year manufacture of products for an export market or continuous supply of local demand.Beginning in the mid-1960s and carrying through to the late-1990s, studies undertaken at the Caribbean Community Secretariat, the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of the West Indies (UWI), and the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI) indicate both the technical and economic feasibility of substantially increased production of food in the countries of the region. Under the rubric of 'agricultural diversification ', Demas (1987) and Wilson and Bekele (1999) elaborated planning strategies to manage a shift away from the plantation model of Caribbean agriculture. Three main elements in a successful approach to diversified farming were proposed by Demas (1987). First is the intensification of traditional crop production by increasing productivity through technologically advanced farming practices and irrigation, and by adding value through further processing, thereby generating alternative products from the raw material of traditional crops. Second, is the increased production of non-traditional crops for national and regional consumption, and third, is the increased production of non-traditional crops for export to extra-regional markets. Wilson and Bekele (1999) recognized the existence of operational models for expanding the export of niche products such as hot peppers, aloes, and Sea Island cotton, and for increasing the productivity of crops and livestock for local food markets throughout the region. Arguing that claims about agricultural diversification remain arbitrary and subjective without the use of quantitative models to determine whether or not diversification has taken place, Wilson and Bekele (1999) also contributed more quantitative assessment tools to measure productivity, sustainability, competitiveness, and flexibility.Agricultural Diversification and Non-Traditional Systems for Sustainable Food Production Trejos and de las Casas (1997) argued for hemispheric integration to boost food production, as well as for a comprehensive model of sustainable development resting on three pillars: participation by producers and organizations; reconversion of production structures, to make them more efficient when overhauled, and enable products to secure a better market position, while conserving resources and increasing equity; and institutional transformation for the improvement of their ability to respond to the demands and needs of agricultural producers and to serve as facilitators to streamline relations among institutions in the framework of sustainable development.Against the backdrop of these preceding decades of scholarship on efforts to shift Caribbean agriculture by introducing the need for sustainable food production practices, Naraine (2005) surveyed the state of domestic agricultural production in St Kitts. Historically dominated by the oldest sugar plantation system in the region, monocrop cultivation occupied the major portion of arable land and the most productive soils, leaving food crop and livestock production to peasant farmers on the fringes with small, scattered land holdings. Over the decades, farmers toiled against the vagaries of weather, mostly on hillsides, and depended on rain-fed systems to a large extent. Traditional producers also faced declining soil fertility on already marginal land, poor infrastructure, outmoded technology, lack of service support and expertise, and lack of sufficient institutional support from either governmental entities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or community based organizations (CBOs). In addition, lack of access to credit, low prices for their produce with seasonal oversupply which was quickly followed by scarcity in offseason periods, lack of marketing systems, nuisances of dog attacks on livestock, monkeys and stray-roaming livestock feeding on food crops, and, not infrequently, environmental disasters attributed to severe storms and hurricanes, have all compounded to negatively impact agricultural development. More recently, the issue of competition with lowerpriced imported produce at the market highlighted some of the disadvantages associated with globalization. Opening up national boundaries and lowering tariffs to increase trade constitute a cost to local companies that are, in most cases, ill-equipped to compete at the global level and are therefore marginalized (Barker 2012). Naraine (2005) evaluated the extent of agricultural diversification in St. Kitts using an adapted version of the Shannon Index of Entropy (SIE), represented by the formula (Masisi, et al. 2008):where, (I t ) is a measure of diversification in agricultural systems, using as the basic factor, the proportion of total revenue, p it from the i th (i =1,2,…n, where n ≥ 1) agricultural commodity in year (t). Thus, a perfectly diversified agricultural system would have an entropy index of log (n) and a perfectly specialized system with one commodity an index of zero (0), with the parameters for evaluating diversification to include: productivity, sustainability, competitiveness, and flexibility. This model may be adapted to calculate diversification (SIE) for individual countries or the Caribbean, collectively. However, diversification at the regional or national level alone is not sufficient to measure the success of agricultural diversification in the Caribbean. Naraine (2005) further argued that the success of the sector depends on the individual success of farmers or enterprises, and that national or regional success hinges upon the cumulative effect of individual productivity, sustainability, competitiveness, and flexibility.Applying the SIE, Naraine (2005) found a low level of diversification of approximately two crop types at the enterprise level in St Kitts in 2005, affecting food production. The optimum determined by the SIE is five crop types (leafy greens, beans, ground provisions, tomato, herbs and peppers) that would correlate with optimum productivity, particularly when there is a total of approximately five crop and livestock types combined. Such integrated farms benefit from sustainability with multiple revenue streams, ecological considerations with effective recycling, and flexibility when faced with varying market changes.In the intervening decade, discussions have shifted away from viewing Caribbean agricultural diversification as a way of replacing foreign exchange losses due to failing export crops. Instead, there has been greater emphasis on boosting local production through developing non-traditional farming techniques. Because of this, SIE results may now vary, and current data, if gathered for the same variables as in 2005, may reveal that diversification has improved with a corresponding improvement in food production with the introduction of the non-traditional systems identified later in this chapter. Trotz (2007) asserts that over the last 15-20 years, climate change has emerged as a major concern for small-island and low-lying coastal developing states of the Caribbean region. Impacts ranging from loss of life and food security to saltwater intrusion into aquifers and breakdown of law and order may be extended to Small Island Developing States (SIDS) throughout the world.The intensification of these trends is confirmed in recent reports from the National Academy of Sciences ( 2013) and the Royal Society (2014). Barker (2012) directly links climate changes to a crisis in Caribbean agriculture, as increasingly irregular rain patternsAgricultural Diversification and Non-Traditional Systems for Sustainable Food Production and more extreme tropical weather events compound the stresses and shocks imposed by globalization. With the view that climate change is negatively impacting the physical environment and, in turn, human lives, livelihoods, and biodiversity, it is prudent for all societies to act to minimize the impacts upon the environment and communities.Minimizing impacts is typically achieved with mitigation, but there is a growing trend with the adaptation approach to climate change. Mitigation tends to be more of a reactive approach, while adaptation, by making decisions with foresight based on potential risks, is essentially proactive and can be more feasible and effective towards long-term solutions. Simoes et al. (2010) identified the characteristics and benefits of adaptation to climate change, using examples from northeast Brazil. The main lesson to be learned from that case is the need for building adaptive capacity at all educational and skill levels, both formal and non-formal. Adaptive capacity is essential for people in communities to adapt to changing climatic conditions and related environmental degradation.The immediacy of climate change and the need to adapt adds another layer of urgency to the question of agricultural diversification, and it was with that in mind that faculty and students at the CFBC, St.Kitts-Nevis, have experimented since 2006 with non-traditional plant growing systems as an adaptation strategy to climate change. They have developed growing systems (hydroponics, organoponics, and hybridponics) that demonstrate documented high productivity, despite the challenges encountered by Caribbean farmers due to climate change impacts, land scarcity and competition with other sectors for land, and a host of other environmental and human impacts that negatively affect production of garden vegetables.From 2010 forward, the CFBC collaborated with researchers and students from the University of Central Florida to move beyond experimentation by demonstrating 'proof of concept' on a production-scale design of growing systems. In addition to building shade house growing systems for hydroponics (44.6 m 2 ) and organoponics (37.2 m 2 ), and using them in tandem to create a novel hybridponics growing method, faculty-student teams have conducted marketing research in the field to generate a model for commercializing crop outputs and estimating livelihood potential. The data presented in student research submitted for the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exam (CAPE © ) assessments and at the 2013 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Subregional Conference on Environmental Policy and Planning for the Caribbean indicated that output from this system is profitable enough to generate a competitive income of more than EC$2,000 (US$740) per month. This system is profiled in greater detail in the following discussion, but first we present a survey of recent efforts to develop non-traditional techniques throughout the region.In addition to the techniques of hydroponics, organoponics and hybridoponics proposed in this chapter, there are several relevant examples of non-traditional agricultural practices throughout the region, which offer the opportunity to use new varieties and move away from the traditional plantation-style monoculture systems. Additionally, these practices are less tedious and therefore more attractive to youth who are less inclined to venture into the traditional drudgery of plantation-style or open-field farming. Several new and improved techniques have been introduced to the region within the last 20 years. In the case of crops for example, varietal trials, tissue culture, protected agriculture systems and low-cost alternatives, coordinated urban and peri-urban systems in the form of backyard and school gardens, and hydroponics have been implemented to increase food production. For livestock, artificial insemination is being used in St Kitts and Nevis to reduce the importation of live animals.Varietal trials are useful for the introduction of new cultivars (commonly referred to by producers as varieties) to the agricultural sector, which are chosen for optimum performance in the field, high yields and market acceptance. Varietal trials require controlled conditions and consistent data collection, and in the case of St Kitts and Nevis, with a hot, dry climate, the selection of heat tolerant cultivars is important. Farmers have reported that the annual drought is longer and the annual rains during the rainy season have become progressively more intense within the last 10 years, something which is evidenced by the frequency of forest fires during the dry periods and the increasing intensity of flooding throughout the region. The Department of Agriculture (DoA), St Kitts and Nevis, embarked on a series of varietal trials to select the most suitable varieties for production of various crops.There are many heat tolerant varieties on the market internationally with new ones being released frequently; therefore, it is important to research the varieties before selection. Varieties may be determinate (the plant dies after a single fruiting), or indeterminate (plants continue to grow and fruit until killed or removed by grower). As these require different management techniques, growers must determine which type is most suitable for their application. Determinate varieties require minimal staking or support and minimal pruning. Indeterminate varieties require extensive support and pruning, and although removal of suckers is highly recommended, it is not mandatory. It is important to choose high quality seed from reputable seed companies to attain best seed germination and crop productivity.Agricultural Diversification and Non-Traditional Systems for Sustainable Food ProductionFor uniformity, areas should be selected that are free from shade and level where possible, otherwise, the field should be divided into blocks with uniform characteristics before planting. The soil should be tilled and banked in rows with 0.91 m spacing between ridges to allow for adequate drainage. Rows should run in the direction of the contours whenever possible to reduced erosion. Drip irrigation tubing of 1.3 cm diameter should be used with 45.7 cm spacing between emitters. Rows should be covered with plastic mulch to reduce weeds and water loss due to surface evaporation. The size of the trial plot would be determined by the number of varieties to be tested.General seed germination practices should be followed to ensure seedling uniformity. Firstly, calculate the number of seeds to sow for each variety depending on number of replications. More replications are required if the field is not uniform as the field will need to be divided into blocks. Sterilise seedling trays, mix growing media (e.g. ProMix ® ), with slow release fertiliser and apply evenly to seedling trays, and place one seed per cell. Finally, cover the seeds with a light covering of growing media and water gently to prevent seeds from being dislodged from the cells. Ensure only one cultivar is sown per tray and that trays are properly labelled with the cultivar name. Trays may be placed in a germination chamber or shade house dedicated to seedling germination. The seedlings should be frequently checked to ensure the media is sufficiently moist. Once plants have achieved three to four true leaves and attain a height of 10-15 cm they may be transplanted to the field.For a uniform field, varieties should be randomly assigned to rows using random number tables. For a field with blocks, varieties should be assigned randomly to rows within blocks. A field map should be prepared to record the layout of the varieties, and standard fertilisation practices should be employed. Seven to ten days after transplanting, a complete fertiliser should be applied. About six weeks after transplanting, at the onset of flowering, a potassium-rich fertiliser should be applied to encourage flowering and fruit set. Data collection for each cultivar should include pest resistance, crop yield, and presence of wilting and nutrient deficiency. In keeping with good agricultural practices, records should be kept on inputs for calculation of the cost of production. Market acceptability and organoleptic (taste) assessments are required to determine the suitability of the best performing varieties for introduction to the market.In 2013, the DoA, St. Kitts and Nevis, successfully tested four Israeli tomato cultivars to replace the commonly used Heatmaster and Heatwave. The cultivar HA3080 had the lowest yields, while HA3019, HA3057, and HA3091 had similar yields to Heatmaster (Table 10.1). hormones, the latter two of which are used to regulate the growth and development of the cultured plants. The media are available pre-packaged, from a number of international suppliers. 1 Alternatively, media recipes can be found in several publications, for example, Saad and Elshahed (2012). Great care must be taken when preparing media. The order of addition of components must be strictly followed to prevent undesirable side reactions and precipitation of salts. Once prepared, media must be sterilised either by filtration, ultraviolet light, or autoclaved (steam steriliser or pressure cooker), and then decanted into the desired culture container (e.g. test tubes, petri-dishes, baby food jars, magenta boxes).All steps from the sterilisation of plant material to root initiation need to be performed in an enclosed lab environment using a specialised piece of equipment, the laminar flow hood, in which air flow is in one direction toward the user. The sterilised plant material is cut into smaller pieces (explants) and placed on culture media and observed daily for signs of growth and contamination. If contamination occurs, remove the contaminated container, autoclave and discard the material. Culture containers may be re-used if they are made of glass or specialised plastic. Growing cultures may be sub-divided and placed on fresh media every three to four weeks depending on the rate of growth, a process called sub-culturing. Because nutrients in the medium are used by the explant, therefore frequent sub-culturing is necessary.After several rounds of sub-culturing, shoots are transferred to a rooting medium, which may or may not contain the plant growth regulators, auxin or cytokinin, or a combination of both. This is dependent on the plant in culture, and has to be optimised for each plant type. Rooting cultures are then hardened or acclimated through a series of steps. The total number of steps in the process is again determined by the plant type.Box 10.1 outlines the key benefits and limitations associated with the adoption of tissue culture.Examples of international suppliers include: Phytotechnology In St Lucia, within the Tissue Culture Unit, Department of Agriculture, Propagation Division, the tissue culture facilities were upgraded. The lab now produces high quality disease-free material for propagation and germplasm conservation. Over 200,000 tissue-cultured plants are produced annually; however, the facility has the capacity to produce 500,000. The main commodities are banana, yam and orchid. In 2013, orchid production was self-sustaining in that the revenue generated from the sale of orchids was sufficient for equipment and lab maintenance and employee salaries. In St Vincent and the Grenadines, tissue culture facilities were upgraded in 2012. The tissue culture lab actively micro-propagates and distributes roots and tubers, and planting material both locally and regionally. Cassava, yam, sweet potato and dasheen plantlets (micro-propagated plants) have been distributed regionally to members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Jamaica and Barbados (CARDI Bi-Weekly 2014).The major challenge faced was in the distribution and acclimation of material, resulting in distributed plantlets dying in several of the receiving territories. The limited number of adequately trained personnel to manage the acclimation of the plantlets is one area that therefore needs to be addressed.Protected agriculture has been reintroduced into the Caribbean region with the construction and commissioning of several tropical greenhouses to increase year-round local production and reduce imports (Table 10.3). In 2012, the largest fully temperaturecontrolled greenhouse in the region was constructed in St Kitts with ICDF, Taiwan.In 2010, the Agricultural Resource Management (ARM) Project, funded by the Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation (SIDF), embarked on a project to fund the reintroduction of greenhouse farming to St Kitts and Nevis. The initial project included the construction of ten dams and four demonstration greenhouses with drip irrigation and water storage systems. By 2014, eight greenhouses in St Kitts and two in Nevis were completed. Farmers were provided with the infrastructure, supplies and training to operationalize the systems. The objective was that farmers will adopt the technology and take full responsibility for the greenhouses at the end of the project. Greenhouse cultivars (hybrid seeds) of tomato, sweet pepper, lettuce and cucumber were imported for planting in the greenhouses. The structures were outfitted with fertigation systems (irrigation and fertiliser mixer) and timers. In the initial phase, because in-soil planting was used, rows were prepared and covered with plastic mulch and drip lines (micro-irrigation) for precision watering. | 317Agricultural Diversification and Non-Traditional Systems for Sustainable Food ProductionIn Haiti, as part of the WINNER program, a five-year project sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and implemented by the development contractor Chemonics, as many as 1,000 greenhouses were constructed during 2012-13 period. The programme is not without controversies related to the distribution of Monsanto seeds treated with potentially toxic pesticides and herbicides (Innocent 2011;'Monsanto in Haiti' 2011), inconsistent delivery of promised storage supplies (Lentfer 2013), alleged by-passing of the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture (Center for Economic Policy and Research 2011) and an overall approach that threatens to displace long-standing peasant association networks with US-style agribusiness (Yaffe, 2011). WINNER does, however, represent an attempt to boost higher-scale commercial production, partly through greenhouse protected agriculture, and deliver that produce to local consumers through outlets such as the new weekly Mache Peyizan market in Tabarre ('WINNER's Farmers' Market Delivers on Expectations' 2012).In St. Kitts, sweet pepper and tomato production fluctuated greatly from 2004 to 2012 (Figure 10.3), however, in 2013, a 25 percent increase in sweet pepper and a similar 20 percent increase in tomato production were realised (Jackson 2014). Since the increase in cash crop production corresponded to the commissioning of the greenhouses, it can be concluded that the greenhouse crop cultivation contributed to the increase in production of these crops. Protected agriculture: shade house models Haiti and St. Kitts and Nevis have also seen the implementation of another kind of smallscale protected agriculture based on shade houses that retain the protective roofing and walls of the greenhouse model but forego energy-intensive climate control systems and instead allow air to pass through walls. The University of Nouvelle Grand'Anse (UNOGA) is a small private university that shares a 8.5 ha campus with the Fondation Nouvelle Grand'Anse (FNGA), headquartered in Dekade, along the Grand'Anse river, 9 km southeast of Jeremie, the provincial capital. In order to develop new income generating activities, and to present farmers with a new and more profitable method of farming, faculty and students at UNOGA partnered with technicians from FNGA to install a shade house and test the results of protected vegetable production. During this process, tomatoes, carrots, chard, cabbage, and hot pepper have been tested under the shade house. The most recent harvest data for February-March 2014 indicate that 109 kg of hot pepper (Habanero) were collected from 46 plants.Inside a previously constructed shade house of 200 m 2 , a drip irrigation system was installed, and distribution pipes were connected to water tank of 2,272l capacity. The water tank used gravity to provide water to the test crops, though some electric power was needed to pump water from the river to a main concrete water tower connected to the campus pigsty. Six in-ground beds were prepared with two drip irrigation lines each. Each bed was seeded with one different vegetable -carrot, chard, cabbage, and hot pepper -and tomatoes were seeded to two beds, and the test crops irrigated for 4 hours twice a week.The testbed system from Dekade (Figure 10.4) was replicated at a more remote site near Pic Makaya (Figure 10.5) in southern Grand'Anse with participation of another peasant community and support provided by UNOGA faculty and FNGA technicians.As part of the experiment, researchers collected qualitative data on how local farmers perceived the non-traditional system. Most farmers can be described as small-scale and vulnerable with farms between 0.5 and 1.5 ha in size, and typically situated on eroded land. Farmers noted several general benefits and limitations of shade house protected farming when compared with traditional open-air, rain-fed agriculture (Box 10.2).Participants were also asked to analyse how this system specifically could be adapted to the conditions and environment of peasant farmers in rural Haiti. They produced the following list of additional benefits and limitations (Box 10.3).Agricultural Diversification and Non-Traditional Systems for Sustainable Food Production Box 10.2: Benefits and Limitations of Shade House, Protected Farming Compared to Traditional Open-Air, Rain-Fed Agriculture Benefits:• Optimal plant productivity• Faster maturity (especially cabbage)• Easy control of weeds and insects• Higher yield per unit area• Economic profitability• Reduction of direct exposure to sun• Reduction of evaporation • Easy to maintain• The farmer has more time for other activities, such as livestock• Better economic returns and opportunity to grow more profitable crops than beans and corn• High installation cost means the farmers will not undertake such an activity without additional support• The issue of identifying appropriate cultivars• New agricultural practices and training would be required for peasantsIn addition to the CFBC hydroponics system, two alternate hydroponic farms were established in St Kitts and Nevis. The Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Program (STEP), a joint venture between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Department of Education, was launched in 2012 with young males as the major beneficiaries. The program provides training in crop production using a vertical hydroponics system as a platform for enterprise development. Crops are grown in vertically stacked pots filled with coconut mesh housed in open-sided shade houses with a reflective porous roof. Vertical drip lines are installed in the stacked pots, and fertigation is fully automated (Figures 10.6A and 10.6B). The program has been hailed a success as there is a steady supply of produce sold to local restaurants and supermarkets. The major crops produced include tomatoes, lettuce, squash and beets, and there is an occasional demand for micro-greens (juvenile plantlets often eaten raw in salads).Agro-processing of non-traditional products like flour from breadfruit, cassava, and sweet potato has become an important component for revenue generation in the Caribbean region. Establishments such as the Trinidad and Tobago Agribusiness Association (TTABA), the National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation (NAMDEVCO) of Trinidad and Tobago, and the Agro-processors' Cooperatives of St. Kitts and Nevis, produce such commodities as alternatives to already existing products. In addition, these products have a higher nutritive value than the more refined products gracing the supermarket shelves. Successful agro-processing requires adequate facilities for processing and storage. However, a consistent theme throughout the region is the limited access to funding and support for acquisition and training for personnel. This problem was somewhat alleviated in 2014 in St Kitts and Nevis, when the storage facilities for value-addition to some crops were upgraded.Researchers and students at the University of Nouvelle Grand' Anse (UNOGA), Jeremie, Haiti, have been successful in producing breadfruit flour and marketing it as a food tourism souvenir product. It has also been introduced on a limited basis in the United States as an artisanal grain substitute popular with those who prefer gluten free diets or the so-called Paleo-diet. UNOGA researchers have also had experimental success developing a dried fruit roll and energy bar by combining fruits and vegetables in a boiling pot then drying out the paste and shaping it as needed.| 321Within the broader context of non-traditional agriculture adaptations reviewed above, researchers, students, government agencies, NGOs, businesses and community-based stakeholders have partnered to develop a new system that combines several techniques. This approach blends shade house protected agriculture with a combination of hydroponics, organoponics, and hybridponics growing systems. The sections that follow provide more detail on the different systems with emphasis on key aspects of hydroponic growing (effective plant combination, choice of growing medium, and managing nutrient solutions), data on plant productivity, and a commercialization model.Hydroponics can be defined as a technique used to grow plants without soil, in a system containing the following elements: the root zone, the aerial organs of the plant, an irrigation system to supply nutrient solution to the root zone, and a drainage system for dealing with runoff (Schröeder and Leith 2002). In the CFBC adaptation model in St Kitts, these components were adapted to include the use of an electric pump to continuously circulate nutrient solution over the root system of plants located in a growth medium and protected by a shade house enclosure.Researchers and students began by creating three small systems on the main campusone traditional, one organoponics, and one hydroponics-to compare various aspects of plant growth across systems. A series of six field observations of these on-campus growing systems were conducted to collect and compare a wide spectrum of data related to plant productivity. While the full results are available in a longer paper (Thomas 2010), the actual field reports (in their unedited form) from visits numbered 1, 5 and 6, are presented on the following pages. To measure the height of plantThe height of the plants was measured. 4.3 cm 4.8 cm 0.4 cm 1.5 cm At this visit, the plants within the organoponics system were transplanted at three weeks old. These were grown in vitro before they were transplanted. Figures 10.7A and 10.7B show the size of the plants at the point of transplantation. The first measurements were recorded a week afterwards when they were four weeks old. By means of comparison to week three, there was vigorous growth of the plants in all aspects of the plants shown in this system. The colours of the stems and the leaves of the two plants were ideal based on the proposed/standard look of the ideal as indicated previously. The measurements for the hydroponics plants however were recorded from the first week of growth. There was growth. The colours of the two plants matched those which were proposed in the same section as above.To measure the width of plant To examine the types of pests presentThe plants were examined for the presence of pests.No pests were found on the plants.No pests were found on the plants. There were no pests found in neither system. When plants begin to germinate, they have large stores of sucrose in their roots for proper root growth. Without efficient growth of the roots, plants' development will be restricted, growth will be stunted and photosynthesis will be prohibited. There are no large food stores in the stems of these plants at these stages. Hence, pests will not gain adequate food and thus they avoid these crops and seek others. Moreover, some diseases such as mosaic are caused by other organisms. There were no adverse effects of pests or diseases on the plants.To determine the extent to which the pests impact the plantsThe impacts that pests had on the plants were recorded. There were no impacts caused by pests.There were no impacts induced by pests.To examine the types of diseases presentThe plants were examined for the presence of diseases.There were no diseases that were examined on the plants.There were no diseases that were examined on the plants.To determine the extent to which these diseases impact the plantsThe impacts that diseases had on the plants were recorded. There were no implications since no diseases were recognized.There were no implications since no diseases were found.| 327 Parsleys and thymes were the pest control mechanisms in this system. Parsley and thymes were cultivated in the same medium near the plants that were observed. This was essential because as these 'two pests detractors' grew, they produced high levels of alkaloid and toxins within their leaves. Figure 10.7E shows how parsley leaves appear. They are so green because they are uninfested by pests and are disease resistant due to their large stores of alkaloid and toxins.In the event that any pest consume or taste-even this plant, they will be repulsed as it will taste bitter. This was strategically done because the taste is not enticing for pests and so, thymes and parsleys are undesirable for them. Since pests are the main sources of diseases, the plants are said to be disease-resistant also as they have dual effects in warding off pests and diseases simultaneously. Furthermore, five gallons of water was used for the organoponics system initially as plants did not require as much like in the latter stages at these early points of growth and development. Although the hydroponics system's reservoir maximum capacity was 40 gallons (as mentioned before) only 25 gallons was used as the number of baskets/cups used was reduced considerably by 30.To No Nitrates were added in solution. There was no urgency to add any nutrients to the systems at this first visit. However, prior to these visits, manure and bagasse ash were added to the soil in the Organoponics system. They contained NPK.There was no addition of the three nutrient solutions. Furthermore, the pH value of the Organoponics system was 7.5. According to the Ferry Morse Seed company Premium Soil Test Kit Lab Book, this range is not the most suitable for neither plant's growth at optimal levels (pH requirements noted before). Nevertheless, after four weeks, the plants still showed signs of growth and development. On the other hand, the solution for the Hydroponics at the first field visit appeared to be favourable for the lettuces being 7, but inappropriate for the basil plants. Although the pH value seemed to be inadequate, the basil crops still grew in the conditions that were presented to them. There were no pests found.Leaf miners and caterpillars found. No pests were found in this system at this visit. The only plants that seemed to be affected by pests and diseases were the organoponics basil. Caterpillars and leaf miners still affected these plants as there was an abundance of food sources present. Aphids are known to feed on plants once their food sources are sufficient. These were expected to be seen, but were not. It is possible that the time of visit was a factor and the inspection of the plants was insufficient.To determine the extent to which the pests impact the plantsThe impacts that the pests had on the plants were recorded.There were no impacts induced by pests.There were whitish-yellowish caused trails in the leaves caused by leaf miners.There were no impacts induced by pests.The plants were examined for the presence of diseases.There were no diseases seen.There were no diseases seen. There were no diseases seen.To determine the extent to which these diseases impact the plantsThe impacts that the diseases had on the plants were recorded.No pimplications since no diseases were found.There were no implications since no diseases found. There were no implications since no diseases were found.| 331 one. This was so because the reasons for the usages of these pest-resistant plants remained constant as they manufactured more and more alkaloids and toxins as they grew. In this way, the leaves kept detracting pests while they grow. Since pests are the vectors that transmit diseases, then the repelling of these pests prevented diseases also.To record the type of irrigation system usedThe type of irrigation system used was noted and the water quantity used was recorded. The drip irrigation system was used. Eighteen gallons were used for this visit. To measure the height of plantThe height of the plants was measured.There was a ten percent growth of the lettuce and a four percent growth of the basil. Plants started to slow in growth as the 'plateau' effect was taking place in which growth was minimal. This may the due to the deficiencies in nutrients as plants would have already utilized large quantities to get to these stages. It was also possible that they neared the point of maximal growth. The leaves and stem colours were ideal.To measure the width of plant The width of the plants was measured.To measure the length of longest leafThe length of the longest leaf was measured.19.6 cmTo measure the width of broadest leafThe width of the broadest leaf was measured.19.5 cmTo observe the colour of the stem The colour of the stem was observedTo observe the colour of the leaves The colour of the leaves was observed.Pests:To examine the types of pests presentThe plants were examined for the presence of pests.No pests were found in this system at this visit.The lettuce at this stage seemed to be unaffected. However, the aphids are likely to be in effect still because there are large stores of sucrose in the plants stems at this time. It is also possible that other organisms still invaded the system, but were not spotted upon the visit as this could have been a factor that influenced the results. Nonetheless, the diminishing of symptoms of diseases showed the plants recuperated. It can be that these deficiencies only occurred at the point in time because they were inaccessible to the plants at those specific times. The leaves, like in week four and five would have been bombarded by flies and thus causing leaf miners.To determine the extent to which the pests impact the plants The impacts that the pests had on the plants were recorded.There were no effects induced by pests since they were absent.There were whitish-yellowish caused trails in the leaves caused by leaf miners.To examine the types of diseases presentThe plants were examined for the presence of diseases.There were no diseases that were examined There were no diseases that were examined.To determine the extent to which these diseases impact the plants The impacts that the diseases had on the plants were recorded.There were no implications since no diseases were found.There were no implications since no diseases were found.| 335Agricultural Diversification and Non-Traditional Systems for Sustainable Food ProductionTo record any pest control mechanisms Any biological control mechanism that was imposed was documented.Parsleys and thymes were used to resist pests.Parsleys and thymes were used to resist pests. The same biological pests control mechanisms were employed as in visit one. This was so because the reasons for the usages of these pestresistant plants remained constant as they manufactured more and more alkaloids and toxins as they grew. In this way, the leaves kept detracting pests while they grow. Since pests are the vectors that transmit diseases, then the repelling of these pests prevented diseases also.To record the type of irrigation system used The type of irrigation system used was noted and the water quantity used was recorded.The drip irrigation system was used. Twenty gallons were used for this visit.The reservoir of the hydroponics system contained water that was continuously recycled. The same 25 gallons of water was used in this reservoir even though its maximum capacity is 40 gallons.| 337Agricultural Diversification and Non-Traditional Systems for Sustainable Food ProductionAdditional data from the initial phase of experiments are presented in the section on plant productivity later on, and indicate significantly enhanced productivity moving from traditional to organoponics to hydroponics. Having achieved the desired results, the research team re-designed the hydroponic system on a much larger scale. A semi-commercial hydroponic system was designed and built at the CFBC. It has an individual plant capacity of 300 plants but can accommodate as many as 1,200 plants, depending on the crop choice. Instead of adopting the typical system designs that already existed, the technology was adapted and simplified to reach the intended target population; low resource persons. In one adaptation, the CFBC system to utilized water straight from the municipal source, meaning no reverse osmosis system was needed to purify the water before nutrients are added and mixed.Researchers also managed to reduce the electrical components to just one commercial pump that can deliver 4, 921 l in circulation every hour at 167 watts. The question of algae growth as well as suitable O 2 levels for root development was satisfied with a high pressure piping system that was accomplished by simply reducing the pipe size 3.8 cm from the reservoir to the growth chambers at 0.95 cm. Chambers were designed to accommodate large rooting systems and withstand high water pressures by using 12.7 cm 2 x 12.7 cm 2 schedule 40 PVC. All seeds were sown directly into the hydroponics system in a growth media called clay pellets that are placed in a netted plastic cup 7.6 cm deep x 7.6 cm wide. These pellets have been used for the past six years and still can be used for some more years. The hydroponics system was also designed to be operated by one individual (male or female) who would be able to dismantle and relocate in 30 minutes or less when hurricanes threaten. During six years of operation, the research team successfully grew 16 crops as an adaptive feature, which included cultivars of the following: • Secondary formula: (0.88 ml/L -5.0 percent phosphoric acid, 4.0 percent potassium phosphate 0:5:4 (NPK) -1.5 percent magnesium phosphate, 1.0 percent potassium sulphate 5.0 percent calcium nitrate 0.1 percent potassium borate, 0.0005 percent cobalt nitrate, 0.01 percent copper• Trace formula: (0.99 ml/L -EDTA, 0.1 percent iron EDTA, 0.05 percent manganese EDTA, 5:0:4 (NPK) -0.0008 percent ammonium molybdate, 0.015 percent zinc EDTA The results of this experiment are presented in Table 10.5. When planting more than one crop in a hydroponics system, the dynamics concerning water and nutrient use can become very challenging. For example, if peppers and tomatoes are planted together in the same system, researchers found that peppers must be planted first. The rationale behind this is that tomatoes are considered vines and their growth rate compared to a pepper plant is much faster. The root system on a vine is better adapted for rapid growth and therefore the nutrient uptake is proportionally rapid. In a system where both plants are competing for the same nutrients, the more adapted and sensitized root system will be more efficient in accessing these available nutrients. Therefore a tomato would outgrow a pepper, causing the pepper to show signs of deficiency while the tomato is thriving.In terms of a strategy, the peppers should be planted before the tomatoes, allowed to establish themselves in the system for about two weeks, and then the tomatoes can be planted. This would ensure that the pepper plant will be able to access the nutrients asAgricultural Diversification and Non-Traditional Systems for Sustainable Food Production well as the tomato during growth and development. If the number of crop types grown simultaneously is to be increased, then a clear understanding of the nutrient requirements for each plant must be understood and carefully worked out, probably through experimentation. The first step should involve examining each crop individually, and having an appreciation of their growing patterns before combining them with other crops. Crops that are in the same family often have similar growth patterns and nutrient requirements, so that for example, if tomatoes are being cultivated, then it would also be possible to grow eggplant, cucumber and melons. In like manner, lettuce can be combined with cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower.Pollination requirements are also factors that should be kept in mind when considering growing plants hydroponically, particularly when a secure location is used that restricts the entry of organisms beyond a certain size. If wind is allowed to penetrate the growing facility then wind pollination can occur. With crops like strawberries it is often necessary to release a bee inside the shade house to assist; one bee can pollinate over 600 flowers in a day. Where pollinators do not have access, and flowers are bisexual, it is also possible to hand pollinate the flowers by using a 'spin toothbrush'to massage the flowers and increase the likelihood of successful pollination.Plants in a hydroponic system are typically placed in an inert medium to stabilize them as circulating nutrient solution passes through the root network. Choosing a growing medium is dictated by the type of crops to be cultivated, and the growth period. Key determining factors include the potential environmental impact of a particular medium, as well as, productivity and time to harvest for a particular crop. Short-term crops like strings beans, lettuce and cucumbers have root systems that establish quickly. Lettuce for instance is better suited for rockwool as a medium because it only takes about 23-25 days to grow and harvest, and will need to be quickly and easily removed and replaced to keep the rotation from harvest to replant consistent. Other crops like cucumbers and beans have a three to four month growing cycle that requires a stronger anchoring medium. In that case, CFBC researchers found hydroton pellets to be most appropriate, though gravel, perlite and peat also have good anchoring properties.The goal with growing media is to choose one that supports as many project objectives as possible, namely those related to the environment (biodegradable and recyclable), time, quality and efficiency. Growth media should not be chosen based on price or ease of supply but rather on the basis of what is safest for plants to grow in and what has a minimal environmental impact when the medium is discarded.Crops that will only last a few weeks in the system are considered short term, and with such crops it is advisable to use a medium that can be removed from the hydroponic system quite easily without affecting the overall functioning of the system. For crops like lettuce, cabbage, broccoli for example, coconut chips or rockwool cubes are best suited. These media are biodegradable, which ensures that the environment remains safe when they are eventually discarded. Also, a fresh seedling can be placed directly into the harvested slot simultaneously to maintain a scheduled harvesting cycle. Media like gravel, hydroton pellets, perlite and peat are not advisable for short-term crops simply because the frequency of recycling is too short, and the process can become very labour intensive.Crops that will remain in a hydroponics system for 3-12 months, require a medium that can stand up to environmental elements, is recyclable, does not breakdown easily (which would affect the electro-conductivity (EC) readings), and allows a good gas exchange with the immediate environment. A medium that satisfies these characteristics is hydroton clay pellets, which have been tested and retested for more than six years of experiments at the CFBC. A variety of crops have been grown in the same hydroponics system and the initial pellets are still being used today. This medium also allows for the sowing of seeds like corn, peas, beans, cucumber, and peppers directly into the medium as is done in soil. After the crops are harvested, the cup of clay pebbles are simply taken out, and the old roots removed from between the pebbles, which are washed with a detergent, rinsed and replaced in the same cup which is returned to the system.Knowing how to mix minerals properly and adjust nutrient solution mixes is critical to successful hydroponic growing (LaPlace 2014). The nutrient solution to be used depends for example, on various indicators such as different planting scenarios and signs of nutrient deficiencies in plants to name a few. Although all plants of the same species respond similarly to nutrient stress, plants of similar species will often show significant differences in their nutrient use and efficiency. These result from differences in growth rate, root distribution, phase of development, and efficiency of nutrient uptake and utilization (as previously mentioned in the case of tomatoes and peppers growing together). In any given location, plants from one species may become nutrient-deficient, while those from another species, growing in the same environment right next to them, may not show any deficiency symptoms.Agricultural Diversification and Non-Traditional Systems for Sustainable Food Production Growth rate also affects nutrient status. When the nutrient supply is low or barely adequate for growth under existing environmental conditions, many plants lower their growth rate to a level which can be supported by the available nutrient supply without displaying typical visual deficiency symptoms.When observed symptoms are the direct result of a nutrient deficiency, the required corrective actions are relatively simple. However, symptoms are often the result of interactions with other plant species in the same hydroponic system. Cohabiting plants may limit the availability of the nutrients to plants with a lesser-developed root system, leading to the expression of deficiency symptoms. For instance, as discussed above, if tomatoes and bell peppers are planted at the same time in a hydroponic system, the tomatoes will outgrow the bell peppers. This happens simply because the vine crops grow much more rapidly and therefore their nutrient uptake will also be more vigorous. Transition metals such as copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and nickel (Ni) compete with iron (Fe) and each other for plant uptake. Competition for uptake is not specific to Fe but holds true for all mineral nutrients that are chemically similar and have similar uptake mechanisms. For example, if the availability of Cu or Zn is relatively less than that of (Fe), then excessive concentrations of some other metal such as Ni will induce a deficiency of one of these nutrients rather than Fe. In the case of the macronutrients, excessive amounts of magnesium (Mg) will compete with potassium (K) for uptake and can possibly induce a K deficiency. High Mg concentration can also induce a calcium (Ca) deficiency. Thus, nutrient deficiencies can be induced by a number of different mechanisms that together compound the limited availability of a given nutrient.The chemical make-up of the nutrient solutions is one of the most critical aspects of hydroponics production. Different plant combinations determine the mixture of nutrients and the ways in which plants both access and utilize the nutrients in solution. Plants remove substantial amounts of nutrients from the hydroponic solution during their normal growth cycle and many long-term environmental changes occur as a result of this process. The charge balance of the nutrient solution is maintained through the release of H+ and/or OH-ions. These H+ and OH-ions are released from the cations and anions contained in the nutrients absorbed by plants. For instance, when plants are fertilized with ammonia, they acquire most of their nitrogen in the form of the ammonium cation, rather than from the usual nitrate anion. Because nitrate is the main and only anion used by the plant in large amounts, the net result of this change is that during normal nutrient uptake the proton (H+) excretion will far exceed that of hydroxyl ions (OH-).In the case of vigorously growing plants, the amount of excreted protons can be sufficiently large, so that a decrease in the pH results, making the nutrient solution more acidic. The immediate effect on the nutrient solution may be favourable for some plants, especially acid-loving plants, making iron (Fe2 + ) more available, however, in the long run, lowering the nutrient solution pH can be deleterious to plants in that the availability of nutrients will change. A lower pH allows micronutrients to become locked out of solution, eventually resulting in deficiencies of nutrients such as Cu and Zn. Additionally, when the pH of the solution falls below 5, the solubility of manganese (Mn2 + ) can increase to such an extent as to become toxic to most plant growth.The second non-traditional technique examined in the CFBC model is organoponics. This section of the chapter defines the technique and describes the system design utilized by CFCB College researchers. Vandermeer (2004) describes organoponics as 'a system of urban organic gardens which often consists of low-level concrete walls filled with organic matter and soil, with lines of drip irrigation laid on the surface of the growing media. Organoponics provide access to job opportunities, a fresh food supply to the community, neighbourhood improvement and beautification of urban areas.' In Cuba where the system originated, organoponics was developed as a community response to lack of food security. Although it began as a system of organic gardening, it can be modified to introduce chemical fertilizers to maintain optimum nutrients for plant growth, but compost, animal manure and other organic matter are recommended to keep down input costs. Use is also made of long cement planting troughs and raised metal containers that are filled with composted sugar waste. In experimentation and public outreach events conducted by CFBC, researchers found that any available containers (new or used) may be utilized, including buckets, barrels, and large water bottles.At the CFBC, lettuce, tomatoes, basil, parsley, and seasoning peppers were grown intensively under this organic farming method, with the use of soil from abandoned sugarcane fields that were determined to be fertile based on simple field tests of soil (texture, moisture, structure, and presence of microbes). Planting trays were constructed from used marine plywood lined with construction plastic to prevent rapid decay of the plywood. TheAgricultural Diversification and Non-Traditional Systems for Sustainable Food Production planting trays were filled with 1.3 cm gravel to a depth of 7.6 cm, and then overlaid with sand to a depth of about 5.1 cm to facilitate drainage (Figure 10.27).The planting trays were filled with soil to a depth of about 20.3 cm. Drip irrigation lines were installed about 30.5 cm apart in parallel lines where plants were to be cultivated.Based on the findings at the CFBC, it is recommended that trays should be constructed with light concrete panels with vertical sides and a V-shape at the bottom to accommodate a range of plants with varying root lengths. This design will also optimize drainage and lengthen the life-span of the trays. The growing systems were housed in a shade house in which the walls and roofing were comprised of 30 percent shadecloth/shademesh. It is also recommended that the roof is covered with polyliner or plastic to prevent the direct impact of rainfall, but with water catchment that can be used for irrigation. With the containerised planting trays, shadehouse, and drip irrigation, the water requirement can be controlled to minimize the use of water. When organoponic and traditional cultivation of plants were compared, the organoponic did better than the traditional. The time to harvest was about 30 percent faster for active plant growth and fruiting; harvests were more productive in a shorter time-span, and stems, leaves, and fruits were also about 15 percent larger in size. Plant growth and fruiting in the hydroponic system occurred 17.5 percent faster, resulting in a reduction in the time to harvest by approximately 50 percent , when compared to traditional cultivation.This term, hybridponics, was coined to describe a system in which a seedling is removed from a hydroponic system and transplanted in an organoponics system to complete the growth process. Where plants were transplanted, they displayed significantly-enhanced growth and development compared to similar plants grown exclusively in organoponics. The dynamics of soil chemistry and physics limit seedlings access of nutrients, due to the relative immobility of nutrients in the soil matrix (Resh 2013). Plants generally would not be able to access certain nutrients based on their inferior root development. When plants of the same age and species were taken from hydroponics and transplanted to containerized soil they developed much faster because of the advanced rooting system during their hydroponic germination. These seedlings were able to access nutrients that would have been otherwise unavailable to them if they had grown strictly in soil. Hydroponics, then, can be used to promote a healthy start and robust seedling development for plants that will ultimately grow in a range of soil-based systems. In both organoponics and hybridponics growing systems, plants are grown intensively for optimum utilization of space. Intensive cultivation also provides for symbiosis in which the diversity of plants can benefit from each other with respect to varying light/ shade requirements, nutrient requirements and uptake from various depths, and biological pest control mechanisms through which plants attract and/or repel various insects, both beneficial and harmful. Pest control can be enhanced by painting fence posts in various colours to attract a wider diversity of insects. While there was less incidence of pest infestation in the organoponics growing system than in the traditional system, natural pest control substances (e.g. solution from neem mixed with thyme and garlic) were adequate to deter white flies and black sooty mould. These occurred to a much lesser extent in this system compared to the traditional cultivation. In addition, caterpillars and cutworms were found in the traditional but not the organoponics growing systems.Agricultural Diversification and Non-Traditional Systems for Sustainable Food ProductionFor any agricultural technique to have an impact on local food supply, it has to be implemented by growers and embraced by local retail and consumer networks. Along with optimizing the CFCB College model system, faculty-student teams from the CFBC and the University of Central Florida also used fieldwork marketing research to generate a model for commercializing crop outputs and estimating livelihood potential. Data collected on plant productivity and a commercial estimate of expected inputs and outputs associated with operating a hydroponic system are presented in the next section. The section then concludes with a discussion of macro-and micro-economic factors impacting this system when it is viewed as a business model. One set of productivity data was developed in the following way. Three small systems were designed and constructed to determine which growing system was the most suitable. Iceberg lettuce was chosen as the crop of choice because of its short growth period. The results after three trials are displayed in Table 10.6, while table 10.7 presents the profitability estimates for hydroponic production.The data presented above suggest that small-scale non-traditional agriculture has serious potential as a commercial endeavour that can improve livelihoods. Realizing that potential is a matter of entrepreneurship however, and the system must be operated as a business, shaped by macroeconomic and microeconomic forces. Based on interviews conducted among a number of local restaurants and store owners, it is clear that there is a preference for locally produced agricultural goods over those that were imported. At certain times of the year, because locally grown produce is simply not available, it becomes necessary to import produce. This however leads to a glut situation on the market, when there is a surplus of locally grown produce, which can be addressed by greater access to export markets. From a microeconomic perspective, the hybridponics system was found to be very profitable and easy to maintain. The start-up cost for a 6.1 m x 6.1 m system is divided into two parts: the hydroponics which cost EC$5,400.00 (US$2,000), and the organoponics, which cost EC$10,000.00 (US$3,704), totalling EC$15,400.00 (US$5,704). Although this may initially sound like a substantial amount of money, this sum is only paid once for start-up. The upkeep/maintenance cost of the system is EC$520.00 (US$193) monthly (i.e. EC$200.00 (US$74) for the organoponics system and EC$320.00 (US$119) for the hydroponics). A profit of EC$15,000.00/month (US$5,556/month) or EC$180,000.00/ annum (US$66,667/annum)) can be expected after the sum of EC$2,000.00 (US$740) is subtracted for labour costs. Another advantage of the system is that a labourer only spends maximum of two hours per day working in this system. To implement such a system, much less space is required compared to traditional farming methods. The yields from this system, however, can match those of traditional farms and the quality may even be better.The main disadvantage of the organoponics growing system is that it can be more costly with respect to initial input cost, compared to traditional growing systems. However, due to advantages associated with greater productivity, organoponics may prove more effective than traditional cultivation, with additional consideration of improved reliability and consistency of supply to the market and less impact of climate variability and weather conditions. The practice of organoponics can also be potentially more productive, along with its suitability for more widespread participation by a wider cross-section of people in rural as well as urban areas. Moreover, organoponics is less dependent on the fertile landAgricultural Diversification and Non-Traditional Systems for Sustainable Food Production and \"hard\" labour that characterize traditional cultivation. With such numerous advantages, organoponics appears to be a good adaptation strategy to climate change for food security, less impact on the environment, and less effect of the environment on food production than traditional food production systems.Serious barriers face any efforts to provide local Caribbean communities with food that is consistently healthy, abundant, and affordable. The research findings presented in this chapter has been generated through a process of collaboration among academics, government agencies, NGOs, students, businesses, and community based stakeholders. Through such collaborations, such barriers can be effectively overcome to achieve impacts that improve local food security across the Caribbean. Inadequate baseline information, poor financing and poor management of growing environments plague the application of non-traditional techniques in the agriculture industry. Insufficient technical support also plays a role in the limited success of these systems in the region. It is clear that there have been many successes. A major obstacle to adoption of these techniques is farmer buy-in and the part-time nature of farming in many territories. It is also true that farmers must see themselves as business persons first and not mere labourers (Barker 2012). Therefore, attitudes and perceptions form a key arena to address, and ensure successful implementation. However, the research and productivity-profitability estimates presented above suggest that non-traditional agriculture is indeed a viable business option for smallscale growers in the Caribbean.Protected agriculture already appears to be making an impact on local food supply in St Kitts and Nevis, as the improved figures for 2013 tomato and sweet pepper production suggest. Crucial to solidifying these gains locally will be fostering competent technical support and other forms of knowledge transfer, such as the ability to set-up and maintain non-traditional systems, reliable reporting on crop productivity and profitability, continuing development of agro-processing to deliver longer-lasting, value-added agricultural products to the local market, solid business planning at all levels of local agriculture, and more.The CFBC model reviewed in this chapter works to integrate development on all these levels. But projecting an inclusive, community-based model for local food production throughout the region faces other barriers of language, distance, underdevelopment, and political will, which have fragmented the Caribbean historically and threaten to impede wider implementation of non-traditional agriculture. Fortunately, the Organization of American States (OAS) has agreed to support the expansion of this model to four other Caribbean countries, and at a recent UNESCO meeting on climate change policy in Nevis, representatives from four additional island nations expressed interest in partnering with the CFBC research team. The prospect here is to confront barriers of regional fragmentation and vulnerability with regional collaborations that transfer knowledge, adapt it to communitybased needs, and improve food security and social resilience at the local level throughout the Caribbean.Agriculture has been an important part of the economy of Caribbean countries from the colonial period when plantation crops such as sugar cane, cocoa, and coffee were grown for the European market. After emancipation and during indentureship, peasant farming became more prominent among freed slaves and ex-indentured labourers. The peasant farms were small in size and consisted mainly of a mixture of vegetables, root crops and fruit trees. To allow for the increase in agricultural production from large-scale plantation crops and small-scale peasant farming many of the forests areas were cleared. In recent times, increases in land pressure, growing rural populations, deforestation, and environmental degradation have resulted in more fragile and marginal lands being subjected to intensive agricultural operations. Forests areas are increasingly under threat as a result of these pressures, and in many Caribbean countries, the designation of protected areas to safeguard the remaining forest has further marginalized hillside farmers by restricting the practice of shifting cultivation. Consequently, there is an urgent need to find sustainable methods of hillside cultivation. Several alternative landuse systems have been suggested for increasing agricultural production in the Caribbean region such as mixed and multiple cropping systems.In the mid-1970s, a number of ecologically sound and sustainable land-use systems integrating agriculture and forestry, were grouped together under the broad designation of 'agroforestry' (Nair 1993). This practice was initially promoted as an alternative to shifting cultivation in developing countries where increasing populations have effectively reduced the length of the cycle of forest regeneration or fallow. The incorporation of permanent tree crops into farming systems also assists small farmers in diversifying their production methods. Agroforestry systems also provide a source of food, job and income for many rural households. While agriculture is not a major source of income for the Caribbean countries (three to seven percent of GDP), it provides employment for about ten to 20 percent of the population across its two main sub-sectors -traditional and non-traditional. Countries produced many of their agricultural crops for local consumption and also exported some of their traditional or specialty crops which were mainly sugar cane, cocoa, and coffee.Trees also contribute to the productivity and sustainability of farming systems on marginal lands by enhancing the production of organic matter, maintaining soil fertility, reducing erosion and creating a more favourable microclimate for associated crops and livestock. The mixing of trees and crops can also reduce the need for fertilizers and pesticides. These services are beyond the direct production roles trees can play in supplying food, fodder, fuel wood, building materials, medicines, handicraft and other raw materials for rural industries. In today's modern world, there is competition for housing, industrialization, forestry, recreation and agriculture (both crop and livestock production). These must be balanced to have a harmonious relationship with the environment.This chapter on agroforestry serves to highlight the historical evolution of the system, provide a description of agroforestry systems and describe potential benefits of adopting agroforestry in the Caribbean region. It also gives a broad overview of agroforestry from an international perspective. It should be noted that while agroforestry provides many exciting opportunities for farmers, it is not a 'cure-all' for all our land-use problems. As with any other land-use option, agroforestry involves trade-offs, that is, some short-term gains may have to be given up for the sake of long-term sustainability. Throughout the chapter, references and examples are provided for countries belonging to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). These 15 countries include Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. The justification for defining the Caribbean as countries within the CARICOM is that most of the studies on forestry/agroforestry were organized by the CARICOM secretariat together with other global organizations, mainly the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).The aim of agroforestry is to optimize production based on the interactions between the components and their physical environment. It is a science, whereby benefits will only be obtained from using the correct combination of tree species, crops and/or livestock, together with best management practices. Agroforestry should be viewed as more than just a combination of trees/crops/livestock, but should strive to meet the specific needs of the individual, community and/or population.Agroforestry has been a fundamental part of the traditional food production systems throughout the Caribbean region for many years. The system of land use in the Caribbean was greatly influenced by the early European colonizers, who used the available arable lands and cleared the natural forest for cultivation of large expanses of monoculture crops for the European market. This system of food production therefore resulted in a decrease of biological diversity of the forest species on the islands. The European settlers also introduced tropical crops that were not native to the region (e.g. breadfruit) to provide food and thus reduce the cost of sustaining the slaves and indentured laborers.The traditional systems practiced in the Caribbean usually included forest, fruit, spice, and fodder trees, together with plantation crops such as cocoa, coffee, bananas and sugarcane. The main agroforestry systems in the larger acreages were cocoa/coffee grown under shade trees and forest plantations established using the Taungya system. This perennial system of cultivation was important due to the steep sloping hillsides/mountainous terrain found in some Caribbean islands. In smaller holdings, farmers practiced a system of multi-layered agroforestry using mahogany, cedar, breadfruit, mango, or coconut trees in the upper level; a middle layer of cocoa, coffee, bananas and fruit trees; and a lower level of vegetables and food crops (e.g. pigeon peas). This type of agroforestry allowed the farmer to have a regular source of income, until the perennial trees mature and producing economic products such as fruits or timber. Livestock was also used in the traditional systems, but mainly in the smaller Caribbean islands.Agroforestry is also promoted as a more sustainable and environment-friendly alternative to the traditional 'slash and burn' agriculture, especially for sloping lands. Slash and burn which was once widely practiced is no longer accepted since it involves the removal of trees, loosens the valuable top soil and promotes erosion especially on hillsides. In addition, the land quickly loses its fertility and farmers usually move on after a few years without reforesting the land.Agroforestry Systems and Practices in the Caribbean While 'slash and burn' agriculture involved moving from one location to another, more stable agricultural plantations existed in the form of estates. In managing cocoa and coffee estates in Trinidad, trees are planted for shade. In the early stages, immortelle was the species of choice. This was later replaced by more valuable timber species when it was realised that harvesting of the trees provided a good return. Factors such as larceny, scarcity of labour and urbanization were responsible for many estates becoming abandoned. Within recent times with a shortage of local hardwoods, many landowners seized the opportunity to sell their timber trees, for which they obtained good value. At present, several farmers have recognised the value of lumber and are reforesting their estates with valuable tree species as their main crop. While farmers await the maturation of the trees for harvesting, they plant cash crops such as plantains and bananas among the trees. Since the cash crops ensure that the farmer is more often on the estate, more attention is placed on other agronomic activities such as tree re-planting.The Caribbean region has seen limited development in the agroforestry sector over the decades. The focus on developing agroforestry systems began at a 1987 workshop in Jamaica, where various Caribbean countries reported on the status of the forestry/agroforestry sector. This workshop led to a joint CARICOM/FAO project to conduct studies on the status of the forestry sector (including agroforestry) in the Caribbean region. During the last 25 years there has been more attention to agroforestry as a sustainable land-use system in the Caribbean region. However, there is no established standard or criteria to promote agroforestry specifically, or to use it as a tool in land use planning.The CARICOM region spans a distance of over 4,000 km from the Bahamas in the north to Suriname in the south. The Bahamas consist of many islands located SE of Florida, USA and are mainly low-lying, dry and contain soils derived from limestone parent material. Most of the other CARICOM countries are located in the Caribbean Sea within latitudes of 10-20°N and longitudes of 59-78°W (figure 11.1). They form part of the Greater Antilles (Jamaica and Haiti), The Leeward Islands (Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, and Dominica), and the Windward Islands (St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago. The Leeward and Windward Islands make up the Lesser Antilles. Belize is found in Central America while Guyana and Suriname are part of the South America mainland. The islands of St Kitts, Montserrat, and St Vincent forms part of the 'inner volcanic arc' and have active or potentially active volcanoes, while low-lying coral limestone islands such as Antigua and Barbados form part of the 'outer limestone arc'.In general, Caribbean landscapes were changed as native forests were cleared for plantation agriculture, especially sugarcane. This deforestation increased the risk of erosion and changed the nature of the land resources. When the land is cleared of vegetation it results in declined soil fertility due to increased organic matter decomposition and plant nutrient leaching. Presently, the land area covered by forests for Belize, Guyana and Suriname (continental countries) is 87.5 percent, while for the Caribbean islands (excluding Haiti) it is 40.4 percent (Table 11.1). Only 0.8 percent of Haiti's land area is under forest. In Haiti, impoverished peasant farming has enhanced environmental degradation. Forest trees are cut to provide firewood and steep slopes are cultivated which promote soil erosion and further environmental degradation. The total forested area in Trinidad and Tobago occupies about 226,000 ha or 44 percent of the total land area. The government (state) possesses about 80 percent of these forested lands while the remaining 45,000 ha are privately owned. Several of these private owners are being targeted by the Forestry Division to adopt more sustainably managed systems such as agroforestry.Most of the Caribbean islands have a marine tropical environment and average annual temperatures are about 26.7°C with little seasonal variation. The Northeast (NE) Trade winds modify the tropical heat year-round and produce most of the precipitation. Rainfall not temperature usually distinguishes the season. For example in Trinidad, there is a dry season from December to April and a rainy season from May to November. | 359Agroforestry Systems and Practices in the CaribbeanThe rainfall varies between the countries with low-lying islands receiving little rainfall, while islands such as Dominica with high volcanic peaks receive over 2500 mm of annual rainfall. Within the islands there is usually heavier rainfall on the northeast side (windward slopes) and less rain in the southwest side (leeward slopes). The distribution of rainfall is important since it determines if irrigation is necessary for agriculture and agroforestry systems. Almost every year from June to November, the Caribbean experiences hurricanes bringing heavy rains and destructive winds. The 2008 hurricane season was particularly severe, causing extensive damage of crops and trees, particularly in Haiti, together with several hundred deaths. Other natural disasters such as volcanic activity and earthquakes are less common in the Caribbean, but can affect the establishment of agroforestry systems in the region. This agroforestry system refers to production of agricultural crops with woody perennials on the same unit of land. The tree component can have either a productive or a service role, and the components can have a spatial (simultaneous) or temporal (sequential) arrangement. Agrosilvicultural systems include alley cropping (hedgerow intercropping), shade trees for plantation crops, multi-storey cropping, Taungya system, windbreaks, improved fallow, intercropping trees and crops, and a mixture of plantation crops. The systems most commonly practiced in the Caribbean are described below.This agroforestry system refers to the simultaneous production of agricultural crops (perennial species) and forest trees. In the Caribbean, cocoa and coffee are important plantation crops grown under shade trees because of their sensitivity to direct sunlight. Shade is provided by permanent trees which are planted at a spacing which allows between 25 percent shade (high altitudes) and 35 percent shade (low altitudes) for the cocoa and coffee plants. The planting density (trees/ha) of the shade trees will vary according to the species of trees used (i.e., its crown size when mature) and the percentage of shade required. Some of the common shade trees grown in cocoa plantations are immortelle, cedar, tonka bean, breadfruit and hog plum. The immortelle tree provides nitrogen (N), in addition to shade from the plant canopy. The root nodules, leaves, and flowers of the immortelle contain between four and six percent N, contributing to higher soil N levels and cocoa yields when compared to other shade trees. The major cocoa producing countries in the Caribbean are Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St Vincent, Haiti, and Jamaica.Alley cropping refers to an agroforestry intercropping practice in which fast-growing species of trees/shrubs are planted closely within the row ('hedgerows'), and wide between the rows ('alleys') to allow for planting of agricultural crops. Therefore, trees and crops are grown together in the same field at the same time (Nair et al. 1999). Leguminous, highvalue and/or short-duration crops are ideal for use in alley cropping. Depending on the tree species used (e.g., fruit trees) crops are not replanted when the trees mature and an orchard is established. When legume trees are used (e.g., Leucaena spp.), the hedgerows are cut back at the time the crop is planted. The hedgerows are also periodically pruned during the crop cycle to prevent shading and reduce competition for nutrients/water with the associated food crops. Root pruning is sometimes practiced during the early stages of hedgerow establishment. When there are no crops, the hedgerows are allowed to growAgroforestry Systems and Practices in the Caribbean unrestricted and cover the land. Alley cropping also enables cropping and fallow periods to occur simultaneously on the same unit of land. This means that the farmer can crop the land for a longer time before leaving it to fallow. Alley cropping is ideal for small-scale farmers but it is also adaptable to mechanized farming in larger holdings.Contour planting is one of the most common agroforestry systems practiced in the Caribbean. It involves the planting of trees along the contour line in moderately steep to steep slopes (Figure 11.2). Conservation buffers are strips or small areas of land in permanent vegetation. Filter strips, field borders, grassed waterways, contour grass strips, and riparian buffers are all examples of conservation buffers. They are used to protect ground/surface water quality and to reduce erosion (Figure 11.3) on cropland.Conservation buffers can also be used along streams and around lakes or wetlands. Buffers are most effective when they are included as part of a comprehensive conservation system. Some of the more common types found in the Caribbean are contour grass strips, filter strips, and grassed waterways, all of which function in a similar manner. Contour grass strips are narrow bands of perennial vegetation established across the slope of a crop field and alternated down the slope with strips of crops. Properly designed and maintained contour grass strips can reduce soil erosion and minimize transport of sediment pesticides, and other potential pollutants before they reach a body of water. These practices are used in many traditional Caribbean farming systems across hillsides to control runoff and soil erosion.The vegetation consists mainly of perennial grasses established parallel and perpendicular to the dominant slope of the field. However, combinations of trees, shrubs and grasses can be planted along the contour (Figure 11.4).These practices result in greater structural stability of the soil and can provide a higher yield and diversity of useful products. The contour grass strips are also known as horizontal vegetation strips/barriers. Grassed waterways are strips of grass seeded in areas of cropland where water concentrates or flows off a field. While they are primarily used to prevent gully erosion, waterways can be combined with filter strips to trap contaminants or field sediment.Riparian forest buffers, whether natural or man-made, have a dominant woody component, which sets them apart from vegetative filter strips that are used to intercept surface runoff in agricultural crop lands.Windbreaks are linear plantings of trees or shrubs (in single or multiple rows) which are planted on the border of crops. They are designed to improve crop production and assist in soil and water conservation. The Caribbean region can be subjected to strong prevailing NE Trade winds, and the establishment of windbreaks is important to crops which are sensitive to wind damage (e.g. cocoa and citrus). The tree species that are commonly used for windbreaks include nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, mango, neem, and pommerac. Some windbreaks can also provide an additional benefit of controlling pests and diseases to the economic crop, based on their ability to filter bacterial inoculum and deter the spread of viruses by aphids. Windbreaks established using Leucaena spp. is believed to prevent bacterial stem canker in papaya. Windbreaks are also favorable because they are unobtrusive to the various management practices for the cash crops grown. Windbreaks can help protect young crops, maintain soil fertility, reduce soil loss by wind erosion, and pruned vegetation and fallen leaves from the trees can act as mulch.The many benefits of windbreaks, makes it very applicable for extensive use in the Caribbean, especially in the Windward Islands. However sometimes hurricanes can cause destruction to both the windbreaks and the agricultural crops. When the wind speed is high, it can cause physical damage to crops (broken branches and uprooting) together with shedding of flower/fruits resulting in reduce crop yield. To minimize this risk to fruit and tree crops, windbreaks are established using various tree species.This is an agroforestry practice in which fast-growing trees/shrubs are planted after harvesting crops, so that when the land is next cleared for cultivation (i.e. after the fallow period) products are available for household use or marketing. The crops and trees therefore occupy the same piece of land at different periods in time (sequentially). The trees and shrubs may be left to occupy the site for several months or years. The tree species grown in natural fallows can produce high-value products such as fruits, medicine, or high-grade timber to provide economic benefits during the fallow period. Alternatively, leguminous trees and shrubs can be planted to improve soil fertility. The leaf litter from the trees also suppresses weeds, enrich the soil, conserve soil moisture, and after tree removal their roots decompose and release additional nutrients. This practice therefore has the potential to restore soil fertility more quickly than natural fallows, and to reduce fertilizer costs for subsequent crops.Traditionally, farmers left the croplands 'fallow' after a period of cultivation so that they can regain their fertility naturally. However, improved fallows accelerate the process of rejuvenation and thereby shorten the length of the natural fallow period. Even though improved fallow has its origins in 'slash-and-burn' agriculture, the practice can be applied to any agricultural land that is not under cultivation in order to rehabilitate and increaseAgroforestry Systems and Practices in the Caribbean the nutrient status of the soil. The effect of improved fallow depends on the length of the fallow period and the type of tree species. The recommended tree/shrubs should be fast-growing, nitrogen-fixing, and easy to propagate. Examples include various species of Leucaena, Sesbania, and Gliricidia. The benefits of improved fallow is that it allows for quick restoration of soil fertility (nutrient and organic matter content), nutrient recycling from deeper soil horizons, protecting the soil from erosion, reduces weed growth, and allows for production of fuelwood thus reducing the burden on the natural forests. Therefore, it has great potential for promoting food security through increased soil productivity.The Taungya system consists of growing annual agricultural crops along with the forestry species during the early years of establishment of the forestry plantation. This agroforestry system is usually used by Government Forestry Divisions to establish large acreages of forest trees, usually for the timber industry. The land belongs to the government or largescale estate owners, who allow the subsistence farmers to raise their crops. The farmers are required to tend the forestry seedlings and, in return, retain a part or all of the agricultural produce. This is beneficial both to the State and to the private farmer.The Taungya system was introduced in Trinidad in the early 1900's when the State began to establish commercial timber plantations using teak and later Caribbean pine (Figure 11.5). This system involved short-term contracts to farmers to plant food crops (bananas and plantain) on state lands chosen for teak and pine establishment. In the 1980s the method was used in Trinidad to establish about 9,000 ha of teak and 4,000 ha of Caribbean pine (Lackhan 1992).In the past and up to the present time, livestock farmers have planted shade trees in their pastures. These pastures were also bounded by trees, which were used as fencing. As farmers increasingly realised the value of trees, the feasibility of trees as the main crop became more apparent with the use of smaller livestock (sheep and goat) to control the grass beneath. Trees were formerly not planted as the main crop, but used more in a supplementary role. Today, this is different, as farmers in recognition of the value of trees, have made them the main crop on many estates, with other forms of agriculture revolving around the tree plantations.Food crop production takes place during the period between land clearing and the plantation establishment phase. The Taungya system can sometimes appear unattractive to farmers, as its main objective is wood production, not food. Taungya persists in areas with high population pressure and where there is adequate government support and incentives. The adoption of this system varies among the Caribbean countries, with Trinidad showing some success (Figure 11.6).In this agroforestry practice, trees are grown in combination with annual crops. It is a type of intercropping and is widely-used by small-scale farmers in the Caribbean. Farmers usually plant a variety of crops integrated with perennial fruit and spice trees. This diversity is especially important in prevent land degradation in the smaller islands, which are dominated by mountain slopes. Trees with narrow crowns and deep root systems are preferred; while the annual crops should require minimum or no-tillage and have a low light requirement. In Grenada, food crops such as yam, corn, pigeon peas, sorrel, dasheen and tannia are integrated with spice trees such as nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon. Grenada is the world's second largest producer of nutmeg and the sustenance of the spice industry is important in providing socioeconomic benefits and food security for the country's population. In Haïti, peasant farmers will traditionally leave the occasional forest trees such mahogany, guaiac wood (Guaiacum officinale) and Haitian catalpa (Catalpa longissima) in the areas that they cultivated crops.These include tree gardens (in Trinidad) whereby combination of several fruit and other useful trees are cultivated, sometimes with the inclusion of annual crops. In this practice the plant components are of differing stature so that several layers of canopy are formed (Figure 11.7).This is an agroforestry system where trees (shrubs), pastures and/or livestock are integrated on the same piece of land. The components can be arranged as a pure stand with fodder trees/shrubs (cut-and-carry fodder production) and/or mixed in different configurations (e.g. living fences of fodder trees). Silvopastures can be created by planting trees in existing pastures or by establishing pastures under existing trees. This system can be used on both range and forest lands for the production of forage and tree products. The system can also help with soil conservation by growing grasses and trees/shrubs on sloping ground. The silvopastoral system can produce high quality forage and timber, together with conservation of the environment.It is important to consider potential markets, soil type, climatic conditions, and species compatibility when selecting trees and forages for use in the silvopastoral system. The trees grown for timber should be marketable, fast growing, deep rooted, and drought tolerant (e.g. Caribbean pine and cypre). Ideally, the forage component should be a perennial which is suitable for livestock grazing, compatible with the site/soil, and productive under partial shade (e.g. guinea grass -Panicum maximum and signal grass -Brachiaria decumbens). Potential livestock choices include cattle, sheep, goats, ducks, turkeys, and chickens.Agroforestry Systems and Practices in the Caribbean Silvopastoral systems can be established on any land capable of supporting tree and forage growth at the same time. However, they require a relatively large land area to sustain timber and livestock production. The spacing and arrangement of the tree species is important for silvopasture success. Trees can be evenly distributed to optimize growing space and light for both trees and forage. If desired, they can be planted in rows or clusters to limit their shade and root effects, while providing open spaces for pasture production. Furthermore, an understanding of forage growth characteristics and the timing/duration of grazing is important in silvopasture management. Since the livestock and tree components can be arranged in many combinations, silvopasture is ideal for sites where mechanized farming or a structured system is difficult or not required. Examples of silvopastoral systems include:• Trees on pastures -traditionally used for providing shade to livestock• Fodder banks -planting of leguminous fodder trees around farmlands e.g.• Living fences -Fodder trees are planted on farm boundaries or pasture borders• Plantation crops with pastures and animals -Plantation trees such as coconut can be planted in a scattered manner on pasture land to provide light shading under which cattle and small ruminants can graze (Figure 11.8).This agroforestry system integrates trees, crops, and livestock (pastures). This allows for multiple outputs such as fodder, fuelwood, and food for human consumption. The system represents a combination of components in the same unit of land and in a spatial sequence. This system is practiced when the farmer wants to reap all the benefits that would be obtained from silvopasture and agrosilviculture systems. Agrosilvopastoral systems usually consist of overstory trees, understory crops and grazing animals. The trees on the land may be native (spontaneous) or planted; the crops may include cereals or forage crops; and the grazing animals may include sheep, goat or cattle. The main type of agrosilvopastoral system practiced in the Caribbean is homegardens. The word 'homegarden' has been used loosely to describe diverse practices, from growing vegetables behind houses to complex multi-storeyed systems. It usually refers to a land-use system on private lands surrounding individual houses with a definite fence, in which several tree species are cultivated together with annual and perennial crops; often with the inclusion of small livestock. The homegarden consist of a small acreage, and planted with various plants from herbaceous vegetable crops to medium size trees. There are many forms of such gardens varying in how intensively they are cultivated and their location with regard to the home. The home garden provides plant and animal food for home consumption, and is usually located close to dwellings for security and convenience. They are also characterized by low capital input and simple technology or equipment. Fish farming or aquaculture combined with the growing of crops and trees represents a unique agrosilvopastoral system. Aquaculture in agroforestry practices can involve rice cultivation with fish and trees, as well as fish ponds in farmland with trees (Figures 11.9 and 11.10).Agroforestry is practiced throughout the world, in order to address some form of national socio-economic development, such as, increased food production, natural resource conservation, environmental protection and poverty alleviation. In some countries, the primary motivating factor in the adoption of any agroforestry system is the economic gain. Agroforestry systems have been successfully established and maintained in countries such as India, China and Papua New Guinea. These countries have humid tropical environments that are similar to the Caribbean and a brief description of their success given below to highlight their applicability to the Caribbean region.In India, agroforestry systems have played an important role in programmes for controlling shifting cultivation. In West Bengal and Karala, the Taungya system was used successfully, thus creating forest villages, which provided labour for forestry operations (Singh 1987). The farmer generally leaves useful trees, such as mango, tamarind and jackfruit in the areas being cultivated to provide them with edible products. In suitable areas, along with rice and millet, crops such as coffee are planted under the shade of silver oak (Crevillea robusta) and other crops such as tobacco and tumeric are grown.In China, increased industrialization activities have resulted in increased demand for timber and energy, which has led to more pressure on the land. In order to reduce problems such as soil erosion, siltation, flooding and desertification, agroforestry polices and legislation was created. These policies were designed to enhance the farmer's ability to produce more food, to put land to multiple use, to reforest the bare lands and, to expand forested areas for conservation.In Papua New Guinea, a programme called the 'Atzera Range Conservation Programme'was developed to address the problem of excessive soil erosion and runoff which causes flood damage to roads, bridges and the sewage system of the city (Harris 1979). These problems were caused by the migrants coming to the city from rural areas that establish squatter settlements and felled many trees for fuel and house-building. Since the Atzera Range is an extensive steeply sloping hill system adjacent to Lae, the second largest urban centre, a corrective programme was developed and implemented, based on the use of agroforestry techniques and sound ecological planning.Agroforestry Systems and Practices in the CaribbeanIn the Caribbean region, agroforestry features prominently in traditional farming systems. These systems involve use of various tree species such as forest, fruit, fodder, cocoa and coffee. Food forests have been described as a good example of agroforestry, and occur in islands such as St Kitts, Montserrat and Jamaica, where dry ravines called guts (or ghants) are used for growing mangoes, breadfruit, ackee, avocado and other fruit trees (Lackhan 2000). The Taungya system has been utilised by several forestry departments within the region for establishing forest plantations. Livestock are also reared in association with tree crops and forests trees. The leaves and stems from Gliricidia are used for feeding sheep while Leucaena is used for dry season feeding of livestock in the region. Kudzu (Pueraria lobata) has been used to improve the traditional system of shifting cultivation in Belize, and has the benefit of improving soil nitrogen.Agroforestry involves the production of multiple outputs which provide subsistence/ income to farmers and minimizes the risk of total failure by the production system (Nair 1993). It also aims to create a balance between increased agricultural development and environment conservation, and provides many benefits such as improving soil fertility, soil conservation, stabilizing river banks, and providing various tree products (fuelwood, timber, fruits). Agroforestry can be a viable option for reducing land degradation and increasing agricultural productivity in the Caribbean. Agroforestry systems are important because they provide many socioeconomic and environmental benefits. Agroforestry is seen as a tool that can enhance food security and improve rural livelihoods, increase soil fertility, improve soil and water conservation, aid in carbon sequestration, and help in the restoration of degraded lands. Agroforestry systems also increases biodiversity, creates additional wildlife habitat and support farmers in rural communities (Nair 1993). They also provide additional farm products such as timber, pulpwood, firewood, posts, fruit, nuts, and fodder. Agroforestry represents a collection of multipurpose practices that are enduring and help achieve a sustainable agriculture. It is a concept based on the interface between agriculture and forestry and it is a land-use approach of great potential value. Forests provide a wide range of productive as well as protective functions, contribute to socio-economic development and represent an important cultural asset. In terms of their protective functions, forests are important for their favourable impact on soil and hydrological systems, maintaining clean water and reducing the risks and impacts of floods, erosion, and strong winds. Forests also play a key role role in carbon sequestration and mitigation of climate change. In the subsequent sections, three major categories of benefits, namely ecological/environmental, economic and sociological/psychological, will be described.Sustainable Food Production Practices in the Caribbean -Volume 2Soil fertility refers to the capacity of a soil to support plant growth on a sustained basis under given climatic conditions and land characteristics. Agroforestry systems can be critical in improving soil fertility. For example, leguminous trees planted as fallows can accumulate significant amounts of nitrogen in their leaves and roots, which is then made available to crops. Some of the species used to improve soil fertility also have nutritive value as fodder and can improve the quality of animal manures. Agricultural crops utilize nutrients from the surface layers of the soil while forest crops make use of the nutrients at the lower horizons. There is little need for chemicals as the presence of trees shade out weeds, thus reducing the need of chemical herbicides which destroy beneficial soil organisms. Fast growing trees e.g. Acacia and Leucaena aid in nitrogen fixation by absorption of nitrogen from the air thus making it available to other plants present.Continuous cropping of the soil (especially by monoculture) without adequate replacement of nutrients can lead to a decline in soil fertility. In the Caribbean region many soils lack adequate plant nutrients and organic matter. While artificial fertilizers can provide major nutrients (N, P, K), plant s require 16 essential nutrients for adequate growth and yield. The incorporation of woody perennials (deciduous) and multiple crop species (with various rooting depths) allows for the recycling of nutrients. Soil fertility can be improved or sustained from the decomposition of above and below ground plant biomass (such as fallen leaves, crop residues, and roots from harvested trees). When leguminous species are integrated in the agroforestry system, soil fertility also increases as legumes convert atmospheric nitrogen to the plant available form (nitrates).Agroforestry systems can improve soil and water conservation by reducing soil erosion caused by wind and water. They also reduce the transport of non-point source pollutants (e.g. chemicals and sediment) to water bodies (e.g. rivers and lakes), while retaining fertilizers and nutrients on the farmland. Agroforestry systems reduce surface runoff, improve water infiltration and stabilize the soil.Due to the humid tropical environment of the Caribbean, there can be periods of intense rainfall and flooding leading to soil erosion. Soil erosion removes the nutrient and organic matter rich topsoil, resulting in a decline in soil fertility. In agroforestry systems, woody perennial plants (with deep root systems) can be planted on steep slopes which are unsuitable for crop cultivation or grazing. When the woody perennials are established they provide a micro-environment conducive to the growth of other plant species. Trees and shrubs can | 371Agroforestry Systems and Practices in the Caribbean improve the infiltration of water in the soil thus reducing surface runoff. Trees also reduce wind speed and improve soil structure which helps to reduce soil erosion. Agroforestry is relevant to soil conservation since the initial cost of establishing erosion control is usually lower than engineering methods (Young 1987). In addition, crop yields can be maintained or increased due to control of soil loss. Agroforestry can also reduce the cost of reclamation for degraded lands by using trees which improve soil fertility. Examples of agroforestry practices that have the potential to control erosion include alley cropping and conservation buffers. Agroforestry systems are usually practice on slopes of 10°-40° using suitable soil conservation practices. They have also been an integral part of watershed management plans in several of the Caribbean countries, thus improving water quality and quantity.Trees also assist in soil and water conservation as soil structure is improved by the presence of tree roots, resulting in increased infiltration of water into the soil. Leaf litter produced by trees protects soil from the impact of rains, while tree roots help to hold the soil in place. Trees are soil builders and soil protectors, they can be used to rebuild poor soils, stabilize steep slopes and reduce soil erosion, thus enhancing agricultural production (Sanchez 1987). Agroforestry has potential for erosion control since the canopy and leaf litter cover the soil, the tree roots stabilize the soil and the trees also act as barriers to runoff. The use of contour strips in agroforestry systems is cost effective (with low initial establishment and annual maintenance costs compared to engineering methods).Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere are linked to global warming and climate change. CO 2 is the principal anthropogenic greenhouse gas with emissions arising from fossil fuel combustion, cement production, land use change and deforestation. The atmospheric CO 2 concentration has increased from 280 ppm in 1750 (onset of industrialization) to 315 ppm in 1958, and to 396 ppm in 2013, mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels. As global greenhouse emissions increase, they can affect human health, food security and contribute to environmental degradation. Forest lands are important to the carbon cycle since 610 Pg (1 Pg = 10 15 g) of carbon is stored in the global vegetation biomass (Lal 2004). Carbon sequestration refers to the uptake of atmospheric CO 2 during photosynthesis and the transfer of accumulated carbon into vegetation and soil pools for long-term storage. Plants also act as a sink for CO 2 ; therefore any decrease in forest area reduces the carbon stock of the forest ecosystem. During the past 25 years, agroforestry has been recognized as a sustainable, integrated land-use system with the potential of sequestering carbon. Nair et al. (2010) reported that the carbon sequestration potential varies due to ecology and management, and ranges from 0.3 to 15.2 Mg ha −1 year −1 aboveground, and 30-300 Mg C ha −1 up to 1-m depth in the soil (belowground biomass). Woody perennials (trees) represent the most important C pool in aboveground biomass. Therefore integrating more trees in the agricultural landscapes by adopting agroforestry can increase the potential for carbon sequestration and reduce the effects of climate change. Agroforestry systems can further contribute to the mitigation of climate change by providing a permanent soil cover, ensuring long term stability of carbon storage in fluctuating environments, and improving the efficiency of use of soil, water and climatic resources.Agroforestry systems can play an important role in climate change adaptation and mitigation in Caribbean countries. The increase biodiversity of agroforestry systems provide a safety net during periods of climate induced vulnerability and increases resilience to climate change. Adoption of agroforestry systems by Caribbean farmers can help ameliorate the effects of climate change by helping to stabilize erosion, improve soil and water quality, indirectly increase crop yields, increase biodiversity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and increase carbon sequestration. Agroforestry is also an important component of sustainable land use and development.The inclusion of agricultural crops often results in increased tree production and less costs for tree management e.g. fertilization of agricultural crops in Taungya also benefits tree growth. Income can be generated for the farmer through the provision of by-products, which can be obtained from trees such as fruits and medicine. Composting of leaves, branches and twigs can provide a source of nutrients thus saving on the purchase of fertilizers. Agroforestry systems can provide economic benefits for the farmer both in the short-term (e.g. food) as well as the long-term (e.g. timber). Forages from leguminous trees such as Gliricidia and Leucaena can be a digestible source of protein-rich fodder as well as shade for livestock. It can also be used for supplementary feeding when grasses may be in shortage as in the dry season. The fodder trees and shrubs can be given to the livestock using a 'cut and carry' system or the animals may be allowed to graze the fields. A few countries in the Caribbean (e.g. Haiti) use firewood as the main source of energy. An increase in the number of trees planted and better management of existing resources can provide both fuelwood and other tree products. If fuelwood is limited, it can influence the amount and type of food cooked, thus affecting the family's nutrition. If wood production is increase for fuel use, other energy sources such as cow-dung and crop residues can be left in the fields. Fuelwood is mainly collected by women and the further the source of the fuel wood, the greater the workload. Agroforestry enables rural households to produce firewood which is easily accessible and close to the family farm.Agroforestry Systems and Practices in the CaribbeanAgroforestry practices can help in the prevention of environmental degradation and contribute to sustainable rural development, especially in regions where human-induced activities have resulted in a fragile ecosystem. Agroforestry can provide a source of employment and generate income for small-scale farmers in rural communities. Since agroforestry is an alternative land use system, it may be used as a tool by farmers practicing shifting cultivation as a means to provide them with better social service and improved living conditions. Tree products can be obtained throughout the year giving year round labour opportunities and regular income. In areas of shifting cultivation, a modernized agroforestry system can be implemented, where tree crops are rotated with a short period of agricultural production. This may be more acceptable than a shift to permanent annual crop production. Also, a sense of pride and fulfilment that one is contributing to the environmental and socio-economic welfare of the nation can contribute to an individual's esteem.A number of factors influence agroforestry development since systems can exist under a range of biophysical and socioeconomic conditions (Nair 1993). Factors that can influence the land owner's decision to adopt agroforestry or to select a particular system include:• Biophysical conditions such as climate, soil type, slope, and water availability.• The types of government policies and incentives for developing agroforestry systems.• The tenure of land, crops and trees, which determine if it is beneficial for farmers.• Technical support and extension services for the supply of inputs and for market delivery.• The needs, skills and education level of the land owner together with labor availability.This is necessary in order to protect and conserve the forest and wildlife resources in the region. It serves to safeguard against the exploitation of marketable species in the natural forests. There are no specific agroforestry policies, but agroforestry is covered under the forest policy and legislation in each country. The status of forest policy and legislation varies greatly between the CARICOM countries. All of the CARICOM countries implement some type of forest policy except Barbados, which has passed a number of Acts relating to tree conservation. Belize has a National Forest and Wildlife Policy which is over 50 years old but still relevant. Legislation in Belize includes the Forest Ordinance, Forest Fire Protection Ordinance, Private Forest (Conservation) Ordinance, National Park Systems Act and the Wildlife Protection Act. In Trinidad and Tobago, forest policy includes the Forest Act and the Conservation of Wildlife Act.Compared to monocropping, agroforestry can be a more economical option (due to lower expenditure on large machinery, equipment, and fertilizers) for small-scale farmers to support food production while preserving the environment. However, there are some factors which can affect the adoption of agroforestry by farmers such as access to information on agroforestry, training opportunities, good quality planting material, land tenure, and size of available land.Agroforestry have been practiced on a limited scale in the Caribbean islands of Antigua, Dominica, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago. The other Caribbean islands have very little experience in agroforestry. In Antigua, agroforestry has been developed into an intensive form of land use combining agricultural crops, shrubs and trees. In Dominica, multiple storey cropping systems have been established in large estates and consist of coconut, banana, citrus, coffee, and cocoa. In small farms, fruit trees, root crops and vegetables are more common. In Jamaica, agroforestry have been practiced for several decades, mainly using a multi-storey system. The top storey usually consists of cedar, breadfruit, mango and/or coconut, the middle layer has cocoa, coffee, bananas and/ or guava, and the ground layer contains peas, vegetables, sweet potato, yam or hot peppers. In Trinidad and Tobago, the Taungya system is used for the establishment plantations of teak and Caribbean pine. The next most common agroforestry practice is the establishment of an upper storey of cedar, mahogany or immortelle with a lower storey of cocoa, coffee and/or bananas.Agroforestry activities have not been well-documented or differentiated from forested lands in many of the Caribbean countries. Research and analysis of agroforestry systems have focused on the physical aspects of the systems but the economic contributions at the farm level have not been systematically assessed. The financial benefit of agroforestry systems are rarely the primary objective for promoting agroforestry or on-farm tree establishment. Therefore, farmers lack the motivation to establish agroforestry systems since it is viewed as a form of subsistence farming and not a generator of income and this may have contributed to project failures. Therefore, agroforestry systems must be advertisedAgroforestry Systems and Practices in the Caribbean as profitable by providing examples of crop production increases, commercialization of tree-derived products, and provision of financial incentives to farmers.There is also need for further research on the development of agroforestry systems specific to the Caribbean. This includes research in silviculture, natural forest management, hydrology, land use and wildlife management. Extension officers are usually trained in the field of agriculture and may not have the knowledge and experience to influence adoption of agroforestry systems by farmers. In terms of practical limitations, farmers may not be aware of tree-crop interactions in agroforestry systems which may influence the success of the operation. Therefore some key considerations when designing an agroforestry system include:• Increasing the overall value of the system,• Ensuring trees and crops are complementary• Decreasing or eliminating competition• Minimizing crop displacement, through appropriate tree management.There are many constraints in the Caribbean region which influence agroforestry and forestry in general. These include the limited size of the Caribbean islands, high and increasing population density, uncontrolled grazing and shifting cultivation, soil erosion and sedimentation, decreasing forest resources (which are not replaced), not utilizing lands to its productive potential, decline in fuel wood, and natural disasters (e.g. hurricanes and earthquakes). Preference for cultivation of plantation crops (e.g. bananas) because of market demand also represents a constraint to the implementation of agroforestry systems.In 1997, the Forestry Division of Trinidad and Tobago received funding for a communitybased forestry and agroforestry project under the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP). The project was implemented to assist in preventing and reversing the cycle of deforestation and land degradation on private lands, particularly landowners with large parcels of land, and who were willing to commit land and other resources to relatively longterm forestry and agroforestry projects. Community-based groups were also encouraged to participate in the programme. Specific objectives of the project included:• The promotion of sustainable land-use practices• The development of economically and ecologically viable forestry and agroforestry systems• The restoration of degraded private lands• The optimization of timber production on private lands• The generation of employment opportunities in rural/agricultural communities In 1999, a revised Agricultural Incentive Programme was introduced, in which for the first time, incentives for forestry operations were included. These incentives have increased the implementation of forestry-related activities on private lands, specifically agroforestry. Within this context the Forestry Division assisted in the following ways:• Providing technical assistance to farmers, community groups and other organizations• Processing incentives to assist farmers in establishing and maintaining plots• Monitoring and assessing projects• Conducting basic training in forestry and agroforestry practicesIn the region there is the need to modify existing legislation to reflect recently adopted policies aimed at protecting and promoting agroforestry systems. In order to promote agroforestry, there must be legislation to provide security of tenure for small-scale farmers, which can be achieved via policies which guarantee equal access to land resources. The establishment of a system which allows the separation of the ownership of land from the ownership of trees would open new possibilities for farmers without land. In order to be effective, agroforestry requires that the farmers are given clearly established rights to the land and to the trees they plant.The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago has approved a new National Forest Policy and National Protected Areas Policy (2011), which provides the guidance for the development of appropriate legislative and administrative framework for the sustainable management of the forest resources of Trinidad and Tobago. The Policy recognizes that forests, forest resources and forest use contribute significantly to national development, livelihoods and human well-being, and seeks to encompass all the main dimensions of forest conservation, use and management, given that the functions of forests are varied and the relationships between forests and other sectors are complex.In developing countries, agroforestry can contribute towards alleviating poverty and advancing food security by increasing crop and livestock production through innovative technologies. In many Caribbean countries, introduction of agroforestry systems to rural communities can reduce hunger by increasing crop production through improved soil | 377Agroforestry Systems and Practices in the Caribbean fertility. The increase in population size and continued environmental degradation in the Caribbean region has resulted in reduced food production and the inability of countries to meet their food demands. The total population of the CARICOM countries (excluding Haiti) has increased from 5.9 million in 1990 to 6.85 million in 2010 (a 16 percent increase); and is projected to reach 10 million by 2050. Haiti conducted its two previous population census in 1980 and 2004; however, the population for 1990 and 2010 has been estimated at 7.1 million and 9.7 million, respectively, representing an increase of 37 percent (Table 11.3). Haiti's population is larger than all the other CARICOM countries combined and is the most affected by environmental degradation.Food security is defined as the physical and economic access to food for all people at all times. Agroforestry have tremendous potential in providing food for local consumption and reducing the food import bill. Agroforestry systems include growing a variety of useful trees, annual crops and livestock thereby preventing micronutrient malnutrition in regions were nutrient deficiency may occur from consumption of a single or few food source (dietary diversity or quality).An important aspect of agroforestry is crop diversification which allows for a wider range of food products to eat and sell, improved nutrition, and the ability to spread the risk in production due to varying weather conditions. The production in agroforestry systems can be complementary, where overall yields are greater for the system as a whole than if one species only was present. Also agroforestry systems can be synergistic, where total yields are greater than the sum of the individual components if grown separately (Nair 1993).Agroforestry systems allows for symbiotic economic and ecological interactions between components to maximize, sustain and diversify the total land output. They incorporate perennial trees which are useful for fuelwood, fruit and fodder, together with annual crops. Agroforestry systems can be established on soils of low fertility or degraded soils, as well as recuperating soil nutrients over a period of years. They can reduce farmer's risk to seasonal environmental variations and in the long-term maintain and increase soil quality. Agroforestry allows farmers to make the best use of their land, can boost field crop yields, and diversify income. Thus it can help in bringing previously unsuitable land into production, therefore increasing the food supply and provide food and nutrition security for the developing countries in the Caribbean. Agroforestry is only a new word for an old practice: it is based on forestry, agriculture, animal husbandry, land resource management, and other disciplines that all form the systematic background of land use. Furthermore, it encompasses an awareness of interactions between humans and the environment and between demand and available resources in a given area. Although science can improve agroforestry practices, an important aspect for the Caribbean region is to mobilize and implement what is already known. Agroforestry can significantly increase the production of forest and agricultural products (multiple outputs), while at the same time ensuring the land is used at its maximum potential. Agroforestry is therefore a sustainable approach to land-use management whereby agriculture and forestryAgroforestry Systems and Practices in the Caribbean are combined into an integrated production system resulting in maximum benefits to the land owner. It has great scope and potential in providing social, economic and environmental services to improve the lives of the people in the Caribbean region.Aquaculture is the fastest growing animal food-producing sector, with the per capita supply increasing from 0.7 kg in 1970 to 7.8 kg in 2008; an average annual growth rate of 6.6 percent (Murray 2014). Aquaculture is set to overtake capture fisheries as a source of food fish globally. Between 2006 and 2008, aquaculture consumption increased from 42.6 percent to 45.7 percent worldwide. In the Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) region, Chile, Brazil and Ecuador have been the leaders in aquaculture production with a production rise from 0.1 percent to 9.6 percent in 30 years.The aquaculture sector is not well developed in the CARICOM region. The main reason is that most CARICOM states have limited land and fresh water resources. In the mid-1990s, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) members of CARICOM recommended that land-based aquaculture should not be the focus of their fisheries development thrust, but instead should be a subsistence activity for small farmers. Some CARICOM states, such as Suriname, Guyana and Belize, however, have ample supplies of land and fresh water which can support aquaculture. In contrast, most island states in the Caribbean have large expanses of marine space, which have the potential for development of the marine-based aquaculture or 'mariculture'. Because of the limited potential growth of wild catches in the Caribbean region, sustainable expansion and intensification of fish production through responsible aquaculture development should be a major objective for intensification of fish production. The CARICOM approach to aquaculture development will have to be multifaceted to address the range A Method for Growing Tilapia in Atlantic Seawater in St Kitts: A Sustainable Alternative to Traditional Coastal Fishery SystemsA Method for Growing Tilapia in Atlantic Seawater in St Kitts of available natural land and fresh water resources in the region, while incorporating the commercial elements. St Kitts and Nevis, however, has concluded that an aquaculture sector will create investment opportunities, and could, in its most developed version, create many job opportunities for highly skilled people both at the production and management levels.The CRFM identified aquaculture as a priority since 2002 and an aquaculture development policy formulation was identified as one of the areas to be addressed under the CRFM/ JICA Master Plan Study (2009Study ( -2011)). Recognizing the need to put in place a mechanism to promote and provide support for the development of aquaculture in the region, the CRFM Secretariat, in 2012 established a Working Group to Promote Sustainable Aquaculture Development (WGA) at the national and regional levels, mainly for the purposes of: increasing food production and security; improving rural income and employment; diversifying farm production; and increasing foreign exchange earnings and savings, as well as, advising the Caribbean Fisheries Forum on policies, programmes and projects to promote the development of aquaculture. It is however important that the WGA considers the major challenges for aquaculture development in the Caribbean, which include: availability of freshwater; technology transfer; feed access and availability; innovative technical assistance for small-scale farmers; governance and political willingness; and application of the Ecosystem Approach to Aquaculture.Globally, tilapia is the third most important fish in aquaculture after carp and salmon; worldwide production exceeded 1,500,000 metric tons in 2002 and increased annually. Because of their high protein content, large size, rapid growth (six to seven months to grow to harvest size), and palatability, a number of tilapiine cichlids-specifically, various species of Oreochromis, Sarotherodon and Tilapia-are the focus of major aquaculture efforts. The species raised in fish farms include salmon, trout, cod, carp, catfish, sea bass, tilapia and others. Today, the vast majority of Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout are farmed intensively in fish farms.The Nile tilapia has distinctive, regular, vertical stripes extending as far down the body as the bottom edge of the caudal fin, with variable coloration. Adults reach up to 60 cm (24 in) in length and up to 4.3 kg (9.5 lb) and lives for up to nine years. It tolerates brackish water and survives in temperatures between eight and 42°C (46 and 108 °F). It is an omnivore, feeding on plankton, as well as, on higher plants. Introduced tilapia can easily become an invasive species (see Tilapia as exotic species). It is a species of high economic value and is widely introduced outside its natural range, (which is similar to the Mozambique tilapia (O. mossambicus), and is the most commonly cultured cichlid (Cook 2007). Recent studies in Kenya showed that this fish feeds on mosquito larvae, making it a possible tool in the fight against malaria in Africa.Small islands with no significant rivers, streams, brooks or suitable freshwater ponds and clay have always had to forgo assistance to develop aquaculture. With the rapid depletion of reef fishes in the Caribbean, St Kitts imports fish for the local tourism industry as well as for local consumption.In the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis (SKN), solutions are being sought and developed through the St Kitts and Nevis Aquaculture Pilot Project & Environmental Research (SNAPPER). This project was conceptualized as a research, development and training entity in 1999 and commenced Research and Development (R&D) in 2006 in response to the reality that marine capture of fish was on the decline, while aquaculture yields and sales were increasing at a phenomenal rate. In addition, the real possibilities of employment creation, food security and economic viability, presented a lucrative development opportunity.The absence of suitable clay deposits required for pond lining further complicated aquaculture development initiatives in St Kitts, which is one of the smallest islands in the Caribbean, with no running rivers or pond sealing clay. In addition, the public water supply is expensive and relies heavily on available aquifers for good fresh water sources. The island is surrounded by the Caribbean Sea on one side and the Atlantic on the other. The first challenge to start the project of tilapia production in the Atlantic sea water was to find a suitable site for establishing the research ponds. Because official endorsement was not given, and international experts advised against this aquaculture project, land access was as a problem. Eventually, private sector benevolence provided a peppercorn lease for ⅛ of an acre of land bordering the Atlantic and the project was initiated.This project began in 1999 after it was discovered that a fisherman in Jamaica caught a tilapia in his seine net. Further investigations were carried out at the fisheries complex at Twickenham farm in Jamaica, where experimental brood ponds were in operation. The information received provided a departure towards a non-traditional approach and technique for farming tilapia. The site on the Atlantic coast was more appropriate because waste water from city buildings and dwellings along the several ghauts running through Basseterre made their exit in the Caribbean Sea. Other private sector donors have since provided additional lands and the Government of Australia has contributed substantial project development funds. Locally, duty-free concessions on an item-by-item basis have been also granted to the project. The project currently farms freshwater tilapia in 100 percent Atlantic seawater.A Method for Growing Tilapia in Atlantic Seawater in St KittsAny attempt to successfully develop an aquaculture industry must ensure that consideration is given to policy, funding, land availability, water quality and suitable feed. Some of these issues are now discussed.The introduction of Aquaculture as an industry or sector must be developed within the context of a national policy. Without a sound policy, allied government departments will not acknowledge their required input, or commitment. Unfortunately, the practice of divorcing aquaculture from agriculture is a not a well-informed practice, certainly not an industry best practice. This situation can be corrected by any Ministry of Agriculture through its programme development department, or as a planned and funded aspect of a Department of Marine Resources.In the aquaculture project in St Kitts, the principal operational challenges included water quality and availability. The seawater environment necessitated the use of corrosion resistant water pumps. However, the turbulence in the ocean at times resulted in PVC pipe abrasion, due to incessant wave action and pipe contact with reefs. Other minor problems included draft tides and excessive seaweed flow at the intake point. The Atlantic is never calm, and the threat of a devastating hurricane has been heavily factored in the design of the fish ponds. They are 5' above ground, with a protective canal on the periphery as a flood/ sea defense. This canal also serves as a capture facility for total pond harvesting.Praedial larceny also presents a challenge both at the fingerling and adult stages. There is need to strengthen the relevant laws and ensure their enforcement. To a lesser degree, there is also competition from birds. Many creative solutions have been attempted, but the most effective deterrent has been the introduction of large eyes and scarecrows, strategically located around the periphery of the fish ponds.Adequate funding for the project was a major challenge as the banks were skeptical when told of the plan to grow freshwater fish in seawater. This would not be quite as difficult if fresh water aquaculture was proposed. Funding agencies also preferred to work with cooperatives or associations. Traditionally, research and development activity depend to a large extent on grant funding. Unfortunately, due to the global economic dilemma, such funding sources have suffered drastic contraction. It is hoped that the successes of SNAPPER will encourage government's participation towards establishing a national aquaculture sector.The present invention relates to the employment of new techniques in the acclimatization of the freshwater fish (tilapia). Through a structural configuration and manipulation, the processes enabled 15-day tilapia fry to be transferred to full strength seawater, resulting in their ability to drastically reduce chances of mortality. The invention is based, not only on concepts developed previously, but also on researcher observations.Based on the fact that seawater was the only water in abundance, primary assumptions were made and subsequent assumptions evaluated. These evaluations and successes resulted in a more resolute approach to experimentation.The initial evaluations entailed experimenting with species of tilapia (namely O. mossambicus & O. niloticus). The inventor was able to test the efficacy of assumptions on two selected species cross between O. mossambicus and O. niloticus, on a research farm in Conaree, St Kitts, West Indies.Salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen and the maintenance of a pH of between 6.5 and 7.5 were continuously monitored. Acclimatization was the most problematic hurdle as challenges in the research to determine a suitable stage of commencement, and all the other factors that had to be solved. At seven years into the project cycle, acceptable success began to emerge. In year nine, a reliable and proven acclimatization process was perfected. This is now known as 'trickle acclimatization'.The Jamaica red snapper was the fingerling of choice. This invention involves the acclimatization of a cross between O. mossambicus and O. niloticus, for use on islands where suitable freshwater resources are limited.The main objectives of the project were to:• develop an appropriate technological procedure for small island states aquaculture development, where natural freshwater supply is limited or non-existent;• establish the shortest time frame for acclimatization;• minimize the mortality rate in the conversion process and• encourage reproduction and satisfactory growth in seawater.| 385A Method for Growing Tilapia in Atlantic Seawater in St KittsThe following is the approach to implementation that was used in St Kitts:• Lining up the ponds in the traditional wind flow in order to reduce energy consumption for aeration purposes.• Ensuring that ponds were above ground level, in order to counter hurricane flooding. Five ponds 100' x 25' x 4' were lined with the thick non-leaching polyurethane plastic (geo membrane). The lining was laid seamless by tucking the corners up and tacking the material when the sun was hot, on a frame, then backfilling to the required height.• Piping was the next challenge. Initially the Atlantic feed was difficult to stabilize, but a 4' cast iron sleeve with a 2\"schedule 40-PVC pipe threaded into it proved to be successful. A foot valve and strainer were attached to the end, which was cleaned regularly, due to seaweed and sand. At 150' from foot valve to draft pump, priming was problematic, but solutions were found. One and a half miles of pipe were laid for freshwater, saltwater, groundwater, and included a 4\" manifold reduced to 2\" and then to ½\" for aeration distribution.In the third year of the project, saltwater research began. Expertise from universities in Taiwan, Norway and the SKN local fisheries department advised that the level of tolerance to be expected should be 50/50 or at most 60/40, the greater being seawater.There were massive fish kills on numerous occasions, due to excessive algal growth (green water culture constituted the first experiment), heat during June-August, and excessive salinity. Each of these problems had to be solved as they occurred. Water quality, pH levels, temperature and other measurements were also monitored and addressed. The salinity increased which resulted in 'corned fish' due to topping up the ponds with Atlantic sea water. The continuous evaporation by wind and sun removed the fresh water, resulting in increased salt levels. The heat problem was easy to solve. Partial shade using shade cloth reduced high temperatures and a continuous flow of water, (the flow-through system) addressed salinity, pH, aeration and temperature. A return path through the sand under the ponds and back to ground water, addressed the environmental problem. Contamination of the reef and reef life was also avoided. As a plan 'B', a powerful Rotron Regenorative blower which powers eight air stone ponds is used on windless days.Acclimatization was the biggest research problem; to determine commencement acclimatization stage, and all the other associated factors that had to be solved. It is now ten years into the project cycle with acceptable success, except for petty larceny of fish and visits from fishing birds. The bird problem has been solved with dogs on pond long length  Alexandre, Gisele (Ph.D.)Dr. Gisele Alexandre is a research engineer in animal husbandry and tropical farming systems. She studies creole small ruminants using different scales (animal, product, farming system, food chain). Diverse disciplines are integrated in her approach: reproduction control, pasture management, feeding strategies and meat quality. She analyzes the diversity, the productivity and the territorial and societal functions of livestock. G. Alexandre has performed many missions of education (academic and vocational training) and often interacts with stakeholders in the French Antilles (breeder's unions or Natural Parks) but also elsewhere in the Caribbean (Cuba, Haiti, Mexico). As a member of the International Goat Association, and having lead numerous expert missions in the Caribbean and Latin America, she brings a critical glance at the strengths and the constraints in tropical areas. More specifically, she investigates the multi-functional features of livestock farming in these territories. She is taking part of a team project upon agroecological engineering adapted to tropical agro ecosystems. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"35ba8d399722a5cdcc71a8ac30f06a42","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H018302.pdf","id":"170945654"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"88973bc3-f10a-4dbd-9adf-0d27b8513f6e","content":"List of the total number of outlets of Malik Sub-Div.Allah is He who created the heavens and the earth and sent down water from the clouds, then brought forth with it fruits as a sustenance for you, and He has made the ships sub servient to you to run their course in the sea by His command, and   up keeping of system to cope with the battle of hunger and poverty on scientific grounds has not been given due importance and very many efforts have been made so for to improve the existing system. Due to this negligence and unrealistic approach, 70 to 80 per cent population of Pakistan depending upon canal irrigation are facing problems for their survival.Keeping in view the difficulties experienced by the Punjab Irrigation & Power Department (in various fields of irrigation), for the improvement of the existing system by using new and modern techniques and methodologies, IIMI (\\nternationallrrigation Management Institute) has been asked for collaboration in various research activities. For this purpose, in Fordwah/Eastern Sadiqia area in Bahawalnagar circle (Irrigation unit in Punjab) IIMI has been involved in research activities for the last three years, and some results are now being tested in the field, to demonstrate the possibility of a productive collaboration work between researchers and managers. The main objective of IIMI's research in this area is to develop and pilot test in collaboration with national research and line agencies alternative irrigation management practices to optimize agricultural production and mitigate problems of salinity/sodicity. The research is found very helpful in aims to develop tools to assist irrigation managers to take better founded decisions on operations and maintenance. So on the special recommendation of worthy Chief Engineer Bahawalpur, the then Superintending Engineer Bahawalnagar, research on perennial system i.e. Malik Sub-Division canals started and is now under progress. Before discussion on the existing conditions of canals in Malik sub-division and on going activities, we will first discuss some history of irrigation at a glance.The art of applying water to the land dates back to the beginning of human civilization. The oldest canal still in use was begun about 1900 b.c. in Egypt, by the Prophet Joseph when he was Grand Vizier to the Pharaoh. This canal is situated in Medinet-I-Faiyum, 80 miles south of Cairo and irrigates the lush green fruit gardens of that area. It leads off the Nile, is about 200 miles long, and is called Joseph's canal by the fellahin. The Holy Quran also throws some light on the great canal system , inherited by Ramses-ii (1304-1237 b.c.'. It is thought that the floating basket carrying the infant Moses may have reached the gardens of the Pharaoh's palace by way of a canal leading off the Nile. Egypt claims to have the world's oldest dam, 355 ft long and 40 ft high, built some 5000 year ago to store water for drinking and irrigation. It was built by king Menes (C.3100 b.c) across the Nile near Menesphis.The Holy Quran mentions the destruction of the flourishing community of Sabah in Yemen in the following verse: \"but they turned away, wherefore We sent upon them the inundation of the dam and We exchanged their two gardens for two gardens bearing bitter fruit and tamarisk and some lote-trees\". The dam mentioned in the above is known as Sadde Marib (Marib dam) and was built 3 miles from the capital city of Marib, 60 miles east of Sanah in 800 b.c. (lqbal Ali, 1975) The indo-gangetic plain also boasts an ancient irrigation system. Archaeological excavations at Harappa, Moenjodaro and Kot Dijji have revealed the existence of an . advanced civilization based on some form of irrigation system. In the recorded history of the sub continent, the practice of the irrigation can be traced back to the 8th century when the Muslim invaders differentiated between irrigated and non irrigated lands for the purpose of levying land tax.The present elaborate system of the western Jamna canal is believed to have been based on a system initiated by Feroz Shah Tuglaq. Ali Mardan Khan, an Engineer and Governor of Punjab during Shah Jahan's rule, constructed the Hasli Canal leading off the Ravi which forms the nucleus of the present upper Bari Doab canal, (Iqbal Ali, 1975).Pakistan's irrigation system has a great importance over the world globe and was extended enormously over the last hundred years. In the middle of the 19th century when the British took over the control of the sub continent, there were only a few inundation canals in the area now comprising Pakistan, irrigating some 200,000 acres. By the end of 19th century a number of separate inundation system had been developed for each river. The total irrigated area increased to 3.6 million acres, with a total canal mileage of 4340 miles. At the end of the 19th century efforts were also made to construct a weir control irrigation system. The inundation systems were merged with the various perennial irrigation schemes when these were completed and both are now being fed from the storage dams at Warsak on the river Kabul and Mangla on the river Jehlum as well as from the 17 barrages and headworks. Pakistan perennial irrigation system is the world's third largest, irrigating some 33 million acres with a total canal mileage of 40,000 mile and a discharge of 2,30,000 cusecs. In addition a vast system of link canals was constructed in the 1960's for transferring the water of the western rivers to the canal system which used to be fed by the eastern rivers, Beas, Sutlej and Ravi (Iqbal Ali, 1975). As our study relates to Malik Branch system, so we will focus on the history of that part of the system.Bahawalpur state was bounded on the north and west first by the combined Sutlej and Beas Rivers, then by Chenab River :md finally by the Indus. The length from the north-east to south-west was about 300 miles and its mean width was about 66 miles. The total area was about 20,000 square miles of which two thirds was under desert, and the rest was cultivated. The State abuts on the rivers, 170 miles border along Sutlej, 50 miles border along Chenab and 80 miles border along Indus. The climate was dry and hot for the greater part of the year. Rain was scarce. We\\\\ water was sweet in riverain tracts but brackish in the old \"Cholistan\" and now new colony areas. The main industry was agriculture. Prior to its connection with the British Power in India in 1833, Bahawalpur state was an independent sovereign State pawning allegiance to no supreme power. In 1833 the state entered into a treaty with the British Government in India whereby a Political Agent of the British Government was posted in Bahawalpur, the State remained completely independent in all internal matters and enjoyed full sovereign rights. The rivers passing through Bahawalpur territory were considered to be the property of the state and the Ruler levied tolls on merchandise transported on the Indus river. The British Government did not interfere in this right of the State. From the irrigation point of view, the State could be divided into three tracts each running parallel to the other. In connection with the canal irrigation in the state Mr.Barns says: \"Irrigation must have always been in vogue and, equally with Sindh and the Punjab, the canals received more or less care as the ruler for the time being was energetic or otherwise. My opinion is that in a period less than 50 years ago the irrigation of this state was in a far more prosperous condition than when Major Minchin took over the charge of State; the number of canals large and small (omitting all under 10 feet breadth) then in existence was as follows: viz., 26 from the Sutlej, 6 from the Chenab and 6 from the Indus. \" (Page 243 of the Punjab State Gazette, Volume XXXVI A Bahawalpur state 1904). The inundation canals to which Mr.Barns refers were constructed at different times. It will be interesting to note the dates of construction of a few of them with area irrigated, see Annexure-A.This project provided for the construction of 3 weirs on the river Sutlej, below its junction with the river Beas; and a fourth weir on the Panjnad reach of the Chenab below its junction with the Sutlej. Three perennial and five non-perennial canals, and two \"combination\" canal (perennial and non-perennial) with an approximate aggregate Kharif capacity of 48516 cusecs had been proposed to take off from the rivers at these weirs for the benefit of Punjab, Bahawalpur and Bikaner territory. This project was designed for the annual irrigation of 3.5 million acres over and above the 1.5 million acres already supplied by inundation irrigation, which latter area was also to benefit by the more reliable supplies resulting from the construction of weirs. It rendered available for colonization nearly a million acres of crown waste land in British territory and a further 2.5 million acres in Bahawalpur and Bikaner States. The cost of the entire project was estimated at nearly 24 crores rupees and the financial return therefrom on the British portion at 15 per cent, taking estimated credit for the sale of crown waste land. This project received the sanction of the Secretary of State for India in November, 1921. Before the construction of the weir-controlled irrigation system, the following inundation canals were present in the Sutlej Valley Project are: a) Lower Sutlej inundation canal system b) Hajiwah canal c) Upper Sutlej inundation canal system d) Grey canal of Ferozepore district e) Bahawalpur state inundation canal History of (a-d) is available but left untouched due to the focus of this report and can be provided on request.The Sutlej valley project provided for four weir on Sutlej, at Ferozepore, Sulemanki, Islam and on the Panjnad reach of the Chenab. Canals were constructed for supplying water both (perennially and non perennially) to tracks in the Punjab province and in Bikaner and Bahawalpur state, under a tripartite agreement by which the water available at those weirs was to distributed to the various canals. The Panjnad weir which was constructed below the confluence of the Sutlej and the Chenab allowed the Bahawalpur state to participate in supply in the Chenab as well as in the surplus water of the Sutlej for their canals taking off at the Punjnud weir (Pir Muhammad Ibrahim 1948). The detail information of all the canals taking off from the various weirs has been provided in Annexure-A.On the Sulemanki headworks, which lies in the west Punjab, two canals were proposed on the left bank, Fordwah canal and Sadiqia canal. Fordwah canal lying in Bahawalpur state was proposed for irrigation in state territory and replaced the Fordwah inundation canal. It was designed with a head maximum capacity of 3366 cusecs and a share capacity of 2244 cusecs to irrigate a gross area of 450934 acres and a culturable area of 434731 acres. The Sadiqia canal also lying in Bahawalpur state offtaking from left bank of Sulemanki weir is a perennial canal irrigating Bahawalpur state designed with a head capacity of 4917 cusecs to command a gross area of 1078640 acres of which Kot Sher Muhammad Section includes Malik Branch Rd 1000 to 95900, Gajjiani Disty (Rd 0 to 53200), Mahmooda, Bhukan, Dhaban and Thakt Mahal minors (head to tail). Data at head Malik and Gajjiani is collected 3 hourly and conveyed to Bahawalnagar twice a day where as data at head and tail of other channels are collected and conveyed daily under personal supervision of Sub Engineer incharge whose sanctioned headquarters are at Kot Sher Muhammad rest house. Signaller is also stationed at the same point.Gajjiani section includes Gajjiani Disty (Rd 53200 to tail), Chak Abdullah, Kokni, Chatala, Chishtian Minors and Madrissa Sub Minor (head to tail). Data at head and tail are collected and conveyed to Bahawalnagar daily under personal supervision of Sub Engineer incharge with sanctioned headquarters at Gajjiani Rest house. Signaller headquarters is also at Gajjiani Rest house but data is conveyed through Chak Abdullah telegraphic station due to non working of Gajjiani Channina link.Sirajwah section consists of Sirajwah Disty (Rd 1000. to 67700).Bahadurwah, 1/R Bahadurwah and Najibwah Minors head to tail. Data at head Sirajwah is collected 3 hourly and conveyed to Bahawalnagar twice a day where as data at head and tail of other channels are collected and conveyed once a day to Bahawalnagar under personal supervision of the Sub Engineer with sanctioned headquarters at Donga Bonga Rest house. The Signaller also stationed at Donga Bonga.Total 1735 cusecs (1538 Malik, 197 Sirajwah) of authorized discharge is being delivered through four major, two minor and almost 50 direct outlets to Malik and Dahranwala Sub-Divisions. The Malik Sub-Division is headed by the Sub Divisional Officer stationed at Bahawalnagar. The three Sub Engineers and three Zilladars help the SDO in technical and revenue matters. Administrative set up of the sub division is given in Annexure-C.As explained above Malik sub division has three sections: 1) Sirajwah 2) Kot Sher Muhammad and 3) Gajjiani sections. Communicational and sectional set up of the sub division is presented in Annexure-D.Malik Branch is the second largest offtake of Eastern Sadiqia Canal. It replaced a vast track of land in Bahawalnagar and Bahawalpur Districts being irrigated by inundation canals in the past. The command area is fertile, but some patches are badly water logged and salinity affected. Over all efficiency is good. The channel has a vital and tremendous role in increasing the agriculture, economic and social values of the area. The land holdings are small, but some larger farms are also present in the command. Most of the channel length is in filling and high seepage can be observed.Malik Branch was designed perennially for 1538 cusecs and offtakes from tail Eastern Sadiqia canal at RD 245000/R. The total length of the branch is 23.38 canal miles, out of which 4.2 mile falls in Dahranwala and 19.18 mile falls in Malik Sub division. Channel has 90 ft bed width and 6.5 ft full supply depth in the head reach and 75 ft bed width and 5.90 ft full supply depth in the tail reach. The water surface slope varies from 0.11 to 0.12 per 1000 ft in total run. The value of lacey's silt factor had been adopted as 0.80 with free board 2.5 ft. The discharge at the tail is 1042 cusecs. There are hydraulic control points combined with fall and bridges at Rd's 22900, 38900 and 95900 to maintain the water levels as per command requirements. Hydraulic structures at head and Rd 38900 are provided with mechanical gates to control regulation. The structures at RD 22900 and 95900 have not been provided with gates. A cross regulator has also been provided at Rd 86000 to feed lift outlets in low supply periods. Detail of the total GCA/CCA, three year irrigation figures and major crops are provided in Annexure-F.Malik Branch has excellent working head while offtaking from parent channel. Gated structure with free orifice flow conditions are available at head. The discharge table is present but requires rechecking. The discharge at the head is most of the time higher than the design discharge, leading to scouring of bed and erosion of sides in most of the reaches. Some lift irrigation outlets also exist. Total supply is distributed among the irrigators through one major, two minor secondary canals and 45 direct outlets in Malik sub division. Most of the direct outlets are pipes, but some OCOFRB and OCAPM outlets also present. The left bank is 25 ft wide with a service road and the right bank is 15 ft wide. They are in good condition except some points where cattle cross regularly. Some reaches are without berm and free board resulting in a loss of capacity of reaches, giving a smaller security margin for operations. However over all outer and inner prism is in good shape and has a potential to sustain the thrust of excess except reaches between RD 23 to 37, RD 39 to 57 where the smallest margin of operation exists, as the right bank is in a bad shape. An abrupt drop in the elevation at RD 49 to 51 implies a risk of overtopping due to which the gauge reader at RD 38900 is very limited in his operations. The head regulators of Mahmooda and Bhukan disties are without gated structures, and normally, draw excess in full supply days which is why these distributaries have a better performance than bigger distributaries. The discharge tables at these points are missing, so it is very difficult to control excess supply and save valuable supply. This fact is very much clear from the irrigation figures of both the channels (see Annexure-F). Fall and bridge RD 22900 without gates works modular. Due to non-availability at Mahmooda & Bhukan distributaries and inconsistent gate movement of Gajjiani discharge variation in Malik Branch RD 38900 can be seen (see Graph-V).The cross-structure at Rd 38900, where Gajjiani Disty offtakes, is an important regulation point with gated structure. Supply/indent of Dharanwala sub-division is also met at this point. Discharge table is available but requires rechecking. Head and cross structures at this point are hydraulically weak. Even the right side pitching of Malik Branch in a length of almost 70 ft slipped down in previous closure 1994/95 and Department had to face a difficult situation. This work was repaired/completed on an emergency basis. Left side pitching also requires attention. At this point heavy fluctuation is the major operational problem and feeding of secondary canals (Fateh Murad) taking off from tail has become a burning issue. This situation is alarming and has an adverse effect on the efficiency of the system. See Annexure-I & F.The official rotational schedule is strictly followed and implemented as it is approved by SE. However the targets or objectives of water distribution are not clear, as per modern techniques and requirements of crops, leading to problems in the fair distribution of water when demand is in full swing. For detail of last year and existing supply conditions see Annexure-F. A lot of responsibility is left to the gauge readers, especially in slack demand days. Some secondary canals are even fed when there is no demand and a valuable supply can be saved for use in other areas. In routine management, they perform a good local control. But this local control can not tackle the 'fluctuations that enter the system, as they are amplified by operations inside the Sub Division. This leads to a highly variable discharge in the Branch and ultimately transfer into secondary canals, resulting in bad situations at tails. Sometimes breaches occur, partly because of these reasons. As a result, the canal is almost never in steady state.At RD 86000, there were two high level offtaking channels Le. Khober and chandana. These were closed around 1975 and supplies delivered to the irrigators by direct outlets. Provision of cross regulator for feeding in low supply or other suitable suggestion instead of giving direct outlets by closing distribution canals in 1975, is a separate issue, which will be dealt with in a later stage of Malik Branch studies and adverse or favourable results will be discussed. Now for feeding of high level outlets, a cross-regulator has been constructed in 1991/92 at the same point.The cross-structure at RD 95900 works modular with sufficient working head. The indent of Daharanwala sub division is met at RD 38900 instead of this point. There is no discharge table available. To improve the working efficiency of canals in lower reach, indent must be fed at RD 95900 and proper data collection facilities must be provided there. In channel command, no proper drainage system exists. In most of the reach, N.S.L (Natural Surface level) is lower than the channel bed and high filling adds to intensive waterlogging due to a high seepage rate. Cutting reach is only in between RD 63 to 70.The process of data collection (explained under sectional distribution set up given in Annexure-D) and its analysis has not been optimized, and the evaluation process is almost not performed at all. With a precise study of data collection and analysis, adequate knowledge of modern techniques in operation, improvements in links between gauge readers, the performance of the system can be stabilized with a high efficiency rate, tempering the coming fluctuations in the system with present security margin.Mahmooda Disty is the first secondary canal of Malik Branch. It is a high level channel whose command area is intensively affected by waterlogging and salinity in the tail reach. Some well organized farms are included in the command with lush green orcards.Mahmooda Disty was designed as a perennial unit of Malik Branch for distribution of 15.5 cusecs of discharge. It offtakes from RD 15464/R of Malik Branch and has a total length of 2.68 canal miles. There is no mechanical gate provided at head which works modular. A discharge table is missing. The details of total GCA/CCA, total number of outlets. major crops and last three year irrigation figures are provided in Annexure-F. The channel was designed with 10.8 ft W.S.W. in head reach and 1/3333 bed slope. No control point available to maintain the water level in this channel.In full supply days of Malik Branch. this channel runs a discharge more than authorized, which has adverse effect on the fertile command. Valuable agricultural land is being wasted every year. Unfortunately. due to paucity of funds in the past. no re-sectioning work has been carried out since long. Heavy growth of Jungle/Sarkanda with silt dunes can be observed along the channel on right side. Banks are weak with no berm and free board. leading to lesser security margin in operations. The channel potential capacity can not be used. and implies a risk of overtopping. Topography is such that the left side area is comparatively high as compared to the right side.The official rotational schedule is followed strictly as it is approved, that is why channel has abnormal shortage at tails in low supply periods of parent branch. As data collection and analysis are not optimized, and the evaluation process is almost ignored, that is why it has a poor performance than the other offtakes. It is also difficult to meet the targets or objectives of equitable and fair distribution during the whole season and reducing the shortage. Situation in low supply periods of muddy water has reduced the capacity and risk of overtopping has increased. Hydraulic data is collected and conveyed through telegraphic station at Kot Sher Muhammad daily. Tail front works modular where as tail left works non modular.  Bhukan Disty is the second offtake of Malik Branch. It is high level channel. Most part of the area under command is water logged. However, some good patches of land are also irrigated by this Disty. Overall performance is good.Bhukan Disty offtakes from RD 22500/L of Malik branch with authorized discharge of 13 cusecs and tail RD 17640. The details of total GCA/CCA, Major crops, number of outlets and last three year irrigation figures are provided in Annexure-F & H. Head Structure works modular but has no gate. The discharge table is also missing. There are 8 outlets designed as OFRB. Being a high level channel, shortage of supply is experienced in low flow days of Malik Branch. Designed velocity and bed slope adopted as 1.28 ft/sec. and 115000 respectively.As the head structure is without gate and regulation is being done by karries, so there is no permanent control and a lot of fluctuations ente the system which are very difficult to temper for equitable and fair distribution. As a result, the canal is almost never in steady state. The channel is also facing problems due to topography. Additional supplies are also distributed among the irrigators for reclamation purposes. Channel reach 0-7500 is in high filling. The bank position is weak, leading to loss of capacity in head reach with a smaller security margin for operation. There is no berm and free board available. Reach RD 7500-14000 passes through high level sandy dunes, when heavy wind storm carrying with dust blows in summer season, channel chokes up and the tail suffers. In the tail reach waterlogging patches are observed. There is no control point available on this channel to maintain water levels for better command, which effects modularity and efficiency.The official rotational schedule is strictly followed due to which targets of equitable distribution in low supply in Malik Branch are not achieved, and lot of variation in discharge at tails is observed. This is further aggravated due to non optimization of data collection and analysis and non performance of evaluation process. Supply conditions can be improved by provision of regulation gates at control point of Malik Branch RD 22900 just downstream of, the canal. Hydraulic data is collected and conveyed to Bahawalnagar daily through Kot Sher Muhammad. For detail of existing and last year supply see Annexure-F. Strengthening with side protection in reach RD 2200-3500 (right and left side) is recommended due to settlement of local Abaddi's in this reach. In the rainy season a number of mishaps are observed. Trespassing and cattle ghats must be discouraged to increase channel efficiency. For more detail of hydraulic data see Annexure-G. Layout, communication link and administrative control has been provided at Annexure-B, D & E.Initially, channel tail was at R.D 23040 but on the request of share holders the tail was curtailed and some outlets were shifted to Malik Branch. L-Section and A-Form approved vide Superintending Engineer Bahawalnagar circle no 1135 dated 29-1-1994 has been implemented and now there is no maior tail shortage.Gajjiani Disty is one of the most important and major distributaries of Malik Branch in Malik Sub Division. It irrigates very fertile and lush green agricultural belt of land in Bahawalnagar and Chishtian tehsils. Number of well organized farms are being fed by this system and this Disty is playing a vital role in the agricultural sector of Bahawalnagar District. As a whole, the system has excellent command. The channel's overall condition and performance is good. Banks are in better condition with sufficient berm and free board. Hydraulically speaking, one can say that Gajjiani Disty is very sound and has a good security margin for operation and good potential for storage capacity in tempering the fluctuation inside the system.Gajjiani Disty offtakes from RD 38900 (right side) of Malik Branch. It is the major perennial distributary in Malik Sub Division designed with authorized discharge of 319 cusecs and total length of almost 27.99 canal miles. Water is distributed to secondary channels (minors) through 6 offtakes and 102 of direct outlets. It was designed with 45.2 ft W.S.W. in head reach with variation in bed slope from 1/5000 to 1/3046 ft. Design velocity was proposed as 1.74 ft/sec. with 4.4 ft F.S.D. It passes through a tract of land which is highly water logged and without proper drainage system. Total GCA/CCA, three year irrigation figures and detail of major crops are provided in Annexure-F. Water levels along the channel for improvement in command and efficiency are maintained through control points at Rd's 53200, 77250, 84000, 98750, 106200, 108980, 110900 and 138400 with excellent working head except falls Rd 77250 and 84000. For hydraulic data see Annexure-G. These two falls are non modular due to certain reasons. Head regulator is a gated mechanical structure with modular working. Discharge table is available but required rechecking.Gajjiani Disty has good a working head while offtaking from the parent channel•. It can be fed with very low supplies in Malik Branch. Most of the channel reach is in high filling. It has excellent inner and outer prism. Under rehabilitation project, work for strengthening of banks with necessary provision of protection works, berm formation and brick lining in tail reach RD 114 139905 was done in the 1993-1994 financial year. Most of the outlets are APM and OFRB. This channel is required to run more than authorized due to certain reasons. One of the major reasons is the excessive withdrawal of offtaking channels and the discharge variation, which can be seen in Graph-X. Out of six offtaking channels, five are without regulation gates. The regulation is done by wooden Karries due to which it is very difficult to control the excess supplies especially in this political era. That is why, for the feeding of whole system as per A.F.S, in Kharif season, channel is required to feed more than authorized by about 15%. Additional supplies are also supplied to the irrigators for reclamation purposes. For detail of existing and last year supply see Annexure-F. This valuable supply can be saved by providing regulation gates at all offtaking channels. Chak Abdullah Minor is already provided with a regulation gate.The official rotational schedule is followed strictly as approved by the competent authority. The discharge at the head is most of the time higher than design discharge, leading to scouring of bed and erosion of sides in first two head reaches, giving less security margin for operation in these eroded sites, making loss in capacity and for potential storage of channel. Overall channel reach is in good shape. Moreover, offtaking channels are not taken into account in the rotation, which is a reason why the first few offtaking channels have a better performance than the offtaking channels in the tail reach. The targets or objectives of water distribution for these offtaking channels are not fixed and clear, leading to problems in the implementation of orders in the field for equitable and fair distribution among the offtakings as per share. This is further aggravated due to non optimization of data collection and analysis activities and non performance of evaluation process. A lot of responsibility for feeding the offtakings is left to gauge readers, who are not capable of making fair decisions for equitable distribution. No doubt, in routine management, they perform a good local control. But this local control cannot tackle the fluctuations that enter the system. Rather they are amplified by operations inside the sub division, where a lot of variable discharges were received at different tails. Due to this lack of control inside the system, the canal is almost never in steady state and gates at the head are operated at different intervals. Most of the channel has an excellent command, but some lift outlets also exist. Channel reach RD 8 to 11, 23 to 25 , 27 to 33, 66 to 73 and 82 to 84 is in cutting. Heading up of channel in low supply days with regulation karries have been approved at RD 23000 for feeding some upstream lift outlets. The channel has siltation problems in various reaches. Especially reach RD 77-84 experiences a lot of silt deposits. There is a canal rest house (Gajjiani) situated at RD 93-94 (rifht side), which is in a good working condition. A telegraphic system is also available at Gajjiani, but nowadays it is not working. Data of the system in Gajjiani section are conveyed nowadays through Chak Abdullah, a telegraphic station on the Fordwah system. As explained above reach RD 98-139905 has excellent topography with lined portion in tail reach, but unfortunatelyI due to some constructional defects, lined reach is facing the following problems: a) Silt deposits b) Overtopping c) Weed growth However overall efficiency of the tail is good. There is no chronic tail shortage. After lining the tail reach, the tail outlets are successfully meeting the water requirements of Chishtian city. This channel has not much tendency of mishaps/breaches due to its strong outer prism. Although in rainy season, there is a tendency of closing the outlets, however due to lined tail portion, less number of mishaps can be observed as compared to channels having earthen section. The head reach of the channel impacts more on waterlogging as compared to the tail reach and soil has poor drainage properties.As the channel runs as per approved rotational program which means low discharges, in 2nd and 3rd preference, excessive berm growth can be observed in reach RD 53200 to 114000. Hydraulic structures need repair. Discharge tables at various offtaking points need rechecking. Details of layout, communication link and administrative control has been provided in Annexure B, D & E.Dhaban Minor is the first offtake of Gajjiani Disty with intensively water logged and salinity effected area in command. Lush green orchids and valuable fertile patches of land has suffered from water excess and people have no way for their survival. They are helpless and looking with some good expectations towards I&PD for their remedies.Dhaban minor offtakes from Gajjiani Disty at RD 17000/R with authorized discharge of 17 cusecs and a tail RD of 25470. The head regulator has not been provided with gate and gearing. The discharge table is missing. For detail of total GCA/CCA, three year irrigation intensities. Major crops and outlets, see Annexure-F. There are 15 outlets. Four are lift outlets (pipes) whereas others are designed as OFRB. Hydraulic data at the head and tail is collected under supervision of SBE. Kot Sher Muhammad and conveyed to Bahawalnagar daily. The channel was designed with 10ft W .S.W. and 1.5 ft F.S.D. in head reach. Bed slope was to vary from 1/2857 to 1/2500. Water levels are maintained through two control points at Rd 8100 & 9100 which work modular. For information see Annexure-G.Perennially designed Dhaban minor has a sufficient working head while offtaking from parent channel and runs through a tract of land which is highly water logged, especially the tail reach. No tail shortage is observed. Some lift outlets are also provided on this channel. There is heavy Jungle/Sarkanda growth along the banks. This channel draw excessive supply even in the days of slake demand, when the water logged tail reach requires less or some time almost nil supply. This channel has to run full due to feeding of high level area and outlets in upper reach, so there is a wastage of valuable supply. For existing and last year supply conditions see Annexure-F. Channel has different topography in total run. Rd 0 to 7COO is balance, RD 7000 to 9100 is in cutting and RD 9100 to tail is in filling. Additional supply is also given for reclamation purposes. In rainy season, excess supply at tails is the major issue to be adhered. Silt deposits and heavy berm growth is also observed. As the head structure is without gate, regulation is done by wooden karries, and most of the time the discharge is higher than the design, leading to waterlogging itself and reduction in supply for the parent system in lower reaches. Banks are weak, giving lesser security margin for operation. Data collection and an'alysis activities are also not optimized. For information of layout, communication link and administrative control see Annexure-B, D & E.Thakt Mahal Minor is the 2nd major offtake of Gajjiani Disty. It irrigates a vast strip of land bounded by Fordwah Branch in the north, Gajjiani Disty and Chak Abdullah Minor in the south. Most of the commanded area is water logged and salinity effected. However some lush green orchids and very fertile land patches are included in the command.Thakt Mahal Minor was designed perennially for the distribution of 37 cusecs of discharge through 23 outlets designed as OFRB in total length of 8.2 canal miles. Detail of total GCA/CCA, number of outlets, major crops and last three year irrigation figures are provided in Annexure-F. The head regulator is without gate, but works modular. The discharge table is also missing. Falls at Rd 7000, 13000, 13860, 18500 and 22500 have excellent working head contributing a lot to maintain water levels in the total run and to improve command. For hydraulic data see Annexure-G. The data collection is supervised by SBE, Kot Sher Muhammad and conveyed to Bahawalnagar daily. For existing and last year supply conditions see Annexure-F. The channel was designed with 13 ft W.S.W. and 2 ft F.S.D. in head reach. Bed slopes were proposed to vary from 0.225 to 0.34 per 1000 ft. with variation in water levels from 524.18 to 499.00.Due to modularity and good availability of head excessive withdrawl is the major operational issue. There is no control over regulation due to non availability of regulation gates. Sometimes people/irrigators in the upper reach of the channel remove the regulation karries which are adjusted to control excess entry, to irrigate their fields without any departmental permission/ supervision due to which mishap/overtopping can be observed in some reaches. In rainy season, the tail reach is affected by excess supply pressure and channel regime disturbed. The bank position is good, but strengthening is needed in some reaches with necessary treatment to pucca and inner section.Topography is very interesting. Reach Rd 0 to 6500 is in cutting, Rd 6500 to 13000 is balanced and Rd 13000 to tail is in high filling with adjoining area water logged. Soil is of good nature in head reach and poor in tail reach with low properties of drainage. In rainy season, outlet closing tendency is observed. Silt deposits and growth of weeds can be noticed in low supply periods. Periodically re-sectioning is needed to feed tails. A number of outlets require readjustment. For more information of layout, communication link and ad ministrative control see Annexure-B, D & E.Chak Abdullah Minor is the major offtake of Gajjiani Disty with almost 13 miles length and difficult topography. Tail shortage and waterlogging are the basic problems.Operational Issues-Chack Abdullah Minor offtakes from Gajjiani Disty at RD 53200/R with authorized discharge of 56 cusecs and tail RD 65000.For detail of total GCA/CCA, Irrigation figures and Major crops and outlets see Annexure-F. There are 28 direct outlets, out of which 4 are lift. Channel head is provided with regulation gate with discharge table which requires rechecking. Hydraulic data is collected under supervision of SBE, Gajjiani and conveyed to Bahawalnagar daily. There are falls at Rd 19390,22000,24000,25650 & 25850 with excellent head which have significant effect on command and maintain the water level in the total run. For detailed information of hydraulic data see Annexure-G. Channel was designed with 19.60 ft W.S.W. and 2.10 ft F.S.D. in head reach. Bed slopes were proposed to vary from 1/4444 to 1/3500.Tail shortage and water logging are the burning issues of this channel. Tail shortage is experienced due to certain reasons, especially the channel topography which is very interesting. Reach RD 0-4 is partly in filling and partly in cutting. Reach RD 4-21 is in cutting. This part of channel passes through high level sandy dunes. In summer season, when heavy wind storm carrying dust flows, this reach is abnormally chocked and silted up due to which channel regime is disturbed and capacity reduced with less security margin for operation and use of potential storage. The working head at offtaking point also suffers and flow varies from free orifice to submerged orifice which ultimately effects the with drawl from parent. The flow in the channel is most of the time on the margin and tail suffers with decrease in agricultural production. Although the channel has a gated structure with sufficient head, the silting up of the head reach and the fact that one offtaking channel at RD 8500 i.e. Madrissa sub minor has a good modularity than parent channel, fair distribution is not achieved and any fluctuation passed into the lower portion is difficult to temper. Some reclamation supplies are released to irrigators in Kharif, which has an additional impact on channel efficiency.In 1994-95 closure, no re-sectioning work was carried out in the head reach, which is why in the present flow season, Department has to face a difficult situation. By deputing regular establishment of Gajjiani and Kot Sher Muhammad sections to reach RD 9-21, the problem was treated upto some extent and supply at tail made up. In low supply days, berm formation/growth of jungle and weeds in tail reach are observed. Lengthy reach also has an effect on the tail. To overcome tail shortage and to save the department some hardship, a PC-1 (Planning Commission proform No.1) for brick lining of tail reach RD 49950 to 65000 (tail) has been prepared and submitted. Reach RD 22-65, which is in high filling is weak without berm and free board, giving a high risk in full demand and in rainy season, when upper reach irrigator's close their outlets, and heavy excess accumulate in tail reach. A number of overtopping cases has been observed. For existing and last year supply conditions see Annex \"F\". Layout, communication link and administrative control has been provided in Annexure-B, D & E.MADRISSA SUB MINOR Madrissa Sub Minor is an important offtake of Chak Abdullah Minor with excellent command. Adjoining area in tail reach is water logged without proper drainage system.Madrissa sub minor offtakes from RD 8500 of Chak Abdullah minor with an authorized discharge of 17 cusecs and a tail RD of 17590. There are 10 OFRB outlets on this channel. For detail of total GCA/CCA, Irrigation figures, major crops, outlets & existing/last year discharge conditions see Annexure-F. The head is not provided with a regulation gate and this discharge table is also missing. Data is collected under supervision of SBE, Gajjiani and conveyed to Bahawalnagar daily. There are falls at RD 2550, 2920, 7610 & 10500 for maintenance of water levels and improvements in command. For hydraulic data see Annexure-G. Tail reach is brick lined and there is no tail shortage.While offtaking from the parent channel, a sufficient working head is available for modular working. As the supply is controlled by regulation karries, this channel runs more than authorized which has adverse effect on tails of Chak Abdullah Minor (the paren channel). Reach Rd 0 to 3000 is in cutting and the soil is sandy. In summer season, when heavy wind storms carrying dust blow, this reach suffers badly and channel capacity decreases. Reach Rd 3000 to 7500 is in balanced condition with fertile soil and some weak sites due to trespassing and cattle ghats of nearby situated local abaddies. Reach Rd 7500 to tail is in filling with good bank position but having water logging and salinity problem. In rainy season, tail irrigators face excess supply problems due to closing of outlets in upper reach. For existing and last year supply conditions see Annexure-F. and for layout, communication net work and administrative control see Annexure-B, D & E.Kokni minor is a small but an important offtaking channel of Gajjiani Disty meeting with agricultural as well as domestic needs of the area under command. The channel command is good with some organized farming.Kokni minor offtakes from RD 77250/R of Gajjiani Disty. Its total GCA/CCA, three year irrigation figures, outlets, and major crops are given in Annexure-F. Its authorized discharge is 13 cusecs with tail RD 12750 and W.S.W. 8.5 ft. There are 7 outlets (OFRB). Bed slope was proposed to vary from 1/2857 to 1/2500 with design velocity at 1.25 ft/sec. The channel has sufficient working head while offtaking from the parent channel. The head regulator is without gate and the discharge table is also missing. Hydraulic data of the head and tail is collected and conveyed to Bahawalnagar daily. There are falls at RD 4938,6400,6800 and 7300 with sufficient working head which provide excellent command to the area and maintain the water levels in total run. Working of these control points is modular. For hydraulic data of falls see Annexure-G. Layout of channel, communication network and administrative control has been provided in Annexure-B, D & E.As explained above, channel head structure is with out gate and modularity is good as compared to parent channel. The supply is adjusted by regulation karries, so excess authorized is the major issue which has adverse affect on tail of Gajjiani system as well as waterlogging after tail reach of the channel. Unfortunately, there is no proper drainage system, so very fertile and valuable agricultural land is being wasted every year. Channel topography is balance, but the head reach is in cutting. As no restoration work has been carried out on this channel since long, banks, berms and service road have deteriorated abnormally, leading to reduction in capacity. Silt deposits and weed growth are observed in the tail reach. In rainy season, irrigator's has to face excess supply. For existing/last year supply conditions see Annexure-F.Fortunately, Chatala minor has an excellent working head as compared to the parent channel. Due to this fact the command is good and channel efficiency is remarkable. It irrigates very fertile and lush green tracts of land with few large farms.Chatala minor offtakes from RD 77250/L of Gajjiani Disty with authorized discharge of 11.5 cusecs and a tail at RD 10250. There are 7 OFRB outlets. Details of total GCA/CCA, Major crops and three year irrigation figures are provided in Annexure-F. The head structure is without gate and the discharge table is missing. However, the head works modular. There is no fall available in the total run of channel to maintain the water levels, which is why tails are in submerged conditions. Channel was designed with 6.6 ft W.S.W. and 1.6 ft F.S.D. with variation in slope 0.30 per 1000 ft. For layout of channel, communication network and administrative control see Annexure-B, D & E.Excessive withdrawl is the major issue due to unavailability of regulation gates which has dual affect i.e. 1) shortage at tail Gajjiani 2) water logging of area under command. Channel reach RD 0--5 is in balance topography and other reach is in filling. Heavy growth of Jungle/Sarkanda observed on right bank. The tail reach command area is water logged. There is no proper drainage system in this area. Tail irrigators face excess supply in rainy season. This channel often runs with a higher discharge than authorized. Data is collected under the supervision of SBE, GJN and conveyed to BWN daily through CAL tele-station. Tails are often in submerged condition. For detailed information of existing and last year supply see Annexure-F. There is no tail shortage experienced by the Department. In low supplies, this channel regime is disturbed due to excessive weed growth and increased silting tendency with decrease in channel capacity having adverse effects on tail in Kharif. Service road along left bank is lower than natural surface level, in rainy season inspection of channel becomes almost impossible and efficient control over channel con not be ensured.Chishtian minor is the last offtake of Gajjiani Disty. It covers a very fertile and lush green strip of Chishtian Tehsil. Holdings are small, however some well and scientifically organized forming also exists.Chishtian minor offtakes from RD 98750/L of Gajjiani Disty with authorized discharge of 23 cusecs and tail RD of 33500. There is no gated structure provided at the head. The discharge table is missing. Total GCA/CCA, three year irrigation figures and major crops are given in Annexure-F. There are 14 OFRB outlets. Bed slope varies from 1/4444 to 1/4000 with designed velocity at 1.2 ft/sec. Data is collected under supervision of SBE, GJN. For existing and last year supply conditions see Annexure-F. There are falls at RD.5300, 17500, 27900 and 30100 with excellent working head for maintaining water levels and improving command. For detail hydraulic data see Annexure-G. Layout of the channel, communication network and administrative controls information has been provided in Annexure-B, D & E.As explained above, channel has no gated structure but due to availability of excellent working head, it works free modular and even in low supplies it take its due share of supply from parent channel. But due to least control over tempering of fluctuation in parent channel, the discharge at head is most of the time lower than the design discharge, leading to siltation in the upstream reaches. This has resulted in a loss of the capacity of channel giving a smaller security margin for operation and very variable discharges are received at tails with almost non steady state of flow in channel. Initially, this channel had tail approximately at RD 38000, then tail curtailment was done and tail proposed at RD 33500. Tail irrigators again applied for shifting of their land on Fateh Disty (Tail offtake of Malik Branch runs parallel to Chishtian minor in this reach) and tail curtailment at RD 30100 was approved vide worthy SE, Bahawalnagar number 1832 dt 23/2/1995. As per decision, the sanctioned discharge at head is now 17 cusecs and at tail is 0.46 cusecs. This decision will be implemented in near future after observing formalities.The channel topography is excellent. Reach RD 0 to 16500 and 18000 to 25600 is balance in cutting and filling, where as remaining part of the channel is in high cutting. Channel has silting problems in reach RD 0 to 17500 where the tail reach is abnormally effected by weeds growth. Low supplies in 2nd and 3rd preference further adds toward chacing up the channel, thus reducing authorized carrying capacity. Banks are quite strong with necessary free board and berm. There is less effect of water logging on the channel command as compared to other Gajjiani system command. In rainy season, heavy excess due to closing of outlets in upper portion of Gajjiani system is experienced by the channel which some time causes over topping and breaching, but this occurs rarely. The rainfall also disturbs the regime in the cutting portion of the channel due to entering of muddy run off from high level surroundings. Erosion of banks is observed. However over all channel condition is satisfactory. For more information regarding existing and last year supply conditions see Annexure-F.Sirajwah Disty is an important offtake at the tail of Eastern Sadiqia Canal. It replaces an old inundation (Malikwah) canal. It plays a vital role in agricultural sector of the area. The channel has an excellent prism. It provides facilities, for irrigation, drinking and other domestic needs of the area. Overall channel command is affected by water logging and salinity. Holdings of the people are small, but some well organized farms are contributing a lot in increasing the agricultural, social and economic values of the people. Sirajwah Disty is designed perennially for 197 cusecs from the tail of Eastern Sadiqia canal RD 245000 as a component of the Sutlej Valley Project. At the head a gated structure is available. Flow conditions are submerged orifice. A discharge table is available but requires rechecking. At the tail it bifurcates into two minors namely Bahadurwah and Najibwah. Detail of total GCA/CCA, last three year irrigation figures are given in Annexure-F. Water is distributed through 36 direct outlets, most of which are OCAPM, OCOFRB, APM and OFRB. There are only two control points available in the total run, i.e. at Rd 21800 and 58825 with design working head 0.46 ft and 0.44 ft respectively to control the water levels and ultimately to improve command. For detail see Annexure-G. The channel has a total length of 13.54 canal miles with 36 ft water surface width at head and 25.2 ft at tail. Designed velocity varies from 1.48 ft/sec to 1.51 ft/sec. Bed slope provided 1110000 to 1/8000 per 1000 ft. Full supply level was proposed 538.50 at head and 530.20 at tail which has now been abnormally disturbed.Operational Issues Sirajwah Disty's flow is submerged orifice while offtaking from parent channel. The discharge at head is most of the time higher than design discharge, leading to abnormal distribution in inner prism with high siltation in head reach. Channel capacity is reduced up to dangerous limits. Feeding of the system under such circumstances is a major operational issue and department has to face hard time especially in Kharif season when demands are in full swing and additional reclamation supplies are also required. This channel runs parallel on right side of Hakra Branch. There is no proper drainage system in this area. Released reclamation supplies distributed among the irrigators in Kharif season to reclaim the affected soil is not of such quantity as actually required. High seepage rate from Hakra Branch and rain fall in monsoon further adds to water logging. Poor drainage is the basic problem of this area.Present alignment of the canal is the same as the alignment of old inundation canal which was the only source of irrigation in this area in 1860's. This fact is very clearly observed from the existing conditions. But, un fortunately, no strengthening work has been carried out since long due to which existing position is not very appreciable and this has resulted in a loss of the capacity, giving a smaller security margin for operation.As discussed above, there are only two hydraulic control points available on this channel to maintain water levels at RD's 21800 and 58825 with 0.46 ft and 0.44 ft design working head. This head suffered due to silting tendency and ultimately 1.55 ft rise in water level was observed in a survey conducted under personal supervision of undersigned in 1994. Due to this rise in water level the falls are found to be almost non-modular and storage potential is not in use in present situation. Available free board is also little and not enough to pass authorized supply safely and number of overtopping/mishap cases have to be faced by the department. Heavy growth of jungle and sarkanda on 10 to 15 ft wide berm also provides hiding places for breeding animals which causes mishaps. Following are the maior issues to be dealt with. There are local villages situated along the channel in reach at RD 12-14 (right side), 46-48 (left and right side) and RD 59-60 (left side). These villages are in a low depression and the drainage system is poor with brackish ground water. Due to heavy trespassing and cattle ghats, the berm is under pressure and a permanent risk for mishaps exists. Most of the channel command is waterlogged, since whenever rainfall occurrs, irrigators close their outlets and heavy excess accumulates in lower reaches and the channel becomes under pressure.The official rotational schedule is strictly followed as approved by competent authority. However, the targets or objectives of water distribution are not clear, leading to problems in the implementation of orders in the field. Data at the head is collected by SDO Jalwala at regular intervals of 3 hours and conveyed to Bahawalnagar twice a day. Data at the tail of Sirajwah and head of Najibwah and Bahadurwah is collected and conveyed to Bahawalnagar daily. For more details regarding existing and last year supplies see Annexure-F. The process of data collection and analysis is not optimized, and the evaluation process is almost not performed at all. A lot of responsibility is left to the gauge readers, especially in case of emergencies. In routine management, they perform a good local control. But this control cannot tackle the fluctuation that enter the system. This results a highly variable discharge at tail. Administrative control of Sirajwah system, Communication link and Layout of canals has been provided at Annexure-C, 0 & E.Bahadurwah is the major offtake of Sirajwah Disty. It has different nature of command. Water logging, salinity and variable discharge at tails are the basic problems. Overall channel efficiency is not very appreciable. Holdings are small. However, some lush green orchids and well organized farms are included in the command.Bahadurwah minor is a perennial offtake at the tail of Sirajwah. It was designed for distribution of 82 cusecs of discharge through 50 direct OFRB outlets and one small sub-minor i.e. 1 IR Bahadurwah. Its total GCA/CCA, detail of last three year irrigation figures and major crops are given in Annexure-F. There is no regulation gate provided at the head. A discharge table is also missing. Most of the outlets are OFRB, however, some APM outlets also exist. It was designed with 22 ft water surface width, 3 ft full supply depth in head reach and 4.7 ft water surface width, 1.2 ft full supply depth in tail reach. Designed velocity proposed was 1.38 ft/sec to 0.80 ft/sec, while bed slope varies from 1/7500 to 1/5000 ft. Critical velocity ratio is kept at 0.82 with three control points to maintain water levels in the canal. From hydraulic data Annexure-G it reveals that only 0.4 design working head available at offtaking point. Control points at RD 18700, 23000 & 37300 are contributing lot in improving the efficiency of command in a total length of 12.03 canal miles. Hydraulic data at head and tail is collected and conveyed to Bahawalnagar daily under supervision of SBE, Sirajwah.Flow conditions are open channel due to non-modular working of the head structure and discharge is most of the time is lower than design, leading to siltation in the upstream reaches and highly variable discharge conditions at tails. This variability is further aggravated due to a topography which further creates hindrances. Reach Rd 2000 to 4900, 8500 to 25000 and 33000 to 37200 is in high cutting and passes through sandy dunes. In summer season, these reaches face problem of silting up, reducing the safe capacity, thus giving a smaller security margin for operation and becoming insufficient to pass the authorized supply. Channel reach RD 37200-55000 is in high filling and adjoining area is waterlogged. Banks are weak, without free board and berm. As explained in the case of Sirajwah Disty, whenever rainfall occurs, irrigators close their outlets and heavy excesses are received in the lower reaches with a lot of pressure on the channel section. So numerous mishaps, breaches, serious leakages cases are observed in the lower portion of the canal. This situation further adds to waterlogging of the area which is already abnormally affected and without proper drainage system. People of this area face a lot of problems for their survival and valuable agricultural land is also being wasted every year. However, some additional supplies are provided to irrigators for reclamation of their effected soil. Remedies for this aspect must be recommended.When the system runs, in 2nd OR 3rd preference, excessive berm formation and siltation can be observed in various reaches. In reach RD 3-4 (left sife), 9 11 (left and right side), there are local abaddies settled along the channel. Tress passing and heavy cattle ghats also adds to widen the channel, so that ultimately low velocities create problems. In the tail reach unloading is the major issue. The working of tail outlets is modular. However, supplies at tails are not distributed as per targets and tempering of this is very difficult. The rotational schedule is followed but the sub-minor has no control, which is a reason why it has a better performance than parent canal. The sub-minor which offtakes from RD 18100 with an authorized discharge of 3.51 cs and a tail at RD 5010 also passes through high level sandy dunes and faces a number of problems. Unloading, silt clearance and stable section are the major issues. Total GCA/CCA is 935/911 acres irrigated with 2 outlets which work modular. For existing and last year supply conditions see Annexure-F. Layout, Communication set up and Administrative control has been provided at Annexure-B, D & E.Najibwah Minor is an important offtake of Sirajwah Disty. It irrigates a very fertile strip of land in Bahawalnagar tehsil as well as meeting with the drinking antd other domestic requirements of Donga Bonga town. It is playing an important role in increasing the agricultural production of the area. Holdings are small, but some big and well organized farms are also included in the command.Najibwah minor offtakes from the tail of Sirajwah Disty at RD 61100/L with authorized discharge of 39 cusecs with its tail at RD 56315. The channel head works modular but without gate. The discharge table is missing. There are 23 outlets, mostly designed as OFRB. For detail of total GCA/CCA, number of outlets, major crops and three year irrigation figures see Annexure-F. The channel was designed with 13 ft W.S.W. in head reach and 4 ft W.S.W. in tail reach with variation in bed slope 1/5000 to 1/3000. The designed velocity was kept 1.34 to 0.80 ft/sec. with 1.5 ft free board. The water level varies from 528.30 to 512.80 in the total run, but hydraulically only one control point is available to maintain water levels. For detail of data see Annexure-G. Hydraulic data at head and tail is collected under supervision of SBE,. Sirajwah and conveyed to Bahawalnagar daily.The channel has excellent working head while offtaking from the parent channel. It mostly runs in excess, leading to disturbance in inner prism. At head no regulation gate is provided, so the supply is adjusted by regulation karries and lot of difficulties are experienced in balance running of channel. The topography is balanced with surrounding area badly waterlogged without a proper drainage system. The soils have poor drainage properties. The channel's overall condition is very deteriorated. The banks are very weak without free board and berm, reducing the capacity, and the security margin. In the rainy season, the outlets tend to be closed, which exerts heavy pressure on lower reaches, and number of overtopping/mishapes have been observed. In Kharif season, when reclamation supplies are released to irrigators the pressure on the channel is further aggravated and the department has to face a difficult situation. The second reach is very weak, and potential storage is not used leading to a variable discharge at tails and targets or objectives of equitable and fair water distributions are not achieved. It is also impossible to temper any fluctuation that enters the system. The official rotational program is followed and this canal has a better performance than the other minor offtaking from the same point. Data collection and analysis process are not optimized, and the evaluation process is almost not performed at all, which is the reason for the difference in efficiency of canals offtaking from the same point. A lot of regulation responsibility is left for the gauge reader which is not fair. He is good in routine management, but in decisions making factors, it is not always appreciable. The operation inside the system has a big scope for improvement. By keeping the present security margin, many artificial fluctuations can be suppressed, stabilizing the discharge at tails. Donga Bonga Canal Rest House is situated at RD 18-19 (left side), The telegraphic station is also situated at Donga Bonga. Data of Sirajwah system are conveyed to Bahawalnagar through this telegraphic station. Details of communication link up, administrative control and layout of channel has been given in Annexure-B, D & E.From precise study of canals in chapter 2, the difficulties/problems being faced by the Department can be categorized under four major heads. One of the major problem with PID incharge staff is to identify the actual and exact issues. Lack of modern and scientific Engineering implements, well polished and experienced staff are the major drawbacks to collect existing data and then to propose correct remedy. However, if correct information may be found out then availability of funds is a separate issue. This situation is very dangerous and alarming. Following are the major issues linked with maintenance:Weak and poor bank conditions Non availability of proper berm and free board Jungle/sarkanda growth Excessive berm formation Abnormal erosion and scour Trespassing and cattle ghats Desilting Adjustment of outlets Repairing of head regulators and damaged pucca structures Replacement of bridges slabs Fighting against overflow, mishaps, breaches and cuts Fighting against heavy wind storms carrying dust and sand Fighting against heavy seepage rate Constructional defects in lined reach of Gajjiani Disty Reaches where local abaddies are situated alo'ng the channels b) Information and Operation This is the major burning issue of the time and the PID is facing hard time in the shape of tail shortage. Any research in this field will definitely help the Department to overcome this issue. Malik Sub-Division is also facing tail    • The abOve period is here taken to be 1 month (31 dayst. The authOfised discharge is, therefore. calculated by muftiplying the authorised discharge with 334 days."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b0bbc5468aa6d74751fdb5062c51a95e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/36c65592-50cd-4694-b527-b713389e5c35/retrieve","id":"1272855791"},"keywords":["climate change","floods","smallholder farmers","rainfed conditions","flood-tolerant varieties"],"sieverID":"ac76aca4-9df9-45e0-90fc-a8e7891e2578","content":"Climate change has intensified food security challenges, especially in Africa, where a significant portion of produce is reliant on smallholder farmers in rainfed conditions. Prolonged flooding and droughts, driven by erratic weather patterns, have significantly elevated the risk of food scarcity. Floods, in particular, have been responsible for severe crop losses, raising concerns about increasing import costs if this issue is not mitigated. Africa is actively working to mitigate the impacts of flooding and enhance food security, although progress has been gradual. Developing flood-resilient varieties is a promising strategy to address this challenge. We explored various flood types common in the region and observed a scarcity of research on flood-resilient varieties, particularly those adapted for anaerobic germination and stagnant flooding. Conversely, varieties bred for flash flooding, such as FARO 66 and FARO 67, have seen limited distribution, primarily confined to a few West African countries, falling short of the intended impact. In contrast, deepwater tolerance research dates back to the early 1900s, but commercialization of the varieties remains limited, with scarce information regarding their cultivation, coverage, and performance. Newly developed varieties, such as Kolondieba 2 and Kadia 24, have received less attention, leaving many farmers dependent on locally adapted cultivars specific to particular areas. Remarkably, despite the limited information, both released and local stress-tolerant cultivars exhibit substantial survival rates and yield advantages. For instance, FARO 66 and FARO 67 have demonstrated 1-3 t/ha yield advantages over recurrent parents under flooding stress. Nonetheless, further efforts are required to address various forms of flooding. To this end, AfricaRice collaborates with National Rice Development Strategies, IRRI, and other partners to promote research and development. While improved flood-tolerant varieties remain limited in scope across Africa, the financial gains for farmers are significant when compared to susceptible cultivars. As the continent's population continues to grow rapidly, there is untapped potential in African germplasms, making ongoing research and breeding strategies essential. Therefore, this review highlights the importance of intensifying efforts in screening and identifying flood-tolerant rice. Furthermore, it underscores the value of utilizing traditional flood-resilient cultivars in breeding to enhance the productivity of widely distributed and cultivated varieties.Rice serves as a dietary cornerstone for over half of the world's population (Muthayya et al., 2014). It contributes significantly, accounting for approximately 23% of the daily caloric intake (Chemutai et al., 2016). Asia has historically dominated rice production, with China and India jointly responsible for over 90% of the world's rice output (Fukagawa and Ziska, 2019). Nevertheless, substantial changes have been observed in Africa, driven by shifts in dietary preferences, population growth, and urbanization. Tsujimoto et al. ( 2019) highlight a significant surge in rice consumption, from 9.2 Mt. in 1990 to 31.5 Mt. in 2019. This rapid growth in consumption is beginning to strain production capacities. Ibrahim et al. (2022) reported that between 2009 and 2019, Sub-Saharan Africa's (SSA) average rice consumption stood at 27.4 Mt., surpassing the average production of 15.4 Mt. over the same period.This persistent deficit between production and consumption has made Africa heavily reliant on rice imports, incurring substantial costs [Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), 2011]. Over the past five decades, Africa has experienced a notable increase in rice production, primarily attributed to the expansion of cultivated areas rather than substantial improvements in productivity (FAOSTAT, 2012). Africa's average rice yield lags significantly behind that of Asia, with African farmers harvesting an average of 2.28 tonnes per hectare (t/ha) compared to Asia's 4.61 t/ha (Arouna et al., 2021). This productivity gap is particularly pronounced among small-scale resource-poor farmers who practice rainfed agriculture (Hong et al., 2021). Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) (2011) asserts that addressing these constraints is essential to curb rice import dependence, which can be achieved through research and development efforts. Some of the major challenges for rice farmers across Africa are flooding and prolonged dry spells. These challenges have become more frequently pronounced as the largest African production areas are located in rainfed environments that suffer from weather variabilities [Diagne et al., 2013b;Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), 2019]. These abiotic constraints interact with harsh weather conditions, amplifying their detrimental effects. Recent data from Hong et al. (2021) emphasize that small-scale farmers are responsible for more than 90% of rice output in Africa. Rainfed farming dominates rice production in most Sub-Saharan African countries (Dramé et al., 2013), with nearly 70% of rice production occurring under rainfed conditions (Ibrahim et al., 2022). Rainfed lowlands, in particular, contribute significantly to rice production in Africa, encompassing approximately 37% of cultivated areas and yielding 48% of the production [Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), 2011].However, the full potential of rainfed lowlands remains untapped due to challenges related to the adverse effects of floods (Agbeleye et al., 2019). It is evident that African major rice-growing areas are flood prone (Kuya et al., 2019), with varying water levels, crop stages during floodwater occurrence, and durations of water accumulation. Moreover, with the existence of various ecosystem types, even the types of flooding are different; some areas experience more than one type. These types commonly include floods at germination, flash floods, partial submergence, and prolonged deep water (Agbeleye et al., 2019). It is devastating that the impacts of flooding are capable of causing total crop losses, thus leading to famine. Therefore, addressing the challenges posed by floods is imperative to enhance rice productivity and expand rice cultivation areas, particularly in rainfed lowlands.Developing high-yielding, flood-tolerant rice is essential for ensuring resilience in rice farming (Bairagi et al., 2021). While extensive research has been conducted globally, there is limited and scattered research specific to Africa. Mackill et al. (2012) have reported the promising adoption of flood-tolerant varieties by the majority of farmers in Asia. However, this is not the case for Africa, where there are few reports regarding the adoption, distribution, and use of varieties capable of withstanding inundation. The intriguing scenario is that the continent possesses a wealth of rice cultivars suitable for genetic improvement. This offers promise for breeding efforts in the face of escalating weather challenges. Therefore, to potentially harness the rice-growing areas where floods are common, it is imperative to publicly reveal the current measures and future directions for developing flood-tolerant rice. As a result, this review aims to present Africa's current progress in addressing the various types of flooding stresses in rice cultivation.2 Overview of rice sector in AfricaRice plays a vital role in ensuring food availability and income security for both rural and urban populations in Africa. Smallholder farmers are at the forefront of rice production, with more than 80% of the total production in Africa attributed to them (Sie et al., 2012;Tanaka et al., 2017). The expansion of rice cultivation has shown varying trends over the years, and it is evident that the increase in production is primarily linked to the expansion of cultivation areas. Balasubramanian et al. (2007) pointed out that there is an immense potential for rice cultivation in Africa, with approximately 239 million hectares of potential wetlands available. However, it is unfortunate that less than 5% of this land is currently utilized for rice cultivation. A report by the FAO in 2008, cited by Rodenburg and Johnson (2009), indicated a significant 105% increase in harvested rice area over three decades, which was driven by the growing demand for rice.According to Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) (2011), the total area utilized for rice production in Africa was around 10 million hectares, encompassing all African countries engaged in rice cultivation. Nigatu et al. (2017) highlighted that in 2016, the harvested rice area in Sub-Saharan Africa reached 11.2 million hectares, representing a 4.2% increase between 2010 and 2016. However, the notable increase in production was primarily attributed to the expansion of cultivation areas rather than improvements in yield per hectare. In 2010, rice productivity in Africa was reported to be 2.1 t/ha, and this yield remained relatively consistent between 2014 and 2016 (Nigatu et al., 2017). Other studies by Roy-Macauley (2018) andTsujimoto et al. (2019) reported similar rice yields in the range of 2.1 to 2.35 t/ha for Sub-Saharan Africa. A more recent study by Arouna et al. (2021) estimated the average rice yield in Africa to be 2.28 t/ha, while Rodenburg and Saito (2022) indicated that Africa's rice yield is around 2 t/ha.Comparing these yield figures to the potential yield gap of 2-10 t/ ha reveals that Africa is currently achieving only a fraction of its rice production potential. Addressing the constraints that limit The trends in rice production in Africa reveal a general increase in production, although this increase has not kept pace with the growing demand for rice. Longtau (2003) highlighted that West Africa, in particular, had the highest production and consumption of rice in Africa, accounting for 64.2% of production and 61.9% of consumption. Notable rice-producing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) identified by Rodenburg and Johnson (2009) include Nigeria, Madagascar, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania, and Mozambique. Mutiga et al. (2021) and Nigatu et al. (2017) noted that nearly 80% of rice production and consumption in SSA can be attributed to Nigeria, Madagascar, Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania, Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Senegal.Recent data from FAOSTAT ( 2023), which provides information on harvested rice area and production, confirm that West Africa has the largest harvested rice area and highest actual production among the five African regions (Table 1). In contrast, Southern Africa recorded the lowest rice area and production. Nigeria stands out as the leading rice producer in Africa, surpassing all other countries by a significant margin. In 2020, Nigeria's rice production reached 8.17 Mt., making it the largest producer on the continent. Egypt, Madagascar, Tanzania, and Mali also feature among the top riceproducing countries (Table 2). While some countries experienced a decline in rice production between 2010 and 2015, such as Madagascar, Tanzania, and Sierra Leone, most of Africa's major riceproducing nations saw an increase in production during this period. From 2015 to 2020, only Côte d'Ivoire and Egypt reported a reduction in rice production among the ten selected major rice producers in Africa.Overall, the upward trend in rice production in recent years is primarily attributed to the expansion of rice cultivation areas, the introduction of rice varieties with desirable cooking traits and reduced shattering, productive research efforts such as the development of NERICA varieties, the involvement of farmers in varietal development, and increased awareness of good agricultural practices (Mogga et al., 2018;Arouna et al., 2021;Bin Rahman and Zhang, 2022).Africa's rice ecosystems are diverse and vary across countries, with differing representations and proportions. Balasubramanian et al. (2007) categorized rice ecosystems in Africa into five groups: deep water and mangroves (9%), rainfed upland (38%), rainfed lowland (33%), and irrigated (20%). However, there have been slight variations in these proportions reported by different sources. Rodenburg and Johnson (2009) revised these figures with a slightly different distribution, reporting rainfed upland (39%), rainfed lowland (33%), and irrigated (19%), while deep water and mangroves covered only 9%. The presence of deep water and mangroves was noted in the flood plains of the Niger River, covering countries such as Guinea, Mali, and Nigeria, while coastal areas of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Gambia had mangrove ecosystems.Several other sources, including Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) (2010), Sakagami and Kawano (2011), Sie et al. (2012), Diagne et al. (2013a), andSuvi et al. (2020), have reported similar rice ecosystems with minor variations in the distribution percentages. Despite these minor differences, the general trend remains consistent, with rainfed upland being the largest ecosystem, followed by rainfed lowland and irrigated. According to Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) (2010), only 14% of the rice ecosystem is irrigated, while rainfed upland and lowland account for 40 and 37%, respectively. The distribution of these ecosystems can change over time due to shifts in land utilization patterns. Diagne et al. (2013a) reported a total rice cultivation area of 9.9 million hectares, with rainfed lowland (38%) being the most extensive ecosystem, followed by rainfed upland (32%) and irrigated (26%). In contrast, deep water and mangroves had the smallest share of rice cultivation area, with only 4% coverage. Generally, the distribution of rice ecosystems in Africa aligns with the findings of Diagne et al. (2013a) and Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) (2019), which indicate that more than 70% of the rice area in Sub-Saharan Africa is rainfed. Among these ecosystems, rainfed upland, rainfed lowland, and irrigated are the most widespread and dominant (Diagne et al., 2013a;Rodenburg and Saito, 2022). When it comes to rice production contribution, Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) (2011) reported rainfed lowland as the largest contributor, accounting for 48% of total production, followed by irrigated (33%) and rainfed upland (19%). Productivity levels also vary among these ecosystems, with irrigated rice typically achieving higher yields compared to rainfed systems. According to Ibrahim et al. (2022), the average rice yield in Sub-Saharan Africa is around 2 t/ha, while well-utilized rainfed and irrigated systems can produce 4-9 t/ha and 8-11 t/ha, respectively. Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) (2011) reported average yields of 1 t/ha for upland, 1-3 t/ha for lowland, and 3-6 t/ha for irrigated rice. However, these yields are still below the potential yields for each ecosystem, which are 2-4 t/ha, 3-6 t/ha, and 6-15 t/ha, respectively. Recent data published by Saito et al. (2019) indicated actual yields of 1.6 t/ha for rainfed upland, 2.6 t/ha for rainfed lowland, and 3.9 t/ha for irrigated rice. These values, while improved, still fall short of the ecosystems' full potential yields.Over the years, there has been a persistent gap between rice production and demand in Africa. From 1961 to 2005, rice production grew at a rate of 3.23%, while demand outpaced it, increasing at a rate of 4.52% (Sie et al., 2012). Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) (2011) also noted this trend and reported a deficit of 9.68 Mt. of milled rice, resulting in a cost of 5 billion USD for imports. This deficit persisted as the average rate of increase in rice production from 1970 to 2009 (3.3%) lagged behind the rate of consumption growth (4.0%). In recent years, there have been notable increases in rice production. For instance, in 2009, Seck et al. (2010) reported a production of 16 Mt. of milled rice, a significant milestone compared to the mere 2 Mt. produced in Sub-Saharan African countries in 1961. Zenna et al. (2017) compared rice production trends from 1992 to 2002 and 2003 to 2013, revealing an increase of 2 and 4%, respectively. This increase was attributed to the expansion of production areas, the use of improved varieties, and the adoption of modern agricultural inputs. Despite these production gains, rice imports have continued to rise. In 1961, only 0.5 Mt. of rice was imported into Africa from outside the continent (Seck et al., 2010). By 2003, this had grown to an imported rice cost of 1.5 billion USD (Balasubramanian et al., 2007). More recent statistics have also shown an increase in rice imports, primarily due to the rising consumption of rice among African nations (Rodenburg and Saito, 2022).According to the FAO statistics for Crops and Livestock Products in 2023, total rice production in Africa reached 36.2 Mt. in 2020, up from 26 Mt. in 2010 and 30.8 Mt. in 2015. Despite this increase in production, rice imports have continued to grow. The annual report for 2016 by Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) (2017) indicated that demand for rice in some African countries ranged from 10 to 90%, leading to an annual import cost of 5.5 billion USD to meet requirements. The consumption of rice in Africa has been on the rise. Tsujimoto et al. ( 2019) observed a significant increase in rice consumption from 9.2 Mt. in 1990 to 31.5 Mt. in 2019. In 2018, Africa spent almost 6 billion USD on importing nearly 25% of its rice for consumption. The average annual rice consumption from 2009 to 2019 was reported to be 27.4 Mt., while production lagged at only 15.4 Mt. (Ibrahim et al., 2022). Rodenburg and Saito (2022) noted that African rice imports accounted for almost 40% of the rice consumed, with the primary driver being the increasing demand for rice.Projections for the future suggest that rice consumption will continue to rise. The FAO (2023b) projects a further increase in consumption to reach 34.9 Mt. in 2025. Nigatu et al. (2017) have also highlighted the risk of importing more rice, projecting an increase from 27 to 35 Mt. in 2026 if corrective measures are not implemented. These trends underscore the urgency of addressing the gap between rice production and consumption in Africa.3 Rice production challenges and opportunities in Africa 3.1 Challenges Diagne et al. (2013b) have categorized the challenges facing African rice farmers into various categories, including biotic, soilrelated, and climate-induced factors. Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) (2011) emphasizes that these factors are further exacerbated by socioeconomic constraints. These challenges encompass a wide range, such as iron toxicity, droughts, floods, cold salinity, weed infestations, diseases, birds and rodent pests, suboptimal seed quality, impoverished soils, and inadequate post-harvest technologies (Balasubramanian et al., 2007;Rodenburg and Johnson, 2009;Diagne et al., 2013b;Van Oort, 2018;Hong et al., 2021).The primary focus of this review is on flooding, a major challenge in both rainfed lowlands and irrigated areas. It is often triggered by unpredictable rains associated with climate change (Agbeleye et al., 2019). Farmers have recognized this stress, which ranks second only to drought in terms of its impact, accounting for a 27% yield loss across all ecological zones (Diagne et al., 2013b). The impacts of flooding are observed throughout lowland rice-growing areas, and in particularly stressful years, farmers experience total crop failure. This challenge manifests in various forms, affecting different stages of the rice production cycle, from sowing to harvest. Flooding affects germination, tillering, plant survival, lodging, spikelet fertility, grain weights, and ultimately yields. It also hinders the recovery of most rice cultivars (Panda and Barik, 2021). In addition to flooding, other challenges significantly impact rice production in Africa. Drought, for instance, is a devastating impediment to rice production for African farmers. It resulted in a yield loss of 29% during the 2009-2010 period across all rice ecosystems, with upland rice being particularly susceptible (Diagne et al., 2013b). Moreover, weeds have consistently emerged as one of the most formidable biotic challenges, especially in rainfed rice farming, where yields can be less than 1 ton per hectare [Rodenburg and Johnson, 2009;Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), 2011]. Parasitic weeds, including the Striga genus, inflict substantial monetary losses, estimated to range between 111 million and 200 million USD annually [Rodenburg and Johnson, 2009;Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), 2017]. Other pests such as the African rice gall midge, birds, and rodents also pose significant threats to rice production. Furthermore, rice in Africa faces diseases such as bacterial leaf blight, Rice yellow mottle virus, and blast. Bacterial blight, for instance, inflicted yield losses ranging from 35 to 52% in Niger and 25% in the northern part of Benin [Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), 2011;Suvi et al., 2020].Mineral toxicity, particularly iron toxicity, has afflicted numerous African countries, leading to yield losses ranging from 10% to a staggering 100% (Melandri et al., 2021). West African nations have borne the brunt of the iron toxicity challenge, with nearly 60% of their cultivated areas affected (Sikirou et al., 2018). Likewise, the detrimental impact of excessive aluminium on rice crops has become increasingly apparent, affecting approximately 18.8% of rice-growing regions in Africa. Besides the biotic and abiotic challenges, the financial constraints and limited awareness among smallholder farmers pose significant barriers to their access to improved agricultural inputs and technologies. In addition to these challenges, many African soils suffer from nutrient deficiencies, particularly in nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and zinc (Zn) (Mohammed et al., 2014;Tsujimoto et al., 2019;Hong et al., 2021). It was found that more than 37.6% of rice-growing areas in Africa grapple with low soil nutrient levels, leading to reduced crop yields (Haefele et al., 2014). Furthermore, access to quality seeds and varieties represents another major challenge to sustainable rice farming in Africa, as highlighted in the Africa Rice Center's annual report of 2010. Similarly, Futakuchi and Saito (2021) observed farmers' overreliance on saved seeds for crop cultivation.Finally, the post-harvest phase of rice production experiences losses in value, ranging between 15 and 50% (Somado et al., 2008). These losses result from suboptimal post-harvest practices, including the presence of impurities, chalkiness, heat damage, and a high quantity of broken rice [Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), 2016]. Sub-Saharan Africa experiences post-harvest losses ranging from 9 to 17%, amounting to an estimated 14-600 million USD in losses each year [Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), 2018]. Therefore, addressing these challenges is paramount for enhancing both the quality and quantity of rice production and, subsequently, improving overall food security in the region.Africa's rice production landscape stands as a realm of untapped potential, awaiting realization through a dedicated embrace of research and development endeavors aimed at fostering sustainable rice farming practices [Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), 2011]. The age of heavy rice imports, which has placed undue pressure on Africa's economic resources, must give way to a future where the continent takes charge of meeting its own rice demands. The sluggish pace of rice production growth in Africa, attributed to the underutilization of available arable land and persistently low productivity levels, calls for a strategic transformation (Ragasa and Chapoto, 2017;Rodenburg and Saito, 2022). Africa possesses the intrinsic potential to attain selfsufficiency once it commits to strategies that optimize land utilization and enhance overall productivity (Arouna et al., 2021).Remarkably, Africa boasts vast expanses of land amenable to rice cultivation, yet only a fraction of its fertile wetlands currently witness the plow [Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), 2011]. Astonishingly, out of the over 200 million hectares of wetlands spanning the African continent, a mere 5% find themselves under the cultivation of rice. It is this very underutilized land that, when accessed and cultivated, holds the power to significantly augment rice production. Furthermore, addressing the gap in the availability and accessibility of high-yielding rice varieties represents a pivotal opportunity for productivity enhancement [Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), 2010]. Across the continent, farmers are predominantly cultivating traditional local rice varieties, relying on saved seeds year after year [Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), 2012]. Yet beneath this challenge lies a wealth of diverse cultivars that remain ripe for improvement. Agricultural research institutions have been established in numerous countries, many with a particular focus on rice breeding. These initiatives promise to equip African farmers with superior quality and high-yielding rice varieties, consequently leading to an upsurge in output. Moreover, the rising demand for rice varieties tailored to withstand a gamut of stressors, from floods to prolonged dry spells, salinity, and nutrient imbalances, presents a compelling impetus for progress (Balasubramanian et al., 2007). The introduction of stresstolerant rice varieties signifies more than just an expansion of cultivated land; it holds the promise of significantly enhancing productivity. Going beyond the NERICAs, the Africa Rice Center has successfully developed Sahel, ARICAs, and WITAs high-yielding varieties that are finely tuned to suit various African ecologies and withstand prevalent stresses. These varieties have the potential to bolster the livelihoods and incomes of smallholder farmers (Arouna et al., 2017). By making strategic investments in this endeavor, the continent stands poised to breathe new life into long-abandoned agricultural lands, ultimately resulting in a substantial increase in rice production.To facilitate the rice transformative journey, the implementation of supportive agricultural policies takes center stage (FAO, 2023a). These policies wield the power to steer the trajectory of the rice sector's development (Clapp, 2017). They are inextricably linked to initiatives such as mechanization, the subsidization of agricultural inputs, and the provision of accessible loans to farmers (Arouna et al., 2021). These measures collectively ensure the efficient organization of farming activities, the timely application of agronomic practices, and the seamless management of the post-harvest value chain. In addition, these policies are aligning with the national rice development strategies (NRDS), which are now being implemented by the majority of African countries. Therefore, Africa stands at the cusp of a remarkable transformation, one that holds the promise of selfsufficiency in rice production. By harnessing its abundant resources, embracing research and development, and fortifying the supportive policy landscape, the continent is poised to unlock its full potential and emerge as a beacon of sustainable rice farming.4 Flooding and rice production in AfricaFlooding limits rice production, particularly in rainfed lowland ecosystems. This is exacerbated by the irregular and uncertain distribution of rainfall, in itself accelerated by climate change, which is a major concern today (Mackay, 2008). Weather variability has increased globally, and Africa's heavy reliance on rainfed agriculture makes it highly vulnerable to weather extremes, including floods (Agbeleye et al., 2019). Projections for the future suggest an escalation in the frequency and intensity of weather extremes due to climate change [Atanga and Tankpa, 2021;World Meteorological Organization (WMO), 2022]. A report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA, 2022) identified 19 countries prone to floods with significant damage to farmlands. These countries include Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger, Nigeria, Liberia, the Central African Republic, Gambia, Guinea, Mauritania, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Mali, Cameroon, Benin, and Burkina Faso. In 2021, approximately 15 African nations also experienced flooding. Akinyoade et al. (2014) conducted surveys in countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, and Mozambique. The results revealed that more than 90% of respondents perceived the existence of floods and droughts as a major threat to crops.Several countries such as Tanzania have a history of riverine flooding, especially in floodplains, which significantly affects overall agricultural productivity (Valimba and Mahe, 2020). Other countries, including Nigeria, Madagascar, Mali, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Burkina Faso, and Rwanda, have reported flood-related disruptions to agriculture in certain years [Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), 2011, 2018;Anna et al., 2019]. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) (2022) projected an increase in the severeness of climate extremes. Hence, the organization estimated that Africa will need to spend nearly $50 billion USD annually by 2050 to mitigate these weather-related losses. Therefore, addressing the challenges posed by flooding in rice production can never be neglected in Africa. Ismail et al. (2012) identified four inundation stresses that rice farmers are likely to encounter: flooding at germination, flash flooding, long-term partial flooding, and deep water. They further distinguished these stresses, highlighting anaerobic germination, which encompasses submergence stress during germination caused by heavy rains occurring shortly after sowing. This phenomenon is prevalent among farmers who practice direct seeding. Flash floods are another perilous event that submerges crops for a short duration, typically one to two weeks, resulting in crop damage or death. This is distinct from long-term stagnant flooding, where water levels of 30-50 cm accumulate for a significant portion of the growing season. Stagnant flooding is sometimes referred to as partial flooding. Additionally, there are other types of flooding, such as deepwater and floating rice cultivation, where crops endure inundation up to several meters. Similar flooding stresses have been reported by researchers such as Bailey-Serres et al. ( 2010), Fukao et al. (2006), andMackill et al. (2012).Africa experiences similar types of flooding, consistent with global reports (Fukao et al., 2006;Bailey-Serres et al., 2010;Ismail et al., 2012;Mackill et al., 2012). Heavy rains can trigger flash floods, affecting both germination for directly seeded rice and submerging emerged seedlings for several weeks. Long-term water stagnation is another prevalent flooding type across African countries, characterized by the accumulation of water over an extended period during the rice-growing season, partially submerging crops (Agbeleye et al., 2019). Moreover, some coastal regions in Africa, such as Gambia and Guinea-Bissau, are prone to coastal floods, particularly in mangrove areas (Sakagami and Kawano, 2011). Additionally, there are regions where crops suffer from long-term complete submergence for over a month, as observed in areas cultivating deepwater and floating rice, notably in countries such as Chad, Mali, and Niger (Sakagami and Kawano, 2011).Adverse impacts of floods have been observed all over Africa, posing significant losses to crop production. These impacts encompass failures in rice germination for flooded soils, crop losses resulting from flash floods, lodging of rice plants, and diminished vigor in cases of long-term stagnant flooding (Agbeleye et al., 2019). However, addressing these challenges in African rice farming is complicated by limited information and the scarcity of flood-tolerant rice varieties, leaving farmers highly vulnerable to climate extremes such as flooding (Akinyoade et al., 2014).One region profoundly affected by flooding is Northern Ghana, where Atanga and Tankpa (2021) reported massive crop losses due to inundation, significantly affecting local food security. In Tanzania's Kilombero floodplain, rice yields have dwindled to a mere 1 tonne per hectare, with water-control challenges cited as a contributing factor for this agricultural setback (Kwesiga et al., 2020). West Africa, too, has faced the harsh consequences of long-term complete submergence, resulting in severe crop losses (Kawano et al., 2009;Sakagami et al., 2009;Sakagami and Kawano, 2011). In Uganda, over 2,000 acres of rice fields suffered significant damage due to floods, resulting in substantial yield losses (Anna et al., 2019).Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) (2018) noted that approximately 22% of rice production losses in Nigeria in 2012 were attributed to floods, primarily linked to the use of susceptible rice cultivars. Burkina Faso experienced a similar challenge, with an estimated 50% of the irrigated rice ecosystem suffering inundation, while Rwanda encountered 40% yield losses due to comparable circumstances [Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), 2011]. A survey conducted by the Africa Rice Center in 2009-2010 reflected farmers' perceptions of flooding impacts, indicating an average yield loss of 27% across the rice ecosystem, with losses of 34, 27, and 25% in irrigated, rainfed lowland, and rainfed upland areas, respectively. Reed et al. (2022) reported that between 2009 and 2020, nearly 12% of people in Africa experienced food insecurity due to floods. Agbeleye et al. (2019) concurred that floods can result in losses ranging from 10 to 100%, depending on factors such as the rice cultivar., growth stage, floodFrontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 07 frontiersin.org duration, depth, and floodwater characteristics, as highlighted in Mackill et al. (2012). Akinyoade et al. (2014) found that only farmers using climate-resistant crop varieties and diversifying their crops were less sensitive to weather extremes. Floods are recognized for inhibiting gaseous exchange in plants by a factor of 10,000 times and disrupting normal respiration, making them particularly lethal to crop plants (Fukao et al., 2006). This interference with the plant's ability to respire and carry out essential metabolic functions leads to severe damage and even total crop losses, consequently causing acute food shortages.5 Overcoming flooding impacts 5.1 Research and global remarkable success on flood-tolerant rice 5.1.1 Anaerobic germination for direct-seeded rice Significant progress has been made in the identification and development of flood-tolerant rice varieties, as evidenced by a body of research (Mackill et al., 2012;Singh et al., 2017b;Kato et al., 2019;Mondal et al., 2020). This progress encompasses the characterization of morphological, physiological, molecular, and metabolic traits associated with flooding tolerance, as reported in the studies by Panda and Barik (2021) and Singh et al. (2017b). It is worth noting that most of these achievements have been concentrated in Asia as compared to other regions. In direct-seeded rice, the establishment of crops is particularly vulnerable to oxygen limitations associated with floods. Yamauchi et al. (1993) observed limited survival and uneven crop establishment when characterizing rice germination in flooded environments, even at relatively shallow depths of 2 to 5 cm. Under more stringent screening conditions, flooding at greater depths can lead to severe crop losses, as documented by Ismail et al. (2012).Numerous studies have examined various rice accessions for variations in tolerance under oxygen-deprived conditions, with notable contributions from researchers such as Angaji et al. (2010), Baltazar et al. (2019), andYang et al. (2022). High expression and increased activities of a key enzyme, ɑ-amylase, are crucial for ensuring the availability of sugars, which are essential for escaping stress (Ismail et al., 2009). It has been observed that cultivars capable of tolerating inundation during germination efficiently break down starch reserves to fuel the growing embryo and facilitate coleoptile access to air (Kretzschmar et al., 2015).Furthermore, coleoptile elongation has been identified as a key factor determining rice survival in flooded soils and is now widely used in screening processes (Hsu and Tung, 2015;Zhang et al., 2017;Kuya et al., 2019;Pucciariello, 2020;Su et al., 2021;Thapa et al., 2022). Researchers have also identified the involvement of hormones, such as ethylene, specific enzymes such as ɑ-amylase, ADH, and PDC, and major QTLs such as AG1 and AG2 in flood tolerance. This understanding has led to the development of flood-tolerant, high-yielding rice varieties through the introgression of these QTLs, and these varieties have been introduced to farmers (Mondal et al., 2020). The introduction of these introgressed cultivars has significantly improved germination and yield compared to previously used susceptible cultivars.In the event of flash floods, farmers' fields are completely submerged, which has a profound impact on crop survival and recovery (Septiningsih et al., 2009). Researchers have characterized Sub1, a quantitative trait locus (QTL) housing the Sub1A gene responsible for vegetative complete submergence tolerance (Xu and Mackill, 1996). Cultivars carrying the Sub1A1 allelic form of this gene were identified as capable of overcoming the stress and maintaining high underwater photosynthetic efficiency (Singh et al., 2020).Studies have revealed that the primary mechanism associated with this tolerance is a quiescence strategy (Bailey-Serres et al., 2010;Pucciariello and Perata, 2013). Tolerant cultivars successfully withstand flash floods, displaying non-elongation, high survival rates, conservation of energy reserves, and improved post-submergence recovery (Fukao et al., 2006;Bailey-Serres et al., 2010;dos Santos et al., 2017). Additionally, Pedersen et al. (2009) emphasized the importance of gas films in enhancing submergence tolerance, with these microlayers contributing to aeration even under stressful submergence conditions.Notably, the Sub1 gene has been introgressed into popular mega varieties through marker-assisted backcrossing (Mackill et al., 2012). Consequently, farmers in Asia have been utilizing improved Sub1 varieties, including IR 64 Sub1, Swarna Sub1, Ciherang Sub1, Samba Mahsuri Sub1, and BR 11 Sub1, which have significantly enhanced yield under stress conditions.Lowland areas often accumulate water for extended periods, partially submerging the crops, leading to a range of stressors affecting tillering, fertility, lodging, grain quality, and yield (Chattopadhyay et al., 2021). This challenge is particularly prevalent in low-lying fields prone to flooding. Some cultivars completely fail to survive during prolonged water stagnation.In a study by Vergara et al. (2014), the response of 626 accessions partially submerged with 50-60 cm of water up to maturity was investigated. Stagnant flood-tolerant genotypes were characterized by moderate elongation, in contrast to semi-dwarf and fast-elongating accessions, which exhibited poor performance and low survival rates. Additionally, tolerant lines displayed minimal starch depletion compared to intolerant ones. Consequently, tolerance was attributed to factors such as moderate elongation, enhanced tillering capacity, reduced starch depletion, and increased fertility. Singh et al. (2017a) reported the identification of 36 QTLs related to survival, growth traits, and yield under stagnant flooding conditions, primarily clustered on chromosomes 3 and 5. Chattopadhyay et al. ( 2021) identified 17 QTLs for partial submergence using a mapping population derived from a tolerant genotype, Rashpanjor, and Swarna, a widely grown high-yielding variety. Kato et al. (2019) highlighted IRRI119, IRRI154, and OR142-99 as released varieties with the ability to withstand stagnant flooding.Internode elongation has been recognized as a dominant mechanism for overcoming deepwater stress (Hattori et al., 2011). Tolerant cultivars maintain increased internode elongation to stay in contact with air, in contrast to non-elongating rice types.Since the discovery of the SNORKEL genes, SK1 and SK2, significant progress has been made in elucidating and confirming the mechanisms controlling tolerance (Hattori et al., 2009;Singh et al., 2017b). Additionally, the role of ethylene has been found to promote rapid internode elongation as a strategy for escaping water (Hattori 10.3389/fsufs.2023.1244460 Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 08 frontiersin.org et al., 2009). Importantly, once water recedes, deepwater-adapted cultivars keep their reproductive parts above the ground, a feature referred to as \"kneeing ability\" (Singh et al., 2017b;Nagai and Ashikari, 2023). Tolerant cultivars exhibit rapid growth, with a significant increase in height, equivalent to up to 25 cm per day (Singh et al., 2017b). Some of the most frequently cited varieties with improved performance in deepwater conditions include C9285, Bhadua, and BRRI Dhan91 (Shalahuddin et al., 2020;Nagai and Ashikari, 2023). These varieties have been instrumental in enhancing the understanding of the mechanism of tolerance in deepwater and improving resilience through QTL mapping in breeding programs.Overreliance on direct seeding has exposed African farmers to the challenges of flooding caused by unpredictable rains (Kuya et al., 2019). The inundation of fields reduces oxygen availability to germinating seeds, hindering successful crop establishment and necessitating costly replanting. Despite these drawbacks, direct seeding remains a highly favored method due to its water-, labor-, and time-saving advantages (Darko Asante et al., 2021). In response to the anaerobic stress caused by flooding, various initiatives have been undertaken in Africa, including screening for stress-tolerant rice. In a study by Agbeleye et al. (2019), a screening of Oryza glaberrima identified five accessions with higher percent survival rates during anaerobic germination compared to the tolerant check variety, Khao Hlan On. These accessions are TOG 5980, TOG 5485, TOG 5505, TOG 16704, and TOG 8347. Currently, work is in progress to identify the QTLs associated with tolerance through bi-parental crosses, using these accessions and local sensitive cultivars.Another screening conducted by Darko Asante et al. ( 2021) identified five genotypes capable of withstanding anaerobic stress. These genotypes, namely, OBOLO, ART68-12-1-1-B-B, ART64-31-1-1-B-B, CRI-1-21-5-12, and CRI-Enapa, displayed strong emergence from flooded conditions, with survival rates exceeding 75%. Presently, the Climate Smart African Rice Project, funded by DANIDA, is actively engaged in research aimed at developing flood and salinitytolerant rice varieties. One of the project's key components is the identification of donors with tolerance to anaerobic stress during germination. The most recent achievements under this project include the identification of ten potential donors exhibiting anaerobic stress tolerance during germination (Mwakyusa et al., 2023). These donors are as follows: Afaa Mwanza 1/159, IB126-Bug 2013A, Kanamalia, Kubwa Jinga, Magongo ya Wayungu, Mpaka wa Bibi, Mwangaza, Rojomena 271/10, Wahiwahi, and Tarabinzona. They were selected based on both phenotypic tolerance and genomic values. The donors hold significant potential for future work involving QTL mapping with bi-parental or multi-parental populations.In cases where rice crops are completely submerged at the early stages of establishment, even for short durations, survival is compromised, and recovery is uncertain. Many lowland rice production areas in Africa are prone to frequent floods, which can devastate crop growth (Diagne et al., 2013b). One historically significant discovery in addressing this issue is the Sub1 QTL, a major genetic locus controlling tolerance to complete submergence (Xu and Mackill, 1996). This QTL facilitates tolerance by conserving energy as a survival response (dos Santos et al., 2017). Sub1 has shown promise and has been beneficial to African farmers in flood-prone rice-growing areas.In Africa, a significant milestone was achieved through the Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA) project, a collaboration between the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Africa Rice Center. This initiative employed marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC) to develop submergence-tolerant varieties integrated with high yields and preferred recurrent parents. The project deemed varieties successful only if they exhibited at least a 1-tonne per hectare yield gain under flooding stress compared to the recurrent parent, with no yield penalties under non-stress conditions. Notable varieties resulting from this project include FARO 66 and FARO 67, which have shown the ability to overcome short-term complete submergence. 1 These varieties have become popular and are widely grown in West Africa.In another study, Kawano et al. (2009) investigated a number of rice cultivars with African and Asian origins for their tolerance to 7 days of flash flooding. The conclusion was that African rice cultivars suffer from short-term complete submergence due to their elongation escape strategy, which leads to lodging and limited recovery post-desubmergence. Akinwale et al. (2012) evaluated 20 rice varieties completely submerged for two weeks and found that Sub1 mega varieties sourced from IRRI had higher survival rates and yields compared to non-Sub1 cultivars of African origin. Low survival and high yield reductions were observed for varieties with increased stem elongation, such as FARO 57 and FARO 52. Anna et al. (2019) investigated cultivar responses to flash floods at the seedling stage in Uganda, revealing that none of the cultivars possessed the Sub1A-1 allele responsible for submergence tolerance. Most of the cultivars instead had Sub1A-2. Agbeleye et al. (2019) identified TOS 6454 as the best-suited accession out of 2002 Oryza glaberrima accessions screened for flooding tolerance. Although this accession did not surpass Swarna Sub1, a tolerant check, it significantly outperformed other accessions. This highlighted that most Oryza glaberrima varieties are not suited for short-term complete submergence but are more adapted to deepwater elongation. Recently, El Dessougi et al. (2022) screened 20 rice varieties from Sudan and South Sudan, including a known tolerant check, FR13A, for flash flooding tolerance. The results indicated nearly zero survival percentages for the cultivars, except for the tolerant check, which showed a 42.5% survival rate. Hence, ongoing research efforts remain essential to address the challenges faced by numerous African countries grappling with flooding stress.The prolonged accumulation of water in lowlands, resulting in the partial submergence of rice crops, is indeed a devastating issue. This condition makes the crops susceptible to lodging, which, in turn, affects growth, yield components, and overall productivity. Although this stress is prevalent in many rice-growing regions and significantly In a study by Sakagami et al. (2009), five cultivars, namely, Banjoulou, Nylon, IR71700-247-1-1-2, IR73020-19-2-B-3-2B, and Ye'le´1A, were used to investigate their response to partial submergence for a duration of 37 days at a water depth of 35 cm. Among these cultivars, only Ye'le´ represented Oryza glaberrima, while the rest were Oryza sativa. Ye'le´ is known for its strong escape response to deepwater conditions through elongation, but interestingly, it exhibited the lowest elongation in response to stagnant flooding. Sakagami et al. (2013) reported that partially submerged rice cultivars experienced minimal growth effects compared to prolonged complete submergence. Another study by Oteyami et al. (2018) found that TOG 5810, an Oryza glaberrima variety, is well adapted to partial flooding. This cultivar displayed improvements in terms of a 1,000grain weight while maintaining fewer empty grains per panicle. Currently, stagnant flooding is a significant concern addressed by the Climate Smart African Rice Project, which aims to develop rice varieties capable of withstanding water stagnation in lowland fields. This research is crucial for finding solutions to this challenging issue and improving rice production in flood-prone areas.Prolonged flooding conditions, where rice crops are completely submerged, have devastating consequences for farmers. While this stress is most prevalent in some countries around the Niger Valley in Western Africa, total crop losses for less adapted rice varieties are a common occurrence. In some instances, water can accumulate to depths exceeding 1 meter for more than a month, hindering crop establishment and critical management practices. Interestingly, research and reports on this stress date back to the early 1900s, primarily focusing on countries such as Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Mauritania, and Benin (International Rice Research Institute, 1977). Local cultivars, mainly of the Oryza glaberrima species, were used by farmers but exhibited very low yields. In response to deepwater flooding, several West African countries invested in research. For example, in Mali, a number of Oryza sativa cultivars were introduced and tested in the 1960s, leading to the identification of varieties such as Malobadian, Indochina G, Nang Kiew, Khao Gaew, and Mali Sawn, which were best suited for deepwater conditions, with yields ranging from 3.7 to 4.5 t/ha, and were subsequently commercially released.In Niger, a local variety called Demba Heira with an average yield of 3.6 t/ha was successfully appreciated and cultivated in deepwater. In the 1950s, Nigeria conducted evaluations of O. glaberrima for deepwater cultivation, identifying promising cultivars such as Badane, Tatan, Don Boto, and Farin Iri. In the 1960s, varieties such as Mali Ong, Godalaki, and Indochina Blanc were added to the list following intensive testing. The introduction and evaluations of O. sativa in Guinea and Sierra Leone resulted in the release of Indochina Blanc, which has been extensively cultivated in these two countries. Futakuchi et al. (2001) studied the response of African rice to submergence tolerance over a duration of three weeks. The study revealed that O. glaberrima exhibits greater tolerance and avoidance strategies through stem elongation compared to O. sativa when subjected to prolonged complete submergence. Sakagami et al. (2009) explored the physiological differences between Asian and African rice for long-term complete submergence. Seedlings were completely submerged for 31 days with a 50 cm water depth, including IRRI Sub1 checks. All O. glaberrima cultivars survived the stress with increased shoot elongation compared to Asian rice, while all Sub1 cultivars such as FR13A failed to survive. Cultivars such as Nylon and Ye'le´1A were confirmed to be adapted to deepwater following a similar trial involving submergence for 37 days with an 80 cm water level.Furthermore, Sakagami et al. (2013) conducted another screening for complete submergence over a duration of 32 days. The findings showed an average survival rate of around 90% for African rice, while Asian rice cultivars exhibited survival rates of 40-50%. The Sub1 checks failed to survive the stress, displaying less than 5% survival. One outstanding survival case was displayed by CG14, an Oryza glaberrima cultivar., which showed 100% survival after 32 days of complete submergence and significant recovery. Strategies such as faster shoot elongation, anaerobic tillering, larger leaf area extension, higher photosynthetic rate, and the maintenance of PSII maximum efficiency are potentially used by O. glaberrima to survive prolonged deepwater conditions. Through the STASSA project, two cultivars, Kolondieba 2 and Kadia 24, were developed for lowland deepwater ecosystems. These cultivars were well distributed in Mali, covering farmers' fields prone to long-term deep flooding, and have shown the ability to survive stress with improved yields (see footnote 2).In a recent study, Luo et al. (2023) used African cultivated rice to study the mechanisms employed for survival in deepwater conditions. The findings indicated that internode elongation is highly expressed in deepwater-adapted cultivars. Additionally, genes promoting internode elongation, such as SNORKEL (SK1/SK2), SEMIDWARF1 (SD1), and ACCELERATOR OF INTERNODE ELONGATION 1 (ACE1), were characterized by increased internode elongation in the presence of SK genes. Among the allelic forms of the SK2 gene, SK2-B was found to be highly significant in strongly accelerating internode elongation during flooding. Cultivars such as CG14, C8992, RAM3, C8872, C8991, C8892, and W0844 displayed the highest internode elongation and can hence be considered useful resources for variety development.Agbeleye et al. ( 2019) highlighted WITA 4 as an outstanding variety, surpassing the known checks IRRI 119 and IRRI 154 in both survival and yields. In stagnant flooding conditions at a 50 cm water depth for three months, WITA 4 exhibited an impressive survival rate of 78%. Most notably, the variety experienced only a 4% reduction in yield compared to the control conditions. Under stress conditions, it yielded 385 g/m 2 , equivalent to 3.85 t/ha, while IRRI 119 and IRRI 154 yielded only 220 and 144 g/m 2 , respectively. Therefore, the adoption of this variety for cultivation and as a donor is of significant importance and has the potential to bring about a revolution in fields prone to stagnant flooding.Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) (2020) reported its results of the evaluation of FARO 66 and 67, which were released in Nigeria in 2017. These flood-tolerant varieties were derived from the Sub1-introgressed mega varieties WITA 4 and NERICA-L 19 through marker-assisted breeding. The average yield advantages ranged from 10 to 80 times during submergence and a 6-29% higher yield when there was no stress compared to their recurrent parents. The UNDRR (2017) highlighted that FARO 66 was superior to its recurrent parent WITA 4 (FARO 52); hence, under submergence, it yielded 80 times, and under non-submergence, it had a yield gain of 6-11%. FARO 67 yielded 10 times under submergence, while under non-submergence, it had a 10-29% yield advantage compared to its recurrent parent NERICA-L19 (FARO 60).Another study by Ulzen et al. (2022) compared the performance of improved varieties to lowland ecology, among which FARO 66 and 67 were included. The farmers selected FARO 66 as their preferred variety over the others due to its high yield and large panicles. The comparison of varietal resilience to submergence when wet seeded or transplanted using FARO 66, FARO 67, and a local check WITA 9 in Cote d′Ivoire indicated that the yields of two submergence varieties (FARO 66 and FARO 67) are not affected by either the growing season or crop establishment method unlike the local check (Devkota et al., 2022). The yields of the submergence tolerant varieties, regardless of the growing season and establishment method, were 1.1-4.5 t/ha higher than those of WITA 9. FARO 66 and FARO 67 were declared among the Sub1 climate-resilient variety with a yield advantage of 1-3 t/ha over the original varieties (CGIAR, 2021). Therefore, with such yield advantages, farmers adopting these varieties are more likely to be successful and overcome food scarcity during harsh weather.Numerous studies conducted in Asia have provided valuable insights into the mechanisms of stress tolerance in rice and the subsequent development of tolerant rice varieties. This wealth of research has made Asia a prime example from which valuable lessons can be drawn regarding how farmers have benefited from the adoption of stress-tolerant rice varieties. These studies have demonstrated the positive impact of utilizing such varieties. Mondal et al. (2020) conducted an evaluation of 10 cultivars for anaerobic germination. These cultivars were subjected to dry direct seeding, and seeds were submerged with a water depth of 3-5 cm for 21 days. Their findings revealed that the popular varieties with anaerobic germination QTLs AG1 and AG2 demonstrated a significantly higher yield of 2.8 t/ha compared to their counterparts lacking these QTLs. Furthermore, the varieties introgressed with AG QTLs exhibited a greater number of tillers, indicating their potential for improved rice production.Similarly, Mackill et al. (2012) reported the results of multisite evaluations of Sub1 varieties paired with their non-Sub1 counterparts. These evaluations involved subjecting the rice to complete submergence for more than 5 days. Notably, Swarna Sub1 and Samba Mahsuri Sub1 yielded 3.67 and 3.8 t/ha, respectively, in contrast to their non-Sub1 counterparts, which yielded 2.34 and 2.1 t/ha. The Sub1 varieties exhibited yields that were twice as high during extended periods of submergence compared to the non-Sub1 varieties. Furthermore, submergence-tolerant cultivars exhibited characteristics such as greater chlorophyll retention and improved seedling recovery.Moreover, farmers in countries such as India, Bangladesh, Nepal, the Philippines, and Myanmar have adopted Sub1 rice varieties. These include popular varieties such as Swarna Sub1, IR64 Sub1, BR11 Sub1, and Samba Mahsuri Sub1. The farmers assessed various traits, including survival, recovery, tillering, plant height, panicle length, grain color, length, and quality, post-harvest qualities, and overall yields. The Sub1 varieties consistently outperformed locally used cultivars in the criteria assessed by the farmers. This not only contributed to improved overall productivity but also had a positive impact on food availability and living standards.This review has examined the progress in Africa's development of flood-tolerant rice varieties. While some strides have been made, the region's achievements remain limited, underscoring the critical importance of flood-tolerant rice varieties for improving productivity and ensuring food security. The scattered nature of information on developing flood-tolerant rice varieties highlights the need for effective coordination and thorough documentation. Despite the limited number of flood stress-tolerant varieties currently available in the region, it is imperative to ensure their widespread dissemination in flood-prone rice cultivation areas. This requires studying farmers' perceptions, adoption rates, and the performance of these varieties as data on these aspects are scarce. Such studies can provide valuable insights into crop survival, quality, and overall performance, potentially leading to significant improvements in farmers' harvests and food availability. Nonetheless, it is essential to recognize that further efforts are still needed in the identification and development of flood stress-tolerant varieties, given the alarming intensity and frequency of floods in Africa. Furthermore, there is also a crucial need for the development of rice varieties that can withstand multiple types of flooding. Currently, no such varieties are available, even though the same ecological regions can experience diverse types of flooding. Therefore, the future success of Africa's rice sector hinges on dedicated and productive research efforts, coupled with effective dissemination and adoption strategies."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"15d758afcd69657e475484dfdcbe4786","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bc2326de-a4cc-4180-bd09-5fda335c3e42/retrieve","id":"-819397899"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c9a190d3-9516-4e5e-8744-84214fe76d55","content":"Palabras clave: Fungicidas, Tizón tardío. Área temática: Protección vegetal. Presentación oral.El principal problema fitosanitario del cultivo de papa en Ecuador es el tizón tardío (Phytophthora infestans). Factores como su alta incidencia (que puede ser constante por las siembras escalonadas y clima favorable), su efecto devastador y la susceptibilidad de la mayoría de variedades (nativas y mejoradas) profundizan esta problemática. La aplicación de fungicidas continúa siendo la práctica más extendida entre los productores que buscan minimizar los daños (Kromann et al., 2014). Los productores aplican fungicidas un promedio de siete veces y mezclando un promedio de 2.5 productos por aplicación (Kromann et al., 2011). La importancia global del tizón tardío de la papa es un fuerte incentivo para que la industria de agroquímicos busque nuevas moléculas para su control, así la red Euroblight menciona que el tizón tardío se combate en Europa mediante la utilización de 20 formulaciones que incluyen 15 ingredientes activos (Kromann et al., 2014). En Ecuador ocurre lo contrario porque se utilizaron solo ocho formulaciones que involucran siete ingredientes activos, que abarcan casi la totalidad de fungicidas usados para manejar el tizón tardío una década atrás (Ortiz et al., 2002;Kromann et al., 2011), un escenario que no ha cambiado considerablemente según nuestras estimaciones. El objetivo de esta investigación fue evaluar la eficiencia de moléculas nuevas (introducidas los últimos años) para el control del tizón tardío y la adaptación de un protocolo utilizado por Euroblight a las condiciones locales.Se revisaron los fungicidas registrados para el control del tizón tardío de la papa en AGROCALIDAD. Se adquirieron los productos y se solicitó información de la dosis recomendada y correcta aplicación a las empresas dueñas del registro. Se instaló un experimento en el lote C1 de la Est. Exp. Quito del CIP (3050 msnm), los tratamientos (7 fungicidas y un testigo sin aplicación) se dispusieron en un diseño de bloques completamente aleatorizados con 4 repeticiones. Cada unidad experimental de 24.75 m 2 se conformó de 5 surcos (4.5 x 1.1 m) en los que se sembraron 75 tubérculos a 30 cm de distancia. Se utilizó semilla seleccionada de la var. Uvilla con susceptibilidad a P. infestans de 8 (altamente susceptible). Se sembraron cortinas de avena (1 m) al contorno de las parcelas para reducir el efecto de deriva de fungicidas y la influencia del inóculo de una parcela a otra. Los fungicidas se aplicaron con sus dosis recomendadas más altas (sin adherente) utilizando 4 bombas de mochila CP-3 (20 L de capacidad, presión de descarga 43.5 lb/pulg 2 , boquilla de cono hueco 1.2 mm Ø, volumen descargado 2.5 L min -1 ). La aplicación de fungicidas inició de forma preventiva al 80% de emergencia (30 días después de la siembra aprox.). Las bombas se lavaron con abundante agua (desmontando la lanza) por tres ocasiones antes de cambiar de fungicida. Un solo operario aplicó el mismo fungicida a lo largo del cultivo con intervalos fijos de ocho días hasta que empezó la senescencia. El manejo agronómico, en lo que se refiere a preparación del suelo, fertilización, siembra, aporque y control de plagas y enfermedades (con excepción del tizón) se hizo con base en las recomendaciones técnicas. Se evaluó la severidad (lecturas semanales del área foliar con lesiones, y se calculó el área bajo la curva de progreso de la enfermedad relativo -ABDPER) y el rendimiento (t ha -1 ). Se realizaron análisis de varianza y comparación de promedios para evaluar los tratamientos.Las curvas de desarrollo de la epidemia identificaron tres grupos de fungicidas: aquellos sin ninguna eficiencia (curva similar al testigo sin aplicación); dos fungicidas con cierto nivel de control hasta los dos meses cuya eficiencia decrece paulatinamente conforme avanza el cultivo y un grupo de cuatro fungicidas muy eficientes que mantienen la epidemia en niveles muy bajos hasta un mes antes de la cosecha. La prueba de Tukey (p ≤ 0.05) discrimina los fungicidas en grupos distintos agrupando a 4 de ellos en el nivel más alto de eficiencia para el control de la enfermedad (Tabla ). El fosfito de K (K3PO3) no ofreció ningún tipo de control, aunque en investigaciones previas tuvo excelentes resultados.  Los fungicidas cyazofamid, fenamidone + propamocarb, ametoctradina + dimetomorph y fluopicolide + propamocarb mostraron una alta eficiencia para controlar el tizón tardío de la papa en una variedad susceptible. El producto más usado en Ecuador (mancozeb + cimoxanil) que fue el testigo, presenta menor eficiencia que los fungicidas mencionados. Es necesario esclarecer que influyó en el nulo desempeño del fosfito de K. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2cfb85c31c377e51b52077652f36ac64","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a5447f98-0c57-411d-b30b-a5c7ba5564c7/retrieve","id":"-1894006868"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"34ee5bfc-fa50-4458-a0e9-528193dca779","content":"For the East African Community (EAC), IITA prepared 11 Technical Papers (TPs) on key sectoral issues impacted by aflatoxins. All available evidence of each sector was comprehensively reviewed, and action plans recommended to manage the impacts. Establishment and sharing of this knowledge base laid the foundation for policies to address the aflatoxin-related food safety issues. The TPs guided the EAC secretariat to prepare nine policy briefs that were endorsed by the EAC Council of Ministers and publicly released.The development community is realizing there is no food security without food safety. Aflatoxin contamination is one of the most well-known food safety concerns in Africa. The occurrence of aflatoxins is pervasive in several staple and export crops, which form the agricultural economic and food security backbone of East African Community (EAC) member states. As a result, human exposure to aflatoxin in the EAC is high. Aflatoxins also impact production of livestock through ingestion of contaminated feed. Several African governments have imposed regulations to limit human and animal exposure to aflatoxins.In 2013, IITA, in partnership with EAC and funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), began the Aflatoxin Policy and Program for East Africa (APPEAR) project. In the context of the EAC aflatoxin program, the Ministers of Health, Agriculture and Trade, their deputies, and other principals in the public and private sector are brought together to review technical materials, conduct deliberations and then formulate and disseminate policy recommendations. These recommendations are subsequently carried back to the member states for implementation. The objective of the APPEAR project was to develop Technical Papers (TPs) to lay the foundation for the development of policy briefs.The following 11 TPs, each prepared by a team of international and national experts and vetted by member states, were submitted to the EAC secretariat and USAID: The EAC Multi-sectoral Ministerial Council adopted all policy recommendations included in the 11 TPs. Subsequently, the EAC secretariat prepared nine policy briefs that were guided by the recommendations in the TPs. The 36th Meeting of the Council of Ministers in February 2018 endorsed the policy briefs and directed partner states to mainstream the EAC Aflatoxin Prevention and Control Strategy priorities in their national budgets and national agriculture investment plans. The policy briefs were publicly released during a high-level event on 16-17 August 2018 in Nairobi. One of the EAC member states is already following the recommendations in the policy brief on alternate use and disposal systems.• https://tinyurl.com/y9lgv6ph  The development community is realizing there is no food security without food safety. Aflatoxin contamination is one of the most well-known food safety concerns in Africa. The occurrence of aflatoxins is pervasive in several staple and export crops, which form the agricultural economic and food security backbone of East African Community (EAC) member states. As a result, human exposure to aflatoxin in the EAC is high. Aflatoxins also impact production of livestock through ingestion of contaminated feed. Several African governments have imposed regulations to limit human and animal exposure to aflatoxins.In 2013, IITA, in partnership with EAC and funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), began the Aflatoxin Policy and Program for East Africa (APPEAR) project. In the context of the EAC aflatoxin program, the Ministers of Health, Agriculture and Trade, their deputies, and other principals in the public and private sector are brought together to review technical materials, conduct deliberations and then formulate and disseminate policy recommendations. These recommendations are subsequently carried back to the member states for implementation. The objective of the APPEAR project was to develop Technical Papers (TPs) to lay the foundation for the development of policy briefs.The following 11 TPs, each prepared by a team of international and national experts and vetted by member states, were submitted to the EAC secretariat and USAID: "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c752eab0435cdf558529e261c4e5a845","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c2205742-c1c0-4856-b210-25d11ce6a97b/retrieve","id":"-642385119"},"keywords":["Hordeum vulgare L.","chlorophyll fluorescence","photosystem II photochemistry","quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs)","Mixed linear model (MLM)","Abscisic acid (ABA) signaling","protein kinase","post-transcription modification"],"sieverID":"d54b0b0b-a83e-4565-b6fd-d6ea4593634b","content":"Low-temperature stress (LTS) is among the major abiotic stresses affecting the geographical distribution and productivity of the most important crops. Understanding the genetic basis of photosynthetic variation under cold stress is necessary for developing more climate-resilient barley cultivars. To that end, we investigated the ability of chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (F V F M, and F V F 0 ) to respond to changes in the maximum quantum yield of Photosystem II photochemistry as an indicator of photosynthetic energy. A panel of 96 barley spring cultivars from different breeding zones of Canada was evaluated for chlorophyll fluorescence-related traits under cold acclimation and freeze shock stresses at different times. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were performed using a mixed linear model (MLM). We identified three major and putative genomic regions harboring 52 significant quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs) on chromosomes 1H, 3H, and 6H for low-temperature tolerance. Functional annotation indicated several QTNs were either within the known or close to genes that play important roles in the photosynthetic metabolites such as abscisic acid (ABA) signaling, hydrolase activity, protein kinase, and transduction of environmental signal transduction at the posttranslational modification levels. These outcomes revealed that barley plants modified their gene expression profile in response to decreasing temperatures resulting in physiological and biochemical modifications. ColdFrontiers in Plant Science frontiersin.org 01Environmental factors, particularly those affecting temperature and availability of water are the main factors of in plant growth and development. The low-temperature polar regions and Oceans cover about 80% of the Globe's land. One-third only of the global lands are free of ice, and 42% of this area is commonly under temperatures below -20°C (Junttila and Robberecht, 1999). In such regions, plants require specific processes to survive exposure to low temperatures. Most plants have developed a degree of cold tolerance, which is usually based on a combination of the length of exposure to cold stress and the minimum temperature experienced (Janska et al., 2010). Therefore, the growth and development of plants are affected by temperature variations in the majority of temperate regions on Earth (Nilsen et al., 1996). The problem is expected to expand due to climatic changes, particularly in Northern Europe and Canada. Cold stress impacts plant growth and crop productivity, causing substantial yield reductions (Junttila and Robberecht, 1999). Plants vary in their responses to freezing (<0°C) and chilling (0-15°C) temperatures (Browse and Xin, 2001). Damage appears when low temperatures overlap with sensitive stages of plant growth.In barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), yield and grain quality are the key challenges in maintaining the constant growth of the agriculture industry. Though significant advances have been made in the genetic gains for yield and grain quality in barley, the crop rarely reaches its full yield potential because of seasonal variations including the low temperatures prevailing early and late in the growing season. Barley is mainly classified into three types of growth habits: spring, winter, and facultative. Winter barley is sown in the autumn because it requires a cold period (vernalization) to flower. Facultative types do not require vernalization, some lines possess levels of low-temperature tolerance comparable to winter barley. While, spring barleys are sown in the spring and do not require vernalization, and possess no perceivable level of low-temperature tolerance (Rizza et al., 2011;Zitzewitz et al., 2011). Spring barley is a main crop across the Canadian prairies and is used for food, malting, and general purposes (feed and forage). Spring barley yields about 20% less than winter barley, in areas where it is adapted (Kling et al., 2004). Though, spring barley genotypes are normally not as tolerant to cold as other winter cereals. Cold tolerance in barley has been a challenging phenomenon to develop with conventional breeding approaches. It is best to evaluate and screen breeding material under uniform cold stress in the laboratory as screening for winterhardiness in the field is rarely reliable. In 2021, barleyseeded areas consisted of 50.4% malting barley, 42.3% general purpose barley, and 2.3% food barley in the western Canada (Marta and Tricia, 2020). In poorer countries, barley is an essential food source (Grando and Macpherson, 2005), affording harvestable yields in locations that are harsh and marginal for crop production. Current research has categorized barley as a true functional food in more developed societies. The barley's grain is particularly high in soluble dietary fiber, which significantly declines the risk of serious diseases such as type II diabetes. The USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved cell-wall polysaccharides from barley grain as a human health claim (Collins et al., 2010).Selection for cold tolerance/susceptibility in barley varieties can be associated with reliable screening techniques. Traditional methods, such as measuring survival rates and plant re-growth, are time-consuming and inaccurate in quantifying the level of cold tolerance (Novillo et al., 2004). Some techniques focus on injuries to the plasma membranes that result in the leakage of electrolytes from plant tissues (Steponkus et al., 1990). The electrolyte leakage is easily quantified by conductivity measurements (Rohde et al., 2004). For such investigations, plants are exposed to freeze-thaw cycles with minimum temperatures usually ranging from -1 to -50°C, and electrolyte leakage caused by cooling is then measured. The methods to quantify the cold tolerance of plants should be noninvasive and applicable at a high-throughput screening rate so that the underlying genetic determinations can be effectively quantified and established (Mishra et al., 2011). Evidence suggests that chlorophyll fluorescence emission can be used effectively in highthroughput screening of plants' low-temperature tolerance (Mishra et al., 2011).Photosynthesis is one of the most essential and complex physiological mechanisms in all plants and is influenced in all periods by stresses (Baker, 1996). Because the photosynthesis mechanism regulates multiple cellular processes, including photosystems and photosynthetic pigments, electron transport system, and CO 2 reduction events, any stress-induced damage can completely decrease the photosynthetic capacity of green plants (Lawlor and Cornic, 2002;Ashraf and Harris, 2013). Cold stress influences the photosynthetic apparatus through the suppression of photosystems and pigment modifications, thylakoid membranes, photosynthesis-related enzyme activity, chlorophyll fluorescence, gas exchange, and reduced CO 2 assimilation in addition to the electron transport rate. Photosynthesis converts light energy into redox equivalents (NADPH) and ATP, essential elements for plant growth and development. On the other hand, cold stress prevents thylakoid electron transport via aggregate membrane viscosity. It disorders light energy process trapping by Photosystem I and Photosystem II antenna. The enhancement of energy trapping beyond its regular ability results in a high-energy state, which eventually leads to the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (Ashraf and Harris, 2013).Chlorophyll fluorescence parameters have become a common and powerful technique in plant breeding to investigate the impact of stresses on the photosynthetic mechanism (Guidi et al., 2019). It can be used as a representative of plant stress as environmental stresses, such as extremes of temperature, water, and light availability can decrease the capability of a plant to metabolize normally. This can lead to an imbalance between the light energy absorption via chlorophyll and the utilization of energy in photosynthesis (Schreiber, 1986;Schreiber et al., 1986). Chlorophyll fluorescence is an indicator of photosynthetic energy that responds to alterations in Photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry and consequently represents a rapid and efficient tool to assess the capacity of the photosynthetic mechanism at low temperatures (Lichtenthaler and Rinderle, 1988). The function of the photosynthetic machinery can be evaluated by measuring the ratio of chlorophyll variable fluorescence (F V ) over the maximum fluorescence value (F M ), which reveals the efficiency of the excitation capture by open photosystem II reaction centers (Fracheboud et al., 1999;Rizza et al., 2001). An association between the decrease of F V /F M and frost tolerance during hardening and after freezing was found in winter wheat (Clement and Hasselt, 1996), spring and winter barleys, and rye (Smillie and Hetherington, 1983).During cold acclimation, different physiological and biochemical modifications occur, such as the synthesizing of proline, soluble sugars, and cold-resistance proteins to maintain proteins (Hannah et al., 2010). These events play significant roles in the response to cold stress by controlling the ice crystal formation, osmotic potential, reactive oxygen species, and stability of cell walls and membranes (Ding et al., 2019). Some elements, including protein kinases, messenger molecules, phosphatases, and transcription factors (TFs), have been reported for cold-stress signaling pathways (Ding et al., 2019). Understanding the genetic regulation underlying the photosynthesis process under low-temperature stress in barley can facilitate the development of climate-resilient and high-yielding cultivars in a short period of time. Since the first draft reference of the barley genome was released (Schulte et al., 2009;IBGS et al., 2012), high-quality genome sequences have been published (Sato et al., 2016;Mascher et al., 2017;Dai et al., 2018). These tools facilitated barley research and became precious resources for the improvement and comparative genomics studies including genomewide association studies (GWAS) and QTL mapping. In addition, advances in genome mapping and sequencing technologies have made possible the cost-effective assembly and sequencing of hundreds of genotypes with large-genome species, such as barley (5 Gb, haploid genome size) (Monat et al., 2019;Jayakodi et al., 2020). The 9K SNP array is a commonly powerful GWAS tool for identifying specific allele variants (Comadran et al., 2012).Evidence of chlorophyll fluorescence and photosynthesis variability in barley has been reported (Kocheva et al., 2004;Guo et al., 2007;Bertholdsson et al., 2015), indicating opportunities for genetic improvement and selection. Several analyses have been reported for quantitative trait loci (QTL) for chlorophyll fluorescence under low oxygen concentration (Bertholdsson et al., 2015), post-flowering under drought (Guo et al., 2007), early shorttime drought tolerance (Wojcik-Jagla et al., 2013). Understanding the mechanisms of low-temperature tolerance and barley productivity is one of the main challenges facing scientists and breeders today. So far, the effect of low temperatures on chlorophyll fluorescence as an indicator of photosynthetic energy conversion in barley plants is still well unknown. Therefore, the aims of the present study were (i) to investigate the response of barley genotypes at three-to four-leaf stages to low-temperature stress including cold acclimation and freezing shock; (ii) to identify genetic loci associated with the chlorophyll fluorescence trait, by using genome-wide association studies; (iii) to identify key genes related to chlorophyll fluorescence before and after the LTS conditions and, (iv) introgression of cold tolerance into spring barley.A panel of 96 spring barley genotypes from eight breeding programs of Western Canadian barley breeding programs was used in this study. All genotypes were evaluated at different times between 1994 and 2006 (Beattie et al., 2010) and selected based on their high seed yield and percentage of winter survival and cold hardiness (ranging from 50 to 100%). The association panel consists of advanced breeding lines, commercial varieties, two-rowed lines used to investigate beta-glucanase and limit dextrinase, and elite germplasm, which has been developed for the Western Two-Row Cooperative Registration. Several diversity array technology (DArT) markers were detected for grain quality using 91 genotypes of this panel and disease ratings for true loose smut and net blotch (Beattie et al., 2010). In our previous study, an important pattern of genetic diversity was detected in the population studied. Our previous study revealed that this panel is differentiated due to the ear-row type and breeding program origins into five subpopulations (Capo-Chichi et al., 2023).Two experiments namely cold acclimation and freezing shock evaluations were conducted to study the impact of the low-temperature stress (LTS) on the 96 spring barley genotypes. In both experiments, ten seeds of each genotype were germinated in 8 cm×8 cm×7 cm pots containing pasteurized field soil (wet soil) in the growth chamber. The seeds in each pot were covered by an equal amount of soil to enhance uniform emergence. Pots were placed in a growth chamber at 20°C/15°C and a photoperiod of 12/12 h light/ dark cycle. The experiments were designed in a completely randomized design (CRD) in three replicates. At the three-leaf seedling stage (on day 14), the germination rate was recorded for all genotypes then, seedlings were thinned to five plants per pot before the treatments.For cold acclimation treatment, seedlings at a three-leaf stage were placed in a programmable cold chamber. The initial temperature in the cold chamber was -1°C. The temperature was raised between 3°C and 5°C, then gradually decreased to -12°C over a duration of four hours (Supplementary Figure 1), to ensure that nucleation occurred evenly. For the freezing-shock treatment; pots were moved during the day from the growth chamber to a programmable cold chamber. The initial temperature was -18°C and the temperature was immediately raised to -6°C. Pots were exposed to temperatures that gradually declined from -6°C to -11°C for 75 min (0.06°C per min) (Supplementary Figure 1). In order to record chlorophyll fluorescence parameters for the same seedlings each time, the measured seedlings were numbered from 1 to 5 in both experiments. After the treatments, all seedlings were returned to the growth chambers (normal condition). A week later, a frost's survival rate in each pot was recorded and the genotypes were characterized according to their ability to tolerate the low temperatures. Frost survival was calculated visually twice; once after the acclimation using a 1-5 symptoms scale, where: 1 (dead plant), 2 (trace of life; low survival potential), 3 (intensive damage; less than half of the coleoptile leaf green), 4 (moderate to minimal damage; limited to leaf edges), 5 (no damage).The fluorescence measurement values were collected from 96 genotypes after cold acclimation treatment, while after the freezingshock treatment 22 genotypes died out completely, and the results were collected from the remaining 74 genotypes. The measurements were assessed in the greenhouse on the second leaf that completely expanded. A grid with a 33 mm hole diameter was clipped on the inner section of the leaf. For a dark-adapted period, the leaf clips were left for 20 min. The measurement probe was trimmed later and the reading values were taken by using a portable chlorometer OS-30P (Opti-Sciences). Plants were allowed to dark-adapt overnight to ensure that all PSII centers are open, and the lights were turned off in the greenhouse until measurements were concluded (between 1 and 3 a.m.). The chlorophyll fluorescence parameter was measured according to the formula; (Ghassemi-Golezani et al., 2008).Where; F 0 ; F M and F V are primary fluorescence parameters while F V /F M and F V /F 0 are fluorescence ratios as the following.F 0 : minimum fluorescence occurs while all antenna sites are supposed to be open (dark-adapted). F M : maximum fluorescence intensity under exposure to the excitation source while all antenna sites are assumed to be closed. F V : variable fluorescence. F V /F M : the maximum yield of primary photochemistry. F V /F 0 : maximum efficiency of PSII. The F V /F M is the ratio of variable fluorescence to maximal fluorescence, which is an indicator of maximum quantum efficiency and gives important information concerning the effect of environmental stress on the plant. The F V /F 0 ratio is a very sensitive indicator of the maximum efficiency of photochemical processes in PSII and/or the potential photosynthetic activity of healthy and stressed plants (Lichtenthaler & Rinderle, 1988). Chlorophyll fluorescence measurements were recorded at three different times for both experiments: before the treatment (BF), two hours after the treatment (AF), and 24 hours after the treatment (DF). Heritability in the broad sense (H b ) was calculated before and after the treatments according to Elakhdar et al. (Elakhdar et al., 2016).Heritability in the broad sense; H 2 b = V 2 G =V 2 P Â 100 , where, V G ; genetic variance and V P ; phenotypic varianceGenomic DNA was isolated from the young leaf of the 3-4 leaf stage using the DNeasy Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). DNA quality was quantified at 230 nm and then qualified at 230/ 260 and 260/280 absorption ratios, respectively. Genotypes were genotyped on an Illumina 9K Barley Infinium iSelect SNP assay (Comadran et al., 2012) at the USDA-ARS genotyping laboratory (Fargo, ND). Physical positions of markers were taken from the barley pseudomolecule assembly by the James Hutton iSelect annotation (https://ics.hutton.ac.uk/50k/) and Barley DB: Barley Bioresources Database (http://earth.nig.ac.jp/~dclust/cgi-bin/ index.cgi?lang=en). SNPs with unknown chromosomal position, monomorphism, and SNPs with missing values greater than 20% were eliminated. For association analysis, markers with genetic and physical positions and with minor allele frequency (MAF) of 0.05 or greater were used. After performing these filters, a total of 5063 high-quality SNP markers remained in the dataset and were used for subsequent GWAS.Using the 5063 informative SNPs marker, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed on 96 barley genotypes to identify genetic regions linked to photosynthesis after the cold. GWAS was performed using a mixed linear model (MLM) (Zhang et al., 2005), using the R package GAPIT (Lipka et al., 2012). The MLM model was selected due to its strength and power for detecting marker/trait associations. This model is based on the genotype data (G), population structure (Q) as fixed effects, and the Kinship-matrix (K) as random effects (Pasam et al., 2012). In our previous study, Genome-wide LD decay was plotted as R 2 of an SNP marker against the corresponding genetic distance using the mixedmodel method (Capo-Chichi et al., 2023). A strong LD with an approximate average value of 0.021 when the distance was 0.391 cM was observed among the 5063 marker pairs in the studied population. The kinship matrix was assessed using the whole set of markers. To identify significant quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs), the Bonferroni corrected significance threshold was determined, based on the reduced marker set of 5063 SNP and a significant level of p<0.001 with a corresponding threshold of (-log10 p ≥ 3). Manhattan plots mapped the chromosome position on the x-axis against-log 10 (P-value) on the y-axis of each marker. The quantile-quantile (QQ) was plotted between the observed and the expected -log 10 P values.Genes with significant markers associated with the chlorophyll fluorescence, their locations, and corresponding annotations were retrieved from the BARLEYMAP platform (http://floresta.eead. csic.es/barleymap/) (Cantalapiedra et al., 2015) version of the MorexV3 genome (Comadran et al., 2012). The physical positions of markers were revealed from the Barley Physical Map IBSC (IBGS et al., 2012), the POPSEQ map (Mascher et al., 2013), and the Morex Genome Map (Mascher et al., 2017). Gene Ontologies (GO) enrichments were obtained from the Amigo of Gene Ontology platform (http://geneontology.org) (Pomaznoy et al., 2018) and the Gene Ontology and GO annotation platform; QuickGO (https:// www.ebi.ac.uk/QuickGO/). Gene co-expression for the identified genes was revealed from the Global gene co-expression networks (GCNs) database PlantNexus (Zhou et al., 2022).Four two-rowed winter barleys '02Ab671', '02Ab431', '02Ab669' and '2Ab08X05W061-208' were obtained from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The genotypes were selected based on excellent malt extract, high seed yield, and their high percentage of cold hardiness and winter survival (50 to 100% across different locations in the northern United States). Vernalization was performed in growth chambers at 5°C for 8 h of light for seedlings at the two-to-three-leaf stage. After ten weeks of vernalization, seedlings were moved to 20°C with 16/8 h light/dark, and humidity closely monitored. Upon flowering, eighteen crosses were made between spring and winter barleys (Supplemental Table 1).Twenty-nine-day-old plants from 96 spring barley genotypes were used to study the impact of low-temperature stress: cold acclimation and freezing shock. The survival rates were assessed using a visual damage scale. In the cold acclimation and freeze shock experiments, the frequency of the genotypes, and distribution to germination were recorded for all genotypes (Figure 1). The results revealed that the time required for the emergence onset varied from 14 to 19 days for the genotypes studied (Figure 1). At 14 days, the emergence rates ranged from 0 to 38%, while on day 19, the emergence rates varied from 4 to 100%. The time required for 50% emergence ranged from 15 to 22 days, demonstrating that some genotypes have the ability to emerge faster than others. We observed several lines that exhibited adequate performance at 5°C.Under cold acclimation, we observed that survival frequencies ranged from 30 to 100% with the majority grouped between 80 and 90% (Figure 2). Under freezing-shock stress, 22 genotypes were dead while survival rates ranged from 0 to 100% with the majority of the genotypes between 20 and 30% survival (Figure 2). The The emergence percentage (G%) of the first, 50% (T50) and greater than 90% (T>90) emergence of 96 spring barley genotypes. G% was calculated by dividing the number of emerged seedlings by the number of seeds planted for each seed plot and multiplying the product by 100.seedlings stressed under these conditions suffered leaf wilting as the duration of stress was prolonged. These findings suggest that the cold acclimation treatment improved freezing tolerance more than the freezing shock treatment.Five chlorophyll characteristics including parameters of transient fluorescence were collected for cold acclimation and freezing shock treatments. The parameters represent the photochemical efficiency of PSII behavior affected by LTS (Table 1). A high level of phenotypic variation was detected in all traits measured under both low-temperature stress conditions (Table 1). Before the treatments (BF), the highest H b value was observed for F V /F 0 (97.9% and 93.6% for cold acclimation and freezing shock treatments, respectively) (Table 1). Low to high values of heritability (H b ) were observed under LTS treatments. Two hours after treatments (AF), F V /F 0 exhibited also the highest value of heritability H b of 94.4% and 96.5%, cold acclimation and freezing shock, respectively, whereas, after 24 hours of stress (DF), F V /F 0 and F M had the highest values 92.2% and 73.5, respectively) (Table 1). These results suggest adequate variability and different responses to low-temperature stress that exists in the barley material studied. Normal distribution was detected for the chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, F V /F 0 and F V /F M , before and after the low-temperature conditions (Figure 3). This indicates that barley's chlorophyll fluorescence traits are quantitatively inherited and controlled by multiple genes. In addition, the genotypes might vary in their photosynthetic mechanisms in response to lowtemperature tolerance, which will impact the yield and ultimately the breeder. Thus, the difference in low-temperature tolerance between the genotypes provides a foundation for studying this phenomenon for GWAS and/or QTL studies.Before the cold acclimation treatment (BF), the ratio of variable fluorescence to maximal fluorescence (F V /F M ) values for lines ranged from 0.746 to 0.775, with a mean value of 0.76 (Table 1). The variable fluorescence to fluorescence occurring while antenna sites are supposed to be open (F V /F 0 ) ranged from 2.943 to 3.453 with an average value of 3.22 (Table 1). After the exposure to lowtemperature stress, the mean values of F V /F M and F V /F 0 decreased significantly in both experiments compared with those before the treatment (Table 1). Two hours after cold acclimation stress (AF)Survival rates distribution for 96 genotypes of spring barley one week old after low-temperature stress conditions. Cold acclimation (left) and freezing shock (right). View for the effect of freezing-shock treatment on the spring barley at the three-leaf stage (lower panel). Twenty-two genotypes died out completely. Low-temperature stress is induced at the three-leaf stage.treatment, the F V /F M values measured ranged from 0.062 to 0.667 with an average of 0.39 across the genotypes. The F V /F 0 values ranged from 0.067 to 2.513, averaging 1.28. While the F V /F M values after 24 hours of cold acclimation treatment (DH) varied from 0.714 to 0.001, averaging 0.38 (Table 1). The F V /F 0 values ranged from 0.001 to 2.62, averaging 1.33 (Table 1). After the freezingshock treatment, 22 genotypes died out completely (Figure 2). F V F M values for genotypes ranged from 0.10 to 0.55 and 0.00 to 0.61 for AF and DH, respectively (Table 1). While the values measured for F V /F 0 varied from 0.12 to 2.00, and from 0.00 to 2.15 for AF and DH, respectively (Table 1). The remaining 74 genotypes were used for the GWAS.The result suggested that freezing-shock treatment caused a large decline in F V /F M and F V /F 0 values in the non-hardy cultivars. During the recovery in the growth chambers, we found that this effect was irreversible and contingent on a threshold. In most cases, the irreversible effect was associated with F V /F M values below 0.220. For more hardy cultivars, the F V /F M values varied between 0.477 and 0.609 after freezing shock treatment, while the F V /F 0 ranged from 1.832 to 2.413. Taken together, these results show that the decreases in the chlorophyll fluorescence indexes might reveal a reduction of PSII efficiency and plant death.The comprehensive Pearson correlation analysis between the chlorophyll fluorescence-related traits; F 0 , F V , F M , F V /F 0, and F V /F M under low-temperature tolerance before (BF), two hours after (AF), and 24 hours after (DH) treatment are presented in histograms (Figure 4). For the AF readings, correlations between the parameters measured ranged from 0.628 between F 0 and F V /F 0 to 0.992 between F V and F M at p = 0.0001. Meanwhile, a higher correlation (p = 0.0001) was observed under the DH stress condition between F V and F M , which ranged from 0.691 between F O and F V /F M to 0.994 between F V and F M at p = 0.0001 (Figure 4A). A correlation analysis was also performed between the traits under freezing shock stress (Figure 4B). The correlations were moderate to high and ranged from 0.458 between F M and F 0 to 0.968 between F M and F V under the AF stress condition (Figure 4 B). Under the DH condition, a positive correlation was detected between F V /F 0 and F V /F M with all studied traits and ranged from 0.755 to 0.967 when p = 0.0001, respectively (Figure 4B).To investigate the genetic factors associated with lowtemperature tolerance in barley, a GWAS analysis was conducted for the chlorophyll fluorescence related-traits from 96 spring barley genotypes with a set of 5063 high-quality SNP markers. The average r 2 value of the genome was 0.02, and the LD decay was found to start at an r 2 value of 0.38 and reached half-decay at 0.2, representing the genome's threshold distance for linkage analysis (Capo-Chichi et al., 2023). In total, 52 significant quantitative trait Maximum fluorescence when all PSII are closed, F V /F M ; the ratio of photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (PSII), F V /F 0 ; the ratio of maximum efficiency of photochemical processes in PSII of healthy and stressed plants.nucleotides (QTNs) were detected. Two significant SNPs (P< 0.001) were associated with chlorophyll fluorescence-related traits before low-temperature treatments, and 50 significant SNPs were observed under cold acclimation stress conditions (Table 2, Figure 5). All significant associations were found on chromosomes 1H, 3H, and 6H. While, under freezing-shock treatment, the remaining 74 cultivars used for the GWAS, the fluorescence data showed no significant associations between SNPs and chlorophyll fluorescence traits. Perhaps, this may be because of genetic drift, in which some versions of a gene have been lost because of random chance in this small population. Additionally, genetic diversity degrades more quickly in small populations than in large populations due to stochastic sampling error (genetic drift).Before the low-temperature stress treatment, one significant MTA was identified for F M and F V , which is located on chromosome 1H (42.035-42.036 cM) (Table 2). The peak marker was SCRI.RS.152795 with likelihood ratio-based R 2 of 1.22 and explained 67.612 and 52.574% of the additive variances for F M and F V , respectively. The Manhattan and Q-Q plot for both F M and F V are shown in Figures 5A, B, respectively .For the AF measurements under stress conditions, 39 significant QTNs were detected, three QTNs for F M , ten QTNs for F V , nine QTNs for F V F M, and twenty for F V F 0 (Table 2). Several QTNs were denoted in multiple chlorophyll fluorescence-related traits under both BF and/or AF conditions (Figure 6). There were reasonable correlations detected between chlorophyll fluorescence-   Frontiers in Plant Science frontiersin.org related traits (Figure 4A) and visual damage showing that some loci contributed to both phenotypes (i.e., cold acclimation damage/ photosynthetic efficiency and tolerance). Among the significantly associated markers, four SNPs were detected for F V , F V F 0, and F V F M (Table 3 and (Figures 5D, E). For example, BOPA1.7728.341, BOPA2.12.31368, BOPA2.12.31368, SCRI.RS.181360, and SCRI.RS.13891 have founded in the interval region on chromosome 3H between 434909031 bp and 446916578 bp (Figure 5D). Further, five QTNs were associated with AFF V , AFF V /F 0. Of them, BOPA1.ABC10084.1.2.363, SCRI.RS.144535, and SCRI.RS.224360 were located between 538658350 bp and 539231657 bp in the interval region on chromosome 3H (Table 3). These results suggested that the QTNs identified in several traits could be considered to be more stable. For the DH readings, eight significant SNPs were detected for the chlorophyll fluorescence-related traits F M, F V , F V /F M , and F V /F 0 (Table 3 and Figures 5G-J). All the abovementioned related traits were associated with two markers SCRI.RS.155758 and SCRI.RS.165588, which were detected on chromosome 1H at the interval regions of 539454103 bp and 539695184 bp (Figure 6). The R 2 values ranged between 0.112 and 0.195 for the 52 SNP markers across different traits, suggesting the presence of major QTNs controlling different chlorophyll fluorescence parameters.The genomic regions close to the associated SNPs detected in the GWAS were annotated using BARLEYMAP, and then the gene ontologies (GO) enrichments were performed by using Amigo (Tables 3 and 4). Of the 52 candidate genes identified by the GWAS dataset, we found that 15 genes were common among the different traits most of them with high confidence and predicted function (HC_G).In the interval detected region between 420355366 bp and 420364697 bp on chromosome 1H, there is one gene (HORVU1Hr1G057600) associated with the F M trait and encoding to PAX-interacting protein 1 (PAXIP1) (Tables 3). The PAXIP1 is involved in transcriptional regulation by histone methyltransferase (HMT) complexes and the DNA damage response. AF genes directly participate in the DNA repair pathway, post-translational modifications, and protein kinase which plays an important role in DNA replication and repair, transcription regulation, and chromosomal stability.In the identified regions on chromosome 1H, between 539695184 bp to 536426484 bp, two common AF and DH genes (HORVU1Hr1G087520) belong to the E3 SUMO-protein ligase   family which is involved in a DNA repair pathway. In addition, one gene has an unknown function. HORVU1Hr1G085880 is another AF gene that encodes a ninja-family protein that plays a role in stress-related and growth-related signaling cascades (Table 3).In the interval detected on chromosome 3H between 431379904 bp and 539228382 bp, there are six AF genes with undescribed protein annotations and ten annotated genes (Table 3). Of the ten genes, two (HORVU3Hr1G057870 and HORVU3Hr1G071210) belong to the same enzyme family Mannan endo-1,4-betamannosidase 7 and Mannan endo-1,4-beta-mannosidase 2 protein, respectively. In addition to an enzyme (V-type proton ATPase subunit E), transcription factor (Bromodomain-containing factor 1), binding protein (Protein DEHYDRATION-INDUCED 19 homolog 3), transporter (ROP guanine nucleotide exchange factor 5) and splicing factor (splicing factor 3A subunit 3) (Table 3). The remaining genes are an Alpha/beta hydrolase domain-containing protein 13 and protein kinase superfamily protein.In the interval region on chromosome 6H between 13139794 bp and 13140854 bp, one gene (HORVU6Hr1G005960) encodes histone H2A 7 protein, a core element of the nucleosome, which plays an important role in transcription regulation, DNA repair and replication and chromosomal stability (Table 3).To provide more insight into the candidate gene products in the pathways related to low-temperature tolerance, three independent categories of gene ontology were categorized: cellular components (CC), biological processes (BP), and molecular functions (MF) were categorized. The discovered candidate genes were annotated, and several GO terms were observed to be mainly relevant to lowtemperature tolerance and chlorophyll fluorescence (Table 4). We identified 16 GO terms using the discovered genes. We found that four unique GO terms, including the zinc ion binding term (GO:0008270), hydrolase activity (GO:0004553), carbohydrate metabolic process (GO:0005975), nuclear-transcribed mRNA catabolic process, no-go mRNA decay (GO:0005634) exhibited an overrepresentation of candidate genes linked with chlorophyll fluorescence-related traits under cold acclimation stress, AF and DH treatments. Interstitially, two GO terms GO:0005515 and GO:0005634 presented no-go mRNA decay as one of the mRNA surveillance pathways. We suggested that most of the identified genes might be directly and/or indirectly involved in the photosynthetic energy conversion in barley plants under lowtemperature stress responses.To develop new low temperature-tolerant varieties/germplasm of spring barley as a part of the current project, F 1 populations were produced from the cross-between winter and spring barleys. A single seed of each of the F 1 populations was planted per pot and growth habits were recorded. The results showed that winter barleys exhibit no flowers while all tillers of spring barleys exhibit fully flowered (Figure 7). We observed the number of tillers is high in F 1 populations in comparison with the spring type of the parental lines. F 2 populations were segregated for growth habits (Figure 7).The genotypes with spring growth habits were selected and evaluated for cold tolerance. We identified some spring F 2 plants earlier to flowering than the parental lines. These genotypes entered advanced generations (RIL 2-5 ) and were validated in field conditions to be used in the breeding programs towards the breeding of high and stable-yielding varieties in the Canadian prairies. We, therefore, suggest additional studies to refine and validate the cold hardiness of these lines such as QTL mapping to identify and characterize the candidate genes underlying this quantitative trait. Together, this study demonstrated that cold hardiness can be introgressed into spring barleys from winter barleys easily without the restriction of genes transferring related to vernalization requirement.Identifying and characterizing key genes underlying lowtemperature tolerance has become the main priority for improving the hardiness of barley. A deeper comprehension of the regulation networking and pathways of these genes and their association with low-temperature stress (LTS) would assist in the illustration of how barley plants adapt to stress. Understanding these pathways might offer opportunities for increasing the levels of cold tolerance. Due to the complexity of injuries and symptoms, it is difficult to measure the cold tolerance of barley at the seedling stage. This study evaluated cold tolerance in barley using visual symptoms and chlorophyll fluorescence as indicators of photosynthetic energy conversion.Under cold acclimation and freezing shock stresses, the F V F M and F V /F 0 declined rapidly as an index of freezing tolerance and subsequent loss of viability (Table 1). We found that the time for full leaf wilting was shorter with the freezing shock treatment compared with the cold acclimation treatment. Evidence suggested that wilting was mainly initiated by reduced water-uptake, and the stomatal response to water stress was not influenced by lowered temperature (Benson, 2008). The reduction in osmotic potential accounted for an enhancement in sugars. Sugars are believed to function principally as cryoprotectants (Benson, 2008). The accumulation of these solutes at low temperatures is essential not only for freezing tolerance but also for the prevention of cell dehydration (Wang M. et al., 2021). Though other photosynthetic parameters might be used as indicators of viability, the F V F M parameter is suggested for some reasons. First, a minor change in the F V F M value is easily visible and indicates clearly that loss of viability is imminent. The consistency of the F V F M parameter also increases the ease with which a threshold level can be defined. More significantly, dissimilar light-dependent parameters, F V F M is obtained from specimens in the dark-adapted state, negating the need for an extended period of illumination before measurement. As a result, because the quantity of F V F M can be performed with a single saturating pulse, a rapid evaluation of a large number of plants can be evaluated quickly in a short time.An association between the decrease of F V /F M and frost tolerance during hardening and after freezing was observed in winter wheat (Clement and Hasselt, 1996). F V /F M values showed a significantly decreased in studied genotypes of oat (Avena sativa L.) during acclimation to low, nonfreezing temperatures. F V /F M measurement was also found to be highly associated with frost damage evaluation under field conditions (Rizza et al., 2001). The decreases in the chlorophyll fluorescence indexes in this study are revealing the reduction in PSII efficiency. This could lead to a decline in photosynthetic activity mainly because of a light-induced decrease in CO 2 assimilation and accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which, in turn, prevents protein synthesis (Baker, 1996). Even though the decrease in photo-assimilation could be based on the damage to various elements of the photosynthetic apparatus, the term photoinhibition is commonly used to describe light-induced inhibition of the PSII activity (Murata et al., 2007). The produced ROS are accountable for the damage to PSII reaction centers by inhibiting the protein synthesis, which is required for the PSII repair, resulting in the stimulation of PSII photoinhibition (Murata et al., 2007). PSII is the most prone component to be destroyed in the thylakoid membranes. Hence, the main result of abiotic stress is to make PSII susceptible to photoinhibition. In this study, the association mapping materials were selected based on grain yield and a high percentage of winter survival. We found significant phenotypic variation among cultivars for chlorophyll fluorescence-related traits, including F 0 , F V , F M , F V /F 0, and F V /F M before (BF), two hours (AF), and 24 hours (DH) after lowtemperature treatment. These outcomes suggest that this panel could be used as a genetic source of seedling low-temperature tolerance in Western Canadian barley breeding programs.The chlorophyll fluorescence traits characterized in this study are quantitative traits, thus, several genomic regions with small effects that contribute to the phenotype are expected. We first identified the genes having significant SNPs (Tables 2, 3) and discovered several candidate genes underlying chlorophyll fluorescence trait variation. Gene expression for some identified genes in different tissues of the barley plant was revealed from the Global gene co-expression networks (GCNs) database (Supplementary Figure 2). Among these, 13 genes are associated with the chlorophyll fluorescence trait under cold acclimation stress. Interestingly, we found two SNP markers on chromosome 1H that have been reported to be correlated with environmental stress. On chromosome 1H, a peak SNP was discovered to be associated with AFF M , DHF M , DHF V , DHF V /F M , and DHF V /F 0 that encode E3 SUMO-protein ligase. SUMO is a small ubiquitin-related modifier conjugation that is essential for posttranslational modification controlled by environmental cues (Miura et al., 2007a;Miura and Hasegawa, 2010). SUMO conjugation/ deconjugation was involved in responses to oxidative stress, heat shock, phosphate limitation, hypoxia, flowering, pathogen defense, and ABA signaling (Kurepa et al., 2003;Lois et al., 2003;Murtas et al., 2003;Miura et al., 2005;Yoo et al., 2006;Lee et al., 2007). In Arabidopsis AtSIZ1 SUMO E3 ligase functions are conserved in several environmental responses including cold tolerance responses, salicylic acid in plant defense, basal thermotolerance, flowering time regulation, and freezing tolerance (Miura et al., 2005;Yoo et al., 2006;Lee et al., 2007;Miura et al., 2007b). Overexpression of the rice OsSIZ1 gene improved tolerance to drought, heat and salt tolerance in Arabidopsis (Mishra et al., 2018), and drought and heat tolerance in cotton (Mishra et al., 2017). Furthermore, they produced higher seed yields under different stress conditions and improved the photosynthesis rate of plants exposed to heat stress. The SUMO E3 Ligase SIZ1 is involved in anthocyanin accumulation under high light in Arabidopsis (Zheng et al., 2020), DNA demethylation (Kong et al., 2020), numerous abiotic stresses (Fang et al., 2022), phosphate homeostasis in rice (Pei et al., 2020), and protecting maize plants from paraquat toxicity (Wang H.et al., 2021). The siz1 mutation exhibits freezing sensitivity as a decrease in expression of CBF3/DREB1, a transcription factor for acclimation to cold temperatures (Miura and Hasegawa, 2010). Recently, the HORVU3Hr1G016010 gene encodes a SUMO found to be involved in the cold response in the VIR barley collection (2214 accession) (Sallam et al., 2021). In this investigation, we found that the HORVU1Hr1G087520 on chromosome 1H encodes E3 SUMOprotein ligase associated with the chlorophyll fluorescence trait under low-temperature conditions and could regulate the photosynthesis rate. Photosynthetic proteins are responsible for providing the cells with the energy to assemble the defensive molecules in response to stress (Ashraf and Harris, 2013). Thus, E3 SUMO could be essential for cold acclimation tolerances in barley at the posttranslational modification level.Further, we found a significant SNP associated with AFF V F 0 under cold acclimation stress in a gene HORVU1Hr1G085880 encoding Ninja-family protein. Ninja (NOVEL-INTERACTOR-OF-JAZ) protein regulates growth-related and stress-related signaling (Pauwels et al., 2010). ECAP NINJA is an adaptor protein linking JASMONATE-ZIM DOMAIN (JAZ) proteins with the co-repressor, TOPLESS (TPL), to regulate gene Prospects for Growth Habit. Two F 1 populations were derived from a cross between 02Ab431 (♀-winter type) and Bentley (♂-spring type). F 2 population segregated for growth habit (spring versus winter type). The photo was taken 39 days after seeding. suppression in Jasmonate (JA)-dependent the Arabidopsis root growth inhibition. ECAP interacts with JAZ6 and as an adaptor protein to inhibit the JA-responsive anthocyanin accumulation by TPR2 recruitment to the transcriptional complex (Li et al., 2020). Through protein Ninja, Jasmonate JAZ repressor proteins recruit the Groucho/Tup1-type co-repressor TPL and TPL-related proteins (TPRs) (Pauwels et al., 2010). In Arabidopsis thaliana, Ninja binding proteins AFP1 and AFP4 are key regulators of ABA signaling and stress responses in seedlings, as well as a negative regulator of jasmonate responses (Garcia et al., 2008). NINJA, the novel interaction of JAZ encodes a transcriptional repressor that participated in the jasmonic acid pathway in the leaf and root growth and development (Oblessuc et al., 2020). Phytohormones such as JA, ABA, and salicylic acid are essential elements of complex signaling networks of the stress response (Lee et al., 2007) and control gene expression.Based on our results, we have proven that the post-translational modification of protein related to photosynthesis is critical for barley plants, which dynamically modulated their response to environmental changes under LTS conditions. We also reported that SUMO E3 ligase could accelerate the ubiquitin-proteasome system, by conjugation of small ubiquitin-like modifiers to target substrate proteins (cold tolerance-related genes) (Johnson, 2004). Ubiquitin could likewise alter some key TFs that facilitate plant adaptation to cold stress (Callis, 2014). Our results revealed that GWAS identified two SNPs on chromosomes 1H located between 539454103 bp (SCRI.RS.155758) and 536426484 bp (SCRI.RS.137116) linked to the E3 SUMO and Ninja proteins, respectively (Table 3).Interestingly, after two hours of the cold acclimation stress, we discovered SNPs on chromosome 3H, detected at 440011663 bp within the HORVU3Hr1G058390 gene encoding a Bromodomaincontaining factor 1 protein was found to be associated with the F V , F V /F M, and F V /F 0 . Bromodomain-containing transcription factors control gene expression in three ways; (i) transcription activation, (ii) conserving transcription memory, and (ii) anti-silencing of the conserved chromosomal region (Loyola and Almouzni, 2004). The bromodomain proteins proceed with these functions via binding to acetylated histones and anchoring sequence-specific factors on the chromatin of target promoters. Further, bromodomain-containing proteins contain various families of 'epigenetic mark readers', which are basic to epigenetic gene regulation, and necessary for different environmental stress responses and cellular processes (Abiraami et al., 2022). In Arabidopsis, the bromodomain-containing transcription factors, GTE9, and GTE11 convert specific factors as BT2 to control gene expression. BT2 is a BTB domain-containing protein with an essential TAZ-zinc finger domain and calmodulinbinding domain C-terminal that responds to different metabolic and physiological responses (Mandadi et al., 2009). Loss-offunction mutants bt2 exhibited a hypersensitive response to ABAand sugar-mediated suppression of germination, suggesting the role of ABA in sugar signaling in germination and development. BT2 expression was controlled by several abiotic and biotic stresses including cold, ABA, hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), and methyl jasmonate (Mandadi et al., 2009). Cold-stress signal perception is the first stage, which is completed by various pathways. Transcriptional regulations are the next factors that control ABA-dependent signaling pathways to prompt the expression of coldregulated genes. Resulting in upregulating of hundreds of metabolite levels, some of which are identified to have protective results against the negative impacts of cold stress including soluble sugars, ROS, and photosynthetic metabolites (Heidarvand and Maali Amiri, 2010).On the other hand, we found SNPs on chromosome 6H located within the HORVU6Hr1G005960 gene that encodes histone H2A 7 protein, which has been associated with multiple traits, including F V , F V /F 0 under the cold acclimation condition. Histone H2A is one of the five key histone proteins engaged in the chromatin structure in eukaryotic cells that are responsible for maintaining the shape and structure of a nucleosome. Histone modification is an epigenetic mechanism involving changes in the chromatin structure of stressed genes via several chemical processes during the transcriptional and post-transcriptional modifications (Kim et al., 2015). These mechanisms play an essential role in plant survival under adverse environmental conditions (Elakhdar et al., 2022;Verma et al., 2022). In addition, epigenetic mechanisms might create stress memory which is convenient for the following generations (Verma et al., 2022), to regulate gene expression to cope with environmental stresses. Histone genes are suppressed by abiotic stresses such as drought (Kang et al., 2011), cold (Steward et al., 2000), and chilling tolerance (Zhang et al., 2012).A n S N P l o c a t e d a t 5 3 8 8 0 5 5 8 9 b p w i t h i n t h e HORVU3Hr1G071240 gene on chromosome 3H associated with F V , F V /F 0 after two hours of the cold acclimation stress falls within protein kinase superfamily protein. Protein kinases belonging to a wide superfamily play an essential role in numerous biological processes of plant growth and stress tolerance. In parallel, several stress-inducible protein kinase families for instance calciumdependent protein kinase (CDPK), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and SNF1-related protein kinase (SnRK) are stimulated by ABA and different stress signals (Wrzaczek and Hirt, 2001;Ludwig et al., 2004). Gain-and loss-of-function findings have shown that signaling pathways resulting in cold, drought, salt, and tolerance are controlled through specific CDPK isoforms (Ludwig et al., 2004). Overexpression of Ca 2+dependent protein kinase enhances the cold and salt/drought tolerance in rice plants (Saijo et al., 2000). HORVU2Hr1G118320 gene encodes phosphatidylinositol kinase protein was previously found to affect cold response in the barley VIR collection (Sallam et al., 2021), maize (Zea mays) and Arabidopsis thaliana (Wang et al., 2018).On chromosome 3H, we found an SNP located within the HORVU3Hr1G064120 gene that encodes the Alpha/beta hydrolase domain-containing protein 13 associated with F V , F V /F 0 . The a/bhydrolase domain (ABHD) proteins are conserved in all organisms and belong to the a/b-hydrolase (ABH) superfamily. ABH family is involved in various processes including cell signaling, energy metabolism, growth, and development (Mindrebo et al., 2016), and in response to salinity stress (Liu et al., 2014). A few of a/bhydrolase fold enzymes, for example, esterase, phospholipase D, and prolyl oligopeptidase (POP5) play a key role in responses to several abiotic stress including drought, salt, and chilling in addition to ABA signaling of plants (Wang, 2002;Hong et al., 2010;Tan et al., 2013;Liu et al., 2014).On chromosome 3H, the detected SNP linked with V F 0 was found within the HORVU3Hr1G059320 gene, which encodes Vtype proton ATPase subunit E. V-ATPases are complexes of membrane-embedded proteins that function as ATP hydrolysisdriven proton pumps. V-ATPase maintains the pH and the regulates acidifying of intracellular compartments. In some cell types, it is aimed at the plasma membrane, where it regulates acidifying the extracellular environment (Vasanthakumar and Rubinstein, 2020). It was found that the survival of the cells was based strongly on adjusting or maintaining the V-ATPase activity under cold stress conditions (Dietz et al., 2001). Yoshida et al., (Yoshida et al., 1999), reported that plant sensitivity to low temperatures leads to an increase in frost and chilling hardiness including three vacuolar events related to V-ATPase activity. (a) Chilling stress leads to the suppression of V-ATPase activity. (b) Correspondingly, the formation of pH gradients is obstructed. (c) Then membranes adjusted their fluidity by improving the membrane content of unsaturated fatty acids. Evidence revealed that the association between stress injury and cytoplasm acidification was inveterate in studies relating V-ATPases from chilling-tolerant species for instance pea and chilling-sensitive species like mung bean (Hotsubo et al., 1998). The expression level of the wheat E subunit of the V-type H + -ATPase gene was increased by cold, drought, salt, and exogenous ABA treatment (Zhang et al., 2014). An in vitro study found that chilling rice plants at 10°C increased the vacuolar-type ATPase activity (Orr et al., 1995). Cold-tolerant Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica napus exhibited an upregulation in both proteins and subunit A mRNA in response to chilling at 2°C (Apse et al., 1999).Another significant SNP was detected on chromosome 3H within the HORVU3Hr1G061690 gene encoding the protein DEHYDRATION-INDUCED 19 associated F V F 0 . The Arabidopsis AtDi19 is a dehydration-induce protein that encodes a Cys2/His2 zinc-finger protein involved in high-salinity stress, ABA-independent dehydration, and light signaling events (Milla et al., 2006). In vitro assay showed that AtDi19-related proteins were phosphorylated through calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs). These findings reveal that the post-translational modification could be significant in controlling the function of the AtDi19 (Milla et al., 2006). The Arabidopsis AtDi19-3 is also a transcriptional activator that participates in plant response to drought, salinity, ABA, and H 2 O 2 events (Qin et al., 2014). In our study, we showed that the barley DEHYDRATION-INDUCED 19 is associated with chlorophyll fluorescence-related traits under low-temperature stress.Another important genomic region F V F 0 is on chromosome 3H, where their SNP is located within the HORVU3Hr1G062030 gene that encodes ROP guanine nucleotide exchange factor 5. Guanine nucleotide exchange factors (RopGEFs) are activators of small GTPase proteins named ROPs in plants in turn regulate different cellular processes ranging from control growth to plant responses to environmental stimuli (Berken et al., 2005). The Arabidopsis RopGEF1 function as a negative regulator of signal transduction through the plant hormone ABA (Li et al., 2018). RopGEF1 was phosphorylated by calcium-dependent protein kinases CPK4. CPK4 stimulates RopGEF1 degradation. CPK4 also inhibits RopGEF1 activities in hairy root growth (Li et al., 2018). The RopGEF1 (HORVU3Hr1G085680.4) gene expression is upregulated in salttolerant genotypes, which might be associated with salt stress (Chen et al., 2022). Taken together, our results could provide the basis for an advanced study into the function of barley RopGEF1 in cold acclimation tolerance.Finally, an additional SNP was founded on chromosome 3H, within the HORVU3Hr1G063220 gene that encodes subunit 3 of the splicing factor 3a protein complex (Splicing Factor 3A subunit 3) associated with F V F 0 . The Arabidopsis ROA1/RBM25 gene has been identified as a splicing factor required for the splicing of transcripts from several ABA signal transduction pathway genes (Zhan et al., 2015). The Arabidopsis STA1 gene encodes a cold-induced pre-mRNA splicing factor, and sta1-1 is cold-sensitive and defective in the splicing of the cold-induced COR15A gene. The splicing factor mutant sta1-1 mutant displays that the STA1 protein regulates the splicing pattern and stability of some genes related to abiotic stress (Lee et al., 2006). The sta1-1 and rdm16-1 mutants exhibited hypersensitivity to ABA and salt stress in seed germination (Lee et al., 2006). In response to environmental stresses, mainly cold stress, plants modified their genome-wide alternative splicing profiles (Iida et al., 2004). Some plant hormones and environmental stresses, including cold and salt, dramatically adjust their expression and splicing profile of many important pre-mRNA splicing regulators mechanisms (Palusa et al., 2007).The identified GO terms were related to molecular mechanisms of causal photosynthetic responses and low-temperature tolerance in barley. GO findings showed that hydrolase activity, carbohydrate metabolic process, nuclear-transcribed mRNA catabolic process, nogo mRNA decay, and protein kinase activity were enriched by identified genes linked with photosynthetic traits under cold acclimation conditions. Also, our results indicated that the zinc ion binding, protein phosphorylation, ATP binding, and guanylnucleotide exchange factor activity GO terms (Table 4) were enriched under cold acclimation conditions. These results indicate that barley plants have initiated growth and repaired damaged tissues under cold acclimation conditions. Recently a study of meta-analysis study determined the GO that plays a key role in the mechanism of barley responses to cold stress such as guanyl-nucleotide exchange factor activity, the mRNA surveillance pathway and starch and sucrose metabolism (Alamholo and Tarinejad, 2022).Taken altogether, our functional annotation showed identified loci that were either within the known or close genes that play key roles in the photosynthetic signaling pathways, ABA signaling events, antioxidant biosynthesis, and posttranslational signals transduction. Overall, these outcomes suggest that various biological processes are involved in cold stress responses as well as post-transcriptional modification and epigenetics-mediated changes that may play essential roles in spring seedling responses to cold stress.In this study, 96 spring barley genotypes were evaluated for chlorophyll fluorescence-related traits before and after the cold acclimation conditions. The genotypes were genotyped using the Barley 9K iSelect SNP Array. Our principal conclusions are the following (1) Significant phenotypic variation among genotypes under low-temperature stress. (2) Several genomic regions associated with chlorophyll fluorescence under cold stress. (3) GWAS analysis indicated that a total of two and fifty markers were significantly associated with chlorophyll fluorescence-related traits before and after the cold stress treatment, respectively. Thirtynine significant QTNs and thirteen annotated candidate genes were identified. We first identified the genes having suggestive and significant GWAS SNPs and discovered several potential candidate genes underlying cold acclimation stress and/or chlorophyll fluorescence trait variation. Furthermore, the candidate genes were discovered around the significant SNPs mainly on chromosomes 1H, 3H, and 6H for cold-related-traits. Most of the candidate genes participate in plant response to abiotic stress at the post-transcriptional modification level including, for example, abscisic acid (ABA) signaling, hydrolase activity, protein kinase, and transduction of environmental signal transduction at the posttranslational modification levels. (4) Novel biparental populations (RIL 2 -5 ) developed from a cross between spring x winter type which can be used to identify the new QTL for lowtemperature tolerance in the spring barley in the future. Overall, our results provide fresh insight into potential low-temperature tolerance mechanisms in barley and the possibility of markerassisted selection in the future."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3bf2600feefaa59215f50d5c7cd01f33","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fbe75f80-8f50-4197-a0a7-88efb42c2781/retrieve","id":"1554474585"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c142750a-9bfc-4ba4-a78f-b01f438a66fb","content":"A new approach is required to reduce, or reverse, the negative impacts of our food production systems on the environment, which are contributing to land degradation, pollution and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services on which we all depend.Many of the 2 billion smallholders who live in developing countries are adversely affected by climate change-drought, erratic weather and increased outbreaks of crop pests and diseases. Through our work with these farmers, research partners and conservation agencies, Bioversity International contributes to global understanding about the use and conservation of agricultural biodiversity. This resource can increase the productivity, resilience and sustainability of small-scale food production systems and has potential for development.Highlights from 2011 include a global effort to support scaled-up approaches to sustainability, research on using agricultural biodiversity to minimize pest and disease damage, and work with local communities in the forests of Mozambique.Following the International Year of Biodiversity in 2010, we celebrated the launch of the UN Decade on Biodiversity (2011Biodiversity ( -2021)). This year also saw the initiation of the preparation for the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, a key step in laying the foundation for the next set of Sustainable Development Goals.In addition, CGIAR, a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food secure future, completed its reform process in 2011 and formulated 15 CGIAR Research Programs to implement its Strategy and Results Framework. Our organization played an active role in the formulation of nine programmes and contributed its expertise and long experience to ensure that the role of agricultural biodiversity in achieving the CGIAR system-level outcomes was appropriately reflected in these new research programs.These key influencing events in 2011, along with the increasing realization worldwide that past models of agricultural intensification are not sustainable, have prompted us to revisit our own mission and develop a more sharply focused strategy that will guide us during the decade to come. Working with our partners and donors, we have developed a new set of strategic priorities and a new research agenda to help achieve our vision of a world in which smallholder farming communities in developing countries are thriving and sustainable. As a result, we also revisited our structure and created five distinct and innovative research programmes. These ensure that Bioversity International is an excellent investment and world-class partner for supporters and users of our knowledge and research.While our strategy development was in progress, we continued to make important research strides in using and conserving agricultural biodiversity for livelihoods, sustainability and nutrition. Working with smallholder farmers and partners, our scientists provide novel research ideas and practical solutions. Throughout the pages of this report, you will find examples of Bioversity International's work with partners and stakeholders from Africa to Asia to the Americas.As we reflect on the year and what lies ahead, it is clear that biodiversity is a critical entry point to a host of issues that need solutions. Agricultural biodiversity has the potential to benefit millions and complement other approaches to agriculture. It can play a central role in meeting global challenges and transform agricultural systems, but it has too often and for too long been neglected by research and development agendas. This must change, as agricultural biodiversity is a powerful resource to help our world.We encourage you to read this report and to share it widely. With your help and engagement, we can make a lasting impact in research to achieve better nutrition, improve smallholders' livelihoods and enhance agricultural sustainability while conserving the plant genetic diversity upon which they depend. Thank you for your continued support of our efforts.his past year represented a turning point for agricultural biodiversity, with increasing recognition of its value to help provide a food secure future in a sustainable way.People, Food & Nature \"A landscape is a human construct. It is not nature as it was handed to us but the result of interaction between people and nature. We have worked on many individual crops, looking at how they contribute traits and resilience to agriculture, but increasingly we see that a lot of the value comes when these elements of biodiversity are inserted into a landscape,\" says Bioversity International Senior Scientist Pablo Eyzaguirre.Finding solutions that simultaneously meet the challenges of biodiversity conservation, sustainable development, food security and poverty reduction is no easy task. A clear example is trying to find synergies between conservation and food production needs. A landscape approach is one that tries to address these different types of demands at the same time.Smallholder farmers, policymakers, food companies, conservation agencies and grassroots organizations are already adopting innovative integrated approaches, although on a small scale. So far these have received little recognition from policymakers or investors, but a 3-year multi-stakeholder collaboration to scale up sustainable rural development, launched in 2011, hopes to change this.The 'Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative' will support the scaling up of sustainable landscape management approaches in over 60 biodiversity hotspots. Partners representing over 120 organizations, including policymakers, donors, NGOs, farmers, research centres and conservation agencies, are tasked with gathering evidence and making this knowledge widely accessible to policymakers. Bioversity International is a co-organizer of this initiative led by Ecoagriculture Partners.Multidisciplinary teams have already started work to synthesize current evidence as part of the partnership's global review: a set of key questions whose answers are critical for setting the standards for agriculture in the 21st century.For example, what is the contribution of ecologically intensifying agricultural systems to food and ecosystem service production? Can we produce more food with less, by focusing on intensifying ecological processes rather than relying largely on external inputs, such as chemicals and excessive water use? Can we make agricultural systems multifunctional-producing both food and ecosystem services?Pests and diseases cause an estimated 27% worldwide loss to annual harvests, a loss that can have devastating impacts on income and food for poor smallholder farming households.One resource available to smallholder farmers to minimize the risk of pest and disease damage is the use of different varieties of a crop, planted together. Funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a 3-year Bioversity International project in China, Ecuador, Morocco and Uganda shows that growing a mix of varieties of a crop can decrease farmers' chances of losing entire harvests. This is because different varieties offer different resistance levels to outbreaks, rather than relying on a few high-yielding yet more genetically uniform modern varieties. It is also a sustainable and affordable alternative to expensive chemical inputs. Two of the six crops studied in the global project, banana and the common bean, were evaluated in terms of the number of varieties grown and the area planted with each variety. These two crops are significant to Ugandan farmers-banana and the common bean are the most important sources of carbohydrates in Uganda, with more than 7 million people depending on them for daily meals.\"The project showed that using diversity can help minimize risk. For example, farmers in Uganda who grow diverse sets of varieties of bananas and common beans lose less of their harvest when the incidence of the pest or disease is high. But, having enough diversity in a farmer's production system is not enough on its own. Success depends on farmers and the farming community having the knowledge and leadership capacity to evaluate the benefits that using this diversity gives to them. This, in turn, means that local, national and international agencies take an active role in strengthening local institutions to enable farmers to take a greater role in the management of their genetic resources,\" says Devra Jarvis, Senior Scientist at Bioversity International.The Niassa National Reserve extends over 42,000 km 2 along the Mozambique border with Tanzania, and includes one of the least disturbed areas of Africa's deciduous Miombo woodlands. It was established to protect wildlife and also includes populations of a number of the world's threatened tree species.Bioversity International project, 'Sustaining forest resources for people and the environment in the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique' is studying the relationship between the people living in the reserve and the tree 5 species that are important to them, to see if the use of the trees is placing them under threat and if sustainable alternatives are needed.About 40,000 people live in the reserve using trees for many purposes: fuel wood for home cooking and charcoal production for sale, food, medicine, timber for construction and sale, material for carving cultural objects, fishing rods, and talismans. People here live in povertyon average they earn about US$ 35 per year-and depend on the trees for food and income, especially at times of food shortage when they eat the fruit and edible leaves. Trees are also a source of honey, the sale of which is the main source of income for many people. Yet the practices that people use, for example, cutting trees for honey collection, are placing the resources that they need under threat.The first year's fieldwork consisted of conducting interviews in communities in the reserve to understand people's dependence on and their use of forest resources.\"The second year of the project saw more focus on ecological studies following up on the previous year's surveys of how people used the forests. We saw the impacts of honey hunting and illegal logging, and that current practices are unsustainable. The next step will focus on honey hunting, working with people in the communities to identify and test more sustainable collection methods,\" says Judy Loo, Senior Scientist at Bioversity International.The final stage of the project will be to work with the people living in the reserve to help them develop more sustainable practices, to produce recommendations for reserve managers that will help them balance the need for wildlife habitat conservation with those of the local people, and to share this model widely.Hunger is a worldwide problem, which, together with nutrient deficiencies known as 'hidden hunger', undermines the growth, development, health and productivity of over 2 billion people. Our agricultural systems collectively produce enough staple food for everyone at the moment, in aggregate, but access to nutritious food remains a challenge for many. The predicted world population increase to 9 billion by 2050 is set to increase demand on these systems which are already being pushed to the boundaries of sustainability and placing our ecosystems under extreme pressure. Bioversity International's Nutrition Strategy was launched in 2011 to further understand how using agricultural biodiversity within smallholder farming systems can contribute to food security and nutrition. During the year, Bioversity International started two nutrition initiatives to gather robust evidence of the value of agricultural biodiversity for nutrition and health and further explore its links to livelihoods.The Grand Challenges Explorations is an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to enable researchers worldwide to test unorthodox ideas that address persistent global health and development challenges.Bioversity International, in collaboration with Save the Children UK, is undertaking an innovative global health project through this initiative: 'The role of wild and underutilized foods in daily costs of diets in Baringo, Kenya'. This project focuses on reaching \"a clearer understanding of the role of wild and underutilized foods in helping to deliver a nutritionally adequate diet-at the same time reducing its cost. This will enable researchers and policymakers to develop accessible and local food-based solutions to malnutrition in mothers and 6 to 24-month-old children,\" says Federico Mattei, Research Support Officer, Nutrition and Marketing Diversity Programme, who will be involved in carrying out the research with local partners.The use of a 'Cost of Diet' tool, which calculates the minimum amount of money a household will have to spend to meet their full nutritional requirements using locally available foods, means \"we will be able to model the impact these foods could have on the affordability of a nutritious diet,\" explains Alex Rees, Head of Hunger Reduction, Save the Children UK.As a part of this project, diets with and without foods from wild species and Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS), will be modelled to determine the nutritional and cost benefits of these foods to assist in the design of programme interventions aimed at improving diet quality and contributing to a reduction in child stunting. NUS are plant and animal species that are used traditionally for food, fibre, fodder, oil or medicinal properties, but have not yet been adopted by large-scale agriculture.In 2011, a new 5-year global project, 'Biodiversity for food and nutrition' was successfully approved to start in 2012.Funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the US$ 35-million project will provide evidence of the nutritional value of agricultural biodiversity and its role in promoting healthy diets and strengthening livelihoods in the four countries leading the project: Brazil, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Turkey. Bioversity International is coordinating the project with implementation support from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and a significant number of international partners.The project aims to use this evidence to influence policies, development programmes and markets that support the conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity. Part of the project will be to develop tools, knowledge and best practices to mobilize and mainstream the use of nutritionally-rich biodiversity and scale up its use for food and nutrition in development, value chains and local community initiatives.\"It is increasingly recognized at an international level that there are important links between biodiversity, food and nutrition, yet research in this area remains fragmented and uncoordinated. Bioversity International's involvement in a project of this nature is critical as the world's foremost research-for-development organization working in the field of mobilizing biodiversity for food and nutrition,\" says Danny Hunter, Bioversity International Project Leader.\"Good nutrition must be one of the major goals of agriculture and production systems, requiring a combination of agricultural, health, fortification and supplementation strategies. While promoting household production, Bioversity International is concentrating its efforts to understand and promote access to and availability of nutritious and diverse foods,\" says Bruce Cogill, Programme Leader, Nutrition and Marketing Diversity. This year, Bioversity launched a 10-year nutrition strategy which promotes the use of agricultural biodiversity within food production systems to provide nutritionallyrich food sources that contribute to dietary diversity and to better nutrition and health. This builds on research of the past few years that has focused on the role and impact of traditional foods on dietary diversity and livelihoods.The Nutrition and Marketing Diversity Programme will build evidence about how the benefits derived from growing and using agriculturally biodiverse foods can benefit people's livelihoods and ecosystems. Bioversity International is focusing its work on smallholder farming communitiescomprising 70% of the world's poorest 1.4 billion people-in low and middle income countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Central America and South Asia. Within these countries, like in many other countries around the world, people's diets have changed, moving away from traditional, local and diverse foods to eating more cereal-based staples and energy-dense fats and sugars. Some of these changes are adversely affecting people's health and nutrition, as well as the environment, and are not sustainable in the long term.The strategy has four objectives that fall into two broader categories: research and evidence, and development and policy.Objective 1: To strengthen the empirical evidence of agricultural biodiversity's role for nutrition and health.Objective 2: To ensure that the production of more nutritious foods through commercial pathways reflects agriculturally biodiverse practices and cultural and consumer practices.Objective 3: To determine best practices and delivery systems of agricultural biodiversity in nutrition and health development programmes.Objective 4: To mainstream the role of agricultural biodiversity into public health and nutrition policy and practice by sharing evidence and providing local solutions.For smallholder farmers and rural communities, agricultural biodiversity is a resource within reach that can help increase income and income stability. Diversified farming systems and sustainable small-scale forestry offer opportunities to provide a more regular income and enhanced food security across seasons and between years. Within these communities, women play an important but often unrecognized role in producing, gathering, processing and marketing food.Bioversity International is working to make markets accessible to the rural poor by expanding the focus beyond main commodity crops and developing innovative 'farm to fork' interventions. Bioversity International works in partnership with agencies, community groups and the private sector to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Our research in 2011 addressed production, marketing technologies and policies needed to ensure the equitable participation of the poor in new markets of diverse products. Here are some highlights.Back to Market 2011 marks the end of a 10-year research effort funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), to empower poor rural communities in Asia and Latin America by strengthening their identity, income opportunities and nutritional security through the improved use and marketing of Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS). NUS are traditional crops that are often better adapted to grow in marginal areas, with little need for irrigation, pesticides and fertilizers, but have fallen outside mainstream agricultural research and development.\"Thanks to this project, we now have the evidence that these species are a key asset to support poor farming communities,\" says Stefano Padulosi, Senior Scientist at Bioversity International.In India, Bioversity International and partners worked with 200 farming families to revive the cultivation of minor millets. As a result, Indian small millet growers increased their yields by 70% and their income by 30%. Women farmers integrated millets into innovative snack foods, which have reached urban markets and are now consumed in schools. Selling those foods to boost household incomes and the entrepreneurial skills acquired were also key for the empowerment and selfesteem of the women involved.In Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador, the cultivation of traditional grains, such as cañihua, amaranth and some neglected varieties of quinoa, was being abandoned because of poor economic competitiveness in markets. The interventions varied from developing new varieties of cañihua to providing prototypes of machines that drastically reduce processing times-from 6 hours to 7 minutes to process 12 kg of quinoa. By improving production, processing and marketing, these crops are now back in the farmers' fields offering new income opportunities. smallholder farmers through the diversity of beans cultivated, to the skill of the farmers, and to the differences in taste produced from different growing conditions.In 2011, 'Cocoa of Excellence' received and analyzed 119 samples of cocoa beans from 22 countries-50 of which were selected and processed into chocolateto be evaluated by a jury of professionals and connoisseurs who then assigned 12 'Cocoa of Excellence' awards. In addition, a second jury met during the Salon du Chocolat, Paris and gave four awards to farmers from Malaysia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Cameroon.These events provide opportunities to establish links between cocoa growers and professionals in the chocolate industry. For example, at the Salon du Chocolat, one chocolate manufacturer met with the country representative of a farmer that had provided a nominated cocoa sample resulting in a business link between the farmer and the manufacturer.Cocoa is starting to get more attention in countries that produce it. In Peru, national competitions are now organized every year and there are trained specialists in the sensory evaluation of cocoa beans, liqueurs and chocolates. Brazil is organizing its first Chocolate and Cocoa Show in Salvador, Bahia, in 2012.\"The development of cocoa as a high-value crop and commodity has great potential for smallholder farmers, particularly in West Africa, Latin America and Asia,\" says Stephan Weise, Deputy Director General of Research at Bioversity International. \"We are looking at ways to expand those possibilities.\" \"We have to act at different levels. We have to conserve these species, create networks and infrastructure and build capacity so that farmers and communities can take advantage of cultivating NUS. Creating an enabling policy environment, both at a national and international level, is necessary to deploy the economic potential of these species for the poor. Last but not least we need champions, people spreading the message,\" added Padulosi.Building on this experience, Bioversity International is beginning a new project funded by IFAD to investigate the use of NUS in increasing the adaptation and resilience of production systems in the face of climate change.Cocoa is a vital source of income for some 6 million smallholder farmers in West Africa, Latin America and Asia. Compared with coffee, wine or tobacco, cocoa is still a low-value industrial commodity, but demand for fine-flavour, added-value cocoa is steadily increasing.  Many projects have been, and continue to be, implemented worldwide to support on-farm conservation of agricultural biodiversity. The challenge of these projects is to identify, design and implement interventions that make the conservation of crop diversity compatible with improved livelihoods and well-being among the farmers who conserve it. The aim is to maintain diversity while also reducing poverty.\"One of the aims of this study is to fill the gap of systematic evaluation of the success of on-farm conservation projects in producing outcomes that maintain crop diversity on farm and at the same time create livelihood benefits for farmers,\" says Mauricio Bellon, Principal Scientist at Bioversity International. This research is also a very important tool for donors, policymakers and practitioners who need to have the conceptual and methodological tools to assess the success of their projects and the lessons learned, and hence their investments.The increasing loss of plant genetic resources, including those of crops, their wild relatives, and trees, has irreversible global implications. Genetic resources are critical to ensure the ability of future generations to adapt and enhance agriculture as needed. For almost 40 years, Bioversity International has been at the forefront of global efforts to collect, conserve and use agricultural biodiversity. Our new strategy includes two complementary conservation approaches: ex situ (conservation of seeds in long-term storage facilities) and in situ (conservation of plants on farms and in the wild), with greater emphasis on the less researched area, in situ conservation.In 2011, we marked many conservation milestones, including the 10-year anniversary of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, a new atlas of crop wild relatives and new research on forest genetic resources.The Atlas of Guatemalan Crop Wild Relatives (Atlas Guatemalteco de Parientes Silvestres de las Plantas Cultivadas) is a new web resource to facilitate the conservation and use of wild plant species that are related to cultivated crops.Crop wild relatives are increasingly important to agriculture because they contain beneficial traits needed for breeding improved varieties that can be hardier, more productive, more nutritious, more disease and drought resistant, and better adapted to climate change.Guatemala, in the heart of Mesoamerica, is one of the world's most important centres of plant domestication and agricultural origin and, consequently, an area with an abundance of crop wild relatives.Launched in 2011, the atlas is the result of nearly a decade of extensive collaboration between Bioversity International and partners. It provides detailed information about 105 species or subspecies of wild Guatemalan plants, chosen for this study because of their economic, cultural and nutritional importance.Through an interactive Google Earth® interface, users can consult maps that show the known distribution and potential range of each plant included in the study, based on climate and the locations where they were collected. Additional maps display areas of high species richness and diversity to assist conservation efforts. The maps draw upon a database of 2,593 records of scientific specimens conserved in numerous national and international institutions.\"We are pleased that the Ministry of the Environment of Guatemala has made plans to immediately use the atlas to document the presence of crop wild relatives within their system of protected areas,\" says Marleni Ramirez, Regional Director, Bioversity International Americas Office.The atlas, and supporting database, is a resource for those who want to learn about and promote the conservation and use of the many unique and often threatened crop wild relatives in Guatemala, including plant breeders, conservationists, students and teachers.An international event marked 10 years of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, a powerful legal instrument that defines the legal status and conditions for pooling, exchanging and conserving plant genetic resources for food and agriculture between countries. Without it, the costs and negotiations on a case-by-case basis to access plant genetic resources would be extremely difficult, and in many cases, impossible.Plant genetic resources are important, as they are the raw materials needed by farmers, scientists and breeders to help achieve food security in the face of climate change, land and water scarcity, and an increasing population. Since its adoption, the Treaty has been ratified by 127 countries and includes at least 1.5 million plant samples of 64 crops and forages.At the 2011 anniversary event, Bioversity International Director General Emile Frison called for greater collaboration between countries and international organizations to ensure that as much plant genetic diversity as possible is conserved and equitably used by the global community in pursuit of food security and environmental sustainability.CGIAR has played an important role throughout the negotiations of the Treaty, providing technical input and acting as one of the key resources for accessing genetic biodiversity. CGIAR genebanks host around 50% of the materials currently in the multilateral system of access and benefit sharing, including a wide diversity of local and traditional varieties, crop wild relatives, as well as neglected and underutilized crops. These materials are available through the Treaty's Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA), and more than 8,000 samples are exchanged every week.The Treaty was adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) Conference in November 2001 and came into force in 2004.Slash-and-burn agriculture is a traditional way to prepare agricultural fields by felling trees which are then allowed to dry before being burned. This practice is often perceived as an enemy of forests, but according to Laura Snook, Programme Leader, Forest Genetic Resources, Bioversity International, it can favour the regeneration of dozens of valuable tropical timber tree species.\"Banning the use of fire, which many governments are doing in the name of protecting the environment, can reduce options for maintaining a diverse, valuable and sustainable resource,\" says Snook. This conclusion is based on many years of work in Quintana Roo, Mexico, where over 100 local communities manage 800,000 ha of the largest tropical forest in Mesoamerica for harvesting timber.The research began in 1996, when 24 half-hectare clearances were created in the forest using three different methods: eight were clear-felled which means all the trees were cut down and left on site with their stumps remaining in the ground; eight were cleared by bulldozers that uprooted the trees and pushed them to the side; while eight were cleared by slash and burn. The researchers then planted seeds and seedlings of mahogany, the most valuable timber species, to see how they would fare.\"Slash and burn was best for mahogany,\" says Snook, \"but what was really interesting, when we went back more than a decade later, was to find that more than 100 tree species had regenerated in the plotsmany of them commercially valuable.\"The study revealed clear differences between treatments. In clear-felled plots, valuable hardwoods occupied less than 30% of the plots, while on plots cleared by machine or by slash and burn, 60% of the trees were commercially valuable. Between the machined and burned plots, the largest 10% of trees were significantly bigger on the slash and burn plots.The differences were not hard to explain. Trees on clear-felled plots sprouted from the trunks and roots left behind, quickly resulting in a closed canopy, favouring species that can tolerate shade. Trees that result from resprouting stumps or roots are typically multi-stemmed, so even timber species are unlikely to provide quality logs.\"Many valuable timber trees require sunlight to regenerate-they don't survive in the small gaps produced by timber harvesting or in the clear-felled plots because they are quickly overshadowed,\" says Snook. \"Slash-and-burn treatments mimic the effects of hurricanes and lightning strikes. Burning not only controls competition, but releases nutrients that stimulate plant growth.\" Bioversity International's work results in knowledge that can shift policies, transform agricultural practices and open possibilities for income, improved nutrition and sustainable farming practices for poor rural communities. We develop knowledge products, tools, capacity and good practices with farmers, local and national governments, development workers, trainers and academia.'Plant Genetic Resources and Food Security-Stakeholders' Perspectives on the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture' is an essential guide to understand the way international policy affects food security.The book, jointly published by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN (FAO), Bioversity International and Earthscan, gives a comprehensive overview of the negotiations and implementation of the Treaty and explains the different interests and views at stake between all players in the global food chain. This is the latest in the Earthscan-Bioversity International book series 'Issues in Agricultural Biodiversity', which reviews current knowledge around topical issues in agricultural biodiversity, identifying gaps in our knowledge base, synthesizing lessons learned and proposing future research and development actions.Bioversity International was one of the co-organizers of a 4-day agricultural knowledge sharefair in Rome in September 2011. This event was a forum to share success stories, knowledge, experience and innovations on information and communication technologies and processes relating to agriculture, climate change, food security and rural development.Over 160 presenters from 70 countries took part in the sharefair and many more followed events live online. In addition to live webcasts of many sessions, which were watched by around 4,500 people, there was a very successful social media campaign with a strong focus on Twitter-tweets using the event hashtag #SFROME reached over 200,000 people. Participants examined how to ensure better communication to share knowledge and found innovative ways to bring that knowledge to farmers. Bioversity International participated in several sessions including a demonstration of an e-learning course for pre-breeding, a look at the GENESYS Gateway to Genetic Resources, a talk on using traditional crops for sustainable livelihoods and an opportunity to taste quinoa cake, as well as contributing articles to the sharefair social reporting blog and daily event newsletter. Emile Frison gave an opening speech with the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Kanayo F. Nwanze.'Pre-breeding for effective use of plant genetic resources', an online learning course, was released this year to strengthen capacity at the interface between germplasm conservation and its use in plant breeding.Pre-breeding is a necessary first step in using biodiversity arising from crop wild relatives and other unimproved materials to broaden the range of heritable genetic variations available to generate new crop varieties that have increased yields yet rely less on external inputs. This free online course, jointly sponsored by Bioversity International, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), and the Global Crop Diversity Trust, using the platform of the Global Partnership Initiative for Plant Breeding Capacity Building, was designed to strengthen skills among plant breeders, germplasm curators, university staff and students, field technicians and extension agents.By the end of 2011, over 5,000 people had registered for the course, with more requesting the free CD.In recent years, research has yielded a rapidly growing knowledge base on how agricultural biodiversity is linked to food security, nutrition, livelihoods, environmental sustainability and climate change. Yet according to consultations with universities in 2009 and 2010, agricultural biodiversity education courses are rare or non-existent and there is a need to integrate such knowledge into curricula.The new guide, Teaching Agrobiodiversity: A Curriculum Guide for Higher Education, is a tool to support this integration, designed to be flexible to fit into a range of institutional settings. It also suggests suitable entry points for quickly integrating aspects of agricultural biodiversity into existing courses. The guide discusses key issues in agricultural biodiversity education and presents a curriculum framework with 14 topics central to agricultural biodiversity processes, conservation and management. Each topic is briefly introduced along with key learning points, suggested contents, a bibliography and a list of internet resources.A free PDF was made available this year, with distribution of hard copies to key stakeholders including university partners planned for early 2012.The Crop Ontology Tool is an online resource that enables anyone to browse and download information regarding crop traits. This online tool is very useful for breeders, farmers and scientists when searching for crop trait information. It can be used to search for information regarding specific plant traits. For example, when researching the trait 'height' of cassava, the tool provides not only a detailed explanation that relates to the specific query, but also any other relevant information that relates to the trait. The Crop Ontology Tool was developed as a collective activity between CGIAR members and their partners, with Bioversity International leading the project. By the end of 2011, 49 users, who also act as curators, were already registered and regularly uploading content. Further development is planned for 2012.'GRIN-Global' is a project that provides the world's crop genebanks with a powerful, flexible, easy-to-use global plant genetic resource information management system.Improving the capability of genebanks to provide data to a global accession-level information system will make it easier to assess the status of the world's plant genetic resources and to identify priority needs for their conservation. It will also allow genebanks to make use of a generic web portal, GENESYS, which offers users online access to collections and an online ordering system, compliant with the International Treaty's Multilateral System (MLS) and Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA).During 2011, GRIN-Global training was delivered to people from more than 35 genebanks around the world.In July 2011, the Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research (PAR) facilitated an expert workshop on climate change and genetic resources for food and agriculture. 'Contributing to food security and sustainability in a changing world' was organized by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN (FAO) Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The workshop explored different challenges that confront agriculture and the options that exist or could be developed to help feed the world, cope with climate change and improve the impact of agriculture on the environment.The event took place prior to the 13th Session of the Commission, in which PAR also participated. PAR is hosted by Bioversity International, which also provides the secretariat, and is made possible with support from the Christensen Fund.Spatial analysis helps to gather information about plant diversity in specific geographical locations around the world. This information about the status of plant species and their patterns of distribution enables the setting of priority areas for conservation by identifying which species are most at risk and where there are gaps in collections. This vital information helps us tackle global challenges such as food security and climate change.The Training Manual On Spatial Analysis Of Plant Diversity and Distribution which was published in 2010, has so far been downloaded by over 2,000 people, and was made available in Spanish this year. A French version will also be published in 2012.The Global Musa Genetic Resources Network, or 'MusaNet' for short, was launched in 2011. MusaNet, coordinated by Bioversity International, is a global collaborative framework and a partnership of key stakeholders, to safeguard Musa genetic resources and promote their use around the world.Membership is based on expertise, with 62 members already having joined, representing the scientific research community, government representatives, educational institutions and development agencies. Regional research networks and other key initiatives such as ProMusa and the Global Musa Genomic Consortium (GMGC) are also represented in the expert committee.MusaNet is an online resource with member discussion forums and workspaces for the different critical thematic areas, e.g. evaluation, diversity, information and conservation, the latest Musa news and publications on genetic resources, and links to the Musa Germplasm Information System (MGIS) which includes accessions data and climatic maps.In 2011, Bioversity International and partners reached the half-way point on a project, 'Rescuing and promoting native chilies in their centre of origin'. This project is looking at how to increase the incomes of smallholders through the use of chili (Capsicum) diversity. Chili is a crop cultivated by farmers for thousands of years in the Americas, used as a spice, a vegetable and for medicinal purposes.Highlights of the project so far include new technologies, manuals and guidelines regarding the harvest and post-harvest operations of Capsicum, as well as increases in the number of accessions held in genebanks in Peru and Bolivia, making up the largest and most diverse national collections ever assembled. The huge variation in biochemical attributes mirrors the accession level diversity-and has led to interest from chili processors and exporters in those countries.\"There are good reasons to embed the continued use of traditional varieties into development and improvement strategies designed to improve the well-being of some of the world's poorest communities,\" concluded a newly published paper. 'An Heuristic Framework for Identifying Multiple Ways of Supporting the Conservation and Use of Traditional Crop Varieties within the Agricultural Production System' brings together available knowledge about the conservation and use of traditional crop varieties on farm. This comprehensive analysis is packaged in a way to better understand how traditional varieties can support the production strategies of rural communities and smallscale farming. Areas covered include onfarm traditional crop diversity and access to that diversity, ways to improve the use of diversity, as well as benefits derived from its use including market and non-market based actions and incentives.A pioneering study by Bioversity International and partners has introduced a new approach to finding solutions for climate change adaptation by integrating the predicted climatic shifts of a region with its traditional seed systems.The study investigated how climate change might affect the environments of Mexican maize farmers in four different agroecological zones, and then analysed where farmers currently source their seeds. It was discovered that over 90% of seeds in the study groups came from within a 10km radius of farmers' communities and from areas of less than 50m of difference in altitude.These results showed that farmers already have access to predicted novel maize environments within the traditional spatial scope of their seed systems, suggesting that these systems may be able to provide farmers with landraces suitable to agroecological conditions under predicted climate change, with the exception of farmers in the highlands, who might need help in coping with more extreme climatic changes.This approach has great potential to be applied in other countries in need of customized solutions for climate change adaptation.'Seeds for Needs', a project currently being carried out in Ethiopia and Papua New Guinea, has made significant steps towards empowering local women and increasing their options for climate change adaptation. The project combines modern GIS technologies and the preferences of local farmers, to identify seed solutions that will help these farmers cope in the future.In its first year, Bioversity International worked mostly with women's farmer groups, extension workers and local genebank managers on growing locally available seeds in different test sites and getting feedback from farmers on crop performance. In Ethiopia, more than 100 women farmers took part in selecting 25 out of 100 shortlisted varieties of durum wheat, varieties that were then distributed among communities to be sown for a second year of evaluation.The next phase will look into better understanding local seed systems and improving policies to ensure farmer access to seeds held in genebanks.'Agricultural biodiversity is essential for a sustainable improvement in food and nutrition security', a paper published in 2011 by Bioversity International Director General Emile Frison and co-authors in the open-access journal Sustainability, asserts the essential role of agricultural biodiversity in sustainably improving food and nutrition security.Previously viewed as being useful solely for trait selection in scientific breeding programmes, the paper reveals evidence that suggests diversity not only increases farm productivity, but also increases the resistance of farming systems to shocks. Agricultural biodiversity has been proven to help maintain and increase soil fertility, mitigate the impacts of pests and diseases, deal better with unpredictable weather patterns, and stimulate diverse diets that deliver better nutrition and health.Moreover, the paper puts special emphasis on adopting a cross-sectoral approach to reassessing the role of agricultural biodiversity in sustainable food production.The PACS project conducted pilot studies in Bolivia, Peru and India to better understand the effectiveness of rewarding farmers for the provision of conservation services that benefit broader society. The Board has adopted a risk management policy that has been communicated to all staff together with a detailed management guideline. The policy includes a framework by which Bioversity International's management identifies, evaluates and prioritizes risks and opportunities across the organization; develops risk mitigation strategies that balance benefits with costs; monitors the implementation of these strategies; and reports on results, in conjunction with finance and administration staff and internal audit, semi-annually to a Task Group of the Board and annually to the full Board.The Board is satisfied that Bioversity International has adopted and implements a comprehensive risk management system.One distinct key contribution from partnerships is bringing together actors who would not usually find ways to work together, to deliver science and create new knowledge about the use and conservation of agricultural biodiversity.Another contribution to partners is the leveraging capacity we have-connecting knowledge and science of global scope to local action, and vice versa. We are able to see the big picture of sustainability, food security and poverty and, by working with rural communities, we are able to use this knowledge to find solutions and to ensure they can be scaled up and out.Another indicator of our value is the positive feedback we receive from our partners and donors-a wide range of stakeholders with whom we develop long-term associations. We learn from partners, depend upon their insights and knowledge, and work as equals with them to create lasting change.Most importantly, the value Bioversity International brings to initiatives is demonstrated through the rural communities and smallholder farmers around the world who are providing for their families in innovative ways, becoming community leaders and advocates, and using their knowledge from farm to fork. These are the true champions of agricultural biodiversity.Bioversity International relies entirely on support from donors to undertake and champion world-class research with and for poor farming communities. We are proud to use that support in the most effective way possible. In all our work, our aim is to ensure that investment establishes knowledge that leads to approaches and tools that are selfsustaining, and that influence and shape the decisions of policymakers.• All our work is funded through voluntary contributions by donors.• 82% of our expenditure was allocated to research-for-development and critical services that directly support that research agenda.• Bioversity International is a member of the CGIAR Consortium, the world's largest publicly funded research body.• For every US$ 1 invested in CGIAR, at least US$ 9 worth of additional food is produced in developing countries.• Spending on agricultural research offers rates of return of about 40% higher than any other development investment.• We do not run our own laboratories; instead, we work through national and regional partners, building up capacity and making donor investment work harder.• We create dynamic coalitions of donors to leverage funds, expertise and networks across different disciplines.Financial and administrative management for Bioversity International is governed by the CGIAR Financial Guideline Series, a series of financial management and policy practices issued out of the World Bank and approved by all of the members of CGIAR.Bioversity International has a strong system of internal controls which are regularly reviewed and audited. We have designed a Risk Management Framework which enables Bioversity International's Board of Trustees to put in place firm controls for managing key risks.Over the next 10 years, Bioversity International aims to increase its real-term investment in research-for-development by more than 50% to US$ 62 million per annum by 2021. This will enable us to direct and support research efforts to potentially improve the lives of 320 million people who live in the regions where we plan to work.This ambition will only be realized with donor support; as a non-profit organization we want to engage more donors than ever before in a critically important agenda-and ensure a food and nutrition secure future for millions of poor smallholder farmers, and an environmentally sustainable future for us all.Our commitment is to work with donors as partners in change, together making significant contributions to global goals on sustainable food security and development and the conservation of agricultural biodiversity.We sincerely thank all of our supporters and partners. This list represents a sample of the many supporters involved with the projects highlighted in this annual report. We have made an effort to recognize as many as possible on these pages and regret we have not been able to mention every supporter in the space allowed."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"13feaeaf0ce14c0a4147a64e7937b884","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2236a641-d29b-49a8-8728-3c4abae93f47/retrieve","id":"-1068992316"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9ac885c5-d640-48ab-9fd8-e2dcadf03702","content":"Tables Table 1. The surface areas of development domains for countries of Latin America  It is extremely challenging to formulate and evaluate agricultural development strategies for regions as large and diverse as proposed in the Action Areas, and it will require multiple perspectives and thoughtful simplifications (Omamo et al. 2006). Empirical studies in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda (e.g. Pender et al. 1999;Pender et al. 2004;Ehui and Pender 2005) suggest that interaction of the three socio-economic and biophysical layers-population density, agricultural potential and market access-provide good explanatory power in predicting the type of agricultural enterprises and development pathways encountered in different rural communities, as the layers are strongly related to the feasibility and attractiveness of specific development and livelihood strategies (Wood et al. 1999). Omamo et al. (2006) used for East and Central Africa (ECA) GIS tools and databases to gain a better appreciation of the regional patterns of agriculture and of agricultural development challenges and opportunities. The GIS analysis disaggregates the region into geographical units, called 'development domains', in which similar agricultural development problems or opportunities are likely to occur, based on the spatial layers population density, agricultural potential and market access. The breakdown is done by classifying each of the three factors into two values: high or low.In the proposal for the CGIAR Research Program on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics an example is given for ECA, based on the Nairobi 2012 workshop. Stratification here is by domain at Field Site level with a different form of stratification used at the Action Site level ('farming system'). The development domains in this example are defined using consistent data and criteria across the region, thus helping diagnose development constraints and formulate and evaluate strategic intervention options in comparable ways. These development domains permit consideration of the following issues: Where are those geographic areas within and across countries in ECA in which development problems and opportunities are likely to be most similar? Where will specific types of development policies, investments, livelihood options and technologies likely be most effective? For established developmental successes in any given location in ECA, where can similar conditions be found in the region?In order to determine development domains for the four Action Areas in the Humidtropics, a quick review of available global spatial data layers was conducted. We focussed on three socio-economic and biophysical layers: Natural Resource Integrity, Market access and Population density and poverty. Addition information on the described data layers can be found in Annex A.The amount and quality of available data on environmental conditions is growing fast-primarily due to improved earth observation methods (Lotze-Campen 2011). The large extend of data makes it difficult to select a proper threshold that captures the various forms of natural resource integrity. There are several global land cover mapping projects, varying in legends, resolution and temporal coverage (e.g. Bartholomé et al. 2002;Hansen et al. 2006;and Erb et al. 2007;van Asselen and Verburg 2012). In this review we focus on data layers related to land degradation and decline in ecosystem function as CRP1.2 will guide diagnostics of natural resource degradation and provide sitespecific responses to it.The Global Potential Vegetation dataset shows historical changes in global land cover and specifically vegetation cover and changes to its characteristics over time (1700 to 1992) (Ramankutty and Foley 1999) The dataset is recently been updated by Global Agricultural Lands, which provides global cropland and pasture data from 1700-2007 (Ramankutty et al. 2008).Besides using changes in vegetation, it is possible to use land degradation as a measure of natural resource integrity. There is the Global Assessment of Human-induced Soil Degradation (GLASOD). The map is based on soil mapping and dependent on expert judgement, and thus qualitative and potentially subjective. Moreover it has a complex legend, combining extent and degree (severity) for four major degradation types (water and wind erosion, physical and chemical deterioration) (Oldeman et al. 1990).The availability of satellite information introduced new mapping possibilities. For example, land degradation can now be defined as a long-term decline in ecosystem function and measured in terms of net primary productivity (NPP). Land degradation may be measured by change in net primary productivity (NPP) with deviation from the norm taken as an indicator of land degradation or improvement (Foley at al. 1999). (Vitousek et al. 1986). The Global Change in Net Primary Productivity (1981Productivity ( -2003) ) uses the remotely-sensed normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) derived from remotely sensed imagery as a proxy for land degradation (Bai et al. 2008).There are many global data layers with a proxy to determine NPP. Some examples are the Global Patterns in Net Primary Productivity (1995), which maps the net amount of solar energy converted to plant organic matter through photosynthesis. NPP is measured in units of elemental carbon and represents the primary food energy source for the world's ecosystems (Imhoff et al. 2004). The Human Appropriation of Net Primary Productivity (HANPP) provides global patterns in human consumption of net primary productivity (NPP). Human appropriation of net primary productivity (HANPP) for the year 1995, through the consumption of food, paper, wood and fibre, alters the composition of the atmosphere, levels of biodiversity, energy flows within food webs and the provision of important ecosystem services (Imhoff et al. 2004). The Global human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) is determined for the year 2000, based on vegetation modelling, agricultural and forestry statistics, and geographical information systems data on land use, land cover and soil degradation that localizes human impact on ecosystems (Haberl et al. 2007). The last dataset is described by Foley et al. (2007) as, despite the limitations to how far it we can interpret the human appropriation of NPP, a major breakthrough in the documentation of human presence in the biosphere.CRP1.2 aims for improved natural resource integrity through e.g. soil fertility improvement, and increased availability of organic inputs and manure. Improved natural resource integrity is especially needed in those areas where human's influence on natural production is largest; therefore we opt to use Global human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) as a first threshold to determine the development domains.Satellite images of lights at night have shown to be highly correlated with industrial activity and Gross Domestic Product (Doll et al. 2006). Gallup et al. (1999) introduced the concept of GDP density, calculated by multiplying GDP per capita by the number of people per square kilometre. Sutton and Costanza (2002) derived global estimates of market and non-market values derived from night-time satellite imagery, land cover, and ecosystem service valuation.Travel time to major cities: A global map of accessibility is often used in spatial analyses as it measures urbanization in the perspective of travel time to 8500 major cities (Nelson 2008). Recent critics, however, state that the information has not been integrated to facilitate analyses of market access and market influence, which has hampered many socio-economic analyses to date (Lotze-Campen 2011). The analysis by Verburg et al. (2011) provides an important improvement in this respect. The Market Access and Influence is global dataset on various market accessibility indicators on a 1 km 2 spatial resolution. Their analysis shows that market access is distinctly different from population patterns in some regions, which may help us to understand the prevalence of current economic conditions there. These are mostly areas with high population density, but little access to markets and, hence, a large share of subsistence farming and local economic activities.As CRP1.2 will work in diverse, selected agro-ecologies, market conditions, and farming systems to develop innovations aiming at increased productivity, improved market performance, and sustainable management of the natural resource base, we use the Market Access Index as a threshold for the development domains.Spatially explicit basic data on socio-economic factors are relatively scarce, i.e. as these can't be simply collected with satellites or other devices (Lotze-Campen 2011). The basic data on socio-economic driving forces, i.e. population density and wealth (measured as gross domestic product per capita), have been prepared for spatially explicit analyses Improved data on patterns of human settlement and trends in population can help researchers and policy makers better understand differences between urban and rural areas in terms of their impacts on the environment and vulnerability to environmental variability and change. The Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project, Version 1 (GRUMPv1) data collection builds on the Gridded Population of the World, but provides a higher resolution gridded population data product at 30 arc-seconds, or ~1 km at the equator, for 1990, 1995 and 2000.At the moment Gridded Population of the World and GRUMP are being improved, by methods of Tatem et al. (2007) Linard and Tatem (2010) and Linard et al. (2012). Through detailed mapping of settlements, and linkage of these settlement extents with gazetteer population numbers, the substantial majority of African and Asian residents can be mapped within settlements with good precision (AfriPop, AsiaPop). Data on Latin America will become available later this year.Poverty is defined as an economic and social condition of lack of both money and basic necessities needed for a healthy and acceptable life, such as food, water, education, healthcare and shelter. As a measure of poverty and health, a global subnational map of the prevalence of underweight children can be used (Global Subnational Prevalence of Child Malnutrition). However, the most common poverty indicator is the headcount ratio (HCR), defined as the percent of population living below an absolute poverty line. The most commonly used poverty lines are the international USD 1.25 and USD 2 per capita/day expressed in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) at a reference year. A Global Poverty Map Derived From Satellite Data has been produced at 30 arc second resolution using a poverty index calculated by dividing population count (LandScan 2004) by the brightness of satellite observed lighting (DMSP nighttime lights) (Elvidge et al. 2007). The map summarizes the HCR per administrative units. The HarvestChoice team in collaboration with CIAT extracted subnational poverty prevalence rates from nationally representative household surveys conducted in various years (Wood et al. 2010). The HarvestChoice Poverty maps (and related study) were commissioned by the CGIAR Strategy Results and Framework Team and produced through contributions from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and the World Bank.As CRP1.2 aims at rural poverty alleviation in the context of system intensification, we used the HarvestChoice Poverty maps as threshold.The development domain will be based on the three socio-economic and biophysical layers; natural resource integrity, market influence and poverty. In the following section we will provide some maps of the various global layers.The first threshold for the domains is natural resource integrity (Figure 1). The map shows where on earth, and how strongly, humans alter ecological energy flows, thus localizing the intensity of human domination of ecosystems.Cropland and infrastructure are used most intensively, resulting in high global average HANPP values on these areas (Haberl et al. 2011).Figure 1. Total HANPP as a percentage of NPP0.Source: Haberl et al. (2011).The second threshold for the development domains is market access index (Figure 2). The map illustrates global patterns in market access and influence. The market access index is strongest near large cities, declining to zero in regions without human populations. The market access index is saturated near 1.0 in large cities, declining to moderate values in densely populated regions which have an abundance of smaller cities and towns, as intercity distances are so small that the index never declines below 0.2. Examples of such regions are West Africa, Central America and parts of South America, India and China (Verburg et al. 2011).We use these data layers (Figures 1 to 3) to determine the development domains (Figure 4). For Natural resource integrity (HANNP) we used as thresholds Low (L) equal and less than 20 %, and High (H) more than 20%. For the market access index we used as thresholds Low (L) equal and less than 0.1, and High (H) more than 0.1. For poverty we used as thresholds Low (L) equal and less than 35% of people living below than USD 1.25/day, and High (H) more than 35%. The first threshold is poverty (Figure 3). The maps shows the percentage of the population who lives on less than USD 1.25 per day, which is highest in countries in Asia and Africa, and low in the developed world.  Based on the discussion to add market access and influence as soft criteria, we present as well development domains based on Figures 1 and 3 only. For Natural resource integrity (HANNP) we used as thresholds Low (L) equal and less than 20 %, and High (H) more than 20%. For poverty we used as thresholds Low (L) equal and less than 35% of people living below than USD 1.25/day, and High (H) more than 35%. In the next paragraphs we present the results per Action Area.Latin America     West Africa     Note: 'H' and 'L' refer to the following characteristics Natural Resource Integrity (HANNP), market access and poverty, in that order.East Africa          The GDP density map is calculated by multiplying GDP per capita by the number of people per square kilometre.Location and climate have large effects on income levels and income growth through their effects on transport costs, disease burdens, and agricultural productivity, among other channels. Geography also seems to affect economic policy choices. Many geographic regions that have not been conducive to modern economic growth have high population densities and are experiencing rapid increases in population. At particular disadvantage are regions located far from coasts and ocean-navigable rivers, for which the transport costs of international trade are high and tropical regions, which bear a heavy burden of disease. Moreover, a large portion of population growth over the next thirty years is expected to occur in these geographically disadvantaged regions.The Geographically based Economic data is a global dataset on economic activity for all terrestrial grid cells and includes. The G-Econ project is gridded dataset at a 1 degree longitude by 1 degree latitude resolution. This is approximately 100 km by 100 km, which is somewhat smaller than the size of the major subnational political entities for most large countries (e.g. states in the United States, Laender in Germany, or oblasts in Russia) and approximately the same size as the second level political entities in most countries (e.g. counties in the United States).The main effort of this research is to create data on gross cell product. In addition, we have merged the economic data with other important demographic and geophysical data such as climate, physical attributes, location indicators, population, and luminosity. This dataset is publicly available to all not-for-profit researchers. It will be helpful in environmental and economic studies of energy, environment, and global warming.1990. All eight datasets are available for download as global products, and the first five datasets are also available as continental, regional, and national subsets. Gridded population of the world (GPW), v3-CIESIN, IFPRI and WRI GPWv3 depicts the distribution of human population across the globe. GPWv3 provides globally consistent and spatially explicit human population information and data for use in research, policy making, and communications. This is a gridded, or raster, data product that renders global population data at the scale and extent required to demonstrate the spatial relationship of human populations and the environment across the globe. The purpose of GPW is to provide a spatially disaggregated population layer that is compatible with datasets from social, economic, and Earth science fields. The gridded dataset is constructed from national or subnational input units (usually administrative units) of varying resolutions. The native grid cell resolution is 2.5 arc-minutes, or ~5 km at the equator, although aggregates at coarser resolutions are also provided. Separate grids are available for population count and density per grid cell.Available at: http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/collection/gpw-v3The HarvestChoice team in collaboration with CIAT extracted subnational poverty prevalence rates from nationally representative household surveys conducted in various years. The calculations are based on the comparison between the total household per capita consumption expenditure (a synthetic indicator expressing the money-metric welfare utility level) and the international USD 1.25 and USD 2/day poverty lines. The most common poverty indicator is the headcount ratio (HCR), defined as the percent of population living below an absolute poverty line. The most commonly used poverty lines are the international USD 1.25 and USD 2 per capita/day expressed in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) at a reference year (2005 in this case).Available at: http://povertymap.info (password protected)Human appropriation of net primary productivity (year 1995)The Global Patterns in Human Appropriation of Net Primary Productivity (HANPP) portion of the HANPP Collection represents a digital map of human appropriation of net primary productivity measured in units of elemental carbon on a one-quarter degree global grid. Net primary productivity (NPP), the net amount of solar energy converted to plant organic matter through photosynthesis, can be measured in units of elemental carbon and represents the primary food energy source for the world's ecosystems. Humans appropriate net primary productivity through the consumption of food, paper, wood and fibre, which alters the composition of the atmosphere, levels of biodiversity, energy flows within food webs and the provision of important ecosystem services.Available at: http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/hanpp-human-appropriation-net-primary-productivity/data-download LandScan global population database-Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)The LandScan High Resolution Global Population Dataset refines the best available census data using geographic information system and remote sensing technologies. LandScanTM gives global population distribution at approximately 1 km resolution (30\" X 30\"). The LandScan algorithm uses spatial data and imagery analysis technologies and a multi-variable dasymetric modelling approach to disaggregate census counts within an administrative boundary. Since no single population distribution model can account for the differences in spatial data availability, quality, scale, and accuracy as well as the differences in cultural settlement practices, LandScan population distribution models are tailored to match the data conditions and geographical nature of each individual country and region.Available at: http://www.ornl.gov/sci/landscan/index.shtmlThe Market Access and Influence Data depicts market influence globally. The data jointly represent variations in both market strength and accessibility based on three market influence indices derived from an index of accessibility to market locations and national-level gross domestic product (purchasing power parity). These indices show strong correspondence with human population density while also revealing several distinct and useful relationships with other global environmental patterns. As market influence grows, the need for high resolution global data on market influence and its dynamics will become increasingly important to understanding and forecasting global environmental change.Available at: http://www.ivm.vu.nl/en/Organisation/departments/spatial-analysis-decision-support/Market_Influence_ Data/index.aspThe SRES gridded global population dataset covers three global population forecasts for the period 1990-2100 at 0.5 degrees resolution. The basis for these forecasts is the SRES scenarios developed for the IPCC climate-modelling framework. In addition, a gridded dataset of urban and rural populations for the period 1990-2050 is presented.Available at: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/datasets/downscaled/ Travel time to major cities: A global map of accessibilityThe global map of accessibility measures urbanization from the new perspective of travel time to 8500 major cities (>50,000). Digital maps of road, river and rail transport networks, population data, satellite-derived maps of land cover and terrain and information on border crossing times are combined using advanced geographical modelling techniques. The map fills an important gap in our understanding of economic, physical and even social connectivity.Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/jrc/index.cfm?id=1410&obj_id=6670&dt_code=NWS&lang=en "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dca804d6b3f6474cc343368c8caad0a4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d94a35fd-1da3-47de-a095-ac2ccfda2926/retrieve","id":"-867153013"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"37f5e3c2-5e14-4f12-b890-cc60c2eef875","content":"This paper analyzes transaction data from agricultural surveys carried out in five countries in low-and-middle-income countries to test for a difference in the prices received by men and by women marketing the same crop in the same village. In a unique finding, we identify a gap between the price received by women and the price received by men on three separate continents. Echoing similar results from other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, using mobile phone ownership and use data, we provide evidence to suggest that women farmers likely suffer from unequal access to information. The presence of asymmetric information is therefore indicated to be a limiting factor in women's ability to receive a fair unit price.Regardless which country around the world is analyzed, the gender pay gap, meaning a difference in wages between women and men who work the same job and who have similar demographic backgrounds, is present and quantifiable (OECD 2022). In low-income countries, formal labor markets are much less accessible, and agriculture remains a significant source of income and labor. In the context of countries where access to formal jobs is scarce, and agricultural production still plays a dominant role, how do biases against women manifest in women's economic interactions? Though true for all countries, in particular in low-income countries, women and women-headed households face significant discrimination.Women face biases due to socio-cultural beliefs around gender roles and related practices which can result in women being marginalized, isolated and often subject to violence.We find that, in the case of the countries in our sample, this social discrimination and bias against women manifests in the form of women receiving a lower price for their marketed crops. More specifically, although agriculture is a significant source of income for women-headed households, in this paper we document for the first time that women-headed households in Bangladesh, Malawi, Peru, Tanzania and Uganda receive lower prices than comparable households, headed by men, who sell the same crop in the same village. We call this wedge between women's agricultural sales prices and men's agricultural sales prices the \"gender price gap\" to echo the phrase used to describe wage discrimination against women in labor markets around the world. In this paper, we provide evidence indicating that unequal access to information likely contributes to this price gap. An important implication of a gender-based price gap is that interventions or policies such as indiscriminately targeted input subsidies or agricultural credit provision may widen the gap between men-headed households and their women-headed counterparts.In that type of informational and social context, men who participate stand to capture relatively greater benefit from these programs. For women-headed households who do not have equal access to output markets, or who receive a lower price, the effects are likely to be dampened.The price discrepancy we have described significantly inhibits women's ability to improve their economic status 1, 2 . If women-headed households cannot leverage agriculture effectively to generate income and \"catch up\" to comparable households headed by men, they have relatively few other places to turn for 1 Women-headed households, the primary focus of this paper, are typically formed due to divorce, separation or widowhood. In order to distinguish women who market agricultural goods from men marketing agricultural goods we isolate exclusively transactions carried out in womenheaded households and households headed by men. Often, divorce comes with negative social costs. Due to the prevalence of norms around divorce and widowhood, women-headed households are among the most marginalized groups in low-income countries (Van de Walle, 2013; Milazzo and Van de Walle, 2017; World Bank, 2019 2 A recent report by the World Bank (2019) titled Profiting from Parity: Unlocking the Potential of Women's Businesses in Africa outlines the need to focus on women-run businesses and highlights key constraints women entrepreneurs face. The authors emphasize the importance of internalized social norms which are hostile to women or inconsiderate, at best, of women's needs as entrepreneurs.resources. If women household heads struggle to support their families with food and tuition expenses, then this can have effects not only for seniors, children and others in the household but also neighbors, relatives and others in the village in the form of negative externalities. Reducing technological, social and other barriers to information about market prices could therefore reduce the vulnerability of women-headed households to the negative economic effects caused by situations of asymmetric information.If women receive a lower price for comparable agricultural outputs, a natural question is: what is the source of the difference in the price received by men and the price received by women? Rather than there being a single factor driving a gender price gap, it seems likely that different factors may drive a wedge between men's sales and women's sales prices. In different contexts the gender price gap may be larger or smaller. In Card et al. (2016) the authors identify the infamous gender pay gap as coming from at least two channels: bargaining effects, meaning women in general operate with lower social capital and less bargaining power, and sorting effects, meaning women have a preference for working at firms where other women work, and those firms tend to be lower-profit firms. In the case of a gender price gap and an agricultural marketing context, the analogous sorting effects would be that women and men transact with different purchasers due to various factors including where they get the best price, how easy it is for them to interact with the seller and the probability of not making a sale as well as the energy and opportunity cost of time associated with a market sale. We find that households headed by men are more likely to sell in the village market, for example, while women prefer to sell to their family or neighbors in order to capture a particular price for their outputs and to reduce their transport costs. 3   Households headed by men and households headed by women appear to operate with different levels of access to information. In the process of marketing crops, both women and men must gather information about market prices, transport their goods to market and secure a buyer for their quantity of agricultural outputs.Unfortunately, without purpose-collected survey data it is very difficult to distinguish if women sellers have direct knowledge of the market price or if they have knowledge of the sale prices of other sellers in their vicinity. If women have knowledge of the market price this improves their bargaining position. If gendered information networks similar to those documented in Mekonnen et al. (2018) are present, meaning men-headed households or men's social networks do not share information with women-headed households marketing the same crop, this could negatively influence women-headed household's ability to receive fair price. This idea builds on the literature analyzing the influence of asymmetric information on individual well-being and on firm performance (Akerlof, 1978).One paper which highlights important informational gaps related to agriculture is Miura et al. (2020), who use a randomized intervention in Zambia and conclude that husbands and wives do not disclose to one another their receipt of a free voucher covering the cost of trans-porting agricultural goods to market. Even husbands and wives, individuals within the same household, may operate their enterprises and household activities with different information. If men and women within the same household fail to share relevant economic information then, we argue, the same could be true for households headed by men and households headed by women. Mekonnen et al. (2018) use agricultural survey data to measure individual's information networks, and find that only 23% of women-headed households in Ethiopia have a man in their information or social network compared to 93% of men. From their data, the authors in Mekonnen et al. (2018) find that only 50% of women household head's social networks contain another farmer versus 84% of men household heads and, likewise, only 63% of women household heads discussed agricultural practices with their information/social network versus 87% of men. These patterns are indicative of information networks that are segregated by gender, or where women household heads have relatively less access to contacts, farmers and men who are in a position to relay information about agriculture. A recent paper from Germany, which collected primary data on 15 cartels, finds that cartels rely primarily on social and peer networks to form and be maintained. Only 2 of the 156 surveyed (1.2%) cartel participants were women. This demonstrates that, for majority of cartels, information and peer networks dominated by men are an important factor (Haucap et al., 2022). 4   The presence of an asymmetric information problem implicates an immediate policy solution: whenever possible, reduce asymmetric information. The introduction of mobile phones and mobile phone networks has been shown to reduce price dispersion, which suggests increased information flows (Aker, 2010;Aker and Fafchamps, 2015). Do women and men benefit equally from existing flows of agricultural information via mobile phones? It has been documented that women in general, have greater barriers to accessing technology. This discrepancy in access is also known as \"the digital divide\" (World Bank, 2019). A map of the probability of mobile ownership of women household heads can be seen in Figure 1. We see that mobile phone ownership by women household heads varies greatly across our sample. Importantly, if women do not benefit equally from flows of information, as suggested by the findings in Mekonnen et al. (2018), then the introduction of mobile phones as an intervention could exacerbate unequal outcomes unintentionally by reinforcing gendered information networks and consolidating the gains for households headed by men relative to those headed by women.Recent evidence has shown that women can benefit economically from access to knowledge and training through mobile devices in an agricultural setting, and that agricultural information is indeed transmitted within social networks which favor men farmers over women farmers (Mekonnen et al., 2018;Mullally et al., 2022;Caldarola et al., 2022). If asymmetric information is a primary barrier, then increased access to information and communication technologies, reducing the digital divide, as well as transparent market information, could improve the market prices women receive and, ultimately, could improve the well-being of womenheaded households who rely on agricultural sales as a key source of income.  effects could be in effect and be a significant source of unequal prices. Last, we use descriptive data on mobile phone ownership and mobile phone use to buttress our argument that women and men have differential access to information shared within gendered information networks.Potential Drivers of a Gender-based Price WedgeIn order to best address the price gap issue from a policy perspective it is important to dissect where the gender-based price differences might originate. Figure 2 is a kernel density plot of regression coefficients from all five countries. Each data point used in this graph corresponds to a coefficient estimated by regressing the log of men's prices on the log of women's prices. Each point is therefore a coefficient for a particular crop in a country in a village, in what is essentially a between-village regression. We can see from the graph that in the case of all five countries, differences in the log women's price do not explain a significant share of the men's price. If there were no difference between men and women sellers, and women's and men's prices thus move together, then this coefficient should not be different from one. Given that we have reason to believe this price gap exists and it is persistent across countries, what are the proximate causes or the significant drivers of gender-based price differences? The two primary channels, we theorize, are through sorting into different purchasers and low bargaining power. Building from David Card's explanation of the gender pay gap, low bargaining power of women engaged in agricultural sales and marketing could be a significant factor in the agricultural marketing context as well.As an example, the idea of the \"digital divide\" refers to the situation where certain groups have access to technology and gain an advantage, while others who do not have access to technology are \"left behind.\" We believe that women are one of the groups likely to be most disparately affected by the digital divide, or the lack of access to technology and communication. This concept is relevant to womenheaded households because these barriers to accessing technologies and information contributes to women's lack of capacity to expand their agricultural income. Put simply, a lack of access to information lowers women's bargaining power when marketing crops. Again, if women-headed households cannot generate revenue from agriculture, they have few other places to turn for resources. Reducing the influence of asymmetric information by improving access to technology could, given the right context, be a critical piece of supporting women-headed households to raise their level of well-being and invest in their households and in their children.Other recent literature highlights how gender and gaps in technological access intersect. A paper by Gray et al. (2017) indicates that, in Latin America, men use the internet more than women. Beaman and Dillon (2018) find that technologies diffuse slower to women-headed households in Ethiopia as women are excluded from relevant information networks. In other parts of the world women farmers also lack access to markets and related telecommunications infrastructure (Chassin, 2022). In the case of our data, we find that men are much more likely to access extension services both in-person and via mobile for all the countries in our sample where extension data were included. 5 Women are much less likely to send SMS messages regarding farming activities than they are to send and receive phone calls.Men who reside or farm around women-headed households may not share price information with other men or women who are their geographic neighbors.Women-headed households in our sample, with a few exceptions, have much lower rates of mobile ownership than households headed by men. Based on Mekonnen et al. (2018), we hypothesize that women in our sample have limited access to information networks where agricultural information is shared and primarily discuss agriculture with other women. Women may effectively be isolated from relevant social networks where price and other information is communicated.Given that a situation of asymmetric information could be present, women may have no \"anchoring\" point or reference point for their price. If women sellers do not have any reference point, they may accept a lower price due to the uncertainty associated with finding another buyer and the risk of total loss. To indicate the presence of gendered information networks, we first assess differences in mobile ownership between men household heads and women household heads at different levels of consumption per adult equivalent. 6 Mobile ownership data is presented by gender and for different levels of concentration of women's information networks. In the absence of primary survey data, we define villages with larger women's information networks as villages where women household heads own a higher relative share of the village phones than men heads.Lower quality produce or outputs could also be a significant factor influencing women's ability to capture a fair market price. If women lack access to laborers and to credit to hire labor, if labor is being rationed, then women have less capacity to prepare their land for farming. Differential returns to investments such as seeds, fertilizer and irrigation might induce lower quality produce for women-headed households as a result of the high demand and low supply of manual labor on farms headed by women. There is some evidence that women typically hold low quality or marginal land which also could lower the quality of their produce. 7 In this context, a man who is a household head may spend more time working the soil in preparation for planting which may lead to higher yields. This would lower women's bargaining power at market because their crop is of lower quality. One recent paper even suggests that even if women's crops are similar quality, men could perceive them to be lower quality, which would also lower bargaining power (Feld et al., 2022).This quality differential could be more pronounced with annual crops than with tree crops. Annual crops require a larger physical cost at planting time, as the land must be tilled (aerated) and loosened-up to accept the planting of seeds or seedlings. In the case of tree crops, trees are already planted, and thus only require a small amount of labor for maintenance prior to the harvest time.It is an unfortunate truth that women are less financially literate than men (Lusardi andMitchell, 2008, 2014). The difference in financial literacy between men and women has been demonstrated to be strongly correlated with gender stereotypes and differences in numeracy. Based on the available literature it seems likely that this disparity is present in most or all of the areas included in our sample. Women are also known to be more risk-averse which could drive them to accept a lower price in order to avoid the uncertainty of a total loss (Charness and Gneezy, 2012;Croson and Gneezy, 2009). Recent literature from sub-Saharan Africa has demonstrated that individuals from firms that are less liquid accept lower prices for the goods they sell (Hardy et al., 2022). A lack of liquidity, often synonymous with a great deal of uncertainty, may drive women to accept lower prices considering the urgency of their needs and the lack of available alternatives.Women face more challenges bringing their goods to market as they benefit less from men family members that might help shoulder the burden. Women household heads face a high opportunity cost of time as they also often have no other adults in the household to support the activity of the household including generating income sufficient to feed and care for all household members. Women may therefore feel the need to accept a lower price, as it is more costly for them to return home with the goods and bring them to market yet again or to another market. 8There is strong social stigma around women who work and women-headed households that typically form as the result of a divorce or widowhood (Van de Walle, 2013). Interacting or transacting with women could be a social \"bad\" causing negative reputational effects for men among other members of the community.These biases could be stated and explicit or there could be implicit biases, meaning sub-conscious influences on behavior and economic interactions (Bertrand et al., 2005). Due to the fact that women are considered to have a lower social status, this may influence their capacity to negotiate for higher prices (Goldstein and Udry,8 If women-headed households tend to be physically on the margins of the population centers, meaning a greater distance from the nearest population center, this imposes an additional cost for women relative to men in delivering goods to market. This, in turn, could induce women to accept a lower price once they have brought their goods to market. We present analysis from our sample in appendix D which shows very little quantitative evidence that women do tend to live further from population centers.In the case of women who market agricultural goods, sorting effects would manifest as buyer-specific rents. This translates into men having access to purchasers that are able to pay a higher price. This type of dynamic is noted in recent work by Halvarsson et al. (2022). Using Swedish data, the authors find that the export of goods that are intensive in interpersonal contacts widens the gender wage gap. This implies that women have less access to social networks that facilitate economic activity. In an agricultural marketing context, women are often obliged to sell to neighbors and relatives, and they may therefore accept a lower price. This is exactly what we see in our data, and the tables describing to whom women and men sell their crops can be found in the Appendix section B. In the context of an econometric estimate, this could be represented with the inclusion of buyer-specific fixed effects. Once these fixed effects are included, if the gender price gap declines, that indicates the \"sorting\" effect is in action. The size of the change may indicate the importance of the sorting effects relative to the bargaining effects.If women are receiving a lower price for their agricultural outputs, they have little access to formal labor markets, and they can't get access to capital to start their business where are they supposed to turn? The gender-based price wedge, ostensibly a tax on women's outputs, seems to erode women-headed household's margins. Women still farm their land likely because they have few options in terms of income streams and it provides a (relatively) consistent source of food, particularly in remote areas with little or no market for services. Literature which analyzes the yield gap, that is the differential between the productivity (yield) on plots cultivated by women vs those cultivated by men, could be problematic without considering the unobserved price differential. If women know they will receive a lower price they may plant less land and perhaps farm less intensively as there is less incentive to turn out crops for sale, and the marginal product of labor/time may be higher elsewhere. This is consistent with results from Udry (1996), a seminal work on gender in sub-Saharan Africa, which found that women are able to generate highly productive plots though only for very small plots of land.This analysis follows two principal approaches. The first is to analyze the price differential between men's and women's prices as measured via transaction data using a simple crop and village fixed effects procedure. In certain cases, additional fixed-effects dummy-variables are included. The second step is to analyze mobile phone ownership using descriptive statistics and basic regressions to evaluate the presence of asymmetric information in the form of gendered information networks.The primary empirical model for the transaction data is the transaction price, \uD835\uDC5D \uD835\uDC56 , regressed on a dummy for the gender of the household head (individual i), plus, \uD835\uDEFC \uD835\uDC58 , a dummy representing individual crops, k, and an area fixed effect, \uD835\uDEFE \uD835\uDC51 , for village v.\uD835\uDC65 \uD835\uDC56 is a dummy variable that takes one if the head of the household is a woman. The regression equation is as follows:If a seller's gender does not affect the transaction price the coefficient β on this variable should be statistically indistinguishable from zero. If a price wedge exists then this variable will have a negative impact on the transaction price, demonstrating that women receive lower prices.In a separate procedure, illustrated earlier in Figure 1 with a kernel density plot, we regress the log of the men's transaction price on the transaction price received by women marketing the same crop in the same village. The universe of observations is therefore restricted to villages for which we observe both a man and a woman transacting in the same crop and the regression tests how strongly the men's price and the women's price are related.In words, this can be thought of as \"how much of the men household head's price does the women's price explain?\" If the two prices are equal, and they move in sync, then the value of this coefficient should be unity. There should naturally be some variation across villages and crops.To better understand women-headed household's access to information we analyze the mobile ownership patterns of women-headed households and men-headed households using descriptive statistics, as well as regressions of mobile ownership on a dummy representing the gender of the household head. We then divide the sample by tercile of consumption per adult equivalent. We find that women-headed households in a higher consumption bracket are less likely to own a mobile phone relative to households headed by men with similar levels of consumption.Using geographic information systems, we map out differences in mobile phone ownership between women-headed households and households headed by men.We selected a choropleth to indicate areas where the concentration of women's phones is higher.project. Survey data from the LSMS program that are included in the analysis here are from Uganda (2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2018), Tanzania (2008, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2014, 2019), and Malawi (2004, 2010, 2013, 2016and 2019).Malawi has a large sample of publicly available LSMS data over a small geographic area which lends itself well to detailed analysis. In Malawi the sample size is large enough to estimate the price gap with extensive controls for specific crops and crop varieties such as hybrid corn vs traditional varieties.We pursued data from both Latin America and Southeast Asia to evaluate whether this hypothesis could be relevant in other areas rather than exclusive to sub-Saharan Africa. The two most conducive and comprehensive datasets with gender of the household head as well as transaction data were the Peruvian Encuesta for our analysis given the sample size and the level of detail in the data. In Peru, unlike in some parts of Africa and Southeast Asia, there do not appear to be a large variety of different buyers. In this case, this reduces the possibility that a price differential in these areas is caused by sorting effects, middle-chain purchasers and other intermediaries. Both the Malawian and Peruvian data are large enough to permit controls (fixed effects) for buyer and place of sale.Descriptive statistics of households headed by men contrasted with households headed by women can be found in Table 1. The top half of the table represents household characteristics while the bottom half corresponds to the individual characteristics of the household head. The key differences that appear are that women tend to have fewer adults in the household and, except in Bangladesh, tend to be older than men who are household heads. The average age of individuals other than the head is much lower for women than for men. We can also see that women clearly plant less land, which is one way they are able to maximize their use of resources. For certain countries we have included additional variables measuring area planted and net revenue per hectare, as well as area planted per adult equivalent. Net revenue per hectare is a measure of marketed surplus divided by total planted acres. This cannot exactly be equated with profit because, though expenses have been 'netted out,' there are other uses besides sales for crops such as consumption, in-kind contributions, using for seed and so on. Because of this, the marketed surplus value does not include the value of crop used for any of those other purposes. Furthermore, we have not made an effort to value the family labor by giving family members a wage. For our purposes this is sufficient, however, to capture how much return women are making on their land relative to male counterparts. Across all countries women make only a small fraction of what make in terms of net revenue per hectare. This is owing to the factors outlined above, a lack of access to men to engage in heavy physical labor, restricted access to inputs due to cost or working capital constraints and receiving a lower price than men who sell at market.Turning to the characteristics of the household head in all cases except Bangladesh the age of women household heads is older than that of household heads who are men. Men are, in all cases, more likely to own a mobile phone than women. In general, women household heads tend to have lower literacy rates and be less educated though the difference between men's education and women's educational attainment is smaller in some countries, like Bangladesh, and larger in others, like Malawi. A majority of the women-headed households list their marital status as divorced or widowed. Much fewer men than women fall into those categories while men mostly fall into the married category which itself is a of representation of the social status of men relative to women.Primary results from the price regressions are included in Table 2. Crop fixed-effects are included in all the columns, village fixed-effects are also included. Across all columns except for one there is a strong and statistically significant negative effect of being a woman on observed transaction prices. This is striking because it seems to be consistent, at least in sign, across countries and across continents. The most pronounced effect comes from Bangladesh where women appear to receive prices 40 percentage points lower than men.In Peru, there are three columns. The first column includes all observations for which a price is recorded. In columns 4 and 5 the sample is restricted to only those sales where the quantity is also recorded. Despite the fact that quantity sold was omitted for those 8,573 observations the unit price received at sale was included. Unit values for Peru were recorded for each transaction rather than unit values being backed out from the amount received divided by the quantity sold. Nonetheless, in column 3 for Peru there is a negative and statistically significant effect of the gender of the household head on the price received of about 7.8 log points. In Tanzania women and men tend to plant different crops. As such this is a reason, we might not achieve identification since there are not a woman household and a man household transacting in the same crop in the same village very frequently. Nonetheless at least in the specification including quantity sold, women headed households receive a 20% lower price relative to households headed by men selling the same crop in the same village. The negative effect of the household head being a woman on the transaction price appears to be consistently estimated, at least in sign and significance, for Bangladesh, Malawi and Uganda. In order to evaluate the presence of sorting effects and how they might influence the difference in price received by women and men, in one specification controls for buyer type and place of sale are included. These estimates can be found in Table 2. For each country, the original estimate without supplementary controls is represented in the left column while the estimate with the controls is on the right. In the case of Bangladesh,Malawi and Uganda including additional controls decreases the size of the coefficient on woman household head. This is consistent with the idea that sorting effects are contributing to the gender price gap.To further describe the nature of the price gap we also split the sample into permanent crops and annual crops and re-ran the regression model. If women are struggling more with annual crops, that might mean they are labor or otherwise resource constrained, or they may have lower quality land that yields poorer results. These regressions are included in Appendix Table A.1. In Uganda and Peru, the price gap is estimated to be larger for annual crops than for permanent crops. In fact, in the case of Peru the price gap is not detected at all for the permanent crops. This strongly suggests that in the case of Uganda and Peru it is likely that programs that target tree crops or permanent crops, which require less planting labor and less manual labor overall, could benefit womenThis section addresses whether or not men who are marketing crops may access different in-formational networks than women who marketing crops, a question which was raised based on the finding of asymmetric information between husbands and wives marketing crops in Zambia (Miura et al., 2020) and based on Mekonnen et al. (2018) 's findings using primary data on gendered informational networks. Another very recent paper by Haucap et al. (2022) finds that, in the formation of cartels women are all but excluded, also suggesting the presence of gender-influenced business networks or gender-based professional and social networks. We first analyze descriptive statistics of mobile ownership for different groups in the population. We then test whether the gender of the head influences the probability of mobile phone ownership. We regress the probability of mobile ownership on the share of phones in the village belonging to women. Areas where there are a higher ratio of women heads to men heads with phones are likely to have larger networks of women providing economic information to one another. Last, we present maps of the gap between men's and women's mobile phone ownership as well as survey evidence that women household heads use their mobile phones less than men household heads. In Table 3, descriptive statistics on mobile ownership are divided into households headed by men and households headed by women. The probability of owning a mobile phone is broken into three separate rows which are categories for levels of consumption per adult, low, medium and high consumption per adult equivalent. This allows us to compare women-headed households and households headed by men which are roughly similar in terms of level of consumption. The columns represent different concentrations of women household heads, low, medium and high concentration. As the concentration of women heads in the area goes up, so does the probability that a women household head will own a phone. The descriptive analysis is suggestive that when more women are around, women are more likely to purchase mobile phones since it also allows them to access to a larger informational network. Put differently, the marginal product of a woman owning a mobile phone is higher while the marginal product of owning a phone for men presumably does not change due to different concentrations of women household heads. Turning to the regression table, Table 4, each cell represents the regression of a mobile ownership dummy on the share of women household heads in a particular area. So, for example, in column 1, the first cell is the coefficient estimate for the effect of the share of women in the village on the probability of a household head who is a man. Column 2, cell 1 shows the same regression restricted to only women-household heads. Across the top are the different categories of consumption per adult equivalent. We can see that these effects persist across all levels of consumption per adult. This is highly indicative of the presence of gendered information networks which also implies asymmetric information.As the share of women's phones increases, women are more and more likely to have mobile phones as they benefit from having access to other women with phones. A larger share of women household heads with phones does not increase incentives for men who are household heads to have phones, which is what the coefficients show. Table 6 shows women's use of mobile phones in Peru. The women-headed households are divided into categories of income and three categories that represent the concentration of women's mobile phones. In areas where there's a higher share of women household heads with mobile phones, the marginal product of having a phone is higher as the network women potentially have access to is much larger. As we see, going down the rows in the low income and middle-income sections there is not much difference between low, medium and high concentration of women's phones. In general, women seem to prefer sending and receiving voice phone calls to sending SMS as they send very few SMS messages relative to the number of phone calls sent and received. The fact that, for the highest income category women in areas with a higher concentration of phones send and receive more phone calls lends additional evidence to the idea of the presence of gendered information networks in Peru.  Policy solutions here depend on the context but the implications of a gender-based price wedge are significant. Women are facing a relatively more substantial barrier to improving their household's standard of living if they are facing this type of economic repression. One important implication is that many agricultural policies and projects might intend to assist women, but they have not resolved the price gap issue. This means that investments in, say, fertilizer, or composting will not benefit women in the same way it will benefit men who can capture a larger margin. For example, a recent paper Beaman and Dillon (2018) documents that women are isolated and less likely to benefit from the diffusion of agricultural information. While this alone is a sign of asymmetric information, consider that the diffusion does reach the women. The return on investment for composting and implementing other agricultural technologies is lower given that there is a price gap.Another paper recently evaluated the effect of business training programs on women entrepreneurs in Ethiopia (Bakhtiar et al., 2022). The authors found that the program training individuals in management practice yielded significant increases in profits for women entrepreneurs. It is worrisome that projects which are well-intended could be having a greatly diminished effect for women or they could be widening the gap between the well-being of women-headed households and households headed by men.If the context is primarily driven by social norms and customs, these views may not respond directly to economic incentives. In that case, then educational programs such as the one in Haryana state and updating individual's understanding of the importance of equal access to economic opportunities would be the best approach (Dhar et al., 2022). It may be a major challenge to shake loose long-held social customs that would open the door to women seeking expanded access to agricultural markets.The potential solutions to the asymmetric information scenario are quite evident. Would men voluntarily provide price data? Could we pay individuals to provide price data that would then be disseminated automatically (reducing the need for monitoring costs/managerial labor overhead)? Asymmetric information lends itself to solutions which offer transparency for all. However, most farmers do not yet have smartphones and some lack any phones at all. This lack of access to technology could be a major roadblock for any potential solution including reducing asymmetric information. We think this could be an interesting use-case for a blockchain solution which lists all agricultural transactions for certain crops in a particular area. Whatever the delivery system of new information, women-farmers need to be tapped in to information flows about prices and other agricultural activities. As another example, if the primary constraint for women is the capacity and time required to bring goods to market, then providing women with bicycles could reduce the cost of transporting their goods to and from market. A recent study found positive results of contributing bicycles to children to attend school. The bikes increased women's autonomy and empowerment (Moene et al., 2022).If the buyer is a key factor in sale/transaction price, meaning women get a fairer price from some buyers rather than others, this presents an interesting way of resolving the price discrepancy. One approach might then be empowering the buyers who originally provided the fairest prices (relatives and neighbors) rather than encouraging womenfarmers to work with new buyers who are potentially hostile to women.By analyzing household survey data from five countries across three continents, we conclude that women receive a lower unit price for agricultural goods sold at the market.This finding has implications for policy for food security, gender equality, and food security. Therefore, we argue that identifying the factors creating the gendered price wedge is crucial. To this end, we explored differences in price prediction error between men and women in times of low, average, and high rainfall and find that information flows appear to shift significantly during different states of nature. For women to remain food secure and invest in their farms and family, this significant barrier to income generation should be addressed. Potential remedies, e.g., providing women with market information via mobile phones, can effectively lead to gender equality."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"73a7174fc0ca847a8e3ef54cbd01014a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1a32a000-5d7a-4f29-ae5c-99152a54dd66/retrieve","id":"2084421473"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"895b2a13-0fb7-4547-a961-177cea15d31c","content":"The CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) is working globally to harness the untapped potential of those crops in order to improve food security, nutrition, income and climate change resilience of smallholders, particularly women and youth. In many countries, RTB crops are strongly associated with women who produce and process them. Yet the benefits derived from the crops are often not equitably distributed between women and men due to unequal rights over resources, access to land and markets, information, technology and more.For example, women play very important roles in production, processing and marketing of cassava in Nigeria. Yet they have limited access to and control of production factors, such as arable land, seeds, fertilizers, credit and training 1 . Likewise, in Malawi, potato is a key cash and food crop for women, but they rarely receive relevant agronomic advice to improve their potato yields, which are half that of men's 2 .Innovations in RTB crops have tremendous impact on poverty reduction, improved food security and nutrition. The gender differences in roles, rights and responsibilities associated with RTB crops also makes it necessary to address gender inequities, confront household poverty and improve food security. A better understanding of the gender differentiated trait preferences of RTB crops can guide breeding programs to make informed decisions when prioritizing women's preferred varieties.The RTB gender strategy 3 provides the conceptual, implementation and monitoring guidance to ensure that gender is integrated into all aspects of research, development and uptake of new RTB technologies and practices.Integrated gender research based on interdisciplinary collaboration helps to improve collection, analysis and reporting of sex disaggregated data on key areas across the five RTB flagship projects (see brief Roots, Tubers and Bananas Research). • Emphasizes participatory processes -to enable adequate, gendered diagnosis of end-users' needs, monitor the deployment of new technologies and identify where project adjustments may be required in order to incorporate gender perspectives.• Draws knowledge through partnership -to partner with women's networks, self-help groups and gender alliances that are oriented on gender equity and women's empowerment issues and that promote gender-equitable approaches. Builds alliances with other projects and programs advancing gender and strengthening capacity of National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems on gender mainstreaming.• Fosters capacity development including through partnering with the GREAT initiative -to harmonize, strengthen and improve the overall understanding of concepts and processes of gender analysis and integration of gender-equity concerns in all areas of RTB.RTB's approach to gender provides an opportunity to build on existing integrated and strategic gender research by taking a more systematic approach and strengthening the capacity of in-house scientists, researchers, stakeholders and partners in this area. RTB is committed to mainstreaming gender across research, recognizing that this is essential to enhance impact and gender equity."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"722b48eb5ecc55063121b88661b62997","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9f68959a-550a-4588-a496-b7a66b2ccb2a/retrieve","id":"667969143"},"keywords":["'-","~f¡¡¡~;","otros pOr'tadoru da íótforo similar.::$' que t\"f!S[londcn hvc","ra.)::llcmente bAjo \\In am"],"sieverID":"ffb9911d-2257-4031-bcd5-8a3b79174860","content":"Localinción l!unidpic de Chine.hiná. Departatlu.'nto rJ(! 'Cal<lu 1.1turA 'q . ~ ',' -, 1 . '., ~ . /.:',\\:1,' btcntc Acido.-! .: . hd~mfts de utos,' el co!lto por unida(f rlP Msrot'o como llF correspondo e;troxi-\\EBdal!le\\'ltc a una tcrc.~rl\\ pnrtl' de L -:0 std di: la A I!StC' ',(cspceto Sunm/;dca ~s ~fortun\",da pU>l! cu\\~J'\\.ta•co'n 1\" depósit()~ de R~,C-o\"?:~~~., , d, ~s cuales p(!rtono-:.cn a Colombia (1). \\ ! I I ... 1 .. ~ , cultivOs' Y.,fi'iatemas. de cu lti\\l'Ct~'lf\\Ie actua1.aK::nu' $e ~l.an ~n lo s suelos o\\c.!aoa inUtt,l1c's dQ 1. iml!rlü La'UnA tropical y subtro;-ic.'d. :l'l>{ se han euabtnddo un\" ud\", de CNayos d~ 'invornadero )' i'aD:po en Cólctl1t.ia en '~os C1,idu se han é.!.p~t'1mentacb rwcbas efe estas 'lE suutbl't\"icanas ., su. productos d. dtl\"!ra¿LSn ea';: el fin da averiguar su éfcetividad G.gronéinica con rclncidn a vorLu eultivoll. l{tlsta el presente muehos de 'estos po~tA'dore$ (te fÓlir~ro p4r~-een sc'r muy pt'Omi~ río .. y en algunQs enos 81:! han mos.trado aupf:'dorell al sn.3.• ReS\\tl~ados de la inve:st1.paÚán, . :En un CX,tlol de La, Gavi.,tu (t.,ll;ooS Oricntáles), se .ruUz6 un ~nu\" yo de ~nvernad~ro par~ ~ctq7a7~r la ~f<:ct.~vtdad agrot'l6m!ca de 18 roe .. fosfóri _ eas con' rolaci6n al sn. los ruu,l~,jI'do~ ~~, ~:sumll, de ere. ~otr:cs de ~ .:\" ' :1 . \\ L.:1a RFs q1Je se conocen por su alta rea:etivtdad, tlllt>s COtlb Carolina del l• Norte, Fosbayovítr y C.~fStl, s,e CQl!portan tan bit'n como (>1 rn. t'trns, co~ la, de Afd.ca del ,Sur. tlorida 7 I:l:\\lila, t-'~ranh,ao, Ar~d 'i r\",SC;t, tambi6n '):tre.:cn promi'-s:qrlJ1,s pan arli.cac:!ón dirftctll~ I,tn r.~~ral, 1c:' efectividAd d~ todM 1u rocas '~umentd con el incremento de 1u tItS~S de; fó.foro ,i 5e cetll!'ítrlH\" con ta ... .!Ills'iaualea de este elemento _rUcado eOlm; r-r:r:_ !n \\In C_/\"H;ltlmanto de eamfle conduc.ido en \\In oxh01 de C<lrürulgua (Un nos Orltintales), eon Btttchtarla decurnb(!n.$'1 se f\\se.(n colll'nt'anno seis 'tfs'con -lot u,!idud de las Rt. pHecc supct'Íor ::1 de 1,,, •,ort.ttdóL\"t!S eon tO;:If\\¡I~ de té ... -•, fOrO!t:th f(I,lublu~ .Sellúrc 10' I'(:t:ultadt'os. de u,te _1f!\",'rilfl(nto .. ~¡n\"ece que ' :l' f' :& 8:-pttendon, inte~d ,de' ~.Ka P10~/H4 u suftciCl'lto p.orll_martener una buc.,a.p'~•dll! ei'Ón. de forT .. je ~ \"' \"' ¡., .3.a Efeetividad .t1;mnómiea de la C()lo~.ei6n del fQsf'bro!n 111 I!~tAci6n eX!'<•rir>,~ntAl de: Cl ... !._('\\niUehao, ,,1 svr ti(!!l V!:lh del Cluea, se tetablcció un eJr.'\\.rll'!\\Cnto óe COl'\\:\"O ~tiliundo !raehhri.3 ,dacvmbcu;:, e~n (j1 obj:lO (\"(l, detcrmil'H d rn..:joc l!l!torkl ,¡~ ;:¡\"lieae:t6o rió.! fósforo CUtn:l f.'l'!!.• eol'ltln;!t'uio ¿o 1.Hff'~~t'!tos dos'is ~e ~! ~c r':Si.'O A:ít!endn 01 vol@ e i1,1::t'lt\"f)or1ld>1.1n un s1st;!tI'Ill d~ ?rnducci~n de forrt'jr.:s. LÓS t':,:sl!1tlldos. tou\\'> .~ fftUcstJ'}\\l'l en d. cU,,! ~ .. :~' d.:o:4 \"1 nv<: t'c?t'esl4ntan d•1tO;' a.culllUt,..c<)s \"'(1 :) eort~!J, S.H'I ,,1,.0 S<;lrp(p.ndcnt\"!.:!' en ~i•.l.ent:ldc 4e q~e ~a aP.Ucad~n <10 la ,~;. de \"dsea ctJt4'pt'Orlu):::l('1nuo el'nto' fonaje ' \\ neo 0011'1) .el ,r.FT~ ~olo a en combin;¡ción c~n la ~!,'. J:an\"ién ~s, <:ln~Qra.l~nt(! <,,:r>~tar :'(.; que la. Rr app~Ii¿s. su1'orfid .... lncnto sLn h'u!Qr\"'lo'!\":¡r .>\\1 'i:\\t~•lo estA .d¡~ndo ':-OlJ:lltn • '<~~! do. eQl'!fI4rabhs con lQ$ demás t•r:lt\"micPt('\\~. €Sf;Q t\"~rect: l'ltlícoilr, {I,..¡ \"¡¡,,,m,aa Rl\"¡¡ csto'l.D!Cr.:f .. , C\\J~ndc esC¡;¡ e:x!\".!r! ... nto se .:sttLbl¡<dó j ks \"\" .. rcclAs tcstinc t'l'tLn tnn deftet\",'nte, on fó~foro qu('. fUf! muy tf:cil bbt<::n~r 1In hl,n cr,tabicdmi~ntQ tld 'p-atto. 0:'1n embllfgO. p~t'~c() (lile con 01 tlC!'1fUl ¡Vi f!'OSOf't,l una mineralización col! • ddnllbla. Cofl'l) l'esU1e';V,Qf dt!5pU~$ d.: S cort.'. tÍ/el l')¡\\sto los tt'stip.on ('sU.ban pRclud()nOo.cerCI)~ dd $':1 de los r\\:ndimit<ntC'1! .dt: las \"n:''7f11ae tt'at.1du e.on \"ltU iSo$.i4, de fósforo.., .en. el itn de llctf\"nnb:.'lr r,:l ~(t:cto riel tnmn'.(I dd rrli'flot., en ln n\"rn .. 'Pat'1'l c.studi411:' la cf.<!cttviood s'gron6ni1cA de t'(es Uf 'eoloc=b1t.,nl'.F, !'/Olas: y eombinadas con SF'tt Si'! e5t~bl(!ei.ó un cXlJe.dmeeto en ClhT-Ouilichao utHi:tando una rotación arnu: (CICh_B), man!'(T~t::u;i 76). RastA ~1 f\"rc$c\"'ícc: s~c~ hn~ obrcmtdo dos cos~eh4' de anoa y una 4a tnanljlo5 resultado$ de 6nu: 1ft: preufit;:¡n en el En q(:n~ra1, eon 14 prim.:ra eosecb«'de 4t't'bZ, 105 l'i'1'1c.'1m1cnto. I!Iumc.nt,! ron eon cada ineref'lcnto at'id.onal de fó~fQro 4'p11clloo 001TO 'P,F~ e':;CCCM'to c.; el l c4 so dí! 1.1:_ Rr Huila con la ,cu.r.l .0 c:on.isuieron rr:ndimio::ntos eot'C411O$ al I'lhilflO euantlo ~e utiUZltt'on 50 Kg r20S/Ka. Con lu RFs 'm.::noi rene'UvA'! de \"ese ... y ~a! dtnzta, ti. ralaci6n lt1 '~e RFlSFT gene~l\\lm~nte di~ r';l\"141IÍtiefito. nlJ.' ,i a 1 1'¿os y las dad. mh b<'tjás ~. fÓ5foro. Esto Uuu~a la ne~l'!!litbltd intclo1 de :UfUI toma 110-luLlt,: de 16.foro cutll'1do !le utiliZAn dosis' baju de e~to eiemento..',:.' ,1. ¡ 1r .. , Los rendimiento. delll18n! y1., reflej.;,.n, bajo td:PRUtUl c1reunltnncitt:,' lftir dods y col'l\\b!Nlciones del 'f&sÉoro IIp:ite~do ~n c.:ee¡,dd:n\"dJ:l.'Rf Huila, U' eu~l r~dujo rendlrn'i;ntos Cotq)l\\rnblu '11 io~'del SFT eM\"¡\\)' sn us6 1.(d6,is l'I'\\h La sugunda coscchrt de ar~% mostTÓ'aumcntos'cón~td~r4bte.,~•to' Tena! mil:utolt ti todu lfts Ó,sh:-\" combinndoncs deí 'fó~foro; tt~Ueadb 11 rarace cun! te .- ------~-------rr--------------------------------------------------------------------------~, -6 .. han l1Lex:ado ca.nti(:nde, si,e>nifloUvS's c<:. fósforo dlZl todl!ll' ht: ;irs y hu Tc\"di-. clentos del erroz fueron cotr.t';\\rolbl.-s con tl.!,l1eneionc. dm.laru úq fódQfO como ~n.lh.\"do~Bt'.qchhda dccumb-.:!ns~ ócs.\"tl\\!S I1c 5ds corte. dt: ct.ta f,l'llll'lÍnl.:a. los rc'\\dt-\" m4ntos fUH'on eQmp.,raLl.~'$ con los-, 'eritM Rrr~t.l fI:lr;t ..:1 at'ro: <Cwtlro\"7;, A pes/u' dlJ tI\\U: un 10$ t:QS p!\"inr:rcs cort'~!ii !ós rt-ndhni.'t'ltos ':,J.:'I\"O\" cO!'!$ttiu:llbl.tm\\,Jn~ \". te a!$ iCltos en: el C!SO d~ trntam!':nt05 con altat: ~rot'\\orc,.ones tie :;FT, los Tcnd! .ahlnto$ totdcs fueron mñs o \"WI\"In!! loc m15Im.5) dontro de l'n~ dods (lé fósfo:ro d,! :ida,. debido _\",1 valor rcddunl ~{! 11\\5 !tFs. frn ~i' CJl;.IO tiC lr s do3ls bnjns ce fó5f~ ,;..~' Jot ,ucbido .. sv aptu:t.::nto \"bq.j;:;: r..!1!oct ividad. ¡t-' . Aparenten,tAnte Ji 1-0. ~F. 1'Ilrd31mt'nte tlcidubdas van ft ttmer un t.mpae .. te agrooornlCo t se d.o.lbcn USí\\t' :\\(IUel1I15 c.e baJ'\" re~cthitit¡d. ~Ul:'stn IlUC: muchl1s de bs nFs surnmloloticanas $Ol'1 de l'<ajlt reo.eti,,!clad, posiLleltl'lnec una :1I:tdul'leiñn p.:lr\" eial pÚf.lde rlltlu1l::ar r~nlftl\\jntc ben(lfictl:. Aetudmencc se t!'st/n reaUundo ensáyoa de selección de produetos en invernadero con nl fin de evalu.8t\" este aspecto. ,.1 2. -- 2/ Se a!4~:ló com leO':. .ü r:oiilJI-tnto dc bu :\"I!\\l'CilJ.lfI$ r~'l r.'II'''(' residual para c~-da rloels ¡le: f&:;¡foxo Af'!lic.,da '-_o 1/ -'l'ódos j$).~ nOrnero s ftntrt' pulintesis et' rr<1s--.on;,ien a 't'(;t'!dilrli¡.n toa do. mateda -',t,\", ''r''\\ TaSi E:.FT Método de (1<8 P20,/Ra.,)-,.~ . .ap.l.•iQi!'Ic~n,.•-.. -,--.,\".~, '--\"•0 - -.tias~do (In h -8umI)•de cinco-,co$cche\" . ,.-\".. ._ .... ~~.'fOO Kg P2{)S/!<4 dI.! Roca FQlIfót'lca Puea• al \\'Qleo e 1neotpCr~dll • ., ~ y.s: pll,,1Ha dft tiF'r en tAndi!, se asumieron eomo 10O't 2' .! La cifrll pntt't! pat'~ntesi$ r~r(!sl!nta' re'ndi!!tlentCl de 'tMturb léCA en Ton/Ha Se. incluyÓ como tt'lltamiento adicional.  . .,-C\\ladro 6. .::ft:.cto di! verte.s relaciones de cC',w;;;.i:: . . . . . ci6n. en ~l r .. n¿i:.ti .. .f.rro!:. 1-;18r  tudro 7,. :t:fceto ee v;:rii\"~ r~,lf\\etor\".s de :-  ,.BIBLIOTECA"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3303036956.json b/main/part_2/3303036956.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1acf7d82289529221391ebb889dc3f01","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/c47a2352-9a25-4bc0-9610-f581cc16bd2b/content","id":"-1328675955"},"keywords":["Wheats","Triticum","Plant breeding","Germplasm","Genetic resources","Germplasm conservation","Selection criteria","High yielding varieties","Yields","Disease resistance","Research projects","Partnerships","China","CIMMYT F30 Plant Genetics and Breeding H20 Plant Diseases H50 Miscellaneous Plant Disorders"],"sieverID":"b36e009b-46bb-43f2-b285-c27936a1b4fc","content":"CIMMYT is an internationally funded, nonprofit scientific research and training organization. Headquartered in Mexico, the Center works with agricultural research institutions worldwide to improve the productivity and sustainability of maize and wheat systems for poor farmers in developing countries. It is one of 16 similar centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The CGIAR comprises over 50 partner countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations. It is cosponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).Financial support for CIMMYT's research agenda currently comes from many sources, including the governments of Australia,Maintaining a fruitful working relationship with a country such as China is indispensible for CIMMYT, whose mandate is to improve the productivity and sustainability of wheat and maize production systems all over the developing world. Particularly relevant is that the area sown to wheat and the amount of wheat produced in China are the largest in the world. CIMMYT would be remiss if it did not contribute to food production in the most populous country on earth.Aware of the mutually beneficial relations that could be set up with China, CIMMYT began working with that country in the mid 1970s; in the mid 1980s we established an informal shuttle breeding and germplasm exchange program. In 1997, CIMMYT and China formalized their collaboration on wheat and maize research by establishing a liaison office in Beijing.In July 1995, at the end of 10 years of ChinajCIMMYT collaboration, a conference was held in Beijing to highlight our mutually beneficial partnership. Participants in the event analyzed the relevance of the outcomes of this collaboration and targeted problems brought to light by it. This publication documents the papers presented at that conference. It is our hope that the results contained here will be a useful source of information for researchers interested in wheat production in China. million ha each year. Longmai 19, co-selected by CIMMYT and local breeders, was released in 1994, and the sowing area in 1995 was 200000 ha.Several groups of winter and facultative wheat breeders visited winter wheat programs in Mexico, USA, Turkey, Romania, and Hungary. The selected germplasm is used in the breeding programs to enhance yield and quality improvement.Henan Province. Fengyou 2, reselected from Veery, has shown good breadmaking quality and high yielding potential, would be extended as a good quality wheat. Zhengzhou 307, a CIMMYT derivative, outyielded 13% than local check Yumai 18 in provincial yield trial in 1994, is expected to be a promising varieties in Henan.Beijing. A winter wheat variety named Dongfeng I, selected from CIMMYT germplasm by CIMMYT/ICARDA in Aleppo, Syria, was released in Beijing in 1994. It performed well in the regional and provincial yield trials from 1991 to 1994, and extended in Hebei and Shanxi provinces.During the last six years, around 500 Chinese commercial varieties, advanced lines, and some important scab resistant germplasm, both winter and spring types, were sent to CIMMYT. Chinese spring wheat performed very well, especially showing good resistance to karnal bunt, head scab, Helminthosporium leaf blotch, tan spot and Septoria diseases. A large number of CIMMYT Chinese crosses are made each year at CIMMYT. Many Chinese derivatives are included in CIMMYT international nurseries which are distributed throughout the world. The yield potential, fast grain-fill, and early maturity of Chinese winter and facultative wheats are widely recognized. Chinese winter CIMMYT spring are made each year to raise the yield potential of CIMMYT spring wheat.China has obtained 10,000 lines from CIMMYT. These germplasm is playing an important role in the Chinese breeding program.During the last eight years , some 50 Chinese scientists attended CIMMYT Training Courses of Wheat Improvement and Cereal Quality and participated in the shuttle breeding project. These interactions enhanced their scientific skills and the better understanding of CIMMYT wheat breeding program. Several CIMMYT trainees have been promoted to head the breeding programs and to the positions of Directors and Associate Directors of their institutes.Since the shuttle breeding project has benefited both China and CIMMYT and considerable progress has been achieved during the last eight years, it is suggested that the ChinajCIMMYT partnership should be strengthened. It normally takes ten years to release a variety in China, therefore, more significant achievement would be expected from this cooperative project in the next five to ten years. For the workplan of the next five years, the following aspects should be considered.1. Expand the spring wheat shuttle projects to include other agroecological regions. 2. For winter and facultative wheat, jointly develop good breadmaking quality wheat germplasm with desirable agronomic characters and early maturity, provide semidwarf wheat germplasm with good lodging resistance and high yielding potential, and select parental materials carrying yellow rust and powdery mildew resistance with acceptable agronomic characters. 3. Wheat biotechnology.CIMMYT wheat germplasm is well-known for its wide adaptation, high yield potential, and resistance to rusts. Since 1970's, CIMMYT wheat lines have been introduced into China and tested throughout the country. Utilization of CIMMYT wheats has improved wheat breeding progress and made contribution to wheat production in China. The objective of this paper is to present direct and indirect use of CIMMYT wheats in China.Introduction of CIMMYT wheat germplasm started in early 1970's. Hundreds of varieties and lines have been tested and a group of them were used for wheat production in China. Based on the varieties and cultivated regions, the use of CIMMYT varieties may be divided into two periods. The first stage was from 1971-1980. Penjamo T62, Cajeme F71, Tanori F71 and Potam S70 were extended with a larger acreage. The average yield was 3-4.5 t/ha in small experimental plot, with 1.5-2.5 t/ha in larger area. CIMMYT wheats given 5-15% better production compared with the local varieties of that time. The planted areas were concentrated in Shandong and Hebei provinces, a small cultivated area was also observed in Guangdong, Shanxi, Yunnan and Ningxia provinces. CIMMYT wheat varieties covered 33,000 ha in 1974, about 333,000 ha in 1975, and 552,000 ha in 1976, and declined to 386,000 ha in 1977. During the first period, the acreage of CIMMYT varieties have occupied 1.3 million ha in total.The second period is from 1981 to 1995,. Cajeme F71, Mexipak 65, and Siete Cerros T66 were grown in Xinjiang and Yunnan. According to the data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, there were 19 varieties (including a durum wheat) each covering over 6,600 ha during 1981-1995 period. By 1991, the area of these varieties accumulated to 1.55 million ha or an annual acreage of 133,000 ha. Among 19 varieties, both Mexipak 65 and Siete Cerros T66 were grown over 200,000 ha. The cultivated areas of Cajeme F71, \"0230\" (CM26346-A-17Y-6Y-4M-OY), and\"0483\" (Emus\"S\"-Mildress/Kal-Bb, CM38199-A-1Y-9M-1Y-OM) were 197,000, 191,000 and 128,600 ha, respectively. Saric F71 and Jingxuan 9 (VeeIS') each covered 67,000 ha. Mexipak 66, Chapingo, and other 10 varieties were planted with the acreage between 7,300 and 62,000 ha.Mexipak 65 introduced from Pakistan in 1968, showed high yield potential with dwarf stem, and resistance to wheat rusts especially in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. It was grown on 45,000 and 49,000 ha in 1983 and 1985, respectively. In 1991, Mexipak 65 was still commercially used in Xinjiang. Siete Cerros T66 with the same pedigree as Mexipak 65, was grown in Xinjiang over alarger area, too.\"0230\", \"0483\", and Jingxuan 9 were introduced by the Institute of Crop Germplasm Resources and the Yunnan Seed Company from CIMMYT in 1978. They were tested in 1979 and started to extend and replace other CIMMYT varieties. These varieties occupied 34,000 ha in 1984. The area of these three varieties reached 53,300 ha from 1985 to 1990, and 87,300 ha in 1991.Cajeme F71 has been grown from early 1970's to present. From 1981 to 1991, the planted area reached 197,000 ha next to that of Mexipak 65 and Siete Cerros T 66.During the second period, CIMMYT germplasm were mainly grown in Chinese spring wheat regions such as Xinjiang, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia, and Gansu provinces. In Xinjiang, there were 11 varieties directly used in wheat production including Siete Cerros T66, Cajeme F71, Nuri, Jori C69, Mexipak 66, Penjamo 62, Potam S70, Yecora F71. Among them, Siete Cerros T66 contributed the largest area with acreage 30000 ha in 1985. Jori C69 is a durum wheat variety grown in Xinjiang with an acreage of 13500 ha. The percentage of wheat area taken by CIMMYT varieties in Xinjiang has increased gradually from late 1970's, with 20.2% in 1984. But it declined from 1985 to 1988, and maintained 9.7% in 1988. CIMMYT wheats have played a great role in Yunnan province too. In 1970's, Saric F70 and other CIMMYT varieties were planted in Yunnan with small cultivated area. \"0483\", 10230\",Jingxuan 9 and Guji 13 (Vee 5 IS') were the leading commercial varieties in 1980's. The area of \"0230\" has accumulated to 191300 ha until 1991. The total area of \"0230\", \"0483\", and \"0130\" (Bb-KalxAlondra IS\"jY50E-Kal*3 x Emu'S', CM38795-H-1M-OY-OPtz-OY) was around 300,000 ha. They still occupy a larger proportion of wheat area in Yunnan province at present. Based on the data from Yunnan province, the above three varieties took 51.9%, 41.0%, and 44.6% of total wheat area, in 1989,1990, and 1991, respectively. Besides, CIMMYT varieties were also grown with some acreage in Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, and Gansu provinces.In summary, more than 20 CIMMYT varieties have been directly cultivated with accumulated total area of 2.9 million ha from 1970's to 1990's.Indirect use of CIMMYT wheats in China More than 60 new varieties containing parentage of CIMMYT germplasm have been released in provinces of Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Gansu, and Ningxia. These improved varieties were distributed in 13 provinces as shown in Table 1. A larger number of varieties have been developed using Mexipak 65, Mexipak 66, Siete Cerros, Sonora 64, and Nadadores as parents in Chinese breeding programs. Nadadores showed early maturity, short stem and resistance to stem and leaf rusts in Heilongjiang province. The Keshan Wheat Research Institute of Heilongjiang province crossed Nadadores with \"Ke71F4-370-7\", and a new variety Kefeng 3 giving high yield and drought resistance was commercially released. In 1987, Kefeng 3 was extended on 511,000 ha, accounting for 32% of the wheat area in this province. In 1990,24% of wheat area was covered by Kefeng 3, second place after Xinkehan 9. In addition to Kefeng 3, Zhangchun 3 with the pedigree of Nadadores also showed better performance in Xingjiang.Qignchun 533 and \"Chun 980-15\" were released by using Alondra S as parent, although Alondra S was sown in small area in China. Qingchun 533 covered around 25 % of the wheat area in Qinghai province in 1990. After 1991, the area remained about 53000 ha, accounting for 34.6% of the total wheat area in Qinghai.The successful use of CIMMYT wheat varieties in China have proved that the introduction is important for wheat germplasm improvement. It would be beneficial to strengthen cooperation with CIMMYT in wheat breeding. The wide adaptation of CIMMYT varieties in the world has also been proved in China. Future use of CIMMYT varieties in China will be mostly used as genetic resources for wheat breeding rather than direct use in wheat production. The identification of CIMMYT germplasm, conducted by Institute of Crop Germplasm Resources in Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, indicated that CINIMYT germplasm has shown better performance to three rusts, multigrain per spike, big spike, and quality.5. Zhuang Qiaosheng, 1994. Utilization of wheat varieties introduced from abroad in China, Agricultural Publishing House, Beijing (in Chinese). 6. Cao Lianpu, 1991. Utilization and evaluation of CIMMYT wheat varieties in Xinjiang.Crop Genetic Resources (3): 37-38 (in Chinese).The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is one of the important international agricultural research centers. It is well-known throughout the world for breeding semidwarf, disease-resistant, broadly adapted, high yielding wheat varieties. CIMMYT wheat varieties have spread all over the third world, either applied to the wheat production or used as breeding parents. CIMMYT has made remarkable contributions to developing wheat production and promoting wheat breeding techniques in the world.The wheat variety improvement of Jiangsu Province is attributed to making full use of the indigenous varieties with wide adaptability and early maturity, and also paying a great attention to foreign introduced varieties with resistance to rusts and high yield potential. Since 1970 1 s, a large number of CIMMYT wheat varieties have been introduced, and germplasm exchange was carried out through the shuttle breeding project. This paper sums up the progress made by utilization of CIMMYT wheat germplasm in Jiangsu Province and discusses how to raise the cooperative efficiency between Jiangsu and CIMMYT.General information on wheat production and objectives of wheat variety improvement in Jiangsu Jiangsu Province is in the east of China, and located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze and Huai Rivers. It lies between 30 °40' to 35 0 0T N latitude and from 116 0 40' to 121°51' E longitude, with an elevation varying from 2 to 10 meters in most areas of the province. Jiansu Province is characterized by its warm climate and sufficient rainfall. The annual average temperature is about 13~16 DC, and rainfall is 850-1200 rom. Wheat can be grown successfully in the whole province. Both variety improvement and popularization of improved varieties playa very important role in promoting wheat production. In 1992, 2.37 million hectares of wheat was grown and 10.4 million tons total production with an average yield of 4395 kg/ha was obtained in the province.The wheat variety improvement in the province was initiated as early as 1920's. The famous early-maturity wheat variety \"Jiang-Dong-Men\" was bred by the former Central University in 1923-1925. Subsequently, the wheat variety \"Jin Da 2905\" was selected from the indigenous variety by the former Jinling University in 1925. In the 1930's, while studying the introduced wheat germplasm resources, the former National Agricultural Research Bureau (NARB) and other institutes launched a cross-breeding program. A number of wheat crosses were made in 1934, from which the wheat varieties such as \"Li Ying 3\", \"Li Ying 4\", \"Li Ying 6\", and others were bred in the 1940's. These varieties were released in the early 1950's.In the past forty years, wheat breeding has made significant progresses in this province. A large number of wheat varieties were developed, which laid the solid foundations for the variety replacements. In total, 13 institutions which have been undertaking the varietal improvement have bred 141 varieties by various breeding methods (Table 1). These varieties have replaced the old indigenous ones and contributed a great deal to wheat production in the province. Table 1 showed that 86 varieties were from intervarietal crossing, accounting for 61.0% of the total varieties. Obviously, intervarietal crossing was the most efficient way to breed wheat varieties for different periods, and the next ones were introduction, reselection, radiation breeding and wide crosses, respectively. However, distribution can be erratic, especially in the spring (March-May). In the excessive rainfall, mainly in the periods from elongation to maturity, is the most important reason for the lower grain weight and yield instability. It also causes high incidence of wheat scab and waterlogging. In this region most of wheat varieties belong to spring type with red grain, and some of them belong to semi-winter type. Objectives of wheat breeding are as follows:• Increasing yield potential. The yield is 5250-6000 Kg/ha, the plant height is 80-90 cm, 1000-grain weight is 38-42 g. Utilization of CIMMYT wheat germplasm I. Performance of CIMMYT wheat germplasm in Iiangsu In 1970's, hundreds of wheat varieties and advanced lines were directly or indirectly introduced from CIMMYT. In general, CIMMYT wheats contained short stem, lodging resistance, big spikes, more grains per spike, high yield potential and disease resistance (three rusts and powdery mildew), however were poorly adapted to the environmental conditions of high temperature and humidity in the Mid-Lower Yangtze Valley showing susceptibility to head scab, intolerant to moisture and early leaf wilting. This was main reason why CIMMYT wheats couldn't be directly used in wheat production in Jiangsu.In 1980's, the cooperative project between China and CIMMYT began. From 1981 to 1987, 1910 wheat lines were received from CIMMYT, most of which were poorly adapted to the ecological conditions of high temperature and humidity in the mid-lower Yangtze Valley, showing serious scab infection and moisture injury. From 1983 to 1994, 140 wheat lines from Jiangsu Province was provided to CIMMYT. Many of them were excellent resources of scab resistance such as Sumai 3, Wang Shuibai, Ning 7840, and others were popular varieties, such as Yangmai 4, Yangmai 5, and Yangmai 158.During 1988-1994, wheat germplasm exchange between China and CIMMYT comprised of those materials derived from the crosses between CIMMYT x Yangtze wheats. 1758lines selected by JAAS visiting scholar to CIMMYT showed improved adaptability and scab resistance combined with the high yielding potential of CIMMYT germplasm. Some lines entered into the yield trials.In recent 20 years, many wheat breeding institutions in Jiangsu have made a large number of crosses using CIMMYT wheat germplasm with disease resistance and high yield potential. Xuzhou Agricultural Research Institute has succeeded in developing the wheat varieties with high-yielding potential, good quality and disease resistance such as Xuzhou 21, Xuzhou 22 and Xuzhou 23 utilizing \"D.P. 301\" (Lerma Rojo 64/Sonora 64) and \"Yecora F70\" (Table 2).  3). Three lines with good resistance to head scab and powdery mildew, plant height 80-90 em, will be re-evaluated in 1994-1995. Moreover, Ning 9415 selected from the cross SHA7/PRL\"s\"/VEE#6 has large spike and grain, resistance to disease and lodging. It was promoted into the yield trails in 1994-1995.3. Outstanding crosses of segregating populations and advanced lines The parents with broad adaptation and resistance to scab from the Lower Yangtze Valley have been incorporated into the shuttle breeding project. The best crosses of segregating populations and advanced line selected from Yangtze/CIMMYT shuttle breeding material nursery in 1994 contained the following parents: Yang 87-158, Yang 87-142, Yangmai 5, Shanghai 3, Shanghai 4, Shanghai 7, and Ning 8675 (Table 4). These crosses have greatly improved the adaptability and yield potential and are being selected and identified in the future. Some of the crosses, especially with Yang 87-158, performed very well. Sichuan is an in land basin surounded by high mountains. More than 80% of area are rainfed hills with shallow soil and high frequency of winter and spring drought stress, so the yield is lower (2.5-3.5 t/ha). Only about 10% of total wheat growing areas is on plains with irrigation and good soil with 4.5-5.5 t/ha in Sichuan.The major climate features during wheat growth in Sichuan can be described as warm winter, high humidity and lower illumination. The average coldest January temperature is about 5.5-7.0 0C, almost no snow covering, therefore no cessation of vegetative growth during winter time. The differentiation of young spikes is earlier, generally much bigger spikes are developed and maturity is normally earlier. The total precipitation during wheat cycle is about 180-250 mm, but 75-80% of this amount starts from heading to maturity. Sichuan is one of the lowest illumination regions in China because of lots of cloudy and rainy days. These high humid, hot and lower illumination weather often cause severe lodging and head scab, reduce 1000 grain weight, and some years, preharvest sprouting problems.Rice-wheat and maize-sweet potato-wheat are the two dominant production systems in Sichuan, covering 1/2 of total wheat area, respectively. Early maturity, short and stiff straw, and good plant type are important wheat traits needed to fit these mUlti-cropping systems.Stripe rust, powdery mildew, and head scab are the three major diseases in Sichuan.Particularly, Sichuan is one of the hot spots in China where new physiological races of stripe rust develop quickly. Aphids is the only insect pest occurring, often reducing grain weight severely.The breeding objectives for wheat in Sichuan are high yield, disease resistance and good quality.High yielding. For plain area 7-7.5 t/ha, 5-6 t/ha for hilly areas. Good spike fertility and large grains are important traits for high and stable yields. Stripe rust, powdery mildew resistance, and head scab tolerance.Early maturity and short, stiff straw. Harvest should be at the end of April to mid-May and tolerance to the cold weather at heading. Quality. Suitable for making Chinese noodles and steamed bread. Recently farmers prefer white grain, therefore breeding for white grain varieties with good quality and preharvest sprouting resistance is added to our breeding objectives.More than 80 varieties are released since 1950. Some introduced varieties, mostly from Italy like Mentana, Ardito, and Abbondaza, had been very popular in 1950's and 1960's.After mid-1970 1 s, all wheat varieties used for commercial production were developed by breeding programs in Sichuan. The yield potential of wheat varieties at present in Sichuan is about 6-6.5 t/ha.Progress of the shuttle breeding program in Sichuan during 1989-1994 1. Germplasm exchange Eighty five wheat varieties/lines developed in Sichuan have been sent to CIMMYT since 1989, including the popular varieties Mianyang 11 and Fan 6. The useful characteristics of these varieties such as short and stiff straw, lodging resistance, good spike fertility, fast grain-filling, good maturity color, early maturity, high 1000 grain weight, and resistance to some special diseases (i.e. karnal bunt) have being recognized and used intensively at CIMMYT. This resulted in the release of the Sichuan material derived new variety Guamuchil92 for the first time in Mexico.One thousand three hundred and eighty one wheat varieties, advanced lines and segregating populations were selected from the experimental plots of CIMMYT by scientists of Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (SAAS) in 1989, 1991, 1992 and 1994. Intensive screening of these germplasm have been conducted under Chengdu environments. In 1994, three shuttle lines were put in Elite Lines Screening Nursery in Chengdu. Two lines were eliminated because their seeds were too small (36.1 and 37.1 g, respectively). Another two lines were added into this screening nursery in 1995, both are CBRD lines selected from Toluca in 1991.The first CIMMYT germplasm derived new variety Chuanmai 25 from the cross of (1414/Chuanyu 5/ /Genaro  CIMMYT in 1989CIMMYT in ,1991CIMMYT in ,1992CIMMYT in and 1994. These visitations have enhanced the understanding of breeding programs, experimental environments, and germplasm. In addition, three young scientists of SAAS were sent to CIMMYT to attend the training courses in 1991 and 1992, respectively. After they returned to SAAS, all were promoted to be the head of scientific research divisions of SAAS.Fifty seven international nurseries from CIMMYT were tested under Chengdu environments. Lots of data were collected and sent back to CIMMYT. SAAS also received many publications from CIMMYT. For sharing the CIMMYT's achievements and experiences with our Chinese colleagues, two books were published in Chinese on IGenetic Improvement in yield of wheat' in 1989 and 'Wheat breeding at CIMMYT' in 1994.A brief review of the strategies 'in using CIMMYT Germplasm in Sichuan 1. Performance of CIMMYT germplasm in Sichuan The first CIMMYT variety Penjamo 62 was introduced in Sichuan in 1966. Since then, about 20 more CIMMYT varieties were introduced and screened under different agroecologic environments in Sichuan. Although most of these varieties showed short stature, early maturity and resistance to stripe rust, nonetheless, none could compete with the newly released Sichuan variety Fan 6 in yield potential and adaptation. Therefore, no CIMMYT variety was used directly in commercial production in Sichuan. Sichuan scientists first visited CIMMYT in 1984 and some new generation of wheat varieties developed from S X W were selected and brought back to Chengdu. Some 3-5 CIMMYT international nurseries were also received and tested in Chengdu each year since 1985.Performance of these new generation of CIMMYT varieties were much better than those developed in 1960's and 1970 1 s. Yield potential of the best selected lines were close to local check variety. Plant type and grain quality of most CIMMYT varieties are much better than Sichuan variety. The resistance to leaf rust, stem rust and powdery mildew are still reliable. However, their stripe rust resistance is becoming vulnerable to races 30 and 31 in Sichuan, which attack Fan 6 and 1Bj1R (Yr9) genes. Besides, small grain weight and less growth vigor at seedling stage and sensitive to hot and humid weather occurring in Sichuan make these germplasm less stable.Two strategies are suggested in utilization oft CIMMYT germplasm.1. Some CIMMYT varieties can be used directly for commercial production in northern China such as Xinjiang, Qinghai and Ningxia, and southern province of Yunnan. The basic strategy for this group is to screen the CIMMYT germplasm intensively under typical agroecologic environments of these areas for direct commercial use. To improve adaptation of CIMMYT varieties in these environments, some well adapted local varieties could be crossed with the most desirable CIMMYT varieties and selected again in these environments. 2. Utilization of CIMMYT germplasm in crosses to develop wheats for Yangtze region and north east China.To maintain good adaptation in a variety incorporate the high yield potential and other useful traits from CIMMYT germplasm into Sichuan variety is our basic consideration.Followings are much emphasised: Use a high yielding and well adapted Sichuan variety as a base to cross with CIMMYT germplasm.The principle of complementation of major traits between CIMMYT and Sichuan germplasm are used for parents selection. The crosses should be based on Sichuan x CIMMYT x Sichuan.Considerable progress has been achieved in China-CIMMYT shuttle breeding programs in such a short period showed that CIMMYT germplasm can play an important role in our wheat production and wheat breeding. This shuttle program is also benefit to CIMMYT wheat breeding program.To strengthen this shuttle program, it seems that the establishment of an active coordinator in CAAS is necessary. Members could be from CAAS and CIMMYT, some funds would be needed, so that CAAS can make good coordination of activities of shuttle sites in China.Spring wheat is one of the main grain crops in Heilongjiang province. Yield of spring wheat increased greatly because of utilization of new improved varieties. Introduction and use of CIMMYT germplasm played an important role in wheat breeding and varietal replacement in Heilongjiang. This paper is aimed at description of current situation in use of CIMMYT wheat germplasm for wheat improvement in Heilongjiang.As a main grain crop of Heilongjiang province, spring wheat is planted on 1.5--2.0 million ha annually. In 1992, the spring wheat area is 1.6 million ha with average yield of 2908 kg/hal and annual output of 469.  The shuttle breeding project also improved the agronomic characters of CIMMYT wheat. Table 2 indicated that from 1985 to 1989, no lines with good scab resistance (MR-R) and high yield potential was selected from 1236 F2 populations, because CIMMYT largely used primitive resistance sources such as Sumai 3 with undesirable agronomic characters. From 1992 to 1993, 110 strains with good resistance (MR-R) and agronomic characters were selected from 17 of the total 55 F2 populations. Two types of materials from the middle and lower Yangtze River Valley were utilized by CIMMYT. The first group, the improved resistant sources, maintained the genetic resistance and eliminated the undesirable characters in primitive resistant sources. Nanjiang 8611, Nanjing 8675, Nanjing 8319, Shanghai 3, Shanghai 7, and Shanghai 8 can be classified as improved resistant sources. The second group was the MS materials with good agronomic characters such as Yang 85-86, Yang 87-142, Yang87-158, and Zhejiang 4.Use of CIMMYT wheat germplasm in Shanghai CIMMYT barley has excellent adaptation in Shanghai region and has been used in Shanghai since 1981. A line named Shenrnai 1, was selected from F4 population of Gobernadora. Shenmai 1 has been sown in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, covered about 100,000 ha (Wang.Z. Y. 1987,1990). A new line has selected from Sherunai l/HumailO/ / HumailO and was released in Shanghai.Shen 901154 (Nanjing 7840/ /PRL/VEE) was selected from CIMMYT Fs generation, and was identified as MS in generation F4 (1990-1991) and generation Fs (1991)(1992). It was more resistant than the original line, achieving MR degree. The plant height was 105 em, spike length 10.5 em, grains per spike 32, 1000 grain weight 38.8 g, and resistant to lodging. Recurrent 116 was selected from the first recurrent selection population (Cl) (Huang,D.C. 1994). It is included in regional yield trial in Shanghai in the second year. Its yield was similar to the check variety, Yangmai 5, with average yield of 3900 kg/ha. The plant height of Recurrent 116 was 95 em, the main spike length 9.8 em, the grains per spike 30, 1000 grain weight 38 g, and resistance to lodging. It was moderately resistant to scab and tolerant to powdery mildew. The growth duration was 200 days. It could mature at the end of May in Shanghai. It is suitable for making good quality noodles. It has been planted experimentally in the areas of about 335 ha.. Recurrent 201 was selected from the third recurrent selection population(C3) in 1991. It possessed early maturity, short straw, and other high yield straits. The plant height was 87 em, the grains per spike 34. 8, 1000 grain weight 37.1 g, average yield 5700 kg/ha on small plot, and growing duration of 202 days. It was moderately resistant to scab and slightly infected by powdery mildew. In 1995, it has been planted experimentally in Shanghai, Suzhou, Changshu, Taichang, and other places. Another issue involving CIMMYT x Yangtze F2 is advisable (Liu,Z.Z. 1992). Scab resistant lines selected in Mexico give less resistance in China. In 1992, Zhou, C. F. from Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Liu, Z. Z. from Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences selected 314 materials from F4 and advanced generations which appeared resistant to scab at Toluca. Of these only 18 lines expressed MR-R in Shanghai but had poor agronomic type. Selection from F2 generation could be more effective as indicated in Table 2.Wheat is a major food crop in Beijing, and winter wheat occupies around 90-95% of wheat area and production, and spring wheat takes the other 5-10%. However, spring wheat sown in early March is important in mountainous areas since cold temperature makes impractical to cultivate winter wheat. Spring wheat is also sown in the plain areas for changing cropping rotation systems, where vegetables and spring wheat rotation system is practised. In general, the yield of spring wheat is 20% lower than that of winter wheat, but less labour and inputs requirements are needed for spring wheat production. The objectives of spring wheat program in Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences was to develop varieties with early maturity, semidwarf stem, disease resistance, and high yield potential for Beijing and also for spring wheat areas in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Gansu, and Xinjiang. CIMMYT wheat germplasm are heavily used in spring wheat breeding program, and both direct and indirect use of CIMMYT wheats in Beijing are presented in this paper.In 1973, 14 CIMMYT wheat lines were introduced into Beijing by Beijing Seed Company, and two year yield trials were conducted in four locations. The results indicated that Tanori F71, Ciano F67, and Norteno M67 performed better than local check variety Jinghong 1, with 27.2, 10.4, and 8.0% increased yield, respectively. The good performance of CIMMYT wheat in the first year made it possible to import 15 tons of seeds from Mexico, and 60 experimental plots were sown in 13 counties and districts in 1974. It was observed that CIMMYT wheats showed similar maturity dates, strong tillering ability, very good lodging resistance, and high yield potential. Lodging would occur for local varieties with around 530 spikes/ m 2 , and no lodging was reported for CIMMYT wheat with tillers ranged from 600-670 spikes/m 2 .It was concluded from two years testing that Potam S70, Ciano F67, Inia F66, Cajeme F70, and Tanori F71 could be directly used in wheat production. CIMMYT wheats covered around 2800 and 12800 ha in Beijing in 1975 and 1976, respectively. Average yield of spring wheat increased from 1500 kg/ha in 1972 to 3000 kg/ha, and a record yield for spring wheat (6000 kg/ha), was obtained in a small plot (0.4 ha) in Daxing County. However, CIMMYT wheat's sowing area declined in 1980's due to the unstable performance caused by early senescence, shrived kernels, and low kernel weight. Sprouting tolerance of CIMMYT wheats need also improvement. Indirect use of CIMMYT wheats for genetic improvement CIMMYT wheats such as Mexipak 65 and 66, and Narino 59 were first obtained from International Rust Nursery. As the spread of CIMMYT varieties in wheat production, Chinese breeders started to include CIMMYT lines into crossing program to improve local varieties. CIMMYT wheats were heavily crossed with Chinese with good resistance to early senescence and wide adaptation, generation advancements were speeded up by winter planting in greenhouse and in Hainan province, two to three seasons could be practised each year, and around 20 spring wheat varieties containing CIMMYT wheat were released. The five top varieties were presented in Table 1. CINIMYT wheat germplasm gave short stature with good lodging resistance, disease resistance, early maturity, good agronomic characters, and better adapted to local natural and production conditions compared with other introduced varieties such as Orofen and Abbondanza. CIMMYT wheats yielded better than locallandraces and improved varieties, and were rapidly spread in high yielding areas. Yield of 2.5-6.0 tlha was obtained in larger areas, with record yield of 7.5 toni ha.Siete Cerros, showed wide adaptation and high yield potential, covered the largest area for a relative long time. Mexipak 65, sister line of Siete Cerros, adapted very well in Yanqi Basin, a high yielding area, where suitable climate and optimum water and fertilizer conditions could be provided. Mexipak 65 yielded better and matured early, Chinese cabbage could be sown after spring wheat, thus, this made Mexipak 65 very popular for many years. Jori C69, a durum wheat line, was introduced to Tacheng Prefecture, and produced greater yield than introduced bread wheat variety Orofen. Tacheng prefecture has the tradition of sowing durum wheat, therefore, Jori C69 was extended rapidly. Its planting area declined due to lack of processing facility.Before introduction of CIMMYT wheats, wheat breeding was focused on medium yielding variety. Introduction and use of CIMMYT wheats, and the improvement of production condition made breeders develop high yielding varieties. During the last twenty years, twenty varieties containing CIMMYT germplasm were released, and nine of them have annual sowing area above 3000 ha, details of these varieties are presented in Table 2. Screening Nursery for High Latitude Areas. Selections from F2 populations are included in yield trials and provincial (regional) yield trials in 1995. CM90-9-10-4 and CM90-9-9-1-1 from Medusa/Diaman/ /Frails\"s\", CM90-7-1-1 from ALPH/Durra/ /1265, and 5-006-3-1-1-3 from Sultan/Nackta/3/Ligne 640/Kober/ /Teran 78 are included in the regional beer barley yield trial. Eight lines are promoted to yield trail in 1995.CIMMYT bread wheats with compact plant type, short stem (80-90cm), high tillering survival rate, high yield potential, resistance to rusts, uniform and plump grains, and good quality could be used directly in wheat production, and served as major agronomic parents in wheat breeding programs. Therefore, more CIMMYT wheats would be introduced and tested in Gansu Province, and some of them could be directly used in wheat production based on our experience. Since Gansu Province belongs to hot spot for stripe rust, the rust resistant lines would be beneficial to local breeding programs. Our breeders have strong interest in strengthen cooperation with CIMMYT.Most CIMMYT barley lines belong to feed type, their grain quality are undesirable to beer production. Improvement are needed for grain characters such as grain color and shape, thick hull, and hard awns unsuitable for threshing. Advanced lines and segregating populations with desirable beer brewing quality could be used in barley breeding. Henan province, the largest wheat producer in China, is located in the central part of China. As the main agricultural research organization in the province, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (HAAS) has put much on wheat research and set up Wheat Institute separating wheat from other crops in 1981. Wheat breeding occupies an important position in the scientific activities of the Institute. Before 1989, HAAS introduced a limited number of wheat germplasm from CIMMYT mainly through the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and some other channels. In 1990, HAAS became one of the cooperative institutes on winter wheat shuttle breeding with CIMMYT. Since then, the exchange of germplasm and scientists between both institutes has become frequent and the germplasm from CIMMYT become more and more important on Henan's local breeding program. Some promising lines containing CIMMYT germplasm have been developed.Wheat production and wheat breeding in Henan 1. Wheat production Wheat is the most important food crop in Henan. Traditionally, steamed bread and noodles are major components of the daily diet in Henan. Wheat area in Henan is about 4.8 million hectares, contributing 16% of total wheat area in China, and total production in Henan is about 18 million tons, 18% of total production in China. Average yield in Henan has risen from 0.63 to 3.8t/ha, use of new wheat varieties has played an important role to wheat production.According to the classification of wheat area based on wheat type, varietal reactions to temperature, light and moisture, and wheat growing seasons, Henan's wheat area belongs to Zone II (Yellow and Huai River Valleys, Winter Wheat Region) and Zone III (Middle and Low Yangtze Valleys, Winter Wheat Region). Most of Henan wheat (about 90% of the area) is sown in Zone II, where the main diseases are stripe rust, powdery mildew and leaf blotch caused by Bipolans sorokiniana or Gerlachia nivalis; leaf rust and head scab occur occasionally. The abiotic stresses in this region are mainly drought and dry-hot wind at grain filling stage. The varieties used in production are mainly facultative. The southern part of Henan (about 10% of the area) belongs to Zone III, where the main diseases are stem, leaf and stripe rusts, powdery mildew and head scab. The main abiotic stresses are sprouting and heat in late growth stage. We put much of our breeding effort on Zone II.Yield potential. High yield pote,ntial is the most important objective in our breeding program. Only the new varieties which outyielded the existing check significantly can be registered and accepted by the Provincial Crop Variety Commission and farmers. For three yield components (spikesjha, grainsj spike, and 1000-kernel weight), it is suggested that the future breeding objectives be stressed on the increase of grainsj spike while keeping a certain number of spikes. Grainsj spike should be raised mainly through increasing fertile spikelets. As demand of higher level of fertilizer and the need to increase harvest index, the variety should have a certain lodging resistance, so the plant height should be less than 90cm.Good yield stability and wide adaptation. In production, the management and climatical conditions vary greatly, so the varieties developed should have a certain adaptability to different seeding timet seeding rate, soil type and different climatical conditions, which can get high and stable yield across different environments and in different years. Therefore, shuttle breeding, multilocational selection and identification are used in our wheat breeding program.Good industrial quality. Industrial quality for bread making must be improved since local wheats generally have poor bread-making quality. Every year, Henan imports a large amount of better quality wheats from USAf Canada and Australia. Steamed bread and noodles are the main components of the daily diet of the people, so the quality parameters for these are also considered.Resistance or tolerance to main biotic and abiotic stresses. As natural environment and climatical conditions are unpredictable, a high and stable yield must be based on the variety itself with a certain resistant or tolerant abilities to unfavourable conditions. Stripe rust and powdery mildew are two main diseases in Henan, so the multiresistance is needed to these two diseases. Besides, the resistance to leaf rust, leaf blotch, and head scab are also considered. As to abiotic stresses, the emphasis is put on the tolerance to winter or early spring cold, drought and dry-hot wind at grain filling stage.Introductions and reselections occupied important positions in 1950s, but now hybridization is the major breeding method. As supplements, mutation breeding, recurrent selection using Tai-gu male-sterile genet hybrid wheat using T-cytoplasm or some other new male-sterile resources and new chemical agents, anther culture and bioteclmical method such as alien gene transferring and transmitting are also used. In history, the major varieties in Henan's wheat production have been replaced six times since 1949, great progress has been made in yield potential, rust resistance, earliness and resistance to lodging. Now the varieties which have higher yield potentials and better agronomic characters cover 80% of the total wheat area. The new variety Yumai 13 (Zhengzhou 891) bred by HAAS has many ideal characters such as high yield potential, good yield stability, wide adapt\\'ltion, stripe rust resistance and early maturity. The maximum planting area of Yumai 13 was up to 1.1 million hectares in 1993, and the total sowing area during the 1991-1994 period exceeded 3.0 million hectares, and HAAS won the National Science Award in 1995. Up to now, 34 wheat varieties have been registered since the founding of Henan Crop Variety Commission in 1982. There was no official organization for the registration of crop varieties before 1982. The main varieties which are being currently planted in Henan's wheat production include Yumai 13, Yumai 18, Yumai 21 and Yumai 25.Introduction, evaluation and utilization of CIMMYT germplasm in Henan 1. Introduction Before 1989, HAAS introduced a small number of wheat germplasm from CIMMYT mainly through CAAS and other channels. They include Veery family of lines (Veery\"s\", and Veery 5 ), S family of lines (S-03, S-13,and S-30), Alondra\"s\", Aumaya \" s\"74, Sonora, Seri82, and others. CIMMYT wheats played some role on our local breeding program. In 1989, Zhengzhou was selected to be one of China's winter wheat shuttle breeding sites with CIMMYT, since then, we have visited CIMMYT and selected a large amount of breeding materials and germplasm directly almost every year. Table 1 lists the numbers of introductions and their classification. In total, 1433 breeding materials (selected in FI-F7) and advanced lines (selected in CB, PYT, YT) were introduced. Evaluation and classification were made mainly at field for agronomic and grain characters. Protein content and S.DS value were used as the major quality parameters. The materials which showed immune or highly resistant to stripe rust in the field were identified again in the greenhouse using artificial inoculation. These are some advantages of CIMMYT germplasm when they are planted in Henan's ecological conditions:a) High yield potential. According to our data collected in 1993, 12 CIMMYT materials gave grain yield more than 5.5 t/ha, showing their high yielding potential. It is also indicated that CIMMYT materials possess wide adaptation since there exists much differences in latitude, elevation or other ecological conditions between Zhengzhou of Henan and Mexico, which may be the result of CIMMYTs breeding strategies and methods (Rajaram, S., et. al).b) Better industrial quality. According to our measured data, the protein contents of most CIMMYT materials are from 13 to 16%, the S.DS volumes belong to average or above average types compared with local wheats, which are suitable for making bread, while a few materials have lower protein and lower S.OS., which are suitable for making cookies. c) Highly resistant to stripe and leaf rusts. Based on Table 1, most CIMMYT germplasm (about 80% of the total) show immune or highly resistant to stripe rust and leaf rust, and some are resistant to stripe rust race 29, the new stripe rust physiological race in China. According to Singh, RP.et.al, two closely linked genes Lr34 and Yr18 are common in CIMMYT wheats. These two genes in combinations with other additive ones make CIMMYT wheats with durable leaf and stripe rust resistances. Besides, some CIMMYT materials show certain resistance or tolerance to BYDV. d) Earlier maturity and late planting tolerance. Compare with other imported materials, especially those from USA or Western and Northern Europe, CIMMYT materials have earlier harvesting dates close to local varieties, so it is very convenient to use them for crossing. We conducted an experiment and seeded CIMMYT m~terials late; it was found that they got similar grain yield with those normal planting while harvesting dates were nearly the same, so they may be used for late-planting.Follows are some shortcomings of CIMMYT germplasm when they are planted in Henan's ecological conditions: a) Poor winter hardiness. Most CIMMYT materials show freeze injury to some extent when they are planted at the normal seeding dates in Henan, which reduces the possibility to put them directly into production. When they are used as parents to cross with local winter-habit wheats, most of the progenies are spring-habit, so they may not be suitable for selection in agroecological Zone I (North China Winter Wheat Region around Beijing), but may be useful in Zone II, Huanghuai Facultative Wheat Region. b) Poor lodging resistance. MostCIMMYT materials are moderately tall or tall (90-110cm) with weaker straws, so lodging happens frequently when they are planted in high-input condition. Besides, when they are used as one of the parents for crossing, the other parents should be dwarf or semidwarf.c) Susceptible to leaf blotch or ~eptoria and showing leaf tip burning in late growth stage. They make the seed shrivelled and 1000-kernel weight decreased. Besides, most CIMMYT materials are susceptible to powdery mildew.Before 1991, CIMMYT germplasm were introduced from CAAS and other channels, they were used as breeding materials or as parents. Some crosses are still in their segregating generations, some at advanced lines stage or in the Regional Variety Trial. Promising lines are presented below.Fengyou No 2, a reselection from the segregating populations of Veery\"s\", shown excellent breadmaking quality and high yielding potential. It is extending as a good quality variety in recent years.Zhengzhou 307, derived from Jimai 5418/Veeryls\", is participating the Provincial Variety Trials in the second year. In first year, it outyielded the check variety (Yumai 18) up to 13%. It is considered a promising variety to be largely planted in Henan.It is also considered that Alondra\"s\" is a very good \"bridge!' parent for anther culture, since the callus inducing-rate is very high if it is used as one of parents. Some advanced lines have already been developed.Aumaya\"s\" is considered a good resistant source to stripe rust and powdery mildew, many crosses were made using it as parent.Since 1991, we have introduced CIMMYT germplasm directly. Among more than 1000 Future perspectives Among CIMMYT materials selected during 1991-1993, most of them were spring-habit, some materials selected from M~7 in 1993 are strong winter-habit, no true facultative type. Therefore, it is more likely to use them as the breeding materials or as parents for their superior traits than to use them directly. we are planning to make cross as follows:Parent Improving adaptability of CIMMYT wheats in China CIMMYT germplasm has many desirable traits such as high yield potential, broad adaptation and yield stability, more tillers, big spike, semi-dwarf stature, good industrial quality, and photoperiod insensitive type. However, they are not directly adapted to Chinese agro-ecological environment due to susceptibility to powdery mildew, fusarium head scab, and premature haying-off. In order to enhance the adaptability of CIMMYT germplasm in central China, the following points could be considered.(1) Since China is one of the biggest wheat producer in the world, and the history of CIMMYT-China cooperation is short, and the agro-ecological environment and farming system are much different ,it is better for CIMMYT to set up a small outreach station in the central China. This office would be mainly responsible for China-CIMMYT cooperation with special reference to winter and facultative wheat.(   These introduced CIMMYT varieties were mostly sown from mid February to the beginning of March. They showed wide adaptation, high and stable yield potential, resistance to rusts and lodging, but susceptible to powdery mildew and high temperature.In comparison with their performance in Mexico, plant height, growing period, and thousand kernel weight was reduced to 15-25 cm, 20-50 days, and 5-10 g, respectively.Currently, there is only one variety Lumai 4 carrying CIMMYT parent in its pedigree. This indicates that very little progress was made in the use of CIMMYT germplasm in Shandong Province, although some of CIMMYT spring wheat varieties were planted during 1970 1 s.Performance and evaluation of CIlVIMYT winter and facultative wheats Totally, more than 1882 wheat lines including 1772 winter/ facultative and 110 spring wheats were selected from CIMMYT-Toluca, Mexico, and introduced to Liaocheng Prefecture, Shandong Province in 1994. They were sown on First November (winter/facultative) and February 28th (spring wheat), respectively. These introductions were mostly from crossing block winter and spring (CBW and CBS), segregating populations (Fs-F9), and preliminary yield trials (PYT) and yield trials (YT).The seedling of CIMMYT winter and facultative wheats were emerged 13 days after sowing because of lower temperature. Neither tiller nor secondary root was recorded until winter came. By mid February, 3-5 tillers and 7-10 secondary roots were observed for most lines. However, more tillers per individual plant were obtained at maturity time, compared with local materials.In spite of lower temperature from November to March in Liaocheng compared to the climatic data of Toluca, none of CIMMYT materials suffered from cold temperature in winter or early spring, but some local cultivars showed poor winter hardiness. It indicates that CIMMYT wheats have wide adaptability and good cold tolerance, although the great difference in climate, altitude and latitude were observed between Liaocheng and Toluca.Most CIMMYT wheats performed late heading and maturity. Investigation shows that the normal heading and ripening lines are only 0.06% and 6.9%, respectively. Late sowing (20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)  1. Wheat is a major or important crop 2. Spring type wheat are either planted in spring or autumn 3. Rainfall is not much in wheat season 4. Because of their high altitude, or high latitude, or early harvesting, there is no heat stress or less heat stress 5. Diseases are comparatively less and light These regions are actually the regions where Mexican varieties used to be planted to a certain extent. Few winter varieties are bred because of two reasons, first, Mexican varieties are of strong spring type, their offsprings are still weak in cold resistance; second, heat stress, dry and hot wind are common in winter wheat region which are beyond the tolerance of Mexican varieties.Most of the Chinese varieties having Mexican germplasm were bred from late 1970s to early 1980s. But, new varieties have been successively released afterwards, 5 to 10 varieties are registered each year. The lately bred varieties included derivatives of composite crosses such as Ningchun 11 and Qiannanzao, reselections from early bred lines such as Xuzhou 22, and new varieties bred by using lately introduced CIMMYT germplasm such as Qingchun 533, Miannongl, 3, 4 which have Alondra in their pedigrees. Several varieties are directly produced by CIMMYT/China Shuttle Breeding Project, such as Ningmai 7 and Chuanmai 25.Based on the information presented in appendix, number of varieties containing Mexican main varieties are summarized in Table 1. In addition to the above listed varieties, other 24 Mexican bread and durum wheat varieties were used as parents. The utilization of Mexican varieties is of regional feature. Tanori is mainly used in northeast, Sonora in Ningxia, Mexipak 65 and Siete Cerros in Xinjiang and so on.The excellent characters of Chinese varieties containing CIMMYT wheats are as follows:  To summarize, crossing Mexican varieties with Chinese ones and making selection in China, the selections can combine the desirable characters of both sides and yield significantly higher than their parents. The cultivation duration, acreage and economic profits of the Chinese varieties carrying Mexico varieties have exceeded that of their direct use by many times. Only one variety, Ningchun 4, has outweighed all the Mexican varieties planted in 1970s.For the past half century, ten foreign wheat varieties originated from North America, South Europe, East Europe and South America dominated a great portion of China's wheat areas in certain period. As Chinese varieties have undergone successive improvement by melting in exotic germplasm, though new varieties from above regions have been introduced as before, varieties with the value of direct utilization can rarely be observed after 1980s. That is to say, decline in direct utilization happens to all alien varieties, not only to Mexican varieties, and this general trend will remain unchanged in the future.China's wheat areas vary greatly in agroecological environments. Different regions, even within one province, have their most adapted varieties. Generally, Chinese varieties are by no means inferior to foreign varieties developed in similar environments abroad. Therefore in the future, the case that introduced foreign varieties outyield Chinese varieties as well as mature early will be very rare, if that is still possible.Even if Chinese germplasm is crossed with CIMMYTs while selection is mainly done in Mexico, the success rate of breeding varieties for China can not be expected high, since the climatic and pathogenic gaps between the two countries are too big. Varieties bred in Mexico will remain the same ecotype as before, even combined with Chinese germplasm. So the life cycle, the weakness in tolerance to heat stress and to sharp fluctuation of temperature can't change much. Furthermore, several diseases as mentioned before, are not seen or not serious in Mexico, such as powdery mildew and head scab. The pathogenecity differences occur between the two countries. Selections showing wide resistant spectrum in Mexico are not necessarily repeated in China. Artificial inoculation can't fully make up the pathogenic difference. It is not convenient to introduce some pathotypes or races into Mexico. Because of the above obstacles, all the efforts made in Mexican can only show very limited effect in China. CIMMYT new varieties or lines that are bred through a process as before, may to some extent gain improved adaptation in China and some reselected lines may be cultivated as varieties, but it would be less efficient.Nevertheless, since CIMMYT wheats incorporate many newly discovered and created excellent germplasm over the world, they will remain valuable to China's wheat improvement. There is no doubt that CIMMYT germplasm will provide new gene sources for resistance to rusts. For powdery mildew, root rot, leaf blotch, and BYDV, resistant genes with different origin may also be identified in Mexico varieties, though they were often susceptible to those diseases in the past. As to quality improvement, since Chinese breeders didn't lay special attention to it until 1980s, in general, there is still a gap between Chinese varieties and many foreign commercial varieties. CIMMYT new varieties are superior to Chinese wheats in ql,lality and will serve as an important source in this aspect.In fact, the cooperative China/ CIMMYT Wheat Breeding Project may be carried out in a more economical and effective way, that is to change the breeding locations from Mexico into China. Every year, CIMMYT provides Chinese breeders with new varieties, which CIMMYT breeds or collects from different countries. Two hundred entries would be enough; the total weight of the seeds should not exceed five kg. CIMMYT can also organizes a cooperative network to deploy and screen them in suitable regions as parental material and to select and test the offspring generations. This is a shuttle breeding program within China. Compared with the shuttle breeding between CIMMYT and China, it has several advantages as below.1. The comprehensive adaptation of the new varieties will be generated for parental stocks and possible cultivars. 2. The good traits of Chinese and CIMMYT varieties are supplementarily combined, while their shortcomings, especial those from foreign germplasm are reduced to minimum level. 3. CIMMYT can reduce the breeding nurseries for China and thus reduce seed shipment to China, a considerable amount of money can thus be saved. 4. The probability of dangerous disease spreading will be greatly reduced.If CIMMYT could adjust its breeding program and procedure in above way, then it will play an even greater role in world's wheat production and improvement, and CIMMYT will be sure to write new pages in its illustrious history."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"89af1e3429abd1146fb48fe073b99906","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a8a1fe3b-fdfe-4824-9b96-2e84e2ce238d/retrieve","id":"-1704834916"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1629cfa1-57e4-4d61-9292-952d6da0c417","content":"The Agronomy Field Information Management System (AgroFIMS) has been developed on CGIAR's HIDAP (Highly Interactive Data Analysis Platform) created by CGIAR's International Potato Center, CIP. AgroFIMS draws fully on ontologies, particularly the Agronomy Ontology (AgrO) 1 . It consists of modules that represent the typical cycle of operations in agronomic trial management (seeding, weeding, fertilization, harvest, and more) and enables the creation of data collection sheets using the same ontology-based set of variables, terminology, units and protocols. AgroFIMS therefore enables a priori harmonization with metadata and data interoperability standards and adherence to the FAIR Data Principles essential for data reuse and increasingly, for compliance with funder mandateswithout any extra work for researchers. AgroFIMS is therefore of value to anyone (scientist, researcher, agronomist, etc.) who wishes to easily design a standards-compliant agronomic research fieldbook following the FAIR Data Principles.AgroFIMS also allows users to collect data electronically in the field, thereby reducing errors. Currently this is restricted to the KDSmart Android platform, but we expect to enable this capability with other platforms such as the Open Data Kit (ODK) and Field Book in v.2.0. Once data is collected using KDSmart, the data can be uploaded back to AgroFIMS for data validation, statistical analysis, and the generation of statistical analysis reports. V.2.0 will allow easy upload of the data from AgroFIMS to an institutional or compliant repository of the user's choice.AgroFIMS works in collaboration with the Android application KDSmart to provide a complete workflow to manage data for the creation of a fieldbook to the data analysis. Below are the different steps to follow to create, collect, analyze and save data using AgroFIMS: Menu button to open and close the Menu It is not currently possible to import a fieldbook in AgroFIMS.In this section, you can detail the experiment metadata.The Experiment ID is a code generated by AgroFIMS to uniquely name experiments. It is made up of the 2 first letters of Experiment name + the 2 first letters of Experiment project name + unique numberThe mandatory fields are marked with a red asterisk. All other fields may be left blank. However, we recommend that you provide as much information about your experiment as possible. Robust metadata will allow better understanding and interpretation of your data set, and greatly augment its discovery and re-use in the immediate and distant future, assuring that your data continues to provide value well after collection.Click on button to add a new line.Click on the cross at the upper right side of the line to remove it. There is a minimum of one line per category. If you want to remove the information in this line, you can erase the name typed.In this section you can add information about the personnel linked to the experiment.You can start by adding your profile information using the button '' Load my info'' . This will autofill the boxes with information registered in your profile.to add a new person to the experiment.Click on to remove personnel. The first box cannot be deleted. If you want to remove the information of this person, you can erase the text boxes.You can view your profile information by selecting Account > Profile in the Menu. If you wish to update your profile information, please send an email to agrofims@cgiar.org.In this section you can describe the experimental site and its surroundings.1. Select Site > Create in the Menu. 2. Fill the information about the site type, site name, country name and administrative divisions using text boxes and picklists as appropriate. You can zoom in the map to help you find the name of your location, but you cannot use the map to directly pinpoint the site. 3. Once you have filled the information about the site and the site is pinpointed on the map, click at the bottom left of the page.1. In the Menu, go to Fieldbook > Create.2. Go to the section Site.3. Under Site information, select the country of the experimental site and the site name.I don't find my site.1. In the Menu, go to Fieldbook > Create > Site.2. Under Site information, if the site doesn't appear in the site list, click on Refresh.3. If the site is still absent from the list, you can check the sites list by clicking on Site > Manage in the Menu. 4. If the site is not listed here, it may not have been saved during its creation. You may create the site again by selecting Site > Create in the Menu.The site ID is a unique identifier automatically generated by AgroFIMS to distinguish the sites in your sites list.1. Go to Site> Manage in the Menu.2. Click on next to the site you want to get information about.1. Go to Site> Manage in the Menu.2. Click on next to the site you want to delete.A site cannot be updated. You must create a new site.This section is dedicated to the description of the crops cultivated in the experiment.1. Select the type of cropping system of your experiment. Currently the choices are: Monocrop, Intercrop or Relay crop. 2. Select the crop's common name. If the crop is not listed, select ''Other'' and specify the crop common name. If \"Intercrop\" or \"Relay crop\" are selected, AgroFIMS will require you to add at least 2 crops. To add more, click on \"add crop\". 3. Enter the variety name. You can enter as many varieties as needed.It is not currently possible to import a list of varieties or genotypes. You have to manually enter your list in the text box: Variety name(s)Fieldbook ID is a unique identifier created by AgroFIMS to identify your experiment. It is made of the concatenation of the following information: F_Cropping type_Crop name_Experiment start date_Country. \"F\" stands for Fieldbook in this case.In this section you can specify the design of the experiment and its treatments, levels etc.1. Select the experimental design of your experiment using the drop-down list 2. Select the experimental unit (plot, field, pot) 3. Enter the size of the experimental unit selected 4. Select a unit to express the size of the experimental unit using the dropdown listIt is not possible to design an experiment with only one replication, thus, AgroFIMS requires that you add at least two replications. Currently AgroFIMS does not allow data collection from demonstration experiments and farmer surveys, which may not be replicated. This capability will be developed in v.2.0.A treatment is a combination of factor levels. A factor is a controlled independent variable whose levels are set by the experimenter. Each factor has two or more levels (i.e. two or more different values) 2 .1. Specify the number of treatments and repetitions (or blocks) 2. Select a factor in the list . If the factor is not listed, select ''Other'' and specify the name of the factor. 3. Enter the levels of the factor 4. To add another factor, click on \"Add factor\" 5. For the CRD and RCBD designs, define the treatments by assembling the factors and their levels using the dropdown menus at the bottom of the page.1. Scroll the dropdown menu or start typing the name of the factor; AgroFIMS will narrow down possibilities for you . The factors have been listed using broader categories. This means that if you want to test different amounts of urea, the factor you should select is \"Fertilizer amount\". If you want to test different potato varieties, the factor will be \"Crop variety\". 2. If the factor is not in the list, select ''Other'' and write in the name of the factor in the text box, select the type of input, the unit if needed, and the levels.To allow a wide range of treatments, some factors have been grouped together. For example, the irrigation amount factor has been grouped with the irrigation type factor. This way it is possible to compare different types of irrigation with different amounts (Sprinkler 200ml versus Drip Irrigation 300ml).Note: This is the case for mulch, fertilizer, irrigation, weeding product, crop residue, nutrient element, biotic stress, biotic stress control product.For these factors:1. Select the factor in the list 2. Specify the type of factor 3. Enter the level and their units 4. Click ''add type'', if you need to add another type of the same factorFor this factor you have the possibility to calculate the nutrient amount that will be applied to the field and to specify the management practices.1. Select \"Fertilizer type and amount\" in the factor list.2. Once you have specified the fertilizer type, levels and number of application splits, click on AGROFIMS VERSION1 USER MANUAL| 13 3. A pop-up window will appear. If it is blank, click on 4. Check if the \"Nutrient content in product\" data corresponds to your fertilizer product. Modify the nutrient content in the product if needed. 5. Specify the fertilizer application timing, and the technique and traction used to apply the fertilizer.6. Click on to get the amount of nutrient that will be applied in the field for each level. This information will be displayed in the Protocol tab of the Excel fieldbook and in Trial attributes in KDSmart. Note that this is currently calculated on a per hectare basis; you will need to use this to calculate the amount required for the area over which you are applying the fertilizer.For this factor you have the possibility to calculate the amount of product to be applied in the field and to specify the management practices.1. Select \"Nutrient type and amount\" in the factor list.2. Once you have specified the type, levels and number of splits, click on 3. If the pop-up window is empty, click on 4. Specify the fertilizer product application timing, the technique and traction that will be used to apply the product. 5. Select the product to apply from the list. If the product is not listed, select ''Generic fertilizer''. 6. Check if the \"Nutrient content in product\" data corresponds to your fertilizer product. Modify the nutrient content in the product if needed.7. Click on to get the amount of product that must be applied in the field to get the level of nutrient desired. This information will be displayed in the Protocol tab of the Excel fieldbook and in Trial attributes in KDSmart. Note that this is currently calculated on a per hectare basis; you will need to use this to calculate the amount required for the area over which you are applying the fertilizer.Once you have filled information in the Design tab you can click at the bottom right on the page to get a preview of the fieldbook with plot numbers and the treatment assigned to them.In this section you can describe the experimental protocol.1. Select the management practices that will be implemented in the field 2. Fill the information for each of them.The information filled in this section will be exported in the tab Protocol of the Excel file, and will be listed under Trial attributes in KDSmart.If you wish to get information about a management practice that will be done in the field, like the date of sowing or the depth of tillage:1. Select the management practice. 2. Select the management practice to be noted in the field in the box ''To be collected in the field''.Currently, AgroFIMS doesn't allow users to create their own management practices as this would defeat the goal of harmonizing data among experiments. However, we understand that some management practices may be missing from the current lists. Please contact us at agrofims@cgiar.org if you would like to discuss terms or practices you feel should be in AgroFIMS.In this section you can select and describe the measurements to be made on the crops.1. Select a measurement in the drop-down list. You can either scroll through the list or delete the default and type the name of the measurement -the auto-complete feature will select the term if the measurement is in the list. 2. If the drop-down list is empty, it may be that you have forgotten to select a crop. Verify that you have selected a crop in the Crop section. 3. Once you have found your measurement, select it and click on Add measurement. The measurement will be added to the list of measurements for this experiment.4. Indicate on which part of the plant the measurement will be done (parameter measured ), the unit of measurement , the number of times it has to be measured during the season how many samples have to be taken per plot each time and the measurement timing. 5. You can add as many crop measurements as needed.This section is dedicated to the selection of weather measurements to make during the experiment.1. Select a measurement in the drop-down list. You can either scroll through the list or delete the default and type the name of your measurement -the auto-complete feature will select the term if the measurement is in the list.2. Once you have found your measurement, select it and click on . The measurement will be added to the list of measurements for this experiment. 3. You can then indicate its unit, the number of times it has to be measured during the season, and its timing. 4. You can add as many weather measurements as needed.To remove a measurement, click on the cross at the upper right side of the measurement box.This section is dedicated to the selection of soil measurements to make during the experiment.1. Select a measurement in the drop-down list. You can either scroll through the list or delete the default and type the name of your measurement -the auto-complete feature will select the term if the measurement is in the list.2. Once you have found your measurement, select it and click on . The measurement will be added to the list of measurements for this experiment.3. You can then indicate its unit, the depth of the measurement, the number of times it has to be measured during the season, and its timing. 4. You can add as many soil measurements as needed.To remove a measurement, click on the cross at the upper right side of the measurement box.Fieldbooks created in AgroFIMS are saved in the \"Manage\" section of the left-hand panel in AgroFIMS. These saved fieldbooks can be opened for editing.1. Select Fieldbook > Manage in the Menu 2. If you don't see any fieldbook or if you don't find the one you are looking for, click on Refresh 3. It can take some minutes for the experiment to appear in the list. If the experiment is not listed after some time, you can contact us at agrofims@cgiar.org.1. Select Fieldbook > Manage in the Menu. 2. Select the fieldbook you wish to duplicate/edit. Once selected, the fieldbook is highlighted in blue. 3. Click on Edit 4. The fieldbook will be opened in AgroFIMS ready to be edited. To duplicate a fieldbook, modify the experiment name and/or the experiment site and click on Save. 5. Currently, AgroFIMS is not able to save items selected in the dropdown lists. You will have to refill them. We apologize for the inconvenience. We are working on this feature for the next release.To use AgroFIMS fieldbooks with a mobile data collection tool you need to export the fieldbook in a format readable by the mobile application. Currently AgroFIMS is only compatible with the Android mobile application KDSmart.1. To export your fieldbook, select Fieldbook > Export in the Menu.2. In the list of fieldbook, select the one to export.3. If the fieldbook does not appear in the list, click 4. Click 5. A .kdx file will be downloaded to your laptop.6. You can send this file to the data collector or transfer it to the device where KDSmart is installed (via email, a cloud or a direct USB transfer).You can visualize the fieldbook created in AgroFIMS in an Excel file.1. Select Fieldbook > Export on the Menu. 2. In the list of fieldbooks, select the one you wish to export.3. If your fieldbook does not appear in the list, click 4. Click 5. An Excel file will be downloaded to your laptop.In KDSmart the plots can be named either by their number or by the number of their column, row and block.1. Download a trial (cf. KDSmart tutorial).2. Click on the three dots at the top left.3. Select \"Trials\". 7. Select \"Full data\" in Zip.8. Select the folder where you want to store this file 9. Click \"Select Download''.-Via email: from the mobile device, send an email to yourself with the .zip file attached. Open this email on a laptop and download the .zip file.-Via a cloud: on the mobile device, save the .zip file on a cloud-based service (OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive). Open the same cloud-based service on a laptop and download the .zip file.-Via USB transfer: connect the mobile device to a laptop. Save the .zip file on the laptop."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"869ad0d91f2d9f05de87d5d3c16c051d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/037c5394-81a2-4779-abb7-56859729b002/retrieve","id":"1310494335"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"da3b66fc-f08e-4307-88ac-3f0b3ec3eccc","content":"Los cultivos de gran diversidad como el maíz, fríjol y papa incluyen muchas variedades de alto valor público nacional y global, aunque solo algunas tienen sus valores privados reconocidos por los mercados. Esto afecta el estado de conservación de las variedades, el que va desde no estar en riesgo dada la aceptación del mercado, a aquellas con potencial de mercado a desarrollarse, y finalmente aquellas en riesgo de desaparecer de los campos de los agricultores.Se ha ensayado una solución innovadora para este dilema de provisión de bienes públicos, llamada ReSCA, Recompensas por los Servicios de Conservación de la Agrobiodiversidad (ver Cuadro 1). ReSCA usa los conceptos probados de pagos por servicios ecosistémicos, PSE, y los aplica a la gestión de la agrobiodiversidad, recompensando a los agricultores por cultivar un portafolio prioritario de especies/variedades, facilitando el acceso a recursos genéticos en riesgo, contribuyendo a la puesta en práctica de los derechos de los agricultores, y a la distribución equitativa de los beneficios de su utilización. Así, se propicia la diversificación de las estrategias de medios de vida de los agricultores, al añadir a la producción agrícola beneficios por la provisión de servicios públicos de la agrobiodiversidad.2Las aplicaciones exitosas de ReSCA a pequeña escala en varios países han revelado que una limitación importante para la ampliación de las intervenciones es el acceso limitado de los agricultores a las semillas de variedades amenazadas. La semilla de ciertas variedades de cultivos tradicionales puede ser imposible de obtener (por ser tan rara), a pesar del hecho que los agricultores están dispuestos a cultivarla. Algunas veces, el interés de los productores por las variedades amenazadas es tan alto que no se requieren pagar recompensas del tipo ReSCA; únicamente se requiere facilitar acceso a la semilla. En otros casos, las semillas están disponibles en cantidades tan pequeñas que se requieren varias temporadas agrícolas para multiplicarlas en cantidades suficientes para alcanzar las metas de conservación en cuanto a áreas sembradas. Este es un esfuerzo de varios años de actividades de purificación, multiplicación, almacenamiento y mecanismos de intercambio, con desafíos para financiar tales actividades. Es en este contexto que los bancos comunitarios de semillas pueden proporcionar una plataforma crítica para integrar mecanismos de incentivos para la conservación a nivel comunitario como ReSCA, abordar la escasez actual de alguna semilla, y el manejo postcosecha de semillas de alto valor público, mientras se fortalece el papel que ya tienen en la promoción de la conservación de la agrobiodiversidad.Aquí presentamos los resultados preliminares de la Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, Huehuetenango en Guatemala. Se revelan la importancia de los mecanismos de incentivos basados en los conceptos de PSE para apoyar la gestión de los recursos genéticos por las propias comunidades y las importantes funciones que los bancos comunitarios de semilla pueden desempeñar en este contexto.Cuadro 1: Como funciona el Mecanismo de Incentivos ReSCA?Bajo ReSCA, los agricultores son recompensados por el cultivo de recursos genéticos amenazados de alto valor público. Los incentivos se ofrecen a nivel comunitario e involucran concursos competitivos a nivel comunitario. Grupos de productores en diferentes comunidades definen sus condiciones de participación, es decir, qué especies/variedades se deben cultivar a partir de un portfolio prioritario predeterminado, y el tipo y nivel de recompensa que necesitan para cubrir sus costos de oportunidad de participar. Se utilizan los criterios de eficiencia y equidad social, incluyendo género, para seleccionar a las comunidades con las ofertas más atractivas, idealmente hasta el punto en que se alcancen los objetivos de conservación, pero en la práctica más comúnmente hasta el punto en que el presupuesto de conservación se gasta por completo. Los objetivos de conservación se basan en una combinación de (i) áreas cultivadas por raza/variedad-relacionado con el mantenimiento de la diversidad, el flujo de genes y los procesos evolutivos-así como (ii) número de agricultores que las cultivan -relacionado con el conocimiento tradicional y las prácticas culturales-y (iii) número de comunidades -relacionado con la distribución espacial y la resiliencia del paisaje-. Una vez que se han seleccionado las comunidades y se han distribuido las semillas, se realizan visitas de verificación/monitoreo en momentos clave de la temporada agrícola, lo que también brinda oportunidades para que los servicios de extensión brinden asistencia técnica y capacitación, como en la selección de semillas de calidad. Al final de la cosecha se retiene un pequeño porcentaje (generalmente 2-5%) de ésta como semilla para distribuir a otros agricultores en los años siguientes. Las recompensas en especie y definidas por los propios agricultores incluyen, por ejemplo, insumos agrícolas, materiales de construcción y ú ti le s escolares, y son entregados en una ceremonia formal. Estas ceremonias han brindado oportunidades para eventos de alta visibilidad, con la participación de Viceministros y jefes de instituciones nacionales y locales, así apoyando la integración de la agrobiodiversidad en las políticas y estrategias de conservación nacional y local.Mesoamérica es uno de los principales centros de domesticación y diversificación de especies alimenticias en el mundo. Entre ellos, el maíz, que constituye no sólo la base de la dieta sino de la identidad cultural de muchos países de la región, el frijol, importante fuente de proteína vegetal, hortalizas, frutales y raíces como: los chiles, el amaranto, las calabazas, el aguacate, la papaya, el camote y la yuca. La conservación y el uso sostenible de los recursos fitogenéticos de estas, y otros cultivos nativos junto con sus parientes silvestres, son claves para la adaptación de la agricultura no sólo en la región sino también en los demás países que dependen de cultivos de origen mesoamericano para su seguridad alimentaria (Ramirez et al.,  2014 1 ).La Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, donde se implementa el proyecto, es un área con alta diversidad de cultivos de importancia para la seguridad alimentaria, centro de origen primario del maíz (véase Foto 1) y fríjol, y centro de origen secundario de la papa. La densidad poblacional del territorio es de 153 habitantes/km 2 , con una extensión territorial de 1,200 km², en donde convergen ocho de los 23 grupos étnicos existentes en Guatemala. Estos grupos, K'iches, Chalchitecos, Awakatekos, Mestizos, Mames, Akateko, Chuj y Q'anjob'al, los que han sido desplazados y confinados en territorios específicos, y categorizados como minorías, en donde sus derechos son opacados. La tasa de analfabetismo medio es de 52% y el Índice de Desarrollo Humano es del 0.48. La desnutrición crónica es de 74% y el 86% de la población vive en pobreza y pobreza extrema. La vulnerabilidad a cambio climático es alta, debido a la topografía accidentada con porcentajes de pendiente media del 60% y una variabilidad climática extrema.Cada uno de los bancos comunitarios de semillas (son 18, véase Figura 1) se encuentra vinculado a una asociación y/o cooperativa de productores, bajo la gobernanza de un comité local; estos brindan los servicios de recuperación de agrobiodiversidad, resguardo de variedades nativas en caja negra (propiedad del productor) y resguardo de variedades para casos de emergencia.Figura 1: Red de Reservas Comunitarias de Semillas en el área de acción de ASOCUCHLas primeras etapas de ReSCA empezaron hacia finales de 2017, iniciándose con el proceso de priorización de que conservar.El primer paso de la priorización (Figura 2) es definir un portafolio prioritario para la conservación, ya que hay muchos recursos genéticos amenazados pero los recursos económicos para conservarlos son limitados. Así tenemos que elegir cuidadosamente los más \"importantes\" (bajo varios criteriosvéase abajo) para conservar. Con la finalidad de identificar las variedades más amenazadas se aplicó el método 4Celdas (Sthapit et al.,  2006 3 ), un método participativo para identificar los recursos genéticos más importantes dentro de una comunidad a través de un análisis de la cantidad y distribución de las variedades bajo cultivo. Con esta información se pueden identificar los recursos genéticos más raros, sus amenazas y empezar a desarrollar planes de conservación.Como parte de este proceso, se realizaron 10 talleres comunitarios involucrando a 147 agricultores (86 hombres y 61 mujeres) de 10 bancos comunitarios de semillas que cubren un total de 30 comunidades agrícolas de los municipios de Chiantla, Aguacatán, San Juan Ixcoy, Santa Eulalia, Todos Santos Cuchumatan, Concepción Huista y Santiago Petatán. Los participantes fueron invitados a traer muestras de las diferentes variedades de maíz, fríjol y papa al taller. Al inicio del taller, se dibujó una matriz 4Celdas (véase Figura 3) en un papel grande en el piso, en el medio de todos los participantes. Luego se explicó el significado de cada celda (en nuestro caso había nueve y no cuatro celdas, para conseguir información más detallada) y se desarrolló un entendimiento común de la terminología \"mucho\" (>75% del área o número de productores en la comunidad), \"medio\" (>25 hasta <75%) y \"poco\" (<25%). Trabajando por cultivo, cada productor fue invitado a poner cada una de sus muestras en las celdas que ellos consideraron más apropiadas y a partir de una discusión se documentaron las razones para la colocación de las variedades en cada celda, incluyendo los valores de uso hasta llegar a un consenso con los otros participantes, el que abarcaba también el nombre de la variedad. Cuando no hubo muestras de todas las variedades conocidas por la comunidad, se utilizó un papel con el nombre de la variedad (véase Foto 2).Para profundizar sobre las variedades que se encuentran cultivadas por pocos hogares en pocas áreas (celda derecha inferior -Figura 3 4), se buscó ordenar solo éstas en términos del grado de riesgo, a través de la identificación más precisa respecto a cuantas áreas y cuantos productores estaban involucrados en su cultivo (véase Foto 3 4).Agregando los resultados de los 10 talleres, un total de 72 variedades fueron identificadas como cultivadas por pocos hogares en pocas áreas (celda derecha inferior). Estas 72 variedades fueron entonces sujetas a un ordenamiento utilizando una serie de criterios, que incluyeron: presencia en más de uno de los municipios entrevistados; grado de disimilitud (distinto de otros materiales); importancia en términos de seguridad alimentaria (disponibilidad, acceso, uso y estabilidad), nutricional, sociocultural y para adaptación al cambio climático; vulnerabilidad a factores abióticos/bióticos (cambio climático, nuevas enfermedades, plagas) y potencial comercial. Cada factor recibió un valor de 1 (bajo) a 5 (alto), cada uno con un peso igual, por un grupo de expertos, agricultores y técnicos vinculados a los bancos comunitarios de semillas.Como resultado (Tabla 1, p.6), se identificaron ocho variedades de maíz y seis de frijol con un alto nivel de riesgo y se priorizaron para una intervención. Estas ocupaban un área total de apenas 1.56 hectáreas (o 1,230m 2 en promedio por variedad, cultivadas en promedio por 4.2 productores); con algunas que consistían en solo unas matitas o cultivadas por solo 1-2 productores.  Todas las variedades fueron clasificadas por los propios productores en términos de áreas cultivadas y el número de productores involucrados como \"muy, muy poco\", fuera del maíz pinto que fue clasificado como \"muy poco\"Mientras que todavía se tiene que desarrollar un consenso respecto a la definición de una meta de conservación/umbral de riesgo para variedades de maíz y frijol en los Cuchumatanes; en comparación con estimados en otros países, estas variedades están muy por debajo de una meta de 5 ha. cultivadas por variedad y distribuidas entre 50-100 productores.Subetapa 1c: Disponibilidad de semillas suficientes de los recursos genéticos amenazados para la intervención Luego de identificar las 14 variedades prioritarias, se empezó un proceso de identificación de disponibilidad de semillas, lo que anteriormente ha sido una limitante fuerte en otras experiencias ReSCA en otros países. Se siguieron dos estrategias:a) Proveer apoyo a productores que tenían semilla de las variedades prioritarias. Tomando como base la experiencia que posee ASOCUCH en el tema, desde junio 2017 (considerando que las fechas de siembra en la Sierra de los Cuchumatanes se inician en febrero y concluyen en mayo de cada año) se inició la búsqueda de las variedades entre las áreas ya sembradas para acopiar semilla disponible para la siembra del concurso ReSCA. Del total de semillas necesarias para el concurso, aproximadamente 50% se compró a productores no concursantes que le poseían y el 50% restante fue proporcionada por los mismos productores concursantes.b) Feria y Campaña Más Buscados. Durante la IX Feria de Agrobiodiversidad realizada en el mes de noviembre 2017 a donde asistieron más de 2,000 agricultores de la Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, se lanzó la Campaña de los Más Buscados, generando un afiche (véase Figura 4) que mostraba las variedades prioritarias e informando a los representantes de los bancos comunitarios de semillas sobre los resultados obtenidos en los talleres realizados previamente. Esta campaña permitió que agricultores de otras comunidades pudieran ubicar los materiales y facilitar la compra por el proyecto de por lo menos unas cinco variedades de las más raras.Durante los talleres de priorización se anunció el concurso, se explicó cómo participar, se indicó el apoyo en la elaboración de ofertas informadas y se hizo la selección de ofertas. Se recibieron 11 propuestas con un valor total de aproximadamente USD7,850 (Q.57,285) involucrando 11 de las 14 variedades prioritarias, provenientes de siete comunidades y 102 productores. El rango del valor de las ofertas fue entre USD 819 -2,485/ha p.a. (Tabla 2, p.8) Dado que el presupuesto total para recompensas fue limitado a USD6,650 (Q.48,535) se utilizó un modelo de programación lineal para maximizar tanto el área bajo conservación como la equidad (fondos de conservación distribuidos a lo largo del mayor número de productores/as y comunidades posibles). Como resultado solo fue posible seleccionar y hacer contratos con 6 de las comunidades, involucrando 90 productores, de los cuales 33% fueron mujeres y cubriendo solo 9 de las 11 variedades que recibieron ofertas.  Las etapas 6-10 de entrega de semillas [véase Fotos 4 y 5], visitas de apoyo, monitoreo y verificación fueron todas realizadas durante los meses de enero a mayo 2018 por los técnicos de ASOCUCH. Estas visitas incluyeron asistencia técnica a 150 agricultores en los procesos de cosecha y clasificación de semillas.Una ceremonia de entrega de recompensas y reconocimiento del trabajo de los agricultores involucrados en el RESCA fue realizada en junio 2018 durante la III Feria de Agrobiodiversidad en Todos Santos Cuchumatán, con participación de más de 600 agricultores de la Sierra de los Cuchumatanes (véase Fotos 6 y 7). Las recompensas solicitadas por las propias comunidades (y por condición del contrato ReSCA, solo en especie) incluyeron fertilizantes, insecticidas, fungicidas, toneles plásticos con tapa y materiales de construcción. También se aprovechó de la presencia de los agricultores en el evento para realizar un taller con los representantes de los grupos que concursaron. En el taller se obtuvo información postcosecha respecto a la percepción de los productores y la importancia de las variedades amenazadas en su alimentación, el desempeño de las variedades comparadas a lo que comúnmente siembran (en términos de sabor, cocción, rendimiento, preferencias de consumo, resistencia a plagas y enfermedades, y potencial comercial), al grado en que ellos han compartido la semilla con otros, los beneficios logrados (fuera de las recompensas en sí) y su evaluación del proyecto ReSCA. Los resultados fueron muy positivos (el 7% de la cosecha se guardó como semilla para sembrar de nuevo y el 100% de los productores expreso en la evaluación que participaría otra vez en experiencias ReSCA) -también véase una entrevista video 4 con uno de los productores.4 Parte 1: https://1drv.ms/v/s!Al7d_1L8pQXLhKNWp5LvlGAp7VdO-gParte 2: https://1drv.ms/v/s!Al7d_1L8pQXLhKNXc1u6E82cHggqNQ Al final de la campaña se cosecharon casi 6,200 libras de siete de las nueve variedades con contratos ReSCA, las otras dos variedades, maíz crema y frijol negro de enredo, fueron afectadaos por la sequía. De la cosecha, 77% fue destinada para consumo propio, 7% guardado como semilla para uso propio la que en la siguiente temporada se plantó en 3.8 ha, más las 48 libras que estos mismos agricultores proporcionaron a otros productores nuevos que fueron suficientes para cubrir 0.4 ha adicionales y finalmente el 15% entregado a los bancos comunitarios de semillas, los que distribuyeron semilla a otros productores afiliados, suficiente semilla para cubrir 8ha.Así, después de dos temporadas, el mecanismo ReSCA ha resultado en aumentar el área bajo cultivo de estas variedades de 1.6 ha. hasta 12.2 ha. (3.8+0.4+8), o sea un aumento del 780% en términos de área (véase la foto de cubierta).A pesar del hecho que todavía estas variedades prioritarias para la conservación se encuentran lejos del umbral de \"no estar en riesgo\", hay buenas perspectivas que el área total cultivada bajo estas variedades y el número de productores involucrados continuarán creciendo a través de la diseminación de semilla a nuevos productores sin pago de recompensas. En este sentido, es interesante notar que durante la X Feria de Agrobiodiversidad (noviembre 2018), se colocó un stand con muestras de los seis bancos comunitarios de semillas que produjeron las nueve variedades de maíz y frijol que fueron priorizadas y reproducidas por los agricultores, logrando distribuir a 234 agricultores muestras de semillas (100 semillas) de las variedades siguientes: 64 agricultores recibieron maíz rojo negro, 59 agricultores recibieron maíz salpor, 62 agricultores recibieron maíz pinto y 49 agricultores recibieron maíz negro de 4 meses (véase Fotos 8 -10). Con esta acción se inició otro proceso de diseminación de semillas raras y apreciadas por los agricultores, las cuales poseen tolerancia a condiciones climáticas extremas, buenos rendimientos, características de aceptabilidad como buen sabor y que por algún motivo se han perdido y/o disminuido su presencia en el área de acción de los bancos de semillas.1. Nuestra iniciativa de ReSCA en el contexto de instituciones de acción colectiva bien desarrolladas con experiencia en el manejo de sistemas de semillas ha demostrado claramente el potencial para superar muchos de los desafíos respecto el manejo de la semilla que ReSCA ha enfrentado en otros lugares. El resultado en esta fase inicial ha sido un aumento significativo en el área bajo variedades amenazadas (780% en dos temporadas agrícolas), además del desarrollo de las capacidades locales respecto a la conservación de los recursos genéticos.No obstante, en los Cuchumatanes se requiere continuar con ReSCA durante los próximos años para consolidar el trabajo existente y expandirlo a las otras variedades amenazadas que se identificaron a través del Método de 4Celdas. Las metas de conservación para las 14 variedades (de las cuales solo 7 se han cultivado exitosamente bajo ReSCA hasta el momento) que se identificaron como una prioridad para la intervención inicial 2017/18 aún no se ha logrado. Además, hace falta expandir del mecanismo de incentivos para incluir las otras 58 variedades de maíz, fríjoles y papa identificadas como en riesgo. La capacitación en el enfoque ReSCA también debe proporcionarse a los agentes de extensión del gobierno fuera del área inmediata de operación de ASOCUCH, con miras a apoyar una ampliación del ámbito de implementación tanto en el Departamento de Huehuetenango como en Guatemala en general.Para complementar este esfuerzo ASOCUCH tiene planes de proporcionar al banco nacional de germoplasma ICTA (Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Agrícolas) 2.2 libras de cada variedad rescatada, junto con los datos de pasaporte relacionados, para garantizar la existencia de un respaldo almacenado a largo plazo. Así, otro beneficio de ReSCA es apoyar la complementariedad entre las estrategias de conservación in situ -ex situ al permitir que los bancos comunitarios de semilla proporcionen materiales raros a las colecciones nacionales que podrían no haberse descubierto bajo misiones de colecta convencionales. Esta función de los bancos comunitarios de semilla como una fuente potencial de materiales raros resalta la importancia de los sistemas locales de semillas y la necesidad de continuar con el proceso de cabildeo político con el Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Alimentación para su reconocimiento y apoyo. Esta intervención es parte del programa de trabajo de Bioversity International sobre Economía de la Conservación y Uso Sostenible de los Recursos Genéticos en colaboración con La Asociación de Organizaciones de los Cucumatanes (ASOCUCH) y los bancos de semillas de productores de las siguientes organizaciones: Cooperativa Joya Hermosa de las Tres Cruces R.L. (Banco de Semillas Climentoro), Asociación ADAT (Banco de Semillas Chanchimil), Asociación ADIPY (Banco de Semillas Secheu), Asociación AMEDIPK (Banco de Semillas Paijala), Asociación ICUZONDEHUE (Banco de Semillas San Francisco las Flores) y la Cooperativa Axola (Banco de Semillas Petatán). Esta investigación se realizó como parte de, y fue financiada por, el Programa de Investigación de CGIAR sobre Politicas, Instituciones y Mercados y fue apoyada por contribuyentes al Fondo Fiduciario del CGIAR. Tambien fue financiada por el Fondo de Desarrollo de Noruega y a USC Canadá. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3f78e56c61f27fedc3aa20cc7c1c64f9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c9b6d9d5-c831-497a-b163-98cc2be2d52c/retrieve","id":"-715303743"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b1b1c657-ea27-4f35-a18b-94165834b587","content":"Memorandum of Agreement was signed between the Government of Odisha and WorldFish that formed a collaboration between WorldFish and the Fisheries & Animal Resources Development (FARD) Department. As per the terms of the agreement, WorldFish would provide technical support to the FARD Department from July 2016 to March 2022 in order to implement the government's Odisha Fisheries Policy (2015) across the state of Odisha.Sustainable aquaculture and fisheries in Odisha, India, through technical collaboration with the Fisheries and Animal Resources Development DepartmentFisheries and Animal Resources Development Department, Government of Odisha, IndiaJuly 2016-March 2022Government GIFT Tilapia hatchery, Kausalyaganga (left), GIFT Tilapia seed (right).Approximately 9229 women SHGs received training and farmgate extension services on nutrition-sensitive fish farming in Gram Panchayat (GP) tanks on longterm leases. This helped empower more than 92,000 women members of the SHGs under Mission Shakti by increasing their incomes through the sale of large carps and through household consumption of small indigenous fish, specifically mohurali (mola). On average, the SHGs are now making a net annual income of INR 154,000/ha from farming fish in the GP tanks.2. In 2020, in collaboration with PFCS/SHGs, the Government of Odisha rolled out an investor friendly, and socially equitable and environmentally sound, \"single window clearance\" policy for fish farmers, private entrepreneurs, and companies to undertake cage culture in reservoirs. A total of 101 sub-zones were allotted to 96 entrepreneurs for them to take up cage culture on a \"lease-install-operate\" basis in the Hirakud reservoir and, two years later, the entrepreneurs had installed 213 cages (69 circular cages in 23 subzones and 144 rectangular cages in 6 subzones). WorldFish supported the effort by providing them with support in adopting technology for commercial-scale cage culture. Overall, reservoir cage culture in Odisha has the potential to add as much as 125,000 t of fish to the state's fish basket.3. In all 138 reservoirs of the state, the program made reservoir fingerling stocking and fish production more efficient and effective by using a community-based, co-management approach and strictly implementing standard operating procedures. This empowered local fishers with greater fish catches from reservoirs and improved household incomes and nutrition. In addition, a reservoir atlas was prepared to help manage reservoir fisheries resources, both now and in the future.4. To achieve self-sufficiency in fish seed production, the Master Plan for Fish Seed Production was prepared in 2019-2020. As a result, adoption of early breeding of Indian major carps was successfully introduced, Photo credit: Arun Padiyar/WorldFish and four government/OPDC hatcheries were upgraded to mega hatcheries. In addition, introducing genetically improved varieties such as jayanti rohu, catla and amur common carp improved early breeding and seed quality in 49 private hatcheries.5. Technical support was provided for lateral expansion of freshwater aquaculture through Matsya Pokhari Yojana and PMMSY, under which more than 6689 ha of new fishponds were excavated over the past 3 years. To this end, beneficiary farmers received district-and block-level training on better management practices for sustainable and profitable fish farming.6. To increase farmer profits and resilience to climate change, several measures were used to successfully promote crop diversification. A state-of-the-art GIFT hatchery was set up at the government fish seed farm in Kausalyaganga, amur carp seed production was introduced in 11 government hatcheries, and four GIFT hatcheries were established by the private sector. In addition, farmers were given demonstrations on best practices for GIFT production in over 250 acres of farms and were provided with support on how to create market links.7. Nutrition-sensitive carp-mola polyculture was widely promoted throughout Odisha in various types of water bodies, such as GP tanks, private tanks, backyard tanks and and agricultural farm ponds. The goal was to make nutritional gains, especially among vulnerable and tribal communities in the state. To accomplish this, the government brought out suitable schemes for promoting polyculture fish farming system in 10,000 agricultural farm ponds on an annual basis.8. In the freshwater and brackish water sectors, biofloc and polyliners were introduced to jumpstart intensive aquaculture. At total of 7080 biofloc tanks were installed in all 30 districts, and more than 1838 farmers, entrepreneurs and youths were trained to take up this activity.conducted in order to understand ground-level impacts achieved in the fisheries and aquaculture sector as a result of the technical collaboration between WorldFish and the FARD Department. 12. Support was provided to effectively implement a fishing ban in olive ridley turtle nesting sites in three rivermouths and the Bhitarkanika marine wildlife sanctuary along the coast of Odisha. This was done by integrating GIS-based mapping in the Fisher Friend Mobile Application of the department with the GPS navigation systems of the fishing vessels.13. A third party \"Impact assessment study of the FARD-WorldFish technical collaboration\" was impact assessment study of the Odisha-WorldFish Project wasWomen SHG members farming fish in Gram Panchayat tanks (left), Photo 4: Nutritious Small Indigenous Fish (right). Currently, WorldFish is providing technical support to the FARD Department with two externally funded projects:1. The Taking Nutrition-Sensitive Carp-SIS Polyculture Technology to Scale project is supported by the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) in Germany and will be implemented over 3 years (2021)(2022)(2023)(2024). It focuses on developing and disseminating hatchery seed production technology for small indigenous fish species, including mola.2. The One CGIAR Resilient Aquatic Food Systems for Healthy People and Planet (RAqFS) project is funded by the CGIAR Trust Fund and is also a 3-year program (2022)(2023)(2024)(2025). For this project, WorldFish is supporting the FARD Department, as well as other line departments (WCD, Mission Shakti, Water Resources-OIIPCRA project) with implementing fisheries sector development programs, as per the requirements and guidance of the government."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ab62fa5ec413c01e6935611378135a3f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ef38a4bb-08c3-4b93-ad8b-ecc77361fd72/retrieve","id":"1367341057"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"945ea6f3-ddfe-4581-8189-425f142173eb","content":"The crop: Durum wheat • It is the 10 th most important crop in the World • 16 million hectares (70% rainfed) • 40 million tons • The program targets 8.5 M ha of cultivation • 150 varieties across 23 countries • It is a staple and a cash crop Mediterranean seasonal variation is the normSimulate it with across environment testing MET  Where to find adaptation: genebank• It is a \"biblical\" crop• Emmer was domesticated over 10,000 years ago From 1% to 1.8%: a revised program "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7d89d8aed70204a9accda021b4978502","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/69e59a63-e54a-4ad0-9300-68c55145acad/retrieve","id":"-767461393"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ee502818-085b-4772-a58c-1804e105ef53","content":"A recent ex ante impact assessment indicates that orangefleshed sweetpotatoes can make a major contribution to alleviating vitamin A malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa. Replacing the white-fleshed varieties now grown by farmers with new high ß-carotene cultivars that meet local preferences would benefit an estimated 50 million children under age 6 who are currently at risk. The majority of children in Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda would benefit, as would about half of the children in Tanzania. Children in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa would also be affected, though to a lesser degree. The study did not take into account the benefits of the new cultivars to pregnant and lactating women, a population whose health is also likely to improve from the availability of the new plant types. Vitamin A deficiency is a major public health problem throughout the region and is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths annually among young children.During the past 20 years, nutritionists in several developing countries have assembled compelling evidence that many children (especially young ones) and adults lack adequate essential vitamins and minerals in their diets (United Nations, 1997). Deficiency in vitamin A is one of the most prevalent problems, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The functional consequences of vitamin A deficiency are dramatic: \"Severe Vitamin A deficiency has very high fatality rates (60%) but even sub-clinical deficiency is associated with a 23% increase in preschooler mortality in areas with endemic Vitamin A deficiency\" (McGuire, 1993).Consequently, a massive international effort has been underway since the early 1990s to combat vitamin A deficiency. Emphasis in many countries was initially placed on supplementation programs, in the belief that distribution of vitamin capsules could solve the problem quickly. However, experience has shown that although supplementation can be cost-effective, it must be repeated every six months. Thus, in many countries with poorly developed health and road infrastructure, supplementation can be logistically difficult to implement, and has mostly been sustained only through continued financial support from outside donors.A second approach, that of fortifying common foods with a micronutrient, has been used successfully in some instances. But in countries where markets for foods are not well developed, it has been difficult to identify appropriate foods to fortify in order to reach the consumers who are most at risk. Moreover, legal infrastructure has to be sufficiently strong to ensure that manufacturers comply with fortification laws.A third approach is to improve dietary quality and quantity through diversification. The goal is to achieve and maintain an adequate intake of micronutrient-rich foods in the context of an adequate total diet (World Health Organization, 1996). Food-based approaches require an inter-sectoral perspective, which means providing agricultural and educational inputs, with an awareness of cultural, socio-economic, market and health conditions. Some components, such as home gardens and introduction of new crops, have not always measured up to expectations, but, in general, donors and governments have invested only limited resources in food-based approaches that may prove to be the most sustainable of the various interventions (Ruel and Levin, 2000).In most countries, a mix of the three approaches is practiced. The focus of this paper is on the potential contribution in the medium term of one crop, sweetpotato, for increasing vitamin A intake in Sub-Saharan Africa as part of a food-based intervention.Few foods are rich in vitamin A. Some animal foods, such as fish oils, liver, milk, eggs and butter, contain vitamin A in its true form (also called retinol) which can be used directly and easily by the human body. But the rural and urban poor in developing countries have only limited access to these expensive vitamin A-rich animal foods. Although plant foods and vegetables do not contain vitamin A as such, they do contain precursors, or pro-vitamin A -ß-carotene and other carotenoids -that the human body can convert to vitamin A. Considerable effort has therefore been made to promote improved pro-vitamin A intake through increased consumption and improved storage and preparation of a variety of suitable plant sources of these compounds.Orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes have emerged as one of the most promising plant sources of ß-carotene (Hagenimana and Low, 2000). A 100-g serving (about half a cupful) of boiled roots can supply about 50% of the daily vitamin A requirement of a young child. Weight for weight, current varieties of orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes contain 20-30 times more ß-carotene than does Golden Rice® (Ye et al, 2000). Sweetpotato varieties common in the USA have deep-orange flesh, but those grown in Sub-Saharan Africa have white flesh, and contain no pro-vitamin A. It is the prospect of going from nothing to a very sizeable something that fuels interest in orange-fleshed sweetpotato.Traditionally, orange-flesh has been associated with low dry matter, but the strong preference in Sub-Saharan Africa is for types with higher dry matter. Sufficient progress has now been made via conventional plant breeding to break the link between flesh color and dry matter, and more orange-fleshed sweetpotato varieties with higher dry matter are becoming available (Dapeng Zhang, CIP, personal communication, 2001).A high level of pro-vitamin A in a crop does not automatically confer improved nutritional status. Absorption depends on the health status of the individual (for example, persons infected with worms absorb less than those not infested), and the presence of inhibitors (such as fiber) and enhancers (such as fat) determines the effectiveness with which ß-carotene is converted into vitamin A (de Pee, 1999). Provitamin A from dark-orange fleshy fruits and vegetables (such as ripe mango, papaya or sweetpotato, but not oranges), appears to be more bio-available (absorbed and utilized) than does pro-vitamin A from dark leafy greens (de Pee et al, 1995(de Pee et al, , 1998;;Khan et al, 1997;Jalal et al, 1998). 1   Because vitamin A is stored in the liver, measuring bio-availability is difficult. One of the few clinical trials undertaken in developing countries did use sweetpotatoes as a source of pro-vitamin A (Jalal et al, 1998). The trial (Figure 1) showed that incorporating orangefleshed sweetpotatoes into the diet given to 3-6 year olds who were 1 Until recently, the commonly used conversion factors for estimating vitamin A intake reflected the higher bio-availability of animal sources of vitamin A over plant sources: • 1 retinol equivalent (RE) = 1 µg retinol from animal sources • 1 RE = 6 µg all-trans ß-carotene In particular, the ß-carotene:retinol equivalency of purified ß-carotene in oil was about 2:1 and it was thought that 3 µg of dietary ß-carotene was equivalent to 1 µg of purified ß-carotene in oil (NRC, 1989). Recent work among school children in Indonesia and breastfeeding women in Vietnam, which compared the increase in serum retinol resulting from feeding different types of foods, calculated the following apparent conversion factors: • Retinol-rich foods (animal sources): 1 RE = 1 µg retinol • Fruits, pumpkin, orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes: 1 RE = 12 µg ß-carotene • Dark-green leafy vegetables or carrots: 1 RE = 26 µg ß-carotene In response to these new findings, in 2001 a new conversion unit -retinol activity equivalent (RAE) -was established, with a conversion rate of 1 RAE = 1 µg retinol = 12 µg ß-carotene (Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board, 2001). Not all evidence supports a lower conversion rate (Takyi, 1999). marginally deficient in vitamin A significantly increased serum retinol concentrations (ie,. improved vitamin A status), by about the same amount as a treatment comprising a drug for worms and added fat in the diet. But a combination of improved ß-carotene intake, added fat and improved health had a greater effect than either of these treatments alone.In addition, an 18-month village-level pilot study undertaken in western Kenya confirmed that potential exists to successfully substitute ß-carotene-rich sweetpotatoes for the white-fleshed sweetpotatoes in the diets of young children in that region (Low, et al, 1997;Hagenimana et al, 1999).Introducing a marginal change in the diet (such as switching varieties) is likely to be easier than introducing a completely new food. Therefore, the potential medium-term impact of orange-fleshed sweetpotato in Sub-Saharan Africa is a function of the area currently under sweetpotato production 2 . This paper examines the potential to meet the intake needs of young children at risk of vitamin A deficiency in Sub-Saharan Africa, based on a spatial evaluation of where sweetpotatoes are being produced. In particular, we address the question: Is sweetpotato availability per person sufficiently large to warrant optimism that substituting orange-fleshed for white-fleshed varieties will result in significant improvements in pro-vitamin A intake? Because sweetpotato is widely perceived to be a secondary food crop that is produced seasonally in only parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, responses to this question are not trivial. The calculation on the potential impact of orange-fleshed sweetpotato varieties on pro-vitamin A status is driven by supply and demand assumptions. The framework for analysis is a geographic information system (GIS) that permits a disaggregated spatial evaluation of per capita production of sweetpotato. The unit of observation is a grid cell of 2.5 x 2.5 arc-minutes (about 5 x 5 km).The supply and demand assumptions are listed in Table 1. Population data were taken from the 2.5-minute Global gridded population database for the year 1995 (CIESIN, 2000). We used a global geo-referenced database of sweetpotato area for 1997-99 (Huaccho and Hijmans, 2000;Hijmans et al, 2001). For a uniform treatment across countries, this database (with a few exceptions). combines national total area estimates from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with more disaggregate information on the distribution of the relative sweetpotato growing area across administrative units or production zones 3 . The polygons from the sweetpotato database were transferred to the 2.5-minute grid. As these grid cells are rather small in relation to the precision of the sweetpotato database, the data were smoothed across the grid cells, to allow for the consumption of produce outside, but near to, production zones. For many households, particularly those located in towns and cities, purchasing sweetpotato in the market will be the principal means to tap the potential of the orange-fleshed varieties. By dividing the sweetpotato area and the population grids we obtained a new grid with the sweetpotato area per capita for each grid cell. From this new grid, the distribution of sweetpotato area per capita over the population was determined for each country.National yield estimates are also taken from the FAO production database. Because sweetpotato does not store well once harvested, and throughout Sub-Saharan Africa is usually eaten in boiled form after peeling, post-harvest and peeling losses have to be factored into the calculation. For example, for the case of Kenya with an estimated national yield of 10 t/ha, the net yield available for the supply of provitamin A is assumed to be 6.5 t/ha (Table 1).The assumptions made in Table 1 about the pro-vitamin A content of orange-fleshed sweetpotato and about demand are based largely on the aforementioned pilot project focusing on the introduction of orange-fleshed varieties to women's groups in rural South Nyanza, western Kenya (Low et al, 1997). We assume that the orangefleshed varieties supply 350 RAE (retinol activity equivalents) per 100 g fresh matter. This is equivalent to about 4200 µg of ß-carotene per 100 g fresh matter, which is about 50% of the ß-carotene content of cooked sweetpotato in the USA (Holden et al, 1999). Cooking losses further reduce the pro-vitamin A content of the orange-fleshed varieties. Therefore, we assume that the net supply of pro-vitamin A available from orange-fleshed varieties is 228 RAE per 100 g of edible matter (Table 1).The other supply-related element in Table 1 is seasonal availability. Sweetpotato is a perishable secondary crop of seasonal importance 3 Data collection on sweetpotato by national systems is weak and production is typically under-reported in countries where it is a secondary food crop (most of southern Africa, for example), especially when it is intercropped. For instance, most of what figures as potato in Malawi is really sweetpotato. In 2000 or 2001, FAO revised upward the estimated sweetpotato-growing area in Nigeria in the late 1990s, from 5000 to 378,000 ha! In Mozambique, the first census of agriculture shows that about 45% of rural farm households cultivate some sweetpotato; the existing national data show an area of only 8000 ha. Typically, data are most reliable in countries where sweetpotato is a major staple. Therefore, results outside East Africa should be interpreted with caution. in many regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. Piecemeal harvesting is a common practice that increases the length of the availability of the crop to the farm household. Piecemeal harvesting of the improved varieties begins two-three months after planting and often continues for five-seven months. In bimodal rainfall areas two cropping seasons are common, and in parts of the East African highlands where rainfall is less seasonally distributed sweetpotato can be cultivated throughout the year. Even in relatively isolated rural markets seasonal availability may be more than five months. Like several of the supply-related assumptions in Table 1, this one is judged to be conservative.Because of the lack of information on the geographic incidence of vitamin A deficiency, we address the issue of adequacy more generally, from the perspective of percentage of recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for the most vulnerable group: children aged between six months and six years. We assume that young children make up 20% of the population in each grid cell. Using the Helen Keller method as an approximation, Low et al (1997) found that about 20% of young children were judged to have an 'adequate' intake of vitamin A; the vulnerable group is therefore 80% of young children, or 16% of the total population. Finally, we assume that vitamin-A-malnourished young children consume half as much sweetpotato per day than do other age groups. 4   Collectively, the assumptions in Table 1 result in the summary relationship between per capita production of sweetpotato and provitamin A intake (relative to RDA) that is described in Figure 2. With the full replacement of white-fleshed varieties with orange-fleshed ones, the increasing per capita production of sweetpotato linearly contributes to vitamin A adequacy until production reaches about 30 kg/person. This 'full-impact' level satisfies about 40% of the annual RDA. Beyond 30 kg/person the attainment of adequacy bumps up against the seasonal constraint of five-month availability. 5 4 We are not aware of dietary surveys on individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa that show age by gender consumption of sweetpotato. Our assumption is based on Ryan et al (1984) who conducted dietary surveys on a sample of 240 households in six villages on the Deccan Plateau of India. Across about 15 commodity groups, the per capita intake per day of young children aged 1-6 was about 50% of that of older children, adolescents, and adults. 5 Only a full substitution scenario is specified to assess potential. It is unrealistic to think that orange-fleshed varieties will replace all white-fleshed varieties now grown by farmers. However, farm surveys have shown that varietal change is very dynamic as even subsistence producers are rapidly turning over native varieties. One variety, called Tanzania, has spread throughout East Africa and is also penetrating into southern Africa. Partial adoption scenarios could be specified but with the existing information they would not be that informative and merely fractions of the full adoption scenario. More definitive analysis of expected benefits must await the completion of more pilot-site or larger intervention projects.The above calculation was carried out for the five countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda) invited to participate initially in the Vitamin A for Africa (VITAA) Partnership that focuses on orange-fleshed sweetpotato in a food-based approach (CIP, 2001). Rwanda and Burundi were also included because they have the highest per capita production of sweetpotato in Sub-Saharan Africa. Per capita production is also high in Uganda. In Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia, sweetpotato is regionally important, but in Ethiopia, according to FAO, production levels are very low -considerably less than government data suggest. South Africa has the lowest per capita production.As expected, per capita production in Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda is sufficiently high to make a large dent in the problem of vitamin A deficiency. The pro-vitamin A intake approaches a full-impact 40% of RDA in each of the three countries (Table 2). 6 In Tanzania, about half of the population at risk attains the full-impact outcome. In Kenya, the bulk of the population at risk still benefits somewhat from the replacement of the white-fleshed with the orange-fleshed varieties. In Ethiopia and South Africa, the mean intake increases by only a modest 2% of RDA; however, about one-third of the population at risk in each country experiences a rise in intake. Across the seven countries, about one-third of the population at risk receives the 6 As a point of reference, the average estimates of simulated impact for the countries in Table 2 can be compared with somewhat similar estimates for the replacement of existing rice varieties with Golden Rice cultivars (Robertson et al, 2001). This application centers on the island of Cebu in the Philippines and is based on a longitudinal health and nutrition survey. Both rice and white flint maize are important staples in Cebu. Full replacement of ordinary rice with Golden Rice (with a future potential level of 200 µg ß-carotene per 100 g rice) results in an improved pro-vitamin A intake of about 6% of RDA for the bottom asset quintile of children aged 10-12 that were followed in the longitudinal survey. Because richer households eat proportionally more rice than do poorer households, the increase in %RDA (of about 13%) was highest for the top quintile. The impact of switching from white to yellow maize was an increase of 4% of RDA for the low quintile and of less than 2% for the top quintile. increase to 40% of RDA, one-third receives a partial benefit, and one-third does not benefit from the switch to orange-fleshed varieties.Unless covered by supplementation or fortification programs, much of this increase in intake will accrue to children who have only very low levels of pro-vitamin A intake. Results from dietary surveys, such as Ryan et al (1984), indicated that it is rare for an individual in semiarid tropics in India to have an intake exceeding 50% RDA.Applying the same 'back-of-the-envelope' calculation to all of Sub-Saharan Africa shows that the potential of orange-fleshed varieties to contribute to solving the problem of vitamin A deficiency is greatest in the Lake Victoria region of the East African highlands (Map 1). We would also expect positive results in Madagascar and parts of southern Africa, and even in some areas of West Africa. About 10 million children (about 10% of the population at risk in Sub-Saharan Africa) would receive the full benefit of an increase in pro-vitamin A How sensitive are these results to the assumptions made in Table 1? We have not explored this issue thoroughly, but we carried out a sensitivity analysis for two of the important variables: the assumptions that seasonal availability is five months, and that the pro-vitamin A content of orange-fleshed varieties is 350 RAE/100 g.The seasonal availability assumption could be unduly restrictive so we relaxed this assumption by considering longer periods including all 12 months of the year. If sweetpotato is available (or can be made available) for a longer period in the high per capita production countries of Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda, then the potential role played by orange-fleshed varieties is substantially greater than our calculations indicate (Figure 3). Seasonally smoothing the existing level of production in these sweetpotato-dense countries (and to a lesser extent in Tanzania) will substantially improve vitamin A nutrition. In the other three countries, production per capita is not sufficiently high to derive gains from extending seasonal availability without increasing production.In contrast, the goal of increasing the pro-vitamin A content of the orange-fleshed varieties will generate more benefits to groups at risk in regions with moderate production levels than to similar groups in geographic areas with high per capita production (Figure 4). But even for the 'intermediate' countries of Tanzania and Kenya, returns to investing in breeding to improve pro-vitamin A content of orangefleshed materials are diminishing. The data in Figure 4 suggest that 150-200 RAE/100 g fresh matter is a critical threshold level that cultivars require if they are to have much impact, particularly in high per capita production regions. Figure 4 is good news to plant breeders because it shows that levels of pro-vitamin A in orangefleshed materials do not have to be that high to have potential for impact.These preliminary calculations demonstrate the promise for orangefleshed sweetpotatoes to contribute to a food-based approach to tackling the problem of vitamin A deficiency in Sub-Saharan Africa. In many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa there is sufficient per capita production of sweetpotato to be optimistic about the potential of These estimates also suggest that increasing the availability of sweetpotato across seasons of the year will be more effective in improving nutritional status than will augmenting the pro-vitamin A content of orange-fleshed sweetpotato. Indeed, it seems that orangefleshed materials do not have to be that 'orange' to make practical impact.These calculations can be refined in several ways. Other vulnerable groups, such as pregnant and lactating women, can be considered in the population at risk. Agronomic knowledge can be brought to bear in a GIS-format to sharpen responses to issues regarding the seasonality of production. The nexus between production and market availability could be modeled. However, the pay-off to refinement is largely conditioned by the reliability of area estimates from state statistical reporting agencies.Finally, our estimates indicate only potential. One or more highly focused bio-availability studies are needed to confirm that potential. Investments in breeding, in adaptation and in education programs about orange-flesh sweetpotatoes also need to be viewed in the larger context of more costly direct interventions, such as supplementation and fortification. Ultimately, tapping the potential of orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes hinges on a sustained effort in multilocational varietal testing featuring participatory varietal selection."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2ce8a9bbe4cc8bf9e47aa0ab9dd6db5c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/96300038-184f-435f-99f7-fac6bdba7a84/content","id":"687323483"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6553d198-445c-4984-82a3-c66a1efbcac9","content":"A terminal dry spell is one of the main limiting factors for rice productions. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the effect of supplemental irrigation for managing the impact of terminal dry spells on the productivity of different rice varieties grown under rainfed conditions in the Fogera Plain. The experiment was designed in a split-plot design with water regimes as main plot factors and rice varieties as a subplot factor with three replications. The water regimes were: dry planted rainfed rice (farmers practice) (FP), transplanted but not irrigated (IWOI), transplanted and irrigated to saturation (SAT), transplanted and ponding to 1 cm water (PD1), and transplanted and ponding to 3 cm water (PD2). The rice varieties were: X-Jigna (V1), Edget (V2), Hiber (V3), Fogera-1 (V4), and Nerica-4 (V5). The combined effect of PD2 with V1 had the highest grain yield (t/ha) (4.35 t/ ha) while FP with V3 had the lowest grain yield (2.12 t/ha). The highest (205%) relative grain yield was obtained when V1 was grown under PD2 followed by V4 under PD2 (199%) and V5 under PD2 (192%) compared to FP with V3. Irrigation water productivity (WP IR ) varied between water regimes x varieties from as low as 1.84kg grain mm À1 ha À1 for V3 in FP to as high as the yield of 3.07kg grain mm À1 ha À1 for V1 in PD2. The highest and lowest net benefits were recorded for V1 grown under PD2 (65, 550 ETB) and for V3 grown under TWOI (33, 500 ETB ha À1 ), respectively. Hence, the combined application of 3 cm ponding depth (PD2) with X-Jigna (V1) and 1cm ponding depth with Fogera-1 (V4) rice varieties could be suggested as effective terminal stress management to increase the yield and profitability of rainfed rice in the Fogera Plain and similar agro-ecologies.Worldwide, there is about 151.1 million ha of rainfed lowlands, which contribute 20% of the world's total rice production, and 14 million ha of rainfed uplands, which contribute 4% of the world's total rice production (FAOSTAT, 2019). However, water shortage is a major problem for crop production worldwide, limiting the growth and productivity of many crops, especially in rain-fed agriculture (Passioura, 2007). The dependency on the irregular input of precipitation can cause a shortage of water, commonly known as dry spells (Enfors and Gordon, 2007). The key challenge for lowland rice production is to reduce water-related risks posed by high rainfall variability rather than coping with an absolute lack of water (Rockstr€ om et al., 2007). Rice is introduced to Ethiopia in the early 1980s (Gebey et al., 2012). The average rice productivity in Ethiopia is estimated at 2.81 t ha À1 , which is much lower than the World's average of 4.7 t ha À1 (FAOSTAT, 2019). This is due to multi-fold factors. As reported by Gebey et al. (2012) lowland rice production in Ethiopia is constrained by occasional terminal drought, poor soil fertility, weeds, insect pests and it is also dry spell stress at the late season or due to early cessation of rainfall (Tadesse et al., 2013).Crop yields are often reduced significantly due to the late start and early cessation of rain with long dry spells during the vegetative and reproductive growth stages (Tadross et al., 2009). A dry spell of any length could occur at any stage of crop growth; however, it is potentially detrimental if it coincides with the most sensitive stages such as flowering and grain filling (Stern and Coe, 1984). Rice has been identified as a water deficit susceptible to rainfed and drought-prone areas, showing negative effects, particularly in the booting, flowering, and grain filling stages leading to low crop productivity (Tsuda et al., 2010). Rice plants are the most sensitive to deficit moisture stress during the period about 10 days before flowering to the end of flowering (Yoshida, 1981).The rice-based production system is intimately associated with sustainable water management practices mainly on developing and adopting strategies and practices through efficient use of resources. Such strategies and practices would produce more rice with low input of water (Renault and Facon, 2004). Kima et al. (2014) suggested that the application of 3 cm water depth above soil surface can be recommended to farmers as an alternative to save irrigation water and increase productivity. Similarly, as reported by Khairi et al. (2015) application of irrigation water at saturated to 1 cm ponding in a farmers' field for rice cultivation could be maintained optimal production. Bouman et al. (2005) and Atlin et al. (2006) suggested that the aerobic (saturated moisture level) rice system could be an option for farmers in rainfed lowland rice with a limited or an unreliable distribution of rainfall. More rice with less water can only be achieved through an integration of crop varieties and resource management practices at the field level (Tuong et al., 2005). Supplemental irrigation, the combination of rainfed farming and limited irrigation, are ideal choice for improving crop yield in the moisture-stressed situation (Deng et al., 2006).Supplemental irrigation may be the tool for small-holder farmers to stabilize rainfed farming crop water supply and increase water productivity thereby increasing yields (Fox and Rockstr€ om, 2003). Supplemental irrigation is a key strategy, still underused, for solving rainfed yield potential, and water productivity (Rockstr€ om et al., 2010). Increased water use efficiency (WUE) of field crops was possible through proper irrigation scheduling by providing only the water that matches the crop evapotranspiration and providing irrigation at critical growth stages (Wang et al., 2001). Using a limited amount of water if applied during critical crop growth stages, result in a substantial increase in yield, water productivity, and improving livelihoods in the dry rainfed areas (Oweis and Hachum, 2006).The rainfed-based rice farming in Fogera Plain is concerned with guaranteeing water accessibility at the terminal stage of the crop and subsequently stabilize rainfed rice yield. A major effort for rainfed rice farmers in the study area is to supply water to the rice farm and escape periods of water stress from heading to grain filling stages. Moreover, water access problems especially unable to use ground and river water properly and the lack of promising varieties, are closely linked to water management practices, in influencing the potential for grain yield production. With this intention, rainfed-based rice farmers in the study area need to integrate water management technologies, rice varieties, and rainfall dry spell patterns to overcome water deficit at the most sensitive growth stages of rice and thereby improving productivity. However, the study area lacks previously conducted supplemental irrigation for managing the effect of terminal dry spells studies which are supported by dry spell analysis results and data of the necessary popular rice varieties. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of supplemental irrigation for managing the influence of terminal dry spells on the productivity of different rice varieties grown under rainfed conditions in the Fogera Plain, North-western Ethiopia.The experiment was conducted for two years (main rainy season) of 2017 and 2018 in Fogera District, North-Western Ethiopia. The study area is one of the rice production districts in the Fogera Plain located around the eastern part of Lake Tana Sub-Basin. The experimental site is located between Latitude 11 0 49 0 55 North and Longitude 37 0 37 0 40 East (Figure 1). The altitude of the experimental site is 1815 m above sea level. Monthly rainfall and temperature data from the Woreta metrological station are summarized and presented in Figure 2. The study stations have a mean annual minimum and the maximum temperature of 12.75 C and 27.37 C, respectively with a mean temperature of 20.06 C. The mean annual rainfall of the study district was received at 1320.20mm. The station receives high rainfall in July and August. As the data over the last 32 years show (Figure 2), the rainfall amount is relatively low in June (planting period) and September (flowering to grain filling period of rice). Table 2 presents the main physicochemical soil characteristics and climatic conditions of the experimental site.The experiment was laid out as a split-plot design with two factors, water regimes as the main plot and rice varieties as a subplot with three replications. The water regimes were: dry planted rainfed rice (farmers practice) (FP); transplanted but not irrigated (IWOI), transplanted and irrigated to saturation (SAT), transplanted and ponding to 1 cm water (PD1), and transplanted and ponding to 3 cm water (PD2). The rice varieties were: X-Jigna (V1), Edget (V2), Hiber (V3), Fogera-1 (V4), and Nerica-4 (V5). The size of each gross plot was 4 m  5 m (20 m 2 ) and 20 rows spaced at 22cm and with a gross experimental area of 60 m 2 . The distances between the plots and blocks were 0.5m and 1m, respectively. The outermost rows at both sides of the plots and 0.5m row length at each end of the rows were used as borders. The third, fourth, and fifth rows at one side of the plots were designated for soil moisture measurement while the sixth, seventh, and eighth rows were used to guard the ninth to eighteenth rows which were used as a net plot for final biomass, grain yield, and measurements of yield components.The land was plowed four times and leveled using a shovel, a rake, and a leveling board. The experimental plot bund had 50 cm width and 30 cm height. The outer edge of each ridge was constructed by heavy clay and highly weathered (kaolinite types of clay) soil was compacted using a compaction rod to prevent water flow in and out of the ridges. Kaolinite clay was also mined from the local mine of clay pot makers. After the first leveling, soaking, and puddling, the soil was re-leveled and bund sealing was done. Similarly, ponding ridge construction was done next to the target plot ridge to maintain the water balance and control subsurface water flow out of the target plot during the application of supplementary irrigation. The direct application of irrigation water from the source to the command plot was maintained with 100% conveyance efficiency using plastic hoses. The puddling, bud sealing, and ponding to the minimum level reduced seepage and percolation losses with increased application efficiency. Puddling practice help to decrease seepage and percolation losses (Tomar et al., 2006). The soil is kept close to saturation and ponding to a 1 cm water level, thereby reducing seepage and percolation losses (Bouman et al., 2007). Combined seepage and percolation losses range from 1-5 mm d À1 in heavy clay soils to a massive 25-30 mm d À1 in sandy and sandy-loam soils (Bouman et al., 2005). Supplementary irrigation date was determined based on 32 years of rainfall dry spell length analysis, local farmers' experiences, and daily regular visits of rainfall amount from the nearby weather station during the experimental periods. When the rain stopped and/or greater dry spell at the terminal stage occurred, supplemental irrigation water was pumped from a previously constructed reservoir to the experimental plot through a delivery plastic hose. A valve and volumetric discharge measurement device were installed at the location where the plastic hose enters each plot and were used to control and measure the amount of water needed for each plot. Ponded water depths were measured in each main plot using perforated tubes of 10 cm diameter PVC and were installed in each main plot to 30 cm below the soil surface. The bottom 27 cm of the tubes was perforated with 3 mm-diameter holes at 2 cm intervals to record both above and below the grounds water level above grounds and below the groundwater level.The planting material consisted of five rice varieties out of which four were improved varieties that have nearly similar days of maturity ranging from 110 to 130 days, and the other one was a local variety that has been cultivated by farmers in the study area for a long time. Seeds of the improved rice varieties (Edget, Hiber, Fogera-1, and Nerica-4) were obtained from Fogera National Rice Research Centre whereas seed of the local variety was obtained from farmers in the study area (Table 1). X-Jigna (local variety) is a tall variety 00 , Fogera-1 00 and 00 Nerica-4 00 are medium in stature whereas 00 Edget 00 and 00 Hiber 00 are short varieties. A pregerminated seed was prepared by soaking the seed over 24 h in clean water and then was incubated in a warm moist condition for 48 h by placing it in a sack filled to half its capacity. Sowing pre-germinated seeds was done in the nursery bed. The seedling that reaches 3-4 leaves stage or 20 days age was transplanted after the puddling experimental plot. Dry planting (farmers' practice) and transplanting were done in mid-June and at the end of the first week of July, respectively. Each plot received uniform doses of 69 kg ha À1 of nitrogen using urea (150 kg/ha of 46% nitrogen) and 23 kg ha À1 of phosphorus using diammonium phosphate (100 kg/ha of 18% nitrogen and 23% phosphorus) fertilizer sources. N was applied in two splits, one-third at planting, and two-third at the panicle initiation stage; whereas the full dose of phosphorus was applied at planting. The recommended agronomic practices were implemented based on the fertilizer recommendation of the Fogera national rice research center.The soil water content of the rice field was taken from the depth of 60 cm from the central rows of each plot in two replications. The samples were taken per pit from the four directions of the pit at two depths with a 30 cm interval (0-30 and 30-60 cm) before and after irrigation. Soil water content was determined by gravimetrical method. Gravimetric soil water content was converted into a volumetric basis using a bulk density of soil cores taken from each depth. Based on the soil water data, before irrigation (actual moisture content) and after irrigation (soil in the saturated state) available water in the root zone was also determined (Lopez et al., 1996). Particle density was also determined by the graduated cylinder method (Bashour and Sayegh, 2007). Bulk density (BD) was again determined from the weight of undisturbed (core) soil samples, which were first weighed at field moisture content and then dried in an oven at 105 C to constant weight (Baruah and Barthakur, 1997). The moisture content at ST (soil in the saturated state) was measured at 0 bars soil water potential using the pressure plate apparatus (Klute, 1986). The results were converted into volume percent (Vol%) by multiplying the gravimetric water content by bulk density. Irrigation scheduling was done using the information on crop coefficient (Kc), reference evapotranspiration (ETo) for proper irrigation scheduling. Allen et al. (1998) have presented updated values for crop coefficient and depletion level. Depletion level may vary due to climatic variation hence, numerically adjusted P for ETc rate is P 0 ¼ P presented þ0.04 (5-ETc) where the adjusted P 0 is limited to 0.1 P 0 0.8, ETc is in mm/day. Reference evapotranspiration (ETo), which is an index for the evaporation demand of the atmosphere is estimated from the climatic data using the FAO-Penman Monteith equation (Allen et al., 1998). According to Brower and Heibloem (1986), irrigation water requirement of rice was determined using the following approach:where, _ IRWðmmÞ represents irrigation water requirement (mm); _ DPðmmÞ, depth of ponding (mm); SATðmmÞ; depth of water required to saturate the soil (mm); ET c ðmmÞ, evapotranspiration of the crop (mm), _ SPðmmÞ seepage and percolation losses (mm) (it was safely assumed 1-5 mm d À1 losses (Bouman et al., 2005)); P e ðmmÞ effective rainfall during the period (mm).Initially, before planting, two composite soil samples (0-30 and 30-60 cm) were taken from six random spots across the experimental field with the auger. The soil samples were collected, air-dried, ground, sieved to pass a 2-mm mesh, and composited into one. Soil analysis was carried out from the composite sample in duplicates where soil samples were analyzed for soil texture using Bouyoucos hydrometer method (Bouyoucos, 1962). Total N content in the soil samples was determined titrimetrically following the Kjeldahl method as described by Jackson (1958). The pH of the soil was measured potentiometrically in the supernatant suspension of a 1:2.5 soil to water ratio using a pH meter as described by Chopra and Kanwar (1976). Organic carbon was determined using the wet digestion method (Walkley and Black, 1934) and Extractable P (available P) using the Bray II method (Bray and Kurtz, 1945). Extractable K, Ca, Na, and Mg were determined on the extracts solution with a flame photometer as described by Rowell (1994). The cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the soil was determined using the ammonium acetate method (Hesse, 1972). The electrical conductivity of the soil was measured by conductivity meter from saturation soil paste extracts as described by Rhoades (1996).Daily precipitation, relative humidity, wind speed, sunshine hour, and maximum and minimum air temperature for the site were collected from National Meteorological Agency (NMSA). Daily rainfall data monitoring was also collected during the experiment period from a nearby weather station (Woreta) almost one kilometer away from the experimental site.Grain yield (GY t/ha) and above-ground biomass yield (AGB t/ha) were determined on harvesting the crop of the entire net plot area. Grain yield was represented based on moisture content set at 14%. For the adjusted grain yield ¼ Moisture correction factors x non-adjusted grain yield obtained from each plot is recommended according to Birru (1979) and Mulvaney and Devkota (2020). Moisture correction factor (MCF) was obtained by the following formula:where, _ y is the actual moisture content in% measured by using IRRI rice hand moisture tester instrument, _x is the standard moisture content in % for rice crop. Dry matter accumulation of aboveground biomass was determined on two random spots of 10 hills from the net plot area. Samples plant tissues were dried at 70 C in an electric oven to a constant weight using a forced-draft oven for drying. Harvest index was calculated by using the following formula: HI ¼ (Grain yield)/ (Grain þ aboveground biomass yield) (Rahman, 1984;Fageria et al., 2011).Irrigation water productivity (WP IP ) was calculated as: WP IP ¼ GY SIþRF ; where, WP IP represents irrigation water productivity (mm); _ GY, grain yield kg/ha; _ SI, supplemental irrigation water (mm); _ RF, rainfall (mm). Whereas incremental irrigation water productivity (IWP IP ) was assessed using the following formula: IWP IP ¼ YIÀYN IR ; where, _ YI, irrigated rice yield (kg/ha); _ YN, (non irrigated) rainfed rice yield (kg/ha); _ IR, irrigation depth of water (mm) (Cabangon et al., 2003).Daily rainfall data was employed for dry spell analysis using the firstorder Markov Chain Model (The Instant Statistical Program (Version 3.37) (Stern et al., 2006).Data collected for economic analyses include the two experimental years' average labor cost of nursery management, transplanting and puddling labor cost, the labor cost of pumping water, water pump rent cost, and seed cost. Thus the average price for different rice seeds was 23 Birr kg À1 . Labor cost for nursery management, transplanting, and puddling labor cost, the labor cost of pumping water was 100 birr per man, per day. The cost of water pump rent was 250 birr a day. The average grain was adjusted by 10%. A partial budget analysis was conducted to evaluate the economic feasibility of the different water regimes þ rice varieties under farmers' field conditions. Therefore, partial budget analyses were performed using CIMMYT agronomic manual (CIMMYT, 1988). The partial budget analysis was done by assigning the monetary values between each practice of input and each output resulted from the average of the applied treatments of the price data of over three years.For all measured variables, normality was tested using the Shapiro-Wilk test of normality. Data from each year were analyzed separately, and homogeneity of variances was checked (Gomez and Gomez, 1984). A combined analysis of variance was done since the error of variances for the two years is homogenous. Whenever the treatment effects were found significant, treatment means were separated using the least significant difference (LSD) test at 5% (Gomez and Gomez, 1984) and using SAS (SAS Institute Inc, 2009).The estimated probability of dry spell lengths based on the first-order Markov Chain Model is presented in Figure 3. The analysis result revealed that dry spell lengths of 5 days (sp5), 7 days (sp7), 10 days (sp10), and 15 days (sp15) varied over the growing period from June to October. The probability of short dry spells (5-7 days) remains very low between DOY 160 to 240 at Woreta, whereas, the risk of short dry spells increases fast after DOY 240. The risk of long dry spells (10-15 days) is relatively low between DOY 150 to 260 in the study station but a fast increase of long dry spells was observed after DOY 260 (Figure 3). The longer dry spells pose greater adverse effects for rice crops at flowering and grain filling stages. It is therefore concluded that dry spell analysis and farmers' experience will support appropriate decisions when applying supplemental irrigation and appropriate planting date to minimize dry spell risk during the most sensitive stage of rice crop. A major constraint in realizing the potential yield of rice in the rainfed area is early out of rainfall due and causes a dry spell at the critical stage of rice.As a result of substantial yield loss, long dry spells coincide with drought-sensitive growth stages such as flowering and grain filling stages (Stern and Coe, 1984). Long dry spells because of significant yield loss if they coincide with drought-sensitive growth stages such as flowering and grain filling stages (Stern and Coe, 1984). Generally, for the study periods, the probability of longer dry spells increased rapidly in Woreta starting from mid of September and it takes risks of longer dry spells. Thus, unless farmers get access to supplemental irrigation that minimizes the loss of moisture from the rice farmland, the condition could be severe to the extent of leading to substantial yield losses. The distribution of the dry spells presented in Figure 3, therefore, provides important information to plan site-specific rice planting and supplemental irrigation management in the Fogera Plain.The amount of daily rainfall and dry-spells of varying degrees occurred during September and the first week of October in Fogera Plain, Ethiopia, and the farmers perceived that the rice crop was stressed during the terminal growth stage.This experience was confirmed in 32 years of daily rainfall dry spell analysis (Figure 3), and daily rainfall depth monitoring in the weather station during the experimental years (Figure 4a, b). The main season has four months (June, July, August, and September), including the first week of October which is the rice-growing period. From which only starting from mid of September to the first week of October was occurred was the time for the most frequently dry spell event (Figures 3 and 4a, b). Currently, it occurred at the heading to grain filling stages (from September 12 to October 5) of the rice crop development period whereby seven irrigations days with three days interval were applied at 12, 15, 18, Figure 3. Unconditional dry spells length for Woreta station over the period 1986-2017. 21, 24, 27, and 30 th of September (Figure 4a, b). The volume of water was applied based on irrigation water depth (Table 3). It is therefore concluded that dry spell analysis, daily regular visit rainfall depth and farmers' experience will support appropriate decision when to apply supplemental irrigation to minimize dry spell risk.The pre-plant soil (0-30 cm) and (30-60cm) depth analysis results showed that the top part of the experimental surface soil had 17% sand, 18% silt, and 65% clay, and the lower part of soil surface had 9% sand, 21% silt, and 70% clay. This implies that the textural class of the soil across depth belongs to clay texture. The analysis result indicated that the soil had medium bulk and particle density. Low bulk density and particle density values were recorded in topsoil (0-30 cm) as compared to lower depth soils (30-60cm). Bulk density was increased with increasing soil depth and the compactness of the soil due to the formation of the hardpan (Table 2). The total nitrogen (N) (0.21%) and available phosphorus (P) (9.85 mg/kg) of the soil were in the medium ratings. The level of available P and total N in the top surface soil was higher when compared to the lower depth (30-60cm depth) (Table 2). Similarly, organic carbon content (2.20%) follows the same pattern as total N and available P. Experimental site soil had a slightly acidic pH reaction which ranges between 5.38 and 5.87 across the upper and lower surface soil depth respectively. The surface soil had high cation exchange capacity (57meq/ 100gm of soil) and high base saturation due to the availability of medium level of exchangeable cations Caþþ, Kþ, Naþ, and Mgþþ (cmolc kg À1 ) respectively. The higher cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the soil in this experimental site was due to high clay content and relatively better organic carbon percentage. Whereas, the amount of soil exchangeable cations decreased across the lower depth (30-60cm) of the surface soil due to decrease in CEC and increase soil compaction (Table 2).The water balance component of the ETc (evapotranspiration of the crop) and SP (seepage and percolation) losses, effective rainfall, and volumes of water used for supplemental irrigation are presented in Table 3. Evapotranspiration losses accounted for the largest volume water losses (40.4-47.33%) as compared to seepage losses (8-15%). The experiment was conducted under well-managed rice plots such as bund construction and compaction, leveling, puddling, bud sealing, and a low level of ponding reduced seepage and percolation losses. The seepage losses variation across the water regimes in Table 3 was due to variation of the level of ponding from 1 to 3cm depth. Efficient field-level water management performed satisfactorily show that the volume of seepage losses could have been greatly reduced thereby increasing application efficiency in Table 3. Seasonal water use in (mm) variation across the water regimes was due to variation of year wise seasonal rainfall (mm) and irrigation water required in (mm) (Table 4).Table 5 illustrates the interaction effects of different water regimes with rice varieties on the yield of rice grains. The combination effect of PD2 with V1 had the highest grain yield (4.35 t/ha) while FP with V3 had the lowest grain yield (2.12 t/ha). The water regimes (PD1 and PD2) with rice varieties were higher grain yield than the farmer practices (FP) with V3 by a factor of 2 (Table 5). Compared to the (FP) with V3, the highest relative grain yield (205%) was obtained when V1 was grown under PD2 followed by V4 under PD2 (199%), and V5 under PD2 (192%) (Table 5). This might be attributed to the function of optimal supplemental irrigation during the dry spell at the terminal stage of rice. Similar results reported by (Cattivelli et al., 2008;Moonmoon and Islam, 2017), the water stress at critical growth stages reduce grain yield of rice. Improving the status of water at the reproductive stage helps to sustain reproductive success and the partition of assimilates for improving yields in water-limited conditions (Blum, 2009).The effect of the different water regimes with rice varieties on above-ground biomass t/ha is summarized and presented in Table 5. The interaction effect of water regime (PD2) with rice varieties had significant AGB yield compared with water stress environment (FP and TWOI) with rice varieties. The combination effect of PD2 with V1 had the highest AGB yield (6.79 t/ha) while FP with V2 had the lowest AGB yields (4.27 t/ha) as shown in Table 5. This implies that the supplemental irrigation at flowering to grain-filling period could be favored above ground biomass yield. Generally, FP and TWOI stress environment in different varieties also found that the production of AGB yield was lower than under the SAT, PD1, and PD2 water regimes (Table 5). Rice is sensitive to drought stress and even mild drought stress can result in a significant yield reduction (Guan et al., 2010). Blum (2009) reported that the production of biomass and grain yield is closely linked to the capture of soil moisture for transpiration under conditions of drought stress.Table 5 shows the effect of different water regimes with rice varieties on the harvest index. The combination of the PD2 water regime with the V5 variety had the highest HI (0.413) while FP with the variety V1 had the lowest HI (0.302). This result showed that the water stress treatment (FP and TWOI) with rice varieties had a significantly lower harvest index compared with non-stress water regimes (PD1 and PD2) with rice varieties. Non-stress water regimes (SAT, PD1, and PD2) treatments with different rice varieties had shown non-significant difference HI in SAT, transplanted and irrigating to saturation; PD1, transplanted and ponding to 1 cm water; PD2, transplanted and ponding to 3 cm water; TVW, the total volume of water in m 3 ; SATD, saturation depth in m 3 ; ETc, evapotranspiration losses; SP, seepage and percolation losses m 3 ; PD, ponding depth in m 3 , ERF, effective rainfall in m 3 ; NI, net irrigation volume in m 3 .Table 5. Generally, a higher harvest index was found under the combined effect of water regimes with varieties compared with water stress regimes (FP and TWOI) with rice varieties. Effective use of water in water-limited conditions during the period of reproductive structure may also be attributed to a higher HI and yield of the crop (Blum, 2009).Similarly, Bueno and Lafarge (2009) and Ju et al. (2009) reported that efficient water management that could enhance the remobilization of assimilates from vegetative tissues to grains during the grain-filling period usually leads to a higher HI of the crop. Water stress at booting and flowering stages cause lower HI, which could be the damaging effect of the translocation of assimilates to the grains filling process (Rahman et al., 2002).The combined effect of water regimes with rice varieties on irrigation water productivity is summarized and presented in Table 6. Irrigation water productivity (rainfall þ supplemental irrigation) varied between water regimes x varieties from as low as 1.84kg grain mm À1 ha À1 for V3 under FP as high as the yield of 3.07kg grain mm À1 ha À1 for V1 and V4 under PD2. The interaction effect of PD2 with V1 and PD2 with V4 varieties had 67% WP IR over FP with V3 (Table 6). Tuong et al. (2005) noted that the water productivity of rice concerning total water input (irrigation plus rainfall) ranges from 0.2 to 1.2 kg grain m À3 water. Similar observation reported by Pascual and Wang (2017) rice water productivity of irrigation plus rainfall water input ranges from 0.16 to 0.63 kg grain m À3 water. Smith et al. (1985) reported that water stress occurs at crop anthesis, which causes decreasing water productivity.Under dryland situations where crops depend on unpredictable seasonal rainfall and moisture stress which is in lower water use efficiency (Blum, 2005). Under dryland situations, crops depend on unpredictable seasonal rainfall and moisture stress which is in lower water use efficiency.This study indicated that the low WP IR of farmers' fields (FP) with rice varieties compared with well managed and irrigation supported (PD1 and PD2) in line with rice varieties plots had higher irrigation water productivity.  GY, grain yield t/ha; AGB, above-ground biomass t/ha; HI, Harvest index; FP, farmers practice; TWOI, transplanted but not irrigated; SAT, transplanted and irrigating to saturation level; PD1, transplanted and ponding to 1 cm water; PD2, transplanted and ponding to 3 cm water; V1, X-Jigna; V2, Edget; V3, Hiber; V4, Fogera-1; V5, Nerica-4. Means in the Table for the same parameter followed by the same letter(s) are not significantly different from each other at a 5% level of significance.Table 7 shows that the incremental irrigation water productivity (IWP IR ) data showed the additional grain yield increase over farmers' practice (dry planted rainfed rice) and transplanted but not irrigated across varieties per unit water applied. The IWP IR varied between irrigation x varieties from the lowest of 1.91 kg ha -1 mm -1 for the SAT over TWOI (SAT-TWOI with V1) to the highest yield of 8.36 kg ha À1 mm À1 for PD2 over FP (PD2-FP with V1). V1 grown under PD2 gave the highest (8.36 kg ha À1 mm À1 ) IWP IR which is 4 times higher than the values for V1, V2, and V3 grown under TWOI and the value V1 grown under FP (Table 7). IWP IR is an increase in the amount of the product (compared with no irrigation) over the volume of supplementary irrigation water (Cabangon et al., 2003). The present result implies that the primary factors for water productivity on the two production systems (farmer practice) and (transplanted but not irrigated) were a shortage of water during the terminal stage of the crop due to dry spell occurrence rather than other environmental factors in Fogera Plain.The partial budget analysis was conducted to evaluate the economic feasibility of the two years average of the different water regimes with rice varieties over two years of field price data. The results of the partial budget analysis showed that the highest net benefit (65, 550ETB) was obtained from the application of PD2 with V1, followed by PD1 withV4 had a medium level net benefit (NB) (60,750 ETB ha À1 ) while TWOI with V3 gave the lowest net benefit (33, 500 ETB ha À1 ) (Table 8). If the crop cycle is longer than 4-5 months and the proposed practice is new to farmers for a treatment to be considered meaningful to farmers with 100% the minimum acceptable rate of return (CIMMYT, 1988). The water regimes of rice varieties combination of FP with V4, SAT with V4, PD1 with V1, PD1 with V4, PD2 with V1 had met the requirement. However, the highest MRR (2000%) was recorded from the application of PD1 with V4, followed by PD2 with V1 had a medium MRR (300%) whereas SAT with V4 gave relatively low MRR (28%) (Table 8). As Table 6. The interaction effect on water regimes and varieties of irrigation water productivity/WP IR /(kg grain ha À1 mm À1 ). FP, farmers practice; TWOI, transplanted but not irrigated; SAT, transplanted and irrigating to saturation; PD1, transplanted and ponding to 1 cm water; PD2, transplanted and ponding to 3 cm water; V1, X-Jigna; V2, Edget; V3, Hiber; V4, Fogera-1; V5, Nerica-4. described by CIMMYT (1988), the recommendation is not (necessarily) based on the highest MRR. As long as the MRR between two treatments exceeds the minimum acceptable rate of return, the change from one treatment to the next should be attractive to farmers. Thus, as presented in Table 8, PD2 with V1 has shown the highest net benefit (65,550 ETB) with an acceptable level of MRR (300%) and best recommended for rice production in Fogera Plain. Moreover, PD1 with V4 treatment could be also recommended as an alternative technology for local farmers. In line with this result, Sharma et al. (2010) reported that water harvesting and supplementary irrigation are economically viable and possibly increase by 50% for crop production. ETB, Ethiopian Birr; AGY, adjusted grain yield; TVC, total variable cost; NB, net benefit; MRR, marginal rate of return; D, dominated treatments; FP, farmers practice; TWOI, transplanted but not irrigated; SAT, transplanted and irrigation to saturation; PD1, transplanted and ponding to 1 cm water; PD2, transplanted and ponding to 3 cm water; V1, X-Jigna; V2, Edget; V3, Hiber; V4, Fogera-1; V5, Nerica-4.Insufficient rainfall during the reproductive growth stages limits rice production across the rice ecosystem in Fgera Plain. The present study shows that combination effect water regimes (PD2 and PD1) and rice varieties had a significant increase in grain yield, above-ground biomass, harvest index, and irrigation water productivity (WP IR ) compared with farmers practice (FP) and with rice varieties. Moreover, a combination of 3 cm ponding water regime with X-Jigna (V1) and 1 cm ponding water regime with that of Fogera-1 (V4) rice varieties was found to be a higher net benefit and marginal rate of return identified for dry spell stress environment implying that the profitability is captured. Therefore, the identified irrigation period from mid of September to the first week of October should be applied in the form of supplemental irrigation at the reproductive stages of rice. The system of rice supplemental irrigation and a minimum depth of water aims to make rainfed rice cultivation more sustainable and profitable, as it not only enhances grain yield and net income but also saves considerable amounts of water. It is concluded that for efficient water management and minimization of dry spell risks, ponding to 3 cm ponding depth (PD2) with X-Jigna (V1) and 1cm ponding depth with Fogera-1 (V4) rice varieties at reproductive growth stages are recommended for study areas. However, a few more years' data over locations data are needed to see the combined effect of irrigation with rice varieties response on grain and biomass yield, profitability, and irrigation water productivity of rice.Tesfaye Molla: Conceived and designed the experiments; Performed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the data; Wrote the paper.Kindie Tesfaye; Firew Mekbib; Tamado Tana; Tilahun Taddesse: Conceived and designed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the data."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dfd8101cffdd5dbab200c1739a197dca","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/aef049d4-bf39-4547-80e2-ce30a942874e/content","id":"1287546814"},"keywords":["1 Estrategia y manejo experimental 5","2 Ensayos en el primer ciclo 5","2","1 Ensayos exploratorios 5","2","2 Ensayos de nivel","52","2","1 Tipo de herbicidas por dosis 5","2","2","2 Tipo de herbicidas par epocas","5","2","2","3 Niveles de nitrogeno y fosforo : 5","3 AmH","isis agronornico, estadistico y econom","ico de los resultados obtenidos por grupos de ensayos","5","3","1 Ensayos exploratorios 5","3","2 Ensayos de nivel","5","3","2","1 Tipo de herbicidas por dosis \" 5","3","2","2 Tipo de herbicidas por epocas de aplicacion 5","3","2","3 Fertilizantes 5","4 lntegracion global de resultados y derivacion de recomendaciones 1","2","2 Fertilizantes 6","1","2","3 Pruebas del efecto residual del Gesaprim 80 83 6","2","2","2 Fertilizantes 6","2","2","3 Efecto residual de la atraz","ina sobre el cultivo de frijol 6","3 Integracion global de resultados y derivacion de recomendaciones","CAPITULO 7 7","2","2 Ensayos de nivel 7","2","2","1 Herbicidas par densidad 7","2","2","2 Fertilizantes 7","2","2","3 Parcelas de verificaci6n 7","2","2","4 Parcelas demostrativas de cero labranza 7","3 Integraci6n global de resultados y derivaci6n de"],"sieverID":"6e44805f-d07d-4c61-bb42-69c12cd2a953","content":"EI Instituto de Investigacion Agropecuaria de Panama (IDIAP) fue creado por Ia Ley No. 51 del 28 de agosto de 1975. Es una entidad estatal que nonna todas las actividades de investigacion agropecuaria del sector publico y tiene como objetivos principales aumentar la produccion y productividad, as! como el nivel de ingreso de los productores agropecuarios, con enfasis en los pequeiios productores. Es un organo de consulta del Estado en la formulacion y aplicacion de politicas cientificas y tecnologicas agropecuarias y sirve como organismo de apoyo a la enseiianza y capacitacion tecnica a todos los niveles del Sector Agropecuario.   La aCClOn investigiltiva del IDIAP en Caisdn, Provincia de ChiriquI', se caracteri;:;a porque se generan y validan tecnologlas en las propias fin cas de los agricultores. Los problemas de la produccion se identifican mediante encuestas efectuadas en el drea )' las investigaciones se ejecutan can la participaci6n activa del productor, quien canoce y opina a medida que se desarrollan los experimentos en su pareela.Los cultivos principales de Caisdn SOil malz y porato. En este inforllle se presentan resultados de tres aFios de investigacion en malz. Se describe la metodologfa utilizada y se destacan los logros obtenidos en este corto p erlo do. El asesoramiento del Centro Intemacional para el Mejoramiento de Malz y Trigo (CIM.MYT) ha sido signi[zcativo para disef'iar el metodo de trabajo y orientar las acciones de investigacion. Es un ejemplo de cooperacion tecnica que ha rendido frutos positivos.Entre los COl\\'1pOnentes tecnol6gicos que se inJiestigaron se concluy6 que el lzerbicida pre-emergente A trazina es efectivo para combatir las malezas, que el abonamiento no es un factor limitante de la produccion debido al alto grado de fertilidad natural y que el sistema de cero labranza agi/iza la siembra y es un metodo valioso para reducir la erosion y los costas de preparacion del terreno. El combate de los insectos del suelo y la siembra en hi/eras para obtener la densidad optima de plantas por unidad de area vii viii son muy importantes para asegurar altos rendimientos. El agricultor reconoce las ventajas del uso de estas practicas y como resultado del sistema de trabajo en Caisan, la mayorfa de elias se usan ampliamente en el area. En consecuencia, los rendimientos del mafz han aumentado considerablemente e igualmente los beneflcios economicos para los productores.Cabe anotar que el caso de Caisan ha sido considerado a nivel intemacional como uno de los mejores ejemplos existentes en America Latina y el Caribe del desarrollo de tecnologias apropiadas a traves del eSfuerzo conjunto investigador-productor. Este documento constituye una narracion de los hechos que con orgullo presentamos a nuestros lectores.Dr. Rodrigo Tarte P.Director General La estrategia institucional del IDIAP considera el trabajo de investigacion en produccion dirigido hacia areas especificas del pais como condicion necesaria para el desarrollo de tecnologias adecuadas a las condiciones en que se desenvuelven los agricultores. En el marco de esta orientacion de la investigacion se desarrolla a partir de agosto de 1978, el \"Programa de Investigacion en Produccion de Maiz y Poroto. Etapa Inicia!: Caisin\", que cuenta con la colaboracion del CIMMYT. El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar a la consideracion de los colegas del sector agropecuario, la naturaleza y primeros resultados de este prograrna, enfatizando ciertos aspectos que entendemos resultan innovativos con respecto a la tradicion de investigacion agricola en Panama, y como tal pueden tener implicaciones metodologicas de interes para los Programas Nacionales de Investigacion de otros paises de la regi6n.El area seleccionada para 1a prirnera etapa de este programa (Caisin) comprende una superficie de alrededor de 10 mil hectlireas ubicadas en el extrema centro oriental de Panama. Desde el punto de vista de produccion agricola, el sistema de cultivo mas importante en la zona esta constituido por una rotacion de maiz en prirnera coa, seguido de poroto en segunda coa. En 1978/79 cerca del 70% de los productores de la zona seguian este patron de cultivo.Los aspectos del programa que vale 1a pena resemr son:1. El punta de partida del programa de investigacion esta dado por el conocimiento de las circunstancias de los agricultores representativos.• Ingeniero Agrbnomo, IDIAP •• Economista, CIMMYT.x 2. Este conocimienh es sistematizado a traves de un sondeo informal y mis tarde de una encuesta formal de producci6n, disefiada expresamente para contribuir a la defmici6n del programa de investigacion en campos de agricultores (defmici6n del Dorninio de Recomendaci6n).3. Lo precedente enfatiza mas que los aspectos descriptivos del area y los productores, aquellas cuestiones instrumentales para el prograrna de investigaci6n. Es decir, a partir de las pnicticas prevalecientes en los cultivos objetivos (mafz y poroto), intenta detectar cuales son los problemas de producci6n cuya eventual superaci6n pudiera tener mayor impacto en la productividad e ingresos del productor, y cuaIes serian las altemativas tecnol6gicas que se intentaria desarrollar y validar como respuesta a estos problemas.4. A traves de este proceso se defmen, en el caso del cultivo de maiz, un minimo de cuatro componentes tecnol6gicos a ser incorporados como variables experimentales en la investigaci6n: (a) control de malezas; (b) poblaci6n con metodo de siembra (\"mateado vs. siembra en hilera); (c) nitr6geno; y (d) f6sforo.5. Estos cuatro componentes son ordenados en dos grupos de acuerdo con el horizonte temporal dentro del cual se plantea la investiga-ci6n en cada uno de ellos; la naturaleza del problema que pretende resolver, y el grado de prioridad con que son asurnidos.6. En un horizonte de corto plazo, en primera prioridad, se ubican los componentes (a) y (b) para los cuales se espera formular recomendaciones en un periodo no mayor de dos afios. Esto surge del aruilisis \"ex-ante\" realizado en la zona y esta basado fundamentalmente en dos hip6tesis. Por un lado, que habria amplio margen de incremento en la productividad e ingresos con factibilidad econ6rnica (a priori) en este grupo de altemativas tecnol6gicas a desarrollar. Por otro lado, no se esperan en este grupo problemas de politica agropecuaria 0 disponibilidad de insumos asociados con estas altemativas tecnol6gicas.7. Lo precedente tiene, entre otras, implicaciones para la conduc-ci6n de los experimentos. En los ensayos que incorporan control de malezas y densidad como variables experimentales, la naturaleza y nivel de las variables no experimentales se establecen de acuerdo con las pnicticas de cultivo prevalecientes en el area (practica del productor).8. En un horizonte de mediano plazo, y en segunda prioridad se ubican los componentes (c) y (d) correspondientes a los problemas xi de fertilidad. La naturaleza del problema es en este caso un tanto mas compleja. Si bien los productores estan familiarizados con el uso de fertilizantes, las ~ecomendaciones que acompafian a los programas crediticios y las ordenes de compra respectivas se realizan sobre formulas completas que no necesariamente sedan las mas adecuadas para las circunstancias de produccion del area.Por otra parte, desde el punto de vista de las empresas distribuidoras de insumos, Caisan representa un mercado residual frente a la cercania del area papera mas importante de Panama (Cerro Punta). Por ultimo, en el plano agronomico el area parece contar al presente con alta fertilidad natural del suelo (zona de produccion relativamente reciente), 10 cual puede condicionar en el corto plazo la respuesta a fertilizantes quimicos. 9. Los ensayos de fertilizantes (horizonte de mediano plaw) suponen que los productores han adoptado las alternativas tecnol6gicas en control de malezas y densidad, y consecuentemente, las variables no experimentales cor.espondientes a estos componentes son fijadas a los niveles considerados optimos, de acuerdo con la informacion disponible.10. La estrategia de disefio experimental incluye en la etapa inicial un ensayo de caracter exploratorio que analiza integralmente con un arreg10 factorial 2\", efectos principales e interacciones de los cuatro componentes tecnologicos considerados frente a la pnictica del agricultor. Este se completa con los ensayos de \"niveles\", incluyendo tipos de herbicidas, dosis de aplicacion y niveles de nitrogeno y fosforo, conducidos con los criterios ya descritos.11. Por Ultimo, con e1 objeto de moderar los problemas de acame detectados en la wna, se desarrolla un modesto programa de mejoramiento cuyos objetivos estan estrictamente acotados a bajar la altura de la Variedad Local.xii que existen elaras oportunidades de desarrollar, en los componentes control de malezas y densidad, altemativas tecnologicas de produccion de maiz, viables para los productores representativos del area.Por otra parte, visto que los ensayos de nivel de herbicidas por dosis resultan cualitativa y cuantitativamente consistentes con los ensayos exploratorios y visto el amplio margen agronomico y economico obtenido con la altemativa de Gesaprim en todas las localidades, parece razonable pensar que el MIDA y el IDIAP pueden extractar en forma conservadora, recomendaciones en este componente para el area en cuestion. xiii son, y asumiendo que el productor adoptani practicas mejoradas de control de malezas y densidad, el incremento de rendirnientos est.i lejos de compensar los costos en que debe incurrirse para la compra y aplicaci6n de los nutrientes quimicos. Tanto la incorporacion de nitrogeno fosfoTO separadamentc, como su utilizacion conjunta, resulta en retornos econ6micos negativos, aun a partir de las pnieticas mejoradas de cultivo.Vista la diversidad de problemas que hemos encontrado asociadas con el uso de nutrientes quimicos (produccion, disponibilidad del insumo, polftica crediticia), la investigaci6n en estos componentes fue ubicada ell u horizonte de mediano plaza. Si bien, los resultados obtenidos pueden relacionarse con ciertas caractedsticas de nuestro Dominio de Recomendacion, y considerando ademas que resulta un tanto prematuro en este caso avanzar conclusiones defmitivas, podemos, sin embargo, adelantar cierta cautela en la ormulacion de recomendaciones de cllalquier nivel positivo de nutrientes hasta tanto tengamos mayor informacion sobre las relaciones agronomicas potenciales con estos insumos en el area (n6t se que los programas de cn §dito incluyen fertilizantes en dosis de 3 a 4 quintales de f6nnula completa 10-30-10 6 12-24-12 por hectarea, aproximadamente 18 kg de nitrogenu, 55 kg de fosforo y 18 kg de potasio).xiv Gramoxone como un complemento y/o la altemativa al uso del Gesaprim 80. Decision basad a en la eficiencia obtenida por este producto en el control de las malezas en el ciclo del poroto y p r los bajos costos relativos del producto.Los resultados de estos ensayos son consistentes con ]a informaci6n generada en el ciclo anterior con relacion a las variables densidad y fertilizantes. Asi mismo, el analsis combinado para el sistema Jabranza confirma la hip6tesis que la variable \"cero labranza\" no afecta significativamente la producci6n; sin embargo, el analisis econ6mico de este componente implica una reduccion de costos del orden del 44% de la altemativa \"cera labranza\" con relacion a la labranza convencional. Reduccion referida al contraste de los costos inmediatos de labranza sin considerar los costos de erosi6n asociados con la labranza cOfivencional, erunarcandose aS1, como alternativa de gran potencial para la zona frente al sistema convencional de labrama mecanizada.En base a la IDfonnacion generada en los diferentes ensayos exploratorio y de niveles realizados en los cic1 s anteriores se program6 realizar parcelas de verificacion de resultados a fin de evaluar las mejores alternativas tecnol6gicas que van surgiendo con el objeto de comprobar su viabilidad conjunta frente a la practica del agricultor.Cabe destacar que las condiciones c.li.rrulticas a 10 largo del desarrollo vegetativo del cultivo fuecon ad versa , sequias en la fase inicial e intermedia del cultivo, fuertes ataques de insectos del suelo del genero Phyllophaga sp y una alta incidencia de Helminthosporium sr caracterizan el ciclo, situacion que ha afectado la confiabilidad de la informacion generada en este ciclo.Los resultados de los ensayos exploratorios indican que la variable conlrol de insectos del suelo mostro una alta tasa de retorno marginal. De esta forma, el uso de inseeticidas sent una medida adecuada para asegurar una buena poblacion inicial de plantas, cuya importancia para el productor dependeni de la incidencia de este tipo de ataque para que se justifique sus aplicaciones.Los resultados de las parcela de verificacion que combinan las mejores alternativas que han surgido de los ensayos exploratorios y de niveles, indican superioridad economica para la altemativa que incluye: cera labranza, control quimico de malezas con Gesaprim 80 en pre, a razon de 2 kg/ha, sin aplicaci6n de fertilizantes y empleando una densidad de 50,000 plantas/ha, en relacion al resto de las altemativas estudiadas, incluso la practica del agricultor; pero esta ventaja mas que inducir impacto en los rendimientos, esta asociado con reducciones de los costos de produccion por hectarea (incorporacion de Cero Labranza y no aplicaci6n de fertilizantes).Sintetizada la metodologia implementada y los resultados experimentales obtenidos, resulta importante destacar que el programa de investigacion desarrollado en Caisan es fundamentado en el principio que la mejor garantia para la adopci6n de tecnologia es asegurar que las circunstancias del agricultor esten incorporadas desde el inicio del proyecto en la estrategia experimental; en esta forma, la experiencia metodol6gica de Caisan brinda evidencia de las bondades de los procedimientos de investigaci6n utilizados. .La velocidad con que las altemativas tecnologicas generadas han sido adoptadas nos da una clara indicaci6n del grado de adecuaci6n de las mismas a las circunstancias agroeconomicas prevalecientes para los productores representativos del area. Esta rapida aceptaci6n por parte del agricu1tor nos dice, no solamente que la tecnologia generada ha side agroecon6micamente viable para estos agricultores representativos, sino que ademas seguramente represent a una respuesta o soluci6n a un problema importante (prio ritario) de produccion, que estos productores estaban enfrentando.Completando los elementos precedentes, restarian consideraciones xvi sobre la eficiencia de costos de este enfoque metodol6gico de investigacion. Esta eficiencia puede sintetizarse en la tasa de retorno social para la inversi6n del IDIAP en la implementaci6n de Catsan. La evaluaci6n del programa, realizada en 1982 provee esta infonnacion(.l). A menos de cuatro anos de haber comenzado con el proyecto y aun suponiendo que no hubiera mas adopcion, que la ya lograda en 1982, los retomos sociales regionales (que basicamente acrecieron a productores del area) SUpel1lD con creces la inversion del IDIAP para el programa de investigacion en fincas.Estos resultados confuman la percepci6n basada en que el enfoque metodol6gico de investigacion en fmcas utilizado es eficiente en terminos de costo y adecuado para lIegar al productor con tecnologia apropiada en un horizonte de corto y mediano plazo.Por ultimo, la implicaci6n mas importante y global de este trabajo, es que el IDIAP ha ganado una considerable experiencia en el manejo de estos programas de investigaci6n que incorporan un enfoque restringido de sistemas y que intentan operativamente lIegar a desarrollar, en el menor tiempo posible, alternativas tecnol6gicas apropiadas para agricultores representativos del pais.Corresponde a las autoridades del IDIAP juzgar sobre las bondades y debilidades de esta metodologia de trabajo y en que medida puede ser aplicada en otras regiones del pais en fonna consistente, con la estrategia que en la actualidad orienta el acciona:-de la Instituci6n. El CIMMYT, por su parte, ya ha capitalizado esta experiencia (junto con otras provenientes de otras regiones del mundo) y espera poder contribuir a la ejecuci6n de programas similares en otros paises de nuestro continente.(1) Vease Juan C. Martinez y Gustavo Saln, \"Evaluacion Economica de los programas de investigacion en Fincas del IDIAP: EI caso del Programa de Caisan. Bonador, exclusivamente para discusion interna en CIMMYT e IDIAP. Noviembre, 1982.CAPITULO 11.1 El sector agropecuario en la economia panamena.Panama presenta caracteristicas propias que 10 diferencian claramente del resto de los paises del Istmo Centroamericano. Por un lado, el Canal de Panama, y el grado de apertura de la Economia posibilitan el desarrollo de un importante sector fmanciero y comercial orientado hacia el comercfO intemacional. Esto se refleja en el peso relativo del sector servicios en el Producto Bruto del pais (alre edor de un 65% en la actualidad; vease el Cuadro 1). P r otro lado, en 10 que se retiere aI sector agropecuario, su dotacion de recursos naturales en relacion con su poblacion (dos millones de habitantes) y la diversidad de las condiciones ecologicas prevalecientes en el pais 10 ponen en situacion potencial de poder satisfacer con la produccion intema las necesidades alimentarias crecientes de su poblacion. Sin embargo, esto se ha logrado s610 parcialmente. La superficie territorial de Panama (incluyen• do el area del Canal) es de 7.7 millones de hectareas de las cuales un 83%) pue e ser utilizado en actividades agropecuarias y forestales.Los programas por area 80n una condici6n necesaria para llegar al agricultor con tecnolog\"a apropiada. A partir de la decada del 60 se acrecienta la importancia relativa del sector servicios como resultado de la fuerte expansion de ciertas ramas de actividad tales como banca, seguros, fmanzas, comunicaciones, transportes, almacenaje y servicios de electricidad, gas, agua y alcantarillado (Cuadro 1). Estas ramas de actividad duplican su participaci6n en el Producto Bruto Intemo entre 1960 y 1977.Paralelamente, el sector agropecuario baja en el mismo perfodo su par-ticipaci6n en el Producto Bruto Intemo de un 23% en 1960 a un 16% en 1977. Baja tambien en este periodo la absorci6n de empleo por parte del sector de un 50% de la ocupaci6n total de mana de obra en 1960 a un 30% de la misma en 1977.1.2 La politica de granos basicos.Tanto los objetivos explicitos de politica agropecuaria como los instrumentos manejados en los ultimos afios indican que el Gobiemo Panamefio intenta incrementar la producci6n nacional de granos basicos para satisfacer las necesidades derivadas tanto de un consumo per capita en aumento como asi tambien de una creciente poblaci6n.La polftica de precios del gobiemo refleja claramente esta intencion de estimular la produccion de granos basicos y promover en estos rubros la sustituci6n de importaciones. En los primeros afios de la decada del setenta se producen importantes aumentos en los precios sosten de los granos basicos. Estos precios pasan entre 1970/71 y 1974/75, en maiz, de B/.85 a B/.188 por tonelada; en arroz de B/.II0 a B/.221 por tonelada; en poroto (Phaseolus vulgaris) de B/.220 a B/.990 por tonelada y en frijol de bejuco (Vigna sinensis) de 8/.160 a B/.600 por tonelada. La misma tendencia se verifica si se comparan los promedios del primcro y segundo quinquenio de 13 ultima decada, tal como puede observarse en cl Cuadro 2.La comparacion entre los valores promedio de las importaciones y los precios 50Sten dan en los casos de maiz y poroto una idea de la magnitud del subsidio derivad de 13 polftica de precios del gobierno(l). Por otra parle esta misma situacion nos da indicacion de que en el mediano plaza Ia eventual exportaci6n de estos productos no resulta factible para eJ pais, ya que los niveles de precios internacionales estan par debajo de los costas y/o precios internos de Panama. Esto pone un techo al ritmo de expansion de la produccion de grano basicos que puede concretarse sin deprirnir los precios recibidos por el productor. En el corto plaza este techo esta dado par la expansion de la demanda interna y par el margen existente de sustilucion de importaciones. Esta Ultima ha operado en distinto grado en los ru!HOS considerados, siendo pnicticamente total en el caso del arroz y de menor.magnitud para el mafz y poroto. EI sorgo merece mencion por ser un rubro enteramente nuevo en la producci6n y consumo nacional de granos basicos. Est explica la notable expansion que se observo en este cultivo. Por su part el consume de frijol de bejuco ha sido tradicienalmente abastecido par la preduc ion nacional. la politica de precio descrita se agrega el refuerze de las acciones del MlDA. el BOA y cl IMA, junto con I creacion del lOIAP n 1975, las cuales no solamente han promovido la produccion de estos rubros, sino tambien la redistribucion de ingresos hacia el productor. Con respecto a la evoluci6n de rendimientos podemos ver en el Cuadro que s610 se han producido aumentos de poca significaci6n en el periodo considerado. (2) Contraloria General de 1JI Republica de Panama. Direccion de CnmercioExterior.(3) Institulo de Mercadeo Agropecuario (lMA).(-) Toneladas metric.as., 5 ordenado su estrategia institucional y tecnologica en base a un conjunto de elementos que caracterizan en la actualidad el accionar de la entidad.E1 primer elemento esta constituido por la decision de llegar efectivamente al productor panamefio (en particular pequefios y medianos productores) con tecnologia apropiada a sus circunstancias de produccion. Es decir, el enfoque de la investigacion pretende tener sistematicamente en cuenta e ir incorporando operativarnente en todas las etapas de generacion y transferencia de tecnologia, las circunstancias agroeconomicas en que se desenvuelven los productores como condition necesaria para asegurar la relevancia empirica de la investigaci6n y consecuentemente, la viabilidad operativa de las tecnologias y recomendaciones que surjan de dicha investigaci6n.El segundo elemento esta dado por el enfoque por areas. Se intenta concentrar recursos en prograrnas orientados a encarar los problemas de produccion en areas y cultivos que hayan sido definidos como prioritarios. Esto pennite por un lade enfocar la investigacion en aquellos problemas mas importantes para el productor y por otro lado evitar la dispersion de los escasos recursos del IDIAP para lograr la masa critica necesaria en areas prioritarias. El trabajo por areas se plantea en fonna secuencial en el tiempo, de manera tal que sobre la marcha pueda irse ajustando la metodologia de investigacion en funcion de las experiencias realizadas, como asi tambien provey do entrenamiento en servicio a los cuadros tecnicos que se iran incorporando a la Institucion. El Programa de Investigacion en Producci6n de Maiz y Pocoto para el area de Caisan es precisarnente el primer programa del IDlAP que se ubica dentro de estos lineamiento y como tal es de esperar que sea intensamente analizado en teaninos de las experiencias metodologicas que pueda eventua1mente proveer.Resumiendo, el IDIAP considera el trabajo de investigacion n areas espedficas del pais como condicion necesaria para el desarrollo de tecnologlas adecuadas a las condiciones en que se desenvuelven los productores.CAPITULO 2Los criterios para La seleccioll de las areas prioritarias han sido basicamente(l): 1) El grada de ncentraci6n de explotaciones pequefias y med.ia-n3S en el area; 1) la medida en que se producen cn el area reng! es agropecuarios prioritarios dcntro del Plan NacionaJ de Desarrollo Agropecuario y3) el p tencial de dcsarroU tecnol6gico de corto y mediano plaza que se visualiz a priori que existe n la region.Entre 13s regione selcccionadas illicialrmmte para poner en practica el nuevo enfoque de investigaci6n del IDIAP se encuentra el distrito de Renacimienta. cn el extrema centro occidental del pais.2.1 £1 Distrito de Renacimiento. AnaUsis de informacion secundana 2.1.1 Ubicaci6n geografica EI Distrito de Renacimiento can una superficie de 57,9fIJ hectareas y una poblaci6n de 8,049 habitantes, se encuentra ubicado entre los 8 0 3' de latitud orte y 82 0 55' de longitud Oeste(:1). Lirnita al Norte con la Para una primera etapa de trabajo a realizar. el lDIAP seleccion6 el corregimiento de Caisan en 10 Prouincia de Chiriqui, Panama. Esta variacion de 1a altitud s bre e1 myel del mar establece diferencias de temperaturas y precipitacion, 10 que influye en el tipo de clima y cultivos prevalecientes en las zonas agropecuarias, predominando en los di~rentes corregimientos el bo que muy hUmedo tropical de transicion fresco.El regimen de lluvia de la zona descrita, se puede observar en el Cuadro 3, existen pcicticamente nueve meses del ano (matzo -noviembre) en los cuales se registran precipitaciones mensuales superiores a 100 rrun.EI promedio anual de precipitacion pluvial para las tres estaciones metereologicas ubicadas dentro de la zona en estudio, es aproximadamente de 4,000 mm.Las lluvias se inician a mediados del mes de marzo y se prolongan hasta fInes del mes de noviembre, iniciandose el periodo de la estacion seca desde inicios de diciembre hasta mediados de marzo. La intensidad del periodo lluvioso unido ala topografia que predomina en la zona (montafias escarpadas con pendientes del orden del 50% de declive) constituyen una limitante severa para las explotaciones agricolas de temporal.La temperatura promedio annal varia desde los 18 0 C hasta los 22 0 C, 10 cUal hace apta 1a region para los cultivos de maiz, POTOtO, cafe, hortalizas y ganaderia de leche en particular.Renacimiento presenta en general sue10s volcanicos, fertiles, profundos y generalmente pedregosos.£1 mapa de clasiftcacion de la capacidad agro16gica para el uso de los suelos (2), indica que predominan los melos que van desde la clase IV hasta la e1ase VIII, 10 que pennite deducir las limitaciones existentes para la pro-ducci6n agricola.(1) Decreto de Gabinete No. 296, Septiembre 9, 1970.(2) Atlas Nacional de Panama. Panama, 1975. Estadistica Panameiia, Metereologia, 1973Metereologia, -1978\". \". ...... o Las caracteristicas quimicas y fisicas aparecen en el Cuadro 4, estos indican que los suelos son fertiles, profundos, de textura franco arenosa con ,un alto contenido de materia orgamca, predominando en la fraccion arcilla el material al6fano amorfo y en las fracciones limosas el material de las cenizas volcinicas.Datos de Estadistica y Censo correspondientes al ano 1980, reportan para la zona en estudio una poblacion total de 10,633 habitantes que ocupan una superficie de 579.6 kil6metros cuadrados, 10 que representa una densi• dad de poblaci6n de 18 habitantes/k.il6metro cuadrado (Cuadro 5).Respecto a la poblaci6n econ6enicamente activa, la enisma fuente para 1970, indica que el 87% de los habitantes se dedican a las actividades agropecuarias, a la vez resulta muy pequefio el porcentaje de tierra que es explotada bajo el regimen de arrendamiento (menos de un 10%), la mayoria de las parcelas son trabajadas por sus duenos.El analfabetismo de la poblacion mayor de IO afios alcanza un porcentaje de 25%, uno de los mas elevados de la provincia de Chiriqui, si excIuimos los distritos de la poblacion indigena (San Felix, San Lorenzo y Tole) en los cuales el indice alcanza niveles superiores al 50%. Para el afio 1976, el Distrito contaba con un total de 33 escuelas que impartian conocimiento a un total de 2,284 escolares(l).Datos del ano 1970(2), indican para Renacimiento un total de 1,009 explotaciones dedicadas a los cultivos anuales y 800 a los cultivos permanentes. La enisma fuente indica que la actividad pecuaria juega un papel importante en la region, ya que existen 1,089 explotaciones con pastos que ocupan una vasta extension del Distrit0 , que por condiciones de topografia no se pueden dedicar a las explotaciones agricolas (Cuadro 6).La agricultura del Distrito presenta una diversidad de cultivos; sin embargo, la produccion de granos basicos resulta una de las principales actividades; y dentro de la enisma, la rotacion de los cultivos de maiz-frijol resulta uno de los sistemas de produccion mas comunes.En el Cuadro 7, se presenta la superficie, producci6n y renclimiento por hectarea de los granos mas importantes que se cultivan en el area. Se observa que se cultivan aproximadamente 2,000 hectareas de maiz y frijol. En terrninos generales, a pesar de existir en la zona una tradici6n en la explo-  tacien de estos rubIOS, los rendimientos son bajos, en particular sin CODSideramos el potencial de produccion del area, asi como tambien 108 resultados de trabajos experimentales< 1) en los cuales se reportan rendimientos del orden de 4,000 kilos par hectarea de maiz y de I 000 par hectarea para poroto. Entre los cultivos permanentes cabe destacar que la producci6n de cafe, naranjas y aguacate ocupan un lugar importante en el panorama regional.En la actualidad, el Distrito cuenta con 133 kil6metros de carretera, de los cUales, el 35% es asfaltada y comunica a la comunidad de Volcan con la cabecera de Renacimiento (Rio Sereno) el resto es earIetera revestida transitable especialmente en la estaei6n seca, uniendo a Rio Sereno con Paso Canoa, region fronteriza en la Carretera lnteramericana.Generalmente, las vias que entrelazan los corregimientos 0 sus comunidades estan constituidas par earninos de herradura, 10 que dificulta considerablemente la aceesibilidad del transporte terrestre a los centros de produeeion.Uno de los earninos de penetraci6n mas importante en el area 10 constituye la via Volcan-Caisan-Bugaba carretera que actualmente se esta ampliando y que permitira eomunicar el corregimiento de Caisan con e1 Distrito de Bugaba a traves del corregirniento de Santa Cruz; ala vez se estan realizando otras obras de infraestructura que comunicaran en forma permanente los corregimientos del distrito.Esto perrniti.cl incorporar a carta plazo nuevas zonas productivas a la explotaci6n agropecuaria, ampliando as! 13 f ntera de producci6n e incorporandolas a los mercados de consumo.2.2 Seleccibn del area de trabajo. El corregimiento de Caisan.Para una primera etapa del trabajo a realizar en el Distrito de Renacirniento, el IDIAP selecciono el corregimiento de Caisan. Las razones para tal eleecion son Msicamente las siguientes: i.Prevalencia en e1 area de explotaciones pequeflas yy medianas; la mayor parte de ellas agrupadas en 3 Juntas Agrarias, contindose con el apoyo de otras entidades del sector IDA, BDA, ENDEMA).ii.Importancia relativa en esta zona de los cultivos de maiz y poroto. ......iii.El potencial del area, basado en las condiciones agroeco16gicas la existencia de tierras aptas aun no utilizadas y la existencia de proyeetos viales para el area, en la actualidad parcialmente ejecutados, que permitirian asegurar la salida de los productos de la zona hacia los mercados de conswno (haciendo posi.ble 1a ocupacion de nuevas tierras agricolas).iv.La existencia en Caisan de un incipiente trabajo en mm (parcelas demostrativas simples) que pennitiria brindar una idea parcial y preliminar, de relaciones agronomicas en el area.El corregimiento de Caisin tiene una extension de 10,000 hect<ireas y cuenta con una poblaci6n de 1,530 habitantes distribuidos en las comunidades de Fila Caisan, Caisin Amba, Primavera Caislin C nt£O, Plaza Caisan, Alto La Mina, Baja La Mina y Calsan Abajo.La parte oeste del eorregimiento se encuentra enrnarcada en un peque• fto valle fo.rmado par los dos Chiriqui Viejo a1 noroeste y Caisan a1 sureste, dicha zona presenta una topografia que va de plana a ligeramente ondulada, 2.3 Caractedsticas generales del programa de investigacion en produccion para el area de Caisin.2.3.1 Fuente de experiencias para el desaaono de metodologlas de investigacion.El programa se desarrol.lani estrictamente dentro de las restricciones de recursos humanos y financieros con que opera normalmente el IDIAP. En este sentido, la cooperacion tecnica del CIMMYT esta planteada de forma tal (desarrollo metodol6gico, capacitacion en semcio) de no alterar el patron previsto de asignacion de recursos para los programas por area.Planteado bajo estas condiciones (modestos recursos humanos y financieros), el programa de Caisan trasciende at impacto potencial que el mismo pueda tener para los productores del area, para adquirir significacion nacional en 1a etapa de consolidaci6n institucional que vive actualmente el IDlAP, en tenninos de constituirse en una fuente de nuevas experiencias metodo16gi• cas de investigaci6n agricola que puedan orientar el accionar de la institucion en otras areas del pais.Bnmarcandose en los lineamientos de la politica de granos b<!sicos del gobierno nacional e inspirado en 1a estrategia institucionaJ y tecnologica fijada para el IDIAP; este programa pretende adaptar nuevas tecno10gias agropecuarias a las circunstancias agroeconomicas prevalecientes en ellirea.Los cultivos mas importantes en e1 <hea, maiz y frijol, se constituyen en los \"cultivos objetivo\" del programa. Se trabajara a traves de equipos interdisciplinarios en vinculacion con otras instituciones y en estrecha re1acion con los productores, mediante ensayo! realizados en sus fmcas; maximizando de esta forma 1a probabilidad de que en el menor tiempo posib1e se pueda cantu con tecnologfas y recomendaciones factibles de ser Uevadas a la practica por el agricultor, y que permitan a este aumentar sus beneficios con niveles acepta-b1es de riesgo. Se prevee asimi8mo promover, a traves de otras instituciones, las acciones complementarias necesarias que aseguren, en tomo at proceso de adopci6n de los nuevos componentes tecnol6gicos, una comp1eta fluidez del proceso de producci6n y comercializacion en el cumplimiento de los objetivos del programa (financiarniento, disporubilidad de insumos, comercializaci6n del producto, etc.).• Contribuir al aumento de Ja producci6n y autosuficiencia. nacional en materia de granos blisicos en general y en maiz y poroto en particular, en base at disefio y puesta en marcha de programas integrates de investigacion cuya enfoque metodo16gico permita llegar efectivamente a praductores representativos con tecnolagfas apropiadas para sus circunstancias de producci6n.Contribuir a superac la situaci6n de ingr sos en que se encu tDUl el grueso de los productor agrop cu .as focalizando en con.se• cuencia Ia atenci6n de los recursos del Estado en el pequelio y median productor.• Consolidac y ampliar la base tecnica institutional del aparato agropecuario gubemamental mediante c mponentes de capacitacion que se integren y desarrollen sobr la mar y en base a la experiencia de ej cuci.6n del programa.Contribuir a la expansion de Ia fronters agricola en areas priorit . .• Validar y ajustar con contenido operativo la metodologia de generacion y transferencia de tecnologi ; contribuyendo clarificacion y con lidacion ope tiva e 10 lineamiento m t -dol6gicos para 1t abajo delLDIAP a nivel nacionaJ.• Ordenamiento y revision de Ia informaci6n agroeconomica 00ponible bre el area de Caisan, con miras a seI utilizada en primer tUga! en un sondeo 0 encuesta infoonal de produ ores y mas tarde en el disefio de una encuesta formal de productores en dicha region.• Realizacion de un sondeo 0 encuesta informal de roductores con miras a fonnular hipotesis sobre los sistemas de cultivos y practicas prevalecientes, problemas prioritarios que enfrentan los productoles, entre otms.• Realizacion de una encuesta formal de productores y procesamiento de la infoanaci6n, validand y cuantificando entre otras cosas los sistemas de producci6n preva1ecientes en e1 area, como asi tambien su representabilidad en t€nnino d total de productores y del area bajo cultivo en Ia region.Utilizaci6n de ]a informaci6n procedente para la d fmicion t otativa de los Dominios de Recomendacion (grupo r lativamen e homogeneo de productores(l) hacia los cuales se enfocara el programa de investigacion.• Seleccion para estos Dominios de Recomendaci6n de un minimo de nuevos componentes tecno16gicos que aparezcaD como mas prometedores para superar la situaci6n de productividad e ingre-----         Utilizacion de toda la infonnacion generada para oriemtar eJ programa de investigacion en campos de agricultores. Defmicion de las altemativas de disefios experimentales. Definici6n de tratamientos testig y practicas culturales complementarias en fun 'ion de las pr.:fcticas respect.ivas seguidas por los agricultores representativos, tal cual surgen de la encuesta. Definicion del rango de analisis de las variables experimentales.Integraci6n de los elementos precedentes en una primera propuesta detallada de ensayos en campos de agricultores.Discusion de las propuestas con las autoridades nacionales y programacron fmal de los ensayos en campos de los agricultores.Irnplementaci6n de los ensayos con participaci6n de los agricul• tares y bajo la responsabilidad del equipo que habra de localizarse en el area.Analisis de los resultados, idea preliminar de recomendaciones que podrian tener vigencia para los productores y para las entidades de gobiemo que operan en el area y defInicion, en base a 1a experiencia realizada y a los resultados obtenidos, de los ensayos a realizar en el cicio siguiente.Promover en base a los resultados obtenidas y a las recomendaeione prelin1inares, las acciones complementarias que podrian realiz.ar las otras entidades que operlll n la zona con miras a facilitar la adoption de las pnicticas recomendadas (por ejemplo con !MA, BDA, ISA .Implementaci6n del segundo cicio de ensayos en campos de productores.Realizaci6n, sabre la base de la experiencia del proye to de Seminarios Nacionales de discusi6n de metodologias de investigation en produccion, que provea a la capacitaci6n de los tecnicos que trabajen en estos cultivos en otras areas del pais.Evaluacion del programa en Caisan at cumplirse tres afios de su implementaci6n y planteo de su extension a atros corregimientos de Renacimient y a otras areas del pais.Continuaci6n del programa en Caisan con ajustes secuenciales en cada cicio productivo y principio de implementaci6n de Programas en otras l1reas del pals con las metodologfas y procedimientos op~rativos sugerid s por la experiencia de CalSl1n.Con el marco de referencia brindado por la informacion secundaria precedente se plane6 la realizaci6n de una encuesta exploratoria informal que pennitiera fonnular las primeras hIp6tesis sobre las caracteristicas de los productores representativos del area, los problemas mas impoltantes de producci6n y los componentes tecf1nI6gicos que aparec{an como prometedores para su incorporaci6n en el programa de investigaci6n.De esta forma, la encuesta exploratoria prepar6 el camino para la realizaci6n de una encuesta fonnal enfocada hacia los problemas del area y orientada a proveer la validaci6n estadfstica de la informaci6n obtenida en la encuesta informal, como as! tambien a cuantificar ciertos aspectos de las ircunstancias de producci6n prevalecientes en el area, que resultarfan de interes para 18 organizaci6n del programa de investigaci6n. La encuesta exploratoria se realiz6 en el mes de agosto de 1978; Yla encuesta formal en diciembre del mismo aBo.El cuestionario se disei'l6 bajo e1 supuesto (hip6teaia provenJente d~Ia L08 problemas de la producci6n 8e Identifican mediante encuestas efectuadus en el area y las investigaciones se ejecutan con la participacion activa del productor.No. de produetores encuestados 21 7 11 11 2 52 22 en cuesta informal) de que el sistema agricola mas importante en e1 area era la rotacion de maiz en primera coa y frijol (poroto en Panama) en 1a segunda ;oa, realizado en forma continua en 1a misma parcela.Acorde con ello, la encuesta se enfoc6 en la parcela ma{z primera coa, intentando analizar primero la secuencia cronologica de actividades implicadas en la rotaci6n con [rijol, para luego entrar en mayor detalle en los patrones tecllo16gicos y problemas asociados con el cultivo del maa en el primer cielo. Entre los problemas habia algunos que se entendia que podrian ser percibidos chuamente por el agricultor (como por ejemplo malezas y acame), mientras que otros presentaban complejidades que trascendian el marco de la fmea y que se entendia que no podrian ser captados en todas sus dimensiones por los productores (par ejemplo, los problemas de fertilizantes asociadas con recomendaciones de extension incorporados en paquetes crediticios y cuestiones de comercializacion de insumos).Para el marco muestral (listado de productores del area) se parti6 del Censo Nacional Agropecuario de 1970, completind se el listado con la informaci6n generada en la encuesta informal. Basandose en esta Ultima, se ineluy6 en el marco muestralla localidad de Bajo Chiriqui; colinrlante pero fuera de los limites politicos del corregimiento de Caisin. Esta localidad presentaba caraeteristicas agroclimliticas s.imilares y recibia asistencia tecnica del equipo del MIDA con sede en Caisan. La hipotesis en este caso era que si habria diferencias entre ambas localidades serian mas bien debidas a la infraestructura de caminos y sus implicaciones en terminos de disponibilidad de insumos (caminos intransltable pam Bajo Chiriquf). En relacion can la defmicion tentativa de dominios de recomendacion se entendia que estos elementos (caminos-disponibilidad de insumos) podrian dUerenciar las circunstancias de los productores de Bajo Chiriqui de los del resto del area.Por otra parte, oteo elemento de diferenciacion en la defmici6n tentativa de Dominios de Recomendaci6n seria 1a topografla de Is parcela de ma{z.Se .pens6 que ~sto podria implicar diferencias en terminos de fertilidad y de la magnitud del problema de erosion, asimismo, esto iba a afectar 1a viabilidad de practicas mecanizadas de preparacion del suelo. El Cuadro 8 permite confmnar y cuantificar parte de las hip6tesis de trabajo formuladas durante la encuesta informal. La casi totalidad de los agncultores del area (eI98\"4 producen maiz en algunos de 10 dos ciclos de cultivo. Sin embargo, la gran mayor:ia (el 78'\\'0 de los productore) realiza este cultivo en Ia primera coa; y de estos, el 70% 10 reali.za en rotaci6n continua con frijol en segunda coa, en Ia misma parcela de producci6n. De esta forma, la encuesta nos pennite confumar la importancia relativa en el area de los rubros que fueron selecciona os rno cullivos objetivo; maiz y frijol en primera y egunda coa, respectivam nte.Los cultivos restantes son principalmente cafe y frutales; mi otras que en las actividades ganaderas 5e destaca la de lecheria, que abastece la planta pasteurizadora de Ia Provincia de Chiriqui. El cultiv de frijol en el segundo ciclo se realiza previa levantarniento de la case a del maiz y preparaci6n completa del suelo ant s de au •embra. De esta forma se pre ume en principi que ambos cultiv rese tan un minim de interacciones, comparadas con las que tendrfun en un sistema de c tiva en relevo (0 a-an mas . se tratara de una asociaci6n). Esto allana el camino para concentramoa, sin mayores problemas en una primera etapa, en la parcela de maiz d r..mer cicIo (marzo-se ptiembre).Con los resultados de 18 encuesta nos interesa analizar las grandes lineas de diferenciaci6n que permitirian defmir tentativamente Dominios de Recomendaci6n dentro del area. u ptimera linea de diferenciacion es de caraeter espacia1 y se refiere ala disponibilidad de insumos (earninos intran• sitables) de Bajo Chiriqui y resto del area.Las practicas de produccion y el uso de insumos en ambas zonas son una buena aproximacion de la situacion que tratamos de describir. El Cuadro 9 iluma sobre las claras diferencias existentes en ambas zonas. A pesar de existir condiciones agroclimaticas similares para Bajo Chiriqui (Dominio de Recomendaci6n No.1) y el resto del area (Dominio de Recomendacion No.2), las pmcticas de produccion son totalmente duerentes. Esto se explica por la no disponibilidad de insumos para Bajo Chiriqui, 10 que a su vez esta asociado con los dificiles earninos de acceso a la localidad.Las implicaciones para el programa de investigaci6n son las siguientes: Se descarta en una primera etapa la 10calizacion de ensayos en Bajo Chiriqui por dos razones: 1a primera que resultaria extremadamente dificultoso un seguimiento apropiado de los ensayos; y la segunda es que la informacion disponib1e indica que la tecnologia generada para e1 Dominio de Recomendacion 2 podria ser utilizada por los productores de Bajo Chiriqui, siempre y cuando los problemas de acceso sean superados.De acuerdo con 10 precedente, 10 que sigue del analisis se concentrara en 10 que tentativamente hemos definido como Dominio de Recomendacion No.2.Recomendacion numero 2.El Cuadro 10 indica que la mayoria de los productores (e1 74%) realiza una preparaci6n mecanizada del suelo. Esta consiste en Ja mayoria de los casos en tres pasos de rastra pesada.Cuadro 10. Metodo de preparaci6n de Ja tierra. Mall primera coa. productores, y que el tamafto de 1a tinca no pennite ni justifica en general el disponer de equipo mecanizado en propiedad. El Cuadro 11 da la distribucion por tarnafio de Ja parcela de maiz de primera CO\"ll, podemos apreciar que el 77% de los productores operan parcelas meDores de 6 hectareas.Es por esta razon que la mayoria de los agricultores contratan e1 servi• cio de mecanizacion de ENDEM 0 de contratistas particulares que operan en la zona. Algunos de estos contratistas son agricultores que sf disponen de tractor propio.Cuadro 11. Distribution por tarna.iio de la parcela de maiz primera coo.No. de parceJas En 10 que respecta a aquellos agricultores que realizan una preparacion manual (chapia), las razones de esta practica se encuentran no en proble• mas de disponibilidad del servicio de mecanizacion, sino en la topografia del terreno que .implde su prepa1'2cion mecanizada (el 6% de los agricu1tores realizan una preparacion manual del terreno -chapia-). EI Cuadro 12 indica claramente esto. Mientras que en un extrema la totalid.ad de los productores cuya production de maiz se desarrolla en parcelas con una pendiente menor de cinco por ciento tienen preparacion mecanizada del suelo, en el otro extrema y como es de esperar, la totalidad de aquellos con parcelas de ladera con una pendiente mayor de veinte par ciento utilizan 1a chapia como metoda de preparaci6n de suelo. Par liltimo, se obserw una zona intermedia en las pendientes de cinco a veinte por ciento en la que se alteman ambas practicas. La preparacion mecanizada de estas tierras est3 acelerando sin lugar a dudas el proceso de erosion. No se ha encontrado ninguna otra asoClaclOn entre topografia del terreno y practicas de producci6n. Sin embargo, mas ade1ante 1a topografia del terreno s r:f igualmente un elemento de cliferenciaci6n parcial dentro del Dominio de Recomendaci6n numero 2 (con implicaci nes potenciales s6Jo para algunos de los comp nentes tecno16gicos a seleccionar).Las siembr s de malz en la primera cos estin asociada can e1 comienzo de la estaci6n lluviosa y e1 productor prefiere concentrarse tan pronto como las condiciones de humedad 10 perntitan. Las razones de esta preferencia se explican par un lado por la necesidad de cosechar maiz a tiempo para una siembra oportuna del frijoJ. Par otro lado, ]a practica tiende a minimizar el riesgo de perdidas par problemas de acame, omo resultado de los fuertes vientos que predominan en 1a zona, particulannente en los meses de junio y julio.Esta practica de realizar 1a siembra al inicio de las lluvias conlleva que la preparaci6n de ]a tierra se r liza con escasa humedad en el terreno (hacia fmes de Is estaci6n seca). No. de 0/0 ha OJ.No.deIta ' \"Prod.Prod.Prod.Prod.Marzo 1a.  En e1 Cuadro 13 se observa que cerca del 70\"/0 de los productores sembraron en el mes de mana.En 10 que respecta al metoda de siembra, predomina el metodo manual, y dentro de este el sistema denominado \"mateado\". Este consiste en un arreglo irregular (no en hileras) sembrado a chuzo; predominando una distancia entre golpes de alrededor de un metro y sembnindose cuatro granos por golpe (vease Cuadra 14). Esta pnictiea impliea, en terminos e densidad, una poblaci6n aprox.imada de 40,000 plantas por hectare al m mento de Ia siembra.Cuadro 14. Arreglo espacial en metodo manual \"mateado\" de siembrn.Maiz primera coa. Las earacteristicas de la varied ad local son: una altura de planta de 3.5 metros a 4 metros, de gran vigor, grana amarillo eristalino, muy buena capacidad de cierre de mazorca y un potencial de rendimiento razonable. £1 problema central de esta variedad es que su altura la hace susceptible a los problemas de acame que se presentan con frecuencia en el area.El rechazo de los productores para las variedades mejoradas que han estado disponibles en la zona pareee deberse a su debil capacidad de cobertura de mazorca que frente a las condiciones de humedad prevalecientes (3,000-4,000 mm) implica una muy fuerte incidencia de pudrici6n de mao zorca. Par otra parte, bajo las pnicticas utilizadas por los productores, las variedades mejoradas, en parte debido a las circunstancias descritas precedentemente, no presentaron ventajas significativas en rendirnientos.£1 Cuadra 16 resume las distintas practicas de control de malezas utilizadas por los productores del area. Del mismo, surge laramente que 13 mayorta de los agricultores (73%) utilizan alg(in tipo de control quimico.De estos, cerca de la mitad llevan • cabo limpias manuales a pesar de haber utilizado herbicidas, dAndo indicaci6n de que por alguna razon la aplicacion del herbicida no resulto efectiva.Cuadro 16. Metodos de control de malezas. Maiz primera coa.No. de productores El hecho central es que la agresividad de la eompetencia de las malezas, unida a la escasez re13tiva de la mano de obra en la zona, ha llevado a los praductores a buscar alternativas que aumenten la productividad de 1 mana de obIa utilizada en esta actividad. permitiendo un control mas efectivo.Las malezas mas frecuentemente encontradas en ia zona comprenden especies de hoja ancha y angosta. £1 Cuadra 17 ordena estas espeeies de acuerdo a los reportes recibidos de los productores de la eneuesta.Coad ro 17. MaLezas de mayor importancia en la vision del agricultor. 2 1Como se observa, prevalece el 2-4, 0 en una dosis de 0.8 It por hectarea, aplicado alrededor de 30 dias despues de la siembra. Por otra parte, la b\\isqueda que estan realizando los agricultores de alternativas ITll1s efectIvas del control se refleja en el uso incipiente, aunque en la mayoria de los casos inapropiado en terminos de dosis y fecha de aplicaci6n, de Gramaxone y Gesaprim (a pesar de que no existen a la fecha de la encuesta ni investigacion ni recomendaci6n sobre estos productos).Los productorea del area estl1n bastantes familiarizados con el uso de fertillzantes quimicos. Estos han cstado por aftos en las recomendaclones de extensi6n, asi como en los paquetes crediticios que operaron en la zona. El Cuadro 20 indica que el 58''\\' de los productores utilizan fertilizantes quimicos. Las fuentes de nutrientes son las formulas completas; particularmente la 10-30-10 y en menor grado la 12-24-12, que son, por una parte, las recomendadas par el MIDA y por otra parte, las que estan disponibles en las empresas distribuidoras de insumos que operan en la zona (por ejemplo, COAGRO).Cuadro 20. Uso de fertilizantes. Maiz primera coa. La dosis recomendada ha sido de 4 qq de f6rmula; 10 que implica alrededor de 20 kg de nitrogeno; igual cantidad de potasio y 50 kg de f6sforo. Estas recomendaciones se ven reforzadas por el programa crediticio que opera en el area (Banco de Desarrollo Agropecuario que sistematicamente incluye el fertilizante en el fmanciarniento que otorga para maiz). EI Cuadro 21 da las distintas dosis de f6rmulas completas utilizadas por los agricultores. Se puede observar que prevalece la formula 10•30•10 y que la dosis promedio utilizada con esta f6rmula equivale alrededor de 9 kg de nitr6geno; igual cantidad de potasio y 29 kg de f6sforo. Como punto importante a destacar, se tiene que por un lado, un porcentaje importante de los productores no utiliza el inSUIno, a pesar de estar familiarizados con el; por otro lado, aquellos que si 10 utilizan emplean una dosis que en promedio esta bien por debajo de la recomendaci6n del area.En 10 que respecta al metodo de aplicaci6n, este es manual en la casi totalidad de los casos; y en fechas de aplicaci6n prevalece la realizada al momento de la siembra (Cuadro 22).La informacion disponible indica que los problemas de insectos no revisten una importancia destacada en el panorama global de problemas de producci6n que se encuentran en la zona. Los agricultores estan familiarizados con el uso de insecticidas (Aldrin, Diazinon, Heptaclor, etc.). Sin embargo, pocos de ellos utilizan insecticidas en el cultivo de maiz para aplicarlos al follaje, yen mucho menor grado al suelo. EI el Cuadro 23 se puede ver que s6lo el 26% de los agricultores utilizaron insecticidas en matzo Visto el usc masivo de insecticidas que estos rnismos produetores utilizan en frijol, se concluye que el escaso uso de inseeticidas en mafz, se debe no a desconocirniento 0 problemas con su usc por parte de los agricultores, sino a que los ataques de inseetos que se observan en maiz no justifican en su vision, un uso masivo de insecticidas.La casi totalidad de 1a cosecha se realiza manualmente(l). En gran medida se utiliza para ella mana de obra contratada 10calmente. Esta actividad es una de las fuentes prineipales de demanda de mana de obra contratada en el area (Cuadro 24).Por su parte, la distribucion de feehas de cosecha esti en funclan por un lade, de la rnisma distribucion de las siembras, y por ot£O, de los requerimientos que impone 1a siembra de frijol, que en la mayoria de los casos se sembrani en 1a rnisma parcela. La primera quincena del mes de septiembre es e1 periodo donde mas se concentra esta actividad (alrededor del 60' 110 de los produetores cosecharlin en esa fecha (Cuadro 24).(1) SOlo un productor (de 15.0 hecttreas) reportO habet cosechado a maqulDa.Cuadro 24. Fecha de cosecha. Maiz primera coa.No. de productores Se observa en el Cuadra 25 que el grueso de 1a producci6n (76%) se destina para la venta, que en la mayoria de los casos se realiza inmediatamente despues de la cosecha.El maiz para autoconsumo (23%) se almacena en trojas de zinc, cafiaza y madera para un perfodo promedio tie seis meses. La casi totalidad de los productores guarda su maiz en estas trojas con mazorca y con capullo para minimizar las perdidas, ya que s610 excepcionalmente se desinfecta (con Aldrin 0 Malathion) el area de almacenamiento. Las causas mas importantes de perdidas en almacenamiento son gorgojos, ratas y pudricion de rnazorca, y su magnitud oscila alrededor de un 10%.Cuadro 25. Destino de 1a producci6n. Maiz primera coa.Porcentaje sobre el total producido Venta Autoconsumo Semilla La mano de obra utilizada en las tareas agricolas esta constituida en su gran mayor{a por residentes de la region. No se han encontrado flujos significativos de trabajadores pravenientes de otras zonas de Chiriqui, 0 del resto del pais. Quizas los dificiles caminos de acceso a algunas de las localidades contribuyan a esta situacion.Dependiendo basicamente Ja mano de obra de la diBponIbilidad \"interna\" a la regi6n, la caracteristica a destacar es una escasez relativa de la misma, particu1armente en relaci6n a los picos de demanda estacional.El Cuadro 26 da una idea de la estacionaUdad en la demanda asociada con requerimientos originadoa en las distintas actividades de producci6n. Se nota dos picos importantes, uno en los meses de agosto a actubre con el 71.2~de los reportes de los agricultores (meses en que es diffci1 la contra-taci6n de mana de obra). Este perfodo es el de cosecha de maiz, preparacion de soelo y siembra de frijol, siendo el mes mas critico el de septiembre.Cuadra 26. Estacionalidad de la demands de mana de obra. Meses reportados como dificiles para contratar mano de obra.No. de Reportes .. del total de Reportes El otro perfodo c1aramente diferenciado en el Cuadro ea el de febreroabrll (22% de los reportes) que corresponde a la preparacion del melo, siembra y primeras limpias de maiz.El Cuadro 27 refuerza las conclusiones precedentes; 5e ve que en las actividades en que 5e usa mana de obra contratada son, en orden de importancia: cosecha, siembra, limpia y chapia. La informacion obtenida de los agricultores Junto con las propias percepciones de los tecnico del programa de inveshgaci6n han ida acotando el conjunto de factores lunitantes mas importantes que incidiendo sabre productlvidad e ingresos de los productores de maiz, parecen en pnnciplo superables y par 10 tanto prometedores para incorporar en el programa de investigacion. rna de malezas ocupa e) primer lugar (Cuadro 28). De esta fonna, las percep• clones de los agricultores van confumando las hip6tesis fonnuladas por los tecnicos en la encuesta exploratoria. Por su parte, en el plano de las cireunstancias socio~con6micas de los productores representativos, la eacasez de mana de obra en la zona, y au costo, hacen inefectivo y a veces inc1uso no posible un control manual oportuno de malezas. Por Ultimo, las aIternativas de control meClinico (cultivo can tractor) tampoco resultan viables, blfsicamente porque el estado de 10 campos en la epoca del control (Iluvias) normalmente no perrnite la entrada del tractor a Ja.s parcelas de rnaiz. No existe tradici6n para au cultivo mecinicamente, por otro lado, se necesitaria un suelo mejor preparado iniciaImente para poder haeer esta labor eficientemente, 10 que acrecentaria los problemas de erosion. Estas son las fazones por las euales el comienzo del Programs de Ca.isan encuentra a los productores, desde el punta de vista de este problema, en una situaci6n que podemos definir como de \"transici6n\"; buscando soluciones altemativas al control manual que permitan par un lado aumentar la efecti• vidad agron6mica del control, como as! tambien aumentar 18 productividad de la mana de obra (escasa) utilizada en esta actividad.La precedente explica entonces el par qu6 la mayona de los agricuItares wan herbicida (mal 0 bien, pero usan) al momenta de la encuesta. La practica prevaleciente en este sentido es la utilizacion de 2, 4-D en doais de cerca de un litro par hectarea, aplicado a los 30 Mas de la siembra.Este punta de partida del programa de investigacion permite fonnular 1a hipotesis de que existen claras oportunidades de desarrollar en un corto plazo altemativas tecnologicas de control quimico de malezas que aumente los rendimientos de maiz y la productividad de 1a mana de obTa, con beneficio economico para el productor. Estas alternativas giranin en tome de la prueba de un herbicida selective (Gesaprim) como se vera mas adelante; aunque se analizanin tambien otras altemativas de control quimico.La totalidad de los agricultores siembra manualmente a chuzo en un arreglo espacia1 irregular 10calmente llamado rnateado\". La distancia entre golpes osci1a en alrededor de un metro, colocandose una cantidad modal de cuatro semillas por golpe. En terminos de densidad esto implica unas 40,000 plantas por hectarea al momento de la siembra.En esta area-problema las hipotesis de investigacion se p1antean en relaci6n con el problema de control de malezas. Por un lado, el arreglo irregular de siembra dificulta el control en malezas; y por otro lado se piensa que un adecuado control quimico permitiria utilizar una densidad mayor como resultado de la eliminaci6n de la competencia de malezas. El programa se propone explorar, en relaci6n con el control quimico de malezas, altemativas de siembras en hileras con una poblaci6n mayor que 1a utilizada por el productor.Como resultado del anilisis realizado, el problema de fertilizantes se visualiza con distintas facetas.Desde e1 punto de vista de producci6n, el agricultor parece estar familiarizado con el uso de insumo (en realidad ya hemos visto que la mayoria de los agricultores 10 usan en 1a actualidad). Sin embargo, un porcentaje importante de estos (42%) no usan fertilizantes. Por otra parte, los que utilizan el insumo, 10 emp1ean en dosis que en promedio estan bastante por debajo de las recomendaciones de extension (unos 4qq de formula 10-30-10 612-24-12).No existe evidencia para la zona que de claras indicaciones de respuesta a fertilizantes, ni menos se conoce su magnitud (en el caso de que dicha respuesta existiera). Por Ultimo, las percepciones de los tecnicos del area (hipotesis) que dicha respuesta, si existiera, no debe ser substancial, particularmente en las zonas planas del area(l).• Desde el punto de vista de la politica crediticia, los programas(1) E1 68% del area en maiz/frijol se ubica en parcelas con topograf{a plana (pendiente menor de 5%).para maiz en el area han enfatizado dos cosas: mecanizaci6n y fertilizantes.Mientras que la primera ha sido ampliamente adoptada por los productores, no ha ocurrido 10 mismo con los fertilizantes, en coyo caso ya hemos mencionado que no solamente un porcentaje importante de los product res (42'10) no 10 utilizan, sino que aquellos que sf 10 haeen, usan una dosis bastante menor que 10 que indican los paquetes crediticios. Por esto es importante aclarar la magnitud de la respuesta a fertilizantes en situaciones representativas del Dominio de Recomendaci6n No.2; y en particular, si a partir de la practica del pToductor (dosis bajas), la tasa marginal de retorno asociado con las recomenda.ciones es mayor que el costo de oportunidad de capital.Desde el punto de vista de las firmas distribuidoras de insumos y la disponibilidad por tipos de fertilizantes para Caisan, es probable que este influenciada por la eercania de Ia zona papera mas importante de Panarnj (Cerro Punta) que puede hacer que Cais3.n sea un \"mercado residual\" frente a 1a importancia del mercado de Cerro Punta. Esto podria condicionar el tipo de fertilizantes que prevalecientemente se encuentran disponibles para Caisan. Se espera que la incorporacion de fertilizantes, particularmente nitr6g6flo y fosforo como variables experimentales, pueda arrojamos alguna idea sobre Ia adecuacion de la disponibilidad por tipo en el area a los requerimientos especi• ficos de la produccion de maIz.Los fuertes vientos que se verifican en el area, particulannente durante los rneses de junio y julio, representan un riesgo importante en el proceso de produccion. En Ia vision del produetor los problemas de acame figuran entre los mas importantes junto con el de malezas (Cuadro 28).En el Cuadro 29 se observa la frecuencia con que se produjeron dallos parciales de acame en los Ultimos cinco afibs y los meses de mayor probabi• lidad de ocurreneia. Cercs del 80\"\", de los casos reportados de acame se ubican en el pedodo junio-julio. En 10 que se refiere a la frecuencia del dano, esta resulta muy variable, aunque se puede decir que en el pedodo considerado todos los produetores han sufrido dai'ios parcia1es de acame al menos en una ocasion. I..a magnitud de eventuales perdidas de cosecha asociadas con este problema ha sido muy dificil de precisar ya que dependen no solo del area afeetada, sino tambien del estado de madurez del maiz acamado (que en algu. n08 casas puede inc1uso cosecharse). De todas fonnas, entre los elementos que contribuyen a aumentar la incidencia de acame en Ia zona, se encuentra el excesivo desarrollo vegetativo de Ia variedad empleada por el agricultor; la cua1 generalrnente supera los 3.50 metros de altura, caraetedstica que la hace particularmente susceptible a los problemas de acame.Cuadro 29. Frecuencia y fecha del problema de aearne. Malz primera COB.No. de veces en que el viento aearno parte Total del maiz en los Ultimo! cinco ailos rnisma naturaleza de este proceso de planearniento de la investigacion, debe quedar claro que no se han agotado todos los problemas del area, ni tarnpoco queda con esto completamente definido todo el futuro de la investigacion.En particular, en este caso, los problemas de erosion reportados por los productores y conHrmados par la observaci6n directa en el area; los problemas de \"falta de maquinaria' y \"escasez de mano de obra\" (Cuadro 28), esta Ultima particularmente en el periodo de cosecha de maiz, preparacion del suelo y siembra de frijol; las cuestiones de empalme de ambos cultivos con tiempo para realizar las practicas en el momento apropiado; estos y otros aspectos que seguidarnente se exponen !levan a considerar en el futuro de la investigaci6n a la tecnologia de cero labranza como altemativa a la labranza convencional prevaleciente en la actualidad.La decision en este sentido ha side la de postergar la incorporaci6n en mail primera coa se encuentra ubicado en terrenos can pendiente menor de cinco par ciento. Al parecer los productores tienden a dedicar sus mejores parcelas a la produccion de mm y/o frijol. 8i se tuviera que tamar una decision de loca1iza.r los ensayos en terrenos de pendientes 0 en terrenos pianos, esta ~ltima altematlVa pareceria mas repTesentativa de la situaeion prevaleciente en el area. Sin embargo, antes de pretender dejar contestada la pregunta precedente, se considera importante preguntar si en terminos de los componentes teeno16gieos seleecionados, se esperan diferencias signilleativas en el comportamiento de las variables experimentaJes en tierras planas y tierras de ladera. La presunci6n es que para la mayoria de las variables experimentales (malezas, arreglo espaciaJ y densidad y acame) no se espera que existan diferencias importantes. Sin embargo, en el caso de fertilizantes si podria especarse una menor fertilidad natural y quizas una mayor respuesta a fertilizantes quimicos. Esto podria sugerir una apertura del Dominio de Recomendacion nable desde este punta de vista dispersar los recursos del program a comenzando a trabajar simultaneamente en dos Dominios de Recomendacion.En consecuencia, en est ctapa del programa es suficiente solo precisar que, visto las circunstancias precedentes. particularmente las de representstividad, el programa comenzanf dentro del Dominio de Recomendaci6n Numero 2 en los terrenos con pendientes menores de cinco por ciento.En la medida en que nuevos componentes tecnol6gicos se vayan incorporando en el futuro dentro del prograrna de investigaci6n y en unci6n de las experiencias y resultados obtenidos en uno 0 dos ciclos, sera posible extender el trabajo a las tierras de ladera, y en esa ocasi6n precisar la defmlci6n tentativa ya realizada de Dominios de Recomendacion.La informacion sobre las circunstancias de los pIoductores generada en la etapa de planeamiento de la investigaci6n, lleva a la preselecci6n de ciertos componentes tecnol6gicos en los cuales concentrar los esfuerzos de investi• gaci6n. En esta seccion se vera la fonna en que estos componentes se articulan en el programa en fonna consistente con el conjunto de hip6tesis que acompai'ian su incorporacion; asi como tambien otras implicaciones para la estrategia y el manejo experimental, tales como horizontes de tiempo en el cua! se esperan tener resultados para los distintos componentes 0 grupos de componentes; y el manejo acorde dado a las variables experimentales y no experimentales en el disefio y conduccion de los ensayos.A traves del proceso descrito en la secci6n precedente se preseleccionaron en Caisan cinco componentes tecnol6gicos para incorporar en el programa de investigacion: a) control de malezas; b) densidad y arreglo espacial de siembra (''mateado'' vs. siembra en hilera); c) requerimientos de nitrogeno; d) requerimientos de fostoro; y e) problemas de acame. Este Ultimo se encara en fonna separada de los restantes con un programa de mejoramiento cuyos objetivos estan dirigidos a bajar la altura de la variedad local. Esto permit.iria Los resultados del primer cicIo de investigacion /levan a la incorporadon del sistema de lobranza como variable experimental.no eliminar, pero sf moderar, los riesgos de acame detectados en la zona. Par la natucaleza del trabajo de mejoramiento a realizar, se esperan resultados en un horizonte de mediano plaza (tres a cuatro anos).Los restantes componentes son ordenados en dos gropos de acuerdo con el honzonte temporal dentro del cual se plantea la investigaci6n en cada uno de ellos; la naturaleza del problema que se pretende resolver; y el grado de prioridad con que son aswnidos.En un horizonte de corto plaza, en primera prioridad, se ubican los componetes a y b (control de malezas, y densidad y arreglo espac.ial de siembra), para los cuales se espera fonnular recomendaciones en un periodo no mayor de dos aftos. Esto surge del anaIisiB ' ex-a.ote\" realizado en la zona y esti basado fundamentalmente en dos hipotesis: Par un lado, que habria amplio margen de incremento en la productividad e ingresos con factibilidad economica (a priori) en este gropo de altemativas tecnol6gicas a desarrollar; por otro lado, no se esperan en este grupo problemas de politica agropecuaria o disponibilidad de insumos, asociados con las altemativas tecnol6gicas a desarrollar.En un horizonte de mediano plazo, y en segunda prioridad se ubican los componentes c y d correspondientes a los problemas de fertilidad. £1 problema en este caso no se circunscribe al irea de produccion sino que tambien presenta claras ramificaciones en el area de politica agropecuaria. Los programas de credito en la zona han enfatizado tradicionalmente el usa de fertilizantes. Sin embargo, no obstante que los productores estan familiarizados con estos inllumos, casi 1a mitad de ellos no los utilizan, y los que densidad como variables experimentales (orientados hacia el corto plazo), la naturd.1eza y el nive de las variables no experimentales se establece de acuerdo con las praeticas de cuI iva prevalecientes en el ominio de reco-mendaci6n. flsto peroute que los resultados de los ensayos reflejen el impacto que tendran los produetores representativos, en el caso de que adopten en el futuro las altemativas tecnologicas consideradas.Par su part:\" los ensayos de fertilizantes, (orientados hacia un mediano plaza) son manejados \"como i\" los pToductores [u6Ian a adoptar altemativas mejoradas de control de malezas y densidad, y consecuentemente las variables no experimentales cOITespondientes a estos c mponentes son fijadas a los niveles con&i.derados optimos de acueIdo con h info a 'on disporubl en la etapa de planeamiento.Por wtim , los niveles testigo de las variables experimentales, incorporan en todos los casos la practica del productor. En el uadro 32 se resefian los elem ntos ya descritos de la estrategia experim nta1.Los ensayos exploratorios intentan analizar en [onna integral el impacto agroeconomico de los nuevos componentes tecnologicos para los agricultores representativos del area(l) y las interacciones ~s importantes que estos componentes pueden presentar entre sf, a partir de la practica del agricultor.Cuadro 32. Esquema de organizaci6n y estrategia del programa de Caisan. Primer cicio de maiz.Preselecci6n de componentes; ordenamiento en el tiempo; problemas purarnente de producci6n vs. problemas de producci6n asociadas con politica agropecuaria, manejo de los experirnentos. De acuerdo con los objetivos del anilisis expJoratorio se utiliz6 un disefio de bloques incompletos al azar con arreglo fa torial confundido 2• (la interaceion de tercer orden esta confundida con el efeeto de bloques). Los eriterios para la fijacion de los niveles en cada variable experimental han sido: a) Uno de los niveles es el eorrespondiente a la pmctica del agricultor; b) El otro punta en el rango de la variable experimental estlf dado par un nivel que permita deteetar efeetos e interacciones si estos existieran.Can estos criterios se pusieron seis ensayos can arreglo factorial 2 4 con una sola repetici6n par localidad. Las razones para poner s6lo una repetici6n par localidad son: a) Interesa muestrear el Dominio de Recomendacion mas que aumentar la precisi6n estadistica par ensayo a expensas del numero de estos ultimos; b) Se trato de limitar elacea de terreno solicitado a cada agricultor para estos prop6sitos; c) El arreglo factorial provee de \"repeticiones intemas\" que perrnitirian realizar, si fuera neeesario, un aruilisis estadistico limitado (efectos prineipales y eventuaJrnente una interaccion de primer orden) por localidad aunque se tenga una sola repetici6n. Sin embargo, en este caso, interesa basieamente el analisis combinado, a partir de resultados agron6mieamente consistentes par localidad; d) Los criterios para la seleccion de los terrenos (1) donde ubicar estos ensayos perrniten anticipar que habra de rninirnizarse la probabilidad de una variabilidad inmanejable en el anilisis combinado.Cuando se siembra utilizando la pnictica del agricultor, la pareeIa consta de 16 m 2 de area, sembrandose 4 granos par hoyo, siguiendo un sistema irregular, no en surcos (practica de mateado); ell. este easo la distancia entre hoyo y hoyo es variable, aproximadamente de 1 metro,lo que perrnite tener una poblaci6n inicial a la siembra, de 40,000 plantas/ha; la variabilidad del numero de plantas por heetarea esta ligada incluso a una distribuci6n irregular del numero de plantas par hoyo, eon posterioridad a Ia siembra. En este caso, el area de la parceIa util corresponde a la parcela experimental (16 m 2).Cuando se siembra con el metodo alternativo al del agricultor, la parcela experimental consta de 4 sureos de 5 metros de largo, separados a 0.80 metros (16 m 2 de area total), dejando dos plantas por hoyo cad 50 em dentro del sureo, 10 que da una pobIaei6n de 50,000 plantas/ha, densidad que fue eontrolada inicialmente sembrando 3 granos por hoyo, para ralear posteriormente a 2 plantas. En este easo la pareela uti! eonsta de dos surcos separados a 80 em y de 4.5 m de largo (7.20 m 2 ).(1) Basicamente parcelas de maiz/frijol con pendiente menor de un 5 % Y practicas tecnoIOgicas cercanas a las prevalecientes en el area.Por Ultimo, 1? natural za y . les de las variables experimental en estos ensayos son los siguientes: No se aplica nrtr6geno, 90 kilos de nitrogenojha ala siembra.25 kilos de P 2 0s/ha a la 'embra.75 kilos de P205 ala siembra.La naturaIeza y nivel de las variables no expe' entales (preparaci6n del suelo, variedad, etc.)., corresponden a las pnicticas seguidas por 10' productores d nuestr dominio de reeomendacion.. En todos 10 casos s tillzara 1B variedad I cal. El control de insectas follaje 0010 se realizam de sec necesario, segun practicas del agricultor. En el caso de fertilizantes una vez apUcados al suela seran cub.iertos con. . rca empleand una azada.Durante la conduccion de los experimentos se registraran los siguientes data: porcentaje de germinaci6n, nfunero de plantas acamadas, nillnero de plantas y mazorcas cosechadas; rendimiento al 14% de humedad yenfenne• dades.Complementando la informacion de los en yos e loratorios, los de nivel cubren can mayor profundidad y detalle y en distintos grupo de nsayos, e estudio d 1 comportamiento d todas 0 parte de las variables experi• mentales consideradas en los exploratorios.Acorde con ello, para el primer cielo se planificaron ensayos de nivel en: a) tipos de herbicidas por dosis, b) tipos de berbicldas ~or epoca y c) niveles de nitr6geno y f6sforo. Las variables no experimentales en estos ensayos corresponden a las pr~cticas del agricultor. La parcela experimental es la misma que en los ensayos exploratorios. Los datos tornados en este caso son las mismas variables de respuesta calificadas en los ensayos exploratorios y aderruis en fitotoxici• dad y efectividad de los tratamientos.Se prograrnaron dos ensayos de herbicidas por epoca de aplicaci6n, para 10 cual se utiliza un diseno de bloques completos al azar can cuatro repeticiones. Parte de los tratamientos estan ordenados en arreglo factorial (Gesaprim 80 y 2-4-D par 5 epocas de aplicaci6n).A elJos se agregan la practica del agricultor y un testigo absoluto. Las variables no experimentales, variedad, densidad de siembra, fertilizaci6n, control de inseetos, labranza del suelo, etc., corresponden a la pnietica el agricultor. Los datos de campo a tomar son iguales a los ya mencionados para los ensayos exploratorios.Ni les de nitrogen y f6sfore.---Se planificaron dos ensayos de niveles de nitr6geno y fosforo. EI disefio a utilizar es el de bloques completos a1 azar con arreglo factorial incompleto y tres repeticiones.Se incluyen 5 niveles de nitr6geno y 6 de [asfore con una densidad de 37,500 plantas/ha. A estos se agrega un tratamiento adicional consistente en los niveles centrales de nitrogeno y f6sforo con una densidad de 50,000 plantas/ha. La unidad experimental es 1a misma que para los ensayos exploratorios.A diferencia de los caso anteriores no todas las variables no experimentales corresponden a la pnietica del agricultor. En este case en particular, para el control de malezas se emplea Gesaprim 80 a raz6n de 2.5 kg de material comercial par hectarea. EI resto de las variables no experimentale son incorporadas aJ nivel de la practica del agricultor. Las variables a ca1ificar en este caso son las mismas que las tomadas en los ensayos exploratorios. 5.3 AnaIisis agronomico, estadCstico y conomico de los resultados obtenidos por grupos de ensayosDe los seis eosayos realizados uno tuvo que ser eliminado pal daffo de animales. Para los ensayos restantes se presentan en el Cuadra 33 los rendimientos en grana obtenidos en las diferentes localidades para cada uno de los tratamientos en estudio. Se observa que el menor rendimiento promedio se obtiene con 13 practica del agricultor (2.9 ton/ha) mientras que los mayores rendimientos se alcanzan cuando se aplican conjuntarnente las alternativas a la pnictica del agricultor (6.1 ton/ha).En el Cuadra 34 se presentan los efectos principales par localidad y el promedio general para el Dominio de Recomendaci6n considerado.La observaci6n del Cuadro da una idea preliminar del impacto potencial de los faetores considerados. Por un lado se tiene can bastante consistencia para todas las localidades un efeeto positivo sobre 10 rendimientos de las alternativas consideradas en herbicidas y d nsidad (esto habremos de corroborarlo con el aruilisis estadistico); siendo el impacto promedio para ambos componentes de 0.9 toneladas por hectarea. Por otro lado, el efecto de nutrientes quimicos aparece como practicamente nulo girando alrededor de valores positivos y negativos cercanos a cera seg1ln 1a localidad. En resumen, el analisis agron6mico preliminar indica, con cierta consistencia para el Dominio de Recomendacion, la existencia de respuesta para herbicidas y densidad, mientras que esta no aparece clara para el caso de fertilizantes.Con consistencia en los resultados obtenidos por localidad, el aruilisis estadistico fue realizado para el conjunto de ensayos, tratando a localidades como repeticiones. En el Cuadro 35 se presenta el anilisis de varianza combinado para las 5 localidades. En primer lugar, se destaca claramente en los resultados ohtenidos la alta significacion obtenida en los componentes control de malezas y densidad y megIo espacial de siembra (H y D). wo va validando, por ahora en forma restringida (11 nuertras hip6tesis formuladas en lr. etapa de diseno del progra• rna de investigacion.Se va confirmando consecuenteroente 10 que parece baber sido una correcta identificacion de problemas importantes para el productor del ~rea y al mismo tiempo heroos explorado altemativas tecnol6gicall que prometen tener impacto de significacion en los rendimientos actuales (3) Relacionado con 10 anterior, 1a interaccion lID presenta tina signiftcacion del 10\",; 10 que, si hien no es concluyente, indica igualmente un camino de investigaci6n que se deberfa continuar exploran o. Siendo ambos elementos de 1a interacci6n, altamente significativos, la explicacion agron6mica que procede para esta relacion, es que un control de malezas mas eficiente elimina una mayor parte de la competencia de estas par nutrientes, 10 que permite un mejor aprovechamiento par el cultivo (incluyendo una poblaci6n espacialmente mejor distribuida). EI Cuadro 36 y la Figura 1 dan unas relaciones cualitativas y cuantitativarnente consistentes con esta situaci6n.Cuadro 35: Ensayos exploratorios. Anava combinado pMa las 5 localidades. En 10 que respecta a los componentes N y P, tal como puede inferirse de la simple observaci6n del Cuadra 33, no presentan impactos de significacion en los rendimientos. Consistentemente con esto, el anaUsis estadistieo (Cuadro 35) indica que no hay difereneias significativas en los rendirnientos debidas al uso de nutrientes quimicos.De acuerdo con la hip6tesis que han llevado a incorporar fertilizantes como componentes del programa de investigaci6n, la explieaci6n agronomica de esta relacion puede encontrarse en ciertas caracteristicas del Dominio de Recomendacion hacia el eual se oriente el programa de investigacion. Entre otras: • El area de Caisan, es una zona relativamente nueva incorporada ala producci6n de granos. Por estas circunstancias, y por la conforma-ci6n de sus suelos la situacion general es de una alta fertilidad natural.• De acuerdo con el Dominio de Recomendaci6n defmido para la prirnera etapa de la investigaci6n; las parcelas seleccionadas para los ensayos estan ubicadas en suelos con topografia plana (menores de un 5 \"to, las que presentan una mayor fertilidad natural que los terrenos mas inclinados (1).• El sistema de producci6n en rotaci6n maizlfrijol, y en particular este ultimo cultivo, podria estar contribuyendo a mantener la fertilidad natural del suelo. Tambien podria existir un efecto residual del f6sforo aplicado por el agricultor al frijol en la segunda coa (alrededor de 10 kg de N, 40 kg de P205 Y 10 kg de K 2 0).PROGRAMA DE MAIl 1979 Figura). Ensayos exploratorios. lnteraccion de control de malezas y densidad. Rendimiento ton/ha 5.5 5 En resumen, en este case se van validando las hip6tesis que orieotaron el disei'io del prograrna de investigacion. Mas adelante, despue de integral estos resultados con el aruU.iaiB econ6mico, se intentam derivar concb..lSiones mas precisas. Para analiza.r la factibilidad economica de las altemativa& tecnol6gicu incorporadas en este ensayo se tuvo en cuenta su impacto agronomico. De em forma, los componentes qu presentaron impaeto de significacion en rendimientos y sus interacciones de primer orden (control de malezas, densi-  (1) Nitrogeno y fosforo no preaentan dife.rencias s.ignJrlcativas.(2) Se incluye.n 11610 aquenos que han pr sentado diferencias sign.ificativu.actuales de producci6n (prlicticas prevalecientes en Ia aetualidad para eJ Dominio de Recomendaci6n). En el Cuadra 37 puede verse que las aJtemativas no dominadas para H y D (H o D I YHI D I ) presentan un arnplio margen de viabilidad econ6mica con tasas marginales de retorno mayoles de 700ltfo.Por su parte, en Conna consistente con las interacciones detectadas en e1 anilisis agron6mico y estadistico de estos componentes, 13 TMR de HI D 1 sugiere que ambos componentes deben ser considerados conjuntarnente.Hasta aqui se puede afmnar que Is evidencia empmca proveniente del anaIisis exploratorio en este primer cicIo de ensayos, indica, con amplio margen de seguridad, que existen claras oportwtidades de desarrolIar en los componentes control de malezas y densidad, alternativas tecno16gicas de producci6n de maiz, viables para los productores representativos del lires.Para el resto de los componentes considerados en el ensayo (nitr6geno y f6sforo), no se encontraron diferencias significativas en los rendimientos.Sin necesidad de recurrir al aruilisis econ6mico(1) , se puede inferir en forma preliminar que can las relaciones agron6micas eocontradas la pr4.ctica del agricultor pareee ser la mas razonable de las altemativas consideradas. Las implicaciones de estos resultados senin consideradas despues que se analicen los resultados de los ensayos de nivel.En e! Cuadro 38 se presentan los renclirnientos en ton/ha para los ensa-Cuadro 38. Ensayos de nivel. Tipos de herbicidss por dosiB(ton/ha a1 14\"fo de humedad).Rendimiento (tonjha) (1) 19ualmente si actuaram08 \"como 5i\" la! diferencias fueran signlficativu y realiznamas el anAllsis econ6micoj wmos a encontrar que e1 incremento en los rendJmlonws est8 lejos de compensar loa costas en que debe inCtllrlrse para Is rompr. y aplicaclon de las dam de nutrlentes qufmicos considerad08. yos de herbicidas por dosis de las dos localidades en estudio; en ambas localiclades se observa que los rendimientos de la pdctica del agricultor (tratamiento 10) son inferiores a los demas tratamientos.El Cuadro 39 resume el anilisis de varianza, para ambas localidades;la prueba de F indica diferencias significativas s6lo al 10\"1. en la localidad 1, mientras que en la localidad 2 no se obtuYo diferencias para tratamientos.Cuadro 39. Anava localiad 1. Observada esta poca significa.ncia para el conjunto de tratamientos se procedi6 a realizar un analisis de contraste empleando comparaciones octo-gonales entre los tratamientos (1 a 9) VB el tratamiento 10 que es la practica del agricultor. Los resultados muestran para ambas localidades diferenci.as altamente significativas, del orden del 1\"11., entre la practica del agricultor y las alternativas de control quimico consideradas. El amlisis por localidad indica en consecuencia que el productor puede aumentar significativamente sus rendimientos con altemativas de control quimico diBtintas a la que esta utilizando.Por su parte, el w!isis combinado (Cuadro 40) de ambas localidades resulta (al aumentar I s grados de libertad) en diferencias significativas en los tratamientos, conflfIlllindose asimismo la significacion del contraste entre la praetica del agrlcultor y los restantes herbicidas. Esta ultima diferencia.  Con estos resultados se procedi6 a realizar el anilisis econ6mico por localidad y combinado, el cual se resume en el Cuadro 41. Como puede verse, el tratamiento Gesaprim 80 en dosis de kgfha de producto comerci.al domina a las restantes altemativas con Tasas Marginales de Retorno superiores al 1250'110 en ambas localidades y en el ~sis combinado. N6tese que esta alt mativa de control quimico es la rnisma que fuera utilizada en los ensayos exploratorios (salvo que la dosis fue en este caso levemente superior, 2.5 kgfha) y que resultara igua1mente con alta Tasa Marginal de Retorno. Ambos conjuntos de ensayos dan en con ecuencia resultados fuertemente consistentes cualitati (tipos de herbicidas) y cuantitativamente (dosis) confirmando la viabilidad para el productor de altemativas mas eficientes de control quimico de malezas. TRM: Taza de retorno marginal.5.3.2.2 Tipos de herbicida par fpoca de aplicaci6n.El manejo de estos ensayos confront6 fuertes problemas de acame, 10 que ha afectado la precisi6n de los resultados obtenidos. En seccio~es anterio res hemos analizado la naturaleza de los problemas de acame y su importancia para el a icultor.Desde el punto de vista del trabajo experimental, Ia incidencia del problema de acame presenta mayores complejidades que los que pudimos anticipar al comienzo del programa. Por un lado, tenemos la perdida de parcelas y/0 ensayos completos particulannente si la incidencia de los vientos es fuerte y ocurren en epocas tempranas de desarrollo del cultivo (por ejemplo antes de la floraci6n). En este caso, los rendimientos de las parcelas afectadas bajaran sensiblemente (hasta cero en casos extremos); y si las parcelas perdidas son mlis de las que pueden estimarse como tales, podria dejarse el ensayo sin cosechar. Los proJlemas de riesgo para el agricultor deben de una u otra fonna ser tornados en cuenta antes de fonnular recomendaciones al product or.Cuando el acame ocurre en periodos cercanos a la madurez de la planta, en general el impacto en redimientos es menor (el agricultor cosecha a mano). Sin embargo, desde el punto de vista del manejo del ensayo; la mezcla de las plantas caidas entre y dentro de las unidades experimentales afecta la precisi6n de los datos agron6micos y de rendimiento a obtener en la cosecha.De este ultimo tipo han sido los problemas de acame que afectaron a los ensayos de herbicidas por epoca.En el Cuadro 42 se presentan los promedios de rendimiento para ambas localidades. Puede observarse que los tratamientos se comportan en fonna similiar a excepci6n del testigo absoluto.El Cuadro 43 presenta el anilisis estadistico para ambas localidades. Los tratamientos son 5010 levemente significativos (allO ...) sin embargo, gran parte de esta significaci6n se debe a 1a diferencia entre los tratamientos y el testigo absoluto; tal como puede verse en la significaci6n del contraste entre los tratamientos 1 a 11 y el 12.En este terna Espinosa ha generado evidencia empirica< 1) que inc1.ica que cuando las malezas compiten con el cultivo de maiz por cuatro semanas el rendimiento se reduce en un 37%, y que cuando este perfodo e extiende por mas de cinco semanas el efecto puede alcanzar hasta un 80%. Estos resultados son confmnados s610 parcialmente (por el contraste con el testigo absoluto) en estos ensayos.  l.C6mo afectan estos resultados )~.& recomendaciones de herbicidas? Tanto los ensayos exploratorios como los de tipos de herbicidas con dosis confirman la viabilidad de Gesaprim 80 en dosis de 2.5 kg/ha. En ambos gropos de ensayos el Gesaprim fue aplicado en pre-emergencia. Visto que las distintas epocas de aplicacion no estan asociadas con distintos costos de aplicacion y como el Gesaprlm tiene efecto residual, la totilidad de la informacion disponible nos pennite afmnar que maximizamos la eficiencia agroeconomica del insumo al utilizarlo en pre-emergencia (aunque lamentablemente los ensayos de herbicidas por epoca no penniten por S1 derivar esta conclusion).En el Cuadro 44 se presentan los rendimientos promedio por localidad obtenidos para cada uno de los tratamientos en estudio. En la conduccion de estos ensayos se confrontaron ataques de insectos y dafios menores de animales que en alguna medida afectan los resultados obtenidos.. Sin embargo, si. estos son considerados conjuntamente con las relaci.ones agron6micas obtenidas en nitr6geno y f6sCoro de los ensayos exploratorios, se conc1uye que el balance de la totalidad de 1a infonnaci6n generada bAsta el momento, perrnite validar (aunque en forma aUn preliminar) las hip6tesis que sabre estos componentes fueran fonnuladas en la etapa de planeamient de la investigaci6n. En la siguiente secci6n se vera las implicaciones que esto tiene para el futuro de 13 investigaci6n y para algunas cuestiooes operativas de politica agricola en el area. El enfoque metodo16gjco del Programa de Caisan implica que despues 69 de cada cicIo se integra Ia informacion provemente de Jas encuestas can los resultados de los ensayos; se revisa e1 diagnOstico realizado, las hip6tesis formuladas y se deftnen con estos elementos las lineas de eontinuidad de la investigacion; las reeomendaciones para los productores si estas procedleran) y las implicaciones de politica agropecuaria que pudieran corresponder.A medida ue se van eneontrando soluciones a los problemas prioritarios y los productores aceptan las alternativas tecno16gicas generadas, nuevos problemas ocuparan su lUga! y nuevos componentes tecnol6gicos seran ineorporados al programa de investigacion.Con este marco de referenda, los resultados del primer cicIo de ensayos de maiz en Caisan permiten validar las hipotesis formuladas en la etapa de diagn6stieo y derivar implicaciones en tenninos de los elementos mencionados precedentemente.En este senttdo, se ha visto que los ensayos exploratorios muestran efectos principales significativos para herbicidas y densidad y arreglo espacia1 de siembra; y en menor grado interacciones entre ambas variables. Par otra parte, las Tasas Marginates de Retorno para las altemativas consideradas (siembra en hileras eon una poblaci6n de 50,000 plantas/ha y Gesaprim 80 en dosis de 2.5 kg/ a,superan el nivel de 700'ft). Esto conflmla, por un lado, la hip6tesis de que existen en estos componentes claras oportunidades de desarrollar altemativas tecno16gicas viables para los productores del area, que permitirlin aumentu la productividad de Ia tierra y la mana de obra en la produccion maicera del area.en el siguiente cielo: analizando la preparaci6n del suelo tipica de los pr ductores representativos frente a una alternativa de cero labranza con control quimico de malezas. Esta variable se incorpora en los ensayos exploratorios en lugar de control quimico de malezas que queda s610 en los ensayos de nivel. i,Cuales son las implicaciones que surgen de estos resultados? En primer lugar sugieren, por 10 menos, cierta cautela n el manejo de recomen• daciones de fertilizantes hasta tanto se pueda ir conflD11ando en ciclos siguientes la informaci6n obtenida en el primer cicio. Tambien sugieren revisar el enfasis puesto en fertilizantes por los programas crediticios.En 10 que respecta a la orientaci6n futura de la investigaci6n, estos resultados y el horizonte de mediano plazo para estos cornponentes, sugieren el uso de ensayos en parcelas continuas donde pueda analizarse el impacto de mediano plazo sobre 13 fertilidad natural del suelo, de un manejo mis intensivo de la rotacion maiz/frijol, incluyendo practicas mejoradas de control de malezas y densidad de siembra.Por Ultimo, los rendimientos obtenidos en los ensayos han confinnado el potencial de rendimiento de la variedad local, que fuem utilizada en todos los casos en los ensayos como variable no experimental. r CAPITULO 6 EL SEGUNDO CICLO DEL PROGRAMA DE MAIZ (1980) Las conelusiones resenadas en el capitulo precedente ofrecen una muy buena base de infonnacion para orientar e1 programa de ensayos de 1980. En particular, la validaci6n inicia1 de la hip6tesis sobre control qu:frnico de malezas permite incorporar en el programa de ensayos al sistema de labranza como variable experimental; tal como 10 habiamos anticipado en la etapa inicial de planeamiento.Por otra parte, el analisis del primer cielo de ensayos ha dado algWla evidencia de las bondades de la estrategia experimental utilizada, particularmente, en tenninos de capacidad que brinda, de articular la informacion obtenida de distintos grupos de ensayos, de vincular esta con practicas y problemas del productor, y de derivar las implicaciones del caso. Acorde con ella, la estrategia experimental se mantiene tal como ha sido defutida en los Wcios del programa (vease cap. 5,5.1).6.1 Programa de ensayos teristicas de diseno y man jo que el ciclo anterior (1979). En 10 que se refiere a variables experimentales, se incorpora como tal. el sistema de labranza del suelo en lugar de control de malezas. Este ultimo continua siendo estudia• do en los ensayos de nivel.Las hip6tesis que acornpanan el estudio de cero labranza como alterna• tiva al sistema de Jabranza convencional, no estan referidas a su Impacto potencial en productividad de la tierra (se espera que el impacto en rendirnientos no sea de significacion), sino mas bien ala eficiencia econornica en el manejo del cultivo. En particular. esta altemativa implicaria:Mantener basicamente los mismos rendimientos por hectarea.Bajar los costos de labranza por hectarea, y consecuentemente disminuir los costos medios de produccion.Moderar en forma significativa los problemas de erosion detectados en la etapa inicial de planeamiento del programa, y de los cuales tienen plena conciencia los product ores de la zona.Independizar al pequeno productor de la necesidad de contratar un servicio de mecanizacion para preparacion del suelo.En relacion con el punto anterior se debe permitir mayor flexibilidad en el momento de la siembra, acortando el tiempo de labores necesarias previas ala misma.Aumentar la eficiencia agronornica y econonuca del control quirnico de malezas en las primeras semanas de desarrollo del cultivo, al bajar los Mas promedio transcurridos entre culminacion de labores de preparaci6n y siembra.Resurniendo, los ensayos exploratorios en este cicIo incIuyen las siguientes variables experimentales: a. Sistema de labranza, b. Densidad yarreglo espacial de siembra, c. Requerimientos de nitrogeno y, d. Requerimientos de fosforo.La aleatorizacion de tratarnientos dentro de los bloques fue restringida por un corte transversal de estos, que permiti6 trabajar en una franja todos los tratamientos involucrando cero labranza, y en la otra los de labranza conven• cional.Se sembraron cuatro de estos ensayos con dos repeticiones y los siguientes niveles de variables experimentales: a. Sistema de labranza L o : Preparacion convencional 0 mecanizada del suelo. Tres pases de rastra pesada. 1\\' = 75 kilos de P 2 0&/ha a la siembra.EI control de malezas se realiza con Gesaprim 80 pre-emergente a.razon de 2.5 kg. MC/ba. El resto de las variables no experimentales corresponden a las pn[cticas del agricultor. Dada la importancia que tuvo la variable densidad el ciclo pasado, se realizara un mayor seguimiento de esta variable, con conteos de plantas al principio y fm del cicio del cultivo.Tal como se anticip6 en las conclusiones del capitulo precedente, los ensayos de nivel en este cicio cubriran: a. Herbicidas (tipo, dosis y epoca) por densidad. b. Niveles de nitrogeno y fosforo en parcelas continuas, con parcelas satelites exploratorias de niveles de potasio. c. Prueba de efecto residual del Gesaprim 80 sobre el frijol.Estos ensayos intentan continuar analizando alternativas de herbicidas, dosis y epocas, y su interaccion can densidad. Se incorpora en este caso el herbicida de contacto Gramoxone, para analizar su eficiencia en relaci6n con el Gesaprim 80. Se realizaron dos ensayos de este tipo utilizando un diseilo de parcelas divididas en bloques al azar can cuatro repeticiones, donde la densidad ocupa la parcela principal y los herbicidas las subparcelas. Los niveles de las variables experimentales son los siguientes: En funcion de las concJusiones obtenidas en el cicJo precedente, se planificaron ensayos de nitr6geno y f6sforo en parcelas continuas (0008 tres cielos) donde se intenta anaJizar el impacto a mediano plazo sobre la fertilidad del suelo de un rnanejo m~s intensivo del cultivo como el sugerido par las nuevas pmcticas de control quimico de malezas y densidad y arreglo espacial de siembra que van surgiendo del programa de investigaci6n y que se espera que sean adoptadas por los productores del area. Tambien se adicionan parcelas satelites can el objeto de explorar la respuesta a potasio. Se mantienen las hip6tesis que inicialmente fundamentaron la incorporaci6n de nutrientes qUfmicos en el programa de investigacion. Es decir, no se esperan en el corto plazo respuestas de significaci6n como resultado de la adicion de fertilizantes.El disefio empleado fue de bloques al azar con tres repeticiones, con un subarreglo factorial (NxP) y parcelas satlHites de potasio. Se pJanificar n tres ensayos de este tipo, siendo los niveles de las variables experimentales los siguientes:No\" °kg de N/ba Nt .. 40 kg de N/ha N 2 • 80 kg de N/haPo\" 0 kg de P20/i/ba. P 1 -50 kg de P20/i/ha P a .. 100 kg de P 2 0/i/haTratamientos adicionales:a. Practica del agricultor, el cual corresponde a 25 kilos de P 2 0/i(ha, a la siembra.b. Parcelas satelites, a niveles de potasio de 0,50 y 100 kg de K 2 0/ha cada uno aplicado al extremo de cada bloque sin repeticion, con los niveles maximos de N y P (N ,. 80 kg; p .. 100 kg).El fertilizante se aplica en un h yo jWlto a cada postura de semilla, tapado con azad6n. La densidad y arreglo espacial de siembra esta en fWlci6n de los resultados obtenidos en el cicIo anterior, es decir, 50,000 plantas por hectarea. El mismo criterio se aplica para el control de malezas que se realiza con Gesaprim 80, a razon de 2.5 kg de Me por hectarea. Las restantes variables no experimentales corresponden a la practica del productor. tivos de acuerdo a la localidad, resultando en un promedio cercano a cera. En 10 que respecta a fertilizantes, el efecto del nitr6geno parace ser practicamente nulo; mientras que el f6sfora tiene en este caso efectos positivos en todas las localidades, Junque en pramedio alcanza a s610 0. 4.9 0.3Esto en gran med..ida es captado por el analisis estadistico. En el Cuadra 48 se presentan Jos resultados del anava r:~: localidad y combinado. En el se' observa que densidad y arreglo espacial de siembra resultan sistematicamente significativos en todas las localidades y, acorde con ella tambien en el combinado. Estos resultados son consistentes can los obtenidos en el cicio anterior. EI analisis economico tambien confuma los resultados del cicio anterior; el bajo costa de la alternativil considerada frente a la practica del agricultor, resulta en altas tasas marginales de retorno (Cuadra 49), confirmando la viabilidad de la alternativa de densidad y arreglo espacial de siembra considerada. En el caso de labranza se o[;serva un impacto en rend..imientos de significaci6n al cinco por dento s610 en una de las tres localidades. En este caso el efecto es positivo en el sentido de aumentar los rendimientos frente a la labranza convencional. El aniLisis combinado no mantiene esta significaci6n para la variable sistema de labranza, y por otra parte, la interacci6n significativa Localidad par Labranza refleja el distinto comportamiento observado par localidad. Se tiene en e8te caso, por un lado, que no hay dUerencias significativas en los rendimientos en e1 anilisis combinado, y por otro lado, que en el Unico caso de un efecto principal negativo (localidad 1) este no es significativo. Se concluye en consecuencia, que la informacion disponibl afirma que blisicamente no se liene efectos de significaci6n en rendimientos. Sobre esta base se rea1iza el anlllisis econ6mico. 206.17 2.9 Incremento en C.V. 9.33 37.50 Tasa Marginal de Retomo (1) 2210% 8!1o(1) Casto de oportunJdad del capital (COC) 40%.E1 Cuadro 50 presenta el presupuesto parcial de labranza convencional y cero labranza bajo la hipotesis (validada por los ensayos) de que los rendimientos son los mismos para ambas altemativas. 8i se considera los costos' que varian para ambas altemativas, se nota que sin afectar fos beneficios brutos la aIternativa de cero 1abranza implica una reducci6n de costos del orden del 44\"\", con r la ion a la labranza convencional. Esta reduccion esUi referida al contraste de los costos inmediatos de labranza, sin considerar los costos de erosion asociados con la labranza convencional, y que como vieramos en la etapa inicial de diagn6stico son cJaramente percibidos por el produetor (Cuadra 28). 26.00 4.00/dia 8.00 5.00/11. 9.00 4.00/dia 8.00 l.OO/dia l.00 6.2.2 Ensayos de mvel 6.2.2.1 Herbicidas por densidad Los ensayos de herbicidas por densidad que se efectuaron en el cicio de 1980, en 3 10ca1idades fueron severamente afectados por el efecto de acame, debido a vientos huracanados. Este problema ocurri6 a fmes del mes de junio durante la etapa de floracion del cultivo. En algunos casos todo el ensayo sufrio danos de consideracion, rnientras que en otros este era localizado afectando secciones de las repeticiones en forma irregular.Las plantas sanas que quedaron en la parcela del agricultor 0 en los experimentos se recuperaron, es decir, las plantas no quebradas recuperaron su crecimiento semierecto, sin embargo, el dano limito en forma defmitiva la informacion que se pudiera generar desde el punto de vista experimental, optandose por no continuar dichos trabajos. LOs ensayos de herbicidas por densidad, pretendiaJl confirmar el efecto de la interacci6n herbicida X densidad captada en los exploratorios del 79; aparte se incorporaba en los tratarnientos el herbicida Gramoxone, a fill de evaluar su eficiencia en el control de las malezas y compararlo, particularmente en su eficiencia economica con el Gesaprim 80.En este sentido, las observaciones de campo provenientes de estos ensayos anotadas durante la fase vegetativa del cultivo, indicaban un control de malezas eficiente, tanto por parte del Gesaprim preemergente, como por parte del Gramoxone, que fue aplicado en post-emergencia, dirigido (a los 30 dias de la siembra) utilizando pantaila en las boquillas de las bombas como medida de proteccion para las plantas. No se observola misma eficiencia en el control para el caso del 2-4 -D.El Cuadro 51 presenta los rendirnientos por tratarnient(. en las tres Iocalidades y el promedio de las rnismas. En una prinlera aproximaci6n se observa que no sc' encuentran diferencias marcadas entre el testigo abso-Iuto, Ia practica del agricultor y el resto de los tratarnientos.El Cuadro 52 pre~nta Ia Anava por localidad y combinado. En 61 podemos ver diferencias significativas en los tratarnientos solamente para nitrogeno en la localidad 3. Mlentras que el aruHisis combinado refleja diferencias significativas para localidades y para repeticiones dentro de Ia localidad. Este ultimo resultado es en parte un reflejo del comportarniento de Ia localidad 1, que se vio afectada por danos parciales de animales; hecho que aument6 un tanto el coeficiente de variacion para esta ultima localidad, en relacion con las restantes. El diferente comportamiento por localidad, resulta en interacciones significativas en el analisi~combinado para localidad por nitr6geno y localidad por f6sforo.Cuadro 51. Ensayos de nivel en fertilizantes. Rendimientos en too/ba aJ 14d e IlUmedad.RENDIMlENTO (ton/ha) Por Ultimo, el ana.ti.sis combinado muestra una muy leve significacion para nitr6geno y para fosforo (al Divel de 10,,), la cual interesa considerar (no obstante ser 5610 una leve tendencia agregada), con el analisis economico. El Cuadro 53, presenta los resultados de este ultimo anali.&is que incorpora Ia practica del agricwtor.De acuerdo a los resultados obtenidos, eJ anilisis econ6mico dice que la Unica adicion de fertilizantes con Tasa Marginal• del Retorno positiva a partir del testigo absoluto (cero fertilizantes) es la de NaO y P=25, aunque dicha tasa de retorno es inferior al costo de oportunidad del capital. De todas forrnas resulta interesante destacar que tsta no es otra que la practica del .agricultor. Las restantes altemativas resultan dominadas por esta Ultima, Se mantienen en consecuencia las conclusiones surgidas del cicIo anterior. El uso de fertilizantes no resulta rentable en el corto plazo dadas las condiciones presentes de alta fertilidad natural del suclo.Con el fin de explorar la respuesta al potasio, se incluyeron en estos ensayos parcelas sat6tiles con este nutriente a Dive1es altos de nitrogeno y fosforo (Na80; P .. lOO). El Cuadro 54 reporta los resultados obtenidos por localidad y en promedio. Se observa eierto crecirniento en los rendimientos como rf-sultado de las primeras adiciones de potasio (de 0-50 kgjha), que en promedio implica un cinco por dento de aumento sobre el testigo. damente en la l\",calidad 1 (que es la localidad que tuvo danos parciales de animales). Como estos resultados no son muy concluyentes, deberia esta exploraci6n eontinuarse en el proximo cicIo, si se quiere tener una idea de la respuesta a potasio. La ejecucion de estas pruebas resulto dificil en su manejo, ya que la excesiva humedad propia de la epoca favorecia la incidencia de enfennedades y de insectos que no podian ser controlados sin afectar el manejo de los ex.periment s de mail. Por otra parte, la ex.cesiva sam bra de las plantas de maiz, especialmente en las ultimas fechas de siembra del frijol, limitaba el desarrollo del frijol, hacienda difieillos conteos asociados con fitotoxicidad. A pesar de estas dificultades, los conteo efectuados en las primeras fases del trabajo permiten indicar un efecto pnicticamente total (como era de esperar) sabre la poblaci6n del frijol cuando este es sembrado inmediatamente despues de la aplicaci6n del Gesaprim 80; y una baja de alrededor del 60% en 1a poblacion, cuando el frijol es sembrad a los 30 Mas.A los 60 dias un se observaba efecto fitot6xico, pew la poblaci6n solo bajaba en cerea de un 20Of.. Mas aila de este periodo (a los 90 dias) la fitotox.icidad resultaba casi mlia. Seguramente la magnitud de las precipitaciones en este perfodo tenninan por lavar el producto y su efecto residual. Visto que las siembras de fnjol se dan en octubre, el perfodo real que transcurriria entre la aplicaci6n del Gesaprim 80 en maa (Olano) y las siembras de frijol seria mas del doble del maximo considerado en esta prueba. Esto da suficiente margen para confirrnar la hipotesis de efecto residual nulo en el periodo de tiempo relevante.6.3 Integraci6n global de resultados y derivaci6n de recomendaciones.En funclon de las hip6tesis que orientaton la definicion del programa de ensayos en 1980, las conclusiones mas importantes que podemos resenar para este cicIo son las siguientes: a. Se confirma la viabilidad para el produetor, y el potencial para la zona de la altemativa de cera labram.a frente al sistema convencional de d. En 10 'lue respecta a fertilizantes qu!micos, se confirman igualmente las hipotesis y resultados obtenidos hasta el presente. En el corto plaza, dada la fertilidad natural del suelo prevaleciente en el area, la adici6n de fertilizantes quimicos no resulta rentable para los productores representativos de la zona. Estos resultados, junto can la flexibilizacion de los programas de credi• to (1) operada despues del primer cielo del programa, indican que podria disminuir (en el corto plazo), e1 uso de fertilizantes en maiz por parte de los productores, can efeeto praeticamente nulo sabre rendirnientos. las conclusiones precedentes, junto con los elementos de informaci6n obtenidos del diagn6stico inicial y del primer cielo de ensayos, permiten deBnir las siguientes lineas de trabajo para el futuro inmediato: a.Incorporar en el programa como variable experimental (en los ensayos exploratorios) el control de inseetos del suelo, como un segura de proteccion para lograr una adecuada poblaci6n de plantas. La importancia de esta Ultima variable (impaeto en rendimientos) ha sido validado consisten• temente en dos cidos consecutivos de cultivo. b. Conililuar en los ensayos exploratorios con el estudio de las variables, sistema de labranza y densidad y arreglo espacial de siemhra. Para esta Ultima variable, vista la lncorporaci6n de control de insectos del suelo, se realizaca.n conteos de plantas mas frecuentes, durante el primer mes de desarrollo de cultivo, a los efectos de contnouir a precisar el grade de protecci6n provisto por el insecticida. c.Mantener el f6sforo como variable experimental en los ensayos exploratorios y descontinuar la inclusion de nitrogeno (que cvntinua igualmente siendo estudiado en los ensayosde nivel). La eliminacion del nitrogeno de este gropo de ensayos esta justificada par los resultados obtenidos para el nutriente en dos cidos consecutivos de ensayo y las oportunidades que podria ofrecer la incorporacion de la variable control de insectos del suelo. En el caso de fosforo, notese que hubo cierto indicio de respuesta (aunque no concluyente) en el Ultimo cicio de ensayos exploratorios.d. Repetir los ensayos de nivel en herbicidas por densidad perdidos par acame en el cicIo de 1980. Igualmente, repetir en los surcos bordes las pruebas de fitotoxicidad residual del Gesaprim sabre el cultivo de frijol. e. Mantener los ensayos en .parcelas continuas de fertilizantes (topografia plana -inclinaci6n menor de 5\"1o)Y comenzar con ensayos de fertili• zantes en tierras de ladera (inclinap,on mayor a 5%); tal como habia sido anticipado en la etapa inicial de planificaci6n del programa (diferenciaci6n del Dominio de Recomendaci6n No.2, en terminos de topografia de Ja parcela maiz/frijol. Vease Cap. 4 ;4.3).f. En base a la informacion generada en los dos ciclos de ensayos, conducir parcelas de verificacion can altemativa simples de sistema de labranza, densidad y arreglo espacial de siembra, control quimico de malezas y fertilizantes.g. Explorar la posibilidad de interesar a algunos agricultores para que manejen al menos pal1e de su cultivo de maiz bajo el sistema de cero labranza; :lsumiendo ellos mismos los costos de la altemativa, bajo la supervision del tecnico del programa. El usa de insecticida representa un segura para ellogro de densidades adecuadas y rendimientos satisfactorios. Se realizaron conteos de plantas a la genninaci6n a los 15 y 30 dias de la siembra y ala cusecha. En los demas datos a calificar se procedi6 igual que en los cidos precedentes.7.1.2 Herbicidas pordensidad.Se realizaron 4 ensayos de tipos de herbicidas y dom por densidad. El disefio fue de parcelas divididas en bloques al azar, con tres repeticiones, donde el factor poblaci6n ocupa las parcelas principales y el factor herbicidas las sub•parcelas. Los tratarnientos incluidos han side los siguientes: Las variables no experimentales, corresponden a la pnfctica del agricultor. La unidad experimental as£ como las variables a califiear son las mismas que en el cicIo precedente.En los surcos bordes de estos ensayos se repitieron las pruebas de efecto residual de la atrazina, sembrando frijol a los cera, treinta, sesenta y noventa dias.Se mantienen por un lado los ensayos en parcelas continuas, tal cual han sido defmidos en el ciclo anterior. Recuerdese que la topografia del terreno en estos ensayos es relativamente plana (menor de 5% -Dominio de Recomendaci6n No.2). Por otra lado, se comienza a trabajar con fertilizantes en tierras de ladera (pendiente mayor de 5%) con el ntismo disefio y variables experimentales, aunque sin utilizar parcelas sate1ites de potasio. En resumen, tenemos tres ensayos de este tipo en parcelas continuas (planas), a los cuales se adicionan en este ciclo dos ensayos en tierras de ladera; aunque sin implicar parcelas continuas. En 10 que se refiere a variables no experimentales, se aplicani insecticida Furadin al suelo a raz6n de 30 kg/ha a los efectos de asegurar una adecuada densidad de poblaci6n. Las demas variables no experimentales y datos a calificar serlin iguales al cicIo precedente.Estas parcelas combinan las mejores alternativas tecno16gicas que van surgiendo de los ensayos exploratorios y de nivel, con el objeto de verificar su viabilidad conjunta para el agricultor. Esta verificaci6n se realiza en parcelas mas grandes que las de los ensayos con una participaci6n mayor del agricultor a 10 largo de su desarrollo.De acuerdo con los resultados de los primeras cicIos de ensayos, las parcelas de verificaci6n incorpOIan alternativas de labranza, control quimico de malezas, densidad y afreglo espacial de siembra y fertilizantes. La practica del agricultor ha sido ajustada en control quimico de malezas siguiendo la tendencia observada por parte del agricultor de desplazar el 2-4-D por los nuevos herbicidas probados en el area. La que Testa de la practica tie.i agricuitor se mantiene tal como fue captado al comienzo del programa, pretendiendo resaltar los contrastes en productividad e ingresos netos asociados con cera labranza, poblaci6n y arreglo espacial de siembra y usa de fertilizantes quimicos. Con estos criterios se sembraron parcelas de verificaci6n (sin repetici6n) en tres localidades y con las siguientes alternativas tecno16gicas. Como puede verse, de acuerdo a la informaci6n generada en los ensayos, la alternativa I competiria con la pnictica del agricultor tanto en rendirnientos como en costos; siendo este Ultimo el impacto esperado de maym significaci6n. La alternativa II por su parte, implica costas mayores que la alternativa I, por la aplicaci6n de fertilizantes. Se intentara iHteresar a tres agricultores para que manejen parte 0 todo su cultivo de maiz con el sistema de cero labranza. Estas parcelas seran mnejadas totalmente por el propio agricu1tor con el asesorarniento del teenico del programa. Los agricultores eubrir.fn el grueso de los costos y asumiran los riesgos asociados con la parcela manejada con esta alternativa. El programa proveera, sin embargo, algunos insumos asociados con la tecnolog{a, dependiendo de los aeuerdos a que se l1egue con eada produetor. El tecnico por su parte, proveera un seguimiento informal a 10 largo del eultivo (partieularrnente en las labores de labranza) intentando captar las reaeciones de los agrieultores frente al usa de la alternativa teeno16giea eonsiderada. El teenieo tratm de no influir en todas las demas practicas (fuera de cero labranza); quedando estas enteramente a cargo del agricu1tor. Por Ultimo, se realizaran observaciones de campo registrando las praetieas seguidas por el agrieultor y muestreos de numero de plantas eoseehadas, numero de mazoreas eosechadas y rendimientos.7.2 Amilisis agronomico, estadistico y economico de los resultados obtenidos por grupos de ensayos.Tanto las parcelas comerciales de los agricultores, como los ensayos ubieados en sus fmeas, eonfrontaron en este ciclo la incidencia de factores elimaticos adversos (sequfa), fuertes ataques de inseetos del genero Phyllophaga sp (gallina eiega) e incidencia de Helminthosporium sp. (m6n). Las condiciones climaticas adversas fueron por un lado, un atraso en establecimiento del perfodo lluvioso, y por otro lado, se verificaron mas tarde periodos de fuerte sequia (tipo canicula) durante el cicIo de cultivo (estos ultimos poco comunes en la zona). lnformaciones procedentes de los agricultores nos indican que parece haber una asociacion entre el atraso en el establecimiento de las lluvias y fuertes ataques de insectos del suelo. Estos ataques se verifican en el perfodo que va entre las primeras lluvias (en este caso escasas e irreguIares) yel establecimiento del temporal. A partir de este Iiltimo, desaparece la incidencia severa de insectos del suelo. Felizmente, los ensayos exploratorios permitieron captar la incidencia de insectos del suelo sobre la poblacion de plantas ya que esto fue incorporado como variable experimental en este cicio.El problema mayor, aunque de ocurrencia poco frecuente en el area, se debio al desarrollo de enfermedades fungosas en la planta de maiz antes y durante el perfodo de floracion. En las observaciones realizadas durante el CicIo, se destacan los sintomas del tizon (Helminthosporium sp), mas conocido en el area como \"fuego\". Este em asociado, en la vision de los agricultores, con la ocurrencia (poco frecuente en 1a zona) de perfodos de sequia durante la estacion de lluvia (ca.niculas). En este caso, ligados a perfodos de sequia de esta naturaleza, se presentaron en la lamina foliar pequeftas lesiones de color chocolate pilido en las hojas inferiores e intermedias, las cuales a1 transcurrir el tiempo crecieron y se unieron hasta que il dano se generaliz6 en toda la planta.La magnitud del impacto en rendimiento, depende de la etapa de desarrollo del cultivo al momento de incidencia de la enfermedad. Si fuera correcta la apreciaci6n de que el ambiente propicio para la misma esta dado por la ocurrencia de perfodos de sequia intermedia, la incidencia en rendimientos estara dada por la ubicaci6n de la canicula en el tiempo y las fechas de siembra. La incidencia de la enfermedad en 1981 se dio antes y durante el perfodo de floracion, por 10 cual, el efecto fue significativo sobre los rendirnientos.Resulta interesante destacar que el agricultor prefiere en general sembrar 10 antes po sible ; ya que esto Ie perrnite un empalme mas efidente con las siembras de frijol en el segundo cicio.El Cuadro 55 da una idea de la incidencia de esta enfermedad. En t!l podemos ver los rendimientos promedio por grupos de ensayos en los distintos cidos del programa. La baja en rendimientos ha sido dramatica para e1 cicIo de 1981, implicando una reducci6n del 55% con relaci6n a los rendimientos promedio obtenidos en los dos cicIos precedentes (1979)(1980).Como es de suponer, esto ha afectado en general los coeficientes de variacion de los ensayos y 1a confiabilidad de la informaci6n obtenida en este cicIo. Con estas calificaciones se procede, no obstante, a realizar el anilisis de los ensayos para rescatar 10 que sea poSlble de la informaci6n obtenida bajo estas circunstancias. (b) En este ciclo se verific6 un atraso en las Uuvias en Ia epoca de siembra (asociado con fuertes ataques de insectos del melo) y un perfodo de sequ fa en la epoca de la floracion (asociado con tizon -Helminthosporium sp).En el Cuadra 56 se presentan los rendimientos obtenidos en tres de los cinco ensayos sembrados. Los dos restantes tuvieron fuertes dafios de animales y no fueron cosechados. Lo que se destaca c1aramente en la informacion del Cuadra 56, es el nivel bajo de rendimientos, que como se ha mencionado en la seccion precedente, se debe a la incidencia de Hemilnthosporium sp. antes y durante el periodo de Doracion. Esto afecto asimismo la validez de las relaciones agronomicas y estadisticas que surgen de los ensayos. En el cuadro 57, se presenta el anava por localidad y combinado para este grupo de ensayos. Lo primero que debemos destacar son los altos coeficientes de variacion resultantes de la incidencia de la enfermedad, los cuales van de un 23% a un 44% en los analisis por localidad, siendo de 37% en el combinado. poblaci6n de plantas en la etapa inicial de desarrollo del cultivo, en el caso de que se produzcan ataques de insectos del suelo. Tal como se ha mencionado precedentemente, la incidencia de insectos del suelo fue bastante generalizada en este ciclo.Cuadro 56. Ensayos exploratorios. Arreglo factorial 2 4 . Rendimientos por Tratamiento. (ton/ha al14'10 de humedad).RENDlMlENTO ton/ha Indudablemente el efecto de la protecci6n provista por el insecticida no se traduce en este caso plenamente en rendimientos, por la mediaci6n del Helminthosporium sp., sin embargo, se puede ver en el Cuadro 58, que a pesar de la mecliaci6n del Helminthosporium sp., los efectos principales para insecticidas son consistentemente positivos en todas las 10ca1idades; aunque los niveles absolutos son relativamente bajos por los bajos renclimientos resultantes de la enfermedad. Visto que la ocurrencia de esta es poco frecuente en la zona, los resultados obtenidos estarian suhestimando el impacto normal del insecticida sabre renclimientos cuando se verifican ataques de insectos del suelo.  Felizmente, sin embargo, los conteos de plantas realizados en distintas etapas del primer mes de desarrollo del cultivo, dan igualmente, Wla clara indicacion del grado de proteccion que ofrece el insecticida para poder mantener una poblaci6n adecuada.En el Cuadro 59 se presenta la evolucion de la poblacion durante el primer mes de cultivo con y sin incidencia, a partir de dos poblaciones iniciales alternativas (40,000 plantas con arreglo espacial mateado y 50,000 plantas con arreglo espacial en hileras).El Cuadro 59 observa que la mayor perdida de poblacion frente al ataque de insectos se produce en el caso de densidad y arreglo espacial del productor sin insecticida (D 1). La poblacion a los 30 dias con insecticida supera en este caso en casi 10,000 plantas por hectarea a la que no tiene la proteccion de este insumo. Cuando la poblacion iniOO es de 50,000 plantas con siembra en hileras la diferencia no es tan dramatica (cerca de 6,000 plantas mas por hectarea con la proteccion del insecticida).Estas diferencias no se manifiestan plenamente en diferencias en rendimientos por la mediacion (poco normal) del ataque del Helminthosporium sp. A pesar de la subestimacion resultante del impacto en rendirniento, nos interesa realizar el aruilisis economico para verificar si au.n bajo estas circunstancias es viable el uso del insecticida al suelo. Los resultados del analisis se presentan en el Cuadro 60. Notese que no se han incIuido requerirnientos de mana de obra en el presupuesto parcial. La razon de ella es que dicho requerirniento seria minimo ya que se supone que el agricultor realizaria una preparacion de la semilla previa a la siembra, mezcIandola con agua e insecticida. La otra cosa a tener en cuenta para calificar los resultados, es que la dosis utilizada (30 kg de Furadan por hectarea) ha sido fijada a un nivel relativamente alto (para detectar efectos e interacciones, si estos existieran) sin mayores consideraciones economicas.A pesar de 10 anterior, la rasa Marginal de Retorno (232\"10) para el uso de insecticida al suelo cuando se producen ataques de insectos, por las circWlstancias anteriormente explicadas, estimamos que sera sustancialmente mayor bajo condiciones normales de produccion (sin enfermedades), siempre que se produzcan ataques de insectos del suelo. Pero por otro lado, se debe tambien considerar que no en todos los ciclos se va a verificar esta Ultima circWlstancia (ataques de insectos). De esta forma, el uso de insecticidas al suelo puede considerarse como Wl segura de proteccion de la poblacion (stand) adecuada de plantas cuya importancia (beneficios) para el productor sera mayor cuanto mayor sea la frecuencia (probabilidad) de ataques de insectos del suelo y cuanto mayor sea el efecto de proteccion del insecticida, en el caso en que dichos ataques se verifiquen. Sobre la base de los resultados obtenidos en este cicIo, se continuaci estudiando el comportamiento de esta variable en el progi1ll11a de ensayos del proximo cicIo; a la vez que ge intentaci PROGRAMA DE MAIl 1981 Cuadro 59. Ensayos exploratorios. Evolucion de la poblacion de plantas frente a ataques de insectos con y sin proteccion de insecticida aI suelo.  Aceptando la no significaci6n estadistica para herbicidas, el ordenamiento de rendimientos y tratamientos es similar al obtenido en 61 primer ciclo, asociandose el 2-4-D con los rendimientos mas bajos ( vease Cuadro 63). Indudablemente el nivel general de rendimientos y la magnitud de las diferencias entre tratamientos han sido afectados por la incidencia de la   Ires de los cinco ensayos sembrados se perdieron par acame 0 dano de animales; quedando s6lo un ensayo en topografia plana (pendiente menor de 5%-parcelas continuas), y uno en topografia inclinada (pendiente mayor de 5%).El Cuadro 65 presenta los rendimientos obtenidos en ambas localidades. Una primera observaci6n indica diferencias marcadas para nitrogeno en la localidad 1 (parcelas continuas -topografia plana), mientras que no ocurre 10 mismo en la localidad 2.Esto es confmnado por el an:ilisis estadistico. El Cuadra 66 presenta la anava por localidad para el subarreglo factorial de ambos ensayos. Los coeficientes de variaci6n son relativamente altos, confmnando el patr6n general de los ensayos de este cicIo. Se observan diferencias significativas para nitr6geno en la localidad 1 que corresponde a los ensayos de parcelas continuas.Lamentablemente, no se puede generalizar estos resultados para el dominio de recomendaci6n con s610 un ensayo ni tampaco inferir, bajo estas circunstancias, que comienza ya a manifestarse el agotamiento esperado en la fertilidad natural del suelo. Esto debera dilucidarse continuando con estos ensayos de parcelas continuas en los pr6x.imos cicIos. Si entonces se confmnara esta respuesta como \"representativa\" de 10 que va a ocurrir con los productores del Dominio de Recomendaci6n en un futuro  (b) Ensayo en laderas (mas del 5'10 de declive).no muy 1ejano(l), estariamos en condiciones de anticipar requerimientos y viabilidad de nutrientes quimicos como resultado del proceso de desarrollo tecnologico seguido por la region en la produccion de maiz. En el caso particular del ensayo considerado, el Cuadra 67 indica que resultaria viable una aplicacion de 80 kg de nitrogeno con una tasa marginal de retorno de 125\"1•.En 10 que respecta al ensayo en tierras de ladera (localidad 2), el Cuadro 66 indica que no presenta diferencias significativas. Siendo el unico ensayo de este ciclo y el primero de su naturaleza (en topografia inclinada) no nos permite atin sacar conclusiones.Por Ultimo, los resultados de las parcelas satelites de potasio reportados en el Cuadra 68 no indican ninguna tendencia de respuesta a este nutriente.Los rendimientos, beneficios y costos asociados con las alternativas consideradas son reportados en el Cuadro 69; en estos los rendimientos han(1) Recuerdese que estamos tratando con los ensayos de parcelas continuas, de simulal el proceso de agotamiento de Ia fertilidad natural del suelo que sufriria el productor en el futuro at realizar un manejo mas intensivo del cultivo con Ia eventual adopcion de las attemativas tecnolOgicas que van surgiendo del programa.variado por localidad, particularmente en funci6i'1. del distinto grade de incidencia de la enfermedad. El aruilisis econ6mico eombinado, indica superioridad econ6mica para la altemativa I, que domina a las otras dos. Si se excluyera de este aruUisis eombinado la localidad 1 que tuvo mayor incidencia del tiz6n, esto no haria mas que aumentar la dominancia de la altemativa I. Tal como se han dado los resultados de estas parcelas, la superioridad de la altemativa I con relaci6n a PA esta mas asoeiada eon redueeiones de costos por heetarea (cero labranza, sin fertilizaei6n) que eon el impaeto observado en rendimientos.Cuadro 68. Ensayo de nivel fertilizantes. Rendirniento de tratamientos sah~lites con niveles de potasio y aplicaciones maximas de nitrogeno y fosfoTO constante.Parcela continua menos -5 % de pendiente Parcelas con pendiente mayor 5% 4.53 3.12 3.26 En 10 que respecta a la altemativa II, al incorporar fertilizante sin mayor respuesta resulta en costos mayores y beneficios netos menores que la alternativa I.De acuerdo a 10 planificado, no result6 dificil interesar a tres agricultores para que manejaran parte de su parcela de maiz con cero labranza. En realidad, otros agricultores 10 hicieron par cuenta propia, sin la supervision directa del tecnieo del programa. El tamafio de las parcelas manejadas oscil6 entre una y dos hectareas. La practica de cero labranza presento pequenas variaciones en los tres casos en funcian del manejo previo de la parcela (con o sin pastoreo de animales) y la cantidad de malezas existente. S610 en la localidad 1 se realiz6 una chapia previa a la aplicaci6n del herbicida. En la localidad 2 el productor habia utilizadoel terreno para pastoreo de animales despues de la cosecha del frijol. La dosis utilizada de Gramoxone oscil6 entre 1 y 2 litros par hectarea. Como resultado de estas diferencias, el costa de labranza oscil6 entre $19.25 y $26.50 por hecmea, estando en promedio por debajo de los costos estimados en el cicIo 1980 ($26/ha) para el analisis de los ensayos. (Cuadra 70).En 10 que se refiere a las pnicticas restantes, los tres agricultores sembraron manualmente en hileras, utilizaron Gramoxone 0 Gesaprim para el control de malezas y ninguno aplic6 fertilizantes ni insecticidas. Los rendi-  (1) GRAM: Gramoxone 1-1.5 It/ha. GES: Gesaprim 2 kg/ha. Los tres agricultores sembraron a mano en hileras. Ninguno aplioo fertilizantes ni insecticidas.I~tegracion global de resultados y derivacion de recomenda-ClOnes.La caracteristica general de los resultados de este ciclo de ensayos esta dada por el bajo nivel de rendimientos y la alta variabilidad de los mismos, reflejada en los niveles de coeficientes de variaci6n. Esta circunstancia, fundamentalmente asociada a la mediaci6n (muy poco usual) de fuertes ataques de Helminthosporium sp., ha afectado en alguna medida 1a confiabilidad de 1a informaci6n obtenida en este ciclo. A pesar de ello, se ha intentado, considerando esta circunstancia, rescatar, a traves del analisis de los ensayos, toda la informacion que ha sido posible, para integrarla can 1a ya disponible de los ciclos precedentes. En primer lugar, los ensayos exploratorios nos han permitido cuantificar el papel que Ie cabe al insecticida en la \"protecci6n\" de un nive1 adecuado de poblaci6n de plantas (recordemos que densidad y 110 arreglo espacial d siembra han sido en todos los ciclos una variable de impacto significativo en el nivel de rendimientos).Esta cuantificacion ha ido posible por dos circunstancias: a. Se han verificado en este cicIo fuertes ataques de insectos. b. EI manejo y captacion de datos de los ensayos, ha permitido 'aislar\" el efecto de la protecci6n del insecticida al suelo de la incidencia del Helminthosporium sp. manifestado en el nivel de rendimientos. Esto se ha dado a traves de conteos frecuentes de la poblacion de plantas durant la primera etapa del desarrollo del cultivo (antes de la incidenc'a del Helminthosporium),Si bien el efecto de proteccion del insecticida no ha podido manifestarse plenamente en rendimientos: b.1 se han detectado igualmente efectos significativos sobre estos ultimos y b.2 se ha verificado con el anilisis economico la viabilidad del uso de este insumo. Siendo ambos aspectos validos s610 en el caso de que efectivamente se verifique el ataque de insectos. La probabilidad de que esto ultimo ocurra no se conoce aun, s6Jo se tiene la indicacion por parte de los productores de que este hecho aparece frecuentemente asociado con atrasos en el establecimiento del perfodo de lluvias. La conclusion de 10 precedente, es que se abren, con estos resultados, nuevos horizontes de investigacion para el Programa, que continuanin siendo explorados en los cidos venideros.En 10 que se refiere a cero labranza y densidad y arreglo espacial de siembra, los ensayos de este cicIo confinnan las relaciones encontradas en los cidos precedentes. Para el cas' de herbicidas los resultados no fueron tan concluyentes, ya que no pudieron detectarse en este cicIo diferencias de significacion. A pesar de ello, la infonnaci6n nos indica: a. El ordenarniento de los rendimientos result ante, es el esperado; correspondiendo al 2-4-D los rendimientos mas bajos.b. El aruilisis econ6mico indica que a pesar de las pequefias diferencias de rendimientos para las distintas alternativas, la tasa marginal de retorno para pasar del 2-4-D a cualquiera de las alternativas (Gramoxone 0 Gesaprim) resulta superior al costo de oportunidad del capital, confmnando en este sentido la superioridad de los nuevos herbicidas sobre eI2-4-D.c. Consistentemente con 10 precedente, el proceso de desplazamiento qel 2-4-D por parte de los productores (que estan adoptando Gramoxone y Gesaprim) se encuentra bastante avanz do dentro del Dominio de Recomendacion.Por su parte, las pruebas de fitotoxicidad del Gesaprim sobre el cultivo del frijol, nos indican nuevamente que no hay efeetos en este sentido a partir de los 90 dias de su aplicacion.Par Ultimo los ensayos perdidos en el caso de fertilizantes, nos dejan con s610 un ensayo en parcelas continuas (Dominio de Recornendaci6n No.2 -inclinaci6n menor a 5%) y otro en topografia de ladera (inclinacion mayor de 5%); 10 que no pennite en este caso contribuir con inferencias concluyentes para la region como un todo, a partir de Ia inf rmaci6n de este ciclo. Consecuentemente, el margen de las clanficaciones que arrojen los cidos venideros en este tema, se mantienen al presente las conc1usiones basadas en la informaci6n proveniente de los cielo!! pr cedentes. Caisan, e tti dad par el excesivo desarrollo vegetativo de la varieda emplea-(hi p r eJ agricullor del are~1. Si bien e cierlo, dicha variedad local alcanza rendimiento experiment les mayores a las 4 toneladas par hectarea y presenta algunas caracteristil.;as agron6mi as deseables tales C01110, resistencia aceptable 3. pudricit'Jn de In mllZQr a, tamana de m3.zorca grana marilla crist lino, etc., tambien es cierto que su desarrollo vegetativo supera generalmenle los 3.0 metros de altura, caracterlstiC<1 que limita su p tencial de rendimiento a1 cxpon r diclla variedad a ser liSCep! ible a prob (emas de acame.POl' atro lado a pesar de que en eI area se han probada variedades que alcanzan alturas menores, entre otras Tocumen 7428, dichas variedadcs no han sido aceptadas par los agr'cultores, ya que segun reportes de elias, estas variedades introducidas, no resistcn bien el exceso de humedad caract ristica del area, las mazorcas se pudren, el capullo (esp tos) no cierra bien, y sus rendimientos no superan a la varie . d 10 Esta situaci6n ligada al hecho de no con tar hasta el presente con varie-El objetivo central del programa de mejoramiento es lograr reducir la altura de la variedad local y disminuir el problema de acame. 114 dades promisorias que pudieran ser incorporadas a la tecnologia del agrieultor, ha promovido el interes del Programa para emprender un modesto trabajo de mejoramiento. EI objetivo principal de este programa es bajar La altura de la variedad local. Teniendo en cuenta este objetivo central, se intentani obtener variedades de alt rendimien 0, conservlllldo 0 mejorando las earaeteristicas ventajosas de la variedad local, tales como e1 tipo y calidad de grano, asi como su relativa resistencia a pudrici6n de mazorca.Con estos fmes, eL Programa utiliza las siguientes poblaciones: a. Poblaci6n Caisan. Ui pob1aci6n es la variedad Caisan, muy generalizada entre los agricultores del area adaptada a reg(menes de alta preeipitaei6n pluvial planta alta (3.5 metros de altura) grana amarillo.b. P blaci6n Caisan x Tuxpeiio C17. La variedad Caisan fue eruzada e1 deeimoseptimo cido para reduccion de altura de la poblaci6nTuxpeno-l.Tuxpefio C17 bene un buen potencial de renciuTIlento, con una altura de planta que oscila alrededor de 1.70 metros, s de grano blanco dentado. La pob1aci6n segregante Cais3n x Tuxpefio C17. tiene una altura intennedia entre los progenitores.El programa de seleccion intrapoblacional para reducir Ia altura de planta, utiliza el sistema de selecci6n de mazorca por surco modificado. Doscientas ciIlcuenta mazorcas provenientes de plantas previamente seleccionadas de material local (CaiS<in) en 1979 constituyeron el mat rial parental. Las mazorcas fueron seleccionadas de plantas con altura no mayor de 3.0 metros, altura de mazorca no mayor de 1.60 metros, buena cobertura de mazorca y excelente ca1idad de grano.Las mazorcas fueron desgranadas independientemente y sembradas en un lote aislado de recombinaci6n como surcos hembras (familias de medios hermanos). Un compuesto balanceado de todas las mazorcas fue sembrado como surcos machos en la relacion de 2 surcos hembra por un surco macho. La iembra se efectue en Surcos de 5 m de largo, depositando 3 semillas en golpes separados 0.50 m del surco y con una distancia de 0.80 m centfmetros entre sur 0 y Surco. Cada golpe se ralee al momenta apropiado, dejando 2 plantas por golpe. Se usaron fertilizantes en el lote de recombinacion al nivel de 35-40•13kg/ha de nitregeno, f6sforo y potasio, respectivamente. 115 EI control de malezas se realizo con Gesaprim 80 en premergencia a razon de 2 kil s Me/ha, para e1 control de plagas se utiliz6 el insecticida Diazinon a 1 litro MC/ha. Los surcos hembras fueron despanojad s antes de la antesis, y hasta donde fue posible se tomaron medidas para entar contaminaci6n del lote aislado sembra 0 con parcelas vecinas de maiz. Ellote aislado fue sembrado en parcelas de un agricultor de la localidad de Caisan. La seleccion de planta baja se efectuo entre y dentro de cada familia.Para efectuar la seleccion fmal 5e tomaron en consideraci6n la altura de la planta, altura de mazorca, sanidad del follaje, acame, cobertura de mazorca y sanidad de grana; el rendirniento se estimo visualmente. Doscientas cincuenta mazorcaS fueron seleccionadas, constituyendo estas el result ado del primer ciclo de selecci6n. Este si tema de selecci6n se continuo en los afios de 1980 y 1982, habiendo e conclufdo el tercer cicio de seleccion.En el curso de 1982 se evaluanin los tres ciclos de seleccion obtenidos hasta la fecha, especialmente en funcion de la respuesta de seleccion a altura de planta. Por otra parte, en este ano se ontinuani e1 proceso de seleccion introduciendo modificaciones pertinentes. En primer lugar se dara mayor atencion a1 rendimiento, para ello 1a seleccion se efectuanf entre y dentro de familias se1eccionadas, aplicando 20% de presion de seleccion entre familias y 25•23% de presion de seleccion dentro de familias.La selecci6n entre familias se efeetuani en tenninos de diferencias relavas de rendimiento de cada surco hem bra en funci6n del promedio de rendirniento de los dos surcos machos adyacentes (metodo de selecci6n entre progenies en funci6n del comportamiento promedio de surcos machos adyacentes(1). Estas cliferencias son expresadas en tenninos de porcentaje. La presion de se1ecci6n sera de 20.,. entre farnilias y 23% dentro de farnilias.La poblaci6n tuxpefio tiene un ampllo rango de adaptaci6n a la vez que posee un alto grade de habilidad combinatoria general.En el Prograrna de Maiz de CIMMYT, se considera de importancia la reducci6n de altura de planta en poblaciones tropicales. La poblaci6n Tuxpeno ha sido sometida a selecci6n para altura de planta. E1 ciclo C17 de esta poblacion tiene una altura no mayor de 1.70 metros. Cruzas de Tuxpefio C17 con pob1aciones de planta alta reducen en la F 1 a la mitad de 1a direrencia de altura de planta entre Tuxpefio C17 y las variedades locales de"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b3a42e4e05e6f238da9892498a9429cb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f77c4bd0-e0f2-4975-a1f6-c258cf8d0522/retrieve","id":"1835310646"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"09c6bb31-5429-4214-b35a-0a9520d3ebe1","content":"Research-enabled growth in agricultural productivity is pivotal to sub-Saharan Africa's overall economic growth prospects. Yet, investments in research and development (R&D) targeted to many national food and agricultural economies throughout Africa are fragile and faltering. To gain insight into what could be driving this trend, this article updates, summarizes and reassesses the published evidence on the returns to African agricultural R&D. Based on a compilation of 113 studies published between 1975 and 2014 spanning 25 countries, the reported internal rates of return (IRRs) to food and agricultural research conducted in or of direct consequence for sub-Saharan Africa averaged 42.3%py. In addition to the 376 IRR estimates, the corresponding 129 benefit-cost ratios (BCRs) averaged 30.1. Most (96.5%) of the returns-to-research evaluations are of publicly performed R&D, and the majority (87.6%) of the studies were published in the period 1990-2009. The large dispersion in the reported IRRs and BCRs makes it difficult to discern meaningful patterns in the evidence. Moreover, the distribution of IRRs is heavily (positively) skewed, such that the median value (35.0%py) is well below the mean, like it is for research done elsewhere in the world (mean 62.4%py; median 38.0%py). Around 78.5% of the evaluations relate to the commodity-specific consequences of agricultural research, while 5.5% report on the returns to an ''all agriculture\" aggregate. The weight of commodity-specific evaluation evidence is not especially congruent with the composition of agricultural production throughout Africa, nor, to the best that can be determined, the commodity orientation of public African agricultural R&D.There is a widespread and long-standing consensus that research-enabled growth in agricultural productivity is pivotal to sub-Saharan Africa's (SSA) overall economic growth prospects, especially in the decades ahead when agriculture will continue to constitute a large (albeit likely declining) share of economic activity and source of employment for most countries in the region (Eicher, 1985;Lipton, 1988;Alston and Pardey, 2014;World Bank, 2015;ADB, 2015). Notwithstanding this consensus, investments in research and development (R&D) targeted to many national food and agricultural economies throughout Africa are fragile and faltering. Pardey et al. (2016a) reported that in 2011, national investments in food and agricultural R&D (public and private combined) throughout SSA constituted just 3.9% ($2.7 billion, 2009 PPP prices) of the corresponding world total investment of $69.3 billion; a decline on the 6.1% SSA share three decades earlier in 1980. 1 Moreover, 39% (i.e., 17 of a total of 44) of the region's countries spent less on public food and agricultural R&D in 2011 than they did in 1980, after adjusting for the rising costs of research.In spite of the economic development importance placed on agricultural R&D investments in SSA, there have been only a handful of efforts to summarize and assess the returns to these investments. Oehmke et al. (1991) found just 12 studies to include in their evaluation of the economic returns to African R&D while Oehmke and Crawford (1996, Table 2) reviewed 15 such studies, 7 of which reported on the returns to maize research for 6 SSA countries. Masters et al. (1998, Tables  1 and 2) tabulated and discussed 31 studies (34 estimates), while Alston et al. (2000, Table 7) included 47 studies reporting 201 estimates of relevance for SSA agriculture in their meta-review of the evidence on the returns to R&D throughout the world. Maredia et al. (2000, Table 11) included 26 studies (27 estimates) that reported returns-to-research estimates for major food crops throughout SSA. In their assessments of the returns to SSA-oriented R&D conducted by CGIAR Consortium (or CG for short) centers, Maredia andRaitzer (2006, 2010) pointed to just 23 studies (of which only a subset of 12 studies reported rates-of-return metrics) documenting the economic impact of CGIAR centers and their national partners in SSA. 2 In this article we update, summarize and reassess the published evidence on the returns to African agricultural R&D, drawing from the comprehensive assessment of the returns to food and agricultural R&D worldwide reported by Hurley et al. (2016). et al. (2016) summarized the evidence on the economic consequences of R&D gleaned from a compilation of 492 published studies spanning the period 1958-2015 that reported 3426 rateof-return estimates for 78 countries throughout the world. 3 That compilation constitutes the latest (version 3.0) of the InSTePP (International Science and Technology Practice and Policy center, University of Minnesota) returns-to-research database, which involved a concerted effort to develop a comprehensive account of the published evidence, a substantial share of which takes the form of grey literature.Version 3.0 of the database builds directly on two prior versions, variants of which underpinned the work reported in Alston et al. (2000) and Hurley et al. (2014). To update the database, Pardey et al. (2016b) conducted a systematic search of the literature using the EconLit, AgEconSearch, JSTOR, RePEc, SSRN, Pro-Quest, and Google search engines, and also searched listings of the evaluation literature posted on-line by agencies such as the CGIAR, ACIAR, and others that were published through to 2015. References cited in the studies identified through these searches were further reviewed to reveal any additional studies not already in the database. Each of these studies was manually scored for a multitude of attributes using a modified version of the questionnaire developed by Alston et al. (2000), which were subsequently entered into the InSTePP database. In total, Pardey et al. (2016b) added 746 new returns-to-research estimates (or 586 evaluations) and associated study and evaluation details taken from 122 different studies relative to version 2.0 of the database. The evidence presented here concerns research conducted in or of direct consequence for SSA and comes from 113 studies reporting 456 evaluations (16.1% of all the evaluations in the InSTePP version 3.0 collection). 4 A detailed tabulation of the SSA return-to-research evidence and a complete listing of all the source publications is included in the on-line supplementary material.Researchers estimating the returns to R&D have a variety of methodological choices to make. The choices made have varied over time and can influence the rate-of-return estimates. While some studies evaluated the nominal costs and benefits of an investment, the majority of the SSA return-to-research evaluations (77.1%) have taken inflation into account by evaluating the relationship between real costs and real benefits (Fig. 1, Panel a). Between 1990 and 1999, studies using nominal values were more common than prior to 1990 or after 1999. This may be attributable to the highly inflationary period of the 1990s and the difficulty in choosing appropriate deflators to estimate the real costs and benefits of research.Agricultural R&D often produces long-lasting benefits and the length of time over which these benefits are evaluated can influence the estimated rate of return. The average lag length-i.e., the period over which research spending begins and the associated benefit stream ends-for the (finite) research benefit streams in the SSA studies is 19.9 years; ranging from a low of zero to a maximum of 73 years (Fig. 1, Panel b). 5 In comparison, the average lag length for the (finite) benefit stream in the studies reporting research conducted elsewhere in the world is almost six years longer (25.7 years), ranging from lag lengths of zero to 142 years.In addition to these and other methodological attributes, evaluations can differ depending on whether they are ex post for a 2 For a listing of, and further details on, the CGIAR centers see www.cgiar.org. See also Jahnke et al. (1987) for an earlier review of the impact of agricultural research in tropical Africa. Though comprehensive in scope, the report contained few formal returns-to-research estimates.3 To tally the number of countries we counted countries in which the evaluated research was performed as distinct from counting countries in which the research was used. Some of the entries in the InSTePP database are tagged as ''multi-national\" (i.e., more than one country), but in forming the country count reported here we retained the multi-national designation and did not count each of the individual countries included in the multi-national aggregates. Moreover, version 3.0 of the database contains 2827 evaluations, wherein a single evaluation (of a particular technology, project, or program) within a given study may report either an IRR or a BCR estimate, or both. In this paper we refer to both evaluations and estimates, of which 505 estimates report on research conducted in or of direct consequence for SSA.completed or ex ante of a yet to be performed investment. Although the majority of the SSA evaluations reported in the literature (308 out of 456 evaluations) were ex post rather than ex ante, a much larger share of the SSA evaluations were ex ante (32.5%) compared with those reporting returns to research elsewhere in the world (20.3%). In SSA there is also an increasing emphasis over time on ex ante evaluations, perhaps driven by increased up-front accountability demands by research funding agencies, but it may also be a reflection of a continuing lack (if not increasing scarcity) of newly observed data on the uptake and consequence of agricultural technologies throughout SSA. Social R&D evaluations attempt to evaluate the costs and benefits of an investment accruing to all members of society, while private evaluations focus only on the costs and benefits accruing to a particular societal group. Given the paucity of privately performed food and agricultural R&D in the region (Pardey et al., 2016a) most of the evidence (390 of a total of 456 evaluations) explicitly report social returns to R&D, with the social versus private dimensions of the benefits being unspecified in the remaining studies.The first reported estimate of the returns to agricultural R&D in SSA we found came almost two decades after the classic 1958 hybrid corn evaluation study by Griliches. It is a study published by Evenson and Kislev in 1975 (chapter 3) on the returns to sugarcane research in South Africa. 6 The latest study in this SSA compilation was published in 2014. The overwhelming majority of the SSA evidence was published after 1990: just 6 studies (5.3% of the SSA total, and just 4.5% of the corresponding studies published worldwide) were published prior to 1990 (Fig. 2, Panel a). However, the post-1990 pattern of published evaluation evidence has been uneven. The number of published studies surged during the 1990s, totaling 69 studies. Thereafter, evaluation interest seems to have waned, with 30 studies published in the 2000s, and only 8 published studies thereafter. Despite the apparent emphasis on the increased accountability of (research and related) investments in SSA agriculture in more recent years (e.g., Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2015; USAID, 2015), there has not been increased evaluation evidence generated, at least not evidence about the economic returns to those investments.Around 30.9% of the SSA evaluations were published in refereed journals, about the same share as the worldwide compilation of agricultural R&D evaluation studies (Hurley et al., 2016). The remaining evaluations were published in a variety of outlets, including books, theses, reports or grey literature (Fig. 2, Panel b).Fig. 3, Panel a gives a regional breakdown of the returns-toresearch evidence in terms of where in SSA the research was performed versus where in SSA the results of the research were adopted and used. The evidence spans 25 of the total of 48 SSA countries when reported on a by-performer basis, and 32 countries when reported on a by-user basis. Thus 87% of the region's 2013 agricultural output and 82% of the region's poor people (i.e., those living on less than $1.25 per day) are encompassed by the countries included in the by-user group (World Bank, 2015a, 2015b). The regional by-performer versus by-user shares are similar, indicating the benefits included in each evaluation are typically limited to those that accrue within the country or region in which the research was undertaken (and consistent with the fact that only 5.5% of the country-specific evaluations paid any explicit attention to research spill-ins or spill-outs). Roughly one-third of the evaluations refer to research done in or impacting Eastern Africa (with studies for Uganda and Zambia accounting for 89 of that region's 150 internal rates of return, IRR, evaluations). One notable aspect of the regional split is the surprisingly small number of evaluation studies for Southern Africa compared with Eastern or Western Africa, even though that part of the continent accounted for 22.5% of the region's public food and agricultural R&D spending for the period 1975-2011 (Pardey et al., 2016a). A large share of the SSA evaluation evidence (specifically 39.0% of the evidence reported on a by-performer basis, and 29.4% on a by-user basis) consists of African IRR results obtained in the context of evaluations that encompassed more than one country (i.e., multicountry studies) or more than one region of the world, one of which was SSA (i.e., multi-regional studies). Moreover, the overwhelmingly dominant share (more than 85.4%) of both these types of (multi-country, multi-regional) studies involved the evaluation of CGIAR research, including CG-specific research or research carried out by the CG in partnership with national agencies throughout the region (Fig. 3, Panel b).Looking into more detail regarding the agencies carrying out the R&D being evaluated, public organizations make up 96.5% (440 of 456) of the evaluations. Research conducted at universities throughout SSA represents just 3.5% of the public evaluations. Research conducted exclusively by national agencies constituted 50.4% of the public-sector evaluations (or 53.9% if research done jointly with universities and private entities is included). Research conducted exclusively by international agencies accounts for a further 20.7% of this public total, with a further 25.0% of the evaluations being conducted by international agencies joint with national government, university and private partners. CG centers constituted 93.1% of all the evaluations associated with interna-  tional agencies. A tiny fraction, just 2.9% (i.e., 13 evaluations taken from 9 studies), to research carried out by private entities, of which 12 of the 13 evaluations involved joint private and public R&D. The only study that focused exclusively on privately performed R&D is a 2004 study by Nieuwoudt and Nieuwoudt on South African sugarcane research, the same subject matter as the first SSA study by Evenson and Kislev (1975). Other evaluations that involved privately performed R&D (joint with public research conducted by universities, CGIAR centers and government research agencies) include an Ethiopian study of maize research, South African studies of ornamental flowers and wine grape R&D, and Zimbabwean research on cotton and groundnuts. Notably, all but the maize study relate to private research conducted on exportoriented, cash crops rather than food staples.Just over one third (36.9%) of the evaluations report the returns to research (be it basic or applied R&D), just 2.4% of the evaluations related solely to extension, while the majority of the evaluations (59.9%) report the joint returns to research and extension. The preponderance (74.1%) of the region's evaluation evidence relates to crop research, which is well in excess of the corresponding 51% share of worldwide studies (Hurley et al., 2016). Within crops, the major focus of the SSA evaluation evidence is on maize, millet and sorghum research. These three crops alone constitute almost half (45.9%) of the crop-related evaluations (Fig. 4). Notably, little Panel b. CGIAR Research EvaluaƟons (By Performer, LeŌ Side; By User, Right Side).Panel a. Region-Specific EvaluaƟons (By Performer, LeŌ Side; By User, Right Side).   3 for details). To maximize the concordance of the commodity categories presented here with those reported in Table 3, the ''Others\" category includes joint crop-livestock, agriculture-fishing and agriculture-aquaculture research, plus research on ''other trees.\" The stacked bar reports various commodity shares within the ''Crop total\" category. evaluation evidence exists for roots and tuber crops cassava and yams (1.3% of the total returns to research evaluations for SSA), even though those crops constituted 18.0% by value of SSA agricultural output over the past two decades (1994-2013) (FAO, 2015). Similarly, livestock evaluation studies represent a smaller share (4.4%) of all the SSA evaluation studies; substantially less than the 24.3% by value share of the region's overall agricultural output attributable to livestock products.The overwhelming majority (82.5%) of the 456 rate-of-return evaluations for SSA from a total of 113 studies report an IRR measure. Of the 113 studies, 74.3% report only IRRs, 10.7% report only benefit-cost ratios (BCRs), and 15.9% report both IRRs and BCRs. Like the rates of return to research literature generally, the published SSA studies strongly prefer IRRs as the means to summarize the stream of benefits and costs associated with agricultural R&D, even though Griliches (1958) expressed a preference for the BCR. Hurley et al. (2014) suggested using the modified IRR, which is simply another way of writing the BCR.Fig. 5, Panel a shows the distribution of IRRs and other common statistics for both SSA and the rest-of-the-world (ROW A : world excluding evaluations of direct relevance to SSA). Both distributions are skewed to the right, with their mean higher than their median IRRs. A Kolmogorov-Smirnov test confirms that the distributions are different at the 10% level of significance, with a substantially lower mean (42.3 versus 62.4%py) and marginally lower median (35.0 versus 38.0%py) IRRs reported for SSA compared with elsewhere in the world (Fig. 5, Panel a). While the BCRs in Fig. 5, Panel b would seem to indicate less of a discrepancy between the SSA and ROW A returns-to-research evidence with the mean BCR for SSA actually higher than the ROW A (30.1 versus 26.0) and the median BCR for SSA is a little lower than ROW A (11.0 versus 12.6), a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test again reveals the distributions are different at the 10% level of significance.Table 1 provides various summary statistics of the distribution of IRRs reported for each region within SSA. It also reports these same statistics for multi-country and multi-regional research that includes (parts of) SSA. Some of the regional summary statistics need to be taken with a grain of salt. For example, the IRR evidence for the Central region spans only two countries and draws from only four studies that report a total of 17 IRR estimates. While the statistics for the Southern region represent a summary of only 44 IRR estimates, they are drawn from 19 different studies. The dispersion among regions in terms of the median IRRs is much more muted than the means, with the returns to multi-country and multi-regional research tending to be at the upper end of the reported range.Table 2 groups the IRR observations in terms of their various research versus extension orientations. There is some suggestion in this evidence that investments in extensions services, either in and of themselves or coupled with investments in R&D, are especially rewarding. The two extension-related categories have median IRRs that exceed the ''All studies\" median (35.0%py) and are greater than the corresponding medians for the ''Applied\" and ''Basic and Applied\" research-only groupings.Table 3 groups the IRR evidence according to its commodity focus. Reiterating the findings from Fig. 4, almost all (86.8%) of the evidence pertains to crop research. The reported returns to   livestock and natural resource oriented agricultural R&D are grossly under-represented this literature, in relation to the economic value of agricultural output and the orientation of the research itself (data underlying Pardey et al., 2016a). One stand-out entry in this tabulation is the median returns to rice research, which are more than double the overall median returns to R&D. The comparatively limited amount of evaluation evidence on rice research cautions against putting too much stock in this finding. The returns to maize research are at the upper end of the range, and are substantially larger than the average or median return to research on small grain cereals such as millet and sorghum. Fig. 6, Panel a gives a mapped representation of the number of IRR evaluations and corresponding median IRR by country. There is little concordance between the geographical distribution of the rate-of-return evidence and the value of agricultural output. For example, Nigeria with 36.1% of SSA's 2014 agricultural output (by value) accounts for just 4.3% of the region's IRRs, whereas Zambia with less than one percent of the value of output constitutes 11.4% of the reported IRRs. Moreover, just five of the region's 48 countries (Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) account for 42.8% of the published IRRs.The box-whiskers plots in Fig. 6, Panel b provide more detail on the nature of the dispersion in IRR estimates within the different regions in SSA. The horizontal bar within each box indicates the median IRR, and the upper and lower values of the whiskers represent the 90th and 10th percentile reported IRR in each region. The preponderance of the evidence within each region is reasonably tightly clustered around the mean, except for the 17 evaluations in central Africa where the dispersion around the median is more pronounced.The wide dispersion in the reported IRRs for SSA and elsewhere in the world makes it difficult to discern meaningful patterns in the evidence. Moreover, the skewed nature of the IRR distributions indicates that the median is a more informative measure of central tendency than the mean, although there are indications that the mean IRR for SSA is meaningfully different from the rest-of-world average (i.e., the world excluding Africa). Hurley et al. (2016) reported a worldwide average and median IRR to research (and extension) of 59.6 and 37.5%py respectively. More specifically, the corresponding SSA figures are 42.3 and 35%py respectively, compared with 62.5 and 38%py for the concordant rest-of-world figures.This survey raises questions as to the representativeness of the African returns-to-research evidence. The commodity focus of this evidence is not especially congruent with either the composition of African agricultural production nor, to the best we can ascertain, the commodity emphasis of public agricultural R&D throughout the region (data underlying Pardey et al., 2016a). In both instances the rate-of-return evidence is over representative of crops research (and thus under-representative of livestock research). It also gives short shrift to research related to non-cereal crops, especially root crops, bananas and plantains, which are important from both a production and a consumption perspective throughout substantial parts (but by no means all) of Africa.This study raises further questions as to the utility of this evidence in drawing general conclusions about the overall returns to investments in African agricultural R&D. The portfolio of available IRR and BCR studies likely represents a complex combination of factors, including the resources available to carry out such stud-  ies, the availability of data-an especially problematic issue SSA where data on technology adoption and its productivity consequence are especially limited (see, for example, Walker et al., 2014)-, and the scope of the methodological toolkit to enable such studies. To the extent the reported IRRs and BCRs are biased towards studies of ''successful\" research, the body of evidence would give an upwardly biased representation of the returns to research in the region. Offsetting these concerns is the fact that the median of the reported IRRs for the ''all agriculture\" portfolio of studies is 39.0% per year, slightly above the median IRR for the commodity specific evidence summarized in Table 3, which is 35.1% per year. Relative to elsewhere in the world, a much larger share of the returns-to-research evidence for SSA is more speculative (ex ante) evidence on the prospective returns to research yet to be undertaken (or completed). Moreover, an ever-larger share of the SSA returns-to-research estimates are shifting in favor of ex ante rather than ex post assessments of the benefits already realized from past R&D endeavors. To the extent this change in the balance of the research evaluation evidence reflects increasingly scarce information on the uptake or (productivity) consequences attributable to research induced technical change in more recent years, it raises concerns about the growth prospects for African agricultural over the decades ahead. Certainly the research investment evidence Pardey et al., 2016a) is particularly worrisome. It suggests that many countries throughout SSA are failing to sustain the long-run commitments to investments in R&D (and associated educational and science-based regulatory capabilities) required to develop the local innovation and institutional capacities that have been pivotal to the agricultural productivity performance of countries elsewhere in the world. This is in spite of the growing body of IRR and BCR estimates reported here, which suggests that overall, governments throughout the region are continuing to underinvest in research directed to their food and agricultural sectors.  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6e6493c146648596c629a5262b0ba14b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ecddcc54-f06b-4dde-b774-a99ac0f70d5d/retrieve","id":"2009687384"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"69fbb28b-f54f-4265-a619-d74dc0eee354","content":"Although many countries in Southeast Asia are evolving an urban-and market-based economy, rural poverty persists. More than 200 million rural people live on less than US$1 a day, the majority depending on mixed crop-livestock agriculture for their household income, food security and asset accumulation. Pig production is an important livelihood option in China, Vietnam and parts of Thailand.With rapid economic growth, knowledge about how to adapt small-scale farming systems to change is an essential tool in the fight against poverty. The project aims to improve smallholders' incomes by improving collaboration and strengthening links throughout the market chain. The project examines the use of modelling and simulation tools as a means of developing novel feeding strategies for small-scale croplivestock producers. These strategies are based on the feed potential of improved sweet potato varieties and other feed resources, complemented with efficient techniques of silage making and a smallholder-based industry of protein extraction from sweet potato leaves.The aim is to identify sustainable feeding strategies based on local resources managed by the smallholders themselves. By improving on-farm feed resources, including sweet potato, legumes and others, the project aims to ensure that farmers have year-round feed availability, better livestock productivity and higher household income. Production of value-added local products (e.g. sweet potato-based silage and high-protein supplements derived from sweet potato and legume leaves) will improve employment opportunities, household income and livestock nutrition. The project also aims to strengthen local feed market linkages for these value-added local products.Project teams in each country have received training in management of the sweet potato crop and in the use of various livestock modelling tools. They also helped redesign the tools to make them more interactive. As suggested by the model, using sweet potato silage as the main diet for fattening pigs reduced production costs, resulting in a greater gross margin for the households. This technology represented a better option for farmers than purchasing the more expensive commercially available concentrates.Feeding sweet potato silage and home-made concentrate feed to pigs gave farmers higher gross margins compared with those achieved using commercial concentrates and no silage. Although including sweet potato silage in theSystem analysis and modelling tools to develop improved feeding strategies for small-scale crop-livestock farmers in Southeast Asia The SLP-funded project Using system analysis and modeling tools to develop improved feeding strategies for small-scale crop-livestock farmers in Southeast Asia (2007)(2008)(2009) was conducted by CIP and the national research institutions of China (SASA), Vietnam (NIAH) and Thailand (DLD) with scientific contribution from the Production Systems and the Environment Division of CIP.ration tended to lead to a lower final live weight, it resulted in a more uniform weight gain, which increased the gross margin by 37%. Therefore, sweet potato silage is a good alternative to supplementing concentrate feed with other locally available resources, since it gives a higher gross margin and better total farm income.A ration for fattening pigs requires a good quality supply of protein. Through laboratory analysis, the team identified the most profitable combination of sweet potato and legume. Protein extracted from sweet potato vines appears to have an adequate amino acid balance and the extraction method can be adapted for use on a small farm.Project staff will also test and validate various livestock production models as a means of further improving the use of local resources for smallholder pig production. By training extension workers and other development practitioners in the use of such tools, it is hoped to disseminate the idea more widely, resulting in more efficient use of resources and greater income for poor farmers.Some adaptive on-farm research, training and dissemination activities will continue and a strategy for long-term technology dissemination will be designed with the local partners.Sweet potato has proved to be a valuable feed resource for smallholder crop-livestock systems in the tropical and subtropical lowlands of Southeast Asia. This novel strategy for sweet potato conservation can be used on most small farms. Protein extraction from sweet potato vines has proven to be a feasible option, providing good quality protein that can be used as both food and feed.Novel sweet potato silage making in smallholder pig farms"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"df4d11955b945e7a61aa33fd00f7436d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/546d77eb-920a-41e7-bbc4-46fd83e06902/retrieve","id":"68999990"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e6be8589-7b75-464c-b477-f56fffea4e9a","content":"CGIAR is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food secure future. The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish aims to increase the productivity of small-scale livestock and fish systems in sustainable ways, making meat, milk and fish more available and affordable across the developing world. The Program brings together four CGIAR Centers: the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) with a mandate on livestock; the WorldFish Center with a mandate on aquaculture; the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), which works on forages; and the International Center for Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), which works on small ruminants.The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish started in January 2012. It aims to increase the productivity of small-scale livestock and fish systems in sustainable ways, making meat, milk and fish more available and affordable to poor consumers across the developing world.Drawing on recent lessons in researchfor-development, the Program applies a solution-driven approach to achieve the targeted impact. It has the following key features:• A value chain approach: The Program uses the value chain concept as an organizing framework, with improving the value chain as the objective. This means considering what is needed to make the value chain work more effectively as a system, exploring the full range of constraints it faces, from policies and institutional issues down to specific technological problems.• Focus: The Program works in a few value chains across the developing world. The initial set of value chains includes 3 smallholder dairy systems (Tanzania, India, Nicaragua), 2 small ruminant systems (Mali, Ethiopia), 2 smallholder pig systems (Vietnam, Uganda) and 1 aquaculture system (Egypt). All the research will address the constraints in these value chains.• Working with development partners: The program collaborates with development partners in each value chain so they are involved, co-creating, contributing to, drawing from, and testing the evolving research outputs.• Impact at scale: Working in a few value chains allows the Program to fully engage with the research and development partners in each chain to identify technological and institutional strategies and interventions, generate the evidence that they indeed work, and use this evidence to attract the development investment needed to take the intervention to scale.• A more relevant agenda of basic research: Research-for-development work in the selected value chains will be supported by technology development and basic research on the main productivity drivers of feeds, genetics and health.In 2012, the Program launched a series of planning meetings for each of its 'value chain development' components.The value chain development processes are intended to produce the following outputs (see figure ): • Output 1: Sectoral and economy-wide models established to evaluate propoor development scenarios in each target value chain -The situation analysis will be a first review to serve as the basis for developing sectoral and economy-wide models for simulation analysis• Output 2: Methods for identifying pro-poor upgrading opportunities in animal-source food value chains -Site selection and an initial value chain assessment contributes to identifying upgrading opportunities• Output 3: R&D innovation alliances created to promote target pro-poor value chains -Engagement activities are meant to create an R&D alliance supporting the transformation of the target value chain.• Output 4: Pro-poor, gender-sensitive technological and institutional options devised and validated for each target value chain -From the reviews and value chain assessment, we will identify best-bet options we can begin testing.• Output 5: Integrated pro-poor, gender-sensitive intervention strategies formulated and piloted in each target value chain -Validation of the best-bet options will provide the basis for developing our ultimate integrated intervention strategy to upgrade the value chain• Scoping R&D partners On 24 and 25 September 2012, the Program convened a meeting of ILRI staff to prepare an overall work plan for VCD activities in the Uganda smallholder pig value chain. Information on the workshop is documented at http://livestock-fish.wikispaces.com/events. This document provides some background information and outlines the main activities discussed by the participants.The meeting aimed to:• Develop a common understanding of the Program's objectives for the value chain and the proposed approach • Review and refine the implementation plan for the SPVCD project, including individual roles and responsibilities, and agree on the timetable for 2012 -2013 • Identify resource mobilization priorities and agree on responsibilitiesThe workshop began with a general introduction to the Program (for those people not familiar with it). It then discussed an initial 'situational analysis' giving an overview of the pig sector in Uganda and reviewed information on several ongoing projects in Uganda that are related to the value chain. The different projects 'mapped' included:• East Africa Dairy Development (EADD)• Dairy Genetics East Africa (DGEA)• African swine fever: diagnostics, surveillance, epidemiology and control • Control of Peste des Petite Ruminants (PPR)• Safe Food Fair Food • Catalysing the emerging smallholder pig value chains in Uganda to increase rural incomes and assets (SPVCD)The heart of the meeting was a systematic discussion of several activities and milestones identified as important for the coming 12-18 months. These were: In addition, participants brainstormed aspects of gender, capacity development and partnerships that were considered important to the overall goal to transform the pig value chain. The notes from these discussions are at http://livestock-fish.wikispaces.com/spvcd_planning_sep2012."}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"babdeb93-4f4d-4d98-9b4c-594c351487ab","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3451850225.json b/main/part_2/3451850225.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f79f7933061557b4402e07c7b83b3398","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ce207108-febf-48c7-a083-8e2d04db626a/retrieve","id":"746364810"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"487e371a-b212-4318-98d7-9034e3025052","content":"ICARDA a mené cette recherche dans le cadre de la plateforme GENDER (Generating Evidence and New Directions for Equitable Results, en français : Produire des données probantes et concevoir de nouvelles directions en vue de résultats équitables) et de l'initiative du CGIAR De la fragilité à la résilience en Asie centrale et occidentale et en Afrique du Nord. Nous aimerions remercier tous les bailleurs de fonds qui ont soutenu cette recherche par le biais de contributions au Fonds fiduciaire du CGIAR.La région du Moyen-Orient et d'Afrique du Nord (MENA) est extrêmement vulnérable au changement climatique. C'est également la région du monde où les inégalités des genres sont les plus importantes. C'est la conclusion du Rapport sur les inégalités femmes-hommes dans le monde qui révèle que les progrès de la région vers la parité sont de 60,9 % et qu'« au rythme relatif actuel, [la parité] devrait être atteinte dans 142,4 ans selon les estimations » (Forum économique mondial, 2021 : 26).L'agriculture dans la région MENA est de plus en plus féminisée, les femmes représentant plus de 50 % de la main-d'oeuvre agricole dans certains pays (Abdelali-Martini et de Pryck 2015 ; Najjar et coll. 2018). La réduction des inégalités de genre est un important domaine d'intervention identifié comme nécessitant une intensification pour permettre à la région MENA de s'adapter et de renforcer sa résilience au changement climatique. Étant donné qu'un si grand nombre de femmes constituent la main-d'oeuvre agricole de la région par choix  Voici des recommandations actionnables sommaires visant spécifiquement à faire progresser l'égalité de genre dans l'adaptation et la résilience climatique de l'agriculture dans la région MENA : "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3459118019.json b/main/part_2/3459118019.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8511675ed3e0f44405362da8408b669ae0ca66c6
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b8cc6736c3047cbad28c8e635561aa65","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/3d6ff483-4279-4a85-aeec-3c539672607b/content","id":"1306778686"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"61273b05-153c-4f16-9297-23e7fef3a21b","content":"n recent decades, the scientific, development, and farm communities have contributed to substantial gains in crop productivity, including in many less developed countries (LDCs) (1), yet current yield trends and agri-food systems are inadequate to match projected demand (2). Addressing transnational crop challenges will require refinement of research infrastructure and better leverage of global expertise and technologies. Drawing on lessons learned from international collaboration in wheat, we outline how such a model could evolve into a Global Crop Improvement Network (GCIN) encompassing most staple food crops, providing access to wellcontrolled \"field laboratories,\" while harmonizing research practices and sharing data. Combined with socioeconomic and cropping systems research, a GCIN could revolutionize the ability to understand and model crop responses to environments globally and accelerate adoption of vital technologies.Pioneering approaches for globally coordinated crop research (initially rice, wheat, and open-pollinated maize) emerged during the Green Revolution (3). The International Wheat Improvement Network (IWIN), part of the CGIAR system, tests new wheat genotypes at approximately 700 field sites in over 90 countries. Breeding, directed toward 12 different mega-environments that represent a range of temperature, moisture, and disease profiles, is conducted at strategic research hubs to develop around 1000 high-yielding, diseaseresistant lines. These are targeted to major agro-ecologies and are delivered annually as international public goods (IPGs). Data on adaptive responses of new lines is shared within IWIN to refine research and breeding methods (4)(5)(6). IWIN-related varieties cover more than half of the wheat area in LDCs, giving additional value (attributable to IWIN research) of between $2.2 and $3.1 billion per year, spread among resource-poor farmers and consumers (6). The benefit-cost ratio of this investment is over 100:1, without considering the added value of avoiding devastating disease pandemics by breeding for disease resistance (5), or the estimated 20+ million hectares of ecosystems that have been spared cultivation as a result of increased productivity (7). IWIN has amassed a database of over 20 million phenotypic data points that are beginning to be exploited, e.g., in modeling crop responses to climate changes (4).Taking IWIN as a baseline, three developments are suggested for a GCIN-like approach to transnational field testing. First, expand the network to include other species, disciplines, and key actors in crop value chains while adopting and harmonizing best practices. Second, underpin parallel research in cropping systems investigating interactions between genotype, environment, and input management, to better understand and close yield gaps (8). Third, underpin national program capacity and develop research infrastructure at key agro-ecologies sites. Infrastructure such as high-throughput phenotyping (9) and remote-sensing platforms (10) has increased the scope and rigor of field-based research. By accessing a wider range of experimental factors (crops, environments, new technologies, input constraints, etc.) while facilitating sharing of research methods, tools, and data among a broader partner base, research is enhanced via regionally coordinated multilocation research. A systematic and better-equipped field network can bring more scientific rigor (as well as technologies) to the field, and reduce dependence of upstream work on environmentally controlled research facilities that are unrepresentative of cropping situations (11).Shared research platforms may be the only equitable way to access sites that are analogs for future climate and disease threats. This is especially true for countries with a low range of environments (12). Many problems of global or regional concern can be tackled through a collective approach; for example, a public network of free-air CO 2 enrichment facilities at key crop environments would provide guidance for climate adaptation. IWIN accesses key ecologies for global leverage, including screening for a highly virulent stemrust fungus (Ug99) in Kenya to avert a global pandemic (5), and the International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP), where outputs of basic research are translated into breeding.Although the main role of a GCIN would be orchestrating field-based research across disciplines and environments, close links with national agricultural research services (NARS) could help the outputs and infrastructure of a GCIN to underpin downstream activities (12). These include innovative extension and decision support (radio, mobile phone, and other technologies) provided by nongovernmental organizations, private seed Transnational field testing could close gaps in crop yield. Severe drought in China has affected harvests. 1 International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Mexico D.F., Mexico. 2 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA, USA. 3 U.S. Agency for International Development, Washington, DC, USA. 4 Global Plant Council and Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK. 5 CGIAR System Organization, Montpellier, France. 6 Crop Science Division, Bayer, Morrisville, USA. 7 Wheat Initiative and National Institute for Agricultural Research, Paris, France. 8 Scotland's Rural College, Edinburgh, UK. 9 International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA. 10 Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China. 11 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Swindon, UK. 12 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy. Email: m.reynolds@cgiar.orgField laboratories in realistic crop environments are needed By M. P. Reynolds, 1 H. J. Braun, 1 A. J. Cavalieri, 2 S. Chapotin, 3 W. J. Davies, 4 P. Ellul, 5 C. Feuillet, 6 B. Govaerts, 1 M. J. Kropff, 1 H. Lucas, 7 J. Nelson, 1 W. Powell, 8 E. Quilligan, 1 M. W. Rosegrant, 9 Ravi P. Singh, 1 K. Sonder, 1 H. Tang, 10 S. Visscher, 11 R. Wang 12  and input companies, and public extension programs. Such linkages would detect bottlenecks to adoption of new technologies.Common standards are required if data are to be comparable across experimental variables, including germplasm, environments, and other research interventions. Highthroughput phenotyping and genotyping protocols have some agreed standards (9,13). Standardized protocols also add value in modeling studies where core data sets drive simulations, permitting alternative interventions to be evaluated and prioritized. Crop models have been used to estimate impacts of climate change on crop performance (4, 10), yet many breeding and agronomy data sets do not fulfill core needs to drive models.Research institutions and funding bodies could facilitate more timely data sharing by prioritizing publication of results linked to open-access data. Data sharing will drive standardization toward more precise descriptions of environments and experimental treatments, and more \"searchable\" databases (14). Although intellectual property (IP) rights are necessary incentives for private investment, greater access to data benefits all sectors. It would be mutually beneficial to carefully define \"precompetitive\" research so that private entities are encouraged to share nonsensitive data more routinely in precompetitive mode and when engaged in public-private partnerships (PPPs). Some transforming technologies could be made more accessible through nonexclusive licenses, while ensuring that industry received returns on investments.Networks like IWIN that have brought together a broad spectrum of partners-from the CGIAR system, academia, NARS, and the private sector-are now largely funded by competitive (as opposed to core) funds, with the attendant transaction costs and unpredictability of funding that limits a longerterm vision. Whereas the CGIAR has moved its core agenda in other directions (including upstream), many Western academic institutions are forging new bilateral projects with traditional CGIAR partners (i.e., NARS in LDCs). This reinforces the value of wellcoordinated multilateral partnerships to accelerate impacts, the kind of role a GCIN can provide. The expectation for crop research programs to deliver positive outcomes on the livelihoods of resource-poor people-another dimension of the CGIAR's expanded remit (15)-is complex, as new crop technologies are just one part of an equation that includes factors such as credit, market forces, national policy, etc. New collaborative paradigms encompassing a broader range of stakeholders, as proposed here, would bolster such outcomes, e.g., in the context of microfinancing and other PPPs. Yet a 2015 international workshop on the promotion of PPPs organized by 10 international agencies-including the CGIAR-identified uncertainty in funding of international programs as a key risk for improved resilience of agri-food systems (15).Increasingly high transaction costs associated with IPG work must also be addressed. These are partly driven by liability and IP issues, and partly by the prioritization of full accountability and risk minimization, which favor short-term, project-driven research over longer-term, multilateral research programs.One way to initiate and finance a GCIN would be through structural re-arrangement within the CGIAR, whose annual budget is approximately US$900 million. For 2017, the total budget expected for crop research-including trait discovery, variety development, and seed systems-is approximately $200 million, covering the major cereals, legumes, roots, and tubers. These crop networks would constitute the major components of a GCIN, while additional investment would underpin and improve NARS infrastructure, encompass underutilized crops-e.g., quinoa (16)and achieve cohesion and a strategic vision. Some costs would be offset by economies of scale, including shared infrastructure, data, and best practices across crops. IWIN and other crop-testing networks rely heavily on voluntary data return, in exchange for shared germplasm and other technologies generated from initial investment in CGIAR programs. A GCIN would thus count on substantial leverage of a massive body of human, physical, and scientific capital from existing crop networks in return for shared benefits of multilateral collaboration and improved research infrastructure. Recently established crosscutting CGIAR platforms, including one to harness big data and another for modernization of breeding methods within CGIAR centers, would also contribute to a GCIN's goals.Some multinational seed companies have invested heavily in infrastructure at key research locations, and the model is no less compelling for achieving food security through provision of IPGs (e.g., Feed the Future, CGIAR, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation). Some elements of a GCIN could be supported by hybrid funding mechanisms such as the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research model that requires 50% private industry investment to receive government funding, or the Phytobiome Alliance PPP. There is an IP challenge when private entities join forces, but many are moving in the direction of cooperating at the precompetitive level to share risks and costs associated with basic research. With clear definitions and agreements, investment by industry in precompetitive areas would allow private companies to develop products further down the line, while raising the technology bar for all. The notion that private entities would invest in a GCIN (with its LDC focus) is supported by two key facts. First, the G20 research priorities and those of LDCs served by the CGIAR often overlap, providing opportunities for international collaboration. Second, future markets for crop commodities will be dominated by current LDCs where population is growing fastest and diets are rapidly changing. The IWYP model is one example where IP arrangements involving global access to new germplasm have been agreed across a global PPP.A successful GCIN would likely require a consortium of funding bodies to set the agenda and put governance in place according to their own criteria. An evaluation process should be designed to estimate ex ante and ex post returns to the network, and precedents are extremely favorable (3,6,7). At this stage, the best way to promote a GCIN is to elaborate a scientific rationale based on precedents and opportunities. j"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3e25893eb94725d6d3ac9d106d1e8f67","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/80ca850a-6126-4c83-9353-dbb57162086e/retrieve","id":"52042826"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cad0242d-21fe-4235-b55b-de97a25d676a","content":"Deliverables associated:• D8561 -Options for national governments to support smallholder farmer seed systems: The cases of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. (http://hdl.handle.net/10568/80762) Contributing CRPs/Platforms:• CCAFS -Climate Change, Agriculture and Food SecurityProject Title: P66 -Global policy support for biologically diverse, climate resilient agriculture Description of the innovation: Three gene banks of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have shared over 400 accessions of beans, finger millet and sorghum using SMTAs. These materials are being evaluated by farmers and breeders using a combination of on-station trials (mother trials) to select elite lines for climate related traits and crowd sourcing trials to select farmer preferred varieties engaging 1000 farmers in four sites (baby trials). 23 sorghum and 20 bean varieties have been pre-selected in Uganda. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"985794fcd46e13510ff310925029686a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7fa93c8c-ff66-4b94-a40e-fea49d6cb739/retrieve","id":"-390686505"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6451a764-88ae-4e67-bf5e-51432cfc1687","content":"In Tanzania, one of the main foci of the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish health flagship, both in its laboratory and field work, was to control East Coast fever (ECF) and contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) affecting the smallholder dairy value chain. This brief reviews results from the last five years and draws lessons learned.The other big issue for the ITM vaccine is its availability in the region. Currently the AU-supported Centre for Ticks and Tick-borne diseases (CTTBD) in Malawi is producing the vaccine, following the transfer of the technology by ILRI with support from GALVmed. In Tanzania it is estimated that about two million calves are born in ECF endemic areas every year. Even if only 50% of farmers adopt the technology, Tanzania alone would require at least a million doses per year. Kenya and Uganda could require a similar amount of doses. Can one production site such as the CTTBD cope with such a demand?Case study: ITM lifted me from povertyThe first impression you get when you meet Nicholaus Kidenke is of a man at peace; content, happy, filled with hope about tomorrow. He smiles easily and is ready to tell his story. He first encountered ILRI as a beneficiary of a project to up-scale delivery of the East Coast fever (ECF) vaccine, commonly known as the 'Infection and Treatment Method' (ITM). The name comes from the fact that the vaccine infects healthy cattle with specific strains of the causative agent, Theileria parva and simultaneously injects them with a long acting antibiotic. This results in a mild reaction leading to immunity for life.Kidenke, now a wealthy farmer, attributes his fortune to the effectiveness of ITM. Kidenke had about 800 cattle but started to lose calves, 75% in one year. A veterinarian diagnosed East Coast fever, and advised him to increase the frequency of tick control. But nothing worked. The same veterinarian told him about a recently launched vaccine (ITM). But the nearest supplier was 1800 km away. Kidenke was willing, but the control costing USD 8 per animal was prohibitive.He sold several bulls and convinced the vaccine supplier to come to Ngara for the cost of the journey and lodgings. Of the 100 animals vaccinated, he only lost 20. The following year, he lost 5, a huge improvement. He had found a solution. But the cost was still prohibitive. He informed his neighbours and together they were able to get their animals vaccinated for the cost of the drug. The group has now become an organization representing the interests of livestock keepers and Kidenke is the secretary.He has since bought a new farm and has close to 2000 cattle. When the vaccine is available, he gets all his calves vaccinated each year. Kidenke now wishes to invest in improving his animals as he no longer fears ECF. Delighted the ITM project has helped establish a vaccine distributor in Kahama, some 300km from Ngara, the cost of the vaccine is still problematic, and it is difficult to deliver as it requires specially trained personnel who are in short supply in TanzaniaThe commercial scale batches of the ECF-ITM vaccine produced by ILRI and CTTBD were supplied in straws containing 32 and 40 doses each, respectively. Each straw must be thawed and diluted immediately prior to use. Once thawed, the vaccine must be used within four hours and any vaccine unused by that time must be discarded. Whilst this is not a major problem when vaccinating large herds in pastoralist settings, use of the vaccine in smallholder settings, where each smallholder may have two or three cattle, can lead to substantial wastage of the vaccine.The natural reservoir of Theileria parva is the African buffalo. Although the vaccine has proven very effective in cattle infected, via the tick vector, from other cattle, there is conflicting evidence in the scientific literature concerning the ability of vaccinated cattle to withstand challenge from ticks which have fed on buffalo. Prompted by reports of clinical ECF cases in vaccinated cattle on a conservancy where cattle co-graze with buffalo, ILRI scientists undertook a controlled field trial which showed that the vaccine had little effect in protecting cattle against buffaloderived parasites (Sitt et al. 2015).Reproductive diseases especially in smallholder dairy systems have probably been underreported. These reproductive diseases could be partly responsible for the long calving intervals reported in smallholder dairy systems together with poor nutrition and poor heat recognition by smallholder dairy keepers. Recently ILRI under the Agricultural Technology Transfer project has started to investigate the importance of reproductive diseases in smallholder dairy systems in Tanzania. The information collected will inform further research into this neglected area. One major constraint has been the lack of easy diagnostic tools for some of the diseases; this area of research could contribute to addressing the issue, especially the need for effective point-of-care tests used by farmers.In 2007/8, ILRI produced the second commercial-scale batch of the ECF-ITM Muguga cocktail vaccine. In rececent years, supply of the vaccine to approved distributors became an activity of the flagship. Since 2012, 594,600 doses of the vaccine were distributed, predominantly to Tanzania (85%), Uganda (7%) and Kenya (6%). There were no substantiated reports of vaccine failure from any of the distributors or livestock owners, apart from cattle cograzing with buffalo (see above). It has been estimated that 594,600 doses of the vaccine protected at least 220,000 cattle from ECF-related deaths, assuming a fatality rate of 40% and 10% in a susceptible herd of pastoral and dairy cattle respectively, in addition to making savings on reduced acaricide use and cost of treatment.To overcome the dosage constraint, ILRI demonstrated that the vaccine straws can be thawed, diluted, repackaged and refrozen with minimal loss of viability. An initial, experimental production resulted in straws containing 5-8 doses (Patel et al. 2016). With VetAgro Ltd from Tanzania, ILRI showed that the vaccine was safe and effective under both experimental and field conditions.The Muguga cocktail, the most widely used version of the ECF-ITM live vaccine is a mix of three parasite isolates. Obtaining clear knowledge of the composition of the vaccine is important for: quality control of successive batches; studying transmission in field situations; and acquiring a better understanding of its mechanism of action. Scientists in the Flagship contributed to this in two ways. First, using mini-and micro satellite markers they confirmed the existence of 14 different strains (genotypes) of the parasite in the vaccine stabilate (Patel et al. 2011). Second, flagship scientists demonstrated the amount of antigenic variation among the vaccine parasites was relatively limited (Hemmink et al. 2016). The latter observation is important as it was originally thought that the broad protection provided by the multi-isolate Muguga cocktail, compared to single isolates, was due to a greater degree of antigenic variation. This means that possibly a simpler cocktail could also be sufficient to convey protection, and thus make production easier.In 2016, a study of the full production process for the Muguga cocktail ECF-ITM by flagship scientists recorded several improvements to the process introduced in the 1996 and 2008 commercial-scale batches produced by ILRI (Patel et al. 2016). This will serve as an important reference document for future production. In addition, the article documented the production and characteristics of the 'reference' stabilates made in 2008. These stabilates are intended to be the 'seed' stabilates from which future batches of the vaccine will be made.With GALVmed, the health flagship convened a workshop in August 2014 of interested parties to discuss the status and challenges associated with ECF-ITM vaccine. The participants-a range of actors involved in the manufacture and deployment of the vaccine in the affected countries-identified a list of priority items needed to improve the manufacture, distribution and use of the live vaccine (Toye and Ballantyne 2015).A surprising observation from the field trial described above is that the progeny of a particular ILRI sire appeared to be tolerant to buffalo-derived T. parva infection. This observation has now been confirmed in subsequent field trials using further progeny of this sire (Toye et al. unpublished data). In a collaboration with the Roslin Institute, flagship scientists are seeking to identify the genetic region responsible for this tolerance. The findings should lead to a genetic marker for breeding tolerant cattle, while identification of the mechanism mediating the tolerance may help the identification of new vaccine or therapeutic targets.In addition to the need for a liquid nitrogen cold chain to deliver the ITM, the vaccine's cost and the complexity of producing it, the use of live parasites for vaccination increases the risk of spreading the parasite to non-immune animals from vaccinated animals.Flagship scientists are thus working on 2 strategies to discover a cheaper and safer sub-unit vaccine:The first is to gain a greater understanding of the immune mechanisations elicited during the ITM vaccination, since ITM induces a strong cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response and, part of the immunity conferred needed in a subunit vaccine.As a first step, laboratory reagents needed to be developed to enable the assessment of the antigen-specific CTL immune response in cattle immunized with T. parva, or with recombinant CTL antigens of the parasite. These reagents are recombinant major histocompatibility (MHC) class I molecules, known as bovine leukocyte antigen (BoLA) class I molecules in cattle. A library of 15 different BoLA molecules, covering the major BoLA molecules present in Holstein/Friesian cattle of Kenya were expressed, purified, and, since eight CTL lines expressing the correct BoLa class I type were available, eight of them were tested in vitro with this bank of CTL lines from T. parva immune animals. These reagents have allowed us to characterize more specifically, by flow cytometry, the phenotype of CTL elicited towards the known immunodominant T. parva antigen Tp1. Moreover, the use of these BoLA molecules, in conjunction with the use of an immunoinformatics (reverse immunology) platform, allowed us to identify the exact minimal CTL epitope of a known T. parva antigen (Tp2) as well as a new BoLA specificity of a known CTL epitope.The second is to identify antigens that could be included in a subunit vaccine. It is already known that ITM-immunized animals develop CTL that kill parasiteinfected cells, and that some antigens of the parasite induce that response; Tp1 antigen being one and p67 another (the latter being the major surface protein on the parasite at the sporozoite stage).Flagship scientists tested several methods to deliver the Tp1 antigen, the p67 antigen or both antigen together in groups of 13 to 15 cattle, to see if the target of 70% level of protection could be reached. Upon infecting the three immunized groups of cattle with an LD100 infecting dose of the parasite, 33% were shown to be immune in the p67C only group, 27% were immune in the Tp1 only group, and 46% of the animals in the combined p67C & Tp1 antigens group were immune. Though the 70% target level of protection has not been achieved, it is clear that combining antigens can increase immunity levels. Repeat experiments are planned using an LD70 infecting dose which is more representative of what is happening in the field.CBPP, another major cattle disease, is caused by Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides (Mmm). The existing vaccine, a live attenuated vaccine, confers limited protection and causes a reaction discouraging farmers from presenting animals for vaccination. But perhaps the biggest constraint to delivery is its short duration of protection; it requires re-vaccination within a year. The available diagnostics are good at herd level, not at an individual cow level, thus limiting the control of the disease.The first is to study host-pathogen interactions, specifically trying to understand the immunological responses to broaden the basic knowledge of the disease, and identify immune targets for subunit vaccines. In efforts to understand the underlying immunological mechanisms of CBPP, scientists have characterized the core surface proteome (Krasteva et al. 2014). They also examined antigen specific antibody responses towards 65 surface proteins for up to 232 days post infection, and observed that high antibody titres did not protect against formation of Mycoplasma containing sequestra in the lungs of infected cattle (Schieck et al. 2014).The second is to employ state-of-the-art synthetic genomics tools to engineer Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. capri to explore the function of specific genes/molecular structures of the bacteria. Synthetic biology tools have been established at ILRI, such as genome transplantation for Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. capri (Mmc) which infects goats and is the closest relative of Mmm, the causative agent of CBPP. Flagship scientists generated a mutant strain which lacks the terminal gene in the galactofuranose synthesis pathway. This mutant lacks galactofuranose polysaccharide coating the surface of the bacteria. In vitro, this mutant showed increased cell membrane permeability, enhanced adhesion to host cells and increased resistance to serum killing activity compared to the wild type (Schieck et al. 2016). Preliminary data show that the galactofuranose polysaccharide is a virulence factor and the mutant is a promising vaccine strain for Mmc and this knowledge will inform the vaccine development for CBPP.Computational modelling has shown that improved diagnostic tools will also be crucial to eliminate CBPP (Ssematimba et al. 2015). Production of ITM has several uncertainties it would be less risky if there were more than one producer of the vaccine. Given the disease spreads from South Sudan to Mozambique and given the logistically complexities of transportation, it would also seem that having the production in more than one geographic region would help.  It is important that ILRI continue to engage long after products have been developed and transferred to producers. The question is perhaps how long this should continue. It is clear that some of the impacts may not have been realised unless ILRI continues to engage with the relevant partners to ensure the product goes to scale.  In hindsight perhaps, ILRI should have spent more research effort in improving the ITM technology. For instance more effort should have been put into research to produce a smaller dose package. This would probably enhance adoption of the technology among smallholders.  To form hypotheses and theories and test them, more basic knowledge on mycoplasma and the interaction of different species with their hosts (e.g. ruminants) is needed. Existing infection models are also sub-optimal and need to be improved. More samples are needed from the field and more opportunities need to be created for discussion with epidemiologists about prevalence and transmission to inform lab work."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ccc1523f04e81cfccb89d5a34242636b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/63481356-c37f-40b7-8670-0bb8c009b3f6/retrieve","id":"1033970113"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"907a87f4-db42-4bfa-a62e-268c6bb057ae","content":"trabajando en Nicaragua desde hace más de 42 años, desarrollando programas y proyectos en favor de los más pobres, buscando mejorar sus condiciones de vida. Para implementar sus intervenciones, CRS cuenta con una red de Socios locales con muchas experiencias y vínculos con los actores locales y organizaciones de las familias participantes en los proyectos.El trabajo de CRS se dirige a personas de escasos recursos, ubicadas en zonas marginales de alto riesgo, principalmente, en el Norte de Nicaragua. Para el desarrollo de actividades, CRS cuenta con mecanismos de co-ejecución con organizaciones locales como Cáritas de Matagalpa, Cáritas de Jinotega y Cáritas de Estela como socios preferenciales y con otras organizaciones como la Fundación de Investigación y Desarrollo Rural (FIDER) y la Asociación de Desarrollo Agrícola Comunal (ADDAC). CRS y sus Socios promueven la vinculación de los pequeños productores a los mercados formales como un medio para aumentar los ingresos y mejorar sus condiciones de vida, En el año 2002,Cambios Significativos en el CampoEste documento contiene una descripción resumida de la participación de CRS en la Alianza de Aprendizaje de Centroamérica, el proceso que se desarrolló en esta primera fase de funcionamiento y los principales resultados alcanzados, así como las lecciones aprendidas, las limitantes y las dificultades enfrentadas durante estos cuatro años.Las reflexiones que se presentan en el siguiente documento giran en torno al siguiente eje de sistematización: La Alianza de Aprendizaje ha innovado al conectar diferentes tipos de actores para potenciar el trabajo que vienen adelantando en el tema de Desarrollo Empresarial Rural.Cuando se inició con la Alianza de Aprendizaje, en el 2002, CRS había desarrollado una importante experiencia en la ejecución de proyectos agrícolas con pequeños y medianos productores en el manejo de tecnologías para producción orgánica y convencional, manejo integrado de plagas (MIP) y de cuencas. Algunas iniciativas se implementaron bajo contrato con clientes en los mercados formales, principalmente con productos para la exportación.Para ese momento, los productores y productoras participantes en los proyectos con demanda en el mercado ya estaban organizados en grupos preempresariales, sin documentos que los acreditaran como una organización legalmente constituida, pero finalmente, eran grupos funcionales. CRS jugó un papel activo acompañando estos procesos y sirviendo como garante para el cumplimiento de los acuerdos entre los clientes y los grupos de productores participantes de estas iniciativas.En este entonces, para proveer algunos servicios, se firmaban convenios triangulados entre los compradores, los proveedores de créditos y los socios locales de CRS para el acompañamiento con asistencia técnica subsidiada por medio de los proyectos; esto les daba cierta confianza tanto a los productores, como a los proveedores de créditos y a los compradores para la implementación de estas iniciativas en los mercados formales a nivel nacional y para la exportación.En términos de relaciones, además de las organizaciones locales de desarrollo, (socios locales), con CRS colaboraban varias instituciones, entre las de investigación se puede mencionar el Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA) principalmente en la introducción y validación de tecnologías, apoyo a la comercialización, exportaciones, contactos de negocios internacionales, entre otros temas; aunque esta relación era muy puntual.Con la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua (UNAN) CRS se relacionaba para promover el uso de controladores biológicos, tecnología de alimentos y otros; con la Universidad Nacional Agraria (UNA) trabajaba en el Manejo de cuencas y de suelos, pasantías de estudiantes, estudios de casos, entre otros.Por su parte, la Universidad Estatal de Michigan (MSU-PFID), brindaba financiamiento para la construcción de infraestructura para el acopio y procesamiento de productos, y daba apoyo con fondos para el fortalecimiento de las cooperativas, la identificación de compradores y el manejo de las exportaciones.Por Si bien el listado es considerable, en general había una débil organización de los productores (as), una desarticulación de las cadenas productivas, una oferta de servicios de desarrollo empresarial (financieros y no financieros) muy puntual, y muy pocos vínculos entre productores y el sector privado. De igual forma, las relaciones de CRS con otras organizaciones eran para temas muy puntuales, con limitado intercambio de información y poca discusión sobre temas de interés común.Esta situación sumada a los cambios de enfoque de trabajo de donantes de CRS, que orientaron sus fondos de cooperación para la implementación de actividades de desarrollo económico, se dio un contexto propicio a la generación de iniciativas dirigidas a vincular pequeños productores con los mercados formales tanto a nivel Nacional como para la exportación. Este escenario propició la participación de CRS en la Alianza de Aprendizaje.Así mismo, la entrada en vigencia del tratado de libre comercio entre Estados Unidos y Nicaragua despertó el interés del sector privado por vincularse con pequeños productores para acceder a la oferta de sus productos y aprovechar la demanda creciente de los mercados, pero también para ofertar servicios financieros y no financieros demandados por estos procesos. Así mismo, creció el interés de los pequeños productores por organizarse para aprovechar las nuevas oportunidades de mercado y optar a mejores espacios para negociar sus productos.Durante el proceso de intervención se fueron experimentando cambios muy importantes en distintos momentos entre los miembros de la Alianza. En la etapa inicial del trabajo, por ejemplo, había muchas limitaciones para compartir la información entre las organizaciones miembros, porque de cierto modo, los resultados alcanzados por cada organización le daban un posicionamiento frente a donantes y porque no existía la confianza para una comunicación horizontal más abierta.No obstante, a medida que fue avanzando el proceso se fueron fortaleciendo las relaciones de confianza y colaboración entre los miembros de la Alianza. Esto fue reforzado de alguna manera con un mayor involucramiento de los tomadores de decisiones de las organizaciones y una mayor participación de los equipos técnicos, pasando a un compromiso más institucional debido, entre otras cosas, a la evidencia de los resultados que el proceso estaba generando como son:• La incorporación del enfoque de desarrollo empresarial a la estrategia de trabajo de CRS y sus Socios. • La organización de 15 cooperativas de base con su personería jurídica actualizada y 2 organizaciones de segundo grado con 1.200 productores (as) como socios y pre-socios. Todas cuentan con oficinas en sus sedes. • La organización de servicios de desarrollo empresarial con la apertura de un centro de negocios, a través del cual se ofrecen servicios de comercialización a los productores, información de precios de los principales productos de la zona, asesoría administrativa -financiera, apoyo para la formulación de planes de negocio, organización de rondas de negocios con compradores, administración de contratos, compra de facturas, venta de insumos, entre otros.Para la implementación de los planes de trabajo de la Alianza, tanto a nivel Regional como a nivel Nacional, se organizaron diferentes espacios de diálogo e intercambio como las reuniones anuales de planificación, evaluación y seguimiento a nivel regional, los talleres, las reuniones a nivel de País, la página Web de Alianzas, el correo electrónico y otros.Durante esta fase fue clave el intercambio de información y conocimientos entre los diferentes miembros de la Alianza, reforzando el proceso de desarrollo de conocimientos. El liderazgo del CIAT fue muy importante para los resultados alcanzados por la Alianza en esta fase, puesto que facilitó metodologías y herramientas a través de talleres de capacitación, visitas de intercambio de experiencias, documentos sobre temas de desarrollo empresarial, el acompañamiento en campo, la realización de estudios de cadenas y la sistematización de experiencias exitosas, entre otros. En este sentido, los temas de capacitación más relevantes durante el proceso para promover el desarrollo empresarial rural fueron: la formación de grupos de interés, cadenas de valor, identificación de oportunidades de mercados y la sistematización de experiencias.Los resultados generados durante el proceso desarrollado por CRS y que fueron mencionados en los párrafos anteriores han incidido para que el tema de desarrollo empresarial fuese incorporado de manera más decidida en las estrategias de desarrollo de CRS y sus socios locales; así mismo, se ha manifestado mucho interés y participación por parte de las organizaciones de productores.Otro elemento importante a mencionar es el creciente interés del sector privado sobre el tema de desarrollo empresarial, cada día son más las empresas que muestran su intención de vincularse con las organizaciones de productores para establecer alianzas estratégicas, hacer negocios de mediano y largo plazo, proveer servicios de desarrollo empresarial y hasta de co-inversión para el desarrollo de actividades de manera sostenida.Actualmente, CRS ha ampliado las relaciones de colaboración para promover el proceso de desarrollo empresarial rural con organizaciones como Así mismo, como parte del proceso de desarrollo empresarial que han promovido CRS y sus socios locales durante esta primera fase de la alianza, se han organizado cooperativas de base y organizaciones de segundo grado con aproximadamente unos 1200 productores (as) como socios y pre-socios.Por la intervención de CRS y sus socios locales, también se cuenta con un centro de negocios que presta servicios de desarrollo empresarial (comercialización, información de precios de los principales productos, asesoría administrativafinanciera, formulación de planes de negocio, rondas de negocios con compradores, administración de contratos, compra de facturas, entre otros.)Actualmente, se cuenta con infraestructura para acopio y procesamiento de productos, lo que ha permitido a los pequeños productores alcanzar cierto nivel de economía de escala, despertando el interés de otras organizaciones por el tema de desarrollo empresarial rural, visto como una oportunidad para ofrecer servicios financieros, vender insumos y otras actividades que demanda el proceso. Otro cambio importante es el reconocimiento de las organizaciones de los productores por parte de los clientes, quienes han manifestado su interés por la firma de contratos de comercialización con estas organizaciones.CRS además ha incorporado el enfoque de desarrollo empresarial como parte de su estrategia para la reducción de la pobreza. En este sentido, este año inició un 6 proyecto de cadenas de valor en la zona norte de Nicaragua, ejecutado por un consorcio liderado por CRS y en el que participan 21 organizaciones (4 organizaciones de cooperación internacional, 9 ONG`s Nacionales, 7 Asociaciones de productores, 1 empresa privada), 85 cooperativas de base con aproximadamente unos 3,850 asociados. Con la ejecución de este proyecto se están apoyando 5.400 productores (as) con el objetivo de que aumenten sus ingresos, logren un crecimiento de las ventas por medio de una mayor vinculación con los mercados a nivel nacional, regional e internacional y que generen empleo a nivel comunitario.Algunos aprendizajes que ha dejado este proceso son:• Cuando se inicia un proceso como este, es muy importante tomar en cuenta que, para que se generen cambios significativos, se requiere que desde el inicio participen los tomadores de decisiones y el personal clave que va a estar involucrado en la ejecución e implementación de las intervenciones, ya que esto asegura un mayor respaldo y compromiso institucional de parte del organismo para la implementación del proceso. • Por otro lado, los ciclos de aprendizaje deberían organizarse alternando la capacitación con el acompañamiento en campo por parte del organismo facilitador para la puesta en práctica de los conocimientos adquiridos, y no como se desarrolló en la primera fase de la Alianza, en la que pasaron dos años o más con talleres de capacitación y fue hasta en el tercer año que se inició el acompañamiento en campo. • Así mismo, es clave que se tomen en cuenta los tiempos para la implementación de los procesos, ya que en muchos casos, estos procesos son promovidos desde proyectos, los que en su mayoría, tienen tiempos cortos para su ejecución y recursos económicos limitados. Éstas son limitantes que condicionan los resultados alcanzados atribuibles al proceso."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7c1807535525fcde04e963ddd8825af8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/23df14a3-64c5-40c6-812a-e78127146c5c/retrieve","id":"1430564482"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"766b4308-7580-42a3-87bb-c9895376861d","content":"Tropical (CIAT) se dedica al alivio del hambre y de la pobreza en los países tropicales en desarrollo, mediante la aplicación de la ciencia al aumento de la producción agrícola, conservando, a la vez, los recursos naturales.El CIAT es uno de los 18 centros internacionales de investigación agrícola auspiciados por el Grupo Consultivo para la Investigación Agrícola Internacional (GCIAl).El presupuesto básico del CIA T es financiado por 19 donantes, entre los que figuran gobiernos de países, organizaciones para el desarrollo regional e institucional, y fundaciones privadas. En 1993, los siguientes países son donantes del CIAT:En arroz, líneas homocigotas pueden ser producidas a partir de cruzamientos segregantes por medio del doblamiento cromosómico del polen-haploide y regeneración de plantas a través de un ciclo de cultivo de anteras (CA). Niiziki Y Oono (1968) fueron los primeros en regenerar plantas con esta técnica en arroz, y desde entonces el CA ha sido utilizada exitosamente en el mejoramiento de este cultivo generando mas de 80 variedades en Asia y Estados Unidos (Han, 1985;Fang, 1991;Liang and Huang, 1991). Sin embargo la implementación de esta técnica como una herramienta rutinaria en programas de mejoramiento ha sido lenta, principalmente porque la respuesta depende del genotipo utilizado. El arroz tipo japónica tiene una mayor respuesta que otros materiales (Chen and Lin, 1981;Ying, 1986;Chen et aJ., 1991). De tal. forma que la mayoría de estas aplicaciones han estado restringidas principalmente a cruzamientos donde al menos uno de los padres es del tipo japónico.El CIA T viene investigando como incorporar el CA en el programa de mejoramiento. Uno de los primeros logros fue el desarrollo de un método simple que permite el procesamiento masivo de 8.000 -10.000 anterasfpersona/día (Núüez et al, 1989).Desde 1990, nuestro laboratorio viene estudiando los posibles factores que afectan la respuesta androgenética de genotipos ampliamente utilizados en programas de mejoramiento en América Latina. El estudio ha estado centrado en identificar factores que afectan específicamente la respuesta de materiales altamente recalcitrantes del tipo Ífldica (adaptados a condiciones de riego tropical o subtropical) y sabana (secano, adaptados a suelos áCidos). Arroz índica se caracteriza por una baja inducci6n de callos, mientras que el de tipo secano tiene una baja regeneraci6n de plantas verdes. En el presente trabajo se muestra la metodología desarrollada, la cual es aplicable a una gran diversidad de genotipos. Actualmente, las plantas homocigotas producidas por CA (doble haploides, DH) son utilizadas en el programa de mejoramiento para desarrollar plantas tolerantes al frío. incrementar la recombinación entre materiales genéticamente distantes con resistencia a piricularia, al virus de la hoja blanca. y tolerancia a sequía, y para facilitar la producci6n de materiales adecuados para el mapeo genético con RFLP y PCR (Lenúni y Martínez, 1992). Finalmente, se presenta un estudio de factibilidad econ6mica sobre el uso del cultivo de anteras para el desarrollo de variedades de arroz.Antes de entrar a ver en qué consiste el cultivo de anteras es preciso repasar la morfología de la inflorescencia del arroz y el desarrollo del grano de polen en la antera, porque estos conceptos permitirán una mejor comprensión de la técnica.1.1 Morfología de la inflorescencia del arroz La inflorescencia del arroz es una panícula (Figura 1) compuesta de unidades florales denominadas espiguillas.La espiguilla consta de la raquilla. dos lemas estériles y la florecilla (Figura 2). La raquilla es el eje que sostiene la flor y las lemas estériles o glumas rudimentarias son las brácteas alargadas del pedicelo que envuelven la flor por debajo de la raquilla.Las brácteas superiores, llamadas glumas florales o simplemente glumas, son la lema y la palea.La flor consta de un pistilo y seis estambres. En el pistilo se distinguen el ovario. el estilo y el estigma. El ovario es de cavidad simple y contiene un solo óvulo. El estilo es corto y termina en un doble est!gma plumoso. El estigma según la variedad presenta diferentes colores: blanco, verde pálido, amarillo, púrpura pálido o púrpura.Los estambres son ftlamentos delgados que sostienen las anteras alargadas y bífidas, las cuales contienen los granos de polen.Las lodículas son dos protuberancias redondeadas y transparentes que se encuentran en la base de la flor responsables de la apertura floral. Durante la antesis las lodfculas se ponen turgentes logrando que la lema y la palea se separen. simultáneamente se alargan los estambres y las anteras emergen. La dehiscencia de las anteras puede efectuarse antes o al mismo tiempo en que se abren las glumas, mostrando tendencia a la cleistogamia.Al hacer un corte transversal en la antera se aprecian las células centrales por donde se conecta al filamento, cuatro cavidades denominadas sacos polfnicos, dos anteriores y dos posteriores. Cuando ya se han formado los granos de polen, el saco anterior forma una sola cavidad con el respectivo saco posterior, de manera que la antera queda compuesta por sólo dos cavidades, denominadas tecas (Figura 3Al.La zona mas importante de la estructura de la antera es eL arquesporio, parte interna de los sacos, en donde se forman los granos de polen. El arquesporio esta rodeado de un tejido glandular, conocido como el tapete, que produce enzimas, nutrientes y materiales estructurales críticos para la microesporogenesis. El conjunto de sacos polfnicos de la antera esta rodeado por el llamado estrato fibroso, compuesto de células con paredes delgadas dispuestas a modo de filetes. Finalmente, en el exterior de todas estas capas se encuentra la pared de la antera que es una capa altamente especializada responsable por la deshicencia de la antera (Figura 3B ,.1.3 Desarrollo del grano de polen en la antera Dentro de los sacos polfnicos se originan células jóvenes diploides, denominadas células madres del polen o microsporocitos primarios. Después de que el microsporocito alcanza cierto desarrollo, ocurre la meiosis o división reduccional, de la cual resultan dos células con 12 cromosomas, o sea la mitad del número de cromosomas que existe en las células somáticas del arroz, formándose así dos microsporocitos secundarios haploides. En seguida los microsporocitos secundarios sufren una división mitótica o ecuacional dando origen a dos células, también haploides. Así, por cada microsporocito primario, se forman cuatro células haploides, que se denominan microsporas (Figura 4Al.Posteriormente las microsporas se separan, iniciándose el estado uninucleado que comprende 3 etapas: (al uninucleado temprano, cuando la doble pared de la microspora (intina y exina) no está todavía bien conformada y el núcleo está situado en el centro de la microspora (Figura 4B); (b) uninucleado medio cuando ya la doble pared está bien definida y el núcleo empieza a ser desplazado hacia un costado por la presencia de una vacuola grande (Figura 4C), y (el uninueleado tardío cuando el núcleo localizado en el costado de la microspora se presenta agigantado con pequeñas vacuolas nucleolares y listo para entrar en mitosis (Figura 40).Luego viene el estado binucleado de la microspora que comprende: (a) el binucleado temprano, que se presenta inmediatamente después de la primera divisióo mitótica del núcleo, a partir del cual se forman dos núcleos; el vegetativo generalmente de mayor tamafio y el generatriz o espermático más pequeño (Figura 4E), y (b) el binucleado tardío cuando se forman gránulos de almidón en el citoplasma (Figura 4F). El núcleo generativo sufre una segunda división mitótica obteniéndose así un conjunto de tres núcleos haploides que constituyen el grano de polen. Normalmente el grano de polen germina unas pocas horas después de entrar en contacto con el estigma originándose el tubo polfnico. El nócleo vegetativo se degenera y uno de los nócleos generativos se fusiona con el núcleo de la ovocélula para formar el zigoto.Figura 1. Inflorescencia en panícula de la planta de arroz.Pistilo Estilo -%---\\Hf Ovario -\",,\"c-::Figura 2. Estructuras de la espiguilla del arroz.Figura 3.A.Estambr.Corte uans versal de la antera. Binucleado temprano; f. Binucleado tardío.El cultivo de anteras puede ser definido como una manipulación in vilro de los granos de polen inmaduros (microsporas) contenidos dentro de la anteras, para evitar su desarrollo gametofítico e inducir el desarrollo esporofítico. En el caso de arroz este proceso ocurre a través de la formación de un tejido no diferenciado (callo) (Figura 5A -E) que culmina en la formación de embriones y/o plantas (Figura 5F, H), fenómeno conocido como androgénesis (Niizeki y Oono, 1968). De las plantas producidas aproximadamente un 40-70% puede ser haploide, triploide o tetraploide, mientras que el otro 30-60% es diploide y fértil (dOble haploide, DH) y de mayor interés para el fitomejorador (Nishi y Mitsuoka, 1969). La técnica de cultivo de anteras de arroz ha avanzado a niveles donde un gran numero de DH son producidos de muchos cultivares e híbridos, lo que hace posible aplicar esta técnica en programas de mejoramiento (Chen el al., 1982;Martínez el al, 1993).En esta primera fase las microsporas son inducidas cultivando las anteras en un medio cuya composición estimula la división mitótica selectiva de las microsporas a expensas de las células somáticas presentes en el filamento, el tejido conectivo y la pared de la antera. Esta inducción se obtiene en un medio con altas concentraciones de auxinas (2,4-D, picloramo, y/o ácido naftalenacético (ANA)] y con bajos niveles de citoquininas (kinetina, zeatina, o bencilaminopurina (BAP)].Después de dos días de cultivo ocurre la primera división rriitótica de la microspora que da como resultado la formación de dos núcleos: el vegetativo de mayor tamaño y el generativo más pequeño, los cuales están separados por una membrana. El núcleo generativo se degenera rápidamente y generalmente desaparece antes de que el núcleo vegetativo se divida de nuevo. Alrededor del quinto día de cultivo in vúro el núcleo vegetativo inicia la división mitótica. En las primeras divisiones generalmente se originan membranas celulares que permiten la formación de núcleos independientes, cuyo número puede variar de 2 a 8 por cada microspora. A los 20 días de cultivo se forma una masa de lejido amorfo con más de 100 células por cada microspora involucrada en el proceso; éSIe es el denominado microcallo. que alrededor de los 30 6 50 dCas dependiendo del genotipo. alcanza un tamaño de 2 mm, considerado como el más apropiado para iniciar el proceso de regeneración de plantas.Aunque al1n no se sabe con exactitud cómo sucede el doblamiento cromosomático del 30 -60% de las plantas regeneradas por cultivo de anleras, las observaciones . citol6gicas del desarrollo de las microsporas en esta etapa permilen suponer dos o cuando el proceso de cultivo se ha producido a partir de microsporas en estado uninucleado tardío, el mícleo vegetativo se fusiona con el núcleo generativo y origina un callo diploide. En la segunda forma, llamada endoreduplicación, al presentarse la mitosis de las células haploides no hay separaci6n de los cromosomas duplicados, lo cual conduce a la formación de un solo núcleo con un número doble de cromosomas.Una vez los microcallos han alcanzado el desarrollo adecuado, o sea un tamaño de 2 mm, son transferidos a otro medio de cultivo que contiene concentraciones bajas de auxinas pero altas de citoquininas (kinetina o bencil aminopurína),las que estimulan la diferenciaci6n de las células del microcallo hasta regenerar plantas.En los primeros estados de desarrollo el microcallo es una masa de células sin diferenciación; posteriormenle las células desarrollan vacuolas y se empieza a formar el tejido parenquimatoso. En eSIe tejido se diferencian meristemas localizados algunos en la periferia, denominados meristemas periféricos, y otros están dispersos dentro de la masa parenquimatosa, denominados endom~iiS1:Ii~s. I:os~ '. :BIBLIOTeCA meristemas periféricos originan los puntos de crecimiento o yemas de la plántula, mientras que de los endomeristemas dispersos se originan los primordios de las raíces. En los primeros estados del proceso de morfogénesis, las yemas y las raíces se desarrollan independientemente, sin ninguna conección de tejido vascular entre ellos. Posteriormente se desarrolla el tejido vascular que conecta el vástago con la raíz, conformándose así la nueva plántula. Estas plántulas tienden a macollar dentro del medio de cultivo y desarrollan hojas tfpicas a los 30 ó 45 días después de ocurrida la transferencia de los callos al medio de regeneración.Los siguientes factores influyen en la producción de plantas doble haploídes derivadas del cultivo de anteras de arroz:El genotipoLas condiciones ambientales y el estado fisiológico de la planta donante El estado de desarrollo del polen al iniciarse el cultivo El tratamiento de la antera antes del cultivo La pl!ted de la anteraLas condiciones físicas de incubación de las anterasEl genotipo es el factor que mas influye en la frecuencia de las anteras que producen callos, la capacidad del callo de diferenciar plantas, la proporción de plantas verdes a albinas, y la ploidla de las plantas regeneradas. Mientras que es posible producir un alto número de doble haploides de muchas variedades e híbridos de arroz japónica. la produccion de callos y regeneración de plantas verdes de la mayoría de las índicas es baja (Chen el al., 1991). Nuestro estudio con materiales latinoamericanos que incluye un total de 151 índiea, 113 japónica secano, 199 indiea X japónica secano, y 99 ARN de los plastidios (Chen, 1986). La produccion de plantas albinas también puede ser debida a la falta de expresión de los genes responsables del desarrollo normal de los cloroplastos y síntesis de clorofila bajo las condiciones de cultivo in vitro. La frecuencia de plantas albinas incrementa con la edad del callo (>2 mm en diámetro), la temperatura de inducción y regeneración de las plantas (> 26°C), la clase y concentración de reguladores de crecimiento (2,4-D > 2 mgll), concentración de suerosa en el medio de inducción {> 6% l, concentración de sales en el medio de cultivo (<O.4 mg equivalente de Fe+ 2 ), y el estado de desarrollo del polen durante la excisión y cultivo de las anteras (> de uninucleado tardío. Figura 4D) (Chen et al., 1991). Así. la propia manipulación de estos factores. puede también ayudar a minimizar la frecuencia de producción de albinos.Las condiciones de crecimiento de las plantas donantes, tales como el fotoperíodo. la intensidad de luz. la temperatura. la nutrición mineral. variaciones estacionales.tratamientos físicos y la aplicación de hormonas pueden influir en la respuesta de las microsporas al cultivo in vitro (Chen et al., 1991).Por lo general, anteras de plantas desarrolladas en el campo y bajo períodos de baja nubosidad y lluvia presentan una mayor respuesta debido a los altos niveles radiacionales. Nuestros resultados de dos años de estudio muestran que la respuesta del arroz tipo fndica es altamente afectada por los niveles radacionales recibidos durante los dos últimos meses antes de cosechar las anteras. mientras que las japónicas son mas afectadas durante todo el período de crecimiento (Figura 7).Anteras de plantas desarrolladas a bajas temperaturas (1S120oC noche/día) son más afectadas que aquellas a altas temperaturas (30-3SoC). Pero anteras de plantas crecidas a temperaturas superiores a los 30°C tienden a producir un mayor porcentaje de plantas albinas (Chen et al .• 1991). Las condiciones óptimas para el crecimiento de las plantas es 19/29°C noche/día (Ying. 1986). En algunos casos la deficiencia de nitrógeno en las plantas donantes incrementa la respuesta al cultivo in vitro de las anteras, y la aplicación de gametocidas a las panículas en sus estados iniciales de desarrollo puede tambi6n resultar en una mayor respuesta (Chen et al., 1991).En observaciones realizadas a los granos de polen maduros contenidos en las anteras del arroz. se han identificado dos tipos de granos de polen con diferencias morfológicas y fisiológicas. Este factor diferencial denominado dimorfismo del polen, consiste en que algunos granos presentan el estado morfológico normal. pero otros.considerados anormales, son de menor tamaño, con tinción d6bil del citoplasma y generalmente presentan divisiones anormales similares al proceso de división que se presenta cuando se cultivan los granos de polen en un medio de cultivo in vitro. A los granos de polen anormales se los ha denominado granos-s o granos-p y se cree que son los responsables de la proliferación celular que da como resultado la formación de callos cuando se someten las anteras al cultivo in vitro. Su presencia dentro de la población de polen está predeterminada por las condiciones ambientales bajo las que se desarolla el cultivo y el estado fisiológico de las plantas donantes (Hebede Bors, 1985).El estado fisiológico de la planta donante justo en el momento en que se cosechan las panículas tambi6n influye en los resultados obtenidos. Nuestras investigaciones lndican que las anteras de las primeras inflorescencias, cosechadas en días soleados, y entre 8 a.m. y 10 a.m. tiene~ una mayor capacidad de respuesta que las que provienen de la etapa final de la floración y cosechadas en días lluviosos y/o después de las 10 a.m. Estas diferencias pueden estar asociadas con la viabilidad de las microsporas en el momento de cosechar las anteras (Chen et al., 1991).El estado de desarrollo del polen en el momento en que se separan las anteras para someterlas al cultivo in vitro, es un factor clave para asegurar una respuesta exitosa.En estudios comparativos y en la práctica se ha determinado que la etapa de desarrollo del polen comprendida entre el estado uninucleado medio y el uninucleado tardío es la óptima para asegurar una respuesta exitosa (Chen, 1977) (Figura 4C -D).Si la siembra de las anteras en el medio nutritivo se realiza cuando el estado de desarrollo del polen está en una etapa anterior o posterior a las mencionadas, la producción de callos decrece notablemente.Por muchos años se mantuvo la práctica rutinaria de aislar las flores de la planta donante, separar sus anteras e inmediatamente colocarlas bajo condiciones definitivas de incubaci6n. Sin embargo, en los últimos 20 años esta práctica se ha modificado al descubrir que al someter las anteras a un tratamiento de bajas temperaturas antes de sembrarlas en el medio de cultivo. se incrementa la producción de callos significativamente. En la actualidad ésta es una práctica esencial dentro de la técnica utilizada para el cultivo de anteras.Los efectos del pretratamiento a bajas temperaturas sobre la respuesta del cultivo de anteras de arroz han sido estudiados por varios investigadores. No existe un efecto significativo cuando el tratamiento es aplicado después que las anteras son cultivadas en el medio de inducción (Tsay y ehen, 1984). La inducción óptima se consigue con un pretratamiento de 8-10 o e por 7 días en la oscuridad en anteras con microsporas en estado uninucleado medio (Figura 4 e). Ese tratamiento no solamente incrementa la formación de callo, pero también la diferenciaci6n de plantas verdes. Un pretratamiento en frío por más de 14 días reduce la capacidad morfogenética de los callos e incrementa la producción de albinos (Tsay y ehen, 1984).Las investigaciones en la fisiología de las anteras han revelado que los efectos benéficos del tratamiento con frío y en ausencia de luz, consisten en reducir la actividad respiratoria de las anteras al disminuir el consumo de materiales, lo cual prolonga la actividad biológica del arquesporio que alberga a los granos de polen, manteniendo su viabilidad, evitando la dehiscencia prematura de las anteras en el cultivo, y retrasando la senescencia del polen (Suderland. 1978). Actualmente se piensa que el pretratamiento en frío promueve la inhibición de la expresión de genes y/o de la función de las enzimas producto de esta expresión. los cuales son responsables por el desarrollo gametofftico, permitiendo el cambio al desarrollo esporofftico (Chen et al., 1991).Aunque existen otros tratamientos físicos como el pretratamiento a altas temperaturas, las irradiaciones con rayos gamma a las anteras o a las semillas que dan origen a las plantas donantes. y la aplicación de químicos tales corno colchicinaAunque la iniciación de la división de las microsporas puede ser independiente de aditamentos nutricionales, éstos son requeridos para las subsecuentes divisiones que conllevan a la formación del callo, y la diferenciación de estas células en embriones y plantas. Normalmente se utilizan dos medios de cultivo, uno para la inducción de callos a partir del polen inmaduro, y otro para la regeneración de plántulas a partir de los callos.Los medios de cultivo están constituidos por dos grandes grupos de sustancias. El primer grupo, o medio basal, está formado de nutrimentos inorgánicos (macro y microelementos), hidratos de carbono, vitaminas y en algunos casos otros aditivos orgánicos. El segundo grupo de sustancias lo constituyen los reguladores de crecimiento de tipo hormonal. Varios laboratorios han tratado de optimizar la composición de los medios de cultivo para el CA de arroz, pero en ocasiones las conclusiones difieren unos de otros. Estas diferencias pueden deberse a la influencia que ejercen el genotipo, el estado de desarrollo del polen y el pretratamiento en frío dado a las anteras. Sin embargo, éstu no resta la importancia que tiene la composición del medio de cultivo, ya que es común que para un mismo genotipo, la• frecuencia de inducción varíe seglln la composición del medio.El crecimiento y la diferenciación de los callos está influenciado por las concentraciones de sales inorgánicas, especialmente las de amonio, por ésto la relación entre la concentración de amonio (NH/l y de nitrato (N0 3 'l es uno de los principales factores en la composición del medio. La formación del callo de microsporas de arroz y otros cereales es inhibida por las altas concentraciones de amonio presentes en el medio básico MS. Basado en estas observaciones Chu et al.(1975) desarrollaron el medio básico N6, el cual contiene aprox.imadamente 113 de los niveles de amonio, el triple de fosfato, 1/3 de calcio, 112 de magnesio, 1/3 de cloruro, 1.5 veces de potasio, y el doble de sulfato con respecto al medio basal MS (Cuadro 2). Las vitaminas del medio basal satisfacen la necesidad que tiene el polen de cofactores enzimáticos. Usualmente en el medio N6 se adiciona ácido nicotínico (0.5 mgll), piridoxina (0.5 mgll), tiamina (1.0 mgll) y glicina (2 mgll) (Cuadro 2).El medio N6 ha sido ampliamente adoptado para el cultivo de anteras de arroz japónica. El tipo índica. sin embargo, tiene otros requerimientos nutricionales. Huang el al. (1981) encontraron que una modificaci6n del medio N6 que contiene la mitad del nivel de NH 4 +, dos veces la de P0 4 -Y 1/5 Mg 2 + (medio He2, denominado aquí N6m por contener otra composición hormonal) incrementa la frecuencia de inducci6n de callos y la regeneración de plantas verdes de genotipos índica, sugiriendo que este tipo de arroz es altamente susceptible al amonio y el magnesio.Estudios comparativos fueron realizados en el CIAT para determinar la composici6n óptima del medio basal para la inducción de callo, y su efecto sobre la regeneraci6n de plantas verdes de 22 genotipos índíca y 13 japónica comúnmente cultivados o utilizados en mejoramiento en LAC (Cuadro 3). La respuesta con los medios basales N6 y N6m fue comparada con la obtenida con el medio Papa-2 (Chen et al, 1978), previamente utilizado en el CIA T (Núñez et al.. 1989). El medio de papa está basado en el uso del extracto de papa suplementado con 2 a 4 veces niveles mas bajos de macronutrientes con respecto al N6 y N6m, sin micromutrientes y vitaminas. La inducci6n de callos y regeneración de plantas verdes de las índicas fue el doble en el medio N6m que en los medios N6 y Papa-2 (Figura 8). Las jap6nicas formaron callos en el medio de Papa -2. pero un incremento de 2 a 3 veces en regeneración de plantas verdes se observ6 con el N6 o N6m, respectivamente (Figura 9). El medio de Papa-2 no solamente produjo una senescencia tempranas de las anteras, sino que también indujo la diferenciación de un menor número de caHos. Resultados similares fueron obtenidos con un mayor número de genotipos utilizados en nuestro programa de mejoramiento (Cuadro 1). Modificaciones subsiguientes del medio N6m, conteniendo 231.5 mg/l (NH4)2S04' 3134 mgll KN0 3 , 540 mgll KH 2 P0 4 , micronutrientes del MS. y 2.5 mg/l vitaminas del N6 (medio NL, Cuadro 2) incrementó 3 veces la inducción de callos y 5 veces la regeneración de plantas verdes de arroz indica con respecto al N6m (Figura 8). La diferenciación de plantas de arroz japónica también incrementó cuando los callos se indujeron en el medio NL (Figura 9). Nuestros resultados también indican que una mayor inducción de callos es obtenida en medio líquido que en medio sólido.El medio MS (Cuadro 2) es el más utilizado para la diferenciación de plantas a partir de callos de anteras de arroz. En nuestro laboratorio se utilizan dos medios basales.El MS, que se caracteriza por un alto contenido de sales inorgánicas, y 112 MS, el cual contiene la mitad de las sales inorgánicas del MS, con excepción del MgS0 4 .7HzO, que se adiciona completo cuando se utiliza el Phytagel como agente solidificante para permitir su solidificación. El MS se emplea con callos que provienen del medio de inducción N6m, y 1/2MS para•callos inducidos en el medio NL, el cual contiene maltosa. El tipo de agente gelificante también influye en la regeneración de plantas, obteniéndose mejores resultados cuando se utiliza phytagel(1.8 gil) o gel-rite (1.5 gil) en comparación con agar. En el CIAT el Phytagel es el solidificante más utilizado.Los hidratos de carbono (azúcares) del medio basal satisfacen los requerimientos de moléculas de carbono como fuente de energía. Por lo general, altos niveles de suerosa son estimulantes para la inducción de callos de anteras de arroz.Concentraciones de 4% a 5% han sido recomendadas (Chen et al., 1991). En general . se requieren niveles más altos de sucrosa para la inducción que para la regeneración de plantas. Sucrosa al 3% en el medio de diferenciación es generalmente utilizada por la mayoría de los investigadores.Estudios realizados en nuestro laboratorio mostraron que un incremento significativo en la inducción de callo de genotipos indica recalcitrantes y japónica es obtenido cuando 5% suerosa es reemplazada por 5% maltosa (Figura 10). Maltosa 5% es más inductiva que 1 % o 3% (Figura 10). Investigaciones recientes indican que para algunos genotipos una mayor inducción de callos es obtenida con maltosa 8% ó 10%, pero lo más notable es que la producción de plantas verdes de callos inducidos a estas concentraciones es incrementada significativamente (Figura 10). Además de maltosa, otros carbohidratos fueron evaluados. Glucosa 5% inhibe la inducción de callos, y combinaciones de 2% maltosa con 3% manitol o 7% de almidón de arroz, o 2% suerosa con 3% ó 5% manitol son menos inductivas que 5% maltosa solamente.A diferencia de la inducción de callos, la substitución de suerosa por maltosa en el medio de regeneración no incrementa la formación de plantas verdes.Los constituyentes más cruciales en el cultivo de anteras de arroz son las auxinas y las citoquininas.Auxinas:Citoquininas:ANA (ácido naftaIenacéticol, 2,4-0 (ácido 2,4 diclorofenoxiacético),AlA (ácido indolacéticol, AlB {ácido indolbuúricol, Picloramo, Oicamba, AFA (ácido Fenilacéticol BAP (6-benzilaminopurina), 2 iP (N ó -2-iso penteniladenina), Kinetina (6-furfurilamonopurina), Zeatina, Thiadazuron.Las auxinas en concentraciones medias y altas actúan sinergfsticamente con las citoquininas en concentraciones bajas para el desarrollo de callos. Cuando se utilizan bajas concentraciones de auxinas se estimula el enraizamiento y las citoquininas en altas concentraciones favorecen el desarrollo de los brotes, tallos y hojas e inhiben el enraizamiento. Es muy importante realizar una combinaci6n de auxinas y citoquininas en una proporción de 1:4 6 de 1:2 para regenerar plantas enraizadas.El 2,4-0 como fuente de auxinas generalmente se utiliza para la inducción de callos, puesto que tiende a inhibir la organogénesis, a diferencia del ANA que además de favorecer la producción de callos no suprime la diferenciación posterior.El resultado de investigaciones realizadas en CA de arroz en varios laboratorios indican que: al es necesarlo incluir al menos una auxina y una citoquinina en el medio de inducción para obtener callos con alta capacidad morfogénica; b) Las auxinas 2.4 .. 0 y ANA son igualmente eficientes en la formación de canos; e)Estudios sobre los factores que afectan la formación de plantas verdes mostraron que una reducción de la concentración de suerosa del 3% al 2%, conjuntamente con la suplementación de 10 mgll putrescina (una poliamina), incrementan la diferenciación de plantas de un 30% a un 50% en un genotipo japónica secano frecuentemente utilizado como padre para adaptación a suelos acidos en nuestro programa de mejoramiento (Figura 12). Un mayor efecto de la putrescina es obtenido cuando el medio de regeneraciÓn contiene 2% suerosa. Observaciones preliminares mostraron que la reducción de suerosa del 3% al 2% en el medio de regeneración incrementa el numero de callos con puntos de diferenciación; sin embargo, solamente un 20% de éstos desarrollaban plantas. Ningún efecto ha sido observado en las endicas estudiadas. La putrescina incrementa la elongación de coleóptilos de arroz in vivo bajo condiciones anaeróbicas (Reggiani et al., 1989). Estos resultados sugieren que los bajos niveles de oxigeno dentro del envase de cultivo pueden ser inhibitorias para la diferenciación de plantas en genotipos de secano, pero no afectan aquellos adaptados a condiciones de inundación. Un mayor número de genotipos secano deben ser evaluados para establecer si la putrescina puede ser utilizada rutinariamente.Nuestras investigaciones sugieren que es posible incrementar la inducción de callos 24 veces en las indicas y 2 veces en las japónicas cuando se utiliza el medio de inducción NL complementado con 2 mgll 2,4-0, 0.07 mgll picloramo, 1 mgll kinetina. 5% maltosa y 10 mgll AgN03 (Cuadro 4) (Lentini el al., 1993). Callos inducidos en este medio muestran un aumento en formación de plantas verdes 16 veces para las indicas y 10 veces para las japónicas, cuando son diferenciados en 1/2 MS, I mgll ANA, 4 mgll kinetina, 3% suerosa, y 0.18 % phytagel. Un promedio del 60% de las plantas verdes son diploides (doble-haploides) en las índicas, y 41 % en las japónicas, resultando en un rendimiento de 46 doble-haploides por cada 100 anteras cultivadas tipo fndica, y 178 doble-haploides por 100 anteras japónicas. Este medio ha demostrado ser Óptimo para los 22 genotipos (ndica y 13 japónica evaluados (Figuras 8 y 9) Y un gran numero de genotipos procesados en nuestro laboratorio para la producción de líneas de mejoramiento (Lentini et al., 1993).Actualmente, se están realizando investigaciones para determinar si maltosa S-IO% puede ser empleada de forma rutinaria, 2,3,8 Las condiciones físicas de incubación para la inducción de callos y diferenciación de plantas La temperarura y la luz juegan un papel importante en la androgénesis (Maheshwari et al\" 1980), En arroz, la temperatura adecuada para los procesos de formación de callos y de regeneración de plantas está entre los 24 y 26°C, Con temperaturas por encima de 2SoC las anteras se degeneran rápidamellte, disminuyen la formación de callos y la tasa de regeneración de plantas, y aumenta la presencia de plantas albinas, La luz no es necesaria para la fase de inducción, y el crecimiento de los callos se favorece en la oscuridad, Una vez que los callos son transferidos al medio de regeneración, la luz es necesaria para el proceso de fotosíntesis en el desarrollo de las plantas verdes, El cambio de oscuridad a luz debe ser progresivo, primero exponiendo los callos a luz tenue de aproximadamente 40 )l E,m,2,s-l, y posteriormente a luz directa de SO a 100 )l E,m-2 ,s•l, Otros factores que influyen en la respuesta de la antera es la composición de la atmósfera del recipiente de cultivo (Johansson et al., 1982) y la densidad de las anteras inoculadas (Suderland et al\" 19S1); sin embargo, estos factores no han sido investigados en arroz (Chen et al\" 1991),Nuestras investigaciones muestran que el uso de nitrato de plata, un inhibidor de eilleno, incrementa la inducción de callos de genotipos índica, pero no tiene efecto en la diferenciación de plantas (punto 2,3,7.4), El efecto de la densidad de las anteras inoculadas también fue evaluada. El número de anteras fue incrementada de 25 anteras/mi medio líquido, densidad normalmente utilizada en nuestro laboratorio, a 50 anteras/mi medio, densidad óptima para cebada; sin embargo, la inducción de callo fue similar a ambas densidades,  Promedio de al menos 3 replicaciones cada una de 3250. anteras I genotipo I tmtanllento.Un gran número de estudios teóricos y experimentales han sido realizados para definir las condiciones en las cuales el mejoramiento con DH puede ser de utilidad.particularmente para el desarrollo de variedades de cultivos autógomos. Estos estudios indican que el CA presenta ventajas y desventajas para su aplicación en mejoramiento. A continuación se presenta un análisis de las implicaciones genéticas y practicas del uso del CA. y algunos ejemplos en el desarrollo de líneas de mejoramiento adaptadas a los diferentes ecosistemas de arroz de América Latina y del Caribe.Puesto que cada grano de polen proveniente de plantas híbridas F 1 representa un gameto diferente. la población de las plantas DH exhibe la variabilidad genética que se encontrará en una generación F 2 • con la ventaja adicional que cada individuo tendrá un genotipo homozigoto. es decir. fijado defmitivamente.Cuando se aplica la técnica del cultivo de anteras se pueden obtener líneas homozigotas en sólo 8-9 meses. contabilizados a partir de la siembra de una generación híbrida FI o F 2 . Mientras que esta misma estabilidad se logra generalmente en el sistema estándar de mejoramiento después de 5 a 6 generaciones de autopolinización. Por consiguiente, las evaluaciones en ensayos de rendimiento pueden hacerse mucho antes. Esto representa un ahorro aproximadamente de un 30% de los costos con respecto al método estándar (Cuadro 7).El CA aumenta la eficiencia de selección tanto para caracteres cualitativos como para los cuantitativos, lo cual facilita la identificación de los genotipos superiores en comparación con la selección efectuada durante las generaciones tempranas en el sistema de pedigrí (Snape, 1989). La selección de individuos en una población F 2 es más efectiva cuando los alelos son dominantes. mientras que sí los alelos deseables son recesivos solo están presentes en una proporción (114)°. Por el contrario. en una población de DH los genotipos recesivos tienen una frecuencia de (t/2l. Esto facilita la selección de genes recesivos deseables ya que no existe el enmascaramiento de los genes recesivos por los dominantes. Teóricamente, si los padres del híbrido tienen \"n\" pares de alelos recombinando independientemente. para seleccionar un genotipo de una población Fz la eficiencia de la selección debe ser (l12)2n en el mejoramiento con doble haploides y (1/2)° en el mejoramiento con diploides. Esto indica que la eficiencia de selección en el mejoramiento con DH es 2 n veces más alta que aquella del mejoramiento con diploides (Baenziger y Schaeffer. 1983).Con base en esto algunos cultivares han sido seleccionados eficientemente a partir de poblaciones más pequeñas de plantas derivadas del polen de arroz. Se ha estimado que cerca de 150 plantas provenientes de cultivo de anteras de una F 1 son suficientes. en vez de 4.000 -5.000 plantas F 2 • para los propósitos de selección de los genotipos deseables (Shen et al., 1983). Tomando los niveles de respuesta obtenidos con el medio NL (Cuadro 4), es posible producir 150 OH cultivando 32.600 anteras indica y 8.427 anteras japónicas por cruzamiento.El aumento en la eficiencia de la selección mediante el cultivo de anteras se cuenta como una ventaja, especialmente cuando la variación de dominancia (variación debida a la desviación del heterocigoto a partir del valor medio parental y que no está presente en una línea homocigota) es significativa (Raina, 1989). Griffing (1975) demostró que las varianzas fenotípicas para poblaciones diploides y OH son:Diploides:En el mejoramiento convencional. las líneas en generación temprana (F 2 -F 4) muestran diferencias fenotípicas para las cuales contribuyen los efectos aditivo y de dominancia. En contraste. las líneas haploides dobladas solamente muestran varianza aditiva. por lo tanto alta heredabilidad debido a la eliminaci6n de los efectos de dominancia. Así. comparados con la población F 2 • menos plantas haploides dobladas se requieren para propósitos de selección de los recombinantes deseados (Raína.1989). A este respecto Baenziger y Schaeffer (1983). citaron el ejemplo hipotético de un cruce segregante para tres genes recesivos y para tres genes dominantes. Si los tres genes recesivos están siendo seleccionados. l/8 de la población de dihaploides será seleccionada. con respecto a un l/64 de la poblaci6n F 2 . Las líneas seleccionadas en ambos casos son homocigotas. En el caso que se haga selección para los tres genes dominantes. 1/8 de la población de dihaploides se seleccionará mientras que 27/64 de la población F 2 será seleccionada. En la población de dihaploides. todos los individuos son homocigotos. pero en la población F 2 de los 27/64 seleccionados con base al fenotipo. solamente 1164 es homocigoto. Si una familia segregante es seleccionada en la generación F). más evaluaciones serán necesarias en la F 4 Y en las generaciones más avanzadas para encontrar los homocigotos deseados.En las generaciones tempranas del sistema pedigrí la selección de caracteres cuantitativos es difícil debido a la presencia de dominancia. segregación intrafamíliar y competencia entre plantas. Por el contrario. en el sistema OH no existe dominancia y además hay el doble de la varianza aditiva entre los productos recombinantes de un cruzamiento con respecto a las F 2 y F3 equivalentes. Aún en caracteres con dominancia completa. la F3 no exhibe tanta varianza genética total como en una población OH y la varianza aditiva es solo la mitad. La variación ambiental entre plantas F¡ es probablemente mayor que entre F3 o OH; además. se puede incrementar el número de repeticiones con el fin de disminuir la varianza ambiental en los OH y de esta manera evaluar con mayor precisión el valor individual de cada OH (Snape. 1989). Por otra parte, las generaciones F3 o F 4 exhiben diferencias genéticas entre individuos dentro de las parcelas, en tanto que en las parcelas OH los individuos dentro de cada línea son genéticamente idénticos; esto facilita la selección visual de las mejores líneas en generaciones tempranas. Según Snape (1989) la heterocigosis y segregación dentro de las parcelas de pedigrí también afectan el grado en el cual la selección de individuos en una generación resul ta en la respuesta deseada en su progenie en la generación siguieme. Por el contrario, las líneas DH guardan una correlación igual a la unidad entre generaciones al ser genéticamente idénticas.Estas propiedades genéticas Ilnicas encontradas en la población DH comparada con generaciones tempranas generadas por métodos convencionales permiten efectuar una mejor discriminación entre cruzamientos y entre genotipos dentro de cruzamientos, y por consiguiente aumentan la probabilidad de avance genético y éxito en un programa de mejoramiento (Griffing. 1975;Snape. 1989). Por ejemplo. Jansen (1992) estimó las probabilidades de obtener un genotipo determinado a partir de un cruzamiento entre dos padres homocigolOs; para el caso de un carácter controlado por cinco loci no ligados encontró que se deben producir 95 líneas DH con el fin de garantizar que un genotipo específico esté presente por lo menos una vez con una probabilidad del 95%. En contraste, en el caso de pedigree se necesitarían evaluar 4 5 plantas. es decir, un total de 1024 plantas para encontrar un genotipo con los cinco loci (Briggs y Knowles, 1967}.Entre las más comúnmente citadas se tienen su alta dependencia del genotipo, el rango de la variabilidad genética recuperada, el limitado número de recombinaciones meióticas y el costo del laboratorio. provenientes de cuatro cruzamientos entre cultivares de riego y secano. Encontró que los DH originados a partir de la F 1 fueron superiores en términos de fertilidad y peso de 1.000 granos; y no hubo diferencias entre estas generaciones para los otros parámetros estudiados como altura. floración, número de granos por panícula y número de panículas por m 2 • En el caso de existir ligamento entre caracteres de importancia, se recomienda procesar la F 2 para incrementar la probabilidad de romper los ligamentos antes de utilizar el CA (Snape y Simpson, 1981).El costo inicial para establecer un laboratorio de CA incluyendo la infraestructura, equipo y reactivos puede ser relativamente alto. En un estudio económico sobre el uso del CA en el desarrollo de variedades de arroz, Martfnez et al. (1993) estimaron que un laboratorio con una capacidad para sembrar 5.500 anteras/semana, el laboratorio más pequeño y econ6micamente mas apropiado para la produccion masiva de DH para mejoramiento, tiene un costo inicial de aproximadamente US$45,OOO y un costo (\\peracional de US$2,000 por semestre. Sin embargo, al analizar la relación costolbeneficio del uso del CA en un programa de mejoramiento encontraron que su implementación puede reducir el costo de obtención de una variedad entre USS53,OOO y USS91,OOO, dependiendo del genotipo y del ecosistema considerados. Esta reducción representa un 30% de ahorro en comparación con el sistema de pedigrí.Con frecuencia se cuestiona la estabilidad y uniformidad de las plantas obtenidas por CA. Sin embargo, investigaciones realizadas por varios investigadores indican que más del 90% de los OH son uniformes y estables; aproximadamente un 8% de los OH presentan variaciones pequeñas en algunos caracteres de importancia agronómica, en tanto que el 0.7% presenta variaciones grandes (Raina, 1989). La estabilidad se mantiene a través de varias generaciones. La experiencia acumulada en CIAT desde 1986 concuerda con estas observacioues. Las variaciones o segregación observadas en los OH generalmente son ocasionadas por:Variación somática, es decir que el OH se obtiene a partir del tejido somático (la pared de la antera, el filamento, etc.), el cual es diploide y puede ser heterozigoto, y no de una microspora o célula haploide.Mutación inducida durante el proceso de formación del callo. La inducida antes del doblamiento cromosómico aparecerá como homocigota mientras que la inducida después será heterocigota.Hibridación espontánea. Generalmente las plantas R 1 presentan cierto grado de esterilidad, lo cual bajo condiciones de campo facilita la polinización cruzada resultando en un híbrido.Si bien las plantas DH son homozigotas y por consiguiente pueden pasar directamente a ensayos de rendimiento, no han sido evaluadas y seleccionadas previamente por otras características agronómicas como lo son resistencia a enfermedades, resistencia a insectos, calidad. tolerancia a distintos problemas edáficos. y adaptación a un ecosistema detenninado. Por consiguiente. la población DH representa el punto de partida para que el fitomejorador empiece su ciclo de evaluación y selección. Este proceso se diferencia bastante del que se sigue con el material genético desarrollado a través de los métodos estándar de mejoramiento, ya que generalmente cuando éstos llegan a la generación F s -F 6 ya han sido evaluados y seleccionados por una serie de características deseables. En otras palabras, el hecho de qne se obtengan lfneas DH no quiere decir que de por sí son variedades mejoradas superiores.El cultivo de anteras ha demostrado ser una técnica útil para acelerar la introgresión de características deseables en poblaciones de mejoramiento. En la literatura se encuentran reportadas un total de 42 variedades liberadas mediante este método en un lapso de 16 años (1975-1991)  El cultivo de anteras nos facilita el proceso, ya que las líneas así obtenidas son homozigolas, y los países colaboradores a los que se las enviamos pueden sembrarlas inmediatamente en ensayos preliminares de rendimiento, para evaluarlas y seleccionarlas bajo sus propias condiciones, de acuerdo con los problemas locales y de esta fonna acortar el tiempo requerido para desarrollar una variedad.Igualmente, en el trópico el cultivo de anteras abre nuevas perspectivas para la obtención más rápida de variedades para las condiciones de secano en suelos ácidos de sabana, donde la distribución de las lluvias sólo permite una cosecha anual.Nuestro programa ha desarrollado líneas DH que presentan el tipo de planta y calidad de grano de riego con raíces tipo secano asociadas con tolerancia a sequía, a partir de cruzamientos entre variedades de riego y secano (Cuadro 6, cr 9586-14-CA 7).Casi siempre el porcentaje de esterilidad es muy alto en cruzamientos amplios como lo son entre materiales índica y japónica, y del tipo riego y tipo secano. A través del cultivó de anteras ha sido posible obviar en parte este problema; por ejemplo, en CIA T se han obtenido DH fértiles a partir de cruzamientos estériles entre cultivares de riego y secano.Nuestro programa también viene utilizando el cultivo de anteras para acelerar la diversificación y ampliación de la base genética presente del germoplasma de arroz en América Latina, y para facilitar el rnapeo de genes de importancia como los de resistencia al virus de la hoja blanca, y resistencia a piricularia por RFLP Y RAPIDS.Cuadro 5. Variedades de arroz desarrolladas con cultivo de anteras. Muy poco se sabe de las implicaciones económicas del su uso del cultivo de anteras en el desarrollo de variedades. Información que es necesaria para facilitar la toma de decisiones para la incorporación del CA como una herramienta en mejoramiento.Un análisis econÓmico de costo y beneficio fue realizado por nuestro programa, donde se comparo el desarrollo de variedades mediante CA con el método pedigrí (MP), comúnmente utilizado en el mejoramiento de arroz (Marttnez et al., 1993). La respuesta al cultivo de anteras de 570 genotipos adaptados a diversos ecosistemas, y los costos fijos y variables asociados con la infraestructura y varios niveles de actividad para producir al menos una línea por CA que reuniera todas las características necesarias para su liberación como variedad. fueron utilizados como referencia. El análisis incluyo cinco niveles operacionales de laboratorio (5.500.50.000, 100.000, 150.000 Y 200.000 siembra de anteras/semana) para optimizar los ahorros. Los costos por el uso del cultivo de anteras fueron basados tomando como referencia nuestro laboratorio, el cual requirió una inversión inicial de US$60.000 (infraestructura, equipo y vidriería), con una capacidad de procesamiento de 150.000 anteras/semana con 5 técnicos y un asistente de investigaci6n, y opera con un presupuesto de US$ Il.OOO/semestre que incluye salarios del personal de apoyo, 20%del tiempo de un supervisor, reactivos, y costos de depreciaci6n. El desarrollo de las variedades Oryzica Llanos 4 y 5 en siete años para condiciones tropicales irrigadas fue utilizada como referencia para los costos del desarrollo de variedades por MP.Los estimados incluyeron los costos para la producci6n de plantas desde la Fl hasta la F6; ensayos de campo de rendimiento. regionales y comerciales; y salarios. Los cálculos resultaron en un total de US$ 204.000 por variedad por MP para condiciones irrigadas tropicales. Para condiciones irrigadas templadas (Jap6nica riego) y secano(1 cultivo/año, 12 años) los costos fueron incrementados en un 71 % con respecto a condiciones irrigadas tropicales (indica) (2 cultivos/año, 7 años), es decir, a un total de US$349.799 por variedad por MP.El estudio indicó que CA puede reducir los costos enlte US$S3.000 (indica X japónica secano) y $91.000 Gapónica riego) por variedad desarrollada, dependiendo del genotipo y ecosistema seleccionado. Estos costos representan ahorros hasta aproximadamente un 30% con respecto a MP (Cuadro 7). El nivel operacional óptimo para obtener el mayor ahorro. varió desde 50450 siembra de anteras/semana para Japónica riego a 150.000 siembra de anteras/semana para fndica X japÓnica secano. Con estos niveles operacionales. es posible en 3 meses y 7 1/2 meses sembrar el número de anteras requerido para desarrollar una variedad para condiciones irrigadas templadas Gapónica riego) y los otros ecosistemas.respectivamente. Este análisis sugiere que la implementación de CA es una alternativa atractiva para el desarrollo de variedades de arroz.Cuadro 7. Costos totales estimados para obtener una variedad con cultivo de anteras.  Esta sección contiene el protocolo completo utilizado actualmente en nuestro laboratorio. desde la siembra de las anteras hasta la evaluación en el campo de las plantas regeneradas. Los protocolos aquí descritos estarán sujetos a las modificaciones necesarias de acuerdo a las investigaciones realizadas.La semilla de las plantas F¡ o F 2 se siembra en bandejas con suelo estéril o en eras o camas donde permanecen durante 20 a 25 días.Para esterilizar el suelo inicialmente se homogeniza y se le adicionan los correctivos físicos y químicos necesarios; posteriormente se coloca en un vagón esterilizador a vapor a una temperatura de 70 a Sefc por espacio de hora y media a dos.Luego se transplantan al campo a una distancia de siembra de 40 cm entre surcos y 30 cm entre plantas. Estas distancias permiten un buen desarrollo a las plantas y facilitan el desplazamiento dentro del cultivo para la selección y cosecha de las panículas (Figura 13). Este ntaterial recibe todas las prácticas normales de manejo del cultivo del arroz (Tascón y García, 1985).La selección de las panículas de donde se extraerán las anteras, se realiza a los 60 < 54 70 días (de acuerdo con el ciclo vegetativo del material genético) después del trasplante, en la etapa de embuchamiento. Esta se caracteriza por la diferenciación de las espiguillas en la inflorescencia y su crecimiento dentro de la vaina de la hoja bandera. De acuerdo con los objetivos propuestos se seleccionan las mejores plantas y de ellas se toman de 2 a 3 panículas, teniendo en cuenta su estado óptimo fitosanitario, o sea que está completamente sana. Las panículas se cosechan conservando el entrenudo y la vaina de la hoja, para protegerlas de contaminación con patógenos del campo. Para obtener una mayor respuesta, las panículas deben ser recolectadas preferiblemente en días soleados antes de las 10:00 a.m. Las panículas son colocadas en bolsas plásticas justo después de cosechadas para evitar su deshidratación. En el laboratorio, son limpiadas externamente con etanol al 70%, colocadas en una bolsa limpia, e incubadas a 8-lO o C por 7-8 días.Es aconsejable seleccionar aproximadamente 100 panículas por cada cruzamiento, teniendo en cuenta las siguientes características morfológicas. La distancia entre las aurículas de las dos últimas hojas debe estar en un rango de 4 a 8 cm (Figura 14), aunque puede variar según el genotipo de la planta y las condiciones ambientales en que se desarrolle la planta. Esta distancia esta asociada con un estado de desarrollo de las microsporas de uninucleado medio y/o tardío, óptimo para el cultivo de anteras. Este estado de desarrollo esta altamente correlacionado con flores de glumas amarillo verdosn y consistencia frágil. criterios que facilitan la selección en el momento de la siembra de las anteras.Para mayor precisión y cuando el tiempo lo permite, la observación microscópica de los granos de polen ayuda a determinar en cuál estado de desarrollo se encuentra el polen.Las panículas previamente tratadas a 8-100C por 7-8 días, se sacan de la vaina de la hoja y se toman de la base, sosteniéndolas en forma invertida para cortar con tijera el primer tercio que se desecha, y aprovechar solo el tercio medio, evitando así el contacto de la mano con esta parte de la inflorescencia (Figura 15). Luego se sumergen en etanol al 70% durante l minuto.Posteriormente. se sumergen las espiguillas durante 3 minutos en un recipiente estéril. que contiene una solución de hipoclorito de sodio al 10% (lO mi clorox comercial con 5.25% NaOCI de compuesto activo en 90 mI HzO) con Tween 80 como agente dispersante (3 gotas/lOO mI de solución). y acidificada con 5 gotas de HCl 1 N por cada 100 mi de solución. para aumentar la efectividad del hipoclorito.Luego se lavan 4 a 5 veces en agua destilada estériL Las panículas desinfestadas se colocan en una caja de petri estéril con papel filtro humedecido en agua estériL Esta operación debe realizarse en un lugar limpio. sin corrientes de aire o polvo y preferiblemente en un gabinete de flujo laminar de aire estéril.Es aconsejable determinar el estado de desarrollo en que se encuentra el polen al iniciar un proyecto de cultivo de anteras. y sobre todo. cuando aún no se ha adquirido la práctica suficiente en la selección de las panículas en el campo. Esto facilita precisar las características morfológicas indicadoras del estado óptimo para el cultivo de anteras de cada genotipo en estudio, las cuales pueden variar según la . condición ambiental donde se desarrollen las plantas donantes de las anteras. Este análisis citológico se realiza mediante la siguiente técnica:Se fijan las anteras sumergiendo las flores durante 24 horas a temperatura ambiente en 3 partes de etanol absoluto y una parte de ácido acético glacial, al cual se le agrega cloruro férrico al 0.5%. Cuando se necesita hacer una determinación rápida, las flores se pueden colocar en la solución fijadora en baño de María a 70°C por 45 minutos.produciéndose alrededor de 980 a 2800 callos. De estos callos se regeneran alrededor de 70 a 334 plantas RI' dependiendo de la respuesta del genotipo a la técnica.En esta fase. los microcallos se transfieren a frascos más grandes (de 10)[ 10 cm), los cuales contienen un medio de cultivo que promueve la regeneración de plántulas (medio de regeneración). La transferencia de los callos se realiza vaciando un poco el medio liquido de inducción que contiene los microcallos, y utilizando una espátula o bisturf para su manipulación.Asumiendo que cada microcallo ha sido originado por un grano de polen inmaduro, es conveniente mantenerlos separados aproximadamente 0,5 cm. Para lograrlo, la transferencia se hace en fonna individual o en grupo para después separarlos dentro del medio. Esta última alternativa es más eficiente cuando el volumen de material es grande. Para garantizar un alta diferenciación de plantas. es aconsejable cultivar un máximo de 10-15 callos por frasco por 150 mi medio.Durante la incubación los frascos deben mantenerse a una temperatura de 24 a 26°C.Inicialmente son colocados en una estantería con luz indirecta por una semana. Luego son llevados a luz directa con una iluminación de 80 a lOO fl E. m-2 .s• 1 que se logra con lámparas fluorescentes tipo luz día con alto porcentaje de color azul, y expuestas a un fotoperíodo de 16 horas (Figura 20).5.8 Adaptación de las plántulas para el trasplante a suelo A los 30-40 días. cuando las plantas han alcanzado suticiente desarrollo foliar y radicular (Figura 21), se retiran manualmente del frasco para después lavar con agua sus raíces con el fin de eliminar los residuos de callos y medio. cortar a la mitad la lámina foliar y sumergir sus raíces en agua por I ó 2 días, operación que se realiza en el laboratorio.Luego se llevan las plantas al invernadero donde se transplantan en bandejas con suelo estéril y fangueado o sobresaturado, y permanecen a una temperatura de 28 a 30°C y protegidas del sol directo para evitar su deshidratación (Figura 22). Después de 8 dfas se fenilizan las plantas con una mezcla que contiene 30% de N, 7% de P 205 Y 6% de K, aplicando 4 gramos de fertilizante NPK por litro de agua, y posteriormente se pasan a una casa de malla en las mismas bandejas.A las dos semanas las plantas son transplantadas al campo donde reciben el manejo apropiado al cultivo de arroz (Figura 23). Cada planta regenerada Rt es potencialmente un genotipo diferente y se maneja con ese criterio.5.9 Evaluación de las plantas R I , lineas R 2 y selección de la semilla RJ La evaluación de las plantas RI se realiza de acuerdo con los objetivos del programa de mejoramiento. Al realizar la selección de las plantas regeneradas (R I ), se debe tener en cuenta que éstas han pasado por diferentes estreses en su desarrollo y debido a ésto es posible que ciertas caracterfsticas fenotípicas tales como altura, floración, macollamiento, fertilidad, y centro blanco, pueden verse afectadas y no expresarse en forma normal. Por consiguiente los datos que se lomen en las plantas regeneradas RI deben interpretarse con cuidado.La semilla de las plantas R I se siembra para pruebas de uniformidad obteniéndose la generación R 2 (Figura 24). Su semilla, denominada RJ se siembra de nuevo obteniéndose la generación RJ. En cada generación el material se evalúa y selecciona de acuerdo con los objetivos del programa de mejoramiento.Figura 13. Cultivo de arroz en el momento de la selección de las panículas.Figura 15. Corte del tercio medio de la panícula.Figura 17. Siembra de las anteras en el medio de cultivo para la inducción del microcaJlo. La preparación y el almacenamiento de los medios de cultivos son críticos para garantizar una respuesta exitosa, ya que de ello depende la composición química del medio y la disponibilidad de los nutrientes al tejido vegetal cultivado in vi/ro. La composición del medio es afectada por el manejo y almacenamiento de los reactivos, así como por la preparación y almacenamiento de las soluciones madres. A continuación se describen algunas consideraciones a ser tomadas en esta etapa.Algunas sales (macronutrientes y micronutrienles) de los medios de cultivo usados comúnmente en cultivo in vi/ro pueden ser obtenidas comercialmente en forma de premezcla. Las premezclas son útiles sobre todo en aquellos laboratorios donde se cultiva a gran escala y hay limitaciones de personal. Tienen además la ventaja de garantizar calidad y resultados reproducibles. Sin embargo, las premezclas presentan la desventaja que son mas costosas que la preparación del medio con sales individuales. También en la investigación frecuentemente se necesita preparar. medios experimentales con modificaciones en la composición y la cantidad de los constituyentes, lo que limita el uso de las premezclas. En el caso de utilizar sales individuales para la preparación del m<:dio, es aconsejable preparar inicialmente soluciones concentradas de los ingredientes (soluciones madres), ya que los niveles de la mayoría de las sales involucradas en el medio son relativamente pequeños.El agua utilizada tanto para la preparación de las soluciones madres como para el medio debe ser de alta pureza y libre de iones, es decir, agua destilada y deionizada.Las soluciones madres de sales inorgánicas son fácilmente formuladas por la disolución de cantidades prescritas de sus cristales en agua. Algunas sustancias orgánicas, tales como las auxinas, citoquininas y giberilinas, son difíciles de disolver en agua. Las citoquininas, al igual que otros compuestos básicos, se disuelven fácilmente en pequeñas cantidades de un ácido diluido (ej., HCI 1 N). Por el contrario, las auxinas, giberilinas y otros ingredientes acidos se disuelven en bases diluidas (ej •• KOH IN). La proporción de 0.3 mi del ácido o base por 10 mg de citoquininas o auxinas puede ser usada como guía general. Frecuentemente es necesaria una agitación vigorosa con una barra agitadora para lograr una completa disolución. La muestra predisuelta es luego llevada a un volumen final con agua. Las soluciones madres deben ser almacenadas sin ajustar pH, para así disminuir la precipitación. Los ajustes de pH son hechos después de la inclusión de todas las soluciones madres en el medio fmal.Los co-solventes orgánicos, tales como la acetona y el alcohol pueden ser necesarios para disolver ciertas sustancias orgánicas neulfales. Estos co-solventes son relativamente fitotóxicos. Por 10 tanto, sólo pueden ser usadas cantidades pequellas.La disolución f!flal con agua de las soluciones madres preparadas con co-solventes orgánicos debe ser hecha ~ápidamente para evitar la precipitación.La refrigeración es recomendada en el almacenamiento de soluciones madres de muchos qufmicos orgánicos. Algunos compuestos, como las giberilinas, el ácido ascórbicoy ciertas auxinas (ej. el ácido indolacético, AIA), son extremadamente inestables y sus soluciones madres pueden ser preparadas frescas. Las soluciones de algunos qufmicos, tales como las sales de hierro deben ser protegidas de la luz, almacenáÍldolas en frascos oscuros o ambar. Las solucioIies madres de la mayoría de las sales inorgánicas no requieren refrigeración. Antes de utilizar una solución madre, es aconsejable verificar que esté libre de precipitación y contaminación.Como norma general, es aconsejable familiarizarse con la forma de disolución y el almacenamiento de los reactivos antes de preparar las soluciones madres, para así garantizar una adecuada composición de la solución. Esta información puede ser suministrada conjuntamente con el producto por el proveedor comercial y obtenida en catálogos de caracterización química de compuestos (ej., Merck). Las premezclas y los reactivos puros deben ser almacenados preferiblemente en lugares con baja humedad relativa y temperaturas por debajo de 28 Q C. La baja humedad relativa es más crítica que la refrigeración. En el Cuadro 8 se resume las condiciones óptimas recomendadas para el almacenamiento de los reactivos utilizados en los protocolos descritos en este manuaL 6,2 Medidas de seguridad en el manejo de reactivos Si bien el tipo de reactivos utilizados en cultivo de tejidos y células vegetales son por lo general inocuos, hay algunos que deben ser manejados siguiendo ciertas precauciones para evitar un posible dalIo a la salud del operante y otras personas del laboratorio. Como norma general, es aconsejable antes de utilizar por primera vez un reactivo, familiarizarse con las especificaciones recomendadas por el fabricante sobre el manejo del mismo. En el Cuadro 9 se detallan los reactivos que son utilizados comúnmente en el cultivo de anteras de arroz y que deben ser manejados con cierta precauci6n.6.3 Formulaci6n de los medios basales utilizados para la inducci6n de callos y regeneraci6n de plantas Para la etapa de inducci6n de callos se están utilizando en general dos tipos de medios básicos denominados N6m y NL (Cuadro 2). Estos medios nan sido formulados obteniéndose un incremento significativo en la producción de callos de genotipos jap6nica e índica, respectivamente. Para la regeneraci6n de plantas se utilizan el medio MS (Cuadro 2) y 1/2 MS para callos inducidos en N6m y NL, respectivamente.6.4 Preparación de un litro de los medios N6m y NL para la inducci6n de callos.En los Cuadros 10 Y 1\\ se detallan los componentes de los medios N6m y NL, Y la cantidad a tomar de cada solución madre para preparar un litro de medio de cultivo.Como se indica en los cuadros, varias sustancias se combinan para reducir el número de soluciones madres; las sustancias inestables se preparan solas y los reactivos que puedan precipitarse no se mezclan. En las soluciones se utiliza siempre agua destilada-deionizada.La soluci6n fuente de hierro se prepara disolviendo por separado el N~EDTA y el FeS047H20 en 1/4 del volumen final de solución. Al disolver el NazEDTA se debe calentar un poco en baño de María. Posterionnente se mezclan los dos volúmenes, se agíta bien y se deja enfriar, para luego completar con agua el volumen final. La solución debe envasarse en un frasco oscum y almacenarse a temperamra ambiente.Si la tiarnina-HCl no se disuelve bien, debe calentarse ligeramente. Esta solución se puede guardar uno o dos meses.La solución 2,4-D se prepara adicionando 50 mg del compuesto a 5 mI de 50% etanol calentado levemente a bailo de María. Luego se ajusta el volumen final a 100 mI con agua previamente calentada a la misma temperatura.La solución de piclorarno se prepara adicionando 7 mg del compuesto en 5 mI de etanol 70%, se calienta suavemente, y se ajusta el volumen a 100 mI.La solución de kinetina se prepara disolviendo los 100 mg del compuesto en aproximadamente 5 mI de 0.5 N HCl. Se calienta a baja temperatura hasta disolver.Se ajusta el volumen a 100 mI. Se divide en alícuotas para almacenar en el congelador a -rJ>C. Descongelar cada alicuota en bailo de María antes de usar, y almacenar el remanente a 4°C (refrigerador) por un máximo de 1 mes.Para preparar un Iitm del medio N6m proceda de la siguiente manera:Adicione 500 mI de agua destilada-deionizada.Adicione las cantidades de las soluciones madres indicadas en el Cuadro 10, siguiendo el mismo orden y con agitación continua.Adicione 50 g de suerosa.Lleve el volumen a un litm.Ajuste el pH a 5.8.Envase en cada frasco de inducción (7 cm X 4 cm, frasco de compota para bebe) 10 mi de medio.Esterilice los frascos en un autoclave a 122°C de temperatura y 20 psi de presión, durante 15 minutos.Déjelos enfriar y almacénelos a una temperatura de 8-lO o C. El medio puede pennanecer en el cuarto frío hasta dos meses en estas condiciones.y Skoog, lo cual ahOITa mucho tiempo. Sin embargo, la preparación de la solución madre, aunque demanda tiempo y cuidado permite además la posibilidad de realizar cambios cualitativos y cuantitativos en los constituyentes del medio de acuerdo con la necesidad. En el Cuadro 12 se detallan las sustancias que componen el medio MS.Las indicaciones para la preparación de las soluciones madres son iguales a las dadas para el medio de inducción.La solución No. 6 puede mantenerse hasta dos meses mientras que las otras duran hasta 5 meses. Las soluciones No. 2 y No. 6 se deben mantener en el congelador hasta donde sea posible; las demás se guardan refrigeradas.La solución de ácido naftalenacético (ANA) se prepara disolviendo 200 mg del compuesto en aproximadamente 5 mI de 0.5 N KOH. Se calienta a temperatura baja hasta disolver. Se completa el volumen final a 200 mI con agua. Es aconsejable preparar esta solución semanalmente.En la preparación de los medios de cultivo se deben tener en cuenta las siguientes precauciones:Asegúrese siempre de llevar un buen control de las soluciones madres para evitar excesos o faltantes.No olvide ajustar el pH de los medios de cultivo a 5.8.Revise el buen estado de las soluciones, es decir que no presenten precipitaciones o contaminaciones y asegúrese de que estén debidamente marcadas.Antes de empezar a preparar cualquiera de los medios tenga todas las sustancias necesarias a mano, ésto le ahorrará tiempo, trabajo y evitará errores.Evite los riesgos de contaminación de las soluciones y del equipo empleado.Cuadro 8. Condiciones óptimas para el almacenamiento de reactivos.  Solución madre para preparar un litIO de medio NL para inducción de callos de genotipos indica.-----------Componentes Cantidad Volumen de \"20 VolUmen de solución (mg) Solución madre para preparar un litro de medio MS para regeneración de plantas a partir de callos inducidos en medio N6m.Componentes Cantidad (mg)Volumen de H10 Volumen de solución * Se puede usar 'üúCar del mercado, cristalizíilÜ:''''~ ! ..:. '\" '¡ ., .¡"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0717e78d7d3f73d6cb07bafea5dac181","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8b6f77e3-fabc-4013-b97d-55eee0452d9c/retrieve","id":"-146504239"},"keywords":["Ira Mint-unsplash Photo: (Top Left) V. Meadu (CCAFS)","(Top Right) USAID","(Bottom Left) USAID Siegfried Modola","(Bottom Right) USAID/Siegfried Modola Dean Chahim IPSL-CM5A-LR RCP8.5 CanESM2 RCP8.5 RCP8.5/ 4.5 RCP4.5 NOAA-GFDL-ESM2M RCP8.5/ 4.5 NorESM1-M RCP8.5/ 4.5"],"sieverID":"b8b8020b-26ac-46ca-8b34-e4d8d71d5b88","content":"In these highly uncertain and rapidly changing times, the SADC region, like many regions in Africa, remains fundamentally dependent on a resilient agricultural system and natural resource base. Climate change still poses the greatest threat to the agricultural system and therefore technical capacity is needed to address these future impacts and adapt plans, policies and programs. Taking into account alternative futures, the SADC Futures project has produced tailored supporting materials and documents as part of a wider approach for foresight training in the region. These documents and the associated foresight framework aim to equip users to practically apply the range of foresight tools and methods for innovative strategic planning and policy formulation for climate resilience.Why is it happening?What will we do differently?Figure 1. IPCC climate risk framework (IPCC 2014).10 Table 1. Available GCM/RCM combinations for CORDEX-Africa RCP8.5 and RCP4.5.Table 2. Vulnerability indicators identified and used in the analysis (adapted from Thornton et al. 2008).   RCP4.5 (2031RCP4.5 ( -2059)), as compared to the historical time period .  Multi-model ensemble mean of change in 95th percentile of rainfall (R95) by mid-century in RCP4.5 (2031RCP4.5 ( -2059)), as compared to the historical time period .23 Figure 8. Multi-model ensemble mean of change in 95th percentile of rainfall (R95) by mid-century in RCP8.5 (2031RCP8.5 ( -2059)), as compared to the historical time period . The assessment uses regional climate models from CORDEX-Africa to map rainfall extremes and drought hazards to 2031-2059. Ten social and biophysical vulnerability indicators are identified from across the capital assets (human, physical, social, financial, natural), using data from the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), to develop a vulnerability index. The vulnerability index and distribution of climate hazards are mapped to identify hotspots.Hotspots of vulnerability to and risk of extreme rainfall are shown in northern Madagascar and in south west Tanzania, under both the RCP4.5 and 8.5 scenarios. Hotspots for drought under these scenarios are shown in Tanzania. However, it is clear that medium-high climate risk (high vulnerability, medium-high climate hazard) is widespread across Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania, Mozambique, and Madagascar.Photo: Kon Karampelas-unsplashSeven Key Recommendations 1.3.7.Hotspots of vulnerability to and risk of extreme rainfall and drought occur in northern Madagascar and south west Tanzania, under both medium and high greenhouse gas emission scenarios.Areas of high vulnerability coupled with medium-high climate hazard are widespread across Angola, DRC, Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar.There is a mismatch between locations with the highest future climate risk and where on-the-ground research on climate change impacts and adaptation is currently being undertaken, with potentially serious consequences for testing and implementation of appropriate and robust adaptation options.Population growth in these areas is projected to remain high to mid-century -robust targeting and implementation of on-theground research for development is needed, based on national policy objectives.National policy objectives are required that identify robust and climate resilient pathways for agricultural and economic development to prevent sub-optimal or maladaptive choices now, such as replacing crops like rice with maize in response to current climate change, which is likely to be unproductive under future climate conditions.There is a role and need for participatory processes that bring together food system actors in high-risk locations to identify needs and design and implement responses that are tailored to the specific contexts of those locations, there is not a \"one size fits all\" that will work in all contexts within a country.This report presents a rapid climate risk assessment for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The goal is to identify climate risk hotspots -locations where climate hazards, exposure and vulnerability coincide to increase the risks of adverse impacts. The 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) risk framework is used to structure this analysis (Figure 1) (IPCC 2014).In this framework, natural variability and anthropogenic (human induced) climate change create climate hazards, which are geographically distributed.A climate hazard is defined as:\"The potential occurrence of a natural or human-induced physical event that may cause loss of life, injury, or other health impacts, as well as damage and loss to property, infrastructure, livelihoods, service provision, and environmental resources\" (IPCC 2012). Socio-economic processes (e.g., economic activities, livelihoods, decision-making) determine whether communities or economies are exposed to climate hazards and whether they are vulnerable.Exposure is defined as:\"The presence of people; livelihoods; environmental services and resources; infrastructure; or economic, social, or cultural assets in places that could be adversely affected\" (IPCC 2012).Vulnerability is defined as:\"The propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected\" (IPCC 2012).Is where hazards, exposure and vulnerability intersect and interact, so that risk is not just about the natural hazard but also about the socio-ecological system where that hazard occurs. For example, the activity of an economy might lead to emissions that drive climate change, which in turn might increase the severity and occurrence of flooding. But an economic system that encourages building houses on higher ground, implements a variety of flood defence and mitigation measures, and invests in economic activities that are not impacted by flooding, can both reduce exposure to the climate hazard, and vulnerability of the economy and communities to flooding hazards, and hence have a lower climate risk. However, a different economy exposed to the same severity and intensity of hazard might face very different climate risks, because of differences in exposure and vulnerability.Photo: Curioso Photography-unsplashEcological-economic models (Fischer et al. 2005) Climate risk mapping has been widely used to understand the distribution of and interaction between climate and other stressors. Different studies use different approaches, models and indicators to understand current and future risks. For example, Fischer et al. (2005) used ecological-economic models that linked crops, climate and trade to estimate future impacts on crop production in Africa.They found that net cereal production potential will fall but with large variations between countries. Similarly, the yield response models produced by Schlenker and Lobell (2010) use crop and weather data alongside farmer responses (i.e. adaptations) to look at the impacts on four different crops (sorghum, millet, maize, groundnuts) across Africa. They found that the impacts on yields of these important and staple food crops are likely to be mostly negative. Data availability is also a critical limitation for studies of this type. Data for some countries was either not available or only available at a country level. Where this has been the case the data has been sourced from an alternative database (where possible) and some data has been downscaled to county/district level by assigning each county/ district the same value, making the assumption that the country data is representative of every county/district. As a result, these indicators will not differentiate between counties/districts.Uncertainty is an inherent feature of these studies. What is presented here is not a projection of the future, but presentation of possible futures, and it is unlikely to have identified all possible hotspots in the region.  (Sonwa et al. 2017).Here the focus is on droughts and extreme rainfall, as between 1970 and 2020 these were the most common types of climate hazards in Africa (Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters 2020).The region is highly sensitive to droughts due to a dependence on rainfed agriculture (Adejuwon and Olaniyan 2019). Droughts adversely affect water supplies, crop and livestock production and cause food insecurity and conflicts among competing water users (Oguntunde et al. 2017;Adejuwon and Olaniyan 2019). Some crops show more climate resilience than others, but the majority of projected impacts of climate change on rainfed agriculture are negative (Serdeczny et al. 2017). As well as being adversely affected by droughts, much of the SADC region is also negatively impacted by extreme rainfall (Tarhule 2005). Extreme rainfall can lead to landslides and soil erosion, and to floods that can cause direct injury and death to people and livestock, as well as damage infrastructure and fields (Chamani et al. 2018;Tarhule 2005;Tschakert et al. 2010;Sonwa et al. 2017). Extreme rainfall is a necessary but not sufficient condition for damaging floods; land use patterns, drainage and waste management infrastructure are also important, however, with increasing rainfall intensity flood risk increases (Tazen et al. 2019).Climate change may exacerbate both of these hazards. Previous work has found that the occurrence and severity of droughts in Africa are likely to worsen with climate change due to increases in temperature and changes in rainfall (Adejuwon and Olaniyan 2019;Oguntunde et al. 2017;Gan et al. 2016). There is large uncertainty in the sign and magnitude of climate change impacts on mean rainfall for the region (Rowell and Chadwick 2018), however, extreme rainfall is expected to increase over large parts of the region (Kendon et al. 2019;Sonkoué et al. 2018;Amoussou et al. 2020), and so the associated risk of floods (Tazen et al. 2019).Previous analyses of climate hazards over Africa have focussed primarily on the CMIP5 ensemble of global climate models. Here we make use of the CORDEX-Africa ensemble of regional climate models, which improve on the representation of climate over global climate models, particularly when it comes to extreme events and precipitation (Paeth and Mannig 2013;Gibba et al. 2018;Diallo et al. 2015). In comparison with other extreme weather events, storms (including tropical cyclones) result in the most human displacement. For example, in the SADC region approximately 1.7 million people were left homeless between 1980 and 2016 due to storms (Davis-Reddy and Vincent 2017). The associated flooding disproportionately affects communities with poor infrastructure and health services, often resulting in a loss of life, injury, damage to property and infrastructure as well as the spread of disease e.g. malaria and cholera.Madagascar was affected by five cyclones during the 1993-1994 season. In 1994, Cyclone Geralda (category 5) destroyed more than 90% of the port city of Toamasina. The damage was estimated at USD 10 million (Davis-Reddy and Vincent 2017).In 2000, Cyclone Eline caused severe flooding in Mozambique and to a lesser extent in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana.High winds, torrential rains and high river flows resulted in economic losses and damage to infrastructure, livelihoods, and agricultural crops. In Mozambique alone, around 700 people lost their lives and the GDP growth rate dropped from 10% to 2% (Davis-Reddy and Vincent 2017).In 2004, Cyclone Gafilo (category 5) hit Madagascar. It was the most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2004. It was estimated that approximately 773,000 people were affected, and it cost USD 250 million in damages (ReliefWeb 2004).In 2019, Cyclone Idai hit Beira in Mozambique and then continued moving across the region. Millions of people were affected in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. Cyclone Idai was the worst natural disaster to hit Southern Africa in around two decades.Six weeks later, Cyclone Kenneth made landfall in northern Mozambique. This was the first occurrence of two strong tropical cyclones hitting the country in the same season. The cyclones caused severe flooding, destroying infrastructure and more than 800,000 hectares of crop land over the three SADC member states (SADC 2019). Approximately, 3.3 million people were affected by the cyclones, requiring immediate humanitarian assistance, including food, shelter, clothing, potable water, sanitation, and medical support. The affected population also faced epidemic threats of cholera, other diarrheal infections, and malaria (UNICEF 2019).In the second stage we characterised underlying social and biophysical vulnerability across the SADC region. Following the methodological approach of Thornton et al. (2008) We used the regional climate models available from CORDEX-Africa to analyse climate hazards in the SADC region. The CORDEX-Africa models are available at a 0.44° x 0.44° resolution. The multi-model ensemble for RCP8.5 includes 6 RCMs (regional climate models) with 11 different GCMs (global climate models) providing initial and boundary driving conditions, and for RCP4.5 7 RCMs and 9 different GCMs. The matrix of GCM/RCM combinations is presented in Table 1. We used 1971-1999 as the historical period, 2031-2059 as the mid-century period.We examined the impact of extreme rainfall by looking at the 95th percentile of daily rainfall (R95 index), and drought by looking at the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI), as defined by Vicente-Serrano et al. ( 2010), which is a commonly used drought index that performs well compared to alternatives (Labudová et al. 2017) and has been used in Africa (e.g. Abiodun et al. 2018;Adejuwon and Olaniyan 2019;Ghebrezgabher et al. 2016;Oguntunde et al. 2017;Polong et al. 2019;Ujeneza and Abiodun 2015). We used 1955-1970 as the reference period, and looked at droughts over 1 month in duration and used the log-logistic distribution. We performed the calculation using the 'SPEI' package for R statistical software (Begueria and Serrano 2017;R Core Team 2013). Using SPEI, a value of -1 is classified as a drought, and -2 and below is classified as a severe drought. Table 1. Available GCM/RCM combinations for CORDEX-Africa RCP8.5 and RCP4.5.A total of 10 indicators were chosen based on data availability and where possible, we identified and used the most recent data sources (Table 2). Below, we give a summary of each indicator and briefly discuss their hypothesised relationships with vulnerability to climate hazards. (Carney 1998) Human capitalThe health poverty headcount indicator represents the percentage of the population considered poor. It measures deprivation of health standards within a given household where a household is considered poor if: a) any adult (under 70 years old) or child within the household is considered undernourished, and b) any child (under 18 years) has died in the five years preceding the survey. The potential impacts from climate change on human health are complex and largely adverse, for example, exacerbating challenges with food and nutrition security (Wolski et al. 2020), manifesting through new distributions in disease vectors (Caminade et al. 2014;Moore et al. 2017) and aggravating underlying health problems (Kapwata et al. 2018).Higher poverty headcounts for health are therefore associated with higher levels of vulnerability.The  (Lutz et al. 2014). We therefore assume that higher poverty headcounts for education are associated with higher levels of vulnerability.The standard of living indicator measures deprivation of living standards by combining six indicators. A household is considered poor if:The household cooks with un-improved fuel, e.g. dung, wood, charcoal or coal;Either their sanitation facility is not improved, in accordance with sustainable development goal (SDG) guidelines, or their sanitation facilities are improved but are shared with other households;Either the household has no access to improved drinking water, in line with SDG guidelines, or the distance to safe drinking water exceeds a 30-minute round-trip;The household has no electricity;One or more of the three housing materials (for roof, walls and floor) are made of either rudimentary or natural materials and are therefore considered inadequate; andHousehold members do not own more than one listed asset (radio, TV, telephone, computer, animal cart, bicycle, motorbike, refrigerator), or a motorised vehicle.A good standard of living is a prerequisite for human development and wellbeing (Rao and Min 2018). Sturdy infrastructure protects against inclement weather, access to potable water and safe sanitation protects against water-borne diseases, and the use of improved energy sources reduces health burdens (e.g. linked to indoor air pollution), especially for women and children. Thus, a lower standard of living equates to higher levels of underlying vulnerability.For countries lacking MPI data (i.e. Botswana, Mauritius and the Seychelles), a related measure of poverty was sought. This resulted in the combined use of World Bank indicators for percentage of people/homes living on less than USD 1.90, with access to clean cooking fuels, access to basic sanitation and drinking water, and access to electricity (N.B. rationale for the inclusion of these data is provided within the Section on Creating risk maps Page 19).The access to market indicator measures travel time to the nearest urban area in excess of 20,000 people. Markets are important for reducing vulnerability as they stimulate livelihood and income diversification, particularly into off-farm sectors (Haggblade et al. 2010). Households nearer markets also tend to have better access to services (e.g. education, health and extension). We therefore assume that better market access is associated with reduced vulnerability.   The gender inequality indicator measures disparities between men and women in three areas of development:Reproductive health, Empowerment, and Economic status.Reproductive health quantifies maternal mortality ratios and adolescent birth rate. Empowerment encompasses both the proportion of parliamentary seats occupied by women, and the percentage women and men (above the age of 25) with secondary education. Economic status measures the labour force participation rates of men and women over the age of 15. The majority of the world's poor are women 1 and women typically experience the most severe impacts from climate change in situations of poverty. For example, in the aftermath of a disaster, women are more likely than men to be displaced and be victims of violence (Cutter 2017). Women have less access to, and control over, resources, which undermines their ability to cope with and adapt to climate impacts. Subsequently, women also have fewer capabilities than men, limiting their contributions to decision-making processes (World Bank 2009). Higher gender inequality therefore represents higher levels of vulnerability.The governance indicator uses data from the World Bank, based on a study by Kaufmann et al. (2005). Following (Thornton et al. 2008), we use two of the six dimensions:Voice and accountabilityBecause all six indicators cannot be meaningfully combined for a given country. Scores for the two indicators were normalised into quintiles at national level. Good governance creates enabling environments for investment, job creation and effective implementation of regulations, such as those related to climate adaptation, and is associated with higher adaptive capacity at the national level (Brooks et al. 2005). We therefore assume that better governance equates to lower levels of vulnerability.Per capita GDP provides a measure for estimating the economic prosperity of a country, where income is associated with access to resources. Whilst economic indicators such as GDP have been found to be poor indicators of mortality as a result of climate-related disasters (Brooks et al. 2005), losses in GDP have been used to measure national vulnerability to climate impacts (Formetta and Feyen 2019), and per capita GDP has also been used as a measure for economic security (Li et al. 2019). We assume that higher per capita GDP is associated with lower levels of vulnerability, although we note that this also assumes that resources are distributed equally amongst the population.The agricultural sector is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change (Mase et al. 2017), particularly in rainfed systems across much of the SADC region (Cooper et al. 2008). National economies more dependent on agriculture are therefore more susceptible to climate impacts and expected changes. Countries with higher economic dependency on agriculture may also be less diverse (Thornton et al. 2008). Higher contributions of agricultural GDP to total GDP is therefore assumed to be associated with higher vulnerability.The crop production suitability indicator considers the known and calculated rainfed pasture and crop requirements, the dominant soil conditions of a given area, and soil management practices used, under intermediate input scenarios, as stipulated by FAO (2007). Whilst rainfed agriculture is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, areas with higher crop suitability provide greater diversification options for rural populations (e.g. growing different, or a range of crops), offering opportunities for risk spreading, thus increasing resilience (Lin 2011;Speranza et al. 2014). We thus assume that higher cropping suitability is associated with lower vulnerability.The soil erosion indicator assesses human-induced soil erosion resulting from land use/land cover change. The modelled data do not include short-term impacts from land use (e.g. fire and wood harvesting), overgrazing and climate change effects. Soil erosion rates are divided into seven classes (ranging from 0-350 t/25km cell sample), according to the European Soil Bureau classifications. Soil degradation, which can be exacerbated by climate change and extreme events, undermines agricultural productivity and reduces water quality (FAO 2015). Extreme rainfall events and flooding can also trigger landslides. Areas with higher levels of soil erosion are therefore considered to be more vulnerable. c.Photo: Dimitry-unsplashTo further visualise and understand the vulnerability of each nation, indicator values were normalised to make them comparable before combining them into an index of average vulnerability. To achieve this, the separate map layers for each vulnerability indicator were combined into a single database and exported to Excel. Within Excel the quartile range for each indicator was determined and values were reassigned to a quartile depending on whether they fell within the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th quartile of all values.The assignment of values, whether to the 1st or 4th quartile, was based on whether a high figure for a given indicator was deemed to be good or bad, and vice versa (e.g. for Soil Loss, high loss was deemed to be bad and was consequently assigned a value of 1, i.e. the 1st quartile; conversely high GDP was deemed to be good if falling within the upper 25% of values and assigned a value of 4, i.e. the 4th quartile). Following data processing each indicator quartile, within each nation, was summed and divided by the number of total indicators for each country to provide an average (mean) level of vulnerability on a continuous scale of 1.0-4.0 (representing each quartile), with 1.0 being highly vulnerable and 4.0 being less vulnerable.To visualise the range of vulnerability indicators across the SADC region and to assist eventual identification of hotspots, all data were mapped using a Geographic Information System (GIS).Initially, all data were imported into the GIS (ArcGIS 10.6) either in its raw tabulated form (e.g. for the MPI data) or, where available, in its original GIS format (e.g. the Distance to Market and Soil Erosion data are provided as raster map layers by data authors).To present data in the regional context, national boundaries for each of the member nations of the SADC and the respective first and second level district boundaries were also imported into the mapping environment. Using the Join -Relate function of the GIS, data for the Human, Physical, Financial and Social capital indicators was assigned to their respective national boundary. This duly produced a suite of ten maps for each vulnerability indicator at a national scale (not shown here).The data gap for Botswana was filled using alternative data (section on Vulnerability indicators Page 16) before calculating the combined average vulnerability for each county. Representative World Bank indicators for physical capital were identified and used to represent 'Living Standards' within Botswana, as well as Mauritius and the Seychelles (albeit fewer comparable indicators were found for the latter two countries).Though similar, it is acknowledged that the World Bank data is not a direct replacement for the MPI measures of standard of living. However, inclusion was deemed preferable to exclusion of countries without MPI data.The normalised indicator data for each country, and the combined average indicator value for each country, were imported back into the GIS as a data table and, using the Join -Relate function, reassigned to the boundary map of each SADC country. This facilitated the production of a choropleth (or 'thematic') map showing the vulnerability index for each country across SADC allowing direct comparisons to be made across the region (Section on Vulnerability maps Page 24), though not with other countries and regions.To achieve greater resolution and accuracy within the vulnerability maps, the data allocation and normalisation exercise was repeated for each country's first and second level districts. For the tabulated data, this involved reassigning national values to districts (district level data was not available for several countries and/or there were significant inconsistencies in names of districts). For the raster and vector vulnerability data (i.e. Crop Suitability, Soil Loss and Distance to Market), however, this involved converting the map layers to data points and assigning them individually to each district using the Join -Relate function (where multiple points existed within a geographic area, the mean of values was assigned to the district). Though this procedure effectively adds weighting to these latter indicators, it provides the combined vulnerability maps with greater nuance in terms of identifying potential 'hotspots' and lessens the impact of data for key indicators, such as roads to markets, being effectively lost in a large country's national data (e.g. within the DRC) and Angola where there are fewer good quality roads to markets in the interior).Simple raster layers were produced for each climate rainfall and drought scenario (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) and overlaid onto the vulnerability map. Bivariate maps were also produced where the climate data raster layers were converted to data points and normalised in the manner described above for raster vulnerability data. The point data for climate risks was then assigned to the relevant districts (and averaged where multiple points fell within one district). As such, it should be noted that to produce the discrete figures required to produce a bivariate map (i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4 rather than 1.0-4.0) both the average climate risk and vulnerability data was rounded up or down to its nearest significant figure. This serves to heighten the severity, good or bad, of indicators, which should be noted in respect to interpretation of the maps, but also brings greater resolution and emphasise to potential hotspots of risk (relative to the wider SADC). A systematic literature review was undertaken to compile evidence about regional SADC climate risks, adaptation and vulnerability. Systematic reviews seek to synthesise existing knowledge about a topic through a review of the literature focussed on specific research questions. The approach increases methodological transparency and rigour in the process of synthesising research by requiring that methods used are explicitly outlined and reproducible, and that document selection and review meets pre-defined and defensible eligibility criteria (Cooper et al. 2019;Fink 2020). A number of methodological guidelines exist (Pullin and Stewart 2006;Moher et al. 2009;Berrang-Ford et al. 2015), often tailored to particular disciplinary perspectives.Systematic reviews require similar specific components to be reported and generally include the following steps: We were guided by the following questions:What are the key climate hazards linked to agriculture?How and where do they interact with agricultural vulnerability and adaptations to create climate risk hotspots?Literature source (justification and description):We searched SCOPUS and Web of Knowledge databases because they contain a substantial collection of relevant research, and because they perform precisely and reproducibly when using an extensive Boolean search string, such as the one we used (Gusenbauer and Haddaway 2020). The search was limited to peer-reviewed literature, published since 2016 that included research conducted in SADC countries to enable compilation of the most recent evidence on climate risk and vulnerability across the region. Time constraints limited our ability to include research published prior to 2016. Only literature written in the English language was included.Literature was selected, screened, and then coded following the process and criteria outlined in Figure 2, which also details the search string and database fields used and the numbers of studies rejected at each step. The initial search was undertaken on May 5th 2020 by one researcher. Three researchers completed subsequent screening and coding.For quality control, all abstracts were double-screened, and retained for full review in the event of disagreement. Our initial search produced 759 research articles, which was reduced to a final set of 275 (Appendix A). Articles were generally excluded because they either did not focus on the SADC region, did not include empirical data (e.g. they were review papers), and/or did not identify findings or use data about the specified climate-related topics linked to agriculture (Figure 2).1.2.4.Photo: Ryan Searle-unsplashMethods of analysis:We developed a set of questions and a corresponding coded Excel spreadsheet to extract and store information from the papers.The same three researchers performed the coding exercise after piloting the questions and coded template. The final output was an Excel spreadsheet providing information about the location of the research, the focal agricultural system and climate hazards, and whether the research was vulnerability-and/or adaptation-oriented.We included only peer-reviewed data in our review in an attempt to assure research included was rigorous. More rigorous controls on information quality were precluded by time constraints. However, greater consideration of data quality was given to research included as climaterisk hotspot case studies.(Figure 2). The 23 articles published to April in 2020 and that met our review criteria, suggest a continuing trend. More research was conducted in Tanzania than any other SADC country, featuring in nearly one quarter (22%) of articles (Figure 2). South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia were also frequently the geographic focus (occurring in between 14-18% of articles). The remaining 11 SADC countries received less attention.Only two studies were conducted in Lesotho and one in Mauritius and Comoros, and we did not find any research meeting our criteria conducted in the Seychelles. Fifty-five papers had a regional or global focus. Drought, temperature and precipitation were the hazards most frequently linked to agricultural systems. Sea-level rise and hazards linked to salinization were seldom the focus of investigation. Most (87%) of the articles reviewed included analysis of food crops. Livestock systems were considered in approximately one third of articles, whilst non-food crops, aquaculture and agroforestry systems received much less attention. The majority of studies focussed on agricultural system vulnerability to climate hazards. However, nearly half researched adaptation, and nearly one quarter (23%) were concerned with both. By mid-century, the likelihood of droughts increases in both RCP4.5 and 8.5 scenarios (Figure 3 and Figure 4). In RCP8.5, drought risk increases across most of the region, while in RCP4.5, droughts become more common primarily in the DRC, parts of East Africa, Angola and Namibia. The result of these changes in droughts is that in both RCP4.5 and 8.5 by mid-century droughts are common in most of the SADC region (Figure 5 and Figure 6). However, droughts are more severe in RCP8.5 than 4.5, although the most severe droughts remain rare.     Extreme rainfall increases by mid-century in both RCP4.5 and 8.5 in most of the northern SADC region. The increases in extreme rainfall are larger in RCP8.5 than in 4.5, and more widespread (Figure 7 and Figure 8). R95 is an indicator of an extreme that occurs on a yearly basis. Figure 9 and Figure 10 show that by mid-century, rainfall between 12-25 mm/day should be a yearly occurrence in the northern SADC region under RCP4.5 and 8.5.Recent research in East Africa has shown that there is a risk of landslides in susceptible areas (susceptibility depends on topography, land cover and soil type) with antecedent rainfall between 9.2 and 22 mm (Monsieurs et al. 2019). Research in the Sahel region has also shown floods are associated with 5-day rainfall totals of 30mm or more (Tazen et al. 2019). Rainfall at these levels could therefore be associated with risks of landslides and floods.  . Overlaid on vulnerability map where red = more vulnerable, blue = less vulnerable.   . Overlaid on vulnerability map where red = more vulnerable, blue = less vulnerable. By 2059, under a medium GHG emissions scenario, extreme rainfall events will be a yearly occurence in the north and east of the SADC region By 2059, most countries in the north of the SADC region, and Madagascar, will experience extreme rainfall events under a medium GHG emissions scenario By 2059, extreme rainfall events will be more widespread, including Losotho and parts of South Africa, under a high GHG emissions scenario By 2059, under a high GHG emissions scenario, extreme rainfall events will be a yearly occurence for much of the north and east of the SADC regionFigure 11 represents the combined vulnerability index at national (inset) and district level. Vulnerability across the SADC region varies, with higher national-level vulnerability found in northern and eastern countries, including the DRC, Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar. There is a greater degree of variability between districts with, for example, countries such as Madagascar and areas such as northern Mozambique and south-western Angola demonstrating higher vulnerability. South Africa exhibits lowest overall levels of vulnerability, though urban districts (e.g. surrounding Pretoria and Johannesburg and in the south-western tip near to Cape Town) demonstrate the lowest vulnerability at a sub-national level. Risk hotspots for extreme rainfall under a medium GHG emissions scenario are found in Tanzania and Madagascar, but medium high risk is widespreadSo far an overlay method has been used to provide a visual description of the impact of climate change across the SADC region, and where areas of greater vulnerability are located. However, the locations where the extremes in both climate hazard and vulnerability (i.e. hotspots) are located are difficult to identify. Bivariate choropleth maps enable the range of climate hazard to be combined with vulnerabilities within the same districts so that potential hotspots of concern can be identified.Presented are the bivariate maps for combined current vulnerability within districts and future rainfall and drought under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. Vulnerability is represented from high (red), medium high (orange), medium low (green) and low (blue), while climate hazards are represented by colour shading from high (darker) to low (lighter) risk. Figure 12 suggests that there are hotspots of high rainfall and high vulnerability, therefore climate risk hotspots, along the northern coast of Madagascar (particularly Antsiranana and Toamasina) and along the coast of Lake Nyasha/Malawi (particularly the east coast around Ruvuma in Tanzania). Some further potential hotspots can also be seen along the eastern border of the DRC and the coasts of Angola and Mozambique. In comparison to the RCP.4.5 scenario, under RCP.8.5 there is little change between potential hotspots (Figure 13). Risk hotspots for extreme rainfall under a high GHG emissions scenario are found in Tanzania and Madagascar, but medium high risk is widespread across northern countries Risk hotspots for drought under a high GHG emissions scenario are found in Tanzania, but medium high risk is widespreadPotential hotspots of vulnerability to and risk of extreme droughts can be seen under the RCP4.5 scenario along Lake Nyasha/Malawi with medium high vulnerability, and high drought risk seen across extensive areas of Namibia, northern Zambia, inland Tanzania, and across large areas of the DRC (Figure 14). Under the RCP8.5 scenario the hotspots do not change significantly, with some climate risk reduced along the coast of Lake Nyasha/Malawi, and some increase in the area of the hotspot along the coast of Namibia (particularly IIKaras) (Figure 15).It is clear across all the hotspot bivariate maps that mediumhigh climate risk (high vulnerability, medium-high climate hazard) is widespread under both future scenarios (RCP4.5 and 8.5) and for extreme rainfall and droughts across Angola, DRC, Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar. Risk hotspots for drought under a medium GHG emissions scenario are found in Tanzania, but medium high risk is widespread Photo: Sonja Leitner (ILRI)Comparing the climate risk maps with some previous studies Three studies were identified that have taken a broadly similar approach to climate risk mapping and the identification of climate risk hotspots across a broadly similar set of countries in Southern Africa: Thornton et al (2008) who examined poverty and climate change for sub-Saharan Africa; Midgley et al (2011) who mapped climate risk and vulnerability for Southern Africa, and Herding for Health (2020) who conducted a climate vulnerability assessment for Southern Africa's rangelands (excluding Tanzania, Malawi and DRC).In the Thornton et al ( 2008) study hotspots of climate hazard were identified using Global Climate Models (GCMs) to calculate changes to the length of the growing season, combined with an agricultural system classification. This enabled agricultural systems at risk to be identified. Hotspots of vulnerability were identified by mapping 14 vulnerability indicators from across the capital assets, including soils, distance to markets, governance, incidence of malaria, etc. A principle components analysis was used to create four factors, explaining 63% of the variance, which were combined using the percentage variance explained to weight each factor, normalised and then quartiled. A qualitative synthesis of the results identified hotspots of vulnerability to climate change in the mixed rainfed crop-livestock systems of the Sahel, and in the great lakes region and mixed agricultural systems of East Africa. Livestock and mixed rainfed systems were considered most vulnerable to future changes in climate. Direct comparisons are difficult because of differences in spatial coverage. The creation of indices, and the use of quartiles to aggregate the data mean that areas and countries identified as high climate risk are done so in comparison to the other areas and countries included in the analysis. Each study has also used a different combination of climate models, with our study using the CORDEX-Africa ensemble rather than CMIP5 ensembles used in the other studies.. These models will have evolved in accuracy over time, from 2008 when the earliest study was undertaken (Thornton et al, 2008) to this study and that by Herding for Health in 2020. The data underlying the vulnerability and exposure indices used in all the studies will also have been updated over time.Nevertheless, all four studies identify comparatively higher climate risks for the areas further north and east in their study regions, from parts of Zambia and Mozambique for Herding for Health (2020); parts of Angola, DRC, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Madagascar for Midgley et al (2011); parts of Angola, DRC, Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar in this study, to the Sahel and parts of East Africa for Thornton et al (2008). This highlights the importance of considering vulnerabilities (in agricultural and social systems) as well as climate hazards (i.e. droughts or extreme rainfall events). Vulnerability in particular is likely to be behind the spatial patterns of increasing climate risk found in all these studies. As a result, all of these studies suggest that efforts to reduce climate risk should be targeted particularly to areas (and countries) in the north and north-east of the SADC region where vulnerabilities are highest.From the systematic review 60 papers were identified as meeting our criteria for Tanzania, with 10 having conducted research in medium high vulnerability and medium high climate hazard areas for both extreme rainfall events and drought (Figure 12 to Figure 15), including two in the hotspot identified in the plateau region in the south west of the country near lake Nyasa/Malawi (Kangalawe 2017;Luhunga 2017). Luhunga (2017) undertook an assessment of the impacts of climate change on maize yields in the southern highlands and plateau region of southern Tanzania. They used a climate crop model, using CORDEX-Africa climate models, to simulate maize yields under different future scenarios. They found that maize yields may decrease by up to 10% (under RCP8.5) in the hotspot region (Figure 15) due to increased temperatures and a shortening of the growing season caused by reductions in rainfall. Kangalawe (2017) conducted participatory rural assessments to understand perceptions of changing climate in Mbinga District, within the hotspot identified by our bivariate mapping (Figure 12 to Figure 15). Here, villagers report decreasing river flows and decreasing water availability for both agriculture and domestic purposes, in line with our hotspots for drought (Figure 14 and Figure 15). These reductions in available water have led to expansion of agriculture into wetland areas with subsequent losses of diversity, but also the shrinkage of wetland areas as river flows decrease and water use increases. A trebling of the population in this region (up to 120 people per square kilometers) indicates increasing exposure of the population to increasing drought. These findings are supported by Kassain et al. (2017) whose participatory research in the Iringa region also found perceptions of a decline in river flows over the last 20 years following declines in rainfall. This has led to impacts on water levels in irrigation channels, over-utilisation of available water, and reductions in yields. Both Kangalawe (2017) and Kassain et al. (2017) found that farmers were likely to implement measures such as deepening wells, expanding irrigation channels, or expanding agriculture into wetland areas that would be considered maladaptive. While some adaptation measures, such as tree planting for water conservation, are understood, they are not widely undertaken. There is a clear need for more work to understand, and implement, adaptation options in this region.In addition to research in the southern highlands and plateau region, research has been undertaken in the northern highlands, specifically on Mount Kilimanjaro in northern Tanzania. This area also falls under the medium high vulnerability and medium to medium high climate hazard. Here the focus is very much on coffee production, given the importance of these highlands to producing this important export crop. The work by Rahan et al. (2018) developed a coffee crop model, linked to climate and soils data, to understand the effect of changing climate on yields. They found that increasing temperatures and drought stress are likely to reduce yields by as much as 32%, although increased carbon dioxide concentrations may go some way towards mitigating this effect. Their work suggests that a common strategy of using shade plants may not be beneficial under conditions of water stress. In addition, Azrag et al. (2018) predicted the distribution of an important coffee pest, Antestiopsis thunbergii, under climate change on Mount Kilimanjaro. Their work suggests that the risks of pest infestation at lower elevations are likely to decrease under climate change, but would be offset by increased risks occurring at higher elevations.Finally, a set of 3 papers were identified by our systematic review covering the alluvial plans and semi-arid regions found in central Tanzania, an area of medium high vulnerability and medium to medium high climate hazards. Näschen et al. (2019) used the CORDEX-Africa climate models to examine the impact of climate change on water resources in the Kilombero region. They found increasing temperatures, and particularly intensification of the season with extreme flooding and drought, along with shifts in peak river flows will become more pronounced. Some farmers are already aware of changes to climate in the region, with rainfall becoming more unpredictable (Balama et al. 2016). Here, farmers are already implementing adaptation strategies through changes to planting calendars, uptake of agricultural technologies, crop diversification and the use of non-timber forest products to supplement incomes and household consumption. Osewe et al. (2020) have also found evidence of farmer led adaptation schemes, particularly farmer led irrigation schemes. However, more research is needed on these autonomous strategies to assess how robust and climate smart they are.TANZANIA Only two of the 23 studies identified by our systematic literature review were carried out in the hotspots identified through the mapping of climate hazard and vulnerability outlined above. This suggests a possible mismatch between locations where climate risk is likely to be highest and where research on impacts of and adaptation to climate change is being conducted. Here we outline what we know from the research that has been undertaken in our hotspots, but also more broadly in the countries where the hotspots occur.Few studies meeting our criteria were retrieved from the literature search for Madagascar, and none were conducted in the areas identified as climate risk hotspots along the northern coast (Figure 12 to Figure 15). However, locations subject to medium-high vulnerability and rainfall or drought related hazards have received research attention. Eight studies in these locations explored local agricultural practices and related knowledge, and adaptation options to reduce climate-related production risks.The Lake Alaotra region in north eastern Madagascar currently experiences variable wet and dry episodes during the rainy season (Bruelle et al. 2017), and is at high risk of future extreme rainfall events, and moderately-highly vulnerable under both RCP 4.5 and 8.5 projections (Figure 12 and Figure 13) Rain-fed rice production, which characterises and is expanding on the hillsides as a result of the increasing food needs of the growing local population, is highly susceptible to rainfall variability, and resulting water stress and impoverished soils (Bruelle et al. 2017;Penot et al. 2018). Research using simulated water × soil × rice interactions indicates the use of conservation agriculture (CA) in these areas mainly increased water loss because of drainage in the majority of conditions, and that crop growth was least affected when sown in November regardless of other interactions. Simulations and findings suggest mulching widened the favourable sowing window towards early dates, reduced associated risks by enhancing water capture and storage during the first erratic rains of the season, and increased crop yields (Bruelle et al. 2017). However, Penot et al. (2018), highlight high abandonment rates by upland rice farmers adopting CA in the same region over a 10-year period, partly because of difficulties implementing technologies including mulching, and perceived risk of crop failure, especially when disappointed by losses or yields early on. Abandonment was lower by those farming colluvial land because costs were often offset by yields. However, findings overall indicate >5-7 years of practice was needed for CA to persist. Despite high drop-out, the use of CA technologies was sustained by farmers fully convinced of their benefits, albeit in diversified forms reflecting innovation that tailored cropping systems to individual circumstances.Rainfall in Madagascar's mid-west is also erratic, with droughts alternating with intense rainfall events (Randrianjafizanaka et al. 2018), which are forecast to pose high future risk to moderately or highly vulnerable farming communities (Figure 12 and Figure 13). Here, rice-maize rotations predominate in upland areas on impoverished soils that attract weeds, including Striga asiatica, which suppress yields and increases labour demand. Randrianjafizanaka et al. (2018) present evidence that illustrates how different combinations of zero-tillage, intercropping and mulching CA strategies promoted as adaptations to soil and climatic constraints, can also delay and reduce (although not eradicate) the impact of S. asiatica parasitism in rice and maize crops, particularly when partially-resistant rice varieties are integrated into the system. Methods to assess accessibility of insurance to compensate for losses associated with climate hazards, have also been researched in this region. Focussing on rice cultivation, Möllmann et al. (2020) found that remotelysensed vegetation health indices provided considerably higher explanatory power for credit risk related to the variability of borrowers' yields, than indices derived from the more often used meteorological data which is scarce, and hence less reliable in regions like this. Lower credit risk, and thus predicted default rates, allow lending institutions to reduce interest rates, potentially enhancing farmers' access to the credit often critical for elevating and sustaining production.In the semi-arid south, maize composite varieties have been developed from local landraces to produce higher-yielding plants more tolerant of local climatic and agronomic conditions than the old landraces or obsolete hybrid varieties smallholder farmers often rely on (Masoni et al. 2020). The authors emphasise that maize has become Madagascar's second staple food in recent years, and highlight its potential contribution to future food security because it has lower water demand than rice. On the southeast coast, the high risk of extreme rain events in the future looms large for a potentially vulnerable farming community (Figure 12 and Figure 13) already prone to flooding and drought (Kruger 2016). During interviews and focus groups, farmers described early and late-planting, and using short-cycle cassava and yam varieties to increase resilience to hazards. In certain areas however, farmers have been unable to mitigate the lack of infrastructure to store water, and floods that destroy crops every year. In the southwest, drought is projected to be a greater hazard (Figure 14 and Figure 15), and conditions are already harsh. Very low amounts of rainfall on the Mahafaly plateau, and famine regularly affects those dependent on rain-fed production (Neudert et al. 2015).Knowledge accumulated and transmitted locally related to climatic extremes and changing resource use is presented by Fritz-Vietta et al. (2017) to identify principles for inherent sustainable land management: management based on context specific values, socio-cultural norms, and the knowledge and perceptions of the local population, to enable future adaptation to environmental change. A different approach to facilitating adaptation to the dry and drying climate in the southeast is provided by Fust and Schlecht (2018), who developed a spatially explicit agent-based model to simulate livestock production systems, with the objective of sustaining the economic and food security of livestock keepers faced with impoverished forage yields and variable pasture quality. The model integrates metabolic energy costs due to pastoral herd movements in search of forage, incorporates seasonal dynamics in forage quality in terms of feed digestibility, and relates forage availability and quality to climatic conditions.MADAGASCAR https://bit.ly/SADCFuturesForesight"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d7aa18359c9bfcdad3637be2f92eb538","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/3ab80cdd-f4b0-4cfc-ac08-0385d0094362/content","id":"1011596174"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ae1b17ac-ef37-4eec-8758-ef8a92d5d1eb","content":"El presente manual describe el funcionamiento general de la desgranadora estacionaria T2RM-DSG20 accionada por un tractor de 2 ruedas. Se muestran y describen los componentes principales, así como información técnica para poder llevar a cabo de manera correcta los ajustes necesarios para un buen funcionamiento, un buen mantenimiento preventivo para alargar la vida útil de la herramienta agrícola.Las indicaciones presentadas en este manual están dirigidas a personal con conocimiento específico sobre las funciones y uso de maquinaria agrícola debidamente instruido. Se recomienda siempre acompañar la máquina en caso de traspaso o venta con el manual ya que es parte indispensable para su correcta operación y mantenimiento.El presente manual contiene dibujos e ilustraciones con algunas especificaciones técnicas que no pueden divulgarse o transmitirse, total o parcialmente, a terceros sin la autorización escrita del fabricante de la máquina.La desgranadora T2RM-DSG20 toma en cuenta la capacidad de trabajo de los productores de pequeña escala, su tamaño es adecuado y la necesidad de potencia para su accionamiento puede ser desde motores de 5.5 hp, con este tipo de herramientas se pretende mecanizar las operaciones agrícolas de poscosecha como el desgrane, el cual requiere de mucho tiempo si se realiza con herramientas tradicionales. El accionamiento de la desgranadora se da mediante el acople de la toma de fuerza de un tractor de 2 ruedas BCS.Imagen 2. Montaje de la desgranadora con el tractor. 1)Tractor de 2 ruedas, 2) Desgranadora, 3) Eje de transmisión de movimientoEl operador deberá colocar adecuadamente la flecha desde el punto de acople tractor hacia el punto de acople de la desgranadora. los manillares del tractor de 2 ruedas deberán ser rotados con un giro de 180 para que no estorben al momento del enganche.Se debe cuidar que las palancas de mando queden correctamente colocados al momento de realizar la rotación y evitar que se desprendan o desacomoden durante la puesta en marcha del motor.Se debe revisar que el motor se encuentre en condiciones de trabajo antes de encenderlo. Los niveles de aceite y combustible deben ser los adecuados. Las palancas de accionamiento deberán estar en paro y la palanca de velocidades en neutral. El accionamiento de la desgranadora deberá empezar en vacío, es decir, no deberá estar presente material o mazorca dentro de la máquina, una vez establecido el encendido se procederá a introducir material en la entrada, se debe verificar el grano en la salida principal para descartar daño mecánico, en caso de existir daño se deberá reducir el régimen de trabajo del motor y nuevamente observar el grano en la salida principal. Alta velocidad de trabajo regularmente causa daño mecánico en el grano.La desgranadora T2RM-DSG20 cuenta con 2 ruedas de hule para poder ser transportada de manera sencilla, el operador solamente debe inclinar el equipo sujetando el asa.Imagen 3. Forma correcta de transportar la desgranadora estacionariaSe recomienda hacer una revisión antes de iniciar el trabajo, poniendo especial atención en el enganche de implemento a la toma de fuerza del tractor de 2 ruedas. Revisar la integridad de todos los componentes y que no exista elementos o materiales que generen una obstrucción en la cámara que cubre al cilindro desgranador.A continuación, se enlistan una serie de puntos de revisión antes de encender el motor del tractor de 2 ruedas y de accionar la desgranadora.Una vez terminado el uso del implemento es aconsejable realizar la limpieza con ayuda de un cepillo o escoba eliminando polvos o restos de mazorca u olote del interior. Si el implemento será guardado por un largo periodo, se recomienda cubrirla con un plástico para minimizar los daños por el ambiente."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4495005d7638159d8767a9b8c7345add","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5ae16ea3-4f81-470f-81ae-dab53c3b68a8/retrieve","id":"-1399103763"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d0d6928d-d081-4427-88a4-9742a9dfbfe8","content":"Titles in this series aim to disseminate interim research on the scaling of climate services and climatesmart agriculture in Africa, in order to stimulate feedback from the scientific community.Agriculture is critical to Africa's economic growth and development, accounting for more than one-fifth of sub-Saharan Africa's economic output. However, climate change is expected to make agricultural development more difficult in many parts of Africa (Carr et al., 2022;Trisos et al., 2022).Adaptation and mitigation to climate change are imperative. CORAF has worked with partners in West and Central Africa to develop over 320 agricultural technologies and innovations to improve agricultural productivity and livelihoods. Technologies and innovations developed include cover crop varieties, livestock breeds and seeding techniques, as well as post-harvest applications across multiple agricultural value chains including roots and tubers, dry cereals, rice, plantains, milk, meat and fish technology and innovation (Ganyo et al., 2022).Unfortunately, smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are faced apart of climate change challenge, the challenge of having access to funding, specifically for the acquisition of technologies and innovations that can promote the effective implementation of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA). Yet, when these funds are available, their prompt disbursements are often impeded by cumbersome administrative processes, issues related to lack of understanding and communication between technicians, politicians, and implementers, etc. While there are policy documents that guide the development of the agricultural sector in relation to climate-smart agriculture.We present the need of expression of 12 West and Central African countries to scale up climate smart agriculture and build on it as strategy to cope climate change. This info note highlights the climate change policy measures in West and Central African countries that can accelerate the acquisition and scaling up of CSA technologies and innovations (T&Is) in the region, the need of expression and quantification of CSA technologies and innovations, pathways for scaling and actions to materialize the need expressed. • Pathways for scaling the prioritized technologies included mainly ongoing projects and/or programmes such as FSRP, GIRAV, PROPAD, and projects in pipeline at regional or national levels.  Regarding physical investments, measures identified are those applying/promoting climate-smart and conservation agriculture through best agricultural practices that improve soil fertility and increase crop yields and integrate crops and livestock. The best agricultural practices as measures against climate change also include the use of innovative and adaptive approaches of irrigation that ensure better water management (water harvesting and use). The physical actions also concern investments in adequate infrastructure, social services, and agricultural mechanization.Moreover, climate change policies highlight as measures capacity building of actors specially researchers in research centres and universities for innovation, both in science on CC, and technology to cope with CC. These specific capacity-building measures will enable to provide adequate support for instance the development of appropriate crop varieties and production practices that will enhance resilience to variability in rainfall. Therefore, countries can improve research and knowledge management capacities through training/capacity building at all levels (from institutions to farmers).Finally, the mainstreaming of climate change into agricultural development strategies, the improvement of planning and coordination of the use of natural resources as well as the strengthening and empowering of local institutions are pursued as institutional strengthening measures to cope with CC. Expressions of need for the adoption and dissemination of climate-smart agriculture cover plant, animal, and fish value chains. Overall, technologies and innovations pointed out are improved crop seeds varieties (cereals, tubers and roots, vegetables, legumes), fertilizers and inoculum, agricultural equipment used along agricultural value chains, animal and fish fry and its inputs as technologies and innovations. Some immaterial needs were also point out by countries. There are trainings on SRI technology and bovine artificial insemination. CSA technologies and innovations sought are those that ensure (i) sustainable increase of agricultural productivity and food security; (ii) adaptation and building of resilience in face of climate change and (iii) reduction or elimination where possible, of greenhouse gases emissions. Table 1 shows the need and quantification of CSA T&I. The expression of quantities is contained in policy documents or derived from. Adopting and disseminating CSA technologies and innovations as approach to reduce climate impacts and be adapted to climate change effectively required economic investments. Investments mostly can be gotten mostly through on-going projects and programmes or those in the pipeline at national and regional levels. However, to ensure the sustainability of investments and the definitive integration of CSA into daily practices, it is desirable for states to have their own funding mechanism or source, as project funding does not guarantee the continuity of actions. Increase grants and institutional supports from governments to actors can be a strategy to operationalize the acquisition of CSA T&I and scaling CSA. On the other hand, regional monetary and economic institutions such as UEMOA in West Africa and CEMAC in Central Africa could, through an own innovative mechanism, support the CSA and CIS initiatives led by CORAF and AGRHYMET, two regional institutions that deliver CSA and CIS T&I respectively.• CORAF plays a central role by coordinating agricultural research and development in West and Central Africa, with focus on technologies and innovations development and scaling. To move from estimates to action, CORAF plans to (i) to initiate a dialogue with the national authorities (ii) provide an advocacy guide to be used with current programmes to facilitate the acquisition of CSA T&I.• Also, CORAF creates enabling environment to acquire the target T&I through advocacy with on-going projects and programmes to purchase and by contracting a consultant specialist on international trade to facilitate the acquisition of the targeted technologies.• Countries will continue the advocacy work, using a guide provided by CORAF for this purpose and including the purchase of CSA T&I in the 2024 work plans and budget. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a16e54f0088560a73f1135f4252fee3e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7dc9f9a6-317b-44e5-aadf-66803e71184f/retrieve","id":"1138336178"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"19505d79-fca5-4881-ad8e-721192825bcb","content":"➢ Chickpea is an important protein source for many households as well as a good cash crop. ➢ Well-drained Vertisols are best suited for chickpea production. It can be grown as a second crop using remaining residual soil moisture ➢ Chickpea is little labor intensive, especially compared to cereal crop ➢ Chickpea can fix 60-176 kg N ha -1 in association with rhizobia; it is 60-80%percent of its nitrogen requirement. Sufficient soil phosphorus is required for optimal nitrogen fixation of chickpea.Why N2Africa focus on chickpea?• Productivity of chickpea is yet below the global averages and what is obtained at on-farm demonstrations and highly variable n different agro-ecologies of Ethiopia. • Sub-optimal agronomic practices, malnutrition of the soil and lower use of improved varieties highly contribute to the poor yields of chickpea in Ethiopia • Soil and seed borne diseases and insects do have significant chickpea yield loss in Ethiopia.• N2Africa project has made notable contribution in raising the national rhizobiology research and development expertise, identify new indigenous elite chickpea rhizobial strains via bioprospecting, and selection, sharing of strains among partners and inoculant technology supply chain.• N2Africa established a platform of coalition of the willing to exchange elite chickpea rhizobial strains among Hawassa University, Menagesha Biotech Industry and Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research; and with multiple partner for the supply chain of inoculant technology.• The exchange platform has helped the institutions to mutually reassess the shelved elites in uniform protocol and finally to have common elites such as CP-11, CP-63 and CP-M7 etc.• Farmers' preferred high yielding, diseases resistant and marketable varieties were identified. Kabuli type chickpea varieties are excellent nodulators, high yielders and yet are relatively susceptible to soil borne diseases as compared to desi type chickpea varieties.• N2Africa evidences indicated that application of inoculation and P fertilizer have resulted in increased chickpea yield (from at least 3% relative responses and more) for 99% of farms involved in the on-farm demonstration trials, irrespective of differences in agro-ecological location. • A significant number of smallholder farmers could benefit both agronomically and economically from application of rhizobium inoculants and P fertilizer to chickpea.• Generally, positive responses to P&/or I applications could be lacking on some farms due to several factors. Diagnosing the real cause of non-responsiveness of soils is critical for the specific legume growing environment. For instance, N2Africa verified that application of 30 kg S ha-1 (sulfur) helped chickpea farms to respond to the P+I application at Gonder Zuria woreda, Northern Ethiopia.• Where insufficient N and rhizobium concentrations of <10 2 -10 3 g -1 of soil, chickpea demands inoculation.• Co-dressing of chickpea seed with rhizobial inoculant and fungicides, i.e. Apron star (2 g a.i. per kg seed) do not harm rhizobia and nitrogen fixation process substantially as compared to inoculant alone. Hence, fungicide and inoculant can be co-dressed during chickpea planting. However, the fungicide dressing precedes the rhizobial inoculant (which is done right before planting).1.6 1.7 1.71.81.81.91.9 2.0 "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"175809187737d49d09b6a86153779877","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1192941e-fcdc-46f3-b910-4ecf77be551c/retrieve","id":"793959537"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f219564d-8ab9-4d56-966d-016d2beb8e06","content":"Science for a food secure future CGIAR is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food secure future. CGIAR research is dedicated to reducing rural poverty, increasing food security, improving human health and nutrition, and ensuring more sustainable management of natural resources. It is carried out by the 15 centers who are members of the CGIAR Consortium in close collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, and the private sector.www.cgiar.org/AR2012 Foreword 1 As CGIAR begins its fourth year of reform, it is important to take stock of our efforts, recognize the enormous progress we have made to date, as well as the challenges we still face, and ensure that we are making the most of new opportunities to optimize the impact of our research for the benefit of the poor. In this regard, CGIAR made strong progress in 2012, marked by critical milestones and important developments ranging from scientific breakthroughs, to historical gains in funding, to landmark achievements in how we conduct our business. We solidified our commitment to a programmatic approach to research with a fully approved portfolio of CGIAR Research Programs; launched initiatives to ensure that gender equality is a top priority in all aspects of our work; took steps to create a more performance-based system; and generated new knowledge, tools, and technologies, including agricultural innovations that are nutrition-sensitive and climate smart. This year's Annual Report showcases how new ways of doing research are improving the incomes, food security, and health and wellbeing of poor smallholders and their families, and illustrates the importance of strategic partnerships in delivering that impact. Success stories range from linking small-scale producers of chili peppers in Bolivia and Peru with international markets, to blending traditional knowledge with modern technologies to sustainably increase the productivity of farmers, fishers, and livestock keepers in the Zambezi River basin in southern Africa.As part of our work to exploit the potential of agriculture to improve nutrition and health, in 2012 CGIAR and its partners made available four new biofortified food crops to farmers in India, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Zambia. In addition to containing higher levels of critical nutrients, the crops -beans, cassava, maize, and pearl millet -are high yielding and drought or heat tolerant, offering the potential for significant nutritional benefits in regions that are increasingly affected by climate change. In India and Zambia, CGIAR is partnering with private seed companies to ensure that new varieties get into farmers' fields with greater speed and scale, with the ultimate goal of combating malnutrition.Recognizing the importance of private-public partnerships to improve and accelerate access to the best technologies, knowledge, and innovation to achieve maximum impact for the poor, in 2012 CGIAR adopted its first ever system-wide Principles on the Management of Intellectual Assets. This groundbreaking policy will enable CGIAR to better harness the strengths of all partners so that the outcomes of CGIAR research can be used effectively by those who need them most. Ensuring that the results of our research move more quickly into the hands of smallscale farmers, fishers, and foresters will continue to be both a challenge and a priority in future.Complementing this effort, during the second CGIAR Funders Forum, donors endorsed the Strategy and Results Framework Action Plan developed by the CGIAR Consortium in 2012. The Plan, which also defines a set of goals and targets for good partnerships, promises an increased focus on impact-driven research by identifying more precise intermediate development outcomes for each of the CGIAR Research Programs. Clearly defined indicators will improve and streamline reporting, facilitate transparent decisionmaking, and better ensure that donors know what to expect from their investments, making the entire system more accountable.CGIAR also took a number of steps in 2012 to better meet the needs of poor rural women, reduce the gender gap in agriculture, and empower female farmers. In collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI), CGIAR developed a firstof-its-kind tool that measures the empowerment and inclusion of women in agriculture to document obstacles and constraints, and ultimately overcome them. Research by other CGIAR scientists identified opportunities for increasing women's earnings through the marketing of non-timber forestry products. And when women have more opportunities to flourish, everyone benefits. Food security increases, poverty drops, children are better nourished, and environmental stewardship improves.The first step to transforming people's lives through the benefits of agricultural research, however, often starts in an office or laboratory. And on that front, CGIAR also registered major accomplishments in 2012. Using the latest biotechnology tools, for example, scientists discovered in CGIAR's extensive seed collections a gene that enables rice plants to produce 20% more grain by increasing uptake of phosphorus. This discovery will enable small-scale farmers who cannot afford fertilizers for their poor soils to grow more rice, improving food security and incomes while conserving the world's rapidly diminishing reserves of rock phosphate. In Southeast Asia, rice farmers are already benefiting from new CGIAR technologies, including a mobile phone application that enables them to receive advice on applying the right type of fertilizer in the correct amount at the optimum time.None of these achievements, of course, would be possible without strong support from our valued investors. Despite fiscal difficulties and tight aid budgets among many of our donors, financial contributions to CGIAR continued to grow at a very robust rate, reflecting donors' confidence in CGIAR's ability to tackle some of the most pressing global development challenges. With more than a 20% increase in funding over the previous year, 2012 marked the single largest annual increase in funding in CGIAR's history, putting us well on track to reach our US$1 billion target in 2013.As elaborated in the financial section of this Annual Report, the increase in overall funding is just one indicator that the reform process is bearing fruit. The growth in contributions to CGIAR's multi-donor trust fund is perhaps an even better indicator of donors' commitment to key aspects of the reform. From 2011 to 2012, contributions received through the Fund increased by 33%. Of that, nearly two-thirds was provided as harmonized funding, enabling CGIAR to pool resources to finance research priorities and reflecting increasing interest in a multilateral approach to funding.Although CGIAR made considerable and noteworthy progress on many fronts in 2012, we are determined to do more and to do it better, so that every dollar received will deliver even greater benefits for poor rural communities in developing countries. CGIAR is committed to continually measuring and assessing the impact of our work to ensure that good intentions and best efforts consistently lead to tangible improvements in people's lives. But we certainly cannot do it alone. In order to fully reap the fruits of reform, we need to enhance and expand our collaborationwith civil society, national research partners, academia, development practitioners, new investors, and long-time donors. By working together, we are confident that we can ultimately achieve our mutual goals of eradicating poverty, conserving vital natural resources for future generations, and ensuring everyone's right to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food.In 2012, CGIAR continued to deliver innovative, comprehensive, and sustainable development solutions while strengthening collaborative research through the new CGIAR Research Programs brought about by reform.CGIAR's reform process was designed in large part to ensure that the knowledge generated by CGIAR scientists and their partners leads to results -for small-scale farmers, poor forest and fishing communities, national agricultural research systems, rural women, and policymakers. The changes brought about by reform -a Consortium to unite the Centers, a programmatic approach to research, a Fund to harmonize investments in that research, and a determined commitment to work inclusively with partner organizations to create synergies and maximize impact -are manifest in the new strategic focus and way in which CGIAR works. By the end of 2012, all 16 CGIAR Research Programs had been approved.Alleviating poverty, increasing food security, improving nutrition and health, and managing natural resources are all closely linked. The CGIAR Research Programs tackle these issues through a comprehensive strategy of research-fordevelopment -the CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework (SRF). The SRF is an evidence-based, impact-oriented agenda Partnership -GRiSP)  Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB)  Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE)  Wheat (WHEAT) that focuses explicitly on poor people in developing countries. The Programs position CGIAR to pursue innovative, comprehensive, and sustainable solutionssuch as crops resilient to extreme weather, pests and disease, and more efficient ways to manage water, trees, soils, livestock, fisheries, and forests -and to deploy technologies now available.In 2012, although all 16 CGIAR Research Programs had been approved and some had been operating for a year or more, others were only just getting started. During the transition from 'old' projects and programs to the new integrated Programs, CGIAR scientists continued to develop new knowledge and technologies, improve practices, contribute to policymaking, build capacity, and empower scientists, poor smallholders, and rural women.As the global population increases to a predicted nine billion by 2050, pressure mounts to produce more food without destroying the planet. Research to empower poor rural communities and raise the productivity of crops and agricultural systems -including livestock, fish, and agroforestry -will be essential to alleviate poverty and ensure food security. CGIAR Research Programs are designed to address these interrelated issues.In 2012, CGIAR scientists published 1,290 papers in peer-reviewed publications and produced many significant reports. In one key paper 1 scientists of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security 2 (CCAFS) described the expected impacts of climate change on the production of cassava and six other staple crops in sub-Saharan Africa -potato, maize, bean, banana, millet, and sorghum. A news release based on the article generated major coverage in the international media. The coverage contributed to a key goal of CCAFS -promoting options for adapting to climate change.The greatest burden of zoonotic diseasesdiseases transmitted from animals to humans and vice versa -falls on one billion poor livestock keepers. In poor countries zoonoses affect one in seven livestock, leading to 2.3 million people becoming ill and 1.7 million dying each year. CGIAR researchers in the Dynamic Drivers of Disease in Africa Consortium published a report 3 showing the links between poverty and regions prone to zoonoses. The report attracted wide media coverage and drew attention to diseases associated with agriculture, one of the issues being addressed by the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health 4 (A4NH). The report and an accompanying UK Institute for Development Studies (IDS) rapid response briefing for policymakers went 'viral' across the internet and print media and attracted, for example, the attention of Indian policymakers to the potential threats associated with zoonoses.CGIAR's International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and its partners in the Global Rice Science Partnership 5 (GRiSP) reported the discovery of a new gene in rice, the culmination of 10 years of research. The gene, PSTOL1, makes it possible for rice roots to absorb more phosphorus from the soil or fertilizers, thereby producing up to 20% more grain. This is particularly important for smallholder farmers who cannot afford to buy fertilizers.Sequencing the chickpea genome was also completed during the year. This groundbreaking research opens the door to much more efficient and effective improvement of the third most important grain legume in the world. The potential value of this is significant: grain legumes such as chickpea are the 'meat of the poor', providing protein and helping to meet other nutritional needs.Agricultural research-for-development takes place in the context of national, regional, and international agendas. In 2012 ). This first report, making the case for keeping food policy issues high on the global agenda, will serve as a reference for policymakers and stakeholders when discussing sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty.Feedipedia, a groundbreaking new website, is the fruit of a partnership between CGIAR's International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), which leads the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish, 7 the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and others. Feedipedia is a mine of information on animal feeds. The website describes 1,400 different types -from the traditional to the lesser known and unconventional -for a wide variety of livestock and fish farming systems. The information, gathered together for the first time in one place and accessible to all, will help boost small-scale livestock farming, increasing smallholder productivity and thus making meat, milk, and fish more available and affordable to consumers across the developing world.The first pan-African study of groundwater was also concluded, filling gaps in research on groundwater irrigation and water management. Arab Spatial was another important tool that was completed. This digital atlas contains maps and data for more than 150 food security and development-related indicators in the region. The atlas will provide researchers and policymakers with tools and information for strategic policy decisions at the subnational, national, and regional levels, based on the best and most up-to-date data and information available. Data sources include the World Bank's World Development Indicators databank, International Monetary Fund, World Health Organization, FAO, United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration, United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, CGIAR, and IFPRI among other regional, national, and subnational statistical bodies.Work by CGIAR continues to change the lives of rural communities in developing countries. This has included developing a toolkit for rapidly assessing value chains, an index-based insurance to help Ethiopian pastoralists manage climate variability, and a new protocol for measuring and monitoring soil organic stocks to help advance understanding of their adaptation and mitigation potential.Modern maize breeding programs use the doubled haploid method, a technique for dramatically cutting the time and effort required to produce hybrids compared with conventional breeding. However, few public breeding programs or small-and mediumsize seed companies, especially in developing countries, use the procedure National Food Security Bill to provide affordable grains to more than half of its 1.2 billion people.  New initiatives such as Feed the Future, the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, and South-South cooperation boosted agriculture investments.  Promoting mother and child nutrition gained momentum as it became widely accepted that the nutrition in the 1,000 days between conception and a child's second birthday are of crucial importance for the child's future.The bad news  High and extremely volatile food prices in the first half of the year threatened the food security of millions of people.  Biofuel policies in the United States of America (USA) and the European Union (EU) have not been changed to take into account their impact on land-use change and food price volatility.  The Doha Round of trade negotiations has still not been finalized, so countries continue to maintain domestic policies that undermine the trading prospects of developing countries and the sustainability of the global food system.  Setting a clear international standard or 'code of conduct' for large-scale foreign investment in land has received too little attention.  African countries are not meeting their target of allocating at least 10% of national budgetary resources to agriculture.  The international community responded slowly and too late to the disaster that was unfolding in the Horn of Africa.  Hunger still persists globally: nearly one billion people go hungry every day. The 2011 Global Hunger Index indicates that more than two dozen countries have 'alarming' or 'extremely alarming' hunger levels.(MAIZE) organized training courses in Latin America, Africa, and Asia to help breeders in these regions apply the doubled haploid method and to encourage them to become proactive in producing hybrids adapted to local environments. Breeders trained in the doubled haploid method will help speed the delivery of improved maize varieties to small-scale farmers and cooperatives. particularly as it is one of the few crops that thrives on poor land. Across large tracts of the poorer, less fertile parts of India, bread, chapatti, and porridge are made from millet flour. Improving the nutritional value of pearl millet could therefore make a big difference to people's health in these areas. In the states of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh where pearl millet is a staple food, an estimated 70% of children under five are anemic, mainly due to iron deficiency. HarvestPlus launched a partnership with an Indian company, Nirmal Seeds Pvt. Ltd, to distribute iron-rich millet seeds more quickly to farmers. Nirmal Seeds is arranging field demonstrations to promote ICTP-8203Fe -a variety that is not only higher in iron but also gives 15% higher yields -and selling seed through its network of distributors. In 2012, Nirmal Seeds sold 180 tons of ICTP-8203Fe seed. More than 35,000 farmers in Maharashtra adopted the high iron variety ICTP-8203Fe.Pearl millet is just one of six crops being evaluated for their nutritional value -looking at Vitamin A, iron, or zinc levels -by the large cross-Center HarvestPlus Program, which breeds and develops biofortified crops. Once high-yielding varieties of staple foods with superior levels of micronutrients have been tested for their nutritional impact, the best will be rolled out on a large scale.Agricultural landscapes provide a variety of benefits apart from food production, such as ecosystem and hydrological services.Balancing the different functions will be important for managing natural resources sustainably in the twenty-first century. In CGIAR, WLE leads crosscutting research on agriculture and ecosystem services, which involves nearly all CGIAR Centers, as well as major international organizations such as the Stockholm Environment Center, The Nature Conservancy, Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), and Ecoagriculture Partners. A working group on ecosystem functions in farming systems has developed a framework to integrate ecosystems services into agricultural land-use planning and decision-making as a way of sustainably increasing overall productivity. Other areas to be tackled include in situ agrobiodiversity as a way of increasing sustainability in diversified and intensified systems, managing ecosystem functions and agrobiodiversity, and methods to manage trade-offs between improving productivity and sustainably managing natural resources.In Africa, farmers are putting the results of work combining local and scientific knowledge of native species into practice on the steep slopes of Lake Tanganyika. They have planted two million indigenous trees, greatly improving hydrological servicessuch as stream flow, control of sediment deposited into the lake, and water quality downstream -and boosting rural livelihoods. The CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry 15 and the World Wildlife Fund are now scaling up practices and tools developed during this work -low-cost community nurseries for raising seedlings, tools to assist extension, and rural advisory services for farmers -as part of the Lake Tanganyika Regional Integrated Management Programme.Translating the results of research into development outcomes often depends on influencing national governments to make changes to policies. CGIAR researchwhich showed that banana-coffee systems are not only profitable, but also resilient to climate shocks -has led several coffeeproducing countries in East Africa and Central America that previously encouraged monocropping to change their recommendations. Based on the evidence, authorities are now advising farmers to intercrop coffee and banana. As well as reducing soil erosion, farmers not only earn more from intercropping but also spread risks, as crop failures seldom affect both coffee and banana simultaneously.In Peru, a new law takes into account research by WLE on payments for ecosystem services (PES) in the Cañete \"We are leaving the old paradigm of having trees cut and getting revenues from this, and entering a new era: the trees will stand, and at the same time revenues are received and people's welfare is improved.\" A CGIAR study 16 that modeled land-use changes contributed to modifications in the EU biofuel policy proposed by the European Commission in 2012. The modified policy proposal reduces the share of biofuels to be derived from food crops and would remedy some of the unintended environmental consequences of regulations on biofuels.On international climate change policy, CCAFS, with funding from the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development, set up the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change. The report of the Commission, published in 2012, made seven major recommendations and has influenced several governments. In Mexico, for example, Congress supported a draft climate change bill, which was subsequently passed as the General Climate Change Law 2012 -only the third such law in the world.In Bangladesh, Commissioner Mohammed Asaduzzaman used the findings in the report to validate Bangladesh's submission on agriculture to the UNFCCC's Subsidiary Body on Scientific and Technological Advice. In Kenya, the Commission's report was used as a reference when preparing Kenya's Agriculture Act 2012.An analysis of climate change and food systems 17 by CCAFS showed that agriculture and agricultural systems are highly vulnerable to climate change. The paper calculated emissions in all aspects of food production and distribution -direct emissions from crops and livestock, the indirect emissions of food production as a result of changes in land cover, emissions from manufacturing fertilizer, and from storing, transporting, and refrigerating food.A companion policy brief 18 concluded that a 'recalibration' of the food system will be required to ensure future food security and sustainable use of critical natural resources in a changing climate. In some contexts this may mean switching from major staples such as bananas to potatoes. The publications sparked debate in the media on the advantages and disadvantages of local as opposed to imported food, food waste, and the use of fertilizer, and influenced the climate change debate at the international level. The UN Committee on Food Security, for example, drew on the analysis to prepare its recommendations on climate change and food security.Gender inequalities affect access to and use of technology, land, water, forests, livestock, fisheries, education, income, investment, and labor. resources such as production inputs, knowledge, and improved technologies; and control over outputs such as harvested rice, processed rice, and other products.\"Providing opportunities for women in the agricultural sector is not only about gender empowerment. It is also about ensuring that the best minds, whether male or female, are given an equal chance to deploy their skills and energy as scientists, farmers, extension agents and others.\"Secretary, Global Forum onThe approach to gender taken by AAS similarly seeks to realize irreversible, deep, and enduring change for women. To create lasting change the AAS 'gender transformative approach' investigates the underlying causes of gender inequalities.Research addresses the unequal power dynamics that adversely affect household livelihoods. The Program works with men and women to reflect on and question existing norms, beliefs, practices, and structures. AAS also partners with organizations in the health and education sectors to learn from their approaches, methods, tools, and experience. In combination with strategies to develop the productivity of agricultural systems, the gender transformative approach will improve access to resources for production and control over life choices that affect development.The The  \"We wanted to make Allanblackia a crop which would benefit large numbers of African farmers and biodiversity at the same time.\"Harrie Hendrikx, Unilever varieties can be delivered even more quickly and the benefits extended to Africa, this could have a significant global impact.GRiSP has also designed cooperatives for rice growers, producers, processors, and marketers to commercialize quality rice products. The reach of the CGIAR Research Programs means that the synergies of combining efforts can widen the impact by delivering innovations, such as these cooperatives, to several locations simultaneously. Pilot rice cooperatives backed by microfinance in Cameroon, Chad, and the Central African Republic currently involve around 179,000 farmers.Synergies along value chains that involve the private sector are a key feature of the Drought-Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project run by IITA and CIMMYT, as part of the MAIZE Program. In Mali, linking up with private sector partner Faso Kaba Seeds has been important for promoting improved varieties, training farmers to produce seed, and setting up a distribution network for six popular crops, including drought-tolerant maize.In 2008, Faso Kaba Seeds contracted farmers to produce 100 tons of seed of drought-tolerant maize. By 2012, the company was producing 10-times more seed, employing 11 people, running its own seed cleaning and packing unit, and coordinating around 150 franchised stores.Without the collaboration between Faso Kaba Seeds and researchers, few farmers in Mali would be able to get hold of seed.The DTMA project is now developing drought-tolerant maize varieties and value chains for 13 countries in Africa.As   At the heart of reform within CGIAR is a change in the way that we work with our network of partners to capture and respond to needs, and deliver results.In establishing the CGIAR Research Programs we are changing the way we work in order to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. These changes acknowledge that the impact of our work will depend not only on the quality of our science and its relevance to people's needs, but on how we collaborate with partners. In this section of the Annual Report, we spotlight partnerships within our four areas of focus -reducing poverty, increasing food security, improving health and nutrition, and managing natural resources sustainably. More detail on these and other partnerships across CGIAR can be found on our website at www.cgiar.org/AR2012.  Alimentos, which is developing new chili products using native chili peppers. So far, chilies have been bottled, canned, dried, made into jam, and used as an ingredient in specialty cheeses.Partnerships are at the heart of the project. Researchers, farmers, farmer associations, NGOs, foundations, private companies, universities, development agencies, national and international research institutions,  Smallholder farmers, producers, and exporters along the value chain can see positive changes. Take Stefan Bederski, Chief Executive Officer of Agro Export Topará, a company that produces, processes, and exports organic certified chili products to the USA and EU. Twenty years ago, Stefan was stumped when clients asked about the attributes of the chili varieties he offered. Research is now providing him with the answers and helping Stefan fulfill his dream of promoting native Peruvian chilies in international markets. Originally, Agro Export Topará worked with commercial chili varieties, but after partnering in the research project, it has started using various native chilies.Commercializing native species has promise but needs to be done sustainably. This means conserving precious biodiversity. To do this, Peru has set up a genebank of 700 accessions -the most diverse national collection of native chili pepper varieties in the world -at the Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria, where accessions with commercially valuable traits are available. In Bolivia, a NGO, Centro de Investigaciones Fitoecogenéticas Pairumani, maintains a unique collection of 600 chili landraces and wild species.\"This case can be replicated and expanded around the world to help farmers who are struggling with declining commodity prices, and are looking for opportunities to increase their incomes through high-value, high-quality markets.\"The chili research project is an example of why partners are so important. Partnering to tackle failures in markets will raise incomes, make farming livelihoods more resilient, and prepare farmers to face future challenges, such as climate change.The CGIAR Research Program on Rice, known as the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP), is a unique collaboration for impactoriented rice research-fordevelopment. GRiSP streamlines CGIAR rice research and aligns it to complement research by more than 900 partners worldwide.Rice is and will remain the most important crop in Asia, and is becoming significant in Latin America and Africa too. In all locations, fertilizers have a huge impact in boosting rice yields. But fertilizer is an expense that subsistence farmers cannot usually afford.When they can invest in fertilizers, most farmers do not have enough accurate information to know what type and combination to use, or how much or when to apply it to optimize productivity. One of the objectives of GRiSP is to bring down costs and increase profits for smallholder rice farmers -and one way to do this is by helping farmers make effective use of fertilizer. For production systems such as irrigated rice, where using fertilizer correctly can make a big difference in productivity and profitability, information and communications technology can provide farmers with timely site-specific advice on managing their crop.One such innovation is 'Nutrient Manager', a simple software package that gives farmers or extension workers pre-season and location-specific fertilizer recommendations that can be run on a mobile phone. Since its debut in the Philippines in 2011 and subsequent release in Indonesia in 2012, the Nutrient Manager for Rice Mobile has been providing rice farmers with specific advice on fertilizer for a particular rice field either by mobile phone or smartphone, or by internet. In 2012, a smartphone app, NMRiceApp, was also released in the Philippines.\"The Nutrient Manager is so fast and easy to understand.\" NMRiceApp, the smartphone equivalent, tends to be used more by extension workers with access to such phones -but it asks the same questions and gives the same result.NMRiceMobile and NMRiceApp put into practice the principles of site-specific nutrient management for rice that have been well established after more than a decade of research in Asia's major rice-\"The application is highly adaptable. We already have the web-based version in advanced testing. We can adapt that for a tablet or a smartphone, and we can move toward a cellphonebased short message service (SMS), like the one that already works well in the Philippines.\"growing areas. The knowledge that underpins them is also available in an online decision-making tool named Nutrient Manager for Rice, which is tailored to the rice-growing conditions of the specific country.In Indonesia, farmers in all provinces increased their rice yields and net income when switching from their current fertilizer practice to the practice recommended by NMRiceMobile. In most cases, the increase in net income for farmers exceeded US$100 per hectare per season. Indonesia has about 15 million rice farmers. If just a small proportion of these farmers adopt the recommendations it would correspond with a significant overall rise in farmer incomes, food security, and considerable national economic benefits.Farmers in Africa will soon have access to similar advice. CGIAR's Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) and its partners have conducted more than 300 fertilizer management trials since the 1990s, and have developed decision support systems for fertilizer recommendations. Databases drawing on this work and updated rice 'passport' data -the standard descriptors that characterize rice cultivars -as well as recent field observations, have been used to adapt the Nutrient Manager to West Africa.The Nutrient Manager has been calibrated for Senegal, and the application is currently being developed for other countries. In small-scale evaluations, Senegalese farmers who followed the recommendations of Nutrient Manager registered a yield increase of 1.9 tons per hectare or 35% compared to farmers' own practices, translating into an increase in net profitability of US$600 per hectare per year.However, the Nutrient Manager is not an end product, and requires further improvement including adding other crop management practices apart from nutrient management and choice of fertilizer types.Looking ahead, AfricaRice and its national partners will develop new decision support systems beyond the Nutrient Manager to address other concerns of farmers, in collaboration with partners in GRiSP.Improving nutrition and healthHelen Keller -founder of one of CGIAR's partner organizations, Helen Keller International (HKI)would have approved of leveraging and enhancing the synergies between agriculture, nutrition, and health to improve the wellbeing of poor people, especially women and young children. The idea jells with her philosophy that joint efforts can achieve much more than individual efforts.The CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH), which is led by CGIAR's International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), works with key players in three areas that will make a difference to the nutrition and health of poor people, particularly women and children: making more nutritious and safer foods accessible to the underprivileged; integrating agriculture, nutrition, and health in development programs; and promoting, enabling, and supporting cross-sectoral policies and investment in health and nutrition. The research issues in the three areas are complex and span value chains, crops, diseases associated with agriculture, and development policies and programs. This means partnering across sectors and with a variety of players with different expertise.The partnership between IFPRI and HKI is a model of successful cooperation between researchers and an international NGO heavily involved in development programs on the ground. The collaboration between IFPRI and HKI, set to strengthen as A4NH gets fully under way, represents the kind of relationship that is critical to improving the nutrition and health of poor people and, more broadly, to reducing poverty, increasing food security, and managing natural resources more sustainably.\"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.\"Helen Keller (1880-1968), Founder Helen Keller International networks, part of the evaluation, will also be helpful. They will provide information on how HKI's behavior change communications strategy has influenced women's health, improved their knowledge, and made a difference to children's nutrition. Documenting the success of these programs is critical to establish a body of scientific proof that small-scale agricultural programs improve nutrition, economic growth, and health. HKI is working with IFPRI in a number of countries to help build this evidence base.The findings of evaluations will be used to help plan further HKI homestead food production programs in Cambodia, Burkina Faso, and elsewhere. This type of partnership is an example of how development programs and researchers can work together to improve program design and implementation, and to optimize the potential for impact. Each contributes, according to their own area of expertise, to collecting rigorous evidence about the impact of programs, and explaining how and why impacts were achieved or not achieved.nutrition of mothers and children. The resulting 'program impact pathways', as they are called, show where and how programs could be modified or strengthened for a greater impact, and what might be helping or hindering their success. They also help IFPRI to design better ways to evaluate programs. In 2012, A4NH and CARE evaluated processes and undertook endline surveys to measure program impact in Burkina Faso. The evaluations over the next 2-5 years will provide the evidence needed to jointly develop the impact pathways and theory of change.Partnerships between researchers and those running development programs to provide evidence of what works and what does not are important because little has been done to date in this regard. In Burkina Faso, IFPRI and HKI did the first rigorous evaluation of a homestead food production program. HKI put some of the recommendations into practice straight away. The findings of a census of socialSustainably managing natural resourcesThe Zambezi River basin is a food basket for the landlocked southern African nation of Zambia. The river and surrounding floodplains support agriculture, fisheries, and livestock. Around three million people -a quarter of Zambia's populationdirectly rely on the Barotse Floodplain aquatic agricultural system for their livelihoods.Despite the natural potential of this dynamic wetland system, life for its inhabitants is beset with poverty and hardship. More than four out of five people live below the poverty line, over half of children under the age of 5 years are stunted, and HIV prevalence has risen by 2% over the past 5 years while the national rate has declined in the same period.The Barotse Floodplain exemplifies the challenges and opportunities faced by communities dependent on Africa's inland wetlands. Low agricultural productivity, poor infrastructure, and poorly developed agricultural value chains mean that Barotse communities are unable to tap into the growing market for rice, fish, and livestock products in the region.The CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) aims to tackle these issues head-on through research that accelerates learning and brings together the combined knowledge of users, government, and civil society organizations. Since 2011, the AAS Program has been working in five countries across Africa, Asia, and the Pacific to raise agricultural and fish production, and expand the markets for produce in the regions. Zambia's Barotse Floodplain was selected early in the planning stage of the Program as one of three areas to focus on, along with Cambodia and the Solomon Islands. Working directly with local communities ensures that the Program fully considers community concerns and culture when designing and implementing activities. This participatory approach helps communities become custodians and beneficiaries of the natural resources on which they rely. As part of this ongoing process, the Program has empowered community members to tell their stories through a series of short films. These films provide a unique insight into the varied and interconnected issues that face the people of the Barotse Floodplain; their testimonies reinforce the need for a systems-based approach to development in the region.\"The Netherlands is proud to be a long-standing partner of the CGIAR, given that sustained investment in high-level research is an important first step in generating innovations that improve the livelihoods of poor smallholder farmers, fishers, and foresters. With current reforms and diverse partnerships, the CGIAR, a proven contributor to public knowledge on agricultural science and technology, is strongly positioned to continue to be relevant.\" CGIAR is committed to reducing the gender gap in agriculture and ensuring that research benefits and empowers rural women and meets the needs of poor female farmers. As part of recent reforms, we have redoubled efforts in this respect, knowing that we will not achieve lasting impact unless we take gender disparities into account in all aspects of our work. 2012 saw important steps forward in ensuring that research outputs and evidence have positive impacts on gender outcomes. The Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index, launched in 2012, measures the empowerment, agency, and inclusion of women in the agriculture sector in developing countries, helping to identify ways to overcome those obstacles and constraints. The Index is a significant innovation in its field and aims to increase understanding of the connections between women's empowerment, food security, and agricultural growth. The Index is a partnership between the US Government's Feed the Future initiative, USAID, IFPRI, and OPHI of Oxford University.\"An empowered person is someone who has the power to decide -to say, if they have land, 'well, I can go farm, I can grow crops, I can plant seeds'or if they have animals, to say, 'I can sell them without going to ask permission.' This is a person who has the power to decide about their things, their life, their actions.\" In response to significant gaps and challenges in governance that came to light in 2012, the CGIAR Consortium and Fund Council jointly commissioned a review of corporate governance, to be undertaken in 2013, seizing the opportunity to strengthen management and leadership across the entire system. Improving governance is an issue of great strategic importance for CGIAR and is critical to reaping the promises of reform, a more effective and efficient system, high-quality scientific work, and CGIAR's ability to achieve impact on the ground.Poor rural communities in developing countries face mounting challenges to agricultural development and food security. Tackling these challenges requires significant resources and long-term financing for sophisticated programs. Thanks to the support and contributions from our valued investors, who share our commitment to eradicating poverty, hunger, and malnutrition, CGIAR is making progress with new initiatives and innovations for the benefit of smallholder farmers, fishers, and foresters. We are extremely grateful to all of our funders, who make this work possible, and we will continue to strive to be more efficient, collaborative, and impact-oriented so that together we can truly transform the lives of the poor. In 2012, financial support for CGIAR continued to grow at a strong rate, reflecting donors' confidence in CGIAR's ability to tackle global food-security challenges and develop a range of innovations in agriculture on behalf of the world's poorest people. Despite global economic distress, funding for CGIAR increased dramatically between 2008 and the end of 2012, from US$531 million to US$860 million (see Figure 1). With a 21% increase in funding of US$147 million, 2012 also marked the single largest annual increase in funding in CGIAR's history. This level of growth is particularly noteworthy considering the continuing fiscal difficulties experienced by many of our donors.Since 2008, total funding has increased by almost 62% (US$329 million), an average annual increase of over 15%. In the decade prior to reform (1998-2007), the average growth rate in funding was 4.8%. This growth demonstrates sustained donor confidence in and support for the reforms, including CGIAR's commitment to a resultsoriented approach to research. It also contributes to steady progress toward the goal of reaching funding of US$1 billion in 2013 in order to strengthen the portfolio of CGIAR Research Programs and further advance CGIAR's mission.The increase in overall funding is just one indicator that the reform process is bearing fruit. The growth in contributions to CGIAR's multi-donor trust fund is perhaps an even better indicator of donors' commitment to key aspects of the reform. Launched in December 2010, the CGIAR Fund was established to provide reliable and predictable multi-year funding and thereby enable research planning over the long term, resource allocation based on agreed priorities, and the timely and predictable disbursement of funds. From 2011 to 2012, contributions received through the Fund increased by 33%, growing from US$384 million to US$512 million. That, together with US$127 million carried over from 2011, resulted in a total of US$639 million available for distribution, as indicated in Table 1 below. US$458 million was disbursed during the year, so the Fund had a balance of US$181 million at the end of 2012. The high balance remained because many grants were received by the Fund late in 2012 and, consequently, could not be disbursed before the end of the year. Of the total US$458 disbursed, US$325 million was via Windows 1 and 2, and US$133 million was via Window 3.Figure 2 illustrates the monthly cash flow and Fund balance during 2012, indicating how the disbursements are affected by the pace of receipts in the Fund during the year. The Fund is able to attenuate the effects of the pattern of donor contributions, the majority of which are received in the last quarter of the year, through carrying over funds from the previous year to support funding requests during the first 6 months of the current year.   \"The Netherlands has demonstrated tremendous leadership not only in making the most significant multiyear contribution to the CGIAR Fund to date, but also in choosing to provide its support in the form of unrestricted aid, evidence of the multilateral approach in action. … Contributions like this enable the CGIAR to invest in big ideas for big impact. We hope that other partners are inspired by the Netherlands' example.\"  As illustrated in Figure 3, the increase in CGIAR revenue is clearly driven by the increase in contributions through the CGIAR Fund. From 2011 to 2012, the Fund's share of total CGIAR revenue grew from 28 to 41%, evidence of increasing interest in a multilateral approach to funding. In terms of untied aid, Windows 1 and 2 together accounted for 25% of total revenue in 2011 and 32% of the total in 2012, indicating slow but steady progress towards one of the important goals of reform. Personnel costs as a percentage of total CGIAR costs have decreased significantly from 43% in 2011 to 36% in 2012, while supplies and services have increased from 30 to 35%. From 2011 to 2012, partnership expenditures only increased by 1%, from 16 to 17%. However, the share of partnership expenditures relative to total costs is noticeably up from a historical average of 4%, clearly demonstrating a change in the modus operandi of CGIAR. Expenditures in 2012 are shown in Figure 5.  The 2012 finances confirm strong and sustained donor commitment to the CGIAR system, with an increasing amount of funding being channeled through the Fund and targeted at CGIAR Research Programs. This increased financial commitment by investors reflects confidence in key elements of the reform, including a more efficient and effective approach to both governance and research, with a focus on results, and clear lines of accountability across the system. Through the reform process, CGIAR has embraced a new approach that is centered on innovative ways to pursue scientific work and the funding it requires. It is bringing donors together for better results and enabling scientists to concentrate more on the research through which they develop and deliver big ideas for big impact. As a result, CGIAR is well on course to reach its US$1 billion goal in 2013 and achieve greater impact in the lives of the poor in developing countries.In 2012, the Centers' total revenue was US$844.4 million, of which they implemented or spent US$833.9 million, leaving a surplus of US$11 million. A breakdown of individual Centers' surplus and deficits is shown in Table 5."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d6ae5c44fea51e2a8d576162eb69990e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/52993174-8aeb-44ad-92fd-67aff8e42815/retrieve","id":"-935493552"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"edad69ae-dd94-411f-8182-d2347e00a111","content":"Losses: When things are irreversibly lost and cannot be repaired or recovered, e.g. Loss of income, loss of food security, loss of land from rising sea levels or salination Damages: When things are damaged and require costs to repair, e.g. Boats, homes, roads, hopitals damaged by floods Economic loss and damage: Losses and damages to which a cost can be attributed, e.g. Loss of income, cost of rebuilding homes and hospitalsCommunity assets not usually associated with economic benefits, e.g. Religious or sacred sites, community support systems and social networks, mental health Rapid onset disasters: e.g. Cyclones, floods, droughts Slow onset events: e.g. Rising sea levels, desertification, salination Climate impacts that cause loss and damage Who is most harmed?• Mostly countries and communities who have done little to cause the crisis• Developing countries -mostly (but not only) small island states, least developed countries, African nations• Economies heavily dependent on agriculture• V20 analysis that climate impacts have reduced wealth by 20% over the last 20 years.• Climate impacts exacerbate existing inequalities and cast a long shadow through cuts in public services, affecting:• People living in poverty• Marginalised communities• Youth• Women and girlsWomen and girls disproportionately affected:• 80% of people displaced by climate disasters are women• Women and children 14 x as likely to die from disasters• Half (or more) of agricultural workforce in Asia + sub-Saharan Africa• Burdens: water, firewood, food production, childcare, exhaustion• Barriers: lack of access to land, literacy, services, information, support, markets, finance, decisionmaking spaces"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f2df431771b678abe29bba6bb487c90e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/0108ee7f-7e71-415f-9159-feeb4a500aa1/content","id":"-966730968"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2634890b-fd6d-43bf-8c44-5ae012657ad2","content":"Understanding yield responses to nutrient application is a key input for extension advice and strategic agricultural investments in developing countries. A commonly used model for yield responses to nutrient inputs in tropical smallholder farming systems is QUEFTS (QUantitative Evaluation of the Fertility of Tropical Soils). While QUEFTS has a strong conceptual foundation, a key assumption is that nutrients are the only limiting factors. One implication of this is the required assumption of 'perfect management'. This may be problematic in the application of QUEFTS in smallholder farming systems with a wide variety of yield limiting factors.In a previous study, QUEFTS was calibrated using farm trials in two major maize production zones in Nigeria. To reduce observed variability in correlations between estimated soil nutrient (N, P, K) supply and soil parameters (e.g. soil organic carbon, soil pH; step 1 of QUEFTS) a Mahalanobis distance method was used to remove data points not adhering to expected correlations. In this study, we assessed an alternative approach: can the QUEFTS model be adapted to fit smallholder farming systems and associated variation in management? Using 676 observations from the same nutrient omission trials in two major maize production zones in Nigeria, we compare a standard linear regression approach with a quantile regression approach to calibrate QUEFTS.We find that under the standard linear regression approach, there is a poor relation between predicted and observed yields. Using quantile regression, however, QUEFTS performed better at predicting attainable yieldsdefined as the 90th percentile of observed yieldsunder a wide variety of production conditions. Our results indicate that using quantile regression as a way to predict attainable yields, is a useful alternative implementation of QUEFTS in smallholder farming systems with high variability in management and other characteristics.With cereal yield levels around 1 t ha − 1 , crop productivity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is low in comparison with other regions (Ehui and Pender, 2005;FAO, 2019). Current yields are only 15-27 % of the water-limited potential yield (van Ittersum et al., 2016), which is the achievable yield when water supply is the only limiting factor (Van Ittersum et al., 2013). Given the anticipated increase in population growth and food demand, significant improvements in SSA's productivity are required (van Ittersum et al., 2016). There is consensus that increased use of inorganic fertiliser inputs will be required for such productivity gains (World Bank, 2005;Holden, 2018;Sanchez, 2002;ten Berge et al., 2019;Wanzala-Mlobela et al., 2013), as current fertiliser use levels in SSA are low (Banful et al., 2010;Jayne and Rashid, 2013;Morris et al., 2007;Sheahan and Barrett, 2014) with 16.2 kg fertiliser per ha in 2016 (World Bank, 2019).Despite this consensus, increased fertiliser application does not always translate into increased yields. Responses to fertiliser application vary considerably in practice. In a meta-analysis on the agronomic nitrogen use efficiency (N-AE) of inorganic fertiliser across SSA, the average N-AE for maize was found to be 18 kg additional grain yield per kg N applied (in dry weight; Ichami et al., 2019). Variation from this average value is large with observed N-AE values in the field ranging from negative up to 50 kg grain kg N − 1 (ten Berge et al., 2019;Vanlauwe et al., 2011).The variable responses to fertiliser application in SSA are often attributed to different levels of inherent soil fertility and management (Njoroge et al., 2019(Njoroge et al., , 2017;;Ojiem et al., 2014;Vanlauwe et al., 2011;Zingore et al., 2007). For example, soils that are very low in organic matter content show a lower fertiliser response than soils with a higher organic matter content (Marenya and Barrett, 2009;Tittonell and Giller, 2013;Zingore et al., 2007). Other soil parameters found to correlate with fertiliser response are soil pH (Burke et al., 2017;Ichami et al., 2019), soil texture (Burke et al., 2017), exchangeable K and P-Olsen (Ichami et al., 2019).Site-specific fertiliser recommendations have been proposed to account for the variation in yield responses by optimizing fertiliser use based on specific soil conditions (Dobermann et al., 2002). One manner to provide such site-specific fertiliser recommendations is using fertiliser response models such as QUEFTS (QUantative Evaluation of the Fertility of Tropical Soils). The QUEFTS model predicts yield based on soil parameters and fertiliser inputs (Janssen et al., 1990;Smaling and Janssen, 1993). In QUEFTS, a number of equations link soil parameters to soil nutrient (N, P, K) supply, fertiliser recovery, nutrient uptake and grain yields (Fig. 1). In step 1, soil parameters (soil organic matter, pH, percentage clay, P-Olsen and K exch ) are linked to potential soil supply of N, P and K (Janssen et al., 1990;Smaling and Janssen, 1993). In steps 2-4, nutrient uptake and yield are estimated based on the calculated soil supply of N, P and K in step 1 and fertiliser application.The strength of QUEFTS lies in the manner in which it treats the response of the three macronutrients N, P and K: separately vis-à-vis their interactions. This enables the identification of locally optimal combinations of N, P and K fertiliser application rates. The QUEFTS model has gained widespread use within the scientific and agricultural community, mainly due to the limited amount of required input data (i. e., soil properties, fertiliser application rate and potential yield) and relative ease of use. With new geospatial data tools and larger access to open data, there is an increased demand for fertiliser response maps, based on models such as QUEFTS.The weakness of QUEFTS also lies within its design: QUEFTS predicts yields based on soil conditions and fertiliser application, under the condition that there are no other yield limiting factors (such as late planting, seed quality issues, occurrence of weeds, pests and diseases or issues such as soil compaction). In practice, especially in tropical smallholder farming systems, these limitations are widespread, even in researcher-managed or on-farm field trials. In Shehu et al. (2019), such yield data, limited by other factors than nutrients, was used to calibrate QUEFTS. To accommodate calibration, an outlier selection was performed based on expected correlations between soil characteristics and soil nutrient supply. We see two limitations of this approach: 1) Data point removal is based on hypothesized correlations (correlations which are then used in QUEFTS); and 2) variation in yield responses that smallholder farmers experience might be reduced.To circumvent these two limitations, in this study we recalibrated and validated QUEFTS using the same TAMASA nutrient omission trial (NOT) dataset for Nigeria while basing the outlier selection only on observed extremities in plant parameters and compared results with the Shehu et al. (2019) calibration. In addition, we used a quantile regression as an alternative approach to calibrate QUEFTS and predict attainable yields.The following sections concisely describe the QUEFTS model (Fig. 1), for a more elaborate explanation readers are referred to Janssen et al. (1990) and Smaling and Janssen (1993).In the first step of the QUEFTS model, soil nutrient supply of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) is calculated using four soil parameters: pH, soil OC, P-Olsen, and exchangeable K. Additional to the nutrient supply from the soil, nutrient supply from fertiliser application is calculated by adding a term that calculates the fertiliser recovery of applied fertilisers. Based on a number of trials in Kenya and Suriname, Janssen et al. (1990)  Where S N , S P and S K , are the soil nutrient supply of N, P and K in kg ha − 1 ; fN, fP, fK, are the pH correction factors of N, P and K supply, respectively (-); I N , I P , I K , are the nutrient inputs of N, P and K in terms of fertiliser application in kg ha − 1 ; R N , R P , R K , are the maximum recovery fractions for fertiliser N, P and K (-); orgC is soil OC in g kg − 1 ; P-Olsen is soil P-Olsen in mg kg − 1 ; K Exch is soil exchangeable K in mmol kg − 1 ; pH is soil pH.Eqs. 1-3 are used to calculate the soil nutrient supply and Eqs. 4-6 express the pH correction factors for Eqs. 1-3, respectively. The equations calibrated by Janssen et al. (1990) apply to soils with a pH from 4.5 to 7 and a maximum soil OC, P-Olsen and exchangeable K below 70 g kg − 1 , 30 mg kg − 1 and 30 mmol kg − 1 , respectively. Smaling and Janssen (1993) recalibrated QUEFTS using different parameters in the equations for nutrient supply prediction. N supply was predicted based on the organic soil N, temperature and clay percentage. P supply was predicted based on total P, soil OC and pH. K supply was predicted based on exchangeable K and soil OC.Step 2 of QUEFTS quantifies the relation between potential soil nutrient supply and actual N, P and K uptake. QUEFTS assumes that the uptake of one nutrient is limited by the uptake of another nutrient. In the case of N, N uptake is limited by P uptake and by K uptake. This results in two N uptake estimates, namely one for the nutrient combination NP and one for the nutrient combination NK. In confirmation with the law of the minimum, QUEFTS takes the lowest of the two N uptake estimates for further calculations. P and K uptake are calculated in the same way (Janssen et al., 1990).For the calculation of nutrient uptake, three defining curves can be described on the relation between the potential supply of a given nutrient and the actual uptake of the given nutrient (I,II and III). Here we explain these for N, but it equally applies to P and K. In curve I, potential N supply is relatively low compared to potential supply of P or K. As a result, N will be diluted to the maximum in the crop. In this situation, potential N supply is assumed to be equal to the actual N uptake (U N = S N ; Sattari et al., 2014). In curve III potential N supply is relatively high compared to the potential supply of P or K. N uptake will be limited by the amount of P or K taken up (U P = S P ; U K = S K ). In this situation, N will be accumulated to the maximum. Curve II is an integration of a regression between the extremes of curves I and III.In step 3 of QUEFTS, nutrient uptake is converted into maize yield. For each nutrient (N,P,K) a yield estimate is calculated for maximum accumulation and dilution of that nutrient within the crop. This results in 6 yield estimates. It is important that the yield range of a certain nutrient combination does not exceed the maximum yield given the uptake of the third nutrient and that the estimated yield remains lower than the potential yield for a given site. The potential yield should thus be estimated prior to running the QUEFTS model. For this study we assumed a potential yield of 10 t ha − 1 , based on mean annual precipitation (Shehu et al., 2019). Lastly, the minimum requirement for establishing maize yield is an uptake of 5 kg N ha − 1 , 0.4 kg P ha − 1 and kg K ha − 1 , as lower uptake of nutrients will not result in any yield. The boundary lines for a minimum and maximum yield for a given nutrient uptake estimated in this step are crop dependent (Antwi et al., 2017;Janssen et al., 1990;Setiyono et al., 2010;Shehu et al., 2019;Smaling and Janssen, 1993).In step 4 of QUEFTS, the final step, one yield estimate is predicted by averaging the 6 yield estimates calculated in step 3 (section 2.1.3).Our study area covers the main maize producing areas of northern Nigeria − Kano, Kaduna and Katsina states − which together are characterized by two agroecological zones (AEZs), the Sudan Savanna (SS) and the Northern Guinea Savanna (NGS) (Fig. 2). SS has a drier climate and received 600− 800 mm of rain annually in 2015 and 2016. Precipitation in NGS was 900− 1500 mm annually in 2015 and 2016. In both AEZs the rainy season lasts from May to September. May and October are the hottest months with a maximum temperature between 35 and • C and a minimum temperature between 20 and 25 • C. January and August are the coldest months with a maximum temperature around 30-35 • C and a minimum temperature around 15 • C. Soils in the area are haplic Acrisols, haplic Luvisols and haplic Vertisols (ISRIC, 2018). For a more detailed description of the study area the reader is referred to Shehu et al. (2018).The data set for this study was obtained from NOTs conducted in and 103 fields in the 2015 and 2016 rainy seasons, respectively (Fig. 2). In 2015 the fields were located in 10 different districts, while in fields were spread over 14 different districts. The sampling frame was designed to be representative of the variation in soils and other biophysical production characteristics across the area of interest, including soils and agroecological variation.In each field, NOTs were installed with six different treatments. The treatments included a control treatment where no nutrients were applied to the soil, treatments where PK, NK and NP were applied and thus respectively N, P and K were omitted, a NPK treatment with all nutrients applied and a NPK + micronutrients treatment where NPK and micronutrients (S, Ca, Mg, Zn & B) were added to the soil. Yield data from the NPK + micronutrients treatment was not used in this study. In NGS, N was applied at a rate of 140 kg ha − 1 applied in three equal split applications at planting, 21 and 42 days after emergence. In SS, N was applied in three equal split applications at a rate of 120 kg ha − 1 . P and K were applied at planting at a rate of 50 kg ha − 1 in NGS and 40 kg ha − 1 in SS. Fertiliser treatments were sufficient to reach a potential maize yield of 10 t ha − 1 in NGS and 8 t ha − 1 in SS.Plots in the research-managed trial sites had a size of 5 * 6 m and were prepared by mechanical tillage before planting. Planting was done with a spacing of 0.75 m in the inter-row and 0.25 m in the row resulting in a plant density of 53,333 plants ha − 1 after thinning. Manual weeding was done at least twice during the season. At each location an open pollinated maize (OPV) variety and a hybrid variety were planted, resulting in 12 treatments in total at each trial site. The OPV variety used in NGS and SS matures in 105-110 days and 90-95 days respectively. For hybrids the same variety was used in NGS and SS but differed for 2015 and 2016. The variety used in 2015 matures in 105-110 days and the variety used in 2016 matures in 105-118 days.In every site four soil samples were taken from the 0− 20 cm upper soil layer before fertilisers were applied. Soil samples were taken in a zig-zag pattern and thoroughly mixed to create one mixed soil sample and thus one soil measurement per farm. Soil analyses were carried out in the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) lab in Nigeria. Soil organic carbon was measured with a modified Walkley and Black method (Heanes, 1984). Total nitrogen was assessed with the micro-Kjeldahl digestion method (Bremner, 1996) and the concentration was measured colorimetrically using N-autoanalyzer (Technicon autoanalyzer II, SEAL Analytical Inc, Mequon, WI, USA). Available phosphorus, available sulphur, exchangeable cations (K, Ca, Mg, and Na) and micronutrients (Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn and B) were assessed with the Mehlich-3 extraction procedure (Mehlich, 1984). A glass electrode pH meter was used to measure soil pH in a soil: water ratio of 1:1. The method by Gee and Or (2002) was used to assess the particle size distribution. For descriptive statistics of soil parameters readers are referred to (Shehu et al., 2018(Shehu et al., , 2019)).From each 5 * 6 m plot, the middle 3 * 3 m maize was harvested at physiological maturity for crop cut measurements. Plant density, cob count, total cob weight and stover fresh weight were recorded. Shelling percentage and grain moisture content were measured from a smaller set of randomly selected cobs (5 in 2015 and 10 in 2016) to calculate dry grain weight from the total fresh cob weight. Grain yield was expressed in 15 % moisture content. From the stover, five stalks were randomly selected and oven-dried to constant weight at 60 • C to measure moisture content. In 2015, this procedure did not go as planned. From the correctly measured stalks an average moisture content of 52 % was used to convert stover weight into dry weight. The dried grain and stover samples were also used to assess N, P and K content in the grain and stalks. Nitrogen (N) content was digested using micro-Kjeldahl digestion method (Bremner, 1996) and the concentration determined colorimetrically using autoanalyzer (Technicon autoanalyzer II, SEAL Analytical Inc, Mequon, WI, USA). P and K concentrations were measured with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES, Optima 80, Winlab 5.5, PerkinElmer Inc., Waltham, MA, USA) after digestion with nitric acid (HNO 3 ). Shehu et al (2019) The total Nigeria TAMASA NOT data set contained 1825 observations. Of these, 455 observations contained missing values in at least one of the measured parameters and were omitted from analysis in the previous study by Shehu et al. (2019) as well as in our study.Following, in Shehu et al. (2019) a Mahalanobis Distance outlier selection was performed on the whole dataset to discard multivariate outliers (n = 219) and separately again for the calibration of each supply function for N, P and K (n = 216). Hence, in total 434 data points out of 1370 observations were removed from the analysis in Shehu et al. (2019). A Mahalanobis Distance outlier selection can be used to filter out unusual combinations of variables. Such a combination could for instance be a field with a high amount of available P in the soil and a very low yield. However, QUEFTS also uses available P as one of the variables used to predict yield. In this case, the outlier selection influences the equation that is to be calibrated or parameterized. Moreover, the observed variation in expected correlations between soil characteristics and nutrient supply might have valid reasons, such as heterogeneity in management of the farmers' fields.As an alternative approach, in our study, outliers were only removed based on extremities observed in plant parameters that could potentially influence observed relations strongly. Plant parameter observations were removed based on standardized residual values of a linear mixed effects model larger than -4 or 4 (n = 52) (an approach similar to Ronner et al. ( 2016)). For the soil parameters there was no reason to assume any incorrect measurements. In total 1318 observations were left for data analysis.For calibration purposes, trial sites were selected where within the same field and for one variety, yield and soil data was available for the four treatments with nutrient application (PK, NK, NP and NPK treatment) (n = 676). A total of 169 complete trials (field * variety) were found and included in the calibration exercise. Of these 169 complete trials, 84 were from OPV and 85 from hybrids. Eleven fields were located in SS and 158 fields in NGS. Forty complete trials were from 2015 and 129 from 2016. The other data points were used for validation. Of those 676 osbervations used for calibration, d data from the control plots (n = 154) wereere not used for calibration and were excluded from the analysis.No distinction was made between OPV and hybrid as the varieties responded similarly to nutrient application and had a similar harvest index (Shehu et al., 2018(Shehu et al., , 2019)). Data from the two different years were pooled for analysis. The fields measured in 2016 were different from those measured in 2015 and it was thus not possible to form a panel. In the analysis of soil nutrient supply against soil parameters (step 1 of QUEFTS) no distinction was made for AEZ. The main reason for this was that ideally one model calibration should be made for the whole dataset. A practical reason was that few data points from SS remained after data preparation.For running QUEFTS with Janssen et al. (1990) parameters, P-Olsen is needed. In this study P-Mehlich was measured. P-Olsen was approximated by dividing P-Mehlich values by three (Onduru and Du Preez, 2007).First, soil nutrient supply of N, P and K and recovery of applied N, P and K were estimated for each trial location (Sections 2.3.1 and 2.3.2). Then, two different methods were used to calibrate the first step of QUEFTS: (1) Nutrient supply was correlated to soil parameters using standard linear regression, a standard procedure to calibrate QUEFTS; and (2) boundary lines of nutrient supply were correlated to soil parameters using quantile regression, as an alternative approach to calibrate QUEFTS (Sections 2.3.3 and 2.3.4). We used quantile regression instead of the upper limits of the prediction intervals resulting from the standard linear regression, because the slopes of the quantile regression lines behaved differently than the slopes of the standard linear regression. Hence, quantile regression resulted in the best regression estimates for the best performing fields.Based on significant correlations found in the mentioned analyses, two sets of soil supply functions were computed. One set of functions was computed for the calibration with standard linear regression and one set of functions for the calibration using quantile regression. Finally, for both methods Step 2-4 of the QUEFTS model were followed to complete the model calibration (Section 2.3.5).For both methods, potential soil nutrient supply was derived from the measured nutrient uptake in the treatment where that specific nutrient was omitted. As such, it was assumed that the potential soil N supply was equal to the measured N uptake by the plants in the PK treatment. Similarly, the supply of P and K were derived from the measured P and K uptake in the NK and NP treatment respectively. Hereby we assumed that the availability of the two applied nutrients was high enough to ensure that the omitted nutrient was limiting and uptake was thus maximal. In the following sections we will use the term apparent nutrient supply to indicate that we used measured nutrient uptake as an estimate of the nutrient supply of the soil.In some cases, nutrient uptake in the nutrient omitted treatment plot was lower than nutrient uptake in the corresponding control plot. These cases were not excluded from the analysis as this was assumed to be due to random errors. We assume that these random errors exist in all fields. Therefore, removing only the cases where nutrient uptake in the nutrient omitted treatment plot is lower than in the control plot would lead to a positive uptake bias.In this study, nutrient recovery of applied fertilisers (N, P or K) was calculated as the difference in nutrient uptake between a plot receiving NPK and a plot where the specific nutrient was omitted, divided by the amount of the given nutrient applied in the NPK treatment (Eq. 7). For example, for N, this means the difference in N uptake between a plot receiving NPK and a plot receiving PK, divided by the amount of N applied. Similarly, P and K recovery of applied fertilisers were calculated from the difference in nutrient uptake between the NPK and NK and NPK and NP treatment, respectively.Where R i is the recovery fraction of nutrient i (N, P or K) (-); U i NPK is the uptake of nutrient i in the NPK treatment in kg ha − 1 ; U i j is the uptake of nutrient i in the omission treatment j (PK, NK or NP) in kg ha − 1 ; I i is the nutrient input rate of nutrient i in kg ha − 1 .First, apparent nutrient supply and recovery fractions of N, P and K were plotted against different soil parameters to visually check and understand the correlations between apparent nutrient supply or recovery and soil parameters. A linear mixed effects model (Eq. 8) was used to test whether relations were significant. Correlations were considered significant at p < 0.05. Year and district were added as random variables, whereby districts were nested within years. Analysis was performed with the 'nlme' package in R version 3.4.3.Where S i is the apparent nutrient supply, of nutrient i in kg ha − 1 ; where soil property ij is one or more of the measured soil properties j used to estimate the apparent supply of nutrient i.Initially, recovery fractions of N, P and K were related against soil parameters, but no significant relations were found (data not shown). Therefore, only average recovery fractions of N, P and K were computed with a linear mixed effects model. (Eq. 9).2.3.4. Adapting QUEFTS: relating nutrient supply to soil parameters using quantile regression Given the heterogeneity in management of smallholder farmers, chances are high that the assumption of no yield limiting factors other than nutrient limitation was violated in farmers' fields. As an alternative option, a quantile regression was performed to estimate boundary lines of maximum potential soil supply of N, P and K for given levels of soil parameters. The 'quantreg' package in R version 3.4.3 was used to draw boundary lines through the 90 th percentile. The quantile regressions were also run for different quantiles to check if slopes changed for different quantiles. For N and K this was not the case. For P there were two points having a large influence on the shape of the curve. These two points were therefore not taken into account in the boundary analysis. ANOVA was used to test significance of the quantile regression lines. Average recovery fractions of N, P and K applied were estimated using standard linear regression.For QUEFTS calibration, the relationships between potential nutrient supply and soil parameters in a specific region needs to be quantified (step 1). Step 2 to 4 are mainly plant dependent and often do not need further calibration. Therefore, the parameters as described by Shehu et al. (2019) were used for step 2 to 4. The calibration parameters adopted from Shehu at al. (2019) include the boundary lines of physiological or internal efficiency in kg grain kg − 1 nutrient of 32 and 79 for N, 164 and 528 for P, and 24 and 136 for K. Maximum attainable yield was set at 10 t ha − 1 for NGS and 8 t ha − 1 for SS.Validation data (n = 488) was taken from all fields where one or more values were missing. This provided sufficient data to validate the recalibrated versions of the QUEFTS model. QUEFTS was run with soil data and yield data using four sets of step 1 equations: (1) the original QUEFTS equations (Janssen et al., 1990); (2) equations previously calibrated on the Nigeria NOT data using standard linear regression (Shehu et al., 2019); (3) equations calibrated on the Nigeria NOT data using standard linear regression in this study; (4) equations calibrated on the Nigeria NOT data using quantile regression. Equation set 2 was found by using a Mahalanobis Distance outlier selection method. Equation sets 3 and 4 were found using an outlier removal based on plant parameters. Following, yield estimates were compared with observed yields for each location.Models based on standard linear regression (sets 1-3) were compared for best fit with the root mean square error (RMSE, calculated as the square root of the mean squared difference between observed and predicted values). The model based on equation set 4 was considered valid if the predicted boundary yield line was similar to the measured yield for the 0.9 quantile. It was not possible to use any direct measure to compare the models based on sets 1-3 to the model based on set 4 because they are calibrated in different ways.Observed and predicted boundary lines are indicative of maximum yield, but do not provide insights into observed variation. Therefore, we attempted to explain part of the variation in yield below the observed and predicted boundary line, using supplemental data. In both years, plant density at harvest was measured. It was evaluated whether plant density, as a proxy for suboptimal management, could be used to explain part of the yield variation.In the original QUEFTS equations, calibrated on field data from Kenya (Janssen et al., 1990), soil N supply is linearly correlated with soil OC and soil pH (Eq. 1). Alternatively, our data analysis showed no significant correlation between either soil OC or soil pH and apparent N supply (Fig. 3A and B). In our study, there was a significant correlation between silt + clay content and apparent N supply (slope = 0.55, p =   The range in apparent N supply was however very large (Fig. 3C).For soil P supply, the original QUEFTS equations assume a linear correlation between soil P supply and soil OC and P-Olsen. Additionally, a pH correction factor with a parabolic optimum around a pH of 6 is used in the original QUEFTS equations to predict soil P supply. In this study, no correlation was observed between soil OC and apparent soil P supply (Fig. 4A). Based on our field data, a significant correlation was found between soil available P and apparent soil P supply, being dependent on the clay content of a soil (U P ~ clay content + soil P-Meh, random = 1 | year / district; Fig. 4B).Based on our field data, no significant correlations were found between apparent soil K supply and soil OC, soil pH or soil exchangeable K which are all considered in the original QUEFTS model (Fig. 5). For additional figures on apparent nutrient supply and soil parameters, readers are referred to appendix A.The average recovery fractions for N, P and K were 0.39, 0.13 and 0.14 (Fig. 6). The lowest observed N recovery was -0.3 and the highest N recovery was 1.2. Except for some outliers, P recovery ranged from -0.2 to 0.4 and the range for K recovery was from -2 to 2. Variation in nutrient recovery was clearly present. No significant correlations were observed between soil parameters (soil OC, soil texture, soil pH, soil N, soil P and soil exchangeable K) and nutrient recovery (data not shown).Based on significant correlations between apparent nutrient supply and soil properties with the mixed effects models, nutrient supply pre-diction equations were developed (Eqs. 10-12). Since for K no significant correlations were found, the average measured apparent K supply was used. A nutrient recovery term was added to all the three equations according to the QUEFTS model principle as earlier described, based on the average nutrient recovery fraction.S N = 24.2 + 0.55*(clayS p = 14.1 − 0.28*clay content + 0.23*P-Meh + I P *0.13 ( 11)3.2. Calibration of QUEFTS step 1 using quantile regressionThe boundary analysis for the 0.9 quantile showed that maximum apparent N supply increased with silt + clay content (y = 0.72 x + 51.9; Fig. 3C).When the quantile regression was performed for all data on apparent P supply and soil pH, a parabolic boundary line was found with a minimum apparent P supply with a pH less than 5 and a maximum around a pH of 7 (Fig. 4C). This relation was however counterintuitive and dependent on two outliers (Fig. 4C; two observations in the top right corner). When these two outliers were excluded, a quadratic boundary line was found with an optimum around a pH of 6 (y = -9.57 x 2 + 113.4 x -314.7). Therefore, this equation was used in the boundary model of QUEFTS. Additionally, quantile regression for the 0.9 quantile showed that maximum apparent P supply decreased with an increasing soil clay content (Fig. 4B) (-0.65 * clay content + 34.89). For the estimation of  apparent P supply, it was assumed that the lowest values of the two equations was equal to the maximum apparent P supply.Quantile regression showed that the maximum apparent K supply decreased with increasing soil OC (y = -5.5 x + 197), which is in line with the original QUEFTS assumption that K supply decreases with diminishing soil OC (Fig. 5B).No correlations were found between soil properties and maximum nutrient recovery using quantile regressions as was the case using method 1. Therefore, in method 2 a similar constant average fertiliser recovery rate was assumed regardless of soil properties.Based on the boundary lines, boundary equations were formulated that predicted maximum apparent nutrient supply . Similar to the standard linear regression equations a nutrient recovery term was added based on the average nutrient recovery fraction. None of the QUEFTS models in which step 1 was calibrated using standard linear regression showed good correlations between predicted and observed yields when validated with an independent data set (Fig. 7A,B,C). Between them, the newly found equations predicted yields relatively better, followed by the original QUEFTS equations and the version from Shehu et al. (2019) performed worst, albeit with small differences among them (RMSE 2.06, 2.52 and 2.94 respectively). In all three cases the regression line deviated substantially from the 1:1 line.The QUEFTS boundary model predicts the boundary or attainable yield (90 th percentile), shown as the red 1:1 line in Fig. 8. The observed 90 th percentile yield line (upper dotted line, Fig. 8) was very similar to the predicted 90 th percentile yield. This shows that the boundary line model was able to predict maximum yield accurately. The 50 th percentile showed that the median yield for farmers is more or less three tonnes per hectare less than the attainable yield, indicating a large range in yield responses under similar soil conditions where the measured biophysical soil factors alone were not able to explain yield variation. With biophysical factors, we specifically refer to the variables either tested for or included in the calibrated QUEFTS model (i.e., soil carbon, clay and silt content, soil pH, soil available P and soil exchangeable K) and potential water limited crop yields (which are dependent on climate).Considering the range of relevant biophysical factors included and the in-field observations on variations in management, we thus observe two types of variation in the analysis of yield responses: (1) variation on the x-axis which is defined by biophysical factors and (2) variation on the y-axis which is determined by farmer management (Fig. 8). Using plant density as an explanatory factor showed that most fields with plant densities lower than 60 % had yields below the 50 th percentile. Although plant density is only a single parameter on management, we derive that management related factors played a large role in the observed variation in yield response to fertiliser application and soil characteristics. For the relation between yield and plant density at harvest readers are referred to Appendix C.Our study indicates that under conditions of highly variable management (which are typical in tropical smallholder farming systems), QUEFTS may be most valuable as a predictor of attainable yield rather than average yield. We assume that the data used in this study -1318 observations from farmer-managed NOTs in northern Nigeriaare representative of the empirical variability in yield response to nutrient management within smallholder systems of the region (e.g. Njoroge et al., 2019Njoroge et al., , 2017;;Ojiem et al., 2014;Vanlauwe et al., 2011;Zingore et al., 2007). In this sense, our results are relevant for QUEFTS-based analysis elsewhere in Africa and other developing regions.More concretely, we show thatunder variable agronomic management conditionsthe current standard approach for training or calibrating QUEFTS, involving standard linear regression of conditional mean yield responses, is inferior to calibration approaches based on quantile regression of conditional responses at the 90 th percentile, which we use as a measure of attainable yield. A likely explanation is the underlying QUEFTS assumption on no other yield limiting factors than nutrients (Smaling and Janssen, 1993). This assumption is most likely at odds with the variability of plot-level conditions in SSA. Smallholder farming systems in Nigeria (and elsewhere) are characterized by a multitude of non-nutrient yield limiting factors, including pests, diseases, micro-climatic variability, and idiosyncratic management factors. Using planting density as an explanatory variable, part of the variation in observed yields for similar biophysical conditions could be explained. Causes of varying plant densities were not recorded for each field, but were, amongst other factors, caused by poor thinning, poor emergence due to drought and destruction by termites and other pests. Data validation approaches which ignore such non-nutrient yield limiting factors as sources of variability will be fundamentally challenged in predicting yield responses. We therefore argue that predicting attainable yields makes more sense than predicting yields in such conditions.For practical applications, we present an alternative approach to empirically calibrating QUEFTS, using quantile regression. This method gives relatively robust predictions of attainable yields (90 th percentile yields), after controlling for other biophysical factors. This makes intuitive sense, as the attainable yield conceptually corresponds to the yield one would attain after addressing other limiting factors. Additionally, this method can also be used to predict median yields (as shown in Fig. 8) or other percentiles, such as the 50 th percentile. These, in combination with attainable yields, can provide a farmer with a realistic range of yield responses to nutrients applied considering other yield limiting factors in addition to soil nutrients.Our findings are in contrast with results from (Shehu et al., 2019) based on the same data set. Shehu et al. (2019) found a good correlation between observed yields and predicted QUEFTS grain yields using standard linear regression for estimating indigenous soil nutrient's supply. However, in their analysis a Mahalanobis Distance outlier selection method was used to remove multivariate outliers (n = 434), aiming to reduce the variability in yield responses to soil parameters. Our study, in contrast, selects outliers based on observed extremities in plant parameters, taking the standardized residual size of a linear mixed model on plant parameters as a criterion (n = 52). In the latter case, fewer outliers are removed and more of the observed variation of yield responses remained in the dataset. More importantly, in this manner, no data is removed based on expected relationships between yield responses and co-variables.Other studies found similar challenges in explaining yield variability when only biophysical conditions were taken into account. For example, Ichami et al. (2019) conducted a meta-analysis using 71 studies aiming to identify factors that could help to adjust fertiliser recommendation to the biophysical environment. They concluded that in SSA soil pH, exchangeable K and soil texture together explained less than 33 % of the variation in fertiliser recovery. In Kenya, Njoroge et al. (2017) found strong spatial patterns for yield responses to N, P and K fertilizers. Six different clusters were identified with different types of responses. Between these clusters however, no differences in mean soil properties were observed. In an additional analysis, yield response variation was partly attributed due to difference in historical manure management (Njoroge et al., 2019).In the experimental set-up, a number of limitations occurred which could be improved in further studies. First, only one fertiliser rate was used in the field experiments, likely affecting the observed recovery as this depends partly on the level of nutrients applied (Zingore et al., 2007). Using a number of nutrient application levels, our recovery fractions could be validated for a wider range. This is especially relevant when considering current farming practices as fertiliser rates generally applied by farmers are lower than the amount of nutrients applied in our study (Liverpool-Tasie et al., 2017). Second, the experiments were conducted in two seasons, while a wider range of weather conditions could have assured a wider application of the boundary line model (Shepherd et al., 2018). This will be more important in very wet or very dry years as the conducted trials took place in relatively normal years, while potential crop yields might be strongly reduced in very dry years. Lastly, while unavoidable to the large scale of the study, multiple enumerators were used, potentially adding to the observed variation in fertiliser response (Vanlauwe et al., 2016).This study has been the first to estimate attainable maize yields based on biophysical factors such as soil OC, clay content, silt content and soil pH (Fig. 8). Even though attainable yields were predicted reasonably well based on biophysical factors, only partial explanation has been given for the causes in the variation of the remaining yield responses, as we were only able to include plant density as a factor in our analysis. This calls for further research into predicting crop yields under different limiting conditions. Other management factors could include sowing dates (Laux et al., 2010), weed and pest management or historic field management. If the previous season included manure use or cultivation of legumes, maize yields could have benefited from residual nutrient effects (Franke et al., 2018;Njoroge et al., 2019).One among many reasons proposed for the low levels of fertiliser usage in sub-Saharan Africa is the poor tailoring of fertiliser recommendations, which are agronomically and/or economically suboptimal. Raising fertiliser usage in the region will require, in part, better fertiliser recommendations which, in turn, will require more accurate assessments of likely yield responses in different locations and management contexts. The large uncertainty and variation in yield estimates observed in this study call for modest claims on potential for calibration and validation of yield response models such as QUEFTS, if only biophysical data is available.We show that, instead of predicting an expected response to a given fertiliser application in a certain field, an upper bound can be given of attainable yield, if farmers do everything else right in terms of other management. This latter option is a more cautious and sensible approach. Predicting attainable yields only, given certain soil conditions and fertiliser application, acknowledges the large variability observed in the field. However, this approach could easily be extended to predictions of yield responses at different levelse.g. the 25 th , 50 th or 75 th percentile of the yield distributionwhich may correspond to differing levels of farming ability and/or resource endowments that constrain management decisions. This opens up a flexible framework for generating context-specific fertiliser recommendations, compared to those which assume 'perfect management' and no limiting factors other than nutrient supply. Our proposed methodology may therefore support improvement of scenario analyses, foresight studies or economic cost benefit analyses on nutrient management in tropical smallholder farming systems. In the current era of rapidly emerging opportunities for digital agriculture in developing regions, the scope for improved fertiliser application recommendations to have impact at scale is increasing. Providing more realistic recommendations will enhance the return on investments for all stakeholders involved, especially in the long run.The data used in this analysis are freely available from CIMMYT's Dataverse repository (https://data.cimmyt.org), or upon request from the authors.  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8f7a8d6be8264b16341e460d90263d54","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a6f7ee31-06bf-42e9-b536-740b66eaf019/retrieve","id":"456808172"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"bb3eff80-d1b4-49a7-9617-581c57d33581","content":"India (ICAR) and Turkey (TAGEM), via allocations dedicated to partnerships under WHEAT. Bilateral funders supported programs and projects matched to WHEAT Flagship Projects (FPs) and Clusters of Activity (CoAs) with ca. $29. million. 2021 bilateral funder support will be documented in the WHEAT Annual Financial Report and in the CGIAR Financial Dashboards.Staple cereals will continue to play a critical role in global efforts towards food security, contributing nearly half of both daily calories and protein intake in low-and middle-income countries. In wheat and maize value chains in Africa and Asia, the stability and utilization dimension of food security merits increased research attention. Considerable benefits in yields and sustainability were found in integrated systems in sub-Saharan Africa, where maize, wheat, livestock production and agro-forestry were practiced together -see Table 10 (4430). In related, CRPindependent research, scientists found that the diffusion of modern crop varieties during the Green Revolution reduced infant mortality by 2.4-5.3% -implying significant health benefits from increases in agricultural productivity and improved varieties.Better estimates of the number and distribution of crop-specific farms will lay the foundation for agricultural policy and R&D efforts in the Global South. A fifth of all farms globally grew wheat in 2020, a number expected to decrease by 4% in 2030. Wheat is cultivated on 216 M ha (2020); 29% of which is in lower-and lower-middle income countries (L/LMICs). Compared to high-income countries (HICs), LICs have more than four times the number of farms, ten times the rural population, half the agricultural area and a tenth of the average farm size. Farms remain the foundation for much of the rural populace in L/LMICs-see Table 10 (4432).Climate change will decrease global wheat production by −1.9% by mid-century; the most negative impacts are projected to affect developing countries in tropical regions. Models suggest large, negative yield impacts for African (-15% by 2050) and Southern Asian countries (-16% by 2050), where food security is already a problem. Introducing new, climate change-tolerant crop genetic traits as an adaptation response to climate change would improve wheat yield in many regions. One hopeful sign is that breeding research continues to deliver increased grain yields despite climate warming-See Table 10,(4338) and FP3. Innovations in modeling for resource-constrained scenarios will help to maintain breeding breakthroughs -see Table 10,(4341) and FP3.However, due to poor soils and nutrient management, many developing countries will only successfully climate-adapt if more nitrogen fertilizer were deployed-see Table 10 (4326). In 2021, WHEAT co-funded 'A \"more ammonium solution\" to mitigate nitrogen pollution and boost crop yields,' which points to Biological Nitrification Inhibition to foster soils with a more even mix of nitrogen sources, including the less-chemically-reactive compound, ammonium.Scientists investigated dietary adaptation mechanisms to climate change-driven impacts on nutrient levels in staple grains, which might drive mineral deficiencies amongst at-risk populations. By pairing nutritional, dietary health analyses, researchers found that replacing refined grains with whole grains could help compensate for climate change-related reductions in iron and zinc concentrations in wheat, rice and maize. Additionally, it could improve fiber intake, protein deficiencies, and reduce mortality from chronic disease. Researchers recommend a timestaggered approach: in the short-term, increase the ratio of whole grains to refined grains in diets; in the medium-to long-term, improve healthiness and sustainability of diets -see Table 10 (4420) and Innovation #2597.WHEAT researchers collaborated with the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH)-led COVID-19 Hub to publish a descriptive analysis of the most critical, immediate effects of COVID-19 for different kinds of agricultural systems and their associated value chains in Central America and Mexico. A similar analysis in South Asia showed that Asian farming and food systems were moderately resilient, reinforced by government policies that prioritized food availability and affordability. Rural livelihoods and food security suffered from disruptions to local labor markets (especially for off-farm work), farm produce markets (notably for perishable foods) and input supply chains (i.e. seeds and fertilizers).Farmer uptake-impacts of conservation agriculture for sustainable intensification. At least 73% of adoption levels achieved in Phase II can be attributed to the Enhancing Food Security in the Arab Countries (EFSAC) project, implying adoption on 17.7% (231,000 ha) of the total 1.3M ha of wheat areas in intervention regions. 154,000 -183,000 households (0.89 -1.06 million people) directly benefited from average yield gains of 436 kg/ha. EFSAC contributed to greater domestic production in five countries by 79 -474,000 tons, valued at US$ 19.7-118 million (depending on the country). Researchers learned that once farmers decide to use the Happy Seeder (HS) in irrigated wheat systems of Indo-Gangetic plain, the practice is used on the entire wheat area by 89% of adopters. On average, adopting households applied zero-till technologies to more than 90% of their total wheat area in the 2017/18 rabi (winter) season, with use-intensities particularly high among adopters in the smallest-and middle-landholding groups -see SLO 1.2.Breeding research-based impacts. Within 6 years, HarvestPlus-led scaling efforts have reached 1.4 million Pakistani households with high zinc wheat on the basis of CGIAR-derived varieties. NARS scientists estimated the return on wheat research in Nepal over the last 19 years: 91% internal rate of return (IRR). Of all major crops grown in Nepal, wheat productivity growth was greatest (1990-2019; 2.61%). In Bangladesh, DNA fingerprinting analysis showed that in farmers' fields, 68% of grain samples were varieties released after 2000, but also wheat blast-susceptible. Varieties released in the past 5 years, including BARIGom33 (2017; wheat blast-resistant) were detected in 4% or less of field samples, translating into roughly 7.3% of Bangladesh's 340,000 ha wheat area. Despite institutional challenges, wheat research in Morocco has paid off. Considering all costs and benefits of wheat research investment in Morocco (using 2002Morocco (using -2014 data) data), scientists estimated a conservative benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of 19.64 with 623,000 tons (14.8%) of additional wheat supply valued at US$355 million p.a. -see Table 1, SLO 1. 1, 2.1 & 2.3.MasAgro had operated 12 hubs in Mexico, incorporating 68 distributed research platforms. Technologies improving the sustainability of maize-or wheat-based field practices were adopted on 159,944 ha and monitored through a robust data collection system. In 2018, farmers filled 66,384 field logbooks, resulting in a cumulative 221,961 records since 2012. In side-by-side, multi-year comparisons of technologies, wheat yields were 20% higher than control yields, and average wheat profits were 24% higher. Considering future adoption pathways, a 2021 case study (Guanajuato, Mexico) argued for disaggregating conservation agriculture into smaller component packages that could increase farmer adoption in risky contexts -see Table 1, SLO1.2.WHEAT and partner scientists made progress on genetic gains, wheat blast-resistant wheat, seed systems and climate-smart agronomic practices, and further developed innovation pathways for scale-appropriate innovation. Both MAIZE and WHEAT, together with CCAFS, can point to further learnings on climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as scaling -see Tables 3 (OICR) and 10 (MELIA).2021 Innovations. WHEAT and partners generated new knowledge related to value chains (consumer demand, farmer adoption dynamics), climate-smart agricultural practices (zero tillage, water management and precision fertilizer) and cereal-based nutrition benefits-as well as feeding the breeding products pipeline -see Innovations Table 4.Ethiopia could achieve wheat self-sufficiency with existing technologies. Ethiopia is sub-Saharan Africa's largest wheat producer, but still imported 1.5 million tons of wheat in 2017. Narrowing the efficiency and resource yield-gaps can nearly double actual yields without having to expand the wheat area when input-use is increased, and crop management practices are fine-tuned. Government policies should foster accessibility and affordability of fertilizers, whilst promoting precision management technologies (mechanization and herbicides), which helps to avoid environmental externalities -see Table 10 (4428). How can we reduce child zinc-deficiency in Ethiopia? WHEAT and MAIZE scientists strengthened the evidence base on the potential of zinc agronomic biofortification (e.g. zinc fertilizer leading to grains containing zinc) and recommend an integrated strategy that involves both genetic and agronomic fortification -see Table 10 (4453).Reducing nitrogen dioxide (N2O) emissions from maize and wheat fields (with CCAFS). Scientists estimated N2O emission-reduction potential by reducing excess nitrogen applications and keeping current yield levels. Results show considerable reductions, particularly in those countries and regions where existing nitrogen losses and emissions are very high. Previous studies had shown huge (~ 44 Tg yr −1 ) global total nitrogen losses from maize, wheat and rice fields (mostly China, USA and India). There is tremendous potential for improving the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in cereal production in many countries without compromising yield.Other FP1-led foresight study findings are featured in the Executive Summary above.High-Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI)-wheat: Proof of concept and potential impacts on life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions including N2O -with FP1. WHEAT and partner scientists successfully bred high BNI-elite lines that also showed greater overall biomass and grain yield, with no negative effects on grain protein levels or breadmaking quality. In parallel, FP1 researchers developed a new model based on life-cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated at each stage of wheat production for BNI-enabled wheat. A 9.5% reduction in nitrogen fertilizer-derived greenhouse gasses is attainable if BNI-enabled wheat with 40% nitrification-inhibition were grown on slightly acidic to neutral soils (ca. 30%, or 72 million ha, of the world's wheat area of 240 million ha) -see Table 10 (4421 & 4422) and Innovation #2590.Private and public sector consensus on priority, pre-competitive wheat productivity research domains. A group of public sector and major seed companies' scientists identified key translational research areas (e.g. to translate knowledge from pure plant science to crop breeding) with a high probability of boosting productivity: research into hormones, recombination, respiration, roots and source-sink make it more feasible to explore crop genetic resources and improve breeding strategies and the models behind them. The scientists' focus was on researchable issues that benefit from combining breakthrough technologies with proven ones. Companies and institutes affiliated with the review are collaborating to develop a partnership to address these challenges in pre-competitive space -see Table 10  (4336).WHEAT and NARS partner researchers dissected the genetic architecture of wheat grain yield (GY) potential and stress-resilience by performing a large-scale genome-wide association study (100 datasets, 105,000 GY observations from 55,568 wheat lines evaluated [2003][2004][2005][2006][2007][2008][2009][2010][2011][2012][2013][2014][2015][2016][2017][2018][2019]. The analysis substantiated the positively-correlated performance of lines in optimum and stressed environments, indicating that simultaneous improvement for GY potential and stress-resilience is feasible. The scientists demonstrated the association of Yld.cim-1BS.10 with GY in all studied environments, indicating its exceptional value in breeding for GY in optimum, drought-and heatstressed environments.Deep learning (DL) applications for genomic prediction and selection in wheat breeding. Scientists cite strong evidence that DL algorithms capture nonlinear patterns more efficiently than conventional genome-based ones. DL algorithms are able to integrate data from different sources, implying their ability to improve prediction accuracy for large plant breeding data -see Table 10 (4501).With regard to future research priorities, WHEAT and partner scientists from five countries looked at wheat root systems, which capture the water and nutrients needed to support crop growth. Improved root systems tailored to specific environments could improve climate resiliency. Authors listed these critical steps to underpin future direct selection of root traits for improved crop performance: (1) establishment and routine use of high-throughput, high-precision, field-based phenotyping approaches, (2) development of molecular tools with which to track and combine beneficial alleles controlling RSA, and critically, (3) record detailed knowledge of which Root System Architectures (RSA) are best suited to a given agricultural environment and to the wider genetic architecture of the germplasm used in a breeding program. In 'Recognizing the hidden half in wheat: Root system attributes associated with drought tolerance,' researchers conclude that known functions of key genes (e.g. association with seedling biomass) will provide information for the genetic dissection of root development of wheat in a wide range of conditions and will be beneficial for molecular breeding.At least 70 CGIAR-derived varieties were released in 13 countries in 2021 -see table here and in Table 4.Ongoing, applied research with partners aims to shorten the breeding cycle: proof-of-concept for early generation genomic section, validation of a high-throughput phenotyping approach to measuring plant height, tailoring crops by combining genetic resources and transformative capabilities (e.g. genomic breeding, synthetic biology); and a multi-CRP collaboration, in which scientists argued for a way forward with genomic breeding approaches (e.g. marker-assisted selection, -backcrossing, genomic prediction, etc.) for six crops.WHEAT and partner scientists discovered through reserve genetics that Ae. tauschii is a reservoir for unique, high molecular weight glutenin (Glu-D1) alleles. This provides the genomic resource to begin utilizing new alleles for end-use quality improvement, a key priority for most breeders -see Table 10 (4364). After analysis, WHEAT scientists concluded that current methods used for evaluating wheat breadmaking quality are effective to predict low-sodium bread-but not whole meal bread quality. Given that eating whole meal bread is more nutritious, breeders will want to select lines with high whole meal bread-making potential in the future. With this in mind, the authors proposed to use grain hardness and SDS-sedimentation volume as predictive traits.Innovative CIMMYT and ICARDA scientists validated a new tool (e.g. standardized database with API) that enabled use of big data to create more precise models to predict destructive, timeconsuming and expensive wet chemistry tests using the near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) spectra of grain, flour and straw samples.NARS partner scientists investigated six farm management scenarios (multi-year, on-farm trials in India) and showed that Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices (CSAPs) reduced global warming potential (e.g. mitigation impact thru GHG reductions) and improved nitrogen productivity, ecoefficiency and yield during good and bad years (compared to business-as-usual). CSAPs can cope better with climatic extremes and should be promoted in South Asian rice-wheat belts and beyond, so farmers can better adapt and contribute to climate change mitigation -see Table 10 (4413). The results of a survey-based study in Bihar suggest that a reduced knowledge gap among women farmers would increase CSAPs adoption and consequently reduce the likelihood of male outmigration -see Table 10 (4593). Multi-year, on-farm trials in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains showed that improved conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification management practices (CASI) reduced both laboruse and total cropping system production costs by around 40%, and increased gross margins by up to 25%. Results showed the potential to increase livelihoods and reduce the impact of labor shortages for smallholder farmers living in diverse climatic, edaphic and social circumstances. Findings are relevant to labor-constrained smallholder cropping systems in South Asia and beyond, especially because of the potential for reduced drudgery for women and youth who do the majority of menial, laborious tasks -see Table 10 (4442).Farmers who adopted only one or two of the three conservation agriculture (CA) principles obtained higher yield and income than those who continued with conventional agriculture. Adoption of all three components led to higher socioeconomic benefits than both partial adoption and conventional practices. In the face of the low and slow adoption of CA in Morocco, an incremental approach toward full CA adoption might prove effective and is worth testing for contrasting climates, soils, and cropping systems in MENA drylands. Recent estimates showed CA adoption on about 24,000 ha of Moroccan wheat area, mainly in the rainfed areas, indicating its efficacy in soil moisture-retention.A comprehensive review of Conservation Agriculture practices (CA) in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region (6% of world population in 2019) highlighted that about 25-40% of the 53 million hectares of arable land is suitable for climate-smart CA. Successful sustainable intensification of wheat-based systems depends on greater CA adoption and clustering and tailoring of solutions, such as affordable and versatile no-till seeders and integrated crop management practices -see Table 10 (4617).A new study identified two major limitations of the land sparing/sharing analytical framework:(1) the reliance on yield-density relationships that focus on trade-offs and overlook synergies between agriculture and biodiversity, and (2) the overemphasis on crop yield, neglecting other metrics of agricultural performance, which may be more important to local farmers, and more strongly associated with positive biodiversity outcomes.See Executive Summary on p.5 above.CIMMYT and ICARDA maintained their Business Continuity Plan to protect the continuity of critical operations, steered by a Crisis Management Team that managed each centers' contingency plan. continuous performance (observable behavior), reproduction and renegotiation of gender takes place as part of everyday lived experience as new livelihood opportunities challenge local, normative understandings of what it means to be a woman or a man. They conclude that although national and local discourse embraces the idea of gender equality, reality is quite often different.Researchers, when looking at zero-tillage users and subsequent herbicide applications in the Eastern Gangetic Plains of Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, observed that zero-tillage does not reinforce or deepen existing inequalities within households. By last year, other scientists had already proposed policy options to promote climate-smart technologies in India that have the potential to mitigate GHG emissions and reduce women's labor drudgery.The 'Women, work, and wage equity in agricultural labor in Saiss (Morocco)' study led to a collective bargaining agreement between workers in wheat-based systems and the Government of Morocco, and a new project, which aims to integrate gender interventions into conservation agriculture in crop-livestock systems in Tunisia.Researchers called for policies in Southern Ethiopia that not only ensure equal levels of production resources, but also help households to build their capacity, improving both transitory and chronically food-insecure situations. Based on a representative Zambian household study, other WHEAT/MAIZE scientists recommended policies that promote equitable access to production resources, such as land, to reduce the gaps in market participation between men and women.Outcomes. MAIZE and WHEAT researchers, together with colleagues from within and outside the CGIAR, contributed to two important policy impacts and practices (Morocco) and published findings with clear policy implications based on gender-transformative research and methods (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Ethiopia, Malawi and Tanzania). With this knowledge, researchers are also able to influence policy decisions with potentially longer-term social change impacts (Nepal and Zambia). See OICR4387.Embedding W1&2-funded strategic gender research in larger bilateral R4D projects has proved useful.Key constraints remain unchanged: Gender research capacity.With USDA funding, CIMMYT and the Afghan Agricultural Research Institute (ARIA) started to build a roadmap towards improving ARIA's basic wheat research capacity. This was halted by the Taliban takeover of government. Afghanistan remains a major source of landrace-based genetic diversity, in particular for drylands.Under the bilaterally funded CSISA-Mechanization project in Bangladesh, CIMMYT partnered with 104 agriculture-based light engineering (ABLE) enterprises, which included youth entrepreneurs. 85 of them had signed agreements with CSISA-MEA during 2021 and 53 received workforce and business management training. 120 workforce staff received foundries' practices training. More than 50% trainees were youth and they had 2-15 years' work experience in this sector.275 training and learning events of all shapes and sizes took place in 2021, several of them in virtual format, including the Basic Wheat Improvement Course that has been running since 1968. WHEAT has supported young(er) scientists' on-the-job learning since 2012: 75% of WHEAT trainees 2012-2021 were from low-and middle-income countries. With eleven advanced courses on Conservation Agriculture-Asia & North Africa running since 2010, nearly 200 young researchers from NARS got hands-on learning for building resilience of wheat-based systems. The 2nd cohort of Arab Women Leaders in Agriculture (AWLA) started in September, co-funded by WHEAT and led by the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) -see also evidence for Table 8.Based on survey data collected from 691 wheat fields in 3 major wheat-producing provinces, 19.3% of total wheat area in the three Egyptian provinces is cultivated with raised beds (RB). Modeling results showed that RB adoption enabled a reduction in irrigation water application (15-21% irrigation water savings reported) and 5.56% water productivity increase. By 2023, approximately 800,000 ha wheat area in Egypt will be planted with raised bed technology (Alwang et al, 2018). In northern Ethiopia, the long-term (2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013) influence of conservation agriculture-based systems (with permanently-raised beds) on soil health and crop productivity showed the potential of improving crop productivity through CA-improved soil healthsee Table 1, SLO2.4.Scientists gained insights into the influences of climate change on India's future water footprints (WF) of cereal crop production and put forth regional strategies for future water resource management. In view of future variability in WFs, a water footprint-based optimization can be conducted by relocating crop cultivation areas with the aim of minimizing blue water use (fresh, non-renewable) as a possible management alternative -see Table 10 (4433) CCAFS collaboration.In related CCAFS/WHEAT research, scientists calculated that if all rice and wheat farmers in India adopted the Nutrient Expert Tool-based fertilizer recommendation practice, 13.92 million tons (Mt) more rice and wheat production would follow, with 1.44 Mt less N fertilizer use, and a reduction in GHG of 5.34 Mt CO2e per year-a significant improvement over farmers' current practice -see Table 10  (4504).Understanding farm households' climate risk-coping strategies: Evidence from five countries in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA). Droughts, floods and crop pests and diseases are major climate change-induced risks. Farm households in ESA have adopted four major strategies to cope with climate risk, including changing farming methods and decreasing consumption. Farmers who are better-off tend to change their farming methods but are unlikely to adopt other risk-coping options. There are substantial differences among the countries in the study -see Table 10 A systematic evaluation of CIMMYT's work on climate change-food system interactions (e.g. research portfolio, including bilateral andCGIAR Research Program projects, 2012-2021) showed that the Center's research-for-development efforts contributed to scaling out several climate-smart technologies and practices in climatically challenged locations and production systems in Asia, Africa and Latin America. This analysis showed that CIMMYT's outputs have been distributed to more than 150 countries -see Table 10 (4448).The WHEAT Independent Steering Committee (WHEAT-ISC) held two meetings together with MAIZE-ISC to understand OneCGIAR consequences for WHEAT and MAIZE CRPs' continuity, as well as the future of independent scientific advice at the research program level under OneCGIAR. Together with RTB and MAIZE-Independent Steering Committees, the WHEAT-ISC Chair continued to lead advocacy efforts, which culminated in a meeting with two of the new Global Science Directors in November and ISDC advice to System Council taking on some of the joint-ISC's concerns and recommendations.The WHEAT Management Committee (WHEAT-MC) managed uncertainties with regard to CRP closure and associated staff continuity in the face of CGIAR-EMT/SO guidance coming late. Most important for WHEAT-MC was to maintain research pace, capacity and quality in the face of some scientists engaging in Initiative Design Teams; and of COVID-19 consequences, which also affected some WHEAT long-time partners -and thus, certain running partner grants (Bolivia, Myanmar, India). WHEAT experienced some core staff turn-over during 2021 (FP1 and FP4 Lead; ICARDA DDG-R; MEL specialist; Communications).WHEAT-MC and -ISC spent significant amounts of time on keeping up to date on OneCGIAR progress and possible consequences for WHEAT research scope and continuity. MAIZE and WHEAT researchers developed 22 Golden Egg ideas, of which 4 made it to the Transfer Marketplace.See also Table 9, below. No new partnerships were set up in 2021, because WHEAT was in its final year. Thus, the focus was on maintaining W1&2-funded partnerships and closing the running partner grants, also in view of future partner funding uncertainty.Long-term effects of organic manure and inorganic fertilization on soil quality (soybean-wheat rotation in mid-Himalaya India). NARS partner scientists, based on a 21-year fertilization experiment, showed that NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizer) plus farmyard manure embodied the best management practice for soil biological sustainability and for sustainable food production.WHEAT has been a partner to the G20 Wheat Initiative since 2012, which celebrated its first decade of operation. 21 WHEAT (CIMMYT & ICARDA) scientists continue to engage in 10 of the 11 Expert Working Groups (EWG). During 2021, the Durum EWG established an open source grant program. The Agronomy EWG made a call for action on transformational agronomy for impact; to establish an Associated Program to mitigate the interference of climate on wheat yield-stability. The Wheat Initiative set up AHEAD -Alliance for Adaptation to Heat and Drought, to coordinate projects that engage in wheat heat and drought research.Collaborations with A4NH, Big Data, CCAFS, MAIZE, PIM/COVID-19 Hub and RICE were maintained. CCAFS collaborations are featured in the Climate Change section above. FTA, GLDC, MAIZE and WHEAT scientists make the case for a reforestation pathway not previously described in the literature: A return to a more diverse agricultural landscape mosaic provided more secure and diversified income sources along with better provisioning of construction materials, fuelwood, and higher livestock numbers. In a related study, scientists show that tree species diversity matters as much as the amount of tree cover for the production of food, and it can contribute to improve food security (parklands in Central Senegal) -see Table 10 (4426).Center) this year? Note: Further information can be found here.CIMMYT and ICARDA maintained their relevant policies to support greater transparency, including in partnerships and results dissemination, in line with the CGIAR Principles.WHEAT is not a legal entity. The management of legal assets relevant to the CRP is managed by WHEAT Lead and participant centers, both of which annually submit a detailed and confidential intellectual asset report to the System Board and the information contained therein is not repeated here. Flagship projects, WHEAT and CIMMYT-PMU do not, on their own, manage intellectual assets without consulting with the Lead Center's legal department; the same applies to ICARDA.CIMMYT and ICARDA have not filed, nor has any CIMMYT or ICARDA partner informed CIMMYT/ICARDA, of any application for patent or plant variety protection associated with intellectual assets (IA) developed under WHEAT.Critical issues and challenges that remain relevant: During 2021, WHEAT was part of the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Community of Practice (MEL Cop) Steering Committee, participated in the impact indicator collection exercise to contribute to a stronger impact delivery in One CGIAR and supported implementation of IATI standards.Via the MEL CoP, WHEAT also contributed to developing CGIAR evaluation policy (CAS) and cohosted the annual MEL CoP meeting (Day 1: CRPs Theory of Change lessons learnt and scaling readiness in the new OneCGIAR context).WHEAT actively participated in the CGIAR-wide discussion about professionally wrapping CRPs by contributing to the Golden Eggs activity (e.g. ensure knowledge hand-over to new Initiatives), sharing MAIZE and WHEAT close-out plans and contributing to CRP leader consensus positions on technical and financial closing down matters.Of the 62 MELIA studies published this year, 15 focus on foresight and future targeting of R4D, including breeding research. Another 10 studies relate to climate change adaptation or mitigation issues, whilst 16 projects and post-project assessments investigated adoption and innovation pathways or drivers. 2 MELIA studies addressed strategic gender research.No reporting this year.Two major risks remain unchanged during Phase II: 1) W1&W2 budget insecurity and delayed transfer of W1&2 funds, which could directly affect CRP research and development operations; 2)Unfulfilled obligations by the partners for commissioned and competitive (sub)-grants.Budget insecurity was lower than in 2020 (see section 3, below). Because partners, as well as CIMMYT and ICARDA scientists, could not complete all deliverables on time, mostly due to COVID-19 consequences, several partners asked for no-cost extensions and a number of W1&2-funded milestones remain only partially achieved.The risk of effectively double-booked resources that negatively impact CRP delivery, visible in 2020, grew stronger during 2021. Approximately 20-25% of WHEAT scientists were pulled into Initiative Design Teams during much of 2021, whilst COVID-19 restrictions affected some of their regular field work.Planning ahead for a semi-structured hand-over of CRP's outputs, learnings, and also program management practices to the new Initiatives, did not take place, apart from the Golden Egg activity and some SO-led CRP/FP/Initiatives matching efforts.'Lack of a systematic and integrated approach for monitoring and evaluation at the outcome level' no longer presented a major risk, as the CRPs Phase 2 annual reporting standards, methods and tools proved to be effective and functional, with very few exceptions.No change compared to 2020 annual reporting.WHEAT is guided by the high-level framework for W1&2 deployment shown below, while Table 12 shows in more detail where W1&2 has been invested during 2021, based on the 80+ work packages in the W1&2-per-FP annual work plan delivered by CIMMYT and ICARDA scientists and their implementation partners. In 2021, WHEAT shall receive a total of US$3.92M W2 support from Australia (ACIAR) and UK (DFID) and $7.46M W1 from Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, India, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the World Bank. Total new W1&2 income was planned at $11.38M, up from $10.476M (2020). As in 2020, USAID shifted earlier W2 contributions to W3, linked to the AGG and Crops to End Hunger bilateral projects. Bilateral funder support is documented in the WHEAT Annual Financial Report and in the CGIAR Financial Dashboards.W1&2 funding level and disbursement was more stable than in 2020. The risk of a lower W2 contribution from FCDO did become a reality in late August/September but was fully buffered by CGIAR Stabilization Fund. Notwithstanding intentions documented in the original 2017-21 CGIAR Financial Plan, 2021 disbursements did not all take place in the first two quarters. A final disbursement (ca. 7% of 2021 W1&2 budget) remains to be issued in 2022.In view of the CGIAR-EMT decision to allow only $60,000 residual expenditure in 2022 for closing CRPs, both MAIZE-and WHEAT-MCs noted that 2021 annual reporting would very likely be at a lower quality than previous years during Phase II, because required resourcing and scientists' commitment might not be secured, and their priorities and reporting lines may have changed. To mitigate this risk, both MCs committed to starting and finishing the 2021 annual reporting process earlier. • Geographic Scope: Multinational.• Countries: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, The Republic of the Sudan, Tunisia, Syrian Arab Republic.In Bangladesh, wheat production meets only 16% of consumer demand. Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI) released more than 30 varieties in the past 30 years and has collaborated with CIMMYT since 1983. Because BWMRI lacks the regulatory framework and infrastructure to accurately track adoption rates, it conducted DNA fingerprinting across the 6 wheat growing regions (2018-2019 season). Scientists documented that of 1,791 samples from farmers' fields, 50% of samples were from varieties released since 2010; 32% matched with older varieties. The 3 most common varieties, all wheat-blast susceptible, were well distributed across the 6 regions, showing broad adoption of CGIAR-derived varieties. Varieties released in the past 5 years, including BARIGom33 (2017; wheat blast resistant) were detected in 4% or less of field samples, with total coverage of 7.3% of wheat area, equivalent to ca 25,000 of Bangladesh's 340,000 ha. Recent Government initiatives aim to speed up seed supply. Currently, it takes 4-5 years to get seed to all farmers. Ca. 12 million Bangladeshi rice-wheat farmers (of 16.5M total farmers) grow ca. 1.1 million tons of wheat on ca. 320,000 ha (USDA, 2021-22 season).• Geographic Scope: National.   Stage 1 OICR4470 -Responding to wheat blast: Multi-stakeholder \"Precision Phenotyping Platforms (PPP)\" and the development, then release of blast resistant varieties.Stage 2For international germplasm for research exchange (IWIN) and CGIAR-derived varieties released in 2021 information, see page 9 above and here.  Completed FP2 scientists demonstrated that identifying an environmental index (i.e., a combination of environmental parameter and growth window) enables genome-wide association studies and genomic selection of complex traits to be conducted with an explicit environmental dimension. Another group of scientists evaluated three different genome-enabled prediction models (M1-M3) to study the effect of the sparse testing in terms of the genomic prediction accuracy. Another study found that for grain yield the prediction performance was highest using a multi-trait compared to a single-trait model. The higher the absolute genetic correlation between traits the greater the benefits of multi-trait models for increasing the genomic-enabled prediction accuracy of traits.   Synthesis report on farmer decision making processes evaluates the effectiveness of linkages between women farmers and service providers: \"Feminization of agriculture processes offer everyone who works in wheat systems in South Asia 54 Mediterranean rainfed conditions stability, and adoption of CA practices are important in the context of the Mediterranean rainfed environment. Integrating trade-off analysis between yield potential and stability in a rainfall gradient in both CT and CA in the national certification scheme of varieties may be more efficient than developing breeding programs for each type of tillage system.Completed Synthesis (secondary) studyApplication of scale-appropriate agricultural machinery can bring a wide range of benefits in agriculture production. In Morocco, most agriculture operations are mechanized. Government provides subsides ranging from 30% to 70% to purchase agriculture machinery and equipment. The rate of agricultural mechanization has increased from 5 tractors per 1,000 ha in 2008 to 9 tractors per 1,000 ha in 2018, exceeding the FAO standard of 5 tractors per 1,000 ha. But agricultural tractors are still under-utilized (low annual operating time 400 to 600 hours/year), except for a few large, modern, often irrigated farms, especially orchards. Also, to improve mechanization-based efficiency gains, mechanization needs to be well adapted to local conditions. A marketing network for mechanization and service delivery is needed, to support small farmers in easily accessing reasonably priced machinery. CGIAR NIR Database project aimed at providing new tools for nutritional and enduse quality data management while facilitating the analysis of a greater number of traits and increasing the accuracy of non-destructive and cost-effective methods of analysis. Within this project, a new online database was developed to standardize, store and manage wet chemistry and NIR quality data generated from multiple crops by both CIMMYT and ICARDA quality laboratories. Equipped with the API interface which facilitates the extraction of stored data in the desired format, this database greatly facilitates the use of \"Big Data\" to create new and more precise NIR models to predict destructive, time-consuming and expensive wet chemistry tests for both grain, flour and straw samples. Thus, a new analytical pipeline to develop and fine-tune new prediction models was created. This pipeline is currently being assembled in an R package and will be soon available to the international community. 55 S4291 -Project on Enhancing Food Security in the Arab Countries (EFSAC): Farmer adoption levels (see also SLO Table 1.2)Completed EPIA: Ex-post Impact AssessmentEnhancing Food Security in the Arab Countries project (EFSAC) in 10 countries since 2011. EFSAC focused on improving wheat production and yield in wheatbased agricultural systems through dissemination of improved and proven technologies. Analysis of returns to investment in only 5 out of the 10 project countries during 4-year-Phase II led to an average of 24% of the farm households in the project areas in all the five countries adopted new improved varieties along with at least two of the other components of the technology packages introduced by EFSAC. On average, at least 73% of the adoption level achieved in the 4-years of Phase II can be attributed to EFSAC, implying an adoption level of 17.7% (73% x 24.35%) of the total 1.3M ha of wheat area in the project intervention regions: On This study analyzed the genetic variability of the high-molecular-weight glutenin's encoded by the genes at the Glu-D1 locus, within a set of 273 Ae. tauschii accessions. To understand the genetic variants of these genes, all the 273 accessions were genotyped, and 45 Glu-D1 haplotypes were discovered. The modern wheat Glu-D1 allele called \"2+12\" was found in Ae. tauschii Lineage 2, the donor of the wheat D-subgenome. Conversely, the superior quality modern wheat Glu-D1 allele called \"5+10\" originated in Lineage 3, a recently characterized lineage of Ae. tauschii, showing a unique origin of this important allele. These two alleles were also quite similar relative to the total observed molecular diversity in Ae. tauschii at Glu-D1. Ae. tauschii is thus a reservoir for unique Glu-D1 alleles and provides the genomic resource to begin utilizing new alleles for end-use quality improvement in wheat breeding programs.  FAO (2017: pp.83-84) projected that staple cereals will continue to play a critical role for food security until 2050, contributing nearly half of both daily calories and protein intake in low-and middle-income countries. In wheat and maize value chains their contribution to food security in Africa and Asia, the (4th) stability and utilization dimension of food security merits increased (research) attention (e.g. address climate change-driven stresses; promote healthier diets; equitable transformation of food systems), Considerable benefits in yields and sustainability have been found in integrated systems, where maize and wheat, livestock production and agro-forestry in SSA are practiced together (e.g., Baudron et al., 2014). These approaches have been mostly applied in more difficult farming conditions, to increase climate resilience (FAO, 2016), though they have the potential to increase sustainability and preserve ecosystem functions (WBGU, S4431 -Farmers who adopted only one or two of the three CA principles obtained higher yield and income than those who continued with conventional agriculture.Credible evidence that farmers who partially adopted only one or two of the three CA principles obtained higher yield and income than those who continued with conventional agriculture. Adoption of all three components of the CA system led to higher socioeconomic benefits than both partial adoption and conventional practices. Wider diffusion of complete CA system would significantly contribute to productivity, profitability, and sustainability of agricultural production in drylands.In the face of the low and slow adoption of CA in Morocco, an incremental approach toward full CA adoption might prove effective and is worth testing for contrasting climates, soils, and cropping systems in MENA drylands. Recent estimates show that CA has been adopted on about 24,000 ha of wheat, mainly in the rainfed areas indicating its efficacy in soil moisture retention. On-farm participatory trials (400 farms, representative of a range of common crop production management across the Eastern Gangetic Plains) to compare the performance of traditional and improved conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification management practices (CASI) to understand which used less labor, had lower production costs and returned higher gross margins. CASI reduced both labor use and total cropping system production costs by around 40% and increased gross margins by up to 25%. Results show there is potential to increase livelihoods and reduce the impact of labor shortages for smallholder farmers living in diverse climatic, edaphic and social circumstances across the region. Findings are relevant to labor-constrained smallholder cropping systems throughout South Asia and worldwide. Reduced drudgery for women and youth who do the majority of menial, laborious tasks is also an impact. Tailoring crops for drought adaptation may hold the key to future resilient production systems. Crops can encounter fluctuating drought scenarios along the crop cycle. Soil depth, water availability, management practices etc. also impact crop responses to water deficit. Conceptualizing a drought-adaptive ideotype optimized for many scenarios may not be possible. But distinct traits related to drought adaptation, which are similar across species grown under diverse conditions, could be used as targets for custom-designing crops. Developing designer crops that integrate individually strengthened leaf and root systems, can be simplified by implementing recent technical breakthroughs. Combining genetic resources and transformative capabilities (e.g. genomic breeding, synthetic biology, etc.) will be essential for tailoring crops. The context-dependent effect of each trait, multiplicity of combined traits, and genotype × environment interactions for each trait necessitates the use of modeling innovations, to derive a probabilistic approach for identifying the most desirable allelic combinations. Scientists estimated the potential for N2O emission reductions from maize and wheat fields based on reducing excess N applications while keeping current yield levels. Results show considerable N2O emission reduction globally, particularly in those countries and regions where existing N losses and emissions are very high (see Fig. 6). Although limited in spatial coverage, previous studies showed huge (~ 44 Tg yr−1) global total N losses from maize, wheat and rice fields, mostly concentrated in China and USA for maize and China & India for wheat and rice production (Liu et al., 2016). This shows a tremendous potential for improving the efficiency of N use in cereal production in many countries without compromising yield (Liu et al., 2018, Liu et al., 2016) and even increasing it (Mueller et al., 2014;Xu et al., 2015). Little is known about the contribution of trehalose phosphate synthase (TPS) and trehalose phosphate phosphatase (TPP) genes to achieving a carbon allocation balance that ultimately helps maximize expression of grain yield through the mediation of T6P. A wealth of information on natural variation of TPS and TPP genes related to yield potential was generated, which confirms T6P's role in resource allocation, in affecting grain number and other traits. This opens up the possibility for translational research to explore natural genetic variation in these enzymes and incorporate their alleles into elite wheat backgrounds, thereby achieving a better understanding of how to deploy them in mainstream breeding.These results have high translational potential to most crop species, since the regulation of partitioning of carbon to edible structures is a fundamental yield determinant.https Across 62 varieties released between 1911 and 2016, WHEAT partner scientists performed genetic gain analysis, which showed a significant increase in grain yield (0.4% year−1) and negative gain for iron (−0.11% year−1) and zinc (−0.15% year−1).The Green Revolution Rht-B1 & -D1 genes had a strong association with plant height and grain yield; semi-dwarfing alleles had a negative effect on GFe and GZn contents. Kalium was significantly higher and Selenium, Magnesium and copper were significantly higher in cultivars released before 1965. Thus, improvements in yield was not translated into an improvement in micro-and macronutrients.Although iron (0.06 mg/kg/year) and zinc (0.15% year) slightly declined in modern wheat compared to old cultivars, some high-yielding cultivars (Zincol-2016, AAS-2011) with high levels of micronutrients are available. Elucidating the genetic basis of grain yield and micronutrient concentrations could help to develop cultivars with both improved yield and biofortification status. represented by the sub-population Jenah Zarzoura and the robustness and high relationships between phenotypic and genome-wide genetic structure using DArTseq method. These findings will enhance the conservation efforts of these landraces and their use in breeding efforts at national and international levels to adapt to dry conditions. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"49c385445f193551ea27b0d6bf47af6a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5c21146b-1ba9-41a0-a161-3a5f2419d25c/retrieve","id":"-2024778170"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b0493b2e-9c8a-4eec-93d8-6abf77d30f20","content":"Kenneth M. Quinn for making my summer once in a lifetime internship possible. I would also like to thank Lisa Fleming for arranging the details of my trip, and watching over me while I was in Ethiopia to make sure things ran as smoothly and productively as possible.I would like to thank two teachers who got me involved in the World Food Prize program. The first is my Talented and Gifted teacher Laura Sievers, who also happens to be my mom. She heard about the World Food Prize at a conference, and was the first to tell me about it.The second is Melanie Bloom, who has been my high school Agriculture teacher and FFA advisor. Mrs. Bloom had gone overseas while she was in college, and she explained the experiences and benefits I would be getting out of a trip like this. She also taught many things in my agriculture classes that have been very useful to me this summer. I would also like to thank my two great high school science teachers, Mrs. McClatchy and Mr. Woelber, for everything they taught me in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, specifically the scientific approaches that helped me to better understand everything I learned about the research carried out here at ILRI. Thanks also to my supervisor here at ILRI, Dr. Tadelle. He was very patient with me and helped me learn more then I could ever have imagined about tryps and about the production of cattle in Ethiopia. He has been like a father to me here, even inviting me to his home, and made sure my stay was very eventful. I would also like to thank Dr. Woudyalew, Brahno, and Michael for helping me and including me in all of the activities in the field. Also I would like to thank Nahom Tadelle for taking me into Addis Abba and showing me around the city. It was really cool to see everything through the perspective of someone my own age. Thanks also to Nahom's Uncle Seleshi for driving us around many times and helpingme bargain in the souvenir shops. Being able to spend this time seeing everything and being away from the office really helped break up the work and make this an enjoyable stay.I would also like to thank all of the other staff here at ILRI for making this feel like a second home to me. The maids were always very kind to me and even cleaned up my cooking messes. Dr. Ananda and his secretary made sure every part of my stay at ILRI was safe and eventful. I would like to thank my friend Mesofin, a security guard here at ILRI, for taking time out of his day to take me into Addis and show me what and where to buy food so I could cook.Finally, I would like to thank my family for being very supportive throughout this whole experience. They were always there to talk to and kept me updated on what was happening at home. I would like to thank my grandpa for everything he has taught me about raising cattle help in all of the work being done here. Finally, I would like to g me to go when he could have used my help on the farm. which enabled me to be able to thank my father for encouragin Introduction I have lived on my family's farm about 5 miles south of Albert City, Iowa, my whole life.My dad, uncle, and grandpa operate a farm together. The farming operation consists of raising corn, soybeans, cattle, and hogs. As long as I can remember, cattle have been my favorite species of animal to raise. My experiences have led me to my interest in becoming a veterinarian. I will be going to Iowa State University this fall, majoring in Animal Science -Pre Vet and hope to continue on to veterinary school after that.Along with my farming background, I have been actively involved in 4-H and FFA. I have raised and shown cattle, hogs, sheep, and goats for projects at our county fair. Through raising livestock, I have learned a lot about responsibility, which started in the 4 th grade with bucket bottle calves and grew into junior feeders, lead calves, sheep, goats, and also leading an FFA cooperative called Corduroy Pork, where a group of six FFA members raised hogs to show at local fairs. I have also learned much through livestock judging. I have been on our county livestock judging team for 8 years, and it has taught me much about what characteristics to look for in any species. This January, I had the opportunity to judge at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado. I have also learned many leadership skills through these programs and have served as president and treasurer of my school's FFA, and secretary, treasurer, and president of my 4H club. 4H and FFA were two of the key organizations that started my travels with trips to Washington, D.C., Indianapolis, Indiana, Southeastern Kansas, Denver, CO, and various trips to Ames and Des Moines.In high school, I have always tried to take challenging classes and strive to do my best in everything. I took many college credit classes, such as Pre Calculus, Calculus, Animal Science, and Crop Production. I was in a variety of activities, such as football, wrestling, 4H and FFA, band, speech, and other various groups.I attended the World Food Prize Symposium in 2007, which is when I really became interested in applying for an internship. With the topic that year of food vs. fuel, and living near an ethanol plant, I chose to write about the country of Brazil, as they were the big talk at the time regarding ethanol production. After sharing my own paper, I listened to the interns from that year and their presentations. I was really impressed by these presentations, and an internship sounded like a very good way to spend a summer. I applied in 2008 and was granted an interview. After the interview, I came to realize that this was not the summer for me to embark on this adventure, with 4H trips to Washington D.C. and Kansas already planned, and several family events taking place. This is why two days after my interview I withdrew my name from consideration, to be sure that someone else could have the great experience that summer. I then reapplied this year and was very glad to be granted an interview again. When asked which place The International Livestock Research Institute is a world of its own in the large city of Addis Ababa. Here the chaos of the city is replaced by trees, flowers, modern style buildings, and everything else that makes it feel almost like home. ILRI is composed of many organizations around the world that work here and perform research in a relaxing and safe environment. The sight in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is one of the many branches of ILRI located throughout Africa and Asia, with the headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. ILRI employs over 700 staff from 40 countries, with over 600 of them being nationally recruited, with the majority from Ethiopia and Kenya. ILRI's mission is \"To work at the crossroads of livestock and poverty, bringing high-quality science and capacity-building to bear on poverty reduction and sustainable development for poor livestock keepers and their communities.\" The strategy implemented has three main focuses: \"(1) securing the assets of the poor, (2) improving the productivity of their livestock systems and (3) improving their market opportunities.\" ILRI is funded from a variety of government agencies, development banks, private foundations and regional and international organizations. ILRI is also supported by Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). CGIAR is watching over 15 future harvest centers (including ILRI) whose mission is \"to contribute to food security and poverty eradication in developing countries through research, partnership, capacity building and policy support.\"Livestock is the main focus here at ILRI, as it seen as the way to bring the poor out of poverty. This is greatly justified as the rural poor rely so heavily on livestock for traction, fertilizer, meat, milk, income, other by-products, and the use of lands unable to be planted to crops through grazing. \"Of the 1.3 billion people living in absolute poverty, 80% live in rural areas and of these, two-thirds-some 678 million poor-keep livestock.\" So, as you can see, targeting livestock is targeting the largest portion of the poor throughout the world. With the demand for livestock products projected to greatly increase in developing countries, this can be a way to bring many rural poor out of poverty. The livestock in developing countries are eating grass, forages, and crop by products, and transforming this rather unused resource into protein, fat, and micronutrients. Livestock can also be seen as portable savings accounts for the rural poor because they can reproduce and provide them with anything they need. ILRI is a key player in making sure that livestock are properly managed without abusing the environment, and are being raised sustainably so they can live up to everything they are said to be. This is what I have observed in everything the Biotechnology team here at ILRI does while implementing projects and activities. ILRI sees the livestock revolution as the way to bring many of the rural poor out of poverty (ilri.org).Trypanosomiasis in cattle is the leading cause of mortality and loss of production throughout the horn of Africa. Trypanosomiasis in Ethiopia is a major problem, particularly in South and Southwestern Ethiopia and other areas below 1700m elevation.(Epidemiology #1)Tryps in short is transmitted by a special fly by the name of tsetse. When the fly is prevalent in an area, so is tryps. The three species of tsetse in the Ghibe Valley area are Glossia pallidipes, G. fuscipes, and G. morsitans submorsitans.Tryps is not a new problem by any means, going back many years. The disease was treated most often with diminazene, isometamidium, and homidium. This was very effective in curing the cattle until the late 1980's when the disease became resistant to all three of the drugs. This caused many people to leave tsetse infested areas and the death of many cattle. ILRI, by then called ILCA, really became involved with many different ways to try and control the disease. This was both going after the vector (tsetse fly), and trying to treat the cattle differently. It was found that even though treating cattle for tryps infection with diminazene, isometamidium, or homidium did not cure the disease, it did keep the cattle at a higher productivity level and often close to that of normal East African Zebu cattle. Other methods implemented and still continued today are the use of deltamethrin pour-on and traps to kill the tsetse fly. The use of the pour-on at first showed great reduction in the overall number of the tsetse and still continues to help reduce tryps infection rates among cattle. It has allowed the cattle to go into areas that previously they couldn't because of being bothered by the fly. This led to more productive grazing. The traps are located at the edges of the Ghibe Valley to help reduce the number of tsetse coming into the area. This has been a great help to the area and the fertile soil that had to be left because of the tsetse infestation can now again be farmed.The main project that is ongoing now at the research station is comparing four indigenous breeds of cattle: horro, sheko, abigar, and graughe. The project is near its end and is wrapping up with the results that the sheko are trypanotolerant and also interesting enough, that the horro respond very well to the diminazene shots and are very productive and the most productive with the shot. The abigar and graughe are both very unproductive in the tsetse infected region.Looking at the four breeds a little closer, I will start with the Guraghe. This is the Ethiopian highland breed which lives in the Guraghe and Hadiya highland areas in close vicinity to tsetse infested areas in the Ghibe Valley. The Guraghe are smaller in size, are chestnut, red, or roan in color, and have shorter horns. Next is the Abigar, who are found near the White Nile area, are of the Sanga group. They are large in body size, have long horns, and small humps representing the true Sanga. The third breed at ILRI research station is the Horro which is classified into the Zenga group of breeds (Zebu and Senga cross). They are medium to large in size, have medium to large horns, and are uniformly brown in color. The last breed is the Sheko, who are found in southwestern Ethiopia and are one of two native Bos Tauras breeds to Ethiopia.The Sheko are short horned or polled, do not have humps, are smaller in size, and are brown or black and white in color.The Sheko also have one very unique trait, they are trypanotolerant. This means they can live with tryps and still have good productivity rates. A worrisome thing about the Sheko is that there are few purebred Sheko left. They have been interbred with the Zebu cattle they are often being grazed with. So the next plan for ILRI is to multiply the Sheko in number using reproductive technologies such as embryo transfer and Artificial Insemination to greatly increase the number of Sheko. This will also come with a more intensive management to increase reproductive rates. ILRI sees the Sheko breed as being very special and useful to many areas not only being trypanotolerant but being very good in milk production and traction power.To put a sustainable approach to the treatment of cattle for tryps in the Ghibe Valley, Dr. Tadelle and through talking with various people at ILRI, is that the different partners are very hard to work with. Ethiopia's government is a dictatorship, and it takes a lot of effort to get something that ILRI has worked so hard to begin to be continued by the government. For example, Dr. Tadelle's team created a comprehensive database outlining all of the major poultry farms to help with disease outbreak, especially avian influenza. It is a database using a GIS system that has a map and is a very easy to use system to find all of the data. The plan is to put this map, which needs to be updated often, into the hands of the Ministry of Agriculture, so they can update it and use it for many purposes, including disease outbreaks. In order to do this, they must, in a sense, market the technology of the GIS system and their program to the political leaders through meetings and different opportunities just to keep the wonderful database they have created up and running. I have also been told that many wonderful programs created by ILRI and then handed over to the government have just kind of dissolved because of the lack of management and lack of care. This makes it very frustrating to go to all the work on a project, including securing someone to fund it, to end up with nothing.It is also a very tough endeavor to get the farmers to accept/understand research outputs and use it. The farmers do not care about numbers or studies; they just care about things that are going to improve what they are doing. They also have a tough time understanding the concept of that more input can lead to more output. I talked with one man who says you have to show them that what you are doing is better. This may take many times of carefully demonstrating before you fully convince anyone. There is also the idea in the back of the farmers' minds that the government is using this to get more control over them or to make them pay more taxes. For instance, Dr. Woudyalew told me it was very difficult to get the farmer cooperatives started, as the farmers thought it was another way for the government to control them and to get more started it takes much convincing and showing them the coops that are already in place. So as you can see, it can be a very frustrating job working with research trying to help the rural poor when it takes so long for them to accept and use it. Like everyone says, you can find solutions to all of the problems, but the tough part is getting people to use what you have discovered.One last thing that is very difficult for farmers in Ethiopia is the distribution of medicine in the private sector. When the farmers go to a privately owned veterinary office, they never know what they are getting. There is a trend for diluting things with water like the pour-on medicines, so they can make more profit on the product. Also, the prices in the private sector are very high for smallholder farmers. This is why ILRI and also the government have stepped in to t of many animals throughout Ethiopia. help with the treatmenThe first day of work was one that which I would never expected. I was told my advisor Dr. Tadelle's office was in Research Building 2 on the second floor, and that is where everything would start. I met Dr. Tadelle just as he was arriving for the day, and the first activity of the day was taking me to the Zebu club for coffee. Right from the start, I could see Dr. Tadelle was very laid back and someone I could talk to about anything. After coffee and discussing briefly what I would be doing while here at ILRI, I spent the first day on the DAGRIS database learning about all the different breeds of cattle in Ethiopia. This was very interesting to me to see how diverse the breeds are and how they each seemed to have their own special qualities for the area they were raised in.After the first day, I started reading research papers about trypanomiasis. I read about the history of tryps, the use of traps against the tsetse, the pouring of cattle to prevent tryps, the use of drugs and their effectiveness, and the trypanotolerant and suspected trypanotolerant breeds. I truly learned more than I could have ever imagined about tryps, and also the production of tropical cattle.My first trip to the Ghibe Valley came very quickly, just over a week after I arrived. I was very excited but also a little nervous as I was not sure what to expect. I found out soon enough there was nothing to worry about and the Ghibe Valley was absolutely beautiful.My first day of work began with a journey through the valley to ILRI's storehouse. This is where we collected the treatment and pouring medicine. After this, we drove up a rather rough road to an area where the farmers gather with their herds of cattle. The cattle were brought in groups of an average of fifteen, and kept just in their own little herds by their owners. I was amazed to see how the cattle owners knew exactly which animals were theirs and how content the cattle were to just stand and wait. Also, unlike what I was used to, there were no working chutes or corals. To my surprise the cattle were just grabbed by their horns or ears and hung on by one or two of their owners. If there was an aggressive animal, it would be tied to a tree or a wooden post would be held by two people in front of its rear legs.After observing for a short while how the cattle were handled, I was able to help with pouring the cattle. For the first week, the application was 20ml per adult and 10ml per young of Biodelta. This is a pour on with the active ingredient of Deltamehrin, and has the main focus of protection against the tsetse fly, but also kills other external parasites like ticks. The product is applied starting from the neck, across the back line, and ending at the tail head. To have the pour on applied to the cattle the farmer must pay 5 Birr for a token for each animal to be poured from the farmers' cooperative, which I then collect when I have completed pouring the farmer's cattle.The pourings main focus is to kill the tsetse fly and keep them away from the cattle. However it also helps ride the animals of all external parasites and has really helped against tick infestation.I was also able to assist in the treatment of the animals suspected to have tryps. The first question I asked was how they knew which ones had it, and I was told the farmers are very good about knowing when their cattle are sick and what it is. They said no tests were needed to test for diseases because the farmers knew the cattle that were sick. To treat the cattle first what had to happen was the mixing of the medicine. Depending on the area there were two treatments used, Veriben and Diminazen. The medicine came in packets and had to be mixed with water.For the Veriben each packet was mixed with 15 ml of water and for the Diminazen each packet was mixed with 12.5 ml of water. This was done carefully with safe water brought from Addis, and we used a graduated cylinder to measure the water into a big water bottle to mix with all of the medicine from the packets. We then took the mixed medicine and treated those cattle that the farmers also had paid 6 Birr for a token from the farmers' cooperative. The doses were adjusted to estimated body weight and were given at 1 ml per 15 to 20 kg. The needle was inserted first and then the syringe was attached and the treatment given. The toughest part of the process was getting the needle through the tough hide of the cattle, and it took a lot of force.The only thing that changed was the use of ectopour instead of the biodelta that was used on the first trip. The application rate was the same as the biodelta being 20ml per adult and 10ml per calf. This came as a change only because of availability.The work performed by ILRI is done over a period of a week, in what is up to 7 areas when it is dry enough to reach them all. The work is done for the farmers' coop in place who handles buying the medicine and the farmers paying for application. The main focus is helping the farmers have productive cattle in the tsetse infected areas. This is very helpful as it allows the farmers to farm very fertile ground that was never possible before because of the cattle becoming infected with tryps.One thing that is very interesting to me is the difference in how many cattle are treated and poured. This varies largely from person to person and especially has a trend in each area. Some farmers choose to pour all of their cattle, others choose to pour just their oxen, some pour only cattle that are sick, and others pour none and just get the treatment. With the treatment I see that some farmers choose only those that are really sick while others treat a good portion of their herd every month.I was able to assist on my two trips to Ghibe Valley the research on testing the cattle for tryps and their PCV levels. The data was collected from 23 cattle on the first trip and 23 on the second. The cattle were from the Gullele area.The process both times started with the drawing of ear vein blood. This process was started by using a lancet to puncture the vein and then using two heparinized capillary tubes to collect the blood. The tubes were filled 2/3 to ¾ full and then stuck into a tray of putty to seal the end. This was done to all of the cattle selected for the month. Once the blood had all been taken the capillary tubes were put into a centrifuge. The centrifuge was run for 5 minutes at a speed of 12,000 resolutions per minute. The next step was taking the separated blood in the tubes and measuring the PCV levels. This was done using a haemocrit reader that measured by comparing the total amount of original blood in the capillary to the separated red blood cells that are in the bottom of the capillary. After the PCV level was recorded, the slide was made for observation under the microscope. The first step to make the slide was cutting the capillary tube with a diamond pencil slightly below the Buffy coat. The Buffy coat is between the plasma and the red blood cells and where any parasites in the blood would be located as they are lighter than red blood cells, but lighter than the plasma. The plasma end of the cut tube is then tapped lightly against the slide to put the Buffy coat on it and prepare the wet slide in this way. All of the capillaries were made into blood smears no matter the PCV level, to make sure there was no tryps. The blood was then observed for either kind of trypanomiasis T. congolense or T. vivax. I was only able to see the T. congolense strain, as I will further explain in my results. Tryps is identified by the shaking or vibrations of cells.For T. congolense this is in a tight bunch of cells and does not move very far compared to T. vivax that moves away more in a line form. The results were very encouraging to see from both months. Out of both months of testing only one positive case of T. congolense was found. The average PCV level from the first month was 22.7%. The average PCV from the second month was 28.5%. The number of cattle for each PCV level is shown in the graphs below.I fell that seeing this data even though it is a very small sample is encouraging to see that the program in place to help fight against tryps is working well. Only having one animal out of the twenty three from each month test positive is quite impressive.The PCV levels rose dramatically from the first month to the second one. This comes as an obvious increase in feed availability for cattle. When we arrived in June the rainy season was late and it was just starting to rain. The landscape was full of green vegetation on our second trip as the rain had been coming since our first stay. This dramatically increased PCV values and just shows that the cattle rely on grazing for their main source of feed.One strange thing that occurred was the positive tryps case came on our second visit.This was when PCV levels were much higher and the norm is for tryps to be less prevalent in this case. However, it is possible that this case was missed or in its very early stages and difficult to detect the month before.Overall the research shows that the traps to catch the tsetse flys, the monthly pouring, and selective treatments are doing a good job to help the farmers cattle fight tryps. The cattle not having tryps is vital to the farmers so they are productive plowing the land and for reproducing. This kind of control can hopefully be developed by many areas of Ethiopia and greatly increase the productivity of all of the cattle here.The internship has truly been a life changing experience for me. I have learned much more than the research, which is what I have come to realize that this internship is all about. I feel that, to start with, the people of Ethiopia are very friendly. Everyone at ILRI was very kind to me and really took good care of me while I was here. And the friendliness does not just stop inside ILRI, but everyone in Ethiopia is courteous and helpful in every way. It has been veryinteresting just meeting random people who just wanted to meet me and visit with a foreigner.While I was in the countryside helping to pour cattle, I met a man who was an English teacher in a primary school who had run for a long ways just to meet and converse with me because he saw me pass by in the pickup. It was very interesting to me that he asked my opinion of everything and what the next steps should be to make life better for Ethiopians.One experience I had that I will never forget is being able to plow with oxen. This is the way almost all of the farmers in Ethiopia work the land, and it was really awesome to be able to partake in this. The plow is run by two oxen that are tied together with a wooden harness where the plow shaft is attached to. The plow is made up of two wood pieces to make a V and a metal point for the front. The job of the person is to hold the plow in the ground and steer where it is going while keeping the oxen going with the whip. At first this was a little difficult but after a little getting used to it I really got the hang of it. The toughest part for me was getting the oxen to turn around at the end, as they kind of just want to keep going. The first time turning them around they almost ran away from me but after a little experience I also got the hang of this.Being able to plow really gave me a deep respect for the farmers of Ethiopia as it is very time consuming and much harder work then sitting in a tractor like in the United states. But one thing I also noticed is the farmers really seem to enjoy their work and care for their oxen very well.This was a very big change for me running a 4 wheel drive tractor to a pair of oxen.The change in food was really also an experience for me. Unlike the US, where our animals are fattened before taking them to market, here the animals are rather slim and are much older. This makes the meat need much more added to it and different cooking for it to have good flavor. They often use peppers and onions to add most of the flavor along with other spices. This makes the food spicier which I was not use to at first but really came to enjoy. Also, traditionally all meals are eaten with enjera, which is like a sponge type bread in which you use your hands to pick up the food and eat it. It's frowned upon at home to eat with your hands but here it is the culture. I really enjoy this part of eating the food! Also, it is part of the culture to eat from a single large pan sharing with everyone you are with. This is really cool and just goes to show how friendly everyone is here. One last change with the food was that the portion sizes were much different than that of the US. This took some getting used to eating much less, but I see now how much more correct this is. It also brings the question to me of why we have to eat so much more than what we need in the US.A Different Kind of Experiment and the Questions It RaisesDr. Azage, through many talks at the Zebu club, has also helped me put a different view on my internship. This was to think of myself as an experiment in a way through the adventure of coming to Ethiopia. It is actually a very interesting way at looking at it as it shows everyone in my family and community that it is not as bad as people really think it is. As an example for the first two weeks my stomach was a little queasy from the food and water differences, but it is not like I didn't survive. It can really show that maybe everything that we are doing in the United States to reduce all the bacteria in our food and water isn't always a good thing. Maybe we are just weakening our immune systems to the point that with one little bit of bacteria we get sick.There are also many things that have been able to take away that can only come from looking in from the outside. It has really opened my mind up that things you do anywhere in the world affects everything else. With global warming putting great changes to the climates of many developing countries, it really shows that many people's abuse of fossil fuels has made it tough for people who rely on the rain for drinking water, crops, livestock, and, in Ethiopia, electricity. So it just really makes me also think of the question of if we are living sustainable lives and thinking of future generations. It is interesting to think about and something that we can look to places like Ethiopia who have been around for a very long time for some possible advice.This internship has truly been a lifetime experience in which I have learned so much not only about research but all of the differences in a developing country. It has shown me so much that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I hope that someday I will be able to come back and give back to the people of Ethiopia for everything they have given me."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7ef0b2e01cb48a777dd4034d3dfe58ec","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2086c4d7-3cb4-41da-8e2e-04de7b4291fa/retrieve","id":"-1699882586"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"71317ef9-ee8d-4c5b-afa0-fa663a45510b","content":"In phase III, NCRE has provIded on-the-Job, advanced degree, and short courc;e trammg to IRA staff 10 the HIghlands Maize Breedmg Umt To the credIt of IRA,they have all remamed 10 the untt dfter theIr trammg The two most semor breeders, Jacob Eta-Ndu and NdlOro a Mbd\\\\d, hdve completed M Sc degrees 10 plant breedmg dt the Umverslty of Mmnesota (USA), dnd Mr Eta-Ndu IS currently workmg on a Ph D at the same msntutlOn The thrrd SCIentist, hldore T ABI, was tramed at lIT A m hybnd maIze germplasm m 1991, and m phytogenetIc rec;sources m 1992 Three techmctan cycle graduates from RegIOnal college of Agnculture, Lucas Fofe, Albert Nde and George Fotaw, Jomed the umt m 1990Albert Ndea and Fofe Lucas have been to IITA, where they have been tramed m maIze technology transfer, dnd maIze streak VIruS reSIstance screenmg respecnvelyIn additIon to on-the-Job trammg of the above mennonned staff, five BambUI stanon workers assIgned to the umt hdve become speclahzed m the dcnVInes of the maize breedmg progrdm, and form dn mtegrdl palt of the staff Of parucular specIalIzation, are John Mbossl for hIS management of fIeld operanons, and Benard Wankt for hIS management of seed stocks 2 1 6 PRIORITIES FOR FUTURE RESEARCH Future progress m the program WIll directly depend on avaIlable operanon funds and the qualIty of umt mdnagement The HIghland Malze-Breedmg Umt should seek for new operdtIOn tund\\ no\"\" that the NCRE Project hd~ phased out Sub progrdm pflOlltles dre hsted below by order of retention from mlmmal to opnmal fundmg levels vmety MdmtendD(,e VanetIec; bemg produced and dlc;trIbuted to farmer\\ must be mdmtamed and foundation seed delIvered to the \\eed producer~ edch year SelectIOn pre~~ure must be mdmtdmed to aVOId genetic ill Itt m dgI onomlC chdfacten~tIcs, ~uch as matunty, plant heIght, lodgmg, husk cover, and gram texture A~ a pnoflty, one vanety m each major category should be mamtamed Ldte whIte, edlly whIte, ldte yellow and edrly yellow for the mIddltltude, and one white or mixed color tor the hIgh altitude zone AddltIonal varIeties WIth specIal charactenstIcs (short plant type, speCific adaptIon to aCid or ferule conditIon, etc ) can be mamtamed as resources permit Small quantities of these varlenes hdve been sent to lIT A and CIMMYT for long-term stordge Streak ~(,feenmg fdclhtIe~ Tbe roofing system of the screen houses should be re-bUllt m accordance With Foumbot environmental condItions The umt Will therefore stIll rely on outside cooperdtIOn to Implement ItS streak VlruC; reM stant germplasm development program Population Improvement Open polhndted populatlOn~, \\uch as POpuldtIOn 32, populdtIon 43 SR, EMSR and ATP, which serve d c; V dfletIe~ or ~ourcec; of varIeties, can be Improved at d taster r dte than * * HIgh gram YIeld potentlal Days to maturIty Gram color and texture ReSIstance to dIsease and pest (streak, borer, strIga) Tolerance to abrotlc stresses(drought, aCId-SOlI, Zn defiCIency) Gratn quahty(sweetness, soft and hard endosperm) * Low ba~lC yleld~ Averdge giaIn Yleld\\ In \\mdll -~c..dle farmer dre between 300 and 500 kg/hd Ev(.n If fungiCide applKatlOn could double thl'i Yield, the re~ult would not be ewnomK * * DIfticultIe~ m obtllnmg fungIcIdes and appit<..atIon machmery, and theIr hIgh (..Q~t tor small-~cale farmers Auteur (s)The Hlghldnd Maize BreedIng Umt, though not ~dtI\\fied m the hlghldnd zonell, hds fulfilled Its goals m the mid-dltItude zones dS te~tIfied by the relea~e of 5 open-polltndted and 4 hybnd vdnetIe~ The Umt feels frustrdted by the deldy~ trought by NCRE ddmml\\trdtlOn on the wmdmg up operatIOns e~pecldlly d\\ regdrds the nur\\ery, trdmmg fdrmerll dnd extenllion workers by the Umt, dS well dS genetic ~toc..h pre~ervdtIOnThe 1991, 1992 and 1993 U oppmg sea~on\\ were ~U( .. {,e\\\\fully conducted With more emphJ\\I\\ on bleedIng Over the yedl\\, the tllah wen . . hafv(,..\\ted dnd datd dnalyzed In Ndop pldIn IR7167 -33 -2 -3 dnd TaX 3145 -33 -2 -4 were the mo~t preferred vmeues Other Vdfleues suc..h as CI~dddne, ITA 212, ITA 222, CICA 8 dnd TaX 3145 -33-2-3 dre actually under culuvatton In We~t dnd North We\\t Provmces In Magd, IT A 212, AD 9246 are pO\"'~lble ~ub~utute~ of IR 46 In the North, ITA 257, dIld IRAT 112 dre the outstdndmg upldnd/ramted Vdneue~ while ITA 300 I~ progre%lvely repldc..Ing BKN 7033 -33 -3 -3 -2 -2 -3 under IrrIgated conditIons Cereals Agronomy DUflng the last 3 years (1991 -1993) the re~earc..hers of Ceredh Agronomy Umt have conducted more thdn 34 dgronOiTIlc.. field tndh on mdlze, ~orghum dnd d~~oudted (..fOpS on statIOn and m farmers' fields m the three Provmces Pdrticularly m the subhumld lowland savanna m North Cdmeroon Some tec..hmcdl paper~ dnd two compendlUm~ of dgronomlc rewmmendduons for mdlze and ~orghum hdve been prepdred Many tr dmIng field\\ ddYs, extenslOn agents and farmers have been orgamzed Much techmcal aSIlI ... tance to several agncultural agencIes and farmers hd\\ been proVIded Sorghum BreedmgDunng the last three years of NCRE project, the Sorghum dnd Millet Re~edc..h Umt set Its mdm obJec..uve to breed for VdflOU~ ~tre ... s tolerdnce, Improve 10Cdl germplasms and eVdludte IntrodUctions and advdnced ~egregatIng matefldl~ Work conduc..ted dccordmg to this plan led to encouragmg re~ults Some ~orghum and mIllet vanetIes were found to be very performdnt m terms of yIeld, agronomic trdltS and/or ~tre ...... factorsMany forage legume ~pec..le~ grew too ~lowly or did not acc..ummuldte enough blOIDdSS to be conSidered d~ cover c..rop~ Ca~~ta stamea dnd pigeon ped hedgerow II Cdn be a ~ustamdble croppmg ~y~tem Smga control pac..kage ... hould be directed to reduc..e Smga seedbdnk m the SOlI Momtonng of the ~Oll mOisture m Muskwdfl sorghum IIhould be gIven high pnonty Many goals, mcludmg trdmmg, were dc..comph~hed dunng the contract penod ot the TA BambUI TLUThe TestIng and LIaIlion Umt at BambUII~ respon~Ible for farmIng systems research In the Western HIghlands of CdmelOon, WIth dn emphd~l~ on mdIze and nee based croppmg systems From 1991 to 1993, sIgnIficdnt progrelis WdS made toward aChIeVIng thiS goal WIth the generation ot farmer recommendatIOns for sustaInable agnculture, soIl fertIlIty and chardctenzatIOn, mdlze dnd nce bUilt around new high YieldIng varietIes (kd~al, ATP, Synth 3 & 4, HAP, Eddy White dnd mdlze Hybnd\\, dnd the TOX rIce vdnette~) thdt have been released and are bemg ddapted by large numbers of fdrmers Ekond TLUThe focu~ of re~edrch Wd~ on lOn~trdmt dldgno~I~, IdentIficdtIOn of bIOloglldl technologIes for ImproVIng SOli fertIlIty and for weed control, IdentIficatIOn of approprIate crop protectIOn practIces, dlssemIndtIon of Improved well adapted crop varletIe~ and other technologies d~ well d~ mOnItonng technologIes DISSemIndtIOn of technologies IS the proJect's future re~earch focus Maroua TLU WIth les\\ need for ddditIondl dIdgnO~tIC ~tudles, on-fdrm te~t re~ul~ over 1991-93 POInt to promISIng technologIes on Improved sorghum/cowpea associdtIon~, SOlI mOl~ture conservation, the use of legumInOus trees In a~soclatIOn WIth crop~ and Improved cowpea storage techmques There I~ eVIdence thdt certun varietIeli of sorghum, cowped, peanut and mdize are bemg ddopted by fdlIncr~ AdoptIOn dnd n . . \\t,drlh Impdct ~tudle~ dre urgently needed to gUIde future re~edrch directIonliOverdll, we hdve made some good progress towards solVIng some of the key soIlrelated constraInts In our zone of serVIce These were mtrogen defiCiency dnd low phosphorus avalldblltty to crop~ due to ~Oll aCidIty dnd fixation We explored the u~e of organIC dmendments and hme to dddreli\\ the~e problem~ Our Impre~slon wa~ that the green manures supplIed more nItrogen dnd le~~ pho~phoru\\ but dId enhdnce the dVdIlabIltty of fertIlIzer phosphorus to crops In aud ~Olls The green mdnure crops whIch ~howed promIse In thIS re~pect were Mucuna, Crotaiana, Canavahd, Tephrosla The green manure crops performed poorly m the highly degrdded ~Olh (high In exchdngedble Al dnd low bdMC cations), dnd were not effective d\\ \\011 ImplOVer\\ Und<...r ~uch condltlon~, \\tJrter mdnUrIng was recommended Callwndra was be~t for dgrofore~try followed by Leucaena dnd Cassw By didIng HUtIdl growth of Leucaeua WIth ~tdrter mdnUll. . . . , It Ii performdnce WdS compardble With that of Callwndra The ddvdntdge of u~mg Leuwena I~ thdt It 1\\ pI eWClou~ Ca.Hw toler dted the dry season better than the rest but It IS a non-mtrogen fixer and therefore, there I~ d tendency for It to deplete sod N If the bIOmd~s IS exported out of the field for other u~e~ A lblZla , Erythrtna and Mellma performed poorly m the North-west Hlghldnds The UnIt's role wa~ extended to mclude coordmdtIon of Peace Corps, NGOs and farmer group~ mvolved In agroforestry dnd related green manunng research and extenslOn activIties ndtlOnwide Over 25 fdrmer groups m the South-West, North-West and West provmce~ were reached WIth our proposed mterventlOns Our package for demonstratIOn consI~ted of 1) Green Manure! Agrofore~try (GM! AF) WIth NPK fertIlIzer, 2) GM! AF WIthOUt NPK fertIlIzer and 3) control WIthOUt GM! AF and no NPK Crotalana dnd Mucuna featured mo~t In the~e demon~tratIon~ because they were more stable In terms of bIOmass production than the other speCIes Our protocol and expenence were shared With the TLUs m Gdroua, Maroua and Ekona Plant Pathology PPB contmued to Identify, locdlIze, dnd to mOnItor the major dI\\ea'\\ec;; of sorghum, mIllet and mdlze m Cdmeroon Though le~s dttentIon Wd~ gIven to \\orghum, mIllet emphdslzes were placed on s(.reenmg mdize genotypes from theIr re~l~tdnce to the mdJor pathogens (Exerohllum tunuum, Puc-clma polysora, Sponsonum reZwna) Varieties such as CHC 201 (Kasal), Syn 4, COCA, CMS 8704, EC 571, ATP were tolerant to the~e dISea~e\\ Though the personnel remdmed very lImIted, financIdl dnd technIcal '\\upport to the umt WdS hetter than m NCRE I dnd NCRE II More \\(.reenmg te(.hnIque\\ need to he Identlfed Funds WIll he our major challenge We hope to IdentIfy ~ource~ of tinan(.e~Dunng the perlOd m reVIew, the maJor maIze m\\e(.t storage pests In the We~tem HIghldnds were Identified and the lo~\\e~ asso(.lated WIth at led~t tour populdf maIze storage method~ ds~e~~ed through on-~tdtlOn expenment~ Two new grdm ~torage m~ectIcides (SOFAGRAIN and SUMUCOMBI) plu~ two old one~ (Actelhc and Permethnn) were ~creened and ~pe(.lal reports mdudmg findmg~ dnd relOmmendatlOn~ were (\"Ir<..ulated The use of natural plant matenals by pea~ant farmers for ~tored gram protectIon was Identified to he fdirly popular m many part~ of the Western HIghldnd~ and ~tudles to Improve and mcrea~e theIr use are underway RKe field entomology receIved a fdir attentlOn followmg 1 1 IN I RODUC110N fhe AdmlOl..,tratlon Untt con'mt<; of the Chief of Party, Deputy ChIef of Party, Admlnt\"tt dtlve Qlficer, and vanou<; \"upport <;taff The goal of the AdmlOl\\tratlOn Untt 1<; to en<;ure achievement of project ob1ectlve\", The ddmlnt\",tratlon'.., mo..,t Important ta<;k 1<; a\"\"t<;tlOg re..,earcher\", to accomp1t<;h the proJect'.., re<;earch and 1O-<;ervKe trdmmg ohjectIves Tht\" entdtl\", admlnt<;tratIve \"upport to re<;earcher<; for hou<;mg, travel arrangement<; and nece..,<;ary formalttle<; wtth the Government of Cameroon, procurement of nece<;..,ary \",upphes and eqUIpment, management and dt<;hur'>ement of project fund..\" and hmng and supervlSlng ,>upport pcr..,onnel A parttcular re\"'pon<;thtltty of the Chief of Party I' > to revIew re<;earch work plan'>, method\" and find1l1g<; m order to emure good performance of the techntcal a\"''>t\"tance team and con<;t<;tency WIth project ohJecttve\" Another Important functIOn of the Admlnt\",trcltlon Untt I' > mamtatnmg ltal<;on among the <;pon<;onng organt7attOn\" IRA, lIT A and USAID In thl<; regard, the admml..,trattOn en<;ures tImely and proper preparatIOn of project reportmg document<;, mcludmg annual work plan<; and progle..,s reports The admml<;tratlOn also developed re<;earch and techmcal management procedure<; whIch not only meet project reqUlrement<; but hopefully can serve a<; model<; for future u\",e by IRA Long term trammg and procurement are two batson and support acttVltlC<; whIch took Ie<;<; tIme than m the pa<;t A <; the project near<; Its end, !flcrea<;mg amount'> of tIme are bemg devoted to en<;unng ..,mooth tramltlOn after phase out of lIT A <;taff and publicatIon and dl\",,,,emtnatlOn of project findtng.., 1 2 OBJECTIVES Durmg the fir<;t 10 year<; of project actlVttle<; the admml<;tratlOn concentrated on addition of progr,lm.., ,Ind \\trc,lmltnmg (H.hmnl\\tt.ltlvc proCC(\\IIIC\\ fOl ,10 II1lful<;mg numher of techntcal \\taff DUTIng the 1991-94 penod empha<;l<; wa<; placed on pha\",mg out expatnate ..,taff and the t.lkeover of eXI<;ttng program.., by IRA re<;earchet.., A major tocus of thl<; penod wa<; to pha..,e out expdtnate\\ dnd hand over re'>earch program~ to ndtlonal re..,earcher<; Another objectIve wa~ to coordlOated program budget'> wtth the pha<;e out plan and WIth IRA objectIves Program work plan<; and report<; were modIfied to be compatlhle WIth IRA plan<; and report<; A <;econd major focu<; wa<; to extend re<;earch re\\u1t\\ to the exten\\lon ..,ervlce ThIS was to he accomplIshed pnmdnly through mdlvldual plogram field ddy~ and demon<;tratlOns The role of the admml\\Uatlon wa~ to develop a <;ene<; of puhlt..,hed pamphlet<; and bulletms outltntng exendlble re<;earch re..,ulto;Long term trammg wa\\ d third major objectIve WIth the provI..,lOn of fundI, for 12 graduate degree \"tudent<; Becau~e the project wa<; scheduled to end, theo;e o;cholar<;hlps were proVIded WIth the ltmltdtlOn that all <;tudent<; had to be fim'>hed and returned to Cameroon before December 31, 1994 Therefore all trammg actlvltle.., had an eo;pectally hard deadhne to meet 1 ..The penod 1991-1993 was dn especIally stressful penod for N CRE researchers and admInIstratIon Dunng thIS penod the project actively ~tarted to \"phase-out\" expatriate Techmcal AssIstants and to reduce project financIal support to levels Judged to be sustaInable by IRA AddItional stress came from pen OdIC strIkes due to polItical unrest and lack of IRA salary payments The reductIOn of the IRA operatIOnal budget caused many other programs to reduce or halt theIr research actiVIties It IS a trIbute to the IRA Cereals and FarmIng Systems researchers that theIr actIVItIes were not severely affected by these problems 1 4 ACCOMPLISHMENTS Phase out of ExpatrIate Staff A total of 15 expatrIate <;taff were Involved WIth NCRE dunng thI<; pha<;e of project actiVItIes Although a few staff left earher than planned the transItion to IRA researcher management went smoothly There was no apprecIable change In umt actIVIties other than that normally be expected by loss of an researcher Both the quahty and quantIty of research performed has remaIned hIgh ReturnIng IRA researchers have been able to easdy take over the leadershIp and admInIstrative roles of therr respectIve umts They have assumed all actiVItIes IncludIng management of expendItures, supervlSlon of field actIVItIes, management of research eqUIpment and use of vehIclesDunng the 1991-93 penod the project depended entIrely on a computenzed Inventory system to keep trJck of over 5000 Item~ valued at $'2 6 mIllIon In ~even IRA stat]on~ In Cameroon YeMly venficatIOns were made of all Items WIth SIgnature of Inventory by the responsIble researcher NCRE ImtIated a purchaSIng sub-contract WIth WInrock InternatIOnal to handle all mternatIonal purchasmg Dunng the peflod of thIS contract (2 years) 50 purchase orders were Issued With a value of more than $700,000 Included In thIS total were 22 computer~ and 27 vehIcles for project use All International purchasmg was completed In 1992As each expatnate staff left the IRA researcher concerned assumed responsIbIlIty for the eqUIpment and ~upphes of the program OwnershIp of these Items was then formally transferred from USAID to IRA and removed from the project mventoryAt the begInmng of 1991 there were 7 students studyIng In the USA and Nigefla All these students were supervIsed by a USAID sub-contractor, PIET, In the USA All but one of these 7 students successfully completed theIr programs of study and returned to IRA In Cameroon dunng the 1991-94 peflod One contInued to a PhD program under Wlnrock of these 7 student~ ~ucceo;\\ful1y completed theIr programs of o;tudy and returned to IRA m Cameroon dunng the 1991-94 penod One contmued to a PhD program under Wmrock supervIsIOn An addItIOnal 2 students were enrolled at umversltles m the USA and Nlgena under drrect USAID finanCIng durmg 1991-94 Both have ~mce returned to Cameroon and resumed theIr posh mIRA In 1991 NCRE wa\\ gIVen re~pons]bIltly for long term trammg A sub-contract was awarded to Wmrock InternatIOnal for supervl~lon of students m the USA ApphcatIOn for \\cholar~hlps wa~ lImited to IRA re~earcher~ who had collaborated WIth NCRE for at lea<;t two year~ Successful candidates were nommated by a committee of IRA and NCRE T As accordmg to defmed U Itena Fmal nommatlons were made by the Mlmster of MESlRES A total of 12 scholar<;hlps were awarded Aft caIldldates surcessfully apphed to, and were dccepted to umvefl~ltle\"l In the USA Each student wa\"l supervIsed by Wmrock InematlOnal from theIr arnval to theIr departure from the USA At the orne of thIS report all were progres~mg well With then pi ogr dm\\In 1993 a prolect technIcd.l paper databa<;e wa\\ estabhlihed at Nkolblsson Thlli attempted to colku In d lentl al file at lea\\t one paper copy of all techmcal report\\, conference present ItHln\\, reteH.cd IOUfI1dl drtlcle<; dnd progfdm report~ wnteen by NCRE \\taft counterpart\\) or N( HI-' \\upervl\\ed ... tudent~ Over 350 papers are hsted and over 300 are currently In fileli Pldn\\ dre bemg made to mIcrofilm the entIre collectIon and dIstribute It to hbrane ... In CUlluoon dnd We~t Afnca Thl~ collectIOn WIll be handed over to the IRA/IRZV hbrary for catalogmg and regIstratIOn A condensed hstmg of the tItles appear<; m the appendIX of thIo;; report 1 5 CONSULT ANTS Dr Y Jeon VISIted Cameroon to ~tart a post-harvest processmg m]ttatIve between lIT A and IRA He Jomed a USAID sponsored group that vIsIted all regIOns of the country to evaluate the need for post-harvelit research or extenSIOn He liubsequently formed a proposal for backlitoppmg the IRA post-harvest processmg program HIS propol)al wa<; The HIghlands MaIze Breedmg UnIt IS responsIble for the development of vaneue~ adapted to Improved and current farmmg systems between lOOOm and above the meJn sea level The target zones are maInly found m the North West, West and Adamaoua Provmce~ and mclude a large range of soIl types and farm SIzes The Western HIghlands, compnsmg the North West and West Provmces, cover less than 10% of the land area m Cameroon, but contam 25 % of the populatIOn, and produces over 60 % of the natIOnal maIze cropThe purpolie of thIS report IS to summarIze the actIvItIes and results of the HIghland MaIze Breedmg Program dunng Phase III (1991III ( -1994) ) of the NatIonal Cereals Research and ExtenSIOn Project (NCRE)The goal of the UnIt dunng thIS penod was to develop a comprehensIve breedmg program mcludmg both open pollInated and hybnd vanetIes Dunng phase III, the UnIt has emphaSIzed the testmg of Its germplasm WhIch was able to prOVIde new vanetIes A maIze ~treak VIruS screenmg faCIlIty was mstalled m 1991 at Foumbot and a new seed processmg and storage facIhty was put mto operatIon m Apnl, 1993 at the headquarter of the umt at BambUI statIOn c> ThIS penod was charactenzed by mcreasmg budgetary constramts, and the normal work schedule was often dIsturbed by IRA workers stnkes and soclO-polItIcal agItatIOns Smce the departure of the T A Breeder m October 1992, the program IS currently bemg led by NatIOnal Counterparts One of them, I Tabi was transferred to Foumbot SIte In late 1992 2 1 2 OBJECTIVES The ObjectIves of the HIghland MaIze Breedmg Umt dunng phase III were 1)Develop maIZe vaneties (open pollInated and hybnd) WhICh meet the requrrements of farmers and the demands of the market In the Cameroon HIghlands 2)EstablIsh germplasm development strategIes WhIch wIll cyclIcally Improve the vanetd] and lme sources whIle producmg a stream of new vanetIes 3)Mamtam and proVIde foundatIon seed of released vaneties to the ~eed mu]tIplIcatIOn and dIstnbutIOn orgamzatlOn~ 4)Tram counterpart SClentllits through an mtegrated program of on the Job expenence alternated WIth U S graduate degree studIes and InternatIOnJI Re~earch Center~ short courses 5)Tram techmuJm through on the Job expenence or short course~ 2 1 3 CONSTRAINTS Constramts encountered dunng thI~ phase may be classIfied as follow Operatmg Fundc;A cnSlS m operatmg funds WhICh occurred m late 1986 contmued dunng phase III Consequently, 50% reductIOn m the number of locatIOns and plot SIze\", uc;ed for trlalc; was necessary to overcome vanous budget cutsThe two screen hou~es mstalled at Foumbot m 1991 were already out of use m 1992 due to the meltmg of the plastic roof at the contact POInt WIth the Iron frame The drymg and storage factlitIec; are not fully functIOnal at BambUI ~tatton Only one tractor IS at thIS pomt operational dt BamhUl StdtlonThe major mId and hIgh altitude maIze growmg area~ were not well represented The Adamaoua Plateau, one of our most Important SItes, was completely cancelled m 1993 For the HIgh altitude zone (> 1500m) only one SIte was avaIlable vanetal Constramts Vanetal constramts IdentIfied through the Testmg and LIaI~on Umt (TLU) mdlcated a need for the followmg -Late matunng, whIte and yellow flInty gram vanetIec; wIth hIgh Yield and Improved strorablhty -Early matunng, whIte and yellow flmty gram vanetIes, -VanetIes resIstant to poor envIronments (aCId soIls), -Hybnds for medIUm and large farm scales 2 1 4 ACCOMPLISHMENTS A comprehensIve breedmg sy\",tem of germplasm Improvement, vanety formation, and vanety testIng, was well mtegrated m the program ThIS sy~tem mcludec; multIlocatlOnal evaluation, both dunng germplasm Improvement and final vanety testmg Only two HIghland Provmces out of three were mcluded m the te~tmg m 1993, North-West and West Provmces Dunng phd\\e III (1991)(1992)(1993)(1994) c;everal open-pollInated varIetIes confirmed theIr potential as releac;able vanetIe~ m the mId-altItude zones 1 he hybnd program has re~ulted m good and producIhle c;mgle cro~s vanetIe~ WIth a hIgh YIeld potentIal for medIUm and large scale farmers A c;et of good mbred hnes has been regIstered and new promI\",mg ones were Identified and tested The be\\t one~ are avaIlable at breeder's level for release PopulatIOn Improvement contmued m mtroduced source populatIonc; whKh ~erve as sources of mbred hnes for hybnd and c;ynthetK vanetIe~IdentIfy and develop sourc.e populatIons, Improve and convert populatIons through selectIon and recombmatlOn were the objectives of the germplasm Improvement program PopulatIOn 32, Population 43SR and EMSR have been u\\ed as Improved ~ources of new mbred lmes for vanetal and hybnd formatIon WhIle the source populatIOn possess Important charactenstIcs (e g good plant type and flmty whIte gram for populatlOn 32, and earlmess for EMSR) on whIch future progress c.an be based, budgetary constramts hffilted the effort that could be made on theIr Improvement SubstantIal progres'\\ wa~ made WIth the maIze streak VlfUS vanetIe~ Improvement Convelted vd.netIe~ (Co('d.-SR, KASAI-'iR, SYNTHETIC 3-SR, ATP-SR, SYNTHETIC 4-W-SR, SYNTHETIC 4-Y-SR and Early WhIte-SR) proved to be better or equal to theIr non SR counterparts, and therefore would normally replace them Unfortunately, the SR genes mcorporated mto these varIeties appears unfitted to the highland ecology ot Cameloon due to the high stredk mCIdence ob~erved on the SR matenal when grown under heavy IItreak VIruS dIsease pressure Streak resIstant screenmg under artIfiCial mfestatlOn, planned for 1993 was not Implemented due to detenoratIon of screen houses at Foumbot Nevertheless, the best EMSR SI hnes were selected and recombIned as donors of the SR and earhne~~ genes through a S I famIly evaluatIOn and selectIOn proce~s m order to Improve the Early WhIte SR PopulatIOn Two collectIOns of local germplasm were evaluated at mId-altItude and mgh altItude level at Babungo (lIOOm) and Mblyeh (200m) respectIvely None of the locally collected germplasm was dedared satIsfactory at mid-altItude level At the high altItude locatIOn of Mblyeh where yIeld, earhness and resistance to Phaeosphena ~p were the major tral~ under selectIon, two local vanetles (Ndu White and Nkambe I-whIte) were selected for theIr good YIeld performanc.e and dIsealle reactIon SpeCIalty maIze Vartetles were also under hmlted Improvement From a small program of U U pop corn converSIOn to mId-altItude adaptatIOn, three mbred hnes (128, SG32, SG1533) were ~elected to form smgle hybnd combInatIons and a pop corn synthetIc vanety A small program In sweet com conversIOn to mId-altItude adaptatIon contInued MSR-Sh, a very sweet type WIth poor germmatIon was Improved through germmatlOn tests The MSR-Su type has good gernunatIOn but IS less sweet MSR-Su hnes were selfed and selected for mmlffium gram ')tJrch content Suhsequent cro'\\\\es With soft endosperm matenal, planned for 1994, should IInproved the graIn quality VanetIes TestmgThe obJec.tIve~ were to IdentIty well adapted varKtIe~ for relea~e to fd.fmer~ or potentIal seed growers, and to test and assess mtroduced matenal The open-pollinated vanety tnals were a contmuatIon of the ITIld-altItude NatIonal Vanety Tnals (NVT) reconstItuted annually m Cameroon They were dIVIded mto an Early Set (NVT-MAE) and a late set (NVT-MAL)In the mId-altItude zone, trIals were sown at Foumbot (lOOOm), Nfonta (1300m), Babungo (llOOm) TlbatI (100m) and Mbang Mblml (llOOm) The NVT-hlgh altItude tnals sown at Mblyeh (2000m) and Upper Farm (2000m) Mbang MbIrm, TibatI and Upper farm were discarded In 1993 croppmg seasonIn NdtIonal Vanety Mid-dititude Late tnah, eIghteen vanete~ were te'>ted dunng three year~ over a total of 9 locatIOns Synthetic 4 and A TP confirmed theIr potentialItIes as releasable varIeties The splIt yellow dnd white verslOn~ of Syn 4-SR baSically had the same performance a~ the ongmdl Syn 4 populatIOn, sugge~tmg thdt the genetic ba~e of the populatIOn was not dltered hy COlO1 ~epdrdtIon KASAI-SR, ATP-SR, SYN4-SR-Y, SYN4-SR-W are the suggested open poll mated recommenddtlOns for mId-altItude zones, If no obJectIon~ come from Te~tmg dnd LIdI~on, dnd Pathology Umh In wmphdnce WIth the new Vdnety nammg ~y\\tem m the hlghldnd\\, they Will be known to publIc d~ CHC 201, CHC 202, CHC 203, and CHC 204 respectIvely m the pamphlets In aud and pho\\phorus fixmg sod like Nfontd, ATP-SR and COCA-SR would be the best alternattves to the Syn 4 verSlOns The mean gram yIeld~ of major vanette~ over three year\\ are pre\\ented m Table 1 The vanetles exhIbIted an appreciable level of ~tabIhty WIth respect to major traIts hke days to 50% Mlk, eM height dnd YIeld 1 he tindl del.lMon on whdt to lhoo\\e would then rely on agronomlc traIts hke plant a~pects, dnd ear rot scores bdsed on the plevalhng envlronmental condlttonsThe NatIOnal Vanety M Id-dltltude Edrly Wd\\ InltIatld In 1990 to te\\t the earlme~s, YIeld and adaptatton of Early WhIte and Edlly MSR In companson WIth the reledsed varlettes BACOA and KASAl The ~treak. re~I'>tant ver~Ions of KASAl and EW were Included In 1992 and 1993 respectively Re~ult~ confirm the supenonty of KASAI-SR (CHC 201) Early Whlte was not sIgmficantly edrlIer thdn KASAI-SR Haif-sih recurrent ~electIon to lmprove earliness of the EW continue,> a'> well a~ other charactenstIc'> such as ear al)pect and ear rot The commercldh7ed PIOneer hyhnd (PHB 141,)) would not be d hetter alternative to KASAI-SR because of It~ weakne~1) on hu\\k cover dnd ear rot NYT -HA Of the two High dltItude 10ldtlOn~ orW Mblyeh wa\\ operdtlOndl In 1993 Entne~ In the trlals were the tollowlng Vdnou~ cydes of the lilgh Altitude POpuldtlon (HAP), Pool 9 Synthettc, Ndu LOCdl, COld, Syn 4, dnd d LOCdl lheck YIeld, edrhne\\\\ dnd resl\\tdnce to Phaeosphaena I)p were the mdJor trdlt\\ under selectton Results In Tahle 3 \\ugge~ted a hIgh Inudence of Phaeo<;phena maydls, but that all the tested vanetlel) With the exception of HAP Co I)how d good level of tolerdnce to the dlsease The 10Cdi check outYlelded the be~t Improved entry HAP ~, IndlCdtlng that, there would be no need to rewmlm . . nd dn Improved VdrIety dt Mblyt.h But, thl\\ being one year and one slte resulh, no '>trong eOndUl)lOn could be drdwn from It Inbred Tnd 1 ) Inbred trl(i1~ were ~own dt two locdtton~ (Foumhot dnd Bdhungo) In 1992 dnd 1993 All the mbted hne~ Identltied d\\ good pdrenb tor hyhnd ~t..ed production helve confirmed their potenttal as releasable materIals The followmg mbred lInes are avaIlable at Breeder's level fOf release 87016, 88069, 88094, 88099, 89182 89258, M111, 90323, 89274, Z28 and 90219 It IS Important to note that mbred hnes are most of the ttme sIte specIfic (LocatIOn x VarIety mteractton slgmficant at P < 005) and seed productIOn ~hould take It mto conslderatton If the opercltlOn needs to be feasIbleResults mdlcated that thl~ program has bred hIgh YIeldmg hybnds WIth good agronomIc and gram charactensttcs 88069 x 87036, 88094 x 90219,89258 x 89182, 88094 x M 131, and 88094 x 87036 smgle cross hybnds have confirmed thelf performance m the mldaltttudes The productton mformatton wIll soon be aVailable m pamphlets under the names CRR 101, CHH102, CRH 103, CHH 104 and CHH 105 respecttvely Nevertheless, new mbred hnes from the 1991 test-cro .... .;eC) showed high performance m croC)seC), but theIr stabIlIty sttU needs to be confirmed before they could be recommended Considermg the locatton x mteractton, CHH 105 would be recommended for Ndop Plams only, due to Its good and (.on~tdnt pcrtormdnte m thdt dl edLIght TZ (t1mt) from lIT A and 6 IRA mbred~ (noury) were eV£1luated for thelf reacttons to rust (Pucclma polysora) and (Exerohllzum turclcum) Forty eIght crosses (floury x flmt) from these hnes were realIzed and evaluated m a prelurunary trial SIX mbreds (230,2096,2097,5012,9499,9613) were tolerant to rust, 5 mbreds (74,230,9432,9499,9613) were tolerant to bhght InbredC) 9431, 9499, and 230 were tolerant to both dIseases Cro~s (9432 x 273) outYlelded all the others crosse~ WIth 5 3t1ha compared to Kasal 49 tlha WhICh was uC)ed £1\\ check The IdentIfitdtlOn of lowldnd mhredC) tolerant re~lstdnt to P poly<JOra and/ or E turacum opens goods avenues for the Improvement of low and mId-altttude maIze genotypes for theIr re~l~tance to theC)e dll)easel)The obJecttve~ were to grow breeder seed for punty and Improvement, to momtor foundatton seed productton, and to proVIde seed to collaborators In phase III, hundreds of kIlograms of breeder's seed of extended and yet to extend mghland maIze varlettes have been produced m the different ear-to-row Isolatton plots and small quantlttes were avaIlable for research purpose\\ Founddtton seed of extended vanettes under productton went to extenSIon ~ervlces m WeM dnd \\ome NGO'~ dnd MIDENO III North We\\t provmce for multlphcdtJOn purposes The vdlletIeli produced were CHC-201, CHC-202, CHC-203, CHC-204, CHC-205, COCA, EKONA WHITE and EKONA YELLOW Four hybndC) were produced for on-farm testmg hy TLU Under USAID and PNVFA (NdtIonal Exten\\lOn Program) requests, two speCIal foundatton seed plots were grown offseason at Foumbot dnd BambUi m 1993 The varlettes produced were  and  that obtamed m ear-to-row selectIOn by usmg more mtense selecoon methods, such as half-sIb family or S I famtly recurrent selectIOn across locatIOn WIth recombmatlon of selectlons from remnant seed Inbreedmg should be employed m Improvmg dIsease reSIstance of the~e populaoons m selecoon for resistance to leaf bhght (E turclcum dnd E maydlS), rusts (P sorghl) , Phaeosphaena leaf spot (now observed m the hIgh altItude zone), Dlplodta macrospora leaf stripe, and stleak VlfUS Inbred development Systematlc mbred development should contmue, producmg parents of hybnds and vanetal synthetlcs Good mbred parental lmes are now avallable m the HIghland MaIze Breedmg Program, therefore a self su~tammg (pnvate sector) seed mdustry capable of producmg and dlstrlbutmg hIgh quahty seed Will be necessary 2 1 7 PLANS TO SUSTAIN RESEARCH EFFORT To Improve the effiCiency of the HIghland MaIze Breedmg Umt m developmg vanetIes that can be extended to Camerooman farmers, mechanisms need to be establIshed, for decldmg on varIetal release, tor seed certlficaoon and control, and for ~eed productlon GIven the fact that research funds are hmlted or sometlmes unavaIlable, adequate and urgent measures need to be taken to sustam research actlvltles These measures mclude productIOn constramts IdentIficatIOn and re~earch pnonozaoon Productlon conc;tramTh IdenoficatIon should contlnue through extensIOn services of the Mlmstry of Agnculture m order to proVIde the necessary feed-back on traIts on whIch future selectIon would be based By carrymg out a pnontlzatlon of research actlvltles, scarce funds could be allocated more effiCIently to VdllOUS re'learch operatlonc;At the level of the umt, pnonty needs to be given, first to supply adequate mformatlon to the extensIOn agents, m collaboratIon WIth the PNVFA, on the varletles that are released Sewnd, adequate quantItIes of foundatIOn ~eed should be supplJed to ~elected pnvate seed produl.ers at a regular base Tl~ goverment needs to encourage seed producoon through the devtlopment of a pnvate seed mdu~t.}' Thrrd, mechanl~ms for a ~trlCt control of the seed multIplIcatIOn proce% should be put mto operatIOn to msure the control of the seed quahty and punty In order to achIeve these goals, a seed productlon legIslatlon needs to be mstItuted In Cameroon Fourth, HighLand MaIze Breedmg Umt ~hould concentrate on Improvmg and mamtammg open-polhnated and mbred hne vaneoes and conSIder mlmmIzmg varIety development and te~tmg FIfth, the umt must look for ways to generate funds to msure the mamtendnce of the dcqUIred nch genetic stocks ThIS could be dchieved through many pOSSIble meChdnI\\m'i IndudIng research grant applIcatIOns, productIOn of foundatIon seed to be sold to pnvate 'ieed producers, production of gram maIze and 'ipeCldlty corns for the local market Con\\lderdtIon could also be gIven to chargmg a small fee for any consultatIOn or ,erVlce reldted to \\eed or gram maIze production requested by a pnvate producer   VanetIes m the pipelme were Suwan I-W, NCRE synthetIc late, NCRE synthetIc early, and numerous hybrIds 3) 3 heterotIc pools formedInbred lInes tratt donor source Identlfied  The umt IS currently woriang In 17 populatIons Those populatIons are used to denve traIt donor sources for the follOWIng constraInts strIga, drought, aCId-SOlI, streak VIpS, and Borers to mInor extent A total of 145 famIlIes and or populatIOns have been evaluated from 1991 to 1993(tab1e 3)To develop new vanetIes WIth Improved plant charactef1stIc~ such as a plant heIght, and dIsease tolerance         However, the major goal over the past three years has been focu~ed on the development of new, hIgh and stable YIeldmg agronomIcally Improved flce vanetIes WIth better graIn charactenstIcs, WIth tolerance or reSIstance to the major dIseases such as blast, sheath rot, leaf bbght, glume dIscoloratIon and to envlfonmental stresses such as low temperatures prevaIlmg dunng the grOWIng season or drought for the upland/ramfed ecologIes Hundreds of hnes have been Introduced and WIdely tested and many have been IdentIfied as breedmg hnes and some recommended for cultIvatIon In each productIon zone 3 1 2 OBJECTIVES The major objectIve of the nce Umt IS preCIse m that varIetIes supeflor to those already recommended need to be developed for the parastatal Imgated nce development projects and for the tradItIonal peasant farmers who cultIvate both rrngated and upland nce ActIvItIes undertaken m order to achIeve project obJectIves, therefore, Include the followmg   Several te(..hrnclens have had short-term nammg and on the Job trammg from the technIcal assistant staff DespIte the trdlrnng, the nce UDlt IS ~tIlI short of trelmed manpower Presently, Mr FabIen JEUTONO presently m trammg wIll Jom the Sorghum resear(..h Urnt smce he IS presently workmg on sorghum 3 1 6 PRIORITIES FOR FUTURE RESEARCH Our pnontIe~ remaIn the same as stated In the objectives However, emphasIs WIll be more on workIng WIth farmers In other words, farmer, partIcIpatory research will be a pnonty 3 1 7 PLANS TO SUSTAIN RESEARCH I The focu~ WIll be on external aId hy way of pre\\entIng propo\\als for ~pon~orship to orgamzatIons sudl as the We~t Affl(\"a RKe Development A~sociatIon, lIT A, IRRI etc However, requestc;; WIll also be made to the government of Cameroon, If the economIC SItuatIon Improves For the meantlme, I expect USAID to gIve u~ a boo\\t by maIntaInIng the eXIstIng faclhtlec;; over a penod of about 3 to 6 month\\ ProvIde uc;; with c;;ome fuel to contInue present reseruch actIvItIe~ and abo help us Identity hndn<-ldl donor~ Three of the most Important fungal dlsea~e agents of nce hdve been Identified They are Pyrzculana oryzae, Rhynchosponum oryzae, Acrocylyndnum oryzae TheIr frequencIes of attack and the vanablhty of these attacks have been estabhshed (Table 1) Tests to detect senSItIvIty of some vanetIeli of nce to Pynculana oryzea were done under ramy condItIons at D!>chang, Sdntc..hou and Ndop (T dble 2) Seven dIfferent varIetIes and three check vanetIes (IRATI 0, T AINAN V and ANNA 2) were utIlIzed -Effect of NItrogen nutntIon on the mCIdence of the pyncultuna ThIS study was composed of SIX dIfferent levels of mtrogen apphed under Irngated conditIon'i at SantchouThe resultdTh mdlcdte The Fnedman's te'it ~howed that thele were no MgmfKdnt dlfference'i between mtrogen leveb tor leveb of dttdlk Thl~ wnfirmed the cld\\SltkatlOn of the vdflctIes from most to led~t reslstdnt over dll mtrogen levels The V4 (CI'iadanc) appears to be the most reSIstant whtle V5 (CICA 8) IS the mo~t SUSleptIble to tobdr pynwlana (table 5 The re~ul~ obtdmed for the dttdlk of nelk hId\\t (tdble 6) dre not dndlogOlJ\\ to tho'ie of the leaves The mfluence of the dIfferent rate'i of mtrogen on mfectlOn are not dearly demonstr dted on the neck ThIS makes us belIeve that thele I~ not only a dIfference of senMtIvlty among vaietIes but also, a vanabilIty of the vIrulence of the Pynculturana oryzea III the field or the cultural cycle The second cycle, the penod of thIS test, IS not favorable to the dIsease Based on these results there does not appear to be a relation between YIelds and ffitrogen applIcatIOn levels on one hand and between the observations of attack and YIeld losses, on the other hand Fungicidal control of nce dlsea<;es IS effectIve and economIc when u~ed hy nce production autonttes such as SEMRY, SODERIM and UNVDA It IS u~ed hy hlg farmers 10 agnculturally advanced countrIes, where It ha<; been widely adopted In any way the research should aIm to select the chemical to be u~ed, the approplate time and method of apphcatIon of these chemmlcals In order to gIve an an~wer to thelle questlonll, many chemIcal trIals have been conducted at Mho PlaIn durIng 1991-1993 agrIcultural campagn Some of the~e are     One ~et of on-farm tnals mvolvIng N fertIhzatIOn and mInimum ullage was conducted dunng the 1991 croppIng ~eason The maIn obJecuves of these expenments were a) to determIne the response of maIze to dIfferent N feruhzer rate~ under a IDlnImUm ullage system In 13 farmers' field ... located In the West and South-East Benoue regIOn~, b) to evaluate the performance of the newly avaIlable maIze vanety CMS-S704 In dIfferent agroecoiogical zones under farmers' condluon, <..) to Introduce a sy~tem of ally croppIng With pIgeon pea hedgrows In farmers fields ThiS study show among other thmgs that -Growth of maize variety CMS-S704 was relatively good In most location~ Thl~ vanety ~eem~ll adapted In the~e dlfterent agroecologlcal zones Furthermore, thiS expenment demonstrated once more that a reasonable Yield can be obtdmed In farmers' field~ under a minImum tIllage sy~tems In the subhumld lowland savanna ot North Cameroon RegardIng the 4!ley croppIng sy~tems u~ed In thl~ expenment, pigeon pea growth was con~ldcred ... atI~tac..tory when planted earher In June Results are m Table 1 4412On-farm test!DemonstratlOn WIth Interplanted maIze!canavaha under mInImUm tillage sy~tem In the subhumld lowland . . . avanna ([Mmers' management 1992) Interplanted tallow (legume!cerectls) and mInImUm ullage Me two Important strategIes for sustaInable croppmg systems The use of Interplanted fallow WIth appropnate legume species has the advantage of prodUCIng an abundant mulch which helps In the protecuon of soIl whIle redUCIng the mtenslty of weeds ThIS expenment has been conducted In 1992 The legume species Canavalza ensiformls was used as test crop at an Interval of 4 meters between plant on the row It was planted 3 weeks after maIze plantIng, one row of canavaha every two rows of maize Tnals were set up on one ~Igth (1/S) ha In SIX dIfferent farmers fields located at DJahngo, Ouro-Labo and BadJouma There was no land preparauon WIth mechanIcal Implements Only a total herbiCIde (paraquat 411ha) was appbed at plantIng ume In wmbInatIon WIth the pre-emergent herbiCIde (pnmextra 2 l!ha)The mam objectIves were to eVdludte at 6 locatIons under fMmers condItIons and management a systems of mterpianted fallow (maize/canavaha) planted WIth mirumum tIllage and to evaluate the performc:tnce and acceptance by farmers of the reSIdual effects of mterplanted legume speCIes on soIl ferulity dnd YIeld of subsequent maIZe crop Results are shown m Table 2 The (2 1) mterplantmg system used ~eems a satJ.~fac~ one as the competItIon between the legume canavaha and the maIze crop was not strong enough to reduce maIze YIeld sigruficantly 4 4 1 3 ~ On-fdrm te:>t/DemOn'itratlon WIth mterplanted fallow WIth maIze/legume speCIes under conventional tillage and hedgeIOw of pIgeon peas. (Farmers management) 1992ThIS expenment wa~ ('dlTied out m 1992 dt OUIO-Ldho dnd BeldJoUina m 6 fdrmer\\' fields A RCBD WIth 2 replIcatIons per SIte was set up usmg a system of Blocs dIsperses The same mterplanted pattern de'icnbed above was used The legume speCIes mvolved m the dIfferent treatments were canclvalIa, CrotaIMIa, pIgeon peels The check plot was mono-crop maIze A hedgerow of plgeon peas was planted every 7 metersThe mam objectIves were to compare under farmers' conditIons and management the Impact on maIze performance of these dIfferent mterplantIng systems (maIze/legume) WIth those of monm.rop maize under conventIoncll tIlldge elt several locatIons, to evaluate the reSIdual effects of the legume ~pe(,les on SOlI feruhty and subsequent YIeld of maize crop To mtroduce to selected farmers the system of mterplanted fallow as well as allow croppmg WIth hedgerows of pIgeon peas In 1993, the same expenment was carned out at Ouro-Iabo and DJahngo m 6 farmers fields but cowpea wa~ replaced by calopogonlum muwnOldes Re~ults aIe shown m table 3 Most of the farmers showed a pOSItIve reactIon towards mterplanted tallow and the hedgerow system WIth the pIgeon peas 4414Effects of mterplanted maize/legumes under conventIOnal tIlla&e on maIze performclnce at seyerell farmers' field m the !)ubhUImd lowland ~clYelnna (1992).Tills trIal mvolved 2 treatInents WIth mterplanted felllow (m 1992) mdize/cowpea plus canavaha and maIze/pIgeon peas plus canavaha usmg the 2 1 pattern The trIals were carned out m 10 farmers fields located m Sanguere and DJalmgo Results are shown m table 4 4 4 2 Research on multIpurpose legume species for sustainable crOpping systems In the subhuIDld lowland SdVannd.A set of 2 expenments on mUltIpurpose legume speCIes for sustamable croppmg 'iystems were planted at DJahngo 56Response of maIze and sorghum to mterplanted fourrage legume, Tlus expellment whICh ~tdrted m 1991 mvolved the use of 4 legume tordge specle'iThe legume speCIes were planted at the same time as maIze and sorghum usmg a pattern of 2 rows of cereals tOl 1 row of legumes The spac.mg between malze tow was 1 m A moderdte dmount ot fertIlIzer WdS used Interpldnted ceredl-Iegume~ WdS u~ed lfl dn effort to lflcrease the economIC value of the system and kame It more attractIve to farmersThe mam objectives were to study the performdnce of maize and sorghum grown m an mterplanted tallow sy\\tem WIth forage grown m an mterplanted fallow system WIth forage system legume speCle~ and to develop lIustamable and profitable production systems of cereals and iOlage (tOl hve~tock) whIle Improvmg sod propertIes (mtegratIon crop/hvestock) ObservatlOns made m the maize trIal seem to mdIcdte that a better time to plant some legume species (hke crotdlana, calopogomum) would be about 3 weeks after plantmg maize Tills relay system could reduce plant competItIon m case of severe dry spells or erratIc ThIS expenment was \\tdrted m 1991 The mam objectIve IS to evaluate the reSIdual effects of these legume speCIes used m mtercroppmg With maIze m 1991 on the maIze YIeld The legume spec]e\" u\\cd were the ~ame m 1991 which regrew m 1992 except pIgeon peas The monocrop mdlze-mal2;(;! Wd~ u~ed as d control Each treatment wa~ dIVided mto two sets of subplots One \\et of ~ubplot~ With maize, WIth two levels of fertIlIzatIon for each treatmentl, no fertlltzer and WIth tertIlIzer A system of mmlmum tIlldge was used thiS mal WIth the legume mulch after kIllmg regowth by herblclde~ (gramoxone) In the other ~ubplots, the legume specle~ were left WIth regrowth m an effort to momtor the amount of bJOmass produced by the regrowth and as well as the abilIty of these legume ~'Pecles to complete and suppress weed Results are shown m tdble 6 (a) When no fertIlizer was u~ed, the legume treatment produced an extrd gram Yield of maize of up to 1 08t/ha( +92 %) as compared to monocrop malZe For Stylosanthes, bIOmass was, 9 3 tlha and It gave good weed suppressIOn Canavaha had very httle regrowth and weed suppressIOn was poor In 1993, tlus expenment was contInued In the thrrd croppmg season (1993) there wele reSidual effects of only two legume speCies, mterplanted WIth maIze m 1991, on maIze performance The objectIves are the same as 1992 The subplots where the legume species were left WIth regrowth m 1992 received two levels of fertIlIzation, no fertIlIzer and With fertIltzer Results are m table 6b When no fertIhzer was used, the legume treatment gave an mcrease m gram YIeld of maize up to 2 21 tlha (138%) as compared to monocrop maize 57 Effect of dIfferent mterplanted ~ystem (maIze) legume specIes) on maIZe performance m lowland savanna (1992), ThIS study whIch started at DJahngo m 1992 has been conducted wIth the legume specIes canavaha, Crotalana, casSia obtubifoha, Stylo~anthes, PIgeon peas, Cowpea The legumes were planted 3 weeks after maIze plantmg used a pattern of 2 rows of cereals for 1 row of legumes The spacmg between maIze rows was 1 m Interplanted cereals/legumes was used ill an effort to mcrease the econOffilC value of the system and make It more attractIve to the farmers of the reglOn The ObjectIves were to evaluate the performance of maIZe grown m an mterplanted system WIth several specIes of legumes, to evaluate the resIdual effects of these legumes on sou fertility and subsequent maize yIeld Results are m table 7a 4424Second croppmg season 1993 Residual---effects of 8 gram legumes on maIze fertIlIzatIOn m the subhumld lowland ~avanna, ThIS startt.d at Djalmgo m 1992 whele gram legume speCIes were planted crotalana, canavalta, mucuna, pIgeon peas, cassIa obt Stylosanthes, Calopogoruum and cowpea In 1993, each treatment was dIvIded mto two sets of maIze subplots, WIth two levels of fertIlIzer, no fertIlizer and WIth fertIlIzer The mam objectIve was to evaluate the reSIdual effect on soli prOdUCtivIty of these legume specIes Results are shown m tdble 7 b The observatIOns on thIs trIal confirm that these legume speCIes are well adapted to the agrochmatIc condItions of the sudan gumea savanna as well as to mterplanted fallow system 4425Response of maIze and sorghum to mter:vlanted &ram le2ume speCIes m the subhumId lowland sayannJ!... Tills expenment WhICh has been conducted at Djalmgo mvolved the use of cowpea, pIgeon peas, a mIXture of pIgeon peas and cowpea crotalarta (Improved fallow) and monocrop The plantmg patterns used were 2 rows of maIze (or sorghum) WIth 1 row of legume speCIes The lllterrow spaclllg between maIZe was 1 m A moderate level fertilIZer was used MaIZe and sorghum were planted at the same tIme WIth the legume crop The mam objectIve of thIs study was to evaluate the performance of maIze grown III an lllterplanted system WIth gram legume crops Results are shown m table 3 It IS mterestmg to note that the competItIon due to the food gram legume YIeld was greater than that of the legume forage crops 443 Study on Crop RotatIon system In the subhumtd lowland 4431Effect of dIfferent crop rotatIOn system on the performance of maIze and sorgllum (1991) , Tills study has been started m 1989 at Djalmgo where 7 precedmg crops were used Cowpea groundnuts pIgeon peas, soybeans, crotalarta, cotton and cereal A rotation system cotton/Cereals (as practIced by many farmers) was used as check All the precedmg crops were planted usmg conventIOnal tillage and harvested m 1990 Followmg farmers' practIces, crop reSIdues were removed from the SOlI before plantmg the cereals m 1991 The mam objectives were to {.ompdfe the performam.e of maIze and sorghum after severallegummous and non legumInous crops WIth theIr pertormance after cotton to compMe a system of Improved fallow management WIth a crotalana WIth dItferent of crop rotatIOn USIng gram legumes These re~ults confu med once more the Value of Crotalana as a valuable component In an Improved fallow system management tor the regIOn In 1992, the same expenment was conducted by rotation cereals/legume 4432ReSIdual effects of dIfferent legume crops used In rotatIOn system Nitrogen fertIhzation of maIze In subhumld lowland savanna (1991).ThiS expenment which WaS ~tarted In 1989 was carned out In 1990 and 1991 on 1 ha at Djahngo Four legume crop~ were u~ed a~ precedIng c..rops glOundnut~, pigeon pea~, cowpeas crotalarld (dn Improved fallow) and a control treatment conMstmg of contmuous croppmg of cereal Four level~ ot N were applIed atter each mam treatment 0, 45, 90, 135 kgs N/ha (usmg Ured dS N source) The maIn objectIves were, to determme the response of maIze to N fertIlIzdtIOn a~ affected by these dIfferent legume precedIng crops, to compare the Improved fallow system WIth crotaldna In 1992 dnd 1993, thIS expenment WdS carned out In the same conditIOns as In 1992 Cumulative results for the 3 years are shown m table 9 444 Effects of different rdtes oftourteau de coton (cotton seed cdke) on maIze YIeldIn subhumld lowland ~dvannd of North Cameroon (1991) The u~e of lOCally avaIlable orgdllIc by-products could contrIbute sIgmficantly to the sustamablhty of the croppmg ~y~tem m the lowland savanna as mmerdl (Imported) fertIhzer has become very expensive The use of tourteau de coton (T C ) as a partIal substitute deserves careful ~tudy ThiS experIment whll-h was started m 1990, was carned out m 1991 The ultlmate obju\"tIve of thIS study IS to determl!le the most economIcal and prc:lctIcal wmbmatIOn of T C and fertIlIzer In order to achIeve good and 1Iustc:lmc:lble Yields of maIze Three rates of T C were u'ied 0, 300, 600 kgs/ha. The T C IS an orgamc by-product WIth 8% Nand 1 % K Two fertIlIzer (ates were u'ied the rate recommended by SODECOTON and used by many tdrmers and half of thl~ rate Both fertIlIzer and T C were apphed banded one week after maize emergence At thIS rate 1 kg ot T C was assOCiated WIth an mcrease of 2 83 kg of maIZe gram In 1992, the Sdme expenment was carned out In the same conditIons and With same objective At thiS I ate, 1 kg of 1 C was aSSOCiated With an Increase or 2 49 kgs of maize gram CumulatIvl fl\",\\ults are ~hown m tc:lble 10 445 Effect of cow manure on mdlze performance III subhuIDld lowland savanna (1992) ThiS expenment has been conducted III 1992 at djahngo PrevlOus expenments have shown that cow mc:lIlUre helps Illcrease YIeld of maIze m thiS region However, the amount of cow manure needed (5 tlha) to effect a sIgmficant Impact on YIeld IS an obstacle to Its use as collection of manure requITes a lot of work and an adequate transport system The mam objectIve was to evaluate the effects of two reduced levels of cow mdllure WithOUt and With fertIlIzer on gram YIeld of maIze Cow manure (1 and 2 tlha as well as fertIltzer) were appbed banded Results are ~hown lfi table 11 Usmg cow manure m band apphcatlOn at a reduced rate (1 or 2 tlha) seems an effectIve, practIcal practIce for the farmers of the regIOn ThIS study started m 1989 m a farmers' field at Karite In 1990, several crops were planted as precedmg crops groundnuts, cowpea, soybean, pIgeon peas, cotton, crotalarta and cereal (maize-sorghum) They were harvested m the same season In 1991, maIze and sorghum were planted (u~mg a spht plot desIgn) after these dIfferent precedmg crops A farmers rate of feruhzer was used Crops were planted at the end of June for the next expenment (1992) and harve~ted Stngd counD. were mdde dt 3 tImes, 9, 12, 14 WAP (weeks after plantIng) m the 4 central rowsThe mam objectIves of thiS expenment were, to eVdluc1te at short dnd medIUm term the dIfferentIal response ot mdlze dnd sorghum to several trap crops grown m rotatIon on an Alfisol severely lllfested WIth Stnga hermontlca and to evaluate the dynaffilcs of the Stnga populatIOn m the tredtmenb Results showed that the be~t precedmg crop for maIze wai) Crotalarla, followed by cowpea and cotton, and for sorghum was It crotalarIa, followed by cowpea and groundnutsIn 1992, thIS study was carned out WIth the same precedmg crops WhIch were planted m 1991 (soybean wa~ replaced by CasSia obtusljolla and cowpea for sorghum) The best was crotalana, follow cd by CasJLQ obtusljolla, Cowpea and groundnuts In 1993, thIS expenment In 1992, the ~ame study was tondutted but WIth Crotalana, Cas!'J1a obtusifolla, Cassia occldentalls used a~ a test legume specIe~ Regard10g 1Otercropp1Og patterns, the mo~t effective one seem~ to be the tIeatment whIch 1Ovolved plantIng one legume~ ~pecles (casSia obtusifolla, CasSia OccldentalLs, Crotalana)     Effect of Interplanted MaIze/legume SpeCIes on GraIn YIeld (1993)      In the low rdmfdll zone, varIeties ~uch as ICSV-l11, ICSV-I079 dnd CS-130 gdve good resul~ over 10cdtIOns (tables 1, 2 and 3) Furthermore, It appedred that Vdnetle~ which performed well undu lUUlted rdlll fdll and other \\tre~ll fdctorl) m zone I are edrly mJtuIlng cultIvclrs Thelle cultIvar~ e~cdpe the drought thdt ocwrl) dunng to the fdllly-\\eel\\on by completing their cyde belOie thc rellll lltoP\\ A ~econd gIOUp of valletle\\, ndmely CS-233, CS-244 dnd ICSV-1063 \\howed ~dtl~tdltory 1 e~ul~ tor the zone ot higher rdmfdll over two yedr~ m multIlocdtlOn tndh (telblell 4 and 5) Thelle varieties d~ well all the first three mentioned for zone I llhould be te\\ted III farmers' field conditions Among the ramy llea~on locdl \\orghum\\ that were collecteo ~mce 1988, punfied and mdde untform, ~ome cultIvars lIke Boulbasslfl, Gueden-Guelmg, Wongtosho and ZouJye gdve encouragmg re~ul~ m varIOUS locations m Far North Provmce These local Vdnetlel) helve been found dgronomIcdlly performdnt, WIth good yield potentIdl Therefore, they Will be used to mcrease the number of the parental matenals which con~tltute the bd\\e of our long term breedmg progr dm    VegetatIve cover IS necessary to protect the soIl surface from ram drop Impact and consequent surface compactIon and runoff Legummous cover crops would have the additIonal benefit of contributIng some N to the soIl for subsequent crops The fIrst questIon to be answered was whether there are some adapted species whIch grow rapidly durmg the ramy season Thus screenmg of candIdate legumes began m 1991 at Mouda on a gravelly ferrugmous Alfisol and continued m 1992 at three addltIonal sItes (Ndonkole on VertIsols, Gumng on alluVIal m plams sOlI and Guetale on alluvIal soIl near mountams) to evaluate the adaptabIlIty on dIfferent soIl types Species whIch dld not estabhsh or grow well such as Stylosantes hamata and S guyanenSlS, Centrosema pascuorum and C brasllzanum 1991 and 1992 were dIscarded m 1993 In 1993 ten proffilsmg specIes out of twenty were te~ted for the the thIrd time at the same sItes except Gumng Legumes species screened were mostly from ILCA IKaduna, IRZV Garoua and local collection They were planted m pure stand 10 smclll plots 10 RCBD every year Groundcover, blOma~s and soIl temperature were measured Nodule formatIon was also observed From 1991 to 1993, Mucuna prunens proVIded the earhest and most complete cover (60 days after plantIng) Mucuna and Canavalla species accumulated the hIghest bIOmass Late pIgeon pea and Canavalla stayed green the longest SoIl temperature was often negatively correlclted WIth cover crops 1 e lower when bIOmass was hIgher Nodules were found m all speCIes tested except Canavalza and Cajanus cajan Most of the nodules were pmk: tnSlde (except cowpea) 10dIcatmg that they were actively fixmg mtrogen Seed production was mfluenced by the genotype and enVIronment ObservatIon of PIgeon Pea and CaSSIa Slamea Hedgerows and ASSocIated Crops WhIle alley Cropp1Og IS consIdered to be a blOloglcally susta10able croppmg system 10 the hunud and subhunud zones, It may not be appropnate m seffil-and areas The tree species whIch are most adapted to dry condItions may be those whIch most compete With an assocIated crop for soIl mOIsture Thus, from 1991 to 1993, trIals were conducted to observe the growth and response to prumng of pigeon pea Cajanus cajan and Cassza szamea and the YIeld of assocIated crops The trees were e~tabh~hed m 1990 PIgeon pea was planted at the onset of the rams every year In 1991, assocIated peanut YIelds were lower 10 the two rows next to the Cassza Slamea hedgerow than m the central rows whIch were one meter or more from the hedgerow (table 1) PIgeon pea depleted soIl mOIsture and reduced Yield of assocIated peanut In 1992, gram YIeld 10 the central rows of the Cs plots was equal to that of the umplowed control Y lelds m plowed plots were 25 % higher, possibly reflectmg Improved mOIsture or fertIhty status due to mcorporated reMdues (table 2) Cassza szamea hedgerows also produced substantial amounts of firewood and did not compete Wlth an associated sorghum crop (FIG 1) Cotton was planted In 1993 In CasSla Slamea and CaJanus caJan hedgerows Although there was no competItIon for mOlsture, CasSla Slamea slgmficantly reduced cotton Yield because of shadIng CaJanus caJan was also depressive on cotton Yield but to a lesser extent (table 3)      In 1991 two trIals were conducted to evaluate the effect of Stnga control With herbIcIdes for two croppmg seasons (1989 and 1990)   4) Emerged Stnga densltles m subsequent years were generally not sIgmficantly related to prevIous herbICIde treatments In 1991 and 1992 an Important researchable Issue was also the appropnate distance between sorghum and cowpea plants seed at plantmg Sorghum/Cowpea mtercrop dId not slgmficdlltly reduce Stnga emergence However, the number of Stnga carrymg mature capsules at sorghum harvest was sIgmficantly lowest m cowpea/sorghum mtercrop The lowest denSIty of mature capsule-bearmg Stnga plants was obtaIned WIth one hole of cowpea contammg two plants between two parr of sorghum holes whIle the hIghe~t was m the pure sorghum treatment However the hIghest Yield of the mtercrop was when two holes of cowpea (each contammg one plant) were placed at 5 cm from each parr sorghum holes (table 5)In 1992 and 1993 the lllitlal Stnga seedbank was determmed before surpenmposmg our \"best bet technologIes\" to reduce Stnga seed m the soIl PrevIOUS treatment was agam a non sIgmficant factor m Stnga seed denSIty (table 6 ) The major IllrutIng factor m Muskwan sorghum IS the amount of mOisture whIch IS present In the sOlI at the ttme of transplantIng (begmmng of the dry season) A study was conducted to quanttfy mOIsture depletton by the crop at two sites through mtenslve sod samplIng Totcll mOIsture loss from 0 to 80 cm depth was 105 cm at Mouda and 130 cm at Salclk Sod surface treatments (nattve grass mulch or superficial plowmg) dId not decrease so11 mOisture loss In The TLU was deSIgned to serve as a lInkage between research and extensIOn/farmers The ongmal objectIves of the TLU, lIsted m the Project contract dIe to tram extenSIOn personnel and agncultural technICIans, to deSIgn the methodology of on-farm tnals/demonstratIons, to coordmate the on-farm testmg program, to study the results mcludmg the socio-economic Impact of proposed recommenddtIons, to feed back on-farm research results and mformatIon on researchers, to translate research results mto recommendatIons to be extended to farmers, to develop, release and ease the adoptIon by farmers of appropnate agronomIC packages 6 1 3 CONSTRAINTS The constraInts most lImItIng on the work of the TLU BambUI dunng the last 3 years mcluded lack of adequate field lab faCIlItIes, non departure of natIond! counterparts for Ph D tralDlng, contInued IRA workers' strIke over unpaId salarIes, a volatIle polItIcal SItuatIon that prevented TLU staff from gomg out to theIr on-farm research SItes, the lay-off of many MIDENO YEW's that constItuted the mam techmcallabour force of the agncultural ExtenSIOn servIce In the NW Provmce dIfficultIes at the end of 1993 In gettIng fmanclal support because of the announcement of the antIcIpated phaSIng of the project out by Apnl 1994A second generatIon of vane tIes (e g maIze vanetIes ATP, SynthetIc 3 and 4, Early WhIte and HAP, and the TOX nce varIetIes), that entered on-farm testmg m 1989, Incorporated additIonal charactenstics desIred by farmers, a result of TLU feedback to the breeder~ These mcluded harder (t1mty) gram for longer storage lIfe, edflmess, shorter plants, tolerance to low pH SOlIs, and adaptatIon to the hIgh altItude zone for maIze, and, enhanced gram qualIty (long, narrow, translucent, slender grams) for nee, to make It more competItIve m the market WIth Imported nce from ASIa These vanetIes of maIZe dIld nce are bemg extended to farmersThe on-farm trIals program was complemented (and motIvated m later years) by farmers surveys srngle VISIt descnptIve, resource momtonng (descnptIve), and rapId rural appraIsals, (RRAs) , retentIOn and dIffusIOn studIes RRAs (diagnostIcs) helped IdentIfy research tOpICS Important to solvmg farmers' problems (e g , assessmg storage losses, erosIOn and so11 ferultty problems)The TLU also ImtIated a program of Jomt researcher-farmer managed on-farm sod conservatIon (mamly use of contour bunds for erosIOn control) and soIl fertIlIty Improvement   2) condlnons generally encountered on farmers' fields vanety ATP IS the least affected (most stable) by changes m soli aCidity This I~ e~pecldlly so m SOlI groups 2-3 Synthetic 4 showed about the same tolerance to low soIl pH as A TP The farmer however, gave greater YIeld response to soIl aCIdIty amendments and A TP appears more tolerant to high Al SaturanonThe followmg recommendanons summanze the 4 years on-farm maIze vanety tnals In the mld-alntude zone (1000-1500 mas 1) synth 4 IS recommended for aCId sol1s With strong volcamc ash mfluence (sod group 1) and aCId solls denved from granItes (group 3) On solls formed on older basalts where volcanIC ash mfluence IS now to mimmal, A TP IS recommended for both resource poor and medIUm farmers Farmers who can afford up to 300kg/ha 20-10-10 compound femhzer should connnue WIth kasal m thts zone ATP IS equally recommended for resource poor farmers whose preference IS for the yellow matze III soIl groups 1 & 3 For the hIgh alntude zone, HAP appears to be a VIable alternanve for farmers who can afford a hIgher dose of femhzer for therr maIze crop Flllally, seed mulnpltcanon for ATP, Synth 4, Kasal and HAP on a large scale IS recommended MaIze Mlmktt Tnals Smce 1991, the objective of the mllloot program has been redefined so that farmers and extensIon workers' assessments become a major concern EvaluatIon questlOnnarres compnse 3 sheets Instead of one Forms 2 and 3 deal WIth post harvest operations and extenSIOn feed back respecnvelyThe approach has been Improved and benefited from the NAET program Implemented III West Provlllce WIth well traIned and qualIfied extenSIon agents, on the contrary of the NW ProvInce where agrIcultural extensIOn servIces are gettIng loose because of MIDENO workers' salary strIke and the layoff of most of them Much more reltable mformatlon was obtamed and WIll help the TLU Zone areas In recommendation domams WIth respect to major constramts, opporturnnes and farmers' asprratIons Up to date, 3264 mmlklts have been dIstrIbuted to extensIOn staff In the Western HIghlands Hybnd MaIze PopulatIOn x FertIlIzer, The Western HIghlands MaIze BreedIng Urnt has to date developed two hybnd maIze vanetIes adapted to the mId-altitude zone of the area The objective of thIS trIal was to develop an on-the-shelf technology for hybnd maIze productIOn m the mId-altItude zone of the Western HIghlands Results showed that plant denSIty (40,000, 52,000 and 60,000 plants/ha) and N rate (40,80 and 120 kg N/ha) slgmficantiy affected gram YIelds at IRA sub-statIon Babungo WhIle the only Mgmficant treatment effect was plant denSIty In Mban Brrrn (Ngaoundere IRA sub-station) Lack of response to P (50, 100 and 150 kg P 2 0./ha) was due largely to prevIOus P apphcatIons at both SIdes There were no Interactions between denSIty and fertIltzer rates at both SItes even though average ear weIght per plant decreased sIgrnficantiy WIth Increasmg plant denSIty and tended to fIse WIth IncreaSIng N ratesThe conclusIOn from both sItes IS that optimum pldnt den~lty for the hybnd mdIze In the mId-altitude IS about 50,000 plants/ha A mtrogen fertIlIzer rate of 80 kg/ha and the P recommendation for open pollInated varIety In an envIronment should be ~ufficient for hybnd maIze In the zone MaIze/Legume Intercroppmg AdaptabIlIty of new NCRE mId-altitude maIze vaneties (Synth 3, Early WhIte (EW) and ATP) to Intercroppmg WIth food legumes-(bean phaseolus i1/2 dnd \\oYdhedn Glvxwe l!1£ll) were te'ited for 2 year'i at full recommended densIties (40,000 plants/ha for mdIZe, 267,000/ha for soyabean and beans) and feruhzer rate (80-20-20/ha) at Mfonta and BabungoThe results (Table 3) showed that bean or soyabean Intercrop consIstently reduced gram YIelds compared to thdt of sole maIze crop The seventy of YIeld reductIOn was In the order of magmtude Synth 3 > EW > A TP > Local The dIfferences among the vanetles were slgmficant (P < 05)The 3 Improved maIze vanetles were higher YIeldmg than the locdl ones at both locatIOns Although maize followed the same trend under bean or soyabean mtercroppmg, the mteractIOn between maIze and legume was not .sIgmficant Be,ms mtercroppmg affected maIze YIeld more than soyabean The mference of the lack of sIgmficant mteraction between the maIze varIeties and the legumes IS thdt there IS no need to select separate maIze vaneties for adaptabIlIty to bean or soyabean mtercroppmg WIthout modIfymg therr vegetatIve archItecture Frog-eye leaf spot (Cercospora SOlina) wall the most Important dIsease encountered at the expenmental SIte There was no relatIonshIp between matunng date and seed vlablltty (% germmatIon), but the early maturIty lmes appear to be hIgher nodulatIng than the late and medIUm matunng hnes Based on gram YIeld, seventy of leaf spot dIsease mCIdence and seed vIabIlIty, the 3 top rankIng lmes were TGX 1448-ZE(M) > TGX 1440-IE(M) > TGX 1447-3D(M) The seeds of these 3 hnes were multIpbed for further tests of adaptatIon to Western HIghland envrronments SoIl Amendment and FertIlizer Effect on MaIze. The tnal was ImtIated In 1989 to compare the effect of three levels of fertIhzer (0-0-0, 50-60-50, 100-120-100 kglha of N, P 2 0 S and K 2 0 respectIvely), manure (compost), orgarnc matter (plant reSIdues) and 5 tons of dolomite on maize Yield The amendment treatments were applIed once m 1989 and fertIhzer treatmen~ to maIze every year The reSIdUal effect of amendments were assessed for 5 yearsThe 1992 results showed that only fertIlIzer applIcatIon sIgmficantly (P < 0 5) mcreased maIze gram YIeld at all levels As m years 1990-91, the hmmg treatment mcreased maIze YIeld (not slgruficantly) when compare to other amendment sources, mcludmg the check (4 93 tons/ha vs 4 15, 4 25 and 4 73 tons/ha) There was no fertIlIZer x amendment mteractIon mmcatmg that the response was not mfluenced by the type of amendment and that YIeld Increase was only due to the feruhzer effect The hme and hIghest femlIzer level slgmficantly Increased the plant heIght RapId Rural AppraIsal Survey of Ngle Durmg the week of July 12-18, 1992, two TLU researchers JOIned a multIdIsplmary team of 11 agncultural researchers from dIfferent InstItutlons and an Agroforestry Peace Corps Volunteer to carry out a RRAS (RapId Rural AppraIsal Survey) of Ngle (a SIngle clan enclave m Momo DIVISIOn m the NW Provmce) The survey IndIcated that the most Important factors llInItIng farmers' efforts In the area of crop productIon, soIl conservatIon and agroforestry were the follOWIng In the order of Importance 1) S01l degradatIOn (severe erosIOn and fertIlIty declIne), 2)Tree/crop damages by cattle and small hvestock, 3)Unclear demarcatIOn between grazmg and crop lands, 4)Deforestatlon and overcroppmg of land, 5) tree plantmg wIll be hampered by a land tenure system, 6)Uncontrolled bush fIres that destroy trees and the microflora, 7)Lack of extensIOn staff tramed In proven soIl conservatlon methods The studIes on the resIdual effects of ankara showed that the followmg year 1993, the control plot + fertIlIzer (200kg/ha 20-10-10 compound fertIlIzer) outylelded the ankara plots (Table 5), showmg the short hfe of the practice  (1983)(1984)(1985)(1986) In 1991, 86 farmers m the mld-alhtude zone who had maIze varIety trIals on theIr fdrms m 1989 or 1990 were regularly vISIted and mtervlewed Results of these mterviews revealed that mean retenhon rates for the Improved maIze varIetIes (1 e % of farmers shll groWIng at ledst 1 Improved varIety on a part of therr farm In subsequent years) was 91 % By varIety, Kasal I, Coca and ATP had the hIghest retenhon rate WIth 83%,44% and 28% re<;pechvely SIXty mne percent (69%) of the respondents retamed only 1 unproved varIety. whIle 23 % retamed 2 varlehes Although 4 to 8 varlehes had been tested on each farm, farmers were encouraged to keep seed and plant more than I or 2 new vanetles the next year Preservatlon of seed was apparently the key problem Farmers retammg at least I1mproved varIety planted It on an average 51 % of therr maIze land, which means that the Improved varlehes were estabhshed on 46 % of the total land area planted to maIze EIghty-three percent (83 %) of the tnal farmers who had tested KASAl planted It on 43 % of therr malzecropped land, or 36% of total maIze land For COCA the figures were 44%,36% and 16%, and for ATP, 28%, 37% and 10% respechvely In 1992, the TLU team repeated the retenhon survey on the farmers pamclpated m the \"mmlklt\" Tnals of the preVIOUS years (1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990) Queshonnarres were sent out to the West and North West ProvInces to be conducted by the AVV and YEW's from the DDA or Agncultural posts The conhnuous croppIng of the Improved maIze vanehes was achIeved despIte varIOUS problems The pamcIPdhng farmers (50%) SaId the maIze usually weeviled m therr stores Some reported brrd destruchon (16 %) and anImal damages (11 %) WIth cattle and goats contrIbuhng for 4 % For the chdractenshcs they sought for pioduCIng maIze, YIeld came first, taste second, earlIness thIrd WIth the mean rank bemg 2,3, and 4 respechvely Here COCA and KASAl one more hme gave therr proofs WIth 41 % retenhon rate of each In 1993, the retenhon survey was repeated on the pamclpatmg farmers WIth the mImktt tnals from 1990 to 1992 The ObjectIves were to assess the Impact of on-farm maIze varIety test on farmers' field and the tested vanehes of retenhon rate The h~t of 379 farmers, taken from 1990-92 mmoot trials was our reference 114 farmers were randomly select~ The sample SIze for each vanety was proport1onal to the number of parucipants receIvmg that varIety The results of 1993 survey are presented m Tables 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 It appears that 53 % of farmers shll grow the Improved maIze on an average of 24 % of therr maIze land The IRA vanehes were estabhshed on 13 % of the total land area planted to maIze By varIety, Synth 3 and MSR were hIghly retamed, 75 % and 71 % respechvely When assessmg speCIfic charactenshcs of new varlehes, m companson WIth the local (farmer's vanety), the respondents found that, on average, the new vmehes do not store as well but Liste hetter and have hetter cookmg quahty and color (Table 9) For the contnhuhon of Improved varlehes to the uhhzahon of the maIze harvested, some of the paruclpanng farmers saId that the new variehes mcreased therr rate of consummg maIze, quanhty of maize sold, produchon of corn beer and the quanhty ot feed for chIckens, and brought them to thmk about the produchon of feed for chIckens     At the highest fertIlIzer level F 3 , the IRA maize hybnds slgruficantly (p < 0 05) out-yIelded those of Pioneer Seed company both at SIte I and III respectIvely that couldn't even do better than 0 P vanetIes at the F2 level (except at the SIte II) Also at the F3 level, all IRA hybnds Yielded hIgher than the 0 P 's At thIs modest lllvestment an average of 28 5 % YIeld mcrease was realIzed An additIondl 40kg N/ha to F 2 caused a general decrea~e In IRA Hybnd Yields at all Sites, mrucatmg that the optImum level ~hould be between F2 and F3 MedIUm and large scale maIze producers capable of mvestIng a lIttle more on fertIlIzer dlld seeds can make good profit on hybrId maIze productIon FIeld caltbratIon for maIze P requrrement ThiS tnal was establtshed m 1991 at IRA Mfonta and Babungo to determme the pattern of maIze response to P levels for maIze In 2 different soIl groups In 1992, the plots (mam plots) were splIt III three 6m x 5m small plots (spItt plot) and addItIonal treatments of 0, 100, and 200kg P20S were ~uper Imposed on the ongmal plots turnmg the deSIgn to a splIt plot m a RCBD WIth 4 replIcatIons So11 and plant analyses along WIth gram YIeld WIll be used to calIbrate optImum levels of avatlable P for maIze m both soIls Prehmmary data on the relatIonship between soIl tests for avaIlable P and maIze gr dIn Yield showed that Bray 1 and 2 tests were strongly correlated WIth graIn YIeld at Babungo The contrary was the case of Mfonta There appears ~o be a need for a new soIl te~t method for assessmg avaIlJble P In those SOlIs formed on low lava typIfied by Mfonta The results of 1993 soIl analYMs WIll be used for cdltbrJtIon MaIze YIeld respon\\t,s to tresh P applIcatIOn m 1991 and to the resIdual effects of apphed P In 1992 .1I c \\hown 111 Table 12 In the year of applicatIOn, 50kg PzOslhd dPpeared adequate at Babungo On the conti ary small mcreases m YIeld were obtamed wIth mcreasmg P rates at Mfontd 1 he re.)pon\\e pdttern Wd~ however, clearer for the resIdual effects Except for the CO'1twj dna the 2nd year's 50kg/ha tredtment~ whele there was reduction In YIeld, maIze Yield\", 10 the 2nd dnd 1rd years dfter P applitatlOn wete generally hIgher than m the 1 st year MdlA YIeld mcrea\\ed WIth IOcreasmg rate\\ of pi eVlOU'i P applicatIOn The'ie ml.rease~ were MgllliIcdIlt up tv lOOk.g PzO/ha at Bdbungo dnd 200kg PzOslha at Mtontd Pnor to 1991, the TLU concentrated on strdlght-forward Yield enhancmg technologies (unproved vanetles and agronomIC practlces requmng slgmfkdnt mve!ltment m external mputs, mamly fertIlIzer) to maXImIze the probablhty of rapid and med~urable project Impdct Future research needs to address longer term agncultural development goals m the reglOn In the future, the emphdsl~ of the TLU work Will be on developmg low mput, farm reo;;ource cono;;ervmg, Yield suo;;tammg technologIe) Agronomic theme\\) Will as\\)ume greater Importance, mcludmg ~tudIes on 1) reled~e of plant nutI lents tled up m ~Oll organIc matter whIch IS sometlme~ as hIgh dS 15% (d pdftIculdf problem m cool hIgh altitude zone), 2) field cahbratIon for P for groups 3-5 as IS currently bemg done for SOlI group 1 and 2 at Mfonta and Babungo, takmg mto consideratlon the varIable P ~()rptlon cdpacitIes, and 3) farmer evaluatIon of legummous planted fallow crops-crotalafla, mucund and cdrndvaha On-fMm varIetal testIng (expanded to mclude foodcrop~ other thdn mdlze and nce, e g , potatoe&, soyabean) WIll wntmue, With greater attentlOn to crop chdrdctefl\\tIc~ de)lred by farmersThe greatest strength of the TLU ha~ been It\\ clo\\e dnd effective wlldbor atlon With the extensIOn service and other development proJect~ dnd m:::.tltutlon\\ 1 hl\\ will undoubtedly be the bIggest key to contmued success m the future Co~t effiCIent on-farm research methodologIes wIll be the norm (e g , the mmlklt trial) and the~e WIll depend on good hnkages WIth extenslOn ----------------------------------------------  ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RelatIvely low ratIngs for roastIng were gIven for the hJghland varIetIes and CMS 8501 and 8503, whIle 8704 and 8806 were preferred Generally, ratIngs were same for bOllmg, and CMS 8501 was rated very hIghly m thIS case For fufu, CMS 8501 receIved hIgher ratIngs than all the others Pap, Kola and comchatf were also prepared by some people, and the IRA vanetIes were consIdered good m these forms WeevIls were to be less m IRA vanetIes though responses were few About 50% saId they wIll pay more for IRA maIze m the market The return rate thIs season was very low, however, CMS 8501 contInues to have hIgher perceIved YIelds across all zones It should contInue m mmlklts to ascertam quahty charactenstIcs but because of hIgh ratIng of CMS 8704 and Its desrrabIhty for green maIze, It should contInue as mmlklts 1992 624 6 Potential to adopt Acroforestry Tecbnolocy Generally, farmers m Southwest and LIttoral provmces retam only few trees m therr food crop farm~ Trees ob~erved were very sparse and mc1uded only economIC speCIes such as bush mango (lrvmgta gabonensls), natIve pear (Decryodls edults) and bItter cola (Cola agummata) Other trees protected were lroko, mahogany and burna for structural purposes Land tenure system by mhentance compared WIth purchase IS hIgh (87 %), therefore adoptIon of agroforestry systems may be easy under these condItIons 6 2 4 7 Cocoyam ProductIOn III Fako, SWP.Labor IS the most lImItIng factor m crop productIon m S W P A specIfic survey to ascertam labor use m cocoyam productIon showed that most of the producers were women (79 % )Major productIon constramts are labor, agncultural credIts, root rot dIsease, marketIng and transportatIon FamIly labor accounts for 92 % of total labor Cocoyam productIon IS a profitable venture WIth a net gam of 112,000 FCFA/ha Cocoyam output IS mfluenced by land, plantIng matenals and household labor (Table 3)  The four year performance of the treatments IS presented m Table 4 HIgh maIze YIelds were obtamed wIth mcreasmg N dunng the fIrst year Thereafter, YIelds declmed rapIdly and were sImIlar to those WIth the hedgerow dunng the 2nd year By the thIrd and 4th years, the YIelds of the N treated plots, particularly at 40 kg N, were lower than those from the hedgerows Note StabIhty of gram YIelds from the hedgerows With Leucaena where It yIelded higher than With Ghncidia At zero N, maIze YIeld dechned lmearly With orne Table 4 Four year lalKe Yield (1989)(1990)(1991)(1992) at Yoke site as affected by HI trogen and hedgerows  -------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------2910 -----------------A screernng exercise mvolvmg perenmal covercrops, annual covercrops and complex crop mixtures for theIr effecoveness as ground covers to (a) control weeds (b) check erosIOn and (c) leave a reserve of nutrIents for subsequent crops was estabhshed PrelInunary results show that (1) Mucuna, cowpea and melon assocIated systems provIded rapId ground cover of 50 to 60% of the field surface at 36 days after planong Mimosa and Puerana covered only 10-15 % of the surface willie Croto/ana covered 40% Thus Mucuna, egusl melon and cowpea are good shades for weeds at early stages of plant growth (Table 5) Tills advantage of early shadmg conhnues 011 about 76 days or more Mucuna and other covercrops establIshed sole (Without cassava and maize) covered the ground at the same rate as cassava + maJ,Ze and could shade weeds only at early stages of growth (See Table 5, and B and D)  ----------------------------------------------------------------DAYS AFTER PLANTING ------------------------------Weed % 18 36 54 76 300 at ------------------------------300PERCENT GROUND COVER ----------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------------------------------------  ---------------------------------------------------------------- D Ca+Mz(fb Ca+Hz)I 10 30 55 75 42 53A companson of the effect of one year fallow management (system D) on maIze gram YIelds WIth that from the contmuous croppmg (system D) suggested that fallow management system WIth mimosa for nutrIent Improvement gave the hIghest resIdual effect on maIZe YIelds of 3 22 tlha followed by crotolana and puerana willIe mucuna gave the lowest Yield among the legumes BeSIdes gIvmg lowest resIdual YIeld, mucuna IS apparently not a good fallow legume because of Its voluntensm and It'S tendency to twme and wrap preceedmg maIze plants thereby strangulatmg them However, smce tlus IS from only one years data, It IS necessary to reduce the number of treatments to mclude only the three promlSlng legumes to further mvestIgate the usefulness of these cover crops m cassava + maIZe systems Based on tImmg of ground cover, an observation suggested to ensure both rapId and contrnuous ground cover IS to Identify and grow m mIxture, rapId growmg and late spreadmg cover crops eg Mucuna and Mimosa If they are complImentary 6 2 4 10 Control of Imperata cyhndnca ShadIng IS one means of controlhng spear grass, Imperata cylmdnca willch IS one of the most noXIOUS weeds Appropnate shade vanes WIth location and practices ConsIstent reduction of spear grass InCIdence has been observed In alley hedgerow plots unpruned for a year (Table 6) SImIlar relative reductions of spear grass mCIdence were observed ill plots WhICh were establIshed after one year of perenrual cover crops such as Mlmosa, Crotolana and Puerana The spear grass could be eradIcated If shadmg IS extended to 2-3 years and thts may be po~sIble WIth hedge row specIes and by adoptmg the method Illustrated WIth compatIble cover crop mIXIng Cocoyam grown In alleys partIcularly the fast growmg ~pecles WhICh rapIdly produce shade reduce the PythlUm rot seventy symptoms and led to hIgher corm YIeld, about 48 % (Table 7) Healthy cocoyams under shade are commonly observed m farmers cocoa or mtercrop fields hence thts observatIon IS practIcal A hIghly posItIve correlatIon was also observed between cocoyam cormel and corm YIelds (Y = -00 137 + 2 53X where X IS corm YIeld) ThIS equatIon may be Important m on-farm research where the cormel may be mllked by farmers or stolen pnor to data collectIon With the corms Intact, the expected cormel YIeld can be obtamed (Table 7)  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------±SE 2 94 1 64 3 087 3 78 541 6 87 37 59One year old tIssue culture matenals ongmally denved from 8017 were established In the Yoke SIte dunng the first season of 1992 as observatIonal plots (18m 2 ) A local ca~~ava and a genetIcally Improved non tIs~ue culture 8017 were also e~tabhshed m eqUivalent plots Because of lImItatIon of plantIng matendls and vanatIons of stake SIzes, partIcularly of the tIssue culture ~tdkes, only four plots, 2 of tIssue culture -one of WhICh comprIsed plantIng mdtenals of small SIzes dUd one each of Improved TMS 30572 and local, were e~tdbhshed Table 8 shows that the tIssue culture matenals YIelded 17-28% higher than genetIcally Improved cassava dunng Its second year m field trialS The local cassava was extremely poor, Yleldmg only 2 2 ton~/ha root It IS desrrable to determme the progreSSIve YIeld levels of tIssue culture-denved plants compared WIth Improved plantmg matenals as a basIS for deternurung the economICS of producmg the tIssue culture plants for vanous econOmIC crops but unfortunately, the plot could not be re-establIshed m 1993 because the matenals were stolen from Yoke SIte EIght farmers In Bohfdmba area evaluated two ehte urumproved ROTREP cocoyam selectIOns m therr fields as supenmposed plots The objectIve was to venfy claIms of therr superIonty over locals m researcher managed on-statIon trIals ConSIdering cocoyam cormel, the pnced component, Table 9 shows that selectIon 1011 out yIelded the local by 11 % and selectIon 1006 YIelded lower than the local by 47% The total YIeld (corm + cormel) of the local IS hIgher than the selectIons ThIs result confrrms that supenor cocoyam selectIons may not be avaIlable m local stock  Formed on mIxture of sedImentary and volcanIc matenals 6 2 4 15 AdoptIon, retentIOn and dIffuSIOn of IRA cassava Tills study was carned out In May, 1992 m 47 vIllages across all the dIVIsIOns and key zones of the proVInce Examples of some of the VIllages were Ntenmbang, NfaItock, Takwal, Aja, NjIma, Boa Bakundu, Mondont NatIve, NgUSI, DIpenda and Owe One hundred and fifty three (153) users out of a total of 595 enlIsted were IntervIewed Farmers mostly preferred red cassava, probably because of Its COOkabIhty charactenstIc over the IRA willte varIetIes (8017, 8034 and 8061) However, IRA vanetIes were not developed to cook SInce most of the cassava eaten m many households IS usually transformed Into water-fufu, gan, kumkum, etc Most partICIpants used IRA cassava for water-fufu and gan and also reported early matunty and illgh YIeldmg qualItIes of these vanetIes AdoptIon, retentIon and dIffuSIOn rates were 90%, 91 % and 77%, respectIvely (Table 11) Farmer to farmer was agam the pnmary dIffuSIOn route willIe aruma! damage and tuber rot were the major setbacks to retentIon Agroforestry opportunItIes hke the need for stakes, ftrewood, etc and land ownershIp (mostly mhented) are prevalent m the South West Provmce Bush burnIng and shlfimg culttvatlOn remam the major constramts to the eventual adoptIon of the agroforestry technology However, the farmers' land cleanng practtce of mulchmg IS a unIque mdlcator for the system South West farmers grow and/or mamtam trees on theIr ftelds mostly for cash and food 62417 Focus ydlage meetmgs.Dunng 1992 and 1993, the new approach was for the researchers to hsten to farmerfarmer mteractlOns on food crop constramts followed by farmer-researcher dIScussIons From farmer-farmer mteractton, several general constramts are noted OUTIng farmer-researcher mteractton, the problems are pnonttzed m each focus VIllage RelatIve Importance of the constramts across SWP IS determmed by ItS posltton m a rank system Subsequent research plans (and extenslOn technologIes) are determmed by the results of the exercIse ThIS approach IS only bemg developed and should be conttnued because group mteracttons were faclhtated and farmers felt relaxed when expressmg therr vIews to one another 6 2 4 18 Use of annual covercrops for fallow Improvement In 1992, the percentage ground cover as an mdex of weed control usmg Mucuna, MImosa, Crotolana and Puerana was reported The focus for 1993 was to evaluate the residual effect of these cover crops as a means of fallow Improvement MaIze ytelds were used as an mdex of ferttlIty o 97From the above table, the fallow management system usmg Mimosa gave the hIghest reSIdual effect on maIze YIelds of 3 22 tlha followed by crotolana and puerana whIle mucuna gave the lowest YIeld among the legumes BesIdes bemg lowest 10 YIeld from field observatlons, mucuna IS apparently not a good fallow legume because of Its voluntensm and thus tends to wrap on preceedmg maIze plants thereby stranglIng them However, smce thIS IS from only one years data, It maybe neles~ary to reduce the number of treatments to mclude only the three promlSlng legumes to further mvestlgate the usefulness of these covercrops 10 cassava + maIze systems 6 2 4 19 Peace corps agroforestry lInkage Agroforestry extenSIOn IS the malO actlvity of Peace corps volunteers assIgned to TLU ThiS year, we had 3 volunteers located 10 Malende (Fako DIvlSlon), Kembong and Fotabe (Manyu DIVISIon) PrIOr to the arnval of these volunteers, a number of problems were Identlfied WIth farmers adoptmg the alley system These were (a) InSuffiCIent farmer knowledge of what alley hedgerow meant, (b) unwIllIngness of farmers to comrmt land and tlme to plants whIch dId not YIeld VISIble mcome, (c) farmer unwIllIngness to change from therr normal bush fallow and rotatIon systems to permanent alley system, and the Impact of alleys were not readIly VISIble There has been an mcreased awareness of thIS technology 10 all peace corps VIllages TLU has provIded backstoppmg where necessary A survey to dIagnose farmers' deCISIOns and constramts WIth respect to adoptlng the agroforestry technology 10 peace corps vIllages had as one of Its obJectlves the educatIOn of farmers on the rmssion of the peace corps volunteers ThIS encouraged many more farmers to partICIpate or get mvolved eIther smgly or as groups Nursenes and demonstratIOn plots have been establIshed The peace corps have been able to Identlfy at least one of the tree legumes adaptable to therr VIllages or zones For example 10 Kembong -Calltandra and Cassta, Fotabe -Glmczdta. Malende (Fako) -Leucaena, and Mundemba -Leuc.aena The trIal crops were planted on the 21st of Aplll, 1992 but the estabhshment of Leucaena and Cassla alleys started on the 12th of September, 1991 The 1st cycle ended m December, 1993 The most tmportant pdrameter for the as'\\essment of the performance of plantam under the alley system was bunch weight I There are margInal dIfferences In bunch weIghts of plantams In treatments under al1eys, compared to tho'\\e wIthout alleys In the first cycle (Table 13) Leucaena alleys performed better than CaSHa as seen m the mean bunch weight 16 kg and 11 kg for plantaInS under Leucaena and CasfJla, re'\\pectIvelyThe rewlt of the second and third cycle are expected to show the reat effect of the alleys on plantaIn YIeld because the SOlI fertIhty of plots With plantams WIthout al1eys Will be dImtmshmg after every crop cycle From the 1 st cycle results, Leucaena IS better sUlted In alley WIth plantams In the Lower Volcamc zone than CasslQ  ---\"------------------------------------------------------------ 6 2420 TLU and ROTREP On-Farm Cassava MulttphcatlOn.Though non-cookable, IRA caliliava vanetIeli are excellent when processed However, their extensIOn to farmerll have not been as rapId all enVISIOned de'\\pIte the hIgh acceptance by TLU contact farmers One of the pnmary rea lions has been the hmlted supply of plantIng matenals compounded by a lack of a clearly defined seed pohcy to encourage the sale of plantmg matenal The tmproved cultIvar should be dIllllemmated all processed food smce they produced 2-3 tImes the YIeld of the local red and whIte cultIvars SInce the technology of some Improved cassava already eXI,\\ts, It was proposed to Increase the number of farmers WIth the Improved cas'\\ava cultIvars by the InttIation of 100 new fdrmers dunng the 1994-95 growmg season The punty of cassava whIch IS vegetatIvely propagated IS assured and farmers WIll retam theIr Improved stock by sImply multIplymg the plantmg materIal WhICh WIll serve as a basIs for commercIalIzatIon of Improved cassava plantIng materIals Two hectares of Improved cassava vanetIes, 8017 and 8034, were therefore, planted on contract m a farmer's field Some of the actIVltIe~ that were undertaken to accomph~h the plantmg actIvItIes mc1ude, locatIng a farm away from the statIon at a convement sIte where damage WIll not occur, partIcularly dunng worker~ strIkes A memorandum of understandmg was SIgned WIth the farmer hefore work was started TLU and ROTREP had to undertake ploughmg, peggmg and plantIng of the plots The cost of these actIvItIes were qUlte hIgh because the farm IS located 4 hours drIve from Ekona Outstandmg actIvItIes mc1ude I weedmg, IdentIficatIon of farmers to commerCIalIze stakes, harvestIng and dIstrIbutIon of the stems 6 2 4 21 AdoptIon, retentIon and dIffusIon of IRA sweet potatoes In order to complete the sefle~ of Impact studIes of tested and dl~tflhuted crop varieties, an Impact study was conducted on sweet potatoes (TIB 1) m 1993 A ltst of 439 users drawn from 31 vIllages across all the dIVISIOns and key zones of the South West provmce was compIled Examples of some of the VIllages enlIsted were ASItata, Weme, Badoma, Ndekwal, Nfianchang, EdJumgang, and Boltfamba One hundred and twenty nme (129) users were mtervlewed IRA sweet potato users attrIbuted theIr mterest m the technology to hIgher yIelds, better taste, early maturmg, large sIzes and mcome generated from sales Rodents were the major bottleneck to sweet potato productIon m the provmce Some farmers reported no tubenzatIon m a sandy zone e g Illoam, better YIeld from locals over IRA (e g Ikthwmdl area), tuber rot and nematode attack Most partIcIpants lIked sweet potato boded AdoptIon rate of 81 %, retentIon, 76% and dIffuSIOn, 65% were estImated (Table 14) A field day held m mid July to explam to farmers, extensIon officer\\, and pohcy makers, TLU's maIze vanetIes, recommended for mtercropped mdlze and caS~dva, maize and Xantho~oma, and maize and colocasla, d'i well ali to demon'itrate fertllizer and allcy hedgerow etteCl\\ attracted mterest dnd enthusla~tIc que~tIon~ from all partIcipants The tdrmer'i were parhlul,n ly Imp' ~\"l-U hy ilK high mal7C poplilat'()n~ m mtercroppmg 'y,tem, dnd wondered what the Yldu, of d\\\\OLldtLU crop, would hl-Our earher trlal\\ ,howed no Il-ductlon m cassaVd or taro Yield at 40,000 mdlze plant' per hd for maize hdfVe~t dS green lobs Thl~ partlcular que~tIon should he answered by a follow up field day at tImes of cassaVd, cocoyam and taro (colocasla) hdfVe~t We dlso mtroduced the Idea ofvldeomg the field ddy by which partlclpant'i would be refre,hed of what they \\aw dunng the field day at time of hdfVe\\tmg crop~ or at dny othl-r time In the wurse of thl-crops' cyclesThe alley system~ were of speCial mtere\\t to the farmers who, after ob~ervlng fertilIzer effects on maize m the demonstration nghtly perceIved the alleys a~ Viable alternatIves to fertIlizer The comparative uI~play~ of fertIhzer effects m close proximity With alley plots and non fertlhzed plots mlrea~ed the enthu'ilasm of farmers for alleys, mdny of who requested tnal alley systems m therr fields On-farm testing withm Maroua TLU consIsted of three levels FIrst, relatively complex technologIes are tested, often under a complex expenmental deSIgn m representauve, observational VIllagesTechnoiogies/practtces WhIch prove adaptable bIOlogIcally and acceptable to farmers are promoted to regIonal testtng (m SImplIfied deSIgn) In 30-40 dispersed SItes to cover a WIde range of condittons Successful technologIes 10 regIOnal tests are then extended to farmers as mmIktts A te\"hnology IS conMdered reddy when acceptabIlIty IS high and a techmcal bulletin IS prepared In 1993, regIOndl teSting was ehmmated and TLU concentrated efforts m three research villages WIth emphaSIS on farmer partIcipatory approach 6 3 2 OBJECTIVES From 1991From -1993  Poor and decrea~Ing ~od fertIhty, aggravated by appreciable ero~lOn abo bmits produ(,tIon and threatens the su~tdmablhty of the ~y~tems Birds cause conSiderable loss to cereals crops, espe<\"lally shorter cycle Improved vanetIes developed to mature early for drought aVOIdance Strlga, a parasItIc weed of cereals, causes senous, though unquantIfied, los~es of sorghum, millet, maize, and to a lesser extent cowpeas Major msect pests and diseases Include gram mold, leaf diseases, Spodoptera SlUh, and head bugs m sorghum, mllbpedes, rosette, rust, and leaf spots m peanut, thriPS and post-harvest pests such as bruchlds m cowpea Only the last two are thought to ment control measures other than development of reslstdnt varietIes Access to credit for seasonal mputs and animal tractIon IS hmlted Flu<..tuallon ot gram pn<..e~ dttec~ both tdfmers' mwme and redu<..e therr abilIty to purchase gram dunng the hungry sea~onTotal ramfall was abnormally high m 1991 (800 to 1100 mm) but distributIon was typlcally poor DlOught penods m June cau~ed severe stress to young sorghum and high humIdity disease pressure In cowpea In 1992 ramfall dl~tnbutIon was so erratic across the regIOnal as to reqUire analysIs of on-fdfm tests to be stratIfied Into dner zones « 700 mm) and more hUmId zones (> 700 mm) In both 1992 and 1993, drought spell~ ocwred In June delaymg plantIng of long cycle varieties Survey results mdicate the followmg (1) there IS Widespread locdl knowledge about soil types and therr uses The maIn reasons for the decrease III sotl fertIhty are contInous cultIvatIon, shorter bush-fallow penods and lack of orgamc matter Countour ndges and use of manure are the most Important traditIonal methods used to mdmt.un (restore) SOlI ferttlIty Mulch farmmg IS hardly understood or prdctI<..ed m the Far North provm<..e (2) Trees are conSIdered useful for firewood, con~tructlOn purpolie~ and provIsion of food ~upplements Most Important trees are Filldherbza alblda, Mangifera mdlca, ZlZlphus mauntama, GUdva, Tamanndus mdlca, Balmues aegypuaca, Lemon, Azadlrachta mdlca (neem), F,cus sp and Khaya senegalenllS (Cdlkedldt) (3) Mo~t wood wttmg tor home wn~umptIon take\\ pldce wlthm 5 km from villdge Wood explOItatIOn I~ hardly controlled m the provmce (4) The use of bush-fallows IS Widespread m North Cameroon, With some reglOndl modIficdtIon to the system Fdllow penod~ range from 3-5 yedrs hut longer pen ods (10 year~) are no exceptIon ill less populated dreas Useful trees (Fwdherbla alblda, Anogel~sus lelOwrpus, etc) are conserved when land l~ put back mto cultivatIon The people 10 the Mandc:lfa mountun~ have developed a very ~ophl~tl( . . dted trcldlUOfldl agrofore~try sy~tem 10 re~pon~e to lugh population denSIties 6 3 4 3 Intercroppmg sorghum and cowpea to stabIlize gram Yield and to reduce stn&a hermonthlcaThe value of ~orghum/cowpea a~~OCldtIon m reducmg stnga mfe~tdtIon, mdmtdmmg higher combmed grdm Yield and en\\unng gredter profltablhty thdn pure ~tands hd~ been confirmed over the ld~t 3 years Inter<..roppmg of sorghum dnd ~preddmg cowped (vyd) m alterndte htlls of the ~dme row Wd~ te~ted on-fdrm from 1989 until 1992 Emerged ~tnga denSity per hectare at sorghum harvest was reduced m all years but reductlon of stnga denMty per sorghum stand wa~ only clearly eVIdent m 1991 Den~lty of emerged strlga dt harve~t was lower on the unproved S35 sorghum vdnety thdn on long lycle mdlgenous Djlgarl vanety ill all years A summary of YIelds m on-farm trIalS IS mdlcdted m T dble 1 Lmd equlvdlent rdtIo (LER) rdnged from lito 1 5 The mdjOr red~on tor farmer adoption of sorghumlwwpea Will mo~t hkely be grdm YIeld stablhzdtIon Best LERs were observed m years which were stressful for the sorghum crop Strlga reduction wlllltkely be a slow process of seed bank reductIon and therefore may not be a mdjOr fdctor m adoptIOn However, whatever grdm Yield ddvantdge oblierved Will be complemented by d forage Yield advantage If sorghum stover dnd cowpea hdY are con\\ldered In seml-dnd northern Cameroon, these by-prodults were tdken mto dcwunt m pdrtldl budget dndly~l~ of the technology because of their Importance as feed In 1991, a wet yedr favorable to long cycle Djlgarl, net benefit from Djlgarl/Vya (396 555 CF A/hd) was only sbghtly better than for pure DJlgarl whIle S35/Vya net benefit (309 290 CFA/hd) was almost tWIce as hIgh dS for pure S35 In 1992, net benefit WdS agdm sub~tdntIdlly hIgher WIth mterlroppmg In 1993, MdroUd TLU emphaSized farmer parttclpatory approach, helpmg farmers m the research Village to understand the bIOlogical process of strlga mfestatIon and addpt thIS technology to theIr own croppmg sy~tem d~ they volunteered to embdrk on d multiyear ~orghumlwwped te\\t 6 3 4 4 Improved practIces to conserve SOlI mOIsture and fertilIty m ramfed sorghumbased systems.Three types of on-farm tests were Implemented from 1991-1993 to dcwmph~h thIS objective (1) 36 Idnd preparatlOn test~ comparmg plowmg and no tIllage techmqueli m 1991 and 1992, (2) 14 te~ts of pigeon ped m a~~ocldtlon With sorghum m 1993 dOd (3) cover crop tests of Mucund for ~Oll regener dtlOn lD two re~edrlh villdges lD 1993The effect of sOlI ulldge (mdm plot dnd 3 ~orghum vdnetIes dt the ~ubplot level) WIth ammal plowmg over dIrect seedmg (no tIlldge) was SignIficant With medn re~pon~es on sorghum gr dm YIelds aver dgmg 54 % acro~s Sl tes m 1991 dnd 32% m 1992 In 1992 medn sod mOIsture content of plowed soil at 30 cm depth, 15 DAP was 29% hIgher than the control whIch ~ugge~ts that plowmg mcreased soIl water avaIlabIlIty dunng edrly growth, thus helpmg the pldnts to aVOId drought ~tre~s In both yedrs the trldl~ were dl~o dndlyzed m term~ of co~~ dnd returns (T dble 2) Re~ults mdIcdte percentage mcredses m gross benefits between plowed dnd non-plowed tredtmen~ of 47, 17 and 52 % for 100 . . als, DJIgdn dnd S35 vanetIes, respectIvely In generdl, the re ... pon~e to plowmg vaned sIgmficdntly WIth the total rainfall both between years dnd dCross sites withm d given season Ammdl plowmg IS u~eful and profitable to fdl mers where dnd when rdmfdll I~ d IUll1ung fdctor lIke m DJoulgouf m 1992The test of pigeon pea m associatIOn With sorghum was Implemented only m 1993 m DJmghya m order to as ... ess thIS yeM effect on ~orghum YIeld dnd make tdrmer~ aWMe of pOSSIble long term advantages of thIS croppmg system (1 e Improved soIl fertIlIty, provlSlon of gram as food) m the Manddra mountdms Results mdIcdte no slgmficant reductIOn of gr dm YIeld m the rows next to the hedgerows Sorghum grdm YIeld WdS 11 % higher from the row near the pIgeon ped thdn three hne') away The ')ame trend WdS observed for the ~tover Yield WIth dnd mcred~e ot 11 5 % The lo~~ of <..ultIvdble ldnd for sorghum due to pigeon ped Wd~ partly compensdted by the slIght mcred~e m sorghum gr dm and stover YIeld ThiS conclusIOn confirms the results of a Simlldf trIal on-~tatIon lfl 1991 More observatIons WIll be made lfl the same field~ m order to bUild a strong Cd ... e for ceredb/plgeon ped d~socidtIon m the regIOn Feedbdck from fdrmers mdlcdte strong preference for ~hort cycle vdnetIe~ of pIgeon ped 6 3 4 5 On-farm vanety teltts (sorghum. peanut and cowped) for lficreased yields, On-1arm te\\tlng of peanut vanetle\\ developed by IRA began m 1990 With IdentlficatIon of vanety M4lo a~ a new ImplOved, \\hurt <.yde ot high gram quality, though Its Yield WdS le'is thdn thdt of 28 206, the mo\\t productive vanety under high ramfall conditIons M416 wa\\ then mcluded m second and third year te\\t\\ With another vanety (K3237-80) of \\l1mla) tIdlt\\ In the la\\t two yt-ar\\, two wntIoh (55 437 and 28 206) were used for two different rdlntdll wndltlon'i m the province (le'i'i thdn dnd gredter thdn 700 mm) The results of the ld\\t two-yedls die \\ummanl.ed m Tdhle 4 None of the new vanetle~ outylelded the fdrmer\\' locab hoth m term\\ of grdm dnd hdY productIon In edch rdmfdll zone, M416 and K32 exhibIted no slgmficant dtfference~ m Yleld~ However, fdrmer'i' dpprecldtIon of the new vdnetIe\\ for high grdm qUdlity (tl\\te and color) have been COn\\l\\tent over the 3 yedr te\\tmg penod Of ~lgmtkdnt Importlnce IS the I high proportion (63%) of fdrmers who mdlcdted then reddme\\'i to ddopt K32 or M416 Smce overall apprecldtton for the Improved check'i (55 437 and 28 206) was lower reldtIve to the new vanetIes, TLU moved M416 and K32 mto mlmklt te\\t\\ m 1993 dlld exten\\lon ledt1et~ hdve been prepdred, while contrdct tdrmer\\ were \\elected to produce \\eed\\ Cowpea There are currently two vanetle'i of cowpea under exten\\lOn m the Fdr North provmce 1 e Vya, a punfjed trddltlOndl vdnety of the ~preddmg type ongmdted from MoutoulOua dnd the Improved, erect BR 1 dt-veloped dt lIT A Both Vdnetles do well m mten\\IVe wltlvdtIon only after 2-3 'iprdymg<; to combdt thnps and hruchldsIn the la\\t 3 yedr'i, two erect lIT A vdnetles were propo\\ed by the IRA wwped ~ectlon for on-farm te\\t'i The\\e were compared to Vya and BRI for only one yedr (1991) Vanetles IT86D364 and lT86D719 did not prove to be well dddpted to the enVironment m .1 high ramfall yedr, re\\ultmg m dn mlred\\ed dl\\ed\\e pre\\~ure m dll the 13 Mtes where they were tested TLU hd\\ reqUired thdt an exten'ilVe multIloedtIondl trldl over 2-3 yeMs be Implemented by the IRA cowpea sectlOn before the new vdfletIes Me te\\ted on-fdrm (m • research villdge~ or m reglOndl te\\ts) One ObVIOUS adv dIltage of the 4 techmques IS that they are withm the capaCIty of the farmers to adopt ExammatIon of the budget for stormg cowpea m ash, trIple bags and 10 bags after solar heatIngs mdicates net benefits rangmg from 8 000-13 500 CF A per farm Net cash benefits after accountIng for Investment m storage eqUlpments amounts to at least 32,000 CFA per farm In terms of extenSIOn, Sodecoton records IndIcate for 1993 that nearly 6000 farmers have partIcipated m the demonstratIon of solar heaters With support from 74 extenSIOn agents (Table 6) The solar heater and trIple baggmg technIques appear to have gone theIr way to adoptIon given the mcreasmg number of farmers who participate m the demonstratIon each year 6 3 4 7 AdoptIon of IRA (Improved) vanetIes and pre-extensIOn of yanetIes and Simple technology components m mmoot tests.Results of formal adoptIon surveys of Improved vanetIes are summanzed m Tables 7 -8 A total of 36 Villages m the cotton growmg zones were selected WIth probabIhty proportIonale to SIZe Fmal sample size was 1008 farmers The percentage of farmers who adopted Improved varIetIes IS much hIgher for cowpea (Table 7) ThIrteen percent of the farmers m the TLU mandate zones have adopted S35 sorghum on 43 % of sorghum holdmgs per adopter As to geographical distrIbutIon, 54 % are located m drought prone areas (Mora-Mokolo zones), 23% m Mayo Danay and 5% m Diamare Farm and farmers' charactenstIcs associated WIth adoptIon were also elUCIdated A stepWIse regreSSIOn analysIS of adoptIon rates (adoptIon of S35 as a package) on selected attrIbutes mdIcates that the area planted to ramy season sorghum (+), to dry season sorghum (-), the number of years the farmers has been plantIng Improved sorghum vanetIes (+) and the ongIn of the vanety contnbuted sIgmficantly to the varIabilIty ill adoptIon rates (R2 = 30%)  9 for maize and peanut Over all appreciatIon was 67% favorable for seed treatment WIth thIoral Research actIvItIes m the reseach Villages Will focus on the agenda for sustamable agnculture Improved cereals/gram legumes aSSOCiatIon, use of cover crops to restore fertIhty on degraded SOlIs, telits of organIC fertIlIzer to combat strlga and mtroductIon of tree/crop associatIons m research VIllages In regIOnal tests, emphaSIS WIll be placed on pre-extensIOn of new Improved varietIes of sorghum, cowpea and peanuts and the mtroductton of multtpurpose trees Farmers' parttclpatton wIll be acttvely sought through the constttutton of thematIc group dISCUSSIons to ensure tImely feedback to on-statIon programs AdoptIon studies and evaluatIon of the economic unpact of agncutural research wlll be a major task to be undertaken by the team's econOmISts DIagnostIc studies are also urgently needed to Improve knowledge and IdentIfy specific constramts of local farmIng systems m the Mayo Tsanaga and Logone et Chan diVISIOns 6 3 7 PLANS TO SUSTAIN RESEARCH EFFORTS WhIle dIagnOStIc studIes and on-statIon research fall withm the realm of IRA, the ~ucce~s of future on-farm teStIng programs WIll depend largely on the collaboratIon WIth extenSIOn agenCIes and the mutually remforcmg nature of onentatIons to be pursued IRA should enact varIous agreements for alternatIve sources of fundmg (Pro]et Garoua, PNVF A) mcludmg cost-shanng arrangements WIth non-governmental organIZatIonS and farmers' groupsThe three-stage approach m on-farm testIng at Maroua (1 e research VIllage mals, regIOnal testIng and mmtktts) allows for alternattve scenarios to be considered For example, WIth reduced fundmg, regIOnal testtng can be eltmInated m favor of mcreased farmers' partICIpatton m the research VIllages The use of low-cost mtmktt tests wIll mcrease demonstratIon value and allow for farmer to farmer transmiSSIOn of SImple Improved technologIes, thus mcreasmg the Impact of research IndIVIdual researchers should also be encouraged to submIt research proposals and grant apphcattons to mternattonal agencies Reseach eqUlpments (laboratory eqUlpments, vehIcles, photocopIers, computers, etc)   -------------------Year --------------  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.---  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Graln valued at 55 CFA/kg at harvestlng Table 3 Average graIn and stover YIeld (kgfha) of sorghum In on-fara regIonal varIetIes trIals over two years (1991,1992) GraIn ( 47   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   -----------------  -------------------  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  ---------------------------------------------------------------------.-------------------------------------   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  DUrIng the three 3 yedrs, TLU has carned out surveys, on-farm and on-statIon tnals Surveys were of two types rapId rural appraIsals (2) and resource momtormg surveys (3) On ~tdtlon dctlvIues were on (l) evaludtlon of benefits from legummous hedgerows, (2) IdentIficatIon of specIes and plactlces for legume fallow The on-farm program focused on varIetal testIng (maIze, cassava), soIl fertIlIty Improvement (mIneral and legume fallow) Trammg seSSIOns of MINAGRI extensIOn agents were held dUd the lInkage between them and researchers has been strengthenedIn 1991, a VIllage-level resource management survey has been carned out ill thIrty-one VIllages of the South and Center Provmces The findmgs of thIS aCtlvltlty may be found m the EconomIc AnalysIs Umt sectlon In 1992, a retentIOn survey on Improved maIze and cassava was Implemented It Involved 298 households selected from 3 TLU vIllages and 5 non-TLU VIllages MaIze VarIetIes subjected to farmers appraIsal were CMS-8704, CMS-8501, CMS-8806 and Ndock-8701 Cassava vanetIes were 8034, 8017, and 80651 Survey results show that about twothirds of farmers have grown one or more IRA varieltIes Of these, 92 % responded they have been groWIng CMS-8704, followed by eMS-8501 25%, Ndock 17%, and CMS-8806 5% (Table 1) Most farmers In the surveyed VIllages prefer IRA varIetIes for theIr taste (mostly CMS-8704), more thdn fifty percent of farmers (62 %) grow those vartetles for YIeld, only 57% plant them for earlIness Locatlon and, personal charactenstIcs affect adoptIon and retentIon (Table 2) Farmers hvmg m Villages where on-farm research has been earned out were strongly mfluenced toward adoptlon and retentIOn Women showed more mterest than men III Jdoptmg dnd retlInmg Improved maIZe vanetIes Young and educated farmers are highly receptlve to new technologies A maJonty of farmer~ mentIoned lack of seeds as the number one reason for not adoptmg or plantIng Improved vanetIes all seasons The survey also showed that women give a relatIvely higher Importance to taste color and cob SIze (1 e consumptlOn and marketIng qualItIes), whIle men's Intere~t IS productlOn performance (yIeld, matunty dates)The survey findmgs showed that only 14 percent of households planted Improved VarIetIes In TLU Villages, 22 % responded that they had planted on IRA varIety Of these, 97% planted 8034 About two-thIrds of farmers responded that the IRA vanety had a bigger lilze Farmers preferred the local varIety for Its YIeld (59%), color (73%), and taste (95%) The IRA varIety (8034) IS prefelfed only when It IS cooked and eaten as foufou In 1993, dn mput-output study was carned out In order to construct crop enterpnse budgets for maIze and groundnut croppmg systems The objectIves were 1)to define resources aVailable to the farmer and the socio-economIc envrronment of maize and groundnut bdsed croppmg systems m the Centre and South ProvInces, 2)To determme the cost of productlOn mputs and prodUCtIVItyTo develop enterpnse budgets for maIZe and groundnut based croppmg systems 120 farmers were randomly selected (20 per VIllage where the TLU IS mvolved)Survey results lihowed that m the forest-savanna tranSItIon zone tools and land preparatIon methods vary from farmer to farmer WIth the type of vegetatIon and crop rotatIon or sequence withm rotatIOn Ten percent (10%) use cutlass, 7% hoe, 42% cutlass and file, 24 % cutlass and hoe, 17 % cutlass, hoe and file In thIS zone 69 % of farmers mcorporate dned vegetatIon while 21 % burn It The remammg portIon burn and remove branches Most farmers plant local materIalli of unknown ongm Mean maize, cassava and plantaIn denSItIes m momtored fields were 5625 pldn~/ha, 6875 4910 plants/ha, respectIvelyThe mean labor utIlIzation elitlmates by operation are presented m Table 3 and 4 Women contrIbuted for 23% of labor for land clearIng, men for 28% and 11 % for chtldrenThe productIVIty of lahor I~ 5 5kg of maize per mm day 10 the maIze based system whIle It IS 1 18 kg of maize and 2 86 kg of groundnut per man day m the groundnut based system ProductIon factors for maIze based and groundnut based croppmg systems mclude variable phYSical cost~ (lieeds), labor and land Money IS requrred to purchase seed (maIze and groundnutli) Land I~ tnhented or borrowed from other farmers Seed costs are the market pnce at plantIng tIme Land and famIly labor are the final reSidual factors EnterprIse budgets for the 2 cropptng ~y~tems cannot be presented now, smce tuber Yields are stIll awaited Two rapId rural apprallial surveys were conducted 10 1993 10 two VIllages (Engom I and NdJazeng) of the South Provtnce to charactenze productIon systems, to IdentIfy productIon constramts and potentIals and to determme research pnontIes A multIdlsCIphnary team of eleven SClentllits carrIed out the surveys The survey revealed that there were three major cropp 109 sy~tem~ m the two VIllages the 'eguIiI' melon based system, the groundnut based farms and the Cd';';ava bdsed system The dS~ocidted crops were maIze, cocoyam, plantam, sweet potato, yam~, and Ca\"l~dVd dependmg on the systems Livestock was not Integrelted In the sy~tem The tedm recommended to Introduce an Improved fallow system usmg legumes (herbdceou,; or tree) m order to reduce pressure on vrrgm forests, to breed for dIsease resIst.ant VdfletJeS of groundnut and cassava The objective wa~ to determme Yields and economIC benefits of hybnd maize relatIve to the best avaIlable open-pollIndted VdrIetles at dIfferent fertIlIty levels The tnal was planted at two SItes (MInkomeyo'), NtUl) and dunng the first and second season of 1991 and 1992 The varIetIes were hybnd,; (8321-18 land 8644-31), and open-pollInated (eMS 8501, and eMS 8704) The fertll11:er level,; were 00, 60,0, 120,0, and 120,90 N and P, respectIvely The resulh show thdt hyhnd mdlze vanetIes had neither YIeld nor economIC benefit over the open pollInated vanetIes at dll fertIlIty levels (Table 5) Based on two-year results, eMS-8501 and CMS-8704 are as good as the currently available hybnd maIze varieties (8321-18 and 8644-31) Small-scale farmers who are market onented, are better off With these open-pollmated vanetIes than attemptmg to change over to hybnd maIze vanetIesThe objectIve ofthl'; study was to momtor naturalmfestatIon In 3 agroecologlcal zones so as to gather baselIne InfOrmatIOn relatIve to the onset of borer mfestatIon, evolutIon, seventy, etc In relatIOn to crop growth In eelch 10CdtIon DetaIled descnptIon of methods and results can be found In the entomology sectIon of thiS report Improved fdHow mandgement for SOIl fertthty dod weed cootrolThe cultivatIon of legumInOus planted fallow In the alternate season IS expected to restore the nutrIent status of SOIls by addmg bIOlogIcally fixed N, to suppress the growth of weeds, and to reduce SOli ero\"llOn, Se'lbama se!Jban and Mimosa mVlsa var mermlS were planted as fallow specIe') to add bIOlogICdlly fixed N and suppress the growth of weeds m maIze The trIal was e~tabhshed dt Mmkomeyos and NtUl Legume specIes were planted m March 1990 WIth maIze A spltt-plot deSIgn was used WIth four replIcations The mam plots were fallow and reSIdue management cOmbInatIOns, and sub-plots were zero and 60 kg N/ha The three-year result\"l show that Incorporated MImosa or Sesbama YIelded more than mulch at NtUl where soil fertIlIty IS reldtIvely low At Mtnkomeyos, the use of Sesbama IS not apparently Justified, smce the natural fdlIow plot YIelded better than Sesbanla's The effect of fertIhzer on maIze gram YIeld was sIgmficant at both sites and durmg the three years Weed bIOmass at three weeks dfter pIdntIng was lower m plo~ where reSIdues were mcorporateed at Ntul The findmgs suggest thdt, Mimosa and SesbanIa fallow lOcorporated can effectively Improve SOli fertility and suppress weeds CaSSIa Mulch/Green Manure TndJ Thl~ tI Id] hd~ been planted tur three yed! ~ A legume tI ee, Cassla speaabllis IS a naturallzed tree 11mt grows well m the t()re~t-trdn\\ltIon lone The objectIve of the tna] wa'i to produce N-nch orgdnIC mdtter for \\0l11ertillty ImplOvement A \\pht-plot design was used WIth the mdm plots bemg tree arrangement and the subplots con'il\\ung of maIze/natura] fallow, maIze, De~mod1Um fdllow, dnd ~oybcdn/mall;e CasSia was well e'itabhshed at both slte~ Tree arrangement dId not slgmficantly affect bIOmaS\\ productIOn, and therefOI e dId not mfluence maIze gram YIeld at eIther Mmkomeyo'l or Ntm durmg the three yedrs However, at NtUl 11l 1993, there was d slgmficant dIfference hetween fallow tredtments dnd soybean At NtUl the cumulatIve effect of Cassla mulch pIu\\ De ... modlUm fallow plots yIelded 1317-302 kg/ha more maIze than soybean plot... NdturJI tallow plOb pwdull.d 847-302 kg/ha more mdIze than soybean plots (p = 00013) On-farm Tnals On-fa lIn dltlvltles of the umt dUllng the three years (1991 to 1993) hdve fow~sed mamly on technoiogy evaluauon and a~~~ '~ment of crop protectIon pract1<..e'i One of the constramts fdcmg th~ farmer IS a ldck of high Yleldmg vanetIes, therefore the IdentIficdtIon of well addpted ,mt! dClcptJble varletJ.C\\ Wd\\ obJeltIve number one The eVdludtIon ot benefits from legummoJs hedgerows to dlleviate a soil ferttlIty constraInt was necessary Mmeral feItti.zdtlOn of maIze WdS equdlly Important Farmer IDalLe vanety tests Pronmll1g vdflctIe\\ from the Lowldnd Breedmg PlOgram are handed to the TLU tor on-farm testlng <it pIlot vlnage~ and If proven better than the local, they are forwarded to the regIOnal testlng mvolvmg MINAGRI extenSIOn agents In each of the 6 research VIllages, 15 tarmer~ ,'( lHvolvt,J In 1991 dnd 1992, te~ts were conducted WIth compOSIte (CMS-8806, DMR t.~R) and hybnd (8321-18X Exp 42) vanetIes CMS-8806 Yield was not dIfferent from that of locdl, however, fdrmers rated It hIgher because of Its earlmess Probably because of more aCIdIC soIl condItIOns l1l Meyo-VIlle, maIze YIelds were than those of the Villages CMS 8704 was as good as thdt of the hybnd vanety (8321-18x Exp 442)The YIelds m Nkometou were less subtantlall y hIgher than those In K1la villagesThe objectIve of thIs test IS to valIdate the performance (productIon, taste) of the vanetIes In 1991, 51 agncultural delegatIons of the South and Centre provmces were IdentIfied to pdIttCIpate m the test In 1992 and 1993, the number was reduced to 31 for effectIve momtormg Overall, IRA vdnetIes wele rated better than local varIetIes In both proctuctIon/agronOlIDc performance and taste preferences Regional Cassava Vanety Test Improved and local Cd<;SdVd varIetIes were further tested through the extenSIOn hal son program m 1991, 1992, and 1991 The objective Wd~ to venfy the Yield advantage and acceptabIlIty of 8017, 8034, dnd 8061 reldtI ve to the local varIetIes WIth respect to tuber weIght dlffelence, zone sIgnIficantly mteracted WIth vanety, the Improved varIety performmg better m the tranSItIOn and sub-humId forest and poorly In the humId fore~tLegummou\\ hedgerow~ WtIe pldnted m tarmer~' fields to eVdludte the effec~ ot the hedgerow<; on soIl tertIlIty and crop YIeld Nkoltep and Kilo VIllages were mvolved In Ku\\.l, border hedge~ were est&bh~hed Mdize vdllety (CMS-8704) dnd Cd~~ava vdnety (8043) were planted III the fir,t sea~on of 1992 Calhdndra mulch dId not SIgnIficantly aftect maIze gram YIeld III Nkolfep whIle m KIkt VIllage where <;otls are relatIvely poor, mulched plots produced SIgnIficantly more mdll.e (698= 174 kg/hd) thdn the non-mulched plots RegIonal Maized fertIlIzatIOn test ApplIcatIon 01 tlO kg N/ha (Ured or 20-10-10), gave ~lgnIficant YIeld mcrea~e~ m TLU research village<; In 1992, a total of 124 farmer<; were selected fi. om 31 agrIcultural post From the three-yedf re\\ult of the regIOndl md.lZe fertIhzatIon te<;t, the TLU concluded that the use of 20-10-10 (300kg or 60kg Nlhd gIves much bette) Yield dnd economIC benefit thdn urea (130kg or 60kg N/hd) Sole MaIze weed control tnals On-farm tnaIs on 'iole mdize weed control was InItiated m 1989 contInued m 1991 The purpo\\e Wd~ to develop d weed recommt\"nddtlOn for smdll-~l,ale on <;ole mdize productIon The tr (.II was conducted In the tore\\t zone Results from thIS mal ~howed that farmer's standard pr.ICtlce fOJ \\ole malL.e l~ .IS good .1\\ Alachlor treated fields on a small scale However, farmer~ faung d labor wn\\trdlllt can ObtdIn compardble or hIgher YIelds and profits while substdntlally reducmg lahor reqUirements by USIng Alachlor as a preemergence herbICide Maize borer cont~ ole tn,a.l ThIS trial \\\\ a~ carned out to determIne the dpproplldte rate dnd combInatIOns of carbofuran msectIclde and marshdll ~eed treatments 23 farmer<; Implemented the trldl ( 12In Nkolfep and 11 In KIkt) In the forest zone there were slIght YIeld and financldl benefits from seed tredtment (7% InCre.I<;e), 1Il the Udn\\ltlOn .lOne, the lflcrea~e Wd\\ 28%For thIS actiVIty planting matenals (mdIze, cassava) were dlstrlbuted to farmers and a farmer assessment questionnaIre was dttached 60 % of farmers returned the farmer assessment questIonnalre Farmer field days are held dt harve<;t of demonstratIOn plots TramlllL \\e~S10ns for Mmdgn extell'ilOn per'\\onel were held The trammg was related to TLU regIOnJi program (te~t\\), dUd demon~tratlOn, and also on the ImplementatIon of mputoutput ~urvey of the uoppmg ~y~tems, and letentIOn \\urvey PIlot vIJidgt..-le\",d sl.!ed mulllpi.\",dtlOn actIvItIes wntmued [he plOlect ha~ been accepted by farPler~ dnd In 1993, manyC:Vlll.l.;e~ were Involved In the South dnd Centre Provmces PnontJes for i-ulure RC\\Ld.rch  --------------Per~entage --------------     a-\"Significant at e ,0 01 b SIgnIfIcant at ~ ,( O~ ) \\ : Flgures m pare n 'J\"::.lS 3.1e ~ t (+)The functIon of the EconomIC Analy~I~ Umt (EAU) 1\\ to provIde lRA wIth a capacIty for econOmIC analYSIS relatIve to ItS re'iearch and development mandate Project c;upport I'i bemg given for establIshment and operatlOn of an EconomIC Analy';;t<, Umt m recogmtion of the challenges bemg faced by IRA as a result of Cameroon's on-gomg economIC CrISIS and structural adjustmentThe goal of the EconomIC AnalySIS Umt IS to mcrease IRA \\ research efficiency, productIvity and Impact The top pnonty of the umt IS carrymg out economIC studIes for mstItute-level pnonty settIng and programmmg and for measurmg research benefits To complement ItS own studIes, the EAU aSSIsts IRA researchers through research collaboratIon, adVISOry servIces and trammg 7 2 OBJECTIVES The four-year NCRE Project work plan defined two mdJor operatIon~ for the EconomIC AnalYSIS Umt One was to analyze the economICS of IRA research, the second was to mstItute economIC analySIS support servIces WIth relatIvely mmor modIficatIons overtIme, these have remamed the two major operatIons of the EAU Under the first operatIon, the umt has had three major ObjectIves As hsted m the four-year work plan, the first has been to evaluate factors affectIng technology demand The wordmg of this objectIve was shghtly reformulated m 1992 to become \"evaluate pohcytechnology-development lmkages\" ThIS reflected mcreased concern With bnkages between resource use mtenslficatIon and technologIcal change One speCIfic objectIve of work carned out under the frrst major objectIve was to charactenze and dIfferentIate re'iearch domams Another speCific objectIve was to IdentIfy lmkages between developmental dynamiCs and expected farmer receptIvIty to dIfferent types of technologIes A thIrd speCIfic ObjectIve was to analyze ImphcatIOns of the economIC cnSIS for formulatlOn and ImplementatIon of research polIcy A fourth ~pecific objectIve wa'i IdentIfied m 1991, but was later abandoned That objectIve was to analyze lInkages between macroeconomIC diseqUIhbnum and returns to varIOUS productIon factorsThe second major objectIve of the first operatIon was to determme research pnontIes Work started on thIS objectIve m early 1992 The first speCIfic objectIve of the umt was to reVIse pnonty rankmgs gIven m the ActIon Plan, and to establIsh a lInkage between pnonty settIng and resource allocatIon After that, the umt set an objectIve of formahzmg pnonty 'iettmg and mcrea'img sCIentIc;t mput ThI'i was to be accompltshed through uc;e of workshops and swnng modeh It Wd\\ dedr by 1992 that there wac; d Id(.k of natIonal data for comparatIve analySIS of pnontIes, so the umt establIshed a complementary objectIve of generatmg cross-site data for diagnOSIs of problems The next speCific ObjectIve IdentIfied by the umt was to compare and contrast methods used m several recent pnonty settmg studIes, m order to proVIde gUIdance for future pnonty settIng In 1993, the umt took on the challenge of generatIng dIrect farmer rankmgs of enterprIses and problems The specIfic objectIve was to have a definItIve ba'iI'i for matchmg technology 'iupply optlOn'i generated by research WIth farmers' own pnontIes tor new technologyThe thrrd major objectIve was to appraIse research benefits When the UnIt was establIshed, the first speCIfic objectIve was to analyze varIety retentIOn patterns among farmers partICIpatIng m TLU tests The second speCIfic objectIve was eventual analysIs of technology adopnon and Impact for all of IRA across the broader populatIOn Due to practIcal constramts (see above), thIS objectIve was soon reduced to evaluatIng the economIC benefits of TLU research Due to lack of adoptIon data, even thI~ modest objectIve was further reduced, to assessmg adoption rates necessary to recover the mvestment III TLU establIshment and operatIon As a complement to the proposed TLU evaluatIon, one objective of the 1992 resource management survey was to generate data on use of new vanetIes and agncultural chemIcals A new speCIfic objectIve was added m 1993 ThIS objectIve wa'i to compIle an tnventory of re'iearch output, tncludmg recommendatIon~ generated, traImng courses, field days, publIcatIons, and extensIOn leaflets Two major objectIves were defmed for the \"economIc analYSIS support servIces\" operatIon, both related to researcher support One was to Improve budgetmg and analysI~ skIlls, the second was to help plan and Implement econOmIC studle'i Even hy the end of 1991, It was apparent that the servIce role of the umt should encompass support for IRA Research ServIce The major objectives were correspondlllgly reformulated as support for IRA and UTA researchers, and support for IRA Research ServIces Dunng 1992, the pnmary objectIve was support for the DIrectorate Ever Slllce the strike started III December, 1992, there has been restncted aCtIVIty III the DIrectorate and the mam objectIve of thIs operatIon shIfted back toward researcher support Dunng 1992 and 1993, there were two speCIfic objectIves under thIS operatIon One was to develop a management mformatIon system, mcludlllg new oper dtIon and dCtIVIty sheets and research budgetIng gUIdehnes The second was to coordlllate NCRE Project work plan preparatIon III order to Improve research effiCIency and reduce budget levels In late 1993, the umt added two more speCIfic objectIves One was to coordlllate preparatIon of a strategIc plan for the Parmmg Systems Program, III order to help sustaIn project efforts and proVIde a basIS for gammg supplemental external fundlllg The second was to help deSIgn baselllle charactenzatIon and dIagnostIc actIVItIes under the AlternatIves to Slash and Burn Project Support for ASB was undertaken to strengthen lInkages among lIT A, IRA and ICRAP, to ensure flllancmg for Nkolbisson Center SCIentIsts, and to promote a research reonentatIon toward productIon system sustalllablhty By rmd-1993, It had become clear that the mam contnbutIon of the UnIt was In deSIgn and coordmatIOn of CrO%-Mte ~tudle\\ A decIMon Wd\\ tdken to e\\tdbhsh d thud operatIOn, called \"sub-sector studIes\" The mam objectIve of thIs operatIon was to be problem dIagnosIs and IdentIficatIon of opportumtIes, m the same sense as farmmg systems research, but WIth a focus on natIonal research strategy and polIcy Due to early termmatIOn of the project, no actiVIty was InItiated under the operatIon The EconomIc AnalYSIS UnIt was credted because IRA dId not hdve economIC analYSIS capaCIty for evaluatIng polIcy-research lInkages, assessmg research pnontIes, or measunng research benefits Several problems have constramed the effectIvenes) ot the EA U m meetmg the economIC analYSIS needs of IRA's dIrectorate and IRA re'iean . . her) One of the bIggest constramts has been IRA's on-gomg financIal cnSl~ ThIs has reduced researcher mterest m new programmmg procedures and pnonty 'iettIng As a result, It was only pO'islble to Implement new work pldn procedurell for NCRE Project staff There was a poor return of research audIt survey forms, despIte potentIallmportdnce future fundIng Contmumg delay m restructunng has been another bIg problem It was envIsaged that the umt would play a major advIsory role m restructunng declSlons In fact, thIs was the pnmary JusuficaUon for the new project posIUon Unfortunately, the Performance Contract was not respected Later, hope turned to finanCIng through a new phase of the World Bank proJect, but no final decIsIons have yet been taken on the FAO/World Bank proposal One of the key roles to be played by the UnIt was support for IRA's research managers ThIs role has not fully developed due to an mcomplete and unstable management team The Research Management CommIttee, proposed m the AcUon Plan, was not consututed A performance contract ImplementaUon commlttee was formed but fell InacUve after 1991 WIthIn the DIrectorate, nommaUons for dIVISIon head and head of research servIces took two years after the pOSItions were created by preSIdential decree LogIsucal support has been an on-goIng, If relaUvely mmor, Imtant At the start, the EAU dId not have an office It was necessary to locate space and conlltruct a dIVIdIng wall The office has worked out well, but no telephone wall mstalled (despIte repeated requests) and no photocopIer wa'i assIgned to the UnIt (despIte an approved budget) These factors have caused InconvenIence and Ume loss Cross SIte commumcatIon also has been a constant problem, partIcularly to Ekona and BambUI ThIs caused several problems m orgaruzmg croSS-SIte 'itudles, whIch were overcome only through mutual good wIll of collaboraUng sCIentistsAnother key problem wall a strIke WhICh led to an office lockout from January through June of 1993 Even 'imce June, 1993, many sCIentIllts and ~upport staff have worked JITegular and declInIng hours as months WIthOUt salary and severe salary reducUons have taken theIr toll Secunty problems also were an annoyance Dunng survey work, research teams were robbed tWIce On one occaSIOn, It was necessary to abandon the survey leavmg one provInce out of the entIre country WIthOUt baselIne resource management data The first accomplIshment m pnonty ... ettmg wac;; to review dnd revlc;;e progrdm pnonty rankmgs In domg thiS, a method for hnkmg pnoflty rdnklOgs to budget dllocdtlOns WdS developed, proposed to the Director, and accepted for u~e by IRA The reVISIon of prIonty rankmgs WdS done uc;;mg a checkh:,t without ~uh~tdntidl sCientist mput As a follow-up, d ~conng model dpprodch WdC;; developed dnd pre-te ... ted With IRZV sCientists Unfortunately, full scale Implementation dId not take place With IRA due to lack of funds DldgnostIc lOformatIon tor pllonty :,ettmg Wd\\ gener dted through the 1992 re~ource management survey Data were collected on the reldtlve Importance of Vdnous crops (With respect to ca~h generation, food dnd productIOn dred) , cropp 109 pdttern\\, field types, and agronomIC problems In additIon, h\\ts were ehuted on mdJor pe ... t dnd dl\\ed\\e prohlem~, dnd respondents were asked about resource acces:, problems (Idbor and ldnd), market dcce ... s, dnd aVailabIlIty of agncultural services The'ie ddta undoubtedly form the best ba<il ... dVdIldble for an analYSIS of research needs By 1993, several alterndtIve approaches had been used for pnonty c;;ettmg by varlOU~ consultants One accomph~hment m 1993 Wd~ to review VdflOU~ method~, wmpdnng dnd contrastmg crIterIa, dPproaches dnd results A wedkne:,~ common to dll dpprodlhu~ Wd ... m\\ut fillent fariller lOput Om . . dttcmpt to overcome thIs wedknec;;s wa'i the 1993 \\uentltic dudlt, hut the dudlt relIed on fdrmer mput from only seven Villages As one of the la~t mdJor actlvltIe\\ of the project, a fdrmer pnorIty survey was de\\Igned m 1993 dnd Implemented dUI mg the fir~t tour month~ of 1994 By the end of AprIl, the prIonty settlOg ... urvey WdS Implemented m dpproxlmdtely 400 villdges natIonwlde--through collaborative efforts of NkolbIc;;son TLU, Bdmbul TLU, MdroUd TLU, MlfllStry of AgrIculture dIvmonal delegates and extensIOn agent'i, and various other IRA sCIentI~t\\ The ddtd from thIS ~urvey WIll he the be\\t bd\\l\\ tor dIrect eVdluatlOn ot tarmer\\' pnontIes tor yedfs to come 7 4 3 Cross Site StudIes The 1110\\t llnpOl tdnt and tIme-con~umIng activity of the EAU dUfing the entire pellod was the resource mandgement \\urvey De\\lgn of the ~urvey \\tarted m rmd-1991 More than SIX months were spent 111 peflodlc meetmg~ to develop dnd I efine hypothe\\e~, prepdre and prete\\t the quC\\tlonndlre, dnd de\\lgn and unplement drCd-bd\\ed villdge \\c!eLtlon ImplementatIon took pldce dUfing the tirst MX month~ of 1992 All For IdentIficatIOn purposes, the set of actIvIties was collectively referred to as the \"Management System for AgrIculture Research (MASAR)\" ill project documentatIon Due to constraInts CIted above, limIted progress was pOSSIble on dIrectorate strengthernng and momtonng procedures OvertIme, efforts focused on development of a management InformatIOn system Prellmmary development of the management mformatIon system started m 1990 as a collaboratIve cKtIVlty, culmInatIng In a proposal for lRAMIS--IRA management illformatIon system The IRAMIS dPproach was later abandoned, smce It was too burdensome and comphcated, but IRAMIS served a~ a conceptual baSIS for future development The mam step lD development of the MIS took place m late 1992 dnd edfly 1993 OperatIOn, actIvity and budget sheets were de!ilgned and used tor work planrung by all NCRE Project umts m 1993 BUIldIng on an asse%mcnt of ~trengths and wedknesses, operatIOn and actiVIty sheets were reVIsed and further SimplIfied m 1993 The overall system was modIfied to establIsh a lugh degree of compaUblhty WIth the INFORM system developed by ISNAR, and the CARIS keyword system developed by FAO StandardlZed budget codes were developed In late 1993, a Vl~lt was made to ISNAR to diSCUSS full scale ImplementatIOn, and an easy-touse flat database software (Reflex) was obtamed for computer ImplementatIon The MIS IS now fully developed and documentauon will be fmaltzed before the end of the project AMde from the MIS, the EAU has played a major role m NCRE Project research management Dunng the ld\\t two years, the EAU ha~ coordmated work plan reVIew and dpprovdl for all unlt\\ In 1993 thc work pldn reVICw proce.,~ whIch comhmcd SCIentIfic revIew and zero-based budgeung--made It pOSSIble to sub~tantially reduce overall research costs 7 46 Re~earch Re~tructurmg A~ mentIOned above, It Wd~ ongmally envIsaged that research restructunng would be a major umt aCtivIty Instedd the time devoted to restructunng has been hmited Nevertheless, the UnIt hds had a few sIgnIficant accomplIshments In early 1992, the UnIt helped reVI,\\e IRA's performdnce contract, reducmg the proposed total annual budget to under two billIon FCFA In support of the new contrdct, the UnIt helped reVIew re~edrch pnontIes and budgets (as ~tated above) WorkIng Withm Research ServIces, the UnIt also defined research objectives and mdicators for all programs m the mstItute Later m 1992, a Jomt pdper was prepared WIth the DIrector analyzmg effec..ts of the ewnomiC cnsis on re~earch polIcy and restructunng PnontIes were Identified for the second phase of the World Bank project In both 1992 and 1993, several meetIngs were held WIth varIOUS consultants to dISCUSS development of the currently pendIng restructunng proposal After the propo\\dl wa~ prepared, comments were prepared for both USAID and the MInIster on strengths and weaknes~es of the proposal 7 4 7 Re:,earch Pldnmng One of the most Important accomplishments of the UnIt was coordmatIon of work planrung durmg the last two years of the project, as mentIOned above SCIentIfic reVIew of research proposals mcreased awareness of factors affectmg the qualIty and VIabIlIty of research proposalsIn late 1993 and eally 1994, the umt made two major contrIbutIons to research plannmg One WdS coordmatlOn of a commISSIon nommated to prepare a strategIC plan for the Farmmg Systems Program A senes of five meetings was held to diSCUSS program orgamzJ.tlOn, struc..ture, tedm compOSItIon, research themes, obJec..tIves, extenMon relatIOnshIps, pOSItion descnptIOns, and budgets The resultmg strategIC plan wIll serve as a model for other progrdms and could well serve as a baSIS for secunng the fundmg necessary to sustam the project's farmmg systems tedms after USAID fmancmg endsThe second plannmg contrIbutIOn was support proVided to the Alternatlves to Sldsh and Burn (ASB) project Major polIcy research themes were Identlfied, a proposal was developed for definIng the project's benchmark SItes, and adVIse has been gIven for VIllage and household selectlon 7 4 8 AdYI'\\Ory ServIces Smce the UnIt was e'\\tabhshed, supervISIOn and adVIce has been gIven for several studIes, mcludmg two dgronomK engmeer memoIrs, one masters theMs, and SIX doctoral dlssertatlons Survey deSIgn adVIce has been gIven for around ten other IRA studIes Data analYSIS aSSIstance WdS proVIded on several occaSIOns to lIT A researchers at the HumId Fore~t statIon 145 ThiS e;tudy Wde; mtended to prmlde an understdndmg of the chemIcal propertIes of sods from selected expCllmental ~Ite~ ~o as to determme how they wuld be managed for ~u~tamable croppmg WIth re~pc<...t to u~e for aglOfore~try, Improved tallow, or chemIcal amendments At ea<..h ~Ite, twelve bulk sdmples (each compnsmg 30 core samples) were collected from a hectare of land In plots thdt had been under fdllow for at ledst five years In addItion, twelve profile pitS (two per ~Ik) were dug to examme subsoIl chemIcal and phYSIcal condItione; that mIght affect nutnent cyclIng under the above croppmg systems A summary of the mdJor chJractenstIcs of the SOlIs encountered IS shown In table 1 The SOlIs were grouped mto two mam cld~ses ba~ed on ~elected propertIes The cldss A SOlIs are higher III bd\\ll. catlOn~ (Cd, Mg, dnd K) dnd lower m Iron dnd dlumIllum OXIdes than the class B ~011~ Cld~S A ~oll~ dre found at relatively lower dltitudes and fix less P compared to the clas~ B s01I'\\ whIch dre located at higher elevatlOn~ Bemng phosphorus fertIlIzatIon on the standard pho\\phoru~ I (,qUlrcment~ (SPR) (0 2 ppm of solution P) lntenon, hIgh amounts ot P WIll be needed to optlInIze crop Ylllds, partIcularly m the da'>s B ~Olls ThIS mdY be too expenslve for farmer\". given the tllgh co\"'t~ of P fertJ.llzer~ (240 000 CFAlton), vis-a-vIs the current farm gene pfll.e\\ ot dgl1lUlLUrdl commodltIe~ Howl.ver, experIences here and ehewhere have ~hoVvn trdt crops apd crop Vdnetle~ differ III theIr P reqUlrements For lllstance, cassava and some mdize vant-tIes thnve and produce reasonable Yields at levels of solution P much lower than the \"stdndard\" a 2 ppm Orgamc carbon correlates pOSItIvely and strongly WIth effectIve catIon exchange capacIty (ECEC) m most SOlIs of the trOpICS ThIS relatIOnshIp was valId for only the class A SOlIs WIth relatively low DCBFe 2 0 3 and DCBAI l 0 3 values It did not hold for the class B sods where hIgher values of Fe l 0 3 and A1 2 0 3 , and low pH values were recorded ThIS supports the mSlgmficant role of orgamc matter WIth respect to ECEC Improvement m aCId SOlIs hIgh llliron and alummum OXIdes From a management standpomt, our results mdlcate that low pH, htgh P fixatIOn, and Alummum tOXICIty are among the most Important lImItIng factors to crop productIon m these SOlIs Phosphorus plays a key role m symbIOtIc mtrogen fixatIon, therefore, for a bIOlogICal N fiXIng system such as Agroforestry to be successful, adequate P fertIhzatIon must be ensured As well, lImmg may be needed to raIse the soIl pH to levels where Al and Fe tOXl(.ItIes WIll not be detnmental to crop growth FIeld ob~ervatIOns revealed WIdespread N defiCIency on maIze despIte the hIgh correlatIon between orgamc carbon and total N (r=O 81 **) The problem was more pronounced m the hIgher elevatIons where soIl organIc matter (SOM) was relatIvely hIgh ( > 7 0 % ) ThIS, therefore, bnngs mto questIon the qualIty of the soli orgaruc matter Recent  2 Bnefly, exchangeable alummum correlated negatIvely With legume biomass whereas baSIC catIons (Ca, Mg and K) were eIther pOSItIvely and strongly or weakly correlated CorrelatIon between legume blOmass and phosphorus was not Slgmtkant From the above, It IS ObVIOUS that legumes generally performed better on the non-aCIdIC and rugh base status soIls at Foumbot, Babungo and Befang than on the aCId and mferule ~01ls at Nkwen and Mfonta Thus, green manunng WIth some of these legumes alone would not be effective m correctmg the aCId mfertIhty of sOlIs at Nkwen and Mfonta Crotalana and to a le';ser degree Mucuna appeared to be stable across locatIons as mdicated by theIr pOSItIve and hIgh mtercepts and moderate ~lope~ (Table 3) Even though unproductIve at poor SItes, (negatIve mtercepts) MImosa LnVISa and Desmodium Lntortum portrayed the tendency to produce hIgh bIOmass at good SItes The legumes WhICh produced COpIOUS bIOmass were also effectIve as weed suppressants (r = 079) MaIze Immediately followmg the mcorporated legume green manure outyleided that m the morgantc-fertIlIzed plots where maize followed maIze (Table 4) MaIze YIeld was hIghly correlated WIth P+Ca contnbutIon of the legumes (r=O 90, P< =0001) II 2-Shrub Legumes ThIS study compared growth and bIOmass YIelds of five speCIes under mtensive prunIng management The followmg speCIes were tested Leuwella leucocephala, Callzandra calothyrsus, Erythnna sp , AlblZla sp , and Mellwa sp The ~hrubs were cutback at 7 MAP and every three month~ thereafter Leucaena and Calhandra grew more rapIdly, followed by AlbizIa, MelhtIa and Erythrma BIOmass productIon was hIghest for Calhandra, followed by Leucaena, Erythrma, AlbizIa, and MelhtIa Wood weIght at 7 MAP was hIghest for Calhandra, followed by Leucaena and Albizia Leucaena leucocephala (Leucaena) IS preferred for dgro[ore~try In the mId-altItude (600-1600m) agroecologlcal zone of North-West Cameroon mo<.,tly be(\"du~e 1t I~ precocIOus But Its growth IS slow on aCId InfertIle soIls Thus, we ~et out to te~t whether or not dpphcatIOn of farm manure could stImulate early growth and con~equently reduce the estabh~hment phase of Leucaena Begmmng four months after pldntmg, the I)hrub was cut 5 tImes In 20 months at 4 months Intervals Manunng Improved rhlzo~phere fertIhty (r> 0 80) and resulted m mcreased growth and bIOmass YIeld BIOma~s at 12 months was hIghly correlated WIth rhlzosphere Ca and P (r=O 99, P<O 001) Total bIomass rel)ponded lInearly (R A2=0 97) to manure rates at the aCId and mfertIle Mte and curvtImeaIly (R A2=O 95) at the non-acId SIte Total leafy bIOmass from cutback and subsequent prunmgs was hIghest at 12 months cuttIng penod DescnptIOn of the rootIng patterns WIth regres';IOn models showed manunng promoted deeper root development than the control NIche breddth based on root number dIstrIbutIon was hIgher at the aCId than the non-acId SIte Overall, the use of manure reduced the establIshment penod of Leucaena The above findmg~ have dIrect ImphcatIons for sol1 fertIhty management m hedgerow mtercroppmg 'iystelm where the bulk of the nutnents are suppbed by the leafy bIOmass Subsequent trIals establIshed at Nkwen and Foumbot a~se~~ed the relatIve potentIal of Calhandra, Leucaena and CaSSIa for alley croppmg Table 5 shows leaf and wood YIelds of the IIpecies a year after plantIng at Nkwen CasslQ spectabl!ts outperformed Leucaena and Calhandra WIth re~pect to blOma~s produ<.tIOn We calculated the total N (.ontributIon of the shrubs to be CaSSIa = 108 kg N/ha, Calhandra = 48 3 kg N/ha and Leucaena = 12 7 kg N/ha, gIven an average leaf N content of the shrubs as Ca)'ita, N=26%, Calhandra, N=3 2% and Leucaena, N=3 9%, On the relatIvely fertIle ~Olls at Foumbot, we cOf'1pareJ how the dIfferentIal growth habIts of CaSSIa and Leucaena affect maIze dnd bean performance 10 alley croppmg systems SpeCIes estabhshment was aIded wIth starter manure BIOma~\\ from the \\hrubs m the mner rows were 55 % less than (P < 0 001) those m the outer rows due to shadIng by the mtercropped maIze The shrub dId not Interfere WIth mdlze growth In the first season BIOmass from mlttal cuttmg ot Cas~]a (7 2 kg/m) and Leucaena (6 92 kg/m) were not \\lgmfIcdIltly dIfferent But, CassIa and Leucaena I egrowth \\haded and con~equently lowered \\econd sea~{)n hedn yIeld hy dhout 50% dnd 45 % re'>pectlvely, reldtIve to the control plou, WIthout shrubsThe regrowth cut a year later, gave ~Igmficantly (P < a 00 I) hIgher bIOmass for C.:lS~ld than Leucaena Compared to the two outer row~, the regrowth bIOmass m the mner row was reduced by about 15% as opposed to 55% dt cutbdck III-Sod FertIhty Management III 1-Amendment of ACId Sods WIth Green Manure, Farm M~.tnure clnd Phosphorus Callzandra dnd Tephrowa dre Importdnt ,>otl-Improvmg legume 'ipeue\\ III N W Cdmeroon CalLtandra, a perenmdl, Ldn he cutbdck dnd pruned penodlCdlly to ~upply green manure for crop productIOn on a sustamed ba'iIS Tephro\\la, an annual, under normdl COndItIOnS, YIelds more bIOmass than Callzandra at cutback But, observatIons m the field mdicated that estab~shment of Tephrosza I~ so erratIc that It Cdnnot be depended upon to proVIde green manure on a regular baSIS Green mdIlures dnd fMm manures are major sour(..es ot mtrogen but poultry manure supplIes substanttal amounts of calCIUm and phosphorus as well In addItton, both manures enhance P aVailabIlIty m the soIl by complexmg exchangeable and soIl solutton alummum The purpose of thIS expenment WdS to study the effect of Calbandra and Tephrosza green manures, poultry manure dnd pho'iphorus on YIelds of maIze and beans on an aCId and mfertIle soIlThe shrubs were planted m May 1991 and cut for u\\e ali green manure dunng the next croppmg season m March 1992 Leafy btOmd'iS was 1 1 tlha for Callwndra dnd 2 5 tlha tor 1 ephrosw When maIze Wd\\ pldnted, TephrO\\ta Wd~ re,>eeded hut germmdtIOn dIld sub~equent growth were extremely poor MaIze YIeld m the first ~ea<,on was hIghe\\t m the Tephrosza plot\\ dnd lowest III the Callzandra plot'i (Table 6) HIgh maIze YIeld m the Tephrosza plots wa\\ attrIbuted to It~ mItlal hIgh blOma~~ productIOn and relat.ed nutrIent contributton compared WIth that of CaUwndra MaIZe III the Tephrosw plots dId not suffer from shadmg because of the poor germIllatton but malze plants III the Callwndra plots were excessIvely shaded by the regrowth smce no prumng wa'i done III the course of the growmg season The SItuatIon was reversed m the second season (September to December) when regrowth from Callzandra was pruned and mcorporated m the ~Oll a\\ a green manure BIOmass YIeld of Calltandra regrowth was 4 4 tlha and zero tor Tephro!>w due to the poor germmatIOn Consequently, second ~eason bean YIeld (Table 7) and bIOmass were hIghest m the Callwndra plot~ ApplIcatIOn of pOUltry manure promoted vegetatIve growth of food crops to the detnment of gram YIeld In plot'> ftrtlhzed WIth pho~phoru\\ Even though prehmmary, the re~ults amply demon~trate the long-term advantage at u~Illg Callzandra as opposed to Tephrosza bIOma~~ a~ a low-cost amendment for soIl fertIlIty management III 2-Tephrosla dnd Crotalana as Supplemental sour(.e~ of NItrogen In a MaIze-basedCroppIng System In Ndop PlaIn, N W Cameroon PrevIous research IdentIfied TephroslQ vogelll dnd Crotalana juncea, among otherl), al) potentIal sOlI-lmprovmg legummous specIes m the Western HIghlands However, empmcal data are hmIted and the conditIons mfluencmg the performance of thel)e legumes may vary with agroecologlldl mche') and cultural prdctlces Thl ... remam ... to he determmed m Ndop Plam, WhICh IS one of the major agroecologlcal zones In N W Cameroon ThiS study was de,)lgned to quantIfy N fertIlIzer replacement values of the two fallow ~pecles USIng matze (Zea Mays) and heans (Phaseolus Vulgan~), WhICh dommate the croppmg ~ystems In the area Accordmg to the SOlI fertIlity UItlfld, the ~Olb 01 the tflal \"'Ite are ~ufficient m hd~lC catIOns but defiCient In avaIlahle P NItrogen leaches rdpldly dnd II) generally lImItIng WIthOut the regular use of N fertIlIzers BIOmass YIelds of hoth legume~ were suppressed m the hIgh N plots when' maIze grew better and gdve hIgher YIelds MaIze dnd beans responded to N fertIlIzer ill the first season but the Yleldl) were depressed m the GML plots WIth no N ThIS ImplIes competItIon for lImIted sod N m the GML plots WIthout N Because the competItIOn seems to dIsappear WIth Increasmg N rates, It may be deSIrable to apply a starter N of 30-60 kg/ha to offset the ohserved Yield drop In the second season, hean growth wa ... slgmficantly hetter (P < 0 01) m the TephrosIa than m the Crotaland and natural fallow plotl) Bean Yield wal) hlghe~t m Tephrosla plots and lowest m the Crotalana plotl) though the dIfference was not \"'Igmficant (P> 0 05) Matze and hean YIelds In the thIrd season were sIgmficantly (P < 0 05) hetter m the green manured plot ... than In the natural fallow Matze growth rate at 60 kg N/ha m the prevIOUS Tephrosla plot was as good as that WIth 120 kg N/ha In the sole matze plots MaIze YIeld dunng the thIrd season was slgmficantly better (P < 0 01) m the green manured plots than m the control Compared WIth the control, Tephro~lQ gave a maIze YIeld moease of 42% and Crotalana of 67 % m the zero N plots It appears from our results that the Improved fallow speCIes would be able to stabIlIze SOlI fertIlIty and pOSSIbly satIsfy 30-50% of the maIze N fertIhzer reqUIrement III 1-[~ffects of Greeo MdOUf(. dod Pho~phoru~ 00 Crop Yleld~ 10 a HIgh P )-<lxmgOur hypothesII) for thl'\" ... tudy wa ... that ul)e of hIgh quality gH en manure reducel) hIgh pho ... phorus rate I) reqU1red fOt ~ul)tamahle uop production on tht;' dud ')olh In the BamhUl Plam Three green manure crops, (Mucuna, Canavaha, DesmodlUm) and a control (WIthout green manure) were mterplanted WIth I)oybean m the second season ot 1991 GermInatIOn of Desmodmm wa~ poor so It wa~ replaced Wlth Mlmosa Thel)e were combmed With five pho ... phorus rates The legume~ were cut dnd Incorporated In January dnd plots were planted WIth malic dnd bean ... In a~l)ouatlOn In March 1992 A ... econd l)edl)On bean crop was planted In Septemher the same year BIOmass Yleldl) of the green manure crops dIffered sIgmficantly (P < 0 001) The YIelds were Mucuna, 6 8, Canavaha, 2 1 and MImosa, 0 8 tlha Pho\\phoru ... mcrea~ed blOma') ... of the green manure but the dIfference WdS not slgmficdnt (P> 0 05) On the whole, the mtercropped soybean yIelded poorly and wa~ VIrtually smothered hy Mucuna Mdlze and bean YIeld ... after the mcorporatlOn of legume bIOmass were consIstently hIgher m the Mucuna plots (Table 8) Our results supported the hypotheSIS that crop reqUlrement~ for fertIhzer P could he reduced hy about 50% wIth the U'ie of Mucuna green manure whIch supplIed fl1trogen a'i well Howevet, we noted thdt re\\prouted Mucund ~eed\\ ~mothered the mdIze In addItIOn, bIrds and rats harbored m the Mucuna \"bush\", destroyed the malze, causmg further YIeld losses Perhaps, a thrrd weedmg m the Mucund plots could hdve le'isened the problem but thI~ dlso ImplIes addItIonal productIOn co~t III 4-Phosphorus Management III ACId and High P FIxmg SOlis Crops and crop vanetIes dIffer m theIr P reqUIrements ThIS expenment was a second phase of the SIte charactenzatlOn study P sorptIon curves were med to calculate fertIlIzer P rates needed to obtam 0,0 05,0 1,0 15, and 02 ppm Pm SOlI 'iolutIon The 20 tlha hme used was based on Kamprath' s prOpOSItIOn that 1 65 tlha of calcitiC lImestone are needed to neutralIze 1 0 meq/100g of Al m the exchange complex Te'it crops were maIze, beans and potatoes ApplIcatIon of hme SIgnIficantly (P < 0 01) Improved the yleld~ of all crops m the first and second seasons Beans responded to hme more than potato and maIze (Table 9) LIme applIcatIon doubled bean YIeld dunng the second season when ~otl mOIsture was hmItmg ThIS may be attrIbuted to better rootmg of the beans m the hmed plots Our results also mdIcated that hIgh P rates were unnecessary when hme was applIed Smce lIme IS generally cheaper than P fertIhzers, we would encourage Its use to lower aCIdIty and enhance P avaIlabilIty on the hIgh P fixmg SOlIs InItIal maIze growth Wd\\ hetter III the SIX month~ than the 12 months fdllow but the dIfference was not reflected m the YIelds which were not SIgnIficantly dIfferent (P> 0 05) However, there was a SignIficant respome to N (P<O 001) Bean re~ponded hIghly (P< 0001) to fallow length but only margmally (P=O 056) to N (Table 10) The 12 months CaJanus blOmass was more mature, woody and lIgnIfied thdn that of 6 months Thus, decompOSItIon and nutrIent release were expected to be ~lower m the long-term than ~hort term fallow From the YIelds of maIze and beans ]t appears the short term fallow IS supenor to the long term However, we heheve a realIstIc assessment of the two systems can be made It the wood and gram YIeld\" trom the 12 month CdJanu\" drL dlso taken mto conSIderatIon On-farm expenmentatIOn wIll contmue and expand ~o a~ to extend our result~ to many fdrmers The mtent IS also to aSSOCIate farmer~ m the IdentIfIcatIOn of real problems as well a~ deSIgn and ImplementatIon of dppropnate technologIe~ In thI'. regard, the worklllg relatIOnshIp~ already establIshed WIth Peace Corp~, TLU, and Exten~IOn ~erVILe~ ot the MINAGRI, and N GO's WIll be mamtamed and remforced InformatIOn on soIls of the western hIghlands of Cameroon need~ to be regularly updated EXI'.tmg soIl maps are generally very broad and theIr sCale~ too ~mall As a result, dIstmct sod umts may be grouped as one The mmeralogy of the~e ')011\\ l~ generally not known It WIll be useful to Improve on the s01l survey mformatIOn Past and current research ill ve shown the u~efulnes~ of legume green man ure~ m enhancmg sod productIVity It was also proven that legumes do better tn low ~Oll dud (low exchangeable AI) adequately supphed With P and baSIC catIOns Legume screenmg WIll therefore contmue WIth empha~I~ on Improvmg sod condItIOn~ for bIOlogIcal N fixatIon DetermmatIOn of the rate of N mmeralIzatIon from the mcorporated legume bIOmass WIll constItute another Important a~pect of the \\tudy ThIS WIll further help synchromze nutrIent release from the legume~ WIth crop requrrements Screemng for drought tolerance wIll constItute another area of 'itudy Generally, mtegratIon of legumes mto farmmg systems ImplIes growmg the specIe~ a\\ an mtersea~on crop or fallow, most of the tIme durtng dry season 8 5 PLANS TO SUSTAIN RESEARCH EFFORT We will contmue to offertechmcal backstoppmg to NGOs dnd other OrgamzatIons mvolved m ExtensIOn of Agroforestry and Improved Fallow technologIe\\ v e hdve developed up to date ThIS WIll only be pOSSIble If ~ome sort of external financldl \\UPport l~ plovlded 1 he finances WIll on one hand support the on-gomg ~tatIOn re~edfch III order to up-date the packages md vahdate uncompleted ones and on the other hand make pos~lble on-farm VISIt.;; to Implement our mtended back-stoppmg In order to Implement the above actIVItIeS, we WIll wnte re.;;earch proposals mostly tor on-farm actIVItIes, for fundmg from mternatIonal orgamzatlOn~ and donor agenCIes  ---------------------------------------------------------------   Leucaena Call1andra CaSSIa -----------------kg/5m row-------------   --------------------------------.----------------  --------------------------------------------------------------------  Anthracno~e, grey leaf ~pot, and grdm mold were the mdJor dlsea~e~ IdentIfied on sorghum TAM 428, SC 167-14, TX 434, QL-3 were tolerant to these dlseases Ergot smuh and MIldew were IdentIfied on mtllet Mo~t of the vanetIe~ were only moderately ~U~leptIble Unfortunately the~e re~ulb were not confirmed belau~e ot the taLk ot fund~ dfter 1991 MaIze Identification of dlternate hosts on whKh ru~t fungI overseasonThe objective was to ~earch <;pecle~ on which ru~t fungI over~ea~on From the survey~ carned out In We~t and North-West Provtnce~, two gra~~e~ were tnfected WIth ru<;t~ Cympogonlf) cltrafuf) (lemon gra~,,) and Imperata Cyltndnca (Serge grass)The characterIzation of the pathogen~ found on the<;e ~pecle~ carned out tn collaboratIOn With Dschang Umver~lty Center revealed that PuCCtnw purpurea and PuCClnla Imperatae were the most prevalent fungi Evaluation of advanced maize genotypes to stalk and ears rotsThe objective wa~ to ac;;c;;ec;;c;; the level of re'mtance of ')ome advanced genotypes to ear and ')talk rot') The expenment wa') planted 10 two location') (Sdnta and Mblyeh) 10 a randomIzed block design with 4 rephcatlOn<;, 4 row<; plot, 5m long, and 0 25m x 0 75m spactng Plant were Inoculated WIth mixed culture (I I 1) of Fuwnum monoliforme, Macrophomma phaf)eolma, and Dlplodw maydls Of the five genotypes used, SYN 4 and COCA, and HAP were tolerant acro<;<; locatlOn~ (~ee table~ 1/2)   The obJectIve Wd~ to Identtfy re~l~tdnt genotype~ thdt wIll be u~ed d~ donor~ m the maIze Improvement progr dm Infected ledve~ were wllected edch yedr Inoculum WdS prepdred from the\\e dl~eased leave~ ArtIficidl moculdtlOn Wd\\ cdrned out two to thIee weeh dtter emergence Dl~edse mCldence and ~eventy were recorded dt 50% flowenng dnd dt fillIng ~tdge Of the mbred~ tested none Wd~ tolerdnt to the dl~ea~e, only compo~lte EC 573, CMS 8704, dnd SYN 4, COCA showed a good level of re~l~tdllce (l 63 on a 1-5 ~cdle, see tdble 4 ,md 5)The objectIve of thIS expenment was to momtor the development of diplodia ledf strIpe on maIze advanced genotypes Two locatIOns were selected (Nfonta and Babungo) Nme genotype\"i were tested m a randomIzed block de~lgn, With 4 rephcatlOn~, 4 row\"i/plot, 5m long dnd 0 25m x 0 75m spacmg Because of the high dIsease mCldence we had m that area the preVIOUS year, plants were submItted to natural mfestatIOn Data to collect mcluded the datel., of the appearance of the fir\"it \"iymptoms on leave\"i, the number of le\"ilon\"i on ear-leave~, the weather condItIons, and the YIeld Unfortunately dIsease pre~sure was ~o low at 50% flowenng that dlsea~e sconng started two weeks only after that normal penod EC 573 and FT3 MSR85 are hIghly tolerant Bacoa and Early WhIte were the most susceptIble (See table 6)  In the first expenment It wa~ dl~covered that tightly covered can\\ of both <;Ize<; effectIvely controlled the heavy weevll populatIon 10 the wntdmer\\ dnd mdmtdmed the grdm m good conditIon for 12 month~ (see table 1 for evaludtIon of the 12-hters contInder~) The expenment was repeated u<;mg maIze of hIgh (17 4 % and 20 3 %) and low (13 9 %) mOIsture contents !!tored m larger wntdmer!! (25-hter pld~tic Cdfl!!)In the second expenment, It was dIscovered that the efficacy of both products IS affected by storage method and chmate A SImIlar expenment WdS conducted to test the efficacy of one of the prodm.t \\ The results have been reported here under table 2 The expenmtnt to Identify source!! of \\tored gr dm msect pest reMstance of some selected maIze varIeties grown and stored m three sItes WdS termmated dunng the year and the results analyzed and reported under The top 5 vanetles that stored best mclude Locals, Shaba, CMS 8507-CI, Kdsal I and MSR (Foumbot) m descendmg order ofperformdflce whIle COCA, Composite 290, Synthetic 3, Ndock 8Z01 and CMS 8503-CI performed worst A concludmg report on the farmers' maize storage survey conducted m two diVISions m N W Provmce m 1Olldhor dtlOn With TLU BdmbUl were lOmpded and the % msect damaged gram IS reported m tdble 3 One major OpU dhon ot tht. U\\t. of ndtUl dl pldnt mdtendl~ by farmers for ~tored gram protectIOn was stdrted dunng tht. yedr WIth tarmer\\ que~tlOnnarres finalIzed and contacts made WIth the personnel of the Mml\\try of Agntulture m S W Provmce and TLU Ekona 9,2 4,2 ACLOmph~hment\\ m 1992 Dunng 1992, field re\\edrth dctlvltle~ whlth mvolved vISIting other provmces were slowed down by the ~oclO-pohtlcal problems of the country and the frequent prolonged IRA workers' strIkes agam~t non-pdyment of their sdldne<; However, there wa<; conSiderable progres~ toward~ achlevmg the objectives of the frrst pnonty operationthe survey of the use of natural pldnt matenah by farmers for gram storage pest control Over 850 names of users of natural plant mdtenals have been documented mc1udmg West (300) and Nort We~t (550) provmces About 100 users were mtervlewed Two Important expenments were also termmated dunng the penod mc1udmg an expenment on maize storage msectJ.(..lde screemng under two popular peasant farmers storage methods and hermetIc storage trIals usmg 25-htre plastIc Ceins and 220-htre metallIc drumsIn the meilze ~toreige m~ectIl,lde ~l,reemng, the two storeige method~ conM~ted of hangmg husked and unhu~ked wb~ m the IRA drymg ~hed WIthout artIfiCial heatIng The two msectIcides used were SOFAGRAIN and SUMICOMBI From the data (Table 4), the maIze WIthOut husks eippear to be better protel.ted by the l,hemlcab than the meiIZe WIth husks The other evalueitIon cntenei (N 0 of m~el.Th/kg , % of mould deimeige cifld % germmeitlon) followed the sume pattern (not reported here)In the hermetIc ~torage trIals, the data (Table 5) revealed that hermetIc storage effectIvely stabilIzed gram conditIon m the plastIc Ceins at both high and low mOIsture contents except seed VleibllIty whKh dropped dramatIcally m the rugh gram mOIsture situatlOn The gram qualIty m the sealed metalhc drum (T eible 6) also remamed unchanged over the 13 month storage perIod whIle all msects dIed Rice entomology actIvItIes extended to the Northern Provmces for the first tIme dunng 1992 after the fir~t plannmg meetIng of the Integreited Pest Management (IPM) Task Force m Bouake, Cote d'Ivolfe organIze by WARDA m February, 1992 Some Important nce Insect pests were IdentIfied mcludmg the stalk-eyed fly-a ~temborer (DlOpSlS sp ) and the Afncan Gall MIdge (Or~eolta oryzae) Some tenllce trialS were screened for stem borer resIstance Success of nce entomology m the Northern Provlllces Will depend on the mterest of the collaboratIng re~earl.hers m the area m en~unng proper data collection 9,2.4 3 Accomphshments m 1993 In 1993, not much wa~ achIeved With the executIon of the top pnonty operatIon VIZ \"A Study of the u~e of natural plciflt matenals for gram storage pest control\" and \"the morutormg of fdrmers mdlze ~tordge barn~\" Thl~ Wd~ becdu~e of contInuous IRA techrucal staff strike anti . . . . ouO-pOlItIC.)t Impei~se prevdllmg m the country makmg contacts and free flow of mformatIon bdween the re~eaI(.her, Agnc field stdtf and farmers a bit difficult However one dIVISIon \\Va . . . . well wvered for both studIes Much Wd~ dchleved m on-~tdtIon expenment . . . . partIwlarly m the evaluanon of po~t harvest maize los~e~ a~socIated WIth the major ~toreige methods Monthly evaluatIon of maIze for storage trIals mstalled IdSt year m Dschdng and Foumbot were earned out untIl August when they were termmated New storage trials were mstalled m the same sites plus Santchou m August and September usmg maIze vanetIes cultIvated for the purpose Two bl-monthly evaluatIons were made before the end of the year The data (Tables 7 & 8) mdlcate that the maIze from both Sides started off WIth no VISible msect mfestanon but by the fourth month m storage, msect populatIons had nsen to far above the safe hmlts III both site\\) partI(.ularly III the cnbs More than 5 mternal feedIng msects per kg of gr dm l~ l.On . . . . ldel ed hedvy mte . . . . tdtlOn By the end of the expenment (12 months after) the maIze III the cnbs was 0111 chaft whIle Just a bIt of the maize hung WIth husks could be managed for anImal feed It I~ dIfficult to explalll why IllSect populatIons were generally lower m Foumbot than m Dschang when the reverse IS expected considenng that In')ect fecundity I'> hIgher In W<lrmu zone.., thdn m Lold zoneli Thelie were slgmficantly different dt 6 dnd 12 month.., of eVdludtlOn It mdY be connelted with Insect budd up In the ... tor dge environment In D~lhdngThe other grdIn qUdlIty detlllOldlmg fdltOr''1 \\uLh d\\ % m\\elt dnd mould ddmaged gram, % gram mOiliture content dnd % ... eed vldhllIty med\\ured hy % gram germmatlOn appear to follow the In~e(..t populatIOn pdttern pdrtlwldfly In the ~econd hdlf yedf of the ')torage penod I e the higher the msect populdtlOn, the higher the % msect and mould damage, the higher the % gram mOl~ture content, the lower the % seed germmatlon Dunng the first 5-6 months of storage, although the Imect populations were gradually Increasmg, the gram was undergomg the drymg procelili (from dhout 30-36 % mc at Installation to about 12-15 %) so that % glaIn damage hy m\\ect\\ remdmed low untIl when the populatIOns rose to above 35/kg of graInThe drymg process wa~ slower In DSLhdng thdn In Foumhot and the seed vlahlhty correspondmgly decreased faster m Dschdng The termIndl gram qUdlIty was slgmficantly hetter In Foumbot than In Dschang lorre'ipondmg to the ~Igmficantly lower msect populations m Foumbot Cnb storage ended up With slgmficantly lower gram quality and higher losses than unhusked cobs hung m the dryIng liheds More evaludtIon of various cnbs m more sites needli to be cdITled out to confirm the pre~ent findmg~In the ~econd experIment the fir\\t two oh~ervdtlOn~ dfe showmg a reversed trend dS far d~ m~elt populdtIon growth dnd % m\\ed ddmdged grdm dttrIbutable to Mte fdctor IS concerned whIle the trend I~ ~dme for cnb ver~us bunch tIed cobs m shed and the rest of gram quahty eVdluatlon cntena (I e % mould ddmage, % mc and % germmatlon) However, the two expenments ~hall be be\\t compared dfter termmdtIon of the present one and analySIS of the two re~ults Although nle re'iearch altlvltIes m Northern Cdmeroon were ~uspended because of hudgetary con~trdllll\\, done WlLk tour Wd.., underldkel~ to the dred dunng mld-Mdrch to orgaruze the RIce & Integrated Pest Management operatIons to be sponsored by WARDA dS was the case last year 1992 There was no follow up theredfter belau~e WARDA did not supply funds RIce ~tem bOlel slfeenmg of breeders' tndls m Ndop and Santchou was contInued       The lowland cereah entomology umt ba<;ed at Nkolhl<;<;on carne<; out re<;earch on 1O<;et pest<; of maize Although the lowland ecology englohe mamly the fore<;t and fore<;t!<;avannah tran<;ltton zone<; of the Centre, South, Ea<;t, Southwe<;t and Littoral prov1Oce<;, dur10g 1993 re<;earch acttvltle<; were extended to the mid-altitude and highland ecologle<; of the We<;t, Northwe\"t and Ad<lmaoua prov1Oce<;, where <lbout 70% of the country's maize 1<; grown A large proportion of the maize 10 the fore<;t regtOn 1<; comumed fre<;h and only <;mall quanttttes <;tored, Vv hI Ie 10 the tramlttOn zone, mo\".t of the maIze 1<; harve<;ted dry The matn entomologIcal con<;tra1Ot<; to maize productIOn 10 the lowland ecology are Lepdoterou<; <;tem and ear Borer\" Re<;earch actlvltle<; dunng the pa<;t three year<; have 10cluded <;urveys 10 farmer<;' fields, on-farm tnals, on-stattOn momtonng and expenmenLittOn and Laboratory <;tudIe<;The <;urvey<; were aImed at dlagno<;1Og and charactenz10g the abundance and extent of the Lepldopterou\". borer prohlem<; SpeCIfic obJecttve\". pur<;ued were a<;<;e<;s the 1OCldence, <;pecle<; compo<'ltlOn, extent of damage and YIeld lo<;<;es cau<;ed 10 vanou<; ecological zone<; E<;tabh<;hed the relattOnship between yIeld, 1Ofe<;tattOn, damage, plant and pe<;t parameter<; Attempt to Identtfy field management and <;urround1Og envIronment factors <;Igmficdntly a<;<;oclated wIth 1Ofe<;tatton levels Although alterndtIve mean<; of comtratn1Og the borer problem are de<;lgned and sought, appropnate chemical control IS u<;eful 10 the <;hort run, e<;peclally WIthOut know1Og the appropnate and <;afe dose<; Thus the on-farm tnal<; were carned out to a<;<;es<; maIze YIeld<; and financIal benefit<; from two low rate<; of carhofuran (0 1 g/pant and 0 2g/plant) appJted mId <;ea<;on wIth or wIthout mdr<;hall <;eed treatment The on-<;tatton momtonng of borer populatlon<; 10 the humId, <;eml-humld and fore<;t!<;avannah tramltton zone<; both on maize elephant gra<;<; (Pennlfietum purpureum) wa<; to gather ba<;ehne 1OformattOn on the dl<;tnbutlOn 10 time and relatIve abundance of the vanou<; horer <;pecle<; when 1Ofe<;tattOns beg1O, theIr evolutIon, <;eventy etc 10 relattOn to crop growth <;tages the 10Cldence of parasites of borer egg<;, larvae and pupae the Importance of elephant grass and maIze <;talk<; a<; over w10tenng <;ltes for Borers ba<;ed on wlthtn and between plant dl'\\tnbutlOn generate <;ampltng plan<; for BU'i'ieoia jusca egg batche<\" larvae and pupae on maize and P purpureumThe on statIon trl(il Wd~ aimed at de~cflblOg the reldtlOn~hlp between Yield dnd borer Infe~tatIon at VclflOUS crop growth stdge~ In order to as~e~s the reldtIve Importdnce clnd effects of the varIOus borer species pre~ent 9 3 3 CONSTRAINTS A major constralOt that dffected the umt's planned actIvIties were the IRA strIkes dunng 1991, 1992 and 1993 The work schedule was comlder dbly hindered dnd d lot ot ddta was lost The data collected dUl Ing 1992 l~ ~t111 not dndlyzed Another very Importdnt constraInt IS the lack of expeItlse to help andly~es dnd bdckstop the umt,,;' dctivItIe~ There are two intermediate level (M~c) entomologI~t~ Higher level expertI~e I~ needed to be dble to effectIvely encounter, deSign, Implement, dndly~es dnd Interpret re~edrch The Pldnt Hedlth Management DIVISIon of lIT A was the pnnclpal Investigator m the country WIde ~urveys earned out dunng 1993 The abunddnt data collected Will be andlyzed dnd a JOInt report wntten by all those that partICIpdted In the survey, Dr~ schulthess and Cardwell (IlTA), M~ Ndemah and Mr Ngoko (IRA/NCRE) 9 3 4 ACCOMPLISHMENTS A summary of the accomplIshments dunng thIS year Will mcluded some actIvIties earned out dunng 1990 as the~e were not reported In the 1986-1990 report Dunng the second cropping sea~on of 1990 (Augu~t to December), momtonng WdS earned out to assess maIze ~tem borer mudence and lo~ses due to mfe~tatlOn Methods SIX sampling umts per field, each four square meters were pegged m different pdrts of 38 predommantly sole maize fields m Nkolfep (forest) dnd klkI (trdnWlOn) zone~ Selected field charactenstIcs hypothesized to dffect ~temborer InCIdence were recorded dunng pegging Mld-~eason observatIons were mdde on pldnt vigor dnd SIgns of ~temborer mfe~tdtlOn Hdrve~t measurements were taken for edch ~dmphng umt, dl~tIngUlShIng Yield dnd prolIficdcy for plants showmg signs of mfestdtlon from those not ~eemIngly mtested QUdntltative measurements on length of stemborer tunnels wei e used to measure pe~t inCIdence on a per plant baSIS wIthin samplIng umtsVIsual signs of ~temborer Infestdtlon were slmlldf for Nkolfep (39%) dnd Klkl (32 %) SItes mId-season but mfestdtIon levels at hdrvest were sIgmficdntly hIgher In Nkolfep (88 %) than KlkI (32 %) (table 1)  Dunng the fir<;t ~ea'ion, ... tem horer ... were more ahumldnt and ddffiagmg In the fore~t zone whIle ear borers were more of a problem m the tran~ltIOn zone (uble 4) In the second season and at 9 week') after plantmg Sesamw sPP elnd Busseala ju!Jw were the predommant borers on both VelnetIe') m alllocatIOn\\ At 14 weeh after plantIng a complex of five specIes Eldana saccharma, Sesamw spp, B fu~ca, MUSldw mgnvenella, and Chllo spp were found In the forest zone In the tranSItIOn zone, Chilo fJPp was already encountered at 2 weeks after plantIng Generally a WIde VarIabIlIty Wel') ob~erved m mCIdence and <,eventy acros~ locatIon') d.nd SIte') even WIthIn the \\ame agroeLology dunng the first d.nd \\econd seasons Some locatlon\\ m all the three agro-ecologles had ,even mfe~td.tIons dunng the fir\\t lIed.son whIle other') dId not even m the <;econd ,ed.<,on In the tran\\lt1On zone Dunng the <,ewnd ~ed.')on, mfe\\tdtlon<, hegd.n qUite edrly dhout 2 week<, dlter pldntmg  Carbofuran treatment had a hIghly sIgmficant effect on prohficacy and marketable fresh ears, but no dIfference between the m~ecucide levels m the fore)t zone (table 6) The treated plots had on average 0 16+ 004 more ears/plant and 2530+ 410 kg/ha (47 6%) more marketable fresh ears The resulted m a financIal advantage of 327,705 CF A/ha (87 % ) over no carbofuran There wa~ no IIIgmficant effect ot carbofuran levelll (0 19/plant or o 2g/plant) on prolIficacy or gram YIeld m the tran~Iuon zone, and no \\Igmficant mteracuon between seed treatment and msecuclde m both zones 1992 Lepidopterous borers are mdIgenouli to AfrIcan gra~1I wherea~ mdlze I) an mtroduced crop A strategIc approach towards borer control relauon~hlp thellt\" ndtlve grd~~e~ have a~ sources of borer mfestatIon m maIze A~ a first step toward~ dlagno~mg thI.., role, samplIng WdS carned out to descnbe wIld ho~ts of borer~ Busseolafusw and Sesamw spp were found on elephant grass (Penmfietum purpureum) and wtld ~orghum (Sorghum arundmaceum) Also dunng both the first and ~econd season of 1992 a YIeld reducuon tnal under natural mfelitatlon was carned out at NtUl, Mlkoameyo) and Mhdln1dYo Unfortunately due to varIOUS reasons, the data wllected ha~ not yet been analyzed 1993Dunng 1993 two types of aeUVIues were earned out A) ExtensIve samplIng for maIze borers at soft dough stage and matunty m 170 farmers fields m all ecologIcal zones found m the country, Sudan and Gumea savannah, hIghlands, mId-altItude, forest/savannah transluon and forest The aIm of the~e wuntry-wide ~urveys wa~ to wlleet basel me mformatIon on where and when productlOn lo..,)e.., due to Lepldopterous borer') and vanous dIsease are occurnng ThIS helped m onentmg and pnonttzmg plant health strategIes for maIze The work was carned out m collaboratton WIth the Plant Health Management DIVISlOn of lIT A A Jomt report WIll be wntten by all those that partICIpated m the \\urvey B)On-goIng momtonng at Mekoameyos to assess the role of elephant grass In the B jusca ecosystem Methods A 12m x 12m maIze field was planted sIde WIth ~Ide an elephant grass dUrIng the thIrd week In August The maIze pockets were spaced at 75 cm between row~ and 50 cm WIthIn rows, WIth two plants per pocket Both the maIze and grass field~ were ~tratIfied Into four quadrants, to assure random samphng SamplIng wa~ started on the gra~s field In early August before maIze was planted Thereafter, begmmng 3 weeks after plannng, 20 maIze plants, 5 from each quadrant and 40 elephant grass were observed tWIce a month (approxImately at two weeks mterval) up to November-December Samphng was done once a month The basal stem dIameter of both maIze and elephant gra~s were taken The number of egg batches, larvae and pupae were counted accordmg to speCIes on a per plant baSIS For OVIposItIon or feedIng SItes, a score of 1-5 was used for P purpureum 1 = whorl, 2 = stem below the whorl, 3 = green older stems, 4 = partly woody \"item, 5 = woody stem, for maIze 1 = whorl, 2 = stem below the ear(~) at and after ear formatIOn, 5 = In the ear and 6 = In the tasselsB jusca was found on P purpureum even before matze wa~ planted ThIS borer wa~ the predommant species on thIS grass, wherea~ on maIze, B jusw was the mo~t abundant up tIll October There after, Eldana sacchanna became the most abundant (table 7) Than Eldana sacchanna became the most abundant (table 7) ThIS IS because after October, the maIze growth stage was no more smtable for B jusca OVIpoSItIon The specIes complex of borers on maIze was much more th.m on P purpureum E sacchanna was not encountered on P purpureum The other horer\\ on P purpureum are essentially an umdentIfied leaf feeder, where dS on maize, the other~ constitute some Chzlo spp, MUSSldza mgnvenella and Cryptophlebza leucotreta The percentage of Sesamza spp larvae IS rare on both maIze and P purpureumThe denSIty of B Jusca larvae dnd egg~ per ~quare meter I~ hIgher on P purpureum than on maIze (table 8) A dIstrIbutIon of the varIOUS SIze~ of thIS borer's larvde on P purpureum show that SIzes less than or equal to 1 5 cm In length dre more ahundant up to November In December, January and February (dry sea~on) the percent of larvae of SIze greater than 2 5 cm or pupae IS more than the fir~t m~tM stage~ ThI~ pattern t\\ ahout the ~ame for maIze ThIS dIstrIbution over orne of horer \\Ize\\ prohdhly reflect the mfluence of OVIpOSItion preference or behaVIor, nutnoonal qualIty of the ho\\t plant, dlmdtlc change\\ and Vdnous other factors on borer abundance P pupureum IS a perenmal grass and probahly preferred for egg ldymg, but may not be of good nutrItIonal qualIty for survIval of larvae up to pupaoon However, as the dry season sets m, there IS need for some larvae to develop fully and undergo dlapause m order to assume the SUrvIVal and cononUIty of the speCIes One of the alms of thIS ~tudy was to catalogue and assess paraSIte speCIes of borer eggs, larvae and pupae ThIS aspect has not been findlIzed becduse It takes qUIte some orne before paraSItes emerge However, mdIcaoons are that egg paraSItes are more common than larval and pupal ones (table 9) The most common egg parasltOld IS a ~cehomd The specIes has not yet been IdenofiedOn P purpureum, B Jusca egg parasItes were collected In Septemher and both the percent paraSItIzed eggs and egg hatches Increased consIderably In the folloWIng month (Table 9) On maIze, through eggs were collected In September, these were not paraSItIzed ParasItIsm began In October The percent eggs paraSItIzed also Increa.;;ed In the folloWIng month The same specIes of egg parasItOld IS found P purpureum and maIze In order to assess the Importance of grass and maIze stalks as overwmtenng sItes dunng the dry season, the densIty per square meter of B fusca larvae on maIze and P purpureum was compared These were 9 92, 11 33 msects per sqUdTe meter In January and February respectIvely for elephant grass whIle on maIze the denSItIeS were 0 46 msects per square meter for both months Thus elephant grass IS more Important overwmtenng SIte for B jusca than maIze stalks "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"21334a09665f4c92709eaae910c2b3eb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0501b3be-509b-4145-b339-0a20fec6221f/retrieve","id":"-2018130708"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ac08781e-ba7c-450d-a660-ff2186b3ffea","content":"Animal source foods, such as milk, dairy products, eggs, fish and meat, are important sources of nutrition and their production and processing supports the livelihoods of millions of poor farmers, traders, retailers and other value chain actors (many of them women) while providing cheap and nutritious food to large numbers of poor consumers. In India as many other countries, the informal sector predominates: for example, the informal share of the dairy sector (the largest in the world) is 80%.While most studies of food sold in the informal sector find hazards are present that could harm human health there is little information on the actual risk posed to humans or the best way of managing this. Given the extent of the informal sector, its persistence in the face of policy neglect, its importance to the health and nutrition of poor people, and its potential for poverty alleviation, there is an urgent need to understand safety issues around informally marketed food.Agricultural research has an important role to play in understanding the present importance and possible evolution of the informal sector as well as in developing and testing interventions to maximize the benefits while reducing the risk so that food systems can work better for poor people and the planet.The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works at the crossroads of livestock and poverty, bringing high-quality livestock science, communications and capacity building to bear on poverty reduction and sustainable development. ILRI is one of 15 centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). ILRI has campuses in Kenya (headquarters) and Ethiopia, with other offices located in other regions of Africa (Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria) as well as in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka), Southeast Asia (Laos, Thailand, Vietnam) and East Asia (China).The CGIAR is planning major new global research programmes (called CGIAR Research Programmes; CRPs), including: Sustainable staple food productivity increase for global food security: Livestock and fishThe CRP on Agriculture Nutrition and Health has a significant component of research on food safety including food safety of animal source foods, building on research currently being conducted by ILRI.To introduce ILRI and the new Collaborative Research Programmes, especially components on animal associated disease, and get feed-back on this from important stakeholders of food safety in India To present ongoing food safety research by ILRI with an emphasis on India To understand interests and opinions of key Indian food safety stakeholders To explore mutual interests and potential collaborations in context of emerging CRPsDr Iain Wright, ILRI's Regional Representative, Asia welcomed the participants. A list of participants is given in Annex 1.Dr John McDermott, Deputy Director General -Research summarized the objectives of the workshop.Each participant introduced themselves and their organization.The following presentations were made:The After the presentation a facilitated discussion was held on the key issues for food safety in India. Some points from this are summarized below.It was agreed that there was not enough evidence on the impact of food borne disease, not only in terms of human health but also in impacts on other sectors. Diarrhoea is a major cause of illness and the second most common cause of death in children under five. We don't know how much of this is attributed directly or indirectly to food-borne disease. And while animal source food is the most commonly implicated category of food in many countries, there is no evidence on its importance in India.A situational analysis would be a way to quickly compile available evidence and major gaps; this could include a systematic review of grey and published literatureRisk-based or health-based approaches are the best way to manage food safety. However, most policy and regulation is still based on the presence of pathogens and not their actual risk to human health. Risk analysis can generate evidence on the impact of food borne disease on human health in terms of severity and likelihood, where risk is generated, and the most effective ways of reducing risk.As in many countries, there is little linkage between human and animal health in India and even less integration with other disciplines and sectors. However, the One Health/EcoHealth approaches offer an opportunity to achieve more by multidisciplinarity. There is a need to identify the areas where linking up is easiest and most fruitfulone possible area being the use of common laboratories by public health and veterinary authorities and research organisations Evidence should also be generated on costs, benefits and added values of multidisciplinary approachesPolicy development has moved ahead of practice and of ability to oversee -India has over one billion food consumers but only around 2000 food inspectors.Recently, food safety laws have been updated and integrated. The challenge is to ensure that they are implemented and that they are meeting their objectives.Value chains analysis could be useful in promoting integrated and multidisciplinary approaches to food safety.Building capacity is a standard recommendation and is needed for all food-safety stakeholders. To be effective, capacity-building needs to go beyond just training.If training is linked to innovations (technological, organizational or social) and to incentives then it is more likely to result in behavior change. (For example the training and certification of milk vendors). Capacity-building should not be one-off but accompanied by support. Like all interventions capacity-building should be evaluated in terms of costs and benefitsSeveral areas were identified where innovations could help close the gap between food safety goals and current attainment. Low cost 'tableside' food safety tests would allow consumers and other value chain actors to check the safety of food allowing them to reject unsafe food but also exert pressure on suppliers to improve standards. Understanding consumer preference is important for this demand driven food safety. Training and testing a 'paravet' cadre of food safety promoters could expand the reach of food safety regulation.While new technologies are needed there are some 'bottom drawer' technologies which could be tested and promoted.While risk-based approaches are acknowledged to be the best way of managing food safety, in practice hazard-based approaches are still dominant. Evidence is needed on how risk-based approaches are more effective, efficient and equitable than conventional approaches.Risk based approaches can be used to prioritise food-safety problems. Risk tends to be heterogeneously distributed with a minority of the actors, food matrices and pathogens generating a majority of the risk. Identifying these will allow resources to be directed to where they are most useful.In many countries, policing all food is an impossibility and incentives may be more useful in improving food safety. One common way is by grading food according to quality and safety -however, the agency must be trusted and credible. While consumers may not always pay a premium for assured-products, accreditation may lead to more stable markets. An easy win would be to require government to buy from quality assured sources Quality assurance should be 'farm to fork' and include producers A majority of food sellers and processors are small-scale. Appropriate inspection and support needs to be developed for small scale operatorsThe group discussed the key areas for early activities. Milk was obviously an important area because of the predominance of small scale actors, widespread consumer concerns about adulteration (to a lesser extent safety), and the many diseases potentially transmissible by milk.Small ruminants and poultry were considered also important because of increasing production and changes in consumption and an analysis of this sector was recommended.The implications of smallholder involvement in food value chains both for food safety and market access is another priority area. An opportunity is provided by the ongoing finalization of livestock policy and development of an approach paper for the Twelfth Five Year Plan.Two final areas for special attention were technology validation and value addition"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3599055502.json b/main/part_2/3599055502.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2360b7e055e74e5d782ff9265c1bcc0e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6c56a15d-e4e7-4f28-961d-e362a59b3c92/retrieve","id":"1703952635"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8a2079dc-9c0f-407c-a057-adadfb52e09d","content":"Se ha preparado el presente manual sobre el manejo de las malezas para que el agrónomo se familiarice con todos los principios y factores relacionados con esta práctica tan importante en la agricultura moderna. Esta publicación tiene un enfoque práctico, orientado a explicar la Importaneia de las malezas y a ayudar a desarrollar programas de producción agrícola de una manera efectiva, práctica y económica.Los textos y las ideas no provienen de una sola persona ni de una sola institución. Bástcamente, se han recopilado trabajos de los doctores Juan Cárdenas, Carlos Romero, Jaime Sierra, Darlo Vargas, Herbert Fisher y Eduardo LocateIli; también, de otros téc. nicos del Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario tales como M.1. Principios de control de malezas en cultivos de clima cálido lerry Doll*La agricultura moderna exige la integración de todos los factores de producción, Los factores de variedad, fertilidad, manejo de agua y control de insectos, enfermedades y malezas, están relacionados intimamente de tal manera que cualquier factor puede ser el limitante en la expresión óptima de todos los demás. Por ejemplo, la adaptación de una nueva variedad de arroz sin el uso de abonos o control de plagas, no rendirá casi nada, puesto que tales variedades necesitan un nivel de nutrimentos más alto que los tradicionales, Aunque el control de malezas se ha practicado desde hace miles de años, ha sido el área más descuidada tecnológicamente. El hecho de que este factor no haya sido estudiado anteriormente, tanto como el control de insectos, por ejemplo, se debe a que el efecto de las malezas sobre lOS cultivos no es tan obvio o espec. tacular como el daño de insectos, enfermedades y deficiencias nutricionales. Además, siempre ha sido fácil hacer desyerbas manuales o mecánicas.Sin embargo, la necesidad de aumentar los rendimientos, de mejorar la calidad de la cosecha y de reducir los costos de producción, obligaron a los científicos y agricultores a reconsiderar cuáles de los factores de producción eran llmitantes. Las experiencias en el campo han demostrado que los estragos causados por malezas son de igual magnitud o mayores que los ocasionados por insectos y enfermedades.El control de malezas debe ser sistemático e integrado. No existe un método de control que se adapte a todos los problemas. Para realizar un control integrado se deben considerar los méto. dos culturales, los mecánicos y los químicos.Por control cultural se entiende el control ejercido por el cultivo sobre las malezas debido a su capacidad para competir con ellas. Siempre se debe recordar que un cultivo bien establecido y vígoroso es el factor más importante en un programa integrado de control de malezas. Las bases para un control cultural son: el uso de semilla certificada (libre de semillas de malezas), una buena preparación de terreno, buena humedad que asegure el rá. pido y buen establecimiento del cultivo, fertilización adecuada y densidades óptimas de siembra para la variedad y la zona (distancia entre surcos y distancia entre plantas en el surco).Además, se debe mantener un buen programa de control de insectos y enfermedades y en algunos casos, como en el cultivo del arroz, se debe mantener el riego en determinado nivel que conserve las malezas bajo control. En el caso de problemas: como el arroz rojo, un programa de rotación de cultivos puede servir para reducir considerablemente la población de esta maleza.En cultivos \"cerrados\" como arroz y trigo el control mecánico o manual es muy limitado y el control cultural es de gran importancia y debe ser complementado con el control quimico. tivos hacia cultivos especlflcos. Sin embargo, siempre se debe re. cordar que el control químico es un medio de control de malezas, no el único y de ninguna manera el más efectivo en todos los casos.La selectividad en cultivos desarrollados es un factor impor. tante en los herbicidas; sin embargo, aquellas malezas que más se asemejan al cultivo son más díficiles de controlar. Por ejemplo, el alaclor (Lazo) y la trifluralina (Treflan), herbicidas selec• tivos usados en cultivos de soya y algodón, controlan la mayorla de las malC2as que los frecuentan. Una de las excepciones más notables es la batatilla la cual no se controla con el uso de estos productos. La batatilla es una dicotiledónea de semilla grande como la soya y el algodón.Con base en que ningún herbicida es totalmente selectivo a un cultivo especifico y que en la mayoría de los campos el complejo de malezas es variado, siempre existe la posibilidad de que, dentro de ese complejo, se encuentren malezas resistentes al herbicida (Cuadro 1-1).Cuadro 1•1 Grado de suseeptibilidad de algunas famillas de malezas hacia varios herbicidas (los datos están sujetos a re• visión y existen excepciones en cada caso). .... !iJ ::; oi N \" Con relación a costos se debe hacer énfasis en que el método de control más barato no siempre es el más eficaz y económico. Para asegurar un control efectivo se deben integrar el control cultural, mecánico y químico. ¿Cómo determinar el programa de contro!'? Cualquier tipo de control de malezas debe ser enfocado hacia el problema específico del campo. Para ello, se debe conocer en detalle el complejo de malezas, el tipo de suelo (textura y mate. ria orgánica), los medios y equipo de que se dispone, los factores económicos, la residualidad del herbicida, los cultivos de rotación y la compatibilidad con otros insumas.Las malezas anuales son relativamente fáciles de controlar por medios mecánicos; las perennes, como el coquito (Cyperus rotundus) y el pasto Argentina (Cynodon dactylon), por el contrario, son difíciles de controlar mecánicamente.Respecto al complejo de malezas se puede decir que existen malezas dominantes y malezas secundarias. Si el control químico se enfoca únicamente hacia el control de las malezas dominantes. las malezas secundarias pueden volverse agresivas y dominan . . tes. de tal manera que el control inicial de iaa malezas predominantes puede llegar a ser desventajoso por las pérdidas que oca. sionan las secundarias. Por ejemplo. el meloncillo, de hábito de crecimiento rastrero. puede ser una maleza dominante en un complejo de malezas gramíneas y de hoja ancha. SI se le controla con el uso de 2.4.D (en maíz) el desarrollo de las otras malezas. principalmente de iaa gramíneas. puede ser de tales proporciones que el efecto de la competencia resulte ser más perjudicial al cultivo que el daño que puede causarle el meloncillo. Otro ejemplo es el control del coquito con herbicidas tiolcarbamatos (Vemam y Su. tan). Estos productos controlan el coquito efectivamente. pero, al eliminar esta maleza. puede surgir una población de plantas de hoja ancha que impida el desarrollo normal del cultivo.El mal uso de herbicidas puede provocar daño al cultivo y/o pérdida de dinero debido a un control de malezas deficiente. Los herbicidas recomendados como preemergentes no se deben emplear como postemergentes y viceversa. Por ejemplo, el 2,4-D en preemergencia es tóxico al arroz y al sorgo mientras que en postemergencia la selectividad es ampliamente adecuada. Los her. bicidas recomendados para el control de un determinado tipo de malezas no se deben emplear para el control de otras malezas. Por ejemplo, el 2, 4-D es un herbicida que se debe emplear únicamente para el control de ciertas malezas de hoja ancha y no para el control de gramíneas.El tipo de suelo influye en la dosis del herbicida y en algunos casos, en la selectividad del herbicida hacia el cultivo. En gene. ral, se requieren dosis más altas de herbicidas en suelos pesados que en suelos livianos. Con la materia orgánica sucede lo mismo ya que se requiere una mayor dosis en suelos con alto contenido de materia orgánica. Algunos herbicidas, como el diurón (Karmex) en algodón y el linurón (Malón) en soya, son recomendados únicamente en suelos pesados debido a que en suelos livianos pueden ser tóxicos al cultivo.Recientemente, se ha incrementado el uso de mezclas de herbicidas. Estas mezclas son efectivas y económicas únicamente cuando se las utiliza con un fin determinado. Las razones para emplear mezclas de herbicidas son: 1. Ampliar el rango de acción del herbicida. El uso de dos herbicidas que se complementan en el control de malezas resÍS. tentes a uno de los herbicidas en la mezcla, es la justificación más común para emplear mezclas. 2. Aumentar la selectividad hacia el cultivo. Por ejemplo, uno de los herbicidas de la mezcla es muy efectivo para el control de malezas pero la selectividad hacia el cultivo es marginal. En mezcla con otro herbicida de alta selectividad, pero con menos eficacia de control, se puede emplearlo reduciendo la dosis. 3. Disminuir el costo. Cuando uno de los herbicidas de la mezcla es altamente eficaz pero demasiado caro. 4. Disminuir la posibilidad de residuos hacia cultivos de rota.. ción. Por ejemplo, productos económicos y altamente efectivos pero con un poder residual largo y tóxicos al cultivo de rotación, se pueden aplicar en una dosis reducida en mezcla con otro producto no tan residuaL PRECAUCION En el uso de mezclas, algunas combinaciones de herbicidas resultan tóxicas al cultivo aún cuando la selectividad de cada herbicida usado individuahnente sea alta. En marz, el uso de atrazina (Gesaprim) + aceite, o de 2,4-D es relativamente selectivo. Cuan. do los tres son combinados en una aplicación postemergente, el cultivo es severamente afectado. Además, el uso de dos formulaciones diferentes (por ejemplo polvos mojables y concentrados emulsionabies) a veces presentan problemas de incompatibilidades.Los herbicidas \"hormonales\", como el 2,4-D, el 2,4,5-T, el picloram (Tordon) y el dicamba (Banvel D) deben emplearse con mucha precaución. Todos los cultivos de hoja ancha son susceptibles a los herbicidas hormonales en dosis extremadamente bajas.Cultivos susceptibles a herbicidas \"hormonales\": En general, todos los cultivos son susceptibles a los herbicidas \"hormonales\" cuando se encuentran en estado de floración. Se deben tomar las precauciones necesarias para prevenir el daño a los cultivos cercanos susceptibles, tales como: reducir la presión de la aplicación; no aplicar cuando hay viento o cuando hay altas temperaturas; usar una formulación no volátil o de baja volatilidad.La aspersora que se use para aplicar productos hormonales debe lavarse primero con agua limpla y después, con una solución del 2 por ciento de amoniaco y dejarse en la aspersora. por 12 horas.Son herbicidas que se aplican antes de la siembra y requieren incorporación o mezcla mecánica con el suelo para que queden distribuidos en una capa uniforme, zona en la cual germinan la mayoría de las semillas de malezas (cuatro centímetros superiores). Su incorporación también evita la pérdida por volatilidad y foto. descomposición del producto. Mientras más corto sea el tiempo entre la aplicación y la incorporación, mayor será la efectividad del producto. Es Importante seguir la profundidad recomendada. La. incorporación demasiado profunda del herbicida reduce su efectividad al distribuirse mucho en el suelo y además, puede ocasionar dafios al cultivo. La. Incorporación demasiado superficial puede pertímir la germinación de semillas de malezas que quedan por debajo de la zona de incorporación. La. mezcla mecánica distribuye estos productos por debajo de la superficie del suelo, en la zona de germinación de las malezas; por lo tanto, la falta de lluvia después de la aplicación no les impide que actúen como ocurre con los herbicidas preemergentes.Las herramientas más comunes para la incorporación de estos productos son el rastrillo de discos y el rotovator. Cuando se emplea el rastrillo de discos, es necesarIo hacer dos rastrilladas en cruz (la segunda rastrl11ada en direccIón perpendicular a la primera) .Son herbicidas que se aplican después de la siembra pero antes de que broten el cultivo y las malezas. Estos productos actúan sobre las semillas de malezas que están en el estado de germinación. Por ser aplicados sobre la superficie del suelo requieren lluvia después de su aplicación para ser distribuidos en la zona de germinación de las malezas. La. ventaja de estos herbicidas es que no requieren incorporación con el suelo.Son los que se aplican después de ia emergencia del cultivo y jo las malezas. Tienen la ventaja de ser útiles en emergencia, pues no se aplican hasta que hayan salido las malezas. Pueden ser aplicados en cualquier tipo de suelo y no dependen de la condición de humedad del suelo. En algunos casos hay mayor riesgo de dafio al cultivo. No se deben aplicar cuando las plantas ya están mojadas de rocio o de lluvia. Asimismo, deben transcurrir por 10 menO!! ocho horas después de la aplicación, sin llover, para alcanzar el máximo efecto. A veces, se recomienda el uso de sur• factantes para aumentar la acción de estos herbicidas.Algunas de las ventajas de los herbicidas presiembra incorporados y preemergentes incluyen las siguientes: a) Dan un mejor control de las malezas que con aplicaciones postemergentes .b) Hay menO!! peligro de dañar el cultivo, en comparación con aplicaciones postemergentes.c) No hay competencia temprana del cultivo con el control ini. cial de las malezas.d) Las malezas ya están controladas, en caso de lluvias fuertes que no permitan la realización de labores manuales o mecánicas .e) Se puede sembrar y aplicar el herbicida en una sola opera• ción.Las desventajas son: a) Generalmente, las aplicaciones preemergentes no son efectivas en condiciones secas del suelo.b) En suelos livianos, las fuertes lluvias pueden lixiviar el producto hasta el nivel en que se encuentra la semilla del culo tivo y presentar daños.e) No controlan muchas malezas perennes.d) Pueden reducir la eficiencia de la siembra.Formulaeiones de herbicidas Los herbicidas, al igual que otros pesticidas, se venden en varias formulaciones (Cuadro 1-2). Los más comunes son: polvO!! mojables, concentrados, soluciones, granulares y polvO!! solubles (ver Capitulo X).Cuando se aplican polvO!! mojables. la aspersora necesita un buen sistema de agitación en el tanque para que no ocurra la sedimentación. Si la agitación no es suficiente, el control de malezas será deficiente y se puede ocasionar daño al cultivo, además de aumentar la posibilidad de residuO!! tóxicos para los cultivos de rotación. cuadro 1-2 Formu1aeiones de varios herbicidas comunes. La agricultura moderna exige el empleo de técnicas cada vez más sofisticadas. Por ejemplo, un control eficaz y económico de plantas invasoras incluye, muchas veces, el uso de herbicidas altamente selectivos. En ocasiones, esta selectividad se basa en diferencias morfológicas y fisiológicas entre varias plantas (cultivos y malezas); por esta y otras razones, es necesario tener un conocimiento más amplio sobre las malezas para desarrollar un programa de control adecuado.En el mundo entero hay, aproximadamente, 170.000 especies de Angiospermas (plantas con flores). Este grupo incluye casi todas las plantas consideradas como dañinas o invasoras (cerca de 30.000). De éstas, 1.800 se consideran nocivas por sus características y comportamiento, causando cada año grandes pérdidas a la agricultura .poder controlarlas con los 160 herbicidas que aproximadamente existen disponibles en el mercado. De 300 familias de Angiospermas, apenas 75 incluyen casi el 75 por ciento de las especies. De estas 75 familias, tal vez 40 son realmente importantes, con referencia a plantas invasoras.• La via para identificar una planta, radica en el reconocimiento de la posición de la \"desconocida\" dentro de las unidades de clasificación progresivamente menores. El presente estudio incluye familias de plantas invasoras, principalmente de cultivos anuales, perennes y pastos (praderas). No se encontraron familias de malezas acuáticas.Para facilitar la identificación de la maleza en cuestión, se debe tener en cuenta que las 40 familias se dividen en dos grandes grupos: Pterldophytas (dos familias) y Spermatophytas. En las Spermatophytas, solamente es tratada la subdivisión Anglos. permae, la cual se divide en dos clases: MonocotyIedonae (8 familias) y Dicotyledonae. Esta última, por conveniencia, se ha dividido a su vez en tres grupos, según la disposición de los pétalos: Apétalo (sin pétalos verdaderos): 6 familias. Polypetala (pétalos separados y diferentes): 14 familias y Sympetala (pétalos unidos): 10 familias.Las características anotadas no sirven para identificar una fa. milia determinada con absoluta certeza, pero indican algunos de los elementos más importantes.A continuación, se presenta una clave resumida la cual tiene por objeto facilitar la identificación. ..-Usualmente anuales, con savia mucilaginosa y tallos fi. brosos -Con muchos estambres en un androceo tubular -El fruto muchas veces es una cápsula o un polieoco Ejemplos: Malva, Abutilón, Sida, Pavonia, Malachra. Eduardo LocateUy y J. D. Doll* Las malezas afectan directa o indirectamente el rendimiento de los cultivos y este fenómeno se conoce con el nombre de \"competencia\". Partiendo de la definición de una maleza como planta fuera de lugar, el principal motivo de no desear su presencia, Junto con cultivos, se debe a su capacidad de reducción en ia productividad de los cultivos.En el Cuadro 4-1 se aprecIa el marcado efecto que tiene la maleza en competencia, durante todo el ciclo, con varios cultivos. Algunas conclusiones saltan a ia vista; en primer lugar, los cultivos tropicales (arroz, algodón, maíz y frijol) son más susceptibles a ia competencia que los de clima frio (cebada, papa y trigo). A Cuadro veces, el cultivo no sufre por competencia, pero en promedio se pierde más de la tercera parte del cultivo si no se controlan las malezas. Generalmente, el uso de herbicidas aumenta el rendimiento, aún más que el uso de desyerbas. Esto podría significar que siempre ocurre algo de competencia antes de realizar la desyerba y a que, seguramente, ocurre algo de daño físico al cultivo cuando éste se limpia mecánicamente.De todos los aspectos que comprende el manejo de malezas, la competencia es uno de los más difíciles de estudiar; esto no se debe a que no haya sido estudiado lo suficiente, ya que existen cientos de publicaciones relacionadas con la competencia. Sin embargo, al compararlas para llegar a conclusiones generales, se encuentra tanta variación entre los resultados que a menudo resultan contradictorios. La principal causa de este hecho es que hay muchos factores incluidos en la competencia y esto dificulta su estudio en conjunto.COMPETENCIA VS. ALELOPATIA La competencia se puede definir como la lucha entre el cultivo y las malezas por la luz, la humedad, los nutrimentos y el 002 disponibles en un lugar determinado. Algunos factores intrínsecos establecen la habilidad competitiva de ciertas especies y esto permite' por ejemplo, que algunas variedades toleren la competencia mejor que otras.Aunque se ha empleado la palabra maleza, en realidad, la competencia es entre \"plantas\" y es mucho más genérico pero, en la presente discusión, resultará más práctico usar la palabra maleza. Se debe tener en cuenta también, que la competencia puede ser inter y/o intraespecífica y que, en algunos casos, ambas son importantes.La competencia entre plantas se debe a que, bajo condiciones específicas, el ambiente y el suelo son capaces de proveer cantidades limitadas de los factores esenciales para el crecimiento normal de una población determinada de plantas. Cuando las poblaciones exceden este límite, se inicia la competencia en las plantas creadas por los factores limitantes. Aquellas plantas que poseen características agresivas y que se encuentran mejor adaptadas compiten más favorablemente, dominando así las especies menos competitivas. Casi siempre se encuentran malezas competitlvamente iguales a los cultivos y de este concepto se desprende el principio de \"control de malezas\" que sugiere crear condiciones del ambiente y del suelo que sean favorables al cultivo y no a las malezas.Se entiende por alelopatía e! efecto de algunas plantas sobre el desarrollo de otras. Eso puede ser por medio de sustancias producidas por unas plantas o por compuestos producidos o liberados durante la degradación de residuos de plantas. La influencia de plantas en el desarrollo de otras. a través de la secreción de sustancias. no es nada nuevo. Por ejemplo. es bien conocido que la germinación de Striga (Serophularlaeeae) está condicionada por la previa germinación de la planta de mafz para establecer la relación entre ésta y su parásito.También. lo contrario sucede frecuentemente. es decir, que las malezas pueden producir sustancias que estimulen o retarden el crecimiento del cultivo. En el año 1832, De Condolle ya habla observado est~ fenómeno en relación a las plantas del género Clrsium. Se encontró hace tiempo también, que las raíces de Juglans nigra (nogal) producían 5-hidroxi-alfa-naftaquinone, lo cual inhibe e! desarrollo de muchas especies. As! mismo. el abundante coquito (Cyperus rotundus) es otra especie ya comprobada que pro. duce sustancias inhibitorias en el desarrollo de cultivos y otras malezas.Es común encontrar casos en que ninguna especie crece aIre. dedor de una planta ya establecida y por varios años, esto fue atribuido simplemente a la competencia. Ahora se reconoce que la alelopatia puede jugar un pape! tan importante en este fenómeno. Sin embargo, es muy difícil separar los efectos de competencia y alelopatia. especialmente cuando se refiere a malezas pe_ rennes. Por lo tanto, se ha reemplazado el antiguo concepto de competencia con la palabra \"interferencia\", la cual comprende los efectos ianto de competencia como de alelopatía.Generalmente, se reconoce que las malezas en áreas agrícolas compiten directamente con los cultivos por luz. agua, nutrimentos y espacio. e indirectamente. causan pérdidas económicas al afectar los costos de producción. la calidad de los productos y por una mayor incidencia de insectos y enfermedades. A continuación. se especifican las pérdidas ocasionadas por malezas:1. Disminución del rendimiento del cultivo 2. Disminución de la. calidad de la cosecha 3. Aumento en los costos de producción 4. Depreciación de tierras 5. Mayor incidencia de enfermedades e insectos 6. Limitada escogencia de cultivos.En el Cuadro 4.2 se presentan ejemplos de malezas hospedantes de insectos y enfermedades. Se debe mencionar que, a. veces, las malezas pueden hospedar insectos benéficos en el control biológico de plagas, y por lo tanto, no siempre representan relaciones negativas con las plagas presentes.En cuanto a la limitación de selección de cultivos se puede de. cir que es importante y más severa cuando la maleza tiene un ci. clo de vida. parecido a la de los cultivos y;o características morfológicas y fisiológicas similares. Cuando la maleza y el cultivo son semejantes, como lo son la Avena fatua y el trigo o la cebada de clima. frío, la Ipomoea y la soya y algodón, y la Rottboe1lia exaltata Y el sorgo en los cUmas cáUdos, limitan la escogencia de dichos cultivos en las áreas donde se presentan. Así mismo, la presencia de Cyperus l'otundus ha causado a algunos agricultores el abandono de cultivos de secano por los de ríego en el caso de arroz, o por potreros, los cuales son más competitivos con dicha maleza. La población de malezas en una región que ha sido cultivada por algún tiempo, se caracteriza por su similitud con el cultivo, en cuanto a los ciclos de vida. Generalmente las malas hierbas germinan junto con el cultivo y maduran poco antes que éste, o al mismo tiempo. Cuando se practican sistemas como rotación de cultivos, por ejemplo, el complejo de malezas se adapta de tal manera que al sembrar el cultivo, aquella parte del complejo que posee sus características semejantes al cultivo, se desarrolla y la otra parte aparece en forma secundaria, pero, al cambiar el tipo del cultivo en la rotación, se desarrollan otras especies del complejo.Recientemente, con el uso de herbicidas, se ha visto una reducción del complejo de plantas indeseables en los cultivos; sin embargo, frecuentemente escapan una o dos especies del control que antes eran de poca importancia y ahora se pueden tornar en el problema principal.Desanollo rápido de raíces y partes aéreas Cuanto más rápido se establezca una planta, mayores ventajas tendrá. para competir con otras. El desarrollo rápido de las raíces le permite una mayor capacidad de absorción de agua, nutrimentos y además, de tolerar sequía prolongada. El de las partes aéreas le dará una mayor área fotosintétlca y la capacidad de crear sombra, lo cual detendrá el crecimiento de otras plantas. En general, las plantas con una tasa de crecimiento rápido producen follaje abundante en corto tiempo.Al establecer una población de malezas, el número inicial de plántulas es elevado; al llegar a la madurez, se puede observar que la población de dichas malezas se ha reducido; a este fenómeno se le llama plasticidad de la población. En otras palabras, se refiere al establecimiento de poblaciones Iniciales altas, las cuales disminuyen con el tiempo, dejando un número de malezas vigorosas a un nivel óptimo para su desarrollo.Esto sucede a nivel de la comunidad de malezas, mostrado por el hecho que se quedan las especies más indicadas para un ambiente dado. Además, ocurre a nivel de especies individuales, reflejado en que la población de cada una se adapte a las condicio-nes ambientales y a los factores de crecimiento presentes, dejando la cantidad de malezas óptimas de cada especie.Germinaclón desunif6l'll1e de las sem.iDa.s de malezas En la mayoria de los cultivos, se busca la uniformidad en germinación por Ia necesidad de igualar la cosecha. En cambio, el fenómeno de la germinación desuniforme en las malezas es de gran ventaja para su sobrevivencia, porque, si todas las sernlllas de una mala hierba germinan al tiempo, su control seria fácil pero, si germinan en forma desigual, solamente es posible un control parcial. Esta ventaja también le permite a la maleza la sucesión de varias generaciones dentro de un ciclo vital.Una adaptación de gran importancia en algunas plantas es la producción de sustancias tóxicas que inhiben el crecimiento de otras y a veces, de la misma especie, presentándose sólo en una área determinada. En general, estos inhibidores actúan sobre las semillas de otras plantas impidiéndoles su germinación. Un ejemplo en Colombia, es el efecto inhibitorio del follaje de Tagetes patula sobre la germinación del fríjol, Amaranthus dubius, Euphorbia spp. y Eleusine Indica.ProdUooiÓll numerosa de semlllas y órganos reproductivos vegetativos La cantidad de semillas producidas por las diferentes malezas varia considerablemente presentándose en algunas de ellas un número al nivel de los cientos, mientras que en otras, hasta más de 200.000 semillas por planta. En general, la mayoría de las semillas son viables aunque tienen una Iatencia que difiere según las especies. Algunas especies tienen una gran capacidad de producir tubérculos, rizomas o estolones, los cuales generan mucha más dificultad de controlar que las mismas semillas. El coquito, por ejemplo, puede alcanzar más de 40'000.000 tubérculos en una hectárea.Generalmente, los cultivos han sido seleccionados para rendir más, bajo condiciones limitadas del ambiente. Con relación al suelo requiere un det<lrminado pH, huen drenaje o riego, un nivel de fertilidad adecuado y una cierta temperatura dentro de ciertos !Imites. Aunque la maleza también requiere condiciones óptimas, éstas prosperan con un rango más amplio del medio amhiente, de tal manera que si el óptimo de la maleza y el cultivo coinciden, la maleza será beneficiada tanto como el cultivo. Entre más se alejen las condiciones óptimas del cultivo, la maleza estará más beneficiada debido a su flexibilidad. Por ejemplo, el coquito se de. sarrolla bien en terrenos húmedos y drenados, pero tienen mayor agresividad en áreas mal drenadas. El barbasco (Polygonum se• getum) es una maleza de clima frío que crece bien en terrenos fértiles y bien drenados, presentándose en mayor cantidad en los mal drenados y ácidos, por falta de competencia con otras plantas y por su flexibilidad de adaptación y crecimiento aoelerado.Con relación al ambiente, los factores de agua, luz y espacio son críticos para el crecimiento normal de las plantas. Las malezas son bastante flexibles a variaciones de estos factores, adaptán. dose a los extremos de sequía o inundación, a luz limitante (som. bra) y debido a la plasticidad de población, se adaptan al espacio disponible.Como toda planta, la maleza también depende de fuentes de todos los nutrimentos para vivir y reproducirse. Varios estudios han demostrado que, frecuentemente, las malezas acumulan mayores concentraciones de nutrimentos. En estos casos, aunque la producción de materia seca pueda ser muy inferior por parte de las malezas, el consumo de los elementos esenciales puede ser mu• cho mayor que lo que parece.Algunas veces, este tipo de competencia se puede eliminar o al menos reducir, al agregar mayor cantidad de nutrimentos al cul. tivo a través de la fertilización. Por supuesto, esto puede resultar muy costoso y a veces el abono beneficiaría más a las malezas que al cultivo mismo y esto se deberá a la capacidad competitiva de ellas. Se sabe que el uso de fertilizantes Incrementa la eficlen. cia de las plantas debido a que producen un sistema radicular mejor desarrollado permitiendo as! la exploración de niveles de suelo más profundos en los cuales se encuentra más agua y nutrimentos. Aparentemente, este hecho es igual para ambos: el cul. tivo y la maleza y, en base a esto, se puede realizar la fertilización en bandas reduciendo las posibilidades de utilización del fertili. zante por las malezas y también, reducir el costo por hectárea.La competencia por luz es tal vez una de las menos importantes, con excepción de situaciones muy especiales tal como la Sesbania exaltata, que puede reducir el rendimiento de arroz de riego solamente si se la deja competir por un mes debido a que crece rápidamente por encima del arroz y le da sombra. Otra especie que es capaz de competir por luz es la Rottboellia exaltata (caminadora) la cual parece que siempre es capaz de alcanzar la altura del cultivo y aún sobrepasarlo en 25 cm. Es decir, si la soya está a 75 cm de altura, la caminadora tendrá de 90 a 100 cm si el sorgo está a 1,20 m, la caminadora alcanzará 1,5 m y si la caña de azúcar tiene una altura de 2,0 m esta maleza estará a 2,25 m. Generaimente, una vez que el cultivo ha formado una sombra completa, la competencia de malezas deja de ser importante. La competencia por luz se vuelve crítica, a veces en estados tempra. nos del desarrollo del cultivo, cuando la disponibilidad de luz determiua dominancia Las malezas son, por lo general, verdaderas bombas absorbentes de agua y lo hacen muy eficientemente. A menudo, se encuentran cultivos marchitos por falta de agua, mientras que la maleza aparece normaL Como en el caso de los nutrimentos, se pueden contrarrestar estos efectos al suministrar agua por medio de riego; si tanto la maleza como el cultivo encuentran suficiente agua para su supervivencia, la pérdida resultante de la competencia se disminuye. Es por esto que los cultivos sufren menos por la presencia de malezas en ciclos de mucha lluvia que en los ciclos de escasa agua.Para programar un control de malezas adecuado y económico, es necesario conocer el período en que las malezas ejercen la mayor competencia. Aunque esto cambia con las condiciones ambientales, la disponibilidad de los fact.ores de crecimiento, el cultivo, su densidad y el vigor de las malezas, se ha establecido que el tiempo critico de competencia de las malezas y de los cultivos normalmente es entre los primeros 45 días y en muchos casos, entre los 10 y los 30 días. Se han presentado reducciones en los rendimientos en un 40 por ciento durante los primeros 45 días del cultivo y pérdida del 20 por ciento cuando la competencia se presenta en los primeros 20 a 30 días.Como regla general se pu€de decir que, una vez el cultivo haya \"cerrado\" (formado una sombra completa sobre el suelo), la competencia deja de ser Important~. Por lo tanto, cultivos como yuca y caña de azúcar presentan épocas críticas de competencia más largas que cultivos de rápido desarrollo inicial como soya, sorgo y frijol.No obstante, pueden haber otros períodos criticas de competencia, sobre todo, cuando coinciden con los periodos de mayor re. querlmiento de agua y/o rápido crecimiento, como pueden ser: a) al final del período de establecimiento del cultivo b) durante el macollamiento c) al comienzo de la formación del fruto d) al principio de la maduración del cultivo (botones jóvenes en algodón y en la maduración de las espigas en cereales).Considerando que el control manual y mecánico de las malezas no se realiza sino hasta que su pOblación se ha establecido (15 a 30 días después de la emergencia del cultivo), es necesario hacer énfasis en la importancia de un control oportuno. En general, el control manual se hace cuando las malezas están lo suficientemente desarrolladas como para arrancarse o cortarse con machete o azadón. Este tipo de control es lento y requiere bastante trabajo y se hace más intenso de acuerdo a la superficie cultivada, al grado de infestación y al cultivo.El control mecánico puede ser realizado antes que el manual puesto que se basa fundamentalmente en la remoción violenta de la tierra, rompiendo la relación íntima entre las raíces de las malezas y el suelo.El control oportuno puede ser afectado por condiciones adversas del ambiente durante el periodo crítico de competencia. Así por ejemplo, las lluvias continuas pueden causar retraso de labores y pueden reducir la efectividad del control manual o mecánico al crear condiciones favorables para la recuperación de las malezas.Seguramente, la mayor explicación del aumento de producción al emplear el control químico en vez de mecánico o manual (Cuadro 4-1) se debe a que el control manual no se realiza oportunamente. Es precisamente durante las primeras épocas de desarrollo que el herbicida da su mayor efecto y es Interesante anotar que las lluvias hacen trabajar aún mejor los herbicidas preemergentes, garantizando el control de las malezas en perlodos en que sería imposible utilizar medios manuales o mecánicos.Juan Cárdenas * lerry DoU•* El uso de productos quimicos en el control de malezas es un concepto nuevo relativo al control químico de insectos y enfermedades. Los herbicidas difieren de los insecticidas y fungicldas en que se deben aplicar más uniformemente.Una vez que se ha decidido user herbicidas, es necesario saber los principios de aplicación y cuál tipo de aspersora se debe utilizar. Existen varios tipos de aspersoras, cada uno tiene sus ventajas y sus desventajas y se debe saber cuál aspersora es mejor según su finca y cultivos.Por aspersión de herbicidas se entiende la distribución uniforme del producto sobre un área determinada, operación que se realiza por medio de una aspersora. Para la obtención de una aspersión uniforme, se requiere:1. Equipo de aspersión en buen estado 2. Calibración correcta 3. Operario con experiencia 4. Terreno bien preparado 5. Condiciones ambientales favorables 6. Conocer el producto a usarse, antes de aplicarlo.La cantidad de líquido a usarse varia si la aspersión se aplica al suelo en preemergencia, o sobre el follaje en postemergencia. Sin embargo, dentro de ciertos límites, la cantidad de agua aplicada por unidad de superficie no es de importancia crítica. Lo más importante es obtener una aspersión uniforme.La mayoría de herbicidas se aplican como líquidos, ya sea po¡' vos mojables (Pm) en suspensión, sales en solución o concentrados emulsionables (CE). Además, algunos herbicidas son formu• lados en gránulos, los cuales se aplican en seco. Cualquiera qu. sea el método de aplicación, es imprescindible una caiibraciáD exacta del equipo aspersor . La aplicación de herbicidas puede ser por vla terrestre o aérea de acuerdo con las necesidades y conveniencias del caso. A continuación se enumeran las ventajas y desventajas de aplicaciones terrestres y aéreas: Aplicaciones terl'eStl'eS Ventajas 1. Favorable en áreas no accesibles a la aplicación aérea. 2. Favorece el uso del herbicida que requiere incorporación inmediata con el suelo. 3 . Cuando el follaje es denso y se requiere cobertura total, es más efectiva la aplicación terrestre que la aérea especialmente, con herbicidas de contacto. 4. Facilita las aplicaciones en bandas. 5. Permite aplicaciones localizadas y dirigidas. 6. Presenta menos riesgo de perjuicio a cultivos cercanos o con• taminación de fuentes de agua. 7. La aplicación terrestre es menos afectada por viento o corrien.tes convencionales de alre cálido. 8. No hay limitaciones de herbicidas o mezclas debido a dosis altas y/o baja solubilidad. Desventajas 1. Requiere más tiempo en la apllcación. 2. Son susceptibles a condiciones adversas del ambiente, tal como humedad excesiva después de lluvias. 3. Necesitan ser aplicadas por operarios con buena experiencia. 4. En algunos cultivos extensos, como arroz bajo riego, la aplicación terrestre es limitada. 5. Requiere grandes cantidades de agua (150 a 400 litros por hectárea) . 6. Pueden causar daños m€c3.nicos al cultivo durante aplicaciones en postemergencia. 7. Aplicaciones con tractor causan compactación del suelo.Ventajas 1. Facilitan la aplicación de áreas extensas en poco tiempo. 2. Son preferibles en áreas accidentadas o con vegetación densa, en donde la aplicación terrestre se dificulta. 3. Requieren bajos volúmenes de agua (80 l/ha o menos). 4. Permite hacer aplicaciones oportunas ya. que las condiciones del suelo no son tan criticas como las requeridas para aplica.ciones terrestres.Desventajas 1. Los volúmenes excesivos de agua por hectárea pueden limitar su uso debido al costo de aplicación. Por otra parte, el volúmen de agua a usarse para herbicidas o mezclas de ellos está determinado por dosis altas y/o baja solubilidad. 2. El volúmen de agua requerido con herbicidas de contacto puede impedir su uso práctico por ser antieconómico. 3. No se adapta a la aplicación de herbicidas que requieren incorporación inmediata. 4. El área de aplicación debe estar libre de obstáculos, como cables de electricidad, árboles, postes de luz, casas o poblados. 5. Presentan mayor peligro a cultivos susceptibles cercanos. 6. Las aplicaciones aéreas son totales y no pueden ser localizadas. 7. Debido a la velocidad de aspersión y el volúmen bajo de agua empleado, los errores de calibración se amplifican. 8. La aplicación requlere \"bandereo\" (señalización de los campos que requieren aplicación).dado no proporciona una cobertura uniforme, mientras que un volumen superior exige llenar el tanque más frecuentemente. Una cantidad excesiva de agua se traduce en control deficiente, puesto que una vez humedecido el follaje, el exceso de líquido cae al suelo en donde no ejerce su acción.Tipos Y oomponentes de aspersoras terrestres Para que cualquier implemento de aplicación funcione y sea considerado como aspersora, debe llenar los siguientes requisitos: 1. La descarga del material debe ser uniforme y de fácil control. 2. El herbicida debe quedar uniformemente distribuidos sobre la superficie tratada. 3. La calibración debe ser tan fácil que permita la aplicación de dosis determinadas, bajo diferentes condiciones. 4. Su manejo debe ser sencillo, con facilidad para cargar y que permita un adecuado mantenimiento. Todo tipo de aspersora tiene los siguientes componentes: Tanque, fuente de presión y sistema de descarga.A continuación, se discutirán los distintos tipos de aspersoras, sus componentes, ventajas y desventajas.Existen diversos tipos de 8spersoras de espalda, las cuales difieren principaimente en su capaddad de mantener una presión constante. En las de presión permanente, la presión disminuye a medida que se realiza. la aplicación a menos de que tengan regulador. Las de palanca contienen adaptaciones, de tal manera que el operario mantiene la presión bombeando constantemente al hacer la aplicación. Este tipo de bombas tiene funcionamiento por intermedio de una cámara de aire que permite mantener una presión constante de 10 a 30 libras, la cual alimenta el resto del tanque sin ser afectado por la cantidad del Uquido que queda en el tanque.En general, las aspersoras de espalda de presión permanente tienen una capacidad de 5 a 20 litros; operan a una presión de 40 a 60 libras y deben ser llenadas a 3/4 de su capacidad para permitir suficiente presión en el tanque. Es importante, al terminar la aplicación, abrir cuidadosamente el tanque de la bomba pues es factible que todavfa permanezca liquido bajo presión. Las aplícaclones hechas con este tipo de bomba, generalmente, se rea-lIza.n a una velocidad de 2 a 4 kph de acuerdo al operario, topografia, tipo de aspersión y tamaño de la aspersora.La. uniformidad de la aspersión con bombas de espalda depende del:1. Operario 2 . Tipo de boquillas 3 . Topografía y condiciones del terreno 4. Presión. Ventajas 1 . Sencillez y facilidad de operación 2. Bajo costo 3. Mantenimiento sencillo 4 . Eficientes para aplicaciones localizadas 5. Pueden ser uaadas en lugares no accesibles a maquinaria agrícola 6 . Fáciles de transportar 7. Peligro mínimo de arrastre del liquido herbicida a cultivos vecinos susceptibles.1. Se dificulta el mantenimiento constante de la presión y requieren bombeo seguido. 2. La. calibración y la uniformidad de aplicación es más dificil debido a que influyen condiciones del ambiente y la topografia sobre el estado fisico y del empeño del operarlo en efectuar bien su labor. 3. No poseen sistemas de agitación 4. Su uso es lento y limitado a áreas pequeñas 5. Generalmente, se requieren altos volúmenes de agua, para ase.. gurar uns distribución uniforme 6. Cansan al operario, sobre todo si se utilizan bombas grandes 7. Hay más contacto directo entre el operario y el plaguicida, lo cual puede acarrear inconvenientes.Las aspersoras de espalda deben tener los siguientes componentes para asegurar su uso correcto:1. Filtro de tanque 2. Bomba o cámara de aire o de presión 3. Tanque 4. Regulador de presión 5. Llave de paso 6. Tubo o Ianaa de aspersión 7. Filtros y boquillas.Igualmente, se debe tener en cuenta el tamaño óptimo de la aspersora, de acuerdo al operario, ei nivel del terreno, la clase de aspersión, el área sembrada, la uniformidad deseada, etc. Realmente, no se justifica comprar bombas grandes si el operario se va a cansar en corto tiempo o si la topografía dificulta su opera_ ción. También, es de importancia que, al usar productos tóxicos, se proteja al operario y se limite el tiempo de aspersión por operario.El regulador de la presión debe ser ca paz de proveer una presión entre 20 y 60 libras (1,4 a 4,2 kilogramos). La manguera de descarga debe ser flexible y de suficiente longitud para que el operario pueda agilizar la operación. La lanza de aspersión no debe ser pesada pero sí fuerte. La llave de paso debe ser efectiva, de fácil operación y que permita controlar el goteo en la aspersión.Las boquillas deben tener filtros para evitar que se obstruya el orificio de las mismas. Para aplicaciones de polvos mojables se recomienda que el filtro sea de 50 mallas por pulgada. Cuando las boquillas tengan un orificio muy pequeño o cuando se aplica her. bicidas líquidos se recomiendan filtros de 100 mallas.Las aspersoras de espalda son de gran utilidad y en fincas en las cuales se usan exclusivamente, constituyen un buen complemento de otros tipos de equipo.Las aspersoras de tractor pueden ser de dos tipos: montadas en el tractor o arrastradas por dicho implemento.El Ilmite del volumen de agua, para aspersoras montadas, generalmente es de 400 litros, mientras que para las de arrastre, puede ser de mayor capacidad. Ambos tipos de aspersoras tienen los mismos componentes.El tractor empleado para la aspersión debe estar en buenas condiciones de funcionamiento. Debe mantener una velocidad adecuada y uniforme, entre 4 y 10 kph de acuerdo con las condiciones del terreno, al volumen de agua requerida por hectárea y al cultivo. Es preferible que tenga velocímetro, pero, si esto no es posible, se debe marcar bien la velocidad en el acelerador. En terrenos húmedos o muy pendientes, en donde las ruedas del tractor pierden tracción, este método no es adecuado y se requiere un velocímetro .  Velocidades menores de 4 kph resultan en un rendimiento ba. jo de aspersión, mientras que asperslones hechas a velocidades mayores de 10 kph resultan en aplicaciones desuniformes y en un mayor desgaste del equipo. El tanque de la aspersora debe ser construido con material no corroible, como acero inoxidable, vidrio reforzado, plástico o fibra de vidrio. No es recomendable el uso de tanques de madera debido a que absorben los herbicidas y son difíciles de limpiar. Por otra parte, los tanques de aluminio son satisfactorios para muchos tipos de materiales, pero no para productos corrosivos.El tanque debe tener dos orificios: uno superior, el cual debe ser grande y adecuado para poder llenarlo sin dificultad y otro, en el fondo, para las funciones de drenaje.El tamaño del tanque depende de los siguientes factores: 1. Capacidad del tractor 2. Tipo de montaje 3. Area de aspersión 4. Tamaño del aguilón 5. Longitud del campo 6. Volumen de aplicación por hectárea 7. Condiciones del terreno.A mayor tamaño del tanque, se requieren llantas más grandes, mejores condiciones del suelo, sistema de agitación adecuado y con la desventaja de que puede ocasionar mayor compactación del suelo.Respecto a la agitación, debe ser un sistema adecuado y funcional, puesto que una mala agitación produce \"zonas muertas\" en las cuales se puede presentar sedimentación del producto. Por el contrario, demasiada agitación (Ej. muy rápida o violenta) origina espuma excesiva debido a que tiende a incorporar aire en la solución. Si esto se convierte en un problema serio, se puede hacer lo siguiente: verifique por separado la compatlb1lldad del plagicida con el espumante (kerosene) y si resulta positivo, agregue medio litro de kerosene por cada 400 litros de solución. SI la cantidad de espuma se debe a exceso de surfactante éste será neutraliZado al tener que emulsificar al kerosene.Existen dos tipos de agitación: mecánica e hidráulica. La más aconsejable, es la agitación mecánica ya que mezcla mejor y en particular, es más efectiva para emulsiones con un alto porcentaje de aceites y para polvos mojables.Hay dos métodos de agitación mecánica: por paletas y por hélice. La agitación más común es la que se obtiene con paletas, las cuales tienen una extensión aproximada a la mitad de la longitud del tanque. Dichas paletas, adheridas a un eje horizontal, giran con éste. En cuanto a la agitación por hélice, ésta se coloca en el extremo inferior del tanque y allí realiza su movimiento de rotación.Otro tipo de agitación bastante común es el hidráulico. Este sistema consiste en hacer circular nuevamente el liquido antes de llegar al regulador de presión y después de pasar por la bomba. Esta nueva circulación se hace a través de la manguera de retorno, la cual debe llegar hasta el fondo del tanque y proveer así una buena agitación, sin formación de espuma. Este tipo de agitación requiere más enérgica y es importante la forma como está colocada la manguera de retorno, para obtener una buena agitación. Existen agitadores especiales para colocar al final del tubo de retorno, los cuales producen chorros de solución con presión que son más efectivos para mantener la suspensión que un chorro de poca presión.Existen dos tipos de mangueras: de succión y de retorno. Las de succión conducen el líquido del tanque al aguilón, pasando por la bomba, mientras que las de retorno sirven para conducir el exceso de líquido que conducen las mangueras de succión nuevamente al tanque. De esta manera, alivian el exceso de presión y crean agitación hidráulica. Generalmente, el material de las mangueras es de caucho o plástico y debe ser flexible y resistente a diferentes presiones y a la corrosión. Si se usan solventes orgánicos, se debe procurar que el contacto sea mínimo o poco prolongado.Estos dispositivos sirven para remover Impurezas que puedan causar desgaste excesivo a la bomba y obstruir las boquillas.En general, las aspersoras deben tener cuatro filtros: 1 . Filtro de tanque: filtra el agua al llenarse el tanque 2. Filtro de manguera de succión: filtra el agua entre el tanque y la bomba 3. Filtro de aguilón: tiltra el agua entre la bomba y el aguilón 4. Filtro de la boquilla: protege el orificio de la boquilla CUanto más pequeño sea el orificio, más pequeña debe ser la mana del filtro. En general, se usan filtros de 50 mallas y para las boquillas de orificios pequeños, filtros de 100 mallas. Cuando se trata de emulsiones y soluciones, se pueden usar filtros de 50 ó 100 mallas pero, para polvos mojables, se debe usar filtros de 50 mallas. Se debe procurar que todas las boquillas del aguilón teñgan el mismo tipo y tamaño del filtro.Puesto que los filtros protegen la aspersora, también exigen cuidado y limpieza oportunos. Uselos y limpielos debidamente.La bomba es el componente que crea la presión utilizada en la aspersión. Existen dos clases de bombas: de desplazamiento positivo (Ej. bombas de rOdillo) y de desplazamiento negativo o de succión (Ej. bombas centrífugas). En general, las bombas de desplazamiento positivo pueden ser accionadas por medio del tomafuerza del tractor, mientras que las de desplazamiento nega' tivo o de succión requieren propulsión por un motor Indepen. diente.Las bombas centrífugas crean presión debido a la alta velocidad desarrollada por el liquido que está sometido a la fuerza cen-trI fuga. Este tipo de bomba tiene la ventaja de ser barato y re• slstente a materiales abrasivos; además, debido a su capacidad de flujo, provee suficiente fuerza para agitación hidráulica. Entre sus desventajas se anotan las de requerir un motor (no opera con el tomafuerza) y altas velocidades. Este tipo de bomba debe instalarse en un nivel inferior al del tanque, para que el liquido llegue a ella por gravedad.Cuadro 5-2. Caracteristicas de las bombas. una descarga de 200 litros por hectárea con un aguilón de 8 metros, con cobertura sencilla y que viaja a una velocidad de 5 kph (cubre 4 ha/hora), la capacidad de descarga deberá ser de 800 litros/hora o 13 litros/minuto. A esto hay necesidad de agregarle de 4 a 12 litros para la agitación, obteniéndose así una capacidad final de la bomba para descargar de 17 a 25 litros/mino Al obtener la bomba se debe preferir una que descargue un poco más de lo deseado y as obtener: 1. Suficiente presión que asegure la uniformidad deseada 2. Agitación hidráulica adecuada 3. Compensación del bajo poder de la bomba ocasionado por el desgaste del uso.Es un implemento que indica la presión y es imprescindible para ajustar la presión en forma exacta. Debe estar localizado entre el regulador de presión y el aguilón, lo más cercano posible a éste y que pueda ser visto fácilmente por el operario. Se debe mantener siempre en buen estado de limpieza y de manteni. miento.Con este instrumento, se puede ajustar la presión a niveles constantes y uniformes. Los equipos para aspersiones con baja presión son menos costosos, reducen el desgaste y el acarreo por el viento y brindan la posibilidad de usar boquillas con orificio más grande y/o un mayor número de boquillas.Respecto a la aspersión, el tamaño de la gota está influencia. do por la presión, el tamaño del orificio de la boquilla, la orientación de las boquillas, las propiedades de la solución y las condiciones ambientales. Cuanto más alta sea la presión, las gotas de mayor tamaño serán de menor diámetro.En general, con boquillas tipo Tee. jet de abanico, se recomiendan presiones entre 20 y 40 libras por puigada cuadrada; presiones mayores o menores a estos límites pueden afectar el patrón del abanico. Las del tipo \"TK\" (Flood-jet) funcionan con presiones entre 10 y 20 lbs/pulg'.Esta llave regula la dirección del flujo, y la iniciación y terminación de la aspersión. Durante la aspersión, permite el flujo del tanque hacia las boquílIas y durante la succión (al término de la presión) permite el flujo del aguilón al tanque. Igualmente, evita el goteo al terminar la aspersión. Cuando el conjunto del aguilón está compuesto de varios aguilones en secciones es im. portante que la llave de paso pueda controlar las diferentes seco ciones individualmente. Varios modelos de llaves de paso tienen una sección para hacer las conexiones necesarias que facilitan realizar aplicaciones localizadas.Es la unidad que porta las boquillas y debe ser fuerte y su altura fácil de ajustar para obtener la cobertura deseada adaptándola al cultivo y a las malezas. El tamaño del aguilón depende del área de aspersión, topografía del terreno, tiempo disponible y cia• se de cultivo. Se recomienda que la longitud no exceda de 18 metros y que sea seccionado, con manejo independiente en la llave de paso y en un extremo, un tapón que faeilite su drenaje o descarga del liquido después de utilizado el aparato. Es de suma importancia que el aguilón se coloque a la altura recomendada, puesto que si es mayor la cantidad de liquido que se deba aplicar con la aspersión, éste será má.s susceptible al acarreo por el viento y a alcanzar una sobredosis, y si la cantidad es menor pueden quedar \"conejos\" (franjas sin aplicación del producto) debido a obstáculos del terreno.La altura del aguilón depende de:1. Cobertura deseada (sencilla o doble). 2. Distancia entre boquillas. SI se desea cobertura doble con un tipo de boqullia que está produciendo cobertura sencilla a una altura x, el aguilón se debe elevar a una altura de 2x. Si, con las mismas boquillas y el mismo aguilón, se puede duplicar el número de boquillas, la cobertura doble se obtiene sin cambiar la altura del agullón.En caso de que no sea posible ajustar la altura, se pueden cam• biar las boquillas por otras de diferentes ángulos. Por ejemplo, las siguientes boquillas, esparcidas a 50 cm en el aguilón, deben estar a las siguientes alturas para dar cobertura sencilla: La regla general para cambiar la cobertura de sencilla a doble, sin variar la altura, es cambiar el ángulo por uno que sea 1,5 veces más amplio; por ejemplo, si se tiene un ángulo de 80 grados y se desea obtener una cobertura doble, a la misma altura del aguilón, se debe usar una boquilla con un ángulo de 120 grados. Para evitar la aplicación de sobredosis se debe tener cuidado con las coberturas dobles al momento de la calibración. Las coberturas dobles cubren mejor el terreno y son ideales para aplicaciones de herbicidas al follaje y en particular, los de contacto.Las boquillas son de gran importancia ya que constituyen el último componente que controla la aspersión. SU función consiste en convertir el chorro de liquido a gotas de aspersión y distribuir éstas en el campo bajo un patrón de aspersión determinado.Existen diversos tipos de boquellas y las más comunes son: de cono sólido, de cono hueco, de abanico plano, de abanico unüoITne (evenspray) y otros para usos especiales (CUadro 5-3). Para la aplicación de herbicidas se usan boquellas de abanico, debido a que proporcionan una cobertura más uniforme y más fuerza de descarga del liquido que las de cono. Las boquillas de cono son mejores que las de abanico para la aplicación de herbicidas cuando el volumen por hectárea de líquido es menor de 30 litros.Cuadro 5-3 Tipos Y caracteristicas de algunas boqulHas. Al seleccionar las boquillas para su aspersora seleccione aquellas que descarguen un volumen de líquido adecuado por hectárea y a una presión adecuada, para evitar el desgaste innecesario del equipo. Recuerde que la descarga de agua también puede ser controlada regulando la distancia entre boquillas en el aguilón, la velocidad de aplicación y la presión.Las boquillas de abanico difieren entre si por el ángulO de aspersión y la capacidad de descarga o tamaño de orificio. A continuación, se presentan varios ejemplos de descarga de boquillas: Dos tipos de boquillas son: (A) las de abanico plano y (B) las de aplicación uniforme,La aspersión de las boquillas de abanico plano debe estar superpuesta, pero no las del tipo TK (Flood-jet).Las boquillas de aplicación uniforme producen una distribución del volumen más unlfonne, a través del ancho complejo del abanico. Este tipo de boquilla es especial para aplicaciones en bandas en las cuales no es necesario una sobreposición uniforme, mediante el uso de otra boquilla.Las boquillas especiales son boquillas de ángulos irregulares, las cuales permiten aplicaciones en cercas, taludes y \"hermas\".Las boquUlas más comunes, como las \"Tee-jet\", tienen números que designan su ángulo de aspersión y capacidad de descarga. Por ejemplo, boqui11as 8002•E indican que el ángulo de aspersión es de 80 grados y que la descarga de boquilla a 40lb/pulg 2 de pre. sión es de 0,2 galones por minuto. La letra \"E\" indica abanico uniforme (E:even). Asi mismo, una boquUla TK-5 corresponde a una descarga de 0,5 gal/min pero no a 40 lb presión sino a 10 lb! pulg'.El tamaño de gota de la aspersión puede ser controlado de di. ferentes maneras:1. Cambiando el tamaño de 108 orificios 2. Ajustando la presión.Para cambiar el tamaño de la gota, es peferible cambiar el tamaño del orificio que la presión, puesto que para reducir el tamaño de la gota en un 50 por ciento se necesita reducir la presión cuatro veces.Siempre se debe iniciar la temporada de aspersión con boqui. llas nuevas y cambiarlas después de que cada boquilla haya rociado 200 hectáreas. Las boquillas pueden ser de acero inoxidable, aleacIón cobre estaño (brass), de nylon, o de aluminio. Las más comunes son de aleación cobre estaño.Cuando se emplean polvos mojables, el flujo de este tipo de boquillas pueden aumentar en un 20 por ciento a 48 horas de uso; lo más importante es que el patrón de aspersión puede cambiar sin crlterlo de uniformidad.En conclusión, conociendo bien todos los componentes de su aspersora se facilitará su uso, calibración y mantenimiento, obteniendo así mayores ventajas de su equipo.Antes de usar la aspersora, ésta se debe lavar cuidadosamente para desalojar polvo o basura que se haya acumulado en el tanque, las mangueras, el aguilón y las boquUlas. Lave todas las boquillas y filtros, primero con una solución con detergente y luego, con kerosene, usando un cepillo de dientes. Después de usar la aspersora lávela bien para eliminar los residuos que puedan deteriorada por su acción corriva; o por su toxicidad a otros cultivos.Para lavar las aspersoras que han aplicado herbicidas de fOfmulación, polvo moJable o líquidos no hormonales, llene el tanque de la aspersora con agua y agregue detergente al 0,5 por ciento. Después, circule la solución por todos los componentes de la aspersora, tanque, mangueras, boquillas, etc., y luego de descargar la solucl6n de la aspersora, llénela con agua y sin dejar salIr la solución hágala circular manteniendo la agitación durante 15 minutos. Luego, enjuague la aspersora con agua.Para el lavado de aspersoras en las cuales se han utilizado herbici das hormonales (2,4-0; 2,4,5-T) llene el tanque con agua y agregue amoníaco, acetona o alcohol etílico, en la proporción de una parte de solvente por 50 partes de agua. Termine de 11enar el tanque y haga circular la solución por la manguera de retomo permitiendo salir un poco de l!quido por las boquillas. Luego, apa.gue el motor y deje que la solución permanezca en el sistema durante la noche; al d1a siguiente, haga circular toda la solución por las boquUlas. Luego, llene el tanque con agua haciéndola pasar por el aguilón sin boquilla ni filtros. Esta ú! tima operación se debe hacer dos o tres veces consecutivas.Al.ntacenamiento de aspersoras 1. Lave la aspersora por dentro y por fuera con detergente y con un poco de ace! te fino. 2. Desconecte las mangueras y guárdelas en un lugar limpio y freseo (ventilado). No las doble. 3. Asegúrese de que no quede liquido en el tanque, las mangueras, la bomba, los filtros o el aguilón. 4. Desarme las boquUlas, límpielas y guárdelas.Juan Cárdenas ** Carlos Romero, Darío Vargas *** Un control químico efectivo de malezas depende de la apllcación de una cantidad exacta de herbicida por unidad de supeffi. cie. La aplicación de dosis bajas del herbicida resultan en un control de malezas deficiente; se pierde la inversión y parte del rendimiento debido a la competencia de las malezas o se incrementa el costo de producción al ser necesario hacer un segundo control. Una dosis excesiva, superior a la recomendada, causa daños severos al cultivo, ocasiona pérdidas económicas por los altos pre. cios de los herbicidas al no obtenerse mayores beneficios de control, aumenta la posibilidad de acumulación de residuos tóxicos hacia otros cultivos de rotación y, en algunos casos -eomo en los de productos hormonales (2,4-D)-la efectividad del herbicida se puede ver reducida al causar la muerte inmediata de los tejidos con los cuales entra en contacto y así, evitar su translocaclón o movimiento hacia las raíces u otros órganos dí': la planta.El refrán popular \"si un poco es bueno, un poco más será mejor\" no es aplicable en cuanto al uso de los herbicidas y por lo tanto, es ímportante recordar que para el problema específico de las malezas en su cultivo se debe usar el herbicida apropiado en la dosis correcta y en la forma más adecuada.Más del 80 por ciento de las fallas en la efectividad de los herbicidas se debe a una aplicación deficiente del producto. Para evitar fallas de los herbicidas, por una aplicación deficiente, siga las recomendaciones sobre calibración de aspersoras mencionadas a continuación . La calibración correcta de la¡¡ aspersoras es de vital importancia para evitar problemas de control deficiente o daño al cultivo. Por calibración se entiende el ajuste correcto del equipo de aspersión para regular la descarga del herbicida a un nivel constante, uniforme y a un volumen deseado.Para regular la descarga de una aspersora, se pueden modio ficar:La velocidad de aspersión La descarga por unidad de superficie es proporcionalmente in. versa a la velocidad a que se realiza la aspersión (Cuadro 6.1).El nÚlnero de boquillas y la distancia entre éstas Un aguilón con boquillas espaciadas a 50 centímetros puede tener una descarga de 250 litrosjhectárea, mientras que el mismo aguilón con boquillas del mismo tamaño espaciadas a 25 centímetros, tendrá una descarga de 500 litros/hectárea cuando la pre. sión y velocidad son constantes.El tamaño del orificio de la boquilla Cuando se desea hacer un cambio grande en la descarga, se deben cambiar la¡¡ boquelIas al tamaño indicado (Cuadro 6.2).Aunque la descarga no es directamente proporcional a la presión (Cuadro 6-2), al aumentar la presión se aumenta la descarga. Cuando se requieren cambios relativamente menores en la descarga, será suficiente cambiar la presión.Para cambios grandes, es más fácil ajustar la descarga caro-Cuadro Para calibrar aspersoras terrestres se deben observar las si• guientes indicaciones:1. Lnície cada época de aplicación con boquillas nuevas. Las boquillas viejas pueden presentar problemas de irregularidad de descarga por medio de desgaste no uniforme del orificio de las boquillas. En general, cambie las boquillas después de asperjar 200 hectáreas, sobre todo si se están aplicando polvos mojables (Fig. 6.1).2. Todas las boquillas deben ser del mismo número y sus fiI. tros deben tener igual cantidad de mallas.  4. Aunque las boquillas nuevas están calibradas en la fábrica para descargar cierto volumen de agua bajo presiones específicas, este dato es relativo ya que ha sido determinado con agua y no con soluciones de herbicidas. Tome ese dato como un indice y compruebe la descarga de cada boquilla individualmente usando la solución o caldo que se va a aplicar.Coloque un frasco debajo de cada boquilla y mida la descarga de cada una, durante un minuto. La variación de descarga debe ser menor del 15 por ciento con relación al promedio de descarga de todas las boquillas. Si alguna boquilla está aplicando 15 por ciento menos o más del promedio de las demás, ésta debe ser cam• biada antes de hacer la calibración. Si la descarga de las boqui. llas no es uniforme, revise la malla y el orificio de la boquilla para determinar si están obstruidas.5. Calibre la aspersora sobre el terreno de aplicación. Al cam• biar de un terreno a otro diferente, calibre nuevamente. La velo• cidad de aspersión puede cambiar debido a condiciones diferentes del terreno. En terreno firme, la velocidad de aspersión es más uniforme que en terrenos muy arenosos o húmedos.6. Nunca limpie los orificios de las boquillas con objetos du• ros como alambres, destornilladores, clavos, etc. Limpielas con un cepillo utilizando agua o gasolina.7. Cerciórese de que la aspersora está en perfectas condiciones. Revise el equipo de aspersión, minimo 30 días antes de su uso, para pOder efectuar cualquier cambio o ajuste y para poder conseguir los repuestos necesarios.8. Cuando se aplican polvos mojables, use filtros de 50 mallas. Para aplicaciones de soluciones o emulsiones, utilice filtros de 50 ó 100 mallas. 9. Compruebe que el operario tenga experiencia. 10. Al terminar la aspersión, no deje la solución en el tanque, sobre todo si son suspensiones de polvos mojables los cuales se se. dimentan, obstruyendo mangueras, filtros y boquillas. Lave la aspersora con una solución de jabón y enjuague varías veces con agua. De preferencia no use aspersoras con las cuales se han em• pleado productos hormonales (como el 2,4-D) para hacer aplica.. ciones en cultivos susceptibles a dichos productos. Si se han apli. cado productos hormonales, lave la aspersora tres o cuatro veces con una solución de amoIÚaco y enjuáguela con jabón y agua pare. evitar daño a otros cultivos.La calibración de aspersoras de espalda es relativamente sencilla, siempre y cuando se tomen en cuenta las siguientes regIas:• Para usar aspersoras de espalda, es necesario calibrar tanto Ia aspersora como al operario.La aspersora y el operario deben calibrarse por lo menos dos veces diarias. Aspersiones prolongadas realizadas por el mismo operario 10 fatigan, causando una baja en su eficiencia y como consecuencia, una alteración en la calibración. Al cambiar de operario, la calibración se debe efectuar nuevamente.• Compre únicamente aspersoras que tengan regulador de presión y manómetro.Es imprescindible mantener una presión constante durante Ia aspersión, ya que este factor determina la uniformidad de la aplicación. Esto se puede obtener por medio de un regulador de presión colocado entre el tanque y la manguera de salida, ya sea bombeando inicIaimente a una presión por encima de la presión de aspersión o manteniendo la presión promedio de bombeo constante. Los efectos de tiempo de aspersión sobre la descarga se presentan en el Cuadro 6-3. Con base en lo anterior, calibre las aspersoras de espalda de la siguiente manera:1. Marque un área de 100 metros sobre el terreno donde se va a realizar la aplicación.2. Determine el ancho de cobertura del aguilón, de acuerdo con el tipo y número de boquillas y su altura sobre el suelo.3. IJene la aspersora con un volumen determinado de agua. 4. Accione la bomba hasta obtener la presión deseada.5. Haga una aplicación con agua manteniendo una presión constante y a un paso normal sobre el terreno en que se va a efec. tuar la aplicación.6. Determine el agua que se requiere para llenar la aspersora hasta el nivel inicial y obtenga asi la cantidad utilizada.7. Repita esta operación tres veces y obtenga un promedio.8. Calcule la cantidad de agua necesaria para una hectárea por medio de la siguiente fórmula:(Agua utilizada en litros) x (10.000 ID' /ha) ATea aplicada en m 1 = litros/hectárea Ejemplo: una aplicación en 100 m 2 gasta 3,0 litros.(3.0) x (10.000) -----= 300 litros/hectárea 100 Calibraeión de aspersoras de traetor La calibración de aspersoras de tractor se hace, en principio, de la misma manera que se hace la calibración de aspersoras de espalda. Aunque la calibración del operario no es crítica con este tipo de aspersora, sí se requiere un operarlo con experiencia que conozca bien el equipo, el cultivo, las malezas, el herbicida y los factores que afectan la aplicación de los herbicidas. La calibra. ción se hace con una de las siguientes formas: Método A 1. Llene el tanque de la aspersora con agua. 2. Regule la presIón entre 20 y 40 libras por pulgada cuadrada (1,4 a 2,8 kg/cm 2 ). Si la. aspersora. no tiene manómetro, empiece la aspersión con una presión baja y vaya aumentándola hasta que los abanfco¡¡ de aspersión se crucen. Esta recomendación es sólo para uso en casos de emergencia. Toda aspersora debe tener un manómetro en buenas condiciones.3. Sobre el terreno donde se va a hacer la aplicación, ajuste la velocidad del tractor entre 4 y 10 kmjhora y fije una marca en el acelerador.4. Determine el tiempo que gasta el tractor en recorrer 100 metros. Repltase varias v€Ces y promedie. S. Fije la altura apropiada del aguilón para que moje uniformemente. Mida el ancho de cobertura del aguilón. Nótese que el ancho de cobertura es más largo que el ancho del aguilón.6. Con el tractor parado, cerciórese de que la descarga de las boquillas sea uniforme. Coloque un recipiente debajo de cada boquilla y mida la descarga de cada una en litros durante el mismo tiempo que tomó el tractor en recorrer los 100 metros.7. De acuerdo con la cantidad de agua descargada por el aguilón y en el área cubierta en una pasada de 100 metros del tractor, calcule la descarga de la aspersora en litros por hectárea, con la siguiente fórmula:(Descarga del aguilón en litros) x (10.000 mil/ha) ----------------= litros/hectárea Area cubierta por la aspersora en m?Ejemplo:Cobertura del aguilón: 11 metros Descarga por boquilla: 1,5 litros Descarga del aguilón de 12 boquillas: 18 litros Area cubierta por la aspersora: 6 m x 100 m = 600 m' (18 litros) x (10.000 m'/ba) 300 litros/hectárea 600 m' Método B1. Llene el tanque con agua (las mangueras y el aguilón tamo bién deben quedar llenos).2. Regule la presión entre 20 y 40 libras por pulgada cuadrada(1,4 a 2,8 kg¡cm 2 ).3. Determine la altura adecuada. del aguilón y mida la. longitud de cobertura. . 4. Regule la velocidad del tractor entre 4 y 10 km/hora de acuerdo a las condiciones del terreno en el cual se va a hacer la aplicación y haga una marca fija en el acelerador del tractor.5. Determine la. cantidad de agua descargada sobre un trayec. to de 500 metros llenando el tanque de la aspersora con agua hasta el nivel inicial o midiendo la cantidad de agua en el tanque. 6 Calcule la cantidad de agua utilizada por hectárea usando la siguiente fórmula :(Descarga en litros) x (10.000 m'/ha) = litros/hectárea Area cubierta por la aspersión en m 2 Ejemplo: una aspersora aplicó 50 litros de agua en una distancia de 500 metros. El ancho de aspersión del aguilón fue de 5 metros:La calibración para este tipo de aspersión es igual a la calibración para aplicaciones totales con la excepción de que, cuando se considera el área sobre la cual se va a hacer la aspersión, se debe tener en cuenta el ancho de la banda. La distancla entre boquillas y lO la altura del aguilón se modifican para este tipo de aspersión.Use uno de los métodos presentados anteriormente para determinar la descarga en litros por hectárea. La única diferencla es que se deben hacer los cálculos con base en el área efectiva cubierta (las bandas) .Ejemplo: Si se usa el método A de calibración de aspersoras terrestres y se requiere una. banda de 33 eentimetros sobre el surco en un cultivo que tiene una distancia de un metro entre surcos. Cobertura total del aguilón: 6 metros (6 surcos) Descarga por boquilla en 100 metros 1,0 litro Descarga del aguilón de 6 boquillas: 6 litros en 100 metros Area efectiva de aspersión: Una vez realizada la calibración con base en la descarga de la. aspersora en litros por hectárea, calcule la. cantidad exacta del agua y del herbicida que se debe añadir al tanque.Ejemplo: Capacidad del tanque: 600 litros Area de aspersión: 1,5 hectáreas Descarga de la aspersora: 300 litros/hectárea Dosis del herbicida: 2 kg/ha Para aplicación total a) Llene el tanque con 450 litros de agua (300 x 1,5). b) Con el sistema de agitación funcionando en el tanque de la aspersora, añada tres kilogramos del herbicida (2 x 1,5) .Para aplicación en banda (banda de 33 cm sobre surcos de 1 m): 33 a. Llénese el tanque con 150 litros de agua (--x 1,5 x 300) 100 b. Con el sistema de agitación funcionando en el tanque de la 33 aspersora, añada un kilogramo de herbicida (--x 1,5 x 2) 100No se hagan aspersiones cuando hay viento excesivo (mayor de 12 a 15 km/hora) o cuando la dirección del viento está orientada hacia cultivos susceptibles. La persona que realiza la aplicación es responsable de cualquier daño ocasionado por acarreo por viento de materiales herbicidas. Conviene recordar esta responsabilidad que tiene quien aplica herbicidas para evitar demandas posteriores.Siga las normas menctonadas para la. calibración de asperso. ras y evite problemas debido a aplicaciones incorrectas.Juan Cárdenas\" Frank S. Davis ** Jerry Doll *** Desde la introducción del herbicida 2,4-D durante la segunda guerra mundial, los herbicidas selectivos han aumentado considerablemente en número y grado de selectividad. Ejemplos de herbicidas altamente selectivos son el trialate y el barban, los cuales poseen selectividad a un grado tan refinado que controlan la ave• na silvestre (Avena fatua) en trigo y cebada sin afectar al cultivo, En el desarrollo de insecticidas y fungicidas para protección de plantas, la selectividad es más fácil de obtener que con herbicidas debido a que las diferencias anatómicas, morfológicas y fisiológicas -entre insectos y plantas y entre patógenos y plantas-son mucho más pronunciadas que las diferencias entre plantas.A medida que la ciencia del control de malezas se ha desarrollado, la necesidad de herbicidas altamente selectivos hacia cultivos especlficos se ha incrementado. Para poder hacer uso de las propiedades selectivas de los herbicidas, es necesario conocer a fondo los factores que controlan el grado de selectividad.Es importante entender que selectividad es un término relati• vo, ya que todos los herbicidas selectivos pueden perder dicha propiedad a dosis altas y/o bajo ciertas condiciones. As! por ejemplo, es universalmente conocido que el 2,4-D se utiliza para el control de malezas de hoja ancha en malz. Sin embargo, dosis excesivas (más de 2 kilogramos de ingrediente activo por hectárea en post. emergencia y cuando el maíz tiene más de 15 centímetros de al. tura y está creciendo activamente), pueden causar daños severos en el cultivo. De lo anterior se desprende la definición de herbi- cidas selectivos como aquellos que, a. ciertas dosis y bajo ciertas condiciones, afectan el crecimiento de algunas plantas y no de otras. Para que un herbicida pueda ejercer su acción fitotóxica, es necesario que ocurra lo siguiente: l. Contacto con la planta 2. Penetración dentro de la planta 3. Movilización al sitio de acción tóxica 4. Ejercer acción tóxica afectando procesos vitales.Con base en estas exigencias. la selectividad de 108 herbicidas se puede regular controlando la cantidad del herbicida que entra en contacto con la planta y controlando parcialmente el grado y la tasa de penetración del herbicida. por medio de aditivos. como surfactantes o aceites. Depende del tipo de planta la cantidad y velocidad de penetración del herbicida. su movilización al sitio de acción tóxica y su capacidad de resistir la acción del herbicida sobre los procesos vitales.Para que el herbicida. pueda. llegar a ejercer su acción tóxica sobre una planta. éste debe sobrepasar una serie de obstáculos (Figura 7-1). Conociendo estas limitaciones, en muchos casos, se puede controlar la selectividad de los herbicidas. Estos obstáculos o facto. res que afectan la selectividad, se pueden clasificar de la siguiente manera: físicos y mecánicos, ambientales, anatómicos y morfo. lógicos, y fisiológicos y bioquímicos, A. Factores físicos y mecánioos Se denominan así porque la selectividad se puede controlar manipulando el herbicida o su forma de aplicación, Para manipular estos factores con habilidad se requieren conocimientos del cultivo, de las malezas, del suelo y del herbicida, Además, se necesitan implementos adecuados para su aplicación. Se obtiene selectividad fisica o mecánica con aplicaciones dirigidas, aplicaciones loca. lizadas, incorporación y colocación de herbicidas, controlando la épOCa de aplicación con relación a la emergencia del cultivo y lo de las malezas, variando la formulación del herbicida y de acuer• do con las propiedades del suelo.Son aquellas hechas en postemergencia a las malezas evitando al máximo el contacto de la solución herbicida con el cultivo (Figura 7.2) .Por ejemplo, la aplicación postemergente de norea + MSMA * para el control de malezas en algodón se debe hacer en forma di. rigida, ya que si la solución herbicida entra en contacto con el cultivo, éste puede ser afectado severamente. * Herban ~ M.Denominada asi porque la aplicación del herbicida se hace en forma directa e individual sobre plantas indeseables evitando el contacto de la solución herbicida con las plantas deseables. Ejemplos de este tipo de apllcaciones son las aplicaciones localizadas de dalapon para controlar gramíneas indeseables en potreros de gramíneas deseables.Por estos métodos se distribuye el herbicida por debajo de la superficie del suelo, de tal manera que el herbicida esté en contacto íntimo con las malezas y no con el cultivo (Figura 7-3). Figura 7-3, Ejemplos de la ülCorporación 'Y colocación. de herbicidas en ~l suelo, La incorporación de herbicidas consiste en aplicar el herbicida sobre la superficie y luego se lo incorpora mecánicamente en el suelo. Un ejemplo es trifluralína en cultivos como algodón, frijol y soya. Este herbicida debe ser incorporado después de su aplicación para evitar su pérdida por fotodecomposiclón o volatilidad y para hacerlo llegar a la zona en donde germinan las malezas. Otro ejemplo de un producto incorporado es trialate (en trigo). La incorporación inmediata es necesaria porque este producto es altamente volátil. La efectividad, en estos casos, se obtiene haciendo la incorporación a una cierta profundidad y la siembra a una profundidad mayor (Figura 7-4).La colocación de herbicidas difiere de la incorporación de herbieldas en que el herbicida no es aplicado sobre la superficie del suelo sino que, con implementos especlales, se a.pllca. por debajo de la superficie del suelo y no requiere incorporación mecánica puesto que se distribuye por difusión. Un ejemplo es el vernolate, un herbicida selectivo para el control de gramíneas y coquito (Cyperus rotundus) en soya y frijol. Cuando se emplean herbicidas incorporados o coloeados se debe tener en cuenta el efecto de la profundidad de siembra con relación a la selectividad del herbicida hacia el cultivo. En algunos casos, es necesario sembrar por debajo de la zona en la cual se distribuye el herbicida mientras que en otros no lo es.La selectividad se obtiene cuando se considera el estado de crecimiento en el cual un herbicida no es tóxico para el cultivo. La aplicación del herbicida se efectúa antes o después de la germinación del cultivo o las malezas. En aplicaciones postemergentes, el grado de selectividad o de control varia con el estado de crecimiento de las malezas. En general, cuanto más pequeñas sean las malezas, más susceptibles son a los herbicidas. Cuando las malezas tienen menos de 5 centímetros de altura son tiernas, mientras que al desarrollarse, se vuelven más resistentes debido a la formación de capas cerosas en las hcjas y al desarrollo de un sistema radicular más profundo.La mayoría de los herbicidas selectivos tienen solo actividad preemergente o postemergente pero existen otros que tienen, tanto actividad preemergente como postemergente, hacia ciertas plantas.Las aplicaciones preemergentes a las malezas y al cultivo son muy comunes y se basan en la resistencia al herbicida de las semillas y las plántulas del cultivo y a la susceptibilidad de las malezas que germinan.En aplicaciones preemergentes al cultivo y postemergente a. las malezas, se pueden utilízar herbicidas no selectivos como el glifo-sato o paraquat. Este tipo de aplicación es factible en lugares en los cuales se ha preparado el terreno pero la siembra se ha demorado, permitiendo así que las malezas germinen antes que el cultlvo. En terrenos donde abunda el arroz rojo, es posible reducir la población de dicha maleza con este tipo de aplicación. Después de la preparación del terreno, se puede realizar un riego para in• duclr la germinación e inmediatamente se siembra el cultivo.Las aplicaciones basadas en épocas de aplicación se presentan en el Cuadro 7-1. Se pueden hacer aplicaciones preemergentes al cultivo y preemergentes ° postemergentes a las malezas, con herbicidas que actúan en pre y postemergencia. Tal es el caso del DNBP en trigo, el cual ejerce un efecto preemergente y postemer-Cuadro 7-1 Selectividad basada en la época de aplicación del herbicida.Tratamiento Las aplicaciones postemer.gentes al cultivo y preemergentes a las malezas, son de dos tipos. Las aplicaciones pueden ser dirigidas al suelo, como en el caso de diurón en algodón. También, pueden ser aplicaciones de herbicidas granulados preemergentes (alacior en soya) .Las aplicaciones posternergentes al cultivo y a las malezas pueden ser dirigidas, como es el caso del diurón + surfactante y el de norea + MSMA en algodón o más comúnmente, sobre el cultivo y las malezas, como el 2,4-0 en postemergencia en maíz o el uso de propanil en arroz.Recientemente, la atrazina más aceite agrícola no fitotólÓCO se ha empleado con mucho éxito para el control postemergente de malezas en maíz. Este tratamiento, además de ejercer control postemergente, permite control residual posterior preemergente.Las aplicaciones hechas durante la latencia de un cultivo son selectivas debido a que el efecto de algunos herbicidas ocurre principalmente cuando éstos se encuentran en periodos de crecimlento activo. Por ejemplo, el 2,4-0 es mucho más eficaz en dosis bajas en clima caliente que en clima frío, debido a la rata de ereclmlento de las plantas. En clima caliente, el 2,4-0 es mucho más efectivo durante épocas de lluvia que durante épocas de sequía intensa. La alfalfa presenta periodos de latencia durante épocas de sequía, de temperaturas bajas o en épocas post-corte. En este período de latencia, es posible utilizar herbicidas como la si.mazina, la cual es tóxica a la alfalfa cuando está en período de crecimiento activo.La formulación del herbicida es la manera en que el ingrediente activo viene preparado en forma comercial. Los herbicidas pueden ser formulados como soluciones, concentrados emuIsionables, polvos mojables o solubles y granulados.En el caso de herbicidas con estructura básica de ácidos, éstos pueden ser formulados en solución como sales y aminas, o como ésteres concentrados. La manera como los herbicidas están formulados afecta su grado de actividad y en consecuencia, también su grado de selectividad.Un caso especlal es el 2,4-D cuyas formulaciones ésteres son más activas y menos selectivas que la formulación a.mina. En maíz, por ejemplo, la formulación amina causa daños aplicada en postemergencia cuando el maíz tiene más de 15 centímetros de al• tura, mientras que la formulación éster puede causar daños severos al maíz cuando éste tiene más de 10 centímetros de altura. En general, los herbicidas formulados como ésteres penetran más rápido en los órganos aéreos los cuales tienen cutícula y capas cerosas que las formulaciones aminas.Al comparar formulaciones liquidas y granulares, la diferencia en selectividad se manifiesta principalmente cuando la aplicación es postemergente al cultivo. Si el herbicida se aplica en forma líquida éste es retenido por el follaje del cultivo, al cual puede ocasionar daños. Si el herbicida se aplica en forma granular, los gránulos no son retenidos por el follaje, cayendo hasta la superficie del suelo. Aparte de obtener una mayor selectividad, sí se desea hacer una aplicación postemergente al cultivo y preemergente a las malezas, el uso de herbicidas granulados en postemergencia permite una distribución más efectiva sobre la superficie del suelo que las formulaciones liquidas.La actividad de los herbicidas aplicados al suelo como preemergentes o en presiembra e incorporados o colocados en el suelo se afecta por las características físicas y químicas del suelo, Una de las características más importantes de los suelos, con relación a la selectividad de herbicidas es su capacidad de adsorción. La capacidad de adsorción del suelo determina la cantidad de herbicida en forma disponible y además, afecta el grado de su lixiviación. La selectividad depende de la interacción entre los siguientes factores: .1. Capacidad de adsorción a. Textura b. Materia orgánica 2. Propiedades físico-químicas del herbicida 3. Precipitación.Cuanto mayor sea la capacidad de adsorción del suelo mayor será la dosis de herbicida requerida y menor el riesgo de daño a la semilla del cultivo. Esta capacidad depende de la textura y del contenido de la materia orgánica del suelo. Suelos arcillosos (suelos pesados) y de alto contenido de materia orgánica requieren dosis altas de herbicidas. Suelos arenosos (suelos livianos) y de bajo contenido de materia orgánica, requieren dosis más bajas de herbicidas para un control efectivo y evitar daño al cultivo.Las propiedades físico-qulmicas del herbicida influyen en la susceptibilidad de adsorción' de los herbicidas. En general, cuanto más solubles sean los herbicidas, menor será la adsorción en el suelo (Cuadro '1-2).Estas diferencias en\" los propiedades fíSico-químicas de herbicidas influyen en el grado de selectividad de los herbicidas.En general, se pueden usar dosis mayores y herbicidas más solubles en suelos pesados (alto contenido de arcilla) y en áreas de lluvia escasa o moderada, mientras que en suelos livianos con poca materia orgánica y en áreas de alta precipitación, se requieren dosis bajas y herbicidas de baja solubilidad para obtener un buen control oe malezas y disminuir el peligro de fitotOlÚCidad al cultivo. Los factores ambientales que influyen en el grado de selectividad de un herbicida son: temperatura, agua disponible, humedad relativa y luz. Estos factores y la interacción de ellos influyen en la selectividad de un herbicida debido a su efecto directo sobre el herbicida y su efecto sobre la morfologla y fisiología de la planta.l. Efecto de temperatura Dentro de ciertos límites, a medida que aumenta la temperatura del ambiente y del suelo, mayor será la rata de crecimiento de las plantas y mayor será la actividad del herbicida. Por debajo del limite, el herbicida pierde actividad mientras que por encima del limite, se aumenta su actividad y este aumento puede reducir su selectividad.El efecto de temperatura sobre la actividad de un herbicida depende de las propiedades físico-químicas del herbicida. Los herbicidas de alta vOlatllldad, aplicados en cultivos en forma dirigida, pueden causar daños a temperaturas elevadas. Es el caso de formulaciones de 2,4-D éster que pueden causar más daño a cultivos de trigo o maíz que las aplicaciones de 2,4-D amma cuando hay temperaturas elevadas durante la aplicación y después de ella. Esto se debe a la mayor actividad de la formulación éster a temperaturas elevadas y a una tasa de crecimiento mayor de las plantas. El 2,4-D Y otros herbicidas hormonales pueden perder su selectividad hacia cultivos como trígo y maíz cuando éstos se encuentran en la etapa de desarrollo rápido. Esto se debe a la susceptibllldad de tejidos activos o meristemáticos a estos productos. En el caso del maíz, el efecto es sobre los meristemas en Jos nudos. Cuando éstos son afectados, causan la caída del maíz y en consecuencia los nudos afectados permanecen en condiciones frágiles durante el desarro:lo del cultivo. Con nudos frágiles, el maíz es susceptible a volcamiento excesivo cuando ocurren ventarrones. En trigo, el efecto se manifiesta como \"aplastamiento\" cuando la apllcación se haee antes del macollamiento del cultivo y cuando se realiza después del macol!amiento completo, el daño se manifiesta en deformación de las espigas.Por otra parte, también puede ocurrir pérdida de selectividad con temperaturas muy bajas. Por ejemplo, en el caso de que la selectividad del herbicia se base en su metabolismo dentro de la planta, con temperaturas bajas, la detoxificación del herbicla po dria ser demasiado lenta y como resultado, el cultivo pocIria ser afectado.Un ejemplo del efecto de la temperatura sobre el grado de se. lectividad de un herbicida hacia un cultivo, es el de lmuron en trigo. En clima frío, el linuron es un herbicida recomendado para control de malezas en trigo. El grado de selectividad es bastante amplio. Sin embargo, este mismo producto en la misma dosis y el mismo cultivo, en clima caliente (Valles de Cauca y Tolima, en Colombia) pierde toda su selectividad llegando a causar del 80 al 100 por ciento de mortalidad del trigo.El agua influye de diversas maneras en el grado de seJ.ectividad de un herbicida. Por ejemplo, la interacción de solubilidad de un herbicida, su capacidad de ser adsorbido en el suelo, la cantidad e intensidad de la precipitación y la textura del suelo en una región, son factores importantes; así, en regiones de baja precipitación, la selectividad es posible con herbicidas solubles. En regiones de precipitación elevada, la selectividad se puede obtener con herbicidas de baja solubilidad. herbicida hacia la planta, desde el punto de vista del contacto del herbicida con la planta, su penetración y eventual transloca. ción o movimiento hacia el si tia de acción tóxica.Los factores morfológicos de mayor importancia que influyen en la retención y penetración de un herbicida son: forma de la planta, posición de la hoja y área foliar, pubescencia, depósito de cera y/o cutícula en las hojas y distribución del sistema radicular.La forma de la planta (erecta o postrada), la posición de las hojas y el área foliar, influYE'n en la cantidad de herbicida interceptado y retenido durante la aspersión en postemergencia. Plantas postradas con hojas anchas en posición horiz~mtal y con un área foliar abundante (ejemplo: batatilla, Ipomoea spp.) interceptan y retienen una mayor cantidad del herbicida que plantas erectas, con hojas angostas en posición vertical y de área foliar reducida.La presencia o ausencia de pubescencia en los órganos aéreos de la planta influyen considerablemente en el grado de selectividad de un herbicida. Este factor influye en la cantidad de la solución herbicida que entra en contacto direct.o con la superficie de la planta. Cuanto mayor sea la pubescencia, menor será el con tacto íntimo entre las gotas de la solución herbicida y la superficie foliar.La superficie foliar está cubierta por una capa cerosa y por la cutícula. Estas capas constituyen un obstáculo a la penetración del herbicida y varían en sus caracteristicas y espesor, de acuerdo a la especie de la planta y al estado de crecimiento de la misma.De los factores anatómicos, la posición de los meristemas terminales y laterales y la distribución del sistema vascular son los más importantes. La posición del meristema terminal o la presen• cia de meristemas secundarios o laterales influyen en el grado de selectividad de un herbicida. Las gramíneas, por ejemplo, tienen un meristema secundario en la base de la hoja y en los nudos. Las plantas dlcotiledoneas contienen un meristema contiuno lateral a lo largo del tallo (cambio); como estos meristemas son zonas activas de crecimiento, tienden a acumular sustancias. En el caso de las plantas gramineas, las sustancias se acumulan en estas zonas y únicamente permiten el paso de cantidades limitadas de herbicidas. De esta manera, únicamente uno o dos meristemas secundarios son afectados y el meristema terminal no está expuesto al herbicida.Las dicotiledoneas O plantas de \"hoja ancha\" no contienen dichos \"nudos\" o meristemas secundarios sino que contienen el cambio o meristema lateral continuo) a lo largo del tallo. Estos no constituyen una barrera fisica al movimieuto del herbicida. Este tipo de plantas contienen yemas (meristemas secundarios) además del cambio, las cuales son afectadas a medida que el herbicida es movilizado hacia los meristemas terminales. De esta manera, tanto los meristemas secundarios como los meristemas terminales son afectados con dosis excesivas de algunos herbicidas.La posición del meristema terminal y de meristemas secundarios es de gran importancia para la sobrevivencia de especies. Aquellas que los tienen expuestos y por encima del suelo son más susceptibles a la aplicación directa del herbicida (dicotiledóneas). Muchas gramíneas tienen el meristema terminal bien protegido por órganos vegetativos o por debajo del suelo. Después de que el herbicida ha entrado en contacto con la planta, penetrado y movilizado, éste debe poder ejercer su acción tóxica.En general, las plantas que absorben herbicidas fácilmente son más susceptibles que aquellas en las cuales la absorción se dificulta. En plantas lenosas, por ejemplo, la tasa de absorción del 2,4, 5-T por las hojas está directamente relacionada con su susceptibilidad al herbicida.Cuando la penetración se efectúa por las raíces, las formulaciones aminas y sales penetran más fácilmente que las formulaciones éster. Esto se debe a que las formulaciones sales y aminas son hidrofilicas y la raíz no presenta capas cerosas y por lo tanto sustancias hidrofílicas pueden penetrar más fácilmente que las lipofilicas (ésteres).En la cebolla, el desarrollo de una capa cerosa excesiva permite el uso de una solución herbicida de ácido sulfúrico. Esta solución, al 10 por ciento, es rechazada por el cultivo pero es capaz de ejercer su acción tóxica sobre las malezas.Una vez que el herbicida ha penetrado dentro de la planta, éste debe ser movilizado al sitio de aceión. En algunas plantas, la estructura anatómica puede servir de factor de selectividad al obstaculizar el movimiento del herbicida en la ruta desde su penetración a la planta hasta su sitio de acción. Por ejemplo, hay herbicidas que se movilizan únicamente por el floema y hay otros que lo hacen únicamente por el xilema. otros, pueden movilizarse por ambos sistemas vasculares. En el caso del 2,4-D, se moviliza libremente en el floema pero su movilización por el xilema €S bastante limitada. otros, como las úreas sustituidas, (por ejemplo, el diuron), son movilizadas predominantemente por el xilema.La selectividad fisiológica se basa en la capacidad de ciertas plantas de activar o de detoxificar la molécula herbicida cuando ésta penetra en la planta, cuando es movilizada al sitio de acción o cuando llega al sitio de acción. También, se basa en la suscepti. bilidad de los procesos fisiológicos vitales que pueden ser afectados por el herbicida.Este aumento en la actividad del herbicida afecta su selecti• vidad. Por ejemplo, el MSMA aplicado en postemergencia en dosis de 4 kgia/ha causa una ligera clorosis en trigo, la cual desaparece poco tiempo después. Si se adiciona surfactante, la clorosis es más pronunciada y el daño puede ser permanente.Algunos herbicidas requieren \"activación\" o una transformación a una forma tóxica de la molécula. Inicialmente, la molécula herbicida es inactiva o de muy baja actividad. El ejemplo más ca. mún es el del ácido 2,4-diclorofenoxibutílico (2,4-DB) el cual tiene una actividad herbicida relativamente baja. Sin embargo, entre plantas dicoltiledóneas (hoja ancha), existen algunas que tienen un sistema activo de oxidación beta. En otras, éste funciona pero es lento. Por ejemplo, la alfalfa es un cultivo que es capaz de oxidar el 2,4-DB a 2,4.D (Fig. 7.5) pero el proceso es lento y el 2,4-D no se llega acumular en concentraciones tóxicas. Muchas malezas particulares a este cultivo son susceptibles al 2,4-DB porque acu' mulan cantidades tóxicas de 2,4-D.En este caso las dosis excesivas de 2,4.DB o las condiciones amo bientales favorables a la transformación del 2,4-DB pueden afectar el grado de selectividad. También es de mucha importancia pre. veer la capacidad de nuevas variedades del cultivo que puedan ser capaces de hacer una conversión rápida. La activación de herbicidas fuera de la planta también es un factor de selectividad importante. Por ejemplo, aplicaclon1l$ postemergentes de la sal sódica de 2,4.diclorofenoxietilosulfato (2,4-DES) no dañan al cultivo de maní, aún cuando el producto entra en contacto con el follaje mismo, Sin embargo, este producto es transformado en el suelo por procesos qulmicos a una forma acti. va preemergente (Figura 7-6) . Es más común la detoxificación de herbicidas, como factor de selectividad, que su activación. En este caso, la molécula herbicida es tóxica en la forma en que se aplica y la selectividad depende de la capacidad de la planta de convertir la molécula tóxica a una forma no tóxica.La selectividad del propanil en arroz se debe a la capacidad de detoxificaci6n enzimática de las moléculas herbicidas por parte del arroz (Figura 7-7).Las malezas susceptibles a este herbicida (por ejemplo, Echi. noobloa oolonum) carecen de este proceso enzimático yen conse• cuencia son afectadas por el herbicida, La selectividad del propanil hacia el arroz puede ser alterada por insecticidas orgánicos fosforados y carbamatos. La aplicación de dichos insecticidas pocos días antes, durante o pocos días des• pués de la aplicación del propanil, interfieren con el proceso enzi• mático de detoxificación y resultan en pérdida de selectividad del herbicida hacia el arroz.  En maíz, la atrazina y la simazina también pueden ser deacti. vados enzimátícamente. El proceso de detoxificación está controlado por una enzima (hidroxamato cíclico). Figura 7-8.La producción de la enzima responsabIe de la detoxiflcac1ón de las triazinas en maíz está controlada genéticamente por un gen dominante. Cuando el gen recesivo se manifiesta, como ocurre en ciertas variedades de maíz, el cultivo pierde entonces su capacidad de detoxiflcar el herbicida.La selectividad fisiológica también puede ocurrir debido a la adsorción del herbicida por proteinas y otros compuestos celulares o por la acumulación de los herbicidas en órganos cclulares in2rtes, como las vacuolas. En otros casos, la selectividad fisiológica se debe a que la molécula herbicida no interfiere en absoluto con el proceso o los procesos vitales de ciertas plantas. o sea, que aunque penetre dentro de la planta y sea distribuido en la totalidad de la planta, no altera ningún proceso fisiológico.En resumen, la selectividad es un fenómeno relativo ya que se la obtiene con ciertas dosis y bajo ciertas condiciones. Todos los herbicidas pierden su selectividad fuera de cIertos limites y bajo ciertas condiciones. Son muchos los factores que influyen en la selectividad de un herbicida. Conociendo bien tales factores, las propiedades del herbicida y las características del cultivo, los herbicidas pueden ser usados con seguridad y con éxito. El éxito de los métodos modernos de control de malezas en forma selectiva radica en la posibilidad de cambiar el metabolismo de las malezas que adquieren cantidades mínimas de herbicida. de tal manera que se impida su crecimiento y desarrollo, sin dañar los cultivos. Todos los herbicidas actúan sobre algún proceso fisiológico de las plantas; actualmente, se conoce bastante sobre esto~ efectos.COmo es de esperar, todos los productos, dentro de un mismo grupo químico, funcionan de una manera similar; por ejemplo, al entender el efecto de atrazina en una maleza, también se sabe có. mo actúan la simazina, la ametrina y la prometrina, puesto que todos estos productos pertenecen al grupo de las triazinas. Esto facilita bastante el estudio de este tema, el cual, a simple vista. parece difícil y confuso.A grandes rasgos, se puede catalogar la acción de los herblci. das en seis grupos, según el proceso fisiológico que afecte:1. La fotosln tesis. 2. La síntesis de ácidos nuclelcos. 3. La respiración y la formación de ATP. 4. La germinación y la formación de raíces, 5. Las membranas. 6. Las proteínas.Se emplean dos términos parecidos pero cada uno de ellos corresponde a un aspecto diferente de la fisIologia del herbicida. Uno, es el modo de acción y el otro es el mecanismo de acción.Por modo de acción se entiende todos los efectos que ejerce un producto dentro de la planta. En cambio, el mecanismo de acción :le refiere específicamente al proceso fisiológico en el cual actúa el * Especialista en Control de Malezas, elATo Cali, ColQmbia.herbicida para causar la muerte de las malezas. Por ejemplo, el hecho de que el 2,4-D afecta los procesos de asimilación, germinación, síntesis de ácidos nucleicos y la respiración, determina su modo de acción; por el contrario, la inhibición de la reacción Hill en la fotosíntesis, es el mecanismo de acción de la atrazlna.Todos los herbicidas aplicados en cultivos tienen selectividad relativa, es decir, son selectivos a ciertas dosis y bajo ciertas condiciones ambientales. La aplicación de una sobredosis del producto, por ejemplo, ocasionarla daño al cultivo y éste se presenta de acuerdo al modo de acción del producto. Es así que una sobredosis de linuron, en soya, causa c:orosis en las hojas del cultivo debido a que este producto Inhibe la fotosíntesis dentro de la planta. Por lo tanto, un conocimiento de los modos de acción capacita al agrónomo para identificar daños ocasionados por los herbicidas.de estos factores y no es fácil determinar cuál factor, por si solo, ha sido el causante de un determinado daño a uno solo.La fotosíntesis es el proceso mágico mediante el cual las plantas transforman la energía solar en formas aprovechables para el nombre y los animales en general. Existen tres grupos de herbicidas capaces de interrumpir este proceso causando la muerte de las malezas.a) Las triazinas, úreas sustituidas y uracilos. Los herbicidas de estos grupos bloquean la reacción Hill e impiden la producción de energía. Todos ellos tienen actividad en prC\"€mergencia; son menos tóxicos y menos selectivos al aplicarlos en postemergenc1a. Se ha observado que, después de aplicar estos productos, muchas malezas no logran emerger indicando que además, actúan sobre otros procesos fisiológicos de las plantas. Los daños causados por estos herbicidas, aparecen primero en forma de clorosis en las márgenes de las hojas inferiores. Si el daño es fuerte, la clorosis se vuelve necrosis y puede afectar el rendimiento del cultivo. b) Los bipiridilios. El paraquat es el herbicida más conocido en este grupo qufmieo. Su acción es violenta y no selectiva: mata cualquier tejido verde que entre en contacto con esta susta¡lcla. Dentro de la planta se transforma en un radical, el cual reacciona con una molécula de oxigeno para producir agua oxigenada (H.0 2 ). Esta última es capaz de destruir los cloroplastos en poco tiempo, explicando por qué se pueden observar los efectos del paraquat en la planta pocas horas después de la aplicación. No tienen ninguna actividad en aplicación de preemergencia, debido a que la molécula es un ion con cargas positivas, las cuales reaccionan inmediatamente con la fracción orgánica y mineral del suelo inactívando totalmmte el herbicida. Los síntomas de daño conllevan a una necrosis en un periodo de 24 horas, posterior a la aplicación. No afecta los troncos de los árboles ni ningún otro material vegetal que no tenga cloroplastos. Es un producto de contacto que no se transloca a tejidos no tratados. e) Los trlazoles. Este grupo de herbicidas también afecta la fotosíntesis pero de una manera indirecta. Actúa sobre el proceso de formación de cloroplastos y su acción es lenta. Lo primero que se observa, después de la aplicación, es que los nuevos tejidos que produce la planta en los puntos de crecimiento, están totalmente blancos debido a la ausencia de c1oroplastos. Estos produc-tos son más efectivos contra. gramfnea.s y ciperáceas que contra malezas de hoja ancha. Destruye las plantas por falta. de alimentos y como resultado de la ausencia de cloroplastos; es sistémico y capaz de moverse por los estolones y rizomas de mal~ perennes.En este grupo se encuentran los productos conocidos como herbicidas hormonales. Incluye a los que, en bajas concentraciones, producen efectos similares a la hormona natural de las plantas, o sea, al ácido indolacético (AlA}.En el caso de los herbicidas hormonales las dosis que se aplican son mucho mayores que la concentración normal de AlA y por ser hormonas sintéticas, la planta no es capaz de controlar la translocación ni los efectos fisiológicos de estas sustancias. Este grupo incluye al 2,4-D, 2,4,5-T, MCPA, dicamba y picloram. A pesar de ser uno de los primeros herbicidas selectivos encontrados en el mundo, se sabe relativamente poco sobre su mecanismo de acción. Investigaciones realizadas en los últimos años indican que actúa sobre la síntesis de ácidos nucleicos. Además, afecta la respiración, transpiración, absorción de nutrimentos, división celular y otros procesos dentro de la planta. El efecto es uno de estimulación del crecimiento; por eso se dice que la planta tratada \"crece hasta la muerte\" indicando que trata de crecer tanto que se agotan las reservas de energia y finalmente, la planta se muere.Los herbicidas hormonales casi siempre se aplican en postemergencla. Su acción es algo lenta, según el estado que desarrolle la planta en el momento de la aplicación; las plantas pequeñas mueren más pronto que las más grandes. En gramíneas, los síntomas de daño pueden ser torcimiento del tallo y \"encebollamiento\" de las hojas jóvenes, retraso en el desarrollo de las ralces y la parte aérea, y deformación de la hoja bandera y de la espiga. Puede aumentar la presión celular en el meristema haciendo que la planta sea más susceptible al volcamiento durante vientos fuertes o por contacto fisico con cultivadores o azadones. Este último efecto es común en maíz y sorgo; generalmente, desaparece después de 10 a 14 días.Los síntomas que aparecen en especies de hoja ancha, son distintos. Las hojas pueden responder en dos formas. Una se llama hiponastia y se refiere a mayor crecimiento por el envés que por el haz de la hoja. El picloram, frecuentemente, produce este sín. toma. El otro se denomina eplnastia y corresponde al efecto opuesto: mayor crecimiento por el haz que por el envés de la hoja. El 2,4-D Y 2,4,5-T pueden ocasionar este efecto en muchas especies de hoja ancha. Normalmente, los puntos de crecimiento y las ha. jas jóvenes se afectan más que los tejidos ya maduros. Puede provocar el torcimiento de los tallos y peciólos, especialmente en especies herbáceas. En algunos cultivos (algodón, fríjOl y uva, por ejemplo) las hojas jóvenes salen deformadas en forma de \"pata de rana\". Muchos de estos productos se formulan como ésteres y por lo tanto, son muy volátiles. Cultivos como tabaco, uva y tomate, son altamente susceptibles a estos herbicidas y aún a los vapores. Normalmente' los cultivos de gramineas son resistentes a los herbicidas hormonales, pero todos los cultivos son susceptibles en el estado de floración.La respiración es simplemente la combustión de azúcares con la formación de C02' agua Y energía. Ciertos herbicidas actúan de tal forma que no interfieren con la oxidación pero no dejan que la energía se conserve en una forma utilizable por la planta, sino que se pierde como calor. Los productos DNBP, ioxinil, propanil y nitrafen, han mostrado tener un efecto tóxico de este tipo, según se reporta en la literatura.En este caso, no se pueden describir síntomas típicos, puesto que cada producto mencionado pertenece a un grupo químico di. ferente y no existen síntomas comunes a todos ellos.Las membranas de la planta tratada controlan el flujo de iones, agua, nutrimentos y otras sustancias, de una célula a otra. Al dañarlas, la planta pierde control sobre este flujo y se puede morir. Así actúan en las plantas el aceite aromático, el propanil y el MSMA.El caso del propanil merece ser mencionado debido a que es uno de los pocos productos en que si se conoce el mecanismo de selectividad. En cuanto al arroz, actúa una enzima hidrolitica capaz de degradar la molécula de la siguiente manera: lécula original del propanil, permitiendo que ejerza su acción tóxica. Se puede observar que algunos insecticidas presentan incompatibilidad con el propanU en el cultivo de arroz; la enzima previene la degradación del propanil, lo que resulta tóxico para el arroz y de alli se deriva la recomendación de no aplícar estos ti. pos de insecticidas siete dJas antes ni 15 dlas después de la aplicación del propanll.Básicamente, son tres los grupos de herbicidas químicos que obran de esta forma: los tiocarbonatos dinitroanilinas (bencenaminas) y acetanilídas. Casi todos los herbicidas son preemergentes o de presiembra Incorporados, aunque algunos carbamatos se pueden aplicar en postemergencia, lo mismo el propanil, que es una acetamida.Las proteínas son indispensables para todos los seres vivos; algunos herbicidas pueden afectar la síntesis de proteínas o destruír las ya formadas, de tal manera que se produzca la muerte de las malezas. El grupo más estudiado es el de los herbicidas alifáticos (dalapon y TeA) y aparentemente, el glilosato (un producto oro gánico nitrogenado no cíclico) actúa sobre la síntesis de un ami• noácido aromático.El TeA se emplea en los laboratorios para precipitar las prote!nas solubles debido a que este compuesto destruye la estructura terciaria de la proteína, igual a lo que sucede cuando se calienta la clara de huevo. Qu1micamente, el dalapon es muy parecido al TeA y probablemente, actúa dentro de las plantas en forma similar.El TeA posee actividad preem€rgente y postemergente, mlen• tras que el dalapon y glifosato son netamente de uso postemergen. te. Todos estos productos controlan, en forma especial, las grao míneas; son sistémicos, o sea, que se mueven rápidamente a los sitios de nuevo crecimiento. El glifosato trabaja en forma excelente en especies perennes que tienen estolones o rizomas debido a su gran movilidad dentro de la planta. Además, controlan muchas malezas de hoja ancha.Los síntomas aparecen lentamente, según la dosis aplicada y las condiciones ambientales. Las plantas se vuelven cloróticas, lue. go, necróticas y finalmente mueren. El dalapon deforma las ye. mas jóvenes en gramíneas y a veces, produce torcimiento en los tallos. Las plantas tratadas con una dosis subletal de glüosato pueden quedar enanas para siempre.En resumen, se puede decir que el modo de acción de los herbicidas es muy variable pero, dentro de un mismo grupo quimico existe gran simi1itud en su modo de acción. Al comprender tales modos de acción, resulta más fácil identificar síntomas extraños que se pueden presentar en los cultivos. Es de enfatizar que un herbicida, siguiendo al pie de la letra las Indicaciones impresas en el marbete del fabricante, casi nunca ocasiona daño.Igualmente, se ha relacionado el síntoma de daño con el modo de acción debido a que ambos aspectos están íntimamente re• laclonados. Al entender la forma como actúa el herbicida fisioló. gicamente, se sabrá qué tipo de sintoma de daño es el más probable a presentarse. IX. Factores que inciden en la efectividad de los herbicidas lerry DQll* luan Cárdenas **Un alto porcentaje de los problemas que se presentan en la utilización de los herbicidas se debe al descuido de sus usuarios, ya sea por el desconocimiento de su manejo, por formas Inadecuadas de aplicación o bien por falta de mantenimiento necesario en los equipos de aplicación. Esto trae como consecuencia altera. ción de las dosis de aplicación. Una sobredosis puede causar toxicidad en el cultivo y una dosis baja puede presentar un control deficiente de las malezas. Los factores que intervienen en las aplicaciones terrestres y que Inciden en la efectividad de los herbicidas son:1. Factores en la aplicación n. Factores ambientales IlI. Factores edáficos IV. Cultivo V. Malezas VI. Producto 1. Factores que intervienen en la aplicación Es fundamental que el equipo de aplicación de herbicidas se encuentre en las mejores condiciones, bajo constante revisión y mantenimiento. Un concepto, muy generalizado y que se debe combatir a fondo, es el de que el equipo de aplicación debe durar toda la vida, con un miuimo de atención, cuando en realidad una buena aplicación depende en gran parte de su buen estado y correcto funcionamiento. Igualmente, pocas veces se le da la suficiente importancia al agua que interviene en la solución para obtener una aspersión adecuada. Entre estas fallas en la apl!cación, mencionamos las siguientes:.. Especialista en control de malezas, CIAT. Cali. Colombia . .. IPPC. Ore¡¡on St.t. Uníversíty y AID. Bogotá, Colombia.Se refiere a las fallas que se presentan en las aspersoras, es necesario tener en cuenta todas y cada una de las partes que las componen; entender su funcionamiento y \\;€ner claro que, al fallar un accesorio por pequeño que sea, produce un desequilibrio general en el funcionamiento del equipo.A continuación, se hará una mención breve de los diferentes aspectos que intervienen en el funcionamiento de los equipos. Es• tos diferentes aspectos, dentro de las fallas del equipo, son: a. Calibración. Esta operación se debe hacer en el terreno, en donde se hará la aplicación. Una calibración frecuente de los equipos de aspersión reduce a un minimo la posibilidad de hacer aplicaciones con dosis incor,rectas.b. Presión. Determina la fuerza con la cual debe salir el líquido de aspersión a través de las boquillas. En general, para aplicaciones terrestres, se recomienda una presión constante en• tre 20 y 40 libras por pulgada cuadrada (1,4 a 2,8 kgjcm 2 ) para las boquillas de abanico p'ano y de 10 a 20 para las TK (Flood.jet). Presiones menores o mayores de éstas ocasionan una mala distribución del producto y presiones mayof€S de 40 libras pueden presentar problemas de sobredosis, toxicidad al cultivo, desperdicio del producto y mayor efecto del viento. como consecuencia de gotas más finas en la aspersión.c. Veloeidad. Durante la aplicación, la velocidad se debe graduar de acuerdo con la presión, la topografía del terreno, el tamaño del aguilón y la forma de aplicación. Un exceso o disminución en la aplicación altera fácilmente la dosis recomendada para una superficie determinada.d. Agitación. Se debe mantener una agitación constante dentro del tanque de la aspersora, para evitar posibles sedimentaciones que obstruirán las boquillas afectando en esta manera la aplicación. Un exceso de sedimentación afecta la uniformidad de la aplicación, presentándose en el terreno cultivado algu. nas partes sin ningún efecto; en otras, control perfecto, pero con toxicidad al cultivo. La agitación es indispensable cuando se usen productos formulados, como polvos mojables. La preparación de la solución se debe hacer en la siguiente forma:3. Iniciar la agitación. 4. Agregar al tanque el herbicida previamente disuelto en una pequeña cantidad de agua. 5. Completar el volumen de agua en el tanque. e. Aguilón. Una permanente posición horizontal y una altura adecuada del aguilón, con respeeto del suelo o de la vegetación, son los requisitos para que la distribución sea uniforme y se asegure la efectividad de la misma. f. Boquillas. El volumen de llquido descargado está directamente relacionado con el tipo de boquilla. La distribueión uniforme del herbicida depende del estado de la boquilla. El desgaste de una boquilla puede aumentar o disminuir la capacidad de descargue hasta en un 90 por ciento. El funcionamiento correcto está relacionado con:l. Uniformidad en la capacidad de descargue: Con base en factores constantes (marca de boquillas, presión recomendada, velocidad sostenida, ángulo de aspersión) dos tipos de boquillas en un mismo aguilón aplicarán diferente vo• lumen. As!, una boquilla Tee-jet 8004 aplicará el doble que una 8002. 2'. Angulo de aspersión. Si las boquillas difieren en su ángulo de aspersión, también se afectará la distribución. 3. Distribución uniforme del producto. Ya sea polvo mojable, concentrado emulsionable o solución, en general, se recomienda, para una mejor distribución, 10 siguiente:-Usar boquellas de aspersión en abanico.-Cambiar las boquillas después de que cada una haya aplicado herbicida a una superficie equivalente a 200 ha. -Revisar las boquillas cada vez que se haga una apli. cación.g. Filtros. Su principal finalidad es la de impedir la obstrucción de las boquillas con gránulos o partículas gruesas provenientes del agua utilizada o del producto. Si se utiliza agua ligera o moderadamente turbia, los filtros se deben limpiar diariamente; si es muy turbia, llmpiarlos cada vez que se llene el tanque de la aspersora.Un filtro obstruido puede causar una reducción hasta del 90 por ciento en la presión o descarga. En general, los filtros se deben acoplar a los diferentes tipos de boqu1llas. Si el filtro es de malla, se recomienda usar los de 50 mallas por pulgada cuadrada.h. Mantenimiento. Los equipos de aspersión se deben mantener siempre en condiciones óptimas, libres de cualquier residuo de otros productos. No se deben dejar soluciones de herbicidas en el tanque de un día para otro. Pueden ocurrir problemas serios de toxicidad cuando se utiliza la aspersora para dos aplicaciones de productos diferentes, sin hacer un lavado adecuado intermedio (ejemplo, una aplicación con 2,4-D en maíz y luego, una de insecticidas en el tomate) . Se debe poner énfasis en que las personas re;Sponsables de la aplicación del herbicida en un campo de cultivo, conozcan muy bien el funcionamiento y el uso práctico de todos y cada uno de los accesorios de los diferentes equipos de aspersión.Puesto que el agua es el principal diluyente, la efectividad de una aplicación es afectada por la calidad del agua utilizada. Los varios aspectos por los cuales puede fallar el agua, son: a. Calidad 1. Aguas sucias. Las aguas muy turbias pueden anular totalmente la efectividad de los productos, como en el caso del Gramoxone (paraquat). Igualmente, ocasiona un mayor desgaste de algunas partes de la aspersora. 2. Aguas duras. Las aguas calcáreas o ferruginosas pueden afectar la solubilidad del herbicida causando su sedimentación. Esta situación se presenta principalmente con aquellos productos cuya parte activa conti€me radicales ácidos.b. Cantidad Los volúmenes de agua, menores o mayores de los necesarios, pueden causar falta de uniformidad en la aplicación, o bien, en la disminución en la retención de la solución por las hojas. La cantidad necesaria de agua está influenciada por la época de aplicación.1) SUelo: Incluye las aplicaciones de productos preemergentes y presiembra incorporados, para los cuales se recomienda, en general, un volúmen entre 150 y 300 litros por hectárea. 2) Follaje: Se refiere a las aplicaciones efectuadas como postemergentes, ya sea en forma total o dirigida. Se recomienda un volúmen de agua entre 250 y 400 litros por hectárea. El ejemplo del mayor volúmen (400 litros) y de la mayor presión (40 libras) están determinados por la densidad del follaje. Es necesario tener las debidas precauciones con relación al uso de mezclas de herbicidas e insecticidas, fertilizantes, fungicidas y compuestos aditivos ya que, aunque se pueden obtener efectos sinergisticos, también se puede presentar serios problemas de incompatibilidad. Un ejemplo de incompatibilidad ocurre con el Stam F-34 (propanil) y los insecticidas orgánicos fosforados y carbamatos. Igual cuidado se debe tener con los surfactan tes pues, si bien aumentan la efectividad de ciertos herbicidas, también pueden causar serios problemas de toxicidad.Al mezclar herbicidas, principalmente, polvos mojables y aceites, es muy Importante la forma de preparar la solución. Primero, se debe disolver bien el polvo mojable en agua y luego, agregar el aceite, pues, si el polvo moJable entra en contacto primero con el aceite, se formarán grumos insolubles.Cuando se trate de mezclas entre herbicidas, se debe verificar SU compatibilidad para evitar problemas de sedimentación. El principal problema se presenta cuando se mezclan polvos moJables con concentrados emulsionables o herbicidas de diferente formulación. En general, los herbicidas con igual formulación, son compatibles.Los factores ambientales tienen marcada infiuencia en la efectividad y aplicación de los herbicidas y aunque, hasta el momento, algunos de ellos no son controlables por el hombre, si se deben tener en cuenta para realizar las aplicaciones en los momentos en los cuales su efecto sea óptimo y no perjudicial. Un exceso de viento afecta la distribución de la aspersión.El efecto del viento aumenta con la volatilidad del producto y puede ocasionar perj uicios en cultivos susceptibles cercanos. Es preferible no efectuar aplicaciones cuando la velocidad del viento sea mayor de 10 kilómetros por hora. Para contrarrestar el acarreo causado por el aumento en la velocidad del viento, se le puede dar cierta elasticidad al pa-trón de aspersión disminuyendo la presión, aumentando el tamaño de las boquillas o bien bajando la altura del aguilón. Las pérdidas en la efectividad de los herbicidas, en relación con la textura del suelo, se pueden resumir de la siguiente manera: en suelos livianos se puede presentar mayor pérdida por lixiviación y en suelos pesados, por degradación microbia.na, relacionada directamente con el contenido de materia orgánica. También es afectada por excesos de acidez, alcalinidad y presencia de sales calcáreas o ferraginosas. En general, se recomiendan las dosis bajas para suelos livianos y las dosis altas, para los suelos pesados. En el capítulo vn, se incluye una explicación más detallada sobre este concepto.Con frecuencia se presentan problemas con respecto a la selectividad de los herbicidas a los cultivos. Dicha selectividad puede ser parcial para algunas variedades de un mismo cultivo (Ej. el Gesaprim (atrazina) puede causar fitoxicidad en ciertas variedades de maíz y sorgo). También se pueden presentar fallas cuando se realizan aplicaciones en épocas o estados de crecimiento no adecuados. La mayoría de los herbicidas se aplican en una época determinada o en un estado de crecimiento definido. En el caso de Vernám y de Treflán, que se aplican únicamen.te en presiembra; Herban (nores) y Lazo (alaclor), sólo en preemergencia; stam F-34 y Gramoxone en postemergencia; DSMA aplicado en postemergencia dirigido, cuando el cultivo tiene determinada altura. Son muy escasos los matamalezas que se pueden aplicar en momentos diferentes a los recomendados, por ejemplo, los productos antes mencionados aplicados en época diferente presentarán resultados de menor efec• tividad y selectividad.Respecto a los surfactantes, aunque pueden aumentar ia efec. tividad de ciertos herbicidas, no quiere decir que el uso del surfactante siempre sea necesario y ventajoso. El empleo inapropiado del surfactante puede destruir la acción selectiva de un herbicida causando ntotoxicidad al cultivo o un control deficiente de las malezas. Esta última situación se puede deber a que una rápida penetración inicial del surfactante matarla los tejidos con los cuales entra en contactú, impidiendo la posterior translocación del herbicida.V.Malezas En las recomendaciones de herbicidas, es importante tener en cuenta ia población de malezas existentes ya que ningún herbicida selectivo controla todo tipo de malezas. Comúnmente, ocurre que al eliminar la competencia de las malezas predominantes, toman importancia las malas hierbas secundarlas. Este problema se agudiza cuando no se realiza un control inicial de una de las especies de malezas predominantes. Un ejemplo de esta situación es la siguiente: en determinadas regiones, la maleza predominante en el cultivo es el coquito (Cyperus rotundus) pero al controlarlo, se desarrolla posteriormente una serie de malezas de hoja ancha que pueden llegar a ser más perjudiciales que el coquito. otro aspecto importante es el de que, a medida que aumenta el crecimiento de las malBllas, disminuye la susceptibilidad al herbicida; por lo tanto, el estado Ideal de control postemergente es cuando las malezas tienen de 2 a 3 hojas. Es importante anotar que las malezas perennes son más resistentes a los herbicidas que las anuales. Otra interferencia por las malezas es el caso de aplicaciones pústemergentes, cuando la densidad de cobertura impide una eficaz distribución del herbicida.Frecuentemente, se presentan casos en los cuales la calidad de los herbicidas se ha afectado en forma tal que su poca efectividad trae consecuencias antiecon6m1cas para los usua.rios. Generalmente, esta situación está bastante relacionada con dos aspectos principales: tiempo y lugar de almacena. miento.En cuanto al tiempo de almacenamiento, se recomienda no usar productos que hayan permanecido almacenados por más de un año puesto que, al cabo de un tiempo determinado, lentamente los herbicidas comienzan a degradarse o sedimentarse, lo cual anula su actividad.Respecto al sitio de almacenamiento. un producto al aire 11• breo expuesto a la humedad, luz y temperatura, inicia rápi_ damente la degradación.Se debe preferir comprar el herbicida exclusivamente durante el año en que se utilizará.. Si los matamalezas se guardan en almacenamiento. se debe procurar tenerlos en un lugar seca. a temperaturas no mayores de 25 e, en envases sellados y separados de los demás insumos. Antes de usarlo. se deben agitar bien, para evitar posible sedimentación.El objetivo principal de la anterior descripción sobre los prin. cipales factores que intervienen en la efectividad y aplicación de los herbiCidas. es el de insistir en la necesidad del manejo adecuado y de las aplicaciones correctas para obtener los beneficios propuestos. Por otra parte, se espera que los aportes sobre este tópico cada vez serán más concisos y claros. en la medida que continúe el incremento y uso de los herbicidas.Una vez que se ha seleccionado el herbicida apropiado a las condiciones de suelo, tipo de mal€'ms y cultivo, el próximo paso es la selección de una formulación apropiada. Esto último, muchas veces, representa la diferencia entre éxito y fracaso. Además, la aplicación y el manejo del producto depende del tipo de formulación y por lo tanto, el conocimiento de aspectos básicos sobre formulaciones es necesario para un uso apropiado.En general, por formulación se entiende la preparación de productos químicos para su uso práctico. El tipo de formulación puede influenciar la precisión de la aplicación, la efectividad del control, la selectividad de ciertos herbicidas, la facilidad de manejo y 10 que es más importante aún, el costo del tratamiento.Los herbicidas se aplican casi siempre en forma liquida (pulverizaciones) o sólida, Algunos fumigantes, como el bromuro de metilo, son aplicados en forma gaseosa. Las formulaciones líquidas comprenden: soluciones acuosas, líquidos solubles en aceites, concentrados emulsionables, suspensiones, emulsiones invertidas y encapsulados_ Los sólidos son formulados como polvos mojables, polvos solubles, granulares o como gránulos solubles en agua. En muy pocos casos se usan formulaciones en polvo_ Se deben considerar varios factores en la decisión de cómo formular un determinado ingrediente activo entre ellos: a) Las propiedades físicas y qllÍttlkas del herbicida. La solubilidad del compuesto en varios solventes es de mayor importancia; la volatilidad puede también influir o determinar el tipo de formulación a emplear. b. El uso, Si el herbicida va a ser usado fundamentalmente en el control de malezas arbustivas, leñosas, de cutícula cerosa, probablemente será formulado como concentrado emulsionable u otro tipo de formulación en la cual el solvente usado ayude a la penetración. Si su uso reqlÚere selectividad, deberá \"* Especialista en Control de Malezas, CIAT, CaH, Colombia.ser fonnulado con menos aceite o menor proporción de humectantes. Si su uso está orientado a controlar malezas pequeñas, a través de actividad en el suelo en un cultivo en crecimiento, puede ser formulado como granular para permitir que pase por las hojas del cultivo y que llegue al suelo. e) El área de uso. Las prácticas usadas por los productores va• rían para diferentes regiones. Muchos agricultores en el Medio Oeste de los Estados Unidos, han usado por mucho tiempo granulares y consecuentemente se han acostumbrado a su uso. En contraste, en las regiones áridas del Oeste, los gránu. los son menos confiables en su comportamiento y por lo tanto, menos aceptados por los agricultol'es. d) Material disponible. Muchas empresas de herbicidas han cambiado la formuiación debido a escasez de alguno de los solventes, emulsificadores y recipimtes, especialmente en los últimos años. e) Factores económicos. Un análisis económico incluirá algunos de los factores mencionados previamente. Se tendrá en cuenta el costo de los solventes, emulsificantes, recipientes, costo de transporte, etc. En general, las fonnulaciones con bajo porcentaje de ingrediente activo, resultan más caras para el comprador.Grandes aumentos en el costo de solventes y emulsificantes, en los últimos años, han cambiado el panorama con respecto a los concentrados emulsionables. El costo relativo de la fonnulación talvez no sea muy importante en cultivos de alto valor, pero, para cultivos que producen bajos beneficios, esto puede seT muy impor. tante en cuanto a la aceptación por parte del agricultor.A. Formulaciones liquidas l. Soluciones En este tipo de formulación, el ingrediente activo puede ser fácilmente disuelto en agua o aceite (solventes orgániCOS), tonnando una verdadera solución. Una solución es una mezcla homogénea, formada al disolver una o más sustancias (sólido, liquido o gas) en otra sustancia. El compuesto que se disuelve es llamado soluto y la sustancia en la cual se disuelve se denomina solvente.En el caso de herbicidas solubles en agua, el fabricante puede proceder a disolVEr el compuesto en agua y venderlo como concentrado para luego ser diluido por el usuario. En general, el herbielda debe ser soluble por lo menos en un 25 por ciento o sea, aproximadamente 1/4 de kilo por litro de agua, para que pueda ser vendido como solución. Hay muchos ejemplos de este tipo de formulación, incluyendo el 2,4-D amina, Banvel (dicamba), Tordon (picloram), Gramoxone (paraquat) y Roundup (glifosato).Generalmente, la proporción de ingrediente activo oscila entre 50 y 80 por ciento y el resto corresponde a los aditivos y diluyen. tes. La mayor ventaja de los herbicidas solubles en agua es que son relativamente baratos y no requieren agitación en el tanque, una vez que se han disuelto. Los siguientes problemas se pueden presentar, sin embargo, al usar este tipo de formulaciones: a) Pueden reaccionar contra aguas duras, tapando los caños y mangueras del equipo o reduciendo la fitotoxicldad del herbicida. b) A veces, el ingrediente activo no penetra en el follaje en forma adecuada. Esto puedE' ser debido a la excesiva tensión superficial propia del agua, lo cual aumenta la posibilidad de formación de cristales en la superficie de las hojas. Esta ca• racterística puede ser deseable cuando la selectividad del como puesto se basa en un remojo diferencial; resulta inefectivo cuando se busca que el tratamiento controle todas las espe' cies o si las malezas que se desean controlar, tienen conside. rabIe cubierta de cera. c) El producto puede ser fácilmente perdido por lixiviación en el suelo. Esto puede ser ventajoso cuando se aplica para controlar malezas perennes con raices profundas; sin embargo, cuando se pretende hacer una aplicación preemergente selec. tiva, esta. circunstancia no es deseable, pues puede ser lixiviado por el agua de lluvia o riego, causando una pérdida del compuesto o daño al cultivo.Las formulaciones de herbicidas solubles en aceite u otros sol. ventes orgánicos, para los cuales el aceite es usado como portador y no el agua, son poco frecuentes. Su uso está restringido al control no selectivo de malezas arbustivas o al control no se• lectivo en áreas no agrícolas.Algunos herbicidas no pueden ser disueltcs directamente en agua. Sin embargo, pueden ser solubles en solventes orgánicos no polares tales, como xilol, y luego mezclados con agua y emulsifi• cante para formar una emulsión, Una emulsión es una mezcla en la eual un liquido es suspendido en pequeños glóbulos en otro lío quido. El tipo de emulsión más común estaría representado por gotas de aceite suspendidas en agua. Generalmente, cuando mezclarnos agua y aceite, las dos fases se separan rápidamente. Si agregamos un emulsificant~ (surfactante) adecuooo, se formará una emulsión mucho más estable que la previamente citada (sin ~ulsificante). La razón de esto es que las moléculas del emulsificante se orientan alrededor de las gotas de aceite o solvente como se indica en la siguiente figura. -:;;;;;: .. La porción lipofílíca del emulslficante se introduce en la gota de solvente y la hidrofllica es atraida por el agua, mientras que las gotas que permanecen pequeñas son suspendidas en el agua. CUando se juntan (coalescencIa), forman gotas más grandes que tienden a separarse del agua. El agente ~ulsificante evita la coalescencia. La fracción hidrofilica de la molécula repele a las otras de la misma caracteristica; por lo tanto, mantiene las gotas separadas.Un concentrado emulsionable consiste de: 1) un so• vente no polar,2) el herbicida disuelto en dicho solvente y 3) un agente emulslficante. Cuando el concentrado emulsionable (CE) se agrega al agua dentro del tanque, se forma una emulsión estable de pequeñas gotas con el herbicida disuelto en el solvente y dispersas en el agua. El herbicida no ha sido disuelto en el agua sino que, simplemente, está suspendido en agua por estar disuelto en el Solvente orgánico. El emulsiflcante actúa para mantener las gotas dispersas del solvente, tal como se presentó en la Figura 10-l. En el mercado se Encuentran cientos de concentrados emulsionables y se incluyen, entre ellos, productos tales como el 2,4-D éster, Sutan, Treflan, Lazo y muchos otros. Supongamos que se le entrega a usted una muestra de un concentrado liquido conteniendo un herbicida: ¿cómo puede usted determinar si es un concentrado emulsionable o una solución verdadera? La respuesta es simple; vierta el contenido en un recipien. te con agna y agite ligeramente. SI se trata de una solución verdadera se formará una mezcla clara aun cuando pueda ser ligeramente coloreada. El concentrado emulsionable, por otro lado, siempre formará. una mezcla lechosa. A propósito, la leche es un buen ejemplo de emulsión natural, en la cual los glóbulos de grasa son suspendidos en un medio acuoso, siendo el emulsificante la caseína. Una de las condiciones para poder formular un compuesto co• mo concentrado emulsionable es que sea soluble en solventes no polares. Una solubilidad de, por lo menos 12 por ciento, es necesaria para producir económicamente un concentrado emulsionable. La mayor parte de ellos contiene alrededor de 25 por ciento de solubilidad y algunos llegan hasta un 80 por ciento.Los concentrados emulslonables postemergentes penetran la porción de cera de la cutícula de las hojas mejor que las otras formulaciones. Esto impllca más efectividad contra malezas difíciles de controlar pero también, menos selectividad que otras for-mulacIones. Pueden ser aplicados con aguas duras, sin reacciones adversas. Es menos probable que sean lavados del follaje por la lluvia o por riego de aspersión. Son menos abrasivos para las bombas y otras partes del pulverizador, comparados con los polvos mojables; permanecen suspendidos en el tanque por periodos más largos que estos. Sin embargo, se debe tener en cuenta que la emulsión es una suspensión y como tal, requiere alguna agitación para mantenerse en condición de utilización. taja de este tipo de formulación es la reducción del acarreo freo cuente del producto para hacer aplicaciones aéreas o de otro tipo que puedan resultar en desplazamiento del producto fuera de la zona deseada, por acarreo por el viento.En este caso, pequeñas cantidades de herbicida son compri. midas en cápsulas las cuales, posteriormente, se suspenden en lí. quidos. Este concentrado pume ser mezclado con agua y aplicado con una aspersora común.El objetivo de esta formulación es obtener una liberación controlada y lenta del herbicida, por un cierto periodo de tiempo, para prevenir una excesiva pérdida por evaporación, lixiviación o degradación.Formulaciones sólidas 1 . Polvos /nO jables Algunas veces, un nuevo herbicida no es suficientemente soluble en agua ni en solventes orgánicos. En tales casos, puede ser finamente molido para ser formulado como polvo mojable. Se define como polvo mojable aquel que forma una adecuada suspensión en agua.La formulación se obtiene al vertir el producto técnico en un material inerte, como arcUla, y se agrega un humectante y un dispersante a la formulación. El humectante ayuda a mojar el pro. ducto técnico cuando se agrega el agua, de manera que no flote en ella. El dispersante hace que las partículas se dispersen en la fase acuosa. El típico polvo mojable de 50 por ciento de ingrediente activo puede contener 42 por ciento de arcilla, +2 por cien. to de humectante, +2 por ciento de dispersante, +4 p<lr ciento de impurezas, +50 por ciento de ingrediente activo.Los polvos mojables no son soluciones sino suspensiones y por lo tanto, se necesita considerable agitación para evitar su precipitación. Por ejemplo, imaginemos la presencia de limo suspen. dido en el agua de un rio. Mientras se mantenga la tu.rbulencla, los sólidos permanecerán en suspensión, pero, al parar la agitación, el sólido se precipitará.Los polvos mojabJes generalmente tienen poca actividad foliar. Cuando se aplican al suelo requieren activación por medio de lluvia o de riego. Tienden a ser abrasivos para las bombas y boquillas. Debido a que, por lo general, contienen alto porcentaje de ingrediente activo y no se necesitan ni solventes ni envases metálicos, logrando as! que el costo por unidad de ingrediente activo tienda a ser más bajo que muchas otras formulaciones.Los polvos mojables deberán ser mezclados con una pequeña cantidad de agua para formar una pasta, antes de mezclarlos con el• agua del tanque. Esto favorece la dispersión en el agua, ase• gurando el máximo de producto técnico en suspensión.1,os herbicidas solubles en agua pueden ser formulados como sólidos en polvos solub:es, para luego ser mezclados con agua. Se pueden agregar aditivos a los polvos solubles en agua para mejo. rar su efectividad. Comúnmente, se agregan humectantes y dispersantes para impedir la precipitación en aguas duras. Dowpon y Basfapón (dalapón) y Velpar son ejemplos de polvos solubles.Las formulaciones granulares contienen del 2 al 20 por ciento de ingrediente activo del herbicida, en forma de gránulos. Se les prepara impregnando el herbicida en materiales inertes, tales como arcilla o residuos vegetales (marlos o cáscaras de nueces, etc.). Las partículas son cernidas, de manera que la mayor parte pue. da pasar por una malla de un tamaño de 15 y 40'. El equipo ne-cesarIo para aplicar granulados es más barato que el utilizado pa• ra pulverizaciones.Los gránulos pueden pasar sin adherirse a la cubierta vegetal en aplicaciones postemergentes y llegar fácilmente al suelo. PUeden liberar herbicidas duran te un cierto período, lo cual, en der. tas circunstancias, puede ser deseable. El desplazamiento fuera del área deseada es minimo y el herbicida no necesita ser soluble en agua o en otros solventes.Sin embargo, el costo de estos productos tiende a ser mayor cuando se compara con otras formulaciones. La uniformidad de distribución es, generalmente, inferior a la obtenida con otras formulaciones puesto que los gránUlos pueden rodar o ser llevados por el viento hacia el centro de los surcos, lo cual aumenta la concentración del producto en este sitio.Los herbicidas que requieren relativamente más agua para. su activación en el suelo, pueden ser menos efectivos cuando se les aplica como granulados.En este tipo de formulación, las part!culas son más grandes que los gránulos y se les emplea en tratamientos limitados, locallzados, en \"manchones\". Muchos pellets son formulados con materiales solubles en agua, tales como boratos, los cuales, en lugar de Impregnar el herbicida con materiales inertes e insolubles, tales como en los granulares, tienen además las mismas ventajas y desventajas de los granulares.Ingrediente activo es el término aplicado a la parte del producto que es responsable del efecto herbicida. En formulaciones sólidas se expresa como porcentaje. Como ejemplos, un polvo mojable puede contener 80 por ciento de ingrediente activo, en cam. blo, un granulado contiene un cuatro por ciento.La concentración de herbicidas cuya forma activa es un ácido, se expresa generalmente como equivalente ácido. El término equivalente ácido ~e aplica al rendimiento teórico en ácido, de un in• grediente activo. Por ejemplo, el 2,4-D puede existir en forma ac• tiva como un ácido; sin embargo, por varias razones, la forma ácida puede ser cambiada a salo éster. En este caso la sal o el éster se consideran como el ingrediente activo de la formulación; sin embargo, las recomendaciones se basan en el número de moléculas de ácido por hectárea, en lugar del número de moléculas de sal o éster. Se recomienda entonces la dosis en kilogramos de 2, 4.D ácido por hectárea, en lugar de kilogramos de 2,4-D éster. Una molécula de 2,4-D éster puede ser considerablemente más pe_ sada que una molécula del ácido. Por lo tanto, si recomendamos un kilo de ingrediente activo por hectárea, aplicaríamos considerablemente menos moléculas que si la recomendáramos en equi. valente ácido. Para evitar esto, así como las diferencias en pesos moleculares de diferentes ésteres, aminas, etc., se convierte todo el peso en ácido (es decir, ácido equivalente) .En el siguiente fragmento de una etiqueta de una formula. clón de 2,4-D se puede apreciar la diferencia mencionada previamente. Nótese que el porcentaje de ingrediente activo es 63.2 y el equivalente ácido, sólo 43. 5  La utilización de productos químicos para controlar malezas y plagas se torna cada año más eficiente, pero a la vez, más compleja. En pocos años, se ha aumentado en el mercado el número de estos productos de una manera sorprendente y cada dia se comercializan aún más. Otro aspecto nuevo en la ciencia de los pesticidas es el uso de \"surfactantes\" o sea, sustancias que se agregan al ingrediente principal (pesticida) para mejorar su acción.Las compañías productoras de pesticidas siempre han usado cantidades pequeñas de estas sustancias para mejorar las propiedades físicas y químicas de la mezcla de su producto con agua. Actualmente, se encuentran a disposición del agricultor varios surfactantes que modifican la acción pesticida. Se necesita, por lo tanto, comprender las clases, propiedades y efectos de ellos, para obtener los mejores resultados.En general, se destaca el hecho de que el herbicida, tal como se vende en el comercio ha sido formulado para dar resultados satisfactorios; en consecuencia, si el uso de un surfactante es indicado, el marbete impreso y adherido al recipiente del herbicida, debe especificarlo claramente. Para ayudar a entender mejor la acción que ejercen estos productos, se presentan a continuación las clases, propiedades y aplicaciones prácticas.Al estudiar el origen de la palabra \"Surfactante\" se podrá comprender un aspecto de estos productos. Esta palabra es la contracción de tres palabras inglesas \"Surface Active Agent\" las cuales significan \"Agente Activador de Superficies\". Es decir, que los surfactantes modifican las propiedades de superficie de los herbicidas y demás pesticidas. Eso se refleja en fenómenos tales como la tensión superficial, Incompatibilidad de agua y aceite y lavado de superficies aplicadas por falta de adhesión. El cambio de esas .. Especiali5ta. en COntrol de Malezas, eIAT, Call, Colombia.propiedades en la superficie son las que se van a alterar con el uso de surfactantes.Se pueden clasificar los surfactantes así: l. lónlcos: Catiónlcos, y Aniónicos 2. No-iónicos.Para comprender el concepto de iónes se presenta el siguiente ejemplo:Catión + Anión Es decir, un ion es simplemente una molécula con una carga la cual puede ser positiva (catión) o negativa (anión). Los surfactantes no iónicos no tienen ninguna carga y son realmente inertes. No reaccionan con los pesticidas ni con las aguas duras. La mayoría de los surfactantes comercializados para la agrlcultu. ra son los no.iónicos. Hay que tener en cuenta que ciertos pesticidas requieren un surfactante especial y siempre se deben leer las instrucciones impresas en el marbete o etiqueta antes de mezclarlo con cualquiera de ellos.No todos los surfactantes poseen las mismas características y propiedades. Además, algunos son utilizados más especificamente para herbicidas que para insecticidas y viceversa, debido a cambios en las propiedades de uno a otro.Los surfact-antes son aditivos con propiedades detergentes y emulsificantes. También tienen propiedades lipafllicas e hldrof!. licas debido a la naturaleza de las moléculas. Debido a esta pro' piedad lipo e hidrOfUica, el surfactante reduce la tensión superfl• cial de las soluciones. Cuando este efecto se traslada a la inter. acción entre una solución herbicida y la superficie de la hoja, el efecto del surfactante es el de crear un contacto más íntimo entre las dos fases. En caso de pubescencia sobre la hoja, el surfactante permite que la solución la traspase y entre en contacto directo con la superficie foliar. En el caso de capas cerosas y cuticulas, el sur. factante facUita la penetración del herbicida a través de estas barreras, ejerciendo: a) su poder lipofllico, a través de la capa cerosa y a través de la porción lipofílica de la cutícula, y b) su poder hidrofflico, a través de la porción hidrofílica de la cutícula.Cuando la selectividad del herbicia hacia una planta se debe a la penetración del herbicida, el suriactante puede reducir la se-lectlvidad, como en el caso de MSMA en trigo. De aqul la importancia de que no se deben usar surfactantes en aplicaciones postemergentes a menos que se: recomiende su uso. Cuando se desea ampliar la actividad del herbicida sobre un complejo de plantas, y cuando no existe el peligro de perder la selectividad hacia el cultivo, se puede emplear el surfactante.A continuación se presentan los principales efectos de los surfactantes.Casi todos los productos tienen esta misma propiedad, (hasta el mismo jabón casero), la de bajar la tensión superficial, lo cual produce un mayor cubrimiento (humedecimiento) del área aplicada. Eso se puede observar en la siguiente figura: Gota srll Surl.elllf'l1l1l HOJA$ Al reducir las fuerzas de cohesión del agua, la gota se expande mucho más sobre la superficie.Algunos surfactantes mantienen controlada la presión de vapor de los herbicidas volátiles y por consiguiente, no se pierden tan rá. pidamente, obteniendo actividad más prolongada, 3. Aumentar la penetración Quizás, esta es la principal razón para usar surfactantes con herbicidas postemergentes. Algunos productos, tales como dalapon, amitrol, propanil, paraquat y MSMA muestran una fuerte actividad al agregar surfactante a la solución. Este efecto va muy ligado al primer punto: si hay mejor cubrimiento, casi siempre el producto penetra más en el tejido de las hojas del cultivo. Además, el surfactante puede incrementar el número de estomas penetrados por el herbicida.Hace varios años, muchos herbicidas se consideraron activos en el suelo, y de reducida actividad postemergente, pero hoy día, estos mismos productos mu€stran bastante actividad foliar al agregar ciertos surfactantes al tanque de la aspersora. Por ejemplo, se recomienda la aplicación de diuron más surfactante, en postemer~ gencia, para malezas pequeñas en varios cultivos (algodón, caña de azúcar), en p licaciones dirigidas evitando contacto con el follaje del cultivo. (Hay que tener en cuenta que el uso de surfactante aumenta la actividad, tanto en cultivos como en malezas).Este efecto puede ser causado al cambiar la solubilidad del producto o bien, porque el surfactante afecta las membranas en tal forma que son más permeables para el herbicida y as! éste se mueve más dentro de la planta.Muchos de los surfactantes tienen la propiedad de ser \"pegantes\" y hacen que el pesticida dure más tiempo en la superficie tratada, aunque llueva. Eso es importante en la aplicación de insecticidas de contacto. 6 . Aumentar la solubilidad En general, los herbicidas tienen baja solubilidad en agua, factor que influye sobre la penetración, puesto que solamente el ingrediente activo en solución puede penetrar la hoja. Los surfactantes que aumentan la solubilidad de los herbicidas en la solución producen más penetración y por lo tanto, estimulan una mayor actividad. Eso se puede apreciar en el Cuadro 11-1.Algunos surfactantes aumentan la acción herbicida por ser tóxicos por si mismos, es decir, al aplicar el surfactante sólo también se ohservarlan daños, aún ligeros. 8. cambiar la solubillzación de la cutlcula del follaje La cuticula contiene diferentes capas cerosas y el surfactante puede aumentar la acción herbicida al afectar estas capas, permi. tiendo que penetre más producto. Casi todos los surfactantes son ¡¡pofílieos, por lo menos, en una parte de la molécula; por esta caracteristica, pueden modIficar la cutícula al reaccionar con ella. Este puede ser el resultado de un cambio en el pH de la solución al agregar surfactante. También, es debido a la presencia de grupos lipofilicos e hídrofillcos en las moléculas, lo cual estabiliza la relación entre las moléculas del pesticida (por lo general, lipatllicas) con las del portador o vehículo, o sea, el agua (hidrofilica).Con base en las propiedades ya mencionadas de los surfactantes, se presentan ejOOlplos de su utilidad. Hay que destacar que para utilizar los herbicidas, solamente se recomienda el uso de surfactantes en algunas aplicaciones postemergentes. Nunca se les emplea en preemergencía pues ello no ofrece ninguna ventaja, como se dará cuenta el agrónomo al estudíar las propiedades de los herbicidas y surfactantes.Casi siempre se recomienda el uso de un surfactante con los herbicidas paraquat, diquat, dalapón, propanil, diuron, atrazina, y bromacll en postemergencia. El MaMA, DSMA, glifosato, asulam, amitrol y bentazón, por lo general, contienen suficiente surfactante en su formulación comercial y no muestran mayor actividad al agregar surfactante adicional. Para los herbicidas hormonales se sugiere el uso de algún surfactante que aumente la penetración y reduzca la volatilidad de las formulaciones ésteres, en el caso de los potreros, pero no en los cultivos de cereales. maíz y sorgo porque se puede redUCIr el grado de selectividad al agregar un surfactante. cuando parezca que va a llover en el transcurso de ocho horas después de una aplicación postemergente, se sugiere el uso de un surfactante con propiedades pegantes. Siempre se deben consultar las instrucciones impresas en la etiqueta para estar seguro de que no se reduzca la selectividad del herbicida al usar un surfactan te.Una pregunta frecuente es si se pueden usar jabones en vez de comprar un surfactante comercial. En realidad, el jabón reduce la tensión superficial pero carece de las otras propiedades que sólo los surfactantes poseen y por lo tanto, nunca es tan efectivo como un surfa.ctante manufacturado comercialmente. Además. puede presentar problemas debido a la espuma, que se produzca en el tanque en la tubería de la aspersor a .La concentración del surfactante a usarse varia según el producto, pero la mayoría de estos productos se mezcla a razón de 0.5 por ciento, volumen por volumen. Es decir, sl el volúmen de agua por hectárea es 250 litros, se añadirían 1,25 litros de surfaetante por hectárea (0,5 por ciento). Es interesante anotar que, con solamente el 0,1 por ciento, se obtiene el máximo efecto sobre el rompimiento de ia tensión superficial pero se ha observado la máxima efectividad de los surfactantes con el 0,5 por ciento, mostrando que su modo de acción no reside solamente en la reducción de la tensión supreficial. Los surfactantes se agregan al tanque de ia aspersora al final, es decir, después de mezclar el agua y los pesticidas. XII. Problemas y cálculos /erry Doll * 1. Vamos a suponer que usted es extensionista y llega a una finca momentos antes de que el agricultor comience a aplicar Cotoran. Al inspeccionar la aspersora descubre que hay cuatro boquillas de tamaño 8004 y cuatro más de tamaño 8002. No hay otras boquillas disponibles y el agricultor debe hacer la aplicación el mismo día. ¿Qué le aconsejaría usted?2. ¿Cuál aspel'sol'a tiene mayor descarga por hectárea? a) Una con presión de 40 Ib/pulg 2 , boquillas Tee-jet 8002 y velocidad de 6 kph. b) Una con presión de 20 Ib/pulg 2 , boquillas Tee-jet 8004 y velocidad de 6 kph.3. Se tiene Lazo granulado que contiene 10 por ciento de ingre_ diente activo. Se quiere aplicar 2 kgia¡ha. ¿Cuántos kilogramos de Lazo granulado se deben aplicar por hcctarea?4. Usted tiene una aspersora calibrada para aplicar 250 litros de agua por hectárea. Está ap:icando Karmex a 2 kgpC¡ha y necesita llenar el tanque que tiene 400 litros de capacidad. El tanque ya contiene 45 litros de solución, más Karmex. ¿Cuántos gramos de herbicida debe añadir?5. Al calibrar su aspersora, usted descubre que hay una descarga de 600 litrosfha a una velocidad de 6 kph Y una presión de 40 lb¡pulg'. ¿Qué se debe hacer para reducir la descarga? a)----.500 litrosjha. b)--250 litrosjha.6. Un agricultor viene a su oficina con una muestra de una maleza nueva que él encontró en su región. El dice que hay bastantes plantas de esa especie en su campo de cebada y quisiera controlarla pronto. ¿Qué le preguntaría al agricultor y qué le recomendaría usted?\"' Especialista en Control de Malezas, eIAT. Cali, Colombia\" XIII. Precauciones en el uso de herbicidas ] er\"Y. Doll * El adelanto tecnológico que se ha logrado en la producción agropecuaria, en general, ha proporcionado un aumento en el uso de los herbicidas. Para evitar el mal uso que se puedan dar a los herbicidas, es necesario tener en cuenta algunas normas que dictan el empleo correcto de éstos.Al no usar los herbicidas apropiadamente, se puede perjudicar a los seres humanos, animales domésticos, insectos benéficos a la agricultura, peces, plantas deseables o cultivos deseables y contaminar depósitos o corrientes de agua.Todos estos daños se pueden evitar observando las recomenda• ciones y precauciones anotadas en las etiquetas del producto. Los accidentes son ocasionados principalmente por descuidos o ignorancia de los usuarios.Recuerde siempre: Todo herbicida debe ser tratado como producto tóxico y venenoso. Si tiene que trabajar con herbicidas, observe las siguientes reglas: 1 . Tenga absoluta certeza sobre el producto que debe comprar y de las cantidades necesarias del mismo. 2. Al comprar varios envases de un herbicida lea con cuidado y detenimiento las Instrucciones impresas en las etiquetas de cada envase o tanque para cerciorarse de que todos contienen el mismo producto. 3 . Lea con cuidado todas las instrucciones de la etiqueta y esté seguro de que las comprenda bien. Si tiene alguna duda, pregunte al ingeniero agrónomo especializado empleado por la casa distribuidora, al extensionista o a su asesor técnico particular. 4. Lea detenidamente la sección de precauciones o peligros; conozca cuáles son los antídotos que debe utilizar en casos de intoxicación y conslgalOS con tiempo para tenerlos a la mano en caso necesario o esté seguro del sitio en el cual los podrá obtener rápidamente. 5. Tenga a mano el número del teléfono y dirección de un médico competente para casos de intoxicación, como también el número telefónico de un hospital cercano para casos de emergencia. Estas precauciones no son exageradas. Es posible que se presenten accidentes en el trabajo de aplicación de herbicidas que requieran atenciÓn médica inmediata. S. Nunca almacene herbicidas con otros insumas agrícolas, semillas, fertilizantes, alimentos o bebidas. Allnacénelos bajo llave, fuera del alcance de niños y animales; si el producto, es inflamable almacénelo en lugar aislado. 7. Nunca almacene herbicidas en envases o empaques que no sean los originales, tales como botellas de gaseosas, leche y costales que se puedan confundir con alimentos o bebidas.Consérvelos siempre en su envase o empaque original con la etiqueta intacta y legible, bien tapados o cerrados. sea precavido con el almacenamiento de estos productos. No se confíe! 8. Al transportar herbicidas, escriba claramente y en lugar visible del empaque del cargamento la palabra VENENO; informe al personal encargado del transporte y exija que el herbicida no se localice en el camiÓn junto a animales, productos de consumo humano o animal. 9. En caso de que se derrame el producto, limpie enseguida el material regado en el suelo con cuidado. Si es líquido, utilice un material absorbente (paño) y luego, quémelo. Si es polvo, evite aspirarlo. 10. Recuerde: antes de iniciar el uso del herbicida aclare toda duda que tenga con relación al mismo. Es mejor prevenir que curar! Precauciones durante el empleo de herbicidas Durante el período en el cual se están utilizando los herbicidas, se está en contacto directo con el producto; para evitar accidentes, debemos observar las siguientes reglas:1 . Lea la etiqueta y entienda su contenido antes de abrir el em• paqueo Esto deberá hacerlo, aún cuando lo haya hecho al comprar el producto. Si otras personas van a trabajar con el herbicida explíqueles las precauciones a tomar. Cualquier duda consúltela .2. Nunca coma, tome liquidas () tume durante el manejo de herbicidas. Por lo general, estos productos son peligrosos al in• gerirlos o aspirarlos, pero también pueden actuar por contacto; entonces, evite todo contacto con su cuerpo, sobre todo 51 se dispone del producto en forma concentrada. Lávese con abundante agua y jabón; si el producto le causa irritación, consulte con un médico 10 antes posible.3. Al preparar la mezcla para aspersión, hágalo en un sitio ventilado y evite aspirar vapores o polvo. Durante la aplicación también evite aspirar los vapores o el polvo. 4. Si las instrucciones recomiendan el uso de máscaras, guantes, etc., para su protección, cumpla la recomendación al pié de la letra y durante la aplicación siempre use una camisa de manga larga. 5. Al preparar la. mezcla y al aplicarla evite la contaminación de aguas que puedan ser utilizadas en el consumo humano o animal; además, al contaminarlas eliminaríamos los peces presentes, los cuales, generalmente, toleran muy bajas cantidades de pesticidas. 6. Nunca sople o succione con la boca mangueras, aguilones, bo• quillas, pipetas, etc. Utilice guantes para limpiar y destapar partes de la aspersora. 7. Si durante el empleo (mezcla o aspersión) del herbicida, una persona presenta sintomas de jaqueca, mareo u otro malestar, aléjela. del sitio de operación; póngala en reposo y llame o lIévela al consultorlo médico. 8. Si el herbicida (concentrado o diluido) moja su ropa, quítesela y luego báñese. Lave la ropa con bastante jabón. Al extraer la cantidad necesarla de herbicida de un envase o empaque, séIlelo para evitar derramamientos posteriores. 9. Al término de una aplicación, báñese y cámbiese de ropa. Recuerde que los zapatos pueden estar contaminados. 10. Al finalizar la aplicación, lave y limpie todo el equipo con de• tenimiento, evitando su contaminación y la de aguas adyacentes. 11. Destruya los envases vacios. Quémelos o entiérrelos. Si los quema, no aspire el humo; si los entierra, hágalo en un sitio distante y profundamente. Perfore o destruya todos los envases o empaques evitando así usos posteriores. No venda esos envases ni los obsequie.Mareo, fiebre, contracciones muscuiares continuas y debilita. miento; si estas contracciones son muy violentas se presentan, por lo tanto, convulsiones sin control. Las pupilas de los ojos se achi. can (miosis); excesos de agua en los ojos (lagrimación); salivación o humedecimiento incontrolable de la boca; vértigo; excesiva trans-piración; aceleración del corazón (taquicardia); vómito; calambres estomacales; diarreas; respiración dificil (disnea.), pérdida de la habilidad para usar los músculoS e intestinos; inconclencla (co. ma). Los últimos cuatro sintomas son típicos de casos severos.Con productos mercurlales, se presenta ampollamientos de la piel; otros productos producen sensibilidad nasaJ, hemorragias y falta de coagulación de la sangre. El bromuro de metilo causa \"Neumonía quimlca retardada\" la cual produce agua en los pul. mones.PRIMEROS AUXIiLIOS GENERALES 1 . Proporcione al paciente respiración artificial boca a boca, si esta función se ha detenido o se nota dificultosa. 2. Detenga la exposición al veneno, o sea, aleje al paciente de la fuente de peligro; si la piel está afectada, lávela y limpiéla incluyendo uñas y cabello; si se atraganta, induzca al vómito. 3. Recoja una muestra del producto que ha quedado; consiga una etiqueta del envase que contenta el producto que intoxicó al paciente. Si no aparece una etiqueta al menos, obtenga el producto para que se lo muestre al médico. Si el veneno es deseonocido, tome una mueatra del vómito para hacer análisis de laboratorio.Un antídoto es un elemento usado para contrarrestar los efectos de un veneno, o reducir o disminuir la intensidad del envenenamiento. En cierta forma, el uso de ropas protectoras, aparatos de seguridad y conocimiento de primeros auxilios son antídotos o al menos, preventivos.Muchas personas piensan que antídotos son exclusivamente compuestos químicos especiales que se adquieren en farmacias y/o prescritos por un médico. Los antídotos son de uso externo y de uso interno:De uso externo: agua, jabón yagua, guantes, máscara, etc. De uso interno: agua; agua con sal; leche, leche de magnesia; el antídoto universal: dos partes de carbón vegetal activo, una de óxido de magnesio y una de ácido tánico, en medio vaso de"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"de2d9a80f5918ad53d3c62a7bdd0aa6c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bb5d2e7c-4d5e-4254-b5a6-eb353796fad4/retrieve","id":"1365394673"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2989e0db-aa41-4d0e-aa0e-223efb5bcbbc","content":"trò quan trọng thứ hai, sau các loại cây ngũ cốc. Ở Việt Nam, cây sắn vừa được sử dụng với mục đích công nghiệp và thực phẩm. Và tổng diến tích trồng trọt chiếm thứ 3 trong các cây trồng nông nghiệp của Việt Nam, diện tích tăng gấp đôi từ 237,600 ha năm 2001 đến 560,000ha năm 2014. Sắn cũng là trong những cây có sản phẩm xuất khẩu hàng đầu của Việt Nam. Trái lại, diện tích những loại cây củ khác có chiều hướng giảm đáng kể, đặc biệt là khoai lang. Tuy nhiên, phải nói rằng khoai lang đóng vai trò quan trọng để làm thức ăn chăn nuôi cho gia súc và thực phẩm. Hiện nay vẫn chưa có bất kỳ chính sách cụ thể nào hỗ trợ phát triển cây lấy củ ở cấp quốc gia, cũng như những chương trình hỗ trợ của địa phương. Bên cạnh thay đổi sử dụng đất và thiếu những chính sách hỗ trợ, biến đổi khí hậu cũng được xem tác động đáng kể đến người nông dân trồng cây lấy củ, nông dân cũng nhận định rằng khí hậu càng ngày càng nóng và khô hơn trước. Kết quả của nghiên cứu ban đầu này có thể được xem như là nguồn tài liệu tham khảo, hỗ trợ nhằm đưa ra các chính sách khuyến nghị gia tăng tính bền vững cho các nông hộ quy mô nhỏ lẻ gặp khó khăn trong sản xuất cây lấy củ.  Các điểm nghiên cứu chính "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3604343461.json b/main/part_2/3604343461.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3110aeba57464fc70a5e73541fc6919ce2905dca
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"215eb0cdf5e13575456dc1890123c622","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ae1b482b-025d-4f69-80ab-d5a668ca5113/retrieve","id":"273576839"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8f902acd-91ff-4dd7-a2c2-fd3de72ce2bb","content":"• Principal componente de los medios de vida para centenas de miles de familias rurales: 86% de fincas ganaderas sistemas familiares, agricultura + ganadería, mano de obra familiar• > 20% del área total destinada para ganadería• En los últimos 10 años tendencia a aumentos significativos en producción• Mayor expansión en producción basada en aumento de hato y áreas de pastoreo, baja tasa de crecimiento en productividad• 86% de fincas ganaderas son sistemas familiares, agricultura + ganadería, mano de obra familiar Herramienta CLEANED: evaluación ex-ante de impacto ambiental -sistemas de ganadería  "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3609089743.json b/main/part_2/3609089743.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b9b4cd8f5549c6a727df51571a8655e22546be56
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0e72d910ecce54d4024728ad7769e9cd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b2ef0a80-47fe-4d62-aa14-527de0ad8027/retrieve","id":"-696385527"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"82c9274f-dc6b-497a-9edb-a53a6a358845","content":"In 2023, the Nigeria Potato Seed Security Partnership (NPSSP) successfully introduced four new late blight-resistant and climate-smart potato varieties to Nigeria. This will enhance local capacity within the public and private sectors to ensure an adequate supply of high-quality seed potato that meets market demands and is adapted to local conditions.Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is the world's third most important crop in terms of consumption after rice and wheat (FAOSTAT 2013). It is a tuber crop that belongs to the nightshade family and is vegetatively propagated which means that new plants are grown from tubers and not from botanical seed.Potatoes have high nutrient content, can adapt to marginal environments, and are relatively easy to cultivate. Combined with their low cost and high productivity, these attributes make potatoes one of the most important sources of food and income for vulnerable populations in low-and middle-income countries. In 2021, 154 countries produced potatoes (FAOSTAT), and more than a billion people eat them regularly, often when other crops are scarce. In the last decade potato was the sixth most produced crop globally accounting for 4% of all crop production (FAO 2022), and more than half of global production today comes from lowand middle-income countries (FAOStat 2005), where there are often high levels of poverty, hunger, and malnutrition.With more than 50 years of research-for-development work in potato, CIP has contributed to greater food and nutrition security and economic growth around the world. Our breeders and plant scientists work with local partners and farmers to develop and manage potato varieties to produce higher yields, improve nutrition and build resilience to climate change, and pest and disease outbreaks. More than two million smallholder farmers in Africa and Asia have planted quality seed of improved potato varieties and adopted good practices -with support provided by CIP working with partners -resulting in increased yields and incomes including at least 600,000 smallholder farmers in Africa through seed-related businesses and three million households through potato technologies.Rapid multiplication: Increasing farmer access to quality seed helps to combat the spread of viruses that reduce yields. Rooted apical cuttings -small plantlets that are used to produce high-quality seed -is a rapid low-cost multiplication approach that is helping many farmers in India and Africa, including 50,000 farmers in Kenya, boost yields and incomes by as much as 50%. cip-cpad@cgiar.org www.cipotato.org @cipotato @Cipotato @cip_potatoThe International Potato Center (CIP) was founded in 1971 as a research-for-development organization with a focus on potato, sweetpotato and Andean roots and tubers. It delivers innovative science-based solutions to enhance access to affordable nutritious food, foster inclusive sustainable business and employment growth, and drive the climate resilience of root and tuber agri-food systems. Headquartered in Lima, Peru, CIP has a research presence in more than 20 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.CIP is a CGIAR research center, a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to transforming food, land and water systems in a climate crisis. Its research is carried out by 13 CGIAR Centers/Alliances in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations and the private sector.Agroecological shifts: Potato in mulch is a regenerative approach that is being promoted and refined by CIP in India and Bangladesh. Seed potatoes are laid directly onto untilled soil and covered with leftover straw mulch from the rice harvest. This approach is appealing to young entrepreneurs including women as it has low production costs as requires few inputs like water, fertilizers, and drought. It also brings quick returns which reduces risks -the harvest is ready in about three months, in time for the next crop to be planted.  Climate-smart: Across Asia, 170 potato varieties have been released either through the International Potato Center's breeding program over the last four decades or by using germplasm held in its collections. These varieties are bred to be climate-smart, to mature, and to help fight off potato pests and diseases, contributing to the food and nutrition security, and the livelihoods, of 10 million people across Asia.Targeting nutrition: CIP has made significant advances towards developing biofortified potatoes with elevated levels of zinc and iron to help plug micronutrient gaps in malnourished vulnerable populations.Potato has a rich genetic diversity with nearly 5,000 native edible varieties and 145 wild species still found in its centre of origin. Almost 8,000 years ago, farmers first domesticated the potato wild relatives growing around Lake Titicaca in the Andean highlands in southeast Peru and eastern Bolivia. Its popularity grew as a combination of genetic selection, breeding, and adaptation resulted in varieties that had the right tastes and textures to be adopted into traditional food cultures and that could tolerate and adapt to the challenging local conditions. Farmers in the Andean region work in altitudes above 4,000m on a mix of terrains including severe slopes and wetlands and face unpredictable weather patterns from frosts to droughts. This resulted in the rich genetic heritage that makes the potato an ideal candidate for innovative conservation and breeding programs such as those led by CIP. These programs bring new techniques to build on ancient know-how to fast-track the release of new and improved varieties that vulnerable farmers urgently need, for example, resistance to new crop pests, or increased tolerance to drought. When combined with initiatives to build farmers' capacity in using good agricultural practices, they can help boost food security, provide inclusive livelihoods, and reduce the use of water, pesticides, and fertilizers, safeguarding both human and planetary health.In 2021, global potato production passed 376 million tonnes with almost 86 million tonnes coming from low-income food-deficit countries -more than half of this production came from low-to middle-income countries in South America, Africa, and Asia, including Central Asia, where potato is a key food security crop for millions of people facing high levels of poverty, hunger, and malnutrition. Selected over centuries for their taste, texture, shape, and color, potato is well-adapted to harsh conditions like those that prevail in the high Andes, at altitudes ranging from sea level to 4,200 meters, requiring little or no agrochemicals. This means that is it well-positioned to help farmers sustainably tackle the challenges they face today, boosting human and planetary health.Potatoes are eaten by more than one billion people around the world and are a valuable source of nutrition in many lowand middle-income countries. Research is also underway to increase the vitamin content of modern potato varieties, using biotechnology to target micronutrient deficiencies.It is estimated that between 690 and 783 million people in the world faced hunger in 2024.In low and middle income countries, production rose from less than 30 million tonnes in the early 1960s to more than 165 million tonnes in 2007 (FAOStat 2007). Until the early 1990s, most potatoes were grown and consumed in Europe, North America, and countries of the former Soviet Union.One-third of the world's potatoes are produced in China and India.Potatoes have an average crop cycle of 100-120 days and farmers in the tropics can harvest potato crops within 70-80 days of planting with new varieties. This means that farmers can benefit from quick returns and reduced risks of crop loss.In highland areas of southern Asia, the potato is emerging as an off-season crop;planted in rotation with maize, it brings relatively high prices at the market. Similarly, across other areas of the world, the potato's importance as a winter cash crop is rising considerably.One hectare of potato can yield two to four times the food quantity of grain crops.The potato value chain in Kenya alone employs around two million people and contributes approximately USD 500 million to the annual economy.Potatoes produce more calories per unit of water than most other crops including some major cereal crops. As climate change alters rainfall patterns, that characteristic becomes increasingly important for farmers. A combination of optimal water management and droughttolerant varieties can greatly enhance water resilience meaning it could be cultivated in regions where little or no food is currently grown.Wild species are found from the southwestern United States to southern Chile where they grow in diverse soils and climates, from the dry desert along the Peruvian coast to the inter-Andean valleys. These species may hold the genetic keys to developing new and improved nutritious, disease-and climate-resilient varieties to help farmers build resilience to today's challenges.Losses and management of diseases like late blight -the one which caused the Irish Potato Famine and still devastates crops today. In 2022 alone, it caused an estimated global loss of $6.7 billions in yield losses and management costs, wiping out entire harvests of subsistence farmers who depend on potato for their food security and livelihoods. In sub-Saharan Africa, it causes an estimated 15 -30 percent average yield loss on smallholder farms.Climate change is reducing yields through increased drought and erratic weather patterns that can destroy entire harvests.Warmer temperatures also mean that diseases like late blight are spreading into higher altitudes in traditional potato-growing areas that historically have been free of the disease. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3615608944.json b/main/part_2/3615608944.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1a3dabeb58a18a1b7b36989e81ce28b7bae921fc
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+++ b/main/part_2/3615608944.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"27d22698dda7d3dbef5d1baf20b33965","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0e3451ad-eb9f-448a-b383-028938929bec/retrieve","id":"-338055953"},"keywords":["Pastoralists","Climate change","Index insurance"],"sieverID":"cbe04943-8c0b-4b09-baae-68d33a8fee08","content":"The views expressed in this document cannot be taken to reflect the official opinions of these agencies, nor the official position of the CGIAR or ESSP.Matthew Hurst holds an M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering and is currently a doctoral student in the field of Environmental Processes the school of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Matt's research interests include developing appropriate bottom geometry in upflow sedimentation tanks to optimize floc blanket formation and identification of water quality, and risk factors and interventions for the prevention of cryptosporidiosis in people and livestock in Ethiopia. Contact: mwh65@cornell.edu Nathan Jensen holds an M.S. in Agricultural Economics and is currently a doctoral student in the field of Applied Economics and Management in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. Nathan's research focuses on the dynamics between the livelihood strategies of households in underdeveloped countries and their social and natural environment. Contact: ndj6@cornell.edu Sarah H. Pedersen holds an M.S. in Food Policy and Applied Nutrition and is currently a doctoral student in the field of Nutrition with a concentration in International Nutrition.Sarah's dissertation work is investigating infection-mitigating mechanisms of breastfeeding as a pathway to healthy infant growth and development in Tanzania. Contact: sp7292@cornell.edu Asha N. Sharma holds an M.S. in Biological and Environmental Engineering and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in the same field. Asha is studying climate-related changes in precipitation and consequences on crop yields, water balances of major river basins, and longterm changes in groundwater in India as part of her dissertation research. Contact: ans62@cornell.edu Jennifer A. Zambriski is a U.S. licensed veterinarian (D.V.M.) specializing in Global Health.She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in the field of Animal Science with a concentration in Epidemiology (PhD expected 2012). Jenni's dissertation research is focused on development of a bovine vaccine against Cryptosporidium parvum, and on identification of risk factors and interventions for the prevention of cryptosporidiosis in people and livestock in Ethiopia. Contact: jzambriski@gmail.comThe IGERT team would like to thank the Boran people, in particular the focus group discussion participants, for sharing their views and wisdom. We would like to thank all of the government officials, nongovernment organization (NGO) workers, researchers and others who took the time to meet with us and share their experiences and observations freely. In addition, we would like to express profound gratitude to our three wonderful field facilitators and translators, Seyoum Tezera, Mohamed Ibrahim, and Fatima.The IGERT team is also indebted to Birhanu Taddesse Ayana of ILRI in particular for his field program facilitation during our time in Borana, which enabled us to learn a great deal about the place, the people, and the culture. The team also wishes to thank Brenda Wandera of ILRI, Aliyu Mustafa of CARE, and Dr. Beth Medvecky, Ginny Montopoli, and Tina Henry of Cornell University for their flawless logistical support as well as Cynthia Mathys for her wonderful editorial contributions and insightful comments that served to transform and unify a very rough first draft.We are also most grateful to Dr. Charles Hopkins of CARE for setting us on track for this study upon our arrival in Addis Ababa and helping to clarify concepts and to spur new ideas.And, to Dr. Solomon Desta and Dr. Getachew Gebru of MARIL, who provided advice on sources of information, and went above the call of duty to help us access these sources. Their comments, along with those of Dr. Andrew Mude of ILRI, greatly helped us revise this report.To the National Science Foundation and the Food Systems and Poverty Reduction IGERT, our sincere appreciation for your continued demonstrated commitment to and investment in the scientific, academic, and professional development of all the students you support, and in particular the IGERT students at Cornell University.And lastly, to our leader and mentor, Dr. Chris Barrett, for his unwavering patience, his sage advice, and his indefatigable encouragement. By providing us with this opportunity, he has given us the chance to put his many good lessons into practice, and we hope that we have honored those lessons justly. Through his work and mentorship he has inspired us, and for this above all else, we are thankful. The Horn of Africa is currently experiencing a drought that is projected by organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank to be the worst in the region in nearly six decades.Over the last decade, drought has recurred in southern Ethiopia more frequently and for longer periods than documented previously. The region's changing climate has resulted in diminished quantity and quality of local water and forage resources, thereby severely and negatively impacting the region's livestock and the nomadic pastoralists, such as the Boran, who depend on these animals for livelihoods and subsistence. Lower than average rainfall in 1999-2005 (Conway and Schipper, 2010) and again in 2011 have caused mass die-offs of livestock, and have forced Boran pastoralists to adopt new coping mechanisms to manage increased risks associated with the region's changing climate. Although new coping strategies may enable the Boran to better adapt to new or more severe climate-related events, stress and hardship for Boran pastoralists are likely to continue, or even increase, as climate scientists project increasingly frequent and severe drought events in the Borana region of southern Ethiopia (Ellis and Gavin, 1994). From focus group discussions with the Boran, there is a consensus that the Boran possess cultural values that include strong kinship ties, migratory livestock herding, and a multifaceted political and cultural system of traditional practices (the gada system) that is based on defined roles and responsibilities for different stages of life. The Boran seem to have a strong value system that includes a deep connection to and respect for animals and the land, and a lifestyle based mostly on transhumant pastoralism. Before substantial land tenure changes by the Ethiopian government were implemented (Ogbaharya, 2009), Boran pastoralists subsisted on the resources provided by their environment, even in the face of periodic droughts.Boran interviewees reported that, until forty years ago, drought typically recurred every 7-10 years. However, the timing, duration, and severity of drought were relatively predictable, and the effects could be mitigated using available coping strategies. The Boran have traditionally associated cyclical weather patterns and societal shifts with the cycles of their gada political system. At the head of the gada system is the position of abba gada, a political office that transfers between clans every eight years. A gada cycle is comprised of five of these eight-year terms, or 40 years. The Boran associate certain social or environmental characteristics (e.g., high conflict) or events (e.g., floods, disease) with specific clans filling the abba gada position. Study participants reported that the current abba gada (Mr. Guyo Gobba) is from the clan known for filling the abba gada position during the most difficult droughts. However, the recent drought cycle and the current drought are even more severe than was projected by the gada cycle.Traditionally, the Boran have been almost totally dependent for their livelihoods on the products of their cattle, using them as food or in trade for grain. In turn, the cattle depend on the stewardship of the Boran people, as well as the regeneration of grazing lands through frequent and intense seasonal rains. The sustained drought over the year 2011 has caused large herd die-offs in some areas, eliminating the livelihoods of some Boran. The sustained drought, in combination with human and animal population pressures, is a critical contributor the current humanitarian crisis in the Borana region. Although new and/or additional strategies may be needed by the Boran to cope with the region's changing drought-and climate-related risk profile, the roles, strengths and weaknesses of the Boran's traditional coping mechanisms must first be understood.The IGERT research team is composed of five members from the fields of economics, hydrology, livestock, nutrition, public health, and water resources. The team gathered information during a field visit to Ethiopia from July 9 th to July 29 th , 2011. This report summarizes 17 FGDs (focus group discussions) in six rural communities, more than 20 formal interviews with pastoralists, NGOs, development workers, and countless informal discussions. The IGERT team chose to rely primarily on FGDs and key informant interviews in order to collect a wide variety of perspectives, ensure that we would be able to pursue topics that seemed important, and cross-check information. The following section provides a brief description of how the FGD sites and participants were selected and the protocol used when the interviews and discussions were performed. during an exploratory trip to the region.1 Six FGD sites were selected to ensure variety among agro-ecological zones, woredas (administrative districts), and access to infrastructure such as markets and roads (Figure 1). Sites were restricted to those reeras (communities) that contained greater than 50 households and were accessible by 4X4 vehicles (Table 1).In Photo 1.The FGD participant categories were: elders, current pastoralists, and women. Elders were restricted to retired herders older than 60 years. Discussion questions posed in the elders' FGDs focused on, but were not limited to, participants' perceptions of long-term climatic and social trends. The current herders groups were middle-aged heads-of-household who currently perform herding activities. Their discussion questions focused on the impact of current droughts, coping mechanisms, and experiences with outside interventions. The final category was composed of women ages 32-65. Here, participants discussed aspects of climate change and drought that specifically impacted women and children, including perspectives that may not have been revealed in a mixed group. The FGDs typically took between two and three hours. 2FGDs were typically followed by key informant interviews with officers of the local Pastoralist Associations (PA), active community members, and/or DAs. We also performed a number of less formal individual interviews after the FGDs in order to follow up on topics discussed during the FGDs. In addition to the interactions with community members, spending time in the communities provided team members with an opportunity to observe local conditions including geography, access to pasture, water, and infrastructure.Before entering the field, the IGERT team spoke with a number of experts in Addis Ababa.These meetings helped to bring the team up to speed on critical issues that were to be investigated in the field. Information from these interviews was used to focus the FGD discussion outlines on the most important issues. These interviews also provided the team with a better idea of additional research currently taking place, as well as a local perspective of the state of the ongoing drought. Once the field visit to Borana was completed, the team returned to Addis Ababa for follow-up interviews with staff from various NGO and government offices.2 See Appendix B for the research schedule and details.While in the field the team visited the two largest livestock markets in the region and a number of different types of water points. At the markets we were able to speak to sellers and traders and hear their drought stories, where they had come from, and the constraints that they faced. At the water points, we gathered information on how and to whom access was granted.Field notes, digital recordings, and photographs were taken at each site providing anecdotal data that informs much of the discussion contained in the subsequent sections. When possible, information was triangulated among a number of different sources and examined for consistency with existing literature. We have attempted to clearly state when we are expressing the opinion of an interviewee, our interpretation of a situation, or are relying on a general body of knowledge. 3 This report also incorporates a number of comments and suggestions generated when a preliminary copy of this report was made available to researchers with experience in the region and the facilitators who aided us during the FGDs and interviews.3 Most of the general information about the history and livelihoods of the Boran, and climate change in the Borana zone, was acquired through FGDs and interviews with community members. For the sake of readability of this report, sources are sometimes omitted.5 Corresponding months for these seasons cycles are found in Appendix A.It became clear in our interviews that the Boran understand that local weather changes cyclically, in seasonal cycles and then in larger yearly cycles. Boran interviewees seem to possess the following understanding of the seasonal cyclical weather patterns in the Borana zone. A typical year consists of four seasons: (1) a long rainy period, (2) a long dry period, (3) a short rainy period, and (4) a short dry period. Drought conditions occur when lower than average rainfall occurs during one of the seasons. 4 In focus group discussions with elders, a general consensus emerged that droughts are predicted in the coming season utilizing traditional weather forecasting techniques. Some traditional forecasting techniques are inventoried in Appendix C.Weather patterns and herd movement are interrelated in this pastoralist system. The rapidity and distance of livestock migration derives primarily from the availability of grazing land and distance between watering points. Focus group discussions with pastoralists gave the impression that grazing land and distance between watering points impact where pastoralists choose to move herds. Traditionally, one factor that allows herd mobility to be maintained is the availability of large areas of land where herders can choose to graze. In discussions with experts on Boran culture (Personal communication Abebe, 2011;Personal communication Bule, 2011), the assured access to grazing land and water resources of all Boran communities, even those separated by long distances, in times of drought is a traditional way that herd mobility is maintained.In focus group discussions with elders, interviewees noted that significant climatic shifts began occurring about forty years ago. For example, the duration and periodicity of rainfall have changed and are no longer as predictable utilizing traditional weather predicting practices. In all of the six focus group discussions conducted, elders report that drought has become more frequent. Drought strikes predominantly in lowland areas, while flooding frequency has increased in other areas (Personal communication CARE Ethiopia Borana Program, 2011). Interviewees expressed an impression that rainfall is \"patchy\" now, concentrated in certain areas, whereas it used to spread over a larger total land area. The Ethiopian government also began recognizing in the early 1990s that the increasing frequency of drought required a comprehensive national drought plan, now known as the National Policy for Disaster Prevention, Preparedness and Management (Catley et al., 2009). !Traditionally, the Boran have relied on several different strategies to mitigate the effects of recurrent drought. A number of more recent strategies were also observed during the course of this study. We discuss the drought-related risk mitigation strategies, new and old, in the following sections: (1) weather-related;(2) livestock-related;(3) rangeland-related; and (4)water-related.Pastoralists' interpretation and understanding of available climate information is an important component of their decision-making processes (Lybbert et al., 2007). Within pastoral communities, Luseno et al. (2003) described probabilistic forecasts, use of indigenous climate forecasting methods, and awareness and access to external information as three important sources of climate information. Pastoralists in the FGDs seem to value careful planning in response to forecasts as a means of mitigating the impacts of drought. However, the concept of probabilistic forecasts did not appear to be universally understood during the FGDs; for example, sometimes examples of events that contradicted forecasts were brought up as evidence against modern methods.The traditional system of weather prediction includes a variety of techniques: reading livestock intestines; locating and identifying specific species of plants that are in leaf or flower; and interpreting astrological signs (more details can be found in Appendix C). Elders reported that the results of these traditional practices were cross-referenced against the gada calendar's predictions of drought cycles. Traditional practices and the gada cycle were used jointly to predict the likelihood and the severity of drought, allowing the Boran to plan ahead.The elders in FGDs noted, as is also noted in Luseno et al. (2003), that traditional methods recently (as in the past 20 years) seemed to be less predictable. In an interview with some Boran leaders, they noted that the younger generations of Boran were more adept in interpreting external information and that government and NGOs have been attempting to implement more and better warning systems. Interviewees expressed that the information on these warning systems was valuable but sometimes difficult to understand. More information on external information sources and dissemination channels may be found in the \"Enhanced dissemination of information\" section.Cattle comprise the bulk of the diet and the livelihoods of the Boran.Maintaining a sufficiently large herd size will be vital to ensuring sufficient caloric intake among the Boran if animal sources continue to constitute the vast majority of their calories.Although a shift to non-traditional forms of pastoralist livelihoods is occurring, livestock still constitute the most crucial component of Boran livelihoods (Wassie et al., 2007).Although large herds may represent economic and food security, livestock herd size is also correlated with animal well-being and herd mortality. Larger herd sizes can increase herd mortality especially during conditions of drought and stress (Lybbert et al., 2004).Elders reported that due to reduced quality and quantity of rangeland, milk production has decreased. In current drought conditions, the number of lactating animals needed to sustain a household could be as high as 10-20 animals, as compared to forty years ago when one or two lactating animals was sufficient.In pastoralists systems, when herd size falls below a certain threshold, transhumant livelihoods cannot be maintained (Lybbert et al., 2004). The following animal husbandry practices help the Boran maintain sufficiently large herds: (1) herd mobility is maintained to ensure that herds can find pasturelands not decimated by drought;(2) certain traditional communal grazing areas are not utilized for a season to provide extra nourishment for sick, young, and lactating animals in times of scarcity; (3) sick animals are isolated from healthy animals to prevent the spread of disease; and (4) animal injuries and diseases are treated using local knowledge. In addition to these practices, a strong social welfare system (detailed more extensively in Appendix D) has developed to ensure that all Boran can continue to herd livestock. For example, Boran pastoralists reported that households with more than five cattle can be called on to redistribute cattle to those who have sustained severe losses, as part of the social welfare system (called busa gonafa, and detailed in the Traditional Social Insurance section).As nomadic pastoralists, the Boran travel with their livestock in search of water and pasture.Movement is dictated by season and the availability of forage, as well as personal relationships, family structure, and immediate demands. In addition, herd mobility is aided by a network of watering points and wells maintained throughout Borana. Operation and maintenance of these points is controlled through the gada system. Prior to the emergence of recent climate-related changes, migration was limited to mainly wet and dry grazing areas, meaning that different pastures were used during the wet and dry seasons, and that traditional laws governed the use of these resources. As climate change has accelerated, the Boran have altered how they migrate, when, where, and for how long.The Boran now travel significantly greater distances to reach pasture and water, which takes more time and requires men to be away from home for longer periods. Increasing the time demands on herders places financial stress on families who must essentially support two households, and impacts the education of children as some may be removed from school to help at home or to help herd. Traveling greater distances also places extreme caloric demands on cattle and exposes them to disease. Livestock walk farther for food and water, and may expend more energy than they consume. They may also travel from areas that are disease-free to areas where disease is endemic. For example, Dr. Roobaa Basaayyee, the head of Borana Zone Livestock Development and Health Agency, expressed concern that cattle traveling from the south where there are no tse tse flies to the north where the flies are abundant would contract trypanosomiasis, which could result in massive cattle die-offs (Yabello, July 2011).Additionally, there is concern that as the Boran cattle migrate to novel geographic regions there will be increased opportunity for the Boran cattle breed to cross-breed. Depending on which breeds the Boran cattle breed is crossed with, the impacts could include improved or diminished hybrid vigor, disease tolerance, and drought tolerance.Unfortunately, simply changing traditional migration patterns as a means of coping with climate change will not mitigate all of the climate change-related risks. Migration over extremely large distances exacerbates the negative energy balance of the cattle in the region, an imbalance that can be compounded by exposure of naïve populations to novel disease. In the short-term more cattle will survive, but in the long-term more cattle will perish.In the event of massive die-offs of cattle, the Boran rely on a traditional three-tiered insurance system. The first tier is busa gonafa, a community-based re-stocking program in which several Boran families, whose cattle have survived, give a cow to a Boran family that has lost their entire herd. The cow is a permanent gift and is intended to help the family begin to rebuild their herd. The second is ames, a short-term loan extended from one Boran family to another in the form of a lactating cow. The Boran family that receives the lactating cow may keep the cow and use her milk for one lactation cycle (typically less than six months in Borana) and then must return the cow. The third tier is rebaray, a charitable donation in which a single Boran family gives a cow to another Boran family following the complete loss of their herd. The cow is a gift, and the family that receives the cow has full rights to the cow, her milk, and her offspring. In order for this system to work and be perpetuated, the families that are donating and lending cattle must have a minimum of five cows. Families that do not meet this minimum requirement are not asked to make donations. In the face of climate change, this traditional system is failing primarily because families cannot meet the minimum required livestock holdings in order to participate in the system.In the past, the provision of feed to cattle by women (cut and carry) within the Boran system was only extended to the young and the debilitated. Women would cut and collect grass and bring the feed to the animals housed at the homestead. This served two important animal health functions: (1) it minimized the spread of infectious disease by limiting the movement of sick cattle, and (2) it facilitated growth and healing by reducing the caloric expenditure associated with grazing activity. This system has now become a coping mechanism. In anticipation of drought, farmers collect and store hay in open protected structures, an activity never previously undertaken among the Boran. Farmers who can afford to do so purchase feed for one to two individual animals in hopes that if they can supplement the diet of a few individuals, they can avoid complete herd loss.These activities require more inputs from the women in the household to collect the hay, and place more financial strain on households as they must re-direct income for the household to maintenance of the herd. This coping mechanism requires extensive planning and knowledge of impending climate conditions so that hay may be cut when it is abundant, which occurs less often now that drought conditions are becoming more frequent and severe. The purchasing of feed is not a feasible coping mechanism for the vast majority of the Boran, who simply do not have the disposable income to support this practice.As the landscape in southern Ethiopia has become drier, the presence of drought-tolerant livestock has increased. Currently, proportions of different types of cattle in Boran herds are being reduced relative to goats and camels, which are more drought tolerant and disease resistant. Livestock diversification has become one of the most universally adopted coping mechanisms in Borana. Nearly all Boran have multispecies herds that include goats, with increasing numbers of herds adding camels. While this strategy has been widely successful, constraints exist. First, Boran interviewees expressed concern over their lack of knowledge about the husbandry and management of camels. They are unfamiliar with camelid diseases, and lack knowledge of both traditional and non-traditional treatments. In focus group discussions conducted with Boran pastoralists, interviewees stated that the care and housing of these animals was novel to them, and that they were unsure of how to manage animals in order to prevent (not simply to treat) disease.Secondly, camels are expensive relative to cattle. They can cost nearly six times more than a healthy cow. Furthermore, most camels cannot be sold before three years, but preferably six years, of age. It is therefore a relatively large financial investment and the return on the investment cannot be realized rapidly. While the Boran will drink camel milk, the amount of milk produced by a camel is significantly less than that produced by a cow. Therefore, ownership of camels does not contribute as greatly to the direct subsistence of the farmers.Lastly, ownership of camels in place of cattle is in direct conflict with Boran culture. ManyBoran in focus group discussions spoke passionately about their relationship and history with cattle. To paraphrase one group of pastoralists in Dhas (August, 2011), Boran culture is defined by cattle ownership and husbandry, and without cattle the Boran feel they can no longer call themselves \"Boran\". Among the Boran, livestock diversification is even sometimes perceived as a threat to Boran identity.Direct subsistence on cattle and their products is waning in Borana as a result of climate change. Fertility of cows may be compromised due to a poor plane of nutrition, and those who do become pregnant and give birth to live offspring have shortened lactation cycles which produce lower volumes of milk. Consequently, there is simply not enough milk available to sustain the calf and the people. As drought conditions worsen, lack of calories and lack of water results in a continued decrease in milk production. Animals approaching starvation are being sold in the market. Previously, selling animals was a rare event, as a large herd is a sign of prestige and is culturally valuable among the Boran.The Boran appear to be reducing their herd size as a coping mechanism for several reasons.First, it minimizes risk and allows the Boran greater financial gain than would be possible if the animal were to die. Secondly, income from the sale of livestock can be used to buy household goods or other urgent needs. While this offers immediate relief, it is problematic with respect to the market. The Boran are selling their livestock when the market is flooded and prices are low. When asked about this practice, the focus group participants at all interview sites anticipated having to sell some cattle during the dry season, but indicated a preference for trying to maintain large herds as long as possible through the dry season.Reasons for this are unclear, but might be attributable to cultural prestige associated with having a large herd and risk-reducing behaviors. The perception seemed to be that a larger, less healthy herd had better odds of having some members survive, whereas a smaller, healthier herd risked losing all members. The alternative would be to sell cattle after the rains when the market price was high, and voluntarily reduce herd size, but this behavior was not reported. Therefore, the selling of livestock appears to be an emergent coping mechanism designed to buffer against extreme shocks within an already unstable system.Animal health is one of the Boran system's greatest strengths. Local knowledge of cattle husbandry and health is substantial, and appears to be very accurate and well applied. The government vaccination program is well organized and executed, especially in light of resource constraints in the region. When asked about the health of their cattle and death due to disease, all of the focus groups consistently reported that deaths due to disease had been significantly reduced in the last 40 years, and all expressed satisfaction with the government vaccination program.When asked about strategies to improve the health of their herds and increase drought tolerance, no mechanisms were volunteered. However, when asked about the impact of castration on animal health, all focus groups reported that they believed castration improved animal health, weight gain, and drought tolerance. Nevertheless, castration has not been adopted as a coping mechanism. When asked why so few animals were castrated, the explanation provided by several focus groups was that there was no longer a market for the meat of castrated animals, and that they did not fetch the same price as an intact animal at market. Some Boran reported that 10 to 15 years ago, a very strong market for castrated animals existed in northern Kenya, but that it no longer existed. No one was able to speak to what caused the change but speculated that the change was driven by a large and increasing demand in the Middle East for reproductively intact animals, which provided a desirable marbling of fat and muscle. All Boran interviewees stated that they would be willing to castrate their animals if they believed they could sell them in the market, and some elaborated on traditional methods used in the past for castration, and identified castration services available through the local government veterinary office.Coping mechanisms being adopted by the Boran to maintain their livestock herds are generally not perceived to be sufficient or sustainable by the Boran, in part because frustration abounds over how these mechanisms are impacting Boran culture, (e.g., through altered migration patterns, consumption of camel milk instead of cow milk, and reduced herd size), and because fear over the financial hardships associated with these practices exists. In order to keep cattle alive, men are away from home for longer, which is an added expense for little return. The market cannot support the large influx of cattle during drought periods, and the amount of income generated by the sale of a cow does not match the investment made to keep the cow alive. While the animal health system is generally very strong, and the animals that come to market are relatively healthy from a disease perspective, this could potentially change as animals migrate to new regions and become exposed to new diseases, or carry in new disease to naïve regions. The Boran consistently express an interest in and desire for having better climate information, but how this information would be utilized for the management of livestock is unclear, especially with respect to the decision to de-stock and sell animals in the market.The primary means by which pastoralists, like communities everywhere, will feel the impacts of climate change is in changes in land and water resources. The Boran have been living with scarce pastureland and water for generations. A number of rangeland-related risk-mitigation measures have been undertaken by Boran communities, as well as initiated by the government and NGOs. Many of these measures have been in use for at least decades, and were developed in response to local climatic fluctuations without specifically being in response to recent climate change. However, these measures may still be relevant in conjunction with other, more \"modern\", methods as responses to climate change, and are mentioned here.The Boran have sophisticated traditional systems of managing land and water resources.Regions are designated as wet season grazing areas and dry season grazing areas. The dry season grazing areas tend to be areas of relatively lower elevation where water accumulates, thereby allowing pasture growth even in the absence of significant rainfall. From several interviews, the IGERT team learned that this system has reportedly come under increasing pressure. The pressure is possibly due to growth of cultivation (see below) and population (human and livestock) increase, among other factors such as conflict, political boundaries, and private enclosures. Rangeland degradation may be both cause and effect of the disruption in the traditional systems. Focus group discussion participants mentioned attempts to revitalize this system, with some initiative on the part of the local government. This system may be especially useful if droughts become more frequent and/or severe since it allows Boran communities to together reserve a part of pasture for drier times of the year. While this system alone is not adequate, having some pasture reserved for the dry season might allow the communities some additional time to plan responses in a bad year.Kallos are enclosures which are reserved for lactating, sick or young animals, so that these animals do not have to travel the much larger distances traveled by the rest of the herd for pasture particularly in the dry season. Though the traditional enclosures for calves were smaller and called seera yabbiye, or \"calf reserve\" (Helland, 1994), kallos, which are an \"imported\" strategy have become very common. The kallos, which may be for the use of the whole village or a group of households, are built by clearing a patch of land of bushes, and are often fenced by dried bush. Kallos range in size from one to tens of hectares (Solomon et al., 2007), and account for almost a tenth of the total land area surrounding communities (McCarthy et al., 2003). Communities often build kallos under government and NGO initiatives. In times of drought, kallos may mitigate to an extent the distances that weaker animals have to travel for pasture, and like wet/dry grazing areas may provide at least temporary relief.Bush encroachment will likely interfere with the ability of the Boran to adapt to increased climatic pressures as it effectively reduces the pastureland available. Moreover, areas which have been encroached by bush have little grass seed left in the soil, making reestablishment of grass very difficult. Thus, although bush clearing programs such as controlled burning do not occur strictly in response to climate change, they are relevant to climate change adaptation.Some FGD participants mentioned bush burning as having other beneficial effects such as promoting growth of preferred grass species. Though the government ban on bush-burning was brought up as an issue in many discussions, many interviewees asserted that rather than an absolute ban on bush-burning, a regulation passed against burning forests during the Derg regime was widely interpreted by local authorities to mean that burning for bush clearing was also banned. Bush encroachment has increased steadily, though not necessarily related solely to the stoppage of burning. Solomon et al. (2007) report that the species of bush (Acacia brevispica and Euclea shrimperi) identified by community elders to be problematic are different from the species reported in previous studies. Bush clearing is very difficult due to the tendency of these species to grow back, as well as their long thorny branches. Government agencies and NGOs promote communities to undertake bush clearing through cutting. There have been some studies on burning as a method for controlling the bush, but burning is currently not as prevalent as cutting. A lack of grass to spread the fire between bushes was also raised as a reason for burning not being practiced. However in some areas visited by the IGERT team, the bush appeared dense. As bush encroachment reduces useful pasture, which is a scarce resource in times of drought, bush clearing can be an effective strategy to bolster other adaptation measures. Improvements in efficiency and effectiveness of bush clearing methods are however needed urgently for this approach to be feasible.There are a number of  change adaptation measure is also dependent whether or not it impedes rangeland-related practices, such as wet/dry grazing areas, that may more directly help in adaptation.Cultivation of crops has reportedly increased in Borana. In the last four decades, there has been a change among the Boran from almost no households involved in cultivation to a large majority of households involved in some form of cultivation, usually of maize and/or beans (Desta, 2011). In 1997, only about 18% of Boran cropped (from a personal interview with Dr.Desta; see also Coppock, 1994;Desta, 1999;Desta and Coppock, 2004). Desta (2011) reports that in a survey of 140 Boran households, 93% engaged in cultivation. This transition was encouraged at least in part by government policy promoting agriculture particularly among pastoralists who had lost livestock (Desta, 2006). Crops are grown in dry season grazing areas, as these areas retain water for a longer period of time. Households now petition to the elders of the community for the right to fence in an area for cropping. If that right is granted, they must then go to the PA and pay a tax on the land that they wish to crop. The household then has the right to fence the field and crop there. In many cases, households apply for and fence in larger plots than they crop with the intention of maintaining a small private pasture.The result is a first-come, first-served tenure system that is transforming the most fertile and well-watered communal pastures into private cropland. This is a contributing factor in the disruption of the traditional movement between seasonal grazing areas, and has contributed to conflict over land and water resources (Yirbecho, 2004). Many pastoralists mentioned trying to grow crops but doing so without much expectation of success as the chances of crop success were highly dependent on rainfall. In FGDs, participants mentioned irrigated cultivation as being a potential strategy to cope with climate change if water became available. Although cultivation has been adopted as a risk mitigation effort, the way it is currently being practiced in Borana does not seem to bring much benefit to the majority of the Boran both due to potential competition between crop-cultivation and dry-season grazing areas as well as due to meager chances of success for the cultivator. The potential for irrigated cultivation seems very limited at best due to the region's dry climate and recurrent droughts.Crop cultivation is therefore unlikely to be a sustainable adaptation strategy in Borana. There are also some conflicts arising because of this issue between the Borana and other communities who practice farming, for example the Konso (further detailed in \"Emerging Climate Change Adaptation Strategies\").Though not in practice yet, some interviewees mentioned the possibility of the government cultivating or encouraging cultivation of forage crops and/or crops for livestock feed using irrigation. This is being envisaged as a potential benefit of the Water Network (see below).Few details appear to be available at this stage on these plans. Though this might seem encouraging as a means of adapting to times of pasture-scarcity, it is unclear if adequate consideration has been given to the sustainability of irrigated cultivation in light of the limited water availability and frequent droughts, as well as on practices such as wet/dry grazing areas.Some parts of Borana (Arero and Yabello) and nearby areas (e.g., Negele in the Guji zone)have forests of Juniperus procera (Tache and Irwin, 2003). Though relatively small in area (exact numbers proved hard to find), they provide important services to the communities who live close to them. These services include environmental services such as erosion control and water retention, forest products such as wood and resins that may be processed for various uses, grazing areas, and sources of water. SOS Sahel Ethiopia is an NGO that works to promote community involvement in the management of forests. For the communities close to these forests, the services provided by forests provide risk-mitigation opportunities and sustainable forest management may be developed as part of an adaptation strategy. For example, processed forest products may form livelihood diversification opportunities, or at least fall-back options for times of difficulty, particularly for women.Traditional rules of governance appear to be well known among the Boran. Penalties for violation of established rules, often set by a council of elders, have tended to be heavy. For example, in one of our FGDs it was mentioned that if a herder were to graze on common land that has been set aside for other purposes, he would have to pay a penalty of up to five heads of cattle. However, a number of times during our interviews and discussions the weakening of traditional institutions was mentioned, and as the management of rangeland is rooted in traditional institutions, this may have, in combination with other factors, affected the ability of the Boran to collectively adapt rangeland management to a changing climate. Some of the strategies above, apart from directly contributing to risk mitigation, may also be developed into opportunities for employment and therefore livelihood diversification.The Borana have long been adapted to a landscape with little water. However with more frequent droughts, water availability has declined. Water management is therefore an important part of adapting to climate change. A number of strategies at various scales have been initiated by Boran communities as well as the government and NGOs to deal with the issue of water availability.Water management is deeply which the abba ela belongs. However, in general, any Boran may make a case to the community for permission to use the well. In addition to the deep wells, there are additionally many shallow wells, called Adadils, also exist, and function for shorter periods of time. Many of these wells are still in use, and several which are damaged are being \"rehabilitated\" by NGOs or the government. Helland (1980) provides an extremely interesting discussion on these traditional water sources. These traditional water sources, particularly the tulas, are notable for having served the Boran for the duration of their existence in this region. They may therefore remain important in promoting sustainable water use while providing much needed water during times of drought.There are several large water projects present in the Borana, some of which go back several decades. For example, a water storage reservoir can be found near the Haro Bake livestock market. Many of these, however, have been reported to have problems such as siltation (interview with Dawit Abebe). Moreover, in many of these storage reservoirs, including the one we observed, livestock actually enter into the water. Since humans also use these reservoirs, this presents a danger in terms of zoonotic, particularly intestinal, diseases. In some FGDs, participants expressed the view that the overcrowding of livestock around some of these water points has disrupted the traditional seasonal grazing cycles and has caused degradation of the surrounding pastureland. While these may have been intended to provide water particularly in times of drought and many of them do serve this purpose, it appears that their utility has been hampered by these problems.In many areas, communities Haro Bake market may be used to bring the water. There seemed in general to be little local expertise in repairing mechanical faults, and a consequent dependence on governments or NGOs to ensure functioning, sometimes making water availability difficult at times for communities even when a well was accessible. When wells do function, smaller wells and ponds seem to be relatively more useful and easily accessible sources of water. Although wells appear to be a useful form of risk mitigation, it is difficult to anticipate whether and how frequent droughts might affect their effectiveness, either through potential decreases in recharge or through increased demand.Particularly in emergencies, the government and NGOs send water trucks to villages. Storage of trucked water tends to be in cisterns, which are often located at schools or other community structures. The quantity of water that can be sent in this way is limited due to infrastructure but also because of limited storage facilities in each village. Moreover, as water cannot be trucked very far, particularly under poor road conditions, the utility of this approach is limited if the entire region suffers drought. Water trucking is therefore at best an emergency measure for short durations. Better roads would facilitate the timely provision of water in periods of acute shortage.The Water Network is a 1500-2000 kilometer pipe network project that could change the Borana region a great deal. It is intended to supply water to much of the region, including villages and towns. The water is drawn from groundwater wells in the Borana region and is expected to reach almost 900,000 people (i.e., around 90% of the population) (FDRE Population Census Commission, 2007) and two million livestock by the time it is complete.However, the timeline of the project is unclear, and there have been issues of materials costs.In general the communities we spoke to seemed optimistic about the project, noting that if they received piped water, women and children would not have to spend as much time and effort collecting it. Many also expressed the desire to use the water to irrigate crops. However, it is unclear if the Network would be able to sustainably support a growing human and livestock population in addition to potential migration from other regions, particularly given limited water availability and recurrent droughts.The IGERT team is unaware of forecasts of water demand and availability under various scenarios such as those mentioned above. Yet without such assessments, ensuring the sustainable use of water resources in general and groundwater in particular, whether with large or small projects, may be very difficult. It is also unlikely that irrigated cultivation would be sustainable in the region. In areas with such large water quantity issues, water quality is often a secondary consideration. Though some testing is done by the government on The difference in livelihood roles seems to create a difference in spaces occupied by men and women. Men often will leave the homestead during a season to find rangeland for livestock.Women are left to tend the home. As a result, sometimes roles such as intra-village commerce may be more predominantly occupied by women. However, these apparent dichotomies in gender roles or space are not as clear-cut and distinct at first glance. Women do engage in tending to livestock because a large part of the traditional Boran diet is derived from livestock products. In addition, women reported that a major activity was gathering grass feed for livestock, in particular to feed lactating animals or calves that can be left behind when men leave the homestead. Men engage in business and commerce and, from our perception, the vast majority of administrative and civic leadership roles are occupied by men.The increased persistence and frequency of drought perceived by pastoralists in this region has direct and unique impacts on women because of their roles in society. Boran women engage in a range of activities distinct from those of men to cope with the loss of livestock and limited access to food and water. In order to understand the ways in which Boran women cope with drought, the IGERT team conducted six FGDs composed entirely of women ages 30-70, all of whom were mothers. Additionally, the team spoke with NGOs, local experts, and key informants, such as local women's group leaders and health extension workers. Further information on methods may be found in the Methods section of this report.When men leave the homestead, women have a responsibility to find ways to generate income for the family. In many communities, women's groups or savings cooperatives have been established to provide financial support to women hoping to engage in petty trade businesses.The cooperatives are often set up by NGOs such as CARE, Gayo, or SOS Sahel; however, in some communities, the groups are initiated by the women themselves. The cooperatives differ in their operating schemes, however in general, women put money into the cooperative during the rainy season when they are able to sell livestock, butter, and milk and borrow from the cooperative during the dry season to engage in business or to purchase food for their families.Cooperatives may also work together to buy and sell maize and sugar to make a profit, which is then available for women to borrow.If women are financially able, they often engage in petty trade during times of drought. These activities are encouraged by NGOs, such as CARE, but are more often initiated by women themselves. In general, petty trade involves the woman traveling to town to purchase sugar, alcohol, coffee, tobacco, and tea leaves and then returning to the village to sell these items, thus earning a small profit. In some cases, women may also purchase grain in the highlands and sell it in the lowlands to earn income, which, according to Charles Hopkins of CARE Ethiopia, may serve as one mechanism to stabilize grain prices during drought. Children may also engage in petty trade, either traveling to town with their mothers or going alone to buy sweets or sugar to sell in the village. In some cases where villages are very far from town (sometimes up to six days walking) women may form groups to raise enough money to rent a donkey or a camel that can be used for a trip to town, where items will be collected, returned to the village and sold. Depending on their distance from town, some women and children shift entirely to the town in order to engage in petty trade. Children living in town may fetch water, do housework for wealthier families, or look after other families' livestock in exchange for a wage.Women who live in close proximity to forests or wooded areas may use products from the forest to supplement their incomes. Organizations such as SOS Sahel encourage forest management and teach women how to use products from the forest to generate profit. Women can produce a scented wood product that is used as a perfume. They may also collect gum from trees or produce and sell incense. Trees can also be harvested from the bush and sold for use as perfumed wood.Women have begun to keep goats, considered to be a more drought-resistant livestock compared to cattle, in order to survive during times of drought. Women can use the goats to supply milk for their children. They can also sell livestock in the market to pay for school fees for their children or to purchase maize, other grains, salt, oil, tea, and sugar at the market in town for consumption in the home.Overall, women seem to survive by supporting each other. For example, women may donate milk to each other within a village for consumption or sold in the market to buy maize for home consumption. Moreover, women and children who do not have livestock may borrow food from their neighbors who still have livestock. Additionally, women support each other through the savings and credit cooperatives where they deposit small sums of money, borrow when they need to, and then return the money when they are able.Alongside income-generating activities, women also engage in activities to maintain the health and nutrition of their children. In Boran culture, children, especially those under five, are given priority access to food. During times of food scarcity, such as prolonged drought, food is distributed to the youngest child first, then older children, followed by the husband, and lastly the wife. During times of food scarcity, adults will often reduce the number of meals they eat from three per day to two per day. Moreover, because women must travel further to reach water sources during drought, they have less time available for meals and are forced to reduce the amount they eat during the day.Women in the Borana region are typically in charge of food within a household. During drought periods, consumption may shift from preferred foods to less-preferred foods. For example, women substitute camel milk for cow milk even though women tend to prefer cow milk because it tastes better and can be used to make butter. Often, during drought, there is no animal milk so women must alter the foods they feed to their children. In those cases, children are fed boiled sugar water, strong tea, or maize powder in place of milk. In addition, women collect roots and wild fruits from the bush; however these products tend to be difficult and time-consuming to prepare.Many people in the Borana region are food-insecure due to the recent pattern of droughts. As a result, food aid is common in the region. Women depend on food aid and supplementary food to survive. This food is distributed by the government and is donated through the World Food Program. Distributed food often includes maize, vegetable oil, and cowpeas. As reported by FGD participants, some communities receive no food aid, while others receive aid every three or six months. According to the manager of the Productive Safety Nets Program (PSNP) at Save the Children-US, various government and non-governmental organizations take responsibility for food distribution in different areas and at different times. Therefore it seems that these differences in food aid distribution may reflect local needs assessments and/or the responsible donor-agency.Public works programs are common and many women participate in these schemes. Projects range from bush clearing, to digging ponds, or fencing in pasture or grazing areas. Both the government and NGOs, such as Gayo, Mercy Corps, and Save the Children, encourage women to participate in projects in order to preserve the local natural resources. In exchange for work, women receive cash and/or food.Lastly, education is utilized as a type of \"insurance\" by women. NGOs such as CARE recognize that the potential skills accrued by education for pastoralist girls could lead to alternative forms of income generation. All women who participated in the FGD discussions recognize the importance of school and most send at least one child to school. Some communities have built schools using juniper trees from protected forests. If there is no local school, children are sent to live in the town so they may attend school. Sending children to live in town requires that living space is rented and represents a financial burden for poor families. In some cases, such a financial burden limits opportunities for less well off families who are unable to afford to rent places in town for their children. In spite of the financial hardship, women interviewed in focus groups believe that educated children will be able to find jobs and support the family if the livestock die. Women in these groups also realize that educated children tend to find jobs elsewhere and often do not return to the land.Recurrent droughts place additional and unique burdens and stresses on women. When asked to rank the problems of most importance to women, the resounding majority of women chose water scarcity as the biggest challenge. One prominent coping strategy by women in focus groups was to cultivate crops alongside traditional pastoralist life. The recent lack of rain has decreased or eliminated the option of farming for those involved in cultivation as an incomediversification strategy. Additionally, lack of water decreases the volume of milk that animals produce, thereby reducing the amount of food available for families. As drought becomes recurrent, small and locally available water sources tend to dry up first forcing women to travel farther to fetch water each day. There is a notable relationship that as distance from water source increase for a family, illness risk increases (Wang and Hunter, 2010). In focus group discussions, women stated that women, young, old, and pregnant, now walk for up to six hours in each direction to collect water and return home carrying 20 kilograms or more on their backs. The extra time needed to fetch water during drought displaces time spent on other women-centered activities, such as caring for children, preparing food, or engaging in business.The second most pressing problem facing women in the region is the scarcity of food. During the current drought, during our field visit in July of 2011, most women have struggled to feed their families. Many women noted that this struggle to provide food, especially to children, causes great psychological stress because it is more difficult to accomplish. As a result of cultural practices, women are served food last which seems to place a disproportionate burden on women in times of food scarcity. During times of food shortage, women may go an entire day without food because the limited resources were given to the children and men first. Food shortages are especially difficult for pregnant women as they are given no special food privileges despite their condition. One woman noted that 11 women have miscarried in her village in the past six months.Moreover, women are concerned about access to health care. The distance to health facilities is perceived to be a long distance from some communities that were interviewed and the women noted that many times ill individuals will avoid traveling to a health post until the condition is severe. In these cases, it is common for a severely ill person to die before reaching the health post. The distance to health posts also makes it difficult for women to receive antenatal services or to obtain medicines for themselves or their children.Other problems facing women include lack of pasture and health facilities for livestock. Due to the current drought there is severe food shortage for animals. To cope with this food shortage for animals, women fetch grass for calves. In focus group discussions, women reported that they walk long distances or climb mountains and trees to find suitable food for calves.In response to the problems women mentioned, they had several solutions to mitigate these problems. Women had many ideas on how to improve access to water during drought. They suggested interventions such as: digging boreholes closer to the villages, building ponds near the villages, providing villages with water tanks or cisterns, and building more traditional wells. Some women even suggested that constructing ponds for women only would ease their labor burden in providing water to the household. Additionally, women suggested improvements in infrastructure, such as: bringing in piped water from Yabello or building roads to increase water access.There were problems reported in response to lack of human and livestock food. The most common solution mentioned by women in response to human food shortage was increasing food aid. Women are particularly interested in receiving supplemental food for children since most of the food distributions include only maize, dried peas, and vegetable oil. When probed about alternate solutions to food aid, women suggested aid in the form of cash, which they could use to buy supplemental food or to begin small businesses. There were limited ideas among the women about how to mitigate the problems of lack of livestock food. Women suggested that food aid for livestock, particularly during the dry season would help to preserve herd size and health, and decrease the burden of labor placed on women to find food for livestock during drought.While, in all communities, women noted that there was support for health problems on the group in terms of health extension workers, women recommended constructing additional health posts in the villages and staffing them with health extension workers. Moreover, many health extension workers were male and women reported that this made it more difficult for women to talk about women's health related issues.Some communities have participated in food-/cash-for-work programs, however the women noted that these programs are generally only for the poorest members of the community.Other communities have women's savings and credit cooperatives. In particular, one women's group mentioned that Gayo had plans to start a women's credit cooperative in their village.When discussing types of aid, women unanimously agreed that they would prefer to receive food rather than cash due to the following reasons: grain can be consumed and fed to children, money can be used in ways that does not benefit the household, and distances to markets are long making it difficult to purchase food.Communication services in the region are lacking. None of the women in any of the six focus groups owned a mobile phone. However, all of the women agreed that they would like to have mobile phones. Women listed numerous ways in which they would use mobile phones, including: communicating with family, contacting men during herd migration, and requesting assistance from the government when problems arise.As noted previously, the Ethiopian government has plans to build a Water Network in the Boran region. Some women had heard of this water project while others had not. All the groups had positive opinions of the water network and a positive concept of personally having access to piped water. Women believe that the water network will be particularly beneficial to women: it will save them time and provide them with a source of reliable, clean water. There was also a perception of several focus group discussions with women that when the water network came, such water could be used for cultivation.Finally, it is important to note that not all women believe that the pastoralism is sustainable.Some of the women believe they could have better lives by leaving pastoralism and starting businesses. Others simply hope that their children will leave the traditional pastoralist livelihoods, become educated, get good jobs, and support them.As seasons shift, access to quality pastures decreases, usefulness and applicability of technologies change, and opportunities vary. Households respond by adapting the strategies that they use to construct their livelihoods. Often adaptation takes place in the form of small changes in current activities, such as buying a little extra sugar at market to sell in the community or cutting grass for fodder a little more often than before, but some changes are expressed in larger investments in time and money, requiring a major redirection of resources.!\"#$following section inventories those adaptations that either seemed most important to the interviewees and FGD participants or seemed most promising in the eyes of the authors. In many cases, these strategies are practiced (to varying degrees) by most households, although a few of the strategies were often mentioned but rarely practiced.As households cope with changing climate and social structures, many of them are choosing to increase the diversity of their livelihood strategies (also listed in Appendix E).Diversification reduces the proportion of total investment and relative exposure to risk associated with a single activity while opening up new opportunities for generating welfare.Most diversifying strategies discussed in this section are extensions of the coping strategies mentioned above, but in this context are meant to emphasize a more permanent shift in the activities on which the household relies. The following section brings together those various diversification activities in order to examine them more thoroughly. The first part focuses on changes taking place within pastoralism. The second part focuses on strategies beyond pastoralist activities. The respondents' perceptions of those activities and prevalence of integration are included where available.One additional point should be mentioned here. The Ethiopian government has recently conducted a Good Governance class at the kebele level though its system of DAs. In those classes the participants were encouraged to: (1) keep money in banks, (2) diversify livelihoods into small business, and (3) build houses in urban areas to rent out or buy a truck to transport goods. Although these three strategies were mention in nearly every FGD, to the knowledge of the authors, none of the participants had actively pursued any of them.Diversification into different species of livestock allows the household to maintain animals that feed on different species of plants, increasing their options for extracting resources from the rangeland. Camels and goats are thought to be more drought tolerant than cattle. Camels and goats are browsers which enables them to take advantage of the increased availability of shrubs and trees caused by bush encroachment. Most of the households among the focus group participants already include goats in their holdings, and camels are becoming increasingly popular. Camels are able to fetch high prices in a market that exports them to the Middle East. The two largest barriers into camel herding for respondents were the initial price of a calf and lack of experience with camel care. The negative social stigma that the Boran once attached to camel and goat ownership seems to have been eroded as these animals prove that they are able to weather droughts more successfully than cattle.The increased use of private kallos and ranches, purchasing supplementary feed, and collecting hay from marginal or buffer areas are strategies that reduce dependence on mobility between wet and dry season pastures. Although all of the pastoralists continue to practice transhumant livelihoods, many are increasing their use of other methods for securing the feed their livestock need. At the time of this research, some households were not maintaining herds at satellite camps, either because those satellite herds had died in the drought or the herders felt that there was little opportunity to find better pastures elsewhere. Instead, those herders depended on their ability to secure feed at the base camp. Although this strategy is a direct consequence of the current drought, the perception that population pressures had reduced the benefits of mobility was widespread.there is rain then you get food from the harvest. If there is little rain, the livestock can still eat whatever comes up even if there is no harvest\" (Elder FDG participant, Siqu, July 17 2011).Many of the women and men mentioned that diversification into petty trade was a popular diversification strategy. Households can offset the fixed costs of traveling to market and take advantage of price differentials between the communities and market towns to generate income by selling community produced goods at market (e.g., forest and livestock products)or reselling manufactured or value-added products (e.g., grains and tea) back in the communities. Theoretically, there is the added advantage that increased petty trade may increase access to outside goods and stabilize prices in the communities. There are also a number of organizations and traders, such as the Gum Arabic Association, that facilitate trade by establishing pickup points in the communities or by helping community members to organize sellers' cooperatives. For example, SOS Sahel has helped a number of women create a cooperatively run soap and lotion business. From the observations of the IGERT team, it appears that women and children are more likely than men to diversify into petty trade, although men mentioned beekeeping and charcoal-making as possible activities.As part of the Ethiopian government's development program, Boran households are able to lease a lot of land in Yabelo (the regional capital) for a highly subsidized price. The DA's Good Governance classes encourage leasing urban lots as a means for investing in capital whose value does not co-vary with the climate. Community members reported that they could build houses on the lots to generate income through rental agreements. Although respondents cited this activity, the IGERT team was unable to collect evidence that any of the focus group participants had actually tried it. There was a great deal of house and hotel construction in Yabello, but little of it was being done for or by local community members. None of the FGD participants leased land in a regional town.Similar to investment in real estate, a number of individuals mentioned purchasing a truck to open small transportation enterprises. There was little evidence that any of the FGD participants had successfully followed this path in the past, or that they were actively working towards pursuing this strategy.Currently, households do not depend heavily on off-farm employment or remittances (Desta and Coppock, 2004) but many of the participants in this research expressed the desire to find employment. From their perspective, education is key for their children because it provides them with the opportunity to find off-farm employment. Yet many of the boutique, hotel, and restaurant staff in the region were immigrants from other regions of the country, not Boran.As households continue to experiment with new combinations of activities, their success will depend, in part, on the response of the Boran society, the Ethiopian government, and NGOs.Households require the support of their communities and institutions so that they can adapt together to the changes taking place around them. The next section outlines a number of areas in which there are opportunities to support changes that require community organization or institutional adjustments.Boran on government land. The center has excellent knowledge of husbandry, as well as of regional impediments to cattle health. Furthermore, the center identifies outstanding farmers annually in different woredas and sells breeding stock to those farmers in order to perpetuate the breed and to introduce genetic diversity. The center could be utilized for extension and training in order to preserve the Boran breed, and to facilitate farmers in maintaining optimal cattle health in order to enable cattle to survive periods of drought.As mentioned in the Livestock section, it is reported by the Boran that castration of bulls increases their drought resistance and reduces their calorie requirements. This observation does not appear to be substantiated in the literature, and the authors are not aware of any formal studies that have been conducted describing the impact of castration on the Boran cattle breed, and suspect that no formal studies exist. However, for other breeds of cattle, the impact of castration has been described. While lean, intact males produce a higher carcass yield grade they usually produce a lower quality grade. In general, steers (castrated bulls) tend to have more desirable composition of external fat and marbling, but this is offset by their tendency toward decreased rate of weight gain and a lower feed conversion efficiency (Schanbacher, 1984 andSeidemen et al., 1982). Given that the Boran breed is a unique breed of cattle that differs significantly in conformation, as well as disease resistance, when compared to other Bos taurus or Bos indicus breeds, it is not clear whether these published findings can be extrapolated to the Boran population of cattle. Further research in this area is warranted, and is being addresses at the Boran Cattle Breeding Center in Yabello.Currently households do not practice castration because young bulls are used as a liquid asset and sold in the market, where bulls receive about double the price of steers per kg when both animals are in good condition. 5 The few male cattle that each household maintains are used to impregnate cows and are thus kept uncastrated. also facilitate the adoption of land-use initiatives that require community-wide acceptance and participation. The following are four land-use initiatives that seemed to hold promise but require a great degree of organization and management from the communities that they would impact.Although uncommon, a community-wide destocking plan, a means of reducing grazing pressure, was reported in one community. Possibly, if multiple neighboring communities all agreed to destock large-scale benefits could be realized.Community pasture preserves reduce grazing pressures within the pasture and increase the incentives to manage the land sustainably. In a fee-for-use arrangement, the ranch can redirect resources towards maintaining and improving pasture quality. Implementation should include measures to protect against favoring the wealthier, increased grazing pressures outside of the preserve, and the creation of new poverty thresholds.In some areas of high conflict, no grazing or cutting areas known as buffer zones have been established between communities with the help of NGO mediators and government support.This strategy of delineating property rights has met with some success in reducing violent incidents. In addition to reducing violent conflicts, buffer areas between conflict zones also act as a pasture of last resort. During droughts when access to pasture is critical, there seems to be a relaxing of the exclusion rules for the buffer areas between the conflicting communities. According to herders in Wachile, Mercy Crops helped them to establish a buffer area between their region and the Somali region. Currently the drought has driven most of the households and their cattle away from the buffer areas. Those that remain near them feel that they can cut forage for their cattle from the buffer areas without fear of conflict because there are fewer people and livestock in the area competing for resources. Also, according to a key 54 There are many potential benefits to increasing access to information. The IGERT team was able to observe and discuss those benefits with individuals from communities with widely varying levels of information access. If increased, four general types of information seem to have the greatest potential to improve the livelihoods of community members.As climate trends diverge from those anticipated by traditional climate forecasting, participants expressed a desire for alternate climate information sources. Although many felt there were other options for attaining forecast information, they were not well understood or perceived to be sufficient. The available options mentioned were radio reports, reports accessed by phone, government extension agents, and their own children. Notably, the participants said that educated young people understood the new sources and formats of climate information much better than the older generation did. The ability to use and understand new sources of climate information was mentioned as one of the benefits of education. Participants reported that in many cases it was younger people who had first understood how severe the current drought would be, because of their greater access to information. They had encouraged their families to take action early on by selling animals and diversifying their livelihoods. Government agents also facilitate the delivery of forecast information to the communities as well as provide advice on how to react to the weather information. In a number of discussions the participants preferred government forecast information to traditional sources because of the advice that came with it.The most common complaint regarding both traditional and nontraditional weather forecasting was that by the time households received a drought prediction, it is too late to respond in a meaningful way. Most of the households have few diversification options beyond selling portions of their herds in hopes of keeping their families and remaining livestock alive during the drought. But, when the government informs communities of a coming drought and advises them to sell livestock, the price drops dramatically reducing the benefits of selling and the options perceived by households. For example, when the community of Bokosa was informed by their DA that there would be a drought they collectively agreed on a strict herding protocol that included massive destocking of livestock and diversifying into nonherding activities. However, their plan relied on receiving good prices for their cattle, and because it was already the end of the dry season when their plan was made, the animals were thin and their market price poor. In response to the market prices, the community decided to wait until after the livestock had benefited from the next rain before selling. That rain never came, the cattle's health continued to degrade, and market prices fell as many other herds entered the market.Households currently draw on both traditional and nontraditional methods of climate information. Although they both have advantages and disadvantages, the newer sources seem to be gaining ground, especially with younger more educated individuals. Because there does not seem to be a stigma associated with using traditional or nontraditional methods, use of specific sources is mostly an issue of access, usefulness, and perceptions of accuracy.In some communities, herders expressed frustration at their own inability to diversify their herd composition because of their own inexperience and lack of knowledge concerning camel and goat care. Providing herders with information on camel and goat care may help them to diversify their holdings into drought tolerant animals.Currently, herders have very little market power due to high transaction costs and their poor negotiating position. They trek many miles with their animals to get to market. Upon arrival, herders are required to pay a per-head tax (one birr). During drought seasons their cattle may be too weak to make the trek back home. Even when their livestock are healthy enough to make the trek back, the herder has wasted days of labor and does not recoup the tax paid at market. In communities with cell service, herders use their phones to determine market conditions and, at times, set prices with buyers before making the trek to market. The areas without cell service are most likely the furthest from the tarmac and markets. These communities are at the greatest disadvantage when selling in markets. Providing them with access to market information (e.g., via radio) or communication with sellers (e.g., via shortwave, CB, or cell) may reduce the disadvantages associated with poor road access.Those with access to cell phones mentioned that they used them to learn about pasture and water conditions in other areas from friends and relatives. Weather, pasture, and water reports by radio or distribution of satellite imagery to the PA offices may be an avenue for disseminating similar information without the need for phones. As access to the internet increases via USB wireless modems this program could transition into central locations for accessing up-to-date information on demand.large piped water project, could alleviate the shortage of water for Borana communities, and have concurrent benefits such as a reduction in time spent by women gathering water. To maintain the benefits however, the groundwater resource must not be overexploited. This means that certain uses which might be attractive may not be feasible in the long run. For example, irrigated cultivation would likely not be sustainable on a large scale. Similarly, consideration needs to be given to potential \"externalities\" of these projects. For example, some pastoralists and researchers in the area believe that new water projects have exacerbated land degradation. Though the topic was not raised in discussions, care must also be taken to prevent the unsustainable use and rapid decline of groundwater through independently operated wells, which occurred in other parts of the world such as the Ogallala aquifer in the southwestern United States and in the state of Punjab in northern India.Strengthening institutions to manage commonly held land would likely facilitate many of the adaptation strategies mentioned. For example, livestock overpopulation and lack of initiative to clear bush were mentioned frequently in the team's discussions and interviews as being a problem of individuals acting against the interest of the larger group or community (due to the lack of incentive to do so). The extent of this \"tragedy of the commons\" needs to be determined, and steps must then be taken to strengthen measures that align the interests of individuals with those of communities. While many issues need to be resolved with respect to carbon sequestration, and it is uncertain if it will ever be feasible as a supplemental source of income in the area, the issue of how land tenure affects the sharing of benefits from sequestration programs would need to be better understood for it to even be considered.There are a number of opportunities for IBLI to both help reduce livestock mortality and help households adapt to their changing environment. Two areas of important potential complements between IBLI and adaptation strategies lie in supporting improved rangeland management and improved access to veterinary services and extension.As mentioned above (see Enhanced Rangeland Management), there are a number of natural resource management strategies that appear to have high potential for benefiting communities but require a great deal of organization and cooperation within and between communities. If IBLI's implementation strategy supports community-level rangeland management capacity and promotes the creation and implementation of a sustainable land-use plan, it could have large positive and lasting impacts on the landscape. According to community members; forest preserves, buffer areas, and community ranches reduce livestock mortality through increased access to pasture during drought and provide potential income sources for community members. Rangeland management has the potential to reduce exposure to risk, reducing payouts and premiums, while providing access to income that could be used to increase welfare or even to purchase insurance contracts.Supporting current livestock illness and disease management infrastructure is a second opportunity for IBLI. There is already a strong vaccination program in Ethiopia and some access to veterinary care and livestock medication. IBLI activities should ensure that they strengthen those institutions in their activities. Opportunities vary widely from simply including animal health workers in IBLI community education sessions to a more complicated premium structure that encourages aggressively addressing animal health issues. One realistic option could be to provide reduced-fee vaccinations (for vaccines not currently provided through the government vaccination program) or reduced-fee veterinary care for insured cattle. This could potentially be an extension of the existing government voucher program for veterinary products and services. Currently, the government provides vouchers to citizens and these vouchers are honored at private businesses which provide the veterinary products and 65 services to the farmers. For example, veterinary retailers may be more willing to extend credit to pastoralists whose cattle are insured through IBLI with the knowledge that if those cattle perish, the business may still be able to collect payment once insurance payouts are received by the insured. Therefore, by coupling IBLI with veterinary services, the health and wellbeing of livestock may improve overall, and may further strengthen the private provision of veterinary services, which would be a substantial indirect benefit of IBLI. Perhaps, as animal health improves, and animals are less likely to perish, the premiums may potentially be reduced, and therefore may be more widely accessible to the marginalized poor with very few (less than five) cattle."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dbf7bb507a73f2c9fed0ee9dcd475791","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/24685236-cc4e-4201-a918-7c8afb77c973/retrieve","id":"-488437527"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7370311e-8e98-41c8-9d4f-2050ae5ca35e","content":"4.0 de Creative Commons El CIP agradece a los donantes y organizaciones que apoyan globalmente su trabajo a través de sus contribuciones al Fondo Fiduciario del CGIAR: www.cgiar.org/funders Excellence in Breeding Platform RESEARCH PROGRAM ON Roots, Tubers and Bananas and Health RESEARCH PROGRAM ONPara más información, por favor contactar la sede principal del CIP. Av. La Molina 1895, La Molina. Apartado 1558, Lima 12, Perú.Aumento de oportunidades de los medios de subsistencia y desarrollo de cadenas inclusivas de valor a gran escala.Intensificación sostenible de los sistemas agroalimentarios mediante la resiliencia climática y la agricultura biodiversa.Mejoramiento de la seguridad nutricional y alimentaria.MÁS DE 100,000 HOGARES DE BANGLADESH en riesgo de desnutrición asistidos con camote de pulpa anaranjada con provitamina A.2.9 MILLION DE HOGARES de siete países asiáticos han adoptado variedades de papa y camote generadas con germoplasma del CIP.COOPERATION 88, VARIEDAD MEJORADA POR EL CIP, GENERÓ HASTA USD 3.73 MIL MILLONES a los agricultores y consumidores de la provincia de Yunnan en un periodo de 20 años.3 1 2 mejoramiento de la productividad para aumentar el valor de venta de papa de los pequeños agricultores. Mediante un enfoque de finca modelo, el proyecto ha construido una red de agricultores de papa que proporciona servicios técnicos y de comercialización, intercambio de conocimientos y semillas de papa de alta calidad. Se espera que los productores de semilla de papa participantes aumenten en 233% sus ganancias anuales por hectárea al tiempo que suministran semillas de papa de calidad a aproximadamente 15,000 pequeños agricultores, lo que puede aumentar sus rendimientos en 66%.Impulso a la oferta y demanda de papa en el sudeste de Asia, Vietnam Inversor: Fundación Syngenta (2016-21) A medida que el cambio climático amenaza a la seguridad alimentaria, aumenta la urgencia de contar con variedades resistentes de los principales cultivos. Este proyecto se enfoca en el mejoramiento de variedades de papa de maduración precoz y tolerantes al estrés para impulsar la productividad y mejorar los ingresos de los agricultores de Asia. Los científicos del CIP trabajaron en estrecha colaboración con investigadores de Corea del Sur y Vietnam con el fin de seleccionar progenitores adaptables y resistentes a enfermedades para el mejoramiento. Después del cruzamiento en la sede central del CIP, la progenie fue sometida a pruebas in vitro para comprobar su tolerancia al calor, las sequías y la salinidad, y se seleccionaron los clones avanzados para su posterior evaluación. Se están seleccionando y multiplicando los clones más resistentes al clima para una mayor difusión en el sur, centro y este de Asia, al tiempo que se trabaja con la HZPC y otras empresas para mejorar la producción y comercialización de papa en la región.Inversor: IFAD (2011-19) Combinando la investigación, las alianzas y la capacitación, FoodSTART+ mejoró la seguridad alimentaria y la capacidad de recuperación de los medios de subsistencia entre comunidades vulnerables de India, Indonesia, Filipinas y Vietnam. Trabajando en estrecha colaboración con los gobiernos y con IFAD, el proyecto ayudó a institucionalizar el enfoque de escuelas de negocios para agricultores de 6 a 10 meses de duración que les permitió a los pequeños agricultores desarrollar y comercializar nuevos productos. Lo que comenzó en Filipinas con seis escuelas piloto en 2011 se había convertido en 150 escuelas en 2019, con un 79% de mujeres graduadas. Desde entonces el enfoque ha sido adoptado por agencias gubernamentales y ONG.Papa biodiversa y nutritiva -Perú, Nepal y Bután Inversor: Unión Europea (2015-19) El cambio climático está cobrando un alto precio a las comunidades de las montañas de Bután, Nepal y Perú. El proyecto tuvo por objeto aumentar las capacidades de las instituciones nacionales de investigación agrícola -trabajando con los agricultores-para desarrollar variedades de papa climáticamente inteligentes con altos niveles de micronutrientes. Durante este proceso, los científicos aprendieron cómo incorporar las preferencias de los agricultores en las futuras estrategias de mejoramiento y entrega, que fueron clave para el éxito del mejoramiento de papa.Inversor: USAID (2016-19) Este proyecto contribuyó a aumentar la resistencia ante impactos del cambio climático tales como sequías y veranos más cálidos, mediante la liberación de variedades de papa y camote tolerantes a la sequía y el calor. En fincas modelo se probaron clones nutritivos de camote de pulpa anaranjada y se promovieron a través de huertos escolares y programas sociales para jóvenes. Las variedades mejoradas de papa y las prácticas de manejo aumentaron hasta en un 53% los rendimientos. El potenciamiento de las capacidades de los socios locales impulsará la difusión de materiales de siembra de calidad de variedades de altos rendimientos adaptadas a las condiciones locales para reducir la desnutrición, aumentar la productividad y mejorar los ingresos.Papas para la seguridad alimentaria, la nutrición y el bienestar económico -Haryana Inversor: Gobierno estatal de Haryana (2018-21) El objetivo de este proyecto es aumentar el acceso de los agricultores a variedades de papa de rendimiento precoz, resistentes al calor y al virus y promover la intensificación sostenible del uso de la tierra para impulsar la producción, la seguridad alimentaria, la nutrición y los ingresos en el estado de Haryana. Los científicos están seleccionado variedades de papa adecuadas para multiplicación y diseminación y promoviendo la producción de semillas por parte de los agricultores y empresas especializadas.Intensificación sostenible de papa para lograr la autosuficiencia en Odisha, India (2019-2020) Inversor: Gobierno de Odisha Si bien Odisha produce un excedente de arroz, solo satisface el 15-20 % de la demanda de papa. Debido a los altos costos de la semilla, el almacenamiento inadecuado, los deficientes vínculos con el mercado y las significativas fluctuaciones de precios, el cultivo ha disminuido enormemente en los años recientes. Este proyecto brinda apoyo técnico, incluyendo la introducción de variedades de papa resilientes de maduración precoz y prácticas agrícolas mejoradas, para potenciar los ingresos de los pequeños agricultores y generar empleos a lo largo de la cadena de suministro de la papa. La introducción de papa de maduración precoz facilitará la siembra del cultivo entre las cosechas de arroz. Los primeros ensayos en Taraboisasan y Khanizpur indican que existe potencial para duplicar la rentabilidad de los sistemas arroceros al reducir los costos de producción.Inversor: Gobierno de la India En colaboración con científicos del Instituto Central de Investigación de Papa, el CIP está proporcionando germoplasma y ayudando con ensayos de campo a desarrollar variedades de madurez precoz y resistentes al calor para mejorar los rendimientos de los pequeños agricultores de los estados de Assam y Odisha. Uno de los primeros clones de papa -Kufri Limafue liberado en 2017 y los agricultores están obteniendo rendimientos y ganancias 20% mayores, ya que pueden sembrar esta variedad más temprano en la temporada y alcanzar precios premium en el mercado. En 2018, el CIP suministró 20,000 semillas de camote al Instituto Central de Investigación de Cultivos de Tubérculos, donde se han desarrollado 480 clones híbridos para una posterior evaluación. El CIP también está capacitando a los científicos para que conduzcan los futuros ensayos de campo para desarrollar variedades biofortificadas.Inversor: Gobierno del estado de Odisha (2013-21) En su segunda fase, el proyecto GAINS busca mejorar la seguridad alimentaria, la nutrición, los medios de subsistencia y la resistencia al cambio climático en el estado de Odisha. La fase I obtuvo un aumento de 25% en la producción y de 17% en la productividad de camote en los distritos seleccionados. En la fase II, los agricultores que cultivan papa y camote se están contactando con empresas procesadoras para vender esos productos a precios más altos. La maquinaria rentable adoptada por los agricultores debería aumentar sus ingresos a USD 400 por hectárea. Las variedades de papa y camote de maduración precoz serán liberadas e integradas en sistemas de agricultura intensiva sostenible, mejorando la disponibilidad de alimentos nutritivos a precios asequibles.Inversor: Gobierno del estado de Karnataka (2019-22) La productividad de papa en Karnataka está por debajo del © CIP/X. KaiyunEn los últimos 40 años el CIP ha colaborado activamente con sus socios nacionales e internacionales de Asia. Utilizando la diversidad genética de su banco de germoplasma, el CIP ha contribuido a la liberación de más de 100 variedades mejoradas de papa y camote en la región. Las variedades de papas de maduración precoz, resistentes a las enfermedades, al calor y a las sequías y tolerantes a la salinidad, y las de camote de pulpa anaranjada ricas en vitamina A han permitido que los agricultores de Asia produzcan alimentos más nutritivos y comercializables y que se adapten al cambio climático. Una estimación reciente sobre la adopción de papa en siete países de Asia estableció que 2.9 millones de hogares agrícolas cultivaban variedades relacionadas con el CIP.La oficina del CIP de Nueva Delhi actúa como el centro principal de actividades en Asia, con nacionales en China, Filipinas, Georgia y Vietnam. El CIP-Centro de China para el Asia Pacífico en Beijing es un moderno centro de I+D apoyado por el gobierno y promueve la cooperación y el aprendizaje sur-sur mediante la investigación científica, las tecnologías y la creación de capacidades. Un ejemplo es su liderazgo en el AsiaBlight, una plataforma de colaboración regional de científicos, agricultores y otras partes interesadas en mejorar el control de la enfermedad del tizón tardío de la papa.a economía asiática se ha expandido aceleradamente en años recientes, impulsada en parte por el rápido crecimiento demográfico y de la urbanización. Se estima que la población de clase media llegará a los 3.2 mil millones para 2030, frente a los 525 millones de 2009. Durante este periodo, se estima que las tasas del PIB per cápita en el continente se sextuplicarán hasta alcanzar los actuales ingresos per cápita de Europa. No obstante, muchos países todavía enfrentan retos significativos para lograr los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible. El Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) procura contribuir activamente a la transformación social y económica de la región ayudando al mismo tiempo a los países a hacer frente a retos como la COVID-19 y el cambio climático, e influyendo en la composición de sus canastas de alimentos con el fin de que incluyan alimentos más nutritivos. Esta transformación ofrece tremendas oportunidades para mejorar los ingresos y la seguridad nutricional de millones de pobladores urbanos y rurales pobres y la sostenibilidad de los sistemas agrícolas. promedio de la India pero la demanda está aumentando. Este nuevo centro de excelencia en la investigación permitirá al estado beneficiarse plenamente de la intensificación sostenible de la producción de papa y camote. A través del suministro de clones de élite y de capacitación científica, agronómica y comercial, además de la introducción de tecnologías adecuadas, el CIP trabajará con los socios locales para liberar variedades nutritivas de papa y camote preferidas por los agricultores y climáticamente inteligentes, y para mejorar los mercados para estos productos.Inversor: Banco Mundial (2018-23) Esta iniciativa de múltiples partes interesadas de los centros del CGIAR y socios nacionales busca añadir valor y mejorar la resiliencia de las cadenas de valor agrícolas seleccionadas. El CIP trabaja con pequeños agricultores de Assam para intensificar su producción y diversificar su base de ingresos a través de la introducción de papa de maduración precoz en los sistemas agroalimentarios dominados por el arroz. Con los pequeños agricultores se está probando un enfoque de labranza cero para el cultivo de papa en los arrozales durante la ventana de invierno que se presenta entre los dos ciclos de cultivo de arroz.Inversor: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) (2018-21) Los suelos fértiles del delta de Bangladesh están sometidos a una creciente salinización, que amenaza las vidas y los medios de subsistencia de los agricultores y otros pobladores. Apoyándose en proyectos anteriores del CIP-Bangladesh que llegaron a más de 100,000 agricultores con material de siembra de calidad de papa y camote, esta iniciativa está proveyendo capacitación agronómica, empresarial y de nutrición. Trabajando en estrecha colaboración con el Instituto de Investigación Agrícola de Bangladesh, 5,000 agricultores y 50 especialistas en nutrición comunitaria de seis comunidades, el proyecto facilitará la adopción de dietas mejoradas para unas 25,000 personas, aumentando la demanda de papa y camote.Alimentar el Futuro -Bangladesh: un enfoque de sistemas para una mejor nutrición Inversor: Agencia de los Estados Unidos para el Desarrollo Internacional (USAID) (2018-23) Los bangladesíes, especialmente las mujeres y los niños, continúan sufriendo altas tasas de desnutrición, lo que dificulta el desarrollo socioeconómico del país. Con un enfoque multisectorial y de varias partes interesadas, este proyecto busca fortalecer la capacidad de abordaje de las causas de la desnutrición mediante el análisis, diseño, implementación y aseguramiento de recursos para intervenciones con un enfoque nutricional.Impulso a la producción de papa para mejorar las condiciones de vida rurales -Georgia Inversor: Agencia Austriaca de Desarrollo (2017-20) Este proyecto está mejorando los medios de subsistencia de los agricultores y de las comunidades rurales de Georgia a través del aumento de la rentabilidad y sostenibilidad de los cultivos de papa y el fomento de las capacidades de las partes nacionales interesadas en la cadena de valor de la semilla de papa. Hasta inicios de 2020 el CIP había ayudado a mejorar las capacidades de manejo de semillas, identificación de enfermedades, salud integral de semillas y modelación de la degeneración de semillas de papa de más de 600 agricultores modelo, extensionistas y científicos.Inversor: USAID (2019-21) Trabajando en estrecha colaboración con el sector privado, el CIP está facilitando la adopción de tecnologías innovadoras de"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e0e283fee06b4669dfcef500b8941cbd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/336dccf2-98a3-401f-b764-65e241f979ad/retrieve","id":"-209718089"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2cf50c20-e06b-4923-981a-10511fa4f4a1","content":"La reproduction et la diffusion des différents chapitres de ce livre est encouragée sous licence Creative Commons (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode.fr) sous réserve de faire figurer : -le copyright du CTA, conformément à la licence Creative Commons 4.0, en incluant le nom de l'auteur et le titre de l'article ou du chapitre ; -l'avertissement précisant que le CTA, l'UE ou le FIDA n'assument en aucun cas la responsabilité des vues, produits et services des auteurs. CTA, 2019. Innovation et promotion des chaînes de valeurs de produits agricoles locaux en Afrique. Série Capitalisation des expériences 10. Wageningen, Pays-Bas, CTA. ISBN 978-92-9081-645-4 Nous espérons que ces différents articles inspireront vos stratégies d'action et que l'innovation sera davantage mobilisée pour une transformation décisive du secteur agricole en Afrique.Le projet « Capitalisation des expériences pour un plus grand impact dans le développement rural » est mis en oeuvre dans différentes parties du monde par le Centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale (CTA), en collaboration avec l'Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture (FAO) et l'Institut interaméricain de coopération pour l'agriculture (IICA) avec le soutien financier du Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA). Il vise à faciliter l'adoption d'un processus de capitalisation d'expérience dans les initiatives de développement rural dans le cadre desquelles il peut améliorer l'analyse, la documentation, le partage et l'utilisation d'enseignements et de bonnes pratiques dans une optique d'apprentissage continu, d'amélioration et de passage à grande échelle.Les cas présentés dans le présent livret ont été sélectionnés et rédigés par ceux et celles qui ont participé au projet. Les informations et opinions exprimées dans chacun des articles engagent la seule responsabilité de leur(s) auteur(s). La reproduction des contenus est autorisée sous réserve de mentionner la source.Le Centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale (CTA) est une institution internationale conjointe du Groupe des États d'Afrique, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique (ACP) et de l'Union européenne (UE). Le CTA opère dans le cadre de l'Accord de Cotonou et est financé par l'UE. Pour en savoir plus, rendez-vous sur www.cta.int.Le Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA) investit dans les populations rurales, les dotant des moyens d'augmenter leur sécurité alimentaire, d'améliorer la nutrition familiale et d'accroître leurs revenus. Le FIDA est ucne institution financière internationale et une agence spécialisée de l'Organisation des Nations unies dont le siège est situé à Rome, le hub alimentation et agriculture de l'ONU. Depuis 1978, il a accordé 18,5 milliards $ sous forme de subventions et de crédits à faible taux d'intérêt à près de 464 millions de personnes. Pour en savoir plus, rendez-vous sur www.ifad.org.Ces travaux ont été réalisés avec le soutien financier du FIDA. Cependant, ils relèvent de la seule responsabilité de leur(s) auteur(s) et ne reflètent en aucun cas la position du CTA, de l'Union européenne ou du FIDA. L'utilisateur pourra apprécier le bien-fondé des propos tenus, des arguments formulés, des techniques expérimentales et des méthodes décrites dans le présent document.C ette publication est un nouveau volume rendant compte des résultats des exercices de capitalisation d'expériences réalisées dans le cadre du projet « Capitalisation des expériences pour un plus grand impact dans le développement rural » mis en oeuvre par le CTA, IICA et la FAO avec l'appui du FIDA. Les pratiques décrites ont été développées par différents acteurs agricoles avec le soutien d'organisations et de partenaires divers.L'innovation est au coeur de ce volume, du point de vue des techniques de production, des plates-formes d'innovation et de l'accès au financement. L'innovation agricole, qui peut se définir comme l'ensemble des processus liés au développement de produits, de services ou de procédés agricoles, nouveaux ou améliorés, du maillon de la production à celle de la consommation, est un facteur déterminant de la modernisation et de la performance du secteur. Il s'agit d'un des domaines stratégiques dans lesquels il est crucial de davantage investir en Afrique. Certains articles traitent des actions réalisées par des plates-formes d'innovation, à l'image de celles mises en place au Bénin dans la filière riz, ou au Burkina Faso dans la filière niébé. L'importance de ces plates-formes n'est plus à démontrer. Il est important de mieux faire connaître leurs actions, de faciliter leur durabilité, de les connecter davantage aux systèmes nationaux d'innovation agricole (lorsqu'elles sont mises en place par des acteurs non gouvernementaux), de renforcer la prise en compte des savoirs locaux, l'implication du secteur privé, des chercheurs ainsi que celle des jeunes. D'autres articles rendent compte des expériences d'initiatives s'attachant à faciliter, souvent de manière novatrice, l'inclusion financière et l'accès au financement, notamment au niveau des femmes rurales (voir l'article de Haoua Kone-Barry ou celui rédigé par Alain Razafindratsima). Dans son rapport « Unlocking growth in the era of farmer finance » la firme internationale Dalberg Global Development Advisors nous informe que 150 milliards de dollars de besoins en financement des petits producteurs dans les pays en développement ne sont pas comblés. Il est donc important d'innover également pour l'accès au financement agricole, y compris en mobilisant les technologies numériques de communication.  L e potentiel des produits agricoles locaux reste insuffisamment valorisé pour l'amélioration de la sécurité alimentaire et des revenus des populations rurales en Afrique de l'Ouest. La valorisation des produits locaux comme le riz local, le niébé, le fonio, le mil et le sésame est possible à travers la promotion des chaînes de valeurs incluant les maillons clé de la production, la transformation et la commercialisation. De nombreuses technologies modernes de productions agricoles ont été rejetées du fait de leur inadéquation face aux réalités agro-climatiques, socio-économiques et culturelles des petits producteurs. Cependant les contraintes auxquelles doivent faire quotidiennement face ces derniers nécessitent la quête permanente de nouvelles solutions efficaces et adaptées à leurs conditions. L'innovation agricole est pourtant nécessaire pour le développement des chaînes de valeurs en Afrique de l'Ouest. Cette innovation porte non seulement sur les nouvelles technologies agricoles mais aussi sur l'espace de production de ces technologies et les modèles de financement agricole.Le concept de plateforme d'innovation se réfère à un ensemble de parties prenantes ayant des intérêts communs autour d'une problématique donnée, d'un défi ou d'une opportunité en vue d'améliorer les performances d'une filière au profit des différents acteurs. La création de tels espaces multi-acteurs, favorisant l'innovation technologique et le développement des relations d'affaires entre acteurs, permet aujourd'hui de donner de la valeur à ces produits agricoles jadis négligés. Des expériences conduites ces dernières années pour accompagner l'innovation paysanne ont produit des résultats très encourageants dans divers domaines comme la conservation des sols et des eaux, le développement de nouveaux itinéraires techniques de production et la nutrition animale.Ismail Moumouni est consultant pour CTA et pour diverses institutions nationales et internationales. Il a facilité plusieurs processus de capitalisation des experiences en Afrique de l'Ouest. ismailmm@gmail.comIsmail Moumouni L e riz est l'une des filières prioritaires retenues pour servir de levier au développement agricole au Bénin. Incontournable pour la sécurité alimentaire, sa consommation est en constante augmentation. Cette forte demande de riz est comblée par l'importation, en provenance d'Asie, de riz non étuvé, propre, moins cher, mais aussi moins nutritif. En effet, la productivité du riz au Bénin est faible, du fait de l'utilisation de techniques non optimales (variétés locales, semis à la volée, etc.), tandis que la transformation primaire basée sur l'étuvage ne garantit pas sa qualité. Les femmes étuveuses ont des difficultés à s'approvisionner en riz paddy pendant toute l'année et les relations d'affaires entre les acteurs de la chaîne sont très faibles. Ces acteurs ne sont pas suffisamment bien organisés pour conquérir les marchés urbains. Les institutions de recherche ont mis au point des techniques améliorées de production et de transformation.Le projet d'Appui à l'amélioration de la sécurité alimentaire par le renforcement de la compétitivité de la chaîne de valeur ajoutée riz local étuvé (PARCR) a été initié pour améliorer la compétitivité du riz local. D'une durée de trois ans, ce projet de recherchedéveloppement fut une réussite, puisqu'il a engendré une augmentation significative de la consommation locale. Il nous permet donc de tirer plusieurs enseignements utiles pour la promotion des chaînes de valeur locales en général.Le projet PARCR a été mis en oeuvre dans deux communes du département de l'Alibori (Banikoara et Gogonou) par l'ONG DEDRAS en collaboration avec l'organisation néerlandaise Woord en Daad, l'Institut national des recherches agricoles du Bénin (INRAB) et la faculté d'agronomie de l'université de Parakou (FA/UP). DEDRAS était chargée de la coordination et des interventions sur le terrain. L'INRAB a piloté les processus d'innovation technique dans la production et la transformation du riz paddy. La FA/UP a piloté les études/recherches et les processus d'innovation organisationnelle et institutionnelle. Woord en Daad a apporté une assistance technique à toutes les activités du projet. L'enquête de référence effectuée au démarrage du projet a permis d'identifier trois piliers sur lesquels s'appuyer pour améliorer la compétitivité du riz local étuvé : les piliers « Plateforme d'innovation », « Production » et « Transformation ». Une plateforme d'innovation est un groupement d'individus représentant souvent des organisations, réunis dans le but de trouver des solutions aux problèmes communs qui limitent leurs performances. Ici, elle est composée de producteurs, transformatrices, commerçants et consommateurs de riz, de structures de recherche et de vulgarisation, de meuniers pour l'égrenage, de soudeurs pour la fabrication locale de kit d'étuvageDe 2015 à 2017, l'ONG DEDRAS et ses partenaires ont mis en oeuvre, au Bénin, le projet d'Appui à l'amélioration de la sécurité alimentaire par le renforcement de la compétitivité de la chaîne de valeur ajoutée riz local étuvé (PARCR). Reposant sur trois piliers synergiques, ce projet a permis d'améliorer la production et la qualité du riz paddy grâce à l'adoption du système de riziculture intensif, l'efficacité de l'étuvage et la qualité du riz étuvé grâce à des kits d'étuvage, et de renforcer les relations d'affaires entre les acteurs de la chaîne de valeur riz local étuvé.Couverture Avec le projet PARCR, les paysans améliorent la production du riz grâce à l'adoption du système de riziculture intensif et d'éleveurs pour la gestion des parcours et la valorisation du son de riz. Concernant le pilier « Production », des Champs écoles paysans (CEP) ont été installés pour promouvoir le système de riziculture intensif (SRI) qui s'appuie sur les principes de gestion des mauvaises herbes, de la fertilité du sol et de l'eau dans une vingtaine de villages par commune. Le CEP est une unité de démonstration, d'apprentissage et d'application réunissant environ 25 producteurs. Des rencontres périodiques sont organisées pour partager des expériences sur les pratiques agricoles. Enfin, dans le cadre du pilier « Transformation », deux modules de formation ont été déroulés au profit des femmes étuveuses. Le premier concernait les bonnes pratiques hygiéniques de production de riz étuvé, et le second la technologie améliorée d'étuvage du riz utilisant un kit composé de marmite et bac d'étuvage. Par ailleurs, un technicien a été recruté, formé et positionné dans chaque commune pour accompagner la mise en oeuvre des activités quotidiennes du projet.Le pilier « Plateforme d'innovation » fut déployé en premier afin de mettre les acteurs en relation et de créer un espace d'information, d'échange, d'identification et de résolution collectives des problèmes. Dans son exécution, il s'agissait d'abord d'identifier les acteurs impliqués dans la chaîne de valeur riz local étuvé, puis d'organiser avec eux un atelier de sensibilisation, de structuration de la plateforme, d'approfondissement de diagnostic et de planification d'activités prioritaires. Au démarrage, les participants s'attendaient à ce que les charges de leur participation à la plateforme soient supportées par le projet. L'information n'était pas parvenue à temps à certains acteurs, comme les éleveurs peuls. Ces derniers, concernés par la valorisation du son de riz, sont dispersés dans des hameaux qui ne sont pas toujours couverts par les réseaux de téléphonie mobile. Pour surmonter ces contraintes, les invitations aux activités ont été envoyées beaucoup plus tôt aux participants pour permettre à chacun de prendre ses dispositions, les facilitateurs des plateformes ayant identifié des personnes de contact servant de relai de communication dans les villages. Pour réduire les charges liées au déplacement, de petites réunions de proximité furent préférées aux grands rassemblements qui restaient cependant nécessaires. Une fois les acteurs mis en relation, l'ampleur des obstacles à l'amélioration de la production et de l'étuvage de riz paddy s'est très vite révélée. Le processus d'innovation s'est alors poursuivi dans les maillons spécifiques de la production et de la transformation.L'accompagnement des CEP, maillon central du pilier « Production », a consisté à identifier les producteurs intéressés, constituer des groupes d'apprentissage par village, organiser l'apprentissage et suivre les Une fois les acteurs mis en relation, l'ampleur des obstacles à l'amélioration de la production et de l'étuvage de riz paddy s'est très vite révélée.producteurs. Très tôt, les contraintes auxquelles les producteurs étaient confrontés pour l'adoption du SRI sont remontées à la plateforme. Parmi elles : l'indisponibilité d'engrais et de semences de la variété IR841, qui leur a été recommandée dans le SRI, la réticence des structures de microcrédit à en octroyer aux producteurs -le faible niveau d'organisation des filières ne leur garantissant pas le recouvrement des créances -, ainsi que la pénibilité et l'exigence en temps du semis en ligne. Les facilitateurs de plateformes ont donc aidé les producteurs à rechercher un arrangement avec les structures de distribution d'intrants (engrais et semence IR841) et les institutions de microcrédit. Des mécanismes ont été élaborés pour mettre en confiance les institutions de services, basés sur la mise en gage d'une quantité de riz paddy dont la valeur correspond à peu près au montant des dettes du producteur. Collecté juste après les récoltes, ce riz est vendu plus tard à des prix plus élevés pour le remboursement des dettes. Pour faire face à l'exigence en temps du SRI, les producteurs ont formé et motivé leurs enfants, surtout les filles, pour effectuer le semis en ligne.Dans le cadre du pilier « Transformation », les facilitateurs ont identifié les transformatrices et organisé des formations sur l'utilisation du kit d'étuvage. Les groupements d'étuveuses ont reçu un kit d'étuvage et furent ensuite suivis dans l'usage de ce kit. Plusieurs contraintes sont apparues dès la première campagne agricole, notamment l'éloignement du point de vente, qui augmentait le coût d'acquisition des kits, la réticence des structures de microcrédit à octroyer des prêts aux étuveuses (leur permettant de constituer des stocks de riz paddy) qu'ils jugent insuffisamment bien organisées pour inspirer confiance, ou, plus inquiétant, le rejet inattendu par ces dernières de la variété IR841 en raison des plaintes adressées par les consommateurs sur la qualité de ce riz après cuisson. En réponse à ces contraintes, le projet a organisé la formation d'artisans locaux, qui ont fabriqué des kits d'étuvage dans chaque commune, et élargi les accords de crédit obtenus en faveur des producteurs aux étuveuses. En outre, les chercheurs de l'Institut national de recherche ont conduit des essais qui ont permis de mettre au point une technique appropriée de cuisson du riz IR841 à laquelle les « femmes vendeuses du riz » ont été formées.Le principal critère d'évaluation du pilier « Plateforme d'innovation » est l'amélioration des relations entre les acteurs en retenant comme indicateurs la fréquence de rencontres d'échange et de travail, le nombre de goulots d'étranglement identifiés et l'établissement de nouveaux liens d'affaires. Nous avons ainsi noté des échanges plus fréquents entre les membres des plateformes sur diverses préoccupations (via téléphone ou de petites séances de discussions au village) à la faveur desquels des obstacles ont pu être identifiés et traités. Nous avons également constaté l'établissement de relations d'affaires entre les acteurs. Les forgerons fabriquent des kits d'étuvage qu'ils mettent à disposition des étuveuses à crédit. Les étuveuses s'approvisionnent en riz paddy chez les producteurs SRI, qu'elles préfinancent pour garantir leur approvisionnement en riz paddy de qualité.L'amélioration des rendements est le critère qui nous permet d'évaluer le pilier « Production », les indicateurs étant le niveau d'adoption de bonnes pratiques agricoles par les producteurs et l'augmentation du rendement et de la qualité du riz paddy. Désormais, plus de 75 % des producteurs pratiquent le SRI : semis en ligne à bonne date (15-30 juin), application de fumure, démariage, etc. En conséquence, les producteurs utilisent moins de semences, multiplient leur rendement par deux et obtiennent du riz paddy plein, donc de meilleure qualité. Un producteur de riz de Banikoara témoigne : « Au cours de la campagne agricole 2016, je me suis contenté d'une petite superficie de moins de 0,25 ha de riz. Lors de la récolte, tout le monde a été surpris de constater que ma production était supérieure à celles de mes frères, juste en adoptant une bonne technique de semis. J'en conclus qu'une grande emblavure ne garantit pas toujours une bonne production. »  Les innovations majeures introduites et développées au sein de la plateforme d'innovation ont su répondre aux attentes des productrices. Devenue une référence dans la sous-région ouest-africaine, elle leur a permis de doubler leurs revenus.L a productivité du niébé s'est accrue au Burkina Faso dans les années 2000 : de 300 kg/ha dans les années 1980, elle est passée à un rendement moyen de 500 kg/ha (Comité interprofessionnel filières céréales et niébé, 2010). La région du Centre-Nord, dont relève la province du Bam, est l'une des principales zones pourvoyeuses de niébé, dont la culture est pratiquée sur de petites superficies (0,25 ha en moyenne) avec une faible maîtrise ou une méconnaissance des technologies améliorées de production et de transformation. Une enquête diagnostique, réalisée en 2010 par le Programme d'appui aux filières agro-sylvo-pastorales (PAFASP) sur la filière niébé dans la zone agroécologique concernée, a fait ressortir plusieurs opportunités justifiant la mise en place d'une plateforme d'innovation pour booster la filière. Forte de 2000 membres, l'Union provinciale féminine Namagbzanga (UPFN) de la province du Bam, localité située à 120 km au nord de Ouagadougou, la capitale du Burkina, est l'organisation porteuse de la plateforme d'innovation sur le niébé. Avant sa mise en place, les femmes de l'UPFN étaient confrontées à quatre contraintes majeures : une méconnaissance des semences de qualité, un accès limité aux terres cultivables, un faible accès aux sources de financement et l'absence d'une chaîne de commercialisation suffisamment organisée et fonctionnelle. « Ces difficultés ont découragé plusieurs femmes, qui ont abandonné leurs champs Le Programme de productivité agricole en Afrique de l'Ouest (PPAAO)/Burkina a appuyé, en juillet 2013, l'Union provinciale féminine Namagbzanga (UPFN) de la province du Bam au Burkina Faso pour la mise en place d'une plateforme d'innovation sur le niébé. En moins de trois ans, l'introduction au sein de cette plateforme de cinq nouvelles variétés de niébé à haut rendement, le plaidoyer pour l'accès des femmes aux terres cultivables et au crédit bancaire et l'amélioration du circuit de commercialisation ont permis de booster la productivité du niébé et de doubler le revenu des productrices.Le concept de plateforme d'innovation se réfère à un ensemble de parties prenantes liées par des intérêts communs autour d'une problématique donnée, d'un défi ou d'une opportunité en vue d'améliorer les performances d'une filière au profit des différents acteurs. La plateforme d'innovation peut être comprise comme une collaboration entre plusieurs acteurs/ actrices (producteurs/productrices, chercheurs, structures d'appui-conseil, institutions financières, autorités locales, chefs coutumiers, projets et programmes, médias…) pour stimuler et soutenir le développement d'une filière agricole.technologies et assuré, en collaboration avec le PPAAO, le rapportage des activités.Pour rendre effective et fonctionnelle la plateforme d'innovation sur le niébé, trois étapes importantes ont été conduites : i) identification des acteurs, des rôles respectifs et diagnostic des contraintes ; ii) analyse et validation des actions à conduire en vue de lever les contraintes ; iii) développement sur le terrain des actions validées par les acteurs.Les activités menées dans le cadre de la plateforme d'innovation se sont décomposées en quatre grands volets qui ont tous conduit à des résultats positifs. Cinq nouvelles variétés de niébé à haut rendement ont été introduites au sein de la plateforme d'innovation. Les productrices ont adopté et diffusé, à travers des visites commentées, ces variétés qui produisent en moyenne 800 kg/ha en 60 jours contre 500 kg/ha en 90 jours pour les anciennes variétés. « Ces variétés sont appréciées par les productrices grâce à leur haut rendement, leur cycle court, leurs gros grains et la couleur blanche des grains, » atteste la présidente de l'UPFN et présidente de la plateforme d'innovation, Awa Ouédraogo.Dans plusieurs villages, des chefs coutumiers ont mené des plaidoyers en vue de faciliter l'accès des femmes aux terres cultivables et de plus grandes superficies. Grâce à cet engagement, les superficies octroyées à ces dernières ont atteint dans certains villages trois ha alors qu'elles ne disposaient que de 0,5 ha auparavant. C'est notamment le cas du village de Yalka, dans la commune de Kongoussi, et des villages de Rouko, Gankaré, Sabcè et Guibaré.Des partenariats ont été mis en place avec des institutions de microfinance, ce qui a permis d'accorder 200 millions FCFA de crédit à 800 membres de la plateforme d'innovation en 2016 contre 75 millions FCFA avant sa mise en place. « Notre participation aux visites commentées sur les parcelles de production du niébé nous a convaincus de la qualité du travail et des rendements possibles, nous encourageant ainsi à augmenter les crédits accordés aux femmes pour la production du niébé, » reconnaît Aminata Cissé, responsable de la Caisse populaire de Kongoussi (chef-lieu de la province du Bam).Enfin, le circuit de commercialisation avec la SONAGESS s'est amélioré et renforcé : 465 t de niébé ont été vendues en 2016 pour un montant de 120 millions FCFA contre des ventes moyennes annuelles de 280 t pour un montant 72 millions FCFA avant la mise en place de la plateforme d'innovation. « J'ai réalisé, en 2016, un bénéfice de 665 000 FCFA après laLes acteurs ayant contribué à cet accroissement de revenus sont segmentés en trois catégories : les acteurs du changement (instituts de recherche, services d'appui-conseil, décideurs politiques, chefs coutumiers, médias), les catalyseurs du changement (projets et programmes de développement, institutions de microfinance, structures d'achat) et les bénéficiaires du changement (organisation des productrices porteuse de la plateforme d'innovation). Ces acteurs ont joué un rôle complémentaire dans la conduite des activités. Ainsi, l'Institut de l'environnement et de recherches agricoles (INERA) et l'Institut de recherche en sciences appliquée et technologies (RSAT) ont proposé les technologies à adopter et assuré les formations relatives à ces dernières. La Direction générale des productions végétales (DGPV) a identifié et proposé les technologies à adopter, et capitalisé les acquis au profit du système de vulgarisation et d'appui-conseil agricole au niveau national. Les décideurs politiques et administratifs, parmi lesquels le Haut-commissaire (la plus haute autorité administrative au niveau provincial), ont contribué à la sensibilisation des acteurs politiques (députés, maires, élus locaux...) et à la résolution des problèmes. Les chefs de villages ont quant à eux aidé à la sensibilisation des populations sur les questions susceptibles d'entraver la bonne marche de la plateforme et mené des plaidoyers pour l'accès des femmes aux terres cultivables et de plus grande superficie. Les radios locales ont assuré la diffusion de l'information sur la plateforme et les activités en direction du public au niveau local et national. Le Programme de productivité agricole en Afrique de l'Ouest (PPAAO)/Burkina a apporté son appui financier et technique aux activités de la plateforme et assuré, en collaboration avec le comité technique de gestion de la plateforme d'innovation, le suivi et la capitalisation des acquis. Les caisses populaires facilitent l'accès des productrices et transformatrices de niébé aux crédits. La Société nationale de gestion de sécurité alimentaire (SONAGESS) assure l'achat et le stockage du niébé. Enfin, l'UPFN a proposé plusieurs innovations, animé l'ensemble du groupe des producteurs et productrices engagés à adopter des La plateforme d'innovation permet l'établissement de relations solides et de confiance entre les acteurs de la microfinance et les productrices, ce qui a contribué à accroître le montant des crédits accordés aux membres. En outre, le contrat d'achat entre la SONAGESS et la plateforme d'innovation garantit la commercialisation de la production.Les productrices ont adopté ces variétés qui produisent en moyenne 800 kg/ha en 60 jours contre 500 kg/ha en 90 jours pour les anciennes variétés. vente à la SONAGESS de 5 400 kg de niébé, affirme Bibata Gansoré, 52 ans, productrice dans la province du Bam, mariée et mère de six enfants. Le bénéfice a servi à payer des vivres, se soigner, payer la scolarité des enfants et contribuer au bon fonctionnement de la plateforme d'innovation. »Ces résultats probants ont été obtenus grâce à la conjugaison d'une série de facteurs. En premier lieu, l'engagement de l'Union porteuse de la plateforme d'innovation a été crucial. Une union bien structurée, dynamique, avec un partenariat diversifié et disposant d'animateurs endogènes servant de relais pour l'encadrement des productrices.Deuxièmement, la résolution des conflits s'est faite de façon endogène. Ce fut notamment le cas pour l'harmonisation des prix de vente du niébé : des échanges entre les acteurs de la production ont permis de s'accorder sur les prix à pratiquer. Cela a conduit à l'utilisation d'outils conventionnels de mesure. L'organisation de collectes communes et l'acheminement groupé des productions vers la SONAGESS et les sites de foires et marchés du niébé ont permis de résoudre les problèmes liés au transport. Quant aux difficultés d'obtention de terres cultivables et de plus grande superficie aux femmes pour la production de niébé, elles ont été surmontéesEn dépit des succès enregistrés, des défis restent à relever pour rendre la plateforme d'innovation plus performante. Il s'agit, entre autres, d'accroître la production pour répondre à une demande de plus en plus croissante, de renforcer les capacités techniques et financières des acteurs de la chaîne de valeur niébé, mais aussi de renforcer la capacité des membres de la plateforme d'innovation à l'utilisation des outils de gestion.En novembre 2015, la plateforme d'innovation du niébé a obtenu le prix de la meilleure plateforme d'innovation de l'Afrique de l'Ouest décerné à Dakar par le Conseil ouest et centre africain pour la Recherche et le développement agricoles (CORAF/WECARD) en collaboration avec la Banque mondiale. La récompense de 6 millions FCFA a permis de financer la construction d'un magasin de stockage de niébé de 100 t à Kongoussi (chef-lieu de la province du Bam). La construction de ce magasin marque ainsi la volonté affichée des acteurs de la plateforme d'innovation d'inscrire leur action dans la durée.La reproductibilité et le passage à l'échelle de cette expérience se sont manifestés à travers la mise en place de plateformes d'innovation dans d'autres filières, en l'occurrence le riz, la mangue, le karité et la tomate. Le prix obtenu à Dakar a par ailleurs fortement accru la notoriété de la plateforme d'innovation. Ainsi, de nombreux partenaires de la sous-région (Bénin, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambie, Ghana, Mali, Niger et Sénégal) sont venus en voyage d'études pour s'inspirer du modèle burkinabé. Les actions d'Afrique Verte dans la filière fonio ont consisté à relancer la consommation du fonio dans les marchés urbains dominés par un fonio de qualité médiocre décrié pour la présence de grains de sable et pour un emballage jugé peu attractif. Elle a oeuvré à positionner le fonio comme une source complémentaire de céréales pouvant contribuer à la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle au Burkina Faso. Plusieurs acteurs ont été impliqués dans la réalisation de ces actions ; des acteurs directs (fournisseurs de semences, producteurs, transformatrices et consommateurs) et des acteurs Ce document décrit les principales actions conduites par Afrique Verte Burkina Faso depuis 2009 pour la relance de la consommation du fonio. Il présente les innovations opérées par les transformatrices de céréales pour permettre au fonio de gagner en notoriété auprès des ménages urbains et d'être accepté dans les supermarchés et les restaurants.• l'organisation d'ateliers de contractualisation entre producteurs et transformatrices pour faciliter l'accès au fonio ;• la stimulation des femmes urbaines et rurales à la transformation du fonio ;• la promotion de nouvelles technologies de décorticage du fonio associant les équipementiers et les structures de recherche nationales ;• l'analyse périodique de la qualité du fonio issu des unités de transformation artisanales dans des laboratoires agrées ;• l'organisation de journées de dégustation réunissant des ménages, des consommateurs urbains et des leaders d'opinion ;• la facilitation de la participation des femmes transformatrices aux foires et salons autour des produits agricoles au Burkina Faso et à l'étranger ;• la facilitation de l'accès aux crédits pour les femmes transformatrices.Ces activités sont menées à bien grâce au dispositif technique et organisationnel efficace développé par Afrique Verte, qui comprend une coordination technique avec des animatrices d'appui. Cette équipe permanente est renforcée par des experts en qualité et en finance.  innovation. L'organisation des femmes au sein d'un réseau actif de transformatrices à Bobo Dioulasso, Banfora, Ouaga, avec un apprentissage entre pairs, une solidarité et une émulation, et assurant le lien entre les producteurs de fonio et le marché, a permis d'aboutir à des résultats plus rapidement que prévu.Comme le montre le témoignage de Madame Gnoula, les femmes transformatrices ont su intégrer les exigences des consommateurs urbains en termes d'hygiène et d'emballage. Elles ont prouvé qu'elles pouvaient, avec de petits outils et de la rigueur, proposer des produits adaptés à la demande. La capacité de ces femmes pourtant peu instruites à opérer des innovations complexes et à s'inscrire dans une logique de mobilisation de crédits pour propulser les affaires a aussi constitué un facteur de réussite des actions entreprises. Soulignons toutefois que s'il est utile de prendre en compte les suggestions des consommateurs pour offrir des produits de qualité, les distributeurs jouent également un rôle clé dans le succès de l'augmentation de la consommation de ces produits dans les marchés urbains. Ils méritent d'être associés aux stratégies de commercialisation dès le départ.    Malgré les difficultés rencontrées lors de la mise en oeuvre de l'initiative (faible réceptivité des femmes à l'innovation, sècheresses, attaques de parasites, problème de commercialisation de l'huile du sésame), le processus de structuration des femmes autour de la transformation du sésame a induit plusieurs résultats et impacts positifs.   Les activités du groupement Wafakay, dans la commune de Téra à l'ouest du Niger, se résument à la commercialisation des céréales, au petit commerce et à l'embouche de petits ruminants. Ce groupement essentiellement constitué de femmes est membre de l'union Harey Ban, dont l'objectif est d'améliorer les conditions de vie des femmes et des enfants à travers des activités génératrices de revenu. À ces activités s'ajoute désormais la fortification d'un aliment traditionnellement consommé au Niger : le mil.Le projet DIAPOCO fait intervenir plusieurs acteurs : i) les membres de l'union et du groupement, pour la mise en oeuvre des activités sur le terrain, l'organisation des femmes et la gestion du petit matériel ; ii) le centre de santé, pour la sensibilisation autour de la farine fortifiée afin de promouvoir sa consommation, le suivi et l'encadrement des femmes ; iii) des élus locaux fortement impliqués, pour l'intégration de l'initiative dans le plan de développement communal ; iv) des radios, pour mettre en oeuvre la stratégie de communication visant àLa farine fortifiée est un mélange de farine (ici, l'aliment véhicule est le mil) et de prémix. Spécialement conçu pour la fortification des farines, ce prémix contient du fer (sous forme de sulfate de fer), du zinc (sous forme d'oxyde de zinc) et de l'acide folique sur support d'amidon de maïs. Pour la fabrication de la farine, le mil est nettoyé, puis décortiqué chez des meuniers. Il est ensuite lavé et séché avant d'être torréfié et réduit en farine dans un moulin. La farine fortifiée est réalisée avec des formules simples (pré-mélanges). Le pré-mélange m1 est composé de 10g de prémix et de 90g de farine de mil. Le pré-mélange m2 est composé de 20g de m1 auxquels l'on ajoute 80g de farine de mil. Ces dilutions successives permettent de diminuer la concentration de micronutriments dans le mélange final. Ainsi, le mélange m3 est constitué de 50g de m 2 et 4 950g de farine de mil. La farine fortifiée obtenue est alors pesée et conditionnée dans des sachets de 500g afin d'être stockée avant d'être vendue. partager les objectifs, les activités et les résultats de l'initiative avec une large communauté ; v) l'équipe technique d'AcSSA, pour l'appui technique, le conseil et l'accompagnement des bénéficiaires.L'initiative a donné lieu à plusieurs actions parmi lesquelles une visite d'échange à Niamey de quatre membres du groupement Wafakay dans l'unité de transformation de la farine fortifiée où a été lancée l'expérience ; la restitution des échanges aux autres membres du groupement et de l'union, et l'expression des besoins en équipements ; une rencontre entre les responsables de la collectivité de Téra, du centre de santé et des radios ; les achats et la mise en place des équipements et des matières premières ; la formation in situ des vingt femmes du groupement (techniques de transformation de la farine fortifiée, préparation de la bouillie, vie associative, gestion des unités de transformation et techniques marketings).Le groupement Wafakay a reçu une dotation initiale comprenant des produits bruts (3 t de mil et 3 kg de fortifiant), des équipements et matériels de travail (torréfacteur, farineuse, mélangeur, balance, thermosoudeuse, emballage, étiquette, marmites, Le succès de cette nouvelle farine se mesure par son utilisation par un grand nombre d'habitants de la commune de Téra et des alentours, aussi bien pour lutter contre la malnutrition que pour faciliter le sevrage des enfants.la mise en oeuvre du plan de développement communal comme stratégie de lutte contre la malnutrition et la pauvreté. Deuxièmement, un marketing adapté, avec une campagne de communication participative et inclusive. La diffusion d'émissions radios en langues locales (débats, interviews, témoignages, spots) en phase avec les préoccupations des populations, a contribué à l'appréciation de la farine enrichie locale nommée « Hamniya ».Ainsi, le groupement Wafakay, qui ne disposait au départ que de 50 000 FCFA en fonds propres, a pu augmenter son capital grâce à la vente de la farine fortifiée. Les femmes ont transformé 1000 kg de mil et ont obtenu 580 kg de farine fortifiée, vendue pour un montant total de 580 000 FCFA. 250 000 FCFA ont ensuite été prélevés afin de faire des crédits sans intérêts aux femmes du groupement, ces dernières travaillant sans rémunération. Plus généralement, l'initiative a permis d'améliorer le revenu de ces femmes et de réduire la malnutrition chez les enfants tout en valorisant des produits locaux (le mil, localement produit) et en mobilisant la population locale.  Avant le projet DIAPOCO, les mères des enfants malnutris utilisaient des bouillies simples à base de céréales, et achetaient des produits industriels (tels que les produits Nutriset Plumpy'nut, lait F100 et F75) lorsque ceux-ci étaient disponibles, ce qui n'était pas toujours le cas. C'est de cette situation qu'est née l'idée de fabriquer sur place de la farine fortifiée à base de céréales locales. Aujourd'hui, le succès de cette nouvelle farine se mesure par son utilisation par un grand nombre d'habitants de la commune de Téra et des alentours, aussi bien pour lutter contre la malnutrition que pour faciliter le sevrage des enfants. L'équipe de recherche a d'abord travaillé à domestiquer les trois variétés de banane plantain sous serre puis, après avoir obtenu des résultats encourageants, a mené une évaluation en milieu réel pour s'assurer de leur adaptabilité. Pour ce faire, elle a adopté une démarche de recherche participative associant étroitement les chercheurs et les acteurs du monde rural et décomposée comme suit : i) identification participative de la thématique de recherche ; ii) apport de la technologie par la recherche ; ii) identification du site pour la démonstration en milieu réel et d'un(e) producteur(rice) ; iv) organisation d'une visite commentée couplée à une séance de dégustation regroupant l'ensemble des parties prenantes (chercheurs, partenaires techniques et O riginaire d'Asie du Sud-Est, le bananier plantain est cultivable dans les zones tropicales où les pluies peuvent atteindre 1100 mm d'eau par an. Dans la sous-région ouest-africaine, il est notamment produit en Côte d'Ivoire et au Ghana. Durant les trois dernières décennies, la consommation de la banane plantain, en provenance de ces deux pays, est entrée dans les habitudes alimentaires des Burkinabè, notamment ceux habitant dans les centres urbains. Elle est consommée sous forme de frites, chips, foutou, accompagnée de sauce ou simplement grillée.Les revenus générés par le commerce de la banane plantain sont très attrayants. Le prix de vente de la tonne de banane varie en effet entre 120 000 et 140 000 FCFA selon les périodes de l'année. Un camion chargé de bananes plantains génère autour de 1 500 000 FCFA de bénéfice à Ouagadougou (Bambio Z. François, 2015). Nonobstant les opportunités qu'offre cette filière, force est de constater qu'elle est peu développée au Burkina Faso, ce qui rend le pays fortement tributaire des importations. On enregistre d'ailleurs une nette progression de ces importations, ce qui témoigne d'une demande locale en hausse constante. Les quantités de bananes plantains importées sont passées de 1 146,1 t en 2008 à 5 084,6 t en 2013, soit une évolution de plus de 300 %.Pour répondre aux besoins de consommation des populations, réduire la dépendance du Burkina aux Pour répondre à une demande croissante et réduire le taux de dépendance des importations, le bananier plantain de Côte d'Ivoire a été introduit au Burkina Faso par le Programme de productivité agricole en Afrique de l'Ouest (PPAAO-Burkina) lors d'une expérience menée de novembre 2014 à décembre 2015, à Diarradougou. Avec des rendements atteignant 22 t/ha et un poids des régimes allant jusqu'à 17 kg, l'équipe scientifique estime que les résultats obtenus sont satisfaisants.Couverture Les objectifs de cette expérience sont de promouvoir l'adoption du bananier plantain et contribuer à l'amélioration de la sécurité alimentaire financiers, producteurs, transformateurs et consommateurs) pour partager les résultats de l'expérience ; v) mise en place du dispositif expérimental relaté dans le protocole de recherche.La zone retenue pour l'expérimentation fut l'ouest du Burkina, dans la région des Hauts-Bassins. Plus précisément, il s'agissait du périmètre maraîcher de Diarradougou, commune rurale situé à 20 km de Bobo Dioulasso, chef de lieu de ladite région, où règne des conditions agroécologiques et climatiques favorables (accès à une source d'eau pour l'irrigation et pluviométrie variant de 800 à 1100 mm) à cette culture.La productrice a été choisie parmi les membres du groupement des producteurs de la banane douce du périmètre. Ce choix s'est fait selon trois critères prédéfinis : accessibilité de la parcelle, existence d'un point d'eau pour l'irrigation, et engagement du bénéficiaire. Les plants pour la pépinière et un appui conseil technique lui ont été fournis tout au long de l'expérimentation.Le dispositif expérimental mis en place par l'équipe de recherche fut le suivant : i) des superficies exploitées de 0,9 ha pour PITA 3, 0,9 ha pour FHIA 21 et 1,25 ha pour Big ebanga ; ii) 25 t de fumure organique appliquées à l'hectare ; iii) 1 t d'engrais minéraux (NPK et urée) recommandée à l'hectare ; iv) deux passages pour l'irrigation par semaine jusqu'à la reprise de croissance des plants et des passages tous les 4 à 5 jours après la reprise de croissance des plants jusqu'à maturité.Les objectifs à moyen et à long terme de cette expérience sont de promouvoir l'adoption effective de cette nouvelle culture au Burkina, diversifier les productions agricoles et les sources de revenus, générer de nouveaux emplois au profit des acteurs du monde rural, et contribuer à l'amélioration de la sécurité alimentaire et à la qualité nutritionnelle des populations.En suivant fidèlement les différentes recommandations techniques des trois variétés, des résultats intéressants ont été constatés. Ainsi, le délai de floraison est de sept mois pour la variété PITA3 et huit mois pour les Il est possible -et rentable -de pratiquer la culture du bananier plantain au Burkina Faso.« Au départ, j'étais très sceptique, mais aujourd'hui je suis une femme heureuse au regard des résultats obtenus. Je suis très satisfaite et fière d'être un exemple pour mes camarades producteurs. J'ai appris beaucoup de choses de cette expérience, qui m'aideront même pour la production de la banane douce. Cela confirme l'adage \"Qui ne risque rien n'a rien\" ». Sylvie Kassongo, bénéficiaire de l'expérimentation de production de la banane plantain La conduite participative de l'expérimentation, l'implication de tous les acteurs (producteurs et chercheurs) tout au long du processus et la prise en compte de toutes les opinions ont permis de relever les défis rencontrés. La réussite de l'expérience doit aussi beaucoup au dévouement de la productrice bénéficiaire, à l'appui conseil technique assuré par l'équipe de l'INERA et à l'accompagnement des autorités administratives à travers l'appui financier du PPAAO. À l'instar des autres producteurs membres de son groupement, Saïdou a bénéficié d'une formation de cinq jours assurée au niveau local par la Direction provinciale du ministère de l'Agriculture et des aménagements hydrauliques ainsi que des formateurs endogènes. À l'issue de cette formation, il a reçu du matériel de production (marteau, pic axe, râteau, brouette, triangle à pente, gants, bottes, etc.) La rigueur est un des traits qui caractérisent le mieux Saïdou : il se fixe des objectifs et met tout en oeuvre pour les atteindre. Dès la fin de la formation, il a établi un calendrier et un plan d'action grâce auxquels il a pris de l'avance par rapport à ses camarades. Aux premières pluies, il avait déjà effectué ses semis. C'est que le producteur avait été convaincu par l'expérience de son père, bénéficiaire du projet avant lui. Grâce au renforcement de ses capacités, celui-ci avait aménagé deux parcelles, une de 1,5 ha en demi-lunes et une autre de 1 ha en zaï, sur des terres dénudées. Il avait alors récolté 70 charretées de sorgho sur la parcelle S itué dans la province du Kourwéogo, dans la région du Plateau-Central, le village de Roundé est caractérisé par la dégradation des ressources naturelles et l'abondance de terres abandonnées, impropres à la culture. Cette situation est une conséquence du changement climatique, qui se manifeste notamment par la sécheresse, l'insuffisance de pluies et parfois des inondations et des vents violents. Les producteurs procèdent donc à l'abattage des arbres alors même qu'il y en a de moins en moins, détruisant la flore de la région. Ceux qui n'ont pas la chance de disposer de terres vierges sont contraints de quitter le village à la recherche d'un mieux-être, ce qui contribue à le dépeupler, le privant ainsi de ses bras valides. En parallèle, les difficultés d'accès aux équipements et intrants agricoles ainsi qu'une faible connaissance des techniques de conservation des eaux et des sols entraînent une baisse considérable des productions céréalières et de la productibilité de l'élevage, ce qui expose les communautés à une insécurité alimentaire permanente.C'est pour résoudre ces difficultés que Solidar Suisse a lancé un projet de deux ans, de 2015 à 2016, visant à améliorer la sécurité alimentaire des populations pauvres et vulnérables de la région du Plateau-Central au Burkina Faso et à améliorer les conditions de vie des producteurs. Ce projet fait suite à une première phase, de 2013 à 2014, qui a enregistré des résultats forts La demi-lune est peu pratiquée par les producteurs en raison de la pénibilité du travail qu'elle nécessite. Fort heureusement, certains producteurs sont prêts à braver cette pénibilité pour se lancer dans la réalisation de cette technique qui présente de nombreux avantages. Saïdou Ouédraogo est de ceux-là. Cet habitant du village de Roundé, dans la commune de Niou au Burkina Faso, et membre d'un groupement de producteurs bénéficiaire du projet Sécurité alimentaire de Solidar Suisse, a réussi l'impossible : cultiver du riz, céréale très gourmande en eau, sur une terre jadis laissée à l'abandon.Couverture L'application de techniques de conservation des eaux et des sols procure aux bénéficiaires l'opportunité de varier leur production convaincu de l'efficacité de la technique de la demilune, il décide de cultiver du riz dans son village.Il réalise alors des demi-lunes sur une superficie totale de 88,3 m 2 de terres dénudées et fait une récolte prodigieuse de 233 kg qu'il se garde de vendre, réservant cette manne pour la consommation familiale. Il souhaite faire profiter ses proches des fruits de son exploit avant de les partager avec la population. Habituellement, la variété cultivée par Saïdou, le riz FKR 19, a un rendement de 5 à 6 t/ha avec un cycle de 115 jours. Le producteur a récolté la même quantité en seulement en 80 jours grâce aux demi-lunes, et uniquement avec de l'engrais organique. En 2016, il tenta à nouveau l'expérience, cette fois sur une superficie de 204,8 m 2 en utilisant de l'engrais chimique. Il récolta 700 kg de riz… Saïdou le téméraire entend aujourd'hui poursuivre l'aventure en se lançant prochainement dans la production d'igname, tubercule habituellement produit dans les zones humides. aménagée en demi-lunes et 40 charretées de la même spéculation sur celle aménagée en zaï. En comparaison, il n'avait récolté que 15 charretées sur son ancien champ de 2,5 ha, exploité en parallèle.Contrairement au sorgho, qui est une des plantes cultivées les moins exigeantes en eau, le riz est une céréale qui nécessite beaucoup d'eau. Il est de ce fait cultivé dans les zones marécageuses ou les bas-fonds. Parmi les trois provinces de la région du Plateau-Central, la province du Kourwéogo est la plus défavorisée en termes de qualité des sols et de répartition de la pluviométrie, et donc la moins propice à cette culture. Saïdou, qui a auparavant vécu dans un pays où la pluviométrie est abondante et maîtrise les techniques de la culture du riz, va toutefois réaliser l'impossible. Enhardi par l'expérience de son père, et Les savoirs locaux de nos parents, pour peu que l'on s'y intéresse, constituent une véritable richesse à exploiter en association avec les innovations agricoles. Les producteurs ont tendance à préférer les techniques de zaï au détriment des demi-lunes en raison de l'intensité de l'effort à fournir pour réaliser celles-ci. C'est donc en toute logique que la difficulté à convaincre ces derniers à pratiquer les demi-lunes (mais aussi la passibilité des acteurs du projet euxmêmes, notamment les associations de mise en oeuvre, face à cette situation) constitua le principal défi du Projet Sécurité Alimentaire de Solidar Suisse.Pourtant, les demi-lunes sont plus résistantes et durables dans le temps que les zaï (5 à 7 ans contre 3 ans). De plus, la quantité d'eau nécessaire aux demi-lunes est moins importante que pour les zaï (les semis dans les demi-lunes peuvent se faire avant l'installation définitive de la saison des pluies). Autre avantage intéressant, elles requièrent une superficie moins importance, ce qui contribue à résoudre le problème de plus en plus récurrent du foncier. Elles sont en outre efficaces pour récupérer les terres en glacis. Les demi-lunes conviennent donc aux terres dégradées, et présentent l'avantage, une fois qu'elles sont réalisées, de nécessiter moins de travail.L'application de cette technique de conservation des eaux et des sols procure aux bénéficiaires l'opportunité de varier leur production ; elle a permis à certains d'entre eux de pratiquer des cultures qu'ils n'auraient pas pu exploiter auparavant à cause de l'aridité des sols.L'intervention menée par Solidar Suisse a été innovante à plusieurs égards. Des voyages d'étude ont été organisés à l'intention des partenaires de mise en oeuvre pour leur permettre d'apprendre d'autres acteurs intervenant dans le même domaine. Les ressources internes de ces partenaires, ainsi que des agents de l'Etat au niveau local, ont été mis à contribution pour la formation des producteurs qui a aussi bénéficié de la contribution d'anciens bénéficiaires et producteurs modèles. Le fait que les différents participants soient familiers les uns avec les autres a permis de renforcer la confiance.Les résultats obtenus l'ont été grâce à la combinaison de plusieurs facteurs. D'abord, le projet a su apporter une réponse adéquate aux besoins des bénéficiaires. La rigueur que s'est imposée Saïdou dans l'exécution de son activité ainsi que l'adhésion et la motivation des différentes parties prenantes ont contribué pour beaucoup à la réussite de l'utilisation des demi-lunes. En outre, le recours aux savoirs locaux par les producteurs eux-mêmes (comme le décryptage des signes de la nature permettent de savoir s'il pleuvra suffisamment ou non) a amélioré la qualité des actions.L'expérience de Saïdou permet ainsi de tirer plusieurs leçons très utiles. La conviction est le premier facteur, et la rigueur personnelle une qualité indispensable, qui déterminent tous deux la réussite de l'utilisation de techniques complexes, comme les demi-lunes. En outre, les savoirs locaux de nos parents, pour peu que l'on s'y intéresse, constituent une véritable richesse à exploiter en association avec les innovations agricoles. I dentifiée par la Fédération des organisations des producteurs de banane du Mali comme une filière porteuse pour le développement économique national du pays, et dotée d'un fort potentiel de production (estimé à 35 000 t par an), la filière banane est pourtant sous-exploitée. En dépit de la position géographique favorable du Mali, différentes contraintes affectent sa production, notamment la non maîtrise des techniques appropriées. Or, la banane contribue à la sécurité alimentaire (elle représente une source substantielle de glucide) et constitue une opportunité socio-économique.L'une des préoccupations du Programme de productivité agricole en Afrique de l'Ouest (PPAAO-Mali), qui supporte la filière banane malienne depuis 2011-2012, est le développement et la diffusion de technologies en vue d'accroître la production agricole pour assurer la sécurité alimentaire et réduire la pauvreté. Aussi a-t-il initié, à l'intention des membres de la Fédération, une formation sur de nouvelles techniques de production visant à améliorer la productivité des bananerais et les revenus des producteurs. L'expérience a débuté dans le bassin de production à Koutiala (Sikasso) avant d'être étendue dans d'autres localités du cercle de Dioïla (Koulikoro).Le diagnostic effectué en 2010 par la Fédération sur la production de la banane au Mali, en particulier à Koutiala, a fait ressortir une diminution de la productivité des pieds de banane de 20 à 40 % de leur potentialité productive ces cinq dernières années due à un mode d'irrigation inapproprié, à l'apparition et au développement de la cercosporiose (une maladie de la souche de banane), et surtout à une méconnaissance de nouveaux itinéraires de production de la banane.Une formation sur ces nouveaux itinéraires a donc été mise place dans les zones de production avec pour objectifs i) d'accroître la productivité des pieds de banane en augmentant le poids des régimes des bannerais ; ii) de diminuer l'intensité de main d'oeuvre nécessaire dans les champs de banane ; iii) de permettre un développement végétatif normal du bannerais ; iv) de réduire les risques de cercosporiose ; v) et de permettre un bon murissement de la banane afin d'augmenter sa qualité organoleptique.La stratégie adoptée pour atteindre ces objectifs fut l'établissement d'un contrat de collaboration avec la Fédération des organisations des producteurs de la banane. Le chargé de la filière a dû suivre des formations en Côte d'Ivoire pour renforcer son expertise sur les nouveaux itinéraires de production.Pour améliorer la productivité des bananeraies et les revenus des producteurs de banane, la Fédération des organisations des producteurs de banane du Mali, en concertation avec le Programme de Productivité Agricole en Afrique de l'Ouest (PPAAO-Mali), a lancé un plan stratégique de développement de la filière consistant dans le renforcement des capacités de ses membres. C'est dans ce cadre que le PPAAO a initié un transfert de technologie dit « nouveaux itinéraires de production de la banane » dans le bassin de production à Koutiala (Sikasso).Couverture En plus de sa contribution à la sécurité alimentaire, la culture de la banane est un facteur de lutte contre l'exode rural et l'orpaillage en milieu rural devaient former à leur tour 80 producteurs dans les zones de production de la banane. Cette stratégie a permis de toucher un grand nombre de producteurs.L'évaluation technique menée par le Programme-Mali auprès des bénéficiaires dans le bassin de Koutiala a révélé plusieurs résultats positifs. Les 50 formateurs relais formés ont ainsi touché plus de 3 965 producteurs dans plusieurs villages. Le développement végétatif des plants de banane est désormais normal, et même excellent, ce qui permet au bananier d'arriver à maturité physiologique en huit ou neuf mois au lieu de douze mois. La combinaison des techniques (effeuillage, nettoyage, respect des écartements, etc.) a permis de passer à un rendement d'une tonne pour 25 régimes (contre moins d'une tonne pour 50 régimes auparavant). L'oeilletonnage, qui consiste à supprimer les rejets du bananier pour ne garder qu'un ou deux rejets par pieds-mère, a permis de réduire la quantité d'engrais à apporter aux plants de trois sacs à un sac et demi et d'augmenter le poids des régimes (70 régimes par t auparavant contre 30 régimes par t aujourd'hui). L'effeuillage, consistant à supprimer les feuilles mortes et celles du bas pour une meilleure aération de la bananeraie, a considérablement réduit l'infection par la cercosporiose et les grattages sur le fruit. La coupe de la fleur et la mise en place de tire-sève ont contribué à la maturité physiologique plus rapide du fruit. Le tuteurage, c'est à dire la mise en place d'une fourche de soutien afin d'empêcher les gros régimes de tomber au sol, a permis de réduire les pertes de bananes.Le nouvel itinéraire de production a permis de mettre en valeur 999 ha de surface supplémentaires.Les nouvelles techniques de production, importées de la Côte d'Ivoire, consistent à la destruction des rejets du bananier, l'effeuillage, la coupe des fleurs et la fertilisation. Elles ont été appliquées sur la banane Grande naine principalement cultivée au Mali. Cette variété a été choisie du fait de sa capacité d'adaptation aux conditions climatiques des zones de production et de son aptitude à se reproduire au champ par voie végétative (elle produit le matériel végétal, les rejets, nécessaire à la création de nouveaux plants).Pour bénéficier de cette intervention, les producteurs devaient posséder des parcelles de production et disposer d'équipements agricoles (motopompe et accessoires …), être capables de comprendre et d'appliquer les messages techniques et les conseils, se montrer motivés et disponibles. Une première séance de formation a concerné 50 formateurs relais qui La banane Grande naine a été choisie du fait de sa capacité d'adaptation aux conditions climatiques des zones de production et de son aptitude à se reproduire au champ par voie végétative.En vue d'assurer la durabilité du projet, la technique de production enseignée a été associée à la technique de plants issus de fragments de tige (PIF). Celle-ci répond au problème de vieillissement des bananeraies qui explique en partie les baisses de rendement enregistrées ces cinq dernières années et constitue un sérieux handicap pour le développement de la culture de la banane. C'est pourquoi la promotion de la technique PIF a été une innovation appréciable, accessible à tous les producteurs, même les plus petits, à moindre coût. Elle constitue une opportunité d'assurer la souveraineté semencière de la filière et de permettre une durabilité de la production de la banane au Mali.À travers les nouveaux itinéraires de production de la banane se dessinent les caractéristiques d'une nouvelle professionnalité de producteurs, et un ensemble de conditions qui définissent les traits d'une communauté apprenante et émergente dans la production de la banane au Mali. Cette communauté doit faire face à un certain nombre de défis :• Des difficultés de mobilisation de ressources financières pour amener un grand nombre de producteurs à la maitrise des nouvelles technologies de production de banane ;• L'insuffisance des mesures portant sur le renforcement de l'organisation des acteurs, la structuration de la filière, l'accès au financement, le développement des infrastructures adéquates pour une meilleure valorisation de la banane, les bonnes pratiques de gestion des eaux de surface, le développement du marché intérieur et l'amélioration de la qualité de la banane ;• De mauvaises conditions de stockage et de transport des bananes, qui contribuent pour beaucoup à l'altération de la qualité du fruit ;• La non sécurisation foncière, qui limite de plus en plus la culture de la banane aux environs des grandes villes, plus précisément dans le district de Bamako. Les terres se font rares du fait du développement de la ville et de la spéculation foncière qui atteint aujourd'hui même les villages éloignés ;• L'insuffisance de soutien matériel, financier et technique apporté aux femmes productrices de banane, celles-ci s'intéressant de plus en plus à la production de banane ;• L'insuffisance d'agents spécialisés dans le suiviaccompagnement des acteurs de la filière banane.En plus de sa contribution à la sécurité alimentaire, la culture de la banane est un facteur de lutte contre l'exode rural et l'orpaillage en milieu rural, car elle représente une formidable opportunité d'insertion socio-économique pour les jeunes. A u cours des campagnes 2011 et 2013, le déficit fourrager enregistré au Niger, de l'ordre de 16 471 000 t et 6 708 832 t de matière sèche, a fait perdre au cheptel nigérien environ 2 725 427 têtes de bétail, toute espèce confondue, soit 13,51 % de l'effectif total. Les espèces ovines, caprines et bovines ont été les plus affectées avec des proportions respectives de 37,48 %, 33,06 % et 27,14 % de cette perte. Pire, cette crise pastorale consubstantielle à la crise alimentaire a entrainé la décapitalisation du cheptel avec comme conséquence un bradage (vente à vil prix d'environ 1 435 202 têtes d'animaux) qui a fortement réduit les revenus des éleveurs et impacté négativement leurs conditions de vie. C'est dans ce contexte que l'idée de mise au point de la technologie du bloc multi-nutritionnel densifié, un aliment pour le bétail simple à élaborer à l'aide d'équipements et de produits locaux, a vu le jour au Niger.Sur financement du Programme de productivité agricole en Afrique de l'Ouest (PPAAO), des spécialistes d'alimentation et de nutrition animale de l'Institut national de la recherche agronomique du Niger (INRAN), des cadres des services publics de l'élevage et du Centre de développement de l'artisanat agricole et du machinisme rural (C-DARMA) ont La technologie de bloc multi-nutritionnel densifié pour le bétail (BMNDB) a été concrétisée grâce à un financement conjoint de l'Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture (FAO) et de l'État du Niger. Elle a été imaginée en réaction à la série de crises pastorales que le Niger a connu depuis son indépendance, en particulier celle de 2009-2010. La maîtrise de la fabrication du BMND est vivement souhaitée, car elle offre à la fois un moyen pour lutter contre l'insécurité alimentaire et pour améliorer les revenus des ménages.peut être préparé facilement dans les milieux ruraux et périurbains. Cela est d'autant plus intéressant qu'il n'y a aucun impact négatif majeur sur l'environnement : sa fabrication ne nécessite pas de coupe d'arbres et tout le fourrage utilisé est généralement réservé à l'alimentation des animaux. Cette innovation s'inscrit dans un contexte national où l'élevage intensif est pratiqué dans presque tous les ménages et où la demande en BMND est forte.La série d'images ci-dessus montre les différentes étapes de la fabrication du BMND. On voit d'abord des sacs contenant les matières à broyer, puis des prototypes de broyeur de tiges et des sacs contenant les tiges broyées. Le processus se poursuit avec le malaxage de tiges broyées avec les autres sousproduits agroindustriels, les minéraux, les liants et les vitamines. C'est surtout à partir de cette étape que commence la formation à la technique de fabrication du bloc qui conduit à la confection des briquettes ainsi étiquetées. La dernière image montre un test d'appétibilité du BMND mené sur des caprins.Les éléments cités ci-haut montrent que l'expérience est une réussite, mais aussi qu'elle a vocation à s'inscrire dans le temps, plusieurs facteurs militant pour la durabilité de la technologie de bloc multinutritionnel densifié pour le bétail au Niger. Tout d'abord, les sessions de formation sur la mise au point de cette innovation se poursuivent dans toutes les régions du pays. Ensuite, elle s'inscrit dans un contexte national où l'élevage intensif est pratiqué dans presque tous les ménages et où la demande en BMND est forte. En outre, le projet a bénéficié dès le départ d'un important soutien politique. Les unités de fabrication du broyeur sont toutes locales ; elles sont implantées dans quatre régions du Niger. Les ressources nécessaires à la fabrication du BMND sont elles aussi disponibles localement. Enfin, le BMND est et demeure respectueux de l'environnement avec un impact négatif très mineur. L'opération, qui visait au départ les éleveurs et associations d'éleveurs, a suscité l'intérêt des instituts de recherche et d'enseignement, des ONG et des services de vulgarisation, aussi bien au niveau national que sous-régional. Initiative des pouvoirs publics, lancée en réponse au déficit fourrager qui a causé la crise pastorale, le BMND constitue un moyen pour lutter contre l'insécurité alimentaire mais devient également une véritable activité génératrice de revenus et créatrice d'emploi, notamment pour une certaine catégorie de la population (les femmes et enfants ramasseurs de tiges).Hamidou Souley est responsable de suivi et évaluation du projet. hamsouleymane@yahoo.fr Les travaux de recherche d'un projet commissionné sur la « Mise au point des blocs multi nutritionnels densifiés de productions à base des ressources alimentaires locales » ont abouti à la mise au point de cinq formules dans l'embouche ovine. Les béliers nourris avec trois de ces formules ont réalisé les meilleures performances de croissance pondérale avec un gain de poids moyen de 83 g sur une période de 75 jours.Si ces résultats sont encourageants, le processus de fabrication du BMND ne se fait pas sans difficulté. Des pannes du broyeur, qui peuvent durer plusieurs jours, voire des semaines, surviennent fréquemment. À la demande des utilisateurs, les unités de fabrication du broyeur ont donc envisagé la création de points de vente de pièces de rechange au niveau des chefs-lieux de communes où sont installés ces broyeurs. En outre, le coût relativement élevé du broyeur (de 350 000 à 500 000 FCFA l'unité) par rapport au revenu moyen des producteurs et éleveurs rend son acquisition difficile. Seuls les gros opérateurs y ont facilement accès. Pour les autres, une mutualisation des efforts est nécessaire. À ce titre, les unités de fabrication ont imaginé l'évolution de la version thermique (qui a un coût de fonctionnement élevé) vers une version solaire, avec un coût d'entretien presque nul. Soulignons également la difficile conservation sur le long terme du BMND, qui peut être attaqué par les moisissures. Le sous-projet commissionné du PPAAO sur le BMND doit proposer des formules résistantes à cette moisissure. L es banques de céréales permettent aux ménages ruraux d'acheter ou de vendre des produits alimentaires à un prix inférieur à celui pratiqué par les commerçants pendant la période de soudure ou en cas de mauvaise campagne agricole. Dans la région Nord du Burkina Faso, où intervient la coopérative Viimbaore/Naam, les banques de céréales ont été développées par la Fédération nationale des groupements Naam à la suite des grandes sécheresses des années 1970-1980 pour lutter contre l'insécurité alimentaire. Cependant, malgré le rôle capital qu'elles jouent pour répondre aux enjeux de la sécurité alimentaire des populations, elles ont été confrontées à d'importantes difficultés de financement, de gestion et de gouvernance, ce qui a conduit à la fermeture de nombreuses d'entre elles faute de stock suffisant.Dans l'optique d'améliorer l'approvisionnement et d'éviter les ruptures de stock, SOS Faim, avec le soutien du Fond belge pour la sécurité alimentaire, a apporté son appui au réseau de banques de céréales pour une meilleure structuration et la mise en place d'un système de financement durable des stocks de produits. Ainsi, les banques de céréales, qui prennent désormais l'appellation « Grenier de sécurité alimentaire (GSA) », ont-elles été dotées d'un fonds de roulement centralisé. Celui-ci permet d'octroyer chaque année aux GSA, initiés par des groupements à la base et appartenant à tout le village, des avances (crédits) de fonds pour la constitution et la diversification de stocks alimentaires de proximité. Un taux de 7 % est appliqué afin de couvrir une partie des coûts de fonctionnement et de maintenir le capital.Fortement dépendant de conditions agroclimatiques aléatoires, le bilan céréalier dans la zone d'intervention de la coopérative Viimbaore/Naam est dans une situation permanente de déficit. De ce fait, la couverture des besoins alimentaires des ménages reste non satisfaite et dépend des marchés céréaliers des zones excédentaires. Cela favorise les fluctuations de prix et rend difficile l'accès des ménages les plus vulnérables aux céréales. Ainsi, le fonds de roulement mis en place par la coopérative a pour objectif de faciliter les activités d'approvisionnement et de commercialisation des produits alimentaires de base des GSA dans une perspective de financement durable et autonome à travers la responsabilisation des acteurs. Il permet aux GSA de se procurer des stocks de denrées qu'ils peuvent vendre aux populations tout au long de l'année et accroît la visibilité de la coopérative et l'efficacité de ses interventions dans la lutte contre l'insécurité alimentaire.Les systèmes de stockage alimentaire de proximité jouent un rôle primordial dans la sécurité alimentaire des populations des pays du Sahel. Les banques de céréales permettent aux ménages ruraux d'accéder aux denrées de base pour couvrir leurs besoins, surtout en périodes de soudure et de mauvaise campagne agricole. Cependant, elles ont été confrontées à de nombreuses difficultés qui ont limité leur efficacité et entrainé la fermeture de certaines d'entre elles. C'est la raison pour laquelle des méthodes de financement durable et autonome ont été envisagées, à l'image du fonds de roulement adopté notamment par la coopérative Viimbaore/ Naam dont l'expérience est relatée dans ce document.s'engage à mettre en place un dispositif de collecte/ recouvrement du fonds et à affecter un animateur pour le suivi des activités du GSA. Le GSA doit en outre disposer d'une infrastructure et des équipements adéquats de stockage ou avoir la capacité d'en louer. Il utilise exclusivement le fonds de roulement pour approvisionner le stock et diversifier les produits alimentaires, et dispose d'un organe de gestion composé de quatre membres dont trois femmes. Il sursoit à la vente à crédit et promeut plutôt leur vente au détail, surtout aux ménages vulnérables.L'octroi du fonds de roulement est soumis à l'examen de la demande, défendue par les responsables du GSA, par un comité d'octroi qui statue et donne l'accord de financement. Cet accord permet à la coopérative de procéder au transfert du montant accordé sur le compte bancaire du GSA dans les 72 heures.Un dispositif de suivi à différents niveaux permet le contrôle de l'utilisation effective du fonds pour les approvisionnements des GSA en produits vivriers. Enfin, pour la gestion transparente et pérenne du fonds, plusieurs acteurs sont impliqués dans le processus. Il s'agit :• des unions Naam porteuses de la demande de fonds de roulement pour les GSA de leur ressort territorial ;• des groupements abritant les greniers de sécurité alimentaire ;• des comités de gestion (Coges) chargés de la gestion quotidienne du grenier ;• du comité d'octroi, qui statue sur les demandes de fonds de roulement ;• du comité de recouvrement, qui appuie les Coges dans le recouvrement des fonds par les GSA ;• du Conseil d'administration de la coopérative ;• de l'équipe d'appui technique de la coopérative ;• des institutions de microfinance que sont les Baoré tradition d'épargne et de crédit (BTEC) et le Réseau des caisses populaires du Burkina (RCP) abritant les comptes des greniers de sécurité alimentaire ;• D'ECOBANK, qui abrite le compte fonds de roulement central.L'adoption du fonds de roulement central a permis l'atteinte de résultats satisfaisants à divers niveaux de réalisation de la coopérative. Elle a également permis de renforcer significativement les capacités financières des GSA.Avant la mise en place du fonds de roulement, le système de financement consistait à des subventions ponctuelles ou à des dotations en stocks gérées de façon à reconstituer de nouveaux stocks. Certaines dotations étaient renforcées par les productions issues des champs collectifs. Ce système comportait des limites dont les nombreuses ruptures de stocks enregistrées par les banques, la mauvaise gestion (stock vendu à crédit, détournements, inadéquation aux besoins de la population, etc.) et l'offre limitée des produits. Au regard de ces difficultés, et de l'offre limitée sur les marchés, les banques de céréales n'arrivaient pas toujours à assurer la sécurité alimentaire des populations ou à faire face aux chocs et crises alimentaires récurrents dans la zone. Le fonds de roulement permet ainsi aux GSA de contribuer à réguler les marchés vivriers et de renforcer le pouvoir de négociation des producteurs et consommateurs ruraux face aux commerçants.Pour ce faire, il est octroyé chaque année suivant les conditions et critères suivants. Le GSA ne doit pas être redevable de crédits souscrits pour les campagnes antérieures. Il doit procéder au remboursement du crédit en fin de campagne (après 11,5 mois) en une seule fois ou en trois échéances réparties sur l'année. Toutefois, pour un fonctionnement optimal du fonds, la coopérative doit révéler plusieurs défis dont l'accroissement du taux de consommation du fonds par les GSA, la définition d'une stratégie de motivation des membres des comités de gestion (qui s'investissent dans les activités des GSA sans aucune contrepartie) et la conciliation des missions sociales et des objectifs économiques des GSA et de la coopérative. En d'autres termes, les GSA doivent poursuivre leurs missions d'appui des populations pour l'accès aux produits alimentaires à prix réduit tout en parvenant à produire de petites marges bénéficiaires afin d'assurer leur autonomie financière.Les GSA bénéficient de la forte implication des femmes dans leur gestion d'une part (les comités de gestion sont quasiment exclusivement composés de femmes, qui se sont avérées être de bonnes gestionnaires des fonds de roulement reçus) et de la participation de la population locale à toutes les étapes (choix des produits, prix de vente, suivi du stock, etc.) d'autre part. La solidarité, l'entente, l'entraide, la cohésion sociale et la non-discrimination entre les acteurs font que tous bénéficient du fonds de roulement centralisé et travaillent au remboursement intégral des crédits. La capacité d'assurer les charges de fonctionnement à hauteur de 50 % par les fonds propres mobilisés indique que les acteurs partagent un esprit de durabilité du système.En outre, la démarche est transparente, avec l'instauration d'un contrat dont les clauses sont lues publiquement et connues par le maximum de personnes de la communauté bénéficiaire et la tenue publique des assemblées générales de bilan de campagne.L'adéquation du dispositif à la situation et aux besoins du public cible a aussi contribué à sa réussite. On peut citer la mise en place d'outils de gestion simples et adaptés aux acteurs et aux activités, l'existence d'un cycle de financement élaboré en fonction du cycle de production agricole, et l'octroi progressif du fonds de roulement aux GSA selon leurs capacités et le respect des engagements antérieurs.Soulignons enfin l'importance de la contribution des animateurs des unions, qui jouent le rôle d'interface entre les unions, les groupements, les GSA et l'équipe technique de la coopérative ; des communes, qui participent au suivi des financements et aident à la légalisation des documents contractuels ; de la gendarmerie et de la police, qui interviennent en cas de retard de remboursement et aident au recouvrement des créances impayées.À la lumière des résultats obtenus dans le cadre de l'expérience de la coopérative Viimbaore/Naam, on peut ainsi conclure que l'existence et la mise en place d'outils de gestion simples et adaptés, ainsi que l'instauration d'une culture de redevabilité, permettent une bonne gestion du financement d'un système de stockage de proximité susceptible de contribuer efficacement à l'atteinte de la sécurité alimentaire.Estelle Traore est responsable opérationnelle chargée de l'accompagnement de la coopérative Viimbaore/Naam. estelle_traore@yahoo.fr  C'est pour cette raison que la FEPA-B, composée à 52 % de femmes, met oeuvre depuis 2001 un programme spécifique qui prend en compte les besoins de ce groupe. Ce programme comporte quatre volets : i) l'autonomie financière de la femme rurale ; ii) sa participation à la prise de décisions ; iii) l'allègement des tâches des femmes rurales ; iv) l'accès aux facteurs de production.La première composante du programme de la FEPA-B, l'autonomie financière de la femme rurale, vise à faciliter l'accès des femmes aux crédits à travers la mise en place d'un fonds de garantie auprès d'une institution de microfinance. Dans cette optique, la FEPA-B, avec l'appui de ses partenaires, a établi une alliance avec la Fédération des caisses populaires du L es femmes représentent 51,7 % de la population du Burkina Faso. 78 % d'entre elles, soit 5 655 451 de femmes, vivent en milieu rural. Elles réalisent plus de 60 % des activités de production et sont présentes dans tous les secteurs d'activités, participant ainsi à l'économie nationale. Il est reconnu que l'accès des femmes aux financements favorise l'accroissement de leur pouvoir d'achat et leur contribution au soutien de la famille, à l'éducation et à la santé de leurs enfants. Plus généralement, donner un pouvoir financier à la femme augmente le pouvoir financier de la nation dans son ensemble.Pourtant, le financement des activités économiques des femmes rurales (petit commerce, embouche, stockage et commercialisation de produits agricoles, culture maraîchère, transformation des produits locaux, etc.) constitue aujourd'hui encore un défi majeur. En effet, du fait de leur vulnérabilité et de la faiblesse de leurs revenus, ces femmes ont un faible accès au financement car elles ne remplissent pas les conditions pour obtenir un crédit auprès des institutions de microfinance. Très peu disposent de garanties traditionnelles, telles que des titres fonciers ou des permis urbains d'habiter. Cette absence de garanties les prive de crédits, pourtant indispensables pour lancer et mener à bien leurs activités.Elles subissent par ailleurs les pesanteurs socioculturelles. Les hommes n'acceptent pas que leurs Un fonds de garantie, créé par la Fédération des professionnels agricoles du Burkina (FEPA-B) au sein d'une institution de microfinance, permet désormais aux femmes rurales d'accéder à des crédits adaptés à leurs activités à des conditions négociées. À travers cet accompagnement, la FEPA-B contribue à l'autonomisation financière de la femme burkinabè et à l'amélioration de ses conditions de vie. Cette approche, mise en place à partir de 2010 par l'Union provinciale des professionnels agricoles du Houet (UPPAH) dans le cadre du « Programme femme », a permis à 779 femmes de bénéficier de crédits pour un montant total de 79,4 millions FCFA au cours de l'année 2016-2017.Burkina (FCPB). Ainsi, un protocole d'accord a été négocié et signé en 2001 pour une période de trois ans renouvelable. À travers ce protocole d'accord, un fonds de garantie permet aux femmes rurales membres des groupements villageois féminins de la FEPA-B d'accéder aux crédits à des conditions négociées.Le fonds de garantie couvre les femmes bénéficiaires pour une durée de trois ans durant laquelle elles peuvent constituer leurs fonds propres. En cas d'impayés, la caisse ayant accordé le crédit peut puiser dans le fonds de garantie à hauteur de 50 % du solde restant dû. Cette approche innovante, adaptée aux conditions socio-économiques des femmes rurales, poursuit un triple objectif : pallier le manque de garanties nécessaires pour accéder au crédit, faciliter l'accès des femmes rurales au crédit grâce à un allègement des modalités et des conditions ainsi qu'un raccourcissement des délais de traitement des dossiers, et leur permettre de constituer progressivement un fonds propre afin de poursuivre leurs activités sans crédit, ou peu, après les trois ans de couverture du fonds de garantie La FEPA-B fournit d'abord à l'institution de microfinance une liste des différents groupements ayant fait l'objet d'une étude diagnostique avec toutes les informations nécessaires (date de création, nombre de membres, activités principales, capacité de gestion, etc.). Dans un premier temps, des actions de sensibilisation, d'information et de formation sont entreprises auprès de ces groupements pour renforcer leurs capacités et connaissances en matière de gestion de crédit. Après cette étape préparatoire, les femmes formulent, avec l'appui des animatrices endogènes et des responsables des unions, leur demande de crédit adressée aux responsables des caisses de crédit de leur localité. Les demandes précisent l'activité envisagée, le montant sollicité et l'échéancier de remboursement. Elles sont analysées par la caisse qui s'assure de la faisabilité du projet avant de mettre en place le crédit. Les femmes qui obtiennent ainsi du crédit bénéficient également de formation sur la gestion du crédit.Au cours de l'année 2017, cette expérience a permis à 779 femmes issues de 32 groupements féminins de bénéficier de crédits pour un montant total de 79 400 000 FCFA. En termes d'épargne, elles ont pu mobiliser la somme de 18,697 millions FCFA et constituer un fonds de groupe de 2,273 millions FCFA. Les 779 bénéficiaires ont par ailleurs vu leurs compétences et connaissances dans le domaine de la gestion des activités économiques et du crédit renforcées.Les principales intéressées affirment que la création du fonds de garantie les a soulagées. Elles accèdent (surtout les plus pauvres) à des petits crédits plus facilement. Les affectations des bénéfices acquis sont multiples. Les femmes déclarent en utiliser une partie pour les besoins de la famille (alimentation, santé, éducation et habillement des enfants, etc.), leurs besoins propres (achats de pagnes, bijoux, chaussures, argent de poche, etc.), ou la solidarité sociale (participation aux mariages, décès, baptêmes, ou contribution aux besoins de prêt de parents et amis).76 % des femmes parviennent à réinvestir une partie des bénéfices dans leur activité et dans l'épargne.Pour assurer la durabilité de l'expérience, des séances de concertations des différents acteurs impliqués dans le processus devront être organisées régulièrement. Des actions de sensibilisation, d'information sur le processus d'octroi du crédit et de formation (à la gestion du crédit et de l'épargne, à la gestion des activités économiques) des bénéficiaires seront toujours nécessaires pour une plus grande réussite de la facilitation d'accès au crédit. Le suivi permanent des femmes bénéficiaires par les animatrices endogènes, ainsi que la mise en place d'outils simples et efficaces, contribuent à une meilleure gestion de leurs activités.En définitive, nous avons vu que la facilitation de l'accès des femmes rurales au crédit permet un épanouissement socio-économique de ces dernières. Au delà, cela conduit également à l'émergence de femmes leader au sein des groupes, des femmes qui gagnent en confiance, sont plus sûres d'elles et participent activement au développement de leur localité.Haoua Kone-Barry est chargée de programme, responsable de l'accompagnement et du suivi des initiatives économiques des organisations de femmes pour le compte de la FEPA-B. konehaoua3@gmail.com 76 % des femmes parviennent à réinvestir une partie des bénéfices dans leur activité et dans l'épargne. Elles se montrent déterminées à employer le crédit dans l'intérêt de la famille et à le rembourser dans le but de pouvoir en obtenir un autre. Jusqu'à présent, aucun retard n'a d'ailleurs été constaté dans le remboursement des prêts contractés. Cela prouve d'une part le sérieux des femmes dans l'exercice de leurs activités, et d'autre part l'adéquation du programme à des besoins réels.De manière générale, la facilitation de l'accès au crédit à travers le fonds de garantie a eu des impacts visibles sur la situation et les conditions de vie des femmes rurales qui se sont améliorées grâce aux revenus issus des diverses activités économiques entreprises suite à l'octroi de financements. Ces femmes ont gagné en confiance et sont devenues plus indépendantes.Le développement d'alliances et de synergies avec le Réseau des caisses populaires du Burkina (RCPB) dans une optique d'intérêts et d'avantages mutuels est un des facteurs de succès les plus importants pour l'accès des femmes rurales au crédit. La forte implication de l'Union départementale appuyée par l'Union provinciale du Houet dans le choix, l'encadrement et le suivi des bénéficiaires est également crucial. L'engagement des autorités locales (chef de village, délégué du village) ainsi que des acteurs de la FCPB et de ses démembrements dans les différentes zones (unions provinciales et départementales) contribuent fortement au bon recouvrement des crédits. Soulignons également l'importance des animatrices endogènes, chargées de l'accompagnement des femmes dans leurs activités économiques et du suivi du crédit, et du comité de suivi des crédits à l'UPPAH. La mise en place de caisses de microfinance en général, et le développement de crédits avec éducation en particulier a pour finalité d'améliorer l'accès des populations au financement de proximité. Pour atteindre cet objectif, le projet AD2M a d'abord cherché à densifier les caisses de microfinance en s'appuyant sur un partenariat avec la seule institution de microfinance présente dans la zone : le réseau CECAM (Caisse d'épargne et de crédits agricoles mutuels). Compte tenu des conditions défavorables à la mise en place de microfinance dans les régions Menabe et Melaky (enclavement, faible densité de population, fort taux d'analphabétisme, pauvreté et insécurité rurale), tous les spécialistes prédisaient l'échec de toute tentative allant dans ce sens.Des appuis à l'installation des caisses ont été fournis à l'institution de microfinance avec la construction de Depuis 2010, à Madagascar, le projet d'Appui au développement du Menabe et du Melaky (AD2M) soutient le développement d'un réseau de microfinance dans le but de faciliter l'accès aux services financiers des populations vulnérables. Dans une démarche de finance inclusive, le projet a mis en place un crédit innovant, le Crédit avec éducation (CAE), adapté aux besoins spécifiques des femmes. Le crédit, testé dans deux caisses à partir de 2012, est vite devenu le crédit le plus sûr avec un taux de remboursement de 100 % à l'échéance témoignant ainsi de la viabilité d'une telle initiative.A u sud-ouest de Madagascar, dans les régions Menabe et Melaky où intervient le projet d'Appui au développement du Menabe et du Melaky (AD2M), l'accès au financement formel est très faible. Cette vaste zone de 20 000 km², qui comprend deux régions, sept districts et 19 communes rurales, ne compte qu'une seule caisse de microfinance. En outre, les conditions d'octroi des crédits, qui nécessitent des garanties, excluent la frange la plus vulnérable de la population d'un éventuel financement par cette unique caisse.Or, le besoin en services financiers est réel. Les exploitations agricoles, de type familial, affichent une superficie moyenne de 1 ha pour un ménage de six personnes et une faible productivité. Elles disposent d'une faible capacité d'épargne et ont un taux d'endettement souvent très élevé. Les petits producteurs les plus vulnérables sont aussi ceux qui commercialisent les volumes les plus réduits et qui ont, avant la récolte, des besoins de trésorerie relativement élevés. De ce fait, ils n'ont d'autre choix que de recourir aux services des usuriers, qui pratiquent des taux d'intérêt dépassant 100 %, ou de vendre une partie, voire la totalité, de leur production « sur pied » avant la récolte à des prêteurs informels à des prix deux à trois fois plus bas que le prix payé après la récolte. Ce type de transactions maintient les producteurs dans une forte précarité et entraîne une spirale sans fin d'endettement et de paupérisation.bâtiments, l'équipement en matériels roulants (moto), informatiques et mobiliers de bureau, et la formation du personnel, notamment les animatrices. Le projet a aussi subventionné les pertes d'exploitation de la microfinance durant quatre ans, sachant qu'elle ne pourrait être rentable qu'au bout d'un certain temps d'exploitation. Ceci s'est fait de façon dégressive : 100 % des pertes en année 1, 75 % en année 2, 50 % en année 3 et 25 % en année 4. Le projet a aussi doté les caisses d'un fonds de 150 millions MGA pour l'octroi des premiers crédits aux bénéficiaires.Toutefois, les personnes vulnérables, notamment les mères célibataires, très nombreuses dans la zone, restaient exclues d'un tel dispositif car la microfinance exige des garanties matérielles pour obtenir un crédit. Or la plupart de ces personnes ne possèdent pas d'actifs, une situation aggravée par l'insécurité rurale (vol de bovidés) qui sévit depuis ces dernières années puisque le bétail constitue la principale garantie des ménages. Le CAE a donc été conçu et développé par la microfinance en 2012, sous l'impulsion du projet AD2M, afin de permettre à cette frange de la population d'accéder au financement.Contrairement aux services traditionnels, ce crédit n'exige pas de garantie matérielle. Les bénéficiaires, uniquement des femmes regroupées au sein d'associations de crédits solidaires (ACS), se cautionnent mutuellement pour rembourser les crédits qui restent toutefois individuels. La formation du groupe et le choix des membres sont libres, sans aucune intervention extérieure. Des animatrices dédiées au suivi des ACS sont recrutées et formées par l'institution de microfinance.Les crédits, qui concernent principalement des activités génératrices de revenus à rotation rapide, sont octroyés pour une durée de trois mois avec un taux d'intérêt de 24 %. Après remboursement du premier crédit, que l'on appelle « cycle de crédit », le groupe a droit à un deuxième cycle de trois mois, et ce jusqu'à neuf cycles de crédit. Le montant octroyé, qui est très modeste au départ, augmente avec le cycle, passant de 40 000 MGA par personne en premier cycle à 1,5 million MGA par personne en neuvième cycle de crédit. Le remboursement se fait mensuellement, mais étant donné le caractère de retour de fonds rapide des activités, des provisions hebdomadaires sont constituées au niveau du groupe afin que le recouvrement ne pèse pas trop sur la trésorerie en fin de mois. Après le neuvième cycle de crédit, les bénéficiaires intègrent la microfinance classique.Des formations sont dispensées aux bénéficiaires du CAE, afin de leur permettre de bien gérer le crédit octroyé (gestion de la trésorerie, compte d'exploitation), mais également soutenir leur épanouissement (sensibilisation à l'hygiène alimentaire, planning familial, prévention du VIH, etc.).Le mobile banking est utilisé par les caisses où il y a une couverture téléphonique afin de faciliter et surtout sécuriser les transactions. Cette technologie innovante, qui permet de consulter le solde, payer les échéances de crédit et retirer de l'argent via son téléphone portable, n'est encore qu'au stade pilote dans certaines caisses mais les résultats obtenus sont encourageants. Suite à la mise en place de caisses de microfinance, une amélioration notable de l'accès des populations rurales des régions Menabe et Melaky aux services financiers de proximité a été observée entre 2010 et 2017. Durant cette période, 3 500 personnes ont pu intégrer le système de microfinance. Si la zone d'action du projet ne comptait qu'une seule caisse au démarrage, 10 communes sur les 19 sont actuellement couvertes après l'extension dans le Melaky en 2013. Le nombre d'adhérents de ces caisses a presque triplé, passant de 1 330 en 2010 à 3 500 en 2017, dont 1 500 femmes. Le taux de participation aux activités de microfinance a aussi augmenté, passant de 20 % à 71 %.Une culture de crédit s'est ainsi installée petit à petit. Le montant de crédit octroyé annuellement dans la zone a plus que doublé, passant de 610 millions MGA en 2010 à 1,4 milliard MGA en 2017, avec un octroi cumulé de 8 milliards MGA pour près de 5 000 dossiers de crédit durant cette période. Le montant moyen octroyé par dossier de crédit est de 1,6 million MGA, soit 13 % supérieur à l'ensemble de CECAM des régions.Une étude menée en 2015 a également fait ressortir que le recours à la finance informelle, en particulier l'usure, a notablement diminué, passant de 10 % à 2 %.Une étude d'évaluation d'impact menée en 2015 montre que le revenu moyen annuel des ménages emprunteurs de crédits CECAM est 1,6 fois supérieur à ceux des non bénéficiaires.diversification aux soupes et repas, ceux-ci passent à 30 000 MGA par jour, » se félicite-t-elle. Et le remboursement du crédit ne lui pose aucun problème. Elle fait d'ailleurs très attention à cela car les mauvais payeurs sont bannis du groupe et elle se doit de donner l'exemple en tant que présidente. Avec l'augmentation du montant de crédits consentis au fur et à mesure de l'évolution du cycle, auquel s'ajoutent les bénéfices de son commerce au chantier, elle a pu ouvrir une épicerie au village. Vitorine ne compte pas s'arrêter là : « Actuellement en sixième cycle, je peux louer des rizières et je compte, à la fin du neuvième cycle, acquérir une parcelle rizicole ou des bovins. » La mise en place des caisses de microfinance et du crédit CAE constitue une véritable innovation. Cette expérience montre clairement que l'on peut mettre en oeuvre une finance rurale « inclusive » pour offrir des services financiers de proximité spécifiques aux ménages les plus vulnérables, même dans des zones difficiles, leur permettant de sortir de la pauvreté et d'améliorer leurs conditions de vie.La réussite du projet doit beaucoup aux appuis conséquents octroyés à l'institution de microfinance, aussi bien les investissements « structurants », que les activités de développement agricole menées par le projet (qui ont créé une dynamique économique plus favorable à la microfinance) ou l'encadrement de proximité des bénéficiaires par l'intermédiaire des animatrices.Toutefois, dans le cadre d'un futur partenariat de mise en place d'une telle initiative, il est nécessaire d'impliquer davantage les institutions de microfinance pour qu'elles se positionnent davantage comme « porteurs de projets ». Les fonds de crédits, qui constituent en quelque sorte le fonds de roulement des institutions de microfinance, pourraient par exemple être supportés en totalité par ces dernières. S elon les chiffres avancés par le programme FORMAPROD, 300 000 jeunes arrivent sur le marché de l'emploi chaque année à Madagascar, qui ne parvient pas à satisfaire cette importante demande. La plupart des jeunes au chômage rejoignent alors la campagne, non pas parce qu'ils veulent s'y installer mais parce qu'ils n'ont pas d'autre choix. Sans qualifications, ils deviennent exploitants sans pouvoir espérer obtenir davantage que de médiocres rendements. Cela explique le fait qu'avec plus de 80 % d'agriculteurs, la Grande Île n'arrive pas à nourrir sa population et soit contrainte d'importer des denrées alimentaires de toutes sortes.Face à cette situation alarmante, le gouvernement de Madagascar a initié des programmes de développement oeuvrant à la formation et l'installation des jeunes ruraux. Avec une zone d'intervention couvrant treize régions et 86 millions $ de financement, FORMAPROD est l'un des plus importants du pays. Placé sous tutelle du ministère de l'Agriculture et de l'élevage, ce programme a démarré en 2013 pour une durée de 10 ans et vise notamment à former aux métiers agricoles, accompagner et installer 100 000 jeunes qualifiés. Le processus d'insertion professionnelle de ces jeunes se résume en ces étapes : le recrutement, l'orientation, les formations proprement dites et l'accompagnement à l'installation (ou la mise en oeuvre des projets professionnels). C'est cette dernière étape qui nous intéresse ici. À l'issue de sa formation, le jeune a deux options : soit il attend l'arrivée d'un kit de démarrage pour commencer son projet professionnel, soit il démarre tout de suite son activité avec ses propres moyens. C'est ce que l'on appelle « l'installation par autofinancement », et c'est la voie que le jeune Dimby a choisi de suivre.Former les jeunes, les doter des matériels et intrants nécessaires au lancement de leur activité, et les accompagner dans l'exécution de leur projet professionnel font partie du processus d'insertion professionnelle. Il s'agit de leur offrir un métier pouvant leur procurer des revenus stables tout en contribuant à l'augmentation de la productivité agricole à Madagascar. Les formations sont confiées aux centres et établissements de formation ou aux consultants formateurs, sinon aux professionnels du métier (tuteurs). Quant à la dotation des kits d'installation, c'est une structure dénommée Fonds de développement agricole (FDA) qui s'en charge. L'installation des jeunes après leur formation représente un enjeu à l'aune duquel est mesurée la réussite du processus d'insertion professionnelle. En effet, pour évaluer les résultats du programme, il En juillet 2017, Dimby, un jeune père de famille de 29 ans, a suivi une formation technique en porciculture auprès du Centre de formation professionnelle de Bevalala. Au lieu d'attendre l'arrivée du kit d'installation fourni dans le cadre du programme FORMAPROD, il a décidé d'acheter les quatre porcelets nécessaires au lancement de sa ferme d'élevage avec ses propres fonds, ce qui lui a permis de démarrer son activité seulement un mois après sa formation. Cette expérience réussie d'installation par autofinancement nous permet de tirer plusieurs enseignements utiles pour l'atteinte des objectifs du programme FORMAPROD.Dimby fait du salariat agricole tout en étant exploitant, tandis que sa femme est vendeuse de pain et de fruits au marché local. Il a suivi une formation de douze jours en porciculture auprès d'un Centre de formation à Bevalala, en juillet 2017. Sans attendre l'arrivée du kit (porcelets et alimentation des porcins), il a immédiatement lancé sa ferme d'élevage sur les conseils du Conseiller en insertion professionnelle (CIP) qui l'a recruté et orienté. Il a acheté quatre porcelets avec l'argent que lui et sa femme avaient mis de côté et les a engraissé en suivant les techniques acquises lors de la formation. Il fabrique lui-même alimentation de ses animaux à partir de produits agricoles.Nombreux sont les résultats positifs de l'expérience menée par Dimby dans le cadre du programme FORMAPROD, mais nous nous limiteront aux plus significatifs. Premièrement, grâce à l'autofinancement, l'installation de Dimby dans le monde professionnel et le secteur agricole a été très rapide et relativement facile. Il a démarré son activité seulement un mois après la fin de la formation alors que les autres, dans l'expectative du kit, ont attendu de six mois à un an. Il n'a perdu ni de temps ni les connaissances acquises car il a immédiatement mis en pratique tout ce qu'il avait appris lors de sa formation.À l'heure où j'écris ces lignes, Dimby possède une petite ferme d'élevage porcin qui tourne bien et dont il s'occupe avec attention. Ses animaux sont en bonne santé et bien nourris. Les quatre porcs acquis atteindront les 100 kg dans sept à neuf mois et le jeune homme pourra alors tirer des bénéfices de leur vente, lui permettant d'étendre son exploitation progressivement (augmentation du cheptel et agrandissement du parc). « J'évalue ces bénéfices à environ 400 000 MGA (soit 125 $) par tête. Si j'arrivais à vendre chaque tête à 1 million MGA (312 $), j'obtiendrais convient de prendre en compte non pas le nombre de jeunes formés, mais le nombre de jeunes installés.Normalement, après la formation, chaque jeune élabore un projet professionnel et reçoit un kit d'installation (ou de démarrage) en fonction de l'activité qu'il a choisie. Cependant, des facteurs indépendants du programme peuvent retarder l'arrivée de ces kits, certains jeunes attendant une année entière avant de les recevoir. Cette situation est un facteur de démotivation pour les bénéficiaires du programme au point que certains décident d'abandonner leur projet professionnel (on estime qu'environ 5 % des jeunes se désistent et changent d'orientation à cause de ces retards). Or, un jeune qui se désiste, c'est un investissement perdu. Pire encore, les déçus sont susceptibles de diffuser des informations discréditant le programme, véhiculant l'idée que celui-ci ne tient pas ses promesses et engagements, ce qui rendrait les futures activités de sensibilisation difficiles. Faute de solution, l'équipe du Programme s'est contentée de recommander au FDA d'alléger autant que faire se peut les procédures d'octroi et d'activer les dotations. Mais cela s'avère compliqué à cause de l'étendue de la zone d'intervention concernée.C'est pour remédier à ce problème que l'équipe du programme FORMAPROD a encouragé le jeune Dimby à expérimenter l'autofinancement de son activité. Il ne s'agissait pas de l'inciter à renoncer définitivement au kit promis, mais de le convaincre de lancer son projet professionnel avec ses propres moyens.Grâce à l'autofinancement, l'installation de Dimby dans le monde professionnel et le secteur agricole a été très rapide et relativement facile.1,6 million MGA (soit 500 $) de bénéfices, » a-t-il affirmé. Surtout, Dimby exerce un métier qu'il aime.Deuxièmement, en utilisant ses fonds propres, Dimby n'a pas de dettes à rembourser, contrairement à la plupart des jeunes qui ont eu recours au crédit et remboursent leurs créanciers après le premier cycle. Pour lui et sa famille, l'élevage porcin ne peut apporter qu'un surplus de revenus, et donc des améliorations dans leurs conditions de vie. À travers son métier, le jeune homme contribue également à l'augmentation de la production animale globale de sa région.L'autofinancement d'un projet professionnel nécessite toutefois de relever un certain nombre de défis. Tout d'abord, en utilisant ses économies comme fonds de démarrage, Dimby a pris de gros risques ; il sait qu'il n'a pas droit à l'erreur et qu'il est dans l'obligation de réussir pour ne pas décevoir les siens. Il est vulnérable à la survenance de certains évènements, comme une peste porcine qui pourrait décimer son cheptel.Si une telle catastrophe n'est heureusement pas arrivée, l'autofinancement de l'installation de Dimby a entraîné un déséquilibre dans le budget du ménage, dont une grande partie a été dédiée à la nourriture des porcelets en raison de la cherté des produits alimentaires utilisés au détriment des besoins de la famille qui a dû « se serrer la ceinture ». Le fonds disponible pour le petit commerce de la femme de Dimby a aussi été impacté. Il a donc été très difficile de trouver un compromis permettant d'élever les porcs comme il se doit sans négliger les besoins vitaux du couple.Par ailleurs, quand il a démarré son activité, le jeune Dimby ne s'attendait pas à ce que la disponibilité des intrants pour l'alimentation des porcins soit aussi limitée dans la zone et les dépenses associées aussi élevées. En effet, il a dû faire face à la flambée du prix du riz à Madagascar durant l'année 2017. Quand le prix du riz, à la base de l'alimentation des malgaches, augmente, tout le reste suit. Aussi bien les produits dérivés du riz, que les autres céréales comme le maïs, ou les tubercules comme le manioc et la patate douce, principales matières premières pour l'alimentation de porcin. Ces produits deviennent rares, et donc chers. Il a donc fallu rationnaliser l'alimentation des animaux,pour mettre en oeuvre une activité initiée dans le cadre d'un programme de développement. Dans la plupart des cas, les bénéficiaires attendent ce qu'on leur a promis avant de se lancer. Le fait que Dimby ait consenti à s'autofinancer témoigne -et garantitd'un engagement fort vis-à-vis de son futur métier.Si l'exploit de Dimby a été mal interprété par certains jeunes, qui y ont vu le signe d'un favoritisme de FORMAPROD ou, pire, ont pensé que les kits promis avaient été détournés, il en a inspiré beaucoup d'autres, qui essaient aujourd'hui de lui emboîter le pas. « Je suis d'avis que l'on peut toujours débuter avec le peu qu'on a ; il n'est pas forcément nécessaire d'attendre le kit pour démarrer. Deux ou trois porcelets peuvent suffire pour lancer une petite ferme d'élevage porcin, » affirme ainsi Saturnin, un jeune éleveur de porcs dans l'Est de Madagascar.Divers paramètres ont contribué à la réussite de l'expérience de Dimby. Premièrement, un meilleur ciblage et une meilleure orientation de la part du Conseiller en insertion professionnelle, qui a su détecter un jeune très motivé et assurer un bon suivi et accompagnement de proximité. Deuxièmement, le fait que la ferme de Dimby soit implantée à Mangamila Anjozorobe, une zone favorable à l'agriculture, ce qui lui a permis de subvenir aux besoins alimentaires de ses animaux malgré la pénurie de denrées agricoles et la flambée des prix. Troisièmement, le fait que Dimby et sa femme aient déjà de petites activités rémunératrices (le salariat agricole, pour Dimby), ce qui leur a permis de mettre de l'argent de côté et de mobiliser ce fonds pour la ferme. L'implication de la femme de Dimby et les soutiens psychologiques de ses parents ont également été très importants.La mise à l'échelle de cette expérience faciliterait l'atteinte du principal résultat attendu du programme FORMAPROD (100 000 jeunes ruraux installés en 10 ans). Pour que la pratique de l'autofinancement soit effectivement suivie par un plus grand nombre de jeunes, quelques mesures méritent toutefois d'être prises une mauvaise gestion dans ce domaine conduisant à une perte assurée. L'approvisionnement en produits vétérinaires est aussi très difficile dans la zone d'installation de Dimby ; il faut faire une centaine de kilomètres de route pour en trouver. Conserver ces produits, en particulier les vaccins, demande des équipements et des compétences spécifiques. Or, il est impératif que les animaux soient vaccinés et soignés en cas de maladie. Dimby et les autres éleveurs ont donc décidé de se rassembler et d'envoyer un représentant afin qu'il effectue des achats groupés.Pour surmonter chacune de ces difficultés, le jeune éleveur a bénéficié d'un accompagnement de proximité, ce qui l'a beaucoup rassuré. Son conseiller en insertion professionnelle a dû rompre avec ses habitudes pour lui rendre visite plus souvent afin de l'encourager et l'aider à bien gérer et protéger son exploitation.Dimby n'est bien sûr pas le seul jeune de sa zone installé dans le monde professionnel depuis la mise en oeuvre du programme. Pourtant, rare sont ceux à y être parvenus (ou même à s'y être essayés) si rapidement après leur formation et la démarche adoptée ici relève de l'innovation aussi bien de la part du Conseiller en insertion professionnelle que du bénéficiaire lui-même. D'une part, inciter un jeune formé dans le cadre du programme à autofinancer son activité est à la fois osé et difficile, de la part d'un CIP. D'habitude, on lui recommande d'attendre le kit de démarrage ou d'emprunter de l'argent auprès d'une institution de microfinance. Cela provoque, on l'a vu, des risques de démotivation et d'endettement. Le conseiller de Dimby a choisi d'adopter cette attitude dans le but d'accélérer son installation et d'atteindre plus rapidement l'objectif du Programme FORMAPROD. D'autre part, il n'est pas fréquent de trouver un bénéficiaire qui ose mobiliser ses économies Les jeunes qui ont recours à l'autofinancement s'investissent davantage dans ce qu'ils entreprennent que les autres.par les responsables concernés. En premier lieu, il faudrait standardiser le processus d'installation de tous les jeunes formés à Madagascar. Cela ne pourrait se faire qu'au niveau du Ministère de l'Agriculture et de l'Elevage, qui ordonnerait aux projets ou programmes sous sa tutelle de se conformer à un processus d'insertion professionnelle standard. Il s'agirait par exemple de poser comme condition d'octroi d'un kit le démarrage de son activité par ses propres moyens, sauf pour la production nécessitant un investissement important comme l'élevage de vache laitière.Il faudrait également mettre en place des structures pérennes capables d'assurer l'accompagnement de proximité des jeunes après la formation, car l'équipe du programme n'est pas mobilisable indéfiniment. La constitution d'une association de formateurs ou tuteurs professionnels dans la région Amoron'i Mania en est un parfait exemple. En définitive, l'expérience très intéressante de Dimby nous permet de tirer plusieurs enseignements.Les deux premières étapes du processus d'insertion professionnelle des jeunes, la sensibilisation et l'orientation professionnelle, sont cruciales et nécessitent un important travail de la part de CIP compétents. La réussite du processus dans son ensemble dépend de la façon dont ceux-ci auront conduit ces deux phases.Des jeunes véritablement intéressés par une activité professionnelle et suffisamment motivés feront tout pour réussir leur installation. Ils seront plus enclins à démarrer leur activité avec ce qu'ils ont pour les développer progressivement. Il est donc important de distinguer ces jeunes des opportunistes, qui ont tendance à se décourager à la moindre difficulté. Les caisses de crédit de l'Union nationale des mutuelles d'investissement et de crédit oasien et des zones pluviales (UNMICO) s'adressent à tous les producteurs vivant dans les villages de leur zone d'intervention. Chacun peut devenir adhérent, à condition d'être capable de mener une activité génératrice de revenus et de souscrire une part sociale d'adhésion. Les adhérents de la caisse se réunissent ensuite en assemblée générale constitutive pour désigner les organes de gestion. Les caisses de crédit de l'UNMICO constituent un réel outil de développement autogéré. Chaque caisse créée devient une entité autonome, constituée par les sociétaires vivants dans une zone délimitée, favorisant ainsi la pleine participation des bénéficiaires à tout le processus de mise en place et d'appropriation.M algré l'existence de 18 banques commerciales, le secteur financier mauritanien a du mal à répondre aux besoins financiers du pays. Centré exclusivement sur le milieu urbain et périurbain, il exclut une grande partie de la population, notamment rurale. Or, le manque de ressources financières de cette population a toujours été une contrainte majeure pour optimiser la production. Si, ces dernières décennies, le Gouvernement a lancé plusieurs projets et programmes pour résoudre la problématique du financement agricole, ces différentes initiat ives n'ont donné que des résultats assez mitigés. En effet, elles ne couvraient qu'une partie très limitée des filières agricoles et ne prenaient pas en considération les petits agriculteurs et éleveurs ruraux qui constituent près de 60 % de la population vivant principalement des activités agricoles. En outre, les procédures d'octroi de crédit des institutions financières n'étaient pas adaptées aux besoins et conditions de vie de ce groupe vulnérable exclu du système bancaire classique.C'est ce qui a amené la Mauritanie, en étroite collaboration avec le Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA) et l'Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture (FAO), à appuyer l'émergence d'institutions financières décentralisées. La mise sur pied de caisses de L'économie rurale mauritanienne est basée sur l'agriculture et l'élevage. Un diagnostic participatif a fait ressortir un fort besoin de financement de proximité autogéré, adapté à la situation et aux besoins des petits agriculteurs et éleveurs ruraux. C'est ainsi que furent créées les Mutuelles d'investissement et de crédit oasien (MICO) et les Caisses d'épargne et de crédit agricole (CECA), dont l'objectif est l'octroi de financements portant notamment sur les campagnes agricoles, l'alimentation du bétail, les activités génératrices de revenus et l'autoconsommation en période de soudure. Les caisses ont été lancées en 1998, avec la création d'une première caisse pilote, puis étendues à l'échelle nationale. On en compte aujourd'hui 54, reparties sur l'ensemble du territoire national.Cette démarche a conduit à une certaine homogénéité sociale et a favorisé des relations de confiance, nouées entre les membres, ainsi qu'une connaissance approfondie de ces derniers et de leurs besoins de financement. Grâce au nombre de bénéficiaires relativement réduit, la qualité des emprunteurs et leurs activités sont appréciées plus facilement. Les caisses ont également permis l'obtention de crédits avec des formalités adaptées et un plus grand contrôle des activités de recouvrement à des coûts réduits, ainsi que l'adoption de procédures simples permettant un dénouement de l'ensemble des opérations au niveau local et leur maîtrise par un nombre élevé d'élus potentiels.L'objectif principal de ces caisses de crédit est d'apporter de façon durable des services financiers de proximité adaptés aux besoins des populations vulnérables, notamment rurales, pour financer localement toutes les activités viables. Le choix des activités éligibles est basé sur des critères objectifs, pertinents, adaptés et approuvés participativement par les bénéficiaires dans l'optique, notamment, de lutter contre l'usure.Ces caisses sont organisées de manière uniforme conformément au modèle mutualiste : au sommet du pouvoir, on trouve l'assemblée générale qui élit les membres du conseil d'administration, du comité de crédit, du conseil de surveillance et modifie le statut et le règlement intérieur. Le conseil d'administration est chargé de la gestion administrative et financière de la caisse. Le comité de crédit est chargé des études des demandes de crédit, l'octroi de crédit et l'accompagnement de proximité des bénéficiaires sur la gestion administrative, comptable et financière des projets financés. Le conseil de surveillance est chargé du contrôle interne du fonctionnement de la caisse.Les procédures de crédit varient d'une caisse à une autre suivant leurs spécificités. À titre d'exemple, certaines caisses conditionnent l'accès au crédit à la plantation d'un arbre pour lutter contre la sècheresse en contribuant à la fixation des dunes de sable préservant ainsi l'environnement. Les caisses ont une durée de vie de 99 ans renouvelable.Ces caisses se situent dans un processus durable de pérennisation et d'appropriation des mécanismes par les populations rurales pour un développement local endogène. Elles ont permis aux petits agriculteurs ruraux d'accéder plus facilement aux services financiers, suivant des procédures adaptées à leur situation. Les adhérents reçoivent des dividendes à la fin de l'exercice financier annuel. Les caisses ont conduit à une augmentation de la production agricole ainsi qu'à une amélioration des revenus des ménages et de la qualité de l'habitat. Une telle démarche a également eu pour effet la consolidation et la création d'activités génératrices de revenus, particulièrement féminines, l'autonomisation des femmes et des jeunes en matière d'organisation, de gestion et de prise de décision, mais aussi la fixation des populations rurales, contribuant ainsi à lutter contre l'exode rural. Au 31 décembre 2017, elles avaient octroyé plus de 50 000 crédits pour un montant cumulé de 7,78 milliards d'ouguiyas dont 61,4 % destinés à l'agriculture (maraîchage, phoeniciculture, cultures pluviales et autres cultures sous-palmiers), 12,2 % à l'élevage, 11 % à l'artisanat, 10,3 % au petit commerce et 5,1 % à l'autoconsommation.Ainsi, les caisses de crédit de l'UNMICO sont devenues un modèle de bonne pratique se caractérisant essentiellement par leur grande adaptabilité au milieu rural et leur adéquation avec les principes de la finance islamique.Les caisses ont été marquées par une certaine instabilité liée à la situation matrimoniale des jeunes femmes élues dans les instances dirigeantes. En effet, après leur mariage, celles-ci ont tendance à quitter la localité avec leurs époux laissant ainsi leur position vacante. Il faut alors recommencer à zéro le renforcement des capacités de nouveaux élus.Il était par ailleurs difficile de mobiliser les femmes pour les formations d'une durée de plus d'une semaine en dehors du village. Généralement, les organes de gestion des caisses sont administrés par des hommes. L'étendue du territoire national, plus de 1 million km 2 , n'a pas facilité le suivi et l'encadrement des caisses.En outre, les populations de la zone couverte par les caisses éprouvent de réelles difficultés à assurer leurs remboursements en cas de mauvaises récoltes consécutives à l'irrégularité des pluies ou autres calamités telles que le péril acridien.Pour faire face à ces difficultés, des séances de formation pratique et sur le tas relatives à la bonne gestion, à l'organisation, aux rôles et responsabilités des organes de gestion et à la réglementation ont été organisées au profit des membres des instances dirigeantes. Beaucoup des séances de sensibilisation et d'information ont également été réalisées au profit des hommes et notabilités sur le genre. La responsabilisation des adhérents et leur appropriation de la démarche ont donc été des facteurs clé dans la réussite des caisses autogérées. Le concept est adapté au contexte rural mauritanien, ce qui permet une mobilisation de l'épargne locale destinée à financer les crédits appropriés aux conditions spécifiques des bénéficiaires. Les caisses sont également en phase avec les prescriptions religieuses. Enfin, le taux de capitalisation élevé renforce la stabilité financière des caisses répondant ainsi aux besoins des sociétaires.Sid'Ahmed Bessid est directeur général de l'UNMICO. Il est spécialisé en microfinance en milieu rural. dg@unmico.netLa durabilité d'un projet dépend largement du degré de participation des bénéficiaires à sa conception, sa mise en oeuvre, son fonctionnement et son évaluation. Une forte participation de la population (à la gestion, aux assemblées générales, etc.) témoigne d'un niveau élevé d'appropriation du mécanisme. On constate également que les projets qui marchent correctement sont ceux initiés par les populations elles-mêmes, sans influence extérieure. Ainsi, la viabilité d'un projet nécessite-t-elle que l'on ne considère pas uniquement les populations cibles comme des bénéficiaires, mais aussi comme des responsables chargés de l'élaboration, de l'organisation et de la gestion dudit projet. Le sentiment d'être des participants actifs réellement responsables et engagés est plus fort chez les populations dans le cadre de l'approche dite « à la demande » que lorsqu'il s'agit de projets dont la mise en oeuvre a été décidée hors de leur communauté. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3621378384.json b/main/part_2/3621378384.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..78f8c0f444c0eb1c70507f0e7b5581843c5c72e1
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3646999283.json b/main/part_2/3646999283.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d2bec3c870429b8d0e87a01b83decd087fe5510a
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f6991323deadeb946790dd85900ca132","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2a2847ea-9fd1-4356-be2d-a6aed67e04fe/retrieve","id":"1127010302"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"58b9baa1-a3af-4678-b4a7-e83d6a7b5787","content":"After the games were played, a significantly higher proportion of communities adopted water registers and rules to govern groundwater, compared to other communities in the same NGO water commons program. Because groundwater levels are affected by many factors, games alone will not end groundwater depletion. However, games can contribute to social learning about the role of crop choice and collective action, to motivate behavior change toward more sustainable groundwater extraction.Contributing CRPs/Platforms:• WLE -Water, Land and Ecosystems • PIM -Policies, Institutions, and Markets Contributing Flagships:• F3: Sustaining Rural-Urban Linkages (RUL) Contributing Regional programs: <Not Defined> Contributing external partners:• FES -Foundation for Ecological Security Groundwater is one of the most challenging common pool resources to govern, resulting in resource depletion in many areas. We present an innovative use of collective action games to not only measure propensity for cooperation, but to improve local understanding of groundwater interrelationships and stimulate collective governance of groundwater, based on a pilot study in Andhra Pradesh, India. The games simulate crop choice and consequences for the aquifer. These were followed by a community debriefing, which provided an entry point for discussing the interconnectedness of groundwater use, to affect mental models about groundwater. A slightly modified game was played in the same communities, one year later. Our study finds communication within the game increased the likelihood of groups reaching sustainable extraction levels in the second year of play, but not the first. Individual payments to participants based on how they played in the game had no effect on crop choice. Either repeated experience with the games or the revised structure of the game evoked more cooperation in the second year, outweighing other factors influencing behavior, such as education, gender, and trust index scores. After the games were played, a significantly higher proportion of communities adopted water registers and rules to govern groundwater, compared to other communities in the same NGO water commons program. Because groundwater levels are affected by many factors, games alone will not end groundwater depletion. However, games can contribute to social learning about the role of crop choice and collective action, to motivate behavior change toward more sustainable groundwater extraction.Quantification: <Not Defined>"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3655952383.json b/main/part_2/3655952383.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d294ee54202f369635ec6f63c25308013daf6c71
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c3a8d0b30389b8a1d98c2b0ff33af9e4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/51078548-88cb-4088-b1b7-63c891acd304/retrieve","id":"1251012451"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3d21b261-ba86-4572-a77a-aa54919e7447","content":"The CGIAR (hereafter referred to as DCL) requested an analysis of the principal commodities of their proposed program and the farming systems in which they are found. The 12 priority crops of the Dryland Cereals and Legumes Agri-Food System research program are chickpea, common bean, cowpea, faba bean, groundnut, lentil, pigeon pea, soybean, barley, pearl millet, small millet and sorghum (DCL, 2015). The research builds on a global classification of farming systems, on maps of the spatial distribution of all 12 DCL crop commodities, on socioeconomic data on population, poverty, malnutrition, on market access, and on soil and climatic data.ABSTRACT -Dryland cereal and legume crops have often received less attention than maize, wheat and rice in terms of research and development priorities. But these crops are important globally because they serve populations living in poverty and particular socioeconomic and environmental niches. Compared to other crops, less is known about the global distribution of dryland cereal and legume crops and the conditions where they are grown. This research reports on an international effort to compile geographic information on cereal and legume crops and the conditions under which they are cultivated.. The study suggested that dryland cereal and legume crops should be given priority in 18 farming systems worldwide, representing 160 million ha. The priority regions include the drier areas of South Asia, West and East Africa, Middle East and North Africa, Central America and other parts of Asia. These regions are prone to drought and heat stress, among other biotic and abiotic constraints. They represent 60% of the global poor and malnourished and make up half of the global population.generated based on pixel level data (Hyman et al., 2008). Spatial overlay was used to organize the data into spatial units according to farming system and combinations of farming systems and country. The result of the overlay procedure is a set of database files (dBase format) organized by farming system region and combination of farming system region and country. The process facilitated an analysis of DCL crops in 18 farming systems where these crops are concentrated.• DCL crops should be given priority in 18 farming systems worldwide where they cover 160 million ha. • These dryland system areas are home to the majority of the world's poor and food insecure.  The study examines The analysis and resulting database providesWhere these crops occur in the context of constraints and opportunities for their developmentHow can DCL technologies be geographically targeted for reducing poverty and malnutrition?•The spatial extents of key con-straints to DCL crop production, using the most recent spatial data availableThe first global farming systems information resource for specifically evaluating priorities for DCL crop improvement and management"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3661505877.json b/main/part_2/3661505877.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b144f4367892001c03751abef873fdbb8f2b5a4e
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+++ b/main/part_2/3661505877.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5337cde5da64843a5bf43139e31c1fb5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3b3f2eb4-5309-4964-9d86-a9f58c80b0b7/retrieve","id":"-1257596680"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6d6a45a0-6d2f-4f0c-81d0-d5188d4b4148","content":"Introduction ALTHOUGH cassava's role as a major African staple and household food security crop is generally acknowledged (Jones 1959, Cock 1985), few details are known about the combination of factors which determine chan,es in cassava supply. Even basic questions, such as whether reliance on cassava is increasing or decreasing remain unanswered (De Bruijn and Fresco 1989). Major factors which influence cassava production and consumption are the ecology, human population density and the market infrastructure (Carter and Jones 1989).This paper deals with ecolopcal determinants of cassava supply: climate and more particularly soils.Cassava plant growth is oplimal in warm humid climates with deep fertile soils, but the crop is known to tolerate considerably less favorable conditions (Cock 1985).10 many areas, cassava can still be cultivated even after considerable land degradation has taken place. The objective of this paper is to show to what extent current cassava distribution coincides with suboptimal ecological conditions.Africa is mapped into regions which may be regarded as homogeneous with respect to the ecological requirements of the cassava crop--so called agro-ecological zones, at a scale of I : 10,000,000. Previous attempCs to do SO, in particular in the FAO Agro-ecological Zones Project for Africa (FAO 1978), included only a few specific conditions for cassava and produced a classification of physical suitability. but not a description of agro-ecological zones .The mappin, is carried out in two steps: (a) zonation based on temperature and rainfall, and (b) zonation based on soils and topography. The resulting map is compared to actual cassava distribution as derived from (Carter and Jones 1989) for Nieeria and Ghana.Climate. The climatic classification system for cassava elaborated by Carter (1987), needs modification to deal adequately with the level of detail required in the sub-Saharan region. Preference is, therefore, given to the Papadakh climatic map, which is also included in the soil map of the world (Papadakis 1970) . The use of sinille value maps for rainfall and temperature will result in a fragmented division thai does nol correspond directly to larlle geographical units. Some degree of generalization is therefore necessary to maximize the level of ddail as well as its readability and usefulness. Table I illustrates the structure of the Papadakis classifications as applied to cassava.Cassava is well adapted to a wide range of climates . Optimal conditions are temperatures of 25°C to 29°C and at least 1000 mm of well distributed rainfall. Below 10°C the irowth of cassava will stop, but the crop survives light frost. At temperatures above 29°C the yield will diminish. This paper uses an annual average temperature of 20°C as the lower critical limit. Cassava is occasionally found at high altitudes, but the crop is not widespread above 1500 m. For mappini purposes, and in order to avoid the fragmentation of zones, the limit of 1100 m is used. This limit encompasses the great majority of cassava-growing regions, with exception of the higher altitude zones in East Africa.  Critical lower rainfall values for cassava vary widely, and the crop appears able to survive occasional annual rainfall condilioDS of less than 500 mm. For the purpose of this paper, the lower limit of 150 mm suggested by Cock (1985) bas been converted to 900 mm in order to allow for adequate mapping_ Soils. The optimal soil for cassava can be described as well drained , Iigbt textured, deep and fertile. Cassava tolerates almost all textural classes, although very heavy soils reduce yield and apparently require more labor to harvest. Sandy soils are more likely to be less moisture retentive and less fertile. Cassava is tolerant of low fertility levels, low P content, high AI conteDt and low pH. Poor drainage and salinity can cause serious problems .The approximately 5000 units contained in detail (scale 1 : 5 million) in the FAO/ UNESCO (1961) soil map of the world are used as a starting point. Units that are considered unsuitable with respect to climate and soil are excluded (e.g., desert areas or areas with saline soils).Soils are classified into five groups in a declining Drder of suitability for growing cassava (table 2).Group I soils are the most favorable to cassava cultivation; group 2 soils exhibit certain textural restrictiDOS (e.g., aerosols) and lower fertility (e.g., ferralsols); group 3 soils are similar to group 2, but the unfavorable soils are more concentrated. The restrictions in the soils of group 4 are so serious that these soils are unsuitable for cassava. Since these soils are unsuitable, no phases are added, to avoid further subdivision of the units.Group 5 contains all soils with salinity problems, which are for that reason totally unsuitable. As restrictions by phases occur in some cases, these are compensated by adding phases to the code representing a restriction: 't' represents textural restrictions, . i ' for lithic or stoniness , 'p o for petrie and/or petroferric phases.When phases are added the soil group does not correspond anymore with the suitability class. Groupiog the original 5000 units of the FAO/UNESCO soils map results in a total of 415 units in the final map, which is presented on a scale of I : 10,000,000. -.. line -oodic -ooJonchakJ and IOJonctzThe map shows the combined climatic and soils mappini for cassava in Africa. Each of the mappini units defines an agro-ecological zone where similar climate and soil conditions occur. For example H2t in the map refers to humid tropical climate, moderately suitable land, textural restrictions phase (see legend to map). In most of western Africa. cassava cannot be grown north of the latitude 15° N as a result of the desert and mediterranean climate. Suitability increases marginally moving southward until the highly suitable Gulf of Guinea climate is reached. At the same latitude in the Hom of Africa. the climate is dominated by highland and desert conditions. East Africa is extremely varied in climate owing to the marked difference in altitude. The central Congo basin has a humid and hot equatorial climate and is. therefore, highly suitable for cassava. All of southern Africa, except for the coastal strip of Mozambique is dominated by a colder climate unsuitable for cassava. The coastal strip of Mozambique is warmer and better watered than its plains, and is therefore very suitable. Madagascar is very heterogeneous with very suitable areas at the west and east coasts. The southern part of Africa and the Kenyan highlands are dominated by climates not suitable for cassava.With respect to soil zones the African continent is very heterogeneous, although some general patterns can be distinguished. As expected. the geographical distribution of the saline and alkaline soils is restricted to the dry areas of Africa. Just south of the Sahara, Arenosols are dominant (soil group 2). Further south to the Gulf of Guinea, groups 2, 3, and 4 are present. The tropical lowlands are dominated by Ferrasols (soil group 2) and Yermosols (soil group 4).In Nigeria and Ghana, cassava is present in ecologically suboptimal zones. In Nigeria, cassava is where there are areas of very high population density . In Ghana, cassava is concentrated in zone Al (acound Kumasi) and in zone 53 (around Accra). In northern Ghana (zone S3p), however, cassava is rarely grown in the humid southwest areas. This situation in Nigeria and Ghana is confirmed for the rest of Africa; a cursory look at a distribution map (Cacter and Jones 1989) suggests that most cassava is found outside the most suitable climate-soil units.This paper has briefly described the African soil zones with respect to cassava production. The optimal conditions for cassava production ace very similar to those of other crops, and because cassava tolerates marginal condiiions, cassava cultivation bas no comparative advantage in the most suitable areas (De Bruijn and Fresco 1989). Comparison between cassava growing environments and actual cassava distribution in Nigeria and Ghana demonstrates that the distribution of cassava could be primarily a function of population density rather than of agro-ecological conditions. This suggests that cassava grows under suboptimal conditions where traditional soil fenility restoration through fallowing bas deteriorated."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3663243085.json b/main/part_2/3663243085.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d5d5c45615ff2a986d847105410c2800df0c908f
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4c126bb6ed81767c3f9aa04b2e6aeb86","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9ef0808e-e531-4fce-9e3a-469350be7562/retrieve","id":"1212301380"},"keywords":["Global livestock sector","Livestock production systems","Market chains","Environmental effects","Climate change","Management","Sustainable use"],"sieverID":"c658527c-4fc0-438c-8e22-c5d93c8a38ac","content":"This overview analyses the key drivers of change in the global livestock sector and assesses how they are influencing current trends and future prospects in the world's diverse livestock production systems and market chains; and what are their consequent impacts on the management of animal genetic resources for food and agriculture. The trends are occurring in both developing and industrialized countries, but the responses are different. In the developing world, the trends are affecting the ability of livestock to contribute to improving livelihoods and reducing poverty as well as the use of natural resources. In the industrialized world, the narrowing animal genetic resource base in industrial livestock production systems raises the need to maintain a broader range of animal genetic resources to be able to deal with future uncertainties, such as climate change and zoonotic diseases.This chapter discusses: • What are the global drivers of change for livestock systems? Economic development and globalization; changing market demands and the \"livestock revolution\"; environmental impacts including climate change; and science and technology trends. • How are the livestock production systems responding to the global drivers of change? Trends in the three main livestock production systems (industrial, crop-livestock and pastoral systems); the range and rate of changes occurring in different systems and how these affect animal genetic resources. The implications are that breeds cannot adapt in time to meet new circumstances. Hence new strategies and interventions are necessary to improve the management of animal genetic resources in situations where these genetic resources are most at risk.• What are the implications for animal genetic resources diversity and for future prospects of their use? -Industrial livestock production systems are expected to have a limited demand for biodiversity, while crop-livestock and pastoral systems will rely on biodiversity to produce genotypes of improved productivity under changing environmental and socioeconomic conditions. All systems will rely on biodiversity, albeit to varying degrees, to cope with expected climate change. • What immediate steps are possible to improve animal genetic resources characterization, use and conservation? Appropriate institutional and policy frameworks are required to improve animal genetic resources management and these issues are being addressed at national and intergovernmental levels, in a process led by FAO to promote greater international collaboration on animal genetic resources. Based on an analysis of the current situation, the continuing loss of indigenous breeds and new developments in science and technology, there are several complementary actions that can begin to improve the management of animal genetic resources and maintain future options in an uncertain world. These are summarized here as: a. \"Keep it on the hoof\" -Encouraging the continuing sustainable use of traditional breeds and in situ conservation by providing market-driven incentives, public policy and ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ 4Dynamics of production, changes and prospects for AnGR other support to enable livestock keepers to maintain genetic diversity in their livestock populations. b. \"Move it or lose it\" -Enabling access to and the safe movement of animal genetic resources within and between countries, regions and continents is a key factor in use, development and conservation of animal genetic resources globally. c. \"Match breeds to environments\" -Understanding the match between livestock populations, breeds and genes with the physical, biological and economic landscape. This \"landscape livestock genomics\" approach offers the means to predict the genotypes most appropriate to a given environment and, in the longer term, to understand the genetic basis of adaptation of the genotype to the environment. d. \"Put some in the bank\" --New technologies make ex situ, in vitro conservation of animal genetic resources feasible for critical situations and are a way to provide long-term insurance against future shocks. The multiple values, functions and consequences of livestock production systems and their rapid rate of change lead to divergent interests within and between countries. Conversely, the uncertainty about the implications of rapid, multifaceted global change for each livestock production system and the resulting future changes in the required genetic make-up of animal genetic resources make collective action to tackle conservation of animal genetic resources a longterm, global public good. Conserving animal genetic resources will not by itself solve these problems, but it is an important first step towards maintaining future options.Advances in science and the technology, in areas such as reproductive technology, genomics and spatial analysis, as well as progress in conceptualization of global public good production for the future management of animal genetic resources, should enable the international community to address both the short-and long-term challenges in innovative ways.Ce résumé analyse les facteurs clés qui ont subi des changements dans le secteur élevage et propose une évaluation de l'influence qu'ils ont eu sur la situation actuelle et les prospectives futures dans les différents systèmes d'élevage et de marché au niveau mondial. On analyse également les impacts sur la gestion des ressources génétiques animales pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture. Cette tendance se retrouve aussi bien dans les pays industrialisés que dans ceux en développement, mais les réponses sont différentes. Dans les pays en développement ces tendances ont une influence directe sur la capacité que présente l'élevage à contribuer à l'amélioration de la qualité de vie et à la réduction de la pauvreté, ainsi qu'à l'utilisation des ressources naturelles. Dans le monde industrialisé la proximité de la base des ressources génétiques animales avec les systèmes de production d'élevage au niveau industriel ont porté au besoin de conserver une plus grande gamme des ressources génétiques animales pour faire face aux incertitudes futures telles que le changement climatique et les zoonoses.Dans l'article on discute de: • Quels sont les principaux facteurs de changement dans les systèmes d'élevage? • Comment répondent les systèmes de production d'élevage aux facteurs de changement au niveau mondial? • Quelles sont les implications sur la diversité des ressources génétiques animales et pour les prospectives d'utilisation futures? • Quels sont les démarches immédiates qui permettront une amélioration de la caractérisation des ressources génétiques animales, leur utilisation et conservation? D'après une récente analyse de la situation actuelle, de la perte continue de races indigènes et du nouveau développement de la science et de la technologie, il existe différentes actions complémentaires qui pourraient aider à améliorer la gestion des ressources génétiques animales et conserver des options pour le futur dans un monde plein d'incertitude.Ces actions peuvent se résumés comme il suit: • Encourager l'utilisation durable des races traditionnelles. • Permettre l'accès et la vente de ressources génétiques animales dans et entre pays. • Compréhension du rapport entre élevage, races et gènes avec le milieu physique, biologique et économique. • La formation de stock comme assurance future.L'incertitude sur les implications des changements rapides sur chacun des systèmes de production animale et les changements futurs que cela entraîne en terme de demande de ressources génétiques animales, requière d'une action collective pour faire face à la conservation des ressources génétiques animales en tant que bien Este resumen analiza los factores clave que han cambiado en el sector ganadero y hace una evaluación de cómo han influenciado la corriente actual y las prospectivas futuras en los distintos sistemas de producción ganadera y mercados en el mundo. También se analizan los consiguientes impactos sobre la gestión de los recursos zoogenéticos para la alimentación y la agricultura. La tendencia se da tanto en países industrializados como en vía de desarrollo pero las respuestas son distintas. En los países en vía de desarrollo estas tendencias están afectando la capacidad ganadera para contribuir a la mejora de la calidad de la vida y reducción de la pobreza, así como la utilización de los recursos naturales. En el mundo industrializado la proximidad de la base de recursos zoogenéticos con los sistemas de producción ganadera industrial plantean la necesidad de mantener un mayor rango de recursos zoogenéticos para hacer frente a las incertidumbres futuras, tales como el cambio climático y las zoonosis. En este capitulo se discute: • Cúales son los principales factores de cambio en los sistemas ganaderos? • Cómo responden los sistemas de producción ganadera a los factores de cambio a nivel mundial? • Cúales son las implicaciones para la diversidad de recursos zoogenéticos y para las prospectivas futuras de su utilización? • Cúales son los pasos inmediatos que puedan permitir la mejora de la caracterización de los recursos zoogenéticos, su utilización y conservación? Sobre la base de un reciente análisis de la situación actual, la pérdida de razas indígenas y el nuevo desarrollo de la ciencia y la tecnología, existen distintas acciones complementarias que pueden empezar a ayudar a mejorar la gestión de los recursos zoogenéticos y mantener opciones futuras en un mundo lleno de incertidumbres.Tales acciones se resumen así: • Fomentar la continua utilización sostenible de razas tradicionales. • Permitir el acceso y movimiento para venta de recursos zoogenéticos dentro y entre paises.• Conocer la relación entre poblaciones ganaderas, razas y genes con el entorno físico, biológico y económico. • Conservar stocks para hacer frente a incertidumbres futuras. La incertidumbre sobre las implicaciones de cambios rápidos, multifacéticos y globales para cada sistema de producción ganadera y los consiguientes cambios futuros en la demanda de recursos zoogenéticos requieren una acción colectiva para hacer frente a la conservación de recursos zoogenéticos a largo plazo como bien publico mundial. La conservación de losThis overview paper analyses the key drivers of change in the global livestock sector and assesses how they are influencing current trends and future prospects in the world's diverse livestock production systems and market chains; and what are their consequent impacts on the management of animal genetic resources for food and agriculture. The trends are occurring in both developing and industrialized countries, but the responses are different. In the developing world, the trends are affecting the ability of livestock to contribute to improving livelihoods and reducing poverty as well as the use of natural resources. In the industrialized world, the narrowing animal genetic resource base in industrial livestock production systems raises the need to maintain a broader range of animal genetic resources to be able to deal with future uncertainties, such as climate change and zoonotic diseases.The range of livestock covered here are domesticated species, particularly the five major economic species (cattle, sheep, goats, chickens and pigs). There are no detailed figures yet to link specific breeds with specific production systems. We are tackling the problems from a production system angle. Throughout the paper, and based on the findings of The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, we use the approximation that commercial breeds, as a subgroup of international transboundary breeds, are used in intensive, high-external input livestock ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ ○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○ 6 Dynamics of production, changes and prospects for AnGR production systems (termed \"industrial systems\"), and that local breeds are the basis in most extensive and low-external input systems. These are called here \"pastoral systems\" and \"crop-livestock systems\", respectively.This paper covers four main areas: Livestock production is a complex and heterogeneous part of global agriculture. It ranges from highly automated, intensive large-scale production of pigs and poultry and, to a lesser degree, cattle, to small-scale, largely scavenging production of backyard pigs and chicken. Domestication of livestock started several millennia ago and humans have shaped the genetic make-up of domesticated animals to respond to human needs in different production environments. This genetic make-up of livestock that resulted from this long-term process has been put under stress by fast-paced changes over the past few decades, across the entire range of biophysical, social and economic contexts in which humans keep animals. These changes can be subsumed under terms of economic development and globalization. These are themselves largely driven by technical progress, plus the global exchange of knowledge and products. These trends are also characterized by unequal access to natural resources, financing, markets, technology and personal mobility.Since 1945, the world has seen an unprecedented economic growth, starting in the industrialized economies (countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD]) and expanding into the rest of the world over the past two decades. The latter is epitomized by the economic growth path of China. A number of developing countries, mainly in Asia and Latin America, have undergone major transformations associated with significant growth in their economies and increases in per capita incomes.The socio-economic indicators for selected countries are given in table 1. The following inferences can be drawn from the data: • The contribution of livestock to agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) demonstrates the significance of the livestock sector in many economies (providing value addition); this occurs even in countries that are experiencing rapid economic growth (India and China) and/or have a growing share of industrial livestock systems (China, Brazil and Argentina). • The key demand drivers of GDP growth and urbanization point towards growing demand for livestock products across all regions in the developing world. This \"livestock revolution\" is discussed further below. • The trends in foreign direct investment (FDI) show that increases in FDI are concentrated in a few countries (China and India). These countries are ones in which the industrialization of livestock production has been rising sharply. Some other countries in Africa (e.g. Kenya and Botswana) have also recorded significant increases in FDI over the past decade, although from a lower base. Economic development has led to important changes in the spatial distribution of the world's population, leading to a rapid process of urbanization in the developing world. At the same time, breakthroughs in medical research and their applications have led to dramatic increases of the human population in developing countries. In the industrialized world, population growth rates have declined in the last decades as social security, female employment in labour-scarce economies and cultural/social changes have led to declining birth rates and gradually aging populations. In terms of consumer demand, there is more demand for \"fast food\" and processed animal products. Food safety requirements are becoming increasingly stringent, due to disease problems such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) associated with processed animal products. A similar trend is occurring in developing countries, although currently limited to the affluent urban class.   1990-1995 average 2000-2005 average 1990 1995 2000 2005 1990 2004 1990-2004 1997-1999 2000-2002 2003-2005 Sub Another key driver of change that is leading towards larger-scale, cereal-based animal production systems around the world has been the rise in labour costs in the industrialized economies and in some parts of the developing world, as a result of economic growth and rising incomes.Changing economic policy associated with rapid economic growth in parts of the developing world (e.g. Asian \"tiger\" economies) has changed the investment climate in emerging economies and led to massive inflows of FDI. Similarly, labour migration from developing to industrialized economies has generated capital flows back to developing countries, which are often larger than official development assistance. Capital investments from outside the farming community, for example in the feed industry and livestock production chains in Southeast Asia, are also influencing changes in livestock production systems.The effects of globalization and growing incomes have by no means been evenly distributed within or between countries. In the context of rapid population growth, many countries and social and ethnic groups within countries have not participated in the growth process. Large numbers of poor people, particularly in rural areas, have been left behind or adversely affected by the changes. For example, such communities may actually suffer from loss of access to natural resources, bear the brunt of environmental impacts and be characterized by the breakdown of traditional social and economic ties and values, without a better (or at least viable) alternative. Also, local breeds of animals are often not competitive in this changing world.These inequalities pose a major challenge for the global community, which has responded by setting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a UN-driven process to address several core problems facing the world. The MDGs include a commitment to halve the numbers of people living in poverty by 2015, as well as setting several other key development targets, including protecting the environment and conserving biodiversity. The sustainable use and conservation of the world's animal genetic resources for food and agriculture supports the Millennium Development Goals 1 and 7, and is also covered by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).Growing demand for animal products -as well as higher standards to improve the quality and safety of the products -and more processed animal products have substantial consequences for the evolution of livestock production systems. Overall, the processes of economic development, population growth, urbanization and changing patterns of consumption have led to a dramatic increase in the consumption of animal products in the developing world, a process that has been termed the \"livestock revolution\". FAO data suggest that this trend is expected to continue for several decades because of the strong direct correlation between rising income and increasing animal product consumption.Figure 1 shows the expected percentage changes in per capita consumption of selected food commodities in developing and industrialized countries between 2001 and 2030, providing evidence of the \"livestock revolution\" occurring in the developing world. There are large differences between the projected per capita growth rates in consumption of livestock products (meat and milk) between developing and industrialized countries. There are also marked differences in the per capita growth rates of the different products in developing countries, with meat and milk being the highest, followed by oil seeds. Growth rates for cereal consumption as human food are stagnating everywhere, but increasing for other uses, especially for animal feed and biofuels.The consumption of milk and meat per capita are shown in figures 2 and 3, respectively. These data illustrate substantial differences in current consumption of meat and milk between industrialized and developing countries; the rates of growth in consumption are higher in the developing world. This trend is part of the \"livestock revolution\" and is the result of increased demand and increased incomes, economic growth and urbanization in developing countries. Consumption per capita of milk and meat is currently between two and four times higher in industrialized countries than in the developing world but, in absolute terms, demand is higher in the developing world.The growing demand for animal products in the developing world is associated with the changes in production location, facilitated by the increasing ease of transporting feed and animal products around the world. Animal products were previously produced close to where the consumers live. Increasingly, livestock production now takes    Dynamics of production, changes and prospects for AnGR place close to the locations with good access to feed, either in feed production areas or ports. The animal products are then transported to markets. This trend is changing the competitiveness of diverse livestock production systems worldwide, with more animal products being produced in lower cost economies (mainly in industrial and crop-livestock systems) and traded in domestic, regional and international markets.At the same time, large numbers of poor people depend on livestock production for their livelihoods and, for some of them, livestock offer a pathway out of poverty. These smallholders and pastoralists frequently compete for markets with the commercial sector, which is producing animal products in industrial systems worldwide. Smallholders and pastoralists together with their traditional breeds are increasingly being pushed out by the industrial systems coming into the developing world. Hence there is pressure for smallholders and pastoralists to replace their traditional breeds with more productive but less resilient breeds in order to be able to compete in the expanding livestock markets in the developing world.Technological developments associated with international transport, partially related to the increased access to capital and the opening of many economies, have dramatically increased the role of international trade in animal products. The expansion of international trade in animal products has brought to the fore the need to establish more stringent animal health and food safety standards, in order to manage the risks to the domestic sector of individual countries and to protect consumers. These health and food safety requirements have been driven by the growing problems of animal diseases, including zoonoses. These disease risks are linked to a number of factors including increasing stock numbers, the intimate cohabitation of poor families with their animals and the increased global movement of animals and animal products.Domestic markets, including the informal livestock product markets, handle the largest share of the livestock products consumed in developing countries. However, in urban areas, the modern food retail sector is also growing rapidly, and imposing specific requirements in terms of quality assurance and homogeneity of the products (of national and international origin). The term \"supermarket revolution\" has been coined for these processes. These two marketing systems require markedly different food safety and biosecurity standards, affecting livestock production systems supplying these markets.  Table 2 shows that the share of supermarkets in food retailing has been increasing over the past two decades in much of the developing world. If current trends in expanding urban populations continue, the share of supermarkets in the urban food retail sector in the developing world will increase to levels that they are now in the industrialized economies (i.e. about 80 percent of the total food retail sector). The changing set of actors implied by the supermarket revolution and the growing importance of agribusiness in food retailing will have important implications for poor farmers.The coexistence of three markets for animal products in the developing world (the traditional, frequently informal markets, the growing formal (super)markets for the urban middle classes and the regional/international export markets) poses particularly daunting challenges for policy-makers in pursuing mutually compatible policies of: 1. protecting livelihoods among the smallholder livestock keepers and pastoralists; 2. upporting efficient markets for the urban population; and 3. encouraging active engagement of livestock producers and their traditional breeds in the regional and global livestock markets.The livestock product markets in industrialized countries are evolving along quite different paths. Besides consuming relatively inexpensive livestock products from large-scale industrial systems, there is increasing demand for niche products, frequently linked with certification of origin, often produced in traditional ways or with specific breeds, by \"organic agriculture\", and/or with particular concern for animal welfare.Animal welfare is an increasing area of concern, especially in markets in industrialized countries. These concerns include caring for animals in all types of production systems. There is particular criticism of intensive housing systems for animals (e.g. chickens, pigs, dairy cows). This is leading to more animal friendly housing systems such as group housing of sows; and free range hens as alternatives for the caging for laying hens. Some consumers in industrialized countries are prepared to pay a premium for animal products coming from Dynamics of production, changes and prospects for AnGR such production systems that take account of animal welfare concerns. Animal welfare concerns are highly culture-specific and, while important in some societies, others consider them to be non-tariff trade barriers. Some of these trends will dictate breeds and breeding practices -for example, performance under range conditions and \"broodiness\" of hens will be important attributes for the niche markets.In the industrialized countries, hobby farming has become a popular activity, using relatively small land areas for limited numbers of livestock such as sheep, goats, horses and cattle. For in situ conservation of species and breeds within species, these part-time farmers are important contributors.The rapid population growth and the growing consumption of goods and services by people whose incomes are growing puts pressure on natural resources and the environment. Livestock production, under certain conditions, is driving degradation processes and is at the same time affected by them. Increasing land use for food crops and crops for biofuels is increasing the pressure on rangelands and other open access or community managed resources. This affects the viability of the low-input production systems, the sustainable use of traditional breeds and thus the livelihoods of pastoralists and smallholders.At the same time, the rapid growth of large-scale, intensive animal production units puts a serious constraint on the capacity of the environment to deal with carbon dioxide and methane output, nutrient loading in certain areas, effluent into rivers and seas, loss of biodiversity because of land clearing to grow feeds (for example, soybeans in Latin America) and other environmental impacts.The recent FAO ( 2006) report Livestock's long shadow: environmental issues and options focused on the effects of livestock on the environment. The \"long shadow\" refers to the negative effects of the livestock food chain on almost all aspects of the environment; livestock production is associated with carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions, water depletion, soil erosion, soil fertility, damage to plants, loss of biodiversity and competition with wildlife.As population and living standards grow, natural resources become a limiting factor. Particularly in marginal zones for rangeland-based animal production (pastoral systems), alternative land uses such as provision of opportunities for carbon sequestration through trees or wildlife conservation may become increasingly competitive with livestock production. On the other hand, livestock production in pastoral systems can be complementary to other services -for example, livestock production provides a means to maintain shrub/rangeland systems, with grazing reducing the risk of fire in extensive rangelands and providing other ecological services.The relationship between livestock production and climate change works in both directions. On the one hand, livestock contributes significantly to climate change via carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide production (calculated in FAO (2006) at 18 percent of the total global greenhouse gas emissions from human sources). On the other hand, climate change will have important effects on farming systems and on the role of livestock, both directly and indirectly.For example, large parts of Africa and Central Asia are likely to experience reductions in the length of growing period as a result of increased temperatures and lower rainfall. This is likely to lead to lower crop yields and reduced rangeland productivity, thus affecting the provision of feeds for animals. Climate change is also likely to change the distribution of animal diseases and their vectors. Large parts of South and Southeast Asia are likely to experience increases in rainfall and in the number of extreme climatic events (e.g. cyclones). This could lead to increased exposure of livestock to diseases, such as those caused by helminths. Crop losses due to extremes in climate could result in less animal feed being available, especially in crop-livestock and pastoral systems.Science and technology have had a major influence on the transformation of animal production in industrialized economies and increasingly in developing countries. With increasing labour scarcity, larger, high-output and more productive animals were bred. From multipurpose breeds, highly specialized breeds were developed. Generally, disease resistance was sacrificed for higher output, taking into account that through capital investments it became possible to adapt the environment to the existing animals in ways that had not been possible in the past. Research into housing and mechanization allowed significant labour productivity increases. These advances occurred in many species but particularly in short-cycled monogastric species such as poultry and pigs.Animal nutrition research, linked with breeding, has made major contributions to improving feed efficiency and shortening production cycles and thereby reducing maintenance feed requirements and allowing a more efficient use of the capital investments and natural resources.In the developing world, the impact of modern livestock science and technology has been uneven. Industrial livestock production systems (mainly for chickens) with limited links to the local resource base have been developed in some locations close to urban demand and/or to ports, given their frequent dependence on imported feed. Smallholder crop-livestock systems are much more reliant on locally available feed and traditional breeds. These crop-livestock systems are highly complex, delivering multiple products and services. Progress in improving the sustainable productivity of these systems has been much more limited and is a significant research challenge. System-based research is required to help these systems change in line with the changing social, economic and environmental context in which they operate. Currently, the speed of change of animal production systems and market chains is very high in some locations/regions, and is accompanied by loss of animal genetic resources. (This is discussed further below.)The science related to the management of animal genetic resources has made significant progress, based mainly on advances in molecular biology and genetics as well as new developments in information and communications technology (ICT). The main advances are summarized in this paper and are discussed in more detail in the following papers. The advances include: In order to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by advances in ICT, it is necessary to develop common standards for characterizing animal genetic resources, in terms of their genetics, phenotype and production system, so that knowledge can be shared among different communities and countries. Given such systematic and standardized descriptions of livestock, the intersection between new ICTs and modern genetics, through genomics and bioinformatics, presents opportunities to examine genome function by integration of these rich data sets.In the light of the above drivers of change, this section discusses: • The relative importance of the three main livestock systems worldwide (industrial, crop-livestock and pastoral) and the breeds they harbour. • The implications of global drivers of change for the different livestock production systems. • The implications for livelihoods.• The implications of the scope and rate of changes in the main livestock production systems for current and future animal genetic resources management.The geographic distribution of the major livestock species worldwide is given in table 3. This table shows that for all species the majority of animals are in the developing world. It also shows the importance of different species by region. For example, ruminants are most important in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Latin America (LAC), both continents with vast areas of savannah and relatively low population densities. Poultry is most important in East Asia and the Pacific and LAC, regions of either high economic growth or with middle-income countries with high degrees of urbanization and adequate market infrastructure.Three major types of livestock production systems can be identified worldwide -industrial livestock systems (IS); crop/livestock systems, mainly in high potential areas (CLS); and pastoral systems, mainly in marginal areas (PS).The share of livestock in each of these systems in different geographic regions is shown in table 4. These data show that most livestock are located in crop-livestock systems. The proportion of livestock in industrial systems by region is mainly a function of economic status and rate of growth (e.g. higher proportions of industrial systems in the industrialized world and Asia).Each of the three main livestock production systems responds differently to the effects of the global drivers of change, and therefore has different development and investment needs. The overarching trends are increasing intensification in both industrial systems and in crop-livestock systems in order to meet increasing demand for animal products and consumer preferences for higher-quality products that meet stringent food safety standards.• Intensification and scaling up trends in industrial and crop-livestock production systems.The demand for livestock products has been met by intensification of livestock production systems in both developing and industrialized countries. Among other factors, this intensification has been based on using cereal grains as livestock feed. For example, in OECD countries, livestock feeding in intensive systems accounts for two-thirds of the average per capita grain consumption. In contrast, crop-livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa and India use less than 10 percent of grains as feeds as they rely mostly on crop-residues (40-70 percent of feed), grazing and planted fodders. • Market characteristics and demand.The trend towards intensification of industrial systems and crop-livestock systems is largely driven by consumer demands for livestock products, both fresh and processed. The market characteristics are increasing demand for animal  products in developing countries, plus quality preferences and food safety requirements in all markets. Public-private partnerships that provide services and market opportunities also play a key role in intensifying industrial and crop-livestock systems.Intensive systems. Intensive systems are facing increasing restrictions, owing to their associated negative environmental effects, such as problems of waste disposal and water contamination. Demand Dynamics of production, changes and prospects for AnGR for cereals is also increasing for other purposes (e.g. biofuels) and this is driving up the price of cereals, and subsequently the price of livestock products coming from intensive systems. Crop-livestock systems. Crop-livestock systems in developing countries are constrained by farm size and lack of access to inputs and services. These constraints affect soil fertility, crop yields, income generation and ultimately livestock production through the limited provision of high-quality feeds. There is also increasing competition for land and associated opportunity costs.Pastoral systems. The remoteness and the limited agricultural potential of pastoral systems in marginal areas of the developing world create difficulties for these systems to integrate into the expanding markets for livestock products. This poses a set of different needs related to adaptation of systems to reduce the vulnerability of livestock keepers and their animals and expanding access to markets.A major driver of change in pastoral systems over the past decades has been the widespread policy to settle pastoralists and allocate them individual land rights. This approach and the increasing encroachment of crop production have seriously affected the viability of these systems by reducing the mobility of livestock and access to feed resources. Although the negative aspects of these policies are increasingly acknowledged, they will continue to shape political processes in many developing countries.In the industrial and mixed crop-livestock systems, rising demand for livestock products will continue to drive structural changes in these livestock production systems and markets. Market transformation, particularly in urban markets, will lead to the increasing importance of supermarkets, large livestock processors and transformation of wholesale livestock markets. Much of this transformation has taken place in the industrialized countries. This pattern is expected to increase in the developing world with a growing share of industrial livestock systems.Farmers in intensifying crop-livestock systems will diversify their production into dairy and other livestock products even more in response to market opportunities arising from rising demand for high-value foods. Similarly, income growth and urbanization will increase diversification of consumer diets and the share of livestock products in diets.The major changes in livestock markets are going to take place in domestic markets. The relative importance of domestic markets versus trade in the future will reflect past trends in which domestic market dynamics were far more important than trade. For example, in 1980 and 2001, meat exports and imports were approximately four percent of output and consumption in the developing world. In contrast, the share of domestic urban markets in total livestock consumption has been increasing over the past 25 years.The growing importance of domestic urban markets as opposed to international trade implies changes of actors in domestic livestock industries, particularly in agribusiness in wholesale markets, livestock processing and the retail industry, with more fresh and processed animal products being sold through supermarkets.These structural changes in markets, transformation in urban markets, and in retail and distribution sectors in the livestock industry will have profound impacts for the future of smallholders and poor livestock keepers in competing with intensifying industrial and crop-livestock systems in high potential areas. Empirical evidence from Asia shows that smallholder farmers provide up to half of the share of production in dairy and meat markets. Undercapitalized small producers are likely to be squeezed out of dynamic domestic livestock markets. Policy action that supports small producers who can be helped to become competitive will have substantial equity pay-offs. In the absence of such pro-poor policies in the livestock sector, market changes and the entry of new actors in livestock processing, distribution chains and the retail sector can marginalize poor people who depend on livestock for their livelihoods.High transaction costs and limited access to markets will lead to a dramatic decline of share of livestock production from pastoral systems in marginal areas. Without significant public investments in infrastructure and services, poor producers in these areas will become increasingly marginalized and many will have to leave livestock production as a source of income. Livestock will continue to be important in traditional pastoral systems as sources of food and fulfil multiple other uses, providing traction, transport, skins and hides for shelter. In terms of livelihood impacts, the above changes will lead to changes in the role of animal genetic resources for livelihoods in two divergent ways: in intensive systems livelihoods will have a weak link to genetic resources, which will play very specialized production roles. The major livelihood impacts will be through employment. Frequently this will be limited direct employment in large-scale operations but some increased employment will be expected along the value chain. Consumer livelihoods will be affected in terms of impact of prices and of changed attributes of the animal products coming from these intensive systems. Society-wide, there may be negative impacts on livelihoods of traditional smallholders displaced from markets by industrially produced animal products. The net effects will depend significantly on the policy environment and the extent of substitution between animal products produced by industrial systems and smallholder systems.In crop-livestock systems, livelihoods will be affected by the pressures to intensify and specialize production. Systems may change from grazing to zero-grazed systems, increasing milk production while reducing animal traction. This will imply changes in the labour patterns and possibly gender distribution of work and benefits from animal production. More intensively kept animals will require higher levels of management and external inputs. Increasing livelihood opportunities can be expected to develop in these forward and backward linkages associated with these commodity chains.Pastoral systems in developing countries tend to have very strong linkages to diverse species and breeds of animals, which allow them to adapt to the exploitation of natural resources with very unique attributes and generally very limited alternative uses. Livelihoods are intimately linked to the animal genetic resources under these conditions. Risk is a major issue and the management of multiple species and multiple outputs is a key way of coping. Increasing competition for the resources, as well as policy orientations towards settling pastoralists, significantly affect these peoples' livelihoods.In the industrialized world, highly specialized pastoral production systems rely heavily on their animal genetic resources -normally a narrow genetic base comprising one or two commercial breeds of one or two species or a defined crossbred animal population. In relation to pastoral and smallholder systems in developing countries, these systems do not involve much labour. Therefore, the livelihoods of fewer people are generally involved in these production systems.The drivers of change and the evolution of the farming systems that they induce will have important effects on livestock biodiversity and its use. This in turn implies that needs and opportunities for human intervention will vary.In industrial systems, where it is largely possible to adapt the environment to the needs of the animals, highly productive commercial breeds and hybrids are going to be the main genetic pillar. Genetic resources are handled by the specialized private sector firms and traded internationally. Their interest in hardiness or disease-resistance traits will be limited unless diseases emerge for which no alternative control strategies are available or policies require important changes in the management systems, e.g. free-ranging instead of caged laying hens.In crop-livestock systems, pressure to intensify will be a major force shaping the production system and the genetic resources underpinning it. Significant increases in productivity will be required to meet demand and these will be achieved by simultaneously improving the conditions (feed, health, etc) and adapting the genetic resources. Given the heterogeneous environments, many different breeds will be required. In higher potential areas with good market access this specialization will increasingly involve crossbreeding with exotic breeds. Given the relatively small numbers of animals of each breed required in these niches, these genetic materials will not be produced by private multinational companies but will require active engagement of farmers, public sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). These systems will continue to be an important source of genetic diversity and will also demand a range of solutions to fit their specific conditions. As science improves its capacity to understand the role of specific genes and their interaction with environmental factors triggering their expression, the value of local breeds in targeted breeding programmes for these systems will increase. These systems will naturally use a diverse genetic base and will be amenable to engage with in situ conservation. Supportive institutional arrangements will be key to driving such efforts.In pastoral systems in developing countries, high levels of diversity can be encountered and traits of disease-resistance and tolerance of harsh environments are widely present. These systems are frequently declining in livestock numbers and in particular small endemic populations are at risk. In these settings, conservation will require public action because of the limited resources of the generally poor pastoralists. This will be an area where NGOs can be expected to play a key role in assisting in in situ conservation.Given the fragility of institutional arrangements in many developing country contexts and their exposure to natural and human-induced crises, there is merit in designing ex situ, in vitro conservation strategies as a back up and long-term insurance against loss of diversity in the field. These conservation strategies will need to be coordinated at national and regional/international levels to be efficient and cost-effective.Climate change considerations add an important dimension to the discussion of livestock biodiversity. Different systems will be affected in different and highly uncertain ways, but access to genetic resources could be a critical ingredient for most adaptation responses in the medium to long term. Table 5 summarizes major trends in livestock system evolution and their implications for the management of animal genetic resources.What immediate steps are possible to improve animal genetic resources characterization, use and conservation?Appropriate institutional and policy frameworks are required to improve animal genetic resources management and these issues are being addressed at national and intergovernmental levels, in a process led by FAO to promote greater international collaboration. Based on an analysis of the current situation, the continuing loss of indigenous breeds of farm animals, new developments in science and technology, and the strategies suggested for the future management of animal genetic resources (as summarized in table 5), there are several complementary actions that can begin to improve the management of animal genetic resources and maintain future options in an uncertain world. The scientific basis that underpins these proposed actions is discussed in more detail in subsequent papers. Four areas for action to improve the sustainable use and in situ conservation, characterization and long-term ex situ conservation of animal genetic resources are summarized here, and are addressed in further detail in the companion papers:\"Keep it on the hoof\" -Encouraging the continuing sustainable use of traditional breeds and in situ conservation of animal genetic resources, by providing market-driven incentives, public policy and other support to enable livestock keepers to maintain genetic diversity in their livestock populations.In this context, sustainable use refers to the continuing use of traditional breeds by livestock keepers, as a result of market-driven incentives. In situ conservation refers to animal genetic resources conservation measures supported by public policy and, on occasion, public investments to support in situ conservation of traditional breeds by livestock keepers.In regard to encouraging the sustainable use of animal genetic resources, market-driven incentives applicable in developing countries include facilitating access to markets for livestock products coming from traditional breeds. This may include identifying niche markets for traditional products and providing infrastructure (such as transport) to help livestock keepers to get their products to market.Increasing the productivity of traditional breeds through breeding is also an incentive for livestock keepers to retain these breeds. (The companion paper discusses the role of breeding in more detail.) These breed improvement strategies could also make more use of the widespread crossing that has occurred in traditional populations over time, as livestock keepers seek to improve their breeds.In regard to encouraging in situ conservation of particular breeds, especially in the diversity-rich crop-livestock and pastoral systems in developing countries, the incentives include having public policies that support the conservation of traditional breeds and providing public services (e.g. human and livestock health services, schools, roads) to support communities in livestock producing areas. Such services may encourage people to stay with their animals in rural areas rather than migrate to urban areas where more services are available.In situ conservation makes use of local and indigenous knowledge, which can also be validated scientifically. For example, some farmers have realized that by crossbreeding part of their herd to an exotic breed, they can make more profit during the good times but avoid the risk of losing all their animals when conditions are bad. Exotic animals tend to be poorly adapted to harsh conditions and tend to die during droughts, for example. Thus genetic variability reduces vulnerability to sudden changes and shocks in the system.The concept of in situ conservation also extends to conserving livestock as part of the landscape, within an overall biodiversity conservation strategy, as a long-term global public good.\"Move it or lose it\" -Enabling access and safe movement of animal genetic resources within and between countries, regions and continents.Maintaining mobility of animal breeds, populations and genes within and between countries, regions and continents is one of the key actions for facilitating the sustainable use and thereby the conservation of animal genetic resources. Safe movement of animal genetic resources enables their access, use and conservation for mutual benefit by livestock keepers worldwide. Mobility here refers to facilitating informed access to genetic diversity, based on systematic breed evaluations and analysing the potential usefulness of various breeds in different environments.There are benefits and risks in increasing the mobility of animal genetic resources. The benefit is that, in a fast-changing, unpredictable world, mobility of animal genetic resources enables flexibility in response to changing climate, disasters, civil strife, etc. For example, when civil strife has occurred in some part of Africa, animals are moved across borders to avoid their unintended death in conflicts. One risk of increased mobility is that animals moving to different environments may not be adapted to their new environment, livestock system or social system. There are also animal health risks, in terms of the possible spread of disease, or by animals not being tolerant to the diseases prevalent in a new environment. For Table 5. Trends in livestock system evolution and their implications for the management of animal genetic resources.AnGR -current status in system AnGR management: future strategy for each livestock production system Industrial systems (IS) Industrial systems changing quickly, expanding globally. Dynamics of production, changes and prospects for AnGR transboundary movements, these risks as well as the benefit should be identified and shared with stakeholders prior to importation, and risk mitigation steps taken before importing semen, embryos or live animals into a country.\"Match breeds to environments\" -Understanding the match between livestock breeds, populations and genes and the physical, biological and economic landscape. This \"landscape livestock genomics\" approach offers the means to predict the genotypes most appropriate to a given environment and, in the longer term, to understand the genetic basis of adaptation of the genotype to the environment.In regard to the long-term prospects for this research, the advances in our ability to describe the genome of an animal in unprecedented detail, coupled with our ability (through spatial analysis) to describe the landscape in which it resides -a landscape description that includes biotic, abiotic, human and market influences -are beginning to provide an opportunity to probe genome function in a unique way. This is an approach already used to study the distribution of particular alleles in livestock and to probe the human genome for disease-causing genes. Its potential for understanding the fit between livestock genotype and landscape is significant, and it depends on sophisticated data-management tools. It also offers the opportunity not only to understand the function of the genome, but also to predict the genotype most appropriate to a given environment. This is a long-term research objective that can be linked with existing data-gathering exercises to add to their value. For example, building in systematic sampling of DNA of livestock breeds in combination with a careful description of the systems under which each population presently functions, and georeferencing the data, will add greatly to our ability to understand and utilize animal genetic resources. For example, we can begin to ask \"what combination of genotypes is appropriate for a milking cow under a given management regime, under a given range of disease pressures and under a given set of physical stresses?\" Knowing this will enhance the value of genotypes \"in the bank\" or \"on the hoof\" and will provide the tools we need to identify intelligently appropriate genotypes for specific agro-ecological niches. (Approaches to characterizing AnGR are discussed further in the companion paper.)\"Put some in the bank\" -New technologies make ex situ, in vitro conservation of animal genetic resources feasible for critical situations and a way to provide long-term insurance against future shocks in all livestock production systems.Improving technology (e.g. cryopreservation) is making long-term, ex situ, in vitro conservation of semen and embryos more feasible, affordable and applicable to a wider range of species. The challenge is to decide which animal genetic resources to conserve; how to collect them; where to store them; when and how to characterize them; and who can access, use and benefit from them in the future. It is particularly important to collect the rich diversity of traditional livestock breeds in croplivestock and pastoral systems in developing countries before it is lost forever.A risk is that ex situ, in vitro gene banks can become \"stamp collections\", put away in the deep freeze and never characterized. Another potential risk is that this approach may be a disincentive to in situ conservation through sustainable use, where the genetic resources are more accessible in the short to medium term and where not only the genetic resources but also the traditional knowledge associated with them are conserved. In fact, in situ and ex situ conservation approaches are complementary rather than competing approaches, serving short-and long-term needs. Ex situ, in vitro animal genetic resources conservation is a long-term insurance policy and an important first step in conserving animal genetic resources for future generations. (Further details on conservation approaches are given in the companion paper.)Several important drivers of change are leading to rapid changes in the livestock production sector that have implications for the future management of animal genetic resources. The multiple values, functions and consequences of livestock production systems and their rapid rate of change lead to divergent interests within and between countries. Conversely, the uncertainty about the implications of rapid, multifaceted global change for each livestock production system and the resulting future changes in the required genetic make-up of the animals makes collective action to tackle conservation of animal genetic resources a long-term, global public good. Developing and conserving animal genetic resources will not by themselves solve all these problems, but are important first steps towards maintaining future options.Advances in science and technology, in areas such as reproductive technology, genomics and spatial analysis, as well as progress in conceptualization of global public good production for the future management of animal genetic resources, should enable the international community to address both the short-and long-term challenges in innovative ways."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f9f6afc5dfb22d6c7ed786c4c8fcc064","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4ede5b0a-938f-4cc0-be33-fda1951f73d9/retrieve","id":"-1995577362"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"483435c8-ab94-44c5-ba05-314169a74ed1","content":"Discover how CTA has transformed lives through agricultural and rural development BOOK LAUNCH Get your copy now http://publications.cta.int 4 | Cover story 6 | Agriculture 8 | Fisheries and livestock 9 | Environment 10 | Research 11 | Business and trade 12 | Interview 13 | DOSSIER ICT: the digital revolution Transforming smallholder farming through iCTs 17 | Viewpoint iCow: milking the benefits information by mobile for improved dairy production 18 | Field report Cameroon: a new life from ICTs new technologies for a more level playing field 20 | Value chains Tropical wood: a change of perception 21 | Publications 25 | Get on board with CTA is the bi-monthly magazine of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA). CTA operates under the Cotonou Agreement between the countries of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group and the European Union and is financed by the EU. • CTAFrom delivering price information to providing services in extension, weather forecasts, farm management, insurance, and mobile banking, information and communication technologies (ICTs), particularly mobile phones, are playing a key role in transforming the rural landscape across the developing world. With the fastest rate of growth in mobile subscribers, Africa has become a hotbed of innovation in mobile applications, including apps for agriculture. According to the GSM Association, an association of mobile providers, the contribution of mobile phones to the economy of sub-Saharan Africa is set to double by 2020, employing 6.6 million people and contributing €30.5 billion to public coffers. With agriculture playing a predominant role in Africa's socioeconomic landscape, the projected growth will have a major impact on the rural economy.In November 2013, CTA organised an international conference on ICTs for agriculture (ICT4Ag) in Kigali, Rwanda, bringing together young entrepreneurs, farmers' groups, agricultural professionals, policymakers, investors and mobile operators. At the plugand-play day during the conference, both startups and well-established developers showcased their apps. An East Africa-wide hackathon brought together young programmers who competed to produce the best app to solve an agricultural challenge.At the end of this highly successful conference, participants called for increased ICT access in rural areas through better infrastructure, access to devices and energy, and an enabling policy environment. They encouraged app developers to understand farmers' needs and design software in partnership with end-users instead of working alone. To ensure scaling-up and sustainability of ICT4Ag applications, delegates highlighted the need to develop innovative business models.CTA has taken to heart many of these messages and is acting on them by boosting its support to young ICT entrepreneurs, encouraging uptake of ICT solutions for agriculture, and strengthening partnerships across Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific.Director -CTA \" T oday over half of the world's population is affected by some form of malnutrition, be it hunger, micronutrient deficiencies or excessive consumption,\" said José Graziano da Silva, director-general of FAO, recently. Food security is a priority and high on the international agenda, whereas nutrition security does not attract sufficient attention despite figures that highlight the urgency of the situation.Some 2 billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies (vitamins, minerals and trace elements). Around a quarter of all children under 5 years old worldwide have stunted growth. An estimated 80% of the 165 million children with this condition live in just 14 countries, half of which are located in ACP regions. Malnutrition is also deadly, causing irreversible damage in children under 2 years of age, with a high economic cost to society. This phenomenon -also known as 'hidden hunger' -is not inevitable, as perfectly illustrated by the success of the Fome Zero (zero hunger) campaign in Brazil.Awareness is growing in the international community, as well as amongst regional bodies, governments, the private sector and civil society. In 2011, the International Food Policy Research Institute placed the question of the relationship between agriculture, nutrition and health (often isolated sectors) on the international agenda at its 2020 Conference held in India. Moreover, in 2013, the International Conference Against Child Undernutrition was organised by UNICEF France, and an initiative coordinated by the UK and Brazil led to the signing of the Global Nutrition for Growth Compact. At the G8 Summit at Lough Erne in Northern Ireland, world leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition while also supporting the UN Global Compact and the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement. Founded in 2010, the SUN Movement brings together governments, civil society and business, with 46 countries currently participating, illustrating the extent to which awareness on malnutrition has been heightened.Malnutrition has multiple causes and is not simply a shortage of food intake. It should be dealt with from a multisectoral standpointhealth, water, sanitation, hygiene, social protection, agriculture, market access, education and gender -and assessed in a coordinated and longterm way. However, until recently, the nutrition issue has mainly been raised in emergency situations and/ or via sectoral programmes focused primarily on health. A paradigm shift is thus needed, with nutrition becoming a fully-fledged objective.Political impetus and governance are essential for effective nutrition policy implementation. The commitment of the Brazilian President Lula da Silva underpins the success of Fome Zero -malnutrition has been reduced by 70% and infant mortality by 47% within 7 years in Brazil. Da Silva made food and nutrition security a political priority in his country, with this programme being nUTriTiOn SeCUriTy\"The right to food cannot be reduced to a right not to starve\", emphasises Olivier de Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food. Until recently, nutrition has been neglected, only being addressed in emergency situations and/or in sector-specific programmes. This issue should now be tackled directly through a multidimensional approach.The number of obese and overweight people has dramatically increased over the last 30 years, with the greatest increases recorded in middle-income and developing countries. One in three adults are now affected, according to the Future Diets report published by the Overseas Development Institute, an independent think tank on humanitarian and development policies. In developing countries, 904 million people are obese, compared to 557 million in developed countries. Globally, more people die from being overweight or obese than from malnourishment.African countries are affected by obesity, but Pacific and Caribbean countries are paying a heavier human and economic price. According to the world Health Organization, over 50% (up to 90% in some cases) of the population is overweight in at least 10 Pacific countries. The numbers are not much better in the Caribbean, where obesity is having a marked health impact.The lack of attention to local food production is the main cause of obesity in both regions, in addition to dependence on high-calorie, lownutrient imported foods -a combination that leads to a situation in which people are overweight yet malnourished.supported by a multistakeholder intersectoral platform, substantial public resources and a set of coordinated programmes.Two African countries hampered by recurrent acute food crises are pioneers in the nutrition policy field. In Ethiopia, malnutrition is responsible for the death of 260,000 children each year. In 2008, Ethiopia adopted a national strategy focused on the most vulnerable groups, with greater coordination between sectors (seven ministries) and stakeholders (UN agencies bilateral donors, research institutions). This has curbed malnutrition and the number of children with growth retardation has been declining at a rate of around 2.5% a year. In addition, the 'Nigeriens Nourish Nigeriens' initiative was launched in Niger, with a High Commissioner assigned to represent it in 2011. The target is to increase production while also enhancing the nutritional quality of meals and ensuring regular market supplies. In the Pacific region, following the 39th Pacific Islands Forum in 2008, a food security framework was set up, included in the Pacific Plan for Strengthening Regional Cooperation and Integration, and further defined during the Pacific Regional Food Summit in 2010.Everyone agrees that only increasing food production and agricultural productivity is not enough to overcome malnutrition. By supporting small farms, income may be generated, in turn providing access to food. The agricultural sector can also bolster better nutrition by promoting traditional local products and sectors that generate products of high nutritional value, such as fruit, vegetables, meat and fish. This will help to diversify and improve the quality of diets, and provide greater access to nutritionally rich foods. In addition, these products could be preserved, stored and processed through the development of value chains. Educating the farming community, especially women, on the nutritional quality of food is also essential. Nutrient supplements may be added further downstream at the processing level. The Flour Fortification Initiative promotes vitamin and mineral supplementation of wheat and maize flour, at an estimated cost of €0.05-0.7/person/ year. Moreover, folic acid-fortified flour reduces neural tube malformations in children. Flour enrichment is now mandatory in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and in 11 Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Note that 10 of the 15 ECOWAS countries have also made vitamin A enrichment of refined vegetable oils mandatory. Moreover, since 2002, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition has been encouraging public-private partnerships to promote access to nutritious food, with the aim of reaching 1 billion people by 2015.This movement is clearly gaining momentum. The road will certainly be rocky and some stakeholders, especially from civil society and bodies like the Right to Food and Nutrition Watch, have issued some criticism: lack of transparency, potential conflicts of interest, and genetic modification. This criticism is focused especially on the involvement of the private sector and its 'hidden' intention to capture new markets. Africa is addressing this issue by developing its own nutrition research initiatives.■ The Purchase from Africans for Africa project, currently being trialled in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger and Senegal by the World Food Programme (WFP), works by supplying school canteens with food bought from local small-scale African farmers. \"Considering the positive results, this project is in the process of being renewed and strengthened,\" WFP's Niamey office has stated.The pilot phase involved 424 schools and 120,000 pupils, throughout the five selected countries. \"In Niger, the project covered about 90 of the 700 primary schools that receive food from WFP, and some 500 small rural farmers profited from direct purchases,\" emphasises WFP. This initiative, jointly led with FAO and other partners, aims to fight hunger and malnutrition, improve farmers' incomes and keep children in school in the long-term.The African Plant Breeding Academy was opened in December 2013 in Nairobi by the African Orphan Crops Consortium to improve the livelihoods of small-scale farmers, reduce hunger and boost Africa's food supply. The Academy will use the latest scientific techniques to genetically sequence, assemble and annotate the genomes of 100 traditional African crops to guide the development of more robust crop products, with higher nutritional content, resilience and yields. The Academy will also train 250 plant breeders and technicians in genomics and marker-assisted selection for crop improvement over 5 years. The first crop to be sequenced will be baobab.A new drought tolerant variety of maize, we1101 or 'drought Tego', which was initially developed under the water efficient Maize for Africa project, has been shown to have some tolerance to Maize lethal necrosis disease (Mlnd), which can devastate crops. in 2012, in Kenya, farmers suffered losses amounting to about €17 million after Mlnd affected 26,000 ha. wATerBy using a low-cost, improved water pump, more than 220,000 small-scale farmers in 20 African countries are earning at least US$700 extra per year due to increased productivity and lower costs of accessing water. Known as the Money Maker, the pump is able to draw water from a depth of seven metres and costs around €50. KickStart international, who developed the pump, is currently testing a solar voltaic version, due for release in Kenya by 2015.To reach rice self-sufficiency by 2016, Côte d'Ivoire's government is focusing on developing the private sector, improving hydroagricultural management and supplying selected seeds and mentoring to farmers. This policy lies fully within the Economic Community of West African States' regional strategy for the sustainable revival of rice production in the region. Côte d'Ivoire aims to produce 1.9 Mt of rice by 2016 up from 1.3 Mt in 2013 and 700,000 t in 2010. According to the office national pour le développement de la riziculture, the public agency for rice growing development, rice imports have already decreased by 30% between 2012 and 2013.■ Farmers in Garoua, in northern Cameroon, are achieving higher yields of cassava after adopting disease-resistant and drought-tolerant varieties. Extension workers and research officers from the Ministry of Agriculture have also taught the farmers how to cross-pollinate root and tuber plants to produce higher yielding plant material. \"It was common to experience chronic food shortages due to drought or disease,\" explains cassava farmer Bouba Achile. \"But the new plants consistently provide us with a much better harvest every year.\" In 2010, Achile was given 100 kg of improved stem cuttings from which he was able to harvest 800 kg. To transform the agricultural sector, the government of Cameroon has been investing in improved, higher-quality, higher-yielding maize, wheat and cassava varieties as a strategy to raise the productivity of smallholder farmers and improve their livelihoods.■ Smallholder cassava farmers in Nigeria are benefiting from an increased demand for cassava chips and flour for domestic use and export. In an effort to curb the wheat import bill, the government has implemented a policy that forces foreign retailers -such as Spar which operates supermarkets in the country -to use 20% locally produced cassava flour and 80% wheat flour in the production of bread, cakes, doughnuts and other confectionaries. Due to the increasing demand, commercial banks are becoming more willing to offer finance to cassava flours, and farmers are increasing the area they devote to cassava production.In 2012 the Nigerian government increased effective duty on wheat in order to make locally produced cassava flour more competitive. More than 750 master bakers have been trained in cassava bread production to develop the cassava industry, create jobs and boost incomes. The federal government has estimated that the annual wheat importation bill will be cut by 20%, around €500 million. The government has announced plans to increase the percentage of cassava flour blended with wheat flour to 40% by 2015.Large-scale project yields results in 2012, Cameroon's Ministry of Agriculture and rural development introduced large-scale maize production, dubbed 'Corn Agropole', in the Upper Sanaga region to improve food security. with 3,000 ha of land and hybrid maize seeds from the institute for research and Agricultural development, 2,770 t of maize was produced in 2013, compared to 765 t in 2011.An organic farming school has been established in Mauritius. Open to young people between 14-18 years who have dropped out of the conventional education system, the school provides academic courses in a classroom called 'eco-School', that are followed by practical lessons in the fields of the 'rural family house' adjoining the classroom. The school aims to facilitate the social and vocational integration of these young people.Growing perennial crops such as coffee and cocoa in the shade of trees taller than 25 m is profitable. In Côte d'Ivoire, researchers from the French research centre CIRAD, the Centre national de recherche agronomique -Côte d'Ivoire's national research agency -and the natural rubber company Hévégo, carried out a 17 year trial to measure inputs and labour costs as well as productivity of hevea (rubber) grown with and without perennial crops in southwestern Côte d'Ivoire. The cumulative yields generated by intercropping hevea with perennial crops provide an overall production increase of 17 to 21% compared to hevea monoculture. This kind of intercropping also helps to reduce competition for land use and diversifies farmers' incomes.■ A young Nigerian inventor, Abdou Maman, has developed a remote irrigation system that enables farmers to expand their irrigable areas, save water and attend to other activities during watering. The system is solar-powered and activated with a cell phone: by dialling a specific number, farmers can remotely water their crops for a timed period. \"The system also enables remote watering of animals, provides meteorological and hydrological information, and filters water and stores it in tanks for human consumption,\" Maman explains. \"The watering period depends on the cultivated area. Once plants have received the right amount of water, the mechanism automatically stops.\" Patented by the World Intellectual Property Organization, the innovation is generating significant interest among farmers who are using it to expand crop areas and increase yields.To improve communication with producers, Intercoton -the cotton association in Côte d'Ivoire -has just signed a partnership with 10 community radio stations broadcasting in the cotton basin. Information about the sector's activities, including extension information on best practices to help cotton growers improve their incomes, will be aired, in French, Malinké and Sénoufo.In Burkina Faso, Chad, Ghana, Guinea, Mali and Senegal, researchers are now able to rely on various strategies to control tsetse fly, the vector of animal African trypanosomiasis. Adjusted for each country, the tailored strategies reduce the flies' impact by 80 to 98% in some areas. Senegal has opted for eradication by trapping flies, treating the cattle with insecticide and airdropping sterile male flies in order to reduce the tsetse population. Ghana is using a sequential aerial spraying technique, and Chad has chosen to treat cattle with footbaths.A community project to support climate change adaptation in isiolo county, Kenya, is being replicated in four more counties (29% of the nation). Projects identified by communities for funding include a livestock disease laboratory in Kinna, establishment of local agreements to strengthen the dedha system of rotating grazing lands, and managing access to dry season water.Educational training materials information on poultry keeping for training technical staff has been made available in a series of 13 education videos produced by FAO. Topics include income generation and gender equality, information on poultry nutrition and feeding in different production systems, and poultry health and disease control. The videos are available at: http://tinyurl.com/lozyl5z wOMenFrom just 40 members in 2007, the TRY Women's Oyster Association in The Gambia has grown to over 500 members from 15 communities and has become the first women's group in Africa to be given exclusive use rights of a coastal fishery, under a co-management plan. The women have established an annual 8 month closure period to prevent overfishing and protect mangrove habitats: between March and June they harvest wild shellfish beds, but the oysters are larger, due to the closure period, and fetch higher prices per kilo. The women have also received training in sanitary handling and processing methods, aquaculture and business management.■ The productivity of the Fulani Ecotype, an indigenous chicken kept by the Fulani tribe in northern Nigeria, has been improved through cross-breeding with the Hubbard Broiler, a bird of European descent with high productivity in meat production, and the Dominant Black, a bird of American descent prolific in egg production. Egg production is over 10% higher in the crossbred Fulani Ecotype than the traditional breed. Broiler weight is also slightly higher in the crossed variety, which has a better survival rate in the face of environmental and disease pressures than imported breeds, being adapted to local conditions. About one-in-four farmers are raising the crossbred Fulani Ecotype broiler chicken but most large commercial farmers still depend heavily on imported breeds as layers, despite their high mortality rate, as other varieties are not available. As these crossbreeds become more widespread, researchers are convinced that they will reduce foreign exchange spent on importation of parent stock.■ The 'Daral' project, launched at the end of January 2014 in Passy, Senegal, aims to help farmers combat cattle rustling and diseases affecting their livestock. As a result of cooperation between Coders4Africa, Microsoft, the Senegalese Government and civil society actors, Daral is an application consisting of a web and an SMS platform, linked to a centralised database. The web interface enables the application to collect and display data about farmers and their livestock while the SMS interface allows farmers to interact with vets and local extension officers in case of an epidemiological threat or cattle theft. Daral also enables animals to be identified and tracked, which will help to improve livestock statistics. The project's pilot phase is running in the Fatick region and in some parts of the Kaolack region. It intends to reach nearly 8,000 farmers who own more than 10 animals, and 15,000 small farmers who own less than 10 animals.Use of improved varieties of nitrogen-fixing legumes (soybean, cowpea, groundnut and common bean) and rhizobia inoculants, phosphorus fertilisers and improved crop management practices, is able to more than double legume yields and improve the performance of successive crops by as much as 50%, as a result of higher nitrogen levels in the soil. Legumes harvest nitrogen from the atmosphere through a symbiosis with rhizobium, a nitrogen-fixing bacteria found naturally in soil, thereby improving soil health and the overall productivity of the farming system. Since 2009, more than 250,000 smallholder farmers across eight African countries have been provided with better genotypes of legumes by N2Africa.■ In Rwanda, digital and satellite technology is being used to provide early warning climate and crop husbandry information, including about pests and diseases, to help farmers improve yields. Weather Safe Ltd, in partnership with the European Space Agency, is combining local weather monitoring, agronomic data modelling and high resolution satellite data to provide vital information to farmers through an easy-to-use internet and mobile service. \"Farmers need not only equipment, but also information about variations in weather patterns, markets, soil fertility and texture as well as topography,\" says David Mills, director of Weather Safe Rwanda. Initially this information is only being provided to coffee farmers, as part of a pilot project. Meanwhile agricultural agronomists have been receiving training in satellite and digital data science. Smart weather data, enabling precision monitoring of farming activities, was showcased at the CTA/Minagri 2013 ICT4Ag conference, held in Kigali.eArly wArninG■ A new study by scientists from the French research institute, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), and partners indicates that cotton productivity in Cameroon could significantly improve by 2050, in contrast to other crops that will be affected by climate change. The projections, made in line with six climate scenarios, suggest that with increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), yields will also increase, as higher levels of CO 2 stimulate cotton production. Scientists predict that annual yields could increase by up to 30 kg per ha.Adoption of conservation agriculture practices has also been shown to give promising results for cotton in the country. Over the last decade, many farmers in Cameroon have adopted conservation farming techniques including sowing under plant cover, minimum tillage and mulching. The IRD researchers state that these farming practices limit the deterioration of cultivated soils and counteract the effects of climate change on crops. However, excess rainfall under a changing climate could still threaten cotton production, with increased runoff removing valuable topsoil and inputs.In 2005, Madagascar launched the Rural Income Promotion Programme and distributed around 1.4 million clove, lychee and coffee seedlings and other agroforestry and fruit species to more than 12,000 farmer households on the island's eastern coast. These seedlings are starting to bear fruit. With these new plantations, farmers who were growing food crops are diversifying their activities and generating additional income. Furthermore, the trees help to protect watersheds and restore soil.An early maturing, drought-resilient sorghum variety (Gadam) is proving particularly popular with red-billed quelea birds in eastern Kenya. with the birds moving in large flocks, the crop is eaten before it is harvested. Farmers are using bird scarers and reflective Cds to reduce losses, whilst Kenyan researchers aim to produce a cross-bred variety less prone to being eaten.native to west Africa, nigerian teak (iroko) trees act as long-term carbon sinks. Scientists have found that when iroko is grown in dry, acidic soil and treated with microbes, carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and combined with calcium in the soil to produce soil-enriching limestone. Other African trees also produce limestone, but iroko was found to be the most efficient.Developed by researchers from the University of Colorado and the Mobile Assay company, Lab-on-Mobile-Device (LMD) is a smartphone application that detects aflatoxins. Fast -you just have to take a picture -and affordable, each test costs about US$2-3 (€1.5-2.2) against at least US$15 (€11) per laboratory test. The application provides farmers, wherever they are, with a reliable and accurate diagnosis. LMD determines the level of aflatoxin contamination by analysing the shades of the coloured bands on test strips photographed by users. Field trials of LMD began in five locations in Eastern Africa in September 2013.Research in Malawi has revealed that 'clarifier mud', a by-product of sugar molasses, is an effective organic fertiliser, boosting soil fertility and maize yields. When processing sugar cane, a clarifier is used to remove solid particles from liquids; clear juice is extracted at the top and settled mud is removed from the bottom. This mud has a silt clay loam texture, a similar chemical composition to peat, and is rich in nitrogen, magnesium and potassium. Farmers in the sugar producing district of Nkhotakota are now exploiting clarifier mud, which is readily available from Ethanol Company Malawi Limited.■ Mauritian researchers are working to ensure that nothing is wasted from sugarcane. After removing juice, sugar, molasses, vinasse, ethanol and bagasse, the researchers have developed a method to obtain bio-plastic made from the leaves, which have previously been used as fodder for cattle or litter in cowsheds. With livestock farming on the island becoming increasingly rare, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of leaves are now left in fields.Researchers from the Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute (MSIRI) succeeded in converting these sugarcane wastes into a plant-based plastic, polyhydroxyalkanoate, commonly called bio-or agro-plastic. This material can be used for the production of various items such as bottles, disposable tableware, pens, razors or bags, explains Salem Saumtally, director of MSIRI. The production cost of bio-plastic is still higher than petrochemical-based plastic. But, because of the banning of traditional plastic bags, agro-plastic from cane leaves hold potential for the future as it degrades in a few weeks and can be turned into fertiliser.■ The best way to fight the fruit fly, one of the major predators of several varieties of fruits, is with a wide range of biological control methods of which the African weaver ant (Oecophylla longinoda) has been proved to be the most effective. Weaver ants live in tropical forests in complex colonies, forming highly organised societies like bees. A distinctive feature of these ants is that they eliminate any intruder on their territory by developing strategies to hunt and catch insects from the foliage or on the ground at the foot of the tree. They also release pheromones that repulse fruit flies. These are the results of the West African Fruit Fly Initiative, a regional project to control the mango fruit fly, jointly launched in 2008 by the French research centre, CIRAD, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. Beside predation and repulsion, weaver ants have other advantages. They protect fruit trees against various pests, such as hemipterans (bugs), repulse flying fox bats and improve fruit quality as their presence in the tree increases sugar content and reduces acidity.African scientist wins award dr Abdoulaye diabate, from Burkina Faso, has won an award from the UK's royal Society for his research on mosquito mating behaviour. he has discovered that mosquito swarms use distinctive landmarks to gather and mate, offering a potential solution to target them and also accurately estimate several key parameters that are involved in malaria transmission.Made of a grinder, a mill and a churn, the 'Alafia complex' -developed by the institut national de recherches agricoles du Bénin, Benin's agricultural research centre -facilitates shea processing, which is predominantly conducted by women. it improves productivity and reduces the arduousness of this work. But its cost, at more than CFA 1 million (€1,500), is considered to be rather expensive.FrUiT FlyBUSInESS AnD TRADEAs part of the World Cocoa Foundation Cocoa Livelihood Programme, the microfinance institution, Advans Côte d'Ivoire, has been offering a financial service adapted to small cocoa enterprises since 2012. With the 'cocoa credit', cooperatives and farmers can obtain -under specific conditions -a one-year sum of CFA 1 to 50 million (€1,500-7,600) in order to purchase fertilisers and crop protection products.Repayments are made through deductions on cocoa deliveries, agreed with the exporter. Since 2012, more than 3,700 Ivorian producers have benefited from this credit. Advans intends to further develop this system within the country and across all cocoa exporting countries in West Africa.Heilala Vanilla, a Tongan vanilla producer, is fast becoming a premium brand in Japan, the latest destination for its export of vanilla beans and other products including vanilla extract, paste, sugar and syrup. With its own plantation in Tonga, in partnership with the local community, all the processing (including curing of green beans), marketing and distribution is conducted at the company base in Tauranga, New Zealand. With assistance from the Increasing Agricultural Commodity Trade project, funded by the European Union and implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Heilala Vanilla has been able to achieve organic certification, purchase specialised equipment and gain expertise in the use of best practices.According to new figures released by Jamaica's Cocoa industry Board, cocoa production on the island has increased by over 100%, with 476 t produced during 2011/12, valued at US$150 million (€110 million), compared to 216 t in 2010/11. The boost is attributed to eU investment in capacity building and infrastructure. Around 7,000 farmers are engaged in cocoa production on 3,500 ha. wOOdThe société nationale des bois du Gabon (SnBG) has set up its third processing plant for veneer and plywood production. in response to a government decision in late 2009 to ban logs exports in order to promote local value added production, SnBG proposed a development plan in 2010. Two years later, two plants were opened, one to produce sawn timber and the other for production of veneer.■ The world's largest fairtrade system is scaling up: Fairtrade International has introduced the Fairtrade Sourcing Program (FSP), a new labelling model to give small farmers opportunities to sell more. FSP works by enabling a company to source one or more Fairtrade commodities rather than focusing on all the ingredients for one product, e.g. the cocoa for a chocolate bar but not the sugar and the milk. A new symbol identifies FSP products.Only 1.2% of the cocoa in the world is presently sold on Fairtrade terms. FSP will increase Fairtrade cocoa sales by 14% (about 6,000 t). According to the Max Havelaar Foundation, this means farmers will benefit from an additional US$1.2 million (€876,000) in development premiums. Nine companies, including Mars, and German, Swiss and Japanese distributors have already signed FSP agreements for cocoa, cotton and sugar. ■ As part of the 'Growth for Uganda' project, launched in April 2013 to improve the productivity of small producers, the German company K+S KALI GmbH and the NGO Sasakawa Africa Association have set up the Mobile Farmer's Training Centre. This mobile training facility, equipped with a soil testing laboratory, will be able to reach the remotest villages and communities affected by poor road systems and harsh weather conditions. The facility will train farmers on various topics, from plant nutrition to marketing, and will sensitise them on the need to improve and maintain soil fertility.During a first phase (April-August 2013), Growth for Uganda trained 10,000 small producers in the Dokolo and Apac districts. The second phase, running until mid-2014, intends to train another 10,000 farmers, and about 50,000 producers should be reached within the next 5 years.What do you see as the key challenges for the fisheries sector in the next decade?The issue of conservation is of increasingly serious concern to fisherfolk and their livelihoods. In the last few decades, specific agendas have been developed that relate to conservation. My personal view is that some of these are directly related to the corporate structure of business in the global economy. These agendas, directly or indirectly, create stumbling blocks to fisherfolk. For instance, if the agenda for a conservation organisation is to push for marine protected areas, restricted fishing or individual quotas, they are actually limiting the space or resources that fisherfolk are able to access. And while these agendas may be based on scientific research, fisherfolk, who are in the ocean for much longer periods than researchers, sometimes have different observations.The challenge here is learning how we can work with the scientific community to find a balance between conservation and sustainable utilisation of fisheries resources. We (our network) firmly believe that Caribbean countries should benefit optimally from their resources, whether for poverty eradication or long-term economic development.How are ICTs changing the ways in which information is shared with small-scale fishers?At the moment, our network relies exclusively on ICTs, including the internet, skype and the go2meeting service, in order to communicate and collaborate with our many partners. These are useful technologies for our geographically dispersed Caribbean region. In partnership with the University of the West Indies, we have also expanded the 'mFisheries' (mobile fisheries) concept, a one-stop information shop. This comprises an innovative bundle of mobile and web applications developed for small-scale fisherfolk, processors, retailers, wholesalers and consumers. Information is used by fisherfolk, for instance, to plan fishing trips, mark fishing sites, obtain market prices and weather forecasts, and share knowledge amongst the fishing community. MFisheries2 is currently being developed to meet the regional demands within the sector.How can the sector become more market-oriented but maintain environmental sustainability?The common fisheries policy focuses on a market-oriented approach, which means there is scope within the policy to have some significant collaboration between government, international entities, fisherfolk and their organisations to actually develop and access markets, both regionally and internationally. However, regional trade issues are the most pertinent. Internationally, we are non-competitive due to economies of scale whereas there is significant potential for regional fisheries trade. Lastly, factors such as certification and standards act as trade barriers to small scale fisherfolk, even though they may be sustainably providing products. The policy does not specifically address this issue, which is a contributing deterrent to international trade.In addition, the fisheries policy consists of guidelines that are fairly general. The policy, once formerly adopted by the heads of states can be used as a tool by fishermen to advocate for greater participation in governance issues as well as to point governments toward their own objectives in terms of marketing and particularly inter-regional trade.Regarding sustainability, we need an ecosystems approach, so that fisherfolk are conscious of how they fish and how they can lessen their impact on fish habitat. Such an effort involves research, including collaboration between researchers and fisherfolk. Once this collaboration occurs, relevant information can be generated, such as the extent of the resource base, its diversity and how fisherfolk can best access this diversity to benefit their economic welfare in the long-term.Although I am not familiar with other regions, I agree that sharing lessons, experiences and challenges can be beneficial to others. However, as we live in different cultures, we should not expect that even if we copy these lessons, we will definitely have the same outcomes.Mitchell Lay is coordinator of the Caribbean Network of Fisherfolk Organisations (CNFO), which was created under the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism to increase the capacity and influence of fishing communities in managing fisheries resources.Across the Caribbean, the fisheries sector directly and indirectly employs over 182,000 people. Small-scale fisheries are vital for local employment, as well as ensuring food security and good nutrition. However, there is a need for fisherfolk to be better informed and involved in fisheries policy and governance.Buoyed by advances in ICT, a 'digital revolution' is creating a renaissance in developing countries' agricultural value chain systems. This dramatic development was at the heart of discussions held during the ICT4Ag conference, organised by CTA and Rwanda's Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources in Kigali in November 2013. The following dossier features articles written by winners of the ICT4Ag media competition. n ACP countries agriculture is the key economic player, employing between 40-60% of populations and contributing between 25-45% of gross domestic product,\" explained Michael Hailu, CTA director at the start of the ICT4Ag conference. Traditionally the sector has been characterised by highly impoverished farmers using old-fashioned farming techniques resulting in low productivity levels. With no choice but to deal with exploitative middlemen, the sector has always been vulnerable to famine and food insecurity. But now, \"ICTs are creating a revolution; all the way from extension to marketing, to agro-input services, to banking and financial services, to certification management,\" says Agnes Kalibata, Rwanda's Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources.In 1971, Alan Kay, an American computer scientist said, \"The best way to predict the future is to invent it.\" This exemplifies the proliferation of agricultural applications supported by web, mobile and radio platforms. These apps empower farmers in developing countries by providing them with advance price information for different produce, or by predicting weather or disease patterns for early preparedness. Farmers now have access to information on agricultural production at their fingertips.Hailu explains that these applications \"provide farmers with timely advice and information, enable them to increase productivity, access markets to become efficient, and increase incomes along the value chain.\" It is also important to remember that smallholder farmers, mostly women, produce 80% of the food in Africa. However, they face many challenges including low productivity, high energy and fertiliser prices, lack of access to credit, and poor or nonexistent extension advisory services. \"One cannot over emphasise the importance of agriculture in achieving food and nutritional security and prosperity in ACP countries, as well as in much of the developing world,\" emphasises Hailu. of the value chain in ACP countries. Some of the apps showcased included mFarm and iCow from Kenya, Kinu from Tanzania, Esoko from Ghana, Farmerline from Nigeria, mFisheries from Trinidad and Tobago, Trac FM from Uganda, Rural eMarket from Madagascar, and AGRICO from Burkina Faso, among others. mFarm, uses simple data to 'mPower' farmers, says co-founder Susan Oguya. She argues that mFarm has created 'armchair farmers' and has attracted youth to the sector as producers, marketers, input suppliers and content developers.Esoko, an application enabling farmers to access market prices, weather forecasts, agricultural tips, and offers for their produce, has over 2.5 million users across 16 African countries (Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe). \"The purpose of the application is to put more money in smallholder farmers' pockets,\" says Mark Davies, Esoko's chief executive, adding that app usage For several years, CTA has been proud to host a media competition for ACP journalists in order to boost the quality of coverage of agricultural and rural development issues. The 2013 competition was launched under the theme \"Information and Communications Technologies for Agriculture -ICT4Ag\" and was open to print and online journalists who could best investigate the challenges and opportunities involved in using ICTs for agriculture. The aim of the competition was to raise awareness and showcase the best ICT practices that could be scaled-up and replicated for agricultural transformation in all ACP regions.Over 120 entries were reviewed by a panel of English and French international judges. From these, six semifinalists were selected to attend the ICT4Ag conference and participate in a master class for journalists delivered by Dr. Maria Protz, chief international judge for the competition. Using these skills, they were then expected to cover the meeting's events and submit four additional pieces for the judges' consideration. It was a close competition, but this special Spore dossier features the winning stories of the top three finalists. They include: • Joshua Masinde (see picture), 1st place winner, originally from Uganda and now working as a business and economic affairs journalist for the Daily Nation, the leading newspaper in East and Central Africa.• Second place winner, Arison Mbuli Tamfu, from Cameroon, is the African Correspondent for the MALAYSIA MSME News Network, an online news portal. He also serves as editor for Cameroon Daily Journal -an online publication based in the US. • CTA's 3rd place winner, Fidelis Zvomuya, from Zimbabwe, has worked for several media houses worldwide. Currently, Fidelis is a climate change, agriculture and environmental journalist and editor at Agriconnect Communication Media. He is also the founding editor of Africa Green Media.CTA is proud to share their stories in this edition of Spore. has seen returns for many smallholders increase by between 10-15% annually. \"Some have gained as much as 500% in returns on improved prices,\" he states.Rural eMarket, besides offering information on prices, productivity, and market access, also offers farmers information on how to access financial services. \"Farmers can sell their produce, view other people's offers, view demands or requests, update demand requests, and view which products are available in which markets and at what prices. Farmers are also able to search for financial services, especially in microfinance,\" says Andrianjafy Rasoanindrainy, Rural eMarket's project coordinator.\"ICTs have made it easy for people to facilitate new ways of cooperation and co-create new innovations among stakeholders,\" argues Paul Cunningham, IST Africa Initiative's co-founder. Many other applications are creating global networks of farmers to share ideas and information by way of videos, pictures or text towards sustainable agriculture and rural development. For example, in December 2013, Access Agriculture, an international NGO, unveiled a network of YouTube farmers through its AgTube application to help farmers interact with each other by uploading videos for sharing with the agricultural community.In South Sudan, the government's efforts to woo warring agro-pastoralist communities by advocating adoption of smart farming techniques could bring lasting peace in a country that has been scarred by decades of war. For instance, in Warrap State (one of 10 states), cattle rustling is a serious threat to the socio-economic activities of communities. But planned introduction of mobile cinemas for display in different parts of the state could support agricultural initiatives. The rollout of ojoVoz, a mobile and web application allowing farmers to send voice recording and images using their phones to the internet, is part of the strategy to add value to agricultural initiatives. The app also helps to map water points, which are usually hotspots of conflicts by warring clans. \"Smartphones are also to be issued to cattle camp and state leaders as part of an initiative to encourage people into the agricultural value chain,\" says Eva Yayi, IT officer at Community Empowerment for Progress in South Sudan.In Kenya, there are around 25 agricultural applications listed by the Ministry of Agriculture that offer credible information and act as extension services, to provide information to farmers who have access to mobile phones even in very remote areas of the country. Some farmers have even created a network of young Facebook farmers as a market place of ideas and transactions.\"With rapidly increasing mobile phone coverage and internet connectivity, the transformative potential of ICTs can be particularly harnessed in the agricultural DOSSIER V ie w p o in t sector to reach smallholder farmers, particularly in rural areas, while reducing transaction costs,\" says Michael Ryan, the European Union ambassador to Rwanda. This presents a good opportunity, especially for the youth to get back into the agricultural value chain rather than migrating from rural to urban areas in search of elusive white collar jobs.The rural-urban migration of youth is a major problem across ACP countries, but ICTs play a key role in stemming this trend by creating employment opportunities and also improving quality of life in rural areas. Broadband connectivity and access to mobile phones not only presents a significant opportunity for increasing agricultural productivity, even in remote villages, but also by luring the youth back to farms.CTA's Agricultural Rural Development and Youth in the Information Society project is helping to promote ICT use among rural youth. Since its launch in 2010, the initiative has had a major impact on information-sharing, building capacity in all aspects of ICT innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture.The ICT4Ag event drew close to 500 participants from several sectors including government, the private sector, the NGO community, intergovernmental bodies, and development agencies from 66 countries. Young people from Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda also participated in an Agri-Hackathon Championship to develop ICT applications addressing specific needs in the agricultural ecosystem.Some of the apps are tailored to run on mobile and web platforms to increase access to finance, connect and harmonise stakeholders in agriculture, enhance farmers' creditworthiness, collect and share market price data, and connect and harmonise key youth stakeholders along the agricultural value chain. Eastern Africa has, for instance, become increasingly connected to the internet: 75% of Kenya's population has access to a mobile phone and the number of internet users stands at slightly over 12% of a population of 40 million people as of June 2012, according to Internet World Stats.The Rwandan government is particularly keen to boost its agricultural sector from an annual growth of 5.5% to 8.5% in 5 years through investments in ICTs. \"We would like to create 200,000 jobs every year off the farm. That will not happen without ICTs,\" says Valentine Rugwabiza, chief executive officer of Rwanda Development Board.Despite the existence of abundant land, water and cheap labour African countries still spend around €36 billion importing food annually. \"To achieve its full potential, smallholder agriculture must be transformed from a subsistence activity to a profitable sustainable business, and clearly, ICTs can play a key role in this transformation,\" concludes Hailu. The ICT4Ag 2013 conference showcased this emerging reality.Joshua Masinde, 1st place winner Susan Kahumbu Stephanou is Green Dreams CEO and creative director. Having seen the information gap and high risks involved in the dairy sector, she launched iCow, a mobile-based application in 2011.ICT penetration in Africa has grown significantly. Women are among the highest users of the iCow application; they make up more than 70% of our 25,000 plus subscribers. They use it to manage their farms and increase their yields. But a gender digital divide still exists, along with some profound problems preventing women from benefiting from ICTs. Some of Africa's rural women still lack basic needs, and have other economic hardships related to HIV/AIDS as well as tuberculosis in their family. Some women are subjected to human rights abuses and domestic violence. When their physical needs are met, rural women are satisfied. ICTenabled development projects will provide more opportunities for African rural women.ICTs have the potential to develop rural women. In Africa, women are not only farmers but they are also mothers and housekeepers. ICTs can help them manage their multiple roles and make it easier for them to travel and attend meetings. ICTs catalyse and accelerate organisational development for women farmers; obtaining market information enhances their negotiation skills with local traders, businesses and other value chain players. ICTs not only improve the status of women farmers who use them, they also enhance the status of the farming sector in general.Farmers dial a short code and are able to access a simple menu that guides them on how to subscribe to various products. After subscribing, the system begins to send farmers SMSs at intervals depending on the product of choice. The iCow application allows users to receive text messages about livestock breeding and production patterns. Those registered on the platform say milk yields have gone up as a result and they have noticed improved herd health. On average, farmers receive three SMSs per week at a cost of €0.24 each.We have seen that most women who use iCow want to access the best market prices, keep their records, find products in high demand, get information on animal health and disease control, as well as receive information on new farming practices and agricultural technologies.Fidelis Zvomuya, 3rd place winner DOSSIER ICTs are definitely a 'game changer' in how agricultural production is now being negotiated. Traditional bargaining relationships in the value chain no longer apply. ICTs are mixing up who buys and sells from whom and at what price. In this transforming market place, ICTs will eventually help everyone compete. I n the remote Bokwaogo locality in Buea on the eastern slopes of Mount Cameroon, Mama Mologan Francisca battles with the soil, hurrying to meet weather deadlines for her maize and tea farm. She proudly owns land extending beyond half a hectare.\"This is my bread and butter. This is my life,\" Mologan says. However, her journey has not been an easy one. In early 2001, she was a rich woman buying farm produce cheaply from farmers in the south-west region of Cameroon and supplying them with badly-needed sprayers, pesticides and improved seed at premium prices. \"It fetched me much money,\" she says. But the introduction of mobile phones shattered the profitable business leaving her in misery.\"Ma Mojoko came and taught the women how to use the mobile phones to know the real prices of pesticides and food crops on the market. After knowing the actual rePOrT FrOM CAMerOOn prices, they refused to deal with me, preferring to wait for buyers to come from Douala city and buy. I lost everything and my business crumpled,\" laments Mologan. Ma Mojoko is Catherine Mojoko Molua, founder and president of Walana Wa Makwasi (women in action), a grassroots organisation founded in 2001 to boost the agricultural and technological skills of smallholder farmers in the southwest region of Cameroon. She presented her project at the ICT4Ag Conference in Kigali, Rwanda. \"The magic here is the mobile phone. We taught the smallholder farmers how to make a call and how to send an SMS in order to get vital information in real time. For the very first time, they were able to get information relating to planting seasons, know when and how to apply the right quantity of fertiliser, and very importantly how to bargain with buyers,\" explains Mojoko.The ICT4Ag conference was a milestone for organisations like Walana Wa Makwasi, permitting them not only to share their experiences but also learn from others and seek partnership with founders of similar ideas such as Rural eMarket in Madagascar. This is a webapplication that allows subscribed farmers and buyers to send and request information on prices and farm produce. \"The mobile app gives the farmer just what he or she requires,\" says Andrianjafy Rasoanindrainy, Rural eMarket project coordinator.TRAC FM, an innovative software platform used by media and non-profit organisations, also allows users to amplify the voices of citizens, track reports, collect opinions and provide real time data. \"So you can use the service delivery system to take informed action,\" says Bart Sullivan of Farm Radio International.\"ICTs could transform rural agriculture,\" adds Mojoko, who was looking for partnerships with innovators at the conference. Generally, the innovations presented were testimony to the importance that mobile apps play in boosting agriculture in rural areas of ACP countries. They are especially important in Africa where it is estimated that 1 billion people will have access to a mobile phone by 2016.However, other experts are concerned about its effectiveness. \"The mobile can help raise awareness and create commitment but, to really make the change at farm level, the best approach is still hands-on extension field workers because it is difficult to teach farmers how to plant or harvest through radio or text message,\" says Raf Somers of the Belgian Development Agency, BTC, in Rwanda. It is also unfortunate that despite the growing interest of African rural farmers in ICTs, they are still handicapped by illiteracy. A problem that, Mojoko states, \"needs to be redressed urgently by sending coordinators to teach them.\"Maximo Torero of the International Food Policy Research Institute regretted that, in spite of the scramble for the mobile phone, penetration in rural Africa is still below 50%. \"And in terms of broadband, which I think is the technology we need to move forward, the penetration is extremely low. Governments should focus on ways of increasing access to broadband in Africa,\" Torero strongly recommends.Until then, the mobile phone still makes things awkward for the middlemen in Africa. ICTs have reduced them to subjects and raised farmers to kings. Mologan was smart enough to realise this and quickly adapted to the potential of ICTs. \"After the initial difficulty, I decided to start farming and joined the Walana Wa Makwasi group. I was taught how to use the mobile phone to facilitate my farming. And today, after using the mobile phone to increase produce for 11 years, I live well. I was dead and now I am alive,\" she says.Arison Mbuli Tamfu, 2nd place winner T rucks loaded with logs leaving the Congo Basin rainforest, heading towards ports and leaving behind devastated landscapes is a more or less legitimate image that is firmly anchored in the public imagination. Indeed, in recent decades, remarkable progress has been achieved in almost all countries to not only operate more sustainably and strengthen legal logging in forests but also increase the added value of the timber. \"Over the last 20 years we have devoted our energy to forest management and certification, but in the Congo the next 20 years will be focused on more advanced and diversified wood processing, a key economic component of sustainable forest management,\" said Henri Djombo, the Congolese Minister of Forest Economy and Sustainable Development, at the Racewood Forum in Brazzaville in October 2013.Roughly two timber sectors coexist in the Congo Basin -one oriented towards export and the other towards local and regional markets. The first primarily supplies logs, but the supply of primary processed wood products (sawn wood, veneer and plywood) is also developing. This is the case in Gabon, in particular, which in 2010 was the first state in the region to impose a total ban on log exports to encourage the emergence of a local wood industry.In addition to the trend for industrial wood processing driven by local legislation, certification processes -essential for opening the door to major world markets -are being developed. While the practice is becoming more widespread, no importing countries currently require that only certified timber enters its market. Howewer in the United States under the amended Lacey Act or in the European Union under the EU Timber Regulation of March 2013, any operator using wood or wood products must be ready, if necessary, to prove that the wood was legally logged and exported. Certified wood (Forest Stewardship Council, PEFC) is proof of legality. The certification process is thus being applied throughout the chain, from logging to wood processing.The second sector devoted to wood products for local or regional markets is primarily informal. Production is often of poor quality but this sector can still compete with the fledgling formal sector due to low prices. In Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, for instance, the price of timber sawn by villagers may be 20% lower than that of professional sawyers. \"Eighty percent of my clients are French companies operating in Gabon. They come to me for high quality products and they go to the 'neighbourhood' (i.e. informal craftspeople) for anything else because it's cheaper,\" explains Daniel Charles, head of Art et Technique du Bois, a cabinetry company in Libreville.The local sector is also beginning to feel the effects of a more favourable climate. Purchasing power is rising in Africa despite the decline in international tropical timber demand due to the economic crisis, fashion trends and increasing legal requirements of importing countries. A small but growing number of operators in the formal sector are focusing on local markets. In the collective mind, wooden houses are for the poor, but people are beginning to see that wood is chic too. In 2011, Djombo organised a show of model houses built with local wood in the Côte Sauvage beach area near Brazzaville, while in Gabon companies like Ecowood build 'ecohouses'.The informal sector now needs structuring. In Cameroon, 'clusters' allow small-scale craftspeople to more easily source wood that is dried, graded and of traceable origin, and have access to industrial maintenance, transportation facilities and financial and administrative services. This encourages these operators to join the formal sector while also easing their access to secondary and tertiary wood processing facilities (wood for flooring, frames, mouldings, prefabricated building components), ultimately creating jobs and products with high added value.Over recent decades, Congo Basin governments -under pressure from NGOshave passed legislation to increase the value of their timber exports pending the development of a true local market for finished products. ■ Milk and dairy products hold huge potential to improve nutrition and livelihoods for millions of poor people across the world, says this FAO publication. But, despite the benefits they could be providing, these products are still too expensive for the poorest families to buy. In response, governments are urged to make nutrition a specific objective in dairy sector development and invest in programmes that help poor families keep small dairy livestock at home. \"A major challenge is for governments to develop inclusive policies and encourage investment from the private sector that helps these small-scale farmers take advantage of the escalating demand for milk and dairy in developing countries,\" say the editors.As well as cows, the book covers the milk composition of other major dairy species such as buffalo, goat and sheep, and less-used dairy species, including donkeys and camels. It also addresses environmental and health concerns that have arisen around milk and dairy in recent years. The editors call for new collaborative initiatives to address the environmental effects of the dairy sector, which accounts for some 4% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions in addition to increasing pressure on land and water resources.■ Stabilising the climate and eradicating poverty are widely regarded as the two greatest challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. For many, however, these goals represent conflicting interests. If poverty eradication depends on economic growth, how does that square with reducing emissions of greenhouse gases from industrial or agricultural production and from the increasingly energy-hungry lifestyles of those who escape poverty?This highly readable volume in Routledge's Perspectives on Development series, brings insights from economics, geography, climate science and development studies in order to better understand the complex interactions between climate change and development. Initially focussing on the drivers and impacts of climate change, it then examines development responses, including mitigation and adaptation strategies and international finance schemes. A final section looks at the future, advocating the need for transformational visions of development in order to achieve more equitable and sustainable outcomes in a warmer world. ■ From the time of hunter-gatherers to the present day, forests have played a vital role in the development of humanity and society. This broad introductory textbook sets world forestry in a social, environmental, historical and economic context. The development of forests and grasslands, and their relationships with humans is described from the Devonian period through to the 'age of agriculture', covering the factors determining the distribution of forests, the classification of forest types, and the value of forests, forest products and their associated trade. The urgent need to address tropical deforestation, particularly in Brazil, Indonesia and a number of African countries, features strongly in a chapter on 'forest dynamics in the tropics'. In the 20 years between 1990 and 2010, Nigeria lost 48% of its forests through deforestation (by far the worst rate of loss of any country in the world), with Zimbabwe (29%) and Tanzania (19%) taking second and third place in global rankings. In this context, the need to scale up reforestation and sustainable forest management effortsalso outlined -deserves the highest priority.This second edition of the Smart Toolkit was published in book form in 2009, and is now available on CD-Rom. Its primary purpose is to improve learning within development organisations, particularly those involved with information products and services. Development projects are under increasing pressure to demonstrate impact; for information-based activities this is particularly difficult. How does one go about demonstrating the impact of an information service in contributing towards one of the Millennium Development Goals, for instance?The toolkit offers a practical grounding in evaluation, including its place in the project cycle, who is involved in its planning and implementation, how and when it should be followed up, and above all, how to learn from it. It includes many tools that can be applied to information-focussed activities, to enable a sound impact assessment to be made. Clearly written and presented, with numerous 'real world' examples for easy understanding, it's a valuable, down-to-earth contribution to evaluation literature that will be of interest to numerous development organisations.Featuring 25 case studies, this publication provides an overview of the global changes affecting mountain farming and the strategies that communities have developed to cope. Each study presents a set of lessons and recommendations, in an attempt to enable mountain communities to learn from each other's experiences and thereby enhance their resilience. Securing land tenure, providing access to resources, and improving basic infrastructure and access to credit are among the key solutions highlighted to improving the livelihoods and food security of mountain communities. Smart Toolkit, first published in 2005 and updated in 2009, is a manual for information practitioners in self-evaluation of their projects, products and services. While attracting considerable praise, feedback from users has prompted CTA to publish this 'compact primer', in response to comments that the process outlined in the toolkit can seem somewhat daunting. By summarising the key elements of the toolkit, sharing the experiences of users and giving a practical example of how monitoring and evaluation (M&E) works -in the context of the Smart Toolkit newsletter -this short guide gives a clear and concise overview of the evaluation process.Beyond its value as a short reference guide for users of the Toolkit, the guide is also intended to provide an overview of the process to decision-makers and managers in rural and agricultural development institutions, with a view to helping them create a work environment conducive to M&E and organisational learning. This will enable them to significantly improve the quality of information projects, products and services produced by their staff.water Lake Turkana, in Kenya's Rift Valley, is the world's largest desert lake. But a hydropower dam being built upstream will permanently alter the flow of the Omo River which supplies 90% of the lake's water. In addition, irrigation development being planned by Ethiopia could abstract up to 50% of the Omo's inflow into Lake Turkana, potentially leading to a drop in depth from 30 to 10 m. The combined impact, as outlined in this report, will dramatically impact floodplain ecology, fisheries production and the livelihoods of the local population. waste Anaerobic digestion produces biogas (a renewable energy) and bioslurry. The latter is often overlooked, meaning smallholders are seldom aware of the multiple benefits of bioslurry use, or the risks associated with handling and applying it on their farm. The authors examine peer-reviewed literature on the use of bioslurry, including its impact on crop yields, fish production, and use as a pesticide.By l de Groot & A Bogdanski FAO, 2013; 45 pp. iSBn 978-92-5107-929-4 US$17 • €12 downloadable as PdF file from: http://tinyurl.com/luaskjc ■ Population growth, agricultural expansion, and the rise of global food supply chains have dramatically altered how diseases emerge and spread, says this FAO report. For example, in the push to produce more food, farmers have created agricultural land in previously wild areas -putting themselves and their animals into contact with wildlifeborne diseases. This, says FAO's Ren Wang, means that \"we cannot deal with human health, animal health, and ecosystem health in isolation from each other -we have to look at them together, and address the drivers of disease emergence, persistence and spread, rather than simply fighting back against diseases after they emerge.\"To achieve this, FAO advocates the 'One Health' approach -looking at the interplay between environmental factors, animal health and human health, and bringing human health professionals, veterinary specialists, sociologists, economists and ecologists together to work on disease issues within a holistic framework. At the same time, \"livestock health is the weakest link in our global health chain. Disease must be addressed at its source -particularly in animals,\" the report concludes.■ Agricultural forward markets are essentially an informal version of futures markets, whereby deals are done to deliver a crop typically before it has even been sown. While crop futures are traded in a standardised way, through a commodity exchange, forward trading is done 'over the counter' and in the context of agriculture is applicable to storable crops such as grains and pulses, sugar, coffee, cocoa and vegetable oils. Effectively functioning forward markets create security in a crop supply chain; without them, supply chains can be reduced to opportunistic behaviour, with periodic dumping or shortages of products, patterns which can be worsened by government buying and selling. However, forward markets can also be easily undermined, for example by price distortions, dysfunction in the supply chain, hoarding and corruption.This third book in a three part series focuses on how forward markets work, their function and why they frequently fail. It explains why risk management within a market succeeds or fails based on the ability of the forward market to offset risk and provide efficient price signals.A challenging subject given serious attention, targeting those with some background in economics.Young people in ACP countries are seldom attracted into agriculture. In organising its first 'hackathon', CTA offered young graduate computer programming development enthusiasts an opportunity to flaunt their talents and discover potential openings in the agricultural sector.trengthening agricultural productivity and improving livelihoods of youths are two of CTA's major targets and also the principles underpinning the 'hackathon' that was organised during the ICT4Ag international conference held in Kigali in November 2013. A hackathon is an event during which computer programmers (and development stakeholders when required) collaborate for a short period in developing an ICT application or platform to solve a specific issue. The aim of the Kigali event was to highlight the potential of new technologies applied to agriculture while supporting innovation and entrepreneurship, particularly among young people.The hackathon was implemented as a regional championship (with national selection events) for young computer specialists. From the outset, ICT innovation hubs have been sponsoring these young people and have since supported the winners of the competition. The winning entrepreneurs were from Ensibuuko (Uganda), AgriVAS (Ethiopia) and Agrinfo (Tanzania). The winners developed web and mobile software to enable innovative farm credit management, a platform for sending agricultural information by SMS in the national language, and a farmland mapping system. Another team developed a tool to test soil fertility with a pH sensor, with the results subsequently sent to agricultural extension agents by SMS. Inspired by this hackathon, Rwandan authorities have decided to organise a national event.Hackathon follow-up activities have now begun. CTA subsidises ICT innovation hubs that have backed the regional winners. The young entrepreneurs are now being supported in launching their product, benefiting from advice or training, while also being put in touch with investors. These talented young people will also participate in international meetings to build up their professional networks and knowledge. Some will also participate in the CTA Fin4Ag international conference on agricultural value chain finance. A national workshop on the local hackathon experience will take place in Rwanda by June 2014, with the support of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. CTA plans to organise a regional planning meeting for the entire activity by July 2014.The success of this initiative has attracted the interest of other ACP regions, whose representatives have been approaching CTA for advice and support. We will keep you posted…Our international conferences have always been a unique opportunity for discussions on topics of particular interest to a wide audience. So mark this date in your calendar! All stakeholder groups involved in the agricultural value chain finance sector will come together to explore new tools, mechanisms and approaches, tried and tested over the past few years.CTA and its partners will focus on establishing a dynamic and enabling environment for the sharing of ideas and forging of new partnerships. A vibrant market place will be the core of the event, allowing participants to meet, share, partake, learn and plan forward. Sessions will be predominantly interactive and make use of a number of interactive knowledge sharing methods such as TedTalks, world café, chat shows, panel sessions, peer assist, demonstrations, fish bowl, democracy walls, and open spaces. Multimedia tools will be also be used.The following thematic areas will be addressed in plenary events at the Fin4Ag conference, as well as in a series of parallel meetings.A series of sessions will discuss the various tools of agri-value chain finance. One theme will focus on how to create a critical mass in warehouse receipt finance and collateral management. Another will look at the potential for creating new instruments for farmers to access the capital market. A number of sessions will cover design of agrivalue chain financing mechanisms for specific sectors or purposes, financial instruments to enable farmers to make their production more climate-change-resilient, and specific tools for sectors such as livestock and fisheries. Ways in which financiers can help develop effective value chains linking farmers to cities will be assessed and best practices in agri-value chain finance will be shared.In the 19th and early 20th century, the now-OECD countries relied heavily on their central banks to boost the agricultural sector's access to finance, with facilities such as dedicated discount windows for warehouse receipt finance, the creation of bonded warehouses and the development of specific agricultural financing tools. Such policies have not figured to any significant degree in ACP central bank work programmes. Given the critical importance of boosting agricultural growth, it is high time to revisit this and learn not only from historical experience but also from some of the innovative central bank programmes in other parts of the world.The conference will feature a number of 'How to' sessions -in particular, three of Africa's regional farmers' organisations have identified priorities in increasing value chain finance to farmers. 'How to move to implementation' will be the topic of half a day of sessions for each organisation. Risk management (including price and weather risk, and the relevance of commodity exchanges) will also be discussed. Information, communication and knowledge management (ICKM), as well as training needs, also figure in the conference programme.For more information on the conference go to http://fin4ag.org/The 2014 CTA Fin4Ag conference is designed to catalyse new thinking and broader adoption of best practices in the area of agricultural value chain finance. The conference will take place on July 14-18 in Nairobi, Kenya."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fc4ee5a1c86553adfda9afc1c887086e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8aec3749-f5d6-4386-91eb-c54c7ea012d1/retrieve","id":"-1942215076"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3864cd8b-d4fe-40d5-aa1a-4601492eb2af","content":"Recognizing that in the context of global change, tree genetic diversity represents a crucial resource for future forest adaptation, we review and highlight the major forest genetics research achievements of the past decades in biodiversity-rich countries of the Mediterranean region. For this, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature spanning the past thirty years . Putting together the representative regionwide expertise of our co-authorship, we propose research perspectives for the next decade. Recent Findings Forest genetics research in Mediterranean countries is organized into three different scientific domains of unequal importance. The domain \"Population diversity and Differentiation\" related to over 62% of all publications of the period, the domain \"Environmental conditions, growth and stress response\" to almost 23%, and the domain \"Phylogeography\" to almost 15%. Citation rate was trending the opposite way, indicating a strong and sustained interest in phylogeography and a rising interest for genetics research related to climate change and drought resistance. The share of publications from Asia and Africa to the total within the Mediterranean increased significantly during the 30-year period analyzed, reaching just below 30% during the last decade. Summary Describing poorly known species and populations, including marginal populations, using the full potential of genomic methods, testing adaptation in common gardens, and modeling adaptive capacity to build reliable scenarios for forest management remain strategic research priorities. Delineating areas of high and low genetic diversity, for conservation and restoration, respectively, is needed. Joining forces between forest management and forest research, sharing data, experience, and knowledge within and among countries will have to progress significantly, e.g., to assess the potential of Mediterranean genetic resources as assisted migration material worldwide. Introductory quote: Let us collect with care the facts we can observe, let us consult experience wherever we can, and when this experience is inaccessible to us, let us assemble all the inductions which observation of facts analogous to those which escape us can furnish and let us assert nothing categorically; in this way, we shall be able little by little to discover the causes of a multitude of natural phenomena, and, perhaps, even of phenomena which seem the most incomprehensible...The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) recognizes that biological diversity, at all levels of organization, from genes to ecosystems, has an intrinsic value and sustains the life systems of the biosphere. As such, biological diversity needs to be protected and its components to be sustainably used (article 1 of the CBD). Its protection and restoration also strongly interact with climate change mitigation and adaptation: \"limiting global warming to ensure a habitable climate and protecting biodiversity are mutually supporting goals, and their achievement is essential for sustainably and equitably providing benefits to people\" [1••].However, the decade 2011-2020 failed in halting biodiversity loss worldwide [2••]. Despite significant efforts, most national commitments have fallen short of reaching agreed international targets and only six of the twenty Aichi targets have been partially achieved [3]. In addition to long-term effects, such as land use change for agriculture and urbanization, pollution, and invasive species, climate change is now increasingly recognized as a major driver of biodiversity loss [4,5]. Therefore, scientists now call for integrated policies and actions to counter climate change and biodiversity loss, particularly in biodiversity rich regions [6,7].The Mediterranean basin, a crossroads for the European, Saharan, and Irano-Turanian floristic regions, is one of the 36 global biodiversity hotspots [8,9]. Its plant diversity is one of the richest in the world. While occupying 1.6% of the Earth's terrestrial surface, it hosts approximately 7% of the World's plant taxa [10,11]. Moreover, almost 25,000 species are native to the Mediterranean basin, more than half being regional endemics [12]. The European Union recognizes the value of this diversity. Out of the 233 habitats of community importance listed in Annex 1 of Habitat Directive 92/43 of the European Union, 117 are occurring in Mediterranean Europe, among which 93 are exclusively found there. This high rate of endemism and habitat diversity is a striking feature of the Mediterranean flora [13,14], making the Mediterranean basin a key area for the long-term conservation of genetic and taxonomic diversity [15].The tree flora of the Mediterranean basin is also remarkable for its diversity and its ecology. It is composed of 74 genera. A significant subset of 64 occur in Mediterranean Europe, with 210 tree species, 30 of which being endemics, often narrowly restricted [16••]. The geologic and climatic events of the Tertiary, Pleistocene, and Holocene are responsible for this wealth of diversity in modern Mediterranean forests, despite (and sometimes because of) significant human impact [15, 17, 18••, 19, 20, 21]. The resulting geomorphologic, topographic, and geographic complexity of the region also led to significantly diverse genetic lineages [22,23,24].Mediterranean forests and the biodiversity they shelter have adapted to unique climatic factors, such as pronounced bi-seasonality characterized by drought episodes unfavorable to growth during the warm summer season and large year to year variation in total rainfall [25]. They have also endured millennia-long human impact, mainly fragmentation and overexploitation for multiple goods and services, including land use change for agriculture and grazing [13,26].There were an estimated 88 million hectares (ha) of forest area in Mediterranean countries in 2015, representing 2.2% of the world's total forest area of 4.06 billion ha [2 ••]. Forests of Southern Europe represent 73% of the Mediterranean total, while 18% are in west Asia and 9% in North Africa [27].Adopting a more restricted bioclimatic point of view, Mediterranean type forests span circa 25.5 million ha, with an additional circa 50 million ha of scrubland and open forests that are common vegetation types in the Mediterranean [28]. These formations have expanded at a net rate of 0.85% per year between 1990 and 2010, mostly as a result of natural expansion (0.67% per year), with reforestation contributing 0.23% per year to this expansion. Deforestation remains at the low level of 0.05% per year, although it is trending upwards [28].Despite an overall expansion, over 5 million hectares of forests were lost during the 2000-2020 period, of which the vast majority occurred during the second decade of the period. Almost two-thirds of forest cover loss occurred in southwestern Europe, and was mainly due to windstorms and wildfires, possibly aggravated by climate change, but also due to forestry activities. Land clearing for agriculture and urbanization was a major driver of forest loss in southern and eastern Mediterranean countries (Global Forest Watch, https:// www. globa lfore stwat ch. org/, accessed June 2021). Forest degradation where forest is overexploited as cattle range or for fuelwood, and increasing risks where forests are abandoned, are important sources of concern in the region [28]. Climate change is now the most recent of human impacts of significance for Mediterranean forests [29]. In an era of emerging \"mega-disturbances\" [30] when several main drivers of change are acting simultaneously and disturbance is increased by climate change, the hyperdiverse Mediterranean Basin is particularly vulnerable and at risk of biodiversity loss [29,31,32,33], especially its forests, in spite of their current expansion [26,28].Genetic diversity, the heritable diversity within and between individuals and populations, was not a strategic research priority for Mediterranean forests during the decade 2011-2020 [34]. Keywords linked to forest genetics research remained rather inconspicuous in the bibliometric analysis of Nardi et al. [35] and were embedded within the research domain of biodiversity and conservation. However, genetic diversity is now widely recognized not only as underpinning ecosystem functioning, but also as strategic for biodiversity conservation and sustainable management [36,37,38,39    ], including in the Mediterranean [25,41]. Despite its foundational role in adaptation and resilience of ecosystems, genetic diversity has not received full attention in biodiversity research, as well as in natural resource management and policy-making worldwide [42,43]. The indicators developed to facilitate biodiversity conservation and management based on genetic diversity are rarely adopted and genetic diversity is too rarely considered as a valid criterion for planning and designating protected areas [44,45,46].Yet, forest tree genetic research worldwide has made very significant progress during the decade 2011-2020. Among others, new computational and genotyping/sequencing methods have emerged, species identification and population profiling have increased many folds, focus on the role of small-scale genetic diversity patterns in species adaptation and demography has risen sharply, and the importance of demography and selection in local to global patterns has been better understood [47,48,49,50 To quantitatively and qualitatively assess what were the main forest genetics research topics of the past decades in Mediterranean countries, and to identify trends, we performed a bibliometric analysis that was complemented by a qualitative analysis, based on our own expert knowledge, considering that bibliometric analyses do not capture a significant amount of knowledge produced in non-referenced scientific journals in national languages. Here, we define as Mediterranean countries those with at least part of their territory with a Mediterranean bioclimate [16••, 51] or those that belong to the FAO Committee on Mediterranean Forestry Questions -Silva Mediterranea (Fig. 1). Relevant scientific publications (not including grey literature) on forest tree genetics published during the period 1991-2020 were retrieved from the online Scopus database (https:// www. scopus. com), October 11, 2021 [52].The scientific literature was queried using the Scopus' advanced search tool to find specific terms in an article's title, abstract, and authors' keywords [53]. The terms we used in the search queries were selected from a subset of 100 scientific publications, individually selected for their relevance to the field of forest genetics in the Southern European, west Asian, and north African part of the Mediterranean biome (i.e., the Mediterranean region [51]). We verified our selected keywords by running a preliminary query. We then enriched our list of keywords based on the additional terms that emerged from the preliminary query. We then further refined the list by excluding terms associated to other disciplines (medicine, zoology, etc.). The criteria followed for the selection of terms and the details of each query can be viewed in Supplementary File S1. We expect no significant bias from our search methodology (Supplementary File S1).After obtaining a definitive list of search terms, we first carried out a general search of articles in order to run a comparative analysis between Mediterranean (QUERY1-1) and global (QUERY1-2) forest genetics research trends. We then performed a more refined search (QUERY2) of the publications of Mediterranean countries by incorporating into the query, country names (those of Fig. 1), and the tree genera of the Mediterranean region. Finally, we built QUERY3 to compare publication outputs in the field of forest genetics (QUERY2) with that of the field of forest ecology in Mediterranean countries. The details of the queries can be found in Supplementary File S1. The details of the filtering and validation processes can be found in Supplementary File S2. The details of the bibliometric analysis methods are in Supplementary File S3 while the thesaurus we created to curate our authors' keyword database is in Supplementary File S4.To assess the evolution of the research field over time in Mediterranean countries, the dataset of QUERY2 was split into the three sub-periods: 1991-2000; 2001-2010; 2011-2020, the latter one corresponding to the decade that the Mediterranean Forest Research Agenda (MFRA) of the European Forest Institute (EFI) addresses [34]. We first compared the total publication output on forest genetics of Mediterranean countries (QUERY1-1, 353 documents) with that of all countries combined (QUERY1-2, 12756 documents). Overall, the Mediterranean forest genetics research represents only 2.8% of the global output of publications on forest genetics. Figure 2 shows that during the first decade, Mediterranean countries accounted for 1.1% of the worldwide publication production in forest genetics (16 out of 1430). This fraction became 3.4% (119 out of 3507) in the second decade and decreased slightly to 2.8% in the last decade (218 out of 7819). Trends in publication rates increased at the same pace overall between 1991 and 2020 worldwide and in Mediterranean countries (Fig. 2). Mediterranean publications associated with the second decade, more specifically from 2003 to 2011 (Fig. 2), experienced an increased pace. It could be due to the discovery of new molecular biology technologies worldwide during the first decade of our analysis and implemented into Mediterranean research with a slight delay during the second decade, such as the very popular and efficient microsatellite markers (e.g., simple sequence repeat (SSR) [54]).The specific query for forest genetics research in Mediterranean countries (QUERY2) retrieved 1548 validated publications (2109 before filtering and validation). This scientific production is very modest compared to the other non-genetic domains (QUERY3, 40399 publications), representing only 3.8 to 5.2% of the total forest research output of Mediterranean countries.The share of publications from Asia and Africa to the Mediterranean total increased during the 30-year period analyzed (Fig. 3). The increasing trend for west Asia and north Africa compared to Europe over the three decades could be due to an increase in the description of genetic resources of regional or local importance for forestry, food security, and health (e.g., [55,56,57]). During the last decade of 2011-2020, the number of publications for Mediterranean Asia, Africa, and Europe represented respectively the 21.6%, 7.9%, and 70.4% of the total amount of published articles (boxed graph in Fig. 3).To assess the temporal trajectory of selected topics within the broader categories of scientific literature on forest genetics in Mediterranean countries, we first built a network map of keyword co-occurrences over the entire 30-year period (Fig. 4, see methods in Supplementary File S1) using QUERY2 (1548 publications). The minimum threshold defined for any given keyword to be included was its occurrence in at least 40 publications. Thus, 30 out of the 2945 keywords in the thesaurus were used to build a co-occurrence network (Fig. 4). These terms represent the most important topics addressed by the forest tree genetics community in Mediterranean countries. A similar number of keywords are often used in bibliometric analyses as it improves map visualization without losing significant information [58,59]. Supplementary Table S1 reports the statistics associated to each keyword and cluster.  Genetic diversity within population and differentiation among populations represent thus the major field of forest genetics research for the Mediterranean countries. Within this red cluster 1, the most frequent keywords were \"Withinpop diversity,\" \"Differentiation,\" \"SSR,\" and \"Conservation\" (Supplementary Table S1). Specifically, \"Within-pop diversity\" occupies a central position in the network (Fig. 4) suggesting that it frequently co-occurs with terms that belong to the other two clusters (highest total link strength of 852, Supplementary Table S1). On the contrary, the blue cluster 3, which refers to studies on biogeography and phylogeny, counts only 4 specific keywords out of the 30 selected. However, they score the highest citation rate with an average value of 55.13, suggesting that highly appreciated articles were published within this field and that they are foundational for the research community.The green cluster 2 addresses topics associated with environmental conditions and adaptation; recurring terms are \"Drought stress,\" \"Climate change,\" \"Growth,\" and \"Biodiversity.\" Its lowest value of link strength (96.08) suggests that it is not as well connected as the other two clusters, representing a somewhat isolated topic of forest genetics research. This could be due to the fact that is the most recently investigated field of research (average of publication year is mid-2011, as opposed to early 2010 for the other two clusters, Supplementary Table S1). The keywords belonging to the green cluster 2, such as \"climate change\" and \"drought stress,\" have the most recent average year of publication (respectively, \"2013.54\" and \"2013.07,\" Supplementary Table S1).In the following sub-sections, we analyze how topics deemed of high importance by our co-authorship are takenup in publications and link to the main clusters and trends of the bibliometric analysis.Throughout the period examined in our literature search, studies aimed at describing genetic diversity were initiated, updated, and completed in many ecologically and economically important Mediterranean and climatically sub-Mediterranean forest trees species, either widespread or of local interest, in some cases for the first time (e.g., [60,61]). The three most studied species were also among the most economically important species in Southern Europe: Pinus pinaster, Quercus suber, and Pinus sylvestris (Fig. 5). They were targeted by 502 publications overall, corresponding to almost 33% of all Mediterranean research outputs found (1548). Studies were based on biochemical and modern molecular techniques, but also on more traditional morphometric research approaches mainly in common gardens. They included the study of growth and adaptationrelated traits, in relation to climate change (Supplementary Table S1, Fig. 4). For the 10 most studied tree species presented in Fig. 5, the genetics literature (QUERY2) represented less than 8% of the total (QUERY3) on average, with a low 3% for Quercus ilex and a high 20% for Populus nigra (data not shown).Many marginal populations of widespread or endemic temperate species are found in the Mediterranean region. Marginal populations are characterized by habitats that are Fig. 5 Changes in cumulative annual publications for the most studied forest tree species. The total in 2020 is the number of publications retrieved for a species during the period 1991-2020. The method for constructing the graph is explained in Supplementary File S4 at the edges of species ranges, where conditions may be less suitable for survival and reproduction, and where specific adaptations presumably occur [62]. Thus, the conservation and sustainable use of these populations pose challenges that require the support of research. COST Action FP1202 (2012-2016) brought together research groups from Europe and Mediterranean countries interested in characterizing and exploring the genetic composition of these populations. It concluded that conservation policies should take marginal and peripheral populations into account, for their conservation and sustainable use. The adaptive potential of the genetic resources found in these populations was considered of relevance and importance for restoration projects and breeding programs [63].Our bibliometric analysis shows that this topic has yet to gain importance. Although its average citation is within the range of citations of most keywords (Supplementary Table S1), the keyword \"Marginal population\" appears only in 13 articles with an average publication year centered on mid-2010 (Fig. 6). The keyword \"Marginal population\" is mostly connected with the red cluster 1 \"Population diversity and differentiation\" (box of Fig. 6, Fig. 4, Supplementary Table S1), but also to the blue cluster 3, \"Phylogeography\" (box of Fig. 6, Fig. 4). Seven out of the 13 publications connected to the \"Marginal population\" keyword concerned non-Mediterranean species, indicating an interest for populations located at the rear-edge (sensu [17]) of European distributions, as much as for marginality within the Mediterranean region itself (e.g., [64,65,66]). Finally, and interestingly, there was no marked connection with stress or climate related keywords (Fig. 6).The exploration of FGR also benefited from technological advances (see keywords in Fig. 4 and their date of average occurrence in Figs. 6 and 8). Moving from isozymes to highly polymorphic molecular markers such as SSR was widespread over the period examined, with research groups sharing the technical load of developing species-specific markers. Progress was also made in the field of genomics, Fig. 6 Co-occurrence network of the 30 most frequent authors' keywords for the 30-year time frame (1991-2020) connected to the keyword \"marginal populations,\" with a time-trend perspective. Circle and link colors indicate the average publication year of the articles in which the relative keyword occurs. The font and circle size of each keyword is proportional to the number of documents in which a keyword occurs; lines indicate co-occurrence links between terms, while line width is indicative of the link strength between two terms (number of publications in which two keywords occur together). The table on the top-right of the figure reports statistics of the keywords to which the term \"Marginal populations\" is most related (see Supplementary Table S1 for a description of the headers) benefiting from a worldwide technological trend. Yet, very few tree species genomes are fully described and sequenced, two of which are of Mediterranean species with agronomic importance: Prunus avium and Olea europaea [21,67,68,69]. However, new genotyping/sequencing methods (exome capture, SPET technology, RADseq, etc.) were used in many Mediterranean species to characterize within and among population diversity and attempt at disentangling the effects of selection and drift on species and population evolution through time and space (e.g., [70,71]).Although not specific to the Mediterranean region, genetic monitoring has emerged as a key research subject, for example, to safeguard a declining biodiversity in EU countries (e.g., EU projects LifeGenMon and GenTree). Its conceptualization is based on a genecological framework and relies on the characterization of a minimum number of indicators and verifiers [72,73]. Despite recent progress [74], many challenges remain, mainly in its implementation and acceptance by forest management and other stakeholders [75].The green cluster 2 (Fig. 4) is the most recently appeared cluster (mid-2011, Supplementary Table S1). It shows a clear connection between trait description, breeding, and adaptation (Supplementary Table S1). The keyword \"Breeding\" occurs 58 times and it is linked with 26 other terms (see Table of Fig. 7 for keywords with the strongest relationships). This connection varies in time, with breeding being more connected to population genetic descriptors during the decade 2011-2020, or disappearing entirely from the network during the decade 2001-2010 (average date for breeding is 2011.59). A main trend of change in genetic research has been from looking for promising genotypes for plantations to characterizing forest reproductive material (FRM) for the adaptation of forests to climate change and the mitigation of risks (Fig. 7). Thus, the link between breeding and drought resistance appears relatively late in our analysis (Fig. 7), indicating an increasing recognition   that drought resistance is a key trait for the production of new forest reproductive material adapted to climate change.Common gardens, where the phenotypic traits of FRM of different genetic origins are compared in a common environment, have been a major tool for testing adaptation to varying and changing environments, enabling breeding [76•]. Research breakthroughs during the last decade of the period analyzed made possible the revision of recommendations for use of FRM in some countries, so as to include climate change considerations, i.e., mostly where to source FRM that might best adapt to a changed mid-twenty-first century climate (for France, see https:// agric ulture. gouv. fr/ grain eset-plants-fores tiers-conse ils-dutil isati on-des-prove nanceset-varie tes-fores tieres).Most Mediterranean countries rely on natural regeneration and un-improved seed from identified seed stands for planting. However, breeding using multiple trait selection schemes and multiple environment testing is increasingly seen as a way to cope with climate change and to accelerate/anticipate adaptation measures (Fig. 7). Pinus pinaster remains the only example of a species with a long-developed breeding program (France, and more recently Italy, Morocco, Portugal, and Spain) backed by a strong stakeholder community [77]. Other breeding programs exist also for pines, such as, for example, for Pinus brutia (Turkey), Pinus halepensis (Greece, Morocco, Spain, and Turkey), Pinus pinea (Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, and Turkey), P. nigra (France, Greece, Spain, and Turkey), and P. sylvestris (France, Greece, Spain, and Turkey). However, most of these breeding programs do not consider drought or pest resistance as their main target [78].In low-input breeding programs, traditional and expensive long-term recurrent mating among elite lines is replaced by rapid selection of wild material using provenance tests and short-term surveys and/or easily acquired genomic data for phenotypic prediction or fingerprinting [42,47,79,80]. Interest for low-input breeding is growing for numerous disseminated broadleaves such as Castanea sativa, Prunus avium, and Juglans regia, or conifers such as Pinus pinea [78]. Low-input breeding can be taken up by NGOs and can bring value to clonal archives. In France for example, seed orchards based on high diversity for increased resilience, rather than improved traits for production, built directly from provenance, progeny, or clonal tests, are emerging (for species such as Cedrus atlantica, Abies cephalonica, Pinus nigra subsp. salzmanni).Research on the evolutionary and demographic history of tree species present in the Mediterranean Basin, their Holocene colonization routes from refugia, and the identification of localized refugia in the Mediterranean refugial region (the \"refugia-within-refugia\" concept [81]), is the third major cluster of scientific interest for forest genetics in the Mediterranean (Fig. 4, blue cluster 3). This cluster developed as early as the red cluster 1 (early 2010, average date \"2010.10,\" Supplementary Table S1) and benefited strongly from the development of low effective population size and uniparentally inherited molecular markers [82], the formulation of the coalescent theory [83], and the development of computational tools (e.g., ABC simulations [84]). It is the most highly cited cluster of the three, probably because patterns described in Mediterranean tree species are applicable to other taxa and because the Mediterranean peninsulas were the glacial refugia of most European tree species [85].Phylogeny also belongs to the blue cluster 3, probably because classical timed molecular phylogenies, based usually on low copy nuclear genes and/or mainly plastid DNA markers, have traditionally been used for reconstructing biogeographic patterns within geological time-frames [86,87,88]. During the period, and although paleoecology does not appear as a major keyword in Fig. 4, fossil pollen and/or macrofossil data were often coupled with phylogeographic surveys to investigate spatial distribution of extant genealogically linked lineages [89, 90, 91, 92, 93 •] and ancient DNA was used to further reconstruct detailed evolutionary and demographic history of species [94,95]. Also, phylogenetic approaches have been used in a spatial context to identify regions of high phylogenetic endemism [14•].Interest in the investigation of phylogeographic patterns in Mediterranean tree species has slowed down over the 30-year period examined (Fig. 3). Yet, although refugial areas, often located in the Mediterranean [15,96], and main Holocene colonization routes are known for European and sometimes for Mediterranean African and Asian species (e.g., [92,97]), phylogeographic patterns are often not available at time scales long enough to identify significant events older than the Last Glacial Maximum [18••]. Neither are they available at spatial scales fine enough to help identify refugia and to assist with the design of conservation networks [89,98]. They are also far from being available for all Mediterranean species [99].Forest fires constitute one of the main drivers of tree mortality and forest cover loss in Mediterranean countries [100]. The long-term impact of forest fires can explain speciation in Mediterranean trees [101] and the low genetic diversity found in thermophilic, obligatory seeding species, such as pines [23]. Also, a clear genetic signature of natural selection for serotiny, a major fire-response trait, has been demonstrated [102]. Yet, research on this topic has been limited and fire does not appear as a major keyword of the forest genetics literature (Fig. 4, Supplementary Table S1).The keyword \"Fire\" is mostly connected with keywords of the green cluster 2. Its mean publication period is around late 2009 (Fig. 8), indicating a comparatively early, albeit restricted, interest in forest genetics. The keyword \"Fire\" occurred in only 10 articles and is linked to 29 other keywords; however, the strength of these connections is quite low. Figure 8 and its related table indicate a shift of research focus from selection and measurement of diversity to drought and climate change, potentially because of an increased interest in the correlation between drought and fire in a climate change context. Although weak, a link exists with the blue cluster 2 (see phylogeny in Fig. 8), indicating an interest for studying the role of fire and fire-response traits in evolutionary patterns of Mediterranean trees (e.g., [101]).Under strong threats, ex situ conservation in the form of stands, conservation seed orchards, seed banks, or planted archives becomes a priority [103]. Yet, research on how to design core collections and manage long-term seed viability does not appear as a major keyword (Supplementary Table S1). Most countries manage sizeable networks of common gardens, dating from the 1960s to 1980s that were originally designed for breeding rather than conservation but can be considered as ex situ resources. There is scarce research on seed orchards that both conserve genetic resources ex situ and produce seeds for restoration projects or commercial plantations [104]. Finally, raised awareness of the importance of native genetic resources, possibly spurred by the adoption of the 2011 United Nations Nagoya protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing of genetic resources, has increased research on describing, mapping, conserving, and using native genetic resources [55,56,57,60,61,63,74], including for urban planning [105,106,107,108].Overall, \"Within population diversity\" and \"Differentiation\" (of the red cluster 1 \"Population diversity and Differentiation,\" Table 1) were the most frequently used keywords, keeping Fig. 8 Co-occurrence network of the 30 most frequent author keywords for the 30-year time frame (1991-2020) connected to the keyword \"fire,\" with a time-trend perspective. Circle and link colors indicate the average publication year of the articles in which the relative keyword occurs. The font and circle size of each keyword is proportional to the number of documents in which a keyword occurs; lines indicate co-occurrence links between terms, while line width is indicative of the link strength between two terms (number of publications in which two keywords occur together). The table on the top-right of the figure reports statistics of the keywords to which the term \"Fire\" is most related (see Supplementary Table S1 for a description of the headers) their respective first and third place across all three decades (Table 1). They were the corner stone of forest tree genetics research in the Mediterranean area, demonstrating an interest for both population level and landscape or range-wide genetic patterns and processes. Other keywords increased in frequency with time. The advancement of modern technologies and analytical potential can explain the exponential increase of the \"SSR\" term from 3% during the 1990-2000 decade to over 19% during the 2011-2020 decade (from 21st to second position, Table 1). During the last decade, keywords such as \"Climate Change\" and \"Drought stress\" (of the green cluster 2 \"Environmental conditions, growth and stress response,\" Table 1) also significantly increased their frequency (from 0.7% each during the 1990-2000 decade to 4.0% and 6.0% during the 2011-2020 decade, respectively), changing their ranking from 30th (both) to 10th and 6th, respectively (Table 1). Conversely, keywords related to biochemical techniques (isozymes), techniques proven unreliable (RAPD), or with limited genetic control (morphological traits) significantly decreased in frequency and ranking with time (Table 1).Table 1 The 20 most frequently used keywords per decade. The table aggregates 34 keywords across the three decades studied. Keywords are ordered based on their overall number of occurrences (period 1990-2020). The table shows keyword cluster ID (based on Fig. 4) their number of occurrences, their percentage of contribution to the total number of occurrences overall and per decade (total is higher than 100% due to co-occurrences), and their ranking (R)Cluster There are multiple threats affecting Mediterranean forest genetic resources. These threats are likely to continue increasing and intensifying. They include the following: climate change, leading to increased recurrent drought episodes, water vapor deficit, and heat waves; urban development, agriculture, and other land use changes associated with human demographic increase and resource mining, increased frequency and severity of disturbances, such as forest fragmentation, forest fires, and outbreak of pests and diseases [28]. During the past decades, forest genetics research has closely reflected these growing societal and environmental challenges (Supplementary Table S1). We now use the dynamics of past research interests evidenced by our bibliometric analysis as well as our own expectations and expertise as a basis for proposing research perspectives in the field of forest genetics for the upcoming decade.Efforts at exploring, describing, and characterizing genetic diversity have certainly been carried out during the last decades, assessing genetic diversity within, and differentiation among populations, mostly for biogeographic and conservation purposes (Table 1, Fig. 4). Efforts have intensified in the Eastern and Southern Mediterranean during the most recent decade (Fig. 3). Yet, the hyper diverse tree flora of the Mediterranean basin [16••], which includes non-timber tree species of known or unknown economic value, is far from being fully explored, particularly in the Eastern and Southern Mediterranean. Thus, research should continue investigating fine scale species distribution and focus on their mapping (including threatened populations), taxonomic delineation (including genome-wide DNA barcode approaches), community composition, environmental variability, and genomic make-up [109]. The genetic diversity of under-used species and ecologically marginal and geographically peripheral populations, particularly, deserve further description of their genetic diversity, adaptive capacity, and phenotypic plasticity, thus bridging research interests from all three clusters (Fig. 4). Although proof is accumulating that they may contain rare, unique, and original adaptive genetic diversity [62] and that they may act as warning signals for emerging threats, their contribution to the overall diversity and resilience of species is still unclear. Several benefits can be derived from the adoption of FGR management practices based on thorough genetic diversity descriptions. Better descriptions will improve science-based decision-making, for example, for determining areas where protection efforts (i.e., diversity hotspots) and restoration efforts (i.e., diversity cold spots) should increase [14 •, 110]. Descriptions of multi-proxy patterns of diversity (taxonomic, functional, phylogenetic, genetic, e.g., [111]) will improve and optimize gene conservation networks [112••] and help selection of new material for breeding (\"climatesmart\" material), for example, in areas of high proxy congruence, in addition to guiding the sampling protocols for ex situ conservation in national gene banks. Better descriptions will also enable forest nurseries to diversify the FRM available for afforestation and restoration. Increasing the mapping of taxonomic and genetic diversity will also improve DNA tracking systems for testing the geographic origin and composition of FRM in nurseries and plantations, in the wood trading industry, for certification, and for detecting undesired exotic material in protected habitats. It will thus contribute to bridging the still wide knowledge transfer gap between forest genetics research, policymaking, and management [113].Genomics of climate change traits should be the new direction, focusing on genes underlying traits such as drought, fire, insect and pest resistance and tolerance, increased phenotypic plasticity, and diversified microbiota-to improve our understanding of the genotype-phenotype-climate relationships and species adaptive space under changing environmental conditions (thus connecting more strongly the three research domains of Fig. 4). It is thus likely that, with the advent of the genome wide association studies (GWAS), interest in morphological traits will re-gain momentum (Table 1). What are the thresholds of collapse and extirpation remains a question of critical importance. Thus, better and faster phenotyping of traits meaningful for fitness and adaptation under rapidly changing conditions is the technological challenge to resolve, including the improvement of genomic predictions for breeding and conservation. In addition, the current genomic structure of natural populations holds precious information on the influence of past drivers of change. To learn from the past, probable demographic scenarios and signatures of selection should be tested in as many species as possible, regionally or range wide.An enabling condition for the subsequent steps of testing ( § 3-2) and modeling ( § 3-3) is data availability. Yet, sharing data while protecting the intellectual property rights and sharing of benefits of data to resource owners is challenging. Sharing of archived data, broad collaboration, co-analysis of archived or neglected data, and open access databases are needed to draw new, solid, and generalizable conclusions, and so are research infrastructures connecting genetic diversity sites (GCUs, common gardens) with climate and environment monitoring devices. Transnational networking is needed more than ever (species habitats exist and move as climate changes across borders) at the scale of the Mediterranean basin, a non-politically integrated space where the support from regional institutions such as FAO Silva Mediterranea, EFIMED, and others is required. Conversely, data from management are strongly needed to upscale and broaden research findings [114]. Currently, such shared databases do not exist, and despite worthwhile efforts to archive data in open access repositories, forestry research and management are lagging behind. Data papers and creative commons licensing for old and new description data are a real opportunity for Mediterranean research and researchers that deserve recognition for their invaluable descriptive work (see for example the data papers published by the EU Horizon 2020 GenTree project [115,116,117]). Finally, there is a need for very precise metadata and to constantly improve data quality with clearly defined metadata standards with protocol descriptions and clearly defined data standards following minimum requirements (e.g., minimum sampling size, access to raw data for re-use).Results from exploration, description, and characterization of genetic diversity are needed on their own. They are also needed for testing and experimenting new and little explored dimensions of forest tree species adaptation. Are today's keystone species resilient? What is the pace and the spatial scale of local adaptation? How do demography and selection interact? To what extent do gene flow and hybridization which increase intraspecific genetic variation, facilitate, or prevent local adaptation? What role does the microbiota play in adaptation and to what extent is this microbiota affected by pollution (especially soil)? Such key questions require answers, not only because of their relevance for science, but also to improve species distribution models together with our understanding of resilience and its modification via silviculture [48,49,50,118].One of the methodological solutions for this is the planning and establishment of a new generation of common gardens with extended coverage of genetic diversity, habitats, and traits. High-resolution data such as those provided by satellite imagery are promising for accessing environmental information. Common gardens, although an old tool [119], remain particularly relevant as \"space-for-time\" experiments. While data from existing common gardens will continue to be of interest, particularly in the most challenging climates of Mediterranean Asia and Africa, we should acknowledge that they were designed and built at times of stable (or considered so) climate, mostly focusing on then promising genotypes for plantation forestry [42, 76 •]. Thus, new common gardens are needed, testing new species, new lineages, and genotypes, in new and potentially harsher habitats, for new usage and traits of interest for the bioeconomy, not just for the Mediterranean region, but also in a broader temperate perspective as the Mediterranean climate is progressing to higher altitudes and latitudes under a climatechanged future [29,120].Testing risks in common gardens, including at early life stages in both nursery and natural conditions, is of key importance. Among recurring risks, and one that will likely increase, is drought stress, which went from being considered a topic of low concern to one of the top 10 topics of interest in the most recent decade (Table 1). Genomics of drought has moved from detecting single genes via random screening approaches [121] to not only identifying populations and lineages with potential adaptations, but also characterizing genes and gene networks involved in drought tolerance and resistance [76•, 122•]. Similarly, biotic interactions are likely to shift, increasing risks of insect and disease outbreaks. For example, bark beetles are generally considered as secondary pests that target stressed and weakened trees facing climate, soil, water, or pathogen stresses, but some species (primary pests) or some outbreaking populations of secondary pests can also attack and kill healthy trees [123]. This might lead to changing disturbance cycles, altered competition, and facilitation processes and possibly, to entirely new succession cycles and community composition.New species and genotypes to test should be those likely to be \"climate change winners\" (including small and marginal populations as well as isolated trees, potentially adapted to extreme site condition, obtained from identified sources) and those likely to spread northward and to higher altitude. Also of importance are species for which the main interest may be other than wood production, such as those producing edible crops and health or green-chemistry-related compounds, or those with high ornamental value or high resistance to fire, erosion, or other biotic or abiotic risks. New genotypes for commercially important species should be selected from trees growing at ecological margins, both risking extirpation and being at the forefront of colonization. Habitats tested should also include ecological margins, while genetic material should be tested in replicated ways, including under controlled conditions in growth chambers and nurseries, to identify the factors driving earlystage genetic diversity patterns (demography and/or selection). The impact of nursery practices (culling, etc.) on the genetic variation of the produced FRM is also of concern and needs to be addressed.Climate change \"losers\" should not be forgotten either. Whereas their habitat may shrink dramatically according to niche modeling, new areas will become favorable and genotypes and lineages that are likely to disappear under climate change in some areas may be the winners in other areas [124,  125 •]. While genomic prediction and offset can be of help for such predictions [126], common garden experiments are needed as well for ground-proofing, both in habitats that are likely to disappear (for example in Mediterranean Asia and Africa), as well as in those that are likely to become favorable, so as to correctly and thoroughly test for general and local adaptations.Finally, medium-to large-scale planting and restoration operations by the public and private sectors (forest companies), either conducted using local material or in the form of assisted migration plantations, using exotic or alternative provenance(s) in habitats of potential future suitability, can de facto be considered as valuable tests and demonstrators, to support upscaling common garden results, providing information on reproductive material selection (which origins succeed and which fail) and raising awareness of the importance of genetic diversity for adaptation. This exciting and original perspective of using everyday forestry practice as an experiment of adaptive potentials demands that passport (precise geographic origin of the material mostly) and performance data are safeguarded and shared. This is probably the most challenging element of this perspective.Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement of December 2015, forests worldwide are expected to provide both mitigation and adaptation solutions to anthropogenic disturbances. Yet, climate change is increasingly disrupting forests, sometimes severely in the form of massive die back, along with the benefits they provide to humans [127,128]. Science is expected to provide solutions for their adaptive capacity, including via genetic adaptation, and to evaluate controversial management solutions that are starting to emerge such as assisted migration, species replacement and the use of nonnative species, enrichment of natural forests via small scale plantation of expected climate change winners, composite provenancing, and targeted provenancing (see definitions in [129,130]). All of these strategies to mitigate the expected effects of climate change contain some level of risk for the delivery of services, which science is asked and expected to evaluate [129]. These risks include biological invasions, disruption of local adaptation, and changes of dependent microbiota, maladaptation, and outbreeding depression.In this context, forest tree species of the Mediterranean basin and their different gene pools are considered valuable genetic resources not just locally, but also for non-Mediterranean regions and countries, whose climate is predicted to evolve towards a Mediterranean-like climate by the end of the twenty-first century [131]. Thus, modeling the adaptive capacity of Mediterranean forest genetic resources has a far-reaching global interest. The modeling of current and expected species distribution ranges using ecological niche models that include processes (plasticity, phenology, dispersal, etc.) and increasingly complex and high-resolution environmental data [132,133,134] is one way of progressing in this domain.Process-based biophysical models that take genetic diversity into consideration are also still needed to understand how genetic diversity, demography, and ecophysiological processes interact to mitigate collapse by water stress, pests and diseases, heat, frost, etc., all of which can occur over relatively short spatial and temporal scales [135]. This effort in the Mediterranean countries can be fueled mainly from monitoring of common garden data. Another area of development from such models is breeding. New generations of (low-) breeding programs incorporating diversity, resilience, and resistance to risks as an added (or alternate) goal to traditional biomass and wood production can and should emerge from an increased understanding of the phenotype-genotype-environment relationships and interactions. Finally, these models would also be very appropriate to test how forest management influences genetic diversity and vice versa, how genetic diversity benefits management for resilience, as experimenting in this field can be quite complicated (but see [136]).Forests are a defining element of both the natural landscape and the economy of Mediterranean countries, with genetic diversity a pillar of their biodiversity. Yet, research on forest genetics has remained modest in comparison to overall forest research in Mediterranean countries. During the next 10 years, the Mediterranean forest research community should have a prominent role in describing, testing, and modeling genetic diversity, understanding how severe threats due to climate change and other human activities can be mitigated, benefiting from high local and landscape heterogeneity (Fig. 9). One avenue for this could be to better cross-fertilize the currently compartmentalized three distinct research clusters that define the community of forest geneticists, based on our analysis, using common hypotheses and compatible methods, and linking results across clusters (Fig. 9). Its sharp local climate and ecological transitions make the Mediterranean region one of the most appropriate in the world to study microevolution (under different gene flow regimes), identify past and present drivers leading to the emergence of marginal populations, and evaluate the links between genotypes, phenotypes, and climatic drivers constraining tree growth, reproductive output and fitness, and, ultimately, adaptation [137, 138, 139, There is a clear gap that needs filling between north, south, and east Mediterranean forest genetics knowledge. European forest tree species tend to be more fully described, tested, and modeled despite the importance of southern and eastern Mediterranean species in a region of the world with rapidly changing climate and strong pressures on biodiversity. The Mediterranean is not an integrated political arena and it does not benefit from a common framework that could shape agreements towards a common research goal. Integrating forest genetics research among EU and non-EU countries of the Mediterranean remains a challenge. Well-recognized institutions and programs, such as EUFORGEN (hosted by EFI), the PRIMA foundation, FAO Silva Mediterranea, the intergovernmental Union for the Mediterranean, and the European Union research framework programs, should take a leading role at fostering this research integration.Mediterranean forest social-ecological systems have been shown to be particularly sensitive to forest policy management scenarios in their response to climate change [141,142,143,144]. The lack of FGR-based management could be due both to missing knowledge and research, missing transfer of scientific knowledge to managers and policy makers [113]. The Mediterranean forest genetics research community thus has a leading role in meeting the needs of forest management based on the principles of multifunctional forest use, proposing sustainable management strategies for FGR in a highly heterogeneous landscape where forest ecosystems can be either resilient or declining. In doing so, the Mediterranean forest genetics research community will significantly contribute to many of the key commitments of EUFORGEN's recently published European Forest Genetic Resources Strategy [145], including improving information on, conservation of, and sustainable use of forest genetic resources.Finally, Mediterranean forests have been managed as multifunctional social-ecological systems for millennia, producing not just timber and fuel-wood but also many non-wood products and services, such as wild edible species important for food security [146,147,148]. As a multistakeholder social-ecosystem, forests are an ideal model for building participatory research approaches and study usage conflicts such as conservation with or without management and conservation vs exploitation [149], thus contributing to resolving the combined objectives of production, resilience, sustainability, and biodiversity protection. The Mediterranean Forest research community should increase efforts towards conducting cutting-edge multidisciplinary research and innovation in the area of sustainable management of FGR for traditional and new bioeconomy usage, under the pressure of climate change [150]. Multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary prospective work is needed, using IPCC scenarios as baselines, but moving beyond solutions limited to market economy paradigms which have up to now led to a rather unsustainable use of natural resources [151,152]. The "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0ccd333a0f8bf94b989c8b3b93a6106b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/96fb57d6-3c9e-47e7-87ae-03a0d0ed72e9/retrieve","id":"-1894995792"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"061243e6-b632-4d49-9ef4-37d38395793f","content":"Although most small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa play a crucial role in conserving traditional crop varieties, some farmers, known as \"custodian farmers,\" stand out by their commitment to preserving a wide diversity of crop varieties, including rare and endangered species/varieties. They also act as custodians of intergenerational traditional knowledge related to planting, conservation, preparation, and use of these crops1.Identify and characterize custodian farmers dedicated to Bambara groundnut and Sorrel cultivation.conserved by these custodian farmers.3.Investigate conservation methods utilized by these farmers for landrace seeds.  Before data collection, we engaged with local authorities and held village assemblies to introduce the project. Data collection Two distinct focus group discussions (FGDs) in every villageone for men and another for women. Individual semi-structured interviews was conducted with each identified custodian farmer. ❑ Six traditional landraces identified ❑ Criteria for identification: calyx size and plant color ❑ Short calyx landrace: \"Bii\"/ Long calyx landrace: \"Wegda\" In some villages, custodian farmers have a special focus on preserving specific plant species or varieties due to their deep cultural and/or medicinal importance, which has been passed down through generations. An example is the cultivation of Bambara groundnut, which is predominantly carried out by the elderly population as it holds significant traditional and ritualistic value in certain communities. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"948b18cb7ea61690d664f0caa59c5c4c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2283fe75-f376-4682-8bdf-36e4a754af01/retrieve","id":"-996066186"},"keywords":["Climate change","semi-arid areas","gridded climate data"],"sieverID":"a2442240-d70c-4aca-b499-8a22ff17ee19","content":"Climate change is one of the major challenges in 21 st century faced by Agriculture in India, more so in the Semi-Arid Tropics (SAT) of the country. In recent years, natural and anthropogenic factors have impacted climate variability and contributed to a large extent to climate change. Based on one degree gridded data of India Meteorological Department (IMD) for 34 years , climatic water balances are computed for 351 pixels in India and used for classifying in to six climate types following Thornthwaite's moisture regime classification and areas falling under different climatic zones in India are delineated. Considerable changes in the country's climate area observed between the two periods; 1971-90 and 1991-2004. Increased semi-arid area by 8.45 M ha in five states viz., Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab, and decreased semi-arid area by 5 M ha in eleven states, contributed to overall increase in SAT area of 3.45 M ha in the country.Overall, there has been a net reduction of 10.71 M ha in the dry sub-humid area in the country. Results indicated that dryness and wetness are increasing in different parts of the country in the place of moderate climates existing earlier in t hese regions. ICRISAT's Hypothesis of Hope through Integrated Genetic and Natural Resources Management (IGNRM) using climate ready crops and Integrated Watershed Management could be a potential adaptatio n strategy by bridging the yield gaps for developing climate resilient agriculture in the country.It is now recognized that global warming, part of the climate change phenomenon, is due to sharp increases in the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG) such as carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), nitrous oxides (N 2 O), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) beyond their natural levels. Indian Network of Climate Change Assessment (INCCA) brought out a report (INCCA, 2010) recording the GHG emission estimates in India, becoming the first \"non-Annex I\" (i.e., developing) country to publish such updated numbers. In 2007, India ranked 5th in aggregate GHG emissions in the world, behind USA, China, EU and Russia. Interestingly, the emissions of USA and China were almost 4 times that of India in 2007. It is also noteworthy that due to the efforts and policies that were proactively put in place, the emissions intensity of India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined by more than 30% during the period 1994-2007. India announced its plan to further reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 20-25% between 2005 and 2020, even as the country pursues the path of inclusive growth (INCCA, 2010).Climate change is an important driver affecting livelihoods, particularly in developing countries like India, with large agrarian-based livelihoods exist. In India, climate change could exacerbate existing stress on ecological, natural resources and socioeconomic systems due to growing population, urbanization, industrialization and economic development.Measurement of atmospheric turbidity (attenuation of incoming solar radiation) has shown a steady increase as a result of anthropogenic activities (DST, 2008). Indian annual mean (average of maximum and minimum), maximum and minimum temperatures showed significant warming trends of 0.51, 0.72 and 0.27°C 100 yr -1 , respectively, during the period 1901-2007 (Kothawale et al., 2010). However, accelerated warming was observed in the period 1971-2007, mainly due to intense warming in the recent decade 1998-2007. Mean annual temperature of India in 2010 was +0.93°C above the 1961-1990 average and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) declared that 2010 was the warmest year on record since 1901 (IMD, 2010). Mean temperature in the pre-monsoon season (March-May) was 1.8°C above normal during the year 2010.At the country level, no long-term trend in southwest monsoon rainfall was observed; although an increasing trend in intense rainfall events are reported. Goswami et al., (2006) analysed gridded rainfall data for the period 1951-2000 and found significant rising trends in the frequency and the magnitude of extreme rainfall events, and a significant decreasing trend in the frequency of moderate events over central India during the monsoon seasons. The seasonal mean rainfall does not show a significant trend, because the contribution from increasing heavy events is offset by decreasing moderate events. They concluded that a substantial increase in hazards related to heavy rainfall is expected over central India in the future. Increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in the past 15 years were also reported by Samra et al. (2003 and2006). Chattopadhyay and Hulme (1997) reported that potential evapotranspiration has decreased over the whole country in the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons and the decreasing trend is up to a maximum of about 0.3 mm day -1 decade -1 over west-central India.Trends in annual reference crop evapotranspiration (ET 0 ) at Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh indicated a reduction of about 200 mm from 1850 mm to 1650 mm during the 35-year period 1975-2009(Rao and Wani, 2011). At Patancheru, contribution of energy balance term to the total ET 0 has shown an increasing trend while aerodynamic term has a decreasing trend. Wind speed has shown a strong negative trend leading to the dramatic fall of the aerodynamic term and consequently the ET 0 . Rate of reduction in evapotranspiration demand was about 10% for kharif (Jun-Oct) and about 14% for rabi (Nov-Feb).It is evident from the various studies that climate change in India is real and it is one of the major challenges faced by Indian Agriculture, more so in the semi-arid tropics (SAT) of the country. India ranks first among the countries that practice rainfed agriculture in terms of both extent and value of production. The rainfed agro-ecologies cover about 60 per cent of the net sown area of 141 million ha and are widely distributed in the country (DOAC, 2011).Rainfed agriculture is practiced under a wide variety of soil types, agro-climatic and rainfall conditions. Rainfed agriculture supports nearly 40% of India's estimated population of 1.21 billion in 2011 (Sharma, 2011). Even after achieving the full irrigation potential, nearly 50% of the net cultivated area may remain dependent on rainfall. Reduction in yields due to climate change is likely to be more prominent in rainfed agriculture and under limited water availability.Thus, there is a need to review the areas falling under the different climate zones in India to understand the changing rainfall and temperature patterns over the last few decades. Accordingly, a study was carried out by ICRISAT to assess the changes in areas under different climates in India.Based on the daily rainfall data of 1803 stations, and following the interpolation method proposed by Shepard (1968), a high resolution (1° x 1° Lat/Long) gridded daily rainfall data set was developed by the IMD (Rajeevan etal., 2005). A daily gridded temperature data set for the Indian region with a similar resolution was also developed by IMD using temperature data of 395 quality controlled stations (Srivastava etal., 2009). These data sets were procured from the IMD, and daily gridded climate data (maximum temperature, minimum temperature and rainfall) of 351 pixels in India (Fig. 1) for 34 years  was retrieved.The IMD daily gridded data originally was in binary format with 1120 pixels for each day in the geographical window of 6.5 to 37.5 °N latitude and from 66.5 to 100.5° E longitude for each calendar year. Binary data converted in to text format for each year; data for 351 pixels falling inside the Indian country boundary were picked out and correct latitude and longitude values assigned. These 34 yearly files were converted in to 351 pixel-wise files. It was observed that there were missing values in all the parameters; majority of them are in the NE India. Some are in the border regions of Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan and Gujarat. These gaps were either filled with neighbouring pixel values or normal values. After quality checking databases were developed for use in water balance computations and climate change analysis.Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) or Reference Crop Evapotranspiration (ET 0 ) was estimated following the method of Hargreaves andSamani (1982 and1985). The simplified equation is ET 0 = 0.0135 (KT) (Ra) (TD) 1/2 (TC+17.8)Where TD = Maximum daily temperature minus minimum daily temperature (ºC) for weekly or monthly periods and TC is the average daily temperature (ºC); Ra = Extra-PAPER 2 Climate classification results of 351 pixels were converted to points and re-interpolated using ArcGIS 10.0 since a 1° x 1° pixel is coarse and patchy to show the climate zones clearly. The Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) method is used to interpolate the point data with an exponent of distance as 2 and the search radius fixed to 30 minutes and the number of points around the estimated value limited to 6. This was achieved after exploring different combinations of input variables which can be changed within the set limits. The resolution of the output grid is fixed at approximately 5 km. This method was used because IDW is an exact interpolator and estimated values do not cross the range of values in the total dataset. The area under each climate is the number of pixels multiplied by the area of each pixel which is fixed at 5 km. Minor aberrations in the area estimated and the area by conventional method was adjusted to remove ambiguity and state-wise areas under each climate were quantified for both periods.Considerable changes in climates are observed between the two periods, 1971-90 and 1991-2004. Salient features (Fig. 2) are increase in the arid areas in Rajasthan (1.53 M ha) and Gujarat (0.98 M ha), and increase in semi-arid areas in Madhya Pradesh (3.82 M ha), Bihar (2.66 M ha) and Uttar Pradesh (1.57 M ha).Total increase in arid area is about 2.63 M ha in three states viz. Rajasthan (1.53 M ha), Gujarat (0.98 M ha) and Andhra Pradesh (0.12 M ha) while total reduction is about 1.03 M ha due to changes in Punjab (0.44 M ha), Karnataka (0.28 M ha), Haryana (0.16 M ha) and Maharashtra (0.15 M ha). For the country as a whole, net change in arid area is 1.60 M ha. Increase in the arid areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat is due to shifting of semi-arid areas in to arid. terrestrial radiation (mm/day); and KT = empirical coefficient. Relative humidity is indirectly present as the difference in maximum and minimum temperature. The temperature difference (TD) is linearly related to relative humidity (Hargreaves and Samani, 1982). Hargreaves (1994) recommended using KT = 0.162 for 'interior' regions and KT = 0.19 for 'coastal' regions. KT value is considered as 0.17 in the present analysis.Soil water-holding capacities for the 351 pixels were estimated based on the soil map of National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use Planning (NBSS&LUP, 1985). Pixelwise weekly water balances and climate indices for 34 years were computed based on the revised water budgeting approach of Thronthwaite and Mather (1955). Climates for each year were classified based on the annual moisture index (Table 1) as per classification of Thornthwaite and Mather (1955). While assessing climate change, it is an accepted method to find deviations from a base period. As per the WMO guidelines, 30-year continuous data is required to compute climatic normals. Standard periods for climatic normals are 1931-60 and 1961-90. In the present case, gridded data availability was 1971-2004, hence 1971-1990 is considered as the base period or period 1 and 1991-2004 is considered as period 2. Average climates classified into six types for both the periods 1 and 2. ha), Andhra Pradesh (0.24 M ha), Orissa (0.16 M ha), Himachal Pradesh (0.15 M ha), Maharashtra (0.04 M ha), Haryana (0.03 M ha), Kerala (0.02 M ha) and Uttarakhand (0.02 M ha). For the country as a whole, net change in semi-arid area is 3.45 M ha. These changes are mainly due to increased dryness at the expense of dry sub-humid   3 and Table 2.Total increase in dry sub humid area is about 2.51 M ha due to changes in Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka while total reduction is about 13.22 M ha due to changes in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala. Net change in dry sub humid area is 10.71 M ha, some of which shifted towards drier side and some towards wetter side. There is no change in dry subhumid areas in Rajasthan. In the country as a whole, about 4.78 M ha of area has increased in moist sub-humid climate type while about 0.47 M ha area has decreased in per-humid climate.Climate change impacts in India vary both quantitatively and qualitatively by crop, level of agronomic management, region and season (Mall et al., 2006).ICRISAT's research findings showed that Integrated Genetic and Natural Resources Management (IGNRM) through participatory watershed management is the key for improving rural livelihoods in the SAT (Wani et al., 2002(Wani et al., , 2003(Wani et al., and 2011)). Comprehensive Assessment (CA) of rainfed agriculture undertaken by the ICRISAT-led consortium showed vast potential of rainfed agriculture, as large yield gaps exist and current farmers' crop yields are lower by two to five folds of achievable yields (Rockström et al., 2007and 2010, Wani et al., 2003, 2009and 2011). Even under a climate change regime, crop yield gaps can still be significantly narrowed down with improved management practices and using Germplasm adapted for warmer temperatures (Wani et al., 2003, 2009and Cooper et al., 2009). Some of the climate resilient crops are short-duration chickpea cultivars ICC 96029 (Super early), ICCV 2 (Extra-early) and KAK 2 (Early maturing); wilt resistant pigeonpea hybrid (ICPH 2671) with a potential to give 80% higher yields than traditional varieties developed through cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) system; and short-duration groundnut cultivar ICGV 91114 that escapes terminal drought. Fig. 3 : Changes in areas in selected states between 1971-1990 and 1991-2004 PAPER 2Integrated Watershed Management comprises improvement of land and water management, integrated nutrient management including application of micronutrients, improved varieties and integrated pest and disease management; and substantial productivity gains and economic returns by farmers (Wani et al., 2003). The goal of watershed management is to improve livelihood security by mitigating the negative effects of climatic variability while protecting or enhancing the sustainability of the environment and the agricultural resource base. Greater resilience of crop income in Kothapally (Andhra Pradesh) during the drought year 2002 was indeed due to watershed interventions. While the share of crops in household income declined from 44% to 12% in the non-watershed project villages, crop income remained largely unchanged from 36% to 37% in the watershed village (Wani et al., 2009). Agroclimatic analysis coupled with crop-simulation models, and better seasonal and medium duration weather forecasts, help build resilience to climate variability/change in watersheds (Rao et al., 2008).Sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the soil has the potential to achieve the multiple objectives of improving the soil quality and fertility of the semi-arid tropical soils and addressing climate variability/change. Evidence from a long-term experiment at ICRISAT-Patancheru since 1976 demonstrated a virtuous cycle of persistent yield increase under the improved system compared to the traditional system (Wani etal., 2009 andWani andRockström, 2011). More importantly, under the improved system, the 0-120 cm soil profile contained 46.8 t C ha -1 compared to 39.5 t C ha -1 in the traditional management system. Hence, great scope exists for such improved systems for not only maintaining environmental quality but also addressing climate variability / change as a mitigating measure. There is also an urgent need to develop a climate change network for Indian agriculture by adopting a hybrid model of using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) where it is feasible along with traditional communication channels like community radios, TV, mobile telephones and trained human resources at community and village level (Wani et al., 2012). This will go a long way in building the resilience of the community to cope with the impacts of climate change, particularly in rainfed areas.Analysis of the gridded climate data of IMD indicated increase in the arid areas in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, and increase in semi-arid areas in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab. Overall, there has been a net reduction in the dry sub-humid area (10.7 M ha) in the country, of which about 5.1 M ha (47%) shifted towards the drier side and about 5.6 M ha (53%) became wetter. Dryness and wetness are increasing in different parts of the country in the place of moderate climates existing earlier in these regions. Increasing dryness in the arid and semi-arid areas along with increasing rainfall variability is a serious challenge for Indian agriculture. Impacts of climate variability and change could be minimized / coped through bridging the vast (two to three folds) gaps between the yields currently obtained by farmers and achievable potential yields. Evidence exists on feasibility of harnessing the untapped potential of rainfed agriculture through farmer-centric IWM approach by operationalizing the IGNRM. ICRISAT and partners have proposed the \"Hypothesis of Hope\" by developing climate resilient agriculture using climate ready crop cultivars and IWM approach as a powerful approach to adapt and mitigate the impacts of climate change. There is an urgent need to enhance the awareness about the climate change and new strategies using innovative science-based information and communication tools along with enabling policies and institutional options."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0f47358f3a48b8abda52d809f14b2708","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/a1b45620-14f5-457e-80a7-1c816e2f465e/content","id":"811876049"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fbdf34fa-eb46-4455-8b06-5e36f5930253","content":"Data Source: USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service, Production, Supply, and Distribution Database.Average yield increase globally has been ~40 kg.ha -1 .yr -1 over the last half century and about the same in four blocks each of of 14 year.    Licensing of some of these traits from private partners has been difficult. Recent technological breakthroughs have opened new avenues to generate agronomically important traits in native state, that is, the product is non-GM. CIMMYT possesses state-of-the-art laboratories and expertise to conduct transgenic research and produce novel products that complement conventional breeding.• Maize:-In-license de-regulated traits from industry • Wheat:-Set up high-throughput wheat transformation capability to generate new traits, for example, disease resistance and herbicide tolerance  Resistance is recessive as hets are as susceptible as the susceptible ones. Likely a suppressor, the mutant form of which is not released from the regulatory site by the viral signal, not allowing the defense genes to be turned on. Ten amino acids can be substituted in the ALS enzyme, conferring resistance against sulfonylurea and imidazolinone herbicides without affecting the activity. Two examples are shown where the alteration of a proline (P) to serine or a few other residues and that of tryptophan (W) to leucine (L) makes the enzyme resistant to this class of herbicides.Wheat has multiple gene copies for ALS.Genomic Copies of EPSPS: Maize 1, Wheat 7 • The technology has been around for several decades but was difficult to use, only for the resource-rich outfits. • A recent advancement, clustered regularly-interspersed short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-Cas9 system, has revolutionized gene editing. • Initial successes already achieved in maize, rice, soybean, tomato, and wheat. • We will employ CRISPR-Cas9 to edit genes in wheat and maize, the latter in collaboration with DuPont Pioneer. • Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID • Partners: DuPont-Pioneer; KALRO; ARC-South Africa.• Expected outputs: Native trait alleles to enhance yield under N stress; transgenic maize varieties with increased yield under N stress.• Funding: Min. Agric. Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Japan.• Partners: JIRCAS, RIKEN PSC, CIMMYT, IRRI, CIAT.• Expected outputs: Identify useful regulatory genes for drought tolerance; contribute to sustainable food production.• Year 1 -Laboratory is equipped and fully functional -High throughput wheat transformation established -Gene editing initiated in wheat for disease resistance -Gene editing in maize undertaken in collaboration with a private partner for the same traits • Year 2 -Gene editing expanded to multiple targets, including heat tolerance and increased grain lysine -Gene editing initiated for agronomic traits other than heat tolerance • Year 3 -First products ready for testing in the greenhouse and possibly field -Gene editing expanded to possibly herbicide tolerance  "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3741213508.json b/main/part_2/3741213508.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..59d1273b9a52a1be11fcadb46d3694fb18a39e73
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"eacd67976513ecf6f7422dad42890684","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/dc18c244-44ed-4b60-9afd-206ca3f5e320/retrieve","id":"1339170255"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b7c0c278-a652-480c-8543-963b3bdbd020","content":"NlC 151 3 3 4 4'\" => '\" ~ '\" '\"'\"\"\" <r \" ~a:.CásOS esta característica se ha valorado por estar corr@lacionada con menos tiempo d~ cocción, pero también por ser un componente importante del rendimiento deben de tener importancia para los Programas Nacionales que incorporan pDtencial de rendimIento en sus planes de mejoramiento.A continuación se listan las lineas que mostraron el mayor promedio de peso de 100 semillas que suponen un mayor tama~o ylo densidad.    ---------------------------------------------------------------   ----_ ...• -------------~----~-------------------------~ --------------  ---------------------~----------------------------------------- En los granos Rojos ha sido muy significante el aumento del tamaño que se ha logrado en las lineas del VIDAC, en su mayoría han sido originadas ya en cruzamientos de lasVariedades Criollas a las cuales previamente se incorporó el gene 1 (BCMV) u otros progenitores que ya muestran mayor tama~o.Con frecuencia lineas promisorias en el pasado de coJor Rojo no han tenido aceptación por su tamaño menor, en cambio la mayoria de las selecciones promisorias ya tienen un tamaño mas acorde con Jos tipos Rojo de Seda, Desarrural, Orgulloso, Rojo Nacional, Tico Rama, etc. Por este motivo no listamos todos los de mayor peso pero si agrupamos a     expresadas en la escala de 1 a 9.- RCUN 12549-C8-2-1CNIG-E57. 1.126.87 CNIG-E518.  3-5 9-7 6-8 7-84-5 3-1 6-8 7-83-6 7-7 6-8 8-73-5 7-5 5-7 7-6   3-4 7-5 6-8 7-93-5 7-7 5-8 8-9     ,.   , ,• ro     ,, '\", ca I '.1:.• \".• ,• • , :, , -., ,-, , , ,• I 1'_.I r \" .., \"'l-  , , ,• ,• '\", -:N• , , ,• , , \"'1'''' :::''':1''.  :rlt-,G :';i\" n :6 1~,::1 .JI ~a JO 46 jB ?-i :'1 e) ,,5 ;1 ~¡; 78 ~~, 68   \"n [-lB {Jdiiípa ;: f'. 14; ''<'; 1.j :'3 36~: 3ó 40 ;.'1 37 S'i éi i1:, fil c3 72l. íl . SUR.    za 9 18 36 37 38 4B :.'1 ~~ 39 66 69 71 71 75 ,,4   ,.IHiHinCA2Wi!iiiJ &~-~ó-r:JS l:,l~tl-I'Hi KH ttEI x Púf¡RIldj Sl!afHC\\i 1 , '  : 24 14 1'j 36 37 3   /la \" t1ürljilS UAT, S:J.1t¿idlaJU , JUt14~j, Guatfi¿ld W \" Cu/uta! 6uat!~~¡i , .. ,\"\" O[G:u~cdutl~J MEr,lCG SE \" t. bp.    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  IH    ----------------.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  --------.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.--  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_.-------------------------------------------------- NHb 237Hi:7 6 6 7 5 3-a 7 6 6 7 24 23 J 18 29 13 3 3~ ¿9 1 ~10 171 H n J,% Hil n ?4B 219    -    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_._---~----------------\"------------------------------------_   ----------------------------_      \"EX E-4 (1141-<0-10-2,-,.   NE~ E-37 (liI.f2-ci:;-!t-u r::n 91 las l~ Si 387TL I 6 7 7 b :. -; 5 7 6~Et, E-33 iH9c-c¡¡¡-:,t-{i ~4H    -----------------~~----------~~------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~------------------  -------------------------------------------------------~--------------~----------------------------------------------------~---------  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~~~--~~--------------------------------   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------       HúCo a 7 7 4 ~ 3' 5 ' 1 8,1 b\" 14 21 10 29 1:, 37 32 1:3 1~;45 342 1:, 271 226e:: 8~-24-a!5-rí fí[PA 1:, KIJCH : o ~ a 5 5 3 .: ~ 7 5 B 4-18 n 1~ ~~ a 29}2 llj~, % ~7 ;,:J cr~ ::a2 117  NEPli 24HOEH j ~ 7 a b 5 3 ~ 5 \"ti o 5 24 24 12 10 ~9 2:; 39 28 Z::il 164 ----------------------~----------~-----~------------~---------~--~-~-----------------~-----~------~-------~---------------------------  11148-(\"-26-1-\" tlEPA 3a HOCH i 7 7 ) 4 5 5 5 7 7 7 7 a 2b 21 11 2b 19 1~ 37 37 l22 lBS 24 258 35 ~5 338 138   Tl I : 5 ) 1 1 5 3 5 ) ¡';,;, 5 25 23 9 19 29 2S 19 28 27 267 117 23 251 3~il m 22 3.b m  RED MEl x PORRillO SIN1ErlCO  OOR 395 ! 552 Hti ¡ } 4 6 5 5 _) 5 DÜR 3'13 : :,52 Mol b 5 6 -4 3 1  --------~-------------------------------------------~----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  DOR 492 : m \"0: 7 4 7 4 3 3 3 7 6 5 o 5 14 27 19 15 38 a 25 3B 21 184 3B1 28 m 33ó 32 114 245 lB9 APN 93 x DOR 241  APH 93 x DCR 241    ImR 416 : Cu aa : 5 4 b\" 3 ¡ :, 3 e 5 c~, 18 28 íq H 29 ~2 ';!'. \":'~, \")\":'''\\ ,\"\"! ''''1 <\\0 -'Jr, \"~ ~'C ,:...      HaDo 1010-H-SPK-K-M DOR434 ¡CtlSS~7 5 S4 53 7 7 66bb ~021 '1172212113bZ5 1932é7!7U6267 2\\1 :.1257135 ----------------------------------------------------------~-----_._-----------------------------------------------------------  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------287  RAS 478: m : 3a 22 23 3b 38 31 3b 4e 3b 33 3B 3b 31 3a 70 77 7U 78 bb ¡'7 74 78 65 61RlZF 13537-2   RlHC 13óM-X-HBAT Jn~ 1, RAO 27 tiUS Ht2: ~b2 : 21 21 23 21 37 37 }6 ::16 42 Jó 3~ 34 3:, Jl}7 6¿¡ 70 70 n &7 06 71 óa 63 b3 24 29 20 1'1 36 35 3~! 30 43 36 33 3;; J4 29 3~ ó~ ~,9 ó1 ]1 67 se 10 6.5 b4 b~  MUS 97 in 26 21 :3 2., l8 38 :H 4~ 39 33 ~~ \")5 J~ 3~ 33 .:.7 6.9 :~ 7} ~8 J7 72 69 04 63     MUS \" , Hes 97 R   ,UDIGD VrDAC ato.                ----------------------------------~---------------~~--~-~------------------------------------------------------------       EAP-]   - H~ú i~,-¿0A. DESARRURAlr.Fl(DESA>t liNO     --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   -637!Y;;hAD3 HAS 44b: 2a4 ; 2 J 6 7 3 j 1 3 7 3 7 8 7 4:, ó 7 7 n 13 20 18 13 H 23 18 26 Z7 25 lb5 458 2~~ ~0:1 8 1Be 474 5:! 3~7 398    -  --------------------~---------------------------------------------------------------~-~-------~~------------~---------------------------------   IAri 9@ , A 40            -----------------------------------------------------------------~-------------~  ---------~------------~-------------------------------------------------------------------------------~----------------------------------~--    ,-------------------~ --------._-----~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------~ -~ ---~----------------------~ -------  --------------------------~ ----------~ ---------------~ ~ --------------------------------------------------------------------- 399 CtlHi-ES 7.12  -------------~~----------------~------------------------------------------------~~--------.~---------~--------------_._-~~-----------------------------_. __  --------~-----------------------------~~~------~----------------------------~-------------------------------------------------~--------------------------~~~----------------~---~-314 \"POS la467-2G-H OOR 364: Cu : 1 ::; 3' tI 3 3 1 1 3. 3 7 4 8 3 7 2  IlEneo 83 , EH! m~ Respür~sablE-! SiliflO Hugo Dr,,;:cú S."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3743328948.json b/main/part_2/3743328948.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4020af6dcfd3a4d411531697daee9a0b0c2baa98
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"732649510bda68e018be0e832769c5d3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/5a4a3900-e663-4f9c-bd74-3fc8317ed6ef/content","id":"28552726"},"keywords":["climate finance","mitigation","agriculture","stakeholders","financial institutions"],"sieverID":"4c304255-69fc-458b-9531-c9f946cfb3ca","content":"More than one-quarter of the world's greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, forestry, and land-use change. As with other sectors of the economy, agriculture should also contribute to meeting countries' emission reduction targets. Transformation of agriculture to low-carbon food systems requires much larger investments in low emission development options from global climate finance, domestic budgets, and the private sector. Innovative financing mechanisms and instruments that integrate climate finance, agriculture development budgets, and private sector investment can improve and increase farmers' and other value chain actors' access to finance while delivering environmental, economic, and social benefits. Investment cases assessed in this study provide rich information to design and implement mitigation options in agriculture through unlocking additional sources of public and private capital, strengthening the links between financial institutions, farmers, and agribusiness, and coordination of actions across multiple stakeholders. These investment cases expand support for existing agricultural best practices, integrate forestry and agricultural actions to avoid land-use change, and support the transition to market-based solutions.Food production and consumption are gradually becoming a dominant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally. More than one-quarter of the world's GHG emissions come from agriculture, forestry, and land-use change, and this is likely to increase in the absence of mitigation actions in the sector (IPCC 2019, McKinsey 2020). Livestock is a dominant sub-sector in agricultural emissions (31%) followed by crop production (27%) and land-use change (24%) (Poore and Nemeek 2018). Regional disparities in agricultural emissions can also be observed based on production systems, input use, and level of agriculture intensification. Agriculture alone contributes an average of 18% of the net GHG emissions of the large emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa-BRICS). Five countries (China, Brazil, India, United States, and Indonesia) with agricultural emissions of more than 200 Mt CO 2 eq contribute about 42% of the total global agriculture emissions (Richards et al 2015).Achieving the global target of limiting 1.5 • C-2.0 • C warming under the Paris Agreement would require large changes in current food production, distribution, and consumption patterns (IPCC 2019, Steiner et al 2020). In addition, actions to reduce agricultural GHG emissions can have a synergistic effect on several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Campbell et al 2018). Promotion of low emissions agriculture development directly contributes to Climate Action (SDG 13) as the goal considers both adaptation and mitigation actions. Moreover, the first United Nations Food Systems Summit (2021) also stands in full support of global food systems transformation for more resilient and low emissions agriculture development. These all global initiatives emphasize investments in scaling up innovations that support resilience building and low emissions development in agriculture and allied sectors.Recent GHG mitigation research in the agriculture and allied sectors has explored a range of options that can significantly reduce GHG emissions from the global food systems. Avoiding land conversion and restoring degraded lands offer large potential GHG emissions reductions and enhance carbon sequestration (Frank et al 2017, Griscom et al 2021). Advances in agronomy (tillage, nutrient, water, weeds, and energy management) and improved breeding also have a large potential to reduce GHG emissions from crop fields (Beach et al 2016, McKinsey 2020). Livestock accounts for up to half of the technical mitigation potential of the agriculture, forestry, and landuse sectors (Herrero et al 2016). Mitigation options in the livestock sector include improved feed and manure management, grazing optimization, development of silvopastoral systems, and reduction in demand for livestock products (Hristov et al 2013a, Grossi et al 2019).Despite the large GHG mitigation potential, limited actions have been implemented to reduce emissions from agriculture. Implementation of many mitigation actions in agriculture identified in nationally determined contributions (NDCs) of developing countries is conditional on technical and financial supports from the bilateral, multilateral and other financing mechanisms (Pauw et al 2020). Even developed countries are relying on a combination of voluntary policies with modest target setting for agriculture (OECD 2019). In addition, the agriculture sector's potential to address climate change is overshadowed by countries' aggregate emission reduction ambition. The mitigation potential of countries providing specific targets for agriculture in their NDCs is about 15% of 2030 business as usual emissions (Richards et al 2016), which is far below the technical as well as the economic potential of emissions reduction from agriculture. Similarly, current climate finance for GHG mitigation from agriculture, forestry, land-use, and natural resource management is very limited, amounting to less than 2% of total global mitigation finance (Buchner 2019). Continued lack of progress in agriculture GHG emissions reduction with modest targets and limited finance could constrain efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 (Gernaat et al 2015, Wollenberg et al 2016).Total GHG mitigation investment in agriculture and allied sectors will likely continue to remain smaller than other sectors (e.g. energy and transportation) for the foreseeable future. Implementation of mitigation actions identified in NDCs and other commitments requires an increase in investment shares over the next decades. One of the reasons for slow progress in GHG emissions reduction in agriculture could be the lack of business cases that can provide a strong basis for public and private investment in mitigation actions. Impact investments can shift public spending and private finance to low-carbon agriculture and support implementing NDCs. The opportunities to mobilize investments in agriculture emissions reduction presented by the Paris Agreement and NDCs are mostly unrealized. One of the main reasons is the lack of a pipeline of business cases to make investment in agricultural GHG mitigation options (Sadler 2016). However, the possibilities for mitigation finance in agriculture include a range of activities in food systems (OECD 2019). Investments for agriculture emissions reduction need to move beyond traditional loans and technical assistance approaches by developing innovative financing mechanisms that can leverage private investments in mitigation actions (WBCSD 2020, USFRA 2021). Little experience and information are currently available about how mitigation investments best support the long-term and widespread adoption of low emission technologies and practices in agriculture and allied sectors.This study assessed investment cases that link field evidence of economic relevance and potential to reduce agricultural GHG emissions by reaching the scale. This paper presents (a) an evaluation of investment cases that hold promise for reducing GHG emissions from the agriculture sector and support mitigation policies, and (b) discusses innovative approaches applied to overcome current barriers in financing in low emissions development agriculture. The assessment focuses on innovative financial mechanisms and instruments that can improve and increase farmers' access to finance and deliver environmental, economic, and social benefits. This study considers five different investment cases in four regions (Southeast Asia-Thailand and Vietnam, South Asia-India, Africa-Kenya, and Latin America-Colombia) and explores possibilities of climate finance for mitigation actions in agriculture and allied sectors in the different agro-ecologies. Investment cases include three major agriculture sub-sectorspaddy rice cultivation, crop nutrient management, and livestock.This assessment selected five investment cases: (a) Thai Rice NAMA (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action), (b) climate-smart rice production in Vietnam, (c) soil health card (SHC) scheme for crop nutrient management in India, (d) Dairy NAMA in Kenya, and (e) Livestock NAMA in Colombia. This study considered the following four criteria to select the investment cases: (a) it must represent GHG mitigation in the agriculture sector, (b) includes different agriculture-sub sectors that have a large potential to reduce GHG emissions in the region, (c) includes multiple financing sources and instruments, and (d) have linkage to the countries' NDCs submitted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The authors of this study contributed to generate scientific evidence of many mitigation options considered in the NAMAs (table 1) through the CGIAR research program on climate change, agriculture, and food security (CCAFS). In some cases, authors participated in the stakeholders' consultations events organized by the NAMA preparation teams. However, the authors of this paper were not responsible for the final development of any investment cases considered for this study. Colombia, Kenya, and Thailand developed sub-sector NAMAs with detailed mitigation actions and allocation of finance. These NAMAs consider technologies and practices for scaling and investment that have been tested and evaluated in the field (table 1).Colombia's NAMA proposal includes mitigation options for the livestock (cattle) sector. Restoration of grazing land through silvopastoral systems, manure management, large-scale plantation of forage trees, and avoiding deforestation are key components of Colombia's NAMA for sustainable livestock production (Palmer 2015). Kenya developed a NAMA for its dairy sector to scale up mitigation actions and reach more than 0.6 million dairy farmers (MALF 2017b). This NAMA targets increasing on-farm dairy productivity, reducing high-emissions energy use, and strengthening institutional and farmers' capacities for scaling up low-emission dairy development. The Thai Rice NAMA aims to transform rice production by replacing current practices with more sustainable and less methane-emitting approaches (NAMA Facility 2020). This shift towards low-emissions rice production comprised three key components: technical assistance and training on implementation of new rice cultivation technologies and practices, policy formulation and supporting measures, and investment.Vietnam has raised the agriculture GHG emissions reduction target in its updated NDCs (GoV 2020). Climate-smart rice production can significantly contribute to achieving the mitigation target in Vietnam. The Sustainable Agriculture Transformation project in Vietnam is promoting AWD and rice straw management to enhance rice productivity and emission reduction. GHG mitigation from the agriculture sector is not a priority for India, but its NDC includes a scheme for SHC among its adaptation strategies (GoI 2016). The goal of this scheme is to improve crop-wise nutrient management for individual farms and help farmers to improve crop productivity and reduce the amount of fertilizer applied. Studies indicate that India has the highest excess nitrogen balance in crop fields (Tesfaye et al 2021) and the country can reduce a large amount of GHG emissions with the use of soil health information-based precision nutrient management (Sapkota et al 2021).This study evaluates the selected investment cases in relation to selected sustainability indicators. We considered environmental, economic, and social indicators of mitigation options to evaluate the mitigation options in the investment cases. Environmental indicators include reduction of net GHG emissions (emissions and removals), input use efficiency (i.e. nutrient, water, and energy), and ecosystem services (i.e. improving soil health, water quality, and air pollution). These environmental indicators for agricultural practices and technologies have been evaluated by multiple studies (Aryal et al 2015, Kashangaki and Ericksen 2018, Wilkes et al 2018, Sander et al 2020, Sapkota et al 2021). Some of the indicators, such as improving soil health and long-term preservation of soil carbon, are critical for agricultural productivity and GHG emission reduction (Dickie et al 2014). These interventions increase synergies between mitigation in SDG 13 with efficiencies in water, nutrient, and energy inputs in food production.Economic indicators of sustainability include changes in production and income from the implementation of mitigation options. These indicators offer a strong motivation to farmers and ranchers to implement the mitigation options in their crop and pasture lands, and dairy plants retrofit by dairy companies (Vermeulen et al 2016, Khatri-Chhetri et al 2020b). Contribution to food production and income largely covers processes towards achieving no poverty (SDG 1), zero hunger (SDG 2), and responsible consumption and production (SDG 12). The broader food systems transformation goal integrates both environmental and economic indicators (Campbell et al 2018, Steiner et al 2020). Gender relationships in agriculture production systems can influence the way mitigation options are prioritized, transferred, and adopted (Edmunds et al 2013). The roles and interests may vary for women and men in agriculture, which can lead to different impacts as measured by different sustainability indicators. GHG mitigation options for agriculture must not increase women's drudgery who are already overburdened from agricultural and household activities (Khatri-Chhetri et al 2020a). In many locations, women play a large role in managing irrigation, fertilizer application, manure and crop residue management, livestock feeding, and maintenance of agroforestry systems (Gartaula et al 2020, Wilkes et al 2020a).We evaluated sustainability indicators of the selected mitigation options based on the already published literature. Authors assigned the score 3-0 based on their level of impact on each indicators: 3 = high impact, 2 = medium impact, 1 = low impact, 0 = literature did not evaluate the selected mitigation option for that indicator. This scoring method is consistent with the other studies that evaluated sustainability indicators of climate change adaptation and mitigation options in agriculture and allied sectors (Thornton et al 2018, van Wijk et al 2020).This study assessed the planned/proposed investments in the selected cases and their potential impact on GHG reduction from the agriculture sub-sectors. Investment cases for Thailand and Vietnam focus on emission reduction from paddy rice cultivation. Paddy rice cultivation contributes 55% (27.86 Mt CO 2 eq) and 48% (42.56 Mt CO 2 eq) of the total agriculture emissions in Thailand and Vietnam, respectively (GoV 2017, MNRE 2018). This study presents the mitigation potential of the selected options in the Thai Rice NAMA and climate-smart rice production in Vietnam based on previous estimates and compares them with emission reduction targets set by investment cases.Improving nutrient use efficiency in crop fields is the main objective of the SHC program in India. This program is included in the country's adaptation strategies with a commitment to enhancing investment in climate-vulnerable sectors. Synthetic fertilizer use in crop production is one of the major sources of agricultural emissions in India. There is significant potential to reduce fertilizer-induced GHG emissions from increased N use efficiency and by switching to alternative sources of crop nutrients (Trirado et al 2010). Although India has no target for agricultural emission reduction in its NDC and other domestic policies, it could reduce its GHG emissions from agriculture by almost 18% through the adoption of efficient use of fertilizer, tillage, and water management practices (Sapkota et al 2019). Intensive crop production systems in India have a large excess nitrogen balance in crop fields (Tesfaye et al 2021). This study estimates the impact of the SHC program on GHG reduction in India.The investment cases in Kenya and Colombia consider livestock and pasture land management. Kenya's NAMA focuses on the dairy sector which is responsible for about 12.3 Mt CO 2 eq yr −1 emission (FAO and NZAGRC 2017). The use of a combination of feed practices, dairy plant retrofit, and manure management has a large GHG mitigation potential in Kenya. The livestock sector in Colombia also contributes about 26% of the country's total GHG emissions (IDEAM et al 2016). Cattle farming alone is producing 95% of the livestock sector's emissions. This cattle farming is dependent on the management of more than 34 million ha of pasture land across the country. Colombia is targeting to reduce 13.46 m tCO 2 eq yr −1 emission from the agricultural sector (Tapasco et al 2019). This study assesses the Kenya and Colombia NAMAs and their contribution to achieving the NDC targets.Diversification and catalytic investments for climate actions in agriculture are critical to realizing the GHG mitigation goals and de-risking investment in agriculture programs. This study assesses the types and sources of finance in the selected investment cases. De-risking investment in climate actions enhances public-private partnerships (PPPs) to leverage the financial and technical capacities of different stakeholders and attract additional capital diversifying the risk-return profiles of individual investors (Sadler 2016, Guarnaschelli et al 2018). This also requires building a wide range of financial instruments that can link investors to smallholders and agricultural small and medium enterprises (SMEs). All investment cases were assessed based on their role in (a) developing and improving the mitigation finance environment for agriculture, (b) supporting diversification of finance sources and instruments to implement the mitigation options, and (c) enhancing PPPs.Mitigation options selected by the investment cases have significant GHG emissions reduction and/or carbon sequestration potential in agriculture and allied sectors (table 2). Many researchers in the CGIAR research program on CCAFS have previously evaluated AWD, residue management, laser land leveling, and site-specific nutrient management in agriculture systems, particularly in paddy rice cultivation in India, Thailand, and Vietnam. Studies show that proper use of these agriculture practices can reduce net GHG emissions by increasing input use efficiency and improving soil and water management. The AWD practice significantly reduces GHG emissions by an average of 45% (IPCC 2019). Depending on baseline conditions, this could range from 1 to 5 tCO 2 eq ha −1 season −1 compared to continuous flooding practice (Vo et al 2020). Co-benefits of AWD include lower use of water, fertilizer and seed, and higher resistance to some pests, diseases, and lodging damage (Farnworth et al 2017, Allen andSander 2019).Straw burning or incorporation in fields are common practices in the paddy rice-growing areas. Studies show that in flooded paddy rice, straw incorporation usually stimulates CH 4 production (Jiang et al 2019). However, incorporation of paddy straw into the soil under non-flooded conditions more than 30 d before the next rice season has the potential to increase soil organic carbon and reduce CH 4 emissions during the paddy rice season compared to incorporating the straw in flooded conditions within a short duration (<30 d) before the rice planting season (Sharma et al 2019). Studies also show that a combination of tillage, water, fertilizer, and residue management in paddy rice fields generates large mitigation benefits as well as improvement in productivity and input use efficiency (Sapkota et al 2015, Richards et al 2019). An evaluation of site-specific nutrient management practice in India observed increased rice yield and reduced fertilizer consumption and associated GHG emissions from the rice fields (Sapkota et al 2021). These practices also contribute to economic indicators by increasing farm production and/or income. The change in net income is associated with an increase in crop productivity or decrease in input use by improving input use efficiency.Evaluations of improved feed with fodder production, grazing land management, dairy plant retrofit, and manure management show a large GHG mitigation potential from the livestock sector including economic and social benefits in Kenya and Colombia. The GHG emissions reduction potential of the use of different types of fodder across Kenya ranges from 0.6 to 3.0 Mt CO 2 eq yr −1 (FAO and NZAGRC 2017). Increased feeding of higher quality roughages, such as leguminous fodder, hay, silage, and crop byproducts, as part of balanced feeding programs, can reduce farmers' reliance on concentrate feed, which has a relatively high carbon footprint (Garg et al 2016). Similarly, the implementation of silvopastoral systems in Colombia can reduce GHG emissions by 2.6 tCO 2 eq ha −1 yr −1 compared to the current practices, while increasing agricultural productivity and income (Landholm et al 2019). Other research also suggests that promoting balanced feed rations could provide important opportunities to increase milk production and reduce emission intensity (Wilkes et al 2020b).Dairy processing plants use a large amount of energy, mainly electricity and fossil fuels, for cooling and storage, pasteurization, evaporation, and drying activities. Improvement in energy use efficiency in the major dairy processing plants in Kenya can reduce emissions by 0.14 Mt CO 2 eq yr −1 including a large cost saving (Wilkes et al 2018). Most milk losses in the dairy sector in Kenya occur at the production and processing stages, as milk is transported from farmer to cooperative and to local processors. The estimated GHG emission reductions from minimizing the loss in milk cooling centers and dairy cooperatives in Kenya were 1.7 and 1.2 Mt CO 2 eq yr −1 , respectively (Gromko and Abdurasulova 2018). Some selected mitigation options in the investment cases such as site-specific nutrient management, fodder production, restoring grazing lands, and manure management provide co-benefit of ecosystem services.  They help to minimize nutrient run-off from the agriculture and pasture lands, improve water quality and soil health, and reduce air pollution.Given the existing gender inequalities in agriculture, the outcomes of mitigation investment might not be equally beneficial to women and men. In smallholder households across Kenya and Colombia, women play a predominant role in cattle feeding, milking, cleaning, and, to some extent, delivery of milk to the market and milk collection centers (Kristjanson et al 2014, Gallina 2016). Men tend to have a larger role in activities related to animal health, such as artificial insemination, seeking veterinary treatment, and the sale of live animals and animal products. Investment in improved feed with fodder production, manure management and restoring grazing land through silvopastoral livestock system can reduce women's drudgery in livestock production. But overall gender impact of mitigation options depends on women and men's roles not only in agriculture production but also in decision-making over input supply and marketing (Wilkes et al 2020a).The amount of investment in the selected cases ranged from US$ 68 million over 5 years to US$ 1100 million over 10 years. All investment cases target reaching a certain number of farmers and/or areas under the mitigation options, SMEs, and/or dairy processing facilities (table 3). Thailand's NAMA Support Project (NSP) targets reaching 100 000 farmers and supports 420 service providers. The project provides capacity-building training to the farmers on how to implement mitigation technologies and sustainable best practices in paddy rice production. This investment also supports the implementation of a new voluntary standard to verify rice sustainability, including farmers' safety, labor rights, and the application of low-emissions practices. The project envisioned to boost farmers' income by applying appropriate technologies and effective inputs management for paddy rice production (saving water, energy, fertilizer, and pesticides, etc) and facilitating the sale of low-emissions rice. The NSP anticipates reducing baseline emissions by more than 26% from irrigated rice fields, which is about 1.66 Mt CO 2 eq over 5 years.The low-emission and climate-resilient dairy development proposal aims to transform Kenya's dairy sector by improving on-farm dairy productivity, reducing high-emission energy use, and strengthening the capacities of national institutions and stakeholders for upscaling good dairy management practices. The project targets 153 000 dairy farming households and 151 dairy processing facilities and aims to support 20 000 households to adopt biogas over 10 years. The project plan to cover about 17% of the total population of dairy farmers in Kenya with 50% women beneficiaries and generate 12 000 new jobs in the dairy processing sector. Over the 10 years implementation period, the estimated total emission reduction is 8.08 Mt CO 2 eq from increased dairy productivity (4.14 Mt CO 2 eq), energy efficiency in dairy processing facilities (2.96 Mt CO 2 eq), and household biogas adoption (0.98 Mt CO 2 eq).The livestock NAMA proposal from the Colombian government targets to save a large amount of GHG emissions (more than a billion tCO 2 eq), while protecting forests, regenerating pasture and degraded lands, and boosting income from the livestock sector. The program aims to reduce 4 Mt CO 2 eq by enteric fermentation, capture 6 Mt CO 2 eq by the silvopastoral system, and up to 167 Mt CO 2 eq by restored ecosystems, and mitigate 1228 Mt CO 2 eq from the avoided deforestation of 2.5 M ha of forest in the country. These emissions reduction and carbon sequestration target to restore a total of 1.6 M ha of grazing land through intensive and non-intensive silvopastoral livestock systems, and plant over 2 million ha with improved and nutritious forage trees in the degraded pasture and other lands.The increasing amount of chemical fertilizer consumption with low fertilizer use efficiency (<50%) is one of the major concerns for sustainable agriculture development in India (Fishman et al 2016). The imbalanced application of different types of chemical fertilizer remains a widespread problem in many locations in the country. The government is also facing the rising cost of fertilizer subsidies, and this subsidy leading to excess nutrient application, largely nitrogen fertilizer, in many crops. The government of India has launched the SHC program in 2015 to provide fertilizer use recommendations to the farmers based on nutrient availability in their soils. The initial estimated investment for the program was US$ 85 million to reach 140 million farmers across the country. The program used US$ 107.5 million from 2015 to 2020 to develop soil testing infrastructure, soil sample collection, and testing, and distribution of SHCs to over 150 million farmers throughout India (MAFW 2020). This program established 9285 new Soil Testing Labs and promoted village-level soil testing facilities run by agri-entrepreneurs. Studies indicate that soil health schemes in India promoted sustainable farming leading to a decrease of chemical fertilizer use by 8%-10% and an average increase in crop yield by 5% (MAFW 2020). This reduction of fertilizer use is equivalent to 7.34-9.18 Mt CO 2 eq at the current level of N fertilizer use (17.63 Mt). Another estimate indicates that India can reduce 17.52 Mt CO 2 yr −1 through efficient fertilizer management in the crops across the country (Sapkota et al 2021).National Agriculture Extension Center (NAEC) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) of Vietnam is promoting climatesmart rice production across the country to minimize the cost of cultivation, enhance productivity and reduce GHG emissions from paddy rice cultivation. The Government of Vietnam plans to convert 1.2 million ha of conventional paddy rice cultivation to climate-smart production by 2030 using only domestic resources (MONRE 2015). This program promotes changes in rice varieties, soil/ water management practices, crop establishment methods, residue management, and reducing postharvest losses. Vietnam's updated NDC (2020) has raised the agriculture-GHG mitigation target by 16 m tCO 2 eq, which will be mainly achieved through emission reduction in rice cultivation. The climatesmart rice cultivation efforts target to promote AWD on 0.2 million ha and mid-season drainage on to 1 million ha rice fields by 2030 contributing 65% of the agriculture sector's annual mitigation potential. Straw and fertilizer management can further reduce the GHG emission from the paddy rice fields.The Thai Rice NAMA is a joint project funded by NAMA Facility and the Thai Government to encourage smallholder farmers to implement low emissions technologies and practices in paddy rice cultivation. The NSP works with farmers, farmers' associations, and external service providers to develop incentive schemes and financial support. The NAMA Facility approved US$ 17.3 million for this project and Thai Governments committed to leverage an additional US$ 27.7 million per year to the project (table 4). The NSP expects to generate an additional US$ 23.8 million direct financial investment from the private sector. The funding from the NAMA facility is provided through the subsidized loans program implemented by the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC). The funding from the Thai Government covers the costs of agriculture extension services to promote the adoption of low-emissions paddy rice Reaching millions of smallholder dairy farmers in rural areas with financial support is one of the major challenges in Kenya. The State Department of Livestock aims to catalyze investments of US$ 223 million in Kenya's dairy sector from various sources of finance. The project proposes financial contributions from various sources, such as the Green Climate Fund (25%), commercial financial institutions (48%), the dairy private sector (19%), a multilateral donor partner (6.5%), and the Government of Kenya (1%). This is a unique example of how different financial sources can be combined to support climate change mitigation with agricultural development objectives. This investment case plans to use a loan from the Green Climate Fund to leverage private investment from financial institutions, dairy plants, and farmers in the implementation of mitigation actions in the dairy sector.Kenya's NAMA investment case uses a variety of financing instruments for the provision of finance to dairy sector stakeholders. The program supports commercial banks and microcredit institutions to provide affordable loans to dairy cooperatives and farmers, including support with capacity building on financial management. Commercial fodder and hay producers can receive financial assistance (concessional loans) for investments in commercial hay production and marketing. Dairy cooperatives and processing plants can also access concessional loans to leverage credit finance from commercial banks for clean energy technologies. Farmers can pursue blended grants and loan finance to overcome the high initial costs of installing biogas digesters at the household level. The funding also leverages investment by private sector dairy processors in dairy extension services to promote the adoption of climate-resilient and low-emissions dairy management practices, with the Government of Kenya and a donor partner financing coordination and management of the program.The Colombian Government is seeking international partners and financial support to implement livestock NAMA. The estimated cost of this project is US$ 1100 million, including prioritized investments: US$ 926 M; implementation: US$ 147 M; knowledge management: US$ 13 M; MRV system: US$ 15 M. The MARD of Colombia (Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural de Colombia) is in charge to develop this proposal and coordinating with potential funding partners and developing financing instruments. This livestock NAMA has a direct relation with Colombia's Coffee NAMA that aims to establish an agroforestry system, and with Forestry NAMA that seeks to restore degraded land and reforestation.The SHC scheme in India is entirely funded by the Government of India. The cost of interventions under the scheme is shared between the central and the state governments (75:25 ratio). This scheme allocates a large amount of funds to renovate and improve existing soil testing facilities and the establishment of new soil testing labs (static, mobile, and mini-labs) through the existing agriculture extension program. Staff from the State Department of Agriculture and Agriculture Universities involve to implement the scheme. Investment in soil testing labs is also done by private companies under the privatepublic partnership model with subsidy funding from the government. This scheme promotes private agrientrepreneurs for building village-level soil testing facilities for timely distribution of high-quality soil test results to the small and marginal farmers.Climate-smart rice production in Vietnam is promoted by the NAEC with funding from MARD. This is entirely a public investment model in which Government's agriculture development fund is allocated to develop training materials on climate-smart rice production for extension staff and rice farmers. The MARD coordinates to bring the experts from the various agencies to develop training modules and provide training to the agriculture extension staff. This program also supports private sector business development by leveraging a national green credit program for capital investment to provide mitigation technology services to paddy rice farmers. An additional 27% (25.8 Mt CO 2 eq) reduction in agricultural emissions has been designated for international (conditional) funding. The internationally funded NDC actions in rice include converting an additional 1.5 million ha to AWD and 1 million ha to integrated crop management (ICM) which is expected to reduce annual emissions by 9.86 Mt CO 2 eq by 2030.Five investment cases considered in this study have a strong scientific base to invest in GHG mitigation impacts. The Thai Rice NAMA and climatesmart rice production in Vietnam used scientific evidence generated from a long research collaboration between government agriculture departments, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and other national and international research organizations. This collaboration evaluated low emission paddy rice production technologies (i.e. AWD, midseason drainage, laser land leveling, straw management, and site-specific nutrient management) in different locations of Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam (Vu et al 2015, Kantachote et al 2016, Thu et al 2016, Tariq et al 2017, Trinh et al 2017, Chidthaisong et al 2018, Tran et al 2018). A consortium composed of the Thai Rice Department, The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, IRRI, and other rice-based public/private partners developed the NAMA proposal integrating field evidence of mitigation technologies and practices. IRRI has contributed estimation of the mitigation potential from the implementation of climate-smart rice cultivation practices. A suitability mapping for AWD and an investment plan for low-emission rice production developed by IRRI and CCAFS in collaboration with national partners also contribute to the design planning and implementation of the climate-smart rice production program in Vietnam to meet the agricultural NDC targets (Nelson et al 2015, Tran et al 2019).Imbalance use of crop nutrients, excess application of nitrogen fertilizer in many places, and low nutrient use efficiency are major concerns for sustainable agriculture production in India. Studies indicate that the increasing environmental loss of nitrogen is enhancing GHG emissions from the crop fields (Moring et al 2021, Sapkota et al 2021). The annual fertilizer consumption, particularly fertilizer nitrogen, has been continuously increasing in India requiring more and more government subsidies in fertilizer. The nutrient use efficiency of cropping systems in India (expressed in yield per unit of nitrogen input) decreased from 55% in 1960 to 35% in 2010 (Singh 2017). The SHC scheme in India was introduced in 2015 to promote the balanced use of crop nutrients based on nutrients available in the soil and improvement in nutrient use efficiency. Under this scheme, 93 million SHCs based on test results of 23.6 million soil samples and area-general fertilizer recommendations have already been distributed to farmers (Kishore et al 2021). However, preparing a meaningful fertilizer recommendation ahead of each planting season for such a large number of SHC holders with limited soil testing facilities and capacity is a major challenge for the government of India. The government extension system should focus on adequately educating farmers on what soil test data mean and how to use these in terms of meeting the nutrient requirement of crops through the adoption of various precision nutrient management strategies. Many recent studies in India also provide ample scientific evidence of increasing nutrient use efficiency by the application of balanced nutrients combined with tillage and water management practices (Buresh et al 2019, Jat et al 2019, Sapkota et al 2021).Kenya's Dairy NAMA proposal intends to implement low-emission, climate-resilient, and productivity-enhancing options in the dairy sector. This is reinforced by the scientific evidence of mitigation potential and economic viability. Recent studies estimate GHG emission reduction potential from livestock feed management and breed improvement (FAO and NZAGRC 2017), retrofitting dairy processing plants (Wilkes et al 2018), installing biogas plants for manure management (MALF 2017b), and reducing milk loss and waste (Gromko and Abdurasalova 2018) in Kenya. CCAFS worked with the State Department for Livestock and national stakeholders to develop the NAMA proposal, and national agencies further supported the integration of the proposed actions in Kenya's national climate change action plan and NDC (Government of Kenya 2020). It is hoped that explicit integration of the Dairy NAMA in national policies can strengthen the country's ability to attract international investment.The NAMA for livestock was informed by scientific evidence of low emission livestock development in Colombia. Studies show that the use of improved feed in a combination of fodder and grasses can reduce enteric methane emissions from cattle in Colombia (Ruden et al 2018, Arango et al 2020). Colombia's livestock federation also uses these results to strengthen its sustainable livestock strategy and improve pasture lands. Reducing deforestation and the implementation of silvopastoral systems have large emission reduction potential while increasing livestock productivity and restoration of degraded landscapes (Landholm et al 2019). The Climate-smart agriculture profile of Colombia indicates that agroforestry, silvopastoral systems, and grassland management are the key interventions for climate change adaptation, mitigation, and productivity benefits for livestock farmers in Colombia (World Bank, CIAT, CATIE 2014). Recommendations of these scientific studies were incorporated to design the mitigation strategies in the livestock NAMA.The five investment cases integrate multiple financial sources and instruments that offer a return for investors in various forms. Governments are the main source of finance in all cases that leverage funds to support farmers' capacity strengthening and business development opportunities for private sector service providers in agriculture. The return on investment for government finance includes social welfare and economic growth that is difficult to account in a balance sheet. Financial institutions and the private sectors are the key investors in Thai Rice NAMA and the Dairy sector NAMA in Kenya. In Thailand, the private sector invests to provide mitigation technology services to farmers such as laser land leveling, AWD, site-specific nutrient management, and straw/stubble management on a large scale, and in turn, generate revenue. Business case assessments of these mitigation options also indicate promising opportunities for private sector investment (Tran et al 2019, World Bank 2019).In Kenya, financial institutions and private dairy plants invest in three commercially viable projectsinformation services, fodder supply, and dairy plant retrofit. Farmers, dairy cooperatives, and dairy processing plants are the key user of loan money in the dairy NAMA project. Studies also indicate that fodder supply and dairy plant retrofit are business cases viable for private sector investment in Kenya (Dijk et al 2018, Gromko and Abdurasalova 2018, Kashangaki and Ericksen 2018, Wilkes et al 2018). Investment in soil health testing mini and micro laboratories is an economically viable investment in India. Private investors charge fees in return for service provision. These examples set cases for impact investing to make investments in commercial projects, companies, or farmers that create sustainable impact and offer a return for investors.Only Vietnam has an explicit agricultural sector emission reduction target in its NDC. Colombia, Kenya, and Thailand include economy-wide targets to reduce total GHG emissions in their NDCs (table 5). Agriculture mitigation in Kenya's NDC aims to scale-out climate-smart agriculture with emphasis on an efficient livestock management system including feed, breed, and value chain of livestock products (MoEF 2020). The promotion of improved agroforestry systems and reduction in deforestation are key actions included in Colombia's NDC. Thailand excludes land use, land-use change, and forestry in its NDC but domestic policies include reforestation, forest conservation, rehabilitation of watershed areas, and tree plantation in the degraded lands (ONEP 2015). India has no emission reduction target for agriculture but there are a few actions included in its NDC, such as solarization of irrigation pumps, promotion of biogas digesters, use of SHC for crop nutrient management, and afforestation and forest management, that support GHG emissions reduction from the agriculture and allied sectors.Table 6 presents the mitigation potential of the agriculture sub-sector included in the investment cases. Improved paddy rice cultivation in Thailand and Vietnam can contribute up to 8.08 and 12.12 Mt CO 2 yr −1 emission reduction, respectively (Roe et al 2021). This mitigation potential may differ with the method of estimation and type of mitigation options included for emission reduction. These are ambitious mitigation targets for rice cultivation but they are possible. For example, AWD and midseason drainage on 1.2 million ha can achieve 65% of Vietnam's unconditional mitigation goal for the agriculture sector with an average net benefit of US$ 193 ha −1 (Tran et al 2019). While the mitigation from an additional 1.5 million ha converted to AWD and 1 million ha of ICM is a sizeable contribution of 38% towards Vietnam's conditional mitigation target from the agriculture sector, a considerable amount of mitigation still needs to be achieved by other agricultural actions. The average emission reduction cost of AWD ranges from US$ −17 to −24.6 per tCO 2 eq (Escobar et al 2019). Investment cases in Thailand and Vietnam combine AWD with laser land leveling, straw management, and management of fertilizer application that can further contribute to GHG reduction without a decrease in yields and income from paddy rice cultivation.India can realize a large gain from a small improvement in fertilizer use efficiency by the application of precision nutrient management based on the information provided in the SHC. The GHG mitigation potential of reduced fertilizer N consumption due to the adoption of precision nutrient management technologies in India is 17.5 Mt CO 2 yr −1 with a cost saving of US$ 91 per tCO 2 (Sapkota et al 2019). Increasing efficiency in fertilizer use can generate both economic and environmental benefits for the country. Currently, India allocates more than US$ 8 billion in fertilizer subsidy (2020-21). For example, 8%-10% reduction in fertilizer use with the application of SHC information can save about one billion US$ subsidy and reduce 7.34-9.18 Mt CO 2 eq emissions.Kenya's dairy sector emissions reduction potential ranges from 2.28 to 12.98 Mt CO 2 yr −1 (FAO 2017). Low-cost options include improved feed with the use of fodder and grasses and reducing milk loss and waste in collection and cooling centers. Key GHG mitigation options for the livestock sector in Kenya are improved feed with fodder and hay production (1.57 Mt CO 2 eq yr −1 ), manure management using biogas plants (0.09 Mt CO 2 eq yr −1 ), breed improvement (1.2 Mt CO 2 eq yr −1 ), dairy processing plants retrofit (0.14 Mt CO 2 eq yr −1 ), and reduction of milk loss and waste (2.9 Mt CO 2 eq yr −1 ). The cost of GHG emissions abatement using these options ranges from US$ −63/tCO 2 (improved feed) to US$ +80/tCO 2 (dairy processing plants retrofit) (Khatri-Chetri et al 2020). These estimates show that Kenya has a large potential to reduce GHG emissions from the livestock sector with cost-saving benefits.The GHG mitigation potential from reforestation and grazing land management in Colombia is 325.2 and 2.87 Mt CO 2 yr −1 , respectively (Griscom et al 2021). Well-managed silvopastoral systems in the country can improve overall productivity, carbon sequestration and provide additional economic benefits for livestock farmers. Carbon sequestration rates of silvopastoral systems vary between 1.0 and 5.0 tonnes carbon ha −1 yr −1 depending on the climate, soil conditions, pasture type, and tree species (Ibrahim et al 2009). Colombia has 34.4 million ha of pasture lands of which 30% are classified as unmanaged (DANE 2014). Expansion of silvopastoral systems and improved management of unmanaged pastures offer synergies in both GHG mitigation and adaptation benefits in the country.Five investment cases evaluated in this study provide good examples of addressing gaps in mitigation finance by leveraging funds from different sources, bundling financial instruments, and investing in mitigation options that also provide adaptation benefits. Thai rice NAMA and Kenya's dairy NAMA aim to address the financing gap for GHG mitigation by channeling additional sources of finance. They integrate blended finance and PPP to increase private sector investment in mitigation options. They also target unlocking commercial credit using blended finance mechanisms. These two projects use grants to offer technical assistance to loan beneficiaries and local financial institutions, partnering with climate finance institutions (e.g. Green Climate Fund and NAMA facility) to establish a concessional credit line for commercial banks, and guaranteeing the loan portfolio for private sector investors. This helps to de-risk investments and catalyzes private capital by standardizing requirements of public capital, realigning returns, and leveraging expectation (by guarantees, subsidized interest rate, or offsetting the cost of capital), and increasing the effective application of risk reduction tools (Millan et al 2019).Government finance in climate-smart rice cultivation in Vietnam and SHC scheme in India also inspire private sectors' investment. The SHC scheme in India promotes private agri-entrepreneurs for building mobile/mini soil testing labs and village-level soil testing facilities with co-investment. Livestock NAMA of Colombia plans to develop a public-private financing alliance including the National Federation of Cattle Ranchers, Global Environment Fund, and bilateral and multilateral financing institutions. In all investment cases, integration of diverse financial sources is not only supporting to leverage finance but also expertise and capabilities for diversifying, managing, and rebalancing risk-return profiles. This coordination of finance also aligns mitigation funds with development assistance and guides investment to better target strategic needs. They also followed a widely used project-based approach which is easy to implement and monitor performances. An effective way to utilize mitigation finance in agriculture is to bundle one or more financial instruments with technical assistance (Sadler et al 2016). Investment cases considered in this study are using a variety of financing instruments, such as the provision of subsidized loans, grants, guarantees for loans, and technical assistance facilities, to offer more comprehensive solutions to financial institutions and other stakeholders to help improve mitigation financing. The bundling of several instruments at a time may increase the efficiency of resource use and reduce the risk of investment.Mitigation measures in agriculture must provide direct benefits to farmers and other value chain actors and contribute to agriculture development, food security, and trade to gain policy supports and investment (Wollenberg andNegra 2011, Dickie et al 2014). The evaluation of sustainability indicators of investment cases revealed a large economic benefit to the farmers by improving farm productivity, input use efficiency, and income. These are some of the key indicators of building resilient agriculture to climate change. In the absence of incentives for GHG reduction to the farmers and other value chain actors, these benefits can motivate them to invest in mitigation options in agriculture.Achieving the target of limiting global warming, SDGs and net-zero emissions requires a combination of policies, incentives and technical supports, and coordination of actions across multiple stakeholders. Low emission agriculture development will not be possible without significantly increasing the amount of investment in mitigation actions across the regions and agriculture sub-sectors. But, access to finance for climate action in agriculture is a major challenge due to low investment priority and reluctance of global and national financial institutions. This paper evaluated innovative financial mechanisms and instruments that integrate climate finance, agriculture development budgets, and private sector investments to improve and increase farmers' and other value chain actors' access to finance while delivering environmental, economic, and social benefits. This assessment of investment cases provides rich information to design and implement mitigation actions in agriculture through unlocking additional sources of public and private capital, strengthening the links between financial institutions, farmers, and agribusiness, and coordination of actions across multiple stakeholders. These investment cases could help to develop new finance mechanisms that meet the needs of a large number of smallholder farmers and SMEs to implement the mitigation options.The innovative financial mechanisms and instruments used in the investment cases can accommodate the different risks-return profiles of all stakeholders of the project. For instance, Thai Rice and Kenya Dairy NAMAs are using layered capital structures to meet the risk appetite of each of their investors. Climatesmart rice production program in Vietnam and SHC scheme in India promote PPP model to leverage private capital in climate actions. All investment cases expand support for existing agricultural best practices, integrate forestry and agricultural actions to avoid land-use change, and support the transition to market-based solutions. These are the promising investment cases that can be replicated to facilitate the rapid advancement and scaling-up of climate finance in agriculture and allied sectors."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2642a59dbb4a5e810e5617a67ed65e4d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ac0b8ca4-f71d-4b01-9627-24fc4b9efdf4/retrieve","id":"-1408569665"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d2fede39-442c-41ab-9868-2d7b121b05c6","content":"The benchmarking and monitoring of rice production performance indicators are essential for improving rice production self-sufficiency, increasing profitability, reducing labor requirements, optimizing fertilizer inputs, engaging youths in rice production, and increasing the overall sustainability of smallholder rice production systems in countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In this paper, we quantified five sustainability performance indicators (grain yield, net profit, labor productivity, and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) use efficiencies) to benchmark rice production systems in SSA. Data were collected between 2013-2014 from 2907 farmers from two rice production systems (irrigated and rainfed lowlands) across five agroecological zones (arid, semiarid, humid, subhumid and highlands) in 12 countries (Benin,Rice is one of the most important basic crops in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The rice sector is considered as an engine for economic growth in SSA, as it has the potential to contribute to creating wealth and jobs, ensuring food security, reducing economic migration from Africa, and ensuring social stability (Seck et al., 2012). However, these potential benefits remain unrealized despite the existence of national objectives in SSA countries targeted at achieving rice self-sufficiency.Many countries in SSA have made significant efforts to increase domestic rice productivity and production by encouraging the adoption of new and improved varieties and good agricultural practices. Consequently, 71 % increase in paddy rice production during 2007-2012 was attributed to yield increases, and 29 % was attributed to harvested-area expansion (Saito et al., 2015). However, between 2012 and 2018, the increase in yield was only 1.19 % annually, compared to an annual increase of 1.47 % between 2007 and 2012 (Arouna et al., 2021a). Despite the various policies implemented to boost local production, especially after the 2007/2008 global food crisis, local production in SSA has not been sufficient to meet the increasing demands of the population.Although significant efforts and investments had been made in rice research and development over the past 50 years, rice production in SSA is still characterized by low productivity. The average yield in 2018 in the region was approximately 2.28 t ha − 1 , compared to the average of 4.61 t ha − 1 in Asia (USDA, 2020). The region has an exploitable yield gap of 2− 10 t ha -1 (Dossou-Yovo et al., 2020). In SSA, the low yield constitutes one of the main challenges of rice production and is attributed to several factors. Among these, poor agricultural practices including land preparation, seed, crop establishment, nutrient management, and weed management limit on-farm yield (Dossou-Yovo et al., 2020;Niang et al., 2017;Saito et al., 2015;Tanaka et al., 2015Tanaka et al., , 2017)). In addition, abiotic, biotic and socioeconomic constraints have been frequently reported to reduce rice yield in both irrigated and rainfed production environments (Diagne et al., 2013), especially with the increasing negative effect of climate change (van Oort and Zwart, 2017). However, apart from grain yield (Niang et al., 2017;Tanaka et al., 2017), little information is available for the benchmarking of performance indicators (PIs), e.g., the labor productivity, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and phosphorus use efficiency (PUE), of rice production systems in SSA. These PIs are among those defined by the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) for sustainability of rice production (SRP, 2015). These PIs are also included in a framework of agronomic gain key PIs, which was recently proposed by Excellence in Agronomy 2030 Initiative (Saito et al., 2021). Sustainable rice production requires the improvement and optimization of these PIs without major trade-off among them (Devkota et al., 2019(Devkota et al., , 2020;;SRP, 2015). In SSA countries, maintaining and improving the sustainability of smallholder rice production is important for achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), i.e. end poverty (SDG #1), end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture (SDG #2), gender equality (SDG #5), ensure sustainable consumption and production pattern (SDG #12), take urgent action to combat climate change and its impact (SDG #13) (UNDP, 2017). Quantifying the PIs of rice production is important for closing large yield and profit gaps through optimal resource use. Additionally, assessment of such PIs is required in order to establish intervention priorities (baseline/benchmarking and target), provide specific recommendations and practical guidelines to drive improvements in crop production systems and monitor progress due to agronomic interventions or policy supports over time and location. Thus, the objective of this paper is to assess the PIs for sustainable rice production across countries, production systems and agroecological zones (AEZ) in SSA.For brevity, aligning with this special issue, this paper focuses on five farm-level economic and environmental indicators that rice agronomic interventions significantly addressed, namely, grain yield, net profit, labor productivity, NUE and PUE in SSA as a case study. The contribution of this paper to the literature is twofold. First, the quantification and comparison of rice production indicators are essential for improving the sustainability of smallholder rice production systems in SSA. Although such quantitative assessments for other parts of the world have been published in the literature (Devkota et al., 2019), studies that quantify rice production PIs in SSA are scarce. Literature exists on assessment of grain yield across rice growing environments in SSA (Tanaka et al., 2017;Niang et al., 2017;Senthilkumar et al., 2020), labor productivity and NUE in farmers' fields in a few sites (Paresys et al., 2018;Wopereis et al., 1999). However, studies assessing trade-off among indicators (labor productivity, net profit, NUE and PUE) and with the aim of making rice production system sustainable at major rice production countries and AEZ in SSA are lacking. Second, our assessment is more holistic with wider geographical coverage (12 countries), two production systems based on water conditions and management practices (irrigated and rainfed lowlands), five AEZs, and three farmer categories based on yield performance. Unlike the existing literature, which is focused mainly on irrigated and intensively managed rice production systems (Devkota et al., 2020), this study compares rice production in both irrigation and rainfed lowland systems with sub-optimal crop and input management practices. These two perspectives lead to policy and management recommendations as well as suggestions for future research directions to improve the sustainability of rice production and achieve rice self-sufficiency in SSA.This study used data collected by Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) for the 2013-2014 growing season from rice sector development hubs in 12 countries in SSA (Benin, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Togo) (Fig. 1). Rice sector development hubs are the main rice production areas where rice research innovations are integrated across the rice value chain to achieve development outcomes and impacts (Zossou et al., 2017). The number of rice sector development hubs per country was selected by National Agricultural Research System (NARS) partners based on the main production system and the quantity of rice produced. The survey for this study was conducted in one or two hubs (hereinafter referring as site) in each country depending on the production systems (irrigated lowland; IL and rainfed lowland; RL). In six countries (Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, and Togo), data were collected from two hubs (one IL production system and one RL production system). Data were collected from one hub in the other six countries, i.e., two countries (Niger and Senegal) with IL and four countries (Benin, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania) with RL. Therefore, data were collected at 18 site-production system combinations (the IL in 8 countries and the RL in 10 countries). The 18 rice production systems were in 5 AEZ (arid, semiarid, humid, subhumid and highlands) (Fig. 1).A multistage random sampling technique was used to select farmers to interview. In the first stage, a list of all villages that produce rice using the main production system of each hub was obtained. In each hub, the number of villages sampled was proportional to the total number of villages, and the sampled villages were randomly selected. A list of all rice farmers in each selected village was collected with the help of extension agents and national partners. Ten farmers were randomly selected from each village. In total, data from 2907 rice farmers in 12 countries were included in the analysis. Of the 2907 farmers analyzed in this paper, 1011 cultivated rice in IL, and 1896 cultivated rice in RL production system (Table 1).Characterization of rice production inputs in irrigated lowland production systems and in irrigated versus rainfed lowland production systems in SSA countries. The same letter indicates no significant difference at the 5% level. Values in parenthesis are standard deviations. The dominant cropping system in IL is rice-rice.Data collection was performed using tablets, and the data were sent via a web-based application to a central database managed by AfricaRice that allows online access to NARS partners. As data validation rules were imposed, the tablet-based data collection avoided many biases associated with paper-based questionnaires, such as mistakes in recording answers, changed values of variables, mistakes in recoding text answers for numerical variables, etc. Data were collected using a structured and pre-tested questionnaire. The household data collected included socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and information necessary to estimate the net profit, labor productivity, grain yield, NUE and PUE of the farms. Farmers were asked to recall information about field size per household, the quantity and price of all inputs (seed, fertilizer, insecticides, labor, equipment, etc.) and output (paddy rice) from the previous rainy season. The data were collected by enumerators who were trained and supervised by NARS partners and AfricaRice staff.Out of the 12 SRP indicators, the five PIs related to farm-level rice production were considered and included, viz., grain yield, net profit, labor productivity, NUE, and PUE (SRP, 2015). The net profit, labor productivity and grain yield were calculated for all 12 countries, and the NUE and PUE were calculated for 6 countries (i.e., Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Togo, Niger, Senegal and Benin) because N and P fertilizer were not applied or were applied only at very low levels in the other countries. All the PIs were computed for the two rice production systems (IL and RL) and across five AEZ (arid, semiarid, humid, subhumid and highlands). The net profits were calculated by considering total costs, including inputs (seed, fertilizers, herbicides, irrigation water, and pesticides), machinery rental, equipment, land rental (if any), labor (family and hired) for seedling preparation, seeding, land preparation, crop establishment, weed management, fertilizer application, irrigation, harvesting, threshing, cleaning, and drying operations. The gross income was computed based on the grain yield and market price. To reduce the effect of price variability on the net profit, average price per hub was used. Then, the net profit was derived by deducting total costs from the gross income. Grain yield was estimated by dividing the total rice production by the rice area and expressed as tons per hectare (t ha − 1 ). Labor productivity was computed by dividing the grain yield by the total number of labor days required for one hectare of rice production and was expressed as kg grain labor day − 1 . To calculate the PUE, the total P 2 O 5 content of the fertilizers was multiplied by a factor of 0.4364 to convert it into the amount of elemental P (Devkota et al., 2019). The total harvested grain yield was divided by the elemental N or P value, and the NUE and PUE were expressed in terms of kg grain kg − elemental N or P. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-tests were used to test the differences in the PIs among countries and production systems, respectively.To estimate the yield gaps, farmers were categorized into three classes based on grain yield: the top decile (top 10 %), middle (middle %) and bottom decile (bottom 10 %). Following Stuart et al. (2016), the exploitable yield gap was computed as the difference between the grain yield of the top decile and the mean grain yield of all farmers, and the yield gap percentage was estimated by dividing this difference by the yield of the top decile. Using the same percentile categories of the yield, the values of the gaps for the other PIs (net profit, labor productivity, NUE and PUE) were calculated. The values of the PIs are displayed as frequency distributions indicating the top, middle and bottom percentile values. A correlation analysis was conducted to assess the relationships between the five PIs and inputs use. For NUE and PUE, the optimal values were customized for the SSA countries by modifying the values as proposed by Devkota et al. (2019) for East Asia, Dobermann and Fairhurst (2000) for rice production, and EU Nitrogen Expert Panel (2015) for improving NUE. Accordingly, the range 30-100 kg grain kg − elemental N was set as optimal values for NUE, NUE < 30 as high elemental N application (wasteful), and > 100 low application (mining The same letter indicates no significant difference at the 5% level. Values in parenthesis are the standard deviations. The dominant cropping system in RL is rice-fallow.soil nutrients); similarly 100-400 kg grain kg − 1 elemental P as optimal range for PUE, PUE < 100 as wasteful application, and > 400 as low (mining soil nutrients). The upper and lower boundary values for desirable NUE (100 and 30) and PUE (400 and 100) proposed for 12 African countries are similar to those for East Asian countries (100 and 30 NUE, and 350 and 100 PUE) (Devkota et al., 2019(Devkota et al., , 2021)). It is noted that the method used here for computation of NUE and PUE does not account for the indigenous soil N and P supplies, nutrient from mineralization, organic fertilizers use, and fertilizers from irrigation water. Further, nitrogen inputs from biological nitrogen fixation (Ladha and Reddy, 2003) has not been accounted for. It is known that due to anaerobic conditions in flooded paddy fields, indigenous soil N and P supplies were maintained even without the use of fertilizers in long-term trials in the Philippines (Chivenge et al., 2020;Dobermann et al., 2000;Ishii et al., 2011). We recognize that assessment of indigenous soil N and P supplies is essential for generating site-specific nutrient management practices. However, this assessment and calculation of nutrient use efficiencies using indigenous soil N and P supplies are beyond the scope of this study.To establish intervention priorities, normalized spider diagrams were created to indicate the trade-offs among the five PIs and the inputs used in both production systems and the three yield gap categories (bottom 10 %, middle 80 % and top 10 %) in each country. These tradeoffs were compared to make country-specific recommendations for high-priority interventions to close the gaps in yield, net profit, labor productivity, NUE and PUE.The average rice area per household was significantly smaller in IL production system (1.24 ha) than in RL production system (2.25 ha) (Table 1). Although the percentage of farmers using certified seeds (25 %) was the same in both production systems, the quantity of seeds used was higher in IL (84 kg ha − 1 ) than in RL (71 kg ha − 1 ). Only 40 % of farmers in both production systems used herbicides and 26 % and 48 % used mechanical weeding (e.g. rotary weeder) in RL and IL, respectively.An average of 90 labor days ha -1 was used in rice production in the two production systems. On average, 61 % of farmers in RL and 44 % in IL do not apply N or apply <2 kg N ha − 1 to rice, while up to 74 % of farmers in RL and 55 % in IL do not apply P or apply <1 kg P ha − 1 to rice. However, higher quantities of N, P and K fertilizers were used in the IL than in the RL. This explains why rice production cost was higher in the IL ($270 ha -1 ) than in the RL ($217 ha -1 ). However, due to the higher yields from the IL, the unit cost of paddy production in the IL ($0.27 kg -1 ) is lower than that in the RL ($0.33 kg -1 ).Across the eight countries in IL, the average rice area per household ranged from 0.27 ha (Ankazomiriotra, in Madagascar) to 3.90 ha (Kouroumari, in Mali). The lowest percentage of farmers using certified seeds was found in Madagascar (1%), followed by Mali (9%), and the highest percentages were in Cote d'Ivoire (76 %) and Ghana (73 %). The average labor use was highest in Madagascar (140 labor days ha − 1 ) and the lowest in Mali (37 labor days ha − 1 ). Rice production cost was the highest in Niger ($417 ha − 1 ) and Senegal ($382 ha − 1 ) and the lowest in Madagascar ($108 ha − 1 ). Farmers in Niger applied the highest amounts of N fertilizer (80− 105 kg N ha -1 ), and those in Ghana and Nigeria applied the least (<20 kg N ha -1 ) (Table 1). The low use of fertilizers in rice production in the eight countries using the IL system was also confirmed by the high percentage of farmers who did not apply N and P fertilizers or applied marginal quantities (< 2 kg N ha -1 and 1 kg P ha -1 ). Overall, 95 % of farmers in Nigeria (the highest percentage), 58 % in Senegal, 30 % in Mali, 24 % in Togo, 23 % in Cote d'Ivoire, and 10 % in Niger (the lowest percentage) did not apply at least one of the fertilizers (Table 1).In RL, the average rice area per household ranged from 0.38 ha (Ambohibary, in Madagascar) and 0.61 ha (Region des Plateaux, in Togo) to 3.68 ha (Nassarawa, in Nigeria) and 8.50 ha (Kahama, in Tanzania) (Table 2). The lowest percentage of farmers using certified seeds was found in Tanzania (2%) and the highest were in Cote d'Ivoire (59 %) and Benin (57 %). The mean labor quantity used in rice production in RL ranged from the highest in Benin (134 labor day ha − 1 ) to the lowest in Sierra Leone (30 labor day ha − 1 ). Rice production was the most expensive in Cameroon ($386 ha − 1 ) and Togo ($344 ha − 1 ). Farmers in Togo and Benin applied the highest quantity of N fertilizer (80− 105 kg N ha -1 ), and those in Tanzania, Nigeria and Cote d'IvoireSample mean, attainable (top decile) mean and gaps in grain yield, net profit and labor productivity in irrigated lowland production systems and irrigated versus rainfed lowland production systems in SSA countries.The same letter indicates no significant difference at the 5% level. applied the least (<20 kg N ha -1 ) (Table 2). In the 10 countries with RL, a large percentage of farmers did not apply N and P fertilizers or applied only marginal quantities (< 2 kg N ha -1 and 1 kg P ha -1 ). Overall, 99 % of farmers in Tanzania and 96 % in Sierra Leone did not apply N fertilizer and 87 % in Ghana did not apply P fertilizer (Table 2).The mean rice yield in the IL (4.1 t ha − 1 ) was almost triple that obtained in the RL (1.4 t ha − 1 ) (Table 3). However, exploitable yield gaps between the highest-yielding 10 % of farmers (the top decile) and the mean-yielding farmers (the mean of all farms) were observed in both production systems. The yield gaps were 40 % and 58 % (2.7 t ha − 1 and 2.0 t ha − 1 ) in the IL and the RL, respectively.For the IL, the highest rice yield was obtained in Dagana in Senegal (5.5 t ha − 1 ), followed by Tillaberi in Niger (5.1 t ha − 1 ) and Gagnoa in Cote d'Ivoire (5.0 t ha − 1 ), and the lowest yield (2.5 t ha − 1 ) was obtained in Kouroumari in Mali, Region Maritimes in Togo and Ankazomiriotra in Madagascar (Fig. 2; Table 2). The exploitable yield gap for the eight countries using the IL ranged between 29-52 % (1.7 to 3.8 t ha − 1 ) (Table 3). The highest yield gap in rice was determined for Togo (52 %), followed by Nigeria (46 %), and the lowest were observed in Senegal (29 %) and Ghana (35 %). The highest variability in grain yield was observed in Niger, followed by Senegal, and the lowest variability was observed in Madagascar and Mali (Fig. 2). By AEZ, farmers in the arid zone had the highest yield (5.5 t ha − 1 ), and the lowest yield was  1 and 2. calculated for the highland zone (2.5 t ha − 1 ) (Table 5).For the RL, the mean rice yield was the highest in Cameroon (2.3 t ha − 1 ), and the lowest was (<1 t ha − 1 ) in Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Ghana (Fig. 2; Table 4). The exploitable yield gap ranged between 40-69 % (0.9 to 4.9 t ha − 1 ) (Table 4). The highest yield gap was calculated for Cameroon (69 %), followed by Tanzania (66 %), and the lowest were for Mali (40 %) and Cote d'Ivoire (50 %). The highest variability in grain yield was observed in Cameroon and the lowest variability was observed in Ghana and Mali (Fig. 2). The highest yield (1.9 t ha − 1 ) was calculated in the highland zone, and the lowest was calculated in the subhumid zone (1.1 t ha − 1 ) (Table 5).Like yield, the mean net profit from the RL ($223 ha − 1 ) was significantly lower than that from the IL ($1036 ha − 1 ) (Table 3). The profit gaps (derived from the three yield categories) were 39 % in the IL and 72 % in the RL. The values of the exploitable gaps (approximatelySample mean, attainable (top decile) mean and gaps in grain yield, net profit and labor productivity in rainfed lowland production systems in SSA countries.The same letter indicates no significant difference at the 5% level.Five performance indicators of rice production sustainability across five climatic zones and two production systems. $600 ha − 1 ) were similar in the two production systems. In the RL, 10 % of farmers in the lowest decile had an average negative net profit ($-130 ha − 1 ), while this value was $189 ha − 1 for farmers under IL conditions.For the IL, the highest net profit was obtained in Nigeria ($2301 ha − 1 ) and the lowest were obtained in Mali ($440 ha − 1 ) and Madagascar ($336 ha − 1 ) (Fig. 3; Table 3). The exploitable profit gap ranged between 10-54 % ($128 to 1114 ha − 1 ) (Table 3). The highest profit gap was calculated for Togo (54 %), followed by Mali (53 %), and the lowest were calculated for Ghana (10 %) and Nigeria (29 %). The greatest variability in grain profit was observed in Nigeria, followed by Niger, and the lowest variability was observed in Madagascar and Mali (Fig. 3). The highest profits were achieved by farmers in the humid zone ($1293 ha − 1 ), and the lowest were achieved in the highland zone ($336 ha − 1 ) (Table 5).For the RL, the highest profits were achieved in Cameroon ($662 ha − 1 ) and Togo ($365 ha − 1 ), and the lowest profits were achieved in Tanzania ($38 ha − 1 ), Ghana ($91 ha − 1 ) and Mali ($106 ha − 1 ) (Fig. 3; Table 4). Large exploited profit gaps were calculated, and they ranged between 52-89 % ($291 ha − 1 to $1334 ha − 1 ). The highest profit gap in the RL was calculated for Tanzania, and the lowest was calculated for Cote d'Ivoire (Table 4). The greatest variability in profit was observed in Cameroon and Sierra Leone, and the lowest was observed in Madagascar and Mali (Fig. 3). The highest profits ($337 ha − 1 ) were obtained in the humid zone, and the lowest profits were obtained in the semiarid zone ($106 ha − 1 ) (Table 5).Among the surveyed countries, the average labor productivity was 90 kg grain labor day − 1 in the IL and only 25 kg grain labor day − 1 in the RL (Table 3). The low labor productivity in the RL was due to the low grain yields. However, an exploitable gap existed for both production systems. The labor productivity gaps were 38 % and 59 % in the IL and RL, respectively. The exploitable gap in value was higher in the IL system (54 kg grain labor day − 1 ) than in the RL (36 kg grain labor day − 1 ).Under IL conditions, the highest labor productivity was observed in Senegal (192 kg grain labor day − 1 ), followed by Nigeria (126 kg grain labor day − 1 ) and Ghana (118 kg grain labor day − 1 ), and the lowest labor productivity was observed in Madagascar (22 kg grain labor day − 1 ) Fig. 3. Box-whisker plots of net profits in rainfed lowland (RL) and irrigated lowland (IL) production systems: the mean farmer population (0), the bottom 10 % (1), middle 80 % (2), and top 10 % (3) of farmers in 12 countries in SSA.(Fig. 4; Table 3). The exploitable labor productivity gap for the eight countries within IL reached 56 %. The highest labor productivity gap was calculated for Togo (56 %) and Ghana (55 %). The labor productivity gap in Senegal was negative, implying that the farmers producing higher yields had lower labor productivity value than the mean value for the population. The greatest variability in labor productivity was observed in Niger and Senegal, and the lowest variability was observed in Cote d'Ivoire (Fig. 4). Because farmers producing in IL in Senegal had the highest labor productivity, the highest labor productivity (192 kg grain labor day − 1 ) was observed in the arid zone; the lowest was observed in the highland zone (22 kg grain labor day − 1 ) (Table 5).For the RL, labor productivity was low in general, ranging from the lowest obtained by farmers in Cote d'Ivoire (14 kg grain labor day − 1 ) and Benin (15 kg grain labor day − 1 ) to the highest achieved in Mali (53 kg grain labor day − 1 ) and Nigeria (34 kg grain labor day − 1 ) (Fig. 4; Table 4). Large, exploitable labor productivity gaps existed in the 10 countries with RL, and their values ranged between 47 % (Ghana) and 71 % (Madagascar) (Table 4). The greatest variability in labor productivity was observed in Madagascar and Nigeria, and the lowest variability was observed in Benin and Cameroon (Fig. 4). Among the different AEZ, the highest labor productivity (53 kg grain labor day − 1 ) was observed in the semiarid zone, and the lowest (16 kg grain labor day − 1 ) was observed in the humid zone (Table 5).The NUE was 146 kg grain kg − 1 N in IL and 63 kg grain kg − 1 N in RL (Table 3). The PUE was 754 kg grain kg − 1 P in IL and 393 kg grain kg − P in RL. In addition, high NUE and PUE gaps were observed under RL conditions. The NUE gap was only 9% in IL but was as high as 53 % in RL. Approximately 43 % and 20 % of farmers are mining soil N nutrient in the IL and RL production systems, respectively, due to the high values of NUE (>100 kg grain kg − 1 N) (Table 6). The PUE gap was 46 % in RL (Table 3). The lowest PUE gap calculated in the IL was negative, meaning that the farmers had too high PUE values, which can explain that most farmers are mining soil P nutrient. Approximately 34 % and % of farmers are mining soil P nutrient in RL and IL, respectively, according to their high values of PUE (>400 kg grain kg − 1 P) (Table 6).Among the five countries for which the NUE under IL conditions was calculated, Mali had the highest NUE (239 kg grain kg − 1 N), and Niger had the lowest (106 kg grain kg − 1 N) (Fig. 5; Table 3). The exploitable NUE gap reached 41 % in Niger and Cote d'Ivoire. The lowest NUE gap was negative, implying that the farmers in the top 10 % by yield had below-average NUE and majority of farmers apply too low amount of those nutrients from inorganic fertilizers. Indeed, most farmers are mining soil nutrients. Only 44 % of farmers were within an acceptable NUE range (30-100); 42 % had high values of NUE, indicating soil nutrients mining conditions, and the remaining farmers (14 %) had low NUE, indicating wasteful nutrient management practices (Table 6). The highest percentages of farmers with high NUE values (mining soil nutrients) were observed in Mali (66 %) and Cote d'Ivoire (56 %). The greatest variability in NUE was in observed in Mali and Niger, and the lowest variability was observed in Cote d'Ivoire (Fig. 5). Among the different AEZ, no zone had the average in the optimal NUE range (30-100) and the highest NUE (143 kg grain kg − 1 N) was found in the humid zone (Table 5). The average PUE was above the optimal PUE range in the five countries with the highest PUE (mining soil nutrients) was in Senegal (968 kg grain kg − 1 P), and the lowest was in Niger (564 kg grain kg − 1 P) (Fig. 5; Table 3).For the rainfed lowland production system, the highest NUE and PUE were achieved in Cote d'Ivoire (111 kg grain kg − 1 N and 636 kg grain kg − 1 P, respectively) (Fig. 5; Table 4), indicating both N and P mining are happening in Cote d'Ivoire as these values are above the upper limits. Similarly, the lowest NUE and PUE were observed in Togo (26 kg grain kg − 1 N and 202 kg grain kg − 1 P, respectively), indicating overapplication by farmers (71 % for NUE and 41 % for PUE). The farmers in the top 10 % by yield in Benin and Togo are in the optimal range of both NUE and PUE. Approximately 44 % had low values of NUE (waste of N fertilizers) with the highest percentage in Benin and Togo (Table 6).The analyses highlighted the trade-offs among the five PIs and production inputs based on the three farmer categories (Fig. 6). In the IL production system, clear differences in the PIs and production inputs among the three yield categories were observed in Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Togo, Nigeria, Niger and Senegal. In addition to producing higher yields, the top 10 % yielding farmers had higher profits and labor productivity than the farmers in the two other yield categories (bottom 10 % and middle 80 %) in the following six countries: Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Togo, Nigeria, Niger and Senegal. The correlation analysis also confirmed that in both irrigated and rainfed production systems, there were strong positive correlations between yield, net profit and labor productivity (Tables 7 and 8; Figs. 7 and 8). The quantities of N and P fertilizers were also positively correlated with three PIs (yield, profit and labor productivity) in IL and RL production systems (Tables 7 and 8). However, there was no significant correlation between the two efficiencies (NUE and PUE) and two PIs (yield and labor productivity). In IL, the quantity of labor use was negatively correlated with the use of equipment and herbicide while the labor productivity was positively correlated with the use of equipment and herbicide (Table 7). The top 10 % of farmers in Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Togo and Niger used higher quantities of N and P fertilizers than the other farmer categories, but this was not the case in Nigeria and Senegal. The top 10 % of farmers in Cote d'Ivoire, Togo and Niger also used more labor than the rest of the farmers, while the top % in Cote d'Ivoire and Togo used higher quantities of seeds than the rest of the farmers.In RL, the top 10 % of farmers in terms of yield also had higher profits and labor productivity than farmers in the other yield categories (bottom 10 % and middle 80 %) in all ten countries (Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania). The top 10 % of farmers in Benin, Madagascar and Togo used higher quantities of N and P fertilizers than the rest of the farmers. They also used a higher quantity of labor in Cameroon but less labor in Madagascar. This implies that low-performing farmers in Madagascar should use more N and P fertilizers and could reduce labor inputs; those in Togo and Benin should use more N and P fertilizers; and those in Cameroon should increase labor inputs.Estimating economic and environmental performance indicators of rice production is a first step for identifying intervention areas across countries, production systems and AEZ to improve productivity and profitability, reduce drudgery, increase sustainability of rice production (Devkota et al., 2019). The assessment of rice production systems in For NUE, Too low (wasteful application, <30); Desirable range (30-100); Too high (soil mining, >100).For PUE, Too low (wasteful application, <100); Desirable range (100-400); Too high (soil mining, >400).SSA countries showed a large variation in rice yield across countries and between production systems. The mean yield varied widely between 2.5 to 5.6 t ha − 1 and 0.6 to 2.3 t ha − 1 in IL and RL, respectively. In addition, rice yields are critically low, especially in RL, where farmers produced, on average, 1.4 t ha − 1 . Although the average yield (4.1 t ha − 1 ) is higher in IL, farmers produced, on average, only 2.5 t ha − 1 in IL in Madagascar, Mali and Togo. Result of lower yield of RL than IL confirm previous studies (Niang et al., 2017;Tanaka et al., 2017;Senthilkumar et al., 2020). While comparing the rice yield in SSA countries with the intensively managed lowland rice yield in six East Asia countries (Devkota et al., 2019), yields in both IL and RL are lower than that of many sites in Asia except for Bago site in Myanmar. In SSA countries, lower yields were associated with no or lower N and P fertilizer applications in this study. This finding is supported by studies on nutrition omission trials or fertilizer response trials in SSA (Saito et al., 2019;Tsujimoto et al., 2019;Niang et al., 2017). Saito et al. (2019) showed positive response of rice yield to N and P fertilizer, and rice yields without N, P, and K were only 68, 84, and 89 % of yields of the NPK treatment. Nevertheless, a high proportion of farmers do not apply N and P fertilizers or apply only very low quantities. On average, 61 % of farmers in RL and 44 % in IL do not apply N or apply <2 kg N ha − 1 in rice, while up to 74 % of farmers in RL and 55 % in IL do not apply P or apply <1 kg P ha − 1 in rice. The cause of low level of fertilizer application is not known in this study, but may be related to combination of the following. First, low level of fertilizer application may be due to high prices coupled with farmers' financial constraints. When farmers need to buy fertilizers at the beginning of rice growing season, they might have financial liquidity constraints and limited access to financial services or credits. In many SSA countries, governments do not provide financial assistance to farmers and where it is available, it is mainly for cash crops such as coffee, cocoa, cotton, etc. The financial constraint assumption was also raised by Wortmann et al. (2019) in their book chapter that analyzed smallholder farmers' fertilizer use issues in Africa. Secondly, farmers access and timely availability of fertilizers are usually an issue. Even in countries where subsidies exist, due to poor infrastructure and supply chains, fertilizer inputs may not be available on time. Thirdly, especially for rainfed lowlands, farmers experience high levels of uncertainty about biophysical factors (erratic rainfall, insufficient water in the field, etc.), which are increasing with the negative effect of climate change, leading to the low use of inputs (e. g. fertilizer) (Niang et al., 2018;Arouna et al., 2021b). As soil texture is largely variable at short distance in rainfed lowlands, there is a need for field-specific recommendations that consider soil texture and the spatial-temporal dynamics of water availability to reduce risk and uncertainty about biophysical factors and increase the use of fertilizers (Niang et al., 2018). For drought-prone conditions, water conservation measures, such as bunding, mulching, land-leveling, and no-tillage should also be considered for enhancing soil moisture and improving yield response to fertilizer. In addition, if reliable weather forecasting becomes available, it will help farmers to take timely decision to reduce the risk and uncertainty related to climatic factors. Although the average amount of fertilizer used as determined in this study is lower than the crop required (considering efficiencies), high variability was observed among farmers and production systems. This explains the large yield gaps among different countries and production systems. Relative yield gap of 29-69% and absolute gap of 2.7 t ha − 1 in IL and 2.0 t ha − 1 in RL in this study are similar to those from recent field surveys in SSA (Tanaka et al., 2017;Dossou-Yovo et al., 2020) but higher than in Asian countries where the yield gap ranged from 24 to 42 % (Devkota et al., 2019). These demonstrate the high heterogeneity among farmers and suggest that, with moderate changes in the production practices (integrated good agronomic practices), farmers can improve their yields (by following the practices of their peers) in similar socioeconomic and biophysical conditions. There was a profit gap of 10-89%, and labor productivity gap up to 71 % between the 10 % highest-yielding and the mean-yielding farms. These gaps are generally higher than those computed for IL in six East Asian countries (Devkota et al., 2019). IL had significantly higher performance especially for yield, profit and labor productivity than RL. However, the average cultivated area per farmer under IL is lower than that under RL. This finding indicates the need to increase the cultivated area per household in IL and access to irrigation water in RL to increase rice production in SSA countries. To improve PIs of RL rice production, low-cost land and water management practices, such as the \"smart-valley approach\" (a participatory water and land management in inland valley landscapes with field leveling and bundling), could be introduced to improve the accessibility to water in lowland and reduce risk for crop failure, leading to more use of fertilizers (Arouna and Akpa, 2019;Rodenburg et al., 2014).Yield, profit, and labor productivity were positively correlated in both IL and RL. However, correlation coefficients are slightly different between IL and RL. Relationships between labor productivity and the other two indicators were weaker than relationships between yield and profit in both IL and RL. Farmers with high labor productivity may not always be high-yielding farmers. This suggests that it is important to evaluate key performance indicators and evaluate potential trade-off among them for identifying intervention areas for sustainable rice cultivation. It is noted that there were high labor use and large variations in production cost among farmers in this study. Causes behind the high labor use and lower labor productivity can be explained by low adoption of labor-saving technologies such as equipment (for instance mechanical weeders) and herbicide. This confirms the findings of Rodenburg et al. (2019). Indeed, labor use and labor productivity are significantly correlated with the use of equipment and herbicide in the IL. Although we do not have data on a list of all machineries used by farmers, it is known that, in countries such as Senegal, Niger and Nigeria, production activities in IL are mechanized. In this study, these countries have low labor inputs and higher labor productivity (more than 100 kg grain labor day − 1 ). Recent studies in Asian countries showed that farmers were more labor efficient due to a high level of adoption of labor-saving technologies (Bordey et al., 2016;Devkota et al., 2019). In addition, there is an increasing labor scarcity in rural areas in SSA due to urban migration. These indicate that there is a scope for reducing labor use and increasing labor productivity through adoption of labor-saving technologies.Among those applying fertilizer, only 34-44% of farmers belonged to desirable ranges in NUE and PUE, and a significant number of farmers was in the lower or higher thresholds of NUE and PUE. The higher values indicate mining soil nutrients is occurring (Devkota et al., 2019;EU Nitrogen Expert Panel, 2015), whereas lower values indicate that fertilizers are not effective due to some reasons, including poor crop, nutrient, water, and weed managements. The high values of NUE in the 12 study countries are like what was observed in Myanmar, where approximately 92 % of farmers surveyed were engaged in mining soil nutrients (Devkota et al., 2019). For countries having low NUE and PUE with higher N and P application rates, reasons for lower values could be attributed to poor crop, nutrient, water, and weed managements by farmers, which thus calls for dissemination of nutrient management practices together with integrated crop management practices (Saito et al., 2015;Tanaka et al., 2015;Arouna et al., 2021b).The trade-off analysis reveals country-and production systemintervention areas for improving sustainability performance indicators. For example, larges difference in yield and N and P fertilizer application rates between the 10 % highest-yielding farms and the mean-yielding farms in IL indicate that higher quantities of N and P fertilizers, labor and seeds may help to close yield gaps in Cote d'Ivoire. To improve yields, low performing farmers in yield should increase N and P fertilizers in IL in Niger. In RL, low-performing farmers in Madagascar should increase the quantities of N and P fertilizers applied and decrease labor use, while those in Cameroon should employ more labor. The difference between Cameroon and Madagascar is related to availability and associated cost of labor. In Madagascar, because of labor abundance especially the family labor, low-performing farmers are using too labor, which is reducing the efficiency. In contrast, because of high labor cost, low-performing farmers in Cameroon were using less labor than the top 10 % yielding farmers. In addition, the difference between Madagascar and Cameroon is also due to the actual level of labor input in each country. Indeed, the average labor input is higher in Madagascar (132 labor day ha − 1 ) than in Cameroon (122 labor day ha − 1 ). It is worth mentioning that although the above discussion focuses on increasing the quantities of N and P fertilizers as short-term solutions, alternative sources to N and P fertilizers such as locally available organic inputs or crop rotation systems with legumes can be also considered for long-term sustainability of rice-based systems.Although the analysis in this paper gave an in-depth view of the sustainability of the rice production system in SSA, there are some limitations in this study. First, the data used for analysis was for one growing season in 2013-2014. In the future study, data from several years are needed to analyze the temporal changes in the PIs in rice production in SSA. Second, data collection using interview especially for key parameters such as field size and yield, as it is done in this study, may reduce the precision of the estimation of the PIs. If resources permit, measuring tape or map calculation for field size and crop-cut for yield should be preferred (Saito et al., 2021). Lastly, future research could also increase the sample size per site to improve the robustness of the parameter estimates for the top 10 % of farmers.Grain yields of the smallholder farmers in irrigated and rainfed lowlands were low in the 12 surveyed countries. The low yields are explained by low levels of nutrient input use. In addition, low nutrient input use resulted in extremely higher NUE and PUE, indicating mining soil nutrients. Dissemination and adoption of integrated crop management practices including nutrient management practices may help improving rice productivity, profit, and nutrient use efficiency. The existence of large yield gaps between the top decile of farmers and the farmer population mean shows that context-based innovations can be developed by following the management practices of high-yielding farmers to improve input management and the sustainability of rice production. Such an approach will lead to innovations that are more adapted to farmers' socioeconomic and biophysical conditions. The irrigation production system performed better than the rainfed lowland production system. This confirms the importance of water management, especially low-cost approaches such as 'smart valleys approach', for reducing risk for drought and flooding, and increasing rice production in SSA. Large profit gaps were also noted in rice production and were due mainly to input costs, especially labor costs. Labor productivity was generally low in rice production in SSA, and it can be improved through introduction of labor-saving technologies."}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"8ccb91ac-7322-4c49-b961-c1f75c4820d4","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8ea2d30db8e42cada03df550bd8aa230","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/441577d7-06dd-4273-9406-a4ddc78aa289/retrieve","id":"2111024691"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e8cce790-5205-4174-971a-f3425eb8633b","content":"The extensive small ruminant production system is characterized by disease outbreaks, shortage of feed and limited availability of water. Secondly, the crop and livestock systems are not effectively integrated to promote efficient use of nutrients. The study therefore aimed at improving crop-livestock intensification and integration through the introduction of improved feeding and health interventions into small ruminant production systems in Africa RISING project communities in northern Ghana.The experiment ran from November 2013 to October 2014 in 6 Africa RISING intervention communities in northern Ghana. Ten farmers were selected per community with five on treatment (feed and health treatment) and five control (farmer's practice). A daily amount of 200g of concentrate feed, which cost 31 US cents/kg, was given to treatment animals. The health treatment consisted of antibiotic injection, treatment against endo-and ecto-parasites, multivitamin injection every quarter plus one time Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) vaccination. Cost-benefit analysis was undertaken.Growth rate of treatment animals was higher than that of control animals (P<0.05) (Table 1). Lambs grew about twice as fast as kids (P<0.05) (Figs. 1a & 1b). Lower mortality rate was observed in treatment animals compared to control (P<0.05) partly contributing to higher birth rate observed in treatment animals (P<0.0001) (Table 1). A net gain of US$5.65 was observed for each treatment animal compared to US$8.58/control animal (P<0.05) however there was interaction between net gain and farmer's management practice (P<0.05).   The treatment resulted in significant reduction in mortality and increased growth and birth rates. The concentrate feed in particular could be used selectively for pregnant and lactating females as well as for fattening males under the intensive system.The study confirms the positive effects of feed and health interventions on improved animal productivity and flock growth, and the potential for better integration of crop and livestock production systems. However, the net returns from such interventions should be considered in view of the relatively high cost of concentrate feed and the use of locally available feed resources to replace concentrate feed is recommended to ensure profitability and sustainability."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a24ebc59b4e90d68722231306d2992e8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/afb0d1d3-29c7-42d9-944a-b1cfa55a395e/retrieve","id":"-374991336"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b68ef6b6-7223-4892-9128-fa4cb2ef19e8","content":"The new CGIAR GENDER Platform will contribute to the One CGIAR mission of ending hunger through science-driven transformation of food, land and water systems in the context of climate change, by reimagining the CGIAR gender-research-for-development agenda. We envision a new era in which food systems transformation and gender equality reinforce one another, accelerating and amplifying benefits that are equitable, sustainable and lasting. This report outlines the broad scope for developing an evidence hub that will be integrated with the Platform resource centre and highlights best practices and examples in establishing a user-friendly knowledge hub.The CGIAR Gender Platform Evidence Hub which will be housed in the Platform Resource Center is envisioned to be a mechanism to consolidate the collective knowledge on credible, legitimate and relevant evidence in the realm of gender and food systems. It provides a basis for debating and building evidence-based knowledge and practice in the Platform's focus areas. The evidence hub will act as a central repository for collective intelligence or arguments in gender in agriculture and food systems. Some proposed hub titles are included below -1. Gender in Agricultural Systems: an Evidence Repository (GASER) 2. Agriculture Systems and Gender: Insightful Long-term Evidence (AGILE)Based on the Evidence Gap Mapping exercise and identified key themes and sub themes of interest, the evidence hub will be organized into sections and subsections that are easily navigable and readily accessible. Along with the insights and resources categorised as mentioned, the hub will also host the EGM visual map as well as a forum for online stakeholder discussions.The hub will be a go-to repository for incremental evidence in the space of Gender and Food Systems. The hub will house different types of resources such as publications (journals, reports, policy briefs etc.), datasets, and multimedia, both internal to the CGIAR community and from the larger ecosystem.The intent of the evidence hub is to enable the audience and the research/academic community to -• Explore and debate the key challenges for the Gender in Agriculture movement. The community can link these challenges to issues, claims, organisations and solutions they are concerned with. • Members of the community can add a description of their work including geographical location and other relevant details. • Current questions can be posted, explored and discussed and new solutions proposed to tackle the major challenges. • Relevant evidence and resources for the community can be shared to contribute to the evidence base.The following graphic illustrates the key elements of a knowledge management framework for the GENDER platform, to position GENDER as the go-to-place for high quality evidence and knowledge on equitable and sustainable food systems.The evidence hub will aim to pool resources generated by the Platform, CGIAR partners such as national agricultural research and extension systems, university partners, advanced research institutions, nongovernment organizations, multilateral institutions and governments with whom CGIAR collaborates, and other entities. It will also consolidate and showcase key issues, insights and evidence from major websites and aligned repositories that have published thought provoking material on the subject (such as IFPRI's e-library https://ebrary.ifpri.org/digital/collection/p15738coll2/id/129389/; Data 2xhttps://data2x.org/ etc.)The hub will map both the social (people, organisations etc.) and discourse (issues, hypothesis, evidence etc.) ecosystem. Resources will be crowdsourced from the social ecosystem to triangulate information that is identified and filtered from the discourse ecosystem.Based on a review of literature around effective knowledge management and dissemination practices, and a review of evidence platforms across sectors and domains, the following practices and strategies are recommended for establishing an evidence hub for the CGIAR GENDER platform:A thorough mapping of different stakeholder groups and audiences and profiling their user journeys is essential to ensure that they are able to access required information and meet their goals in the least number of clicks possible. Consulting users from the outset can build buy-in, improve evidence uptake and engagement with the hub.The below image provides a snapshot of the user pathway through the hub from landing on the portal to visiting key touchpoints.Source: https://www.optimizely.com/optimization-glossary/user-journey-map/The journey mapping should include identification of personas of target customers and mapping their potential experience on the site. Thereafter a narrative or a story can be developed based on the derived user personas and touchpoints and this story can be visualised through user friendly layouts.Before commencing the hub design, a sample end user group (through internal networks) could be approached with a structured questionnaire to understand the various user paths and characteristics.The information should be organized using relevant taxonomy, keywords and themes/groups that are commonly used by the stakeholders in the sector as well as determined from the EGM exercise. Search engine optimization can be achieved through the right combination of keywords. Resources can also be grouped and presented for different users e.g. resources for researchers, resources for policymakers, and so on.• Organise content based on different goals of seeking information as indicated in the graphic below:Website navigation is an important element of designing a user-friendly evidence portal. Mapping user flows is a key step that will inform the design of the interface. At this stage, it is important to consider the following points:• What information are different user groups likely to search for?• What are the different entry points to the evidence portal? E.g. through Google search, email campaigns, social media • What actions are they likely to take once they have discovered the information they are looking for? E.g. download publication/data, share publication etc. Following is a simplified example of a potential user flow for an evidence hub:• The user arrives at the homepage → From the homepage the user clicks on the Resources tab → From the Resources tab the user uses the search menu to look for outputs related to a specific research theme → From the search results generated, the user downloads the first output Some best practises in terms of ease of navigation include -1. Type of menu -based on the number of links to be housed under the hub, we could use the mega menu style (for more links) or the cascading menu style (for fewer links). This will depend on the key user profiles 2. Add an interactive site map -the site map can be in the form of a video tutorial that would explain how to navigate the hub to the end user 3. Use of labels and icons -intuitive labels and icons can be used with menu links to communicate the information 4. Search versus navigation -use both in tandem to address the different user groups and individual preferences 5. Ready display of information -use simple classification categories to reduce search time Based on the user flow mapping exercise, the navigation should be intuitive and query forms should provide relevant filters for enabling users to generate reports and search for outputs accordingly. Relevant fields can include themes and sub-themes related to the platform's strategic agenda, region, type of output, year. Advanced filters can be added over time, as the volume of outputs stored on the hub gradually increases.Example: dynamic knowledge map to visualise outputs and enable rapid discovery Open Knowledge Maps presents a topical overview for your search term based on the 100 most relevant documents for your search term. This feature can be added over time, to speed up discovery of relevant information by research area or theme. Interactive evidence gap maps provide users a birds-eye view of the evidence base on a specific theme, identify areas with little to no evidence, and can facilitate collaboration across the CGIAR and development ecosystem. As a starting point, we will integrate the EGM visual in the evidence hub and at a later stage this can be expanded into a more comprehensive open knowledge map.Integrating principles of visual hierarchy is essential to deliver a user-friendly interface.• For text-heavy websites and sections, an F-shaped pattern can be used to draw the user's attention to the most important sections of the website. In this case, the F-shaped pattern can be used to display the search filters and results (example below-3ie Development Evidence portal). Example: IDEO's card style display• Finally, A/B testing can be carried out with a sample of users to understand which interface works better. Such pilots can be conducted with closed user groups from the immediate CGIAR family and ecosystem partners. Design thinking workshops can also be conducted to capture any design elements that might have been overlooked while conceptualising the architecture and layout of the evidence hub.Collating and making evidence available on the hub is only the first step in improving access to credible evidence. Research by the Alliance for Useful Evidence suggests that enabling uptake through targeted communication strategies, and engaging with users (The Science of Using Science, 2016) is crucial in enabling research uptake. Designing a package of communication strategies including email marketing campaigns, and innovative social media strategies can generate higher traffic. Moreover, hosting a dedicated blog on the platform can be an effective channel for presenting non-technical summaries and actionable takeaways of publications and outputs.User engagement can be boosted by collecting feedback from a sample on a periodic basis and analysing user journeys to identify any shortcomings in design. For instance, CGIAR and IFPRI use Altmetric to show how many have accessed a specific article, and how many have cited or mentioned it on social media platforms. Having a dedicated forum for chats with experts and practitioners can result in higher traffic to the hub and improve engagement with knowledge products and offerings. Further, creating a network of evidence champions and a vibrant community of practitioners that serve as ambassadors for the platform's work can enable wider reach as well. A lot of evidence centres also encourage cross platform tracking of mentions of the evidence hub (in twitter and other social media platforms) which can be adopted during platform design. These efforts can be aligned with existing initiatives such as CGIAR Dgroup to minimise duplication of efforts, ensure optimal use of resources and aim for greater integration across the ecosystem in line with the objectives set for 'One CGIAR'.Digital storytelling techniques and innovative formats such as video abstracts, explainers, interactive graphics and infographics can help translate key messages into digestible formats for different audiences. This approach has the potential to elucidate complex concepts and research in a compelling and accessible manner while retaining the nuances of various forms of research and the voices of beneficiaries and other stakeholder groups.Example: CGAP's infographic on segmenting smallholder households and interactive data hubThe evidence hub should allow different users to build progressively and collaboratively on the same content, thus facilitating collaborative knowledge production and discovery. The system should allow users to easily add evidence or present counter-evidence to other claims, thus triggering conversations and knowledge sharing between people who tackle similar issues. Finally, the evidence hub should allow users to visualize, explore and be part of a social network of contributors. This would ensure sustainability of the hub beyond just sharing or showcasing resources in the areas of gender and agriculture.It is important to conduct a baseline assessment of the current traffic to the GENDER platform and establish key metrics that will be tracked to assess the evidence hub's reach. This is important for understanding trends in user behaviour and enhancing the hub's reach over time. A number of factors influence website traffic including navigation, design, on-page and off-page Search Engine Optimisation, use of relevant keywords, loading speed, linkages with social media channels and campaigns, among others. Analysing traffic can inform strategies for course correction with respect to content, layout and design of sections, if required.Some of the relevant metrics that can be tracked in this regard are:• Audience data -number of visits, number of unique visitors and growth in these numbers • New vs returning visitor ratio • Number of views of specific pages/outputs, downloads and social shares of outputs • Length of time per visit • Campaign data -for instance, whether email marketing campaigns or social media campaigns are more effective in driving traffic to the hubA robust process flow is required to govern all activities related to uploading, updating and managing information on the hub using a content management system. This will ensure that the hub remains upto-date with relevant information and build its influence and credibility as a go-to platform for evidence on the subject.The process flows should also illustrate the linkages between the hub and CGIAR ecosystem, including protocols for depositing outputs and metadata in proper institutional or platform repositories, and editorial and style guidelines, in line with CGIAR and the GENDER platform's policies.2. Representative icons -Use of intuitive icons ensures that the user readily understands the message without having to spend time on the content or text. 3. Dashboard -A dynamic summary dashboard in a ticker form provides a quick overview of the extent of information accessible through the hub at any point in time. 4. Simple search bar -The search bar placed on the right for and within the dashboard provides a clean and simple tool to explore content for a new user who might not be looking for any specific information but in general wants to understand what is available in the hub. 5. The spotlight section showcases the most current and seminal knowledge output (publication, data etc.) that provides the user with a quick link to new research and insights without the need to search or go through all the resources.The sample themes page showcases the suggested content under the first tab in the header menu. The theme pages will typically have a short description of the themes and sub themes and provide an option to search for particular resources under the theme.The knowledge output page showcases the learning outputs under three categoriesa) CGIAR group resources: This category houses all resources produced by CGIAR and its group entities b) Global evidence: This category houses all resources in the area of gender in agriculture and food systems from relevant sources around the globe c) Evidence map: This tab showcases the evidence in a visual form such as a open knowledge map Under each category, along with a search function for users who intend to search with specific keywords, there is an option to search by topics, type and region. This elaborate search bar is intentionally placed in the sub page under knowledge products so that the user is able to filter using more than one option under each category (for e.g. resources such as publications and data, from India and China). For the more rigorous search filter, left alignment is ideal so that the outcomes of the search are prominently displayed on the right for ease of access.The discussion forum page organises user discussions according to the themes and conversations are neatly packaged under the relevant queries or topics initiated by the user. These discussions can be tagged and directly linked to the resources for content upload and download.The other two layouts suggested below provide a variation to the homepage content organisation according to the user eye movement, click efficiency and functionality.The suggestive layouts for the main pages of the evidence hub is intended to drive usage and enhance end user experience through simple and intuitive placements and a clean and efficient design. The final layout will, however, depend on the target audience, a/b testing, budget and technical capabilities, the desired content placement and other such important factors that might be a priority for the Platform organisers.The costing of the hub microsite development (based on rates in India) assuming 10-15 unique pages comes to around INR 6,00,000 (~USD 8500). Further details are provided in the table below - "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e95507ca53a0036959d723647f6f49f4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/870856b4-f363-49cd-97a0-44f5da7d175d/retrieve","id":"1614137224"},"keywords":["land use planning","trade-offs","multiple objectives","conservation","ecosystem services","biodiversity","agricultural development"],"sieverID":"4bdfd95a-e21b-4ab3-8b93-37e2b47ec435","content":"As humanity's demand for resources continues to rise and productive arable lands become increasingly scarce, many of Earth's remaining intact regions are at heightened risk of destruction from agricultural development. In situations where agricultural expansion is inevitable, it is important to manage intact landscape transformation so that impacts on environmental values are minimised. Here, we present a novel, spatially explicit, land use planning framework that addresses the decision making needed to account for different, competing economic-environment objectives (agricultural production value, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem service retention) when land use change is inevitable within an intact landscape. We apply our framework to the globally significant savannahs of the Orinoquia (Colombia), which in a post-conflict era is under increased agricultural development pressure. We show that while negative environmental impacts can be reduced through planning, the total area of land converted to agriculture is the unavoidable principal driver of biodiversity and ecosystem service loss. We therefore identify planning solutions that perform well across all objectives simultaneously, despite trade-offs among them. When 15%, 20%, 30% and 40% of the study area is allowed to be converted to agriculture, on average planning can improve species persistence and ecosystem service retention by up to 16%, 15%, 12%, and 9%, respectively, when compared to agricultural-focused solutions. Development in the region so far has had an unnecessarily large impact on environmental objectives due to a lack of effective land use planning, creating an 'opportunity debt'. Our study provides an evidence base to inform proactive planning and the development of environmentally sensible agricultural development policy and practice in the region. This framework can be used by stakeholders to achieve agriculture expansion goals and maximise economic profit while minimising impacts on the environment in the Orinoquia, or any relatively intact region that is being developed.With almost 40% of Earth's land surface transformed by farming activity (Clark and Tilman 2017), agriculture is the single largest contributor to biodiversity loss to date (Dudley and Alexander 2017) and considered as one of the main drivers of potential biodiversity loss in the near future (IPBES 2019). Global agricultural activity has also resulted in at least 133bn tonnes of sequestered soil carbon loss to the atmosphere (Sanderman et al 2017), and accounted for approximately 70% of the world's freshwater withdrawals for anthropogenic use (Rosegrant et al 2009). The continued expansion of agricultural activity is driving the pace of Earth's continually changing terrestrial human footprint (Venter et al 2016), and is a fundamental reason for growing calls to conserve those last remaining ecologically intact landscapes, given their increasing importance for biodiversity and ecosystem service provision, and their disproportionately high ecological value in a time of climate change (Martin and Watson 2016, Scheffers et al 2016, Pimm et al 2018, Dinerstein et al 2019). Yet global demands for food, and the economic opportunities that agriculture presents to developing nations mean that many of Earth's remaining intact ecosystems are under significant threat from agricultural expansion (Vargas et al 2015, Morán-Ordóñez et al 2017, Potapov et al 2017, Roucoux et al 2017). This is further exacerbated by the fact that productive arable lands are becoming increasingly scarce, so farmers must continually encroach into intact places (Lambin andMeyfroidt 2011, Bijl et al 2017).When a landscape that is largely ecologically intact is being 'opened up' for development, strategic, proactive planning is needed to identify opportunities for enhanced outcomes for both environmental and agricultural goals (Forman and Collinge 1997). Systematic planning can help guide complex land-use decisions by fostering stakeholder engagement, improving the efficiency of land use allocation, describing the tradeoffs between biodiversity and economic objectives thereby identifying compromise solutions and, identifying management opportunities and strategies that can improve biodiversity outcomes in production landscapes (Polasky et al 2008, Runting et al 2015, Adams et al 2016, Estes et al 2016, Runting et al 2019, Strassburg et al 2019). However, to date, these efforts typically have been conducted in transformed (i.e. fragmented) landscapes, in contexts where the environmental goal is to maximise biodiversity and environmental service gain (via restoration or strategic protection). Here, building on this work, we develop a quantitative, multi-objective land use planning framework that allows for a spatially explicit assessment of likely impacts of land use change on environmental values including biodiversity conservation, carbon storage and water retention and one that, by adjusting the relative weights among objectives, is able to minimise the loss of these values while ensuring production value from development can be maintained.We apply our framework to the relatively intact Llanos (plains) of the Orinoco region of Colombia. The country has recently emerged from 50 years of civil conflict, largely with the militia group FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) who, in 2016, signed a peace treaty with the government of Colombia (Gobierno Nacional de Colombia 2016, Salazar et al 2018). This treaty has opened economic opportunities, with undeveloped or intact lands that were previously off-limits such as the Orinoquia now being targeted for agricultural expansion (DNP 2018). The tropical climate and grass-covered expanses of mostly flat land, make it an ideal location for agricultural expansion, and it is increasingly the focus of livestock, forestry, soy, rice and palm oil industries (López-Ricaurte et al 2017).We assess the impacts of the conversion of native vegetation to agriculture on biodiversity (species persistence and ecosystem representation) and ecosystem services (water provision and carbon sequestration), describe the trade-offs between environmental and agricultural objectives, the trade-offs among environmental objectives, and assess the effectiveness of the current distribution of land uses. In doing so, we provide an evidence base to inform proactive planning for environmentally sensible agricultural development policy and practice in the region. Our planning framework is flexible and can be translated to any intact region that is undergoing development, and where the goal is to maximise economic gains while simultaneously minimising loss of environmental values.The Orinoquia is located in the eastern part of Colombia, covering 255 123 km 2 or approximately 26% of the country (figure 1) and contains 36 ecosystem types that span dense forests, gallery forests, wetlands and the dominant tropical grassland savannahs (Llanos) (Lasso et al 2010, Etter et al 2017). The Llanos of the Orinoquia is one of the most important reservoirs of biodiversity in the Neotropics (Gassón 2002), but agricultural development is a key objective of the National Planning Department of the Colombian government (Gassón 2002, DNP 2018). Currently, 12% of the Orinoquia's natural landscape has been converted to agriculture and associated urbanisation. The most extensive land use is cattle grazing on natural savannah grasslands. However, agricultural activities such as oil palm cultivation have become lucrative industries in the region in part due to government incentives (Vargas et al 2015), and are foreseen to continue expanding (Castiblanco et al 2013). Five major forms of agriculture likely to influence the future of the region include livestock, palm oil, forestry, rice, and soy (DNP 2014).The objective of our formulation is to optimise the allocation (areal expansion) of livestock, oil palm, forestry, rice, and soy 'zones' within the region in order to maximise agricultural production value (USD yr −1 ) while minimising impacts on biodiversity, quantified in terms of species persistence and ecosystem representation (Watson andVenter 2017, Dinerstein et al 2019), and ecosystem services, quantified in terms of water loss (l yr −1 ) and carbon loss (t). As the study area is currently largely undeveloped, there is an implicit sixth zone, natural vegetation. Existing urban and mining land (234 km 2 ) and formally protected areas (83 586 km 2 ) within the study area are not permitted to be converted to agricultural land use. Agricultural gains are estimated as the potential production value for each commodity, adjusted in accordance with the estimated yield for each commodity and by transportation cost (Estes et al 2016, SM 1.2 is available online at stacks.iop.org/ERL/15/014001/ mmedia).We use a land cover map based on the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) land cover map (IDEAM 2010), updated with relevant agricultural land use classes from an ecosystem map containing finer detailed agricultural data (IDEAM, Instituto Humboldt, IGAC, INVEMAR, MADS 2015). These maps are the most up to date and comprehensive land use/land cover maps that currently exist for the region. We assign these to a set of 1 km 2 planning units (n=247 790) which we identify as natural ecosystems (n=129 765), pasture for livestock (n=30 935), oil palm (n=1913), forestry (n=269), rice (n=1087), soy (n=1), protected areas (n=83 586) or urban/mining areas (n=234) (SM 1.8).Species persistence benefit is based on mammal, bird and reptile species that were either (i) savannah habitat specialists, (ii) endemic to the Orinoquia, or (iii) had an International Union for Conservation of Nature categorisation of near threatened, vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. We select these species groups to represent the faunal assemblages within savannah ecosystem types, that are unique to the Orinoquia and are already threatened (SM 2 table S2.1). We use range maps for these 145 species to determine which species benefited from conservation within each planning unit. Species benefit, summed across all species following Strassburg et al (2019), is quantified as local extinction risk, which is based on the ratio of the remaining and original habitat area for each species within the study area (sensu Thomas et al 2004, Strassburg et al 2019;SM 1.3).Beyond reducing local species extinction risk, we adopt a retention target of 50% of historic extent (defined as the potential extent of a given ecosystem if it was left uninfluenced by anthropogenic activity; SM table S3.2) for each natural ecosystem type of the region (Etter et al 2017) to ensure the persistence of a diverse range of natural habitats for species assemblages, ecological process and provisioning services (Pressey et al 2003, Loreau et al 2006). We choose 50% because this threshold of habitat loss has been broadly identified as the point at which species extinction risk dramatically increases in intact systems (Noss et al 2012, Pimm et al 2014, Baillie andZhang 2018). Ecosystems that already had <50% of their historic extent lost were given a retention target of 100% of the remaining habitat.Our optimisation model includes objectives representing the averted loss of carbon and hydrological ecosystem service value of each planning unit. Carbon value is quantified as soil organic carbon stocks (SOC) up to 30 cm in depth (t km −2 ; SM 1.4) as conversion to agricultural land uses would result in losses of carbon within this stratum (Assad et al 2013, Yigini et al 2018) that are difficult to restore (Zinn et al 2005, Sommer et al 2018). Following Egoh et al (2008), hydrological value is quantified as water runoff (l yr −1 per hydrological unit), which reflects geomorphic and hydrological processes including land cover, precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, and recharge (percolation). Our estimations are based on the hydrological models of Thomas (1981) and Angarita et al (2018) (SM 1.5). Conversion to agricultural land use diminishes water provision due to water demands of livestock and crops (Power 2010). Therefore, we assume if a natural area is converted to agriculture, that planning unit's carbon and hydrological value does not contribute to environmental objectives.We formulate this as a mathematical optimisation problem (specifically an integer linear programming problem) and solve it using Gurobi version 8.1.0 (Gurobi Optimisation 2019). See SM 1.1 for mathematical formulation and more details.We explore scenarios that allow thresholds of natural ecosystem conversion of 15% (38 269 km 2 ), 20% (51 025 km 2 ), 30% (76 538 km 2 ) and 40% (102 050 km 2 ) of the landscape, inclusive of areas already cleared (12% of region) using our optimisation framework (figure 2). These thresholds of conversion are politically relevant as analogous ecosystems have lost similar, and higher, amounts of native vegetation cover (for example, the Brazilian Cerrado has lost 46%) (Strassburg et al 2017). For each threshold of total natural ecosystem loss, we evaluate three scenarios to assess the impacts of land conversion. Trade-offs among objectives are quantified for each scenario by evaluating a range of relative weights between agricultural and environmental objectives, solving the optimisation problem each time to obtain a spatially explicit 'solution'. Trade-off curves are, therefore, described by a set of solutions, each of which represents a different weighted sum of objectives. These trade-off curves are the lines presented in figure 3.In the first scenario, we assume agricultural lands are fixed and cannot change to a different land use. The trade-off between agricultural and combined environmental objectives (a composite metric that weights species persistence, carbon sequestration and water retention equally) is quantified among solutions. In the second scenario, agricultural lands are again fixed, and the trade-off between agricultural objectives and single environmental objectives is quantified among solutions separately (rather than with a composite metric) for species persistence, carbon sequestration, and water retention. Ecosystem retention targets are not considered here but were considered in all other scenarios. The third scenario is an extension of the first, where lands already converted to agriculture are allowed to be allocated to other use types and the trade-off between agricultural and environmental objectives are again quantified using the composite environmental metric (table 1).We found that all future loss of natural ecosystems to agriculture will be positively associated with agricultural production value, and negatively associated with biodiversity persistence, and ecosystem service retention (table 2, figures 3, 6).Within a given land conversion threshold, we quantify the trade-off between agricultural production value, species persistence and ecosystem service loss (figure 3). Compromise solutions (solutions that balance agricultural and environmental objectives through equal (0.5:0.5) weighting) achieve on average 95.9%, 96.6%, 96.3% and 96.7% of maximum production value in the 15%, 20%, 30% and 40% land conversion thresholds while reducing negative impacts on species and ecosystem service retention by on average 9.84%, 9.22%, 6.85% and 5.85%, respectively. Hence, the magnitude of possible reductions in environmental impacts for a given threshold of land conversion is relatively small compared to the differences among thresholds of areal land conversion (figure 3). In other words, while negative environmental impacts can be reduced through planning, the reduction is small relative to the impacts of the loss of natural ecosystems.The trade-offs between combined environmental and agricultural objectives indicate that it is possible to achieve gains for species, carbon, and water, with minimal reduction in agricultural benefit through spatial planning, but more so at lower land conversion thresholds (figure 3-solid lines). We found that at higher thresholds of loss, there is less opportunity to reduce negative impacts on the environment (table 3 -Scenario i). Additionally, there is more opportunity to reduce negative impacts on water retention and carbon sequestration than to species persistence (table 3-Scenario i, figure 3-solid lines).Trade-offs between single environmental objectives (species persistence, carbon sequestration and water retention) and agricultural objectives are exacerbated when planning for each one independently rather than simultaneously (table 3-Scenario ii, figure 3-dotted lines; figure 4). Therefore, potential realised gains for each environmental objective are higher than those that consider species persistence, carbon sequestration and water retention simultaneously (table 3, figure 3solid lines and dashed lines which represent a composite environmental metric where all objectives are weighted equally versus dotted lines which optimise for single environmental objectives). Intuitively, the environmental objectives not accounted for in these scenarios performed worse (SM 4). This is reflective of the trade-offs that exist among environmental objectives at all conversion thresholds (SM 1.6, SM figure S1.2).Spatial allocations of land use differ greatly between solutions. When optimising for water retention future agricultural land is concentrated to the north (figure 5 The 'can transition' scenarios lead to, on average across solutions, 18 350 km 2 or 54% of land that is currently agriculture to change to a different land use (either a different agricultural type, or to be allocated to the 'natural' zone). Future agricultural and environmental objectives can be better achieved when lands that are currently agriculture are allowed to transition to another land use type (figure 3-dashed lines representing 'can transition scenarios'), compared to when they cannot (figure 3-solid lines representing 'fixed scenarios'). The difference between the two scenarios were on average $316, $402, $868, and $1999 million USD yr −1 , 0.13, 0,14, 0.12 and 0.22 expected local extinctions, 0.03, 0.03, 0.04 and 0.01 million t of SOC loss, and 2.72, 2.80, 2.57 and 1.39 trillion l of water loss yr −1 at the 15%, 20%, 30% and 40% land conversion thresholds. This indicates that the current distribution of land uses does not represent optimal solutions for maximising benefits towards agricultural production value, species persistence, carbon sequestration or water retention.All ecosystem retention targets, which are applied as a constraint within the objective function, can never be met in situations where current agricultural lands are fixed. In the 15%, 20%, 30%, and 40% land conversion thresholds targets cannot be met for 2, 3, 3, and 5 ecosystems respectively (SM 3 table S3.3). These are associated with two endangered savannah ecosystem types, and two endangered and one vulnerable dense forest ecosystem. This is because, due to the current distribution of land use types new expansion is forced into certain ecosystems that it otherwise would not be, were agricultural lands allowed to be re-allocated. In the scenario where existing agricultural land is free to transition to another type, all targets are met.For confidence intervals for all solutions see SM 4.This analysis represents a rare and important opportunity to apply an evidence-based approach for simultaneously informing development and conservation planning in an intact and biodiverse area that is in the process of becoming developed. We found that development so far has had an unnecessarily large impact Table 1. Description of the three scenarios evaluated. Where a dash (-) is present, a range of values were assessed to describe the trade-off curves (presented in figure 3). In every scenario presented here, agricultural expansion targets are equally divided between the respective threshold of loss. Table 3. Percentage increase between the agricultural-focused (which refers to a weighting in the objective function of 1:0 towards agriculture) and the environmental-focused solutions (which refers to a weighting in the objective function of 0:1 towards overall environmental objectives). Values are for the scenario that considers combined environmental objectives (scenario i; differences between either end of the trade-off curves presented in figure 3-solid lines) and for the scenario that considers single environmental objectives (scenario ii; differences between either end of the trade-off curves presented in figure 3-dotted lines). on biodiversity and ecosystem services outcomes (figure 3-solid 'fixed scenarios' versus dashed lines 'can transition scenarios') and as such, an 'opportunity debt' has been created, where important opportunities to take advantage of land use allocation to the benefit of economic profit and environmental objectives were missed. We show that through the use of our multiobjective optimisation framework to inform planning, we can address this debt and ensure better future outcomes can be achieved with respect to both agricultural production value and environmental values (figure 3).The fundamental land management decision to be made is what proportion (or conversion threshold) of the landscape should be permitted to be converted to agriculture. This threshold had the strongest influence on both agricultural production benefit and loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services (table 2, figure 3). For a given threshold of total land conversion, our spatially explicit planning framework provides important opportunities to minimise impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services while maintaining high production values. Within the Orinoquia, planning can reduce some of the negative impacts that development has on species and ecosystem persistence, carbon sequestration and water provision, at all thresholds of conversion. As the proportion of the landscape that is converted increases, there appear to be diminished opportunities to mitigate these impacts (figure 3, table 3).Our analysis indicates that it is not possible to maximise the performance of planning solutions against all three environmental objectives simultaneously, and trade-offs exist among them (figure 3dotted lines 'single environmental objective scenario' versus solid lines 'fixed/combined environmental scenarios', SM 1.6), indicating that land use planners must carefully consider the relative importance of each objective. However, we have identified planning solutions that represent a compromise between these environmental objectives. The relative importance of the objectives can be readily adjusted to reflect the values of different decision-makers and stakeholders.Greater protection of ecosystem service provision can be made if some areas that are currently agriculture are restored to a natural state (figure 3-solid 'fixed scenarios' versus dashed lines 'can transition scenarios'). Grazing lands within the region are stocked at low density and many have not been severely degraded (Smith et al 1997), therefore some areas are likely amenable to restoration with good potential for recovery of ecosystem function and relatively minor impact on agricultural production (Usma and Trujillo 2011). In addition to protected area planning, activities that restore or prevent deterioration of lightly degraded lands, such as low density grazing lands, should be considered. Obstacles to ecosystem restoration associated with de facto land ownership may require government intervention in the form of incentive programs, such as payment schemes for ecosystem services, and enforcement in legally protected areas. The current distribution of agricultural lands prevents meeting ecosystem representation targets for 2, 3, 3, and 5 ecosystems in the 15%, 20%, 30%, and 40% land conversion thresholds respectively (see SM 3 table S3.3). Conservation planning for these ecosystems should prevent further loss of native vegetation and consider restoration of low productivity agricultural lands. It is important to consider both species and ecosystem representation as planning for one does not necessarily account for the other (Polak et al 2015).This analysis can inform two major current policy initiatives in Colombia. The National Agricultural Frontier (Frontera Agricola Nacional) is a national government-defined agricultural zone, which aims to guide the formulation of public policy, focus and enhance investments and management of the agricultural and rural development sector, promote efficient use of land, streamline social ordering of the rural property, and contribute to stabilizing and reducing the loss of ecosystems of environmental importance by dictating where agriculture should and should not expand (MADR 2016). While excluding protected areas and some forested ecosystems, the full development of this zone would be associated with a conversion threshold of approximately 75% in the Orinoquia, which our analysis indicates would be associated with large losses of biodiversity and ecosystem service values. While the results of our study cannot determine the maximum threshold of land conversion that should be permitted, as this depends on the values of national and regional stakeholders, our framework and results can inform this decision by providing an objective, transparent, evidence-based approach to assessing the consequences of different thresholds of conversion, and inform decisions about compromises between agricultural development and environmental protection. The second policy initiative is ZIDRES (Areas of Interest for Rural, Economic and Social Development), which supports agricultural development projects within government-defined rural zones across Colombia (El congreso de Colombia 2016). Although the ZIDRES initiative still lacks explicit expansion targets and environmental objectives (beyond the criteria that environmental sustainability must be considered), the zones cover 37% of the Orinoquia and our framework could be used within these to achieve development objectives (once explicitly defined) while minimising the loss of environmental values.The assumption that planning units converted to agriculture provide no effective value to biodiversity is warranted because, while there are exceptions, most of the species considered are strongly dependent on native savannah habitat, and agricultural lands when intensely farmed may be unlikely to support sustainable populations of species (Fleischner 1994, Alkemade et al 2013, Newbold et al 2015, Pardo et al 2018, 2019). Furthermore, we assume that once a planning unit is converted to agriculture it contributes no water to downstream regions, which we believe is reasonable as most water resources would be allocated to sustaining agriculture (Hanasaki et al 2010, Power 2010). The assumption that there would be significant SOC loss once an area is converted to agriculture is justified because this is a well-observed outcome following land conversion and disturbance (Zinn et al 2005, Klumpp et al 2009, Sommer et al 2018). Therefore, for the purpose of this analysis, we assume that agricultural land uses contribute no value to environmental objectives; however, future studies might quantify and account for each land uses respective biodiversity, water, and carbon loss as compared to the natural state. We also assume that protected areas are effective at preventing ecosystem conversion. However, illegal clearing of land is a substantial concern in this region (Armenteras et al 2019), implying that enforcement of protected areas will be essential when implementing land use planning.This work could be further advanced by considering the reduction in negative environmental impacts or differences in yields that might occur through different intensities of farming or sustainable agricultural practices such as promotion of traditional cattleranching or Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil certified palm oil. We have shown that loss can be reduced through careful spatial allocation of land uses, and further reductions not quantified here may come from best practices. Additionally, we considered the entire Orinoquia region as a whole, and defined agricultural expansion targets for the entire region. However, different departments in the region sometimes behave independently from one another. Implementation of an Orinoquia-wide plan would require coordinating revenue sharing among departments, perhaps through a payment for ecosystem services framework, so that regions in which protected areas are concentrated are not penalised economically. We also do not account for the additional cost of changing one land use to another in the 'can transition' scenario, only the potential production value of a parcel of land for a given commodity. We included only five agricultural commodities and have not considered the variations in production value among producers that occur due to the scale of farming practices. Our framework could be further developed to include more commodities, and economic data relating to scale of production and the costs of transformation of crops to secondary products.For regions such as the Orinoquia where the loss of intact ecosystems to agricultural expansion is inevitable, development must be strategically planned in order to avoid unnecessary impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Given that the magnitude of the impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services are driven primarily by targets for land conversion, the key policy decision is what those targets should be. Spatial planning can improve outcomes for species persistence, ecosystem retention, carbon sequestration, water provision and agricultural production value to avoid accrual of further opportunity debt that exists due to previous unplanned expansion. The novel spatially explicit, quantitative, multi-objective framework presented here is designed to help decisionmakers solve the difficult challenge of meeting development goals while minimising negative impacts to the environment through strategic land use planning. It differs from approaches which are typically designed for transformed or fragmented landscapes, and can be applied to any relatively intact environment that is being opened up for development, where minimising loss of core environmental values is a key objective."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b887993feb41f7dc8fde39295e05db70","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4c8d8b5f-95e8-4ef8-8032-72216aa94416/retrieve","id":"1770930218"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ab701602-8e70-4788-967c-90f3ea555669","content":"Le virus de la str;ure est gemeralement considers comme la malad,e la plus repandue et la plus importante du rna' is en Afrique subsaharienne. II s'aglt4la d'un probleme chronique qUi, merne s'il n'atteint pas loujours des proportions epidemiques. affecte essentiel1ement les petits exploltants qUI ne dlsposent nl de la maln-d'ceuvre nI de I'equtpement teur permettanl de planter la totalite de leur mai s en debut de salson. Plus lis semen! tardivement. plus lis s'exposent aux eftets nUISlbles du virus.La percee la plus spectaculaire de I'IITA en mallere d'amelioratlon du ma\"is a ete la mise au pOint d'un systeme pratique de cnblage pour la resistance au virus de la stnure qUI peul eIre utilise a grande ache lie au champ. Ce systeme a permis de produlre une gamme vanee de germoplasme resistant et adapte aux differenles agroecologies de l'Afrique subsaharienne. II permet par ailleurs d'identilier une resistance oligogemque durable. Etant donne que la resistance a la striure ne comporte aucune penalite pourle rendement ni d'eHets secondaires in desirables, il s'agil. maintenant qu'une bonne technique de criblage existe, d 'incorporer la resistance a la stnure dans toutes les vanetes avant leur dissemination dans la region . Pour partlclper a la realisation de cet obJectl', I'IITA a aide les programmes nationaux de recherche agronomique a Introduire cette methode de cnblage pour la resistance a la stnure dans leur travail de selection habitue!.CeNe brochure va un peu plus lOin dans Ie cadre de ce\\1e assistance. Nous esperons que les programmes natlonaux de la region I'utiliseront au mieux et attendons leurs reactions quant a I'utilit,; de cette publication.a I'lnstitut international d'agriculture tropicale (IITA) a Ibadan (Nigeria). Au fil des annees, des modifications et ameliorations ont ete effectuees (Leuchner et al. 1980;Soto et al. 1986;Alam 1983;Dabrowski 1983).Cicadulina pour Ie criblage en vue de la resistance au virus de la striure du mais (VSM) .Le virus de la striure du ma'is (VSM) Le virus de la slriure du mars (VSM) constitue I'une des maladies les plus importantes sur Ie plan economique en Afrique subsaharienne. On Ie trouve seulement en Afrique et dans les iles autour du continent au il est largement distribue et transm is par les cicadelles du genre Cicadulina. Le VSM se rencontre dans les zones de foret et de savane a diverses altitudes (de 0 a 2000 mI.Certaines annees, les degats causes sur Ie ma• is peuvent etre insignifiants alors que d'autres, les epidemies de VSM peuvent parfois devaster les cultures et provoquerdes pertes de rendement de 100% (Fajemisin et Shoyinka, 1976). La gravite de la maladie est generalement liee a I'age de la plante au moment de !'infection ainsi qu'a la sensibilita de la variate. Plus la plante est jeune, plus les sympt6mes de la maladie sont prononces. A 1 'llTA, les perles de rendement dans des conditions d'infestation artificielle de quatre varietes prasentant divers degres de resistance/sensibilite allaient de 10 a 72%.Les syrnpt6rnes du VSM sont des bandes blanches chlorotiques discontinues a presque continues qui se forment sur et Ie long de la nervure et couvrent la quasi-totalite de la surface foHaire (Fig. 1). La den site des bandes depend de la sensibilite de la variete. Les plants de mars son! sensibles au VSM depuis I'emergence jusqu'a la formation des panicules. Les plants sensibles infectes artificiellement au stade de plantule se rabougrissent et peuvent merne maurir au produire de petits epis mal remplis (Fajemisin et at. 1976;Rossel et Thottappilly. 1985).Vlngt-deux ( 22) eieadettes du genre Cicadulina ant ete signa lees dont dix-huit en Afrique (Webb, 1987). Seules huit espeees sont reconnues veetriees du VSM (tableau 1).Les eieadettes Cicadulina ant une longueur variant de 2,2 a 3,8mm (Rose, 1978). Leur eouleur varie egalement mais ee sont generalement les teintes jaune pale a dore qui prevalent. Certaines eSp9ces ont des taches noires sur les ailes anterieures, le pronotum et I'abdomen . La face dorsale de I'abdomen est QE!neralemenl brune. La plupan des espeees ant deux taches rondes brunes sur la panie anterieure du front (Ruppel , 1965). La femelle Cicadulina sa distingue du male par son long Qviscapte. References Storey, 1925Storey, 1936Storey, 1936Fennah, 1960Rose, 1962Okoth et Dabrowski , Okoth et Dabrowski, 1987Dabrowski, 1987a. tt est diffieile d'identifier les especes Cicadulina. Cependant, eettes-CI presenten! des differences marquees quant auxorganes genitaux males. La forme et la taitte de I'organe eopulateur ainsi que la forme des saillies du pygophore sonl des traits utiles dans la differeneiation des espeees Cicadulina (Ruppel. 1965: van Rensburg . 1983: Webb, 1987    (Dabrowski, 1985).  (Rose, 1978;Okoth et Dabrowski, 1987). En Qutre. on peul echantillonner sur Ie ble irrigue el les graminees poussanl au bard des fleuves , lacs. ou au fond des vailees. Cicadulina presenles dans la cage ne puissent pas s'echapper.Insectes qui se trouvent a I'lnteneur de la cage so lent attires par la lumlere qUi penetre par Ie cote grillage (fig. 6). Capturer  ; !  Le meilleur hole pour la ponle desceuls chez les lemelles C,cadulina eslle pelil mil, Pennisetum americanum (; typhoides). A niTA. on a oblenu sur eel hole, jusqu'a 220 ceuls par lemelle (Dabrowski, 1987b). Le mil a eel avanlage supplemenlaire sur Ie mais de pouvoir tolerer une forte den site de population de cicadelles sans encourir trop de degats. Utiliser pour I'oviposition des plants en pol vieux de 14 jours.   Selection en vue de la resistance au VSM  (Storey, 1932). Ce trait peul eIre controle genetiquement. En cas d'elevage en masse de Cicadulina, il est important de maintenir un pourcentage eleva (60 a 80 %) de transmetteurs aelils dans la colonie. Ceci permettra de reduire Ie nombre d'insectes necessaire pour infester chaque plant; ce qui se traduira en fin de compte par davantage de plants inlestas en utilisant Ie meme nombre de cicadelles. Par contre. il sera necessaire de proceder a un controle periodique de la qualite.Pour tester la proportion de transmetteurs actifs, environ 50 a 100 cicadelles femelles doivent etre prelevees dans une cage d'elevage de larves etlachees pendant 48 heures dans une autre petite cage contenant des plants de mais infestes par Ie virus de la striure. Encager ensuite ces insectes femelles individuellement avec des plants de maIs sensibles au VSM, vieux de 5 a 7 jours, en utilisant des cages en PVC (fig. 7). Environ 7 a 10 jours plus tard, certains plants de mai•s presentent deja les symptomes de la striure et Ie pourcentage de transmission peut donc etre calcule. Si ce pourcentage est inferieur a 35%, il faudra demarrer une nouvelle colonie de transmeUeurs actifs en regroupant les descendants des femelles qui ont bien transmis Ie VSM . De la me me maniere, les plants montrant des symptomes de VSM a la suite des tests de transmission devront etre regroupes dans une cage pour I'eclosion des 03ufs et Ie developpement larvaire. Au bout de trois semaines, les larves donneront des adulles et la nouvelle colonie de cicadelles aura une proportion plus elevee de transmetteurs acfifs. Cette nouvelle colonie pourra etre utilisee pour augmenter la population des transmetleurs aclifs. Le pourcentage de transmetteurs actifs d'une colonie doit etre veri fie deux fois par an. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"331ef07353c51adf56aed17e1bcecd48","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/42022f33-6eca-4d6a-9491-80db77c841c2/retrieve","id":"180620921"},"keywords":["nitrogen fixation","animal production","technology transfer"],"sieverID":"fbce3c34-6a09-401f-9d98-7482ac3b2376","content":"1. Examples of successful adoption of forage legumes are reported from all continents, where they delivered profitability and often provided multipurpose benefits to farmers. 2. Factors vital to successful adoption were: meeting the needs of farmers; building relevant partnerships; understanding the socio-economic context and skills of farmers; participatory involvement with rural communities; and long-term involvement of champions. 3. Organisation of seed supply, achieving scale-up and forming partnerships to implement adoption are key features. 4. Legumes remain an important but under-exploited resource for tropical farming systems.The alternative to legumes will be greater and more costly use of N-fertilisers and purchased protein concentrates. 5. The R&D organisations will need to provide long-term support and greater investment for legume technologies to deliver benefits to farmers. Support will be needed for training and education programmes to overcome declining availability of forage legume expertise and lack of awareness of opportunity for use of tropical forage legumes.Reviews of the uptake of tropical forage legumes around the world have revealed that the original promise of legume technology has not been fully realised (Thomas & Sumberg, 1995;Elbasha et al., 1999;Peters & Lascano, 2003). Pengelly et al. (2003) concluded that 'despite 50 years of investment in forage research in the tropics, forage adoption has been relatively poor across all tropical farming systems'.In Africa, Sumberg (2002) reported that fodder legumes have not achieved their potential in sub-Saharan Africa despite 70 years of R&D promoting forage legumes. He queried the longheld view that the introduction of legumes into mixed farming systems was the key to their upgrade. A similar situation existed in Latin America and the Caribbean. Between 1980 and 2000, of 14 legume cultivars that were released none was well adopted (Peters & Lascano, 2003). Miles & Lascano (1997) reported that 'the impact of Stylosanthes spp. (stylos) on tropical American livestock production was not proportional to the research literature generated over the past 30 years or so'. In the southern US, the impact of tropical forage legumes has also been relatively small (Williams et al., 2005;Sollenberger & Kalmbacher, 2005).However, in spite of the overall consensus that adoption has been lower than expected, there have been many examples of successful uptake of forage legumes. There are good examples of successful adoption of legumes in regions of Asia, especially the use of Stylosanthes spp. in India (Ramesh et al., 2005), China (Guodao & Chakborty, 2005), and Thailand (Phaikaew & Hare, 2005). Multipurpose tree legumes have played an important role in southeast Asia where Leucaena leucocephala has been a significant forage species in the Nusa Tenggara Timor (NTT) Province of Indonesia (Piggin, 2003), and in the Batangas Province of the Philippines. Gliricidia sepium (Gliricidia) is widely used in Indonesia and the Philippines, and leguminous cover crops in the rubber and oil palm plantations of Malaysia have been widely used since the 1800s. In Australia, tropical legumes have also had a significant impact, although only a small number (<10) of the >70 legume cultivars that have been officially released by Government agencies since 1910 have made a noteworthy impact on the pastoral industry.There is an emerging view in developing countries that grasses are being adopted more quickly and more strongly than legumes. Legumes were regarded as less resilient than grasses under cutting or grazing, benefits were largely long-term in nature, and grass/legume systems were more complex to manage (Peters & Lascano, 2003). Similarly, in East Africa, the rapid adoption of grasses, such as Pennisetum purpureum (napier grass) in cut and carry systems, contrasted with the lack of adoption of herbaceous legumes (Omore et al., 1999). Miles & Lascano, (1997) and Andrade et al. (2004) reported that farmers in Latin America did not appreciate the benefits of legumes. Therefore, for adoption to occur, even of the best cultivars, they argued that targeted education programmes, successful demonstrations and favourable profitability were needed. The objective of targeting low-cost improvement of grass pastures to improve dry season feeding, which worked well in Australia, was not successful in Latin America. Sumberg (2002) suggested that legumes were not just limited by adoption constraints, but that even under favourable circumstances, scientists need to accept that they may not be able to reliably deliver economic benefits to African farmers where there is no tradition of planting legumes for fodder.In many instances, lack of adoption could be related to failure of the technology for technical or socio-economic reasons, i.e. the technology did not live up to expectations and/or was not targeted at the appropriate production system.In Latin America, a major reason for failure of the Australian Stylosanthes cultivars Schofield, Cook and Endeavour in commercial pastures was devastation by the anthracnose pathogen. That the cultivars did not persist under grazing was another significant disadvantage. This led to widespread disappointment among farmers, extension workers and consultants (Andrade et al., 2004). Lack of persistence was also cited as a reason for lack of adoption of forage legumes in Africa (Boonman, 1993). In Florida, the slow uptake of Aeschynomene americana and Desmodium heterocarpon was due to an underestimation of the difficulty of establishing and maintaining the legumes in Paspalum notatum (bahia grass) pastures. Farmers found that neither legume was dependable when grown with this competitive grass (Sollenberger & Kalmbacher, 2005).Socioeconomic factors contributed to the lack of adoption of intercropping and legumes in communal grazing. Attempts to promote intercropping of maize with legumes in East Africa failed due to the high cost of technology, variable rainfall and lack of interest in innovation by older farmers (Ndove et al., 2004). Similarly, Maasdorp et al. (2004) found that promoting the multi-purpose use of Mucuna pruriens (mucuna) failed due to lack of interest in green manuring or intercropping, due partly to labour constraints of the cash-cropping farmers. Elbasha et al. (1999) reported that legume adoption in West Africa was constrained by lack of extension information, credit and seed, high costs of fencing, shortage of labour, insecurity of land tenure and land scarcity, livestock diseases, invasion by weeds, and fire damage. Where land tenure is uncertain, most researchers report failure of adoption. Farmers were simply not interested in investing in their land when they had no assurance of being able to reap the benefits. Pasture improvement technology applied to communal grazed lands by government supported projects, usually suffered from a lack of interest by the pastoralists involved (Pengelly et al., 2003).Failure of the key stakeholders to form effective partnerships between farmers and public and private institutions was often cited as reason for lack of adoption (Miles, 2001), leading to ineffective release and follow-up procedures. Andrade et al. (2004) stated that, while the release of Stylosanthes macrocephala cv. Pioneiro overcame deficiencies of earlier stylo cultivars, the cultivar was not promoted. With no extension support there was no interest from private seed companies, as they did not see a large market.Lack of establishment of a reliable seed production and supply system to ensure that high quality seed was available at a reasonable price was regularly cited as a key reason for adoption failure, e.g. for Stylosanthes in Latin America (Peters & Lascano, 2003), Vigna unguiculata (cowpea) in Nigeria (Kristjanson et al., 2004) and Aeschynomene americana (aeschynomene) and Desmodium heterocarpon (carpon desmodium) in Florida (Sollenberger & Kalmbacher, 2005). Andrade et al. (2004) reported that of 3 Australian and 10 South American Stylosanthes cultivars released into the South American market, seed is available for only two -Mineirão (S. guianensis var. vulgaris) and Campo Grande (a mixture of S. capitata & S. macrocephala).Lack of a participatory approach was also cited as a reason for ineffective promotion of legume technology. Douthwaite et al. (2002) criticised the International Research Centres for basing their approach on scientific enquiry independent of social factors, rather than on a 'learning selection model' that builds on farmer and group experiences.Difficulties with promotion and use of forage legumes, and the consequent low adoption rates, are of great concern to the R&D community. Without improved levels of adoption, and explicit demonstration of the relevance and benefits of forage legumes, the good will and support of funding and donor agencies will diminish (Shelton et al., 2000), preventing the realisation of much potential advantage for rural communities.Our analysis of 19 successful case studies (Table 1) revealed that greater adoption success has been achieved in Asia and Australia than in Africa, the US or Latin America, although Brazil had some notable successes. Stylosanthes species and tree legume species dominated the success case studies, while species that delivered multipurpose benefits, such as V. unguiculata in West Africa and Pueraria phaseoloides (kudzu) in Brazil, were also important. Arachis spp. were successful in niche environments and were being adopted in three of the case studies.Authors of the papers on successful legume adoption prioritised the adoption factors that they considered were important to success. Based on their expert opinion and knowledge of each case study, they were asked to allocate 100 points among a list of possible adoption factors to reflect the relative significance of the factors. This subjective analysis indicated that five key factors were important. The most important was that the technology met a need of farmers. The other factors (which were similar in their priority) were: the socio-economic situation of farmers was conducive to adoption; partnerships between relevant stake-holders (government, private, farmers) were in place; there was long term commitment by key players; and a farmer centred research and extension programme was implemented.The gross economic benefits were naturally highest where large-scale adoption had occurred e.g. from adoption of Stylosanthes in West Africa, southern China, or northern Australia, Leucaena leucocephala (leucaena) in Queensland, and from adoption of P. phaseoloides in the Amazon of Brazil (Table 1).The technology met a need of farmers Adoption of legumes occurred when the technology met farmers' needs, although the particular need to be met varied among farmers and regions. Examples include: • West Africa; V. unguiculata was adopted because it provided multiple benefits, e.g. grain for human consumption, fodder for livestock, and opportunity to rotate with cereals to reduce the impact of the parasite Striga hermonthica which causes loss of grain yield (Tarawali et al., 2005b). • East Africa; farmers lacked adequate protein for their stall-fed dairy cows and goats, but did not want to spend scarce cash on expensive concentrates. They preferred instead to plant fodder shrubs (primarily Calliandra calothyrsus, Leucaena trichandra and Morus alba). The shrubs required only small amounts of labour for planting and harvesting, and farmers found that they could establish tree legume hedges along pathways, field boundaries, and create soil conservation bunds along contours (Franzel et al., 2003).• Northern Australia; graziers found that dryland annual cropping on fertile clay soils was economically marginal due to uncertain rainfall and variable grain prices. In contrast, good cattle prices and the prospect of an agreeable lifestyle change for ageing farmers encouraged them to move to a lower cost but profitable cattle fattening enterprise. This led to the large-scale adoption of both L. leucocephala (Mullen, 2005) and Clitoria ternatea (butterfly pea) (Conway, 2005). • Gulf Coast of the USA; there was a market for high quality hay for the horse and dairy industries. New varieties of Arachis glabrata cv. Florigraze and Arbrook (rhizoma peanut) were well adapted, the equipment for vegetative propagation was available, and it was profitable compared to alternative land uses (Williams et al., 2005). • India; establishment of Stylosanthes to produce leaf meal was a cheap but profitable option for infertile acid soils in arid zones (Ramesh et al., 2005). Establishment was simple with no special equipment required. In southern China, there was also a need for high protein leaf meal for the large numbers of livestock in the region (ruminants and non-ruminants).Stylosanthes was well adapted and met this need (Guodao & Chakraborty, 2005). • Nusa Tenggara Timor Province of Indonesia; there was serious land degradation (erosion and weeds) in Amarasi and Sikki Districts in the 1930s. The high population densities required a change from swidden agriculture to sedentary agriculture. Alternatives, such as hand-made terraces failed as they were too labour intensive and difficult to construct. In Amarasi District, farmers found that they could rotate L. leucocephala with corn to improve fertility and thus corn production, and the L. leucocephala could be used to feed tethered cattle and housed goats (Piggin, 2003). Lantana camara (Lantana) was largely eliminated as a weed problem by the system and L. leucocephala provided wood for a variety of uses.The analysis indicated that success could be achieved when the technology led to profitability, on-farm environmental benefits such as fertility improvement or weed control, and other multipurpose benefits -often there was a combination of several benefits. However, most successful examples of adoption of forage legumes were unambiguously profitable for the adopter. Farmers normally choose profit, food and income security, before environmental protection (Peters et al., 2001). However, many scientists and government development personnel continue to justify the extension of forage legume technology by promoting natural resource management benefits, including off-farm benefits such as carbon sequestration and watershed management. The fundamental need for the legume technology to be firstly profitable and then afford delivery of on-farm environmental services as a secondary priority, cannot be emphasised strongly enough.It is necessary to begin with an understanding of the production system in which the legume will be promoted. From the survey, examples of legume technology matching farmers' socioeconomic situation and skills include: • Eastern Indonesia; farmers found that planting of L. leucocephala was compatible with local farming systems. It could be interplanted into maize patches without decreasing maize yield, and then rotated with maize as a soil fertility building exercise (Piggin, 2003). In China, production of leaf meal from Stylosanthes planted into young rubber plantation forests, or horticultural systems provided an income stream for a large and inexpensive workforce, especially women (Guodao & Chakraborty, 2005).• Queensland Australia; graziers needed an intensive, highly productive pasture beef fattening system, capable of delivering similar weight gains to feedlots in order to meet different market options. Those graziers with previous dryland cropping experience had less difficulty in establishing hedge-rows of L. leucocephala than graziers without this experience (Mullen, 2005). • Asia; the introduction of well-adapted Stylosanthes spp. into communal grazing lands in Northeast Thailand was an easy low cost strategy that delivered multiple benefits (improved livestock diets and improved land fertility) and was therefore well suited to the socio-economic conditions of the region. While many argue that it is not feasible to improve forage on communal lands due to lack of management (Cramb, 2000;Pengelly et al., 2004), it was possible in Thailand due to Government sponsorship of the improvement. Nevertheless, due to overgrazing and changed land use, the benefits of this oversowing strategy have been less than what could be achieved on private land (Phaikaew & Hare, 2005). In India, State and Federal Governments and NGOs also had long-running programmes (25 years) of support for revegetation of village commons and watersheds (Ramesh et al., 2005). • Nepal; in the mid-hill farming areas, small farm size and intensive cropping practices, coupled with back-yard dairy production, created the socio-economic environment for immediate interest and adoption of Arachis pintoi (forage peanut). Farmers in the region were accustomed to vegetative propagation, and there were many niche environments where A. pintoi could be planted (Robertson, 2005). In Lombok Indonesia, rice farmers needed to improve the diets of goats and cattle fed rice straw. They found that Sesbania grandiflora (sesbania) was tolerant of waterlogging and grew extremely well along the rice bunds without reducing yields of the rice crop. The side branches and leaves were easily harvested for fodder and the main stem was eventually cut to provide timber and poles. Nursing mothers also found S. grandiflora to be a nutritious vegetable.The experiences reviewed in Table 1 also confirm that simple innovations are more quickly adopted than complex ones, e.g. a new variety of Stylosanthes was more readily accepted in northeast Thailand (Phaikaew & Hare, 2005) or in northern Australia (Rains, 2005) than a new farming system such as the L. leucocephala system in Indonesia (Piggin, 2003), or Australia (Mullen, 2005). After 20 years of R&D into suitable Stylosanthes cultivars for the Brazilian savannas, Campo Grande was finally released in 2000. This cultivar overcame earlier difficulties with lack of persistence, susceptibility to anthracnose disease and poor seed production, and by 2004, more than 500 t of seed had been produced and sown on almost 150,000 ha of grass pastures (Fernandes et al., 2005).All of the successful case studies have involved the formation of critical partnerships between the significant stakeholders (Williams et al., 2005;Conway, 2005). In Nusa Tenggara Timor in Indonesia, local village heads, NGOs, church groups, the Dutch Administration, and government departments all showed great commitment to L. leucocephala adoption (Piggin, 2003). Local administrators instituted new regulations creating a favourable policy environment for adoption to proceed. These included (a) enforcement of tethering to replace free grazing; (b) credit provided only to those who agreed to plant L. leucocephala; (c) promotion of erosion control programmes; (d) regulations requiring the obligatory planting of L. leucocephala (1932 & 1948); and (e) promotion of cattle husbandry in livestock distribution schemes.  Partnerships that integrated a mechanism for supply of good quality seed at a reasonable price were essential for success (Kristjanson et al., 2004). Similarly, where successful adoption involved vegetatively propagated species such as Arachis spp. (Robertson, 2005;Williams et al., 2005;Lascano et al., 2005), an accessible supply of planting material was essential. In some developing countries, legume seed production was achieved by contracting smallholder farmers to produce the seed for government or NGO groups. This approach was first used in the 70s in northeast Thailand to produce seed of Stylosanthes humilis (Wickham et al., 1977), and was consolidated by continuing support from the Thai Government for a further 25 years (Phaikaew & Hare, 2005). Approximately 4,500 t of seed have been produced since the scheme commenced (Phaikaew & Hare, 2005). Seed is now exported as well as being purchased for local programmes, and there are farmer to farmer seed sales. Seed producers exported 3 t of S. guianensis CIAT184 and 8-9 t S. hamata cv. Verano in 2002 and 2003 (Phaikaew et al., 2004). A 'Thai club of seed producers' was formed to handle production and marketing. The Department of Land Development assists with monitoring of seed quality and testing, seed marketing, and seed packaging and storage. Successful contracting of seed production to smallholders has also occurred in India where Government has supported Stylosanthes seed production (Ramesh et al., 2005); in Bolivia where the NGO Empresa de Semillas Forrajeras SEFO -SAM has supported production of a variety of legume species for export (G. Sauma, pers. comm.); and in Benin where purchase of M. pruriens seed from farmers by the NGO Sasakawa Global occurred (Douthwaite et al., 2002). However, partnerships that link smallholder seed production with the private sector should be sought to provide long-term continuity of seed supply.For broadacre plantings, such as are found in Latin America, the USA and Australia, seed production is normally handled by specialist private seed merchants (Conway, 2005;Williams et al., 2005;Mullen, 2005). Lack of reliable seed supply has limited adoption of Stylosanthes spp. in Brazil, Centrosema pascuorum in the Northern Territory of Australia, and Arachis pintoi in Colombia (Lascano et al., 2005). Andrade et al., (2004) reported that release of new Stylosanthes cultivars with high seed yield potential was vital, in order to gain the support of seed producers in Brazil. The seed company that marketed the Stylosanthes variety Mineirão from 1996, found that low seed yields, and consequent high market prices, led to a relatively large number of buyers purchasing small amounts of seed. Consequently from 2000, the seed firm mixed Mineirão and Campo Grande (1:3) as a strategy to facilitate sales of Mineirão.Partnerships with researchers were also an integral part of the successful case studies. Researchers needed to be available to solve problems and progress the technology. In Kenya, researchers have introduced new species (Leucaena trichandra and Morus alba) to reduce farmers' dependence on Calliandra calothyrsus (calliandra). Diversification is important for minimising the effect of a pest or disease attack on any one species, and also for providing a more balanced feed ration (Franzel et al., 2003). In Australia, the beef industry is supporting the breeding of a psyllid resistant Leucaena spp., and research into the management of subclinical DHP toxicity, which was recently observed in Queensland cattle herds (Mullen, 2005). Cramb (2000), agreed that successful adoption occurred where there was a timely formation of a 'flexible' coalition of key stakeholders, whose interests converge sufficiently so that their joint resources focus on achieving the adoption outcomes.Most successful case studies have occurred over a long time period e.g. 10-50 years (Shelton et al., 2000). In central Kenya, 10 years elapsed between the start of the first on-farm trial and the wide-scale uptake of fodder shrubs by farmers. Elbasha et al. (1999) noted that realisation of benefits from use of tropical legumes took at least 15 years in West Africa and at least 20 years in Australia. Kristjanson et al. (2004) indicated that 20 years were needed to extend the results of Vigna unguiculata research in Nigeria. Strategies that have immediate and profitable short-term benefits will be favoured. This was the case with milk production systems in Kenya where adoption of Calliandra occurred relatively quickly as dairy producers responded to the immediate increase in milk yield and the opportunity to reduce their use of expensive concentrates. In Brazil, Arachis pintoi was quickly adopted in the Amazon due to the introduction of environmental regulations preventing more clearing of forested lands.Successful adoption was also associated with dedicated champions who were willing to commit their time to achieving a successful outcome (Williams et al., 2005;Conway, 2005;Mullen, 2005;Ramesh et al., 2005). Examples include northeast Thailand where interest in the promotion of Stylosanthes commenced in the 1970s with Thai, New Zealand and Australian input. This was followed by World Bank support, and now Japanese support. A key factor was the continuing support from the Thai Department of Livestock Development, and consistent support from key individuals. Such sustained donor support is critical to ensuring the success of the technology.Many workers have pointed to the need for a close interactive working relationship with farmers in order to achieve adoption. Horne et al. (2000) were critical of the lack of participatory involvement with farmers during 40 years of forage development programmes in southeast Asia. They proposed an intensive interactive programme of discussion, interviews and on-farm trials jointly conducted with farmers to identify the best solutions to problems identified by the farmers. Tuhulele et al. (2000) reporting experiences using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools found that careful selection of participating farmers was important and that good facilitation and communication skills with farmers were essential. However, a flexible approach is necessary so that farmer innovations can be absorbed into the technology recommendations and passed on. Further improvements occurred as farmers experimented with the technology, e.g. in Kenya, researchers encouraged farmers to conduct their own experiments, called 'farmer-designed trials', in which farmers planted Calliandra as they wished. Several important lessons emerged from these trials, and were incorporated into extension recommendations, including planting in different niches and planting Calliandra between rows of Pennisetum purpureum, and between Grevillea robusta trees along field boundaries. Braun & Hocdé (2000), referred to the need to change the orientation of existing R&D structures and to develop sustainable community based research capacity. This has happened in northern Australia where graziers have the major say in establishing priorities for research expenditure in the northern Australian beef industry (via the Northern Australia Beef Research Committee). A network of Leucaena growers has formed 'The Leucaena Network', and has played a major advocacy role promoting research, negotiating with government agencies regarding environmental issues, and conducting training courses for growers.Within the participatory framework, it was important to ensure that accurate and practical information on the technology was readily available and transmitted to farmers using an appropriate vehicle. Wortman & Kirungu (2000), considered that smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa were influenced by government extension services, neighbours, relatives, schools and radio. Ndove et al. (2004) reported that adoption of legumes in maize cropping systems was assisted by training, demonstrations, tours and on-farm experiments. In Australia, the five most important information sources for graziers were rural newspapers, local Department of Agriculture, national radio, neighbours and stock & station agents (Anon., 2004).The future of the tropical ruminant livestock sector seems assured with predictions of continuing strong demand for livestock products due to population increase (Kristjanson et al., 2004), and to an increasingly prosperous middle class in developing countries. It will be the integrated crop-livestock smallholder systems of Africa and Asia, and to a lesser extent Latin America, that will be the major suppliers of meat and milk (Delgado et al., 1999). However, production systems will need to intensify to meet demand for higher quality products, while remaining environmentally sustainable. In Africa, there is a move from pastoralism to sedentary farming, requiring greater inputs and a more sustainable production system (J. Lenné, pers. comm). In Asia, smallholder livestock farmers are moving from herding systems to tethering systems, or to intensive penned animal systems that require cutand-carry forage (Fujisaka et al., 2000). Most are planting high yielding grasses to supplement dry season crop residues, and many now purchase feed concentrates to supply protein, energy and minerals thereby improving productivity, especially milk production. As production systems intensify, the inability of farmers to adequately feed their livestock year round will be even more important. The outstanding value of legumes in general and of Calliandra in particular is needed to meet this dry season feed gap, with the additional benefit of increased intake of associated poor quality roughage (Shelton, 2004b). It is not surprising that tree legumes figure strongly among the successful case studies. They are multipurpose, and their superior rooting depth delivers excellent water use efficiency and drought tolerance (Shelton, 2004a).Similarly the broad-scale grazed tropical grass pastures in Australia, Southern USA, and Central and South America will neither be productive or stable unless their N-nutrition is maintained. Declining N status leads to reduced productivity, reduced pasture vigour and weed invasion. Whilst use of inorganic N is feasible in the southern USA (Sollenberger & Kalmbacher, 2005), it is less economically attractive in Australia, Africa, and Latin America.There is an emerging and significant role for legumes as a protein supplement to reduce reliance on expensive concentrates (Franzel & Wambugu, 2005), which often account for a high proportion of direct costs. Related to this is a rapidly increasing demand for legume hay and leaf meal. This is happening in India (Ramesh et al., 2005), China (Guodao & Chakraborty, 2005) and in Latin America (Peters & Lascano, 2003).A considerable amount of adaptation research has already been completed (Pengelly et al., 2004), although there remains a continuing need for germplasm evaluation and genotype X environment studies to better understand the range of environmental niches for legume accessions (Peters & Lascano, 2003). Databases are available, e.g. the CIAT Forage Database (Barco et al., 2002) and SoFT (Selection of Forages for the Tropics) (Pengelly et al., 2005). The web sites of FAO (http://www.fao.org/) and PROSEA (Plant Resources of Southeast Asia) (http://www.prosea.nl/) have species information; and documentation describing the characteristics of a large number of tropical forage legumes is available (Horne & Stür, 1999). Data on forage adaptation and farmer preference have been linked to a GIS system, based on biophysical and socio-economic data for different regions (Peters et al., 2000). It is hoped that it will be possible to extrapolate the forage adaptation data to new regions, by inputting information on production system, market access, and social preference into the GIS-based tool.There are many accessions of legumes currently in world germplasm banks, although this resource is under threat due to lack of adequate funding (Maass & Pengelly, 2001). It is vital that the capability to identify new varieties to meet the continuing challenges of pests and diseases is retained, and that there is access to new accessions for niche environments. On occasion, discarded accessions have become relevant, due to the changed circumstances of farmers, e.g. the success of Clitoria ternatea cv. Milgarra as a ley legume to restore nitrogen fertility in cropping lands in central Queensland occurred many years after it was first evaluated (Conway, 2005).In recent years there has been increasing interest in indigenous species as an alternative to introducing exotic species. There are many reasons for this trend: (a) farming communities have detailed knowledge of their use and value, (b) there are ecological and conservation advantages in using indigenous species, and (c) there is a risk of unwanted weed invasion from exotic species. Indigenous forage tree species have generally been used for subsistence feeding rather than commercial systems. Exotic species are usually more vigorous, and produce higher yields than indigenous species, as they have been carefully selected for use as forage and removed from the challenge of pests and diseases present in their native range (Shelton, 2004). Roothaert & Franzel (2001), noted that most fodder tree screening programmes in Africa involved exotic species, but that the local species offer great potential. The challenge is to find trees that can be propagated easily, are highly nutritious, and can be pruned intensively.Most authors of successful case studies cite the need for readily available cheap seed or planting material of good quality. The use of smallholders for contract growing of seed has worked well in many developing countries. Small-scale production of legume seed has successfully matched the skills and resources of smallholder farmers, and has often involved rural women in seed harvesting and cleaning. Nevertheless, in Kenya despite high adoption of fodder trees, seed marketing is still problematic. Commercial firms have not shown interest in marketing seed, and individual seed growers find it difficult to link with potential buyers, who are usually smallholder farmers interested in buying minute quantities. Many NGOs give away free seed and this is a disincentive for farmers interested in selling seed. However, researchers can facilitate seed marketing in several ways: a) by helping producers to produce high quality seed, b) helping producers link with merchants in areas of high demand, and c) helping merchants to sell seed in small packets (Russell & Franzel, 2004). There is a need to improve the linkages between smallholder seed production and the private seed sector, to ensure long-term continuity of seed supply. Improved levels of adoption will help overcome the problem of low market volume for legume seed, thus encouraging private seed merchants to make investments.In developed countries, a reliable supply of high quality affordable seed is similarly crucial to successful adoption (Conway, 2005;Mullen, 2005;Rains, 2005;Sollenberger & Kalmbacher, 2005). A number of constraints continue to hamper seed production and distribution from private seed companies including: variable environmental conditions affecting production; and variable economic conditions affecting demand (especially export demand); and declining R&D into new varieties. Miles (2001) reported that EMBRAPA (Centro da Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária) and Unipasto (an association of Brazilian pasture seed firms) are collaborating to ensure pasture seed supply in the region.There is considerable debate concerning the respective roles of farmers, technology researchers, socio-economists, and other stakeholders in the adoption process, and the relative contributions that can be made by a traditional scientific approach and by participatory approaches. In reality, the prime movers of adoption programmes will vary. It is often not the local extension service, but may be a farmer organisation, a university, or locally or internationally funded R&D agencies (Braun & Hocdé, 2000). A major problem for all those wishing to promote the use of forage legumes is declining resources, and especially the declining number of pasture scientists in national and international agencies trained in tropical pasture science R&D. Andrade et al. (2004) report that CIAT and national Research agencies in Latin America have reduced their forage research budgets. The number of Australian pasture researchers has declined dramatically over the past decade. Given the increased demand for livestock products, and the clear evidence that poor animal nutrition is the major factor limiting productivity, the need to ensure sustainability of more intensive production systems, national and international agencies will need to increase their investment in education, training, research and extension of tropical pastures if the potential is to be realised.Scientists and development workers are often involved in developing and demonstrating technologies at a small-scale. Scaling-up to large numbers of farmers involves working across villages, districts and provinces. This requires alliances with a multitude of institutions working with farmers, many of which will have limited expertise on forages. The use of expert decision support systems such as SoFT -a database and selection tool for identifying forages adapted to local conditions in the tropics and subtropics, and the linked GIS-based CaNaSTA (Crop Niche Selection for Tropical Agriculture) may assist in this regard. However, these computer tools cannot replace the long-term experience of forage agronomists. Fliert et al. (2000) stated that participatory activities are often characterised by intensive guidance processes, which may limit capacity for up scaling. Tuhulele et al. (2000) recommended an intensive process of interaction with participating farmers using Participatory Research Appraisal (PRA) approaches, but these approaches can create problems in up scaling to new regions due to the heavy involvement of farmers and researchers in the process of promoting the technology (Horne et al., 2000). Some technologies, e.g. maize varieties, spread easily across an area, many fodder legumes require more facilitation because they are 'information-intensive' and involve the learning of new skills. The building of partnerships and coalitions of a range of stakeholders, such as government agencies, NGOs, church organisations, community groups, farmer groups and schools, is the key to successful up scaling (Franzel et al., 2003).Sustaining scaling up and the adoption process is not always possible. Mucuna was adopted by >10,000 hillside farmers in Honduras and several thousands of farmers in Guatemala and Southern Mexico. It was used as a relay crop with maize, delivering benefits for soil fertility, soil structure and weed suppression (Peters et al., 2001). However, due to farms becoming smaller and tenure less secure, much of this policy was reversed. Growth in the cattle industry reduced the area of land available for landless peasant to use the Mucuna-Zea mays rotation, and Zea mays became less attractive relative to other crops and off-farm employment opportunities (Neill & Lee, 2001). In Florida, the availability of cheap nitrogen for use on Nfertilised grass and other more profitable land use options has diminished grazier interest in use of forage legumes (Sollenberger & Kalmbacher, 2005). Market failures and problems with the legume technology can cause the technology to fail. For these reasons, the long-term sustained involvement of researchers to address technical problems is crucial for successful adoption.There is much controversy over the role of computer tools for promoting adoption. Pengelly et al. (2003) argued that simulation modelling combined with socio-economic research would improve adoption. A simulation model assessing year-round feeding strategies for smallholder crop-livestock systems is being developed by ILRI and their partners (Domingo, 2004). The software enables forecasting of livestock performance under varying feeding and management conditions. A similar strategy is being pursued by ACIAR in southern Africa, south Sulawesi and Indonesia, where an integrated livestock, crop, horticultural and economic model of smallholder systems is being developed. However, there is concern that the use of computer tools as an aid to generate adoption options for forages in smallholder crop-livestock systems is a high-risk strategy. It may not be possible to achieve a credible, robust model for the smallholder farmers of Africa, Asia and Latin America, because of lack of technical information for the diversity of situations and the high skill levels and sustained commitment needed to develop and support effective models. It is concluded that computer modelling is not going to be an important contributor to improved adoption outcomes. Instead, it is vital that development workers continue to engage with rural communities in relevant and practical ways, especially since the number of professionally trained forage scientists is declining.Although adoption of tropical legumes worldwide has been less than anticipated, there have been notable adoption successes, especially in Asia and Australia, and to a lesser extent in Brazil. Where data were available the economic returns from adoption have been significant. Successful legumes have included Stylosanthes, tree legumes and niche legumes, such as forage Arachis species. Their characteristics varied greatly, but with some exceptions, they demonstrated persistence, vigour and longevity under grazing or cut and carry systems, ease of establishment (with the exception of Leucaena), and either high seed yield or ease of vegetative propagation. They delivered profitability and multipurpose benefits to farmers, including on-farm environmental benefits.Meeting the needs of farmers was the most significant factor leading to successful uptake of tropical forage legume technology. Other factors vital to successful adoption were (a) the building of a coalition of relevant partnerships, (b) understanding the socio-economic context and skills of farmers and their farming systems, (c) a participatory involvement with the rural communities involved, and (d) the long-term involvement of champions who ensured the process did not stall and that problems were resolved.Nitrogen is the key-sustaining element in tropical farming systems, and as ruminant production systems are intensified, there is great potential and opportunity for exploiting tropical forage legume technology. Leaf meals in particular will become more common in the future. The alternative to legumes will be greater and more costly use of N-fertilisers and purchased protein concentrates.If R&D organisations wish to see the technologies developed from their research programs delivering benefits to farmers, they will need to take extension work more seriously. They will need to be prepared for long-term involvement, and to build partnerships with other organisations with complementary expertise and interest but similar goals. Increased investment will be needed to support R&D programmes, including greater support for long and short-term training and education programmes to overcome declining availability of forage legume expertise and lack of awareness and opportunity for use of tropical forage legumes. Such investment will ensure adoption of tropical forage legume technology, and will increase the economic, environmental and social well being of rural communities."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"83a5ea11e80835ec3330cff2d675fbbe","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/09ae4a2b-fd51-43d8-b3c7-4b93b6b552ef/retrieve","id":"86919924"},"keywords":["children rights","youth, birth registration","legislation"],"sieverID":"a7c17c7c-a91c-497c-beaa-f5831282d2b6","content":"To improve the rights of unregistered children and young people in Sierra Leone, Plan International has developed a birth registration tool to enable age and identity verification for this vulnerable group. Today, the young participants of the project are accessing their age-appropriate privileges, such as being able to attend school and getting to vote.stakeholder mobilisation, raising awareness and birth information registration. As a 'tool', it is not considered an end in itself but as a means to achieving several ends (education, health, child protection, etc.).In general, a UBR initiative includes: 1. A national workshop to plan and develop consistent messages for increasing awareness, mobilisation and advocacy. 2. Organising and holding a pre-consultative meeting aimed at increasing the buy-in of the local and the national government, and of the target communities. 3. Holding preparatory consultative sustainability meetings aimed at transferring skills and increasing community ownership. 4. Engagement with the public and interactive media. 5. Organising awareness sessions and mass registration campaigns.Experience has shown that UBR serves as a cost effective and applicable tool for the attainment of child-focused development. It is also a suitable approach for building the foundations of long-term development interventions. In addition, UBR can contribute as a planning instrument during emergencies such as the outbreak of diseases like Ebola. It is also perhaps one of the few tools that possesses and promotes many of the coveted features of development:I n Sierra Leone, nearly 40% of births go unregistered, which exposes children later in life to challenges concerning attainment of their basic human rights and denial of their age-appropriate privileges and services. With this in mind and with the support of the Government of Sierra Leone and other nongovernmental organizations, Plan International has designed and implemented the project 'Promoting birth registration for children's' development and protection', geared towards addressing the vulnerability of unregistered children and young people in Sierra Leone and also in Liberia, two Mano River Union countries. The extent of the project's success has been monitored via facilitators to obtain information from the communities in which the project is working.The study focused on obtaining opinions, views and facts from the target communities on universal birth registration (UBR) as a tool to solve problems affecting children. The research team attempted to obtain such information objectively and without bias, given the project's purpose of influencing change through evidence.UBR involves the identification of a specific geographic area within which activities are conducted to ensure all children have been registered and issued birth certificates. UBR activities range from Plan International carried out a thorough study of the tool and of its implementation. This ran from April 2012 to February 2017, and was therefore halted during the Ebola outbreak of 2014-2015. The main stakeholders involved, whose views have been reflected in this work, included the Government of Sierra Leone, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), Plan International, Plan Sierra Leone, many different civil society organizations, and also our implementing partners and other development agencies. Plan International's project manager and staff running the UBR were also interviewed, as well as staff from the birth and death department in Freetown. And additional information was also collected from the National Births and Deaths Registration Office.In short, the whole process considered:(a) A national workshop to plan and develop consistent messages for awareness, mobilisation and advocacy purposes. Plan International facilitated a two-day workshop to develop consistent messaging in partnership with the communication department of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, the National Office of Births and Deaths, UNICEF, the National Registration Secretariat and the National Electoral Commission. Representatives of the National Commission for Human Rights, the Commission for Disability, the Office of National Security, the National Commission for Democracy, Children's Commission, traditional leaders, religious leaders and CSOs were also in attendance. Discussions at the meeting focused on the importance of birth registration, the problems associated with unregistered births, the procedures to be followed• Cross-cutting applicability: the tool can be used to target interventions in different development sectors (such as health, education, governance and human rights), and its benefits can solve problems across sectors and sub sectors.• Ease of applicability: it is easy to set up systems and structures for UBR, as long as there is an existing government structure in place for birth registration and stakeholder buy-in. Because of its simplicity (whether paper-based or biometric), an area with a population of up to 7 million can be targeted with birth registration activities within a week.• Quick wins: when UBR is employed, quick results can be realised, especially in protecting children from harm and providing appropriate services to them.• Big results: high impact in relation to protection and rights assurance solutions are likely. Registration of 95-100% of births within populations is likely when using the tool. In the external evaluation of different cases, registration increase of between 40 and 95% has been recorded.• Targeted interventions: the desire of development and humanitarian actors to correctly identify the status of target beneficiaries to correctly plan for and allocate resources (for example, in terms of enrolment in scholls), is easily enhanced through correct birth registration data. The benefits of correct planning and resource and intervention mapping cannot be overemphasised where projects with limited resources are concerned.• Collaborative action and working together: because the process of UBR involves many different activities, it encourages collaborative action and crediting of teams rather than a single entity or actor.Plan Sierra Leone, the local councils and other stakeholders identified the situation of unregistered births as:• A major impediment to successful implementation of child-focused age-appropriate interventions and provision of services in Sierra Leone;• A principal barrier to the success of improved access to justice by victims of abuse in various sectors and subsectors including sexual and gender based violence (SGBV), child battery, child neglect, child exploitation, and child labour;• A cause for outright denial of social and civic rights of individuals seeking to exercise such; important role in community mobilisation.As the most commonly accessed media channel, radio was the most important outlet for information dissemination. Plan Sierra Leone entered into an agreement with six national radio stations and four community radio stations to broadcast shows (one per month for six months in each district), which focused on the key issues of birth registration. Each show was broadcast at peak hours and lasted for 2 hours, allowing one hour for a panel discussion and one hour for questions and answers by text/phone-in.The panellists comprised of representatives from, for example, DHMT, the District Registrar from the National Office of Births and Deaths, religious and traditional leaders, and Plan Sierra Leone staff.Last, we also ran thirty-six awareness campaigns in Kailahun, Port Loko and Western Area (12 in each district). In some initiatives, comedians paraded through the streets of the target districts putting on live performances and encouraging parents to register their children for free.Our study considered different criteria to measure the success of the tool's implementation process:• Adoption: Some partners and agencies said limited funding restricted their ability to implement the project. Others said it was the responsibility of the government to provide UBR, which is why they didn't make it a priority.• Effectiveness: Project participants stated that although effective, the tool was unable to reach all unregistered children due to mistakes preventing all those involved from achieving their aims for child registration and the linkages to the newly established civil registration system.(b) Pre-implementation consultative meetings. These activities focused on establishing and strengthening links with existing influential community stakeholders, including traditional and religious leaders, women, youth and child representatives, and community chiefs to ensure successful implementation of the UBR activity, as well as mobilisation of community at large.(c) Preparatory consultative sustainability meetings. Three consultative meetings were held -one in Port Loko, one in the Western Area and one in Kailahun. A total of 120 participants attended these meetings; 40 participants from each district. Participants included representatives from the National Office of Births and Deaths, the District Health Management Team (DHMT), paramount chiefs, tribal heads, religious leaders, city mayors, women, youth and child organisation representatives, and community based organisations. In light of the Ebola emergency, the meetings discussed the following topics:• Linkages between birth registration and the spread of disease outbreaks: faster tracing of family ties could reduce or delay the spread of disease to relatives and community members;• The importance of avoiding a break in registration activities in the eventuality of disease outbreak;• The importance of encouraging community members to access health facilities and to trust front line health personnel.There was also a large sensitization effort (April -June 2017), where interactive media played anCollaborative action can promote adoption among parties with similar interests, which is why as many stakeholders as possible were included.(such as those related to the project design and to the limited availability of resources).• Increased access to services: With proof of age through using the tool, child participants have been able to vote, attend school and avoid early marriages. They have also been able access/receive age-targeted nutrition therapy, immunisations, counselling and appropriate treatment in court.• Time-effectiveness: The time efficacy of UBR can be undermined if the paper-based certificate lacks a photograph. The process of proving legitimacy of the document can then be time consuming.• Cost effectiveness: According to the births and deaths department, it costs less than US$1 to register a child. However, due to systemic problems within government structures, evaluators of the project reported the cost at just under US$4 for each child registered.• Project reach: Stakeholders interviewed reported that the UBR recorded about 400,000 people and that 87 percent of the communities in the target area were reached, and that the awareness campaigns greatly contributed to this.• Necessity in the context: The workers at the birth and death department, as well as other project partners, have said that the tool was more than necessary in the context of the country. Districts not served during the project now have comparatively fewer unregistered children.In general terms, we've seen that collaborative action can promote adoption among parties with similar interests, this is why during the consultative meetings, as many stakeholders as possible were included to ensure the decisions were equally owned. But it is also important to mention that, when planning a mass activity which involves many people, like this one, provisions should be made for cases where disasters restrict the movement of people.We have also seen that, however result-oriented a tool, universal application cannot easily be guaranteed in a context of weak systems. Therefore, whilst we aimed for 100% registration, underlying factors such as poor systems prevented our attainment of full registration.The births and deaths department recommends that NGOs and development actors prioritise birth registration at the start of a child's life in order to obtain accurate birth information, which becomes less accurate for children registered over the age of five. UBR should be encouraged by NGOs and mandated by governments. In areas suspected to have lower than 60% birth registration rates, mass awareness campaigns should be undertaken. Plan International should insist on the practice of UBR as a mainstream activity of every country office, especially in the countries where it works."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2667bf514a68d7ad949bdf175950d835","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ec664cd7-e40b-445b-bb08-f4cd36e3c600/retrieve","id":"2078086568"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"dcd8ddd9-de5c-4660-b5fc-5669b5ce2653","content":"Background 2 03 The Dialogues 3 04 African Dialogues 4 05 Regional dialogue summary according to cross-cutting themes 6 Southern region (Botswana,Climate change is adversely affecting regional and national food systems contributing to low agricultural productivity and food insecurity;Countries are adopting diverse approaches to move towards environmentally sustainable production and consumption, but they require capacity building and financial resources for implementation;To improve trade and market access there is a need for improved infrastructure, the harmonisation of trade standards and better monitoring and dissemination of market information;Value chain development is constrained by a lack of access to processing equipment, technical knowledge, financial resources and disconnected value chain actors;High levels of food waste are attributed to poor handling, a lack of food processing and inadequate storage facilities (especially cold chains), poor road and rail infrastructure and limited access to markets;Health challenges include poor nutritional education and awareness, a lack of dietary diversity, inadequate food safety standards and policy, unaffordable nutritious whole foods and low levels of consumption of local/indigenous food products;Gender and social inclusion is recognised as essential to sustainable food systems but requires land tenure reform and improved access to inputs, including finances, by women, youth and vulnerable groups;Discussions on governance and policy highlight the naeed for the maintenance/development of supporting infrastructure, improved alignment of policy, revised land use policy and better coordination and collaboration between and amongst government departments/ ministries and other stakeholders;There is a need to enhance investment in demand-driven food systems research, and this can be achieved through private and public sector partnerships;Technology and innovation are key for knowledge sharing, enhancing agricultural productivity and the generation of agricultural data for evidence-based decision making; andCredit and loan facilities are largely inaccessible to food producers due to high interest rates.The United Nations Secretary-General called upon world leaders to take part in the Food Systems Summit to accelerate collective action for food systems transformation. This report synthesises the findings from the African Member States' Dialogues, held to shape national pathways towards sustainable food systems.In 2021, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General convened a Food Systems Summit (the Summit) as part of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The Summit presented new actions to progress towards the seventeen SDGs, each of which relies to some extent on more sustainable and equitable food systems.The ongoing Food Systems Summit Dialogues (the Dialogues) provide a standardised approach for purposeful events that enable a diverse range of stakeholders to collaborate and share their experiences with the goal of transforming food systems to sustainably meet the current and future needs of the global population.The Dialogues follow a standardised approach involving the following:• Inclusion of diverse actors from across the entirety of food systems;• Adherence to the Summit's principles of engagement;• Discussions on the long-term visions for sustainable food systems;• Sharing of reflections, building on knowledge, experience and wisdom;• Reflection on the consensus and divergence of opinions amongst the stakeholders; and• Identification of priorities for action within the context of current realities.Multi-stakeholder dialogue allows multiple actors to congregate and apply their combined knowledge and experiences to address a problem. The discussions are stimulated and guided by facilitators so that the desired outcomes are shaped and articulated. The outcome is a thorough exploration of the issue at hand, the development of shared positions and the emergence of joint action.A wide range of stakeholder groups are required to take part in the multi-stakeholder dialogues, such as:• Representatives from the entire food value chain (e.g. food producers and processors, distributors and retailers, caterers, marketers, traders, consumers);• Health and nutrition professionals;• Private sector;• Community organisations;• Education and research institutions;• Vulnerable groups such as women, youth, indigenous peoples and migrants; and• Those who help to govern territories, protect livelihoods, foster resilience, regenerate ecosystems, participate in climate action and manage freshwater, coastlines, seas and the ocean.A successful multi-stakeholder dialogue event enables multiple stakeholders to connect, share ideas, understand each other's perspectives, develop propositions, examine their potential and nurture the shaping and emergence of pathways to sustainability.The Dialogues provide an environment conducive to open debate, collaboration, consensus-building and shared commitmentmaking and are designed to offer valuable insights for shaping pathways to equitable and sustainable food systems by 2030. Southern Africa is commonly referred to as a climate change 'hotspot' with drought and extreme rainfall events negatively impacting on the food systems of several countries.Mozambique is considered one of the worst affected African countries in terms of extreme climatic events and subsequently held a Dialogue focused on innovative solutions to climate change challenges. Climate change hazards were mentioned to have a devastating effect on the country's food systems by contributing to low agricultural productivity, an increasing occurrence of pests and diseases and a reduction in productive areas. Furthermore, stakeholders noted that climate hazards such as tropical cyclones have led to the destruction of infrastructure (e.g. irrigation systems, roads, warehouses, amongst others) thereby disrupting food value chains.Practices (GAPs), enhancing renewable energy generation, capacity building and improving water use management and land use planning. Botswana has adopted climate smart agriculture (CSA) and conservation agriculture practices and technologies to mitigate climate change, improve production and commercialise agriculture. However, it was noted that there is a need for scaling which requires adequate funding. The country has boosted aquaculture to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, such as methane from meat production. Botswana has also improved their water management through sustainable water use practices and enhanced wastewater management.In addition, Botswana focused on renewable energy production and has conducted research on renewable resources. Malawi has also investigated renewable energy generation through the identification of hydroelectric power opportunities along the Shire River.In terms of shifting to sustainable consumption patterns, Malawi has faced the following challenges:• Lack of a comprehensive definition of sustainable consumption;• Limited consumption of indigenous foods despite being highly nutritious;• High food waste and pollution;• Low dietary diversification;• Low accessibility to some food types in certain parts of the country; and• Increased post-harvest losses.In Zimbabwe, stakeholders indicated that a manual was produced on resilient and sustainable agriculture covering issues on agroecology and other naturepositive production mechanisms. The manual was funded by the Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund and is to be translated into different local languages. In Masvingo, the Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers' Forum is implementing soil fertility management and water harvesting schemes. Efforts are also being made to establish a local seed bank.Southern region (Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe)Proposed solutions from Mozambique's Dialogues included:• The construction of robust infrastructure using modern technologies that ensure greater durability and resilience;• Humanitarian assistance to displaced people, solidarity campaigns, resettlement, agricultural development and income generation projects for displaced and host families;• The establishment of food banks across the different regions; and• The identification and mapping of alternative production areas for affected people.Malawi, a neighbour of Mozambique, has also been adversely affected by climate changerelated hazards such as erratic rainfall patterns and an increase in natural disasters such as tropical cyclones. Stakeholders indicated that due to climatic factors and inadequate agricultural diversification, some regions are now better suited to the production of livestock.The South African Dialogues highlighted the need for improved Early Warning Systems (EWSs) to disseminate information to all members of society. Crisis management methods such as an adaptation strategy, action plan and anticipation protocol were mentioned as key.Mozambique also considered food system resilience to other shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated increased unemployment rate has resulted in lower purchasing power and a reduced demand for food. This, in turn, is resulting in food surpluses at the producer level, higher levels of postharvest losses and food insecurity and malnutrition.Community-level education on contingency planning and risk management was proposed to address the issue of shocks. Stakeholders also mentioned the challenges surrounding armed conflict in the country's central region and terrorist attacks in the north resulting in the abandonment of productive areas further contributing to food insecurity.Mozambique's Dialogues drew attention to the fact that different regions of the country are impacted differently by climate hazards and shocks and that the impacts vary according to the type of sector, i.e. crop, livestock or fisheries. This highlighted the need to manage and prepare for climate hazards at a more localised scale, e.g. provincial.The countries of the Southern region are implementing diverse approaches to move towards environmentally sustainable production and consumption such as by adopting Good AgriculturalIt was noted that land use planning aimed at reducing the overexploitation of natural resources is a key focal area in Mozambique, and in South Africa, former agricultural colleges have strengthened the capacity of local community-based centres of excellence to adopt sustainable agricultural practices.Countries in the Southern region highlighted a need for improved infrastructure to increase market access, the harmonisation of trade standards and better monitoring and dissemination of market information. Stakeholders indicated that the Northern region of Malawi has poor road infrastructure and a hilly topography that affects the accessibility and distribution of food supplies within the region. The country has experienced market failures including unregulated contract farming agreements, uncompetitive prices and dysfunctional and unstructured markets.In Zimbabwe, Knowledge Transfer Africa/ eMkambo is monitoring food-related market information. They are working with the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) and other stakeholders to issue weekly reports on the quality of food in specific markets.Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the African Growth and Opportunity Act, respectively. The country has installed new infrastructure (roads, electricity, water and market infrastructure) and improved communication networks in places of deficit.There is a focus on the creation of a transportation network that will ensure the timely delivery of food products and reduce wastage. It was noted that the Government, the private sector and farmers should be encouraged to collaborate to build food storage facilities in remote areas to reduce post-harvest losses. Furthermore, the Government is working to secure a market for local producers with healthy market competition. Mozambique also identified the need for nutritional awareness programmes using the media and food guides.In the South African Dialogues, other potential means for improving nutritional intake included improved dietary data, school feeding programmes, the incorporation of nutritional education in school curricula, the diversification of food production for more balanced diets, improved processing, fortification/enrichment methods and modern food storage practices.The Botswanan Dialogues indicated an improved use of agrochemicals and the promotion of organic farming through ongoing public education. South Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe highlighted the issue of food waste in their Dialogues.Malawi recognised a food deficit due to poor handling and storage, inadequate budgeting, post-harvest losses and wastage.Cultural celebrations such as weddings and funeral ceremonies were also considered major contributing factors to the country's food waste. In South Africa, food wastage and loss are deemed prevalent in both the production cycle and during consumption. In Zimbabwe, investment in post-harvest infrastructure and value addition was recognised as essential for reducing food waste and loss in informal markets.In the Southern region, common health and nutrition challenges included poor nutritional education and awareness, a lack of dietary diversity, inadequate food safety standards and policy, unaffordability of nutritious foods and low levels of consumption of indigenous food products.Stakeholders in Malawi recognised that the country's food safety challenges were mainly due to a lack of national-level food safety policies, standards and regulations with limited coordination across the sectors on food security, nutrition and food safety (there is no delivery mechanism to enable this). A lack of diversity in local diets, which are dominated by the consumption of maize, was also noted. Stakeholders in both Malawi and South Africa noted that nutritious foods are too expensive.Like Malawi, in Zimbabwe, the Dialogues discussed a need for improved food safety through legislation, i.e. a Food Safety Act, and this is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health and Child Care. It was indicated that the Government of Zimbabwe and partners need to promote and enforce food safety standards in both formal and informal food markets to protect consumers.example, discussions in South Africa mentioned a need for enhanced collaboration with neighbouring countries to ensure a coordinated approach to trade, especially in the face of the recently ratified AfCFTA.Key challenges faced in establishing sustainable value chains in the Southern region included a lack of processing equipment and financial resources for value addition and the need to link value chain actors as well as producers with markets.The Botswanan Dialogues also indicated a need to increase resources and the skills base of agriculture extension officers. Furthermore, transaction costs along value chains need to be reduced to offer consumers better food prices.to drive processing and value addition and that there is a need for food processing equipment.Mozambique recognised that their food value chains are fragmented; and the South African Dialogues discussed the inclusivity of their food value chains and the need to incorporate smallholder and subsistence farmers.Actions proposed to strengthen food value chains in South Africa included:• Mobilise investments in infrastructure and services as well as human and material resources to develop value chains that support sustainable end markets;• Build data on food value chain actors, their profiles, locations, needs and actions;  Governance and policy improvements for sustainable food systems varied by country.However, common needs included the maintenance and development of supporting infrastructure, improved alignment of policy, revised land use policy, and better coordination and collaboration between and amongst government departments/ministries and other stakeholders (e.g. non-governmental organisations (NGOs), finance institutions and civil society).In Botswana, stakeholders identified the need to review the National Land Policy to make fertile land available for the youth and to centralise food standards at the Botswana Bureau of Standards for all sectors. A holistic review of policies is needed to align them with international obligations that support sustainable agriculture and food systems. The country further recognised the need for an inclusive approach to the development of policies i.e. from the bottom up.In Malawi, regulatory services are being strengthened and capacity building is taking place in key ministries such as the Ministries of Health, Agriculture and Trade as well as district councils, community structures and institutions such as the Malawi Bureau of Standards.In Zimbabwe, stakeholders highlighted the need to address inadequate environmental governance and impose strict penalties on people who start bushfires for clearing land.In the Mozambiquan Dialogues, the inclusion of Provincial Directorates of Agriculture and Fisheries in policy development was mentioned as key to sustainable food systems. It was noted thatBotswana, Malawi, South Africa and Mozambique have made efforts towards improving their inclusivity both within the Dialogue process and in food systems.For example, Botswana has introduced inclusive policies to improve:• Access to funding and land for production;• Support for the elderly in food systems; and• Mentorship programmes for the youth.Botswana has also installed infrastructure in rural areas to enable people with disabilities to lead active lives and gender equity has been introduced in the allocation of programmes for commercialisation with youth now able to access financing.In Malawi, it was recognised that gender inequalities persist in accessing safe and healthy food products. Stakeholders discussed women and youth marginalisation in agri-food systems, which was attributed to a lack of access to land and resources which are traditionally controlled by men. Women and youth also have limited access to financial opportunities, due to the structural barriers associated with smallholder farmers' access to finances. The limited livelihood opportunities are forcing youth to migrate to South Africa which is resulting in labour shortages in some Malawian districts.South Africa ensured the inclusion of subsistence and smallholder farmers in the engagements for food system transformation;this involved interpretation in 11 local languages. Over 1,000 farmers discussed, in their own languages, the major challenges they faced such as gaining access to land, water and energy. As the engagements were held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, extensionists and government officials used their laptops to convene farmers who did not have access to internet.incentives are to be provided for locally produced inputs (e.g. fish feed) and focus is placed on processing at both artisanal and industrial scales. In addition, it was recognised that supporting infrastructure (e.g. irrigation channels and road networks) coverage and improvement/rehabilitation is needed.The South African Dialogues discussed the need for coordination across government departments and the inclusion of municipalities, NGOs, finance institutions and other formations of civil society. A central coordination structure is required to monitor all food system elements and avoid the duplication of programmes aimed at fighting hunger. Clear legislative and regulatory guidelines are also needed to ensure the active participation of smallholders.Suggested actions from the South African Dialogues included:• The maintenance and development of infrastructure, particularly related to water, electricity, roads, rail and ports;• Comprehensive farmer support services, including mentorship, extension services and agricultural colleges;• Effective land reform and tenure security in conjunction with rural safety;• The revision of curricula to include food systems, indigenous knowledge, food security, food safety and nutrition, and to stimulate research in these areas;• Revisiting, evaluating and up-scaling food security programmes;• Re-educating agricultural practitioners and agro-processors with regards to sustainable practices; and• Policy considerations for digital agriculture, embracing the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), advanced technologies and big data to expand smart farming practices.• There is a need for research in Malawi, as there is a deficit in data and evidence required by policy makers and the private sector to understand the landscape better.• In Zimbabwe, academia, the Zimbabwe Nutrition Association (ZimNA), eMkambo and other stakeholders are willing to engage and research food systems and food consumption.• The South African Dialogues highlighted the importance of researching organic agriculture and indigenous food production, with a focus on heat-and droughttolerant varieties and improved nutritional content.The importance of PPPs for investment, training and knowledge sharing was frequently highlighted in the Dialogues. Botswana has strengthened PPPs, which has improved investment across their value chains. In Zimbabwe, it was mentioned that the Government needs to partner with relevant stakeholders to incentivise smallholder farmers for growing healthy foods. In South Africa, emphasis was placed on partnerships for equality. In Malawi, the Dialogues explored stakeholder engagement for collective action in transforming food systems. It was noted that there are several partners working in the food systems, including NGOs (local and international), faith-based organisations, farmer organisations and cooperatives, government departments, private sector players, amongst other, but they rarely work together to share lessons learnt and best practices. The lack of collaboration was attributed to poor coordination at the regional and district levels, including between ministries, departments and agencies of the Government, despite the decentralised governance system. Opportunities, enablers and recommendations to transform food systems are multi-sectoral in nature and so require a coordinated approach at the regional and district level to be impactful.The Dialogues of four countries emphasised the importance of agricultural and food system research:• In Botswana, the apiculture and aquaculture sectors need to be commercialised and farmers require funding, training and stock (bees and fish). To expand entrepreneurship in these sectors, research is needed as well as the development of appropriate agro-food technologies.Digital technology developments were recognised by Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi and South Africa as important for food system transformation.Botswana has implemented food processing technologies for indigenous products.In Malawi, the development of a digital technology strategy was highlighted as important for communication as well as enhancing agricultural productivity e.g. through adopting agricultural technologies such as CSA, conservation agriculture, permaculture, intercropping, agroforestry, and land and water conservation measures.Mozambique's Dialogues also emphasised the importance of technology for communication in real-time, particularly in the case of warning mechanisms for extreme weather events. In South Africa digital technology was recognised as key for providing data to municipalities on food needs and prices as well as supply chain efficiencies. It was noted that communication technologies can also be used to distribute food amongst users and create awareness on food waste. AICCRA Key insights and perspectives from the Food Systems Summit Dialogues and the CAADP 3rd Biennial review process • 13 12 • AICCRA Key insights and perspectives from the Food Systems Summit Dialogues and the CAADP 3rd Biennial review processIn Malawi, the Affordable Input Programme proved contentious. Despite the country experiencing its highest yields in the last five years some stakeholders felt that the programme is an outdated social protection instrument that could be improved through diversification away from maize to other crops such as legumes and livestock. It was suggested that in the Southern region, because of the frequent occurrence of natural disasters, communities are getting used to receiving aid. For example, communities in Chikwawa district are affected by floods every year but are not willing to relocate to other areas. Some stakeholders suggested that the programme contributes to an increased dependence on the Government.In Mozambique, concerns were raised over the establishment of food reserves by the Government. It was argued that the purchasing of agricultural products, their storage and distribution to vulnerable groups will come at a great expense considering the current availability of storage facilities and maintenance requirements.In Zimbabwe, trans-fat, sugar and salt taxation was a contentious issue. It was stated that the taxes could create more problems than solutions and may not even change consumption patterns.In South Africa, stakeholders highlighted the lack of a clear food production and consumption mandate, noting that responsibilities are split between different departments and at different levels of the governance system. There is no coordination and alignment of services and a lot of information is lost. Furthermore, the inexplicit mandate at the local level makes the allocation of financial and human resources difficult for municipalities. The need for sustainable production systems such as agro-ecology and permaculture was discussed in the Malawian Dialogues. It was noted that the current food production system is near collapse as although conventional farming practices yield large amounts of produce, they utilise resources at an unsustainable rate. It was concluded that there is a need to incorporate both approaches.In Mozambique, environmental sustainability was identified as a major point of divergence as increased production and productivity is required to develop domestic industry, but an increased use of agrochemicals is damaging to the environment. It was concluded that a cost-benefit analysis is needed to assess the damaging effects of agrochemicals and it was suggested that the taxes applied to agrochemicals could be used for environmental restoration projects.In South Africa's Dialogues, it was noted that the agro-ecological approach has not been fully optimised. Whilst land needs to be made available for farming, people also need to be taught sustainable land management practices, as land rehabilitation and restoration is costly.In Malawi's Dialogues, mention was made of the need to embrace and consume indigenous food varieties as a major source of nutrition. The promoters of the indigenous food varieties emphasised that such foods have a high nutritional status and are resilient to climate change, on the contrary those championing improved varieties accentuated the high yielding and drought resistant varieties of maize.In Malawi, pesticide use in the Southern region was questioned, as there has been an increased use of pesticides due to the infestation of fall armyworm and increased cultivation of horticultural crops. Participants noted that if the pesticides are not handled and used properly, they can be fatal. For instance, the withdrawal periods on vegetables need to be strictly adhered to for safe consumption.In South Africa, it was mentioned that food system discussions are not inclusive and there is a lack of understanding on the topic due to poor knowledge dissemination. Furthermore, a lack of information on the informal sector hinders food system transformation and resilience.In the Eastern region of Malawi, contradictory discussions took place on the benefits of fishing as a major source of income in the region. Some stakeholders argued that an overreliance on fishing affects crop production as men do not have time to tend to their crops, thereby reducing dietary diversification. Another area of divergence in Malawi's Dialogues was the attraction of tourists to Liwonde National Park. It was argued that tourism positively impacts the district's economy and offers employment to young people. However, other stakeholders said that the tourists bring diseases. • Promoting the use of renewable energy;• Adopting farming practices that prevent land degradation;• Further promoting agroforestry;• Adopting integrated management of pests and diseases;• Ensuring water/irrigation efficiency; and• Promoting soil health management.Eastern region (Comoros, Kenya Mauritius, Madagascar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan)In the Sudanese Dialogues, stakeholders agreed on the need for nature-positive production but highlighted the lack of appropriate policies and legislation. Large areas of land are available for organic farming, but farmers require financial resources and know-how.With regards to trade and market access, the countries from the Eastern region focused on market access for small-scale producers, competition with imported products and a need for capacity building on trade standards.The Kenyan, Rwandan and Mauritian Dialogues discussed the need to enhance market access for small-scale producers. In Mauritius, stakeholders highlighted the need for capacity building of agro processors to meet food safety standards and to be able to compete with imported produce. It was suggested that there should be a dedicated space in shopping malls and other retail outlets for locally processed food items.Competition with food imports was also noted as an issue in the Seychelles. The local market is highly competitive due to the adoption of the fair, free and open market policy and the limited capacity of farmers to exploit economies of scale due to the small size of their farms (average farm size is 8,000 sqm). Producers indicated that global food trade is likely to limit local food production systems as they cannot compete with the prices of imported goods. Local produce is further inaccessible due to poor distribution networks and low levels of organisation of the local food production system.Rwanda highlighted a lack of awareness of regional compliance standards amongst stakeholders and significant gaps in trade standards between East African countries. It was suggested that small and medium-sized enterprises undergo capacity building on trade standards.Food loss and waste was mentioned in the Dialogues of Rwanda, Sudan and Mauritius. In Rwanda, stakeholders mentioned the need for warehouses and other storage infrastructure for times of surplus. In Sudan, it was argued that issues surrounding consumption and food loss are due to culture. In Mauritius, food loss and food waste were a major concern, and the development of postharvest processing was seen as key to improving shelf life, marketability and reducing postharvest losses. Support is being provided to agro-entrepreneurs in the development of value-added products from local fruits and vegetables such as gluten-free breadfruit and cassava flour, ginger paste, turmeric paste, lime paste, guava fruit paste, dehydrated papaya and fruit paste sorbet.Stakeholders from Rwanda and Sudan understood the importance of environmentally sustainable food production, but development was hindered by barriers such as a lack of suitable policies and legislation, inadequate knowledge on sustainable land management practices and a need for financial resources.Stakeholders in Rwanda's Dialogues discussed the limited adoption of CSA practices and technologies despite the prevalence of soil degradation due to agricultural malpractices. It was noted that inadequate knowledge on the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides is causing soil and water pollution and is negatively impacting pollinators.• Promote tailored ecosystem-based approaches for smaller scales of production (e.g. micro-agriculture, urban agriculture and landless agriculture);• Promote the recovery and reuse of organic waste to restore soil fertility;• Appropriately manage the application of inorganic fertilisers to reduce GHG emissions;• Enhance awareness on the importance of maintaining ecosystems and biodiversity at the local level;• Scale up initiatives to restore/rehabilitate degraded ecosystems and promote indigenous species in agroforestry and landscape restoration in high-risk areas; and• Protect biodiversity through awareness trainings at the community level.In the Seychelles, stakeholders discussed the gaps in value and supply chains such as sourcing difficulties, access to technology, limited farm workers in the local market, regional temperature-controlled storage facilities, demand and supply management platforms as well as inadequate services from support institutions. The Mauritian Dialogues indicated a lack of adequate processing, storage and distribution facilities. Similarly, the Rwandan Dialogues made mention of a need for increased investment in food distribution channels (including cold chains), markets, post-harvest handling and processing.• Mobilising investments in infrastructure and services as well as human and material resources to develop value chains that support sustainable end markets;• Building data on actors in food value chains, their profiles, locations, needs and actions given the risks;• Strengthening PPPs by promoting mechanisms for coordination; and• Recognition of informal markets and value chains as important components of the food system.AICCRA Key insights and perspectives from the Food Systems Summit Dialogues and the CAADP 3rd Biennial review process • 19 18 • AICCRA Key insights and perspectives from the Food Systems Summit Dialogues and the CAADP 3rd Biennial review processIn Sudan, policy on food security exists but the implementation of the action plan requires the mobilisation of resources.Furthermore, stakeholders agreed that food security policy and legislation need to be developed with a focus on prices which form the main barrier to accessing nutritious food.The Rwandan Dialogues focused on land use planning and the introduction of commercial farming through the implementation of the Land Use and Development Master Plan, 2050. Discussions were also held on increasing the reach of extension services to smallholder farmers, the promotion of small livestock husbandry and the lack of a coordinated multi-sectoral approach for promoting CSA practices. It was mentioned that CSA practices could be incentivised through subsidies and tax breaks as well as by creating stronger partnerships with institutions such as the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture. Enhanced inter-ministerial coordination amongst the different sectors to determine the trade-offs between agriculture and the environment was highlighted as well as the need to strengthen policy coherence and implementation. Rwanda also put in place legislative frameworks to promote healthy diets and policies to reduce food waste at all levels. Coordination mechanisms were established at both national and local levels.Kenya's Dialogues focused on partnerships to enable small-scale farmers to access credit, training and to boost innovation to enhance self-sufficiency and reduce dependency.Intergovernmental collaboration, the control of imports, and policy coherence and implementation were identified as common challenges to food system governance amongst the Eastern region's countries.In the Seychelles, stakeholders indicated a need for better coordination and action to implement and drive agricultural and food system-related policy decisions. The benefits of elevating key policy objectives and strategic choices in the form of a legal instrument were debated at length. There was bipartisan alignment and agreement in favour of the proposal to draft a Food Security Bill to ensure policy continuity. Furthermore, there was general agreement that sector activities should be taxed but according to a different taxation regime.The Comoros Dialogues focused on improving livestock health through improved control of imported animals at borders. Mauritius addressed animal product importation policies that are disadvantageous to local farmers.In Kenya, it was noted that major discrepancies exist between the national and county functions with agriculture being a devolved function and policy making still the responsibility of the national government. Policy needs to be coherent and the overlapping roles and division of policy making responsibility between the two levels of government needs to be clarified. Furthermore, within the counties, there is a lack of alignment in agricultural policies. Intergovernmental cooperation, institutional coordination, public participation and stakeholder involvement is required. Kenya is also working to develop legislation and policy frameworks to anchor pastoralism as a component of sustainable food systems as well as strengthen the policy environment to enhance and protect agricultural land in the Central Region Economic Bloc.Gender and social inclusivity was a major topic in the Dialogues with focus placed on women and youth inclusion. In Mauritius, the need for training and awareness of producers on GAPs was identified with special mention made of the inclusion of vulnerable groups. It was also noted that youth need to be better integrated into agriculture by providing free training.In Rwanda and Sudan, stakeholders discussed the role of youth and women in achieving sustainable, equitable and resilient food systems. The Mauritius, Rwandan and Madagascan Dialogues all highlighted the important role of the private sector in achieving inclusivity, and the need for improved coordination between parties. Madagascar's Dialogues focused on empowering women in food systems and strengthening the commitment of the private sector and civil society to support family farms and farmers' organisations.The Kenya Youth in Agriculture Strategy includes robust measures to meaningfully engage young people in agriculture. In SEKEB, it was noted that agroprocessing and value-addition initiatives can be used to enhance the capacity and skills of young people as well as provide meaningful employment for them. It was noted that to leverage such opportunities, the vulnerable groups require ownership rights and access to productive resources such as land, finance, digital agriculture and technological solutions, training and access to data and information.The Rwandan Dialogues also identified barriers around creating employment for marginalised groups and the following actions were proposed:• Establish appropriate credit funds to address the limited access to finance for small-scale entrepreneurs and marginalised groups; and• Promote inclusive consultation processes and participatory assessments of land degradation for the design of effective ecosystem restoration strategies.Nutritional education, food safety awareness campaigns, improved food safety standards and enhanced local production were identified as key action areas by stakeholders in Mauritius and the Seychelles. The Mauritian food safety standards are to be reviewed and slaughterhouses relocated. Stakeholders noted a need for training, support from authorities and incentives to boost the sector. Consumers are encouraged to eat locally produced foods (e.g. cassava, potato, breadfruit, eddoes) and to undertake their own production such as roof gardening and urban agriculture.In the Seychelles, education is needed on the nutritional value of whole locally produced food, particularly as fast food consumption is increasing to the extent that it is a default option for lunch in most schools, and in many food outlets. Stakeholders indicated that there has been limited to no investment in promoting local farm produce and very few campaigns to address fast food advertising. Without action it is expected that fast food consumption will increase along with associated dietary problems.To increase local food productionin the Seychelles it was suggested to:• Increase investment in turnkey farms and allocate them to young farmers;• Establish an innovation fund; and• Revise legislation and submit the food system transformation policy and strategy to the National Assembly for final discussion, alignment and consolidation by mid-October 2021. • Enable more reliable access to usable and shareable data; and• Conduct quality analyses to support evidencebased decisions on performance management, M&E, research and policy.It was also noted in Kenya's Dialogues that access to ICTs in both urban and rural areas is growing rapidly, but progress is unequal both geographically and socioeconomically. For example, in many areas women and youth have less access to smartphones and digital services. In SEKEB, it was determined that investment is needed in innovation and technology such as irrigation, the use of digital agriculture tools in extension services and managing post-harvest losses through food processing technologies.The Rwandan Dialogues also focused on the modernisation of agriculture and the need to strengthen ICT. Special mention was made of the need to:• Leverage innovative technologies, such as satellite/drone technologies, to enhance data systems linked to agricultural insurance;• Adopt technologies that improve yields whilst reducing GHG emissions and land degradation; and• Use labour-saving technologies along the whole value chain.The The focus of discussions on technology and innovation were on the importance of agricultural data for evidence-based decision making and the need to strengthen and improve access to ICT.The Comoros Dialogues discussed the importance of strengthening advocacy and the need for government, together with other technical and financial partners, to mobilise funds to support technological innovations and the modernisation of agriculture and fishing. In Kenya, the SEKEB Dialogues mentioned the need for private sector investments and financing tools to de-risk food systems in the ASAL counties. It was further noted that the creation of an SEKEB Bank could boost the interest of young people in agri-businesses by providing access to much needed capital.Similar to the Seychelles, Rwanda emphasised the need for financial services at affordable interest rates. Stakeholders mentioned that farmers' cooperatives and organisations could be used to increase awareness on good agricultural extension and advisory services as well as to establish a commercial/agricultural bank. A need for banks to provide financial literacy programmes and insurance services was also highlighted. Stakeholders indicated that current subsidy programmes are inadequate for building short-term resilience in smallholder farmers and there is a lack of funds for innovative initiatives for improving ecosystems and biodiversity.The Mauritian Dialogues indicated a need for investment to modernise farming practices and stakeholders. In Sudan, stakeholders noted a need for investment in infrastructure in both the agriculture and industry sectors with special mention made of the need to finance smallholder farmers.In the Rwandan Dialogues, stakeholders disagreed on the percentage of insurance premiums that should be paid for by the Government. It was mentioned that in some parts of India, 80%-90% was required to attract interest compared with only 40% in Rwanda. Others noted that this was not feasible in Rwanda and that emphasis should instead be placed on integrating crop insurance into existing social protection programmes.In Mauritius, the granting of import permits for vegetables that are produced locally proved to be an area of contention for stakeholders.In Rwanda, there were disagreements on the role that insurance companies should play with some arguing that they were not doing enough whilst others indicated that the issue lies in farmers' lack of trust in the companies. This fed into a larger discussion on PPPs and the balance that must be found between business interests and social protection.There was some divergence over the promotion of biodiversity in the Rwandan Dialogues, as well as the use of more nutritious and drought-resistant crop species. In Madagascar, some stakeholders insisted on the urgency of adapting existing techniques to address climate change challenges whilst others stressed the need to carry out in-depth studies on the actions to be implemented and the need to transfer knowledge to the primary players concerned.In the Rwandan Dialogues, the use of technology to disseminate EWS information was mentioned as a possible 'game changing' solution, however, there was divergence on how to make it user-friendly and accessible. The successful case study highlighted a smartphone application developed by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations. The application provided weather information to improve farmers' decision making. However, it was argued that such an approach may not work in Rwanda as not all farmers, particularly the most vulnerable, have access to a smartphone. Simple SMS messages were suggested as an alternative solution, but the effectiveness of transmitting complex information in such a limiting format is likely to prove challenging.Rwandan stakeholders argued on the importance of harmonising trade standards across East Africa and raising the awareness of smallholder farmers to regional standards. It was noted that some countries, such as Kenya, have higher standards than their neighbours. The consultation of experts on issues related to policies, food safety regulations and post-harvest handling to harmonise policy was suggested. Others noted that while differences in standards exist, there are legal and economic frameworks in place, notably the East African Community trade forum, to address trade disputes in the interests of vulnerable stakeholders. It was deduced that raising farmers' awareness of standards is key so that they can export to other markets competitively.The countries of the Western region discussed the climate hazards they faced and the resulting impacts on both natural and human systems. Conflict was identified as another driver adversely impacting upon food production in the region.The Ghanaian Dialogues highlighted reduced yields due to water scarcity in the dry season and flooding in the rainfall season. A continuous decline in soil fertility was also noted. The need for improved and localised irrigation systems was emphasised, as rain-fed agriculture can no longer sustain the levels of food production needed.Nigerian stakeholders noted that the food system experiences shocks and stresses such as flooding, soil erosion and conflict. Poverty, unemployment and insufficient food reserves were recognised to further increase the vulnerability of local food systems. Areas to the south-east of the country have been affected by insecurity due to farmer-herder conflict, which has led to the destruction of crops, forced migration, death and forms of sexual violence. The Dialogues highlighted the need for social protection mechanisms and agricultural insurance.In the event of shocks affecting smallholder farmers in Sierra Leone, it was recognised that the Government and partners should establish seed banks to support farmers in reviving their activities. The seed banks were also noted as being important for preventing the loss of crop varieties and certain species of animals.It was noted in the Western region's Dialogues that environmental degradation and pollution due to human activities is already prevalent and adversely affecting food systems. It was suggested that rebates be issued to producers who adopt sustainable land management practices and policy be revised, especially in relation to land tenure and use.The Gambian Dialogues emphasised the considerable degradation of the country's resource base over the years. This was attributed to deforestation, overfishing, inappropriate fishing nets, the poisoning of marine life, land degradation Western region (Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Nigeria)AICCRA Key insights and perspectives from the Food Systems Summit Dialogues and the CAADP 3rd Biennial review process • 25 24 • AICCRA Key insights and perspectives from the Food Systems Summit Dialogues and the CAADP 3rd Biennial review processThe Western region is working towards sustainable food value chains, common areas for improvement included an increased access to good quality inputs (especially seeds), enhanced mechanisation to maximise production and the establishment of processing facilities to reduce postharvest losses.In Sierra Leone's Dialogues, the high cost of agricultural inputs (particularly agro-chemicals) was highlighted, as well as the need for improved regulation. Special mention was made of the need for affordable quality seeds, with a preference for input dealers not only at the chiefdom level but at the district level.In Nigeria, stakeholders indicated a need for value chain and development financing by the Central Bank of Nigeria to increase food accessibility and safety. The need for mechanisation in all value chain activities was mentioned as key to enhancing efficiencies, improving productivity and encouraging youth inclusion. It was also noted that Nigerian food systems could be enhanced, and food safety improved, through the provision of high-quality inputs, the adoption of good agronomy practices and the management of postharvest activities.In Niger, stakeholders indicated that legume, fruit and vegetable value chains are weak.Processing was noted as inadequate, forming the weakest link of the value chain and resulting in postharvest/post-production losses. Major investments are deemed necessary to strengthen food value chain links and improve food preservation, e.g. through cold chains. Milk collection and processing units need to be created and promoted in each region. The millet value chain is limited by the unavailability of suitable seeds, soil degradation, poor access to agricultural inputs and low levels of mechanisation. Vegetable value chains, particularly for tomatoes, are also affected by poor access to suitable seeds. The fish value chain was noted as having great potential but needs to be strengthened with the development of inland aquaculture, which could be achieved by popularising national fisheries policy.A lack of access to food processing facilities was also highlighted in the Ghanaian Dialogues.In Ghana, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Niger, stakeholders mentioned that poor road networks (and rail in Nigeria) limit market access and contribute to post-harvest losses. Additionally, the need for appropriate transport such as refrigerated trucks for perishable products and other cold chain components was noted by stakeholders in Niger's Dialogues.Stakeholders in Ghana identified the need for vulnerable small-scale farmers to be protected from the importation of foreign goods and Sierra Leone's Dialogues discussed the need for a robust commodity market system to ensure price stability. and frequent bushfires. Some of the adaptive measures undertaken to mitigate the degradation include sensitisation on bushfire control measures, agroforestry, regulated fishing and fishing nets and the creation of appropriate policies. It was further noted that poor agricultural practices on slopes have contributed to soil erosion leading to a loss of topsoil and a subsequent decline in soil fertility.In Ghana's Dialogues, focus was placed on cocoa which is a major cash crop in the Ashanti region and a key source of income for farmers.Cocoyam was noted as an important indigenous crop, but production levels keep dropping due to the use of herbicides on cocoa farms. In addition, it was indicated that local fishermen use a lot of chemicals in their fishing activities and this, coupled with other factors, has caused a decline in fish stocks.• Improving the productivity of small-scale farmers in a climate-smart and nutritionsensitive way;• Adopting improved farming practices to increase food production and productivity;• Promoting practices that prevent a loss of indigenous and traditional foods and promote the natural regeneration of trees; and• Avoiding destructive farming activities that degrade natural resources such as the uncontrolled use of agrochemicals.Senegal's Dialogues highlighted a drive for local consumption and key areas for improvement included the construction of cold rooms, enhanced processing of local products and improved marketing. To ensure the resilience and sustainability of food systems it was proposed that a rebate be paid to companies for actions to preserve the environment. It was also noted that water management needs to be promoted, particularly rainwater harvesting, to allow for out of season production.In Nigeria's Dialogues, key actions given by stakeholders for protecting the environment included:• Promoting the use of organic fertilisers;• Appropriate use and management of herbicides and pesticides;• Enforcement of existing laws and regulations to prevent further environmental degradation;• Protection of ecosystems against agricultural expansion;• Efficient recycling of waste;• Use of cover crops to reduce soil degradation and erosion;• Investing in the development of improved crop varieties for higher yields and improved attributes including biofortification;• Facilitating the sustainable management of food production systems to benefit the environment and people through GAPs;• Restoring degraded ecosystems and rehabilitating the soil for sustainable food production through renewed afforestation efforts; and• Scaling up the use of organic soil practices, crop rotation and intercropping.AICCRA Key insights and perspectives from the Food Systems Summit Dialogues and the CAADP 3rd Biennial review process • 27 26 • AICCRA Key insights and perspectives from the Food Systems Summit Dialogues and the CAADP 3rd Biennial review processIn Gambia's Dialogues it was noted that a lack of access to quality health services in rural areas has led to high under five, infant and neo-natal mortalities.In Sierra Leone's Dialogues it was noted that there is a lack of food reserves, highlighting the need for formation of food banks, the provision of improved storage facilities and the manufacturing of key foods for improved preservation.In Ghana, there are no standards for regulating produce especially those for local markets. Food safety standards and labelling need improvement by following guidelines such as the Codex Alimentarius. The Ghanaian dialogues also mentioned the improper use of agrochemicals in farming, processing and retail and the need for adherence to safe practices. With respect to consumption, there is no screening for food vendors on diseases such as typhoid, which puts consumers at high risk. Furthermore, there is a lack of education and low nutritional literacy amongst the population. Ghanaian stakeholders also described an absence of food-based dietary guidelines, a lack of nutritional standards and the unaffordability of nutritious food. A need for recognition of the value of healthy indigenous foods and a return to their consumption was further highlighted.In Sierra Leone, poor dietary diversity is a major concern for both children and adults and proposed actions included improved nutrition education and scaling up sensitisation on the country's Food-Based Dietary Guideline for Healthy Eating. It was identified that the health system is weak, and health system strengthening can assist in improving the health status especially of women and children under the age of five years.The Nigerian Dialogues focused on the adoption of healthy diets through the production and availability of healthy and safe foods. To ensure agricultural systems produce good quality and nutritionally adequate food, stakeholders recommended the promotion of the use of high yielding crop varieties and livestock breeds to increase productivity and subsidies for Stakeholders in Ghana recognised the need to strengthen their fragmented food value chains, with actions such as:• Mobilising investments in infrastructure and services as well as human and material resources to develop value chains supporting sustainable end markets;• Building data on actors in food value chains, their profiles, locations, needs and actions given the risks;• Strengthening PPPs by promoting mechanisms for coordination; and• Recognising informal markets and value chains as important components of the food system.The Western region's food waste was largely attributed to a lack of storage facilities, limited food processing and poor food handling. In Nigeria, stakeholders discussed the reduction of food loss and waste through innovative food storage and processing methods from the point of harvest to the point of consumption. The rehabilitation of, and use of, silos in each Local Government Area was suggested. In addition, to reduce environmental impacts and health and safety it was suggested that the recycling of food waste products be improved.Stakeholders in Ghana described the need for warehouses and other storage infrastructure in times of surplus. Key areas of discussion included hermetic bags to reduce post-harvest losses of cereals and legumes and healthy food processing techniques to increase the shelf life of locally produced agricultural commodities. In Sierra Leone, stakeholders suggested that the Government improve access to affordable electricity supply to reduce food waste, particularly in urban areas. farmers. To enhance consumption of nutritious, safe, and diverse foods, stakeholders suggested a nutrition awareness programme to assist consumers in making healthy food choices against the dangers of contaminated food either through harmful chemicals, poor processing methods, or poor health and safety practices. It was also indicated that nutritional education in schools, hospitals and marketplaces needs to be strengthened.The Western region recognised the important role that women play in food systems, despite their unequal opportunities (e.g. access to land, financial resources and information), and the need to empower them for transformational change. In addition, stakeholders from Ghana and Nigeria highlighted the need to attract youth to food systems through improved technology.In the Gambian Dialogues, stakeholders indicated that women form more than 50% of the farming population and in some regions they are the main producers of vegetables, rice and groundnuts. However, despite their contributions, they are disadvantaged by a lack of access to key production components and inputs, particularly land, financial resources and technical know-how. It was noted that due to cultural norms and traditions, women in Gambia typically do not own land and so do not have collateral to obtain bank loans.In the Ghanaian Dialogues, women's access to credit was identified as a key challenge in the agricultural sector. There is also a lack of access to gender-sensitive equipment especially for small-scale processing. Furthermore, food production is currently unattractive to the youth who are not replacing the aging farmer population. Suggested actions to address this included the deployment of mobile agricultural extension services and digitisation. It was also recommended that the Government purchase/ subsidise land for agricultural purposes and engage traditional landholders to address land tenure challenges for easier access by women and youth.AICCRA Key insights and perspectives from the Food Systems Summit Dialogues and the CAADP 3rd Biennial review process • 29 28 • AICCRA Key insights and perspectives from the Food Systems Summit Dialogues and the CAADP 3rd Biennial review processThe following actions were suggested for improving gender and social inclusion in Nigerian food systems:• Encouraging and supporting the establishment and functioning of cooperative societies for women and other vulnerable groups;• Promoting the 'Village Savings Association Model' to facilitate access to credit, inputs, and trainings;• Providing access to land for cultivation by vulnerable groups at the community level;• Addressing social norms and practices that systematically provide privileges to some groups over others;• Eliminating access barriers to markets, and social exclusion for vulnerable groups;• Ensuring social protection schemes reach the intended beneficiaries;• Promoting the use of clean energy; and• Identifying alternative sources of funding for interventions, other than government.In Sierra Leone, it was also noted that women play an important role in food production and have unequal access to agricultural inputs. As was mentioned by Ghanian stakeholders, there is a need for gender-friendly processing tools and equipment. Furthermore, there is a need for the inclusion of women in policy formulation and implementation along the food system chain and linkages.The Nigerian Dialogues highlighted the importance of including youth in the agricultural sector using technology and e-commerce.Nigerian stakeholders noted that over 60% of the farmers in the south-east are women, and that they have unequal access to productive resources. It was recommended that the south-east develop and implement Social Investment Programmes that take vulnerable groups into consideration. Improving women farmers' access to land was seen as a key means for enhancing food production and security. Women groups should be created and encouraged to participate in food system decision-making.In Gambia, the effective coordination of relevant policies on food systems was highlighted as a major issue in the attainment of the SDGs by 2030. Existing policies need to be reviewed and aligned ensuring equity, justice, empowerment and sustainability for all. It was noted that the Government needs to honour its commitments to national and international agreements/treaties such as the Malabo Declaration (committing 10% of public expenditure to agriculture). The need for national and regional level food reserves for building resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stresses was also emphasised.It was highlighted in the Sierra Leone Dialogues that the land tenure system is affecting commercial farming and needs to be resolved through the allocation of land for agricultural purposes. Another area of concern was that of mining companies degrading land and aquatic habitats that could be used for crop, livestock and fish production, respectively. It was suggested that land be reclaimed from the mining sector for food production. The need for modern farming technology, irrigation systems and crop intensification were highlighted as well as the waiving of agricultural input taxes for the next five years. The Sierra Leone Dialogues also that there is no standalone policy to address community disputes arising from the destruction of farmers' crops by grazing animals.The Nigerian Dialogues discussed the need to review existing policies that limit access to resources e.g. the Land Tenure System/Land Use Act. It was suggested that court rulings be enforced to grant women the right to inherit land. Stakeholders also recommended awareness programmes for policy makers on the importance of food systems for food and nutrition security, job creation and economic development, and the challenges facing food systems together with actions needed to fix them. Other recommendations included strengthening divisions within different ministries, departments and agencies of government, and ensuring budgetary provisions for nutritional programme implementation.It was suggested that Niger learn from the experience of Kenya and South Africa, who have established relatively low prices for fresh produce and have implemented import policies to fill gaps in the local market.Discussions in Burkina Faso suggested that national policies relating to food systems and their state of implementation are adequate but could be enhanced. It is important that national policies guarantee access to sufficient, diverse, healthy and nutritious food for all, including vulnerable people as well as ensure the adoption of good dietary practices and healthy lifestyles by consumers. • Promoting improved technologies for processing, preservation and packaging of food products;• Facilitating national producers' access to local and international markets;• Incentives for the development of partnership contracts between large urban suppliers and small rural family farmers for an adequate food supply for cities;• Promotion of efficient networks for the equitable distribution of food products;• Trade tax exemptions for the food and pharmaceutical sectors;• Considering the food sector's action plans in the multi-year expenditure planning document;• Popularisation of texts (laws, decrees, orders) and policy documents relating to the country's food systems;• Facilitating access to resources, financial support for the development of said systems; and• Strengthening of national research programmes on food and nutritional issues in Senegal. In the Nigerian Dialogues, it was noted that strong partnerships between government, the private sector and other funding agencies (both local and international) are needed to transform the food system. Emphasis was placed on the need for collaboration between national and state agencies and all relevant stakeholders, to be better able to understand the nature of the food system challenge and the gaps to be filled by agricultural extension workers.Stakeholders in Ghana made special mention of a need for partnerships to mobilise financial resources.particularly in the areas of seed production, GAPs and food preservation. Research institutes need to be better positioned to engage in demand-driven research. It was suggested that the private and public sectors establish a partnership to enhance domestic R&D capacity and ensure the dissemination and adoption of viable R&D output amongst Nigerian farmers.In Niger, discussions suggested that research is poorly funded, and the results are not adequately disseminated. Sufficient budget is needed for research to contribute to rural development through innovations and advice to users. A partnership framework needs to be developed between research institutions.In Ghana, stakeholders suggested that agriculture should be made attractive to the youth, however, some indicated that the youth are already attracted to agriculture but face other difficulties e.g. entering the poultry industry. The youth need support from the Government including access to arable land.In Nigeria, a key challenge mentioned by stakeholders was lobbying and interference by special interest groups such as large multinationals and some local industries. It was noted that to achieve equitable access to affordable healthy diets, the Government will need to commit to reducing the influence of interest groups within food systems and open the market to what people really need, rather than what food companies want consumers to buy. This would simultaneously improve consumption patterns. Furthermore, there were divergent views on the Government's actions towards improving nutrition, for example, some stakeholders were of the opinion that the Government is doing a considerable amount of sensitisation especially on breastfeeding, whereas others were of the opinion that the Government could do more in addressing issues concerning undernutrition e.g. poverty.In Guinea, contentious issues included the management of land disputes; conflict management between actors, particularly farmers and breeders; and policy for granting land to youth and women.In Niger, stakeholder opinions varied on subsidising agricultural inputs. Some stakeholders disagreed with the action saying it was only viable in the short term, as subsidies can create dependency, distort competition and private sector activities, and manifest a significant financial burden for the state in the long term. Other stakeholders were adamant that Niger cannot eliminate hunger without subsidising agricultural inputs and equipment.AICCRA Key insights and perspectives from the Food Systems Summit Dialogues and the CAADP 3rd Biennial review process • 33 32 • AICCRA Key insights and perspectives from the Food Systems Summit Dialogues and the CAADP 3rd Biennial review processThe Nigerian Dialogues highlighted the following technology and innovation needs to increase resilience and productivity with a focus on nutrition:• Scale up technologies, particularly in relation to cold chains, to tackle post-harvest food losses;• Enhance innovation in agricultural production e.g. hydroponics, drip irrigation, mechanisation, biotechnology and genome editing;• Adopt modern farming techniques by providing farmers with technologies and farm implements that can be maintained by local farmers;• Use of drones for the application of fertiliser, herbicides and pesticides;• Conduct geological surveys and mapping for agricultural areas and those prone to insecurity;• Group security systems including community watches; and• Undertake soil and nutrient mapping, land banking and weather modelling to control poor farming systems.In Ghana, stakeholders mentioned the need to digitise food systems, for example, by using artificial intelligence, blockchain farming and hydroponics.Ghana, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Niger all indicated constraints in accessing finance for healthy and sustainable foods. In Sierra Leone, policies surrounding access to finance for agricultural activities need to be reviewed as the conditions for loan repayment are not suitable for farmers. The current interest rates in commercial banks are too high and the period for repayment of loans needs to be specified in financial loan policies.to work with other partners who have agricultural know-how to create access to micro-finance for the youth and/or female entrepreneurs, in combination with business coaching and advisory services. In Niger, it was recommended that donors contribute to sector pooled funds in addition to the Investment Plan for Food and Nutritional Security.In Ghana, it was suggested by some stakeholders that there are too many 'middlemen' and that they inflate food prices. On the other hand, some stakeholders said the middlemen were important for linking farmers to markets.In Benin's Dialogues, farmers and herders had differing opinions on the management of corridors for livestock movement.In the Nigerian Dialogues, stakeholders disagreed on the assumption that youth want to work in agriculture or agroprocessing. The notion that a large proportion of youth is ready to be employed in low-paying, low-tech industries might be misplaced, and the question 'what do the youth want?' needs to be answered to inform demographic transition and youth policy design.by insurgency where women are becoming the household head. It was clear from different submissions that what is seen as a discriminatory social norm against a vulnerable group in one community might be a normal way of life in other communities, depending on the values and level of social indoctrination of the people. However, the issue of concern is the impact of gender inequality on food systems in the region. Some believed that women should be organised into groups, e.g. cooperatives for stronger participation whilst others felt that most women involved in farming have already formed producer groups, cooperatives, and associations and that the key challenge lies in access to production knowledge, technology and resources.In Sierra Leone, the right for women to own land was strongly debated. All the traditional leaders were against the motion for women to own land and the women representatives argued for it. Women argued that they are key players in the agricultural sector and deserve to own land. In addition, it was noted that the Government input supply chain model for community youth farms needs to be reviewed. Feedback from most participants indicated an appreciation for the Government's job creation efforts, however, some participants believed that the model for accessing inputs through mobile money needs to be revised to a voucher system.In Ghana, stakeholders disagreed on whether the country's food system had the capacity to prepare for, withstand and recover from climate change-related crises and shocks. Initially a few participants argued that the food system was resilient to climate change, however, their perceptions changed after a discussion on the indicators of resilience. Although the stakeholders agreed that the food system was vulnerable to climate change, they also noted the potential for resilience building.A few areas of divergence emerged during the Gambian Dialogues, particularly around land use and humanwildlife conflict. Stakeholders from the forestry and food production value chains could not agree on the expansion of agricultural lands at the expense of forests. Rice farmers complained about hippopotamuses invading and destroying their fields, but as they are protected animals, they cannot hunt them. This has resulted in lengthy discussions between the agriculture and wildlife departments.In Nigeria, divergences addressed the issue of a 'healthy diet' versus a 'sustainable diet'. A healthy diet was said to include \"a diversity of foods that are safe and provide levels of energy appropriate to age, sex, disease status and physical activity as well as essential micronutrients\". However, it was noted that healthy diets and sustainable diets are not mutually inclusive. Evidence suggests that synergies can be identified (e.g. reducing animal protein in meat-based diets) but are often exceedingly difficult to achieve. On the other hand, completely decoupling healthy diets from the sustainability of value chains that deliver them would also not be desirable from a food system, environmental and climate change perspective.Another divergence in the Nigerian Dialogues was on the establishment of Rural Grazing Area settlements to address the issues of livestock production and GHG emissions. It was highlighted that State governments need to meet with relevant stakeholders on the suitability of the programme given the diverse ecosystems that will be affected. In addition, it was noted that inorganic fertilisers are preferred to organic types, and there is a need for sensitisation/ capacity building on the benefits associated with the latter. Public awareness campaigns were central to enhancing sustainable consumption and production practices in Morocco and Tunisia. In Morocco, public awareness programmes were strengthened and operationalised to institutionalise information and training campaigns within structures responsible for disseminating good agricultural and food safety practices. Successful experiences were disseminated through mass media and social networks. Tunisia followed a similar approach to Morocco, using public awareness programmes to encourage a shift towards sustainable consumption and production patterns. Users were educated onIn Mauritania, stakeholders identified the key constraints to food security as the use of outdated farming techniques, the low technical capacity of producers, and difficulties in accessing land and funds.Nutritional awareness programmes and the promotion of healthier diets using the media and food guides were deemed necessary by Tunisia. In Morocco, the need to recognise the nutritional value of indigenous foods and return to their consumption was highlighted.Moroccan stakeholders recognised that the economic empowerment of women through access to resources, services, economic opportunities and decision making contributes to improved food security and more efficient and sustainable food systems.• Supporting women to exercise their fundamental rights;• Facilitating their access to employment, natural resources, services and markets;• Enabling entrepreneurship; and• Promoting their participation in political and governance processes.Northern region (Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia) the need to protect water and soil resources, the recycling of wastewater and the adoption of GAPs.In Egypt, stakeholders identified the key barriers to sustainable food systems as water scarcity, population growth, urbanisation, persistent food safety and quality challenges and the prevalence of unhealthy consumption patterns.Stakeholders in the Tunisian Dialogues suggested a review of international trade rules to make them better suited to sustainable food systems. The protection of producers through the establishment of a monitoring system on supply and market prices was also highlighted. In Mauritania, stakeholders indicated a need for improved import regulation, particularly of milk products.The Moroccan Dialogues described the need for fair, secure and sustainable supply chains to ensure the responsible use of natural resources, reduced food loss and food waste, and for making sustainability an easy choice for consumers.In Morocco, restaurant owners shared their concern about disposing of large amounts of uneaten food. The wastage of food shocked stakeholders working with food insecure households and presented an area for collaboration. In Morocco, it was established that agricultural trade and social policies facilitate access to affordable, safe and nutritious food for all. The need to review and update and/ or operationalise legislative mechanisms in the sectors of water, climate change, biodiversity, energy transition, women's empowerment, health security, nutritional quality, food loss and waste and the circular economy was emphasised. Furthermore, the Dialogues highlighted the misalignment between action logic and coordination mechanisms, which has limited the efficiency of interventions.There is also a need for improved participation and coordination, which can be achieved through the active engagement of all stakeholders in the development and implementation of strategies and the strengthening of coordination structures.Morocco's stakeholders indicated the need for an increase in funding for scientific research in the agricultural sector.Stakeholders also discussed the need for integrated and multidisciplinary research.In Tunisia, the use of digital technologies for the production of educational materials on consumption and sustainable production (e.g. applications, games, social networks) was discussed. Furthermore, digital applications could be developed to promote networking for the recovery and redistribution of food products and leftover meals. The strengthening of EWSs and digitisation of agriculture was mentioned as key.It was highlighted in the Mauritanian Dialogues, that the country has promoted and popularised agricultural mechanisation.In Tunisia, discussions took place on the geographic scale of regional food models.It was noted that some models are focused on the importance of returning to traditional foods specific to localities, whilst others focused on the relaunch of regional food models such as the Mediterranean diet.In Mauritania, some stakeholders mentioned the need to introduce differential taxes for imported products to reduce competition with the local market.Other stakeholders suggested that it would be more beneficial to support local producers with equipment and inputs, considering the global trade agreements in place (World Trade Organisation (WTO), AfCFTA and the Economic Community of West African States).In Mauritania, it was recognised that budget allocations need to be increased to meet basic infrastructure and human resource needs. In addition, smallholder and family farms require better access to financing and agricultural credit. Gabon's Dialogues highlighted the importance of looking at food system resilience not only with a climate change lens, but also addressing other shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated increased unemployment rate has resulted in lower purchasing power and a reduced demand for food. This in turn is resulting in food surpluses at the producer level, higher levels of post-harvest losses and food insecurity and malnutrition. Communitylevel education on contingency planning and risk management were suggested actions to address the issue of shocks. In addition, Gabon described the need to favour local production to strengthen the resilience of food systems in the face of crises such as COVID-19, which disrupted food value chains and importation.Central region (CAR, Cameroon, DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon)In the Central region's Dialogues, improved land tenure, capacity building on good land management practices and equal access to subsidies were some of the action areas given to enhance sustainable food production. It was recognised in the Equatorial Guinea Dialogues that comprehensive and diversified training is needed for technicians and farmers to increase agricultural production. In addition, the Environmental Organisations Sector insisted on the importance of promoting the sustainable management of natural resources and biodiversity conservation. • Improved dietary data;• School feeding programmes;• Incorporation of nutritional education in school curricula;• Diversification of food production for more balanced diets;• Improved processing;• Fortification/enrichment methods; and• Modern food storage practices.but could be resolved through following guidelines such as the Codex Alimentarius. Consumers' knowledge of food safety was described as poor with a clear need for awareness creation.In Gabon, it was mentioned that people living with HIV are now included in agricultural projects with grants available to them to purchase agricultural land. The FAO has committed to continue supporting the empowerment of people living with HIV by providing training on vegetable production and balanced diets. Land has also been allocated to refugees for agricultural and commercial activities.Gabon's Dialogues. The youth have been mobilised through the digitalisation and mechanisation of agriculture but there is still a need to promote agricultural professions and provide incentives to In Gabon's Dialogues, special mention was made of the regional imbalance between farmers in the northern countries who benefit from subsidies and those in the south who tend to be small-scale farmers with limited resources. Mechanisms need to be developed to support the farmers in the south to protect biodiversity (protected fauna causes extensive damage to farmers' plantations) and to promote improved farming methods and sustainable forest management. Persistent humanwildlife conflict was noted as threatening food security as well as the lives of farmers with 8 deaths recorded in 2020, 15 accidents and 8,300 complaints. Furthermore, it was noted that the emigration of youth to urban areas is likely to continue, should a solution not be found. It was concluded that support from international bodies is needed in the implementation of ecoresponsible agriculture.Dialogues in the DRC highlighted the need to:• Guarantee access for all to healthy, affordable and nutritious food;• Switch to sustainable consumption patterns;• Stimulate production that respects nature;• Promote equitable livelihoods; and• Build resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stress.Land tenure was noted as a major barrier to sustainable agricultural production in the DRC.In Equatorial Guinea, the need for improved equity in rural transport was highlighted, as rural populations are economically excluded by food distribution barriers.In CAR, stakeholders indicated that smallholder farmers are responsible for the majority of food production but face multiple agricultural challenges such as a lack of access to good quality inputs (such as seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and supervision) and reliable machinery. It was mentioned that the resilience of vulnerable communities can be strengthened through the development of sustainable value chains and the establishment of food safety nets.In Equatorial Guinea's Dialogues, it was indicated that food handling in supply chains is poor and the control of food quality in public markets and grocery stores is inadequate.In the Central region, key areas for improving health and nutrition included nutritionsensitive agriculture, reducing the prices of nutritious foods, awareness campaigns on nutrition and indigenous foods, improved dietary guidelines and food safety standards. In the CAR Dialogues, it was mentioned that there is a need for the development of nutrition-sensitive agriculture with the ambition of reducing chronic malnutrition by at least 10% in three years.The Dialogues in Equatorial Guinea found that healthy and nutritious food is too expensive thereby limiting the population's access to it. Consequently, obesity, anaemia and child malnutrition have risen, and the country has promoted the production and consumption of healthy, safe and nutritious food.Nutritional awareness programmes and the promotion of healthier diets using the media and food guides were deemed necessary by Gabon. Stakeholders described an absence of food-based dietary guidelines and a lack of nutritional standards. Furthermore, the need for a return to the consumption of healthy indigenous foods was recognised.primary forests and other terrestrial and aquatic protected areas. The Dialogues in Gabon also highlighted the need for an increased budget for the Department of Agriculture so as to be able to respect the Maputo and Malabo agreements. Other action areas included the need to implement nutrition policies, strengthen collaboration between the Health Department and other sectors that deal with health issues, and to reform the legislative and regulatory framework to promote smallholders' access to land.Gabon identified the need for forestry companies to collaborate with the department responsible for infrastructure to maintain road networks essential for the flow of agricultural produce.In Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, stakeholders noted the need for State-funded research to improve agricultural production. Additionally, in Equatorial Guinea, it was recognised that all subsectors (e.g. crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry) need technical assistance in production, diagnosis of problems, coordination and financing for research.In the CAR Dialogues, customary law on land access proved a contentious issue as it does not allow equity in access to land nor the sustainable exploitation of non-timber forest products. Furthermore, current agricultural systems, concentrated around villages with limited resources, were noted as not being conducive to the establishment of large farms, which would likely create tension over land.In Equatorial Guinea, importance was placed on updating national legislation related to the food system and its sustainability. The livestock sector indicated a need to build a feed factory. This led to discussions on who should establish the factory, the Government or the private sector. Additionally, producers highlighted the need for better coordination between financial institutions and the competent ministerial departments to improve the selection of beneficiaries to financial facilities.In CAR, a support strategy has been established for small-scale producers which includes improved access to financing and Equatorial Guinea has entered high-level dialogue to work towards the Maputo agreement of investing 10% of resources in the agricultural sector.In Gabon, the Dialogues highlighted the need for mechanisms to mobilise funds for producers. It was deemed essential to set up an investment fund to support agricultural activities. It was noted that professionals from the agricultural sector are prepared to contribute to its establishment through voluntary financial contributions which will be supplemented by the State. Furthermore, it was suggested that banking institutions hire agricultural specialists to better assess the demands for related financing.Image: ©Juan Pablo Marin García (Alianza de Bioversity International / CIAT)AICCRA Key insights and perspectives from the Food Systems Summit Dialogues and the CAADP 3rd Biennial review process • 43 42 • AICCRA Key insights and perspectives from the Food Systems Summit Dialogues and the CAADP 3rd Biennial review process interest more young people. The State also needs to improve basic social services such as hospitals, schools, recreation centres and internet connectivity in rural areas.In Cameroon, an impact study was conducted on the socio-economic effects of COVID-19 on livelihood strategies undertaken by the rural poor and the adaptation of the agricultural sector as a whole. Consultation was inclusive with participation by the Regional Platform of Farmers' Organisations of Central Africa, youth, women, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. The consultation was facilitated by the Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network Global.In CAR, a common vision for 2030 was identified through the involvement of different food system stakeholders, government, technical and financial partners, civil society, farmers' organisations as well as the national scientific community. The Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, is to strengthen its leadership and coordinate actions.Stakeholders mentioned that Gabon is implementing a policy that reconciles agricultural production with environmental conservation. The National Land Use Plan is to provide a key instrument for the preservation ofIn Equatorial Guinea, special mention was made of the need for technical assistance by fisheries, particularly in the areas of:• Traditional boat repairs;• Safety and survival equipment at sea, such as radar;• Engine spare parts; and• Facilities for the conservation, handling and sale of fresh fish. As such, the momentum created by the UN Food System Summit is therefore an opportunity to substantially improve on and accelerate the pace of implementation of the CAADP/Malabo Agenda. The BR and AATS may be supplemented with additional indicators (e.g., processing and distribution as key segment in the food system) to better inform a more comprehensive planning, implementation, and tracking of transforming Africa's food systems. The aim of the report is to present individual Member States and collective performances in order to trigger continental, regional and national level action programmes to drive agricultural transformation in Africa.The report also helps to create more appetite for individual entities to strengthen national and regional institutional capacity for agriculture data collection and knowledge management to inform actions. Building on this principle, it is anticipated that this would support improved evidence-based planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, mutual learning and foster alignment, harmonization and coordination among multi-sectoral and multistakeholder efforts. Such efforts include the CAADP Malabo Policy Learning Event, the Permanent Secretaries' Retreat, engagements led by Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and platforms organized by partners.The report highlights the inclusive nature of the process and methodological approach that was used to collect and analyse data and write the report. Furthermore, the report also presents the key findings at continental and regional levels, the detailed profiles and scorecards of individual Member States, and sets of recommendations for individual Member States, regional bodies and continental institutions.The report is complemented by an online CAADP BR Communication Toolkit, used as a smart and powerful online interactive tool that presents the BR data in various forms, making it more easily accessible to users. The tool was developed by AU and its partners in close consultation with RECs, technical experts and other stakeholders as an accompanying output of the BR Report to facilitate the dissemination of its findings. The tool is designed to make it easier for policymakers and other stakeholders at national and regional level to interact with the data and information provided. The Toolkit contains clear graphics, analyses and maps that facilitate easier access to the information.Rwanda is ontrack to meet the goals and targets of Malabo by 2025, nineteen (19) countries are classified as progressive. With an overall score of 4.32, the continent is not-on-track to meeting the Malabo goals and targets by 2025. Regarding financing, the report shows that only four (4) countries invested at least 10% of their national expenditure on agriculture. Only one country is on track to meeting the vgoal by 2025. Both empirical observations and research findings presented in the report, show that the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on agriculture and food security on the continent, could partly explain this low performance of the continent.For every reporting Member State, performance against the set targets is presented in the form of a \"Country Scorecard in implementing the Malabo Commitments\".For the first time, the report includes a section on the implementation of AU decisions, thematic in nature, and specific to agricultural transformation in Africa, on: Seed and Biotechnology; Livestock Development; Fisheries and Aquaculture; Irrigation; Mechanization; Fertilizer Use; Sanitary and Phytosanitary Capacities, Land Policy; and Ecological Organic Agriculture. This reporting period covers progress made by Member States in the implementation of the Malabo declaration for the period 2015 to 2020.As reflected in the key findings, the report presents the seven (7) thematic areas of performance, aligned with the commitments in the Malabo Declaration. It also evaluates country performance in achieving the goals and targets, which have been disaggregated into twenty-three (23) performance categories, and further divided into forty-six (46) indicators.In the Third BR Report, countries are considered 'on-track' if their total score is equal to or higher than the benchmark of 7.28; or 'progressive' when their score is equal to or more than 5 but less than 7.28; or 'not-on-track' if their score is less than 5.A total of fifty-one (51) AU Member States reported in this 3rd cycle of the Biennial Review process, up from the 49 Member States that reported in the 2nd Biennial Review cycle, and 43 in the inaugural Biennial Review cycle. Out of the 51 Member States that reported, 25 Member States registered increased scores between 2019 and 2021 review cycles. This reflects the commitment by Member States to the CAADP BR process and their efforts to address the shortfalls revealed in the inaugural and 2nd BR reports.AICCRA Key insights and perspectives from the Food Systems Summit Dialogues and the CAADP 3rd Biennial review process • 53Image Top: ©Annie Spratt (Unsplash)• Member States, regional economic communities and AU should mount a strong communication and dissemination campaign on the findings in the report.The use of the CAADP biennial review communication toolkit and the biennial review dashboard should be encouraged among different stakeholders to view, observe and reflect on the findings in the report.• Member States, working in collaboration with all stakeholders, should ensure that national dialogues are convened to reflect on and discuss the results of this report to prioritize and develop policy and programmatic responses to speed up the implementation of the Malabo Declaration.RECs, Member States and development partners should be guided by the findings of this report to ensure alignment to the CAADP agenda.• Strengthen mutual accountability systems to include accountability for actions and results by a broader range of players, including the private sector, farmer organizations, civil society organizations, and development partners.• Member States should use the CAADP biennial review mechanism to report on progress in the implementation of the pathways for food systems transformation in the Africa Common Position to the UN Food System and national dialogues report.• AU should undertake an external evaluation/audit of the overall biennial review process to establish the efficacy of the self-reporting system and to suggest measures to strengthen the quality and robustness of the process at national, regional and continental levels.• Stronger political leadership and commitment is required in order for government to mobilize stakeholder buyin for financing and implementation of key recommendations. A central multi-sectoral coordination mechanism is required for effective CAADP implementation.• Member States are urged to design, fund and implement carefully selected priority programs and projects to fast-track the achievement of the seven Malabo Commitments. In this regard, Member States should intensify efforts to develop and implement Malabocompliant high-quality NAIP.• Strengthen the capacity of regional economic communities, given the critical role they play in mobilizing member state in the biennial review process, by providing them with more human and financial resources.• Member States are encouraged to integrate the CAADP biennial review data collection process into existing national monitoring and reporting systems, including the joint sector review processes.• AU and Member States need to develop and strengthen implementable mechanisms for peer learning. Well-structured peerto-peer learning and exchange should be an integral part of the CAADP process.• From the experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, Member States should establish stronger emergency response plans and commit to building more resilient food systems to respond better to future shocks.The 2021 biennial review report calls for action to transform Africa's agriculture"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"480dad3668f292a3f056e4217549f9d7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/3079e794-a578-4015-b3ee-25dfebb21429/content","id":"-1089846973"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6ebe2736-51ee-4688-9b8f-b49ba60c78f9","content":"We present an assessment of the extent, diversity, and nutritional contribution of the milpa through a quantitative analysis of data from a survey conducted in 989 small scale farm households in the Western Highlands of Guatemala (WHG). The milpa is a traditional agricultural system in which maize is intercropped with other species, such as common beans, faba beans, squashes or potatoes. Our study shows that more than two-thirds of the 1,205 plots recorded were under the milpa system, with a great diversity of crop combinations. As shown with the 357 plots for which specific yields were available, milpa systems present higher total productivity than monocropped maize, expressed as total energy yield of the harvested crops in the respective system, and were also better at providing the recommended daily allowances of fourteen essential nutrients, based on a Potential Nutrient Adequacy (PNA) indicator. Maize-bean-potato, maize-potato, and maize-bean-faba intercrops had the highest PNAs, and monocropped maize, the lowest. These results support the implementation of milpa systems tailored to different agro-ecologies in order to improve nutrition in the WHG and a variety of similar regions.Maize (Zea mays) is one of the most widely cultivated crops in the world, produced on almost 200 million hectares in practically all countries of the world 1 . In Mesoamerica, its center of origin and diversity 2,3 farmers have traditionally intercropped maize with several other species in what is known as the \"milpa\" or \"three sisters\" system 4,5 . The milpa typically comprises maize intercropped with common beans (Phaseolus spp.) and squashes (Cucurbita spp.) (Fig. 1) 6 . Archaeological and historical evidence identifies the milpa as the backbone of agriculture in pre-Columbian times in the vast region spanning from northeast North America to southern Central America 4,5,7 .Farmers throughout Mesoamerica continue to grow maize in variants of the milpa system in a range of agro-ecologies from arid and semiarid zones to the temperate highlands and tropical lowlands. In addition to being intercropped with common beans and squash, maize may be grown with faba beans (Vicia faba), peppers (Capsicum spp.), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), potato (Solanum tuberosum) and amaranth (Amaranthus spp.), among others, and even with wild leafy species used as food or for medicinal purposes 8 . The degree of variation in the milpa systems depends on different factors including climate, soil type, topography, natural vegetation, traditional knowledge, culture and diets.Studies of the total productivity of milpas grown under partially controlled conditions, have shown them to be an example of efficient traditional cropping system. In milpa systems, niche complementarity, competition, and facilitation among species, contribute synergistically to overall performance 7,9,10 , chiefly through the efficient use of land, water, nutrients, and light 11,12 . In the classic maize-bean-squash milpa, for example, the maize stalk supports the climbing bean, increasing the latter's access to light, while the bean plant fixes additional nitrogen in the soil. The squash shades the soil surface, reducing moisture loss and impeding weed growth (Fig. 1).The Western Highlands of Guatemala (WHG) is among the world's poorest regions and food insecurity and malnutrition affect more than half of its inhabitants 13,14 . Recent research has highlighted the milpa's critical role as a source of food and nutritional security 1516 , providing both macro (starch, protein, fat) and micro-nutrients (vitamins and minerals). This contribution of the milpa to nutrition is especially relevant for small-scale farm households and communities such as the WHG, whose inhabitants consume nearly all they produce 13,17 .Here we report on the extent and diversity of milpa systems in the WHG using data collected on a survey of 989 farm households located across 59 villages of the region. We also present a quantitative analysis to assess, at the plot level, the potential contribution of the different milpa systems to food and nutritional security, by determining the number of persons a given area of milpa can adequately feed. With data from all the 357 plots for which there were specific yield values, we calculated, at plot level, both the total crop productivity (expressed as total energy yield of the harvested crops in the respective system) and the Potential Nutrient Adequacy (PNA), which is a recently developed indicator based on ecological niche theory 18 . To our knowledge, this is the first report on the relation between the milpa intercropping diversity and its nutritional capacity, at least the first that takes on account data from more than one or a few plots or crop combinations. We believe the results of this analysis can inform a variety of research and development efforts oriented to improve the lives of rural families in the WHG and similar regions.Milpa extent and diversity. The 989 households surveyed, reported a total of 1,541 plots, with an overall combined area of 297.8 ha, where maize, coffee, potato, and other crops were grown. The average agricultural area per household is 0.30 ha (median 0.17 ha). The survey took in only farm households that grew maize in at least one of their plots (see section \"Data\"), but the importance of maize in local diets can be nonetheless appreciated in that 78% of the plots (1205) were used to grow it. Of the 1,205 maize plots, 829 of them (69% of the plots and 73% of the maize area) included maize in association (or milpas) with at least one other crop, among them common beans, faba beans, potato, squashes, fruit trees, coffee and/or vegetables. Maize in monocrop was found on 376 plots (31% of the plots and 27% of the maize area), and those plots were significantly smaller than the milpa plots, with average areas of 0.15 vs 0.18 ha (Fig. 2), respectively.The 829 milpa plots showed diverse cropping combinations including maize with beans on 78% of the plots, with potato on 10%, and with faba bean on about 5%. In 24% of the milpa plots (203) maize was associated with two other crops while in 4% of the cases (34) it was associated with other three crops. The most common milpa included maize-beans (644 plots), 68% these plots featured only these two crops while the rest were further diversified with squash (17%), potato (6%) and faba bean (6%) (Fig. 2). Milpa yield performance and contribution to food security. Because of the structure of the survey applied we could only calculate yield values for the different crops reported from 357 plots (i.e. crop production in one section of the survey and area and cropping patterns of each plot in another section, therefore discarding for the analysis all farmers with more than one plot as it was not possible to calculate yield at the plot level-See section \"Milpa and food security\"). Maize grain yields were very variable in both maize monocrop and the milpa systems and were lower under the milpa system, averaging 1801 kg ha −1 (sd = 1011), compared to monocropped maize (average of 1981 kg ha −1 , sd = 1099) but was not significantly different (Wilcoxon test, W = 17,390, p-value = 0.107) (Fig. 3a) suggesting no yield penalty when maize is associated with other crops found in the milpa systems. The total caloric yield (calculated based on the kCal content of different crops-See section \"Potential adequacy of milpas for human nutrition\" and Supplementary Tables 3 and 4) of milpa systems was consistently higher than that of the maize monocrop (Fig. 3b), providing more food energy per unit area than sole maize.Average maize grain yield for the different milpa systems ranged from 1233 kg ha −1 for maize-potato to 2320 kg ha −1 for maize-bean-faba. After pairwise post-hoc comparisons (Dunn's test), some significant differences on maize yield can be found among crop combinations, being maize-potato and maize-bean-squash significantly lower than maize in monocrop and maize-bean-faba (Fig. 4, Supplementary Table 2). However, because of the difference in sample size for the different intercropping systems, the results should be taken with caution. Maize plots reported in the survey of farm households in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. Milpa systems and their varied crop combinations are represented in different colours. The tree is nested, so the first node displays all maize plots, with successive splits for monocrop vs intercropped maize and with crop names presented according to how often they were grown (overall: maize > common beans > potatoes > squash > faba beans > fruit trees > vegetables). Numbers in the boxes superimposed on the arrows are the percentages, of number of plots and area under the respective milpa system, of the total 1 205 maize plots.Nutrition contribution and nutrient adequacy of the milpa system. The nutritional functional diversity (NFD) of the milpa systems will always be higher than NFD of a maize monocrop, as other crops provide additional nutrients. NFD increases with crop species diversity and especially when the additional crops come from different botanical families. Assuming that milpa is the sole food provider, the potential number of people fed (PNPF) was calculated considering the essential components of human nutrition, the nutrient concentrations in the common edible parts of the raw crops, and the amounts of each crop produced. In this study,  PNPF was highest for three intercrops: maize-bean-potatoes, maize-bean-faba and maize-potatoes (Fig. 5). The maize-bean-squash, maize-bean and maize-faba intercrops showed an intermediate PNPF for most nutrients and maize-squash and maize in monocrop had the lowest PNPF values for most nutrients.The Potential Nutrient Adequacy (PNA) represents the balanced level of nutrients provided by each crop combination considering all nutrients and their recommended daily allowances (See Sect. 4.4). The different milpa systems showed significant differences in their PNA values (Kruskal-Wallis Chi-sq. = 46.5, p < 7.01 e-08) (Fig. 6). After Dunn's post hoc test, the PNA of the maize monocrop was found to be significantly below most of other PNA values while the PNA for maize-bean-faba, maize-potato, and maize-bean-potato were significantly higher than the rest. The PNA for maize-bean, maize-squash, maize-bean-squash and maize-faba were in the mid-range and did not show significant differences (Fig. 6).This study showed the extent and diversity of the milpa system and its potential contribution to the nutritional security of small-scale farm households in the WHG. It highlights the importance of milpa system in the WHG and the advantages of maize intercropping over mono-cropping in subsistence farming systems. It also highlights the nutritional potential of the different milpa combinations that are traditionally grown in WHG. Whereas the classic milpa features a maize-bean-squash intercrop, in the WHG maize-bean was the most common combination with variants that included faba bean, potatoes, peas, vegetables and fruit trees. This likely reflects the range of altitude (1,400 to 3,200 masl) and corresponding agroclimatic variation in the WHG, but especially farmers' choices based on their needs, means, market opportunities, knowledge and traditions.The milpa system is the classic example of an efficient multi/mixed-cropping system, which tends to be more productive and efficient in use of light, nutrients and water than monocrop systems, given its internal dynamics of complementarity, competition and facilitation. For example, the mechanisms of interspecific root interactions where maize root exudates promote nodulation of the faba bean, making maize-faba intercrops more efficient than their monocrops have been described 19 .The Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) is a common way to measure the yield advantage of multi vs monocropping systems 20 . In field experiments mimicking the traditional Iroquoian three sisters system in the north-eastern USA, LERs of between 1.06 and 1.3 were found 7 . Under experimental conditions in Central Mexico, LERs for the maize-bean-squash milpa of between 1.6 and 1.9, which corresponds to 60% and 90% greater total productivity than a maize monocrop, were reported 10 . Even higher yield advantages have been reported for the milpa system when integrated with fruit trees 21 . LERs were not calculated in this study due to the lack of robust information on the performance of all crops (e.g. common beans, squash, faba bean, potatoes) grown in monoculture. However, given that our study found no significant yield difference for maize when grown alone or with other crops, we can consider that the LER for the milpa systems in the WHG would be, in most cases, greater than or equal to 1.0. Further analysis, possibly including more targeted data collection and experimentation, could help identifying best crop combinations in specific agro-ecologies for improved agronomic performance of milpa systems.Our results show higher nutritional output of the milpa systems over monocropped maize in the WHG. This is based on the Potential Nutrient Adequacy (PNA), which takes into account not only the diversity of nutrients and nutrient sources, as does the dietary diversity index 22 , but also includes (1) how much is produced by each crop and their nutrient concentrations and (2) the recommended daily intake for each nutrient, thus providing a more complete estimation of the potential contribution of the milpa system to the nutrition security of farm households in the WHG. Dietary diversity studies, defined as the number of food groups consumed, have shown that increasing farming diversity often increases the nutrient adequacy of the human diet 23 . The PNA of the milpa system thus offers a good estimation of its contribution to nutritional security in the WHG and supports the idea that dietary diversity and crop and animal species richness in farm households are positively correlated 24 .Beyond yield and calories, milpa systems produced significantly more other essential nutrients. The maizebean-faba, maize-potatoes and maize-bean-potatoes associations had highest PNAs, contributing the most carbohydrates, proteins, zinc, iron, calcium, potassium, folate, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, niacin and vitamin C. Similar results showed that, in a trial implemented in USA, the maize-bean-squash intercrop provided more calories and proteins than a maize monocrop 15 . Based on a case study with one family farm in southern Mexico, it was shown that an average family with the average amount of land in a Mayan community could meet the daily nutritional requirements for fat, carbohydrates, fiber, protein, vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, zinc, and niacin, through diets based on products from the milpa 16 . One important limitation to highlight in these studies, as well as the one presented here, is the fact that all calculations are based on the production and concentration of nutrients in their raw form; the nutritional contribution of the cooked food considering consumption patterns (portions size and frequency), the nutritional contributions of food obtained outside the milpa system such as poultry, livestock and home-gardens or purchased food, and the storage of milpa products and associated effects on nutrient stability need to be studied 25,26 . Equally important is the variation in the availability of milpa products throughout the year, given crops' seasonality.This study focused on the plot level, i.e. characterizing the diversity of milpa systems and their production of different nutrients. Results are shown at the hectare and yearly basis to allow comparison and use of standard indicators for assessing the performance of cropping systems. For example, in Fig. 5 our results show that one hectare of the different crop combinations can provide enough protein to satisfy the needs of between 5.5 and 9.8 male adults for a year, while for iron these values range between 11.7 and 21.1 (i.e. the Potential Number of People Fed (PNPF)). However, to better grasp the contribution of the milpa systems to the nutritional security of subsistence farmers households in the WHG, it is needed to take into account that (1) most farm households in the WHG have less than a quarter of a hectare (an average of 0.30 and a median of 0.17 for the households surveyed) and that (2) the average number of people per household (comprising all ages) in the survey is six. Thus, despite the advantages of some milpa systems to provide more nutrients per unit of land, the generalised low land availability for small scale farmers in the WHG makes it impossible for the milpa system alone to satisfy the needs of all household members. This structural problem of land availability and general marginalization of indigenous communities in the WHG has been widely documented and is one of the main causes of the endemic poverty and malnutrition in the region 13,14,17 . Farmers in the WHG have been forced to find alternative food sources through, for example, the production of cash crops (such as non-traditional export vegetables) and buy staple crops with the money generated or/and national and international migration to generate enough earning to complement their own production of food.In conclusion, our study shows the great extent and diversity of milpa systems in the WHG. Total food productivity and nutrient functional diversity advantages in milpa systems, over maize in monocrop, were found in small-scale farm households in the WHG. These findings highlight the importance of this traditional cropping system for smallholder farmers' nutritional security in the region. The milpa system alone has not, and will not, completely satisfy food demand for farm households in the WHG but, together with other sources of food either produced on-farm or purchased, can contribute importantly to improve the nutritional situation of this impoverished and marginalised region. Depending on specific characteristics of the farm households, their agro-ecological conditions and their availability of different sources of food and nutrients, milpa systems can be tailored to improve the food and nutritional security of small-scale farmers in the WHG and in a wide range of similar regions.Data. Data were collected in 2015 through a survey deployed as part of the Feed the Future Buena Milpa project (http://www.cimmy t.org/proje ct-profi le/buena -milpa /). The project's goal was to reduce food insecurity and malnutrition by fostering sustainable, resilient, and innovative maize-based farming systems in the WHG.We conducted the survey, with support from local researchers and agronomy students of the University of San Carlos (USAC), in summer of 2015 in 989 maize-growing farm households in 64 communities of 16 municipalities of the WHG. The number of surveys at the departmental level was: Totonicapán (226), Quiche (350), Quetzaltenango (187) and Huehuetenango (226) (See Supplementary Table 1 and Supplementary Fig. 1 for details). Criteria to select communities were: location within the targeted municipalities in the Buena Milpa project, the active work of project partners within the communities, and their distribution within four selected watersheds that included farming systems at different altitudes, ranging from 1400 to 3200 masl. For household selection, enumerators walked radial transects to survey household members, choosing only households that explicitly agreed to participate and had agricultural land on at least part of which maize was grown. The survey was a closed questionnaire with 139 questions in 18 sections including 5 project themes: milpa-maize germplasm improvement, natural resource conservation in farming system, farming system diversification, agricultural innovation systems and social inclusion.Milpa diversity and extent. We used survey findings regarding the previous year's crop production (2014)   for all 989 surveyed households to understand the importance and diversity of the milpa system. The 989 households reported crop production on a total of 1,541 plots, 1,324 of which included maize. The other 217 plots grew potato (85 plots), coffee (50), vegetables (31), bean (19), fruit trees (12), faba bean (7), forestry trees (6), pea (2), oats, wheat, etc. Given the study's focus on smallholder farmers, we discarded other 119 plots that had unrealistically large values for plot size or maize production levels for the region (i.e. more than ten times the average plot size or calculated maize yield, > 2 ha and > 11 ton ha −1 year −1 ).For the resulting 1205 plots we constructed a tree depicting maize-system diversity in the WHG, with each node indicating the main cropping associations. The tree was nested, so the first node displays all maize plots, with successive splits for monocrop vs intercropped maize and with crop names presented according to how often they are grown (overall: maize > common beans > potatoes > squash > faba beans > fruit trees > vegetables). So, in plots where maize is grown with potatoes and common beans, the association is termed maize-bean-potatoes.Milpa and food security. We assessed maize yield differences for monocropping and intercropping to detect a yield penalty or advantage for maize (see below), including survey information only for households from which we had available yield data for all crops. In the survey, total production for each crop was recorded regardless of the number of plots on which it was grown and therefore, for 398 households (40.2% of the sample) that had more than one plot under maize or any of the milpa crops, it was impossible to calculate the yield and had to be discarded from the analysis due to a lack of available plot-level information. The results were further screened for complete crop information and unrealistic values on crop production levels (i.e. ten times higher than the average yield for the different crops-See Supplemental Table 2), resulting in a usable sample of 368 plots.For statistical analysis, only those crop combinations with a sample size equal to or greater than 9 plots were selected, resulting in 357 plots with, in descending order, the following numbers of 300 plots sown to each cropping combination: maize monocrop (163), maize-bean (109), maize-bean-squash (30), maize-bean/faba (12), maize-potato (13), maize-squash (11), maize-bean-potato (10), maize-faba (9). Other crop combinations with very low sample sizes were maize-squash-faba (4), maize-potato-faba (3), maize-bean-squash-faba (2), maize-bean-potato-faba (1) and maize-bean-potato-squash (1), making it difficult to include them in further statistical analyses.Maize yields for plots under monocropped maize (163) were first compared to maize yields from intercropped plots (194). To choose the most appropriate statistical test, we checked if the outcome variable, maize yield, met the assumptions required for a parametric test. Although we had independent samples, large sample sizes, and homogeneous variances (F = 1.1809, p-value = 0.267), maize yield proved to be non-normally distributed after Shapiro-Wilks normality test was significant (W = 0.911, p-value < 0.000 (1.398e−13)). Thus, we choose a nonparametric test, the Wilcoxon rank-sum (also known as the independent 2-group Mann-Whitney U Test), to compare maize yields in monocrop and intercrop. Results are shown in boxplots for yield of both groups in Fig. 3-A. Maize yield was also compared between all eight crop associations, as maize yield presented a non-normal distribution and we have several groups to compare, a Kruskal-Wallis test, was performed. While in general, omnibus test like Kruskal-Wallis are used to detect the existence of at least one significant difference across groups, sometimes they fail in detecting significant differences between pairs of groups, and hence we decided to perform a post hoc test. The Dunn's test of multiple comparisons was selected as the most appropriate one as it is suited for groups with unequal number of observations 27 and because it retains the rank sums from the omnibus test, this case Kruskal-Wallis 28 . Results of maize yields for the different cropping systems and Dunn's test significant groups are presented with boxplots in Fig. 4.We applied a Functional Diversity approach used in ecology research [29][30][31] to assess the nutritional performance of milpa systems. We calculated the number of people who can obtain recommended daily allowances (RDA) of 14 different nutrients from different milpa systems. We then calculated the Potential Nutrient Adequacy (PNA) 18 to determine the number of persons (male adult equivalents) who could obtain RDAs of a full set of nutrients from 1 ha of a milpa system, including monocropped maize and associations, using the following equation:where N is the number of nutrients considered (14), s i is the fraction of potentially nourished male adults by a given nutrient, and s is the average of potentially nourished persons for all nutrients. To calculate s we multiplied the yield of each crop reported in the survey (kg ha −1 ) by the nutrient composition of each crop, using the content per 100 g of the 14 different nutrients for each crop, as per the INCAP Food Composition Table for Central America 32 and using the INCAP RDA for an adult male 33 (See Supplementary Tables 3 and 4). All values were calculated per hectare and year. PNA levels across cropping associations were also compared. First, we checked if PNA data met the assumptions required for a parametric test. PNA variances proved to be nonhomogeneous (F = 14.5, p-value = < 2e-16) and also have a non-normal distribution (Shapiro-Wilk , W = 0.93742, p-value = 4.107e-11). Thus, a Kruskall-Wallis and Dunn's tests were performed to assess PNA differences between cropping combinations. Results are presented with boxplots in Fig. 6."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"098b1ef243c2a38ca5888e2c645681a6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cbaa5cba-01d0-4819-99e8-715a4fb581c5/retrieve","id":"-2001916943"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"600d2105-a16c-494c-8d0a-8feb6725a54f","content":"Image cover | ©Georgina Smith (ILRI) About AICCRA | Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research in Africa (AICCRA) is a project that helps deliver a climate-smart African future driven by science and innovation in agriculture. It is led by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and supported by a grant from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank. Explore AICCRA's work at aiccra.cgiar.org 01 The priority of food systems transformation in Africa 1 02 Continental policy -linking food systems and climate change 03 Defining a food system 04 Climate change impacts on food systems 05 Promoting transformation in food systems 06 A framework and diagnostic checklist for considering elements of food systems transformation 13Even for today's population, the status of the continent's food and nutrition security is a major concern. In 2019, more than 19% of the population, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), was categorized as hungry. This figure is projected to increase to nearly 26% by 2030 1 unless radical measures are taken to improve the continent's food system in the face of climate change and other factors that undermine efforts to improve food security.To sustainably feed its growing population, the continent will require a transformation of its food systems.Africa's commitment to transform its food systems is articulated in the continental blueprint, Agenda 2063, and associated policy frameworks. The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the African Union's Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods provide a coherent framework for tackling intrinsic challenges within Africa's many food systems. These frameworks spell out the continent's targets for food and agriculture by 2025 using 2013 as the baseline year. The targets are to end hunger, halve poverty, triple intra-Africa trade and ensure that at least 30% of livelihoods dependent on agriculture are resilient to climate change. The challenge is to reconcile between these frameworks and provide a mechanism for tracking progress in multiple domains based on country reporting. The Malabo Declaration made specific commitments to mutual accountability on action and results.The latest report 3 on progress towards the Malabo targets shows that by 2019, only 4 countries were on track out of 49 countries that provided data on the required indicators. This underscores the need and urgency to accelerate progress towards CAADP targets, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2 targets to achieve zero hunger by 2030.Accelerating this progress requires a profound change in all facets of the food system, especially in the context of climate change, emerging pandemics, and threats to biological diversity. Food systems continent-wide are under increasing pressure and, to date, have not been able to produce sufficient quantities of food, meet nutrition needs, benefit populations equally and equitably, or address the negative impacts of food on the environment and natural resources 4 . Unless the necessary changes are urgently addressed, the unprecedented threats will compound and deepen the existing failings in the food systems. Africa has the world's fastest growing population, estimated to reach 1.7 billion by 2030. This number is expected to increase to 2.5 billion by 2050Priority intervention areas the strategy spells out for food systemsPromote the equitable sharing of climate risk and reward amongst all food system actors, especially small-scale, rural farmers.Enhance resilience of food systems against climate effects, while emphasising nutrition outcomes and integrated planning.Emphasise production toward agro-ecological transition, to reduce GHG intensity (including methane and other gases), and dependencies on external inputs.Strengthen food system governance interventions across Africa's regions.It is within this wider framing that the authors a. provide a brief overview of food systems, specifically highlighting the climate change dimension;b. unpack the notion of transformational and incremental approaches; and c. offer a diagnostic checklist for catalysing and expanding food systems transformation.In Accelerating this progress requires a profound change in all facets of the food system, especially in the context of climate change, emerging pandemics, and threats to biological diversity. Food systems continent-wide are under increasing pressure and have yet to produce sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality, or to prioritise nutritional outcomes and needs in agricultural sector planning. National and regional organizations and governments will need to work hard to benefit populations equally and equitably, and to account for and address the negative impacts of food systems on the environment and natural resources. At the same time, large amounts of investment will need to be sought so that biophysical, social and ecological performance indicators can be monitored rapidly and efficiently to ensure progress towards the continent's food system targets.The challenges of prioritising, financing and implementing the changes needed in Africa's food systems need to be urgently addressed, so that existing failings can be rectified and the threats from climate change addressed. Central to these challenges are dimensions of inclusion, equitable distribution of risks and benefits across food systems, and a focus on gender, youth empowerment, and rural employment Priorities for research and innovation need to focus on addressing the fundamental challenges faced by farmers, which relate to policies, institutions, and society in general. In the past, the prevailing focus of research and innovation has tended to concentrate largely on technical solutions.For the future, technical innovation needs to be supported by appropriate enabling conditions so that the finance, markets, capacity development, policy and regulatory frameworks and social safety nets needed are all in place. Crucially, the needs and voices of farmers who are on the frontline of climate change and most exposed to the risk need to be at the centre of the transformation agenda.Issues concerning the food system include the governance and economics of food production and its sustainability, the opportunities to reduce post-harvest losses and waste throughout the food system, how food production affects the natural environment and the impact on individual and population health. 6 7Functioning, sustainable food systems are intended to deliver food security and nutrition for all, resulting in: profitability (economic sustainability), broad-based benefits for society (social sustainability) and positive or neutral impact on the natural environment (environmental sustainability). 8Multiple food systems frameworks exist with varying degrees of complexity. Each depict the socio-economic and environmental drivers that influence food system activities and recognize food systems outcomes that include food security (utilization, access, availability, stability and resilience), socio-economic and environmental outcomes.A food system is a complex web of activities involving the production, processing, transportation and consumption of all connecting people to their food (see Figure 1). And, climate change will continue to have pervasive impacts on food systems activities resulting in production losses, nutrient deficiencies, environmental hazards, human displacement and potential for conflict (see Figure 2). Subsequently as food systems transformation is undertaken to meet socioeconomic, food security and environmental outcomes, enhancing resilience to the impacts of climate change will play a major part.Examining food systems in the face of both longterm and short-term shocks and change suggests the need for systems transformation.  The UN Food Systems Summit created the opportunity for national food systems dialogues that brought together a wide range of stakeholders to share experiences and consider ways to improve food systems that are suitable for people and the planet. 12In preparation for the Summit, countries throughout Africa have hosted national and sub-national multistakeholder dialogues to consider transformative actions in their food systems.Tracks that underpin necessary transformations to achieve food systems outcomes. These are:Ensuring access to safe and nutritious food for all (enabling all people to be well nourished and healthy).Shifting to sustainable consumption patterns (promoting and creating demand for healthy and sustainable diets, reducing waste).Boosting nature-positive production at sufficient scale.Advancing equitable livelihoods and value distribution (raising incomes, distributing risk, expanding inclusion, creating jobs).Building resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stresses (ensuring the continued functionality of healthy and sustainable food systems).How is transformation defined? Agriculture and food systems How is transformation defined? Agriculture and food systems transformation in one formulation is \"a significant redistribution-by at least a third-of land, labour and capital, and/ or outputs and outcomes (e.g. types and amounts of production and consumption of goods and services) within a timeframe of a decade.\" 13While this definition frames transformation in a quantitative sense, important qualitative dimensions are also identified, such as \"multifaceted, multi-dimensional, multi-sectoral, multi-scale change resulting in new systems and processes incorporating a range of transitional, diverse innovations and interventions that intersect to create momentum and critical mass\". 14 It is important to distinguish between transformative change and incremental shifts; the latter occurring more slowly without modifying essence of existing structures. 15 For transformative change to occur, incremental shifts must be directed toward and contribute to significant systems change that disrupts rules, behaviours and practices. 16 A wider lens, for example on patterns on food consumption, preferences, constraints, food quality and environmental implications.Unpacking gender roles and dynamics in food systems and how this links to aspects such as nutritional status and social empowerment.Encourage partners to step up efforts to align health and agriculture-related policies and investments and expand these efforts to partnerships with commerce, trade and industry, food standards authorities, environment-related authorities.Engage more pro-actively and substantially with the private sector.Broadening focus to policies that affect the availability, diversity, affordability and desirability of foods, for example: food safety and quality; regulation of food marketing; food loss and waste; food trade; agricultural and natural resource management policies; social protection and food subsidies.Mobilize support to strengthen the capacity of local authorities. Raising awareness of national policies at grassroots level.Promote investments in well-designed public awareness-raising campaigns and adequate marketing and labelling regulations.These can be used to inform nutrition public awareness-raising campaigns, food regulations, as well as set standards for school meals, food assistance programmes and other public food procurement programmes, creating incentives for the food industry to supply more nutritious foods and guide investments in agriculture.Making agricultural investments and value chains nutrition-sensitive.Strengthening synergies between food and agriculture investments and nutrition policies and programmes.Closing the gender gap in agriculture by improving rural women's access to land, assets, resources, technologies, services and opportunities, and the promotion of gender-sensitive policy frameworks.Encourage large private investors (food industry, private foundations, pension funds, etc.) and venture capitalists to make investments at country level in initiatives and enterprises that bring healthy foods to local markets, while preserving the environment and generating employment opportunities. These build upon the Food Systems Summit Dialogues and Solutions Clusters 19 -but also respond to the contributions of sub-national dialogues, and provide important feedback to help include participants who may or may not have been party to the process leading up to the Summit.The critical task includes synthesizing and translating insights and identified resources to place-based, specific applications, where the 'rubber will hit the road'. Building a greater sense of ownership and agency are essential ingredients to an effective process of deliberation, uptake and implementation.It is with this next, critical undertaking in play, that a diagnostic framework and check list have been developed to elaborate the elements of food systems transformation. The authors have reviewed different frameworks, checklists and narratives around transformative food systems to suggest questions to consider in navigating the many dimensions of food systems transformation and test current strategies for their level or degree of comprehensiveness. The checklist begins with a section on the processes and approaches to catalyse and support food system transformation followed by substantive elements of food systems.This diagnostic framework and checklist aim to assist Member States, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the African Union Commission (AUC), sub-regional agricultural research organizations (ASARECA, CCARDESA, CORAF, NAASRO), AFAAS, CGIAR centres, FANRPAN, AGRA, PAFO and other key stakeholders within national food systems.Within the Annex 1, there are suggested readings on checklist element along with indicative, relevant Solutions Clusters of the Food System Summit. These have been embedded to draw connections between identified global priorities grouped with those elements that correspond to emerging discussions on transformative pathways. Annex 2 offers a table to provide potential user groups a guide to checklist elements that may be of interest to their expertise and experience.Following the formal UN Food Systems Summit in September 2021, the African Union member states now need to take up the critical task of putting together context-specific, finely tuned and staged strategies to transform food systems in Africa.  • Are intentional linkages across formal and informal food systems made?• Have novel partnerships across disciplines, themes, stakeholders, sectors and scales been created?• Have action research, practice and policy been intentionally linked?• What measures have been put in place to address existing inequities and injustices in the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of the food system?• What elements of a just transition are articulated?• Has climate justice for marginalized actors been addressed?• How have food rights-based approaches been demonstrated?A FRAMEWORK AND DIAGNOSTIC CHECKLIST FOR CONSIDERING ELEMENTS OF FOOD SYSTEMS TRANSFORMATION• How are transitions to agroecological, regenerative, nature-based and indigenous approaches for integrated farming and pastoral systems or resilient landscapes (practices to increase agrobiodiversity, conserve land and water, cycle nutrients, reduce waste and enhance productivity) being demonstrated?• Has nature and the ecosystem services that it provides been sufficiently valued, and have these values been included in decision making?• Is the condition and integrity of the natural resource base being adequately considered, and is the potential for sustainable use of ecosystems services and equitable provision of rewards clearly addressed?• What steps are industrial agriculture actors taking toward transitioning to resilient and just food system practices?• How are nature based solutions and linkages between rural and urban communities being identified and promoted?• What is the trajectory for increasing availability of quality food produced through nature based solutions?• How gender and youth responsive are agricultural practices?• What conditions and historical practices have been shaping consumer consumption patterns?• Are multiple options demonstrated for increasing and distributing quality food and improving availability across different contexts in the country?• How are food affordability/ purchasing power being integrated into transformative interventions?• Are products designed to capture consumer attention and loyalty?• How does vendor product properties and positioning promote sustainable diets (e.g. regulation against high sugar foods/drinks; assuring kiosks have affordable and healthy snacks)?• What are the elements of messaging around food to raise awareness and catalyse consumer shifts? Are there incentives in place to assist this behavioural change? • Have existing impactful practices, innovations and technologies been assessed?• How is the scaling of existing impactful practices being planned/demonstrated and under which circumstances?• How can landscape and territorial approaches be identified and incentivized as mechanisms for scaling?• Are existing digital innovations for enhancing access, affordability, and nutritious diets being demonstrated (e.g. apps to identify diets/ nutrient deficits in marginalized groups, apps to link markets with consumers, monitor pests in farmers' fields, crowd source seasonal workers, citizen science, etc.)?A FRAMEWORK AND DIAGNOSTIC CHECKLIST FOR CONSIDERING ELEMENTS OF FOOD SYSTEMS TRANSFORMATION• Are nutrition sensitive and healthy diet approaches embedded from food production to consumption?• How are access and food safety dimensions being addressed across scales?• Are policies and tools being leveraged to enhance traceability and transparency?• What is the planning and investment trajectory for integrating greater renewable energy sources into food production, processing and transport?• Are there mechanisms in place for preparing foods that do not degrade the environment (e.g. sustainable charcoal production)?• How are spatial planning and zoning efforts, together with infrastructure investments and regulatory policies being conceived and applied in tandem with energy, transport and equitable access considerations? For example with:• Food deserts being mapped and prioritized to ensure healthy diets are available and affordable to marginalized areas, and• Public markets and informal marketing channels of farm products situated for accessibility through local transport, and provided sufficient resources?• How is value chain development influencing diversity of food sources and agrobiodiversity (e.g. tree products, nutrient dense rich diets)?• Are value chains being bundled and shortened?• Are there examples of reducing food waste and putting food waste to other uses (e.g. energy, nutrient cycling)?• What interventions are in place for reducing emissions across different value chains?• What food sources for the country are dependent on cross-boundary and inter-country trade and are there other options?• How have institutions (e.g. schools, prisons, etc.) transitioned to greater dependence locally-sourced, food-rich foods?Nutrition sensitive and healthy diet approaches and access to safe and nutritious foodA FRAMEWORK AND DIAGNOSTIC CHECKLIST FOR CONSIDERING ELEMENTS OF FOOD SYSTEMS TRANSFORMATION A FRAMEWORK AND DIAGNOSTIC CHECKLIST FOR CONSIDERING ELEMENTS OF FOOD SYSTEMS TRANSFORMATION• How are the predictable elements and uncertainties of climate impacts (heat, drought, floods, locusts, etc.) being integrated into planning for food system transformation?• Are strategies, policies and networks developed to reduce or prevent conflict over natural resources and food sources?• What potential is anticipated and incorporated to better foresee, prevent and manage pandemics (e.g. COVID-19, transboundary diseases)?• How is the food system transition explicitly linked to disaster risk reduction along the gradient of emergency response to development assistance in building resilience?• How can innovations be repurposed and reconfigured for rapid operationalization as part of crisis management (e.g. Lagos Food Bank Initiative) and what lessons can be translated from these?• How can food production within rural and urban areas enhance opportunities for employment and reduce migration?• Are plans in place to source emergency food and replenishment supplies from local sources and to make more accessible key productive inputs (e.g. indigenous seed sourcing, livestock/crop insurance, etc.) while protecting critical assets of the most vulnerable?Image: ©Georgina Smith (CIAT)"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e00383e63c39ad0b531472117fac13b6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/82f1774f-6a1e-4872-b2ea-79908fac6833/content","id":"747792215"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9f653494-dcbc-4032-b1a2-f7df1113dfb4","content":"We use a unique data set on matched tenant-landlord pairs in Malawi to compare decisions on smallholder plots that were rented versus those that were owneroperated. Controlling for household and rental-pair fixed effects, we found that some input use (e.g., hybrid maize seed) and soil fertility investments (e.g., manure, compost, minimum tillage) were higher on tenants' owner-operated plots than on their rented-in plots. Tenants were also less likely to use compost than their landlords. Landlords were less likely to rent out plots with fruit trees. Our results suggest that the expansion of farmland rental markets may exacerbate soil fertility maintenance concerns. (JEL D63, O12)   Recent growth of farmland rental markets in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) can be understood as part of an ongoing structural transformation process in the region. In the foundational discussions of this process, Johnston and Kilby (1975) explain how higher returns to labor in nonfarm sectors induce an exodus of labor out of agriculture, with relatively more efficient farmers remaining in agriculture, expanding their capital and land endowments. This self-selection contributes to sectoral productivity gains, which are also driven by investments incentivized by increasing food demand and improving input market conditions. During this process, land transfers through rentals and sales should facilitate the reallocation of land resources to these more efficient farmers. 1 For example, functioning land rental markets should allow tenants to expand the cultivated area and bring more capital into the sector while potentially providing landlords with compensation for their land assets while they engage in pursuits outside of agriculture.Although most land cultivated by smallholders in SSA is managed in customary tenure systems where operators lack formal titles, recent evidence from the region suggests growth in land rental markets has been pronounced (Holden, Otsuka, and Place 2009;Chamberlin and Ricker-Gilbert 2016). Chamberlin and Ricker-Gilbert (2016) found that the percentage of households renting in land rose from 7.5% in 20027.5% in -20037.5% in to 15.4% in 20087.5% in -20097.5% in in Malawi and from 0.9% in 20017.5% in -20027.5% in to 3% in 20127.5% in -2013 in Zambia. This suggests that growth in rental market participation has been taking place even in environments where tenure rights are still largely customary and tenure security is sometimes ambiguous.At the same time, much of the region is facing a soil fertility crisis, with widespread soil nutrient losses occurring from year to year due to soil erosion and nutrient mining (Sanchez 2002). The concurrent trends of increasing land rental participation and decreasing soil fertility are worth scrutinizing because there is some evidence to suggest that rented plots receive lower soil fertility-enhancing investments than owner-cultivated plots. 2 For example, Gavian and Fafchamps (1996), Jacoby and Mansuri (2008), Lovo (2016), and Muraoka, Jin, and Jayne (2018) find that tenants are typically less likely to make soil-enhancing investments (such as animal manure application) on plots that they rent compared with plots they own and cultivate. This is a rational decision by tenants, given that rental contracts tend to be short-term, while the benefits of applying animal manure may take multiple years to be fully realized.The present study adds to the literature on soil fertility and land renting using a unique plot-level data set from Malawi, collected in 2016, that matched tenants with landlords and collected soil samples on rented and owneroperated plots. 3 Specifically, for each tenant we observed their rented-in plots (tenant's rented-in plots) and all their owner-operated plots (tenant's owner-operated plots). One unique aspect of this data set is that we also surveyed tenant's respective landlords, and thus we also observed the plots that the landlord did not rent out (landlord's owner-operated plots). The other novel feature of these data are that we took objective soil fertility measures including 2 In this article, a plot is a field that may contain one or more subplots. In our context, the rental decision actually occurs at the subplot level, because within a plot, one or more subplots may be rented while other subplots may be owner-cultivated. For simplicity, we refer to all fields as plots in this article. 3 One of the challenges associated with accurately estimating soil fertility and other effects of land rental markets is that most studies in the region (and all of the studies mentioned above) severely underreported the activities of landlords. In fact, a recent article by Deininger, Savastano, and Xia (2017) used nationally representative LSMS-ISA data from six countries in SSA collected within the past five years to show that total area rented out made up less than 50% of total area rented in all six countries (Ethiopia, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda). Furthermore, rented-out land made up less than 6% of rented in land in three of the six countries (Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda). In Malawi, Lunduka, Holden, and Øygard (2009) found only 8% of their sample were landlords, versus 20% who reported being tenants. The failure of most data sets to fully capture the landlord side of the rental market at best leaves out important details as to the landlords' intentions and at worst biases any results and conclusions drawn from such incomplete data sets. nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), potassium (K), pH, organic matter, silt, clay, and sand on tenants' largest owner-operated plot, their largest rented-in plot, along with the largest plot that was owner-operated by the landlord who owned the largest rented-in plot. This allowed us to expand our estimates of soil quality beyond the self-reported indicators used in most studies (usually if the soil on the plot was of good, fair, or poor quality).Using this unique data set, we answered the following research questions related to land rental markets in SSA, which have been understudied to date. First, did input use (e.g., labor for weeding, applying herbicides, applying inorganic fertilizer, and planting hybrid maize) and soil fertility investments (e.g., maize and legume intercropping, applying manure, applying green compost, using minimum tillage) differ on average among (1) a tenant's rented-in plots, (2) a tenant's owner-operated plots, and (3) the owner-operated plots of the tenant's landlord? As mentioned, much of the previous literature indicated that tenants were less likely to make longer-term soil fertility investments on their rented-in versus owneroperated plots. However, landlord information was missing from these studies, limiting our insights into managerial changes that occur when land was transferred from landlords to tenants. The present study seeks to understand how a tenant's input use and soil fertility investments compared to their landlord's investments on their own plot. To our knowledge, this has not been empirically tested before using a matched tenant-landlord data set.Second, we ask: did landlords rent out plots that they believe to be of lower or higher soil fertility ex ante than those they cultivated themselves, and how was this affected by the landlord's perception of tenure security on the plot? We might expect a landlord to have rented out land of lower soil fertility, ex ante, if he or she felt that such selection would not adversely affect rental receipts, or if he or she felt that renting out customary land may have increased the risk of having that land reallo cated to someone else by a village leader. However, tenants generally have been found to be wealthier and better educated than landlords in our study area (Ricker-Gilbert et al. 2019). This suggests potential power imbalances, possibly giving tenants an advantage over landlords when selecting which plots to rent in. We therefore ask: were land rental transfers more likely to be from landlords' higher or lower quality plots?By combining a matched tenant-landlord data set with objective and subjective measures of soil fertility, the present article makes an important contribution to the land rental market and land tenure literature in SSA. Several earlier studies used matched tenant-landlord data sets, but with different objectives. For example, Deininger, Ali, and Alemu (2013) used a matched sample to estimate the relative differences in Marshallian efficiency between share-cropped plots, plots rented at a fixed rate, and owner-operated plots in Ethiopia. Bellemare (2012) used a matched sample from Madagascar to estimate how a landlord's perception of his or her tenure security affects the choice of contract offered to tenants. Ghebru and Holden (2014) used a matched landlord-tenant sample from Ethiopia to assess bargaining power, efficiency, and distributional implications in tenant-landlord relationships. Ricker-Gilbert et al. (2019) use the same matched data set in Malawi as in this study to estimate efficiency and equity tradeoffs between tenants and landlords when land rental arrangements are made. Ours is the first to use a matched tenant-landlord sample to estimate models related to land renting, soil fertility, and other investments.Other studies have used objective measures of soil fertility to estimate how these measures relate to farmers' subjective self-assessment of soil fertility. Berazneva et al. (2018) with data from Kenya and Tanzania and Gourlay et al. (2017) with data from Ethiopia and Uganda find that the link between objective (laboratory test-based) assessments and subjective (farmer reported) assessments of soil fertility is weak and that farmers base their subjective assessment on a plot's crop yield. To our knowledge, the present article is the first to use objective measures of soil fertility to understand how landlords use (or do not use) such information to make land use decisions.To answer our research questions, we estimated two econometric models. In the first model, we regressed input use and soil fertility investments on land rental status for tenant's and landlord's plots, along with household and plot-level controls using linear models. The identification strategy for these models relied on the matched tenant-landlord sample, allowing us to use rental-pair fixed effects (FEs). Second, we estimated a linear probability model (LPM) for landlord households only and regress a binary variable equaling one if the landlord rented out a specific plot on the following factors: (1) objective soil fertility measures on the plot, (2) subjective soil fertility measures on the plot, (3) landlord perceptions of tenure security on the plot, and (4) investments made on the plot. In this model, our identification strategy was based on the fact that we have soil samples for multiple plots in the landlord household (rented out and owner cultivated). This allows us to use a within-household FE to control for unobserved factors associated with the landlord that may affect her rental decision. We also had a rich set of plot-level information in our data set that should control for the vast majority of remaining unobserved factors that might bias the coefficient estimates in our models. That being said, as with any observational study, our causal identification claims are made cautiously. Nonetheless, we believe that the analysis uncovers important relationships that are useful for smallholder agricultural policy in SSA.Briefly, our results indicate that tenants in our sample were more likely to use inputs like inorganic fertilizer on plots they rented in and plots they owner-cultivated themselves, compared with their landlords. However, tenants were less likely to make soil fertilityenhancing investments such as green compost on their rented-in plots compared with what their landlords did on their owner-operated plots. Tenants were significantly less likely to invest in applying animal manure, green compost, or minimum tillage on their rented-in plots compared with their owner-operated plots on average. Furthermore, it seems that the major factors affecting whether a landlord rented out a plot or cultivated it herself was whether there were observable assets such as fruit trees on the plot. Landlords were 49%-51% less likely to rent out a plot with a fruit tree on it, probably due to the income and nutrition that the fruit provided them.Our data and analysis are set in Malawi. The country officially recognizes three types of land tenure regimes: (1) the public tenure system, which includes public lands, national parks, and so on; (2) the private tenure system, which includes freehold, and leasehold land, where owners have titles and land can be bought, sold, and rented; and (3) the customary tenure system. The customary tenure system is by far the largest in Malawi in terms of landholding and number of people engaged (Lunduka, Holden, and Øygard 2009). Households who cultivate in the customary system have no formal title but have user rights granted by local chiefs. These land rights may be passed down from parents to children but are ultimately controlled by the chief. Land renting is not explicitly allowed in the customary system, but land rental participation has been growing in Malawi, as mentioned earlier, under the de facto approval of local leaders.Recent evidence suggests that land rental contracts in Malawi are almost entirely upfront cash-rent and short-term in nature, lasting one to two years on average (Ricker-Gilbert et al. 2019). In addition, tenants in Malawi have been found to be significantly wealthier than landlords along all dimensions of wealth other than land. This includes assets, savings, education, and available labor (Chamberlin and Ricker-Gilbert 2016;Ricker-Gilbert et al. 2019). Chamberlin and Ricker-Gilbert (2016) and Ricker-Gilbert et al. (2019) found evidence to support the notion that landlords rented out land because of the need for immediate cash or because they lacked the necessary labor, rather than to earn money that could facilitate engagement in other productive nonfarm activities.The literature clearly documents that land tenure insecurity is prevalent in many parts of Africa and in Malawi in particular. For example, in a survey of evidence across southern Africa, Mutangadura (2007) found that major causes of tenure insecurity included loss of land rights for minority groups, unclear or overlapping land rights, overcrowding, and land alienation into leasehold, among other reasons. In particular, the author found that the transfer of land from customary to leasehold for investors during the 1980s and 1990s and high and increasing population to land ratios were two of the major drivers of tenure insecurity in Malawi. A recent study in Malawi founds that tenure insecurity is widespread, with 22% of land users being concerned about losing their land (Deininger, Xia, and Holden 2019). Peters and Kambewa (2007) found that impending land reform legislation that would formalize tenure rights in the customary sector in Malawi led to increased tenure insecurity and competition for land among smallholders.Other studies from Malawi have found that people who lived in the home area of their spouses (e.g., a man residing in his wife's village) felt more tenure insecure (Lunduka, Holden and Øygard 2009;Matchaya 2009). Both Lunduka, Holden, and Øygard (2009) and Martchaya (2009) pointed out that particularly when a man resided in the wife's village and had no claim to the land other than through his wife, he was less likely to make longer-term investments in soil fertility. This was because he had no claim to the land if the marriage ended or his wife died.Previous literature also supported the view that farmers have greater incentives to maintain soil fertility on owner-operated plots than on rented-in plots. This has been attributed to lack of commitment from tenants because of the short-term nature of most land rental contracts (Jacoby and Mansuri 2008). Jacoby and Mansuri (2008) found that in Pakistan, tenant farmers were less likely to invest in a noncontractible soil fertility investment (e.g., applying animal manure) than on owner-operated plots. This was even the case on plots under fixed rent, where the tenant maintained all output, compared with share-cropped plots (where the tenant shared output with the landlord). In the African context, Gavian and Fafchamps (1996; for Niger), Lovo (2016; for Malawi) and Muraoka, Jin, and Jayne (2018; for Kenya) all found that rented-in plots were less likely to receive soil conservation or soil fertility-enhancing investments compared with owner-cultivated plots.The studies cited here provided important context that motivated the present work. We build on this literature by using a matched sample of tenants and landlords to answer questions about input use and investments made on a tenant's rented-in plot, their owneroperated plot, and a landlord's owner-operated plot. We also seek to understand how objective and subjective measures of soil fertility and other investments influence a landlord's decision to rent out a particular plot versus cultivate it for themself.Data in this study came from four districts in Malawi collected between April and June 2016, which immediately followed the 2015-2016 season. These districts were Lilongwe, Salima, and Nkhotakota in the central region, and Zomba in the southern region. Nkhotakota and Salima were selected to represent rural areas, and Lilongwe and Zomba were selected to represent peri-urban areas. These specific districts were selected because of their high incidence of land rental market activity according to the 2009-2010 nationally representative LSMS-IHS3 data. The total target sample size was 600, representing 150 farm households per sampled district. Since the IHS3 was only representative at the district level, after using those data to select districts, we contacted the District Agricultural Development Officer (DADO) as the entry point for the survey team. We used the DADO's local knowledge to identify Extension Planning Areas (EPAs) with high rental market activities in each district. In these EPAs, we randomly selected villages for our sample, choosing one village per EPA.Once a village was selected, the field supervisors along with the local extension officer undertook a targeted household listing exercise. Smallholder farm households participating in land renting were identified through a focus group discussion (FGD) with the village headman (local leader, also known as 'chief'), lead farmers, and members of village development committees and the vulnerability assessment committee. These individuals were considered to be knowledgeable about the history of the village and related land issues. On average, the FGD comprised about 10 people, of which half were women. Community-level issues regarding landownership, land availability and use, drivers of land renting, and prevailing farm gate prices of cash crops were discussed. The use of key informants to help identify respondents to answer questions about sensitive land-related issues has been used in many previous studies, including Bardhan and Mookherjee (2010); Macours, de Janvry, and Sadoulet (2010), Vranken et al. (2011), andMacours (2014).At the end of each FGD, we randomly sampled individual farming households from the village list of all households to serve as a sampling frame for our survey. 4 The village leaders helped us identify whether the randomly selected households were tenants, landlords, or autarkic (neither renting in or renting out land). Each sampled landlord was matched to his or her tenant as pairs for the household interviews. Thus, if a tenant household was sampled, its corresponding landlord was automatically sampled for the interview and vice versa. 5 Households were selected with replacement until a sample size of 10 matched pairs was reached (i.e., 20 households). Furthermore, 10 autarkic households were randomly selected from the list as control households. Thus, a total of 30 households were sampled per village.After cleaning the household data, our data set consisted of 948 unique plots from 169 tenant and 169 landlords who formed rental pairs. Of these 948 plots, 347 were tenant's rented-in plots, 266 were tenant's owneroperated plots, and 335 were landlord's owner-operated plots. Appendix Table A1 4 Village lists in Malawi were regarded as being accurate because they were used to determine how many input subsidy vouchers were given to a particular community and then to households in the community. Therefore, households had incentives to make sure they were included on the list.5 Tenants and landlords formed unique pairs in this analysis. If at tenant (landlord) had multiple landlords (tenants) then only the landlord (tenant) who owned (operated) the largest rented plot was found for interview. This was done for logistical purposes to keep the time and duration of the survey manageable. We took soil samples and GPS estimates of the area of surveyed plots according to the following criteria: the largest owner-operated plot cultivating maize or other annual crops for tenants and landlords. We took soil samples and GPS estimates of the area for the largest rented-in plot for each tenant and matched it to the landlord who had rented it out during that season.Our survey team included soil technicians from the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) soil lab. The technicians took two soil samples from each selected plot. Technicians took one sample from the topsoil (0-20 cm) and a second sample 20-40 cm below the surface (subsoil). Having a measure of quality for the topsoil and subsoil gave us a more robust estimate of the soil health on the plot. 6  After collection and labeling, the LUANAR soil lab analyzed the samples for the following measures in the topsoil and subsoil: nitrogen (%), phosphorus (ppm), pH, organic matter (%), silt (%), clay (%), and sand (%). These quantitative measures allowed us to measure soil quality broadly. In addition, we asked all households about their perceptions of the soil quality on their owned, rented-in, and rented-out plots. This enabled us to compare quantitative measurements of soil quality with farmers' assessments of soil quality. Furthermore, because we asked tenants and landlords about the soil quality on the rented plot that connected them, along with assessments of the soil quality on their respective owneroperated plots, we were able to observe how their perceptions about soil quality affected the land rental decision.Table 1 presents the descriptive statistics comparing means and standard deviations of key covariates used in the analysis for tenants and their landlord pairs. It is clear from the table that the population of tenants was different from the population of landlords in our sample. The means of these variables were statistically different between tenants and landlords at the 1% level for all variables other than number of household members (0.05 < p < 0.10), if a member of the household belonged to a village savings and loan association (0.01 < p < 0.05), and walking distance to the nearest extension officer (p > 0.10). Table 1 shows that tenants had on average 3.10 more years of education than landlords. Tenant households also had 0.47 more Ricker-Gilbert, Chamberlin, and Kanyamuka: Soil Quality Matched Tenant Landlord members on average than landlords, suggesting that tenant households had more available labor and more mouths to feed. Tenant household heads were also statistically younger than landlords on average by more than seven years and less likely to be female headed by 15 percentage points. Furthermore, tenants had a much higher average value of nonland assets at US$737 compared with US$117 for landlords, a difference of US$620. In fact, the only asset that landlords seemed to have statistically more of than tenants was prerental landholding, with the average landlord holding 1.88 ha, and the average tenant holding 0.83 ha. These statistics are consistent with other studies from southern Africa, which suggested that tenants on average have more nonland resources than do landlords (Chamberlin and Ricker-Gilbert 2016; Ricker-Gilbert et al. 2019). Our descriptive statistics provide prima facie evidence of tenants bringing education and assets into agriculture and using those resources to acquire land from less welloff landlord households. Table 2 compares the means in input usage and soil fertility investments on tenants' rented-in plots (column [1]), tenants' ownercultivated plots (column [2]), and landlords' owner-cultivated plots (column [3]). First, we found that tenants were statistically more likely to apply purchased inputs-particularly herbicide and inorganic fertilizer-than were landlords, on average. However, tenants did not apply these inputs at statistically different rates for their rented-in plots (column [1]) versus their owner-cultivated plots (column [2]). However, longer-term investments showed strong statistical differences between tenant's owner-operated and rented-in plots: rented-in plots received less animal manure, which is consistent with other empirical studies previously cited (e.g., Gavian and Fafchamps 1996;Jacoby and Mansuri 2008;Muraoka, Jin, and Jayne 2018). Although we do not know what investments landlords might have made on the rented-out plots had they not been rented out, it is nonetheless worth noting that in comparing the rented-in plots (operated by tenants) in column (1) with the landlord's owneroperated plots in column (3), we found that there were statistically lower levels of longerterm investments on the rented-in plots managed by tenants for manure application and green compost application compared with the landlord's owner-operated plots.Considering the evidence from Table 2, that soil fertility investment seemed to be lower on rented-in plots than on owner-operated plots, Table 3 provides some descriptive evidence on factors associated with which plots landlords decided to rent out versus cultivate themselves. The table shows objective measures and landlords' subjective perceptions of the soil quality characteristics of their plots. Interestingly, most quality measures between the landlords owned versus rented-out plots were not statistically different. Landlords reported that their owner-operated and rented-out plots are of good quality at similar rates (45% and 47%, respectively), and objective measures of soil acidity, organic matter, and phosphorous were not statistically different from one another. There was no statistically significant difference in tenure insecurity on the plots that the average landlord rented-out versus cultivated themselves. However, rented-out plots were 17 percentage points less likely to have fruit trees planted on them (25% of plots), compared with landlords' owner-operated plots (42% of plots) (p < 0.01). These findings suggest that the soil quality of plots did not strongly influence whether they were rented out, although the presence of fruit trees-as income-and sustenance-generating assetswas likely important.This article seeks to provide insights into the relationships between soil fertility, land rental markets, and tenant and landlord interactions in Malawi. In this section we discuss how we test the key research questions presented in the article.Question 1: How did input use and soil fertility investment decisions differ across owned versus rented plots operated by tenants and landlords? First, we want to estimate how land rental markets affect input use and soil fertility investments. The specific plot-level inputs that we model in the study are (1) the number of times the plot was weeded, (2) if the farmer applied herbicides on the plot, (3) kilograms of inorganic fertilizer applied per hectare to the plot, and (4) if the farmer planted hybrid maize as the main crop on the plot. We would expect all of these to increase land productivity (yields) in the current year, but they all come with extra costs over traditional low-input farming systems. We briefly discuss these variables and the associated benefits and costs below.The dependent variable number of times the plot was weeded is an important input on the plot because effective weed management is widely known to encourage crop growth and enhance the nitrogen fertilizer use efficiency (Snapp et al. 2014). At the same time, weeding incurs labor costs, which affect the optimal number of times a plot is weeded. For example, Kamanga et al. (2014) found that, on average, when inorganic fertilizer was valued at highly subsidized prices through the Farm Input Support Program in Malawi, the financial returns to labor were generally higher when farmers weed twice instead of once. Conversely, when they valued fertilizer at commercial prices, they found that weeding once or twice did not generated returns to labor that exceeded the prevailing informal hired-in (ganyu) labor wage rate of $0.53 per day. Appendix Table A2 shows that in our data the median wage rate per day (four hours of work) for ganyu labor during the 2015-2016 season in Malawi was MWK 528, roughly equivalent to US$0.75, and that 45% of the sample hired in some ganyu labor. In addition, 50% of the plots in our data were weeded once and 41% were weeded twice.Herbicides are a technology to control weeds that can help farmers maintain yields and reduce labor costs, compared to weeding by hand in traditional smallholder cultivation systems. Furthermore, applying herbicides are an important input in minimum or zero tillage methods that are recommended as sustainable agricultural practices that farmers are often encouraged to adopt (Giller et al. 2009, discussed more below). The challenge for many smallholders is that applying herbicides means that they have to incur an extra input cost, and access to herbicides is severely limited in many parts of Malawi. Table 2 indicates that 21% of tenant's rented-in plots had herbicides applied to them, 24% of tenants' owner-cultivated plots had herbicides applied, and just 9% of landlords' owner-cultivated plots had herbicides applied. We did not attempt to value or create a price for herbicide because of the difficulty in standardizing the different types and quantities that farmers use. Regardless, the vast majority of smallholders do not apply herbicide regardless of ownership or cultivation status and have to resort to using traditional hand weeding methods.Inorganic fertilizer is regarded as an important yield-increasing input in maize production in Malawi's nitrogen-deficient soils (Maize Productivity Task Force, Action Group I 1999).The government of Malawi recommends that farmers apply inorganic fertilizer two times to their maize. The most common fertilizer blends in Malawi are NPK, used as basal fertilizer applied during planting, and urea used as a top dressing to be applied once maize has sprouted. Appendix Table A2 indicates that 65% of our sample applied some amount of inorganic fertilizer during 2015-2016. The median farmer in the sample who used inorganic fertilizer applied 100 kg, which is the recommended amount for one acre. The median commercial fertilizer price was MWK 360/kg roughly equivalent to US$0.50. This costs out to about US$50 in total expenditure on inorganic fertilizer at commercial prices for people who purchase it in Malawi. This is a significant financial outlay for many smallholders.Hybrid maize varieties have the potential to increase yields compared with traditional varieties. Hybrid varieties are shorter in stature than traditional varieties, and more of the plant's energy is transferred into the grain rather than the stock of the plant. In addition, many of the hybrid varieties in Malawi are early maturing and drought resistant, allowing farmers to maintain yields in response to more sporadic rainfall and drought that has occurred in recent years, including during 2015-2016 when our data were collected. Snapp et al. (2014) found that on average yields on hybrid maize plots in Malawi were 1,373 kg/ha and 1,289 kg/ha on plots with local maize varieties.Although there are yield benefits to hybrid seeds, there are additional costs and other potential drawbacks. First, hybrid seeds lose productivity if they are recycled, and seed should be purchased every year, compared with traditional varieties that can be saved and reused in multiple seasons. Second, Malawians tend to prefer the taste of traditional maize grain and traditional maize grain stores better than hybrid maize, so the former often fetches a higher output price at market (Lunduka, Fisher, and Snapp 2012). Appendix Table A2 indicates that 65% of households in our sample acquired hybrid maize seed through the subsidy program or by purchasing them on the commercial market. The table also shows that the median farmer who purchased commercial hybrid maize seed bought 10 kg, recommended for planting one acre. The median cost of commercial maize seed was MWK 700/kg, roughly equal to US$1.00.The plot-level soil fertility investments modeled in this article include (a) intercropping maize and legumes, (b) applying animal manure, (c) applying green compost, and (d) using minimum tillage methods. These practices can maintain or enhance soil fertility, leading to increased yields, profits, and potentially better nutrition and food security. However, when implementing these practices, it takes time for the benefits to be translated into increased productivity. This is especially true with minimum tillage. These practices impose additional costs in terms of labor and the need for complimentary input use (e.g., herbicides to control weeds when using minimum tillage). We briefly discuss these soil fertility-enhancing investments below.The general principle of intercropping in smallholder production systems involves planting maize with legumes, including common bean, groundnuts, pigeon pea, or soybean. Legumes fix nitrogen in the soil, which offsets the nitrogen that maize takes out of it. Over time this can reduce nitrogen depletion and reduces (but certainly does not eliminate) the need for inorganic fertilizer. Bell et al. (2018) surveyed farmers in Malawi's Shire River valley and found that the main reasons they intercropped maize with legumes were to diversify their crop portfolio, reduce risk of maize crop failure, and have more (nutritious) food to eat and sell. The potential drawbacks to maize and legume intercropping are that maize production intensity and yields decline with lower planting densities, and planting multiple crops together on a plot increases the amount of labor needed. The other challenge is that legume seeds have to be available when farmers need them at planting, which can be a problem for smallholders in Malawi. Kanyamuka, Jumbe, and Ricker-Gilbert (2018) found that the main reason adopters of the legume pigeon pea in Central Malawi stopped growing the crop was because they did not have consistent access to fresh seed.Applying organic animal manure to plots is generally viewed as a sustainable agricultural intensification strategy that can be used as an agronomic compliment to inorganic fertilizers in smallholder production systems. Manure adds organic matter to the soil and improves its structure so that plants can use additional nitrogen from inorganic fertilizer more efficiently. However, it takes time for organic matter to accumulate in the soil and for soil structures to improve (Holden and Lunduka 2012). At the same time, organic manure is bulky and expensive to transport compared with inorganic fertilizer. Due to severe land constraints in Malawi, particularly in the southern part of the country, livestock density is low, making the benefits of organic manure difficult to access for limited resource smallholders.Green compost is created from crop residues, branches, and other greenery that smallholders apply to their fields to build up organic matter in their soils. Mulching green compost into the soil can improve its fertility over time, but like animal manure, it takes several years for the benefits to be realized (Van Hulst and Posthumus 2016). In addition, crop residues have competing uses such as livestock feed, composting takes time to create, and it is labor intensive and bulky to transport and spread (Giller et al. 2009).Minimum or zero tillage systems where farmers avoid creating deep disturbances in the soil is often advanced as being an important component of sustainable agricultural intensification strategies (Giller et al. 2009). Minimum tillage is also considered as a key component of conservation agriculture (Ngoma et al. 2021). Leaving the soil untouched rather than creating ridges saves labor and increases fertility of the soil over time. It can also help prevent erosion and water logging caused by poorly constructed ridges. However, ridging is a traditional weed control strategy in smallholder production systems, and minimum tillage is not effective unless farmers have access to herbicides to control weeds (Ward et al. 2018). Given the resource constraints of many smallholder farmers and the lack of access to herbicides, it is difficult for many of them to practice minimum tillage methods.Our first empirical model considers how these input use and soil fertility-enhancing investments differ among plots with three distinct types of ownership and cultivation status: (A) a tenant's rented-in plot that he or she cultivates, (B) the tenant's owner-operated plot, and (C) the landlord's owner-operated plot. We model these relationships on plot i cultivated by household j in rental-pair p as follows:where X represents an input or soil fertility investment decision on the plot. The variable R is a binary indicator, equal to one if the plot belongs to plot status A, namely, that it is rented-in and thus cultivated by the tenant, while 1 β represents the corresponding parameter to estimate. The variable T is also a binary indicator, equal to one if the plot belongs to plot status B, the plot is owner-operated by the tenant. The corresponding parameter to estimate is 2 β . The interpretation of the coefficient estimates 1 β and 2 β are important for answering how input use and investments differ across the types of plot ownership and cultivation status. The sign and magnitude of 1 β tests and compares how input use and investments differ on a tenant's rented-in plot (plot status A) compared to his or her landlord's owner-operated plot (plot status C). The sign and magnitude of 2 β tests and compares how input use and investments differ on a tenant's owner-operated plot and his or her landlord's owner-operated plot (status B versus status C). We can compare the differences between a tenant's rented-in plot and his or her owner-operated plot (status A versus status B) with an F-test of equality between 1 β and 2 β . 7 Given the short-term nature of rental contracts in Malawi, we might expect input used to be higher among tenants and on rented-in plots compared with landlord's owneroperated plots because the tenant operators seek short-term yield gains on the rented land. As mentioned, previous literature from Malawi indicated that tenants were also likely to have more savings and assets than landlords, so were likely more able to purchase fertilizer, seed, pesticides, and other inputs. At the same time, we hypothesize that soil fertility investments might be lower on rented-in plots than they are on owner-cultivated plots, either managed by tenants or landlords. This is because of the longer time horizon for these benefits to materialize and the likely shorter-term nature of the rental arrangements, as seen in previous literature (Gavian and Fafcahmps 1996;Muraoka, Jin, and Jayne 2018). The comparison of the coefficient estimates 1 β and 2 β to each other and to the control (landlord's owner-operated plots) gives a more complete picture of decisions made by land owners and land operators that has yet to be analyzed (to our knowledge).Equation [1] also includes a set of household-level controls that are denoted by the vector H. These include prerental landholding, which includes all land cultivated by the household (excluding rented-in land) in addition to land that will be rented out, and land that is fallowed, used as a woodlot or in pasture. 8 The vector H also includes number of household members, a proxy for available family labor, along with number of mouths to feed. In addition, gender of the household head, age of the household head, household savings, value of household assets, number of plots cultivated by the household, if someone the household is a member of a village savings and loan association, and walking distance to nearest extension office are all included as control variables in H. The corresponding parameter vector in equation [1] is denoted by 3 β . We also add one other plot-level variable: distance to the plot from the operator's home in walking minutes. This factor is denoted by D, with corresponding parameter 4 β .The rental-pair-specific unobserved FE that could influence the rental decision is denoted by c in equation [1]. This variable captures unobserved differences across tenant-landlord pairs that could influence unobservable factors, such as ability, motivation, and which plots have been rented in or out. Such unobservable variables include social and power dynamics and social connections within the rental partner pair (Bellemare 2012;Deininger, Ali, and Alemu 2013). We deal with this potential source of endogeneity by estimating equation [1] using rental-pair FE. Rental-pair FE controls for unobserved heterogeneity in the tenant-landlord pair, but as Bellemare ( 2012) pointed out, it does not control for selection into rental status as a tenant or landlord. Rather, the results of this analysis are consistent for measuring effects conditional on being engaged in the land rental market as a tenant or a landlord. The results are not fully generalizable to the broader population of smallholders in Malawi but are relevant for people who are already either tenants or landlords. We argue that this is the primary population of interest here because some people in the smallholder population are unlikely to ever engage in land renting. Ultimately, we recognize that even with a rich set of controls and pair-specific FEs, we cannot assume full causality of our results. This is the case with any study using observational data, but we believe our analysis uncovers important relationships that are useful for smallholder agricultural policy in SSA.The plot and household specific error term is represented by , which is assumed to be uncorrelated with the observable covariates in equation 1 after controlling for rental-pair FE.Question 2: How do subjective and objective measures of soil fertility along with investments affect a landlord's rental decision? To answer this question, we explicitly model the landlord household j's rental decision for plot i at the beginning of the agricultural season as a function of the following:where Y is equal to one if the landlord chooses to rent out the plot and zero if she chooses to cultivate it herself. The first key covariate to consider in our analysis is denoted by S, which is equal to one if the household believes that the soil fertility on plot i is of good or very good quality and zero otherwise. The corresponding parameter to estimate is denoted by 1 α . The sign and statistical significance tests whether a landlord rents out the plot that she perceives to be of better or worse soil fertility. The variable I in equation [2] represents the binary indicator for whether there is a fruit tree on the plot. This variable is meant to proxy for the investment decisions made in previous years on the plot that may affect household income or the plot's soil fertility in the future. The fruit that the trees bear serves as a resource that the household can consume or sell, with 2 α as the corresponding parameter.This variable tests whether landlords are more or less likely to rent out the plots that have received an investment previously. Appendix Table A2 shows that 58% of households have ever purchased a fruit tree; conditional on purchasing a tree, five was the median number of trees purchased and six was the mean number purchased. The median fruit tree value was MWK 2,000 per tree (US$2.85), while the mean was MWK 3,779 (US$5.40).One may wonder if a fruit tree on a rented plot could have been planted by a tenant in the past rather than by the landlord. There is no way to rule this out for certain. However, it seems unlikely because most of the renting in this context is very short term, as evidenced in the previous literature (Lunduka, Holden, and Øygard 2009;Chamberlin and Ricker-Gilbert 2016;Ricker-Gilbert et al. 2019). Furthermore, Appendix Table A3 shows that that 78% of rented plots in our data were rented out for two years or less over the past five years. Because fruit trees are a relatively fixed investment, this suggests that any trees planted on rented-out plots were likely planted by the owning landlord sometime in the past. 9  The vector Q represents the unobservable, quantitative soil fertility measures on the plot's top soil (0-20 cm). These include the level of phosphorus measured in parts per million (ppm), level of organic matter in percent, and if the soil is acidic with pH below 5.2. The corresponding parameter vector is 3 α . These are important measures for testing the extent to which landlords are aware of objective soil fertility on the plot and how this may affect their rental decisions.We also include the variable C in equation [2] to provide us with a measure of how tenure insecurity affects the decision to rent. The variable is equal to one if the landlord believed that someone was likely to make a tenure claim against his or her plot. The corresponding parameter is 4 α . The error term in equation [2] has two components. First, the landlord-specific unobserved effect (FE) is denoted by a, while v denotes the household and plot-specific error.The identification strategy used to deal with correlation between the error term and observed covariates in equation [2] is similar to equation [1], as we are primarily concerned with omitted variable bias. We deal with this first by adding the plot-level controls as mentioned above, thus removing them as omitted variables in the model.Second, because we have multiple plots per household, we are able to use landlord FE to remove the individual landlord-specific error term, a, from equation [1]. Doing so removes demographic characteristics of the landlord, such as age, education, and gender, as those are constant for an individual landlord. The plot-specific error, v, is assumed to be uncorrelated with the covariates in equation [2], conditional on the observed covariates and a.Most of the dependent variables in the models presented in this article are binary responses, taking on a zero or one value (the only exceptions are number of times the plot was weeded and kilograms of inorganic fertilizer applied per hectare). We estimate these linearly using rental-pair FE as discussed earlier. As such, the binary dependent variables in these equations are estimated as an LPM. LPM has the advantage over a nonlinear estimator such as probit because it provides easy to interpret coefficients. LPM also allows us to use tenant-landlord pair FE, which would be biased in probit estimation, due to the incidental parameters problem (Wooldridge 2010). We cluster the standard errors of our estimates at the rental-pair level to deal with concerns about heteroskedasticity and serial correlation when using the LPM. β , and (3) his or her landlord's owner-operated plot(s) as the base for comparison. These models were estimated linearly via rental-pair FE to control for unobservable factors in the relationship between tenants and landlord pairs. We see that there was no statistical difference among ownership status and management of the plot for number of times the plot was weeded in column (1). However, in column (2), tenants were 8 percentage points more likely to apply herbicide on their owner-cultivated plot than were landlords on their owner-cultivated plot (p < 0.10). This was nearly double the 9% of landlords who applied herbicides to their owner-cultivated plots (as seen in Table 2). The same relationship held in column (3) for kilograms of inorganic fertilizer applied per hectare. Tenants applied 78 kg per ha more fertilizer on average on plots they owner-operated, compared with their landlords' owner-operated plots (p < 0.01). This was a substantial 51% increase over the mean fertilizer application on a landlord's plot of 152 kg per ha (as seen in Table 2). Tenants also applied nearly 61 kg more inorganic fertilizer per ha on rented-in plots than their landlords did on their owner-operated plots on average (p < 0.05). This was equivalent to a 40% increase in fertilizer application over their landlord's owner-operated plot(s) on average. However, we did not observe statistically significant differences between tenant-operated plots (both rented-in or owner-operated) and landlords' owner-operated plots in terms of number of times the plot was weeded or whether hybrid maize was the main crop. To evaluate differences between input usage by tenants on their owned versus rented-in plots, we computed F-tests comparing 1 β and 2 β for each model. The only significant difference was in column (4) (hybrid maize usage): tenants were 11 percentage points more likely to plant hybrid maize on their owned-plot than on their rented-in plots on average. (Appendix Table A4 shows the main crops that were planted on plots based on ownership and cultivation status.) One revealing insight from Appendix Table A4 is that tenants grew groundnuts on nearly 30% of rented-in plots, compared with groundnuts being grown on only 17% of tenants' owner-cultivated plots and 19% of landlords' plots. This may suggest that tenants focused on planting maize as a food security crop on their owned plots but were more likely to use the rented-in plots to expand their area cultivated into cash crops like groundnuts. Table 5 presents the results for factors affecting plot-level soil fertility investments among a tenant's rented-in plot(s) ( 1 β ) a tenant's owner-operated plot(s) ( 2 β ), and his or her landlord's owner-operated plot(s) (control). As in Table 4, the models in Table 5 were estimated linearly via rental-pair FE. For the most part, there are no statistically significant differences in the probability of longer-term investments for tenants' rented-in and owner-operated plots compared with their landlords' owner-cultivated plots. The only significant exception is that, on average, rented-in plots were 7 percentage points less likely to receive green compost by a tenant operator, compared with a landlord's green compost usage on their owner-operated fields. This result makes sense given the time, labor, and crop residues required to generate green compost: because crop residues have alternative uses and land renting is short-term, tenants may have greater incentives to apply such resources on their own plots, where lagged benefits will not be lost.The comparisons of tenant investments on rented-in versus his or her owner-cultivated plots were more striking ( 1 β = 2 β ). The F-tests at the bottom of columns (2), (3), and (4) Note: Standard errors are in parentheses. Models include a constant and district-level FEs. Districts are not completely collinear with the rental-pair location because we found four cases of tenants and landlord pairs residing in different districts. The number of observations = 948, with 169 matched tenant-landlord pairs; 1 indicated that tenants were much less likely to use animal manure, green compost, and minimum tillage practices on their rented-in plots than they were on their owner-operated plots by 11, 5, and 5 percentage points on average, respectively. These changes were very different from the means on tenant's owner-cultivated plots, representing a 42% decline in the probability of applying animal manure, a 45% decline in the probability of using green compost, and a 35% decline in the probability of using green compost, albeit from a relatively low base (as seen in Table 2).Regardless, these results were all in line with our expectations, and consistent with the previous literature about the inability of tenants to capture lagged returns under short-term tenancy arrangements (Gavian and Fafchamps 1996;Jacoby and Mansuri 2008;Lovo 2016;Muraoka, Jin, and Jayne 2018). As mentioned, these soil fertility-enhancing investments take time to generate returns. Furthermore, organic animal manure requires access to animals and labor; green compost requires access to labor and crop residues, which have alternative uses; and minimum tillage is enabled by herbicide application, which is an added input cost and access is very limited for many smallholders in Malawi. Obviously, if tenants have to make decisions about where to incur these costs to obtain soil fertility benefits from these investments, they generally choose to do so on their own plots rather than the rented ones. As such, it would seem that tenants in our sample were not investing in their rented-in plots and may in fact have been mining the soil nutrients on these plots. We also know that tenants in our sample were wealthier than landlords on average in terms of wealth, savings, and education. These findings raise the question that we address in Table 6: what factors affected the landlord's choice of which plot to rent out and which to retain for her own cultivation?Table 6 presents the results of the model that estimated factors associated with which plot(s) a landlord decided to rent out, estimated via landlord-FE LPM. Columns (1)-( 4) show the base model presented in equation [2] with alternative sets of explanatory factors in each column, while the specification in column (5) includes all factors simultaneously. We see from these results that a landlord's perception of the soil quality on the plot did not significantly affect his or her decision to rent out the plot. However, in columns (3) and ( 5), we see that plots with fruit trees on them were 49-51 percentage points less likely to be rented out, on average (p < 0.01). This suggests that landlords viewed fruit trees as important productive assets and were reluctant to part with plots that had such trees. 10  We also found evidence in column (2) that plots with higher soil organic matter were less likely to be rented out on average, with results approaching statistical significance (0.10 < p < 0.11).Interestingly, we found marginally significant evidence that landlords who felt insecure about their tenure claim to a plot were 29-33 percentage points more likely to rent it out on average than those who did not (0.05 < p < 0.10 in column [5]). One possible interpretation of this result is that if landlords were labor or capital constrained, and unable to farm all the land in their possession, they may have perceived a greater risk of appropriation/reallo cation from leaving the land idle rather than letting a tenant cultivate it. 11  Another possibility is that, facing some uncertainty about eventual reallocation by traditional authorities, a landlord would rather earn 10 This view is consistent with other studies that find that fruit trees on farms make important contributions to household consumption and income (Miller, Muñoz-Mora, and Christiaensen 2017). An alternative view is that fruit trees planted by the landlord may strengthen security of a landlord's claims to land and thus make renting out less subject to reallocation by customary authorities. This view does not seem to be supported by our results. One reason underlying this may have to do with the uncertain age of the fruit trees in question, which may well predate the current landlord's association with the plot.11 Most landlords in our sample said that they were motivated to rent out land by the need for cash, but this does not preclude the possibility that they were also more likely to rent out land they were unable to cultivate themselves. The lack of labor and capital with which to farm has been a well-documented motivation for renting out land, particularly for female-headed households, elsewhere in the region (e.g., Holden and Ghebru 2016;Holden, Deininger, andGhebru 2008, 2011 for Ethiopia). Furthermore, in Malawi, the relative scarcity of labor and capital resources, compared with landholding, was found to be positively associated with the likelihood of renting out land (Chamberlin and Ricker-Gilbert 2016). Nonetheless, we are unable to say whether a plot would have been cultivated by a landlord if she or he had not rented that plot out. income on a risky asset while such an opportunity remains available.We investigated this finding further by estimating a plot-level model of factors affecting the landlord's perception of insecurity across their plots. The model regressed a binary variable for insecurity (i.e., the expressed concern by the respondent that someone will challenge his or her tenure claim) on (1) distance from the home to the plot, (2) his or her subjective views on soil quality and soil color, (3) if the plot was obtained from the local chief (as opposed to inheriting it directly from a parent, or purchasing it with title), and (4) if the male in the household was the main operator of the plot. The estimation results of this model are shown in Appendix Table A5. They indicate that obtaining the plot from a chief had a marginally significant effect on landlord's perception of insecurity about the plot at the 10% level of significance. In fact, the coefficient estimate suggests that the average household who obtained the plot from the chief was 29%-31% more likely to feel insecure about their claim to it. This finding suggests that ceteris paribus when smallholders obtain plots directly from chiefs, rather than through inheritance claims or direct purchases, they are more likely to perceive a risk of having that land taken away. This may reflect that land obtained directly from chiefs was prob ably acquired more recently and could be more easily taken away, relative to land that has been inherited and controlled by the farmer's family for multiple generations.For each model specification results reported in Tables 4-6, we also generated a number of alternative specifications, with the objective of evaluating the robustness of our results. In Appendix Tables A6 and A7, we ran parsimonious models with and without pair-wise FE, as well as a specification with a full set of covariates but without the pair-wise FE. In Appendix Table A8 we show specifications that were analogous to the main landlord results in Table 6, but without landlord FE. Across the specifications in the appendixes, the signs were all the same and coefficients were generally of similar magnitude to our main results. Fewer coefficients were statistically significant in Tables 4-6 than they were in the appendixes, suggesting that the FE estimators with additional controls provided the most conservative estimates, justifying why we used them in our main analysis. Overall, our analytical conclusions did not change substantively when we added these robustness checks.Our findings are relevant to the contemporary policy debate on how best to facilitate sustainable intensification in SSA (Sanchez 2002;van Ittersum et al. 2016;Holden 2018;Jayne et al. 2019). Results suggest that the answer to this question is not simply a technological one but one that addresses how the incentives for soil fertility investments are conditioned by land institutions, including farmland rental markets. Population is growing rapidly in the region against a relatively fixed land base, and land rental markets are responding. Such markets are the most feasible way for land resources to be quickly and efficiently reallocated to those who wish to expand their cultivated area and to invest management and financial resources in the sector. However, our results suggest that in the absence of other interventions, the de facto expansion of rental markets in SSA will likely incur negative effects on soil fertility, even if sectoral productivity increases in the shorter term. This has implications for the long-run fertility and health of African soil, which are already in crisis (Drechsel et al. 2001;Sanchez 2002). The answer, surely, is not to restrict rental market development, which does appear to bring about important positive productivity gains (Holden, Otsuka, and Place 2009;Jin and Jayne 2013;Chamberlin and Ricker-Gilbert 2016), but to facilitate tenure security for landlords, which may facilitate longerterm rental arrangements, creating greater incentives for fertility investments by tenants. In addition, it may be possible to design contracts that incentivize longer-term investments directly. For example, in a study of land rental markets in the Czech Republic, Sklenicka et al. (2015) found that while owner-operators were more likely than tenants to invest in soil erosion control, tenants could be incentivized through subsidies to do so if an effective verification and payment system was put in place. This could perhaps be feasible in our context as we found evidence that tenants were more likely to invest in the soil fertility for their owner-operated plots than for their rented plots. This suggests that they know the benefits of soil fertility-enhancing measures but are not incentivized to care about them on their rented-in plots. Additional research may clarify the responsiveness of rental arrangements (and investments made in such rental contexts) to different levels of tenure security and contract choices.Nonetheless, on the basis of our results, we consider some simple benefit-cost calculations on the basis of expected input intensification by landlords in the short-run versus the costs of decreased soil fertility in the longer run. Column (3) in Table 4 indicated that on average, moving land from landlords to tenants added an extra 61 kg per ha to Malawi's soil. If we assume a maize to fertilizer response rate of 4:1 (Jayne and Rashid 2013), we obtain a return of an extra 244 kg of maize per ha compared with land managed by landlords. The nationally representative Fourth Integrated Household Survey of Malawi indicates that 13% of plots and 385,000 ha of land were rented during the 2015-2016 season. This suggests that an extra 23,500 tons of fertilizer was added to Malawi's soils through land renting, leading to an additional 94,000 tons of maize produced (assuming a 4:1 fertilizer to maize response ratio). If we assume a maize grain price at harvest of $250 per ton, then the total revenue from the additional production would be US$23.5 million in 2015-2016. Next the benefits of increased fertilizer and maize production need to be assessed against the cost of fertilizer and labor requirements of applying more fertilizer. In this study we found the average hired labor price was about US$1.40 a day, and we assumed it takes an extra day to apply 61 additional kilograms of fertilizer per hectare. We found fertilizer to be priced at $0.71 per kg on average in our data. As such the total cost of this increased production would be $0.71*61 kg + $1.40 = $45 per ha * 385,000 rented ha for a total cost of $17.33 million. This suggests that renting land generated a current year benefit/cost ratio of 1.36 (benefits of $23.5 million/costs of $17.33 million) on average in 2015-2016. The cost of renting land is considered to be a transfer from tenants to landlords, and the net benefits need to be weighed against the potential longer-term soil fertility decline from renting land, as evidenced by tenants being 7 percentage points less likely to apply green compost to rented-in plots than their landlords on average (Table 5). More detailed estimates of the longer-term costs of soil fertility declines under reduced soil fertility investments is beyond the scope of our analysis but certainly merits further study.This study used a unique data set on matched tenant-landlord pairs from four districts in Malawi to compare input use and soil fertility investment decisions among tenants' rented-in plots, tenants' owner-operated plots, and the owner-operated plots of their landlords. To our knowledge, this is the first study to do so, giving us greater insights into how tenant and landlord production decisions are affected by rental market participation. The latter has been particularly weak in the empirical literature because of low rates of observation of landlords relative to tenants in survey data (Chamberlin and Ricker-Gilbert 2016;Deininger, Xia, and Holden 2017). We also investigated the factors that affect landlords' decisions on which plots to rent out and which to cultivate herself at the start of the season. Since we have multiple plots per household and per rental pair, we use rental-pair and household FEs to identify our results.Our findings were consistent with earlier studies from Malawi, which indicated that tenants were generally wealthier than landlords on all dimensions besides prerental landholding; that is, assets, savings and education (Chamberlin and Ricker-Gilbert 2016;Ricker-Gilbert et al. 2019). Tenants in our sample were more likely to apply annual inputs like herbicide and inorganic fertilizer on their owner-operated plots compared with landlords. However, tenants were less likely to make soil fertility-enhancing investments such as applying green compost on their rented-in plots, compared with their landlords. In addition, tenants were less likely to apply organic manure, green compost, or minimum tillage on rented-in plots than they were on their owner-cultivated plots. Previous studies have found that tenants were more likely to make longer-term soil conservation/ enhancement investments on owner-operated plots relative to rented-in plots (Gavian and Fafchamps 1996;Jacoby and Mansuri 2008;Lovo 2016;Muraoka, Jin, and Jayne 2018). Our results add to this literature by comparing a variety of soil fertility investments on tenants' rented-in plots, their owner-operated plots, and their landlord's owner-operated plots, using our matched sample. Furthermore, it seemed that the major factor affecting whether a landlord rented out a plot was the presence of readily observable endowments, as landlords were 49-51 percentage points less likely to rent out a plot with fruit trees on it.Our overarching interest has been to generate policy-relevant insights about the effects of rental market participation on soil fertility investments through a more comprehensive assessment of landlord and tenant sides of the market than has been done to date. Our comparison of rented and unrented plots operated by tenants is consistent with earlier studies suggesting that soil fertility investments are lower in rented-in plots compared with tenant's owner-operated plots. However, our comparison of rented out versus landlord operated plots-which has largely been unexamined in prior literature-offers tentative evidence of differences in soil fertility management, primarily via lower use of green compost but not through the other investments evaluated. More empirical work, covering larger geographical diversity, will help clarify the net soil fertility management implications of expanding farmland rental markets in the longer term. The short-term gains from higher expected fertilizer investments by wealthier tenant farmers appear to be important, but figuring out how to incentivize greater fertility investments in farming systems that are increasingly defined by rental transactions is essential for sustainable productivity increases in the region. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fecddcd0ed6ae798952df31aef422894","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/26c9c7bf-9608-41cd-9b6d-2c8365835e52/retrieve","id":"932910456"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4c9f51b8-8024-485e-a5cf-5d0deac16e68","content":"1 Introduction La gestion durable des systèmes agro pastoraux, fait face à divers défis, tels que le développement des filières, l'amélioration de la gestion des ressources naturelles, l'aménagement du territoire, l'élevage, etc. Ceux-ci ne dépendent pas seulement des technologies, mais largement des institutions, marchés et politiques, qui sont en constante évolution. La production des connaissances en soi n'est pas suffisante pour répondre à ces défis, il exige l'innovation, un processus social par lequel le savoir est créé, diffusé, accessible, adapté et, plus important, mis en application, de façon économique et sociale, et implique plusieurs intervenants provenant des communautés, du gouvernement, des ONG, la recherche et le secteur privé. Bien que cette approche puisse nécessiter plus de temps et une facilitation intensive, les résultats sont susceptibles d'être plus durables et de plus grande envergure.Les acteurs au niveau du site mènent des activités telles que la commercialisation du bétail, la gestion des ressources naturelles, l'aménagement du territoire, activités qui se déroulent dans un environnement en constante évolution, le degré auquel les acteurs sont en mesure de répondre aux changements dépend de leurs capacités individuelles / organisationnelles (y compris ressources, compétences, attitudes, etc.), la culture institutionnelle/organisationnelle, la nature des politiques et la disponibilité des infrastructures d'appui (technique et humain).Une façon de stimuler l'innovation est de créer des conditions pour différents types d'acteurs d'interagir et de travailler conjointement. Une plateforme d'innovation (PI) est un mécanisme visant à renforcer les capacités de communication et d'innovation entre les acteurs mutuellement dépendants, en améliorant les interactions, la coordination et la cohérence entre tous les acteurs pour faciliter l'apprentissage et contribuer à la production et l'utilisation des connaissances. Basé sur un système d'innovation optique, une plateforme d'innovation va au-delà de la triade habituelle des agriculteurs, la vulgarisation et les instituts de recherche, et implique un plus large groupe de parties prenantes pour traiter des contraintes institutionnelles. Il est prévu de réunir les différents acteurs pour le partage des expériences, des connaissances, des compétences, des idées et des ressources afin de contribuer à la résolution des problèmes et à l'exploitation des opportunités d'intérêt commun.PROGEBE et MOBIOM vont oeuvrer pour la promotion de la formation et le fonctionnement d'une plate-forme d'innovation au niveau de la commune de Yorobougoula afin d'améliorer l'interaction, la communication, l'échange d'informations entre les acteurs concernés et d'améliorer leur capacité et de la coordination.Le but de la création des plateformes d'innovation au niveau du site est d'habiliter les communautés locales et les acteurs d'analyser leurs propres contraintes/faiblesses et les opportunités/forces et de renforcer leurs capacités à innover à travers un meilleur accès aux connaissances existantes et nouvelles, aux informations et services qui améliorent la performance de leurs entreprises. Elles sont envisagées pour être orientées vers des fora d'apprentissage pour la gestion durable du système agro pastoral. Améliorer la performance du système agro pastoral (grâce à une meilleure production, une meilleure gestion et un meilleur marketing) en créant des liens entre les différents acteurs (agriculteurs, prestataires publics et privés de services, commerçants, transformateurs) qui pourraient améliorer l'accès aux intrants, aux services, aux informations, aux connaissances et aux marchés;  Améliorer la coordination et la synergie des activités des divers acteurs pour une gestion durable du système agro pastoral ;  Promouvoir les capacités techniques, organisationnelles et institutionnelles (gouvernance locale) au niveau du site en matière de conservation, de production et de commercialisation pour la gestion durable du système agro pastoral. L'attention a été attirée sur les intérêts du renforcement des capacités des acteurs, le caractère non permanent de l'appartenance à la plateforme, la nécessité de l'information et de la sensibilisation des membres, les avantages de l'implication du secteur privé, des organisations communautaires, la nécessité de l'utilisation des supports audio visuels et écrits.Les facilitateurs ont illustré les points abordés à l'aide d'exemples des cas de réussite au Mali ou en Ouganda.Les discussions ont surtout porté sur :  le système de gouvernance de la plateforme : les facilitateurs affirment que le système de gouvernance doit être élaboré au sein de la plateforme pour assurer son bon fonctionnement ;  le renforcement des capacités : Il est indispensable pour la réussite et la durabilité du système. Dans la PI il y a toujours des besoins en formation qui apparaissent, il faut les identifier et les planifier. La reconnaissance officielle (document officiel) : ces genres de lourdeurs administratives sont à éviter car elles peuvent nuire au fonctionnement de la plate forme ;  la taille/couverture zonale de la plateforme : il est préférable de commencer par une plateforme de petite taille qui peut s'agrandir que de commencer par une plate forme de grande taille pas certainement viable ;  les parties prenantes : Il faut identifier les vrais acteurs et éviter de prendre les acteurs à titre figuratif ou prestigieux.  La possibilité d'utiliser le comité de pilotage de Madina Diassa comme base pour la plateforme. Le comité de pilotage est composé de beaucoup d'acteurs et fonctionne. Les facilitateurs ont affirmé que le comité de pilotage peut être utilisé comme base.Information sensibilisation des acteurs dans le cadre de la mise en place des plateformes d'innovation Tenue de la 1 ère réunion à Yorobougoula.L'atelier a regroupé les représentants des agro éleveurs, des services techniques, de la Recherche, des ONG, de la caisse de micro crédit, du PROGEBE et de MOBIOM.Identification des acteurs, des contraintes et de l'enjeu central : la filière petits ruminants a été identifiée comme étant la filière la plus porteuse.-Manque de produits vétérinaires.-Manque d'eau en saison sèche pour l'abreuvement du cheptel -Manque de matériels et équipements -Inorganisation du marché.La filière « petits ruminants » est ressortie comme filière porteuse.Les différentes espèces fourragères utilisées par les agro éleveurs dans le cadre de l'alimentation du cheptel sont : les fanes d'arachide et de niébé, la paille de riz, le son de maïs.Méthodologie adoptée pour la mise en place de la plateforme d'innovation :  Identification de chaque participant dans le cadre d'une filière  Constitution de groupes de travail  Expression des attentes des participants dans la plateforme  Définition des rôles au sein de la plateforme  Trouver un nom pour la plateforme qui fait référence aux petits ruminants et aux cultures fourragères  Election du bureau de la plateforme  Elaboration du plan d'action 3Nom de la plateforme : Plateforme pour la promotion de l'agriculture et de l'élevage « Espoir de la communauté » Les objectifs de la plateforme sont de promouvoir la production et la commercialisation des petits ruminants, des céréales et légumineuses, par l'adoption des innovations qui favorisent l'intégration durable des systèmes agropastoraux dans la communauté.Communiqué final de la mise en place officielle de la plateforme \"faso jigiya 4 \" de Yorobougoula (site de Madina Diassa) Objectif général de plateformeElle a consisté à :  L'identification des différents acteurs qui auraient un intérêt quelconque sur les chaines de valeur relatives au petit ruminant, légumineuses (arachide et niébé), céréales (riz) et espèces arbustives fourragères et ligneuses.  Définition des rôles, attentes et besoins en formation des différents acteurs La plateforme devra essentiellement susciter auprès des différents acteurs, un engouement certain en vue d'oeuvrer à la promotion et la commercialisation du petit ruminant, légumineuses et céréales à travers l'adoption des innovations qui concourent à l'intégration durable des systèmes agro-sylvopastoraux dans la communauté. Le secteur le plus promoteur ici est celui de l'arachide, le niébé, le riz, les espèces arbustives fourragères et le petit ruminant.Et ceci devra être fait dans un cadre de concertation désigné plateforme d'innovation. Plateforme qui, de façon collégiale et consensuelle a été dénommée « Faso Jigiya » ou encore « L'espoir de la communauté ». Au total 14 types d'acteurs étaient représentés avec une prépondérance des ONG et agro éleveurs (31% de membres des ONG et 21% de la communauté des agro éleveurs). Le reste étant composés de la recherche et développement, éleveurs, consommateurs, institution de micro finance, secteur privé et politique entre autres.Il a été par la suite procédé a la définition des rôles et attentes des différents acteurs. Le tableau cidessous présente la synthèse des résultats des discussions. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0c6dd56b8e5c43bee775ef3ed1cb7e5c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/04083c2a-eb47-4b48-93d5-7b62ce7036a2/content","id":"1376527721"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"55f962e8-2f97-4262-a904-42d5870de7c5","content":" EIAR (federal) & RARIs in 8 RCs  Major maize-legume growing agro-ecologies (semi-arid, humid, sub-humid, etc.)  CGS: 3 major maize-legume producing states  The zones host 33% maize growers 44% maize yield • CGS: 3 major maize legume producing regional states in 7 zone• Financial benefit analysis shows that conventional and conservation agriculture practices of maize-legume intercropping followed by sole maize with fertilizer gave higher margins.• Figures are in terms of benefit cost ratio from unit area (ha)Impact of agronomic practices on maize varieties performance and net maize income in Ethiopia  Means of grain yield (kg/ha) for maize and first belg beans in permanent plots in Loka-Abaya and Boricha district and southern Ethiopia• With respect to drought risk reduction, CA was found to be more resilient during moisture stress seasons (2012 and 2015)• Common bean rotation and intercropping with maize under CA gave consistently higher yield than a similar cropping system under CP in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia.• Yield is 4.4 to 7.0 t/ha and 2.6 to 3.1 t/haAmong CA practices, crop diversification has dual impacts using large (5740) set of data  Enhances productivity, and  reduces the downside risk in maize production on plots planted to improved maize and/or chemical fertilizer (Moti and Pawel, 2017).• Soil bulk density reduction was observed  Result of experiments in southern of Ethiopia show increase in the of soil macrofauna between CA and CP. Greater population of termites, ants, millipedes, and centipedes due to residue retention and intercropping "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b0680f860aec8e41d0a0e5363de7f4fe","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6bc3e236-b93a-48ec-9a39-244802e4adbb/retrieve","id":"-1913023862"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e585a5f8-10c1-4281-b51c-4825d306db54","content":"This policy brief summarizes key learnings derived from the initial phase of a project carried out by the Alliance of Biodiversity and CIAT and Solidaridad in the Brazilian Amazon. The project as part of the Agroecological TRANSITIONS program's Inclusive Digital Tools (ATDT) project. ATDT aims to promote innovations related to digital tools that enhance inclusiveness, integrate climate change resilience and mitigation with agroecological aims, and enable climateinformed agroecological transitions at scale. Drawing insights from this experience, this brief shares reflections on the success factors and dilemmas encountered, as well as practical solutions to overcome them.Agricultural extension is centered on the idea of applying scientific research to agricultural practices through farmer education, aiming to empower farmers in improving their management, production, and marketing practices (Leite et al., 2021). Agricultural extension programs often rely on the transmission of technical content generated in academic environments with little or no direct connection to the reality experienced by farmers. These programs typically adhere to the conventional approach of technology transfer and knowledge diffusion, wherein the only valid knowledge is generated in academic settings or derived from the market. Information is imposed from the top down onto the farmers and local rural extension agents, who are expected to assume a passive position in relation to the \"holders of information.\" While such hierarchical knowledge structures have been predominant within industrial agricultural research and extension, the agroecology movement recognizes that incorporating localized expertise and traditional tacit knowledge from rural communities into academic-scientific environments is central to transforming food systems (Utter et al., 2021). The concept of co-creation has been consolidating as an alternative to the conventional model of knowledge diffusion for promoting the necessary changes in food production systems, especially in low-income regions and countries (Utter et al., 2021). Knowledge co-creation is understood here as the interaction among different actors who intentionally seek to integrate their knowledge, learning, and experiences in the pursuit of◼ The integration of local traditional wisdom with academic-scientific knowledge has the potential to generate innovative and more effective solutions to challenges faced by farmers.◼ Adopting co-creation in digital innovations can support digital tool development that better meets the needs and expectations of farmers and extension agents, fostering a sense of ownership and increasing adoption.◼ The experience of Solidaridad in the state of Pará, Brazil, illustrates how applying co-creation principles to the development of digital tools allows for the emergence of new innovations rooted in the needs of farming communities.◼ This example illustrates the dilemmas that may arise in the practical application of the Principles for socially inclusive digital tools for smallholder farmers and brings to light the limitations of developing co-creation through digital technology.solutions to common problems. Applied specifically to agricultural practices, it refers to the collaborative development of farm practices among farmers, researchers, technical advisors, and others. It is framed as an approach of social inclusion to support farmers' agency, ability to express their needs and perspectives, and to make informed decisions (Dittmer et al., 2022).Concurrently, with a wider interest for co-creation approach, traditional agricultural extension methods are undergoing transformation driven by the proliferation of digital tools for advisory services. Digital tools are framed as a way to overcome challenges of rural extension in accessing farmers in remote areas and are disrupting the way knowledge is transferred to farmers. Digital technologies are reshaping how information about practices, processes, and work organization is disseminated (Schnebelin et al., 2021). The widespread availability and affordability of mobile phones and internet access, even in isolated regions and low-income countries, is making it possible to break the longstanding isolation from knowledge, information, and connections experienced by farmers (Fabregas et al., 2019).However, the positive impacts of using digital tools for agricultural extension are still modest (Coggins et al., 2022).In a study by the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS) on the status of digital advisory services across Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, a very low number of digital rural advisory services manage to effectively onboard and retain users over time and survive beyond the pilot phase (Larsen and Keller, 2023). One of the factors that may explain this scenario is that many digital solutions designed to facilitate rural advisory services often lack an attractive value proposition for the end user, whether it be the farmer or the extension agent. The most common business model among digital tool developers relies on delivering services in exchange for the information provided by the user. This tends to bias the value proposition of the product or service toward favoring data collection over delivering services and benefits to the end user. As a result, it is common that the farmer or extension agent struggle to use the tool or simply do not derive value from its use, discontinuing using the tool after one experience.In this context, applying co-creation principles to the development of digital tools emerges as a potential avenue to address these limitations and genuinely provide value to farmers as they strive for more productive, profitable, and climate-resilient production systems.The approach and methodology adopted at each stage of the ATDT project carried out by the Alliance of Biodiversity and CIAT and Solidaridad in the Brazilian Amazon were grounded in the Principles for digital development (2022) and the Principles for socially inclusive digital tools for smallholder farmers (Dittmer et al., 2022), providing a practical example of the application of these principles and the challenges and trade-offs it entails (Figure 1).Situated in the heart of the legal Amazon region, the state of Pará stands out as one of Brazil´s major cattle hubs. The deforestation rate is still alarmingly high due to agricultural expansion, despite significant progress in recent years. With 95% of smallholder-farms in the region not receiving any type of technical assistance service, it is a pivotal area for the development of a low-carbon beef cattle production system. Solidaridad has been working in the Southeast and Southwest Pará, in the municipalities of Novo Repartimento, Pacajá and Anapu, for over 10 years, focusing on developing and implementing with farmers a production model that promotes an increase in family income, while ensuring a reduction in carbon emissions and deforestation. The rural extension model developed by Solidaridad incorporates the use of digital tools to systematize information and facilitate the dissemination of technical content, following a conventional model of knowledge and technology diffusion. The approach taken within the framework of the ATDT project involved a fundamental reconsideration of this conventional top-down approach to the use of digital tools for agricultural extension. The framework aims to combine top-down (expert-to-farmer) with bottom-up (farmer-to-expert) and peer-to-peer (farmer-to-farmer) modes of communication to increase farmers´ agency and create practical conditions for the co-creation of locally relevant practices.The first step was to engage a diverse group of farmers and local extension agents. The next step was to foster an environment conducive to farmers expressing their needs and perceptions of the challenges to dissemination and adoption of low-carbon practices and to the emergence of new ideas for practical solutions and strategies, including digital tools, to overcome these challenges. For that purpose, a round of in-person participatory workshops was carried out in the territories, involving in total 90 people, including 15 Solidaridad's extension staff, five digital tool developers and 70 farmers with diverse profiles. Farmers raised a significant number of challenges centered around the accessibility of pertinent and locally tailored information. This extends beyond technical and productive aspects to encompass crucial sociocultural considerations and the importance for farmers to identify with the information sender. The significance of local influencers and success stories within the community emerged as pivotal in building trust and guaranteeing that action is taken towards the adoption of new practices.These insights shaped the requirements and specifications for new digital innovations developed by Solidaridad. The first step of the co-creation process resulted in the design and prototyping of a new digital tool, Solis, that builds on applications and social media widely used by producers and extension agents and on an existing Solidaridad mobile application to support extension staff in their daily routine, called Extension Solution. Solis encourages two-way interaction between extensionists and farmers and fosters the co-creation and sharing of audiovisual content on locally relevant practices among farmers and local agents (see this presentation on the development of Solis, 2023). On Solis, farmers can access the list of priority practices and individual guidance provided by their extension officer, update status of tasks, upload evidence and request validation from the extensionist. The most innovative part of the app is the social and gamified experience to encourage users to create their own videos, upload them on existing video platform (such as YouTube, Kwai, TikTok), interact and cooperate with other users online and offline. The end goal is to create and sustain a community-driven repository and social mechanisms to foster and sustain the generation and sharing of knowledge.Three months after the co-creation workshops, Solidaridad's team went back to the field to share a beta version of Solis with the farmers, get their feedback and start the second phase of the co-creation process, consisting in producing collaborative audiovisual content about production practices for publication on Solis. The feedback from the farmers and extension agents who participated in the session were incorporated in the 1.0 version of the app, which was launched one month later. During the activation sessions, the farmers were invited to access Solis, share their feedback on the product and to volunteer to record the first videos to be published on Solis.The next steps, planned for 2024, will focus on organizing dissemination and activation activities to scale the use of the tool, provide user support, and monitor the uptake and usage of the tool.There is no co-creation without trust, and building trust with farming communities takes time. A key success factor in creating the conditions for a genuine engagement and co-creation process with farmers has been the diversity of the skills and perspectives from the members of the Solidaridad team involved in this project, combined with the existence of a long-standing trust relationship between the organization and the farmers community. The multidisciplinary team, composed of developers, UX/UI specialists, product analyst and rural development professionals with field experience in the region, made it possible to build an approach that resonated with the language and mindset of farmers while following the process for digital product development. However, the team acknowledged that farmers engaged in the co-creation process were already beneficiaries of Solidaridad´s technical assistance and could inhibit the expression of challenges or unmet needs, either due to a fear of displeasing Solidaridad's technical staff or a desire to be positively perceived by the Solidaridad team.Researchers are aware of this kind of social desirability bias: the desire to be viewed positively or avoid criticism can influence people to present themselves in a more favorable light, potentially distorting the true picture of their attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors. Attempting to minimize this potential bias, a limited number of Solidaridad staff attended each session, participating as unobtrusive observers during the discussions. While the existing trust relationship remains the key factor for successful, enduring, and high-quality engagement in an authentic cocreation process, it is crucial to be mindful of the impact of social desirability mechanisms and to adopt measures to try to limit them.Engage diverse farmers is the first Principle for digital tool use and co-creation of best practices with farmers and a well-established pre-requirement for designing inclusive digital products. This requires gathering baseline data to understand the types of diversity among the targeted population (e.g., gender, age, language, ethnicity, land tenure, etc.), define subgroups relevant to the local context, and plan activities to enable genuine participation of individuals from these various subgroups.In any collaborative project, existing social relations and power relations may affect actors' willingness to share their opinion or advocate for their own needs and priorities or even inhibit participation of specific groups.Observations from previous interventions in farming communities indicated that women and young men and women often tend to be inhibited in the presence of older male producers. Conversely, older producers may experience discomfort discussing about digital tools in the presence of younger individuals, who are generally more acquainted and at ease with technology. To minimize the biases that may arise from existing or perceived power dynamics, the workshops with farmers were organized in non-mixed groups (respectively composed of women, young men and women, and men farmers) and in small settings, so that each participant could feel comfortable sharing their perspective.In this farming community, women tend to be more involved in administrative and farm management activities, sometimes having a higher level of education than men, and are generally more accustomed to using digital tools.In this context, it proved to be more effective to prioritize the engagement of young people and women in the design of the digital innovations and in the co-creation of practices as they tended to be more comfortable with the use of digital tools and the production of audiovisual content in the workshops.The proactivity of these individuals identified as \"digital early-adopters\" has been strategic for initiating the process of collaborative content creation, but it also poses challenges in terms of inclusivity as their ownership of the process may influence the format and type of content and result in an unintentional exclusion of older farmers that may not identify with the tool. Meeting high standards of inclusivity is crucial to ensure that nobody is left behind, but it is also important to recognize that some profiles of producers do not have an affinity for technology. In these cases, seeking solutions for their inclusion in the process should extend beyond digital innovations, involving the creation of alternative forms of participation not directly reliant on digital tool usage. In the case of Solis, encouraging younger producers to capture video and conduct interviews with their more experienced counterparts, valuing their knowledge and enabling them to contribute to the co-creation of practices without being direct users of the tool is an approach to be tested.In addition to collecting data on users' profile to understand diversity of profiles and socio-cultural norms, it is essential that the baseline for the development or scaling of digital tools includes a deep dive into the existing digital infrastructure and the determining factors associated with the use of digital technology. This encompasses factors such as the availability, coverage, and quality of broadband, as well as the affordability, type of devices (e.g., feature phones or smartphones) and digital services utilized by the target group. In the context of this project, nearly all farmers have a smartphone and use WhatsApp for farming activities and daily communication.While mobile internet coverage is relatively limited in the region, the overwhelming majority of farmers have a stable on-farm internet connection facilitated by satellite technology.One noteworthy insight shared by young farmers and women regarding their actual use of digital tools was their reliance on social media, such as WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram, and Kwai, to access information about production, despite the challenges they may encounter in accessing the internet, including cost and poor signal quality. Building upon this insight, the development team made two decisions:◼ Use WhatsApp as the point of entry to Solis: A valuable lesson from Solidaridad´s past experiences developing digital solutions is the process of downloading, installing, and creating an account is a challenge for older farmers compared to their younger counterparts. Therefore, it is essential for the initial access and registration process to be extremely simple and tailored to this audience. To address the difficulties faced by producers less familiar with using applications, Solis employs a technology that eliminates app store search, download, and registration hassles. Producers can access Solis through a link shared by extensionists on WhatsApp, requiring internet for automatic download only before offline use.◼ Use existing social media as the service to upload and publish content: once the video is published on these platforms, this content can be embedded and shared on Solis.While capitalizing on the current high engagement level of producers on these applications and reducing storage costs, this approach has a downside, which is the dependency on external platforms that may not adhere to the principles of digital development. The lack of control over external platforms raises concerns about privacy and potential misuse of content shared on these platforms, as farmers may inadvertently expose sensitive data or compromise privacy when sharing information on these platforms. It is therefore essential to consider these risks and implement measures to ensure that farmers have a comprehensive understanding of the consequences associated with sharing data on such platforms.Navigating diverse needs and prioritize ideas within budget and time constraints, while avoiding user frustration and maintaining their engagementApplying the principles of co-creation concept to the development of digital innovations starts with the creation of a conducive environment for the emergence of new ideas generated by the farmers themselves. This engagement of farmers from the early stage of ideation is crucial for creating tools that fit local needs and context, and for ensuring ownership, facilitating greater tool adoption and continued use. However, this also creates the challenge of managing expectations to prevent frustrations that could lead to disengagement. Prioritizing ideas based on time and budget constraints is inevitable and must occur early enough in the process, with clear communication.In this project, farmers proposed numerous solutions to address specific challenges in farm and livestock management. These suggestions encompassed tools for expense and income management, access to meteorological and market information, or health and animal weight management tools. When prioritizing the design of digital innovation, the development team thoroughly considered all these ideas, considering feasibility within time and budget constraints, potential for scalability and the versatility of the proposed solutions to address a wide range of needs expressed by farmers. While tools focused on digitizing specific aspects of the production or farm management process would bring significant benefits to producers, they would be confined to very specific value propositions with limited scaling potential. Moreover, solutions to fulfill these needs are already available in the market and could be introduced to farmers with proper support and training. The development team therefore opted to prioritize the primary overarching challenge identified by farmers: the absence of locally relevant and customized information on low-carbon practices.When the development team returned to the field to present the first version of Solis to the farmers and get their feedback, particular attention was given to communication to explain why this idea was prioritized over other needs and avoid creating frustrations. As stated in the \"design with the user\" principle of The Principles for digital development, it is critical to maintain a strong proximity to users and embrace an iterative process, that allows for incorporating feedback and adapting the tool after the initial testing and launch. Transparent communication regarding budget and time constraints and the logic of prioritization is also crucial for maintaining trust in the process and sustaining engagement.Facilitating information flows among farmers while ensuring quality of content and easy accessFacilitating information flows among farmers, and between farmers and advisors is a sub-principle for digital tool use and co-creation of best practices with farmers (Dittmer et al., 2022). It also forms the core value proposition of Solis, stemming from the recognition that farmers are eager to share their own experiences and learn from \"familiar faces.\" The content quality and technical validity of co-created practices is key to ensure that Solis effectively helps farmers transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient production models. Developing costefficient mechanisms for the curation and classification of content becomes an essential requirement to ensure the tool's credibility while facilitating access and retaining users. However, to expand access to tens or hundreds of thousands of users, the publication, curation, and classification of content cannot be managed manually. This brings forth a dilemma: while co-creation inherently entails direct and human interaction among farmers, researchers, extension staff and other custodians of knowledge, the scalability imperative dictates the automation of certain facets of the process.In the case of Solis, the development team is exploring how to incorporate Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence technologies-already widely utilized by platforms like YouTube and Instagram for content management -to support the curation of co-created content. However, it is also clear that sustaining a genuine process of co-creation of practices requires ongoing in-person support activities in the field. Solis is not to replace face-to-face interactions among or between farmers and extension staff. Instead, its purpose is to complement and enhance spontaneous exchange within communities and during rural extension events. In essence, Solis was conceived as a social technology, harnessing the power of a digital tool to facilitate the establishment of an \"informational solidarity network\" aimed at supporting individual and collective capacitybuilding and decision-making by using content generated by the community. For this reason, the deployment strategy of Solis will involve the formation of a specialized team for content creation and social media management, as well as a specialist in agroecology to provide individualized assistance in the field and coordinate engagement actions for producers and other extension technicians with the new digital tool. Local agents will also be trained to as ambassadors for agroecology and the digitization of their communities.Although the use of digital technology is the enabler of this new format of exchange between farmers, extension workers and other specialists, the challenge of content curation also highlights the limitations of developing cocreation through digital tools.Creating the support ecosystem needed for adoption and retention while ensuring a sustainable business modelThe need to provide support through human intermediaries to help farmers adopt the tool also poses a financial challenge: how to develop a sound business model that facilitates affordable farmer access while covering the costs of maintaining a digital tool and the support system?Developing and maintaining a support infrastructure for the use of digital tools by smallholder farmers includes dissemination and activation campaigns, training and user support activities, and complementary engagement activities to enable continuous creation and updating of content and co-creation of practices. These activities incur a high cost that, unlike maintenance costs of a digital tool, does not decrease significantly with scale. One of the most common business models in the space of digital solutions for small-scale producers is to monetize the data collected from farmers to provide intelligence services to other stakeholders in the value chain. This model may require making trade-offs with the principles of using farmers' data responsibly and its implementation requires caution to preserve producers' privacy and ensure they provide informed consent for all type of uses of their data.At this stage of the process, Solidaridad is still refining the business model for Solis, in complementarity with other digital solutions in its portfolio and is considering moving towards a hybrid business model, combining grants, government support and fees for services derived from the use of Solis, while keeping Solis fully free for farmers and extension staff.The experience of The Alliance of Biodiversity and CIAT and Solidaridad illustrates the transformative potential of applying co-creation principles to the development of digital tools within the context of agricultural extension, but also provides a practical example of the dilemmas and challenges this entails. Leveraging digital tools to enable cocreation of practices requires a paradigm shift in how rural extension programs are conceived and executed, as well as a different approach to digital product development to ensure the needs and expectations of intended users are, and remain, at the forefront of the process.Initial findings and reactions to the new digital development suggest that the co-creation approach, coupled with local capacity building, holds significant potential for uncovering solutions aligned with farmers' expectations, provided that all actors remain aware that digital technology will not replace human interactions."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d0d4282d375023056bb506582dd63d75","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fb0f961d-4811-40fa-85d2-f89f866f1ad9/retrieve","id":"1028895971"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"aa2983e6-1d2e-4b18-8695-6693569fcf8f","content":"Colombian farmer fields were used to conduct gene flow analysis, and to identify indicators for easy monitoring of genetic introgression in the crop-weedy rice complex. Gene flow was assessed using as pollen donor a transgenic line carrying the RHBV-N protein-transgene conferring resistance to RHBV, and the gus and hph (hygromycin resistance) marker genes, and a non-transgenic rice variety locally known as Purple, characterized by having purple leaves, tillers, and grain apiculus, and dominant inheritance of anthocyanins Gene flow was traced first at the phenotypic level by detecting gus expression (from transgenic plants) or anthocyanin presence (from non-transgenic plants) in plant tissues, and putative hybrids were then confirmed by microsatellite (SSR) molecular markers, or alternatively directly at the genetic level without knowing the phenotypic profile by bulking DNA samples of various plants and analyze with the specific SSRs. PCR analysis was conducted to trace the presence of transgenes and SSR analysis to confirm the hybrid nature of recovered F1 plants (Figure 1).Herbicide resistance in rice derived from mutagenesis (imidazolinone resistance) was bred and released as improved variety Clearfield CF205® in Central America and Colombia. The herbicide resistant rice is a convenient model because of the easy tracking for the resistance trait in the weedy rice complex. Herbicide is used as a form of chemical control for the weed (positive selection). In the case of wild relatives of rice (Oryza genus) populations found in natural environments and in contact crop zones no herbicide is applied (neutral selection). Total of 499 accessions of weedy rice were collected from farmers fields prior and after planting 1 cycle of Clearfield CF205® tolerant to the herbicide Imazapic (IMI) in Jamundi, Valle del Cauca, and 501 accessions after planting 2-3 cycles of the variety in Tolima, (Colombia) (Fig. 2A). Flowering panicles of weedy rice in contact with flowering panicles of CF205® were randomly selected and collected (Fig. 2B). The acetolactate synthase (ALS) gene that confers resistance to the imazapic herbicide was sequenced and gene specific primers were designed to detect the single point mutation (single nucleotide polymorphism, SNP) in the ALS gene, and used to trace this gene in the weedy populations at landscape level using molecular bulk analysis (Fig. 3)Hybridization rates of about 0.01% to 0.3% confirmed by microsatellite (SSR) markers were obtained when either transgenes or the anthocyanin marker genes were used to trace gene flow under confined experimental conditions in about 24,000 derived progeny plants. All transgenic hybrids confirmed by SSR express gus gene and display the region of the promoter 35S CaMV. Progeny (49.866 plants) derived from weedy rice panicles collected in commercial Clearfield CF205® fields were first assayed for herbicide resistance in replicated field trials. DNA of herbicide resistant plants was bulked, analyzed to detect the presence of the ALS resistant gene (Fig 3 A), and subsequently to identify the number of individual plant (s) per bulk containing the ALS mutation (Fig. 3B, 3C). In the case of Valle del Cauca fields which had been planted just 1 cycle with CF205®, 9.3 % (17.566 plants) of the samples showed resistance to imazapic herbicide, but only 0.4% of these plants contained the ALS mutation from CF 205® confirming the outcross with weedy rice. The rest of the plants maybe indicative of cross-resistance to other ALS target herbicide resistance. This outcross rate is in accordance to previous results shown herein under controlled experimental conditions, and elsewhere.•Outcross of <0.5 % is predominantly from non-transgenic or transgenic rice into weedy rice under controlled experimental conditions. Similar rates were obtained in the first cycle of outcross at landscape level in Valle del Cauca.•The use of non-transgenic herbicide resistance as a model will give information on impact for introgression of non-transgenic resistance genes that may affect fitness of derived hybrids, invasiveness, population dynamics and genetic structure of the corresponding wild/weedy population, and for anticipating a potential impact from a transgenic situation. This information will be useful for in situ conservation, and could be applicable to develop guidelines for environmental safety and coexistence of different types of agriculture systems in the Neotropics.•Using bulk DNA and PCR-based analysis allows the assessment of large number of samples with a high precision to detect hybrids. This methodology is useful for tracking and monitoring gene flow at large scale in farmers' fields and in crop-to-wild contact zones. The scoring of phenotypic trait alone (i.e. gus expression, vegetative tissue color, herbicide resistance) could either under or overestimate the level of hybridization rate.•SSR can be used to determine gene flow but the population genetic structure needs to be known prior the analysis. In our study, thus methods and tools need to be adapted to assess out-cross at landscape level using specific SNP molecular markers detecting the gene of interest by bulk analysis, allowing to analyze large populations of samples (about 19.128 plants) in about 1 month. This protocol will also be applicable for analysis at ecological level."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f191c82d588e97ae68f7da2eeab0c5f1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/Flyer/REDD-safeguards-5.pdf","id":"1923874881"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0ef7d328-ea4a-45da-ae61-e09148b08e75","content":"Women from forest-dependent Indigenous Peoples (IPs) and local communities (LCs) play a key role in forest management, yet are frequently marginalized from decision making related to actions in their forests.• Overall, the design and implementation of REDD+ actions may be repeating the mistakes of prior conservation and development actions that failed to build in responsiveness to women's rights and gender equality; safeguards standards may be a way to change these practices.• Our analysis shows that despite a commendable turn away from gender-blind requirements in safeguards, there is still much to be done.• Most of the standards included some gender-related criteria regarding land and resource rights, but only one specifically considered securing IP and LC women's land and resource rights.• Standards have a range of gender equality requirements regarding REDD+ benefit sharing mechanisms; these range from strategies to assure women receive equal access to benefits, to securing women's participation in the construction of those mechanisms.• However, only two standards required that grievance mechanisms were gender-responsive or accessible to women; this is an aspect that should receive more attention to bridge the gap between the potential and real impact of these standards.Safeguards standards and guidelines can play an important role in achieving social and environmental goals in response to countries' and corporations' interest in 'Nature-based Solutions' to the climate crisis. Covered more broadly in the first flyer in this series, the rights and justice concerns regarding the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) framework for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) have largely related to Indigenous Peoples' and local communities' (IPs and LCs) access to land and natural resources, respect for their access to information about climate actions and participation in relevant decision making, as well as the fair  2016,2017,2019). Women, then, must be included and recognized in the decision making on design and implementation of climate policies and programmes for them to be effective and inclusive. This can build from, and amplify the action and agency of, the women of IPs and LCs across levels and scales.This international attention has not been reflected in the implementation of REDD+ on the ground. For example, community or joint forest management projects (including REDD+ projects) regularly exclude women and fail to recognize gender inequalities and roles; and when gender-specific considerations do occur, most focus on women's vulnerabilities, without addressing the differentiated experiences of the women of IPs and LCs (Löw 2020). Instead, development and implementation of climate mitigation and low emission development actions must first ensure recognition of the women of IPs and LCs and their experiences, but must also go beyond simply \"adding and stirring women into the REDD+ pot\" (Bee and Basnett 2017).Meaningful inclusion through gender-transformative approaches would strengthen or create systems that support gender equality by recognizing and addressing the formal and informal roots of marginalization from access to land and resources, as well as to relevant decision-making spaces and in benefit sharing (Pham et al. 2016;RRI 2017;Joshi et al. 2021). Project proponents would transcend 'gender-blind' approaches that conceptualize the 'community' or 'household' as undifferentiated cohesive units, and move beyond 'gender exploitative' activities that reinforce or capitalize on gender norms that structure inequalities by instrumentalizing women's traditional roles to achieve project goals (Arwida et al. 2016). This approach must be built on a recognition of the different knowledges, uses, experiences and values that men and women have in relation to forest resources (Mai et al. 2011). For example, research in six countries found that women and men in villages with REDD+ initiatives held different perspectives on well-being, and men had greater access to decision making and information regarding the distribution of benefits (Larson et al. 2018). Not only do women have different knowledges, but they may also be devalued, along with their forest activities. This can reinforce men's control over forest governance (Stiem and Krause 2016). When women are not just attendees, but recognized and included participants, evidence suggests that outcomes are not only more equitable but also more sustainable (Arora-Jonsson et al. 2019).Overall, the design and implementation of REDD+ initiatives may repeat the mistakes of prior conservation and development actions that failed to build in responsiveness to women's rights and gender equity (Larson et al. 2018;Pham et al. 2021). Genderblind initiatives may further marginalize women from participating in and benefitting from forest-based actions, reinforcing or exacerbating gendered inequalities, and devaluing women's work and knowledge (Westholm and Arora-Jonsson 2015; Bee and Basnett 2017; Howson 2017; Ickowitz et al. 2017). In the context of REDD+, voluntary safeguards standards may be a pathway to guide projects to more gender-transformative approaches. We explore that potential below.In what follows, we present our preliminary analysis of the official documents available for each standard or guideline (see the references at the end of this flyer).Most of the standards/guidelines (10/11) analysed in the table above explicitly consider gender issues; this growing gender awareness is commendable. Together, they present a wide scope of different requirements regarding the integration of gender considerations. These include the collection of gender disaggregated data (especially on tenure/resource rights) as part of project baselines, the inclusion of women in participatory spaces and holding gender-sensitive consultations, the design of equitable benefit sharing mechanisms, ensuring tenure security for both men and women, and the implementation of grievance mechanisms that are gender-responsive and accessible to women. Disaggregating data by gender or requiring specific consideration of the potential impacts on women in a project's social baseline is common (7/11). Nonetheless, most of the standards fall short on setting guidelines or requirements on how to use this data. Only one specifically requires a plan to address any differentiated impacts identified in the baseline.A more concrete action related to gender required by most of the standards (10/11) is to assure that project consultations are carried out in a 'gender-inclusive' or 'gender-sensitive' manner, or at least with the participation of women. In the standards reviewed, gender-inclusive or -sensitive usually refers to overcoming the participation barriers that impact women and ensuring women have a voice in decision making. Nonetheless, there are no specific guidelines on how to do so in any of the standards, or specific indicators to measure when this is accomplished. Most of the standards require this for all consultations, and one specifically requires it for consultations regarding benefit sharing. women. Given the potential of REDD+ actions to impact the rights of IPs and LCs, this is an aspect that should receive more attention. If women are disadvantaged or negatively affected by other measures, there must be appropriate channels for them to raise their concerns without repercussions, as well as pathways for redress when required.From gender-blind initiatives to a gender-transformative REDD+Our preliminary analysis shows that despite a commendable turn away from gender-blind requirements (10/11) in the safeguards related to voluntary standards and the guidelines of multilateral financial institutions, there is much more to do. REDD+ initiatives are missing an opportunity to go beyond minimum 'do no harm' standards to engage with IP and LC women as rightsholders, changemakers, leaders, and partners in the effort to address the climate emergency.A gender-transformative approach to REDD+ would challenge the underlying structures and processes that uphold inequality, for example seeking to address the underlying root causes of the gender-differentiated impacts of climate change. This requires actions that go beyond being gender sensitive -or that seek to 'do no harm' -and instead actively and strategically promote gender equality, women's empowerment, inclusion, and equal access to land, resources and benefits for men and women (Kabeer 2010; Elias et al 2021). REDD+ standards and relevant guidelines must be designed to address the differentiated needs and priorities of all members of IPs and LCs, and collaborate towards gender inclusion by harnessing women's strengths and voices. REDD+ initiatives and their proponents can catalyse transformation through collaborations and partnerships with communities that ensure inclusion and equal access to land, resources, and benefits and support self-determination. Standards can provide them with specific implementation guidelines and indicators to monitor progress towards a gendertransformative REDD+.We will continue to update our analysis as part of GCS REDD+'s engagement with REDD+ safeguards, providing evidence-based recommendations towards a rightsresponsive REDD+ that brings benefits to both forests and the men and women that steward them."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f40ef064265b9fcb02a3729aad68780d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e11f4c96-73d1-4e73-af38-de1bd8c51250/retrieve","id":"2016859236"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e43175bf-13f7-4aaa-a30b-693b78c520c4","content":"The cultivation of rice (Oryza sativa) necessitates contemporary crop and soil management practices. Therefore, Rice Crop Manager (RCM), a web-based decision support tool has been developed to provide site specific nutrient recommendations in Odisha, India. The tool is functional and has been deployed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to cater to the needs of the farmers based on a brief questionnaire about their current farming procedures. The data generated is now used to make informed decisions about ideal conditions of rice planting, adoption of optimized irrigation, weed management etc. Extraction of useful insights from the data by an extended use of statistics, artificial intelligence (AI), domain knowledge, predictive analysis comes under the parasol of the proposed work. Commencing from the year 2015 -till date 2,83,346 recommendations have been already spawned for 31 districts of Odisha state in eastern India. The analysis includes the most common varieties grown, the tentative date of sowing year-wise, the gender details, youth involvement and many more discernments. The functionality of RCM can be expanded to include not only the fertilizer recommendations but also to ensure decision making and develop support systems to cater to the needs of different stakeholders. The methodology makes use of cutting-edge technologies like machine learning to develop a model to select the optimum parameters involved to generate the recommendations. The target yield has been also estimated with a calibration and a validation ratio of 70:30 through performance evaluation particularly by computing R-Square, root mean square error and mean absolute error. The analysis showed that the approach is well suited for the kind of data acquired, later it may be automated to derive more valuable information for the benefit of the farmers.Shalini Gakhar 1 , Benedict Jardinero 1 , Preeti Bharti 1 , Rowena Castillo 1 , Jerome Vila 1 , Sheetal Sharma 1 1 International Rice Research InstituteUse of Artificial Intelligence for Rice Crop Manager (RCM) backend datasets to estimate yield in Odisha, IndiaThe FrameworkThe BackgroundDistrict, Field Size, crop per year, season, agroecology, establishment method, seedbed, Growth duration, seedling age, typical yield, harvesting method, residue management, weed control, herbicide, fertilizers used etc.1. Over 0.2 Millions observations have been collected through RCM, in Odisha.After rigorous data cleaning, the training file for the ANN model was created. 2. The observed yield from the on-farm experiments was taken for training the model, which was further used for remaining data to estimate yield. 3. Using Artificial intelligence and machine learning based approach the key parameters included to estimate the target yield will be identified that can substitute interviewing farmers. 4. The similar analysis will be extended to other districts of Odisha, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Philippines. 5. The acquired data can be used to derive useful insights for different stakeholders."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3952390290.json b/main/part_2/3952390290.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f1eb3722cd28801656293b8a15c5d1d7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cc4f0dd2-47a1-4cc8-87fd-c92fb712b957/retrieve","id":"-127319202"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f7233343-6cab-4dd4-b4a1-367cc336c8f3","content":"GENDER-RESPONSIVENESS of your project's technical farmer training events This resource sets out simple suggestions for ensuring that women as well as men feel included in training events, are fully informed about technological options, learn effectively, and have the confidence to implement what they have learned. Over time, if their experience has been successful, they should be able to build on the training course to innovate by themselves in response to their needs and changes in the wider environment. Good training events need more than great content. How you train is vitally important. It is essential that women and men -including youth, persons with disabilities, and other marginalized groups -are able to speak their minds and have opportunities to shape the training event for their own requirements. As future farmers, the needs of young women and men in farming households require special attention in order to encourage those interested to stay in the sector. Communities are diverse. Standardized one-size-fits-all training events are unlikely to work. Adapt and contextualize your basic training content to the real women and men, persons with disabilities, and other marginalized people in your target groups. Take a little timeto learn about who does what in the production system, and beyond that, to the market. This will help you tailor your training content to make it relevant to the women and men you are targeting. Make your event fun to attend and focus on participatory learning by doing. Listen to what your participants say. They will already know a lot about their specific agroecological and market systems. Ensure your training has scope for building on participants' existing knowledge; this will make it easier for them to assimilate new material and will make it more relevant.training events fun.Run discussion workshops, storytelling, role-plays, case studies, collective tasting and cooking events (men should also cook), and other activities. Include energizers, songs, and dance.Involve community members who can inspire participants. This helps strengthen buy-in from the community and the participants themselves.Facilitators should consider wearing bright colors. This brings energy to the room and the participants.Don't put participants on the spot, or as a negative point of reference.Build up women's skills and confidence by asking them to facilitate small group discussions, act as note-takers, or make presentations on behalf of their groups. This applies to people with disabilities, or living with chronic illnesses, and young women and men, too.A simple way of creating equality is to create small spaces to hear everyone's voice.People love to see their ideas valued in daily reviews, so give space for each person to speak -for example, one idea each, and acknowledge their input.Treat women as well as men as scientists and innovators.Find ways to involve, support, and highlight women farmers and young people (alongside men) as co-researchers and as demonstration farmers in field activities. This will help to develop their confidence and boost their standing as people worth listening to and emulating in the community.The project and the training event should walk the talk by enlisting women as trainers and having women staff in key decision-making positions.Facilitators should be role models for women and marginalized people's participation, representation, and inclusion.Think of key words or principles to guide your training event. Some good ones are inclusion, fun, helping people move forward, and walking your talk. Together with your training team and the participants themselves, you may think of more.The tip sheet includes some tried and tested principles. support men as well as women towards positive change.Collect information to make your training relevant.Find out women and men's priorities in relation to the technology. The perspectives of women and men are likely to be different because of their gender and other factors, such as age, caste, class, and ethnicity. They may have different responsibilities in their crop/livestock production systems and are likely to have distinct needs, interests, experiences, and resources.Work with the ideas of women and men technology users when designing training events. Conduct focus group discussions with target groups and key informants to develop training content. Pilot your event before rolling it out.Find out what members of your target group already know. Respect that knowledge and build on it.Promote technologies as menus rather than packages.Promote the ability of participants to select from and adapt a range of technologies.Build on women and men's existing expertise whilst helping them to find ways to develop their understanding and their roles in relation to the particular technology.Create space for discussion around the trade-offs between technological choices, and how trade-offs -for instance balancing use of residues between crop, livestock, and household requirements -may affect women's and men's work and benefits.Move beyond focusing on the technology itself. Discuss its place in wider change processes affecting the community -climate change, urbanization, etc. What are the implications for the technology you are introducing? How do the participants think they could adapt to the technology in the future?Making sure your course is relevant to both women and men is key. After all, they farm together.Farmers attend a training in Bangladesh. Photo: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT.Make your training event interactive and provide plenty of opportunities for participants to do, speak, share, think, and have fun.Ensure the training methodology is right for the participants.Plenty of practical, hands-on demonstrations work well, particularly in the participants' own fields. Learning by doing using one's own resources helps to promote control over experimental design and encourage experimentation.Language.Use the language spoken by participants rather than a national or international language, if appropriate. Women, in particular, may be less fluent in national languages.Don't use forms of language that promote hierarchies of understanding such as \"experts\" and \"trainees.\"Check for gender and other stereotypes.Check for hidden assumptions about gender and other matters in your training materials. These may make women or other socially marginalized participants feel excluded.Create a respectful atmosphere.Encourage people to respect each other's opinions however much they may disagree.Agree with everyone that the event is meant to be a safe space for learning and experience sharing.Ask participants not to make fun of others' well-intentioned comments or repeat unflattering stories outside the workshop. Confidentiality must be respected.Where possible, promote flat learning and knowledge-sharing structures.Move away from top-down lead farmer models to horizontal ones that promote group sharing and learning processes, both within and between groups.Within this, mentoring and peer replication approaches can be developed and supported.Foster positive interactions in mixed groups.If women are unfamiliar with speaking in public, create small safe environments with a maximum of four to six people.Make sure that there are at least two to three women in each small mixed group so they can support each other, and encourage them to speak.Encourage equal participation through group and pair work discussions, rotating seat assignments, limiting speaking time per participant, and male/female speaking order.Role-playing can be fun whilst encouraging debate around potentially sensitive topics, such as marketing.Ensure flat power relationships between women and men in a group setting. It is better to have equals in a group rather than boss/workers.In some cases, women may prefer to meet separately to formulate their ideas before bringing them (often anonymized) to the larger mixed group.Use ICTs, film, other media.Consider multi-media forms of training, such as information and communication technologies (ICTs), mobile phones, radio, and other media during and beyond the training event.Feedback.Course evaluation criteria should be robust and easy to use.Encourage women and men to comment openly on the processes of inclusion in the event and the training methods and content.Feedback should be disaggregated by gender.Ask participants to commit themselves to one action immediately after the course and to share these with others.Including women effectively in training events, and above all enabling them to take risks and implement new ideas and technologies, depends on a conducive environment. Research shows it is much harder for women to take risks and do things differently than for men. Men are often praised for taking a risk, even if they fail. Women who take risks may be laughed at, or marginalized, by other women as well as men.Engage community members in exploring how existing community structures could be developed to overcome gender barriers. Promote inclusion in training events, and safe learning and experimentation spaces. Ensure that the process is participatory and involves all segments of the communitywomen, men, youth, socially marginalized people, as well as opinion formers and decision-makers, at different points. Actively include experts such as agricultural extension workers from target communities.Help people in your target community and your other partners to identify the costs when women are not included. Get them on board to support women innovators.Build community appreciation of the benefits to participation by women, youth, and marginalized people.The training event will only work if people attend it voluntarily. To secure support for women's participation, sensitize the community in advance of the training event.Talk about women's participation with community leaders and opinion-formers, male household heads, and relatives in extended families (if appropriate, such as parentsin-law).Agree right from the start whether women will be trained together with men, or separately. Separate training runs the risk of creating a \"them and us\" feeling, but in some situations women need their own spaces to learn effectively.Identify and work with local gender/women's organizations to help secure participation and tackle problems that may arise.Go farm to farm to secure the engagement of women, and be ready to talk to all household members about their questions and concerns.Reach women via various social networks -religious, school-related, sports, savings groups, etc. Identify mobility, time, and other constraints that might limit women's participation in training activities. Discuss with community members and husbands, as well as with women, how these may be overcome. Usually, events held in the morning exclude women because they have to attend to household chores.with existing gender norms.Develop training activities to foster reflection and action around gendered attitudes and practices that may limit a family's ability to adopt new technologies and practices, and build on positive local gender norms that highlight women's knowledge and contributions.Use games that will make everybody laugh and then draw some learning related to the gender norms expressed in those games, and build from there.Work with young women on their participation and leadership skills and potential. Help them to construct new images of themselves as people with rights, aspirations, and dreams.Support men and boys.Gender-responsive training events can challenge the perceptions of men and boys around who does what, who is responsible, and who benefits. Depending on the type of project, it may be useful to consider ways to support men as they begin to confront and question cultures that shape their identities at home, in their community, at work, and in the media.Strengthen men's personal commitment to gender equality and equip them with the knowledge and skills to put that commitment into practice in their own lives.In some situations where interventions include long-term transformative change, it may be useful to create men-only groups to help men support each other in changing their behaviors and challenge concepts and practices related to traditional ways of being a man.Work with young men through organizing peer-training events.Farmers learn in Bangladesh. Photo: S. Mojumder/Drik/CIMMYT.Technology adopters are highly diverse in any community. People live in many forms of household, including child-headed, polygamous, male and female-headed, and so on. There may be different ethnic and religious groups, people with disabilities, and people living with HIV/AIDS. Getting young women and men on board and excited about farming is important. It is vital to target women in male-headed households, and women heads of household. Remember that targeting is not just about getting a specific number of selected groups into a training course. Understanding the gender-related constraints that limit women's participation and the type of support they require is important. Link women's participation in the training event to the wider goals of the whole family. Frame the development of women's knowledge and skills within broader goals centering on achieving the goals the family considers important (e.g., health, nutrition, and education).Ensure that direct links between women's contributions and entitlements are made. Build direct associations between women's improved capacity to contribute to the household economy (income generation, household food, and nutrition security) and their right to secure benefits in terms of more equitable food distribution and voice in cross-cutting expenditure decisions (e.g., investments in businesses, children's education, and other important goals). It is essential that the dreams and aspirations of the women, for themselves, are included in this.Women heads of household are frequently hard to reach. Evidence shows they are often early adopters and innovators. However, they may need special assistance to continue with their innovations. Whilst women benefit from remittances, others struggle with a lack of adult (often male) labor, weak access to productive resources, and low social capital. A special effort needs to be made to reach and support such women in training events, and to ensure the content is relevant to them. In some cases, supporting initiatives to develop the productive resources of such households may be important if they are to implement the new technologies effectively.in training events.In some cases, women-only training events may be best.Set straightforward targets -for example, at least 30% women's participation in the training event. The national government may set minimum quotas that should be taken as a starting point for building on (but should not define the limits to ambition!).Set a target for young people as well -for instance, 30% youth with 50:50 participation between female and male youth. This sets a cultural expectation which, even when the original participants move on, can be replicated in subsequent training events.Heads of household are often invited to training events, although they may not be responsible for actual technology implementation. It is best to ensure that both heads of household and their spouses participate.Ensure women heads of households are invited and supported to participate actively.Use the training course as an opportunity to address gender and social inequalities in the community. If the training is longer than a day, give participants homework on things to reflect on with their families or on their own. Ask them to share their reflections the next day.Make sure you have identified the needs of socially marginalized women and men for the technology addressed in the training and ensure you engage them successfully. Meet them prior to the training, if possible, to reassure them that their participation is important and encourage them to come. Marginalized people feel empowered when they come to the training event and are warmly welcomed by the facilitator. This builds their sense of self-worth.If possible, make individual visits to the marginalized population's homes to see how they are implementing the technologies and give on-the-spot advice. This promotes their standing in the community.Farmers learn about drought tolerant maize at field school. Photo: Anne Wangalachi/CIMMYT.Get the timing right.Consider seasonality with respect to both women's and men's work both on their own farms, and potentially as hired labor. Hold training courses when the demands of work are less. Ask the participants the best times and best venues for holding training events, bearing in mind women's daily activities, such as preparing food and hauling water. Don't make courses too long -one to two hours is probably just right, but check with the participants about what best suits them.Get the budget right.Addressing gender and social inequalities cost money. This must be budgeted for:Training events should, wherever possible, be located within villages or within easy reach of women's homes.Childcare may need to be provided (remember that family and friends are not always able to take on this responsibility).Should childcare not be possible or welcomed, make it clear that breast-feeding mothers, as well as toddlers, are welcome to attend the training. This will ensure that young mothers come.In some societies, chaperones may need to be transported, housed, and fed if the training takes place in a central location.Adequate sanitation facilities are particularly crucial to the participation of women and of participants with disabilities.Provide light refreshments to keep up energy levels and encourage group building. If lunch is required, pay local women to provide it. Consider encouraging men/ male youth to cook and serve. Make sure that women and men queue together rather than separately. Lunch can become a fun way of rethinking the gender norms that everyone carries with them.Women inspect maize seed in Zambia. Photo: P. Setimela/CIMMYT.Women and men often have different daily and seasonal schedules. Time training sessions around those schedules, and ensure that training sessions are not too long and easily accessible to women and persons with disabilities. In some cultural settings either women or men trainers may be more effective. Otherwise, aim for a gender balance in trainers. Male-female teams help segregated communities overcome some of their fears and taboos about women and men working together.Where possible, work with NGOs and women's groups and men's groups that focus on gender transformation to develop empowering training methodologies.Ensure diverse representation of social groups as peer trainers, mobilizers, and facilitators.Develop a cohort of excellent women and men facilitators to help women to participate actively. Aim towards at least 50% women trainers. If this is not possible, consider ways to build up the number of women in your training team.Pair less experienced facilitators with more seasoned facilitators with a good understanding of gender issues to share experiences and techniques.Train facilitators in techniques to help women speak. Encourage men to respect women's views and give them space to talk.Women can do technology too.Pair women and men staff to lead community introductions and trainings.Recruit women technical staff to teach on traditionally male-dominated topics, such as pesticide applications, mechanization, etc. Set a benchmark (e.g., 30% moving towards at least 50% for women field staff in key roles).Develop the skills of women in the community to conduct training. In the beginning, they can shadow experienced trainers in training events and be given responsibility for specific tasks.Women participants may feel more open with a woman trainer, be more willing to ask and answer questions and to admit knowledge gaps. Men may prefer their wives to have a female trainer. In such cases, it is important to ensure that women facilitators train women-only groups.Women facilitators may need specific support in the field and their work more broadly, including onsite childcare if they have young children.Ensure accommodation is safe with adequate sanitation.Encourage and support women to discuss their training experiences and any problems they may face which hamper their ability to work well.The training is just the beginning. Ensure reports and recommendations reflect on the gender issues raised by the training event.Provide refresher courses at set time periods.As part of the technical refresher, ask your participants how they have been adopting and adapting to the technologies you trained them on. Have there been any special issues facing women, youth, and other target groups? What can be done about them?Building in interactive discussions on these processes will help improve your own training events and make them even more technologically and socially relevant.Recognized community-level experts such as older women may be trained to mentor/ coach younger women -for example, on the technologies.Develop case studies or life stories of the adoption process to build into future training courses. Make sure these are anonymized.A Vietnamese farmer applies fertilizer. Photo: Mike Listman/CIMMYT."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"63468047419cb72ee333106a8764fb3b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/37d0f352-36ed-4c33-8ef1-3bb8412843ad/retrieve","id":"52775750"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ce3a9dd0-0131-4ca0-9903-b93ff21f8524","content":"Grafting is a technique whereby cut tissue surfaces of different plants are placed in close contact to make an effective union. Grafting is a universal method for transmitting viruses, because grafting can transmit systemic viruses. Some grafts, however, are easier to do than others. Grafting is particularly useful for transmission of phloem-restricted viruses that cannot be transmitted mechanically and viruses whose vectors remain unknown, and for detecting viruses found in low concentrations.Virus transmission by grafting may not be 100%-effective if the virus is unable to cross the graft union, or if the virus source plant was not totally invaded and the portion used was virusfree due to irregular virus distribution.Successful virus transmission depends on the characteristics of the virus and on the union achieved through grafting. A virus such as Sweetpotato chlorotic stunt virus (SPCSV), which is restricted to the vascular system, can be transmitted only when vascular tissues are united. On the other hand, viruses affecting the parenchyma (e.g. Sweetpotato feathery mottle virus, SPFMV) can be transmitted more easily because the transmission depends solely on the union of the cortex or the medula.There are several types of grafts, but wedge-graft is the most common used on sweetpotato virus diagnosis (see Figure 1). Grafting allows transmission of all viruses. Sweetpotato viruses infect Ipomoea setosa causing visible symptoms.A laboratory coat should always be worn when working in the greenhouse. New razor blades should be used when grafting per accession.Be careful when manipulating sulfuric acid 98% since it causes severe irritation and burns. May be harmful if swallowed. Avoid breathing vapor. Use with adequate ventilation. Avoid contact with eyes, skin, and clothes. Wash containers, glassware, seeds, etc., thoroughly after handling. Keep container closed. In case of spill, dilute with water and mop up, or absorb with an inert dry material and place in an appropriate waste disposal container. If necessary: Neutralize the residue with a dilute solution of sodium carbonate. Keep the seeds immersed in the acid for 60 min (or 20 min for I. nil seeds), making sure they are completely covered with acid. Keep under constant shaking at 120 rpm.  Pour off acid (preferably into adequate container for disposal).  Dip seeds in a container full of water and stir liquid for a few minutes with a rod (you may use a wide bottomed bucket or a plastic tray).  Rinse seeds 3-4 times and help with fingers to eliminate peel remaining attached to the seeds. Treated seeds are placed in plastic Petri dishes of 10 cm in diam. or trays containing tap or deionized water and five layers or 10 layers of water-soaked paper respectively (avoid excess water)  Cover seeds with an additional layer of paper and wet it.  Maintain seeds at 25°±4°C until germination. Add water if necessary. Do not use more than 30 seeds per plate or 150 seeds per tray.Production of plants  Three or four days after emergence of hypocotyl and radicle, eliminate the seed cover attached to the seedlings.  In a controlled screenhouse at 25°±4°C, transplant the seedlings to jiffy strips for 3-4 days and then to individual pots for approx. 2 weeks until plants have 2-3 fully expanded true leaves."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7e341dec8ed6f843d8f53ab1260e0d04","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/343d9fb8-9293-4e16-8b42-44068c5fcb56/retrieve","id":"-1962957971"},"keywords":["Research & Travel Grants Conferences","Workshops","Networking Opportunities"],"sieverID":"5868d61a-8a5b-4ffd-88e9-8f3f8f5eda08","content":"PhD studentship -machine learning for sustainable chemistry. application deadline: april 10, 2022. Click for details. n King's College PhD studentships in telecommunications, robotics, mechanical engineering, informatics, electronic engineering, and computer science subject areas. application deadline: april 11, 2022. Click for details. n CSIRO postdoctoral fellowship in food system transformation: constraints and barriers to change. application deadline: april 14, 2022. Click for details. n OWSD PhD fellowships for women scientists from science and technology-lagging countries to undertake PhD research in the natural, engineering, and information technology sciences. application deadline: april 15, 2022. Click for details. n Ghent University -PhD Position in the Center of Molecular Modeling. application deadline: april 15, 2022. Click for details. n Ghent University -PhD Position in Economic Evaluation of policies related to rural development and agriculture. application deadline: april 15, 2022. Click for details. n Coimbra Group Universities -Scholarship program for young African researchers from universities in sub-Saharan Africa. application deadline: april 15, 2022. Click for details. Fellowships, scholarships and internships 2 capacity development photo credit: ilRi"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/3983414243.json b/main/part_2/3983414243.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"557a7a60ff3619c5839713e6aea90d29","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/Water_Policy_Briefs/PDF/WPB30.pdf","id":"-1082844427"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a2b29fe9-7ea0-4469-8c97-49f259286dc0","content":"Biofuels are being touted as a solution to rising fuel prices, growing energy demands, and the need to curb emissions of greenhouse gases. Governments have good reasons for promoting biofuels. Yet, a headlong rush into growing biofuel crops will bring its own problems. Unless planned properly, biofuel crops are likely to escalate competition for water, especially in areas where it is already scarce.New research shows what options policymakers have for making tradeo s between biofuels and other uses of water. And, biofuel crops that give 'more crop per drop' lessen the negative impacts and boost the positive impacts.Biofuels are attracting a lot of interest. But, policymakers need to understand that growing crops as raw materials for biofuel will have a major impact on water resources, on agricultural production and food prices, on jobs and incomes in rural areas, and on the environment (Box 1). How biofuels will a ect these must be considered before going ahead (Box 2). Are the tradeo s worth making? Researchers have come up with a range of options to help policymakers strike the right balance.• Rising oil prices • Energy security concerns • Boosting jobs and incomes in rural areas • Lowering greenhouse gas emissions• Water is essential to grow biofuel crops. Most biofuel crops are thirsty and compete for already scarce water. • Clearing land and forests for biofuel crops releases carbon and reduces biodiversity. • Crops such as maize and wheat used as raw materials for biofuel rather than for food mean less food and higher prices. • Energy from biofuel isn't cheap. Biofuel production is still mostly subsidized.Many studies have been done to help policymakers develop policies for water, land, agriculture and the environment. But these studies have not taken into account what kinds of impact growing crops for biofuel might have.The Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture concluded that the world's water resources are enough-with the right policies and better water management -to feed the world, cut poverty and look after the environment. Now, new research highlights some of the problems of growing biofuel crops in areas where water is already scarce.Maize and sugarcane, grown to produce biofuel crops, need a lot of water. This will add to already erce competition for water from domestic users, industry, agriculture and the environment. It's already di cult to meet existing water demand in parts of Asia where water resources are overstretched and in sub-Saharan Africa where populations are growing. Allotting a share of water to biofuel crops in such cases could cause even more friction.If countries go ahead with their policies and plan to produce biofuels, 180 cubic kilometers of additional irrigation water will be needed. In some areas this won't put too much stress on water supplies. Biofuel crops in rainfed regions have little direct e ect on existing water allocations. But, ambitious plans in China and India to boost domestic production of biofuels raise serious concerns for future water supplies if traditional food crops-maize in China and sugarcane in India-are used (Table 1). Because of this, both countries are already looking at biofuel crops that use less water and do not compete directly with food crops.In rainfed areas, biofuel crops use 'green water' (water stored in the soil). But, if they use this green water more intensively than traditional land uses, biofuel crops may reduce the amount of water that ends up as 'blue water' in groundwater aquifers and rivers in the long run. River and groundwater systems wouldWater, food, energy, environment and rural livelihoods-are all linked therefore be a ected, although there is still a lot of uncertainty as to just how the production of energy crops might a ect river ows downstream.Table 1. A fourfold increase in biofuel crops between 2005 and 2030 raises serious concerns for water supplies. Although the additional irrigation water needed to grow biofuel crops is just a few percent of the global total, the impacts in some countries could be highly signi cant, with serious implications for water resources. Rapidly growing economies such as China and India are unlikely to be able to meet future biofuel and food demands without greatly aggravating water scarcity, unless alternative feedstocks are used.Biofuels are mainly produced from food crops such as wheat, maize, sugarcane, sugar beet and oil seeds. If, instead of being grown for food these crops are grown to supply raw material for biofuel, this may mean less food is produced and food prices rise. And a switch from an industrial crop, such as cotton, to a biofuel crop can have a large impact on livelihoods (Box 2).In Ethiopia, the spread of sugarcane as a biofuel crop in irrigated regions, and other biofuel crops in rainfed areas, could boost energy production and farmers' incomes. But there would be serious consequences for water use, food prices and rural livelihoods. Many sugarcane estates in the Blue Nile region already generate their own electricity using bagasse. In some cases, ethanol is produced and blended with kerosene to make K-50, a fuel used in factories and homes. But, increasing the area of sugarcane as a biofuel crop would oust cotton. Not only would this mean less water for other food crops and thus higher food prices, but many jobs, both farm and non-farm, and Ethiopia's nascent textile industry, would disappear. Plus, pastoralists would no longer be able to graze their animals on cotton stubble.Source: McCornick et al. 2008 While biofuels can provide jobs and new sources of income for the rural poor, particularly smallholders, poor urban consumers could su er higher food prices. And, even though 70% of the poor live in rural areas, the overall negative impact of higher food prices may outweigh the positive impacts of higher returns for their food and biofuel crops.But the change from growing food crops to growing crops for biofuel is only one factor in pushing up food prices. Rising energy prices push up the costs of food production. Trade barriers, subsidies, policies and marketing infrastructure are other factors a ecting food prices. The debate on biofuels must take into account the tradeo s between using water to produce raw materials for biofuel, and using water for other purposes. Tradeo s will need to minimize the negative impacts while enhancing the positive.Biofuel crops such as jatropha trees (used for biodiesel) and sweet sorghum (Box 4) can be grown in rainfed areas and, as well as needing much less water than conventional biofuel, can open up opportunities for small farmers and those on marginal land. But, policymakers will need to make sure that entrepreneurs wanting to get into biofuel crops don't push small farmers o their land and, if common land is taken over, that the people who use it don't lose out. Another factor to take into account is that these new biofuel crops may be risky. Not much is known yet about how jatropha, for example, will cope with drought or pests. Plus, small farmers going into biofuel crops will be vulnerable to volatile fuel prices in world markets. In terms of water, it makes a di erence where biofuel crops are grown. For example, a liter of ethanol made from irrigated sugarcane in India needs more than 25 times as much irrigation water as a liter of ethanol made from mostly rainfed sugarcane in Brazil (Table 3). Policymakers need to encourage farmers to grow biofuel crops under rainfed rather than irrigated conditions. Not only could such a policy boost agricultural returns in rainfed areas but, provided food crops aren't displaced, the impact on food production would be minimal. More e ective water policies and more e cient water institutions will be needed to put policies for better water use in place. The water sector already faces con icts between environmental goals on the one hand and food and livelihood goals on the other. Biofuel crops are likely to add to these. The issue of how to resolve these con icts with acceptable tradeo s is going to be a major concern for policymakers in developing regions, particularly in Asia and Africa (Box 3). Policymakers concerned about climate change are looking to biofuels as a key means of cutting greenhouse gas emissions. But, producing biofuels won't help countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions if they clear their forests to make room for energy crops, or disturb or burn peaty soils in the process-this will lead to an increase in carbon emissions-not a decrease.Policymakers need to encourage farmers to grow biofuel crops under rainfed rather than irrigated conditions. Policymakers should look for opportunities for synergies between biofuel crops and other goals. One good example is a scheme for growing biofuel crops and, at the same time, protecting watersheds (Box 5).In 10 to 20 years, new ways of making ethanol, for example, from waste straw and wood chippings using enzymes, may become cost-e ective. These will typically take less water than those using traditional energy crops. Policymakers' support for speeding up the development of new and more e cient technologies is going to be important.One of the reasons for turning to biofuels is to reduce emissions. But emissions will increase, not decrease, if forests are cleared to make room for biofuel crops and peaty soils are burned or disturbed. Policymakers should ensure that biofuel crops are only grown where this will not happen. They also need to consider how much it costs to produce and transport biofuels. Will it be cost-e ective?Box 5. Smallholder schemes protect watersheds and produce biodiesel Production of biofuels and watershed protection can go hand in hand. In Andhra Pradesh, India, a watershed development project is helping poor villagers grow pongamia and jatropha, both raw materials for biodiesel, on 'wastelands' . The scheme gives landless villagers rights to use and pro t from biodiesel tree crops planted to rehabilitate 300 hectares of degraded common land in Velchal and Kothlapur, Ranga Reddy district.Source: Pro-Poor Biofuels Outlook for Asia and Africa: ICRISAT's Perspective."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"15a3dd6b15bdd8808a12482ecf7bc547","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9b00dfbd-528e-430c-ac07-eb10fd6ae186/retrieve","id":"-358754812"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"53d53d89-848a-4491-a15a-be1304dc3c4e","content":"A relatively large body of literature has documented the welfare effects of smallholder farmers' participation in single-commodity output markets. However, limited empirical evidence is available when smallholder farmers participate in multiple-commodities output markets. We tried to fill this gap in the literature by estimating the impacts of smallholder farmers' contemporaneous participation in both maize and legume markets vis-à-vis in only maize or legume markets using household-level data from Tanzania. Applying a multinomial endogenous switching regression model that allows controlling for observed and unobserved heterogeneity associated with market participation in single-commodity and multiplecommodity markets, results showed that smallholder farmers' participation in both singleand multiple-commodity markets was positively and significantly associated with household income and food security. Moreover, the greatest benefits were obtained when farmers participated in multiple-commodity markets, suggesting the importance of policies promoting diversification in crop income sources to increase welfare and food security. Our findings also signal the complementary-rather than substitute-nature of accessing multiple-commodity markets for enhancing household livelihoods under a specialization strategy. Finally, important policy implications are suggested, from promoting and supporting public infrastructure investments to expanding road networks to reduce transportation costs, especially in remote communities, to enhance smallholder farmer access to profitable maize and legume markets in Tanzania.In Africa, south of the Sahara (SSA), North Africa, and the Middle East, more than 30% of the population shows poor market access and, specifically, SSA is immensely disadvantaged in infrastructure, thereby facing high transaction costs and market risks [1]. Good road infrastructure is often associated with better access to markets, which translates into lower transport costs, enhanced agricultural production, non-farm diversification, income, and food security [2][3][4]. The reduced transaction costs associated with better access to markets will inevitably lead to an increase in market participation, the number of crops produced, and the quantity of produce sold. Several studies support the positive relationship between market participation and household income [e.g., [5][6][7][8][9]. For example, [10] demonstrated that vegetable commercialization is positively and statistically significantly related to household income in Kenya. Similarly, [11] demonstrated that commercialization led to a reduction of income based as well as multidimensional poverty among smallholder farmers in Kenya. [6] also found that participation in the maize and pigeon pea markets in Tanzania had led to an increase in consumption expenditure, ranging from 19% to 29%.While there are several studies on the household income effects of smallholder farmers' participation, there are relatively few studies that have examined the relationship between market participation and food/nutrition security [e.g., [7][8][9]12]. More importantly, most of these studies assessed the welfare impacts of smallholder farmers' participation in a single-output market, overlooking the fact that most African smallholder farmers manage a farming system of multiple enterprises through interdependent decision-making process.Maize and legumes are the most important staple commodities in Tanzania, with, maize accounting for nearly 33% of caloric intake. Tanzania is also the largest producer and net exporter of common beans in Africa [13,14]. The synergy between the production of maize and legumes is not limited only to cash flow but also to soil nutrient flow as maize is intercropped or relay-cropped with legumes.We specifically consider maize and legume markets as multiple-output markets because of the double role of these crops for home consumption and market sales. Smallholder farmers produce maize and legumes as a strategy of stable cash flow and risk management, regardless of their level of market integration. In the past, maize and legumes were produced primarily for home consumption and income sources, respectively. However, as smallholder farmers started using improved maize technologies and marketing production surplus, maize sales turned out to be a major income source, complementing income from legumes. For example, as legume harvest occurs before maize harvest, farmers can earn from legume sales so that they can decide to delay maize sales along the agricultural season, benefiting from higher maize prices later in the season given their relatively greater variability than legume prices. This strategy provides not only steadier cash flow, but also more stable maize availability for home consumption.In this paper, we aim to fill this gap in the literature by assessing the impact of smallholder farmers' participation in multiple-output markets compared to single-output markets using multiple outcome variables (total household expenditure, food expenditure, household dietary diversity [HDD], duration of food insecurity [months], and household food insecurity access scale [HFIAS]). We contribute to the literature by assessing the income and food security impacts of smallholder farmers' contemporaneous participation in maize and legume markets vis-à-vis in only maize or legume market. To this end, we specify the instrumental variable (IV) based multinomial endogenous switching regression (MESR) model that allows controlling for observed and unobserved heterogeneity associated with market participation in singleoutput (maize or legume) and multiple-output (maize and legume) markets. The model is applied in a simultaneous framework using household-level data from Tanzania. This is a point of departure from most previous studies -e.g., [5,6]-, which assessed the determinants and impacts of maize and pigeon pea market participation on consumption expenditure in Tanzania. As a robustness check for the MESR model, we also estimate the multivalued inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (MIPWRA) model. It provides efficient estimates by allowing the modelling of the outcome and the treatment equations while requiring that only one of the two models be correctly specified to consistently estimate the impact owing to their double-robust property [15].The rest of the article is organized as follows. The next section describes the data and sampling strategy, while Section 3 presents the definitions of market participation, household income, and food security. Section 4 describes the conceptual and empirical frameworks. The penultimate section presents the results and discussion, and the last section draws conclusions and policy recommendations.We use micro-level data from a sample of 810 farm households conducted in two districts (Babati and Kiteto) in Manyara region and one district (Kongwa) in Dodoma region of Tanzania in 2014, which is the baseline evaluation survey of the Africa Research In Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) project. The survey, based on a cluster quasi-randomized control trial design, collected baseline information among three farmers' groups with their associated household members: a) Africa RISING participant farmers -that is, farmers who directly participate in Africa RISING activities in different ways such as by hosting and/or managing on-farm trials-, including 435 households in seven intervention villages; b) Africa RISING non-participant farmers including 105 households in the same seven intervention villages; and c) control farmers including 270 households in 18 non-intervention villages. Non-intervention villages were selected following a constrained randomization, hence randomly chosen among the universe of villages within the same agro-ecological zone as the seven intervention villages, but far from them to prevent the possibility of contamination. The household questionnaire was a multi-topic instrument specifically designed to collect information on the project's core topics, such as food security and nutrition, poverty, livelihoods, agricultural production, productivity, and practices. The survey instrument was administered in two visits using computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI).\"Data were collected using a household survey and were analyzed anonymously. Survey participants were randomly selected among the Africa RISING project beneficiaries and control group. All participants received a clear explanation of the survey objectives and were asked for their verbal informed consent to willingly participate in the study. If respondents declined to be interviewed, the reasons for their refusal were also recorded, and no respondent was forced to participate in the survey. Prior to conducting the study, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Internal Review Board approved the study on 8/21/2013 with the approval letter available upon request.\"In line with the theoretical market participation model developed by [16], a household is classified as a market participant if any of its members has sold any positive amount of maize and legumes during the last cropping season. Participation in maize and legume markets results in four (2 2 ) different market choices i.e. non-market participation (M 0 L 0 ), participation in maize market only (M 1 L 0 ), participation in legume market only (M 0 L 1 ), and participation in both maize and legume markets (M 1 L 1 ) (Table 1). Legumes include groundnut, common beans and all the remaining pulses (e.g., soybean, pigeon pea, chickpeas etc.).On average, about 28% of the households participated neither in maize nor in legume market, while 40% participated in both maize and legume markets. Relatively few farmers sold legumes (11%) compared with 20% of the farmers who sold maize, and this finding may also have implications for income and food security.In this study, we use total household expenditure as a proxy for household income. Total household expenditure includes food and non-food consumption expenditure incurred by the household during the previous 12 months. Household income is mainly used as an indicator of household wellbeing [e.g., [17][18][19], although some studies have used it as a food security indicator [e.g., 20,21].The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defined food security as a \"situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life\" [22]. This definition encompasses the four dimensions of food security, i.e., food availability, access, utilization, and stability. In our study, food security is measured by four indicators: household food expenditure, dietary diversity, number of months of food insecurity, and HFIAS. Food expenditure is an indicator of economic vulnerability: households that spend a large percentage of their income on food are more susceptible to food scarcity because a reduction in their income would most likely lead to a reduction in food consumption or quality of food eaten [23]. Food expenditure includes food purchased, own-consumption, and food received as gift or in-kind payment or exchange. Previous studies have used food expenditure as an indicator of food security [e.g., [24][25][26].Dietary diversity is defined as the number of different unique food items or food groups consumed over a given reference period [27]. Dietary diversity was initially developed as an indicator of quantity and quality of food access [28], although it is also a proxy for diet quality [25,29]. Some studies have used it even to measure food utilization [25]. In this study, we used the household dietary diversity score (HDDS) as an indicator of dietary diversity. As part of the survey, households were asked to report the food items they had consumed over the seven days before the interview. Items included cereals, roots and tubers, vegetables, livestock products, fruits, beverages, and condiments, classified into 12 food groups based on the guidelines provided by [29]. The HDDS expresses how many of the 12 food groups encompass food items consumed by any household member over the reference period. Hence, the HDDS ranges from 1 to 12.The number of months of food insecurity measures the length of time during which the household had a shortage of food to feed its members [30]. This is considered a self-reported measure of food (in)security, is based on perceptions of a general condition rather than on quantitative measurement. Finally, the HFIAS, developed through the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project (FANTA), is one of the widely used measures of household access to food and the degree of anxiety involved in its acquisition [31]. The HFIAS questions capture information on food shortage, food quantity, and quality of diet to determine the status of household access to food, proxying the general experience of food insecurity in the household [32]. The HFIAS ranges from 0 to 27, such that the higher the score, the more severe the food insecurity experienced [31].In many African countries, including Tanzania, smallholder farmers usually face imperfect input and output markets. Markets fail because farmers face proportional and fixed transaction costs such as long distances to the market, poor infrastructure that increase transportation costs, high marketing margins due to traders with local monopoly power, high search and recruitment costs and imperfect information, among others [33][34][35]. The differences in the marketing margins among smallholders arising from differential access to assets and services might explain the underlying heterogeneous market participation among them [36]. Because the transaction costs drive a wedge between household buying and selling prices [37], many households fail to participate in profitable markets. When households do not participate in markets, production and consumption decisions are non-separable [33].Smallholders' production and consumption decisions are non-separable because they produce both for consumption and sale, i.e., goods are both supplied and demanded by the same household. Thus, smallholders' market participation decisions are best analyzed using nonseparable household models. In a non-separable household model (as opposed to a separable model), the consumption and production decisions are linked through endogenous market prices and factors influencing transaction costs in the markets [35]. We, therefore, follow earlier work in the vein by [16,33,38] in viewing the decision to sell maize and legumes from the perspective of the non-separable household model, in which family members organize their labour to maximize utility over a bundle of consumption goods produced on the farm or purchased from the market, subject to an income constraint generated by a combination of farm production, sales, and non-farm earnings. According to [16], the decision to participate in the market may depend on public goods and services (e.g., a radio broadcast of prices that affects search costs and road accessibility to market), household characteristics (e.g., age, education, and sex), household assets and access to non-farm income inter alia.Nevertheless, the decision to participate in maize and legume markets may be endogenous as farmers may self-select into market participation based on both observable and unobservable characteristics. These characteristics may be systematically correlated with the outcome variables of interest, thereby leading to biased estimates. To account for any possible endogeneity, we model the single and joint decisions to participate in maize and legume markets in a multinomial framework. Using the MESR model, we proceed in two steps. In the first step, the decision to participate in the market (single and joint) is modelled using a multinomial logit selection model. In the second step, the impacts on our outcome variables of interest are estimated using ordinary least squares (OLS) with selectivity correction terms.It is envisaged that the cash income obtained from participating in maize and legume markets will contribute to household income, which will translate into more food purchases (quantity and diversity), thereby leading to improved household food security and nutrition [9,39]. It is generally believed that market participation leads to specialization in producing crops (usually cash crops) where they have a comparative advantage. However, [40] showed that on-farm diversification through intercropping a food and cash crop reduced market transaction costs borne by rural households and communities. Similarly, [41] found that integration into output markets was positively associated with a diversification of land use away from rice monoculture in Thailand. Therefore, considering the numerous risks that accompany smallholder agricultural production in developing countries, it is plausible to expect that farmers who jointly participate in the maize and legume markets have better welfare outcomes than those who participated in either of the two markets.We assume that farmers aim to maximize their utility U im by comparing the utility provided by alternative market choices, U ik such that a farmer will choose a combination of market participation alternatives, m over any alternative k if U im >U ik , k 6 ¼ m. Following, [42], let U � im denote the indirect utility associated with the mth choice, m = 1. . .4 for household i such that:where X i is a vector of exogenous covariates (e.g., age, education, sex, assets, and market access) and ε im is the idiosyncratic unobserved stochastic component. Even though the utility of participating in the maize and legume market is not observable, we observe the decision to participate in these markets such that a farmer will choose a combination of markets m over any other market k if:whereAssuming that ε im are independent and identically Gumbel distributed, that is, under the independence of irrelevant alternatives (IIA) hypothesis, [43], then as shown by [44], Eq 1 leads to the multinomial logit model. In the multinomial logit model, the probability that a household i will choose market m can be expressed as:Based on the expression in Eq 3, consistent maximum likelihood estimates can be obtained [43].In the second stage, we apply the [43] selection bias correction model to examine the relationship between each market participation choice (Table 1) and food security. This implies that households face a total of four regimes, with m = 1 as the reference category i.e. non-market participation. The income and food security outcome equation for each possible regime (m) can then be expressed as:where y im is the household income and food security of the ith farmer in regime m; Z represents a set of exogenous explanatory variables (e.g., household and farm-level characteristics and location variables) and η im are the error terms distributed with E (η im |X,z) = 0 and varðZ im jX; zÞ ¼ s 2 m . The outcome variables are only observed if and only if one of the possible market participation combinations is used [42,45]. Some unobservable factors that influence the probability to participate in the market could also influence income and food security, thereby leading to non-zero covariances between the error terms of the market participation equation, ε im and the outcome equation, η im . Therefore, the error terms in Eq (4), conditional on the sample selection criterion, have non-zero expected values, and OLS estimates will not be consistent. Consistent estimation of β m requires the inclusion of the selection correction terms of the choices in Eq 4. Following [45], the selectivity term or inverse mills ratio (IMR) (which can be computed from Eq 3) can be defined as:Where ρ is the correlation between ε mi and u im . In the multinomial choice setting, there are m−1 selection correction terms, one for each alternative market participation combination. Following [46], we incorporate the selectivity terms (λ) into Eq (4) to account for selection bias such that:where σ is the covariance between ε im and u im ; and v im is the error term with an expected value of zero. Although in principle, the parameters of the model can be identified using the non-linearities generated through the model (i.e., the IMR), we use exclusion restrictions or instruments for a more robust identification [47]. To achieve this, we need an instrumental variable (IV) correlated with the decision to participate in the market but does not determine income and food security, conditional on participation. We use the average number of motorcycles and bicycles (hereinafter \"transport equipment\") owned by households living in the same ward as the farmer himself/herself. A ward is an administrative structure or local authority area for a single town or portion of a bigger town (urban wards) which is smaller than a district. Rural wards are composed of several villages.We constructed this instrument following [9,11]. First, we counted the number of transport equipment owned by sample households in each ward but excluding the household in question. After that, we divided this number by the number of sample households in each ward, giving us a proportion of households with transport equipment in the ward. Averaging the number of transport equipment in a ward as opposed to individual ownership ensures that the instrument is not directly correlated with our household income and food security variables. The number of transport equipment in the ward implies better market access because in developing countries, most of the local roads are not paved and public transport may not exist; hence, owners of transport equipment often offer transport services to other households living in the same area [9,11]. Studies that have used similar instruments include [9,11,48,49]. Coupled with this intuitive justification, we also conducted a test to assess the suitability of this instrument. We followed [42] in performing a falsification test: if a variable is a valid selection instrument, it will affect the market participation decision, but it will not affect the income and food security among farm households that did not participate in the markets. Results of the test confirm that in all cases that our instrument is significant in the market participation equations (Table 3) but not in the income and food security equation among the non-market participants (A1 Table in S1 Appendix). Although our constructed instrument satisfies all the post estimation tests, including using a rich cross-sectional dataset, our instrument can still be contested. For example, the exogeneity condition might not be satisfied should households with relatively higher welfare be more likely to reside in wards where neighboring households own a larger number of motorbikes and bicycles. While the consistency of the results across the two methods we use in the paper support evidence of impact, the results should still be interpreted with some caution.In the present study, of significant interest is the effect of market participation on income and food security outcomes. Specifically, we use the MESR framework mentioned above to derive the expected actual and counterfactual income and food security outcomes. Following [45] and [47] the expected food security under the actual scenario for each choice is computed as follows:The expected food security value of the same farmer had he/she chosen not to participate in any market (i.e. the counterfactual) is given as:Thus, the difference in expected outcomes between Eqs (7A) and (7B) is the unbiased average treatment effect on the treated (ATT)-which measure the impact of market participation for the households who participated in the market-and this is given as:This approach postulates that unobserved factors have differential effects on participants and non-market participants, hence taking the differences in effects, i.e. σ m −σ 1 , while holding lim constant ensures that the effects of unobserved factors are cancelled out [50].The MESR is strictly dependent on the availability of an instrument satisfying several econometric requirements for exogeneity, validity, and strength for the identification of the model, however finding an instrument with these characteristics in practice is difficult. Even though evidence shows that the instrument we have identified in Section 4.2.1 satisfies all the required conditions, there is a possibility that the model may still not be properly identified and, as such, we complement the MESR model with the MIPWRA model, which in any case only accounts for observed characteristics. This algorithm uses the inverse of the estimated treatment probability weights to estimate missing data-corrected regression coefficients that are subsequently used to produce robust estimates of ATT.The estimation of the model proceeds in two steps. In the first step, the parameters of the propensity score model (market participation or treatment model) are estimated using a multinomial logit model, after which the inverse probability of treatment weights are calculated for each level of treatment. In the second step, using the estimated weights, the income and food security models are fitted by a weighted regression for each treatment level, and treatment-specific predicted outcomes for each household are obtained using the estimated coefficients from this weighted regression model [51]. The model is finally estimated using generalized methods of moments (GMM) in one step which has the advantage of automatically accounting for the estimation error from the estimated propensity scores when deriving the standard errors.For the sake of brevity, we are not going to present all the details of the model, but [51][52][53][54] give details on the derivation of the MIPWRA model, while [55] describe the theory for semiparametric estimators. We can define the average treatment for the households who participated in the maize and legume markets (ATT) as:Where y ti is the potential outcome (income and food security) that household i would obtain given treatment-level t. The t, in this case, is analogous to m above where t = 1. . .4 for household i. In the multivalued treatment case, the ATT requires three different treatment levels: t defines the treatment level of the treated potential outcome; 0 is the treatment level of the control potential outcome, and; t ¼ t ! restricts the expectation to include only those individuals who receive treatment level t ! . As with all models based on observed characteristics, the MIPWRA relies mainly on two assumptions for the results to be valid. The first assumption is the conditional independence assumption (CIA), which postulates that the treatment assignment is essentially randomized conditional on observables. This assumption implies that the potential outcome distributions are independent of the treatment level. Therefore, it rules out that some unobservable factor correlated with treatment assignment affects the potential-outcome distributions [56]. Unfortunately, there no formal tests to test whether this assumption holds in our case. The second assumption is the overlap assumption which ensures that each household could receive any treatment level. In the subsequent sections, we test the overlap assumption using density distributions to assess whether balancing was achieved using the MIPWRA model.Table 2 below provides descriptive statistics of the variables used in the study. Results indicate that, on average, households spent about Tsh 363,708 in the year preceding the survey on food and non-food items, split almost equally among the two categories.The average HDDS is eight -out of 12-signaling a relatively high diversity overall, and it is in line with the value found by [57]. On average, households indicate that they have experienced about 0.5 months of food insecurity over the past 12 months.Over 85% of the households are headed by males. A typical household has about three adults in the working age category -between 15 and 59 years old-, a proxy of labor availability in the household for production and marketing activities [58,59]. On average, households cultivate 2.4 ha and own a herd size of about three tropical livestock units (TLU). About one in four households reports not having access to credit, which is crucial to lessen food risks related to uncertain cash flow and food crop prices [35].The percentage of households who apply organic fertilizers and practice intercropping is 56% and 98%, respectively, with the use and adoption of such technologies affecting maize and legume productivity that in turn positively affect famers' marketable surplus [38]. The latter can be effectively translated into substantial income benefits given the relatively high accessibility to markets. On average, farmers in our sample need to travel just 8 minutes to access a tarred road-. The market access variable is proxied by the travel time required to reach the nearest urban center, defined as a contiguous area with 1,500 or more inhabitants per square kilometer or as a majority of built-up land cover coincident with a population center of at least 50,000 inhabitants [60]. The relatively high accessibility reported is also a function of ownership of motorbikes or bicycles, given that about 63% of the households in each ward owns either a motorbike or bicycle.To gain an initial insight into the relationship between market participation and food security, Fig 1 presents the data distribution using strip plots. The plots show the distributions of income and food security by each market participation category with the associated cumulative probabilities. Farmers who participate in either maize or legume market report higher income and better food security than non-participants. Moreover, income and food security distribution functions for market participants dominate those for non-participants. Overall, households that participate in joint maize and legume markets report the highest food security outcomes. A2  between the mean outcomes of the joint market participants and the other market participations. However, the average number of months of food insecurity and HFIAS were only marginally lower for joint maize and legume participants relative to non-market participants. However, these descriptive findings are only bivariate unconditional relationships, since we did not control for other characteristics that might affect the outcome variables, which we will do in our multinomial regression framework.5.2.1 Determinants of maize and legume market participation. Table 3 presents the parameter estimates from the multinomial logit model described in Section 4, i.e., the first stage results of the MESR model. The standard errors reported are corrected for intra-cluster correlation at the village level, given the sampling design and the expected correlation of the characteristics across households within each village. Consistently with our a priori expectations, results show that education, amount of time the household head spent within the household -a proxy for labor availability-, amount of cultivated land, and the index of ownership of agricultural implements are all positively related to the joint participation in maize and legume markets. Labor, land, and assets are the factors of production enabling farmers to produce a marketable surplus [36,61]. Farmers who obtained credit show a higher propensity to participate in maize and legume markets, as the literature also finds -e.g., [36] for Kenya-. Surprisingly, ownership of mobile phones traditionally and empirically associated with increased market participation [5,62] seems to be negatively related to joint participation in maize and legume markets, likely due to the lack of use of mobile phones in trade business that occurs on the spot market and with random traders instead of by phone.The use of organic fertilizers and intercropping is usually positively correlated with marketable surplus given they enhance maize and legume productivity [63]. Results in Table 3 show that the adoption of organic fertilizers and intercropping indeed increase participation in the legume market only and legume and maize markets, in line with [64] who find that legume sellers are more likely to practice intercropping in Malawi. In line with expectations, the occurrence of droughts reduces market participation via lower production of maize and legumes.Distance to a tarred road and urban center are negatively associated with maize and legume market participation because of the increased transaction costs, with this finding consistent across market participation options. As expected, the prevalence of transportation durable assets in a ward affects the likelihood of participating in all markets, likely due to the reduction in transportation costs and enhanced opportunities in more distant and profitable markets [11,36,61].Looking at the geographical heterogeneity, farmers in the Manyara region are more likely to participate in maize and legume markets than those in the Dodoma region. The former is considered a high agricultural potential area with good climatic conditions, ideal for maize and legume cultivation unlike the latter. On the other hand, Dodoma is a semi-arid region also prone to soil erosion and flooding, and hence farmers can attain only a relatively low marketable surplus. This strongly negative relationship between climate risk and market exposure is also consistent with [61], who find that areas with higher climatic risks are associated with less commercialization in Mozambique.Table 4 displays the average effect of maize and legume market participation on household welfare indicators based on the estimation of Eq 8. Results show that participation in single and joint markets leads to a statistically significant increase in many of the outcome variables considered. Total household expenditure increases due to participation in maize-only market is 12% higher than that of market non-participation. More importantly, joint participation in maize and legume markets results in a 31% increase in household expenditure. A similar trend is observed for food expenditure, with the joint market participation showing the highest percentage increase of 24% compared to the counterfactual group. Previous studies [e.g., [65][66][67] show that purchased foods contribute substantially to total calorie consumption in most developing countries, even among subsistence farmers.Compared with counterfactuals, for farmers participating in maize-only markets, HDDS increases by 5% while the number of months of food insecurity reduces by 27%. Participation in the legume-only market is also associated with a 5% gain in HDDS. Similarly, participation in the maize market-only reduces the HFIAS scores by 28%. For all our food security indicators, the highest gains are associated with joint maize and legume market participation. For instance, HDDS increases by 6% due to joint participation in the two markets, a higher effect than participation in either maize-only or legume-only market. Likewise, joint participation in maize and legume markets reduces the number of months of food insecurity and HFIAS by 41% and 66% respectively. Interestingly, except for the HFIAS, the positive effects of maizeonly market participation are generally higher than those accruing from legume-only market participation, likely due to the dominance of maize as a staple food in the Tanzanian diet.We also estimate the ATT using the MIPWRA model (based on Eq 9) as a robustness check for our MESR results. ATT results are valid if they are drawn from observationally identical groups according to the propensity score, which synthetically summarizes the likelihood of the samples under analysis being comparable. A1 Fig in S1 Appendix shows that the overlap assumption of our groups is indeed satisfied after propensity score reweighting. Parameter  5 indicate that joint market participation in maize and legume markets is associated with the largest gains in income and food expenditure. Consistent with estimates in Table 4, MIPWRA results show that participation in maize-only markets increases HDDS by 7%, while it reduces the number of months of food insecurity and HFIAS by 40% and 34%, respectively, compared with market non-participants. However, joint participation in maize and legume markets increases HDDS by 12% and reduces the number of food-insecure months and HFIAS by 63% and 85%, respectively. These results suggest that additional benefits are obtained when farmers simultaneously participate in maize and legume markets compared with single-commodity market participation. MIPWRA estimates are quantitatively slightly larger than those from the MESR model, owing to the underlying lack of the former in controlling for unobserved heterogeneity. Nevertheless, the similar magnitude of MIPWRA and MESR parameter estimates provides overall confidence in our multivariate regression framework specification.In this study, we examine the effect of market participation on household income and food security in three districts across two regions in Tanzania using socio-agro-economic household survey data. Univariate descriptive statistics point towards a statistically significant difference in the average characteristics of joint maize and legume participants vis-à-vis participants in single maize or legume markets. To control for possible confounding factors and likely endogeneity intervening in the relationship between market participation and welfare outcomes in an econometric framework, we employ the multinomial endogenous switching regression model, complemented with the multivalued inverse probability weighted regression model, which is doubly-robust allowing one of the equations -treatment status or outcome prediction-to be misspecified. Results from the first stage regression reveal that the likelihood of contemporaneous participation in the maize and legume markets increases with education, social capital, ownership of land, productive farm assets, adoption of improved technologies, and ownership of transportation equipment. Market participation, however, decreases with the occurrence of droughts. Farm productive assets seem to be crucial in increasing maize and legume productivity; hence provision of credit can enable smallholder farmers to relax liquidity constraints hampering ownership and use of these implements for more productive farming. Similarly, encouraging the adoption of intercropping and organic fertilizer application is vital in increasing maize and legume marketable surplus, thereby increasing market participation.Our results also show that participating in the maize market only increased household income by 12% and food expenditure by 16%, other things being equal. Participation in legume markets leads to quantitatively comparable effects. However, across all the outcome variables considered, our results suggest that farmers who jointly participate in maize and legume markets attain higher income and improved food security than those who participate in either maize or legume market. Smallholder farmers who jointly participate in the two markets spend as much as 24% of their income on food, attained a more diversified diet, and are subject to fewer months of food insecurity over a year.Two main policy implications can be drawn from this study. First, improving the functioning of agricultural markets through the facilitation of market access and reduction in transaction costs is vital for smallholder farmers to fully reap the welfare benefits of market participation in rural Tanzania, as is the case in many similar rural settings in Africa south of the Sahara. Despite the recent construction of a promising development corridor in southern Tanzania, the country is still plagued with poor road infrastructure that hinders farmers from accessing profitable maize and legume markets available in urban centers locking them in poverty. Hence, development programmes and policies aimed at reducing transport and transactions costs, as well as curbing travel time to profitable markets through road network improvement in rural communities are necessary for smallholder farmers to prevent their market and, hence, economic isolation.Second, our findings suggest the need to support policy measures that promote the combined production and marketing of maize and legumes given their strong poverty-alleviation potential shown in our study. These interventions should follow a diversification strategy enhancing maize-legume intercropping and rotation, as opposed to a specialization strategy focusing on one single crop, given the empirical evidence pointing to disproportionately higher income and food security benefits of joint maize and legume market participation. This strategy would also smooth the seasonality of consumption given the different growing periods of the two crops. In areas where vulnerability to climate change and shocks is relatively high, as in most Africa south of the Sahara, participation in multiple-commodity markets would also provide a potential hedge strategy against the risk of price shocks, strengthening household resilience and welfare conditions."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"833d85cb18efadeefb50bd8cfe537f0c","source":"gardian_index","url":"http://ciat-library.ciat.cgiar.org/Articulos_ciat/epmr/poster_15_empr07.pdf","id":"1304227985"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b5aaf6d9-07ac-4e6b-9df0-55a73b9113c5","content":"Rice blast caused by Pyricularia grisea (Cooke) Sacc., is the most limitant biotic factor for rice production in the world. Although the use of resistance genes is the most important method for blast control, resistance is rarely effective for more than 2-3 years (Correa-Victoria and Zeigler, 1993). Strategies aiming at breeding for durable rice blast resistance have recently focused on the possibility of using a lineage exclusion strategy to target resistance gene combinations that are likely to provide an effective barrier to the fungus (Zeigler et al., 1995). In addition, molecular marker technologies, such as development of closely linked molecular markers, have made it possible to pyramid bacterial blight and blast resistance genes into one rice genotype (Huang et al., 1997;Hittalmani et al., 2000). It has been also indicated, that marker-assisted selection could be particularly useful to improve disease resistance in commercial rice cultivars (Mohan et al., 1997;Sánchez et al., 2000;Chen et al., 2000). Here we report six new markers for the blast resistance gene Pi-1, which were identified using SSR sequences available in public database. Three of these SSR markers resulted highly linked to the resistance gene at the end of rice chromosome 11, therefore, they can be potentially used in MAS to introduce Pi-1 into blast susceptible varieties and to pyramid blast resistant genes to develop commercial varieties with more durable blast resistance.The near-isogenic lines C101LAC (resistant line) and C101A51 (susceptible line) developed at IRRI were crossed and F 1 seeds generated. The F 2 progeny, resulting from self-pollination of F 1 individuals, were self-pollinated to generate CT13432 F 3 lines. Blast disease evaluation was performed according to CIAT's rice pathology laboratory manuals. The inoculum was prepared as described by Correa-Victoria and Zeigler (1993). Plants were evaluated 15 days (two life cycles of the pathogen) after inoculation and scored for resistance and susceptibility (Figure 1) in two replications. The DNA extraction was conducted following the procedure described by Dellaporta et al., (1983). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was conducted according to CIAT standard procedures. The amplification product were loaded on high-resolution agarose gels prepared mixing 1.5 % Sinergel (DiversifieD Biotech), 0.7 % agarose molecular grade (Invitrogen Life Technologies), and containing 0.5mg/mL of ethidium bromide.Genetic analysis of the resistance was conducted measuring the goodness of fit to the expected ratio for a single gene model using a chi-square test. For this purpose, we used F 3 and F 4 segregating populations derived from single F 2 plants with no selection. Putative molecular markers linked to the Pi-1 gene were used in linkage progeny analysis. Associations between SSR markers and the resistance Pi-1 gene were demonstrated using a chi-square test. Linkage analysis was performed using MAPMAKER software on the segregation data obtained from SSR markers and blast resistance scoring of the CT13432 F 3 population. Distances between markers were expressed in Kosambi centiMorgans (cM).Expected and observed segregation ratios for F 3 and F 4 populations are shown in Table 1. The F 3 population analysis showed a good fit to the expected segregation ratio (1:2:1) for a single gene model (χ 2 = 1.0, p < 0.05). This segregation ratio was also confirmed in the F 4 population (χ 2 = 0.1, p < 0.01). Correlation between F 3 and F 4 population ratios reached a value of 0.96 (Spearman range coefficient, p < 0.0001). These results confirmed the hypothesis of a single dominant gene for Pi-1.Sequences of twenty-six SSR markers were selected from the Gramene database (www. gramene.org) considering their relative proximity to Pi-1 gene (located no more than 10cM of the corresponding gene) in the current rice genetic map. The isogenic lines C101LAC and C101A51 and their common genetic background, the susceptible recurrent parent CO39, were used to identify SSR polymorphisms associated to the blast resistance gene. Polymorphic SSR markers identified above were assayed by bulked segregant analysis. DNA bulks were prepared from resistant and susceptible lines within the CT13432 F 3 families inoculated with the isolate Oryzica Yacu 9-19-1. The diagnostic potential of the SSR markers associated to Pi-1 gene was also evaluated on DNA obtained from fifteen elite commercial rice varieties grown in Latin America. Comparing with phenotypic evaluation obtained as indicated above, the veracity of the assay was corroborated.Linkage between the markers and blast resistance was confirmed by screening 157 F 3 lines from the cross C101LAC/C101A51 segregating for Pi-1. Genetic distance between the markers and the Pi-1 locus ranged from 0.0 (no recombination between the marker and resistance factor) to 23.8 cM (Figure 2). Among the SSR makers linked to Pi-1 gene, three markers (RM1233*I, RM5926 and RM224), showing a codominant feature (Figure 3), mapped in the same position (0.0 cM) with the Pi-1 gene. Other three dominant markers corresponding to the same genetic locus (RM7654) were located at 18.5 cM above the Pi-1 gene, while marker RM6094 was identified at 23.8 cM below of the gene. This last SSR marker was characterized by the presence of a band in the susceptible genotype and by the absence of the band in the resistant lines, therefore being not potentially useful for MAS and excluded in further analysis.Near isogenic lines are very useful for identifying highly linked molecular markers to blast resistance genes in rice. Three markers (RM1233*I, RM5926 and RM224) are closely linked (0 cM) to the resistance gene Pi-1. These markers showed a highly sensible and specific, zero value of false positives, and a predictive capacity of the resistance events (PPV) that reached 100 percent. These markers can be used for the selection of resistant sources carrying the Pi-1 resistance gene and to eliminate susceptible germplasm. However, the use of these markers as a diagnostic tool for determining the presence of the resistance gene Pi-1 in a wider range of rice germplasm require additional studies for further confirmation of the results reported here. The speed, simplicity and reliability of PCR based approaches using SSR markers, together with the availability of nucleotide sequence database (www.gramene.org), make SSR analysis an attractive tool for MAS in rice breeding programs aiming at developing durable rice blast resistant cultivars.   In order to determine the potential application of these SSR markers in rice breeding programs based on marker-assisted selection, different statistical indicators were calculated (Table 2). All SSR markers were highly sensible and specific, but three of them (codominant markers) also showed zero values of false positive (false resistant) and a predictive capacity of the resistance events (PPV) that reached 100 percent. For this reason, these three markers were selected as putative candidate markers to be used in MAS programs aiming at improving blast resistance in rice.Of the twenty-six microsatellite sequences tested, eleven were polymorphic and seven (27 %) were linked to Pi-1 (all χ 2 values were greater or equal to 128.99, p < 0.0001). Five SSR markers were not polymorphic, and ten, did not amplify with the primer pairs used.To examine whether the markers identified would be of general utility on a wider range of rice germplasm characteristic of applied breeding programs in Latin American, the resistant alleles of five markers were examined in elite rice varieties and compared to the reported inheritance of Pi-1 (Table 3). For this purpose, we used known sources of blast resistance as positive controls and considered as predictive criteria of the resistance, the amplification in each variety of the specific SSR alleles for Pi-1 gene. Comparing with phenotypic data on blast resistance, our results showed that all known sources of resistance (C101LAC, Cica 8, BR IRGA 409, CR 1113, El Paso 144 and Panama 1048) present the specific Pi-1 allele. In addition, four susceptible varieties (Colombia XXI, Epagri 108, Capirona and Oryzica 1) and the negative control (CO-39) had not the resistant allele. On the other hand, other seven varieties (Jucarito-104, Fedearroz 2000, CR 1821, Primavera, Cimarón, Bonanza and Fedearroz 50), which were resistant in the pathogenicity assay, did not show the allele characteristic of the Pi-1 gene, most probably due to the interaction of other resistance genes in these cultivars and the presence of other avirulence genes different to avr-Pi-1 in the blast isolate used in the pathogenecity tests.  ( †) Probability that the SRR test were positive (presence of band) if the line was resistant in the pathogenicity test. ( ‡) Probability that the SSR test were negative if the line was susceptible in the pathogenicity test. (FP) Probability that the SSR test were positive given that the line was susceptible. (FN) Probability that the SSR test were negative given that the line was resistant. (PPV) Probability that the line were resistant given that the SSR test was positive. (NPV) Probability that a line were susceptible given that the SSR test was negative. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fb073bf81a418023ad08745a7381115b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a2b0d4df-91d0-4b1c-853d-baefc101cd96/retrieve","id":"-777890701"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2e9c0bd2-e320-4935-95c4-4cdbddcea533","content":"Berhanu Belay is a Consultant at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).Relevance and quality of education are ensured by updating the curriculum with contemporary data and experiences. Universities and staff teaching courses must update the curriculum to make our curriculum need-based and meet the current changes and experiences. Including local data in our teaching and learning documents is an equally important issue. Including local data arouses students' interest and motivation to learn and ensure the relevance of education. A researcher may have data and articles from the research endeavors, and using the same data for teaching and learning eases the understanding of the chapter or the topic in the face of the students. The experience shall also help the teacher make the topic more relevant because the data is generated from the researcher's experience. The case studies could also be picked from the local research outputs, which could ultimately make part of the teaching resources to ensure the relevance of the teaching and learning efforts. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f1ece351a9c881d4d38dbf075b68226a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/11f65a5b-9476-4a09-9013-34c89d2687d1/retrieve","id":"-1855726814"},"keywords":["banana","banana weevil","continuous mapping","Cosmopolites sordidus","Musa spp.","polyploids","QTL analysis"],"sieverID":"bdeb1754-48b7-460a-8db1-ad283fcfa7fc","content":"The first step toward marker-assisted selection is linking the phenotypes to molecular markers through quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis. While the process is straightforward in self-pollinating diploid (2x) species, QTL analysis in polyploids requires unconventional methods. In this study, we have identified markers associated with weevil Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar) resistance in bananas using 138 triploid (2n = 3x) hybrids derived from a cross between a tetraploid \"Monyet\" (2n = 4x) and a 2x \"Kokopo\" (2n = 2x) banana genotypes. The population was genotyped by Diversity Arrays Technology Sequencing (DArTSeq), resulting in 18,009 polymorphic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between the two parents. Marker-trait association was carried out by continuous mapping where the adjusted trait means for the corm peripheral damage (PD) and total cross-section damage (TXD), both on the logit scale, were regressed on the marker allele frequencies. Forty-four SNPs that were associated with corm PD were identified on the chromosomes 5, 6, and 8, with 41 of them located on chromosome 6 and segregated in \"Kokopo.\" Eleven SNPs associated with corm total TXD were identified on chromosome 6 and segregated in \"Monyet.\" The additive effect of replacing one reference allele with the alternative allele was determined at each marker position. The PD QTL was confirmed using conventional QTL linkage analysis in the simplex markers segregating in \"Kokopo\" (AAAA × RA). We also identified 43 putative genes in the vicinity of the markers significantly associated with the two traits. The identified loci associated with resistance to weevil damage will be used in the efforts of developing molecular tools for marker-assisted breeding in bananas.Pests and diseases are the main production constraints for bananas and plantains (Musa spp.) globally (Jones, 2009). Among them, nematodes and weevils constitute the topmost pests, with Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar) or banana weevil root borer (henceforth referred to as banana weevil) causing yield losses of up to 50% (Rukazambuga et al., 1998;Gold et al., 2004). Yield losses due to banana weevils worsen with every subsequent ratoon of the plantation due to the build-up of the infestation, and 100% losses can be realized because of complete mat disappearance (Gold et al., 2004). Plantains and East African highland cooking bananas (EAHB), which constitute an important source of food and livelihood in sub-Saharan Africa, are highly susceptible to the pest (Gold and Bagabe, 1997;Gold et al., 2001;Kiggundu et al., 2003;Swennen et al., 2013). Banana weevils have been cited as one of the major factors that have caused production decline and disappearance of East African highland bananas (AAAh) in Central Uganda (Rukazambuga et al., 1998;Gold et al., 1999) and in some littoral regions of Kagera in Tanzania (Mbwana and Rukazambuga, 1998). Therefore resistance to banana weevils is one of the breeding goals for the improvement of these two groups of bananas (Brown et al., 2017).Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar) is a beetle that belongs to the subfamily Rhynchophorinae, of the family Curculionidae, of the order Coleoptera (Zimmerman, 1968;Gold et al., 2001). It was first reported as a banana pest in Malaysia as early as 1824 (Zimmerman, 1968). From there, it has spread in almost all the banana-growing regions globally (Gold et al., 2001). Its first report in Africa dates to the early 1900s (Blomme et al., 2013). The reproduction of the banana weevils reduces at temperatures below 12 • C, therefore, their damage is more pronounced in banana plantations at an altitude of 1,000 to 1,300 m above sea level or lower, and rarely above 1,600 m above sea level (Gold and Messiaen, 2000). The damages caused by banana weevils arise from the insect larvae feeding on the corm (the true stem of a banana plant) where they bore tunnels. Although rare, feeding on the pseudostem and banana leaves has also been reported, especially under heavy attacks (VILARDEBO, 1973). Consequently, the tunnels in the corm reduce the uptake of nutrients by the plant, hence reducing the plant vigor and delaying flowering. Injuries to the banana corm due to weevils also serve as an entry point for other soil-borne pests and diseases. Ultimately, the yield is affected through the death of the plants by snapping or toppling, production of small bunches, mat disappearance, and eventually, reduced longevity of the plantation (Rukazambuga et al., 1998;Gold and Messiaen, 2000;Gold et al., 2004).The integrated pest management of the banana weevil includes a combination of cultural, chemical, and biological measures (reviewed by Gold et al., 2001). Among the methods suggested, the use of resistant cultivars is the most sustainable way of controlling banana weevils. Host resistance has been identified in dessert cultivars (AAA) such as \"Yangambi Km5, \" \"Cavendish, \" and \"Gros Michel, \" as well as in some wild and wild-derived diploids (2x) (AA), such as \"Calcutta 4, \" \"TMB2 × 8075-7, \" \"TMB2 × 7197-2, \" and \"TMB2 × 6142-1\" (Ortiz et al., 1995;Kiggundu et al., 2003). Early and more recent genetic studies, such as those by Ortiz et al. (1995) and Arinaitwe et al. (2015), have endeavored to understand the inheritance of weevil resistance using segregating populations. In a multiple-family plantain population (3x × 2x crosses), the first study concluded that resistance to weevils was governed by partially dominant genes from the resistant parent combined with modifier genes with additive and dosage effect from the plantains (susceptible parents). The second study reported a single gene controlling the total corm damage in a progeny from a 2x × 2x cross.Banana improvement relies mainly on classical crossbreeding. This is a three-step process, first focusing on the improvement of the 2x parents from the wild genotypes to get rid of the non-domestication traits. Second, the improved 2x are crossed with triploid (3x) landraces to generate primary tetraploids (4x), and third, the primary 4x are further crossed with the improved 2x to generate secondary 3x hybrids which should combine parthenocarpy with high yield, resistance to pests and diseases, and fruit qualities comparable with those of the original landraces (Lorenzen et al., 2010;Ortiz and Swennen, 2014;Brown et al., 2017). Improved varieties have been developed through this method by a handful number of breeding programs (Tushemereirwe et al., 2015;Tumuhimbise et al., 2016;Dépigny et al., 2018;Tenkouano et al., 2019). However, the process of developing acceptable hybrids is slow, tedious, and expensive, taking up to 2 decades (Batte et al., 2019). One of the main reasons is the long cycle of the crop, which leads to one field evaluation cycle taking 2 to 3 years. Considering the decreasing cost of sequencing-based genotyping, marker-assisted breeding (MAB) has a great potential to improve the efficiency of banana breeding by reducing the breeding cycle by many years (Lorenzen et al., 2011;Nyine et al., 2018).Identifying marker-trait associations by linkage or association studies is the primary step toward the development of markers for MAB. While mapping by linkage or association studies is well-established in 2x organisms, it is less straightforward when the species, such as banana, is cross-pollinating and polyploid. Although the first banana linkage map was published in 1993 (Fauré et al., 1993), quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping in bananas has been slow due to the difficulty in developing and maintaining segregating populations in bananas, the extensive efforts required in phenotyping, and the further level of complexity in distinguishing between homolog and chromosomal linkage groups in polyploids. With the release of the banana reference genomes (D'Hont et al., 2012;Martin et al., 2016;Rouard et al., 2018), molecular research toward MAB in bananas is steadily gaining momentum (Sardos et al., 2016;Nyine et al., 2018Nyine et al., , 2019;;Ahmad et al., 2020).The generation of accurate genotypic and phenotypic data is the foremost important aspect of developing useful tools for MAB through linkage QTL analysis, genome-wide association studies (GWAS), or genomic selection. Unlike 2x species, polyploids are characterized by multiple allelic combinations (dosages) at the heterozygous loci (Bourke et al., 2018b). For instance, five distinct dosages are possible in a 4x at a bi-allelic marker position, ranging from zero to four copies of the alternative allele. With increasing interest in untargeted sequencing-based genotyping (GBS) due to its relatively low cost, tools to accurately determine the allele dosage using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) allele counts are expected to be developed. However, the accurate calling of polyploid genotypes from sequence data requires a sequencing depth of 60x to 80x, estimated in an autotetraploid potato (Uitdewilligen et al., 2013). This would make GBS too expensive for the large-scale genotyping in the study we report, i.e., calling 3x in a banana mapping population of more than 150 segregants.As an alternative approach, Ashraf et al. (2014) proposed to process allele counts to allele frequency estimates and regress the phenotype on the allele-frequencies. This study has shown that, under additivity assumptions, there is a linear relationship between the phenotype and the allele frequency. Therefore, allelefrequency estimates can be used directly, rather than calling genotypes. Hence, a linear regression of the phenotype on the individual allele frequencies, dubbed \"continuous mapping, \" will allow (1) the mapping of QTL and (2) the estimation of the allele substitution effect at each SNP.The purpose of this study was to identify the QTL associated with weevil resistance traits in a 3x F 1 banana progeny derived from a cross between a 4x (\"Monyet\") and a 2x (\"Kokopo\") accessions using the continuous mapping approach. This is the first study ever on marker-trait association in 4x × 2x banana progeny and on weevil resistance in bananas.This study was carried out at the International Institute of Tropical Agricultural (IITA), Sendusu station in Uganda (0 • 31 30 N; 32 • 36 54 E, 1260 m above sea level). A population of 210 F 1 hybrids was generated by crossing \"Monyet\" (ITC1179, female parent) and \"Kokopo\" (ITC1233, male parent) through controlled hand-pollination. \"Monyet\" is a wild banana that belongs to the zebrina subspecies (Musa acuminata). It is known as a diploid banana (2x = 2n = 22) originating from Indonesia (Martin et al., 2020b), but Arinaitwe et al. (2019) reported it as a 4x(2x = 4n = 44). \"Kokopo\" is a traditional 2x cultivar of the M. acuminata ssp. banksii origin (Christelová et al., 2016). From field observations, \"Monyet\" is resistant to C. sordidus, while \"Kokopo\" is susceptible.The ploidy level of the two parents and their hybrids was determined using a flow cytometry method (Dolezel et al., 1997;Christelová et al., 2016). Nucleic DNA was extracted and stained with 4 ,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) as described by Karamura et al. (2016). The DNA was analyzed through a ploidy analyzer (CyFlow R Cube 6, Sysmex Partec, Sysmex Partec GmbH). \"Calcutta 4\" (2x = 2n = 22) was used as a reference standard 2x and its G 1 peak was set to channel 200. The 2x, 3x, and 4x levels of all F 1 progeny were determined relative to the peak of \"Calcutta 4, \" with their G 1 peaks set to channels 300 and 400 for the 3x and 4x, respectively.One hundred and forty hybrids together with their parents (\"Monyet\" and \"Kokopo\") and four checks, namely, \"Calcutta-4\" (AA, ITC0249) and \"Yangambi Km5\" (AAA, ITC1123) as resistant checks and two East African cooking banana cultivars, \"Nakyetengu\" and \"Kabucuragye\" (EAHBs, AAAh) as susceptible checks (Kiggundu et al., 2003;Sadik et al., 2010), were screened for their resistance to weevils in a pot experiment. The experiment was set up as described by Sadik et al. (2010).Briefly, healthy suckers from the field were selected, pared, and dipped in boiling water for 15 s, with the time reduced from the recommended 20-30 s due to the small size of the suckers (Coyne et al., 2010). The suckers were planted in 13 L plastic buckets filled up to 3/4 with sterilized top forest soil, manure, and sawdust (3:1:1). Because not all the hybrids had an equal number of suckers at the same time, the experiment was run in four series (batches), with each series containing the two parents and the four checks. Each series was set up as a randomized complete block design of two blocks with four plants per genotype per block. Each bucket was fitted with a net to avoid the natural infestation of weevils, and the plants were watered every other day (three times a week) and were allowed to establish for 8 weeks.Trapping using pieces of banana pseudostems were used to collect weevils from an already established plantation of EAHB (Viljoen et al., 2017). The collected weevils were reared in 30 L buckets containing pared corms of a weevil-susceptible cultivar \"Nakyetengu\" and placed in a cool and dark place. The corms were kept cool by spraying them with water and were changed every 7 days (Viljoen et al., 2017). The male and female weevils were distinguished under a stereomicroscope (K700L, Thomas Scientific) by their morphological features (Gold et al., 2001;Viljoen et al., 2017). Eight weeks after the start of the experiment, 10 weevils (5 males and 5 females) were introduced per plant. Sixty days after the introduction of the weevils, data were collected on corm damage as follows: after uprooting the plants, the corms were pared, and the peripheral damage (PD) was recorded as an estimate of the percentage area damaged by the larvae. Two cross-sections of the corm were generated by cutting at 3 cm (upper cross-section) and 6 cm (lower cross-section) from the collar (Sadik et al., 2010). The corm damage was scored for each cross-section as the percentage of the damaged area of the cortex (upper and lower outer cross-section damage) and the inner cylinder (upper and lower inner cross-section damage). The total cross-section damage (TXD) was estimated by taking the average of the four readings (Sadik et al., 2010). The number of recovered larvae, pupae, and weevils was also recorded per plant.The percentage data (PD and TXD) were logit-transformed before the analysis. The analysis was carried out in Genstat R for Windows TM 20 th Edition (VSN International, 2019). Just like the QTL analysis, continuous mapping requires trait means rather than individual plot (or unit) values from replicated trials. The Preliminary Single Environment Analysis (PSEA) menu, selected from the Stats | QTLs (linkage/association)| Phenotypic Analysis menu in Genstat R helps to produce adjusted trait means from the experimental data. The design was set to \"general.\" The term \"genotype\" was broken into two factors as \"genotype_test\" for the F 1 hybrids and \"genotype_extra\" for the parents and the checks. The PSEA runs two restricted maximum likelihood (REML) analyses. In the first analysis, the \"genotype_test\" factor was fitted as a random term to estimate the variance parameters and heritability, while \"genotype_extra\" was fitted as a fixed term. In the second analysis, the two genotype factors were fitted as a fixed term and unshrunken predicted means were estimated using variance parameters estimated in the first run. The term \"batch\" was added as an additional fixed term and the term \"replication\" nested within the batches was added as a random term to the two models, both describing the physical structure of the trial.Genotyping was carried out using the genotyping-by-sequencing platform of DArTSeq (DArT R ) 1 at the Biosciences eastern and central Africa -International Livestock Research Institute (BecA -ILRI) under the Integrated Genotyping Service and Support (IGSS) project. The sequencing library was generated using the enzyme PstI. The raw short-read sequences for each sample were obtained as fastq files from IGSS. These short reads were then preprocessed to trim off the barcodes and adapters using the FASTX-Toolkit version 0.0.13 2 . The reads were then aligned to the reference genome sequence, version 2 of the \"DH Pahang\" banana genome (Martin et al., 2016) using Bowtie2 version 2.3.4.1 (Langmead and Salzberg, 2012). The genome analysis tool kit (GATK) version 3.7.0. ( Van der Auwera et al., 2013) was used for allele calling per allele dosage using the ploidy information of each genotype. The variant call format (VCF) files generated from the GATK allele calling were filtered for a minor allele frequency of 0.02.For the continuous QTL mapping, genotypes were not explicitly called, but the allele frequencies obtained from the sequence data were directly used for regression analysis (Ashraf et al., 2014). This method was dubbed \"continuous QTL mapping.\" For each individual, reference allele counts from the sequencing reads were processed to the reference allele frequency estimates which were directly used as \"continuous genotypes, \" on which the phenotypes were regressed. The allele frequencies suffer from inaccuracy, which we accounted for by correcting the measurement error as described by Ashraf et al. (2014). For the 3x families, the bias or underestimation in the estimate of the allele effect equals 1 1+ 2 / S T , where S T represents the sequencing depth. The above expression of the bias is derived for a constant sequencing depth across all samples. To account for variable depth across samples, the harmonic mean of the depths per sample was used. A regression of the adjusted trait means for PD and TXD, both on the logit scale, on the marker allele frequencies was performed in Genstat R for Windows TM 20 th Edition (VSN International, 2019). At each marker position, a p-value was calculated, assessing the linear regression together with the estimation of the additive effect of replacing the reference allele with the alternative allele. The \"DH Pahang\" physical map (Martin et al., 2016) was used for the physical ordering of the markers.To confirm the continuous QTL mapping results, a genetic linkage map was constructed for the simplex markers segregating in \"Kokopo\" (2x). These markers were of the AAAA (\"Monyet\") × RA (\"Kokopo\") parental segregation type, with R denoting the reference allele and A the alternative allele. These markers were expected to segregate as AAA (50%) and AAR (50%) in the 3x offspring, thus, allowing the use of the linkage and QTL mapping software available for 2x mapping populations. The F 1 genotypes for these markers were called from the allele counts obtained from the GATK analysis. A maximum likelihood approach was used to infer the genotype for parents and each offspring from the allele counts obtained from the DArTSeq data. At each site j for each individual i, the likelihood for each of the four possible genotypes is given as:where D ij is the observed sequencing data in the individual i at site j, and g ij ∈ {0,1,2,3} is the number of reference alleles contained in the genotype of each individual.To assign a genotype to a particular individual, the likelihood of each of the four possible genotypes was calculated for the individual. The genotype with the highest likelihood was then assigned to an individual when the most likely genotype was 10 times more likely than the second most likely one. Otherwise, a genotype was not called, and the genotype of the individual was considered missing.A linkage map was then constructed with outcrossing (CP) specified as a mapping population using the linkage mapping module in Genstat R for Windows TM 20 th Edition (VSN International, 2019), Linkage grouping was performed at threshold recombination of 0.20. Only linkage groups of at least 10 markers were further analyzed into maps for the QTL mapping in the same software. The option \"Single Trait Linkage Analysis (Single Environment)\" was chosen to perform the genome-wide scans for QTL effects (Simple and Composite Interval Mapping) for logit_PD and logit_TXD. Conditional genotypic probabilities were calculated for every 5 cM based on the Haldane mapping function. The threshold for the QTL detection was set atlog(p) = 2. An initial genome-wide scan by simple interval mapping (SIM) was performed to obtain the candidate QTL positions. The candidate QTL were then used as cofactors in the subsequent composite interval mapping (CIM), i.e., a genomewide scan for QTL effects in the presence of cofactors.The annotation file for all features on the \"DH Pahang\" genome (Version 2) was downloaded from the Banana Genome Hub. 3  The annotation file was converted from a generic feature format (gff3) file to a browser extensible data (bed) file format. The list of the identified SNPs with their physical positions on the genome was used in a bedtools (v2.29.0) query with the function closestBed (Quinlan and Hall, 2010). The query identified the closest gene to the SNP position on either strand. The attributes of identified putative genes were searched in the gene list analysis of the protein analysis through evolutionary relationships gene ontology (PANTHER16.0 4 ) using the M. acuminata spp. malaccensis database (Mi et al., 2020).Ploidy analysis confirmed \"Kokopo\" as a 2x and revealed that \"Monyet\" was a 4x. As expected from a 4x × 2x cross, the majority of the progeny was 3x (94.3%), while 2x and 4x constituted 2.58% and 3.09%, respectively. To avoid the mixture of ploidy, linkage analysis, continuous, and QTL mapping was carried out using the 138 3x F 1 hybrids whose genotypic and phenotypic data were available.The outer and inner cross-section corm damage traits were highly correlated (r = 0.88, p < 0.001), and the two traits were positively correlated with PD (r = 0.58 and r = 0.47, respectively, p < 0.001, Figure 1). The three corm damage traits (peripheral, inner, and outer cross-section damage), however, were poorly correlated with the number of recovered larvae, pupae, and weevil (0.00 < r < 0.22, Figure 1). Therefore, further 4 http://pantherdb.org Genotypes having identical letters (a, b, c) do not differ at the 5% significance level.analysis was performed on the corm damage traits only, and the inner and outer cross-section damage were represented by their average as TXD.The resistant checks, \"Yangambi Km5\" and \"Calcutta 4, \" were significantly different from the susceptible checks, \"Nakyetengu\" and \"Kabucuragye\" for both PD and TXD (p < 0.001). Regarding the two resistant checks, \"Calcutta 4\" showed a significantly higher level of resistance than \"Yangambi Km5\" for PD (Table 1). The parents were contrasting for TXD, with \"Monyet\" being significantly less resistant than \"Calcutta 4\" and \"Yangambi Km5, \" and \"Kokopo\" as susceptible as the two EAHBs. However, for PD, the two parents showed equal levels of resistance (Table 1).The two traits, PD and TXD, showed segregation in the population (Figure 2). The PD had a population mean of.25, ranging from -0.93 to 1.71 on the logit scale (Figure 2A), equivalent to 56, 28, and 85% corm damage, respectively. Despite the same level of PD for both parents, the broad-sense heritability for PD was estimated at.34, suggesting transgressive segregation in the population. The TXD in the hybrids was skewed toward the resistant phenotype as the majority of the hybrids were resistant with a population means of -2.42 or 8.16% corm damage. The score of the hybrids ranged from -6.06 to.90, equivalent to.23 and 71% corm damage, respectively (Figure 2B). The broadsense heritability for TXD was estimated at.44. Also, for TXD, transgressive segregation in the population was detected: 41 genotypes were significantly more resistant than the resistant parent \"Monyet, \" and 11 genotypes were significantly more susceptible than the susceptible parent \"Kokopo\" (Figure 2B).The DArTSeq detected 37,436 unique allelic sequences, of which 28% (10,401) were monomorphic between the two parents and 24% (9,026) were polymorphic between the two parents but not segregating (Table 2). Continuous mapping was carried out using 18,009 segregating SNPs, represented by 14,254 SNPs that segregated in \"Kokopo\" only, 3,067 SNPs that segregated in \"Monyet\" only, and 688 SNPs that segregated in both parents (Table 2). The markers were well distributed over the 11 banana chromosomes of the \"DH Pahang\" physical map [2nd version, (Martin et al., 2016)]. They ranged from 945 to 2,481 SNPs per  chromosome, with the minimum number of markers detected on chromosome 10 and the maximum number on chromosome 8. Only 125 markers came from the unanchored contigs of the \"DH Pahang\" physical map (Supplementary Figure 1).Continuous mapping identified 44 SNP markers showing a significant (p < 0.001) linear regression with PD (logit_PD) and 11 SNPs showing a significant (p < 0.001) linear regression with TXD (logit_TXD, Figure 3). Forty-one (93%) of the SNPs significantly associated with PD and all 11 SNPs significantly associated with TXD were located on chromosome 6, with the SNPs associated with TXD located at two distinct regions on the two arms of the chromosome. The remaining three SNPs associated with PD were on chromosomes 5 (2 SNPs) and 8 (1 SNP, Figure 3 and Table 3). The SNPs associated with the resistance to weevils at the peripheral level segregated in the parental genotype \"Kokopo, \" except for two SNPs on chromosome 5 segregating in \"Monyet.\" Conversely, the SNP markers associated with the resistance to weevils at the corm cross-section level (logit_TXD) segregated in \"Monyet\" only (Table 3). This opposite parental segregation suggests that the two traits have different mechanisms of resistance in this population. The proportion of the phenotypic variance explained  1 Chromosome; 2 additive substitution effect for the reference allele, 3 percentage of explained variance by the SNP marker; 4 R: reference allele, A: alternative allele.by significant markers was estimated at each SNP site. For PD, it ranged from 8 to 15%, with a peak at chr06_33938938 on chromosome 6. For TXD, the explained variance ranged from 8 to 13% with a peak at chr06_880914 on chromosome 6 (Table 3). The analysis estimated the additive effect of replacing one reference allele by the alternative allele at each marker position, with the alternative allele associated with a negative effect on the traits, which translates into resistance at eight SNPs for PD and seven SNPs for TXD (Table 3).To confirm the QTL for logit_PD identified using continuous mapping on chromosome 6, we used simplex markers segregating AAAA (\"Monyet\") × RA (\"Kokopo\") to build a linkage map and map the QTL. Out of 4,619 SNPs showing an AAAA × RA parental genotype combination, 816 had less than 10%of missing data and did not show segregation distortion from the expected 1:1 segregation ratio at a significance level of α = 0.001 (χ 2 test for goodness of fit). The linkage grouping (LG) performed at threshold recombination of.20 resulted in 13 linkage groups (LGs) of at least 10 markers comprising 786 SNPs and spanning a total length of 2,343.7 cM. The number of markers per LG ranged from 10 up to 192 markers, the shortest LG being 25 cM and the longest being 521 cM in length. The LGs corresponded well with the banana chromosomes based on the chromosomal origin of the markers on \"DH Pahang\" (Martin et al., 2016), except for LG 8 containing markers from chromosomes 3 and 8 (Figure 4 and Table 4). Such a pattern suggested a translocation in \"Kokopo\" from chromosome 3 to 8, relative to the physical map of \"DH Pahang.\" However, the linkage map does not give any evidence of a reciprocal translocation from chromosome 8 to 3, although some genetic information might have been lost due to segregation distortion, given that chromosome 3 was the smallest, made of 13 markers (Table 4). Sixty percent of the AAAA × RA markers had a segregation distortion at a significance level of.05 with a distortion of 0.45 to 0.76 per chromosome (Figure 4B). Nevertheless, chromosomes 3 or 8 did not show particularly higher numbers of distorted markers which could be associated with a chromosomal dislocation, as only 45% of the markers were distorted on each of the two chromosomes at a significance level of 5% (Figure 4B). The translocation from chromosome 3 to 8 was further tested using linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis [Genstat R for Windows TM 20 th Edition (VSN International, 2019)]. LD was determined for the markers on LG 38 (Table 4) in the coupling phase. The pairwise LD and LD decay plots from this analysis indicated a seamless continuation of the markers from chromosome 8 to chromosome 3 on the same LG (Supplementary Figure 2). The interval QTL mapping followed by a composite interval QTL mapping confirmed the QTL for the PD on chromosome 6 at the significance level of.01 [-log(p) = 2, Figure 5]. The QTL had a peak at marker chr06_34317794, which was one of the SNPs identified by continuous mapping to be significantly (p < 0.001) associated with PD (Table 3). In contrast, the linkage QTL analysis did not identify any QTL for the total TXD, which can be explained by the fact that \"Monyet, \" the parent that did not segregate in the linkage map, is the parent contributing to the differences in the TXD phenotype among the segregants (Table 3).Using the physical position of the SNP significantly associated with the two traits to identify the nearest gene in the annotation file yielded 43 putative genes, with 33 of them associated with PD, 8 associated with TXD, and 1 putative gene shared between the two traits (Supplementary Table 1). Thirty-two of the SNPs were located within the gene region, seven were within less than 1 kbp, and the remaining seven were between 1 and 4.5 kbp from the gene. In terms of biological processes, the identified putative genes associated with the two traits were mostly involved in cellular and metabolic processes (Figure 6 and Supplementary Table 1). Three putative genes were identified as responsive to stimuli. These were Ma05_g24110 (LOW QUALITY PROTEIN: transformation/transcription domain-associated protein-like), Ma06_g33600 (Calcium-dependent protein kinase 15), and Ma06_g38560 (Rho GDP-dissociation inhibitor 1), all in the vicinity of the SNPs significantly associated with PD damage.Ploidy verification is a common practice in banana research because possible discrepancies and unexpected ploidy levels have TABLE 4 | Information on the \"Kokopo\" genetic linkage map based on simplex AAAA × RA 1 markers segregating in the \"Monyet\" × \"Kokopo\" population.LG 1 numberLG 1 R: reference allele, A: alternative allele; 2 LG: linkage group; 3 corresponding chromosome based on \"DH Pahang\" physical map (Martin et al., 2016).been reported (Nsabimana and van Staden, 2006;Karamura et al., 2016). The flow cytometry analysis of \"Monyet\" has shown that it is a 2x banana, 5 though it was first reported as a 4x by Arinaitwe et al. (2019). While ploidy discrepancies arise mostly from an unreliable estimation of ploidy based on morphological features, we hypothesize that the 4x \"Monyet\" used in this study originated from a genome duplication event of a 2x \"Monyet.\" This suggestion is supported by the segregation of the markers in \"Monyet\" where nulliplex (RRRR), duplex (RRAA), and quadruplex (AAAA) loci make up 97% of the SNPs (Table 2). However, the 4x \"Monyet\" plants in the collection at IITA Sendusu reveal no morphological features of the enlarged pseudostem and drooping leaves typical for 4x bananas. As a result of the 4x of \"Monyet, \" the progeny of \"Monyet\" × \"Kokopo\" was 96% 3x, as expected from a cross between 4x and 2x bananas (Brown et al., 2017).The two EAHB used as susceptible checks (\"Nakyetengu\" and \"Kabucuragye\") in this study were equally susceptible to both PD and TXD, as expected (Kiggundu et al., 2003;Sadik et al., 2010). \"Yangambi Km5\" and \"Calcutta 4, \" the two resistant checks recommended to be used in weevil screening (Viljoen et al., 2017), have been reported as equally resistant to the pest using percentage coefficient of infestation, peripheral corm damage, and internal corm damage, scored qualitatively and quantitatively under natural and artificial infestation (Ortiz et al., 1995;Sadik et al., 2010). In this study, we found the two genotypes equally resistant for TXD, but \"Calcutta 4\" was significantly more resistant than \"Yangambi Km5\" for PD. Therefore, we strongly suggest \"Calcutta 4\" to be used as a reference when screening banana genotypes for their response to weevil infestation, especially for new hybrids developed by the banana improvement programs. While \"Monyet\" and \"Kokopo\" were equally affected for PD, they contrasted in terms of cross-section damage, with \"Monyet\" being more resistant than \"Kokopo.\" The transgressive segregation displayed in the progeny is in line with the presence of more than one loci in the repulsion phase in the two parents segregating for the traits (deVicente and Tanksley, 1993). Thus, the population segregated even for PD, although the parents did not contrast for this trait. The resistant genotypes in this study should be further investigated for their male and female fertility, agronomic characteristics, and their response to other pests and diseases common in bananas, such as nematodes, black Sigatoka, fusarium wilt, and banana bacterial wilt. In separate studies, \"Monyet\" and \"Kokopo\" have been found contrasting in terms of their response to black Sigatoka (caused by Pseudocercospora fijiensis) (Kimunye et al., 2021), banana bacterial wilt (caused by Xanthomonas vesicola pv. musacearum) (Nakato et al., 2019), and to banana fusarium wilt (caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense race 1) (Arinaitwe et al., 2019). The segregants from this cross should be tested for possible multiple resistance to these diseases, in addition to resistance to weevils.We have mapped the loci associated with weevil resistance in a 3x banana population derived from a cross between 4x and 2x genotypes, using DArTSeq SNP markers and an alternative QTL mapping strategy called continuous mapping. To our knowledge, our study is the first to report loci associated with weevil resistance in bananas, as the previous study that attempted to analyze the genetics for weevil resistance in bananas had solely relied on segregation analysis without the use of markers (Arinaitwe et al., 2015). The latter study suggested that corm damage was under the control of a single dominant gene in a 2x population, while our study identified at least two QTL involved in weevil resistance.Self-fertilizing 2x species have been the subject of most developments for genetic and genomic tools for decades, at the expense of non-conventional species that are polyploids or outcrossing, or both (Bourke et al., 2018b). With the advances in sequencing and genotyping, tools for polyploids have raised interest (Bourke et al., 2018b). Still, most of the tools developed for polyploids apply for even ploidy levels, especially 4x which make up the majority of the polyploid species (Comai, 2005;Ferrão et al., 2021;Garreta et al., 2021); in contrast, resources to construct linkage maps and perform QTL analyses in odd ploidy levels are limited. Bourke et al. (2018a) developed the polymapR software, which is a powerful tool for the construction of linkage maps in populations of all ploidy levels with allele dosage genotype calls, including populations from 4x × 2x crosses. However, the robustness of this tool relies on the accurate calling of the allele dosage genotypes. The population in this study was genotyped at a low sequencing depth as carried out by DArTSeq, which is often associated with genotype miscalling in polyploids. These hitches were circumvented by using the physical positions of the segregating markers instead and regressing the phenotype on the allele frequencies, called continuous mapping (Ashraf et al., 2014). So far, only a few studies have applied continuous mapping successfully in polyploid genetic and genomic analysis with sequence data of low sequencing depth to counter the effect of low-depth sequencing on genotype calling in polyploids (Sverrisdóttir et al., 2017;Zheng et al., 2020). In this study, we identified the QTL for PD and TXD by using continuous mapping. One of the QTL, segregating in the 2x parent \"Kokopo\" could be confirmed using the conventional QTL mapping method based on linkage analysis. However, the QTL linkage analysis used only a subset of the data that conformed to the conventional segregation of a BC 1 population. Continuous mapping allows the use of all the markers irrespective of the segregation type of the parents, hence encompassing the optimum genetic information of the population.One of the major drawbacks of continuous mapping is the reliance on an existing grouping and order of the markers in the form of a linkage map or a physical map. In our study, a physical map of bananas based on the \"DH Pahang\" reference genome (Martin et al., 2016) made the study possible. Also, continuous mapping results do not give information about the genetic inheritance pattern of the trait, such as the effect of dominance, epistasis, and linkage disequilibrium as a result of linkage. While continuous mapping does not take into consideration the linkage disequilibrium among the markers intrinsically, the significance of contiguous markers on the same chromosome gives confidence about the presence of a QTL at a given position. This was the case for the markers on chromosome 6. Therefore, the markers on chromosomes 5 and 8 associated with PD could be discrepant since the flanking markers are not significantly associated with the traits. We expect continuous mapping to be of great advantage in QTL mapping studies in bananas, especially for consumer-preferred quality traits in 3x banana hybrids derived from 4x by 2x crosses as developed in EAHBs and plantains.The identified loci associated with the resistance to weevil damage on chromosomes 5, 6, and 8 do not coincide with any known QTL for resistance to pests and diseases in Musa. This is mainly because marker-trait association in bananas is still in its infancy stage (Ahmad et al., 2020), although the advances in deciphering Musa genomes are promising to mend the situation. 6  Ten percent or more of corm damage translates into a bunch yield reduction of 20-45% (Rukazambuga et al., 1998). Therefore, despite the low explained variance by the identified QTL, the additive allele substitution effect at each locus as determined in this study has potential in banana breeding, especially at a polyploid level. Moreover, this knowledge on allelic effect instead of the genotype effect will facilitate the validation of the QTL in other genetic backgrounds.Weevil resistance in bananas has been hypothesized to be a result of antibiosis (deterring the weevils), antixenosis (nonpreference), and corm hardness. Antibiosis was not supported on excised plants (Night et al., 2010) and corm hardness was found uncorrelated with field resistance (Ortiz et al., 1995). Although we cannot conclude on the mechanism of resistance in this study, our results suggest that the resistance for PD differs from the one for cross-section. Despite the strong positive correlation between the two traits, segregated in \"Kokopo\" while TXD in \"Monyet.\" The two traits were associated with the markers on chromosome 6, but none the significant markers was shared among them. Although one marker associated with TXD (chr06_34681454) was in the same vicinity as the markers associated with PD (chr06_34625789 and chr06_34726334, Table 3), the three SNPs were not located within or close to the same putative genes (Supplementary Table 1). Therefore, breeding for weevil resistance in bananas should consider the two traits independently. We identified 43 putative genes co-localized with weevil resistance SNPs. The genes of interest for weevil resistance would be those associated with plant defense mechanisms. The three putative genes responsive to stimuli, Ma05_g24110 (LOW QUALITY PROTEIN: transformation/transcription domain-associated protein-like), Ma06_g33600 (Calcium-dependent protein kinase 15), and Ma06_g38560 (Rho GDP-dissociation inhibitor 1) fall under this category. Among them, Ma06_g33600 belongs to the Calcium-dependent protein kinase gene family (CDPKs) already known to play a vital role in the plant defense against biotic and abiotic stress (Dubiella et al., 2013;Schulz et al., 2013). Likewise, Ma06_g34300, a putative wound-induced protein co-localizing with the SNP significantly associated with PD, is of interest, as it is putatively involved in wound repair, which might be useful to corm damage due to weevil larvae. This putative gene has a sequence identity closely similar to LOC4332560 identified in Oryza sativa L. ssp. japonica (Kikuchi et al., 2003). The regulation of these genes should be further investigated in known resistant vs. susceptible banana genotypes to determine their potential functionality concerning the response of bananas to C. sordidus.Chromosomal translocations are common in bananas and have played an important role in the evolution and speciation of the Musa genome (Martin et al., 2017(Martin et al., , 2020a;;Šimoníková et al., 2020). Chromosome 8 has been reported in many translocation events in various M. acuminata spp. (Dupouy et al., 2019). The linkage analysis of the simplex AAAA × RA markers segregating in \"Kokopo\" suggested a translocation from chromosome 3 to chromosome 8, relative to the \"DH Pahang\" physical map. The translocation was identified through the construction of a \"Kokopo\" linkage map and confirmed by LD analysis. Such a translocation has been reported in M. acuminata spp. zebrina and M. acuminata ssp. burmannica (Šimoníková et al., 2020), but not in M. acuminata spp. banksii. Unlike the abovementioned studies, our data did not give evidence of a reciprocal translocation from chromosome 8 to chromosome 3. This finding suggests that more translocations are yet to be discovered in Musa. The segregation distortion of the AAAA × RA markers was pronounced with 60% of the genome-wide markers distorted at a significance level of.05. However, there was no indication of a particular higher segregation distortion for the markers on chromosomes 3 or 8 as compared with the rest of the chromosomes, which would be associated with the translocation."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0dd7629ebbe04313c256ec35bb0a41d6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/248b979c-97fe-404c-b9bb-37e23c541f85/retrieve","id":"-1447839966"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5891d777-8d3f-445e-8359-65572dd65b92","content":"• After the National Seed Industry Agency (NSIA) mandate was transferred to MoARD and there came a need to revise and incorporate certain procedures related to the evaluation, release and registration of candidate varieties as well as imported varieties.• The main committee working on revision of the national variety release procedure and mechanism have recognised the need for including Pasture and forage crops in the release procedure and suggested to have technical team to work details. • Hence, the technical team was drawn from relevant institutions: the then Input Authority, the then EARO now EIAR, Regional research institutes and MoARD working in the areas of Pasture and forage research and development.• In Ethiopia agricultural research and higher learning institutions and to a limited extent private organizations are engaged in development of varieties that increases quality and productivity per unit area.• Some countries have a rigorous testing system and variety releasing mechanisms before the newly developed variety is made available to farmers.• Other countries have no such mechanism and the varieties developed could be distributed to farmers by the researchers.• The rigorous testing system is most widely used. It is more reliable, safe and suitable to an agrarian country like Ethiopia.• Although there was a dire interest in developing and releasing Pasture and forage crop variety since the mid 1660's, the 1st comprehensive work in this regard dates back to the mid 1990's (Review work in ESAP, 1996).• Since then, concern by researchers, development practitioners and policy makers were raised in different fora and concerted efforts from various directions have led to the current initiative.• Review and evaluate the report of technical committee and decide on the fate of the varieties. • Determine the uniqueness and production potential of the candidate varieties • Ensure that the newly released varieties meet current requirements for resistance to economically important diseases, parasitic weeds and insect pests.• Undertake decision by consensus• The Standing Committee shall contain the following professionals:• Technical committees will be formed for evaluation of variety verification trials (VVT) and applicant documents for the release decision of the national variety release committee.• The committee could be composed of five qualified and experienced core professionals covering different disciplines: • Verify/validate the data submitted by the breeder with the actual field experiment.• Carry out field evaluation on the performance of the candidate varieties based on the evaluation criteria. and check the candidate varieties for distinctiveness, uniformity and stability (DUS) test based on criteria • Prepare reports on the objective observation and proper scrutiny of the evaluation with active participation of all members. • Submit evaluation reports to the secretariat at most a month after the evaluation of the candidate variety/harvest of the crop.The evaluation report from the technical committee is expected to cover• Performance data evaluation: This will consist of scrutinizing the submitted data for completeness and relevance. Commissions and assessing if appropriate comparisons were done. • Variety designation, pedigree, reaction to pests, other stresses.• Field performance evaluation: Performance evaluation and recording of relevant information could be useful in decision making and checking against reported information. • General comments: Any general observation regarding the verification plots and shortcomings and suggestion should be included. • Recommendation: A recommendation on whether to accept, reject or release the variety proposed for release should be explicitly stated.  • For annuals: On-farm• For perennials-On-station data could be used• The new variety must show excellent performance in sufficient number of tests in comparison with the standard cultivar (s) grown in the ecological zone (s) where to be used. When a candidate variety is proposed for release for its yield advantage, it should be significantly superior over the standard check.• The variety to be released should be uniform, stable and distinctly superior to the existing commercial cultivar(s) grown in the area in one or more characteristics important for the crop and is satisfactory in other major requirements. • However, when there is no adequate number of released cultivars of a particular crop, the NVRC may consider releasing a variety even if it is not superior to existing local cultivar, without compromising the requirements of the grower.• A variety which has got a special merit on a specified limiting factor on the existing commercial cultivars (e.g. drought, excess moisture, frost, pest etc) will be considered for release on one year trial data with additional data from the second-year trial to be conducted in the same year with the verification.• The variety should be tested for herbage/biomass yield on DM basis, quality, palatability, disease and insect reactions and other important characteristics for a minimum of two years in R/NVT trials.• For wide adaptation, the variety must be tested at least in 3 to 4 locations in different AEZ where the variety is to be recommended.• However, if the variety is intended for specific release the test in 2 to 3 locations in the same agro-ecology.• For national release (Wider adaptation) -At least two major agroecologies and 2-3 sites within the agro-ecologies need to be considered-one would be on-station and two on farms. • However, for specific adaptation (regional release) at least two sub agro-ecologies or production belts and three sites within the sub agroecologies need to be considered (one would be on-station). • The quality of the variety (CP, NDF, bioassays and leaf to stem ratio) should be indicated.• For herbaceous and tree legumes aspects of rumen degradability need to be incorporated at national variety trial stage since total nitrogen will not indicate the quality of the variety. • Under situations where resources are limited, laboratory data on quality of the variety must be provided based on analysis of pooled samples across locations. • The new variety should be planted along with the established improved cultivar as the case may be in relatively large plots (10x10 m) at 3 to 5 sites (one on station and two on farm) on each agro-ecological zone verification trials during the anticipated year of release for assessment by TC.o The verification sites (the on station and on farm) should be at least within a minimum range of ten-kilometer radius.o For annuals: ✓should be included at a N/RVT stage for the best 2 to 3 candidates using pilot animals (sheep or goat). ✓on-farm for one season at two sites. o For perennials-animal response data will be taken at on-station verification stage.o Due consideration should be given to represent farmers practices and standard cultivar for comparison purposes in animal response trials using standard procedures.o The standard known cultivar and candidate variety need to be compared using five animals per treatment for duration of 90 days. • Biological data i.e. quantity and quality of feed, quantity and quality of animal product, data related to animal condition and body weight shall be taken.• Socio-economic data would also be taken to complement biological performance data in the verification process. Supporting Documents• Appropriate data to support recommendations as stipulated in conditions for release, disease reaction and other supporting data for individual locations and years should be presented in addition to the summaries. • Recommendation on mode of utilization (cut and carry, grazing, hay, silage), target animal, agro ecology / farming system, mode of offer etc should be included.• Other relevant data on pooled samples across locations on important characteristics of quality. • In vitro digestibility etc. in a regional or national variety trial should be supplied, (palatability/intake, animal responses (growth or body weight gain) should also be included. • Three completed copies of the variety release request form and data of all the testing period of the variety in all tested locations and a year x location data summary of the recommended entries must be submitted to the committee chairman before May 30 each year.• The office appoints a Technical Committee (T.C.) that includes relevant specialists to report on varietal performance after examining the submitted data and evaluating verification plots. • In any one season no more than two varieties per crop should be proposed for release under the same agro-ecological zone in the coming years unless sufficient written justification is given for such action. • Moreover, a variety once rejected by the TC should not be repeatedly put in verification and proposed for release in the coming years unless sufficient written justification is given for such action. • Action to place a variety on the release list will be taken at the January/February and March/April meeting of the NVRC. • The breeder submitting a variety for release will be called to appear in person before the NVRC to answer enquiries regarding the proposal. • Decisions reached by the committee will be published or reported at the National Agricultural Research and Development Forum annually.• Provisionally released variety should be planted in the following year on a o quarter of hectare for grass and o one hectare plot for legumes at two appropriate sites (research station and on farms) for final inspection by the NVRC. • If not planted within the coming two years, it will lose its provisional status but could be considered as a new entry in another variety trial. • A new variety should be assigned a permanent designation by the breeder/team (preferably a short local name) if the variety is approved for release. o This is a pre-condition for release and registration. o The proposed name can be rejected by the NVRC for valid reason. o A variety should not be distributed under more than one name.• A variety recommended for repeat, if not tested within the coming two years o will loose its repeat status but could be considered as a new entry in another variety trial. • The breeder or institution responsible for developing the variety that has been approved for release would be expected to maintain an appropriate quantity of the breeder and basic seed for use in replenishing and restoring commercial seed of a variety to the desired genetic purity and supply to producers through the agency. • An obsolete variety arising from genetic deterioration, loss of resistance to diseases, or a breakdown in resistance/tolerance to a condition the candidate cultivar was developed for will be o communicated to the EAA by the users (breeders, extension agent, state farms) for the appropriate action.  • The quantity of the nucleus seed that the breeder should preferably keep in cold storage is shown in columns of the same tables.• The breeder is responsible to ensure that this nucleus stock is 100% authentic (represent the variety as released) and viability exceeding 85%.• In practice, the breeder will multiply this seed one generation to obtain seed quantity for authorized government and other users and simultaneously replace his nucleus stock in cold storage.• Obsolete variety: A variety that has been in use for long time and has become less productive due to genetic deterioration, loss of resistance to diseases, or a breakdown in resistance/tolerance to a condition the candidate cultivar was developed for, poorly demanded in the market.o will be communicated to the office.• The NVRC identify technical team for final decision. • Registered commercial cultivars to be imported from similar agro-ecology from abroad need to pass through quarantine & tested for adaptation for o 1 yr at 5 sites for annuals & for o 2 yrs at 5 sites for perennials. • Based on the recommendation domain of the cultivar the following sites (Table 3) need to be considered. • Data to be collected are similar to multi-location variety testing.• Promising materials of wider or specific adaptation shall be identified & promoted to variety verification stage.  Thank you!"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"126e9d0598903cfc00ad78ad1fea284f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/a773811e-99ed-4069-b913-794e7ae3d408/content","id":"-803806710"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3c045589-03f6-4f15-a467-aa203759fdf8","content":"The Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture takes stock of the costs, benefits and impacts of the past 50 years of water development for agriculture, the water management challenges communities are facing today, and solutions people have developed. The results of the Assessment will enable farming communities, governments and donors to make better-quality investment and management decisions to meet food and environmental security objectives in the near future and over the next 25 years.The Research Report Series captures results of collaborative research conducted under the Assessment. It also includes reports contributed by individual scientists and organizations that significantly advance knowledge on key Assessment questions. Each report undergoes a rigorous peer-review process. The research presented in the series feeds into the Assessment's primary output-a \"State of the World\" report and set of options backed by hundreds of leading water and development professionals and water users.Reports in this series may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgement. Electronic copies of reports can be downloaded from the Assessment website (www.iwmi.org/assessment).If you are interested in submitting a report for inclusion in the series, please see the submission guidelines available on the Assessment website or send a written request to: Sepali Goonaratne,The recent stagnation of productivity growth in the irrigated areas of the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia has led to a quest for resourceconserving technologies that can save water, reduce production costs and improve production.The present synthesis of two detailed country studies confirmed widespread adoption of zero tillage (ZT) wheat in the rice-wheat systems of India's Haryana State (34.5% of surveyed households) and Pakistan's Punjab province (19%). The combination of a significant \"yield effect\" and \"cost-saving effect\" makes adoption worthwhile and is the main driver behind the rapid spread and widespread acceptance of ZT in Haryana, India. In Punjab, Pakistan, adoption is driven by the significant ZT-induced cost savings for wheat cultivation. Thus, the prime driver for ZT adoption is not water savings or natural resource conservation but monetary gain in both sites.Water savings are only a potential added benefit. ZT adoption for wheat has accelerated from insignificant levels from 2000 onwards in both sites. Geographic penetration of ZT is far from uniform, suggesting the potential for further diffusion, particularly in Haryana, India. Diffusion seems to have stagnated in the Punjab study area, and further follow-up studies are needed to confirm this. The study also revealed significant dis-adoption of ZT in the survey year: Punjab, Pakistan 14 percent and Haryana, India 10 percent. Better understanding the rationale for dis-adoption merits further scrutiny. Our findings suggest that there is no clear single overarching constraint but that a combination of factors is at play, including technology performance, technology access, seasonal constraints and, particularly in the case of Punjab, Pakistan, the institutional ZT controversy. In terms of technology performance, the relative ZT yield was particularly influential: dis-adopters of ZT reporting low ZT yields as a major contributor to farmer disillusionment in Punjab, Pakistan and the lack of a significant yield effect in Haryana, India. In neither site did the ZT-induced time savings in land preparation translate into timelier establishment, contributing to the general lack of a yield increase. Knowledge blockages, resource constraints and ZT drill cost and availability all contributed to nonadoption. This suggests that there is potential to further enhance access to this technology and thereby its penetration.The study highlights that in both Haryana, India and Punjab, Pakistan ZT has been primarily adopted by the larger and more productive farmers. The structural differences between the adopters and non-adopters/dis-adopters in terms of resource base, crop management and performance thereby easily confound the assessment of ZT impact across adoption categories. This calls for the comparison of the ZT plots and conventional tillage plots on adopter farms.ZT-induced effects primarily apply to the establishment and production costs of the wheat crop. Both the Haryana, India and Punjab, Pakistan studies confirmed significant ZT-induced resource-saving effects in farmers' fields in terms of diesel and tractor time for wheat cultivation. Water savings are, however, less pronounced than expected from on-farm trial data. It was only in Haryana, India that there were significant ZTinduced water savings in addition to significant yield enhancement. The higher yield and water savings in Haryana, India result in significantly Introduction 1In South Asia, rice-wheat cropping systems cover 13.5 million hectares (mha) and provide incomes and food to many millions of people (Gupta et al. 2003;Timsina and Connor 2001). The rice-wheat system is primarily irrigated, with 85 percent concentrated in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) (Timsina and Connor 2001). In the face of increasing competition for water from industrial, domestic and environmental sectors, concerns are being raised about the productivity of water used in agriculture (Kijne et al. 2003). Increasing water scarcity is also seen as a major contributor to stagnating productivity in the rice-wheat cropping systems of the IGP (Byerlee et al. 2003;Kumar et al. 2002). Due to the absence of efficient water-pricing mechanisms, the scarcity value of water is not reflected in water prices (Pingali and Shah 2001). In the face of unreliable canal water supplies, many farmers have increased their reliance on private tube wells, placing tremendous pressure on groundwater supplies (Abrol 1999;Ahmad et al. 2007;Qureshi et al. 2003). Negative environmental effects related to irrigation are increasing as overexploitation of groundwater and poor water management lead to the dropping of water tables in some areas and increased waterlogging and salinity in others (Harrington et al. 1993;Pingali and Shah 2001;Qureshi et al. 2003). In addition, tube-well irrigation has raised production costs in view of the energy expenses incurred (electricity or diesel) (Qureshi et al. 2003). Agricultural technologies that can save water, reduce production costs and improve production are therefore becoming increasingly important (Gupta et al. 2002;Hobbs and Gupta 2003b).The Rice-Wheat Consortium (RWC) for the IGP (www.rwc.cgiar.org), which is made up of international agricultural research centers, national agricultural research organizations from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan, and advanced research institutes has developed and promoted a number of technologies that increase farm-level productivity, conserve natural resources and limit negative environmental impacts (Gupta and Sayre 2007;Gupta and Seth 2007;Hobbs and Gupta 2003a). These resource-conserving technologies (RCTs) form the basis for conservation agriculture. \"Conservation agriculture\" is the term used for a diverse array of crop management practices that involve minimal disturbance of the soil, retention of residue mulch on the soil surface and use of crop rotations (FAO 2007;Harrington and Erenstein 2005;Hobbs 2007).Since the mid-1980s, researchers, farmers, extension specialists, machinery importers and local machinery manufacturers have been working to adapt RCTs to South Asia's rice-wheat cropping systems (Ekboir 2002;Seth et al. 2003).The RCTs have been actively promoted in the IGP for about 10 years and recent evidence suggests that these efforts are beginning to bear fruit. Data collected from benchmark and farmer fields show that RCTs provide a wide array of benefits, including higher yields, lower production costs, improved water and fertilizer use efficiency, better control of pests and diseases and reduced greenhouse gas emissions (see Anwar et al. 2002;Hobbs and Gupta 2003a;Khan et al. 2002;Malik et al. 2002aMalik et al. , 2005a)).To date, the RCT that has been most successful in the IGP is zero-tillage (ZT) planting of wheat after rice (Laxmi et al. 2007). ZT in rice-wheat systems ranges from surface seeding to planting with seed drills drawn by four-wheel tractors (Hobbs et al. 1997). In surface seeding, wheat seeds are broadcast on a saturated soil surface before or after rice harvest (Tripathi et al. 2006). It is a simple technology for resource-poor farmers requiring no land preparation and no machinery, but its use is still largely confined to low-lying fields that remain too moist for tractors to enter, particularly in the eastern IGP. Mechanized ZT has proven more popular in the IGP, but implies the need for a tractor-drawn ZT seed drill. This specialized seeding implement allows wheat seed to be planted directly into unplowed fields with a single pass of the tractor, often with simultaneous basal fertilizer application (Mehla et al. 2000). In contrast, conventional tillage (CT) practices for wheat involve multiple passes of the tractor to accomplish plowing, harrowing, planking and seeding operations. The use of ZT significantly reduces energy costs, mainly by reducing tractor costs associated with CT methods, and also because water savings reduce the time that tube wells must be operated. The use of ZT also allows the wheat crop to be planted sooner than would be possible using CT methods, which significantly reduces turnaround time. This is an important consideration in many parts of the rice-wheat belt, where late planting of wheat is a major cause of reduced yields: terminal heat implies that wheat yield potential reduces by 1-1.5 percent per day if planting occurs after 20th November (Ortiz-Monasterio et al. 1994;Hobbs and Gupta 2003a).Of particular interest here is the impact of ZT on water use efficiency. Experimental evidence has shown that ZT reduces irrigation requirements in wheat compared to CT (Gupta et al. 2002;Hobbs and Gupta 2003b). ZT uses residual soil water more effectively. With ZT irrigation, water spreads faster across the surface, whereby irrigation can be stopped once the field is covered. ZT potentially improves the soil structure and facilitates the buildup of crop residue, which have been linked to increased water retention, better infiltration and reduced overall water use. In addition, the faster turnaround time made possible by ZT allows the wheat crop to be planted and harvested earlier, potentially reducing the need for one or more late-season irrigations in some areas. At the time this study was initiated, these benefits had yet to be conclusively documented in farmers' self-adopted fields, although now some such studies are available (Ahmad et al. 2007;Chandra et al. 2007;Jehangir et al. 2007;Malik et al. 2005b).A prerequisite for any ex-post adoption and impact study is that the technology of interest must have moved beyond the research station and into farmers' fields. While a number of resource-conserving technologies were being developed and tested in the northwest IGP at the time of initiating this study (PARC-RWC 2003;RWC 2002), most had yet to be widely promoted, and uptake by farmers was minimal, although more recently technologies like laser leveling and bed planting have also shown promise (Connor et al. 2003;Jat et al. 2006). For this reason, the current study focuses on ZT wheat, which is known to have spread into farmers' fields.The extent to which ZT has diffused across the IGP is also not known exactly. Field observations and knowledgeable experts estimate that the area under ZT is significant and is rapidly increasing, particularly in India (Laxmi et al. 2007). Area estimates are often based on the sales of ZT drills and average area coverage per drill (e.g., Malik et al. 2005b, 6-7). There was thus a need to verify the extent of adoption and its impact through structured empirical surveys. Without such data, the technical and economic benefits actually realized by farmers also remain unknown, since scaling up from plot-level experimental data to arrive at aggregate measures of impact is problematic and misses eventual adaptations of farmers in terms of finetuning and modifying the technology to their circumstances.To promote faster and extensive adoption of RCTs in general and ZT in particular, a better understanding is needed not only of their impacts at various levels of aggregation (field, farm and region), but also of the factors that influence the adoption and diffusion. Research has indicated the potential technological benefits, but experience suggests that successful adoption depends on a favorable confluence of technical, economic, institutional and policy factors (CIMMYT 1993;Feder et al. 1985). It is only by understanding these factors that researchers, extension specialists, machinery manufacturers and policymakers will be able to modify the technology, delivery mechanisms and policy environment to stimulate successful adoption and diffusion.The overall objective of the present study is to enhance our understanding of the adoption and impacts of ZT as a resource-conserving technology in farmers' rice-wheat fields in the This report synthesizes the findings of the two detailed country studies (Erenstein et al. 2007a;Farooq et al. 2007) and is organized into eight chapters. In the second chapter we review the methodology. In the third we document the diffusion of the technology. In the fourth we analyze the factors affecting ZT adoption. In the fifth we analyze and evaluate the technical plotlevel impact of the technology and in the sixth the financial plot-level impacts. In the seventh chapter we analyze the farm and regional impacts. In the eighth and final chapter we give the conclusions and recommendations.The study focuses on two irrigated rice-wheat areas in the northwest IGP (figure 1). The first is the rice-wheat zone in Haryana, located in the northwest of India and falling in the Trans-Gangetic Plains. The second is the rice-wheat zone in Punjab, located in the northeast of Pakistan close to the Indian border and falling within the Indus Plains. In the Haryana study area the average annual precipitation ranges from 300 mm yr -1 (Sirsa district) to 1,100 mm yr -1(Yamunanagar district) (Central Ground Water Board 2007). In the Punjab study area the average annual precipitation ranges from 400 mm yr -1 (Sheikhupura district) to 800 mm yr -1 (Sialkot district) (Byerlee et al. 1984). The semiarid climate is continental monsoonal, with some 80 percent of the total precipitation during the monsoonal season from June to September. Wheat is grown in the cold and dry weather from November to March, whereas rice is grown during the warm humid/semi-humid season from June to October (Timsina and Connor 2001). With an annual potential evapotranspiration of at least 1,400 mm (Harrington et al. 1993;Jehangir et al. 2007), rice and wheat are dependent on irrigation, which includes the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater. Both study areas are served by a developed canal irrigation system, although groundwater now provides the major share of total water supply at the farm gate (Harrington et al. 1993;Jehangir et al. 2007) making up for the inadequate volume, frequency and timing of canal water (Ahmad et al. 2007).The soils in the study areas are predominantly alluvial, calcareous, very low in organic carbon and weakly structured, with light to medium texture (sandy loam to clay loam) (Harrington et al. 1993;Jehangir et al. 2007). Survey locations.The rice-wheat systems in the study areas are highly mechanized, input-intensive, commercial and with relatively large farm holdings, particularly when compared to the eastern IGP (Erenstein et al. 2007b;Gupta et al. 2003). Another distinguishing feature of both study areas within the IGP is the popularity of basmati rice (Timsina and Connor 2001), an aromatic fine-quality rice which takes a longer time to mature. Wheat has traditionally been, and continues to be, the mainstay of food security in the northwest IGP, and the introduction and widespread cultivation of rice have only occurred in recent decades (Erenstein et al. 2007d). The introduction of rice has, thereby, put increasing pressure on the ability to plant wheat timely without incurring yield losses. The delay in planting the wheat crop is mainly due to the late harvest of the previous crop and/or a long turnaround time. The late harvest of the previous rice crop can be linked to both the late rice establishment and the duration of the rice crop, particularly basmati. The long turnaround time often reflects intensive tillage operations, soilmoisture problems (too wet or too dry), nonavailability of traction power for plowing, and the urgency to store the rice crop before preparing land for wheat cultivation. Farmers perceive the need for intensive tillage due to the difference in soil management practices for rice and wheat -the former being grown under anaerobic conditions and the latter under aerobic conditions (Laxmi et al. 2007).This study interprets ZT as the planting of wheat with a tractor-drawn ZT seed drill directly into unplowed fields with a single pass of the tractor. Although prototype ZT seed drills were first introduced into South Asia during the mid-to late 1980s, significant adoption of ZT by farmers began only in the late 1990s. The two study areas in Haryana and Punjab were purposively chosen for this study as they comprise the locations where ZT promotion was initiated and adoption was most significant (Khan et al. 2002;Malik et al. 2005c). Each study draws from two similar primary data sources: the survey of ZT drill manufacturers and a formal adoption survey of rice-wheat farmers. The Punjab study was complemented with a village survey (Farooq et al. 2007) and the Haryana study with a water-use survey of rice-wheat farmers (Erenstein et al. 2007a).This study focuses on ZT through the use of the tractor-drawn ZT seed drill, i.e., ZT as a crop management technology that is embodied in unique agricultural machinery. As a result, it is possible to assess the advent of the technology through a supply-side analysis. For this purpose, a survey of ZT drill manufacturers was implemented in December 2003 (Anwar et al. 2004;Parwez et al. 2004). Altogether 35 ZT manufacturers were identified in Haryana and 43 in Punjab, of whom about two-thirds were directly interviewed for this study (table 1).The main primary data source for this study was a formal survey of rice-wheat growers from the rice-wheat zones of Haryana and Punjab. The adoption survey used a stratified sampling frame. Within each country study, the districts (and subdistricts) with predominantly rice-wheat systems were purposively chosen (figure 2), comprising at least four (sub)districts where ZT has been widely promoted and at least two where promotion of ZT has been less extensive. The two country studies varied somewhat in the exact sampling approach (for details see Erenstein et al. 2007a;Farooq et al. 2007). In the case of Haryana, altogether five villages per district were randomly chosen from 10 districts. Within each selected village, eight farm households were chosen randomly. This gave a total of 50 villages and 400 farm households. In the case of Punjab, 51 villages were selected comprising 24 ZTpromoted and 27 non-promoted villages. From each selected village typically some 8-10 farmers were interviewed giving a total of 458 farmers (table 1).Each selected household was visited twice during 2003-04 to collect detailed information using a structured questionnaire covering various Where farmers had used both ZT and CT for their wheat crop, both plots were surveyed giving a total of 499 wheat plots from 400 farm households in Haryana and 522 wheat plots from 458 farm households in Punjab. Similarly, depending on the preceding wheat crop, 468 and 528 rice plots (from Haryana and Punjab, respectively), were surveyed (table 1). To put the rabi 2003-04 season in perspective, the study also traced the adoption history of each farmer. Specifically in the case of Punjab, the surveyed villages were also revisited in the subsequent year to ascertain the extent of ZT area in rabi 2004-05 and related indicators.For the subsequent analysis and reporting, farm households were classified based on their use of ZT in wheat. The farmers who used ZT for wheat Those who never used ZT for wheat on their farm were classified as non-adopters. Finally, those farmers who had used ZT in the past, but not in rabi 2003-04, were classified as dis-adopters. We hypothesize that there are a number of differences between the three types of adopters, and that these may help explain the observed adoption decision. The adopters, non-adopters and dis-adopters were found to have inherently different crop management practices, irrespective of the use of ZT. This primarily appears to be a reflection of their inherently different asset bases. The plot-level comparisons in this synthesis will therefore focus on the comparison of the ZT and CT plots of adopters only (for details for all plots see detailed country studies - Erenstein et al. 2007a;Farooq et al. 2007). This comparison is more objective in view of the underlying resource base and management differentials. This may underestimate the impact of ZT in the event that adopters reduced the intensity of their \"conventional\" crop management practices after having used ZT. However, compared to the other adoption categories (see Erenstein et al. 2007a;Farooq et al. 2007) and previously reported tillage intensities (Byerlee et al. 1984;Harrington et al. 1993), no reduction of tillage intensity in the CT plots of adopters was apparent; so according to the survey data this bias is relatively minor.The significance of all bivariate contrasts between adopter categories and plot types was calculated using the relevant statistical tests (e.g., ANOVA with post-hoc test; t-test). The factors affecting the farm-level decision to adopt ZT were analyzed using the logit regression model, a standard limited-dependent variable approach (CIMMYT 1993). The dependent variable is dichotomous, and takes the value of one when ZT is used and zero if it is not. The independent variables included in the adoption models covered a range of relatively fixed and exogenous characteristics of farm households that were expected to be associated with the ZT adoption decision. Not all variables originally hypothesized could be included in the final models: some variables proved to be highly correlated (e.g., tractor ownership and farm size), and some were not unambiguously measured or proved nondiscriminating. For consistency reasons, we retained the same explanatory variables in the two country studies. The descriptive statistics of the independent variables included in the models and further details are given in the respective country case studies (Erenstein et al. 2007a;Farooq et al. 2007).The water productivity analysis follows the water productivity framework developed by Molden and associates (Molden 1997;Molden et al. 1998;Seckler 1996), which is increasingly being applied (Ahmad et al. 2004;Cabangon et al. 2002;Jehangir et al. 2007). The main inflow components of the study area and considered in this study are irrigation from the canal and tubewell sources and rainfall. Water productivity was estimated on the basis of the yield and monetary value per unit of the gross inflow (irrigation + rain) and irrigation inflow.The water inflow indicators draw from farmer recall plot-level data for number and duration of irrigations by source (canal and tube well). These were converted into water volumes using average irrigation volumetric rates and seasonal rainfall in the study area. For the Haryana study area we used the average irrigation rates from the water survey conducted within the context of this study (Erenstein et al. 2007a: 52.5  The financial analysis was done per individual surveyed household using the reported physical input/output levels and local farm prices that prevailed at the time of the survey. Prices are reported financial market prices, including eventual taxes and subsidies. These market rates are assumed to be a reliable reflection of opportunity costs, irrespective of ownership (e.g., in case of land and tractors) and facilitate comparison. Missing values have been substituted with the corresponding average for the locality. Local currency was converted to US dollars at the average conversion rate at the time.The gross revenue from crop cultivation comprises the value of all the grain and the value of the residues/straw. The total production cost includes:1. Land preparation (all tillage plus eventual post-sowing pass to cover seed).2. Crop establishment (cost of seeding operation only, includes seed, labor and machinery).3. Fertilizer cost (includes chemical fertilizer and farm yard manure).4. Plant protection cost (includes herbicides, manual weeding, pesticides/fungicides).5. Irrigation cost (flat area-based rate for canal and variable time-based cost for tube well).6. Harvesting expenditures (includes labor and machinery for harvesting and threshing).7. Land rent (prevailing seasonal rent).As performance indicators are included:• Net revenue = (gross revenue) -(total production cost)• Percentage of plots with positive net revenue• Benefit:cost (ratio) = (gross revenue) / (total production cost)In India, rapid and widespread adoption of ZT started in Haryana (Laxmi et al. 2007;Malik et al. 2005c). The emphasis on ZT development originated from diagnostic studies that highlighted the importance of time conflicts between rice harvesting and wheat planting in the area (Fujisaka et al. 1994;Harrington et al. 1993). ZT was thereby perceived to be a viable option to alleviate the problem of late planting of wheat after rice, the combined result of late maturing rice and long turnaround time. By reducing soil movement, ZT also serves as an effective control measure of Phalaris minor, a major weed, which reduced wheat yields in the IGP and which showed emerging resistance to isoproturon herbicide after repeated and widespread use in the mid-1990s (Malik et al. 2002b;Yadav and Malik 2005). The ability to control herbicide-resistant phalaris thereby became a major initial driver for adoption of ZT in northwest India, which in combination with new herbicides eventually managed to control the phalaris problem. Experts estimated the zero/reduced tillage (ZT/RT) area in Haryana to be 350,000 hectares in 2003-04 (Laxmi et al. 2007;RWC 2004).In Pakistan, promotion and adoption of ZT started in Punjab (Aslam et al. 1993;Iqbal et al. 2002;Khan et al. 2002;Sheikh et al. 1993). The emphasis on ZT development again originated from diagnostic studies that highlighted the importance of time conflicts between rice harvesting and wheat planting in • Production cost = (total production cost) / (grain yield) Further details are given in the respective country case studies (Erenstein et al. 2007a;Farooq et al. 2007).the area (Amir and Aslam 1992;Byerlee et al. 1984;Sharif et al. 1992). Favorable experimental findings led to a ZT pilot production program in the 1990s to expand the use of this technology in the rice-wheat zone of Punjab (Aslam et al. 1993). ZT was subsequently picked up by farmers with an estimated 0.2 mha planted with ZT drill during 2001-02 (Mann and Meisner 2003) while, according to unpublished data from the On-Farm Water Management, an estimated 0.3 mha had been planted in 2003-04 (RWC 2004).In both India and Pakistan, promotion and adoption of ZT emphasized the use of a tractordrawn ZT seed drill. This drill typically opens a number (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11) of narrow slits with inverted-T tines for placement of seed (and sometimes fertilizer) at a depth of 7.5-10 cm into the soil. This specialized agricultural machinery was originally not available in South Asia. A key component in the technology diffusion was creating the local manufacturing capacity to supply adequate and affordable ZT drills. In both study areas, ZT manufacturing capacity is geographically concentrated in the rice-wheat belt (northwest of Haryana and northeast of Punjab). In Pakistan, this corresponds to the traditional farmmachinery-making centers for cultivators and threshers like Daska town in the Sialkot district, Punjab. In India, the first commercial ZT drills also originated from the traditional machinerymanufacturing centers like Ludhiana and Amritsar in Indian Punjab. It was only later that manufacturers in Haryana joined this business.The two country studies compiled ZT drill sales figures in Haryana and Punjab and the comparison is revealing. The two States show a largely similar increase in the number of manufacturers over time, both in absolute and relative terms (figure 3  2003-04 (figure 4). The studies thus empirically confirm the significant levels of adoption of ZT wheat in the rice-wheat systems of the northwest IGP, underscoring the appeal of the technology among farmers. The surveyed farmers were questioned when they first used ZT and their use of ZT since then. The plotted responses (figure 5) distinguish between ZT adoption (i.e., those who actually used ZT in the corresponding year, dash) and ZT penetration (i.e., those who (b) had used ZT by that year, adopters and disadopters combined, line). In the case of Haryana, the ZTD diffusion in many ways follows the traditional diffusion pattern of technological innovations. After nearly a decade of adaptive research, demonstration and slow initial diffusion, diffusion started to pick up rapidly from 2000 onwards. The data suggest that ZT adoption levels for wheat may end up somewhat higher than the observed one-third of the surveyed rice-wheat farmers at the time of the survey (figure 5a). In the case of Punjab, up to 2002-03, ZT diffusion in many ways seemed to follow the traditional diffusion pattern of technological innovations similar to that of Haryana. Diffusion started to pick up rapidly from 2000, but adoption rates seem to have abruptly peaked in 2002-03 (at 24%, figure 5b). A separate study in Punjab also reports a considerable increase in the adoption of ZT between 2000 and 2003, although without showing signs of peaking (Ahmad et al. 2007).  Annual aggregate ZT area share over sample farms (%)Haryana Punjab (a)Our random stratified sample of rice-wheat farmers also revealed 10 percent and 14 percent to be ZT dis-adopters in Haryana and Punjab, respectively (table 2). Dis-adopters are defined here as farmers who had used ZT in preceding seasons, but did not do so in the 2003-04 rabi season for whatever reason. It is noteworthy that the dis-adoption rates are lower in Haryana, both in absolute terms (share of surveyed households) and in relative terms (share of households that have tried ZT). Most disadoption is of recent nature in both sites, and was particularly pronounced in the 2003-04 season (figure 5).4 The village-level data for the subsequent rabi season (2004-05) in the Punjab study area suggested further dis-adoption (Farooq et al. 2007). The subsequent years will thus inform us whether ZT adoption levels for wheat in Punjab may end up significantly lower or higher than at the time of the survey.Dis-adoption is both permanent and temporary, whereas 74 percent and 54 percent of those who have used ZT in Haryana and Punjab, respectively, have done so continuously. Temporary dis-adoption could be associated with the untimely availability of the ZT drill or unfavorable seasonal conditions for ZT in the survey year 2003-04. For instance, untimely rain prior to rice harvesting may cause combiners to cause ruts in the fields that need to be evened out through tillage. Alternatively, untimely rain can cause a flush of weeds that a farmer prefers to control through reduced tillage. However, in the survey year, rainfall during the critical months of October and November suggests a relatively normal aggregate rainfall for Punjab, albeit somewhat late, whereas Haryana was relatively dry.5 Prolonged or even permanent disadoption could be associated with a farmer structurally losing access to a functional ZT drill or being disillusioned with ZT for whatever reason. For 4In Figure 5, dis-adoption is shown as the difference between the dashed and continuous lines.5 For the Pakistan study area, October-November rainfall in nearby Lahore was 16 mm in 2003 (0 mm in October and 16 mm in November) as against a 30-year average of 16.6 mm (12.4 mm in October and 4.2 mm in November; Lahore meteorological station, unpublished data). For the India study area, October-November rainfall in Kurukshetra was only 1 mm in 2003 (0 mm in October and 1 mm in November) as against a 1989-2005 average of 21 mm (18 mm in October and 3 mm in November; Office of the Deputy Director, Agriculture, Kurukshetra, unpublished data). instance, particularly dis-adopters and the Punjab study reported the lack of yield enhancement with ZT as an issue (see subsequent chapters). It is also noteworthy that in both study areas disadopters had typically used ZT for one single year, suggesting an unsuccessful first experience and/or limited perseverance.The slower diffusion and higher dis-adoption in Punjab are likely associated with the ongoing institutional ZT controversy there. ZT diffusion in Punjab has been hampered by institutional rivalry whereby \"some government agencies … have differences of opinion on the usefulness and the benefits of zero-tillage technology\" (Iqbal et al. 2002:677). This is also illustrated by Sheikh et al. (2003:90), who find a significantly negative association between the number of extension visits and ZT adoption, leading them to conclude that \"[t]his suggests that extension workers are not recommending the technology.\" Provincial agricultural extension is indeed not supportive of ZT wheat and this message is carried through in their extension campaigns and by their field staff. One of their fears is that ZT, by not plowing, may enhance over-wintering of the stem borer in the rice stubble which may undermine the productivity and competitiveness of basmati rice, a major export crop. However, there is no scientific evidence of such risk (Inayatullah et al. 1989;Srivastava et al. 2005). Filling the institutional vacuum, OFWM has played an important role in promoting this technology. This has created institutional rivalry between OFWM and agricultural extension with unfortunate implications for the farmers and the technology alike in Punjab, particularly in view of conflicting information. In contrast, the initial reluctance of many stakeholders vis-à-vis ZT in India was transformed into a significant support for ZT at all levels.Better understanding the rationale for disadoption merits further scrutiny. Our findings suggest that there is no clear single overarching constraint, but that a combination of factors is at play, including technology performance, technology access, seasonal constraints and, particularly in the case of Punjab, the institutional ZT controversy.In line with ZT drill sales and ZT use, ZT drill ownership is significantly less widespread in Punjab than in Haryana, being reported by 7 percent and 15 percent of the surveyed households, respectively. As expected, drill ownership was significantly higher for adopters, less common for dis-adopters and virtually absent for non-adopters in each site (table 4). The majority of ZT adopters therefore relied on contracted ZT drill services at the time of the survey in both sites (74% and 60% of ZT adopters, respectively). This is in line with the common tillage practices in these areas where many farmers do not own a tractor but rely on tillage contract services to get their fields prepared. Contracted ZT drill services have thereby made the technology accessible to smallholders without a tractor, whereas tractor owners can put off the investment decision. At the same time, the prevailing reliance on contractual services may constrain timely availability of the ZT drill and thereby (partially) forfeit the timely establishment of the wheat crop. Also, not all ZT drills are available for contract services: about a third of the operational ZT drills in Punjab were reportedly only used on the owners' farm during the last 3 years. Another study of ZT drill owners in Punjab found that only 40 percent were providing the drills on a rental basis (Khan et al. 2002:63). Anecdotal evidence suggests that large land-and tractor-owning farmers in Punjab are often reluctant to contract out their machinery -an issue also reported for the 2000-01 season (Iqbal et al. 2002:677). The varying access to ZT drills adds to the sitespecificity of findings. For instance, yet another study in Punjab revealed that the reasons for ZT users not purchasing a ZT drill included having easy access to drills on rent or free of cost from relatives/friends, drills still in an experimental phase and high drill costs (Tahir and Younas 2004). Yet, the same study also reported that 40 percent of ZT users claimed that the number of available drills was insufficient.Partial adoption of ZT on a share of the wheat area of the adopting farm seems to be the prevalent practice. In Punjab, this share averaged 74 percent in the survey year, as against 53 percent in Haryana. The adoption intensity could reflect differential access to a ZT drill: one might expect ZT drill owners to have higher adoption intensities than those reliant on ZT-service providers. However, in neither study area is there a significant difference in ZT area share between these two categories of ZT drill access in the survey year. This suggests that ZT access categories did not constrain the extent of ZT adoption in the survey year, provided they had access to a ZT drill in the first place. The adoption intensity could also vary between tractor owners and those reliant on tractor-service providers. One might expect tractor owners to have lower incentives for ZT use in view of the relative lower tillage costs on the farm (e.g., sunk cost of tractor and machinery, ensured and timely access, etc.) and ZT potentially negatively affecting their future income as providers of tractor services. In Punjab, there was no significant difference in terms of ZT area share between tractor owners and those reliant on tractor-service providers, but in Haryana there was a marked contrast. Here non-tractor owners had significantly higher ZT adoption intensities (>66% wheat area) than tractor owners (approximately 50% of wheat area, table 3). In Punjab, the ZT area share was also relatively constant over time, but in Haryana the ZT share decreased (table 3). This is primarily associated with early adopters devoting a larger area share to ZT than late adopters in Haryana, as ZT adopters typically maintain or increase their ZT area share over time (figure 6). Early adopters having a higher adoption intensity is somewhat contrary to expectations, but it can be explained by the relative contribution of tractor owners and non-tractor owners over time. In Haryana, the absolute number of both tractor owners and non-tractor owners adopting ZT increased over time, but the number of tractor owners (with their lower ZT adoption intensities) increased at a faster rate (table 3). Consequently, the relative share of non-tractor owners (with their higher ZT-adoption intensities) amongst ZT adopters in Haryana decreased from about half in 1999-2000 to a third in 2000-02 and less than a third in 2002-04 (table 3). A separate study in the Punjab area revealed that half the ZT users did not allocate the whole of their wheat area to ZT because they were still experimenting with the technology (Tahir and Younas 2004). Other reasons for partial area adoption in that study included the availability of enough time for CT (11% of cases), land not suitable for ZT (10%), nonavailability of ZT drill at sowing time (8%) and lack of proper knowledge (6%), and a range of perceived negative carryover effects in relation to ZT use (e.g., in terms of yield, soil compaction and tillage for subsequent rice).  ZT adoption is also far from uniform, with significant variations in terms of penetration and use over districts and villages in both study sites (figure 7). In Haryana, the variations over districts seem to be associated with prevailing cropping systems, with dis-adoption more prevalent in both rice-wheat and sugarcane-based cropping systems. Although ZT promotion has emphasized rice-wheat districts in Haryana, ZT adoption is also spreading rapidly in districts where cotton-wheat predominates. Cotton-wheat systems tend to have the same problem of late wheat planting. However, in Punjab, ZT is even more controversial in cottonwheat systems because of feared carryover of bollworms on unincorporated cotton residues. In Punjab, ZT penetration (adoption + dis-adoption) is geographically concentrated in the rice-wheat heartland: the contiguous Sheikhupura, Gujranwala and Hafizabad districts. In these districts, 32-45 percent of surveyed farmers have tested the ZT drill, with 20-27 percent current adopters. The soils in these districts are relatively heavy, suggesting that the need for the ZT drill is relatively felt more in these areas. In the remaining three Punjab districts, ZT penetration was modest with 11-21 percent of surveyed farmers having tested the ZT drill. In both Haryana and Punjab, the district-level data show that a) an increased penetration of ZT is associated not only with increased adoption levels but also with increased dis-adoption levels; and b) ZT adopters typically outnumber dis-adopters. The assumed intensity of ZT promotion at the district level did not show a clear linkage to increased adoption rates, an issue likely associated with the technology primarily spreading from farmer to farmer in both study sites and the institutional rivalry in Punjab.In both Haryana and Punjab, village-wise adoption rates show a considerable gradient from none to saturation. The village-level data thereby allow for some important inferences. First, it illustrates that ZT penetration to individual villages was widespread but not comprehensive at the time of the survey in both Haryana and Punjab. Second, the gradient in village-wise adoption rates suggests that intrinsically there is nothing wrong with the technology itself, but that access and application of the technology may be an issue. Indeed, the fact that some villages are saturated and others show no dis-adoption suggests that ZT has considerable merit and wide applicability once the technology has proven itself within a community. Third, villagewise dis-adoption varies over the two study sites. In Haryana, the village-level data show that the average dis-adoption of 10 percent is typically piecemeal and only occasionally widespread and likely associated with crop diversification in favor of sugarcane and vegetables. In Punjab, dis-adoption seems to be concentrated in about half the villages where ZT had penetrated. Access to ZT drills varies over villages and is likely to have contributed to the observed adoption patterns.The ZT adopters, non-adopters and dis-adopters categories differ significantly in terms of their resource base in both study areas. For the various indicators compiled, adopters typically have the most favorable values and the non-adopters the least favorable, with dis-adopters taking an intermediate position. This has two important implications. First, it highlights that ZT adoption in the initial diffusion stage is strongly associated withThe previous chapter confirmed the significant adoption of ZT in Haryana and Punjab. However, it also highlighted that adoption is far from universal and that a significant share of households had become dis-adopters. This chapter synthesizes the differences at the household level that may help explain the decision to become adopters or dis-adopters. the wealth of the farm household, likely reflecting their risk-bearing capacity and ability to innovate. Second, it highlights that ZT dis-adopters combine characteristics of both adopters and non-adopters. The favorable characteristics may thereby facilitate the initial adoption of ZT, whereas the unfavorable characteristics undermine its continued use. Bivariate analysis of the various adoptionsurvey indicators highlighted contrasts and similarities between ZT adopters, dis-adopters and non-adopters in each site. Table 4 lists some of the factors that differed significantly, which included:• Farm and household assets: In both Haryana and Punjab, penetration of ZT (adoption + dis-adoption) was positively associated with the possession of farming assets (particularly a tractor and farm equipment) and household assets (particularly a car/vehicle and household appliances).• Land characteristics: In both Haryana and Punjab, adoption of ZT is positively associated with the size of operational holding, with dis-adopters having intermediate farm sizes. Adoption of ZT was also positively associated with the conjunctive use of canal and tube-well irrigation in both sites. Soils in Haryana tend to be lighter and betterdrained than in Punjab (farms with only [sandy] loam soils 67% and 46%, respectively; farms with well-drained land 97% and 57%, respectively). In Punjab, heavy soils and drainage problems are associated with continued ZT use. These soils would be more difficult to plow and so ZT would have more potential in reducing turnaround time. In Haryana, there was no significant association between soil type or drainage and ZT adoption. In Punjab, ZT adoption was also positively associated with farms having fallow land in the rabi season. In part, this is associated with the strong association of ZT with farm size; but it also reflects the potential of ZT to increase the area cultivated as compared to CT.• Sources of farm labor: In both Haryana and Punjab, adoption of ZT was positively associated with reliance on permanent labor and negatively associated with reliance on family labor. In Punjab, adoption of ZT was also positively associated with reliance on casual labor.Distance is associated with adoption and disadoption in each site, but no clear pattern emerges across the two sites. In Haryana, various proximity indicators were associated with dis-adoption, the latter likely reflecting the combined effect of exposure to ZT and diversification incentives. In Haryana, disadoption of ZT was also positively associated with the youth of household head and the Jat caste, whereas adoption of ZT was positively associated with the Jat Sikh caste. In Punjab, non-adoption was associated with a low literacy ratio. Family size, organizational membership and credit access indicators provided no clear association with adoption classes. In both Haryana and Punjab, farming was the main income source across households, contributing 80 percent or more of overall household income. In Haryana, the share of farming was significantly higher for adopters compared to non-adopters and dis-adopters (table 4). In Punjab, the share of farming was significantly higher for adopters and dis-adopters compared to non-adopters. This highlights a positive association of ZT adoption and penetration, respectively, with the farm households' reliance on agriculture for income. This agricultural specialization reflects their larger landholding and more commercial orientation.In Haryana, rice and wheat contributed about equal shares to household income (43% and 42%, respectively). In Punjab, the relative income share favors rice over wheat (51% and 32%, respectively), associated with the more widespread cultivation of high-value basmati rice. In our Haryana sample, adopters have taken the ricewheat specialization furthest. In Punjab, adopters and dis-adopters had a significantly higher relative contribution of rice to farm income compared to non-adopters, and the wheat share was similar. On average, rice and wheat crops occupied three-fourths of the total operational holding in Punjab, while slightly more than 15 percent of the farm size was allocated for fodder crops during both seasons. The combination of these factors likely enhances the incentives for adopters in Haryana and adopters and dis-adopters in Punjab to innovate and cut production costs in rice-wheat systems. In Haryana, dis-adoption of ZT was positively associated with sugarcane cultivation, which is often grown in a 2-year rotation with wheat. This reduced their reliance on rice-wheat systems whereas the prevailing tine-type ZT drills will not work without prior tillage in former sugarcane fields owing to the persistent rootstocks. To use ZT in such fields, heavier double-disc drills are needed that can cut through the rootstocks, and these only started becoming available in 2002-03.Each household was requested to rate a number of technical, extension and financial factors in terms of the degree they constrained the adoption of the ZT technology. The list of factors to be rated was largely similar for both study sites and all households irrespective of adoption category. Overall, the individual constraints were generally rated as less severe in Punjab than in Haryana. Therefore, instead of the absolute values, the relative values within each site are more revealing. The results of the ranking analysis are presented in table 5 and discussed subsequently.Compared to extension and financial factors, technical factors as a group rated relatively high in terms of constraining ZT adoption in Punjab, whereas they played a relatively lesser role in Haryana (table 5). The most pressing and revealing technical constraint is the yield of ZT relative to CT in both study areas. The single most serious constraint for dis-adopters was the reduced/low yield with ZT in Punjab (constraint index of 0.5, implying it is a moderate constraint) and the lack of a significant difference in yield in Haryana (constraint index of 0.5), contributing to their dis-adoption of the technology. The yield constraint also scored relatively high for nonadopters in Punjab, thereby adding to their reluctance to try the technology.The nonavailability of high-quality ZT drills was primarily raised by non-adopters in each site. In Haryana, non-adopters also highlighted the lack of local manufacturing and/or repair facilities for ZT drills. In Punjab, the nonavailability of the ZT drill on a rental basis was solely reported by some of the non-adopters. This suggests that there is still scope for further diffusion of the technology in both sites, and that these ZT-drillrelated constraints were not related to ZT disadoption.In Punjab, soil hardening was particularly reported by non-adopters and dis-adopters, but not really by adopters, suggesting this may either be a perceived issue or something related to the differences in soil types reported earlier. In Punjab, the weed problem at the time of planting was particularly mentioned by dis-adopters, possibly contributing to the dis-adoption decision, perceiving tillage as a more economical means for controlling the problem. The extension services in Punjab have discredited ZT for the perceived danger in pest carryover in the rice stubble (particularly rice stem borer). Interestingly, the risk of increased insect and disease problems was rated insignificant by the farmers across adoption categories in both sites.Compared to technical and financial factors, extension factors as a group rated relatively high in terms of constraining ZT adoption in Haryana, whereas they played a relatively lesser role in Punjab (table 5). This finding is contradictory to our expectations in view of the ZT controversy in Punjab and the public support for ZT in Haryana. In part, these findings may reflect the overall more lax scoring of constraints in Punjab and/or divergences in interpretation. Still, the \"lack of technical assistance from extension workers\" highlighted a significant and consistent difference between adoption categories in both sites. The same pattern emerges for the two other constraints in Haryana (\"nonavailability of extension literature on ZT methods\" and \"lack of coverage of ZT method by mass media\"). These extension constraints were consistently rated highest by non-adopters, suggesting that they lacked adequate access to ZT knowledge. This suggests there is still significant scope for further enhancing ZT adoption by alleviating knowledge blockages, possibly through farmer to farmer extension which so far is the prevailing source of ZT information. Adopters and dis-adopters gave similar ratings for these extension constraints, suggesting that the knowledge of ZT technology was not an underlying reason for disadopting its use.The most serious financial constraint was the perceived high cost of the ZT drill in both sites (table 5), particularly being reported by nonadopters. However, dis-adopters in Haryana also rated this constraint significantly higher than adopters, suggesting this is one factor that also contributed to their dis-adoption of ZT. Again in Haryana, non-adopters' ratings for the remaining three financial indicators (in relation to resources and credit) were consistently highest, but there was no significant difference between adopters and dis-adopters. This reiterates that the nonadopters in Haryana are more resourceconstrained, and that this may have contributed to their reluctance to adopt ZT so far.A separate study suggests that ZT diffusion in the Punjab study area is constrained by the lack of financial resources, lack or untimely availability of ZT drills and lack of familiarity among the smallholders (Jehangir et al. 2007).A multivariate analysis with a logit regression model allows us to include various indicators in a single adoption model to analyze their combined effect on the likelihood of ZT adoption. For each site we present two different binomial logit models (table 6). The first model reflects the penetration of ZT, using as dependent variable whether the household ever used ZT. The second model reflects the current use of ZT, using as dependent variable whether the household used ZT in the survey year . The contrasts between the two models highlight some of the factors particularly associated with dis-adoption.In Haryana, the binomial logit models reiterate that ZT adoption is closely associated with ZT promotion, remoteness, farm size, assets and rice-wheat specialization. Canal irrigation enhanced, and predominantly light soils reduced, the likelihood of trying out the technology, but did not significantly affect the likelihood of its continued use.In Punjab, the binomial logit models reiterate that ZT adoption is again closely associated with farm size and rice-wheat specialization. ZT promotion, having more physical assets and not belonging to the prevailing caste, played an important role in trying out ZT, but less so in continuing with its use. Conversely, predominantly light soils reduced the likelihood of continued ZT use. The negative role of light soils in both models likely reflects that these soils would be easier to plow and so the potential time saving of ZT is less important since turnaround time would already be fast (Hobbs pers. comm. 2007, Ithaca).Characteristics of farm households therefore contribute significantly to the explanation of the observed adoption and dis-adoption patterns, given that the explanatory power of the adoption models could be enhanced by including other variables at the household, community or regional level. For instance, our models do not adequately capture some features of the ZT innovation process, such as local ZT champions and the functioning (or absence) of ZT service providers. In the end though, adoption and dis-adoption can be expected to reflect the underlying performance of the technology in the farmers' fields, an issue we explore in the next chapter. there. Although we cannot test or control for all such considerations, the available data at least show no significant difference in terms of soil type between ZT and CT plots on adopter farms.We therefore prefer to err on the safe side and assume that the comparison between the ZT plots and CT plots of adopters is the least-biased assessment of ZT's impact. The first section of this chapter synthesizes the effects on the wheat crop. The second section synthesizes the carryover effects on the rice crop. The third section sums up.The CT wheat establishment practice in both Haryana and Punjab involves intensive tractor tillage and broadcasting of wheat. ZT drastically reduces tractor operations in farmers' ZT wheat fields from an average of eight passes to a single pass, implying a per ha saving of 6 and 7 tractor hours and 36 and 35 liters of diesel in Haryana and Punjab, respectively (table 7). Earlier diagnostic studies reported an average of six tillage operations in Punjab (ranging from 2 to 10; Byerlee et al. 1984) and eight tillage operations in Haryana (4-8 on lighter soils and 8-12 on heavier soils; Harrington et al. 1993), followed by another tractor cultivation after broadcasting. Our study highlights that the current CT practices do not deviate much from the earlier studies. It was only in Haryana that mechanized sowing had gained ground, being now reported in 32 percent of CT fields, whereas broadcasting still prevailed in Punjab. The total number of tillage operations in CT wheat plots (including any cultivation to cover broadcast seed) also did not vary between the two study areas (8.2 in Haryana and 8.1 in Punjab), soil types or adopter categories. Therefore, contrary to expectations, the diffusion of ZT has, so far, not resulted in any reduction in \"conventional\" tillage intensity.The ZT-induced time savings in land preparation did not translate into a timelier On-station and on-farm trials with ZT wheat in the rice-wheat systems of the IGP have shown primarily positive impacts on wheat-crop management, particularly through reduced input needs combined with potential yield increases (Hobbs and Gupta 2003b;Laxmi et al. 2007;Malik et al. 2002a;Malik et al. 2005a). At the same time, no major carryover effects on the subsequent rice are reported (Inayatullah et al. 1989;Srivastava et al. 2005). This chapter presents the technical impacts of ZT technology in farmers' fields, by synthesizing survey results of how the farmers' use of ZT has reportedly affected crop management and productivity of the rice-wheat system. In doing so, we will primarily contrast the ZT fields and CT fields on adopter farms in the two study sites. The detailed country studies also present the information for the CT fields of non-adopters and dis-adopters (Erenstein et al. 2007a;Farooq et al. 2007). The previous chapter has highlighted significant differences at the household level that helped explain the disadoption decision, but these were also found to significantly influence crop management practices, yields and water productivity (Erenstein et al. 2007a;Farooq et al. 2007). Adopters and dis-adopters may have adapted their \"conventional\" crop management practices after having used ZT. However, contrasting our \"conventional\" data with earlier diagnostic studies (Byerlee et al. 1984;Harrington et al. 1993) suggests that this is not the case. Furthermore, in the absence of a real baseline, we cannot unambiguously establish causality. Partial ZT adoption prevails and thereby enables us to limit ourselves to adopter farms, but this may also introduce a new bias. Partial adopters have purposively chosen to apply ZT to one field and CT to another in the survey year. Typically, such choice is influenced by a number of considerations and field characteristics. For instance, a partial adopter may be using ZT on relatively less-productive soils and CT on better ones because ZT is still under evaluation in the early adoption phase and/or CT performs poorly establishment, with insignificant differences in planting dates between ZT and CT in both Haryana and Punjab (table 7). This is contrary to expectations, but a similar finding was reported in another study (Tahir and Younas 2004). Ownership of a tractor did significantly advance the wheat-sowing date in both sites, albeit with only 2 days. It was only in Punjab that the ownership of a ZT drill significantly advanced the sowing date for ZT plots by 8 days, suggesting that reliance on ZT service providers delays wheat establishment. The type of preceding rice crop proved rather influential in Haryana, where the average wheat planting date varied significantly depending on the farms' rice specialization: for superfine rice it was 9 November; for evolved basmati 13 November; and for traditional basmati, 15 November (p=0.00, n=474). The use of the ZT drill is potentially seedsaving compared to broadcasting, without any yield loss. It is also potentially fertilizer-saving, particularly using the ZT seed-cum-fertilizer drill which places the basal fertilizer in the planted row at the time of planting. Yet, ZT was not observed to have any significant effect on seed rate or chemical fertilizer use in either site. Similarly, no effect on weed and pest management was apparent (table 7).In Haryana, ZT achieved the highest wheat yields in the survey year (4.4 metric tons per hectare [mt/ha]), a significant 4.0 percent yield increase over CT (4.2 mt/ha, table 8). However, in Punjab, ZT did not have a significant effect on the mean farmer-estimated wheat yield of 3.3 mt/ha. A positive yield effect of ZT is often associated with more timely wheat establishment in view of the terminal heat stress for late planted wheat in South Asia (Hobbs and Gupta 2003a;Laxmi et al. 2007). Both sites indeed highlight a significant and similar negative correlation between wheat yield and sowing date in surveyed plots (Julian day number, correlation coefficient: -0.15, prob. 0.00). Wheat plots established before November 16 yielded significantly more (200 kg/ha) compared to plots established thereafter in both sites. However, as mentioned above, although ZT reduces turnaround time, there was no significant difference in terms of time of wheat establishment between ZT and CT plots in the survey year. This suggests that farmers have generally been reluctant to significantly advance their wheat planting date despite apparently increased opportunities to do so with ZT. In Punjab, wheat grown on (sandy) loam or welldrained soils also yielded significantly more (200 kg/ha) compared to heavier or poorly drained soils in the survey year, but no significant interaction with ZT was apparent. A separate study in Punjab also reports a mixed wheat yield effect of ZT, with 54 percent of farmers reporting a yield increase, 30 percent a decrease and 16 percent no change (Ahmad et al. 2007).To put the survey year in perspective, wheat yields under ZT and CT on surveyed farms were also compiled for previous seasons. The recall data for the three preceding years do not show significant differences in ZT and CT yields in both sites (figure 8). In Haryana, average wheat yields in the preceding years were significantly higher than in the survey year. This suggests that ZT plots in Haryana were less susceptible to yield loss in the survey year, contributing to the observed yield advantage over CT, possibly through better soil-moisture conservation. The survey year indeed was relatively dry and had above-average maximum temperatures in both March and April (more than 10 ºC over a 30-year average; Central Soil Salinity Research Institute, Karnal, unpublished data), which adversely affected wheat yields. The general lack of a yield increase largely reflects the fact that the ZT-induced time savings in land preparation did not translate into timelier establishment. The overall late wheat establishment in Punjab likely contributed to the lack of a yield-effect, as the relative performance of ZT tends to be better in timely sown wheat (Malik et al. 2002a). The lack of a significant yield effect has undermined widespread ZT acceptance and is a major factor explaining dis-adoption in Punjab. Without a yield benefit, the immediate payoff to ZT is reduced to its cost-saving potential, primarily for land preparation and establishment.The water use indicators from the adoption survey for ZT and CT wheat were generally not significantly different in both sites. ZT did reduce the duration of the first tube-well irrigation in both sites, which is associated with irrigation water flowing faster over untilled fields. Consequently, generally less irrigation water is applied to ZT during the first irrigation. This is generally beneficial as, in tilled fields, often too much water is applied to parts of the field resulting in   Mean farmer-estimated wheat yields (all surveyed plots) in Haryana (4.2 mt/ha) are substantially higher than in Punjab (3.3 mt/ha), a differential that is likely associated with the later wheat establishment and lower fertilizer use in Punjab and agro-ecological differences. Across all surveyed plots, water productivity was estimated to average 2.5 kg of wheat per irrigation m 3 and 1.5 kg of wheat per gross m 3 in Haryana, whereas the same indicators for Punjab were 1.5 kg and 1.0 kg of wheat, respectively. The lower water productivity in Punjab is the combined result of lower wheat yields and larger water input.The prevailing practice in both Haryana and Punjab is to transplant rice in puddled fields and keep the fields ponded. ZT wheat did not have any significant spillover effect in terms of waterlogging and yellowing of wheat plants. However, in neither site did ZT have any significant effect on the total number of irrigations (3.4/season), duration of subsequent and total irrigations and the estimated irrigation volume (table 7). The higher yield in combination with the limited water savings still results in significantly higher water productivity indicators for ZT wheat compared to CT wheat in Haryana (table 8). The relatively similar yields in the survey year, combined with the relatively modest irrigation savings by ZT, imply that water productivity indicators are generally not significantly different from CT in Punjab (table 8).The results therefore provide some support to the postulated water saving nature of ZT. Still one should realize that the results presented here relate to survey findings, which are subject to farmer recall and where we cannot control for all underlying sources of variation. These confounding effects may mask some of the ZT technology effects, if any. A separate water use survey conducted within the context of the Haryana study indeed showed more significant water savings attributable to ZT than those observed in the adoption survey (Erenstein et al. 2007a).This survey confirmed that ZT for wheat saves irrigation time (6.4 hours/ha/season), saves irrigation water (340 m 3 /ha/season) and enhances wheat yield (260 kg/ha), but ZT again did not significantly reduce the number of irrigations. According to the same survey, total tube-well water volume applied to ZT amounted to 2,200 m 3 compared to 2,500 m 3 for CT, a statistically significant water saving of 13.4 percent which was primarily achieved in the first irrigation. This implied significantly higher water productivity indicators for ZT wheat (1.5 kg/gross m 3 ) compared to CT wheat (1.3 kg/gross m 3 , p.:0.00) in Haryana.The discussion so far focused on the specific contrast between ZT and CT in the two study sites. The available data however also highlight some similarities and contrasts between the two sites. On average, across all surveyed plots, Haryana and Punjab reported relatively similar wheat management practices, for instance in terms of CT practices, weedings (1.0 weeding after transplanting vs. 123 days for both varieties of basmati) and is transplanted earlier, thereby vacating the field 3 weeks earlier than traditional basmati. These varietal groups had a marked effect on rice-management practices (e.g., nutrient, water, harvest; Erenstein et al. 2007a). Superfine rice is also higher yielding (5.9 mt/ha) than evolved basmati (4.5 mt/ha) or traditional basmati (2.6 mt/ha) and has the highest physical water productivity (0.5 kg/ irrigation m 3 and 0.3 kg/gross m 3 ). In Punjab, super basmati is the prevailing rice variety reported in 88 percent of plots and has a similar yield as the other basmati varieties being reported for the remaining plots. Super basmati is late maturing (130 days after transplanting vs. 123 days for other varieties) and is transplanted late, thereby vacating the field nearly 2 weeks later than the other varieties, and thus highly conflicting with optimum wheat sowing. ZT potentially reduces the turnaround time between rice and wheat. One might thus expect a positive association between rice varieties that vacate the field late and the use of ZT wheat. However, no significant association was found, except for traditional basmati being less commonly cultivated by dis-adopters in Haryana (which may thus have reduced the need to continue with ZT).Harvesting rice mechanically with a combine harvester is markedly more common in Punjab (79% of plots) than in Haryana (38%) in the survey year. This is associated with the rice varieties being grown. In Haryana, superfine rice is predominantly combine harvested (82% of plots), whereas the basmati varieties were universally hand-harvested for a number of reasons, including the tendency of its long grains to break, being more prone to lodging (reducing the effectiveness of mechanical harvesting), smaller field sizes and more intensive residue use (Erenstein et al. 2007d). In Punjab, super basmati is typically combine harvested (81%) whereas this is less common for the other basmati varieties (55%). The popularity of combine harvesting of rice in Punjab is also associated with the larger farm size, limited turnaround time between rice and wheat and the affecting crop management, yield and water productivity of subsequent rice crop in both Haryana and Punjab. Most significant differences between surveyed rice plots reflect structural differences between adopters and non-adopters (Erenstein et al. 2007a;Farooq et al. 2007). Actual differences between rice plots after ZT wheat and rice plots after CT wheat for adopters were typically not significant (table 9; table 10). One exception was the above-average pesticide use in rice after ZT wheat plots in Punjab (applied to 92% of ZT plots compared to 83% of CT plots).Surveyed rice crop management indicators for Haryana and Punjab (all surveyed plots) included:• Tillage operations (average of 5.3 and 9.1/ season in Haryana and Punjab, respectively).• Seed rate (11 and 8.8 kg/ha of seed, respectively).• Chemical fertilizer use (204 kg/ha of fertilizernutrients, 156:44:4 and 132 kg/ha, 98:34:0, respectively).• Weed management (1.7 and 0.9 weedings, respectively).• Pesticide use (89% and 83% of plots, respectively).• Irrigation (34 and 35 irrigations/season, respectively).• Harvesting practices (62% and 21% manual, respectively). Various rice-management practices thus differ substantially between Haryana and Punjab. As in the case of wheat, Haryana has a substantially higher chemical fertilizer use. Tillage for rice is markedly more intensive for Punjab, whereas Haryana tends to do more weedings. In both sites, chemical weed control is the dominant method, but in Haryana this is often supplemented by a manual weed control.In Haryana, three groups of high-quality rice varieties were reported in the surveyed rice plots: superfine rice varieties (46.5% of plots), evolved basmati (30.2%) and traditional basmati (23.2%). Superfine rice is of shorter duration (117 days  fact that mean rice harvesting date is 3 weeks later than in Haryana. The latter is the combined effect of later rice transplanting (12 days: 6 July vs. 24 June in Punjab and Haryana, respectively) and longer duration of the rice crop (9 days: 129 vs. 120 days in Punjab and Haryana, respectively). Combine harvesting has implications for ZT. The loose residues left by the combiner hamper the operation of the prevailing ZT drills and are typically removed or burned. Untimely rain prior to rice harvesting may also cause combiners to cause ruts in the fields that need to be evened out through tillage.Compared to Punjab, in Haryana the removal of rice straw from the field was less common (reported in 84% against 58% plots, respectively) and rice straw burning was relatively similar (56% against 47%, respectively). The differential management practices, varieties and overall agro-ecology contribute to the mean farmer-estimated paddy yields (all surveyed plots) in Haryana (4.7 mt/ha) again being substantially higher than in Punjab (3.5 mt/ ha). Water productivity was estimated to average 0.34 kg of paddy per irrigation m 3 and 0.23 kg of paddy per gross m 3 for all surveyed rice plots in Haryana whereas the same indicators for Punjab were 0.28 kg and 0.22 kg of paddy, respectively. The lower water productivity in Punjab is primarily a reflection of the lower paddy yields, as estimated water input was relatively similar (table 9). Water productivity indicators for rice is markedly lower than that for wheat, largely a reflection of significantly higher water inputs in paddy cultivation so as to maintain standing water in the paddies during the hot monsoonal season with relatively similar yields. Rice cultivation practices also differ from wheat in terms of:• Intensity of land preparation (in Haryana less tractor passes but including wet cultivation; in Punjab one more tractor pass and wet cultivation).• Fertilization practices (less inorganic fertilizer use and more farmyard manure).• Pesticide use (near-universal).• Harvesting practices (less reliance on combine harvesting in Haryana; wider reliance on combine harvesting in Punjab).The underlying studies cannot unambiguously confirm that the generally favorable implications of ZT in terms of enhancing wheat yield and saving water reported in trials are also achieved in farmers' fields. It was only in Haryana that ZT had significant positive effects on yield and water productivity for the wheat crop in the survey year. Both studies concur in that there were no significant effects on yield and water productivity for the subsequent rice crop. Both studies also confirmed the drastic reduction in tractor time and diesel use in wheat land preparation and establishment, which imply substantial cost savings. primarily a reflection of the higher land rent ($126 difference). Due to the relatively low net returns in Haryana the average net-revenue-based water productivities thereby amount to only $0.033 per irrigation m 3 and $0.017 per gross m 3 , whereas the corresponding values for Punjab are $0.069 and 0.044, respectively.ZT plots in Haryana show significantly lower total costs and significantly higher gross and net revenues. Compared to the CT plots of adopters, ZT shows a conclusive net advantage of $69 per ha in the survey year, composed of a \"yield effect\" of $26 and a \"cost saving effect\" of $43 (table 11). The ZT-induced cost saving is substantial, and represents a saving of 7.0 percent on total costs, or 15.3 percent on operational costs (excluding land). The relatively minor net revenues derived from wheat cultivation underscore the need for continued yield enhancement and cost savings to maintain wheat competitiveness in rice-wheat systems. It also highlights the relative significance of the ZTinduced income enhancement, which boosts returns well above breakeven. Indeed, 92 percent of ZT plots had positive net revenues. ZT plots thereby achieved a significantly higher return on production costs (17%) and significantly higher estimates for net-revenue-based water productivities ($0.08/ irrigation m 3 and $0.042/ gross m 3 -table 12). The combination of a significant \"yield effect\" and \"cost saving effect\" makes ZT adoption worthwhile and is the main driver behind the rapid spread and widespread acceptance of ZT in Haryana.The difference between ZT and CT plots in Punjab is less pronounced and therefore less conclusive. Gross revenue does not significantly differ between wheat plots, but compared to nonadopters and dis-adopters, adopters achieved significantly lower total costs and higher net revenues in both their ZT and CT plots. Compared to the CT plots of adopters, ZT does imply a significant cost-saving effect of $45 per ha, but this was partially annulled by a nonsignificant negative yield effect of $20,The financial implications of a new technology are a major determinant of technological change. The on-station and on-farm trials with ZT wheat in the rice-wheat systems of the IGP do not always include a financial analysis (Laxmi et al. 2007;Malik et al. 2002a;Malik et al. 2005a). But in those where such an analysis was included, results are generally very favorable for ZT due to the combined \"yield-enhancement effect\" and \"cost-saving effect\" (e.g., Laxmi et al. 2007;Malik et al. 2005a). Most financial analyses are based on partial budgets, and typically limited to the wheat crop.The previous chapter reviewed the technical impact of ZT in terms of crop management and productivity for both the wheat crop and the subsequent rice crop. The present chapter puts a monetary value on the observed changes and thereby allows us to aggregate the observed technical impacts and assess the financial impact of ZT at the individual crop and plot levels. The first section of this chapter reviews the ZT effects on the wheat-crop budget. The second section reviews the carryover effects on the ricecrop budget. The third section aggregates the wheat-and rice-crop budget effects to derive the crop-system effects at the plot level.On an average hectare basis (across all surveyed plots), wheat production implies a gross revenue of $654 and 581, total costs of $619 and 473 and a net revenue of $36 and 108 in Haryana and Punjab, respectively (Erenstein et al. 2007a;Farooq et al. 2007). This implies an average return of 6 percent and 23 percent to production costs, with 68 percent and 81 percent of wheat plots having positive net revenues in Haryana and Punjab, respectively. Although yields and gross revenue are higher in Haryana, this is annulled by the higher production costs resulting in more meager returns to wheat production. The higher production costs in Haryana ($146 difference) are resulting in a nonsignificant advantage of $25 for ZT in terms of net revenue (table 11). The ZTinduced cost saving is again substantial, and represents a saving of 9.5 percent on total costs, or 16.4 percent on operational costs (excluding land). ZT plots thereby achieved a significantly higher return on production costs (a respectable 37%) and significantly higher net-revenue-based water productivities ($0.097/ irrigation m 3 and $0.06/gross m 3 -table 12). The ZT \"costs-saving effect\" seems robust enough to make adoption worthwhile and is the driver behind the prior spread of ZT amongst adopters in Punjab. However, learning costs eat into the costs-saving effect and may undermine the apparent returns to adoption for prospective adopters, particularly in view of the lack of a positive yield effect. On an average hectare basis (across all surveyed plots), rice production implies a gross revenue of $849 and 804, total costs of $757 and 563 and a net revenue of $92 and 241 in Haryana and Punjab, respectively (Erenstein et al. 2007a;Farooq et al. 2007). This implies an average return of 13 percent and 46 percent to production costs, with 67 percent and 91 percent of rice plots having positive net revenue in Haryana and Punjab, respectively. Although paddy yields and gross revenue were again higher in Haryana, this was annulled by the higher production costs resulting in lower returns to paddy production. The higher production costs in Haryana ($194 difference) are again primarily a reflection of the higher land rent ($126 difference). The net-revenue-based water productivities amounted to $0.008 and 0.025 per irrigation m 3 and $0.005 and 0.02 per gross m 3 in Haryana and Punjab, respectively. The large differences in water productivities in the two sites are primarily a reflection of the difference in net revenue, as estimated water input was relatively similar. Compared to wheat, financial water productivity is lower for paddy, the higher net revenues for rice being more than annulled by the higher water inputs.Prior ZT wheat does not significantly affect gross revenue, production cost, net revenue or financial water productivity of the subsequent rice crop in either Haryana or Punjab (table 13; table 14). In Haryana, the type of rice variety had a significantly more pronounced effect on the The relative performance at the aggregate ricewheat system level primarily mirrors the ZT effects on wheat performance, although the effects tend to be more subdued. In the case of Haryana, the higher wheat gross revenue with ZT was annulled by the nonsignificant variation in paddy gross revenue. In both Haryana and Punjab, the significant ZT-induced cost saving was maintained (table 15). For the other indicators, ZT and CT plots of adopters typically tend to outperform non-adopters and disadopters, but did not differ significantly from each other on adopter farms in both sites. This also applies to the financial water productivity indicators at the system level (table 16). We can therefore conclude that financial ZT effects are   limited to the wheat crop, with no significant positive or negative carryover effects for the rice-wheat system as a whole. For significant improvements at the system level we would need to alter the way rice is grown to dry directseeded rice and start retaining crop residues as mulch. As long as the rice crop remains puddled, the ZT gains for wheat remain purely seasonal with no cumulative gains in terms of enhanced soil productivity and water productivity at the cropping-system level.The impact of the ZT technology so far was assessed in technical and financial terms at the plot level. Some of the higher system-level implications are discussed in this section. At the first level we assess the farm-level implications of ZT for the adopting farms. At the second level we assess the regional implications of ZT including social and environmental considerations.In both Haryana and Punjab, adopters and disadopters were near-unanimous that they spent less time cultivating wheat after adoption of ZT. The time thus saved was primarily used for other agricultural activities, and to a lesser extent for more leisure time and other nonagricultural activities. Adopters and dis-adopters generally agreed that the adoption of ZT did not reduce the time for cultivating rice. In both Haryana and Punjab, adopters and dis-adopters differed significantly in terms of whether ZT had increased the family's income, with the majority of adopters and only a minority of dis-adopters reporting an increase. It was only in Punjab that the adoption of ZT reportedly increased the family's food consumption, with nearly half the adopters reporting an increase. As there was no significant yield increase linked to the adoption of ZT in Punjab, this may reflect the ZT-induced cost savings and correspondingly higher disposable income being used to enhance family food consumption.In terms of changes in farming activities, adopters and dis-adopters in both sites reported primarily productivity effects of ZT proper, with most farmers reporting time and cost savings. In the case of Haryana, it is interesting to note that the reporting of the various ZT-related benefits was markedly less pronounced for dis-adopters, which suggests that they typically had less successful experiences with ZT, leading to their dis-adoption with the technology. In the case of Punjab, adopters and dis-adopters largely concurred in terms of the ZT-related benefits. This reiterates that in Punjab, ZT dis-adoption reflected a complex of factors. For some disadopters, the yield considerations reported earlier were paramount and thereby nullified time and cost-saving considerations. Other dis-adopters may have had such favorable perceptions, but unable to act upon them in view of problematic access to the ZT drill in the survey year.This study provides some support to the postulated water-saving nature of ZT wheat at the field scale. The water use survey, particularly in Haryana, showed that ZT for wheat saves irrigation time (6.4 hours/ha/season), saves irrigation water (340 m 3 /ha/season) and enhances wheat yield (260 kg/ha). The absence of any reported significant change in farm activities or area cultivated in both sites suggests that these water savings generally did not lead to an immediate alternative use of the water saved on the farm. Instead, the reduced water applications at the field scale seem to have primarily saved irrigation time and irrigation cost and reduced groundwater extraction for the ZT wheat crop compared to the CT wheat crop. A different study in the Punjab rice-wheat area reported that the water savings from resource-conserving technologies actually increased water demand and groundwater depletion through expansion in cropped area on medium-and large-scale farms (Ahmad et al. 2007). In Haryana, any significant area expansion was unlikely, as rabi fallow is uncommon (only 1.8% of households reported some rabi fallow, with an average 99% of the operational area being cultivated during the rabi season). In Punjab, rabi fallow is more common (18% of households reported some rabi fallow, averaging 0.35 ha/household) and was found to be positively associated with ZT adoption. Part of the incentive to adopt ZT in Punjab may have thus been the potential of ZT to increase the area cultivated in rabi -although we cannot unambiguously make this assertion based on the available data. In any case, the eventual increase in area due to ZT may still be limited by the overall limited fallow area even in Punjab (with an average 97% of the operational area already being cultivated during the rabi season).In both Haryana and Punjab, adopters typically have a more favorable resource base and tended to variously outperform non-adopters and dis-adopters, irrespective of their use of ZT. The carryover effects on the rice crop were typically insignificant, although their inclusion tended to dampen the significance of the observed effects at the system level. The present section therefore limits itself to scaling up of the observed significant effects between the adopters' ZT plots and CT plots for the wheat crop.With an average ZT wheat area of 5.0 and 8.3 ha per household in Haryana and Punjab, respectively, ZT adopters save an average of 180 and 288 liters of diesel, 30 and 57 tractor hours and $210 and 374 per season at the farm level, respectively. In Haryana, ZT adopters also gain 0.9 mt of wheat grain per season at the farm level. This implies an increase of $132 in gross return that, combined with the cost saving, results in an increase of $342 in net revenue in Haryana.Most ZT-adopting households have postponed the investment decision to buy a ZT drill with the majority of adopters (60% and 74% in Haryana and Punjab, respectively) being service-provider dependent in the survey year. Rental markets make the ZT drill divisible and therefore accessible irrespective of farm size, but do imply increased dependence on timely and effective service delivery. The lack or untimely availability of drills and the high drill cost, particularly in Punjab, have been raised as issues limiting ZT diffusion (Jehangir et al. 2007;Tahir and Younas 2004). To put the investment in a ZT drill in perspective, we have estimated the ZT drill investment recovery indicator -the number of wheat seasons needed to recap the investment. The cost saving alone implies the average ZT adopter would recover the ZT drill purchase within 1.9 and 1.5 wheat seasons in Haryana and Punjab, respectively. In the case where ZT adopters extended ZT to their whole wheat area (i.e., an additional wheat area of 4.0 and 5.8 ha/ household, respectively), they could recover a ZTD investment within 1.0 and 0.9 wheat seasons. Adding the yield gain, the ZTD investment recovery in Haryana would be in 1.2 wheat seasons on current ZT area alone and 0.6 seasons in case ZT is extended to the whole wheat area. Providing ZT drill rental services would further shorten the time needed to recap the investment. This suggests that the ZT drill investment cost is not prohibitive for an average ZT adopter already owning a tractor.ZT adopters have the largest farms and wheat areas and therefore potentially benefit most on an aggregate-household basis from a costsaving technology such as ZT (table 4). In both Haryana and Punjab, the average dis-adopter household could conceivably recover a ZT drill investment within 1.7 wheat seasons based on cost savings alone. The average non-adopter household could conceivably recover a ZT drill investment within 1.9 and 3.1 wheat seasons, respectively. Tractor ownership was also least common amongst non-adopters (table 4). This highlights that the investment in a ZT drill is typically less attractive for the dis-adopters and particularly for non-adopters compared to adopters, unless they would be able to benefit from providing significant ZT drill rental services.The diesel and tractor time savings are major contributors to the ZT-induced cost savings and apply to tractor-owning and tractor-hiring households alike. Indeed, the tractor time saving is beneficial to tractor-owning households through both extended tractor lifetime and alternative use, tractors being variously used and in much demand. The alternative tractor uses are particularly important for the income security of tractor-service providers, as an eventual increase in income from ZT services is likely to be offset by a more than proportional decrease in traditional tillage services.In both sites, ZT wheat had limited effects on the subsequent rice crop in the same field. ZT wheat also seems to have had few discernible effects on other farm activities of the household, including other crops, livestock and nonfarm activities. Livestock are dependent on the wheat and rice residues, but ZT wheat has so far had limited implications for crop-residue management. This reflects the prevailing harvesting, residuecollection and residue-burning practices for the preceding rice crop with generally still limited consideration for the retention of crop residues as mulch -a necessary component of conservation agriculture. ZT-induced labor savings were relatively minor in view of the prevailing mechanization levels and crop management practices.With rice still being cultivated in the traditional way in the subsequent season, ZTinduced enhancement of land quality is relatively short-lived. Farm-level impact of ZT thereby primarily reflects immediate effects on the wheat crop budget through cost savings and, in the case of Haryana, additional yield effects. The ZTinduced yield enhancement in the survey year in Haryana seemed, at least in part, attributable to the less favorable weather for wheat growth, ZT being relatively less adversely affected than CT wheat despite similar planting dates. The reduced yield variability has important implications for overall farm risk management and enhanced income stability.According to expert estimates, 0.35 and 0.3 mha of wheat were planted by ZT drill during 2003-04 in Haryana and Punjab (RWC 2004), respectively. Extrapolating our plot-level findings to this area, ZT implied a saving of 12.6 and 10.4 million liters of diesel, 2.1 and 2.1 million tractor hours and $14.6 and 13.5 million in production costs per season, respectively. In Haryana, ZT also implied a gain of 60,000 mt grain per wheat season. In financial terms, Haryana had a net income increase of $23.9 million per season, comprising the aforementioned \"cost saving effect\" of $14.6 million and a \"yield effect\" of $9.2 million. If we assume that ZT can be extended to a third of the total rice-wheat area in India and Pakistan (10.4 and 2.2 mha, respectively), these aggregate benefits would be conceivably increased with a factor of 9.8 in India and 2.4 in Pakistan, respectively. However, particularly the Punjab study flags the significant ZT dis-adoption, which thereby questions the extent to which these larger regional savings will be actually realized.Water is a major concern for the sustainability of intensive cropping systems in both Haryana and Punjab and for the Indian and Pakistan economy as a whole (e.g., Briscoe and Malik 2006). Perhaps somewhat disappointingly, the adoption surveys could not unambiguously verify that ZT generated significant water savings. In part, this is likely due to measurement errors in view of our survey estimates. Nonetheless, the farmer responses imply there is some water saving, but maybe less significant than often alluded. Only the water use survey in Haryana verified that ZT generated significant water savings in wheat fields.The present study concurs with other studies that resource conserving technologies (RCTs) like ZT can be successful in improving field-scale irrigation efficiency through irrigation savings (Ahmad et al. 2007;Gupta et al. 2002;Humphreys et al. 2005;Jehangir et al. 2007). However, as highlighted by Ahmad et al. (2007:1), \"whether or not improved irrigation efficiency translates to 'real' water savings depends on the hydrologic interactions between the field and farm, the irrigation system and the entire river basin. In fact, the water saving impacts of RCTs beyond the field level are not well understood and documented.\" For instance, some of the irrigation water \"saved\" would be simply recycled, percolating into the groundwater table from where it would later be reused by farmers through pumping (Ahmad et al. 2007). This calls for more systematic assessments of water balance components at farm to system scales (Ahmad et al. 2007;Jehangir et al. 2007).In any event, the irrigation water savings with ZT in wheat are still modest. To put the water savings for ZT wheat further in perspective it is useful to recall that irrigation input for rice is a multiple of that of wheat (a factor of 8.4 in Haryana and 5.9 in Punjab, based on our average survey data). In part, this reflects higher potential evapotranspiration of rice (640 mm) as compared to wheat (330 mm; Ullah et al. 2001). In the case of wheat, the actual evapotranspiration is generally lower than the potential requirement (Ahmad et al. 2002;Jehangir et al. 2007). However, in the case of rice irrigation, water applied is significantly higher than crop water requirement (Ahmad et al. 2007). This highlights that there is significantly more scope for reducing irrigation water input for rice than for wheat without yield loss. Significant irrigation water savings can indeed be achieved with resource conserving technologies in rice (some 30-40%), although these are typically derived from the recycled water component and do not reduce actual evapotranspiration (Ahmad et al. 2007;Humphreys et al. 2005). Therefore, in terms of regional water savings, enhancing water productivity of the rice component of the ricewheat system will be imperative.Water rights and institutional arrangements further confound the picture. Despite a gradual increase in water scarcity at the subbasin or basin scales, improving water productivity and achieving real water savings remain secondary concerns for most rice-wheat farmers (Ahmad et al. 2007). The current attraction of ZT in wheat indeed primarily relates to the cost savings and not the water savings as such. This is likely to remain as long as farmers are not charged according to their actual water use and do not pay the real (economic) cost of water. But this implies making politically unpopular adjustments to (ground)water rights and the subsidy and taxation schemes that currently undermine the sustainability of rice-wheat systems.The study does flag some equity concerns as ZT uptake and the corresponding benefits are positively associated with farm size in each study area. Although, in principle, accessible to smallholders through service providers, various constraints have limited its uptake amongst smallholders. In the present context, the tractor and cost-saving nature of ZT wheat have relatively limited implications for labor use. Consequently, whereas ZT, by necessity, has bypassed landless, it also seems to have had limited negative impact on the landless through labor displacement. Monitoring and better understanding the equity implications of extending ZT and RCTs to the rice component of the ricewheat system are imperative.The ZT-induced fuel savings imply a significant positive environmental externality by reducing CO 2 emissions, a significant contributor to global warming. The widespread burning of rice residues at land preparation time for the subsequent wheat crop in the rice-wheat tract is generating a significant negative externality in terms of significant air pollution. Conservation agriculture implies retaining some crop residues as mulch (i.e., soil cover) but, to date, ZT in the study areas has not had a significant effect on the practice of residue burning. The prevailing ZT drills (with tines) can sow a crop in standing (\"anchored\") rice stubbles but tend to rake loose residues. This is particularly an issue in combine harvested fields with irregularly spread loose straw, leading farmers to adhere to the residueburning practice. Further adaptations to cropresidue-management practices and/or the drill could alleviate the perceived need to burn loose residues.From the point of view of conservation agriculture there is a need to maintain some crop residue cover on the soil surface and to move beyond ZT being applied to the wheat crop only. The environmental and soil implications of ZT wheat for the rice-wheat system as a whole remain short-lived (i.e., seasonal) as long as the subsequent rice crop remains intensively tilled and puddled. ZT can be a stepping stone to conservation agriculture -but this implies changes to the way rice is grown, managing crop residues so as to maintain some soil cover and enhancing crop rotation.The rice-wheat belt is of extreme strategic importance for national food security in both India and Pakistan. Options to enhance national wheat production through increasing area are severely limited, thereby making the enhancement of wheat competitiveness in this belt imperative. The Haryana study highlights the relatively minor net revenues derived from wheat cultivation which underscores the need for continued yield enhancement and cost savings to maintain wheat competitiveness. It also highlights the relative significance of the ZT-induced income enhancement, which boosts returns well above breakeven. However, there is no room for complacency. Extending the ZT area will enhance the competitiveness of wheat, but this needs to be complemented by varietal renewal (e.g., more diverse and stem-rust resistant wheat varieties; non-puddled rice varieties), other resource-conserving technologies (e.g., for rice; laser leveling) and diversification of rice-wheat systems. Furthermore, the advent of the virulent new stem rust for wheat (UG99, Mackenzie 2007;Raloff 2005) and global warming (Ortiz et al. 2006) could have far-reaching consequences across the IGP. In Punjab, late establishment of wheat remains a structural problem in these systems and ZT has the potential to alleviate this. The Punjab study did find significant cost savings, but did not find any significant ZTinduced yield effect, largely a reflection of the lack of a ZT-induced planting date effect. More emphasis should be placed on highlighting the enhanced timeliness aspect of ZT, which would further boost the returns to adopting ZT and alleviate yield concerns. In the end, the sheer size of the rice-wheat system implies even small gains add up to a significant regional impact.The two country studies confirmed widespread adoption of ZT wheat in the rice-wheat systems of Haryana (34.5% of surveyed households) and Punjab (19%). The combination of a significant \"yield effect\" and \"cost-saving effect\" makes adoption worthwhile and is the main driver behind the rapid spread and widespread acceptance of ZT in Haryana. In Punjab, adoption is driven by the significant ZT-induced cost savings for wheat cultivation. Thus, the prime driver for ZT adoption is monetary gain in both sites, not water savings or natural resources conservation. Water savings are only a potential added benefit.ZT adoption for wheat accelerated from insignificant levels from 2000 onwards in both sites. Geographic penetration of ZT is far from uniform suggesting the potential for further diffusion, particularly in Haryana. Diffusion seems to have stagnated in the Punjab study area, and further follow-up studies are needed to confirm this. The study also revealed significant disadoption in the survey year: 14 percent in Punjab and 10 percent in Haryana. Better understanding the rationale for dis-adoption merits further scrutiny. Our findings suggest that there is no clear single overarching constraint but that a combination of factors is at play, including technology performance, technology access, seasonal constraints and, particularly in the case of Punjab, the institutional ZT controversy. In terms of technology performance, the relative ZT yield was particularly influential: dis-adopters reporting low ZT yields as a major contributor to farmer disillusionment in Punjab and the lack of a significant yield effect in Haryana. In neither site did the ZT-induced time savings in land preparation translate into timelier establishment, contributing to the general lack of a yield increase. Knowledge blockages, resource constraints and ZT drill cost and availability all contributed to non-adoption. This suggests that there is potential to further enhance access to this technology and thereby its penetration.The study highlights that in both Haryana and Punjab ZT has been primarily adopted by the larger and more productive farmers. The structural differences between the adopters and non-adopters / dis-adopters in terms of resource base, crop management and performance thereby easily confound the assessment of ZT impact across adoption categories. This calls for comparison of the ZT plots and CT plots on adopter farms. Whether this introduces new biases merits further scrutiny.ZT-induced effects primarily apply to the establishment and production costs of the wheat crop. Both the Haryana and Punjab study confirmed significant ZT-induced resource-saving effects in farmers' fields in terms of diesel and tractor time for wheat cultivation. Water savings are however less pronounced than expected from on-farm trial data. It was only in Haryana that there were significant ZT-induced water savings in addition to significant yield enhancement. The higher yield and water savings in Haryana resulted in significantly higher water productivity indicators for ZT wheat. In both sites, there were limited implications for the overall wheat crop management, the subsequent rice crop and the rice-wheat system as a whole. The ZT-induced yield enhancement and cost savings provided the much needed boost to the returns to, and competitiveness of, wheat cultivation in Haryana. In Punjab, ZT has so far been primarily a costsaving technology.There is scope for widely recommending ZT and making it the prevalent practice for wheat cultivation in rice-wheat systems in the IGP. Cost and resource savings alone are robust and significant enough to merit widespread use, more so in view of the recent structural price hikes in energy prices. Enhanced yields are an added benefit, particularly in Haryana.There is scope for more emphatically stressing timeliness of wheat establishment. Late establishment is a major contributor to low wheat productivity in Punjab. ZT has the potential to significantly alleviate untimeliness, but in practice this did not materialize -thereby foregoing a potential benefit. In Haryana, the average planting date shows that a significant share of wheat plots is still established late, which constrains wheat productivity. Here too the potential of ZT to significantly alleviate untimeliness only partially materialized and can be better utilized -both in terms of early establishment after non-basmati rice and timely establishment after basmati rice.There is a need to enhance the accessibility of smallholders to ZT drill service providers. The majority of ZT adopters so far are large farmers who have relied on contracted ZT drill services (60% in Haryana and 74% in Punjab). Such services have much merit, but only when they are timely, reliable and widely accessible. Many of the potential benefits from ZT are easily thwarted by a late or uncertain arrival of the ZT drill or its improper use -calling for well-trained operators and properly maintained ZT drills. Resource constraints, ZT drill cost and limited tractor ownership naturally limit the potential for self-owned ZT drills for smallholders.There is a need to enhance the accessibility of smallholders to ZT knowledge. Penetration of ZT is still uneven both geographically and within communities. Alleviating knowledge blockages can further an equitable access to this promising technology. There is an important role here for agricultural extension, particularly in Pakistan. In Punjab, ZT must be duly projected as one option in the wheat-planting campaign run through the mass media (the radio, TV and printed material) by the Department of Agricultural Extension. There is also particular scope for more field days, farmer exchanges, farmer to farmer extension and a more participatory and farmer-field school approach.There is also a need for additional water saving technologies -particularly to reduce water consumption of the rice component in rice-wheat systems. ZT wheat was found to be water saving in Haryana, but this still seems largely insufficient to address the impending water crisis. Other technological options are needed and laser leveling is promising in this regard (Humphreys et al. 2005;Jat et al. 2006). Research efforts to grow rice with less water need to be strengthened. For instance, more research is needed on aerobic direct-seeded rice in terms of suitable varieties and management of water, weeds, residues and nutrients.To realize ZT's potential as a stepping stone to conservation agriculture there is a need to change the way rice is grown, managing crop residues so as to maintain some soil cover and to enhance crop rotation. This calls for changes in the prevailing ZT equipment design to enable sowing with residue retention. Some such \"second-generation ZT drills\" have recently been developed in the IGP and these merit further testing and adaptation with concerned stakeholders. It also calls for research on how much residue is needed, particularly in view of the prevailing alternative use of crop residues as basal animal feed (Erenstein et al. 2007c).Technological intervention needs to be complemented with policy reform to create an enabling environment for sustainable agriculture that includes crop rotation and promotes economic resource use. This could easily prove more significant, particularly for water savings, but implies addressing some of the more thorny policy issues such as the subsidy and taxation schemes (e.g., flat water charges, underpriced/ free irrigation water, incentive structure geared towards rice and wheat) that currently undermine the sustainability of rice-wheat systems.There is scope for combining qualitative and quantitative approaches in impact assessment. The two country studies primarily relied on a household survey which allowed us to quantify and test for significance of observed differences. However, the studies would have benefited from complementary informal surveys to shed more light on understanding, for instance, the reasons for dis-adoption and partial adoption. The two approaches are complementary and can enrich the interpretation and validity of findings. In this respect, a livelihood system and value chain perspective will be useful and should enhance the relevance and equity of research and development (R&D) interventions.Finally, a more objective and synergetic approach to ZT is needed in Punjab. The State Extension Department has long been opposed to ZT because of possible stem-borer issues but these appear to be unfounded. Compared to Haryana, the advent of ZT in Punjab has been severely hampered by the polarization of the R&D field in terms of ZT advocates and ZT opponents, with farmers facing conflicting information and lack of institutional support. The ZT controversy and institutional rivalry have proven counterproductive, wasted scarce resources and stalled ZT diffusion. It is advisable that both camps come to a neutral and modest middle ground. ZT is neither a silver bullet nor a Pandora's box. It is just a valuable technological option that merits promotion as it saves resources and time and reduces costs with no yield penalty.The study also identifies some areas for further empirical research, including:• More rigorous documentation of the water savings of resource-conserving technologies like ZT.• A better understanding of the ZT dis-adoption process -particularly in terms of disentangling the underlying causes. This study generated some insight but could not resolve a number of imponderables. For instance, the site-specific circumstances dis-adopters faced in terms of their access to drill, the quality of the drill, timeliness, quality of soil, the skill of the operator, etc. Participatory approaches could provide useful complementary information.• A better understanding of partial ZT adoption -particularly in terms of the rationale and underlying field selection criteria and the eventual biases this may imply in terms of technology performance.• A better understanding of the adoption and impacts of ZT in the eastern Gangetic Plains. The present study focused on the northwest IGP where ZT diffusion started (Laxmi et al. 2007). However, the northwest IGP is better endowed and has more intensive rice-wheat systems than the eastern plains (Erenstein et al. 2007c;Erenstein et al. 2007b). This calls for a closer scrutiny of the adoption, impacts and implications of ZT now that the uptake of ZT in the eastern plains has started to pick up.• The possible refinement and extrapolation of recommendation domains for technologies like ZT. For instance, anecdotal evidence coming from Pakistan suggests ZT by soil type interactions. Also the implications and potential use of ZT in wheat-cotton systems with low cotton-residue-retention levels and the extrapolation to other systems like the maize-wheat and the rain-fed systems.• More intensive, participatory and timely monitoring of the performance and impact of new technologies like ZT in farmers' fields."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d38939492d4d13112fac7d2bcd271a13","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/34ecfd86-0365-4d86-a38d-e4e6c9c1062f/retrieve","id":"-457790472"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d9e9ef69-c092-4716-839c-098c5bd08907","content":"Htee Pu village in Nyaung U Township of Mandalay Division was designated as Climate-Smart Village where participatory action research is undertaken to find solutions to the challenges posed by climate change on the lives and livelihoods of local farmers . The International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) and the Community Development Association (CDA) partnered together to establish a proof-of-concept site for developing adaptation options the Central dry zones.Farmers in Htee Pu village in the Nyaung U township of the dry zone have tailored their farming systems to the low rainfall pattern. This included combining short duration annual crops, raising small and large livestock primarily on crop residues. Offseason there is a reliance on trees, shrubs and farm residues for income, fuel and fodder needs. Nothing is wasted: recycling is practiced by every household.The current farming system in Htee Pu village features groundnut (peanut) prominently, because of its market potential. This relatively new crop has replaced the diversified cropping systems of the past (which featured drought tolerant crops like sorghum, millets, vinyl legume, horse gram and sesame). Other crops currently grown include pigeon pea, green gram and sesame, all grown between June to September. Because of the limited rain and soil moisture content, only one crop can be grown.Farmers regularly recycle crop residues valuing all resources they can access. Farmers know that shredding dry and green sorghum can help improve feed quality for cattle.Local indigenous knowledge helps farmers store peanut seeds for the next season (without spoilage from rancidity).To capture and harvest early rainwater, farmers typically practice early tillage/land preparation. Composted animal manure is applied for fertilization. However, with years of continuous farming, the soils have degraded. Poor soils, low organic matter, and sandy soil with low nutrient content characterize the soils of the region.Without adequate tree cover, these soils are further prone to erosion when it rains. From year to year, soil fertility and crop productivity declines. It is a vicious cycle which perpetuates poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition.There is an urgent need for the regeneration and restoration of these small farms in order to enhance their capacities to adapt to the impacts of climate change in the future.In the past, sorghum was one of the primary crops used for fodder, for feed and for sale. Sorghum was a reliable crop because of its capacity to resist drought. Sorghum is one of the most waterefficient crops and droughttolerant of grown cereals. Sorghum has a new market as high nutrient feed for livestock: it is rich in protein, mineral, vitamin and antioxidants. It was therefore considered as a candidate crop for re-introduction in Htee Pu village as an intercrop with groundnut.The re-introduction of sorghum in Htee Pu CSV included a systematic process for farmers to access varieties that performed well. Available varieties from Nyaung U dry zone agricultural research station were introduced and compared using highly simplified farmer-managed Participatory Varietal Selection (PVS) methods.In the table below is an example of the results of the PVS undertaken on sorghum varieties sourced from the Department of Agricultural Research (DAR) research station for the dry zones.Participatory Varietal Selections (PVS) are simple methods to find out which varieties do well in that locale. Usually, two or three seasons are needed to identify what works best. These farmermanaged adaptation trials were used extensively in the identification of varieties.Bringing back diversification to a farming system is a key element for enhancing resilience of small farms. Adaptation trials are undertaken in close collaboration with the agricultural research stations and with the active participation of farmers. Participatory varietal selections and crop performance trials were undertaken for groundnut, pigeon pea, green grams and sesame. Table below is an example of the results of the PVS undertaken on groundnut varieties sourced from the DAR research station for the dry zone.Farmers in the dry zone value eating protein rich legumes. They expressed interest in seeds of Dolichos Lab Lab or Hyacinth bean, a crop which had been \"lost\" from their farming system. Seeds were sourced from another township. Seeds in the form on mini kits were provided to 50 farmers. The reintroduction of lost crops (the restoration of agrobiodiversity) can be an important component in a resilience building effort. The Lab Lab bean, besides tolerating drought, can serve as cover crop to lower soil temperature and to enhance soil fertility biomass. Dolichos is nutrient dense, a high protein crop that stores well for long periods.Pigeon pea is another high protein crop and drought tolerant cultivated legume (due to its deep rooting habit).Farmers were encouraged to continue to grow this crop. PVS trials were organized for farmers to identify short duration varieties which \"escape\" the late -season drought.50 farmers in 2018 and 2019 received the Nyaung U Shwedingar variety of pigeon pea. Four cans of seeds were provided to each farmer, who tested these using local existing varieties as checks. Farmers chose the shorter duration varieties which escape drought but still provide high yields.Small and large livestock are a form of capital build up for small farmers. To ensure that the landless, marginal farmers and women also have safety nets, CSA programs can include small livestock such as native chickens, pigs and goats. Improved housing, health care management and locally formulated balanced feeds can enhance productivity.In Htee Pu village, the local breed of cattle and the Bagan breed of goats are valued \"assets\". They depend on livestock for tillage, for food, and as source of funds during emergencies. Fortunately, in a typical village in the dry zone the livestock base remains fairly intact. There are worries however, that adverse and extreme weather could prompt distress sales. More feed resources are needed if this rich livestock agrobiodiversity is to be conserved. By featuring its continued use, livestock can be components of resilience building effort.Small livestock provides an opportunity for project implementers to address social inclusion and equity.More than one third of the households in Htee Pu are landless or near landless. As result of seasonal and semi-permanent migration, many households are female headed. To demonstrate the value of better targeting of women, homesteadbased high density fruit tree production and small scale livestock efforts were developed specifically for women.Climate variability, poor crop diversity and an over reliance on market sensitive crops like groundnut and pigeon pea were major challenges in Htee Pu village (and other villages of the central dry zones). Diversification with trees was considered a pathway for reducing risks to climate change.Agroforestry-based diversification allows farmers to gradually adapt to a changing environment by the inclusion of economically valuable trees. The sequential inclusion of trees into annual crop systems proved to be a very popular risk aversion strategy.Trees provide off-season sources of income, food, fodder and fuel.Diversification with trees and crop diversity can increase farmers' adaptive capacities while reducing the risks of market and crop failure.Trees are considered important by both men and women.To support tree-based diversification, IIRR and CDA introduced fruit trees into the existing farming system of Htee Pu village starting with mangoes.Dryland horticulture methods were used to harvest and conserve water (deep dug pits 30 to 50 cm cube), use of farm yard manure, shading with palm leaves, etc.Farmers chose to grow mango trees because of their known tolerance to drought. However, they proposed growing the trees within an intercrop with their regular seasonal crops (i.e. their lands were being converted to agroforestry-based systems). The farmers identified a variety that adapted well locally. For assured markets, the farmers suggested the Seintalone variety of mango. The activity was started with 30 farmers.To support further intensification and diversification, guava, pomegranate and custard apple were included as intercrop between rows of mango trees. After the first two years, farmers themselves have started to invest in expansion efforts using their own resources.For intensive agroforestry systems, the spacing used was 15 x 15 feet for mango (big canopy tree) and 5 x 5 feet for custard apple and guava (both are small canopy species that cattle do not eat). Annual crops continue to be grown in the interim period. To permit deep rooting of mango trees, pits of 30 cm cube were devised. Deeper pits encourage deeper roots: pits 30 cm to 50 cm deep help trees resist drought better while promoting water harvesting.Free grazing after the main cropping season is a serious problem in Htee Pu, the resolution of which requires collective action. Among our introduced fruit trees, custard apple was not browsed by animals.To create a micro-climate, non-browsable green manure trees were grown on the farm boundaries.Cassia siamea tree is a common tree of dry zones region, with large biomass production capacities, rapid growth, even during the dry season and with capacity to withstand frequent pruning. Cassia siamea leaves from annual pruning is used to rebuild organic matter levels in the soil.CSA must help build back better: rebuilding our production base in environmentally sound ways including rebuilding the soil capacities.Homestead areas in the dry zone are relatively large. These \"spaces\" are controlled and managed by women. Homestead based climate-smart agriculture include small livestock, vegetables and fruit trees, for both income and nutrition. All IIRR CSV programs in Myanmar include this element. Pig 5 -Native chicken -5 -Sorghum, millet, Trichanthera 10 20 50Homestead production is a major element in an income and nutrition diversification effort. Women members from the landless sector, marginal farmers, poor families and women-headed households receive special attention. Preferential targeting helps make CSA socially inclusive. To make such intervention nutrition sensitive, vegetables, fruit trees and small livestock such as goat, pig and native chicken are prioritized. Native breeds are prioritized because of their climate hardy nature.There are challenges ensuring food security in the dry zone, but surprisingly households continue to value the need for dietary diversity.Htee Pu village, in spite of being in the dry zone, has a relatively surprising dietary diversity score, likely because of the nature of their farming system. The agro-biodiverse rich landscapes of the dry zones must be preserved by continuing to feature them in climate-smart agriculture programming.Smallholders farmer produce for consumption and sale, thus serving multiple objectives. The following chart presents data from Htee Puu.Building community capacities, strengthening local food systems, relying on the existent resources base and recognizing the need for being gender and social inclusiveness sensitive are elements of success. Participatory research processes and local learning groups can help local communities take charge of the process of local adaptation. The final direction a CSV takes is ultimately determined by how these empowered communities drive these processes.CSA programs should demonstrate a social inclusiveness angle, a preference for the poor and vulnerable households, for those who were left behind by mainstream research and development efforts.Targeting of poor families, including womenheaded households is prioritized. The risk of elite capture is reduced if household data serves as basis for targeting.Community-based adaptation efforts are well underway in Htee Puu. There is no turning back now: the communities are motivated and moving the process along.In this final year of the IDRC, CCAFS and DAR associated project, the focus will be on expansion of the number of households being reached via the distribution of planting materials, community learning and the tracking of social, nutritional and climate change outcomes."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"72c7852c6d8bee4d099a1c692acd0abf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/89951c87-855c-4a30-aee9-71cef6a08931/content","id":"886806416"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2e1d230e-565b-4acf-9d67-627ee42315d5","content":"The draft genome sequence of an agriculturally important actinobacterial species Amycolatopsis sp. BCA-696 was developed and characterized in this study. Amycolatopsis BCA-696 is known for its biocontrol properties against charcoal rot and also for plant growth-promotion (PGP) in several crop species. The next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based draft genome of Amycolatopsis sp. BCA-696 comprised of ~ 9.05 Mb linear chromosome with 68.75% GC content. In total, 8716 protein-coding sequences and 61 RNA-coding sequences were predicted in the genome. This newly developed genome sequence has been also characterized for biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) and biosynthetic pathways. Furthermore, we have also reported that the Amycolatopsis sp. BCA-696 produces the glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin that inhibits the growth of pathogenic gram-positive bacteria. A comparative analysis of the BCA-696 genome with publicly available closely related genomes of 14 strains of Amycolatopsis has also been conducted. The comparative analysis has identified a total of 4733 core and 466 unique orthologous genes present in the BCA-696 genome The unique genes present in BCA-696 was enriched with antibiotic biosynthesis and resistance functions. Genome assembly of the BCA-696 has also provided genes involved in key pathways related to PGP and biocontrol traits such as siderophores, chitinase, and cellulase production.The relationships of microbes with plants have been of diverse types, among which plant growth promotion (PGP) activities of microbes is one of the beneficial types to the plants. Beyond the lab or field-level characterizations of the PGP traits, there have been several recent studies where genomic approaches were used for the characterization of plant growth-promoting traits in rhizosphere bacteria. Some of the PGP traits studied include siderophores and indole acetic acid (IAA) production, anti-fungal properties, mineral solubilization, nitrogen fixation, activity of enzymes such as ACC deaminase, lipase, chitinase and cellulase [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] . Our group also reported draft genomes of sixteen PGP strains of Streptomyces and predicted genes underlying important PGP or biocontrol traits 14 . A typical approach used by these studies involves the decoding of genome sequence followed by identification of unique genomic islands, prediction of Biosynthetic Gene Clusters (BGC), comparison of BGCs as well as metabolic pathways across genomes, etc.In order to obtain the draft genome of this strain, sequencing was done using two types of libraries, i.e., pairedend (PE) and mate-pair (MP), yielding ~ 9.9 million PE reads of size 100 bases and ~ 6.2 million MP reads of size 250 bases, respectively, with approximate coverage of > 500× (assuming ~ 9.5 Mb as median assembly size of Amycolatopsis genomes available at NCBI).The pre-processed reads were assembled de novo, initially generating 112 contigs, which were further ordered to obtain a single linear scaffolded genome sequence (Table 1, Supplementary Table S1). The genome sequence was of length 9,059,528 bp with GC content of 68.75% and a very nominal number of anonymous nucleotides (total size: ~ 6.5 Kb) (Fig. 1).To assess the completeness of the draft assembly, a reference set of 356 \"Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs\" (BUSCOs) derived from 948 genomes from class actinobacteria lineage was created, and 355 (98.9%) BUSCOs were present in the Amycolatopsis sp. BCA-696 assembly. Out of the 355 BUSCOs identified, Table 1. General features of the Amycolatopsis sp. BCA-696 genome assembly. all of them were complete and just three of them were duplicated. Only one BUSCO was fragmented, indicating a high degree of completeness of the generated assembly.The annotation of the genome assembly provided a total of 8,716 protein-encoding genes (PEGs), with an average length of 939.02 bp, occupying 90.34% of the genome (Table 1). The genome also contained 61 RNA coding regions, 213 repeat regions, 42 CRISPR repeats, 40 CRISPR spacer, and 2 CRISPR array regions. Out of 61 RNAs, the number of rRNA and tRNA genes were 6 and 55, respectively (Table 1). Among the predicted PEGs, 5289 (60.66%) proteins were assigned with functions and 3427 (39.30%) were hypothetical proteins. The cofactors, vitamins, prosthetic groups, and pigments (344 genes) found to be the most abundant subsystem class, followed by amino acids and derivatives (247 genes), fatty acids, lipids, and isoprenoids (241 genes), stress response, defense, and virulence (208 genes), protein synthesis (204 genes), energy and precursor metabolites generation (167 genes), cell cycle, cell division, and death (117 genes), respiration (113 genes), and membrane transport (77 genes), etc. (Fig. 2).In order to infer the genomic similarity or variation among the Amycolatopsis species, a pan-genome analysis was conducted. A pan-genome, comprising all genomes of the Amycolatopsis genus with a scaffold or higher level assembly (n = 76) demonstrated huge diversity in terms of gene composition: out of a whopping 375,299 orthologous groups, core genes were a much smaller set (< 1%) compared to the cloud genes (> 95%) (Supplementary Fig. S1). Since our focus was on genomic regions unique to Amycolatopsis sp. BCA-696, a subset comprising this genome and the genomes of fourteen closely related species/strains, all from a single clade within the pan-genome-based tree, were re-analyzed. A total of 35,318 orthologous gene clusters could be divided into a core genome of 3,627 (41.6%) orthologous gene clusters, having more than 99% similarity present across all fifteen strains, and the unique genes which ranged from 654 (in A. keratiniphila) to 2557 genes (in Amycolatopsis coloradensis) (Supplementary Fig. S2). The genome of Amycolatopsis sp. BCA-696 has 1423 (16.3%) strain-specific genes. Since as many as 1/6th (n = 1423) of total genes were reported as unique, this required a rigorous evaluation by using an algorithm that establishes orthology very accurately. Orthology search using Orthofinder pipeline 24 reported a core set of 4,733 (42.6%) genes and 466 (4.2%) unique genes in Amycolatopsis sp. BCA-696 genome (Fig. 3). Out of these 466 unique genes, only 53 genes could be functionally annotated(by RAST pipeline 25 and Reciprocal Best Blast) (Supplementary Table S2). Among these 53 unique genes, one gene (Genbank ID: WYW18527.1) has been found to be involved in the biosynthesis of Bialaphos antibiotic (carboxyvinyl-carboxyphosphonate phosphorylase). Previously this antibiotic was reported only in Streptomyces species, possessing bactericidal, fungicidal, and herbicidal properties 26 . Other  2), 3rd layer shows an average read depth in a 5 kb window along the genome, 4th layer shows GC skew (positive values in blue and negative values in brown color), 5th layer shows rRNAs (blue bands), tRNAs (red bands), and CRISPR spacers (black bands), and 6th layer shows similar repeats on the genome connected by lines (generated using Circos V.0.69.8).unique genes included drug antiporters, multiple transporter proteins, genes conferring resistance to antibiotic chloramphenicol and streptomycin, and endonucleases.To establish the taxonomic positioning of BCA-696 within the Amycolatopsis genus, we used methods based on the overall genome relatedness index, which showed that Amycolatopsis sp. BCA-696 genome was closer to the genomes of A. lurida strains than any other Amycolatopsis genomes (Fig. 4). But the bootstrap value for the branch leading to BCA-696 was poor (~ 50 out of 100) showing the uncertainty in the position of BCA-696. Since the previous taxonomic assignment of this strain was based on 16S rRNA sequence, the availability of draft genome information of the strain has positioned it in the phylogenetic tree equidistant to A. lurida and A. roodepoortensis without being closer to either of them, suggesting this strain might be a new species.  The number of core genes, shared by all of them, is shown in the center of the flower plot, and the unique genes for each strain are as flower petals (generated using rstudio using plotrix V.3.8-4) (for the list of type strains refer to \"Materials and methods\").In its genome of size ~ 9 Mb, 23 to 35 Biosynthetic Gene Clusters (BGCs) were predicted by two widely used BGC predictors (Fig. 5, Supplementary Table S3, Supplementary Fig. S3). The commonly observed BGC classes were 'Resistance' , 'Tailoring' , 'Thiotemplated' , 'Type II polyketide' , 'ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide product' (RiPP), 'phosphonate' , etc. Whether any of the genes unique to BCA-696 overlap with these BGCs, a comparison of their genomic coordinates did not show any overlap.A detailed examination of core and additional biosynthetic genes showed two large clusters for the biosynthesis of two antibiotics-vancomycin and enediyne, spread within genomic coordinates 36,435-96,579   S3). A full pathway for vancomycin biosynthesis was observed, however, for the Enediyne family of antibiotics, pathways were observed for the biosynthesis of its core molecule (neocarzinostatin) necessary for further reactions, and one of its derivatives, maduropeptin.The Amycolatopsis sp. BCA-696 genome assembly was analyzed to identify the genes involved in PGP and biocontrol activities. The strain under this study was experimentally validated to produce metabolites such as siderophores and hydrocyanic acid and shows enzymatic activity for cellulase, chitinase, lipase, indole acetic acid, and 1,3-beta-glucanase 16 .Among the siderophores, evidence for the presence of complete biosynthetic pathways for the production of catecholate or mixed types siderophores namely, bacillibactin, enterochelin, mycobactin, etc., were examined in the genome annotation of Amycolatopsis sp. BCA-696. In the RAST annotation, while the enzymes for biosynthesis of siderophore precursors and transporters involved in the export/import of siderophore or Fe-siderophore complex were found (Supplementary Table S4), the genes for biosynthesis of these siderophores from their precursors were largely missing in the (RAST) annotation. Orthology-based search only showed the presence of partial pathways (Supplementary Table S5, Supplementary Fig. S4).Coming to the biocontrol traits, presence of three key cellulolytic enzymes was observed in Amycolatopsis sp. BCA-696 assembly: Endoglucanase (EC 3.2.1.4), Beta-glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.21), and Cellulose-1,4-betacellobiosidase (EC 3.2.1.91; Exoglucanase), wherein the former-two were present in many copies, ranging up to nine (Supplementary Fig. S5, Supplementary Table S6). Regarding the Chitinase activity, all enzymes related to the Chitin degradation pathway were also identified in Amycolatopsis sp. BCA-696 assembly which are: chitinase (EC 3.2.1.14), beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase, chitin deacetylase, chitosanase, exo-1,4-beta-d-glucosaminidase (Supplementary Fig. S6, Supplementary Table S7). Like other hydrolytic enzymes, bacterial lipases also play an important role in biocontrol against many phytopathogens, and also in inducing plant defence response 27 . Two enzymes namely, lipase (EC 3.1.1.3) and Diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.20), were identified in the Amycolatopsis sp. BCA-696 assembly, indicating the presence/absence of underlying genes (Supplementary Fig. S7, Supplementary Table S8).Examination of biosynthetic genes/enzymes for auxin (IAA) showed the presence of the pathway involving the Tryptamine intermediate. For alternate pathways (for auxin biosynthesis), although a few genes were also present, ultimately the pathways were incomplete (Supplementary Table S9, Supplementary Fig. S8).First genome assembly of an agriculturally important species from the Amycolatopsis genus: Amycolatopsis genus is well documented for its antibiotic-producing traits 28,29 and thus is an obvious focal point for drug discovery programs. To understand the genomic basis behind this(i.e., secondary metabolite production), 150 Amycolatopsis genomes have so far been sequenced (based on data accessed in mid-2023) and about one-fifth of them are either complete or at the chromosome level assembly. The importance of Amycolatopsis in the agricultural sector is, however, not well known. Perhaps, we were the first to report its usefulness as PGP in sorghum and chickpea 15 , and its antagonistic potential against M. phaseolina mediated charcoal rot disease in sorghum 16 . Along a similar line, to uncover the genomic components underlying the PGP/biocontrol traits, we reported chromosome-level genome assembly of BCA-696 strain: ~ 9.06 Mb in size with 8,716 protein-coding genes (Fig. 1, Table 1).The taxonomic classification of the BCA-696 strain has been available only till the genus level. The analysis using the whole genome sequence showed that this strain is closer to A. lurida (Fig. 4). However, the poor bootstrap value for the branch of BCA-696 implied that the species-level classification of BCA-696 is still elusive with the existing genomic information.The Amycolatopsis genomes, in particular the BGCs, have been compared in multiple studies 22,29,30 . A comparison involving 41 genomes showed a core set of size 1212 genes 29 , which was almost one-third of the size observed in this study (n = 4733), and the difference can be attributed mainly to the different number of genomes involved (41 versus 15). Given the diversity in the biosynthetic potential of secondary metabolites among Amycolatopsis species, the accessory and unique (gene) sets attain a higher importance than the core set. While comparing the Gene Cluster Families (GCFs) in 41 genomes, the conserved features accounted for only a small proportion, and a vast number of GCFs (67%) were represented by a single genome 29 . In the BCA-696 strain, a prediction of unique features gave 466 genes (Fig. 3), which corroborates earlier reports of a significant fraction of unique genes present in Amycolatopsis genomes.While the functional annotation of the majority of the unique genes was unavailable, among the annotated genes antibiotic-related functions were the most prominent. It contained the gene for the biosynthesis of Bialaphos antibiotic (Supplementary Table S2), which has not been reported yet among Amycolatopsis species, and just one Streptomyces species has been known to have capability 31,32 . This antibiotic has been reported to have fungicidal and herbicidal roles, thus a potential biocontrol agent. In addition, several antibiotic transporters were also found which may play a role in secretion or defense (Supplementary Table S2). Another peculiar feature was the presence of Chloramphenicol and Streptomycin phosphotransferase which are involved in providing resistance against those antibiotics (Supplementary Table S2).Plant-growth-promoting bacteria isolated from the rhizosphere are known to produce growth hormones such as auxins and siderophores and hydrolytic enzymes such as chitinase, cellulase, and β-1,3-glucanase and help plants to inhibit pathogens either directly or indirectly [33][34][35] . Amycolatopsis BCA-696 has been reported to produce biocontrol and PGP traits including siderophore, HCN, chitinase, protease, cellulase, β-1,3-glucanase, lipase, and IAA under in vitro conditions 15 . The genome sequence analysis indicated that this strain can potentially biosynthesize auxin only through the Tryptamine pathway (Supplementary Table S9) and may need to cooperate with other rhizosphere bacteria for alternate biosynthesis pathways. Moreover, for Cellulase, Lipase, and Chitinase, complete biosynthesis pathways were identified (Supplementary Table S6-S8). Besides, complete or partial biosynthesis pathways for the diverse siderophore molecules were identified along with a number of transporters (Supplementary Tables S3-S5). The presence of biosynthetic genes for the Enediyne family of antibiotics (Supplementary Table S3), which typically act by DNA cleavage 36 , has been an interesting finding in BCA-696, as some of these secondary metabolites have earlier been shown for antifungal activity among diverse plant and animal pathogens 37,38 . Hence, it is concluded that Amycolatopsis BCA-696 potentially produces hydrolytic enzymes or antibiotics that have the potential to inhibit the pathogen M. phaseolina that causes charcoal rot in sorghum.The usefulness of Amycolatopsis BCA-696, for biocontrol of charcoal rot disease in sorghum, has been demonstrated at both greenhouse and field conditions in our previous study 16 . We also reported the tolerance of BCA-696 on a wide range of pH (5-11), temperatures (20-40 °C), NaCl concentrations (0-6%), and fungicides (including Bavistin up to 2500 ppm, Thiram up to 3000 ppm, Benlate up to 4000 ppm, Captan up to 3000 ppm and Ridomil up to 3000 ppm 15 . These traits could help BCA-696 to survive in harsh environments under natural conditions and thus this bioagent can be used in integrated disease management programs. Further, Amycolatopsis BCA-696 needs to be formulated as a bio-inoculant and used for the biocontrol of charcoal rot in other crops. The secondary metabolite(s) responsible for the inhibition of M. phaseolina need to be experimentally characterized. In the absence of a high level of genetic resistance in high-yielding varieties, Amycolatopsis BCA-696 could be effective in controlling charcoal rot disease and related loss in grain and stover quality of sorghum.A strain of Amycolatopsis sp. BCA-696 (GenBank accession number of 16S ribosomal RNA gene: KM191337), previously reported by us to have the capacity for PGP in sorghum and chickpea 15 and for its antagonistic potential against Macrophomina phaseolina that causes charcoal rot disease in sorghum 16 was selected for the present study.DNA of Amycolatopsis sp. BCA-696 was isolated as per the protocols mentioned in Gopalakrishnan et al., 2020 14 . In brief, BCA-696 was inoculated in starch casein broth and incubated for 120 h at 28° C. At the end of incubation, the culture was centrifuged at 10,000g for 10 min at 4 °C and the cells were washed twice with STE buffer (sucrose 0.3 M, Tris/ HCl 25 mM and Na 2 EDTA 25 mM, pH 8.0). The supernatant was discarded but the pellet (1 g) was re-suspended in 8.55 ml STE buffer and 950 µl lysozyme (20 mg/ml STE buffer) and incubated for 30 min at 30 °C. This was followed by the addition of 500 µl of SDS (10%; w/v) and 50 µl of protease (20 mg/ ml) and the mixture was held at 37 °C for one h. At the end of incubation, 1.8 ml of NaCl (5 M) was added with gentle mixing to avoid shearing the DNA, and 1.5 ml of CTAB (10%; w/v) in 0.7 M NaCl (CTAB/NaCl solution) and incubated for 20 min at 65 °C. Once CTAB was added, all the remaining steps were carried out at room temperature. The lysate was extracted twice with an equal volume of phenol/chloroform/isoamyl alcohol (25:24:1; by vol) and centrifuged at 13,000g for 10 min. Finally, the aqueous phase was extracted with chloroform/isoamyl alcohol (24:1, by vol) and transferred to a tube followed by the addition of 600 µl of propan-2-ol and DNA spooled out after 10 min. Alternatively, it was recovered by centrifugation at 12,000g for 10 min. The pellet was washed twice with ethanol (70%; v/v), vacuum dried, and dissolved in 2 ml of TE buffer (10 mM Tris/HCl and 1 mM EDTA, pH 8.0). RNase A (50 mg/ml) was added with incubation at 37 °C for 2 h. The sample was again extracted with phenol as described above. DNA was re-precipitated from the aqueous phase with the addition of 100 µl of 3 M sodium acetate (pH 5.3) and 600 µl of propan-2-ol. The DNA pellet was washed with ethanol (70%; v/v), dried, and dissolved in TE buffer. The purity of the BCA-696 DNA was checked in the agarose gel electrophoresis and quantified using NanoDrop.About ~ 5 μg high-quality genomic DNA (free from any contaminant and having A260/280 ratio in the range of ~ 1.8 to 2.0 with DNA concentration ≥ 100 ng/μl) was sent to AgriGenome Labs (Kochi, India) for library preparation and next-generation sequencing using the Illumina platform. The Genomic DNA was fragmented, and a paired-end library with insert size 300 bp, and a mate-pair library with insert size 5 Kbp, were prepared.The Whole-genome sequenced paired and mate-pair reads of the bacterial genome were cleaned (by removing adapters, primer sequences, etc.) using Trimmomatic V.0.39 39 . The cleaned reads were de novo assembled using SOAPdenovo V2.04 and SPADES V3.10.1 assemblers 40,41 . Two assemblies were assessed and compared by using QUAST V5.0.2 42 followed by discarding the contigs having < 500 bp length and coverage < 5. The GapCloser V1.0.1 43 was used to close the gaps that emerged during the scaffolding process by the de novo assembler, using the abundant pair relationships of short reads. Further contigs were subjected to Pathosystems Resource Integration Center (PATRIC V3.6.9) 44 and KmerFinder V3.2 45 search to find the closely related genomes. In order to do reference genome-based reordering of contigs Amycolatopsis albispora, Amycolatopsis keratiniphila, Amycolatopsis japonica, and Amycolatopsis orientalis genome sequences were obtained from NCBI microbial genomes database followed by scaffolding using Multidraft-Based Scaffolder (MEDUSA V1.6) 46 . The resulting scaffolds were subjected to an NCBI BLAST database search to check the contamination and scaffold hits other than the Amycolatopsis genus were discarded. The completeness of the genome assembly was examined using the tool 'Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (BUSCOs) V5.1.3 47 . The Circos plot showing the features on the genome (Fig. 1) was generated using Circos V.0.69.8 48 .The annotation of the assembled genome was carried out by Rapid Annotation using the Subsystem Technology (RAST) server (http:// rast. nmpdr. org/ rast. cgi), through the RASTtk pipeline 25 (Accessed on: April 2020). The genome-based phylogenetic relationships between the BCA-696 strain and its closely related species used to reorganize scaffolds were determined using the reference sequence ALignment-based PHYlogeny (REALPHY) builder method 49 (accessed on: April 2020). Figure 2 showing the subsystem classes in BCA-696 was plotted using ggplot2 package 50 from Rstudio.The pangenome analysis was performed using all Amycolatopsis genomes at the NCBI database with at least scaffold level completion (n = 76, Supplementary Table S10) using Roary pipeline v3.13.0 51 . Having observed an unusually small core set size (< 1%) and a whoppingly large cloud gene set size (> 95%), the pan-genome analysis was repeated on a subset of genomes that were closely related to BCA-696. Species/strains belonging to the clade, identified from the pan-genome-based tree, in which BCA-696 was also present were selected as close relatives. This set (of closely related species/strains) was augmented by including a few more species/strains having contiglevel completion. The fourteen close relatives of BCA-696 were: A. orientalis strain B-37 (GCF_000943515.2), A. keratiniphila strain HCCB10007 (GCF_000400635.2), A. regifaucium strain GY080 T (GCF_001558125.2), A. coloradensis strain DSM 44225 T (GCF_001953865.1), A. roodepoortensis strain ZEL-1 (GCF_024628825.1), A. alba strain DSM 44262 T (GCF_000384215.1), A. azurea strain DSM 43854 T (GCF_001995215.1), A. decaplanina strain DSM 44594 T (GCF_000342005.1), A. lurida strain DSM 43134 T (GCF_000749465.2), A. japonica strain DSM 44213 T (GCF_000732925.1), A. thailandensis strain JCM 16380 T (GCF_002234405.1), A. umgeniensis strain DSM 45272 T (GCF_014205155.1), A. oliviviridis strain CGMCC 4.7683 (GCF_014654365.1), and A. pittospori strain PIP199 T (GCF_013870525.1) (The type strains are indicated with a \"T\" in superscript). The genome sequences were annotated with the rapid prokaryotic genome annotation tool Prokka V1.14.6 52 and implemented Roary pipeline on input annotation files (in GFF format) with a minimum 95% percentage identity for BLASTp. Core gene sequences were aligned with Multiple Alignments using Fast Fourier Transform (MAFFT V7.520) 53 , and the CD-HIT V4.7 54 algorithm used to perform clustering was embedded in the Roary pipeline. Further analysis was performed on the gene presence/absence file generated by the Roary analysis.Orthofinder (version 2.5.4) 24 was used with default parameters to find common ortholog groups among BCA-696 and 14 other genomes of Amycolatopsis species taken from the NCBI database (Acessed on: October 2022). Genes unique to BCA-696 were selected and mined for functional details using the KEGG PATHWAY Database (Accessed on: October 2022) 55 (https:// www. genome. jp/ kegg/ pathw ay. html).To obtain taxonomic positioning of Amycolatopsis BCA-696 strain in the Amycolatopsis genus based on the genome sequences, the BCA-696 genome was submitted to the Type (Strain) Genome Server (TYGS) (accessed on: Jan 2024) 31 , and the ten closest genomes were selected by the TYGS to construct the phylogenetic tree with default setting. The TYGS uses overall genome relatedness index (OGRI) methods (GBDP & dDDH).PRISM4 (accessed on: July 2020) 56 was used to mine BGCs in the BCA-696 genome. It allows the prediction of a BGC's location and provides insights into the putative structure of the encoded secondary metabolite. BGCs were additionally predicted using another tool namely antiSMASH v7.0.0 57 using 'relaxed' strictness level. Since none of the two tools gave precise details of the secondary metabolites actually being synthesized by the core and/or additional biosynthetic genes, protein sequences of these genes were searched in the KEGG ortholog/pathway database using ' Automatic KO assignment and KEGG mapping service' (BlastKOALA). Representative pathways for biosynthesis of Vancomycin and Enediyne from Amycolatopsis keratiniphila, for instance, were accessed at URLs https:// www. genome. jp/ pathw ay/ aoi01 055 and https:// www. kegg. jp/ pathw ay/ aoi01 059, respectively.Further, pathway information of the PGP traits was obtained from the KEGG PATHWAY Database (Accessed on: July 2020) 54 , which provided details of the enzymes involved. In order to find orthologs of these KEGG enzymes in the genome of Amycolatopsis sp. BCA-696, the Reciprocal Best BLAST (RBB) search was performed between the proteomes of Amycolatopsis sp. B-696 and a few reference bacterial species (such as E. coli), already have orthologs (KO) of KEGG enzymes."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"20e7de84be212610b7e1b2d1cd5b9b57","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0805564c-fe0b-4bc9-bc25-35ee0f4de358/retrieve","id":"-852955686"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"12a6397b-ec99-4825-b300-5966a04fa21f","content":"Main objective To determine the most economic fertilizer practices to obtain and maintain high cassava yields in a particular location, and simple but effective options for soil erosion control in smallholder cassava-based cropping systemsCassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) production in Laos is developing rapidly due to the increasing demand for its multiple end-uses in the region. As a result, cassava is changing from a traditional food crop to a cash crop, even for smallholders living in remote upland areas. For farmers growing cassava on sloping lands, one of the main challenges is the high rate of soil erosion, as well as nutrient depletion due to continuous cropping without fertilizers. However, poor farmers are generally not interested in erosion control or sustainability as the effect of these is not readily visible, and most farmers are only interested in maximizing their net income. It is therefore necessary to identify cost-effective fertilization practices as well as farmer-friendly methods of soil erosion control.These and many other experiments indicate that more sustainable crop management practices should emphasize increasing yields by the use of higheryielding varieties, proper fertilization, good weed control, use of good quality planting material, closer plant spacing; and possibly the use of contour hedgerows of grass or leguminous species, well-adapted to the soil and climatic conditions, not-competing with nearby cassava plants, and preferably useful for feeding animals in a cut-and-carry feeding system. Tin Maung Aye and Reinhardt Howeler, CIAT-Bangkok, FCRI, Dept. of Agriculture, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand; email: t.aye@cgiar.org; r.howeler@cgiar.org Treatments Dry soil loss (t/ha) 1.Traditional practice: no fertilizer or lime, no hedgerows, 2 stakes/hill, no ridging, 0.9 m x 0.9 m 16.8No ridging, with fertilizers and lime; no hedgerows, 1 stake/hill; 0.9 x 0.9 m 11Intercrop with 2 rows of peanut; with fertilizers and lime; no hedgerows, 1 stake/hill; 0.9 x 0.9 m 8.54. Hedgerow of pineapple; with fertilizers and lime; 1 stake/hill; 0.9 x 0.9 m 10 5.Hedgerow of Paspalum atratum; with fertilizers and lime; 1 stake/hill; 0.9 x 0.9 m 6.6 6.Hedgerow of Tephrosia candida; with fertilizers and lime; 1 stake/hill; 0.9 x 0.9 m 7.47.Hedgerow of vetiver grass (Vietnam); with fertilizers and lime; 1 stake/hill; 0.9 x 0.9 m 8.02 8.Closer plant spacing (0.7 m x 0.7 m); with fertilizers and lime; 1 stake/hill; no hedgerow 8.44Contour ridging, with fertilizers and lime; 1 stake/hill; 0.9 x 0.9 m, no hedgerows 8.1 10. Up-down ridging, with fertilizers and lime; 1 stake/hill; 0.9 x 0.9 m, no hedgerows   Effective soil erosion control In the erosion control experiment, the Tephrosia candida and Paspalum atratum contour hedgerows resulted in significantly less soil loss than with vetiver grass or Gliricidia sepium hedgerows (Table 2).The latter two species seem to be not as well adapted to the poor soil and cool climate of this site (Figure 2). "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dae9001905b0be00501f9cdb63e7ca7d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/IWMI_Research_Reports/PDF/PUB030/Report30.pdf","id":"1385097329"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"28fefed6-4c93-409f-ad2e-e2ee996eca3c","content":"IWMI's mission is to contribute to food security and poverty eradication by fostering sustainable increases in the productivity of water through better management of irrigation and other water uses in river basins. In serving this mission, IWMI concentrates on the integration of policies, technologies and management systems to achieve workable solutions to real problems-practical, relevant results in the field of irrigation and water resources.The publications in this series cover a wide range of subjects-from computer modeling to experience with water users associations-and vary in content from directly applicable research to more basic studies, on which applied work ultimately depends. Some research reports are narrowly focused, analytical, and detailed empirical studies; others are wide-ranging and synthetic overviews of generic problems.Although most of the reports are published by IWMI staff and their collaborators, we welcome contributions from others. Each report is reviewed internally by IWMI's own staff and Fellows, and by external reviewers. The reports are published and distributed both in hard copy and electronically (http:/ /www. cgiar.org/iimi) and where possible all data and analyses will be available as separate downloadable files. Reports may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgment.The authors: S. A. Prathapar and Asad S. Qureshi are Research Coordinator and Research Engineer (Soil Physics), respectively, at the International Water Management Institute, Pakistan. vIn arid and semiarid regions, large tracks of land developed for irrigation are being abandoned each year due to secondary salinization from saline water tables. During non-monsoon months, the mulchability of the surface layers and the hydraulic properties of the subsurface layers influence the rate of salinization of these lands. During monsoon months, the infiltration rate of the surface layers and the depth to the water table control leaching of the surface layers. Mechanical cultivation of the surface layer will increase the mulchability, break the continuity of micro pores between the surface and subsurface layers, and increase the infiltration rate of the surface layer. These changes to the soil physical properties will minimize the rate of salinization and assist reclamation of these saline soils.In this respect, the effect of surface cultivation, monsoon rains, depth to water table, and groundwater salinity on secondary salinization are evaluated using a numerical model, SWAP93 (Van Dam et al. 1997). The simulations were performed for three water table regimes (i.e., 0.5 m, 1 m, and 1.5 m). The surface cultivation was done before the monsoon. The results show that with a water table at 1 m or below, abandoned saline soils can be reclaimed by pre-monsoon surface cultivation within a few years. The rate of reclamation is largely independent of the groundwater quality. Continuous pre-monsoon cultivation will prevent re-salinization of these soils. The rate of reclamation is inadequate if the water table is at 0.5 m. The results of this study can be applicable to parts of the Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan, where large areas are being abandoned due to secondary salinization.In irrigated areas around the world, shallow water tables are becoming an inevitable feature contributing to secondary salinization. Secondary salinization is the result of accelerated redistribution of salts in the soil profile either due to shallow water tables or due to the use of insufficient water to leach the salts. The rate of salinization is high when the water table is shallow and saline. In the Indus Basin of Pakistan, about 4.76 million hectares have a water table within 1.5 m below the soil surface after the monsoon season. Prior to the monsoon, this area is reduced to 1.5 million hectares. Some 1.7 million hectares in the Punjab and 4.5 million hectares in Sindh are underlain by saline groundwater. Due to the presence of these saline water tables, about 40,000 hectares are abandoned within the Indus Basin annually due to secondary salinization. As a result, approximately 6 million hectares are saltaffected, of which about half is in irrigated areas of Pakistan (WAPDA 1989). Another 2 million hectares are estimated to be abandoned due to severe salinity (Bhutta and Wolters 1997). Another estimate is that the land area abandoned due to salinization is approximately equal to the land area developed for irrigation annually around the world. Such lands represent significant investments made during this century.The physical process that contributes to water table-induced secondary salinization is referred to as 'water table evaporation' or 'capillary upflow.' In abandoned bare soils, the rate of capillary upflow is determined by the hydraulic gradient between soil surface and the water tables plus the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil profile. The matric potential at the water table will be zero. In abandoned soils, the soil water content of the surface soil will decrease to its residual water content due to evaporation. Therefore, the lowest matric potential of the surface soil will correspond to the residual soil water content. The gravitational potential between the soil surface and the water table will be equal to the depth to the water table. Consequently, the maximum hydraulic gradient, between the water table and the soil surface will be equal to the residual water content of the soil surface minus the depth to the water table. The soil water content will decrease from saturated volumetric water content at the water table, to a drier value at the soil surface. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity will decrease accordingly, and will reflect the changes in soil structure as well as the water content. The soil layer with the lowest unsaturated hydraulic conductivity will bind the flow of water from the water table to the soil surface.Bare soils are subjected to a constant meteorologically induced potential evaporation, which is considered to be maximal. Under constant evaporative demand, the bare soil evaporation process can be divided into three stages: the constant rate stage, controlled by potential evaporation demand; the falling rate stage, controlled by the transmission of water Introduction within the soil profile; and the vapor diffusion stage, controlled by the vapor diffusivity of the dried soil surface (Hillel 1975).In shallow water table areas where lands are abandoned and bare, opportunities for constant rate stage evaporation are restricted to short periods, following heavy rainfalls. The soil surface must be close to saturated conditions for the constant rate stage evaporation to occur. Saturated conditions will lead to downward water movement within the soil profile, as well as leaching of salts. This process will counter salinization.During the falling rate stage, the water for bare soil evaporation moves from the water table with dissolved salts. Once the water is lost to the atmosphere, salts are deposited within the root zone, resulting in salinization. The rate of salinization, therefore, depends on the rate at which water moves from the water table, and the extent to which the bare soil acts as a mulch to reduce the potential evaporation. When the actual rate of evaporation is restricted by mulching, the rate of water movement within the soil profile will be restricted to the rate of mulch-limited evaporation. Otherwise, the rate of evaporation will be limited by the rate of water movement as restricted by the hydraulic characteristics of the subsoil.The rate of evaporation during the vapor diffusion stage is controlled by the physical properties of the unsaturated surface layers and the direction of heat flow within the soil profile. In general, heat flow within the soil profile is downwards during daytime. Further, the concentration of vapor in soil pores decreases with an increase in depth, which facilitates downward vapor diffusion. Therefore, under such circumstances, the vapor will not be released to the atmosphere. However, when the direction of heat flow within the soil profile is upwards, and the vapor concentration of atmospheric layers immediately above the soil layers is low, water from the soil profile is lost to the atmosphere. Such losses during the vapor diffusion stage will increase the capillary upflow from the water table. However, the relative increase in capillary upflow due to evaporation during the vapor diffusion stage will be negligible, and will have a minimal effect on the rate of salinization.From the above discussion, the following inferences can be made. Secondary salinization from a shallow water table in arid and semiarid areas can be minimized by Conditions for (a) and (b) can be obtained in the field by mechanically cultivating the soil surface. Mechanical cultivation of abandoned soils can be achieved by plowing. Most farmers in developing countries, such as Pakistan, either own or rent four-wheel tractors to plow the soil. Farmers without access to four-wheel tractors use buffalo-mounted wooden plows to cultivate the soil to a depth of 30 cm. When the soil is plowed and turned over, it will break the continuity of capillary pores from the water table to the soil surface. As the loosened soils settle, some degree of continuity of micro pores will take place. However, this will be less than that of the uncultivated soil. In other words, the complete discontinuity of micro pores will not occur because the soil is made of individual semi-spherical particles, whose settlement cannot be completely prevented due to gravity and mobilization with water. Therefore, the physical processes of the soil water flow will continue to apply to a plowed soil profile. The soil water content of this layer will reduce to its residual water content level at which the rate of capillary upflow will be minimal, preventing salt movement to the surface layers from the subsurface (water table) layers.The total porosity of a cultivated soil is greater than that of an uncultivated soil. This will increase the infiltration rate and the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Hillel 1980;Hall et al. 1993;Benjamin 1993). However, the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of a cultivated soil is lower than that of an uncultivated soil, even at relatively low suctions (Creswell, Smiles, and Williams 1993;Somaratne and Smettem 1993;Murphy et al. 1993). Thus, the rate of capillary upflow in the unsaturated phase in a cultivated soil will be less than that in an uncultivated soil.In summary, in semiarid areas where monsoon rains are restricted to a few months of the year, an annual pre-monsoon mechanical cultivation can be practiced to reclaim abandoned saline soils. Surface cultivation will increase the infiltration rate and decrease the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil. Furthermore, by minimizing the continuity of micro pores within the soil profile, the cultivated soil will act as mulch and reduce the rate of water table evaporation. In combination, these changes to the soil physical environment will increase the rate of leaching and reduce the capillary upflow from water tables. However, since the soil physical properties will be reversed with time due to rainfall and trafficking, periodic cultivation will be necessary.The objective of this report was to test the hypothesis that timely surface cultivation and monsoon, or winter rains in semiarid and arid areas, will assist reclamation of abandoned saline soils. To test the hypothesis, a one-dimensional, vertical, water, and solute transport model, SWAP93 (Van Dam et al. 1997) calibrated by Smets (1996) was used. This report presents a brief description of SWAP93, the methodology adopted to calibrate the model, and the simulation results to evaluate the effectiveness of surface cultivation to reclaim abandoned saline lands in shallow water table areas in view of monsoon rains and groundwater salinity.The SWAP93 model describes a one-dimensional, vertical, unsaturated flow in a heterogeneous soilroot system. The model has the capability to simulate water and solute transport in the unsaturated zone. A brief description of the model is given below.In SWAP93, transient soil water flow is based on Darcy's law and the principles of mass conservation and spatial and temporal continuity. The governing equation is referred to as Richards' equation and one of its forms is:where, h is the pressure head (cm), K(h) is the hydraulic conductivity at pressure h (cm.d -1 ), C(h) is the differential soil moisture capacity (cm -1 ), S(h) is the sink term for water uptake by roots (cm.d -1 ), z is the gravitational potential positive in the upward direction (cm), and t is time (d). The equation is solved by a finite difference scheme as proposed by Haverkamp et al. (1977).The flow within the root zone is strongly nonlinear and is greatly influenced by the water uptake by the roots. Since precise data are rarely available, either on the distribution of the roots as a function of depth or on water uptake, the latter is represented as an extraction or sink term, S(h), distributed over the root zone. Feddes, Kowalik, and Zaradny (1978) described the sink term semiempirically as:where, a(h) is a dimensionless function of pressure head and S max is the maximum possible root extraction rate (d -1 ). The value of a varies between 0 and 1. When it is 1, water extraction by roots is considered as maximum. In this study, S max is defined as proposed by Prasad (1988). It describes S max in the following way:where, T pot is the potential transpiration rate (cm.d-1 ) and z r is the depth of the root zone (cm).The soil profile can be split up into a maximum of five layers with different physical properties. Each layer may contain one or more compartments (finite difference layers). For each soil layer, the soil moisture retention curve h( q ) and the relationship between hydraulic conductivity and pressure head need to be defined. The soil physical relationships can be defined in the tabulated form or in the form of Mualem-Van Genuchten (VGM) parameters (Mualem 1976;Van Genuchten 1980). The volumetric water content q is expressed as a function of the pressure head h with the empirical equation:where, q r is residual volumetric water content (cm 3 .cm -3 ), q s is volumetric water content at saturation (cm -3.cm-3) and a and n are empirical shape parameters. The parameter m is defined as:(5)The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity as a function of pressure head is defined as:where, K S is the saturated hydraulic conductivity (cm.d -1) and l is a pore connectivity factor that expresses the correlation between pores and flow path tortuosity.Evapotranspiration, precipitation, and irrigation describe the top boundary conditions of the soil profile. SWAP93 offers four alternatives for the calculation of daily evapotranspiration: Monteith (1965), Rijtema (1965), Priestly and Taylor (1972), Penman (1948), and Class A Pan. The computed data for ET pot are used to calculate the potential soil evaporation and potential transpiration according to Belmans, Wesseling, and Feddes (1983) as a function of leaf area index.The actual soil evaporation depends on the prevailing conditions in the soil profile. SWAP93 offers two models for reduction in the potential soil evaporation as reported by Black, Gardner, and Thertell (1969) and Boesten and Stroosnijder (1986). In this report, the Boesten model has been used. According to this model, actual soil evaporation (E act ) depends on the sum of potential evaporation (E pot ) since the time of last irrigation or rainfall event.The bottom boundary condition of the system can be defined by three different types of conditions: In SWAP93, solutes are considered as being conservative, which means that exchange processes and chemical reactions do not take place. In case of a transient, one-dimensional, vertical flow in the soil root system, the transport of conservative solutes can be described by the convection-dispersion equation:where, q is the volumetric water content (cm 3 .cm-3 ), D dis is the dispersion coefficient), D dif is the effective diffusion coefficient (cm 2 .d -1), c l is the concentration in the liquid phase (g.cm -3 ), J is the total solute flux (g.cm -2.d -1 ), and q is the water flux (cm.d -1 ). Further details of SWAP93 can be seen in Van Dam et al. (1997).Study Site Smets (1996) calibrated the model using the data from the Chishtian Subdivision, Fordwah Eastern Sadiqia Project, Punjab, Pakistan. The climate of the area is arid and is characterized by long hot summers and cool winters. The mean annual precipitation is about 260 mm. Two-thirds of the precipitation occurs during the monsoon season, between early July and mid-September, in high intensity bursts. One-third occurs from January to March as low intensity frontal rains. The average annual evaporation is about 2,400 mm. Data from a field located in the tail end of the Fordwah Branch canal was used for the model calibration.The sample field is located in the cotton-wheat agro-ecological zone of the Punjab Province. Soil textural analysis shows that the field belongs to the Jhang soil series, which consists of a loamy sand top soil underlain by a sandy subsoil.The calibration period comprised 12 months (from July 1994 to June 1995) covering two growing seasons. The field was extensively monitored during this period. The crop rotation during this period was cotton-wheat. Pressure heads, soil moisture contents, electrical conductivity of the saturation paste (EC e ), irrigation depths, and meteorological data were measured.The top boundary of the soil profile was described by the evapotranspiration, irrigation, and rainfall. Reference ET was calculated by using CROPWAT (Smith 1992), which was converted into ET pot by multiplying with the corresponding crop factors. The reference evapotranspiration was based on the modified Penman method. The depths of all irrigations applied to the monitored field were recorded and used as an input.The daily groundwater table depth was measured with the help of piezometers and was used as a bottom boundary condition. The maximum rooting depth for wheat and cotton was taken as 110 cm and 140 cm, respectively. Measured pressure head values at different depths were used as the initial conditions for water balance calculations, whereas, measured EC e values at different depths were used for salt balance calculations.The soil profile was divided into two layers, and each layer was divided into a number of compartments along the vertical axis. The thickness of each compartment was variable. Where large hydraulic head differences were expected, like at the soil surface, small compartments (4 cm each) were defined. The soil hydraulic properties were described by 6 VGM parameters (q r , q s , K s , a, n, and l). These parameters were taken from the soil series described by Wösten (1987) and were adjusted to match the measured and simulated results. The VGM parameters used for top and bottom layers are given in table 1. The soil water retention and hydraulic conductivity curves for both layers are shown in figures 1 and 2. VGM-parameters for two layers of the monitored field.Layer Depth q r q s K s a n lNo.(cm) (cm 3 .cm -3 ) (cm 3 .cm -3 ) (cm.d -1 ) (cm The EC e of the soil profile was measured by taking soil samples at depths of 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 200 cm. These samples were analyzed in the laboratory and the EC (electrical conductivity) of the saturation extract was determined. The soil analysis shows that the initial salinity of the soil profile ranged between 1.15dS/m and 1.40 dS/m from a depth of 15 cm to 200 cm. The physical parameters that describe the salt transport in SWAP93 are the dispersivity coefficient, D dis and the diffusion coefficient, D dis (Eq. 7). The model is most sensitive for D dis . Under laminar flow conditions, as in most unsaturated soils, the dispersion coefficient is proportional to the pore water velocity (Bolt 1979).where, L dis is the dispersion length (cm). The size of dispersion length depends on the scale at which the water flux and solute convection averaged. The values of this parameter typically range from 0.5 cm to 2 cm for packed laboratory columns and 5 cm to 20 cm for field-scale experiments (Nielsen, Genuchten, and Bigger 1986).  The measured pressure heads and EC e values were compared with the model-simulated results for the model calibration (Smets 1996). Pressure heads were measured in the field by means of tensiometers, installed at depths of 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 200 cm, and were read weekly. Tensiometers were installed in the beginning of rabi 1994-1995. Therefore, only data for 6 months (180 days) were available for comparison. The soil samples for the determination of EC e were collected by boring 10 holes (using an auger) for each depth at different locations in the field. The EC e values were determined twice (on the 141 st and 365 th days) during the calibration period.Figure 3 shows the comparison of measured and simulated pressure heads at 45 cm and 90 cm depths. The results indicate that the measured and simulated values are in good agreement at both depths. For the calibration of solute transport, measured EC e data were compared with the model-simulated results. Figure 4 shows the comparison on the 365 th day. The measured EC e values are presented by rectangles instead of points. The length of each rectangle shows the standard deviation of 10 EC e measurements at each depth. Figure 4 shows that the model slightly underestimated the measured EC e values, although they are still within the measured ranges.It is evident from the graph that there are large deviations in the measured EC e values at the same depth within a field. This is possibly due to the variability of soil hydraulic parameters within the field and uneven distribution of irrigation water over the field. The farmers usually use the basin/ flooding method of irrigation. This practice produces parts of low and high infiltration that, in turn, result in low and high patches of salinity. Further details of field measurements and salt and water balance analyses can be found in Smets (1996) and Smets et al. (1997).   As alluded to in the introduction, mechanically cultivating the soil will increase the mulchability and modify the physical characteristics of the cultivated surface. Surface cultivation will increase the macro porosity and saturated hydraulic conductivity and break the continuity between micro pores within the soil profile. An increase in macro pore hydraulic conductivity will improve the potential for downward leaching and the discontinuity of micro pores will reduce the rate of capillary upflow from the water table that, in turn, will retard salinization.The effectiveness of soil surface cultivation is evaluated by using the calibrated SWAP93 model. As noted earlier, the calibration was carried out by Smets (1996) from the data obtained from a field under wheat and cotton cultivation. Its water balance patterns along the soil profile were characterised by equations ( 2) and ( 3). The values of limiting pressure heads to describe a(h) were adopted from Taylor and Ashcroft (1972). It is assumed that roots grow at a constant rate from the time of sowing until they reach their maximum depth. According to Borg and Grimes (1986), maximum rooting depth for most of the crops is achieved at the physiological maturity of the crop. Once it is achieved, the rooting depth remains constant up to harvesting. Maturity was assumed in the middle of the mid-season stage. The maximum rooting depths (Z r ) for wheat and cotton were assumed to be 1.60 m and 1.10 m, respectively. In other words, it is a fixed value and not a calibrated one. To evaluate the effectiveness of surface cultivation of bare soil on salinization, these parameters were set to zero. Therefore, they had negligible effect on calibrated soil hydraulic parameters.Simulations are performed for three water table depths, i.e., 0.5 m, 1 m, and 1.5 m. The groundwater salinity is taken as 10 dS/m to represent the most severe conditions. In real conditions, the water table will fluctuate with time, unless the field has subsurface drainage. However, by simulating salt and water balances at a static level, an additional insight into the minimum depth required to reclaim abandoned soils can be gained. Under field conditions, subsurface drainage will be required to control water table at, or below, a specified level.The depth of the cultivated layer is taken as 0.3 m to represent field conditions. The surface cultivation is modeled by modifying hydraulic properties of the top 0.3 m soil layer of the profile. The comparison of K(h)-h function before and after cultivating the surface layer is shown in figure 5. The K(h)-h function for cultivated soil is only an assumption. Measured values for this function for cultivated soil are not available. Physical determination of the function is tedious, and often shows a considerable variation with space and time. Since our purpose is to test a concept, rather than being prescriptive, assumed values of K S , a, n, and l are considered appropriate. The K S value of the loosened soil is set at 200 cm. d -1 , so that it will permit infiltration of all rainfall and minimize runoff. The values of a, n, and l are set in such a manner that the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of the loosened soil at a particular suction is less than that of the uncultivated soil. The values of VGM parameters a, n, and l for this layer were taken as 0.028, 2.9, and 7, respectively.The interaction between depth to water table, groundwater salinity, a single monsoon, and premonsoonal surface cultivation was studied, using a one-year simulation.The influence of different water table depths on the soil salinity before the monsoon in To determine the distribution of matric potential for the initial conditions, for different water table depths, the model was run for one year using newly set water table depths and climatic conditions. The resultant matric potentials at different depths at the end of the year were taken as the initial conditions for the simulations made to evaluate the effectiveness of surface cultivation to reclaim abandoned saline soils. Salinity data were not available to describe the initial conditions for the bare soil simulation. However, the EC e values at different depths for the first day of calculations for cropped conditions were available. To determine the initial conditions for the bare soil, the model was run for one year using the available EC e values and considering that the soil is bare. The profile salinity of the last day simulated by the model was then used as an initial condition for the bare soil conditions. Water table = 1.5 m Water table = 1 m Water table = 0.5 m uncultivated soils is shown in figure 6. Figure 7 demonstrates the effect of surface cultivation and monsoon rains on soil salinity at different water table depths. It can be seen that without surface cultivation and with the water table at 0.5 m, the impact of monsoon rains on soil salinity is not very substantial. When the water table is at 1 m or below, the salinity of the upper 0.6 m of the soil profile reduces to 2 dS/m, whereas, the lower part of the profile remains highly saline even after the monsoon. By cultivating the top 0.3 m of the soil before the monsoon season, a considerable decrease in the soil salinity for all water table depths can be obtained. These simulations show that under deeper water table conditions (> 1 m), a considerable amount of salts can be leached down by cultivating the soil surface before the monsoon. However, the effect of surface cultivation at shallow water table depths (< 0.5 m) is not very significant.The effect of different groundwater qualities on the root zone salinity is shown in figure 8. Figure 9 shows the effect of surface cultivation on soil salinity under different water table salinities. The surface cultivation leaches the salts not only from the top 0.3 m of the profile but also at the lower depths. Figure 9 shows that with surface cultivation, salinity in the top 0.5-0.6 m of the soil profile reduces to 2 dS/m after the monsoon season, irrespective of the groundwater salinity. From these simulations, it is evident that controlling the depth to the water table is more important in salinity control than controlling the quality of the groundwater. Pre-monsoon salinity profile of uncultivated soils at different groundwater salinities (water table at 1m). *Previous results are based on one-year simulations. The process of leaching the salts from the root zone can be reversed in the dry months following the monsoon. To investigate long-term effects of surface cultivation on reclamation of abandoned saline soils, simulations were performed for a period of 10 years, using rainfall and evaporation data between 1980 and 1990. The initial soil salinity was assumed to be 3 dS/m throughout the soil profile for these simulations.Figure 10 shows the pre-monsoon buildup of soil salinity without surface cultivation when the water table is at 0.5 m depth. Without cultivation, soil salinity continues to increase and in 5 years, the surface salinity will reach 10 dS/m, almost equal to the salinity of the groundwater. Simulation also shows that with prolonged periods, the surface salinity may well exceed the groundwater salinity. Figure 11 shows the long-term effect of pre-monsoon surface cultivation at shallow water table depths. It shows that without cultivation, leaching of salts with the monsoon will only be temporary, and permanent improvement in the salinity status of the soil cannot be expected.If the soil surface is cultivated before the monsoon every year, salinity of the soil profile will not reach to the extent that it would without cultivation. However, the reduction in soil salinity is still not sufficient to consider these soils as reclaimed. Figure 11 also shows that with the water table at 0.5 m depth, the influence of monsoon rainfall is seen only in the top 0.2 m of the soil profile. There is no difference in soil salinity below 0.2 m between the cultivated and noncultivated soils. Any improvement obtained in these layers is reversed during dry years (figure 12). The graph shows that under shallow water table conditions, surface salinity will increase sharply during relatively dry years. This means that the effect of surface cultivation is not significant on the soils with shallow water tables. Effect of different EC and surface cultivation on salinity profile after monsoon (water table at 1 m). Long-term effect of surface cultivation on salinity profile after monsoon (water table = 0.5 m, groundwater EC = 10 dS/m). Figure 13 presents the long-term soil salinity profile of uncultivated soils before the monsoon season, when the water table is at 1 m. The graph shows that without treatment, soil salinity will continue to increase. Figure 14 compares the salinity profiles with and without pre-monsoon surface cultivation. The graph shows that without cultivation, salinity of surface layers fluctuates with time, depending on rainfall during the previous and the current years. However, in the long run, no permanent improvement in the soil salinity can be expected. The changes in soil salinity at deeper layers are not significant. Such fluctuations in the soil salinity will not be enough to reclaim the soil and to grow crops satisfactorily. However, by adopting surface cultivation, reclamation of these soils can be achieved. Figure 14 shows that in soil profiles with water tables below 1 m, by cultivating the surface soil every year before the monsoon season, abandoned saline soils can be fully reclaimed in a period of 2-3 years. The most encouraging factor is that once reclamation is achieved and the practice of surface cultivation continues, these soils would not turn into saline soils, even after 10 years. The soils reclaimed by this method can be used for rain-fed agriculture even if good quality irrigation water is not available.The underlying reason for the reclamation of abandoned saline soils by surface cultivation is that the rate of capillary upflow from the water table will be reduced, which will decrease the actual soil evaporation and retard soil salinization. To account for the effect of surface cultivation on cumulative actual soil evaporation and flux through the bottom of the soil profile, it is useful to study the water and salt balances. Table 2 represents the effect of surface cultivation on cumulative soil evaporation and the bottom flux under different water table depths. These data are based on oneyear simulations. Long-term pre-monsoon salinity profile of uncultivated soils (water table = 1m, groundwater EC = 10 dS/m).Long-term effect of surface cultivation on salinity profile after monsoon (water table = 1 m, groundwater = 10 dS/m). From table 2, it can be seen that with the water table at 0.5 m depth, no reduction in actual soil evaporation had occurred even after surface cultivation. The possible reason might be that after cultivating the top 0.3 m of the top layer, and with the water table at 0.5 m, the length of the unsaturated zone is too small to accommodate percolating water. As a result, the soil profile remains wet, and contributes to the actual soil evaporation. However, with the water table at 1 m or below, about 40 percent reduction in soil evaporation can be obtained by surface cultivation.The bottom flux describes the amount of water that needs to be drained to maintain the water table at a specific depth. Due to increased saturated hydraulic conductivity of the cultivated surface layer, the rate of downward flux increases tremendously (-217 mm) when compared to uncultivated soil (-37 mm). This large downward flux actually acts as a driving force to leach the salts downwards. Table 2 also shows that lowering the water table below 1 m has very little effect on soil evaporation and downward flux. This means that a water table below 1 m practically has no benefit for the reclamation of such soils.Long-term effects of surface cultivation on soil salinization are presented in table 3 from which it is evident that with the water table at 0.5 m depth, a negligible amount of salts is leached down even after surface cultivation. Instead, more salts are added to the profile when fields are left untreated for a longer period. The reasons already described for water balance also hold good for this trend, whereas, with the water table at 1 m depth or below, considerable leaching of salts for the first 2 years occurred even without cultivation. The heavy leaching during the first 2 years was mainly due to the generous rains (i.e., 480 mm and 700 mm per year), which were sufficient to leach down heavy amounts of salts. We can call these wet years. However, this trend did not continue over longer periods and the process of desalinization is reversed because 3-10 years were medium to dry years, with rainfall ranging from 200 to 400 mm per year. During these years, the actual soil evaporation was equal, or more, than the rainfall (± 300 mm per year). Under these conditions, atmospheric demand was met by the groundwater contribution, which added more salts to the soil profile. This clearly shows that without any treatment, the process of desalinization will be reversed during relatively dry years and abandoned soils will become increasingly saline. If soil surface is cultivated every year before the monsoon, this does not happen, and after 2 years, almost all salts are washed out of the root zone. Simulations also show that the period of complete reclamation could be 4-5 years for relatively dry years (annual rainfall < 300 mm). The following conclusions can be drawn from the results of the model simulations.1. The salinity of bare surface soils with a shallow water table is higher than that with deeper water tables. Monsoon rains have a minimal impact on soil salinity when water tables are shallow. Under shallow water table conditions, the surface soil salinity will continue to increase and exceed the salinity of groundwater with time.2. Depth to water table influences the rate of salinization of bare soil more than the quality of the groundwater. The rate of salinization is high when groundwater salinity is high. However, the difference between the rates of salinization from groundwater of 4 dS/m, and of 10 dS/m, is insignificant when the water table is at 1 m.3. Pre-monsoon cultivation of surface layers will increase the rate of leaching due to an increase in macro porosity. The rate of reclamation in cultivated soils is similar even if the groundwater quality is different.4. The rate of leaching in cultivated soils is inadequate under shallow water table conditions. However, salinity in cultivated soils is lower than in uncultivated soils even if the water table is shallow.5. In areas where water tables are at or below 1 m, abandoned saline soils can be reclaimed by annual pre-monsoon surface cultivation within 3 years. Continuation of this practice will prevent re-salinization of such soils.The soils of the Indus Basin vary widely, from very fine to coarse texture. On the basis of a textural analysis, these soils are classified into 5 major soil series. The Punjab Province possesses the largest proportion of coarse to moderately coarse soils, followed by the Sindh Province. The extent of these soils in the Punjab and Sindh Provinces is 45-21 percent of the total cultivated area (Ahmad and Chaudhry 1988). The coarse to moderately coarse textured soils fall under the Jhang soil series, for which this study has been conducted.The results of this study are of great importance for the reclamation of abandoned saline soils for the Punjab and Sindh Provinces of Pakistan, where large areas are abandoned due to salinity and poor groundwater qualities. Most farmers usually use animal-driven wooden equipment for cultivation of up to a depth of 0.3 m. Therefore, cultivating the top 0.3 m of the soil to reclaim saline soils without major investment will enjoy wide acceptability among the farming community.Presently, IIMI-Pakistan is conducting a field trial to evaluate the proposed method in collaboration with MONA Reclamation and Experimental Project (MREP), Bhalwal, Punjab, Pakistan."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f72f48f8387b8b6b72bfe39ee90da143","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1610560b-ade2-4647-bce4-60100820169b/retrieve","id":"-352322730"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6a7fb291-0251-4598-a087-07c6e9255396","content":"System level review of genebank costs and operations (GCO) Commissioning Study: Crop Trust -PMU Part II: CGIAR system level reporting Links to the Strategic Results Framework: Sub-IDOs: • Increased conservation and use of genetic resources Is this OICR linked to some SRF 2022/2030 target?: No Description of activity / study: A panel of eight experts and representatives from CGIAR System, Crop Trust and Plant Treaty Secretariat were convened. Six background papers were prepared. A wider consultation was held in partnership with Chatham House. A report with recommendations was shared with CGIAR and Crop Trust."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4087300404.json b/main/part_2/4087300404.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..72b1266066235dea1765400a21e8d55cf45faf3b
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c0b809caa99768512b9c58269a9a5af0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d6f73010-b4ea-4562-971f-42ceb262d8c8/retrieve","id":"1460144655"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"206099f5-66d0-4c83-8d01-ff78ece9d698","content":"Climate smart agriculture as a means of improving crop production, building adaptation and resilience to climate change in climate-smart landscapes inEthiopia Commissioning Study: RPL CCAFS EA Part II: CGIAR system level reporting Links to the Strategic Results Framework: Sub-IDOs: • Enhanced capacity to deal with climatic risks and extremes (Mitigation and adaptation achieved) Is this OICR linked to some SRF 2022/2030 target?: No Description of activity / study: The study investigates effects of integrated climate-smart landscape management practices on crop production, soil properties and carbon sequestration in climate-smart landscapes of Ethiopia. The CSA practices include watershed management, landscape rehabilitation, cereal and legume rotation and intensification, community forestry, community grazing land development (area closures), forage production and agroforestry."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4090437898.json b/main/part_2/4090437898.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1bb9df37ec091e28ca739686a408bbfb44adc62e
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ad39a88b14d4eb357806535ae014f18a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/91907403-a8bc-49fd-b469-f825823028dc/retrieve","id":"1958800265"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"731db6a6-5722-4751-a32c-65f5893975c7","content":"conservation action to reverse, or in many cases even to slow its loss over several decades (Díaz et al., 2020;IPBES, 2019). A recent review of the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)-crafted to envision necessary progress between 2010 and 2020-found that none of the Targets had been met, and only six had been partially achieved (Convention on Biological Diversity, 2020).What explains this existential disconnect between success on priority setting, and failure on action? Among the reasons for meager progress is continued disagreement around profits and other benefits gained through the use of biodiversity, including how and with whom these benefits are distributed. While fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources represents one of the three pillars of the CBD, alongside the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity (Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992), it is clearly the most contentious. Its emphasis arose in part in response to perceived disparities in the distribution and use of plant, animal, bacterial, and other genetic resources, as well as concern over the increasing potential for their privatization (Khoury et al., 2021). As a form of leverage, access to biodiversity has been linked with benefit sharing (forming the commonly-used term \"Access and Benefit Sharing\"[ABS]).Several international treaties ensconce ABS as a key principle. These instruments and the negotiations that led to them are complex. Their varied interpretations and implementation across the world create confusion for practitioners and policy makers alike, including regarding who is subject to their conditions, how ABS can be bilaterally negotiated, and how biodiversity outside of the time-frame of the instruments is governed.Further complicating matters is the potential that information generated through research important to the use of genetic resources, such as genotypic or phenotypic data, may soon come to be subject to ABS conditions alongside the physical genetic resources. The generation, storage, exchange, and use of these data have all advanced rapidly over recent decades, but ABS mechanisms have not kept pace with these changes. A concern has begun to be voiced that without updating ABS mechanisms, the increasing efficiency of this information will diminish the power of frameworks governing only physical biodiversity resources. This has now come to a head, with the CBD, Plant Treaty, and other agreements actively discussing ABS for biodiversity data. These negotiations have been tense over the past 5 years (Rohden & Scholz, 2021;Wynberg et al., 2021). Further critical negotiations will take place at the Rourke (2021) looks at biodiversity data from a \"bioparts\" perspective, based on synthetic biology. Through looking at the \"chassis\" on which an improved variety or a synthetic organism might be built, this article highlights the difficulty of assigning a country of origin to the different biological parts. When distinct \"bioparts\" cannot be assigned an origin, current ABS schemes become untenable. 2021) advocate for a multistakeholder committee on biodiversity data to assess its role in the ABS regime. This committee would be an important step toward representing a range of viewpoints and would be relatively straightforward to assemble. As tense negotiations continue internationally, such a committee may help lower tensions and assist with outreach to diverse communities impacted by these negotiations. 2021) provide an economic argument for \"bounded openness,\" a nuanced alternative concept of a multilateral system for genetic resources and associated information. They argue that bilateral agreements are unlikely to ever generate the shared benefits needed to maintain the international ABS regime. An effective multilateral system, on the other hand, could generate benefit sharing and facilitate increased conservation and access to crop  et al., 2018;Sayers et al., 2019), and the spirit of open science behind them (e.g., Molloy, 2011;Woelfle et al., 2011), have in many ways powered the genomics revolution, and have arguably led to fairer and more open access (e.g., Gallagher et al., 2020;Piwowar et al., 2011). Substantial work is certainly still needed to make these resources accessible to all and to build the global capacity to make use of them. But steps taken to limit these data will not only hinder access to useful information but also degrade the value of biodiversity science and its potential to contribute to living in harmony with nature. As this is a topic that will remain of critical importance, we at Plants, People, Planet welcome future submissions on these topics and aim to add to this collection as new works are published to create an evolving resource to benefit the community.digital sequence information, food security, genetic resources, genomics, phenomics"}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"075daa2c-b509-482b-8ecb-70d495a80b15","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4094417324.json b/main/part_2/4094417324.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3d4d369b7974574c1e931135e03d548b94d07241
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6da95ea5348c1ebbe159453d80e01f1c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4d9c34a3-511a-4cd3-8a86-0d4638b84817/retrieve","id":"1200682764"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"dae8ebe2-ecfc-4a35-b289-7aa2273e64e2","content":"This work was implemented as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which is carried out with support from CGIAR Fund Donors and through bilateral funding agreements. For details please visit https://ccafs.cgiar.org/donors. The views expressed in this document cannot be taken to reflect the official opinions of these organisations.Climate change adversely affects many aspects of social life. In agricultural production, climate change creates impacts on crop and livestock productivity, farming measures, thereby national food security. Facing the problems that climate change causes, finding out the measures to adapt and mitigate the impacts of climate change is extremely necessary. These measures on the one hand help ensure food security; on the other hand, improve climate change adaptation and resilience. Residential community is the first and foremost affected by climate change impacts that tend to increase apparently over time. For example, the decrease in crop productivity due to impacts of extreme weather events such as storms, floods, droughts, etc. To reduce climate risks, the leveraged synergies in climate-smart villages (CSVs) in implementing and scaling climate-smart agriculture technologies and practices (CSA T&Ps) is crucial to enhance climate change adaptation and resilience. \"Climate-Smart Village\" (CSV) is a new concept, understood as a rural community together applying different measures to adapt and mitigate impacts of climate change. The word \"VILLAGE\" in the CSV term emphasizes the solidarity of all people in the community to implement adaptation and mitigation measures together. In addition, the word \"VILLAGE\" also shows the bottom-up approach of the model, an effective approach to resolve the root of problems when representing the voice of the people. In Vietnam, 03 CSVs have been established for 03 distinctive ecological regions of Vietnam, including Yen Bai province (the northern mountainous region), Ha Tinh (the central region), and Bac Lieu (the Mekong River Delta), which is within the framework of the CCAFS (Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security) program in Southeast Asia in the 2015-2018. In accordance with the global CCAFS program, these 03 CSVs aimed to address 03 important issues: (i) climate change adaptation; (ii) climate change mitigation and (iii) increasing productivity and people's incomes.In Yen Bai province, the 1 st CSV was introduced and piloted in Ma village, Vinh Kien commune, Yen Binh district (agroecology 1) in the 2015-2018 period with the CCAFS funding. The successful implementation of this model has paved the way for the Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) research team to replicate the model to the two remaining agroecological sub-regions of the province, namely Cau Vai village, Mau Dong commune, Van Yen district (agroecology 2) and Nong Truong village, Thuong Bang La commune, Van Chan district (agroecology 3). The expansion of the CSV initiative in Yen Bai has been jointly funded by the Irish Aid under the Vietnam Ireland Bilateral Education Exchange (VIBE) of the Embassy of Ireland in Hanoi and Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) through the National Target Program on New Rural Development (NTM). These funds have been implemented through two projects: 'NUI Galway -Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) Vietnam Ireland Bilateral Education Exchange (VIBE) Programme on Climate Resilient Agriculture & Environmentally Sustainable Landscapes' for 2019-2021 and 'Scaling climate-smart villages in Yen Bai province to promote implementation of climatesmart agriculture and One Commune One Product (OCOP) initiative of the National Target Program on New Rural Development' for 2020, respectively. The 03 successfully established CSVs representing all 03 agroecologies have proven the effectiveness of the CSV approach in collecting synergies in rural communities for enhancing adaptative capacity and resilience to climate impacts. And this approach has a good potential for adoption in the implementation of the NTM program in the 2021-2030 Strategy towards improved climate adaptation and mitigation.Given the evidence for applicability of the CSV approach in the NTM program in building capacities for climate adaptation and mitigation, there isn't any guideline document that is officially approved for implementation within the program. Based on the science-based evidence from the joint CSV work in Yen Bai as well as lessons learnt from global experiences, the VNUA team presents detailed guidelines for CSV implementation at the village and community levels. This document consists of 06 implementation steps that are detailed from the systematic review studies of Bui Le Vinh and Vu Thanh Bien (2020) and Bui Le Vinh (2021). These steps are as follows:Step 1: Situation Analysis -Needs Assessment (SANA)Step 2: Social MobilizationStep 3: Design -PlanningStep 4: ImplementationStep 5: ScalingThere are two main parts in each step: (i) General concepts and (ii) Implementation procedure.ABOUT THE AUTHORS 1. Mr./Dr. Bui Le Vinh is a lecturer and researcher at the Department of Land Administration, Faculty of Land Management of Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) and research consultant at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). Dr. Bui Le Vinh was the research coordinator of the CCAFS FP2.1 project at CIAT during 2015-2018 and has been leader of the VIBE 2018.05 (2019-2021) and NTM (2020) projects in Yen Bai province.1. Climate-Smart Village (CSV): is a community that applies different measures for adaptation and mitigation of climate impacts for maintaining livelihoods 1 2. Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies and Practices (CSA T&Ps): are measures to adapt to and mitigate impacts of climate risks to maintain productivity and incomes of farmers and the overall agricultural development. Agriculture is considered 'smart' only when achieve three CSA pillars of adaptation, mitigation and food security 2 .The adjustment of a natural or human system to respond to the actual or future impacts of the climate thereby reducing harm or taking advantage of benefits (IPCC, 2001). 4. Mitigation: Technical changes and alternatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 5. Livelihoods: are the combination of human resources and abilities combined with the decisions and activities they take to earn a living and to achieve their goals and aspirations. 6. Theory of change: a comprehensive description and illustration of how and why a desired change is expected to happen in a particular context based on interventions that are designed for the change. 7. Indigenous knowledge: is knowledge that has been developed and maintained for a long time based on interactions between people and natural environment. 8. Climate Change: \"is the change of climate and related components including oceans, soil, Earth's surface, and glacial atmosphere such as temperature rise, melting ice, and sea level rise. In the past, climate change took place for a long time due to the impact of natural conditions, however recently, climate change is caused by the impact of human activities such as the use of fossil fuels in transportation and industrial production, emitting greenhouse gases (eg. CO2)\" 3 . 9. Greenhouse gases: are gases capable of absorbing long-wave (infrared) radiation reflected from the Earth's surface when illuminated by sunlight, then scattering heat back to the Earth, causing greenhouse effects. The main greenhouse gases include: water vapor, CO2, CH4, N2O, O3, and CFCs. 10. Transect walk: is a tool used to learn about local features, applied in many fields, eg. soil science, social sciences. In the establishment of the CSV model, this tool is used to (1) know the types of land uses; (2) understand the socio-economic-environmental context; and (3) understand local resource distribution. The overall goal of the CSV approach is to provide the foundation for participatory research and development activities to promote the practice of adaptation, mitigation, and food security measures and, crucially, ensure reference and demonstration for scaling. In the context of increasing climate change impacts, choosing a right adaptive model for sustainable agricultural development is an issue that is of concern to many parties including policy makers, scientists and farmers. According to Khatri-Chhetri et al., 2017, many technological solutions in agricultural production have been introduced to help increase crop yields, improve income, increase the efficiency of input resources (eg., fertilizers, labor effectiveness), and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These are CSA T&Ps. Under the CCAFS program CSA T&Ps need to achieve three goals: (i) Enhancing adaptive capacity (Adaptation); and (ii) Mitigation or elimination of greenhouse gas emissions (Migitation); and (iii) Sustainable growth in output and income (Productivity) (FAO, 2013). Around the world, there are many CSA T&Ps suitable for each geographic region and climate context.Through empirical studies, CSA implementation and scaling is quite site-specific, but can be commonly achieved by using the CSV approach. In Southeast Asia, the CCAFS program has worked in four countries including Laos, Cambodia, Philippines and Vietnam. In Vietnam, 03 CCAFS-funded CSVs have been established for northern Vietnam (Ma CSV in Yen Bai province), central Vietnam (My Loi CSV in Ha Tinh province) and the Mekong River Delta (Tra Hat CSV in Bac Lieu province). Two more CSVs in Yen Bai province have been established under the joint funding mechanism between the Irish Aid and the government of Vietnam. The set of 03 CSVs in Yen Bai are expected to result in good recommendations for adoption of the CSV approach in improving the implementation of the NTM program in the 2021-2030 Strategy.Potential of the CSV approach in helping Vietnam's rural areas achieve the 02 new titles of 'advanced' and 'demonstration' NTM communes that are socio-economically and environmentally sustainable.In Vietnam, the National Target Program on New Rural Development (NTM) program, launched in 2010, has been implemented to improve agricultural production and rural livelihoods in all 9,000 rural communes since 2011. In the 2011-2020 Strategy, the NTM program applied 19 criteria for communes to achieve the NTM title with foci on building infrastructures for various categories, such as education, health care, production, environment, culture, etc. By 2020, 57% of the total communes have achieved the NTM title in accordance with the 19 NTM criteria. However, many climate-vulnerable areas have failed to mitigate and adapt to climate impacts for not having been capacitated for coping with climate impacts. To improve the overall performance, the Program has intended to improve adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change in the 2021-2030 Strategy, which is a good opportunity for CSA and CSV to be adopted into the largest national program for agriculture in Vietnam. As a result, The NTM project \"Development of the model of PBT model to adapt to climate change associated with the development of one product for each commune and contribute to building a new countryside in the period of 2021-2025\" under the management of VNUA has been funded. Inputs from the project are expected to improve the 19 NTM criteria in achieving the 02 new tiles of 'advanced' and 'demonstration' NTM towards climate adaptation and mitigation in the 2021-2030 Strategy (Bui Le Vinh, 2020).\"Approach landscape\" refers to the simultaneous application of many models, tools, methods and approaches in an area (landscape) to achieve three main goals: sustainable economic and social development 4 . In this approach, there is not a \"success\" formula that applies to all regions, but is rather context-specific. The way of thinking about \"landscape approach\" is often about 'heterogeneity' of an area, for example, diversity of land use types, economic sectors, ethnic groups, occupations, etc. Figure 2 shows the spatial distribution of a rural area where there are different types of land use (residential land, forest land, agricultural land, rivers, streams and specialized water surfaces).The main goal of a CSV also goes around the three sustainable pillars like the \"landscape\" approach. Specifically, CSVs are built/replicated in localities with the goals of (i) Ensuring sustainable growth in output and income (Productivity); (ii) Enhancing adaptive capacity to climate change (Adaptation); and (iii) Minimize or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions (Mitigation). CSV needs to be situated in a geographical boundary that carries all representations for a small agroecological area with specific climate risks and typical socio-economic characteristics for the purposes of demonstration and scaling (Bui Le Vinh, 2021).Although the term \"Village\" is used in the phrase \"Climate-Smart Village\", the scale of a CSV is not just \"encapsulated\" within a village 6 boundary. According to Aggarwal et al. (2018), a CSV can include more than one village that fall within the boundary of 10 km 2 . Having a specific size for a CSV can help best control components deployed in a CSV, especially the CSA T&Ps. Selection and prioritization of CSA T&Ps all follow the cyclic principle to help save and rationally use natural resources, in particular, the wastes of a CSA T&P are inputs for another/other T&P/s. Figure 3 shows an example of the reciprocal relationship between CSA T&Ps that was developed for the Ma CSV in Yen Bai. Apparently, the three CSA T&P groups of \"Conservation agriculture\", \"Sustainable land/natural resources use\", and \"Climate-smart rice production\" form up a cyclic relationship. Climate risks are the primary issue to be identified prior to the development of a CSV. Accurate identification of climate risks and their impacts on livelihoods will make the selection and prioritization of CSA T&Ps in the next step more correctly and suitably done. An effective tool for identifying climate risks is the CSA-RA as described in Mwongera et al., 2015. The CSA-RA tool can help implement effectively SANA in a project area for CSV development and scaling. Main CSA-RA tools are presented in Figure 4.The seasonal calendar is used to identify main crops and livestock and their temporal production processes within the CSV boundary. Information is collected for each crop/animal regarding the farming calendar, practices, activities, investment (time, labour, finance), constraints for implementations, and the role of men and women farmers in every activity. Climatic calendars 8   Climate calendars are used to define typical weather types for the geographical boundary of the CSV. Information consists of number of seasons in a year, annual and monthly average temperatures, and months in which people face difficulties in agricultural production due to weather anomalies. The purpose of this tool is to help assess people's perceptions of climate change and local adaptive capacities and needs for improvement.This means determination what extreme climatic patterns have been or are happening over a long period of time (about 30 years or longer) and their impacts to local people who live in the CSV boundary. The purpose of this tool is to give surveyors an overview of natural disasters in the area, how they have changed over time, and their impacts on different aspects of local production and livelihoods.The Veen diagram is used to identify influence of different actors or stakeholders (agencies, organizations and individuals) on local agricultural production and livelihoods. The purpose of this tool is to determine the level of importance of each actor/stakeholder, so that those with positive impacts continue to maintain and progress; whereas, those that have negative impacts need to take measures for improvement.The purpose is to investigate the distribution of natural resources, including soils, crops, water resources, forest, grasslands, etc., within CSV boundary, impacts (climate, 8 See Annex 2 (section2.2) 9 See Annex 2 (section 2.3) 10 See Annex 2 (section 2.5) 11 See Annex 2 (section 2.4)production) on their sustainable use, in-place adaptability to climate change, and needs for measures that can improve the situation. The transect walk (Terminology 10) tool needs to be used with participation of local knowledgeable farmers to check the accuracy of the map that is also contributed by scientific data and information (eg. geology, pedology, hydrology, forestry, etc.).Conduct interviews with village leaders; commune; District; the province about the local economic, social and environmental context. At the village level, it is necessary to learn more about the history of the village, then related to the effects caused by climate change over time. Local departments / offices of agriculture and extension should also participate in the interview to find out the impact of climate change on local agricultural production and available measures (indigenous knowledge) to minimize effects of climate change.Indigenous knowledge is of paramount importance in the process CSV development. The application of indigenous knowledge will strengthen and contribute to increase the sustainability of the CSV. Locally proven adaptive measures should be included in CSV development as a valuable source of local knowledge. A good lesson learnt is presented in the dialog box below:In the 2021-2030 NTM Strategy, the \"One Commune, One Product\" or OCOP initiative has been created and implemented since 2018 in an effort of leveraging markets for NTM commodities through investing more on local specialties that have high market values (in both domestic and international consumption). According to the Decision 490/QD-TTg, one of the main objectives of the OCOP program is to \"improve people's incomes and livelihoods\". Every local commodity needs to undergo a strict and high-standard set of evaluation criteria before being given with an OCOP brand. OCOP aims to help local farmers increase their incomes from their local specialties of high market potentials and demands.Within the framework of the NTM project, the research team investigated the OCOP potential for orange in Van Chan district with inclusion of (i) market information for orange, (ii) market price and production costs, and (iii) distance to potential markets.The resources to be assessed are (i) Human resource, (ii) Land resource, (iii) Infrastructure, and (iv) Financial resource. Resource assessment is also an important basis for identifying suitable CSA T&Ps and essential investments for developing a CSV such as facilities for social mobilization, knowledge sharing and capacity building (loudspeakers, community libraries, information boards, agricultural extension bookcases, etc.), and providing technical support (eg. technical trainings, seeds, animals, equipment) that make the overall investment more most efficient and avoid waste of resources.To identify goals (activity 1.1) and size (activity 1.2) of a CSV, a series of farmer workshops need to be organized. Detailed workshop activities are presented as follows:Workshop activity 1: To present and discuss definitions: climate-smart village (CSV), climatesmart agriculture technologies and practices (CSA T&Ps), and sustainable livelihood development. Workshop participants: representatives from the provincial, district and commune governments and villagers (village head, leaders of farmer organizations, and farmers). Implementation: 3-5 presenters from different research and development organizations, such as the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA), and knowledge farmers to discuss the following issues:-The CSV model in NTM implementation towards enhanced climate adaptation and mitigation;-Capacity building in climate adaptation and mitigation for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups and women farmers;-Livelihoods and sustainable livelihood development strategies in the context of climate change;-Other social issues: gender and gender equity.At the end of each workshop, there is a question and answer between experts and participants. Note that during this discussion session, there should be a complete set of recordings (audio and/or video) and note taking for later analysis.A few good examples of successfully established CSVs in Vietnam, for instance the 03 CSVs in Yen Bai or 03 CCAFS CSVs in Vietnam, are selected for making a PPT presentation to share.The presenter needs to be knowledgeable and experienced in the work so information and messages can be effectively delivered. The successful story about the Ma CSV is presented in Annex 1. Q&A session follows after the PPT presentation.This should be done by some champion farmer who has done the CSV work in one of the successfully established CSVs in Vietnam. This is to show real proof of someone who has done the work on the ground and to show the feasibility of replicating the work to other locations.The identification of climate risks in within the CSV boundary (activity 1.3) is done mainly through focus group discussions (FGD). Each FGD consists of 8-10 members for men and women farmers separately. These members must be able to represent the residential community or in other words be diverse in terms of production types, ages, ethnic groups, economic conditions and good knowledge and experience in their village. The project team decides the criteria for group selection and village leaders and local officers recommend farmers for FGDs based on the group selection criteria.Except for expert interviews, the remaining 5 tools (Figure 4) are carried out in the in the CSV. Each tool has 02 FGDs (men and women). In order to initiate the discussion, the project team needs at least 3 people with 3 different roles, including (i) a facilitator for the discussion process; (ii) a note taker and (iii) a photographer for taking photos of and recording the discussions. Depending on the level of understanding and cooperation of the participants, each tool for a group lasts from 1.5 -2 hours. To ensure the most complete and accurate information is gathered, each tool should be deployed within 0.5 day.Tools for group discussions include a whiteboard, markers of different colours; A0 papers, colored papers, duck tapes, a tape recorder, a camera. In addition, coffee, tea, cookies are necessary for breaks.1. What are main crops/livestock and impacts of climate on them? 2. What are major climate anomalies and their impacts on agricultural production?  Activity 1.5 is implemented through primary and secondary data collection as follows:1. Secondary data: Information on secondary data is collected from local socioeconomic reports, general information on the local livelihoods within the CSV boundary and of the commune, annual reports on agricultural production, and farmer household economy. Then conduct desk studies to investigate biophysical, socio-economic characteristics as well as advantages and disadvantages for local commodities.2. Primary data: is gathered through farmer interviews on (i) agricultural production and consumption; (ii) economic efficiencies regarding expanded planting area, productivity, yield, profit, marketing to assess the potential for OCOP products.3. Develop value chains for OCOP products.Information is mainly secondary data collected from local administrative levels (commune, district, and province), including:  -For each photo, participants will write a short story to see the effects of climate change, production constraints, and propose adaptation and mitigation measures.  In areas vulnerable to climate change, the proportion of people who are aware of climate change issues and its effects is not high. This is due to their educational attainment and little or no access to knowledge and information. An effective way to raise awareness of people about climate change impacts and to improve access to knowledge and information is through improved reading which can be achieved by creating and equipping a village-based community library with different book and reading items, book shelf, tables and chairs, a computer system connected to internet, and regulations for operating the library. The dialog box below presents a specific case of a community library in Ma village and its benefits.Detailed steps for operating the community library:-Step 1: Selecting the best location for putting a village-based community library, ideally within the community meeting compound of the village.-Step 2: Equip the library with a book shelf, a computer with a good internet connection, white/black board for training and discussions, a set of tables and chairs for knowledge sharing meetings and trainings, and a list of regulations for operation of the library which is discussed and agreed by all villagers.2.1. Book items can come from project reports, research and development projects/ programs, extension materials from Yen Bai extension center, donation from domestic and international organizations, etc.2.2. Donation from local government and villagers are welcome to complete the library, eg. furniture, books, computer, etc.2.3. Library regulations are fairly and jointly developed and agreed by all villagers.2.4. The information board is used to update information on daily weather forecasts, season calendar, and other useful information.In the CCAFS FP2.1 project, a community library was established within the village meeting hall compound in Ma CSV with different book and reading items, book shelf, tables and chairs, a computer system connected to internet, and regulations for operating the library. The CCAFS SEA and Yen Bai extension center provided with different reading materials that are useful for CSA implementation. This has drawn more people to come, do reading so they can learn different technical guidance from the materials available, and share knowledge and experience in CSA implementation with each other.In many villages, especially in remote areas, loudspeakers are the main means for people to access current news. However, not all villagers can receive information from the loudspeakers if they live too far. Therefore, it's important that the loud speaker system is sufficiently installed so every villager can receive daily updates from it.Contents that broadcast on loudspeaker can include: (i) CSA implementation measures and benefits of CSA T&Ps; (ii) daily weather forecasts; (iii) seasonal calendar; (iv) new production techniques and provided from different sources, eg. the local government, research and development projects. According to Bui Le Vinh (2021), consultation with partners in the design and planning step for CSV development is extremely important. The construction of a CSV includes many components so it requires knowledge in many different fields of expertise, such as social science, soil science, agriculture, biotechnology marketing and value chain, etc. The consultation with partners will help the design and planning for CSV development to be highly effective, avoiding risks in the implementation process. At the same time, stakeholder consultation will also help the accounting for items, such as CSA T&Ps, in CSV implementation more accurately, avoiding waste and loss. According to Aggarwal et al (2018), the partners include international organizations operating in the research field, national research networks, non-governmental organizations, private sector, and farmers. In addition, Bui Le Vinh et al. (2015,2016,2017,2018,2019) argues that consultation with policy makers, agricultural extension organizations and staff and local authorities at all levels plays an important role.As discussed above, implementation of CSA T&Ps is an important component and plays a key role in the development of CSV. Questions are: Do these measures have a direct impacts on (i) food security?, (ii) reduction of greenhouse gases? and (iii) improved local capacity on climate adaptation? \"SEARCH\" is understood as finding out CSA T&Ps that are appropriate to the local context. \"EVALUATION\" means that from the searched CSA T&Ps will be evaluated through a CBA (cost and benefit analysis) tool for further selection. \"PRIORITIZATION\" means that after an evaluation is conducted, a list of the most suitable CSA T&Ps will be retained for implementation.From the work of 3.2, a detailed design and plan for CSV implementation is developed before technical activities are implemented in the field. Besides being good guidance to CSV technical implementation, the design and plan important assist the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation process in the later stage.According to Bui Le Vinh (2021), an important job to help achieve the highest financial efficiency is the calculation of the cost for CSV implementation is not mentioned by many studies. Even the CSV models deployed in 3 regions of Vietnam (northern, central and southern) have not implemented this activity, only calculating the cost and benefit of CSA T&Ps. In addition to financial estimation for the items/components in CSV development, this also involves identifying sources of finance for CSV preparation, mainly from the government, people, and development programs domestically and internationally.Priority setting for CSA T&Ps is conducted through the following steps: Based on the results of the SANA survey, CSA T&Ps are selected by experts (scientists, local professionals) and farmers (based on experience and local knowledge). In addition, one of the most suitable documents as a basis for selecting and prioritizing CSA T&Ps is the book \"CSA: CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE PRACTICE IN VIETNAM\" 13 . The CSV approach can be applied flexibly based on specific conditions and characteristics of an area.After having the initial list of CSA T&Ps, the implementation team move on to assess the three CSA dimensions of food security, adaptation, and mitigation, thereby offering potential for scaling. These indicators are as follows (Table 1). 13  Step 2. Workshop #1 Identification of top CSA options. This workshop is organized to with participation of relevant stakeholders (local farmers, commune leaders and extension workers) to prioritize selected CSA T&Ps. To facilitate the CSA prioritization workshop, each selected CSA T&P is presented in an easy-to-understand A0 poster as the example in Figure 9. A shorter list of CSA T&P is finalized for the CBA work.Step 3. Calculation of costs and benefits of top CSA T&Ps.Economic analysis is an essential component to evaluate an agricultural measure, before it is done (ex-ante) or after it has been completed (ex-post). Ex-ante analysis includes measuring the historical return of current practices to predict future payoff outcomes; whereas, ex-post is designed to investigate future impacts of new measures implemented. The main purpose of this step is to identify the most viable CSA T&Ps for CSV site. The costbenefit comparison of existing operations and CSA T&P is provided to support the prioritization process. Household characteristics are determined to estimate the probability of success of CSA T&Ps and the percentage of farmers likely to adopt. To conduct CBA, use a semi-structured questionnaire to collect data on farmer yields, production input variables (farm size, labor use, fertilizer, seed cost, chemical substances, transportation costs, harvest costs, amortization and rental). Additional information collected consists of data on the socio-economic characteristics of farmers (age, education level, farming experience, household size, resettlement, sex and marital status). The willingness of farmers to change their land use status for one of the short-term practices is also taken into account. In addition, additional information on SWOT analysis for CSA T&Ps should be obtained through in-depth interviews with key informants (village chief, leaders of women union, farmer union, and youth union).After data collection, data are qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed using different statistical techniques. The Net Present Value (NPV) is calculated using the formula below:In which: Rt -Net cash inflow-outflows during a single year t, Ct -Cost during a single year t, t -Year and i -Discount rate or return that could be earned in alternative investments.When the NPV estimate is positive, the investment in land use is considered beneficial. When it is estimated that the net present value is less than or equal to zero, the investment is not profitable, and the landowner should therefore convert his or her investment to another land use.Several ex-ante estimates have been detected for CSA T&P which were not performed at the time of the study. Estimated differences in productivity, revenue, input costs, and net profit estimates for products were calculated from field trials, expert opinion, document reviews and secondary data.Step 4. Workshop #2 Portfolio development.The workshop aims to discuss the results of the prioritized T&P CSAs with a wide range of stakeholders from province, district, commune and village, and local and research institutions.The roles of the partners in the project are identified to strengthen their ownership to the project. This is considered as one of the results of the project if it is implemented well.Activities within the CSV boundary are carried out through interest groups (IGs), in which each IG takes on a specific task (Vernooy and Bouroncle, 2019; Ogada et al, 2020). These IGs include CSA T&P groups, a social mobilization group, a communication group, and a training group (including key members of the above groups) for scaling (Bui Le Vinh et al., 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019). These groups all have group leaders and participate in the coordination network for implementation and scaling of the CSV model at the villagecommune-district levels (Bui Le Vinh et al., 2019).The implementation of CSV activities also involves the participation of stakeholders, including local scientists, governance leaders and professionals, collaborative groups and the private sector in product consumption and decision making (Bui Le Vinh et al., 2019) These are also activities of gathering and sharing knowledge and experience (KS). KS activities are conducted right in the implementation phase. Bui Le Vinh et al (2016,2017,2019) gathered people with good experiences in CSV implementation in Ma CSV to participate in technical trainings and knowledge sharing in 03 districts of Cao Bang province and 02 CSVs in Van Yen and Van Chan districts. To achieve best results, social mobilization activities still need to be continued throughout the implementation process in order to maintain motivation for people to directly participate and create confidence for those who have not yet participated. However, there are not many studies emphasizing the necessity of maintaining social mobilization in the implementation process (Bui Le Vinh et al., 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019). The success lessons in Van Yen district (Bui et al., 2020) have shown that social mobilization is a very useful tool and has an important role in determining the success of a local development program, and it is necessary to practice sufficiently and skillfully.The establishment of interest groups is an important component in the process CSV development (Bui Le Vinh, 2015, 2016). The lessons learned from the construction of Ma CSV how that: IG activities increase the efficiency of implementing CSA T&Ps (Bui Le Vinh, 2019). IGs will work on 03 main aspects: (i) Culture: propaganda, social mobilization for building a community with good adaptive capacity; encourage the use of community libraries and agricultural extension bookcases to leverage reading culture and technical skills for production; ensure the regular provision of information on climate risks and develop timely community response measures; (ii) Social: improvement of coordination in the community in joint activities to support building a community of better adaptive capacity; and (iii) Technical: actively organize knowledge sharing sessions and help villagers in practicing CSA T&Ps to adapt to the impacts of climate change and ensure environmental protection and sustainable agricultural ecosystems. within the CSV boundary. There is no limit of participants in this group.-The purposes of this group are to (i) encourage people to use community libraries and agricultural extension bookcases in order to improve their knowledge; ensure the regular provision of climate risk information and the development of timely community response measure; (ii) improve solidarity and group coordination among the community in social activities to support building a community with a spirit of solidarity and high resilience.-In the Socio-Cultural group there needs to be a team leader and a deputy. The team leader and the deputy are responsible for organizing regular group meetings (once a month) and ad-hoc group meetings (when there is an emergency such as a disaster). In addition, if the leader or the deputy is not a village official, it is necessary to collaborate with village officials to capture information and policies related to agriculture to pass on to members of the group.-The agricultural extension bookcase should consist of various types of books, eg. extension, handouts, technical handbooks, field guides, etc.-The Socio-Cultural Group will hold competitions to raise awareness of the impacts of climate change on livelihoods, promote the benefits of CSA T&Ps, thereby bring more participants. Therefore, if members join technical groups, those members should join the Socio-Cultural groups to create spillovers.Interest groups are formed based on voluntary members. Team leaders need to be enthusiastic, dynamic, creative and highly responsible. They work without remuneration and are trusted by the group members.Examples for setting regulations in such groups are as follows:-Not having discriminatory attitude, respecting each other's opinions.-Enthusiastic in group activities.-Harmony, solidarity, mutual help in progress, not causing factions to lose solidarity in the group.-Prohibit any acts of circulating or propagating reactionary publications, materials, unhealthy movies and other prohibited documents in accordance with the law.-No profanity, cursing -Maintain general hygiene and order -Must be responsible for preserving and preserving common property of the group.-All comments to the group's activities must be done seriously in constructive and development ways, not using words that provoke, criticize or offend the status and honor of the any individual or group.On the monthly basis, each group organizes a meeting to exchange, share knowledge, and experience, and discuss to find out effective production measures, thereby, tightening the solidarity among villagers and farmers.During the implementation process, project staff always monitor, evaluate, inspect and supervise implementers to ensure progress and quality of activities. At the same time, regular meetings are organized to resolve problems, provide technical assistance and solutions to implement effectively. Through interest groups, people will have necessary skills to strongly develop economic models, create a favorable production and business environment, and increase the value of goods supplied to the market, therefore, contributing to sustainable poverty reduction.Nhóm nghiên cứu của VNUA, CIAT chia sẻ kinh nghiệm Farmers in the CSV receive learning opportunities by interacting and engaging with champion farmers who have participated and gained knowledge and experiences from testing activities through the so-called farmer-to-farmer knowledge diffusion scheme (FF) (Vernooy and Bouroncle, 2019; Bui et al., 2015Bui et al., , 2016Bui et al., , 2017)). At the commune and district levels, horizontal scaling can be done more effectively and efficiently through local annual development plans and credit programs (LO), which can increase the number of CSVs established and end beneficiaries (Sebastian et al., 2019). In Vietnam, the fact that local development programs are under large national programs, for example the NTM, allows an autonomy for horizontal scaling at the local levels based on results of the SANA work (Bui et al., 2019), i.e. through prioritizing NTM communities for CSV adoption.In the vertical direction, the proven CSV model can be replicated nationwide through national development programs and policies (NA). Scientific proven CSV empirical research achievements under the CCAFS program in the 2011-2020 need to be compiled for policy recommendations of national adoption in many countries (Aggarwal et al., 2018;Vernooy and Bouroncle, 2019;Sebastian et al., 2019;Westermann et al., 2015). The joint long-term research collaboration between VNUA and CIAT (Bui et al., 2015(Bui et al., , 2016(Bui et al., , 2017(Bui et al., , 2018(Bui et al., , 2019) ) has been collecting and compiling evidence of successful CSV out/up-scaling at the provincial level Out/up-scaling pathways need engagement of the private sector (PR) at various scales (eg. small traders, collective groups, cooperatives, companies, factories, and enterprises) in CSA value chain development. Aggarwal et al. (2018), Vernooy and Bouroncle (2019) and Westermann et al. (2015) pointed out the importance of the PR investment in ensuring sustainable CSA value chains. This is well reflected Van Yen success story (Bui et al., 2020) where Van Yen cassava factory subsidized the production by providing agricultural inputs (eg. fertilizers and pesticides) and paid commissions to the district government which was then reinvested in the program. At this stage, SM activities are to promote and increase adoption rates of the CSV approach and CSA T&Ps horizontally (Bui et al., 2019).Monitoring and evaluation is an essential component in all projects. In Vietnam, in 2016, the government of Vietnam issued the Decree No. 131/2006/ND-CP on the issuance of regulations on management and use of Official Development Assistance (ODA). From here on, the concept of \"Monitoring-Evaluation\" (M&E) began to be used officially. Accordingly, 'monitoring' is defined as follows \"Monitoring programs and projects is a regular activity and periodically updating all information related to the implementation of programs and projects; classifying and analyzing information; promptly propose options for decision-making of management levels to ensure programs and projects are implemented on target, on schedule, with quality assurance and within the available resources determined\". Decree 131/2006/ ND-CP also stipulates the assessment, which is \"periodic activity, comprehensive, systematic and objective review of suitability, efficiency, performance, impact and the sustainability of programs or projects to make necessary adjustments and draw lessons learned to apply in the next implementation phase and apply to other programs and projects\". M&E indicators were developed through three main steps, following the guidance of the 2006 Ministry of Planning and Investment's M&E manual, including:  Code: 1=hiệu quả kinh tế; 2=thị trường tiêu thụ; 3=đầu tư kỹ thuật; 4=tài chính; 5=quy mô áp dụng; 6=hỗ trợ của địa phương; 7=kinh nghiệm; 8=khác 11. Ông/bà có làm chủ nguồn lực để áp dụng mô hình này không? "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6bcc7b7d1487d26dd763877ed5a20730","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3a0a9e7e-cd9d-4f1c-9105-30b06ac3423f/retrieve","id":"1351395252"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b09d2d51-61e7-46f5-8c96-9e3928310f57","content":"PhD students are currently active in the programme, some nearing the end of their first year, others just beginning their studies, on topics as wide ranging as within household economics to genetic diversity of parasites -we'll ensureThe Quarterly Newsletter of the \"Zoonoses in Livestock in Kenya\" Programme  Our results suggest that mainly chikungunya virus appears to be actively circulating in western Kenya even in the absence of a de-clared outbreak. We recommend establishment of prevention measures and routine laboratory testing of febrile cases for chikungunya in western Kenya.By Isaac Ngere-Resident, Kenya FELTP.Infections leading to fever are the largest causes of child morbidity and mortality in Africa. Dengue and Chikungunya infections are among viral diseases that cause fever even in traditionally malaria endemic areas. We set out to determine the prevalence and risk factors of Dengue and Chikungunya infections and estimate coinfection with malaria among children aged between 1 and 12 years presenting with fever at Busia County Referral Hospital in Western Kenya.We sampled a cross section of children presenting with fever. We interviewed the parents/guardians of these children and collected blood samples and tested by microscopy for malaria and by conventional PCR for dengue and chikungunya. We found that chikungunya was prevalent amongcariae in all of the zones points to presence of possible transmission foci for Schistosomiasis, Fascioliasis and other foodborne trematodiases. People and animals using water and pasture from these sites in western Kenya are at a risk of contracting these parasitic infections Control of food borne trematode infection should be targeted in all the AEZ's with emphasis placed on the areas that border the lake and those with streams flowing from springs.We found that lymnaeid snails were widely distributed in all the agro-ecological zones (AEZs) we studied, and were the majority snail at low altitudes. Biomphalariae, Bulinus, Oncomelaniae and Melanoides were present in some but not all of the zones. The study found that snails were more abundant in streams originating from springs and swamps near the shores of Lake Victoria. Biomphalariae and Lymnaeid species were found to be infected with trematode cercariae. The B. sudanica species found in the swamps near the lakeshore were infected with both Fasciola gigantica and Schistosoma mansoni pointing to a coexistence of Schistosoma and Fasciola infection at the site. The relative abundance of vector snails was found to be influenced by water pH, water temperature, ambient temperature and vegetation cover.Presence of vector snails and cer- In this study, we sought to identify snail species infected with Trematode cercariae and environmental factors that correlate to their presence. This was undertaken to better understand the underlying biology of these species to better understand the risk of transmission of livestock-and human-infectious trematodes.Freshwater As zoonotic diseases can be transported across landscapes by hosts, understanding the complexities of host-mediated pathogen movement is a priority for zoonotic disease research. For my research, I have been using surveys and GPS trackers to gather data on the movement patterns of people and their livestock. We will be looking at the differences in movement patterns between the wet and dry seasons:the first part of the study took place in July and we anticipate completion in November, 2016.At each selected household, we interview the adults present and ask them questions about places they regularly go to, how they get there and how long they stay. We also ask questions about places they go to less regularly and their activities involving livestock kept by the household.At the end of the interview, we ask the adult who spends the most time looking after the livestock (if they have any) to wear a GPS tracker on a lanyard around their neck for one week which stores their location once a minute. At the same time, if they keep cattle, goats or sheep then one of these animals (usually a cow) is fitted with an identical device attached to a collar. If the household does not keep any livestock, one person is still asked to wear a tracker, so that we can detect differences in movement patterns between people who do keep livestock and those who don't. Once the week is up, we return to the household to collect the devices and download the data. The field lab is located within the county commissioner's compound in Busia town. The lab staffing features a full time laboratory manager and laboratory technicians, all trained and well experienced in human and animal sample preparation, parasitological, microbiological, serological and molecular analysis. Additionally there is an administrative assistant, responsible also for stores management as well as a cleaner.The laboratory also hosts several short term visitorssuch as visiting post-docs , international summer students and students on placement from a diversity of Kenyan institutions (Moi University, University of Nairobi, KEMRI)-The FELTP program was established to strengthen the epidemiology and laboratory management capacity of Kenya to meet the challenges of emerging infectious diseases and other public health problems. The ZooLinK project offers a platform for select FELTP students to conduct their Masters research within the project. There are currently 5 FELTP students working on various projects; including: Camplylobacter in children under 5 years old in Busia, validation of ELISA kits for Brucellosis in Camelids and economic losses due to Echinocicosis in western Kenya."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"94b810707fc6d4a97c76a7af506ff06b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e16449b3-bedd-49a3-a6e5-ee7f1017c597/retrieve","id":"-475959188"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c4f9173c-2e6c-4492-844d-9f0b828b9b14","content":"nghiên cứu Chăn nuôi Quốc tế (ILRI) 2 Viện Thú y (NIVR)"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"873d8d58a5aac51d6960275ccc36d4fb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/477fa401-ecf8-461b-aff4-63e0d88a1394/retrieve","id":"-1682487001"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"42db109d-0e1e-402e-bd80-2708612fa66a","content":"The West Africa economic space has become more integrated with the work of the West Africa Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Livestock rearing and trade have benefited from increased regional integration and countries are working in concert to tackle tradelimiting issues such as road harassments, trans-boundary animal diseases, and misaligned livestock policies. This brief identifies and recommends political and legal components that could guide a regional framework for the conservation and sustainable use of endemic ruminant livestock (ERL) in West Africa.Studies show that endemic ruminant livestock such as Ndama cattle and Djallonke sheep and goats are a genetic treasure trove that when fully understood could play a decisive role in development strategies of animal husbandry in humid and sub-humid zones where trypanosomosis due to the tsetse fly makes livestock farming very difficult. Under the Regional Project on Sustainable Management of Endemic Ruminant Livestock (PROGEBE), studies conducted in Guinea, Mali, Senegal, and Gambia have been validated through a participatory consultation involving key stakeholders to better understand the political and legal issues affecting the conservation and sustainable use of these particular breeds of livestock. From the analysis, we identified key points on management of genetic resources, animal health, natural resource management, and trade that could contribute in the development of an effective and more targeted regional livestock policy that takes into account the specificity of the endemic ruminant livestock. Specific recommendations on the conservation and sustainable use of endemic ruminant breeds and their habitats are made as a contribution to the development of a plan of action for livestock.Most countries in the region have developed some form of national action plan on biological diversity. However the focus is on the environment, wildlife and their habitats. Domestic crops and livestock are not perceived to be in danger and the conservation and improvement of local livestock breeds with a clearly defined and validated plan of action is lacking in most countries. For countries that have fully-functional national action plans, significant failures are noted in their implementation. The resulting legal vacuum does not facilitate the decision about whom to involve and how to create a synergy between intervening actors in a way that could help maintain biodiversity. This heightens the threats of certain species and breeds disappearing, including endemic ruminants.The consequences of these breakdowns in the system are uncontrolled breeding schemes, including the introduction of germplasm from foreign stock into local herds, leading to losses of the achievements of previous programs; poor ILRI POLICY BRIEF 16 May 2015 understanding of the genetic profiles of the national herds; and genetic dilution of local herds including endemic ruminant livestock. These difficulties can be corrected at the regional level by aligning regional and national policies to incorporate all genetic resources.The animal health sector is in constant mutation with the privatization of veterinary services, followed by significant changes in animal health legislation, leading to the ratification of animal health accreditation mandates in Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Niger. As a result, the roles of private veterinarians are extended to preventive activities such as conducting vaccination campaigns through contracts with their respective governments, participating in epidemiological surveillance in collaboration with public veterinary services, and, in some cases, signing and delivering sanitary certificates. Difficulties of statutory, regulatory and financial orders have affected the results expected from the privatization of veterinary services, which was once perceived as an alternative for a more efficient provision of veterinary services to smallholders. Indeed, the lack of clarity in the regulatory texts regarding the acquisition and distribution of drugs, dysfunction of veterinary clinics, and conflicts of interest between private and public veterinarians have had adverse effects on livestock health and productivity. This is especially true for endemic ruminants which are often reared in inaccessible areas where investment programs have been historically low. Not all countries in the region are at the same stage regarding the veterinary services that should be transferred to the private sector. Regional entities such as WAEMU could lead a reflection on a tripartite partnership (public, private, and community) that can contribute to the growth of private veterinary entrepreneurship, working in conjunction with a public sector for the benefit of the communities to improve health coverage and optimize investments.The absence of a marketing strategy focused on endemic ruminant is a major obstacle for the promotion of these breeds. The consequences are low consideration for these breeds in national market information systems, lack of financial incentives to motivate producers, and increased risks of genetic dilution resulting from uncontrolled crossbreeding. It is our view that a market information system that disseminates information on price, quality, and volume is a better avenue to help ERL producers as they would be more informed to exploit the particularity of the area where ERL are reared and increases their ability to time their decision to put stock on the market between July and October when Sahelian breeds are generally of poor quality. The regional economic organizations could lead the reflection on how to coordinate market information system across countries that disseminates the necessary information regarding markets and trading routes.The major issues revolve around land access and the laws that govern it, especially around the issues of recognition and registration of customary rights. Inconsistency in legal texts and lack of consensus on customary law are major hindrance. The reasons for these difficulties are manifold and include: negligence of pastoral areas by virtue of their nesting into agricultural and forest space, the limited involvement of livestock keepers in the processes leading to the development of legal texts, and the complexity of customary law that regulates land tenure in some (mostly remote) areas. This results in reductions of grazing space for endemic breeds, land insecurity and conflicts between herders and crop growers. Overcoming these limitations requires a clear definition of what represents a pastoral zone in the law.The process of decentralization and devolution of powers to local authorities is well underway in the region. However local authorities generally experience difficulties exercising their powers. The main reason may be related to inadequate human, institutional and financial resources, for the management of natural resources at local level. This leads to not realizing the full potential that the law provides for in situ conservation of endemic ruminant livestock. The dual legal system characterized by the coexistence of customary and state law is seen as an inclusive way to decide matters related to the management of natural resources at the local level. But the legal status and modalities of developing local agreements are unclear in the eyes of state courts and the public, which is detrimental to their legal effectiveness and sustainability. This lack of a regulatory framework clarifying the legal status of local conventions leads to reduced space for endemic ruminants, causes conflicts between players, and complicates the implementation of local agreements for the exploitation and conservation of natural resources. Recognizing local conventions as part of the legal system in the region could help strengthen the capacity of organizations to promote sustainable institutions and enable them to perform roles assigned to them in the context of the decentralization policy. An important step to harmonize countries' pursuit of local governance related to the conservation and use of natural resource is to develop in each country a law clarifying the legal status and modalities of local agreements in consultation with regional organizations such as ECOWAS and WAEMU. The widespread misunderstanding by most people of the legal texts that regulate access and use of resources is a major constraint in the implementation of a policy that seeks an equitable management and use of natural resources at the local level, especially on animal health, pastoralism, and grazing rights. The organization of campaigns to sensitize all stakeholders on the law using texts translated into national languages can help address the challenges of natural resource management that the misunderstanding of the texts causes.The pastoral charter developed in Mali and Senegal, for instance, recognizes livestock rearing as an economic activity. However, most of its provisions remain unimplemented due to its low diffusion in smallholder environments. Similar observations can be made with respect to transhumance, which is still unregulated, both at the national and regional levels. Positive changes are happening, especially on the development of inter communal agreements and text on land use plans. These changes have the potential to establish an effective program for in situ conservation and securing of endemic ruminant livestock. However, it requires creating the conditions for the effective dissemination of the pastoral charter, strengthening the process of development of legal texts on land acquisition and use, disseminating the texts on transhumance, and making arrangements for the implementation of regional and bilateral agreements on transhumance. A soundly designed legal and policy framework wellunderstood by all stakeholders is paramount to achieve a sustainable management and use of endemic ruminant livestock and their habitats. Recognizing the specificity of these breeds and overcoming their vulnerability is important for their promotion. However it is through a better organization and an improved capacity for advocacy at national and regional levels that livestock keepers in general and ERL producers in particular would be better equipped to face market uncertainties, risks posed by disease outbreaks in the context of privatized veterinary services, and recurrent conflicts over access and use of natural resources."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"82a18c7fdfc72ddb56d4c9b8ef643ea0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ccd40f47-ec62-40b9-8b33-c5d32c0296e2/retrieve","id":"-1974929015"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"828be1b2-0762-4a8f-bb3f-b03d83903fde","content":"The authors appreciate the extensive input of the advisory group and peer reviewers of this report, in particular Ibrahim Ka (Chargé du foncier rural, Département de l'Agriculture, des Ressources en Eau et de l'Environnement -DAREN, Union Economique et Monetaire Ouest Africaine -UEMOA), as well as Jenny Lopez (Land Governance Adviser, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office -FCDO), Michael Odhiambo (consultant), Eva Hershaw (consultant and lead of International Land Coalition (ILC)'s LANDex), Anna Locke (ODI), Ian Langdown (ODI) and Fiona Flintan (International Livestock Research Institute -ILRI).Criteria for a 'typical' pastoral groupFIgure 1 Map of developed pastoral areas in Burkina FasoTable 1 Total area of potential pastoral space in Burkina Faso by season  12 Responsibilities in defining and modifying rules for access and use of resourcesTable 13 Conflicts encountered within the pastoral group Table 14 The most important characteristics of land tenureTable 15 Classification of the most important characteristics of land tenure that make the tenure system suitable for pastoral group practices Table 16 Classification of the most important characteristics of land tenure whose loss makes it impossible to access and use resources as the pastoral group wantsTable 17 Probability that the community will lose the right to benefit from wet-season community grazing by the overall groupTable 18 Probability that the community will lose the right to benefit from wet-season grazing, according to women   21 Probability that the community will lose the right to move livestock and people to and through the communal pastures, by global group Table 22 Probability that the community will lose the mobility rights of livestock and people to and through the community pastures, according to women  Pastoral collective tenure and degrees of tenure security in pastoral systems are not as well understood as tenure and tenure security for settled and individual/household land users. This has important implications for the design of suitable approaches to improve tenure security in such areas, and measuring perceptions of tenure security as a contribution to global land indices.SPARC undertook a series of case studies in Burkina Faso, Kenya and Sudan to understand collective tenure and perceptions of tenure security among rangelands pastoralists. This was done in collaboration with Prindex, a data platform that carries out global surveys on people's perceptions of tenure security. Particular attention was paid in the studies to understanding any differences between men and women.A synthesis document can be found on the SPARC website.Two layers of tenure and tenure security are considered in the study: (1) the group; (2) individuals within the group, understanding that groups are not homogenous.Our study focused on 'perceived' tenure security, i.e. how secure people feel. This recognised that perceived tenure security can be a function of formal (legal) recognition of access and use rights, as well as an individual or group's experiences.Specifically, the study aimed to understand the following:1. How do pastoralist communities and their members access grazing land, what are the terms of that access, and what happens in the case of disputes?2. What aspects of the tenure regime are most important for pastoralist communities and their members?3. What is the perceived tenure security of the group, and members of the group, in terms of continued access to resources through the group?4. What do pastoralist communities perceive to be the main drivers of tenure insecurity?Findings at community level include: a description of the pastoral community and collective land under study; the de facto tenure system at community level; the characteristics of the local tenure system, perceived tenure security and factors that affect community perceptions; and differences for individuals vis-à-vis the collective.The study findings will inform the development of indicators to track tenure security in a pastoral context, as well as better interventions to secure tenure in collective pastoral systems. The next step in the process is a series of consultations to identify the indicators for measuring perceived tenure security at scale, and testing of these.1 Habbanaye is a traditional Fulani solidarity system that consists of building or reconstituting the productive capital of livestock for needy members of a community. Typically, an animal (a female) is temporarily entrusted to the beneficiary and, after one or more reproductive cycles, returned to its owner and the offspring are raised by the beneficiary to provide milk and meat for the household or, in the event of a shock, a source of income to meet the family's needs (USAID NCBA-CLUSA (n.d.) 'Le Habbanaye' (https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00XD2R.pdf)Sociocultural -As in most Sahelian countries, pastoralism in Burkina Faso provides: (1) social prestige;(2) basic support of pastoralist families;(3) accumulation of livestock capital to cope with various risks and hazards; (4) social links and exchanges between members of pastoralist communities (as gifts, dowries, inheritances, loans to families or habbanaye 1 );(5) social relations with other communities, mainly agro-pastoralist, especially during transhumance (reciprocity); and (6) maintenance and transmission of knowledge, both technical and cultural (Wane, 2006).Economic -Livestock plays an important economic role for the state and rural households.It is the third-largest export after cotton and gold and contributes about 30% to export earnings, which is more than 18% of the gross domestic product (GDP) (PNSR, 2018) and 40% of agricultural value added (FAO, 2019). The livestock industry employs more than 87% of working men and women (UNDP, 2015) and provides 39% of rural household cash income (MRA-UNDP, 2011). Cattle alone provide livelihoods for about one million households (FAO, 2019).The dominant traditional extensive transhumant pastoral and sedentary agro-pastoral systems supply nearly 90% of the meat and more than 95% of the milk to the national market (FAO, 2019).Environmental -In general, there are positive correlations between livestock numbers and environmental quality (FAO, 2019). Contrary to popular belief, pastoralism helps maintain rangelands through faeces fertilisation and the dissemination of forest and forage seeds (epizoochory and endozoochory) (Sawadogo, 2011;Boudet, 1978;Daget and Godron,1995;Devineau, 1999). This enriches the flora and repopulates natural areas. Livestock farming also contributes to the valorisation of agricultural and agro-industrial by-products, fallow land and spaces unsuitable for agriculture (Wane, 2006;Nori, 2007). FAO (2019) estimates greenhouse gas emissions due to cattle production at 16.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year.According to the laws governing access, use and management of natural resources in Burkina Faso, particularly the Land and Rural Development Law (RFR), available grazing areas can be categorised into: Using data from the 2012 Land Use Database (IGB, 2014), we identified various land-use units and grouped them into categories (e.g. agro-forestry parks, shrub savannas, grassy savannas, open forests, gallery forests, tree savannas). This allowed us to estimate the potential grazing areas for different seasons (Table 1). Until 2017, Burkina Faso had 28 officially designated functional pastoral zones, which are special management areas defined by the LORP (Figure 1). These collectively cover an estimated 747,496 hectares (ha) (ONF-BF, 2017). Additionally, the country had approximately 161 village and inter-village grazing zones, encompassing an area of around 1,200,000 ha (ONF-BF, 2017). These official pastoral areas were not evenly distributed, with the majority concentrated in the Centre-South (six pastoral areas) and Centre-East (four pastoral areas) regions (ONF-BF, 2017). The extent of potential pastoral rangelands has been decreasing over time. This decline is primarily due to human activities such as agriculture (including frequent clearing of pastures, livestock pathways and transhumance corridors), industrial and artisanal mining and extensive privatisation of rural and peri-urban land, such as in Sissili. While no recent data is available, it was estimated that, in 2004, the loss of pastoral land to agriculture amounted to 3.3% (MRA, 2012). This trend is observable even on the outskirts of specially developed pastoral zones, such as the Sideradougou zone, whose area decreased from 307,000 ha at its establishment in 1988 to approximately 51,500 ha some two decades later (ONF-BF, 2017). Agricultural expansion is the main driver behind the reduction in managed or traditional grazing areas.In the past, resident or transhumant pastoral groups maintained positive relationships with other communities, engaging in complementary activities and exchanging services and goods through reciprocity (Thébaud, 1995;Boutrais, 1999). However, these relationships have deteriorated due to several factors. First, demographic pressure has led farmers to expand their fields at the expense of traditional pastures. Second, the diversification of activities within each community has disrupted complementarity and intensified competition for resource access (Sawadogo, 2011).In absolute terms, these relationships have become increasingly conflictual, varying in intensity across different regions of the country (Illy, 2018). Land conflicts related to these issues have risen significantly, with the Centre-North region topping the list with 182 land conflicts during 2013-2014. In contrast, the Sahel region of Burkina Faso recorded only six land conflicts during the same period. The situation remains volatile, with the East region ranking eighth during the previous period, with 31 land conflicts, but taking the top spot as the most affected region during 2015-2016, with 138 recorded conflicts (Illy, 2018).sparc-knowledge.orgIn the past, certain areas in villages were tacitly agreed upon for animal grazing. The lowlands (Sawadogo, 2011) and floodplain areas, strategic spaces for livestock in the dry season, were little cultivated and animals were left to find fresh grass. Farmers are encroaching on these strategic spaces due to the increased need for land and the inaction of technical services to manage clearing large areas under Article 47 of Law No. 003-2011/AN of the Forestry Code. They are encouraged to do so by development policies that promote these areas for agricultural purposes (rainfed and off-season crops) to the detriment of their pastoral use (Sawadogo, 2011). The precariousness of the land tenure situation for pastoralists has increased with the adoption of land laws, which has led to an increase in land transactions with massive appropriations and the sale of lands previously reserved or open for grazing.Pressure on traditional grazing lands and conflicts has increased due to climate change, including shifting rainfall patterns, shorter rainy seasons and more dry areas. The expansion of agriculture, especially cash crops like cotton, has also reduced available resources such as pasture and water for pastoral communities.Additionally, farming and mining have encroached on grazing areas, livestock routes and animal migration paths. According to reports from the National Land Observatory of Burkina Faso (ONB-BF) in 2017, and the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) and Resource Conflict Institute (RECONCILE) in 2020, these factors have contributed to the problem. In 2004, the Ministry of Animal Resources (MRA) estimated that around 3% of pastoral lands were converted to farmland each year, as noted in a 2012 report (MRA, 2012). This situation has led to conflicts, sometimes violent, arising from livestock damaging farmers' crops.The quality and quantity of food available for herders and their animals in natural rangelands have declined for several reasons. These include periods of drought in the 1970s and 1980s, ongoing climate change and human activities that put pressure on these resources. As a result, herders struggle to find enough nourishment for their animals, especially during the dry season. This challenging situation has led to increased transhumance, where herders move their livestock away from their original areas over longer distances and for extended periods. Some herders have even chosen to settle in other places outside their home countries such as Ghana and Togo.Traditionally, pastoralists' access to natural resources such as water and grazing land was based on the multifunctionality of natural resources and the multiple uses of these resources by different user groups over time. Today, due to unfavourable legislative changes (e.g. the Rural Land Tenure Act that encourages privatisation) and the increasing market value of land, indigenous communities are experiencing increased sales of land to wealthy individuals who are establishing farms (SNV and RECONCILE, 2020) that are sometimes left undeveloped.Decentralisation has led to decentralised management of natural resources, with mechanisms such as village development councils, village land commissions and village land conciliation commissions. Pastoralists are poorly or not at all represented and unable to defend their interests (SNV and RECONCILE, 2020).Insecurity affecting people and their property is a significant obstacle to pastoralism and transhumance within the country and in cross-border areas. The natural pastoralist spaces are insecure, which increases their vulnerability and feeds suspicion about pastoralists. This is one reason why pastoralists are deserting these areas in search of more peaceful locations (SNV and RECONCILE, 2020). In an attempt to adapt to the context, pastoralists are moving in larger groups, modifying their routes, minimising transhumance or attempting to settle in more secure coastal countries.In principle, certain laws are supposed to create the conditions for peaceful cross-border mobility (e.g. Decision A/DEC.5/10/98 and Regulation C/REG.3/01/03 at the community level, as well as bilateral agreements such as the Mali-Burkina, 2 Burkina-Niger 3 and Burkina-Côte d'Ivoire 4 agreements) (GIZ, 2019). In practice, these principles have been repeatedly challenged, particularly between Burkina and Benin (with a government order banning cross-border transhumance since 1995, updated in 2019) and between Burkina and Togo (introduction of high taxes by an inter-ministerial order in 2008). This reluctance has been reinforced with the onset of insecurity in these areas, as these states fear that assailants will mix with transhumant herders to gain access to their territories. Despite this reluctance, a large number of pastoralists have moved with their herds to neighbouring countries (Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin and Togo). Burkina Faso's land tenure system for pastoralism is a complex web of laws governing rural land and pastoral activities. These laws grant herders important rights but need harmonisation to address shortcomings. Land governance involves various levels of government and local structures, while policies aim to promote equitable land access, including for women and youth.Pastoralist land rights within the national domain are governed by various laws related to pastoralism or rural land tenure. The Law on the Orientation of Pastoralism (LORP) is the main law governing pastoral activities in Burkina Faso. It grants important rights to pastoralists, including access to and use of special pastoral areas and the right to share other areas with other natural-resource users, such as farmers. The LORP also establishes additional rights for herders, like access to water, transhumance trails, and a flexible dispute-resolution mechanism, including mandatory preliminary conciliation and, if needed, litigation.The land tenure laws aim to regulate the management of all land within the national land domain, whether owned by the state, local authorities or individuals. These laws primarily include the Agrarian and Land Reorganisation Law and the Rural Land Tenure Law. They provide security for collective land rights through local land charters, specifications and individual land rights such as rural land-use rights (e.g. long leases, land loans, land rentals) or permanent enjoyment rights (e.g. rural land possession certificates, farming permits, land titles). Additionally, there are other laws on decentralisation, forests, water, environment, expropriation and land-use planning. These laws require harmonisation to address existing gaps.Land management operates under a dual system, with customary and modern systems coexisting. In the event of conflicts, the modern system takes precedence. Various entities are responsible for land management, including national ministries, deconcentrated state services and local authorities like communal and regional bodies, rural land services, village land commissions and village land conciliation commissions.The protection of the rights of women and young people concerning land tenure is not specifically outlined in the primary land-tenure laws. However, there is a clear political intent to address this issue. For example, the national policy on land security in rural areas, adopted in 2007, acknowledges the land rights of rural producers and emphasises the need to safeguard and ensure access to land for women, young people and pastoralists.The main law governing pastoral activities in Burkina Faso is the Law on the Orientation of Pastoralism (LORP). Additionally, Article 106 of Law No. 070-2015/AN of 22 October 2015, on the orientation of agro-sylvo-pastoral, fisheries and wildlife activities, mandates the state and local authorities to allocate at least 30% of developed land for these activities to benefit women and youth in the agricultural sector. In the agricultural sector, recent reports indicate that over 60% of developed land has been allocated to youth and women. However, similar data for the pastoral sector is currently unavailable.Law No. 034-2002/AN of 14 November 2002, also known as the LORP, establishes a comprehensive legal framework for pastoral activities. The main provisions are outlined below. Further details are in Annex 1.Access to specially developed pastoral areas -The law allows authorised pastoralists access to designated pastoral zones, regulating access through responsible authorities.Land within these zones can be allocated for individual use based on permits or leases. The state may also grant concessions for specific areas within pastoral zones.Access to reserved grazing land -Pastoralists have the right to freely access areas reserved for animal grazing, but local communities can collaborate with authorities to regulate access through local land charters, ensuring sustainable resource use.Access to open grazing land -Pastoralists can use fallow fields or post-harvest lands, sharing these rights with other rural operators. They can access these areas unless the owner explicitly prohibits it.Access to water -The law grants pastoralists access to water points for their animals, subject to water management laws. Easements of passage are imposed on the land bordering water points.Livestock movement and tracks -Herders have the right to move livestock within the country and internationally, following relevant laws. Specific livestock tracks, including access, transhumance and marketing tracks, are categorised as public domain. The state or local authorities own them.Dispute resolution -The law promotes conciliation as the initial step in settling disputes related to pastoral activities. Disputes must undergo mandatory conciliation within a local commission involving representatives from both farmers and pastoralists. This process aims to resolve conflicts while considering local traditions and practices before resorting to legal proceedings.The overall intent of these laws is to establish a comprehensive legal framework that promotes sustainable development, resource management and protection of land, water and natural resources while ensuring equitable access and safeguarding the rights of various stakeholders, including pastoralists. Burkina Faso recognises two main types of land tenure: customary and modern.Law No. 034-2009/AN is based on local customs and practices. Possession of rural land, validated by a Certificate of Rural Land Tenure, is the foundation of this form of tenure. It must be recorded and formalised to have legal status. Article 6 defines rural land possession as the de facto power legitimately exercised over rural land about local land tenure customs and practices. However, for this practice to be recognised as a source of law, it must be recorded and formalised through an administrative act called a Certificate of Rural Land Tenure.This encompasses formal acts that validate land rights and include land titles, operating permits, provisional and final transfer orders, and other non-permanent titles like long leases. These titles represent rights over rural land. Land tenure security is initiated by individuals or legal entities, involving various administrative processes, and is governed by laws such as the law on agrarian and land reorganisation and the law on rural land tenure. Several types of land titles and permits are relevant to pastoral activities. These include:land titles or title deeds -these are issued by the ministry responsible for domains operating permits -issued by the mayor after reviewing the application with domain services transfer orders -these include provisional and final transfer orders issued by the ministry in charge of domains provisional orders -issued by the mayor Certificate of Rural Land Ownership -also issued by the mayor's office.Additionally, non-permanent titles can be useful for pastoral activities, such as long leases granted by both communes and the state. Land loans and land leases in rural areas are contracts between individuals, as outlined in the law on rural land tenure, and they establish usage rights for their beneficiaries.Securing land tenure must be initiated by interested individuals or legal entities, whether public or private. When it comes to issuing modern property titles, the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Development is responsible for granting land titles. However, other titles, such as the Certificate of Rural Land Ownership, are typically issued by the community (commune) following review by the land registrar and the land registry or by the Rural Land Service or land office, as in the case of the Certificate of Rural Land Possession.Land management in Burkina Faso involves several actors: the state, local authorities and local land management mechanisms.The state operates through central-level actors like the minister in charge of domains and central directorates responsible for land, including the General Directorate of Taxes. At the decentralised level, regional and provincial tax directorates are involved. The Revenue of Domains and Land Registration handles land management.Communes are responsible for land management within rural communes through the Rural Land Service. However, the Bureau Domanial takes on this role in urban communes (including attached villages). In villages, communes establish village land commissions and village land conciliation commissions. Village land commissions manage land, while village land conciliation commissions resolve land conflicts, including those involving farmers and herders.Individuals play a significant role in land management. They are not only members of local land management structures like village land commissions and village land conciliation commissions but can also create local rules for land management, including those related to pastoral resources. Various types of land titles are available, and they are obtained through different processes:The Certificate of Rural Land Ownership is signed and issued by the mayor of the concerned commune, with the file processed by the Rural Land Service.The operating permit file is processed by the Receiver of Lands and Land Registration and is signed by the mayor.The land title file is reviewed by the land registrar and signed by the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Planning.In cases of rural land conflicts, which may involve pastoral activities, the regulations mandate a prior conciliation process (Articles 67 and 96 of Law No. 034-2009/AN of 16 June 2009 on rural land tenure). Conciliation results in either a conciliation report if an agreement is reached or a non-conciliation report if no agreement is reached. If no agreement is reached, the concerned party can take the matter to a civil court with jurisdiction for a legal resolution of the dispute.The traditional pastoral communities are made up primarily of Fulani people and their distribution corresponds to the geographic spread of the Fulani community. Initially, these pastoral groups were found in the Sahel region (Seno, Oudalan, Soum, Yagha), the North (particularly in Northern Yatenga, Thiou and Banh areas), Boucle du Mouhoun (Barani) and in the East (areas bordering Niger). They traditionally moved to the southern, more agriculturally oriented regions during the dry season.Severe droughts in the 1970s and 1980s forced some pastoralists, including entire families and clans to migrate and settle in the southern part of Yatenga and the northern centre (Bam, Sanmatenga and Namentenga). Some settled in state-developed pastoral areas (now totalling 28), aiming to reduce conflicts with farmers, while others integrated traditional village spaces where they shared pastoral resources with host communities. To diversify and adapt, some pastoralists also engaged in agriculture. However, the emergence of terrorism-related insecurity in 2015 led to significant changes in the pastoral landscape.Today, the situation is difficult to determine due to terrorist activity in most forest areas which displaced herders and local farming communities. In Burkina Faso, especially in the north and east, pastoral groups are organised around key figures in the traditional pastoral system known as rugga. These leaders play crucial roles in maintaining clan cohesion and the security of their members and animals. They possess extensive knowledge of the pastoral environment, including seasonal variations, land characteristics, vegetation, water sources and soil conditions. The organisation of transhumance often involves a scout, the Garso, who provides essential information for decision-making.In the present day, particularly in the southern regions, pastoral organisation is less robust, with clan structures breaking down into smaller groups that strive to uphold traditional practices in resource management and community relations. One constant in Burkina Faso's pastoral environment is that land is not privately owned by individuals or communities. It is considered freely accessible. Pastoral groups prioritise meeting their livestock's food needs, regardless of the cost. Land tenure security for pastoralists is more about ensuring access to resources than obtaining formal land titles. The strengths of pastoral groups lie in their solidarity and extensive knowledge of their environment, enabling them to maintain mobility despite resource pressures and deteriorating relationships with other communities.In addition to the traditional pastoral system governed by internal resource access and management rules, management within state-established pastoral zones is quite different. Herding groups, organised into associations, settle there with their families and operate according to rules established by the administration. Furthermore, the appropriation of land for real estate and large-scale agriculture (agribusiness) in village and peri-urban areas is a relatively recent trend gaining momentum.sparc-knowledge.orgPure pastoralism is not common in the South-Central region, specifically in Zoundweogo Province. Initially, this area was primarily agricultural, with a substantial uncultivated section where onchocerciasis (blackfly-transmitted disease) was prevalent. The region's transformation, initiated through development projects following the successful control of onchocerciasis, turned it into a zone for agriculture and pastoral activities. During the 1970s and 1980s droughts in the northern regions (Sahel and North Central), many farmers and herders from those areas relocated to the south, particularly in the Zoundweogo Province (Robert, 2010). This migration was especially notable in areas recently freed from river blindness (onchocerciasis) and sleeping sickness (human trypanosomiasis), such as the Kaibo area (Zampaligré et al., 2019).The government designated six specific pastoral zones in the region to address the rising conflicts due to increasing space pressures. Among these, three are located in Zoundweogo (Sondré-Est, Luili-Nobere and Niassan), and one is a sylvo-pastoral zone (Gogo-Gomboussougou) acting as a buffer between the province and the Parc National Kabore Tambi. In the present situation, pastoral families from the north face three scenarios:1. In response to resource pressure and degradation, some herders have migrated further south, even as far as Ghana, where they have established new settlements.The largest group of herders has found homes in pastoral areas developed by the state.A smaller group of herders, more aligned with the traditional pastoral model and practices, remains in village spaces, especially within the sylvo-pastoral zone (Gogo-Gomboussougou).One notable group in this third category is the Wakilé Allah pastoral group of Tigre, located in the commune of Binde. These herders settled in managed pastoral zones bear responsibility for their areas and have the authorisation to live there, as stipulated in Article 13 of the LORP. Their activities within these zones are subject to regulation by Decree No. 2007-410/PRES/PM/ MRA/MFP, which outlines the general conditions for allocation, occupation and utilisation of developed pastoral zones.Pastoralists who live in collective villages use the same resources as the animals of sedentary communities. They are accommodated by residents who tolerate them, and their animals graze on uncultivated or unused lands and spaces between fields. However, their numbers are small, and some observers question whether this livestock-farming model can endure amidst the increasing land-occupation dynamics (agricultural expansion, land sales for farming and real estate projects) that often disregard the interests of herders.In general, pastoralists who migrate to the region, including those in pastoral areas, settle in clan groups or extended families, with the group leader typically being the eldest or most established individual. Their strengths lie in their internal cohesion within these groups, their efforts to maintain harmonious coexistence with other communities, particularly indigenous ones, and their ability to access and develop resources, even when they are not easily reachable (e.g. night grazing in areas near fields and concessions). However, the current situation poses significant challenges to this system's adaptability due to limited space, growing hostilities from other stakeholders, especially farmers, increased land monetisation and resource depletion through unregulated extraction.Laws governing pastoral land tenure and natural resource management are generally poorly known or completely unfamiliar to the stakeholders, including supervisory agents. Even technical service personnel are often only familiar with texts relevant to their specific areas. Producers, including farmers, herders and pastoralists, are aware of these laws but have only a vague understanding of their content, often being unable to name or describe them. This lack of awareness allows for abuses in the implementation of these laws, with technical services often applying them partially or unfairly. Land access disputes, in particular, tend to disadvantage livestock farmers. There are conflicting opinions regarding the management of conflicts arising from field damage or the use of traditional or vital pastures by animals. Some farmers criticise herders for using their resources to influence agents reporting damage or those responsible for determining penalties.The pastoral group Wakilé Allah represents a typical pastoral group organised into a clan consisting of multiple families. This group is based in the Tigre village, 15 km from Kaibo-Centre and 37 km from Manga.The pastoral group was established in the village during the droughts of the 1970s, which forced many herders to migrate to the southern part of the country. Its members predominantly rely on livestock, particularly pastoral activities, and, to a lesser extent, agriculture. They practise mobility in managing their herds across a vast pastoral area spanning approximately 12,000 ha, which has been allocated by the village chief.This area is also shared with other groups, including farmers cultivating fields. Consequently, the available space is under significant pressure, and mobility, whether large-or smallscale, appears to be an adaptive strategy for the group. This pastoralist group was chosen for the study due to its relevance to traditional land tenure systems and its location, which is relatively unaffected by the insecurity issues experienced elsewhere in Burkina Faso, including Zoundweogo Province. Larger groups exist in more critical areas, such as the Gogo-Gomboussougou sylvo-pastoral zone, which is currently plagued by insecurity.The case study was conducted in the village of Tigre, in the rural commune of Binde (Zoundweogo Province, Centre-South region). Two criteria guided our choice. The first was the favourable security situation, which is good compared to other regions of the country. The second criterion was that the pastoral groups met the criteria of a 'typical' pastoral group operating according to traditional and endogenous rangeland management conventions (Box 1). Based on these two criteria, the Wakilé Allah was identified as a test case for the study.The steps taken to contact the group were: asking the regional directorate in charge of livestock for information, suggestions and contacts for the group telephone exchanges with the contact persons within the group sending two research team members -a research assistant (at the national level) and a livestock technical officer based in the region (identified as a field assistant).The group has well-defined leaders and a clear governance structure (considered more or less formal by the group but has no formal recognition by the government).The group has clear rules and guidelines on when and how far to travel, what routes to take and who travels.The group has good working relationships with the communities in the areas where they travel.The group has a home base that may be shared with other groups, and extensive transhumance takes place from that home base.The area, extent, duration and timing of transhumance will depend on the season. The group will have a clear idea of the place of origin and will also be able to describe their transhumance patterns and mobility.The areas where transhumance is practised are also used by other groups but not exclusively.The group continues to use the land collectively for transhumant and mobile livestock.Livestock remains a central component of their livelihood system.Mobility remains of paramount importance.The study was conducted using documentary research and individual and focus group discussions. The literature review gathered information on pastoralism (actors, events, constraints) at the national and regional levels.The interviews were of two types: (1) interviews with key informants at the national and regional levels to complete and update the information from the literature review; and (2) focus group discussions with representatives of the pastoralist group (mixed groups, specific groups) on various themes. The specific focus group discussions aimed to discover the particularities of individuals within these groups compared to the mixed group.The participants were chosen by considering various criteria so that they would be sufficiently representative of the Wakilé Allah pastoral group: age (old, young), gender (men, women), social commitment (leadership, noncommittal), marital status (married, single, widowed, divorced), level of wealth (rich, poor). A total of 28 people participated in the exchanges, including 3 people for the tool testing and 15 people for the mixed-group focus group discussions (Table 2). Of the 15 people in the mixed group, only 1 person (a man) left two days later for family reasons and did not return.In discussions with specific groups, new people (three women and seven men) joined the exchanges. Two women and two men from the original mixed group joined these new people to form the men's specific group (nine people) and the women's specific group (five people).Researchers interviewing members of the Wakilé Allah group.Image by Issa Sawadogo  The research team chose gender, age, marital status, social engagement and wealth as potential criteria for the focus group discussions on the assumption that these might influence a person's standing in relation to land and land tenure. After verification, the criteria of age and marital status were found not relevant because there were no young people (i.e. less than 35 years old) and all participants were married. We therefore set up two groups and defined the classes or subcategories as indicated below. The participants were then divided into subgroups: (A) for social commitment (referring to the individual's involvement in local political issues and community events); and (B) for the level of wealth (defined by the number and type of livestock (cattle, sheep and goats) and having all participants classified into one class or another by a consensus person), as follows: The data collection process was conducted under significant time constraints, sometimes extending beyond 2100 hours. Initially planned for 14 days, the discussions with group members ultimately lasted only 10 days. This period, occurring from December 2022 to February 2023, coincided with the transhumance season, and some herders had already departed for Ghana. Those who remained were in the midst of preparations when contacted. Consequently, the information provided was occasionally unclear. Fortunately, the team reminded them and allowed them time to clarify information from the previous day.Additionally, discussions continued with some team members via phone after the research team had left.Due to transhumance and gold panning, which primarily involve young individuals (15-35 years old), there were hardly any young participants within the pastoral group during our exchanges.The Wakilé Allah consists of about 3,000 members who live mainly from livestock. They also practise agriculture as a sideline. Membership of the group is possible provided that one is a herder and agrees to respect the rules that the group has established. The group is well organised with a governance structure that includes a president (diandé passiba), an assistant to the president (diandé oumarou), an information officer (bikienga salif), a women's officer (diandé fatoumata) and her assistant (diandé adama). There is an organic link between the governance structure and the chief of Tigre Peul who is also a member of the pastoral group. The group has consultative bodies but they meet only occasionally, depending on the issues to be addressed.Recently, they have been meeting more frequently because of the increasingly pressing constraints they are facing, such as pressure on land due to population growth (births and migrants), worsening climatic conditions (drought, reduced rainfall) and lack of water. The group members appointed the leaders based on their confidence in them, their wisdom and enormous convening power. The group is known only within Zoundweogo Province, mostly by their neighbours and technical services officers. However, they have recently begun a process of legal recognition.The Wakilé Allah pastoral group defines itself as a clan of related families living in seven camps (Wuro) within the pastoral zone. The members of the pastoral group are estimated to total 300 households or approximately 3,000 people including men, women and children. They live primarily from livestock (Table 3). Over the past 10 years, changes have been recorded in both the population and its livestock. In terms of the population, there has been an increase in its size due to births and, to a lesser extent, the arrival of migrants. For livestock and by-products, there has been a decrease in the number of cattle, an increase in the number of small ruminants and a decrease in milk production due to the quantitative and qualitative degradation of pastoral resources (water and fodder) and the increasing competition for their use. The women observe the same changes in the population and livestock, but add that this year the village experienced high animal mortality.The group lives mainly from pastoralism. However, they also engage in other activities such as agriculture (rainfed and market gardening), house construction and rental (in urban areas) and gold panning.Ten years ago, the group was making a living from the same subsistence activities and in the same order, but it was not common to find herders investing in real estate as seen today. This is due to the degradation of the conditions of livestock practices leading to the demotivation of the herders. The degradation of pastoral resources and competition over their use complicates the practice of livestock raising, negatively affects the performance of animals and threatens the security of herders, who are then forced to move on to other, more secure activities.With the boom in gold panning, many young herders are more involved in this activity than in the past. Among the specific women's group, means of subsistence are livestock (selling milk and animals), agriculture (e.g. cultivation of okra, cowpeas and sesame) and the exploitation of non-timber forest products (fruits and tree leaves) and wood (firewood). Generally, the women each have a few head of small ruminants (sheep and goats) that are with the men's herds, driven by boys and girls (10-12 years old). When the cattle go on transhumance, the shepherds are young adults and adults (over 20 years old).The current means of subsistence are those of 10 years ago but with more agricultural activities. According to the women, the reason is the decline in the performance of livestock farming, which faces more constraints. This forces the members of the pastoral group to diversify their activities further.Livestock production within the pastoral group is dominated by large (cattle) and small ruminants (sheep, goats) and donkeys. Economically, cattle are the most important, followed by sheep and goats. During the last 10 years, the composition of the herds has not changed significantly (Table 4). In the case of small ruminants, there have been attempts at crossbreeding between the smaller local breeds and the larger breeds from the north (Bali-Bali sheep, northern goats). However, crossbreeding remains minor as most experiments in this direction have not been conclusive. Over the past decade, negative shifts in climate and pastoral resources have occurred (Table 5). These changes encompass the duration and quality of seasons, plant health and rangeland state. Notably, the rainy season has become shorter, commencing later, ending abruptly or prematurely, with more frequent drought pockets, and accompanied by soil erosion caused by heavy rains.One significant consequence of these alterations in rainfall patterns is the deterioration of plant resources. Iconic woody and herbaceous species, valuable to livestock or other purposes, have dwindled or entirely disappeared.These harsher climate conditions and resource status have strained relations between the pastoral group and other resource users within their village. Over the past three years, these relationships have grown increasingly contentious. To adapt to these challenging environmental conditions, pastoral group members have adopted new practices and reinforced existing ones. These adaptations include:procuring and storing agricultural residues, such as cereal stalks (millet, sorghum) and legume tops (cowpeas, groundnuts), after harvest for distribution to livestock during the dry season preserving natural fodder grasses during ploughing in the cultivated plots of group members, which are later cut and used as supplemental feed for animals during the dry season tapping into water from boreholes and wells dug in lowlands and riverbeds to compensate for water scarcity during the dry season (although catch basins are no longer widespread due to the declining water table and riverbeds being used for collecting construction aggregates, particularly sand) -these solutions are insufficient, and the group is compelled to water their animals in the river, despite concerns about the water's sanitary quality.Mobility, an inherent trait of the pastoral group, has evolved in recent years. The movement of herds, known as transhumance, over short (small transhumance) or long distances (large transhumance) is a well-established strategy for adapting to challenging livestock conditions.At the onset of the dry season (December to February or early March), herders embark on a migration southward, aiming to reach the Columbia area in Ghana. Along the way, they pass through several villages in Burkina Faso, including Gogo, Namoura, Dakola and Navrongo.Their route choice is primarily influenced by the desire to minimise risk and ensure a safe passage without potential conflicts.In the past, typically until the 2000s, the decision on which route to take relied on information gathered by scouts dispatched by the leaders. These scouts assessed factors such as the availability of suitable pastures, access to water sources, overall safety and the ease of reaching grazing areas. However, due to current space constraints, mobility options have become more limited, and predetermined routes are now the norm, eliminating the need for scouts.The journey of these transhumant herders is marked by numerous challenges and difficulties, resulting in substantial losses. These include theft, especially in Ghana, and significant financial burdens such as border taxes, extortion by forestry officials and payments to village chiefs and the Ghanaian administration.During their stay in the host locality of Koumbissa, the herders receive little support from the village chief, who is supposed to act as a mentor. In the past, these mentors played a crucial role in helping herders navigate various difficulties and conflicts, particularly with forestry authorities in Burkina Faso and Ghana. Unfortunately, some mentors are complicit in the extortion schemes that herders often face today.Compared to a decade ago, grazing conditions in these destination areas have deteriorated, and the taxes and fees levied on herders have increased. Consequently, the current circumstances in these host localities are less favourable for transhumants than in previous times. For women, access to water for household use and animal watering has become challenging.Women report that it used to be easier and less time-consuming to obtain water from depressions (shallow water bodies) where men could easily dig pits. This is less feasible today because water tables have dropped, and the collection of sand has become an impediment. Competition for water access is intense. To compensate, women now use boreholes installed in the village, where they can spend hours fetching water. Collaboration among communities has also changed and is less amicable due to conflicts arising from the access and use of natural resources.During the large transhumance in the dry season, women may accompany transhumant herders to their destinations. In this scenario, their role remains focused on selling milk from the herd. During this time, they experience living conditions similar to those in their area of departure. The pastoral resources are the vegetation zones used for grazing (five grazing zones) (indicated with 'v' symbols in the map), the large and small lowlands (indicated with 'ladder' symbols), a vaccination pen (indicated with a red rectangle) and boreholes (indicated with a '1'). The large shallows are located at the southern and northern limits of the pastoral area and water can be found there in the rainy season.The pastoral area has been exploited by the group for 45 years since they settled in the Zoundweogo Province from the north, in particular from Sanmatenga. Historically, the group has been in the village since the droughts of the 1970s and 1980s, which caused the migration of many herders from the north to the south of the country. This group was welcomed and established on its current site by the chief of the indigenous community of Bissas, the ancestor of the current chief of Tigre, which includes the four districts of Tigre Peul, Tigre Bissa, Tigre Pissila and Tigre Yarce.In the rainy season, the livestock feed by grazing in uncultivated areas (five areas) and some animals go to the pastoral zone of Sondré-Est by crossing the lowlands. In this season, the animals drink from the water in the lowlands of the pastoral area. In the dry season, once the field crops have been harvested, the entire pastoral area is grazed by the group's animals and those from neighbouring districts.During this period, the animals drink water from wells in the shallows and boreholes. However, digging wells is becoming difficult, and the wells are used mainly for family water. For this reason, the animals drink from the river, with the risk of becoming ill because the water is too cold and not suitable for animal use.The exploitation of the resources of the pastoral space continues in the same way, with the same intensity, because they are insufficient for the livestock. Indeed, even during transhumance, some animals of the pastoral group remain on site. In general, it is the large herds that go on transhumance. Even in this case, some animals (sick, lactating) are left behind. In addition, farmers' animals will continue to exploit the area, as well as transhumants from the north that may pass through or stop for a while. Also, to take advantage of the resources, the animals come out at night, which allows them to graze close to the houses. This is important in conditions of scarcity or lack of resources.In the last 20 years, changes in land use have been observed. The main changes are:More agricultural use for subsistence by member households and those of neighbouring communities. They are growing sorghum combined with cowpeas adapted to their nutrientpoor land. The women grow okra and other vegetables.Increased application of organic manure to the fields compensates for the loss of soil fertility due to erosion and use.The animals, helped by the shepherds, use tree leaves (aerial fodder) much more than before in the dry season, to compensate for the poor supply of fodder, which is made up of increasingly less rich grasses and in greatly reduced quantities.Digging catch basins in the lowlands is no longer possible because of the collection of sand for construction and the drop in the water table, which requires digging deeper than in the past.The pastures in the southern and western parts are the areas of concentration of fields for agricultural production. Animals are less common there than in the past and are more concentrated in the eastern and northern parts.The practice of transhumance and places frequented according to the severity of the year Like all pastoral groups in Burkina Faso, this group has a long tradition of practising transhumance. The frequency of this practice has increased due to the growing scarcity of water and fodder resources in their usual pastoral areas. During the cold season, which marks the beginning of the dry season, they embark on transhumance journeys to the south, particularly in the Pô region and Ghana. In the early and mid-rainy season, they move to neighbouring forested areas, such as the Sondré-Est pastoral zone and the Nobere classified forest.Their transhumance patterns can vary depending on the prevailing weather conditions, particularly rainfall. In a typical year with good rainfall and ample water and fodder resources, they do not venture too far from their village during transhumance, and there are fewer stops along the way. In the wet season, they head to the Sondré-Est pastoral zone; in the dry season, they move south to the Pô region and Ghana.However, in a year with poor rainfall and limited water and fodder resources, the animals may undertake transhumance to both the pastoral zone of Sondré-Est and the classified forest of Nobere during the wet season. In the dry season of such a challenging year, most animals make their way to Ghana, particularly the Koumbissa area and beyond.Whether it is an ordinary year or a severe one, they frequently visit the East Sondré pastoral zone, although the number of animals and the duration of their stay may differ. In some cases, especially when the herd is substantial, women participate in the transhumance. Their role includes managing tasks such as milking and selling milk until the return. However, the men typically make decisions about the destination and duration of transhumance.The pastoral land management system and grazing rules and regulations need to be robust and strictly enforced during the wet season. During this time, the pastoralist group must show resourcefulness to address its members' challenges.In this season, grazing space is significantly reduced due to crop cultivation, and the trails face severe limitations due to low-lying fields. It is crucial for the group to skilfully use the available space to provide food and water for their animals while also avoiding conflicts related to crop damage with neighbouring communities.Members of the pastoral group face significant challenges when trying to access their space. These challenges vary depending on the season. During the dry season, the primary difficulty lies in accessing the watercourse, which is a tributary of the Nakambé River. This challenge arises due to the presence of nearby market gardening activities. Although market gardening has been practised in the area for some time, it has intensified over the years.In the rainy season, the difficulties are related to a reduction in available grazing space and obstacles created by farmers. During this season, aside from the five designated grazing areas, the remainder of the pastoral space is occupied by fields belonging to members of the pastoral group and neighbouring districts like Tigre Bissa, Tigre Pissila and Tigre Yarce.In some instances, the movement of animals is severely restricted by the proximity of these fields, making it challenging for them to travel between grazing areas. Over time, the fields have extended into the grazing areas, causing a reduction in the size of these areas.Besides animal grazing, there are various other uses of the land in the area, each with its own level of importance:1. rainfed and off-season agriculture, such as market gardening along the banks of the Nakambé River 2. exploitation of forest resources, including wood, leaves, fruits and bark, for medicinal purposes 3. fishing activities.These land uses are practised by both members of the pastoral group and residents from neighbourhoods like Tigre Yarce, Tigre Pissila, Tigre Bissa and nearby villages like Mognoré. However, from the perspective of the pastoral group members, all these additional activities -agriculture, forest-product exploitation and fishing -are considered less important than livestock.Women in the community engage in activities similar to those of the overall group. These include the cultivation of cowpeas and various vegetables (such as okra and sorrel), the harvesting of non-timber and timber forest products and handicrafts such as making seccos (dried foods). For women, agriculture holds similar importance to pastoral activities, whereas the other activities (exploitation of forest products and handicrafts) are considered less significant than pastoral activities.Resources, their users and conditions of access and useThe pastoral space is composed essentially of the following pastoral resources: grazing areas (five in total), large and small shallows, and vaccination parks, including one modern park set up by the state for cattle and traditional parks set up by herders on their concessions for the use of small ruminants (Table 6). These same resource uses are also mentioned by the women, who specify that, for grazing areas, they exploit non-timber forest products, collect firewood for domestic use and sell karite nuts if they collect more than they need for home use, and, on the lowlands, they do household work.The substance of the pastoral group's collective tenure system in the wet season depends on several sources. Access to pasture is available to any animal, whether or not its owner is a member of the pastoral group, including farmers' animals. The use of all these resources (grazing areas, shallows, vaccination parks) by non-members of the pastoral group is the same as for members of the pastoral group, who are the usual users, without discrimination.The grazing areas are dedicated primarily to animal grazing. In addition to pastoral use, these areas are also places for collecting wood and non-wood forest products (e.g. fruit, bark, leaves and honey). In the wet season, the lowlands are primarily used for cultivation and watering in depressions that retain rainwater. But wood and non-wood forest products are also collected there, even if this resource is scarce.In the pastoral space, rights and responsibilities are related to resource access and use.Users have unrestricted access to various resource categories, such as grazing areas, lowlands and vaccination parks, with proximity often determining usage. Park usage varies based on animal type. Women have equal access to these resources, own animals and share responsibility for herding.Constraints like flooding affect lowland access in July and August, while vaccination-park use is tied to animal care needs during the rainy season. Resource exploitation is at a maximum, especially for grazing areas and large lowlands. Access is generally free, but the modern vaccination park incurs a fee. Users must maintain resources, refrain from harmful activities like setting fires, and make minor extensions to established fields. Women's resource use may be controlled or paid for depending on the resource category. There are rights and duties regarding access to and use of the pastoral space.Table 7 indicates there is no limit to access and use of all categories of resources (grazing areas, lowlands, vaccination parks). The user is free to go anywhere within the space of each resource and, in general, proximity to the resource prevails. The use of pens depends on the type of animal, with large pens for cattle and traditional pens for small ruminants. Women have equal access to and use of the various resources within the pastoral space, including grazing areas, lowlands and vaccination parks, just like men do and under the same conditions. They also own animals that are kept alongside those owned by men, and these animals are herded to the grazing areas by family herders, which include young men and women.These resources are used throughout the year. However, certain constraints, such as those experienced in the lowlands due to flooding can render these areas inaccessible, particularly during July and August. As for the vaccination parks, their use is not constant; it depends on the need for animal care, which usually arises at the beginning of the rainy season when animals are susceptible to parasites and certain diseases (Table 8). The exploitation of resources, particularly grazing areas and large lowlands, is at a maximum because of the pressure of use (Table 9). In the grazing areas, each herder individually exploits the space in a rotating manner without any concerted planning. This is akin to herders taking turns from one area to the next, each trying to make the most of the resources. But in the end, all areas are used by everyone at different times unless there is an obstacle that prevents a herder from accessing a particular area. The two large lowlands (south to Tigre Bissa and north to the Sondré pastoral zone) are used more because the water and forage resources in these lowlands are greater than in the others. The use of the vaccination park is not continuous throughout the rainy season but is at its peak at the beginning of the rainy season because of the need to de-worm and vaccinate the animals. Access to and pastoral use of all these resources is free, except for the modern vaccination park, where use is subject to a fee. Each herd owner must pay 1,000 CFA francs, regardless of the size of the herd. 5 Even if access is free in the lowlands, arrangements are necessary between herders and farmers to allow the animals to pass through. These arrangements are still in place today (Table 10).5The CFA franc is the name of two currencies: the West African CFA franc, used in eight West African countries, and the Central African CFA franc, used in six Central African countries. Although separate, the two CFA franc currencies have always been at parity and are effectively interchangeable.  As with the overall group, access to resources is free for women, but use is either controlled (grazing areas and lowlands: no cutting of trees, no fires, no new fields) or paid for (vaccination park).Places where the rights and duties of access, use and control of the pastoral space are definedThe community that uses the pastoral space is a clan led by a chief known as the Tigre Peul chief, typically the most experienced and wisest individual within the clan. This chief alone, or in collaboration with other members of the pastoral group for significant decisions, establishes the regulations for accessing and using grazing areas and lowlands.For instance, the chief organised consultations when determining whether to prohibit treecutting or field installation in the area. In contrast, decisions like banning the use of boreholes for watering animals, or allowing a foreign herd temporary access to the pastoral space, were made solely by the chief, who would then inform the community and the Bissa chief of the village. This means that women's land rights remain intact, but they are not actively engaged in the decision-making related to the group's governance, although they may be present during decision-making meetings.The management of the modern vaccination park is distinct. This facility was constructed by the government and is overseen by the Tigre village delegate, who serves as the local administrative representative. Changes to the rules, including rights and responsibilities, generally follow a similar approach. Significant alterations involve the entire pastoral community and may be proposed by them. Conversely, the chief can initiate minor rule adjustments with less impact (Table 12).  There is no formal system for recording rights and duties. These are shared orally among men and women. Also, the rights to access and use of all resources can be transferred to someone else, and it is up to the holders of these rights to inform the chief of Tigre Peul and the village chief of Tigre Bissa.It is possible to improve resources, particularly grazing areas, and this decision is made by the leader of the pastoral group. In the past, tree planting and seeding of grazed areas with fodder species have been carried out without success. As the pressure of space use is high, it has not been possible to leave the treated areas at rest. Despite this underperformance, the pastoral group believes these efforts must be renewed and better organised.There is a mechanism in place, but it is not formalised, to monitor land access, use and management. The task of monitoring falls to the community as a whole, which alerts the leader of the pastoral group to any illegal situation. This system, although informal, is applied well and produces satisfactory results.The pastoralist group experiences both internal (among members) and external (between members of the group and actors outside the group) conflicts and these conflicts are generally over access to and use of the land. Internal conflicts are infrequent, rarely open and are quickly resolved amicably without escalating. With actors outside the pastoral group, in particular farmers from neighbouring districts and villages, farmer-herder conflicts related to the agricultural occupation of space, damage to fields and the slaughter of animals are more numerous and have been increasing over the past 10 years. These conflicts can be estimated at an average of five per year (Table 13). when the farmer is at fault (slaughter or injury of animals), there is less chance of success because farmers rarely acknowledge the damage they have caused. In such situations, amicable settlement is difficult and recourse to the CVD (most often on the initiative of the farmers) is inevitable and results in reparations by the wrongdoer.There is an advantage to the amicable settlement, even accompanied by compensation sometimes of the same level as that decided by the CVD. Without the intervention of a third party, this approach is preferred by the actors. It preserves the relations between the protagonists and reinforces the 'living together' in the village.There is no formal loss of access and use rights. However, the perpetrator of the damage may decide not to return to these places out of fear or remorse.According to the group, the strengths of their system lie in the internal understanding among members, collaboration with other communities (particularly the indigenous Bissas), the flexibility of access to and use of most resources and monitoring compliance with the rules (albeit imperfect). The main weaknesses of the tenure system are the lack of structures responsible for monitoring the application of the rules, the great flexibility in access, and the obvious lack of action to reverse the ongoing degradation of the area and its resources.The main characteristic of the system -its flexibility -is both an advantage and a weakness.It is an advantage because, by allowing others access to their resources, the pastoral group benefits from the understanding of other communities to use their spaces. Flexibility appears to be a weakness because open access makes it difficult to manage resources properly.According to the group, the needs for improvement of the pastoral space are twofold: to set up surveillance and monitoring structures and to carry out actions to improve the pastures.The tenure system that the pastoralists use has certain features that fit with how they graze their animals. These important features are:Access to resources -Everyone in the group can access different areas like grazing lands, valleys and vaccination areas. However, in some areas with fields, they need to be careful because they cannot move around as freely.Use of resources -They can use these areas, but there are rules to follow, such as not cutting down trees, starting fires or making new fields. Also, they have to pay a fee for using vaccination parks.Managing natural resources -People in the group get along well and tolerate each other when it comes to using these resources.Table 14 indicates when and how these features are used by the whole group and among the women members. When it comes to women and their animals, there are some noticeable differences regarding vaccination parks. Women usually have smaller animals, so they use traditional pens. They have full control and responsibility for these pens -only the owners can use them, and they must maintain them.Flexibility is the most crucial factor for accessing resources like grazing areas and lowlands.Both the pastoral group and women agree that having the freedom to access these areas is vital for their way of life (Table 15). Control is the top priority for the entire group when it comes to using vaccination parks. This control helps minimise health risks, and the money collected for using the park goes towards its upkeep, but not for dealing with epidemics. That is why ensuring control over payments is very important. These are the qualities that, if lost, could make it difficult for the pastoral group to access and use the land and resources they require (Table 16). When we examine the importance of these land tenure characteristics, both from the group's perspective and from that of the women, we notice a shift in priorities when considering the consequences of their loss on the group's ability to access and use resources:Access to resources -The most critical characteristic of access is the freedom of movement. This is highly important because, once the animals have access to grazing areas and lowlands, they must be able to move around freely to make the most of these resources. The women's group shares this perspective.Use of vaccination parks -When it comes to using vaccination parks, control remains the most crucial attribute for the pastoral group. This is because, without proper control over who can access the park, there is a substantial risk of harm due to the elevated health risk. This heightened risk could result in significant losses in the local herd. Source: author's creationHere, we discuss how secure the community feels about their right to use the communal pastures during the rainy season. Tables related to this section (Tables 17 to 20) are contained in Annex 3.Overall, the group thinks that there is a fairly good chance that they might lose their right to use these pastures against their will, either now or in the near or distant future. However, this negative outlook is starting to improve.The younger members of the group seem more pessimistic about this, while the older ones have more confidence. The older members trust the village chief's wisdom to prevent such a loss, so they are less worried.The adults, in particular, believe that the ongoing discussions and negotiations will eventually lead to positive outcomes and might even reverse the current trend (Table 17).The women are also quite optimistic in general, but we note that this optimism deteriorates. They do not have confidence in the dialogue taking place between their group and the other communities, and they illustrate this by the strong pressure in and around the pastoral space (agricultural occupations) and the progressive deterioration of social cohesion (Table 18).Most people in the community are very confident that their children will inherit the rights to access and use the communal grazing lands. They also believe that their children will be able to keep these rights for their whole lives (Table 19).One reason for their confidence is that they see that their children are better educated than they were, which means they have the knowledge and skills to protect and use these rights effectively.Women (Table 20) are less confident than men. The reasons are related to their reduced optimism about their group's rights to continue to use communal grazing lands as they wish.This section examines the community's confidence in retaining its ability to move livestock and people to and through the wet season rangelands without any involuntary restrictions. Tables related to this section (Tables 21 to 24) are contained in Annex 4.The group has relatively few concerns about the possibility of losing their right to move livestock and people across the common grazing lands without their consent. However, this optimism wanes when considering the near future, especially in the next five years. On the bright side, their confidence grows and becomes stronger beyond that timeframe (Table 20).The explanation provided by the focus group is consistent with the reasoning for the right to access and use collective resources. It revolves around the increasing pressure on pastoral lands, which raises apprehensions for the short term (up to the next five years). Nevertheless, the group believes that, over time, ongoing dialogues will yield satisfactory results (Table 21).As with access and use rights, women are less optimistic that the group will be able to continue to use its mobility rights on wet-season communal pastures. The reasons for this continue to be that women have little faith in the success of the dialogue between the group and other groups in the area (Table 22).The group is fairly confident that their children will inherit their rights to livestock and human mobility, and will be able to retain these rights throughout their lives (Table 23).The feeling among women is slightly different. They are less confident than men. However, confidence among this specific group is slightly better about the possibility that their children can use mobility rights for themselves and their livestock than about the inheritance of these rights (Table 24).This section examines the primary factors that contribute to the community's security in terms of their land rights.Two key factors work together to ensure that the pastoralist group does not lose its right to use and benefit from the communal grazing lands:Internal solidarity -This refers to the unity and cooperation within the pastoralist group.Dialogue with other communities -This involves communication and collaboration with neighbouring communities.Between these two factors, dialogue with other communities takes precedence in maintaining the group's tenure security. In other words, it plays a more significant role in preventing the group from losing its right to use and benefit from the common grazing area. Internal solidarity, while essential, is considered slightly less critical.For women, these same factors and their hierarchy of importance remain consistent. However, instead of 'internal solidarity' and 'dialogue with other communities', women express these as 'understanding within the group' and 'understanding between the pastoral group and other groups'. Essentially, they refer to the same concepts.Primary threats to group land tenure security Several factors, some of which are listed below, pose a threat to the group's land-tenure security, increasing the likelihood that the pastoral group could lose its right to use and benefit from collective grazing areas (Table 25).Loss of group cohesion -a breakdown in unity within the pastoral group.Failure to mark out pastoral space -not clearly designating and defining the areas for pastoral use.Encroachment of fields on pastoral space -expansion of agricultural fields into the pastoral land.Failure to apply or unfavourable application of official grazing laws -either not implementing grazing laws or applying them in a manner unfavourable to the pastoral group.Table 25 shows that the most significant threat to the group's land security is the nonapplication of laws, while the encroachment of fields on the pastoral space is considered the least significant threat. The women see only one major threat, i.e. agricultural pressure on the resources of the pastoral area. The loss of communal grazing rights for the pastoral group would significantly reduce the available space for them to move around and care for their animals. This would force the group to adapt in two primary ways:Shift away from livestock raising -Some members may decide to abandon livestock raising altogether and explore alternative activities such as trade, construction in towns or gold panning. This choice stems from the limited space available for maintaining herds and the desire to avoid conflicts, which become more likely with restricted grazing land.Migrating with the animals also involves substantial risks.Intensify livestock farming -In response to the loss of grazing space, herders who own many livestock may face the risk of food scarcity and potential conflicts. Farmers may reduce their animal numbers and supplement their diet with concentrates and other purchased fodder to mitigate these risks.These consequences are expected to remain consistent regardless of the timeframe considered, whether it is the present, in 5 years, 10 years or beyond. Some herders might even consider returning to their native lands as a response to this challenge.The community has already experienced the loss of portions of the land they previously used, particularly in the Nakambé River area in the eastern part of the pastoral space near the village of Mognoré and the Wuro Issaka neighbourhood. This loss began approximately two decades ago, with the gradual expansion of agricultural fields into these grazing areas.In response, the community has taken actions to either reclaim their land rights or slow the encroachment of agriculture into pastoral lands. These actions include filing complaints with authorities, resulting in the eviction of occupants and marking boundaries. Additionally, they planted trees to deter further encroachment. However, these solutions proved to be temporary as the markers were later damaged, and encroachments resumed. This widespread practice among farmers nationwide signifies a denial of herders' rights to their own space and a challenge to administrative authority.In this section, we analyse specific subgroups within the community -namely men and women -and their access, use and tenure security of wet-season grazing land.Regardless of various categorisation criteria, such as wealth and social commitments, the access and use of land by individual members does not differ significantly from that of the overall group or of women. This implies that neither wealth nor social commitment affects individual access and use rights for pastoral land. Regardless of their social status, individuals primarily use the land for pastoral purposes, followed by agricultural activities and the exploitation of forest products. Among women, this also includes specific crops and the production of seccos.Among men, two major changes have been observed over the past decade: the expansion of fields and the application of organic manure. Field expansion is linked to increased engagement in agricultural activities, affecting everyone irrespective of social class. However, the application of organic manure is associated with wealth levels. Wealthier group members are better equipped to access and use organic manure effectively to enrich their fields due to factors like owning more animals and having financial resources. These changes are primarily driven by spatial pressure and resource degradation, negatively impacting livestock performance and leading to conflicts. This has prompted herders to diversify their activities.Similar changes have occurred among women over the past decade, regardless of individual status (rich, poor, engaged or not engaged). These changes include greater involvement in agriculture and increased exploitation of timber and non-timber forest products. These shifts among women are linked to reduced income from milk sales, which were previously used to meet various family needs.The advantages, disadvantages and suggested improvements in the land tenure system from the specific perspectives of the identified categories do not significantly differ from those of the overall pastoralist and women's groups. However, three noteworthy improvements emerge, with the third suggestion coming exclusively from the women's subgroups:Delimitation of the pastoral space -the need to clearly define the boundaries of the pastoral space.Maintenance of the park (backfilling if necessary) -ensuring the proper upkeep of the park, including any required backfilling.Utilitarian tree species -planting trees that serve multiple purposes beyond grazing, benefiting women in particular.These proposed improvements aim to enhance the overall land tenure system, benefiting both men and women within the community (Table 26).  This section explores how individuals within the community view the land tenure system and its alignment with their grazing practices.Characteristics that support grazing practices -The essential characteristics of the tenure system that make it well suited for pastoral practices are consistent across all individual perspectives, regardless of the category considered.Access to resources -Flexibility is crucial for all resources, including grazing areas, lowlands and vaccination parks. Freedom of movement within grazing areas and lowlands is essential, although this freedom is somewhat restricted in lowlands due to the presence of fields. This limitation necessitates vigilance from herders in monitoring their animals.Use of resources -Controlled use is emphasised for all resources, and there is a fee (1,000 CFA francs per herd) for vaccination parks. Access to grazing areas and lowlands is subject to specific rules, such as prohibiting pruning, clearing, bushfires and new fields.Natural resource management -Mutual tolerance is valued for all resources, including grazing areas, lowlands and vaccination parks.Women, who typically have smaller ruminants, use traditional parks, and the access and use of these areas is individually controlled. Only the owners have access and use rights, and sole responsibility for maintenance and management. In terms of the importance of these characteristics, the classification indicates the following:Access to resources -Flexibility is the most critical characteristic for grazing areas and lowlands. The pastoral group and women both view free access to resources as crucial for the sustainability of their practices.Use of vaccination parks -At the overall group level, control is deemed the most important characteristic because it minimises health risks. The funds collected help maintain the park but cannot be used to address an epidemic, emphasising the significance of control over payments.Among individual female groups, the classification remains the same, except for their explanation, which revolves around the satisfaction of their animals. They consider flexibility of access more important, as, without it, they cannot ensure movement within the areas.The results of the analysis regarding the impact of losing these characteristics on access and resource use align with those of the overall group and the women's group:Access to resources -Freedom of movement is the most vital characteristic of access. This includes the ability of animals to move within grazing areas and lowlands once they have access to them to exploit resources. The women's group shares this perspective.Use of vaccination parks -Control remains the most important characteristic according to the pastoral group. The rationale behind this is that, without control over access to the park, the risk of harm is substantial due to high health risks, potentially leading to significant livestock mortality.This section examines the key factors that contribute to the land security of individuals within the community.Among adult men, two factors -solidarity among community members and attachment of community members to their land -are consistently mentioned, regardless of wealth levels or social commitment. Similarly, when considering social commitment or wealth, the same factors, collaboration with other communities and solidarity among community members, are cited. One factor, internal solidarity, is mentioned in both contexts but differs in ranking regarding its contribution to individual security. It is considered highly important in the context of social commitment and fairly important in terms of wealth levels (Table 27). Among the women individually considered, three factors were cited in the following order of importance: more important (acceptance among the inhabitants of the village), very important (solidarity among the members of the community) and fairly important (pity for the lonely, such as widows and divorcees).The consequences of losing collective grazing rights for an individual, regardless of gender, social commitment or wealth level, are nearly identical (Table 28). Individual members will generally adapt by changing their activities and intensifying livestock activities (with downsizing). From now on and for ever Change of activities (gold panning, trade, real estate) because there will no longer be enough space, especially grazing areas for the animals Intensification of livestock farming because there will no longer be enough space, especially grazing areas, so they do not want to migrateThe community members are thus adapting to the new realities, and these activities will become stronger over timeFrom now on and for ever Change of activities (small businesses, handicrafts of seccos and mats) because there will no longer be enough space, especially grazing areas and they are adapting to the new realities Intensification of breeding (fattening) because there will not be enough space any more, in particular, pasture. Also, they do not want to migrate Source: author's creationWe conducted an exercise involving six individuals, including men and women and considering various categories such as social engagement and wealth level. These individuals shared their perspectives on how to enhance individual rights to communal land. It became evident that concerted action is needed both within and beyond the pastoral group to address this issue effectively:Enhanced surveillance -To restrict outsiders' entry and use of pastoral land, there is a need to re-evaluate the existing rules and engage in dialogues with neighbouring communities. Encouragingly, the current village chief, Chief Bissa, is open to dialogue and cooperation.Improved management of grazing areas -The group should organise itself to oversee and enhance the management of grazing areas, including improvements to existing practices.Government enforcement of land laws -There is an expectation that government authorities will actively enforce land laws that safeguard traditional grazing areas from conversion into agricultural plots.Furthermore, the group believes that, considering the present circumstances, the current rights of its members are satisfactory and should remain unchanged for the foreseeable future.Individual members of the pastoral group, irrespective of their social engagement and wealth level, have experienced the gradual loss of pasture land over the past 23 years. This loss has primarily affected the eastern part of the pastoral area, particularly in the grazing areas and lowlands. Agricultural pressure is the driving force behind this land loss, as land previously used for livestock is being converted into farmland by group members and individuals outside the pastoral community.To address this issue, the pastoralist group has united to assert its rights to the land. This involved engaging with Chief Bissa and administrative authorities responsible for animal resources. While some occupants were temporarily removed, grazing areas and lowland encroachment have resumed. This situation can be attributed to farmers' denial of pastoralists' rights and a lack of confidence from the administrative authorities in resolving the matter effectively.The Wakilé Allah pastoral group's land tenure system, particularly in the wet-season grazing areas, aligns with the Law on the Orientation of Pastoralism (LORP), designating these lands as reserved for grazing. These areas are a vital part of the pastoral lifestyle, traditionally dedicated to livestock activities. These lands are privately owned but managed under collective customary rights. Originally owned by the indigenous Bissa community, they were transferred to the pastoral group without formal land ownership titles.Seasonal variations impact land use, with dry seasons involving extensive grazing, while rainy seasons witness widespread cultivation in lowlands, leaving limited space for animals. This land tenure system is best described as collective and permissive. Access to resources, mainly grazing areas and lowlands, remains open, with regulation, control or payment necessary only for modern vaccination parks. Management is relatively lenient, with limited sanctions and collective enforcement. Notably, the pastoral group sets its own rules on resource access and management, which align with the LORP. However, these rules gain enforceability against third parties after validation by the municipal council.While this permissiveness may seem to endanger the pastoral space and resources, it is viewed as essential by the pastoral group. Considering mounting external pressures, they believe these rules are crucial for their practices and resource sustainability. The pastoral space alone cannot suffice for their extensive herds, resulting in a need for open access to maintain mobility.Tree plantations and forage-species seeding have had limited success in combating qualitative degradation. As a result, the group practices transhumance, a common pastoral strategy to adapt to seasonal resource variability. Coupled with localised changes within the group, mobility is a response to resource degradation and increased agricultural pressure. These changes include a shift toward intensified livestock practices, reduced herd sizes and increased supplementary feeding, along with more extensive use of aerial fodder.Within the Wakilé Allah pastoral group, both men and women access and use resources similarly, with differences driven by their specific interests. Men focus on animal-related resources, while women prioritise forest products for household sustenance and income generation. Apart from this gender-based distinction, no significant differences are observed based on marital status, social engagement or wealth level. It is worth noting that younger men and women are less optimistic about maintaining access to collective resources and passing these rights to their offspring. They express concerns about the ongoing dialogue's effectiveness, the non-rigorous enforcement of laws protecting herders' rights, and escalating external conflicts with non-group members.Efforts to resolve conflicts emphasise amicable settlements, typically informally through consultations between parties. External intervention is rare and occurs when the offending party refuses to acknowledge wrongdoing.While the customary system for managing pastoral land is widely accepted, concerns linger regarding its security. Customary land ownership is legally recognised in Burkina Faso, but formalisation through certificates is encouraged. Yet, for collective lands like pastoral areas, the LORP and rural land tenure laws provide mechanisms for security. As mandated by law, local land charters could play a role in securing these collective lands.Protective actions must be taken to address threats to tenure security, such as loss of cohesion, unmarked pastoral spaces, encroachments by agriculture and inadequate law enforcement. Registration of the pastoral area in the name of the pastoral group or the commune is a crucial step. If registered under the commune, the group retains usage rights without ownership. Registration in the group's name grants ownership, but costs and consent from the Bissa chief are factors to consider.While challenges to tenure security exist, the collective land tenure system remains adaptable, reinforcing the resilience of the Wakilé Allah pastoral group in the face of changing conditions and resource pressures.Examining the Wakilé Allah pastoral group's land tenure system and its members' perceptions of security reveals a flexible system that has effectively supported their land-use practices despite many challenges. While their tenure system has served pastoral practices well thus far, it shows signs of vulnerability due to multiple threats. These threats include the nonenforcement of grazing-related regulations, the absence of spatial demarcation, the gradual erosion of group cohesion and encroachment by agricultural activities.Addressing the current threats to the pastoral group's land tenure system requires a balanced approach that safeguards their traditional practices while providing legal protections through proper land management and registration. In response to these challenges, the pastoral group calls for remedial actions to safeguard their land and resources. While this request is wellfounded, it carries the potential risk of compromising the group's mobility, both internally and externally. Mobility is a fundamental aspect of the group's pastoral practices and is essential to ensure that their animals can continue transhumance without being confined to neighbouring villages' territories. Following the terminology of Gonin (2016), this transition could shift the pastoral land tenure system from one based on security through reciprocity to one based on security through exclusive resource appropriation.Securing the land-tenure system entails two main steps:1. Registration and community benefit -To further strengthen land security, the pastoral area should be officially registered for the community's benefit. This process involves the delineation, demarcation and clarification of rights that may be held by customary landowners. Registering the land in the name of the community will provide additional legal protection and tenure security. This law, known as the Law on the Orientation of Pastoralism (LORP), is the primary legal framework for pastoralism in Burkina Faso. It sets out principles and methods for the sustainable development of pastoral activities and grants important rights to herders regarding access to and use of pastoral resources.Access to and use of specially developed pastoral areas Special management pastoral areas, often referred to as pastoral zones, are governed by Article 13 of the LORP. According to this article, pastoralists who hold authorisation or settlement permits are allowed access to these designated areas, and access to these zones is regulated by responsible authorities.a. Only pastoralists with proper authorisation or permits are permitted entry into these special management pastoral areas. It is worth noting that access to grazing areas is further governed by Decree No. 2-7-410/PRES/PM/MRA/MFP dated 3 July 2007. This decree outlines the general terms for allocating, occupying and using managed grazing areas.b. The allocation of specific land plots within these areas for individual use rather than ownership is determined by an allocation commission. Article 10 of the decree specifies that the occupation and use of these land plots within developed pastoral zones are based on either an exploitation permit or an emphyteutic lease, which specifies the terms and duration of use.c. Besides granting enjoyment rights, the state may also award concessions for specific portions of a pastoral zone, as detailed in the same Article 10 of the decree. In such cases, a concession allows an individual or private entity to manage the designated area granted by the state.Pastoralists have free access to land reserved for grazing, but local communities can regulate this access through local land charters (Article 14). This article states that pastoralists have the right to freely access areas reserved for animal grazing, giving them access to all available resources. a. However, the law also allows local communities, such as grassroots populations, to manage access to these resources in collaboration with local or decentralised authorities. This collaborative effort aims to ensure the sustainable use of these resources. One tool used for regulating access and utilisation of these resources is the local land charter. Pastoralists can access fields left fallow or harvested after crops, subject to certain conditions. Spaces available for animal grazing are areas initially intended for purposes other than pastoral activities, as indicated by ONF-BF in 2017. However, the LORP outlines the rights of pastoralists regarding access and use of these spaces, taking into account the specific laws governing these areas.a. According to Article 24, pastoralists share their rights with other rural operators, such as farmers and those involved in non-timber forest products. This means that pastoralists have the right to use these areas while complying with forestry regulations. They also have access to fields left fallow or to fields after the harvest (Article 26), regardless of who the owner is, unless the owner expressly forbids it.The law grants pastoralists the right to access water points for their animals, subject to water management laws of the LORP (Article 28).a. The rules for water use by pastoralists are determined not only by the LORP but also by Law No. 2-2-1/AN of 8 February 2001 on the orientation law relating to water management. For access to water points, the LORP provides for the establishment of easements of passage imposed on the land bordering these water points.Herders have the right to move livestock within the country and internationally, adhering to relevant laws.a. Transhumant herders need to follow the existing laws, specifically the LORP that regulates national transhumance and Decision A/DEC 5/1-/98, which governs transhumance between member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).To travel with their animals and access grazing areas or markets for selling their livestock, herders use specific routes known as livestock tracks.b. The LORP (Article 43) distinguishes between different types of tracks: access tracks (for accessing grazing resources), transhumance tracks (for moving animals within the country and beyond), and marketing tracks (for reaching markets). These tracks are clearly marked and categorised as part of the public domain, owned by either the state or local authorities, as explained in Article 46. These tracks may have markers to help herders navigate their routes depending on the circumstances.The law provides for conciliation as a means of settling disputes related to pastoral activities before resorting to legal proceedings. Articles 67 and 68 of Law No. 34-2-2/AN, enacted on 14 November 2002 concerning pastoralism, introduce conciliation as a way to resolve disputes related to pastoral activities. Article 67 specifies that, before any legal action, disputes linked to pastoralism must undergo a mandatory conciliation process.a. This process occurs within a local conciliation commission that includes representatives from both farmers and pastoralists. The outcomes of this initial conciliation are documented in a report, whether an agreement is reached or not, as explained in Article 68. This right granted to pastoral producers enables them to resolve conflicts while considering their traditions and practices, avoiding lengthy legal proceedings that could disrupt their activities.ANNEX The law clarifies that rural lands developed with public funds, including those for pastoral purposes, fall under the state's private immovable domain (Article 25). These lands may later be transferred to local authorities (Article 27). Furthermore, the law mandates the identification, demarcation and registration of state and local authority lands, including pastoral areas, to ensure their peaceful and sustainable use (Articles 26 and 30). Collective lands, as defined by the LORP or rural land tenure law, may belong to one of these land categories based on how they are secured.When it comes to local rules for accessing pastoral resources, the LORP states that local communities working with herder organisations can establish these rules (Articles 14 and 15). This includes regulations for collective pastoral lands, covering their use and management, all aimed at sustainable natural resource management. The specific details of these rules are determined by a joint order issued by ministers responsible for livestock, water, forestry, agriculture, land administration and finance.However, in the rural land tenure law, the local land charters define these particular rules for accessing, using and governing natural resources. These charters must receive validation from the municipal councils of local authorities. Given that all pastoral activities are inherently connected to the land, it appears necessary to align the pastoral law, which pre-dates the rural land-tenure law, with the latter.Law No. 34-2-9/AN specifically addresses the land rights of women and youth (unlike the LORP, which considers the household as a whole). It lacks provisions that actively promote the participation of women and youth in decision-making and consultation bodies, for instance. However, Article 75 allows for the possibility of setting quotas through regulations for the allocation of land developed by the state and local authorities to women and young people.There are also differences regarding land tenure security for pastoral areas. The LORP, in Article 18, states that 'pastoral areas of special development existing at the time of this law's enforcement are incorporated into the state's domain, which then proceeds to delineate, demarcate and register these areas in its name.' This provision does not explicitly address the resolution of existing land rights, such as compensating customary landowners, which is essential during the registration process. In contrast, rural land-tenure law mandates compensation for land rights holders during the development and registration of pastoral areas, as outlined in Article 33, with further details provided in a related decree.The purpose of this law is to set broad guidelines for the sustainable development of agrosylvo-pastoral, fisheries and wildlife activities to achieve food sovereignty and food and nutritional security to contribute to the sustainable development of Burkina Faso (Article 1).To this end, the law aims to ensure: (1) the promotion of productive investments in the rural sector (including small-scale investments in family farming) through easy access to production factors, the existence of an appropriate tax system and agro-sylvo-pastoral insurance to cover production-related risks;(2) facilitating access to factors of production, in particular rural land and land tenure security, water control and supply, inputs and equipment, energy, infrastructure, labour and financing;(3) facilitating access to markets and processing of agrosylvo-pastoral, fishery and wildlife products; (4) environmental protection and sustainable management of natural resources, in particular through the fight against agricultural pollution, restoration and/or preservation of biodiversity and degraded land; and (5) balanced and coherent land-use planning for the use of rural areas for agro-sylvo-pastoral, fishing and wildlife purposes in harmony with other uses.As with Law No. 34-2-9/AN on rural land tenure, Law No. 7-2-15/CNT differs from LORP on the issue of access to rural land for women and youth. Law No. 7-2-15/CNT requires the state and local authorities (Articles 1 to 6) to reserve at least 3% of developed land for vulnerable people, particularly women and the young.The Agrarian and Land Reorganisation law (RAF) in Burkina Faso, initially drafted in 1984 and revised in 1996, is a comprehensive law that addresses rural and urban land tenure in Burkina Faso. It applies to the national land domain (Article 2), which includes the land owned by the state, local authorities and private individuals. This law serves two main purposes:It outlines the legal framework for land within the national land domain. This includes defining land status, establishing general principles for territorial planning and sustainable development, managing land and other natural resources, and regulating property rights.It provides guidelines for agrarian policies (Article 1). This involves specifying how the land of the state, local authorities and private individuals is composed, established and managed.It is important to note that the law emphasises the importance of registration as a common method of protecting land in both the state land domain (Article 122) and the land domain of local authorities (Article 155). This means that, after identifying and registering its land, the state has the option to transfer ownership to municipalities. Similarly, it can delegate the management of these domains to regional and municipal authorities.Additionally, this law introduces the concept of purging revealed rights, which should be considered more extensively in the LORP. The LORP, drafted in 2002 before the adoption of the 2012 Agrarian and Land Reorganisaiton law (RAF), did not adequately address the need to compensate land rights holders when securing land in pastoral areas. This aspect of land tenure should be more comprehensively integrated into the LORP to align with the RAF's provisions.This law on expropriation and compensation is relevant for creating areas reserved for pastoral activities through expropriation if consensus cannot be reached. Expropriation is described as a process in which the state or local authority can, in the public interest and with fair compensation provided beforehand, require someone to transfer the ownership of land or a real property right to them, as stated in Article 7 of the law. So, if individuals cannot agree on clearing land for pastoral activities, expropriation could be considered as a method to allocate land for pastoral purposes, such as establishing cattle tracks and pastoral areas.This law on the planning and sustainable development of the territory is important for resource management. This law does not exclusively pertain to rural land. However, it does establish principles, regulations and processes for creating different land-use and sustainable development plans. This framework enables more effective utilisation of natural resources and improved environmental conservation. Article 2 of this law explicitly states its objectives, including advancing social well-being, economic efficiency and environmental protection in alignment with community land-use planning policies.The Forestry Code provides regulations on the use of forests and protected areas, affecting pastoral areas within those zones. This law lays out the framework for establishing and overseeing pastoral areas by territorial authorities. According to Article 28 of the law, a rural commune's territory comprises three key zones: a residential area, a production area and a conservation area. Production areas primarily serve purposes such as agriculture, livestock, forestry, fish farming and various rural activities. The conservation areas are designated for protecting natural resources.When we combine this law with other regulations concerning land tenure, we can see that these legal provisions empower local authorities (such as regions and communes) to directly create pastoral areas and take charge of their management. However, these communes and regions might also be tasked with overseeing pastoral areas that have been transferred to them by the state or areas where the state has delegated management responsibilities to them.Since 2014, the state has delegated land management to territorial communities. However, the lack of proper land registration for state-owned land and land held by territorial communities has made the physical management of these transferred areas quite challenging.The main point of the Forestry Code is to establish regulations for the protection of forests, wildlife and fishery resources. It allows for the creation of pastoral areas within protected forests but strictly prohibits them in classified forests, which have strict usage rules. According to this law, pastoral areas can be established within protected forests but are not allowed in classified forests. Classified forests are subject to strict usage restrictions. Both classified forests and protected areas like national parks, wildlife reserves and sanctuaries have a 'nograzing' policy for livestock.In exceptional circumstances, such as a severe shortage of food for livestock officially recognised by the government, the Council of Ministers can grant permission through a decree to temporarily allow grazing in specific classified forests. Each decree permitting such an extraordinary opening of a forest must outline the specific limitations and rules applicable to that particular forest (Article 7 of the Forestry Code).The environmental code seeks to protect living beings by improving environmental conditions. Article 3 clearly states its purpose, which is closely tied to safeguarding pastoral resources. The environmental code is designed to shield living creatures from harmful or troublesome threats and hazards arising from environmental degradation and to enhance their overall living conditions.The duty to safeguard the environment is not only outlined in the preamble of the Constitution dated 2 June 1991 but also explicitly mentioned in Article 29. The obligation to adhere to environmental protection regulations is present in all documents related to pastoral zones, including the LORP, general or specific specifications.This law relates to water management, critical for pastoralists' access to water resources. Article 1 emphasises the significance of water as a precious resource and underscores the critical need for its sustainable management at the national level. Effective water management, guided by environmental considerations and legal priorities, aims to achieve several objectives that are to: ensure the provision of safe drinking water for the population address and harmonise the demands of various sectors, including agriculture, livestock farming, fishing, aquaculture, mineral extraction, industry and energy production   "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"211a8cfeff8f3d759be0490097fa1ad3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6fbfe478-9375-4f02-a26c-778100e6f035/retrieve","id":"1277275719"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9870018d-93fe-4ce8-877b-863f7adc6a2d","content":"Identifying existing Community knowledge Groups (CKG) and institutions as a basis to establish Innovation Platform • Introducing high value trees (HVT) 5 varieties of Avocado (Percia america), Apple (Malus domestica Borkh ), 5 varieties of Walnut (Fig 4) • Testing and identifying their suitability through on farm, experimental, laboratory trial, socio economic survey, and capacity building • Effect of management practices, (watering regime, mulching, fruit thinning, root stock compatibility) on survival, growth, yield and fruit quality"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"98a37f0c58bd6496049b314428c3abdc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/80502d8a-f35b-488e-b817-0e22b1d9229e/retrieve","id":"-271772303"},"keywords":["agro-ecological zones","farmers' indigenous knowledge","midDRIFTS","resource endowment","SOC stability index","soil fertility variability"],"sieverID":"6117f3f5-1de7-45b1-8692-5a2e52cec9ad","content":"Site-specific soil fertility management requires a fundamental understanding of factors that modulate soil fertility variability in the local context. To verify this assumption, this study hypothesized that soil fertility variability across two regions in Central and Western Ethiopia is determined by inter-related effects of agro-ecological zones and farmers' resource endowment ('wealthy' versus 'poor' farmers). Mid-infrared spectroscopy coupled to partial least squares regression (midDRIFTS-PLSR) and wet-laboratory analyses were used to assess the soil fertility (soil pH, total soil carbon [TC] and nitrogen [TN], plant-available phosphorous [P av ] and potassium [K av ]) across four agro-ecological zones: 'High-Dega' (HD), 'Dega' (D), 'Weina-Dega' (WD) and 'Kola' (K). MidDRIFTS peak area analysis of spectral frequencies (2,930 [aliphatic C-H], 1,620 [aromatic C = C], 1,159 [C-O poly-alcoholic and ethergroups] cm -1 ) was applied to characterize soil organic carbon (SOC) quality and to calculate the SOC stability index (1,620:2,930). Higher TC in HD, as well as higher TN and K av contents in K were found in fields of wealthy compared with poor farmers. Resource endowment dependent soil fertility management options revealed SOC of higher quality in wealthy compared with poor farms in D. Agro-ecological zones distinctions contributed to these soil fertility differences. Farmers distinguished visually fertile and less fertile fields based on soil colour. Higher pH in K and WD as well as P av in K and HD were found in fertile (brown/black) than less fertile (red) soils. To conclude, tailor-made soil fertility management in the local context must consider agro-ecological zones and resource endowment interactions along with farmers' indigenous knowledge.Integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) is an intervention strategy to counteract the problem of soil fertility depletion of smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (Vanlauwe et al., 2010). Its adoption across different regions of SSA remains, however, challenging (Vanlauwe et al., 2015). This is mainly due to resource shortcomings (e.g., land size, capital) that force resource-constrained farmers to expand into marginal lands, while wealthy farmers continue investing in fertile lands. This situation is aggravated by insecure tenure systems, prohibiting farmers from investing in their land, along with limited access to fertilizer inputs (Stevenson et al., 2019). These features have led to highly variable soil fertility levels across and within regions, magnified by inherent heterogeneity of agro-ecological zones and a wide range in socio-economic status among smallholder farmers (Tittonell et al., 2005). Heterogeneity of soil fertility does not allow uniform soil management strategies in larger areas, making ISFM adjusted to local contexts more essential. To tailor demand-oriented ISFM interventions to smallholder conditions under different local contexts, factors modulating soil fertility variability must be understood, considering farmers' resource endowment (i.e., their wealth) and indigenous knowledge (Tittonell et al., 2005;Vanlauwe et al., 2015).Previous soil fertility assessments in Eastern (e.g., Kenya) and Southern (e.g., Zimbabwe) Africa revealed the influence of densely populated landscapes, biophysical factors, farmers' resource endowment and distance of cultivated fields from homesteads on soil fertility management options (Nyamangara et al., 2011;Tittonell et al., 2010;Tittonell, Vanlauwe, Leffelaar, Rowe, et al., 2005). These studies were, however, not based on generic and harmonized soil surveying procedures, making direct comparisons across different agroecological zones and smallholder farming systems difficult. Africa Soil Information Service (AfSIS) (Vågen et al., 2010) and Ethiopian Soil Information System (EthioSIS) (Amare et al., 2018) have made important progress in consolidating existing soil fertility survey protocols for several African countries, including Ethiopia. Nevertheless, (a) the interrelated effects of agro-ecological zones and farmers' resource endowments, along with (b) farmers' indigenous knowledge as additional proxies for soil fertility assessment have so far been neglected and thus need further investigation. This is justified as it could be suggested that continuous knowledge transfer among farmers within and across agro-ecological zones (Leta et al., 2018), as well as contrasting agroecological and geological contexts (Mengistu, 2003) modulate soil fertility variability. Hence, it was our first objective to perform a local soil fertility survey to test the hypothesis that not only individual but also inter-related effects of agroecological zones and farmers' resource endowments affect soil fertility variability in a local context. Our second objective was to verify that farmers' indigenous knowledge of soil fertility status is not driven by inter-related effects of agroecology and farm typology. This assumption was based on the continuous transfer of knowledge among farmers within and across agro-ecological zones (Leta et al., 2018).The soil fertility survey was conducted in four contrasting agro-ecological zones of Central and Western Ethiopia, which were defined according to Mengistu (2003) and Hurni (1998): (a) 'Kola' (K) (<1,500 m a.s.l., average temperatures of 15-27°C, average rainfall of 2,037 mm), and (b) 'Weina-Dega' (WD) (1,500-2,500 m a.s.l., 15-27°C, 1,376 mm), (c) 'Dega' (D) (2,500-3,200 m a.s.l., ≤9°C, 938 mm) and (d) 'High-Dega' (HD) (3200-3500 m a.s.l., ≤9°C, 938 mm). Agro-ecological zones K (Lelisadimtu [36°24'E; 9°02'N]) and WD (Fromsa [36°45'E; 9°03'N]) are subsistence maize-dominated crop-livestock farming systems and Nitisols with clay texture (FAO, 2015), while D (Kolugelan [38°9'E; 9°22'N]) and HD (Chilanko [38°11'E; 9°20'N]) are dominated by market-oriented potato/barley systems as well as Luvisols and Alisols with clay texture (FAO, 2015). Lelisadimtu and Fromsa were located in Diga District (Western Ethiopia), while Kolugelan and Chilanko were located in Jeldu district (Central Ethiopia) (Table 1; Figure S1).Farm typologies (resource endowment) at the target sites (villages) were defined during village meetings and focus group discussions. Two to three focus group discussions with a total of 16-18 household heads with an equal share of females and males as well as young and old farmers were held in each agro-ecological zone. The main farm typology indicators were farm size (landholdings (LH)), livestock ownership and level of agricultural inputs (i.e., chemical fertilizer) (Haileslassie et al., 2006;Kebede et al., 2019). Thresholds set by farmers in all villages were <2 ha farm size, <6 tropical livestock units (TLU), and relatively low chemical fertilizer rates to categorize farmers as 'Eyeessaa (poor)', while a LH of ≥4 ha, ≥8 TLU and use of full fertilizer rates (100 kg urea and 100 kg DAP) were defined as 'Ditta (wealthy)'. This is because wealthy farmers frequently intend to maximize crop productivity by applying fertilizer, whereas poor farmers cannot follow a similar strategy due to a lack of cash to purchase fertilizer. To confirm the agreed farm typology thresholds, detailed data on farm typology indicators were collected on 90 predefined wealthy and poor households (10% of the total population) (Table 1).AGUMAS et Al.In each agro-ecological zone (n = 4), 14 individual households (seven wealthy, seven poor) per farm typology were selected (Dawoe et al., 2012;Nyamangara et al., 2011). On each farm, the head of the household was requested to indicate the most and least fertile field plots based on their individual indigenous knowledge about soil fertility status. Hence, two field plots per household (fertile and poor) were selected for soil sample collection (Vågen et al., 2012). According to Yeshaneh (2015), farmers use soil colour as the most important indicator of soil fertility, where black and brown soils were considered as fertile and red soils as less fertile.During soil sampling, the household head indicated the colour of the specified soil of the field plot. According to the sampling procedure, a total number of 224 geo-referenced soil samples were collected (four agro-ecological zones (K, WD, D, HD) × 2 farm typologies (wealthy, poor) × 7 farms per typology × 2 fields per farm (fertile and less fertile) × 2 soil depths (0-20 cm, 21-50 cm)). Soil samples were airdried and passed through a 2 mm sieve prior shipping to the University of Hohenheim (Stuttgart, Germany) for further analysis.Soil pH (CaCl 2 ) was measured according to Houba et al. (2000). Total carbon (TC) and nitrogen (TN) were analysed by dry combustion. Available phosphorus (P av ) was measured colorimetrically at 720 nm using the Bray1 method (Bray and Kurtz (1945). Available potassium (K av ) was analysed using ICP-OES (Agilent 5100) (Schüller, 1969). Calcium-acetate-lactate was used as extractant for both phosphorous and potassium.MidDRFIFTS-based analyses were performed according to Mirzaeitalarposhti et al. (2015), Rasche et al. (2013) and Demyan et al. (2012). MidDRIFTS-PLSR-based prediction models for each soil chemical property (i.e., TC, TN, pH, P av and K av ) were constructed with the OPUS-QUANT2 package of OPUS v7.5 (Bruker Optik GmbH) (Rasche et al., 2013). Similarly, peak area integration by midDRIFTS using OPUS 7.5 software (Bruker Optik GmbH) (Demyan et al., 2012) was conducted to provide an additional measure of the soil fertility status. Three prominent peaks (i.e., 2,930, 1,620 and 1,159 cm -1 ) with their respective integration limits (3,000-2,800, 1,770-1,496, 1,180-1,126 cm -1 ) representing different organic functional groups of SOC were used as additional soil fertility indicators (Baes & Bloom, 1989;Demyan et al., 2012;Senesi et al., 2003). Peak 2,930 cm -1 represents less stable aliphatic C-H groups, components of the active SOC pool (Demyan et al., 2012;Laub et al., 2019). Peak 1,620 cm -1 represents more stable aromatic C = C bonds as part of the recalcitrant SOC pool (Demyan et al., 2012;Laub et al., 2019). The third peak at 1,159 cm -1 represents C-O poly-alcoholic and ether groups, commonly regarded as very stable C compounds (Demyan et al., 2012;Senesi et al., 2003). The ratio of the functional groups 1,620 and 1,159 versus 2,930 cm -1 is commonly calculated as the SOC stability index, which is used as a soil quality indicator. Further methodological details are given in the Supporting information of this paper. Weina-Dega (WD) Wealthy (Ditta) 4.4 (0.9) abc 8. Univariate analysis using Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests was conducted to determine if the data met the assumptions of normality. Except for P av and K av , all soil chemical properties met the assumption. For P av and K av , logarithmic and square root transformations were performed, respectively. Factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to assess the effect of agro-ecology, farm typology (resource endowment class), farmers' indigenous knowledge and their interaction on soil fertility status, using a mixed model with restricted maximum likelihood (REML) (Piepho et al., 2003) (SAS statistical software, version 9.4; SAS Institute). Agro-ecology, farm typology and soil fertility status as defined by farmers were considered as fixed effects, while each field and the interaction between individual factors were included as random effects (Piepho et al., 2004). Means separation (p < 0.05) was done using pdiff LINES command in GLIMMIX (SAS Institute).3.1 | Inter-related effect of agro-ecological zones and farmers' resource endowment on soil fertilityAnalysis of variance showed that not only agro-ecological zone but also farmers' resource endowment had a significant effect on soil fertility indicators (i.e., TC, TN, K av ; p < 0.01) (Figure 1). However, pH and P av were only influenced by agro-ecological zone (p <.01). An interaction effect between agro-ecological zone and resource endowment was observed for K av (p < 0.01) (Figure 1d). The higher K av values (234 mg kg -1 ) were noted for fields of wealthy farmers in 'Kola' (K), while the lowest K av values (62 mg kg -1 ) were recorded on wealthy farms in 'Dega' (D) (p < 0.01) (Figure 1d). The highest values of TC and TN were observed in 'Weina-Dega' (WD) in both farm typologies, while the lowest TC was found in fields of D (p < 0.01) (Figure 1a). In 'High-Dega' (HD), higher TC and higher TN contents in K were found in fields of wealthy compared with less wealthy farmers (p < 0.01) (Figure 1a,b). Agro-ecological zone influenced soil pH and P av (p < 0.001) (Figure 1c,e), where lowest values were observed in WD. No effect of farm typology was found for pH and P av (p > 0.05) (Figure 1c,e). Three dominant relative peak areas representing SOC functional groups were identified and used as proxies for SOC quality: (a) 2,930 cm -1 (C-H-aliphatic groups), (b) 1,620 cm -1 (C = C-aromatic groups) and (c) 1,159 cm -1 (C-O polyalcoholic and ether group) (Figure 2a-c The relative peak areas of these SOC functional groups and the SOC stability index, calculated as the ratio of aromatic to aliphatic area (peak 1,620 cm -1 to 2,930 cm -1 ), varied across agro-ecological zones and farmers resource endowment, with respective interaction effects (p < 0.05) (Figure 2a-d). The highest (5.5%) and lowest (3.1%) peaks at 2,930 cm -1 were noted on fields of poor farmers in K and D, respectively. Similarly, fields of wealthy farmers had a larger peak area at 2,930 cm -1 than those of poor farmers in D (p < 0.05) (Figure 2a). In contrast, the highest (95.2%) and lowest (91.9%) values of relative peak area at 1,620 cm -1 peak were found in fields of poor farmers in D and K, respectively (p < 0.05) (Figure 2b). The highest relative peak area of 1,159 cm -1 was observed in K fields of both farm typologies, while the lowest was found in HD (p < 0.01) (Figure 2c). The highest and lowest SOC stability indices were calculated for fields of poor farmers in D and K, respectively (p < 0.001) (Figure 2d). In D, a larger index was noted in fields of poor compared with wealthy farmers (p < 0.05). Furthermore, significant positive correlations of pH and TOC with C-H aliphatic SOC (pH: r 2 = 0.39; TOC: r 2 = 0.51) were found, while negative relationships were calculated for C = C aromatic SOC (pH: r 2 = −0.39; TOC: r 2 = −0.47) (p < 0.001) (data not shown). Correlations between the stability index and TOC (r 2 = −0.45) and TN (r 2 = −0.24) (p < 0.001) were negative, while no correlation was found for soil pH.Farmers' indigenous knowledge on soil fertility agreed with 75% (eight out of 12 soil fertility indicators) of scientifically generated soil fertility indicators across agro-ecological zones (Tables 2 and 3). Soil colour as a soil fertility indicator for farmers suggested that black and brown soils were considered as fertile, while red soils were assessed to be less fertile soils. This was confirmed by laboratory analysis, that is black and brown soils had generally higher TC, TN, P av and pH than the red soils, except soil pH at HD (Table 2). The capability of farmers' indigenous knowledge to identify fertile and less fertile soils was further verified by a higher relative peak area of 1,159 cm -1 in less fertile fields; a similar trend was noted for the SOC stability index (p < 0.01) (Table 3).It was a key finding that the soil fertility status in the study region was determined by an inter-related effect of farmers' resource endowment (farm typology) and agro-ecological zone. This effect was most pronounced between the wealthy and poor farms located in the lowland (K) and highland (HD) The effect of resource endowment in the lowlands was explained by the better soil nutrient status (e.g., TN, K av ) in the fields of wealthy compared with poor farmers. It is a main advantage of wealthy farms to have a higher soil fertility status, as a result of extended fallowing, organic residue burning and higher livestock numbers (Corbeels et al., 2000;Tian et al., 2005;Haileslassie et al., 2006). These interventions provide sufficient resources to replenish the soil nutrient pool (Cobo et al., 2010;Haileslassie et al., 2007). With this, wealthy farmers also compensate the accelerated decomposition of organic resources by higher temperatures in the lowlands that generally increases the soil nutrient pool (Coûteaux et al., 2002) Even though poor farmers have a higher livestock density and may potentially provide more manure per area of land; these farmers commonly use livestock manure for cooking fuel rather than applying it to fields for fertilization purposes.The use of manure as fuel is essential for poor farmers as they do not have extra land to cultivate biomass for firewood production, unlike wealthy farmers.Apart from the obvious differences in the soil nutrient status in the lowlands, no clear effect of resource endowment on TC content and SOC quality was observed. This was explained with the fast decomposition of active SOC pools, which was, irrespective of the soil fertility management strategy of wealthy farmers, responsible for the pronounced nutrient release. Even though there was no difference between both farm typologies, a higher TC content was found in the warmer lowlands and mild midlands than in the colder highlands (Coûteaux et al., 2001;Du et al., 2014;Tian et al., 2016). This increased TC content might have resulted from maize-dominated cropping practices in the lowlands and midlands, where the low biochemical quality (high C/N ratio, lignin and polyphenol content) of respective crop residues enhanced the SOC pool (Wang et al., 2015). Irrespective of the typology classes in the low and medium altitude agro-ecological zones, it has been shown that the conversion of C derived from crop residues, such as maize, to SOC is generally lower in fields of poor farmers than those of wealthy farmers due to higher fertilization (Wang et al., 2015). This high potential of C stabilization was corroborated by the presence of recalcitrant SOC pools (i.e., C-O poly-alcoholic and ether groups). In the highlands, in contrast to the low-and midlands, there was a distinct difference in TC content, which was higher in the fields of the wealthier farmers. This was substantiated by the option of wealthy farmers to combine organic and inorganic fertilizer inputs, leading to an increase of C-H aliphatic SOC functional groups, but a decrease of C = C aromatic SOC functional groups. Accordingly, this management option created a higher SOC stability index (i.e., peak area ratio of 1,620:2,930) in the fields of poor farmers. The application of inorganic fertilizer resulted most likely in greater plant biomass production, providing additional inputs to accelerate the decomposition rate of roots and plant residues to produce more labile SOC pools (Blair et al., 2006). In contrast to the findings in the fields of wealthy farmers, pronounced C = C aromatic SOC functional groups along with a higher SOC stability index were found in the soils of poor farmers in the highland agro-ecological zone, indicating fewer organic inputs. Similar results were given by Demyan et al. (2012), who found in plots of the Bad Lauchstädt longterm field experiment (Germany) treated with both chemical and organic fertilizers for more than 100 years higher C-H aliphatic SOC groups than in plots receiving only farmyard manure. The higher labile SOC pool with a lower SOC stability index may be an indicator for high soil fertility as compared to higher C = C aromatic and high stability index. In contrast, C = C aromatic pools were shown to increase soil C stabilization (Haynes, 2005). It is acknowledged that the labile SOC pool can benefit important soil functions, including soil aggregate formation and nutrient supply as well as serve  as essential microbial energy source (Ghani et al., 2003;Haynes, 2005;Kunlanit et al., 2020;Maia et al., 2007).This study confirmed the capability of farmers' indigenous knowledge to define the soil fertility status, a capacity not influenced by either agro-ecological zone or farm typology. The identification of soil fertility status based on farmers' indigenous knowledge is often in close agreement with soil chemical properties analysed in the laboratory (Huynh et al., 2020). Irrespective of their wealth status and geographic location, farmers confirmed their capacity to assess soil fertility variability using indigenous knowledge accumulated through generations of experience and consistent exchange through socio-cultural events (e.g., weddings and funerals) between lowland and highlands (Leta et al., 2018). Such knowledge transfer across agro-ecological zones may have been responsible for the common farmer perception that red soils are less fertile than black and brown soils.Farmers describe and classify their soils using a holistic approach and use relatively homogeneous soil classification indicators across agro-ecologies (Laekemariam et al., 2017). Accordingly, farmers have been using soil colour, soil texture, soil depth, topography and drainage, as well as crop performance as criteria to categorize their land into fertile and less fertile fields (Belachew & Abera, 2010;Corbeels et al., 2000;Karltun et al., 2013;Yeshaneh, 2015). In the low and midlands, a higher variability between fertile and less fertile fields was observed for soil pH and P av . Farmers considered red soils as less fertile and used this as an indicator for soil acidity (soil pH) (Laekemariam et al., 2017). The low P av values might have been a result of P fixation in acidic soils (Agumas et al., 2014). On the contrary, black soils were interpreted as fertile with high SOC and P av contents (Moody et al., 2008). Similarly, we detected higher TC and P av values in black than in red soils in the midlands and lowlands, respectively. Higher P av values in black than in red soils may have resulted from higher organic P cycling favoured by higher SOC and soil moisture content (Corbeels et al., 2000;Moritsuka et al., 2014). This might indicate that organic matter and soil mineralogy are the most important soil properties that govern soil colour (Poppiel et al., 2020).No difference between farm typologies was observed with respect to the identification of fertile and less fertile fields based on indigenous knowledge (Table S2), a likely result of the informal communication channels among social institutions: for example 'iddir' (indigenous and local self-help association), 'debo' (collective labour support group) and 'dado' (reciprocal labour sharing arrangement among farmers) (Leta et al., 2018). Even though farmers are generally limited to explain on a scientific basis why such differences in soil fertility exist, both wealthy and poor farmers have comparable indigenous knowledge to identify fertile and less fertile fields.Indigenous knowledge is generally used by farmers to design management strategies for site-specific soil fertility problems. Farmers in the lowlands, for example, fallow, burn organic residues and apply higher farmyard manure on fields perceived as fertile. Similarly, farmers in the highlands invest more inorganic fertilizer on their fertile fields than on those with lower fertility. This corroborates the fact that farmers are aware of the soil fertility status, whereby their indigenous knowledge can guide site-adapted ISFM interventions (Tittonell, Vanlauwe, Leffelaar, Shepherd, et al., 2005).This study verified that inter-related rather than individual effects of agro-ecological zones and farmers' resource endowment (farm typology) must be considered to explain soil fertility variability of smallholder farms across regions and wealth classes. Accordingly, it was inferred that prospective ISFM strategies must be niche-based, considering such contrasting but inter-related agro-ecological zones and farm typologies to reduce the inherent depletion of soil fertility across smallholder farms in the study region of Ethiopia. Moreover, across agro-ecological zones, farmers identified fertile and less fertile fields based on their indigenous knowledge, which was corroborated by the laboratory-based soil fertility survey. Hence, farmers' indigenous knowledge was verified as a valuable proxy for this local soil fertility survey. Significance levels: ns, not significant at p < 0.05; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.the International Institute for Tropical Agricultural (IITA) with its LegumeCHOICE project for funding this research. We also acknowledge Dr. Tesfaye Feyisa and Mr. Minlik Getaneh for their assistance during field data collection, Christian Brandt (PhD) for his support in preparation of study site map, as well as Mrs. Carolin Stahl for her technical support during soil analysis at the University of Hohenheim (Stuttgart, Germany)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ece947bfdb6d54a8cfc508dfa8c636e4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/374125c3-facf-4260-b9ad-dceb397abd27/retrieve","id":"1186778680"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b2ee8b03-590d-4143-864f-ddac5dcbf454","content":"Une croissance soutenue du secteur agricole sera nécessaire si l'Afrique veut stimuler la croissance économique pour réduire la pauvreté. Plus de 70% des pauvres africains -dont la majorité sont des femmes-travaillent dans l'agriculture. Les pauvres urbains dépensent plus de la moitié de leurs revenus pour acheter les aliments de base. Ainsi, l'agriculture présente plus de potientialités pour stimuler a la fois un accroissement de la production et de la productivité tout en augmentant les revenus de la majorité des pauvres du continent, ainsi qu'une amélioration des revenus réels des pauvres urbains par la réduction du coût des aliments de base. Les participants a la Conférence reconnaisssent aussi que la prospérité agricole stimule la demande de biens et services non agricoles, en favorisant des retombées positives de croissance dans autres secteurs de l'écomomie en augmentant les effets multiplicateurs de la croissance du PIB. Davantage de croissance agricole améliore la sécurité alimentaire nationale stimule la prospérité rurale et la création de richesses et de bien etre qui a leur tour aident a diminuer l'exode rural.La Conférence reconnait que les agriculteurs et décideurs africains ont réalisé une série de succès importants dans le domaine du développement agricole, bien qu'ils ne soient pas suffisamment nombreux pour répondre à la croissance démographique rapide. Beaucoup de ces succes existent depuis des decennies sans possibilités d'expansion. Le développement des variétés de manioc TMS (tropical manioc sélection) ont lancé deux décennies d'innovation dans la plupart des régions africaines. Le développement et la diffusion de variétés modernes à haut rendement de mais, à partir des années 60, ont transformé cette céréale en principale source de calories du continent. Les croisements des variétés africaines et asiatiques de riz ont permis aux riziculteurs africains de développer la variété de riz NERICA à haut rendement en cours de diffusion en Afrique de l'Ouest et du Centre. En outre les participants ont noté que au cours des derineres décennies les agriculteurs africains ont arraché des parts de marché d'exportation pour des produits agricoles de valeur tels le coton, le café, d'élevage et horticoles en direction de l'Europe et du Moyen et Extrême Orient.L'analyse des succès du passé suggèrent une contribution de trois ingrédients. D'abord les nouvelles technologies productives font baisser le coût de production et rendent l'agriculture africaine plus productive et plus rentable. Deuxièmement, un ciblage des marchés émergents. Troisièmement un engagement politique au plus haut niveau à soutenir l'agriculture. Une vision claire et un engagement politique fort se sont avérés essentiels, car se traduisant en un environnement favorable ainsi que par plus d'allocations budgétaires en faveur de l'agriculture, des institutions de soutien et infrastructures nécessaires.Pour l'avenir, des projections a moyen terme indiquent que l'opportunité immédiate la plus importante pour la croissance agricole reposera sur l'accroissement explosif des marchés internes et régionaux africains des denrées alimentaires. La flexibilité au ciblage des marchés de haute valeur et de niches d'exportation peut compléter ces derniers avec des opportunités de croissance externe. Les marchés domestiques et d'exportation offrent des opportunités de valeur ajoutée dans l'approvisionnement en intrants et des industries de transformation. L'abondance des ressources en Afrique peut soutenir ces gains, a condition que les gouvernements africains soient en mesure de créer un environnement politique favorable et fournir les biens publics nécessaires -tels les routes, l'énergie, les institutions légales et de recherche -que le secteur privé ne pourra fournir.La Conférence reconnait en outre qu'une agriculture africaine moderne doit voir en les agriculteurs des entrepreneurs cherchant à améliorer leurs revenus a travers l'acces au crédit et a la productivité -technologies innovatrices afin d'etre plus compétitifs dans les marchés émergents domestiques et d'exportation. En effet, les fermiers africains se sont montrés inventifs et pleins de potentiels de même qu'ils se sont montrés réceptifs aux opportunités. Les distributeurs d'intrants agricoles, ensemble avec les agro transformateurs et les réseaux de distribution constituent des liens vitaux entre les agriculteurs et les marches finaux des produits.Les pouvoirs publics doivent créer un environnement favorable à la transformation agricole et de l'agrobusiness. Un accès au foncier plus sur, un cadre légal solide, une politique macroéconomique stable et un soutien institutionnel effectivement fonctionnel fournissent une fondation nécessaire à la prospérité agricole. Toute fois les participants ont exprimé leurs préoccupations quant aux dégats du VIH/SIDA et des autres maladies débilitantes. Un accès harmonisé aux marchés sous-régionaux améliore les perspectives d'une croissance soutenue, particulièrement dans les marchés de denrées alimentaires émergents. Les conditions d'un commerce équitable et des prix équitables constituent des éléments nécessaires de ce système favorable d'incitation.Pareillement, un investissement public significatif sera nécessaire dans les routes rurales, l'électricité, et les autres infrastructures ainsi que dans la recherche et la vulgarisation agricole de nouvelles technologies plus productives. Des rendements des investissements publics dans la recherche et le développement agricole s'avèrent suffisamment élevées, aussi bien en Afrique qu'ailleurs. Pourtant l'Afrique en moyenne, a continué a sous investir dans les secteurs productifs clés alors que lors de la Révolution Verte asiatique les pays investissaient 15% de leurs budgets dans l'agriculture, les gouvernements africains aujourd'hui allouent seulement 6% en moyenne.De meme, la Conference reconnait que les investissements publics necessaires pour soutenir une croissance agricole rapide demanderont un appui significatif des gouvernements africains dans les allocations budgétaires en faveur de l'agriculture. Conscients de cet impératif, les Chefs d'Etat et de Gouvernement africains ont convenu au cours du Sommet de Maputo en juillet 2003, de faire de l'agriculture la première priorité et d'augmenter le budget national alloué à l'agriculture a 10% d'ici a 2008.La Conférence recommande que la réalisation des objectifs du PDDAA nécessitera des actions concertées à différents niveaux :A. Niveau UA/NEPAD:• Communiquer la Déclaration de Maputo à tous les partenaires, y compris les Gouvernements, les Ministeres competents, les Parlements, la Société Civile et le secteur privé.• Le Secretariat du NEPAD et la Commission de l'UA devraient renforcer le suivi de ces accords dont la Déclaration de Maputo pour tous les pays membres.• Rendre disponible un site Internet avec des informations en temps réel sur les cibles des dépenses, et les succes.• Harmoniser les définitions de l'agriculture et le total des dépenses. Soutenir l'initiative du NEPAD en matiere des depenses agricoles en controlant au sein des institutions gouvernementales les allocations et les transactions budgétaires nécessaires• Organiser des séminaires sous-régionaux réguliers en y associant les gouvernements, les parlements ainsi que les representants des organisations paysannnes.• S'approprier, formaliser et institutionnaliser immédiatement l'engagement de Maputo dans le processus budgétaire national. Préparer des Notes d'Information au Cabinet, fournir un briefing de haut niveau au gouvernement et aux institutions législatives ainsi que les autres parties prenantes. Intégrer la Déclaration de Maputo dans les Plan d'Action a moyen terme et les systèmes budgétaires• Améliorer la qualité des investissements agricoles • Développer des capacités internes a utiliser les allocations budgétaires de facon efficace.• Développer des systèmes comptables fiables et transparents • Initier les mécanismes nationaux d'évaluation par les pairs au travers desquels gouvernement, le législatif et la société civile peuvent suivre les progrès vers l'objectif fixé.• Impliquer et renforcer les capacités des organisations paysannes, de la société civile et autres groupes d'interets dans le suivi de la mise en oeuvre du programme et l'exécution des depenses budgétaires• Documenter et diffuser les exemples de succès en agriculture.• Rendre l'enseignement agricole et l'image de l'agriculteur plus attractifs.• Désigner les commissions parlementaires pour l'agriculture et secteurs affiliés chargées du suivi du progres dans la mise en oeuvre du PDDAA.• Vérifier annuellement la mise en oeuvre du PDDAA, y compris les progres vers la réalisation de la Déclaration de Maputo en examinant les allocations budgétaires annuelles et la dépense effective• Engager des dialogues sous-régionaux.• Sensibiliser les circonscriptions y compris les hommes, les jeunes, les femmes et les partis politiques de l'importance de l'agriculture et de l'augementation des investissements dans ce secteur.• Exiger des briefings de la part de l'Executif au Parlement sur toutes les initiatives liees a l'agriculture.• Suivre les efforts du gouvernement vers la réalisation de la Declaration de Maputo.• introduire les motions individuelles des membres dans le plaidoyer en faveur de la Declaration Maputo.• Les Parlementaires devraient jouer un role central dans la lutte contre le VIH/SIDA • Encourager les échanges d'expériences et l'apprentissage mutuel avec les autres parlementaires et les experts techniques.• Encourager les partenaires au développement a prioriser l'agriculture de nouveau et a fournir les contreparties afin de soutenir les gouvernements africains qui montrent un engagement en faveur du PDDAA.• Soutenir les efforts de renforcement des capacités des gouvernements, des parlements et des groupes parlementairesafricains.•Soutenir les forums régionaux et sous-régionaux sur l'agriculture.• Fournir l'appui technique requis pour des questions affectant la recherche agricole, le développement et le commerce.• Fournir les liens nécessaires entre les parlements des pays industrialisés et les décideurs politiques de façon a ce que les Africains puissent davantage communiquer sur les effets des politiques agricoles des pays industrialisés sur les économies africaines Nous pensons qu'avec l'engagement renouvellé des gouvernements africains, des gains significatifs sont possibles dans l'agriculture africaine et que ceci renforcera significativement les perspectives de croissance économiques et de réduction de pauvreté dans les prochaines décennies. Nous exhortons les organisateurs de cette conférence et tous les participants a jouer un rôle actif pour s'assurer de la réalisation des recommandations. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"74f134e177d86d1e2a408094503dc807","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/faaa9ce4-eb0e-4a46-a6f2-3d83e83293af/retrieve","id":"-1878761198"},"keywords":["Service provider","two-and four-wheel tractor","sheller","transport","impact","smallholder farmers"],"sieverID":"d408a81a-8b3c-4cf1-a65f-0ce08ac1335f","content":"Unlocking the potential of smallholder agricultural productivity hinges on the pivotal role of mechanization, serving as the cornerstone to raise crop yield and improve livelihoods. However, evidence is thin on fit-for-purpose appropriate mechanization in the south of the Sahel. This study used a quantitative survey to understand the status of appropriate-scale mechanization in Zambia and Zimbabwe. In both countries, 50 service providers participated in the survey together with 210 farmers who used mechanization services and 219 farmers who did not. We find that farmers who used mechanization services had higher maize yield and higher household incomes. But there are nuances. First, mechanization service providers are older, predominantly male, and more educated. Second, the distributional effects show that hiring mechanization is associated with statistically significant higher outcomes in the 75 th and 95 th percentiles of income and yield. These results point to a need for structured promotion approaches that allow all farmer types to equally benefit from mechanization services. There is a need for more work on the economics of appropriate scale agricultural mechanization to further understand profitability and returns to investments.Mechanization is necessary to improve productivity and production efficiency of smallholder agriculture and for sustainable and resilient agricultural sectors. Agricultural mechanization refers to the use of machinery and equipment to either replace or assist manual labor in various agricultural operations across entire agri-food value chains from land preparation, planting, spraying, fertigation, harvesting, processing, and transportation of produce (Van Loon et al., 2020).Farm mechanization refers to the use of machines to perform farm operations like land clearing, land preparation, weeding, harvesting and post-harvest handling. It is restricted to operations that happen on the farm, while agricultural mechanization is broad and considers the use of machinery in entire agric-food value chains. Mechanizing agricultural operations streamlines tasks, leading to higher productivity and effectiveness.Embracing agricultural mechanization addresses labor constraints, improves production efficiencies, reduces production costs, enhances the timeliness and quality of farm operations, and reduces drudgery (Zhou & Ma, 2022). Machines perform tasks faster, with greater precision and on a larger scale compared to manual labor. Tractors, for instance, can plough fields more evenly and faster, while saving time and effort. Various machinery, such as planters, harvesters, and irrigation systems, streamline field activities, minimize wastage, and increase productivity with timely operations (Sayed et al., 2022). For example, planting, cultivating, and harvesting crops can be expedited with the use of appropriate machinery, enabling farmers to capitalize on favorable weather conditions to maximize crop yields. Mechanization empowers farmers to work on larger land areas and scale up operations (Liao et al., 2022;Takeshima et al., 2020;Wang et al., 2020).The ability to cover more ground efficiently allows for expanded production, improved market competitiveness, and enhanced profitability. Moreover, agricultural machinery facilitates precise operations, contributing to enhanced crop quality (Dhiman & Dhiman, 2015;Luo et al., 2016).Mechanization reduces the demand for manual labor, which can be advantageous in places where labor is scarce with higher wages (Gauchan & Shrestha, 2017). Following the Theory of Induced Innovations (Ruttan & Hayami, 1973), as labor becomes scarce or expensive, labor-saving options like mechanization take over labor-intensive or labor-using alternatives use of hand hoes. Such a switch frees farmers of physical exertion and allows them to utilize their resources more efficiently. In addition, mechanization can assist farmers in adapting to climate change (Sims & Kienzle, 2016). For example, irrigation can reduce the effects of droughts, while mechanized, planting and harvesting can optimize precise and timely agricultural production in shifting climatic conditions, increasing resilience, and lowering risks associated with weather fluctuations. Given its potential merits, agricultural mechanization has incredibly good political support to increase food production and productivity to meet growing demand. The support for agricultural mechanization is highest in Africa where there is a greater need to increase food production to feed a growing population. In support of the current drive towards mechanization, nascent evidence shows that demand for mechanization is rising in Malawi (Tufa et al., 2023), in Zambia and Zimbabwe (Ngoma et al., 2023) and that investments in mechanization raise productivity (Omulo et al., 2022). In addition, farmers that access mechanization services tend to have better income earning opportunities due to increased land under cultivation (Adu-Baffour et al., 2019). Despite some positives, there is a need to bolster the evidence to support the current drive to mechanize smallholder agriculture in Africa The drive to mechanize African agriculture heightens, albeit with some gaps in our understanding of the economics of appropriate scale mechanization. Yet, this is the bottom line used by farmers when deciding whether to adopt mechanization or not. In deciding whether to adopt mechanization, farmers weigh the costs and benefits of various technologies and machinery. In doing so, farmers choose where it makes the most sense to invest to maximize returns.While it is believed in general that mechanization can improve agricultural production efficiency and productivity (Kirui, 2019;Sampene et al., 2022), it is still unclear how these effects vary across different farmer groups and different mechanization value chain actors such as: service providers, farmers that received mechanization services etc. The availability of labor and the dynamics of the agriculture industry are critical in determining the profitability of mechanization.Understanding labor market dynamics assists farmers in determining whether mechanization is a viable option in situations with limited labor availability and high wages. Further, understanding the economic consequences of mechanization helps policymakers and stakeholders in developing effective policies to manage anticipated labor market shifts. It also enables stakeholders to make informed decisions, optimize resource allocation, and build supportive policies for sustainable agricultural development.Despite the potential for agricultural mechanization, its uptake remains limited and evidence of its impact among smallholders remains scanty. There is a lack of comprehensive understanding of the business case for mechanization and its impacts on livelihoods among smallholder farmers.This study was designed to contribute towards filling these gaps using case studies from Zambia and Zimbabwe. The primary objective of the study was to assess the business case of mechanization for service providers and the impacts of mechanization on productivity and livelihoods for farmers who accessed mechanization services. Specifically, the study assessed the (i) kinds of services hired out by whom and when, and (ii) impacts of mechanization on livelihoods and land productivity. We hypothesized that: (i) there is no significant increase in yields for smallholder farmers who use mechanization compared to those who do not utilize mechanization services; (ii) smallholder farmers adopting mechanization do not experience a notable rise in income when compared to those relying solely on manual labor; and that (iii) factors such as farm size, crop type, rural wages, access to credit, and training opportunities do not play a significant role in influencing the decisions of smallholder farmers to adopt appropriate-scale mechanization in Zambia.Fieldwork was done between June and August 2023 in both Zambia and Zimbabwe. Sampling in both countries included a blend of purposive and simple random sampling methods. In Zambia, the survey was conducted in June 2023 in Mazabuka and Monze districts in the Southern province; Chipata, Lundazi, and Sinda districts in the Eastern province; and in Senga Hill and Mbala districts in Northern Province. Sampling was multistage, where the initial stage involved purposefully selecting all three provinces, seven districts and eleven camps where CIMMYT has been implementing mechanization activities through the service provider model since 2020. At the time of the survey, there were 20 mechanization service providers across these locations.Within each province, respondents were selected randomly across four categories: individual mechanization service providers, group/cooperative service providers, farmers who accessed mechanization services, and other farmers who did not access mechanization services. Sampling frames for each category were drawn from up-to-date lists of mechanization service providers and farmers they serviced, and from the Ministry of Agriculture for other farmers. In total, 227 respondents were selected across the four categories: fifteen individual mechanization service providers; two group/cooperative service providers; 105 farmers who accessed mechanization services; and 105 farmers who did not access mechanization services. To ensure representation, five individual mechanization service providers were randomly sampled from each province. For both the treatment and control groups, an equal number of farmers who accessed mechanization services and those who did not were randomly sampled in Eastern, Northern, and Southern provinces. Group/cooperative-based mechanization services are not prevalent in most intervention districts; thus, interviews were conducted with only one group in Mbala district and one in Lundazi district.In Zimbabwe, fieldwork was done in June 2023 in Shamva, Bindura, Makonde, and Masvingo districts where CIMMYT has implemented mechanization activities through the service provider model since 2020. Among these districts, there were forty-two service providers (SPs), with Masvingo having the highest at 32, and the remaining eight were distributed across Shamva (2), Bindura (2), and Makonde (4). Thirty-three (33) SPs were randomly selected without consideration of the district or ward of origin. Additionally, 24 farmers who utilized mechanization services from SPs and 24 farmers who did not use mechanization services, residing in villages adjacent to the SPs, were randomly selected per district. Interviews were conducted with irrigation schemes, cooperatives, or groups providing mechanization services to farmers. Overall, two groups were interviewed in Shamva, four in Masvingo, one each in Bindura and Makonde, respectively. The overall sample in Zimbabwe was 252, categorized as follows: thirty-one individual SPs, two groups, 105 farmers who accessed and used mechanization services from SPs, and 114 farmers who did not use mechanization services (Table 1). Figure 1 shows the spatial locations of households interviewed.  We used two analytical approaches in this paper. First, we used a probit model to assess drivers of farmers' decisions to adopt mechanization or to use mechanization services. The dependent variable for this estimation is a binary variable that takes a value of 1 if a farmer used mechanization services for a given activity. Second, we used the instrumental variable conditional quantile treatment effect (IVQTE) of Firpo, Fortin, and Lemieux (2009). The outcome variables of interest are yield and income, used as livelihood indicators. Studying the distributional impacts beyond the mean is important because farmers are heterogeneous and means do not capture the spread.This section provides key descriptive statistics about the sample and explores specific statistical distinctions in socioeconomic and demographic attributes between those who used mechanization services (treatment) and those who did not (control). Summary statistics for service providers are provided in Table 2. Most (over 90%) of the fifty (50) service providers interviewed were male heads of households aged 55 years on average. SPs are well educated having completed 13 years of formal education and with an average household size of 7 members. SPs in Zambia had larger farms averaging 19 hectares compared to 3 ha for SPs in Zimbabwe. Farmers who access mechanization services and those who did not are similar in both Zambia and Zimbabwe (Table 3 and 4). The only differences are that farmers who accessed mechanization services in Zambia were more educated and a larger proportion was polygamously married.Further, farmers that accessed mechanization had larger land holdings at 20 hectares compared to 12 hectares among those who did not access mechanization. In Zimbabwe, farmers who accessed mechanization services were significantly older at 56 years compared to those who did not access mechanization services (Table 4). We do find any other statistically significant differences between treatment and control in terms of other covariates. In general, service providers had lived in their current villages for at least 30 years by the time of the survey in June 2023. This is much longer than for farmers who accessed mechanization services and those who did not access the mechanization service (Table 5). We find no major differences between those who hired mechanization and those that did not hire in terms of number of relatives and non-relatives that can be relied upon within and outside the villages. A larger proportion of farmers who hired mechanization services had relatives in leadership positions compared to farmers who did not hire mechanization. As would be expected, more than 90% of service providers and more than 70% of farmers that accessed mechanization services accessed advice on mechanization in both Zambia and Zimbabwe.    Shelling and threshing, whether based on two-wheel tractor or standalone engines, are most sought after from April to September, with significant peaks between May and July as more farmers participate in the marketing season by selling their produce. There is consistently high demand for transportation using two-wheel tractors throughout the year, with peak periods observed from March to August, which correspond to harvest and postharvest times. Noteworthy peaks for transportation using motorcycles and trucks are observed consistently throughout the year. These patterns are similar across Zambia and Zimbabwe. In addition, results show that transportation using trucks and oxcarts, spraying with boom sprayers, and ripping and seeding using animal draft power show inconsistent demand during the year.Land preparation as described above costs about $27 and $50 per hectare in Zambia and Zimbabwe, respectively (Figure 4). Shelling costs about $0.05 and $0.25 per 10 kg while transport costs about $9 per 10 km radius in the survey areas in the two countries. There are differences between the different constituents. For example, ripping and seeding with a four-wheel tractor cost more than doing the same operations using animal draft power or a two-wheel tractor. This is as expected given the differences in fuel required to operate a two-wheel tractor compared to a fourwheel tractor for a given land unit. Overall, mechanization service prices in Zimbabwe are higher than those in Zambia, reflecting a higher willingness to pay for these services. This is in line with findings in Ngoma et al. (2023) suggesting that farmers in Zimbabwe were willing to pay more for different two-wheel tractor-based services than those in Zambia. While the main intention of this section was to elaborate on the profitability of the SP model, the data collected do not permit such an analysis at this stage. As a precursor to the robust econometric assessments, we first compared maize yield among farmers that hired and those that did not hire mechanization services. Farmers who hired mechanization services had significantly higher average maize yield at 2.9 tons compared to 1.7 tons among those who did not hire in Zambia (Figure 5, left panel). We find comparable results in Zimbabwe that farmers who hired mechanization services had higher maize yield than those who did not (1.4 tons vs 1.2 tons), even if the difference is not statistically significant.In terms of income, farmers who hired mechanization services had higher household incomes than those who did not hire in both Zambia and Zimbabwe (Figure 5, right panel). Household income refers to income from all observed sources (salary, wage, business, remittance, agriculture etc.) over one year. On average, farmers who hired mechanization services earned $2,400 compared to $1,200 household income per year in Zambia. In Zimbabwe, the differences are smaller at $1,700for those who hired and $1,400 for those who did not hire. Social capital, labor shortage proxied by hiring labor and rising land prices are associated with significantly higher probabilities of hiring mechanization services (Table 6). Social capital, labor shortages, and rising land prices are associated with 11%, 20% and 15% higher probabilities of hiring mechanization. The age of the household head is used as a proxy for experience, and older household heads are more and less likely to use mechanization services Zimbabwe with the opposite being the case in Zambia (Table 6). We measured livelihoods using household income and maize yield. Without controlling for the endogeneity of access to machinery, we find some positive distributional effects. For the full sample, using mechanization was associated with significantly higher incomes and maize yield in the 75 th and 95 th percentiles (Table 7). In each case, the effect is larger in the 95 th percentile than in the 75 th percentile, except for maize yield in some instances, and the effects is larger for household income than for maize yield. For example, using mechanization is associated with 74% -145% more household income and 30 -32 % higher maize yield. While the descriptive resultsshowed that farmers that used mechanization services had higher incomes and maize yield, multivariate results show that these effects are only significant for farmers in the higher end of the distribution. Notes: T-statistics in parentheses: *** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1 We find differences at sub-country level with the positive effects reflected in the pooled sample only replicated in the Zambia sub-sample (Table 8) and not in the Zimbabwe sub-sample (Table 9). Suffice to mention here these sub-national results are based on small samples and as such, should be interpreted with caution. The study shades light on the status of appropriate-scale mechanization services being offered to smallholder farmers in Zambia and Zimbabwe in areas where CIMMYT is implementing mechanization activities. Several highlights emerge. First, there is demand for land preparation, shelling (threshing) and transport mechanization services in Zambia and Zimbabwe. More than 60% of mechanization service providers hired out land preparation, shelling (threshing) and transportation services to farmers in their communities both in Zambia and Zimbabwe. However, the results show that there are disparities in demand times among different mechanization services in both Zambia and Zimbabwe. For example, shelling services are at their peak around May -July after harvesting while land preparation services are at their peak at the beginning of the season around November to December. The disparities in demand for mechanization based on seasons as depicted in the hiring calendars in Zambia and Zimbabwe highlight the complicated preferences for specific mechanization services, which correspond to distinct periods of increased demand connected with various agricultural operations throughout the year. The demand reflected in this study is in line with findings from previous studies in Zambia and Zimbabwe (Ngoma et al., 2023),Malawi (Tufa et al., 2023) and in Tanzania for shelling services (Kotu et al., 2023).Second, this study demonstrates that mechanization service providers are highly educated, having completed at least 13 years of formal education. As expected, farmers who hired mechanization services tend to possess higher levels of education compared to those who did not. This correlation between education and access to mechanization services aligns with the findings of Tufa et al (2023), who found that the educational attainment of the household head significantly influences the likelihood of farmers adopting mechanized land preparation services in Malawi and Ngoma et al (2023), who found that education is associated with a higher willingness to pay for direct seeding in Zambia and Zimbabwe.Third, this study shows that factors such as farm size (land ownership) play a significant role in influencing smallholder farmers' decisions to adopt appropriate-scale mechanization in Zimbabwe. This is in line with results by Kirui (2019) and Chapoto et al. (2014) that show a positive relationship between large farm size and adoption of agricultural mechanization services.However, social capital, labor shortage (as measured by hiring labor) and rising prices land prices increase the likelihood of the farmer hiring mechanization services. These results confirm the prediction of the induced innovation theory which suggests that cheaper factors tend to replace more expensive ones. As land and labor becomes expensive, intensification and labor-saving options such as mechanization become attractive. The contrasting findings on age are as expected because the age of the household head is used as a proxy for experience. In Zambia, where small scale mechanization is more recent, age is associated with reduced probability of hiring mechanization compared to Zimbabwe where farmers have more experience with small-scale mechanization and this increases the likelihood of hiring mechanization services in that country.Fourth, our findings refute our initial hypothesis that there is no significant increase in yields for smallholder farmers who use mechanization compared to those who do not, as well as our second hypothesis that smallholder farmers who use mechanization do not experience a significant increase in income when compared to those who rely solely on manual labor. The findings show that farmers who used mechanization services had higher maize yields and income compared to those that did not both in Zambia and Zimbabwe. These findings are similar with earlier research that have demonstrated that mechanization among smallholder farmers enhances yields, productivity, and creates profitable prospects for farmers (Adu-Baffour et al., 2019;Hamilton et al., 2022;Paudel et al., 2019;Peng et al., 2022). The nuance that these findings add is to show the distributional effects, where these effects are only statistically significant in the higher end of the income and yield percentiles. These results point to a need for structured promotion approaches that allow all farmer types to benefit from mechanization services.Fifth, prices for mechanization services are more on the higher side in Zimbabwe compared to Zambia. For example, land preparation costs about $50 per hectare in Zimbabwe while the same costs about $27 per hectare in Zambia and shelling costs about $0.05 per 10 kg in Zambia and $0.25 per 10 kg in Zimbabwe. It is important to note that the differences in currencies used in the two countries could be a key factor in why prices for mechanization services between the two countries are different as Zimbabwe uses the US$ while Zambia uses the Zambian Kwacha (ZMW) which has depreciated against the US$ in the recent past. In general, higher prices in this paper are in line with Ngoma et al (2023) who found that farmers in Zimbabwe were willing to pay more for different mechanization services compared to those in Zambia.In sum, our findings add to the growing evidence base that support agricultural mechanization's capacity to increase agricultural productivity and sustainably intensify agriculture among smallholders in Zambia and Zimbabwe and can guide evidence-based policies and actions targeted at enhancing food security, poverty eradication and agricultural development.Unlocking the potential of smallholder agricultural productivity hinges on the pivotal role of mechanization, serving as the cornerstone in increasing yield and steering the trajectory toward export oriented agricultural development. This study used a quantitative survey to understand the status of appropriate-scale mechanization in Zambia and Zimbabwe. In both countries, 50 service providers participated in the survey together with 210 farmers who used mechanization services and 219 farmers who did not.This study underscores the distinctive characteristics of mechanization service providers (SPs), predominantly male heads of households, 55 years on average, highly educated, and own relatively larger farms, averaging 19 hectares in Zambia and 3 hectares in Zimbabwe. The spectrum of services offered by these providers varies, with transportation services ranking highest, followed by shelling and land preparation. The fluctuating demand for specific services across the season mirrors peaks aligned with critical agricultural activities such as land preparation, shelling, and transportation, further emphasizing the relevance of mechanization during these pivotal farming periods.The findings from this study suggest that integrating smallholder mechanization holds significant promise in improving agricultural productivity, fostering income generation, and promoting longterm agricultural intensification. In addition, this study adds valuable insights for agricultural policymakers, researchers, and development practitioners, contributing to the growing reservoir of knowledge on the transformative potential of mechanization in smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. As a result, evidence-based policies and interventions derived from this study can help contribute to improving regional food security and promote sustainable agricultural development.Because if the data challenges encountered, there is need to implement an effective monitoring and evaluation system to continually analyze the impact of mechanization services on the productivity and income of smallholder farmers. Such a system would aid policymakers and stakeholders in making informed decisions and improvements to effectively support the sector.Policymakers should consider formulating policies aimed at fostering the growth of smallholder mechanization. This may encompass incentives for service providers and adopters through for example, some credit schemes and market access arrangements for value chain actors including end users, service providers and manufacturers. This can be complemented with regulatory frameworks ensuring fair competition and initiatives to overcome any barriers hindering widespread mechanization adoption.There is scope for more work on the economics of appropriate scale agricultural mechanization to further understand profitability and returns to investments. While we find positive indications in this study on mechanization demand and its positive relationship with yield and income, there is need to evaluate the economics of different mechanization services and models beyond the areas covered in this study to allow for a broader understanding of costs and returns on mechanization services in Zambia and Zimbabwe."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"51745a7f1af95e71e4e720c01ac08b55","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/719773c5-8c07-43f1-91df-c079213d0fae/retrieve","id":"-67628862"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"61361685-4e4a-44c2-9125-1970198d1ccb","content":"Setting the context and information sharing Information Sharing: Key issues ICRISAT, presented by Farid Waliyar  How can the four different interventions (host resistance, cultural practices, bio-control agents, andpre-and post-harvesting technologies) be combined into single packages that are region specific and cost variable (\"no cost\", low cost, and high cost)?  We need more research on post-harvest techniques, such as drying, and how to promote it to farmers.  Are the key purposes for diagnostics being met?  How can we equip others who are working in the areas of technology transfer and market development?  How will we facilitate the transfer of agriculture technology?  How will we evaluate our programs?  What will the data management and sharing strategy and policy look like? IITA, presented by Ranajit Bandyopadhyay  Do we have research covering parts of the value chain relevant to nutrition and health?  What are the risk management tradeoffs in terms of the tolerable levels of aflatoxins for humans? In Kenya, for example, it has not been adequately examined.  What is the environmental impact of aflasafe™ and is there enough supporting evidence?  USAID is working on a regional license; what can we do to facilitate the process?  Are there any and/or is there a need for a long-term ecology study of aflasafe™ in Africa?CIMMYT, presented by George Mahuku  Should the scope of mycotoxin research include fumonisins?  Communicating a simple message to policy makers and implementers will be important. Just as often occurs in the communication of nutritional information, we do not want to confuse people or appear to give conflicting guidance.Participants from CGIAR research programs (CRPs) and partner research groups met for two days to share current activities and outputs related to mycotoxin research and to plan how these different activities might work together across the different CRPs and CGIAR research centers. The list of participants is included in the Annex.Each of the centers and partners provided presentations on their current mycotoxin research activities, issues they are facing, and the group discussed how these can fit together. The key issues as presented and brought up in discussion are summarized below by center/project. There is enough existing prevalence data for Kenya to know aflatoxin is an issue, so how much more prevalence data needs to be collected?  Other data should be used to inform these models and avoid duplication of efforts.-Ranajit has aflatoxin data for several hundred sites in Kenya and Tanzania and they are willing to share with BecA. -They have grain samples from their work in Tanzania that they are also willing to share.  What issues are we missing in terms of diagnostics?-What are the practicalities of the models for farmers? What's a short-term solution? -Models would provide guidance on suitability -performance of different hybrids in different conditions -rather than prediction.  Toxin contamination is so variable, so how useful will the models be?-Key: have as many sites as possible (HarvestChoice -600 farms/country) -Next step: longitudinal study across several seasons and years.-BecA is confident that even after the first year, they can identify risk areas.  Data like what BecA is generating will be relevant to an upcoming CGIAR meeting on data and knowledge management strategies. There are five research activities within three priority areas for this subcomponent. Four are managed by ILRI, but the fifth area on mycotoxins is still under development.  How will mycotoxins work as a research program and what types of activities fit? A4NH/Food Safety and Nutrition in Value Chains, Laurian Unnevehr  A new issue that hasn't been looked at through a value chain framework is examining how we lose nutritional value as a food product moves through the value chain.  Some key commodities (fruits and vegetables) are noticeably absent from the current activities on nutrition and food safety in value chains.A4NH/RCT on aflatoxin and child stunting, Nouhoum Traore  Should A4NH pursue a similar study in Nigeria next year? It could be a good comparison study to the previous work on groundnuts in Mali. There is a possible linkage to the Millennium Villages Project in Nigeria; they are collecting a lot of nutritional data. Considerations for the study design  Talk to Kitty Cardwell at USDA about her study in West Africa and the dietary intake data she collected. This study in West Africa compared three exposure zones and then three villages within each zone.  Several ethical considerations were raised about randomizing at the household level and community reaction to maize swapping.  Screening the baseline health status of the children will be important.  There was a similar study conducted in India with a number of political and ethical issues.  If breast milk is tested and it exceeds maximum levels, then there's an obligation to treat and this will have study implications. Same could be said with the levels of aflatoxin in households.Participants started from a list of key mycotoxin research areas in the CGIAR and considered how A4NH could best add value. Three major areas were selected based on their potential to be used as platforms for other research studies and to harmonize existing efforts within the CGIAR system.  There are a number of identified burdens of mycotoxins, including but not limited to:-poor human health -economic costs of illness and economic costs of lost agricultural assets -lost opportunities  Risk is the probability of negative impact on human health combined with the severity.  Before calculating risk, you need to calculate hazards. We need dietary data (exposure assessment) stratified by age groups, gender, HIV status in order to characterize the degree of risk from \"farm to fork.\"  We also must consider whether the risk has been described quantitatively or qualitatively.Risk to Human Health  Known and unknown impacts on human health -Liver cancer -Malnutrition -childhood stunting -Other diseases -immune suppression, diarrheal diseases  Currently available consumption data is inadequate for Sub-Saharan Africa, it may be better in Latin America and Southeast Asia. We need to understand the hazards related to consumption. Normally presented in terms of DALYs; more research needed in this area to demonstrate to policy-makers the financial burden of ignoring the problem.Agriculture-Related Economic Costs  It would be challenging to separate the costs due to aflatoxins and the rest (insects, drought)  There are trade losses that have to be considered.  We need to identify control points, in order to determine where will we have the most impact and what are the alternatives for the smallholder (in terms of feasibility, costs, acceptability)Data collection  Provide advice on existing data collection efforts to add more consumption questions/modules.  DHS would be a great start -USAID missions fund the DHS and has an opportunity to look at tools and request additional questions/modules; Francesca has initiated dialogue with DHS to get serum aflatoxin added to the DHS, which would provide global coverage data.  Conduct a data collection workshop on nutritional methods for collecting consumption data. Data  Compile data that has already been collected; CGIAR's data is mainly on the agriculture side.  Develop strategies to share data effectively.  Develop a shared database on household consumption data. PACA could host it and promote it;A4NH would have to lead development/management. We have a strong background/capacity in diagnostics in the agriculture sector. Key issues are the high cost and developing diagnostics that are fit for our purposes. Convene an expert group on mycotoxins to develop a broad risk framework that could be used to facilitate the discussion between agriculture and health to work out the risks, modeled after the WHO FERG's (Foodborne Expert Reference Group).  Collaborate with CRP on Maize on their upcoming workshop on biocontrol; add a health component.  Ask other centers to share project information on projects with health risk components. Target countries with growing industries in mycotoxin-vulnerable livestock species (poultry)  Start with the countries with demonstrated interest (Kenya, Tanzania) and use experience there as leverage within the region and beyond.  Focus today has been on Africa; we will need a separate plan for Asia. PK Joshi (IFPRI), B.M.Prasanna (CIMMYT), and Ranajit (IITA) will follow-up.Overview of the value chain assessment framework  Comes from a business strategy framework.  It describes the process of mapping the activities from inputs  production  processing  storage  consumption and the actors, economic transactions, and governance within the system. Value chain framework provides a tool for integrating analysis of the economic and technology elements present in an agriculture value chain. IITA and Nestle -Used using maize in the production of infant foods, but made a concerted effort that the poor quality maize was not left behind for household consumption.  We're missing information on the link between nutritional quality/food safety along the value chain and willingness to pay.  Public-private partnerships are essential, so how do we form more and more strategically?  For standards, we need to focus on the private sector because it's quicker. Get them the right diagnostics so they can test. What's the cost of the tests and are they practical? Testing becomes frustrating for the producers because such a high % of their supply cannot meet standards and they have no alternative markets (what about the clays/animal feeds).  Clay binding may be worth testing. There's a current test -as a treatment -in Ghana. It is considered a food additive and may be on the GRAS (Generally Regarded as Safe) list.-What about when binding is constrained by poor quality? -There are some human health concerns -in Asia and parts of Africa, pregnant women have been known to eat this clay.  Is adapting HACCP for risk assessment a good model?Policy and advocacy  There are emerging technologies (clay, blanching) that can be used to mitigate risks.Policymakers and the development community would benefit from a background paper that reviews the technology portfolio, followed by a workshop to integrate those technologies.  Issue an innovation challenge for promising technologies along the value chain. Peter Cottey, USDA, could advise us. Description of both health impact and economic impact is key. IFPRI can provide modeling capabilities, which may provide compelling evidence for investment in addressing the problem.  Consider more market experiments to determine consumer willingness to pay for high quality and safe foods.-IITA has some WTP data from West Africa (Dr. Coulibaly) for shea nut butter and cashew nut. The private sector has experience in adapting quality control standards to real-world situations vs. internationally established standards (i.e., CODEX). A multiple authored white paper on lessons learned from the private sector on this issue would be valuable. Consumers may not be aware of aflatoxin risks along the value chain. We need to understand the best way to provide information, motivate behavior change, and demonstrate the value of proven interventions, to address both on-farm consumption and consumption through formal markets. This is a research gap. Establish a working group on value chains as a vehicle for information-sharing across centers.  Identify a center contact person who would serve as the go-to person on quality and safety issues in value chains.There are two larger types of issues: (1) practical issues of turning it into a product and (2) issues of pushing it to scale. Six groups of issues are outlined below and the challenges and opportunities were presented together. Who owns the strains?  How do we have access them?  Who owns the technology?  AATF is involved; they are a good partner for IP issues /public availability.Currently IITA's work is limited to countries where funding is available and so only country strains are in development; the goal is to develop regional strains.  Collection needs to increase. Gaps in countries (Uganda, Burundi, Malawi) need to be filled in order to develop a regional strain.  A regional harmonization of registration protocols could speed this process. There are delivery issues, specifically, how can we use private companies to help with delivery and keep it accessible to the poor?  How do we utilize public-private partnerships strategically to scale-up?  ICRISAT has a transfer of technology platform and IITA is using that model for aflasafe™. They never give 100% of the technology to a single company; they have the choice to share it across different companies written into the licensing agreement.  Funding from the G-20 AgResults initiative has helped in working out production-side issues.Ranajit will share this project document with the team.  We need health impact studies, but this will take some time.For example, what does 70% reduction in pre-harvest mean for human exposure? -We could model it using scenarios.-We could make some ex ante assumptions or use expert opinion in models.Feed the Future might be a potential resource to do an initial study and identify the weaknesses, which could later be used to build a risk assessment model.  Examination of unintended consequences -Basic due diligence has been done on aflasafe™, but some basic monitoring -not detailed biological sampling -of workers and consumers along the value chain might prove valuable. Some areas of exploration: -Health consequences for people working in the fields -Health consequences for storage facility workers -IITA conducted a 2-year study to compare spores in treated and untreated fields and found no different in the number of spores; the percent of toxigenic spores was lower in the treated fields. -Another study conducted in India, not by IITA, found very serious impact on human health.  Francesca is aware of a CDC proposed project to explore the correlation between commodity contamination level and serum aflatoxin and maybe other health factors.  Could we add something to the Community Connector?Are there plans to expand biocontrol efforts to other mycotoxins or other species?Mycotoxins in animal health and links to human health  This is not being addressed by other CRPs, so interest expressed in coordinating with the CRP on Livestock and Fish.  Is this a public vs a private good? -Would it benefit the livestock sector (private good) or smallholders (public good)? Concluded, this will not be a priority area of focus in the mycotoxin portfolio for A4NH. It does seem like aflatoxin would be a strategic focus for the CRP on Livestock and Fish, particularly for poultry.Building a strategic partnership with PACA  Two different white papers have been identified as opportunities in today's discussion, should we use PACA to help with delivery and dissemination? -The process to get PACA's endorsement of the papers could be a very slow.  CGIAR should manage the database, but PACA could promote it.  There's an upcoming launch on October 31 and paper on aflatoxins prepared by Abt Associates will be distributed to ministers. Ranajit will do the main presentation to the ministers and A4NH will be a part of this presentation.Data and knowledge management system -key questions to keep in mind  We need an inventory of what we have now.-How can what we have now be shared?  How do we encourage/facilitate communication flow? -TeamSpace is not accessible to everyone?  The CRP on Policies, Institutions and Markets is committed to having a data platform. We'll tack on nutrition/health to that platform. Amanda is staying in touch with those people.  Data quality is also an issue.-On the health and nutrition side, that's where we need to make a contribution to our national partners. -No standardized method of sampling or tools or report the quality of the methods.-It would be helpful to put the data in a data warehouse with comments on validity.  Everyone was encouraged to provide data contacts to Amanda. How do we move forward on diagnostics? -Jagger may coordinate this effort unless we hear otherwise. Send contacts to him.  We could identify companies involved who are interested in reducing their costs.-George will start working on compiling this list."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0691d8372ec173c5f8502fd9485b7384","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/350fb9cf-3391-42ac-932a-b6866f97e150/retrieve","id":"1287260647"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e30ffd46-be27-4ee5-8027-235e8ee48e26","content":"Links to the Strategic Results Framework: Sub-IDOs:• Adoption of CGIAR materials with enhanced genetic gains "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a08c13dcee7e8ade421df0df47e40a20","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/51378239-f7e6-46f7-b8f1-3a651fafe4af/content","id":"543830988"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"44678963-ef92-45eb-b922-2423f5722ae1","content":"Coastal systems are facing natural and human-driven change coupled with a rising population. With increasing shifts in socioecological conditions during the past several decades, it is important to understand how socioecological drivers at different hierarchical levels: -micro, -meso, and -macro affect coastal farming systems, which play a crucial role in the livelihoods of coastal dwellers. Mixed rice-livestock-aquaculture farming in Southern Bangladesh exemplifies the rapid change occurring in many of the world's coastal farming systems in response to these drivers. We used panel data observations from the above study area and modeled trajectories of farm typologies, and the impact of multi-level socioecological drivers by a novel approach. Our approach integrates: (1) a well-articulated conceptual frame of change observed using (2) a temporal view of the potential drivers, change process and farm type outcomes, with the twenty years panel data of 502 households that is analyzed by means of (3) multivariate statistics in conjunction with panel data models that operationalize the conceptual frame. Our approach allows (a) estimating dynamic effects over time that typically cannot be estimated in a cross-sectional data set, (b) distinguishing between time-invariant fixed and time dependent random effects of multi-level socioecological drivers, and (c) controlling for omitted variables to a certain extent. Considering farming systems both within and outside of polder embankment systems intended to protect against oceanic water intrusion, we found a gradual shift from heterogeneous, rice-livestock farm types to more homogenous farms with less livestock and more off-farm activities. Micro-level factors including farm plot fragmentation, farmers' experience in cropping, machinery, salinity and soil fertility were influencing changes in farming systems. Meso-level factors including markets, road infrastructure, labor availability, access to extension and land tenure also affect the trajectory of farming systems change. Among macro-level drivers, increasing population density positively and significantly influenced cropping intensity among farms outside polder systems. Within polders, a positive but non-significant trend was observed for the influence of population density on cropping intensity. Our data also indicate negative and significant influence of cyclonic storms on cropping intensity over time in both areas. Our results underscore the importance of accounting for multiple levels of socioecological drivers of change when developing appropriate policy options for sustainable development in South Asia's coastal farming systems.Alongside a range of ecosystem services and economic benefits (Martinez et al., 2007), coastal systems provide multiple opportunities for diverse farm enterprises that integrate crops, livestock and aquaculture. Rural farmers in tropical coastal deltas are however highly vulnerable to global environmental change (Krupnik et al., 2015;Ishtiaque et al., 2017). More than 400 million people in South Asia who live in coastal areas are experiencing significant changes in rural economies, population density, agricultural practices, and climate that affect their livelihoods (UNISDR-UNDP, 2012). Farmers in coastal zones are disproportionately vulnerable to flooding, coastal erosion, soil and water salinity, and have high sensitivity to climate change and environmental shocks (Ali and El-Magd, 2016;Krupnik et al., 2015). Poised at the interface of multiple socioecological drivers, including biophysical and socioeconomic factors of both natural and anthropogenic origin, the coastal farming systems are undergoing rapid change. With increasing shifts in agroecological conditions during the past several decades, it is important to understand how socioecological drivers at different hierarchical levels: -micro (e.g., household), -meso (e.g., institutions), -macro (e.g., population) affect coastal farming systems, which play a crucial role in the livelihoods of coastal dwellers.Coastal farming systems comprise of population of individual farms organized by their crop, livestock and aquacultural components, and that have similar resource bases and livelihood patterns for which similar development interventions may be appropriate (Dixon et al., 2001). Understanding past and present agricultural diversity, dynamics, and trajectories of change is crucial to inform policies aimed at meeting Sustainable Development Goals (Valbuena et al., 2015;Domingues et al., 2018). Only a limited number of studies have explored how coastal farming systems have responded and adapted to socioecological drivers.Farm typologies and characterization of farming systems have been widely used to understand systems complexity and agricultural development trajectories by simplifying and organizing farms into separate but relatively homogenous groups internally (Iraizoz et al., 2007;Tittonell et al., 2010;Alvarez et al., 2018). Trajectories of farming systems can be studied in different ways, for example through inductive (Pelling et al., 2008) or deductive approaches (Valbuena et al., 2008;Tittonell et al., 2010). The former are defined by the actors (for e.g. farmers or extension agents) themselves while the latter are drawn from theory or conceptual frameworks developed by researchers (Overmars and Verburg, 2007;Sierra et al., 2017). Deductive approaches have been used to study pathways and trajectories of change in socioecological systems (Valbuena et al., 2015;Groot et al., 2016), though most recent (Sierra et al., 2017;Alvarez et al., 2018;Lopez-Ridaura et al., 2018;Jelsma et al., 2019) and widely cited (cf. Valbuena et al., 2008;Righi et al., 2011;Tittonell et al., 2010;Daloğlu et al., 2014;Cortez-Arriola et al., 2015;Kuivanen et al., 2016) studies use single year cross-sectional data or aggregate country/regional data. While cross-sectional data cannot control for personal fixed effects (e.g. level of education), aggregate data can underestimate the influence of individual farm-level change. This reduces the accuracy and applicability of insights derived from trajectory studies. Typological analysis of cross-sectional data collected from different farms is only plausible when farm type change and dynamics are independent realizations of the same evolutionary process across the farming system. However, constructed cross-sectional typologies represent only a possible occurrence order of a small set of properties or traits at a particular point of time when the data was collected. They cannot reveal the dynamic process of farming system change. Useful insights can conversely be gained using long-term panel data.Hierarchical clustering on Principal components (from principal component analysis (PCA)) is the most common statistical method used to analyze development trajectories of farm types (Valbuena et al., 2008;Tittonell et al., 2010;Cortez-Arriola et al., 2015;Kuivanen et al., 2016). But linking farming systems' development trajectories to a handful of principal component (PC) axes may be misleading-what appears like the signal of an interesting biophysical or socioeconomic property may simply be an artifact stemming from how PCA is computed. Falconnier et al. (2015) and Valbuena et al. (2015) built longitudinal farm typologies for analysis of PC axes and generated clusters for different time periods. But they did not attempt any statistical extension using panel data models. By focusing analyses exclusively on the PC axes, as is commonly done in trajectory studies, researchers are, in effect, taking a biased sample of a multivariate distribution (Mitteroecker et al., 2004), while also ignoring stochasticity that can cause some dimensions to diverge more rapidly, while others exhibit less divergence across time periods (Uyeda et al., 2015).Unlike cross-sectional analyses, most panel data tends to be analyzed using parametric models involving Generalized Linear Mixed Models or using marginal methods including Generalized Estimating Equations. When considering trajectory studies, these classical approaches could however also be biased because variables in panel data are typically sparse and highly dimensional (Di et al., 2014). Integrating multivariate statistics with panel regression may therefore help to reduce the high dimensionality of longitudinal data (Yao et al., 2005).Apart from statistical issues, knowledge gaps regarding the historical influences determining changes in farming systems have also led to inefficiencies in agricultural policy development (Adamson et al., 2018). The idea that multiple levels of contextual influence affect complex systems through interdependent interactions is an ecological view that has a long tradition since Bronfenbrenner's socioecological systems theory published in 1989. A set of factors function at multiple hierarchical levels: -micro (e.g., household), -meso (e.g., institutions), −macro (e.g., population) has been emphasized in systems analysis (Berkes and Folke, 1998;Hettig et al., 2016), though quantification of the effects of these factors on trajectories is rare. For instance, despite researchers recognizing the role of meso-level factors that condition changes in infrastructure and market and institutional systems (Hazell and Wood, 2008;Anderies et al., 2016), longitudinal evidence on farming systems change remains largely lacking in South Asia, as are studies that consider and integrate meso-and micro-level factors. These factors, which for example may include farmers' level of agricultural experience, changes in crops, irrigation and farm machinery, tenure and land fragmentation (Piotrowski et al., 2013;Paul and wa Gĩthĩnji, 2018), could shed new insight on how and why farming systems change, with important implications for development policies and environmental adaptation priorities (Adamson et al., 2018).This paper introduces a new systems analysis approach to model trajectories of farm typologies, systems dynamics and socioecological drivers using the south-central coast of Bangladesh as a study area. This new approach is characterized by integrating a well-articulated theoretical frame of change observed using a temporal view of change processes and outcomes. We used twenty years panel data from 502 households and analyzed those utilizing multivariate statistics in conjunction with panel data models that operationalize our theoretical framework. Our approach estimates the dynamic change effects over time that cannot typically be estimated utilizing cross-sectional data set. The approach also distinguishes between time-invariant fixed and time-independent random effects of multi-level socioecological drivers, while also controlling for omitted variables.Bangladesh is the world's most densely populated deltaic country with low per-capita farmland and rural development challenges (Turner and Ali, 1996;World Bank, 2015). About 40 million people in Bangladesh remain severely food insecure. Another 11 million suffer from acute hunger (WFP, 2016), the majority of whom inhabit coastal areas. More than 40% of productive land is projected to be lost in the southern region of Bangladesh for a 0.65 meter sea-level rise (World Bank, 2013). In Bangladesh's south-central coastal zone, tidal water flooding during the monsoon \"Kharif\" season (June-August) is common, though transplanted 'aman' rice (Oryza sativa) is widely grown during this period. Without large-scale irrigation development, farmers however experience water scarcity during the cool, dry winter \"Rabi\" season (November to April). Soil and water salinity as well as cyclonic storms pose further challenges in the Kharif -Rabi seasons. Farmers tend to fallow their land or grow low risk, low-input 'opportunity' crops including broadcast, unfertilized legumes predominantly mungbean (Vigna radiata) and lathyrus (Lathyrus sativus) during the Rabi season. Development approaches that increase farm productivity by conserving natural resources, increasing resource use efficiency and ecosystem services while improving social equity, i.e. sustainable intensification (SI) (Godfray et al., 2010), have been proposed to guide policy in Bangladesh's coastal farming systems (MOA-FAO, 2013;Krupnik et al., 2017). A component of SI involves increasing cropping intensity, i.e. the number of crops grown per year on the same land, thereby raising yield per year per unit of farmland, while also minimizing land expansion and consequent biodiversity loss.A system of embankments known as polders, consisting of dykes and sluicegate controls were constructed by the Bangladeshi government in 1960s to control oceanic water intrusion, protect against cyclones and support coastal agriculture. Poor maintenance and competition for resources has however resulted in many poorly functioning polders and sluice gates. Poor drainage, land subsidence, and soil salinity pose mounting problems, although their effect is spatially heterogeneous (Krupnik et al., 2017). The diversity of these linked socioecological issues calls into question the usefulness of standard and 'blanket' development approaches (Goswami et al., 2014). This research responds to these theoretical and methodological challenges and employs panel data models to the study of farming systems change both within and outside polders in Bangladesh's central coast. Our objective is to improve understanding of farm trajectories of change by untangling multilevel drivers that influence farming systems dynamics, and to use this information to inform relevant policy aimed at sustainable development in coastal South Asia.The socioecological views explaining agricultural growth, unlike population-pressure theories by Mathusian (neo-Malthusian) and Boserupian (Boserup, 1965), emphasize human-environment relationships and their influence on agriculture (Ali, 1995). These relationships, however, are driven by numerous socioecological factors, particularly the multiple levels of constraints imposed by the population pressure, biophysical environment, and the socio-technological and economic abilities of farm households to reduce and modify those constraints (Ali, 1995;Aravindakshan et al., 2018). These constraints can be harnessed to sustainably intensify farming systems rather than leading to uncontrollable natural resource depletion. To do so, the forms (types) and pathways of farming systems responses should be understood and modeled by socioecological drivers across spatio-temporal scales.We outline a conceptual framework for the study of farm trajectories of change at different scales in consideration of the dynamics of systems change (Fig. 1). The process of change is represented over time (t), t 1 to t 2 . In t 1 , a farming system may consist of 'n' number of farm types, which are likely to follow 'm' number of pathways with a probability 'p'. This results in n + q farm types at time t 2 , with q < 0 if farming systems tend towards homogeneity (less diverse) in structures and functions over time, and q > 0 if diversity increases. 'q' can take any value including 0, but not < '−n'.The factors driving these dynamics include complex and interacting biophysical, socioeconomic, behavioral, or social influences that operate at multiple scales (Hettig et al., 2016). Macro-and meso-level factors are exogenous and beyond the control of individual farmers; micro-level factors are conversely endogenous and subject to farmers' agency. A farm belonging to a particular type undergoes change over time, forming a trajectory of change in terms of selected farm features. Although we only show two pathways of change in Fig. 1, a farm has multiple 'm' options based on the direction and magnitude of influence of different factors. This conceptualization is intended as a general model of farm trajectories and factors of change, although it is likely to differ from system to system according to prevailing drivers.At the macro-level, three major factors are widely considered to influence agrarian change over time. Firstly, population density is considered as a major driver of agricultural intensification as it can increase both the demand for food and supply and demand for farm labor, in addition to land fragmentation (Boserup, 1965). Declining population density on the other hand may lead to farmland consolidation, land fallowing, and/or land sales and sharecropping. Secondly, economic growth may change diets and consumption patterns, thereby increasing demand for food products even without population growth. Third, variability in climate and extreme weather events -for example tropical storms and cyclones in the Bay of Bengal (Knutson et al., 2010;Huq et al., 2015) -may affect agricultural change (Hazell and Wood, 2008).The diversity of farming systems can be represented by typologies that segregate farm households into different farm types which may be defined by the structural (e.g. landholding, crops, livestock size) and/or functional variables (e.g. cropping intensity, technology adoption) that may result from interactions between micro-and meso-level factors, and macro-level drivers (Fig. 1). A range of micro-level factors, including past experience of cropping, household level adoption of improved crop varieties, irrigation, and machinery, tenure and land fragmentation could influence household livelihood strategies (Piotrowski et al., 2013;Paul and wa Gĩthĩnji, 2018). Farmers' decisions could also be conditioned and mediated by meso-level factors, including access to finance, extension services and civil infrastructure that in turn can influence relative farm input-output prices and access to new technologies and markets (Shiferaw and Bantilan, 2004;Amjath-Babu et al., 2016). Many studies of agrarian change focus on macrolevel drivers without considering lower level drivers or the diversity of farming systems types (cf. Boserup, 1965;Turner and Ali, 1996;Pingali, 2012). Furthermore, assumptions of the homogenous impact of multilevel factors across farm types may be overly simplistic. For example, in case of farm types experiencing land scarcity, population growth can lead to fragmentation of landholdings and competition for natural resources. An additional challenge in the study of agrarian change is the difficulty in measuring the dynamics of farming systems change in and of itself. Our approach, detailed below, is to first illustrate the farm types present at a given time 't 1 ' and proportion of farms changed from one type to another in a time 't 2 ', then subsequently identifying the dominant variables influencing these changes. These variables are then related to potential micro-, meso-and macro-level driving forces.The study area in the south-central part of Bangladesh has been identified as potentially suitable for cropping systems intensification using surface water irrigation to forgo Rabi season land fallowing (Krupnik et al., 2017). The region is characterized by a dense network of interconnected rivers and natural canals that flow into the Bay of Bengal. Annual rainfall ranges from 1955 to 2100 mm (BBS, 2013), with a humid sub-tropical climate. Most soils are medium to high textured silty clay loams (SRDI, 2010). The southern-most part of the central coast (Patuakhali, Barguna and Pirojpur districts) is protected by polders constructed since 1960s. So far 123 polders covering an area of about 13 million ha have been constructed across coastal Bangladesh that include 6000 km of channels, 2500 water control structures, and 5000 km of embankments (World Bank, 1990).Across Barisal, Patuakhali, Barguna and Pirojpur, approximately 70% of the households within polders are engaged in farming, while farming households are 59% outside the polders (BBS, 2016). The farming systems both within and outside polders are traditionally mixed, in which rice, livestock and pond aquaculture are integrated on the same farm. The majority of agrarian households (HHs) both within and outside polders are engaged in rainfed cropping in the Kharif (mid-March to mid-November) and Rabi (mid-November to mid-March) seasons. Kharif sowing coincides with the onset of monsoon, and is further divided into pre-monsoon Kharif-1 (mid-March to mid-July) during which local 'aus' rice varieties are grown, and monsoon Kharif-2 (mid-July to mid-November) when aman rice is grown. The Rabi season falls during the dry winter period, when farmers within polders grow primarily pulses, while farmers in non-polder areas cultivate pulses, mustard and vegetables. Irrigated Rabi season rice production known as 'boro' occurs in select areas proximal to water sources.We developed a balanced panel dataset at farm household level of 502 HHs in coastal Bangladesh in Barisal division, spanning 20 years from 1995 to 2015 as part of the multi-year Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project. This dataset is compiled from a farm household level primary survey, NGO records pertaining to household characteristics, farmer focus groups and secondary data sources. Sample were selected from a list of farm HHs provided by the NGO (Bangladesh Development Society) that keeps village level records of selected coastal districts in Southern Bangladesh. Two districts within polders (Patuakhali and Barguna) and a single district outside polders (Barisal district) were selected for the study (Table 1; Fig. 2). We selected these three districts of the total 27 districts in southern Bangladesh due to specific interest considering the potential for crop intensification and surface water irrigation in coastal Bangladesh (see Krupnik et al., 2017). In addition, data from districts other than the above for the time period 1995-2010 was not available from our partner NGOs or other sources for the study.A non-probability purposive sampling procedure was subsequently used to select HHs from the list whose information on select variables (Refer Table 2 for variable description) were available in the NGO records. Out of the 311 and 336 households outside and within polder areas in the list, 107 and 38 households were excluded due to data gaps, respectively. A final sample of 204 HHs outside polders and 298 HHs within polder areas were selected such that at least 5% of all HHs in each of the selected villages were sampled as advised by Turner (2003). HH level information on several variables for these selected HHs, spanning for a period of 1995-2010 were then compiled. These same HHs were surveyed in 2015 by the authors in order to develop a twenty year panel data set by combining the compiled information with the authors HH survey. Above panel data set used in this paper is made openly available by CIMMYT DataVerse for interested users here: http://hdl.handle.net/11529/10898.The variables in the panel data set developed included farm structural and functional characteristics, household resource endowment,  Note: In Bangladesh and several parts of South Asia including eastern India, rice is cultivated three times in a year differentiated by names \"aus, aman or boro\". The aman (broadcast and transplanted) rice is generally cultivated in mid-July to mid-November, sown with the onset of South-west monsoon rains, boro (irrigated rice) in Feb-May, and aus rice in mid-March to mid-July cropping seasons utilizing summer rains. agricultural management information, and data on off-and on-farm income, in addition to biophysical and socio-economic attributes. Village-level population and demographic data for twenty years period used in this study was obtained from Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. In addition to the above, gaps from missing data were filled by collecting and validating information through a combination of 9 farmer focus group discussions and presentation of raw data to household members and through secondary sources including household income and expenditure survey (HIES) by Bangladesh government. Graphical overviews of selected variables for years 1995 and 2015 are given in Figs. 3  and 4 for sample outside and within polders, respectively. Detailed summary statistics are provided in Table 2.Our analysis for farm HHs outside polders (OP) and within polders (WP) proceeded in three steps. First, we developed farm typologies for farm households outside and within polders separately. Distinct farm types were identified for 1995 and 2015. In the second step, we identified the most important variables contributing farm type changes across panel years. In the last step, we identified the multi-level factors driving farm type dynamics using panel data regression models. A historical review of literature was also carried out to complement our findings. In the first analytical stage, transition from one farm type to another is captured by farm trajectories of change over time. Towards this, both Principal Component analysis (PCA) and Cluster Analysis were employed (Alvarez et al., 2018) to categorize farm HHs based on the basis of their structural (resource endowment) and functional (production and land use objectives/livelihood strategies) characteristics (Kuivanen et al., 2016). Following the PCA on the data, Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering employing Ward's minimum-variance method, was done on the PCA (PCs' scores) to identify clusters. The Ward's method Notes:-psd = person-day, which is 8 h of work. a Index developed by summing up the product of cyclone events and farmer's perception on an individual cyclone's severity on a scale of 0-3 in the respective years observed.b Categories on a scale of 1-5; 1 = low level and 5 = high level of fragmentation. 1USD was ∼40 BDT in 1995 while it was ∼78 BDT in 2015. c Tropical livestock unit (TLU) was calculated according to method given by Harvest Choice 2015 (https://harvestchoice.org/data/an05_tlu). d Sharecropping intensity is ratio of sharecropped land to total land available for cultivation in %.e Cropping intensity averaged across fields is calculated as × 100Total land area ha farm yearand will exceed 100% where double or triple croppingis practiced.All monetary values are nominal.  minimizes within-cluster variation by comparing two clusters using the sum of squares between the two clusters, summed over all variables (Alvarez et al., 2018). The number of clusters (i.e. farm types) was defined using the dendrogram shape, in particular the decrease of the dissimilarity index (\"Height\") according to the increase of the number of clusters (Alvarez et al., 2018). We named these clusters based on four criteria: own landholding area, crop-livestock-aquaculture activities, off-farm income and sharecropping. We used Bangladesh's National Agricultural Extension Policy criteria to categorize farms based on the first criteria, i.e. landholding area, such that marginal farmers are those with landholdings of 0.2 to 0.6 ha; small farmers between 0.61 and 1.00 ha; medium between 1.01 and 3.03 ha; and large 3.03 ha or more (MOA, 2012, pp. 2; para 3).In the second stage, we explored the principal components for changes in typology variables' contribution across panel years from 1995 to 2015 to farming systems change. Variables highly correlated with a principal component (PC) contribute most to its scores (Husson et al., 2017). The percentile contributions of each variable to the principal components can be assessed to determine if any variables strongly influence a particular PC (David and Jacobs, 2014). The contribution (C k ) of a variable 'k' to a given PC is calculated as:where (cos k ) 2 in Eq. ( 1) is the squared cosine of a variable 'k' that represents the quality of the representation of that variable quantified as the squared loadings for that variable in the principal component. Squared cosines (cos 2 ) thus help locate the variables important for a given PC based on their relative contribution (Abdi and Williams, 2010). Cumulative contributions of all variables in the selected PCs (with eigenvalues ≥1.0) for each panel year (1995 to 2015) were assessed to identify the variables showing strongest contribution to variance. Those with the greatest contribution across years are assumed to have robust linkages to change trajectories among sampled farms. These are the 'farm dynamicity inducing variables' that were analyzed using panel regression models in the second stage as described below.In the third analytical stage, we analyzed the effects of multi-level factors/drivers of change on dominant variables contributing to farm type dynamics in panel years (T) by employing panel data modelling (Hsiao et al., 2000;Baltagi, 2008). Let the panel dataset contain observations of the multi-level factors and drivers of change (independent variables), X 1 , X 2 , …, X k and the dominant variables contributing to farm type dynamics, whose identification is explained in Section 3. where i = 1, …, n and t = 1, …, T, where the first subscript, i, refers to the farm being observed, and the second term t, refers to the observational year (T = 5 in our case). In Eq. ( 2), ε it is the error term and Z i ' is a set of farm household-specific micro-level factors (Table 2). Since Z i ' in the data has both observed and farmers' perceived variables, the ordinary linear model fitted by least squares would suffer from bias (Baltagi, 2008). We therefore estimated a generalized fixed effects (FE) model (Eq. ( 3)) when Z i ' is unobserved, but correlated with X it , and when Z i ' is observed, then we estimated a generalized random effects (RE) model by introducing a household specific random element μ i as in Eq. ( 4).We ran both FE and RE estimators for all dependent variables Y 1 , Y 2 , …, Y m obtained from stage 1 and compared results using the Hausman test, the results of which are reported in Section 4.3. The effect of multilevel factors/drivers were assessed from the coefficient estimates, i.e. 'β s ' and 'α s '. All statistical analyses are conducted using packages plm (Croissant and Millo, 2008) and FactoMineR (Husson et al., 2017) in R (version 3.3.2).Farm typology analysis of data yielded a multivariate classification of distinct farm typologies segregated by those located within and or outside polders. Farm types observed in five-year increments from 1995 to 2015 are provided in the Supplementary Materials (Table SM 1 and  SM 2). Performing typology analysis on 204 farms outside polders revealed seven distinct farm types for the baseline year 1995 (Fig. 5A). The same farms were re-classified into three types in 2015 (Fig. 5B). The dendrograms and cut-off points based on dissimilarity for all the years  for farms located within or outside polders are shown in the Supplementary Materials (Figure SM 1 (A) and (B)). Farm types identified outside polders are labelled as t 1 1 to t 1 7, and t 2 1 to t 2 3 respectively, where t 1 and t 2 correspond to time periods 1995 and 2015. Numbers conversely correspond to typology clusters. A detailed account of the farm types with the names defining structural and functional characteristics are provided in the Supplementary Materials (Text SM 1 to SM 4). For farms located within polders, the trend with respect to farming systems was similar to those outside polders: consolidation into fewer farm types was observed over time in both locational categories. The typology analysis for farms within polders for1995 and 2015 identified six and three farm types, respectively (Fig. 5C and D).Fig. 6 shows shifts between farm types from the baseline in 1995 to the final year of analysis in 2015. Among farms outside polders, the proportion of marginal farms increased from 52% in 1995 to over 70% by 2015. The share of small farms also increased by 8% during the same period, while medium-sized farms whose proportion was 26% in 1995 disappeared entirely by 2015. Out of the medium-sized farms with ricelivestock-sharecropping systems (t 1 7), 92% became small farms with rice-pulse and aquaculture-sharecropping systems (t 2 3) in 2015, while the remaining 8% became marginal farms with rice-aquaculture systems and off-farm activities (t 2 1). Among farms within polders, 84% of small farm types transitioned into marginal farms by 2015. The remaining farms changed to two small farm types (t 2 B and t 2 C) by 2015. There was only one marginal farm type in 2015 that can be described as rice-pulse-aquaculture systems with off-farm income (t 2 A). These constituted 67% of observed farms in 2015. In 1995, two medium-sized farm types were observed that comprised 20% of all farms surveyed. Roughly 22% of medium-sized sharecropping farms with rice-livestockpulse-aquaculture systems (t 1 E) farms transitioned into marginal farms with rice-pulse-aquaculture supplemented by off-farm income (t 2 A) by 2015. The remaining 78% shifted into small rice-pulse-aquaculture and a significant proportion of sharecropping activities (t 2 B). Ninety-one percent of medium-sized sharecropping farms with rice-livestockpulse-aquaculture systems (t 1 E) transitioned into type t 2 B (Small farms with rice-pulse systems and off-farm income) by 2015, while 9% shifted into marginally sized farms with rice-aquaculture systems and off-farm income (t 2 C).Within the polders, the real income from edible crops showed negative growth (−1.6%) for marginally sized farms between 1995 and 2015, there was however a remarkably higher growth rate from aquaculture (> 950%) and remittance (> 500%) (Table SM 6). Income from edible crops for small sized farms also exhibited a positive growth rate, but at just 6% during this twenty year period. Both income from aquaculture and remittance showed increase in growth rate of 180% and 131% respectively for small farms outside polders. A trend towards non-farm income generation also appears to be growing among marginally sized farms outside polders. This shift towards off-farm income outside polders is however less prominent among smaller farms, despite a slight 2% growth rate (Table SM 5). Among farms in polders, trends during this twenty years are only notable for small farms, as marginally sized were not existent in 1995, and medium sized farms had disappeared by 2015 (Fig. 8B). Growth in non-farm income (6%) was however observed with increasing remittances and off-farm income generation, in addition to income from cash crops (Fig. 8B and Table SM 6). The contribution of livestock to household income within polders has also conversely declined over time (Fig. 8B).Five distinct cropping patterns practiced by farmers located outside polders were distinguished during the Kharif-1 (spring), Kharif-2 (summer), and Rabi (winter) seasons. Their corresponding drivers of change are found in Fig. 7A. Cropping patterns within polders were equally diverse, but their abundance differed when compared to those found outside polders (Fig. 7B). Four cropping patterns were practiced by most farms within polders during the Kharif-1 (spring), Kharif-2 (summer), and Rabi (winter) seasons (Fig. 7B). During the 1995-2007 period, 'fallow-aman rice-lathyrus' rotations were practiced by > 60% farmers with land outside polders.Both within and outside polder areas, cyclones Sidr and Aila appear to have had adverse impacts on irrigated rice production during 2007 and 2009. Farmers turned to less intensive cropping patterns including pulses (which were slowly becoming more profitable) and land fallowing in the wake of both events. Towards the late 1990s, 'fallowaman rice-mungbean' cropping sequences emerged as an important rotation outside of polders. By 2015 this pattern dominated -> 70% farms surveyed outside of polders followed this pattern, with mungbean as a widely favored pulse.By the year 2000 each village sampled within polders on average had 4-5 low-lift irrigation pumps. This helped expansion of irrigated boro rice cultivation by drawing water from rivers and canals, though cyclones Sidr and Aila caused later damage to sluice gates that regulate water inflow and outflow from the canals. Sluice gates, which were initially installed through governmental programs, have yet to be repaired in a number of the surveyed villages. As an alternative to irrigated cultivation, farmers have slowly shifted to minor pulses including black gram, cowpea and field pea, grown prior to with spring rice (aus). Major pulses such as mungbean and lathyrus were also popular. The 'fallow-rice-various pulses' cropping pattern remained prominent until 2010 when mungbean began to replace other pulses. The other predominant cropping pattern, 'fallow-aman rice-fallow', declined from 10% to 4% between 1995 and 2015.We identified variables that contributed strongly to each principal   SM 3 and SM 4). Fig. 8 indicates that farm type dynamics are strongly linked to cropping intensity, off-farm income and landholding outside polders, while inside polders, the dynamics is linked to cropping intensity, off-farm income and livestock.Tables 3 and 4 provide panel data model estimates of factors influencing farm change trajectories for samples within and outside polders. The Hausman test for the goodness of fit of the fixed effects versus random effects for all models informs whether the random effects estimator is consistent and the model is valid. The test was significant (P > 0.05), rejecting the null hypothesis of a consistent fixed effects estimator for all models.Among micro-level factors, farm household heads' experience exerted a significant (P ≤ 0.05) negative influence on cropping intensity within polders (Table 4). Outside polders, this effect though negative was nonetheless insignificant (Table 3). During focus groups, older farmers revealed their preference for growing rice over cash crops when monsoon rains are available, with land left fallow in the subsequent winter season. Rice being the main staple crop in Bangladesh, this preference according to them is to ensure household food security. Compared to households with no direct involvement in farming operations (i.e., those who tended to work as hired laborers), households fully involved in agricultural production had average cropping intensities that are 1.3 times greater, ceteris paribus. Household heads' direct involvement in farming activities however tend to negatively and significantly (P ≤ 0.001) influence the households' share of off-farm income in polders.  Within polders, the proportion of land upon which farmers used machinery for tillage was positively related to cropping intensity (P ≤ 0.05) (Table 4). Mechanized tillage was inversely related (P ≤ 0.05) to livestock holdings both within and outside of polders. Land fragmentation into separate parcels was observed to have a negative (P ≤ 0.001) influence on cropping intensity in all study locations (Table 4). Farmers' perceptions of soil fertility showed a positive (P ≤ 0.1) influence on cropping intensity outside polders, although within polders, no relationship could be discerned. Farmers located outside polders did not report problems of soil or water salinity, while those within polders reported low, moderate and high soil and water salinity. Perceived soil and water salinity within polders had a negative (P ≤ 0.1) impact on cropping intensity.Another qualitative variable farmers were surveyed on was 'Inundation class\". This variable was based on classifications described by Brammer (2013) as the average perceived depth of flooding during the monsoon season, and is widely used by farmers to describe their land types. The level of inundation during the monsoon is important in determining the variety of rice that can be grown, and the speed at which floodwaters vacate following the summer monsoon to permit cropping in the early winter season (Krupnik et al., 2017). The official land inundation classification system is complex, with five classes. For simplification, we asked farmers to report if their fields on average belonged to \"low\" (> 180 cm average water depth) \"medium\" (30-180 cm water depth) or \"high\" (0-30 cm water depth) during the monsoon season. Our results indicated that lower inundation depths associated with progressively higher land on a micro-elevation basis positively and significantly (P ≤ 0.05) influenced cropping intensity both within and outside polders (Table 4). Farms with a higher share of fields on 'highlands' are also more likely to be suitable for doublecropping. This result that could be influenced by drainage problems associated with land subsidence and poor polder engineering that prevents timely winter cropping, even on highlands, within polder systems in the central coast of Bangladesh (Krupnik et al., 2017). Model estimates showed positive (P ≤ 0.05) relationship between landholding size outside polders and lower inundation depths (Table 3). These results indicate that farmers prefer in both locational classifications less flood-prone lands that can be more reliably cropped.Turning to micro-level factors influencing off-farm income, land fragmentation positively and significantly (P ≤ 0.001) influenced the share of farm household's off-farm income both within and outside polders. Outside polders, inundation class negatively (P ≤ 0.001) influenced off-farm income (Table 3). In other words, farms with higher land less subjected to prolonged monsoon water stagnation were associated with a 7% reduction in share of off-farm income.Both increasing distance to the market and main road from the farm negatively and significantly (P ≤ 0.001) influenced cropping intensities of all farms in the sample (Tables 3 and 4). A similar negative (P ≤ 0.001) relationship was found between output market distance and share of off-farm income within and outside polders (Tables 3 and  4). Access to extension on the other hand had a positive and significant influence (P ≤ 0.001) on cropping intensity within polders (Table 4). Access to credit was insignificant across locations, though approximately 5% of surveyed farmers in polders reported constraints in timely availability and access to agricultural finance. Farmers with secure land tenure were also found associated with increased cropping intensity compared to those heavily involved in share cropping. Tenure rights had a positive and highly significant influence (P ≤ 0.01) on cropping intensities both within and outside of polders (Tables 3 and 4).Irrigation canal proximally to farms had no significant influence on cropping intensity or off-farm income outside polders (Table 3). Irrigation canals situated near farmers' fields conversely had a marginally significant (P ≤ 0.1) and positive influence on larger farm size (Table 3). Cropping intensity within polders decreased significantly (P ≤ 0.05) with increasing distance to irrigation canals (Table 4). The influence of irrigation canal distance on off-farm income within polders was however positive and significant (P ≤ 0.01), indicating that farmers may seek off-farm income opportunities when irrigation is distant and unreliable (Table 4). Our results also highlight the very significant (P ≤ 0.001) and positive relationship between labor availability and cropping intensity both within and outside polders (Tables 3  and 4).The relationship between village population size and cropping intensity was positive and significant (P ≤ 0.001) outside polders (Table 3). Population density however had no effect on the amount of land owned or off-farm income (Table 3). Population growth also had no association with cropping intensity inside polders, despite a positive trend (Table 4). Importantly, past cyclone severity negatively and significantly affected cropping intensities of farms both within and outside polders (P ≤ 0.001) (Tables 3 and 4). Past cyclones severity also negatively influenced the amount of land owned (P ≤ 0.05) and off-farm income (P ≤ .05) outside polders (Table 3), while within polders, cyclones severity was negatively associated with the number of livestock owned (P ≤ 0.05) (Table 4). A single unit increase in cyclonic severity was associated with a two to three time reduction in cropping intensity within and outside polders, respectively. During focus groups, farmers who had experienced cyclones and extreme weather also indicated that they responded by reducing cropped area or by fallowing to hedge risks.Using a novel systems analysis approach integrating multivariate statistics with panel data models that operationalize the theoretical framework described in Section 2, we studied how biophysical processes interact with complex human and management components that define coastal farming systems both within and outside polder areas using two decades of data. Farming systems studied exhibit spatial and temporal dynamics that highlight how farm types transition over time in response to multi-level drivers of change. Both within and outside polders, marginal and small farms dominated in 2015, as compared to larger farms twenty years earlier. The number of medium and large farms for example also sharply declined in north-western Bangladesh since 2005 (Misra, 2017). Similar observations have been made for population dense and intensively cultivated landscapes in parts of South East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (Rigg et al., 2016;Jayne et al., 2016).Our findings highlight a consistent trend throughout for farms observed outside polders. Once heterogeneous, rice-livestock farms have shifted to more homogenous farms with aquaculture and increasing offfarm income generating activities. Within polders, trends were only notable for smaller farm types. Growth in remittances and off-farm income generation was however observed, in addition to income from cash crops. The contribution of livestock to household income conversely declined. Considering marginally sized farms within polders, there was more than a nine and five-fold increase in income contribution from aquaculture and remittances, respectively. Income from edible crops for small sized farms also exhibited a positive trend, but at just 6%. For smaller farms outside polders, both income from aquaculture and remittances showed increased growth rates of 180% and 131%, respectively. Farmers also shifted from subsistence aquaculture to the production of commercial species including tilapia, pangasius, and catfish (Hernandez et al., 2018). Unlike the south-western Bangladesh where prawn production has competed with rice for land and water resources, aquacultural intensification in south-central Bangladesh appears to have had limited negative environmental and social impacts (Henriksson et al., 2018).Irrespective of typology, farming systems in both the study locations continued to be aman rice-based. Until approximately 2005, boro rice production (during the winter Rabi season) also flourished both within and outside polders, but then declined. In polders outside our study area in south-western Bangladesh, concerns of elite capture of surface water resources by commercial prawn farmers diverting saline water into canal systems have been common (cf. Dewan et al., 2015). Southcentral Bangladesh however has more hydrologically active freshwater canal systems -in some cases even within polders (Krupnik et al., 2017).Between 1996 and 1998, national agricultural policy in Bangladesh re-introduced fertilizer price subsidies. Changes included increased control on input market price volatility, making fertilizers affordable (Jaim and Akter, 2012). Farmers outside polders may have responded by transitioning to new cropping patterns including 'fallow-aman ricevegetables', with the latter crop requiring increased fertilizer. This period also saw the expansion of 'fallow-aman rice-irrigated boro rice' corresponding to expanding availability of low-lift surface water pumps, in addition to fertilizer (Mottaleb et al., 2016). In the winter season, boro rice area continued to decrease within and outside polders from 2005 to 2010. This appeared to be a result of urea shortages that followed the introduction of a government subsidized fertilizer voucher system. Focus group interviews indicated that politically connected farmers captured more vouchers than less well-connected farmers, rending the system less efficient and negatively influencing aggregate boro production. Differences in cropping patterns outside and within polders were evident until 2010. Farmers outside polders favored 'fallow-aman rice-lathyrus' rotations compared to 'aus rice-aman ricemungbean' within the polders. Nonetheless, there is now a clear shift towards 'fallow-aman rice-mungbean' sequences in both areas, with a definite growth in mungbean cultivation.The GoB's Master Plan for Development in the Southern region proposed by the MOA and FAO in 2013 suggests initiatives to increase boro rice production in place of fallows. This however conflicts with the growing popularity of mungbean in the winter season. Focus groups indicated that low paddy prices and relatively higher labor costs provide disincentive against boro, in addition to high irrigation costs. Although mungbean is favored as a low-input opportunity crop that fetches better prices, it fairs poorly in the face of storms and waterlogging common in the coastal region (Biswas et al., 2018). Further studies regarding its suitability vis-a-vis other options are still warranted.Changes in farm types appeared to be linked to dynamicity inducing variables: (1) cropping intensity and (2) off-farm income, and (3) landholding and livestock, the former two are for both outside and within polders. Our analysis revealed the influence of multi-level socioecological drivers of trajectories of farming systems change. Ours results show that while cropping intensities both within and outside polders reduce with increased farm fragmentation; farmers responded to this and other environmental stresses through off-farm income generation. Bangladeshi inheritance laws stipulate the sub-division of land to multiple heirs after loss of parents (Rahman and Rahman, 2009). Amending these laws in order to prevent sub-division may be an important consideration in policy supportive of crop intensification.Secure land tenure rights was positively associated with cropping intensity. In focus groups, sharecroppers reported aversion to investment in land management or irrigation in the absence of secure land rights. Tenure insecurity could also reduce farmers' interest in improving soil quality over time as farmers discount future investments (Tenaw et al., 2009). At current rates, the cost of securing tenure rights through land registration is roughly 10% of total land value (Islam and Lee, 2016). This is prohibitive to small and marginal farmers in the coastal region, which provides evidence on the need for land tenure policy reformation and improvements in informal land sharing arrangements.Our data also indicated that most farmers in the central coast have tended to depend on inherent soil fertility with little application of inorganic or organic amendments. This observation aligns with concerns of declining soil fertility in Bangladesh (Barmon et al., 2008). Balanced nutrient 'budgets' have been reported to contribute to farmers' willingness to shifts from single cropping to double and even triple cropping in Bangladesh (Schulthess et al., 2019). Extension systems should therefore maintain a focus on appropriate nutrient management regimes.The inundation classes to which a farm belongs had positive influence on cropping intensity: farmers with highlands and medium-highlands tend to grow more crops per year. On medium-lowlands and below, as well as within polders with land subsidence, social (e.g. water users' groups) and technical (e.g., drainage canals) may be necessary to help drain stagnant water after the monsoon. Drainage systems are however complex and will require careful coordination to permit land preparation so a diversity of subsequent winter season crops can be grown (Krupnik et al., 2017). Finally, the environmental risks posed by cyclones had a negative influence on both cropping intensity and offfarm income generation. There have been considerable crop losses associated with previous extreme weather events in coastal Bangladesh. Opportunities for climate services that increase farmers' ability to anticipate and cope with extreme climatic events may also be beneficial in reducing risk. Cyclones and extreme weather are widely cited as riskbearing factors that can limit rural developments efforts in coastal South Asia (Mottaleb et al., 2016); options for farm insurance can also be explored to hedge risks.The farming systems in the central coast of Bangladesh draw attention to the range of socioecological drivers that affect agricultural intensification pathways and rural livelihoods. Boserup (1965) and several others recently, including Jayne et al. (2014), Muyanga and Jayne (2014) and Ricker-Gilbert et al. (2014), have shown the significance of population pressure as the main driver of agrarian change. Surprisingly, our data showed inconsistent effects of population pressure, with positive significance outside polders, and a non-significant positive trend within them. Our research however underscores the significance of a host of additional and equally important factors, including those associated with climatic risks and tenure insecurity that negatively affect cropping intensity. Farm households observed in our data can be seen as either 'hanging in, stepping up, or out' of farming as a primary livelihood strategy (cf. Dorward et al., 2009). Such dynamics have been measured in sub-Saharan Africa (Tittonell, 2014) but not previously in South Asia. Increasing importance of off-farm income (remittances and off-farm employment), particularly for small and marginally sized farms can be seen as 'stepping out' of farming. Conversely, 12% and 22% of farms outside and within polders, respectively, tended to continuously fallow land during the winter between 2005 and 2015. This indicates a 'hanging in' strategy for farms less reliant on offfarm income. Increasing income from intensified cropping is likely to require considerable changes and inclusion of high value crops supported by requisite irrigation infrastructure, market access, and supportive policies (Krupnik et al., 2017). Although sufficiently robust to detect the abovementioned trends, our approach may however be to some extent be sensitive to difficulties encountered when farmers attempt to recall information during surveys. These risks were however mitigated in our study through cross-validation with secondary sources and confirmation of observed trends through follow-up focus groups.According to Singh (2002) farming systems in the coastal region of South Asia are solely represented by 'coastal artisanal fishing mixed farming systems' comprising of mixed systems of rice, pulses, livestock and aquaculture. We therefore consider that our data and sample exemplifies the agrarian change in mixed rice-livestock-aquaculture systems typical for much of the coastal areas in South Asia, including Eastern parts of India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (Dixon et al., 2001). As a result, the findings of this study are likely most applicable to the above locations than other parts of South Asia. This is due to the comparable agro-climate and similarities with regard to agricultural practices, demographics, and other socioecological factors.This study aimed to elucidate farm change trajectories and likely factors/drivers influencing changes in the farming systems of Bangladesh's central coast using a novel systems analysis approach. We presented a new framework for analyzing farm trajectories using longterm panel data. While we adopted both fixed and random effects models similar to Baltagi (2008), our approach was unique in that we employed data dimensionality reduction techniques, hierarchically clustered farm typology analysis, and examined how they changed over time. We also extracted the underlying latent factors that helped explain what drives change over time using panel data modelling. The conceptual model and the analysis provided here illustrate how it is meaningful to consider a wide range of socioecological system properties potentially influencing agricultural intensification, rather than singling out macro-drivers such as population pressure as the primary metric of agrarian change and intensification.Our approach, which can be adapted to other farming systems and geographies, showed that coastal farming systems exhibit farm type dynamics that are spatially and temporally diverse. With several socioecological drivers as key influencers of change, farming systems in our study area have gradually moved from heterogeneous, rice-livestock based farm types into more homogenous farm types with less livestock and increased emphasis on income generated from pulses, aquaculture and off-farm employment. Evidence also suggests that farm typological diversity has decreased within and outside of polders. Marginal-and small-sized farms now dominate compared to a more diverse mix of marginal to large farm types twenty years before. We have shown the influence of both micro-and meso-level factors in addition to macro-level drivers (e.g. population and cyclone intensity) in driving changes in cropping intensity. The inundation class to which farmland belongs had a positive influence on cropping intensities of the studied areas, reinforcing the requirement for both post-monsoon field drainage and clearing existing drainage canals to facilitate winter season cropping. Finally, the environmental risk posed by cyclones had a negative influence on both cropping intensities and off-farm income activities in the area.These topics, however, have not been adequately dealt with through policy, which has instead focused on promoting boro rice cultivation. Our data clearly indicate that this approach is less appealing for farmers. Rather than focusing on boro rice cultivation in the winter season, the development of stress tolerant mungbean varieties and extension support to improve nutrient management may be beneficial, alongside efforts to improve in-field drainage to facilitate early winter season land preparation. Setting these issues aside, pathways to catalyze intensification of these systems are also likely require efforts to ameliorate environmental risks posed by extreme weather, policy to improve sharecropping arrangements and land tenure security, alongside farming systems re-design that incorporates household's development aspirations and the attributes affecting their crop choices."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"300364c0e86478391da27cae84f50ddf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/df2f43f0-5eb1-405a-a3af-e2d4cdb2ae8d/content","id":"549326544"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"34ef32d4-49a4-42a8-af5f-54ea9bd3a46c","content":"The CIMMYT Maize Program Increasing the productivity of maize and maize farming systems in developing countries.Protecting the natural resources on which future productivity depends.The CIMMYT Maize Program ...• Provides a broad array of high yielding maize varieties, hybrids, and inbred lines targeted to developing country settings and able to withstand major environmental rigors such as infertile soils, drought, insect pests, and diseases. • Conducts crop and natural resource management research to exploit the full potential of improved seed and to preserve or enhance farmers' soil and water resources (in concert with the CIMMYT Natural Resources Group). • Generates and shares knowledge and techniques that make our research and that of partners more effective. This includes technical information and expertise in research planning, execution, and financing. • Offers a rich assortment of training opportunities in maize breeding and crop management research, including in-service courses, visiting scientist appointments, and post-doctoral fellowships. Helps establish and support myriad global, regional, and national training initiatives (courses, workshops, conferences, etc.). • Maintains and fosters the use of extensive collections of maize genetic resources for the benefit of humanity and helps others involved in this work.The Maize Program comprises three subprograms, each focusing on a major maize production ecology (the lowland tropics, the subtropics and midaltitude regions, and the highlands), plus specialized research units (entomology, pathology, physiology, international testing, genetic resources) which provide cross-Program support. About half our staff are based at CIMMYT headquarters and several research stations in Mexico; the rest are posted to offices in the chief maize-producing regions of the developing world and work directly with research partners in the countries we serve.Guatemala City, Guatemala --Research focusing on hillside and lowland tropical maize systems of Central America and the Caribbean.Cali, Colombia --Work to develop and disseminate varieties and hybrids for acid savannas and hillsides of South America, Africa, and Asia; research on major diseases of maize in Latin America.Addis Ababa, Ethiopia --Developing hybrid-oriented maize for the highlands of Eastern Africa.Nairobi!Njoro, Kenya --Research on crop management strategies to fully exploit the potential of improved germplasm for Eastern Africa; the development of lowland tropical maize that resists maize streak virus; support to a crop management research training center for maize specialists of Eastern and Southern Africa. Bangkok, Thailand --Research on maize that resists downy mildew and meets the growing demand for improved varieties and hybrids for Asia; support to a crop management research training center for maize specialists of the region.,.,The CIMMYT Maize Program's earliest work focused on collecting, characterizing, and preserving samples of native maize seed from Mesoamerica. Beginning in 1966 and continuing through the 1970s, the Program ...• Established experiment stations in Mexico to represent the major maize growing ecologies in developing countries. • Formed broad-based genetic pools of maize for the tropics.• Launched a worldwide network for testing and distributing experimental seed.• Regionalized efforts to address local needs more effectively.• Conducted research to develop high-protein maize varieties known as \"quality protein maize\" (QPM).During the 1980s hybrid research was begun in response to the growing demand for such products from our partners. In the 1990s, the Program has strengthened these efforts, sought innovative partnerships for developing and delivering products, and explored the potential of biotechnology to facilitate breeding and tap new sources of genetic diversity.Among our more recent research advances are the discovery of sources of resistance to stored grain pests and incorporation of this trait into breeding stocks. Parallel selection under both optimal and controlled stress conditions, an approach tested by the physiology unit to develop drought-and low-nitrogen tolerant maize, is now applied in crop improvement work throughout the Program and is being promoted with research partners, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, our current priorities reflect several broad concerns of each major maize-producing region ... Asia --Cropping intensification and an explosion in the demand for maize (mainly for animal feed).Sub-Saharan Africa --Marginal production conditions and a rising demand for maize as human food.Latin America --Cropping intensification and a resulting increase in disease incidence.Under the terms of a 1994 agreement with the FAQ, the Maize Program preserves and makes available some 14,000 collections of seed of maize and related species in CIMMYT's Wellhausen-Anderson Genetic Resources Center (GRC), built in 1996 with funding from Japan, and works with research partners worldwide to foster the conservation and use of maize genetic resources ... The Program distributes maize, teosinte, and Tripsacum seed for the benefit of producers and consumers in developing countries. This seed is freely available to researchers worldwide, so that it reaches as many farmers in the developing world as possible.The chief means of distribution is an international testing program in which experimental seed is sent to hundreds of cooperators in dozens of countries each year. CIMMYT also ships considerable seed in response to requests from the scientific community."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7befc89e295789914e0a97c3fdb57e9a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/70d8304d-eb24-4384-a50b-c05d31d400a5/content","id":"388549871"},"keywords":["Africa south of Sahara","food production","food supply","Zea mays","fertilizers","fertilizer application","innovation adoption","economic environment","economic policies","price policies","credit policies. AGRIS category codes: E14","E16 Dewey decimal classification: 338.16"],"sieverID":"9511862d-67f5-4324-858f-c69a776a90c7","content":"CIMMYT is an internationally funded, nonprofit scientific research and training organization. Headquartered in Mexico, the Center is engaged in a research program for maize, wheat, and triticale, with emphasis on improving the productivity of agricultural resources in developing countries. It is one of several nonprofit international agricultural research and training centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which is sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The CGIAR consists of some 40 donor countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations.CIMMYT receives core support through the CGIAR from a number of sources, including the international aid agencies of Australia,. Fertilizer consumption in sub-Saharan Africa 8 Table 2. Effect of price policy on the profitability of alternative maize technologies in 110 onfarm demonstrations, Lilongwe, Malawi, 1990 and1991 11 Table 3. Ratio of farm-level prices of nitrogen fertilizer to maize grain prices in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions, 1989In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), population growth will continue to outstrip growth in food production for a long time to come unless serious action is taken to accelerate agricultural productivity. Between now and the year 2000, population in SSA is expected to grow at a rate of more than 3% per year, while food production is likely to grow at a rate of 2% or less per year. By the year 2000, the production shortfall in SSA is estimated to increase to about 50 million tons of grain equivalent-up from the current level of about 14 million tons (von Braun and Paulino 1990). The World Bank (1989) estimates that by the year 2020, Africa will have a food shortage of 250 million tons. Furthermore, the region will not have the necessary foreign exchange to import such large amounts of food, nor will the African governments be able to count on enough food aid to make up the difference. Even if importing food were financially viable, most countries in SSA lack the infrastructure (ports, roads, trucks, distribution networks, and so on) to handle it efficiently.In general, low-input systems are characterized by relatively low land productivity. In terms of long-term sustainability and returns to land and labor, however, extensive low-input systems tend to be highly efficient. To grow enough food to feed an increasing population from these systems, farmers have to expand cultivated area, moving onto marginal lands ofWilfred Mwangi lower quality; these lands tend to be easily degraded (Matlon and Spencer 1984). Also, many parts of Africa are extremely land-scarce, despite the appearance of land-abundance (Binswanger 1986;Matlon 1987b;Binswanger and Pingali 1988). Intensification would reduce the need to cultivate marginal lands. Moreover, high-input systems would restore fertility via fertilizer (Matlon 1987a;Wong et al. 1991), especially in areas where nutrient depletion is the major soil degradation problem.Population increases and land scarcity indicate that SSA's food needs cannot be met through the low-input systems that are based largely on traditional practices; instead, much more will be required from farmers in terms of labor, knowledge, and skill (Borlaug and Dowswell 1994). Furthermore, for the world as a whole, a shift from the currently known best practice for completely organic sources of nutrients would result in a food shortfall of about 40% (Smil 1991).This paper examines the factors related to the low use of fertilizer and the resulting low agricultural productivity in SSA. The importance of fertilizer and of improving soil fertility and agricultural research are outlined first. Next, demand factors that influence adoption decisions and the intensity of fertilizer use are summarized. The subsequent section focuses on supply constraints to fertilizer use and the privatization of supply.Infrastructure development and conclusions are discussed in the final sections.Fertilizer is a critical input for improving production technologies and increasing crop yields. Over the past 25 years, chemical fertilizers have been the primary means of enhancing soil fertility in small-farm agriculture (Byerlee et al. 1994). Estimates suggest that in Asia and Latin America, chemical fertilizers are responsible for 50-75% of the increase in the food crop yield over the past two decades (Viyas 1983;Narayana and Parikh 1987). Also, given present knowledge, the rapid rate at which food production must increase in developing countries, and severe soil degradation, farmers probably have little choice but to depend heavily on external sources of nutrients in the foreseeable future (Desai 1990).Researchers and policy makers widely recognize the importance of fertilizers in accelerating the growth of food production in SSA (Bumb 1988). Mellor et al. (1987) give fertilizers the first functional priority for accelerating food production in the region. They suggest that, even with existing technologies, a 15% annual growth rate in fertilizer consumption is both possible and of great potential significance. However, given much of the evidence presented elsewhere in this paper, such increases do not seem feasible without large changes in infrastructure, institutions, and policies. Furthermore, based on the experience of other developing world countries, where aggregate fertilizer consumption has increased far more rapidly than in SSA, such expansion rates will not be easy to achieve in an economically efficient fashion (Heisey and Mwangi, forthcoming).Farmers in SSA use very low levels of fertilizer (Table 1). Average use in 1990 was 8.4 kg of fertilizer nutrients per ha of arable land and land under permanent crops. In that same year, the world average was 93 kg; for developing countries, the average was 81 kg (Gerner and Harris 1993). Fertilizer use in SSA does not come close to compensating for harvested nutrients (Vlek 1993).Slightly more than half of the fertilizer is used on cereals, particularly maize. Although the area of the other two important cereals (millet and sorghum) is also large, very little of this area is fertilized, and when it is, application rates are low (Gerner and Harris 1993). In general, fertilizer use has shifted from cash crops to cereals, particularly maize, over the past 20 years (Heisey and Mwangi, forthcoming).Shifting cultivation and fallowing have been the traditional method of maintaining soil fertility and replenishing nutrients in SSA (Blackie and Jones 1993;Blackie 1994a;Spencer 1994). However, due to increased population pressure in most areas, fallowing has disappeared from the system in some areas and is declining in others. The shortening of fallow cycles-without adequate replenishment of soil nutrients through the use of organic and inorganic inputs-has caused yields to decline over time (Ehui et al. 1994).In SSA, grain yields average about a third of those in East Asia. Differences in land quality are part of the reason, but so too is SSA's low fertilizer use-less than one-fifth of East Asia's average (World Development Report 1992).Given the low levels of fertilizer use in SSA and the demonstrated contribution of fertilizers to increasing crop yields and land productivity, the increased use of fertilizers has great regional potential for boosting food production and promoting agricultural development. a Application rates per actual cropped area may be higher. Source: World Development Report (1994).that will promote the adoption and increased use of fertilizers by small-scale farmers (Baanante and Thompson 1988).Low fertilizer use results in declining soil fertility; it also increases soil degradation through nutrient mining (Byerlee et al. 1994;World Development Report 1992). For the foreseeable future, \"the environmental consequences of continued low use of fertilizers\" through nutrient mining and increased use of marginal lands \"are more inevitable and devastating than those anticipated from increased fertilizer use\" (Dudal and Brynes 1993;Matlon and Spencer 1984;World Development Report 1992).In general, soil fertility is on a downward spiral, with inputs of nutrients (from organic and inorganic sources) into sedentary agriculture insufficient to reverse the trend. Estimated rates of net nutrient depletion are high, exceeding 30 kg of nitrogen (N) and 20 kg of potassium (K) per hectare of arable land per year in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe (Stoorvogel et al. 1993). 1From 1988 to 1990, fertilizer use in Ghana averaged about 11,000 nutrients tons; 90,000 nutrient tons were removed by various crops.The implications for Ghana are clear: depletion of soil nutrients is becoming a serious constraint to soil fertility and crop productivity. Moreover, the level of depletion suggests that large amounts of fertilizers are needed to maintain soil fertility (Bumb et al. 1994).Declining soil fertility has been identified as one of the most significant constraints to increasing food production in SSA. This is true even in the highlands of eastern Africa Furthermore, increased and efficient fertilizer use can help reverse the declining trends in per capita cereal production experienced in many SSA countries, without having adverse environmental consequences (Bumb 1991). But this potential can only be realized through sound government policies and investments (traditionally the region's most productive and fertile lands) due to human population pressure and intensification in land use (Waddington and Ransom 1995). Adequate and timely fertilizer applications will not only supply necessary nutrients and improve crop yields, but will also provide relatively higher amounts of crop residue, which can be used as organic matter to improve soil health and prevent soil degradation (Bumb 1991). Wong et al. (1991) have also urged the promotion of judicious fertilizer use in West Africa, use which, they contend, will enhance agricultural production while protecting the fragile environment. Byerlee et al. (1994)   Conroy and Kumwenda 1994), and on some depleted communal lands in Zimbabwe, hybrid maize will yield nothing without fertilizer (Waddington and Ransom 1995).In some ecologies, continuous cropping of maize has led to degraded soil structure and micronutrient deficiencies, which, in turn, have led to a long-term decline in yields even where chemical fertilizer is used at relatively high levels (IITA 1991). Thus, it is important to seek a balanced approach to improving soil fertility, an approach that combines both organic and inorganic source of nutrients (Byerlee et al. 1994).The efficiency of chemical fertilizers and the long-term sustainability of yields can often be increased by adding organic matter from internal nutrient sources (e.g., green manures and farmyard manures), by employing reduced tillage techniques, and by alley crops (Spencer and Polson 1991;Matlon 1990;Low and Waddington 1991;Borlaug and Dowswell 1994). The review of the considerable literature on long-term fertility trials conducted in SSA has indicated the long-term yield benefits of combining organic and inorganic soil amendments (McIntire et al. 1992). Successful intensification will need to combine such soil management with greater use of inorganic fertilizers, which provide about 40% of the nutrients for the world's crops (World Development Report 1992). This is particularly critical in arid areas where, in most cases, organic material has virtually disappeared from the soil due to extraction and decomposition. The use of fertilizers in combination with organic materials and soil conservation measures can increase the low yields of food grains common in these areas.However, as observed earlier, SSA lacks resource management technologies for maintaining soil fertility and increasing labor productivity. And even where research and extension systems have recommended improved soil and crop management technologies, adoption by small farmers has been virtually nil (Spencer 1994;Ehui et al. 1994). In general, low producer prices for crops and livestock in SSA have discouraged farmers from investing in natural resource conservation measures (Larson and Bromley 1993).As Vlek (1993) has rightly observed, however, \". . . failing to enhance fertilizer use in SSA might actually lead to an environmental disaster, as it will cause stagnation in economic development with millions of farmers trading their exhausted and irreversibly degraded lands for still remaining problem lands, leaving behind a denuded landscape.\"Farm-level studies show that technologies which employ green manure crops, composting, and animal manures to increase soil fertility in smallholder agriculture have largely been rejected because of the high labor demands and the variable quality of the product. There are also problems in producing the quantity of manures and composts needed to have a noticeable affect on soil fertility (Blackie 1994;Jones and Wendt 1994).Ehui et al. (1994) report that the benefits in improved soil quality, fertility, and crop yields are limited by the low output response of inputs such as manure, crop residues, and animal power. These inputs are also insufficient to replace the major nutrients mined from the soil by crop production.Although it is acknowledged that improved organic techniques of nutrient supply will contribute to soil health and productivity (Kumwenda et al., forthcoming), relying only on the efficient recycling of nutrients available in depleted soils will not generate the food production increases required in SSA (Janssen 1993).Future increases in food production must come primarily from higher yields per unit of land rather than from land expansion. Agricultural research must therefore continue to develop yield-enhancing production technologies targeted to specific agroecologies, especially on food crops. Research must also build tolerance of, or resistance to, pests and adverse climatic conditions.However, despite recent studies showing high rates of return to research that has produced new technologies (Oehmke and Crawford 1993) and to the extension systems that helped introduce such technologies to farmers (Bindlish and Evenson 1993), investment in research is declining. This trend must be reversed if SSA is to meet its food needs. A long-term research strategy will require substantial public-sector involvement, which in turn will require higher, not lower, investments in agricultural research (Heisey and Mwangi, forthcoming). 2In most areas of SSA, declining soil fertility is a major limiting factor to food production.Policies that support long-term agricultural research are crucial to developing a fertilizer sector capable of overcoming this problem. Implicit in the often-repeated injunction that \"the right fertilizer be available at the right time in the right place\" is the assumption that the \"right fertilizer\" is known. Agricultural research is the foundation upon which such determinations are made.Soil fertility and fertilizer research should receive high priority and research on organic sources of nutrients must be encouraged and strengthened. Some have argued that continued research investment should be directed toward the low-potential and problem areas of SSA in order to arrest soil degradation and promote efficient types of extensive farming; however, fertilizer should probably fertilizer use. So far, limited research has shown that by using better agronomic and management practices and improved fertilizer products, many farmers can achieve significantly higher crop output from the same level of nutrient use (Bumb 1991).It is important to emphasize that the process of developing research recommendations, making them consistent with policy, and turning them into more effective (and often more complicated) extension advice is far from satisfactory for most countries in SSA (Heisey and Mwangi, forthcoming).Demand and supply factors are hard to separate when evaluating farmers' decisions to adopt fertilizer and their subsequent decisions about application rates. For example, many of the key influences discussed in the adoption literature (farm size, access to credit, membership of cooperatives, contact with extension, access to outside information, availability of inputs, distance to markets) may be related at least as much to supply side constraints as to farmer demand (Mwangi 1995). Furthermore, in Kenya and some other nations, fertilizer consumption tends to be higher where input supply networks are well developed. In some cases, however, it is difficult to establish whether poorly developed input supply channels are demand-driven (arising from factors such as unattractive returns, lack of credit, and poor technical knowledge) or supply-driven. In this not play a major role in strategies for lowpotential areas, particularly those for which increasing soil organic matter would be problematic under any circumstances (Vleck 1993).In Malawi, research into alley cropping maize with Leucaena leucocephalla has demonstrated that organic fertilizers can increase maize yields, although the biggest yield increase was obtained when both inorganic and organic fertilizers were applied together (Jones and Wendt 1994). Experiments conducted by IFDC and ICRISAT at Sadore and Gobey in Niger have demonstrated that the addition of up to 20 t/ha of manure could result in as much millet production as when chemical fertilizers are used. However, managing such quantities of organic materials is labor-intensive and requires tools not now possessed by the peasant farmer (Bationo and Mokwunye 1991).Bationo and Mokwunye have also demonstrated that the addition of crop residue plus fertilizer increased millet yields 15-fold over the control. 3   Lynam and Blackie (1991) underlined the importance of crop and resource management research to overcome seasonal labor constraints, while conserving the soil base and enhancing soil fertility over the long run. They contend that this type of research will assume a major role in increasing the productivity and sustainability of maize-based cropping systems. However, such research is very sitespecific and more detailed micro-level research will be needed to define appropriate strategies for each location (Lele et al. 1989). More research is also needed on the efficiency of subsection, we focus on factors influencing demand for fertilizer; in the next subsection, we turn to supply factors.The demand for fertilizers is derived from the demand for agricultural products. The factors that affect and determine agricultural production and the demand for fertilizers may be classified as (1) climatic variables, (2) soil characteristics, and (3) economic and social variables. In conjunction with the knowledge and experience of farmers, these factors affect decisions about the use of resources for agricultural production (crops and cropping systems) and the use and management of fertilizers and other variable inputs (Baanante and Thompson 1988).Low use of fertilizer has been partly attributed to weak or nonexistent crop responses, partially because of variable rainfall, poor soil quality, an absence of irrigation, and a lack of improved crop cultivars (McIntire et al. 1992).Under rainfed conditions, maize in Africa tends to be more fertilizer responsive than other cereals, with the possible exception of rice (Heisey and Mwangi, forthcoming). This is undoubtedly one of the reasons maize production appears positively linked with fertilizer consumption. 4 The \"agronomic efficiency\" (fertilizer use efficiency) for maize ranges from 5 to 25 kg grain or more per 1 kg nutrient. A cursory examination of response data for maize in other developing countries (India, Mesoamerica) reveals no marked difference from African response data (Heisey and Mwangi, forthcoming).Economics of fertilizer use -The economics of using chemical fertilizer on maize is highly site-specific, depending on land pressure, agroclimatic variables, fertilizer costs, and farm gate maize prices (Byerlee et al. 1994). Anderson (1992) has hypothesized that most of the recommended technologies, including chemical fertilizer use, are not more profitable than existing practices, given the constrained resources of affected farmers.In Malawi, a recent program of 110 on-farm demonstrations over two years in one district found that it is economical for food-deficit households to use fertilizer on local maize, although fertilizer use on hybrid maize at recommended doses provided even higher returns (Table 2); Malawi has the highest N:grain price ratio in Table 3. If the fertilizer subsidy were removed, however, fertilizing local maize varieties would not be economically efficient. 5 Even for hybrid maize, returns to fertilizer use are less than the 100% rate of return usually assumed to be the minimum required for small-scale farmers to adopt this type of technology widely (Table 2).A similar situation has been observed for maize in Tanzania, where for farmers the profitability of fertilizer use is low, especially in interior locations where the high cost of transport reduces effective maize prices and increases the price of chemical fertilizers (Lele 1992).An important consideration for those with small farms and little cash is the possible risk of using fertilizer. But in favorable growing conditions like those of Malawi, risk is not an important factor in many farmers' decisions to accept or reject the seed-fertilizer technology (Smale et al. 1991). However, in marginal production areas with a high yield risk of drought, the yield risk of fertilizer use increases substantially. Results from marginal maizegrowing areas of Kenya, where soils are highly degraded, indicate that rainfall risk is probably a key factor in the low rate of fertilizer adoption (McCown et al. 1992).Price instability and input supply problems often pose a greater risk for fertilizer users than yield risk per se (Byerlee et al. 1994). In general, price instability leads to lower investment in new technologies such as those that employ fertilizer (Timmer 1993). It has also been observed that uncertainty in the profitability of fertilizer represents a serious disincentive to fertilizer adoption and use on staple crops (Vlek 1990). 6Availability -Although the factors affecting fertilizer availability are often referred to as nonprice factors, they can be accommodated within a pricing framework by noting that in effect they raise the shadow price of fertilizers to farmers. A major constraint to technology adoption in much of Africa is the physical unavailability or untimeliness of inputs. On whether fertilizer use is limited more by supply or demand, Pinstrup-Andersen (1993) notes that in most cases farmers' limited access to the right kind of fertilizer at the right time was probably just as important a constraint as price. One study of farmers' reasons for not following the extension recommendations developed through adaptive on-farm research in Zambia found that in 44% of the cases inputs simply were not available (Low and Waddington 1991).6 But despite this problem, fertilizer use on cereals has increased, particularly for maize. a Subsidy of 25% on fertilizer and about 40% on hybrid seed. b The price of maize in households that purchase maize is about 40% above the farm gate selling price. c Marginal rate of return on input expenditures. A return above 100% is usually assumed to be necessary for widespread farmer adoption.Price policies and credit -Many countries in SSA have promoted fertilizer use through price and/or credit subsidies. The high cost of fertilizer in SSA is the main justification for maintaining subsidies. Other reasons include compensating for low output prices, uncertainty about the profitability of fertilizer, promoting adoption, making fertilizer more readily available to small farmers (thus fulfilling an equity goal), and the high cost of capital in informal markets (Byerlee et al. 1994;Pinstrup-Andersen 1994;Vlek 1990).Shalit and Binswanger (1985) have outlined three theoretical cases for fertilizer subsidies.The best theoretical case is to promote the learning of a new technology that will in time be socially profitable. Compensation for an export tax (more likely to apply to cash crops) is another theoretical argument. Yet another is that if there is a policy goal of food selfsufficiency, fertilizer subsidies may be more effective than output price subsidies; given other policy goals, fertilizer subsidies might seem somewhat less attractive.Some policy analysts would contend that other arguments, such as compensating for the high cost of capital, are best addressed by improving financial intermediation, not by subsidizing fertilizer. It is also debatable whether high prices are best countered by subsidies or by trying to address the underlying causes of the high prices. Perhaps a middle ground would be to look at both alternatives as important, with their relative roles changing over time. Other arguments might also be geographically specific. For example, temporary fertilizer subsidies would seem more justifiable for Malawi than for Nigeria.In recent years, governments in SSA have been pressured by the World Bank, IMF, and other donors through structural adjustment programs (SAPs) to remove fertilizer subsidies.In countries where such actions have been taken, overall national demand for fertilizers has been substantially weakened, at least in the short run (Vlek 1990). Waddington and Ransom (1995) indicate that for most countries in the region, SAPs have eliminated price subsidies and reduced the availability of credit for inorganic fertilizer inputs and seed. This creates a great deal of uncertainty for farmers and for the research and extension services that support them. However, it also creates new opportunities (such as potential availability of a wider range of micronutrient fertilizers). Nevertheless, the short-to medium-term consequences of SAPs are that smallholder farmers will apply even less N and phosphorus (P) fertilizers and will use less hybrid maize seed because of real price increases at the farm gate.In Nigeria, Smith et al. (1994) indicate that removing the fertilizer subsidy is expected to reduce the profitability of maize, while reduced fertilizer use levels will necessitate major changes in soil maintenance practices in a production system that relies heavily on fertilizer for maintaining soil fertility. In Senegal the reduction in fertilizer subsidies has led to declining demand for fertilizer (Shepherd 1989). In Malawi and Cameroon, some contend that removing the subsidy will reduce fertilizer use by women farmers, whose use of fertilizers is already low (Gladwin 1992).In Ghana, removing fertilizer subsidies in the absence of credit and remunerative output prices has resulted in falling demand for the input (Kwandwo Asenso-Okyere 1994). A study from Nigeria, where fertilizer is subsidized heavily, showed that chaotic and untimely supply was one of the most salient reasons for non-adoption (Daramola 1989). In this case, continuing the fertilizer subsidy appears unjustified on either efficiency or equity grounds. However, others have argued that despite the supply problems, the fertilizer subsidy undoubtedly assisted the adoption and expansion of maize (Smith et al. 1994).A strong case can be made for fertilizer subsidies-especially for phosphate fertilizers-to restore and sustain soil fertility.But although SSA has plenty of phosphate rock reserves, these have not been exploited due to high investment costs, low phosphate prices, foreign exchange shortages, and limited skilled manpower (Bumb and Baanante 1995).Given the very low levels of fertilizer use, the high prices, and the fact that most countries in SSA are pursuing the policy of food selfsufficiency, there will be theoretical arguments for continued fertilizer subsidies in the short and medium terms. Furthermore, we have seen that, in most cases, removing the subsidy significantly reduces fertilizer use.Besides subsidies, government-sponsored credit programs have commonly been used to promote input adoption, often by providing inputs in kind at low or negative real interest rates (Byerlee et al. 1994). While such programs have sometimes stimulated input adoption by a significant proportion of farmers (Kimuyu et al. 1991), adoption has usually been achieved at a high cost, and the programs have not been sustainable over the long term (Adams et al. 1984;Eicher and Rukuni 1992). Moreover, credit programs have tended to be monopolized by more powerful rural political groups and male farmers (Gladwin 1992) and are difficult to administer. In 1994, Malawi's fertilizer use decreased to less than 70,000 tons, compared to 180,000 tons in 1992/93. This reduction was caused by the collapse of the smallholder credit system (Conroy and Kumwenda 1994). It should be noted, however, that this system was, prior to its collapse, a relatively efficient one (as indicated by high repayment rates and other measures).Government-sponsored credit schemes featuring group lending, credit extended by traders, and effective rural financial intermediation based on small community savings and credit schemes have all been proposed as solutions to farmers' liquidity problems. But experience with government schemes has been disappointing (Eicher and Kupfuma, forthcoming). To date, however, experience with and analysis of other ways to provide smallholders with credit have been limited.Other important elements in an environment conducive to technology transfer are producer price incentives and stability (Byerlee et al. 1994). In some cases, distortions in producer prices are the major factor limiting technology adoption. In Ethiopia, fertilizer use on maize was uneconomic at any level under prevailing maize prices. If maize prices were to reflect import prices at a realistic exchange rate, however, fertilizer would become an attractive investment (Legesse Dadi et al. 1992).In Ethiopia, consumption of chemical fertilizers averaged 50,000 tons during the 1980s. Major growth in fertilizer use occurred after 1991: consumption doubled (to 113,000 tons) and then rose to 160,000 tons in 1992 due to liberalization of the grain market (World Bank 1994). But in Kenya, liberalization has been less encouraging: fertilizer use peaked at 271,000 tons of various products in 1988-1989 and declined steadily to 225,000 tons in 1991-1992. This decline occurred mainly because the government liberalized the fertilizer market but did not liberalize the grain market, especially that of maize (Sodhi 1993).SSA imports about 85% of the fertilizer it consumes (Vlek 1990). Fertilizer supply constraints are thus associated with importation, distribution, and pricing. Policies that affect these areas, along with a lack of infrastructure, are the main source of potential constraints to fertilizer supply.Farmers in SSA face very high fertilizer prices (Table 3). The price they pay for fertilizer, relative to the price they receive for their output, is thus much higher than in Asia. Some of the reasons for this high price result from SSA's dependence on fertilizer imports.Differences between world f.o.b. prices and landed cost tend to be twice as high in many sub-Saharan countries as compared to Asian countries (Shepherd and Coster 1987). Bumb (1988) indicates that this large difference is the result of the small volume of fertilizer that most African countries import; small volumes increase transportation costs and weaken the nations' position in negotiating for lower prices. Also, transportation costs are high because of poor physical infrastructure. Almost half of the 40 countries Bumb analyzed imported less than 5,000 tons of nutrients annually in the mid-1980s; only Nigeria imported more than 100,000 tons.In 1990, almost one-third of all fertilizer imports in SSA were financed by aid. For 21 countries, all fertilizer was financed through donor programs. 7 Donors impose conditions (such as limitations on origin, transporters, and fertilizer type) that can lead to excessive marketing costs and margins (Gerner and Harris 1993), which ultimately translate into high fertilizer prices.Another reason for high fertilizer prices in SSA is the high cost of distribution. These costs are higher by several fold than costs in Asia. For instance, in Sri Lanka, the distribution costs for urea averaged about US$ 45/ton, as against US$ 92/ton in Zambia and US$ 246/ton in Tanzania (Bumb 1988). Higher prices in SSA are the result of high transportation costs, which in turn are a consequence of poor physical infrastructure and the small volumes to be distributed. The cost of transport and marketing can increase the real farm-level price of imported fertilizer by up to 50% in a landlocked country such as Malawi, compared with the real farm-level price in a country like 7 Countries with relatively large fertilizer consumption levels-like Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Malawi, and Tanzaniadepend primarily on aid-financed fertilizer (Gerner and Harris 1993). Source: CIMMYT (1990); Byerlee et al. (1994); Lele et al. (1989).Kenya, which has relatively good infrastructrue and ready access to a port.In Zimbabwe, Conroy (1990) reports that fertilizer use in communal lands has not kept pace with population growth since 1985although fertilizers, in terms of nutrient/crop price ratios, are cheaper in Zimbabwe than in other countries in the region (except Zambia). Moreover, the price of fertilizer relative to maize, cotton, and wheat prices has been falling over the last five years (Conroy 1990).The reasons for the limited use of inorganic fertilizer by communal farmers include problems of supply, the lack of an effective distribution network, and the absence of appropriate fertilizer recommendations. Consequently, one can conclude that fertilizer will remain a scarce and expensive commodity for communal farmers in Zimbabwe until distribution problems are resolved (Blackie 1994b).The inability of the public sector to operate fertilizer distribution systems efficiently and the absence of competition within the distribution network are additional reasons for high fertilizer prices (Pinstrup-Andersen 1993).Privatization of supply -The current response to fertilizer supply problems has been to urge the rapid privatization of the distribution system and the liberalization of fertilizer imports. The argument is based on experience in other parts of the world, which has shown that private enterprise is more effective in delivering improved technology to farmers and in developing marketing and credit institutions (Borlaug and Dowswell 1994). However, Vlek (1990) observes that although private enterprise appears better suited to handling fertilizer procurement, distribution, and marketing, dealers must be afforded a sufficient margin to cover investment and operating costs and to make profits if a nation is to have a dynamic private fertilizer distribution and marketing network.So far, experience with privatization has been mixed. In Ghana, fertilizer marketing channels have functioned poorly even after the privatization of supply and distribution. The scant participation of the private sector in the retailing, wholesaling, and importation of fertilizer has been attributed to the relative profitability of the enterprise from the narrow margins allowed by the Ministry of Agriculture (Kwandwo Asenso-Okyere 1994). Experience from Cameroon shows that once a market is developed, the private sector can import and deliver inputs at a lower cost, provided that the public sector provides market information and other appropriate supports (Truong and Walker 1990).Experience with privatizing the fertilizer trade underlines the importance of government in creating a favorable environment (i.e., eliminating constraints from government involvement). If mutual trust and confidence are to develop, both the short-and long-term roles of government and the private sector must be clearly spelled out (Sodhi 1993). Initially, fertilizer distributors may need to be trained. This is an important issue: governments consider fertilizer a strategic and politically sensitive commodity; thus, completely divesting their fertilizer interests to the private sector may prove politically sensitive (e.g., fertilizer shortages could affect national food security, which, in turn, could lead to political and social instability). Sodhi (1993)  Infrastructural development -Fertilizer transportation accounts for the largest share of the difference in marketing margins between Asia and Africa. Reducing transportation and storage for a bulky input like fertilizer is essential if long-run consumption is ever to approach the social optimum. Investments in rural and agricultural institutions and rural infrastructure, especially rural/feeder roads should therefore be accelerated. Furthermore, public provision of legal and social infrastructure may also help to reduce the risks of fertilizer distribution (Ndayisenga and Schuh 1995). In Ghana, some have argued that reducing post-harvest losses, increasing the availability of effective storage structures, and improving transport infrastructure can increase the profitability of many crops, especially cereals, and serve as an incentive for increasing fertilizer use (Kwandwo Asenso-Okyere 1994). Such increases would reduce the price of fertilizer and eliminate the need for subsidies.The need for investments in roads is underscored by the fact that SSA has only 5 km of roads per 100 km 2 compared to 45 and 95 km of roads for the same area in Asia and industrialized economies, respectively (Vlek 1990). In Tanzania, poor feeder roads make primary marketing less efficient than secondary marketing because both private traders and cooperative societies refrain from trading in remote areas (Amani et al. 1992). In Iringa, Coulter and Golob (1991) have observed that, for villages 15-45 kilometers off the main highway, the cost of primary marketing (wholesale assembly) ranges from 9 to 40 times the cost of secondary marketing. Private traders do not go to such areas to buy farm produce. Poor roads thus prevent fertilizer from coming in and produce from going out. Similar experiences have been observed elsewhere in SSA (Makken 1991;Ehui et al. 1994).In SSA, farmers use low levels of fertilizer.Given that fact and the current state of knowledge, low-input systems are unlikely to increase food production rapidly, reverse the decline in rural incomes, and slow environmental degradation. Increases in food production must now come primarily from higher yields per unit of land rather than from land expansion. Historically, inorganic fertilizer has been a major component in achieving such increases.The profitability of applying inorganic fertilizers often varies due to the variations in crop response and the high and variable cost of fertilizer in relation to product prices. Fertilizer use is strongly affected by various policies, especially those that affect input supply and prices. In many areas of SSA, fertilizer adoption has been slowed by the absence of appropriate institutional structures to supply inputs, credit, and information.Public research and extension investments will also play an important role in increasing the profitability of fertilizer use for farmers in SSA.Even though research investments have generated high rates of return, support for research is declining. This trend must be reversed, and investments must be accelerated, if research is to continue developing inputresponsive and yield-stabilizing varieties while improving crop and resource management strategies. Research and extension investments offer an assured way to satisfy increased demands for food at reasonable prices, while avoiding irreversible degradation of the natural resource base.Without subsidies, farmers in SSA pay a very high price for fertilizer. Such prices occur in part because most of the fertilizers used in SSA are imported, and transportation costs are high.In the short and medium terms, fertilizer subsidies can help to compensate for these costincreasing factors.In the long-term, however, SSA must find other ways to make the right type of fertilizer available at the right time, place, and price.Research can help to clarify what fertilizers work best in particular situations. In addition, regional cooperation in international fertilizer procurement (Vlek 1990;Pinstrup-Andersen 1993) would help offset problems associated with the small volume of fertilizer purchased by countries in SSA, volumes that do not take advantage of scale economies for purchasing and shipment. Governments in SSA consider fertilizer a strategic and politically sensitive commodity, however, and given their experience with regional cooperation, this kind of cooperation may not be feasible.The donor community (spearheaded by the World Bank and IMF) is encouraging governments to promote private enterprise and competition with respect to fertilizer imports and distribution. Thus far, the experience has been mixed. Future strategies should include a greater mix of public-and private-sector initiatives involving organizations throughout SSA's fertilizer sector. The roles of each partner, especially that of government, will have to be clearly spelled out. Governments must make national fertilizer policies and plans a part of the overall agricultural development strategy. Such efforts should produce more predictable policies and more stable institutions so that the private sector can develop the confidence necessary to invest in the fertilizer trade. The policies should ensure that sufficient price incentives exist to make fertilizer use profitable for farmers and suppliers. Credit, for instance, must be extended not only to farmers but to private traders as well.Poor rural infrastructure-especially rural/ feeder roads-is a major cause of high fertilizer prices. Governments must increase their investments in infrastructure if they are to increase agricultural productivity. Infrastructure development should be treated as a social cost and charged to a social overhead account in the national budget (Bumb and Baanate 1995).For fertilizer use to increase over the long term, political commitment to agriculture must be translated into investments that develop institutions and infrastructure. Such support will enable agriculture to play its crucial role in SSA's overall economic development."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"43c4d43d32e22e763f62de77e9de8c1a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/571e8eb1-706d-4cee-b6ad-6963652b9734/retrieve","id":"1083479950"},"keywords":["Other MELIA activity Food systems transformation and youth","A collaborative framing paper Commissioning Study","A4NH"],"sieverID":"62224576-8aff-4ab0-9595-b07635a69fdb","content":"Links to the Strategic Results Framework: Sub-IDOs:• Enhanced institutional capacity of partner research organizations "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6f4121847d8c0e09b5df011d1af23013","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ec6b463d-97c7-407c-a1da-07f0e2086451/retrieve","id":"-819721927"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b9f5ba02-b699-46c3-80e0-f6d332083400","content":"The International Potato Center, also known as Centro Internacional de la Papa (CJP), is a Scientific Institution, autonomous and non-profit making, established by means of an agreement with the Government of Peru with the purpose of developing and disseminating knowledge for greater utilization of the potato as a basic food. International funding sources for technical assistance in agriculture are financing the Center.IV IThe following are excerpts from a speech given by Dr. Richard L. Sawyer, Director General of CIP, on April, 28, 1977 during CIP's Fifth Anniversary celebration.This week we are celebrating the Fifth Anniversary of the International Potato Center. New facilities are also being dedicated that have been constructed to help better respond to our mandate which is \"to rapidly develop, adapt, and expand the research necessary for the technology to solve priority problems limiting potato production in developing countries.\"In This association led to discussions concerning methods for exploiting the tremendous genetic wealth that existed in the Andean region of South America to help solve the world food problem which was becoming increasingly apparent during the late 1960 s.The Peruvian Government and agricultural officers of the Dutch, British and German embassies in Peru indicated an active interest in the development. The Rockefeller Foundation indicated they were willing to join its international Potato Program to what was being formed in Peru.In 1970 US-AID provided planning money for a two-year period to activate an International Potato Center.During this same period, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) was being formed, starting with the four international centers already activated by the Ford-Rockefeller Foundations and with the possibility of adding additional centers as justified.In 1972 CIP became the first new center to join the CGIAR network and fitst funding as an international center was received in mid-1972. There are now 11 international centers in the network of the CGIAR.To identify the priority research problems for potato production and improvement in developing countries.To identify to what extent funding would permit CIP's involvement with these problems.To involve through research contracts and international planning conferences as many institutions as possible around the world where facilities and capabilities already existed for helping solve the priority problems for potato improvement in developing countries.To develop regional locations on core program funding for the initial research transfer, the multiplication, evaluation, adaptation and redistribution to surrounding countries in order to get applicable technology to country doorsteps. To develop training programs at CIP headquarters and in the regional programs in order to have capable receivers of CIP technology within country programs.In mid-1972 upon receiving its first money as an International Center, CIP held an international planning conference entitled: \"Prospects for the Potato in the Developing World.\" Senior potato scientists from both developed and developing countries were brought to Lima to help determine what were the priority potato problems in developing countries and what research CIP should be initiating.As a result of these discussions, nine major research thrusts were identified as priority work. CIP's major research efforts are concentrated in these nine thrusts which are systematically evaluated through periodic international planning conferences and changed as indicated by progress and the identification of changes in priorities.From its initiation, CIP has attempted to get its roots into as many institutions as possible around the world to help with the development of needed technological packages and their transfer. The two principal strategies utilized are international planning conferences and research contracts.For each of the major research thrusts and their components, CIP holds an international planning conference every three years. These are rotated so that each year there are an average of three. At each conference a five-year plan for CIP activities is developed after taking into consideration the progress made and present status of research with the problem.A group of 10 to 15 senior scientists from developing countries working on the specific research problem are brought together for a week of discussions with CIP staff As a result of these conferences there tends to be a coordination of research activities among the institutions participating and CIP receives a great deal of research help at little if any direct cost.From its initiation, CIP established the policy of conducting a portion of its priority research for developing countries at institutions where facilities and capabilities already existed. Through such linkages CIP was able to move into breeding programs already underway, catalize them to an international dimension and have research material ready for distribution in a very short time. Contracts are with institutions where the facilities and scientists are already in place, and CIP provides funding for expandable supplies, extra technicians, and international travel to link the work directly to CIP and to developing countries. As specific pieces of work are completed, contracts are terminated and new ones initiated. Such a system gives excellent flexibility for changes in concentration as priorities change.Due to the problems encountered in the multiplication and distribution of a vegetatively propagated crop such as the potato, CIP has regionalized a portion of its core research program.Thus CIP has the ability on core program funding to get its technology into the various regions of the world for multiplication, evaluation, adaptation and redistribution to country program doorsteps. At this point CIP's direct responsibility stops. CIP's value will eventually be determined by the changes which have resulted in a countries food supply due to an association with CIP and the technology it has made available. This credibility must be established in the fields of potato growers in developing countries. This is where the final evaluation must take place. I would like to thank the many people that have been responsible for the institutional maturity which CIP has achieved in such a short time.First in importance is the faith and backstopping of donors who were willing to invest in a new approach to the establishment of an international center. Those donors over the past five years are listed in alphabetical order as follows: I would like to thank the scientists of international caliber who were willing to leave secure and comfortable positions in established institutions to join this CIP venture. We presently have 16 nationalities representing all major continents on the staff I would also like to thank a Board of Trustees, all of whom were working members devoting several weeks a year without pay to help in CIP's development and management. We have an international Board of Trustees with no more than two members at a time from any country. Two of the board members have been active since before the initiation of CIP, Dr. \"Wariano Segura of the /\\ilinistry of Food and Dean Jack Rigney of North Carolina State University and deserve special attention at this inauguration as they will be retiring as of this week.They have served as President and Secretary of the Board of Trustees for the past five years.And last but not least, a very special recognmon must go to the Peruvian Government for their f~ne cooperation, the donation of our original building which helped catalyze interest of the CC/AR, the donation of land in several locations in Peru, on the coast. in lfuancayo and in the jungle, and the excellent support of the many Ministries in clearances necessary for managing an international operation headquartered in Peru.Special thanks must go to the fine cooperation which has been established with the National Agrarian University, the Experimental Station in La Molina, and the staff of CRIA L In summary, we at CIP are announcing today what has been established in the past five years and is already helping improve the potato around the world. We go where opportunity exits. We do not push ourselves anywhere.CIP and its staff are nearby and waiting.Unless we are utilized, Lrnless our technology is bcinµ; tried and ei:aluatcd in the fields of growers in your countries, we are wor/dng in vain. On(v throngh association with developi11g country 11roµ;rarns and tlze bilateral agencies helping them can CIP technology for 11otato improvement get illto growers fields and the inuestmenl in this center be justified. C/P's institutional development as a Center fzas been completed (faring /:he initial five years. 011ring the second .five _vear period, the relevance of CJP to the world food problem and world nutrition needs must be established effectively.In the area of the world where 1101mlation and food are a major problem, the potato is mainly a luxurv vegetable. J.f CLP is to br relevant. the technology nwst be dcvelo11ed to make the polalo a lowcost food for sttbsistance growers in Southeast L~ia who possibly may have no more than 50 potato 11lants growing i11 their µ;ardc11 along with other vegetables. The value of the potato nutritionallv is already well established as is its an•cplalJility as a food among most cultures. The r11wlity of potato 11rotein is superior to all other major f!lant foods. The role the potato could {Jlay in lwlancing diets, if ii l>ecomes arailalilc as a low-cost food, nce<ls to be thoroughly e.'tplored.imaginations must be stretched in the develo[Jment of lhe technoloµ;y to make the potato a 11oor man's food. Exciting 11ossibilities e.rist, such as lcarninµ: how to prorluce edible /JOtatoes diref'fly from botanical seed. C/P has co11sidcrahle research in progress in the del'elopnzcnl of such tcchnoloµ;y 011d r<'cently learned that mainlawl China is already f!rowing ov1•r 10,000 hectares of cnnsu.mcr 1wtatoes a1111ua!h• from botanical seed. Such a techni11ue could dmslicafly reduce seed costs which presently are over 50 f)('rcenl of the total cost of eroduction of potatoes. This is wz <'XW1lfJle uf the tec/111'.Jlo{fy beinf!. deioeloped a11<l tn111sf(?rred and apfJlied as CJP f1cco111es nwrc relcurn/ to the world food [Jroblcms. /..-•;. CIP has taken appropriate action with regard to the issues, conclusions and recommendations presented in the Report of the TAC Quinquennial Review Mission. Appreciation is expressed for the valuable contribution of the review mission in their assessment of the scientific activities of CIP.-Approximately 10,000 of 13,000 pnm1t1ve potato cultivars in the germ plasm collection have been classified; 1,575 duplicates were removed from field maintenance and stored as botanical seed in 1977. Scientists on five expeditions collected 200 ~ild, tuber-bearing specimens; 63 have been classified as belonging to 30 different species.Thrust II -Single and combined resistances to late blight, bacterial wilt and wart diseases were verified 'under severe field conditions in selected countries. Heat-tolerant clones have been shown to have lower dark respiration levels than heat sensitive clones.Improved heat-tolerant hybrids yielding one kg per plant in 60-70 days have been distributed to nine countries. Consistent progress has been made in breeding and field testing cold-tolerant clones for the highland tropics.Thrust Ill -Many blight resistant clones have been developed that withstand the severe epidemics at Toluca, Mexico. At the International Late Blight Test in Mexico, 1,048 selected clones were screened for blight resistance.Seedling screening tests for wart and smut have been developed to facilitate rapid assay for resistance.The Peruvian program released the bacterial wilt resistant variety \"Molinera\" which has special characteristics for small farms.Good wilt and root-knot nematode resistance has been identified in Solanum sparsipilum. CIP has assembled more than 90 isolates of the wilt bacterium; both races 1 and 3 have been isolated from virgin jungle soil.Thrust V -Steady progress has been made in breeding and screening for potato leaf roll virus and \"Y\" virus resistance. Characterization of three new viruses was continued. A program to screen for spindle tuber viroid was initiated. The latex test was introduced for all routine serological checks; a comparative evaluation of the ELISA test was commenced. A new Joel JEM 1005 model transmission electron microscope was installed on an appropriate seismic resistant base. A planning conference on control of potato viruses was held in 1977.Thrust VI -Two clones of S. andigena have been identified with broad cyst nematode resistance. In trials in Peru, 360 of 2,500 species intercrosses from Cornell showed promising resistance to selected cyst populations.Only 19 of 1,937 germ plasm clones had resistance to root-knot nematodes; intercrossing and outcrossing of selected genotypes is planned to utilize these resources.Further data has confirmed resistance to aphids by entrapment of glandular hairs on foliage. A synthetic sex attractant was very efficient in attracting male tuber moths to simple water traps in the field.Thrust VII -Physiological attributes contributing to heat, cold and drought stress tolerance continued to receive attention. The capacity to produce food in two to six months in a temperature range of 43° C, a latitude range of 100°, an altitude range of 4,300 m, and a 9-hour difference in daylength range is rivaled by few crops. lntercropping and fertilizer studies in divergent ecological zones were continued throughout the year.Thrust VIII -Storage research utilizing local materials was carried out in Peru and Kenya with favorable results.Solar dehydration studies resulted in further refinement of \"black box\" technology. A wide range of routine nutritional analyses in support of various projects were active.A further need to publicize the excellent nutritional quality of potato, particularly protein, has been indicated.Expanding export of useful virus-tested breeding material to GIP regional programs was emphasized. Further efficiency through refinement characterized the tissue culture progn;im. A minimum growth storage technique requiring only one transfer of tissue per year was developed.Air shipment of aseptic tissue in vitro was evaluated.The exploration and collection of cultivated indigenous potatoes has been completed two years before the projected date, with the exception of work in Mexico and a few remote ecological areas in the So.uth American Andes. More than 10,000 of the approximately 12,000 accessions collected have been classified by morphological criteria. About 1,575 duplicates representing 191 different morphological types have been identified. After obtaining botanical seed for storage, these duplicates have been eliminated from vegetative maintenance. Prior to the elimination of duplicate accessions from field maintenance, synonymy is verified by slab electrophoresis at the lnstitut fur Biochemie, Biologische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, Germany. Tuber proteins of each duplicate morphotype are separated electrophoretically and electrophoretic protein patterns are compared. Under standardized conditions each genotype has its own characteristic electrophoretic pattern.In general there has been agreement to verify duplicate morphotypes by protein spectra; to present 960 clones have been examined by electrophoresis .Slab electrophoretic protein spectra of duplicate and dissimilar morphotypes.Because of the significant progress made in the collection of primitive cultivated species, collecting expeditions have been initiated for wild tuber-bearing potato species.Priorities based on specific criteria for collecting wild species were established by a group of eight international experts at a 1976 planning conference.As a result of these priorities, five field expeditions were conducted in Peru and one in Venezuela during 1977.Of the nearly 200 specimens collected, 63 have been classified as belonging to 20 different species in eight series.Some of the newly collected wild species represent the only living specimens in germ plasm collections around the world, collected in the type locality. In cooperation with the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources, a list of descriptors and descriptor states has been developed. All available documentary information relating to the entire cultivated collection is being stored in the computerized data management system of the Information Sciences/Genetic Resources Program at the University of Colorado, Boulder.In the development of a distribution and testing ne.twork, tubers of virus-tested clones, botanical seed, tuber families and multi-meristem cultures were exported from CIP during 1977. Selected clones were also shipped directly from CIP contract research. programs in the United States and Europe.In recent agreements with Australia, Canada and the Netherlands, arrangements have been made for freeing selected stock of disease to permit acceptance by quarantine services in developing countries. As part of CIP's Regional Research and Training (RR & T) program, regional centers for potato germ plasm testing and distribution have been established in five of seven regional centers. Distributed for evaluation and use in breeding from October 1976 to October 1977 were a total of 3,512 tuber samples and 450 seed lots from the germ plasm collection. A provisional computerized inventory listing accessions with specific resistance to selected pathogens and pests has been prepared for distribution to potato researchers.In cooperation with the Mexican National Potato Program, a bank of 259 clones resistant to late blight was maintained during 1977. From this collection 1, 111 samples were distributed to various countries for further blight testing; 23 selected clones were sent to 17 countries for yield trials.Seven-thousand seedlings obtained from field resistant parents at CIP-Lima were evaluated in the International Late Blight Trial at Toluca Valley, Mexico, along with 1,048 clones from the Netherlands, Germany, India, Sweden and the United States. Also in conjunction with the Mexican program, breeding stocks from developed countries and CIP clones with outstanding blight resistance were made available in seed or tuber form for maintenance and further evaluation. Through a collaborative project with the Research Institute for Plant Protection, Wageningen, the Netherlands, selected blightresistant clones from the Mexican CIP collection are freed of virus before being sent to developing country quarantine facilities.Late blight trials were carried out in Nepal with 25 clones distributed from Mexico. Possibly because of similar latitude and environmental conditions, selected clones of Solanum tuberosum performe_d very well in initial 12-plant trials. The four best clones averaged more than .. , 0.8 kg per plant, a four-fold greater yield,than local checks. Ten advanced Mexican clones in second year trials produced average yields of 25 t/ha, the best yielding 34 tons. The standard variety, \"Kufri Jyoti\", yielded 18 tons while the European variety \"Jaerla\" yielded only six tons.In a trial at Nigale, Nepal, 17 clones from CIP's \"virus-free\" program, 10 clones 1rom a Cornell contract and three clones from the National Potato Development Program were evaluated for resistance to late blight, yield, and resistance to hail injury.The Peruvian variety \"Mariva\", similar in general characteristics to the accepted local round red variety, was outstanding in performance and yielded an estimated 50 t/ha.Intensive screening for potato wart (Synchytrium endobioticum, biotype I) was also carried out in Nepal at Rolekhani, in cooperation with the Integrated Hill Development Project. Dual resistance to wart, as well as late blight, was verified under Nepalese field conditions in CIP material. The Mexican clone CFU (CIP 720047) was selected for outstanding blight resistance, wart immunity, hail tolerance and yield (30 t/ha).In addition to late blight trials in Mexico and Nepal, field trials for blight resistance were carried out in Turkey, South Korea and Costa Rica. Trials in Costa Rica involved the dual evaluation of late blight and bacterial wilt (Pseudomonas solanacearum) under a range of ~ • tropical environments at altitudes from 600 to 3,000 m. At a site in Turrialba, Costa Rica, where no solanaceous crops had been previously grown, bacterial wilt appeared 18 days after planting and developed very rapidly (Fig. • 1). Only 11 of 207 clones survived to harvest, which was indicative of the disease severity. Three of these clones, CIP 676180, CIP 676101 and Cruza 148 had ~ood adaptation and appeared resistant to bacterial wilt. The remaining eight clones were wilt tolerant and yielded up to 1.1 kg/plant. In another trial at Turrialba, 66 out of 520 clones were selected under severe late blight and bacterial wilt conditions. Trials at Turrialba have proven useful in testing CIP material for tropical adaptation as well as combined late blight-bacterial wilt resistance. At the Llano Grande site (volcano lrazu) at 2,000 in, early blight (Altemaria solani) was severe for some clones under 1977 tests.  3 percent and the percent of total protein varied between 7.5 and 15.5 percent (Table 2). Tuber texture, flavor, flesh color and depth of eyes were also evaluated in selected diploid clones. Material from the program was distributed widely in Peru as well as to CIP associates in Argentina, Bolivia and South Korea. In a breeding program utilizing recurrent selection, the heritability of dry matter content was investigated in a high dry matter population of 400 diploid clones.Selected parents were intercrossed and analyses of specific gravity made to estimate narrow-sense heritability. The results (Table 3) indicate that heritability for specific gravity is in the 0.4 to 0.6 range. Clones of various tropical short-day potato species failed to tuberize under long day conditions. Therefore, it was necessary to use breeding and selection techniques to develop more widely adapted daylength neutral lines. In research at North Carolina, populations of the diploid species phureja and stenotomum have been interbred for six cycles and selections made for clones which tuberize under a wide range of photoperiods.Daylength neutral families are now being screened for the production of 2n gametes to facilitate the incorporation of their valuable genetic traits with S. tuberosum. In breeding studies with phureja, which has no tuber dormancy, and stenotomum, with a pronounced long tuber dormancy, progress has been made in shifting the mean length of tuber dormancy.Research is continuing in the identification of new diplogynoids and diploandroids as sources of non-reduced gametes iii diploid stenotonium/phureja populations.In examination of 51 stn x phu famUies, 158 clones were found to have \"2n\" pollen, while 264 clones had \"n\" pollen.Parallel spindles have been identified (clone 66P 10.10 stn x phu) in Anaphase II, indicative of first division restitution. In various crosses involving diploandroids, in 50 of _250 Fi seedlings examined to present, 22 triploid and 28 tetraploid clones have been identified; no diploids have been observed.In contract research at the I. v. P. Agricultural University, Wageningen, the Netherlands, progress has been made in increasing the utility of genes from wild Mexican Solanum species with resistance to Phytophthora, Pseudomonas, and Altemaria.A new approach has resulted in th~ production of 150 hybrid plants derived as follows:S. pinnatisectum x S. bulbocastanum, doubled by colchicine to tetraploid Fi, which were then crossed to S. acaule females. Subsequent crossability with S. tuberosum is difficult, although . with dihaploid tuberosum 10 berries were obtained in 1977. Many berries also were obtained during 1977 from quadruple hybrids: ((doubled (S. vemei x S. bulbocastanum) x S. longipedicellatum)) x varieties (and diploids).A number of other successful complex crossings were made in 1977. In other research, viable monohaploids were obtained from S. verrucosum and from S. tuberosum dihaploids x S. verrucosum.Crossing of doubled monohaploids with a fertile dihaploid produced uniform, vigorous, and fertile F 1 's.Heat tolerance studies of andigena selections were continued under contract research at Cornell University. Plants were subjected totemperatures of 40° C during an 18-hour photoperiod and 35° C during the night, commencing 20 days after planting and continuing for three months. Although tuber yields were generally low, the testing procedure was in general agreement with previous classification of clones by greenhouse screening.The performance of single-leaf cuttings taken during the growing period was again successfully correlated with the performance of whole plants.No relationship has been found so far between heat tolerance and the capacity to photosynthesize at high temperatures.Similarly, no relationship was determined between tolerance and susceptibility to high temperature damage of leaf membranes, as reflected by ion leakage from leaf discs.However, leaves of heat sensitive clones had higher dark respiration, especially at 40° C, than did comparable leaves of heat tolerant clones. The degree of cyanide stimulated dark respiration did not seem associated with differences in heat tolerance.Five sources of germ plasm material are being used in developing populations adapted to the lowland tropics with adequate yield and disease resistance.These sources are: a) tuberosum germ plasm bred in northern latitudes from andigena clones introduced into Europe in the 16th century; b) neo-tuberosum germ plasm from an andigena population recently selected for tolerance to longer days and higher temperatures; c) phureja-stenotomum diploid material with a relatively high frequency of \"2n\" pollen which permits direct transfer at the tetraploid level; and,• d) other sources of germ plasm such as S. sparsipilum, S. chacoense, S. bulbocastanum and S. berthaultii with high levels of pest resistance. About 50,000 genotypes from these introduced and native diploid and tetraploid clones, as well as their hybrids, have been tested for adaptation to the lowland tropics. The highest and most stable yields corresponded to hybrids of the group (tuberosum x phureja) x tuberosum. The tuberosum x neo-tuberosum hybrids showed a specific adaptation to hot and humid conditions, while the tuberosum x andigena and neo-tuberosum x neo-tuberosum were unstable and unpredictable in their yield (Table 4). Frost commonly occurs during the growing season in highland potatd growing areas in the tropics and subtropics. Breeding for frost tolerance has included laboratory-scale techniques permitting rapid screening. These screening techniques have been devised in cooperation with contract research at the University of Minnesota.During four years, 175 clones tolerant to -4° C have been selected in the field from 890 of 38,670 seedlings originally screened in the laboratory.During this period 600 seedling families representing 21 species of tuber-bearing solanums have been evaluated.A total of 16,530 seeds of 128 families have been distributed for testing in eight developing country programs.Testing has been carried out at Usibamba (3,700 m) in Peru and at the Belen Experimental Station (3,900 m) in Bolivia; winter tests have been conducted at Atizapan (2,650 m) in the Toluca Valley, Mexico.There is a low correlation between yield and frost resistance in the foliage at temperatures between 0 and -4° C.However, to obtain acceptable yields no more than 30 percent foliage damage can be tolerated.An increase in frost tolerance has been observed after intercrossing parents having only moderate frost resistance. Table 5 gives a summary of yields and degrees of resistance in several groups of hybrids as compared to the resistant species curtilobum and to the susceptible species tuberosum. A strategy of population breeding for ecological adaptation has been developed based on the concept that the commercial value of a clone (X) may be expressed as the function:X=A+Y+R where \"A\", \"Y\", and \"R\" represent the effects of groups of genes for adaptation, yield and disease resistance. \"Y\" genes would be related to the efficiency of a plant to use light energy and to transform it into plant material. Data presented in Table 6 illustrates the concept of the action of \"Y\" genes as influenced by\" A\" genes associated with adaptation to daylength. The total weight of plant material in the short-day adapted phureja was nearly the same under the three daylength regimes; tuberization efficiency was markedly reduced under 13 and 15-hour photoperiods. Thus the inherent capacity of phureja genes to transform light energy into chemical energy was not changed, but the possibility for the distribution of the photosynthates was altered as no or few tubers were initiated at longer dayiengths.The yield, total plant weight and tuberization efficiency of the tuberosum material was higher than phureja, indicative of long-term selection of genes for yield.For tuberosum there was an eight-day delay in tuberization when daylength was increased from 11 to 15 hours. However, the brief delay enhanced foliage growth. The genes for adaptation maintained regulatory action and the genotype was able to overcome a developmental lag in tuberization to give an apparent increase in final yield.Improved hybrids involving the taxonomic groups tuberosum, neotuberosum and phureja have yielded about one kg per plant in growing periods of 60 to 70 days. Materials of similar genetic constitution have been distributed to Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Costa Rica, Brazil, Ecuador, Pakistan, Turkey, Brunei and Tahiti.In addition to breeding for resistance to environmental stress, 1t 1s feasible in the future to also breed for disease and pest resistance. Thus, combined resistance to late blight and cyst nematodes might be coupled with frost resistance.Or, bacterial wilt and root-knot nematode resistance might logically be associated with clones having adaptation to a hot, humid environment.Various combinations of two or three factors are being considered in response to production risks under specific ecological conditions. t .Laboratory, storage and greenhouse facilities at CIP's Santa Ana experiment station in the Mantaro Valley near Huancayo.In 1977 a booklet was prepared by GIP staff to assist field workers in the identification of some of the major potato diseases; 16 fungal diseases of varying worldwide importance were included. Research at GIP during the year was concentrated on four of these diseases: late blight (Phytophthora infestans); wart (Synchytrium endobioticum); stem canker (Rhizoctonia solani); and, smut (Angiosorus = Thecaphora solani).Field observations were made on diseases caused by Choanephora spp., Macrophomina phaseoli, Phoma exigua, Alternaria solani and Phytophthora erythroseptica.Throughout 1977 seedlings were screened for resistance to P. infestans in a standard environment favorable for late blight development. During the year 12,556 seedlings (29 percent) were selected from 42,909 seedlings belonging to 425 families which were screened for late blight resistance.Survivors from seedling screening trials were then tested under field conditions.It is important to emphasize that GIP breeding for late blight resistance is concerned only with field or general resistance. However, at present there appears to be no simple field method to separate, in all cases, general or field resistance from specific or \"major gene\" resistance. This major gene resistance was observed at Toluca, Mexico where the perfect stage of P. infestans is present. Possibly because of the scarcity of \"compatible\" hosts, the frequency of races able to overcome the resistance of the \"higher\" R-genes, e.g. R 5 , R 7 , R 8 , R 9 , R 10 , R 11 , is relatively low. Commonly, these are complex races able to attach some or all of the 10 single R-gene differentials available. Thus, what appears to be field resistance in some clones is in fact the result of the delayed appearance of an appropriate virulent and aggressive race. This is illustrated in Fig. 2 in which the development of R 1 races is contrasted with the development of R 10 races, in triplicate plots having varying numbers of plants compatible with either R 1 or R 10 races. R 1 races occurred generally in the experimental area. The late blight population in Llano Grande, at 2,300 m in the province of Cartago, Costa Rica, was found to overcome the resistance of at least eight out of nine single R-gene differentials (Table 7). (Note: Differential R 5 remained highly resistant throughout the season; R 1 R 3 differential was susceptible, indicative of the presence of a race 3.)   A comparison was made between two methods of evaluating late blight incidence at San Ramon, Peru, by: 1) estimating the percentage of foliage affected, transformed to logit units; and, 2) by scoring blight incidence on a 1-9 scale. On the basis of the regression of disease development with time for both methods, a high correlation, r2 = 0.95 and 0.97, respectively, was found. There was also a good correlation, r 2 = 0.78, between .the two types of apparent infection rate (Fig. 3). A correlation, r2 = d.67 (Fig. 4),was found in comparing components of blight resistance• in the field and in controlled growth chamber studies.•  .,. In contract research at the Swedish Seed Association station in Svalov, Sweden, the inheritance of components of leaf resistance to late blight were observed in three different materials: a) Selfed clones of S. andigenum and S. phureja were tested for resistance to entrance and resistance to invasion in the absence of \"R\" genes. Moderate levels of resistance to entrance and invasion were found.The variation among seedlings within populations was significant regarding both resistance to entrance and resistance to invasion, while among populations onlf resistance to entrance was significant. No significant differences were found between andigenum and phureja species. Based on late blight resistance the following clones were ranked: 1 -750815, 2 -676004, 3 -575012, 4 -575015, and, 5 -676003. There were no significant yield differences among these clones.The search for resistance to Synchytrium endobioticum, the causal agent of wart, was initiated in 1968 in Peru,. and was incorporated as a CIP project in 1972.During the 1970-71 growing season, 52 of a total of 500 clones were selected for resistance. In 1972-73 these were retested in the field at Casablanca, as well as in plots in which inoculum from Casablanca and Cuzco was used. An additional 500 clones were also screened during the same period.From this initial research, highly resistant clones were selected by exposure to three field populations of Synchytrium.Although possessing a high degree of resistance, most of the clones were low yielding and of poor commercial quality. A breeding program initiated in 1974-75 was aimed at the utilization of wart resistant material to develop lines with good yield, quality, and in some instances, incorporating resistance to cyst nematodes, Globodera rostochiensis.Seedling screening techniques were evaluated and an efficient method selected to screen the large number of seedlings arising from the breeding program.During 1975-1977, from the many hundreds of seedlings screened for combined wart, cyst nematode and yield characteristics, 1,374 seedlings are being used for further evaluation. Of interest has been the initial failure of European differential varieties to provide effective identifica~ tion of races of S. endobioticum in Peru. Only Ackersegen and Urgenta were resistant while the other differentials: Deodara, Blanik, Nova, Gievont, Fortuna, Ultimus, Fontana, Saphir, Apollo and Ora, were all susceptible against an isolate of Synchytrium from Casablanca, Peru. This response indicates the presence of races different than those determined in Europe.Wart is a serious disease in several areas of eastern Nepal. The prevailing race appears to be race 1. A number of clones provided by CIP to the National Potato Program were tested in the field at Rolekhani during 1977 and found to be resistant to both wart and late blight. Some of these clones also have been tested at Wageningen, the Netherlands. Clones (CIP numbers) 720047, 676003, 575010, 575008 and 575031 were selected in Nepal as potential varieties for further evaluation in commercial adoption.Rhizoctonia solani, the causal agent of stem canker and black scurf disease, is present in nearly all soils where potatoes have been grown. The severity of the disease is commonly influenced by the local soil environment. While CIP is not involved in either screening or breeding for rhizoctonia resistance, the disease was significant in some fields where CIP test plots were planted during the year. Losses have been observed of potato seedlings in excess of 50 percent within two weeks of transplanting to the field.The best protection, in response to this special problem, was to spray seedlings with 0.2 percent of the systemic fungicide \"Ben!ate\" several days before transplanting to the field. This treatment may repeated 15 days after transplanting as an added precaution.Benlate treated and control plants of the variety \"Renacimiento\" grown in soil infected with Rhizoctonia solani.Smut, caused by Angiosorus ( = Thecaphora)solani, is a tuber disease found in several Central and South American countries. At maturity, diseased tubers may disintegrate rapidly into masses of brown spores. Continuing field observations of this disease are being conducted.Losses up to 80 percent under commercial growing conditions have resulted.In 1977, 66 of 6,444 clones in the germ plasm collection in the Mantaro Valley, Peru, were affected by smut; 16 of those clones were also attacked in 1976. Smut is rather capricious in its appearance so that field screening for resistance or fungicide tests in CIP experimental fields is of limited value. While a close watch is being kept on the distribution of the disease in new experimental fields, greenhouse experiments have been initiated to screen fungicides. A number of Peruvian potato varieties have resistance to smut.Several site-specific fungal pathogens with varying seasonal severity continue to be observed as a matter of record.Altemaria solani, the causal fungus of early blight, was relatively severe in San Ramon experimental plots during 1976 and 1977. Considerable differences in resistance to early blight were recorded in late blight resistant clones.The main fungal pathogen at the San Ramon site was Sclerotium rolfsii which attacked potatoes in all stages of development. The incidence of basal stem rot was especially severe in plots where potato or peanut residues were incorporated. l,lp to 80 percent of plants did not emerge.Under very hot, humid conditions in the lowland jungle area near Yurimaguas, Peru, Choanephora blight is a common disease of beans, cowpea and soybeans during the rainy season.The species most frequently isolated was Choanephora cucurbitarum followed by C. conjuncta and C. circinans. Only isolates of C. cucurbitarum have been found to cause widespread foliage damage in potatoes following a period of dry weather. A Diaporthe also has been repeatedly observed to incite aw.et, slimy rot of soybean, cowpea and potato.Isolates of Phoma have been obtained in Ancash, Cajamarca, Huancayo and Puno in the Peruvian highlands. Most of the isolates have been identified as forms of P. exigua which differ in their capacity to form small lesions on leaves and extensive rot of potato tubers. Phoma isolated from Chenopodium quinoa and potato in the Puno area of Peru during the 1977 growing season, were found to be highly pathogenic to potato tubers.The pink rot fungus, Phytophthora erythroseptica, caused losses in germ plasm material and seed multiplication plots at Huancayo. In 1977, 762 of 6,444 clones examined were affected. Diploid material was particularly susceptible with losses of over 70 percent, depending upon the relative susceptibility of clones. Treatment of field plots with Basamid, 300 kg/ha, has resulted in substantial yield increases.Emphasis during 1977 continued to be placed on bacterial wilt of potatoes caused by Pseudomon(Jjj solanacearum.Bacterial wilt, also known as brown rot, is the most serious bacterial disease of potatoes in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world where it may limit production.Pathogenic strains of P. solanacearum attack a number of different crops. Races 1 and 3 are pathogenic on potato.In screening for resistance to bacterial wilt it is important to expose potatoes to as wide a range as possible of pathogenic biovars of races 1 and 3. A collection of more than 90 isolates of P. solanacearum has been assembled by CIP, two-thirds from potato, the remainder from other crops. Forty-eight of these isolates from the Americas have now been identified to race. Among 40 isolates from potato, 31 were race 3 and nine were race 1.Of the remaining eight isolates, six from tomato and one each from ginger and chili pepper were race 1. All 48 isolates were pathogenic on susceptible potato clones.It has been considered that race 1 of P. solanacearum originated in the lowland tropics and race 3 in the highland tropics. The latter race affects only potatoes.However, both race 1 (biovar I) and race 3 (biovar I I) have been isolated recently from wilted potatoes grown on newly cleared• jungle land in Yurimaguas, Peru, in the Amazon basin. The presence in virgin jungle of both races which are capable of wilting potatoes, indicates the continuing need to breed for resistance to P. solancearum. It also raises a question about the assumed highland origin of the low temperature race.The collection of Pseudomonas isolates is valuable in verifying the breadth of resistance to infection of a potato species or clone. For example, the response of Solanum sparsipilum to isolate 013 of race 3 suggests immunity (See Table 8).But in a preliminary study of the resistance of S. sparsipilum, as well as S. chacoense and the Peruvian variety \"Mariva\" (S. tuberosum x S. tbr spp. andigena), to a range of bacterial isolates, it is evident that variation was present, in host susceptibility to bacterial biovars (Table 9).  Haulm and tuber symptoms of bacterial wilt caused by Pseudomonas solanacearum.From a previous screening of 65 accessions for 33 species, three accessions of S. demissum and two of S. jamesii are being increased for further testing against different isolates of P. solanacearum.Substantial evidence has been accumulated of the increased inci-' dence of bacterial wilt in the presence of the root-knot nematode,In continuing studies, the resistance of S. span;ipilum is being observed with respect to the deterioration of wi It resistance in the presence of root-knot nematodes.The survival of P. solanacearum from potato crop to potato crop is influenced by the soil environment and presence of other susceptible hosts.As reported previously, in wide scale screening of common crop and weed hosts, only the tomato variety \"Marigold\", Nicotiana glutinosa and the weed, Solanum nigrum were susceptible to a range of isolates of P. solanacearuni, races 1 and 3.Recently, in contract research in Costa Rica it has been observed that bacterial populations decreased rapidly after the harvest of potato. This occurred both in Alajuela, at 800 m on the wet-dry Pacific slope, and in Turrialba at 660 m on the wet Atlantic slope. At both locations potatoes were severely infected by soil borne inoculum; over 50 percent of the plants wilted in the field and more than 40 percent of healthy appearing tubers rotted in storage.Field screening for resistance to bacterial wilt has been discontinued in CIP plots at La Molina, due to the failure to sustain sufficiently high populations of bacteria for satisfactory resistance assay. Field research has been transferred to Huanuco at 2,300 m, where bacterial wilt is an endemic problem. The failure of the disease to persist in such locations as the coastal plain of Sri Lanka, certain areas in Kenya, as well as at the Viru and La Molina sites in Peru, suggests a need to evaluate the influence of diverse soil environments on bacterial survival. \"Molinera\", a new bacterial wilt and late blight resistant clone, has been released recently by the Peruvian National Potato Program. This variety is the original clone BR 63.65 from the University of Wisconsin/GIP joint program.In Nigeria trials are continuing with material developed through earlier Wisconsin/GIP associations. Clone BR 63.5, during five year field trials at Vorn in the )tis plateau, has consistently displayed relatively high yields.Contract research at the University of Wisconsin has two main objectives: 1) the development of potato clones with combined resistance to bacterial wilt, late blight and virus Y; •and, 2) the isolation •and purification of potato lectih and the production of antisera to lectin, as part of studies of the basic mechanisms of resistance to P. pseudomonas.Approximately 470 clones selected through a greenhouse screening program for bacterial wilt resistance, were sent to Toluca, Mexico for field testing against late blight in the International Late Blight Testing Program. Of these clones, 185 had survived both bacterial wilt and PVY screening procedures.Under severe late blight conditions at Toluca, 41 clones were selected for blight resistance. The most promising clones with combined resistances are being increased in Mexico for distr.ibution to growers in areas where bacterial wilt has become severe.During .1977 standard screening procedures were continued in Wisconsin to provide additional clones for 1978 testing in Costa Rica and Colombia.Of 1,488 seedlings belonging to 21 families, 484 survived screening for• PVY. Of particular interest was the very high proportion of progenies from crosses involving \"Mirka\", \"Saphir\" and \"Annet\" that had resistance to PVY.During the past year, research at the University of Wisconsin has emphasized the further study of pathogen and host factors jnvolved in \"recognition\" of virulent and avirulent strains of P. solanacearum by potato leaf cells. Based on previous research, it has been hypothesized that lipopolysaccharide ( LPS) constituents of the bacterial cell wall are specifically bound by a lectin on the host cell wall. Virulent bacteria produce an extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) that apparently prevents binding.Thus, virulent cells are free to multiply in the intercellular fluids.Recently emphasis has been placed on developing methods to study the kinetics of lectin, EPS, LPS interactions. It was found that nitrocellulose filter membranes bind potato lectins very tightly, yet the lectin appears capable of binding to sugars that contain internal N-acetyl glucosamine groups. Binding of 14C-EPS to lectin is inhibited by \"cold\" EPS, suggesting a competitive interaction. Even though LPS has no affinity for EPS, at af>propriate concentrations it can completely inhibit binding of EPS to the lectin.However, competition studies have shown that EPS has higher specificity for binding sites on the lectin and that it displaces LPS. These results support the hyphothesis that EPS is an effective inhibitor of bacterial attachment to cell walls because it has greater affinity than LPS for the binding site on the lectin. Antisera to potato lectin has been obtained by injection of purified preparations in,to New Zealand rabbits. An antiserum specific for the lectin is being used in an effort to locate lectin in potato tissues. Also this antiserum should prevent the hypersensitive reaction if lectins bind vjrulent B-1 type P. solanacearum cells before the reaction is induced.Efforts have been made to establish the relationship between the agglutinating properties of lectins extracted from different potato clones and the resistance of these clones to bacterial wilt. This involves the extraction of lectins from each clone, their purification and assay against a wj.de range of isolates of P. solanacearum. Lectins were purified from six bacterial wilt resistant clones and tested against five strains of the pathogen representing a wide spectrum of races and biotypes.In general the most resistant clones produced lectins able to agglutinate all \"fluidal\" strains of the bacterium. The following synoptic assignment of J;lriorities was expanded into detailed recommendations to serve as guidelines for a 5-year CIP virus research program (Table 10).  PLRV Potatq leaf roll virus (PLRV) is CIP's .first priority in breeding and testing for resistance to viruses. Work continued with two potato populations established last year for the development of infection resistance through phenotypic recurrent selectiOn, one tetraploid and one diploid. The material containing PLRV resistance was taken from several sources: true seed of diploid and tetraploid crosses from Germany, as well as, tetraploid material from England, Canada and the Netherlands; and, breeding lines and cultivars with high levels of resistance from selection programs in eight different countries in North and South America and Europe. The other major sauces of crosses for the two populations were the CIP germ plasm collection and neo-tuberosum material from Cornell University with resistance to PVY + PVA and to PVX. These latter sources were incorporated into the tetraploid population.The material grown under long-day conditions in northern regions flowered poorly under short-day conditions in Peru, reducing the material's direct usefulness in breeding.A notable feature of the groups of resistant breeding lines and cultivars received from Scotland, Canada and Germany was that a proportion of each group developed strnng secondary leaf roll symptoms when grown under CIP conditions. The possibility exists that these suscepts were infected with strains of the virus which do not reveal symptoms under conditions of origin.Screening for resistance to PLRV in clonal material is being conducted by exposing rooted cuttings to infective aphids in the greenhouse, as previously described (page 36, CIP Annual Report, 1976). The cuttings are then transplanted to the field and observed for symptom development.Secondary symptoms develop directly. Table> 11 gives the resu Its of a tria in which cuttings of six Peruvian cuitivars were tested. It is of interest thal when single tubers from each of the evidently healthy Ccompis plants were replanted, 23 percent showed typical secondary symptoms.The necessitv of confirming resistance by planting tubers from evidently healthy cuttings is apparent.  A further refinement of screening for PLRV resistance in seedlings avoids the necessity of transplanting to the field and consequent losses due to fungi.In large-scale tests, open-pollinated seed of cultivars were sown in rows in trays of replicated blocks. When seedlings were 1-3 cm high, PL RV-infective aphids were placed directly onto each seedling. Two weeks later an insecticide was applied to kill the aphids. Seedlings were then transplanted to \"Jiffy\" pots and symptom readings were taken periodically.Distinct seedling symptoms developed and consisted of an upright habit, chlorosis of upper leaves, rolling of lower leaves and/or purpling of leaf undersides (i.e. typical secondary symptoms).In a preliminary trial, 30 of 33 seedlings of the susceptible variety \"Renacimiento\" developed symptoms, when only seven of 44 seedlings of the m'Ore resistant Ccompis had visible symptoms. The results of two further PLRV-seedling infection experiments are presented in Table 12. In Experiment 1, there were three replicate blocks with a total of 133-162 seedlings per cultivar; blocks were replicated four times in Experiment 2, with 82-234 seedlings per cultivar. Studies are underway to improve the reproducibility of direct aphid infection of sprouts' on tubers as a rapid method of screening clonal material. Included in these studies are more efficient techniques using complexes of chemicals to uniformly break dormancy. Small scale trials, using the resorcinol method for direct detection of PLRV in tubers, have not proven to be a useful alternative to making symptom readings in plants. Healthy tubers of some clones developed abundant, but apparently normal, levels of callose in the phloem.• New sources of resistance to PLRV continued to be monitored during 1977. For example, the native andigena cultivars (Table t2), including Hualash, Yana lmillia, Ccompis, Huagalina and Casa Blanca, appeared more resistant than Mi Peru, Merpata and Renacimiento. Infection resistance to PLRV of these five native cultivars may have played an important role in their survival as cultivars.Failure of Solanum brevidens to develop PLRV symptoms has been observed in England over a period of many years under optimal conditions for spread of this virus. In trials at CIP, it was confirmed that S. brevidens (Pl 218228) is highly resistant, but not immune, as a low level of virus can be detected in graft-inoculated plants.Similar resistance also appears to be present in S. femandezianum (Pl 320270) and S. etuberosum (Pl 245924).Clonal material consisting of breeding lines and cultivars with infection resistance to PLRV (and/or PVY) has been sent to 14 developing countries in six of seven CIP regions. Evaluation of seedlings from crosses for PLRV resistance continued at seven sites outside Peru, as previously described (page 36, CIP Annual Report, 1976).In contract research at Cornell University high levels of resistance to PLRV have been reported in clones K349-7 and NY61, the latter from a cross made in 1969. The pedigree of NY61 includes selections from Peruvian and Colombian seed lots. In five years of testing, NY61 in 10 trials, produced 13 percent more tubers than \"Katakdin\" which were greater than 5 cm diameter.In Cornell University contract research, mechanical inoculation at the seedling stage proved to be a reliable means of PVY transmission of the common New York strain. Of 641 tub x tub clones tested, 170 were resistant and 196 were susceptible. This fits a ratio of 13: 15, assuming random chromatid segregation and a single dominant gene conferring resistance.Plants that were resistant to mechanical transmission were also resistant when inoculated by aphids. TG determine the type of resistance, topgraft and approach-graft tests were made. Failure to recover the virus from inoculated resistant plants, by either grafting method, suggests that immunity is involved.The high level of resistance to PVY in andigena populations has resulted• in a decision to incorporate this resistance in all future andigena breeding cycles. In 1977 the Cornell PVY exposure plot consisted of 78 PVY resistant andigena clones from the sixth cycle planted in five-hill plots. Six showed typical PVY symptoms.Observations were also made on 660 two-hill plots of adg x tub and tub x adg hybrids which had resistant parents.Potato vjrus strain XH 8 , originally from Bolivia, is of special interest because it infects Gomphrena globosa without producing local lesions.XHB also breaks the resistance of the gene for PVX immunity fromIt is considered to belong to group two of Cockerkam's classification of PVX strains.At present studies are underway to challenge the immunity of USDA 41956 and of certain neo-tuberosum clones with PVXH 8 .In studies with new or little known viruses, characterization of Andean Potato Mottle Virus (APMV), Andean Potato Latent Virus (APLV) and Potato Virus T (PVT), were continued during 1977. APMV, a comovirus, causes severe symptoms in potatoes whereas APL V and PVT are normally mild or latent. APLV can cause severe symptoms in sensitive cultivars growing in cold conditions at high altitudes.Several new viruses of undefined importance were identified, two of which, 14R and Wild Potato Mosaic Virus (WPMV), were extensively studied. The physical characteristics of 14 R particles, the host range, sap transmission and serological relationship to tobacco mosaic virus, were determined. WPMV, isolated from Solanum chancayense growing in the Peruvian coastal desert, is not considered to be of economic importance because of a restricted host range in Solanum. WPMV appears to be the first virus studied from naturally infected wild potatoes. It represents a third PVY-type potato virus, in addition to PVY and PVA.The causal agent of the potato yellow vein disease (PYVV), which is a very common and important disease in Ecuador, was isolated for the first time by mechanical inoculation to Datura stramonium. The virus has been partially characterized.The advice of Dr. B. D. Harrison, Scottish Horticulture Research Institute, is gratefully acknowledged in studies of PYVV, APMV, T and 14 R viruses, and of Dr. R. Koenig, Institute for Virus Serology, Germany, for studies on APLV and APMV.Potato spindle tuber is caused by a viroid, a single-stranded ribonucleic acid particle withouf a protein coat, which is transmitted with usually low efficiency through pollen and ovary to botanical seed of the potato. The virus has been reported in Canada, USA, USSR, China, Poland, and Korea in potatoes, and in South Africa in tomatoes.ln contract research at Cornell University, the sensitivity of detection of PSTV by slab polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) was evaluated against tomato challenge inoculation. While 25 samples could be tested by PAGE in a day and a half, up to eight weeks and considerable greenhouse space are required for the tomato challenge assay. In a test with 146 Cornell breeding lines for PSTV by both PAGE and tomato assay, results were in agreement in 123 case~.In 23 cases, results of the original tests were not in agreement; when 20 were tested a second time, results supported the original PAGE data in all but one case. It was concluded that the PAGE assay for PSTV is more rapid and reliable than the tomato bioassay.The antisera production project has the following objectives: 1) To produce antisera to the more common potato viruses in sufficient quantities for: a) distribution to national programs in developing countries, b) routine virus checks in the CIP seed program and in virus research, and, c) developing improved serological techniques for efficient detection of viruses in large scale seed programs; 2) To produce antisera to new or little known viruses affecting potato. The distribution of antisera to developing countries is summarized in Table 13. Sera are normally sent in concentrated form, mixed with glycerine and sodium azide, as preservative.Usually a sufficient quantity of sera for 1,000 to 2,500 tests with each virus is sent, accompanied by information sheets detailing the methodology used for microprecipitation and gel diffusion testing. Requests have also been met for antisera from several developed countries: for APLV, Canada, USA, Hungary; and, for PVX, PVY, PVS, TRSV and APLV, England and the Netherlands.Very high standards of virus testing are maintained at GIP to avoid export of infected material as either multi-meristem cultures, rooted cuttings or tubers. A schedule to test for viruses has been designed to ensure that material for export from Peru is as free from viruses as modern technology permits (Table 14). The different checks are always done at least one month apart. The indicator hosts used routinely are listed in Table 15.Routine serology checks are carried out with sera to PVX, PVY, PVS, APLV and APMV. Initially microprecipitation was used for the serological detection of PVX, PVY and PVS and gel diffusion for APLV and APMV. In August, 1977, a change was made to the latex method for al! five viruses. This test has the advantage of being more rapid, easier to read, uses less antisera and is considerably more sensitive than microprecipitation.In addition to the latex test, studies are continuing in a comparative evaluation of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). ELISA is demonstrably more sensitive than the latex test and is particularly useful in screening plantlets from tissue culture. With both the latex and ELISA tests, combined antisera can be used in serological assays. The use of single diffusion in agar, being relatively insensitive, has t1een discontinued. This instrument has a resolution of 3.4 angstroms (line to line) with a magnification to 200,000. The microscope has been erected on a seismic base. Initially the microscope is being used for the routine detection and identification of viruses. Planned use for other disciplines is also intended.Breeding and screening for resistance continued to receive major emphasis in nematode research during 1977, Research was confined to two species of cyst nematodes (Globodera rostochiensis and G. pallida), to the root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita acrita) and the false root-knot nematode (Nacobbus aberrans complex). Although pockets of cyst nematodes are found in restricted areas in many developing countries, the importance of cyst nematodes in the Andean zone has influenced research emphasis toward problems of this region. Rootknot nematodes tend to be cosmopolitan in warmer areas of the tropics.Two clones of Solanum andigena, 702535 and 702698, from the CIP germ plasm collection were rated highly resistant to the Huancayo cyst nematode population (G. pallida) and somewhat resistant to Otuzco and Cuzco populations (G. pallida), as well as a population from Puna (G. rostochiensis). This type of resistance has only been recently identified and is most likely broadly based.In intercrosses between partially resistant clones of S. andigena, it has been found possible to raise the level of resistance through strong selection among the progeny. Apparently \"minor\" genes are involved. Evaluation of resistance in plants grown from tubers has been shown to be more reliable than seedling assays. From 1,981 progeny derived from crosses of resistant and susceptible andigena clones, about one-third were rated resistant.Up to 80 percent of progeny with resistance to an Otuzco cyst nematode population was derived from clone 701422. About 10 percent of the progeny derived from clone 701478 were resistant to both the Otuzco and Cuzco populations.Possibly a more productive breeding approach for generalized resistance involves crosses between resistant S. andigena and resistant hybrids of wild clones x S. tuberosum (Table 16). Frost-resistant clones of S. acaule selected at CIP were screened for •resistance to Otuzco and Huancayo nematodes.Of 90 clones, H 474078-20, H 474078-30, H 474081-3HD and H 474083-ID were resistant to both cyst populations. In a separate study, dual resistance to Globodera . pallida and Synchytrium endobioticum (wart) was examined in 499 clones of S. tbr. ssp. andigena derived from crosses of six selected clones. Encouraging levels of dual resistance were found in some of the 274 clones with varying cyst nematode resistance.Field trials for tolerance to cyst nematode rather than resistance, were repeated in Chacon during 1977 in heavily infested plots (120 eggs/gm soil). Three clones each of tolerant, intolerant and control varieties in replicate plots, with and without a nematicide, were evaluated for yield.Under conditions of heavy cyst nematode infestation yield losses of less than 35 p_ercent were considered to be tolerant in comparison with nematicides treated controls (Fig. 5).Tolerance, being pathotype independent, when combined with resistance is of practical value where cyst nematodes are widespread and pathotypes are diverse.  Results showed that the Andean populations of nematodes have a wider variability than the European populations and are able to overcome H genes. Gene H 3 reduces reproduction of the Huancayo and Otuzco populations and appears to be similar to the partial resistance of some G. pallida populations identified in the germ plasm collection.When some populations were tested using cuttings of Maris Piper (H 1 genes, ex-andigena) and other varieties containing H 2 and H 3 genes, the presence of G. rostochiensis pathotypes which overcame the H 1 resistance gene were identified in populations from Peru, Bolivia and Italy. Populations of G. pallida on plants with H 2 and H 3 genes beh!3ved variably with many populations reproducing freely.Both intrinsic genetic variation, environmental factors and measurement techniques can contribute to variation in second stage larvae and cyst terminal areas. In a study of 161 populations, stylet length and distance from head tip to excretory pore in second stage larvae, and fenestral length and number of ridges between the anal pore and vulva! fenestra in cyst terminal areas were the most stable features in Globodera speciation.It is recommended that 15 observations per population be used in species identification.Comparisons of areas and perimeters of second stage larvae and males of previously identified populations were found to be unreliable for identification as determined by an Image Analizing Computer.In a comparative study of the biology of some selected populations, there appears to be no fundamental differences between British and Peruvian populations of the same species.However, the Peruvian population of G. pallida is less sensitive to temperature extremes than the \"white\" British G. pallida.In general, G. pallida populations showed better adaptation to low temperatures than those of G. rostochiensis. Daylength had an indirect effect through the host on the rate of invasion and development of both species.Studies using protein gel electrophoresis of immature females, scan electron microscopy and controlled matings of British and Peruvian populations of G. rostochiensis showed no differences between them. lnstraspecific matings between populations from various places of origin were successful.In studies of the geographical distribution, the two species coexist around latitude 15 ° S. North of th is latitude in Peru, the populations are exclusively G. pallida; southward along the Andes, and especially around Lake Titicaca, G. rostochiensis predominates, although G. pallida may also be found.It is probable that the pest was introduced into Europe in the late 1840's where it became established and was firstreported in 1881.Although data were collected during 1977 on the influence of latitude, soil type and host varieties on different populations of cyst nematodes many of the results were equivocal.In general both species of Globodera reproduced better at southern latitudes ( 16 -17 ° S) than farther north (7 -12° S). Soil types had a marked influence on reproduction; reproduction of both species on soil from Arequipa, was 10 times as prolific as soils from Tanna and Cajamarca. It was not evident from detailed soil analysis -including electrical conductance, pH, organic matter level, textural class, component fractions, available nutrients, percent N and exchangeable cations -which factor or combination of factors contributed to the wide variation in reproduction in the soils tested. lnterplanting of Tagetes minuta, Lupinus alba and Mentha viridis with potatoes dramatically reduced reproduction of G. rostochiensis but not G. pallida. Conversely, interplanting of Chenopodium quinoa var. Sajama and Cucurbita maxima increased the reproductive rate of G. • pallida yet had no apparent influence on G. rostochiensis.In 1977, 1,937 clones from the CIP germ plasm collection were tested for resistance to the root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita acrita. Only 19 clones exhibited some degree of resistance and had a trace of root infection by this pest.The present status of testing cultivated potatoes for resistance to M. incognita acrita is presented in Table 17. Since the degree and frequency of resistance in the cultivated potato is rather low, intercrossing resistant material, as well as outcrossing to selected genotypes, is being considered to fully utilize these genetic resources. Data indicate that tuber and root infections are independent and there is no correlation in resistance of these structures to nematode infection. In another study, the reaction of 62 tuber-bearing Solanum speciesconsisting of 254 accessions and 3,661 genotypes -to M. incognita acrita was evaluated under screenhou!?e conditions (Table 18). Plants with high levels of resistance and immunity will continue to be retested and used in breeding for resistance to root-knot nematode.A new method using 4 oz. plastic cups as well as a suitable soil mixture was developed for seedling screening. Young seedlings approximately 5-10 cm tall were transplanted in the plastic cups containing a sterilized potting soi I mixture of either 1 : 1 sand: Jiffy mix, or 2: 2: 1 sand: Jiffy mix: Pomacocha soil. Two weeks later the plants were inoculated with 4,000 root-knot nematode eggs and were allowed to grow for six to eight weeks prior to evaluation for resistance. This method provides an efficient and rapid screening procedure for a large number of plants as well as pathotypes of both root-knot and cyst nematodes.Plastic cups (4 oz.) used in a rapid, mass screening procedure for resistance to nematodes.Elsewhere in this report (Thrust V} the pathogenic interaction between M. incognita acrita and Pseudomonas has been mentioned.It is of particular interest to note in studying the interaction of these two organisms on Meloidogyne immune, resistant and susceptible plants, that root infection by nematodes as expressed by root galling index was directly correlated, with bacterial symptoms as expressed by percent plants wilted (Table 19).Reaction of Solanuni sparsipilum and S. chacoense (root-knot nematode immune and resistant plants respectively) to P. solanacearum was directly correlated with their reaction to Meloidogyne.  In another interaction study, depression of cyst nematode development was observed on plants inoculated simultaneously with Globodera pallida and with a fungus, either Phoma exigua, P. exigua var. nonoxydabilis, P. andinum sp. nov, or Collectotrichum cocr:odes. No cyst infection by the fungi was noted in the cysts examined.Apparently fungi used in this study infected roots in the presence of G. pallida, a factor which may have retarded nematode development.With respect to individual glycoalkaloids, tomatine at concentrations from 0.05 -0.6 percent of a synthetic diet was extremely toxic to E. fabae nymphs. (A diet containing 0.6 percent tomatine is equivalent to TGA levels in fresh S. polyadenium foliage.) Alpha-solanine at the same concentration had no effect on survival.In cooperative research with Rothamsted Experimental Station, England, and Cornell University contract research, E. fabae resistance due to the presence of glandular trichomes was evaluated (Table 21 ).Accessions of S. berthaultii with both simple and four-lobed glandular trichomes had more of a tendency for smaller infestations than those with four-lobed trichomes alone. Thirty accessions of wild, tuber-bearing Solanum species differentially resistant to infestation by M. persicae and E. fabae were reevaluated in replicated trials. Accessions of S. acaule, S. berthaultii, S. chacoense, S. polyadenium and S. polytrichon averaged 90 percent or higher reduction in infestation by the potato leaf hopper compared to Katahdin, Superior and Kennebec. S. berthaultii, S. bulbocastanum and S. polyadenium had similar reductions in green peach aphids, compared to susceptible checks. Clearly, these studies demonstrate a potential for developing insect-resistant breeding lines.The nature of insect resistance was examined from chemical and physical points of view. Foliage of 11 species, differentially-resistant to nymphal infestation of E. fabae in 1976 field trials, were analyzed in 1977 for total glycoalkaloids {TGA). Levels of TGA ranged from a low of 13mg/100g fresh weight in S. bulbocastanum (Pl 275194) to a high of 688 mg/100g gresh weight in S. polyadenium (Pl 161728), for a range of about 50-fold.Nymphal infestation of E. fabae and TGA (percent fresh weight) were highly correlated ( R = -0. 75). With the exception of S. berthaultii, accessions resistant on the basis of nymphal infestation had a level of 0.17 percent TGA or greater, while those of susceptible accessions had a level of 0.05 percent TGA or less, fresh weight.Typical galls on the' roots of potatoes infested with false rootknot nematodes, Nacobbus aberrans.A comprehensive taxonomic study of the false root-knot nematodes (Nacobbus species) attacking potatoes was undertaken in cooperation with Dr. A. M. Golden, USDA nematologist, Beltsville, Maryland. A total of 26 populations collected from Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru were examined morphologically for taxonomic identification.Based on morphometrics of populations examined and on original description of N. aberrans and its three synonyms (as revised by Sher in 1970}, all false root-knot nematodes attacking the potato in South America, up to the present time, are considered to be of the N. aberrans species complex involving two or more forms rather than a single homogeneous species.As part of a study of the biology of N. aberrans, survival of the nematode under desiccation was investigated. Soil samples and infected roots collected from a heavily infested field were air-dried for four weeks. Samples of moist infested soil and infested air-dried soil were processed for nematodes.No vermiform nematodes were found in the air-dried soil. A similar number of egg masses containing viable eggs was found in both moist and air-dried soil (Table 20). The data indicate that N. aberrans can withstand desiccation and that eggs are the primary means of survival under drought conditions. Adults and nymphs of E. fabae confined on foliage of S. polyadenium accumulate trichome exudate on mouth parts and tarsi, leading to early death due to impaired feeding mobility. In field tests, resistance of S. polyadenium was equal to that of S. berthaultii.Adult of the potato leaf hopper (Empoasca fabae) showing an accumulation of trichome exudate on feet and mouth parts.S. polyadenium has two types of insect resistance: glandular trichomes and relatively high levels of toxic glycoalkaloids. The aggressive feeding of the adult Andean weevil, Premnotrypes suturicallus appears to be inhibited by both chemical and physical factors. In a laboratory experiment in which adult weevils were confined on leaf discs of a number of different Solanum species, S. polyadenium proved to be more resistant to feeding injury than the other tested species. When leaf surfaces of S. polyadenium were wiped with tissue paper to remove glandular hairs there was a significant increase in foliage feeding (Table 22). The inheritance of simple, non-lobed, exudate-secreting trichomes is being studies.In hybrids derived from crosses between the diploids S. phureja and S. berthaultii, a ratio of four non-glandular, nine rudimentary glandular and three sticky glandular hairs were distii:tguished in the F 2 generation. In an F 2 population, 19 of 282 hybrids seedlings from a tetraploid (S. tuberosum var. Pentland Crown) x diploid (S. berthaultii) cross had sticky, simple trichomes. Both ratios were similar to those expected if the development of this type of hair is controlled by two genes, one dominant and one recessive. This hypothesis will be tested by further crossings.Almost all the seedlings without sticky tips could be eliminated by visual examination before transplanting.All plants selected among the S. tuberosum hybrids proved capable of trapping a proportion of the mite, Polyphagotarsonemus latus. When adults of a larger mite, Tetranychus urticae, were pla~ed on tetraploid hybrid leaflets all were captured by the exudate on the simple hairs.A high density of glandular trichomes appears to be important in trapping very small mites.Studies were resumed to confirm the identification of virus-like particles transmitted through the action of the ovipositor by the female leaf miner fly, Liriomyza huidobrensis. These rod-shaped particles have been transmitted to \"Samsun\" tobacco plants with a high frequency by leaf miner flies collected from several hosts in the field (Table 23). Although the particles have been purified from infected \"Samsun\" tobacco plants using a technique for PVY isolation, tobacco plants checked serologically against PVX, PVY, PVS, andean potato latent virus and andean potato mottle virus gave negative results. The leaf miner fly causes feeding injury and also larval tunneling injury in potato foliage. The feeding injury is due to punctures made by the female ovipositor, the leaf sap which exudes from the puncture being consumed by flies of both sexes.a Tunneling injury (a) and feeding injury (b) caused by leaf miner fly, Liriomyza huidobrensis, on potato leaves.Resistance to leaf miner fly injury was evaluated during 1977 in 10 commercial varieties at El Asesor and in the coastal Canete Valley, Peru. Percentage of foliage damage was rated in 30-plant plots laid out in a randomized complete block design.The variety \"Tomasa Condemayta\" had significantly less larval tunneling injury (15 percent) than \"Mariva\" (21.8 percent) and \"Ticahuasi\" (22 percent), which in turn were more resistant than the remaining seven varieties tested.Feeding injury associated with ovipositor punctures in foliage was evaluated in discs 12 mm in diameter. Evaluation of data by Duncan's Multiple Range Test showed that the variety \"Merpata\" had significantly less feeding injury than \"Tomasa Condemayta\", or \"Mariva\". A direct correlation between ovipositor injury associated with feeding and reproductive activity has been established only in the case of the variety \"Renacimiento\".Comparison of leaf miner larvae (Liriomyza huidobrensis) tunneling injury in susceptible and resistant potato varieties.The potato tuber worm, Phthorimaea operculella, is a serious pest in many parts of the tropical and subtropical world. Eggs are laid singly, usually on the underside of leaves. The emerging larvae penetrate and mine leaves, often tunneling into leaf veins and continuing down inside the stem to the developing tubers. Infestation in potato storages is initiated by storing infected tubers or by entrance of moths into the storage.During 1977, field studies were undertaken in cooperation with the Laboratory for Research on Insecticides, Wageningen, the Netherlands, to evaluate the effectiveness of a synthetic pheromone in attracting and trapping male tuber moths. (Sex pheromones, produced by the mating female tuber moths, attract male tuber moths.) The effectiveness of the synthetic pheromone is apparent in that 22,225 male moths were trapped during 31 days, an average of 717 moths per night in a single water trap.During the same period, 11 males were trapped in a water control trap.In a second trap 23,537 males, 759 per night, were trapped compared to a total of seven males in a control trap. A maximum of 3,895 moths were trapped in a single night (Fig. 6).  ------------------------.... In addition to the simplicity of the traps employed, the synthetic pheromone mainta'ined its activity under field conditions for more than one year. Impregnation of the pheromone into several types of rubber appeared to be equally effective in attracting male moths. The identification of aphids under field conditions is usually very difficult for techni9ians.During the year an illustrated brochure was prepared to assist in the identification of six important potato aphids.In addition to descriptive information on feeding habits and gross visible characters, descriptive photographs of diagnostic features visible under a hand lens were included. The potential of the potato as a source of food for developing countries of the equatorial belt, between 30° N and 30° S, lies in selecting genotypes adapted to diverse environments. Not the least of the barriers to acceptance of this potential has been the widely held concept that the potato is a temperate zone crop. This view ignores the photoperiodic elasticity of the potato which thrives in a nine-hour daylength range, between a long Scandinavian summer day and a short tropical winter day.Its latitudinal growth range of over 100° exceeds that of most other crops. The capacity of the potato to grow in a 4,300 m altitude range is challenged by few cultivated plants.Its adaptability to grow in a 43° C temperature range is an indication of its genetic diversity. Its growing season can be from two to five or six months, reflecting the flexible response of potato clones to ranges in temperature, daylength and water and nutrient availability.In the development of heat-tolerant potatoes, clones and seedling populations have been evaluated for yield directly in the field under conditions of high temperature stress. A temperature of 21 ° C, at a soil depth of 15 cm, has been selected as an arbitrary minimum for testing heat tolerance.The climate at Yurimaguas, located in the Amazon basin at 180 m, is highly favorable for large-scale field tests of heat tolerance.From the data presented in Table 24 is apparent the general uniformity of temperature throughout the year. The mean monthly maximum has a range of 34.5 ± 1° C; the mean monthly minimum a range of 19 ± 2° C while the mean daily temperature fluctuates less than 1.5° C throughout the year. Other data collected at San Ramon, located in a high jungle area at 800 m, shows the relation of air temperature to soil temperature (Table 25). Because little is known about the physiology of heat tolerance, studies have been initiated to explore the endogenous factors responsible for resistance to heat stress.In preliminary studies of the role of plant hormones and growth regulators, it was observed that there was a 10-fold increase in the production of gibberellins (GA) in shoots on increasing temperature from 20 to 30° C under a 12-hour d;:iylight regime.The GA level increased 5-fold when temperature was held constant at 20° C, but the daylength was increased from 12 to 18 hours.Abscisic acid (ABA) levels remained constant at both 20 and 30° C and at 12 and 18-hour photoperiods (Fig. 7). The interaction of N supply and the GA and ABA content of shoots (S. tuberosum) has been examined. With the interruption of N supply, the level of GA in shoots decreased and the level of ABA increased.Restoring the N supply reversed the GA/ ABA ratio. It was also noted that when high rates of N were supplied after tuberization, tuber growth was inhibited and stolons formed at the apex of tubers. Interruptions of N supplies initiated tuberization again (secondary growth).The capacity of leaves of four clones to tolerate high temperature (38° C day ; 32° C night) was studied as part of thesis research supported by a contract at Cornell University. Clone 1-4 of S. acaule and clone 10-10 of S. chacoense were very sensitive to high temperature. Clones 10-3 of S. chacoense appeared intermediate in sensitivity and clone 11 -5 of S. chacoense was tolerant. Neither the rate of photosynthesis (monitored by infra-red C0 2 analyzer in controlled temperature leaf chambers), transpiration, nor cell membrane permeability under heat stress were correlated with heat sensitivity. However, there appeared to be a correlation between respiration rate and sensibility to heat (Fig. 8). In breeding for heat tolerance at Cornell, crosses of heat-tolerant clones produced 764 seedlings out of 1,960 which tuberized under conditions of heat stress: 32° C day; 24° C night.From the seedling families that tuberized, heat-tolerant clones (those that produced the largest tubers) and non-heat tolerant clones (those that produced the smallest tubers) were identified. Because of the bias introduced by comparing progeny from different size tubers, plants derived from cuttings were evaluated under heat stress conditions.The heat tolerance index of heat-tolerant clones was one-third higher than non-heat tolerant clones. There were no differences in growth rate among the clones.In a separate experiment, heat-tolerant clones did not differ in photoperiod response from non-heat tolerant clones in their capacity to tuberize.This suggests the independence of heat tolerance from photoperiod response (Fig. 9). Preliminary studies have also shown a differential increase in free proline in leaves subjected to a continuous temperature of 37 ° C. Coupled with favorable progress in breeding clones resistant to -4° C; is the increasing understanding of the anatomical and physiological basis of frost resistance.In research at the University of Minnesota, supported in part by contractual arrangements with CIP, ultrastructural differences in leaf cells of potatoes were examined in relation to their frost resistance.A four-fold increase in osmiophilic globuli in chloroplasts, from 1, 130 to 4,217 per 100 chloroplasts, occurred following cold acclimation of the frost resistant species, S. acaule, to -9° C. In contrast, in \"Red Pontiac\", a frost-susceptible S. tuberosum variety which cannot be acclimated, the globuli increased from 563 to 872 per 100 chloroplasts.Apparently lipid accumulation is associated with exposure to freezing temperatures.The disappearance of starch grains in the chloroplasts of S. acaule, while those of S. tuberosum \"Red Pontiac\" remained intact, suggests a possible protective effect of soluble sugars against freezing injury in these sensitive organelles.In obervations of leaf anatomy, nine hardy species (killing temperature -4° C and below) had two layers of palisade leaf parenchyma, while 19 non-hardy species (killing temperature -2.5 to -3.5° C) had only one layer. The leaves of hardy plants were generally thicker with the palisade layers occupying more than 65 percent of the total leaf thickness. The leaf palisade of non-hardy species comprised less than 50 percent of the total leaf cross-section.The walls of leaf mesophyll cells of S. acaule were significantly thicker than comparable walls of the S. tuberosum cultivar (Table 26). The number of stomata, relative to the total number of cells, was three times greater in the hardy than in the non-hardy species. In another study at the University of Minnesota, the frost-killing temperatures of 60 tuber-bearing species were determined in material not previously acclimated. Selections of S. acaule were resistant to -6.5° C.The average killing temperature of the 60 species was -3.5 ° C, range -2.5 to -6.5 ° C.Potatoes are grown commercially under 19-hour days as well as 10-hour days.While some clones are known to tuberize under a range of photoperiods, daylength is generally a critical factor in the control of tuberization.Because of the excellent controlled environment facilities in the North Carolina State University (NCSU) Phytotron, studies of the inheritance of tuber initiation as influenced by photoperiod was carried out under contract research in the Southeastern Plant Environment Laboratories at NCSU. Three day-neutral tuberosum, and one day-neutral and four short-day andigena clones, were used as parents. Eight genetic sets of parental, filial, and back-cross generations were developed. Tuber initiation was evaluated in growth chambers with daylengths of 11, 13 and 15 hours, a range of photoperiods normally experienced in countries of the equatorial belt.F 1 generation means from short-day X day-neutral crosses showed complete dominance of the short-day (late tuber initiation) over the day-neutral reaction (early tuber initiation). F 1 generation means from day-neutral X day-neutral and short-day X short-day crosses showed either no dominance or a tendency toward the short-day parent. A variable degree of parental heterozygosity for the loci controlling tuber initiation is indicated with the short-day clones showing the greatest genetic variability. Tuber initiation appears to be under the control of both major and minor genes. General combining ability values of 90 percent at 11 hours and 55 percent at 15 hours of daylength were estimated.Increases in daylength had the effect of delaying tuber initiation.In contract research at Cornell University, a cutting technique has been developed to permit rapid screening to evaluate \"tuberization stimulus\" under unfavorable photoperiods. Using this technique, clones capable of tuberizing under continuous light have been identified.To test whether there is a partial maternal inheritance of the photoperiod response, a clone capable of tuberizing under continuous light and a clone that required short days (usually 12 hours or less) were each selfed and also crossed in both directions. Thirty-two seedlings from each of the resulting four populations were grown under continuous light. Cuttings were taken and examined for ability to tuberize and the parent plants then were placed under 22 hours of light. Another crop of cuttings was taken and the photoperiod was shortened to 20 hours. The process was repeated until plants had been exposed to 18, 16, 14 and 12 hour days (Table 27). Yields of plants exposed to 20, 14 and 8 hour photoperiods also were measured (Table 28).  As expected the population derived from selfing the clone with a long critical photoperiod, had the greatest capacity to tuberize under long photoperiods. The population derived from selfing the short-day clone tuberized most efficiently under short photoperiods while populations from crosses were intermediate.The reciprocal crosses showed a clear maternal influence. When the clone with the long critical photoperiod was the maternal parent, tuberization and yield were significantly greater under continuous light than in the population from the reciprocal cross. Repeating the experiment with 144 seedlings from each pedigree, under greenhouse conditions, confirmed the results of the growth chamber experiments.Attention has been focused on field methods of measuring drought stress through studies affiliated with the Research Station for Arable Farming in •Wageningen, the Netherlands. Extensive trials have been conducted at CIP on the arid coastal desert of Peru where average annual precipitation is 10 mm.Each of several methods for measuring water stress had deficiencies, necessitating an integration of data for a meaningful assessment of drought resistance in the field. Pressure chamber data taken in early morning or late afternoon, together with data on the• infiltration of leaves with oils of varying viscosity taken during early afternoon, permitted the following interpretations: a) small increases in pressure chamber values at increasing soU suction (indicating an efficient root system), toget~er with open stomata (determined by infiltration), are indicators of drought tolerance; b) a large increase in water potential and open stomata are suggestive of low water conservation and early senescence; while, c) a small decrease in water potential and closed stomates for a prolonged period during a day might be favorable for the maturation of a late variety under irregular water supply.Studies were continued at La Molina (coastal desert), San Ramon (high jungle) and Yurimaguas (low jungle) in the use of mulch to modify soil temperatures. An example of the ameliorating influence of mulch on soil temperature is shown in Fig. 10.  29). * Bean = Vicia faba; Pea = Pisum sativa; Quinoa = Chenopodium quinoa.A number of field fertilizer trials were undertaken in 1977 at sites in Peru, representing divergent ecological zones. In these trials it was usual to include a control in which no fertilizer was applied.An example of a trial involving various levels of nitrogen, while phosphorus and potash were constant, is presented in Table 30. In a trial involving varying levels of a recommended fertilizer {160:200:200) application, the differential efficiency of cultivars in utilizing fertilizer is apparent (Table 31 ). It was also evident that adaptation to the experimental sites influenced yield (Tables 30  and 31 ). In a related study, the effect of different management practices upon soil erosion and run-off under different cropping regimes was measured. Two sites were involved, one with 25 percent slope, rainfall 480 mm, on an inceptisol soil over a micaceous schist; the other with a 30 percent slope, rainfall 2, 154 mm, on an entisol developed over colluvial-alluvial material.The importance of management practices was clearly demonstrated at the San Ramon site with the higher (2, 154 mm) annual rainfall (Table 32). Prototype storage with plastic exterior. walls for storing seed potatoes under diffuse light.Collection point for potatoes.Farmers bring in their potatoes and sort them for buyer's inspection.Filling an improved type of potato µit. The wooden chimney has openings in the corners and is placed in the center of the (round) pit. Pit capacity is 1 ton.Building improved type potato storages for small scale farmers. Capacity is 2 tons.A practical study aimed at evaluating the technical and economic feasibility of ware potato storage on small farms in Kenya was started in 1977. Traditionally, three storage systems have been used in Kenya: 1) earth pits for seed potatoes; 2) piles in farm buildings; and, 3) bags (traders storage). No reliable data, on storage losses incurred in these systems has been previously available.As a result, a wooden store was designed and tested in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nairobi (Table 33). Observations in Kenya during the first season showed that earthen pits were unsatisfactory for ware storage. Bag storage was less suitable than storage in piles. Bag and pit storage studies were, therefore, discontinued.For periods up to two months, pile stores were more economical than wooden stores. For storage periods longer than two months returns to investment were about the same for the low-cost wooden store as for a medium size (150-ton capacity) commercial potato store. The higher storage losses at Ngechi (2, 100 m) than at Meru (2,300 m} and Molo (2,600 m) were attributed to consistently higher night temperatures at Ngechi during the period February to June, 1977.A study was continued throughout the year on small-scale processing of potatoes. In addition to designing and evaluating various dehydration methods, field studies of potato processing technology on small farms in the Mantaro Valley region of Peru were carried out by CIP's Social Science Unit. The contributions of this group are presented elsewhere in this Annual Report.A number of conditions must be met to obtain satisfactory solar dehydration of potato products: 1) The water in the product must trap sufficient calories to vaporize it.Calories trapped by a black surface or air will not evaporate water from the product unless such calories are reradiated to the product water. 2) The rate of diffusion of water from the center to the surface, and from the surface of the product, is determined by the steepness of the diffusion gradients. This is a function of the temperature and relative humidity of the air in contact with the product, as well as the shape and physiological nature of the product. 3) Excessive heat must be avoided during drying to prevent discoloration of the product.Various configurations of \"black box\" solar dryers have been tested. A one-meter square wooden or adobe box with sides 10-20 cm high, covered with flexible 8-mil plastic, with provision for ventilation to allow moisture escape, was a satisfactory low-cost dehydration module. Square, \"V\" and hemispheric notched floor surfaces to enhance trapping solar radiation did not justify the extra construction effort.An unpolished aluminum surface was 10° C hotter, and a reflective aluminum surface was 10° C cooler than the black-painted floor surface of a dehydration module. Air temperatures of 75-95° C and surface temperatures of 95-105 ° C are indices of attainable temperatures in a \"black box\" module.Adequate drying, without discoloration, was obtained with 1 mm-thick shreds exposed for one day at a temperature of 55° C (altitude, 3,300 m). Air movement to permit moisture escape and to maintain a temperature below 70° C was provided by raising the plastic top of the dryer 2-5 cm or by small ventilation holes in the bottom and sides of the box. At temperatures above 70° C, particularly nearing the completion of drying, brown discoloration and unpleasant flavors developed. Satisfactory drying of products other than potatoes, such as onions, yucca and sweet potatoes, offers a wide scope for black box technology in Andean food processing.A wide range of routine analyses was carried out during the year in support of a variety of research projects. Included were analyses of catalase activity; total and reducing sugars; vitamines B 1 ; riboflavin, niacin and C; total protein; relative nutritive values; available methionine; minerals -iron, copper, magnesium, manganese, potassium, zinc and iodine; glycoalkaloids; and, dry matter. As an example of routine analyses, the dry matter, total protein and reducing sugar levels determined for 12 commercial Peruvian varieties were: dry matter, mean 22:96 percent, range 1.27 -27.98 percent; total protein, mean 7. 70 percent, range 6.13 -11.69 percent; and, reducing sugars, mean 0.36 mg/percent, range 0.15 -0.89 mg/percent. Similar analyses of 249 samples involving seven species are presented in Table 34.The range in percent total protein, on a dry matter basis, was 4.5 -14.5 percent, average 7.87 percent. Relative nutritive values were lower for raw potatoes than for cooked potatoes. In a study of six varieties in storage at 5° C for up to three months, there was a gradual increase in relative nutritive value up to 45 days followed by a decline. The CIP potato cell and tissue culture program has the following objectives: a) to maintain potato germ plasm in clonal form for prolonged periods free of pathogens; b) to facilitate the international transfer of valuable potato clones; c) to rapidly multiply clonal material in a disease free condition; and, d) to adapt and develop new areas of research and application.The multi-meristem culture technique has been successfully employed for the rapid, in vitro multiplication (up to 100-fold) of the species andigena (4x), chaucha (3x), juzepchukii (3x) and curtilobum (5x).Shoot proliferation was hastened with gibberellic acid on \"organogenic calluses\" induced by cytokinin and auxin. To induce profuse shoot development in tuberosum (4x) varieties, initial shoot-tip explants were first allowed to elongate their leaves and axes slightly with the addition of a low level of gibberellic acid and a relatively high level of auxin. Thereafter, a highly branched culture with very little or no callus was produced under the influence of low cytokinin and high gibberellic acid. At present 40 of 50 different pathogen-tested clones have been processed through the multi-meristem system. During 1977, 132 aseptic multi-meristem cultures representing 71 clones were sent to 10 countries.A minimum growth storage technique has been developed for intermediate term storage requiring one transfer per year. Nodal cuttings from plantlets derived from multi-meristem cultures are maintained at 4-5° C, under low light, on media with low levels of growth inhibitors and relatively high sugar content.A reversal of these conditions enhances in vitro growth. Of interest is the differential behavior of andigena and tuberosum clones, adg clones being more subject to injury from relatively high temperatures and high levels of growth inhibitors than tbr clones. A temperature of 6° C, without growth inhibitors, was repressive to the growth of tbr clones, but not to adg clones. Recently 44 different pathogen-free clones, three or four test-tube cultures of each, have been placed in minimum growth storage conditions for observation during 1978.There is an element of concern with regard to the karyological instability of in vitro cultures due to euploidy, aneuploidy, chromosomal translocations, and possibly, mutations. Experiments are continuing to evaluate the stability of varietal characteristics of two clones. Virusinfected plants were processed through single and multi-meristem culture systems. The single culture approach gives rise to a single plant directly, while many plantlets (multi-meristem) develop on an \"organogenic callus\" derived from a single shoot-tip. Virus-free plants and plants still containing viruses (PVX, PVX + PVY) were regenerated, potted and allowed to tuberize. These tubers, together with tubers of the original infected \"mother\" plants and tubers of plants naturally free, were potted again to produce second generation tubers. These were used to compare electrophoretic patterns of total soluble tuber proteins and esterases.No changes were observed in protein and esterase electrophoretic patterns, due to either the tissue culture system or the presence or absence of viruses. Taxonomic-cytological studies, as well as evaluation of cultures being stored for intermediate periods are under continuing study.The possibilities of shipping small, aseptic tubers grown in vitro to developing countries, and the use of in vitro tuberization to study certain basic high-temperature stress problems, have encouraged studies of tuberization in culture. To present, nodes excised from plantlets arising in multi-meristem cultures have been the most convenient source of explant material for the production of a large number of tubers in a continuous fashion. Most clones have required a medium rich in sugar and supplemented with high concentration of chlorocholinchloride (CCC).The use of stem cutting and related techniques to rapidly multiply potatoes under disease-free conditions was established as a routine procedure in 1976. The use of a liquid mixture of IBA and NAA in 30 percent ethanol has effectively increased rooting of cuttings while inhibiting tuberization.The rate of propagation from tubers was increased three to four-fold by making stem and stolon cuttings from the tubers of certain slow growing clones.An adaptation of a published \"leaf-node cutting\" technique is being developed.This system involves the induction of tubers on stem segments containing an axillary bud and its subtending leaf excised from the stems of senescent plants. Thus a plant with 10 to 15 nodes on each of five stems will provide 50-75 leaf-node cuttings. When planted in coarse sand under short day conditions and relatively low temperature these cuttings would, potentially, produce 50-75 tubers.In another technique being evaluated, secondary sprouts were generated on tubers several weeks after removal of 3 to 5 cm primary sprouts and immersion of the tubers in 2.0 ppm gibberellic acid. Excised sprouts were allowed to root on wet filter paper before being planted in pots or trays.The CIP program for virus eradication in potatoes consists of a number of stages referred to as \"Generations\".Generation \"O\" has been divided into steps: Step 1, virus detection tests; Step 2, meristem culture following thermotherapy and regeneration of plants from culture; and, Step 3, confirmation of the virus-free status of regenerated plants in insect-proof greenhouses.If non-infected material is identified in Step 1, the plant is moved to Step 3, bypassing Step 2.The effectiveness of eradication depends upon the system employed (Table 35).The application of high temperature to in vitro nodal cuttings derived from multi-meristem has been effective in the eradication of PVX and PVS.More recently the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method is being evaluated as a means of detecting viruses in in vitro cultures.  Commonly, the development of an isolated meristem tip into a plantlet takes up to three months. By weekly transfers to fresh semi-solid medium with a high level of GA, plantlets four to five cm in height can be produced in three to four weeks. This technique not only accelerates the growth several-fold but also tends to favor virus eradication.During 1977 approximately 50 clones have been processed through meristem culture, usually following thermotherapy. Of these, 43 have Qeen grown in pots and moved to the greenhouse for virus retest. Thirty-three clones have entered Step 3 after meristem culture and plant regeneration, 24 of which were free of viruses and have entered . Generation I.In addition, 27 clones entered Generation I directly being found free in Step 1 and confirmed in Step 3, Generation \"O\".Five Generations are involved in the maintenance and progressive multiplication of pathogen-free seed.Generation i involves the maintenance of nuclear stock derived from Generation 0. In Generation I! pathogen-tested clones are produced for export to national programs for local increase or testing.Generations 111, IV and V are for the progressive increase of low-virus seed for routine CIP field research.Generation I : At present 88 clones are being maintained, 44 as in vitro multi-meristem cultures and 44 as both multi-meristem cultures and plants.Clones for which there is limited use are held only as multimeristem cultures.Generation 11 : Thirty-six varieties were multiplied for export. Also included were 201 tuber families, produced from true seed, which were sent to 10 developing countries for evaluation for tropical adaptation, resistance to late blight and for frost resistance. From pathogen-tested clones of this Generation, 4,430 stem cuttings were produced for the Peruvian National Potato Program and 4,500 for CIP scientists.Generations 111, IV and V: During the 1976-77 crop year, about 16.5 metric tons of seed were distributed to CIP scientists, while 2.5 tons were replanted to produce the 1977-78 crop. In addition, over 5,000 stem cuttings were produced from Generation 111 plants for CIP use. A summary of material exported during the year is presented in Table 36. In Honduras and Costa Rica long-term seed production programs have been initiated. With four tons of Super Elite seed from the Netherlands, Honduras has produced 25 tons of low virus seed. This, first year of production has served as training for local scientists and farmers.In Costa Rica, selected clon,es and varieties are being multiplied from stem cuttings. New land facilities are being organized to develop a full-scale seed project in 1978.A plan to receive and multiply meristems of Rosita and Atzimba varieties has been initiated jointly among CIP, the University of Costa Rica and the Ministry of Agriculture.The University has the facilities to carry out the initial propagation of meristem material which is then transferred to the greenhouse to produce tubers and mother plants. This material will become the basic stock for the national seed project.A problem in rooting cuttings was encountered .at Turrialba. This was traced to a nutrient deficiency in the medium.A new medium of coarse sand and bagasse, and irrigation with Hoagland's solution has produced excellent results.Upon transplanting rooted cuttings directly to the field at Turrialba, 90 percent died. However, a system has now been developed which uses paper cups for growing the cuttings and these are transplanted directly to the field. The problem has been resolved.Seed schemes are being developed in Kenya and Zambia, with some initial contacts in Malawi, Southern Sudan and Lesotho.In Kenya, the scheme proposed will involve CIP, the Kenya Seed Inspection Service, Kenya Seed Company (a commercial organization) and the Potato Research Section of the Ministry of Agriculture. The basic materials will be provided by the Research Section.In Zambia, a seed production scheme has already been started and CIP's input will be limited to supplying materials as required, periodic advisory visits and training of personnel.The stem cutting technology has been introduced to accelerate the production of first year basic seed. After solving initial problems, the production of stem cuttings from mother plants has been established. Some virus-tested clones imported from CIP as multi-meristem have been grown in Turkey.A simplified production scheme for low virus-content seed has been started in Tunisia. This aims to provide seed for the autumn crop sown in August when imported seed of the right physiological age is not available. Seventy-five tons were produced in 1977 which have already been distributed to farmers and planted. The vigor and number of stems •per unit area of this seed is far superior to farmers' seed. Depending on the time at which haulms were destroyed, the virus content has varied from four to 14 percent.A cooperative project to develop seed production in the autumn season in the plains has been started with the Punjab Government. This will support the overall national program, particularly with facilities to develop a basic seed area in the Kaghan Valley. This project is being aided by a bilateral contract.India already has the most advanced seed program in tropical countries and new techniques are not envisaged in the near future. The program however will serve as an excellent training ground for other developing country personnel.The main objective of CIP's involvement is to assist the development of a strong seed program to amplify the existing traditional systems of seed production.It will provide a means for disseminating varieties and clones already identified as having improved yield and disease resistances.Preliminary trials for introducing rapid multiplication by the stem cutting technique showed that during the dry season rooting was difficult, but by providing sufficient shade and humidity rooting was accomplished. Up to 150 cuttings could be taken from some mother plants.In transportation to the high altitude station, a high percentage of rooted cuttings survived the journey.Trials were made of a sprout cutting method. The advantages of this method are that all cuttings are available simultaneously, no mother plants have to. be raised and greenhouse space is not required. The results were encouraging, providing that temperature and humidity were adjusted as in the case of the stem cutting method.From the pathogen-tested seed produced by CIP-Lima, 17 new clones have been introduced. It had been hoped that S. andigena x tuberosum crosses would do well in Nepal. This has been realized and Mariva, a Peruvian variety, not only produced an outstanding yield, but its tuber characteristics almost exactly matched the preferred local \"round red\" variety. With its additional late blight and virus resistance it might well replace the local variety, provided that it produces equally well on the plains.Trial shipments of meristem tissue cultures of heat-tolerant material was sent to Indonesia and the Philippines.The cultures shipped to Indonesia were etiolated at the end of the three week delivery time. Rooted stem cuttings from CIP were carried successfully by courier to the Philippines. The material was of potential heat-tolerant clones. The Philippines and Korea are both exploring CIP techniques in the use of stem cuttings as a rapid multiplication tool.A Sydney University technique of sprout proliferation in vitro is being pursued in the Philippines and Korea.Sprouts 1.50 cm long are excised from a parent pathogen-free tuber. They then are grown in controlled conditions in intermittently shaken flasks.The plantlets produced are divided repeatecjly into budded cuttings.The final generation is rooted in .sand and transplanted to a screenhouse or to the field, where good quantities of seed tubers are produced from each plant.A cooperative trial with the Department of Scientific Research, New Zealand, is being conducted in the Philippines using true (botanical) seed from both selfed and controlled pollinations. Several lines have shown a high percentage of germination plus an acceptably high proportion of high yielding plants. One line in New Zealand approached commercial quantities obtained from the normal method of planting seed tubers.CIP TRAINING SCHOLARSHIPS APRIL .f978    The major activity included a three-month course on potato production (with emphasis on seed production) conducted in Peru. There were seven participants representing Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.  Region IV: Middle East and North Africa Two one-month inter-regional potato production courses were held in Tunisia (April 3-30) in French, and in Turkey (September 4-30) in English. Sixteen participants from Turkey, Tunisia, Syria, Morocco, Algeria, Rwanda and Burundi attended the Tunisian course. In Turkey, eight participants from Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Tunisia and Iran attended; GTZ, Germany, sponsored one scientist who wi'll work on a bilateral seed project in Pakistan which CIP will support technically.Several short courses involving eight trainees in potato production, seed multiplication and field roguing were given by national programs in Turkey, Tunisia and Syria assisted by CIP staff. In-depth production training was conducted for nine Turkish and Tunisian scientists. Three Turkish scientists went to the U. K. for graduate training, while a Sudanese scientist enrolled in Ph.D. studies at the University of Wisconsin.Th.e Region VI Regional Scientist spent an orientation period in Izmir prior to his assignment to India.An inter-regional workshop/seminar on potato improvement and marketing constraints was held at Izmir on October 4-14, 1977, for 23 potato specialists from seven countries in the Region.In addition to publication in English and French of production course manuals, various training materials and slides were made available to national programs. Assistance was given in the development of potato research programs in seven countries, as well as assistance in the development of research project proposals for funding.The Southwest Asian program was recently initiated and involves Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. Ir. H. Sparenberg of IBVL, Wageningen, visited Pakistan for 16 days to advise on the storage of seed and table stock under local environmental conditions. Visits were made to the Swat and Kaghan valleys in the Northwest Frontier Province and to Baluchistan.The Regional Representative was a participant at the Second FAQ/SIDA seminar, on \"Field Food Crops in the Near East and North Africa\", held at Lahore in September. The coordinator of the Pakistan National Potato Program attended the inter-regional workshop/seminar held in Izmir, Turkey, during October.Two short visits were made to Kabul, Afghanistan, in July and August for preliminary discussions with government officials.The Regional Representative visited Tehran, Iran, July 7-12, in connection with the inter-regional course and workshop/seminar in Izmir, Turkey. A potato specialist from the extension service and one from the Horticultural Station, Shahroud, attended the September potato production course in Izmir, Turkey. Two scientists from Korea spent three months at Lima specializing in breeding and post-harvest technology. A pathologist from Sri Lanka studied various techniques appropriate to research on bacterial wilt of potato. She has since gone to work with our contract in Wisconsin University, USA and will eventually embark on a M. S. study.Continuing our link with Australian institutions, a physiologist spent several weeks in Sydney University, Australia specializing in tissue culture.The physiologist will be in charge of rapid multiplication of potato germ plasm in the Philippines.The first and second seed production courses at the Plant Research Institute, Burley, Victoria, Australia, were attended by scientists from the Philippines, Korea, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. A scientist from Sri Lanka attended the IAC Potato Production Course at Wageningen, the Netherlands.Approximately 40 persons participated in a five-day production school held in Korea and supported by CIP scientists.During 1977 the Social Science Unit (SSU) narrowed its research scope to three areas: (1) post-harvest technology and utilization; (2) potato seed production and distribution systems; and, (3) farm-level constraints to potato production.Previously initiated work on socioeconomic documentation (bibliographic research and analysis and publication of national level statistics) and contract research for the comparative study of potato production and utilization (Ecuador, Chile and Kenya) was reduced in scope. In the immediate future, the SSU will concentrate most of its resources on research in the central highlands of Peru, and on the development of training materials and methods for use in CIP courses. This implies a temporarily reduced role for the social science staff in the Center's regional programs.In August 1977 the first Social Science Planning Conference was held at CIP.In preparation for this event, a position paper was prepared which summarizes work to date and outlines a work plan for the immediate future.The main elements of this plan are in-depth research on farm-level production constraints, post-harvest technology and utilization, and potato seed production and distribution systems. The planning conference participants endorsed the plan of work outlined in the position paper and stressed the importance of in-depth field research. The panel felt th~t national-level studies should not be emphasized, and recommended that, for at least two years, the SSU focus its resources on micro-level research in the Peruvian highlands. . The national-level study of potato production and utilization in Ecuador was completed in 1977. The Kenya and Chile studies are scheduled for completion by mid-1978.All three reports will be published by the Center in 1978.No other country studies will be carried out until at least 1979. The investigation of post-harvest technology is an integral part of CIP's Thrust V 111 whose aim is to develop low-cost storage and processing technology which can be used by small farmers at the village level. While the distribution (marketing) and consumption patterns are critical aspects of post-harvest technology, investigation has so far concentrated on indigenous storage and processing techniques in the Mantaro Valley region. This is where the Huancayo experiment station is located and where CIP's technical work on storage and processing methods has been concentrated to date.In late 1976 a study was undertaken to describe why and how potatoes are stored in the Mantaro Valley region.The study utilized two methods of investigation, including the key informant interview of individuals having a broad knowledge of potato production and distribution in the region. More than 70 farmers and officials wpre interviewed and numerous farm visits made to examine different types of storage techniques.During the last two weeks of study, structured interviews were held with 20 farmers to gather preliminary quantitative information. on storage practices.The farmers were interviewed without a formal questionnaire because they were questioned while working in the field. The farmers' responses were recorded after the conversation had been terminated.Information gathered from this initial sample will be compared later with results gathered in a larger sample of farmers (124) as part of a study of processing techniques. The information will also be compared to the results of a comprehensive production survey of the entire Mantaro Valley region.The most important alternatives for a farmer at harvest were found to be: (1) immediate sale or exchange; or, (2) storage for on-farm consumption, seed, animal feed or processing. All farmers who grow potatoes in the Mantaro Valley region store some part of their production, but the amount varies with the type of producer. For example, farmers with small holdings (less than two hectares in potatoes) store a larger percentage. of their production than do growers with larger holdings (see Table 38). Farmers.with small holdings store production principally for on-farm consumption and for seed, but also keep potatoes for animal feed and processing. Growers with larger holdings, on the other hand, primarily store potatoes for seed and only a minor amount for home consumption.Processing and animal feed are unimportant forms of post-harvest utilization for large growers.Besides examining the functions of storage in the overall pattern of post-harvest utilization, the study also looked at the physical types of storages.Three main types were found to exist: house storages, outbuildings, and field storages. The most common place for potato storage was found to be the farmer's house (for security, and convenience). Storage space in the house is multi-purpose; when the potatoes are not being stored, something else is kept in their place.Within the house, distinctions are often made between appropriate places for seed and ware (consumer) potatoes. These distinctions are based upon the perceived characteristics of the crop. Seed potatoes need to keep their shape and handling should be minimized; therefore, these potatoes are kept on the ground floor. The potatoes are separated from direct contact with the earth by a layer of straw or other material which provides for air circulation under the pile. Eucalyptus leaves and grasses such as mufia and retama, whose odors are believed to repel insects, are used extensively. Ware potatoes, on the other hand, need a dark place where sunlight entering through doors and windows does not turn the potatoes green, 'and therefore, the attic is a preferred location. Householders were found to prefer potatoes which had sweetened while being allowed to \"spoil\" and this preference also favored the use of the attic for ware potatoes. Outbuildings are constructed by large-scale grower's who tend to build special storage buildings, not only for potatoes, but also for tools, fertilizers, and other crops. Like house storages, outbuildings are multi-purpose, a characteristic examplified by the use of converted stables for storage.Specialized buildings for potato storage were rarely encountered. The University of Huancayo operates a potato storage facility built in the 1960's which uses wooden bins, but the design has not been copied by farmers.Field storages, built with straw and earth either above or under the ground, are used on a limited scale almost exclusively for seed potatoes. The storages are made feasible by the fact that the normal storage period for seed -April to October -is a time in which little or no rain falls.The main disadvantages noted by farmers are the high labor input required for an initial selection of the tubers and the care needed to guard field storages against widespread theft of crops.During 1977, a six-month study of potato processing was conducted in the highland province of Concepcion in the Mantaro Valley region. Fieldwork was carried out by a Dutch student of rural sociology and several Peruvian students. The group spent an initial period gathering descriptions of all food processing technology in the area, as well as information on other post-harvest practices such as sale, storage and animal feed.During the second phase of the study, a survey using a formal questionnaire was carried out with 120 farmers in the province.For purposes of the study, the province was divided into three major production zones on the basis of altitude and crop complex. The lowest zone, from 3,200 -3,400 m, is dominated by potato and corn which is often irrigation grown. The two higher zones (3,400 -3,600 m and over 3,600 m) are dedicated to dry-land production of potatoes, barley and natural pasture.In the highest zone, bitter potatoes and olluco, another Andean tuber, are important crops.Among the preliminary results of the study were:1. Food processing was found to be a common household act1v1ty carried out with home consumption as the main purpose. Over 90 percent of the households in which interviews were conducted, processed corn and barley products and nearly 40 percent processed potatoes. Women provided most of the processing labor. Of the 52 households who reported processing potatoes, only five sold part of this production.Several privately-owned mills provided the only example of village !eve! processing.2. Food processing utilizes simple and inexpensive implements commonly found in and around the house. For example, papa seca, a dehydrated product made by cooking and sundrying potatoes, needs only firewood, a cooking pot, and a sack or sheet of tin on which the cooked and peeled potatoes are placed in the sun to dry. Food processing techniques make abundant use of natural materials and phenomenon, not only sunlight, but also frost, streams and natural grasses for straw.3. The technology involved in processing potato products is highly labor intensive (see Table 39). Farmers responded that the high labor input, coupled with generally low levels of production, are the main factors limiting potato processing. Less than five percent of total production goes into processed products.4. The principle motivation of potato processing appears to be the desire to consume potatoes which cannot be eaten fresh. This category includes all the frost-resistant bitter varieties (Solanum jucepczukii and Solanum curtilobum) which must be processed before eaten because of their high glycoalkaloid content. When other varieties are used for processing, the tubers are usually small, damaged or diseased. An additional factor which limits the conversion of this type of material into processed products is their alternative use as animal feed.5. The two principle potato products, chuno and papa seca, appear to have very different uses in the Peruvian national and local diet.Chuno is primarily made from bitter potatoes by exposing the tubers to frost, pressing to squeeze out moisture, soaking in running water, and drying in the sun. Chuno is made in the higher, marginal production areas where bitter potatoes are grown, and, considered to be primarily peasant food; it is not widely consumed by the urban population. Papa seca, on the other hand, is associated with coastal and urban dietary patterns and is marketed in Lima and other large cities.  The socieconomic research on seed production and distribution has been endorsed both by the TAC Quinquennial Mission as well as the recently held Social Science Planning Conference (August 1977). It has been performed within the scope of Thrust IX: Seed technology for developing countries.The research was focused on building an information base on seed systems prevailing in some selected developing countries (Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru). The starting point was the hypothesis that the new seed technology, regardless of its origin, has to be delivered to farmers through a national seed system, which itself may become a major constraint for technology transfer.The research was, then, oriented to fu lfi II three specific objectives: a) to describe and analyze the organization and rationality of the production and distribution seed system; b) to identify tha main factors affecting its viability; and, c) to describe how they transfer the new seed technology.On the basis of the analysis of the seed systems in Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and other countries, an attempt was made to conceptualize the institutional organization needed to produce and deliver certified seed in a developing country.An institutional model for basic seed with clonal selection of varieties and with a public-private multiplication and distribution system of certified seed was developed.One notable finding was that developing countries, when initiating certified seed programs, very often forgot or did not take into account the conditions or assumptions that should be satisfied for the proper operation of the model. Four major economic and institutional barriers affecting the viability of the certified seed system in developing countries were identified and analyzed: a) the lack of capacity of the National Programs to produce a sufficient and uninterrupted flow of basic seed; b) adequate organization and know-how of potato programs; c) the rapid deterioration of sanitary levels of the certified seed on its way toward the final user; and, d) the lack of demand for certified seed at prices covering production cost and normal profit.Due to the general lack of information on seed production and distribution systems in developing countries, a socioeconomic bibliography on seed is being prepared. With a Ford Foundation grant, a research project on seed production systems has been carried out since January 1978 in Colombia and Ecuador.Micro-level research has been performed in Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Kenya. A methodology based on farm-level surveys has been applied in each country. The main focus of this research has been the use of seed and the effects of improved seed on farm output and incomes. Among others, the following hypotheses are being tested:1. Improved varieties have lower yields than traditional ones without the use of complementary inputs.2. There is a strong demand for high quality seed, which has not been satisfied by the official seed production services.3. Improved varieties are produced for market; traditional varieties are produced for self consumption.4. When production can be sold both as seed and as ware potato, price relationship between ware potato and seed is critical in deciding what proportion of the farmer's total output will be kept as seed.5. Under conditions of low input application, high quality seed impact is not expressed.An anthropological research study on potato folk taxonomies and seed networks in Peru was initiated this year by an American anthropologist.The overall objective of this research is to analyze the cultural framework and economic mechanisms whereby new potato varieties are identified, adopted, and distributed among Peruvian peasants. This objective may be broken down into two specific areas of research: the study of folk taxonomies associated with potato and the study of seed distribution networks. In 1977 a series of studies on potato production, distribution and utilization was initiated in the Mantaro River basin. The main objectives of this research are to provide data for the SSU's three areas of in-depth research and to provide a \"laboratory\" for field testing and training activities.From March until September 1977, anthropological research was carried out to define the major agricultural land-use zones in which potatoes are grown. These zones were mapped and described in terms of the.fr natural/ecological conditions, market orientation, production and post-harvest systems, land tenure and size of farm unit. This research provided the framework for a single-interview survey of 250 maize and potato growers in the region, carried out jointly by CIMMYT and CIP.By the end of 1977 data from this survey had been coded for computer processing and analysis.Beginning in late 1977, a subset of approximately 25 producers from the previously surveyed larger sample is being followed through an entire production cycle, using a multiple-interview survey technique. Producers are visited by interviewers each week, and detailed accounts are kept on their economic activities. This information is being used to analyze socioeconomic aspects of potato production technology in the region. Over the same 1977 /78 production cycle, data on soil nutrients, plant growth, diseases and pests, cultural practices, and other agronomic variables are being recorded for a large sample of producers (50 -75) and utilized in an analysis of factors limiting yields. In the 1978 planting season, on-farm experiments will be initiated in the Mantaro region to test agronomic and economic aspects of improved practices under field conditions. In Kenya, an economic analysis was made of potato production in various areas.Primary data were obtained through a farm survey in six producing areas.In the farm survey, major emphasis was placed on husbandry techniques, inputs, yields, costs of production, profits and market outlets. Between November 1976 and April 1977, a total of 460 farmers were contacted, out of which 441 grew potatoes in the six production areas.The survey data were analyzed preliminarily and the results compiled in brief reports, which were distributed to institutions and individuals involved in the potato sector. A more detailed computer analysis of the data is being prepared. Some preliminary results of the producer survey are presented in the following tables.  From the farm survey several tentative conclusions can be drawn on the production pattern in various areas.1. In Kenya, potatoes are produced on a small scale basis; average plot size is less than 0.5 ha.2. Yields per ha are generally low.3. Production costs are high and returns to producers are marginal.4. Average farm gate prices differ significantly between growing areas.Three major types of potato producing farms have been identified:(Producer area 4 and 5) : Small farm size, fair technology level (high frequency of chemical disease control, low application rates) low yields, high farm gate prices, fair profits and low share of marketed crop.Type II (Producer area 6) : Medium sized farms, comparatively high technology level (high frequency and rate of application of chemical disease control) fairly high yields, fair prices, fair profits and high marketed share.Type Ill (Producer area 1, 2, 3) : Medium to large sized farms, low technology level, low yields, fairly low farm gate prices, low profits and medium marketed share.Center Support Communications is comprised of several sections and faci I ities. \\n editorial section consists of writing and editing Center publication. 1 yping facilities include two IBM memory typewriters and a composer.The photographic facilities consist of a studio, darkrooms and a projection room which can also be used for seminars.Art work is produced in addition to layout for publications and the production of offset plates.The printing shop has an offset press and auxiliary equip\\T)ent. This section also provides routine mimeograph and photocopying services.During 1977 the Communications section acquired new personnel and reorganized part of its work activities.One scientist was transferred to the department to work jointly in communications and training activities, an English editor/writer was hired, in addition to an audiovisual technician.An editorial committee and a training committee were organized. The editorial committee supervises the release of all scientific and general CIP publications. Located within Regional Research and Training, the training committee contains two communication staff members and several scientists who are working to coordinate the production of training aids to facilitate the transfer of CIP technology.Staff continued to produce art, audio-visual, photographic and printed material, including work for the Annual Report, CIP Circular, planning conference reports and other scientific reports. For the first time the offset plates have been prepared in the section.The audio-visual and photography section have nearly finished the reconstruction of the darkroom where black and white photography is being carried out. A color slide collection has been organized for use by CIP staff, and all existing black and white photographs have been classified.Several slide sets were updated, including Potato Diseases, Greenhouse, Stem Cuttings and Storage.At year end the CIP Circular, a monthly scientific publication was recommenced on a regular basis. The Circular, which contains articles on Center research, is distributed to about 2,000 people (mostly potato scientists) in the developing and developed world. A full-color field reference handbook. \"The Potato: Major Diseases and Nematodes,\" was also published.All publications are published in English and Spanish.The department continues to host slide-shows, seminars and workshops in Its mini-auditorium which has projection facilities and a seating capacity for 20 people.A full-sized auditorium with seating for approximately 80 people was opened in mid-year in the new wing of the main building. Larger seminars and planning conferences are held there.Communications in preparing printed materials.In early 1977 the Library staff was increased by the hiring of an assistant librarian. The head librarian entered the University of Sheffield, England, on a scholarship granted by the British Council. During her one-year study leave toward the M. S. degree in Information Science, two employees were hired on a temporary basis.Toward year end the extensive socioeconomics reference collection was transferred to the Library for integration into the Centers reference collection.As CIP becomes better known there has been a marked increase in the number of visitors.During 1977 414 professionals, officials and trainees from 42 countries visited the Center, a three-fold increase over 1976.In addition many professional and interested persons from Peru visited CIP.As in previous years, language instruction was offered to staff and wives.Mr. Jorge Palacios taught Spanish to 21 staff members and 11 wives through scheduled morning lessons, normally of one-half hour duration, two or three days a week.Earlier in the year three Spanish-speaking technicians were instructed in English.  We have examined the balance sheet of THE INTERNATIONAL POTATO CENTER -CIP (a nonprofit org!.iniz!.i ti on established in Perd) as of December 31, 1977, and the relat~! statement of sour•ces and application of funds for the yeu.r then ended, Our examination was made in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, and accordingly included such tests of the accounting records and such other auditing procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances.In our opinion, the accompanying financial state-~ ments present fairly the financial position of The International Potato Center as of December Jl, 1977, and the source and application of its funds for the year then ended, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles applied on a basis cansistent with that of the preceding year.Our examination has been made primarily for the purpose of forming the opinion stated in the preceding paragraph. The data contained in Exhibits 1 to 4 inclusive, of this report, al though not considered necessary for a fair pres en ta ti on of financial position and source and application of funds, are presented as supplementary information and have been subjected to the audit procedures applied in the examination of the basic financial statements. In our opinion, these data are fairly stated in all material respects in relation to the basic financial statements, taken as a whole.   At the balance sheet date, balances representing cash and amounts owed by or to CIP that are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are adjusted to reflect the current rate.Exchange gain and losses are included in determining the source and application of funds for the period in which the exchange rates fluctuate. b. Inventories are reported at estimated prices, which approximate the cost determined on a first-in, first-out bas~s.c. Fixed assets are recorded at cost. No depreciation is accounted for.Retirements are charged to the fully expended in fixed assets capital account. Maintenance and repairs are reported as application of funds as incurred. d. Operating grants restricted to research, special projects, and capital and unrestricted grants are reported as source of funds in the period in which the donor's commitment is made, In accordance with the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research instructions, the unexpended balances for core operations at year-end are carried forward to the following period, except when prior arrangements to reimburse the amounts unexpended exist; in such case the unexpended funds are reported as liabilities, Capital grants and special project grants unexpended at year-end are carried forward to the following period. A part of the operating grants is' used as working f•wtlH, according to the Consultative Group instructions.The CIP was constituted on June 13, 1972 1 in accordanee with 1111 Agreement for Scientific Cooperation between the Government of Peru and the North Carolina State University signed on JanuaryA summary of the significant provisions of the agreement follows: a. The objective is to establish through common or cooperative efforts a nonprofit organization of a scientific nature, dedicated to research and improvement or potatoes and tuberous roots and also to train people.b. The CIP is a tax exempt entity established in Peru.Exemption includes income tax.c. Non-Peruvian scientists working for the CIP are also tax exempt.d. The agreement will be in effect for twenty years beginning on January 20, 1971. This period may be extended.e. If for any reason the existence of the CIP is terminated, the land, buildings, equipment, vehicles and other assets of the CIP are to be transferred to the Peruvian government at no cost.f. The CIP is authorized to maintain and utilize checking accounts in foreign currencies for all operations, subject to the provisions of the law in effect for international organizations.J. COMPARATIVE FINANCIALThe balance sheet as of December 31, 1976   "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8e2d190db2765da7070fe2ad26b782ca","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/16bbea60-10fc-412f-a945-f6b3aa6a5ccd/retrieve","id":"-432924147"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"654dc7b0-627d-410d-9baf-aba98ad7d3f7","content":"América Latina está llegando al fin del siglo en condiciones muy diferentes a las de su pasado histórico reciente. Los cambios incluyen el abandono del modelo económico de sustitución de importaciones, la creciente apertura económica, la ola continental de democratización, la recuperación económica aparente de la década de los 80 (llamada la década perdida) , la creciente polarización social, el agravamiento de los problemas ambientales, la creciente influencia del mercado, y el proceso de urbanización más intenso del planeta.La destacable homogeneidad del modelo económico adoptado por todos los países de la región (excepto Cuba, aunque también allí se están dando cambios económicos) se debe, según algunos, al convencimiento por parte de todos los gobiernos de las bondades de la economía de mercado y, según otros, a la fuerte presión internacional bajo la influencia de las organizaciones de los países industrializados .La globalización económica representa uno de los desarrollos más dramáticos de los últimos años. Entre 1965 y 1990 el comercio mundial de mercancías se triplicó, y el comercio global de servicios aumentó más de 14 veces. Los flujos financieros alcanzaron niveles gigantescos. Mas de un millón de millones de dólares circulan en el . mundo cada 24 horas buscando la mejor tasa de retorno. Este flujo de capital ofrece, por un lado, oportunidades de ganancias (y pérdidas) sin precedentes; por otro lado, ha abierto el mundo a la operación de un mercado financiero global que limita la autonomía para fijar las tasas de interés, tasas de cambio y otras políticas financieras incluso para los países más fuertes (UNOP 1996 p. 8)En este trabajo no se pretende discutir las ventajas o desventajas del modelo económico prevaleciente, sino analizar algunas de las posibles implicaciones ambientales derivadas del modo de inserción de los países de la región en la economia global.Sí es preciso anotar, sin embargo, que ya resulta claro que la aplicación de la economía de libre mercado y la apertura económica no son una panacea automática.Los indicadores de pobreza y desempleo en América, que habían descendido desde los años 50, han estado aumentando desde los años 80 (PNUO 1989, CEPAL 1995). Si bien durante el quinquenio 1990-1994 algunos países registraron éxitos en su lucha contra la pobreza, muchos otros no lo lograron; por otra parte, a partir de 1994, se dieron tendencias preocupantes en algunos de los países mencionados como exitosos mas arriba. Asimismo, el ritmo y características del crecimiento económico actual continúa generando un menor número de empleos que el necesario para absorber productivamente la creciente fuerza de trabajo (CEPAL 1995).La incidencia de la pobreza en la región aumentó un cinco por ciento en el corto período 1985-1990(un período de\"recuperación económica\" -UNOP 1996, p.60) , p.60) En América Latina y el Caribe, sólo en doce países los ingresos per capita en los años 90 fueron superiores a los obtenidos en el pasado; en veintidós países de la región, los niveles de ingreso actuales fueron alcanzados en décadas anteriores, lo que demuestra una declinación o un estancamiento económico. Lo que resulta más grave es que los últimos incluyen más del 85% de la población regional (UNDP 1996 p. 3). El crecimiento de la región en ingresos reales per capita fue de 2.9% por año en la década de los 60, de 3.7% en los 70, de -0.7% en los 80, y 1.0% de 1990de a 1993de (UNOP 1996 p. 14) p. 14).La distribución de ingresos mejoró solamente en Colombia, Costa Rica y Uruguay, y empeoró en Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Perú y Venezuela (UNOP 1996 p. 17). La desigualdad de ingresos aumentó también en México, que liberalizó rápidamente su economía a partir de mediados de los 80. En 1984, antes de las reformas, su coeficiente Gini (un indicador de disparidad) era de 0.43, pero para 1992 había subido a 0.48. Yen Chile, una de las economías más abiertas de América Latina (y considerado como ejemplo de éxito por muchos organismos financieros• internacionales), la desigualdad de ingresos ha estado subiendo marcadamente desde ' los años 70. En 1970 su coeficiente Gini era 0.45, pero para 1990 había aumentado a 0.57 (Berry, 1995).El aumento de la disparidad económica parece ser un fenómeno global, no sólo regional (WRI, 1996). En muchos países que abrieron sus economías la disparidad de los ingresos está claramente en ascenso. En las tres últimas décadas, la participación en el ingreso mundial del 20 % más pobre de la población de la Tierra se redujo de un 2,3 a un 1,4 %, mientras que la del 20 % más rico aumentó de un 70 % a un 85 % (UNOP, 1996). Las diferencias entre los países desarrollados y en desarrollo están pasando, según este último informe, \"de lo injusto a lo inhumano\".El crecimiento de la disparidad está asociado, al menos parcialmente, a la globalización de la economía. Varios países del este asíático se convirtieron en ejemplos exitosos de desarrollo dinamizado por las exportaciones -combinando un rápido crecimiento económico con una baja desigualdad y un alto nivel de desarrollo humano. En contraste, muchos países africanos del sur del Sahara han sido crecientemente marginalizados por las fuerzas de la globalización.• . . . . En el interior de los países se observa un fenómeno similar. Por ejemplo, para fines de los años 70 China comenzó a liberalizar sus mercados, privatizando su economía y abriendola rápidamente al comercio y capitales internacionales. En 1979 su coeficiente Gini era de 0.33 (menor que en cualquier otro país del este de Asia). En 1988, había subido a 0.38 -sobrepasando el de Indonesia y la República de Corea. Y la desigualdad continúa aumentando, especialmente en la zona costera, que es la más directamente ligada a la economía mundial (Tabatabai 1995) .Desde el punto de vista ambiental, el deterioro en la región latinoamericana no muestra signos de detenerse (Gallopín et al 1991, Gallopín 1995, PNUMA et al 1990, CDMA-ALC 1990). Si bien han habido algunos progresos recientes (particularmente la eliminación de incentivos económicos a la deforestación en Brasil) la situación general sigue empeorando.El problema que se plantea es: cómo afectará el proceso de globalización a estas tendencias en el caso de América Latina? Existen oportunidades para lograr un desarrollo sostenible, dentro del nuevo contexto?Es importante considerar que el contexto internacional está lejos de ser estable; de hecho, existen fuertes indicaciones de que el mundo está atravesando por un periodo de turbulencia generalizado que representa un quiebre de las tendencias históricas y una apertura de nuevas trayectorias posibles del sistema global (algunas de ellas extremadamente preocupantes). Algunos plantean que la economía mundial está \"'.avanzando hacia cambios estructurales tan profundos que sólo el concepto de evolucíón \"puntuada\" o a saltos es una metáfora apropiada (Thurow, 1996).Los megaprocesos globales impulsores del cambio incluyen:• La caída del sistema soviético, el fin de la guerra fría, y la expansión casi universal del capitalismo, afectando además a los países que permanecieron socialistas como China, algunos otros países asiáticos y Cuba.• Una demograña sin precedentes, con una pOblación juvenil en rápido crecimiento en los países pobres (97 % del aumento poblacional entre 1994 y 2015 se dará en los países en desarrollo -calculado de United Nations 1994), y una población envejecida dependiente económicamente del sistema de previsión social en los países ricos. La emergencia del \"adolescente global\" (Schwartz, 1991) representa una enorme fuerza potencial de cambio, con unos dos mil millones de miembros para el año 2000 (en un mundo crecientemente intercomunicado) y cuyo comportamiento es impredictible .• La revolución tecno-económica que se basa en tecnologías conocimiento-intensivas y que está transformando no sólo los procesos de producción sino también la estructura social, así como generando una economía global de la información y una conectividad global inusitada .• La creciente degradación ambiental y la aparición de problemas ambientales realmente globales (epitomizados por el calentamiento climático).• La polarización social creciente entre países así como dentro de ellos.• La globalización y transnacionalización de la economía, con la creciente influencia de las grandes corporaciones, la creación de nuevos bloques comerciales, y la debilitación de los estados-nación. . .'Esto muestra que la globalización es un fenómeno que excede los aspectos estrictamente económicos para abarcar dimensiones ambientales, tecnológicas, politicas y culturales.El juego de estas fuerzas puede determinar que el sistema global sufra transformaciones radicales en las próximas 3-5 décadas. Una línea puede desembocar en escenarios de \"barbarización\" representados bien por una degradación y fragmentación generalizada, caracterizadas por una alta turbulencia política y económica, o bien por un mundo autoritario donde la minoría rica mantiene (o intenta mantener) al resto de la población en condiciones de bajo consumo (Gallopín 1990) En otro extremo, también es posible un escenario positivo (una Gran Transición), donde la emergencia de un nuevo sentido de solidaridad global, combinada con el potencial de las nuevas tecnologías, y la potenciación de la sociedad civil, lleva a un nuevo orden planetario y a formas de desarrollo cualitativamente distintas.Es muy difícil predecir la dirección que predominará en el futuro. Lo que sí es posible afirmar, es que el escenario aceptado convencionalmente, basado en la continuación de las tendencias históricas y en el crecimiento económico material indefinido, es el menos probable, dada su insostenibilidad intrínseca.Es obvio que el impacto de la globalización sobre América Latina, así como la forma de inserción de la región en la economía global, serán muy distintos dependiendo del escenario global que se materialice.CARACTERIZACION AMBIENTAL DEL CONTINENTE.La gran diversidad altitudinal y latitudinal del territorio, y los distintos tipos de ambiente, determinaron el lento avance de la revolución neolítica. En el segundo milenio A.C., aparecen asentamientos sedentarios con poliproducción de cultivos (maíz, papa, frijol, calabaza), uso de riego, manejo de excedentes de cosechas, y sistemas de transporte y comunicación, basadas fundamentalmente en formas colectivas de trabajo. ..En el siglo XV se produce la llegada de las primeras corrientes conquistadoras iniciándose un período de enormes transformaciones. Una de las consecuencias fue que en pocas décadas la población indígena se redujo hasta el límite de la extinción virtual, pasando de representar posiblemente un 20% del total de la humanidad a no más de un 3% de la especie humana un siglo después (incluyendo en este porcentaje a los inmigrantes).La colonización se asentó en las áreas andinas para realizar actividades mineras y fue avanzando con la agricultura sobre las áreas montanas y de bosques secos. Paralelamente a las consecuencias ya mencionadas se produjo una explosión demográfica de las especies de animales y plantas introducidas desde Europa.La población americana siguió disminuyendo en forma más amortiguada durante los siglos XVI Y XVII, llegando a su mínimo a principios del siglo XVIII. Entre tanto el sistema colonial se fue organizando, primero con una óptica netamente mercantilista extractiva de metales preciosos destinados a las metrópolis coloniales generando una acumulación de capitales en una elite metropolitana. Posteriormente, a fines del siglo XVI, la economía colonial comienza a centrarse en 105 sistemas agroproductivos, fundamentalmente a través de las actividades de recolección organizada de productos silvestres (especies forestales preciosas, tintóreas, y medicinales) y la implantación de cultivos especializados en los enclaves y en nuevas zonas vírgenes abiertas. Estos espacios fueron los primariamente afectados por el deterioro ambiental ya que el resto del continente (hasta mediados del siglo pasado) no estaba sujeto a explotación.Después de la crisis económica de 1630 que determina el abandono de las metrópolis y la ruralización de la colonia, comenzaron a movilizarse las corrientes independentistas, pero no con una real propuesla-de cambio sino con la intención de mantener la estructura colonial, aunque manejada desde sectores de poder criollos y mestizos junto con la Iglesia, e iniciando nuevas líneas productivas de tipo primario-exportador regidas por el mercado mundial. La primera etapa independentista, creadora de los estados centralistas, propició la propiedad privada y el derecho de uso sin restricciones de todos los recursos naturales. El resultado ambiental de esta etapa podría sintetizarse en la profundización de las tendencias anteriores, que ya apuntaban hacia un deterioro ambiental centrado en los procesos de deforestación, erosión, desertificación y pérdida de la biodiversidad inicial. Estas consecuencias ambientales se vieron sólo mitigadas por el limitado alcance espacial de los sistemas productivos dominantes y por la baja intensidad de insumas energéticos que limitaban el poder de transformación de 105 sistemas naturales. La aparición del ferrocarril reforzó el sistema primario-exportador, fundamentalmente para los productos principales de cada sub región americana, y generó la incorporación de nuevas áreas en cada Estado.El sistema socio-ecológico latinoamericano, con base en la producción y exportación de productos primarios, se mostró altamente vulnerable, a principios de este siglo, frente a la economía mundial. La crisis de 1929, prolongada por la \"Gran Depresión\" hasta empalmar con la Segunda Guerra Mundial, desestructuró estos sistemas por la crisis del conjunto de productos del sistema exportador, obligando a replantear el modelo de desarrollo y marcando un antecedente inmediato a la situación de la región a finales del siglo XX.Los volúmenes físicos de exportación, y los términos de intercambio, se redujeron fuertemente a partir de 1930, así como el PBI de la región, que sólo se recuperó en el período de la última Guerra Mundial. La crisis no redujo el nivel de dependencia de la región, y los países, a excepción de Argentina, debieron suspender el servicio de la deuda externa.En el período de casi medio siglo transcurrido entre la crisis que precedió a la Segunda Guerra Mundial y el estallido de la crisis actual, las transformaciones experimentadas por el ambiente regional fueron más intensas que las sufridas durante los cuatro siglos anteriores y sólo podrían compararse con los cambios derivados del encuentro de principios de siglo XV. En las últimas décadas las fuerzas sociales de la región se transformaron y movilizaron recursos tecnológicos sin precedentes modificando de manera radical sus sistemas naturales y productivos.Los grandes cambios vinculados a lo ambiental, operados entre 1950 y 1980 se podrían sintetizar en: ampliación de las superficies agrícolas dedicadas a cultivos de ciclo corto, ampliación de las áreas de pastizales permanentes, reducción de las zonas cubiertas por bosques y selvas y ampliación de las áreas ocupadas por obras de infraestructura y asentamientos. Estos cambios ambientales se debieron a la implantación regional de un nuevo modelo de desarrollo por parte de los Estados y al fomento del desarrollo urbano-industrial y la inversión privada extranjera. En este período no se buscó la inserción en el mercado manufacturero internacional sino el crecimiento sobre la base de la expansión del mercado interno, mediante políticas de industrialización por sustitución de importaciones con fuertes medidas proteccionistas, sobrevaluación de las monedas nacionales e impulso de la importación de bienes de capital para la infraestructura industrial. Esto generó un notable auge económico, reforzado también por el aumento del valor de intercambio de los productos primarios y generándose una fuerte vinculación entre los grupos agroexportadores tradicionales y los nuevos grupos dominantes urbano-industriales.El costo ambiental de las nuevas estrategias productivas fue elevado; se subordinó la consideración del ambiente a la necesidad de un cambio acelerado. En este período las grandes ciudades crecieron rápidamente como consecuencia del empleo generado por el sector industrial y la expulsión de mano de obra desde las áreas rurales donde las nuevas tecnologías agropecuarias, sumadas a los problemas de tenencia de tierra, desplazaban al trabajador tradicional. En torno a las ciudades crecieron las áreas marginales y surgió un sector laboral informal, articulado de alguna manera en su actividad al sector laboral formal de la industria (aunque este último nunca pudo llegar a tener un crecimiento simétrico al de la población).Durante este período también se afianzaron los procesos de avance de la frontera 6 .. ,• .. agrícola, fundamentalmente a expensas de las zonas boscosas. En las áreas tropicales se expande la ganadería para responder a una sostenida demanda externa y al mercado interno de los sectores urbanos de altos recursos. Esta ganaderización del territorio generó profundos deterioros ambientales debido al uso de áreas no aptas para esa actividad y la colonización de zonas de bosque con tecnologías completamente inadecuadas que llevaron al deterioro a corto plazo de las mismas.Como consecuencia de esto se habilitaron continuamente nuevas áreas para desplazar la actividad productiva, sin cambiar la tecnología (manteniéndola extensiva), con pocas inversiones, concentración de tenencia de la tierra y rentabilidad promedio elevada. Junto al costo ambiental es necesario señalar el elevado costo social: desplazamiento de las formas productivas tradicionales reduciendo el empleo rural, expulsión de la población e incremento de las diferencias sociales.La actividad agrícola también tuvo una evolución hacia formas productivas con tecnificación creciente, reducción de mano de obra, especialización de agroecosistemas y uso intensivo de capital y tecnología, dentro del paradigma de la llamada Revolución Verde. De esta manera se aumentó la vulnerabilidad de los sistemas de producción y se incrementó fuertemente la dependencia en relación a los insumos necesarios para producir. Paralelamente el sector campesino de subsistencia, con buenos rendimientos (para los niveles de tecnología que emplea y las tierras marginales a que fueron desplazados), queda fuera del sistema agroempresarial exportador y su marginación crece haciéndole incrementar la presión sobre el medio en que habita. El sector forestal participa fundamentalmente como apartador de tierras, ya que en general tiene poca incidencia en el PBI regional y los bosques se usan en forma depredadora.Lo expuesto hasta aquí representa el modelo por sustitución de importaciones que comienza a sentir los efectos de las primeras fluctuaciones de la balanza de pagos, el déficit público y las perturbaciones económicas a principios de la década del 70, para llegar al final de dicha década con un período de desestabilización económico-social en la región que marca el comienzo de la última crisis. Esta se precipita al trasmitirse a la región desequilibrios mundiales que incidieron sobre estructuras internas de la misma. Una de las causas internas fue la deuda social en lo económico, político y cultural, impulsada por una estrategia de desarrollo que generó rápidamente un sector social moderno, consumista y exportador y un sector cada vez más marginal de bajos ingresos, dentro de economías familiares con insuficiencias alimentarias, educativas, de vivienda y servicios. Otras causas internas fueron el fuerte proceso inflacionario y de endeudamiento por el uso del crédito externo para desarrollar el sector industrial y financiero, el escaso margen de participación y redistribución, los regímenes de facto y/o no representativos que expulsaron gran cantidad de gente fuera del sistema contribuyendo al empobrecimiento y marginalización de importantes sectores de la población. Como causas externas se pueden señalar la restricción de mercados de los países industrializados con la consiguiente contracción del comercio mundial, el deterioro de los términos de intercambio, la desfavorable inserción en el mercado internacional, la revolución tecno-económica mundial, y el aumento de las tasas de interés financiero internacional con enorme impacto sobre la deuda externa.A partir de mediados de los años 80, un nuevo modelo se difundió en toda la región, enfatizando la liberalización del comercio, exportaciones no tradicionales, y al menos en algunos casos, la liberalización cambiaria y financiera.Fuertes procesos de privatización se dieron y continúan dándose en la región. Un claro esfuerzo para atraer capitales extranjeros es evidente en toda la región asi como la expansión de las compañías transnacionales. En muchos países la inflación se redujo dramáticamente, y las tasas de crecimiento económico, deprimidas durante la \"década perdida\" de los Las exportaciones de mercancías en América Latina crecieron a una tasa anual promedio de 3 % en los 80, y para el final de la década la región atraía alrededor de un tercio de los flujos privados de capital a los países en desarrollo (UNDP 1996 p. 17).Los efectos ambientales de este nuevo modelo económico no están todavía totalmente documentados; por otra parte, debido a que muchos procesos ecológicos se desenvuelven en escalas temporales de décadas, hay impactos reales que todavía no han sido percibidos. Algunos de los ejemplOS más claros de los impactos de este modelo son la intensificación agrícola para cultivos de exportación, en muchos casos en forma insostenible (como en el Cerrado brasilero -da Silva 1994), la externalización de costos ambientales que hace que la soja producida en la frontera agrícola boliviana se exporte a Colombia a precios más bajos que la producida localmente (a pesar de una larguísima ruta de transporte) y la desmantelación de la infraestructura (alambrados, tanques de agua) asociados a la rotación agrícola-ganadera en las Pampas argentinas, pasando de un modo de producción relativamente sostenible a uno que muestra crecientes problemas de degradación ambiental. Algunos de los impactos se discutirán más adelante.La región en su conjunto está relativamente bien dotada en términos de recursos naturales. Con poco más del 8% de la población global, América Latina tiene 23% de las tierras potencialmente cultivables, 10% de las tierras cultivadas, 17% de las pasturas, 22% de los bosques (y 52% de los bosques tropicales), y 31% del agua dulce de escorrentía utilizable en forma estable (Tabla 1). Cuenta además con no menos del 8. ,• • ... 3% de las reservas mundiales de combustibles fósiles y el 19% del potencial hidroeléctrico técnicamente utilizable (Tabla 2) .Este perfil favorable a nivel de toda la región, presenta sin embargo importantes diferencias internas. La presión demográfica es alta en algunos de los países, y baja en otros. Hay países en los cuales la tierra utilizada y la potencial para la producción de cultivos alimenticios es escasa en comparación con la población presente y la estimada para el futuro. América Latina, en su conjunto, sólo alcanzaría a alimentar aproximadamente e140% de la población proyectada para el año 2030, de utilizar un nivel bajo de insumas. Más de la mitad de los países sudamericanos (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Perú, Suriname y Venezuela) y prácticamente todos los países centroamericanos deberían sobrepasar el nivel intermedio de insumas (equivalente al utilizado en la actualidad en la región) y 11 países (Ecuador, Perú, Surinám, Venezuela, Bahamas, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haití, Jamaica, Santa Lucía y TrinidadfTobago) no alimentarían su población del 2030 aún utilizando un nivel alto de insumas (recalculado de los datos básicos del modelo FAO/FNUAPIIIASA, 1984 por Gómez y Gallopín, 1995).Si bien existen importantes oportunidades ambientales para el desarrollo de la región, también existen grandes problemas en todos los países, los que se discutirán más adelante.La heterogeneidad ecológica de la región se expresa en el hecho que se pueden reconocer 18 zonas de vida principales, aproximadamente del nivel de biomas, que incluyen desde bosques húmedos tropicales hasta desiertos extremos.Desde el punto de vista ambiental, tomando en cuenta simultáneamente los criterios de comparabilidad ecológica y tipos de actividad humana relativamente similares, es posible diferenciar un conjunto de grandes unidades ambientales que permiten tener una visión de conjunto de la región (Tabla 3 y Figuras 1 y 2). Estas grandes unidades representan una reagrupación de las 18 zonas de vida. La Tabla 4 presenta una estimación de la distribución de la población para las diferentes unidades ambientales y zonas de vida.Las.grandes zonas ambientales naturales son las siguientes (Gallopín et al. 1991):Bosques húmedos tropicales y sub tropicales•. Ocupan el 41 % del total de la región (8,3 millones de km 2 ) caracterizándose por una vegetación exuberante con bosques densos, con una arquitectura de estratos múltiples. Se extienden a lo largo de la cuenca Amazónica, ocupando también la costa Pacífica de Ecuador, Colombia y Panamá y las zonas bajas del Caribe y el Atlántico brasileño. La productividad primaria a El término \"subtropical-como se usa aquf incluye las zonas subtropicales propiamente dichas y las templado-cálidas (Winograd 1995b) neta aérea b de estos bosques varía (según los ecosistemas específicos de que se trate) entre 10 y 15 toneladas de peso seco (42 a 64 millones de Kcal) por hectárea y por año. Muchos de estos ambientes no tienen gran población humana (la densidad promedio estimada es de 9.9 personas por Km2) y en la actualidad son las zonas de avance de la frontera agrícola tanto en Sudamérica como en Centroamérica y México. Sin embargo, existen actividades económicas tradicionales como la recolección de b La productividad primaria neta aérea es la tasa de producción neta de biomasa vegetal (troncos. hojas y ramas), excluyendo la producción de raíces, y descontando el consumo metabólico debido a la respiración de las plantas. Se expresa comúnmente en peso seco (el peso fresco o vivo puede representar entre el doble y cinco veces el peso seco en los vegetales), y es un indicador gosero de la oferta ecológica de producción natural disponible. Todas las estimaciones de productividad primaria presentadas aqui están basadas en cálculos de Isabel Gómez y en datos de Gómez y Gallopln (1995a). Sabanas y pastizales tropicales y subtropicales. Ocupan el 10% de América Latina (2,1 millones de km 2 ) caracterizándose por ser formaciones abiertas dominadas por pastos. Esto ha hecho de estas zonas las grandes productoras ganaderas en el trópico y ganadero-cerealeras en el subtrópico y zonas templadas (Pampas). La productividad primaria neta promedio es de alrededor de 5 Ton/Ha/año, ó 20 millones de Kcal. Existen grandes diferencias entre las sabanas y pastizales tropicales y los subtropicales, pues los primeros poseen suelos relativamente poco fértiles, mientras que los segundos (Pampas) poseen suelos muy fértiles. Actualmente las Pampas se encuentran en su totalidad ocupadas por las actividades agropecuarias, representando gran parte de la producción de carne y cereales de América Latina y el Caribe. Las ciudades principales en esta zona son Córdoba, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Rosario, Curitiba, y Cuiaba. La densidad promedio es de 19.2 personas por Km 2 . Desiertos y semidesiertos. Ocupan una superficie de 3,6 millones de km 2 (el 18% de la región). La productividad primaria es menor de 5 Ton/Ha/año, o 23 millones de Kcal. En los Andes cuando se alcanza el límite superior de crecimiento de los árboles, aparecen zonas con una vegetación baja y escasa, consecuencia de las condiciones climáticas (heladas, poca lluvia, vientos, etc.), conocidas como Puna y Páramo, formaciones típicas de las alturas tropicales americanas. Al mismo tiempo, en el sur la lluvia disminuye en los Andes hacia el este y el oeste, apareciendo comunidades vegetales áridas y semiáridas, como la estepa patagónica y el espinar chileno. La vertiente occidental de los Andes peruanos-bolivianas-chilenos posee zonas desérticas y semidesérticas costeras (entre las que sobresalen el desierto de Atacama). En el norte de la región latinoamericana también existe otra gran zona carente de bosque, consecuencia de la aridez, representada por el desierto mexicano. En algunas regiones de estos ambientes, se encuentran zonas densamente pobladas (como la Puna peruana-boliviana y la zona de Ciudad de México) y ocupadas por culturas milenarias (Incas y Mayas) que han dado origen a importantes cultivos como la papa y el maíz. Esta zona ambiental incluye las ciudades de México, La Paz, Lima, Puebla, Callao, Iquique, Arequipa, y Cuzco. La densidad poblacional varía, según las zonas de vida, de cero a 325 personas por Km 2 .En América Latina y el Caribe existen muchos y graves problemas ambientales, así como un número de oportunidades no aprovechadas.Todos los análisis de la historia reciente de América Latina indican claramente tasas de deterioro ecológico muy altas y aceleradas, expresadas bajo las formas de deforestación, desertificación, erosión y agotamiento de suelos, contaminación agrícola, industrial y doméstica, acumulación de desechos, vulnerabilidad creciente ante derrumbes, sequías e inundaciones catastróficas (Sunkel y Gligo 1980;Dourojeanni 1982;Gallopín 1995). El problema no consiste en la mera transformación o alteración de los ecosistemas naturales, sino en la modalidad y resultado de estas transformaciones, que implican una degradación de la base ecológica de la producción, una verdadera pauperización y destrucción de los recursos naturales renovables y los procesos ecológicos vitales de la región. Muchas de estas alteraciones, tales como la desertificación y la erosión de los suelos, son irreversibles en términos prácticos. Por otra parte, los problemas ambientales en los asentamientos humanos son muy serios, y continúan agravándose.En la región se han hecho esfuerzos para identificar y priorizar los principales temas ambientales regionales (COMA-AL 1990, Gallopín et al. 1991), temas que pueden ser considerados en su conjunto como los más prioritarios para América Latina y el Caribe. Los dos temas dominantes en la actualidad son los asociados al uso de las tierras y los asociados al ambiente urbano, frente a los cuales los demás (aunque son importantes en sí mismos) palidecen en términos relativos.La Tabla 5 presenta los principales temas ambientales regionales (involucrando tanto problemas como oportunidades para el desarrollo). Además de esos temas regionales, también se han identificado temas ambientales internacionales (que afectan a más de un país de la región) y temas globales (que afectan a toda la humanidad y requieren de la colaboración de todos los países) prioritarios para la región.• Cuencas compartidas • Guerras convencionales (su impacto ambiental) • Precipitaciones ácidas • Destino y tráfico de residuos tóxicos Los temas ambientales globales prioritarios para la región son:• El riesgo nuclear • El calentamiento climático global • La producción, tráfico y consumo de drogas • La pérdida global de biodiversidad • La destrucción de la capa de ozono estratosférico Las limitaciones de espacio no permiten entrar en mayor profundidad en estos temas que, por otra parte, están más detallados en la bibliografía citada. Sí es tal vez importante destacar que los temas citados están entrañablemente interconectados, a pesar de la impresión de separabilidad que da el listado anterior. Tomando como ejemplo el caso del uso de la tierra, que ha sido definido por la Comisión de desarrollo y Medio Ambiente de América Latina y el Caribe como el más prioritario de todos, es posible identificar algunas de las prinCipales interconexiones y verificar la presencia de causalidades múltiples (Gallopín et al. 1991).  .'Ello tiene implicaciones importantes para la definición de estrategias. Como ejemplo, la Figura 3 muestra las principales interrelaciones que operan en la región y la compleja causalidad de los problemas ambientales relacionados con el uso de la tierra. La figura es un diagrama simplificado y generalizado que intenta tomar en cuenta los principales factores y relaciones que ocurren en toda la región; es claro que algunos de estos factores y/o relaciones pueden no tener vigencia en ciertos países o zonas específicas de la misma.Varias son las lecciones que surgen de un intento de abarcamiento integral, aún si es tan elemental como el presentado en la figura .• El diagrama indica claramente las interconexiones sistémicas entre problemas ambientales. La actividad ganadera, en menor grado la agrícola, yen mucho menor grado la forestal y la caza, realizadas en forma inadecuada, son los principales factores directos que conducen a la erosión y pérdida de fertilidad de los suelos, la desertificación, la deforestación, la pérdida del germoplasma y la vida silvestre, la destrucción de la capacidad de regulación hídrica, la degradación de pasturas, las intoxicaciones y la contaminación por agroquímicos, resultando también en cambios climáticos locales (y contribuyendo a los globales) yen aumentos en la frecuencia e intensidad de las inundaciones. Estos efectos ambientales, que interactúan fuertemente entre sí, se traducen finalmente en reducciones de la producción agropecuaria, y en impactos negativos de varios tipos sobre la salud y la economía. Los impactos ambientales de la globalización pueden materializarse a través de muchas cadenas causales .• El diagrama indica el rol determinante de los diferentes tipos de actores socíoeconómicos. La degradación de las tierras de América Latina y el Caribe se debe por un lado a la acción de los pequeños productores y las poblaciones marginadas (particularmente campesinos sin tierra, colonos itinerantes, y población rural expulsada de otras áreas; la agricultura campesina tradicional y establecida ha demostrado históricamente una alta sustentabilidad en muchos casos) y, por otro lado, a la acción de los grandes y medianos productores (principalmente los grandes propietarios y las empresas agropecuarias nacionales y transnacionales). Otro actor importante en la degradación ambiental de la región es el mismo Estado que muchas veces, y a menudo con el apoyo económico y la participación de agencias internacionales de financiación, ha implementado proyectos de desarrollo y de infraestructura (embalses, carreteras, explotaciones mineras, etc.) que no prestaron atención a los factores ambientales, con consecuencias catastróficas en un número de casos e . La Tabla 6 presenta un resumen de los actores sociales involucrados y las principales motivaciones para el caso de la deforestación en los trópicos de América Latina. Nuevamente, los distintos actores serán afectados en forma diferente por los procesos , Los impactos ambientales directos sobre el uso de tierras de estas obras no están representados en el diagrama por razones de legibilidad.de globalización y de cambio tecnológico, estimulando diferentes tipos de respuestas con implicaciones ambientales.• El diagrama destaca la gran diferencia existente entre los condicionantes de la presión de uso, la adopción de tecnologías inadecuadas, y la utilización de tierras no apropiadas, que operan sobre los productores pobres, por un lado, y los grandes productores, por el otro. En otras palabras, la diferencia entre las presiones originadas en los intentos de satisfacer las necesidades mínimas de supervivencia, y las originadas en los criterios de rentabilidad económica cortoplacista.• El diagrama permite visualizar las estrechas vinculaciones entre los procesos de empobrecimiento social, el crecimiento demográfico, las migraciones, y el aumento de la presión de uso de las tierras en la región. La existencia de estos vínculos implica la imposibilidad de resolver los problemas ambientales asociados a la pobreza sin atacar simultáneamente las causas que la generan. En este sentido, es claro que la erradicación de la pobreza, objetivo central desde el punto de vista social, lo es también desde el punto de vista ambiental. La polarización económica asociada actualmente a la globalización es por lo tanto preocupante no sólo desde el punto de vista social, sino incluso del ambiental.• El diagrama muestra claramente la importancia de la búsqueda de nuevas estrategias socio-ambientales que sean capaces de atacar coordinada, racional y simultáneamente circuitos multicausales completos, incluyendo tanto factores locales y nacionales como internacionales o globales. La políticas puramente sectoriales son incapaces de proveer la solución a problemas complejos como los considerados aquí; ha sido frecuente en la región que el mismo éxito de una política sectorial implicara unagravamiento del problema general, debido a las reverberaciones que se trasmiten por • todo el sistema. Esto marca la necesidad urgente de una nueva visión política en términos de sistemas complejos, capaz de tener en cuenta las interacciones múltiples y dinámicas, a distintas escalas desde lo local a lo global, así como la necesidad de nuevos y ágiles mecanismos de coordinación y concertación capaces de operar simultáneamente en forma trans-escala (local/nacional/global).Como se indicó en la introducción, el proceso de globalización va mucho más allá de sus dimensiones económicas y más aún del comercio internacional. En este trabajo, sin embargo, se hará énfasis en los aspectos económicos y tecnológicos, en la convicción que el fenómeno de globalización está íntimamente asociado a la revolución tecno-económica .Desde el punto de vista económico, es interesante destacar que, contrariamente a lo expresado por muchos de los proponentes del comercio sujeto sólo a las leyes del mercado, la teoría económica no afirma que el libre comercio internacional es siempre • deseable, o que un sistema de libre comercio, que conduzca a la distribución de la producción global de acuerdo a las ventajas comparativas, sea necesariamente beneficioso para todos los países miembros. Esta suposición está basada en el argumento que los países pueden obtener beneficios mutuos a través de la especialización y el comercio de acuerdo a sus ventajas comparativas, aún en el caso que un país tenga una ventaja absoluta en la producción de todos los bienes. Esto es correcto, dadas las premisas del modelo. El problema radica en que algunas de las premisas más fundamentales no se dan en la realidad. Tal como lo plantean Daly y Goodland (1994), si los mercados fueran perfectos y el capital fuera inmóvil internacionalmente, entonces el comercio desregulado de los productos sería ventajoso para todas las naciones. Pero en la situación real en que los precios generalmente no reflejan los costos sociales ni ambientales, y con una situación caracterizada por la alta movilidad del capital, el comercio des regulado puede perjudicar a los países. Por ejemplo, cuando el capital y bienes son móviles internacionalmente 2 las ventajas comparativas a nivel de naciones pierden relevancia porque diferentes factores de producción (incluyendo en algunos casos la fuerza de trabajo) de distintos países atravesarían las fronteras nacionales de acuerdo a la lógica de las ventajas absolutas, no de las ventajas comparativas relativas 3 .Otro argumento discutible presentado por los proponentes de la desregulación total del comercio internacional es que ello ayuda a mejorar el ambiente porque genera crecimiento económico que, al mismo tiempo que estimula un aumento de la demanda para protección ambiental, provee también los recursos necesarios para ello. (GATT, 1992en Ekins et al 1994). Ello no toma en cuenta el problema que ciertos tipos de crecimiento económico generan degradación ambiental por sí mismos, ni la existencia de daños ambientales irreversibles (como la extinción de especies) (Ekins et al 1994(Ekins et al , R0pke 1994) ) El argumento más común es que el crecimiento y la liberalización económica son buenos para el ambiente, sobre la base que las preferencias de los consumidores y la estructura de la economía cambian a medida que un país se desarrolla, que el desarrollo trae nuevas tecnologías (a menudo más limpias) y que las economías en crecimiento pueden invertir más fácilmente en mejoras ambientales. Según este argumento, los países en estadías \"tempranos\" de desarrollo necesariamente se concentran en la producción básica y mejoras de la infraestructura, aceptando el costo ambiental asociado. El argumento se apoya en las correlaciones entre degradación ambiental e ingreso per cápita (curvas de Kuznets ambientales), que sugieren que el crecimiento económico empeora las condiciones ambientales hasta un cierto punto, pero que a mayores niveles de ingreso, el crecimiento económico adicional está asociado a una mejora de las condiciones ambientales (WRI 1996).Si bien algunos indicadores ambientales tales como acceso a agua potable, condiciones sanitarias urbanas, y calidad del aire urbano, realmente muestran una mejoría con el aumento del ingreso, otros indicadores mU~¡:¡[l (Í~'IieiE(rioro'Pl'Og~sivo (por ejemplo las emisiones de anhídrido carbónico y los residuos urbanos per cápita). Las curvas de Kuznets ambientales, basadas en correlaciones empíricas, no toman en cuenta la posibilidad que la degradación ambiental pueda perjudicar las posibilidades de crecimiento económico futuro, ni la posibilidad que parte de la reducción en la contaminación observada en los países industrializados pueda deberse a la transferencia de industrias contaminantes a los países en desarrollo, un proceso no replicable por estos últimos (WRI, 1996).Aún en aquellos casos en que las curvas de Kuznets son aplicables a indicadores ambientales, debido a que la gran mayoría de la población del mundo tiene ingresos medios por debajo de los puntos de inflexión estimados de las curvas, se esperaría que el crecimiento económico en esos países (y para esas variables) continúe aumentando la contaminación. Por otra parte, es difícil anticipar el efecto de la polarización económica de la globalización en el contexto de estas curvas (en otras palabras, qué pasa cuando el crecimiento económico se hace negativo para algunos grupos y países) El argumento general desde el punto de vista ambiental no es el que el comercio internacional es negativo y que la autarquía es deseable, sino que cierto grado de regulación es necesario para llegar a un \"libre comercio sustentable\" (De Bellevue et a/ 1994) o a un \"intercambio comercial balanceado\" (Daly and Goodland 1994).El aspecto tecnológico de la globa/ización es tan importante que se puede hablar de una verdadera revolución tecno-económica o \"Tercera Revolución Industrial\", liderada por la microelectrónica y la informática, y acompañada por una constelación de desarrollos basados en nuevas tecnologías intensivas en ciencia (biotecnología, nuevos materiales, nuevas fuentes de energía, nanotecnología, etc.). Esta nueva ola de innovaciones de ritmo vertiginoso, y los cambios socio-económicos asociados a la emergencia de la economía de la información, llevarán a reestructuraciones drásticas de las sociedades, muchas de ellas difíciles de imaginar hoy.El desarrollo y dífusión de las nuevas tecnologías en la región tiene el potencial para producir cambios ambientales muy significativos (tanto beneficiosos como perjudiciales, directos como indirectos). Es posible anticipar que tales cambios resultarán en impactos importantes sobre los ecosistemas latinoamericanos, implicando efectos mayores sobre la sustentabilidad ecológica de las actividades productivas, alteraciones en los ciclos subregionales del agua y los nutrientes, cambios en los rendimientos agrícolas, desaparición de algunos ecosistemas y aparición de nuevos ecosistemas, cambios en la oferta ecológica de recursos naturales, modificaciones en los factores limitantes y las restricciones ecológicas, etc.Se generarán impactos ambientales directos a través de la utilización de las nuevas tecnologías en relación a los cultivos alimenticios, industriales y energéticos; la explotación de nuevos recursos naturales renovables y no renovables, la creación y 16 • ' .• ., dispersión de nuevas formas biológicas, la emisión de nuevas substancias al ambiente, etc. Un intento de identificación de posibles efectos directos aparece en Gallopín (1995a).Los impactos ambientales indirectos se generarán a través de las reacomodaciones sociales, económicas, políticas y demográficas que se darán como consecuencia de los cambios en los precios y demandas, en la organización social del trabajo, en los sistemas de producción, en el empleo, en la división internacional del trabajo, en los servicios, y en la relocalización y naturaleza de actividades y asentamientos humanos, inducidos por la penetración de la nueva ola tecnológica.Desde el punto de vista de sus implicancias ambientales, muchas de las tecnologías nuevas y emergentes muestran interesantes diferencias con el anterior paradigma tecnológico. Los atributos de mayor interés estratégico del nuevo paradigma se pueden caracterizar como: ambivalencia, flexibilidad, e intensividad en conocimiento.Ambivalencia: Es claro que la informática, microelectrónica y las telecomunicaciones pueden ser utilizadas para centralizar la información y el poder de decisión y control, pero tienen también el potencial para la descentralización de las decisiones, aumentar la participación, y para vincular áreas aisladas y remotas; la biotecnología puede favorecer la concentración monopólica de la producción agrícola a gran escala o puede ser aplicada para aumentar los rendimientos de los agricultores de subsistencia de pequeña escala.Flexibilidad: Las nuevas tecnologías permiten (potencialmente) una más fácil adaptación y ajuste a las condiciones sociales y ecológicas locales, un aspecto extremadamente importante para la sustentabilidad del desarrollo. La informática hace posible (y económicamente eficiente) la implementación de nuevos modos operativos, tales como la \"manufactura flexible\", la \"producción a medida o a pedido\", y la minimización de existencias (o \"inventario cero\"); modos incorporados en los recientes conceptos de reingeniería de organizaciones. Ello conduce a que la escala de planta se independice crecientemente de la escala de cada mercado, y la productividad de la escala de planta, con profundos cambios en los factores definitorios de la competitividad (Pérez 1986). Esto último implica un aspecto muy significativo que marca una diferencia con el paradigma anterior: en muchos casos las nuevas tecnologías no están (inherentemente) asociadas a economías de escala.Intensividad en conocimiento: las nuevas tecnologías son, en términos generales (de hecho o potencialmente) mucho más eficientes en el uso de la energía y materiales que las tecnologias modemas de la posguerra. Se las puede calificar como tecnologías \"conocimiento-intensivas\" o \"ciencia-intensivas\" más que capital-intensivas, energíaintensivas, o material-intensivas. Las nuevas tecnologías están disminuyendo la relación materias primas/producto, están sustituyendo materiales (un claro ejemplo es el reemplazo del cableado de cobre por la mucho más eficiente fibra óptica en comunicaciones; asimismo, la base material de la microelectrónica es el silicio, uno de los elementos más abundantes del planeta); y están aumentando la eficiencia de otros procesos (como en el caso de la regulación electrónica de la combustión en los automóviles). Todo ello puede contribuir al proceso actualmente visible de relativa desmaterialización de la economía, a conservar recursos naturales, ya reducir la contaminación por unidad de producción o consumo.Tanto la globalización económica, en el sentido de la eliminación de barreras al intercambio entre países, como las nuevas tecnologías mencionadas, representan posiblemente una etapa inevitable en la evolución de la civilización. Estos procesos obviamente tienen el potencial de mejorar notablemente las condiciones de vida de la población humana, tanto en el Norte como en el Sur, racionalizar el uso de los recursos ecológicos y humanos planetarios, y reducir los conflictos militares.Pero del potencial a la realización hay un largo camino. En un mundo asimétrico (y donde las desigualdades siguen creciendo) no existe ninguna garantía que los beneficios potenciales serán percibidos por todos o por la mayoría de la población. A menudo se argumenta que cierto costo social es inevitable en una transición histórica, sacrificios transitorios que serán compensados por una mejoría general. Nuevamente, esto puede ser así, pero no está garantizado. En un mundo asimétrico, el riesgo de un sufrimiento humano innecesario monumental de la transición tecno-económica es elevado, y el riesgo de una consolidación y acentuación de las desigualdades conduciendo a una barbarización mundial no es despreciable.Aunque la globalización ha contribuido en muchos casos al crecimiento en los países fuertes, ha pasado por alto a los débiles. Los paises más pobres, que incluyen el 20 % de población mundial, han visto caer su porción del comercio mundial (de 4 % a menos del 1 % entre 1960 y 1990), Y reciben un magro 0.2 % de los préstamos comerciales del mundo (UNDP 1996 p. 9).Los flujos totales de capitales a los países en desarrollo se triplicaron entre 1987 y 1994. Su composición se movió marcadamente desde la ayuda oficial al desarrollo (AOD) hacia los flujos de capital privado, los que aumentaron de una participación de 37 % de los flujos totales al 76 % . En términos reales, la AOD cayó en 9 % entre 1985 y 1993. La septuplicación de los flujos privados a los países en desarrollo, de 25.1 miles de millones en 1987 a 172.9 miles de millones en 1994, podría creerse que compensa en cierto grado la caída de la AOD. Pero los fondos privados generalmente han ignorado los países en desarrollo con mayor escasez de capital, dirigiendose en su lugar hacia los \"mercados emergentes\" semi-industrializados. De los flujos totales en 1993,68 % fueron a Argentina, China, México, Singapur y Turquía. La inversión extranjera directa (que no sólo provee capitales frescos sino que aporta niveles tecnológicos superiores) también está concentrada; se estima que un valor récord de 37% (84 mil millones de dólares) llegó a los países en desarrollo en 1994. Casi el 40% de ese valor fue a China. Otro 24 % fue a Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malasia, Singapur y Tailandia. En contraste, el Africa al sur del Sahara sólo recibió el 3.6 %, Y los países Desde una perspectiva político-histórica, es importante reconocer que la globalización y la \"tercer revolución industrial\" no representan (en cuanto a su origen) una transición a una nueva formación social, sino una revolución producida dentro de la formación social capitalista, y generada por ella. Esta globalización, y el nuevo paradigma tecnoeconómico dominante, asociados a la emergencia de un nuevo patrón económico, social y cultural, representa la respuesta del \"capitalismo de organización\" a la crisis de agotamiento de las potencialidades del paradigma surgido de la posguerra para asegurar el crecimiento económico y político de las grandes organizaciones estatales y privadas de los países más industrializados. El nuevo paradigma sería así un producto de esas grandes organizaciones, con potencialidades que responden funcionalmente a las necesidades de las mismas, quienes lo generan, hegemonizan y desarrollan. En consecuencia, el aumento de grados de libertad para la sociedad humana permitido por el cambio técnico, tiende a distribuírse en forma desigual; la nueva libertad es adquirida principalmente por las grandes organizaciones de los países más avanzados'.Entre las tendencias centrales del nuevo paradigma figuran la concentración del poder en las grandes organizaciones; la distribución crecientemente asimétrica del ingreso entre clases sociales y naciones; el desempleo tecnológico (aunado a una polarización del perfil de la fuerza de trabajo en detrimento de la mano de obra calificada); y la pérdida de autonomía de los países en los que las organizaciones mayores (específicamente las empresas transnacionales y los estados más poderosos) no tienen su núcleo principal de dirección, actividad y desarrollo (Nochteff 1987). El agregar, a instancias de los principales países industriales, la apertura del sector servicios a la competencia internacional, lleva a una enorme centralización del poder en las corporaciones transnacionales (que ya controlan el 70% del comercio internacional) y el GATT, a expensas de una debilitación adicional de los estadosnación (Daly & Goodland 1994).Estas tendencias, negativas en general para América Latina, son las que surgen de la lógica del proceso tal como se originó y se está dando, y las que afectarían a la región de continuar la actual determinación (esencialmente exógena) de la globalización y la incorporación del cambio tecnológico.En general, los patrones de intercambio y los arreglos institucionales asociados (como el GATT) reflejan las relaciones de poder entre y dentro de los países (R0pke, 1994) . Ello indica que, si se espera que el libre comercio contribuya a paliar las injusticias y desigualdades, algún tipo de acción deliberada, más allá del libre juego de las fuerzas del mercado, será necesario. En otras palabras, el libre comercio sin ningún tipo de regulación tenderá \"espontáneamente\" a favorecer a los países y grupos ya poderosos, además de algunos otros pocos, como los \"países recientemente industrializados\" 5 . Desde el punto de vista ambiental, existe un claro conflicto entre una política internacional de desregulación comercial y una política nacional de internalización de los costos ambientales. Un país que internaliza sus costos ambientales en sus precios pierde competitividad frente a un país que no los internaliza (Daly y Goodland 1994). Esto puede calificarse como el \"efecto pionero\": salvo que todos los países acuerden internalizar sus costos ambientales, los países que lo hacen primero son penalizados por el sistema de intercambio no regulado.El otro riesgo ambiental de la globalización económica en ausencia de regulación es la tendencia lógica, en una situación de alta movilidad internacional del capital, a competir internacionalmente para atraer capitales, no a través de aumentos en la eficiencia, sino a través de un descenso en los estándares (sociales, ambientales, y salariales -Daly & Goodland 1994).La situación actual de América Latina frente al proceso de globalización y a la nueva revolución tecnológica es muy diferente a la de los países industrializados (los cuales están teóricamente en condiciones de afrontar esos cambios en forma relativamente no traumática 6 , debido a su capacidad instalada de producir bienes y servicios, la cobertura de las necesidades materiales básicas para la gran mayoria de la población, la existencia de mecanismos sociales de amortiguación -como, entre otros, el todavía vigente seguro de desempleo-, y su población básicamente estabilizada), e incluso se sostiene (Herrera 1986) que es peor que la que tuvo la misma región en el pasado, durante el proceso de \"modernización\" que alcanzó a nuestros países después de la posguerra. No debe olvidarse que, al mismo tiempo que una minoría de la población mundial vive en la civilización \"post-industrial\", en América Latina y el Caribe coexisten las diferentes olas tecnológicas: no sólo la nueva ola tecnológica, sino la revolución industrial e incluso la revolución agrícola (grandes masas campesinas sobreviven a niveles pre-industriales). Como lo hace notar el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo, uno de los riesgos de la globalización es que los grupos y personas con menor capacidad de adaptación a las cambiantes condiciones del mercado y menor capacidad de adopción de nuevas tecnologías o habilidades sean diferencialmente más marginalizados (UNDP 1996 p. 103). Esto es directamente aplicable a la creciente población marginal de la región.La problemática ambiental planetaria representará seguramente en el futuro uno de los ámbitos más claros de interdependencia (y por lo mismo, de espacio de negociaciones) entre los países industrializados y los países en desarroll0 7 • En muchos otros aspectos, la revolución tecnoeconómica posibilita una autonomía cada vez mayor de los países avanzados con respecto al mundo en desarrollo y a los recursos planetarios (algunos llegan a plantear que el desafío principal para el mundo en desarrollo es hoy, no ya meramente el cómo reducir la dependencia, sino el cómo evítar ser simplemente excluídos del sistema económico mundial). A nivel de América Latina, de no adoptarse o de no ser posible una actitud activa y auto-dependiente en defensa del desarrollo sostenible de la región, la situación parece mucho más 20 . ..La pérdida de autonomía de los países latinoamericanos para definir los patrones de producción, consumo y distribución, y la concentración del poder en las empresas transnacionales implican la penetración de racionalidades económicas exógenas, y la probabilidad de una debilitación adicional de la retroalimentación entre actividades económicas y deterioro ecológico\". Esto generaría una tendencia hacia la sobreexplotación de ciertos recursos naturales, la subutilización de otros, y la externalización de los costos ecológicos desde las grandes organizaciones hacia la región. Dado el contenido del nuevo paradigma tecnoeconómico tal como es impulsado, es esperable un reforzamiento de la tendencia al desajuste entre la estructura de producción y la de consumo, orientando aún más la producción hacia la exportación y hacia la demanda de sectores minoritarios de altos ingresos, con presiones para generar nuevas demandas y reducir la vida útil de los bienes durables, acentuando así la producción de desperdicios que fluyen al ambiente 9 y la marginalización de amplios sectores de la población (que pasan a contribuir a la degradación ecológica generada por la pobreza).La orientación de la producción hacia los bienes de consumo no esenciales, y la evidente tendencia explosiva hacia el aumento de la oferta y diversidad de bienes de consumo durables contribuyen a generar una presión indefinidamente creciente sobre el ambiente y los recursos escasos con destino a usos no esenciales lO, mas aÚn considerando que las tendencias no favorecen una transición hacia el consumo colectivo de los bienes y servicios que así lo permitan, sino que acentúan el consumo individual, multiplicando el número de unidades necesarias para satisfacer la demanda.La tendencia actual es hacia una descentralización mundial de los sistemas de producción industriales, pero centralizando el control de la creación del conocimiento\". En el caso de la microelectrónica, las inversiones de empresas transnacionales en la región serían las dedicadas a la realización de tareas cada vez menos remunerativas y de menor importancia tecnológica, a menudo adoptando la forma de \"enclaves\" sin encadenamientos con el resto del sistema productivo local. En el campo de los materiales, las direcciones de cambio aparentes son por un lado, la reubicación geográfica de la producción de materiales tradicionales en busca de ventajas comparativas en el costo de la energía, o para aprovechar ahorros en costos de transporte y la flexibilidad que otorga la cercanía a la fuente; por otro lado, la creciente diversificación de las plantas en los países desarrollados en el área de los nuevos materiales más sofisticados y apropiables. La tendencia hacia la re localización de industrias de alto potencial contaminante hacia los países en desarrollo es bien conocida. Esto podría mejorar en la medida que se incluyan normas de protección ambiental en los tratados de comercio internacional; nótese que esto ya implica una regulación del comercio.Todos estos elementos confluyen a que la localización de industrias y otras actividades productivas probablemente tienda cada vez más a ignorar los límites ecológicos locales y la adecuación ambiental de la radicación de actividades, con el consiguiente agravamiento de los problemas ambientales. No puede dejarse de lado la posibilidad que algunos ambientes de la región sean utilizados por grandes organizaciones como espacio de prueba de nuevos desarrollos tecnológicos de alto riesgo ambiental o para explorar ventajas comparativas del germoplasma o la organización ecológica local '2 .Por su origen y racionalidad, es obvio que las tecnologías y formas productivas generadas por las grandes organizaciones del mundo desarrollado no tenderán espontáneamente a adaptarse a las necesidades y potencialidades de los países de la región. Ello implica que las nuevas tecnologías, introducidas bajo determinación exógena, en la mayoría de los casos contendrán desajustes significativos en cuanto a su adaptación a los ciclos ecológicos de los ecosistemas locales.Otro macroefecto previsible de acuerdo a la lógica exógena de la difusión tecnológica es el desajuste entre la estructura de producción y el perfil de la dotación de recursos naturales en los países de la región, generando tendencias a la aplicación de presiones excesivas sobre algunos recursos, y simultáneamente al desaprovechamiento o sub-utilización de otros. La racionalidad de las grandes empresas transnacionales, así como su capacidad de movilidad de capital en el espacio mundial, tendería en muchos casos a inducir niveles de utilización de los recursos naturales renovables por encima de las tasas ecológicas de regeneración, llevando a la degradación de los ecosistemas productivos y abandonándolos (degradados) cuando su rentabilidad se haga inferior a la de otros lugares alternativos del planeta. La presión para exportar y competir internacionalmente puede generar fuertes estímulos para producir en tierras inapropiadas, así como a generar una competencia interna con las tierras dedicadas a la producción de alimentos básicos.El insumo fundamental dentro del nuevo paradigma tecnoeconómico es la ciencia, cada vez menos separada de la tecnología, más directamente vinculada a los requerimientos de las organizaciones hegemónicas, y más concentrada en los países desarrollados y las grandes organizaciones. Al mismo tiempo, el \"proteccionismo científico-tecnológico\" de esas organizaciones, reflejado en las políticas de publicación y patentamiento yen la tendencia a no transferir tecnologías \"desincorporadas\" de los bienes, confluyen a que las tecnologías se tornen crecientemente \"opacas\", ya reducir la posibilidad, por parte de los países de la región, de copiarlas y/o adaptarlas. El GA TI plantea considerar el conocimiento como propiedad privada en vez de como patrimonio de la humanidad, y favorece el patentamiento del germoplasma y los organismos vivos. Todos estos factores contribuyen a obstaculizar la adaptabilidad de las tecnologías a los potenciales y restricciones ecológicas locales (con excepción de las que estén específicamente diseñadas para ser reprogramadas y adaptadas).El ensanchamiento de la brecha de ingresos entre los países avanzados y los de la región, y la tendencia estructural al desequilibrio del sector externo regional permiten inferir una relajación de las normas de protección ambiental y ecológica y una acentuación de la tendencia a la sobre-explotación de la base ecológica productiva con 22 ,.• '.destino a la exportación. Estas tendencias, combinadas con las tensiones sociales debidas al creciente desempleo tecnológico y la distribución regresiva del ingreso, están llevando a muchos países de la región a funcionar con \"economías de guerra\", abandonando los objetivos ambientales (y sociales) del desarrollo. Por otra parte, es posible que algunos acuerdos regionales de libre comercio propicien una relativa homogeneización de criterios de protección ambiental y social. El riesgo es, sin embargo, que la homogeneización de estándares se haga \"para abajo\" mas que \"para arriba\". La movilidad internacional del capital (en combinación con el libre comercio de los productos) estimula una competencia internacional basada en la disminución de estándares (en vez de aumentos en eficiencia) en aras de bajar los costos para atraer el capital. El evitar la competencia basada en reducción de estándares requiere mas que la simple liberalización del comercio (Daly y Goodland 1994).Las tendencias al desempleo tecnológico llevarían a un aumento de la marginación que pOdría /legar a revertir en algunos países el flujo prevaleciente de movimiento del campo a la ciudad, con consecuencias ecológicas sobre los ambientes rurales.Las tendencias a la polarización del ingreso dentro de los países, a través de sus impactos sociales, favorecerían el aumento del deterioro ecológico asociado a la pobreza, así como el asociado al sobreconsumo.El continuo aumento de la conectividad \"vertical\" entre lo global y lo local asociado a la globalización puede generar consecuencias impredictibles. La creciente integración de la población mundial a los mercados (yen muchos casos directamente a los mercados mundiales como por ejemplo los pequeños productores y los obreros que trabajan para firmas transnacionales) aumenta la dependencia frente a factores cada vez más lejos del control local.La producción campesina actualmente es sensible a factores distantes que operan a través de sutiles canales. Un aumento en las tasas de interés de los bancos de EE.UU. puede disparar cambios de politica a través del mundo en desarrollo (dado que los costos del servicio de la deuda externa están vinculados a las tasas de interés internacionales), políticas que afectan directamente las vidas de los pequeños productores de subsistencia, así como las consecuencias ambientales de sus acciones. Malelta (1988) analiza varias cadenas causales operando a diferentes escalas en el caso de la agricultura campesina en la zona andina.Otro fenómeno asociado a la globalización y la revolución tecnológica puede tener implicaciones sistémicas muy profundas. En general, en todos los sistemas jerárquicos (conteniendo componentes y procesos que operan a diferentes niveles y escalas) los subsistemas de menor nivel funcionan más velozmente (con menor escala de tiempo) que los subsistemas y procesos de nivel macro. La globalización está llevando a que, por un lado, los diferentes sistemas locales se conecten cada vez más en un sistema global; y por otro lado, debido a la operación de una red global de telecomunicaciones en combinación con nuevos sistemas concentrados de toma de decisiones operando a escala planetaria (particularmente empresas transnacionales), la dinámica en el nivel global en varias dimensiones se está haciendo más rápida que a los niveles inferiores. Las consecuencias de este fenómeno son impredictibles.Desde el punto de vista ambiental, las consecuencias de la inserción de los productores campesinos al mercado pueden variar fuertemente dependiendo de la \"racionalidad económica\" del productor '3 .Los impactos ambientales ligados a la redefinición general de las ventajas comparativas son difíciles de anticipar dada la posibilidad de surgimiento de nuevas ventajas insospechadas, y la probable multiplicación del número de factores que definen las ventajas comparativas (y el aumento de la volatilidad de las mismas). La disminución del peso relativo de los costos salariales en el nuevo paradigma tecnoeconómico tenderá a reducir la importancia de las ventajas comparativas de la mano de obra barata, afectando las posibilidades de desarrollo de los países que basaron su crecimiento en ese factor (aunque a corto plazo el proceso de globalización puede resultar en una competencia laboral Norte-Sur, estimulando una tendencia hacia productos y procesos intensivos en mano de obra -Daly & Goodland 1994). La disminución de la relación materias prima/producto, y la sustitución de materiales, afectarán más directamente a los países que basaron su proceso de acumulación de capital en sus recursos mineros o en sus recursos forestales. Las nuevas tecnologías (y particularmente la biotecnología) ya están afectando a los productores agropecuarios tradicionales (tanto del Norte como del Sur) transfiriendo la tasa de ganancia y el control de la producción y comercialización hacia las grandes empresas transnacionales químicas y farmacéuticas y hacia los grandes comercializado res. Los avances en rendimientos agropecuarios dentro de los países avanzados (posibilitados por los nuevos desarrollos tecnológic:s) están reduciendo las ventajas comparativas edáficas y climáticas, cerrándose mercados tradicionales para los productos agropecuarios de América Latina, e incrementando la competencia internacional para esos productos por parte de los países centrales.Varias son las ventajas comparativas que podrían surgir en países de la región, con disímiles consecuencias ambientales. La gama abarca las ventajas referidas al acceso a fuentes de energía barata, las asociadas a la reducción de costos de transporte por cercanía a la fuente de recursos naturales, las de radicación otorgadas por legislaciones ambientales o sanitarias permisivas (una ventaja perversa), las de aprovechamiento de las condiciones o componentes ecológicos o climáticos locales, etc. En términos ecológicos, este mosaico cambiante de ventajas comparativas en los países de la región podría generar riesgos de violentos incrementos en la presión de explotación sobre espacios o ecosistemas frágiles o remotos actualmente poco intervenidos, la brusca puesta en valor de elementos o funciones ecológicas particulares (y la pérdida de valor de otros), la implantación de nuevas formas , biológicas e incluso de ecosistemas exóticos a la región, etc. En ausencia de regulación social, estos fenómenos pueden terminar en la sobre-explotación y degradación de los ecosistemas regionales (yen la pérdida de las ventajas comparativas que pudieran estar asociadas a ellos) .El panorama ecológico inferible en este escenario regional es francamente desalentador (si bien incluye algunos aspectos positivos más o menos puntuales). Paradójicamente, el potencial técnico para un manejo sostenible de los ecosistemas, para el control, monitoreo y reducción de la contaminación ambiental, para la adaptabilidad de las plantas y tecnologías a las condiciones sociales y ecológicas locales, para un aumento espectacular de la producción de satisfactores de las necesidades humanas, para la diversificación de usos de los recursos ecológicos, y para el desarrollo ecológicamente sostenible a largo plazo, es hoy más alto que en cualquier momento del pasado.Sin embargo, la dirección en que se están configurando las trayectorias del nuevo paradigma tecnoeconómico permite anticipar que, a menos que América Latina adopte estrategias activas sostenidas, definidas endógenamente, y compartidas entre actores sociales y entre países de la región para realizar los cambios estructurales sociales, económicos y tecnológicos necesarios, el potencial técnico mencionado se tenderá a plasmar en los paises más avanzados, mientras que la región corre el grave peligro de concentrar los efectos perversos de la revolución tecnoeconómica 14.Si bien parte del análisis en esta sección se ha concentrado en los posibles efectos ecológicos regionales de las tecnologías de punta, no se debe olvidar el impacto, de igualo mayor importancia, de la difusión de tecnologías ya existentes (\"modernas\") y del cambio de productos. Ambos fenómenos están directamente ligados a la globalización económica. La historia reciente de América Latina muestra impresionantes corrimientos de productos y tecnologías en el sector agropecuario. Esto indica que los efectos ecológicos de las nuevas tecnologías no reemplazarán en America Latina a los de las tecnologías \"modernas\" y las \"tradicionales\" sino que se sumarán a ellos, por lo menos durante las próximas décadas.Aunque la predicción detallada del futuro impacto ambiental de la globalización sobre América latina es imposible (debido a la multiplicidad de factores interligados que, más que una sumatoria de transformaciones aislables, representan verdaderos complejos causales reverberando a través de redes de factores como la representada en la Figura 3), es posible explorar trayectorias futuras que representan alternativas plausibles basadas en la información disponible.En este espíritu, se realizaron estudios prospectivos basados en modelos de simulación sencillos de las transformaciones ecosistémicas debida al uso de tierras en cada una de las 18 zonas de vida nombradas en la Tabla 3, con un horizonte de tiempo de 50 años, comenzando en 1980. (Gallopín 1992, 1995, Gallopín y Winograd 1995).Las tierras, en cada zona de vida, sufren transformaciones anuales determinadas por los diferentes usos, el escenario adoptado, y las características generales de la zona de vida. Las categorías de tierras son las siguientes: \"Natural\": áreas no perturbadas de vegetación primaria y áreas perturbadas en el pasado pero que actualmente tienen una vegetación similar a la original; \"Alterado\": áreas alteradas por las acciones humanas (explotación forestal, agricultura migratoria, ganadería, etc.) coexistiendo con el ecosistema original y con vegetación secundaria; \"Agrícola\": áreas sembradas y cosechadas anualmente, incluyendo cultivos anuales, permanentes, y no tradicionales; \"Ganadero\": áreas con pasturas naturales o artificiales bajo uso ganadero; \"Plantaciones\": áreas reforestadas para explotación forestal o para protección de cuencas; \"Eriales\": áreas con severos procesos antropogénicos de erosión y desertificación, con cambios irreversibles en su estructura y función (no incluye los desiertos naturales); y \"Urbano\": áreas urbanizadas. Dos escenarios socioeconómicos básicos fueron definidos por toda la región: de referencia y sostenible.El escenario de referencia implica la continuación parcial del estancamiento económico de los 80, seguido por un aumento moderado del crecimiento económico regional. Los estilos de desarrollo se mantienen pero con una creciente influencia de la globalización y de las compañías transnacionales sobre la economía; las nuevas tecnologías entran en la región bajo determinación exógena. No hay un viraje perceptible hacia la implementación de políticas ambientales y de sustentabilidad. El énfasis en la producción agrícola es hacia la exportación, yen segundo lugar, al consumo interno. El escenario de referencia también supone una reducción gradual en el avance de la frontera agropecuaria en las zonas tropicales, y un aumento general de la intensificación del uso de la tierra.El escenario sostenible contiene un énfasis en la autodeterminación (no autarquía) e implica políticas para mejorar la distribución del ingreso, la implementación de estrategias activas científicas, tecnológicas y ambientales, y el desarrollo de nuevos sistemas de producción agrícola. El énfasis principal de la producción agrícola es en la diversificación de cultivos con destino al consumo interno, y sólo en segundo lugar, a la exportación.Las características generales de los dos escenarios aparecen en la Tabla 7.Aunque los escenarios no se limitan a los aspectos de apertura económica, es claro que el escenario de referencia representa una actitud más pasiva de la región frente a la globalización, mientras que el escenario sostenible implica una actitud autodependiente.La comparación de las resultados bajo los diferentes escenarios permite tener una idea del impacto de la globalización Gunto con otras variables) según sea la actitud regional pasiva o activa.Los resultados de los modelos, dada la extrema sencillez de los mismos en comparación con la complejidad de los procesos ecológicos y sociales que se desenvuelven en la región, y las incertidumbres inherentes a los datos primarios y secundarios existentes (los que presentan en algunos casos vacíos significativos que obligaron a completarlos con hipótesis razonables sometidas al escrutinio de expertos), deben ser tomados como indicativos y nó como resultados numéricos definitivos ni como intentos de predicción detallada. Algunos de los resultados han sido revisados en base a datos posteriores (Winograd 1995a) pero los cambios no son demasiado notables.Los resultados detallados de las simulaciones para cada zona de vida y por década se pueden consultar en Gallopín (1995a), Gallopín y Winograd (1995), Winograd (1995). Aquí solo se presentarán los resultados globales (Figura 4) para toda la región.Para toda la región los resultados sugieren la transformación de 5 millones de hectáreas por año (como promedio para los próximos 50 años) de ecosistemas vírgenes y semi-vírgenes. El 78% de esta superficie provendrá de las áreas tropicales, el 19% de las áreas subtropícales, y sólo el 3% de las áreas templadas. El 45% de esta área transformada pasará a ser tierra agrícola (30% bajo agricultura migratoria, 15% bajo agricultura permanente); el 30% se usará para ganadería y el 22% para explotación forestal. Erosión de suelos. Originada por la deforestación, las técnicas agrícolas inapropiadas, el sobrepastoreo y la sobreexplotación. Afectará particularmente a los bosques montanos húmedos tropicales y subtropicales, y los bosques húmedos subtropicales de América Central, los países andinos, y Brasil. En menor grado, las pampas argentinas continuarán sufriendo erosión. Degradación de cuencas. Debida a la deforestación y la construcción de presas; afectará principalmente a los bosques húmedos montanos y basales tropicales y subtropicales de América Central, los países andinos, ciertas partes de América del Sur, Brasil y México, así como a los bosques templados húmedos de Chile y Argentina.Inundaciones. Debidas a la degradación de cuencas, deforestación y procesos naturales; afectarán principalmente a los bosques húmedos montanos y basales tropicales y subtropicales de América Central, los países andinos y Brasil, y algunas de las sabanas, bosques subtropicales, y pampas de los países andinos, Argentina, Brasil y Bolivia.Deserlificación. Asociada al sobrepastoreo, la extracción excesiva de leña y las sequías cíclicas, avanzará principalmente en las estepas patagónicas, la Puna, los bosques secos tropicales, los matorrales desérticos tropicales y subtropicales, y los matorrales espinosos templados en los países andinos, Brasil, Argentina, Chile, Perú, México y América Central.Contaminación. Continuará en muchas de las tierras cultivadas en toda la región; la contaminación agrícola, industrial y urbana aumentará en los deltas y manglares de América Central, el Caribe y partes de América del Sur. Déficit de leña. Continuará aumentando en la mayoría de los ecosistemas. La escasez de leña debida a la deforestación y sobre-explotación de los bosques afectará a mas de 50 millones de personas en las zonas áridas y los altiplanos andinos en los próximos 30 años.En el caso del escenario sostenible, la región es capaz de satisfacer de un modo sostenible los requerimientos internos de agricultura, ganadería, pesca y explotación forestal dentro de los próximos 50 años, con un substantivo superávit para la exportación.Los tres principales procesos que dan cuenta de una gran parte de la dinámica en este escenario son: 1) El énfasis sobre la rehabilitación productiva de los ecosistemas deteriorados y alterados (que hoy cubren el 22% del área terrestre total) representando la estrategia más realista para manejar muchos de los complejos ecosistemas ... tropicales y subtropicales; 2) La prioridad hacia los sistemas integrados de producción rural (agricultura -ganadería-explotación forestal -acuacultura) los cuales son favorecidos cuando sea apropiado; y 3) La búsqueda activa de la integración de las nuevas tecnologías con las tecnologias tradicionales y modernas. Además de las diferencias cuantitativas con el patrón derivado de las tendencias actuales, los cambios cualitativos en la modalidad de producción rural implican una reducción drástica de los procesos ecológicamente degradantes discutidos previamente.Para toda la región estas cifras implican la transformación de 2 millones de hectáreas por año de ecosistemas vírgenes y semi-vírgenes (la mayoría en áreas tropicales). Las áreas protegidas representan un 35% de los ecosistemas naturales existentes. Los ecosistemas alterados cubrirán el 20% del área, la misma cifra que en el escenario tendencia!. Sin embargo, en este escenario la mayor parte de las tierras alteradas se convierten en tierras productivas (14% bajo explotación forestal y 6% en proceso de rehabilitación). Las tierras cultivadas aumentan al 13% (7% bajo agricultura intensiva, 3% bajo uso agro-silva-agropecuario, y 3% bajo agricultura migratoria). Los pastizales disminuyen debido a los incrementos en la capacidad de carga (15% bajo sistemas de pastoreo intensivo y semi-intensivo y el 7% se integra con la explotación forestal). Como consecuencia de las actividades de rehabilitación y restauración, los eriales se reducen a la mitad de su superficie inicial.Un efecto positivo no planeado de este escenario es que, debido al fuerte énfasis sobre la reforestación y agroforestería implicado por el mismo, para el año 2030 se habrían reforestado 64 millones de hectáreas (principalmente en las áreas alteradas). Esto representa el 14 % del área mundial que se estima que compensaría, de ser reforestada, el exceso antropogénico de carbono atmosférico (Sedjo, 1989). Nótese que las emisiones estimadas actuales de origen biótico de la región representan entre el8 y 10 % del total mundial (Gallopín y Winograd, 1995). ,• La factibilidad ecológica, tecnológica y económica de este escenario está argumentada en detalle en Gallopín y Winograd (1992Winograd ( ,1995)).El eScenario de referencia sugiere el tipo de consecuencias ambientales relacionadas con el uso de tierras que tendría una apertura económica irrestricta en el marco de una ausencia o debilidad generalizada de políticas ambientales y sociales. Esta debilidad caracteriza la situación general de la región en la actualidad.Los problemas ambientales afectarían críticamente las economías y las sociedades en varios países de la región..El escenario sostenible muestra que, desde el punto de vista ecológico y tecnológico, es posible, sin costos económicos directos demasiado grandes'5, cambiar de rumbo hacia una situación mucho más deseable a largo plazo.La principal incógnita radica en la factibilidad política de este escenario, ya que va en contra de todas las tendencias recientes en la región y de las fuerzas macroeconómicas desatadas en las últimas décadas.Sin embargo, debe tenerse en cuenta que las tendencias actuales son claramente insostenibles ecológica y socialmente (y según algunos análisis también son insostenibles en el plano económico- The South Centre, 1996).Se quiera o no, será indispensable buscar nuevas alternativas a la trayectoria actual.A partir del análisis de los modelos de simulación así como de estudios de caso y la evaluación de las oportunidades y limitaciones ambientales a nivel regional (Gallopín 1995), se destacan los siguientes elementos de importancia estratégica para avanzar hacia el desarrollo sostenible de América Latina y el Caribe.• El análisis de las tendencias actuales muestra claramente que el estilo de desarrollo prevaleciente en la región es ecológicamente insostenible y por lo tanto inviable a largo plazo.• A nivel de la región como un todo, no existen restricciones ecológicas graves para el desarrollo sostenible, ni para la conservación de las áreas requeridas para mantener las funciones y servicios ecológicos esenciales. Sin embargo, a nivel de algunos países hay restricciones ecológicas importantes (tales como escasez de tierras cultivables), así como claras complementariedades ambientales, y por lo tanto la cooperación intraregional será esencial.• Actualmente la falta de disponibilidad de tecnologías no se evidencia como un obstáculo crítico para el desarrollo sostenible de la región (en el sentido de representar un cuello de botella a nivel regional)'•. Esto no niega la necesidad de llenar las lagunas de conocimiento existentes en el manejo de algunos ecosistemas.• Las tecnologías nuevas y emergentes pueden jugar un papel muy importante en la sustentabilidad tanto en lo específicamente ambiental como en lo general. Es posible identificar grandes prioridades regionales para la investigación y desarrollo sugeridas por el análisis ambiental (Gallopín 1995a). Muchas de ellas no están presentes en las actuales prioridades oficiales de los sistemas científicos de los países de la región.• América Latina y el Caribe es una región de alta heterogeneidad ecológica, social y 30 ','.. '• . s productiva. Diferentes actores sociales y tipos de producción coexisten en ambientes disímiles. Una estrategia basada en el pluralismo tecnológico (uso complementario de tecnologías tradicionales, \"modernas\", y de punta) es esencial para una gestión sostenible de la heterogeneidad.• El pluralismo productivo, con coexistencia de diferentes grandes tipos de sistemas productivos rurales, integrados a través de políticas locales, nacionales y regionales, representa una alternativa más apropiada que la homogeneización productiva desde el punto de vista de la sustentabilidad del desarrollo.• En términos de sustentabilidad ambiental el concepto de hibridización tecnológica (integración constructiva de tecnologías nuevas y emergentes en tecnologías tradicionales o modernas) asume particular importancia, requiriendo nuevas formas de organización y una estrategia integral para el desarrollo y difusión tecnológicas.• El área de aplícación de las nuevas tecnologías sofisticadas no se reduce al sector \"moderno\" de la economía (esencialmente urbano-industrial). Estas tecnologías pueden cumplír un papel muy importante, dado el contexto actual de la región, en la generación de nuevas soluciones a problemas tales como los de la pobreza critica, utilizando la ciencia y la tecnología de punta para desarrollar nuevas y eficaces soluciones de tecnología simple accesible a las poblaciones marginales, o en la reformulación y revalorización de tecnologías nativas cuyo uso esté extendido en la región. Esto implica el uso de tecnologías de punta para desarrollar soluciones de \"simplicidad sofisticada\".• Un principio importante es el de la integración entre las diferentes áreas de las nuevas tecnologías. A menudo se presupone, por ejemplo, que el campo de aplicación de la biotecnología está limitado a la agricultura o a la industria fármacológica, y que el campo de aplicación de la informática es el sector servicios y el industrial. La integración entre las áreas de nuevas tecnologías puede posibilitar sinergias muy importantes (por ejemplo en el campo de la agricultura campesina -Gallopín 1995 a).• Debido a las múltiples interconexiones entre factores asociados a la globalización, a la velocidad y turbulencia de los cambios, y a la impredictibilidad de muchos de ellos, será crítico para la región el desarrollar estrategias dirigidas a generar una capacidad genérica social y ecológica para responder a los cambios en forma ágil, flexible, y proactiva. Esta capacidad generalizada es tanto o más importante que las medidas específicas implementadas para afrontar desafíos puntuales.• Un principio estratégico importante frente a las incertidumbres crecientes y la falta de recursos suficientes para ponerse a seguro de todos los posibles impactos negativos de la globalización es el buscar desarrollar \"estrategias ligadas\" siempre que resulte posible. El concepto, propuesto por Schneider (1989) en el contexto del calentamiento climático global, es también valioso en referencia al impacto ambiental de la globalización económica. Ello implica dar preferencia a aquellas acciones dirigidas a evitar o adaptarse a los cambios negativos, o aprovechar los cambios positivos de la globalización económica, que al mismo tiempo provean claros beneficios sociales y ecológicos aún si los cambios anticipados no se materializan o aparecen otros factores inesperados 17.La situación actual de la región bajo la influencia de los nuevos cambios globales, incluyendo, en lo negativo, una enorme deuda externa, una distribución crecientemente regresiva del ingreso, un relativo estancamiento económico, una población en continuo crecimiento, y un continuado deterioro ambiental, yen lo positivo, una reducción de la inflación, una desaparición de las dictaduras militares, y una creciente cooperación económica regional, ha resultado en una discontinuidad en la trayectoria histórica, yen grandes incertidumbres con respecto al futuro. La situación actual parece representar un punto de ruptura en las tendencias históricas 'de la región, y una \"explosión de novedad\". La globalización y el impacto social y económico de la difusión de la nueva ola tecnológica con toda probabilidad operarán como factores disparadores de reestructuraciones globales y regionales, con profundas consecuencias sociales, económicas, culturales y ambientales. Las nuevas direcciones resultantes en principio podrían conducir a un empeoramiento pero también a una mejora de la situación con respecto a las tendencias del pasado; en particular, el futuro ecológico de América Latina (tanto en términos de recursos naturales como de habitabilidad) dependerá muy fuertemente de la manera en que se resuelva la crisis y de las grandes opciones sociales adoptadas en la región dentro del contexto turbulento de la situación mundial actual. En otras palabras, el futuro ecológico de América Latina y las posibilidades de aprovechar las oportunidades ecológicas al mismo tiempo que se minimizan las restricciones, están mucho más directamente ligados a las grandes opciones sociales adoptadas en la región que a la búsqueda de nuevos conocimientos y nuevas técnicas de manejo ecosistémico (aunque éstos son también necesarios).Hoy están abiertos varios escenarios socioeconómicos potenciales para el futuro del mundo y de la región; aunque en cada uno de ellos sería posible identificar posibilidades para el mejoramiento del manejo y conservación de los recursos ambientales, las oportunidades y restricciones varían fuertemente a través de los distintos escenarios.Los países de América Latina necesitan definir e implementar nuevas estrategias de desarrollo, que permitan incorporar las oportunidades implícitas en las transformaciones económicas y en las nuevas tecnologías sin pagar enormes costos sociales, económicos y ecológicos. Tales estrategias, para que sean viables (además . ': . de deseables) deberán ser social, económica y ecológicamente sostenibles a largo plazo. Por lo tanto, deberían apuntar hacia el logro de una sociedad que, como atributos básicos, incremente fuertemente la participación de la población en las decisiones, tienda a una distribución equitativa de la riqueza, y sea intrínsecamente compatible con su ambiente. Este es un desafío mucho mayor, y de diferente índole, que el de la competitividad económica a nivel internacional.Esta nuevas estrategias nacionales y regionales de desarrollo deberán apoyarse fuertemente en la ciencia y la tecnología, con príoridades y metas fijadas por los países de la región. Esto es indispensable debido al fuerte componente tecnológico de punta (ciencia-intensivo) que caracteriza al proceso de globalización y para aprovechar el potencial inherente en las nuevas tecnologías para el progreso de la región.El análisis realizado deja en claro que la liberalización económica no es necesaria o automáticamente beneficiosa para los países, y mucho menos una receta garantizada para el desarrollo sostenible.Algunos analistas incluso sostienen que las políticas de liberalización y globalización, predominio del mercado y debilitación del estado han fracasado tanto en los países industriales como en las economías emergentes del Asia, y que el rápido crecimiento de estas últimas se debió a la aplicación de políticas precisamente opuestas a las ~ preconizadas por los adalides de la liberalización total (The South Centre 1996).Esto contrasta con la posición de los organismos financieros internacionales y muchas otras organizaciones que mantienen que la globalización económica será inmensamente beneficiosa para el Sur y que los países en desarrollo deben por lo tanto acelerar su integración total en la economia global a través de una liberalización extensiva y rápida, y que la mejor vía al desarrollo es fomentar el papel del mercado, reduciendo la función del estado a mantener un ambiente apropiado para el florecimiento de la empresa privada y el funcionamiento de mercados competitivos.Una conclusión inapelable es que, al menos desde el punto de vista ambiental y social, los paises de América Latina deberían definir cuidadosas politicas de integración selectiva al mercado mundial, en vez de una rápida apertura incondicional.Además de las dificultades inherentes a la definición de la integración estratégica requerida en diferentes países de la región, es obvio que las actuales tendencias internacionales representan un fuerte obstáculo para cualquier estrategia definida endógenamente (particularmente para los paises más pobres, pero incluso para los más fuertes).Sin embargo, aún dentro de los escasos márgenes de maniobra determinados por las restricciones actuales, es posible adoptar líneas estratégicas que favorezcan una orientación hacia un desarrollo más sustentable en la región.Cuando las corrientes son fuertes y turbulentas, hayal menos dos estrategias posibles: la del transatlántico, cuya potencia y solidez afronta los embates de los elementos, y la del kayak, cuya agilidad le permite sortear los rápidos en base a pericia y capacidad de reacción. Es obvio que las competencias requeridas y las acciones adecuadas para conducir cada uno de estos navíos son muy diferentes.Es posible que los países de América Latina y el Caribe deban concentrarse en la metáfora del kayak a nivel nacional, yen la del transatlántico a nivel regional (o incluso extra-regional, apoyandose en alianzas estratégicas y real cooperación internacional).En síntesis:• La globalización es un proceso multidimensional que excede en mucho las dimensiones económicas del libre comercio internacional y del esquema neoliberal.• Una apertura irrestricta de las economías no es, en general, conducente al desarrollo sostenible; el libre juego de las fuerzas del mercado genera espontáneamente asimetrias y desigualdades, y no puede garantizar la sustentabilidad ecológica.• Actualmente ya se están percibiendo y documentando algunos de los efectos (tanto positivos como negativos) de la apertura económica y de la globalización.• la globalización exhibe una ambivalencia esencial con potenciales positivos y negativos. Por lo tanto es necesario orientar los procesos de globalización identificando y utilizando elementos y criterios de importancia estratégica.• Resulta de fundamental importancia conectar al proceso de globalización una ética, una responsabilidad, y una gobernabilidad. En caso contrario, se corre el riesgo de caer en un escenario de barbarización general.• la sustentabilidad ambiental del desarrollo plantea interrogantes específicos a las estrategias frente a la globalización (por ejemplo, el papel de los diferentes horizontes de tiempo de las decisiones económicas y de los procesos ecológicos).• la posición actual de América latina y el Caribe frente al proceso de globalización es débil. En esas condiciones, las estrategias posibles son:• Dejarse llevar por la corriente (lo que parece ser la actitud actual). Esto, por las razones argumentadas anteriormente, parece ser suicida (o al menos una actitud que sólo puede beneficiar a una minoria, excluyendo a la mayoría) .• Cambiar el sistema global desde la América Latina y el Caribe. Esto es. , .• . -.. : dudosamente factible, y dependería de la capacidad de la región para concertar alianzas con otros actores internacionales .• Navegar creativamente (la estrategia del kayak -que no es sinónimo de dejarse llevar) aprovechando la fuerza de la corriente pero instalando al mismo tiempo los gérmenes del propio futuro. Pero esto es posible sólo si se adopta una visión de largo plazo, sistémica y multicausal, dirigida a crear una sociedad intrínsecamente compatible con su ambiente. Implica medidas coordinadas y secuenciadas dirigidas a dar frutos a distintos plazos (institucionales de corto plazo, educativas para el largo plazo, etc.)• Sobre todo, más que tratar de ajustar todas las tuercas y tornillos, es necesario fortalecer las fuentes de renovación societal y ecológica, y la capacidad generalizada de responder al cambio, aún al inesperado.La globalización económica en combinación con el fin de la guerra fría y el potencial de la revolución tecnológica posibilitan un salto cualitativo en la historia de la civilización humana; esta promesa, sin embargo, no está siendo cumplida, y la marginalización creciente de las grandes masas de población en el Sur pero también en el Norte presagia un fututo muy conflictivo.Hoyes más claro que nunca que no existen soluciones separadas, una para el Norte y una para el Sur: o se logra una solución global, o no habrá ninguna solución .1. Esta apretada sintesis histórica está basada parcialmente en PNUMA et al 1990.2.La liberalización del comercio y el desarrollo de los acuerdos comerciales regionales han expandido el comercio mundial y, a través de él, la interdependencia económica global. El comercio de bienes y servicios ha crecido tremendamente, del 25 % del PBI global en 1970 a cerca del 45 % en 1990. El capital se ha hecho más móvil, con los ftujos de inversión privada a los paises en desarrollo saltando de 5 mil millones de dólares en 1970 a los 175 mil millones de hoy (UNDP 1996 p. 102).3.0tros análisis relevantes en cuanto a los supuestos subyacentes y las implicaciones ambientales y sociales aparecen en Runnalls y Cosbey 1992. y en el número especial de la revista Ecological Economics (Vol. 9. No.1. 1994). dedicado a Comercio y Ambiente.4. Nochteff (1987) presenta un lúcido análisis del origen. tendencias e impactos socioeconómicos comprobados y probables sobre América Latina de la presente \"revolución industrial\". Ese análisis se concentra sobre el llamado \"complejo electrónico\" (microelectrónica. informática. telecomunicaciones). que constituye el núcleo de esa revolución; sin embargo. sus conclusiones principales se pueden extender en gran parte a las otras nuevas tecnologias. las que comparten varias caracterlsticas importantes e interactúan sinérgicamente entre sI. Además, la biotecnologia. los nuevos materiales. y las nuevas fuentes de energla tenderán a estar subordinadas al sistema tecnológico centrado en la microelectrónica (Pérez 1986). En términos generales, el principal impacto directo de la microelectrónica se concentrará sobre los servicios y la industria manufacturera. mientras que el de la biotecnologla afectará mas directamente a la agricultura. la minería y el sector primario en general, al igual que a la industria química. En este sentido. el desarrollo de la biotecnología llena un vacío dejado por el complejo de tecnologlas de la información; ambas tecnologlas se complementan a varios niveles.5. Aunque los ftujos de inversiones privadas a los paises en desarrollo aumentaron de 5 mil millones a 173 mil millones entre 1970 y 1994, las tres cuartas partes se concentraron en sólo diez paises. principalmente en Asia y América Latina. Los demás paises. principalmente en Africa al sur del Sahara, han sido dejados atrás (UNDP 1996 p. 9).6. Esto es válido incluso para el caso de los paises de Europa del este y de la Comunidad de Estados Independientes; a pesar de sus dificultades actuales. su situación es mucho más sólida que la de los países en desarrollo y hay pocas dudas acerca de su capacidad de recuperación económica.7. Por ejemplo. uno de los argumentos de negociación podria estar dirigido a la apertura internacional del acceso a los nuevos desarrollos tecnológicos. para favorecer el cambio de los procesos de industrialización de los paises en desarrollo. como prerrequisito para reducir el impacto ecológico global asociado a continuar creciendo con el perfil de industrialización tradicional. El argumento tiene validez lógica. si se considera que son fundamentalmente los paises hoy desarrollados los que consumieron el potencial ecológico planetario. cuyo deterioro actual restringirla la posibilidad de crecimiento por la via tradicional para los paises del Tercer Mundo.8. Esta retroalimentación es esencial para la estabilidad de las interacciones ambiente-desarrollo (Gallopín 1980). 9. Esto se refiere a los desperdicios asociados al consumo. En cuanto a los desperdicios de la producción. estos podrlan eventualmente disminuir debido al aumento de eficiencia en uso de insumos posibilitado por las nuevas tecnologlas.10. Por el contrario, la producción de bienes básicos (siempre en relación al mercado interno) tiene un techo natural determinado por la satisfacción de las necesidades materiales fundamentales de la población.11. Lo que llevó a Celso Furtado a anticipar la posibilidad de un \"destino teleguiado\" para América Latina (Furtado 1984).12. Esto no es mera especulación. Las tecnologías de punta ya se han sumado a la lista de casos ya conocidos de experimentación de fármacos utilizando las poblaciones humanas de la región (métodos anticonceptivos experimentales, nuevas drogas, etc.). El Wistar Institute de los EE.UU., con fondos de organizaciones privadas (Laboratorio Rhone-Merieux, Laboratorio Transgene, Fundación Rockefe/ler) realizó en 1986 un experimento clandestino en instalaciones de la Organización Panamericana de la Salud (OPS) en la localidad de Azul, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. El experimento consistió en la inoculación a bovinos de una nueva vacuna recombinante contra la rabia, obtenida por ingeniería genética. El mismo representó el primer ensayo en el mundo de esa vacuna en condiciones de campo. El experimento fue ocultado al gobierno argentino ya sus autoridades sanitarias, y, según denuncias públicas, los peones que manipulaban las vacas inoculadas y consumlan su leche sin pasteurizar, y la población de Azul (que la consumia comercializada y pasteurizada) no estaban informados. El experimento fué interrumpido por las autoridades sanitarias argentinas cuando su existencia se filtró públicamente. El caso provocó un escándalo en los EEUU (sintomáticamente, mucho menor en Argentina). Ver Revista Humor N' 186, 187, 190 Y 191, allos 1986/1987, Buenos Aires. 13.En un estudio de caso de la provincia argentina del Chaco (Gal/opln y Barrera, 1980) fue posible constatar la coexistencia de dos racionalidades económicas en el mismo espacio geográfico. La mayoria de los productores buscaban maximizar la tasa de beneficio (racionalidad capitalista); los productores de subsistencia, sin embargo, buscaban mantener constante la masa de ingresos familiar (racionalidad campesina), un fenómeno originalmente detectado por AV. Chayanov en Rusia (Chayanov, 1925). En consecuencia, los productores rurales capitalistas tienden a intensificar su explotación (aumentando el impacto ambiental) como respuesta al aumento de los precios de sus productos, y a disminuirla en caso contrario. Los productores de subsistencia (tanto 105 dedicados a la ganaderia como los ocupados con el cultivo del algodón) reaccionaban en forma inversa; es decir, aumentaban la explotación de la tierra (y su auto-explotación) al bajar los precios, tratando de mantener su masa de ingresos. De este modo, ambos tipos de productores tenían comportamientos opuestos, ambos perfectamente \"racionales\" en el marco de cada función objetivo.14. Incluso el análisis optimista de Pérez (1986), quien explicitamente enfatiza el sellalamiento de las nuevas oportunidades, se refiere principalmente a la posibilidad de apertura de nuevos espacios libres para empresas medianas y pequellas, al potencial técnico para el mejoramiento de la producción, las pOSibilidades de descentralización, de aparición de nuevos grados de libertad, el potencial de diversificación y adaptabilidad, etc. Pero todo eso en un espacio dominado por las empresas gigantes.También ella plantea la necesidad ineludible de nuevas estrategias de desarrollo para los paises de la región.15. Las inversiones directas necesarias relacionadas con el uso de tierras ascenderlan a menos de cuatro mil millones de dólares anuales por un perlado de cincuenta allos (Gallopin y     Figura 3. Causalidades múltiples de los impactos ambientales del uso de la tierra en América Latina Tea'IOIoglas ~~-i~~ y tietTaS no \"'\"\"\"\"\"\"' ...... f----, ,\"\"\".,,,, ,, t   10' metros cúbicos de gas = 0.93 Tep; 10' Terawatt•horas = 0.3 x 30 años Tep.(1) Los recursos petroleros y gasíferos de China están sumados a los de la URSS.(2) Potencial técnicamente utilizable.Debe tenerse en cuenta que los datos de reservas y recursos adicionales de los paises en desarrollo implican probablemente importantes subestimaciones debidas al bajO nivel de exploración.Tabla 3. Agrupamiento de zonas de vida en Grandes Ambientes Latinoamericanos Ambientes Superficie Productividad Productividad    ..  En/asis en la diversificación de cultivos para el consumo inlerno y para exportación; secundariamente, en cultivos de exportación"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"04a5a1215bedadcffe86bd96f64c1302","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5bb0336a-fd34-4bd8-aa69-daaa0b54f0a6/retrieve","id":"180967020"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"08ab1957-3913-439b-a811-85f17c1cad2c","content":"See document National Committee on food and nutrition security in Bénin where videos and Bioversity International are mentioned several times throughout the document. available at teamspace. 2018: Posters and dissemination workshops held at both community and district-level to build capacity on use of the tools were developed."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"23182c977371d9a3d010d82ea189f16f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c99292e4-6e64-4502-8da7-0bdfb60362bc/retrieve","id":"-1393840500"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e0676c2e-8e16-4d42-8fd5-0631ed353857","content":"CCAFS, CIMMYT, Sonalika tractors, Tata Trusts and other partners have invested to promote Happy Seeder technology in 7 districts of north-west India. This technology contributes to increased yields and farmer profits, and conserves water and nutrients. It also reduces air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from on-farm activities.During 2019, the adoption of Happy Seeder technology was increased significantly with the adoption by more than 500.000 farmer households with a population of 2.5 million people and 1.3 million ha of land. Happy Seeder technology reaches over 500,000 farmer households with 1.3 million ha in north-west India MAIN PARTNERS THEMES Low Emissions Development, Climate-Smart Technologies and Practices GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS South Asia Photo: D. Vedachalam (CIMMYT)"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"781e554572c058f9e6878509eb3f8e97","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8aaa26a0-987a-43ef-9509-a3619485e0b7/retrieve","id":"1071867564"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2f32b9a7-2591-46fa-a696-b9aa2ea505df","content":"Published data on yields and prices was sought from reliable sources such as Government, MFarm, Kenya Growers' Association and KARI. The data were supplemented by ten Key Informant interviews.Series One of SSU was broadcast on Citizen Television between March and June 2012. It is estimated that the series attracted an audience of around 3 million television viewers, based on the Kenya Advertising Research Foundation (KARF) industry recognized data for measuring the size and profile of television audiences. The Series One pre and post broadcast research among small holder farmers with access to television, produced evidence that the series had a positive direct impact on the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of the small holder farmers who viewed at least some of the programmes. There was no indication of the value of this impact.In order to answer some of these questions a further research study was commissioned by the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) in June 2013. This report is largely based on the findings from that study.The specific topics covered in this summary are soil fertility (for maize) and dairy cattle.• 36% SSU viewers claimed to have made a change in their farming practices as a result of watching SSU• Of those who claimed to make a change 26% improved their soil fertility and 18% changed their dairy cattle rearing practices 2. The farmers were asked to remember their yields and incomes before they made the changes, the cost of the changes and their yields and incomes after the changes.3. The overall sample size of 300 was small which has resulted in small bases for farmers who made changes in the four areas the study focused on.4. The researchers have used the principles of AECF's beneficiary model and have attempted to gross up the figures using a combination of population census data, KARF data and Series One post survey data.5. This document be treated as indicative and not as conclusive.Secondary data (See Secondary Data Research Compendium)1. Reliable, up to date secondary data on yields and prices in the three survey areas proved extremely difficult to source. There would appear to be an urgent need to produce and make available reliable, up to date and historical data by agricultural sector and by region. Such data as were sourced are re-produced in the Secondary Data Compendium, a sister document to this narrative report.The face to face survey instrument asked a series of introductory questions about sources of information used and valued for information about agriculture, the television programmes watched and the learnings derived from those programmes.• Of all those who claimed to watch SSU, two thirds said they watched both Series One and Series Two (65%). This finding is encouraging in that it suggests that the Series is attracting a loyal following and maintaining viewers at least over the first two series. Again, this is further evidence in support of the ability of television to produce enjoyable and engaging content which is is able to attract and maintain a strong body of loyal followers• Almost all the viewers (98%) who took part in the survey said that they had learnt something new from watching the series -ranging from dairy cattle rearing methods to building cow sheds and chicken houses and making silage. This underlines the value of providing 'farming practice' information to small holder farmers through the medium of television. It also supports the communication theory of 'uses and gratifications' -communication is effective when the viewer finds it both useful and satisfying.• There is positive evidence that viewers shared the information they learnt from the programme with other farmers (39%) and /or recommended the series to other farmers (35%). This word of mouth transference of information and personal recommendation plays an important part in 'knowledge transfer' and is a strong indication that there is a secondary audience for the information contained in the series as the primary target audience cascades information by word of mouth• Almost nine in ten viewers (87%) said that they adopted, at least, some of the practices demonstrated in the series. The remainder -almost one in ten (8%) said they 'adopted everything shown that was relevant' to them.• Three times as many SSU viewers (65%) as non-viewers (25%) said that television provided them with the most useful source of information to improve their farms and their incomes. All other sources of information (including radio) received low levels of endorsement for providing this type of useful information. th Floor Fedha Plaza Westlands Nairobi Kenya| 0721 206513• In terms of general farming, the key challenges that small holder farmers reported were the high cost of inputs; crop failures due to pests/ disease/ poor rainfall; cattle and poultry diseases and poor selling prices.• Underlining the subsistence nature of small holder farming in Kenya the farmers in this survey reported that, for the most part, most of their yields were not sold, but rather consumed. The exception was milk -where the bulk of the yield from rearing dairy cattle was sold.This section of the report focuses on the small holder farmers who participated in the inhome face to face survey and who said that they grew maize. They had all made changes to their soil fertility as a result of watching SSU. Presented in this section are general findings from the survey and a calculation of the estimated Development Benefit aggregating upwards from the estimates provided by the survey respondents to the larger population.• One third of the AECF sample of SSU viewers claimed to have improved their soil fertility as a result of watching SSU (n=81). After data cleaning and checking the sample eligible for analysis purposes is n= 74  • All of the different changes made incurred some costs and the reported median cost of all the changes combined was 2,750 Ksh. The highest proportion of the costs incurred were for those who mixed manure and fertilizer together at planting• As a result of improving soil fertility, just over 50% of maize farmers reported an overall increase in their yield -with a further four in ten reporting that 'it was too early to tell' • 90% of those who made changes to their soil fertility said that the changes had been 'worth it' with as many as two thirds saying 'very much worth it'. Further, 80% said that they would definitely continue to improve their soil fertility in the future.• 92% SSU viewers said that they shared the information they had learnt from the series about different methods of soil fertilization with other people. In the case of SSU viewers 69% shared the information with other farmers and 28% to other family members1. Median values have been used to take account of 'outlying' estimates as reported by small holder farmers and to minimise Standard Deviations 2. Incomes from TOTAL Maize yield have been estimated even though the majority of farmers do not sell very much of their yield. Own consumption is considered to be 'imputed' benefit (no household expenditure on having to buy Maize for consumption) 3. Average prices per bag have been held constant season over season at 3,000 ksh.Secondary research sources show slightly different season over season variation in prices and variability by region. However, the sample sizes upon which these calculations are based are too small to disaggregate at the regional level • Data derived from the self completion survey (663 completed returns from those who had sent for a leaflet) for Maize growers showed that 53% made a change to their soil fertility at a median cost of 5,000 Ksh (58.8 USD) and that their reported incremental income (season over season) from Maize was 7,000 Ksh (82.4 USD). This estimate is close to the incremental gain per household derived from the face to face survey of 70.6 USD.• The data estimate that if 'best practice is adopted in relation to the production of maize then the benefit is 55,910 Ksh (657 USD) per household/ per season. Data from the AECF survey of small holder farmers produced an estimate of 8% of the Maize producers who viewed SSU and who made changes -who adopted all the changes recommended in the series (as a proxy for 'best practice').Secondary data for Maize prices for the survey regions for the past three seasons is presented in Secondary Research Data Compendium. The most striking observation is the dearth of available data from all the sources contacted either online or in person th Floor Fedha Plaza Westlands Nairobi Kenya| 0721 206513This section of the report focuses on the small holder farmers who participated in the inhome face to face survey and who said that they had all made changes to the ways in which they rear dairy cattle as a result of watching SSU.• One third (35%) of the AECF sample of SSU viewers claimed to have improved their dairy cattle rearing methods as a result of watching SSU.• Two thirds of these dairy cattle farmers had Fresians; 40% had Ayrshires; 13% had Jersey cows and 11% had local breeds• In terms of the actual changes they had made -most (58%) said they were now using supplements/ mineral licks; 44% spoke of de-worming; 39% said they had built or adapted a zero grazing shed; 34% were feeding napier and 21% were spraying for ticks/ lice. One in ten or fewer said they had started zero grazing, made or used silage and /or used mastitis treatments• The changes had cost money -for supplements; de-worming treatments and for improvements to the zero grazing sheds • Almost all of the dairy farmers (90%) who watched SSU and who made changes said they had seen increases in their milk yields as a result of the changes they had made• 7 in 10 said they had shared the information they had learnt from the programmes with other farmers; 24% had shared with other family members Estimated Development Benefit (using AECF Beneficiary Model) -Assumptions 1. Median values have been used to take account of 'outlying' estimates as reported by small holder farmers and to minimise Standard Deviations 2. Incomes from TOTAL milk yield have been estimated and in this case the majority of dairy producers sell most of their yield. 3. Average prices per litre have been held constant season over season at 30 Ksh. • Data derived from the self completion sample indicated that 54% of respondents had made changes to their cattle rearing practices. Those who had made changes spent a median amount of 10,000 Ksh on the changes (117.6 USD) and derived monthly incremental revenue from their increased milk production of 5,000 Ksh (58.8 USD) per month.• This compares very favourably with the enumerator administered survey where the estimates of incremental milk yield per day (from the average 2 cows per farmer) was reported at 4.4 litres, at 30 Ksh per litre this works out at 132 Ksh per day, over a month this multiplies to 3960 Ksh (46.6 USD). As with the Maize farmers it would be expected that those who sent for a leaflet are likely to spend more on the changes they made and generate somewhat more incremental revenue per month, but the estimates of incremental incomes from both surveys are very close.SECTION 3: SYSTEMIC IMPACTTelevision, which is acknowledged to be a very powerful medium, can potentially reach a primary audience (conservative estimate) of around 3.4 million rural farmers. The data also show that there is a significant secondary audience for television information and advice through the 'ripple effect' generated by Word of Mouth. In all of the SSU surveys conducted to date, around 70% SSU viewers said that they passed on information from the programmes to other farmers or family. Multiplying this by the audience estimates for Series One would add around another 1.2 million rural farmers who in some way benefit from knowledge and information sharing generated by the television series.Apart from the evidence generated from survey data, 100,000 leaflets were requested from the SSU office and the self completion survey data suggests that each leaflet was passed on to at least one other farming household. Thus spreading the on-air information off-air and reaching a potentially larger target group.The series has generated considerable interest from television producers in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Namibia, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda who wish to make the series for their own audiences. Decisions on how and when to proceed are dependent upon funding.It has also stimulated production of similar series in Kenya: Mukulima on K24 which started broadcasting a few months ago and Equity Bank, together with a micro-finance institution is actively seeking to produce and broadcast a similar programme to SSUNot only is SSU influential through the traditional media of television and printed leaflets, it has spread and expanded its influence extensively through social media. The SSU Facebook pages are the biggest farming Facebook pages in Kenya. Facebook as recorded 12,295 'likes' and below is some Facebook dialogue and some example screen shotsGoogling SSU generates 27,000 reaults"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4e6a31b4efc40f0a205f3a0d6c9ccb1f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c5fb5370-da5d-4bc4-9d5e-eb27736ec23f/retrieve","id":"-1958256333"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4e0f6b8d-d9f8-4f64-acff-d1666c1f8e82","content":"Tous droits réservés. Aucune reproduction de cet ouvrage, même partielle, quel que soit le procédé, impression, photocopie, microfilm ou autre, n'est autorisée sans la permission écrite de l'éditeur.La culture des champignons est très bien adaptée à l'agriculture durable et a plusieurs avantages : ? Elle réutilise les déchets agricoles ? Elle donne une production élevée par surface cultivée ? Après la récolte, le substrat utilisé fournit un excellent amendement du solCet Agrodok fournit des informations détaillées sur la culture de trois sortes de champignons : les pleurotes, les shitakes et les auriculaires.Ces espèces sont relativement faciles à cultiver à petite échelle. La culture des champignons de Paris et des volvaires asiatiques est très différente et sera donc traitée dans un autre Agrodok.La plupart des informations contenues dans ce manuel sont tirées de mon livre « Mushroom cultivation and appropriate technologies for commercial mushroom » (Culture des champignons et technologies appropriées à leur commercialisation). Nous nous sommes limités à trois espèces de champignons et à des technologies relativement simples dans l'espoir que les lecteurs obtiendront ainsi un bénéfice durable de la culture des champignons.Bram van Nieuwenhuijzen est l'ancien directeur du Mushroom Growers' Training Center (C Point) à Horst, aux Pays-Bas. Il joue actuellement un rôle de conseiller dans des projets de culture de champignons situés dans différents pays, par l'intermédiaire de PUM, Netherlands Senior Experts.Peter Oei Président de ECO Consult Foundation et professeur associé à l'Université agricole de FujianAvez-vous l'intention de vous lancer dans la culture des champignons ? Cette activité présente de nombreux avantages. Elle est intéressante du point de vue financier, les champignons sont faciles à cultiver et débordent de protéines, de vitamines B et de minéraux. Et ils ont même des propriétés médicinales. La cueillette se produit parfois trois semaines seulement après le lardage. De plus, le substrat utilisé après la culture est un bon fertilisant du sol.Cet Agrodok vous fournira des informations détaillées sur la culture des pleurotes, des shiitakes et des auriculaires. On peut faire pousser bien d'autres sortes de champignons. L'avantage des espèces choisies c'est qu'elles se cultivent facilement dans des pays en développement en utilisant la technologie appropriée.Avant de choisir votre méthode de culture vous devez vous poser les questions suivantes : D'autre part, certaines connaissances sont indispensables à la compréhension des principes de croissance et des propriétés des champignons. Le premier chapitre traitera donc de leur biologie. 2 Biologie des champignonsLes champignons appartiennent au règne des Fungi, un groupe qui se distingue nettement des végétaux, des animaux et des bactéries. Il leur manque la caractéristique principale des végétaux : la capacité d'utiliser directement l'énergie du soleil grâce à la chlorophylle. Ils doivent donc assurer leur alimentation à partir d'autres organismes, en absorbant les substances nutritives du matériau organique dans lequel ils vivent. L'organisme vivant des Fungi est un mycélium constitué d'un fin réseau de filaments appelés hyphes. Sous certaines conditions, les hyphes sexuellement compatibles fusionnent et forment des spores. Les structures les plus grandes (supérieures à 1 mm) produisant des spores sont appelées champignons. C'est la partie que l'on remarque le plus dans la nature, mais elle ne constitue qu'une fructification. La partie la plus importante se trouve sous le sol ou à l'intérieur du bois.Dans cet Agrodok, nous avons souvent utilisé les noms scientifiques parce qu'ils prêtent moins à confusion que les noms communs. Par exemple, le nom pleurote s'applique à plus de 20 espèces différentes qui se distinguent par la température exigée, la couleur et le rythme de croissance.Pour les producteurs de champignons, le plus simple en matière de taxinomie est de se fier aux taxinomistes. Il est conseillé de commander les variétés souhaitées à des institutions conservant des collections de culture ou à des producteurs de blanc renommés (consultez la liste des adresses utiles).Les champignons se nourrissent d'autres organismes. On distingue trois catégories selon le mode de vie : ? les saprophytes : exploitent la matière organique déjà morte.? les symbiotiques : vivent en une symbiose mutuellement bénéfique avec d'autres organismes (généralement des arbres). ? les parasites : vivent aux dépens d'autres organismes.Le mode de vie est indépendant de leur comestibilité : on trouve des champignons comestibles et toxiques dans ces trois catégories. Cet Agrodok ne traite que des champignons saprophytes.Les champignons saprophytes se nourrissent en dégradant les matières organiques en décomposition. En milieu naturel, ils poussent sur des feuilles mortes, des excréments d'animaux ou des souches de bois mort. Certains décomposent les poils des mammifères, tandis que d'autres exploitent les plumes d'oiseaux. Leur rôle dans la nature consiste à décomposer les structures organiques complexes issues de végétaux ou d'animaux et à les faire rejoindre les minéraux et les autres substances nutritives présentes dans le substrat. Les pleurotes dégradent le bois mort dans la nature ; on peut les cultiver sur une grande variété de déchets lignocellulosiques.Dans la nature, les champignons se multiplient en produisant des millions et des millions de spores. Lorsqu'un de ces spores atterrit dans un milieu favorable, il germe et se ramifie pour former un mycélium. Lorsque deux mycéliums compatibles sexuellement se rencontrent, ils fusionnent pour former ce qu'on appelle un mycélium secondaire capable de produire des fructifications.Dans la culture des champignons comestibles, on n'utilise pas les spores. Leur petite taille rend leur manipulation délicate et leurs caractéristiques génétiques risquent d'être différentes de celles de leurs parents. De plus, ils mettent un certain temps à germer alors que d'autres types de champignons, les moisissures vertes par exemple, germent et se propagent bien plus rapidement.Le champignon sélectionné doit pouvoir coloniser le substrat avant d'autres champignons ou bactéries. A cette fin, on mélange un mycélium cultivé préalablement (libre de tout contaminant) avec un substrat stérile, ce qui donne ce qu'on appelle le blanc Cette technique donne au champignon cultivé une longueur d'avance sur les autres Fungi.Comme dans la nature, le mycélium se propagera dans le substrat en utilisant les substances nutritives qui s'y trouvent. C'est ce qu'on appelle l'envahissement du blanc. Lorsque certaines d'entre elles sont épuisées ou si le temps change, le mycélium atteindra une phase différente, celle de la reproduction sexuelle.Figure 3 : Cycle de vie des champignons au blanc. On met en culture du tissu prélevé sur un champignon et on le dépose dans un substrat approprié. Une fois que celui-ci est complètement envahi, on l'utilise pour cultiver des champignons.Pour la plupart des espèces la température optimale pour l'envahissement du blanc est d'environ 25 °C. De plus, l'environnement peut stimuler la croissance du mycélium : une forte concentration de CO 2 lui est favorable (mais pas à la culture). Une fois qu'il a colonisé le substrat, le mycélium est en état de produire des fructifications dont le nombre et la qualité dépendront de l'environnement.Facteurs clés de l'apparition des fructifications : ? changement de température, ? taux élevé d'humidité, ? manque d'une substance nutritive, ? concentration de CO 2 dans l'air ambiant, ? lumière, ? choc physique.Ces facteurs diffèrent d'un champignon à l'autre. La plupart des changements qui stimulent la fructification ont un effet négatif sur la croissance végétative du mycélium. Il ne faudra donc les introduire que lorsque le mycélium aura complètement envahi le substrat. Ce sont en fait les conditions de croissance végétatives les moins favorables qui stimulent le mycélium à produire des fructifications.Deux exemples de méthodes permettant de provoquer la fructification d'espèces de champignons différentes : ? Certains pleurotes (par exemple la variété Pleurotus ostreatus) ont de fortes chances de produire des fructifications après un coup de froid (une différence de 5 à 10 °C) à la fin de la croissance mycélienne. Il faut également diminuer la concentration de CO 2 . Le mycélium peut se développer dans l'obscurité, mais la lumière est indispensable à la fructification. ? On fait tremper dans de l'eau pendant un jour ou deux des sacs de substrat entièrement envahi par un mycélium de Shiitake (Lentinula edodes). Le choc physique stimule la fructification en éliminant le CO 2 absorbé.Au début de la phase de reproduction, de petits primordia se formeront. Si les conditions sont favorables, ils se développeront en fructifications. Un flux constant d'humidité transporte des substances nutritives du mycélium aux fructifications. Pour que le flux continue, il faut que l'eau s'évapore à la surface des champignons. Ceci explique pourquoi l'arrosage de champignons en pleine maturation ou une humidité relative trop élevée risquent d'abîmer la récolte.Choisissez une variété donnant des fructifications à une température proche de celle de l'air extérieur. Le choix du site d'une ferme à champignons devra tenir compte des facteurs suivants : ? distance au marché, ? disponibilité de matériau de substrat de qualité, ? transport du produit et du matériau de substrat, ? accès direct à de l'eau propre. Avant de prévoir l'agencement de la ferme, il faut commencer par faire une liste des processus qui s'y dérouleront. La présence d'une chambre d'inoculation, par exemple, se justifie ou non, selon si le producteur a l'intention de préparer ses propres substrats ou de les acheter déjà inoculés. De plus, l'agencement de la ferme doit permettre :? un flux efficace de matériau de substrat, ? de prendre des mesures contre la contamination, ? une utilisation efficace de l'espace  L'hygiène joue un grand rôle dans une ferme à champignons. Le contrôle chimique n'étant pas possible dans le cadre de la culture de champignons à petite échelle, l'hygiène et dans une certaine mesure la désinfection sont les seuls moyens permettant de lutter contre les parasites et les maladies. Ils doivent être appliqués non seulement dans la chambre de production de blanc, mais aussi dans celle où on produit le substrat, dans les chambres d'incubation et de croissance.C'est pourquoi le choix d'un lieu adéquat pour installer la ferme à champignons est de toute importance.Les environs de la ferme doivent être propres et exempts de sources possibles de contamination par des insectes, des moisissures etc. Il faut donc éviter de construire un nouveau bâtiment à proximité d'autres fermes à champignons. Les insectes et maladies se propageraient facilement d'une ferme à l'autre.Si possible, séparez les différentes unités de la nouvelle ferme.Il faut séparer le laboratoire de production de blanc des chambres de croissance. Les différents stages de cultures doivent également être isolés par des murs (en plastique). En fait, aucun processus d'incubation ou d'envahissement de blanc ne doit avoir lieu dans la pièce où l'on récolte les champignons.Il est de toute importance de retirer immédiatement des chambres et de la ferme les débris, les sacs contaminés et les substrats épuisés. Il est même préférable de les emporter au loin.Toutes ces mesures sont nécessaires pour éviter la présence à la fois des parasites apportés par les mouches ou d'autres insectes et les maladies issues de ces déchets. Si l'on veut réutiliser le substrat comme engrais pour le jardin, il faut le faire le plus rapidement possible.La semence de champignon (matériau de propagation) est généralement désignée sous le nom de blanc.Dans de nombreux pays en développement, la disponibilité de blanc de bonne qualité représente un facteur de limitation de la culture des champignons. L'importation est souvent entravée par la bureaucratie des services de douanes, les frais de transport élevés et la difficulté à garder le blanc à une basse température pendant le transport. C'est pourquoi le producteur sera peut-être contraint de produire son propre blanc.Si l'on peut obtenir du blanc de bonne qualité du champignon désiré à un prix raisonnable, il vaut mieux se concentrer sur les processus de croissance du champignon. Si ce n'est pas le cas, le producteur devra s'occuper lui-même de la production ou reproduction du blanc.Le processus complet de production de blanc consiste à préparer le milieu de culture, à remplir les éprouvettes ou les boîtes de Pétri et à les stériliser, puis à inoculer des récipients plus grands avec cette culture.La production de blanc nécessite un laboratoire désinfecté et des connaissances spécialisées.La production de blanc revient à mettre du mycélium du champignon désiré dans des substrats adéquats et stérilisés dans des conditions aseptiques.Mais, dans la pratique, ce processus n'est pas aussi simple qu'il en a l'air. Il faut maintenir dans des conditions strictes des souches appropriées du champignon désiré pour éviter leur dégénération. Lorsque c'est impossible, la production de blanc devrait se faire à partir de cultures de tissu d'un champignon frais et sain. De plus, la chambre de production de blanc doit toujours être méticuleusement propre pour éviter toute contamination.  Les matières premières consistent en : ? des ingrédients pour la préparation du milieu ? du matériau du substrat (céréales, baguettes de bois, sciure de bois ou même fibre de noix de palme) ? des champignons sains de culture ou frais, d'une souche de l'espèce désirée ? récipients à blanc (flacons ou sacs en plastique)Dans les pays peu producteurs de champignons, on se procurera le blanc auprès d'une université ou d'un centre de recherche au début du projet. Vous trouverez des adresses de producteurs de blanc dans les Adresses Utiles.Les céréales, la sciure ou le compost contiennent un grand nombre de contaminants.Un seul grain de céréale peut héberger des milliers de bactéries, de moisissures et d'actinomycètes.Chacun de ses éléments, appelés contaminants, est capable d'infecter des substrats mal stérilisés ou inoculés dans des conditions d'hygiène insuffisantes.Un chauffage de 15 minutes à 121 °C suffit généralement à tuer tous les organismes. Il faut un certain temps pour que la vapeur chauffe le coeur des substrats à cette température. Cela dépend de la façon dont le récipient de stérilisation ou de pasteurisation a été rempli et de la capacité du brûleur.La plupart du temps, les sacs de substrat doivent être chauffer à la vapeur pendant au moins 6 heures pour que leur centre soit suffisamment exposé à la chaleur. Sterilisez les sacs de 4 litres avec 2 kg de substrat de blanc pendant au moins 2 heures a une temperature de 121°C.La solution la plus économique consiste à s'équiper d'un ou de plusieurs autocuiseurs. Choisir des autocuiseurs qui maintiennent la pression une fois la température finale atteinte. L'autocuiseur le plus simple laisse échapper de la vapeur lorsque la pression est trop élevée ; souvent la pression descend en dessous d'1 atmosphère de surpression, provoquant l'ébullition du milieu. C'est ce qu'il faut éviter car le résultat serait catastrophique sur les boîtes de Pétri ou les flacons d'agar.Les autocuiseurs doivent être munis d'un panier qui assurera une distribution de température plus égale à l'intérieur. La source de chaleur peut être externe (brûleurs de gaz, charbon, bois) ou intégrée (électrique). L'avantage des autocuiseurs comprenant des éléments de chauffage contrôlés par thermostat, c'est qu'ils permettent un contrôle précis de la température. De bonnes conditions de propreté sont indispensables à la production de blanc. En particulier, l'ouverture des récipients contenant le milieu stérilisé doit être effectuée dans des conditions aseptiques. L'air ambiant contient de nombreux contaminants susceptibles d'infecter facilement le milieu stérilisé. Il faut donc pratiquer les manipulations et la préparation des cultures (de tissu) dans des boîtes spéciales placées dans des chambres d'inoculation.L'intérieur de la chambre d'incubation doit être composé de matériaux non biodégradables et de surfaces lisses faciles à nettoyer. Les étagères doivent être conçues de sorte qu'on puisse facilement nettoyer le sol dessous. Elles sont habituellement en acier galvanisé ou en formica.Ces boîtes à inoculation toutes simples sont largement utilisées partout dans le monde. On les fabrique avec les matériaux locaux disponibles, ce qui les rend bon marché. La vitre à l'avant s'ouvre pour permettre de remplir la boîte de milieu stérilisé. On désinfecte l'intérieur en le nettoyant avec une solution d'eau de Javel à 10%, une solution de formol à 2%. ou de l'alcool éthylique à 70%.Prenez des précautions en utilisant ces produits chimiques. Certains sont toxiques et/ou risquent de provoquer des irritations au nez et aux yeux. Suivez bien les instructions pour éviter tout accident.   Les premières étapes de la production de blanc s'effectuent dans des milieux de culture artificiels qui doivent contenir suffisamment de substances nutritives, par exemple des saccharides, et un agent solidifiant (agar ou gélatine). Le mycélium pousse sur la surface du milieu de culture et servira ensuite à inoculer de plus grandes quantités de substrats sur sciure ou sur céréales. Les cultures se feront dans des éprouvettes ou des boîtes de Pétri (ou des flacons de whisky plats).On peut également essayer de se procurer de petites quantités de culture mère de blanc de bonne qualité pour préparer le blanc final.  Si aucune croissance ne se manifeste sur l'agar, vérifiez les points suivants : -Le champignon était sans doute trop vieux. Essayez avec un spécimen plus jeune.-Le scalpel n'était peut-être pas assez refroidi au moment du prélèvement et a transmis trop de chaleur au mycélium.Le mycélium doit être blanc et s'étendre en dehors du tissu. Si vous voyez apparaître du mycélium jaune, bleu, vert ou gris à d'autres endroits de la surface, ce sont des contaminants fongiques. Une croissance crémeuse et brillante est souvent le signe d'une contamination bactérienne.La plupart des espèces poussent sur les milieux suivants :Ingrédients : 200 g de pommes de terre coupées en dés, 20 g de poudre d'agar, 20 g de dextrose ou de sucre de canne blanc ordinaire, 1 litre d'eau.La recette précédente est utilisée couramment pour la conservation des cultures, mais pour leur multiplication, la recette suivante est plus économique et plus facile à préparer. On s'en sert pour la culture des pleurotes (Pleurotus) et des auriculaires (Auricularia) aux Philippines.Ingrédients : 200 g de son de riz, 1 litre d'eau, 20 g de gélatine. Faire bouillir le son de riz dans l'eau pendant environ 10 minutes. Filtrez, gardez le bouillon et faites fondre la gélatine, puis verser la préparation dans des flacons que vous stérilisez.Avant d'utiliser les éprouvettes contenant le milieu de culture, il faut les stériliser. Dans les laboratoires à petite échelle, on utilise couramment des autocuiseurs, mais les autoclaves conviennent tout aussi bien.? Versez de l'eau dans le récipient jusqu'au niveau du panier. ? Placez les flacons/éprouvettes dans le panier en les couvrant de plastique pour empêcher l'eau de mouiller les bouchons de cotton. ? Fermez bien le couvercle. ? Au début, laissez la soupape d'air ouverte pour permettre à l'air de s'échapper. Il faut attendre quelques minutes avant que l'eau boue et que la vapeur s'échappe. ? Fermez la soupape. Le manomètre indique la montée de la pression. ? Stérilisez sous pression de 20 à 30 minutes.Pour augmenter la superficie de la préparation, on incline les éprouvettes ou les flacons quand l'agar est encore liquide. Veillez à ce que l'agar n'entre pas en contact avec le bouchon de coton qui risquerait de le contaminer. Attendez que l'agar se soit solidifié pour déplacer ou manipuler les récipients pour éviter qu'une petite partie de l'agar ne se solidifie sur l'autre paroi ou trop près du bouchon.   Il est conseillé de ne pas transférer le mycélium plus de huit fois ou sur une période de plus de deux ans sur de l'agar, pour éviter la dégénération.Le mycélium subit une dégénération au bout d'un certain nombre de transferts. Il n'est donc pas possible de continuer à transférer indéfiniment les cultures sur de l'agar.Le matériau des récipients destinés à contenir le blanc doit être résistant à la chaleur : on utilise le plus couramment du verre et du polypropylène (PP). Il faut vérifier s'ils supportent la température de l'intérieur des ustensiles de stérilisation. Si la pression est supérieure à 1 atmosphère de surpression, la température montera au-dessus de 121 ºC. Il arrive que les sacs en PP se fendillent après le processus de stérilisation. Évitez les sacs comportant une soudure : ils ont tendance à se déchirer après un traitement thermique. La culture mère de blanc peut servir à inoculer du blanc sur céréales ou une seconde génération de culture mère. Dans des laboratoires simples, il est déconseillé d'inoculer une autre génération de culture mère de blanc parce que le risque de contamination et de dégénération serait trop grand.Le principal avantage des céréales, c'est qu'ils sont très nourrissants pour les champignons et qu'ils forment des grains qu'on peut facilement disperser dans le substrat. Leur inconvénient majeur, c'est qu'ils fournissent également un substrat idéal pour d'autres organismes. Les risques de contamination sont donc bien plus élevés qu'avec du blanc cultivé sur de la sciure de bois.On utilise différentes sortes de céréales, par exemple le blé, le seigle, le riz ou le sorgho. Leur taux d'humidité doit avoisiner 50%. S'il est plus élevé, la croissance mycélienne sera peut-être plus rapide, mais le risque d'apparition de bacilles sera aussi plus grand. Si ce taux est inférieur à 35%, la croissance mycélienne se fera lentement. Faites d'abord bouillir les céréales, faites-les égoutter, puis mettez-les dans des récipients et stérilisez-les.On obtient un taux d'humidité supérieur dans de petits récipients que dans des sacs de 15 litres. Pour des récipients de 2 litres, la recette est la suivante : 480 g de seigle, de sorgho ou de blé, 400 ml d'eau, 2 g de gypse (45% d'humidité).Substrat du blanc sur sciure : sciure 10 kg, CaCo3 147,5 g, son de riz 1,25 kg, gypse 0,1475 g, urée 0,5 g, eau 1,5 l (voir Annexe 1).Stérilisez les récipients destinés au blanc dans un autocuiseur ou autoclave. La durée nécessaire dépend du type d'appareil, de la façon dont sont remplis les récipients (serré ou non) et de leur taille. Par exemple, deux heures pour des récipients de 500 g ; trois ou quatre pour des sacs de 3 kg.Secouez les flacons en les retirant de l'autocuiseur ou de l'autoclave.Elle peut avoir lieu une fois que la température du centre du récipient est tombée en dessous du maximum de celle de la croissance mycélienne. Utilisez au moins un (flacons de 250 ml) ou deux (flacons plus grands) carrés de 10 x 10 mm 2 de l'agar complètement envahi ou de la culture mère pour chaque flacon.Incubez les flacons jusqu'à ce que le mycélium ait envahi tout le substrat. La température doit avoisiner la température optimale de croissance mycélienne (consultez le tableau du chapitre Biologie des champignons).Secouez-les une fois (au bout de huit jours) ou deux fois pendant la période d'incubation (ou tous les deux ou trois jours), pour répartir régulièrement le mycélium et empêcher que les grains ne se collent les uns aux autres.La plupart des espèces mettront environ deux semaines à envahir complètement le substrat.Conservez le blanc au réfrigérateur (sauf celui de certaines souches de Pleurotus djamor qui sont très sensibles au froid et doivent être stockées à plus de 12 °C) et ne le sortez qu'au moment de son utilisation. Le blanc sur céréales risque de s'abîmer en une nuit à une température supérieure à 25 °C.Le choix du substrat pour le blanc se fera en fonction de l'espèce cultivée et de la méthode de culture. Le tableau suivant indique les substrats le plus fréquemment utilisés. La préparation du substrat nécessite essentiellement des barils à pétrole, des sacs en plastique et une fourche pour mélanger tous les ingrédients. Le sol sur lequel on mélangera et on humidifiera la sciure (ou la paille) sera de préférence en ciment.Équipement nécessaire : ? un mélangeur de substrat (optionnel). Le mélange des ingrédients peut également se faire à la main. ? une source de vapeur ou un équipement permettant de chauffer, un baril à pétrole par exemple.Pour le substrat : ? des matériaux de substrat tels que de la sciure, du son de riz, de la paille de blé, des feuilles de bananiers, de l'herbe à éléphant, de l'herbe sèche, etc. ? des récipients à substrat (des sacs en plastique ou des flacons), ? selon le type de sacs/de flacons : bouchons supplémentaires et manchons en plastique ou élastiques.On mélange les ingrédients et l'eau pour les répartir le plus régulièrement possible. Lorsqu'on ajoute un composant, de la craie par exemple, en petite quantité, il vaut mieux commencer par le mélanger avec un peu de substrat avant de l'ajouter à l'ensemble, sinon il ne serait pas réparti uniformément dans le substrat. Si certaines parties contiennent une concentration de substances nutritives très élevée, elles risquent d'être contaminées.Le fait de mélanger les ingrédients permet également une bonne répartition de l'humidité. Chaque partie du substrat doit disposer de la quantité d'eau nécessaire. Après le mélange, le taux d'humidité doit être de 60 -65%.On obtient parfois une meilleure répartition des ingrédients en les mélangeant à sec (par exemple, dans des substrats « stérilisés » contenant de la sciure et des compléments). On ajoute l'eau ensuite.. On peut mélanger à la main jusqu'à 2000 kilos à la fois, sur un sol cimenté, comme lorsqu'on fait du ciment. La capacité journalière de deux personnes est de 2 tonnes. Mais il leur faudra de l'aide pour le remplissage.Stérilisez le substrat le plus rapidement possible après avoir ajouté les suppléments. Il ne faut pas stocker le mélange plus de six heures pour éviter que le substrat ne fermente.On forme un tas avec la sciure (ou tout autre matériau de base) et on l'humidifie. La sciure s'amoliera, ce qui favorisera l'absorption de l'eau. On garde généralement la sciure en tas pendant un jour ou deux. Dans le cas où on ne peut se procurer que de la sciure fraîche, provenant par exemple d'arbres abattus récemment, on doit garder la sciure en tas pendant une période beaucoup plus longue, jusqu'à plusieurs semaines. Le substrat de sciure ne doit pas contenir d'échardes ou de gros morceaux de bois. Cela risquerait de déchirer les sacs et de fournir ainsi un accès facile aux contaminants, après la stérilisation. D'un autre côté, certains producteurs considèrent que le meilleur matériau de base est constitué par un mélange de sciure fine et de sciure plus grossière ou de copeaux. Il faut éviter d'utiliser de la sciure trop fine qui boucherait l'écoulement d'air, une fois humide.On humidifie les ingrédients coupés fins. On vérifie si le taux d'humidité du substrat est suffisant en le pressant.  Immersion dans de l'eau chaude C'est une forme de pasteurisation. L'eau chaude va tuer les contaminants. On traite ainsi différents types de paille pour la culture des pleurotes (Pleurotus).Cette méthode est très simple : il suffit d'avoir de l'eau chaude, des récipients et du combustible pour maintenir l'eau à la bonne température.? matériau de substrat (voir les formules dans l'annexe2), ? récipients pour le substrat (par exemple sacs en plastique ou cuves), ? récipients pour l'eau chaude et source d'énergie permettant de maintenir l'eau à la bonne température (combustible, énergie solaire, vapeur, etc.), ? treillis métallique pour que le substrat puisse s'égoutter.On place le substrat sur un treillis métallique dans l'eau chaude qui doit être maintenue à 70 °C pendant au moins 15 minutes, et de préférence 30-60 minutes.Une immersion à une température plus basse et pendant une période plus courte est insuffisante pour tuer tous les contaminants.La taille des récipients d'eau dépend de l'envergure de l'opération. Un récipient de 240 litres peut contenir environ 90 kg de substrat de paille humide. Le temps d'immersion n'étant que d'environ 30 minutes à une heure, le répicient est réutilisable plusieurs fois par jour.On ne doit pas utiliser la même eau pour plus de deux ou trois fournées de substrat.Égouttage et refroidissement Égouttez le substrat traité et laissez-le refroidir dans une feuille en plastique propre sur une table ou sur le sol à l'intérieur de la ferme. Puis lardez comme décrit au paragraphe 5.2 Lardage du substrats pasteurisé.Elle tue les organismes indésirables tout en préservant les autres. Il faut maintenir une température de 60 à 70 ºC pendant au moins 8 heures. La plupart des parasites et des maladies seront éliminés à cette température.? matériau de substrat (voir les formules 4-6 dans l'annexe 2) ? récipients (sacs en plastique par exemple) ? baril à pétrole et brûleur Placez une grille à maille fine dans le baril à pétrole pour empêcher que la paille ne passe au travers. Remplissez d'eau jusqu'à une hauteur de 20 cm. Ajoutez ensuite la paille humide au-dessus de la grille et exposez-la à la vapeur pendant au moins 8 heures. Attendez que la paille ait refroidi en dessous de 30 °C avant de procéder au lardage.Utilisez le baril à pétrole comme indiqué. Veillez à ce que la vapeur puisse s'échapper à travers de petits orifices pour éviter que le baril n'explose.Cette méthode est également utilisée pour détruire les organismes indésirables. Mais elle doit être effectuée à une température beaucoup plus élevée que celle des deux autres méthodes, ce qui provoquera une montée progressive d'un certain niveau de surpression dans le baril ou autre récipient utilisé. Mais du fait de la simplicité de l'équipement, la température maximale ne dépassera pas 90 °C et la pression dans le récipient ne sera pas très élevée non plus. On obtiendra toutefois de bons résultats et un substrat stérile en prolongeant le chauffage à cette température.Pour éviter tout risque d'explosion, il faut vérifier que le couvercle du baril ou du récipient hermétique est bien muni d'une valve de sécurité.? matériau de substrat (voir les formules 1-3 dans l'annexe 2) ? récipients de substrat (par exemple les sacs en plastique) ? baril à pétrole (renforcé) ou récipient en métal. Assurez-vous que le matériel utilisé résiste aux températures utilisées.A des altitudes plus élevées l'eau bouillera en dessous de 100 °C et la durée de chauffage devra être prolongée.Le substrat doit avoir refroidi jusqu'à 30 °C (quíl ait été pasteurisé à la vapeur ou par immersion dans de l'eau chaude). On peut y mélanger le blanc (de 3 à 8% du poids du substrat) en remplissant les sacs ou déposer un peu de blanc entre les couches de substrat.On peut mettre le substrat dans différents types de sacs. Ne jamais dépasser 20 kg par sac : une fermentation spontanée ferait monter la température de l'intérieur des sacs à plus de 30 °C, limite supérieure de la croissance mycélienne de la plupart des espèces de pleurotes.En Chine, on utilise un type de sac constitué d'un cylindre en plastique de 20 cm de diamètre, rempli jusqu'à 50 cm de hauteur, et muni en son milieu d'un tuyau perforé par lequel s'effectue l'aération. Le tuyau permet également de faire baisser la chaleur même au coeur du substrat. Envahissement du blanc : à 25 °C le mycélium mettra 20 jours à coloniser le substrat. Dans un environnement très humide, par exemple dans un hangar, on peut enlever entièrement le plastique et le tuyau. Il est également possible de laisser le plastique sur le substrat, mais dans ce cas il faudra faire des entailles dans le plastique pour permettre aux champignons de pousser.Le substrat doit être lardé dès que sa température est en dessous de 30 °C. On utilise généralement des quantités relativement grandes de blanc : de 7 à 10% du volume total. Mais il arrive qu'une plus petite quantité donne le même résultat.  ? Tenez le substrat et le blanc à l'horizontale pour empêcher que des spores ne tombent à l'intérieur. ? Utilisez une flamme près de l'ouverture des flacons de blanc et des sacs en plastique pour que l'environnement reste plus ou moins stérile. ? Procédez au lardage la nuit, lorsqu'il y a moins de contamination dans l'air. ? Nettoyez avec des produits chimiques : formol ou alcool.Évitez tout contact avec ces produits. Leur utilisation présente un risque pour la santé et l'environnement ; donnez la priorité aux mesures d'hygiène.La vaporisation avec du H 2 O 2 (eau oxygénée) permet de nettoyer une pièce avant le lardage, tout en respectant l'environnement puisque ce produit se transforme en oxygène et en eau.On utilise un simple baril á pétrole de la façon suivante : ? Placer une grille en bois à environ 20 cm du fond. ? Remplir le baril d'eau jusqu'à la hauteur de la grille. ? Déposez les sacs remplis de substrat sur la grille, à l'intérieur du baril. ? Posez le couvercle sur le baril et exposer à la vapeur de quatre à six heures en chauffant le baril avec du bois ou du gaz.Pratiquez quelques trous pour permettre à la vapeur de s'échapper. On peut ainsi traiter environ 75 sacs par fournée. Veillez à ajouter suffisamment d'eau et surveillez l'opération pour éviter que l'eau ne s'évapore entièrement. On utilise également des constructions relativement simples en forme de tente pour une semi stérilisation des sacs. Une exposition à la chaleur prolongée à environ 96-98 °C assurera une stérilisation suffisante du substrat. Il va de soi que le matériau utilisé doit supporter ces températures. On diminuera les coûts d'énergie en installant des panneaux isolants.Après le traitement, le substrat doit être stérile.Ce sont des récipients en acier à double paroi, en mesure de résister à une surpression d'1 atmosphère. Nous ne les traiterons pas dans cet Agrodok parce qu'ils représentent un investissement important.Pendant cette phase, le mycélium va envahir le substrat. La durée de ce processus est différent selon les espèces et dépend de la taille du sac, de la quantité de blanc, de la variété utilisée et de la température.Après avoir déposé du blanc dans les sacs, on les place sur des étagères dans les chambres d'incubation.Selon la variété et la température, le mycélium va coloniser le substrat en deux ou trois semaines et va commencer à former de petites fructifications.A ce moment-là, il faut soit changer les conditions de croissance, soit sortir les sacs de la chambre d'incubation pour les mettre dans la chambre de croissance.Puis on enlève les bouchons de coton et le plastique (ou une partie seulement) et on maintient un taux d'humidité très élevé : 90 á 95%.Si l'humidité relative est assez faible (et seulement dans ce cas), on laisse un peu de plastique sur les sacs, pour empêcher le substrat de se dessécher.Quand les fructifications ont atteint la taille d'1 cm, on fait légèrement baisser le taux d'humidité à 85% en faisant passer de l'air frais à travers la pièce.Plusieurs techniques sont utilisées pour remplir la chambre de croissance et préparer les sacs en vue de la fructification.Une pratique courante consiste à fabriquer des cadres de bambou ou de bois et d'y empiler les sacs en formant un mur de sacs en plastique.On ouvre les sacs dès que le mycélium les a complètement envahi. On enlève les bouchons de coton et on découpe une partie du plastique autour de l'ouverture. Faites attention de ne pas couper trop profondément, ce qui risquerait d'endommager le mycélium. Si l'on souhaite récolter des petits champignons, il faudra exposer une plus grande surface à l'air. Mais le substrat séchera plus rapidement. Il faut attendre trois à quatre jours avant que les premiers boutons de champignons se forment.Une autre méthode consiste à taillader les sachets, puis à les suspendre au plafond.La température ambiante doit convenir à la variété de champignons choisie. Il faut bien surveiller le taux d'humidité de tous les champignons pendant leur croissance. Maintenez un taux élevé (80 -90%) en vaporisant de l'eau plusieurs fois par jour.Il ne faut pas vaporiser directement de l'eau sur les champignons qui sont prêts à être cueillis. Lorsqu'ils sont trop humides, leur durée de conservation diminue énormément.  Vous pourrez récolter les champignons au bout de cinq jours (si la température se situe entre 15 et 20º C) ou de deux ou trois jours (lorsque la température est plus élevée). Pour une seconde cueillette, comptez de cinq à neuf jours. Compte tenu de l'énorme variété de souches et de substrats existant, il est difficile d'indiquer les périodes de fructification. En général, on comptera sur une semaine environ pour la formation de nouveaux primordia, étant bien entendu que le délai dépendra en grande partie des conditions climatiques locales et du contrôle climatique dans les chambres de croissance. Pour cueillir les champignons, détachez-les du substrat en les tirant ou en les tordant avec précaution. Veillez à ne retirer qu'un minimum de substrat.Frotter plutôt que racler.Aux Philippines, certains éleveurs enlèvent le substrat en le raclant afin de le dégager de petits primordia non développés. Cette méthode risque d'infecter les primordia, qu'il faudra alors supprimer. En outre, le raclage du substrat entraîne un retard dans la formation de nouveaux primordia. Il vaut mieux frotter la surface des sacs de sciure pour enlever les petites fructifications mortes sans abîmer le mycélium.Tant que le mycélium sera blanc et ferme, on pourra poursuivre la récolte. Au total, on récoltera trois à quatre levées. Une fois que le substrat aura perdu sa fermeté et sa couleur, il faudra le sortir de la chambre de croissance.Ne jetez pas les déchets de substrat à proximité du site de culture ! Tout déchet sera évacué immédiatement et intégralement des zones de travail. Les parasites présents dans le substrat utilisé peuvent facilement se propager dans le substrat frais.La production de champignons varie selon les facteurs biologiques, les conditions de l'environnement ainsi que les maladies et parasites présents durant la culture. La production commerciale des pleurotes frais représente presque 20% du poids du substrat humide.Une fois récoltés, les champignons frais devront être vendus dans les meilleurs délais pour éviter une rapide détérioration. Si cela s'avère impossible, on pourra faire sécher les champignons dans une unité de séchage simple, pour les vendre plus tard. Reportez-vous au chapitre Traitement après récolte.Ahmedabad, Inde  Du point de vue de l'hygiène, cette interruption saisonnière permet d'éviter l'invasion d'insectes nuisibles et l'éruption de maladies.Le substrat est fabriqué à partir de paille de blé qui pendant le battage a été hachée en petits morceaux. Une fois ce travail effectué, les bûches sont placées dans une chambre d'incubation que l'on ferme hermétiquement à l'aide de feuilles de plastique placées le long du plafond et des parois afin de maintenir une température constante de 30º C. Les bûches resteront dans la chambre d'incubation pendant 3 semaines environ.Lorsque les bûches sont envahies par le mycélium, elles sont placées sur les étagères de bambou dans la chambre de croissance. On retire la couverture de papier et le bouchon d'ouate pour aérer le tout et stimuler la croissance et la fructification.Elle atteint environ 26º C dans la journée dans la chambre d'incubation, avec un taux d'humidité de 90%.Les champignons mûrs sont cueillis. On les taille un peu avant de les vendre sur les marchés régionaux et/ou dans les supermarchés.En 1983, le professeur LIN Zhanxi de l'Université agricole de Fujian pris conscience du déclin rapide des forêts de Chine, dû à la demande importante de rondins pour la culture de shii-take ou d'autres champignons exotiques. Il commença à utiliser des herbes sauvages, de la bagasse, de la paille de riz et de maïs comme matériau de base pour le substrat des champignons. Les principaux avantages de la culture de shiitake en sac sont les suivants : ? Elle permet d'utiliser différentes sortes de déchets organiques.? La période totale de culture est de six mois alors qu'il faut compter de quatre à six ans pour la culture sur bille de bois.Les formules de substrat les plus courantes sont les suivantes : ? sciure, 3 à 4% de son de riz, 1% de farine de maïs ou de son de blé, 1% de CaCO 3 ? sciure, 10 à 25% de déchets de maïs, 1 à 2% de CaCO 3 La sciure fraîche issue d'arbres des genres Quercus, Betula, Castanopsis, Castanea, et Carpinus s'utilise sans fermentation antérieure. On peut également se servir de sciure d'autres arbres; à noter toutefois que la sciure contenant de la résine devra fermenter au préalable pendant plusieurs mois (empilez sur un tas humide pendant une semaine, retournez au bout d'une semaine, puis tous les mois pendant six mois au maximum).Une fois que la sciure est assez humide, on la mélangera avec les compléments et la craie. Mélangez d'abord la craie au son de riz, vous obtiendrez ainsi une répartition égale. Le taux d'humidité du substrat, qui se situe généralement entre 56 et 65% au moment de la préparation (appliquez le test de la pression) augmente pendant l'incubation ; on veillera à comparer les données exactes au repos (par exemple : il faut toujours mesurer avant la stérilisation). Certains rapports indiquent qu'une forte capacité de rétention d'eau du substrat, combinée à une bonne aération, donnera de meilleurs résultats. On a observé que l'addition de feuilles de thé au substrat mentionné ci-dessus améliore considérablement la production.Si le substrat est trop humide, l'écoulement d'air sera coupé et dans ce cas, même une longue période d'envahissement du blanc ne pourra pas vous procurer un substrat de bonne qualité. Si l'eau s'accumule au fond des sacs, c'est le signe que le substrat est trop mouillé.Utilisez les méthodes courantes pour le remplissage. A Taiwan, l'exposition à la vapeur à une température de 96 à 98 °C a donné de meilleurs résultats que la stérilisation sous pression à 121 °C ; les deux techniques sont toutefois parfaitement applicables. L'utilisation de la vapeur sous basse pression convient bien si l'on prévoit d'autres levées. Laissez assez d'espace entre les caisses et les sacs pour que la vapeur circule suffisamment. Prévoyez également une sortie d'air.Laissez refroidir les sacs et opérez le lardage le lendemain. 10 g de blanc de sciure suffiront pour un sac de 1,2 kg ; par conséquent, on comptera un flacon de 550 ml pour une cinquantaine de sacs. On vérifiera soigneusement la variété pour la culture sur sciure. Certaines baisses de production importantes sont dues au fait que les fabricants de blanc fournissaient de nouvelles variétés donnant de bons résultats sur billes de bois, mais dont le rendement était très faibles sur sciure.Certaines variétés donneront de bons résultats sur un substrat d'épi de maïs tandis que d'autres seront plus performantes sur un substrat de sciure.Prenez les précautions habituelles lors du lardage ; en cas de niveau de contamination extrême, prenez les mêmes mesures que pour la production de blanc. La contamination ne doit pas frapper plus de 5% des sacs.La colonisation du substrat et la maturation du mycélium prendront en tout de un à quatre mois, en fonction du type de blanc utilisé et de sa quantité (voir les études de cas). La pièce doit être un peu éclairée, au moins à la fin de l'envahissement du blanc précédant la fructification. Chez certains producteurs, les pièces réservées à l'envahissement du blanc sont plongées dans l'obscurité totale ; nous conseillons toutefois d'éclairer ces pièces à la lumière du jour, à la fin de l'envahissement du blanc. Bien des problèmes sont à éviter, à condition de prévoir un peu de lumière durant toutes les phases de croissance. La croissance mycélienne s'avère optimale pour toutes les variétés à une température de 25° C. Généralement, la température à l'intérieur des sacs dépasse de quelques degrés la température ambiante de la chambre. Il faudra même songer à un refroidissement extensif si la pièce contient une grande quantité de sacs.On distingue cinq phases de croissance mycélienne pour toutes les variétés de shiitakes. Le premier stade est celui de l'envahissement du blanc commun au règne des Fungi. Lorsque le substrat devient blanc, cela ne veut pas dire pour autant qu'il est prêt à fructifier. Il doit d'abord venir à maturité. On observe les phases suivantes : 1 L'envahissement mycélien : le blanc fera surgir des hyphes blancs qui produiront des enzymes, lesquelles décomposeront les substances complexes comme la cellulose, la lignine et l'hémicellulose en morceaux plus petits. Ces fragments seront consommés durant les phases suivantes de la croissance mycélienne. La colonisation de la totalité du substrat marque le passage au stade suivant.2 La formation d'une couche mycélienne : deux à quatre semaines après l'inoculation, une épaisse couche blanche mycélienne se développe à la surface du substrat. Plus le niveau de CO 2 est élevé, plus la couche s'épaissit. 3 La formation de boules mycéliennes : il s'agit de touffes de mycélium que la plupart des variétés forment à la surface. A un stade ultérieur, ces boules peuvent devenir des primordia, mais la plupart meurent prématurément. La formation de boules est favorisée par des variations de température ainsi que par un niveau de CO 2 élevé. Pour baisser le taux de CO 2 en cas de formation importante de boules, il suffira de faire une fente dans le plastique. A un stade ultérieur de la culture, les boules risquent de présenter un problème. Elles peuvent facilement être contaminées par les moisissures vertes. 4 La phase de la pigmentation : un peu d'aération sera nécessaire après la formation des boules. Le mycélium virera au brun rougeâtre. Toutefois, le substrat risque de trop sécher si on retire complètement le bouchon. 5 La phase du durcissement de la couche supérieure : retirez le plastique une fois que les sacs auront bruni partiellement (pour un tiers ou pour la moitié). La couche supérieure durcira petit à petit. L'extérieur du substrat doit être dur et l'intérieur plus tendre et plus humide. Le taux d'humidité du coeur du substrat peut atteindre 80%. Si l'extérieur est relativement humide, les contaminants pénètreront facilement dans le substrat. La peau dure et brunâtre a la même fonction que l'écorce d'une bille de bois : elle protège contre les contaminants et retient l'humidité dans le substrat. Il est donc important de contrôler les conditions climatiques si l'on veut obtenir une couverture mycélienne de l'épaisseur adéquate.Les facteurs qui favorisent la fructification des shiitakes sur des billes de bois sont également appliqués pour stimuler les levées dans les sacs en plastique. Il s'agit des éléments suivants : ? variation de la température, ? humidité élevée, ? trempage, ? suppression du CO 2 , ? chocs physiques. Les auriculaires (Auricularia spp.) sont souvent cultivés en Asie. La culture en sac de plastique se généralise de plus en plus, choix qui est dû à la rareté de bûches appropriées et à la facilité avec laquelle diverses variétés d'auriculaires poussent sur la sciure. On peut donc s'attendre à l'expansion de cette technologie dans un avenir proche.Il existe de nombreuses variétés d'Auricularia ; Auricularia polytricha, Auricularia fuscosuccinea et Auricularia auriculu-judea étant les espèces communément cultivées.L'espèce la plus propice à la culture dans les régions tropicales à température élevée est l' Auricularia polytricha.La formule du substrat de sciure est à peu près identique à celles du pleurote et du shiitake, mais la période d'humidification (fermentation) sera plus longue. La préparation des sacs est la même.Une fois remplis, les sacs sont passés à la vapeur selon la méthode appliquée pour les pleurotes et les shiitakes.On utilise généralement du blanc de sciure ; 10 ml suffiront pour un sac. La température conseillée pendant l'envahissement du blanc se situe entre 25 et 28º C. Le mycélium met environ quatre semaines à couvrir le substrat.7.4 Fructification.On pratique des entailles dans les sacs pour favoriser l'apparition des champignons. Manipulez les sacs avec précaution: la texture du substrat demeurera tendre, même après sa colonisation par le mycélium. Celui-ci se casse facilement. La chambre de croissance doit être faiblement éclairée. Vous pouvez compter sur trois ou quatre levées et vous récolterez entre 300 et 500 grammes par sacde 1,2 kg.L'Auricula-judae (Oreille de Judas) se vend mieux que l'A.polytrcha, qui est plus grand. Mais l'intervalle de températures qu'exige la culture de l'A. polytricha convient mieux aux Philippines. L'oreille de Judas pousse dans des régions plus fraîches.? sciure sèche (taux d'humidité 15-18%) 78 kg ? son de riz fin (1 ère catégorie) 21 kg ? CaCO31 kg Le son de riz sera passé au tamis de façon à pouvoir briser les plus gros morceaux en fines particules. Ils seraient sinon les premiers à être contaminés. Pesez les ingrédients du substrat et mélangez bien le Ca-CO3 avec le son de riz avant de les ajouter à la sciure. Versez lentement de l'eau pour obtenir un taux d'humidité de 65 à 75% (vérifiez en pressant).Entassez le substrat en forme de pyramides que vous recouvrirez de plastique pour maintenir l'humidité. Laissez fermenter pendant cinq jours en retournant le tas le troisième jour. Tamisez à travers une maille de 1,5 mm pour vous débarrasser des plus gros morceaux et brisez les mottes qui ont pu se former pendant la fermentation. Les gros morceaux risqueraient d'abîmer le plastique.Mettez un kilo environ dans un sachet de 12 x 30 cm. Fermez avec un manchon et un bouchon. Utilisez 500 ml de blanc pour 50 sacs. L'envahissement du blanc dure un mois environ à 25 -30º C. Disposez les sacs à plat et en rangées sur des étagères. La chambre de croissance (5 m de large, 12 m de long et 4 m de haut) peut contenir 2 640 sacs. Chaque niveau aura 55 sacs par couche ; on pourra placer quatre couches par niveau, soit 220 sacs. Quatre niveaux de 220 sacs chacun auront donc 880 sacs. Trois étagères contiendront par conséquent 2 640 sacs.La température de fructification optimale pour l'Auricularia polytricha se situe entre 23 et 28º C. Pour favoriser la formation de primordia, il faudra retirer les bouchons d'ouate des sacs et faire des trous au fond. Faites en sorte que la température ne dépasse pas les 30º C en arrosant les sacs et en ouvrant la porte de la chambre de croissance pendant la nuit. Les primordia se transforment en fructification en l'espace de sept à dix jours. Détachez les fructifications du substrat par simple torsion manuelle. Il ne doit plus rester aucune trace de pied.Fort appréciés des consommateurs, les champignons comestibles ne se conservent pas longtemps à l'état frais, une fois cueillis. L'homme a mis au point des méthodes de conservations décrites en majeure partie dans ce chapitre. Points abordés : ? les niveaux de qualité et la récolte, ? les modes d'emballage des champignons destinés aux marchés de produits frais, ? les modes de conservation pour consommation ultérieure.La cueillette aura lieu au moment où les champignons auront atteint leur rentabilité optimale. Les champignons à cueillir doivent être secs à la surface ; toute eau (arrosage ou pluie) tombant quelques heures avant la cueillette réduira la durée de conservation de la plupart des variétés de champignons de culture.Les cueilleurs détacheront avec précaution les champignons du substrat ou de la terre de gobetage ; il faut éviter à tout prix de déchirer des parties de mycélium. Le pied sera ensuite coupé à la hauteur voulue. Les champignons sont délicats ; il faudra donc les manipuler le moins possible.Pour s'assurer qu'ils ne soient manipulés qu'une fois (au moment de la cueillette), on pourra les disposer directement dans leur emballage de vente.Demandez aux cueilleurs de respecter strictement les règles suivantes : ? Les champignons poussant dans les lits ou chambres les plus récents seront toujours cueillis en premier.? Ne pas toucher aux fructifications malades (elles seront cueillies à la fin de la récolte et mises dans un sac à part ; le cueilleur prendra soin à la fin des travaux de désinfecter ses mains et ses vêtements).Les pleurotes se cueillent par pièce ou en groupes. Certains concepts de culture des pleurotes sont basés sur la cueillette en groupes (exemple : la culture des pleurotes sur flacons, une méthode japonaise). Les variétés Pleurotus ostreatus et Pleurotus cornucopiae se prêtent plus particulièrement à cette méthode de récolte. La cueillette et la vente de jeunes groupes de pleurotes présentent les avantages suivants : ? Les champignons se cueillent en grandes quantités pendant une courte période. ? Ils ont un bel aspect et conservent leur fraîcheur plus longtemps. ? Les acheteurs paient aussi les pieds.A signaler toutefois que les pleurotes sont souvent vendus en tant que champignons cueillis individuellement. La cueillette doit s'effectuer lorsque le bord extérieur des fructifications est encore enroulé vers l'intérieur et sur le point de se mettre en position horizontale. Ils se conserveront plus longtemps s'ils sont cueillis juste avant leur maturation. La longueur du pied sera déterminée en concertation avec l'acheteur.Coupez les pieds directement après la cueillette. Des débris accrochés aux pieds risquent de souiller les champignons.Détachez les fructifications du substrat par torsion manuelle, en prenant soin de ne laisser aucun morceau du pied dans le substrat.L'idéal est d'emballer les champignons destinés à être vendus frais sous un film plastique et de les mettre au frais aussitôt. Le film plastique est une bonne protection contre le dessèchement, à condition que la température de stockage demeure plus ou moins constante. Evitez d'exposer les champignons à des températures fluctuantes. Plus la température augmentera, plus les champignons perdront de leur eau. En cas de baisse de température, l'eau se condensera à l'intérieur de l'emballage et à la surface des champignons, ce qui accélèrera leur flétrissement.Pleurotus spp. : des expériences en régions tropicales ont démontré que la conservation des champignons préemballés dans des films de polyéthylène perforés à une température de 8 à 10 °C était une bonne méthode pour préserver la fraîcheur. Les champignons pourront être conservés de la sorte pendant quatre jours.Généralement, la saveur et la valeur nutritive des champignons frais sont meilleures que celles des champignons en conserve. Pourtant, il s'avère nécessaire de conserver les champignons lorsqu'on ne peut en vendre qu'une partie à l'état frais. Les techniques de conservation les plus courantes sont la mise en boîte, la saumure et le séchage. Ces méthodes de conservation ne conviennent pas de la même façon à toutes les variétés de champignons. Les pleurotes en conserve, par exemple, ont un goût très désagréable (à l'exception de Pleurotus cystidiosus et de Pleurotus abalonus). Mais dans certains cas, les traitements de conservation sont susceptibles de renforcer la saveur des champignons. C'est ainsi qu'une fois séchés, les pleurotes et les shiitakes obtiennent un parfum spécifique.Ce processus est bien plus simple à effectuer. Le séchage présente plusieurs avantages : c'est une méthode facile, rapide et sûre ; bien séchés, les champignons peuvent être conservés pendant longtemps. Dans le secteur des champignons de culture, ce type de conservation s'applique essentiellement aux shiitakes (Lentinula). Une fois séchés, ils acquièrent, tout comme les pleurotes (Pleurotus), plus de saveur. Mais le marché des pleurotes séchés est assez limité comparé à celui des shiitakes secs. Les auriculaires (Auricularia) peuvent également être séchés et sont souvent commercialisés sous cette forme.Veillez aux points suivants pendant le séchage : ? les champignons ne doivent pas se toucher, ? la circulation de l'air est essentielle : étalez les champignons sur une plaque de gril ou une grille métallique, ? le four de séchage doit se trouver dans un endroit bien aéré pour permettre un apport d'air frais sec et l'évacuation de l'air humide.   On peut aussi se servir de sacs de cellophane recouverts de polymère qui sont imperméables et hermétiques. On pourra les sceller au fer chaud ou à l'aide d'un appareil à sceller (à condition d'avoir de l'électricité). Malheureusement, ce genre de plastique n'est pas toujours disponible et il n'est pas très solide.La meilleure option est le sac en plastique de qualité plus épaisse (polyéthylène, épaisseur 0,05 mm). Il se ferme parfaitement à l'aide d'une agrafe ou de bande cellophane.Annexe 1 : Formules Formules de milieux PDA : milieu d'extrait de pommes de terre, de dextrose et d'agar 200 g de pommes de terre coupées en dés ; 20 g de poudre d'agar ; 20 g de dextrose ou de sucre de canne blanc ordinaire ; 1 litre d'eau.Milieu à base de bouillon de son de riz 200 g de son de riz ; 1 litre d'eau ; 20 g de gélatine. Faire bouillir le son de riz dans l'eau pendant environ 10 minutes. Filtrez, gardez le bouillon et faites fondre la gélatine, puis verser la préparation dans des flacons que vous stérilisez.On obtient un taux d'humidité supérieur dans de petits récipients que dans des sacs de 15 litres. Pour des récipients de 2 litres, la recette est la suivante : 480 g de seigle, de sorgho ou de blé ; 400 ml d'eau ; 2 g de gypse (45% d'humidité).Substrat pour blanc sur sciure Sciure 10 kg ; CaCo3 147,5 g ; son de riz 1,25 g ; gypse 0,1475 g ; urée 0,5 g ; eau 1,5 l.Ouvrage The atlas of cultivated Pleurotus mushrooms, de J.T. Peng, et al. 1990. ISBN 957-9055-03-3. Description des paramètres de culture de 50 variétés différentes de pleurotes de la collection du CCRC à Taïwan.The edible fungi south of the Sahara, 1993, de J. Rammeloo et R. Walleyn. Étude sur le sujet. Scripta Botanica Belgica 5: 1-62.The poisonous and useful fungi of Africa south of the Sahara, 1994, de R. Walleyn et J. Rammeloo. Étude sur le sujet. Scripta Botanica Belgica 10: 1-56.Agar Substance extraite d'algues marines, utilisée pour solidifier les milieux de culture. On peut également se servir de gélatine (meilleur marché). On trouve de l'agar sous forme de barre ou de poudre.Conditions aseptiques : conditions stériles, sans organismes indésirables. Bactéries Micro-organismes qui risquent de contaminer les cultures et particulièrement le blanc sur céréales.Mycélium cultivé dans un milieu stérile, qui sert à la multiplication des champignons de culture.Mycélium du champignon cultivé dans un milieu stérile, qui sert à la multiplication.Une boîte ronde en verre ou en plastique munie d'un couvercle permettant d'observer la croissance de micro organismes. On la remplit en partie avec un milieu de culture stérile (ou on la stérilise après l'avoir remplie). On s'en sert beaucoup pour faire pousser le mycélium qui sera inoculé au blanc mère.Stade où les jeunes champignons sont encore complètement fermés.Un composant organique de bois, de la paille etc., qui se dégrade plus facilement que la lignine. C'est le matériau brut à partir duquel on fabrique du papier. Les déchets de coton contiennent de grandes quantités de cellulose. La sciure de bois contient de la cellulose, de l'hémicellulose et de la lignine."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4320341042.json b/main/part_2/4320341042.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..af5a586139ef0504f2743104a9d9dd959105c9c2
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"de999c9faa7f08ba138282330070c2ab","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3e8d5f70-358d-4402-b247-97ba290514d6/retrieve","id":"871386040"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7debc19a-99c6-4b0b-b896-0016a705f114","content":"Brucella abortus, less frequently by B. melitensis, and occasionally by B. suis• Bovine brucellosis is characterized by one or more of the following signs: abortion, retained placenta, orchitis, epididymitis and, rarely, arthritis, with excretion of the organisms in uterine discharges and in milk (OIE, 2009) • Brucellosis, also known as \"undulant fever\", \"Mediterranean fever\" or \"Malta fever\" is a zoonosis and the infection is almost invariably transmitted by direct or indirect contact with infected animals or their products (WHO, 2006) Objective of study     The informants listed rabies (40%), Avain Influenza (24.4%), Leptospirosis (8.9%), Tuberculosis (6.7%), Anthrax (6.7%), and Streptococcus suis (4.4%) as known zoonoses• The important problems for raising cattle in this areas are infertility • The knowledge and perception on brucellosis is very poor in the beef cattle small holders and villagers in the study areas• There are not the same perception between villagers and cattle holders• The disease experience of village has effect on villager's perception• Need further investigation to classify the causes of \"infertility\"• Rapid response necessary to control and prevent the disease• Would be the correct priority level of investment for brucellosis in beef cattle at the national level?• How different of Participatory Epidemiology disease investigation comparing with classical disease investigation and laboratory test of brucellosis on the same area?.Thank you for your attention • The SAT is a very useful test for the diagnosis of human brucellosis when it is performed with a standardized antigen preparation, and titres which can be expressed in International Units (IU) can be correlated well with clinical stages of infection• The milk ring test (MRT) is a simple and effective method, but can only be used with cow's milk. A drop of haematoxylin-stained antigen is mixed with a small volume of milk in a glass or plastic tube. If specific antibody is present in the milk it will bind to the antigen and rise with the cream to form a blue ring at the top of the column of milk."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4322100627.json b/main/part_2/4322100627.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8ad4e0692a2f834503313493af8b6a159ed0a214
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"054765b7fc624fdc93b10ba377fa88e9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1b736271-65e9-41f8-8dbf-63036f95a47f/retrieve","id":"-1988677726"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b914cf38-3721-43e7-9618-fb18a64ba5c2","content":"Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above. The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used.Livestock production in the Northwest Highlands (NWH) of Vietnam, particularly in Son La Province, faces significant challenges. Limited knowledge and skills among farmers in livestock production practices, particularly in feed and feeding strategies, are major constraints that impede livestock productivity 1 . In the Livestock CRP project (Li-chan), farmers in four villages of Chieng Chung and Chieng Luong communes, Mai Son district, were trained on feeds and feeding regimes, however, the farmer's receptivity to knowledge was still limited due to the short project duration and other operational barriers. Acute winter (dry season) feed shortage, lack of high-quality forage varieties and limited capacity in animal nutrition techniques are pressing issues for livestock producers in the region. The reliance on traditional forage varieties, such as Napier grass, further constrains productivity, and this presents an opportunity for introducing and promoting improved forage varieties in the region.Improved animal nutrition is fundamental in ensuring livestock productivity and efficiency. Local stakeholders play a crucial role in this domain, and empowering these stakeholders with the knowledge and skills necessary for optimal animal nutrition is essential for sustainable agricultural practices and economic development. Therefore, training of trainers (ToT) with local extension staff and veterinary officers, and training of farmers (ToFs) with women and men farmers and farmer groups is crucial to enhance knowledge and skills on animal nutrition.The CGIAR Initiative on Sustainable Animal Productivity for Improved Livelihoods, Nutrition and Gender Inclusion (SAPLING) aims to transform the livestock value chains towards greater productivity, adaptation, equity, and sustainability in Son La Province in the NWH of Vietnam. This aligns with the local programs and development goals for the agriculture sector in the province. SAPLING focuses on testing and promoting locally adapted feed intervention strategies for cattle and pigs to address the feed challenges and enhance livestock performance in the region.In 2023, the Feeds and Forages component of SAPLING (work package 1 -Technologies and practices for sustainable livestock productivity) conducted a ToT course and four ToFs to impart practical knowledge on pigs and cattle feeds and nutrition in Mai Son District, with 114 participants (24 local staff and 90 farmers). To enable a wider reach of farmers, ensure strengthened local capacity in animal nutrition, and accelerate scaling of feeds and forages interventions, a follow-up in-depth ToT was organized in 2024 and lasted 3 days from 28-30 May 2024, with participants from Mai Son and Phu Yen districts. The main purpose of the training was to equip the trainers not only with the technical knowledge in cattle and pig nutrition, but also impart skills that can be effectively transferred to farmers in Son La Province.The 2024 ToT training took place at the Mai Son District Agriculture Service Center from 28-30 May 2024. All materials were prepared for the practical sessions including feed materials (rice straw, forage biomass, rice bran, maize meal, feed concentrates) and other materials needed (urea, probiotics, nylon bags, plastic containers) (Annex 2).Interactive and hand-on learning methods were applied during the ToT, by using PowerPoint presentations, posters and practical demonstrations. Participants were divided into three groups for the practical demonstrations. In the last day of the training course, participants were divided into two groups, where they practiced presenting on their own using posters and practical demonstrations. All participants could speak and understand Vietnamese, so no translation was needed during the trainings.The ToT was conducted from 28-30 May 2024 The following topics were covered in the training (full agenda in Annex 1): The ToT training successfully engaged all invited participants over the three-day program, resulting in a significant improvement in their knowledge and skills in animal nutrition and feed technologies for cattle and pigs. Participants showed high levels of engagement and enthusiasm throughout the sessions.The training covered essential topics such as feed processing (silage making, ureatreated rice straw, and feed fermentation), feeding regimes for different stages of cattle and pigs, and forage-based feeding strategies. These topics were delivered through PowerPoint presentations and interactive group discussions, followed by practical sessions where participants could apply the knowledge in real time.During the practical sessions, participants actively engaged in silage preparation, ureatreated rice straw production, feed mixing, and feed fermentation for pigs. They followed a 'learning by doing' approach, allowing them to confidently grasp and execute the techniques on their own. The trainees were evaluated through their participation in group discussions, practical exercises, and individual presentations. About 33% of the participants demonstrated a strong grasp of the material, delivering confident presentations and showing good communication skills. Another 50% performed well, while 17% displayed average teaching skills, largely due to a lack of prior experience in teaching despite a solid understanding of the technical material.The participants visited local forage demo farms showcasing both improved and local forage varieties, such as Green Elephant grass (VA06), Mulato II, Mombasa Guinea, and Ubon Stylo. This visit allowed the trainees to evaluate the performance of these forages and gain practical insights into integrating them into local farming systems.Following the ToT, SAPLING and the Mai Son District Agricultural Service Center organized 34 training of farmers (ToF) sessions from 11-22 June 2024, across nine communes. A total of 1,183 farmers participated (65.5% men, 34.5% women), representing primarily Thai and Hmong ethnic groups. These sessions extended the knowledge gained in the ToT to a broader farmer base, covering essential feed and nutrition practices for livestock management.The ToT program demonstrated success in building local capacity in animal nutrition, paving the way for the scaling-up of these interventions across Son La Province. However, to ensure long-term impact and sustainability, several key steps need to be taken:• Expand ToT programs: To achieve widespread adoption of improved livestock practices, it is recommended that the ToT program be expanded to other districts within Son La Province. Local staff at the commune, district, and provincial levels who were trained during the ToT sessions will play a vital role in this expansion, acting as lead trainers and knowledge transfer agents for farmers in their respective areas.• Strengthen follow-up support: Continuous engagement with ToT participants is essential to ensure the consistent application of the skills and knowledge acquired. Providing follow-up support and additional refresher courses will help reinforce their understanding and address any practical challenges they may face when transferring these skills to farmers.• Broader outreach through ToFs: The success of the initial ToF sessions highlights the need for further farmer training sessions, especially targeting underrepresented groups like women and ethnic minorities. Expanding ToF programs to additional communes and villages will ensure that more farmers benefit from improved feed and nutrition strategies, thereby enhancing livestock productivity and economic outcomes across the province.• Sustaining knowledge transfer: To maintain the momentum generated by the SAPLING project, it will be important to institutionalize these trainings within local agricultural services. By integrating animal nutrition and feed technology training into the regular programs of local extension and agricultural service centers, the project's interventions will continue to have an impact even after the SAPLING initiative concludes.With these next steps, the SAPLING initiative can ensure that the benefits of improved animal nutrition and feed technologies reach more livestock keepers, leading to enhanced livestock productivity and improved livelihoods across the Northwest Highlands of Vietnam. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4322682387.json b/main/part_2/4322682387.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d2789fd0c442bd51f78868c2bed8a9c198e39246
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5666776f7da460d4f746781a55e595aa","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bb3d136e-4ac8-4d52-9706-e44e897c081e/retrieve","id":"1186589805"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fa4723dd-391d-419a-b2f5-71efbc840e71","content":"The aim of this two-pager 1 is to provide input for the OneCGIAR investment plan. Notably to identify key research challenges within the OneCGIAR impact areas, how these areas interact with Dutch policy priorities and how the challenges could be addressed / strengthened.Scaling of innovations does not only involve multiple actors and changes; it is also likely to affect multiple development outcomes and objectives. This multidimensionality poses challenges and introduces trade-offs, as -more often than not-outcomes may be positive in one domain (e.g. productivity, profit) but negative in others (e.g. biodiversity, gender equity). Even if such trade-offs are not very apparent (e.g. in case of a multi-purpose breeding efforts), the involvement of multiple actors (e.g. breeders, seed companies, distributors, farmers, processers) implies distributional issues and coordination and information challenges. There is scope to enhance feedback loops, learning and co-development in seed systems, value chains and innovation systems to ensure that research is responsive to societal demands, and that scaling potential is considered when research agendas are set.While 'scaling' can be considered instrumentally as a practice, activity or strategy that AR4D organisations and their partners need to develop, implement, manage and coordinate, 'scaling' is also a topic of scientific investigation that can be approached from several disciplines. A recent (2020) special issue on 'Science of Scaling' in Elsevier's Agricultural Systems journal suggests that there are a number of important knowledge gaps where insights from different disciplines are likely to be relevant: 1 How do technical, organisational, economic, institutional, behavioural, discursive and political dimensions of change co-evolve over time, and which type(s) of change provides leverage over others in processes of innovation and scaling for systems transformation? 2 What are the strengths and weaknesses of innovation and scaling models governed through the public sector, the private sector, or publicprivate partnership? Which models are most appropriate for different types of innovation in different socio-economic or political settings? 3 How can (un)intended positive and negative conse-quences of scaling and system transformation be anticipated and differentiated across dimensions, levels, and societal groups, and how can such trade-offs and synergies guide investments in responsible innovation and scaling processes and pathways? 4 What kinds of institutional governance arrangements (e.g., incentive systems, fund allocation, adaptive management) can enable international AR4D organisations to engage effectively with impactful innovation and scaling processes?The current OneCGIAR strategy devotes considerable attention to the Practice of Scaling in the more instrumental sense, especially in Science Groups / Action Areas working on genetic innovations & resilient agro-food systems.However, the science of scaling is less clearly embedded still, which poses risks for the quality and underpinning of responsible scaling efforts and the realization of impact.At the same time there is an active community within the CGIAR that is interested in approaching Scaling in a more systemic and interdisciplinary manner, and CGIAR donors demand the CGIAR to perform better in the area of innovation and scaling. It is important to ensure that the 'practice of scaling' becomes informed by the 'science of scaling' to increase its efficiency and effectiveness.Dutch research institutes are at the forefront and highly visible on the topic of scaling and innovation. They are well positioned to advance this topic together with the various scaling communities and taskforces, and link it successfully with: (a) system transformation -taking a more systemic and interdisciplinary perspective; and (b) gender and diversity -ensuring that the benefits and risks of scaling are equitably distributed.To address the challenges we propose to develop a large strategic research programme with the following features:• Involving several social science disciplines to understand different dimensions of scaling (e.g. economics, sociology, innovation studies, governance, communication science, etc.); • Pay attention to the distribution of benefits and risks associated with scaling across different categories of beneficiaries (e.g. along dimensions of gender, wealth, land-tenure, occupation, etc.); "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4328541457.json b/main/part_2/4328541457.json
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+++ b/main/part_2/4328541457.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e15e34b5a1d3145537702a71bb7f2e75","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fe749d68-cc9e-4af6-8c12-c0f0fdc15839/retrieve","id":"-537024763"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"db41fd9a-1bea-484c-b71f-f1d248195f8e","content":"In what ways does gender (roles and norms) influence stressor related coping strategies and the preferred cassava traits by men and women farmers/processors in the study area?  Coping strategies adopted by men and women producers in response to conflict stressors Coping strategies adopted by men and women producers in response to climatic stressorsWe adjust to the climatic changes by knowing the time we will plant, the variety to plant since some plants are resistant to drought and can also mature within a shorter time.Diversified sources income like petty trading, traveled to town to engage in vocational activities such as carpentry, mechanics, and they left the troubled place for more peaceful areas, planting several crops, other than planting just one type of crop.Some men give out their daughters in hand for marriage for foodstuffs just to survive the crisis or people also sell their goods at a low price to earn an income.\" Coping strategies adopted by men and women VC actors Gendered and regional resilience capacity- Cassava Mitigates other staples \"That's the more reason why I have held on to cassava processing. When all the other crops have been exhausted but I have my own cassava. I even sold one basin of cassava and bought guinea corn and am using it for food now and then yesterday I sold about two basins so that I could give labourers to prepare land for me to plant millet so it's the cassava that has been holding me all year round\". KII-Cassava processor-Daudu, Benue state, woman"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4355428409.json b/main/part_2/4355428409.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..42764c5e2a5cdfec2fe634d692687a1b72401b30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/4355428409.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0e233c9cd11b3364f29ea1139a893b7c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b9c49608-6092-435c-a7ba-13fc647f829a/retrieve","id":"1393302335"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fbe8bff7-96a8-4991-94f6-c14c0dfc6854","content":"Project Title: P803 -9. Landscape Governance Description of the innovation: FTA and PIM research highlighted the socioeconomic benefits of 12 community forest concessions in the Maya Biosphere Reserve in Peten, Guatemala. These findings provided the National Council for Protected Areas, in charge of the concessions, with the evidence needed for revising the norms for forest concessions and renewing a first concession contract (Cooperative Carmelita). "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4358326759.json b/main/part_2/4358326759.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..41a0b193c4f855f334ed76f766d3f5ba52a02c48
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+++ b/main/part_2/4358326759.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"64141a868a6969fd4a8030eb7094c9cc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f1eab4b6-ee99-48b6-86c3-16f32f4e7f43/retrieve","id":"2087691459"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"791a35e9-b9ae-40ad-b8db-7fd498a8d8de","content":"The aims of our work were: (i) to explore the diversity of a group of near-homozygous genotypes for iron, zinc and phytate content, (ii) to identify donor accessions for biofortification traits and (iii) to identify genome regions involved in determining iron, zinc and phytate seed content by means of Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS).Among Plant Genetic Resources for Agriculture, landraces are excellent genetic materials for developing new varieties. Due to their genetic diversity, these populations have maintained potentially useful alleles for increasing valuable traits in crops. A diet mostly relying on pulses as source of proteins could not guarantee a proper intake of mineral such as iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn). Indeed Fe and Zn deficiency can lead to serious medical conditions, especially in developing countries. In this context, biofortification is regarded as a sustainable and an effective approach to cope with such a form of malnutrition. Common bean, the most widely used pulse in the world, shows wide diversity regarding Fe and Zn seed content and of antinutritional compounds such as phytate (phytic acid, InsP6, and its derivatives, InsP5 and InsP4); the latter reduces absorption of trace-elements including the two above-mentioned minerals. Exploring the natural variability of these compounds in purposely developed collections is the first step towards biofortification of common bean.Plant Materials. A near-homozygous genotypes (i.e. pure lines) collection was developed starting from 179 common bean landraces and 13 cultivars using a Single-Seed Decent (SSD) approach for five generations. In 2017 the collection was multiplied in a nursery using a partially replicated randomised experimental design based on the replication of 7 different genotypes.Phenotyping. Seed samples were collected, hoven-dried and milled using Teflon capsules and zirconium oxide beads for subsequent seed minerals and total phytate analyses. X-ray fluorescence spectrometry was used to quantify Fe and Zn using an X-Supreme 8000 (Oxford Instrument). Total phytate were extracted and purified using anion-exchange chromatography and then quantified in duplicates by means of spectrophotometry, according to Latta and Eskin 1 . For each trait, Best Linear Unbiased Predictors were estimated.Genotyping. Genomic DNA was isolated from young leaf tissues. Genotyping was performed at IGATech (Udine, Italy) using a double digest Restriction-site Associated DNA sequencing approach (ddRAD-seq). Produced sequences were mapped against the common bean reference genome. Several quality control (QC) steps were used to filter the identified SNPs. SNPs characterized by missingness > 0.1, minor allele frequency (MAF) < 0.05 and heterozygosity ≥ 0.02 were discarded.Association analyses were performed for Fe, Zn and total phytates using a mixed linear model, including corrections for population structure and relatedness, as implemented in TASSEL (v. 5.2).  Food Chem. 28, 1313-1315(1980).The collection of near-homozygous genotypes developed in this study showed a high level of diversity for the seed nutrient related traits. The application of the ddRAD approach resulted in large and robust SNPs dataset with markers distributed over the 11 P. vulgaris chromosomes. Results of the GWAS analysis allowed the identification of a region significantly associated with seed zinc content (chromosome Pv01). Further investigation are needed to detect candidate genes for the observed association.The collection showed high level of diversity for the considered traits (Fig. 1, left). The concentration of Fe ranged between 38.4 and 93.7 ppm while Zn between 18.9 and 53.4 ppm. Phytate concentrations ranged from 4.8 to 19.9 mg/g, with an average of 12.0 mg/g. The average coefficient of variation (CV) between duplicates was 2.7% showing high level of method reproducibility.Genotyping. After QC control, the genotyping produced a dataset of 49,518 SNPs used to perform association analyses. Results of structure and cryptic relatedness analyses, carried out on a reduced dataset of 2,518 independent SNPs, showed the presence of two major groups consisting of genotypes characterized by different level of relatedness.A significant and meaningful association was found for zinc on chromosome 1 where five significant SNPs were identified spanning in an area of 42 Kbp. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4359740664.json b/main/part_2/4359740664.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c119fc3b6d0855666cefb384ae7572b4c6d9bdc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/4359740664.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e8b2cb729049bc0a51e8646a50ac567f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/71f96bf0-5581-42cd-9362-417e3bd5bb5a/retrieve","id":"783145269"},"keywords":["Aluminum < Micronutrients","General Plant Nutrition","Rice < Crops","Environmental Stresses acid soil","aluminum","low ionic strength solution","low nutrients","rice"],"sieverID":"af912cd5-d63a-4c95-a5a3-82179c75105d","content":"Nutrient deficiencies are often an additional growth-limiting factor in tropical acid soils.There are many causes for the poor growth of plants in acid soils. The common and primary stress factors are: 1) H + toxicity/low pH, 2) Al and Mn toxicities, 3) deficiencies of essential nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Mo and B) (Rao, 2001;Rao et al., 1993). The major problems of these soils are the low content of cations, the toxicity of exchangeable Al and/or soluble Al, and low level of phosphorus and also low silicon availability due to long weathering (Okada and Fischer, 2001;Rao, 2001;Rao et al., 1993). Severals studies were conducted to identify major factors that influence plant growth in solution culture with or without Al in solution and on its related mechanisms (Ofei-Manu et al., 2001;Pavan et al., 1982;Pintro and Taylor, 2004). However, the number of studies that have simultaneously considered the two major factors (high Al and low nutrients) in tropical acid soils is limited (Wenzl et al., 2003). In high nutrient solutions, Al toxicity is alleviated by occurring physicochemical interaction between Al and other ions, the formation of non-toxic complexes with OH -, SO 4 2and precipitation of Al with high ionic strength solution (Blamey et al., 1983(Blamey et al., , 1991;;Wheeler and Edmeads, 1995). The ionic strength of soil solutions of Savanna varied 1.3-1.7 mM in unfertilized conditions, which further increased to 5.4-13.4 mM after fertilization (Wenzl et al., 2003). Wenzl et al. (2001) found that root growth of Brachiaria ruziziensis, relatively Al-sensitive grass, was reduced in a solution containing toxic concentrations of Al and low nutrients than B. decumbens. An inadequate supply of nutrients may be one of the main factors that contribute to poor persistence of B. ruziziensis in infertile acid soils (Rao et al., 1998). Al activities in a solution of tropical acid soil ranged from 2.26 to 196.5 µmol L -1 (Pintro et al., 1999). Blamey et al. (1991)  high Al concentration at similar levels to those found in acid soils. Watanabe and Okada (2005) investigated the difference in Al tolerance between Indica and Japonica cultivars under low ionic strength condition. To the best of our knowledge, no comprehensive studies on the identification of the primary inhibitory factors for plant growth have been studiedexcept for the studies reported by Akhter et al. (2009a) and Khan et al. (2011) for sorghum and maize. The main objective of the present study was to determine differences among rice cultivars in their tolerance to Al, low nutrient stress and combined stress factors of Al and low nutriens by using low ionic strength nutrient solution that mimicks low fertility acid soils of the tropics. Rice is a major food crop in Bangladesh and identification of rice cultivars that are tolerant to low fertility acid soils in Bangladesh will contribute to improved food security and poverty alleviation.Indica type (Bangladeshi) rice seeds were collected from Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Gazipur, Bangladesh. (with a photosynthetic photon flux density of 81 µmol m -2 s -1 ) and spread on nylon screen placed on a container filled with 9 L of tap water. Tap water contained 8.0, 2.92 and 1.95 mg L -1 of Ca, Mg and K, respectively. Temperature, light intensity and aeration were maintained as same throughout the experiment.Seedlings with roots of 3-4 cm in length were selected and treated with 0.2 mM CaCl 2 for 6 h (pH 4.9). After measuring root length of the longest root by a ruler, roots of the seedlings were transferred to 0.2 mM CaCl 2 (control treatment), and 20 µM AlCl 3 in 0.2 mM CaCl 2 (Al treatment), and treated for 24 h at pH 4.9 for short-term treatment. At least 10 seedlings in each of control or Al treatments were used for short-term screening experiment. Just after 24 h, root length of the longest root for each seedling was measured again.Elemental composition and pH in long-term culturing medium is shown in Table 1. All chemicals were purchased from Kanto Chemical Co., Inc., Japan. All seeds were soaked and spread on nylon screen for germination same as in short-term experiment. Just after sprouting, seedlings were transferred to the glasshouse for preculturing in tap water for 5 days.Seedlings with same size were selected and transplanted into the 40 L of low nutrient (LN)  Wada and Seki (1994) (Fig. 1). Culture solutions just after daily pH adjustment were collected, filtered through membrane filter (0.2 µm in pore size), and P was measured. When necessary, P was added to maintain the recommended concentration in Table 1. P was measured colorimetrically by molybdenum blue method using spectrophotometer (U-2900, Hitachi, Japan) at 660 nm. Concentrations of each element were measured for confirmation by inductively coupled plasma atomic absorption spectrophotometer, ICP-AES (Liberty 220, Varian Australia Ptv. Ltd., Australia). The culture solutions were renewed weekly in first three weeks of culturing and every 5 d during the remaining days to maintain nutritional demand of the growing seedlings. Seedling replication was done 3 times whereas treatment replication was done twice. At harvest, 3 seedlings with similar sizes were selected, separated into shoots and roots, thoroughly washed, dried for 3 d at 70 o C in draft oven, and weighed.The stress tolerances of the respective crops were calculated as % relative growth with respect to the plant dry weight, i.e. Ltd., Australia).Mean value of Al tolerance under short-term treatment of simple nutrient solution for eight cultivars of rice was 43.3% (Fig. 2). Al tolerance was in the order of Rikuu-132, Kamenoo>Sasanishiki, BR41>>>Aikokuu, Rikuu-20, Domannaka, BR34. Under long-term conditions the whole plant average Al tolerance was 83% and 72% in AN and LN conditions, respectively (Fig. 3 A, B). Al stress in both nutritional conditions decreased the plant growth, Ca concentration in the shoot showed significant positive correlation with combined tolerance of shoot (R 2 = 0.507*) indicating the Ca in the shoot playing the most important role to ameliorate or minimize the effects of combined stress conditions (Fig. 5). However, in the absence of Al, shoot Ca level did not increase under LN conditions (Fig. 5).We initially screened 23 Bangladeshi (Indica type) and 6 Japanese (Japonica type) rice cultivars for Al tolerance and further screened 18 pedigree cultivars of one Japanese tolerant cultivar. Among these 47 rice cultivars, we selected 8 cultivars (Fig. 2) and investigated No correlations were found between short-term Al tolerance and the combined tolerance (R 2 = 0.09, r = 0.3) (Table 2). Although investigations based on similar short-term screening techniques have been reported (Akhter et al., 2009b;Khan et al., 2009a;2009b;Kobayashi et al., 2004), our results suggest that a short-term screening technique may not be practically Al-tolerant crop species whereas Al-sensitive sorghum did not show such relationship. ` Some of the nutritional characteristics of plants grown in the presence of Al have already been reported (Foy and Brown, 1964;Hãussler et al., 2006;Mariano and Keltjens, 2005). We propose that the plant nutritional characteristics linked to low-nutrient tolerance observed in the present investigation should be further evaluated as an important strategy for plant adaptation in tropical acid soils for both Al-tolerant plant species and Al-sensitive plant species under low-Al conditions. Aluminum tolerance and low-nutrient tolerance for plant production in these soils may vary depending on the plant nutritional characteristics that are related to Al tolerance and low-nutrient tolerance. The soluble Al concentration and nutrient status of these soils are also important factors to consider for evaluation. A short-term screening technique that can be applied to these soils should, alternatively, be established in the future. So far, investigations were carried out using only monocotyledonous species. The recommended plant nutritional characteristics required to cope with low-nutrients containing Al may be different between plant species, for example, for dicotyledonous plants. Further research is needed using other crops, such as grain legumes, root and tuber crops and other high value crops grown in tropical areas.This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research to T. Wagatsuma (No.18208008) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.      "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4362335005.json b/main/part_2/4362335005.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c767c1b9c32e0892e356fa56b43a452ed83609bd
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+++ b/main/part_2/4362335005.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1c154ef92a28e01231cd8290251a5074","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3c1413da-4d62-4c2f-986c-03e26dec8526/retrieve","id":"-1434536859"},"keywords":["P608 -Activity 2","2","2: Establish protocols for survey of antimicrobial use and for monitoring AMR"],"sieverID":"6c39befb-c4a8-42ff-b4da-5efc1ef1f3c2","content":"Description of the innovation: AMUSE Livestock is a tool covering knowledge, attitudes and practices related to antimicrobial use in livestock production systems. It asks questions at household level about: numbers and species of animals; types, costs and doses of drugs used; and animal health actions/behaviours carried out by farmers."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4367087199.json b/main/part_2/4367087199.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..92957d2c834f122814d32bb18756295484a263b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/4367087199.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b0fefe4bfe56fc526b7a7f3843eb0c31","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d4aa7022-61d5-4c3d-a071-ce8269c0a14d/retrieve","id":"-572321441"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e3bc3340-d58f-4e86-b40c-7c3daa23517e","content":"y Within the approaches to sustainable cattle farming, supplementation with legumes is one of the effective alternatives to boost productivity, efficiency, and sustainability of the sector, which is mainly related to the greater capacity cattle systems with supplementation have to respond during periods of drought.y Economic evaluation shows that optimizing the conditions of the traditional production system with Bothriochloa pertusa (Colosuana) pastures and supplementing with the legume Canavalia brasiliensis contributes to improving the productivity indicators of the system, translating into higher benefits and a lower risk of economic loss.y The conducted trial involved a characteristic productive system in the Caribbean region and demonstrated how it can be improved with appropriate technical management and supplementation with legumes. These results can be shared with smallscale cattle farmers to initiate changes in traditional production systems.Without improvements, the existing cultivated land will not be able to meet the demand for food by the year 2050 anymore. Therefore, intensive cattle farming plays an indispensable role in global agricultural policy and food security (Mottet et al., 2017;Röös et al., 2017). The cattle sector is of significant importance to the rural economy of Colombia, contributing 1.3% to the national gross domestic product (GDP), 19.8% to the GDP of the agricultural sector, and 47.2% to the national livestock GDP (FEDEGAN, 2023). In the dry savannah of the Colombian Caribbean, the grass Bothriochloa pertusa (Colosuana) has been widely adopted in cattle systems (Cuadrado et al., 1996). However, its productivity and quality decrease during droughts. Empirical evidence indicates that supplementation with the legume Canavalia brasiliensis is an effective solution to this problem (Castro-Rincón et al., 2016;Mojica-Rodríguez, 2017). The objective of this document is to assess the profitability of improving the pasture conditions of the traditional Colosuana system and integrating supplementation with the legume C. brasiliensis.As reference technology, the traditional Colosuana grazing system with low investment in the pasture was considered. This grass is a perennial plant with a height of 50 cm before flowering and 90 cm at maturity (Cook et al., 2020). The improved technology involved optimizing pasture conditions and supplementation with C. brasiliensis. This material grows well in acidic and alkaline soils and is also used to restore soil structure due to its strong root system (Cook et al., 2020). It was provided at three fixed daily inclusion levels (IL) to the animals. In all IL levels, results superior to the traditional technology were observed. However, for the economic analysis in this document, the most successful case was selected, which is the IL of 1.5% dry matter (DM) of For the economic evaluation, we employed a discounted cash flow model, which consolidates investments and the difference between income and costs (Miranda, 2022). This yields a net cash flow per period for the traditional and improved scenarios. Using this data, profitability indicators such as Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) were calculated.Through their comparison, the more profitable technology is determined. Subsequently, a probabilistic analysis with Monte Carlo simulation was performed on the NPV using @Risk software. This allows for more robust estimates of the indicator, estimating the probability of economic loss, and identifying the factors that determine profitability. The cash flow model was projected for 8 years, based on the characteristics of the productive system.Table 1 compares the indicators of the traditional Colosuana grazing system with the improved system with pasture management and supplementation with C. brasiliensis hay (IL 1.5%). Both technologies are profitable, with a positive NPV and an IRR higher than the discount rate (6.9%). However, the indicators of the improved system are significantly superior. The NPV increases from US$2,994 to US$26,988, and the profitability, according to the IRR, increases by 8.9%. The analysis was projected for 8 hectares.The results of the Monte Carlo simulation can be observed in Table 2. With this technique, the more robust mean values of the NPV and IRR were obtained. The mean NPV increases from US$4,225 to US$25,115, and the average IRR grows by 7.2%.The CV decreases from 69.78 to 26.75. Therefore, the precision of the estimation increases. In the case of the riskTraditional IL 1.5% of economic loss, the probability decreases from 0.059 to 0.These findings are visualized in Figure 1, which depicts the probability distributions for the two scenarios.Figure 2 shows the variables that have the greatest influence on the NPV or profitability. Accordingly, milk productivity (MP) explains 77.6% and 73.4% of NPV in the traditional system and the IL of 1.5%, respectively. The second most relevant variable is the discount rate (DR), explaining 21.4% and 23.8%of the profitability indicator. In third place is the milk price ($ M) (US$/l), which has a very small influence, ranging from 0.8% to 2.5%.The profitability gains reported in our study for this type of The improvement in pasture management and supplementation with C. brasiliensis improved the productivity indicators of the traditional Colosuana system. Milk productivity and animal stocking rates increased. The positive productivity results were reflected in better economic performance of the system where both NPV and IRR increased significantly. Additionally, probabilistic analysis showed a reduction in the probability of economic loss. Such representative case studies for the region are important for disseminating improved feeding technologies and practices, promoting their adoption, and increasing the resilience, profitability, and sustainability of cattle production. Future research could delve deeper into the benefits of supplementation. Aspects of hygienic quality add value to the product, so their measurement could further pinpoint the impact of adopting new productive technologies. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4369326037.json b/main/part_2/4369326037.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5afc66de649a20724d25ab900ff852320402165e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/4369326037.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"43bab9ea3787a51eeaab93a92405ca79","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/61f8082f-bd0b-4f3b-b307-3dd774f8d88f/content","id":"1154609108"},"keywords":["Cling film","Hue angle","Respiration rate","Firmness","Ascorbic acid"],"sieverID":"634ee9e0-d864-46c3-85de-8e6214c2c328","content":"Compact, medium size, white to creamy cauliflower curds were packed into different packaging techniques like i. without packaging (control); ii. packed in low density polyethylene (LDPE) bag with 1% perforation; iii. wrapped with polyethylene (PE) cling film and iv. newspaper (locally used). Half of each treatment was kept at (6±1°C and 50±5% RH) and the other half was kept at ambient conditions (25±3°C and 60±5% RH). LDPE bag or PE cling film has a great effect to retain firmness and reduce weight loss of cauliflower in both storage conditions. Respiration rate, rot incidence and changes of colour values (lightness and hue angle) was reduced significantly for the cauliflowers packed in LDPE bag or wrapped with PE cling film stored in a refrigerator than that of control (without packaging) and all packaging techniques stored at ambient condition throughout the storage period. Initially, acidity, TSS and ascorbic acid content were 0.26%, 4.7° Brix and 58.7 mg 100g -1 , respectively. Ascorbic acid content was reduced severely in the cauliflower stored in ambient conditions than that stored in a refrigerator. Cauliflower wrapped with PE cling film and packed in an LDPE bag (1% perforation) stored in a refrigerator (6±1°C and 50±5% RH) could retain white colour, good sensory quality, firm and fresh curds with minimum loss in weight, texture and disease incidence up to 18 days and 16 days, respectively.Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) is one of the most familiar vegetables all over the world. Its compact flower heads hold essential nutrients and numerous health benefiting phytonutrients that help to prevent overweight, diabetes and offer protection from prostate, ovarian, and cervical cancers. It is also a good source of different types of vitamins like B, C, E and K, dietary fibre and folic acid, omega 3 fatty acids, proteins, phosphorus, potassium, iron, magnesium and manganese (Florkiewicz et al., 2014). It is a member in the cruciferous or brassicaceae family of vegetables and has similar nutritional and phyto-chemistry profile as that of other brassica family veggies like broccoli and cabbage.High quality cauliflower heads are white to cream in colour, firm and compact. The curds should be free of mechanical damage, decay, browning, or yellowing, which can result from sun exposure. High respiration rate of cauliflower and its soft tissue make it highly perishable and it is not suited for long-term storage even at low temperature. Quality loss in fresh cauliflower includes yellowing of the curd, floret opening, loss of hardness, the development of an undesirable odour, off-flavours and the risk of microbial development (Licciardello et al., 2013;Zhan et al., 2014). To extend the shelf life of fresh produce without compromising nutritional quality, many methods have been proposed including low temperature, in modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), sanitizing, antibrowning dipping, edible coatings etc. (Albanese et al., 2007).Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 12(2): 155-163, December 2022 Physical preservative treatments such as MAP or vacuum packaging been developed in order to extend the shelf life of whole and FC products (Zhan et al., 2014). A large number of FC fruits and vegetables are stored and marketed in MAP in combination with chilled storage or other preservation procedures (Hodges and Toivonen, 2008). MAP refers to the technique of sealing actively respiring produce in polymeric film packages to modify the O2 and CO2 concentrations within the package atmosphere (Mir and Beaudry, 2016); those concentrations are reached by the natural interaction between the respiration rate of the product and the transfer of gases through the packaging material (Oliveira et al., 2015). One of the primary effects of MAP is a lower respiration rate, which reduces the rate of substrate depletion and oxidation reactions (Sothornvit and Kiatchanapaibul, 2009). Cantwell and Suslow (2009) reported that cauliflower heads and florets should be stored at 0°C and 95-98% RH to maintain its quality. At 0°C, the respiration rate of cauliflower florets slows down to ∼8 ml CO2 kg -1 h -1 compared to ∼42 ml CO2 kg -1 h -1 at 22°C (Cantwell and Suslow, 2009). Dependent on storage temperature and duration, if cauliflower is stored under RH conditions 98%; it favours the microbial activity and spoilage (Hardenburg et al.,. 1993). Individual shrink wrapping or cling wrapping, a form of modified atmosphere packaging is used to enhance the storage life and to maintain the harvest freshness of fruits and vegetables. The principal advantage of shrink wrapping are: reduced weight loss, minimized fruit deformation, reduced chilling injury and reduced decay by preventing secondary infection (Dhall et al., 2012). The effect of PE packing including cling wrapping on storage life and quality of cauliflower at 0°C and 2°C & 12°C have been studied by Dhall et al. (2010) and Raja et al. (2011), respectively. Controlled atmosphere storage (CAS) differs from MAP. They operate by controlling the temperature, gas composition, and humidity. Various gas composition methods used are; N2 generation, O2 control, and CO2 removal. Unfortunately, CAS systems for mixed produce loads are unrealistic and too costly to control. There variability in respiration rates and ethylene production create too high of a challenge to control and maintain (Lee et al., 1996). MAP can be more beneficial than CAS on extending the shelf life of fresh produce during distribution and handling (Lee et al., 1996). MAP uses barrier properties that are specifically chosen based on the respiration rate of the vegetables. It benefits can range from decreased ethylene production, reduced sensitivity to ethylene, and a delay in ripening (Lee et al., 1995). Berrang et al. (1990) studied the effect of cauliflower in CAS environment (18% O2, 3% CO2, and 79% N2) held at 4°C. Their results showed that the cauliflower had a smaller decrease in lightness (L) value compared to the control (Berrang et al., 1990). Browning was also observed in the control versus the controlled atmosphere samples, which is a result from the decline in the L value (Berrang et al., 1990). Unlike broccoli; cauliflower and carrots do not benefit from controlled atmosphere (Suslow et al., 2009). Injury of cauliflower occurs when the oxygen level is less than 2% or the carbon dioxide level is greater than 5% (Suslow and Cantwell, 2009).Hence in the present studies were attempted to see the feasibility of PE cling wrapping compared with other packing techniques of cauliflower for extension of storage life and maintaining quality at ambient condition (25±3°C and 60±5% RH) as well as in refrigerator (6±1°C and 50±5% RH).Compact, medium size, white to creamy white cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) was harvested from the field of a progressive farmer at Gazipur district. Harvesting was done with great care to prevent bruising to the highly sensitive turgid curds. The outer leaves of curds were removed leaving small leaves in each curd. Each cauliflower had an average weight of 1.1 to 1.3 kg. The curds were divided into 4 lots (each 60 curds) and some curds were separated to use for analysing initial physico-chemical characteristics. One lot was unpacked (control) and the other 3 lots were used for 3 packaging technique viz., low density polyethylene (LDPE) with 1% perforation, polyethylene (PE) cling film and newspaper (practiced locally). Half of the packets of each treatment were kept at normal refrigerator (6±1°C and 50±5% RH). Other half of each treatment was kept at ambient condition (25±3°C and 60±5% RH). At each storage interval the data on weight loss, respiration rate, firmness, instrumental colour, decay, ascorbic acid, titratable acidity and total soluble solids (TSS) content of cauliflower curds were recorded. The experiment was laid out in completely randomized block design with 3 replications.Respiration rate of cauliflower was assayed of each measurement interval during storage. Each fruit of all treatments were placed in 4000 ml airtight plastic containers equipped with septa and sealed for 2 h at ambient condition. After incubation, 1 ml of gas sample was withdrawn from headspace by a gas-light hypodermic syringe and analyzed using a gas analyzer (CO2/O2 gas analyzer, Quantek Instrument, Model No. 902D, USA). The percentage of CO2 evolved in the container gas was recorded. According to Nasrin et al. (2017) respiration rate Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 12(2): 155-163, December 2022 was calculated based on the total gas volume in the jar, fruit surface volume, fruit weight and incubation time and expressed as ml kg -1 h -1 of CO2 evolved.Firmness analysis was performed using Fruit Texture Analyzer (GUSS, Model No. GS25, SA). Firmness measurement was taken as the maximum penetration force reached during the tissue breakage and determined with 8 mm diameter stainless steel flathead probe, which penetrates in a normal direction at a cross-head speed of 5 mm s -1 . After establishing zero-force contact between the probe and the horizontally positioned fruit, specimens were compressed 3 mm at 2 equidistant points along with the equatorial region of each fruit. The maximum penetration force (N) was used as firmness value of cauliflower pieces (Nasrin et al., 2018a).External colour of fruit was evaluated with a Chroma Meter (Model CR-400, Minolta Corp., Japan). CIE L*a*b* coordinates were recorded using D65 illuminants and a 10° standard observer as a reference system. L* is lightness, a* (-greenness to +redness) and b* (-blueness to +yellowness) are the chromaticity coordinates. The a* and b* values were converted to chroma [C = (a* 2 + b* 2 ) 1/2 ] and hue angle [h° = tan -1 (b*/a*)]. Before measurement, the equipment was calibrated against a standard white tile. Ten readings were taken at different locations on each fruit. The readings were taken at the same position of each sample (Nasrin et al., 2018b).Cauliflowers were weighed at the beginning of the experiment and thereafter 2 day's intervals during the storage period. It was calculated by the weight difference between initial and specific time interval divided by initial weight and finally denoted by percentage.After all physical analysis, cauliflower was cut into small pieces and homogenised in a grinder to assess the parameters. The ascorbic acid content was determined by using 2, 6-dichlorophenol indophenol titration method as described in AOAC (1994). Ten (10) g of ground sample was suspended in 100 ml of distilled water and then filtered. To determine titratable acidity, sample was titrated with 0.1 M NaOH and pH 8.1 according to AOAC (1994) and expressed as percentage of citric acid.The TSS content of cauliflower was determined by using a refractometer. Homogenous sample was prepared by blending the fruit flesh. A few drops were taken on prism of the refractometer and direct reading will be taken by reading the scale in meter as described in AOAC (1994).Cauliflower decay rating scale was used as used in UV Davis; California provided the sample picture of decayed cauliflower. The scale rated from 1 to 5, 1 = none (no scratch or even rubbing symptom), 2 = Slight decay (slight scratch or rubbing symptom, no black spot), 3 = moderate decay (initiation of black spots, 2-3 numbers), 4 = moderate severe decay (5-6 numbers of black spots with small area) and 5 = severe decay (8-10 numbers of black spots with small area). Decay rating of 5 was considered as the limit for saleability.Data were analysed for analysis of variance using MSTAT-C programme. Means were separated using Duncan's Multiple Range Test (DMRT).Fig. 1 illustrates the effect of different packaging technique and temperatures on the CO2 production of cauliflower. Initial respiration rate of cauliflower was 49.46 CO2 ml kg -1 h -1 and it was reduced to less than even half when curd was stored at 6±1°C (both packed or unpacked) at 3 th days of storage period. The unpacked samples presented higher respiration rate during storage time compared with packed ones at both ambient and refrigeration temperature. The lowest respiration rate was observed in cauliflowers wrapped with PE cling film or packed into 1% perforated LDPE bag at both temperatures throughout the storage period. The explanation for the observed results is the gas barrier between cauliflower tissue and the environment, promoted by PE packaging that modifies the atmosphere around the fruit and so reduces its respiration rate. The intensity of change in the respiration rate of fruits and vegetables depends on the packaging techniques and on the storage conditions of the products. Suslow and Cantwell (1998) reported that the respiration rate of fresh cauliflower was 43-48 CO2 ml kg -1 h -1 at 25°C. At 20 th day of storage respiration rate was 149.47 ml kg -1 h -1 in unpacked fresh cut cauliflower where as it was 80.57 ml kg -1 h -1 in vacuum packed and around 100 ml kg -1 h -1 in 1% perforated LDPE packed fresh cut cauliflower (Nasrin et al., 2022). The respiration rate of fresh cut cauliflower was significantly higher than that of the uncut cauliflower and was within the range of 238.5 and 157.5 mg kg -1 h -1 at 15 °C; 120 and 77.5 mg kg -1 h -1 at 5 °C and 66 and 44.4 mg kg -1 h -1 at 1 °C for fresh cut and uncut cauliflower (Mashabela et al., 2018).  Firmness or texture is a critical quality attribute in the consumer acceptability of fresh fruit and vegetables. Degradation of insoluble protopectin to the more soluble pectic acid and pectin contribute to a decrease of firmness in fresh fruits and vegetables (Nasrin et al., 2020). Cauliflower suffers a rapid loss of firmness during storage period, which contributes greatly to its short postharvest life and susceptibility to fungal contamination. Fruit texture properties are affected by cell turgidity and the structure and composition of the cell wall polysaccharides.   Fruit weight loss is mainly associated with respiration and moisture evaporation through the skin. As cauliflower curd has no peel makes them susceptible to rapid water loss, resulting in shrivelling and deterioration. The rate at which water is lost depends on the water pressure gradient between the fruit tissue and the surrounding atmosphere, and the storage temperature. Low vapour pressure differences between the fruit and its surroundings and low temperature are recommended for the storage of cauliflower. Dehydration will also cause increase in surface-wounding in curd. Wrapping or packaging of curd act as barriers, thereby restricting water transfer and protecting fruit skin from mechanical injuries, as well as sealing small wounds and thus delaying dehydration. Fig. 3 shows weight loss during storage (at 6±1°C and 25±3°C temperature) of different packed cauliflower. All samples demonstrated a gradual loss of weight during storage. Throughout storage, the loss of weight of unpacked fruits was significantly greater than that of packed fruits. At the 6 th day, stored at ambient condition, control, curd packed in LDPE bag and wrapped with PE cling film showed 18.90%, 3.39% and 1.09% weight loss, respectively. So, it can be said that LDPE or PE cling film has a great effect to reduce weight loss of fresh produce. Similar results were also found by Dhall et al. (2010) that cauliflower packed with cling film and LDPE bag stored at 0°C temperature lost 2.4% and 2.1% weight at 28 days of storage period. The reduction in weight loss wrapped with cling film and packed in LDPE bag may be due to creation of micro-atmosphere inside the wrap or bag which reduced the transpiration losses and respiration rate as the film is differently permeable to O2 and CO2 transmission.Colour is an important factor in the perception of cauliflower curd quality. Fig. 4 a&b illustrates the changes in surface colour in terms of lightness (L*) and hue angle of cauliflower stored at refrigerator (6±1°C) and ambient condition (25±3°C) packed with different packaging technique. The L* parameter is an indicator of curd darkening. As can be observed in Fig. 4a, the range of lightness was 72 to 87 and all the samples showed decreasing L* values with storage time. Unpacked curds were significantly darker than packed ones throughout the storage period. At 6 th day of storage period, L* had decreased by around 18% for control (without packaging) curds stored at ambient condition and by around 14.00%, 11.05% and 8.09% for curds packed with newspaper, 1% perforated LDPE bag and PE cling film wrap, respectively stored at refrigerator (6±1°C). Storage period (days)The hue angle of cauliflower displayed a decreasing trend in all treatments with storage period but the more decreasing tendency was found in cauliflower stored at ambient condition than that stored at refrigerator. On the other hand, cauliflower packed in LDPE bag and wrapped with cling film preserves their original colour than unpacked or wrapped with newspaper one (Fig. 4b). The hue value range for fresh cauliflower was between, 94 to 101, which indicates the yellow region of the colour axis. The lower the number the more yellow, it is indicating a deterioration of cauliflower colour. At 6 th day of storage period, hue angle had decreased by around 6.35% for control curd stored at ambient condition and by around 3.95%, 2.16% and 1.84% for fruit packed with newspaper, 1% perforated LDPE bag and PE cling film respectively stored at refrigerator (6±1°C). Spokowski (2010) found the similar results that the range of lightness and hue angle for vacuum packed cauliflower was from 82 to 84 and 94° to 98° during the storage at 3° and 7°C temperature and both values were decreased with increasing storage period. Decay is an important source of postharvest losses of cauliflower, particularly in combination with rough handling and poor temperature control. A large list of bacterial and fungal pathogens causes postharvest losses in transit, storage, and to the consumer. Bacterial Soft-Rot (Erwinia and Pseudomonas), Black Spot (Alternaria alternata), Grey Mold (Botrytis cinerea), and Cladosporium Rot are common disorders. The causal pathogens of diseases that appeared on the cauliflower in this study were Alternaria spp., Botrytis spp. and Erwinia spp.The incidence of rot started on 2 nd day in control (without packaging) curds wrapped with newspaper at ambient storage as shown in Fig. 5. Cauliflower wrapped with newspaper, PE cling film and packed in 1% perforated LDPE bag secured 3.33, 1.67 and 2.33 decay score respectively at 14 th day of storage at refrigerator (6±1°C). More water was accumulated inside LDPE bag and curd was suffered from rubbing in LDPE bag than that of cling film. That why more spots were created on curds packed in 1% perforated LDPE bag than that of PE cling wrapped curds. Browning or black spots can be due to bruises and pressure points. Later the affected points turn dark brown to black. When the symptoms are in progress, a fungal attack is seen. Dhall et al. (2010) found more fungal decay in cling film wrapped cauliflowers than that packed with LDPE bag stored at 0°C temperature and 95% RH at 28 days of storage period. Which may be due to the high relative humidity within the packaging (Ceponis et al., 1987). Initial ascorbic acid in cauliflower was 58.7 mg/100g. At 6 th day of storage, ascorbic acid content reduced severely in the cauliflower stored in ambient condition than that stored at refrigerator. Cauliflower packed in LDPE bag or wrapped with cling film preserved more ascorbic acid than cauliflower wrapped with newspaper and control (without packaging) in both temperatures. Initial acidity and TSS is 0.26 % and 4.9° Brix respectively. At 6 th day of storage, acidity increased slightly and TSS increased moderately ranged from 4.8° to 5.6° Brix. Maximum TSS was found in control cauliflower as maximum water loss was occurred here.Control cauliflower stored at ambient condition was good up to 3 days whereas, cauliflower packed in LDPE bag and wrapped with cling film stored at refrigerator preserved their quality up to 16 and 18 days respectively. Initially, acidity, TSS and ascorbic acid content was 0.15%, 7.7° Brix and 62.97 mg 100g -1 , respectively in cauliflower was found by Raja et al. (2011). He also found slight increase in acidity and decreased in ascorbic acid content during storage period. Titratable acidity, TSS, pH and ascorbic acid content of fresh cut cauliflower were 0.25%, 6.5° Brix, 6.8 and 59.3 mg 100g -1 (Nasrin et al., 2022). Cauliflower wrapped with PE cling film or packed in LDPE bag (1% perforation) and stored at refrigerator (6±1°C and 50±5% RH) could retain white colour, good sensory quality, firm and fresh curds with minimum loss in weight, texture and spoilage. The shelf life was 18 days for cling film wrapped and 16 days for LDPE packed curd stored at refrigerator, while it was only 3 days for control one stored at ambient condition. More water was accumulated and curd was suffered from rubbing in LDPE bag than that of cling film that creates more spots on curds."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3d673c1c173426744d744b3907cdea0f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/0a843254-8aec-4a23-bb2f-78dd69534268/content","id":"-41409407"},"keywords":["Antioxidants","Cross-talk between Heterodera filipjevi and cadmium","Heterodera filipjevi","Hordeum vulgare","Oxidative stress","Trace metal"],"sieverID":"49b30f28-e3b7-46f2-90af-235e76583f66","content":"Aims This research aimed to establish how Hordeum vulgare responds to abiotic and biotic stress affecting in tandem. Methods Plants were inoculated with Heterodera filipjevi and treated with cadmium (Cd) concentration (5 μM) that can occur in the cultivated soil. To verify the hypothesis about participation of increased antioxidative defence in H. vulgare under stress, biochemical and microscopic methods were implemented.Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is a globally important cereal crop. Its grains are used to produce human food, livestock feed and beverages by malting, brewing, and distilling industries as well as biofuels (Tricase et al. 2018). In natural conditions, crop plants, including spring and winter barley are affected by a plethora of environmental stresses. Particularly in the face of global climate changes, which are becoming more and more noticeable, it is rarely seen that crop plants need to deal with only one environmental stress during their growth and development. A much more common case is the situation when plants have to response to several abiotic or biotic stresses operating simultaneously or sequentially. Plants draw the mineral nutrients from the soil for building organic compounds and finally for yielding. Moreover, soil is a source of many stress factors (Raza et al. 2019).Among the soil origin abiotic stresses are water deficit or its excess, salinity, nutrient imbalance, unfavourable pH (Niedziela et al. 2014;Pandey et al. 2017). What is more, soils in many areas around the world are strongly polluted with trace metals and metalloids, including cadmium (Cd) as a non-essential highly toxic element (Muszyńska et al. 2019c). The Cd pollution in agricultural regions is mostly due to the application of contaminated sewage sludges, phosphate fertilizers, irrigation water and plant protection products (Paunov et al. 2018). Cd can accumulate in the grains of cereal plants and then can cause serious problems with health of the livestock and human and with the crop production (Labudda 2011;Deng et al. 2019). Cd also significantly affects plant growth and development as well as physiological processes including among others photosynthesis, nutrient metabolism, and antioxidant machinery (Gill and Tuteja 2010). Besides abiotic stressors, the most economically significant groups of pathogens such as cyst nematodes of the genus Heterodera and Globodera and viruses (wheat mosaic virus and barley yellow mosaic virus), protist Plasmodiophora brassicae, and fungus and funguslike species of the genus Phytophthora, Pythium, Rhizoctonia, Fusarium, and Verticillium are soil-borne pathogens of plants (Labudda 2018). Cereal cyst nematodes are closely related parasitic species that attack cereals. Until now, eleven cereal cyst nematodes species have been described. Of these Heterodera latipons, H. avenae and H. filipjevi are the most economically important pathogens for the worldwide production of cereals (Toumi et al. 2018). The rye cyst nematode H. filipjevi (Madzhidov) Stelter is an obligate biotrophic sedentary parasite, mainly infecting barley and wheat (Dababat and Fourie 2018). The H. filipjevi parasitism on roots of cereal plants causes the grain yield losses reach up to 50% (Pariyar et al. 2016).In view of the classical Levitt's theory (Levitt 1972), which shows the plant physiological mechanisms during response to stress, different abiotic and biotic stressors may be considered as primary stress and then as its result, a secondary stress may appear. In plant organisms, the secondary stress is always linked to the changes of redox balance in cells, so oxidative stress may be induced. Oxidative stress is defined as an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and an effectiveness of the cellular systems to neutralize them. ROS such as singlet oxygen, superoxide anion, hydroxyl radical or hydrogen peroxide are continuously produced during various kinds of metabolic processes, including photosynthesis and respiration. The ROS increased content in plants can lead to damage of nucleic acids, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and plant pigments (Muszyńska and Labudda 2019;Muszyńska et al. 2019a). To preclude the impoverishment of cellular functions, the ROS level is controlled by enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant systems. The enzymatic antioxidant system encompasses mainly superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), various peroxidases and enzymes of the ascorbate-glutathione pathway (Labudda and Azam 2014;Muszyńska et al. 2018b;Kapoor et al. 2019), whereas non-enzymatic system consists of reduced molecules of glutathione (GSH) and ascorbate (ASA) and a large group of phenolic metabolites (Saxena et al. 2016;Durak et al. 2019;Muszyńska et al. 2020). Salicylic acid (SA) is described as a phenolic phytohormonal player during signalling and regulating of the numerous plant responses to abiotic and biotic stresses (Morkunas et al. 2011(Morkunas et al. , 2018;;Maruri-López et al. 2019).In published literature, many research results demonstrate plant responses to Cd (for review see Martinka et al. (2014) and Loix et al. (2017)). However, the applied Cd concentrations were often not realistic and significantly differ from the Cd level in contaminated soil (Sanità di Toppi and Gabbrielli 1999). Therefore, based on published results by Milone et al. (2003) and Muszyńska et al. (2018a), we chose a realistic concentration of Cd which can occur in the cultivated soil. Therefore, we hypothesized that the enhanced antioxidative defence system could play a role of a great importance in the plant systemic physiological mechanisms to resist oxidative stress and damage induced dually by the cyst nematode parasitism and Cd exposure. To find that out, we used a biochemicalphysiological approach in combination with microscopic observations. This paper highlights how spring barley plants respond to dual environmental stresses, namely the cyst nematode infection and Cd exposition.Seeds of the spring barley Hordeum vulgare L. cv. 'Airway' were washed in tap water for 2 h and next they were surface decontaminated in 5% NaOCl with 0.2% Tween 20 for 10 min with stirring. They were rinsed under tap water for 1 h and next incubated for 1 h in 0.2% Plant Preservative Mixture (PPM) (Plant Cell Technologies, Inc., Washington DC, USA) to exclude potential contamination by microorganisms. The decontaminated barley seeds were put (embryos upwards) side by side into Petri dishes (9 cm diameter) on a 0.2% PPM-soaked filter paper and covered. After 18 h incubation at 4 °C in the dark, the seeds were kept in the dark at 23 °C for 2 days (Labudda et al. 2020b). Twelve germinated seeds were planted into a plastic pot (25 × 25/26 cm) with saucer. Pot was filled with a commercial horticultural substrate consisted of a mixture of low-moor and high-moor peats (0-20 mm fraction). Substrate had no addition of mineral fertilizers, its pH in water was in the range of 5.6-6.8 and before planting it was autoclaved at 121 °C, 0.1 MPa for 20 min. To each pot aliquot of one hundred and fifty ml of sterile 0.2 × Knop medium (pH 6.4) was added. Barley plants were cultivated in a growth chamber MLR-350 (Sanyo, Tokyo, Japan) at 25 °C during the day and at 23 °C at night with a 16 h/8 h day/night cycle under a photosynthetic photon flux density of 100 ± 25 μmol/m 2 /s and at 50% humidity. Every 2 days plants were watered with 100 ml sterile milli-Q water.Cysts of Heterodera filipjevi (Madzhidov) Stelter were collected from naturally cyst nematode-settled experimental wheat fields of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Yozgat (39°08'N, 34°10′E; altitude 985 m a.s.l.) in the Central Anatolian Plateau of Turkey. Cysts were extracted from rhizospheres and roots of Triticum aestivum plants harvested at the end of the growing season. The modified extraction protocol presented by Ashrafi et al. (2017) was used. Hatching of pre-parasitic H. filipjevi juveniles was provoked by the cyst incubation in sterile 3000 μM zinc chloride at 17 °C. Freshly hatched pre-parasitic juveniles were carefully washed 6 times in sterile milli-Q water and then were suspended in water.Pots with 7-day-old plants were divided into four groups, nematode-uninoculated and cadmiumuntreated controls (C), nematode-inoculated (N), cadmium-treated (Cd) and both nematode-inoculated and cadmium-treated (N + Cd) plants. Plants from the N and N + Cd groups were inoculated with approximately 2400 freshly hatched pre-parasitic H. filipjevi juveniles suspended in sterile milli-Q water per pot and plants were watered with 100 ml sterile milli-Q water. Plants from the Cd and N + Cd groups were watered with 100 ml sterile milli-Q water enriched with 5 μM CdCl 2 . C plants were watered as well. Barley plants from all these experimental groups were collected after 14 days of stress exposition. This short-term experimental time was chosen based on our previous published observations (Labudda et al. 2020b) reflected the dynamics of growth and development of H. filipjevi larvae in spring barley (the same cultivar as tested in this article) roots under conditions of pot experiment. At 14 days post-inoculation (dpi), most sedentary J2 larvae moulted to J3 larvae, which indicated that the 14 dpi syncytia met their nutritional demands. About 14 dpi, the J3 larvae fed intensively to reach the J4 stage and sexual maturity after 21 dpi and start reproducing. Four plants were used for each bulked sample and experiments were conducted in three biological replicates.Evaluation of physiological status and antioxidative system of barley plantsThe amounts of photosynthetic pigments were assayed according to Lichtenthaler (1987). Leaf samples (100 mg) were macerated in 10 ml of ice-cold 80% acetone with addition of calcium carbonate and centrifuged for 15 min at 4 °C (16,000×g). The absorbance of acetone extracts was measured at 470, 646 and 663 nm in Nunc U-bottom 96-well plate (Thermo Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) on a Varioskan LUX Multimode Microplate Reader (Thermo Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA). The chlorophyll a (chl a), chlorophyll b (chl b) and carotenoid amounts were calculated according to Wellburn (1994). Total chlorophylls (chl a + b), the ratio of chlorophyll a to b (chl a:b) and the ratio of chl a + b to carotenoids (chl a + b:carotenoids) were also estimated.Measurement of superoxide anion contents was performed according to Doke's method (Mai et al. 2013). Barley leaves (100 mg) were immersed in 1 ml of the 0.01 M K/Na phosphate buffer (pH 7.8) containing 0.05% nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT) and 0.01 M sodium azide. Samples were incubated in the dark for 1 h at room temperature. After incubation, reaction solutions (without leaves) were heated at 85 °C for 15 min and rapidly cooled on ice-bath. Superoxide anions content was expressed as absorbance at 580 nm per gram of fresh weight (FW).The H 2 O 2 content was estimated according to procedure by Junglee et al. (2014). Leaf samples (100 mg) were homogenized in mixture containing 0.25 ml of 10 mM K/Na-phosphate buffer (pH 5.8), 0.25 ml of 0.1% trichloroacetic acid and 0.5 ml of 1 M KI. Supernatants obtained by the leaf homogenates centrifugation (4 °C, 15 min, 16,000×g) were kept in the dark for 20 min at room temperature. Next, the samples were centrifuged (10 min, 16,000×g), and the absorbance was measured at 350 nm in Nunc U-bottom 96-well plate on a Varioskan LUX Multimode Microplate Reader. The H 2 O 2 content was estimated from a standard curve and calculated per gram of FW.Leaf samples (200 mg) of barley plants were homogenized in a mortar with quartz sand and 2 ml of ice-cold extraction buffer (pH 7.2) containing 50 mM tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris)-HCl, 2 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, 1 mM ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), 5% glycerol, 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, 5 mM MgCl 2 , 2% polyvinylpyrrolidone. Homogenates were centrifuged (4 °C, 20 min, 16,000×g) and supernatants were collected.Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was measured according to Kostyuk and Potapovich (1989). A reaction reagent was prepared by mixing equal volumes of 0.067 M K/Na phosphate buffer (pH 7.8) and 0.025 M EDTA. The pH value of this reagent was adjusted to 10.0 by tetramethylethylenediamine. Next, 0.05 ml of reaction reagent and 0.12 ml of milli-Q water were added to 0.005 ml of supernatant. The enzyme reaction was started by the pipetting of 0.005 ml of 2.5 μM quercetin in dimethyl sulfoxide. Measurements were conducted in Nunc U-bottom 96-well plate on a Varioskan LUX Multimode Microplate Reader. The absorbance at 406 nm was measured for 20 min with reads every 1 min. The one arbitrary unit of SOD activity was defined as 0.01 decrease of absorbance after 1 min per gram of FW.Catalase (CAT) activity was measured according to Aebi (1984). The supernatant (0.002 ml) was mixed with 0.018 ml of 0.05 M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.2) and 0.01 ml of 0.168% hydrogen peroxide in the same buffer. Measurements were conducted at 37 °C in UV-Star 96-well plate (Greiner, Monroe, NC, USA) on a Varioskan LUX Multimode Microplate Reader. The absorbance at 240 nm was recorded for 10 min with reads every 1 min. The CAT activity was expressed as a decomposition of μmol of hydrogen peroxide per minute and gram of FW.Peroxidase activity (POD) was measured according to Lück (1962). The supernatant (0.005 ml) was mixed with an activity reagent consisting of 0.49% pphenylenediamine and 0.049% hydrogen peroxide in 0.05 M Tris-HCl buffer, pH 7.2 or 8.8). Measurements were performed at 37 °C in Nunc U-bottom 96-well plate on a Varioskan LUX Multimode Microplate Reader. The absorbance at 485 nm was recorded for 10 min with reads every 1 min. The POD activity was expressed in arbitrary unit, separately for pH 7.2 (POD 7.2 ) and 8.8 (POD 8.8 ). The one unit of POD activity was defined as 0.1 increase of absorbance after 1 min per gram of FW.Guaiacol peroxidase activity (GOPX) was measured according to Chance and Maehly (1955). The supernatant (0.005 ml) was mixed with an activity reagent consisting of 5000 μM guaiacol and 2500 μM hydrogen peroxide in 0.05 M acetic buffer, pH 5.6. Measurements were conducted at 37 °C in Nunc U-bottom 96-well plate on a Varioskan LUX Multimode Microplate Reader. The absorbance at 470 nm was recorded for 10 min with reads every 1 min. The GOPX activity was expressed in μmol of formed tetraguaiacol (ɛ = 26.6 mM −1 cm −1 ) per minute and gram of FW.Ascorbate peroxidase activity (APX) was measured according to Nakano and Asada (1981). The supernatant (0.005 ml) was mixed with an activity reagent consisting of 0.05 M Tris-HCl buffer, pH 7.2, 2000 μM ASA, 5000 μM EDTA and 100 μM hydrogen peroxide. The APX activity was measured at 25 °C in UV-Star 96-well plate on a Varioskan LUX Multimode Microplate Reader by monitoring the rate of ASA oxidation for 10 min with absorbance reads every 1 min at 290 nm. The APX activity was expressed in μmol of ASA breakdown (ɛ = 2.8 mM −1 cm −1 ) per minute and gram of FW.Dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) activity was measured according to Trümper et al. (1994). The supernatant (0.01 ml) was mixed with an activity reagent consisting of 0.05 M Tris-HCl buffer, pH 7.2, 4000 μM GSH and 1000 μM dehydroascorbic acid (DHA). The DHAR activity was measured at 30 °C in UV-Star 96well plate on a Varioskan LUX Multimode Microplate Reader by monitoring the rate of DHA reduction for 10 min with absorbance reads every 1 min at 265 nm. The DHAR activity was expressed in μmol of ASA formation (ɛ = 14 mM −1 cm −1 ) per minute and gram of FW.Glutathione reductase (GR) activity was measured according to Foyer and Halliwell (1976). The supernatant (0.01 ml) was mixed with an activity reagent consisting of 0.05 M Tris-HCl buffer, pH 7.2, 0.25 mM nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), 1000 μM EDTA and 1000 μM oxidized glutathione (GSSG). Measurements were carried out at 37 °C in Nunc U-bottom 96-well plate on a Varioskan LUX Multimode Microplate Reader and the change in absorbance at 340 nm was monitored for 20 min with reads every 1 min. GR activity was expressed as μmol of oxidized NADPH per minute and gram of FW.Nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR) activity was measured according to Sakamoto et al. (2002). The supernatant (0.01 ml) was mixed with an activity reagent consisting of 0.05 M Tris-HCl buffer, pH 7.2, 0.2 mM nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), 0.5 mM EDTA and 0.6 mM S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO). Measurements were performed at 37 °C in Nunc U-bottom 96-well plate on a Varioskan LUX Multimode Microplate Reader and change in absorbance at 340 nm was monitored for 20 min with reads every 1 min. GSNOR activity was expressed as μmol of oxidized NADH per minute and gram of FW.Arginase (ARG) activity in supernatants was measured according to Labudda et al. (2016a). Briefly, after the activation of ARG (5 mM MnCl 2 , 56 °C, 10 min), the supernatants were incubated at 37 °C with 0.25 M Larginine (pH 9.6). The reactions were stopped after 1 h b y p i p e t t i n g t h e m i x t u r e c o n s i s t i n g o f H 2 SO 4 :H 3 PO 4 :H 2 O (1:3:7, v/v/v). Next, 9% αisonitrosopropiophenone in 96% ethanol was added, and samples were kept at 96 °C for 45 min. Following this incubation, samples were incubated for 10 min in the dark at room temperature. The absorbance was measured at λ = 550 nm in Nunc U-bottom 96-well plate on a Varioskan LUX Multimode Microplate Reader. Urea level was calculated based on the standard curve and ARG activity was expressed as μmol of formed urea per hour and gram of FW.Leaf samples (100 mg) were ground in a mortar with quartz sand on ice-bath. Phenolic metabolites were extracted from leaves with 5 ml of ice-cold 80% methanol and obtained homogenates were centrifuged for 15 min at 4 °C (16,000×g). The level of total phenols, hydroxycinnamoyl tartaric acid esters, flavonols, and anthocyanins was measured according to Fukumoto and Mazza (2000). The methanol extracts were mixed with 0.1% hydrochloric acid solution prepared in 96% ethanol and 2% hydrochloric acid solution prepared in milli-Q water. Then 15 min after sample incubation in the dark, the absorbance was read in UV-Star 96-well plate on a Varioskan LUX Multimode Microplate Reader. The absorbance at 280, 320, 360, and 520 nm reflected total phenol, hydroxycinnamoyl tartaric acid ester, flavonol, and anthocyanin contents, respectively. The chlorogenic acid (total phenols), caffeic acid (hydroxycinnamoyl tartaric acid esters), quercetin (flavonols), and cyanidin (anthocyanins) were used as equivalents for measurement of specific phenolic metabolites. To estimate the polyphenol content, the Folin-Ciocalteu method was implemented (Labudda et al. 2016b). Concisely, 20 μl of methanol extract was mixed with 1.58 ml of milli-Q water and 100 μl of Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (POCH, Gliwice, Poland). Samples were incubated at room temperature for 4 min, and 300 μl of 1 M saturated sodium carbonate was added and incubation at 40 °C for 30 min was performed. The absorbance was read at 740 nm in Nunc U-bottom 96well plate on a Varioskan LUX Multimode Microplate Reader and polyphenol content was quantified as gallic acid equivalent. The results of the phenolic metabolite levels were expressed in mg of the respective equivalents per 100 g of FW.The total salicylic acid (free and conjugated forms of SA) amounts were quantified using the reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) with fluorescence detection according to Szkop et al. (2017) with small modifications. Briefly, leaf samples (100 mg) of barley plants were homogenized in a mortar with quartz sand and 1.5 ml 0.4 M K 2 HPO 4 , they were vigorously agitated for 15 min at 70 °C and centrifuged at 16,000×g for 10 min. Next, 1 ml of collected supernatants was mixed with 0.15 ml of 10 M HCl and the acidic hydrolysis at 95 °C for 90 min was performed. Afterwards, aliquots (0.85 ml) of ethyl acetate were added to the acidic hydrolysates and samples were vigorously vortexed and centrifuged at 16,000×g for 10 min. The upper organic phases (0.6 ml) were mixed with 200 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.8) and samples were vigorously vortexed and centrifuged at 16,000×g for 10 min. The lower aqueous phases (0.2 ml) were collected, clarified using 0.45 μm Millex-HV filters (Merck Millipore Ltd., Cork, Ireland) and placed in HPLC vials. The conditions of the HPLC analysis were described in detail in Szkop et al. (2017), and assays were performed using system consisted of a binary pump (Model 1525, Waters Corporation, Milford, MA, USA), a fluorometric detector (Model 474, Waters Corporation) and an autosampler (Model 717plus, Waters Corporation). Chromatographic separations were conducted at room temperature on a C18 column (Symmetry 4.6 × 150 mm, 5 μm, Waters Corporation) guarded by a C18 precolumn (Symmetry 3.9 × 20 mm, 5 μm, Waters Corporation) with a linear gradient elution. The content of SA was quantified based on the external standard calibration curve prepared with the use of HPLC-grade SA (Sigma-Aldrich, Saint Louis, MO, USA).To visualization of the secondary metabolites, five barley leaves for each treatment at the same developmental stage were taken from randomly chosen plants. Handmade cross-sections were obtained from the middle part of leaf blades by cutting them with a razor blade. The observations were performed in water according to Muszyńska et al. (2019b) under UV irradiation. The fluorescence microscope equipped with a U-MNU narrow-band filter cube (Olympus-Provis, Tokyo, Japan) was used for the autofluorescence detection of the secondary metabolites accumulated in barley leaves.The 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARs) assay according to Hodges et al. (1999) was implemented. Two hundred μl of methanol extract (obtained as described in Phenolic metabolites paragraph) was added to 800 μl 0.5% 2-thiobarbituric acid dissolved in 20% trichloroacetic acid solution. Then sample incubation at 90 °C for 20 min was performed and reactions were stopped on ice bath. Samples were centrifuged (10 min, 16,000×g) and the absorbance of supernatants was measured at 440, 532 and 600 nm in Nunc U-bottom 96well plate on a Varioskan LUX Multimode Microplate Reader. TBARs level was calculated and expressed in μmol per gram of FW.To determine protein carbonylation (carbonyl groups, C=O) level, leaf sample (100 mg) was ground with liquid nitrogen in mortar and 2 ml of extraction buffer (0.1 M phosphate buffer pH 7.2 with 1 mM EDTA, and 0.1% Triton X-100) was added. Homogenate was centrifuged (16,000×g) for 15 min at 4 °C. Supernatant was collected and protein content was measured using Bradford reagent and bovine serum albumin (BSA) (Sigma-Aldrich) as a standard. Extract volume containing 180 μg of proteins was collected, and proteins were precipitated with cold acetone. Protein carbonylation was determined by derivatization of protein carbonyls with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) using a procedure based on Levine et al. (1994). Briefly, 300 μl of 10 mM DNPH in 2.5 M HCl was added to precipitated proteins and incubated for 1 h in darkness with mixing every 15 min. Afterwards proteins were washed 3 times with cold ethanol/ethyl acetate mixture (1:1). Dinitrophenyl group (DNP)labelled proteins were then dissolved in 90 μl of rehydration buffer containing 7 M urea, 2 M thiourea, 4% 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-1propanesulfonate and 40 mM 1,4-dithiothreitol.Extracts containing 5 μg of derivatized proteins were mixed (1:1, v/v) with a sample buffer containing 126 mM Tris-HCl (pH 6.8), 20% glycerol, 4% s o d i u m d o d e c y l s u l p h a t e ( S D S ) , 1 0 % 2mercaptoethanol and 0.004% bromophenol blue. After incubation at 95 °C for 5 min, protein samples were centrifuged (5 min, 16,000×g) and separated on 11% acrylamide gel with SDS in a 25 mM Tris, 192 mM glycine and 0.1% SDS running buffer (pH 8.3) at 60 V for 15 min followed by 1 h at a constant current of 25 mA per gel until the blue dye front reached the bottom of the gel (Mini-Protean electrophoresis system; Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA). SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis separated proteins were transferred electrophoretically to a nitrocellulose membrane (Mini-Protean electrophoresis system; Bio-Rad) to detect carbonylated protein levels. After 1 h of blocking at room temperature with 5% non-fat dried milk, the membrane was incubated with anti-DNP polyclonal rabbit antibodies (Sigma-Aldrich; 1:1500) in 10 ml of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) (pH 7.4) with 0.5% Tween 20. Alkaline phosphatase-conjugated goat antibodies against rabbit IgG (Sigma-Aldrich; 1:20000) were used as the secondary antibodies. The blots were visualized with a standard NBT/5-bromo-4-chloro-3′-indolyphosphate (BCIP) solution containing 0.015% of BCIP and 0.03% of NBT in 10 mL of 0.1 M Tris-HCl buffer, pH 9.5, with 0.1 M NaCl, and 0.05 M MgCl 2 . To determine molecular weight (MW) of proteins, SpectraTM Multicolor Broad Range Protein Marker (Thermo Scientific) was used. Blots were digitalized with G:BOX EF2 (Syngene, Cambridge, UK) and the intensity of bands was quantified as % volume with free BioVision software (Vilber, Collégien, France). The average intensity of all bands was determined. Results were compared with control barley plants, to which a value of 100% has been assigned.Representative data were shown as means ± SD. Results were subjected to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The significant differences between experimental groups were determined using Tukey's honest significant difference test at p < 0.05. Statistical analysis was performed with Statistica program, version 13.3 (TIBCO Software Inc., Palo Alto, CA, USA).The amount of photosynthetic pigments in leaves of various experimental treatments was differed. Although these values were statistically significant, the changes were not profound (Fig. 1). The content of chl a was 0.9fold lower in N than in C plants and 1.1-fold higher in Cd than in C plants. N + Cd plants presented 1.1-fold higher level of chl a in comparison with N plants and 0.9-fold lower than in Cd plants (Fig. 1a). The amount of chl b was 0.9-fold lower in N than in C plants (Fig. 1b). The level of total chlorophylls was 0.9-fold lower in N than in C plants and 1.1-fold higher in Cd than in C plants. N + Cd plants showed 1.1-fold higher level of total chlorophylls in comparison with N plants and 0.9fold lower than in Cd plants (Fig. 1c). It was noticed that values of chl a:b ratio were on the same level (about 3) in all experimental groups (Fig. 1d). The number of carotenoids was 0.9-fold lower in N than in C plants and 1.2-fold higher in Cd than in C plants. N + Cd plants had 1.1-fold higher amount of carotenoids in comparison with N plants and 0.8-fold lower level as against Cd plants (Fig. 1e). It was observed that the ratio of chl a + b to carotenoids was 0.9-fold lower in Cd than in C plants and 1.2-fold higher in N + Cd than in Cd plants (Fig. 1f).The level of superoxide anions was 1.6-fold higher in N than in C plants and 1.3-fold higher in Cd than in C plants. 0.4-fold lower content of superoxide anions was detected in N + Cd plants as against N plants and 0.5fold lower its content in N + Cd plants than in Cd ones (Fig. 2a). The level of H 2 O 2 molecules was similar in C, N and Cd plants and it was around 453 nmol g −1 (Fig. 2b). Significant decrease in H 2 O 2 content to about 20 nmol g −1 was noted in N + Cd plants in relation to C, N and Cd ones (Fig. 2b).The SOD activity was found to be 1.2-fold higher in N and N + Cd than in C plants and 1.3-fold higher in N + Cd plants in comparison with Cd plants (Fig. 3a). The activity of CAT was down-regulated by 0.9-fold in N plants in relation to controls and up-regulated by 1.1fold in N + Cd plants in relation to N plants (Fig. 3b). The POD activity showed the same trends at two different pH values, i.e. its activity was stimulated similarly by about 1.3-fold and 1.4-fold at pH 7.2 (Fig. 3c) and pH 8.8 (Fig. 3d), respectively in N, Cd and N + Cd plants as against control plants. The same regularity was also clearly visible in case of GOPX activity as the up-regulation by about 1.3-fold was noted in N, Cd and N + Cd plants when they were compared to C plants (Fig. 3e). Regarding the APX activity, it was found the increase of activity in N, Cd and N + Cd plants by 5.5-, 3.7-and 1.9-folds, respectively in comparison to control plants and APX activity dropped significantly by a third and half in N + Cd plants as against N and Cd plants, respectively (Fig. 3f). As Fig. 3G shows, the activity of DHAR was increased about 1.3-fold in N and Cd plants than in controls, and it was decreased about 0.8-fold in N + Cd plants in comparison both with N and Cd plants. The GR activity presented similar activity level (around 18 μmol min −1 g −1 ) in N and Cd plants and this value was lower than activity in C plants. However, the GR activity was meaningfully enhanced in N + Cd plants (about 1.8-fold) in comparison with N and Cd plants (Fig. 3h). In leaves of barley plants separately infected with the cyst nematode and treated with Cd the activity of the GSNOR was significantly stimulated by 3-fold upon infection and 5-fold during the Cd exposition in relation to the control plants, whereas in N + Cd plants statistically significant decrease in its activity was observed. In turn, N + Cd plants did not differ significantly from control plants (Fig. 3i). In the case of ARG, the highest activity was detected in N + Cd plants (about 6 μmol h −1 g −1 ) and the lowest (about 3 μmol h −1 g −1 ) in control plants. In comparison with C plants, N and Cd plants were characterized by around 1.3-fold stimulated ARG activity (Fig. 3j).Although the accumulation of total phenols, hydroxycinnamoyl tartaric acid esters, flavonols and anthocyanins (Fig. 4a-d) showed statistically significant changes, these parameters gave the impression of being not key influential on plant antioxidant responses during applied stress conditions. However, some trends were noticeable. The above-mentioned parameters did not always differ significantly between N and C plants (Fig. 4a-d ). The content of total phenols, hydroxycinnamoyl tartaric acid esters and flavonols decreased by about 7% in Cd plants in comparison with the control ones (Fig. 4a-c). Furthermore, the level of flavonols and anthocyanins was found to be slightly enhanced by about 6% in N + Cd plants as against Cd ones (Fig. 4c,d). Next, it was found that the polyphenol content was significantly decreased by about 26% in Cd and N + Cd plants in comparison with C ones, and its accumulation was diminished by 20% in N + Cd in relation to N plants (Fig. 4e). The total salicylic acid content was about 1.3-fold higher in N, Cd and N + Cd plants than in C plants, while there were no statistically significant differences in SA between N+ Cd plants and N, Cd ones (Fig. 4f).Visualization of secondary metabolites by microscopic method revealed diversification of tested plants (Fig. 5a-d). Upon excitation with UV-light, leaf cells emitted an intensive blue autofluorescence which was brighter in C (Fig. 5a) and N (Fig. 5b) plants than in Cdtreated ones (Fig. 5c). Additionally, in Cd plants red autofluorescence zones appeared (Fig. 5c). Interestingly, when double stress was applied, blue autofluorescence was almost not visible, but N + Cd treatment induced orange-red autofluorescence of mesophyll cells (Fig. 5d).One of the ways to evaluate oxidative damage in plants is measurement of the TBARs content, which is well-known marker of intensity of the lipid peroxidation processes. TBARs level was 1.1-fold increased in N, 0.7-and 0.4-fold decreased in C and N + Cd plants, respectively in comparison with C plants. Moreover, the amount of TBARs was 0.3-fold lower in N + Cd than in N plants and 0.6-fold lower in N + Cd than in Cd plants (Fig. 6).In addition to the lipid peroxidation, the protein carbonylation level is another marker of intensity of the oxidative damage in plants. As Fig. 7 shows, the general amount of the carbonylated proteins increased by over 76% in barley inoculated with the cyst nematode in comparison with control group of plants. However, in response to Cd, the intensity of protein carbonylation was lowered by 51%, and it dropped by 18% in response to both stresses. The amount of the C=O groups was 1.3-fold higher in N + Cd than in Cd plants and 0.5-fold lower in N + Cd than in N plants (Fig. 7). Not only the overall protein carbonylation, but also patterns of carbonylated proteins were changed. Bands with MW of ~160 kDa, 140 kDa were observed only in N plants. Moreover, in N plants bands with MW of ~110 kDa, and 70 kDa were clearly visible, but they were not detected in Cd plants, and were much less intense in C and N + Cd barley plants. Band with molecular mass of ~58 kDa showed similar intensity in all plant groups. In C plants band with MW ~55 kDa was present, but it was not detected in N + Cd and was much less intense in both Cd and N plants. Carbonylated protein with MW of 50 kDa was also common for all plant groups, however it was the most abundant in N plants, medium intensity was observed in N + Cd as well as in C barley plants, and lowest carbonylation level was noticed in Cd treated plants. Three bands with masses ~45 kDa, 40 kDa 35 kDa were present in all plant groups, but they were the most intense in N and C plants (Fig. 7).Maintenance of redox balance in plant cells seems to be a universal link connecting plant response to various environmental stresses (Suzuki et al. 2014;Choudhury et al. 2017;Woźniak et al. 2019). To protect cells against oxidative damage, plants evolved several defence mechanisms based on both low-molecular antioxidant compounds as well as on enzymes that directly or indirectly help survive in adverse environmental conditions. Here, we focused on the elucidation of antioxidant mechanisms of spring barley plants during response to abiotic (cadmium exposure) and biotic (cyst nematode infection) stresses occurring simultaneously.The concentration and composition of photosynthetic pigments are strong prognostic markers of the plant  (Blackburn 2007). Our studies showed that the infection with H. filipjevi and the treatment with realistic Cd concentration (5 μM) induced only mild changes in pigment parameters in leaves of barley plants. This was because the parasitizing H. filipjevi had to guarantee a steady influx of photoassimilates to the syncytial feeding sites in roots from which nematodes drew nutrients for own use. Thusly, despite the stress caused by infestation and cadmium presence, infected plants were maintained alive with an effective photosynthetic apparatus. This was well reflected in the practically constant value of chl a:b ratio in all four experimental groups. According to Kitajima and Hogan (2003) chl a:b ratio is an indicator of nitrogen partitioning within leaves and it is positively correlated with the ratio of photosystem II (PSII) cores to light harvesting chlorophyll-protein complex. Thus, despite double stress, the degree of nitrogen nutrition of barley plants remained at a relatively optimal level, so the plants remained still vital (Kitajima and Hogan 2003). The accumulated carotenoids in barley plants that grew in the presence of cadmium are noteworthy. Carotenoids are accessory pigments in chloroplasts. They increase light harvesting and have photoprotective properties, so can quench triplet chlorophyll and singlet oxygen molecules. Singlet oxygen molecules are the main ROS generated during photosynthesis, and their ineffective neutralization can bring photooxidative damage initiated by (a)biotic stresses Fig. 3 The activity of enzymes (a-j) in the leaves of Hordeum vulgare plants cultivated for two weeks on commercial horticultural substrate after Heterodera filipjevi inoculation and cadmium application. Results are shown as means ± SD. Different letters indicate means which are significantly different at p < 0.05 according to one-way analysis of variance and a posthoc Tukey's test (Havaux 2014). Accumulated carotenoids in Cd plants could serve as one of the components of the plant nonenzymatic antioxidant machinery and prevent photoinhibition of PSII via non-photochemical quenching and consequently the production of ROS was limited (Zhao et al. 2017).In the present study, we observed a substantial increase in superoxide anions in barley leaves because of Class III plant peroxidases (POD and GOPX) take part in numerous physiological processes, for example in lignin and suberin production, the cell wall components cross-linking, formation of phytoalexins and they oxidize broad spectrum of substrates at the cost of H 2 O 2 molecules (Almagro et al. 2009). There were observed the same trends in GOPX and POD activities in the three stress situations compared to the control plants. The response of class III peroxidases was non-specific in relation to the analysed stress variants and it proved that in the leaves of barley there was a change in ROS metabolism in response to stresses, what is widely known and well documented in the literature (Hasanuzzaman et al. 2019b). The activity of APX, belonging to class 1 peroxidases, was quite different from class III peroxidases, and the differences between plants from four experimental groups were clearly outlined. APX participates in H 2 O 2 scavenging via Foyer-Halliwell-Asada pathway engaging reduced form of ascorbate and glutathione as an important non-enzymatic   Tiryakioglu et al. (2006), that showed enhanced activity of APX in barley under Cd exposure.However, regarding our research hypothesis about an effective antioxidative system under a twofold induced stress in barley plants, our discovery that the activity of APX was dropped in N + Cd plants in relation to N and Cd plants seemed to be a landmark in our study. It should also be mentioned that SA, a known phenolic plant hormone, interplays with ROS and GSH in stressed plants (Herrera-Vásquez et al. 2015). Durner and Klessig (1995) showed that SA reversible inhibited the APX activity with no effect on GOPX. Therefore, the increased number of SA in N + Cd plants could lead to direct inhibition of APX by SA, what altered the cellular redox state and switched on specific defence response in these plants. Our results suggested that H 2 O 2 scavenging in N + Cd plants was shifted to the pathway of non-enzymatic H 2 O 2 neutralization by the direct reaction with ASA. Diminished APX activity promoted a higher ASA pool in the cells, which meant that ASA interacted directly with H 2 O 2 while getting rid of H 2 O 2 from the cells (Grinstead 1960). As a result of the reaction of H 2 O 2 with ASA, DHA was formed (oxidized form of ASA), which became a substrate for DHAR. This system worked very well in N + Cd plants, because the DHAR activity was the similar as observed in the control plants, so the enzymatic recovery of the ASA pool was possible. One more observation confirmed our claim. DHAR uses two molecules of GSH to recover the ASA molecule but at the same time GSSG is produced. We observed that the GR activity was strongly stimulated in N + Cd plants. GR catalysed the transformation of GSSG to GSH, so regenerated GSH molecules were still available and/or they might afresh enter to reaction catalysed by DHAR or participate in other GSH-dependent defence mechanisms (Gullner et al. 2018;Labudda 2018). At least three possible options can be considered here. Firstly, H 2 O 2 might have been reduced by the direct reaction with GSH with simultaneous production of GSSG (Abedinzadeh et al. 1989). Secondly, uptaken and transported to leaves Cd ions might have been chelated by GSH, and formed Cd(GS) 2 complexes were presumably sequestrated into the vacuoles for detoxification, thus the Cd-induced oxidative damage was limited (Delalande et al. 2010). And finally, thirdly GSH is known to be a substrate for synthesis of phytochelatins (the oligomeric form of GSH). Phytochelatins could form the phytochelatin-Cd complexes and similar to Cd(GS) 2 complexes, were sequestrated into the vacuoles (Yen et al. 1999;Ahmad et al. 2019).Conjointly with ROS, reactive nitrogen species (RNS), including nitric oxide (NO), fulfil fundamental roles as mediators of plant growth and development and, they signal in acclimatization and tolerance to stresses (Turkan 2018). Moreover, NO reversibly binds the -SH group of cysteinyl residues and S-nitrosothiols (SNOs) are formed, including GSNO, an intracellular reservoir of NO (Jahnová et al. 2019). The level of GSNO in cells is regulated by GSNOR that catalyses the NADHdependent reduction of GSNO to GSSG and ammonia (NH 3 ) (Corpas and Barroso 2013). According to Kovacs et al. (2016) and Begara-Morales et al. ( 2019) ROSinduced inhibition of the GSNOR activity led to the increased GSNO accumulation in plant cells what resulted in up-regulated H 2 O 2 scavenging by the Foyer-Halliwell-Asada pathway. Clark et al. (2000) presented the GSNO-mediated irreversible inhibition of APX. This inhibitory effect was time dependent with about 70% inhibition of the APX activity after a 60-min incubation at room temperature. This additionally supports our described above assumptions regarding the regulation of APX activity in N + Cd plants. Results presented by us here and Kovacs et al. (2016) and Begara-Morales et al. (2019) suggest that the unique improved antioxidant capacity of N + Cd plants to some extent resulted from beneficial effect of accumulated GSNO (by inhibition of GSNOR). What is more, Jahnová et al. (2019) indicated that decreased GSNOR activity accompanied by an enhancement in the GSNO level can express in increased plant immunity against pathogens. Moreover, the enhanced GSNOR activity in N and Cd plants was noted, thus removing of excess amount of NO via GSNO breakdown to GSSG and NH 3 occurred, and effects of ROS and RNS on functioning of barley under separately cyst nematode infection and cadmium exposition were limited (Corpas and Barroso 2013).Our previous results showed that changes in plant nitrogen metabolism took place during cyst nematode infection (Labudda et al. 2020a). Arginase (ARG), nitrogen metabolism-linked enzyme, was another enzyme that was analysed in these studies. ARG is not an enzyme that directly participates in the metabolism of ROS, but it supplies substrate for the synthesis e.g. polyamines, important compounds in plant antioxidant response (Hasanuzzaman et al. 2019a). ARG produced ornithine and urea, and next ornithine was decarboxylated by ornithine decarboxylase to putrescine (diamine). Spermidine synthase from putrescine synthesised spermidine (triamine), and synthase converted spermidine to spermine (tetramine). Mentioned above polyamines are positively charged molecules, so they might bind to opposite charged molecules and probably might scavenge ROS (Hasanuzzaman et al. 2019a). Therefore, stimulated ARG activity in N + Cd plants might promote polyamine synthesis and indirectly enhance non-enzymatic antioxidant mechanism.Antioxidative mechanisms dependent on phenolic compounds did not play a key role in this experimental model. The content of phenolics (although some alternations at a statistically significant level) did not change to such an extent that their holistic physiological impact on plants could be assumed, and thus they were rather proved to only support other antioxidant responses operating in plants. The only thing to notice was the reduced polyphenol content in plants treated with Cd and under the influence of double stress. Polyphenols due to their interaction with ROS/RNS limit oxidative damage in cells (Hussain et al. 2016). The observed decline in polyphenol level in Cd and N + Cd plants resulted probably from their intake during response against these stress conditions. Spectrophotometric measurements of phenolic compounds were in accordance with microscopic analysis, which revealed lower intensity of blue autofluorescence of vacuolar compounds in Cd and N + Cd plants than in other treatments. It is also noteworthy that these two groups of plants were characterized by red autofluorescence of anthocyanins which was more visible in N + Cd leaves than in Cd ones. This statement was also confirmed by enhanced level of these compounds' accumulation in double-stressed plants.In our studies, we used two biochemical markers for the estimation of the oxidative damage intensity. Firstly, TBARs assay for the polyunsaturated fatty acids oxidation products detection, such as aldehydes, alkenals and hydroxyalkenals including particularly toxic molecules, 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal and malondialdehyde, was used (de Dios Alché 2019). Secondly, the western blotting profiling for the C=O groups formed in proteins as a result of the amino acid residues (mainly Arg, Pro, Thr and Lys) oxidation by ROS (protein carbonylation) was implemented (Kalemba and Pukacka 2014). It turned out that our hypothesis of higher antioxidant activity in N + Cd plants appeared to be true. The above discussed defence mechanisms working together proved to be efficient enough to prevent excessive lipid and protein oxidation by ROS. The ROS level was after all also reduced in these plants. Interestingly, the content of TBARs and the C=O groups was even lower in N + Cd than in control plants, so an integrity of cell membranes of these plants was maintained and cell damage and loss of the protein functions were significantly limited.The presented results expand the knowledge of defence mechanisms of barley treated with two contrasting stresses of different origin. For the first time, the involvement of antioxidants in responses against oxidative stress induced jointly by cyst nematodes and cadmium ions was characterized in detail. Our findings uncovered that the ROS neutralization machinery presented a remarkable effectiveness during double stress, which differs from that stimulated by one stressor acting singly. Therefore, simultaneous application of two stressors imposed on barley plants an unusual physiological acclimation expressed in a significant reduction of oxidative damage in double stressed specimens. Summarizing, to manage the acute Cd stress with short exposure time adapted to the dynamics of growth and development of cyst nematode larvae in roots under conditions of our pot experiment, barley plants could rapidly induce a multi-component model of stress response, in order to detoxify Cd ions and efficiently repair damage caused by double stress.the source, provide link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6a0e72fe775f302fcedd8a53d538914d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a81ed214-6ba2-4750-946f-dec5b7a6cefc/retrieve","id":"-1340012271"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0ef051fa-bbcd-4697-ac21-c6c121bf3937","content":"Este trabajo se llevó a cabo con el apoyo de las Iniciativas del CGIAR sobre Resiliencia Climática (ClimBeR), AgriLAC Resiliente y Ganadería y Clima. Nos gustaría agradecer a todos los financiadores que apoyaron esta investigación a través de sus contribuciones al CGIAR Trust Fund.Los servicios climáticos son importantes para Guatemala, dada la alta vulnerabilidad climática a la que se enfrenta el país. Contar con servicios climáticos eficientes que brinden y orienten la oportuna toma de decisiones en los diversos sectores, ayuda a aumenta la resiliencia de la población y sus medios de vida. El Marco Nacional de Servicios Climáticos (MNSC) se basa en las 4 áreas prioritarias con base a lo estipulado por la Organización Meteorología Mundial (OMM), siendo estas: agricultura y seguridad alimentaria, reducción del riesgo de desastres, salud y agua. Las consecuencias del cambio y la varibilidad climática afecta a todos estos sectores.El Instituto Nacional de Vulcanología, Sismología, Meteorología e Hidrología (INSIVUMEH), como ente rector de los Servicios Meteorológicos e Hidrológicos (SMHN) de Guatemala, ha liderado un esfuerzo conjunto con la Universidad Rafael Landívar y la Alianza Bioversity and CIAT para el establecimiento del Marco Nacional de los Servicios Climáticos para Guatemala. Basado en el marco que establece la OMM, tiene por finalidad coordinar actividades de servicios climáticos facilitando la colaboración conjunta entre los diferentes usuarios, investigadores y proveedores de de los servicios climáticos, con el objetivo de fortalecer la resiliencia de la sociedad y promover el crecimiento de los diversos sectores productivos del país incluyendo a los usuarios locales.Hacia el desarrollo del Marco Nacional de Servicios Climáticos, es importante considerar la participación de las instancias decisorias, los encargados de la formulación de políticas, los usuarios locales, los climatólogos y los expertos de los distintos sectores. En las directrices para la construcción del MNSC se ha considerado imprescindible conocer a los usuarios de los servicios climáticos para poder comprender lo que necesita y así proporcionar la información de una forma simple, accesible y oportuna, garantizando la calidad de la información y servicios derivados que se ofrecen 1 .El presente reporte busca informar sobre los avances alcanzados en el proceso de formulación del Marco Nacional de Servicios Climáticos en Guatemala. Previamente, en 2022, se logró completar el paso 1 del MNSC 2 , y, en 2023, se avanzó con la formulación del paso 2, lo cuál se reporta en el presente documento. Según los lineamientos de la OMM, se identificaron los actores clave dentro de la cadena de servicios climático (e.g., proveedorer, investigadores y usuarios), se documentó y sistematizo la información de fuentes nacionales e internacionales, se desarrolló un taller interinstitucional y un foro a partir del cual se determinó cuáles eran las capacidades actuales del SMHN y la capacidades que tienen los diferentes usuarios y proveedores en la cadena de servicios climáticos. Asimismo, se desarrolló el Taller Nacional de Consultas de las partes interesadas a partir del cual se evaluaron las capacidades y debilidades del SMHN desde el punto de vista de entrega de información y servicios a los diferentes sectores del país. Finalmente, se integró la Mesa Técnica del MNSC y se desarrolló la primera reunión Técnica para definir la nueva Visión de los SMHN.Con base a la realización de un taller interinstitucional y un foro se identificaron las capacidades para gestionar la información y los servicios climáticos en Guatemala, así como las oportunidades de mejora en cuanto a investigación climática, cobertura territorial con las redes de estaciones y la introducción constante de tecnología renovada que permita la generación de mejores pronósticos. En un taller de socialización se brindó los resultados de las acciones desarrolladas en 2022 y parte del 2023 para que los actores, decidieran conformar o ser parte del Marco Nacional de Servicios Climáticos.A continuación, se presenta la cadena de los usuarios y proveedores de los Servicios Meteorológicos identificada en el proceso del paso 1. Con la socialización de los resultados alcanzados en el Paso 1 del Marco Nacional de Servicios Climáticos en Guatemala se procedió a la implementación del Paso 2. El cual consiste en un Taller Nacional de Consultas de las partes interesadas.En el taller nacional de consultas de las partes interesadas se convocaron a todas las instituciones que se identificaron dentro de la cadena de servicios climáticos y se determinaron las deficiencias y elementos clave para que a partir de este proceso de consulta pueda plantearse un Plan de Acción para la ejecución del Marco Nacional de Servicios Climáticos (MNSC). El objetivo principal del taller nacional de consultas fue reunir al SMHN y a los proveedores, usuarios, academia, gobierno, investigación, entre otros actores, para poder determinar los mecanismos adecuados para mejorar y mantener el suministro de productos de información climáticos a diferentes usuarios y definir las funciones complementarias de las diversas partes interesadas en la cadena de valor nacional de los servicios climáticos.Mediante la técnica de grupos focales, se organizó un debate sobre los destinatarios de los servicios del SMHN y el modo de prestar tales servicios, donde se incluyó una evaluación de las necesidades de las partes interesadas que la organización debe atender. Se identificaron las competencias y los colaboradores, esto es, los demás actores que dan respuesta a esas necesidades o problemas, junto con los destinatarios a los que el SMHN debería prestar servicios. Se analizó de manera integral las necesidades que existen en la cadena de servicios climáticos y como el SMHN, atiende las necesidades o responde a sus requerimientos para la identificación de las oportunidades de mejorarlos o integrarlos con los servicios ofrecidos por otros proveedores de servicios climáticos en esta cadena identificada.Se utilizaron dos herramientas de trabajo para los gurpos focales: un análisis FODA y un análisis PESTLE. El FODA, es una técnica que busca identificar las fortalezas, oportunidades, debilidades y amenazas en este caso aplicado al SMHN, para que el mismo pueda mejorar su efectividad como proveedor de inforación y servicios climáticos en Guatemala, haciendo este análisis desde las necedades de los usuarios o experto externos al mismo. El análisis PESTLE, consistió en un análisis de los factores políticos, económicos, sociales, tecnológicos, legales (jurídicos) y ambientales (environmental), para poder comprender el entorno externo de la organización de los SMHN (ver Tabla 1).Los sectores priorizados fueron durante el taller de consultas de las partes interesadas fueron:-Sector Agropecuario.-Sector Salud.-Sector Gestión de Riesgos.-Sector Energía.-Sectores varios (i.e., vivienda, agua, bienestar animal) 3 .3 Se categorizó el último sector ya que se identificaron que había interés por otros sectores productivos y no productivos del país en ser parte del Marco Nacional de Servicios climáticos entre los cuales destacamos a bienestar animal, construcción, educación, entre otros. A continuación, se analizan los principales resultados del análisis FODA (preliminares), los cuáles se sintetizan en la Figura 2.A partir de este análisis sobre los SMHN, se evidencia que las instituciones involucradas en los proceso de consulta ven a INSIVUMEH como una institución que se ha ido fortaleciendo y generando cambios a lo largo del tiempo. Cuenta con credibilidad técnica y científica, que la proyectan para ser una institución líder de los servicios climáticos en Guatemala. INSIVUMEH no sólo es el ente rector que genera información en el país, sino que además se ocupa de promover el acceso y flujo de la información de manera abierta y oportuna.La información climática generada por INSIVUMEH brinda la oportunidad de generar productos y servicios que son de utilidad para la toma de decisiones en diversos sectores del país, en particular, el sector agricultura y el sector medioambiental. INSIVUMEH promueve la comunicación inter-institucional para el cumplimiento de este propósito. Productos de información incluyen boletines, información en redes sociales y el flujo de información a través de alianzas estratégicas.Se identificó que su actual estructura interna (el servicio meteorológico pertenece al Ministerio de Comunicaciones) debilita el actuar del INSIVUMEH por las prioridades y bajo presupuesto que se asigna para el desarrollo de sus actividades. Se han identificado otras debilidades relacionadas a la falta de equipos e infraestructura para responder de manera más eficiente a las solicitudes de los usuarios. La densidad de estaciones actual también representa una debilidad en relación a la generación de pronósticos de tiempo y clima, que suelen ser muy generales aún (poco detalle local).Por último, la principal amenaza identificada está relacionada a factores políticos y los cambios a nivel público que pueden poner en riesgo la continuidad de los procesos de actualización y desarrollo que se hayan logrado. Otras amenazas se relacionan con la seguridad de la instrumentación meteorológica en campo, problemas de mantenimiento y ubicación de los equipos, la falta de estructura interna para resguardar la información digital (baja digitalización de los datos), rotación de personal y algunas limitaciones presupuestarias. A través del análisis PESTLE, se ahondó en algunos elementos identificados en el análisis FODA. Se destacó como factores políticos principales que pueden limitar la generación del MNSC, la interrupción de los procesos institucionales por cambios de gobierno, la poca asignación de recursos a la investigación en servicios climáticos, así como el no ser una entidad autonoma puesto que depende de un Ministerio que no tiene las mismas prioridades y competencias que las de INSIVUMEH. A su vez, los factotes políticos identificados mismos factores guardan estrecha relación con algunos factores económicos identiticados, donde resalta la falta de presupuesto para ser una institución descentralizada que funcione más desde el ámbito local.En relación a los factores socioambientales se desatacó el tener un Estado Plurinacional. Además, un mecanismo de difusión de información climática en un sólo idioma como con el que se cuenta actualmente (español), no permite que el mensaje o la información llegue efectivamente a los productores agropecuarios. Asimismo los niveles de escolaridad en el país limitan la comprensión de la información que se proporciona, puesto que al ser muy técnica es muy poco comprensible para la mayoría de la población que se encuentra en condiciones de pobreza.En relación a los factores tecnológicos se refieren principalmente a la poca innovación para generar pronósticos más precisos, la cual se relaciona a la baja disponibilidad de estaciones por parte del SHMN y al hecho de no contar con un protocolo de interoperabilidad que les permita una compartición más fluída con otras fuentes de información. Esto último se relaciona con factores legales, siendo uno de los principales la falta de un mecanismo de interoperabilidad que permita garantizar a los proveedores de la información el resguardo de la información (e.g., privacidad de los datos). Por último, el factor medioambiental que destáco es la alta variabilidad climática que afronta Guatemala. Los cambios constantes en los patrones de lluvia y temperatura dificulta la fiabilidad de los pronósticos.La Figura 3, resume y complementa algunos de estos resultados. En un taller de seguimiento realizado el 22 de noviembre se realizó la primera reunión de Mesa Técnica del Marco Nacional de Servicios Climáticos, en coordinación con actores relevantes que pertenecen a las cadena de los servicios de climáticos del paí. Cerca de 44 instituciones mostrarón interés por integrar y participar activamente de la mesa.Durante la primera reunión de la Mesa Técnica del MNSC, se definieron los \"valores\" desde los que se considera debe trabajar el SMHN, tal y como se muestra en la Figura 5. A través de grupos focales se trabajó una propuesta por sector para la nueva Visión de los SMHN. En plenaria se llegó a una propuesta de Visión, a saber:\"El Instituto Nacional de Sismología, Vulcanología, Meteorología e Hidrología de Guatemala (INSIVUMEH), garantizamos la colecta y sistematización de datos meteorológicos y climáticos de acuerdo con estándares internacionales. Facilitamos datos de acceso libre, para la generación de información oportuna promoviendo la inclusión social y cultural, y nos posicionamos como un ente técnico-científico que promueve la colaboración multisectorial para contribuir al desarrollo planificado del gobierno. Para el año 2033, el Marco Nacional de Servicios Climáticos de Guatemala (MNSC), liderado por el INSIVUMEH y apoyado por las diversas instituciones del país, promueve proactivamente la prestación de servicios climáticos e hidrológicos, adoptando un enfoque multisectorial y regulatorio que impulsa la estandarización, difusión y gestión integral de la información. El MNSC opera bajo los principios de responsabilidad, transparencia e integridad, fortaleciendo las capacidades técnicas en el monitoreo y cobertura de redes de hídricas y meteorológicas, proporcionando datos e información útil y oportuna basada en estándares nacionales e internacionales, a través de una plataforma colaborativa.\"Sin embargo, se acordó que aún debe trabajarse más ya que desean que se visualicen otros enfoques desde la integralidad y del trabajo multidisciplinario a realizar por lo que está será validada en la próxima reunión de la Mesa Técnica del MNSC, a realizarse en el año 2024.El desarrollo del paso 2 del Marco Nacional de Servicios Climáticos, se fundamentó en procesos de consulta para identificar las fortalezas, oportunidades, debilidades y amenazas del accionar del SHMN de Guatemala, así cómo los factores de entorno (i.e., políticos, económicos, sociales, tecnológicos, legales y ambientales). Con los insumos recopilados se procederá a elaborar un documento extendido para consolidar el paso 2.Para el próximo año se espera avanzar en el paso 3 el cual plantea la elaboración de un plan estratégico nacional y uno de acción con referencia de los costos para la creación de un Marco Nacional de Servicios Climáticos y el Paso 4 que contempla respaldar el plan estratégico y uno de acción con el detalle de los costos y con plazos definidos para la ejecución del MNSC.Anexo 1. Actores participantes del proceso de consultaEl taller nacional de consultas de las partes interesadas, correspondiente al desarrollo del paso 2 del MNSC, se desarrolló el 12 y 13 de julio de 2023, con una participación de 73 personas de 47 instituciones.INSIVUMEH, comparte una estadística sobre la participación del taller en la Figura a continuación. Anexo 2. Registro fotográfico del taller de consultas de las partes interesadas"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d2583f54a8902e61c27db275d5dc3c3a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e0b19e76-b95c-4418-89fe-0af6bacdf25b/retrieve","id":"854588798"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"44e6eb1c-39a6-4585-a2c6-3817537b848a","content":"Y MERCADO EN EL SALVADOR, NOV/DIC. 1988 Porien van Herpen, CIAT* Maribe~ de Po~io, CENTA** Noviembre 1991 AGRADECIMIENTOS La realización del presente estudio de aceptabilidad únicamente fue posible gracias a la participación de muchas personas de CENTA y ClAT. En primer lugar agradecemos a Ada Ma~eny de Payes y Ana Mirian Monterrosa, quienes hicieron un trabajo estupendo en las encuestas con los consumidores urbanos. Wenceslao Moreno Ramirez (CENTA, región San Miguel) y Germán Raúl Henriquez con su equipo (CENTA, región San Vicente) tomaron la dificil responsabilidad de realizar encuestas con las mujeres en las areas rurales. También agradecemos a Carlos Atilio Perez quien fue de gran ayuda en la organización del estudio y quien suministró cantidades grandes de frijol sin las cuales el estudio únicamente hubiera podido realizarse por una parte.Abelardo viana participó con mucha efectividad durante la primera semana para iniciar el estudio del mercado. También agradecemos a Regina Belloso y Armando Mendoza del departamento de validación de CENTA por su participación en el estudio del mercado. Agradecimientos especiales para el lng. Bruno por el apoyo logistico en el estudio de consumo urbano, y para lng. Macia quien nos aseguró ayuda personal y un vehiculo para el estudio de mercado.La introducción éxitosa de una nueva variedad de frijol depende de una cadena de decisiones tomadas por personas con diferentes intereses. En el primer lugar el agricultor y su familia evaluan una variedad de frijol tanto en sus aspectos agronómicos, como económicos y culinarios (calidad del frijol). El peso que da el agricultor a cada aspecto depende de la orientación al mercado. Si la producción de frijol esta principalmente para el autoconsumo el frijol será evaluado por su compartamiento en el campo y la calidad de consumo. Al contrario, si la producción de frijol está orientada hacia el mercado, el agricultor acepta o rechaza una nueva variedad basandose en las ganancias monetarias. En el segundo eslabón de la cadena está el comerciante que determina en base del desempeño en el mercado si un frijol nuevo tendrá éxito. El comerciante (como el agricultor) evalua las características agronómicas, económicas y culinarias de una variedad. Por ejemplo él prefiere comprar un frijol que es precoz (da mejor precio), y que se puede almacenar sin que la calidad del grano disminuya. Además compra preferiblemente un frijol conocido y apreciado por su clientela. La cantidad de frijol que puede comprar en una sola transacción, la forma de pago, la posibilidad de credito son otros ejemplos de decisiones en que se puede fundar el comerciante. El Consumidor es el tercer y ultimo eslabón en la cadena de decisiones. El no se interesa por las caracteristicas agronomicas del frijol. El decide aceptar o rechazar un frijol en ,base de la calidad del grano, su precio y disponibilidad en el mercado. La decisión final esta influida por el ingreso de la familia, los habitos de compra, preparación y consumo de frijol. Por ejemplo el consumidor en los estratos altos tiene suficiente presupuesto para comprar el frijol que prefiere, mientras que el consumidor en los estratos bajos debe contentarse con el frijol de menor calidad y menor precio. otro ejemplo es que donde se remoja el frijol y se usa olla a presión no se da mucha importancia al tiempo de cocción. También es importante tomar en cuenta que la calidad del frijol depende del tiempo del almacenamiento y de el manejo posterior de la cosecha. A menudo, un frijol guardado tiene problemas de gorqogo. si no se hace un tratamiento contra este insecto, parte del frijol se pierde y la calidad baja considerablemente. Si se aplica una insecticida el frijol se vuelve duro y pierde sabor.Una nueva variedad de frijol solamente será aceptada cuando la mayoria de los agricultores, comerciantes y consumidores opinen que el nuevo fr1jol les ofrece algo mejor o por 10 menos igual al frijol que más producen, venden, compran y comen. En consecuencia, es esencial conocer las opiniones y actitudes que rigen en cada eslabón para poder decidir sobre la liberación de una nueva variedad.Para conocer estos factores CENTA y CIAT elaboraron un estudio con el objetivo de establecer los requerimientos del tipo de grano de frijol para que éste aceptado al nivél del mercado y el consumo en El Salvador. Además se quiso evaluar dos variedades mejoradas (CENTA IZALeO y/o CENTA JOBOA) y liberadas en comparación con el frijol más común (ROJO DE SEDA.El aspecto agronómico ha quedado fuera del enfoque del estudio, porque estudios de adopción de variedades de frijol k.mejoradas considerando el compan:amiento en el campo, ya existen.En El Salvador el frijol pequeño de color rojo es el grano más producido y preferido. Sin embargo las diferencias regionales son bastante grandes. En el centro del pais el frijol más común es ROJO DE SEDA (un grano pequeño, alongado/arriñonado, un poco aplanado, de color rojo claro inclinando hacia cafe). En las fronteras con Honduras y Guatemala la influencia de dichos paises es notoria en el sentido que una preferencia existe por los frijoles rojos oscuros (SAN'GRETORO, TIHECO) y que el consumo de granos negros (TIHECO, TALETE COLOCHO Y MONO) es común. Dentro de una region los patrones de consumo de frijol son diferentes entre areas rurales y urbanas y también entre consumidores y productores de frij 01. El consumo rural es mas alto que el consumo urbano.Los datos del estudio estiman un consumo anual per cap ita de 23 kilos en las áreas rurales y de 15 kilos en las áreas urbanas.Además el productor de frijol consume principalmente la variedad que produce, mientras el consumidor generalmente puede escoger entre diferentes granos.El consumidor depende para su consumo completamente del mercado, mientras que el consumo del agricultor depende mas de su producción.El consumo en las ciudades regionales es diferente a los patrones de consumo en la capital (San Salvador) ya que la oferta en el mercado de una ciudad pequeña depende de la producción regional y que los habitos de consumo son basados en la tradición de la región.La ultima diferencia que existe en los patrones de consumo es entre los qrupos socio-económicos. El frijol es relativamente más importante para el consumidor de bajos recursos tanto en términos de nutrición como de presupuesto. A menudo l él debe contentarse con frijoles baratos de menor calidad.Un estudio de consumo y comercio necesita obligatoriamente considerar consumidores de diferentes grados de urbanización e ingreso, además de autoconsumidores y comerciántes. Estas consideraciones se tomaron en cuenta en el diseño de la metodologia del estudio.1.11:1:. METODOLOGrA Se recogió información sobre aceptabilidad. por medio de entrevistas en areas rurales y urbanas con consumidores de diferentes grupos de ingreso y con comerciantes en diferentes escalones del mercado. Durante las encuestas con los comerciantes y los consumidores rurales se hizó una evaluación visual de CENTA IZALeO y CENTA JIBOA basados en muestras de frijol.Durante las encuestas con los consumidores urbanos se entregaron muestras de CENTA IZALeO, CENTA JIBOA y ROJO DE SEDA para una evaluación de su facilidad de preparación y su aceptabilidad en el plato. CUatro semanas después de la entrevista se volvió a estas familias para recoger el formulario de evaluación.Se realizó el estudio urbano en San Salvador y en tres ciudades intermedias: respecto al tipo de grano en el este del pais se escogió a San Miguel (cerca de la frontera con Honduras); San región central de El Salvador vicente fue seleccionado para representar la y Santa Ana fue elegido para el parte oeste I (cerca de la frontera con Guatemala).Para el estudio de consumo rural se escogieron dos zonas donde CENTA-IZALCO y CENTA-JIBOA habían sido evaluados agronómicamente: San Miguel (en el este del país) y San Vicente (en el centro).Las encuestas se realizaron en las dos ültimas semanas de Noviembre y las dos primeras semanas de Diciembre 1988. Esta época fue elegida por la disponibilidad de suficientes cantidades de semilla de CENTA IZALeO, CENTA JIBOA y ROJO DE \",', SEDA para distribuir entre los consumidores urbanos. En la segunda y tercera semana de enero 1989 se recogió los formularios con las evaluaciones de las muestras. La entrevista se realizó con amas de casa, como personas responsables por la comida y las c,,¡mpras.La entrevista cubrió los siguientes factores que pueden influir la aceptabilidad de un tipo de grano especifico. Además la encuesta cubrió aspectos del mercado de frijol como la disponibilidad, la selección del sitio de compra y los precios. Finalmente habia un número de preguntas sobre la situación familiar, que cubrieron los hábitos de compra, preparación y consumo de frijol, el ingreso per cap ita y el tamaño de la familia.En el caso de que la familia hubiese recibido frijoles para evaluación de preparación y consumo, el ama de casa pudo preparar las diferentes muestras según su costumbre y después debió llenar un formato de evaluación por cada una de las muestras. El formulario se recogió un mes después de haber entregado las muestras.Se hicieron entrevistas con familias rurales y productores de frijol alrededor de San Vicente (53) y San Miguel (30). \"Se entrevistaron únicamente familias campesinas que habian participado en ensayos experimentales con CENTA IZALCO y/o CEN'l'A JOBOA, y que por lo tanto conocian las propiedades agronómicas de estos materiales.Literatura sobre la participación femenina en las actividades agricolas menciona que, aunque la mujer no siempre participa en las actividades agricolas y del mercado, generalmente sabe lo que pasa en la finca. Ya que la mujer es además responsable por la comida se entrevistó al ama de casa sobre los factores que influyen la aceptabilidad de un frijol nuev<?Al lado de los factores incluyeron de ventas de la situación mencionados para consumidores urbanos se preguntas sobre características agronómicas y los diferentes frijoles y preguntas sobre agrícola de la familia.La factibilidad para la venta, el consumo y la producción dentro de la finca se midió mediante un experimento en el cual el ama de casa ordenaba según su preferencia las variedades ROJO DE SEDA, CENTA-IZALCO y CENTA-JlBOA.Se entrevistaron varias regiones 100 comerciantes de frijol en diferentes del pais.En total se habló con 35 mayoristas, 58 minoristas y 7 acopiadores. En las encuestas con los comerciantes se tocaron los siguientes temas: l. Venta de variedades Procedencia -Precio de compra -Precio de venta -cantidades de venta Disponibilidad durante el año La movilidad de la población causada por la inestabilidad del pais ocasionó algunas dificultades para seleccionar una muestra apropiada.Para San Salvador existen al9Unas estadisticas demográficas en base de las cuales se tomó una muestra estratificada de 120 familias; 68 familias recibieron muestras de frijol.En las ciudades de Santa Ana, San Miguel Y San Vicente datos demográficos no existen y por lo tanto se distribuyó el tiempo disponible para entrevistas de forma igual entre los estratos bajos, medios y áltos. Con esta estrategia se esperaba que el número de las encuestas en el estrato bajo estuviera más alto que en el estrato medio, quien a su turno estuviera más alto que el numero de encuestas en el estrato alto. (mientras más alto el ingreso, más dispersas las casas y menos colabaración se encuentra).En Santa Ana se entrevistó a 57 familias, en San Miguel San Vicente a 67 familias. El numero participó en la evaluacion de muestras respectivamente. Por la misma situación politica la gente qualquier eventualidad y por lo tanto se protege contra el porcentaje de rechazo en todos clases de la población era más alto de lo com1ln. Más que todo en los estratos altos era dificil conseguir colaboración timbrando de puerta a puerta. La mejor forma para incluir a este grupo era por medio de conocidos o familiares de las encuestadoras. Como una bola de nieve se consiguió un buen numero de participantes porque a su vez las colaboradores hicieron contactos con sus amigas.La realización de las encuestas con los comerciantes fue fácil después de una explicación detallada del objetivo del estudio. A veces los negociantes no tenian tiempo para atender el encuestador. Hacer citas por la mañana y volver  ------------------------------------------------------------- Además ya se vió que la producción de frijol en San Miguel es relativamente más orientada hacia el autoconsumo y que la mujer participa con mayor frequencia en la agricultura. Estos resultados afirman que la importancia del autoconsumo y la participación de la mujer en las actividades agricolas bajan con el incremento del ingreso de la familia.Aúnque la diferencia en ingreso/cápita aparentamente es pequeña, la teoría de Engel,-que dice que con un incremento del ingreso el porcentaje del ingreso gastado en alimentos disminuye, ya se puede observar aqui. Las familias en San vicente gastan el 57% de su ingreso en comida contra el 61% en San Miguel (CUadro 5 - -----------------------------------------------------------------------  Del consumo total, la décima parte consiste en consumo en verde (CUadro al.El frijol verde nunca se compra y únicamente se consume durante el mes precedente a la cosecha de frijol seco (2 veces. al año) (CUadro 11 y anexo 4).Es principalmente el frijol rojo que se consume en estado verde; el 67% del consumo total en verde en San Miguel y el 91% en San Vicente.En San Miguel el frijol blanco se presta muy bién para consumirlo en verde: el 39% del consumo 4e frijol blanco está en grano verde. Al contrario, según las familias en San vicente el frijol blanco se presta muy poco para consumirlo en verde (Cuadro al. • Cantidades de consumo de ,rIJol. en kilos por afto per .ápita.Nota: El consumo de frijol verde se convirtió en equivalentes de frijol seco ..La producción de frijol no es necesidades familiares en la mayoria suficiente para las de las fincas: El 70% , de las familias en San Miguel y el 60% en San vicente suplementa el consumo comprando frijol. La forma de escoger un frijol en el mercado es muy diferente entre los dos departamentos. En San vicente se compra un frijol por su calidad. Las mujeres buscan el frijol fresco que es blando para cocinar y tiene mejor sabor y textura (el 82% toma estas razones en cuenta). Solamente el 1% escoge el frijol más barato. La mujeres en San Miguel en primer lugar compran lo que hay disponible (el 46% de las mujeres) y se fijan en los precios (el 23% de las mujeres) El 14% de las mujeres en San Miguel que compra frijol, va a la tienda del I.R.A.instituto regulador de mercadeo agr1cola, que define los precios de frijol y su disponibilidad (CUadro 7).El frijol del I.R.A. es muy barato, pero de tan mala calidad que la gente unicamente lo compra cuando le faltan recursos para comprar en otras partes.El hecho que algunas mujeres de San Miguel pero ninguna de San vicente compran en el I.R.A. indica que las familias de San Miguel son más pobres. Las familias comen frijol durante todo el añal distribuido en la siguiente forma: 2-3 meses frijol verde de la finca, 6-7 meses frijol seco comprado (Vea anexo de la finca, 2 meses frijol seco 4). La primera siembra (la más importante) es en el mes de Mayo con la cosecha a finales de Julio y principios de Agosto. La segunda siembra es en Agosto con la cosecha en Octubre y Noviembre. Por 10 tanto el frijol seco producido abunda en los meses de Agosto, septiembre, Noviembre y Diciembre (CUadro 11). El frijol verde aparece en el menú durante los meses de Julio, Agosto, Octubre y Noviembre antes y durante la cosecha de los granos secos, hasta que todas las vainas se han secados. En los ultimas 6 meses del afio hay abundancia de frijol y no hay necesidad de comprar. Durante la primera mitad del año el frijol de la finca se acaba y las familias empiezan a comprar. Especialmente en las meses de Mayo y Junio, las compras se incrementan (Cuadro ll). Es durante esa epoca del año que las familias disminuyen el consumo de frijol considerablemente y lo reemplazan por otro alimento (por más información vea el AneXo 5).El 75% de las familias remplaza el frijol A veces también lo sustituyen (el 50%), por queso por arroz y huevo.(el 38%) y carne, pescado Los alimentos con un alto pollo, o contenido de proteinas se usan más frequentemente en San Vicente que en San Miguel (Vea anexo 3). -\" porcentaje de l •• entrevistada. que menclon6 la procedencIa del frIjoL par. el consumo famlli.r.• 0\"• 1 • 25\"  (2) estiman que la contribución de frijol en el consumo total de proteinas es de 10%.(2) F. A.O. Food Balance Sheets 1979-1981. Roma, 1971, 1980, 1984.Existen varios platos que se prepara con frijol. Los factores que definen que un frijol sea bueno para la venta varian entre los dos departamentos. En San Miguel el éxito de un frijol en el mercado es pricipalmente que un frijol sea conocido: el 62% de las entrevistadas piensa que un frijol que es muy diferente a lo común tiene problemas de aceptación en el mercado. La familiaridad del frijol está definida más que todo por el color: el 31% de las mujeres dice que el color del grano determina la venta. otro factor importante para la venta en San Miguel es el peso del frijol: según el 24% el frijol debe ser pesado. Para el 21% también es importante que un frijol tenga bien rendimiento para que el precio al detal este bajo (Cuadro 19).En San Vicente el color, el tamaño de grano y el hecho que el frijol es conocido son factores que definen si un frijol es bueno para la venta. Sin embargo el 27% de las mujeres también dice que un frijol debe tener un tiempo de cocción corto o uniforme y. un buen sabor para tener exito en el mercado.Mientras en San Miguel se fija principalmente en aspectos visuales, en San Vicente las características \"culinarias\" también son importantes. Las familias venden el excedente de la produccíon de una vez y por lo tanto el hecho que un frijol es facil para almacenar no tiene importancia (CUadro 19 Por no tener cosecha todavia o por no haber hablado con el esposo el 22% de los que han trabajado con CENTA IZALCO y el 42% de los que han experimentado con CENTA JISOA no saben si van a seguir con los materiales nuevos. De las familias que han tomado una decision el 89% va a seguir con CENTA IZALCO y el 78% con CENTA JISOA (Cuadro 24). La mayor razon para continuar la producción de CENTA JIBOA es su buen rendimiento (el 44% de las familias menciona esta razón). CENTA IZALeO es continuado por ser un buen frijol para comer (el 18%) y por su rendimiento alto (el 15%). De las familias que han tomado una decision el 11% nQ va a seguir con CENTA IZALCO y el 22% no continuará con CENTA JIBOA (Cuadro 24). Las razones para no.seguir con CENTA IZALCO son la falta de semilla por mala cosecha (el 100% de las familias que no continua) y la dificultad para la venta (el 25% de las familias que no continuan). Las razones para descontinuar la producción de CENTA JIBOA son la cosecha tardía (el 40% de las familias que no continuan), la dificultad de venderlo por su color no uniforme (el 40%), la falta de absorción de agua, su sabor feo (el 20%) y la falta de semilla por mala cosecha (el 40%) (CUadro 24).Al contrario de lo que se esperaba no se encontró una diferencia signicativa entre San I vicente y San Miguel con repecto a la aceptación de CENTA IZALCO (para más información vea anexo 9 El consumo anual de frijol per cápita es de 23 kilos en San Miguel y de 24 kilos en San Vicente, de lo cual el 70% y el 83% respectivamente viene della propia finca. Aproximadamente el 10% de frijol se consumo en estado verde.En ambos departamentos el frijol rojo es el color favorito. Dentro de los rojos hay una diferencia entre las dos regiones. En San Miguel se consumen más que todo rojos oscuros (el 70\\ del consumo total en frijol rojo), mientras que en San Vicente, rojo más claro es el de mayor consumo (el 91\\ del total en frijol rojo).La producción de frijol no es suficiente para El 70% Vicente autoabastecer las familias durante todo el año. de las familias en San Miguel y el 60\\ en San suplementa el consumo comprando frijol durante 2 meses al año.El frijol es un alimento indispensable en la dieta de las familias rurales y por lo tanto aparece en la mesa durante todo el año. Si hay disponbilidad de la propia finca el frijol aparece en el desayuno y la comida (cena) los 7 días de la semana.En caso de frijol comprado, el número de días y la cantidad por porción disminuye considerablemente.Las características que determinan si un frijol es bueno para el consumo son: tiempo de cocción, sabor, espesor de la sopa (caldo) y textura.El comportamiento en el campo es evaluado casi exclusivamente por el rendimiento de la variedad. En San Miguel además se prefiere una mata vigorosa.Para vender un frijol, el grano debe tener el color y tamaño parecido a la variedad más común. Además debe tener un tiempo de cocción corto y un buen sabor.Escogiendo variedades para sembrar, las familias se dejan orientar en primer lugar por las características para el consumo en razón de que el autoabastecimiento es el primer objetivo de la producción; (el 50% de las familias vende parte de su cosecha). En segundo lugar la decisión está tomada en base al comportamiento en el campo de la variedad. Las características comerciales no tienen mayor importancia. En San vicente el mercado influye un poco más en la selección de una variedad que en San Miguel.Las nuevas variedades CENTA JISOA (rojo-rojo) y CENTA IZALCO (rojo-oscuro) recibieron una evaluación positiva; el 89% de los agricultores continuará con CENTA JIBOA y el 78% con CENTA IZALeO.Las dos variedades han sido bien recibidas por sus buenos rendimientos y buenas caracteristicas culinarias. Al contrario de lo esperado, la aceptación de CENTA IZALeo no fue mayor en San Miguel.Las mujeres entrevistadas reconocieron los frijoles comunes en la región. Sin embargo con frecuencia se equivocaron en la identificación de variedades menos comunes. Esto indica que la introducción de una nueva variedad es fácil, si el grano tiene un aspecto similar al frijol común y es bueno para comer.En el momento, el frijol se produce mas que todo para el autoconsumo.Por lo tanto cualquier frijol rojo pequeño, con buen rendimiento, y que sea bueno para el consumo tendrá acePTación.Si la producción aumenta, la venta se volvera mas importante y las características comerciales tomarán más fuerza en la selección de una variedad. En este caso un frijol rojo claro tendrá más éxito. El primer objetivo de esa parte del .estudio es establecer los requerimientos del tipo de grano para que un frijol sea aceptado por el consumidor urbano en El Salvador.El segundo objetivo es la evaluación de dos variedades mejoradas y liberadas por el CENTA En 1981 se liberó CENTA IZALCO. con grano pequeño, de color rojo-oscuro y de forma alongada/redonda, y en 1988 fue librado CENTAJIBOA con grano pequeño, de color rojo-rojo y de forma redonda. En caso de aceptación CENTA IZALeO podria ser la alternativa por la variedad comercial SANGRETORO y, CENTA JIBOA por ROJO DE SEDA.Para detectar diferencias regionales, el estudio se realizó en la capital de San Salvador (120 encuestas) yen tres ciudades regionales; Santa Ana (57 encuestas), San Vicente (67 encuestas) y San Miguel (31 encuestas).Además familias perteneciendo a diferentes estratos sociales fueron entrevistadas para conocer la variación por ingreso, en cuanto a los hábitos de consumo y los requerimientos del tipo de frijoL Se trabajó en 4 estratos sociales; alto, medio, bajo y bajo bajo. El objetivo fue de realizar 25% de las visitas en cada estrato. Sin embargo en San Miguel se entrevistó relativamente pocas familias de bajos ingresos y en San Vicente el numero de familias del estrato alto era relativamente bajo. en San Miguel, no se pudo entrar en los barrios populares porque la policia les habia cerrados por una búsqueda de terroristas. En San Vicente vivian pocas familias que se pod1an clasificar en el estrato alto (Anexo 10). Los resultados presentados aqui se basan en dichas encuestas. La metodolog1a usada está descrita en la \"Parte 1: Objetivos y Metodolog1a\".En promedio la familia Salvadoreña urbana de la muestra contiene 5.4 ntiembros; 0.80 niños menores de 5 años, 1.45 niños entre 5 y 15 años y 3.46 personas mayores de 15 años. La composición de las familias varia según ingreso. El tamaño de las familias disminuye y el porcentaje de personas mayores de 15 años aumenta cuando el ingreso sube. No se ha podido encontrar diferencias en la composición familiar entre las diferentes ciudades. Por lo tanto la estructura del hogar es un variable que puede jugar un papel en la aceptación de un frijol en diferentes grupos de ingreso pero no es una variable que determina la aceptación de un frijol en las diferentes ciudades (Anexo 11)La familia urbana en El Salvador tiene un ingreso mensual per capita de 300 Colones (60 SUS) de lo cual 57% se gasta en alimentos. El patrón de los gastos varia entre los diferentes municipios (Anexo 12). La forma de gastar el ingreso varia considerablemente por estrato social. La familias con ingresos altos gastan 28% del ingreso en alimentos, 9% en educación. 1 % en combustible y 27% en otros gastos menos básicos. Las mismas cifras para las familias del estrato bajo-bajo son 50%, 2%, 13% Y 10% (Anexo 12). Lo demás de los gastos se va en rubros menos básicos.1.El consumo anual per capita en las familias urbanas es 14-16 kilos de los cuales la mayor parte es aportado por el frijol rojo. Frijol verde y frijol enlatado casi no se consume (Cuadro 25). Anualmente cada persona en las familias del estrato bajo-bajo consume dos kilos más frijol que en las familias de los otros estratos. Además las familias pobres compran relativamente más frijol negro y blanco. El Consumo de frijol enlatado sube con el ingreso (Cuadro 25) Es costumbre de cocinar una cantidad grande de frijol de una vez y separar de allí un poco para cada comida. La cantidad que las familias ablandan cada vez no cambia por estrato social, pero la frecuencia aumenta cuando el ingreso baja. Sin embargo, aunque el consumo total de frijol es mayor en las familias de estrato bajo-bajo, la cantidad que sirven en cada porción es menor que en las familias con ingresos más altos (Cuadro 34)Las frecuencias y las cantidades de consumo y de preparaci6n de frijol no muestran diferencias entre las cuatro ciudades (Anexo 13).Cuadro 34: Frecuencia y cantidades de consumo y preparación de frijol, según estrato social. El Salvador, áreas urbanas, 1988. 49% de las familias urbanas entrevistadas prepara sus comidas en leña, 23% utiliza electricidad y 26% usa gas. Si se ablanda frijol, un mayor numero de familias recurren a la leña porque es más barato que gas y electricidad y el frijol queda más sabroso. 54% de las familias usa leña para preparar frijol, 20% usa electricidad y 22% utiliza gas (Cuadro 35).Cuadro 35: Uso de combustible para la preparación de alimentos en áreas urbanas. El Salvador, 1988 (% de las familias). El uso de combustible para preparar frijol varia según estrato social y región. El uso de leña esta negativamente relacionado con el grado de urbanización y el nivel de ingreso.Por 10 contrario el uso de electricidad tiene una relación positiva con el grado de urbanización y el nivel de ingreso (Cuadro 36)., Cuadro 36: Uso de combustible para preparar frijol, segUn municipio y estrato social. El Salvador, áreas urbanas (% de las familias).Región Bajo-Bajo 93.9 1.5 0.0Las ollas de aluminio y de barro son las más usuales para preparar el frijol; 64% de las familias usa olla de aluminio y 21% utiliza olla de barro. La olla de presión es únicamente usada en el 7% de las familias urbanas únicamente y tiene más uso en medida que la ciudad esta más grande. La olla de barro se ve con más frecuencia en las ciudades \"rurales• (Cuadro 37).:También existe una relación entre la olla en la cual se prepara el frijol y el estrato social en el sentido que las familias con recursos altos reemplazan la olla de barro por la olla a presión (Cuadro 37)Cuadro 37: Uso de olla para la preparación de frijol. El Salvador, áreas urbanas, 1988 (% de las familias). Ni remojar el frijol antes de cocinar, ni colar el frijol cocido para sacar la cáscara, son prácticas comunes. Además, de los pocos que remojan el frijol, la mayoria bota el agua de remojo (Cuadro 38). Más familias en los estratos altos que de escasos recursos remojan el frijol antes de cocinar y usan el agua de remojo en la cocción (Cuadro 38). Es posible que las familias con ingresos mayores tengan un mejor conocimiento sobre la reducción de tiempo de cocción en caso de remojo y sobre la perdida de vitaminas si se bota el agua de remojo. LaS amUla.> e os estraW$ ruto.> cue an el inJOl menos uecue;.,¡;;me¡;¡e que ¡\"S ~amilias de ingresos bajos (cuadro 38). Las familias ricas tienen menos necesisidad de colar el frijol porque compran por lo general frijoles más frescos (véase parágrafo m.lV) que las familias de menor ingreso.Cuadro 38: Hábitos de preparación de frijol según ingreso. El Salvador, áreas urbanas, 1988. (% de las familias). Más de 90% de las familias expresa una preferencia para un color especifico del frijol seco (Cuadro 39). Sin embargo -como veremos más adelante en este parágrafoúnicamente 30% de las familias descartan un frijol cuando no tiene el color preferido.Cuadro 39: Preierencia para d <-o1o/' <l¡;;¡ grano seco, ,egun es\" .. \"\" \\;;, \":c 1.L familias). El Salvador, áreas urbanas, 1988. La razón principal para no comprar un frijol es por su tiempo de cocción largo. 40% de las familias entrevistadas piensa que el tiempo de cocción depende de la variedad, tnientras 60% dice que depende de la frescura del grano. En las ciudades grandes relativamente más fatnilias escogen el frijol por su supuesto tiempo de cocción porque hay más posibilidad de encontrar un frijol duro (Cuadro 41). También se pueoe ooservar que las familias de estratos altos descartan más un frijol con tiempo de cocción largo, que las familias con ingresos más bajos (Cuadro 42). Las familias de los estratos altos pueden cambiar el frijol por otros alimentos más caros como la carne o el pollo. Las familias de ingresos bajos no pueden sustituir el frijol y por lo tanto, a veces se ven obEgados a comprar granos viejos y duros.Absorción de agua del grano, el hecho que frijoles dan una sensación de llenura o que producen flatulencia no son características para que una familia descarte el frijol de su canasta. Lo que si se puede observar es que las familias del estrato bajo-bajo escogen con máS cuidado un grano que absorba mucho agua que las otras familias. La sensación de llenura y la producción de flatulencia están características negativas que cuentan más fuerte por las familias de los estratos altos (Cuadro 42) y en San Salvador (Cuadro 41).El resto de las características mencionadas en los Cuadros 41 y 42 tampoco son muy importantes para las familias para descartar un frijol; entre 25% -45% de las familias decide si un frijol esta aceptable o no en base de dichas características. Las familias en los estratos altos son considerablemente más exigente en su compra de frijol (Cuadro 42). Además hay una tendencia que en las ciudades máS pequeñas las características órganolepticas (textura, sabor, cascara) son relativamente más importante que en las ciudades grandes donde factores de frescura, el problema de que el frijol cocido se arruina y el tiempo de cocción son relativamente más importante (Cuadro 41).Cuadro 41: Importancia de algunas características de fríjol en la deCISlón oe compra, según región. El Salvador, áreas urbanas, 1988. (% de familias que descartan un frijol si la caracteristica no es según gusto). • 1 = primera preferencia 2 = segunda preferencia 3 = tercera preferencia Nfimero de observaciones o Promedio de una escala de 1 a 3 en la cual 3 es la primera preferencia y 1 es la lercera preferencia. 35% de los gastos doméSticos se va en alimentos y 3% del presupuesto alimentario se gasta en frijol. El porcentaje del presupuesto alimentario que se va en frijol tiene relación negativa con el grado de urbanización.únicamente 6% de las familias siempre compra la misma variedad de frijol y cuando no la hay en el mercado deciden no comprar frijol. 94% de las familias tienen una preferencia para un color especifico del grano seco de frijol. Sin embargo únicamente 30% de las familias descartan un frijol cuando no tiene el color preferido. Rojo es el color preferido (97% de las familias) y dentro la tonalidad de los rojos el \"rojo-rojo' es el grano más atractivo en San Vicente y San Vicente y el \"rojo oscuro\" es preferido en San Miguel y Santa Ana.La razón principal para no comprar un frijol es por su tiempo de cocción largo. En las ciudades grandes relativamente más familias escogen el frijol por su supuesto tiempo de cocción porque hay más posibilidad de encontrar un frijol duro. Las familias de estratos altos buscan más un frijol con tiempo de cocción corto que las familias con ingresos más bajos.En una evaluación de muestras ROJO DE SEDA recibió la mejor puntaje seguido por CENTA IZALCO. CENTA JIBOA era el frijol menos preferido.ROJO DE SEDA Y CENTA lZALCO tienen una buena aceptación en le mercado .• ... ~.T\"ill'camente ,r-< 5e-ele lar .. JIBOA es más difícil. únicamente 37% de las familias comprarían el frijol sin pesar dos veces mientras 10% de las familias dejarían de comprar frijol si no habría sino CENTA JIBOA en el mercado, , Aunque los gustos son más marcados en los estratos bajos que en los estratos altos, las familias de ingreso bajos están más dispuestas a comprar frijoles que no son exactamente según sus gustos.VI. CONCLUSIONES 1. Las preferencias y la aceptación de un frijol determinado depende principalmente de la disponibilidad en el mercado. Por lo tanto se puede observar diferencias en preferencias y aceptación en los diferentes regiones del pais donde producen diferentes tipos de frijol.Por ser un alimento relativamente más importante para \\as familias de ingresos bajos las preferencias con respecto a un frijol son más marcadas en estos grupos. Sin embargo por la misma importancia del frijol en la dieta, las familias de los estratos bajos están más dispuestas de comprar un frijol que no es 100% según sus gustos.Si se quiere introducir una nueva variedad de frijol es importante buscar por un frijol con características similares a los frijoles comerciales.Las características para tomar en cuenta son:  -----------------------------------------------------------  • Producir semilla 12%• Cosecha tarde 40%• Color no uniforme 40%-Dificil para la venta 40%• Mala absorción de agua 20%-Mal sabor 20%• Falta de semilla porque la cosecha se perdió 40%-Buen rendimiento 44%-Tiempo de cocción corto 6%-Buena para la venta 6% "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8e17a4e1967c388236db94e3f2b42faf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://data.cimmyt.org/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=hdl:11529/10548788/2","id":"299833570"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"95d37eec-e296-4782-8cc2-fc637eb6b151","content":"Dear Sir, Madam, we are glad you came for this experiment. As a token of our appreciation, we are providing you with FCA 3000.-We work for ITA.-We would like to ask you some questions on cereal production and utilization, and will invite you to taste and evaluate some new cereal products, so see if it is worthwhile bringing them to the market.-Your name will be kept confidential.-We will explain all procedures step-by-step, do not hesitate to ask any questions.-Taking part in this study is voluntary; you do not have to participate. If you choose to take part, you have the right to stop at any time and there will be no consequences. We would like to thank you for your full cooperation in advance.For the enumerator I have described to the respondent this research study, its purpose, risks and benefits of participation, steps that will be taken to protect the privacy of the respondent and his/her household, and the voluntary nature of participation. The respondent was given the opportunity to ask questions regarding the study, and I have provided all answers to the respondent's satisfaction. I confirm that the respondent has freely consented to participate in this study.Enumerator's name: ____________signature _____Date______/______/ 2015Identification of the participant Please evaluate each product/food preparation in the order that it is presented to you, for five attributes (appearance, texture in hand, aroma, texture in mouth, taste) and for its overall quality. Use a five-point likert scale (dislike very much, dislike, neither like nor dislike, like, like very much). Please completely finish your evaluation of one food preparation before moving to the next food preparation. For each attribute, please indicate your score with tick marks ( X ) in the tables. To identify each product, use one of the four symbols (triangle, rectangle, circle, diamond), as indicated on their label.  First explain the procedure  I will show you two biscuits, one at a time, and I will ask you how much you are willing to pay for each .  I will ask you to make bid for each of the biscuits and I will write your two bids down.  Afterwards we will determine the binding product by drawing a number from this bag.  Then you will draw a number from a random distribution. If your bid is higher than the random number, you will buy the product at the price equal to the number you drew. If your bid is lower than the random number, you will not buy the product.  Explain that it is in the best interest of the participant to bid his or her true WTP, give a numerical example. Kindly note that it will be to your own benefit that your bid is the true amount that you are willing to pay for the product. In this kind of auction, if you give a lower bid than your true willingness to pay (for example you bid 100 FCFA when your WTP is 400 FCFA), you might lose an opportunity to buy when you draw a number of 300. If your bid is too high, for example 500 FCFA and you draw the number 500, you have to buy at that price. At your true WTP when the number /higher bid than your true value, you are the one who ends up losing. Do you have any questions?  Now let start our test round, please make bids for the two products:Bid in FCFA Bid for: biscuit ______________ Bid for : biscuit ______________ Randomly assign binding product : ____________ (number between 1 and 2 ) or symbols Random number drawn:_____________________ Is the bid higher than the random number? __________ 1.Yes 2.no If yes, the participant buys the biscuit at the random price/number If no, the participant does not buy any biscuit. I will show you five bags of 250 g cereal product, one of each of the products you just tasted, labeled with the same symbol, one at a time, and I will ask you how much you are willing to pay for each . I will ask you to make bid for each of the five bags and I will write your five bids down. Afterwards we will determine the binding product by drawing a number from this bag. Then you will draw a number from a random distribution. If your bid is higher than the random number, you will buy the product at the price equal to the number you drew. If your bid is lower than the random number, you will not buy the product. (Invite the participant to make bids for the five products labeled with symbols, without information)  Randomly assign binding product: ____________ (number between 1 and 4), or use the symbols: Now, you will pick a random number from a distribution to determine the winning price for the binding product. If the bid you offered is higher than or equal to the randomly drawn price, you win the auction and you have to buy the product at the price of the random number you picked. Otherwise you lose the auction and you do not purchase the product. Kindly note that it will be to your own benefit that your bid is the true amount that you are willing to pay for the product. In this kind of auction, if you give a lower bid than your true willingness to pay (for example you bid 100 FCFA when your WTP is 400 FCFA), you might lose an opportunity to buy when you draw a number of 300. If your bid is too high, for example 500 FCFA and you draw the number 500, you have to buy at that price. At your true WTP when the number /higher bid than your true value, you are the one who ends up losing.Random number drawn:_____________________ (from the set of random numbers)Is the bid higher than the random number? __________ 1.Yes 2.no If yes, the participant buys the product at the random price/number If no, the participant does not buy any maize. I will show you five bags of 250 g cereal product, one of each of the products you just tasted, in the same order, now labeled with the same symbol, and with additional information on the content of the product : flavored with mango or not, fortified with micronutrients or not, and if the micronutrients were synthetic or from a natural source.Please take the time to read the labels and let me know if you have any questions. Questions asked: Now I will ask you how much you are willing to pay for each . I will ask you to make bid for each of the five bags and I will write your five bids down. Afterwards we will determine the binding product by drawing a number from this bag. Then you will draw a number from a random distribution. If your bid is higher than the random number, you will buy the product at the price equal to the number you drew. If your bid is lower than the random number, you will not buy the product. winning price for the binding product. If the bid you offered is higher than or equal to the randomly drawn price, you win the auction and you have to buy the product at the price of the random number you picked. Otherwise you lose the auction and you do not purchase the product. Kindly note that it will be to your own benefit that your bid is the true amount that you are willing to pay for the product. In this kind of auction, if you give a lower bid than your true willingness to pay (for example you bid 100 FCFA when your WTP is 400 FCFA), you might lose an opportunity to buy when you draw a number of 300. If your bid is too high, for example 500 FCFA and you draw the number 500, you have to buy at that price. At your true WTP when the number /higher bid than your true value, you are the one who ends up losing. Now please draw a number from 1 to 5 to determine the binding product with the binding bid. -Nous voudrions vous poser quelques questions sur votre profession et revenues, et consommation céréalière.-Après, nous vous inviterons à pour goûter et évaluer de nouveaux produits céréaliers pour pouvoir juger de leur potentiel sur le marché.-Votre nom restera confidentiel, et votre identité ne sera pas révélée aux personnes en dehors de l'équipe de recherche que vous voyez ici.-Tous les produits offerts ont été testés pour leur qualité et la sécurité de la santé humaine.Nous allons vous expliquer le processus étape par étape, n'hésitez pas de poser des questions.- "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4450364445.json b/main/part_2/4450364445.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7be9675b57fe53ac372d4c24b5b931cd0f64ded7
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c739d3f9cced7d45fc27238be3a9551e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/c9cc5c49-097c-4c91-9d9b-018b2f2d8195/content","id":"-1742160562"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ae01c627-dd70-450d-afd6-0ec69ffad37e","content":"This bibliography includes 166 titles relating to triticale and written by CIMMYT researchers. It covers conventional published literature as well as unconventional reports, studies, and conference proceedings. Entries in the bibliography are subdivided into seven subject headings (see contents page) and arranged alphabetically by senior author. A complete author index is also included. There may be some missing titles that were not available at the time this document was compiled. We intend to update this bibliography regularly and would appreciate any suggestions for improvement.When ordering photocopies, indicate reference number and title of the document and send to: Esta bibliografia enumera 166 obras sobre el triticale escritas por investigadores del CIMMYT, y abarca tanto literatura convencional como informes, estudios y articulos noconvencionales. Los documentos aqui incluidos se dividen en siete temas (vease el contenido) y aparecen en orden alfabetico segun el nombre del autor principal. Tambien se incluye un exhaustivo indice de autores. Es posible que algunas obras no f iguren en la bibliografia porque no estuvieron disponibles cuando esta se elabor6, pero dado que se le actualizara regularmente, cualquier sugerencia para su mejoramiento sera bienvenida.Al solicitar fotocopias, indique el numero de referencia y el titulo del documento en cuesti6n y envielos a: "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4453201871.json b/main/part_2/4453201871.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3c669784b3dbb691ae0d82916711b05d420b1c85
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+++ b/main/part_2/4453201871.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"29aa4e6ce653f2cc3b7e22d244709520","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/42a85596-e57b-4c4f-aedb-cf9b2820b901/retrieve","id":"1823205697"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e98fd841-de08-444d-b89d-449c147e21c4","content":"The project has set up 39 DVMs (46% male, 54% female). After four years, we have reached 102,038 beneficiaries in 8 districts with an adoption rate of 96% measured as those are still growing OFSP at least two years after receiving the vines. Average yields have increased from 3-5 t/ha to 12 -15 t/ ha. During the past year (1st July 2016 to 30th June 2017), agro-processors marketed processed products worth US $199,723 and DVMs sold vines worth US $41,114.Rwanda's investment in agriculture program targets five crops, mainly maize, rice, beans, banana and potato. However, in terms of metric tons produced, sweetpotato is the number one crop in the country, accounting for 13.4% of all crop production in 2014, yet only 5.2% of cultivated land (Table 1). Rwandans consume over 88 kg per capita of sweetpotato per annum, with the dominant varieties being white-fleshed. The major complaint of farmers is lack of market.In addition, the level of stunting remains high (38% in 2014-15 DHS). Combatting malnutrition is a high government priority. Biofortified orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) can provide a year-round source of vitamin A in the diet while continuing to be central to ensuring food security of rural Rwandese households.Biofortified, pro-vitamin A rich OFSP varieties are a proven tool for reducing vitamin A deficiency (VAD) among children under five years of age, the group most at risk of VAD. Under the SASHA project (2010-2014), we demonstrated that through an effective public-private partnership with Urwibutso (SINA) Enterprises, it is possible to build a sweetpotato value chain that is pro-poor and pro-women. Through the SUSTAIN project, we are scaling-up this model and strengthening the nutrition component.We intend to reach at least 60,000 direct smallholder beneficiaries and 250,000 indirect beneficiaries by 2018 with improved varieties and appropriate nutrition information and counseling for caregivers of infants and young children. We aim to contribute to improving dietary diversity through increasing the consumption of OFSP and other vitamin A rich foods at the household level. The impact of the project will be evaluated using a robust randomized control trial (RCT) design, led   Where are we working?SUSTAIN is working in 8 districts (gicumbi, Ruhango, Kayonza, Rwamagana, gakenke, Rulindo, Kamonyi, and Muhanga). The project is part of a wider CIP Rwanda sweetpotato program that is currently covering 18 districts.Between December 2015 and April 2017, the project produced and distributed over 20.4 million OFSP cuttings to 102,038 eligible households in 8 districts. Each recipient also received an integrated nutrition-agriculture brochure which provides information on nutrition, agronomy and use of OFSP. The project set up 39 Decentralized Vine Multipliers (DVMs) who are the backbone of the OFSP seed system in Rwanda. Over the past two years, DVMs produced and sold cuttings valued at about US $81,591 and cooperatives sold roots worth US $25,160, with 400 smallholder farmers (70% females) linked to markets (Fig. 1). From July 2015 to April 2017, Urwibutso Enterprises sold OFSP-based bakery products worth US $522,989. During the last two years, eight farmer cooperatives have produced and sold OFSP products worth over US $20,000.We distributed over 300 nutrition counseling cards to project partners, government staff and other NgOs who employed community health workers (CHWs) and agriculture promotors in the field. The cards were used extensively in step-down trainings over the last 3 years. Between July 2016 to June 2017, 101 community-level infant and young child feeding (IYCF) events, 125 agricultural events (Fig. 2) and 107 cooking and processing events were undertaken.We monitor yields of different varieties on farmer's fields and in demonstration plots. Compared to the local whitefleshed check variety (10.1 t/ha), the average yield of all of the following OFSP varieties have been superior: gihingamukungu (14.8 t/ha), Vita (14.1 t/ha), Kabode (13.9 t/ ha), and Terimbere (13.1 t/ha).From September 2014 to June 2017, the project has prioritized awareness creation, demand creation, and advocacy activities. To date, 103,000 brochures, 103,000 OFSP variety labels, and 103,000 cooking flyers have been distributed to farmers. Roadside signs advertising vines at 14 DVMs help link farmers to quality vine suppliers. To reach both rural and urban consumers, 20 TV and 26 radio programs have been aired. 2,800 flyers were distributed to donors and policy makers. So far, 22 stories have appeared in the print media and 30 on-line.But the great accomplishment has been the transformation of government policy towards OFSP. OFSP is now recognized as a nutritious food security crop to be incorporated into all food security project efforts. The fresh root and processed product marketing efforts have positioned OFSP as a cash crop. OFSP now appears in rural markets and shops and supermarkets in selected urban centers.Efforts to develop a sustainable seed system initiated during SASHA Phase 1 (in 2011) have continued to develop. The OFSP seed system is being used as a model for all other clonally propagated crops in Rwanda by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources.The SUSTAIN project has achieved its goals as planned. A major remaining task is for Michigan State University to implement the endline RCT survey that will be done from December 2017 to February 2018. The endline will cover 1,560 households in 252 villages from 42 sectors in 8 districts survey. The RCT is designed to measure the total number of beneficiaries reached/impacted by different types of interventions, namely 1) Base model: All the components of the integrated Agriculture, Nutrition and Marketing approach; 2) Base model less nutrition counseling; 2) Base model less marketing; 4) Base model less nutrition counseling and marketing; 5) Base model, but only one season; and 6) Base model with the second-time vine distribution at a higher price. The RCT is designed to show the type of interventions that have greater impact per unit cost.In the remaining time, the project will continue backstopping DVMs and marketing activities, including demand creation campaigns in support of processors, while the final project report is prepared."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4458608172.json b/main/part_2/4458608172.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3e2e666da7c1a0386c3794b15878eddae078cbfa
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0ff1b7bec6c3383271d45312eb9e1a1c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/7c190fb2-b9b9-4764-bdec-afa737ee7255/content","id":"-1002914296"},"keywords":["Common wheat","dsDNA","Fluorescent quantitative analysis","Dominant marker","Molecular breeding"],"sieverID":"29b66daa-2794-4c9c-87f9-d9543cd8a6d3","content":"Quantitative analysis on double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) lays a foundation in molecular biology research in plants, particularly important for genotyping in molecular breeding. The objective of this study was to establish standard curve for fluorescence quantitative analysis by lambda DNA, to compare the difference between dsDNA value in fluorescence system and ultraviolet spectrophotometry, and to identify the allelic variations of rust resistance genes in wheat. The fluorescent dye could be efficiently performed in the quantitative analysis with micro dsDNA concentration (< 1.1 ng L 1 ). However, the fluorescent dye could lead to uncertainty of original concentrations of wheat leaf and grain genome DNA, due to more fold serial dilutions for higher DNA concentration. A downward tendency was happened in fluorescent intensity when fluorescent reaction volume was tapered, which influenced the accuracy of DNA concentration. The volume of reaction system mixed nucleic acid and fluorescent dye should be more than 200 L for accurate determination of micro dsDNA. For genotyping on PCR products, the volume of fluorescent reaction system should be more than 40 L. FLUOstar could be used for identifying the dominant marker, for instanceand IB-267 (Sr50), its accuracy was 100% in correspondence with that from agarose gel electrophoresis. Co-dominant marker with the characteristic of peculiarity and major difference in amplified fragment length ( ≥100 bp), such as We173 (Yr26), could also be identified by fluorescent analysis. Compared with agarose gel electrophoresis method, fluorescent method have a simple, convenient, and rapid oparetion with high repeatability, and can be used for segregating generations in marker-assisted breeding.较广泛, 如微量 DNA 残留检测、深度测序技术、量 化 PCR 产物和转基因产物等 [1][2] 。 随着分子生物学技 术的快速发展, 核酸定量相关技术也得到相应发展, 常用定量方法包括放射免疫法、紫外分光光度计、 荧光染料法和生物质谱法等。因放射免疫法涉及同 位素, 生物质谱易受其他杂质干扰, 使用较少 [3][4] 。 紫外分光光度法虽然是实验室常用的 DNA 定量方 法, 操作简单, 对设备要求低, 但灵敏度低, 只能测 定总核酸浓度高于 2 ng L 1 的样品, 且测定过程中 无法区分单(ssDNA)、双链 DNA (dsDNA)及其他核 酸类型, 容易导致吸收峰偏差, 准确度较低。 随着研究 需求和仪器的发展, 核酸定量的精确度也得到提高, 经济高效的荧光定量方法逐渐得到广泛应用 [1,[5][6] 。 核酸荧光染料是一种能够与特异核酸分子结合 发光的染料, 属于内嵌染料, 信号强度与结合的核 酸分子数成正比 [7] 。DNA 荧光染料具有通用性好、 灵敏度高、所需样品量少、重复性高等优点, 广泛 用于定量基因表达和基因突变等 [8] 。常用的 DNA 染 料 包 括 溴 化 乙 锭 、 PicoGreen 、 Hoechst 33258 、 QuantiFluor 等 [3] 。溴化乙锭与 DNA 和 RNA 均具有 较强的结合性, 但无法区分单一类型核酸, 并具有 较强毒性, 最低检测核酸量为 0.1 ng L 1 。Hoechst 33258 与 dsDNA 的 A-T 碱基对具有较强的特异性, 最低检测核酸量为 10 ng mL -1 [9] 。PrcoGreen 和 QuantiFluor 均对 dsDNA 具有特异性 [7,[10][11] , 前者最 低检测 250 pg mL - 良好的抗秆锈性, 该基因标记 csSr32#1 (F: 5′-GGT TTGGTGGCAACTCAGGT-3′; R: 5′-CATAAGCCAA AGAGGCACCA-3′)为显性标记 [12] 。 Sr50 来自普通小 麦与帝国黑麦(Imperial Rye)杂交创制的 1BL/1RS 或 1DL/1RS 易位系, 定位在 1RS 染色体上, 目前对 Ug99 仍具有良好的抗性, 该基因标记 IB-267 (F: 5′-GCAAGTAAGCAGCTTGATTTAGC-3′; R: 5′-AA TGGATGTCCCGGTGAGTGG-3′) 为 显 性 标 记 [13] 。 Yr26 在墨西哥是一个有效的抗条锈病基因, 位于 1BL 染色体长臂, 该基因标记 We173 (F: 5′-GGG ACAAGGGGAGTTGAAGC-3′; R: 5′-GAGAGTTCC AAGCAGAACAC-3′)为共显性标记 [14] 。 PCR 体系 10 µL, 包括 1 Green GoTaq Flexi buffer (Promega, 美国, ＃M891A)、1.   因是原液 DNA 浓度较高, 稀释倍数较大, 容易增加 实验操作误差 [15] , 换算出的原液 DNA 偏离实际浓 度。在精量 dsDNA 实验时, 建议先使用 NanoDrop 测定核酸总浓度, 估算 DNA 稀释浓度处于荧光测定 范围内后, 再用荧光染料定量, 避免因 dsDNA 浓度 过高造成荧光强度超过仪器所承载的阈值(<260 000 RFU) [9,[16][17][18] 。 减少样品和试剂使用量, 节约成本, 是高通量 实验的基本要求 [7] 。随着荧光染料反应体系量的减 少, 相同浓度 dsDNA 的荧光信号也逐渐下降, 标准 曲线斜率呈下降趋势(图 1)。其主要原因是反应体系 dsDNA 总量降低, 嵌入双链间的染料随之减少, 入 射激发光激发的荧光燃料所产生的总荧光强度相对 减弱 [5,7,19] 。因此, 控制反应体系和样品使用量是荧 光定量技术的关键 [6,[19][20] 。通常情况下, 在一定范围 内增加 dsDNA 模板和荧光染料的浓度, 荧光强度也 会增加 [2,18,21] , 但过多增加染料浓度, 荧光染料分子间 会相互作用形成缔合分子, 产生荧光淬灭团 [4,10,22]  光吸收强度 [11,[22][23] 。 传统凝胶电 泳的检测手 段能够准确 有效检测 PCR 产物, 但操作繁琐, 耗时费工, 效率低 [3,24]  "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4460519979.json b/main/part_2/4460519979.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b2febeceb683e9b52fa0f5d81fb1892f41e71dec
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5c9ab60a4a8e56551a14f68ac11dc5b4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d7723557-f871-46e1-b23e-ab773d66224d/retrieve","id":"-459187381"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d1910f1e-9da6-452f-af92-98e6d62f5651","content":"We thank all funders who support this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund: www.cgiar.org/funders.Business models for resource, recovery and reuse of animal waste and a Decision Support System (DSS) to assess health risks from microbiological water pollution to support One Health watershed management. Evidence on how livestock and fish production and farm profits are affected by reducing antimicrobial use while implementing alternative herd and fish health approaches.Incentives for improved hygiene practices through community monitoring of slaughterhouses, and performance-based food safety ratings for vendors in traditional markets.Protecting human health through a One Health approach § The One Health initiative aims to reduce antimicrobial resistance, improve food and water safety and manage zoonotic diseases for better human, animal and environment health. § In collaboration with national and regional partners, the initiative will generate evidence for decisionmaking, evaluate impacts of the One Health approach and scale up innovations into national policies and programs in seven countries: Bangladesh, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Uganda and Vietnam.Improve water management to reduce infectious disease risksReduce foodborne disease through capacity building of market actors and incentives for compliance "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4468271540.json b/main/part_2/4468271540.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..33aa14920a0096957b8c8b0767419ae38da0b383
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+++ b/main/part_2/4468271540.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"611fce9e71c7e716498340320fc9ff62","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/63756e1e-57da-4127-ac06-dfd1049b859d/retrieve","id":"-765931934"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f0bc59ef-ef1e-405f-a7b9-3c9a543974ec","content":" El rubro café es de mucha importancia para pequeños caficultores en Las Segovias, Nicaragua y Huehuetenango, Guatemala para su subsistencia, lo que les hace especialmente vulnerables ante factores externos como el cambio climático. En estas zonas cafetaleras, los conflictos armados han sido eventos que han incidido en el subdesarrollo de las áreas afectadas. Los eventos climáticos de mayor representatividad en estas zonas son los Huracanes y los periodos prolongados de sequía afectando significativamente la producción de café. La suma de estos dos factores incide notablemente en la unidad familiar de los productores, repercutiendo en mayor migración hacia otras zonas donde les asegure una fuente de empleo estable.El cultivo del café, corresponde a un rubro de mucha importancia en Guatemala y Nicaragua ya que en toda la cadena de producción genera efectos relacionados con los medios de vida, medioambiente y desarrollo social, también existe todo un esquema de comercialización donde muchas personas dependen de la compra y venta de este rubro desde el acopio hasta la entrega a otro sinnúmero de empresas que comercializar en productos al exterior.Según estudios realizados por el CIAT en el año 2012 para zonas cafetaleras de Nicaragua y Guatemala afirman que según los Modelos Globales de Circulación que el IPCC usan para proyecciones climáticas, la precipitación anual disminuirá y las temperaturas máximas y mínimas mensuales se incrementarán moderadamente para el año 2020 y continuarán aumentando progresivamente para el año 2050. Las implicaciones de estos cambios serán que la distribución de las tierras aptas para café disminuirá seriamente para el año 2050, de forma tal que para ese año las tierras óptimas para el cultivo serán de un 30-50% de las que actualmente son.Las políticas y estrategias de desarrollo ante el cambio climático no han surtido los efectos esperados para el sector cafetalero, repercutiendo en el aumento de la vulnerabilidad de las familias ante los diferentes efectos que la variabilidad climática ocasiona en el cultivo. Sin embargo, las familias productoras poco a poco están implementando medidas de adaptación a estos nuevos escenarios con el fin de mantener la seguridad alimentarias de sus familias.Para entender la vulnerabilidad de las cafetaleros en American Central se realizaron en septiembre y octubre de 2015, 16 talleres en 9 comunidades en Nicaragua y Guatemala coordinando actividades con dos centrales de cooperativas que agremian una cantidad considerables de productores de café. En Nicaragua se contó con el apoyo de PRODECOOP quien aglutina aproximadamente 2,300 familias productoras y su zona de trabajo está ubicado en el norte de Nicaragua en la zona denominada como las Segovias y las comunidades seleccionadas fueron El Horno, La Laguna, Samarkanda y San Lucas. En Guatemala se contó con el apoyo de ASOBAGRI, organización que aglutina a 1,179 familias asociadas de la parte noroccidental del país. Con el apoyo del equipo técnico se seleccionaron las aldeas de Balli, Puente Alto, Babeltzap, Cocola y Nuevo San Mateo.Con la realización de este estudio fue notorio que en todas las zonas estudiadas tuvieron afectaciones por eventos de naturaleza antropogénica y natural. Con respecto a los fenómenos naturales en Nicaragua el paso de los huracanes ha marcado un hito en la historia de las comunidades y en ambos países el ataque de plagas, enfermedades y periodos de sequía han sido de especial importancia. Por otro lado, la guerra extendida por muchos años fue un factor que causó cambios en los medios de vida de los habitantes de las zonas afectadas repercutiendo en cambios sociales, económicos y subdesarrollo. En Guatemala los conflictos sociales continúan afectado a las poblaciones productoras de café por falta de propuestas claras y concisas sobre la construcción de hidroeléctricas en el sector.Además del rubro café, los sistemas productivos en las zonas estudiadas son muy diversos, encontrando en las unidades productivas el establecimiento de raíces, cítricos, plantas ornamentales, producción de patio entre otros. Las Musáceas juegan un rol importante en Nicaragua, pero no fueron mencionados en Guatemala, de igual forma el cardamomo es importante en Guatemala no así en Nicaragua. En general se concluye que los sistemas de producción en Guatemala son más diversificados en comparación con los de Nicaragua.Estos rubros se ven afectados por los eventos climáticos, los que más afectan en ambos países son las lluvias fuertes y sequias ya que tienen una recurrencia anual. Por otro lado, si se analiza por la magnitud de daño que ocasionan, los huracanes son los que más impacto desastroso causan en los medios de vida de ambos países. En los últimos años en Nicaragua han ocurrido temblores que dañan sobre todo la infraestructura mientras que en Guatemala el Argenio es un fenómeno que daña los cultivos.Específicamente para el rubro café tanto para la producción convencional como orgánica, la roya fue una enfermedad que afectó en 2014 a todos los productores cafetaleros mermando la producción entre el 50 y el 100% con respecto a años de producción normal. Para afrontar estos retos el grado de organización es de mucha importancia en este sentido se encontró que, las comunidades en Guatemala son más resilientes en tiempos de escaso apoyo externo, y más unidas para la adopción de prácticas agroecológicas. En cambio, las comunidades en Nicaragua dependen mucho más del apoyo del gobierno y organismos internacionales.Con el apoyo de estas organizaciones y con el esfuerzo propio de los caficultores se impulsan las siguientes medidas y prácticas de adaptación: cambio de variedades de café, conservación de suelos, manejo integrado de plagas, opciones orgánicas de producción, manejo de sombra, cultivos alternativos, diversidad de sombra, fertilización, uso óptimo del agua y la venta de café en uva.Por lo tanto, es necesario promover en las comunidades la diversificación de cultivos a nivel de fincas para contar con más fuentes de ingresos que complementen o sustituyan las divisas generadas de la producción de café. En ambos países existen cultivos promisorios de diversificación como musáceas y los cítricos, cacao y apicultura, en el caso de Guatemala existe las hojas de moshan (Calathea lutea).También es necesario promover prácticas agroecológicas y el manejo integrado de plagas. Para ello las organizaciones presentes en las comunidades deben de aunar esfuerzos, recursos humanos y financieros para lograr una atención integral en la comunidad. Se recomienda centrar estos en aumentar la productividad por área de café bajo manejo orgánico de forma tal de pasar de un manejo de cero nutriciones a plantaciones sanas y fuertes capaces de tolerar la presencia de enfermedades y plagas recurrentes mediante programas integrales de asistencia técnica al rubro café, en el que incluyan, nutrición de plantas, manejo de sombras, manejo de tejidos y uso de variedades de buena taza con el fin de elevar los promedios productivos de las familias y que estos continúen con la calidad de café que han exportado hasta la fecha.Las mujeres juegan un rol de mucha importancia en los sistemas cafetaleros de Nicaragua y Guatemala con el apoyo de las asaciones que se trabajó en cada país, en el caso de Nicaragua existen proyectos especiales orientados hacia el empoderamiento de las mujeres y de financiamiento para que estas adquieran sus propias tierras, en el caso de Guatemala se promovió una marca especial denominada café femenino la cual tiene un precio preferencial por ser producto del esfuerzo de mujeres.La falta de liderazgo en algunas comunidades ha provocado una atención ineficiente de los diferentes actores que visitan la comunidad, lo que repercute en poca atención a los problemas que afectan de manera conjunta e individual de los pobladores. Se hace necesario por lo tanto la formación de la juventud en temas de emprendimientos, liderazgo y aspectos técnicos, buscando de esta forma el reemplazo de los líderes comunitarios. Las opiniones expresadas en este documento no reflejan la opinión oficial del CGIAR o de Future Earth."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"405fd133cd1312777598f8c8a30cc26b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fc24e15c-529e-47b1-bcb1-d2272b337cb1/retrieve","id":"-1924334161"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"288583a5-6101-4cdc-989e-268301a3660a","content":"The Challenge "}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"a3161413-8ce1-4615-8a37-0ed97aab53be","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"04a6ed8540c7086cf2933c50395360d2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Assessment/files_new/publications/Discussion%20Paper/CA_Issue_Brief_12.pdf","id":"648849432"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6f5d37f2-d64a-48ea-b5f7-a0ec9a5c3802","content":"Pressure on water resources heightens hydrological, social, and ecological interdependencies in river basins (as well as the basins of lakes and aquifers). More interdependency demands more integrated approaches to developing and managing water resources at the basin level. Many countries have implemented or are testing such approaches. Even more are struggling with how to put in place institutional arrangements to support more integrated management.The Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture (CA) analyzed river basin governance and management in the context of increasing competition for water for agriculture and other uses, pollution of water resources, and degradation of ecosystems. This analysis showed that to cope with the diversity of competing values and political and economic interests in basins and increasing water scarcity, natural hazards, and climate change, we need adaptive, multilevel, collaborative governance arrangements. It also showed that progress in establishing such arrangements has been slow---often with undue emphasis on form over process and a lack of redistribution of decision-making power from centralized \"hydro-bureaucracies\" to users.To speed progress, the Technical Committee of the Global Water Partnership (GWP), whose regional and country partnerships are engaged in different aspects of basin management, has undertaken this joint brief with the CA and the International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO).The appropriate institutional arrangement for a particular basin depends on its scale (transboundary, national, local); the stage of basin development; the main water management challenges to be addressed; and the existing social, economic, political and institutional environment. There are no universally applicable solutions, but it is possible to learn from experiences in other basins.The CA analysis revealed several key lessons that decision-makers should keep in mind when considering how best to strengthen institutional arrangements for basin governance and management: Some important challenges that institutional arrangements should address include coordinating decision-making between levels, establishing water allocation mechanisms, reducing water pollution, and handling flooding and droughts.Because different basins face different challenges and often involve different institutional environments, rolling out blanket country-wide reforms without adaptation to local specificities or directly copying institutional models from other countries as blueprints is seldom effective. What works for one basin, may not work for its neighbor.Establishing institutional arrangements is a \"learning by doing\" process---there must be enough flexibility to make adjustments and to adapt to changing conditions. Not all water-related problems can or should be solved at the river basin level. Some problems are best addressed at the sub-basin or local level. Others have solutions beyond the basin itself and even outside the water sector, for example in national or federal agricultural policies.The basic functions that comprise water resources management (see Table 1) can be performed by a variety of actors and at multiple levels. From a hydrological perspective, performing certain functions at the basin level makes good sense: planning water resources development, allocating water between competing uses, preventing flooding, monitoring and enforcing water quality and quantity standards, coordinating water-related decision-making among sectors, collecting data, and mobilizing financing to support basin development and management activities. Social, institutional and political factors need to be considered as well. or state control of water resources development and allocation, using the basin as a unit of planning, while decentralizing other functions to the basin or sub-basin level. This practice has the advantage of ensuring that water allocations are in line with national development priorities and, in countries where inter-basin transfers are the norm, may be a necessity. However, it has the disadvantage of giving basin stakeholders little or no say in allocation decisions.While the complexity of integrated management of sizable river basins may invite centralization and technocracy, the need for participation suggests decentralization and more local operations.Countries have found many different ways to strike a balance between these imperatives. Often this balance has shifted over time: generally from more centralized---during the basin development phase when construction of large-scale water infrastructure demanded technical expertise and massive mobilization of public funds---to more decentralized---as the focus shifted towards improving productivity, allocating water among users competing for a limited supply, or addressing pollution and degradation of important ecosystems.Whether the creation of a Basin Organization can improve water management in a basin, and if so what kind of Basin Organization is appropriate, depends on the particular challenges to be addressed---e.g. flooding, infrastructure development, conflict resolution, pollution control, power generation and trade---and the institutional arrangements already in place.The use of the term River Basin Organization should not be taken to mean that these organizations only deal with rivers; they may also be involved in the management of the lakes, wetlands, aquifers, and land within the hydrological boundaries of a basin. There are many different types of \"RBOs\" and the acronym \"RBO\" covers a wide range of institutions. A Basin Organization does not have to be a monolithic organization that brings the majority of basin functions under one roof---in fact such organizations are rare. Basin Organizations can also be more loosely constituted bodies that bring together stakeholders from various agencies and water use sectors.Basin Organizations can play a role in:• Instituting integrated (rather than sectoral) planning of water resources development, protection, allocation and ecosystem restoration.• Decentralizing water management functions from national or statelevel to basin level.• Negotiating the complexities of managing transboundary rivers, lakes and aquifers.• Overseeing activities that have basin-wide impact---for example, constructing or operating large-scale water infrastructure for multiple uses, coordinating pollution prevention, and organizing flood protection.• Promoting equitable water utilization and benefit sharing.• Developing joint projects (e.g. power generation and navigation).• Controlling externalities---as more and more of a basin's water is committed and interdependencies among basin water users increase, consistent basin-wide monitoring and enforcing become increasingly important.• Providing a mechanism for stakeholder involvement, effective dialogue and cooperation, and for coordinating between different organizations, levels of decision-making, and sectors.• Providing a platform for basin data collection and knowledge dissemination.• Developing funding mechanisms.• Contributing to a better socio-economic development and integration.Water management is informed by a whole host of formal and informal institutions; attempting to impose a new more coherent structure---particularly a centralized structure---on this multiplicity can create conflicts with existing line agencies and loss of democratic and accountability mechanisms. It may be better to identify conditions under which existing organizations and institutions can play an effective role in addressing basin challenges, understand what can be done to strengthen them or adjust their mandates, and ensure effective coordination and negotiation mechanisms between them. Responsibilities among various organizations at different levels (national, basin, local) must be defined clearly to avoid overlaps and increase effectiveness.New \"RBOs\" or platforms may be considered competitors by existing agencies, and, if they have not been endowed with specific powers, they are likely to remain cosmetic; this has happened with some \"RBOs\" promoted and funded by development banks or cooperation agencies without much in-country buy-in. For example, the embryonic river basin organizations in Vietnam, to whose design not even provincial water authorities have made a significant contribution, are largely international agency driven bodies established through a centralized state. They have very limited funding and are not endowed with specific powers.• A well-defined mandate and the legal, political, and administrative power to carry it out. In particular it needs to be clear at what level decision-making authority is vested and mechanisms for resolving conflicting interests between levels.• Adequate staffing and capacity building, especially for environmental issues, which are often new and informed by limited data availability.• Strong, broad-based political and stakeholder support.• Sustainable funding---BOs need to be financed, whether out of user or polluter fees or through government subsidies.Box 2: Criteria for successfully functioning Basin Organizations:Often ignored in institutional arrangements is that many other factors and processes originating in wider spheres have critical impacts on water use and management within the basin. River basins are part of a national and transnational economy. Sectoral and market linkages have implications for basin agricultural production and water use.Relative or shifting factors such as prices, subsidies, urbanization, trade agreements, and the evolution of world markets also can have dramatic and often unconsidered impacts on water use. To address these issues requires that water resources planning processes link to national sustainable development strategies and that decisionmaking processes in non-water sectors consider the implications for water resources.Other problems demand more local-level solutions---for example soil and water conservation. These are often best managed at the subbasin or local scale, but because these activities do affect the flow of water, sediment, and nutrients through the basin, there need to be links between local-level decision-making and decision-making at basin scale.The challenge then is to define institutional arrangements that can coordinate between actors and decision-makers operating at different scales---local, basin, national, transboundary. However, the very diversity of physical and socio-political settings precludes defining universal guidelines for addressing this challenge.The trend observed by the CA is that the number of public and private sector actors involved in, or concerned with basin planning and management, is increasing, from environmental agencies and civil society or interest groups to regulatory bodies and service providers for agricultural, municipal, tourism and industrial water users. In general, as living standards improve and urbanization and environmental deterioration increase, more and more diverse stakeholders and world views need to be integrated to achieve equitable basin management and avoid conflicts. How to accomplish this while ensuring that water development and use is consistent with available resources and ecosystem integrity?In \"coordination-based,\" collaborative approaches to basin governance---common in Australia, the European Union and the Western USA, but also emerging in countries such as Brazil, Morocco, Mexico and South Africa---user and community organizations, government organizations, and stakeholder initiatives develop coordination and negotiation mechanisms at the basin or sub-basin level. This can mean a coordinating organization, for example, Mexico's Basin Councils, or it can be a mix of legislation, stakeholder platforms and institutional linkages.• Legitimacy---if it recognizes existing institutions with good stakeholder representation and buy-in.• Participation---if it gives water users the space, capacity and power to participate in water management decisions that affect them.• Flexibility---because coordination-based arrangements involve diverse organizations and in general less rigid institutional structures, they are better able to adapt to changing needs and circumstances.Collaborative, multilevel governance can help to reconcile stakeholder values and objectives by ensuring that information becomes available to all stakeholders and that conflicting actions are flagged in advance and duly debated. However, this requires suitable processes, rules and other institutions. It also works best when there is a culture of democratic debate and not too severe imbalances of power.When creating new rules, roles, and rights, it is crucial to recognize that stakeholders have different levels of access to resources, knowledge, political representation, and institutions; otherwise the institutional outcome can privilege the elite. Of course, if the goal is equity, just focusing on improving participation and coordination is rarely enough; there is a need to redistribute resources, entitlements and opportunities---tasks that must involve the state.• It may become more difficult to achieve as the size of the basin increases, and decision-making can be cumbersome and coordination costs high.• Existing organizations must have legitimacy, relevant capacities and adequate resources.• Political changes in participating jurisdictions can upset agreements.• Stakeholder participation in basin management is not straightforward, and including the poor and achieving substantive stakeholder representation has proven elusive in practice.• In countries with strong, centralized government control, collaborative arrangements may not be feasible. This process can be initiated from the bottom up (as in the example of some watershed initiatives) or the government water agency can take the lead---working closely with existing water users, NGOs and other government agencies to develop appropriate co-management arrangements. In addition to making sure that all functions are carried out (see Table 1), this means making sure regulation and operational duties are separate, that checks and balances are established, and that roles are clear and are supported by adequate legislation.A key factor in the success of basin institutional arrangements is the definition of water allocation mechanisms and monitoring systems to ensure water use is consistent with available resources and ecosystem integrity. The CA analysis suggests that allocating water between competing uses and users, including the environment, has often not received enough attention, although it is at the heart of integrated water resources management. Most important is the need to define allocation arrangements to be activated in times of shortage. Allocation and monitoring depend on adequate and reliable data; data collection is thus a critical first step that can help get water users and government and nongovernment organizations working together. In addition to water allocation, handling floods and reducing water pollution are key issues in many countries.Institutional arrangements for sustainable basin management should involve existing organizations, customary practices, and administrative structures. This will often require reshaping the mandate of traditional water bureaucracies---from unilateral decisionmakers to facilitators---and shifting the balance of decision-making power towards users. Such a shift takes high-level political support, capacity-building, and incentives for change on the part of the organizations themselves. It also takes time and often significant resources---basic requirements that efforts at institutional change have often foundered upon. This is challenging for basins contained within one country but becomes truly complex in the case of transboundary rivers and aquifers. For the 263 transboundary rivers and hundreds of aquifers shared by two or more countries, special agreements need to be reached by the riparian countries based on a basin perspective.Institutions and institutional structures emerge out of a specific context. For example, a strong civil engineering body capable of planning, designing and constructing infrastructure to tap available water is appropriate when the objective is developing water resources. The problem is that such organizations---whose capacity and structure are oriented towards basin development---can be slow to adapt as the basin's water resources become increasingly committed. They continue to do what they do best---build infrastructure---with the result that basins become developed to the point where ecosystem integrity is threatened. In such basins, institutional arrangements need to be reoriented towards improving water productivity of existing uses; dealing with stakeholders competing for a limited supply of water, including the environment; and regulating water quality and ecosystem health.In addition, various other types of changes---social, economic and political---can influence the types of demands on water institutions. Climate change may also present new challenges for basin management, which will require adaptive management approaches.For more information. Email: comp.assessment@cgiar. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9a8c50b7fcd4c95f5d238530639926f1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d5339735-cfe8-4c78-a745-cf1aba29d42e/retrieve","id":"-325335345"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"89001b8c-cad9-4026-b945-2699e9930c2b","content":"The ISPC reviewed CRP 3.6 on Dryland Cereals in parallel with CRP 3.5 (on grain legumes) and noted many similarities in the basic characteristics of the programs and in their management and governance construct. Both CRPs are led by ICRISAT, and both propose research on a set of crops that are in the CGIAR Centers' current research portfolio. In addition, both are similar in having to rationalize the budget (i.e. more for less) typically in relatively harsh, high risk, rainfed environments. In consequence, there are several areas where the ISPC's observations in the commentaries to these two CRPs are similar.The ISPC acknowledges the weakness of the Strategy and Results Framework (SRF) in providing guidance to the CRP proponents on the emphasis to be placed on minor cereals within the CRP portfolio. To overcome this, the proponents need to demonstrate the relative importance of the dryland cereals to the CGIAR goals and the value-added from addressing them in one CRP (the same requirement applies to the grain legumes described in CRP 3.5). For consistency, a comparison can be made with the other crop-oriented programs. As reflected in the SRF, the CGIAR has always found strong rationale to work on rice, wheat and maize, which are the three major staples in developing countries. There are well documented impacts from research on these three crops confirming a strong track record. For dryland cereals the niche is smaller and more focused on marginal areas and the documented varietal adoption and yield impacts from previous CGIAR efforts have been considerably fewer although still impressive. CRP 3.6 (in a fashion similar to CRP3.5) pulls together research on a set of crops that to a variable extent have commonalities, except for the environments where they are grown. It is necessary to think through what role each crop plays in contributing to the CGIAR objectives (SLOs) and planning how to improve the likelihood of delivering the proposed effects. The revised CRP proposal needs to make the arguments de novo and in relation to the research and developmental constraints in the clearly defined production systems targeted-not accepting current crop choices and research as a given.Overall, the objectives in CRP3.6 are reasonably clear and an attempt has been made to link them to the System-level objectives (SLOs) in the SRF. The activities are generally well laid out, and milestones and partnerships are provided. The text suffers from being repetitive (and therefore rather long), and in some places contains unreferenced and poorly connected components. There are also inconsistencies, for instance in data given as justification.However, more fundamentally, the ISPC argues that the basis for this proposal and hence the justification for an increase in funding levels for dryland cereal crop research needs to be made clearer. The demand estimates (for the targeted cereals) appear very high and therefore the underpinning assumptions should be more transparent and quantitative. The estimates of poor people living in dry areas includes other cropping systems such as rice-wheat where these cereals play a minor role and thus the figure of 650 million overestimates the actual number of poor people dependent on the CRP3.6 crops. A better analysis of demand and consumption dynamics would be appropriate because future demand is likely to be affected by other uses than just human consumption. This, in turn, makes it unclear how the poor will benefit from the research either as producers or as consumers, and what the magnitude of the expected benefits will be.It is clear that adoption of new technologies will be particularly challenging for CRP3.6 given the environmental constraints to production (further exacerbated by climate change in dryland regions), and the circumstances of the targeted beneficiaries in terms of risk, infrastructure, support systems and extension services, etc. Yet there is a lack of rigorous analysis of why impacts in the past have been limited among the poor and vulnerable. To a large extent, the proposal is a presentation of past and current activities and approaches. Although overall variety adoption for some of these cereals has been high, except in Africa, it seems essential to pioneer new approaches to break the past record of slow progress in the more challenging regions and environments. Furthermore, the theory of change and the impact pathways presented in the proposal assume a mostly linear track, which is not realistic given the challenging circumstances of agriculture in dryland regions. Indeed, impact pathways are presented in a very generic manner, without analysis of the constraining factors, feedback loops and specific opportunities for the particular crops and target domains. The proposal thus reflects a sense of continuing current commodity research under a CRP umbrella, without much change.The justification for including the four cereal crops is primarily based on the fact that they are grown in harsh, water-limited environments. It isn't obvious from the CRP how four commodity programs can be efficiently integrated for added value. The proposal would benefit from crop-specific analysis of the opportunities and challenges on the basis of past experience and advances in research, and cropspecific breeding and dissemination strategies with elaboration of where there are clearest synergies and best opportunities for integration. The crop-specific analysis should include matching research opportunities with the likelihood of having impact on the target populations who are the poor and vulnerable in dryland areas. A different prioritization among crops might result from such analysis.The ISPC observes some shortcomings with the proposed management and governance arrangements in CRP3.6, similar to those in CRP3.5. Effective management and leadership of the program is diluted by giving the CRP Director too limited authority and almost no resources to manage a program with a projected annual operating budget in the range of USD50 million. Effective coordination of the six Strategic Objectives seems to be undermined by allocating only 25% of the time of those six staff members who have the coordination responsibility. Two of the proposed management structures, the Steering Committee and the Research Management Team, have similar representation by the primary partners and allow too little independent, disinterested decision making. The R4D Advisory Panel as described is too ad hoc and not sufficiently resourced.The ISPC recommends that CRP 3.6 be approved subject to substantial revisions and resubmission, taking into account the detailed commentary that follows, with emphasis on:  An improved analysis and presentation of the target populations who can realistically be expected to benefit from the CRP 3.6 research; Better justification and prioritization of the proposed work plans on a crop-specific basis and identification where efficiencies can be gained by pooling research efforts across two or more of the dryland cereals;  Reduction of the scope of research in terms of crops and target areas when a clear case for the likely effectiveness of the research at scale cannot be made.  Analysis of the large array of current work with the aim of identifying barriers to adoption and shifting to new areas of innovative research and approaches to overcome these barriers.  Presentation of new and innovative approaches to overcome constraints to adoption of the range of technologies by the poor and vulnerable, particularly in Africa, and to increase the likelihood of impacts in their livelihoods;  Realistic and research-specific impact pathways that carefully address the conditioning factors and incorporate feed-back loops. Better integration of CRP3.6 with CRP1.1 (Dryland Systems) is needed, as well as justification for their separate identities or merger, and there needs to be a plan to monitor the impact pathways for CRP 3.6 cereals research drawing lessons from both CRPs.  In management and governance, a more streamlined structure is needed that provides for independence in decision making, monitoring and evaluation. (i) The Advisory Panel needs to be more appropriately structured and resourced with formal oversight by lead-Center Board;(ii) redundancies in the Steering Committee and the Program Management Team need to be addressed; (iii) the role and authority of the CRP Director needs to be strengthened; and (iv) the CRP management functions central to the success of the program, including communications, resource mobilization, and program evaluation, need to be clarified, adequately resourced and managed.The research agenda presented in six Strategic Objectives (SOs) is coherent within the context of the SRF and in relation to the overarching mission of the CGIAR and there are explicit links from program objectives to the SRF. The problems addressed are important for improving the contribution of dryland cereals to the livelihoods of the targeted beneficiaries. The SOs are interlinked; with SO1 on targeting research and SO2 on genetic resources feeding into SO3 on breeding and SO4 on crop management, while SO5 on seed and SO6 on post-harvest address technology dissemination and value-addition. The budgetary emphasis of the proposal is on improving yields.The ISPC raises some issues about the overall justification for the program. On the demand side the estimates for people who could benefit (650 million) seem very high. Assumptions underpinning the predictions from the IFPRI IMPACT model would need to be critically evaluated. On the basis of the figures presented in the proposal 250-300 million poor seems a more appropriate figure with poor people in the rice-wheat systems in South Asia and maize systems in Africa being excluded. Demand for research is likely affected by the hesitance of farmers in investing in technology for dryland crops given the high production risks and potentially low demand by users. This is acknowledged in the proposal but not assessed further. It would be appropriate to follow-up on these issues in designing work for SO1 and in looking for crop management possibilities specifically to address risks.Moreover, it seems likely that the role of dryland cereals for food security is declining under urbanization and shifts in diet. Given that per capita consumption for these crops is falling almost everywhere, increased demand is coming from feed and other uses, such as brewing. There is no discussion of how the poor might participate in this growth, either as producers or consumers. Given that the new demands are income elastic, the assumption is that the poor will participate less than in the past, when demand came from food uses. The forecast of demand may be affected if hotter and drier seasons increase the attractiveness of these relatively hardy cereals in wider geographic regions. Indeed, supply side motives could be more strongly presented. The proposal suggests likely serious implications of climate change pressures on dryland crops' productivity. The consequent need for interventions to reduce these systems' vulnerability appears a very strong motive which is not fully highlighted as a justification of the program, beyond quoting forecasts of negative yield effects.In the proposal, priorities are shown by cropping system but it would have been more useful if priorities were also presented in an equivalent way across the systems. There are large differences in the prevalence of poverty and in capacity between the targeted regions. CWANA (low relative poverty and very small area for dryland cereals except for barley) does not appear to be a high priority region. Other questions on prioritization are: why pastoral areas of millet in WCA are included but pastoral area of sorghum (2m ha) are not, and why barley in SA is included although the area is smaller than the cut-off size (given as 800,000 ha or 1 million ha in different parts of the proposal)? Furthermore, differences in R&D capacity (which are sometimes significant), could have been a factor in prioritization. In general, capacity in the target environments is limited, but in India it is significant.The justification for including the four cereals-sorghum, pearl and finger millet, and barley-in the same program is given on the basis of the similarly harsh environments in which they are grown.Common issues are the need for drought tolerance and the dual-purpose value for these crops as grain and fodder. Dissimilarities include breeding systems and characteristics of the target beneficiary groups who typically depend on these crops. In reality, integrating research on barley, the two millets and sorghum is likely to be challenging. For barley, the poverty focus is less clear than for sorghum and millets. With regard to finger millet, the resources devoted to it appear minimal, being limited to one project aimed at using genetic male sterility to facilitate the development of breeding and research populations. While there is no explicit breakdown of costings on a crop basis, which would have been informative, the obviously limited research on finger millet raises the question of why it was included in the proposal at all. Furthermore, the area sown to the crop is relatively small. Both for barley and for finger millet there is a requirement for a stronger justification for inclusion in the CRP and a strategy for generating impact among the poor. The CRP on dryland farming systems provides an opportunity to carry out work on crops such as finger millet if deemed critical to the research of that CRP.In conclusion, the justification for focusing research on selected dryland crops could be good, but the inclusion of all the target regions and crops with the volume of activity proposed is not clear.The Proposal puts a strong emphasis on delivery and potential impact. It focuses on the requirements of small landholders, especially female farmers, and aims to deal directly with these landholders and their concerns, mostly through regional partners. Impact pathways, however, are presented in a generic way without the specificity required by this particular CRP and assuming a simple linear tract. The impact pathways lack the detail that ought to derive from the crops and target prioritization, and they suggest few measures along the pathway for evaluation and adjustment. For example, regarding crop management technologies, extension is not considered. For comparison, CRP1.1, in which both ICARDA and ICRISAT participate, presents a much more nuanced construct for impact pathways recognising the obvious feed-back loops. Given very likely constraints such as poor markets, high risk, poor education levels etc. achieving widespread adoption has been, and will likely continue to be, difficult. It is hard to see how the activities in CRP3.6 will lead to some of the principle impacts depicted in Figure 1; for instance \"improved gender equity and smallholder farmer organization\" and \"reduced environmental footprint in [dryland crop] production/and or processing\". Furthermore, the disaggregated presentation of impact pathways for each SO leads to de-emphasis of the inter-linkages between the SOs. The sections on lessons learned are not consistently referenced, for instance in identifying the source of those lessons or how they are used in impact pathway design.The presentation of contributions to the SLOs and vision of success is simple, but not very convincing.The \"theory of change\" encapsulated in the conceptual framework of the CRP promises to speed up progress substantially. It presents a rather conventional approach predicting a similar change process which in the past resulted in substantial benefits in some cereal improvement in the CGIAR. However, as is discussed later under the Quality of science section, previous efforts on the dryland cereals have led to very limited impacts on the poorest and most vulnerable, and this proposal does not analyse the effectiveness of past efforts. There are no data on how the yield increases and the probability of success were estimated. Behavioural parameters such as income elasticities should have been used and better baselines would be needed for linking the projections to current realities. The program projects an annual increase in productivity of about 1.9%, but the grounds on which these changes in trends are predicted should be more carefully presented.Commendably, a complete value-chain of agricultural R&D and its consequences from the lab to the consumer are considered and the proponents recognize the pivotal role of the small landholders in that chain. It is also very positive that women, who are the majority of farmers in most areas, are explicitly targeted involving participatory research. Such partnerships can bring about continuous on-farm testing of potential innovations in cultivars and agronomy, and thereby foster continuing adaptive research. Opportunities for many feed-back loops exist to provide focus throughout the chain.Milestones are quite clearly presented but are not very specific, and outcomes are often not substantiated. The timeframe for success to achieve farm-level production increases appears unrealistically optimistic. Reaching new breeding goals for such difficult environments -and for the effects to be visible in the field -are likely to take longer than described. Also, substantial agronomic innovation takes a long time to develop, particularly for highly variable environments, and time for widespread adoption to occur could be considerable, particularly if the required infrastructures are lacking.In the proposal, gender features both at a generic level and in SO descriptions and there is an annex on gender. This makes the presentations repetitive but there are very few instances where a specific challenge and possible intervention are mentioned. A very positive feature is that gender issues will be addressed in the development of new varieties. It will be important that the requisite expertise on gender will be available either in the Centers or among partners. With 6% of the budget occupied by gender research and analysis, the content should be more substantial. While capacity strengthening is mentioned for all the SOs, capacity is not addressed with the thoroughness it deserves. CRP 3.6 is, appropriately, planning to collaborate with universities and AGRA on capacity building but what is lacking in the proposal is an indication of the volume of this activity and the budget for it.The proposed research and the approaches are generally solid, representing current practices. The lead Center and key partners of the CRP have good track records in crop improvement research. However, while the proposal is optimistic on some of its expected outcomes, it lacks ambition and clear innovation that would allow the projection to be considered credible. There is a lack of hypothesisdriven research; the proposal doesn't actually present testable research hypotheses for any of the SOs. Apart from putting the dryland cereals into one CRP, rather than the two Centers in which they are handled now, there is not much ambition in the research program which could draw a lot more from the new expanded partnership. As mentioned earlier, the lessons are not effectively analyzed to help shape a new research agenda. There is ample reference to \"innovations\" but those suggested constitute a rather mixed picture and in the specific section Program Innovations five of the six examples are from SOs 2 and 3. As production risks due to drought are a major constraint for production of these commodities, more innovative approaches on ways to reduce such risks could be expected from this program, both through technologies as well as institutional innovations. This, coupled with the proposal to largely continue past and present approaches, suggests that opportunities have not been captured to harness a new program to deliver results more effectively for the intended beneficiaries.There are areas that warrant further consideration and clarity. It is common that credible information is lacking on the relative performance of improved varieties under realistic production constraints, which are typically not represented in sites where varietal performance is tested by Centers and NARS. This is a constraint, as spill-over to smallholder agriculture and resource poor farmers is limited. Co-location of trials and poverty could be checked with respect to the priority regions for targeting varietal assessment in these particularly challenging environments. A case by case evaluation of the current situation by breeders and agronomists would help design and facilitate the elaboration of crop-specific breeding strategies for the cereals to be included in this CRP. The estimates on progress should be based on past performance and presented in a crop by crop basis. This is particularly relevant for hybrid breeding which is emphasized in the proposal and where the private sector will be engaged from the start. A more thorough discussion on the biological and socioeconomic constraints encountered in current hybrid breeding in SSA (WCA) should be the basis for planning future strategies. Providing farmers with relevant information on varietal performance, yield comparisons and crop management options will be a key issue for adoption to occur.There is frequent reference to dealing with abiotic stresses, as though these are a generic problem with possibly generic solutions. This view has proven so far to be barren, especially in relation to generic \"drought tolerance\". There are no compelling reasons to expect that it will be any more useful in the future. Instead, treating water as a limiting resource has proven to be much more effective in generating penetrating testable hypotheses that have resulted in more effective use of whatever water is available through a combination of genetic improvement and modification of agronomic practices. Applying this approach in the target areas would certainly count as an important IPG.With regard to the dual-purpose nature of the target crops, the proponents are confident that there are good prospects for improving both the quality and amount of grain and stover without trade-offs. This view ought to be challenged based on fundamental underpinning science. Further, there is the tension between maintaining good ground cover to protect the soil surface during fallow periods, and requirements for generating feed for livestock. This tension is not recognised in the suggested work on conservation agriculture. These important researchable issues deserve consideration.Seed delivery is an important issue for this CRP, which faces serious challenges because (except for hybrid pearl millet and sorghum) commercial possibilities are limited. ICARDA and ICRISAT have both dedicated a great deal of effort to seed system analysis and development and it is therefore disappointing that the document does not adequately reflect that experience and expertise. The material on seed-related activities (p200-203) is poorly constructed and unfocused and the milestones are fuzzy. The activities and role of the CRP with regard to farmer-based seed enterprises need to be clarified. It would be important to evaluate those types of enterprises that were established in the past to learn lessons. Efforts to ensure that new varieties are widely available can interfere with attempts to establish viable commercial entities. In general, the CGIAR's considerable efforts on seed systems have not been very effective, especially in Africa. Source seed (breeder seed and foundation seed) from public agencies is appropriately identified as a particular bottleneck and this is something that ICRISAT and ICARDA can work on for their crops. Moving further down the chain, towards commercial seed, marketing and regulations, the CGIAR Centers (or CRPs) must work together rather than each one going it alone in setting up local systems. Previous involvement in regional initiatives should be referenced and lessons learnt.Given the nature of the crops involved, having the SO1 on targeting research is commendable. However, the description of planned activities could be clearer; for instance regarding difference between \"value chain analyses\" and \"analysis of sub-sector\". Because many of the non-food or nontraditional uses of these crops will be determined by industries (brewing, biofuel, etc) that are \"beyond the control\" of the CRP, it will be important for the CRP to carefully monitor the development and needs of these industries and how that affects CRP targeting and potential impact on SLOs. A few priority examples of the specific value chains/locations to be examined would be helpful. It is too broad to \"...document the R4D in value addition of all the dry land cereals\".Social science research components are included in SO1, 4 and 6 where they are most appropriate.The social science methods do not represent current state-of-the art, and it maybe appropriate to link with other providers of social science expertise, including CRP2/IFPRI, and the substantial social and institutional work required in the approaches advanced for CRP1.1. The sections on communication and information convey an unclear picture of what is planned, as references are only to rural radio.A complex integrated program such as CRP3.6 cannot be operated without full participation of a host of partners. This is well recognized and relevant international and national partners are apparently included in the proposal. The potential to collaborate and the risks of potential duplication of effort appear to have been evaluated realistically. With regard to new partnerships, the need of which is acknowledged, particularly for SO4 and 6, the partner lists are generic and there are not yet anticipated contributions to outputs. Potential partners include very diverse kinds; uncovering, enlisting and managing these partnerships will be critical and require resources. It can be noted that the lead Center's track record of building entrepreneurial relationships is good. Alternative suppliers are discussed cursorily, merely asserting their scarcity. A better discussion is needed on how efforts at the national level, particularly by ICAR and EMBRAPA, complement those by the CGIAR.The CRP's plan to interact and coordinate with other CRPs is well articulated and reflects a good assessment of where the potential linkages exist. There are, however, several important issues. CRP1.1 and CRP3.6 are very close in subject matter and expected outcomes due to the commonality of dry areas. Many crop improvement activities are proposed to be done in conjunction with CRP1.1, and this mode of operation applies particularly to SO4 on crop, pest and diseases management. Management of the program component in conjunction will pose a challenge. Several other CRPs are likely to deal with the same farming systems; relevant components include agro-forestry in CRP6 and grain legumes in CRP3.5. The characteristics of the dryland crops in CRP3.6 link it with CRP7. The opportunities for stronger link with the CRPs for wheat (in relation to barley) and maize (in relation to sorghum) on pest and diseases could be explored. Seed systems work requires collaboration between all crop or policy-based CRP and recognizing others working in this area (e.g. AGRA).There clearly is scope to streamline and manage breeding efforts across commodity oriented CRPs to benefit from obvious synergies. This would include consideration of shared services and use of information coming from genomics and proteomics, soil and climate databases, socio-economic data and information etc. The plan for CRP 3.6 to outsource a number of analyses to institutions outside the CGIAR is considered appropriate.There is some evidence of the participation of partners in the research planning process, but it seems only core partners were involved in the program design. Regional consultations have been held, but the extent to which they have influenced proposal development is unclear. The level of involvement of NARS, private sector and Community Based Organizations is not clear, particularly regarding new and potential partners. Considering the complexity of partnership management, the time and attention given to management is too limited, as is discussed in the next section.There are similarities in the management and governance structures of the CRPs 3.5 and 3.6 where ICRISAT is the lead-Center and many of the ISPC's observations on these two CRPs are the same.The proposed structure for CRP 3.6 management and oversight includes:  A Steering Committee (SC) of approximately 12, initially comprising the \"top leaders (or their designates) of the major partners-including regional/sub-regional organizations, IARCs, NARS, ARIs and private sector organizations…\" (p103), to oversee strategic direction, monitoring of overall performance, and improvements to operational mechanisms  The CRP Director, whose duties include external communications and research mobilization  A Research Management Team (RMT), comprising the coordinators of the six SOs as well as the research directors from key partners not represented by coordinators  An R4D Advisory Panel of six to 10 members to provide input and advice primarily to the RMTThe lead Center, ICRISAT provides an unspecified range of financial and management services to the CRP and its DG acts as chair of the SC for an initial period. No executive office or program management staff other than the CRP Director is described in the proposal. The six positions dedicated to coordination of the strategic objectives are budgeted to spend 25% of their time on the responsibilities that attach to the RMT. This limited time means that they can hardly be considered managers of the strategic objectives much less a management staff for the overall program, the challenges of which should not be overlooked.Both the SC and the RMT are problematic. Each is essentially wholly representative of the primary partners. All primary partners are represented on the SC and each is guaranteed a spot on the RMT. The roles of both the SC and the RMT in priority setting and resource allocation fail to provide any formal space for independent, disinterested decision making; instead they have significant potential to preserve the status quo. The impulse behind the structure may be to build transparency among partners and enable consensus but the effect is to create a drag on the potential for genuine leadership and innovation. Between the SC and the RMT there is very little incentive to move past the aggregation of existing projects, partnerships and funding that characterize the start up of the CRP to create a program with its own priorities and accomplishments that has the capacity to attract the influence and resources needed to advance its goals.Although the R4D Advisory Panel offers a mechanism for engaging scientific and development advisors from outside the partnership circle, it is primarily an input to the RMT with the potential for additional interaction with the SC. It has no formal or informal relationship with the ICRISAT governing board. Finally, its name subtly but effectively signals its standing in the structure-it is a panel, not a committee, and its members are described as being part of a \"pool.\" The budget allocation for is further proof of the intended limits of its role.The CRP Director has not been given the scope of work or sufficient authority to manage a program with a projected annual operating budget in the range of USD25 million. The fact that the position will be internationally recruited and compensated accordingly does not offset the limited conception of the position. The Director is expected to serve as the public representative of the CRP, helping to raise its profile and the value of its work, to lead partner/donor relations, and to be active in resource mobilization. Despite this, the position does not appear to have any authority-to appoint a management team or to evaluate the performance of team members, to provide genuine leadership for the achievement of the program's strategic goals, or to shape ongoing planning.Program management appears to have no staff dedicated to it but relies on ICRISAT for unspecified management support. Although the proposal demonstrates a nuanced understanding of the value of both communications and knowledge sharing (p105), and the differences between them, no ideas are presented as to how a more externally focused communications strategy designed to raise awareness about dryland cereals and build interest at a global level will be coordinated or managed. All of the resources for communications and knowledge sharing are embedded within a strategic objective. To assert that \"the program's communication action plan [will be implemented] at all levels and be carried out by many of those involved in the R4D work\" (p106) suggests that eventually nobody may be in charge. A comparable challenge can be anticipated in resource mobilization.Assigning both of these important tasks to the CRP Director and then expecting the program to acquire capacity on an ad hoc basis is unrealistic. Neither of the Centers has approached these tasks in this way as part of their management structure, and for a reason. It is possible to subcontract for backroom functions like financial services and HR; it is much more difficult to subcontract for an ambitious communications program or professional resource mobilization, particularly if the Centers continue to maintain corporate identities and seek resources for programs that fall outside of the CRP.The total budget for the project over three years is projected to be USD77.7 million, which includes a funding gap of USD24.8 million. Although each of the CGIAR Centers is assigned a portion of the funding gap, the presentation of the budget by SO and by region (tables 13 and 14) does not demonstrate where funding gaps in the program are anticipated to occur. It is therefore not possible to see where a potential shortfall will have the greatest impact, nor is a contingency budget presented that illustrates how resources will be allocated in the event that the additional funds are not raised.The CRP Management Budget allocates a significant percentage (30%) of its USD2 million budget to meetings that enable the full representation and participation of partners at three points in the program's governance and management (SC, RMT, Global and Regional Coordination Meetings). The Advisory Panel is provided with approximately USD16,000 a year to support the participation of its pool of six to 10 advisors. The imbalance is indicative of an inherent problem with the structure.The Advisory Panel has the potential to bring together expertise and perspectives of value to the program and to provide a more independent level of planning and oversight than currently exists in the proposal. The Panel's role is to \"provide independent guidance on strategic planning, new R4D opportunities, and research progress across the CRP agenda\" (p1). It is proposed to have six to 10 members appointed by the SC based on recommendations by the RMT.The proposal does not envision the Panel meeting as a group on any consistent basis, rather the Panel is intended to provide the program with a pool of experts who can be tapped a few at a time to participate in meetings of the research team, or occasionally the SC. Aside from a three-year term for appointments to the Panel, there is no other structure proposed-no regular meeting as a Panel; no leadership structure; no link, formal or informal, to ICRISAT's governing body. Although there is a reference to its role in evaluation of the CRP's performance, there is no realistic way it could effectively fulfill this function given its lack of structure and support. As noted earlier, the budget for supporting the work of the Panel is minimal.The management structure has two bodies that are insufficiently independent, and one without the mandate and structure to be effective or fully useful. The CRP needs to establish a mechanism that can support its accountability, increase the transparency and independence of decision making, and reduce any potential risk of affirming the status quo at the expense of the CRFP's potential impact.At present, the Centers and other partners are given adequate opportunities to observe the program and strengthen it through the involvement of their research staff on the management team as well as participation in twice yearly global and regional coordination meetings. The SC as described would seem to be superfluous and counterproductive.With that in mind and to strengthen the management and governance of CRP 3.6, the following recommendations are offered:  Strengthen the structure and terms of reference for the Advisory Panel to give it a more substantial role in monitoring and evaluation, and in recommending program priorities and resource allocations. Provide a mechanism that allows a DG or equivalent from one of the primary partners to be a member of the Panel, in addition to the DG of the lead Center who can serve ex officio.  Establish a chair for the Panel, who is elected from among the members of the Panel, and who has reporting links ICRISAT's DG and board chair on the progress of the CRP  Eliminate the SC and redistributed its proposed functions to the Advisory Panel, the RMT, or the CRP Director as appropriate.  Strengthen the role and authority of the Director sufficient to lead and manage the program in an effective way. The evaluation of the Director's performance (and future recruitment) should include the chair of the Advisory Panel. The reporting relationships between the Director and the members of the RMT should also be strengthened to increase the ability of the Director to manage for performance.  Identify more clearly the management activities that will be undertaken by the program office or management unit to assure that functions central to the success of the program, including communications, resource mobilization, and program evaluation, are adequately resourced and managed."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5f2e9577861f4356be877f25adeb807c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/e643859f-1c03-4b4b-a7a0-59028e3658f3/content","id":"-1685035773"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"bb7e3915-d8aa-48dd-b957-682e2b5c2391","content":"► Investment and robust studies are needed to strengthen the body of evidence and facilitate gender mainstreaming in agricultural development;► Restrictive gender norms remain one of the most significant obstacles for women's agricultural innovation. Moreover, inequitable intra-household resource allocation affects food security at the household and national level;► When women try to innovate they are watched more keenly and judged more harshly than men, and are less likely to be reached by extension workers due to social norms;► Transformative methodologies such as Community Conversations create more egalitarian gender relations and social harmony and should be used in the agriculture extension system;► Strengthening women's ability to make effective choices and transform those choices into desired outcomes will bring positive changes to household food security and agricultural productivity.We asked 275 individuals (99 adult women, 96 adult men, 39 adolescent girls, 41 adolescent boys) in four Ethiopian wheat growing villages about gender norms relating to behavior, innovation, technology, and agency (i.e., the capacity to make choices and act upon them). Seven qualitative data collection instruments were used, including single-sex focus group discussions, participatory instruments, and semi-structured individual interviews. 1Female household heads face greater barriers than their male counterparts. Additionally, 56 percent of women engaged in the agricultural sector are unpaid workers, and 65 percent of women work for a family member. 2 Women perform twice as much unpaid work (304 minutes) as men (141 minutes) per day. 3 People should have the same opportunities to improve their lives, regardless of their sex, marital status, religion, age, etc. When people are held back by unequal behavior norms, their incentives to work harder are reduced becauseregardless of the effort they put inthey will not succeed on par with those who are fully included by society. Over time, their opportunities and motivation reduce, and fatalism ensues.Study participants were asked to estimate the percentage of households within their community that have moved from below to above the poverty line established for each village within the last ten years (Fig. 1). Male respondents consistently reported higher rates of movement out of poverty compared to female respondents. These results could indicate uneven intrahousehold dynamics whereby men do not share information and resources with their spouse, and/or it may reflect women's lack of mobility and opportunity to earn income. It is not clear why the women respondents in Village 4 estimated that 75 percent of households in the community have fallen from above to below the poverty line in the last 10 years. As women are predominantly responsible for feeding the family and ensuring their children's welfare, more research is required to better understand intra-household resource allocation.Village 4Existing gender norms and gender inequality are preventing poverty reduction. When asked about the qualities of a \"good wife\", women commonly cited socially acceptable behavior, her relationship (bonding) with her husband, and fulfilling family responsibilities. Men, however, had a longer and more detailed list of expectations that focused on housework, care duties, and income/farm work. Contradictory expectations make it difficult for women to fulfil the role of a \"good wife\"; for example, they are meant to stay at home but also earn an income and be a good farmer. According to both male and female respondents, being a \"good husband\" involves living in harmony with one's family, helping wives with household chores, working hard to improve the household's livelihood, not abusing substances, and being a role model for children.Respondents in all four villages strongly associated \"good husbands\" with the productive sphere and economic provision, and \"good wives\" with the reproductive sphere. Women's productive contributions continue to be framed as \"helping their husbands\". This framing masks women's contributions to farming and reduces their capacity to gain recognition as farmers, let alone as participants and potential agents of change in agricultural innovation and rural transformation.Figure 2. Power and freedom to make decisions (2004-14)During a ranking exercise with better off villagers, women in all four villages reported significantly larger increases from 2004 to 2014 in their perceived power and freedom to make important life decisions, compared to male respondents (fig. 2). However, women do not have the freedom to choose when and how much of the crops to sell, or what to do with the money. Financial decisions are made by husbands, with little consultation with their wives. Women rarely make decisions about their own lives -not as young women, nor when they marry -but men's power increases with marriage.To maintain the ideal of a \"good wife\", women do not ask their husbands for more resources, instead taking grains in secret to manage household food security. Women consider this stealing rather than their right. Some villages have introduced farm gate selling, which reduces women's access to the stored harvest and reduces household food security (though it gives instant cash to the husband).This highlights the need to incorporate gender analyses within market interventions.Village one and two had improvements for men and women and these communities had experienced a transformative methodology known as Community Conversations. 4 Participants reported that this process contributed to more egalitarian gender relations and cohesion. These respondents felt that each generation should participate in this process as they learned so much from it.Meanwhile, a plethora of information on agricultural innovations, combined with the speed of technological change, economic dynamism, and intra-household gender dynamics is making it difficult for men to make decisions. More studies are needed to better understand the details of these findings and how community conversations can assist.4. A community conversation is a facilitated approach which helps communities to discuss issues of importance to them. It involves a process of self-reflection and learning and usually tackles gender issues in some form.Female household heads tend to depend on male relatives and/or an older son to make important decisions. This is primarily because women who are divorced or widowed have not previously had the chance to practice decision making, nor do they understand the economic consequences of decisions. Furthermore, extension agents (usually men) do not want to be seen speaking to single women because the community will gossip about them having an affair. This makes it very hard for single women to learn new agricultural practices and the quality of their land may deteriorate before they gain the necessary capacity and skills.Female household heads often face discouraging and embarrassing comments from close family members and the community whenever they take initiatives to try new things. For more information, contact: Kristie Drucza E-mail: k.drucza@cgiar.org  Men often advise female-headed households to rent out or sharecrop their farm (sometimes with unfair arrangements) instead of farming it themselves. This reduces women's confidence as farmers. Extension workers should be encouraged to reach female household heads and women in male-headed households (before women become single).Greater awareness about the challenges faced by single women is also needed.Women's innovative capabilities are affected by a unique set of factors (fig. 3).Self-confidence and knowledge and skill training are the most important factors supporting women's innovation, while discouraging words from others and financial constraints are the factors most likely to hinder innovation. Meanwhile for men, the primary factors supporting innovation are the availability of financial resources and presence of farmer role models, while the main factor hindering innovation is financial constraints (fig. 4). Male respondents also reported social factors such as fear (risk aversion), jealously, disrespect, laziness, and old-fashioned thinking, as hindrances to innovation, which highlights the need to also focus on the social lives of male farmers (while still tackling the traditional constraints of access to finance and knowledge).Restrictive gender norms have a negative impact on women's ability to innovate and be productive. Gender inequality negatively impacts the national economy, food and nutrition security, women's wellbeing, and child welfare, but can be reduced by building on existing good practices and creating equitable learning and sharing platforms. As part of this, extension workers, policymakers, and researchers need to more comprehensively address gender inequities in their work."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bfe55516a4ba5a9d61d0faf51070f733","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/c357dffa-14e8-448e-898e-30ec2671598d/content","id":"1334424354"},"keywords":["Culm reserves","Grain filling","Water soluble carbohydrates","Yield"],"sieverID":"7ff30866-3756-4528-81b2-aa0e91a72513","content":"To study the genotypic variation in terms of culm reserves to yield attributes and grain yield in wheat, twelve cultivars were used as experiment materials. Ten tillers were sampled once a week during grain filling period to determine the changes in dry weights of different parts to examine the contribution of culm reserves to yield. The results in the experiment revealed that the grain yield varied from 261 to 535 g m−2 with the mean of 419 g m−2. The higher grain yield is attributable to increased contribution of carbon assimilation measured as the changes in total dry mass and /or remobilized culm reserves. Generally, high yielding cultivars showed higher total dry mass accumulation compared to low yielding ones. They also exhibited almost unchanged leaf greenness for longer period during grain filling that indicate more contribution of current assimilation in the high yielding cultivars. Moreover, high yielders also showed higher WSCs contents in culm at milk ripe stage. Culm WSCs contents at milk ripe and maturity varied from 83 to 603 and 4 to 151 mg culm−1, respectively among the cultivars. The amount of remobilized culm WSCs varied from 26 to 556 mg culm−1. In general, contribution of culm WSCs to grain yield is higher in high yielders than in low yielders. The contribution ranged from 2 to 29% of total grain weight. In conclusion, higher contribution of both current assimilation and culm reserves results in higher grain yield of wheat grown in Bangladesh.HEAT is an important and strategic cereal crop for the majority of world's population. It is the most important staple food of about two billion people (36% of the world population). Worldwide, wheat provides nearly 55% of the carbohydrates and 20% of the food calories consumed globally (Shiferaw et al., 2013). It is now the most widely cultivated cereal in the world. Wheat is the second most important cereal crop after rice in Bangladesh. The crop is cultivated all over Bangladesh during Rabi season with or without irrigation. During the year 2012-2013, 12,55,000 m tons of wheat were produced from 4,16,599 ha of land with an average grain yield of 3.012 m tons ha−1 in this country (BBS 2013). The grain yield in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) can be described as the product of grain number per unit area and individual grain weight. The grain number is mainly determined during the period immediately previous to anthesis (Fischer, 1985), when the spike and stem are competing for assimilate to establish the number of fertile tillers (Slafer and Rawson, 1994) as well as florets per spikelets (Kirby, 1988). The grain filling starts with the division of endosperm cells followed by the increase in cell volume through the accumulation of assimilate (Singh and Jenner, 1984). The cell division defines the final number of endosperm cells per grain and thereby the potential grain weight (Schnyder and Baum, 1992). The assimilate for grain filling comes from current assimilation (and subsequent direct translocation to grains) and storage (reserve) pools in vegetative plant parts, especially in the culms (Singh and Jenner, 1984). Water-soluble carbohydrates (WSCs) are considered as the main culm reserves, which may accumulate prior to anthesis and during the initial period of grain filling; and subsequently, they remobilize to developing grains (Ehdaie et al., 2006(Ehdaie et al., , 2008;;Bingham et al., 2009). Most of the culm WSCs are remobilized to the grains when current assimilation is restricted leading to senescence (Yang et al., 2000;Tahir and Nakata, 2005). However, in general, the grain filling is supported only by current assimilation in the early grain filling, but by both current assimilation and culm reserves in the mid grain filling and only by culm reserves in the late grain filling (Takahashi et al., 1993). That's why grain filling in wheat depends on two major sources of carbon i.e. current photosynthesis in leaves and to some extent in spikes, and mobilization of stored water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC) from the culm into growing grains. When the current photosynthesis is depressed by stresses like drought (Ehdaie et al., 2008), high temperature (Tahir and Nakata, 2005), and foliar diseases (Serrago et al., 2011) grain filling becomes more dependent on mobilized WSCs, and thereby WSCs act as buffers to have a steady rate of grain filling under the post-anthesis stresses by accelerating the remobilization of culm WSCs to grains. The amount of accumulated and mobilized culm reserves is estimated either by monitoring the changes in culm dry weight (Cruz-Aguado et al., 2000;Ehdaie et al., 2006a) or directly by measuring culm WSC content during the grain-filling period (Blum et al., 1994;Ehdaie et al., 2006b). Post-anthesis changes in dry weight (Ehdaie et al., 2006a) and in WSC content (Ehdaie et al., 2006b) of the main culm of a diverse set of wheat cultivars indicated that estimation of the amount of culm reserves, accumulated and mobilized, was dependent on W IJOART genotype, experimental conditions and the method of measuring reserves. Thus, potential accumulation of WSCs in culm and its subsequent mobilization into growing grains are to be considered to select or develop cultivars for stressful environment during grain filling period. However, to best of our knowledge, there is no information about the pattern of grain filling and the contributions of culm WSCs to grain weight in wheat cultivars grown in Bangladesh. Therefore, the present piece of study was to evaluate wheat genotypes grown in Bangladesh in terms of contribution of culm reserves to grain yield.The experiment was conducted in Rabi seasons at the Field Laboratory of Department of Crop Botany, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh (24° 75' N latitude and 90°50' E longitude) during November 2013 to March 2014. Twelve cultivars of wheat i.e. BARI Gom21 (Shatabdi), BARI Gom22 (Shufi), BARI Gom23 (Bijoy), BARI Gom24 (Prodip), BARI Gom25, BARI Gom26, Akbar (BAW 43), BARI Gom18 (Protiva), BARI Gom19 (Sourav), BARI Gom20 (Gourab), Agrani (BAW 38), Kanchan (BAW 28) were used for the study and seeds of those cultivars were collected from Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Gazipur. The experiment was laid out as single factor experiment in Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD) with 12 treatments and 3 replications. Wheat cultivation procedure was followed as per BARI handbook.Ten effective tillers were sampled randomly once a week during grain filling period for all cultivars. The duration from anthesis to physiological maturity is grain filling period. Anthesis date was determined when the anthers emitted in 50% of the spikes in the field and the date of physiological maturity was the day when the grain gained its maximum weight. The culms with leaf sheaths were milled for the measurement of water-soluble carbohydrates (WSCs) using the anthrone method. The weight of structural materials in the culm was determined by subtracting the amount of WSCs in culm from the culm dry weight (Hossain et al., 2009).Greenness of the flag leaf and second leaf was measured on different dates during grain filling period in all cultivars with a chlorophyll meter (SPAD-502; Konica Minolta Sensing Inc., Osaka, Japan). SPAD readings were taken at three positions (near base, near apex and middle) of the leaf and were averaged for each leaf. Five leaves were measured, and the readings were averaged for a plot.The WSCs in culms (with leaf sheaths) were extracted and measured using anthrone method (Yemm and Willis, 1954) as Hossain et al. (2009Hossain et al. ( , 2010Hossain et al. ( , and 2011) ) briefed. The dried culm were chopped and milled to a rough powder. The culm powder was weighed and extracted once with 80% ethanol at 60 °C for 30 min followed by 2 successive 15-min extractions with distilled water at 80°C. The extracts were combined and evaporated to dryness at 65 °C. The dried carbohydrates were resolved in 10 mL distilled water. A fraction of the extract solution (about 1 mL) was taken in a Microcentrifuge tube (1.5 mL) and charcoal powder was added to it. After mixing the powder and extract solution with a vortex (touch mixer), the solution was centrifuged at 5000 rpm for 5 min to make a clear solution. The clear solution was diluted 5-10 times with distilled water. Diluted solution (0.1 mL) was mixed with ice-cold anthrone reagent (5 mL). The mixture was heated for 10 min in a boiling-water bath and subsequently cooled with ice water.The absorbance of the reacted solution for standard and samples was measured with a spectrophotometer at 620 nm. The content of WSCs in the sample was calculated as mg WSCs per gram of culm dry mass using regression equation. The amount of WSCs in culm at anthesis, milk ripe and maturity was estimated based on the dry mass of culm harvested at respective stages. The amount of remobilized culm WSCs was estimated from the difference between total culm WSCs at milk ripe/anthesis (maximum WSCs content) and residual culm WSCs at maturity as described by Ehdaie et al. (2006).All data on yield and yield components were subjected to single factor (cultivar) analysis of variance in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). Data on other parameters were analyzed by calculating means and standard errors of means (SEM).Table 1 shows the grain yield, biomass yield, harvest index, and yield components of twelve wheat cultivars grown in Mymensingh. There were significant variations (P < 0.  among the cultivars with the range and mean of 265-522, and 454, respectively. The number of grains per spike also exhibited significant differences (P < 0.001) among the cultivars with the range and mean of 15.2-36.6 and 23.0, respectively. In the thousand grain weight, a significant (P < 0.001) difference was observed among the cultivars. It varied from 32.6 to 52.2 g with the mean of 41.1 g. The order of the cultivars in grain weight was as follows: BARI Gom24 (52.2 g) > BARI Gom23 (48.2 g) > BARI Gom21 (45.2 g) > BARI Gom18 (44.3 g) > BARI Gom19 (44.0 g) > BARI Gom26 (43.1 g) > Akbar (40.5 g) > Agrani (39.2 g) > BARI Gom22 (37.3 g) > BARI Gom20 (36.1 g) > BARI Gom25 (34.9 g) > Kanchan (32.6 g)Figure 1 shows variations in TDM at anthesis and in postanthesis changes of TDM. Generally high yielding cultivars (e.g. BARI Gom24, BARI Gom23, etc.) exhibited higher TDM at anthesis compared to the low yielding cultivars (e.g. Kanchan, Agrani, BARI Gom20 etc.). Almost all the cultivars showed gradual increase in TDM from anthesis until 14-28 after anthesis (DAA) followed by showing more or less unchanged patterns towards the maturity. The cultivars also showed variations in changes of culm dry weight during the grain filling period. Increase in culm dry weight indicates the accumulation of culm reserves and the decrease in weight indicates the remobilization of reserves to the grain. Generally, culm dry weights increased from anthesis to 14 DAA followed by the decreasing trend towards maturity in almost all culti- IJOART vars. Generally, high yielding cultivars (e.g. BARI Gom24, BARI Gom23, etc.) exhibited higher culm dry mass at anthesis compared to the low yielding ones (e.g. Kanchan, Agrani, BA-RI Gom20 etc.). The variations in the pattern of accumulation and remobilization of culm reserves also existed among the cultivars. The cultivars exhibited variations in changes of spike dry weights. The changes in spike dry weight indicate the changes in grain dry weight in a spike. The spike dry weight increased from anthesis towards maturity in all cultivars. In general, high yielding cultivars (e.g. BARI Gom24, BARI Gom23, BARI Gom26, etc.) possessed sharper increasing trends compared to the low yielding ones (e.g. Kanchan, Agrani, BARI Gom20 etc.).The leaf greenness of flag leaves evaluated by SPAD readings is shown in the Figure 2. The SDAD reading was about 40 in almost all cultivars at anthesis. However the cultivars exhibited variations in changing pattern of SPAD reading during grain filling period. In general, high yielding cultivars (e.g. BARI Gom24, BARI Gom18, BARI Gom21, etc.) retained leaf greenness longer time (up to 14-21 DAA) than in low yielding cultivars (e.g. Kanchan, BARI Gom18 Agrani, BARI Gom20 etc.). Usually, low yielding cultivars exhibited the sharper declining trends in SPAD readings from anthesis towards maturityFigure 3 shows the changes in water-soluble carbohydrates (WSCs) in culms at anthesis, milk ripe and maturity of twelve wheat cultivars. There were large variations in the content of WSCs in culm at different times during grain filling. The increase in WSCs content in culm shows post-anthesis accumulation of culm reserves and the decrease in WSCs contents shows the remobilization of the reserves to the grains. The WSCs content at anthesis varied from 51 to 148 mg g−1 culm dry mass. The WSCs content at milk ripe stage varied from 54 to 228 mg g−1 culm dry mass. The highest value of WSCs content was recorded in BARI Gom24 and lowest value in Akbar.In general, high yielding cultivars possessed higher WSCs content at milk ripe compared to low yielding cultivars. The cultivars also exhibited large variations in the residual WSCs content in culm at maturity. The residual WSCs in culm ranged from 3 to138 mg g−1 culm dry mass. The highest value was recorded in BARI Gom23 and lowest in BARI Gom26.Wheat cultivars used in this experiment exhibited significant variations in grain yield and yield attributes (Table 1). Grain yield in wheat is determined by 3 yield components-number of spikes per m−2, number of grains spike−1 and 1000-grain weight. Though all the components showed significant variations in F test, the higher F value indicates that grain weight is the most important components for the variations in grain yield. (Table 1). Grain weight is determined during the grain filling period, the period between anthesis and physiological maturity (Sharma, 1994). Grain filling is the accumulation of assimilates in grains during the grain filling (Austin et al., 1980). The assimilates for grain filling come from current photosynthesis and stored reserves in culm (Austin et al., 1980;Schnyder, 1993;Hossain et al., 2011).The difference in grain filling among the cultivars could be accounted for by the difference in post-anthesis carbon assimilation and culm reserves remobilized to grains (Takahashi et al., 1993;Hossain et al., 2009). Carbon assimilation can be monitored by the changes in total dry mass (Hossain et al., 2009). The high yielding cultivars usually exhibited greater accumulation of TDM compared to low yielding ones (Figure 1). Moreover, high yielding cultivars had the ability to retain leaf greenness for longer time after anthesis compared to low yielders. These results indicate that high yielder usually contributed more to fill the grain through current assimilation compared to the low yielders (Takahashi et al., 2004;Hossain et al, 2009).The culm reserves play a vital role in buffering grain yield when current assimilation is restricted as senescence (Takahashi and Kanazawa, 1996;Tahir and Nakata, 2005;Ehdaie et al., 2006Ehdaie et al., , 2008)). The culm elongates and stores water-soluble carbohydrates (WSCs) during initial and early period of grain filling (from anthesis to milk ripe, at around 14 DAA) and they are subsequently remobilized to grains during the late and final period (from milk ripe to maturity) (Takahashi et al., 1993). There were wide variations in the Grain filling is an important process, which determines the final grain weight, a major component of grain yield in wheat. The smaller grain weight as a result of poor grain filling, sometimes, becomes a major constraint for wheat production. Contribution of culm reserves is also an important factor for determining grain yield. There were large variations in the content of WSCs in culm at different times during grain filling.In general, high yielding cultivars possessed higher WSCs content at milk ripe compared to low yielding ones. The cultivars also exhibited large variations in the residual WSCs content in culm at maturity and during remobilization of culm WSCs to grains. The contribution, in general, was higher in high yielders compared to low yielders. It may be concluded that the grain weight is most important factor causing large variations in grain yield among wheat cultivars grown in Bangladesh. Both the current assimilation and remobilized culm reserves are attributable to the grain weight. High yielding cultivars especially BARI Gom24, BARI Gom23, BARI Gom26, BARI Gom19 have the higher potentiality to buffer grain yield under limited current assimilation as they can store higher amount of WSCs in culm. IJOART"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4fd0b70a29e2b6132b319b49daac328d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d929e4b9-40e3-4d8a-b025-f0883492f6e6/retrieve","id":"2014115098"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c5720b74-896a-4d29-80a8-622dc201f703","content":"• Food safety is and remains a burning issue in Vietnam• Food safety is of great concern to both consumers and policymakers and frequently appears in the media  An initiative to bring together key government agencies, line ministries and development partners• Joint policy dialogue and discussions on food safety  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"516477d403be4848fdfb9c054f9707a2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b7a191e9-7652-45ae-9fb4-3c45f1520abe/retrieve","id":"-1662673929"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1ca950b3-08b4-4d3e-a9f2-9f331ab5078d","content":"A brand is not a logo. A brand is not a name. A brand is not a trademark, symbol or jingle A brand exists only in the minds of your stakeholders A brand is the sum total of all the impressions a stakeholder has, based on every interaction they have had with you, your organisation and your product/service Endowing a product or service with the power of the brand Communications office at the TAAT ClearingHouse officially began on the 3 rd of September 2018.Implementing Agency, Partners and CGs have been carrying out communication activities for about 12 months.Coherence, strategic focus and integration urgently required.Communication should therefore become a strategic tool to drive TAAT's mission and objectives within the framework of the \"Feed Africa Strategy\".Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT)CURRENT SITUATIONA communication's strategy develops from an organisation's uniqueness and from identity-shaping practices, maintained over time, that lead stakeholders to perceive the organisation as credible, reliable, responsible and trustworthy.A favorable reputation therefore requires more than just an effective communication effort reinforced by an updated strategy; it requires an admirable identity that can be molded through consistent performance, usually over many years.Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) Positively impact TAAT's mission by continually communicating the relevance of that mission and propagating information on TAAT's activities and initiatives in ways that:  Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT)• Well defined and focused messages • .• Functional contact data base to support information exchange • .• Reinforcement of existing partnerships and building of new partnerships • .. Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT)The overall goal is to give tactical support to achieving TAAT's objectives using strategic communication and reputation management tools. A communications strategy develops from an organisation's uniqueness and from identityshaping practices, maintained over time, that lead stakeholders to perceive the organisation as credible, reliable, responsible and trustworthy. Best regarded organisations achieve their reputations by implementing systematically, a communications strategy. They adhere rigorously to practices that consistently and reliably produce decisions that the rest of us approve of and respect. By increasing faith and confidence in the organisation's actions, credibility and reliability, they create economic value. A favourable reputation therefore requires more than just an effective communication effort; it requires an admirable identity that can be moulded through consistent performance, usually over many years."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d07442efe9f3ec943d570717b1f607e4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/44854931-8e04-4a96-b53f-9ca696728697/retrieve","id":"-108971431"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4b503b08-78d6-4181-bd79-5202a8332d54","content":"International conference on Sustainable Animal Agricultural for Developing Countries (SAADC 2023) ILRI session: interdisciplinary approaches to support food safety, market access, genetic improvements, and climate change in livestock Vientiane, Lao PDR,• Smallholder Chicken Production system in SEA: Opportunity   "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4572297339.json b/main/part_2/4572297339.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c1e633626ec30fa5db59f9e6dfd1b9044d364a22
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7412c854e7ac356908a36d9f079428b9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8f1793c9-eb7c-423b-97c0-89d763d9e18e/retrieve","id":"-328806749"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ec3c027f-9748-4bdf-9081-322a48ed1928","content":"Investments in the livestock sector can significantly contribute to economic growth, poverty reduction and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in Africa.• Targeted investments to assist small livestock producers, rather than 'marginal' livestock keepers, can cost-effectively support enhancements in livestock productivity and result in economic growth and poverty reduction through a variety of pathways.• Promoting intra-regional trade of livestock products, based on countries' or regions' comparative advantages, is critical to create remunerative and sizeable markets for small livestock producers, and to ensure a sustainable, market-driven development of the livestock sector.Livestock in the macro-economy 2Livestock in the household economy 2Demand for Animal Products 4Supply of Animal Products 5Small livestock producers and intra-regional trade as key drivers of livestock sector growth 6Conclusions 6The livestock sector could play an important role in the process of economic development of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, due to policy neglect, the sector is only marginally contributing to economic growth and poverty reduction and, in general, to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. This note provides evidence that public and private sector investments in the livestock sector can generate handsome returns in terms of economic growth and poverty reduction, provided that (i) they are targeted to assist small livestock producers in enhancing livestock productivity rather than attempting to support the vast array of marginal livestock keepers 1 , and (ii) they focus on promoting intra-African trade of live animals and livestock products, rather than attempting to penetrate high-value international markets.The livestock sector contributes between 20 to 50 percent to agricultural valued added in African countries -with a continental average of 26 percent -and is expected to become the largest contributor to agriculture as economic development progresses because of a growing demand for high-value food items, including meat and dairy products. In industrialized economies, the livestock sector accounts for about 1/2 of agricultural GDP (FAOSTAT, 2011).1 Small livestock producers are here defined as those farmers that have sufficient skills and resources which, when appropriate policies and institutions are in place, enable them to produce and sell surpluses of meat and dairy products. Marginal livestock keepers are those household that have an insufficient critical mass of assets to regularly produce a surplus from their livestock, and for whom labour is the main asset.In developing countries, including the African economies, the contribution of livestock to agriculture, and to the economy in general, is underestimated. Estimates of livestock GDP typically account for the value of production, but not for that of other services provided by livestocksuch as hauling, draft power and insurance and savings. These services are of high value, particularly in developing countries where only a minority of farmers are specialized livestock producers. Behnke (2010), for instance, calculates that the contribution of livestock to the Ethiopian GDP should be increased by about 30 percent if the value of hauling services provided by farm animals is considered.Furthermore, the secondary benefits of livestock production along the value chain and associated employment generation are generally overlooked. Roland-Holst et al. (in FAO, forthcoming) estimate that in sub-Saharan Africa livestock sector multipliers -as measured by the incremental effect of $1 additional spending on aggregate national household incomes -average $2.9 in primary livestock production and $5.9 in processing. In addition, whilst livestock is in most countries a stronger a stimulus for economic growth than crops, fruits and vegetables, manufacturing and service sectors, the benefits of livestock sector growth are usually more equally distributed because of a web of indirect linkages across distribution, processing and marketing activities.In a retrospective analysis, Pica et al. (2008) find a statistically significant causal relationship between livestock sector development and economic growth in 18 of the 20 African countries analyzed, strongly suggesting that increases in value-added per Tropical Livestock Unit (TLU) are a driver of GDP per capita growth. In general, increased agricultural productivity, including livestock, is anticipated to lower food prices, which directly benefits the poor and generates a surplus of products and factors that can be exported from agriculture to the rest of the economy, thereby facilitating economic growth and poverty reduction (e.g. Tiffin and Irtz, 2006). Livestock are major source of subsistence for rural households, as they represent a source of food, income, manure, draught power and hauling services, savings and insurance and social capital (Moll, 2005). However, mean household herd size ranges between 1 and 2 TLU (FAO, forthcoming) and livestock usually only contribute marginally to household income (Table 1).* Only livestock keeping households; + Only cattle; # Quoted in Bekure (1983) The fact that a majority of households keep some livestock but that farm animals contribute relatively little to their income suggests that it is unfeasible for all African livestock keepers to specialize in livestock farming and use their farm animals to escape poverty.• While the distribution of entrepreneurial skills among the population depends on a variety of factors, available cross-country data consistently show that as economies grow more people are employees (in industrialized countries economies only about 10 to 15 percent of the population is self-employed), i.e. it is unlikely that all livestock keepers would be willing or able to set up profitable livestock farms (ILO, 2011).Even if all livestock keepers became successful livestock producers, input costs would increase and output prices would drop reducing the profitability of livestock farming, i.e. in this scenario livestock could not be the main source of livelihoods for the majority of rural households (Baghwati, 1958).The majority of livestock keepers in Africa can be defined as 'marginal livestock keepers', i.e. they have an insufficient critical mass of assets to regularly produce a surplus from their livestock, and their non-farm activities do not allow them to rely on market purchases for adequate food intake. Labour is their main asset, and the generation of employment opportunities in rural areas is thus the most common path out of poverty for them (Upton and Otte, 2004).Only a minority of livestock keepers can be defined as 'small livestock producers', i.e. they have skills and resources that, when appropriate policies and institutions are in place, would enable them to become successful entrepreneurs, i.e. to produce and sell surpluses of meat and dairy products, generate employment opportunities for the poor(er), because livestock activities throughout the supply chain are intensive in unskilled labour 2 , and, ultimately, contribute to an inclusive growth of livestock, and of the economy in general 3 .There are opportunities for small livestock producers to establish profitable livestock enterprises, because of the large increase in the demand for animal products in the African continent, due to the combined effect of population expansion, the high rate of urban growth and accompanying changes in lifestyles, and increases in real household incomes. Over the period 1990 to 2007, for instance, meat and milk food consumption in Africa have increased by 2.9 and 3.0 percent per year (+5,861 MT and +14,962 MT respectively), and similar rates of growth are anticipated in the next decades for all meat and dairy products. 2 For instance, the overall number of full-time jobs created per 100 liters of milk traded vary from 3.7 in Kenya to over 17 in Ghana (Omore, 2002); in Burkina Faso, traditional livestock marketing channels are estimated to provide employment for about 60,000 full-time workers (FAO/CDI, 2003).3 It is not possible to identify quantitative parameters to define small livestock farmers, as the profitability of livestock farming is not only dependent on household assets and skills but also on the context in which the household operates, which differs from country to country and, within country, from regions to regions.The anticipated growth in the demand for animal source food, however, seems to primarily driven by population growth -rather than urbanization or gains in real per capita income -as the per-capita consumption for livestock products is estimated to marginally increase in absolute terms in the next coming decades. In SSA as a whole, for instance, beef, milk, goat & sheep meat and poultry percapita consumption will increase by -0.1, 2.2, 0.4 and 0.7 kg over the period 2000-2030, according to data provided by FAO (see Fig. 2 to Fig 5).In the next years, majority of African consumers will therefore continue to demand relatively low-value minimally processed food items, as the average per-capita income of African countries will not allow the typical household to shift his consumption towards high-value livestock products which satisfy high-income countries' safety and quality attributes 4 . This represents a good opportunity to improve the incomes and livelihoods of small livestock producers (and other actors along the value chain) who, in the short to medium term, are not in a position to provide food items satisfying stringent quality and safety standards, such as those of OECD countries.Increases in consumption of animal food have been so far satisfied by national production as well as by increased imports. However, African livestock farmers have increased their supply of animal food mainly through expanding herd size rather than through enhancing productivity (efficiency). For example, over the period 1990 to 2009, about 96 percent of the increased beef supply could be explained by increased stock numbers; the proportion is 82 percent for milk; 89 percent for poultry, and 98 percent for sheep and goat meat. In the same two decades, net imports of meat and milk have grown from 379 to 1,442 MT, and from 4,127 to 5,763 MT respectively (FAOSTAT, 2011).Estimates also indicate that between 2000 and 2030 African livestock producers will be increasingly unable to satisfy the growing demand for animal food, with the net trade balance for both meat and dairy products worsening over time, increasing the outflow of domestic currencies. Intra-regional trade, in fact, accounts for less than 10 percent of African trade because, to a large extent, people in sub-Saharan African live in the interior of the continent and face high transport costs in shipping goods between the inland and coastal areas. As a result, that trade is mainly between the coast and non-African countries 5 (Sachs et al., 2004;UNCTAD, 2009). In addition, because of the difficulties in complying with international sanitary and phitosanitary standard requirements, few African countries are net exporters of live animals and livestock products internationally.The above review suggests that a twin-track strategy targeting small livestock producers and favouring intra-regional trade of livestock and livestock products represents a promising way to support livestock sector development, while at the same time promoting economic growth and reducing poverty levels.Targeted public and private investments to assist small livestock producers in enhancing their productivity by tapping into their resources and entrepreneurial skills will favour (i) larger supply of affordably animal source foods (which translates in gains in real per capita income of population), (ii) employment generation along the value chain, and (iii) labour market growth in non-livestock sectors. Investments should attempt to remove the most binding constraints which prevent livestock producers from being efficient and generating surpluses of meat and dairy products (e.g. animal diseases and limited access to feed and water for animals) that satisfy the quality and safety standards demanded by African consumers, which are different from the SPS standards necessary to export in industrialized food markets. At the same time, investments that support marginal livestock keepers should not be disregarded, but aim at reducing vulnerability and increasing food security rather than at supporting a sustainable, market driven growth of livestock.Livestock farmers have incentives to increase livestock production and productivity only when they have access to remunerative markets. Given that only 15 out of 53 countries in Africa have a population of over 20 million, and 28 countries have a population of less than 10 million people (FAOSTAT, 2011), most countries do not have sufficiently large internal markets to develop their own livestock industry. The development of intraregional African markets is thus a pre-condition for supporting the development of the livestock sector and, in many circumstances, areas and countries which have some comparative advantage in livestock production, such as arid and semi-arid areas, are not densely populated, whilst demand hotpots for livestock products are located in areas where livestock production is not easily feasible, such as in humid and sub-humid coastal areas. For example, Southern COMESA countries have comparative advantages in growing fruits and vegetables vis-à-vis Northern COMESA countries, which instead have comparative advantages in livestock production (Dimaran et al., 2009); analysis of the physical trade flows in the West Africa shows interdependence between the Sahelian countries and those of the coast: cereals and starchy products move northwards from the coastal countries, while of animal products move in the opposite direction (OECD, 2008).Livestock sector development can contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction in Africa, as macroeconomic and microeconomic evidence shows. At the same time, both supply side and demand side factors currently provide good opportunities for sector growth. Targeted public and private sector investments are needed to fully exploit the potential of the livestock sector to support economic development, which should focus on small livestock producers, those who are able to establish remunerative livestock enterprises, supply affordably priced animal food to a growing (urban) population, and generate employment opportunities along the value chain for others. At the same time, facilitating intra-regional trade based on the comparative advantages of African countries and Regional Economic Communities is necessary to create remunerative and sizeable markets for livestock producers and match animal food supply and demand, which ensures a market-driven and sustainable development of the livestock sector."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"35b03486be8cdcc240f197c2dbe27922","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/747c5c64-6bea-42b2-9643-93e941e09dac/retrieve","id":"1828384541"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6e7a2532-6dd7-4af8-9cbe-6a0ced9a374f","content":"Les systèmes pastoraux font vivre des dizaines de millions de personnes dans des milieux difficiles qui se prêtent peu à d'autres utilisations des sols. En Afrique, les éleveurs occupent plus de 40 % des terres émergées et contribuent pour 10 à 44 % au PIB des pays où ils vivent. Ils fournissent une grande part du lait et de la viande consommés sur le continent -en Afrique de l'Est, jusqu'à 90 % de la viande consommée provient des troupeaux pastoraux. La contribution globale du pastoralisme au patrimoine culturel, à la biodiversité et aux recettes d'exportation est substantielle. Or, les communautés pastorales se heurtent aujourd'hui à de nombreux problèmes : la croissance démographique, le changement climatique, des services sociaux et sanitaires lacunaires, une marginalisation et des conflits pour l'exploitation des terres et de l'eau. Point positif, la demande locale et internationale de produits d'origine animale est en hausse. Mais pour saisir cette opportunité, il faut améliorer l'accès aux marchés, réduire les barrières commerciales non tarifaires, renforcer les systèmes d'information sur les marchés et encourager le financement. Les pasteurs pourraient aussi accroître leurs revenus grâce à des activités contribuant à la conservation de l'environnement comme l'écotourisme et la vente de plantes médicinales, de gommes et de fruits. Lors du Briefing de Bruxelles sur le pastoralisme organisé par le CTA avec la Commission de l'Union africaine en février 2012, des experts ont présenté des mesures capables d'améliorer le bien-être des pasteurs. Il convient en effet de définir des politiques pour renforcer les économies pastorales, par exemple en facilitant l'accès des pasteurs aux marchés et en leur permettant d'accroître la valeur de leurs produits. Il faut aussi redoubler d'efforts pour les rendre plus autonomes et pour les impliquer dans l'élaboration des politiques. Les pouvoirs publics devraient augmenter leurs investissements dans les services essentiels pour les pasteurs, notamment l'éducation, les infrastructures et les technologies de l'information et de la communication (TIC).ur les parcours situés près de la réserve kényane du Masai Mara, un programme de protection de l'environnement récompense les pasteurs pour leur gestion des terres. Ce modèle, suivant lequel des bergers acceptent de laisser les animaux sauvages se déplacer librement sur leurs terres, protège les pâturages et permet aux éleveurs Masai de diversifier leurs revenus. Le paiement de services écosystémiques figure parmi les initiatives envisagées pour soutenir le pastoralisme, un mode de vie ancestral qui fait face aujourd'hui à des défis gigantesques. Les pasteurs vivant sur les parcours africains sont les régisseurs de ces vastes ressources environnementales, mais nombre d'entre eux gagnent moins de 2 $ US (1,6 €) par jour. Confrontées à la variabilité climatique, à l'insécurité alimentaire, à des marchés médiocres, aux maladies du bétail, au sous-investissement et aux conflits liés aux ressources naturelles, les communautés pastorales comptent parmi les plus vulnérables au monde.Le pastoralisme est pratiqué dans toutes les régions arides d'Afrique. En l'absence de données précises, le nombre de personnes impliquées reste sujet à débat. Selon la définition appliquée, les estimations vont de 20 millions à 200 millions. De même, les chiffres varient quant à la contribution des pasteurs à l'économie. Mais d'après l'Autorité intergouvernementale sur le développement en Afrique de l'Est, le pastoralisme fournit 90 % de la viande consommée dans la région.Les stratégies de production mobile utilisées par les pasteurs apparaissent comme un moyen essentiel pour s'adapter au changement climatique. Les recherches de l'Institut international pour l'environnement et le développement (IIED) montrent que les troupeaux nomades d'Afrique de l'Ouest, d'Éthiopie et du Kenya produisent une viande en plus grande quantité et de meilleure qualité et génèrent plus de revenus par hectare que les ranchs modernes en Australie ou en Amérique. Pourtant, les communautés pastorales sont souvent considérées à tort comme des populations arriérées, certaines actions gouvernementales les incitant même à abandonner le nomadisme.En se déplaçant constamment, les bergers nomades ont appris à exploiter des zones où personne d'autre ne saurait survivre. Les communautés indigènes prospèrent en tirant parti des conditions variables des terres arides. \"Les perceptions que nous avons de leur vie archaïque ignorent le fait qu'ils se sont complètement adaptés à leur environnement\", explique le vétérinaire ougandais Pascal Pan Vuga, qui a travaillé avec les Karamojong, une tribu dont le mode de vie a été modifié par la décision des pouvoirs publics de la sédentariser. À l'instar des bergers ougandais, de nombreux pasteurs passent désormais à contrecoeur à l'agriculture sédentaire. Mais la transition ne réussit pas toujours. \"Aujourd'hui, je dois cultiver du maïs et des légumes\", témoigne le berger kényan Orumoi Evans. \"Pourtant, le pastoralisme est plus sûr que l'agriculture. On ne peut pas se fier à la météo pour les cultures alimentaires, alors que nous savons où aller pour trouver des pâturages.\"Dans certains pays, les autorités mènent une politique hostile au pastoralisme. Ailleurs, au Mali, en Mauritanie et au Niger, par exemple, elles y sont plus favorables. Mais là aussi, les bergers éprouvent des difficultés quand d'autres mesures, concernant le sol ou l'eau, ne suivent pas. Les conflits déclenchés par l'exploitation de ces deux ressources capitales se multiplient. Aussi est-il urgent de reconnaître les droits des pasteurs sur les pâturages, en leur accordant la propriété foncière des terres communales et en les dédommageant en cas d'expropriation.Le pastoralisme contribue grandement à la sécurité alimentaire et offre des solutions pour utiliser les milieux difficiles menacés par le changement climatique. Mais de nombreuses mesures sous-estiment ce potentiel et les pouvoirs publics favorisent la sédentarisation des pasteurs.L'urbanisation grandissante, et avec elle une nouvelle demande de produits d'origine animale, ouvrent aux pasteurs des marchés lucratifs. Accéder à ces marchés exige toutefois organisation, communication et formation, la façon d'intégrer les pasteurs aux chaînes de valeur modernes étant un problème central. Les champs-écoles pastoraux proposent un apprentissage interactif à des groupes de 30 à 40 pasteurs, qui se retrouvent régulièrement pour analyser les difficultés rencontrées et réfléchir à des solutions. D'autres stratégies concluantes, testées en Éthiopie et au Kenya, font intervenir des groupes d'action collective pour réduire l'illettrisme et l'innumérisme, développer le microcrédit et dispenser des formations sur la microentreprise.Proposer ces services, et d'autres encore, aux populations isolées et dispersées est compliqué. Mais les TIC peuvent jouer un rôle majeur, notamment en permettant la mise en place de téléformations par radio ou de services bancaires et d'informations sur les cours du marché par téléphone portable. D'autres applications utiles des TIC comprennent les systèmes d'information géographique (SIG) et de localisation (GPS), qui aident à suivre les déplacements des animaux et à soutenir les efforts visant à assurer le bétail. Un projet pilote lancé en 2010 au nord du Kenya a permis de réduire les écarts sur le marché de l'assurance. Ce projet débute actuellement en Éthiopie.Les experts sont nombreux à encourager la diversification. Cette solution ne semble toutefois fonctionner pleinement que quand elle inclut une certaine part d'élevage nomade. Différentes mesures fondées sur le jeu du marché encouragent un pastoralisme durable : les marchés de niche. En Mauritanie, la société laitière Tiviski compte un réseau de plus d'un millier de bergers. Elle s'est mise à la transformation en produisant, entre autres, un fromage au lait de chamelle. Plusieurs obstacles restent à surmonter : faciliter l'accès aux marchés, lever les barrières commerciales non tarifaires relatives au bétail, améliorer les systèmes d'information du marché, respecter les normes en vigueur et instaurer des mécanismes de financement.Une série d'initiatives récentes donne à espérer. Adopté en 2011, le programme-cadre de l'Union africaine en faveur du pastoralisme en Afrique est la première mesure prise à l'échelle du continent destinée à protéger et à améliorer les sources de revenu des pasteurs africains. Le plan d'action 2011-2020 de la Communauté économique des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (CEDEAO) consacré à l'élevage reconnaît aux pasteurs le droit de déplacer leurs troupeaux d'une région à une autre, protège leur accès à l'eau dans les régions agricoles et facilite les échanges transfrontaliers.Parmi les innovations intéressantes figure le système fourrager \"cut-and-carry\" (couper-emporter) que des bergers ont adopté en Éthiopie dans le parc national d'Awash après les violents conflits portant sur l'exploitation de vastes pâturages de première qualité et sur les points d'eau. Parce qu'on les empêchait de faire paître leurs troupeaux, certains pasteurs ont commencé à collecter du fourrage dans le parc et à le transporter pour le répartir au sein de leur communauté. En complément du pâturage sur prairies naturelles, de nombreux pasteurs nigériens font du foin et vendent le surplus aux éleveurs en zones urbaines. Confrontés à un approvisionnement en eau inadapté et à une sécheresse récurrente, les pasteurs aussi bien en Éthiopie qu'au Niger remplacent de plus en plus les bovins par des ovins, des caprins et des camélidés.Au Kenya, un programme visant à créer un réseau de marchés plus près des bergers se révèle très efficace. Au lieu de transporter le bétail sur de longues distances, les pasteurs peuvent s'y rendre à pied, vendre leurs bêtes et acheter des aliments ou d'autres intrants. Ce modèle a été adopté dans d'autres pays, où ces marchés florissants attirent des activités complémentaires (hôtels, boucheries et boutiques). À Lolkuniani dans le district de Samburu, au Kenya, 10 % de la communauté participe activement au commerce de bétail. En moyenne, 2 000 chèvres (soit 27 500 €) et des vaches (pour 10 000 €) sont vendues chaque jour de marché hebdomadaire.■ Une application pour smartphone vient d'être développée pour conseiller les riziculteurs en matière d'engrais. Mise au point par l'Institut international de recherche sur le riz (IRRI), NMRiceApp est gratuite. Rowena Castillo de l'IRRI explique que cette application conçue pour les téléphones Android vise en premier lieu les vulgarisateurs qui conseillent les agriculteurs sur l'utilisation des engrais en fonction des sites de culture.Contrairement à sa première version -un service appelé NMRiceMobile -, cette nouvelle application permet aux vulgarisateurs et aux agriculteurs d'accéder à l'information et de la traiter directement au lieu d'avoir à batailler avec des commandes vocales automatiques. L'information fournie s'appuie sur les dernières recherches de l'IRRI relatives au rendement rizicole. À l'heure actuelle, elle n'est disponible que pour le Bangladesh, l'Indonésie et les Philippines, mais il est prévu d'étendre le service à d'autres pays en développement. \"Nous travaillons également sur une application pour la gestion des cultures, qui fournira des informations relatives aux pratiques rizicoles, à l'irrigation, à la gestion des ravageurs et à la sélection des graines\", ajoute R. Castillo.dÉloCalisationKiribati achète actuellement des terres sur l'île principale des Fidji, anticipant à long terme la montée des eaux. Le Président Anote Tong explique qu'à ce stade l'achat de 25 km² à Viti Levu constitue un investissement. \"La délocalisation est notre dernier recours\", précise-t-il. Les 33 îles et atolls de Kiribati se trouvent pour le moment à 2 m au-dessus du niveau de la mer, mais des marées de plus en plus hautes risquent de submerger une partie de cette nation du Pacifique. Les cocotiers, principale culture vivrière de Kiribati, sont menacés par l'avancée de la mer et par la sécheresse, et l'intrusion d'eau de mer dans les puits a déjà causé des pénuries d'eau potable.■ Les Mauriciens ne savaient que faire des centaines de milliers de tonnes de déchets ménagers qui s'entassaient dans l'île. Il y a une dizaine d'années, ils ont commencé à les enfouir sous terre sur un site éloigné des habitations, au prix de millions de roupies de transport. L'île étant petite, la pollution menaçait les nappes phréatiques qui alimentent plus de la moitié de la population en eau potable. Composter ces déchets composés à 70 % de matières organiques à des fins agricoles est apparu comme une solution opportune. Le chemin a été long, mais le compost est finalement produit à grande échelle à Maurice. Au lieu d'aller vers le centre d'enfouissement, les déchets prennent la direction de l'usine Solid Waste Recycling, dans l'ouest de l'île, où ils sont triés pour enlever les objets en métal avant de recevoir une bactérie naturelle qui accélère le compostage. Les déchets sont retournés tous les sept jours pour une bonne ventilation avant d'être mis à sécher. Le compost est alors prêt à être trié mécaniquement. Après plusieurs étapes de tri, il est tamisé à 2,4 mm puis ensaché en sacs de 5 et 25 kg pour être vendu aux agriculteurs. ■ Les cultivateurs sud-africains de rooibos modifient leurs pratiques pour s'adapter à l'évolution des conditions météorologiques qui menace cette culture. Ces dernières années, l'absence récurrente de pluie entre mai et août a décimé les jeunes plants, causant des pertes massives chez les quelque 300 agriculteurs (surtout de petits exploitants) qui cultivent le rooibos pour le vendre comme thé, essentiellement à l'exportation.Pour faire face à cette menace, les cultivateurs ont planté des brise-vent formés de plantes autochtones afin de stopper l'érosion des sols. Ils ont aussi construit des systèmes de captage d'eau et utilisé des semences plutôt que de jeunes plants. \"Les semences mettent plus de temps à pousser, mais sont moins sensibles au manque de pluie\", explique Pieter Koopman, qui a perdu la moitié de sa production durant la dernière décennie. Son exploitation se trouve dans le Suid Bokkeveld, une petite région d'Afrique du Sud qui concentre toute la production mondiale de ce \"thé rouge\". Le rooibos, l'un des rares produits d'Afrique faisant l'objet d'une indication géographique, suscite une demande croissante dans le Nord, mais pousse exclusivement dans cette zone, où il s'épanouit au rythme d'hivers rigoureux et d'étés caniculaires.■ Des millions de tonnes de produits agricoles pourrissent chaque année dans les zones rurales du Mozambique, et ce à cause du manque d'infrastructures et de routes permettant de les écouler sur les marchés. Depuis quelques années, un programme spécial du gouvernement, financé par le FIDA, soutient les foires agricoles, comme alternative aux marchés traditionnels. Plus de clients participent aux foires, qui pourraient difficilement aller acheter sur les zones de production.João de Castro, chef du poste administratif de Netia dans la province de Nampula, une province riche en céréales, arachides, haricots, sésame et manioc, explique que sur les marchés traditionnels ce sont les commerçants, venus en 4x4, qui imposent leurs prix. Et les producteurs n'ont d'autre choix que d'accepter ces prix. Alors que dans les foires agricoles, qui se réunissent une fois par semaine dans un lieu déterminé, davantage de commerçants et producteurs vendent, achètent ou échangent des produits, il y a plus de concurrence. Les paysans échangent des produits agricoles contre des bicyclettes, des articles ménagers, des vêtements et des chaussures, et attirent en plus de futurs clients.Feuilles de rooibos transformées en thé Vente de produits agricoles dans une foire (province de Maputo, Mozambique) maUvaises rÉColtesdes chercheurs ghanéens affirment que la baisse de la production du cacao et du palmier à huile serait liée aux pesticides qui nuisent aux pollinisateurs. Pour favoriser le développement des insectes, les entomologistes recommandent la plantation de palmiers au milieu des champs de cacao pour accueillir leurs reproductions.aGriCUltUre ContraCtUelleDans quatre provinces du nord du Mozambique, un groupement d'organisations de la société civile mène un programme gouvernemental de promotion des marchés ruraux (PROMER) qui fournit aux paysans locaux des services et leur facilite l'accès au crédit bancaire et aux institutions de microfinance. Ce groupement associe les producteurs au marché, au moyen de \"contrats à terme\", avec la garantie de vendre leurs produits à des prix avantageux pour les deux parties (producteurs et acheteurs). L'accès au crédit est garanti par les contrats. Les principaux commerçants de la région s'engagent à acheter les céréales, les haricots et d'autres cultures, et les agriculteurs s'engagent à les produire et à les fournir aux dates convenues.■ Aux Fidji, les communautés de pêcheurs combinent approches nouvelles et pratiques ancestrales dans leur lutte pour protéger les ressources marines. Parallèlement aux traditions communautaires de gestion de la mer, elles exploitent les avancées scientifiques afin de préserver leurs moyens de subsistance.Dix villages du district de Kubulau s'impliquent dans le programme fidjien de la Wildlife Conservation Society pour créer le premier réseau de zones maritimes protégées du pays en s'appuyant sur les connaissances scientifiques. L'objectif est d'augmenter la biomasse des poissons dans le secteur pour assurer l'alimentation des communautés et conserver la biodiversité le long du littoral, en instaurant des zones où la pêche est soit interdite, soit étroitement surveillée.Le projet applique les méthodes traditionnellement en usage dans les zones marines de la région gérées à l'échelle locale -par exemple, dans les zones temporairement interdites à la pêche. Il fait aussi intervenir les connaissances scientifiques acquises en gestion écosystémique. Celle-ci considère les écosystèmes dans leur globalité, en tenant compte des interactions entre l'individu et son environnement.Une poudre contre la malnutrition L'abondance des chenilles du karité dans l'ouest du Burkina Faso apporterait une solution pour lutter contre la malnutrition. Monté par des étudiants de l'Institut 2iE à Ouagadougou, le projet Faso Prot exploite ce produit deux fois moins cher que la viande et trois fois plus riche en protéines. Le projet prévoit de fabriquer un complément alimentaire à base de poudre de chenille qui serait disponible toute l'année sur l'ensemble du pays, alors que les chenilles ne sont jusqu'ici consommées que dans certaines régions, entre juillet et septembre.Une teinture spéciale, pourpre, a été présentée aux aviculteurs kényans pour les aider à réduire les pertes dues aux attaques de faucons (responsables de 40 % des pertes de poussins élevés en plein air). mise au point dans le cadre du Programme kényan de développement du maïs (KmdP), en coordination avec le Programme de promotion des intrants agricoles, cette teinture évite aux poussins d'être repérés par les faucons dans le ciel. Les premiers bovins résultant de ce croisement ont déjà commencé à être commercialisés dans les foires agropastorales, où ils ont remporté un franc succès auprès des éleveurs. Par ailleurs ont été créés des mécanismes d'accès au crédit, aux services de l'eau et de l'énergie, pour soutenir la reconstitution du cheptel du pays, réduit par plus de 25 ans de guerre. Trouer les pièges traditionnels réduit sensiblement les prises accessoires tout en préservant les revenus des pêcheurs. C'est ce que montrent les expériences réalisées. Des pêcheurs ont confectionné des nasses traditionnelles en découpant sur les côtés, à la verticale, des rectangles de 2 à 4 cm sur 30 cm. Ces trous permettent aux juvéniles et aux espèces de taille similaire de s'échapper, mais retiennent les poissons ciblés, plus grands. Ces expériences ont été menées sur les côtes kényanes, dans le lagon d'un récif corallien très exploité. Il est apparu que cela réduisait les prises accessoires de 80 %, sans avoir d'incidence notable sur le volume de poissons ciblés, plus prisés.■ La plantation de pourpier d'Afrique, plante succulente d'Afrique du Sud qui absorbe le dioxyde de carbone en quantités considérables, crée des emplois et aide à freiner le changement climatique. À feuilles persistantes, Portulacaria afra ou \"spekboom\" en afrikaner, aussi appelé \"buisson aux éléphants\", a une capacité de piégeage du CO 2 fantastique. Cette plante absorbe aussi l'eau et la rejette dans le sol comme une éponge. Elle atteint parfois 2,5 m de haut et pousse surtout dans les zones rocailleuses et arides. Des communautés locales sont payées pour boiser de vastes zones au Cap-Oriental, où le surpâturage a causé l'érosion massive des coteaux. Le but est que ce programme gouvernemental, à terme, s'autofinance en vendant des crédits carbone.Selon les scientifiques, le maquis de spekboom peut piéger 250 tonnes de dioxyde de carbone par hectare, à un rythme de quatre tonnes par an. Sa capacité à compenser les émissions de carbone nocives équivaut à celle de la forêt subtropicale humide. or, en seulement 20 ans, 90 % des zones humides ont disparu en afrique de l'ouest. soixante-cinq pays membres de l'accord international pour la conservation des oiseaux d'eau migrateurs (aewa), dont 28 africains, ont adopté un \"plan d'action pour l'afrique\" en mai dernier.Vingt-trois projets de conservation d'espèces menacées vont bénéficier de l'aide du fonds mondial de conservation SOS (Sauvons nos espèces), à hauteur de 2,4 millions d'euros, a annoncé l'Union internationale pour la conservation de la nature (UICN). L'Afrique entre dans plus de la moitié des projets, dans une quinzaine de pays. Six projets concernent des mammifères, comme les gorilles au Cameroun dont il reste moins de 300 individus. Des espèces d'oiseaux et d'amphibiens sont également concernées. À Madagascar, la protection des grenouilles mantelles est pilotée par l'association malgache Madagasikara Voakajy, en lien avec les communautés et autorités locales.  S. Ommeh a réalisé des études in vitro pour analyser la tolérance des poulets locaux à la maladie. Elle espère pouvoir procéder à une sélection génomique pour produire un \"superpoulet\" riche en viande, à rendement d'oeufs élevé, résistant à la sécheresse et à la maladie.Les poulets locaux produisent souvent peu de viande et peu d'oeufs, et sont très sensibles aux virus, tels que les maladies de Newcastle et de Gumboro. Les recherches que mène Sheila Ommeh à l'Institut international de recherche sur l'élevage à Nairobi s'accompagnent de formations en laboratoire dispensées dans le cadre du programme AWARD. S. Ommeh prévoit de soumettre son travail pour publication.■ La malnutrition est directement liée à la perte de la biodiversité agricole. C'est la conclusion d'un programme de la FAO sur les liens entre biodiversité et équilibres alimentaires. Des études montrent en effet la grande richesse et variabilité nutritionnelle des anciennes variétés locales. Ces plantes ont largement disparu au profit de quelques variétés commerciales qui dominent les grandes cultures de l'agriculture mondiale (maïs, blé, riz, pommes de terre, soja).Forte de ce constat, la FAO travaille sur un projet de recensement des variétés de fruits et légumes consommées dans le monde ; 10 000 aliments sont déjà répertoriés dans une base de données.Pour les bananes, les pommes de terre, la patate douce, le manioc, le taro, le riz, etc., les données mises à disposition par la FAO témoignent de la très grande variabilité en minéraux et en vitamines d'une variété à l'autre. Chaque variété ayant des qualités propres, c'est bien leur diversité et leur complémentarité qui est équilibrée. Pour la FAO, ce travail d'information sur la valeur nutritionnelle des aliments doit permettre de réhabiliter les variétés traditionnelles.Face à la menace que fait peser la mineuse de la canne à sucre sur le secteur sucrier de la Barbade, les autorités de l'île ont introduit Cotesia flavipes, une guêpe minuscule identifiée comme un prédateur. Responsable de la section Entomologie du ministère de l'Agriculture, Ian Gibbs explique que la présence de la mineuse sur l'île avait augmenté de façon spectaculaire ces deux à trois dernières années. Un petit laboratoire élève le prédateur naturel de ce ravageur, puis des lâchers sont réalisés dans les champs touchés. Le ministère invite les producteurs de canne à sucre barbadiens à travailler en étroite coopération avec les représentants des pouvoirs publics. Installé à Tavua, il a finalement décidé de changer de branche et de cultiver de jeunes plants pour le secteur horticole. Sans capital, M. Sami a commencé à ramasser des bols en plastique usagé où faire pousser ses premiers plants. Après deux années difficiles, il s'est adressé au ministère fidjien de l'Agriculture, qui l'a aidé à installer une petite pépinière et à acheter des plateaux en plastique adéquats. Aujourd'hui, il possède l'une des plus grandes pépinières pour fruits et légumes de la région, et approvisionne les agriculteurs de toute la Division occidentale des Fidji. M. Sami travaille dur pour satisfaire la demande, mais gagne bien plus que ce qu'il aurait jamais pu espérer tirer de la culture de canne à sucre.\"Tout miser sur la canne à sucre a été ma plus grande erreur\", témoigne-t-il. \"Je regrette de ne pas m'en être rendu compte plus tôt. Il est temps pour les agriculteurs d'abandonner la monoculture au profit d'autres perspectives agroalimentaires afin de continuer à vivre décemment de leur activité.\"Plus de 300 petits producteurs d'épices du Pacifique se sont regroupés au sein du Vanuatu Spices Network. Ces agriculteurs, qui cultivent de la vanille biologique, du gingembre, du piment, du poivre et du curcuma, sont répartis sur sept îles du Vanuatu. Ils se sont organisés avec l'aide de l'ONG Farm Support Association (FSA). Sur des exploitations de 0,3 hectare en moyenne, les producteurs procèdent à une première transformation des épices. La transformation finale est réalisée chez l'un de leurs principaux clients, Venui Vanilla, avant que les produits ne soient vendus et expédiés par bateau aux marchés haut de gamme d'Australie, de Nouvelle-Zélande et d'Europe.Une cartographie de la chaîne de valeur des pommes de terre de semence a été lancée en Éthiopie, au Kenya, en ouganda, au rwanda et en tanzanie. il s'agit d'encourager les investissements productifs pour accroître la qualité des semences. la production de pommes de terre en afrique subsaharienne a plus que doublé depuis 1994, mais les rendements restent faibles, car la qualité des semences laisse à désirer. manGUeFruit saisonnier, la mangue est très appréciée pour son goût sucré et sa forte teneur en vitamines. des recherches récentes viennent de découvrir des vertus cosmétiques au beurre obtenu à partir de l'amande du noyau. le beurre de mangue serait bienfaisant pour les peaux sèches et les cheveux cassants. Un atout de plus pour un fruit aux multiples vertus.  On dirait que la communauté internationale, comme la plupart des décideurs, ne réagit que quand la crise est de grande ampleur, avec des images choc sur les écrans de télévision. Alors seulement, on sort les grands moyens, à grand frais mais souvent sans grande efficacité. Or la situation actuelle est celle, sournoise, d'une fragilité rampante. Plusieurs facteurs en sont la cause : dégradation continue des conditions d'existence des populations, forte exposition aux risques de marché et à l'instabilité des prix régionaux et internationaux, sensibilité croissante aux aléas et aux risques… Les ménages n'ont pas le temps de reconstituer leur capital avant que la prochaine crise ne survienne, et deviennent de plus en plus sensibles au plus petit choc externe. Il faut une réponse structurelle, qui aille au-delà de la grande mode du moment, la résilience, qui est certes un grand pas, mais ne sera pas suffisant. Il nous faut de grands investissements dans l'agriculture : recapitaliser les sols, développer l'irrigation, trouver les moyens d'assurer l'accès des petits producteurs à la terre et au financement des moyens de production, les connecter aux marchés. Et en vérité, c'est cela qui est dans les Programmes nationaux et régionaux d'investissement agricole (PNIA et PRIA) : mais nous manquons d'engagement, de continuité dans les efforts, de conviction que c'est possible et que c'est nous, Africains, qui allons faire nous-mêmes notre développement, pas les bailleurs de fonds. L'absence de coordination des aides, l'hétérogénéité des approches, la multiplication des structures ad hoc de gestion de projets affaiblissent les capacités nationales et régionales et retardent l'atteinte des objectifs poursuivis par les États, les institutions régionales et les partenaires internationaux.Les organisations de producteurs (OP) s'impliquent de plus en plus pour la sécurité alimentaire. Sont-elles suffisamment formées ?Dans le domaine des politiques agricoles, la quasi-totalité des revendications des OP a été prise en compte dans les orientations générales des politiques, notamment de l'ECOWAP. Les OP sont de mieux en mieux formées, avec l'appui des partenaires du Nord et du Sud. Mais il reste encore à améliorer leur capacité à s'impliquer dans la négociation et la mise en oeuvre des politiques, notamment en améliorant la représentativité de leurs réseaux et donc la légitimité de leurs propositions et leur capacité à peser, et en renforçant la capitalisation interne des pratiques, initiatives et expériences des OP en lien avec l'agenda des négociations.Les exploitations familiales sont-elles la solution pour assurer la sécurité alimentaire dans la sous-région ?Couvrir les besoins alimentaires et nutritionnels d'une population en croissance forte et assurer à chacun un accès durable et stable à une alimentation diversifiée est le principal défi que doit relever la région. Un secteur agricole solide constitue la voie la plus sûre pour relever ce défi. La région considère qu'elle dispose du potentiel de production (terres, pâturages, eau, ressources humaines) qui lui permet d'assurer sa souveraineté alimentaire, en couvrant l'essentiel de ses besoins. Cependant, les conditions de mise en valeur de ce potentiel sont déterminantes pour contribuer à éliminer la faim. L'Afrique de l'Ouest dispose d'une forte population agricole et l'essentiel de la production repose sur des exploitations familiales. La reconversion dans d'autres activités économiques hors de l'agriculture est complexe, compte tenu des perspectives réduites offertes par les secteurs de l'industrie et des services. L'essentiel de l'exode des agriculteurs alimente aujourd'hui un secteur informel pléthorique, qui n'assure qu'une très faible rémunération du travail. Dans ce contexte, la modernisation des exploitations familiales est un enjeu majeur. Le développement de l'agriculture sur la base d'agro-entreprises peut éventuellement contribuer à résoudre les problèmes d'offre, mais il ne contribue que faiblement à résoudre le problème de la pauvreté qui est le facteur numéro un de l'insécurité alimentaire. Avec un marché en plein boom, les États s'intéressent de nouveau au cacao. En Côte d'Ivoire, la dérégulation est abandonnée. Dans les pays producteurs, des partenariats public-privé cherchent à doper la production et conquérir les marchés de niche. L'enjeu : mieux faire fonctionner le marché au profit des producteurs, tout en rendant la production plus durable sur le plan environnemental. Les principaux importateurs de fèves de cacao sont les pays industrialisés du Nord qui concentrent plus de 80 % de la consommation. Il existe deux marchés pour l'achat de cacao : la bourse de Londres et celle de New-York. Le marché, soumis aux rumeurs ou anticipations de ruptures de stock, mauvaise récolte, catastrophes climatiques ou politiques, est très instable et spéculatif, avec des variations de prix très importantes.Si la demande de cacao, tirée par les pays émergents, ne cesse de croître (2-3 % par an), et devrait connaître, dans les années à venir, une hausse importante, les producteurs africains de cacao ne voient pas leurs revenus augmenter en conséquence. Les Nations unies s'inquiètent de cette répartition inégale. \"Le bas niveau de revenus des producteurs constitue le principal enjeu relatif à l'économie du cacao. (...) Les prix doivent être suffisamment rémunérateurs pour les producteurs, et la production plus efficace, afin de leur garantir un revenu décent\" (Conférence 2010 des Nations unies sur le cacao).En Côte d'Ivoire, le relèvement du prix aux planteurs est un des principaux objectifs d'une réforme soutenue par le FMI et la Banque mondiale, qui veulent un assainissement du secteur. À la faveur de la stabilisation politique du pays, l'État ivoirien a ainsi décidé de revenir aux commandes de la production et la commercialisation alors Les consommateurs étant de plus en plus sensibilisés à la qualité des produits et au bien-être des producteurs, les grands groupes commercialisant des produits chocolatés se sont pliés à la certification et un nombre croissant de marques annoncent des chocolats labellisés : biologique, FairTrade/FLO, Rainforest Alliance et UTZ sont les principales certifications. Mais si les appellations se multiplientgrands crus, appellations d'origine contrôlée, cacaos certifiés biologiques, équitables, etc. -, elles demeurent l'exception : 6 % seulement de la production mondiale est certifiée biologique, 1 % équitable, et environ 1 % Rainforest Alliance. Un label \"cacao fin et aromatique\" est défini, par l'ICCO, principalement par l'origine du cacao (certains pays seulement sont éligibles) et son volume (un maximum de 5 % de la production mondiale). En Côte d'Ivoire, la réforme étatique qui est en voie d'imposer un prix garanti au producteur n'est pas vue d'un bon oeil par ceux qui pensaient que le label hollandais UTZ serait un gage suffisant de soutien au secteur. Ce dernier, qui concerne 150 000 planteurs certifiés dans le monde, dont 50 000 en Côte d'Ivoire, met l'accent sur les bonnes pratiques agricoles et environnementales et non sur la rémunération des producteurs.Mais produire du chocolat certifié n'est pas une assurance de gains supplémentaires... Les certifications sont, pour la plupart, élaborées par des acteurs du Nord, sans concertation. Elles sont souvent coûteuses et impliquent des cahiers des charges complexes à mettre en oeuvre (cf. Spore 158 : \"Certification, les coûts en question\").Les initiatives internationales d'appui au secteur cacaoyer se multiplient. Ainsi l'initiative américaine Feed the future (\"nourrir l'avenir\") a-t-elle lancé une action pour la promotion de la filière du cacao en Afrique (ACI) de 11 millions de dollars (8,94 millions d'euros) pour 13 chocolateries, en vue de développer la production de cacao en Afrique de l'Ouest ; la Fondation mondiale du cacao, créée par un groupe d'entreprises en 2000, ADM, Armajaro, Barry Callebaut, Nestlé, Cargill, etc., vise à promouvoir et coordonner le développement de la communauté du cacao.Les partenariats public-privé se développent aussi, à l'instar du lancement, fin 2011, d'un partenariat entre la multinationale américaine Cargill et l'Agence de soutien au développement rural national de la Côte d'Ivoire (Anader) apportant un investissement de 1,5 miliard FCFA (2,3 millions €) pour la formation des producteurs et la distribution de 600 000 nouveaux plants de cacao (dont l'importance est à relativiser, à l'échelle du pays -soit 400 hectares…).  Mais la multiplicité de ces initiatives ne doit pas cacher l'objectif premier des firmes engagées : sécuriser leur approvisionnement en cacao, le bien-être des producteurs étant un effet induit… La recherche en première ligne À l'heure du vieillissement des plantations ivoiriennes, de la diminution des terres disponibles et du changement climatique, améliorer la productivité est une question cruciale, dont la recherche s'est saisie. Des plants hybrides apportent des gains en précocité et productivité.En novembre 2011, le lancement d'une station de recherche expérimentale en Côte d'Ivoire, d'une valeur de 5 millions de dollars (4,06 millions d'euros), a été annoncé en vue de \"rassembler les efforts de recherche du Centre national de la recherche agronomique et les efforts de recherche privée de Nestlé, pour promouvoir la production de cacao. Nestlé envisage de dépenser 81 millions d'euros pour replanter 12 millions de cacaoyers au cours des dix prochaines années, soit environ 1 million d'arbres par an. Cette implication du secteur privé, si elle a des conséquences positives, peut aussi questionner sur l'indépendance de la recherche et les motivations de ce secteur.Une étude récente du CIAT (cf. Spore 159, p. 9) indique que la hausse récente des températures devrait engendrer des chutes drastiques de la production de cacao d'ici 2030 à 2050 en Côte d'Ivoire et au Ghana. Le CIAT préconise dans son rapport certaines mesures pour l'atténuer.L'UE est le plus grand transformateur de cacao au monde, représentant plus de 40 % des broyages mondiaux.Parmi les pays développés, les Pays-Bas sont le plus grand broyeur au monde (525 000 tonnes), suivis par les États-Unis (390 000 tonnes) et l'Allemagne (385 000 tonnes).Malgré des difficultés (approvisionnement, coupures d'électricité, etc.), les pays producteurs se lancent dans la transformation : Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, etc.La Côte d'Ivoire est en bonne voie de dépasser les Pays-Bas avec un peu plus de 500 000 tonnes (40 % de la production de cacao du pays). Il convient néanmoins de noter que, sur les huit entreprises travaillant aujourd'hui dans la transformation de cacao en Côte d'Ivoire, quatre sont des filiales de multinationales européennes ou américaines : Saco (Barry Callebaut, Suisse), Unicao (ADM, États-Unis), Cargill Cocoa (États-Unis) et Cemoi (France). Cependant, de plus en plus d'entreprises ivoiriennes sont impliquées, et les activités de transformation du pays font des progrès importants.Il existe quatre entreprises au Ghana qui transforment les fèves en liqueur, poudre, beurre et gâteaux. Des investissements croissants apparaissent dans la première transformation du cacao. Barry Callebaut, grand groupe international, a récemment doublé sa capacité de transformation. Autre grande firme, Cargill s'apprête à implanter sa première usine au Ghana.Aujourd'hui, cependant, les pays africains devraient se retourner vers l'Amérique du Sud et notamment le Brésil. Ainsi Philippe Bastide, chercheur au CIRAD, de retour du premier Salon mondial du chocolat organisé dans un pays producteur, à Salvador de Bahia, cite-t-il avec enthousiasme les initiatives des producteurs brésiliens qui font de la valeur ajoutée, sur place, avec leurs produits, sous-produits et produits semi-finis. Le Brésil, sixième producteur et troisième consommateur mondial, consomme l'ensemble de sa production. Un dynamisme entrepreneurial très en avance sur son voisin africain, qui pourrait avoir valeur d'exemple…Fredy Rajaonera est directeur général adjoint de la chocolaterie Robert. Il est également vice-président du Syndicat des industries de Madagascar (SIM) et coordonnateur général du groupe Ramanandraibe Exportation.CHiFFres ClÉs 80 % de la consommation mondiale de chocolat sont le fait des pays du Nord.1 % de la production mondiale est certifié équitable.1,48 million de tonnes est la production de cacao en Côte d'Ivoire en 2010.2-3 % de croissance annuelle, la demande mondiale de chocolat croît à un rythme fort et stable.Pourquoi avoir choisi le marché du cacao haut de gamme ? Si la production malgache est relativement faible en quantité (5 000 tonnes de cacao par an, contre 1,5 million de tonnes en Côte d'Ivoire, par exemple), la qualité est irréprochable. Les fèves de cacao biologique que nous produisons sont fines, fruitées et aromatisées, des qualités très recherchées. La Grande Île dispose d'un cru de cacao fin au nord-est (Sambirano) sur une étendue de 15 000 hectares, reconnu parmi les cinq plus grands crus au monde. Nous avons valorisé ce potentiel en visant les marchés de niche aux États-Unis, en France, Grande-Bretagne, Italie et dans les îles voisines. Chaque année, la chocolaterie Robert exporte 3 500 tonnes de fèves de cacao et 40 tonnes de chocolat.Criollo, trinitario et forastero sont les trois sortes de cacao que nous utilisons. Nous exportons 40 tonnes de chocolat chaque année sous différentes formes : poudre de cacao, tablettes de chocolat, coupe-faim, bûche de Noël, etc. La firme a décroché la Silver Cup de l'Académie du chocolat en France et un chocolat fabriqué par le chocolatier français Cluizel à partir de notre production a obtenu la plus haute distinction au Salon international du chocolat de Paris en 2004.Avoir le bon cru ne suffit pas, il faut aussi une bonne maturité des cabosses, une excellente fermentation mais également un dispositif de transformation moderne. À chaque étape, nous procédons à une analyse microbiologique et chimique des marchandises. Nos producteurs sont parmi les mieux lotis et sont surtout fidélisés. La chocolaterie achète directement auprès des planteurs ou à travers les collecteurs. Quels que soient les aléas de la production, elle assure aux paysans un minimum de commande et une prime à chaque campagne. Les planteurs disposent également de dispensaires de santé. Nous offrons régulièrement des formations et un encadrement sur le terrain. Nos deux ingénieurs hautement qualifiés collaborent avec les techniciens agricoles du ministère de l'Agriculture et nous faisons venir régulièrement au pays le meilleur ouvrier de France.Pour anticiper sur le vieillissement des plants de cacao, 1 500 hectares de nouvelles plantations sont prévus. Nous commençons aussi à nous diversifier, avec des fruits secs alliés au chocolat, de la confiserie, de la pâtisserie mais aussi l'exportation de beurre de cacao utilisé dans l'industrie cosmétique (fabrication de crèmes hydratantes).  Company, qui se dresse derrière une haie plane de panneaux solaires. \"Je viens juste de finir de griller la dernière fournée de fèves de la journée\", indique Edmund Brown, l'un des fondateurs de la coopérative, qui est au travail depuis six heures du matin. Il explique que le bruit vient de la machine de conchage (NDLR : opération qui consiste à malaxer à chaud la pâte de chocolat dans des cuves ou conches). \"Il faut trois jours en tout -de la torréfaction des fèves au conditionnement des plaques -pour obtenir une belle pâte onctueuse.\" \"L'humidité est un problème pour stocker les fèves sèches.\" Mais ce problème est compensé par l'air de la montagne, idéal pour cultiver des fèves de première qualité. Entre-temps, Mott Green est le seul étranger parmi les treize associés d'une entreprise dont la pérennité repose sur trois éléments : revenus supérieurs, régularité (des revenus tout au long de l'année) et fierté. \"Développer Smilo\", avec sa pub au rythme calypso entraînant, voilà ce qui crée la dynamique. Smilo est la version locale de la poudre chocolatée Milo, version que la société fabrique sans sucre ni additifs. Sur l'île, ce sous-produit obtenu lors de l'extraction du beurre de cacao se vend mieux que les barres chocolatées. On le trouve dans tous les petits magasins d'alimentation. Pour preuve de sa réussite sur ce marché de niche -mais en plein essor -du chocolat noir authentique, l'entreprise a vu sa barre à 82 % de cacao récompensée par la médaille d'argent 2011 de l'Academy of Chocolate ; et son travail a été salué dans de grandes revues internationales. Elle vient de sortir une barre 100 % de cacao et proposera très bientôt Salty-Licious, une barre alliant du cacao 71 % et du sel de la mer des Caraïbes.Après un sursaut de la production, la société tente de la lisser à nouveau et d'occuper une place particulière sur le marché international, avec un chocolat gastronomique fin vendu à un prix avantageux. Elle vise les magasins spécialisés du marché européen haut de gamme -auxquels elle vend de plus petites quantités qu'aux grossistes mais en dégageant une marge supérieure. Un événement historique a marqué mars 2012 : la toute première livraison transatlantique de chocolat sans émission nette de carbone ! L'écovoilier Tres Hombres de Fair Transport a transporté 3 tonnes de chocolat noir biologique jusqu'au Royaume-Uni et à Amsterdam. Pour tous, la saveur de ce chocolat fabriqué à la Grenade dans un souci d'équité et dans le respect de l'environnement y a gagné en délicatesse et en richesse.ur ses 2 hectares de terrain à Mumias, dans l'ouest du Kenya, Mary Awino a construit 12 viviers, qu'elle a remplis de tilapias (Oreochromis niloticus). Cette espèce, facile à élever, atteint de bons prix. M. Awino produit ainsi par bassin entre 2,5 et 3,5 tonnes de tilapias tous les 9 mois.Comme Mary Awino, un nombre croissant de petits producteurs des pays ACP élèvent du tilapia, nom commun d'une centaine d'espèces de la famille des cichlidés. En raison de sa valeur nutritionnelle, de sa croissance rapide et de sa saveur, le tilapia est le troisième poisson d'élevage. Sa production mondiale est montée en flèche, passant de 1,6 million de tonnes en 1999 à plus de 3,5 millions de tonnes en 2010. Cette évolution spectaculaire est intervenue surtout en Asie, mais l'Afrique aussi connaît une nette progression. La tilapiculture est également importante dans le Pacifique. Dans les îles Salomon, où l'espèce élevée (Oreochromis mossambicus) ne suffit pas à répondre à la demande croissante des populations urbaines, les aquaculteurs ont introduit Oreochromis niloticus, à développement plus rapide. La production augmente d'autant plus vite que de petites et moyennes entreprises et des écoles se mettent à élever des tilapias pour améliorer revenus et régimes alimentaires.Le tilapia figure parmi les poissons les plus faciles et les plus rentables à élever : il est omnivore, supporte une forte densité de peuplement et se développe rapidement. Dans certaines régions, on peut l'introduire dans les rizières au moment de planter le riz ; une fois le riz à maturité, le poisson aura atteint une taille suffisante pour être consommé. Excellente source de protéines et de micronutriments, pauvre en graisses saturées, en hydrates de carbone et en sodium, le tilapia contribue fortement à la sécurité alimentaire des ménages.  Cette étude revient sur la question de la protection de la production agricole locale aux frontières en Afrique de l'Ouest et prône une protection différenciée pour les produits les plus sensibles que sont le riz et le sucre. Ce livre commence par clarifier la notion d'organisation de producteurs avant de faire un retour historique sur leur montée en puissance. Il détaille ensuite les rôles très divers que sont amenées à jouer les OP, acteurs à part entière du développement rural et parties prenantes des stratégies de réduction de la pauvreté. Le renforcement des capacités des OP passe en interne par la formation de leurs membres, mais aussi par l'amélioration de leurs liens avec l'extérieur, jusqu'à leur participation à la définition des politiques publiques.Cet ouvrage très pédagogique s'appuie sur l'expérience de terrain des auteurs : une agronome, un sociologue et un agroéconomiste. Il s'adresse aux acteurs du développement agricole et aidera professionnels et acteurs des OP à y voir plus clair dans leurs pratiques. La participation des pays émergents aux efforts mondiaux d'atténuation du changement climatique devient incontournable compte tenu de la forte croissance de leurs émissions de gaz à effet de serre. Mais elle devra se faire en tenant compte du principe de responsabilité \"commune, mais différenciée\". ■ La photographie scientifique permet de faire des merveilles. Cet ouvrage l'atteste, qui propose une exploration visuelle sans précédent de la structure des différentes parties des plantes et arbres : racines, tronc ou tiges, feuilles. Mais le but de cet ouvrage n'est pas esthétique. Grâce aux vues microscopiques dont la précision, en plus de la beauté, force le respect, le discours scientifique sur la morphologie végétale prend une autre dimension.L'objectif est clair : dispenser de façon limpide et concise les connaissances sur la structure des plantes. Après un chapitre introductif sur la morphologie des plantes vasculaires, le lecteur trouvera une synthèse des connaissances actuelles sur les classifications et l'anatomie des plantes, du macroscopique ou submicroscopique.Cet ouvrage apparaît comme un concentré de savoirs et constitue, à ce titre, un complément indispensable aux manuels de cours traditionnels de l'étudiant et un support iconographique inédit pour l'enseignant et le chercheur. Il pourra aussi susciter la curiosité de l'amateur averti grâce à une présentation particulièrement attractive. ■ Le commerce équitable, c'est quoi ? Quels en sont les acteurs locaux et internationaux ? Quelles filières sont concernées ? Ce \"dictionnaire\" part de 31 concepts-clés du commerce équitable qui constituent autant d'entrées pour rendre compte des recherches universitaires menées sur ce sujet par l'association FairNESS. Cette association francophone oeuvre, depuis 2007, pour la structuration de la recherche sur le commerce équitable et le dialogue entre scientifiques et acteurs de terrain.Trois grands domaines sont passés en revue : les principes fondamentaux du commerce équitable et son éthique, ses acteurs et enfin son développement actuel. Il analyse notamment les différents courants qui coexistent au sein du commerce équitable, avec une approche multidisciplinaire : sociologique, politique, juridique, économique… Cet ouvrage de référence s'adresse tout autant aux chercheurs désireux d'étudier et de mieux connaître et comprendre le phénomène du commerce équitable qu'aux étudiants en sciences sociales ou aux militants, entrepreneurs, citoyens qui s'interrogent sur l'équité dans les relations commerciales. Sur la base de recherches récentes, ce numéro explore les multiples facettes de l'émancipation féminine dans les pays du Sud et la manière dont les processus émancipatoires se déploient selon les contextes de ces pays. Si les auteurs restent prudents sur la portée des changements observés, ils constatent que le processus d'empowerment des femmes, même s'il demeure fragile, est bel et bien lancé.  Cette note résume succinctement ce qu'est une politique foncière, à quoi elle sert, comment elle s'applique. Ses grandes fonctions se trouvent ici synthétisées par rapport à la répartition du foncier agricole, aux droits fonciers et leur protection et enfin à la protection et la gestion des ressources naturelles. ■ L'agriculture biologique fait débat. Mais les arguments avancés pour en vanter les bénéfices ou en dénoncer les insuffisances ne sont pas toujours rigoureux et souvent guidés par des a priori. Surtout, affirme l'auteur, ce sont rarement ses acteurs qui prennent la parole dans le débat. Cet ouvrage ambitionne de combler cette lacune en donnant la parole à des producteurs, notamment des pays du Sud, et en relatant leur expérience. Il parvient ainsi à démonter certains de ces a priori avancés par les adversaires du \"bio\" : le bio est trop cher, le bio n'est pas assez productif... En donnant une définition précise de l'agriculture biologique, il rappelle qu'elle ne se réduit pas à l'absence d'usage de produits chimiques, avant de se poser la question de son avenir comme mode de culture respectueux des équilibres naturels climatiques, sociaux et territoriaux.Cet ouvrage, écrit par un passionné, s'adresse à tout consommateur curieux des enjeux liés au contenu de son assiette ainsi qu'à tout citoyen soucieux de pouvoir se positionner sur les grands débats relatifs aux OGM, aux problématiques sanitaires sur l'alimentation et au défi de l'alimentation mondiale.  N'est-il pas naïf de croire qu'Internet peut aider à réduire la pauvreté des communautés rurales ou à atténuer l'impact du changement climatique ?Non. Internet donne aujourd'hui à tous la possibilité de s'impliquer plus dans les processus de changement et de trouver de nouvelles façons de gagner sa vie en s'adaptant aux circonstances. Nous devons supprimer les obstacles qui gênent l'accès aux connaissances et donner aux gens qui jusque-là n'avaient pas accès à l'information la possibilité d'y accéder.Les TIC consacrées au développement international s'appuient sur les outils du Web 2.0. Quelle sera la prochaine étape ? -Savoir comment les partenaires planifient, suivent et évaluent leurs projets et leurs activités.-Partager les bonnes pratiques et les enseignements tirés dans ces domaines, et voir comment les appliquer au niveau de l'organisation.-Définir des activités de suivi et d'évaluation communes pour l'année à venir.L'atelier combinera des approches conceptuelles et pragmatiques de la planification, du suivi et de l'évaluation. Les participants représenteront des organisations régionales et des réseaux et communautés de terrain. Le CTA participe (suite de la page 25) Ce concours, en marge de la conférence sur les chaînes de valeur (6-9 novembre 2012, Addis-Abeba, Éthiopie), vise à encourager les journalistes à s'intéresser aux problèmes et aux opportunités que représente l'implication de petits agriculteurs dans les chaînes de valeur. Il les invite à mettre en avant les succès et les bonnes pratiques susceptibles de pouvoir être reproduits ou appliqués ailleurs, et les encourage à sensibiliser l'opinion sur l'importance des chaînes de valeur pour le développement agricole et rural. Le concours se concentre sur les thèmes prioritaires à l'ordre du jour de la conférence : l'innovation, les cadres favorables aux chaînes de valeur, la pérennité de ces chaînes et leur transposition à grande échelle, enfin, le développement des capacités. Pour de plus amples informations, contactez Samuel Mikenga (Mikenga@cta.int). au sujet de la conférence internationale organisée par le Cta et ses partenaires sur les chaînes de valeur, en novembre prochain, en Éthiopie, m. rabiu Auwalu Yakasai lance un appel : \"Peu à peu, nous nous dirigeons vers une situation qui permettra aux petits producteurs d'intégrer les nouvelles tendances mondiales de l'agriculture. À tous les acteurs des chaînes de valeur des produits de base en afrique, et particulièrement en afrique de l'ouest : ressaisissez-vous et passez à la vitesse supérieure ! vous avez l'occasion de décoller maintenant. C'est maintenant ou jamais.\"À propos du stockage du niébé, m. elhadji Niang, qui réalise actuellement une étude sur le sujet au sénégal, précise : \"nous vous remercions de votre texte sur les méthodes de stockage du niébé. votre constat est très pertinent. toutefois, pour que ce produit soit indemne de toute attaque pendant sa période de stockage, il faut d'abord qu'il soit bien séché au niveau du champ où il est récolté. il faut ensuite effectuer une solarisation pour tuer tous les insectes contenus dans le produit avant de le mettre dans des silos bien préparés.\"Concernant les nouvelles technologies numériques, m. Issouf sanou de la FenoP (burkina Faso) nous fait part de son opinion : \"Pour toucher les producteurs de base, il ne faudra pas se focaliser uniquement sur la distribution en ligne ou les tiC, ces outils ne sont pas accessibles dans les villages. il faudra continuer à travailler en réseau avec des organisations paysannes pour diffuser les expériences.\"dans notre numéro 158, nous abordions l'opération \"mesures parcellaires\" qui a lieu au bénin. À ce propos, m. Éric tchokanaka nous écrit : \"l'effectivité des mesures parcellaires au GPs a permis de résoudre le problème de fiabilité des superficies coton au bénin, je le confirme. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a8b00cfc267a08a90d1760d8a9839af0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f5bfc95b-92c0-4db2-869a-a6398e64a68a/retrieve","id":"2130976945"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9da31776-e39f-4594-8eba-072b1dbf8ee2","content":"Internet, Aliado para Enverdecer el Mundo Enero de 1998El trabajo que varios países e instituciones vienen realizando para tener un mundo más verde, aprovechando la \"literatura gris\", cuenta ahora con un fuerte aliado: Internet.En su penúltima fase, este proyecto -cuyo fin es establecer una red de información sobre manejo de recursos naturales generada en los países de América tropical-ubicó un sitio en el ciberespacio para facilitar los contactos entre investigadores, estudiantes, instituciones de desarrollo y comunidades interesadas en esta tarea.La dirección electrónica es www.ciat.cgiar.org/greylit, con la cual se puede obtener información relacionada con el proyecto, los beneficiarios, la metodología del trabajo, las temáticas. Asimismo, permite consultar una base de datos con más de 13 mil referencias, y tener acceso a documentos fuente y a un boletín sobre manejo de recursos naturales y agricultura sostenible en los ecosistemas de laderas, en las sabanas y márgenes de bosques de América tropical. Todo esto es el producto de este proyecto colaborativo financiado por la Fundación W.K. Kellogg.Por esta misma vía, los interesados pueden registrarse y, además, consultar la base de datos de contactos con instituciones o personas que han contribuido con documentos al proyecto o que trabajan en áreas relacionadas.Se conoce como \"literatura gris\" la información que nunca ha sido publicada o que lo fue de manera no convencional, como tesis, informes anuales, encuestas, documentos de trabajo, memorias, informes estadísticos, mapas, etc.La coordinación general del proyecto está a cargo del Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), en Cali, Colombia, a través de su Unidad de Información y Documentación. En América Central, el coordinador es el Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) en Costa Rica.\"Desde un comienzo, en 1996, el proyecto se basó en el principio de participación cuya premisa fundamental es compartir recursos, y así ha continuado\", dice Elizabeth Goldberg, jefe de la Unidad de Información y Documentación del CIAT.Forman parte de la red instituciones de Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Perú y Venezuela, cuyos contactos también se pueden hacer a través de la página electrónica de Internet."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"33095e851f85eab5757ac26a4a3773ee","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/99f70e3c-6738-450a-beb5-31f8a8e3b27a/content","id":"1788808860"},"keywords":["Provitamin A carotenoids","GXE interaction","Zea mays L.","Stability","Vitamin A deficiency","Grain yield","Factor analysis"],"sieverID":"fa860155-2ff9-4247-9c15-3caf13b08a84","content":"Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD) is a major public health problem in Sub-Saharan Africa affecting 33 million preschool-age children. Enrichment of maize varieties with provitamin A could provide sustainable and affordable solution to VAD. This study was conducted to understand the extent of GEI effects on both grain yield and provitamin A content in 21 maize synthetics and identify synthetics combining stable performance with high level provitamin A content across diverse environments in West Africa. Combined analysis of variance found significant (p \\ 0.01) GEI effects that prompted further investigation of the GEI magnitude using mixed model with factor analysis. Factors 1 and 2 explained 71% of the total variability. G5, G4, G12, G18, G2 and G14 were broadly adapted to a range of environments and considered the most stable and high yielding. G8, G1, and G10 were specifically adapted to a group of environments. Whereas, G21, G19 and G17 were found to be the worst and unstable genotypes. G4 combined stable performance with high provitamin A content, whereas G20 and G18 were stable but had low provitamin A contents. Three genotypes, G4, G12 and G14 were found to combine stability with high provitamin A contents. These genotypes can be recommended for production in the low-land tropics of West and Central Africa with similar environments.Maize (Zea mays L.) is a staple food crop for millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and is regarded as a vital crop for global nutrition (IITA 2010;Nuss and Tanumihardjo 2010). Most of the maize that is produced and consumed is white and devoid of provitamin A carotenoids (Menkir et al. 2008;Li et al. 2007). This may partly explain why vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a major public health problem in SSA (Nuss and Tanumihardjo 2010), affecting approximately 33 million preschool-age children in the continent (West 2002). In South Africa, for example, the number of children with VAD increased from 33% in 1994 to 64% in 2005 (Labadarios et al. 2007;Labadarios and Van Middelkoop 1995). VAD is responsible for several disorders that range from impaired iron mobilization, growth retardation, and blindness to a depressed immune response, increased susceptibility to infectious disease and childhood mortality and morbidity affecting 190 million preschool-age children and 19 million pregnant women, mostly in Africa and South Asia (Sommer and Davidson 2002;Rice et al. 2004;WHO 2009).Maize is one of the six staple crops that have been targeted for biofortification to combat VAD under the HarvestPlus Challenge Programme (Tanumihardjo 2008;HarvestPlus Brief 2006). Biofortification of maize varieties with provitamin A through conventional breeding is viewed as a potential long-term, sustainable and affordable strategy to alleviate VAD in selected target groups (Howe and Tanumihardjo 2006a, b;Nestel et al. 2006). The current target level set for conventional maize breeding under HarvestPlus is 15 lg/g dry weight (DW) of provitamin A (Ortiz-Monasterio et al. 2007). The high provitamin A content should be combined with high yield potential and consistent performance across a broad range of growing conditions to promote adoption of the biofortified maize cultivars by farmers.Grain yield and provitamin A content are complex traits that are affected by the environment and genotype 9 environment interaction (GEI). Environmental variables such as pH, temperature, solar radiation, precipitation, organic matter, and soil texture have the potential to influence nutrient concentration in crops (Cabuslay et al. 2003;Joshi et al. 2010) and must then be taken into consideration while examining the variation for micronutrient content in crop plants. Several studies conducted to assess the nutritional quality of genotypes grown in diverse growing conditions found significant GEI for betacarotene and provitamin A content in maize (Manjeru 2017;Oikeh et al. 2004;Gregorio 2002;Trethowan 2007), wheat (Gregorio 2002;Trethowan 2007;Hedieh et al. 2013;Bashir et al. 2014), rice (Gregorio 2002;Trethowan 2007), Tomato (Rosales et al. 2006), Irish potato (Haynes et al. 2010), orange fleshed sweet potato (Gurmu et al. 2015;Kathabwalika et al. 2016), and vegetables (Granado et al. 1992). In contrast, other studies did not find significant GEI in maize (Menkir and Maziya-Dixon 2004;Egesel et al. 2003;Har-vestPlus Brief 2014), rice (HarvestPlus Brief 2014), cassava (Norbert et al. 2010), orange fleshed sweet potato (Gruneberg et al. 2005;Mbwaga et al. 2008;Tsegaye et al. 2011) and vegetables (Campos et al. 2006).The maize improvement program at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has developed synthetics with elevated levels of provitamin A adapted to production conditions in West and Central Africa. Considering the conflicting results of the GEI effects on beta-carotene and provitamin A content reported in the literature, testing these varieties across locations and years is necessary to identify those with high yield potential and provitamin A content as well as minimal GEI. Consequently, the varieties selected for elevated levels of provitamin A have been extensively evaluated in field trials, in which inferior varieties have been constantly replaced with promising new varieties over the years. The resulting unbalanced data from such multi-environment trials is amenable to GEI analysis using mixed models with factor analytic variance and covariance structure (Smith et al. 2001;Kelly et al. 2007;Nuvunga et al. 2015). Nuvunga et al. (2015) used this methodology to assess three levels of data imbalance, reaching up to 50%, and found that the FA (Factor Analysis) methodology is robust in analyzing data recorded in multi-environments, including situations in which the genotypes are not evaluated in all the environments and/or years. The present study was, therefore, conducted to understand the extent of GEI effects on both yield and provitamin A content of maize synthetics and to identify maize varieties with consistently high grain yield and higher levels of provitamin A across diverse environments.The genetic materials used in this study included 21 provitamin A maize synthetics each developed at IITA by intercrossing eight inbred lines selected for intermediate to high level of pro-vitamin A and good combining ability (Table 1). All the provitamin A rich maize synthetics used in this study were grown across nine locations and 4 years, and all were evaluated under rain fed conditions during the main growing season (June-November). Among the synthetics, ten were commonly evaluated across all the 4 years, 19 were commonly evaluated in 2012 and 2013, and 12 were tested in 2014 and 2015. The 21 provitamin A maize synthetics used in this study were evaluated along with a commercial orange single-cross maize hybrid (Oba Super 2), aflatoxin resistant orange maize variety (Aflatoxin syn-Y2) and a commonly cultivated improved orange open pollinated maize variety (Acr.91 Suwan 1-SR C1) used as a reference check as well as a farmers preferred variety as a local check (Table 1). Provitamin A concentrations were measured from seed samples of the 21 provitamin A rich maize synthetics harvested from trials using HPLC. Provitamin A was defined as the sum of b-carotene, b-cryptoxanthin and a-carotene, with a-carotene and b-cryptoxanthin contributing 50% of the value of b-carotene (U.S. Institute of Medicine 2001).The trials involving provitamin A maize synthetics and the checks were arranged in 7 9 3 alpha lattice design with three replications in 2012 and 2013, and 6 9 3 alpha lattice design with three replications in 2014 and 2015. The trials were evaluated during the main rainy season across the major maize testing sites in Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia. Each PVA synthetic was planted in two 5-m-long rows with 0.75 m distance between rows and 0.5 m distance within rows. Three seeds were planted in a hill and thinned to two plants after emergence to attain a population density of 53,333 plants ha -1 in each location. Standard cultural practices, recommended rates of fertilizer application, and pest and weed control measures were used in all environments. Generally, rainfall distributions were good across test locations and growing seasons during evaluation of these trials (Tables 2, 3).Each location 9 year combination (environment) was analyzed separately followed by a combined analysis across all the environments. The Combined multilocational analysis was conducted using multivariate mixed models according to Nuvunga et al. (2015) and proposed by Patterson and Thompson (1971) and described as follows: where y is a vector of observations from plots for each variety in each environment.b and b are the fixed and random effect vectors respectively, e denotes the random error vector, and X is the incidence matrix of the fixed effects for the blocks; Z the incidence matrix of random effects corresponding to the maize varieties.Considering the mixed model matrix (Santos et al. 2017) below,The solutions for b and b from the mixed model equation can be derived as:The random effect vector b was classified using Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm described by Dempster et al. (1977). The REML solution for the elements of G matrix is described below:withThe matrix C ij -1 corresponds to the submatrices i and j of the inverse matrix C -1 The error variance estimator is described below:where H is {X, Z}. The trace depends on i and j submatrix, n* is the length of the{j, i} vector. The approach described is synonymous to an unstructured (UN) variance-covariance matrix, hence both variances {r ek , r bk} and covariances { r eij r bij} are estimated.Factor analytic variance-covariance structure was applied to the mixed model equation. Similar to applying factor analysis directly on the matrix of REML estimates (Meyer 2007) Such that: b can be written in the form I [Lf ? d], while G can also be written as (LL 0 ? W).The factor scores for the effect of b can be solved by substituting I [Lf ? d] for b in the equation using the notation of Meyer (2009); such that:where f * N(0, I), d * N(0, W) and e * N(0,R). f is the vector of factor scores, d specific factor, L is the matrix of factor loading and W represent the matrix of specific variances.Restricting the factor loadings is an important corrective measure when choosing FA-n models. In order to guarantee the uniqueness of the choice of L, L t W -1 L = D was used as restriction; where D is a diagonal matrix. The very important step to estimating L and W is to derive the matrix W -1/2 (A -W)W -1/2 . In other to derive L ¼ W 1=2 P the Expectation Maximization algorithm will be used. P is derived by the spectral decomposition ofThe iteration continues until L and W matrices converge. Hence, L can used to describe the factor loadings for each environment (Nuvunga et al.2015).The matrix solution to the derived mixed model equation above ( 9) by substituting ZL with h, is given below (Smith et al. 2001)The solutions for factor scores, fixed and random effects is estimated below (Smith et al. 2001;Santos et al. 2017The combined analysis of covariance found significant variety, environment and variety 9 environment interaction effects for both grain yield and provitamin A contents (p \\ 0.01) (Tables 4, 5). Environment accounted for most of the total variation for both grain yield (58%) and provitamin A content (39%), indicating the presence of wide variation in testing conditions under which the varieties were evaluated. The repeatability values were 0.90 for grain yield and 0.91 for PVA. The significant variety 9 environment interaction effects prompted further investigation of the magnitude of GEI using mixed model with factor analytic covariance structure. Mean grain yields of the 21 maize synthetics averaged across the environments varied from 3 to 8 tons ha -1 . All the test synthetics produced higher grain yields in comparison to the local check variety. The maize synthetics included in this study exhibited a broad range in provitamin A concentrations. G3 and G4 consistently showed higher provitamin A content across locations and years, with an average content of 8-11 lg g -1 .Results of factor analysis for yieldIn our study, factor 1 and factor 2 together explained 72% of the total variance (Fig. 1). Out of the 36 environments included in this study, 29 environments were placed in quadrant I and IV, which represent the most favorable environments with above average grain yield. In contrast, seven environments fell in quadrant II and III and are considered as unfavorable environments where genotype performance was poor. Environments E11, E12, E23, E35 contributed the least to the GEI (Fig. 1). In this analysis, yield stability can be described by the scores of factors 2. Productive and stable genotypes should thus have high scores for factor 1, but values nearer zero for factor 2. Nine of the 21 maize synthetics were placed in quadrant I and IV and are all better performing varieties with above average yield. Varieties G16, G11, G14 and G4 were specifically adapted to environments E28, E21, E25, E26 and E22. Amongst these varieties G2, G5, G12, and G20 were found to be stable and high yielding across environments (Fig. 1). On the other hand varieties G1, G6, G9 and G21 were found to be inferior and unstable in terms of grain yield.Figure 2 shows the polygon-view of the FA biplot to help in visualizing the pattern of the multienvironment trial results. A polygon was drawn by connecting provitamin A rich maize varieties that were furthest from the biplot origin such that all varieties were enclosed within the polygon. An orange commercial hybrid G20 and varieties G8, G9, G1, G21 and G6 located at the corner of the polygon were considered as the vertex varieties (Fig. 2) and they were thus the most responsive varieties to environments compared to others. Amongst these, G20 was a winning and most stable commercial hybrid across 29 environments, whereas, the remaining vertex varieties (G1, G6, G8, G9 and G21) were specifically adapted to certain environment, but were found to be low yielding and unstable (Fig. 2) As shown in Fig. 2 varieties G5, G4, G12, G18, G2 and G14 were adapted to a broad range of environments and are considered to be the most stable with yield potential of [ 6 t/ha. Out of these, G4 and G12 were released in Nigeria and are the most popular PVA synthetics that are currently under production. G8, G1, G9 and G10 were specifically adapted to environments E30 (Zaria 2015), E29 (Saminaka 2015) and E 24 (Ejura 2014). The local check (G21), G19 and G17 were found to be the lowest yielding and unstable varieties.Figure 3 shows the patterns of distribution of both environments and varieties. Varieties falling within a group of environments having similar patterns of distribution are considered to have common adaptation. While varieties G16, G11, G2, G4, G12, G5 and G18 showed better adaptation to the majority of the environments shown in the confidence eclipses, varieties G8, G9, G1 were found to be specifically adapted to certain environments. Three varieties (G21, G19 and G6) were identifies as unstable and low yielding (Fig. 3).The FA of biplots for provitamin A content of 20 maize varieties are shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. As shown in Fig. 4, the two factors together explained 84% of the total variance among the varieties. Among all the environments used under this study, only five environments were placed in quadrant II and III which were considered as unfavorable environments where low level of provitamin A content was recorded (Fig. 4). The majority of the environments were  placed under quadrant I and IV representing the most favorable environments with above average provitamin A content. Environments that least contributed to the GEI were environments E11, E12, E23, E35 (Fig. 4). Ten of the 20 provitamin A maize varieties were placed in quadrant I and IV and are all better performing varieties with above average provitamin A content. The remaining 10 varieties were placed in quadrant II and III with below average performance in provitamin A content, with G18 and G20 being the worst performer. E14 (Mok 2013) contributed less to GEI for provitamin A content in the maize varieties (Fig. 4). Three varieties (G4, G3 and G16) showed better adaptation to Zar 2014, Kad 2014, Mok 2014 and Sam 2014. G2, G11, G15, G8 and G12 showed better adaptation to Kad 2015, Zar 2012, and Mok 2012 (Fig. 4). While environments Sam 13 and Mok 13 contributed less to the GEI of provitamin A content (Fig. 4), Zar14, Ike12 and Mok12 contributed the most to the interaction. Two provitamin A varieties (G4 and G3) were better performing in environments Kad14, Zar14 and Mok14 and were also found to be the most stable across locations and years.Variety G4 was the most adapted with high and stable PVA content. The varieties that are most distant from the biplot origin, including G15, G14, G6 and G11 contributed most to GEI (Fig. 5). The local check G20 and synthetic variety G18 were stable but had low provitamin A content compared to other varieties under investigation. Figure 5 shows the polygon-view of the FA biplot to help in visualizing the pattern of the multi-environment trial dataset. G11, G4 and G3, G14, G6, G18 and G5 located at the corner of the polygon were the vertex varieties. Among these G11, G4 and G3 had high pro-vitamin A content. G4 was found to be a variety with the highest provitamin A content and also the most stable across environments. The other vertex varieties (G6, G14, G5 and G18) were specifically adapted to IBA15 and MOK15 but found to be low in provitamin A content (Fig. 5). G3 had the highest provitamin A content, but specifically adapted to environments with less stable provitamin A concentration as compared to G4 (Fig. 5). The local check (G21) had the lowest but stable provitamin A content and also recorded the lowest grain yield across all the test locations. G4, G15 and G16 were stable with high PVA content across environments. The FA bi-plot analysis identified G16, G4, G12 and G2 as stable with high PVA content. These varieties can be recommended for release in Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia.G4 (PVA SYN 13) was already released in Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon. Generally, this study identified G4, G2, G15, G16, G11 and G8 as varieties with broad adaptation and consistent provitamin A content across environments. G18, G20, G5, G1 and G17 were identified as poorly adapted varieties with low and inconsistent provitamin A expression.Clustering can help in identifying varieties having similar performance across environments and provides valuable information for future varietal recommendation. The varieties were clustered based on their grain yields across test environments (Fig. 7). There were three major groups of PVA maize varieties, with the commercial hybrid check (Oba Super 2) being separated from the three groups. Cluster I had six varieties (G11, G16, G8, G9, G1 and G10) with four of them having higher grain yield and two varieties (G1 and G10) having lower grain yields. Cluster II had four varieties (G6, G7, G19 and G21), all of them having lower grain yield. Cluster III had 12 varieties (G3, G19, G6, G18, G13, G15, G17, G5, G12, G2, G4 and G14) with most of them having similar grain yields. Cluster III is comprised of the most promising varieties for release, two of the most popular provitamin A maize varieties released in Nigeria were also included in this cluster. Clustering of the varieties was also done for provitamin A content, which resulted in three major groups (Fig. 8). Cluster I comprised of two varieties (G3 and G4), which had higher pro-vitamin A content compared to others. Cluster II had seven varieties (G15, G7, G12, G2, G10, G8 and G11) all with intermediate provitamin A content. Cluster III consisted of nine varieties (G1, G18, G17, G6, G14, G16, G13, G19 and G20), containing lower levels of provitamin A. Cluster analysis found these varieties (G2, G3, G4 and G12) that combined high grain yield with high provitamin A content. In contrast G1 and G16 were found to be low yielding with low provitamin A content.Most crop-breeding programs require flexibility when dealing with the addition and removal of genotypes which results in generating unbalanced data that can be analyzed using mixed models to study GEI (Piepho 1998;Crossa et al. 2006). In the present study involving unbalanced data significant GEI was found for both grain yield and provitamin A content, consistent with the results in other studies (Granado et al. 1992;Oikeh et al. 2004;Bashir et al. 2014;Gurmu et al. 2015;Manjeru 2017). Changes in genotype raking for PVA from environment to environment were detected in the present study, which is in agreement with high environmental variation reported for maize in other regions (Ali et al. 2010;Beyene et al. 2013;Makumbi et al. 2015). Such rank changes could arise from differences in altitude, latitude, rainfall pattern, soil PH, temperature, solar radiation, acidic condition and soil textures affecting grain yield of the varieties in this study. Changes in environmental factors could also result in differential accumulation of provitamin A carotenoids in varieties included in the present study, which were contrary to the results reported in other studies (Brunson and Quackenbush 1962;Egesel et al. 2003;Kurilich and Juvik 1999;Menkir et al. 2014).Stability estimates of promising genotypes must be repeatable across years in order to detect and recommend superior genotypes (Annicchiarico 2002). To detect the relative stability and GEI of varieties, the applicability of factor-analysis associated with mixed models for MET analysis of unbalanced data is of paramount importance (Figueiredo et al. 2014;Santos et al. 2017). The current study showed that the FA models was a powerful statistical tool for discriminating the provitamin A maize synthetics, providing strong basis for making inferences regarding their adaptability and stability in yield and provitamin A contents, despite the complex nature of the data (Burguen ˜o et al. 2008(Burguen ˜o et al. , 2011)). Varieties showing positive interaction with the environments could be exploited for specific agro-ecological conditions of the target environments and are therefore best suited to those environments (Kandus et al. 2010;Gurmu et al. 2015). Most of the synthetics in our study had broad adaptability to the environments under which the trials were conducted, with only few synthetics still showing relatively narrow adaptation. There were also synthetics with specific adaptation to certain environments, consistent with the results in other studies (Yan and Kang 2003). Furthermore, environments which are positioned closer in the bi-plot are considered to reveal strong positive association, which in turn shows their similarity in discriminating genotypes (Gauch and Zobel 1997;Yan et al. 2007). In the present study, environments E28, E21, E25, E26 and E22 were positioned closer to each other in the factor bi-plot, these environments showed a positive association in discriminating the synthetics.The probability of success in adoption of high provitamin A maize varieties by producers, processors and consumers depends on high yield potential and other desirable agronomic and end-use quality traits (Menkir et al. 2008). In the present study, several synthetics competitive to a commercial hybrid in grain yield potential and had high provitamin A content were identified, selected and recommended. Carotenoid levels throughout the plant are influenced by developmental stages and various biotic and abiotic stresses (Cuttriss et al. 2011). Therefore, understanding carotenoid biosynthesis in relation to environmental factors and the GEI are important in selection and identification of provitamin A rich varieties with high and stable carotenoid levels (Suwarno et al. 2015). Genetic analyses conducted with populations segregating in seed color (Chandler et al. 2013) and carotenoid profiles (Chander et al. 2008) have demonstrated that differences in composition and content of seed carotenoids are quantitatively inherited and highly influenced by GEI, which is in agreement with our study, where there was significant GEI for carotenoid content. Provitamin A carotenoids are much more sensitive to degradation due to environmental factors (Gregory 1996;Kimura et al. 2007;De Moura et al. 2015), which might be the potential factor behind the fluctuation in PVA content and rank changes in the present study. Several carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases (CCDs) and carotenoid cleavage genes, whose activity are mainly influenced by environments are known to catalyze degradation of carotenoids to apocarotenoids (Vallabhaneni et al. 2010).The development and dissemination of high yielding and nutritionally enhanced maize varieties in Nigeria and other similar environments in SSA is crucial as the economic conditions of the subsistence farmers in SSA does not allow them to buy hybrid seeds every year (Pixley and Bjarnason 2002). Identification of varieties combining high yield potential with better nutritional quality is an important step towards shaping future breeding because varieties can be used as variety per se and as sources of outstanding inbred parents for hybrid development (Pixley and Bjarnason 2002). Our study demonstrated the possibility of developing maize varieties that combine elevated levels of provitamin-A with high grain yields and broad adaptation across environments. In the present study, synthetics placed in one cluster had both high grain yields and high provitamin A content, indicating that they had gone through a rigorous selection process for the two traits. This is an important milestone towards achieving the goals of biofortification to increase the availability of nutritionally enhanced maize varieties associated with high yield potentials. Further testing of these provitamin A maize varieties and generating promising inbred lines for developing provitamin A rich maize hybrids with much higher levels of carotenoids and enhanced performance and wide adaptation can improve food and nutritional security of farmers in SSA. As breeding for nutritional quality in maize is at an early stage compared to breeding for other traits in white maize, more focus and funding on breeding, selection, development and deployment of better performing and stable provitamin A rich maize varieties are important to curb the wide spread VAD in SSA in a sustainable and affordable manner.In conclusion, four PVA synthetics G4, G2, G16, and G12 were identified as stable and high yielding with significantly enhanced levels of provitamin A across test environments. These synthetics were developed from provitamin A rich elite inbred lines adapted to low-land tropical environments and are tolerant to most biotic and abiotic constraints in the target production zones. G4 was released in Nigeria, DR Congo, Ghana and Cameroon whereas G12 was released in Nigeria. Also, G2 and G16 can be recommended for release in Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia. Varieties identified in this study can also be registered in other African countries with similar agroecological zones, through the regional seed harmonization policy currently being implemented in most African countries."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3e378c5cbb8cfe589e8cf35bc7323f51","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c843660d-7e2c-4968-9941-004487217060/retrieve","id":"-823058181"},"keywords":["Social inclusion","seed business","varietal turnover","seed systems","seed aid"],"sieverID":"ea69431b-4d38-47f9-a86d-8fab9c953b17","content":"In the name of food security, governments and NGOs purchase large volumes of maize seed in non-relief situations to provide at reduced or no cost to producers. At the same time, efforts to build formal maize seed systems have been frustrated by slow turnover ratesthe dominance of older seed products in the market over newer, higher performing ones. Under certain conditions, governments and NGO seed aid purchases can support formal seed systems development in three ways: i) support increased producer awareness of new products, ii) support local private seed industry development, and iii) advance equity goals by targeting aid to the most vulnerable of producers who lack the capacity to purchase seeds. This study explores the objectives and activities of seed aid programmes in Uganda and their interactions with the maize seed sector. We draw insights from interviews with representatives of seed companies, NGOs and government agencies, as well as focus group discussions with producers. The findings indicated that seed aid programme objectives are largely disconnected from broader seed systems development goals. There is little evidence of public-private collaboration in design of these programmes. Better designed programs have the potential to align with varietal turnover objectives, commercial sector development and targeting of underserved markets could promote equity and 'crowd in' demand.In many parts of the global South, faster progress towards poverty alleviation and food security goals, will depend, in part, on farmers having access to improved varieties that meet their requirements as both farmers and consumers. Governments and donors have responded to this challenge through their long-term support for crop breeding by CGIAR and National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARES). In the case of cereals, crop breeding for many parts of the global South has aimed to support farmers' resilience to changing agro-climatic conditions (Atlin et al., 2017). Investments in breeding have been complemented by investments in seed systems development aimed at improving farmer access to improved seed through formal and informal channels. The issues surrounding seed systems development are complex, with strong, and sometimes opposing, views on the appropriate roles of farmers, governments and the private sector (Mulvany, 2005;Thompson, 2012).In East and Southern Africa, crop breeding and seed systems development has a focused on rainfed hybrid maizea crop that is critical for food security in the region and which is facing considerable challenges due to increasing variation in rainfall and temperature (Cairns et al., 2013). Over recent decades, these investments have delivered results: CGIAR and NARES breeding programmes release dozens of new seed products 1 a year that vary in maturity levels and pest and disease resistance, among other attributes. Farmers have reliable access to a wide selection of maize seed products via thousands of retail shops spread across the region. The maize seed sector consists of dozens of locally and internationally owned seed companies, some with decades of experience in production and marketing. Government and donor investments in maize breeding and seed systems development across East and Southern Africa have been an important factor in explaining overall increasing levels of maize productivity since the 1970s (Smale and Jayne, 2009).Looking ahead, future progress in maize seed systems development will require solutions to slow varietal turnover that is, the persistence of previous-generation maize seed products in farmer's fields, despite the availability of newgeneration products that offer higher yields and are drought and disease tolerant. Research has pointed to farmers' overall lack of information on new seed products, and their lack of engagement with seed retailers on seed-product attributes (Rutsaert & Donovan, 2020). Farmers may perceive new products, in particular new hybrids, to cost more (Nakanwagi, 2021), and may have concerns over seed quality (Barriga & Fiala 2020;Gharib et al., 2021). In many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) continue to represent a major segment of the maize seed market (Abate et al., 2017). Discussions on maize seed systems development have offered few insights on potential solutions to the varietal turnover problem. Efforts to develop formal seed systems for nonhybrid crops, such as sorghum, millet and groundnut, have proven to be even more challenging, given the lack of incentives for private sector investment in seed multiplication and distribution (Bagamba et al., 2022).In this article, we explore the idea that maize seed systems development can be accelerated when its goals and actions are coordinated with seed aid programming. For decades, governments and donors have sought to increase farmers' access to improved seed through seed aidthat is, the direct distribution of seed products to farmers by government agencies and NGOs. Seed aid has generally been discussed in terms of emergency and relief conditions that follow droughts, floods and civil wars (e.g., McGuire & Sperling, 2013;Sperling et al., 2008;Sperling & McGuire, 2010). However, government and donors have invested in seed aid during non-relief conditions as part of their strategies aimed at boosting agricultural production and productivity (e.g., Bramel and Remington, 2004;Spielman et al., 2012). NGOs and government programmes purchase seed directly from individual seed producers or seed companies and distribute it, either free or subsidized, to farmers (Sperling et al., 2008). Governments and NGOs may also provide vouchers to farmers to purchase seed products and other inputs at reduced costs from agrodealers (Aloyce et al., 2014). For the private seed industry, seed aid sales can represent a critical source of revenuefor example, recent data showed that NGO and select government programmes in Uganda comprised 63% of seed companies' maize seed sales, 67% of bean seed sales and 77% of sorghum seed sales (Mabaya et al., 2021).We know little about how NGOs and government agencies engage with maize seed companies and farmers for the implementation of seed aid in non-relief situations. Government and NGO seed purchases must involve decisions on the benefits and costs of responding to what farmers know and trust (e.g., high-selling products based on decades-old genetic technologies) versus sourcing newer, but perhaps lesser-known, products that are designed and tested to deliver higher performance under current growing conditions. How these trade-offs are negotiated have important implications for seed systems development and crop breeding but is not well understood.In general, a substantial body of literature has found that input subsidy programmes' beneficiary targeting is often inadequate or inappropriate. This occurs when subsidies are applied too widely (i.e., reaching farmers who would otherwise have access to quality seed without the aid), or when farmers are excluded from received aid based on eligibility criteria or other factors but still receive seed aid (e.g., through loopholes, fraud or corruption). In the case of fertilizer subsidies, poor targeting is thought to contribute to 'crowding out' (i.e., displacing) commercial sales (Jayne et al., 2013;Mather and Jayne, 2018;Ricker-Gilbert et al., 2013;Takeshima and Nkonya, 2014;Xu et al., 2009). While few studies have examined seed aid and seed subsidies' role in crowding in or crowding out commercial seed purchases (Mason and Ricker-Gilbert, 2013;World Bank, 2014), the concerns raised by fertilizer subsidies programmes are likely relevant.We argue that a targeted and coordinated seed aid programming agenda can advance maize seed systems development in multiple ways: i) greater gender equity and social inclusion in seed distribution, ii) distribution at scale of new products tailored to specific farmer requirements, and iii) local seed business development. Through a case study in Uganda, we looked to understand the implications of how seed aid was implemented in relation to formal maize seed systems development. To what extent did these programmes support varietal turnover, increased social inclusion and the development of local seed businesses? Our insights are based on interviews with representatives from seed companies, NGOs and government agencies. The following section explores the challenges facing seed systems development with a focus on maize. 'Materials and methods' section describes how we designed the study, while 'Results' section presents the results. We conclude with recommendations for how seed aid programmes might better support wider seed system goals.Researchers have raised concerns that new maize hybrids fail to equally reach women and the poorest farmers (e.g., Fisher et al., 2019;Fisher and Carr, 2015;Fisher & Kandiwa, 2014;Gebre et al., 2019;Kassa, 2013;Smale and Olwande, 2014). Researchers also have pointed to disparities in information and training access (Katungi et al., 2008;Mudege et al., 2018;Ragasa, 2014), women's limited access to required cash (Bourdillon et al., 2007;Mudege et al., 2015;Quisumbing and Pandolfelli, 2010), social constraints on mobility and agency (Galiè et al., 2017;Puskur et al., 2021), women's limited access to complementary resources such as land (Doss and Morris, 2001;Mudege et al., 2018) and gender-based differences in product preferences or perceptions about seed sources (Bourdillon et al., 2007;Kilwinger et al., 2020). In addition, maize seed companies and seed retailers lack incentives to target distribution and marketing efforts to groups that face price and material constraints (e.g., transport) for purchase. These discussions raise questions about the capacity of formal sector seed distribution pathways to support equitable uptake of new seed products and have generated increased attention to seed system accessibility.Development-oriented, government-and donor-funded maize breeding programmes in East and Southern Africa have, for decades, produced new, high yielding, stressresistant maize seed products (Cobb et al., 2019;Evenson and Gollin, 2003;Walker and Alwang, 2015). Despite evidence of these products' promising performance from on-station and on-farm trials (Worku et al., 2020), their sales continue to lag behind the sales of older, well-known maize seed products (Rutsaert and Donovan, 2020;Spielman and Smale, 2017). 'Varietal turnover' refers to farmers' replacement of an older seed product with a more recently developed improved one, a process that entails a genetic change (Spielman and Smale, 2017). In the case of hybrid maize, seed companies are expected play a critical role in this process by phasing out their stock of older products, thus enabling their replacement with newer products which have been designed and tested for higher performance. However, smaller-sized seed companies with limited marketing budgets may resist calls to limit their production and distribution of older seed products that generate important revenue streams. Recent evidence from Kenya showed that few farmers sought to purchase the latest, highest performing products (Rutsaert and Donovan, 2020), perhaps because varietal replacement generates relatively incremental yield gains but requires farmers to bear risk (Spielman and Smale, 2017). Achieving faster rates of varietal turnover is a priority for government-and donor-funded maize breeding programmes and, generally speaking, is considered important for farmers to achieve sustained yield gains in the face of increased variability in growing conditions (Atlin et al., 2017).Through careful selection of maize seed products, seed aid programmes have the potential to deliver large volumes of new products to farmers. Seed companies stand to benefit from wider distribution and increased awareness of their seed, brand recognition and promotion of new varieties, which could aid in varietal turnover in the medium to long term. Achieving these objectives relies, again, on NGO and government programme's careful targeting of underserved markets and quality assurance efforts to ensure minimal disruption of commercial sales or improved farmer trust of seed in the long term. It also necessitates effective labelling of distributed seed to increase brand awareness, cooperation and collaboration with seed companies in product selection to ensure that priority varieties are distributed, and deliberate facilitation of varietal turnover through prioritization of new, highperforming products.Direct seed aid and input subsidy programmes have been criticized for disrupting commercial seed sector operations with free and below-cost distributions (Mutonodzo-Davies and Magunda, 2011;Sperling and Remington, 2006;Sperling et al., 2008;Sperling and McGuire, 2010) and distribution of low quality seed that ultimately weakens product demand (Tripp and Rohrbach, 2001). However, seed aid programmes can also support formal seed systems development. For example, seed vouchers (Croft et al., 2021) can increase sales by agrodealers and help to expand their consumer base. Subsidy and direct seed aid programmes can generate bulk sales opportunities for the locally owned seed companies which may lack the financial and human resources required for business growth and development. During the initial stages of small-scale seed business development, bulk sales can provide much needed resources for product development, retail network establishment and expansion and direct-to-farmer marketing.Seed companies' dependence on sales to these programmes can be risky, however, as delayed payments can throw company accounts, especially in small businesses without significant alternative revenue streams, dangerously out of balance. Late or unplanned bulk orders can also disturb supply to build up retail networks. For NGO and government programmes to be effective partners in seed business development, transparent and predictable procurement processes must be in place to enable seed companies to plan.We conducted this study in Uganda, a country with an emerging maize seed industry and with high levels of government and NGO involvement in agricultural development. By recent estimates, Uganda's seed sector includes 23 seed companies, 19 of which produce and process their own seed (Mabaya et al., 2021). Relatively limited regulation of seed quality (Langyintuo et al., 2010), low levels of competition between agrodealers (Barriga and Fiala, 2020) and agrodealers' repackaging of inputs into smaller units have raised concerns about low input quality and seed counterfeiting (Bold et al., 2017). However, despite numerous seed adulteration scandals, maize seed purity and quality was assessed as fairly good, despite challenges with product mishandling and poor storage (Barriga and Fiala, 2020).Uganda has an active civil sector including NGOs engaged in humanitarian assistance and rural livelihoods development. The country is also a major seed provider for Sudanese refugees and their host communities. In 2019, 32% of total maize seed produced went to the national subsidy programme called Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), 31% to NGOs, 25% to agrodealers and 8% directly to farmers (Mabaya et al., 2021). Uganda's formal maize seed system thus depends, in significant part, on subsidy programmes and NGO and government seed purchases. Table 1 provides an overview of four government programmes in Uganda that engaged in seed aid around the time this study was implemented.Between April and May of 2022, we conducted stacked, semi-structured key informant interviews with representatives of seed businesses, NGOs and government agencies participating in seed aid programmes. We selected seed companies that represented diversity in terms of market share, production volume and past participation in government and NGO seed distribution programmes: three market leaders, two medium-scale and two small-scale companies were selected, each pair showing varied past engagement in government and NGO seed aid programmes. Interviews targeted either owners or senior staff responsible for marketing, distribution and/or contract decisions related to participation in seed aid programmes. These discussions sought to clarify the process through which seed companies engaged with the programmes, including selection of varieties to distribute, the importance of these distribution channels to their business model and marketing objectives, their motives in participating and their perceptions of costs and benefits. A representative from the Uganda Seed Trade Association was also interviewed on these topics. Interviews were conducted in English or in local languages (Luganda or Swahili) and took 60-80 min.Snowball sampling led to the identification of five NGOs and three government programmes to which companies supplied seed. Interviews were organized with staff at these organizations who were knowledgeable about seed procurement, programme objectives and implementation. In most cases, more than one person was interviewed at each NGO or programme office, as programming decisions and seed procurement were typically handled separately. Interviews covered programme objectives and operations, impact metrics, beneficiary targeting, details on procurement processes and perceptions of the programme's role in the wider seed system. Two local agricultural officers were also interviewed as their role in the product selection process became clear. Interviews took 30-60 min and were conducted in English or local languages. Where possible, interviews were backed by secondary data available in project reports, particularly for government programmes.Twelve focus group discussions with maize farmers (six with men and six with women) were organized in areas targeted by NGO and government seed programmes to gather farmer perspectives on programme targeting and reach. Communities were chosen based on partner contacts in the area, and six to ten farmers were invited to participate in each, aiming for diversity of landholding size and production orientation. In these groups, farmers were prompted to share experiences with NGO and government programmes distributing seed and their perceptions of these programmes and the seeds themselves. Focus groups were conducted in local languages and took 30-60 min.Key informant interviews were recorded and transcribed, while focus groups were recorded and detailed notes and representative quotes extracted. We applied deductive, iterative coding with the software Dedoose, and used top-down and bottom-up analysis of patterns and themes to analyse interview and focus group data. Ethics approval was obtained from CIMMYT (IREC.2022.034) and Makerere University (MAKSSREC 04.2022.544). Written consent was obtained from participants, using a witness in the case of illiteracy. Interviewees were not compensated but focus groups participants were offered refreshments and modest compensation for their time and transportation costs to ensure equal ability to participate.NGO and government programmes were the most reported seed sources for farmers. Focus group participants reported several problems with these programmes. A common theme was late delivery. One farmer reported that seed deliveries from OWC came 'when they think about us' rather than on a predictable schedule. Poor quality seed from these programmes also emerged from almost every discussion, although the perceived reasons for this were unclear. Most focus groups reported that farmers did not engage on the selection of products to be supplied to them through NGO and government programmes, in part due to their limited knowledge of product availability. Farmers in focus groups expressed appreciation for the ACDP voucher system, which reportedly provided farmers with higher quality seed and a full input package. 'They used to give better seeds compared to the ones from NAADS', said one farmer. 'In addition, what was good was how they gave us seeds. They gave us everything, a complete package of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and tarpaulins'. Concerns about quality in ACDP were less common, suggesting the voucher-based distribution channel had been more effective at connecting famers with quality seed, although input delivery timelines again emerged as a concern. Farmers offered a few areas that could be improved in ACDP, including faster delivery, cheaper goods, improved market access and expanded eligibility for farmers without their own land (renters).While seed aid has its challenges, farmers' assessments of seed retail channels were also poor. Price was the most frequently cited challenge associated with commercial seedunsurprising in a context where seed had been distributed for free for so long. A second set of challenges associated with commercial seed related to seed quality, including sale of expired seed or seed that failed to germinate, and availability of preferred varieties in agrodealer shops, pointing to problems with the reliability of commercial seed supply chains. Quality concerns, availability constraints and limited farmer knowledge appeared to have eroded farmer trust in commercial seed.Focus groups underscored that farmer knowledge of seed companies and new products in Uganda was limited; when asked which seed companies sold high quality seed, one group pointed the researchers to shopkeepers as those who could best answer the questions. One women's group pointed the researchers to men, who typically acquired seed and reportedly had better knowledgeand indeed, men's focus groups were generally better able to identify seed companies operating in their area and seed products available to them.Many NGOs and NUSAF reported that they deliberately targeted the 'most vulnerable' districts, parishes and communities according to poverty indicators (also contributing to their focus on OPVs over hybrids). Focus groups corroborated this. Although no government programmes reported intentional targeting at the household or subhousehold level, one NGO representative stressed their participatory efforts to identify vulnerable households, and one focus group indeed alluded to NGO's prioritization of farmers who were considered to be most vulnerable. None of the seed aid programmes reported a deliberate focus on gender in their seed distributions.Several study participants felt non-commercial distribution channels inherently brought some social inclusion benefits. One mid-sized seed company cited last-mile delivery as a benefit of partnering with NGO programmes: 'Some of those NGOs reach even where we don't have an agrodealerthey are close to the ground and able to take products even to the lowest farmer who wouldn't access town'. However, wider access to quality seed in underserved areas appeared to be an incidental benefit. No seed companies reported that reaching underserved communities was a deliberate motivation behind their decisions to engage with these programmes.Government programmes, in contrast, reported a scattershot approach to targeting, making programmes widely accessible to commercialize agriculture while generating goodwill and political support among rural communities. Political considerations entered government seed distribution decisions at the sub-county scale, where a small proportion of seed was often set aside for members of parliament to allocate as they chose. This reportedly led to some duplication and poor targeting in distributions. Wide seed distribution had also become a challenge in recent years due to budget reductions and limited seed supplies; NAADS relied on extension officers to engage in beneficiary targeting at the district level, although the outcomes of this were unclear. In one focus group discussion, farmers reported that OWC seed distributions had become first-come, first-served.ACDP's targeting was more deliberate, as the programme put in place a cap on land ownership to help direct subsidies to potentially needy households. However, this requirement was not practically enforceable, a programme representative admitted. ACDP did mandate farmer co-fundingin advanceto receive subsidized inputs, which focus groups reported led to the exclusion of farmers with very limited financial resources. ACDP's use of an e-voucher system also had potential implications for women and the poorest farmers' ability to access and use the services. Seed companies, district government officers and an ACDP programme representative all relayed concerns about farmers' limited digital literacy, which led middlemen (often input vendors) to facilitate input ordering and thereby influence farmer choices and/or deliberately cheat them of their entitlements. Although ACDP reported that 42% of input buyers were women, concerns about fair and equitable engagement persisted.Most procurement programmes published lists of desired products in their tenders. The generation of product lists for most NGO and government programmes aimed to be grassroots-driven, with farmers theoretically requesting products they wanted. Extension agents and their contacts from the National Agricultural Research Organization of Uganda (NARO) played a key role in this process, especially for OWC. It was reported that extension agents were guided by farmers on choice of good seed, but only one focus group discussion reported community involvement in choosing seeds (and that only recently, through the PDM). One district-level procurement officer said that their decision to prioritize a specific product (i.e., Longe 10H) each year was based on knowledge of its performance and affordability, rather than assessment of farmer demand.NGO and government programmes offered seed companies the chance to propose alternative products. Some companies shared that they had proposed alternatives, but rarely with the intention to get newly launched products purchased by seed aid programming. Neither seed companies, government programmes, nor NGOs reported incentives to make available newly released seed products. Relationships between seed aid programmes and seed companies were perceived by both sides as transactional, with no evidence of collaboration on questions around turnover. A large-scale seed company representative explained the challenge in introducing new products through these programmes:They are all buying what they know; they are not going to buy what they don't know. A new product will raise a lot of questions. Even if you convince them, even if it has the lowest price but it is new to them, there is no incentive for them to take it. Especially with the government, they try as much as possible to collect data from the district and what is required, and people [farmers] will talk about what they know.The NGO and government seed programmes tended to promote and distribute both OPV and hybrid seed products. Focus groups indicated that the most common products supplied through government programmes were Bazooka and Longe 10H (both hybrids), while NGOs most commonly distributed Longe 5 (the market leading OPV) and Longe 10H. Few other products were mentioned in focus groups. Ultimately, it appeared that the demand-driven approach to varietal selection employed by most programmes meant that communities received well-known varieties that were requested by local agricultural officers, rather than new products introduced intentionally.Several NGOs and one government programme (NUSAF 3) sought primarily or exclusively OPVsa decision reported to be linked to their focus on community resilience, humanitarian relief and efforts to serve the most vulnerable, as well as constraints on their ability to deliver seeds to communities indefinitely. One NGO programme representative involved in product choice reported deep scepticism about the benefits of hybrid maize for smallholders: Scientists keep changing seed, time after time keep changing seed, so it brings discontentment into the minds of farmers… we encourage our farmers to produce for food security, we also encourage them to produce for income, and also keep some to be planted in the next season. You find that with most [hybrid] seed… the farmer is not enabled to create an environment where he can stand and sustain himself… So the farmer is forced to look back to us or to look back to the market to the seed producer…. [A hybrid] promotes the seed industry but not the farmer.Discussions with seed companies focused largely on the implications of NGO and government seed programmes for their business growth and development. Reported impacts were largely positive, with important caveats. All seed companies reported that their bulk sales to these programmes were a boon, as a small number of centralized sales were logistically simpler and more profitable than sales through agrodealer networks. These bulk sales helped companies settle accounts, particularly where outgrowers were involved in seed production. 'When you get an order from an NGO or government, you are sure, though there also some delays in payment, that when they put that transaction on your account at once, it helps you to clear off most of your [payments to outgrowers] and settle for the next season', said a small-scale seed company.Despite the benefits of direct sales to NGO and government programmes, seed companies reported variability in demand as a persistent challenge. Typically, NGO and government programmes released invitations for tenders and seed companies submitted bids to supply seed. Companies found procurement timelines and levels difficult to predict, however. '[Allocations to] government varies; some seasons they don't take, some seasons they take… if government offered you a contract, in that season, they will take the largest, almost all volume', a midsized seed company reported. Seed aid programme representatives attributed this variability to annual budgeting processes and demand assessments by local extension agents. In 2022, after NAADS's budget for seed procurement was slashed, purchase orders for seed companies were drastically reduced.Because tendering processes occurred when government and NGO programmes were ready to buy seed rather than when seed companies were planning production, companies' ability to tailor production to actual demand was limited. A representative of a mid-sized company said that bid winners were sometimes unable to meet their sales commitments, leading to inter-company seed sales that undermined quality control. Furthermore, intragovernmental coordination was lacking.'Our biggest challenge as the private sector, for all of us, is that there is no systematic planning from the government. The [end of the] financial year is coming in July, and we know OPM will require 1000 tons of seeds… then NAADS will come and say, \"For us we need this\", and then ACDP… If we would have that planning information given to us as a seed sector, it could be easy to manage'.Government programmes that undertook regular seed distributions (including NAADS and NUSAF programmes) reported working to announce invitations for tenders well in advance, but these timelines were not always adequate to inform companies' seed production decisions. NGO orders were typically said to be even less predictable.Furthermore, the tendering process meant seed companies had no guarantees to win a purchase order. Several government and NGO programmes had adopted prequalification processes and multi-year framework contracts with seed companies, which added some certainty. However, these tools primarily benefitted NGO and government actors by increasing confidence in seed companies' quality control and production capacity, rather than added certainty for seed companies concerning demand. Government programme representatives said that framework contracts, despite specifying quantities to be purchased over multiple years, were not always adhered to due to funding variability. Purchase orders could ultimately fall up to 25% above or below the level specified in a framework contract. Seed companies incurred losses if they resorted to selling carry-over seed as grain when purchase orders did not come through as expected.'Sometimes we are not able to determine whether the orders will actually come through or not. Sometimes you submit [a bid] and tell [the NGO or government programme], \"I can produce fifty metric tons of hybrid\", and boom! They give you twenty. Maybe you can sell twenty, so the other balance, now, that is where we … probably look out for other means on how to sell the balance'. (marketing manager, large scale company).As the number of seed companies engaged in seed aid programmes increased, one small company reported, certainty NGO and government sales eroded. Government programme representatives did not appear to perceive limited predictability of programme demand as a problem one explained that seed suppliers kept large stocks of seed and had ample other channels through which to distribute it, so variability in orders was not a concern.A further element of uncertainty in seed aid procurement related to limited transparency in purchasing processes. Seed companies rarely understood how final procurement decisions were made. For most NGOs and government programmes, standards were in place (and typically prequalification processes) to ensure that prospective seed suppliers were reputable enterprises with adequate production capacity and quality control systems. Beyond that, the primary criterion for evaluation of seed company bids was typically price. This was particularly true for smaller procurements and NGOs with strict budget constraints, which incentivized cheap seed production rather than rigorous quality control. One market-leading seed company reported that the focus on price has been a big issue in some programmes: 'For the NGOs, they count the numbers. They may take the cheapest supplier but then they have the issue with quality, purity'. Only for ACDP did seed companies report freely setting their desired prices.For larger procurements (notably government programmes), price was the primary consideration following verification of supplier capacity. Ultimately, however, large government programmes' purchase orders were often split among qualifying companies to improve the likelihood of timely delivery. This meant that the final purchase orders issued to seed suppliers were dependent on the size and nature of other purchase orders issued. While one market-leading company praised the splitting up of purchase orders as a way to avoid any one company 'monopolizing the business', a smaller seed company with little share in these programmes said that with government programmes, 'It's luck, very big luck'. A mid-sized company representative emphasized that they have no idea how tonnage is allocated among companies for programmes like OWC.Because NGO and government programmes published lists of desired seed products in invitations for tenders, entry into seed aid markets could be challenging for new or smaller-scale seed companies or companies promoting new products. Long-operating NGOs and government programmes already had a clear idea of which companies they want to source from, alleged a small seed company representative with limited engagement in these programmes: 'If they say they want Longe 5, in their mind, they know which company. They always have an idea'. Government programme representatives reported prioritizing medium-and large-scale seed suppliers due to trust in their production capacity, quality and reliability. This added opaqueness to the procurement process for small or new seed companies.According to seed companies, there was little evidence of 'crowding out' of commercial demand due to free or subsidized distributions. One large-scale company that had focused heavily on development of retail channels did criticize seed aid programmes' impacts:We have seen that these specific interventions have disrupted both the distribution chain as well as farmer decisions on how to buy seeds. Farmers were sitting back and waiting for the government to come in to get free seeds, so the retail sector went to square one. Many shops lost hope and they had to close, they had to divert the business into something else, and this was really a big problem. Currently we are seeing a new revival of agrodealer networks which is quite good and necessary for farmers, giving them a choice of buying seeds and inputs.Several companies noted that the ACDP voucher programme had increased farmers' seed choices without disrupting commercial channels as much as direct seed aid. ACDP allowed seed companies to set their preferred prices and required co-funding by farmers, reducing the likelihood that farmers would resell free or highly subsidized seed. However, one mid-sized seed company expressed a preference for direct procurement over the voucher system, as ACDP strained their capacity by requiring their direct involvement in decentralized distribution of seed. The numerous flaws in ACDP's rollout also generated widespread criticism and had contributed to the withdrawal of many companies from the programme. Still, the voucher model attracted much praise from seed suppliers.NGO and government programme representatives appeared to have limited awareness of the seed retail sector in areas where seed aid systems operated, but reported that the commercial sector did not adequately serve seed aid programmes' target beneficiaries. For instance, one NGO representative said they were generally aware of commercial operations in their target regions but did not feel they infringe upon these: '[Agrodealer outlets] are only established in those big towns, and… our farmers are deep in the villages, to the extent that accessing towns is quite hard. That's why at least we tend to give them the seed or they go to the local markets'. Many NGO and government programme representatives pointed out that their seed distributions are particularly important for vulnerable community members like those in female-headed households with limited mobility.Rather than feeling 'crowded out' by seed aid, most companies were pleased with the brand awareness generated through their engagement with NGO and government programmes. Seed aid packages in Uganda were legally required to include company branding and product information. Several companies offered examples of cases where new products were rapidly picked up or where the company entered a new market through seed aid programmes. 'I know we had incidences of supplies going to NAADS and the farmers were so happy because germination was high and products performed well, so the [subsidised] packs sparked some sales within the regions', reflected a market-leading company representative. A medium-sized seed company listed numerous districts that they had been able to reach thanks to collaboration with NAADS, beyond their retail operations:'You find they cover beyond where we could not have reached. So you find that if government has given you an order, and even they pay you to transport your product all the away to Ishaka, where you probably wouldn't have reached by your own financial capacity'.The same company reported reaching several remote districts through NGO partners as well, and a clear instance of demand creation. 'We went to [two remote] areas through an NGO', said their representative. 'They invited us to exhibit in their farmers' show they had. We went and participated, spread our product, and we have been taking farmers' calls direct, saying they want supplies, individually'. This was not an uncommon story among seed companies.A more worrying impact on the commercial sector related to the effect seed aid programmes have had on seed companies' distribution strategiesnotably their prioritization of sales to NGO and government programmes despite aid programmes' unpredictable budgets and shifting approaches. Several companies interviewed made it clear that NGO and government programmes' bulk purchases came first, and remaining stock was distributed through retail channels. The draw of NGO and government procurement options was irresistible, even for more established companies.'We are entirely focusing on the little markets. Having said that, yes, you may focus on the little markets, but if there is an opportunity to make a sale to an NGO, government entity or other well-wisher, it becomes sensible for us to do it. If we don't do it, our competition will do it, then we are out of business'.When asked how companies balanced involvement in NGO and government programmes with retail operations, some were quick to emphasize their prioritization of retail channelsif not in terms of actual seed allocations, then in terms of company strategy. However, other companies appeared to have dedicated little attention to retail channels to date. For instance, one small-scale company representative emphasized that balancing retail and seed aid programme participation was not a consideration: 'It's just the packaging [that changes]when we produce seed, we don't care that it went to government or what… we can pack almost 90% of [what's produced] in small packs if the demand is there. We can also pack in big packs if the demand is there'.A large-scale company representative said that NGO and government sales were enabling them to invest more in retail channels:The seed business, especially for you to perfect your distribution network, it calls for a lot of investment. So our whole main idea is to build and grow with the primary off-takers [seed aid programmes] that we look forward to; we take advantage of what is available to give us revenue. So it may look as though we much interested in dealing with NGOs and government, but that is only to leverage to help us build this other [retail] side.Seed demand from NGO and government programmes had long been variable, but in 2022, Ugandan seed aid programmes were at a turning point. The NUSAF 3 project ended, direct procurement by NAADS scaled back as MAAIF shifted focus to voucher systems and decentralized procurement via the PDM programme, and many relief and development NGOs appeared to be shifting away from direct procurementoften towards seed demonstrations, local seed enterprise development and Quality Declared Seed. Seed companies' dependence on bulk purchasing thus appeared increasingly risky. In response to these changes, most seed companies were increasing their focus on retail. However, seed company comments and farmer complaints about variable seed availability at agrodealers indicated that development of a healthy commercial seed sector may have been hampered by long-term prioritization of seed aid programmes.The findings presented here provide insights into the potential for seed aid programmes to support Uganda's maize seed system development, including growth of the commercial seed sector, varietal turnover and equitable seed access. We now reflect on how seed aid programmes operated in relation to these seed system development objectives.Supporting commercial seed operations and improving the equity of seed access in Uganda both depend on effective beneficiary targeting, which should ensure that seed aid and subsidy programmes reach under-served populations with minimal disruption to retail operations. While several NGO programmes and one government agency reported intentional targeting of vulnerable regions and communities, there was minimal evidence of targeting vulnerable individuals within those communitiesi.e., women and the poorest farmers. In the few cases of deliberate household targeting, this process was delegated to local government, NGO actors or participatory wealth ranking approaches, all of which allow for flexibility as well as possible co-optation. Only ACDP appeared to have clear eligibility criteria in place for subsidy recipients, although a programme representative stated that those screening criteria were largely unenforceable.None of the NGO and government programmes showed much understanding of commercial seed operations in their target areas, especially not an understanding grounded in any deliberate assessment of retail sector capacity. Seed companies also did not see NGO and government programmes as an explicit means to reach regions and communities under-served by retail channels. Still, reaching under-reached populations appeared to be an incidental benefit for seed companies, as NGOs in particular provided last-mile delivery to remote locations. Many seed companies were able to point to explicit instances of demand creation ('crowding in') through participation in NGO and government programmes. Few complained about 'crowding out' of demand, in contrast to much prior research on input subsidy programmes (Jayne et al., 2013;Mather and Jayne, 2018;Ricker-Gilbert et al., 2013;Takeshima and Nkonya, 2014;Xu et al., 2009). It is unclear to what extent this was simply because strong retail channels that might be disrupted by seed aid were not present in Uganda in the first place.Most worrying were the targeting practices for large-scale government seed distributions through NAADS, which appeared to be motivated primarily by the objective of reaching as many farmers as possible. Instead, in the clearest sign that these distributions are politicized, a portion of OWC seed was openly diverted to local members of parliament for distribution. In none of the NGO and government programmes were deliberate targeting practices implemented to ensure that seed aid and subsidy programmes complemented rather than undermined the seed retail sector and expanded equitable access to improved seed. Thus, the possibility of inadequately targeted seed aid 'crowding out' emerging commercial operations persists.Ensuring that NGO and government seed aid programmes support varietal turnover goals requires some degree of cooperation and collaboration between these actors and seed companies, as well as product selection processes deliberately oriented towards turnover. Neither of those conditions appeared present in Ugandan seed aid programmes. Seed procurement processes were highly transactional, with neither seed suppliers nor NGO or government buyers invested in the product selection process. In most cases, although NGO and government programmes published product lists for procurement, seed suppliers could propose substitutes. However, seed companies rarely opted to push new products.While most seed aid programmes implemented a demand-driven seed procurement process, there is a clear trade-off between this approach and varietal turnover goals. Very likely, product selection procedures and policies need to be revisited to assess if and how varietal turnover goals might be balanced with existing demand-driven approaches, ensuring farmers' needs and priorities are met while allowing promising new varieties to enter the market. 'Demand-driven' varietal selection in the programmes examined here evidently involved more discussions between local agricultural officers and NARO staff than direct engagement with farmershowever, farmers' limited knowledge of varieties means their engagement would not be likely to contribute to varietal turnover, either. If NARO and local agricultural officers are the ultimate decision-makers, there is need to ensure that these individuals are attuned to challenges of varietal turnover and clear about new varieties' potential benefits. The latter would require varietal performance data to be more readily and publicly available than it typically is.The results also suggested that procurement processes, despite recent improvements, still present obstacles to seed companies. The late release of tender invitations does not typically allow seed companies to plan production in advance, and issuance of purchase orders remains somewhat unpredictable. Both factors leave seed suppliers at heightened risk of carry-overs. However, as both government and NGO players appear to be moving away from direct procurement and distribution models, greater focus should be on public-private collaboration in the development of new models, including voucher programmes and the PDM approach, to support seed business development.Experiences with ACDP's e-voucher programme provide important lessons. Seed companies appreciated that the e-voucher approach allowed them to set their own prices and left seed choices in the hands of farmers, although digital literacy constraints meant that farmers' choices were not always honoured. Decentralized distributions for the e-voucher programme proved a burden for many seed suppliers, especially smaller companies. Identifying ways to facilitate the involvement of smaller enterprises in voucher programmes is of critical interest but requires acknowledgement by NGO and government programmes that seed business development matters.All the above concernsthe need for complementary beneficiary targeting, more intentional product selection, and the improved functioning of procurement and distribution processes to support seed companies' growthcan and should be addressed through increased collaboration between seed companies and NGO and government seed aid programmes, CGIAR and NARES breeding programs, as well as government agricultural extension programs. The interviews conducted for this study indicate that this cooperation has been lacking.The seed aid programmes were principally motivated by objectives unrelated to seed systems development, so were typically designed without input from the wider seed sector and implemented without attention to seed systems development goals. The Uganda Seed Trade Association learned about the PDM programme through a press release, their representative shared. They and their members were left scrambling to understand how seed suppliers fit into the new approach. One government programme representative admitted, 'Every year we review what happened in each season, and we also support those [seed suppliers] who had challenges in receiving money so we follow up, and then we plan for the next season about what should we do better. But I think it's the first time as a project we were really engaging with private sector'.This lack of historic coordination has meant that seed companies have had to repeatedly adapt to work within programme structures that are designed without their own needs and constraints in mind; there have been few opportunities for seed companies to engage directly with these programmes to discuss challenges, complementarities and shared objectives. Greater collaboration will be critical to improved linkages between these programmes and seed system development objectives.In this study, we explored the design and implementation of maize seed aid programmes in non-relief situations and the implications of these programmes for development of formal maize seed systems. The results showed that seed aid programmes had no deliberate focus on varietal turnover and minimal attention to social inclusiontwo factors required for future maize seed systems development. Limited coordination between public, private and civil sector actors instead appeared to constrain the potential 'social goods' generated through these efforts.Improved coordination in aid recipient targeting, product selection and seed business engagement will be essential to improve the outcomes of interventions in both seed aid and seed systems development in Uganda. Farmers and extension agents will require more information on the seed products available and their performance across different agroclimatic zones. Innovation in the targeting of seed aid will be critical for seed aid to deliver on the larger development goals upon which seed aid is justified, as well as for crop breeding and seed systems development to support increased social inclusion. The use of digital communication systems has the potential to improve targeting, as well as coordination among the key players (e.g., seed companies, agrodealers and government agencies). Careful monitoring of the effects of seed aid on the performance of seed businesses should be considered. Seed aid can contribute positively to local seed business development when the seed aid purchases are time bound and designed to support brand recognition for newly launched products, when purchases are planned with sufficient lead time to allow companies flexibility to meet the demands of seed aid programmes and commercial clients, and when seed aid is complemented with other types of support designed to build capacities for seed production and marketing."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f86889b10bbe3c2c13432b9702f5bfba","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/30a14b7b-818a-4afb-807b-347769303ef1/retrieve","id":"1151336887"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"eefb3d3d-56f1-48ad-a581-b68c06712018","content":"The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used.The training workshop was offered by ILRI in response to an important component of the Safe Food, Fair Food (SFFF) for Cambodia project on gender equity in the pork value chain in Cambodia.In Cambodia, most animal-source food products are produced by smallholders, many of them women, and sold in traditional open markets where women also predominate as retailers. However, value chain interventions have tended to favour men because they control the money from sales. Women who do much of the work are poorly recognized and receive fewer benefits. Integrating gender in programs and projects aims to reduce gender gaps and enhance women's participation in the economic development and women's empowerment.As such, an important component of the SFFF for Cambodia projects is understanding the gender issues that will allow pork production and consumption to become safer. This covers both the more practical understanding of the diverse gender roles being played in pork but also how to empower men and women both to profit from pork.The objectives of the workshop are:• For the whole team to understand and be comfortable with the concepts and terminology of gender, so as to have a common understanding of the issues; • To identify with the team the emerging gender issues and solutions that need to be addressed in the project; • To identify the capacity within the team to support the gender work;• To develop a gender activity plan, identifying responsibilities and interlinkages between various outputs within the project;It is expected that at the end of the workshop participants would (i) increase their general understanding on gender issues as well as their capacity to address more specific gender issues related to livestock projects and programmes, (ii) get knowledge on how to carry out gender analysis to effectively and efficiently work with rural men and women to respond to their different needs, priorities and constraints at the grassroots level. This enhanced gender analysis capacity will benefit future planning, implementation and monitoring of livestock projects and programmes.The workshop was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 22-23 January 2018 and organized by ILRI in partnership with the Cambodia National Animal Health and Production Research Institute (NAHPRI) and the Centre for Livestock and Agriculture Development (CelAgrid). There were nine trainees (6 male and 3 female) drawn from research, academia, universities, state agencies and NGOs.Day 1 was designed to introduce the participants to the general concepts about gender and sex, provide a background on both livestock and livelihoods in Cambodia, as well as gender issues in the country. It was emphasized that little data are available specifically related to gender and livestock in these countries, and that much future research on this topic needs to be conducted. The afternoon session included practical exercise on analysing livestock value chains for gender constraints and opportunities based on knowledge gained from the morning session. They started to map out the work areas and identifying gender gaps and opportunities for project interventions. Participants were encouraged to think of how each of the workshop sessions could be applied to their work and how best to share the workshop information with colleagues.Day 2 focused on engaging participants in learning about the importance of gender analysis, why and how it can be done, and providing tools in doing simple gender analysis.Participants learned methods of analysis through specific livestock case studies, how to integrate gender issues into project design and evaluation, as well as participatory strategies for more effectively engaging women in the projects' activities. Participants also had a look at some specific entry points to gender and food safety related to safe pork. The final session engaged participants in setting up the plan of action to cover and integrate gender issues into their livestock project.The training was facilitated by Nicoline de Haan, senior researcher and leader of the gender team at ILRI. She has over 15 years of expertise in gender, rural livelihoods, agriculture and natural resource management. Before ILRI, she led the work on gender, poverty and institutions under the CGIAR research program on Water, Land and Ecosystems examining the implications of inequity in access and control over natural resources, and finding options to ensure inclusive benefit sharing. At the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations she led the global socio-economic team on animal health, where her main responsibility was reducing the impact of animal diseases on the livelihoods of smallholders. She has a master's in development sociology from Wageningen Agricultural University and a PhD in rural sociologist from University of Missouri, Colombia. Email: n.dehaan@cgiar.org"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9181129854c191a20fcacffff754b9cd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d592e8dc-0ca1-4ff2-a2e3-0ffaaeb2dd14/retrieve","id":"243316415"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7dbce50c-77d0-4a0c-989e-5ef345cf7142","content":"When changes are made in a landscape, changes are made to the microclimate. When farmers plant trees in or around their field, and when communities dig bunds to improve water retention, they change the local climate around them. Microclimate is a result of the interaction between the local topography, landscape characteristics and the regional climate.In the global climate change debate, adaptation and mitigation are dominant concepts. The challenge is to create production systems that can withstand rising temperature and exacerbating weather events, while finding ways to sequester carbon from the air. Meanwhile, microclimates go largely unobserved and unattended. In view of the climate change that exists today, this is a huge missed opportunity. Micro-climate management offers much potential as a third way next to adaptation and mitigation that builds ecosystem resilience and brings positive impact for agricultural systems and biodiversity. Focusing on the microclimate is a pro-active approach to improve the landscape. Compared to global \"When the century began, neither human numbers nor technology had the power radically to alter planetary systems. As the century closes, not only do vastly increased human numbers and their activities have that power, but major, unintended changes are occurring in the atmosphere, in soils, in waters, among plants and animals, and in the relationships among all of these. The rate of change is outstripping the ability of scientific disciplines and our current capabilities to assess and advise.\"The Brundtland Report, 1987 and regional climate scenarios, microclimates in landscapes are almost entirely unstudied (Chen et al. 1999).There is little chance that humans in the near future will be able to modify the climate, most notably temperatures, on any large scale (Gliessman 2015). However, when zooming in on landscapes and the agro-ecological systems within them, there is much that can be done, to the extent that a large share of the effects of global climate change can be buffered by building the microclimatic resilience of the landscape. Resilience has gained much importance as an overarching concept in the analysis of human-environment interactions and the way in which humans are affected by environmental change processes (Janssen & Ostrom 2006). Holling (1973) was the first to introduce resilience in relation to the stability of ecosystems. The Resilience Alliance defined it as \"the capacity of a system to tolerate disturbance without collapsing into a qualitatively different state that is controlled by a different set of processes. A resilient system can withstand shocks and rebuild itself when necessary\" (Walker & Salt 2006).This Practical Note seeks to understand the interaction between different microclimate factors and also aims to offer examples of microclimate management interventions. Microclimate is composed out of a myriad of climatic conditions that come together in localised areas on the earth's surface (Chen et al. 1999). It is critical to recognise the unique nature of microclimate of different zones, such as forests and fields, and the influence of such zones on landscape processes. In the end, microclimate is a determining factor in ecological processes as varied as plant regeneration and growth, soil respiration, nutrient cycling, and wildlife habitat, and is related to the spread of diseases, insects and natural disturbances such as fire. The term microclimate is often applied to space scales up to 100 m, which is followed by the mesoclimate that has a range up to 100 km (Foken 2008).In the first section, the various microclimate components and their relationships are discussed. In the second part, microclimate management interventions are listed that together have potential to affect productive functions and transform landscapes.Figure 1: various climate scales and associated phenomena (Source: Foken 2008) provides the building blocks for understanding how different management practices can transform the landscape, and how interventions can better be implemented for current and future needs.Soil moisture available for crops is determined by the soil's water storage capacity and the addition of water to a soil, which again is determined by its texture, structure, depth, organic matter content and biological activity. The texture of a soil determines its water storage capacity and influences the transfer of heat that can result in the loss and movement of moisture. Texture is determined by the relative amount of clay, silt and sand particles in the soil (Gliessman 2015). Figure 4 shows the different types of soil that are formedMicroclimates are the localised, dynamic interplays between different processes in the surface layer, such as energy and matter exchange, radiation processes and effects of the underlying surface (Foken 2008). These again are determined by the specific landscape, soil conditions, vegetation, land use and water retention. The microclimate determines the moisture available in the soil and air to the different ecosystems, the presence of dew and frost, the actual temperatures for plant growth and germination, the vigour of soil biotic life, capacity to fixate nitrogen by soil biota and the occurrence of pests and diseases.This section provides an overview of the various factors that determine the microclimate. Understanding the main characteristics of these factors, and how these can influence each other Soil texture, soil organic matter and biological activity at the surface and in the ground, together form the soil structure. The structure is related to the formation of micro-and macro-aggregates, being the ways in which the different particles are held together. A good structure can help resist wind and water erosion, as well as increase water percolation and storage capacity (Gliessman 2015). In addition, the soil's moisture retention capacity is influenced by its organic content. An increase in the organic carbon content improves the water retention capacity when soils are sandy, while it decreases the water retention capacity in fine-textured soils such as clay. For soils with an initial high carbon content, an increase of organic carbon increases their water retention capacity in any case (Rawls, 2003). Thus, an increase in organic matter can be beneficial, especially for coarse soils.The type of soil and soil moisture have an important effect on erosion. Sandy soils hardly clump together, and are thus more susceptible to erosion. Silt and clay soils on the other hand form stronger aggregates. They are made up of smaller particles however. Soil moisture plays an important role in bonding soil particles, and helps to reduce wind erosion. from these relative amounts. These particles each have different properties that influence the uptake of water and the transfer of energy and heat.Clay particles are the smallest particles, have the highest surface area, and have most potential to absorb water. Sand has the largest particles and the lowest water absorption capacity (Bonan 2016). Thus, sandy soils will usually have lower moisture availability and a higher evaporation rate than clay soils. However, clay soils can harden in drought-prone areas, which will decrease Box 1: Soil moisture availability and sowbugs Sowbugs are crustaceans, 20 -25 mm long and 5 mm wide, that are common to the arid flood spreading areas of Iran, such as the Gareh Bygone plains. They are ecosystem engineers as they can change the soil structure by altering the soil compaction through the creation of pore spaces that allow for better water infiltration. By burrowing in the soil, sowbugs ensure that soils in floodplains are not sealed by fine sediment. They help to aerate the soil and provide avenues for soil infiltration of water. Soil that are burrowed by the sowbug have higher organic matter, better structure, and are more resistant to erosion than other soils in the area. In the Gareh Bygone plains, their role is essential in forming macro-networks, and facilitating soil moisture and groundwater recharge rates (MetaMeta 2011). This allows water users in the floodplains to have groundwater available during a prolonged period of the year.  The movement of water in the soil is determined by infiltration, percolation, evaporation, transpiration and hydraulic lifting. Infiltration is the addition of water to a soil from precipitation or irrigation.Once infiltrated water saturates the upper soil layers, gravity pulls the water downwards, called percolation. Evaporation from the soil surface draws water upwards through capillary action, as the water deficit that is created at the soil surface attracts deeper water molecules. Similarly, plantFrom the Andes to Amazonia, raised fields known as Suka Kollus (Bolivia) and Waru-Waru (Peru) can be found, being an agricultural technique in flood-prone mountain plains that were used by pre-Columbian societies (Lombardo et al. 2011). The canals around the fields, when filled with water, act as a water buffer against prevailing night frost, and provide moisture for crops.This is achieved by letting the sunlight heat up the water stored in the canals between the raised fields. The stored heat is released at night, generating moisture which will be available as condensed water to the crops (Lhomme & Vacher 2003). According to Roldán and colleagues (2004) the moisture raises the relative humidity by 3.3 percent, compared to the surrounding plains.Depending of the soil texture, plant coverage, soil humidity and depth, raised fields and surrounding areas present temperature differences. This is described by Lhomme & Vacher (2003) in figure 7. The soil temperature in the suka kollus shows lower temperature variability in relation to the pampas system. In the study, the diurnal temperature range for the pampas was found to be between 10.7 -20 o C, while in the suka kollus, the temperature laid between 11.5 -18 o C (Angelo et al. 2008). The moderate temperatures of suka kollus' soils improve their resilience against extreme climates. plant growth, but also affects weather patterns and local rainfall patterns. On the contrary, when there is only limited soil moisture more energy is available for sensible heating and near-surface air temperatures increase. In the past decade, there has been much research on the relationship between a lack of soil moisture and the occurrence of extreme temperatures and heat waves, both at the local and regional scale (Seneviratne et al. 2010). The balancing influence of soil moisture also counts for low temperatures as well, as wet soils stay warm longer than dry soils during frost events.When a good level of soil moisture is available soil biotic life can prevail. Micro-organisms break down organic matter and release nutrients, which contributes to soil fertility. Optimal conditions are met when moisture takes up around 60 percent of the available water pore space. An excess of water prevents the supply of oxygen, which can lead microbial activity to slow, stop, or turn anaerobic, which will have negative effects on plant growth (Bot & Benites 2005b). Hence, in areas with regular flooding, proper drainage is required to ensure good soil fertility. Furthermore, excess water can cause nutrients to be lost due to leeching. On the other hand, low moisture levels decrease enzyme activity, which will hamper nutrient releasing processes. Nitrogen cycling is especially affected, already being a limiting nutrient in many soils (Sardans & Peñuelas 2005).Soil temperature is determined by incoming radiation, and thermal conductivity and heat capacity of the soil. The extent to which incoming radiation is absorbed or reflected is influenced by soil colour. Darker soil tends to absorb a higher fraction of solar radiation, while lighter soils tend to reflect radiation and to be cooler. Thermal transpiration creates a water deficit around the root zones, as water is absorbed through the root hairs.The speed at which capillary action can move water in the soil depends on the water deficit at the surface layer or around the plant roots, and on the soil type as well. Most sandy soils facilitate a rapid movement, as pore spaces are bigger and hold water less tightly. However, as the capillary movement takes place against gravity, finely textured soils like clay can provide better conditions to facilitate the upward movement of water and hence reach higher (Brouwer et al. 1985). This water movement is part of the diurnal and seasonal cycle. For the diurnal cycle, the water deficit in the soil which is created during the day is compensated for by water movement during the night, given the availability of groundwater.Upward movement of water through the soil can occur up to several months after the last precipitation. In areas dominated by one or two wet seasons, this ensures water availability after the rainy season has ended, thus enabling a second cropping period. The availability of water is further influenced by the depth at which soil moisture can be found. Some of the available soil moisture will be at a depth that is not reachable for some plants, while it is available to others.Soil moisture is one of the most important microclimate determinants. The thermal conductivity and heat capacity of the soil is greatly increased when soil moisture is present (Bona 2016).Evapotranspiration is the process of transferring water from the surface to the atmosphere, which takes a high amount of energy compared to heating the air. Thus, areas with available soil moisture have a more balanced microclimate with lower air and soil temperatures. This not only facilitates freezing at night. Sandy soils generally have a higher thermal conductivity, while clay soils have a lower one. The thermal conductivity and heat capacity of various soil types are shown in table 3 (Nicholson 2012).While heat capacity is very similar between sandy, clay and peat soils, the presence of soil moisture creates large differences. Deserts generally have sandy soils and low soil moisture. In effect, this means that high thermal conductivity exists, while having a low heat capacity. Heat flows in and out of the soil at a high rate, contributing to high soil temperatures during the day and low temperatures at night.Heat transfer into the soil during the day transports heat away from the direct surface and leads to lower temperatures. When the surface is cooler at night, the soil's heat transfer direction is reversed, and heat is released to the surface, thereby balancing out extremes. The same process also occurs over longer time scales, with heat being stored during warmer months and released in colder months (Bonan 2016). Soil temperature influences crop growth by providing the warmth necessary for seeds, plant roots and micro-organisms in the soil. High soil temperatures can negatively affect plant growth, while extreme temperatures can stall biological processes of micro-organisms (FAO 2016). On the other hand, low soil temperatures inhibit water uptake by plants, inhibit nitrification and thereby reducing soil fertility, and increase desiccation when simultaneously air temperatures are higher (Gliessman 2015). Both high and low soil temperatures play a distinct role by increasing or decreasing evapotranspiration from plants. Soil moisture plays a key role, as higher soil moisture will lead to evaporation, taking a higher amount of energy and thus lowering local temperatures during the day, while increasing surface temperatures during the night.Incoming and outgoing radiation is the most important determinant of local air temperature.There are several on-site characteristics and modifications possible. Local vegetation can increase transpiration, which lowers the local temperature and increases humidity. Vegetation can also provide shading, (partially) decreasing radiation from reaching lower situated plants or surface levels. Using the cooling effect of moisture conductivity is the rate in which a soil transfers heat, and a higher conductivity means that radiation can flow in and out of the soil at a higher rate. In other words, it indicates the speed at which a soil heats up and cools down. Soils with high thermal conductivity lose energy faster, and thus cool down quicker. This is important to understand the movement of water and the formation of dew. Heat capacity deals with the ability of a soil to store heat. This can be noticed during colder nights, when heat slowly releases from the soil and heats the surface air. In highlands, soil moisture is used to help reduce frost occurrence. However, when temperatures are continuously low, frost heaving can occur. The expanding ice in the soil then causes the ground to swell (Bonan 2016).Factors that determine thermal conductivity and heat capacity of the soil are the soil texture or mineral composition, porosity, soil moisture and organic matter. The presence of soil moisture greatly increases the thermal conductivity, as water is twenty times more conductive than air (Bonan 2016). Soil organic matter has a very low thermal conductivity when compared to the mineral soils, and thus acts as an insulating agent that keeps heat out of the soil during the day, and prevents heat from escaping during the night. This prevents moisture from evaporating during the day, while preventing soil temperatures from going below  (Nicholson 2012). However, more evapotranspiration also takes place in forests, which transmits heat back into the air in the form of water vapour. This shows that several conflicting factors lead to warming and cooling effects from different kinds of land use, making it not a simple task to determine effects on the microclimate.While the overall air temperature is a result of various radiation processes taking place, conditions in the temperature profile within a few meters from the surface change rapidly. Temperature, as well as moisture and wind, is affected by surface processes and properties with which it interacts. Vegetation changes the radiation balance through shading, while being a barrier to wind (Gliessman 2015).Figure 10 shows the typical daily temperature cycle in a forest. The maximum air temperature occurs in the upper crown, usually about one to two hours after local noon (Foken 2008). Below the crown, the daytime temperatures are lower. At night, minimum temperatures occur in the upper crown due to the cooling of the earth's surface and the air near the ground, called radiation cooling. This particularly happens with a clear sky, calm wind and low humidity. Particularly in the evening, a forest is warmer than its surroundings.The air temperature range, and diurnal and seasonal fluctuations, play a large role in determining the local flora and fauna. All organisms have an optimum temperature for growing, and their minimum and maximum temperature thresholds in the soil to decrease the overall air temperature can mean increased crop yields through mitigating extreme temperatures. The incoming and outgoing radiation balance shows the input of energy into the system that is used for crucial processes such as warming the air and soil, photosynthesis, and evapotranspiration.Local albedo is the reflectivity of a surface and determines how much radiation is absorbed. It plays a large role in determining local air temperatures, and can vary greatly according to the local conditions. Local topography plays a large role in determining the incoming radiation. Aspect, being the direction a slope is facing, influences the amount of radiation received as well as shading. Soil albedo is mainly determined by the moisture content. The interaction between rainfall and air temperature is important, as precipitation changes the local albedo and provides moisture for evaporation. In general, a dry soil has higher albedo than a wet soil. Croplands have a higher albedo than forests, meaning that croplands reflect more sunlight back into the atmosphere, resulting in lower surface heat (Jackson et al. 2008). Vegetation and organic Dew occurs when the temperature at the surface is lower to or equals the dew point temperature. Air moisture in the form of water vapour then condenses on a colder surface to form dew (Agam & Berliner 2006). Dew needs a relatively cold surface upon which it can be deposited. Fog occurs when the atmospheric water vapour concentration reaches the saturation point, regardless of conditions at the surface. Thus, fog is a purely atmospheric process.The deposition of moisture is caused by settling and interception, rather than the formation of droplets at a cool surface. Many of the effects of fog deposition are like those of dew deposition.Air humidity, combined with temperature changes during the diurnal cycle, can lead to dew formation. Dew can be an important source of moisture for plant growth in arid and semi-arid environments.There are a number of local examples (Nicholson 2012). In the Andes, 5 -10 mm a year is accumulated, while in the Negev desert, where most dew research has taken place, dew forms on 200 nights a year, with a total of 30 mm a year. Dew is used directly through leaf surface absorption, reduces transpiration and can kickstart photosynthesis in the early hours due to leaf water saturation (Tomaszkiewicz et al. 2014). Air moisture can thus serve as an important addition to the water that plants require, especially in arid and semi-arid regions (Agam & Berliner 2006). Dew also affects the albedo, both of soils and plant canopies. While it moistens, and darkens the soil, lowering its albedo, it leaves a reflective surface on leaves, increasing their albedo.High air humidity slows down transpiration from plants, since humid air does not absorb water vapour as easily as dry air does. Here, the presence of local wind is essential to mix the local atmosphere as it transports humid air away from vegetation (Nicholson 2012;Bonan 2016). High air humidity, in combination to changes in the air temperature can lead to rainfall in a landscape, in case circumstances make air humidity reach saturation point.Local winds also play a role in dew formation.While light wind was found to help dew formation in unsheltered sites, moderate to strong winds were found to inhibit dew formation (Richards 2004). The presence of vegetation that acts as a windbreak or provides shade plays a role in the formation and duration of dew. By lessening wind speeds, windbreaks can assist in the formation of dew, but also reduce it as local warmer air layers are not removed. The shade from vegetation helps to reduce local surface temperatures, which vary for different growing stages. For example, maize development is hindered above 35 o C, while rice has maximum temperature threshold between 36 -40 o C. When these are exceeded, growth is delayed or even prevented, which can result in yield losses or even plant loss, even in cases where sufficient water is present. For shade crops, such as coffee, the effect is even more strongly pronounced. The optimal range of Arabica is 18 -21 o C, with reduced photosynthesis between 24 -34 o C, and no photosynthesis above that (Lin 2007). Extreme heat causes plant processes to shut-down. As the release of moisture from transpiration is inhibited, and possible further heat stress is caused (Luo 2011;Gliessman 2015). Higher air temperatures also have an influence on the spread and effects of pests and diseases, as plants become more susceptible to disease (Beresford & Fullerton 1989).Air humidity is the result of evapotranspiration, which is induced by available radiation and moisture. It is the basis for cloud, fog and dew formation. The air temperature determines the amount of water vapour the air can hold, with warm air being able to hold more water vapour than cold air. Warmer weather promotes evaporation, which in turn increases air humidity.Relative humidity is a measure of the ratio of water vapour in the air compared to the amount of water vapour the air can hold. A relative humidity of 25 percent thus indicates that the air is holding 25 percent of the total water vapour it could hold.A relative humidity of 100 percent means the air is saturated, and mist, fog and clouds will start to form. At smaller scales, changes in temperature can push the relative humidity to 100 percent, reaching dew point temperature (Gliessman 2015). night, the direction reverses as winds blow towards the warmer water surface. With regards to mountains and hills, warm air starts to rise upslope during the day (valley wind), while at night the cool air moves downslope (mountain wind) (Gliessman, 2015). At the farm level, wind can be stimulated through corridors or blocked through the presence of vegetation or shelterbelts. While large-scale pressure fields cause wind speed and direction, the topography of a landscape and obstacles influence the winds, leading to small-scale climate differences. Wind velocity in and above a forest is greatly reduced due to friction.Wind can have a cooling effect by removing the boundary layer of warm air around a plant. This can also increase water consumption by the plant, as removing the layer and replacing it with drier air will causes increased transpiration. Wind can cause temperatures to be warmer or cooler depending on the ambient temperature (Bonan 2016;Gliessman, 2015). In addition, air movement in the canopy of vegetation is essential to maintain good CO 2 levels for growth, remove excess humidity and lower the overall humidity level, thereby reducing the potential for diseases. Furthermore, many cereal crops are wind pollinated.Landscapes tend to have heterogeneous surfaces with much difference in surface characteristics (Foken 2008). In combination with wind, this can result in a complicated flow system, that is dependent on the surface's roughness, and humidity and temperature profile. These profiles can shift increases the chances of dew formation (Agam & Berliner, 2006). The presence of wind to transport air humidity can play a significant role in both increasing and decreasing local humidity. A dramatic example is the monsoon, where warm air laden with moisture moves inland.At a large scale, pressure differences cause air movement. At smaller scales, topography, temperature differences and barriers can induce different wind directions and speeds. At a local scale, landscape morphology such as the presence of water bodies and mountains plays an important role. Microclimatic phenomena include small-scale circulation systems, such as mountain and valley winds, land-sea wind circulations, and katabatic winds (Foken, 2008). For example, during warmer months, land mass heats up faster than the water surface, causing winds to blow towards the land. AtIn 2010, the Ethiopian government launched a land restoration programme with the aim to double agricultural productivity by improving the management of natural resources and agricultural lands (IWMI, 2015). Extensive water harvesting and re-greening efforts were undertaken. Both physical and biological soil and water conservation measures were introduced in more than 3.000 watersheds, with soil bunds and stone bunds being constructed on almost all upper, mid and bottom slopes.In the Raya Azebo valley in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region, farmers reported that the treatment led to an increase in humidity and a decrease in local temperatures. Areas close to stone bunds show high soil fertility, partially due to a decreased loss of soil organic matter, and partially due to increased soil moisture availability. Similarly, the placement of bunds led to noticeably higher soil moisture, higher water retention, and cooler soil temperatures. The increased soil moisture retention has caused soil moisture to be available for longer after the rainy season. In addition, frost intensity and potential crop damage has decreased as the increased soil moisture protects the soil.In Tigray, local forms of reforestation and area exclosures have led to an increased intensity of springs and soil moisture in areas surrounding the cropland. This is likely due to improved infiltration of rainfall and a better water storage capacity of the soil. Together with water harvesting measures, it is an example of how microclimate processes can come together to transform a landscape.  Wind can act as a transporter of nutrients like soil particles from other places, and seeds, but also diseases and pests. As with pollination, bacteria and fungi depend on wind to spread to a new host, while insects also make use of wind to expand their range (Gliessman 2015). There are also direct mechanical effects from wind such as possible damage to leaves and crops. Sediments suspended in the wind hit leaves and stems from plants, causing structural damage. Another effect is wind erosion, and the loss of top soil that reduces soil fertility. This can have a cascading effect on the microclimate through a loss of vegetation potential and soil moisture storage capacity (Ong et al. 2015).Microclimates may either buffer against climate change or amplify its effects, be it temperature peaks, droughts, or more irregular or delayed rainfall. It is thus important to know how the dynamics between microclimate components and across scales can be influenced and managed (Chen et al. 1999). The microclimate and its interactions is a wide-ranging topic. Issues related to ecosystems, biodiversity, soils, food, water, energy and livelihoods need to be addressed holistically. This gives rise to the need for strategies that guide investments in landscapes to ensure that achieving one goal does not undermine the ability to achieve  The drylands of the Atacama Desert represent an example of a fogscape (Salbitano, 2010), being an ecosystem that relies on the interplays between fog, vegetation and soils. Fog represents a vital resource for biodiversity and bring considerable microclimatic benefits to arid drylands, in terms of the presence of soil moisture and vegetation. Local tree species have the capacity to take advantage from the advection fog fluxes from the sea, by intercepting and condensating fog on their leaves. Fog moisture then becomes available moisture for the surrounding arid landscape.In recent decades, fogscapes have been subject to general degradation caused by an increase in deforestation. In the late 1990s, a research project was launched with the aim to rehabilitate the area of Llomas de Meija in Peru with artificial fog collectors. These collectors consist of a metal frame, and are covered with a synthetic mesh, replicating the effect of leaf surfaces.The project results showed that standard reforestation interventions had unsatisfactory results without the supplemental irrigation provided by the fog collectors. At the same time, in places where the collectors were present, trees were able to sustain themselves and supported smaller vegetation and local ecosystems, after two years of artificial fog collection (Semenzato, 1998).Fogscapes can be found along a number of coastlines in Chile, Peru, United States, Morocco, South Africa, Dominican Republic and Spain (Canary Islands). In various semi-arid inland locations, such as in Ethiopia, Guatemala, Yemen and Tanzania, they can also be found. Their impact on local climate dynamics is significant. Water harvesting for groundwater recharge to make water available over a longer period, compared to soil moisture storage. Higher groundwater levels in the upper watershed could support the development of springs at the bottom of the hill. Recharged groundwater can also return to the soil during times of drought through capillary action, aiding plants and improving the microclimate in a similar way as soil moisture storage. Good understanding of groundwater dynamics is critical to design and implement soil and water conservation measures that harvest water and reduce runoff.The effects of water harvesting on the microclimate cannot be seen in isolation, as a changed microclimate can aid further soil moisture recharge, through improved infiltration, percolation, added shade from agroforestry made possible by increased moisture, and increased biological activity that improves both available nutrients and the soil profile. Water harvesting hence is often not done in isolation, but rather combines different approaches, such as agroforestry and re-greening.\"Definitely, there is a difference these years. It is as different as someone who has eaten compared to someone who has not eaten. The production has increased and the soil now can hold moisture for around a week in the hot sun.\"\"We are making an association with the farmers from the watershed, to manage the re-greening measures and share the benefits of the watershed together.\"Cluster 2: re-greeningThrough appropriate design and management, farmers can create or maintain microclimatic conditions that favour the sustainability of a cropping system. Manipulation of radiation and wind is an important factor of microclimate management (Stigter 2011), and can be done floodwater diversion, and erosion and drainage control measures. Increased moisture availability will influence dew formation and a reduced risk of night frost. Moreover, soil moisture availability will give a boost to the ability of soil bacteria to fixate nitrogen and add to the overall fertility of the landscape. A related phenomenon is capillary rise that takes place over time. Particularly in semi-arid areas, water that is stored as shallow groundwater rises back to the root zone later in the season when night temperatures drop, allowing for a second crop or boosting the standing crop.\"The rainfall pattern has considerably decreased, but due to the conservation measures on our farm, soil moisture has increased in my land as well as production\"Farmer in the Raya valley, Tigray 2016Water harvesting is basically the collection of water runoff for its productive use (Critchley 1991). The purpose and type of water harvesting can differ, and this has different effects on the microclimate.The three types that can be distinguished are water harvesting for soil moisture, for open storage and for groundwater recharge. While they all aim to increase the overall water availability for the landscape, the different types of water harvesting can have different effects on the microclimate.Water harvesting that focuses on soil moisture storage increases the available water in the soil profile. In arid areas, this mitigates warm temperatures during the day and cool temperatures during the night, both in the soil and in the air, directly above the surface. It protects against temperature extremes, such as night frost.There is increased moisture for evapotranspiration to increase the local humidity, which in turn lowers the air temperature. The same is accomplished with water harvesting techniques that use open storage.When not used directly for irrigation, surface water lowers the local air temperature and increases air humidity. When used for irrigation, it will have similar effects as soil moisture storage.  The use of forest for timber, firewood, fodder and land reclamationAgro-ecosystems that are resilient in the face of climate change are also those that do the least harm to the ecological foundations of agriculture (Gliessman 2015). Farms are at the cross section of many microclimate processes that need to be integrated. Agroforestry is one of the more researched areas of microclimate management. It deals with farm and livestock management through the addition or retention of trees and other woody perennials to benefit from ecological and economic interactions (Nair 1985). Agroforestry is commonly classified in three types: agro-silvo-cultural, silvopastoral and agro-silvo-pastoral, according to the combination of crops, trees and pasture. These can be subdivided in several types and systems. Table 6 shows a number of agroforestry examples.\"There is a temperature difference. Due to the trees that grow in the revegetated area, it is much cooler. It also makes us happy be around the greener area.\"Farmer in the Raya valley, Tigray 2016 Within a cropping system, the conditions of temperature, moisture, light, wind and atmospheric quality vary with specific location (Gliessman by increasing the number of trees in a landscape. Microclimate variables like solar radiation, air temperature at the surface and soil temperature are highly sensitive to changes in the type of vegetation. Like soil moisture, vegetation affects how much heat is absorbed in an area and how much is radiated. It affects the circulation of air temperature at different layers, the speed and direction of winds and the movement of dust particles among others. The presence of small forests in an open landscape can create local winds. Re-greening affects soil structure, nutrient cycling and soil moisture relations (Gliessman 2015). Branches and leaves provide habitats for an array of animal life and shed leaves that provide soil cover and modify the soil environment, being an important source of organic matter as they decay. By altering the structure of the canopy, a new environment is created with a different set of climatic responses (Chen et al. 1999).\"The sun duration and mountain shades have an effect on the evaporation of soil moisture. Soil moisture is lost faster in the fields who get early sunlight.\"Farmer in the Raya valley, Tigray 2016Box 5: Agroforestry and resource competition A discussion related to the introduction of trees and forests in agriculture is the possibility of resource competition. The use of soil nutrients and water competes with those used for cropping, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. The positive effects of a windbreak, increased shade and runoff capture could be negated by the increased water use, reducing rather than improving yields. However, more trees could also tap into different water reservoirs, as they use deeper groundwater than seasonal crops. Hydraulic lifting further makes soil moisture available to crops that would otherwise not be available (Lott et al. 2009;Ong et al. 2015). There is no consensus on whether agroforestry has a beneficial or negative effect on local natural resources, and strategies differ in different regions. A famous example of beneficial agroforestry is the Faidherbia albida tree that sheds its leaves in the rainy season, reducing competition for water and sunlight when crops need it most. Advantages of agroforestry are increased soil moisture retention, reduced water loss from soil evaporation and crop transpiration, and increased soil fertility. The addition of litter fall, root biomass and nutrient capture increases the overall health of the soil that crops can make use of (Lasco et al. 2014). Agroforestry can also be a buffer against climate variability and extremes. Through providing shaded areas and shelter, the overall climate variability is reduced, such as in coffee plantations (Lin 2007(Lin ). 2015)). Conditions above the canopy, in the interior, at the soil surface and below the soil into the root zone can vary greatly, and such a vertical transect within the cropping system is called the microclimatic profile. Conditions in the various zones should not cause problems for the crops. This could happen when warm wind run through the system while the soil is very cold, causing plant desiccation as the roots are unable to absorb water fast enough to offset the loss.Agroforestry has different implications for the microclimate, depending on the type and characteristics of the agroforestry system.• Local rainfall, even a little, can trigger more rainfall. This is known as the threshold effect. Once it starts to rain, it continues to rain; • There is balance and tension between local and regional rainfall. If rain is generated locally, it can come down elsewhere; • Evaporation has two sometimes opposite effects, being a lower temperature and more air humidity. The lower air temperature can create the so-called monsoon edge effect. With cooling, the temperature gradient gets less, and less moisture sucked into the air; • The albedo effect of vegetation causes thermic rise, of which rainfall can be a result when the air is moist:-Grassland has a high albedo so little energy is left for thermic rise; -Forest has a lower albedo so more energy remains in the canopy for thermic rise. Moisture in the air will rise higher and this creates more rainfall.An ongoing area of research is the effect of forests on rainfall. This can be divided in a smaller scale focused 'demand' school and a regional scale focused 'supply' school way of thinking. The demand school proposes that forests compete for water availability. In their view, trees increase interception and evapotranspiration and reduce downstream runoff. The supply school on the other hand, states that the impact of forests must be seen at a larger scale, where local evapotranspiration contributes to the biotic pump and increases water cycle intensity. This school argues that precipitation recycling both raises the likelihood of local rainfall events, as well as the transportation of moist air inland (Ellison et al. 2012).As the question of scale suggests, the impact of forests on water availability not only relates to the water that forests use, but also to where the water ends up. Recent studies state that forests have an important role in inducing rainfall. Increased relative humidity and lower temperatures contribute to a higher likelihood of precipitation events. The release of aerosols by trees also helps cloud formation. Other than precipitation, fog and dew capture is enhanced by forests as they provide surfaces and cooling, which further aids local water availability (Bruijnzeel 2001;2004;Ellison et al. 2012). by covering the surface of the soil. Growing a cover crop is one well-recognised method to do so, and brings additional positive effects related to organic matter content of the soil, seed germination and moisture conservation (Gliessman 2015). Trees and other tall plants that create a canopy (overstory) that covers other plants greatly modify temperature conditions under the canopy. Shade from the canopy reduces solar gain at the surface of the soil, and helps the soil to retain moisture. Removal of overstory vegetation destroys the ability of canopies to buffer the understory and moderate levels of incoming and outgoing radiation (Chen et al. 1999).Trees that are used as windbreak protect a field from prevailing wind patterns, greatly lowering the wind speed before reaching crops. The temperature behind the shelterbelt is usually slightly higher, as the cooling effect from wind no longer applies. Humidity is higher as well, as it is no longer transported away. Reduced exposure to wind and increased humidity reduces evapotranspiration rates from both soil and crops and can increase water use efficiency. A further positive effect is reduced kinetic impacts from wind, such as crop leaf damage and loss of top soil due to erosion.A major consideration, as with other agroforestry measures, is the increased water use from trees used in windbreaks. Areas where water is scarce may see reduced yields, especially when a new agro-forestry scheme is started and newly planted trees compete for water with crops. However, at later stages, tree roots may provide additional access to water during times of drought as they pull water up from deeper in the soil, otherwiseThe presence of trees provides a shading effect to both soil and crops, depending on the composition of the land. This can be a full canopy above the crops, like with coffee production, or a partial canopy to not influence incoming radiation too much, while benefiting from shelter effects. Shade has a direct effect on soil temperature, and moisture loss from evaporation and transpiration. By reducing incoming radiation, soil moisture is lost at a lower rate. Furthermore, reduced air temperature can benefit crops that are sensitive to heat, such as coffee and cocoa (Lasco et al. 2014;Lin 2007). Possible negative consequences from shading are that reduced solar radiation might inhibit plant growth, rather than promote it (Ong et al. 2015). However, Lott et al. (2009) raise the point that in arid and semi-arid environments, the improved microclimate and enhanced soil fertility outweighs any negative effects.Changes in the soil temperature can be induced cooling than the underlying soil would assist in dew formation this turns out not to be the case (Li 2002). The explanation for this was sought in the relationships between soil properties and water adsorption. Similarly, positive properties of soil mulch for dew formation at night were offset by higher evaporative losses during the day (Li 2002;Graf et al. 2008). The deposit of dew droplets on leaves can also serve as an impeding factor, facilitating the growth of bacteria and fungi (Agam & Berliner 2006).Microclimate dynamics are directly related to all landscape components, including vegetation, corridors -streams, roads and powerlines -and transition zones between patches, such as edges between forests and openings (Chen et al. 1999). Microclimatic variance is especially dramatic in transitional zones (also called ecotones) between adjacent ecosystems. Due to increased land use fragmentation, such edge environments where climatic and biotic changes can be seen have become a major portion of landscapes. Changes in physical and biotic environments affect ecological processes as varied as plant regeneration, dispersal of seeds, nutrient cycling and wildlife interactions.Microclimate change, such as temperature increases, caused by intensive land use change may have greater impacts at both local and regional scales than modifications predicted from the greenhouse effect (Chen et al. 1999). It is important to recognise that different features in the landscape -within patches, between patches, through ecotones, across the landscape -have distinct microclimates. Microclimatic patterns across the landscape are highly specific to an ecosystem, due to differences in topography and land use structure. Microclimatic insights can provide unreachable to crops. In an extensive review of windbreak effects on crops, Kort (1988) summarised the positive benefits of windbreaks on crops (see table 7). Gliessman (2015) describes a study that shows yield increases from 5 to 50 percent. The maximum benefits are between 3 and 6 tree heights from the crop, with benefits reported up to 10 tree heights away from the windbreak. An example of the distance effects to the windbreak is given in figure 16. Reduced yields close to the windbreak are probably the result of excessive shading or resource competition.Canopy interception of precipitation reduces surface compaction and improves infiltration by the soil. Similarly, roots and biological activity surrounding the trees, and reduced evaporation in shaded areas improves soil texture and infiltration, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Cover crops that are planted in between active crop plants are called living mulch. Mulching creates a buffer between the soil and solar radiation, providing a means of reducing soil evaporation through reduced temperatures as well as reduced exposure to wind. Such living mulch can change the albedo of the soil surface and raise the temperature of the air immediately above the crop (Gliessman 2015). For dry mulch, straw from wheat, oats and barley are commonly used, while water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and duckweed (Lemna spp.) are also useful. The combined effect is a greater amount of soil moisture. Plant-derived mulch will eventually become part of the soil, adding to its organic matter content. Another possibility is to let a mulch accumulate naturally, by using a no-tillage system. Crop residues are left on the surface, forming a layer that modifies soil temperature and prevents moisture loss.The effect of soil type and the presence of mulch on dew formation has several complexities. While it was assumed that mulching with faster \"The acacia trees that were regenerated due to the intervention are effective to conserve moisture and act as a wind break and as a living fence. They work as soil erosion prevention.\"Farmer in the Raya valley, Tigray 2016Landscape restoration, microclimate management and sustainable development are topics that require a sound understanding of natural processes and supportive ecosystems. This relates to the study of meta-systematics, which focuses on how systems in perpetual motion relate with, and affect, one another (Gliessman 2015). This can only be done competently by combining insights from many fields of human knowledge and experience. The impact of microclimate management measures will be similar in diverse locations at the small-scale (Chen et al. 1999). However, how this works out at different scales needs to be carefully considered. There is a need to examine microclimatic characteristics at multiple scales and consider cumulative effects, rather than to simply assess the importance of microclimate independently at each scale.vital information when trying to explain other ecological processes and developing management option for a landscape. Microclimate influences the distribution of fauna as varied as butterflies, amphibians, reptiles and birds (Chen et al. 1999).Hence, manipulating the microclimate by altering the structural environment can thus be a useful tool in both wildlife and ecosystem conservation.\"Due to the intervention, the day temperature and night temperature is warmer and fluctuates less. For us, this is an indication that we will have good summer rainfall.\"Farmer in the Raya valley, Tigray 2016The promotion and protection of existing forested lands has benefits to the local microclimate in the surrounding areas as well. The effects of area closure are like agroforestry, with the added benefit of reduced competition for native flora and fauna. Soils benefits from reduced erosion as it is protected by trees and root systems, and its water holding capacity is increased by an improved soil structure from biological activity (Balana et al. 2012). Adjacent lands also benefit. Reduced surface runoff can reduce local erosion of top soils and valuable nutrients, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Furthermore, increased water infiltration, percolation and transport can make"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3f7583c9c00ff094e2978a6948b76ee9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/5e185f8a-eeff-469f-a0ee-c2cd6949848e/content","id":"1589555379"},"keywords":["Sustainability","gender","rural transformation","farming systems","agri-food system","land use changes","Uganda"],"sieverID":"16fe67ab-2466-4942-a296-a0f6dceaf9a6","content":"To increase understanding of agricultural intensification processes over time and their sustainability, we studied dimensions of sustainability in the context of ongoing expansion of intensive, commercial mono-cropping of banana in Southwestern Uganda. In our approach we considered five dimensions of sustainability: economic, agricultural productivity, environment, social and human. We compared farming systems in 1998 and 2018 and integrated a gender lens. A total of four focus group discussions, two group interviews and fifteen individual interviews (8m / 7f) were conducted, complemented with a discourse analysis of newspaper articles. Results show that although intensification of banana production increased the average income level indicating improvement in the economic dimension, it did not yield sustainable outcomes in the other dimensions. The integrated analysis of five dimensions of sustainability illuminated aspects often neglected in assessment studies or policy-making around agricultural intensification, in particular socioeconomic and gender dynamics. We further recognized that the observed local trends are part of a set of patterns that take place throughout the world. We conclude that to advance sustainable development, stakeholders should move away from the current over-emphasis on economic values prioritizing the individual, and that avoiding patterns of unsustainable development requires broadening to environmental and community values.A quarter of the world's population was moderately to severely food insecure in 2019 and over 700 million people faced severe poverty, most of these living in rural areas (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2020;Worldbank, 2018). Since populations are still increasing, a doubling of Sub-Saharan Africa's population is expected by 2050 (United Nations, 2019), it is evident that food production must increase as well (Conway, 2012;Godfray et al., 2010). To reduce food insecurity and rural poverty, increasing food production alone is not enough; commercialization of food products also needs to sufficiently support the livelihoods of rural populations and should not deplete and destroy natural resources along the way (Loos et al., 2014;Pretty et al., 2011). Since expanding agricultural production into 'new' formerly uncultivated areas is often not possible due to land scarcity or is undesirable, the political and scientific debate tends to focus on intensification of land already under agricultural use (Garnett et al., 2013;Godfray, 2015;Tilman et al., 2011;Tittonell et al., 2016;Van Lauwe et al., 2014). Whilst agricultural intensification has proven to be quite successful at closing yield gaps and increasing agricultural production in some areas of the world, it has been less effective in sustaining natural resources; two-thirds of the land in Africa is estimated to be degraded (ELD initiative and UNEP, 2015). Over the last decades, calls to render agricultural intensification processes (more) sustainable have gained prominence. Initially, the focus was primarily on reducing negative environmental impacts (Pretty et al., 2011). But with time, this expanded to encompass also social and human health dimensions (Loos et al., 2014;Musumba et al., 2017). Weltin et al. (2018) called for more integrated and interdisciplinary research on agricultural intensification processes for instance, which would take a holistic approach that couples farm and landscape scales and includes a socio-economic perspective. They specifically mentioned the importance of in-depth case studies which adopt a system perspective (Weltin et al., 2018). Tittonell et al. (2009) emphasized the importance of understanding the causes which render agricultural systems unsustainable through in-depth analysis. Kebede et al. (2019) and Aravindakshan et al. (2020) argued that building sustainable agricultural systems requires an understanding of the historical dynamics and drivers shaping changing local farming systems and landscapes. Although these and other sources mention people as either causal agents behind-and/or beneficiaries of-agro-ecological (development/innovation) processes associated with agricultural production, the human agency either as individual or as collective is largely neglected in studies on agricultural intensification (Fischer et al., 2020). This is problematic because the (diverse) perspectives of local women and men are essential to understanding what these processes entail in a particular context. With the objective of better understanding intensification processes over time, we developed and implemented a methodology to address the different dimensions of sustainability in the context of smallholder farming. We took a retrospective, gender-sensitive, participatory and qualitative approach for our in-depth case study in a subcounty of Isingiro district in Western Uganda. The rural space and farming systems in this area, transformed over the past two decades under the influence of the growing expansion of intensive, commercial mono-cropping of cooking banana. We specifically sought to identify patterns of socio-ecological development over different scales ranging from field and farm level to landscape from the perspective of adult women and men living in this area.The study design responds to the call for more integrated approaches to study agricultural intensification processes that move away from focusing only on increasing agricultural production per unit of land and /or per unit of input whilst minimizing environmental impacts. Loos et al. (2014) argue for instance, that such a narrow approach does not demonstrate how human well-being is affected and that assessments should include a reference to social justice. The notion that sustainable development entails different dimensions, notably an economic, ecological and social dimension (the pillars of sustainability), is not new (Purvis et al., 2019) and has been intensively discussed in relation to agricultural development and environmental conservation (Bawden, 2012;Dillon et al., 2016;Godfray, 2015;National Research Council, 2014;Pretty, 2008;Rao & Rogers, 2006;Smith & McDonald, 1998) as well as in respect to other sectors such as industrial design (Mcdonough & Braungart, 2002). In our approach to study agricultural intensification processes, we consider five sustainability dimensions; next to agricultural productivity and economic performance, we discern the environmental, the social and the 'human' dimension (Musumba et al., 2017). The human dimension includes aspects of human rights and 'food security', 'human health' and 'nutrition'. We add a retrospective approach by requesting study participants to reflect on the past (20 years prior). Since we acknowledge that farming systems and people's roles and responsibilities in agriculture and rural communities change over time and are strongly gendered (Farnworth et al., 2016) we integrated a gender perspective. Our approach does justice to the implication that women's and men's experiences with intensification and their perspectives on the distinct dimensions of sustainability are likely to be different. It also adds depth to our investigations on the social dimension of agricultural intensification, which tends to be under-researched (Godfray, 2015;Smith et al., 2017;Struik & Kuyper, 2017).The case study was conducted in 2018 in Rugaaga subcounty, Isingiro district, western region of Uganda. Isingiro district, formerly part of the Mbarara district, is a relatively new district which was created in 2006. Isingiro lies in the sub-region Ankole in the Western region of Uganda, bordering Tanzania in the south and surrounded by the districts of Rakai, Ntungamo, Mbarara and Kiruhura. With annual rainfall below 1000 mm, agriculture is limited by water shortages in Isingiro. Large areas are mostly unsuitable for crop production and used as extensive grazing lands for mainly Longhorn (Ankole) cattle while exogenous dairy and meat breeds or cross breeds are becoming more common as well. Lake Nakivale and the likewise named UN refugee settlement are both stretching into the North-Western territory of Rugaaga subcounty. The North-East of Rugaaga is bordering Lake Mburo National Parc in the district of Rakai. The Tanzanian border is located at 20-40 kms distance only.For approximately 70% of the rural population of Isingiro, cooking banana cultivation is the primary if not only income-generating activity (Acord Uganda, 2010). Isingiro is recorded as the district with the highest production of cooking banana in Uganda (UBOS, 2010). More recent production data only available on sub-regional level, states 2.5 Mt cooking banana production in 2018 and a productivity of 16 t/ha for Ankole sub-region (UBOS, 2020). For this study, three villages were selected in the subcounty of Rugaaga, a subcounty described in Kikulwe et al. (2018) as having the highest cooking banana production in the country. We will henceforth refer to these three villages as our study area.In line with the study design, we use various social science methods, especially those rooting in sociology, anthropology, and gender studies. While addressing each of the mentioned dimensions of sustainability, these methods enable to illuminate people's observations and perceptions within the local context and the complexity of interrelations, which are difficult to capture with quantitative methods.The study combines several sources for data collection (Figure 1) and builds on results and lessons from a case study conducted in 2015 (Rietveld, 2017;Rietveld & Farnworth, 2018) using the CGIAR-GENNOVATE methodology (Petesch et al., 2018) (Method 0, Figure 1). The first method (1) informed following rounds of data production and consists of a mapping exercise to pinpoint change and to identify changes at both landscape and farm scales between 1998 and 2018. Perceptions were captured at the collective level by conducting Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and at the individual level through semi-structured interviews. For a more indepth understanding of the context in which these changes occurred we conducted a discourse analysis of local newspaper articles published between 1998 and 2018 describing events and trends in and for the wider geographical area where our study site was located. We also reviewed literature about the area going back to the beginning of the twenty-first century.Method 1participatory mapping of changes and 4-square analysis of crops cultivated in 1998 and 2018The objective of this exercise was to map changes in the landscape, land use and physical structures of the study area and its communities for 1998 and for 2018, to be used as an input for follow-up FGDs. We also included a participatory exercise to determine the extent and distribution of the crops cultivated in the farming systems of the community for 1998 and for 2018 which is also referred to as Extent and Distribution Analysis or a 4-square analysis (Grum et al., 2008). FGD participants first listed all the crops grown in the research area and positioned each crop in one of the four squares, based on their own subjective estimate (as defined by participants together) of the area under cultivation per farm (large/small) and the number of households growing the crop (few/many). Method 1 was conducted with two women and two men between 45 and 60 years old who had grown up in the village or moved there at a young age (>10 years). Because we required respondents to reflect on their own experiences and memories as adults back in 1998, we excluded younger people from participation. The participants were selected on basis of being respected and considered as knowledgeable people in their community.The objective of the FGDs (method 2) was to collect and understand men and women's motivations to act for and in response to change within their (changing) farming systems and to identify important aspects in their assessments of the changes and their own acts and responses in relation to the dimensions of sustainability. We used the maps and 4square cropping system analysis from method 1 as input and means to evoke discussion. Per FGD we selected between 7 and 12 participants who lived in the community from at least 1998 onwards. Like for method 1, we set age limits on 45-60 years old. We conducted the FGDs in single-sex fashion with two groups of men and two groups of women. We further distinguished between 'wealthier' and 'poorer' sections of the population. It proved difficult to interest 'wealthier' men to participate. Some of the men initially mobilized, sent their elderly fathers on our first effort to conduct the FGD with 'wealthier men'. We responded with opportunistically interviewing these four elderly men as a group (method 3) and discussed with them changes since 1978 (rather than 1998).The objective of this exercise was similar to the objective of method 2 but emphasis was on individual experience and perspectives on changes of women and men farmers and focused on the changes in relation to the own life history of the interviewees. The earlier generated maps and 4square analyses were not used in this exercise. Where appropriate, we did probe about key findings from the earlier collected data to triangulate and deepen our understanding. We conducted 15 interviews in total, with 8 men and 7 women; ages ranged between 37 and 71 years old at the time of the interview.About 97 newspaper articles published between 1998 and 2018 were selected for analysis. These newspaper articles were compiled from the online archive of 'All Africa' (https://allafrica.com) in May 2019. In the online archive a search within the 'Uganda' country archive was conducted for papers with a geographical reference to Isingiro and to Mbarara. Isingiro is the current district in which our study site is located. Before 2005, Isingiro was part of Mbarara district. The derived list was screened on relevance and selected papers were categorized in the following categories: (1) agriculture-related: land; farming; banana production; cattle (2) climate and natural resources-related: water; adverse weather; (3) population and migration-related: refugees; (4) food-related: famine.Comparison of the maps generated for 2018 and 1998 and the explanations of the participants indicated the following main changes: (1) large decrease in natural tree cover with no communal and/or natural forest remaining in 2018; (2) decrease in grazing land; (3) large increase in land under cooking banana cultivation; (4) large increase in human settlements and population; (5) privatization of former communal lands; (6) large decrease in cultivation of crops other than cooking banana; (7) expanded and improved road network; (8) small increase in privately owned, planted trees; (9) hillsides were increasingly bare and eroded; (10) increased access to drinking water through household water retention and creation of bore-holes; (11) increased access to electricity through grid and micro solar systems.The Participatory Extent and Distribution Analyses (Figure 2(a,b)) illustrate the nature of the cropping system for 1998 and for 2018. Crops which were commonly grown in the community were listed by participants and divided over one of the four squares on basis of (1) the number of households growing the crop (few/many) and (2) the area under cultivation per farm (large/small). The exercise initially evoked discussion on land sizes rather than on crops. Participants in all FGDs argued that compared to 1998, with the exceptions of a few very wealthy farmers, no crops were cultivated in 2018 on large size lands because 'large land' does not exist anymore. This is reflected in Figure 2(b); although cooking banana production increased significantly it was not placed in square 1 (cultivated by many farm households on large land area) for 2018. All groups did agree unanimously that the trend consisted of increasing cooking banana production and decreasing production of other cropsde facto most households specialized in commercial cooking banana production. Moreover, they stopped intercropping cooking banana with other crops and rather cultivated cooking banana as monoculture.Although cooking banana was also a common crop in 1998 with mostly around 0.5 acres per household, the FGD participants explained it was meant for household consumption only or to pay refugee farm workers in kind for their work. Banana plantations in 1998 usually supported a mix of cooking (1/3) and beer types (2/3) and were commonly intercropped with annuals such a bean. Commercial cooking banana production increased from the year 2000 onwards. This was supported by intensive extension campaigns to improve banana management starting in 2004. This raised not only the productivity but also raised bunch size which made the produced banana more attractive for traders. In the course of a few years (2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010) households replaced beerbanana types for cooking types and expanded cultivation at the cost of annual crop production (finger millet, roots and tubers) and grassland.Participants stated that both the two most important crops in 1998 (square 1; cultivated by many farmers on large land area), beer-banana (Musa spp.) and finger millet (Eleusine coracana), were hardly grown anymore in 2018. Beer-banana used to be the main source of income as the raw banana was processed into beer and sold to the refugee population of Nakivale camp and to others. The cultivation of sorghum was directly linked to that of beer-banana as it serves as an ingredient of the beer. The decline of beer-banana cultivation therefore also led to the decline of sorghum cultivation.Finger millet used to be a major food crop and played an essential role for maintaining food security throughout the year as the grains would be stored in granaries. Participants argued that finger millet largely disappeared in favour of cooking banana which is more profitable. In one of the women's FGDs, the participants argued that maize was nowadays favoured over finger millet as food crop since maize can be processed into flour (posho) by machines whilst finger millet needs to be ground manually. Nevertheless, maize is placed in square 4 (cultivated by few farm households on small land area) (Figure 2(b)).Cassava, sweet potato, potato and pea moved from square 4 (cultivated by few farm households on small land area) to square 2 (cultivated by many farm households on small land area) indicating that cultivation of these crops became more common in 2018 than it was in 1998. Although these crops were placed in square 2 together with cooking banana, bean and groundnut, the relative importance of all the crops was still described as very different. From the FDGs it became clear that more land was allocated to cooking banana alone, than to all other crops together.Vegetables, fruit, yam, maize and pumpkin remained in square 4 (cultivated by few farm households on small land area) but participants did indicate that production volumes had reduced over time in favour of cooking banana production. Fruit trees, for instance, were mostly cut down in favour of cooking banana production. Moreover, the diversity within the 'vegetables' and 'fruit' groups was said to have decreased. (1) was the crop cultivated by many or few farm households in the community? And (2) was the crop cultivated mostly on a small land area or on large land area? The minimum threshold for including crops was three times mentioned in the FGDs; between brackets number of times the crop was mentioned out of five FGDs.The map of 1998 showed the presence of grazing land reserved for tending livestock. We learned that many people used to keep goats, sheep and cattle. Sometimes these grazed on privately owned land, but more often on open access private or communal lands in the surroundings. At night, the livestock would be kept in a kraal. In 2018, only few livestock were kept on the farm and in the study site as a whole, mainly as a result of lack of grazing land. Wealthier farmers owned cattle but kept these animals elsewhere where land was cheaper. Local by-laws prescribed that chicken could not roam freely because they could disturb the mulch in banana plantations, therefore only few people kept chickens and enclosed as required.Data from both male and female FGDs further highlighted the following social and economic changes:1. Market economy, labour markets and agri-food trade have become well-established and common:The participants narrated that in 1998, the communities in the study area were isolated; roads were bad and transport options to urban centres were minimal; households lived scattered around the area at a distance from each other. Marketing opportunities for agricultural produce were irregular and concentrated on selling banana-beer and goats to the refugee population in the nearby Nakivale refugee camp. Traders in agricultural produce would only occasionally visit these areas for instance in search of beans or potatoes. Farm workers mostly belonged to the refugee population and would be paid in kind. Households hardly had access to cash or income-generating activities and farming was mostly oriented towards subsistence.This changed from around 2000-2004 onwards; A government-led project focused on sustainable development, started promoting several livelihood enterprises amongst others on 'improved cooking banana management'. This coincided with a growing demand for cooking banana from urban centres and a rise of cooking banana prices coupled with increased access because of government investment in rural roads. Increasingly, more traders came to the study sites to buy cooking banana which drove the described conversion of the cropping system and integrated farm households into the market economy. They employed large numbers of casual farm workers; both men and women originating from within and from outside of the community. Profits were invested back in banana production but also in non-farm enterprises such as real estate and retail businesses which were both established in the local trading centres and in towns such as the regional city Mbarara. This new class of rich farmers was relatively small as a percentage of the population but influential and often referenced by other farmers as an example and role-model for accumulating wealth through commercial banana production. 3. Gender tasks and norms in relation to crop production, access to land and income generationchanged: The changes in the farming systems but also improved access to facilities and increased embeddedness in the market economy led to marked gender changes. Men were said to work more and harder in 2018 than they did in 1998 and to drink alcohol only in the evening. Men invested heavily in cooking banana plantations since 2004 and usually considered this their prime livelihood. Their typical control over banana-derived income was justified by their role as head of the household and owner of the land. Men were supposed to bear responsibility for paying their children's school fees, household basic needs for staple foods (cooking banana or posho), salt and soap and for medical care but did not always conform.In 1998, women used to spend a large part of each day fetching water and many were involved in livestock rearing (cattle) and processing of milk. With increased access to (drinking) water and reduced importance of cattle, these activities hardly existed anymore in 2018. In 2018, womenearned respect in the community by working hard in their husbands' banana plantation. Women continued to have responsibility to prepare food and provide for 'sauce' but encountered difficulties as their access to land for growing crops like beans and vegetables became increasingly confined. Women perceived men's tendency to prioritize banana production in monocultures as the direct cause of this development:Men do not allow us to intercrop any other crops with the bananas. (FGD poor women) 4. Polygyny became increasingly common over the years as men, earning unprecedented income from cooking banana production, married additional wives. Women complained in the FGDs and interviews that once men get a new wife, they ignore their responsibilities towards their first wives and families. Land allocated for use to the wife was often re-distributed when men married second or third wives. As a consequence, first wives ceased to benefit from the growing income derived from cooking banana sales and overall land available per household member decreased. In the two FGDs with women, participants were very outspoken that polygyny halted development in the household. 5. Banana plantation labourers formed a new social class consisting of both local and migrant women and men with no or small landholdings.Migrants came in and could stay since the demand for labour on banana plantations was large. Some of the migrant labourers took (semi-) permanent residency in the area leading to development and growth of so-called 'trading centres' (village centres), others temporarily lived-in on the wealthy farmers' plantations. Refugees from camp Nakivale were also providing labour in 2018, although participants explained this used to be more prevalent in 1998. Earnings from casual labour varied; 5000 UGX (approx. 1.5 USD in 2018) was mentioned as an average daily wage on a banana plantation but we also heard accounts of much lower wages. Especially migrant labourers living in with their employer were observed to receive less but were often provided with food and lodging. Just like in 1998, refugees were still commonly paid in kind with small bunches of cooking banana.6. Livestock keeping became increasingly unattainable for the less endowed because of the disappearance of communal lands: Because there was not enough grassland anymore in 2018, livestock rearing had disappeared for most people, especially for those with small landholdings. This was conceived as a threat by both men and women because the security option to diversify with livestock had disappeared:We are forced to focus on cooking banana now, which is not good. (FGD wealthier men) This trend also affected diets as animal protein such as milk and meat became less available.7. Increasing land prices and land scarcity: By 2018, land had become increasingly scarce and this was a key concern for most people participating in this study. Several causes of land scarcity were mentioned; immigration most prominently.Many of the study participants had migrated from other places to this locality themselves as a child or young man/woman. Those who lived in the area for several generations acknowledged that the men had sold their abundant land on the plateaus to the newcomers (mainly Banyankole tribe) roughly between 1970 and 2000. A woman told:Many people migrated to this area and our husbands sold most of the land back then and it was the men's responsibility because men love money. We were never involved in the agreements; we would just see our land being demarcated and later find out he had sold it.(FGD poor women)Other immigrants (Bakiga tribe) cleared the forest in the valleys and on slopes and established themselves there as farmers. In 2018, immigrants were mostly labourers looking for (temporary) employment in the banana plantations. They arrived from other parts of Uganda and to a lesser extent from Tanzania. In 2018 land had become expensive and de facto unaffordable for most smallholder farmers and labourers.Natural population growth was also mentioned as a key driver for land scarcity. The FGD participants indicated that most households, and certainly the polygynist, had high birth rates. It meant that the new generation would often inherit tiny, fragmented landholdings. Already most locals who have lived in the study area for several decades considered their landholdings 'small'.There were tensions between the local community and the refugee camp Nakivale concerning land. Men said in the FGDs that the camp was 'taking away' their grazing lands. These tensions were also reported in the newspapers and reached a peak in 2017 when a member of parliament incited local men to violently grab land from the camp.In the environmental domain the following changes were identified:1. Decreasing availability of firewood for food preparation: Participants stated that forests had been cut down over the last century and virtually disappeared in the vicinity of the study area. Some woodlots with eucalypt remained but these were privately owned and often fenced off. Women mentioned firewood scarcity as the main challenge of today:Those days [1998] the main challenge was getting water, these days it is getting firewood. (FGD wealthier women) They told about their struggle to find enough firewood for food preparation and that they either ate fewer cooked meals a day or prepared food with shorter cooking time.2. Soil fertility decline was a major concern for many farmers in 2018, and several indicated that smaller banana bunch sizes were being produced because of 'over-using' the land. With the semi-permanent production mode of cooking banana, crop rotation or fallows were abandoned and since most farmers did not own livestock, they had limited access to manure for soil fertilization. Some wealthy farmers purchased manure from elsewhere but for most farmers this was not feasible because of the high monetary investment required. Chemical fertilizers were not used on cooking banana; the farmers perceived these products as 'bad' for the soil. 3. Wetland destruction and siltation of lakes and rivers: Newspaper articles reported that the Mburo-Nakivale wetland ecosystems was drying up, contributing to the drying up of river Rwiizi as well, an important water source in Mbarara district. The wetlands of Lake Nakivale, which is bordering the subcounty, were facing encroachment from both refugees and local populations as land scarcity increased. Apart from its ecological functions and value, these wetlands fulfil an important role for water retention and year-round water availability downstream. In addition, Lake Nakivale is silting up due to run-off soil erosion in the catchment area which includes our study site. Because of the lower water retention capacity of Lake Nakivale another lake (Oruginga) was formed in 1999 altering the landscape drastically. 4. Increased occurrence of drought and regular crop failure and famine: In the FGDs and individual interviews respondents stated that they experienced 'more sunshine' and less rains during the last decade as compared to twenty years ago.Newspaper articles from 1998 to 2018 mentioned occurrence of droughts and related crises such as food shortages, cattle starvation and famine on four occasions over the course of these two decades: in 1999, 2005-2006, 2009-2010 and in 2016-2017. Drought and associated crop failure were worrying people and not without reason.Although banana plants usually did not die in the reported droughts, they did stop producing banana bunches. When we conducted these studies in May 2018, the district was just recovering from a severe drought which had caused crisis and food shortages, even famine, during 2016-2017. Several respondents made a direct link between deforestation and drought:We cut all trees and now we have little rain. (FGD poor men) And this drought also instilled a fear of the future in people and an awareness that reliance on banana production alone is risky: Most of our leaders are teaching us to use bananas to get money and educate our children. This means we have focused so much on bananas that we have destroyed our own environment and if we are not careful, we will have no more plantations 20 years from now. (FGD wealthier men)If again we are confronted with a major drought, it will be a problem. So, I think we need other sources of income. [..] With prolonged drought however nothing can work. (Individual interview male farmer).1. Decreasing diet quality: Dietary diversity was low and diets were more staple food focused in 2018 than they were in 1998. Many households choose to sell cooking banana and to buy posho for household consumption:We only give them [the women] the small bunches for eating at home and if it is not enough, we buy posho and feed the family. (FGD wealthier men)The on-farm availability of food crops other than cooking banana was minimal and so was storage of food, it became rare to store food whereas in 1998 it was still common practice to store finger millet in granaries. Consumption of animal products (meat, milk, ghee) has also decreased considerably:In 1998 we would intercrop and have a large variety of food crops; now we only intercrop on the borders of the cooking banana plantation; we have almost stopped growing crops like groundnuts, beans, peas, cassava, millet. Few women grow these crops nowadays, everything is banana. (Individual interview male farmer) Diets also suffered from the earlier mentioned firewood scarcity as meals with shorter cooking time were preferred, implying that consumption of nutritious food crops like bean with long cooking time was reduced. Land scarcity was mentioned as a primary reason for having reduced on farm crop diversity:We would want to plant more [different] crops, but we have limited land. (FGD wealthier men) 2. Increased access to safe drinking water: In 1998, there was only one (natural) water point in the study area which served the whole population. In 2018, there were several taps installed by government where people accessed water for a small fee; this water was however not preferred for drinking because of high natrium levels. Many households practiced water retention in 2018; they established basins to collect rainwater. This had tremendous impact on especially women and children as they used to spend a lot of time collecting water (up to 4 hours per day). Personal hygiene also improved as a direct result of increased water availability and men commented that their wives look more beautiful today [2018] than they did in 1998.Since 1998, the number of both public and private schools increased in the area. Most participants indicated that their children, both boys and girls, started primary school. Public primary schools charge no education fee, but caretakers do encumber costs related to uniforms, materials and lunch. Because public schools were overcrowded and of low quality, many caretakers sent their children to private schools. 'School fees' were often the largest expense of households with children which applied to both poorer and wealthier population sections as wealthier households tended sending their children to more expensive (better) private schools. Since schooling was costly and the number of children per household was generally high, attending secondary schooling was not considered evident. The number of school drop-outs was high for both boys and girls and only few children completed secondary school.The participants of the FGDs and interviews univocally shared the perception that the land and its communities in the research area underwent enormous changes on all fronts during the period between 1998 and 2018. To situate these changes in a wider context, we constructed a timeline (Figure 3) drawing on various sources both from literature and our primary data. At the beginning of the twentieth century, our research area was very sparsely populated. High disease pressure (malaria, sleeping sickness), dryness of the climate, 'wildness' (presence of wild animals) and isolation from other settlements were mentioned as causes (Bagenda et al., 2003;Kafureka, 1992;FGDs). This changed over the second half of the twentieth century in which the population increased. In the 1940s-1950s, colonial rule promoted settlement in these sparsely populated areas from densely populated areas elsewhere in Uganda. The early migrants were often able to acquire land free of charge or cheaply and are currently still amongst the largest landowners.In 1958-1960, the UN refugee camp (also called settlement) 'Nakivale' was established on the south border of Rugaaga subcounty. It initially hosted Tutsis fleeing Rwanda from persecution of the newly established Hutu regime (Bagenda et al., 2003). These refugees lived in relative harmony with local populations; they traded and exchanged on a growing labour and food market (primarily for banana-beer and animal products). These first refugees were described as 'those that brought development to this area' (group interview elderly men) and they are juxtaposed with the 'other' refugees (Hutu from Rwanda and refugees from Somalia, DR Congo and Burundi) who arrived from the 1990s onwards. These later refugees 'were no use to us' according to elderly men (group interview) and blamed for causing and aggravating land scarcity: our grazing land is given away for free by the government. (FGD wealthier men) Oral anecdotes (group interview elderly men) and an FAO report (Koeman et al., 1980) indicated the implementation of campaigns to eradicate tsetse fly (vector of sleeping sickness) during president Obote's first term (1966)(1967)(1968)(1969)(1970)(1971) alongside large schemes to clear forest in the valleys. This made the area more suitable for human settlement and stimulated immigration. A new wave of immigration started after the Bush War of 1980-1986 when peace and stability were reinstated after a decade of unrest. This coincided with two key trends which drove the impending investments in cooking banana production:(1) Renewed investment in road networks and infrastructure leading to increased connectivity to market economies, e.g. from the late 1990s onwards urban traders were enabled to visit Rugaaga to buy agri-produce;(2) Increased rates of urbanization and therewith the creation of large urban demand for food and particularly for the preferred staple food of the Baganda: cooking banana (matooke).The increasing prices and demand for cooking banana stimulated the farmers to not only switch from beer-banana cultivars to cooking type cultivars but also to decrease cultivation of other crops in favour of cooking banana and to expand its cultivation into wetlands (Adonia, 2013), woodlots, grazing lands and onto slopes. Furthermore, they intensified their banana-crop management by switching from intercropping to monoculture production and by applying more intensive management practices such as de-suckering, de-leaving and organic manure application. This intensification process was supported by government policies and extension services who actively promoted commercial cooking banana production from 2001 onwards. De facto this implied a shift in economic orientation from production for subsistence towards market-oriented agriculture:Population increase has led to land scarcity but has also helped us to develop. We have many trading centers now, there are people to work on our farms and we have a market for our crops. (FGD poor men).Our discussion focuses on two points: first, we draw and discuss key learnings from our study and relate this to current and historical rural change trajectories around the globe. Second, we reflect on and discuss these learnings in relation to agricultural research for development and possible ways out of unsustainable intensification pathways.We learned that agricultural intensification through increased mono-cropping and use of external inputs (labor; manure) led to greater social stratification and is not attainable to poorer sections of the farming population. While household levels of wealth on average have increased as a result of intensified banana production, inequity among households and within households has also risen. At the community level, differences between the 'haves' and 'have not's' have increased as larger landholders have often managed to not only considerably increase their income but also local authority and power. They managed to secure their position by sustaining high production through large investments in soil fertility. In addition, they have often managed to diversify their livelihoods into non-farming activities which makes them less vulnerable to recurring droughts. Meanwhile, most medium and small landholders deplete their soils because they cannot afford similar investments in soil management. Simultaneously, land has been fenced off, inhibiting households with no or too little land to collect firewood or graze goats. Within households, women also tend to lose out compared to men. Although they usually spend more time on banana management than before, they often have limited control over the revenues and expenditure. In 2018, women did have more freedom compared to 1998 to cultivate annual crops which were formerly in the domain of men but their access to land had declined as more land had been brought under banana cultivation. This limited women's options to earn income from farming and to maintain diverse diets for adequate nutrition. In addition, there was a strong tendency amongst men to invest banana income in raising new and additional families (polygyny), often to the disempowerment and deprivation of first wives and all their children. This trend further reduces women's access to land and promotes land fragmentation which will increasingly put pressure on the current farming system.The rise and growth of capitalist markets in Uganda and the increased connectiveness of our study area with this market goes a long way in explaining the developments described by the participants in the FGDs and interviews. Not only agricultural products such as goats, banana-beer and later cooking banana were transformed into commodities, also land and labour were commodified as their economic value got established and increased. Social classes, gender relations and men and women's contributions and positions in the local society changed alongside these developments. These trends align with Polyani's (1948) description of 'The Great Transformation' and similar narratives about commodification and the transforming power of the liberal, capitalist market economy on social changes. These changes are reinforced by population growth and the associated loss of communal areas and accompanying changes in social structures (Hardin, 1968;Juo & Wilding, 2001;Lambin et al., 2001;Leopold, 1949;Norton, 2005). Intensive 'modern' farming unilaterally focused on productivity and financial profit with its associated negative externalities (Dawson et al., 2016;Pretty, 2008) can be considered as a continuation of this transformation. More recently although also not new in human history, climate change has come up as an accelerator for some of these processes (Aravindakshan et al., 2020;Farnworth et al., 2016;Lambin et al., 2001;Thompson & Scoones, 2009). More concisely we recognize in our case study, and allude to, the following familiar and predictable patterns:1. Unequal distribution of resources and benefits:Commodity-oriented agricultural production leading to more wealth and better level of education, but wealth is unequally distributed thus leading to more inequity and women disempowerment. Participants in our case study showed strong support overall for the current mode of banana production and the expansion and ongoing intensification of production. It has brought economic gain to these communities and the predominant disposition could be paraphrased as follows: 'have you seen that very nice new house mister X build? He is a large banana producer'. Banana production was conceived as the pathway to economic prosperity. Although cracks appeared in this dream after the 2016-2017 drought (see Box 1), the idea seemed persistent and farmers and politicians, especially those who benefitted from banana production most, were reluctant to acknowledge the imminent threats that (some of) the familiar patterns we describe in this paper present to local livelihoods of especially the more vulnerable in the community and to the environment. We wondered though why also poorer households, who did not seem to benefit much from this pathway, still went along with it; was it the promise of wealth and prosperity which enticed them to focus on cooking banana production? In neighboring Rwanda, Dawson et al. (2016) identified similar developments for agricultural intensification and wealth-based inequality; of four identified household types only the people living in the two wealthiest types of households tended to benefit from agricultural intensification whilst the two poorer household types experienced more food insecurity and poverty. The difference between these two neighboring countries however is that farmers in Rwanda are prescribed what and how to grow by an authoritative regime and Ugandan farmers are not; they can make their own choices.That said, most study participants (men, women of diverse wealth status alike) perceived the available options for adjusting and reconfiguring their individual farm system as low. A feeling of being trapped was a common denominator in their perceptions. Dogliotti et al. (2014) describe a similar situation in Southern Uruguay where family farms have intensified agricultural production in response to external trends and have become 'locked-in' on unsustainable intensification trajectories. Dogliotti et al. (2014) blame this on the kind of adjustments farmers made in response to changing conditions; these were mostly incremental in nature, and this created 'the trap' as they went along. Only through a strategic and tailored re-design of the whole farm system, a small number of selected farm households managed to turn around their individual situation. Dogliotti et al. (2014) recognized though, that ways out for especially the more resource-constrained farm households would hinge on regional-level interventions, developments and policies as well.In this paper, we have gravitated towards the social dimension of sustainability in relation to agricultural Box 1. Climate change by increasing drought in study-area.intensification processes and realized that increased understanding of particularly the social dimension has a lot to offer, also in terms of understanding the drivers, underlying causes and impacts of changes linked to the productivity, economic, environmental and human dimensions. Fostering sustainable development requires an integrated, interdisciplinary, and holistic approach to agricultural intensification (Weltin et al., 2018) that makes the socio-cultural values that underly the envisioned development pathway explicit. Because sustainable development is connected to social justice, it is deeply value laden (Thompson, 2007) and tends to have cultural and moral significance. The required research approach therefore deviates from the implicitly assumed (objectivist) epistemological foundation that considers science as objective and value-free (Bawden, 2012;Cundill et al., 2012). Feminist scholars such as Longino (2005), Haraway and Harding (1993) argue that it is impossible to eliminate (all) valuedriven assumptions in science and that inference by contextual values should therefore be part of the scientific endeavour (Longino, 2005, pp. 4-5). According to Longino (2005, p. 8) researchers can be committed to understanding whilst providing multiple perspectives on social and political dimensions of systems and their development as long as bias is recognized and avoided. Feminist epistemology further considers that plural perspectives are rooted in a particular context and acknowledges that these pivot around power (Anderson, 2006;Harding, 1993).Intensification trajectories with the familiar patterns of unsustainable development as observed in our case study are associated with over-emphasis on economic values and commoditization, and the priority for the individual, as reflected in the notion of 'methodological individualism', the notion that the eventual unit of analysis is the individual (Norton, 2005, p. 238). Broadening the set of values to include environmental and communal values has been promoted as an approach to solve the kind of wicked problems (Rittel & Webber, 1973), we present here (Norton & Thompson, 2014). Our analysis provides a background for 'place-orientation'; an understanding of the circumstances in which the described problems are embedded and therewith an opening to address these problems adequately through social learning (Cundill et al., 2012;Norton, 2005;Norton & Thompson, 2014). By emphasizing a focus on marginalized actors and their perspectives next to actors with power, feminist enquiry has the potential to open the floor to diverging interests often overlooked in participatory and stakeholder processes which tend to favour more powerful actors. This focus could be embedded in a future-and communityoriented approach that supports development pathways by designing strategies and tactics based on shared economic, environmental and communal values building on shared principles and goals (Mcdonough & Braungart, 2002).With regards to the question what sustainable development would look like for this community, we argue that this can only be defined by or at least together with community members (Thompson, 2007). For this to work, it is essential that also the perspectives of the non-powerful are known, considered and acted upon (Cohen et al., 2016). It is the landless farm labourers, the wives of men with only small landholdings, the first wives of farmers who invest in second or third families, and the young men and women from large families with limited resources who are likely to benefit least and suffer most from a continued focus on agricultural intensification of commercial cooking banana and specifically its negative externalities. Sustainable alternatives will look different for different individual or groups of people (Thompson & Scoones, 2009) but need to appeal to their (broadened set of) values and provide real opportunities in order to oppose the prosperity through banana intensification promise.We presented women and men farmer's observations on and perceptions of the sustainability of ongoing intensification trends in banana production for a subcounty of Isingiro district over five dimensions; ecological, economic, social, productivity and human. The practice of thinking through all five dimensions in the assessment of sustainability of agricultural intensification processes represents a system perspective illuminating aspects directly driven by agricultural intensification which are often neglected in studies on this topic. We show how increased understanding of particularly the social dimension can support the understanding of drivers and underlying causes of changes linked to the other dimensions of sustainability in the context of smallholder farming. Through our gender lens also the distinct realities of women and men were presented which enriches this analysis of agricultural intensification processes.The farmers participating in our case study narrated that the ongoing intensification of cooking banana production in Rugaaga subcounty has led to significant positive changes in the period between 1998 and 2018 such as increased income and improved access to water. They acknowledged however that this intensification process was not sustainable. At field level for instance, depletion of soil fertility was presented as problematic and current production levels were seen as unlikely to be maintained under similar management conditions. From a farm systems perspective, which includes a focus on the ecological, social and human dimensions of sustainability next to productivity and economic, a multitude of other negative externalities and consequences were observed. Within farming households, over-dependence on cooking banana resulted in vulnerability to droughts and malnutrition and disempowered women as compared to men. At community level, social stratification increased; a new social class built up prosperity while poor household suffered from increasingly restricted access to the resources they need to maintain their livelihoods. We recognized that the observed trends are not unique but can be observed in different shapes and on varying timelines throughout the world. More specifically these trends lead to unequal distribution of resources and benefits; reduction of diversity and ecological processes; intensification-degradation spirals; loss, depletion and pollution of resources; and increased vulnerability for volatility and change.Our analysis contributes to understanding of the socio-ecological system which is essential to embark on a pathway towards sustainable development. At the same time this is only a first step. Next steps to advance sustainable intensification are that stakeholders broaden their set of values to include environmental and communal values away from the current over-emphasis on economic values prioritizing the individual and that they include the perspectives of marginalized community members.No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7b3f55cf66b5b79a4b1b186e84d91e46","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/20eb1f87-05d2-422a-811f-d873532e2b72/retrieve","id":"-574382952"},"keywords":["African drylands","cereal crops","climate change","IITA","soil and water management","TAAT Program","technology deployment","transferable assets"],"sieverID":"85c971f6-ee85-41ef-bd3f-1bc5fcf0540b","content":"This paper describes the opportunity for combining climate action and improved food and nutritional security as mutual elements of rural development projects, with particular reference to the situation in the African Sahel. This progress is achieved by identifying climate-smart agricultural production technologies and bundling them into solutions for inclusion within larger projects and programs. Seventeen (17) such technologies are offered in this chapter that represent genetic innovations, improved soil and water management, and directed improvement across landscapes. Examples of the efficacy of these technologies are presented based on results from the African Agricultural Transformation Program (TAAT) with specific reference to improved cereal production. An example of the deployment of TAAT technologies for millet and sorghum involving 83,620 households managing 123,863 ha led to nearly 200,000 MT of increased food production worth about $42 million. This effort led to an estimated annual increase of 177,279 MT CO 2 e in biomass and soil worth $3.9 million, assuming buyers could be found. The relationship between three principal drivers of agricultural transformation, the public, private, and farming sectors, is considered in terms of how these different technologies are mobilized and deployed. The potential for increasing food supply and carbon gains under current agricultural investment levels across the Sahel by International Financial Institutions, about $683 million per year, is described. This chapter then offers recommendations in how improved rural development projects combining climate action and food security in the Sahel may be designed in the future.Adaptation to climate change by small-scale farmers is considered an important part for the climate solution agenda [1,2]. This is specially the case in the Sahel where food security is tenuous and becoming more so due to rising temperatures and more episodic precipitation [3,4]. Awareness of this situation is not new, and several farming technologies were identified and modified that allow rural households to cope with increased risks through reliance upon improved crop varieties, more efficient water harvesting, protection of soil quality and participation in well planned, systems-level improvements to their agro-ecosystems [5]. Indeed, isolated cases of successes are documented and used as the basis of designing larger, subregional projects [6] intended for the joint purpose of increasing food and nutrition security in ways that constitute climate action by legions of small-scale farming households [7,8].All rural development projects require inclusive and active participation by the public and private sectors, and the client farmers themselves, because local organizations acting through public works and as customers of proven production inputs represent a complete package toward change. Rural development projects are often financed by sovereign loans from International Financial Institutions (IFIs). It is the design and implementation of these projects that prove difficult. In some cases, countries receiving sovereign country loans rely upon suboptimal, existing technologies and are reluctant to involve what they perceive as overly expensive international partners. In other cases, it is not the technologies that are flawed, but rather the manner that they are bundled as solutions, because effective interventions seldom require only one new technology but rather balanced sets of accompanying production inputs and innovative practices [9]. In yet other cases, it is not the solutions that are inadequate, but rather their manner of deployment, often in expectation of too rapid adoption [10]. Complicating this arena is the growing recognition that small-scale farming households are both victims of climate change yet offer the means to effect corrective actions when offered the opportunity and incentive to do so [1].Dryland farming is the dominant mode of livelihood across the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Africa, a transition zone about 400-600 km wide that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in Senegal to the Red Sea in Djibouti and Indian Ocean in Somalia [11]. Climate-smart solutions and modernization of technologies are critical to improving agriculture in the zone. The Sahel is home to a population of about 110 million persons, the majority of whom rely upon agriculture through the cultivation of about 30 million ha. Landscapes are flat to gently undulating and rainfall at theses latitudes is concentrated in a single growing season between June and September, with a total annual precipitation of only 150-600 mm that is often deposited by only a few heavy storms. Daytime temperatures often exceed 40°C. The natural vegetation ranges from semi-desert in the north to woody grassland in the south. Millet is widely grown in the Sahel and Sudanese zones, but so too is sorghum and maize. New varieties of wheat can be grown too, particularly during the cooler months [12]. Semi-nomadic pastoralism is widely practiced and overgrazing has led to extensive land degradation and desertification. Rice cultivation is possible in some areas, most notably the valleys of major rivers, and represents an important crop in household diets and livelihoods. The adjoined Sudanese Zone receives greater rainfall (600-1200 mm per year) but is confined to a 2-3 month window and its farmers are faced with similar challenges to crop production as their neighbors in the Sahel [5].Agricultural production in the Sahel is perilous because of severe and cyclical droughts [13]. Other soil limitations exist due to low water-holding and nutrient retention capacities and soils are often sandy and acidic [14]. Because of their unfavorable soil physical properties and low nutrient reserves, soils of the African drylands present a challenge to farmers [15]. Clearly, farmers in the Sahel are acutely aware of drought as a chronic risk and are prepared to adjust their cropping strategies accordingly. Population densities in the agricultural areas remain relatively low, with 0.5-1.5 ha available per capita. Land availability alone does not assure rural prosperity in the Sahel owing to the poor crop productivity resulting from low rainfall and chronic risk of drought. Despite the severe conditions experienced by farmers in the Sahel, large opportunities are available for employing improved soil and water management technologies, including those important to climate actions [5].The Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation Program (TAAT) deploys proven technologies to African farmers, including those in the Sahel. TAAT arose as a joint effort of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) and is a crucial component of the latter's Feed Africa Strategy [10]. It is organized around 15 \"Compacts\" that represent priorities and partnerships to achieve food security in Africa and advance its role in global agricultural trade [16]. TAAT operates a Regional Technology Delivery Infrastructure that offers a menu of tested and proven food production technologies for nine priority commodities to program partners and stakeholders. These technologies are bundled into \"technology toolkits\" [17] that are included within country projects and deployed through extension campaigns. These technologies include improved crop varieties, seed systems innovations, accompanying soil fertility and pest managements, harvest and postharvest handling, digital applications, and value addition processes [18], providing Regional Public Goods that attract broad public interest and recognizable benefits. TAAT offers a unique collaborative platform where government, international donors, private actors, and nonstate actors committed to advancing transformative agricultural technologies connect with those who need them most, particularly within programs addressing agricultural production and rural development. It offers a mechanism for the development community to buy into proven technical advances [19]. This paper describes how TAAT's technologies are of benefit to the Sahel and how they may be better integrated within climate action efforts.Solutions are available that assist farmers in the Sahel to increase productivity and achieve food security while also being able to tackle environmental challenges posed by drought, land degradation, and climate change. The solutions are based on greater access to proven technologies that remain under-recognized, inadequately delivered or too difficult to access. Once mobilized, however, key technologies may be bundled into toolkits offering solutions to those seeking to modernize and transform dryland agriculture by combining improved crop varieties, more effective water conservation practices and proven approaches for soil fertility management [9,17]. Cereal improvement in the Sahel focuses upon millet, sorghum, maize, and wheat that are both drought-and heat-tolerant [20]. Better water management achieves water storage from contour bunds, water harvesting within zaï pits, diversion of seasonal floods, and small-scale irrigation schemes [21,22]. Practices for integrated soil fertility management involve rotation with legumes, fertilizer micro-dosing, strategic timing of nitrogen application and effective use of organic resources [14]. Larger-scale impacts are achieved through transition from open fields to agroforestry parklands, improved rangeland management and other climate actions specifically targeted to semiarid agro-ecologies. It is essential that these technologies become incorporated into larger rural development projects, but first they must be readily understood by development planners, extension supervisors, and business persons seeking to enhance the lives and livelihoods of farmers. The Sahel is one of the areas of the world that is unfairly penalized by industrial polluters in developed countries, and the impacts of climate change it suffers are not of its own making. Inclusion of these technologies into rural development projects, including those financed with sovereign loans from International Financial Institutions, and embedding them into country-level climate actions serve to correct this disparity.TAAT offers 17 technologies useful to both rural development and climate action (see Table 1). These technologies are grouped according to their relationship to improved field crop varieties (four crops), better management of water resources (four technologies), relationship to integrated soil fertility management (four technologies), and possibilities for system-level improvement (five technologies). Not considered among these technologies is rice (Oryza sativa), an important irrigated crop of Sahelian river basins, and animal enterprises that are extremely important across the Sahel but beyond the scope of this paper.These technologies relate to four cereal crops with unrealized potential in the Sahel: millet, sorghum, maize, and wheat.Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) is the staple cereal in the harshest of the world's major farming areas: the arid and semiarid region extending between Senegal to Somalia. Withstanding hot, dry, sandy soils, it is adapted toward survival under harsh conditions [20]. It is amazingly drought-tolerant and able to germinate at high soil temperatures and in crusted soil, it withstands \"sand blasting\" and grows under low soil fertility, and it resists pests and diseases such as downy mildew, stem borer, and parasitic striga. It also grows well in both acidic and saline soils. But its most rugged land races are characteristically low yielding and may not respond well to inputs, and for this reason there is need for improved varieties and their accompanying seed systems. Breeding efforts have led to increased micronutrients (e.g. iron and zinc), and some improved \"sugary\" types can be harvested at the milk stage, and roasted and consumed like sweet corn. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is responsible within TAAT for millet improvement, offering many new varieties for testing by national systems or release to development efforts.Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is a physiological marvel; it is extremely drought tolerant and light efficient, with one of the highest dry matter accumulation rates among cultivated crops [20]. It is versatile in its use with some types boiled like rice, others cracked like oats, others malted for brewing, and some milled and baked. The whole plant may be used as forage or hay. ICRISAT is also responsible for sorghum improvement, including in the Sahel. Currently available improved varieties and land races have several favorable characteristics including good seedling emergence and rapid early root development, rapid tillering leading to multiple heads, and long growing cycles to make the best of favorable rains. It can be manufactured into a wide variety of foods and used to substitute for imported grains. These properties combined with sorghum's use as an animal feed suggest that national planners are well advised to regard sorghum as more than a drought-hardy subsistence food.Considerable gains in maize (Zea mays) improvement have been achieved in the area of drought tolerance that now make this crop less risky in the southern reaches of the Sahel. Drought tolerant maize varieties have a 20-35% larger grain harvest under moderate drought conditions but may not respond as favorably to occasional years of excellent rains due to their shorter maturity times [23]. Hybrid varieties are marketed under commercial license, while open pollinating varieties can be multiplied and sold free of royalty by farmers and community-based producers. The African Agricultural Technology Foundation has sublicensed 22 seed companies to produce Drought TEGO™ for commercial distribution, and more will follow [18]; but these hybrids have been slow to reach West Africa.The trait of heat tolerance is now incorporated into improved varieties of wheat (Triticum spp). Heat stress and drought are among the most predominant constraints affecting wheat across Africa [24], especially at the reproductive stage during flowering and grain filling, leading to low grain yield or even crop failure [25]. Wheat production has increased significantly in the Sahel over the past several years due to the rapid increase of area planted to these newly released heat-tolerant varieties. Varieties that can withstand temperatures up to 4°C greater than previous lines are available. As a result, farmers are achieving higher and more stable yields, reaping up to 6 t ha −1 . The success also has policy implications by convincing country decision-makers that domestic wheat production is a solution to reduce the massive dependence upon wheat imports.These technologies relate to different forms of water management, including the design of small-scale irrigation systems.Bunds refer to a micro-catchment technique where low raised walls are arranged in specific patterns on farmlands to collect and conserve water and to reduce soil erosion and gully formation [26]. Bund walls are constructed with soil and/or rock, either by hand or tractor. Designs of bund walls are adjusted to local conditions and sociocultural contexts, but the two main types are contour bunds (or contour ridges) and semicircular bunds (or half-moons). Contour bunds are suitable for uniformly sloping terrains with even runoff, and the retaining walls can stretch hundreds of meters across landscapes. Semicircular bunds operate in a more localized manner [21]. Installing contour bunds can increase grain yields of sorghum by 80% and maize by 300% compared to traditional land management without micro-catchment. Community works that stabilize slopes and better harness seasonal rainfall by constructing and reinforcing bunds are an important element of agricultural development projects in the Sahel.Micro-catchment approaches to water harvesting in the Sahel include planting pits, locally known as zaï [15]. Zaï pits also rehabilitate crusted and degraded lands. These structures are made by digging shallow basins of 20-40 cm diameter and 10-20 cm deep into the soil. The pits are prepared during the dry season by farmers allowing the shallow holes to collect water, wind-driven soil particles, and plant debris [5]. Moisture becomes collected inside and below the pits that also serve as localized targets for soil fertility improvement. The technique can improve millet and sorghum production by Blending Climate Action and Rural Development in Africa's Sahel DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103817 60-90% depending on precipitation and soil fertility. When properly managed, these pits become a permanent feature of the field that collects off-season or early rainfall.Exploiting water from rivers and streams during the rainy season to fill channels and direct them to adjacent fields by construction of spates is a strategic small-scale irrigation system. Spate is an ancient approach but under some circumstances, it remains relevant today [5]. This system diverts water from normally dry riverbeds at the onset of seasonal rains and directs it to croplands, converting them into seasonal flood plains. Community consensus assures equitable distribution of these floodwaters, including those further downstream that also rely upon the same water. Managing floodwater is inherently difficult because of the power they hold, but the rewards to managing these waters in arid and semiarid areas are great, and for this reason, the opportunity exists in public support of spate irrigation as a localized civil engineering challenge.Irrigation assures that the water requirements of crops are met and the development of community-based irrigation schemes is an essential component of agricultural development in the Sahel [5]. Irrigation consists of two phases, the first where water is diverted from its source and delivered to the vicinity of croplands, and the second where it is applied to fields in a scheduled and calculated manner. Application strategies vary with the volumes, quality, and pressure of water delivery and may be grouped into flood, furrow, sprinkler, and drip irrigation. Irrigation presents a key solution to addressing present and future crop production constrains due to the effects of climate change on weather patterns. Within the context of practical rural development, a focus upon small-scale irrigation schemes in addition to larger, more centralized schemes should be considered.These technologies relate to more efficient use of mineral fertilizers, maximizing symbiotic biological nitrogen fixation and improved use of farmer-available organic resources.Fertilizer micro-dosing is based on the application of small amounts of mineral fertilizer in a shallow hole about 5 cm away from the crop stem [15]. Micro-dosing is as simple as applying one bottle cap filled with 3-5 g of fertilizer to each planting hole and is best combined with the addition of organic materials, particularly composts and manures. The total amount of fertilizer used in micro-dosing can vary significantly depending on the planting density, ranging from 50 to 100 kg of fertilizer per ha. This addition results in healthier crops that are better able to counteract mid-and late-season drought as a means to adapt to increased climate variability. A well-timed dose of fertilizer results in increased crop yields ranging from 40% to 120%, providing high returns to modest investment. The micro-dosing technique significantly increases the use efficiency of nutrients and water, particularly when combined with other climate-smart practices such as zaï pits [5].The key to achieving high crop yields and maintaining soil fertility is to apply the right fertilizers at the correct rate and time. Too often, timing is ill considered, particularly in relation to nitrogen (N) topdressing of field crops. Typically, N fertilizer is added to soils once or twice over the season, first as a pre-plant addition and second as a single topdressing, but more frequent and smaller doses are more efficient [27]. The basic principle of this approach is to apply a small quantity of N at planting and progressively add moderate amounts as topdressing during periods with sufficient rainfall when plant nutrient demand is largest. Farmers can top-dress N using readily accessible types of fertilizers such as urea and calcium ammonium nitrate, and the total application rate is based on yield targets and regional recommendations [5]. In some cases, N can be added just prior to, and worked into the soil during weeding, resulting in more efficient combined field operations.Legumes are very important to the rainfed cropping systems of the Sahel, particularly cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) and groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) [20]. Intercropping is best practiced by farmers during years of favorable rainfall by growing understory grain legumes between cereal rows at very low densities. More common is crop rotation of cereal and legumes, with a few (e.g. two-four) cycles of cereals punctuated by legumes [15]. Legumes access atmospheric nitrogen through symbiosis with rhizobia, a process that provides both additional protein to the household and residual nitrogen to the land [28]. The rhizobia needed for biological nitrogen fixation of these crops are often native, but their populations may be suppressed in hot, dry soils [14]. When well nodulated, nitrogen fixation is sufficient to secure a grain legume harvest and contribute about 50 kg or so organic nitrogen to the following crop. Unfortunately, legume inoculants containing elite strains of rhizobia are not widely available across the Sahel, so need exists to develop the capacity to manufacture and distribute them through commercial channels [5].A majority of soils in the Sahel are characterized by low water holding capacity and limited availability of plant nutrients because of their low clay and high sand content [15]. Farmers across these cereal-based drylands must better manage organic resources in ways that optimize limited rainfall and costly inputs of mineral fertilizer [13]. The maintenance of soil organic matter and carbon stocks is strongly determined by the amount of crop residues available for addition to soils and the competing need for livestock feed and stalks as cooking fuel and building material. Mulches that cover soil surfaces greatly reduce soil erosion, runoff, and evaporation, leading to about 70% increased cereal harvest. Incorporating fresh plant materials or animal manure is another option to compensate for unfavorable soil physical properties. At the same time, mineral fertilizers applied in conjunction with organic resources have greater nutrient use efficiencies. These examples of Integrated Soil Fertility Management illustrate the need for farmers to make best and balanced use of crop residues and other available organic resources [14].Blending Climate Action and Rural Development in Africa's Sahel DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103817Several systems improvements result in more resilient agricultural landscapes and are best implemented at the community or landscape levels including the control of insect invasions, elimination of parasitic striga, introduction of trees to open croplands, improvement to rotationally grazed lands, and the local production of biogas.The Sahel is characterized by major invasions of insect pests such as the yellow desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) and fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda). These outbreaks pose a major threat for farm households and undermine larger efforts to strengthen food systems [29]. Locusts are notoriously difficult to control once large swarms accumulate and spread over expansive areas. Following favorable rains, vegetation is sufficient for multiple generations of locust to spread across agricultural landscapes, devouring everything in their path. Early warning and preventative control are keys to stopping locust populations from reaching epidemic proportions. Spraying with chemical insecticides controls desert locust but to be most effective, insecticides must be applied directly onto migrating swarms. Spraying interventions for smaller areas can be performed by teams on foot with knapsacks, whereas for larger areas there is need for vehicle mounted nebulizers or specialized spray planes.The invasion of fall armyworm across cereal croplands throughout Africa, including the Sahel, also represents a major threat to food security [30]. TAAT offers a rapid response kit consisting of a custom-built cargo tuktuk, power sprayers, safety equipment, commercially recommended pesticides, farmer information, and communication materials [5]. Early control of armyworm is also achieved through maize seed treatment with Syngenta's FORTENZA DUO, offering protection to maize crops up to 4 weeks after germination. Authorities in countries worst affected by fall armyworm are encouraging all maize seed producers to treat their seed with this product.Striga is a parasitic weed-attacking cereal and other grass and invading cropland of the Sahel. The damage inflicted by striga begins underground where its roots enter the host, feeding on its nutrients and moisture and releasing toxins into the plant causing twisted, discolored, and stunted growth [31]. After feeding below ground for 4-5 weeks, a fast-maturing shoot emerges that produces attractive spikes of violet (Striga hermonthica) or red (Striga asiatica) flowers that mature into capsules containing abundant, tiny, long-lived seeds. Parasitism greatly reduces crop yields. Striga attacks millet and sorghum, but these crops show some tolerance to its effects; maize is more severely affected. Farmers respond to striga by hand weeding and, less often, burning affected fields, but the efficacy of these practices remains questionable considering the large numbers of tiny seed that a single, mature plant produces and returns to the soil.The agricultural community has responded by developing several new approaches to striga control. These approaches involve crop resistance to systemic herbicides, striga-tolerant cereal varieties, and striga suppression by nonhosts and trap cropping [32]. Farmers must become aware that striga infestation is a solvable problem and gain experience in the use of breakthrough technologies. Local and national authorities must fully recognize the threat posed by striga and prioritize efforts to overcome it within rural development agendas. By attacking this plant parasite through a combination of approaches, it is now a solvable problem and offers an important element of comprehensive rural development packages wherever this parasitic weed occurs.Great potential for agricultural transformation exists through the conversion of open-field cropping to agroforestry parkland [33]. These parklands appear as wellspaced trees that protect the soil and contribute to soil fertility renewal. Because of these benefits, the crops that grow near or below these trees often perform better than those in an open field. Parklands also sequester significantly greater carbon stocks than open croplands in a way that mitigates emissions of greenhouse gasses. These increased carbon stocks may be 20 or 40 MT C per ha greater than that retained by open cropland and hold potential to sequester carbon into deeper soil horizons [34]. The agroforestry parklands that appear in the cultivated drylands are often the result of clearing trees rather than planting them, and this creates difficulty in carbon accounting, but when open cropland is purposefully transitioned to agroforestry parkland, the carbon gains are clear and attributable to the efforts from tree planting and protection [5].Afforestation of open croplands is best practiced at the community level because of the demand for quality tree seedlings, the need to plant them at scale, and the collective responsibility to protect them until these trees are well established.Transitioning from degrading open cropland to productive agroforestry parkland should be considered within agricultural development efforts as sound from both the food security and climate action perspectives, noting that success also involves capacity development at the community and extension advisory levels.Raising livestock is a critical enterprise across the Sahel but overgrazing has resulted in extensive land degradation [35]. Cattle, sheep, and goats are regarded as assets among pastoralists living in areas too dry for reliable farming, and strategies are available to improve the grazing and forages that these lands provide. Water harvesting technologies presented in this paper may be practiced on noncultivated lands planted with improved grasses and browse species, particularly near watering holes where animals are likely to concentrate during the dry season. Stover and stubble of cereal fields are grazed following the harvest of millet, sorghum, and maize, and these lands are then fertilized by the manure that is deposited. While this system is robust as long as rotational intervals are of sufficient length, these systems begin to degrade if cropping becomes to frequent. One means to strengthen the crop-livestock system is to improve these rotational pastures using either annual or perennial grasses. These grasses not only provide feed for livestock, but they provide ground cover that resists wind and water erosion.Improved rangeland management falls into four general categories that are best applied in packages. Agronomic measures are associated with annual crops in a rotational sequence and are impermanent and of short duration. Vegetative measures involve the use of perennial grasses, shrubs, or trees and are of longer-term duration. Structural measures reduce erosion and capture water and may result in a permanent change in landscape. Management measures involve a fundamental change in land use and may be directed through policy intervention [35]. Improved rangeland management is best conducted at the community level where lands are collectively managed. This participation reduces the risks of conflicts between farming and livestock that often lead to larger social misunderstandings.This technology refers to the production of combustible gas within small-scale digesters at the household level. It is based on the utilization of plant and animal residues as organic wastes that are decomposed in anaerobic tanks, forming methane and a digested slurry byproduct useful as an organic fertilizer and soil amendment [36]. Gasses rise and collect through an outlet for burning as cooking fuel and the sediments sink into sludge for later collection. Gasses may be produced in a variety of vessels located above-or belowground. These reactors may be fashioned from metal tanks, built from concrete, or purchased as complete units. Attraction to this technology is growing across the Sahel because of its socioeconomic and environmental benefits, and it has a proven ability to improve the lives of rural households that would otherwise burn wood and charcoal, or cook using purchased kerosene [5]. The diversification of energy supply creates economic opportunity to those who build and equip these digesters, and it reduces local air pollution and deforestation due to firewood collection and charcoal making, and increases sequestration of carbon into soils amended with the digested organic sludge. Carbon sequestration is also achieved by the substitution of renewable energy production from methane as compared to reliance upon fossil fuels. Biogas generation is best considered among a suite of rural development options that are designed to educate stakeholders and supply the hardware and infrastructure it requires [37].  managing about 124,000 ha and leading to the increased production of 199,000 MT of grain worth US $42 million. Individual households greatly benefited in terms of food security, and the average increase income from participating in the technology delivery effort was about US $504 (calculated as a weighted average from Table 2). Activities involved 16 partnerships and delivered 1391 MT of improved certified seed. The right technologies taken to scale can deliver benefits to partnering farming communities that rely upon millet and sorghum as a staple crop. Investment in TAAT technologies results in economic gain across a wider selection of commodities as well. Table 3 provides information on the increased yields of five cereal crops (rice, wheat, maize, sorghum, and millet), increased cost of production and economic returns to that investment. The average increased productivity was 1.3 MT ha −1 worth US $333 resulting from $136 increased investment, mostly as fertilizers. This results in an average increased value of US $197, ranging from $85 (for millet) and $299 for rice. Note that except for rice, these crops were grown under rainfed conditions. The partial benefit to cost ratio ranges between 1.8:1 (for millet) and 3.2:1 (for maize), suggesting that economic returns are solid but not spectacular.Table 4 shows projections of carbon sequestration resulting from TAAT interventions to cereal production including system gains, values, and household contributions. These projections are based on reports of increased yield, coverage, numbers of adopters (see Table 2), and assumptions concerning biomass, moisture content, Harvest Index, crop carbon content, CO 2 e:crop C ratio, planning horizons, and the price of CO 2 e. This approximation allows for the estimation of realizable gains of CO 2 e associated with increased biomass and residual benefits in terms of CO 2 e gain per ha and as total average gain per project-year and household [18]. Realizable gains were achieved based on increased focus upon climate-smart field practices and products within the technology toolkits employed by participating farmers and development projects. This approach results in estimated CO 2 e gains averaging 4.4 MT ha −1 across these five cereals and a total of 2.1 million MT of CO 2 e per year worth about US $65 million. When the number of adopters is considered, this amounts to per capita emissions reductions of 1.5 MT CO 2 e per household per year, similar to the targets established by Branca et al. [38] and Lipper et al. [39]. This analysis is incomplete, as it does not take into account carbon losses from other farming practices; rather it focuses on peak seasonal increases.The feasibility of organizing small-scale African farmers into a force devoted to carbon sequestration is an exciting opportunity, but one that does not greatly benefit individual climate-smart practitioners from the standpoint of direct financial benefit as their gains are worth only $16 household per year at current prices of CO 2 e. The The TAAT Clearinghouse is developing a conceptual and mathematical model useful in understanding and managing agricultural transformation in Africa. This model has both qualitative and quantitative features.These realms are based on the roles and responsibilities of three interacting driving sectors: policy, markets, and farmers. It assumes that policies drive public works and rural development programs, markets determine the scope and appeal of commercial products and related investments, and farmers undertake individual and local collective actions. When these roles are depicted along three triangular coordinates, a conceptual model emerges that contains different transformational realms, many of them widely recognized. Grassroots actions occur where farmers dominate adoption processes (Figure 1), commerce is conducted where businesses buy and sell agricultural technologies, and government-led parastatal operations exist where government controls agricultural opportunities and trade. Other familiar blended realms exist including agricultural extension, public-private partnerships, and farmer-commercial alliances (e.g. out-grower networks). At the center of these activities, we identify complex alliances, where all three drivers meet on equal terms to pioneer progressive change. Each of these seven realms is briefly described.Grassroots actions (upper center) are localized in scope and conducted by farmers and their communities as opposed to being guided by those in more centralized Based on the annual increase of CO 2 e and overall mean weighted by beneficiary households from Table 2.Estimated carbon offsets from the adoption of TAAT technologies by African cereal producers (based on [18]).positions of power. Farmers belonging to grassroots organizations rely on individual and collective action to effect desired local change and often receive guidance from local agrodealers and extensionists.Business-led development (lower left) incorporates a range of strategies aiming to establish markets and provide economic opportunities that drive rural growth and employment opportunities. In more advanced settings, the private sector plays the lead role in research and development as well, translating breakthrough technologies into useful products and services.Farmer-business alliances (center left) allow small-scale producers to transition into commercial agriculture by providing information, inputs, and markets, usually based on a focus commodity. This alliance can operate as out-grower schemes and is further advanced through digital services and e-commerce platforms. The \"farm to fork\" approach relies upon such alliances.Public-private partnership (center bottom) is an agreement between the public and private sectors for the purpose of accelerated delivery of products or services beyond the reach of either. In some cases, it increases the efficiency of public services, and in others it is intended as an accelerated pathway to privatization. It may be based on contracts where government assigns some of its responsibilities to a private partner and often involves joint investment under terms attractive to business. Blending Climate Action and Rural Development in Africa's Sahel DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103817Agricultural extension (center right) applies new knowledge to agricultural practices through farmer education and advisory services, leading into increased productivity and improved livelihood. It relies on farm visits, group interactions (e.g. demonstrations and field days), and mass information campaigns and is increasingly reliant on digital devices and linkage to education systems. The effectiveness of current extension systems in Africa is often questioned.Parastatals (lower right) are organizations operating under political authority, often as a state-capitalistic form of agricultural production. They are often criticized for being inefficient, corrupt, and for underpaying producers but at the same time have a proven ability to transfer modern farming techniques and new commodities to small-scale producers. Parastatals are increasingly targeted for privatization through public-private partnership.Progressive complex alliances (center triangle) represent a difficult to achieve form of stakeholder partnership that effectively balances the interests of rural communities and the private and public sectors. In many cases, the loans from development banks are focused on combined actions involving these stakeholders through their combined participation and investment, although formula for success remains ambiguous as it involves complex, knowledge-rich problem-solving across competing interests and site-specific settings.Successful partnership within rural development programs striving for agricultural transformation, particularly within the realm of progressive complex alliances, requires effective communications between sectors (Figure 2). Between farming communities and the public sector, these communications involve advocacy on behalf of agricultural producers and their workers, and effective response from agricultural extension services. This dual mechanism ensures that public investment in advisory services is demand-driven. Unfortunately, rural communities often find it difficult to express their needs, and those that do so on their behalf may behave opportunistically. At the same time, public agricultural extension services are too often understaffed and underresourced, yet it is this communication that can lead to more efficient performance by extension specialists and project designers.Communication between farming communities and the private sector is more direct. Businesses stream input products through agrodealer networks to farming communities and later purchase their surpluses through buyers. Accompanying these input products is information about them that is intended to achieve or maintain various competitive advantages. Farmer feedback on the availability, efficacy, and affordability of these input products is mainly felt in terms of seasonal purchases. At the same time, businesses seek direct feedback from potential customers to guide their selection of product lines and advertising campaigns. One difficulty in this dual mechanism is the inability of poorer farmers to purchase the full suite of recommended input products proven to maximize their production. There is also the risk that unless accompanying technologies are properly bundled, the returns to any one technology may be disappointing. This communication mechanism can lead to alliances between farmers and businesses in terms of bulk purchase of production inputs and better coordinated marketing of produce.Interactions between the private and public sector are focused on regulatory approval of products and steering financial incentives, often in ways designed to maximize profits or taxation and that often bypass farming communities. Nonetheless, the opportunities for co-investment into modernizing technologies through these dealings are enormous and can lead to the formulation of needed public-private partnerships that indirectly benefit farmers. One risk of this dialog, however, is where haphazard or opportunistic privatization may result in parastatal inefficiencies being replaced with private sector excesses.Clearly, the optimal situation is where tripartite communication leads to the design and successful implementation of rural development projects that engage and benefit all three parties: rural communities, the private sector, and government (Figure 2). These complex alliances require problem-solving with clear agreement of which difficulties exist, how to merge possible solutions within everyone's best interests, and how different options most appealing to those different interests may be blended or pursued simultaneously. From the programmatic perspective, it is also important to establish how resulting activities may be accurately and continuously monitored within the context of contingencies and corrective adjustment. This level of communication as it relates to the deployment of modernizing agricultural technologies in Africa has proven to be no easy matter. Technologies may be positioned within the agricultural transformation triangle assuming that the relative importance of the three different drivers can be assigned (Figure 3). This positioning is based on the relative importance of each driver in the deployment of technologies and development outcomes, recognizing that all of them must ultimately be acceptable to rural households to become widely adopted, whether as technology customers or management practitioners. This approach, applied to the 17 technologies appearing in Table 1, results in clusters of technologies including those that are mainly achieved through grassroots efforts (upper center), or by private sector investment (lower left). Note that the positioning of new cereal varieties depends largely on whether they are hybridized or open pollinated, as the latter allows for communitybased and farmers-own seed production. Also note that systems-level changes (e.g. containment of insect invasions, elimination of Striga, agroforestry parkland establishment) require greater involvement of the public sector. One advantage of this approach is that technologies appearing in different clusters and within realms (see Figure 1) can be considered mutual objectives within a program's operational framework.Substantial if not ample investment in the agriculture of the Sahel occurs (Table 5). Researchers at the Policy Analysis and Research Group at of Evans School of Public Policy and Governance (University of Washington) recently compiled data from three major International Financial Institutions (The World Bank, the African Development Bank, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development) to provide insights into the \"Investment Landscape\" in Africa [40]. The database contains all investments in 46 sub-Saharan African countries from the three IFIs as of May 2021 and includes \"active\" or \"implementation\" projects, loans, grants, or other financial investments [40]. To make funding by country more comparable, investments were annualized by dividing the total financial commitment per project by the number of years of implementation. Codes were applied that allowed summation for Sahelian countries including Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and South Sudan, but not those with a small portion falling within the Sahel (e.g. Benin, Cameroon, and Nigeria). Annual investment in agricultural development across all of sub-Saharan Africa totaled US $6.24 billion in 2019, with 11% of it (=$0.68 billion) directed to the Sahel. This amount is proportionate in terms of population (±0.3%) and represents 20.1% of total IFI investment. Considering the importance of agriculture in the Sahel, this percentage seems somewhat low.Overall, the per capita annual investment from the three IFS in the Sahel zone is about $30. What can be done with this resource and how may it best be leveraged toward greater benefit? Table 3 suggests that the cost of modernizing Sahelian farming is about $136 per ha, so these funds are only sufficient for improved production on only 0.22 ha on a household basis. This intervention results in an additional 288 kg food production and revenues worth $73. These modest gains can lead to substantial improvement in lives. If 50% of the funds earmarked to smallholder agriculture in the Sahel (about $295 million, calculated from Table 5) was directed to the delivery of TAAT cereal technologies, this is sufficient to \"jump start\" improved production across 2.17 million ha (calculated from Tables 3 and 5) resulting in 2.8 million additional tons of cereal and profits of over $560 million per year from improved agriculture. A similar analysis may be performed based on funds directed to cultivated lands rather than households ( investment is sufficient to modernize production on 0.34 ha, producing about 445 kg of additional cereal, leading to a huge improvement in food security (calculated from Tables 3 and 5). These same gains would lead to an estimated additional 3.3 million MT of sequestered CO 2 e across the Sahel worth $71 million (calculated from Table 4), assuming that buyers for that offset due to climate adaptation can be found. One complication, however, is that the costs of directly quantifying carbon offsets on a smallholder farm may well be greater than the value of those offsets themselves ($33 calculated from Table 4). Clearly, potential exists for combined agricultural development and climate action given the current level of development investment, and the challenge is to better realize these gains so that even more investment will follow.Modernizing technologies literally bring scientific breakthroughs to life in ways that reduce risks and better manage cause-to-effect relationships. Technology transfer determines how this modernization occurs as a process involving a wide assortment of stakeholders from government, the private sector, financial institutions, and research, civil, and educational institutions [41]. This process intends to work on behalf of both the holders of technologies and those who stand to benefit from them most. In the case of climate action through the deployment of agricultural technologies, these users are primarily land managers directed toward larger global needs through practical self-interest, mainly acquisition of more secure harvests and greater protection of farm resources. Policies may set the stage for change, but ultimately environmental gains are achieved through combinations of purchased inputs and improved management practice, with each category representing a different type of technology holder. Input delivery is largely the concern of the private sector in terms of commercial distribution; and management practices are influenced by agricultural service providers, including public extension. Change is quickest when the two work in conjunction, and this forms both a challenge and opportunity to the design of rural development projects. Two large regional programs of the African Development Bank are well positioned to benefit from the technologies and deployment approaches described in this chapter, The Programme for Integrated Development and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Niger Basin (PIDACC [6]) and The Horn of Africa Project. PIDACC is funded through the Niger River Authority and TAAT is one of its funded partners. It covers nine countries in the Niger River Basin: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote D'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria. Its activities include climate-smart technologies related to rice, maize, wheat, as well as soil and water management applied at the field, household, and landscape levels. It operates under the premise that farmers who adopt and exchange improved crop varieties, proactively manage pest outbreaks, better utilize water resources, and maintain soil fertility are in a much stronger position to secure food and income for their families and protect their agricultural resource base.Horn of Africa is an AfDB regional project at an advanced stage of preparation. Its partner countries will deploy proven, climate-smart agriculture technologies across Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan from 2022 to 2028. The objective of the project is to build resilient food and nutrition insecurity and climate change response, engage women and youth, and reinforce peace and security across the Horn of Africa. Specifically, it aims to (1) improve agro-sylvo-pastoral productivity, (2) increase incomes from that production, and (3) enhance the adaptive capacity of the populations to better prepare for and manage climate risks. Clearly, the right technologies, including those featured in this chapter, are required to achieve these goals. AfDB is also leveraging co-financing from major climate funds in ways that can impact upon UNFCCC Nationally Determined Commitments.There is a strong relationship between dryland soil and water management technologies available to small-scale farmers and the need for climate action in the Sahel and elsewhere [19]. Within the context of risk reduction, many of the technologies appearing in this chapter are intended to adapt to climate extremes, particularly higher temperatures, moderate drought, and erratic and intense rainfall. These adaptive technologies are particularly important at the field and household level. Farmers that better capture rainfall or protect their cropland soils from wind and water erosion are better able to feed their families. The same is true for communities that adopt and exchange improved seed of open pollinated cereals such as millet and sorghum. In this way, adaptation to climate extremes offers a \"drawdown\" of greenhouse gasses that are accumulating in the atmosphere.The most direct mitigative effects are to increase standing biomass and to manage that biomass in ways that become sequestered into soil organic matter and woody biomass. This is readily feasible using improved soil and water management practices across large areas of land over sufficient times to realize these gains. In general, about 50% of increased productivity is carbon and a small proportion of that enters the soil as residues for longer-term retention. One means to greatly increase standing biomass is to move from rainfed to irrigated agriculture, and another is to rehabilitate lands that are degraded and overgrazed. It is possible to combine adaptive and mitigative technologies as when bunds intended to capture water and reduce erosion are planted with perennial vegetation. Also, the same contour structures used to protect croplands may be constructed in adjacent rangeland to assist in the re-establishment of native vegetation. At the same time, carbon gains in rangelands must be weighed against the increased livestock carrying capacity and the methane they release through digestion.Substantial opportunity for carbon gains across landscapes exists through the steady transition from open-field cultivation to managed parklands, often through the introduction of economically useful trees. The agroforestry techniques to achieve this transition are well described. Re-vegetation has a transnational dimension through the ambitious Great Green Wall for the Sahel and Sahara Initiative to act as a barrier to further desertification [42]. Another proactive mitigation response occurs through bio-digestion in terms of fossil fuel replacement. One huge advantage of mitigation over adaptation is that quantified carbon gains may then be offered for sale and traded with polluters as a condition of their continued emissions. Another is that they can be applied to the Nationally Determined Contributions of countries within climate agreements [43]. Ultimately, rural development projects and climate actions must be viewed as one and the same."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"40e2a9b6ef9916014eab98d1e89a0255","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/51f920d0-3229-4d52-be0a-ce91ad702111/retrieve","id":"-647887874"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"62b52570-70ce-49c7-be43-c4e8fb4a88d2","content":"Nearly 1 billion people worldwide live with severe hunger and poverty. Paradoxically, the majority are farmers who struggle to obtain food and a livelihood from small plots, despite declining soil health, worsening plant disease and pest problems, an increasingly variable climate, and weak policies and markets. Enabling farmers to defeat these challenges, and hunger and poverty, requires research and innovation.CIAT is just as dedicated to this task today as it was when the Center opened its doors in 1967. The difference is that the Center now brings to the fulfillment of its mission nearly 5 decades of experience. At the core of CIAT's mission and strategy is the concept of eco-efficiency. We strive to make production more competitive and profitable as well as sustainable and resilient through economically and ecologically sound use of natural resources and purchased inputs.Crop improvement is a key leverage point for achieving those aims. CIAT conducts research globally on cassava, common bean, and tropical forages as well as on rice in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our researchers work in two other critical areas as well -soils and policy analysiswhich cut across all tropical crops and environments.Through research on soil management and land restoration, the Center opens new pathways toward sustainable intensification of crop production, while improving the ecosystem services on which rural communities depend.our strategies and programs promote gender equality and women's empowerment.The Center has a proven record of delivering results that address the challenges smallholders must face as well as a solid reputation for integrity, innovation, and transparency in all of its activities. We take pride in our strong and growing partnerships with NGOs, governments, the private sector, donors, and other CGIAR centers around the world.CIAT and its partners deliver new technologies, methods, and knowledge that better prepare farmers to meet current and future needs. The Center leverages the power of scientific and policy research to drive agricultural innovation and rural development. We're proud of our ability to generate cost-effective, equitable solutions to poverty and food insecurity, which can be scaled up to deliver lasting impact.CIAT has a strong presence across the tropics, with headquarters in Colombia and regional offices in Kenya and Vietnam. Our global team assesses opportunities to achieve food security and sustainable development, and responds with unique approaches designed to produce sustainable changes in crop production, agricultural value chains, rural landscapes, and policies that positively shape smallholder farmers' lives.CIAT develops scalable solutions to farmer needs.Switzerland has been a high-profile partner of CGIAR since its founding in 1971. With this commitment, Switzerland is fulfilling the pledge of its Federal Constitution to contribute to \"the relief of poverty and suffering in the world, respect for human rights and promotion of democracy, the peaceful co-existence between peoples, and the protection of the natural basis for life.\" Switzerland's international cooperation in agricultural research for development is greatly influenced by current global trends and challenges. These include pressure on natural resources, climate change, population growth, and weak policies, markets, and institutions, all of which are making the lives of the rural poor more difficult.Global challenges call for globally coordinated solutions. That's why CGIAR and CIAT work closely with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Switzerland's international cooperation agency within the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). CIAT's mission is in harmony with the commitment of SDC's Global Programme Food Security to a world free of hunger and malnutrition in which smallholders contribute healthy food that is accessible to all, while increasing their incomes and safeguarding the environment. SDC's ongoing investment in the CIAT-coordinated Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) has been especially impactful. As a result of the network's interventions, more farming families have access to improved bean varieties with strong market appeal, new crop management techniques, micronutrient-rich bean products, and valuable skills and knowledge.Switzerland also makes available the scientific and technical resources of a large number of public and private institutions, such as ETH Zurich and Lausanne, the University of Bern, Swiss Tropical Institute, Nestlé, Agroscope, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, and Swiss College of Agriculture.We thank Switzerland for giving agricultural research high priority in its national development policy. SDC's strategic investments in CIAT over the years have contributed significantly to our mutual goals towards sustainable rural development. We look forward to strengthening our partnership and contributing to our shared aims of transforming the global food system.Rising to the challenge By growing upwards, climbing beans produce up to three times more than bush beans on the same area of land. They also permit two growing seasons per year and in some regions, three.Climbing beans make a lot of sense in Rwanda, which is fast running out of land. Already one of the most densely populated countries in the world, Rwanda's population of around 11 million people is expected to nearly quadruple by the turn of the century. Given the country's pressing need to sustainably boost food production, the introduction and widespread adoption of improved climbing beans offer great promise as part of a broad package of measures.Beans are crucial to the Rwandan diet as a source of protein. But \"climbers\" also help protect against soil erosion, and some of the improved varieties released by the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) -through the CIAT-coordinated, SDC-supported Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) -are disease resistant and higher in essential nutrients like iron and zinc.In just a few years, the improved varieties have become the beans of choice for many smallholders, and their high productivity has transformed beans in Rwanda from a subsistence to a cash crop. The country now produces more beans than it can consume and exports the surplus. It even supplies the new varieties to scientists in other Central and East African countries for their own bean improvement programs.Climbing beans make excellent use of limited space, and can produce yields three times higher than bush beans.Hoa Bui, an ethnic minority farmer, lives in a stilted house nestled amid green sloping fields in Vietnam's upland northwestern district of Tan Lac. When she started growing chayote -the leafy vegetable enveloping everything around the house -she fetched a high market price for it, earning the family food security, enough money to buy a gas cooker, and gasoline to take the children to school.But the proverbial honeymoon with the green leaf is over. The market has become a bit crowded, driving prices down. In 2010, Hoa Bui's village planted 3.5 hectares of chayote. Now, that figure is 30. This year, Hoa Bui and some other farmers are switching to more lucrative crops to sell in Hanoi's biggest food markets.It might seem odd to boast about the fact that a crop promoted by the \"Small-scale agro-enterprise development in the uplands (SADU)\" project, managed by CIAT and funded by SDC, is being swapped for alternatives. But the project's work was less about chayote and more about responding to the market. Judging what niche crop to cultivate instead of chayote, based on how alternatives are doing in the market, did not occur to farmers like Hoa Bui in the past.Farmers learned how to conduct a very basic cost-benefit analysis, deciding where to invest their resources for maximum returns, based on current trading patterns and prices. Equally impressive is the fact that their produce still ends up in some of the finest restaurants in the country more than 4 years after the project has ended.Of course, SADU staff were not only concerned with facilitating markets. Chayote also has limited vulnerability to pests, and helps control soil erosion. In addition, climate conditions in the uplands allow communities to supply regional markets during the off-season. SADU further emphasized the need to build institutional links, provide training, and supply cutting-edge technologies.Smallholders mentored under the SADU project have reaped significant gains: Targeting mainstream markets, linking traders and farmers, and introducing farmers to improved technologies has paid off. In addition to selling chayote leaves, farmers can also feed them to pigs. Thanks to training in basic market economics, remote communities are testing niche markets by themselves, experimenting with high-value chili, coriander, and ginger.In 2010, Hoa's farm produced 1.6 tons of chayote fetching a net income of US$350. Had she harvested maize instead, she would have brought in no more than US$40.Today, SADU farmers continue to sell lucrative crops in Hanoi's biggest food markets, which ultimately end up at some of the city's top restaurants.good agronomic practices, such as adequate planting density and timely weeding. The partnership then began developing links between farmers and grain buyers, which helped to stabilize previously volatile prices. From there, the alliance engaged with policy makers, who, recognizing that beans could benefit farmers, traders, and the country, listed them on the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, guaranteeing farmers the international market price for their beans.Between 2004 and 2012, the area of land used for growing beans in Ethiopia increased from 181,600 to 330,000 hectares, and bean production more than tripled. More importantly, farmers increased their income more than sixfold, from US$120 per ton of beans to $650, and the number of people employed to sort, process, and transport beans quadrupled to 12,000.The development of Ethiopia's bean market is just the tip of the iceberg. The approach has been so successful that not only has it been applied to other crops in Ethiopia, including chickpea, wheat, and sorghum, but it's also spreading to other countries. By working with partners to establish enabling conditions, CIAT and Switzerland are promoting sustainable economic growth.In Eastern Africa, a market-led approach is transforming agriculture, driving institutional change, and stimulating economic growth. At the center of this revolution are smallholder farmers growing improved white pea beans for export. CIAT and its partners in Ethiopia, working through the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), formed a coalition with all the players in Ethiopia's white pea bean industry, including farmers, research institutes, grain traders, community associations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), seed producers, and policy makers. Together, they identified the major obstacles preventing growth in the industry -including limited access to improved bean seed -and decided to take joint responsibility for developing the sector.As the bottlenecks to seed production and distribution were removed, PABRA began promoting 6 PABRA's market-led approach is fueling economic growth.PABRA, through its wide-spanning network across 29 countries in Africa, harnesses private sector power to reach more farmers and consumers faster. PABRA collaborates with over 30 private seed companies of all sizes to promote improved bean seed adoption. For example, Dryland Seed Company in Kenya has increased seed sales to 250 tons, up from just 30 tons in 2010. PABRA's private sector partners produced and disseminated 9,360 tons of improved seed to nearly 3 million households in 2012 alone. By strategically engaging with private sector partners, CIAT builds its demand-driven relationships for major development impact."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f3630ddd9e65c8adb616219bff32afc9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/599f250d-b5c7-4087-a544-1d3281b82632/retrieve","id":"624944435"},"keywords":["income","greenhouse gas emissions","agriculture","smallholder","Nigeria 1. Introduction"],"sieverID":"0bb66dda-a690-4778-b40a-be9d3f3bb6fd","content":"This study analyses the trade-offs between welfare (measured by income) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using a farm-level optimisation model that incorporates the predominant cereal (sorghum), legumes (groundnut, soybeans), livestock (cattle, goats and sheep)  and trees (locust bean, camel's foot) representative of production systems at two contrasting sites in northern Nigeria. The optimisation model maximises the value of total farm production, subject to constraints on GHG reductions of 10%, 25% and the maximum reductions that allow households to meet minimum consumption requirements. Substantive reductions in livestock and legume production would be required to achieve the maximum possible reductions from current emissions and would reduce household income by 22% and 44%, respectively. Under current production practices, reductions in GHG emissions reduce household income, which suggests the need for further research on productivity-enhancing technologies that could both enhance income and reduce GHG emissions in these production contexts.climate change (Bellarby et al. 2014). There are few empirical studies on trade-offs between farmlevel GHG emissions and welfare (e.g. Paul et al. 2017) or on the potential productivity improvements required to avert trade-offs (Tittonell et al. 2015).Northern Nigeria provides a conducive context to evaluate trade-offs between welfare and agricultural GHG emissions due to the importance of smallholder farmer production. It may be a potential \"hot spot\" for GHG emissions (Rufino et al. 2015) because it is the most degraded region in the country (Farauta et al. 2011), given the severity of the loss of soil fertility and subsequent low productivity (Maiangwa et al. 2007). Furthermore, the potential trade-offs of reducing GHG emissions on smallholder farms are often unknown (Nicholson et al. 2011;Thornton et al. 2018).A key question is whether changes in smallholder farm-level production activities can reduce GHG emissions without negatively affecting household income. This research addresses this question for smallholder farms using crop-tree-livestock systems at two sites in northern Nigeria as case examples. The objective of this study was to assess trade-offs in reducing GHG emissions and income for two representative smallholder farms in northern Nigeria.This study developed farm-level linear optimisation models for each of two locations in northern Nigeria and used the models to assess the agricultural production patterns and full household income (value of goods produced, whether sold or not) with and without restrictions on GHG emissions. An optimisation model is appropriate in this case to assess the effects on income, resource allocation and market impacts (e.g. total supply and hired labour use) of restrictions on GHG emissions. A constrained optimisation analytical approach allows the assessment of counterfactual outcomes based on additional constraintsallowed amounts of GHG emissionsthat are difficult to assess with other approaches and the currently available data. The linear optimisation approach is employed in this case due to data limitations, although linear (or linearised) models have been applied commonly in many similar types of analyses (Van Wijk et al. 2014;Sempore et al. 2015).The study sites were located in Kano and Jigawa States in Nigeria (Figure 1). Kano State belongs to the Sudan ecological zone and is the most extensively irrigated state in the country (NAERLS & PRSD 2012). The homogeneity of the tree, crop and livestock production systems was responsible for the random selection of Bunkure local government area (LGAs) from 44 LGAs in Kano using the card method developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security ([FAO & CCAFS] 2012). Maigateri LGA in Jigawa State was purposively selected as an area with representative current tree, crop and livestock production practices due to the large number of livestock and its proximity to Zinder region in the Republic of Niger, where successful climate-smart technologies are already established (Reij & Smaling 2008). Both LGAs are characterised by numerous smallholder farms integrating grain (sorghum) and legume crops (soybean and groundnut), trees (locust bean [Parkia biglobosa] and camel's foot [Piliostigma reticulatum]), and livestock (cattle, goats and sheep). Sorghum grain and legume seeds are consumed by humans and the residues (fodder and bran) are fed to animals or sold. Leaves and seed pods from tree pods are used as animal feed, and branches and trunks are used for fuel.The optimisation model maximises the value of household agricultural production during a single year (with monthly periods for labour) subject to resource constraints (regarding land and labour), purchased input requirements, selected biophysical interactions among components of the crop-treelivestock production system (such as the use of residues for animal feed), livestock nutrient requirements and restrictions on GHG emissions. The model assumes fixed quantities to describe the input requirements for each of the components. The objective function to be maximised is:, where the subscripts are defined as follows: j is crop activity (one tree species, two crops at each location) p is crop product (grain, bran, hull, fodder, pod, pod valve, branch, trunk) a is animal activity (three livestock species: cattle, sheep, goats) q is animal product (milk, meat, manure) i is input (N fertiliser, urea, seed, other agricultural chemicals) and m is month of the year;and the variables are defined as: Z = annual value of all farm production less cash costs CROPPRODjp = annual production of product P from tree or crop activity J CROPPRICEjp = sales price per unit of product P from tree or crop activity J ANPRODaq = annual production of product Q from animal species A ANPRICEaq = sales price per unit of product Q from animal species A INPUTUSEi = annual use of purchased input I INPRICEi = purchase price per unit of input I WAGE = hourly wage paid to hired labour (same in all months) HIREDLABm = hours of hired labour in month M This objective function maximises the total value of products derived from farm production activities, 1 less the costs of hired labour and the value of purchased inputs. The activities that generate revenue for the farm household include trees, 2 sorghum, legumes, 3 cows, goats and sheep, each of which has sub-products used as inputs on the farm or sold (see the table in Appendix 1). A total of 20 (j, p) combinations of activities and sub-products are represented. Purchased inputs include fertiliser (NPK mix and urea), an aggregation of agricultural chemicals, and seed for grains and legumes.The quantities of tree and crop products generated by the farm household are a function of land allocated to each of the three tree and crop activities and associated product yields:where YIELD CROP jp = annual yield per hectare of product P from tree or crop activity J; CROPPRODjp = annual production of product P from tree or crop activity J.This equation indicates that the physical quantity of production of product P from tree or crop activity J is equal to the product yield per hectare times the amount of land allocated to the activity.The quantities of animal products generated by the farm household are a function of the number of animals kept and the yield of products per animal species per year:where YIELD ANIMAL aq = annual yield per animal of product Q from animal species A; ANPRODaq = annual production of animal product Q from animal species A.This equation indicates that the physical quantity of produced of product Q from livestock species A is equal to the product yield per animal times the number of animals.Land and labour are basic farm household resource constraints. Land in the study area is often classified into upland and lowland. The upland was modelled because it is the predominant land type used for rainfed production. The land constraint equation for the farm household was:where LANDj = hectares of land allocated to production of tree or crop J, and HHLAND = total cultivatable land available to the household.This inequality ensures that the land used for crop or tree production is less than or equal to the total available for use by the household. The labour constraint is given by:, where CROPLABjm = hours of labour required in month M for tree or crop activity J, ANLABam = hours of labour required in month M for animal species A, and HHLABm = hours of labour available from the farm household in month M.The monthly hours of labour required equal the labour requirements per unit of land allocated to J, times the hectares of land use for J and per animal of species A, times the number of animals of species A, and this must be less than the sum of available household labour and hired labour.The quantities of purchased inputs used for production are calculated based on land area and inputs required per hectare:where INPUTREQij = is the requirement of purchased input I per hectare of land used for tree or crop activity J, and INPUTUSEi = total annual use of input I.This equation indicates that the physical annual quantity of purchased input I used is equal to the amount of input I required per hectare times the amount of land allocated to the activity.Animal species represented in the model are assumed to require energy and protein for production, which must be consistent with both the minimum and maximum allowable quantities of dry matter (DM). The energy and protein constraints are specified as:, where NUTREQan = the annual requirement of nutrient N (metabolisable energy, ME; crude protein, CP) per animal of type A, FEEDjpa = annual amount of product P from crop or tree J allocated to animal type A, and NUTCONTENTjpn = content of nutrient N per product P from crop or tree type J.The amount of two nutrients in the feed provided to animals of species A (amount fed times nutrient content) must be greater than the total requirements of those animals.For the consumption of dry matter (DM) by animals, two equations are specified:where DMLOWa is the minimum required annual DM intake for animal type A, DMCONTENTjp is the DM content of the product P from crop or tree J, and DMHIGHa is the maximum allowed annual DM intake for animal type A.These two constraints imply that the annual DM in feed must be larger than a minimum required annual amount of DM intake by animal species A, but less than a maximum possible annual amount of DM (which is due to rumen fill constraints).The model also needs to ensure that the sources and uses of products in the model are consistent with a physical mass balance. This balance constraint for tree and crop activities is specified as:where HHREQCROPjp = exogenous minimum annual allowable household use requirement of product P from tree or crop J, which includes uses as food, gifts, construction and fuel, CROPSALESjp = annual amount sold of tree or crop product P from crop or tree type J, and INTINPUTjp = amount of crop product P from crop or tree type J used as an intermediate input in other crops. This constraint implies that the uses of tree and crop products are less than or equal to the amount available based on production. For animal products, an equation with a similar purpose is:HHREQAN aq + ANSALES aq + MILKCALF aq ≤ ANPROD aq , where HHREQANaq = exogenous minimum annual allowable household use requirement of product Q from animal type A, ANSALESaq = annual amount sold of animal product Q from animal type A, and MILKCALFaq = annual amount of milk needed to feed calves (cattle only). This constraint implies that the uses of animal products are less than or equal to the amount available based on production. The requirements of households for tree, crop and livestock products (HHREQCROPjp and HHREQANaq) are assumed to be exogenous. This implies that satisfying the balance constraint will require the household to produce quantities sufficient to meet these requirements. This constraint is a key determinant of the \"maximum allowable\" GHG reductions, that is, the \"maximum allowable reductions\" must be consistent with meeting the assumed household requirements for tree, crop and animal products.The model must also ensure that the use of manure required for crop production is consistent with the amount of manure produced by the animals:, where MANREQj = the annual amount of manure (from any animal species) required per hectare of land allocated to crop or tree J, and MANUREa = the annual amount of manure produced per animal type A. This constraint implies that the uses of manure in crop production are less than or equal to the total amount of manure (aggregated across all animal species) available based on animal production.A key addition to this analysis compared to others using a farm-level optimisation model is the calculation of GHG emissions from farm activities, given as:• GHGANIMAL a = TOTGHG, where GHGCROP j = the annual GHG emissions in CO 2 equivalents per hectare of land in activity J (for simplicity, this value does not include the effects of emissions from the application of lime, pre-farm operations during storage and transportation, as well as all mechanised farm operations, as these are minimal in this farming system), GHGANIMALa = the annual GHG emissions in CO2 equivalents per animal of type A, and TOTGHG = the total annual GHG emissions of the farm in CO2 equivalents. This equality calculates the total GHG emissions from farm tree, crop and livestock production. To assess the impacts of GHG reductions on farm activities and income, we specify an additional equation that limits GHG emissions:where GHGLIMIT = total annual GHG emissions allowed from the farm in CO2 equivalents.GHGLIMIT is the parameter modified in our scenarios to assess the effect on the objective function.The data to specify the parameters required for the optimisation model were derived from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were obtained from a purposive sample using participatory rural appraisal (PRA) in the form of focus group discussions (FGD) and key-informant interviews. A total of 45 and 33 farmers participated in the FGD in Maigateri and Bunkure LGA respectively. A subsequent small-scale survey building on the FGD was administered to a random sample of 50 farm households in Maigateri and 55 farm households in Bunkure during the 2016/2017 production season. The FGD and survey (cited collectively as \"field survey data\" below) provide basic information about the characteristics of households and their farming systems. The size of the random sample was limited due to resource constraints, but the consonance between the FGD and the survey findings suggests that assumptions about household characteristics and farming systems are reasonably representative of some farm types at the two study sites. Secondary information to develop the empirical model included previous literature, publicly available market data and analyses conducted on a one-hectare field of sorghum-soybean under the canopy of eight locust bean trees in Bunkure and sorghum/groundnut cultivation beneath six camel's foot trees in Maigateri LGA. The secondary data provided input requirements, product outputs and GHG emissions.The analysis includes two tree species that are commonly used by households in the two study sites: locust bean (Parkia biglobosa) in Bunkure LGA and camel's foot (Piliostigma reticulatum) in Maigateri LGA. For each tree species, the model includes the production of fodder, seed pods (pods, pod valves and fibrous material or \"bran\") and wood from the branches and the main trunk. Fodder is a key resource of tree production and is used as mulch and organic matter for grain production and as feed for livestock. The data required include the annual yields of the tree products, prices of outputs, inputs used in tree production and input prices. Yields were estimated based on secondary sources (see the table in Appendix 2). The productivity of trees in the Sudano-Sahelian savannahs was estimated to be between 2.5 m 3 /ha/year and 3 m 3 /ha/year, with per capita fuel wood consumption of between 0.75 m 3 /day and 1.0 m 3 /day ( LGA. We assumed yields at 50% for locust bean, based on a comparison of information about the two species from the Pl@ntUse website (2016a, 2016b). Prices of inputs and outputs and input use were derived from the field survey activities (FGD, key informant interviews and household surveys).The analysis includes the production of sorghum grain at both sites (both are located in the Sudan Savanna zone, where precipitation is insufficient to support maize production), as well as common legumes, viz. soybean in Bunkure LGA and groundnut in Maigateri. Fodder, grain and hull (\"bran\") are important resources from these crops and are used by the household for food, construction materials and livestock feed. Similar to the case with the trees, the required information about crops includes product yields, input requirements, and the prices of inputs and outputs (see the tables in Appendix 3 and Appendix 4). Yield data derived from the field surveys were complemented by published literature related to the use of crop by-products in livestock production. For example, byproducts from sorghum and soybean/groundnut production were derived using the formula for harvest index in Powell et al. (1995) and Bayala et al. (2014). Input requirements were also derived from the field survey data, complemented with published sources (e. Three livestock species are commonly owned on farms at the two sites: cattle, goats and sheep. Cattle provide milk, whereas all species provide for the production of some meat and manure, the latter of which is used in the production of non-legume crops. The data included productivity per animal species, including milk from cattle and average meat offtake and manure for all species (see Appendix 5). The animal-specific data required for modelling included the weight, average dry matter (DM) intake, yields of products and output prices (see Appendix 6). This information was derived from the field survey data, complemented by the relevant literature (Powell et al. 1995;Dupriez & De Leener 1998; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO] 1998; Ayantunde et al. 2000Ayantunde et al. , 2011)). Manure is a key output, in addition to milk (from cattle) and meat, but its production is difficult to measure. Manure production per animal was estimated based on Powell et al. (1995) and Ayantunde et al. (2000).In addition to the information on the animals, data were required on the nutritional value of the plant products used to feed livestock. These data comprise the DM, energy and protein content of fodder and the by-products of trees, sorghum and the two legume crops (Appendix 6). Data on dry matter (DM), metabolisable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP) were obtained from feed composition tables in Feedipedia (2017aFeedipedia ( , 2017b) ) and Dupriez and De Leener (1998). The recommended daily CP and DM requirement is 3% animal body weight (BW), with minimum recommended daily values of 2.5% and maximum possible values of 4.0% for cattle and 5.0% for sheep and goats. Per-animal ME requirements were 46.5 Megacalorie/day (Mcal/day) for cattle and 5.1 Mcal/day for sheep and goats. Values of ME for the maintenance of sheep, goats and cows producing less than five litres/day, derived by the FAO (1998), were adapted for the study area based on reported animal characteristics. Crude protein requirements for cattle were calculated as 0.4 kg/animal/day (for maintenance, growth and milk production), and 0.03 kg/animal/day for sheep and goats, based on animal characteristics from the field survey and FAO (1998) data on the animals' requirements.Calculating the amount of GHG emissions from farm production was the main component of our analysis, but site-specific empirical measurements were not availablesimilar to the case in relation to many other sites (Ortiz-Gonzalo et al. 2017). As a result, we used the guidance provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to estimate GHG emissions for the farmproduction activities at the two sites. (We did not include estimates of emissions related to household consumption or the marketing of products.) The IPCC (2006) defines three hierarchical tiers of methods used in the measurement of GHG emissions. These methods range from default emission factors and equations to the use of country-specific data and models to accommodate national circumstances. Generally, moving from tiers 1 to 3 improves the accuracy of estimation. However, it also increases the data needed for country-specific emission factors, as well as for land-use and management practices (i.e. activity data). In this study, the emission factors (EF) used to estimate GHG emissions were from the IPCC (2006) Tier 1 default equations based on data describing current farming systems in the region. A more detailed description of the methods used is provided in Appendix 7.We used Tier 1 default methods and emission factors (EFs) from the 2006 version of the guidelines of the IPCC (2007) that considered management practices on soils managed with applied nitrogen fertiliser inputs. Because the estimated carbon (C) sequestered in soil organic matter is greater than the C produced by soils, net emissions from soil organic matter (biomass) are assumed to be zero. Another source of GHG emissions is from burning biomass (such as crop residues). Values of CO2, nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO) were calculated using biomass burned (0.01 tonnes DM/ha) multiplied by the applicable EF. Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from soils comprise both direct and indirect components of a manure management system (MMS) and managed soil (MS). Other N2O emissions are direct N emissions from nitrite (NO3), ammonia (NH3), and nitrous oxide (N2O) from manure, tree and crop residues and fertiliser. All nitrous oxide emissions were converted to CO2 equivalents (100-year global warming potential) using a multiplier of 310 from the IPCC (2007). The Tier 1 default EF of 0.20, which corresponds to 20% for CO(NH2)2, was used for calculating CO2 emissions from urea fertilisation. IPCC (2006) indicates that CO and NOx have limited direct global warming potential, so their effects are assumed to be zero. Production of sheep, goats and cows used for milk, meat, manure and draft results in CH4 emissions from enteric fermentation and the MMS. The EFs for developing countries for sheep, goat and mature cows grazing on large areas were used to compute livestock-related methane emissions, which were then converted to CO 2 equivalents. In accordance with the IPCC (2007), a unit of CH 4 represents 21 units of CO2eq.  2006) document based on input for practices and yields from field survey data and other secondary sources. The text provides additional descriptions of the specific calculations. Appendix 7 provides additional information and references.We determined a baseline scenario representing current production patterns and examined how production activities and household income would change subject to reductions in GHG emissions. Three scenarios were developed in addition to the baseline for each location:• 10% reduction in GHG emissions compared to the baseline; • 25% reduction in GHG emissions compared to the baseline;• Maximum GHG emissions reduction for the Bunkure and Maigateri LGAs consistent with maintaining minimum household consumption requirements for tree, crop and animal products.These scenarios allow an assessment of the magnitude of income-emissions trade-offs for different assumed reductions, motivated by the expectation that higher required reductions will imply larger household income reductions.Although many outputs could be reported from the optimisation analyses, we focused on the changes in full income, GHG emissions per farm per year and production patterns (Table 3). For each of the two LGAs, there exists a substantive trade-off between household income and reduction in GHG emissions, but the changes in production patterns and values of the trade-offs differ in the two areas, given their base production patterns and input usage. In both LGAs, the amount of foregone income to achieve a 10% reduction in GHG emissions is relatively small, at 1%  Havlík et al. 2014;Herrero et al. 2014;De Pinto et al. 2016).The achievement of greater reductions in GHG emissions, of 25%, requires more adjustments to the production pattern of the farm, which now include changes in cropping pattern in addition to livestock reductions. In Bunkure, the reduction is achieved by lower production of tree and soybean outputs, which is accompanied by a reduction in the use of urea as a fertiliser. In contrast, for Maigateri, the 25% reduction is accomplished through decreased planting of groundnut in addition to reductions in livestock. However, another relevant effect is that the Maigateri household now has less need of hired labour, which is decreased by more than one-third as a result of the reductions in groundnut production. This analysis indicates that, although the net proportional influence on optimal farm income is similar in the two LGAs (17% and 18% respectively), the changes required to achieve these (optimal) reductions differ based on the production systemwhich suggests that farmingsystems specificity matters for the assessment of strategies to reduce GHG emissions.The maximum allowable GHG reduction while maintaining recommended household consumption levels is 26% in Bunkure. This reduction is accomplished through an additional reduction in tree and soybean outputs and the associated use of urea, so the pattern and effect on income are relatively similar to the scenario requiring a 25% reduction. In Maigateri, the maximum reduction in GHG emissions while maintaining household tree, crop and animal product availability is 30%, and this is accomplished through the additional reduction of groundnut cultivation, so again the adaptation of the production pattern is similar to that for the 25% reduction scenario. Importantly, nearly all labour hired in the baseline scenario is no longer necessary to achieve the maximum possible reduction.Requiring the reduction of GHG emissions on smallholder farms also affects the resource values (the marginal values of selected constraints, values not shown). In particular, the value of a marginal unit of land is reduced to zero if required reductions are 25%, which implies that the household would now not use all of its land (and by the assumptions of the model, would not rent it to other households, although this may be a possibilitybut not one that would be likely to achieve the desired reduction in GHG emissions). The marginal value of internally generated inputs, like fodder and manure, is also lowered by the restrictions, given that there is less need for their use. Finally, the marginal value of livestock products increased due to the scarcity of the products and because household production is now constrained to the amount required for household consumption, which means that there are no longer revenues generated from livestock product sales.It is useful to summarise the foregoing interactions between farm household welfare measured by full income and reductions in GHG emissions using two types of trade-off curves. An X-Y plot of GHG emissions and full income for the two LGAs (Figure 2) indicates the trade-offs between these outcomes, showing that initial reductions in GHG emissions require relatively limited foregone income, whereas the largest possible reductions in GHG emissions result in large income reductions. An alternative approach is to plot the costs of income foregone versus the achieved reductions in GHG emissions (Figure 3), which is conceptually similar to a marginal cost curve (in terms of income foregone) for reductions in GHG emissions. The marginal costs increase more rapidly for reductions in Bunkure than they do in Maigateri (although the starting income is also lower in Bunkure LGA). This implies that the costs of reductions in GHG emissions are likely to differ across production systems, which would suggest the need for additional site-specific analysis to inform decisions about least-cost GHG emissions strategies for smallholder agriculture in the region.   A key finding of our analysis is that reducing GHG from smallholder agricultural activities in this region using current production methods would require substantive changes from current agricultural production patterns and reductions in farm income. Reductions in income with increasingly restrictive constraints on farm-level GHG emissions are not surprising, because by its nature a more constrained optimisation problem cannot show an improvement in the value of the objective function. Thus, the contribution of this work is to highlight the empirical magnitude of the effect of restrictions on farm household incomes, production patterns, resource use and resource values. Our analysis also suggests that these influences could transcend those on the farms analysed through their effect on quantities of hired labour, and through market availability of products due to reductions in sales by farm households. Productivity-enhancing technologies may offer a means to enhance income and reduce GHG emissions, but require further research.Our analysis provides an initial conceptual and empirical framework for subsequent research, which would appear both useful and necessary given the diversity of responses observed for (only) the two different smallholder farm households we analysed. However, it is important to note a number of limitations in our analysis that might be addressed in future studies. First, the optimisation model developed for this study has a relatively simple structure due to limited data availability. Mean values are used to represent most parameters, and variation in costs, prices and production are not considered in the analysis, which omits the potential influences of cross-sectional and inter-annual variation that could be important to assess potential strategies to reduce GHG emissions and their trade-offs. Future work could usefully include the assessment of the influences of variation in these key assumptions. Additional data on farmer risk preferences or the use of a quadratic programming approach (Hazell & Norton 1986) would allow the mapping of a risk-efficient production frontier with and without restrictions on GHG emissions, which would complement and extend the findings of this study. However, this analysis would require data on a range of prices, yields and related emissions that would require substantive resources to obtain. Implicitly, this implies another potentially useful extension of our analysis to include the explicit representation of multiple years, which would also facilitate the representation of tree and livestock production that take place over longer time scales.Second, the opportunities for a reduction in GHG emissions and the effects on income were conditioned on maintaining an assumed minimum recommended consumption of tree products, crops and livestock produced by the household. We assumed this to avoid potential negative (direct) nutritional effects on the household from required reductions in GHG emissionsalthough indirect nutrition, health and educational effects are also possible due to reduced incomes. More sophisticated representations of household demand, as in Bakker et al. (2018) and Wossen et al. (2018), and clearer demarcation of the effects on different dimensions of food security (availability, access and utilisation), as described in Nicholson et al. (2021), would highlight other potentially important tradeoffs between food security and GHG emissions.Importantly, our analysis assesses the effects of reductions based on the characteristics of current (average) production technologies. As noted above, constraining GHG emissions without modifications to system components will lead inevitably to reductions in household welfare as measured by full income. Thus, addition analyses of the feasibility and benefits of new technologies or practices that combine higher yields and lower per-unit GHG emissions would be a key extension of this study. Previous studies (e.g. Bellarby et al. 2014;York & Rymer 2017;Tariq et al. 2018) illustrate the types of methods required and information generated, but analyses are not yet available for the northern Nigerian context, nor do they integrate this knowledge into multiple-product farm optimisation models to assess their fit within specific farming systems. The optimisation model framework we have applied in this study could be extended to include these alternative production practices, allowing the identification of those that best mitigate income-GHG emissions trade-offs. Productivity increases for livestock may be particularly important, given the proportion of GHG emissions arising from enteric fermentation (Ortiz-Gonzalo et al. 2017) and the reductions in animal numbers indicated in our analyses. Alternative complementary technologies, such as biochar cookstoves (Sundberg et al. 2020), may also modify the resource requirements (e.g. for fuelwood) of households and allow reductions in emissions. However, even with the availability of improved technologies, it is possible that income-GHG emissions trade-offs will persist, depending on the emission reductions desired from smallholder farms.Another limitation of our study is the relatively small sample of farms and the limited regional coverage of the empirical analyses. ), diversity in the characteristics of farms within the region make it difficult to generalise our empirical findings about changes to income and production activities, other than the above-noted conclusion that restrictions on GHG emissions will have a negative effect on income. However, the use of representative farm types at the two sites and with different production characteristics provides some initial evidence that effects may be similar for other types of farms within the region studied. In addition to addressing the other limitations discussed above, additional site-specific data collection and analyses are needed to reach generalisable conclusions with regard to the influences of GHG restrictions on household welfare.Above we have highlighted a number of implications for research, including the need for improved model representations, a broader scope of data collection and the further development and evaluation of productivity-enhancing technology with lower GHG emissions per unit of product. In addition, it is relevant to improve the knowledge base on the sources of GHG emissions in smallholder farming systems (as in Ortiz-Gonzalo et al. 2017). This will allow an improved and more site-specific empirical basis for the assessment and mitigation of emissions. Taken together, these knowledge gaps suggest the need for programmatic and policy actions related to the allocation of funds to agriculture research for development (A4RD), both by national systems and the CGIAR.In addition to the implications for knowledge generation, our analysis suggests that reductions in GHG emissions in the absence of changes to production practices would require compensatory payments to smallholder farmers to avoid placing the burden of reducing GHG emissions on the region's smallholder farmers. Although less common in lower-income country settings, payments of this nature mirror those made for environmental services in some higher-income country settings (Ezzine-de-Blas et al. 2016). In practice, such a payments programme would also require both funding support and administrative resources and capacity to be implemented effectively. This may imply that other strategies for national-level GHG reduction could be more cost-effective, even within the agriculture sector. There is likely to be an important role for the development and implementation of improved technologies that reduce total GHG emissions, not just per-unit emissions, given the future growth in production levels necessary to meet the needs of a growing population. If an emissions-reduction effort, a payments programme and/or the dissemination of improved technological options were implemented, this would also require enhanced training and resources for relevant extension personnel, e.g. to provide information on the best means of reducing emissions, receiving payments or integrating new practices into farming systems. For now, we are unaware of substantive policy proposals that would require GHG reductions by smallholders at the study sites, but as efforts to reduce GHG emissions accelerate, the information provided by this and similar studies may take on additional importance.Further, they did not consider the time interval for direct emissions from crop residue N. Respondents in both LGAs utilised small quantities of agro-chemicals, fertiliser and concentrates; as a result, offfarm GHG emissions were excluded from the GHG inventory.A sample calculation value of 0.5 tonnes/ha for agricultural residue biomass burned was used, but it might be zero. Values for mass burnt, which includes CO2, N2O, CH4, NOx and carbon monoxide (CO) was set at 0.01 tonnes DM/ha, with a value of 0.8 adopted as combustion factor (cf) for maize residues. Values for non-CO2 emissions from mass burning and cf were multiplied with the emission factor for the burning of agriculture residues (Gef, i.e. CO2 (1 515), N2O (0.07), CH4 (2.7), NOx (2.5) and CO ( 92)) to obtain estimates of non-CO2 emissions from mass burning of locust bean, camel's foot, sorghum, groundnut and soybean residues for the study sites. The model assumes the conversion of carbon monoxide (CO), which has weak direct global warming potential, while NOx may reduce warming, thus the CO2eq factor was set at zero.Given that the estimated C harvest is greater than the default C production for the tropical dry setting, the Tier 1 method assumes that carbon stock changes are zero and that dead wood and litter stocks present in cropland, agroforestry systems and orchards are at equilibrium. Subsequently, a conservative assumption of no net biomass accumulation for camel's foot and locust bean was adopted. According to Paul et al. (2017), changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks are slow and difficult to estimate, corroborating the findings of Palm et al. (2010) and Powlson et al. (2016). Thus, there was no need to estimate the carbon stock changes and dead organic matter (OM) needs in this system. However, this is contrary to much of what seems to be the case regarding soil organic matter (SOM) content in African contexts (e.g. Tully et al. 2015), which suggests a downward trend. Thus, an assumption of no change in soil carbon is probably overly optimistic.The primary focus of N2O emissions in this study includes direct and indirect emissions from MMS and MS. The amount of manure per hectare used for estimation was obtained from the survey, and IPCC default nitrogen excretion rates were used to multiply with default EFs from the IPCC guidelines. Rates were presented in units of nitrogen excreted per 1 000 kg of animal per day and applied to cows, sheep and goats using a typical average animal mass (TAM). According to the FAO, TAM for developing countries is set at 350 kg for local cows and 20 kg for sheep and goats. It was assumed that over 90% of the manure produced per household was collected, and that all of it was applied to fields for fertilisation. All manure was also assumed to be managed in a solid storage system, but urine was ignored.Other N2O losses considered are direct emissions from NO3, NH3 and N2 in nitrogen (N)-containing inputs such as manure, urine and dung, tree/crop residues and fertiliser in soils. Urine and dung inputs to freely grazed soils were also assumed to be small and thus were excluded from the model. The model assumes no harvest or return of below ground biomass, and only the application of fodder of soybean/locust bean and groundnut/camel's foot for sorghum production in Bunkure and Maigateri respectively. Nitrogen (N) content in a 50 kg bag of NPK fertiliser does not include urea and assumes a diammonium phosphate (DAP) composition for N fertiliser of 0.20 kg N. The study concluded the estimation of N2O emissions using the atmospheric deposition of N volatilised from soils. All emissions were converted to N2O by multiplying the values obtained by 44/28 (IPCC 2006).Extensive production of ruminant livestock, which includes sheep, goats and particularly cows, is used for more than one production purposemilk, meat and draftand results in CH4 emissions from enteric fermentation and MMS. The emission factors for developing countries that were used are 46 kg CH4 head -1 year -1 for mature cows grazing on large areas, and 5 kg CH4 head -1 year -1 for sheep and goats."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"845c7f790ad048a020f7c8b424dd748f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://dataverse.harvard.edu/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/PH2CCG/FBQPWO","id":"-932092574"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"957e9d6b-fca9-4d5a-9356-ce18dcf586ec","content":"This paper documents the construction process of the 2001 Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for Kenya, which is a part of IFPRI's analytic support to USAID's Action Plan for Kenya. This SAM is the base for a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of Kenya, which is an extension of the standard CGE modelling framework developed at IFPRI. The SAM disaggregates the entire Kenyan economy into 33 production sectors, of which 15 are agricultural sectors. Several structural and annual data sources such as national accounts, government accounts, balance of payments and foreign trade data, as well as the most recent IO table, SAMs for earlier base years and the 1997 Welfare Monitoring Survey for Kenya were used for the construction of the SAM.The history of Social Accounting Matrices for Kenya goes back to the year 1986.This was the base year for the first Kenya SAM, which was used as an input for a CGE-model in the Ministry of Planning and National Development. In a modified version, this SAM was also used as base for a computable general equilibrium (CGE) -model on Kenya's economy by Jörgen Levin (Levin J. 1998).The for the Kenya SAM.The first step in developing a disaggregated multi-sector (micro) SAM is the construction of a macroeconomic SAM, which captured the aggregated structure of Kenya's economy. The second step is the construction of a disaggregated Micro SAM as an expansion of an existing input-output (IO)-table concluding a series of activities, commodities, factors and institutions. The Macro SAM gives us a set of control totals for macro aggregates such as total gross domestic product (GDP) at factor cost, total imports & exports, total private consumption as well as total government and investment demand. The share of private consumption in GDP at factor costs is 89,5 %, while the share of government consumption is 19,5 % and the investment consumption's share in GDP at factor costs amounts to 14,8 %. Commodities are disaggregated into the same 33 sub-sectors plus accounts that capture transaction costs for exported, imported and domestic commodities respectively. Import and export data was made available by the Customs Department of the Kenyan Ministry of Finance and Planning, Nairobi.The factor classification of the micro-SAM distinguishes four production factors, that is, labour and capital, which divided into agricultural and non-agricultural respectively.The households are disaggregated according to location (rural/urban), gender of head of household and poverty status (ultra-poor, poor or non-poor). Table 3 describes the resulting 12 household categories and their particular share in total households. Although the Macro SAM is balanced, the data used to disaggregate the Micro SAM is from a number of inconsistent sources. This results in a number of imbalances between row and column accounts in the prior Micro SAM, which must be removed in order to arrive at a final balanced 2001 SAM for Kenya. A cross-entropy approach to SAM estimation is used for the balancing process leading from the unbalanced prior to the balanced final SAM. Since data availability and data consistency are limited, the cross-entropy approach is an appropriate tool for estimating a balanced and consistent database starting from an unbalanced database that contains all available information.A SAM can be defined as a matrix T of monetary flows T i, j representing payments by account j to account i. Following the convention of double-entry bookkeeping, total receipts and total expenditures of a particular agent i have to be equal (i.e., respective row and column sums are balanced). This is shown below.Dividing every cell entry of the flow matrix T by its respective column total generates a matrix A of column coefficients:In matrix notation it follows that: y = A y Balancing a SAM is an underdetermined estimation problem using information from various sources and for various years. The cross-entropy approach allows the incorporation of errors in variables, inequality constraints, and prior knowledge about any part of the SAM (as opposed to just row and column sums as in the RAS balancing method). 3 These features of the crossentropy estimation technique allow considerable flexibility in incorporating specific information and implementing limits to which the estimation results are restricted. The general crossentropy approach is described by the following optimization problem. 4 In this equation A is a coefficient matrix representing any prior SAM. Despite being inconsistent and imbalanced, this prior SAM represents the starting point of the balancing process aimed at determining a new and balanced coefficient matrix A*. 5 The described problem is set up to minimize the entropy difference between the two coefficient matrices. This becomes clearer if the optimization problem is rearranged as follows:Additional equality and inequality constraints can be formulated as linear 'adding-up' constraints on various elements of the SAM. For an aggregator matrix G, which has ones for those Micro SAM entries that correspond to a certain Macro SAM aggregate and zeros otherwise, the formulation for k such aggregation constraints is given by where y(k) is the value of the aggregate and the T ij 's are the Micro SAM flows.Measurement errors in variables can be incorporated into the system through where y is a vector of row sums and x the initially known vector of column sums measured with error. The error e is defined as a weighted average of known constants where w is a set of weights W, v are constants, and weights are subject to For the purposes of the Kenyan Micro SAM, a symmetric distribution around zero given lower and upper bounds is generally chosen using five weights. 6 Consequently, the optimization problem of minimizing the entropy difference now contains a term for the weights W, as shown below.Solving the above optimization problem in conjunction with the constraints imposed on the system derives a balanced SAM that is as close to the prior SAM as possible while still satisfying the constraints. By varying the value of the standard errors on the constraints it is possible to adjust the confidence placed on various areas within the prior. For instance, it is possible to lower the standard errors on the macro control constraints so as to ensure a closer match of the Micro SAM's aggregates to those found in national accounts. The remainder of this section outlines the constraints used for the Kenyan SAM."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"881b5877aedfa4fc2bd32bd95ac0e8b0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a26c865d-cea4-4f96-b030-dddb40b3a183/retrieve","id":"1253724335"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"14d7cbe0-7b1e-4561-b11a-5dc2440f03a8","content":"A large number of Chinese farmers, extension workers, scientists and policy makers contributed to project R&D activities, with the support of a small cadre of international scientists from CIMMYT and IWMI -to all thanks is due. During their studies students have contributed to the collection, analysis and interpretation of data. Thanks are due to the technicians and support staff who facilitated operations. Finally, the contributions, advice and patience of CPWF managers notably the Theme 1 leader is appreciated.The project goal was to improve the incomes and livelihoods of smallholder farm families in the rainfed cropping areas of Henan, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Shandong (Shanxi was added later) while simultaneously improving soil quality and reducing land degradation and soil erosion that threaten system sustainability. Specific objectives included fostering farm family adoption of conservation agriculture practices through participatory research, farmer experimentation and farmer-to-farmer interaction and extension; assessing the (biophysical, social and economic) consequences of conservation agriculture adoption; encouraging a policy environment that does not discriminate against conservation agriculture; and strengthening the capacity of local partners. Project partners include two international Centers (CIMMYT and IWMI), Provincial and County NARES, and Universities. Project beneficiaries were expected to include farm families; downstream water users; researchers and extension workers; and future generations.Each report in the CPWF Project Report series is reviewed by an independent research supervisor and the CPWF Secretariat, under the oversight of the Associate Director. The views expressed in these reports are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food. Reports may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgment. Before taking any action based on the information in this publication, readers are advised to seek expert professional, scientific and technical advice.Citation: PN12 Project team. 2010. Conservation agriculture for the dry-land areas of the Yellow River Basin: Increasing the productivity, sustainability, equity and water use efficiency of dry-land agriculture, while protecting downstream water users. CPWF Project Report submitted to the Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF).   It is sometimes forgotten how strongly climate affects cropping system and their potential for improvement, and consequent environmental impacts and poverty reduction. The project characterized 6 first-level cropping systems and 15 second-level sub-cropping systems in the Yellow River Basin (YRB). Related to climate, water scarcity is a key determinant of crop productivity. In the YRB rainfall decreases from the north to the south, and from the northwest to the southeast. The growth of population and industry placed heavy demands on water in the YRB which led to crisis during the 1990s.Conservation agriculture (featuring reduced or zero tillage, mulch retention, crop rotations and cover crops) offers a possible solution. Conservation agriculture (CA) systems typically result in increased crop water availability and agroecosystem productivity, reduced soil erosion, increased soil organic matter and nutrient availability, reduced labor and fuel use and increased biological control of pests. Building on experienced in irrigated areas of China and international experience, the project adapted CA for rainfed areas of the YRB.Project scientists distinguished Full CA (or Real CA) and Partial CA (or Nominal CA) technology packages. Full CA is characterized by adopting both no till (or reduced till) technology with residue retention, and is consistent with the internationally recognized three principles of CA definition. In contrast, Partial CA is characterized by either no till (or reduced till) technology or residue retention technology. Appropriate is crucial to effective CA and the project supported the development and improvement of no-till seeders and other machinery in all Provinces. For example, the 2BM-5X NT seeder is now successful for direct seeding wheat, maize, minor grain crops on wheat, rice or maize residue fields due to a special knife opener introduced by the project.Project scientists showed that CA techniques increased soil moisture (beneficial for crop growth) across a range of environments. CA also reduced maximum soil temperature, with variable effects on crop establishment and growth depending on environment. However, residue retention reduced maize yields because of the lower soil temperatures under the residues. This was especially marked in relatively cold Ningxia Province.Although in the trials CA generally had positive effects on yields, survey results of farmers who have adopted CA report no significant effects of CA on yields. As in other countries, farmers perceive the reduction in production costs from the reduction or elimination of tillage as a major advantage. The project surveys found that adoption of CA technologies significantly reduced farm household poverty by 5 percent.CA contributes to increasing water use efficiency through reduction in soil evaporation and consequently higher soil moisture available to the crop. The project survey found that 71% of villages reported an improvement of their environment following the adoption of CA; and some farmers had observed an increase in water use efficiency.More than 5000 farmers took part in project training courses or field days at the CA demonstrations. Our research results show that Partial CA technology begun to be adopted in the YRB since the early 1980s, but rapid development commenced during the 1990s, and picked up especially since the 2000. In contrast to Partial CA technology, Full CA technology began to be adopted during the late 1990s. Overall, the adoption rates of CA technology (either for partial or full CA technology) are still very low. The adoption rate for Partial CA technology (especially for residue retention) is relatively high. However, the Full (or real) CA (combining reduced till and residue retention together) is limited.Policy and socio-economic factors are important drivers of wider adoption of CA technology. Results show that policy intervention (such as machinery subsidy policy and policy of forbidding burning residue) can play some role in promoting the adoption of CA technology. The project has had some success in influencing policy; for example, a no-till seeder has been put into the list of Agricultural Machinery Purchase Allowance of 40% of purchase price. More than 85 sets of the seeder have been produced and used to no-till plant more than 700 ha in YRB region.The capacity of National, Provincial and County research and extension organizations has been built. Also 4 PhD candidates and 33 Master students have worked on project data. With the implementation of this project, 5 patents relative to CA have been registered. Five international papers and 50 national papers have been published. Two CA techniques got provincial prizes. At same time, the participants from the project organizations won 5 national CA project and 10 provincial CA projects. Senior project scientists took part in high-level policy dialogues at national and provincial levels, and project results were utilized to reorient the five-year plan, including \"CA blueprints\" in national & provincial plans. This is a very important impact in the light of the survey results which showed that resource endowment positively affected CA adoption, and that this could be offset by subsidies on the CA components that increased initial investment -especially no-till machinery.The Yellow River Basin (YRB) is characterized by very high population density and extensive poverty. Soil erosion is also a major problem in the Basin: the river is one of the most sediment laden in the world. Many regions of the YRB are relatively dry and there are large areas of rainfed cropping. Hydrology is a key issue: there was a crisis of water availability and river flow in the 1990s because of the rapidly growing demand from agriculture, domestic and industrial uses. Conservation agriculture (featuring reduced or zero tillage, mulch retention, crop rotations and cover crops) offers a possible solution to these issues. Conservation agriculture systems typically result in increased crop water availability and agroecosystem productivity, reduced soil erosion, increased soil organic matter and nutrient availability, reduced labor and fuel use and increased biological control of pests. Most of the recent advances in conservation agriculture in China have been in irrigated areas, from which technologies and approaches were adapted for this project.The project goal was to improve the incomes and livelihoods of smallholder farm families in the rainfed cropping areas of Henan, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Shandong (Shanxi was added later) while simultaneously improving soil quality and reducing land degradation and soil erosion that threaten system sustainability. Specific objectives include fostering farm family adoption of conservation agriculture practices through participatory research, farmer experimentation and farmer-to-farmer interaction and extension; assessing the (biophysical, social and economic) consequences of conservation agriculture adoption; encouraging a policy environment that does not discriminate against conservation agriculture; and strengthening the capacity of local partners. Project partners include two international Centers (CIMMYT and IWMI), Provincial and County NARES, and Universities. Project beneficiaries were expected to include farm families; downstream water users; researchers and extension workers; and future generations.The project brought together scientists, extension workers and policy makers from National, Provincial and County organizations along with scientists from CIMMYT and IWMI to conduct research, extend results to, train and foster adoption of CA among farmers. Experimental sites were identified in five pilot Counties and characterized in terms of soils, climate and cropping history. These provided the platform for the 4-year trials of CA techniques especially tillage and residue management with wheat, maize and cash crops. Minimum data sets of agronomic and soil data were systematically collected at all sites. The results of the experiments were the basis for the establishment of participatory on-farm demonstrations and farmer training in all the Counties. The experimental data were an input to crop modeling of CA technologies using the DSSAT model. Farm household group and individual interview surveys were conducted in 2005 and 2008. Again, participatory research methods were applied to the testing and adaptation of farm equipment especially no-till planters for CA. Impact pathways were identified. Students benefited from supervised analysis and interpretation of project data. Study tours to observe CA in the field and participate in conferences were organized for the project scientists. Policy discussions were arranged at various levels to foster appropriate policy adjustments to support CA adoption,The field experiments were a rich source of data on CA for different cropping systems, soils and climates. Climate affects cropping system and their potential for improvement, and consequent environmental impacts and poverty reduction. The project assembled and analysed detailed meteorological data for the YRB. Rainfall decreases from the north to the south, and from the northwest to the southeast. The growth of population and industry placed heavy demands on water in the YRB which led to crisis during the 1990s, providing an underlying rationale for water-efficient methods such as CA. The project characterized the six first-level cropping systems and 15 second-level sub-cropping systems in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) -see more detail below. Related to climate, water scarcity is a key determinant of crop productivity; but the project experiments showed that low soil temperatures were a binding constraint on crop establishment in the north.Conservation agriculture (featuring reduced or zero tillage, mulch retention, crop rotations and cover crops) offers a possible solution. The project showed that CA techniques affect soil moisture (affecting hydrology and crop growth) and temperature (affecting crop establishment and growth) -see details below --in general strongly. Consequently, it increased agroecosystem productivity (in a majority of experiments). While crop yields were increased significantly, the water and nutrient use efficiency increased by more than 20% for wheat and maize. However, low spring soil temperatures were aggravated by surface residue in the north (Ningxia) and the Full CA (no-tillage with full residue retention) delayed summer crop (maize) establishment, and for this reason farmers preferred plastic to mulch. Specific details are described below.The project supported the development and improvement of no-till seeders and other machinery in all Provinces. For example, the 2BM-5X NT seeder is successful for direct seeding wheat, maize, minor grain crops into fields covered with wheat, rice or maize residues due to a special knife opener. As well as developing equipment for medium sized tractors, the project experimented with some two-wheel tractor equipment. Moreover, the project facilitated the import of three advanced no-till planters (\"Happy Seeders\") from India to Ningxia Province which have been successfully put to work.Policy and socio-economic factors are important drivers of wider adoption of CA technology. Results show that policy intervention (such as machinery subsidy policy and policy of forbidding burning residue) can play some role in promoting the adoption of CA technology. The project has had some success in influencing policy; for example, a no-till seeder has been put into the list of Agricultural Machinery Purchase Allowance of 40% of purchase price. More than 85 sets of the seeder have been produced and used to plant without tillage on more than 700 ha in YRB the region.The capacity of National, Provincial and County research and extension organizations has been built. Also 4 PDFs, 8 PhD candidates and 17 Master students have worked on project data. Five international papers and 50 national papers have been published. Two CA techniques got provincial prizes.More than 5000 farmers took part in project training courses or field days at the CA demonstrations. Our research results show that Partial CA technology begun to be adopted in the YRB since the early 1980s, but rapid development commenced during the 1990s, and picked up especially since the 2000. In contrast to Partial CA technology, Full CA technology began to be adopted during the late 1990s. Overall, the adoption rates of CA technology (either for partial or full CA technology) are still very low. The adoption rate for Partial CA technology (especially for residue retention) is relatively high. However, the Full (or real) CA (combining reduced till and residue retention together) is limited.With the implementation of this project, 5 patents relative to CA have been registered. At same time, the participants from the project organizations won 5 national CA project and 10 provincial CA projects. Senior project scientists took part in high-level policy dialogues at national and provincial levels, and project results were utilized to reorient the five-year plan, including \"CA blueprints\" in national & provincial plans.As well as increasing productivity, CA also reduces soil erosion from wind and water. As in other countries, farmers perceive the reduction in production costs from the reduction or elimination of tillage as a major advantage. For example, CA can reduce the cost of machine service fees, reduce fuel input from 25 to 40 percent, and reduce labor input. The farm surveys found huge reductions in labour use with CA -up to 80% reduction in the maize crop. Similarly, CA increases farmer income, and the project surveys found that adoption of CA technologies can significantly reduce farm household poverty by 5 percent.In relation to environmental impacts, CA contributes to increasing water use efficiency, increasing soil moisture and reducing soil evaporation by about 30 percent. Finally, CA reduces runoff of surface water by about 60 percent. The project survey found that 71% of villages reported an improvement of their environment following the adoption of CA; and some farmers had observed an increase in water use efficiency.The rainfed agricultural areas of the provinces of Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Henan and Shandong share many similarities despite the many differences in climatic factors, cropping patterns, infrastructure, and income levels that also characterize these regions. While part of the targeted region is situated on the highly erodible Loess Plateau, others are on sedimentary deposits. Rainfall varies from approximately 750 mm per year in southeastern Shandong to 200 mm in northern Ningxia. Most of the rainfed agricultural areas are found in zones that receive at least 400 mm of annual rainfall. However, rainfall use efficiency is generally quite low throughout the region. The reasons for poor efficiency vary somewhat with soil type: in the loess areas it is largely due to high evaporation rates from the soil, whereas in the areas of alluvial deposits, low soil water infiltration rates are a major limiting factor, leading also to significant water run-off and soil erosion.Soil erosion has long been recognized as a severe problem in the Yellow River basin. The Yellow River is the most sediment-laden river in the world with most of the sediment originating in the thick loess deposits of Shaanxi and Shanxi Provinces, outside the geographic scope of this project. Nevertheless, soil erosion, both by wind and water, in the basin as a whole removes the most fertile topsoil and compound water and air pollution problems. These processes are particularly marked in the drier and more sloping lands associated with rainfed agriculture.Dryland area accounts for almost 6.6 million hectares or approximately 57% of the cultivated land in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), although definitions of \"dryland\" in China also include areas that have some supplemental irrigation. Using the official poverty definition of per capita income less than US$625 a year, the average incidence of poverty in the YRB overall has been estimated at 11.8%. While official data on poverty incidence in the rainfed areas alone does not exist, research findings suggest an incidence at least 5% higher than the basin average (CCAP unpublished, 2003). Not only are off-farm income opportunities frequently not available to agricultural households in many of the YRB rainfed areas, but crop diversification opportunities are largely limited by agro ecological conditions. Agriculture is generally the predominant source of income for households in this region, and, therefore, successful means of increasing agricultural system productivity and water use efficiency of agriculture will contribute to the improvement of farmer livelihoods.Crop residues cover on the soil surface has numerous advantages: surface soil structure, and therefore water infiltration rate, is maintained and evaporation reduced; drought is mitigated; soil biological activity is increased as there is a permanent substrate for soil fauna and flora; biological pest control is enhanced; and soil organic matter, the motor behind soil physical, chemical and biological fertility, gradually increases over time (e.g. Six et al., 2002). Surface residues also efficiently reduce soil erosion, both by wind, due to the protective cover and wind impedance, and by water, due to the improved infiltration rate and reductions in water run-off velocity. Moreover, the reduction in soil tillage associated with residue retention (optimally zero tillage), reduces labor inputs, benefiting especially women and children, and creates the potential for more diversification possibilities in the farm enterprise.The adoption of conservation agriculture brings benefits not only to the farm family in terms of increased livelihoods, reduced risk, reduced labor requirements and the possibility of the diversification, but also to other members of society. Downstream water users benefit from decreased sediment load in waterways, and more even stream flow when fed by a greater proportion of ground-water and less surface run-off. City dwellers benefit from decreased wind erosion: dust clouds from the more arid western regions have become an important problem in China, reaching as far east as Beijing. Increases in soil organic matter, attributable to the omission of tillage, surface residue retention and increased biological activity, imply the sequestration of carbon in the soil, and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. A 60-70% reduction in fuel use for crop production, in areas with mechanized traction, further reduces greenhouse gas emission. As agriculture accounts for 20-25% of the worlds CO2 emissions, conservation agriculture can play an important role in the mitigation of global warming.Zero tillage agriculture has already proved viable and profitable to farmers in Shanxi, Hebei, Sichuan and parts of Inner Mongolia, especially in fully or partially irrigated areas.There is little published information from these projects, but correspondence with some of the researchers involved has revealed benefits in water use efficiency, weed control and, in many instances, in crop productivity (J. Tullberg, C. Chang -personal communication).The principles of conservation agriculture, comprising reduced or zero tillage, residue retention and crop rotation, have extremely wide applicability and have been adopted on more than 70 million hectares worldwide. They are used in areas with as low as 200 mm of annual precipitation and with as much as 2500 mm per year; on soils with up to 85% clay and on soils with more than 90% sand. However, even though the principles are widely adapted, the specific techniques and technologies required to apply them are very site specific: some farmers in Brazil even change their management practices between different adjacent fields.The project aimed to extend the use of conservation agriculture to pilot areas in the rainfed cropping areas of the Yellow River basin. The project will promote the development of innovation networks focusing on the efforts and experiences of innovative farmers, farmer experimentation with the proposed technologies, and farmer-to-farmer extension and dissemination. In this way the project proposes to initiate a process of spontaneous adoption, as has happened in regions of small farmers in Brazil, India, Pakistan and Ghana.As conservation agriculture involves a complete change in the agricultural system, and a change away from the paradigm of the plough and aggressive tillage, it is the initial adoption that may be slow and difficult. Once a few innovative farmers have adopted the system, the evident benefits have led to an explosion of adoption in other small-farm areas: in the Indo-Gangetic Plains less than 100 ha in 1997 had grown to 500, 000 ha of zero-tillage wheat in 2003. The expected widespread adoption of conservation agriculture in the rainfed areas of the YRB, in all probability after the end of the project, will attain the project goal of increasing farm family livelihoods through improved productivity, profitability and sustainability of agriculture in these areas, while at the same time reducing the downstream effects of soil degradation, especially soil erosion.The project focused on the areas of five Provinces targeted by the Water and Food Challenge Program that receive, on average, more than 400 mm per year of rainfall.Although conservation agriculture may well prove successful in the drier areas, the project team felt that it will be more advantageous to first adapt conservation agriculture to the \"wetter\" areas, and, once adoption has begun, then concentrate on extending it to the drier areas. The project established sites with two pilot communities in each of the four Provinces (Henan, Shandong, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia), plus additional sites in Shanxi Province. All provinces have rainfed agricultural areas with more than 400 mm/yr rainfall. Aided by Geographic Information Systems and Participatory Rural Appraisal techniques, the project located the eight communities that represented a gradient in rainfall from the nearly 700 mm of Henan to the 400 mm/year areas of southern Inner Mongolia and Ningxia.Contribute to poverty alleviation by improving the livelihoods, system productivity and the sustainability of agricultural production in the poorer rainfed areas of the Yellow river basin. Through the development and dissemination of conservation agriculture management systems to increase rainfall use efficiency, crop and labor productivity, and reduce soil erosion.(1) Foster farm family adoption of conservation agriculture practices based on zero tillage, direct seeding, residue retention and crop rotation in four villages of the Yellow River basin, representing a rainfall gradient.(2) Assess the consequences of the adoption of conservation agriculture practices on system productivity, income, livelihoods, equity, resource quality, water use, and soil erosion at the field, watershed and river basin levels.(3) Encourage the development of a policy environment that does not discriminate against conservation agriculture practices and of input, equipment and rental markets needed to make conservation agriculture practices generally accessible.(4) Strengthen the capacity of local partners to conduct collaborative research and development on conservation agriculture in a partnership mode with multiple stakeholders.This main body of the report begins with an overview of the farming systems of the YRB in the next section, followed by a brief profile of the selected Counties which implemented the research and demonstrations.Because of the spatial and temporal differences in climate, soil type and physiography in the YRB, crops grown and their management vary between regions. In Shandong and Henan, double cropping (two crops per year) of winter wheat and maize is the common practice. Livestock is mainly pigs, poultry and cattle, and farmers earn off-farm income through providing labour to other farms. In Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Shanxi, the main crops are millet and wheat with one crop per year, and the principal livestock are cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry (Figure 1).The core of the project was based on the field experiments, learning sites and demonstrations in four provinces.According to specific rainfall, geographical feature and dryland faming systems, four counties in four provinces were selected for pilot research and learning sites. Figure2. The annual rainfall amount in the pilot sites and supplementary site Each pilot county was selected through in-depth discussion during the inception workshop.The principal relevant characteristics of the Counties are shown in Table 1 and the location of each shown in Figure 3.      After inception, scientists from CAAS, CAU, CAS and Henan, Shandong, Inner Mongolia as well as Ningxia carried out the primary data collection. The data set included the daily temperature, humidity, rainfall, crop species, yield, crop plantation structure, and current status of CA application, especially for the 4 pilot counties. At the end of 2005, experts from CIMMYT, CCAP and CAAS carried out the social and economic investigation in YRB, which data-set include cultivated land, irrigated land, and the sowing area of major crops, crop yield, agricultural production inputs, farmer income, livestock population and other socio-economic relevant data. International and domestic conservation agriculture literature was also reviewed, especially for the target 4 provinces.In the 5 pilot sites, field trials were designed and planned to last 4 years. The trials are described briefly in the following sections which present the main findings for each location.Management of no-tillage conditions.In Shandong, conservation agriculture (CA) based practices have been widely adopted for maize planting in recent years. Maize generally follows wheat, which is harvested using combine harvesters and all the straw left covering the soil. After that, the direct seeding of maize with seed drills is conducted without tillage and with residue retention (Figure 4). Therefore in the following experiments we superimposed the tilled check plot on these fields, and the CA treatments followed on from the previous untilled system and the results reflect effects of no-tillage for longer than the establishment of the trials. In the first season we compared soil conditions in the no tillage plots with the conventionally tilled checks that had been superimposed on the no-till fields. No significant differences in soil porosity and soil bulk density were observed in conservation and conventional tillage conditions.The plant nitrogen content was determined at late growth stages of maize. Also, no significant difference in nitrogen content was found, with plant nitrogen content (0.48% to 0.49%). Likewise, previous no tillage exerts little effect on maize developments and yield component formation.The project endeavoured to validate and use the DSSAT model for the conditions of the project sites. We used the beta version of the new DSSAT-CSM which has been updated with algorithms with handle effects of tillage and residue management on the cropping system. The new DSSAT (version 4.5) cropping system model (CSM) has a modular structure to allow easy replacement or addition of modules. However, the model needed some major modifications to incorporate the treatments used in China, and this was not completed during the project. The following are some of the issues encountered.For few soil properties we used the values suggested by the model because they were not available from the field trials. The model can handle all tillage and residue management operations performed during the field trials. Use of plastic covers is common in China but the DSSAT model does not have a routine for handling plastic mulch. The team tried to modify soil properties such that they mimicked the conditions created by plastic mulch but we have found no reference in the literature to similar adjustments to the model and so are still not confident of the adjustments that we have made to the model. The model is also not capable of simulating the effects of standing stubble. The Inner Mongolia site has two treatments in which they leave standing stubble of two different heights. We are incorporating the effects of standing stubble by simulating the residue into soil rather than leaving on the surface. This way we can simulate the effect of roots of standing stubble and we are testing different amounts of residue until we get a good match with the field trial data. To help us neutralize the effects of variables other than residue cover and tillage, we first calibrate the model for conventional tillage so that everything except residue cover and conservation tillage operations is accounted for in the model. We then used this model and modify it to calibrate for conservation agriculture treatments. We agree however that this method is very questionable and until we are able to modify the model adequately we will not present the results.In this section the principal results are presented for the major challenges under Objective Soil bulk density and soil porosity.After one year of applying the treatments soil bulk density was higher, and soil porosity lower, in the Jimai 20 plots with conservation tillage compared to the conventionally tilled plots (Table 2). We are unable to explain why the bulk density of the soil under Yannong 19 was so much lower than the other two varieties, especially in the 0-20 soil layer. The soil moisture content under CA was lower than that under conventional tillage system. As the wheat grew, the moisture in no-tilled soil showed a lower water loss and higher rainfall water retention. This suggests that the water evaporation rate is lower under no tillage and residue retention conditions.Soil temperature.Between March 30 and May 18, 2006, average soil temperature at 10 cm below the soil surface was 2.0ºC lower in the CA plots than in conventional tillage plots, whereas at 20 cm, the difference was less -the soil under conservation tillage was only 0.6ºC cooler.Soil organic matter content.After only one year, and despite the very high variability, the organic matter content was significantly greater in the CA system at 0-20 cm soil depth, while at 20-40 cm soil depth no significant differences were observed (Table 3). The variations in organic matter content are partially attributed to residue retention under the CA system. There were no significant differences in total nitrogen contents, but alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen was significantly higher in CA plots at 0-20 cm soil depth, while at 20-40 cm soil depth there were no significant differences (Table 3). Wheat population dynamics.There were no differences in establishment between tillage treatments, and plant population was similar across treatments. However, tiller numbers per plant and tillers m -2 were significantly higher under CA: there were 70% more tillers m -2 under CA. So we conclude that the tillering in early winter and early spring is promoted under CA practices, even though germination and plant establishment is not affected.Wheat LAI was measured on twenty plants per plot with a LICOR LI-3000A area meter. Results showed that in variety Jimai 20 (grown under both conventional tillage and CA) LAI under CA conditions was consistently higher than in conventional tillage system, and increased more rapidly as plants grew during the March 20 to May 18 period. At peak LAI (18-27 April) the crop under CA had a LAI of 2.3 whereas under conventional tillage it was only 1.5.There were no significant differences between treatments in relative leaf chlorophyll content (expressed as SPAD value)Dry matter accumulation.The crop was sampled to measure total above-ground dry matter at four times during the season from March 20 to April 28. Aboveground biomass was determined on twenty plants per plot after oven drying at 60°C to a constant weight. In Jimai 20 there were no differences between the tillage treatments at the first three samplings, but at the last sampling date, TDM was 10% higher in the CA treatment.Grain yield and yield components.Yield was measured at maturity by hand harvesting the middle 20 rows of each plot on June 7, 2006. The harvested plants were mechanically threshed and the grain was allowed to air-dry to 13% moisture. The number of heads per square meter and the number of kernels per head were determined from the harvested plant samples. Kernel weight was determined by taking the average weight of 1000 kernels taken randomly from seeds harvested within each plot.As shown in Table 4, the yield of wheat Jimai 20 increased by 20% under no-tillage conditions, due to the significantly higher spike numbers and grain numbers per spikeoffset to some degree by lower kernel weights as would be expected. Under conservation o-tillage practice, the maximum yield was obtained in variety Yannong 19, followed by Yannong 24 and Jimai 20. The two Yanong varieties appear to be well adapted to no-tillage, rainfed conditions. In the conservation tillage system, soil alkali hydolyzable nitrogen and organic matter were higher than in the conventionally tilled treatment, presumably due to the effects of residue retention. Yield of Jimai 20 was considerably (20%) higher in the conservation tillage treatment, and the other two varieties appear well adapted to conservation tillage conditions. In all the 16 genotypes of wheat, photosynthetic rate was steady prior to flowering, and then decreased gradually. Before flowering, higher photosynthetic rates were observed in Yan Blu 6439, Luohan 6, Lainong 0301 and Linhan 51329, while after flowering, higher photosynthetic rate was observed in Lainong L155, Luohan 12 and Aikang 58. However, photosynthetic rate was not correlated in this study with grain yield.The normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) has been correlated with physiological plant parameters and used to evaluate plant growth (Govaerts et al., 2007). At 145-146 DAT for autumn application or 30 DAT for spring application, canopy reflectance was measured using a GreenSeeker Hand-held optical sensor (NTech Industries, Inc., Ukiah, CA, USA). The sensor unit has self-contained illumination in both red and near infrared bands and measures reflectance in the red and near infrared (NIR) regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. This reflectance is used by the sensor to compute NDVI according to the formula NDVI = (NIR-R)/(NIR+R), where NIR is the reflectance of emitted NIR radiation returned from the sensed area, and R is the reflectance of emitted visible red radiation returned from the sensed area. Measurements were taken around mid-day (between 10:00 h and 14:00 h). The sensor was held parallel to the soil, about 50 cm above the crop canopy. In measuring a plot, the trigger was kept down for 4-5 seconds so that 12 single counts were collected. The NDVI values of these counts were then averaged to obtain a mean value for each plot.Figure 5 shows that Shimai 15 and Shijiazhuang 8 have the highest NDVI, Kenong 9204 has the lowest. The NDVI values are very consistent with their grain yield, suggesting that NDVI is significantly correlated with the grain yield and water use efficiency in wheat.Results showed that NDVI values of different wheat genotypes differed significantly at different development stages. Value of wheat NDVI expressed a positive correlation with drought yield index at heading stage. Varieties that had higher NDVI values at heading had better drought yield indices. Under the experimental conditions, Shimai 15, Shijiazhuang 8 and Yan Blu6439 have higher drought yield index than others.The maximum LAI in all the wheat genotypes was observed at flowering, followed by a gradual decrease after flowering. During the period from heading to flowering, Shijiazhuang 8, Shimai 15 and Shimai 12 developed higher LAI than the other 13 varieties.The LAI is highly concordant with the grain yield, which suggests that the LAI during the period from heading to flowering can be used as an important indicator of water use efficiency and yield formation under CA conditions in dry-land.Generally speaking, flag leaf SPAD values in all wheat genotypes increased during the early stages of wheat growth, and then decreased at later stages. The maximum flag leaf SPAD value was found at flowering or early grain filling. During grain filling Shimai 15 had the highest leaf chlorophyll concentrations -significantly higher than all the other varieties except Yannong 21, Kenong 9204 and Shijiazhuang 8.Field experiments were conducted in the 2007/2008 crop season at trial fields of the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (36′42″ N, 117′ 04″ E). The CA technologies were first adopted in 2004 with wheat/maize rotation system. The soil of the site is a loam, containing 1.22% of organic matter, 13.45 mg kg -1 rapidly available phosphorous, 138.3 mg kg -1 of rapidly available potassium, and 66.9 mg kg -1 of rapidly available nitrogen. The winter wheat variety Jimai 22 was used for experiment.The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with a split plot arrangement. Three treatments -no-tillage with straw cover (NS), tillage plus straw cover (TS), and conventional tillage without straw retention (CT) -were replicated four times on experimental plots 2.8 m wide by 10 m long.For determination of soil moisture, samples were taken from to 0-10 and 10-20 cm horizons. Three soil samples were taken from each plot using steel tubes (5 cm × 10 cm). Soil moisture was measured by the oven-drying method. The samples were weighed wet, dried in a ventilated oven at 105°C for 48 h, and weighed again to determine soil water content. The air-dried soil samples were used to determine the contents of nitrogen and organic matter contents. . NDVI of different genotypes of wheat under CA conditions Subsurface soil temperature (5 cm depth) was measured from seeding to the first node stage at 7:00, 13:00 and 19:00 h daily, using mercury-in-glass thermometers with bent stems. The thermometers were sunk into the inter-row ground to the depths of 5 cm.Soil respiration measurement was performed based on carbon dioxide analyses using an ADC 2250 differential infrared CO 2 gas analyzer (ADC BioScientific Ltd). Shoots were removed by clipping at soil level before measuring soil respiration. Measurements were made by sealing the lid onto the collar and continuously circulating air from the chamber through the ADC 2250 CO 2 analyzer and back into the chamber through the perforated air-dispersion ring on the underside of the lid. The sampling pump had a flow rate of 1 L min -1 , with the CO 2 concentration obtained within 30 s to an accuracy of 1%.As can be seen from Table 5, the soil moisture increased as the soil depth increased. Treatment effects were not consistent. Generally speaking, the 0-20 cm soil moisture under NS conditions tended to have higher moisture content than the CT treatment, but this positive difference was only significant in the March 14, April 14 and May 14 sampling dates. In the early May sampling, there was significantly more soil moisture in the CT plots than in the NS plots in the 0-20 cm layer. The reasons for this are not known. The soil temperature at 5 cm under NS conditions was significantly lower than that under TS and CT conditions (results not shown here). The lower soil temperature under no tillage conditions may be attributed to weak light penetration to soil with higher compaction and residue retention. The reduced absorptions of radiant energy will result in the lower temperature.Under NS conditions, the soil respiration was lower than that under TS and CT conditions, indicating that the release of CO 2 from soil respiration decreased due to the no-tillage and straw cover.A large number of colonies of soil microorganisms were observed on the culture medium. The soil microorganisms, including bacterium, yeast, actinomycetes, and mould, varied with different planting methods. There were a great number of actinomycetes in the soil under NS conditions, while mould abounded in the soil under TS conditions (Table 6). Under CT conditions, only bacterium and yeast were observed in the soil. The species were determined using biochemical reaction approach after isolation and purification of microorganisms. The main species of bacteria are bacillus (Bacteriaceae), Vibrio (Vibrionaceae), staph (Micrococcaceae). Two treatments, no-tillage (CT) plus straw cover and conventional tillage (CT), were designed. Wheat was planted on 25 September, 2007 at a planting rate of 13 kg mu -1 . The trials were fertilized with 37.5 ton ha -1 organic fertilizer (manure), 105 kg N ha -1 applied as urea, 130 kg P ha -1 applied as triple super phosphate and 105 kg K 2 O ha -1 as basal fertilizer at planting and 105 kg N ha -1 top-dressed as urea at the booting stage.For determination of soil moisture, samples were taken from every 10 cm of the top 20 cm depth in planting zone. Three soil samples were taken from each plot using steel tubes (5 cm × 10 cm). Soil moisture was measured by the oven-drying method. The samples were weighed wet, dried in a fan-aided oven set at 105°C for 48 h, and weighed again to determine soil water content. The air-dried soil samples were used to determinate the contents of nitrogen and organic matter contents.Wheat LAI was measured with a LICOR LI-3000A area meter. Wheat DMA of aboveground parts of plants was determined after oven drying at 60°C to a constant weight. Twenty wheat plants per plot were sampled for each measurement.During the period of plant growth and development, the average soil moisture content at all soil depths was slightly, but not significantly, higher in NT planting over CT planting (Table 7). There was no difference in plant population between NT and CT conditions. The number of tillers per plant under NT conditions was 1.3 more than that under CT conditions (5.5 vs 4.2). However, this did not result in more spikes, and there were more spikes m-2 in the CT treatment than in the NT treatment in contrast to Expt. 1 above where there were more spikes in the NT treatment than in the CT treatment. .The results indicate that that NT planting favors the tillering due to the slower drop of temperature in the fall and early winter. While at greening-up stage of wheat, the soil temperature was lower in NT planting than in CT planting due to the residue retention. As a result, the total number of spikes per ha and percentage of ear-bearing tillers were lower under NT conditions, than that under CT conditions.From the grain-filling stage on, the leaf area index (LAI) in wheat under NT conditions was lower than under CT conditions, probably due to the smaller area of the flag leaves and second leaves from the top. However, the LAI decreased more slowly in no-tillage planting than in CT planting after the mid grain-filling stage. These data indicate that under NT planting conditions, the air circulation and light transmission were improved, light reception was increased, leaf senescence was delayed, and the photosynthetic duration for functional leaves was extended.Photosynthetic rate and dry matter accumulation.The photosynthetic rate of flag leaves in winter wheat was higher in NT planting than in CT planting during the period from flowering stage to late grain-filling stage.At early stages of plant growth, no significant difference in dry matter accumulation was observed between NT and CT planting conditions. While after the flowering stage, the dry matter accumulation differed significantly between NT planting and CT planting. These results suggest that the efficiency of assimilation in winter wheat in NT planting is higher than in CT planting. The higher assimilation efficiency in NT planting favors the transfer of organics from vegetative organs to grains, increasing crop yield.At the mid grain-filling stage, no significant difference in the dry weight ratio of spike and total plant was observed between NT planting and CT planting, while as the plant grew, the dry weight ratio of spike and total plant was significantly higher in NT planting over CT planting. During the whole grain-filling stage, the proportion of functional leaves in the entire plant was higher in NT planting than CT planting, indicating that the NT planting could delay the leaf senescence and keep the canopy photosynthesis higher. At early grain-filling stage, the dry weight ratio of straw and whole plant was slight higher in NT planting than in CT planting, contributing the higher lodging-resistance in wheat under NT planting conditions. Whereas at mid and late grain-filling stages, the ratio was lower in wheat in NT planting than in CT planting, which may be due to the more effective transfer of dry matter from stem to grains in NT planting.Although the spike number per unit area was lower, the grains per spike and 1000-kernel weight were significantly higher in NT planting than in CT planting. Ultimately, the grain yield for NT planting was increased by 8.21% as compared to CT planting (Table 8). The research has indicated that the area of flag leaves and second leaves are considerably lower in NT planting than in CT planting, which can improve light transmission in the canopy and air circulation, promoting the border effect and delaying the leaf senescence. Both the individual and population structures of wheat are better in NT planting in dry land. These advantages have effectively increased the grain yield of winter wheat.The results of this research demonstrate that no-tillage planting is very suitable for winter wheat production in dry land.Analysis of the production costs of CA cf conventional systemBased on a long-term trial conducted at Weibei farm (yield results not reported here), production costs were calculated for the conventional and conservation agriculture systems. In the case of Conservation agriculture with wheat/maize rotation, production costs were 11,325 yuan RMB ha -1 . In the case of Conventional intensive cultivation, also with wheat/maize rotation, the production cost was 13,290 yuan RMB ha -1 . In the case of Conventional roto-tillage planting, the production cost amounted to 12,705 yuan RMB ha -1 .According to the estimation of crop yield in 2007, the average wheat yield of CA plots in six demonstration counties including Changyi, Zhangqiu, and Gaoqing was 6735 kg ha -1 with the highest yield of 7677 kg ha -1 . The average yield with CA was 8 percent higher than that of conventional planting. In hill and dry-lands, grain yield of wheat grown under CA conditions was 4455 kg with the highest yield of 5775 kg ha -1 , 23 percent higher than yields with conventional tillage. In the fields of Innovation and Demonstration Projects managed by Shandong Agricultural Machinery, the grain yield reached to 9215 kg ha -1 , 13.7% higher than conventional planting. In dry-lands of Boshan, wheat grain output was 6576 kg ha -1 , 35% higher than conventional planting. Corn mechanical direct sowing can give good plant density, efficient application of fertilizers, good air and light penetration and thriving development, and can avoid damage of the wheat and corn when seeding corn or when harvesting wheat. The corn yield can increase by about 5%.During the past years, the wheat planted using CA technology cropped better than that using conventional planting. The grain yields have significantly increased. This may be attributed to the following: 1) The seeding-machine newly-purchased in 2006 works well and gives good seed placement and seed-soil contact; 2) improved soil moisture because the soil is not disturbed and exposed to the atmosphere, and because residue cover inhibits soil moisture evaporation and increases the ability of the soil to retain water. A measurement made in 14 April, 2007 in dry-lands of Wangguang village in Zhangqiu showed that the water volume that the 0-20 cm topsoil can hold increased by 6.7% after adoption of CA technology.There were more ineffective tillers due to the higher temperature under conventional planting conditions, thus wasting much water and fertilizers. While in fields planted using CA technology with residue retention, the lower soil temperature, slower soil moisture evaporation and deeply applied fertilizers promote the seedling and root growth and productive tiller development. A survey of experimental plots in Zhangqiu showed that the wheat planted using CA technology developed 3-5 more tillers per plant than that using conventional planting technology. Results showed that 1-2 more effective tillers developed in wheat planted using CA technology and nearly no excess growth occurred. Whereas the secondary roots in conventional planted wheat developed poorly due to high soil moisture evaporation during the long turn-around period in corn/wheat rotation planting system, thus leading to the deficiency of water and fertilizers and then affecting the wheat yields.The slower rise of soil temperature due to the stalk covering and higher soil moisture in spring gave a slightly later development of seedlings, and so the wheat escaped the freezing damage by the late spring cold that occurred in 16 March, 2007.The germination of weed seeds is light-dependent. Under CA conditions the stalk covering can effectively block the post-germination growth of weeds. Based on our investigations we have found that the weed numbers in the fields planted using CA technology are less than half those in the fields planted using conventional planting.The soil fertility in fields planted using CA technology is gradually increasing year by year due to the residue retention. In Changyi, Zhangqiu and other counties, the soil fertility in fields planted using CA technology for 2-3 years has significantly enhanced, giving better harvests.The wide row spacing alternating with narrow spacing in wheat fields planted using no-till seeder could improve the air and light penetration into the canopy and favor the development of border row superiority. Additionally, the lower soil temperature and higher soil moisture under CA conditions could prevent senescence, and thus increasing the grains per spike and 1000-kernel weight.Wheat planted using CA technology can develop reasonable crop structure and better air and light availability, with decreased plant height and improved growth. Seeds sown with the wide row spacing are uniformly distributed and develop vigorous roots, more effective tillers, and robust and lodging-resistant seedlings. Lodging occurred frequently in conventionally planted wheat, while this was rarely seen in CA-planted wheat.The production cost can be cut down by 100 yuan when using CA technology and increase income from grain output by 90 yuan, thus giving an additional 190 yuan of net income.The farmers' income increased by 79.61 million yuan in Shandong after the adoption of CA technology in 419 000 plots in 2006. If the area could increase to 30 million mu (2 million ha), the farmers' income should have increased by 5.7×10 9 yuan.Sun Deguang, the owner of the rotary no-till seeder, sowed more than 500 mu of crop in 2005, about 1000 mu in the fall of 2006, having recovered his costs in these two years.According to a survey that each of eight owners of no-till seeders in Changyi planted 700-1000 mu of crop in 2006. Though subsidized and lower rates for seeding requested by the governments, one of the owners could still earn more than 20 RMB yuan from seeding of one mu of wheat, and the average annual incomes for the equipment owners could reach 12,000 yuan. The net income of all machine owners in Shandong totaled 8.38 million yuan in one year.The soil fertility and nutrient components have significantly been improved in CA planting system. The soil organic matter content has increased by 0.05% due to residue retention in double-cropped systems. The soil under CA conditions has a good infiltration of rainfall due to the continuous pore system, and has higher drought-resistance due to large soil moisture storage and residue retention.Under CA conditions, residue retention and stalk covering favor soil conservation, increase soil organic matter, improve aggregate structure of soil and decrease the finely ground particles of soil that are easily eroded by wind. CA can save fuel by 2.47 liter per mu compared to conventional planting. If the adoption of CA technology could increase up to 2 million ha, 74,100 ton of diesel oil would be saved. During one wheat/corn rotation period, 60 m 3 of water would be saved per mu. The irrational extraction of groundwater has greatly diminished.The adoption of CA technology can significantly reduce the production cost and resource inputs. The CA technology is not only adapted to hill and dry-lands but to irrigable lands with high yields as well. Conservation agriculture is a highly efficient management system. Conservation agriculture favors the construction of resource-saving society.Low operating efficiency of corn combine and high charges for harvest considerably increase the production cost. The development of corn combine should be strengthened. The size of current no-till planter used for irrigable lands is the same as used for dry-lands. The row spacing created by the planter is too wide for the dry-land wheat to cover the ridge, causing the waste of light and energy and higher water evaporation rate from soils. No-till planter with variable row spacing should be developed to meet the agriculture needs of lands with different water availability and soil fertilities. Installation of equipment for residue cutting on wheat combines should be encouraged to enhance the quality of corn direct seeding. The time is ripe for comprehensive extension of the CA technology in Shandong. Local governments at all levels the executive branch of agriculture machinery should give more policy support, publicity and promotional events, intensify the efforts on market guides and popularize the revolutionary technology as soon as possible.Sub-soiling, straw cover, reduced tillage and zero tillage were chosen as the main research and demonstration thrusts. The goal was to find a set of best and easy techniques for the farmers: the techniques should be easy to operate, save water, move less soil and be suitable for the local area.We chose Yaowa village for demonstration and established a demonstration field (learning site) of about 20 Chinese mu (more than 1 ha). The treatments were: zero-tillage (with zero till seeder made by \"Nonghaha\"); furrow planting which is widely accepted by the local farmers; and permanent bed-planting. The year of 2007 was a very dry year in the history of Luoyang area. The total rainfall was only 370.2mm, 62% of the average precipitation.The rainfall in Aug-Sep was only 59.2mm, 33% compare to the normal year. The climate was also dry in 2008, e.g., the rainfall between Feb-Mar was only 11.3mm, or 19% of the normal rainfall. Wheat developed only 2-3 tillers (usually 6-7 tillers) and the yield decreased to 60%-80% of the average wheat yield.In 2006, all the cover treatments, including plastic cover and straw cover, improved wheat yield (Table 9). The reason is these treatments improve the ear number m -2 and the grains/ ear. The plastic cover can improve the yielding by 10.4% compare to the CK. The straw cover also can improve 3.9% yielding compare to the check.In 2007, there were few significant differences in yield between treatments (Table 10). However, the treatment with plastic mulch did yield significantly less than the highest yielding treatment -bed planting with straw cover -as early season temperatures were high so that the wheat under plastic cover grew very fast and consumed too much water in the early stages and did not have enough water for grain filling.The beginning of the 2008 season was dry and there was significant moisture stress in all treatments. Wheat yields were very low this season (Table 11) because of this stress and the resultant low spike numbers and grain numbers per spike. In maize in 2006 (Table 12), all of the treatments except the plastic mulch yielded significantly more than the check, with the furrow planted treatment giving the highest yield as a result of having significantly more cobs/ha than all the other treatments. In 2007 (Table 13) all the cover treatments were significantly higher yielding than the check. The bed-planting treatment with straw cover, which improved yield by 26.4% and the plastic cover which improved yield by 24.2% yielded significantly more than the furrow planting and straw cover treatments which significantly more than the check with increases of 17.8% and 17.6% respectively over the check. The 2008 season was very dry and there was not enough moisture for a maize crop. A trial comparing five six tillage systems in a maize-wheat double-crop system was initiated in Luoyang Village in 2006. The trial, arranged in a randomized block design with three replications compared a) Maize (zero till) +Wheat (sub-soiled); b) Maize (zero till) +Wheat (zero till); c) Maize(sub-soiled)+Wheat(sub-soiled); d) Maize (sub-soiled) + Wheat(zero till) e) Maize (zero till) + Wheat (sub-soiled) with residues replaced after sub-soiling and f) the check treatment with both maize and wheat conventionally tilled.In year 2006, sub-soiled and zero till both improved wheat yields: the best system was the Maize (Zero till)-Wheat (Zero till) which gave 6.5% higher wheat yield than the conventionally tilled check. The Maize (Sub-soiled) -Wheat (sub-soiled) treatment improved wheat yield by 5.2%, and Maize (sub-soiled) -Wheat (zero till) improved wheat yield by 5.1%.Maize (sub-soiled)-Wheat (zero till) gave the highest maize yields compared to the other treatments. Maize yield in this treatment was 23.54% higher than the Check, whereas in the Maize (zero till)-Wheat (zero till) maize yields were 14.97% higher than those in the Check.In 2007, there were no significant differences in wheat yields between tillage treatments (Table 14). The 1000 grain weight, ear numbers and numbers of grains per ear were all significantly higher in all the sub-soiled and zero tillage treatments compared to the check. Maize yields in 2007 were, however, significantly greater in all the no-till and sub-soiled treatments than in the check (Table 15). Highest yields were obtained when both crops were sown without tillage (11.4% higher than the check) and when both crops were sub-soiled (10.8% greater than the check). Yield increases arose from a combination of increased ear numbers and grains per ear.The wheat season in 2008 was particularly dry and yields were low as a result of the moisture stress (Table 16). Under these conditions the effect of the no-till and sub-soiling treatments on crop yield were huge: the yield of wheat in the double no-till system (MzWz) was almost double that of the check, and the lowest yielding alternative tillage treatmentwhere straw was replaced after sub-soiling prior to the wheat crop -was 44% higher than the check, and all the no-till and sub-soiled treatments yielded significantly more than the check. These yield increases were largely due to a combination of increased grain numbers per spike and heavier grains, suggesting benefits in soil moisture both before and after flowering in the no-till and sub-soiled treatments. The soil moisture in the various treatments during the 2007 and 2008 wheat season are shown in Figures 6 and 7 respectively. It is evident from these two figures the difference in total soil moisture in the top two meters of soil during most of the early part of the season in 2007. In 2008, soil moisture increased towards the end of the season as the crop was so poor it did not extract all of the moisture available from some late rains. In 2008, the soil moisture content of all 4 kinds of conservation tillage and the straw stalk tillage were higher than the Check, although there were changes between treatments at the different crop stages.This experiment was conducted in 2006 in Songzhuang village. There were five treatments in a randomized block design with three replications: Reduced tillage (one crop a year, wheat), zero tillage (one crop a year, wheat), sub-soiling (one crop a year, wheat), two crops a year, Conventional tillage.In 2006, none of the treatments yielded significantly differently to the check. However, the treatment with wheat in a system with two crops per year yielded the least, and this was significantly less than the treatment with wheat after sub-soiling (Table 17). R: reduced tillage (one crop a year, wheat) Z: zero tillage (one crop a year, wheat) S: sub-soiling (one crop a year, wheat) DC: two crops a year (wheat-maize) C: conventional tillage.The rainfall of Luoyang area usually is enough for one crop a year but not enough for two crops a year (as can be seen in Table 17). In recent years, more and more farmers choose the wheat-maize rotation instead of only planting wheat in a growing season, but the proportion of maize suffering from drought in the early summer is very high, so the farmers in this area have an aphorism \"you can plant maize but you should not hope for any harvest\". We hoped to find another crop for this area to decrease the risk of planting maize. There were some good choices for this area such as millet and sesame. Soybean isn't the best one for this area, but we think the soybean needs less field work than other crops and it is also easier to harvest by machine.We used furrow-planting, zero tillage and bed-planting in farmers' fields for the second year in 2006 following wheat, maize and soybean planted in the field last year. Data on yield and yield components are shown in Tables 18 and 19 for the 2006 and 2007 seasons respectively. In 2006, furrow-planting produced the highest yield in a double-crop system, bed-planting was second, and the lowest was zero-tillage. However, in 2007, the ranking of yields was reversed, with zero tillage resulting in the highest yields -significantly more than both the furrow planting and the wheat on beds. However, the seeding mechanism of the seeder used for the raised bed system did not work properly, resulting in lower plant stands and fewer spikes per unit area.The highest wheat yield was produced in the one-crop system, significantly higher than conventional wheat after maize, suggesting that stored moisture in the soil profile at the start of the wheat season is very important. However, in the 2007 season (Table19) the wheat sown with zero tillage in a double crop system did not yield significantly less than the single crop wheat in a conventionally tilled system.Grain Yield kg ha -1Over CK (%) R Soil temperature was measured by a probe (HIOKI, Japan) and an electric resistance-probe (IEDA) at 8~9 am and 14~15 pm on certain days. Soil temperature was measured each day from planting to seedling and every 2 days from seedling to end of May, every 3 days in June and every 7 days in July.Soil microorganism: Soil sampling was carried out in October 2007 (after harvesting maize). Soil samples from each plot were composed from ten sub-samples which were taken with a probe (5 cm diameter core) and divided into layers of 0-5cm, 5-10cm, 10-20cm, and 20-30 cm. After carefully removing the surface organic materials and fine roots, each mixed soil sample was divided into two parts. One part of the soil sample was air-dried for the estimation of soil chemical properties and the other part was sieved through a 2 mm wide screen and adjusted to 50% of its water holding capacity and then incubated at 25 o C for 2 weeks to permit uniform rewetting and to stabilize the microbial activity after the initial disturbances. Microbial biomass C and biomass N were estimated by fumigation-extraction. Soil enzyme activities (dehydrogenase, β-glucosidase, alkaline phosphatase, and urease) were determined by the method of Wu et al.The soil moisture results showed that July to August is a high consumption period for moisture stored in the soil, because the crop has high water requirement and evaporation due to the high temperatures during this period. There are differences in soil moisture at different stages of crop growth. The steady period of moisture is the first, from seeding to emergence, when the crop requires less water, and differences in soil moisture depend mainly on the treatments. NTS and the control had the lowest soil moisture levels, whereas other treatments retained more water in soil and thus had higher moisture content. From early July to mid-August, water stored in soil dropped to the lowest level. From mid-August, soil moisture recovered since the temperature gradually falls, and the crop's water requirement also decreases. In addition, soil moisture is supplemented by rainfall and the amount of stored soil water increases gradually. Although the soil moisture pattern is the same for all treatments, there are differences between the different treatments and ASRT and NTSM retain more water than the others. CK and NTS had the lowest soil moisture. No tillage and mulching improved and enhanced soil moisture.Soil temperature has a large influence on maize germination, and CA and tillage can have major effects on surface soil temperature. Because the soil surface is covered with straw, it difficult for sunlight to reach the ground directly and soil temperature under CA is lower than under conventional tillage. The no tillage with mulch treatment reduced soil temperature by 1 to 2°C compared with conventional tillage. Under the no tillage treatment, soil moisture content is high and soil heat exchange is not good. The temperature effect is greatest at the soil surface but can be measured all the way down to 60cm.Under the no tillage the soil temperature of the treatment with all straw mulch retained was rather low over the seeding period: around 8-13°C. Low temperature is always a key limiting factor. Diurnal variation in soil temperature in the 0-5 cm layer was affected by different treatments. For all the treatments, the highest diurnal variation in soil temperature occurred in the 0-5 cm layer, which can reach 10-20%. The variation coefficient of soil temperature decreased rapidly in the layers below 5 cm (Figure 8). Soil water infiltration is the process of water entering the soil through all or part of the ground surface. The process is influenced by water supply and the soil capacity for water infiltration, which determines the quantity of water entering soil or lost by runoff. The capacity for soil water infiltration is related to soil texture, soil structure, ground gradient and water content of soil section pane. At the same time, the capacity for soil water infiltration in the field is related to the tillage method. The stabilized infiltration rate (26.4mm/h) with deep tillage (DT) was twice that with light tillage (LT), and 4.1 times more than with no tillage (6.4mm/h). When rainfall lasted 20 and 40 min, deep tillage increased infiltration by 21% and 28%, respectively, compared with light tillage, and increased by 31% and 33%, respectively, compared with no tillage. This typically signals serious soil degradation after several years of farming. Conservation agriculture with mulch cover promotes soil water infiltration and improves soil physical and chemical properties. However, the effect only becomes apparent after quite a long period. The results of our trial show that treatments including whole straw mulch, no tillage with mulch, shallow rotary tillage with mulch, and conventional tillage all affect soil infiltration rate. Initially, the infiltration rate under conventional tillage was the highest, and the rate under no tillage with mulch was the lowest. However, the differences in infiltration rate gradually decreased, which is consistent with the results reported by other researchers. This indicates that conservation agriculture technologies like zero and reduced tillage are useful for improving soil water infiltration.Soil organic carbon, soil total N and soil total phosphorus Tillage had large effects on soil chemical properties. Soil organic carbon (SOC) differed significantly (P>0.05) among tillage systems and soil depths. In the 0 to 5 cm layer, organic matter content increased with decreasing tillage intensity so that it was 43% greater with no tillage, compared to the average of the other tillage treatments. CK and RRT resulted in the lowest organic matter content throughout the 0-20 cm soil layer. Below the 0 to 5 cm layer, organic matter decreased under no tillage, but tended to remain constant in the other treatments. The CK and RRT treatments, compared to no-tillage, incorporate residues into a larger volume of soil and therefore increase the rate of organic matter decomposition and C mineralization (Salinas-Garcia et al., 2002), by increasing the contact between soil microorganisms and crop residues (Henriksen and Breland, 1999).Return of all the residues did not increase SOC throughout the 0-20 cm in all treatments. However, after four years, the effects were extended to the 20-40 cm depth, where ASRT had higher values than other treatments. Below 50 cm, ASRT and NTSM had higher SOC than RT and CK treatments (Table 21).  Soil organic carbon stocks have been identified as a good indicator of carbon dynamics under different management systems (Farage et al. 2007). Unlike SOC concentrations, stocks account for changes in both SOC concentrations and bulk density. Comparison of horizon and cumulative carbon stocks among tillage systems showed significant (P>0.05) tillage effect. At 0-20 cm depth, NTSM had significantly (P>0.05) higher horizon stocks than other treatments. Similarly, horizon stocks were higher at 20-40cm under ASRT than other treatments. After 4 years, CT (55. 4 Mg C/ha) and RT (56.4 Mg C/ha) had about 19.5% lower (P>0.05) cumulative carbon stocks at 0-100 cm than ASRT (65.9 Mg C/ha) and NTSM (67.8 Mg C/ha).These remarkable increases in carbon stocks indicate attainable carbon sequestration by converting from conventional tillage to straw return tillage and no tillage systems (Table 22). @ Treatments that share the same letter within the same row (depth) are not significantly different (P<0.05).Aggregate-size and soil organic carbon in aggregates Significant differences due to different tillage systems were observed in all aggregate size classes (>2, 0.25-2 and 0.053-0.25 mm), and in the silt + clay fraction (<0.053 mm).ASRT and NTSM soils had a higher proportion of macroaggregates than microaggregates. Within the macroaggregates of ASRT and NTSM, the 0.25-2 mm fractions were more abundant. RRT and CK significantly reduced macroaggregates in the surface layer (0-20 cm) (Table 23). The effect of tillage systems on soil aggregate stability was evaluated by mean weight diameter (MWD) of aggregates. MWD was significantly (P>0.05) affected by tillage systems in the top 0-20 cm. Average MWD at 0-20cm depth decreased in the order: ASRT (0.84mm)>NTSM (0.80mm)>RRT (0.68mm)>CK (0.61mm) (Figure 9). The increasing trend (CK<RRT<NTSM<ASRT) at 0-20cm in MWD reflected the importance of increasing SOC in stabilization of soil aggregates. Poor aggregate stability under CT was related to the weakening of aggregates due to periodic perturbation of soil by tillage implements, exposing soil organic carbon to oxidation. Chivenge et al. (2007) observed that the destruction of aggregates during tillage operations was a major cause of soil structural breakdown under conventional tillage. Our findings support other studies which showed higher aggregate stability under RT and CK than ASRT and NTSM. Conservation agriculture is often a beneficial method for reducing C losses in agricultural soils. In general, trapping C in aggregates can slow mineralization and result in a net gain in soil C (Mikha and Rice, 2004). In a previous study (Zibilske and Bradford, 2003), significantly greater C mineralization, alkaline phosphatase activity, and O 2 uptake were found in the surface 20 cm of these tillage treatments, indicating enhanced microbiological activity. All aggregate size classes in soil managed with ASRT, NTSM and RRT concentrated more C than the CK treatment. The SOC was higher in the NTSM treatment followed by ASRT treatment. CA treatments were more effective in storing C: results indicate that increases in soil C occur with the use of CA. This accreted C should help stabilize the soil, leading to improved sustainability of the system (Table 24). Microbial biomass C (MBC) and N (MBN) were significantly affected by soil depth and tillage system. MBC varied from 136 to 312 mg g-1 in the soil under ZT and from 120 to 166 mg g-1 under CK. MBN varied from 25 to 64 mg g-1 in the soil under ZT and from 26 to 47 mg g-1 under CK. In the 0-5cm and 5-10cm soil layers, MBC and MBN were significantly higher under ZT than CK. In the 0-5cm layer, microbial biomass C and N were, on average, 88% and 73% higher under ZT than under CK. Microbial biomass C and N decreased with soil depth, particularly under ZT. Soil subjected to ZT accumulated crop residues and organic C, which are substrates for soil microorganisms near the soil surface.Since dehydrogenase activity is only present in viable cells, it is thought to reflect the total range of oxidative activity of soil microflora and consequently may be considered to be a good indicator of microbial activity (Nannipieri et al., 1990). Tillage system had significant effects on soil dehydrogenase activity. The dehydrogenase activity ranged from 5.2 to 44.8 mg TPF kg-1 24h-1 in the soil under ZT and from 13.8 to 36.8 TPF kg-1 24h-1 under CK (expressed as nmol reduced triphenyl formazan (TPF) g -1 dry weight soil). Zero tillage resulted in a significantly increase in dehydrogenase activity at the 0-5cm layer. In the 5-30 cm depth, there was no significant difference in dehydrogenase activity between treatments ZT and CK.The phosphatases are a broad group of enzymes that hydrolyze esters and anhydrides of phosphoric acid. Long term tillage had a significant effect on alkaline phosphatase activity, particularly in the 0-5 and 5-10 cm soil depths, where ZT significantly improved alkaline phosphatase activity by at least 53.7% compared to CK as measured using p-nitrophenyl phosphate (PNP) as a substrate. In the 10-30cm depth, values for both treatments were similar, indicating that tillage effects on alkaline phosphatase activity were pronounced in the topsoil. Kremer and Li (2003) showed that phosphatase activity in soils under organic management was greater than under conventional management. The β-glucosidase activity varied from 185.6 to 352.9 mg PNP kg-1 h-1in the soil under ZT and from 106.6 to 257.0 mg PNP kg-1 h-1under CK. Averaged across the depths, β-glucosidase activity in soil under ZT was 46.7% higher than under CK. β-glucosidase, an enzyme already reported as an early indicator of changes in soil properties induced by tillage systems, catalyses the hydrolysis of various β-glucosides during the decomposition of organic materials. This fact could indeed explain the increase in β-glucosidase initially observed as a result of ZT with straw cover treatment.After 4 years of experiments in Shouyang, the no tillage system and the conventional tillage system had different effects on soil chemical properties, microbial biomass and soil enzymatic activities in this study. SOC, TN and TP in the topsoil (0-10) were greater under ZT than under CK. Zero tillage promoted surface accumulation of crop residues and was more effective in improving soil biochemical quality than conventional tillage system. The beneficial effects of conservation management on soil quality were more noticeable in the surface 0-10 cm than below. In addition, the microbial biomass and enzyme activity showed higher sensitivity to soil management practices than did chemical properties. These variables might be used as soil good quality indicators once their critical values have been determined for different conditions.The effect of different tillage treatments on crop growth and yieldThrough investigating the maize emergence rate under different tillage systems in 2007-2008, we found that with NTSM, the crop emerges later than with other treatments, because the soil is relatively compact under no tillage, soil moisture is relatively high, and soil thermal conductance is poor. When the ground temperature drops, this influences the rate of emergence. With RRT, the crop emerged fastest, showing that topsoil cultivation can improve the rate of emergence. The data also show that NTSM guaranteed the number of seedlings just after filling the gaps with seedlings.Ecophysiological features such as crop height, root length, leaf area index and biomass were measured. Maize height was measured on May 25, July 2, August 6 and October 7, 2008. The results show that maize under ASRT had the tallest plants, while under no till without straw mulching and no till with straw mulching maize produces relatively short plants: crop height is affected by the treatments. The results of variance analysis showed there are significant differences among ASRT, NTSM with RRT, and CK in the early stages, and also significant differences between ARST and NTSM, NTS, RRT and CK at harvest.On May 26, July 2 and August 7, 2008, we measured root length, root numbers and biomass. The results showed variations at different growth stages under different treatments. In the early stage, maximum root length was 13.5 to 18.0 cm, about 9 roots per plant; after the intermediate period, maximum root length was about 25 cm, and roots per plant increased sharply with crop development. The variance analysis showed no significant differences between treatments. The situation for biomass is different: after the intermediate stage, there are some significant differences among the various treatments.The leaf is a very important organ and plays a key role for crop growth. The leaf area index (LAI) reveals the status of a crop. The results indicated that LAI was affected by tillage treatments, and in the early growth stages, there were significant differences between ASRT, NTS, CK and NTSM, RRT. In July and August, the LAI of ASRT and CK were almost the same, and the LAI of NTSM, NTS, RRT were lower. This indicates that the CA treatment affects the LAI.Compared with CK, CA treatments influenced the harvest index and yield of maize in dryland areas ( Based on our investigation in the pilot site, CA tillage is associated with reduction of crop production inputs, such as labor and machine fees (Table 26). With CA, total inputs may decrease 15-20%. This is consistent with farmer perceptions of the advantages of CA component technologies which are primarily centered on saving labor. At sowing, soil surface temperature under conservation tillage was less affected by changes in ambient temperature because of crop stubble and straw mulch, but the exposed soil surface under conventional tillage was more sensitive. In the seedling stage soil temperature rose in all treatments, and conventional tillage had the highest surface soil temperature. At maturity when there are severe temperature changes, soil temperature was not influenced by ambient temperature in the CA treatments, while soil temperature under conventional tillage dropped markedly: at harvest soil temperature was significantly lower under conventional tillage than under the CA treatments.In the whole growth period, soil moisture content with CA treatments was higher than with conventional tillage. Soil moisture with high stubble and residue cover is the highest, then low stubble with residue cover, low stubble and high stubble; CA conserves more soil moisture, which benefits crop growth and development.The infiltration rate of water into soil was significantly affected by treatments and appeared directly related to the amount of residues retained: high stubble with residues cover > low stubble with residues cover > high stubble > low stubble > conventional tillage.SOM and N, P, K nutrients CA leads to increases in soil organic matter content from year to year. After four years of CA, soil organic matter content in 0 ~ 20 cm of NHS was higher than CK by 0.12%, NLS by 0.09%, and NH and NL by 0.05%. CA improves soil structure, increases soil moisture, and accelerates mulch decomposition, so that the organic matter content on the soil surface increases significantly.Continuous no-tillage and straw mulch resulted in total nitrogen content in soil increasing year by year. High stubble with residues cover, low stubble with residues cover, high stubble and low stubble treatments all had greater total nitrogen contents than conventional tillage in all years (2006)(2007)(2008) showing that no-tillage and straw mulch can raise the soil total N contents significantly.Different tillage methods affected soil total phosphorus content significantly. The total phosphorus content under conventional tillage was lower in 2006-2007 than in 2005 while in all other treatments the total phosphorus content showed a gradual upward trend. The trend of 2008 was the same as 2007.As the time under CA increased, soil potassium showed a significant increasing trend. At harvest in the third year total soil potassium in the 0-20cm layer was significantly greater than levels at sowing time of the second year. The greatest increase was with high stubble with residue cover, followed by high stubble, low stubble with residues cover and low stubble.Soil microbial biomass carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus changed with soil depth in all growth stages. In all treatments microbial C, N and P levels were highest in the sub-surface (10-20cm) layer followed by surface soil (0-10cm) -microbial C, N and P were lowest in the 20-40cm layer. When measured at three different times, the differences between treatments in levels of microbial C, N and P followed the same pattern: NHS> NLS> NH> NL> T. Within the same treatment, levels also varied over time within the season -grain filling period> seeding period> harvest period.The water and soil erosion quantity was different under different tillage treatments. For example, in 2006 the largest quantity of run-off and soil loss was from the conventional tillage treatments, and the lowest from the high stubble with residue cover treatment. The runoff and soil loss quantity from the conventional tillage treatment was respectively 3.08 times and 2.79 times that of the high stubble with residue cover. The runoff and soil loss from the high stubble treatment were 2.09 times and 1.05 times that of the high stubble with residue cover. The water and soil loss in 2004 and 2005 were similar to that of 2006. Therefore, it is clear that CA significantly reduces the soil and water loss compared with the conventional tillage, while the residue cover can significantly increase the soil and water erosion protection effects.In 2006, the yield of the conventional tillage treatment was the highest in all crops, while the yield of the zero tillage treatment with residue cover was higher than that without cover. In corn, for example, the yield of the conventional treatment was 20.5% higher than that of the yield of the zero tillage with high stubble treatment with residues, and 92.4% higher than the high stubble treatment without residues (Table 27). The yield of the zero tillage with low stubble and residue cover was 60% higher than that of the treatment without residue cover. The yields of millet, soybean, oat and sticky millet (broomcorn millet -Panicum miliaceum) with conventional tillage were 13%, 28%, 12% and 10% higher, respectively, than that of the zero tillage with residue cover. It should be noted however that the land on which this trial was sited had been abandoned due to severe land degradation prior to the trial.In the very dry year of 2007, yield was relatively lower than normal. The yield of the different treatments showed: zero-tillage and mulching>zero-tillage and no mulching>conventional tillage. In 2008, after four years of applying CA, crop yield shows increasing benefits: crop yield in NHS was 33%, 33%, 29%, 27% and 27% higher than the conventional tillage check in maize, oat, soybean, millet and sticky millet, respectively (Table 28); crop yield in NLS was 30%, 27%, 22%, 2q% and 17% higher than the check oat, maize, soybean, millet and sticky millet, respectively; NH increased yield by 10-20% and NL by 10-15% compared to that of traditional tillage. Yield was higher in 2008 mainly because of higher than normal rainfall. A trial was initiated in Pengyang County in September 2006 comparing the conventional tillage practices for winter wheat with no-till treatments with either 15cm or 30cm stubble left standing in the field. The trial was organized in a randomized block with three replications.The Analysis of Variance of the yield results in 2007 showed that there was significant difference between 30 cm stubble treatment and conventional tillage treatment. Keeping 30 cm and 15 cm stubbles increased yield by 16.2% and 12.9%, respectively, compared with traditional tillage (Table 29). However, 1n 2008 after three years of continuous wheat there were no significant differences between treatments (Table 30). In this randomized block trial with three replications established in 2006/2007, an increasingly common practice of laying a strip of white plastic mulch and planting wheat at the side of this strip was compared with winter wheat seeded without the plastic mulch. The results (Table 31) showed that winter wheat with plastic mulch yielded 79% more than in the check without plastic mulch. Analysis showed that net income from seeding of winter wheat with plastic mulch was 80% higher than in the check without mulch, showing that the plastic mulch resulted in greater water use efficiency, especially in a drought year. A winter wheat trial was conducted with no tillage and with plastic mulch in all treatments to compare the effect of stubble height on crop performance in situations with plastic mulch. The three treatments in the trial were with stubble cut at 5cm, 15 cm and 30 cm. Analysis showed that there were significant differences in yield and yield components between treatments, with taller stubble giving greater yields (Table 32). Keeping 30 cm and 15cm stubbles increase yield by 17% and 8%, respectively, compared to the 5cm stubble treatment: yield was directly related to the height of stubble or increase straw quantity.Soil moisture response to stubble height with plastic mulch Soil moisture contents (0-60cm) for the different treatments were measured over the period from October 2006 to June 2007. Soil moisture contents of the different treatments showed an increase in moisture content with increasing stubble height: 30cm and 15cm stubble increased soil moisture content by 16％ and 20％, respectively, compared to the 5cm stubble treatment. The effect of stubble treatments on soil moisture could be seen in all soil layers down to 60 cm: in the 0-20cm layer soil moisture was increased by 26％and 31％, respectively in the 30cm and 15cm stubble treatments compared to the 5cm stubble; in the 20-40cm layer soil moisture was increased by 31％and 26％; and in the 40-60cm layer soil moisture was increased by 14％and 3％, respectively in the 30cm and 15cm stubble treatments compared to the 5cm stubble.Analysis of the effects of the different stubble height treatments with plastic mulch on soil temperature showed that there was a significant difference between 15cm and 5cm stubble treatments, but that, inexplicably the treatment with the 30cm. stubble was intermediate (Table 33). Yield was reduced by residue retention due largely to a decrease in plant stand (Table34), although grain weight per ear was also somewhat reduced by residue retention. Thus the principal effect was the effect of the treatments on plant stand. There was, however, more soil moisture at seeding in the plots with residue cover (Table 35) and emergence rates were not different between treatments (Table 36). Soil moisture throughout the season was higher in the plots with residue cover than in the check (Figure 10). However, early growth was much slower in the treatments with straw cover (Table 37). Although the crops with straw cover had caught up to some degree with the check by tasselling, the effect of this reduced growth on ear numbers was already established. Average temperature of different soil layers was measured in different growth stages from 8:00 to 20:00. The soil temperature variation curves are shown in Figure 11 comparing soil temperature effects in the different treatments. Keeping residues on the soil surface reduced soil temperature, and temperature was reduced more with greater quantities of straw mulch. In the seedling stage 1/2 and full straw retention treatments reduced soil temperature by 17% and 26.2% respectively compared with control; while in the jointing stage soil temperatures were reduced by 8.2% and 13.8% by the 1/2 and full straw retention treatments respectively. Similarly at the heading stage soil temperatures of the 1/2 and full straw retention treatments reduced soil temperature by 9.2% and 13.1% respectively compared to the control, but at the harvest differences in soil temperature were smaller: 3.2% and 5.1% lower than the control in the 1/2 and full straw retention treatments respectively. Results showed that treatments with full and 1/2 straw retention reduced yield, although they conserved more moisture. However, the overriding effect of the treatments was on soil temperature which reduced crop growth and resulted in fewer cobs per hectare.The trial was planted in April 2007 with five treatments: 1. Traditional farming (ck): spring plough land (15cm-depth) after rain; harrow and apply plastic mulch, plant maize. 2. 1/2 straw retention: direct seeding (no tillage) 3. Full straw retention: direct seeding (no tillage) 4. 1/2 straw retention: plastic mulch, direct seeding (no tillage) 5. 1/2 straw residue: cover plastic mulch with cultivationThe trial was organized in a randomized block design with three replications. Seedrate was 30kg/. The trial was planted on raised beds with a bed width of 60cm and a furrow width 40cm. Bed height was 5cm and two rows of maize, spaced 40cm apart were planted on each bed with a spacing between plants in the row of 33cm. Plastic strips, laid on the beds, were 60 cm wide and there was a space between plastic strips of 40 cm. The maize was sown on the beds into holes in the plastic.Results showed that there were significant difference between treatments with plastic mulch and those without plastic mulch (Table 38). The treatments without mulch yielded considerably less than the treatments with plastic mulch.  Soil temperature differences between different trial treatments Again there were significant difference between treatments with plastic cover and those without plastic -soil temperature without plastic mulch was 4-5 o C below the soil temperature with plastic cover (Table 39), resulting in the large yield differences observed.Table 39. Effect of different treatments on soil temperature. All treatments direct planted.Average Soil Temperature °C # 1. Check -Tilled with plastic 24.9 a 2. 1/2 straw retention: -no plastic, no tillage 20.5 b 3. Full straw retention: -no plastic, no tillage 20.0 b 4. 1/2 straw retention: with plastic mulch, no tillage 25.3 a 5. 1/2 straw residue: cover plastic mulch with cultivation 23.9 a # Treatments that do not share the same letter are significantly different (P<0.01).The previous crop was zero tilled winter wheat. The maize conservation tillage trial was planted in March 2008. The 5 treatments were as follows:1. Traditional tilling (ck): spring plough land (15cm-deepth) after rain. Harrow and apply plastic film, plant maize; 2. Early spring strip tilling only + plastic film; 3. Early spring strip tilling only + plastic film + straw cover (1.5 t/ha); 4. Early spring tilling (almost same as ck, but tilled land in early spring due to a snow in winter) + plastic film; 5. Early spring zero tilling + plastic film + straw covering (1.5 t/ha).The trial used a randomized block design with three replications. The seeding rate was 30kg/ha. The trial was planted on raised beds with a bed width of 60cm and a furrow width 40cm. Two rows of maize, spaced 40cm apart were planted on each bed with a spacing between plants in the row of 33cm.Effect on yield and net benefits.Results showed that, as all treatments had plastic mulch, reduced-tillage treatments significantly increased maize yield y approximately 23%. There were no significant differences between the different reduced tillage treatments but all yielded significantly more than the conventionally tilled check (Table 40). These yield increases led to almost a 40% increase in net benefits with the reduced tillage treatments (Table 41). The trial used a randomized block design with three replications. The seeding rate was 1500kg/ha. Potatoes were planted in alternate narrow and wide rows. The spacing between wide rows was 60cm and the spacing between narrow rows was 40cm. Spacing between plants was 40cm.Impact on yield and yield componentsThe yield results showed that reduced-tillage treatments had significant positive effects on yield, which was increased by over 10% when full tillage was not done (Table 42). All the zero tillage and strip tillage treatments yielded significantly more than the check and there was no effect of plastic mulch on yield. This led to an average increase in net benefits in the reduced tillage treatments of 27% (Table 43). The cost of the plastic mulch has not been included in this analysis, and therefore the treatments without the plastic mulch in fact had even greater net benefits -a lower cost of USD 131.9 and therefore net benefits of USD 1,216, 43% greater than the conventionally tilled check. Develop a Permanent Raised Bed No-Till (PRB-NT) Seeder for no-till planting maize and wheat in the provinces of Shandong, Henan and Ningxia. The seeder suitable for a 50 hp 4-wheel tractor could direct plant maize in chopped wheat straw and direct plant wheat in maize stubble (most maize stalks removed from field), place fertilizer deep and place seeds at the required depth. There was no similar type of seeder in China prior to this project.Develop a Layered Bed Former. To make beds in loosened soil at beginning of PRB-NT system, the bed former would match the PRB-NT seeder for the provinces of Shandong, Henan and Ningxia. Select and improve a Maize/Minor Grain NT SeederObjective 1:To provide no-till seeders and related implement to support the CA trials in Shandong, Henan, Ningxia and Inner-Mongolia.There were two kinds of seeders needed for the project. The first of these was for Permanent Raised Beds with residue covered fields, called the PRB-NT seeder, for Shandong and Henan provinces. Because PRB-NT system was the main research technology of the project, it was a key machine, however, this seeder was not available in China, and indeed in the world, and thus a new development was needed. The second was a machine for working on the flat cropping area of Inner Mongolia and Ningxia provinces. This kind of NT seeder was available, but the performance was not acceptable and improvement was necessary.Objective 2:Cooperating with two private machinery manufacturers in Shandong and Inner-Mongolia to manufacture the proto-type seeders and encouraging the manufacturers to observe and participate in experiments, improving the prototype seeders and raising their production levels, to develop 1-2 prototypes of no-till seeders for CA extension in the dry land area of the 4 provinces.Main Research Thrusts:1)Develop a Permanent Raised Beds No-Till (PRB-NT) Seeder for no-till planting of maize and wheat in the provinces of Shandong, Henan and Ningxia. The seeder matched with 50 hp wheel s could direct plant maize in chopped wheat straw fields and direct plant wheat in fields with maize stubble (maize stalks removed from the field), while placing fertilizer deep and seeds at the required depth. As a seeder with these specifications was not available in China, it was necessary to develop a new machine.2) Develop a Bed Former to make beds in loosened soil at the beginning of the PRB-NT system. The bed former would match the PRB-NT seeder for the provinces of Shandong, Henan and Ningxia.3)Select and improve a Maize/Small Grain NT Seeder for Inner Mongolia. The seeder needed to be adequate for an 18 or 20 hp wheel tractor could direct plant maize or small grains (millet, sesame) into residues, place fertilizer at depth and place seed at the required depth.4) Cooperate with a private farm machine manufacture in Shandong province to develop \"PRB-NT seeder\" and \"Bed Former\", encourage the manufacture to participate in field trials and improve the seeder, and initiate commercial production. Cooperate with a private farm machine manufacture in Inner Mongolia to improve \"maize/small grain NT seeder\", encourage the manufacture to participate in field trials and improve the seeder, and initiate commercial production.According to the requirement of the project to test a PRB-NT system in Shandong and Henan provinces, a bed former was needed to make beds to be able to initiate the PRB-NT system. Agronomists of Shandong and Henan provinces defined the bed spacing, height and top width as 1350mm, 140mm and 950mm, respectively. Due to the wide bed spacing, using one pair of discs would be impossible to form the bed. To solve this problem, several pairs of devices were needed. Besides, if the bed former were mounted on the seeder, it would make the seeder too long to function properly in small fields and with small tractors. On the other hand, the PBR-NT system is not necessary to form beds every year: it only needs to form beds in the first year of system establishment. Therefore, a bed former was designed with 3 pairs of disks and 1 pair of chisels together to dig and move soil four times to form the bed appropriately, followed by the press roller to smooth the top of the bed. The sketch map of the bed former can be seen in Figure 12. The bed former was made in June 2005 in the Qingdao Wannongda Peanut Machinery factory. In the first trial, it was found that it was too light to dig the soil, and the function of the press wheel wasn't good. It was modified to include two aspects: the machine, including the frame, handles of digging devices and linkage parts were strengthened and the press wheel structure was changed from a holistic roller to an assembly of several cylinders.The bed former was used to test reshaping ability before wheat planting in 2006. It was found that, without reshaping, the PRB-NT seeder had poor planting efficiency -specifically the seeds were placed quite shallow or even on top of the ground on both side rows. The bed former, equipped with disks and plows, improved the shape of the beds to help the seeder achieve better planting.According to the agricultural requirement, the seeder should be appropriate for direct seeding of maize into fully chopped wheat straw and direct seeding of wheat into maize stubble (maize stalks removed from the field) in areas with two crops per year. After discussion with project partners in Shandong, Henan and Ningxia, one PRB-NT seeder was designed for a 50 hp (Shanghai-50) tractor. The seeder can plant 6-rows of wheat or 2-rows of maize on each bed. A sketch map of the PBR-NT seeder is shown in Figure 13 and the set-up for planting wheat and maize is shown in Figure 14. The technical difficulties for the seeder included: easy blockage when there were many maize stalks or weeds in the field; need to plant both wheat and maize in PRB-NT; reshaping of beds while planting.• The flat disk (4) was designed to cut the wheat straw and weeds on the bed and to reduce residue blockage.• Opener and Frame: a tine opener was selected to place fertilizer and seed at the same time. Wheat seeding depth is 30mm-50mm, maize seeding depth 40mm-60mm, and the fertilizing depth 80mm-100mm.• There are three beams on the seeder. When planting maize, the openers are installed on the back beam and the cutter devices installed on the middle frame, while when planting wheat, the openers are staggered on the middle and the back beams. Because the seeder needs to plant both wheat and maize, a dual-purpose feed roller for wheat and maize is employed to fit the requirement.• Reshaping device and ground wheel. The bed reshaping device was designed to repair destroyed beds. The deflecting angle is a key parameter for reshaping effect and defined by field tests.• The ground wheels run in the furrows, and drive the seed metering mechanism.• The structure of combined press roller uses compacting wheels to press the sides of the beds if soil is loose after reshaping; press wheels are used to press on the planting zone with gap designed to enable easy passage of the maize stubble when planting. The first field test was done at 24/Jul/2005 and after improving the seeder, the second field test was done at 13/ Sep/2005 and the wheat emergence was good. According to the test results and the project partners' opinions, the seeder was improved in the following aspects: Reshaping devices were reduced from 4 to 2, as the devices were very close to the  openers and easily blocked. Also the single drive wheel was changed to two ground wheels to improve the seed metering.Four bed formers and 4 PRB-NT seeders were sent to Shandong, Henan, Ningxia and Beijing respectively. The PBR-NT seeders were used to plant wheat in Shandong and Henan Provinces. Field results showed that seeder performance was good and reached the anticipated goals.The combination press roller had been improved with the diameter of hemisphere of the combination press roller reduced from 450cm to 350cm. So the hemisphere can keep a space with the bed bottom, it ensures the press-wheel can touch the face of seed zone.Other parts of the combination press roller: The thickness of the diameter of the roller was increased from 2.5cm to 4cm to increase pressure.Improvement of the opener: the tine point opener is suitable for making shallow furrows, e.g. less than 5cm. In this case it has good penetration, gives little soil disturbance but the soil disturbance and horizontal force are larger as the furrow depth increased.The improved knife opener is suitable for making deep furrows, up to 10cm. In this case there is no big change in soil disturbance and horizontal force as furrow depth increases, and the opener has additional soil penetration and residue cut through ability.The improved PRB-NT seeder was used to plant maize in fields covered with wheat residue in Beijing in June, 2006. The results showed the knife furrow opener on this machine can reduce the surface soil disturbance and fuel consumption. While in Beijing direct seeding maize into wheat residues was a success (because the wheat sown with two wide rows left for maize planting) but in some other conditions, where wider spacing wheat rows kept for planting maize are not kept, or where there are heavy weed populations on the bed, direct seeding of maize with this machine would be a problem.The improved PRB-NT seeder was used to plant wheat into fields with chopped maize residues in Oct. 2006 in Beijing. Even with the chopped residues there were some residue blockage problems because of the very heavy maize residue levels, but the seeder worked adequately and completed planting on time. The emergence of wheat seedlings was acceptable.At the beginning of 2008, the project team discussed the feasibility of adopting the power driven rotary blades to cut through residue and so increase the \"anti-blockage\" ability of the PRB-NT seeder. It is clear from 2 years of experimenting that the existing PRB-NT seeder could not plant wheat into beds covered with maize stalks. Also from two years research, a big problem was found in machinery system of PRB-NT: the tractor rear wheel axle width (< 1.5 meters) is less than that of all the grain combines (> 1.8 meters).Because of this any width of bed will be damaged by the combine wheel, or by tractor wheels: therefore the PRB-NT system is not yet ready for extension in Central China.However to test whether the power driven mechanism can increase the anti-blockage ability enough to complete direct seeding of wheat into full maize residue covered beds it was decided to design a prototype model focusing on the anti-blockage results without worrying at this stage about wheel damage to the beds.A diagram of the planting pattern of the new seeder matching with a 60hp tractor and which will plant 7 rows of wheat or 2 rows of maize is shown in Figure 15 and the principal characteristics are shown in Table 44.   45.The maize/small grain no-till seeder The 2BM-5 no-till seeder was selected for Inner Mongolia and designed to be able to plant maize and small grains into straw mulch. Common tractor power is around 20 hp. However, the initial version gave poor results and was too fragile, and therefore improvement was necessary.The main improvements carried out were as follows: a) The opener was changed from a narrow point type to a knife type, which gave it more cutting ability to cut residue and break through hard soil, and so be able to work in maize and rice fields with residues; b) the press wheel changed from a single unit model to individual units for each row to better follow the uneven upland terrain in Inner Mongolia; and c) the driving device was changed from the press wheel to a ground wheel to reduce slip and obtain more even seed distribution.Deli New Technical-Equipment manufactory in Huhehot was selected as the manufacturer. Two units of the 2BM-5A no-till maize/small grain seeder were manufactured based on the improved plans. A Conservation Tillage conference was held in Huhehot on 18 Apr. 2006, and the experts and technicians that took part in the conference visited the machine exhibition. The 2BM-5A seeder was exhibited, and many visitors were interested in the no-till seeder.The 2BM-5A NT seeder was tested in plots covered with maize stubble and with 15~25cm high standing maize stubble and 50cm row spacing in Inner Mongolia in April 2006. The test result showed the depth and seed and fertilizer metering could satisfy the expected agricultural requirements. The seeder was also used to plant wheat in Inner-Mongolia and Ningxia provinces, and 20 ha of NT wheat were planted in Pengyang of Ningxia. Furthermore, and as spin-off from the project, a trial of NT planted wheat into rice residues in the Yellow river irrigation area was successful and showed good performance of the knife opener to cut through the rice residue as well forming a perfect seedbed.The function of the seeder was amplified to include no-till planting of wheat and so it can plant maize, small grains and wheat. In accordance with this the name of the machine was changed to 2BM-5X. Secondly, the drive wheel was moved to the back of the seeder from the middle to avoid the greater slippage and the blockage between the wheel and openers when no-till planting maize in fields covered with maize residue. After improvement, the seeder slippage was decreased and the performance improved (Figure 16). Third, the no-till seeder was improved with a much stronger frame and better precision in the manufacture. A total of 35 units of the 2BM-5X seeder were manufactured in 2007 and more than 50 units manufactured in 2008. The principal characteristics of the seeder are shown in Table 46.The 2BM-5X NT seeder was used to no-till plant maize, spring wheat and winter wheat in Inner-Mongolia, Ningxia and Shanxi. When used to plant spring wheat in Inner-Mongolia in May and to plant winter wheat in fields covered with rice residue in Ningxia in October, the results showed that the seeder performance is good and the knife opener can reduce the surface soil disturbance. In direct seeding of maize, the 2BM-5X NT seeder performance was acceptable, but in some cases maize germination was poor due to insufficient pressure from the press wheel. Within each province, we selected two counties that had CA CPWF project activities. Within each county, we randomly selected a set of villages and households. One set of villages was drawn from villages that were being targeted for the extension of CA projects. A list of these villages was provided to the authors by the agricultural department of each county. The other set of villages was drawn from the remaining villages in the county (i.e., those with no known participation in a formal CA extension project-though in some cases there were local extension agents promoting different variants of CA technology). The CA demonstration projects and extension efforts were almost all funded by either the central or regional government, or some international organization (such as a CGIAR center) and carried out by local extension agronomists and professors from local agricultural universities. Our sample villages were randomly selected in parts of China where, according to many key informants (including agronomists and other agricultural scientists), CA technology had the best chance of being adopted. Finally, within the sample villages, a minimum of five households were randomly selected and surveyed. In the villages that had CA projects, the sample households included both households participating in CA extension projects and non-participating households.Within each sample village, two surveys were carried out. The first was a village-level survey with key village leader informants. The village survey gathered general information about the village (e.g., demographics, per capita income, infrastructure, land use, the main cropping rotations, crop productivity and major village income sources), as well as specific information related to the adoption (or lack thereof) of CA technology. Questions were asked about machinery availability and use, the importance of livestock, residue use, soil information and government subsidies. Detailed information was recorded on the nature of the CA technology extension program (if there was one). The second part of the survey targeted sample households in the sample villages. The household survey enumerators gathered detailed information on each household's demographic structure, employment history, and asset base, and on the income stream of family members.We also recorded data on a plot by plot basis on farmers' production efforts. For households that had not adopted any CA technology, two plots were randomly selected from the set of plots planted to crops that accounted for the largest share of the household's cropping activities. For those households that had adopted CA technology, one plot planted under CA technology was selected, and one without CA technology. Wherever possible, we tried to select the second plot to be planted to the same crop that was being cultivated with CA technology. For all plots, enumerators asked farmers to recount detailed information regarding inputs (e.g., fertilizer and labor input) and outputs (e.g., yields) as well as plot characteristics (e.g., distance from the household and plot quality).In 2008, CCAP conducted the second round of field surveys in the Yellow River Basin. In this survey, we focused mainly on wheat producing regions in the Yellow River Basin. Since there are no wheat producing areas in Inner Mongolia, we did not visit the villages there, only in the three other provinces (Ningxia, Henan and Shandong). In this survey, we tried to revisit the same villages as in our 2005 baseline sample; we also added new villages that were not included in the baseline survey. Unlike 2005, the survey team did not select villages randomly, but instead selected those villages where some farmers had adopted CA. These villages have been influenced both directly and indirectly by our project. We selected both rainfed and irrigated villages, for a total of 14 villages in three provinces.In each village, 12 farmers were selected to attend our focus group discussion. When selecting farmers, based on their per capita income, we divided the farmers into three groups: poor farmers whose income was lower than the village average, normal farmers whose income was equal to village average and rich farmers whose income was higher than the average income of the village. We also randomly selected four farmers from each group of farmers to attend our discussion. Besides considering income levels, we also tried to strike a balance between female and male farmers.For the focus group survey, we designed semi-structured questionnaires together with CIMMYT scientists. The questionnaires included the following: village characteristics, farm size, household characteristics, resource endowments, land use, production goals and market access; wheat production systems characteristics (rotations, implements used, residue management practices, yields and input and output prices); CA adoption status, implementation levels and characteristics; advantages and disadvantages of CA adoption; environmental benefits and constraints to CA adoption.To gain a better understanding of the determinants of CA technology adoption, it was necessary to conduct a multivariate analysis to separate the influence of each factor. Applying 2005 field survey data, we constructed the following econometric model to explain the determinants of CA adoption measured at the village level:where yik represents CA adoption in village k in year i. It is a dummy variable: if the village adopts any type of CA technology (either Full or Partial), yik = 1; otherwise, yik = 0. The rest of the variables explain adoption of CA technology. The vector of Sik represents a set of socio-economic variables, measured by the share of the family's labor working off-farm; per capita cultivated land area; share of cultivated land that is irrigated; and the distance from the household to the township.We also included two policy variables (Pik). The first variable measures whether or not there is an active subsidy policy in the village that encourages the purchase of machinery (which is equal to 1 if village farmers can obtain the subsidy, and 0 otherwise). The other policy variable measures if there is a local regulation that is being implemented that bans the burning crop residue (measured as 1 if village leaders know there is such a policy, and 0 otherwise).Finally, we included a variable to measure the extent of the government's effort to promote CA technology. Specifically, the variable (Iik) measures the influence of whether there was a CA technology extension project in the village or not. This variable is measured as a dummy variable. If there was an extension project in the village at some time in the past (or currently), the variable is equal to 1; otherwise, it is zero. The symbols α , β , γ , δ and φ are parameters to be estimated, and jk ε is the error term assumed to be uncorrelated with the other explanatory variables in the model.To understand why some households adopt CA technology and others do not, we constructed the following econometric model at the household level:where Tj represents adoption of CA technology by household j. In our analysis, this is a dummy variable which is set equal to 1, if the household adopts any kind of CA technology (either Full or Partial); otherwise, Tj = 0. The rest of the variables explain CA adoption at the household level (and in many cases are similar to those used in equation 1). The vector, Hj, represents household socio-economic characteristics that affect adoption. Most importantly, we included two household variables that measure the family's labor (share of family members in the off-farm sector) and land endowments (per capita cultivated landholdings). We also included other variables as controls (e.g., age and education of household head). A wealth variable (measured as the value of the family's housing assets) was included as a control for whether or not the household was facing a liquidity constraint. In addition, we also controlled the possible influence of soil type on CA adoption, measured by the share of loam plots and share of clay plots on the farm.In addition to household-specific variables, we included a number of policy and extension variables. The variable (Pj) is a variable that measures whether or not the household knows there is a residue burning ban. If the respondent knows about this policy, Pj =1; otherwise, Pj =0. In addition, we included a variable, Ij, to measure the influence of whether there is a CA technology extension project in the village or not. If the household has participated in a CA extension project, Ij =1; otherwise, Ij =0. The symbols ε , ϕ , η and ς are parameters to be estimated and j ω is the error term assumed to be uncorrelated with the other explanatory variables in the model.To explore the impacts of CA adoption on agricultural production (crop yield, labor and machine input), poverty and the environment, we not only performed literature reviews and applied our field survey data, but also used descriptive statistics and conducted econometric analysis. The following econometric model has been constructed to understand the impacts of CA adoption on crop yields:where y ijk represents wheat or maize crop yields in village k, household j and plot i. In the model, we specified crop yields (kg/ha) as the log term. The rest of the variables are those variables that explain crop yields.The vector of T ijk is of our variable of interest, representing adoption of CA technology. For this set of variables, we had two options. The first option is to treat CA adoption as one variable; farmers may adopt any kind of CA technology (reduced till or residue retention separately or together). If farmers adopt any kind of CA technology, T ijk = 1; otherwise, T ijk = 0. The second option is to treat T ijk as three variables. The first variable refers to reduced till adoption; if adopted, it equals 1, otherwise it equals 0. The second variable refers to adoption of residue retention; if adopted, it equals 1, otherwise, it equals 0. The third variable refers to adopting reduced till and residue retention together; if adopted, it equals 1, otherwise, it equals 0.In addition to the CA adoption variable, we also included many other variables to control the influence of other variables on crop yields. The vector of I ijk represents a set of production input variables measured by fertilizer cost per hectare, labor use per hectare, machine cost per hectare and value of other inputs per hectare. We transferred them into log term. The vector of H ijk represents a set of household characteristics, measured by the age of household head (and its square term) and education of the household head. The vector of O ijk represents a set of plot characteristics. First, we included variables that reflect the influence of soil quality, as two dummy variables: one to measure if plot quality is the best in the village; if it is, O ijk = 1, otherwise, O ijk = 0. The other variable measures if plot quality is good in the village; if it is, O ijk = 1, otherwise, O ijk = 0. Second, the variable distance from home has also been included as a variable representing plot characteristics. The vector of Z ijk represents other control variables, such as production shocks measured by yield reduction due to production shocks, years of adopting conservation technology, whether planting in one season (if one season, it is set to 1, otherwise, 0), dummy for use of plastic mulch and village dummy. The symbols α , β , γ , δ , φ and µ are parameters to be estimated, and the error term ijk ε is assumed not to be correlated with the other explanatory variables in the model.To understand the impact of CA adoption on labor input, we have specified the following econometric model:where L ijk represents labor input (total working days in the growth period) for wheat or maize production in village k, household j and plot i. The rest of the variables are those variables that explain crop yields. The vector of T ijk represents CA adoption, which is similar to that in equation 3.1. The vector of P ijk represents one vector of variables that measure the price of both product and input, such as the price of wheat (or maize), price of labor, seed, fertilizer and machine service. In this model, we also included H ijk and O ijk to represent household and plot characteristics that have similar specifications as that in equation 3.1. For the other control variables of Z ijk , unlike in equation 3.1, we did not include the dummy variable use of plastic mulch; instead, we included the opportunity cost of farm labor measured by the share of labor doing off-farm work; the other three control variables in the vector of Z ijk are similar to equation 3.1.To gain an understanding of the impact of CA adoption on poverty, we built the following econometric model:where V jk represents the poverty status of household j in village k. This is a dummy variable; if the per capita income in the household is below the extreme national poverty line, we consider the household to be poor, i.e., the variable V jk is set to 1, otherwise, it equals zero. The rest of the variables are those variables that explain crop yields. The vector of T ijk represents CA adoption. In this model, we only treated this variable to be one; if farmers adopt any kind of CA technology, it equals to 1, otherwise, it equals zero. The vectors of H ijk and O ijk represent household and plot characteristics. The specifications of household variables are similar to those in equation 3.1. In this model, we included more variables to measure plot characteristics such as land area, number of plots, share of plots with irrigation, share of simple plots, share of loam plots, share of clay plots, share of first-class plots and share of saline soil plots. For the other control variables of Z ijk , unlike in equation 2.1, we did not include a dummy variable for use of plastic mulch; instead we included the opportunity cost of farm labor measured by the share of labor doing off-farm work; the other three control variables in the vector of Z ijk , they are similar to equation 3.1.   The development and promotion of suitable equipment received attention and a handful of major machinery manufacturers, collaborating with scientists and engineers, began to adapt and sell zero and reduced till equipment with substantial subsidies from national and provincial governments. As a result of such demonstration activities and strong policy support, it is estimated that by the end of 2007 the CA adoption area in China reached 2.16 million ha. Demonstration Provinces included Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang Provinces. Development of CA in the Yellow River Basin is similar to the national trend. The first year of CA adoption in the YRB was probably 1992 in Linfeng and Shouyang counties of Shanxi Province. Until now, as shown in Figure 17, the CA adoption areas in Inner Mongolia are the highest, reaching 539,000 ha 1 . However, in Gansu Province, the adoption area is only 19,000 ha, the lowest in all provinces. For other provinces, CA adoption areas range from 20,000 to 372,000 ha (Zhao and Xu, 2006; http://www.sxnj.org.cn/zyxx/06sxbhx.doc). We also examined the adoption rate by share of sown areas adopting CA. Results show that based on the adoption rate, CA adoption in Shanxi Province is the highest, reaching 9.7% in 2006. The lowest CA adoption is in Henan, reaching only 0.4%.In the following discussion we seek to track the adoption of CA technology in the Yellow River Basin using two sets of measures derived from our survey data. First, we use a village-level measure. According to this measure, a village is considered to have adopted CA technology (either Full or Partial) if at least one plot of one farm in the village uses the technology. While this does not mean that all, or even most, farmers in a village are using a given technology, information on how many villages have at least one farmer using a technology provides an understanding of how spatially pervasive a practice has become. It also provides a convenient way to track the dissemination of each technology over time. The second measure, percentage of sown area on which a new technology is being used, is a measure of the actual extent of adoption at the farm level.According to our survey, using the village-level measure of CA technology adoption, Partial CA technology expanded from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. In the 1980s, adoption rates of reduced till and residue retention (by themselves) were both low (Figure 18). On average, only 2% of villages had any farmers that practiced reduced tillage. In 4% of villages there was at least one farmer that had adopted some form of residue retention technology. Moreover, during the 1980s the rise in the share of villages in which a farmer was adopting reduced till/residue technology was almost zero. Adoption of residue retention, which grew slowly in the early 1990s, accelerated after the mid-1990s. Although adoption rates of reduced till started more slowly, farmers began to adopt reduced till in the late 1990s. By the last year of our data collection, there was at least one farmer using residue retention in 40% of our sample villages, and in more than 25% of the sample villages, at least one farmer was practicing reduced till.The adoption path of Full CA technology differs somewhat from that of Partial CA technology (Figure 18). In fact, from the early 1980s to the late 1990s, there was not even one farmer in one village who had adopted Full CA technology. In the late 1990s, the share of villages rose slightly, to 2% of villages. After 2001, however, adoption of Full CA technology (at least one household in each sample village) rose gradually. From 2000 to 2005, the share of villages adopting Full CA technology increased to 16%. Differences across provinces. Although adoption rates using village-level measures were fairly low across our whole sample (at least until the last years of our study), we did observe differences among provinces in the adoption paths of CA technology. For example, in 92% of villages in Henan Province at least one farmer used residue retention technology in 2005. In contrast, farmers in only 17% of villages in the Ningxia Province sample villages used this technology. Adoption of residue retention in Shandong and Inner Mongolia Provinces were intermediate.There are also variations among provinces in adoption levels of reduced till in 2005 (Table 47): In 62% of villages in Inner Mongolia, at least one household adopted reduced till technology. However, reduced till could only be found in 8% of villages in Ningxia Province and in no villages of Shandong Province.In the case of adoption of Full CA technology using the village-level measure, there were also differences across the sample provinces. In 39% of villages in Inner Mongolia, at least one farmer adopted Full CA technology. The levels were lower in Henan (16%) and Shandong (17%). Strikingly, no villages among all the sample villages in Ningxia Provinces adopted Full CA technology-despite government efforts to promote the technology.The most striking findings of our adoption analysis were revealed when using household-level measures of CA adoption. When measuring the share of total area within the sample villages that is devoted to CA technology, we found that, in fact, while Full CA technology adoption level was low (3%), Partial CA technology adoption reached 31% in 2005. It should be noted that these adoption levels need to be kept in context, i.e., they occurred in areas where the government is actively extending the technology. We believe if one were to do a wider, fully random sample of villages, adoption levels of Full CA technology would almost certainly be lower. Hence, at least in 2005 in our study areas, adoption rates of Full CA technology-or the most comprehensive set of practices that are consistent with the Blue Revolution technology package-were very low.According to the field survey conducted in three provinces of the Yellow River Basin in 2008, when CA adoption was assessed by crop (wheat and maize), the adoption rate of Full CA was higher than our findings in 2005 which studied CA adoption by plot. For example, the average adoption rate of Full CA for wheat in three provinces increased from 25% to 35% (Table 47). For the Full CA, the most important technology is reduced tillage with crushed residue cover. The adoption rate for the other two CA component technologies was almost zero. The Full CA technologies were adopted mainly by farmers in Shandong and Henan Provinces; in Ningxia Province, the adoption rate was very low. Compared with Full CA, the adoption rate of Partial CA was much lower, less than 1% in 2008. The CA adoption rate was higher for the maize crop. In both 2005 and 2008, the share of sown area adopting Full CA for maize was more than 71%, mainly in Henan and Shandong Provinces. The main type of Full CA technology for maize is zero tillage with complete residue cover. Similarly, the adoption rate of Partial CA (mainly zero tillage) is much lower than that of Full CA technology. To meet the goal of identifying factors associated with CA technology adoption, in this section we will first look at cross tabulations between measures of CA technology adoption and a set of socio-economic factors that define the nature of China's villages and the farmers who live there. We will also attempt to determine whether policy and extension/research projects' efforts to provide information to producers about the benefits of CA technology are correlated with adoption rates. Some of the most distinctive characteristics of producers who adopt CA technologies compared to those who do not are access to household labor and land resources. Results show that in villages adopting CA technology, the share of the labor force that works off-farm (33%) is higher than in villages without CA technology (24%) (Table 48). Therefore, according to our data, if farmers have better off-farm opportunities, they appear to be more interested in adopting CA technology. Within China, our descriptive data suggest that those villages that have more of their labor force in the off-farm sector have an higher opportunity cost for labor, and are more interested in the labor-saving benefits of CA technology.Our survey data also indicate that farmers in villages that have more land are more likely to adopt CA technology. Our data suggest that when land is less dear, farmers are relatively more interested in adopting CA technology, even though there may be a yield penalty (or at least no yield gain) in the short run. Hence, in the case of labor (assuming more off-farm labor means higher opportunity cost for on-farm work) and land (assuming less land means land is scarcer and the implicit returns to land-or the rent-are higher), the value of factor endowments appear to affect the interest in CA technology of farmers living in China's villages.Beyond factor endowments, access to policy support may also influence the adoption of technologies (CIMMYT 1993;FAO, 2001). Before investing in any soil or water conservation practice (or any new technologies), farmers have to be convinced that the benefits will be greater than the costs (given constant risk), and farmers often have to overcome some type of constraint (Ervin and Ervin, 1982;Reardon and Vosti, 1995;Clay et al., 2002).Because these uncertainties and constraints may mean that farmers do not see immediate gain from the technology, government support policies (for financial aid and infrastructure construction) are often associated with successful CA adoption (Reardon and Vosti 1997;Malla 1999;Sanders and Cahill 1999;Bekele 2003). Specifically, when the government provides subsidies or loans to encourage adoption, we would expect to see more adoption.The data from our study sites, in fact, do show this. When examining the data on village-level measures of adoption, we see that if the government provides subsidies for machinery used for developing CA technology, the probability of a farmer in a village adopting CA technology is higher. Results also show that if the cost of replacing existing machines is relatively low, it is easier to extend CA technology in the field.Policies can also create barriers. For example, because of concerns about air pollution, many localities in China (and elsewhere in the world) are taking steps to prohibit the burning of agricultural residue. If farmers cannot burn residue, they have to spend money to haul it away and dispose of it; the cost of technologies that do not require removing residues would then be lower. In fact, our data show that in villages where the government does not allow farmers to burn crop residue in the field, CA adoption occurs at a higher rate.Finally, having access to information on the attributes of the new technology and how to use it in the field should also improve the likelihood of adoption. Therefore, we can expect areas with access to extension agents promoting CA technology to adopt the technology at higher rates. According to our data, in villages where farmers were using CA technology, there was a relatively good opportunity for farmers to access information about the cost and benefits of CA technology (33% of adopting villages). In contrast, in villages that did not adopt any kind of CA technology, only 6% of farmers had had any opportunity to participate in a CA technology extension project.Similar results are found when looking at the household-level measures of technology adoption (Table 49). For example, if the household has more family members working off the farm, the probability of the household adopting some type of CA technology is higher. Households with more land also seem relatively more willing to adopt CA technology. Hence, in our household descriptive statistics, as in the village-level descriptive statistics, there is evidence that the scarcity of factor endowments plays an important role in encouraging technology adoption. Interestingly, Lin (1992), in a paper on hybrid rice adoption, found similar results in his sample of Hunan farmers.Our household level data also suggest that policy and extension can play a role in encouraging adoption. First, households with less wealth, adopt less. This could mean there is a wealth constraint, since CA technology does involve some potential yield loss and investing in new machinery. Therefore, it is not surprising that results of our village-level descriptive statistics found that government subsidy policies helped encourage CA adoption.In addition, although adoption rates are relatively low, there are still differences between farmers in regions affected by different government regulations and between farmers who have differential access to government extension programs. For example, in the case of households that adopted CA technology, 31% of them stated that they lived in villages in which the government does not allow burning of crop residues, but only 19% of non-adopters lived in such localities. The importance of extension efforts is also evidenced by the fact that 39% of households that had adopted some type of CA technology had at some point in the past participated in an extension training program on CA technology, whereas only 6% of non-adopting households had done so.During estimation, we tried several different specifications for both the village-level (equation 2.1) (Table 50) and household-level models (equation 2.2) (Table 51). Since there may be a correlation between the error terms and the key right hand side explanatory variables, we used a fixed effect approach to control for all unobserved non-time varying factors. There may also be multicollinearity between several of our key policy variables. For example, it could be that in places where government bans the burning of crop residue, it also gives subsidies to farmers for purchasing machinery. The same is true in areas that have promoted CA technology (perhaps the same areas that provide machinery subsidies or ban residue burning). In other words, it is possible that policies come in packages, which would make identifying individual effects difficult. Because of this, in our analysis, we deal with this by considering policy variables separately.In using a fixed effects approach to estimate equation 2.1, it appears that our models perform relatively well. The goodness of fit measures, the R 2 statistics, range from 0.36 to 0.50 for the village-level mode (Table 50). These high measures mean that the fit is relatively good for this type of analysis. The household-level model also performed well.The relative high Pseudo R 2 (from 0.46 to 0.48) statistics and high Chi2 (from 183 to 192) statistics show the model fits well (Table 51).The relatively satisfactory performance of the model can also be analyzed from the coefficients of some of the control variables. Many of the coefficients of control variables in the equations have the expected signs and are statistically significant. For example, as estimated in the household-level model, farmers cultivating predominantly clay soils rarely adopt CA technology (Table 51). In fact, extension agents do not encourage using CA technologies on clay soils because water penetration and germination is poorer in such soils if CA technology is used. Adoption of CA technology is also significantly correlated with age of household.More importantly, we found in the multivariate analysis-as was so clear in the descriptive statistics-that CA adoption is affected by the factor endowments that characterize villages and farm households. Specifically, the coefficients of variables measuring the opportunity cost of the farm household (the share of the village/family labor force that works off-farm) are positive and statistically significant in both the village-and household-level models (Tables 50 and 51). Although the coefficient of the land variable is not significant, the sign suggests that farmers with more land (or villages with farmers with more land) adopt CA technology more frequently. Hence, factor endowments appear to be one of the most important determinants of CA technology adoption.We also saw evidence in our multivariate analysis that switching technologies may be expensive (or at least risky). From our household-based analysis, the coefficient of the wealth variable (which is positive and significant) suggests that rich farmers are more likely to adopt CA technology than poor ones (Table 51). In addition, the coefficients of variables that measure the presence of local machine-subsidizing policies (which could help alleviate the wealth constraint) is positive and statistically significant in the village-level model (Table 50). Together, these results suggest that, ceteris paribus, a policy that seeks to assist farmers in financing initial adoption indeed appears to promote the adoption of CA technology.Our results-also as seen in the descriptive statistics-demonstrate the importance of other policy efforts, including government initiatives to run extension projects. First, when policies banning residue burning are well promoted (and perhaps effectively enforced), village-and household-level regressions show that CA adoption rates rise (Tables 50 and  51). Moreover, when villages host extension projects featuring CA technology, coefficients of variables measuring these extension efforts are positive and statistically significant.Based on the literature review, we found that, in most cases, CA can increase wheat yield. Eighty-three percent of studies reported that after CA adoption, wheat yield increased, and only 17% reported that CA resulted in wheat yield reduction. Although we found some negative impacts of CA on wheat yield, we did not find any negative impact on maize yield in the literature.  Based on our 2005 field survey, and applying both descriptive statistic and econometric analyses, we found that CA did not increase crop yield significantly (Table 53). Compared with wheat yields of farmers adopting CA technologies (2220 kg/ha), yields of conventional farmers was higher (3225 kg/ha) (Wang et al., 2007). However, farmers adopting CA had higher maize yield (5010 kg/ha) than non-adopting farmers (4478 kg/ha). Crop yield is influenced not only by tillage technologies (such as CA or conventional tillage), but also by many other socio-economic variables. To determine the real impact of CA technologies on crop yields, we established econometric models for both wheat and maize yields. Econometric results show that CA adoption did not significantly increase or reduce wheat yield, since the coefficients of CA variables in the models are not statistically significant. The econometric model for maize yield (not shown) was similar. In sum, CA adoption had no significant impact on crop yield.In our 2008 field survey, we again asked farmers about the impacts of CA on wheat and maize yields (Table 52). It seems that in some areas of the YRB, in the beginning of CA adoption, crop yield increased, while in other areas, crop yield decreased. For example, our survey found that in 47% of villages, after CA adoption, wheat yield increased 2-47%, while in 53% of villages wheat yield decreased 1-69%. Similarly, maize yield increased 11-31% in 27% of villages, and decreased 8-40% in 73% of villages.Farmers provided some explanation for the positive and negative impacts of CA on maize and wheat yields. Farmers in Henan and Shandong Provinces considered that yield increase was due to the preservation of soil moisture. Conversely, they believed that yield decreased as a result of the deleterious effects of poor seed drills on soils. Seed varieties and climate change are two other important reasons for yield reduction. Farmers in Ningxia Province gave three reasons for yield reduction after CA adoption: (1) CA does not preserve soil moisture; (2) manure cannot be used on the fields; and (3) weed problems worsen after CA adoption.Based on either descriptive statistics analysis or econometric analysis, the 2005 survey results show that CA adoption can significantly reduce labor input. Full CA adoption can reduce labor input of wheat production by 50% (Table 55), while Partial CA can effect a reduction of 33-67%. For maize production, Full CA can reduce labor input by 46%, and Partial CA can reduce labor input 15-46%. We found similar data for potato and oats. The labor effect is not hard to understand: since CA farmers do not need to prepare the land; their labor input for land preparation is zero. However, farmers who do traditional tillage have a labor input of 10.5 days per ha. For other activities such as harrowing, fertilizer application, seeding, weeding and cleaning residue, labor requirements of CA farmers are lower than those of farmers who do not adopt CA. In our econometric model for wheat labor input, the dummy variable of CA adoption is negative and significant, which means that after controlling other factors, farmers adopting CA will significantly reduce labor use (about 33%). We found results for maize production were similar to those for wheat production. Econometric results showed that compared with traditional agriculture, labor input for maize production under CA can decrease by about 86%. Due to the reduction of production costs, the research also shows that CA can increase farmer income. Some 60% of literature reported that CA can increase farmer income by less than 30% (Zhao and Shi, 2006). A further 20% of literature found that after adopting CA farmer income can increase by 40% to 60% (Gao, 2006). The remaining 20% of literature demonstrates that CA even can increase farmer income by more than 70% (Ma et al., 2006).We conducted both descriptive and quantitative analysis using econometric models to identify the actual impact of CA technologies on poverty (Table 56). Based on descriptive analysis, we found that compared with the group that did not adopt any CA technologies, the adopting group had a lower share (about 4%) of households under the extreme poverty line2. The results of our econometric model are consistent with our descriptive analysis.Our regression results show that many coefficients of our control variables have the expected signs and are statistically significant. Importantly, we found that adoption of CA technologies can significantly reduce poverty by 5%.Based on our 2008 field survey, CA adoption has some influence on women's labor input and non-farm labor time. For example, 33% of villages in Ningxia Province reported that due to CA adoption, labor intensity decreased. Mechanization of CA means women's work is enough for agriculture, and more labor force can go outside to find non-farm jobs. In Henan Province, 100% of villages reported that due to CA adoption, women's labor time increased, since most men looked outside for non-farm jobs. In addition, they said there are more weeds in no-tillage plots, which need more labor to eliminate weeds. In Shandong Province, no villages reported that CA influenced the labor input of women.Most villages in our 2008 field survey reported that their environment have been influenced by the adoption of CA. On average, 71% of villages reported that their environment has been influenced. In Shandong Province, 83% of villages have been affected. In Ningxia and Henan Provinces, this number is 67% and 60%, respectively. Some farmers said that CA has some effect on water use efficiency, but their responses differ by region. For example, in Shandong Province, 50% of farmers said it saved water by 20% to 50%. The other half of farmers said that there was no change at all. In Ningxia Province, most farmers said they did not observe such effects. Only one said water evaporation decreased, but that the capacity for saving rainfall decreased, too. Rain is lost because of the smooth land surface. In Henan Province, the majority answered that there were no changes. Only one village said that it did not save water, but wasted 50% water.Some farmers pointed out that soil quality improved due to CA adoption. In Henan Province, 60% of villages said there were no changes, and 40% said soil quality was better, but they were not able to specifically quantify the improvement. In Shandong Province, 50% of villages said that the soil is getting better, but again without detailed knowledge of the changes. The rest were not aware of any change at all. In Ningxia Province there was no awareness of the impacts of CA on soil quality.Reduced soil erosion as a result of CA adoption was also reported by some farmers. In Henan Province, 60% of farmers do not know, 20% think it is getting less but could not quantify the reduction. In Shandong Province, the majority answered that there were no changes; only one village said they were unable to respond, for lack of understanding. However, in Ningxia Province, farmers were unaware of the impacts of CA on soil erosion. 2 The extreme poverty line is 693 yuan (USD 99) per capita.Increased soil organic matter content is another possible, positive environmental effect of CA adoption. In Henan Province, 80% of villages said they had no idea, while 20% said organic matter content increased 0.03%, e.g., from 0.05% to 0.08%. In Shandong Province, two out of three villages had no idea. The others said it increased. One of them said determination of potassium increased by 10%. However, in Ningxia Province, no one knows the impact of CA on organic matter content.Conservation agriculture can also reduce chemicals use. In Henan Province, 60% of villages said there was no change, while 40% said it increased by 20-50%. In Shandong Province, the majority answered that there were no changes. Only one village said that pesticide use decreased by 10%. However, in Ningxia Province, no one knew of such impact of CA.The data used in this report come from our field survey in four provinces of northern China. Based on these findings, it seems that if China implements the policy banning residue burning well, conducts more CA demonstrations, provides more labor opportunities and better irrigation, and if the cost of replacing existing machines and draft animals is low, CA technology will be adopted in the country quickly. However, for now, labor in China is intensive, and the ability of farmers to replace existing machines or animals is still low. In the future, increasing labor opportunities and farmers' capital investment capacity, and implementing more CA demonstrations and improving irrigation will facilitate CA technology adoption.Based on our 2005 field survey, we found that CA did not increase crop yield significantly.In our 2008 field survey, we asked farmers about the impacts of CA on wheat and maize yields. It seems that in some areas of the Yellow River Basin, at the beginning of CA adoption, crop yields increased, while in other areas, crop yields decreased.The 2005 survey results show that adopting CA can significantly reduce labor input. Based on our 2008 field survey, most farmers also think that CA can reduce production costs, especially for labor input.Due to reduction of production inputs, studies have also found that CA increases farmer income: 60% reported that CA can increase farmer income by nearly 30%. Based on descriptive and quantitative analysis using econometric models, we found that adoption of CA technologies can significantly reduce poverty by 5%. Based on our field survey in 2008, CA adoption has some influence on the labor input of women and non-farm labor time.Conservation agriculture adoption has three types of environmental impacts: (1) it contributes to increasing water use efficiency; (2) it increases soil moisture and reduces soil water evaporation by about 30%; and (3) it can reduce runoff of surface water by about 60%. Also, because some or all residues are retained on the soil surface, not burned, environmental pollution is reduced. During the 2008 field survey, 71% of villages reported that their environment had been influenced by CA adoption. Some farmers said that the CA had some effect on water use efficiency, but their responses differ by region.Encourage the development of a policy environment that does not discriminate against conservation agriculture practices and of input, equipment and rental markets needed to make conservation agriculture practices generally accessible.The project design engaged senior leaders from each of the seven participating organizations in order, inter alia, to facilitate the communication of project results to policy makers at national, Provincial and County level, related to CA promotion including national and regional plans, CA extension programs and subsidies on CA equipment. Relevant officials from MOA, Provincial and Local Government were regularly invited to visit field demonstration sites and observe the performance of CA in farmers' fields. Project results were shared regularly with the Yellow River Commission so Basin planners and policy makers could incorporate the implications of the field research into decisions on Basin development. Project scientists engaged in relevant debates, for example the potential of CA to mitigate dust storms affecting Beijing through CA.The socioeconomic surveys identified policy and socio-economic factors which are important drivers of wider adoption of CA technology. Results show that policy intervention (such as machinery subsidy policy and policy of forbidding burning residue) can play some role in promoting the adoption of CA technology.At a national level, project leaders contributed to the CA component of the national Five Year Plan which targeted resources for the promotion of CA in China. The incorporation of the CA blueprint in the national plan is a major accomplishment. In addition, the implications of the project results were brought to the attention of the Minister of Agriculture.At the provincial level, some project staff participated in provincial meetings on machinery subsidy in order to decide which farm equipment should receive subsidy from the National Government. As a consequence, one of the no-till seeders developed with project support has been added to the Agricultural Machinery Purchase Allowance list, implying a subsidy for farmers equivalent to 40% of purchase price, thus promoting manufacture and sales of the no-till seeder.The Yellow River Commission was regularly briefed on project results through visits of project staff and participation in the Yellow River Commission Forum in 2007. Commission leaders are aware of the potential of CA to contribute to water-efficient sustainable development in the Basin.There has been a high level of engagement with policy makers at national, Basin, Provincial and County levels which has developed an understanding of the potential for CA and the required adjustments to policy. It is expected that the benefits of these project actions will continue to be seen with ongoing adjustments to future plans and policies to support CA. The project worked with seven major local partners, including the Chinese Agricultural University, research organizations or universities in five Provinces, and station and adaptive researchers and extension workers in five pilot Counties. Furthermore the project worked with farm equipment factories in three Provinces. Through these local partners, several hundred professional research and extension staff improved their management of CA trials and demonstrations. In addition, the project attracted students to contribute to the analysis of research results in the course of their thesis work. While many of the partners had strong scientific capacity for research on varieties, agronomy, soil management and economic analysis, it was recognized that innovation for CA is complex and demands systems and participatory research. While the project sought to strengthen component research field skills, especially through one-on-one mentoring by international scientists, workshops and an international study were organized in order to strengthen capacity to design, manage and implement collaborative multi-stakeholder collaborative research and development.Some 50 students in partner institutions received, or will shortly receive, Bachelors, Masters or Ph D degrees based on project research data and supervised by project scientists. Another valuable capacity building activity was the regular \"on the job\" advice and mentoring of international scientists from CIMMYT and IMWI on the management of research and demonstration fields, interpretation of results, and on hydrology and crop modeling using DSSAT. International scientists from CIMMYT introduced new research tools such as the GreenSeeker NDVI sensor to estimate nitrogen use efficiency and web based knowledge sharing tools. One innovation in capacity building was the organization of the traveling workshops around mid-year to review and learn from the field activities in each pilot County. This successfully brought together multi-disciplinary groups of research, academic and extension staff from different partner institutions to visit, once per year, the field work of a couple of Provinces and learn together through discussions of site selection and characterization, experimental design, specification of treatments (especially the timing and tillage practices, and the height and nature of retained crop residues) and interpretation of results.In terms of more formal capacity building, more than 50 researchers participated in the Participatory Research Workshop in 2006 or the Impact Pathways Workshop in 2007. The former was restricted to project researchers and covered participatory diagnoses, on-farm research, and participatory farmer evaluation. The workshop evaluation recorded a substantial increase in participants' understanding and knowledge. With strengthened skills, these partner staff demonstrated greater confidence and effectiveness in managing participatory demonstrations. The Impact Pathways Workshop was attended by scientists from project partners, as well as staff from other Basin projects, and brought a new paradigm to the networks of actors which advance innovation and the multiple channels through which farmers acquire and benefit from improved CA technologies. One study tour was organized to India for partner scientists to observe the rapid spread of CA in north-west India.There has been two-way benefit from the exposure of participating scientists in the Ghana (Yan Changrong) and Addis (staff member from Yan Changrong's team) workshops, and the study tour to India. Collaborating scientists have acquired a greater understanding of the biophysical and socioeconomic aspects of resource-productivity enhancing technologies and their adoption.The project made substantial contributions to the capacity of partners, both in the science of CA and the innovative approaches to multi-stakeholder CA R&D through formal and informal capacity building. Given the great importance and need for continuing adaptation and expansion of CA to other Counties and Provinces in China, there is arguably high value (and evident strong demand) for continued capacity building in innovative approaches to collaborative R&D for CA.The positive results from this project are relevant to rainfed areas outside the four target Provinces and outside China. Site-similarity analysis will aid the targeting, i.e., definition of the most likely areas of extended impact to other areas with similar agro-ecologies and relevant institutional settings, including water scarce and also cool temperate environments, e.g., in Central and South Asia. CPWF and the international centers (CIMMYT and IMWI) could facilitate the dissemination of the IPGs in various ways, including the presentation of project results in workshops and even the World Congress on Conservation Agriculture. Publications (in English language for the international community) resulting from this project, intended both for the scientific community and for the general public, will spread the knowledge outputs of this research, including the existence of the patents, and awareness of the benefits of conservation agriculture on farmer livelihoods, the natural resource base and the environment. Of the changes listed above, which have the greatest potential to be adopted and have impact? What might the potential be on the ultimate beneficiaries?From policy makers to farmers there is a greater understanding of the potential of CA to contribute to sustainable development. One notable outcome is the greater understanding of the potential role of CA in sustainable development by leaders of the Yellow River Commission. The capacity and profile including visibility built through the project enabled project organizations to submit successful proposals for science funding, and be awarded 5 national CA and 10 provincial CA projects, thus leveraging the CPWF investment in China. While the outcomes in terms of policy makers have been referred to above, including a CA component in the national Five Year Plan, there have been major outcomes and impacts at the local level in pilot Counties through demonstration and training. For example, more than 5000 farmers took part in project training courses or field days at the CA demonstrations, and they will have shared their observations on CA with other farmers in their villages. The socio-economic survey results show that the adoption of technologies of CA, although still low at a national level, speeded up during the current decade. The results of the socioeconomic survey and the field trials and demonstrations substantially influenced the preparation of an Asian Development Bank loan proposal for China.Naturally, the impacts at farm level of CA adoption have been substantial (numbers of farmers are great even if proportion of adopters is still low). Increased farm incomes have arisen from the 25% or more reduction in production costs, and according to the survey results the adoption of CA technologies significantly reduced farm household poverty. As well as increasing income, CA has increased the water use efficiency and nutrient use efficiency, and also reduced soil erosion from wind and water.All the above have potential for strong impact: however, the greatest potential for impact would lie with incorporation of the CA blueprint in the National Plan will have the, through increased adaptation, subsidies and extension effort, especially in the context of growing environmental challenges in rural China. The farmer beneficiaries will benefit from increased income and improved soil health (physical assets). The expansion of the YRB CA R&D to other Basins in China would increase spillover benefits.What still needs to be done to achieve this potential? Are measures in place (e.g., a new project, on-going commitments) to achieve this potential? Please describe what will happen when the project ends.Ongoing mentoring of CA technology/package adaptation in the current and other Provinces/basins in China; monitoring of adoption and identification of CA performance, policy and institutional constraints to adoption; capacity building at Provincial and County levels; maintenance of international links and networks for international CA knowledge sharing.Each row of the table above is an impact pathway describing how the project contributed to outcomes in a particular actor or actors. Which of these impact pathways were unexpected (compared to expectations at the beginning of the project?)Incorporation of the \"CA blueprint\" in the national Five Year Plan was hoped for but not expected -whereas improvements in plans for CA at Provincial and County level were expected.Why were they unexpected? How was the project able to take advantage of them?Normally beyond reach of a small project. Because of early CA field results and international experience gained through the study tour of the senior project leaders, the potential of CA was brought to the attention of the national Minister of Agriculture and national planners.What would you do differently next time to better achieve outcomes (i.e. changes in stakeholder knowledge, attitudes, skills and practice)?Advance the training in participatory research and impact pathways. Increase the knowledge sharing through Chinese language web CA knowledge platforms within the Basin; and strengthen English language links to Asian and OECD countries' experience with CA, through, for example, participation in international conferences on CA.With the implementation of this project, participants improved their research capacities greatly and established more extensive collaborative relationships across Provinces and with other countries.Given the importance of increasing water productivity and reducing poverty in the YRB and China, the first recommendation is to reinforce and expand the platform for CA R & D in China -focusing on further research on selected CA production and policy issues and expanding the project footprint on the ground beyond the current pilot Counties.While science is strong in Chinese organizations, strengthening international partnerships on CA is a priority. In particular, continuing exposure to cutting edge science, e.g., GreenSeeker NDVI sensors and research methods, e.g., impact pathways and participatory research, would be of immense value to CA in China.Further research should be conducted on variety selection and supporting cultivation technology to perfect CA technology, for which linkages to sources of international germplasm, equipment and research would be beneficial. Clearly, simply copying the methods and technologies from other places will not be effective. The research and demonstration of CA systems needs to be targeted to various local conditions, in relation to socio-economic and environmental circumstances.Farmer training will have to be strengthened to improve farmers' knowledge and skills related to CA technology. For instance, farmer perceptions of CA systems is one two of the major impediments to the expansion of CA. It is important to convey a whole CA system approach rather than individual component technologies.Public private cooperation is required for the development of appropriate CA equipment.A scientists-technicians-governments-factories-farmers innovation system should be tested and expanded for a long-term expansion of CA systems.Policy making should pay attention to the ecological and environmental benefits of CA which complement the benefits from productivity and poverty reduction. With feasible CA technologies now demonstrated, the government can consider the strengthening of the implementation of the policy of forbidding burning residue."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3c3ff20fda5c16bcc3a09c366628bd18","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/2953a109-5502-45ef-ba0a-a326ffca5db3/content","id":"-2102001629"},"keywords":["Africa","Farmer evaluation","Maize","Male sterility","Participatory variety evaluation"],"sieverID":"70b1a340-d121-4e67-b441-9ca05a06e7e1","content":"Incorporating the dominant male sterile gene, Ms44, in new maize varieties results in 50% non-pollen producing (FNP) varieties. This makes the varieties more nitrogen efficient and increases yield directly by an average of 200 kg ha −1 across yield levels. However, as half of the plants do not shed pollen, the presence of Ms44 in an FNP variety is clearly visible. This technology can improve food production and security in the African maize-based agri-food systems, but only if accepted by farmers. Farmers were therefore invited to 11 on-farm, researcher managed trial sites of FNP varieties in Kenya over 2 years. They were asked to identify the traits they find important in evaluating maize varieties and to score the FNP varieties, as well as their conventional counterparts, on these criteria (including yield, resistance to pests, and cob size) and overall, using a five-point hedonic scale. In total, 2,697 farmers participated, of which 62% were women. Farmers mentioned many traits they find important, especially yield and related traits, early maturity, and drought resistance, but also tassel and pollen formation. In 2017, mid-season, participants scored FNP varieties lower than conventional varieties on tassel and pollen formation, indicating that farmers could distinguish the trait. FNP varieties still received higher scores for yield and overall evaluation. In mid-season 2018, participants no longer scored FNP varieties lower for pollen formation as they now understood the technology. In both years, at the end-season evaluation, scores for tassel formation were not different, but participants scored FNP varieties higher for yield and overall. We conclude that farmers recognized the FNP trait but did not mind it as they clearly favored its yield advantage. The FNP technology, therefore, has high potential not only to increase maize yields, food production, and food security in the agricultural systems of Africa but also to increase varietal turnover and the adoption of new, high-yielding, climate-smart maize hybrids.Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has difficulties feeding its population. The major agricultural systems are based on maize as the primary food crop, but its production has not kept up with the rapidly increasing population. In Kenya, the population increased from 8.4 to 44.9 million people between 1961 and 2014 (an increase of 430%); during the same period, yield increased only from 1.4 to 1.8 kg ha −1 (43%) and stagnated in the last decades (FAOSTAT, 2022). Consequently, maize production per capita has decreased substantially, from 145 kg/person in the 1970s to only 77 kg/person between 2004and 2014(FAOSTAT, 2020)). In the Kenyan maize-based agricultural system, farmers have adopted mainly improved maize varieties, but they are not as enthusiastic about fertilizer, and the quantities applied are too low to restore soil fertility (De Groote et al., 2005;Duflo et al., 2008;Jena et al., 2020). In most of SSA, fallow areas have disappeared, and the use of organic and chemical fertilizers is too low to maintain soil fertility (Binswanger-Mkhize and Savastano, 2017). Nitrogen is one of the most crucial crop nutrients (together with phosphate and potassium) and its incomplete application in fertilizer is one of the major limiting factors for maize production in Africa (Vanlauwe et al., 2011). Therefore, developing maize varieties that are more nitrogen efficient can make a significant contribution to increasing yields and improving food security in Kenya and SSA.A new hybrid seed production technology (SPT) incorporates the dominant mutant malesterility gene Ms44 in the female parent (Fox et al., 2017). The technology produces cleaner seed, as pollination from the female parent is not possible, leading to lower seed production cost as detasseling is not needed. When using this hybrid seed, half the plants carry the MS44 allele and their male flowers are sterile. Early in plant development, if nitrogen is limited, the nitrogen normally used for tassel and pollen development will be used for ear and kernel growth instead (Loussaert et al., 2017). As a result, the technology increases yields under various environmental conditions, especially nitrogen stress (Collinson et al., 2022;Fox et al., 2017).As half of the plants do not shed pollen, the presence of Ms44 in an FNP variety is clearly visible; further, the non-pollen producing (FNP) plants show a slight reduction in plant height, tassel size, have thin anthers, and do not contain viable pollen (Supplementary Material Fig. S1). As farmers are keen observers of their crops, they will likely observe the differences in the new FNP varieties. Further, farmers tend to be conservative and risk-averse (Visser et al., 2020) and might object to the atypical varieties, preferring to stick to their old, conventional ones. Therefore, before bringing FNP varieties with the new traits into the farming system and on the market, it is essential to elicit farmers' opinion on the acceptability of their phenotype and to have farmers evaluate the new varieties and compare them to the conventional varieties.Therefore, this study's specific objectives were (1) analysis of the traits that farmers find important in evaluating maize varieties, in particular the importance of tassel formation and pollen shed and (2) farmer evaluation of the new FNP varieties on those criteria, in comparison to conventional varieties. Farmers were invited to different trial sites of FNP varieties in Kenya. They were asked to identify the traits they find important in evaluating maize varieties and to quantify the importance of each of these criteria. Further, we asked farmers to score the FNP varieties as well as their conventional counterparts (identified only by a number) on these criteria (including yield, resistance, and cob size) and overall. To understand farmers' reaction to the FNP trait, we had to include tassel formation and pollen shed in the evaluation. However, drawing attention to these might negatively affect the assessment of other traits of the FNP varieties or their overall evaluation. To analyze this possible bias, only half the farmers, randomly selected, were asked to evaluate the varieties on tassel formation and pollen shed, while those criteria were skipped for the other participants, to avoid drawing attention to what might be perceived as negative.The results of this study bring important and timely information on the FNP technology that has high potential to increase maize yields, food production, and food security in the agri-food systems of SSA. The potential of the technology stems from increasing nitrogen efficiency in a continent where insufficient nitrogen application remains a major constraint to yield. Moreover, as the maize-based agricultural systems in SSA lag behind those from other regions in varietal turnover (Abate et al., 2017;Walker et al., 2015), the technology could also be beneficial to the broader system by increasing the adoption of new, high-yielding, climate-smart maize hybrids.We base our conceptual framework on Lancaster's model of consumer choice, which proposes that consumers derive satisfaction not from the goods themselves but from the attributes they provide (Lancaster, 1966). Similarly, farmers derive pleasure from the different qualities of new maize varieties and compare them to the characteristics of the varieties they currently use. Farmers therefore evaluate maize varieties on a range of traits (or attributes) that differ in importance (yield is typically more important than processing quality) (De Groote et al., 2002). In past experiences, tassel development and the quantity of pollen shed were not usually mentioned as important criteria by farmers in the selection of their varieties (De Groote et al., 2004, 2002;Siambi et al., 2002), at least not in open-ended questions.To make sure that we understand the importance of the tassel and pollen in farmers' evaluation of maize varieties, these traits need to be specifically asked about. At the same time, by raising the question, the researcher draws attention to a trait that might otherwise go unnoticed, increasing its importance and possibly biasing the evaluation. This can negatively affect farmers' evaluation of the varieties with a low score on that criterion and so affect the overall score. The effect of including these two criteria in the overall evaluation can, however, be measured by appropriately adjusting the experimental design. We therefore assigned the participating farmers randomly to two treatment groups, and in the first one including the evaluation of the tassel (treatment group 1), and in the second one including the evaluation of both tassel and pollen (treatment group 2), and comparing them to a control group where these criteria were not included. At the end-season evaluation, as the pollen was no longer visible, the pollen criterion was dropped from the evaluation, so treatment groups 1 and 2 were merged. Participants in the control group were not asked to evaluate tassel or pollen. Because in the first year (2017) mid-season, the evaluations of the varieties by the two treatment groups were very similar, the groups were also merged during the mid-season evaluation in the second year (2018).The evaluation was superimposed on a set of trials with FNP varieties conducted in Kenya's farmers' fields in the long rainy seasons of 2017 and 2018 (Collinson et al., 2022). The trial compared conventional hybrids with the FNP version of the same hybrid, with two replicates in each site. In 2017, the hybrids used were combinations of two female lines (KTN71-6 and CML550) and two male lines (CML572 and CML494), resulting in four entries (Table 1). We repeated each entry once, resulting in 16 plots in each trial. In this first year, the varieties were chosen based more on availability than suitability to the regions, and the varieties were all single crosses. In the second year, 2018, more varieties were available. Eight varieties, of which four were three-way crosses, were included in the trial, with more varieties adapted to the study areas.Previous studies with farmers in participatory variety evaluation during participatory rural appraisals provided a set of traits that farmers found necessary in evaluating maize varieties in Kenya (Bett et al., 2002;De Groote et al., 2002;Siambi et al., 2002). In 2017, we included 13 of these traits (rows 1-13 in Table 2). Based on discussions with the farmers, we included four more criteria in 2018 (rows 14-17). To confirm the importance of these criteria to the participants of this study, we asked them to give the criteria a score for importance (0 = not important, 1 = somewhat important, 2 = important, 3 = very important) (Table 2).Participants were asked to evaluate the different entries on these criteria. In 2017, they assessed the four entries and their replicates, with 16 plots in total. In 2018, there were twice as many entries, 16, so it became difficult for one participant to evaluate them twice. Therefore, each participant was only asked to consider one of the two replicates, randomly assigned. To score the entries, participants used a 5-point Likert scale (Likert, 1932). Experience has shown that a 5-point scale is convenient for farmers and can easily be translated into any language (De Groote et al., 2002, 2010). However, experience has also shown that using numbers for the scores can be confusing, as \"1\" can indicate both a very good or a very poor score. The numbers were therefore replaced by letter scores, which corresponded to the Kenyan school system (Worku et al.,  In 2108, four criteria were added. d In the mid-season of 2017, farmers were randomly assigned to three groups: control, treatment 1, and treatment 2; all participants evaluated the varieties on criteria 1 to 13 and 16, both treatment groups also on criterion 14, only those in treatment 2 on criterion 15. In 2018, treatment groups 1 and 2 were merged. ). The options were A (like very much), B (like), C (neither like nor dislike), D (dislike), and E (dislike very much). In 2017, farmers were randomly assigned to different groups: control (participants in this group were asked to evaluate the entries on 13 specific traits and overall, but not on tassel formation or pollen shed); treatment 1 (participants evaluated entries on the same traits plus the trait \"good tassel formation\"); and treatment 2 (participants evaluated entries on the same traits as those in treatment 1 plus the trait \"amount of pollen shed\"). As the results of 2017 indicated that the results of treatments 1 and 2 were very similar, these two treatment groups were merged into one group in 2018, and the members evaluated the entries on both tassel and pollen. All criteria were expressed on the questionnaire in both English and Kiswahili, the two national languages in Kenya. Depending on the situation, the criteria were translated into local languages in the different counties. The questionnaires are found in the Supplementary Materials (S2 and S3).In selecting varieties, farmers are also concerned about other factors like seed source, price, availability, and the possibility of using their own saved seeds. However, in this study, we were only comparing conventional hybrids to the same varieties in which the FNP trait was added. In this experimental and study design, therefore, all other factors remain constant.Power calculations indicated that about 120-166 farmers were needed to make a distinction between the two types of varieties. However, for a design with three treatment arms, we needed at least 200-250 participants, spread over several sites. Finally, to let farmers observe tassels and pollen shed, the evaluations needed to be conducted at the mid-season and, to observe yield, also at the end-season.In 2017, participatory evaluations were organized in five trial sites at the mid-season and eight at the end-season. In 2018, the breeders had dropped two of the eight trial sites for different reasons and replaced with other nearby trial sites, and evaluations took place in all these eight sites at both mid-and end-seasons. The sites were located in six counties in both western and eastern Kenya (Table 3, Supplementary Material Fig. S4). The mid-season evaluations took place from June to early July, and the end-season evaluations took place from the end of July to August, on one day per site. Altogether 1,006 people participated in 2017, with more (73%) at the end-season and 1,691 in 2018 (about half in each season). A majority of participants (62%) were women, and this was consistent over seasons, sites, and years, with few exceptions.The evaluations followed the standard procedure. First, scientists and farmers were introduced to each other. Then the methods and procedures were explained, and each trait was explained and discussed in detail. The scores to be used for the importance of the traits as well as those used for evaluation were explained. Afterward, participants were organized into groups of 5-10, each accompanied by an enumerator. The participants first filled in an informed consent form, followed by a short socioeconomic questionnaire that included questions on age, sex, education, income, and so forth (Supplementary Materials S2 and S3). They then proceeded to the field where they evaluated the different plots-16 plots in each trial, numbered consecutively, without any indication or mention of variety or FNP-on the different traits. After the participatory variety evaluation, participants regrouped and were offered a snack and a drink. At this point, the principle of the Ms44 gene and the FNP trait was explained to them, what it looked like and how it worked, and they subsequently engaged in an open group discussion, where they could ask more questions and express their opinions.First, the importance of the different traits was assessed by averaging the importance scores given by participants on a scale of 1 to 4, and compared by season, as farmers can have different priorities over the different seasons. Only participants of the treatment groups were asked to state the importance of the FNP-related traits: pollen produced and tassel formation. However, the importance of these traits was asked for after providing information on the other traits and before observing the varieties in the field visits. Therefore, the treatment could not affect the stated importance of other traits.Next, for each trait, the ordinal scores were converted from their alphabetical form to numerical values (A = 5 to E = 1), and the average scores calculated for all the plots, to compare the FNP entries with their conventional counterparts graphically and statistically using pairwise t-tests. However, even though the variables now have numerical values, they are still on an ordinal scale, not an interval scale. This means that a value of four is higher than a value of two, but it does not mean that a value of four is twice that of a value of two, as it would be for an interval scale. Most statistical calculations, such as mean values and standard errors, assume interval scales and their use with ordinal scales is problematic. Therefore, specific analytical methods for this type of data have been developed, in particular ordinal regression (McCullagh, 1980), which does not require the assumptions of the interval scale. Ordinal regression has been specifically recommended for the analysis of farmer evaluation scores (Coe, 2002). It has been used in East Africa for different technologies including integrated pest and soil fertility management (De Groote et al., 2010) and farmer participatory evaluation of new maize varieties (Worku et al., 2020). For comparing varieties, participants typically evaluate different varieties simultaneously, and those scores are likely to be correlated. Hence, random effects should be added to the model, as was done in a previous study on farmers' evaluation of maize varieties in East Africa (Worku et al., 2020). The ordinal model with random effects was used for this study to analyze farmers' evaluations and compare FNP vs. conventional varieties for the different traits. We also analyzed the effect of the different treatments by including them in the model.Finally, to analyze the importance of the different criteria in the actual evaluation, we regressed the scores that the varieties received for individual traits on the overall scores that they received. The coefficients of the individual traits could then be interpreted as their weights in the overall score, as the 'revealed importance', and compared to the importance scores given to the criteria earlier, which could be interpreted as the 'stated importance'. Unlike that of the stated importance, analysis of the revealed importance also allows us to compare the treatment groups with the control to see if drawing attention to the tassel and pollen affected the overall scores or the scores on other traits.Participants were adults of all ages (from 17 to 88), with a majority of women (62%) (Table 4).Most participants were farmers with many years of farming experience, on average 17 years. Most had also finished primary education, with an average of 8 years of formal education (the length of primary school education in Kenya). Average annual cash income was KES 83 297 (about US$ 830), about half of which came from agriculture (a bit more from crops than from livestock), a quarter from salary and a quarter from business and trade. Most participants owned their farm, with an average size of almost one ha (0.77 ha), about half of which in maize (0.46 ha). Nearly all participating farmers used improved maize varieties (90%) and fertilizer (93%). Most participants practiced a mixed cropping/livestock system; about two-thirds of participants owned cattle and a quarter owned oxen.Farmers' evaluation of maize varieties: stated importance of traitsWhen participants were asked to score the importance of the different traits (or criteria) on a scale of 0 (not important) to 3 (very important), they gave high scores to most of the traits (Figure 1). During the mid-season evaluation, the traits which received the highest scores on importance were yield, early maturity, cob size, and a number of cobs; these all received an average score of between 2.5 and 2.7. When farmers were asked at the mid-season evaluation if tassel formation was important, they scored the trait very highly (2.68) second only to yield (2.69) (out of a maximum of 3).Similarly, the amount of pollen shed received an importance score of 2.6. Participants were not asked to score all traits for importance during the mid-season evaluation; ear-related traits in particular were not discussed as they could not yet be observed at this point in time. In the end-season evaluation, however, tassel formation only scored 2.44, which put it in the third-to-last position in terms of importance among criteria. Also, most traits in the end-season evaluation received even higher importance scores than in the mid-season evaluation, and almost all criteria received a score between 2.5 and 3. There was no significant difference in the importance of these traits between treatment farmers (those asked to evaluate the tassel and pollen) and control farmers (who were not). Farmers were invited to the trials twice, once at the mid-season and once at the end-season, and during each visit they were asked to score the varieties on a 5-point scale for the different traits. By converting the scores to numerical values (from 1 to 5), mean scores could be calculated for the FNP varieties and their conventional counterparts and compared using the pairwise t-test. During the mid-season evaluation of 2017, the conventional varieties received significantly higher scores on tassel formation and pollen shed than the FNP varieties, indicating that farmers could visually distinguish FNP from conventional varieties and preferred the latter on these traits (Figure 2). However, in the mid-season, the score for yield and the score for related traits such as cob size were higher for FNP varieties than for conventional ones; otherwise, there was little difference between the scores of both types of variety. Finally, the overall score of the FNP varieties was significantly higher than that of the conventional, pollen-producing varieties.In the end-season (at harvest), the evaluation for pollen formation was dropped, as there is no pollen to be seen in maize at this stage, but the tassel is still visible, although dried and brown, so farmers in both treatment groups were asked to evaluate this trait. However, the scores for tassel formation were no longer different between FNP and conventional varieties, indicating that participants could no longer tell the difference. This is understandable as, at this stage, the maize plant including the tassel has dried up and turned brown. Further, FNP varieties generally scored better on several individual criteria, especially cob size and yield, and their overall scores were significantly better than those of the conventional varieties. The average scores for all varieties on different traits and seasons are presented in Supplementary Materials Table S5. For a more robust statistical analysis, and taking into account the nature of the data, we used an ordinal regression model with random effects. We conducted the analysis for the three major traits relevant to male sterility: tassel formation and pollen shed (expected to be affected negatively), yield (expected to be affected positively), and overall evaluation, the synthesis (Table 5). We also included in the model the four different varieties (the first one being the omitted category), next to the FNP trait. Only farmers in the treatment groups were invited to evaluate the amount of pollen shed (treatment 1) or good tassel formation (treatments 1 and 2).Treatment 1 participants could clearly distinguish FNP varieties from conventional varieties in the mid-season evaluation by the amount of pollen shed and scored them significantly lower. The coefficient (−0.39) is the log odds ratio and its exponent (0.67) the odds ratio. The odds ratio indicates that the odds of FNP varieties scoring higher than conventional varieties (the probability of FNP varieties scoring higher over the probability that they do not) are 67%. In other words, FNP varieties are less likely to be preferred over conventional varieties on this trait. Farmers in treatment groups 1 and 2 also evaluated the different entries on good tassel formation, and here again FNP varieties scored substantially and significantly lower than their conventional counterparts, with a similar coefficient and odds ratio (67%). Interestingly, there were also differences between varieties, with the second variety scoring significantly better on pollen as well as on tassel. Still during the mid-season evaluation, FNP varieties scored significantly higher than conventional varieties on yield (coefficient of 0.269 or odds ratio of 1.31), indicating that farmers could observe the yield difference that FNP varieties generated and appreciated it. In the overall evaluation, FNP varieties scored better, although the coefficient was small compared to the differences between varieties.The results of the ordinal regression on the end-season evaluation show that, at this stage, participants did not distinguish between the tassels of FNP varieties and their conventional counterparts. On the other hand, the yield scores for the FNP varieties were substantially and significantly higher than those of the conventional varieties, as in the mid-season evaluation. However, the overall scores for the FNP varieties in the end-season were now substantially and significantly higher than those of their conventional counterparts (coefficient of 0.266 or odds ratio of 1.30).Finally, we repeated the same ordinal regression from Table 5 on all traits in the study, again with the varieties as co-factors, and sorted the coefficients for FNP vs. conventional varieties (the binary variable in the second row of Table 5). To visualize the results, we then mapped the coefficients to show how the FNP varieties were evaluated differently on these traits (Figure 3) at both the mid-season (Panel A) and the end-season (Panel B). The results show that at the mid-season, FNP varieties received better scores on most criteria. Still, the scores were only significantly higher for yield, stalk borer resistance, cob size, and barrenness levels. Still, in the mid-season, the FNP varieties received significantly lower scores for the two relevant traits: tassel and pollen formation. At the end-season evaluation, the FNP varieties scored substantially higher on almost all traits, but not for tassel and pollen formation.In 2018, the trials were repeated, again at eight sites but with two new ones. This time, eight varieties were included, each with and without FNP, with two replicates. Farmers evaluated all 16 entries, but only one replicate each, with a slightly extended list of traits (Table 2). The results The base category is V1 (KTN71-6/CML572). show that, unlike in 2017, participants in 2018 did not score the FNP entries lower for the amount of pollen shed and even scored them slightly higher for tassel formation (Figure 4). This was against expectations, but during the discussion with farmers at the end of the evaluation sessions, they explained that they remembered from last year that less tassel development and pollen shed were not negative traits. Further, during the same mid-season evaluation of 2018, FNP entries scored markedly higher on yield and overall evaluation compared to conventional varieties. The end-season evaluation of 2018 showed similar results, with no difference in pollen shed or tassel formation scores and significantly higher scores for yield and overall evaluation. The scores for all the traits were, however, much higher compared to the mid-season scores. This might imply that, at the end-season, these features were more developed, and farmers tended to give them higher scores. For a more robust statistical analysis, we again used the ordinal regression model with random effects (Table 6, first panel). The results confirmed that at the mid-season, the score for pollen was not now different for the FNP varieties, but the score for tassel formation was significant and positive, as were the scores for yield and overall. At the end-season, on the other hand, the scores for tassel and pollen were not significantly different between the FNP and the conventional varieties, but those for yield and overall evaluation were very different (Table 6, second panel).We repeated the analysis for all the traits in 2018 (Supplementary Material Fig. S6). Except for pollen and tassel, FNP varieties now scored significantly higher than conventional varieties for almost all traits, at both mid-and end-season evaluations. This shows that farmers could tell the difference between FNP varieties and conventional varieties and liked the FNP varieties better, or at least for the traits used in this evaluation.The study was specifically designed to obtain farmers' opinion on the FNP trait without drawing undue attention to relevant traits. Therefore, only farmers in the treatment groups were asked to evaluate pollen quantity (treatments 1 and 2) and tassel formation (treatment 2). To ascertain if the treatments drew attention to these particular traits, and away from other traits, we analyzed  whether the assignment of participants to treatment or control groups affected their evaluation scores. As illustrated for the overall evaluation, we did not find a significant treatment effect on the scores (Table 7). There was no significant direct effect, meaning that treatment participants do not give different scores in general. There was also no significant cross effect, meaning that treatment participants did not give separate scores for FNP varieties. Analysis for the yield scores produced similar results. We also analyzed whether, by drawing attention to specific traits, the importance of these traits differed between treatment and control groups. In the stated importance scores, we did not find any differences between the groups. This is understandable, as farmers were asked this at the beginning of the field day, before they had observed the varieties in the field, and the traits for pollen and tassel were put at the end of the list. Therefore, we explored an alternative analysis by regressing the overall score on the scores for different traits (results for 2017 in Figure 5, for 2018 in Table 8). As the coefficients add up to about 1, they can be interpreted as the weight farmers give to the individual traits that are combined into giving an overall score.The results for the mid-season evaluation of 2017 show that in treatment 2, where participants were asked to score both pollen and tassel, the coefficient for pollen shed was significant. Still, the coefficient for good tassel formation was not (Figure 5). In treatment 1, where farmers were not asked about pollen, the coefficient for tassel formation was significant and, remarkably, almost equal to the coefficient for pollen in treatment 2. This suggests that farmers in treatment 1 were actually judging the varieties by the quantity of pollen shed (or combining the two traits) when evaluating the tassel formation. Adding the evaluation for tassel or pollen did affect the weights of the other traits. Still at the mid-season of 2017, this decreased the weight for yield, the most important trait, and brought the importance of good tassel formation (treatment 1) and amount of pollen shed (treatment 2) to a similar level as yield, as measured by the coefficients, which contrasted strongly with the stated importance (Figure 1). Similarly, at the end-season, the effect of the treatment was that good tassel formation became the second-most-important trait after yield. The effect of the treatment on other traits was, however, not consistent over the seasons.We repeated the analysis for the 2018 data (Table 8). Again, farmers in the treatment groups evaluated the different varieties for good tassel formation and pollen shed, while those in the control group did not. At the mid-season (Table 8, first panel), the coefficients for both good tassel formation and pollen shed were significant at 1%, but pollen shed was substantially higher (0.32) than tassel formation (0.19). Amount of pollen shed was the third most important trait after yield and early maturing. Adding the evaluations for tassel and pollen did affect the weights of the other traits; it decreased particularly the coefficients for yield, early maturing, cob size, and number of cobs and increased the coefficients for crop stand, stalk thickness, and biomass. During the endseason evaluation also, when farmers were asked to evaluate varieties for the tassel (treatment group), the evaluation score for tassels affected the overall score, substantively as well as significantly (Table 8, second panel). Good tassel formation became the most important trait, overtaking yield which in the control group (and in other studies as well) was always the most important trait. So even though farmers did not distinguish FNP from conventional varieties on tassel formation, the scores they gave to different varieties on this trait affected their overall evaluation.Finally, the analysis also revealed which criteria were important in farmers' overall evaluation, and how this differed from what they stated as important. Yield consistently received the highest coefficient (on average > 0.40), indicating that it contributed most to the overall evaluation (more than 40%) (Table 8). The only other trait that received a similar value was early maturity, but only at the mid-season evaluation. The next two traits were cob size and the number of cobs, receiving values of around 0.2, and both were strongly related to yield. These were followed by a range of traits receiving between 0.1 and 0.2, including height, resistance to diseases, germination, good tassel formation, and drought resistance. A range of other traits, while still significant, received lower values.This paper presents the analysis of an evaluation by farmers of FNP varieties compared with their conventional counterparts at the mid-season and the end-season over 2 years, using a 5-point Likert scale on a range of traits. The results show that when farmers are asked to evaluate maize varieties, they have a wide range of traits or criteria that they use, including tassel formation and pollen shed. Yield-related traits stand out as the most important, including yield, crop stand, cob size, and the number of cobs. Early maturity and drought resistance are also important. This was consistent at both mid-and end-season evaluations and in both years.At the mid-season evaluation in the first year, FNP varieties scored lower than their conventional counterparts for pollen shed and tassel formation, but higher for yield, cob size, and overall evaluation. This clearly showed that farmers could distinguish the FNP trait at the mid-season evaluation, but they still preferred the FNP varieties over the others because of higher scores on other criteria, including yield. At the end-season evaluation, however, tassel formation in FNP varieties no longer received a lower score, indicating that the trait was no longer observable at harvest. In the second year, at the mid-season evaluation, there was no significant difference for pollen shed and only a small one for tassel formation, for which FNP varieties now received a higher score. This indicated that farmers now understood the technology and its positive effects; this was also confirmed in the discussions with farmers afterwards. In the second year, FNP varieties generally received higher overall scores at both mid-season and end-season, clearly linked to higher scores for yield and related traits such as cob size, and a better overall outlook. This agrees with past studies that reported increased yield in hybrids segregating for male sterility by the use of the Ms44 gene (Fox et al., 2017;Loussaert et al., 2017). The results can be taken as an early indicator of acceptability, as long as the inclusion of the FNP trait leads to higher yields. As a secondary result, participants also scored three-way crosses higher than single crosses.Asking farmers about different criteria and including specific traits such as pollen and tassel were shown here to affect their evaluation, so this type of study needs to be carefully designed and its impacts analyzed, as demonstrated here. Farmers tend to state many traits as very important, For the mid-season, farmers in Treatment 1 were asked to evaluate the varieties for the same traits as the control farmers plus the trait 'good tassel formation'; farmers in Treatment 2 evaluated varieties on the same traits as those in Treatment 1 plus the trait 'amount of pollen shed'). In the end-season, as pollen shed could no longer be observed, the two treatment groups were merged, and treatment farmers evaluated the varieties for the same traits as control farmers plus the traits 'good tassel formation'.while not making much distinction between them. Regressing overall evaluation over evaluations of different individual criteria, however, shows a more nuanced story and indicates which traits really matter. However, including different traits, as seen when including pollen shed and tassel formation in the treatment groups, affects the weight of the other criteria.The method used here-asking farmers to score unnamed varieties on a range of traits or attributes on a 5-point Likert scale-is a convenient way to evaluate new maize technology, as has previously been shown for evaluating stress-tolerant varieties (Worku et al., 2020) and pest and soil fertility management (De Groote et al., 2010). The method has some limitations, in particular, that the scores are ordinal categorical data that should be analyzed with ordinal regression, and the results (log-odds ratio) are not easy to interpret. However, as we have shown here, the visual representation of average scores in combination with pair-wise t-tests gives similar, although not always equal, results that are much easier to understand. Also, the method does not allow to include other factors, in particular price, availability, and possibility of using farmer-saved seed. In the future, when conducting farmer evaluations of FNP varieties under farmer and market conditions, these factors can be included by estimating willingness to pay for seed with choice experiments or experimental auctions (Horna et al., 2007;Marenya et al., 2021).Our results also show that farmer evaluation of a large number of traits has limited value as the results tend to be highly correlated. Farmers do observe the tassel and pollen issues and are able to observe yield differences. However, when a variety looks good on yield and general appearance, this tends to affect their scores on other traits that are less easily observed. Further research is needed to see if farmers' positive evaluation of yield would also affect their evaluation of other traits that are not positively correlated with yield, such as early maturity for example. It would also be interesting to compare farmers' scores and physical observations of the same traits, to compare farmers' views with the actual crop performance and the breeders' objectives. A final limitation is that the evaluations were done on-farm but in researcher-managed trials, so additional evaluations under farmer conditions would be an important last step in the evaluation of FNP varieties.We conclude from our results that farmers' appreciation of FNP is positive and will likely not be a hindrance to the development and dissemination of FNP varieties in maize-based agricultural systems. The expected benefit from FNP varieties is ∼200 kg ha −1 . The production of FNP varieties will be driven by a novel hybrid production process using the dominant male sterile Ms44 gene and a maintainer line. This SPT will enable seed companies to produce high-quality hybrids without the need for detasseling and at a lower cost. Moreover, by incorporating the trait into selected new hybrids, the technology could help to increase the varietal turnover of maize hybrids, which is currently lagging in SSA. Therefore, the combined effects of increased yield and increased varietal turnover from FNP technology are likely to make a substantial impact on food production and food security in the maize-based agri-food systems of SSA. For a proper impact assessment of the technology, monitoring of the adoption of the technology by seed companies, the amount of FNP seed marketed, and the yield increase in farmers' fields remains essential. Supplementary Materials. Supplementary materials include the questionnaires for 2017 (SM1) and 2018 (SM2), the average scores for different traits in 2017 (SM3), the regression coefficients for the NFP trait for 2018 (SM4), and the decomposition of overall evaluation (regression on overall score on scores for specific traits). The data can be found in the repository and are available online (Collinson et al., 2021).For supplementary material for this article, please visit https://doi.org/10.1017/S0014479723000054"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4e0eea58803c4b3769a083b96f174438","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/758659da-fd30-4ca1-b71b-b624affd6486/retrieve","id":"-849062481"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e87a461f-e32f-4362-886e-2d532a95e4db","content":"In Somaliland, the Minister of Livestock Dr. Idris Ibrahim Abdi kindly granted authorisation to conduct the review. Institutions that provided assistance for fi eld work include the Ministry of Livestock, Commerce and Industry and Finance; the municipalities of Hargeisa, Burao and Gabiley and other public bodies such as the Port Authority. Private institutions including the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture also provided signifi cant assistance. The Director of Veterinary Services Dr. Abdullahi Ahmed Hassan, the Berbera Port Veterinary Offi cer Dr. Ahmed Aibe Warsame, the Gabiley District Veterinary Offi cer Dr. Ahmed Hassan Bile and the Togdheer Regional Veterinary Coordinator Dr. Issa Nur Liban are gratefully acknowledged for their valuable assistance in implementing the fi eld activities. In Puntland the Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Environment Dr. Ibrahim Hared Ali Da'ar kindly granted permission to conduct the study. Several institutions provided assistance in the collection of information in the fi eld. They include the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Environment, Commerce and Industry, Finance and Ports and Marine Resources; the municipalities of Galkayo and Las Anod; the Port Authority and the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture. There are specifi c individuals who took it upon themselves to ensure successful implementation of the survey, and their contributionList of Tables List of Figures 1. Introduction Appendix: Some of the facilities and services found in sampled markets in SomaliaList of Tables  This report presents fi nding of a rapid appraisal of institutions supporting livestock trade and marketing in Somalia. Institutions were conceptualised to encompass the organisations (formal and informal) as well as rules, procedures, and practices either formal or informal that govern the functioning of these organisations. The appraisal identifi ed the key organisations supporting livestock trade and marketing in Somalia; evaluated the roles played by each organisation, identifi ed the rules and practices followed by these organisations in executing their functions and analysed the constraints they faced in carrying out their activities. The aim of the appraisal was to use the derived information to suggest interventions that would enable the organisations effectively perform their roles in improving livestock trade and marketing in Somalia. Emphasis was put on organisations involved in livestock marketing information fl ow, application of grades and standards in livestock products, and, livestock export promotion.Preliminary data was collected through in depth review of literature related to Somali livestock trade, which provided a baseline for designing the rapid appraisal. The main outcome of this review were three thematic maps of the principal market chains in Somalia, a catalogue of the market participants in key markets along the chains and a list of organisations that facilitate trade along these chains. This was followed by a rapid appraisal of the identifi ed organisations between November 2005 and January 2006 using a checklist of questions that targeted key personnel from the organisations. A separate checklist was developed for each organisation containing information on their activities, capacities and information fl ow related to livestock trade and constraints encountered in conducting business. Subsequently, workshops were organised for key personnel from some of the organisations in two of the principal marketing chains between April and December 2006 to identify the rules, practices and procedures guiding their operations and the level of adherence to these rules while facilitating livestock trade and marketing in Somalia.Data was analysed through examining, categorising, tabulating, and recombining evidence, to address the stated objectives. Within this strategy, three dominant analytic techniques were used: pattern matching, intuitive explanation building, and to a limited extent, time series analysis. These three dominant approaches were augmented with simple descriptive analysis where data was available.This study identifi ed eight forms of organisations supporting livestock export trade in Somalia, viz. brokers, veterinary services delivery systems, port authorities, livestock shipping fi rms, money transfer services, local government and regional administrations that were in-charge of livestock markets, central government, and a variety of private traders associations. These organisations supported the principal market participants: the smallscale traders, agents of exporters, and exporters in their endeavour to effectualise livestock export trade. The organisations operated under a set of rules and procedures that infl uenced their activities in facilitating livestock. However, it was noted that there was limited capacity to enforce adherence to some of the rules and regulations by these organisations.This appraisal recognized that although there exist informal grading system based on a number of attributes (age of animal, sex of animal, nutritional status, weight and size, breed and health status), none of the identifi ed institutions was engaged in overt activities to develop further and publicize application of these grades in livestock trade. This was noted to persist despite the general knowledge that suitable grading would signifi cantly promote trade.This appraisal also found out that there were no formal channels for disseminating marketing information (prices, quality attributes, volumes, etc) to support Somali livestock export trade.However, different organisations collected information that could be collated and aggregated into a suitable medium to form a basis for a formal livestock market information system.Information collected in this rapid appraisal may be important in guiding the setting up of a Livestock Market Information System (LMIS). The fi rst step in this direction would be to address the constraints that relevant institutions face in establishing an effective LMIS. Two key constraints were identifi ed. First, limited capacity, and secondly, lack of supporting infrastructure. Suitable staff will thus need to be trained in simple techniques like data collection and storage. Furthermore individual organisations will also need to enhance their infrastructural capacities, like acquisition of computers, software among others. In addition, deliberate policies should also be instituted to support networking and sharing of available information.Besides supporting the tasks that these institutions can play in fostering entrenchment of grades and standards in livestock trade, and in the establishment of a LMIS, another key area is in setting up of an internationally recognised health and safety certifi cation system. This role needs to be taken up by the public sector (government ministries, local authorities and regional administration). This appraisal established that currently, the main centre of attention of the public sector is at the ports of exit. In these ports, the government implements a rudimentary animal health certifi cation system, based on clinical inspection of animals prior to loading. There are also some instances of monitoring in some of the secondary markets. Implementation of an effective health and certifi cation system is constrained by limited capacity, both human and physical within the respective institutions and by the absence of a central veterinary administration that is recognised internationally. These constraints need urgent redress to guarantee participation in livestock export trade by Somali traders. It is important to note that a certifi cation system put in place should also be cost effective and easy to apply in order to be sustainable.Terra Nuova in partnership with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) are implementing a three year project (Livestock Trade and Marketing Project -LTMP) that aims at improving and diversifying the Somali livestock trade and marketing. The project is grounded in the rationale that there is a considerably high but under exploited potential for reaping greater benefi ts from the Somali livestock sector, through an effi cient marketing system. This can be realised through improving the effi ciency of support services for livestock export trade.The project aims to contribute to the improvement of the Somali pastoral livelihoods by promoting access to improved marketing support services by Somali pastoralists and traders. These services should be provided by competent and self sustaining institutions.Institutions are defi ned here broadly to include organisation as well as complementary rules, procedures, practices and norms -both formal and informal. This will be realised through three results, namely:i. Quality control systems for livestock and livestock products devised and tested in three pilot marketing projects;ii. Rural institutions enabled to design, regulate and monitor livestock marketing support services and coordinate export trade of livestock and livestock products in three marketing chains; and,iii Competence of main providers of livestock marketing support services enhanced.Achievement of these results is hinged among other concerns on identifying and strengthening specifi c institutions to sustainably offer marketing support services to livestock export traders in Somalia..The broad objective of this study was to identify and undertake a rapid assessment of institutions that support livestock trade and marketing in Somalia. The specifi c objectives were:1. To identify institutions supporting livestock trade and marketing in Somalia.2. Evaluate the roles played by these institutions in facilitating:a. livestock trade and marketing information fl ow;b. application of grades and standards in livestock trade; c. livestock export marketing promotional activities.3. Assess the level of networking among these institutions while facilitating livestock export trade and marketing.4. Analyse constraints faced by these institutions in executing their activities.It was anticipated that this will be useful in designing supportive infrastructure to enable the institutions play an effective role in improving livestock trade and marketing in Somalia, through enhanced accountability and competence.A combination of different methodologies was employed in this study. At the onset, an in depth review of literature related to the Somali livestock trade was undertaken. This review provided a baseline on which the rapid appraisal and data collection was based.The key outputs of the literature review were three distinct thematic maps of the principal livestock marketing chains in Somalia, with the identifi cation of the market participants and supportive institutions along the chains. The rapid appraisal was then undertaken between November 2005 and January 2006 to enable an in-depth assessment of the different forms of organisations (either formal or informal), and an analysis of the roles performed by these organisations in facilitating livestock export trade. This rapid appraisal comprised of key informant interviews using a checklist of questions that targeted key personnel from the identifi ed organisations and individuals in the principal market chains. A checklist of questions was developed for each organisation containing information on their activities, capacities and information fl ow related to livestock trade and constraints encountered in conducting business. These data collection instruments were extensively discussed with local stakeholders to ensure that they would generate the desired information. Subsequently, workshops were then held between April and December 2006 bringing together representatives from some of the organisations in two of the principal market chains to identify and analyse the regulatory framework (rules and level of adherence to the rules) under which these organisations operate while providing livestock marketing support services in Somalia.Data analysis consisted of examining, categorising, tabulating, or otherwise recombining the evidence, to address the stated objectives. This type of analysis is diffi cult because these strategies and techniques have not been well defi ned and developed (Yin, 1990). Nevertheless, every investigation started with a general analytic strategy, yielding priorities for what to analyse and why. Within this strategy, three dominant analytic techniques were used: pattern matching, intuitive explanation building, and to a limited extent, time series analysis (focusing on the monthly activities for the twelve months preceding December 2005). These three dominant approaches were augmented with simple descriptive analysis where data was available. Information generated was presented in tables, pie-charts and graphs.Middle East and Kenya are the principal destinations for Somali animals. These are served by three chains, the Kenya export trade, the Bossaso export trade and the Berbera export trade chains, which were therefore selected. However, these systems are not totally independent of each other. Berbera and Bossaso export ports deal with export of live cattle, goats, sheep and camels to the Middle East market including Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, North Africa Egypt and Libya. On the other hand, the Garissa market serves the Kenya market only for cattle. Garissa itself is located within Kenya and it was chosen as the export point because there is no formal export point or port on the Somali-Kenya long border serving the Kenya market. Animals are assembled in Garissa for onward movement to various Kenyan market destinations (Nairobi, Thika, Mombasa, Mwingi, Kitui, Machakos, etc.). The map showing all the market chains is given in Figure 1.Each export port is served by a set of domestic market channels connecting a number of secondary markets, staging points, and further linking to several primary markets. At both primary and secondary markets, there may be overlap between different market chains as animals from the same geographical area may serve different chains. Furthermore, the nomadic nature of production requiring seasonal movement according to rainfall and weather changes and pasture availability means that a given area may supply different market chains in different seasons. With the exception of secondary markets, municipalities and regional administrations, all the other organisations that were identifi ed along the different marketing chains are given in Table 1 and all the organisations were interviewed. For markets, purposive sampling was used and this was based on: (i) species of livestock traded, (ii) accessibility, and, (iii) security. A total of six workshops bringing together stakeholders from some of the organisations along the Berbera and Bossaso livestock export chains were held in Hargeisa and Garowe between April and December 2006. Three workshops were held for each chain targeting both public and private sector organisations. These chains were chosen as it was relatively easy to bring together representative from most of the identifi ed organisations in order to deliberate on the existing regulatory framework supporting livestock marketing in Somalia. The workshops conducted using various approaches that included plenary presentation that explained to the participants the key concepts that were to focus the participants on issues at hand, group discussions, and plenary presentations of group work.3.1. Structure of the export-livestock marketing system in SomaliaThis rapid appraisal established that the market structure of Somali livestock export trade comprises of Petty traders, Agents of Exporters, and Exporters. Transactions between these participants are facilitated by brokers. The concentration of each of these market participants varies from market to market depending on its size and location. However, brokers comprise of the largest ratio of participants in most of the livestock markets in Somalia (Table 2). Based on an assessment by Stockbridge (2004), the roles of these livestock trade market participants include:Petty traders comprise of the 'Gedisley' and the 'Gadley'. The Gedisley are those traders who buy animals in one market and sell them to another market in order to exploit price differentials between the two markets. The Gedisley may also try to add value to purchased animals through supplementary feeding and treatment. Many traders who are described as Gedisley operate at a local level, moving animals from village markets to larger markets in the same district or region or even other larger markets in other regions. In some areas such as Somaliland, the term Jeeble is used instead of Gedisey. On the other hand, the Gadley are those traders who buy animals from a market and resale them in the market at a profi t. The Gadley typically operate on a smaller scale than the Gedisley, and may keep the animals for just a few days, or even hours. Like the Gedisley, the Gadley may at times engage in activities that add value to their animals.Agents are market participants who supply animals in response to orders or requests from actors further up the supply chain. They source and transfer animals on behalf of their clients based on an established rapport and trust. In some cases, agents may also act independently by using their funds and thus trading as Gedisley in addition to their role as agents.Exporters are traders who act as the fi nal link in the chain between the Somali livestock marketing system and the importing country. They assemble livestock from different regions of Somalia and transport them to destination countries and arrange for their sale.An analysis of the performance and conduct of these participants was beyond the scope of this appraisal.The following institutions were identifi ed as playing a signifi cant role in supporting livestock export trade and marketing in Somali:Brokers, also known as the 'Dilaal' or 'Dallaal', are a central feature of livestock marketing in Somalia. They are based in main markets and play pivotal role in all transactions that are concluded in these markets. Figure 2 shows the concentration of brokers relative to other market participants in selected secondary markets.Brokers facilitate exchange between other traders and there is a broker in every transaction in the market. Price is discovered through bargaining between a buyer and seller through the facilitation of a broker. Besides facilitating exchange, brokers play the important role of guaranteeing that the livestock being traded is not stolen. They also facilitate in settling of other disputes and in some markets; they contribute to provision of security. More often than not, brokers require a licence to operate and derive their payment from a charge levied on every transaction they facilitate in the market. This levy varies from one species to another, being lower for small ruminants (μ = 0.47 US$ per head) and highest for camels (μ = 3.53 US$/head) and also from one market to another (Figure 3). This rapid appraisal could however not establish whether the conduct of the different market participants acted to advance or impinge on the performance of the livestock marketing system. For example, one may hypothesise that Brokers increase the cost of marketing, thereby reducing the profi ts of both livestock producers and traders. Alternatively, brokerage activity may actually be increasing incomes to some market participants, particularly those who may be disadvantaged with regard to inadequate information on market prices. Furthermore, brokers may act to reduce risks associated with trade (property rights and contractual enforcement) particularly in a system that are lacking in formal insurance institutions.These are organisations which are either formal or informal and whose activities are largely geared towards improving trader's welfare. They exploit the concept of collective action and social capital 2 in order to pull resources together in offering services like: (i) supplying marketing infrastructure (like loading rumps); (ii) provision of capital (loans) to fi nance 2 Social capital is an instantiated informal norm that promotes cooperation between two or more individuals and is overtly actualized in day to day dealings between the individuals. By this defi nition, trust, networks, civil society (like these trader organisations), and the like which have been associated with social capital are all epiphenomenal, arising as a result of social capital but not constituting social capital itself (Fukayama, 1999). Establishment of a livestock committee that meets every two weeks to deliberate on existing livestock concerns.Since these organisations largely operates on the concept of social capital, they are likely to experience reduced transaction costs that is usually associated with formal coordination mechanisms like contracts, hierarchies, and bureaucratic rules. In this regard, they are likely to render themselves useful for strengthening as low-cost service delivery vehicles to livestock traders in the Somali marketing system.There are four major ports in Somalia, all which used to fall under Somali Ports Authority: Mogadishu, Berbera, Kismayo and Bossaso. The fi rst three are deepwater ports; although the latter is the fastest growing port in Somalia. All of these ports now fall under independent port authorities set up by local governments 3 . The same applies to the smaller ports such as El Ma'an and Merka. Due to civil instability and inter-clan fi ghting Mogadishu is not operational, but Kismayo is still used by commercial operators to some extent. Pirating of vessels is common in Somali waters; reckoned to be the most dangerous waters in the world and few foreign registered ships are willing to dock. Since May 2005 a total of 27 ships have been hijacked and thereafter being used for hijacking additional ships within Somali territorial waters (WFP, 2005).Due the existing fl uid security situation, only two ports, Bossaso and Berbera were offering services to livestock export traders in Somalia during the time the rapid appraisal was undertaken. Services and facilities offered include:i Marshal yards 3 However, at the time of the survey the TFG had not yet established its authority on the Mogadishu and Kisimayo port.ii Tugboat facilitiesiii Cranes for loading livestock iv Fenced enclosures v Loading ramps vi Custom facilitiesIt is located on the south coast of the Gulf of Aden along the NW Somali coast -Somaliland/ Galbeed (Saheel) region -about 250 kms east of Djibouti. The port was built in a natural bay formed by a low-lying sand bar with the entrance to the west. The port was developed by Russian and American aid, and the berths are distinguished between Russian and American wharves. Each one is approximately 325 metres although the Russian portion was built 30 years prior to the American, which was built in 1986. It is presently the largest operating port of Somalia. The port operates all year round and is the primary source of revenue for the administration of Somaliland and the largest employer generating direct and indirect employment opportunities (410 permanent employees, about the same number of contractual workers and approximately 900 stevedores and casual workers). Revenue from Customs duties and tariffs from the port consist a major component of the budgetary income of the local administration. Livestock is the main export cargo comprising of about 25% of port business. The trend in the number of livestock exported through this port is shown in Figures 3. About 60% of the populations' livelihood depends either directly or indirectly on the livestock and its products. Imports through the port of Berbera are destined for Somaliland, Ethiopia, North Eastern Somalia and parts of Southern Somalia.(ii) Bossaso Port (Puntland)It is located on the south coast of the Gulf of Aden along the NE Somali coast -Puntland. Bossaso is a relatively new port. Most of vessel traffi c and sea trade through Bossaso port is carried by dhows that comprised of about 82% of total vessels in 2004. .  The port of Bossaso is the most important source of economic and social development for the administration of Puntland, which can be seen, by the rapid development of Bossaso town and its environs. The port is a major contributor to the economy of the Bari region and Puntland's stability on the whole. Livestock is one of the main export commodities with the main destinations being in the Gulf region. (iii) Constraints faced by livestock traders in using the Bossaso and Berbera portsDuring the rapid appraisal, several constraints were listed as limiting livestock export trade through the Somali ports. These constraints and their suggested solutions are listed in Table 2. This port is located along the Indian Ocean on the South coast of Somalia, Benadir Region. Mogadishu port was the most active port that served commercial civilian, humanitarian and military purposes in Somalia. At the time of the survey, there were inter-clan fi ghting over the control of the port and thus it was closed for security reasons. Cargo destined for South and Central Somalia was being routed through the ports of Merka (100km south of Mogadishu) and El Ma'an (30km north of Mogadishu).It is located along the Indian Ocean on the south coast of Somalia -Lower Juba region -it was one of the four major ports of Somalia playing a major role in the development of southern Somalia. Presently, Kismayu is one of the export points of charcoal and to a lesser extent one of the import points of vehicles from the Gulf. The port can accommodate vessels up to 180 metres in length with a maximum draft of about 8 metres. It has 2 berths measuring 340 metres and 280 metres respectively and 2 roll on roll off ramps.The port is located along the Indian Ocean on the south coast of Somalia -Lower Shabelle region -about 100kms south of Mogadishu. Clans who have vested interests in keeping the port of Mogadishu closed control the Port. The Port has no infrastructure or facilities and vessels discharge from their anchorage offshore where cargo is either picked up by barges or smaller vessels for beaching. From the beach, cargo is picked up by trucks and delivered by road.It is located along the Indian Ocean on the south coast of Somalia -Middle Shabelle region -45km North of Mogadishu. It is a naturally protected port, which is currently run by Benadir Maritime and local port operations as a consortium. Most shipments are made to Mombasa and thereafter trans-shipped and sent to El Ma'an.The institution of veterinary services delivery is essential to livestock export trade since it determines the quality of response to emergency livestock health concerns and to the ability of a country to offer livestock health services, and livestock product certifi cation for export.Based on FAO (2000), these services comprises of: (i) the veterinary administration that encompasses veterinary service that has authority in the whole country for implementing, supervising and auditing animal health measures and international veterinary certifi cation processes which the OIE recommends; and, (ii) the veterinary authority that include the veterinary service (VS), under the authority of the veterinary administration, which is directly responsible for the application of animal health measures in a specifi ed area of the country. The veterinary authority may also have responsibility for the issuing or the supervision of the issuing of international veterinary certifi cates in that area. Services are offered by offi cial veterinarians, who include those authorised by the veterinary administration of the country to perform certain designated offi cial tasks associated with animal health and/or public health and inspections of commodities and, when appropriate, to certify in conformity with the provisions of the OIE Code. These veterinarians may be supported by para-professional (i.e., a person authorized by the veterinary statutory body to carry out certain designated tasks, dependent upon the category of veterinary para-professional, and delegated to them under the responsibility and direction of a veterinarian). The tasks authorized for each category of Veterinary para-professional should be defi ned by the veterinary statutory body depending on qualifi cations and training, and according to need.There exists veterinary administration and veterinary authorities in Somaliland, Puntland and Southern Somalia under the respective ministries of livestock. However, the authority in Somaliland is not recognised internationally (Somaliland, 2006). The same applies to Puntland. It was noted during the rapid appraisal that these veterinary authorities face severe human resource constraints to the extent that they can not effectively perform their respective roles, particularly regarding risk analysis as recommended by the OIE. It was diffi cult to establish the current establishment within the whole Somali veterinary health care system (public and private), although this fi gure was said to be quite low in comparison to the size of the national livestock herd. For example, the Somaliland National Veterinary Association (SoLNAVA) has only 63 members of whom 10 are Veterinarians, 51 Veterinary assistants, and two veterinary auxiliaries (Somaliland, 2006). The results of the rapid survey indicate that the services offered by veterinary services in support of livestock export trade are limited to:i Clinical examination of livestock en-route from primary markets to terminal ports of exit (by veterinary personnel located along the marketing chain)ii Clinical examination and certifi cation of the animals as disease free (based on this diagnosis) (offered by the port veterinary offi cer)iii Examination and certifi cation livestock shipment vesselsThe port veterinary offi ce is one of the prominent components of the veterinary delivery services in Somalia. The specifi c services offered by the port veterinary offi ce (in Bossaso and Berbera) are summarised in Table 4. From Table 4, it can be observed that if the market chain is unable to screen for disease, it is likely that animals will stay longer at the port before the certifi cation is granted. This in essence will have an impact on the marketing costs accruing to the exporter in terms of feed and possible deterioration of body condition. The charges levied by the port veterinary offi ce for certifi cation of different species are shown in Figure 6. The Figure indicates that health certifi cation charges for cattle and camels at the port of Bossaso are much higher than those in Berbera. Some of the constraints and suggested interventions for the improvement of the services of the port veterinary offi ces are listed in Table 5. Based on Table, one may intuitively conclude that the performance of the veterinary port would be enhanced through investments in both human and physical capital. Other interventions that may have implications on trader marketing costs include: (i) the relocation of the holding grounds from town to the outlying hinterland areas, which might result not only in reducing congestion at the port (leading to loss of conditions of animals), but also contribute to lower feed costs and accessibility by the traders; and, (ii) acquisition of suitable shipping vessels that may have higher carrying capacities and thus lowers per-head costs and contribute to observing of proper animal welfare.Several private sector players providing services to livestock export traders at a profi t were identifi ed. They include: i Livestock shipping companies. Table 6 summarises the charges levied to livestock traders and navigation days to destination ports by some of the companies surveyed during this study.ii Livestock transporters (from secondary markets to ports of exit)iii Money transfer agencies iv Livestock feed sellers v Livestock markers and rope vendors Several constraints were identifi ed as limiting the capacity of these private sector entities to provide effective and appropriate services to livestock traders. These include:Insecurity along stock routes and in international waters surrounding Somalia Lack of supporting insurance schemesLack of international recognition of the existing governments in Somalia statesDisorganisation and confusion in rules and regulations governing export trade in SomaliaThese constraints arise principally due to the limited capacity of the public sector in provision of a conducive operating environment. The services provided by the public sector, where they exist, are limited to provision of security in designated market places and in offering administrative services at the ports.From the information in Table 6, it can be observed it takes up to 9 days to arrive at some destinations, and thus there is need to invest in suitable carrier vessels to ensure that welfare of animals in terms of feed, water and other requirements is adhered to and limit losses in shipment arising from death and loss of condition.Together with other stakeholder, the regional administration and municipalities coordinates provision of facilities and services in specifi c markets. Such facilities include fencing enclosures, holding grounds, veterinary clinic, fodder sellers, animal markers, veterinary drug vendors, animal transporters, among other facilities. A summary of the facilities available in the surveyed markets is given in the Appendix. In turn, it levies some charges in using these facilities. These charges vary from one species to another. The charges are uniform i.e., US$ 0.6, 0.2 and 0.8 for cattle, shoats, and camels respectively in Somaliland, but varies from one market to another for markets in Puntland (Table 7). In addition, some of the municipalities also register and licence traders and brokers operating in markets under their jurisdiction, and also collect data on transactions being undertaken in the markets. Information collected includes:Price paidThis information is collected by clerks and is stored in books. It was reported that such records are used in safeguarding revenue collection and solving ownership disputes should they arise at a later date. Several government ministries were identifi ed as playing a role that infl uences livestock trade in Somalia. A summary of these roles is given in Table 8. The Table indicated that the main focus of the public sector in livestock trade is in the administration and management of ports for purposes of tax collection, and in provision of rudimentary animal health certifi cation system based upon a clinical observation of animals before loading. This system of inspection has been accepted by Oman, Yemen and U.A.E only. Details on levels of different costs incurred by traders while operating from the two ports are given in Table 9. However, the rapid appraisal established the expressed desire of the public sector, particularly the ministry of livestock to undertake the following:Formalise and publicise the existing grading standards for livestock for export.Offer training and provide research and extension services in all areas of livestock production and trade.Promote Somali livestock and livestock products in existing export markets and search for new export market opportunities.Formulate sectoral policies guidelines for meat inspection, inspection of imported livestock products, quarantine of imported animals, public health and food hygiene, and policies to support other forms of agriculture e.g. dairy, poultry and bee keeping.3.3 Role of the organisations in supporting the informal grading and standard system in the Somali livestock export tradeThis rapid survey established the existence of an informal grades and standard system for cattle, sheep and goats practiced within the Somali livestock marketing system. The informal grading is based on a number of attributes:Age of animal;Sex of animal;Nutritional status;Weight and size;Breed (in case more than one breed exists); and, Health status.  It was observed that in there exists a three-point grading system (Grade I, II, and III) practiced in cattle trade based on the nutritional score of the animal, ceteris paribus. No such precise grading system was observed in sheep and goats. This appraisal intuitively concluded that this grading system has evolved in response to the demands in the export markets. An assessment of how these specifi c attributes interact to infl uence the price of an animal was beyond the scope of this rapid appraisal. The same applies to the evaluation of the extent to which different categories of traders are aware of these grades, and to what extent they apply them in their daily trading activities. However, no organisation was identifi ed to be engaging in overt activities to support application of these grades in livestock trade. However, there was a general consensus among market actors that grading of export quality livestock will enhance livestock export trade with existing trading partners and with other countries. This will be attained through:Fetching better prices;Contributing to more stable prices;Make dealings with trading partners easy by supplying the standards demanded by the importers; reducing inspection needs and therefore transaction costs;Obtaining the confi dence of importing countries. Tables 10 and 11 indicate that both public and private sector institutions can play a signifi cant role in collection and provision of information on livestock trade. Activities of these institutions can thus be harnessed to provide a base on which to build a livestock marketing information system (LMIS) that would support export trade in Somalia. However, it was observed that there was no institution that collected and made accessible information on livestock grades and standards, and how they related to price. Furthermore, information on the demand condition in importing countries was available mainly from exporters. This study thus intuitively concluded that exporters may exploit this information asymmetry to their advantage when buying livestock for export from the local market.It was noted that some of the information collected on livestock trade is used for various functions as shown in Table 12. The Table indicates that information collected on livestock market transactions is largely used to facilitate revenue collection and in dispute resolution and not as a basis for formulating strategies that would support livestock trade in Somalia. This information is recorded in books either by the regional administration, municipal councils or veterinary personnel operating in the markets. The specifi c details on the information collected vary from market to market. Different organisations were noted to perform different activities aimed at promoting livestock export trade within Somalia. Some of the specifi c activities undertaken are summarised in Table 13. • Setting up of supportive infrastructure: i.e., helping in the establishment of Dayah Islamic Bank in Bossaso. This bank helps in enhancing trade and transparency between Somalia and the importing countries.During the stakeholder workshop, in Garowe (Puntland) and Hargeisa (Somaliland) the following rules and regulations were identifi ed as regulating livestock export trade:i. Quarantine at the entry and exit points. All livestock entering or leaving the country need to be quarantined. These requirements are stipulated in the Quarantine Act.ii. Livestock destined for export must be mature animals so that the breeding stock can be protected to prevent depletion iii. Only male animals are to be exported across the seas iv. Inspection certifi cate must be issued at the primary markets before the animals are transported to the secondary markets and Berbera port for export v. Only appropriate vehicles that adhere to specifi c designated standards are to be used for livestock transport vi. Livestock trade should only be undertaken in designated areas. These requirements are stipulated in the Local Government Act. The same act also determines the levies and fees to be charged in the market facilities. Transit letters are issued to traders after fulfi lling the requirements of the act. The act also facilitates proper sanitation within the municipalities in collaboration with the Ministry of Health through the Public Health act.vii. A movement permit must be issued according to the animal health act before the animals are transported to the port of exit i.e. Berbera.viii. Livestock exporters must be licensed according to the relevant act to be allowed to operate. Only citizens can be given licences.ix. Trader permit that is validated must be issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry before one is allowed to operate.x. The customs act facilitates the collection of fees and levies by relevant bodies and ministries that include MoL, Finance, Commerce and Industry and the Chamber of CommerceThe main constraints facing trader associations in expanding services available to traders included limited physical and human resources. Suggested solutions to these constraints are shown in Table 14. Increase trips abroad e.g. to Sudan and Ethiopia to initiate bi-lateral trade discussions that would create links for different products and strengthen ties with importers Capacity building among government staff for effective deliver of services i.e. training of all veterinary personnel in computers Establish appropriate banking system to allow use of letter of credit for livestock marketing transactions It was also noted in the workshops that the rules and regulations governing livestock trade were not being suffi ciently enforced. The constraints, opportunities and solutions in reference to enforcement of the regulatory procedures in livestock marketing are summarised in Table 16.Need to rehabilitate infra-structures after evicting the private invaders. This study was conducted with the main intention of identifying and undertaking a rapid assessment of the functioning of institutions that support livestock trade and marketing in Somalia. Specifi cally, it was expected that information generated would be valuable in formulating supportive policy that would facilitate the institutions play an effective role in improving livestock trade and marketing in Somalia. The study commenced with an indepth review of literature related to the Somali livestock trade, which provided a baseline on which a rapid appraisal and data collection was based. The rapid appraisal focussed on evaluating the different forms of organisations and analysing their roles in facilitating livestock export trade. Collected data was analysed by examining, categorising, tabulating, and recombining the evidence, using three main analytic techniques, viz pattern matching, intuitive explanation building, and time series analysis. These methods were supported with limited descriptive analysis. Generated results were presented in tables, pie-charts and graphs. Subsequently, workshops were also held to identify the rules and regulations shaping the functioning of these organisations in executing their roles in livestock export trade.This study identifi ed eight organisations/individuals supporting livestock export trade in Somalia. These include: This appraisal established that although there exist informal grading system based on a number of attributes (age of animal, sex of animal, nutritional status, weight and size, breed and health status), and that in cattle and small ruminants three point grading system (Grade I, II, & III) is in use, none of the identifi ed organisations was engaged in explicit activities to articulate and disseminate application of these grades in livestock trade. This exists despite the general consensus that grading of export quality livestock would enhance livestock export trade with existing trading partners and with other countries reducing also transaction costs (especially reduced quality inspection costs). Therefore before engaging in activities that would popularise and disseminate this grading approach, it would be important to establish how knowledge on this informal grading system is distributed along the marketing chains, how these grades infl uence prices received, and whether these grades evolved in response to the demand situations in importing countries.This study also found out that there were no planned formal channels for disseminating marketing information (prices, quality attributes, volumes, etc) to support Somali livestock export trade. However, different organisations collected information that could be collated and aggregated into a suitable medium to form a basis for a formal livestock market information system. Establishing an effective livestock market information system that serves both the public and private sectors is critical to the improvement of the operational effi ciency of livestock marketing in Somalia.Information collected in this rapid appraisal may be suffi cient in guiding the establishment of a LMIS, without seeking additional information from formal studies. The fi rst step in this direction would be to address the constraints that relevant institutions face in setting up of an effective LMIS. Two key constraints were identifi ed, fi rst, limited capacity within the organisations, and secondly, lack of supporting infrastructure. Suitable staff in these organisations will thus need to be educated on simple techniques like data collection and storage, whereas the organisations will need to enhance their infrastructural capacities, like acquisition of modern facilities like computers. In addition, deliberate policies should then be instituted to support networking and sharing of available information.Besides promoting the roles that these institutions can play in fostering entrenchment of grades and standards, and in the establishment of a LMIS, another key area is in setting up of a recognised health and safety certifi cation system, a role that needs to be taken up by the public sector (Government Ministries). This appraisal established that at the moment, the main focus of the public sector is at the ports of departure, particularly Bossaso and Berbera. In each of these ports, the government implements a rudimentary animal health certifi cation system, based upon clinical inspection of animals prior to loading. There are also some instances of monitoring in some of the secondary markets. Implementation of an effective health and certifi cation system is constrained by limited capacity, both human and physical within the respective institutions and by the absence of a central veterinary authority that is recognised internationally. These constraints need urgent attention to ensure predictability and guaranteed participation in livestock export trade by Somali traders. It is important to point out that a certifi cation system put in place should be cost effective as an incentive to effective implementation. Above all mechanisms should be put in place to increase compliance to the laid down rules and regulations that govern livestock export trade."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3ae4f0a6a7c360e272fb7c3c184f7451","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/b9fc8fdb-1537-4fbe-aa6b-53212ef265f1/content","id":"903517384"},"keywords":["Hub Manager","CSISA Haryana hub Cropping Systems Agronomist","CIMMYT Bangladesh Y.S. Saharawat : Senior Soil Scientist","IARI","New Delhi"],"sieverID":"26bb5f45-e77b-4982-8df1-c6d5539ae3cc","content":"The Cereals Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) is mandated to enhance farm productivity and increase incomes of resource-poor farm families in South Asia through the accelerated development and inclusive deployment of new varieties, sustainable management technologies, partnerships and policies. The project is being implemented by the CGIAR institutions; IRRI, CIMMYT, IFPRI and ILRI and supported by USAID, and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. © This publication is a product of Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) and copyrighted to the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) 2012 and is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution -Non Commercial ShareAlike 3.0 License (Unported).The designations employed and the presentations of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion of any option what so ever on the part of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) concerning the legal status of any country, person, territory, city, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Where trade names are used, this does not constitute endorsement of or discrimination against any product by CIMMYT and IRRIOperational Manual for Multi-Crop Zero Till PlanterMultiple challenges associated with plough based conventional production practices that include deteriorating natural resources, declining factor productivity, shortages of water & labor and escalating costs of production inputs coupled with challenges of climate change both in irrigated intensive systems as well as low intensity rainfed ecologies are the major threat to food security of South Asia (Jat et al., 2009;Ladha et al., 2009;Chauhan et al., 2012). Water and labor scarcity and timeliness of farming operations specially planting under the emerging uncertainties are becoming major concerns of farming all across farmer typology, production systems and ecologies in the region (Chauhan et al., 2012). In many parts of Asia, over-exploitation and poor management of groundwater has led to declining table and negative environmental impacts. Conventional flooded rice receiving the largest amount of fresh water compared to any other crop is the major contributor to the problems of declining groundwater table ranging from 0.1-1.0 m year -1 and increasing energy use. The problem has further been intensified with the unavailability of labor in time, and multi-fold increase in labor costs. Fragmented land holdings and nucleus farm families further exacerbates the problem of availability of farm labour.Potential solutions to address these issues include a shift from intensive tillage based practices to conservation agriculture (reduced or no tillage) based crop establishment techniques (Saharawat et al., 2010;Jat et al., 2012;Gathala et al., 2011). Direct drilling (seeding/planting with zero tillage technology) is one such practice that potentialy addresses the issues of labor, energy, water, soil health etc (Malik et al., 2005;Gupta and Sayre, 2007;Jat et al., 2009;Ladha et al., 2009;Gathala et al., 2011). However, due to fragmented and small land holdings it is not affordable to purchase many machines for the sowing of different crops. Therefore, multi-crop planter have been invented and are being used by many farmers across South Asia. The same multi-crop planter available in the region can be used for direct drilling of several crops including wheat, rice, maize, moongbean, mustard, barley etc without any preparatory tillage and also under reduced tillage situations. One of the major constraints in large scale adoption of this technology as well as sub-optimal use of planters is the lack of skills/knowledge on operation and calibration of the machinery for multiple uses. There are different field/ crop/situation specific adjustments needed before the use of the machine in the field. These adjustments include proper seeding depth, fertilizer rate and the seed rate etc as per the crop and field conditions to realize the potential benefits of the technology. There are several machinery manufacturers who supply these planters but the operational manuals are not available for making adjustments, calibrations for multiple purposes, multiple crops under local conditions. In absence of the manual guidelines/protocols for efficient use of these planters by the farmers, service providers, extension agents for different purposes and variable field conditions, many a times the desirable results are not achieved and even contradictory results are observed. This results in slowing down the adoption rates of the technology. Also, in absence of simple guidelines for maintenance of these planters, the farmers/service providers need to make huge investments on repairing at the start of the season. In this manual, we attempted to provide simple guidelines for calibration, operation, maintenance and troubleshooting for efficient use of multi-crop zero till planters by the range of stakeholders including farmers, service providers, extension agents and researchers.Due to fragmented and small land holdings and variable farmer typology, it is neither affordable not advisable to purchase many machines for the planting of different crops by the same farmer. The multi-crop planter can plant different crops with variable seed size, seed rate, depth, spacing etc., providing simple solution to this. In addition to adjustments for row spacing, depth, gears for power transition to seed and fertilizer metering systems, the multi-crop planters have precise seed metering system using inclined rotary plates with variable grove number and size for different seed size and spacing for various crops. This provides flexibility for use of these planters for direct drilling of different crops with precise rate and spacing using the same planter which does not exist in flutted roller metering drills. Hence, the same multi-crop planter can be used for planting different crops by simply changing the inclined plates. The planter can also be used to make the beds and simultaneously sowing the crop just by mounting the shovels and shapers which can be easily accomplished due to the given provision in the machine. The planter has the provision of drilling both seed and fertilizer in one go. Also, as seed priming is very important for good germination and optimum plant population, the multi-crop planters provides opportunity to use primed seeds which is not possible in flutted roller metering drills.The multi-crop planter primarily consists of 10 components as depicted in Figure 1 and described in below sectionThe frame of multi-crop planter consists of 2 or 3 bars made up of mild steel on which all other parts are mounted/ attached. The frame works as a body in the planter. The bars are made up of mild steel angle irons (6.5 × 6.5 × 0.5 cm) welded together to provide the desired strength and rigidity. The frame of the 9-tyne planter is of the size of 185 × 60 cm while the frame of 11 tyne machine is 220 cm long. The tynes are attached to the frame which is used to drill the soil. Tynes are attached by U-Clamping as shown in Figure 2. Mainly 9 tynes or 11 tynes are fitted at desired spacing (equal or paired row arrangements) depending on crop. These U-shaped clamps can be unbolted to change the distance between furrow openers, no. of furrow openers and also to detach the furrow openers in order to attach some other part for a different function, for example shovel cum shaper assembly may be attached for raised bed planting. A 4 cm wide, 5 cm thick and 6 cm long stiffener plate is provided at back bottom of the inverted T-type furrow opener (5.0 × 1.2 cm) which is attached to the frame with nuts and bolts or directly with clamps. The furrow opener is welded to the mild flat steel shank (straight leg standard mounted with T-type furrow opener). The blades can be of \"welded on\" or \"bolted on'' or even \"knock down\" type. The disadvantage of \"welded on\" blades is that they require machine shop for replacement, whereas, a farmer can himself replace the other two types of blades. The quality of material used to make the furrow openers will ultimately decide the operational quality and durability of the planter. Double boot is provided behind each furrow opener to receive a tube (steel ribbon or polyethylene tube with a minimum diameter of 25 mm) each to host seed and fertilizer delivery pipes. The furrow openers are adjusted to make 3-5 cm wide slits.Trapezoidal shaped seed and fertilizer boxes, made of mild steel sheet (2 mm thick), are mounted side by side (fertilizer box in front and seed box in the rear) on the frame (Figure 4). The boxes are generally 180 cm long and 24 cm deep. Box dimensions can vary depending upon the effective width of the machine and will increase with the increase in the number of the furrow openers. For example in case of 9-tine planter, the length of seed and fertilizer boxes will be around 160 cm.The seed metering and delivery system (Figure 5) consists of following-1. Seed box : it is used to store the seed in the planter 2. Inclined rotary metering plates : these rotating plates have grooves which guide the seed and drop it in to the cups (Figure 6)3. Seed metering strip : it is an iron bar which has holes in it. By changing the hole, we can change the rate of the seed to be planted in the field. The seed rate is written on the strip with the corresponding holes (Figure 8) 4. Seed Cups : These cups receive seeds that are dropped by the inclined rotary plates and then dispense the seeds to the seed delivery pipe. These seed cups must be smooth and free from any obstacle from the inside to ensure unobstructed delivery of the seeds (Figure 7).It is used to take the seed from cups to the seed boot.6. Seed boot : Seed boot finally drops the seed into the slit in the soil opened by the furrow opener.The seed metering strip is mounted on the seed box. It is attached to the seed box in such a manner that the seed box is tilted when there is an adjustment on the system. It is a strip of iron on which equally spaced holes are provided. The holes connect the strip to the seed box with the help of nut. By changing the holes, the seed rate can be adjusted. The seed rate is generally written on the corresponding hole. However, these are just indicative and for actual quantity of seed to be delivered, it is always advisable for field calibration. The seed rate may also be adjusted by putting the chain on different gears (Figure 9). Using the gear with lesser teeth will lower down the seed rate and vice-versa. There are different seed metering inclined plates for different crops as shown in Figure 10. The plates vary from each other in size of groove, number of grooves and shape of the grooves. The size, number and shape of the grooves are designed to suit the specific crops.To change the plates, the nut in the center of the plate is opened and then after changing the plate it is tightened again. Fertilizer metering system controls the amount of fertilizer application in the field. Generally there are two types of fertilizer metering system (Figure 11). In the flutted rollers metering systems (Figure 12), the fertilizer rate is adjusted with the help of the lever (Figure 14). The lever is set to the recommended fertilizer level. Before setting the fertilizer rate by the lever the nut as shown in figure 13 is loosened and after adjusting the level it is tightened again. However, for precise fertilizer rates, its always advisable to go for field calibrations. After making adjustments as per the calibrations for a specific fertilizer rate, the flutted roller pick the fertilizer from the fertilizer box and then drop it on the aluminum flow control tongue (Figure 13). The flow control tongue drops the fertilizer uniformly in to the fertilizer pipe which is then applied into the soil through the fertilizer boot attached in the furrow opener.In this system the flutted rollers are prone to clog. The second system (Figure 15) is the rotating cell type fertilizer metering type. This system has the following components. In this fertilizer metering device, cells are fitted in separate compartments to allow fertilizer placement as required in each row or some selected rows only. Fertilizer can be increased or decreased by lifting or lowering the fertilizer box respectively. Fertilizer is simply metered by a series of cups on a roller (Figure 17). The rate of fertilizer can be read on the scale (Figure 16). However, calibration of machine for fixing desired fertilizer rates under laboratory situation as well as in field can be accomplished with the procedure mentioned later in this document. This system is almost maintenance free but the precision is less as compared to the first system.Drive wheel (Figure 18) is attached in the middle of the front bar of the frame. The function of drive wheel is to transmit power to the seed The depth control wheel (Figure 19) The lower nut is adjusted for the depth control.For example, if we have to increase the depth of the machine by one inch and there are 9 threads per inch then we have to move the lower nut by nine threads in the upper direction and tighten the upper nut. The adjustment of depth control should be done in the field itself to capture the real field situation.The power transmission unit has the following The function of power transmission unit (Figure 20) is to provide drive from drive wheel to all parts of the planter for example seed box rollers, fertilizer box rollers. First of all a chain set connects the drive wheel to the driving shaft. This shaft is connected to fertilizer and seed metering shafts with the help of another chain set which provide drive to the seed box roller and fertilizer box roller. Bevel gears are attached to the shaft drive for changing the vertical drive into the horizontal drive. The idler gear (Figure 21) is used to tighten or loosen the chain for its smooth operation.  Seed and fertilizers delivery pipes (Figure 22) are attached to the seed and fertilizer boxes with the help of aluminum cups. These pipes carry the seed/fertilizer from the cups to the seed/ fertilizer boot. The tubes should be connected to seed/fertilizer cups firmly so that these may not come out during field operation. The following precautions should be taken care of Tubes should be protected from bending and breakage.Old/bent tubes should be replaced.Excessive bend in the tubes should be avoided otherwise the bend will cause obstruction in free flow of seed/fertilizer and result in non-uniform application and poor crop establishment.The tubes must be inserted about one inch into the seed/fertilizer boot to ensure proper seed/fertilizer delivery.Seed and fertilizer metering devices can increase or decrease seed rates within specified limits.To calibrate the planter to a desired seed and fertilizer rate, first fix the seed metering strip in the appropriate delivery notch and set the appropriate fertilizer rate with the help of lever or adjusting nut whatever mechanism is there in the planter. Measure circumference of drive wheel (Cd). Measure width of the drill (Wd), else multiply the number of tynes with distance between two tynes. Put seed in seed box and fertilizer in fertilizer box then rotate drive wheel manually to ten full rotations and collect seed delivered from each seed/fertilizer delivery tube separately in polythene bags (Figure 23).Weigh the seeds and fertilizer in each bag and also determine the total seed weight (Sw) and fertilizer weight (Fw). If the difference in seed/ fertilizer weight between individual delivery tubes is more than 10%, contact a mechanic/ expert to adjust or repair the machine. Calculate seed and fertilizer application rate per hectare using the following formula:Seed rate (kg/ha) = {Sw/(Cd × Wd Fertilizer rate (kg per hectare) can be determined using the same formula by substituting the total weight of fertilizer released in grams (Fw) in place of total weight of seeds (Sw). It is cautioned that calculated seed and fertilizer rates can differ from the actual rates due to drag and slippage of the drive wheel depending upon the soil moisture, surface roughness, presence of crop residue and field level. Carry out minor adjustment in seed/fertilizer rates by testing the machine in the field.First of all, fill the seed box and fertilizer box with seed and fertilizer and set the indicator at desired seed rate and fertilizer rate. Run the planter at a distance of 20 meters in the field.Collect the seed and fertilizer from the delivery pipes in polythene bags from each pipe. The amount of seed and fertilizer collected in each pipes in 20 meter run is then measured in grams. Then we calculate the seed rate and fertilizer rate by the given formula as under One acre = 4000 m 2Width of drill = x planter is attached to tractor through these three hitch points with the help of link pins. The top link hitch point also helps in leveling the machines. The three point hitch adjustments where the planter fixes to the tractor should be adjusted. The planter should level from side to side and have just enough forward and backward adjustment to enter the soil at the proper angle.While operating the planter in the field for planting, the soil moisture must be optimum both for the operation of planter as well as germination of the crop. Though the soil moisture for operation of planter in the field depends on soil type but the field should be neither too wet nor too dry so that both rut and clod formation can be avoided. First of all, planter is attached to the tractor (say 35 HP) by three point linkage. As the tractor moves the planter, the drive wheel rotates which in-turn rotates the chain-set attached to it on one end and to the drive shaft at other end. The drive shaft then provides the drive to the seed box shaft and fertilizer box shaft as all of these shafts are attached with a chain and gear drive. The fertilizer shaft is attached to the flutted rollers and when flutted roller rotates, the fertilizer enters into the spacing between the teeth of the roller and goes to the aluminium cup which drops the fertilizer to the fertilizer delivery pipes. At same time, the seed box shaft rotates the bevel gears attached to it. A bevel gear is attached at an angle of 90 degree which gives motion to the seed rollers. As seed rollers rotate, the seeds in the seed box enter into the spacing between the teeth and seeds go to the aluminium cup which drops the seeds into the seed delivery pipes. Now, the seed and fertilizer goes to the boot of the furrow openers from seed and fertilizer delivery pipes. As the furrow opener moves, the fertilizer and seeds are drilled into the soil in such a manner that the fertilizer is placed below the seed.Before operating the planter for the first time, read and understand this manual to become familiar with the major components of planter, mechanism, adjustments, and operating systems of the planter. Before each use in the field, ensure following things to make sure all necessary items are checked and adjusted.Check the condition of the planter and make any adjustments or repairs necessary particularly, the fasteners, blade bolts and welds before operating. Replace any broken or worn out parts.Select the proper row spacing, seed quantity, and depth according to the field condition and crop. (Re-adjust seed rate and planting depth after trial).Make sure that the seeds to be planted are clean, and free of soil and pebbles. Do not mix fertilizer with the seeds when seeding, as this will damage the seed metering device.Add the seed to the seed box. Do not fill the seed box more than three quarters full, in order to prevent the automatic dropping of the seeds from the opening in the inclined seed plates due to vibration in planter while under operation.Make sure that the fertilizer is clod free.Calibrate the planter as given in heading 4 and 5.Before operating the multi-crop planter, one should consider following operating notes:When tilling and seeding back and forth across the plot, line the planter up so the next row is at the desired spacing from the last row just planted.While operating, pay attention to how much seed is left, and whether the seeds are blocked in the seed delivery pipe or in the hole of the furrow opener. If the tractor is backed up while the planter is operating, soil will be jammed into the furrow opener (slits) and block seeding. If this happens, turn off the engine, and clean the furrow openers and seed delivery pipes as necessary. Restart the engine, raise the implement to back up, and re-plant the area that did not receive seed.Throttle down when approaching the end of the plot. Lift the planter through hydraulic system when about 2.5 metres away from the end of the plot, then turn the tractor. After turning, again bring down the planter with hydraulic system.Lift the planter through hydraulic system when the implement crosses a ridge or is in transport. Lower the roller to raise the blades to the maximum height while walking or transporting the tractor on the road.Stop the engine before fixing a breakdown or adjusting or changing implements.After completion of the operation, remove the remaining seeds, and fertilizer and wash the mud and weeds from the planter.DO NOT leave seed or fertilizer in the boxes over time as the seed attracts the rodents and can damage the inner parts of the seed box while fertilizer can chock the fertilizer metering system. After cleaning, lubricate the chain, and all other moving parts.The planter should be properly serviced and maintained. It should be checked before use to ensure that all the nuts and bolts are tightened and that all the parts are in good condition. For example, if the openers are worn out, they should be replaced. The fertilizer and seed boxes should also be in good condition to allow free flow of seed and fertilizer. Chains should be adjusted and oiled. After use at the end of each day, the machine should be checked, the seed and fertilizer boxes cleaned, and the moving parts oiled. After the planting season, the machine should be properly stored.Before storing the planter for any length of time, clean each part of the machine; apply grease/oil to the transmission chain and moving parts. Store the machine in a dry, wellventilated store. Keep the appropriate tools with the machine during storage to ensure that they will be available when needed again.Seed not placed at desired depth 1. Adjustment of depth control wheel is not proper 1. Properly adjust the depth of furrow openers with the help of depth control wheel.  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5f056c71f558169b9484d4e107ef98f8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ba29368f-b2f0-4359-be98-512e172f3f66/retrieve","id":"-1470849499"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e23a1813-1764-4bb9-ab79-7461eb121354","content":"The livestock sector is one of the main pillars of Ethiopia's economy, contributing approximately 45% to the agricultural GDP (Negassa et al. 2013;FAO 2017). Ethiopia's annual milk and dairy products imports are valuated over 45 million Birr (1.2 million USD), and demand for animal source foods is projected to increase due to the high population, income growth and urbanization (Abera, 2012). Besides the critical economic and social roles that livestock play in the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, it helps people cope with shocks and accumulate wealth, particularly where formal financial institutions are lacking. Despite the importance of livestock in the Ethiopian economy, several constraints related to livestock production, such as low livestock productivity, remain a major barrier to the development of the livestock sector in Ethiopia (Negassa et al., 2013;Shapiro et al., 2015). According to Shapiro et al. (2015), better breeds (i.e., genetics), feed, and veterinary care are critically important for improving the productivity of dairy cows in Ethiopia. Thus, this study evaluates how improving animal feed resources and breeds impact both household income and nutrition through the production, consumption and sale of live animals and animal products.A farm level economic and nutrition simulation model (FARMSIM) was used to carry out the study in Upper Gana kebele (village), Lemo woreda (district), which is located in Hadiya zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNP) region of Ethiopia. Crop and animal production are the major economic activities in this part of the country. FARMSIM is a Monte Carlo simulation model that simultaneously evaluates and forecasts for five years a current (baseline) crop and livestock farming systems and an alternative technology system for a farm (Bizimana & Richardson, 2019). In the study presented here, small-scale irrigation technologies, improved seeds and fertilizer are used to grow and improve yields of fodder (oats, vetch). It assumes that these are fed to native and dairy crossbred cows and that the aim is to improve household nutrition and income. Annual net farm cash income (profit) and the benefit cost ratio are the economic key output variables calculated by the model, while the nutrition variables comprise average available daily intake of calories, protein, fat, calcium, iron, and vitamin A for an adult equivalent (AE). Total nutrients consumed by the family from all sources are summed across plant and animal food stocks and compared with minimum daily recommended amounts for adults published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (FAO, 2001a&b;FAO, 2010;IOM, 2006) to evaluate nutrition adequacy.Input data for FARMSIM comprises information on farm assets, liabilities, production costs, yields, output prices, and use of crops and livestock products for human consumption and livestock feed. The input information on crops and livestock for the baseline scenario was acquired from a household survey conducted in Lemo woreda by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in 2017. Data input for the alternative scenarios were collected during field trials conducted from 2015-2017 with local farmers in Upper Gana and Jawe kebeles and led by the Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa Rising), the International Water Management Institute and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) (Schmitter et al., 2016). Information on crossbred cows was collected from field trials and farmers in Lemo (SNNP region). A crossbred cow can produce approximately 5 liters per day with supplemental forage nutrition, or 1500 liters annually assuming 305 lactating days in year, as opposed to 1.2 liters for local or native cows (Adie Aberra and Bezabih M. Derseh/ILRI, personal communication 2019). This information is roughly comparable to the numbers reported in the Ethiopian Livestock Master Plan for the period from 2014/2015-2019/2020 in which crossbred dairy cows are expected to produce 6 liters per day compared to 1.9 liters for local or native cows (Shapiro et al., 2015).To explore the synergistic benefits arising from livestock and irrigation innovations, livestock production technologies (fodder, crossbred cows) were aligned with water lifting technologies (rope and washer, solar pumps). In the baseline scenario, fodder crops (oats, vetch) are grown on limited land with minimal irrigation and fertilizer applications. Due to limited production, all the fodder produced is sold at the market for revenue generation. However, in the alternative scenarios, more land (3-7 times the baseline scenario land) is allocated to fodder especially during the dry season due to irrigation in addition to raising crossbred cows. Higher fertilizer rates and improved seeds are also utilized in the alternative scenarios compared to the baseline. A portion of the total production of fodder is fed to cows, bulls, and sheep to increase the production of milk and meat while the remainder is sold to generate income. The four scenarios analyzed are as follows:To show the full potential of adopting new technologies, the alternative crop farming technologies are assumed to be fully adopted (100%) while a lower and progressive adoption rate was considered for the livestock technologies in the course of the five-year forecasting period based on household survey information. We also assume in the model that there is at least one crossbred cow per household in Lemo, although its adoption is still low (3%) due to the high purchasing cost. Consequently, we incorporated a loan scheme for each household in Lemo to purchase one crossbred cow, payable in four years at 10% interest rate. Second, the markets were assumed to be accessible and competitive with no distortion. Last, based on preliminary simulation runs on profitability, we estimated that each household, in both baseline and alternative scenarios will allocate close to 37% of their net profit (if available) to purchase supplemental foodstuffs that comprise staples and animal source foods. In this analysis, farm families consume food grown on the farm and/or purchased at the market for their nutrition. A preliminary analysis of food items consumed by an average household in Lemo woreda indicates a predominance of a cereal-based diet with Baseline:No or minimal irrigation; no supplemental fodder feeding; local or native cows Alt.1--R&W-P_N:Rope and washer pump used in optimally irrigated systems + Supplemental feeding of native cows Alt.2--Solar-P_N: Solar pump used in optimally irrigated systems + Supplemental fodder of native cows Alt.3--Solar-P_CB: Solar pump used in optimally irrigated systems + Supplemental fodder feeding of crossbred cows  Milk quantity (L)/Year / Household substantial shortage of animal-source food consumption. About 64% of the profit is allocated to the purchase of eggs and butter under alternative scenarios for nutrition improvement. Although no new milk purchase was made under the alternative scenarios and the fraction of milk consumed (70%) remained unchanged for all scenarios, the quantity consumed increased at home due to the increase in milk production under alternative scenarios (Figure 1). The types of crops grown and consumed by families in Lemo woreda comprised mainly wheat, maize, teff, cabbage, carrots, banana and haricot beans and moderate purchases of teff and maize were added to these. Significant amounts of vegetables (carrot and cabbage) were purchased under the Alt.3 scenario associated with crossbred cows to compensate for the reallocation of land previously used for on-farm vegetable production to fodder production. On-farm production and consumption of animal products such as milk, butter, eggs, chicken, sheep, and beef were included also in the analysis.The annual net cash farm income (NCFI) in year five, which represents the economic profitability at the household level, shows that the average profit under alternative scenarios (Alt.1, Alt.2, and Alt.3) is two to three times higher than that of the baseline scenario. The increase in profit from the baseline to the alternative scenarios were 90%, 99% and 263%, respectively (Table 1). However, the NCFI distribution shows between 4% and 6% probability of having a profit equal to or less than zero (loss) for Alt.1 and Alt.2 but only 0.2% probability for Alt.3 (crossbred cow scenario). Although the profit under alternative farming technologies shows higher gains compared to the baseline, the distribution results highlight the risk associated with high production and water lifting tool (such as solar pump) costs involved in investing in small scale irrigation technologies investment. Alt.3 associated with crossbred cows, clearly shows higher profit compared to other scenarios, as its cumulative distribution function curve stands farther to the right of all other scenarios, mainly due to increase in fodder sale. To assess whether the benefits are worth the investment cost, a cost benefit analysis was conducted using two net present value-related metrics illustrated by the benefit cost ratio (BCR) and the internal rate of return (IRR). The two metrics inform on the profitability and return on investments in small-scale irrigation technologies, fertilizers and crossbred cows. The results indicate on average BCR values for all alternative scenarios equal or greater than 1.0, and IRR values equal or greater than the discount rate of 0.1 (threshold values), which is an indication of profitability (or break-even) of the investment in alternative technology (Table 1). Noticeably for Alt.2 scenario under the solar pump system and native cows, the results show on average a break-even point with a BCR ratio of 1 and an IRR of 0.1.We evaluated nutrition variables and compared them to daily minimum requirements per AE, to determine adequacy of calories, proteins, fat, calcium, iron, and vitamin A intake available to the household.Simulation results show that the amount of milk consumed by families in Lemo increased by 77% in Alt.1 and Alt.2 scenarios associated with native cows compared to the baseline scenario, while the amount of eggs consumed increased four times. Under the Alt.3 scenario associated with crossbred cows, milk production by families increased 3-fold (304%) while the consumption of eggs increased 28-fold due to purchases. The amount of butter consumed by families increased by 62% from the baseline to Alt.1 & 2 scenarios, while it increased 20 times for Alt.3. due to purchases. The expansion of irrigated fodder cropping area under Alt.3. led to an increase in fodder production as well as fodder sales, which led to 5-fold increases in receipts and profit compared to the baseline. The increase in live weight for cattle and sheep led to an increase in consumption of beef by 31% and mutton by 54%. Overall, the nutrition simulation results show that the food products consumed by families in the baseline and alternative scenarios met the minimum daily requirements for calories, proteins, iron, and vitamin A but were insufficient for meeting calcium and fat requirements (Table 2). Calcium deficiency may be due to low consumption of animal products rich in calcium in developing countries (vs. developed countries) as well as possible high threshold value (1 gram) in comparison to the actual daily requirements (Agueh, V. et. al, 2015;FAO, 2001). The consumption of milk, however, alleviated some of the deficits in calcium, increasing its intake by 73% under Alt.1 & 2 and 84% under Alt.3. Deficits in fat were completely addressed by the increase in consumption of purchased butter under Alt.3 scenario. Improving feed resources and cow genetics (using crossbreds that produce more milk) can address the potential shortage in milk supply that the livestock sector in Ethiopia is expected to face in future due to the increases in population, urbanization and income. In this study, we simulate the production and use of irrigated fodder through improved small-scale irrigation technologies to produce feeds for livestock and sell the surplus for income generation. This is coupled with introduction of crossbred dairy cows with a potential for milk production that is three times higher than that of local or native cows. The simulation results show the economic feasibility of these enterprises and also predict potential profits under the alternative scenarios (irrigation technologies and crossbred cows) compared to the baseline if crossbred cows and improved production of feeds are adopted. Deficits in fat intake at the household level are addressed while those in calcium are partially alleviated through the increase in milk consumption. Therefore, adopting improved livestock technologies (feed and improved breeds) has potential to improve economic and nutritional wellbeing in Ethiopia and presents an opportunity to help the country meet its goals of economic development, better nutrition, and improved food security."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4797709176.json b/main/part_2/4797709176.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3e7829832055ba00889ec20bcaab2a4b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H023540.pdf","id":"127051032"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c422f838-de36-478d-8b9d-82f5bb4169d4","content":"]]] 0.1 -0. J IIllllO.J -0.6 ~0.6 -0.6 ~0.6 -1.0 .1.0 < WATER WITHDRAWALS IN 1991 In the absence of primary data, we use the total withdrawals estimated for Sri Lanka by ESCAP (1995) for our analysis. Of the total withdrawals of 9.66 km' in 1991, while the agriculture sector has used 96 percent and the domestic and industrial sectors have used 2 percent each. As in the water supply, the distribution of water withdrawals at the district level is also not available. The estimation procedure is briefly explained below. (See Amarasinghe, <Ir Mutuwatta, and Sakthivadivel1998 for more details).The domestic water withdrawal for each district is assumed to be proportional to the total population that is served with piped water. It was estimated that, in 1991, 70 percent of the urban population and only 15 percent of the rural population were served with piped water (ESCAP 1995). Based on these figures, Sri Lanka has withdrawn only 31 liters per person per day (lIpId) for its domestic sector in 1991 (C8, table 1). The Colombo district in the wet zone has the highest withdrawals (65 lIpId), while several districts in both zones have withdrawn less than 25 lIpId, with Monaragala district having the lowest withdrawals of 19 lipId.Under the above assumptions the irrigated area in 2025 is expected to increase by 42 percent (see Amarasinghe, Mutuwatta, and Sakthivadivel 1998 for detailed computations), which is slightly lower than the population increase (45%) projected by the United Nations medium projections (UN 1995).The demand projections for the domestic sector are based on meeting at least the basic water requirement (BWR) for human needs and/or keeping at least the present level of per capita withdrawal level. Based on drinking waterfor survival, waterfor human hygiene, waterfor sanitation services, and waterfor modest household needs for preparing food, Gleick (1996) has suggested 50 lIpId as the BWR for domestic needs. The present per capita domestic withdrawals in all districts except Colombo are below the BWR level. The 2025 domestic withdrawals are projected either at the BWR of 50 lIpId or at the present level whichever is higher.In this study, the per capita industrial withdrawals are also projected at the same level of BWR for domestic needs or at the present level of industrial withdrawals whichever is higher. The current per capita industrial withdrawals of Colombo and Gamapha districts are more than 50 lIpId. Demand in these districts is projected at the 1991 levels.The total water demands under the two scenarios are in table 2 (Cl & C2 for maha and C4 & C5 for yala). The water demand under the second scenario in almost all the districts in the dry zone is only half of the demand under the first scenario (C3 & C6, table 2). This is not surprising because most demand in the dry zone is for irrigation, and the water savings from the second scenario are completely due to irrigation.The savings in the wet zone are comparatively low. Scenario 2 reduces the demand in the wet zone beY 33 percent in the maha season and by 21 percent in the yala season. The low savings in the wet zone under the second scenario are due to higher domestic and industrial demands and very much lower irrigation demands than in the dry zone.Water scarcities in the future can occur in two forms: absolute or economic. In an absolute scarcity situation, the demand with respect to utilizable water supply is high .. In the case of economic scarcity, there may be ample water supply to develop, but the required amount of increase in development may not be economically feasible. This section studies the water scarcities that exist at present and in the future at the district level.ANNUAL PER CAPITA WATER SUPPLY Several studies have ranked water scarcity of a country using the annual per capita water supply (Falkenmark, Lundqvist, and Widstrand 1989;Engleman and Leroy 1993). Per capita water supply (ws/pc) of 1,700 m' is considered to be the water-stress threshold of a country. Above this level, water scarcities are rare and, if these exist, are only in a few localities. Per capita water supply below 1,700 m' shows seasonal or regular water-stress conditions; below 1,000 m' water shortages begin to hamper health and human well-being. Below 500 m' is the severe water-scarce category.Th current annual per capita water supply in Sri Lanka is 2,800 m' (C7, table 2). With the population increase, this decreases to 1,928 m' in 2025 (C8, table 2). Thus the national statistics show no present or future water scarcity under this criterion. The two zones as a whole also show no future water scarcity. But the distribution at district level shows a differ ent picture (figure 2). Colombo and Jaffna districts will be in the severe water-scarce category in 2025. The ws/pc of the Gampaha, Kandy, Kurunegala, and Puttalam districts will be below 1,000m 3 by the year 2025. These 6 districts will have 44 percent of the 2025 population in 20 percent of the land area and, most importantly, will contain only 21 percent of the projected irrigated area. These districts will have a high dependency on the food supply from the other districts, which are relatively less water scarce according to per capita water supply criteria.Figure 3 shows the current withdrawals as a ratio of supply between districts. A district may have a high per capita water supply as well as a high withdrawal ratio with respect to supply.For example, Killinochchi, Mannar, Vavunia, Anuradhapura, Kurunegala, Ampara, and Hambantota districts have more than 1,700 m' of annual water supply, but current withdraw als with respect to supply in the two seasons are also more than 40 percent (C9 & Cll, table 2). A recent United Nations study (WMO 1997) used the ratio of withdrawal to supply to define water-scarcity thresholds...According to this criterion, 8 districts (with 24% of the population and 54% of the irri gated area) in the maha season and 10 districts (with 33% of the population and 76% of the irrigated area) in the yala season were severely water scarce. If the ratio of withdrawal to supply is 20-40 percent, the water scarcity is medium to severe, and if it is 10-20 percents the scarcity is moderate, with no water scarcity below 10 percent. Figure 4 shows that even at present, most of the districts in the dry zone are either medium to severe or severely water scarce."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4805181091.json b/main/part_2/4805181091.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7cf09e745eeb62ef8bcfeaf244725c2650305110
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"13869ea070abaf01643a010a04677141","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3e3641b9-6148-4472-a506-64ad2e4abd2c/retrieve","id":"851995584"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b3814b05-ed9d-4bf4-99c4-5533adbbb142","content":"Palabras clave: Cadena de valor, Comercialización, Pérdidas pos-cosecha, Producción. Área temática: Socio-economía. Presentación oral.Las pérdidas alimentarias se definen como las pérdidas de masa comestible no intencionales destinadas al consumo humano, mismas que pueden ocurrir a lo largo de la cadena de abastecimiento desde la etapa de producción hasta la etapa de distribución final (Cederberg et al., 2011). Aulakh y Regmi (2013) argumentaron que no existe acuerdo en referencia a las metodologías para medir de manera consistente las pérdidas pos-cosecha de alimentos. Los problemas en la uniformidad de la medición se derivan de diferencias sociales, económicas, medioambientales y de políticas entre las diferentes regiones del mundo.En la cadena productiva de la papa en Ecuador se ha implementado un estudio sobre pérdidas de pos-cosecha desde el 2015 impulsado por el Inst. Internacional de Investigación en Políticas Alimentarias (IFPRI) y el CIP, junto a la Consultora Oficinas para Estudios del Agro (OFIAGRO Ltda.). El estudio se enmarca en los esfuerzos de investigación del programa \"Políticas, Instituciones y Mercados\" del CGIAR.El estudio responde las preguntas centrales de investigación que conforman el mapeo de las pérdidas pos-cosecha: ¿Cuáles son las pérdidas pos-cosecha en las cadenas de valor de la papa en Ecuador?, ¿En qué se traducen las pérdidas pos-cosecha?, ¿Quién asume las pérdidas poscosecha identificadas? ¿Cuáles son los factores determinantes de las pérdidas pos-cosecha?Las preguntas centrales de investigación se desarrollaron en primer lugar mediante métodos cualitativos que permitieron definir las 4 categorías de pérdidas pos-cosecha percibidas por los actores identificados de las cadenas. Luego, mediante métodos cuantitativos se levantó información de una muestra de 300 productores en la provincia de Carchi, 52 comerciantes mayoristas en la ciudad de Quito, 130 comerciantes intermediarios y 147 transformadores en la ciudad de Quito.Las categorías de pérdida en el caso de la cadena de la papa en Ecuador tienen relación con las prácticas de manejo pos-cosecha, así como los mecanismos de comercialización (Reducción de precio -mecanismo de negociación, Remate o donación-practica de manejo que minimiza las pérdidas de calidad, pérdida de peso netopobres condiciones de almacenamiento, descartepráctica de saneamiento que evita mayores pérdidas).El levantamiento de datos se desarrolló bajo una metodología de cuantificación desarrollada por IFPRI bajo una adaptación de otras cadenas de valor como maíz y fréjol en Honduras.Las encuestas a los eslabones de la cadena de la papa en Ecuador fueron adaptadas al software SURVEY CTO por IFPRI con información específica del rubro papa en Ecuador como las circunscripciones territoriales y otra información referente a unidades de medida, categorías de calidad en la cadena de la papa en Ecuador y tipos de daños, levantados durante el estudio cualitativo de pérdidas en la cadena ejecutado por Ofiagro.Las pérdidas pos-cosecha en la cadena de valor de la papa se pueden distinguir entre las pérdidas del valor comercial y las pérdidas de masa comestible que son evidenciables en las brechas en la calidad de los diferentes usos de la cadena de valor. Estas brechas de calidad se agrupan según su origen en enfermedades y problemas fisiológicos de origen (Rizhoctoniasis, agrietamiento fisiológico, corazón hueco, deformidades, azurcares reductores, palidez de color de piel), las plagas que se originan en la etapa de cultivo y continúan en la etapa pos-cosecha (Gusano blanco, polilla de la papa y babosa), y las prácticas de manejo cosecha, pos-cosecha y comercialización (Daños mecánicos, madurez de tubérculos a la cosecha, mescla de variedades y calibres, pesos incompletos, etc).Las pérdidas pos-cosecha se traducen en pérdidas económicas que se registran a lo largo de la cadena en los momentos en los cuales hay un procesamiento y en la negociación entre actores de la cadena. La relación entre las brechas de la calidad y las pérdidas económicas son influenciadas por el nivel de precios en el mercado.Los actores asumen en diferentes grados las pérdidas identificadas. Los productores absorben las pérdidas en precio y el remate de los tubérculos en una mayor proporción, mientras que las reducciones de masa la experimentan los eslabones finales. El poder en la negociación se reportó como clave en la apreciación de la calidad. Los comerciantes y procesadores pueden verse afectados por las deficiencias de origen manifestadas en las brechas de calidad a lo cual se protegen con la oferta de precio trasladando las pérdidas al eslabón de la producción.Los factores determinantes de las pérdidas pos-cosecha identificados se atribuyeron al manejo pre-cosecha, cosecha y pos-cosecha y factores incontrolables como el clima y la fluctuación del precio de la papa. En los factores de relevancia encontrados en la estimación cualitativa, el proceso de selección determina en gran medida las posibles pérdidas en el valor comercial y de masa. Así como también el manejo agronómico y de la cosecha en el cual el método de trabajo manual genera daños.Las afectaciones y pérdidas sucedidas antes de la cosecha constituyen la principal fuente de pérdidas en el eslabón de la producción con el 76% del volumen perdido, que representa el 16% de la producción promedio de las fincas. Estas pérdidas resultaron en un 71% por plagas y enfermedades, y éstas a su vez son influenciadas por eventos climáticos extremos, con un 29% de casos, junto a la calidad deficiente de semilla en un 14% de casos, impactaron la calidad y cantidad de papa producida en las fincas investigadas.Las afectaciones y pérdidas en eslabón de comercialización promedian el 1% de las compras de papa al mes, distribuidos de manera diferente al comparar al eslabón de intermediarios y mayoristas. Para los primeros el transporte es la fuente principal de afectaciones y pérdidas, mientras que para los segundos fue el almacenamiento durante la comercialización. La siguiente fuente de pérdidas en importancia para ambos eslabones de comercialización, fueron las brechas de calidad heredadas del eslabón de la producción.En la cadena de valor de la papa en Ecuador refleja una variabilidad de prácticas de manejo pos-cosecha y las relaciones comerciales que pueden existir entre los actores. También es evidente que los casos comparten los mismos actores en el eslabón de la producción y"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4808811041.json b/main/part_2/4808811041.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4b441c19f2377697e05e895e26342cfebc48b271
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+++ b/main/part_2/4808811041.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a2bb8e43d2602dd14223fe14a7224546","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6e1aec33-11fd-42d3-af61-71a6ef2a90f9/retrieve","id":"552641002"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f6d7ea48-2dc9-4286-93bd-74826523dc18","content":"National systems and methodologies for the preparation of greenhouse gas inventories.Measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) framework-the reporting requirements and the timelines for the submission of national reports are different for Annex I Parties and (Non-Annex I Parties), based on common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.How do nonstate actors get involved?All countries to act towards:Limiting global average temperature increases to as close to 1.5C as possible above preindustrial levels.To strengthen climate resilience.Make financial flows consistent with climate action objectives.UNFCCC provides the foundation for intergovernmental action to combat climate change and its impacts on humanity and ecosystems.To achieve the objective of UNFCCC, Parties need reliable, transparent and comprehensive information on GHG emissions, climate actions and support.By communicating information on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and actions to reduce them, as well as on adaptation and means of implementation such as finance, technology transfer and capacity-building, the transparency and reporting system allows to understand ambition and progress on climate actions and support by Parties.• All countries contribute their share to the global effort.• Starting in 2024, all parties follow a single, universal transparency process.• To provide a clear understanding of climate change actions and support.• contribute the periodic stock take of the implementation of the PA. global stocktake• The ETF reporting under the PA includes tracking progress of implementation and achievement of NDCs.• Each country to outline and communicate their NDC through a Biannual Transparency Report (BTR) starting 2024 every two years.• The BTR to provide information necessary to track progress in implementing and achieving their NDC targets and demonstrate efforts towards implementation of the Paris Agreement in:• Reducing national emissions.• Building resilience and adapt to the impacts of climate change.• Parties to submit new /updated NDCs every five years showing enhanced the ambition in climate action.• Insititutional reporting arrangments provided in the CC Act 2016.• 5 year NCCAPs provide for mitigation and adaption reporting by the priority sectors through.• Green House gasses (GHG) inventory.• National adaptation report.• The Climate Change Act, 2016 requires the Government to develop action plans to guide the mainstreaming of climate change into sector functions.• Outlines the requirements for climate change reporting right from the national to the grassroots level. • Climate finance.• Reporting and monitoring.• Establishment of the Monitoring and Evaluation system for adaptation action."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/4820970685.json b/main/part_2/4820970685.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8907b5d27bc66a2881d2ba5d9ac2c03852d97b23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/4820970685.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5a79b6086504c3feb5b2d84a0e3da8b0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b7d2a7b1-4ab1-4a4e-80a1-8dc06defafa7/retrieve","id":"679834394"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5fe691ed-d9ff-4de5-998b-aae8b812e8c0","content":"We mainly used a desk-based review to collect relevant secondary data and documents for analysis and synthesis. Key literature and data sources collected for review are technical guidelines of the IPCC (2006IPCC ( , 2014IPCC ( , 2019)), UNFCCC and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (UNFCCC carbon neutral 3 ); and the GHG Protocol 4 , EXACT (FAO) 5 ; as well as published articles, reports, and related data/ information from research institutes, academia, universities, management agencies, and international organizations.In addition, we also arranged online meetings and/or telephone contacts with relevant agencies and stakeholders in Vietnam to discuss issues related to research themes related to this study's objectives. Several institutions were consulted to identify past and ongoing projects and data and information related to GHG emissions in the fisheries sector in Vietnam.Drawing data and information from desk-based reviews, key informant interviews, and group discussions with relevant stakeholders in Vietnam, this working paper compiled and analyzed emission baseline data of greenhouse gas (GHG) from Vietnamese aquatic food systems, focusing on key aquaculture systems of fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and seaweed, together with capture fisheries and post-harvesting and processing of aquatic foods. Vietnam's total aquatic food production in 2021 was about 8.79 million tons (4.86 million tons from aquaculture and 3.94 million tons from capture fisheries) and brought about USD 8.89 billion in export values to the country (D-Fish, 2022c). Of this total, pangasius catfish and brackish water shrimp (P. monodon and white leg vannamei) are key products nationally. In 2021, they contributed about 17.32% and 10.58% in total seafood production volume and about 18.22% and 43.87% in total seafood export value, respectively.Besides contributing to local and national socio-economic development and supporting sustainable livelihoods, aquatic food systems also emit GHGs, contributing to global warming and climate change. IPCC has developed guidelines for calculating GHGs from the agriculture sector, including aquatic farming systems (IPCC, 1996(IPCC, , 2006(IPCC, , 2014(IPCC, , and 2019;;WRI and WBCSD, 2013). 1 The IPCC methodological approach combines information on the extent to which human activity occurs, called activity data (AD) with coefficients that quantify the emissions or removals per unit activity, called emission factors (EFs). Following the IPCC guidelines, the basic equation is emissions = AD x EF.According to the IPCC 1996 guideline, EFs are usually categorized into three tiers representing methodological complexity. Tier 1 is the basic method, and default factors are supplied. Tier 2 requires country-specific information. Tier 3 is the most demanding in terms of complexity and data requirements, usually involving detailed experiments and modeling. Tiers 2 and 3 are sometimes referred to as higher-tier methods and are generally considered to be more accurate and appropriate for computing and extrapolating GHG emissions to the national total. The default data or tier 1 methods for all categories are designed to use readily available national or international statistics combined with the default emission factors and additional provided parameters. Therefore, they should be feasible for all countries.There is, however, a need to compute EFs with tiers 2 and 3 for various AD in the aquatic food sector in both global and national contexts. To date, EFs with tier 1 are mainly applied in calculating GHGs for aquatic systems. Still, tier 1 EFs for pellet feed use is not available for these calculations, and no reliable tier 3 EFs for aquatic food systems is available in the Vietnamese context. These shortcomings are because there are limited GHG emission studies done on Vietnam's aquatic food sector. Nonetheless, there were emission estimations of GHGs carried out disjointedly in several studies in Vietnam and other countries around the world. These provided a preliminary, scattered picture of GHG emissions in aquatic food systems, from production to post-harvesting, and mainly focused on key aquatic systems, like shrimp, tilapia, and catfish.According to the GHG Protocol (Agricultural Guidance) (WRI and WBCSD, 2013), in the agricultural sector, including aquaculture, there are two main sources of GHG emissions: mechanical sources and non-mechanical sources. Mechanical sources include the use of equipment and machinery for aquaculture, such as excavators, pond diggers, water pumps, water paddlewheels, aeration, means of transporting inputs and raw shrimp and fish, etc. The amount of GHG emissions (N 2 O, CH 4 , CO 2 , and others) from this mechanical source depends on the characteristics of the machinery and equipment and the energy input used (electricity or fuel). The main sources of non-mechanical emissions are related to biological and productive processes that take place on land and in water, as well as the growth and development of aquatic animals raised on farms and product harvesting processes, such as using food, chemicals, veterinary drugs, probiotic products in aquaculture farming, and emitting major gases of N 2 O, CH 4 , CO 2, etc.Various studies conducted by Akvaplan-Niva (2010), Chang et al. (2017), Henriksson et al. (2014), Nguyen et al. (2019), and Natasha et al. (2017) show that emission estimations of GHGs from aquatic food systems still contain uncertainty and varied substantially based on the scope of GHG calculation, applied methods, and the nature of farming and fishing technologies. Concerning emission sources, feed production and on-farm electricity use are major drivers of aquatic farming systems' GHG emissions (Parker, 2012;Pathak et al., 2013;Akvaplan-Niva, 2010). This evidence was illustrated in shrimp farming (Nguyen et al., 2019) and catfish farming (Robb et al., 2017) in Vietnam and shrimp farming in China (Chang et al., 2017). In capture fisheries, fuel consumption during fishing also greatly contributed to GHG emissions from motorized fishing vessels (Parker, 2012). It is also noted that due to the issues of quantitative uncertainty estimates in GHG emissions from aquatic food systems, results of GHG emissions published by previous studies should be used to test hypotheses rather than to provide point value estimates or plain confidence intervals of products' environmental performance (Henriksson et al., 2015).From the review findings, five key promising GHG emission mitigation studies in Vietnamese aquatic food systems are proposed:1. Study and establish EFs for inputs used in aquatic farming, like feed and hatcheries, especially tier 2 and 3 EFs for compound pellet feed for key aquatic food production systems in Vietnam like shrimp, catfish, and tilapia. This will provide reliable EFs for GHG inventory of aquatic food systems at local and national scales.2. Conduct a study to assess the effects of GHG mitigation interventions that focus on improving efficient uses of compound feed and electricity, such as improving feed management and optimizing the operation of aerators; in this case, technical interventions should be developed and piloted in demonstration sites representing different agroecological zones, particularly the Mekong Delta.3. Conduct a study to understand and measure the GHG reduction potential of integrated aquaculture systems such as rice-shrimp, rice-fish, and shrimp-mangrove systems to generate EFs for both shrimp and rice products in these systems to inform the revision and implementation of targets for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).4. Conduct a study to understand carbon sequestration capacity and establish sequestration factors (SFs) of Vietnamese seaweed farming to contribute to the net-zero objective of the country toward 2050.5. Conduct an inventory of GHGs for both non-motorized and motorized fishing vessels to provide evidence for GHG mitigation solutions and interventions in capture fisheries.Aquatic food value chains in Vietnam consist of aquaculture, capture fisheries, and seafood processing and their associated input suppliers like hatcheries, aquafeed production, and logistic supplying. They have all played important roles in the country's socioeconomic development. In 2021, the total production of Vietnam's fisheries sector was 8.79 million tons, of which capture fishing accounted for 3.94 million tons, and aquaculture accounted for 4.86 million tons. The total exported value of the sector in 2021 reached over USD 8.89 billion (D-Fish, 2022c).Although the aquatic food industry in Vietnam contributes to food and protein supply, income, and job creation, the fisheries sector also creates negative environmental impacts, including GHG emissions contributing to global warming.There have been some studies relating to GHG emission calculation of aquatic food systems in Vietnam, such as The context of an emerging trend in international markets toward low-carbon seafood products requires seafood exporting countries like Vietnam to prepare for their seafood GHG emission information provision, determine which stages of aquatic food systems emit the most, and implement proper interventions to mitigate GHG emissions throughout their seafood value chain.This paper reviews baseline data and gaps related to GHG emissions from the Vietnamese fisheries sector. This study aims to address the following four primary research questions:1. What GHG emission data exist from aquatic food systems (aquaculture, capture fisheries, post-harvest processing) for Vietnam?2. Which existing data could be relevant for calculating the baseline of GHG emissions?3. Which data gaps exist to carry out studies of GHG emissions in the coming years?4. What are the existing tools and methods for measurement studies of GHGs in the aquatic foods sector?Due to data and information limitations, this review is considered a preliminary step toward a GHG inventory of common aquatic food products in Vietnam and to recommend further studies toward developing and generating appropriate GHG calculation methods and reliable EFs for local aquatic food systems.Aquatic food systems in Vietnam comprise aquatic farming systems (aquaculture) and capture fisheries, which provide most raw materials for post-harvest segments of aquatic seafood value chains, including seafood processing, distribution, marketing, and consumption in domestic and foreign markets.The total annual gross value added of the fisheries sector is about 202,250-228,119 VND billion annually, contributing about 2.7%-3.4% of the total national GDP (MARD, 2020).In total, the aquatic food sector's export value is about USD 8.6-8.9 billion per year, of which shrimp and catfish are two main export commodities, contributing about 39.3%-44.5% and 18.2%-23.3% per year, respectively (D-Fish, 2022c  (Henriksson et al., 2015). Feed production was the largest source of GHG emissions for catfish farming, and high feed conversion ratios (FCRs) exacerbated the impact of feed on GHG emissions (Robb et al., 2017).Tilapia farming is a potential species for meeting seafood exporting targets in Vietnam. However, production from this aquatic food system has been mainly for domestic consumption, with a reasonable annual production of about 250,000 tons on a total farming area of 30,000 ha (D-Fish, 2022c). GHG emissions from tilapia systems has been considered in a few studies in other countries, with an estimated emissions of about 1.58 kg of CO 2 e per kilogram of live weight of Nile tilapia in Bangladesh (Robb et al., 2017) or about 1.5 kg of CO 2 e per kilogram of fillets with tilapia farming in lake systems (Rosenberg et al., 2013). In addition, Dullah et al. (2020) applied an LCA and used tier 1 EFs 6 to estimate that about 1.69 kg of N 2 O emitted from one ton of farmed tilapia produced in Malaysia was equivalent to 245.27 kg of CO 2 e/ton of tilapia products.Marine fish farming in Vietnam involves a diverse group of fish species., including grouper, snapper, cobia, seabass, and red drum. However, marine farming faces several difficulties in artificial seed breeding and low export market demand. Therefore, like tilapia, marine fish farming is considered a potential system for mass aquatic food production for export once these difficulties are resolved. Recent statistics suggested that marine fish is farmed in over 11,000 ha of sea cage cultured areas in Vietnam and produced about 65,000 tons of marine fish in 2021 (D-Fish, 2021). Feed used for marine fish farming combines trash fish and pellet fish. In terms of GHG estimations, no calculations of GHG emissions have been done for farmed marine fish in Vietnam and only a few in other countries. The highest GHG emission was estimated at 8 kg of CO 2 e per kilogram of fresh fish in Panama, with five fish farms experimenting with cobia cage culture. This high GHG emission is due to the long distance of transporting feed and feed uses, which account for about 60% of total GHG emissions (Hagos, 2013). On the other hand, Asian sea bass recirculation farms had significantly lower emissions at 1.7 kg of CO 2 e per kilogram of fresh fish. This difference is because feeds were delivered to the cobia farm in Panama from Chile and Peru, with an average transportation of 5,600 km, while feed for the Asian sea bass farm, on the other hand, averaged 880 km. In other research by García et al. (2019), GHG emissions from sea bass farming in Spain are estimated at 7.29 kg of CO 2 e per kilogram live weight fish, while sea bass farming in Italia is 3.14 kg of CO 2 e per kilogram (Zoli et al., 2023).Another fish farming system in Vietnam is integrated rice and fish (carps) in freshwater environment, which used to be common in the country in over several decades. However, this system is in decline because of difficulties in marketing carp fish products. There have not been any studies to estimate GHG emissions from rice-fresh water fish farming in Vietnam. However, literature in the world shows that rice-fish systems could significantly mitigate water eutrophication by reducing nutrients nitrogen like total nitrogen (TN), NH 4 + , and NO 3 − , phosphors like total phosphorus and PO 4 3− and chemical and biochemical oxygen demands (COD and BOD) under the equivalent fish stocking density. Therefore, rice-fish systems significantly reduce N 2 O by 56.2% without significant change in CH 4 (Hu et al., 2022).For other freshwater fish farming, Robb et al. (2017) and Ghosh et al. (2020) identified the GHG emissions of various systems of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) farming (from cradle to farm gate) in Bangladesh, major carps (Catla catla, Cirrhinus cirrhosus, Labeo calbasu, Labeo rohita) in India, and striped catfish Pangasianodon hypophthalmus in Vietnam is 1.58, 1.84 and 1.37 kg of CO 2 e kg -1 live weight fish (excluding emissions arising from land-use change), respectively.The above GHG emissions data on various aquatic food farming systems are summarized below. The crustacean farming system in Vietnam includes mainly brackish water shrimp and mud crabs. Shrimp has been identified as a nationally key farmed species (Decision No 79/ QĐ-TTg dated 18/01/20218). The shrimp farming industry has contributed significantly to the Vietnamese fisheries sector's total seafood production and export value for many years. A total of 1,014,900 tons of farmed shrimp produced in the farming area of 747,000 ha in 2022 gained USD 4.3 billion of export value, accounting for 39.1% of total seafood export value in 2022 (D-Fish, 2022a and 2022b).The shrimp farming system in Vietnam is now highly diverse in terms of production systems, land uses, and intensification levels, including super-intensive, intensive, semi-intensive, improved extensive, shrimp-rice, shrimp-mangrove, and integrated systems. Emissions from intensive and semi-intensive tiger shrimp products in the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam are higher than those for white leg shrimp, with 16,422-16,431 kg of CO 2 e per ton of IQF peeled tail-on tiger shrimp (Henriksson et al., 2014) and 9.6 kg of CO 2 e per kilogram of fresh farmed tiger shrimp (Jonell & Henriksson, 2014).In the study of Chang et al. (2017)  (Henriksson et al., 2014).According to Akvaplan-Niva (2010), the GHG emissions from aquaculture products are mainly from the use of compound feed, which is calculated from both sources of feed production at the feed mill and feed use in aquaculture ponds as well as the use of electricity for aerators at the farm. Therefore, to reduce GHG emissions from aquaculture, efficient feed management, electricity-saving, and diversification towards renewable energy should be priorities.  et al. (2018) in \"mixed-fish\" and \"crab\" aquaculture ponds in southeast China. In this research, annual CH 4 and N 2 O emissions were 64.4 kg of C ha −1 and 2.99 kg of N ha −1 in the \"mixed-fish\" ponds, respectively, and 51.6 kg of C ha −1 and 3.32 kg of N ha −1 in the \"crab\" ponds, respectively. Emissions of N 2 O were estimated at 0.54% and 0.71% of the total nitrogen input (in the feed) for the \"mixed-fish\" and \"crab\" ponds, respectively.Vietnam has a total area of over 200,000 ha potential for farming of bivalves, such as mussels, clams, and oysters. With its capacity to absorb organic residues, bivalves are considered to play an important role in water treatment (D-Fish, 2016). This characteristic may imply that bivalve farming has low GHG emission potential. In 2021, Vietnam's bivalve farming area and production were 54,500 ha and 375,000 tons, respectively (D-Fish, 2020(D-Fish, , 2022b)).Meanwhile, several studies on the environmental impact of bivalve farming have been conducted, but few have been on GHG emissions. Recently, certain studies have applied direct measurement methods with GHG-Fluxes in laboratory incubations to quantify GHG emissions from mollusk farming. Ray et al. ( 2019) found that shellfish aquaculture may provide a low GHG alternative for future animal protein production compared to land-based sources. Oysters released no methane (CH 4 ) and only negligible amounts of nitrous oxide (0.00012 ± 0.00004 μmol N 2 O gDW -1 hr -1 ) and carbon dioxide (3.556 ± 0.471 μmol CO 2 gDW -1 hr -1 ). Furthermore, sediment fluxes of N 2 O and CH 4 were unchanged in the presence of oyster aquaculture, regardless of the length of time it had been in place. Oystermediated GHG-fluxes varied with changes in oyster physiology and behavior and with different ecosystem parameters (e.g., seasonal nutrient concentrations and phytoplankton assemblage (Gretchen et al., 2019). In their further study on GHG emissions of native oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and non-native oysters (Ostrea edulis ) in Massachusetts, USA, Gretchen et al. ( 2019) identified that C. virginica was the higher GHG emitter and produced on average twice as much N 2 O (0.39 nmol g-1 dry tissue weight hr -1 ) and 20 times as much CH 4 (1.31 nmol g DTW -1 hr -1 ) compared to O. edulis (0.16 nmol N 2 O g DTW -1 hr -1 and 0.07 nmol CH 4 g DTW-1 hr -1 ).Generally, the collected secondary data in Table 4 shows that the GHG emissions from bivalve farming is generally low and varies depending on the farming species and scope of study. Vietnam has high potential for seaweed farming with key species of Sargassum, Gracilaria, Hypnea, Eucheuma, Kappaphycus and Caulerpa (MARD, 2010). In 2020, with 10,150 ha of seaweed farming, Vietnam gained 120,000 tons of seaweed products. Extensive, semi-extensive, semi-intensive, and intensive are the main farming methods for growing seaweed in Vietnam (D-Fish, 2020).Seaweed, also known as \"marine macroalgae,\" \"aquatic plants,\" or \"sea vegetables,\" are autotrophic organisms that produce biomass using sunlight and extract elements from water-dissolved inorganic nutrients, including carbon. Several seaweed species are the most attractive of all CO 2 removal and biofuel aquatic crops. Seaweed can be viewed as miniature biochemical factories, photosynthetically efficient, and effective CO 2 fixers. Utilization of anthropogenic CO 2 as an industrial by-product for seaweed production holds great promise not only as a carbon sink but also as a source of food, fodder, fuel, and pharmaceutics. From an ecological point of view, the generation of biomass should not aim for a single application, treating the remainder as a \"waste,\" but toward a comprehensive solution to several challenges, including biofuel, carbon sequestration, waste remediation, and natural production of food and bio-chemicals. CO 2 uptake by seaweeds can represent a considerable sink for anthropogenic CO 2 emissions, and harvesting and appropriate use of seaweed primary production is a commercially viable approach for GHG amelioration and biofuel production (Turan et al., 2011).By capturing atmospheric CO 2 through photosynthesis, plants, including seaweed, can store large amounts of organic carbon in above-and below-ground biomass and can be used as bioenergy crops (Jansson et al., 2010). The percentage of carbon content in harvested seaweed dry weight varies among and within species. For example, in Kappaphycus, the range of carbon content is 20.7%-43.1% (Widowati et al., 2012). Muraoka (2004) reported carbon content to be 25%-31% in Saccharina, 32%-34% in Ecklonia, 33%-37% in Sargassum, and 36%-40% in Gelidium. In other studies, the percentage of carbon was reported as 23.6% in Saccharina and Undaria, 31.3% in Gracilaria (Fei 2004), and27.3% in Pyropia (McVey et al., 2002).According to Sondak et al. (2016) Capture fisheries play an important role in terms of proving livelihoods, income, and export value for Vietnam. In terms of production and fishing vessels, in 2020, the number of fishing capture production and fishing vessels in the country reached 3,632,500 tons and 94,572 vessels with a length of over 6 meters. Main fishing gear included purse seine, gillnet, trawl, long line, and gear net, and key species included marine fish, crustaceans, and mollusks (D-Fish, 2020).Besides providing livelihoods and income benefits, capture fisheries consume fossil fuels to operate machines on fishing vessels, with subsequent GHG emissions. Other subordinate sources of GHG emissions could be ice/refrigeration, crew supplies, and mobilization inputs (FAO, 2012b).GHG emissions from capture fisheries are mainly from motorized rather than non-motorized fishing vessels, as the former accounted for 97% and the latter 3% of overall emissions of capture fisheries globally, respectively (Parker et al. 2018). In the case of Vietnam, vessels without an engine did not emit any GHGs at all. Meanwhile, vessels with an engine under 40 CV and a group of vessels with an engine above 40 CV emitted 32 tons of CO 2 e.y-1vessel-1 and 1,518 tons of CO 2 e.y-1vessel-1 respectively (Tran et al., 2018).Fuel use intensity in tuna fisheries has been found to fall between two broad classifications: those that primarily target skipjack and yellowfin tuna using purse seine and those that target albacore and bluefin tuna with longline, trawl, or pole and line gear (Tyedmers &Parker, 2012 and2019). The former group, using purse seine gear, was found to, on average, use 368 L of fuel per ton of live weight landings, while the latter group was found to consume between 1,070 L (longline)and 1,490 L (pole and line) per ton. Based on these figures, GHG emissions in tuna fisheries in 2009 was accounted for as follows: the carbon footprint of purse seine-caught tuna was approximately 1,530 kg of CO2-e per ton of tuna landed, 75% of which was directly or indirectly (e.g., extraction, processing, and transportation) related to the consumption of fuel by the fishing vessel. In contrast, the carbon footprint of longline caught tuna was about 3,830 kg of CO2-e per ton of tuna landed, of which 87% was a direct result of fuel used by the vessel. Importantly, this latter estimate did not include inputs associated with bait provision (Tyedmers &Parker, 2012 and2019). This species' long-distance fishing grounds could explain tuna fisheries' relatively high GHG emissions.  The review shows that there have been certain studies on GHG emissions in capture fisheries, and almost all existing studies applied the LCA approach to measure GHGs. It is noted that in Vietnam, there has been a gap in studying GHG emissions in capture fisheries (by fishing gear and by fishing products).Seafood processing has developed into an important economic sector for Vietnam. The sector has contributed to agricultural and rural economic restructuring, as well as effectively contributing to Vietnam's objectives of hunger eradication, poverty reduction, income improvement, and job creation, with more than 435,000 workers directly working in seafood processing (MARD, 2020b) and contributions to over 4 million workers in the fisheries sector. The number and capacity of seafood exportation and processing establishments, as well as the value of seafood processing in Vietnam, increased rapidly from 2010 to 2019, with a growth rate of processed seafood production of 5.16% yr -1 by volume or 11.8% yr -1 by value (MARD, 2020a). In 2022, the value of seafood exports added up to USD 11 billion (D-FISH, 2022a).GHG emissions from seafood processing, according to Quyen et al. ( 2022), originate from two sources: (1) transporting raw materials from farming areas to processing plants and (2) preliminary processing, processing in the factory (washing, sizing, sorting, weighing, washing, water filling, freezing, packaging, metal screening, putting into cartons, storage, etc.). These GHG emissions mainly come from energy use (gasoline, oil, electricity, coal/firewood, or other energies), refrigerant use (NH 3 , CFCs, Freon 22, Freon 502, or other substances), and/ or the use of additives, cleaning, and disinfecting chemicals (chlorin, P3 oxonia, compounds containing NH 4+ and others).Fresh products often result in lower environmental impacts than canned products and frozen products during processing (Almeida et al., 2015). Still, they are more reliant on chilled refrigeration and result in larger food waste and loss. Table 6 details the GHG emissions for different seafood processed products at the gate from a selection of LCA studies.When comparing GHG emissions from shrimp processing and shrimp farming in Thailand, Mungkung et al. (2012) quantified that for IQF peeled tail-on breaded shrimp products, 53% of emissions were associated with the processing stage. During shrimp farming, electricity uses for aerators and feed was the major contributor, while for shrimp processing, most emissions were alleviated with the use of liquid CO 2 for freezing. This figure, however, differs from a case study on GHG emissions of frozen shrimp processing in Vietnam conducted by Quyen et al. (2022), in which 83% and 17% of GHG emissions were from shrimp farming and processing, respectively. The IPCC guidelines and the GHG Protocol Agricultural Guidance exist for calculating GHGs from the agriculture sector, including aquatic farming systems (IPCC, 1996(IPCC, , 2006(IPCC, , 2014(IPCC, , and 2019;;WRI and WBCSD, 2013). 7 . The IPCC's methodological approach combines information on the extent to which human activity occurs (called activity data) with EFs, which are coefficients that quantify the emissions or removals per unit activity. The basic equation is, therefore, Emissions = AD • EF.According to the IPCC, 1996 EFs are usually categorized into three-level tiers representing methodological complexity. Tier 1 is the basic method, and default factors are supplied. Tier 2 requires country-specific information. Tier 3 is the most demanding in terms of complexity and data requirements, usually involving detailed modeling. Tiers 2 and 3 are sometimes referred to as higher-tier methods and are generally considered to be more accurate and appropriate for significant contributors to the national total. The default data or tier 1 methods for all categories are designed to use readily available national or international statistics combined with the default emission factors and additional parameters provided and, therefore, should be feasible for all countries.However, EFs with tiers 2 and 3 are needed for various activity data in the aquatic food sector in both global and national contexts. EFs with tier 1 are mainly used to calculate GHGs in aquatic systems. Still, tier 1 EFs for pellet feed use are not available for these calculations, and no tier 3 EFs are available either for the Vietnamese context. These shortcomings resulted in a limited number of GHG emission studies done in Vietnam's aquatic food sector.GHG emission research was conducted disjointedly in several studies in Vietnam and other countries worldwide. It provided a preliminary, scattered picture of GHG emissions in aquatic food systems, from production to post-harvesting, and mainly focused on key aquatic systems like shrimp, tilapia, and catfish.According to the GHG Protocol Agricultural Guidance (WRI and WBCSD, 2013), in the agricultural sector, including aquaculture, there are two main sources of GHG emissions: mechanical and non-mechanical. Mechanical sources include the use of equipment and machinery for aquaculture, such as excavators, pond diggers, water pumps, water paddy wheels, aeration, means of transporting inputs and raw shrimp, etc.The main types of GHG emissions from this mechanical source include CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O, and the quantity of emissions depends entirely on the characteristics of the machinery and equipment and the input energy used (electricity or fuel). The main sources of non-mechanical emissions are biological and productive processes that take place on land and in water, as well as the growth and development of aquatic animals raised on farms and product harvesting processes, such as using food, chemicals, veterinary drugs, probiotic products in aquaculture farming, and emitting major gases of N 2 O, CH 4 , CO 2 .In addition, several experimental methodologies measure GHG emissions from aquatic farming. Measuring instruments like air sampling pumps, Tedlar gas sampling bags, thermometers, silicon tubing, and floating chambers are designed to measure the amount of GHGs emitted in aquaculture ponds directly (from both water and soil). In the case of measuring CO2 emissions from soil, the alkali trap laboratory method (used during the culture period and harvested pond bottom soil) and the soda lime method (used for harvested pond bottom soil) have been applied. This sampling methodology is useful for tracking emission trends during the farming period. This method, also called the \"closed-chamber method,\" has recently been implemented in certain countries (Muthuraman Vasanth et al., 2016).Pathak at el. ( 2013) describe different direct methods of measuring GHGs in aquaculture, including (i) measuring gas on the water surface of the pond and (ii) measuring carbon dioxide emissions from soil in cultivated ponds and harvested pond bottoms. To measure GHGs from the ponds, a cylindrical acrylic chamber with a float can be used to trap the GHGs emanating from the water surface (Figure 1). The closed chamber system is constructed of chemically inert material.The chamber has an open-ended bottom that can penetrate water to a depth of 7 cm. It forms a seal between the water surface and the air within the chamber, thereby providing a completely enclosed system to measure gaseous fluxes. The floating chamber relates to the air sampling pump and Tedlar bag via three ways stop cock by silicon tubing. This method measures the gas accumulation in a closed compartment (chamber) floating at the water's surface. The chamber can float freely in the pond, and the samples will be collected in  For measuring carbon dioxide emissions from pond sediments, Pathak et al. (2013) also applied the method introduced by Nakadai et al. (1993), which is called the \"alkali trap laboratory method.\" The alkali trap (or soda lime) method was recommended for harvested pond sediments. These direct measurements require high technical skills to operate, are time-consuming and costly, and require a high level of measuring skill (Pathak et al., 2013).An LCA approach is recommended to calculate GHG emissions from whole value chains. In an LCA, inputs and outputs are modeled and aggregated for each value chain process. LCAs rely on a mix of direct emission measurements and material flows. According to FAO (2012a), an LCA is used for many purposes (environmental impact assessment, product certification support, public policy support, GHG emission estimation, etc.). This could be applied to assess the GHG emissions of specific products, product groups, individual production units, corporations, and countries.Recently, simplified models have been developed to support estimates of GHG emissions from aquaculture. For example, FAO ( 2017) developed an Excel-based model of an aquaculture LCA model v1.1, which summarized key input/output ratios for fish farms. These values were then used to calculate the defined production level's total inputs, outputs, emissions, and emissions intensities (kg of CO 2 e/kg of output). This model could potentially be applied to Vietnam. Still, it may need to be revised to a Vietnamese context, as the activity dataset related to aquatic food production in Vietnam is insufficient.In applying an LCA approach to measure GHG emissions in shrimp farming, Nguyen V. et al. ( 2019) used the CMLCA software developed by the Institute of Environmental Sciences of Leiden University and the \"ecoinvent inventory database\" (v2.2, https://www.ecoinvent.org/database/older-versions/ ecoinvent-version-2/ecoinvent-version-2.html) to calculate the environmental impacts of shrimp farming. Using LCA software does, however, require certain background skills and cost money, which could limit its application in the M+ initiative.Another freely available platform that can be used to calculate GHG emissions from aquaculture is HESTIA. Various emissions estimates support this open-access platform and may better serve the needs of Mitigate+.In the fishing sub-sector, the use of fossil fuel to propel the fishing vessel (direct fuel energy input; direct and indirect inputs to build and maintain fishing vessels; direct and indirect inputs to provide fishing gear \"consumed\" in the process of fishing; the energy required to preserve food ) is the main source of GHG emissions, and therefore the main challenges are having fuel data to do a full estimate of GHG emissions from fishery operations (FAO, 2012a;Rosenberg, 2013;Sala et al., 2022). An equation for establishing fuel consumption per gear was also developed by FAO (2012b)  GHGs in seafood processing Mungkung et al. (2012) estimated the carbon footprint of IQF peeled tail-on breaded shrimp in Thailand by applying the LCA technique as described in ISO 14040 and 14044 [using the PAS 2050 methodology as mentioned by BSI (2008)]. Another typical study, conducted by Poernomo et al. (2020), determined the carbon footprint of frozen pangasius fillets produced at PT. KMM, Purwakarta, West Java. In this study, the amount of CO 2 emitted from every activity in the system boundaries was estimated by using conversion factors based on electricity, fuel, and refrigerant use from farms, processing plants to market destination. Electricity used for office air conditioning units, office equipment, and lighting were calculated based on the daily average use. The carbon footprint was then expressed as kilograms of CO 2 e per kilogram of edible product.In Vietnam, there is a lack of GHG studies on seafood processing. Recently, Quyen et al. ( 2022) piloted a small study to establish a user-friendly tool for estimating GHG emissions from shrimp farming and processing that focuses on the main relevant factors. This is just the first step of establishing measuring tools and needs to be continuously supported by relevant stakeholders and agencies to improve tools and methods to generate reliable data and knowledge on GHG emissions at the processing stage of aquatic food systems in Vietnam.Aquatic food systems include different players, from the production of feed, seed, and input materials to farming, harvesting, processing, transportation, retail, exporting, consumption, and disposal. GHG emissions are observed at all production stages and should be studied throughout all aquatic food supply chains to determine which stage emits the most. However, it seems that recent GHG studies have focused mainly on the farming and processing stages, and Vietnam is a typical example of that. Therefore, GHG studies should be conducted at certain parts of LCAs, like feed mills, hatcheries, retailing, and consumption in domestic and export markets.If the IPCC methodological approach combines information on how much the AD of aquatic farming is multiplied with EFs like the equation of Emissions = AD • EF, both kinds of data need to be collected, including AD and EFs. In this case, the EFs are usually used at three tiers, representing methodological complexity. Recent studies calculating GHG emissions from shrimp and catfish farming in Vietnam have mainly applied EF tier 1, which is a default emission factor readily available from statistical sources. EF tier 3 (sector-specific EF) has not been studied and established in Vietnamese aquaculture. Furthermore, EFs from compound pellet feed production and feed use in the farm are not available in either tier 1 or tier 2, though pellet feed production and feed use account for a significant part of GHG emissions from aquafarming systems (Akvaplan-Niva, 2010;Nguyen et al., 2019;Henriksson et al., 2014). The application of tier 1 EF might lead to a high uncertainty level of GHG calculations with high errors. Therefore, tier 2 and tier 3 EFs should be studied and developed for key important aquatic food systems in Vietnam, like shrimp, catfish, tilapia, mollusks, and seaweed.GHG emissions from pellet feed and electricity use accounted for 75% and 13% of total CO 2 e emissions from intensive shrimp farming, respectively, in the three provinces of Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, and Soc Trang (Mekong Delta) (Nguyen et al., 2019). In pangasius farming, meanwhile, about 97% of GHG emissions are associated with feeds and 2% with electricity in the Mekong Delta (Akvaplan-Niva, 2010), while feed use for cobia cage farming in Panama is responsible for about 60% of GHG emissions in the system (Hagos, 2013). This suggests that GHG mitigation interventions should be focused on improving efficient uses of those two inputs of compound feed and electricity, such as feeding management and the optimal operation of aerators. In this case, technical interventions should be developed and piloted in typical demonstration sites.According to Mai Van Trinh (2023), GHG emissions from the shrimp-rice farming system in the Mekong Delta are lower than both monoculture shrimp and mono-rice culture. Therefore, further GHG emission studies from shrimp-rice should be done to provide more concrete evidence for GHG mitigation potentials from this system.GHG emission studies for capture fisheries in Vietnam are limited to both non-motorized and motorized fishing vessels. EFs for fishing vessels are not available for any vessel fleets in Vietnam. Therefore, GHG emission studies for both types of vessels should be implemented to provide evidence for GHG mitigation solutions and interventions in local capture fisheries.The specific recommendations for further GHG emission studies are as follows:1. Conduct more GHG studies to understand GHG emissions from the input supply for aquatic food production, such as feed mills, hatcheries, and demand sides, like retailing and consumption, in both domestic and export markets.2. Study and establish tier 2 and tier 3 EFs of compound pellet feed for key aquatic food production systems in Vietnam, like shrimp, catfish, and tilapia, to provide acceptable EFs for GHG inventory of aquatic food systems at local and national scales.3 Available GHG emission research for shrimp systems has mainly focused on farming. Not many deep studies are conducted at pellet feed production mills and hatcheries, though they are parts of LCA studies. The main ingredient of fishmeal used for producing aquaculture pellet feed in Vietnam has mainly been imported from Peru, Ecuador, and other countries in Latin America. This is also why including GHG emissions from pellet feed production and supply in GHG calculation becomes more difficult.LCA methods are also mainly applied in various studies to estimate GHG emissions of pangasius catfish farming in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The GHG emissions in catfish farming vary from about 1.3 kg of CO 2 e kg -1 of pangasius products (Akvaplan-Niva, 2010) to 1.37 kg of CO 2 e kg -1 live-weight fish (Robb et al., 2017), much lower than shrimp farming. The main source of GHG emissions is compound pellet feed production and uses (Robb et al., 2017), with a high FCR of 1. 7-1.8 (Tran Dai N. et al., 2022). Like shrimp, GHG studies for catfish value chains have mainly focused on the farming phase but not at the feed mills and distribution, though they are parts of LCA studies, and tier 1 EFs have mainly been applied to calculate GHGs given the lack of tier 2 and 3 EFs.Reviewed LCA studies for bivalve farming show that a few GHG studies have been conducted in some countries but not in Vietnam. This leads to challenges in establishing a GHG baseline for the aquatic farming system in Vietnam. In other countries, there are substantial variations in GHG emissions, arranged from the lowest emission of 0.0404 kg of CO2 per kilogram of mussel in France to the highest emission for oyster farming in Brazil.There are also few GHG studies on both carbon emission and absorption in seaweed farming. Various studies have shown seaweed's absorption ability with tier 1 carbon SF. Seaweed production volume in Vietnam increased more than eight times from its 2014 amount of 14,327 tons up to 120,000 tons in 2020 (D-FISH, 2020 2. There are two ways of estimating GHG emissions from aquatic farming systems: (1) inventory methodologies in line with IPCC and GHG Protocol Guidance, which require AD and EFs in three tiers of 1, 2, and 3, and (2) an LCA approach with indirect and direct calculation of experiment equipment on farms.3. Various GHG emission studies for common aquatic food systems like fish, crustaceans, bivalves, seaweed, and capture fisheries have mainly been done with tier 1 and 2 EFs. Tier 3 EFs have not been established for Vietnamese aquatic food systems.4. GHG emission studies have mainly focused on the farming phase of aquatic food chains. There are still gaps in GHG studies on feed mills, hatcheries, post-harvesting, processing, distributing, marketing, and consumption.5. GHG emission levels from aquatic food systems vary substantially depending on the scope of GHG calculation, the method applied, and the nature of farming, capture, and seafood processing technologies.6. Compound pellet feed and electricity energy use in finfish and crustacean farming are major GHG emission sources; diesel and gasoline use in capture fisheries is the major source of GHG emissions from motorized fishing vessels; and refrigerant use/leakage and electricity energy uses are the major sources of GHG emissions in seafood processing.1. Further GHG studies should be done for input production and supply for aquatic food systems like feed mills and hatcheries.2. Study and establish tier 3 FEFs for compound pellet feed for key important aquatic food systems in Vietnam like shrimp, catfish, and tilapia to provide acceptable EFs for aquatic farming system GHG inventory.3. Focus GHG mitigation interventions on improving efficient uses of compound feed and electricity, such as feeding management and the optimal operation of aerators; in this case, technical interventions should be developed and piloted in typical demonstration sites.4. Implement further studies for the shrimp-rice integrated system in terms of GHG emissions and develop EFs for both shrimp and rice products in this system.5. Focus the carbon sequestration capacity and SF of Vietnamese seaweed farming on contributing to the netzero objective of the country toward 2050.6. Implement GHG emission studies for both non-motorized and motorized fishing vessels to provide evidence for GHG mitigation solutions and interventions in local capture fisheries.      "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"88908b01c3cacc2fda094c4db92d95c1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ab1d78f4-1fa9-4bcb-beb5-38838fb54cb0/retrieve","id":"991513204"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"51c0ae11-ce85-4981-83d3-bf1c8fa344a7","content":"Options for improving the efficient use of available feed resources in different agro-ecological zones of Burkina Faso was investigated using the Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST). The study was carried out in seven villages representing four agro-ecological zones in Burkina Faso namely: Bagre, Doubegue, Belempourou and Namoungou (North Sudan); Bagnani (South Sudan); Tougouri (Southern Sahel) and Goudebo (Northern Sahel). The result shows that the farming systems in Burkina Faso is a mixed croplivestock farming system which is crop dominated in the south and north Sudan zones as well as in the southern Sahel. The north Sahel is livestock-dominated. Dominant crop and livestock species vary along the agro-ecological gradient as well as feed resources, seasonality and farmers' perception of the feeding system. There are major livestock challenges, from a shortage of water for livestock in North Sudan and the southern Sahel to shortage of feed in quantity and quality and South Sudan zone. According to the farmers, poor housing and management with inadequate technical knowledge were the major livestock problems in Northern Sahel. Opportunities to mitigate these constraints were discussed as well as potential interventions. Improvement of water sources and management is a crucial intervention in all sites.Livestock play an important economic role and is also important for the food security of many rural households in Sudano-Sahelian and the Sahelian regions of West Africa. For the average rural farmer, livestock provide a buffer stock and an effective hedge against income fluctuations (Fafchamps and Czukas 1995). Livestock nutrition in the Sahel depends essentially on the exploitation of naturally occurring herbaceous and ligneous plant species, and crop residues. Availability of these feed resources in terms of quality and quantity has been associated with the temporal and spatial distribution of the precipitation (FAO, 2014) as well as variation in the agro-ecological zone and crop type in the case of crop residue. The scarcity and seasonal fluctuations of feed resources in this region have been the major limitation to meeting the nutrient requirements of grazing livestock for most of the year (Kavana et al., 2007), especially during the long dry season. During the dry season, the quantity and quality of natural pastures are low, and animals that feed on these pastures have slow growth rate, poor body condition score and are emaciated (Frylinck et al., 2013). Migration of livestock and herders in search for feed has resulted in communal conflict between the rural settlers and herdsmen. There are opportunities to increase animal productivity through the application of appropriate feeding technologies in the production system, to improve nutrition and feeding of livestock (Wanapat et al., 2013). Increasing the efficient use of available feed resources represents one of the most important strategies to improve the productivity of livestock in the Sahel. A crucial step in achieving this is through the assessment of locally available feed resources and understanding their seasonal variation along agro-ecological gradients to produce sustainable feed in the livestock production system in the Sahel. Arising from this is a need to understand the current available and potential feed resources and feeding strategies used by livestock farmers along the agro-ecological gradients of Burkina Faso.Burkina Faso, a Sahelian, warm tropical country, has four broad climatic zones. The dry Sahelian north, Sahelian south, the North Sudan zone in the centre, and the more humid South Sudan region in the south.The Sahelian north has a mean annual rainfall of 200-400 mm and a dry season of 7-9 months (October to June) while Sahelian south zone receives 400 to 800 mm rain in about 4-5 months The North Sudan zone in central Burkina Faso has a mean annual rainfall of 800-1000 mm, with a 4-5 months rainy season (June to October). The South Sudan region in the south has a mean annual rainfall of 1000-1200 mm, and a rainy season lasting up to 6-7 months (May to October) (Beal et al., 2015). This study was conducted in the seven villages from different regions representing four agro-ecological zones (South Sudan, North Sudan, Southern Sahel and Northern Sahel) in Burkina as shown in Table 1.   The Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST) developed by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) was used to evaluate the existing and potential feed resources in the study sites (Duncan et al. 2012).FEAST is a systematic method to assess local feed resource availability and use. It helps in the design of intervention strategies aiming to optimize feed utilization and animal production. FEAST consists of Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and individual household surveys. The quantitative data from the individual interviews of 84 farmers (12 from each village) representing small, medium and large-scale farmers were entered and analyzed using the FEAST excel template (www.ilri.org/feast). FEAST qualitative data collected through the FGD were examined and summarized for each major topic and linked with FEAST individual interview output. During the FGD, the information gathered includes average land and livestock holding per household, area cultivated and fallowed, crops grown on-farm, ruminant production per household system, livestock products, rainfall and seasonality of feed availability.A total of 174 farmers participated in the FGD from all the seven villages.The results from the focus group indicated that the majority of the farming households in Bagnani weresmallholders with land sizes < 1 hectare. A few households were classified as medium and large farmers with relatively larger portions of land (< 2 ha) (Figure 3). The farming system in Bagnani can be classified as a mixed crop-livestock system with crop production being the dominant livelihood option.The most common crops that are grown in Bagnani included maize, assorted vegetables, sorghum, cowpea, millet and rice. From the results, the largest proportion of land per household was allotted to maize (Figure 4). Assorted vegetables were the next dominant crop in Bagnani and are grown for both household use and as a cash crop. According to the respondents, 70% of the farmland was cultivated for household food crops with 30% cultivated for cash crops. According to the respondents, around 30% of the household members left Bagnani in search of better livelihoods seasonally especially during off-season. Seasonal migration has been one traditional household strategies for escaping poverty, and remittances are often invested in land or livestock purchases (FAO 2001). From the focus group discussion, it was reported that there is a government microfinance bank for credit facility, but the farmers complained that the available credit system better suits crop production as compared to livestock production. The terms of credit require periodic repayment Household incomes were reported to be derived mainly from crop production and livestock with more contribution from crop production (Figure 5). Household income from livestock is mainly from the sale of livestock while maize and assorted vegetables are the major contributors from crops. Different livestock species which serve various purposes are raised in Bagnani. The number of livestock species per household is shown in Figure 6. Livestock species in the area included cattle (dairy and draught), sheep, goat, donkey and poultry. There were no improved breeds of livestock in the study sites.Apart from draught cattle, all species of livestock were reported to be used as a source of income enabling the farm household to meet unexpected expenditures. According to the farmers, sheep are sold at a higher price compared to goats and this could be the reason for its dominancy over goat (Figure 6). Different management practices (housing and feeding managements) are used in Bagnani as reported by the farmers. In most households, a wooden and wire-fencing enclosure are provided with a thatched roof to protect the animals against sun and rain. Farmers confirmed that all classes of animal are housed together. The primary style of feeding in the area was open grazing. Herding was common during the cropping season whereas animals are left free to roam during the remaining part of the year after the harvesting season. Feed processing was not widely practised in the area other than during the collection and conservation of residues of some crops. The farmers reported that no artificial insemination (AI) services are available and natural mating is the common method of animal reproduction in the area.The major feed resources in Bagnani were natural pasture, crop residues (both collected and grazed on the post-harvested field) and concentrate. Naturally occurring green fodder material from cropping areas, roadsides and naturally occurring grasses also served as sources of feeds (Figure 7). Seasonality of feeds indicated that natural pasture, the major feed resources in the area, was grazed almost year-round.However, its availability was lower in the late dry season from February to May. Crop residues become the available feed from November to February in Bagnani. Cereal residues were mainly left on the field for the animals to graze along with weeds.   Grazing contributed the largest proportion of livestock diets in terms of dry matter (DM), metabolizable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP) in Bagnani followed by crop residues (Figure 9). The significant contribution of purchased feed to the proportion of CP at the site is an indication that farmers rely on concentrates as a source of protein for their livestock. The results of the FGD revealed the major challenges observed and identified by the farmers in Bagnani.  1. Better management of the existing water resources, collecting rainwater for dry periods, utilizing the existing limited water sources by making water reservoirs. Extracting the groundwater with the assistance of government and non-governmental organizations.2. Interventions that facilitate efficient collection of crop residues, improve the conservation and utilization of crop residues will promote increase feeds and feeding efficiency.Overview of the farm system in Northern Sudan (Bagre, Doubegue, Belempourou andBased on landholding, the results indicated that the majority of the farming households in Bagre, Doubegue, Belempourou and Namoungou village were smallholders with land sizes less than 1 hectare.About 30% of the farmers fell into the medium landholder category with an average of 1 to 2 hectare while both landless and large landholding farmers accounted for 10% each in the village (Figure 10) shows the data for Bagre and other communities were similar. The results of the survey indicated that mixed crop-livestock farming was the dominant system in the study sites, which is dominated by crop production with over 80% of the households growing crops and rearing at least one species of livestock. The most common cereal crops grown in the areas were maize, millet, sorghum and rice, while groundnut was the main legume grown according to the farmers. Maize was the dominant cereal crop in Bagre, Doubegue and Namoungou while millet was reported as the dominant crop species in Belempourou (Figure 11). The results indicated that cowpea was more prominent in all areas than groundnut. Farmers in Namoungou cultivated larger land areas than the other villages. Farmers in all the sites also cultivated assorted vegetables and sesame during the off-season which were intercropped on the same farmland in succession due to shortage of fertile land.  The results from the focus group discussions indicated that land tenure and ownership is based on traditional common property rights. According to the farmers, such system accrues the ownership of the land to the village head who then distributes the land to all household heads according to their ages. This implies that older farmers have access to and own land while many youths can only access land through inheritance. Consequently, the increase in population resulted in short supply of land, leading to land fragmentation. It was noted that annual land rents per hectare in Bagre, Doubegue and Namoungou could be as high as 200,000 FCFA (USD 336), 100,000 FCFA (USD 169) and 150,000 (USD 254) FCFA respectively. This condition limits fallow land practice in the sites.Farmers in Bagre agreed that irrigation is well practised in the study area but access to irrigation was minimal as only 40% of the households who can afford irrigation pumps used irrigation to grow rice and maize during off-season. Only 30% of the households in Doubegue had access to irrigation from the dam.The irrigation is done by manual water application as many farmers cannot afford irrigation pumps. There was no irrigation in either Belempourou and Namoungou.In all the sites, family labour was used for most farming activities. However, hired labour is required especially during peak season for ploughing and planting. The average cost of labour was estimated at 3000 FCFA (USD 5) in Bagre for land preparation. Ploughing and planting cost 2000 FCFA (USD 3.4) per day each, while harvest could cost as much as 3000 FCFA (USD 5) per day in Doubegue. Labour cost could be as low as 750 FCFA (USD 1.3) per day in Belempourou and as high as 4000 FCFA (USD 6.7) per day in Namoungou.Farmers in Bagre reported increase in number of emigrants in recent years. About 30% of the people (mostly youth) have migrated from Bagre to urban cities in search of better livelihoods. This is driven by a high poverty level and inadequate land for cropping in the villages. From the focus group discussion in Doubegue, 50% of the household members (mostly youth) migrated to the cities in search of better livelihoods, particularly during the dry season. According to the farmers, an average of 20% and 15% of the household members migrated to urban cities in both Belempourou and Namoungou respectively. Some of these migrants were reported to be seasonal in search for job and other off-farm activities Credit services by government microfinance institute (Cassie Populaire) are available in Bagre and 20% of the farmers have accessed the service in the past few years. Farmers reported a delay in credit disbursement which limits its accessibility. In Doubegue, access to credit and loan is provided by both the government and the private sector. However, farmers are not utilizing the loan facility due to the high interest rate and difficulties in accessing the facility. The credit facilities are not well developed in Namoungou though farmers reported that it could only be used for buying improved seeds. Farmers have formed a co-operative association, where they can obtain loans with low-interest rate. Inputs such as fertilizers, improved seeds and tractor services are readily available according to the respondents by both the government and private providers in Bagre, Doubegue, Belempourou and Namoungou. The costs of these services are generally high as reported by the farmers.Figure 12 shows the two major livelihood activities that contribute to the household's income in Bagre which were crop farming (74%) and livestock rearing (26%). Livestock contributed 55% of the household income in Doubegue. Major household income sources in Belempourou were agriculture (35%) and other business (24%) while agriculture (68%) and livestock (32%) formed the major household income in Namoungou. Livestock production is an integral component of the farming system in all the study areas with every household keeping a range of species including pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys and poultry. These are kept for various purposes; for example, cattle are kept to store cash, for draught power and for manure production. All the households keep sheep for home consumption and income generation while donkeys and horses are kept for transportation and draught purposes. Except in Bagre, local dairy cattle are the dominant livestock species in Doubegue, Belempourou and Namoungou (Figure 13). According to the results, pigs are the dominant livestock species kept mostly by households of below-average wealth in Bagre. In Namoungou, local dairy cattle were the dominant livestock species kept mostly by households of above-average wealth. Generally, households within the above-average wealth categories owned more livestock in all the sites than other wealth categories. From the respondents, livestock management in terms of housing and feeding differed in all study sites within the same agro-ecology zone. Farmers in Bagre provided housing for all classes of livestock only at night. Most households in Doubegue provided a wooden and wire-fencing enclosure with a thatched roof to protect the animals against the harsh weather. Farmers in Namoungou confirmed that all classes of animal are housed together. In all the sites, the primary method of feeding in the area was open grazing on the harvested field while concentrates were provided as a supplement for fattening animals. Feed processing was not widely practised in the area other than collection and conservation of residues of some crops by some households.According to the farmers, veterinary services are available by both government and private organizations in Bagre and treatment costs depend on animal species and ailment. There are veterinary services both from the government and private individuals but not regularly in Doubegue. Farmers reported that treatment of most common disease (fever), is the most expensive costing about 1000 FCFA (USD 1.7) while vaccination costs 600 FCFA (USD 1) and castration cost 300 FCFA (USD 0.5) both per animal.Artificial Insemination (AI) services were not available according to the farmers and the use of local bull services was available at no cost in Doubegue, Namoungou and Belempourou. From the FGD, there are no artificial insemination (AI) services in all sites. Reproduction is all sites is by natural mating using bull service but costs around 10000 FCFA (17 USD) per service in Bagre.The feed resources in Bagre, Doubegue Belempourou and Namoungou were primarily composed of grazing, crop residue (cereals and legumes), and purchased feed and naturally occurring and collected fodder (Figure 14). These feed resources are seasonal in availability with severe shortage during the dry season from January to May until the rainy season starts. The most critical period is from February to May, when all feed resources are virtually depleted and all feed resources including the purchased feed are inadequate. Quantity of available feed resources throughout the year differed at each site. The results indicated that 78% of the purchased feed in Bagre, within the last 12 months, was cotton seed cake while sorghum stover accounted for the remaining 22% (Figure 15). According to the farmers, maize bran from both household and the local mill was the major feed purchased in Doubegue in the last 12 months. Similarly, millet bran from household processing formed 7% of the purchased feed while cowpea residues and cotton seed cake were purchased in small amounts (1%). Furthermore, in Namoungou, the results indicated that 52% of the purchased feed in the site within the last 12 months was pearl millet crop residue (52%), cotton seed cake (34%) with other purchased feed accounting for the remaining 14%. Based on the information gathered from the individual interviews, crop residues contributed the most to the Dry Matter (DM) content (41%), the metabolizable energy (ME) (37%) and the crude protein (CP) (42%) of the total diet in Bagre (Figure 16). This indicates the level of dependence on crop residues in the area. In Doubegue, grazing contributed most to the DM and ME contents while purchased feed contributed mostly to the CP content of the livestock diet in Doubegue and Belempourou.The results of the FGD revealed the major challenges observed and identified by the farmers in Bagre.Table 4 explains the challenges that were raised by the farmers regarding livestock production and their suggested interventions.• In Bagre and Belempourou, additional sources of water (community borehole) with government or non-governmental organizations will ease the shortage of water for livestock and household use.• Establishment of village veterinary ambulatory to provide quick amd low-cost veterinary services.• Training on improving the feeding value of available crop residues, proper storage methods and establishment and management of browse trees will enhance the utilization of available feed resources in Bagre, Doubegue, Belempourou and Namoungou.Delination grazing areas and enforcement of law against encroachment in Doubegue and Namoungou will eliminate farmers-herders clashes.  Overview of the farm system in Southern Sahel (Tougouri)Based on landholding, the results indicated that majority (50%) of the farming households in Tougouri were smallholders with land size less than 1 hectare. About 30% of the farmers fell into the medium landholding category with an average of 1 to 2 hectares while both landless and large landholding farmers accounted for 10% each of the villages (Figure 17). Tougouri is made up of several households with an average of 12 individuals per household. According to the respondents, land ownership is by family inheritance. However, land could be leased for certain periods. As the population has increased, the same inherited land areas were shared among the increasing number of family members which often resulted in the declining of available land. The results of the survey indicated that farming system in Tougouri can be described as a mixed croplivestock system with crop production as the dominant livelihood. The main crops grown in the study area were pearl millet, groundnut, sorghum, cowpea and vegetables (Figure 19). Pearl millet was the main grown crop by all wealth categories and respondents confirm that vegetables were mainly grown for house use. Groundnut and sorghum were grown at a minimal level with an average household land cultivation size less than 0.5 hectare while vegetables and cowpea were cultivated on farm size less than 0.4 hectare (Figure 18). During the FGD, the farmers mentioned that the available water sources were wells, dams and bore-holes.According to the respondents, 40% of the village could access water for their livestock. About 12% of farmers in Tougouri practiced irrigation using motorised pumps and manual methods. Tomatoes, onion, carrots are commonly grown with irrigation. According to the farmers interviewed in Tougouri, labour was reported to be expensive especially for planting. Hired labour costs 15,000 FCFA (25 USD) per activity per hectare. In addition, an average of 30% of the people in every household had migrated to nearby cities to pursue education, occupational opportunity while few member of the transhumant households also practiced seasonal migration in search of pasture. Credit services by the government's microfinance institute (Cassie Populaire) are available in the study area. The respondents confirmed that due to several factors, only 20% of the farmers have accessed the service in the past few years. Farmers noted that the problem regarding credit service is in the procedures and the required collateral. From the results of the FGD, it was observed that inputs such as fertilizers and manure are sold at the market nearby, about 5 km away from Tougouri.Figure 19 shows three major livelihood activities that contributed to household income in Tougouri,namely crop farming (62.5%), livestock rearing (20%) and remittance (17.5%).  The feed resources in the study area were primarily grazing, crop residues, green forages (collected fodder)and concentrates (purchased feed) with grazing and crop residues as the dominant feed resources. Feeds, particularly crop residues become available in November until February followed by a decline as the dry season advances (Figure 21).  Farmers in Tougouri depend largely on residues from pearl millet, groundnut and cowpea during the dry season as animal feed resources. As the wet season approaches, crop residues decline and with a minimal grazing period the animals are confined and farmers depend on purchased feeds during this time. The results indicated that 56% of the purchased feed in the site within the last 12 months was pearl millet bran and 27% of pearl millet crop residue (Figure 22). Based on the information gathered from the individual interviews, purchased feed contributed the most to dry matter (DM) content at 56%, metabolizable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP) at 73% of the total diet in Tougouri (Figure 23). This indicated the level of dependence on purchased feeds which are mostly crop residues in the area. Grazing contributed 33% to DM and 19% to CP of the total diet.  The results of the FGD revealed the major challenges observed and identified by the farmers in Tougouri. Table 5 shows the challenges that were raised by the farmers regarding livestock production and their suggested interventions. According to the respondents during the focus group discussion, 50% of the farming households were smallholders with land size less than 1 hectare (Figure 24). About 30% of the farmers fell into the medium landholding category with an average of 1 to 2 hectare while both landless and large landholding farmers accounted for 10% each in the village. Vegetables were the main grown crop by all wealth categories and respondents confirmed that vegetables were mainly grown for house use and for sale. Maize, sorghum, cowpea and groundnut were equally grown with an average household land cultivation size of almost 2.5 hectare.During the FGD, farmers reported that irrigation is commonly practised for growing crops for sale (onions and cabbage). However, access to irrigation was minimal as only 20% of the households engaged in irrigated farming. Labour is required for all the farm activities. During the wet season, hired labour is very scarce and competitive due to many cropping activities (ploughing and planting) requiring more hired labours. The average cost of labour was estimated to 2,500 FCFA (4 USD) per day according to the farmers. Farmers reported that 30% (mostly youth) of the people had migrated from Goudebo to urban cities in pursuit of improved livelihoods as well as for educational reason. According to the respondents, an increase in population has led to land fragmentation. With arable land is in short supply, consequently, land fallowing is not practised in the village. Credit services were not available in Goudebo according to the respondents. Farmers engaged in informal savings groups which provided loans for members of the group from the contributions. According to the farmers, agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and improved seeds are available but at a very high cost.Figure 26 shows the two major livelihood activities that contributed to the household's income in Goudebo, which are livestock rearing (70.83%), and crop farming (21.66%). From the results, other sources such as remittance (9.16%) and labour (8.75%) also made a meaningful contribution to the household income in Goudebo. grazing in addition to mixing of groundnut haulms with cereal residue. Every household purchased cotton seed cake as a supplement for their livestock, especially for the fattening animals. The farmers reported that there were no AI services at the site, but natural mating using local bull at no cost is the usual practice.In addition, veterinary services are available by both the government and private organizations. Treatment costs depend on animal species and ailment, but 150 FCFA (USD 0.25) is the usual cost per vaccination.According to the farmers, agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and improved seeds are available but at a very high cost.The feed resources in the study area were primarily composed of grazing, crop residues (cereals and legumes), and purchased feed and naturally occurring and collected fodder. These feed resources are seasonal with a severe shortage from April to September in the study area. The most critical periods are from March to June when all feed resources are virtually depleted and feed resources including the purchased feed are inadequate. The annual feed availability correlates positively with rainfall with an increase in every available feed resource in the site from July to December (Figure 28). Feed availability continues till December and then declines as the dry season advances. This indicates that the rainfall is a major determinant of plant biomass production and the type of feed resource that will be available. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8c127ca763a8c24e814a49d0a2f85981","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6636f46c-4c46-4d16-bffc-40a601f16325/retrieve","id":"453086241"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"70447062-110b-48b4-b2ce-f280caa74e86","content":"Cover and Contents photos: CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB).February. There were also some slight seasonal variations across the different districts in the timing and types of cropping activities. For instance, most sweet potato activity takes place during the rainy season, while for beans and banana, two peaks of activities occur, one in the rainy season and one in the dry season. Coffee activities increase and decrease when bean and banana activities decrease and increase, respectively, indicating when labor can be transferred between these crops. The division of labor by men and women showed that cropping activities for banana were mostly done by men as they spent more labor on banana than on other crops. As such, banana was regarded as a men's crop. These activities, which include land preparation, procuring planting material, and digging holes and trenches, were not specific to a banana usage type (e.g., dessert, cooking, beer). Similar to banana, coffee was considered a cash and men's crop, as men undertake most (72%) of the cultivation activities. Maize production activities were undertaken by 59% women and 41% men, while women undertook most (81%) of the bean production activities. The types of activities done over a week in busy and quiet months, for instance, home activities, child care, and farm work, occurred consistently across the week. Some activities took place on specific days of the week such as worship in mosques or churches.Sunday was reported as a specific rest day. Home, farming, and livestock activities occur throughout the year regardless of the season. Daily activities such as those done around the home (e.g., food preparation) were consistently undertaken regardless of the season (busy or quiet). Daily activities differed between men and women. While men reported more time spent resting and socializing than women on both busy and quiet days, women reported more time in food preparation, child care, and home activities (which include cleaning but also making handicrafts or other income-generating activities).Photo: CIAT/G. SmithSeasonal, weekly, and daily calendars are qualitative participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools. PRA tools are often praised for consensus building, as participants work together in small groups to create maps, graphs, or resource lists. These tools allow men and women to discuss how they perceive their own and others' labor participation in the daily operations of running a household and a farm. Calendars provide insight into how men and women farmers perceive how they themselves and others (usually of the opposite sex) spend their time in different agricultural and domestic tasks. These simple tools engage participants in both verbal and non-verbal ways and allow them to visually depict how they spend time over a particular period of time (a day, a week, or a month in the agricultural season) and on what tasks. Given the seasonality of agriculture, for the weekly and daily calendars, participants described what they perceived to be their workload (and that of their spouses, time permitting) during a \"busy\" day in the agricultural cycle and during a \"quiet\" day (i.e., when planting is finished and the harvest has yet to begin). Seasonal calendar activity did not use the notion of busy or quiet, but rather focused on activities undertaken as well as the general climate and weather patterns during that particular month of the year.The advantages of PRA methods are that the visual nature of the exercise is generally easy for all participants to understand. As the topics of agricultural labor and planted crops are ones that all participants have in common, the nature of the information is not necessarily private or risky to discuss (Nchanji et al., 2017). As participants can draw in their own calendar contributions, the facilitator of the exercise does not hold all the power to determine the exercise's direction and what information can or cannot be placed on the calendar, which contributes to the idea that PRA tools privilege participants' knowledge (Sieber et al., 2014). Given the focus on weather and climate, Sieber et al. (2014) state that seasonal calendars \"represent … the interrelationship of knowledge\" of phenomena, such as \"climate characteristics, reproductive periods, availability of resources, the periodic incidence of pests and diseases\" (2014:50), and the presence or absence of crop yields.Critics of calendar methods note that the data might be inaccurate as the tool relies on memory, \"and could even be biased because of hidden agendas\" held by participants (Salm, n.d.). To overcome such shortcomings and to increase the trustworthiness and credibility of the calendar-gathered data in the BBB baseline study, we engaged in methods triangulation (Patton, 2002), cross-referencing calendar data with other baseline study data collected (e.g., standardized household-level questionnaires, wealth-ranking exercises) to take account of consistencies and inconsistencies across the different tools.This report presents the results of seasonal, weekly, and daily calendar exercises conducted in 2015-2016 through 38 sex-disaggregated focus group discussions (FGDs) in Tanzania and Uganda. The seasonal calendar FGD tool 1 was used to discuss the agricultural activities that take place in a typical year, including seasons, crops grown in the village, activities required to produce the most important crops grown, and the sex-disaggregated division of labor related to those crops. The weekly and daily calendar FGD tool 2 was used to discuss the activities that participants perform in a typical busy week in a busy season, and, if time allowed, also the activities that they and their spouses perform in a typical quiet week in a quiet season. The findings presented in this report also complement other quantitative and qualitative methods used in the baseline research for the 'Breeding Better Bananas' project, which include a household-level questionnaire conducted with 1,319 participants and other participatory rural appraisal tools that focused on banana trait preferences (Marimo et al., 2019) and community wealth ranking (Marimo et al., forthcoming). The overall aim of the baseline study was to understand agricultural production systems and the socioeconomic context of these systems in the target regions. The districts were purposively sampled, given the importance of banana production in these areas for food and income, 4 and were selected by project partners as the intended target areas for the introduction of new banana cultivars.Within each district, a four-stage sampling scheme was used, in which administrative lists were created for each sub-unit and random sampling was used to select the next sub-units:1. In a first step, for each district, a list of all subcounties (for Uganda) or divisions (for Tanzania) was compiled, all non-banana-producing subcounties/divisions were removed from the list, and the remaining sub-counties/divisions were numbered and one to three sub-counties/divisions that grow banana were selected using a random number generator.2. In a second step, for each selected sub-county/ division, a list of all parishes (for Uganda) or wards (for Tanzania) was compiled, all non-bananaproducing parishes/wards were removed from the list, and the remaining parishes/wards were numbered and two to five parishes/wards that grow banana were selected using a random number generator.3. In a third step, for each selected parish/ward, a list of all villages was compiled, the villages were numbered, and one to two villages were selected within the largest parish/ward along with one to two villages in the smallest parish/ward using a random number generator.4. To select participants for the focus group discussions, for each selected village, a list of banana farmers was compiled by the village chairman and a random number generator was used to select participating farmers.In total, 38 FGDs were conducted, with 341 participants. Sixteen FGDs consisted of men only (143 participants) and 22 FGDs were women only (198 participants). Twenty-three FGDs (9 men only and 14 women only; 8 in Uganda and 15 in Tanzania) focused on the seasonal calendar exercise and 15 FGDs (7 men only and 8 women only; 7 in Uganda and 8 in Tanzania) covered weekly and daily activities. Participants could take part in only one FGD. The average number of participants in each FGD was nine.Before conducting any activities, informed consent was sought from all participants in the local language.During the group discussions, the local languages of the respective localities were used as the medium of communication to increase participation and capture detailed information. Handwritten notes and visual pictorials were used to capture information during the discussions using notebooks and flip charts.After data collection, all the data were translated into English. The translators were native speakers who were familiar with the target areas and ensured that as much detail and as many nuances were captured.The handwritten notes and information from pictorials drawn during the exercise were combined and transcribed into an electronic format using Microsoft (MS) Word. Data cleaning, coding, and analysis followed a series of steps. First, the transcribed data were transferred from MS Word to Excel, where they were systematically and thematically coded. When text was transferred to Excel, it was categorized in columns/rows based on the main topics from the FGD script/guideline. The data were then coded based on different themes and sorted for analysis. This was an iterative process that involved coding, recording, and sorting until all the data were organized and ready for analyses. Data analyses were conducted in Excel using content analysis, means, frequencies, percentages, and graphs.3 http://www.promusa.org/NARITA+hybrids 4 Kilimo Trust 2012: Banana Value Chain(s) in the EAC: consumption, productivity and challenges. https://docplayer.net/61355939-Banana-value-chain-s-in-east-africa.htmlSection 1 is an overview of the demographic characteristics of the participants. Section 2 highlights the crops grown in different districts, their relative importance, and the main activities associated with their production, with data disaggregated by sex. Section 3 covers the climatic seasons in the different districts and the seasonal variation in activities associated with the production of banana and the other two most important crops across the year. Section 4 summarizes the daily and weekly calendar, including differences by season and sex of the participants. Section 5 is a brief discussion of the results reported in Sections 2 to 4.Maps showing the study areas in Uganda and Tanzania.Seasonal calendar (men-only FGD, Mbarara, Uganda) Seasonal calendar (women-only FGD, Rungwe, Tanzania)Photo: R. CrichtonSection 1: Socio-DemographicThe socio-demographic characteristics of the participants who took part in the FGDs are summarized in Table 1. Most participants were more than 30 years old (87%) and just over half were from 31 to 50 years old (58%). The men were slightly older than the women participants in both countries. The majority of the participants were married/cohabitating (73%) and, in both countries, a higher proportion of women was widowed (18% for women vis-à-vis 1% for men across the two countries). Most participants had primary-level education (77%) across the two countries. More respondents in Uganda (22% and 25%) had received secondary education than in Tanzania (9% and 8%), for women and men, respectively. Uganda also had a higher proportion of participants with no formal education (14% and 3% in Uganda vis-à-vis 1% for both women and men in Tanzania). Agriculture was the most common occupation for participants in both countries (95%).Table 1. Socio-demographic characteristics of participants (% of participants) 5 .5 Socio-demographic characteristics disaggregated by the different types of FGDs are available in Appendix A. x Five women FGD participants from Tanzania did not report their age. These observations were excluded from the analysis for age.* Presented as mean, standard deviation in parentheses.Gender-Disaggregated Seasonal and Daily Calendars of Farmers in Uganda and TanzaniaSection 2: CropsThis section summarizes data from 23 FGDs (9 in Uganda, 14 in Tanzania) covering the type of crops grown in the districts. The ten most commonly grown crops cited by focus group participants across all districts included banana, maize, beans, coffee, sweet potatoes, cassava, groundnuts, vegetables (including leafy greens), and avocado. Participants in all districts reported growing banana, maize, and beans (Table 2). There were some differences between Tanzania and Uganda, with participants from all Ugandan sites reporting growing cassava and sweet potatoes, while coffee was reported to be grown at all Tanzanian sites. Soybeans were reported to be grown only in Uganda, while taro, tea, and bambara nuts were reported only in Tanzania. Cassava, millet, peas, trees, fruit trees (e.g., mango), and sorghum were more common in Uganda. Some crops were reported only in single districts, such as vanilla in Bukoba and cardamom, ginger, and tea in Rungwe. They are grown as cash crops. The aggregated crop importance by country is shown in Appendix Table A2.  As indicated in the methods section, men and women focus group participants were asked to rank the three most important crops in their community; the data from these activities are summarized in Figures 1 through 6 as crop ranking scores. The y-axis in each figure is the total inverted ranked score each crop received (i.e., if a crop was ranked the most important, it received a score of 3, the second most a 2, and the third most a 1). As not all focus groups reported crop importance, the sample size is 19 (rather than 23; two FGDs in Luweero District, Uganda, and one FGD in Rungwe District, Tanzania, did not report crop importance) (see Figures 2-4).That said, differences to note that emerged from the crop ranking demonstrate that banana was an important crop for all districts (Figure 1; Table 3). A significant difference between crop ranking by men and women was the emphasis on maize and beans for women, and coffee for men, in both countries (Figure 2). Maize and beans were reported as important sources of food as well as crops with which women had roles in various activities. Coffee was reported as a cash crop, with coffee activities primarily conducted by men (see Section 2.3). In Photo: World Agroforestry/Joseph GachokaVariation also occurred at the district level in the two countries (Table 3). Banana was ranked the highest in all districts except Luweero, which ranked beans the highest. The two FGDs that ranked crop importance in Luweero were both women's FGDs, which may explain why beans were ranked the most important crop, followed by maize and then banana. Mbarara District was the only district to rank millet as an important crop, which may be related to the higher proportion of women only (three) to men only (one)Table 3. Crop importance for all by district. The number indicates the summed inverted crop importance ranking for all FGDs in each district.For example, a crop ranked as most important would receive a score of 3; therefore, the higher the score, the more importance was placed on that crop. Crops with a score of 1 were given the lowest importance by one FGD and crops with scores greater than 1 were ranked as at least the third most important by more than one FGD.FGDs in the district. In Tanzania, coffee is ranked as tied for first, second, and third in Meru, Moshi, and Rungwe districts, respectively, while it is not ranked as an important crop in Bukoba. In Rungwe, Bukoba, Mbarara, and Luweero, a clearer hierarchy of crop importance emerged from the rankings, while in Meru and Moshi districts two crops emerged as the most important (banana and coffee in both), with two or three other crops ranked by one FGD but not by others as important.Figure  The highest possible score for women was 30 and the summed ranked score for banana was 26. In all but two focus groups, women identified banana as the most important crop for women (FGD n = 10). The highest possible score for men was 36 and the summed ranked score for banana was 31. Participants in all but three focus groups with men only identified banana as the most important crop for men, and all but one identified coffee as an important crop for men.As Figure 3 shows, only one Ugandan FGD reported crop importance specifically for women. At that site, beans were the most important, followed by millet and banana; hence, caution should be used when interpreting these results as they are based on a single FGD. The Tanzanian districts reported banana as the most important crop (summed ranked score of 25), while maize and beans were the next highest with summed ranked scores of 17 and 11, respectively. The highest possible score for Tanzania was 27.  In the Ugandan districts, participants ranked banana as the most important crop for men (summed ranked score of 6), with millet and coffee as the next most important (summed ranked score of 2 for each) (Figure 4). The highest possible score for Uganda was 6, as only two Ugandan FGDs reported crop importance for men. Participants from the Tanzanian districts reported banana as the most important crop (summed ranked score of 25), while maize, beans, and coffee were the next highest, with summed ranked scores of 14 each. The highest possible score for Tanzania was 30. This section focuses on cropping activities and men's and women's participation in each activity for each crop type (20 of the 23 FGDs provided genderdisaggregated data on cropping activities, with an example shown in the photo to the right). The crops included banana, maize, millet, cassava, coffee, beans, tea, sweet potato, and vegetables. Of these, tea, sweet potato, and vegetables 6 had only one FGD reporting specific cropping activities.Banana cultivation occurred in all districts. Because of the variation when reporting and describing activities, Figure 5 aggregates activities into ten main categories (from 39 different reported activities; see Table 4 below and Table A3 in the Appendix for sex-disaggregated information for all categories). Participants could allocate 4 units per activity between men and women, and 63% of the total units were allocated to men (37% to women). Figure 5 shows the variation in this split, with women's participation in some activities higher than men's (e.g., selling and irrigation activities). There is a need to note that the activities for banana were not specific to a banana usage type (cooking, dessert, roasting, beverage) but it is possible that differences exist in the activities for each of the types. Figures 6 to 12 aggregate activities for other crops.6 The term vegetables was used interchangeably in FGDs to refer to both leafy green vegetables and others (specific types were not mentioned). Labour allocation exercise (women only FGD, Moshi, TZ).Table 4. Aggregated activities for banana.Of all reported labor activities for maize, women were reported to undertake 59% and men 41%.  Focus group discussion participants reported women undertaking 80% and men 20% of millet activities. However, women are involved in at least 50% of all activities and men are involved in up to 50% of some activities, such as threshing, cultivation, selling, and carrying the millet. Participants from FGDs reported women undertaking 41% and men 59% of cassava activities. However, the small sample size (FGD n = 2, one men and one women focus group) makes drawing conclusions about how widespread this division of labor is difficult. Coffee was mentioned by three FGDs (one women only and two men only) specifically as a \"male crop\" as well as being a cash crop. A total of 26% of all seasonal calendar FGDs also made the association between cash crops being primarily men's crops, and the division of labor reflects this, with women undertaking no more than 50% of any activity and 9 of 22 activities being performed exclusively by men. Of all reported labor activities for coffee, men were reported to undertake 72% and women 28%.Focus group discussion participants reported a much higher proportion of women's labor activities (81%) for beans than men's (19%). Participants in FGDs also reported that they intercropped beans with maize or banana. Six focus groups explicitly referred to beans as a \"women's crop\" and this is also indicated in the sex-disaggregated labor division for beans. These  FGDs also discussed beans as a \"personal crop\" for women, as well as being both a food and cash crop that women could sell. Men were reported as having higher participation in activities such as clearing the land or carrying crops from the field, while all activities are at least carried out 50% of the time by women. Focus group discussion participants reported women undertaking 36% and men 64% of tea activities. These activities were differentiated by whether it was a new or old tea plot. The activities for an old tea plot were applications of fertilizer and herbicide, harvesting, and selling, while these activities and additional activities (e.g., making plucking table, digging holes, etc.) were specific to new plantations only. Focus group participants also reported that tea plots take three years to produce tea. However, the small sample size (one focus group, a women's group) reporting tea activities means that it is hard to draw conclusions as to how widespread this labor division or activities are across the region. Participants from one focus group discussion (a women's focus group) reported that women engage in all labor activities for sweet potatoes. However, the small sample size (n = 1) reporting sweet potato activities means that it is hard to draw conclusions about the extent to which this labor division or activities exist across the region.Green vegetable activities were reported by one focus group (a women's group); however, no sex-disaggregated breakdown of activities was recorded. The reported activities were nursery preparation, field preparation, transplanting, irrigation, weeding, and harvesting. Section 3: Seasonal VariationAlmost all FGDs reported the month of March as the start of the farming season. A general seasonal trend emerged from the seasonal calendar FGDs across all districts in Uganda and Tanzania (Figure 13). Peak rainfall occurred in April and November while peak wind occurred in July and November/December. Peak sunshine occurred in July and January/February, and a similar pattern was seen for high temperatures and dry season/no rain. Intensity of weather phenomena was also reported, with scores ranging from zero to five per month. These scores were summed as the reported monthly intensity in Figures 14 to 16. The seasonality in the region shapes the timing and types of cropping activities (discussed in the following section). Aggregating some parameters gives two distinct periods of sunshine/warmer weather (dry season) and of rainfall (wet season) in both Tanzania and Uganda (Figure 14). The frequency of cropping activities varied across the year. Figure 16   Section 4:This section discusses the results of 15 focus group activities (7 men only and 8 women only) covering weekly and daily activities. Participants were asked to describe general activities that take place over a busy week in a busy season and a quiet week in a quiet season. Participants also reported in greater detail activities that men and women would engage in during the course of a day.This section discusses the results of types of activities done over the week in busy and quiet months. In total, participants identified more than 26 separate activities in the 15 FGDs (Figures A9 to A11 in the Appendix). For ease of understanding, these activitieswere grouped together into nine categories based on type, for example, activities done around the home such as cleaning and caring for the home, preparing food, and washing utensils are grouped together as Home activities (Table 5).Some activities occurred consistently across the week, for example, activities related to the home, child care, livestock, and farming (Fig. 17). Some communities had specific days of the week for community activities and those related to healthcare (e.g., a health visitor coming), and these all occurred during the week. Worship, discussed as attending services in mosques or churches, took place on Wednesday and Friday through Sunday. Sunday was also the day reported as a specific rest day.Table 5. Aggregated categories for activities reported in weekly calendar focus groups.Figure 17. Total reported frequency of daily activity types for all seasons. The reported frequency is an average as there are twice as many men's as women's groups. The women's groups on average reported more types of activities than men's groups (men on average reported 3.8 types of activities whereas women reported 7. Total FGDs n = 21; men n = 14; women n = 7. When weekly activities in busy and quiet months or seasons are compared, there are notable differences. Home, farming, and livestock activities occur throughout the year, regardless of season (Figures 18 and 19). However, only one women only focus group discussed activities during a quiet week (one did not specify a busy/quiet month and only five reported busy months/seasons). The women's FGD that reported quiet season activities mentioned only one activity per day, except Fridays and Sundays, when worshipping was also reported. Other FGDs, despite the sex of participants, reported multiple types of activity per day, so interpreting this should be done with caution. Only women's FGDs mentioned home activities and child care as a specific weekly activity.Healthcare activities and community/village activities were mentioned more often during the quiet season than during the busy season.Figure 18. Total reported daily activities by category for busy months/seasons. While there are more men-only than women-only groups, women on average reported nearly twice as many types of activities than men (men on average reported 2.6 types of activities whereas women reported 5.3. Total FGDs n=12; men n=7; women n=5.Figure 19. Total reported daily activities by category for quiet months/seasons. While there were more men-only than women-only discussion groups, women on average reported more types of activities than men (men on average reported 0.6 types of activities whereas women reported 1.3. Total FGDs n=9; men n=8; women=1. In one Ugandan men only focus group, 8 participants said that the dry season was the quiet season for them but it was the busiest season for women as it was harvesting time, and women were responsible for harvesting. It was unclear in these FGDs when the busy and quiet seasons were, as well as unclear what crops the men were discussing. In this same focus group, men reported occasional conflict within the home if the women viewed the men as not participating enough in activities in the garden or with harvesting, for example, if the men were absent to watch football or socialize at the trading center.The most frequently reported conflict was women harassing men or denying them meals. In these FGDs, there was no mention of when exactly (month) the busy or quiet season was or what crops were being referred to; hence, results could not be provided that show seasonal activities by activity category. In subsequent use of the tool, users should ensure that they probe further to gather such information.In quiet months (e.g., April), days with heavy rain prevented men from going to work in the fields so the men reported using that time to socialize. This was not reported by participants in women's FGDs from the same community.This section discusses the results of types of activities done over a day in busy and quiet weeks. In total, more than 20 separate activities were identified in 15 FGDs; however, some participants reported both men's and women's activities while others reported on activities of only men or women (Table 6). In future use of the tool, researchers need to ensure that such detailed information from men and women is collected in order to allow for important comparisons.For analysis purposes, the activities were organized into 15 categories based on type (e.g., activities done around the home focused on cleaning and caring for the home). Food preparation was grouped separately as FGD participants referred to food-related activities separately from other home activities (Table 7).Between busy and quiet seasons, some activities were consistent while others were different (Figure 20). A higher proportion of time was reported for resting, socializing, and food preparation activities on a quiet day, whereas a higher proportion of time was reported for home, livestock, and farm activities on a busy day (Figure 20).8 Focus group ID MBANDEKITDCM004; the women's group from the same community did not specify quiet or busy months for women. Additionally, daily activities differed between men and women.  Men and women reported spending different proportions of their day on some types of activities. For example, men reported spending slightly more time resting and socializing than women on both busy and quiet days, while women reported more time on home activities and food preparation. However, although the home activities category does not explicitly include socializing, some participants stated that home activities could include a social element, such as working on handicrafts or how time in between cleaning and washing may also involve visiting with neighbors or friends. Some men reported that the socializing they do, such as going on evening walks, is to find out information about current events in the local community and wider world, which they saw as important for planning business or agricultural activities and engaging with the community. Some activities are also almost exclusively engaged in by men and women. For example, no men reported child care or food preparation activities in any season, while child care accounted for 5% and 3% of women's days on quiet and busy days, respectively. Food preparation accounted for between 11% and 27% of women's days (on quiet and busy days, respectively). Some men recognized that they had more rest time than women and that women's daily activities allowed little time to rest. Some men in Uganda reported that a small number of men in a village do help with cleaning and bathing their children; however, that was not reported as a common practice in any community.Although farm activities were reported as taking up most of men's time, especially on busy days in the mornings, one men only focus group 10 reported that men who have a boda-boda 11 would drive that on mornings in busy and quiet times and work on their farms later in the day. 10 LUWMAKKABDCM001 focus group reported boda-boda drivers in their discussion when listing farm activities as the main morning activity for men on the daily activity poster they collectively produced. 11 A motorcycle with a space for a passenger or for carrying goods, often used as a taxi.  When analyzed at the district level, banana was ranked as the most important crop by all districts except Luweero in Uganda. For Luweero, the ranking results are based on two women FGDs, which both ranked beans as the most important crop (followed by maize and then banana). None of the men only FGDs provided a crop ranking. Mbarara ranked banana as the most important, followed by beans and millet, and was the only district to rank millet as an important crop.In Tanzania, there was widespread agreement that banana is the most important crop, as indicated by the high score placed on banana by the FGD participants (Figure 1; 38 out of a possible total score of 39, meaning that participants from only one focus group discussion out of 18 selected banana as the second most important rather than the most important crop). Participants in Tanzania ranked maize and coffee equally as the next two important crops. Maize and coffee received the same ranking, reflecting their respective importance as a subsistence crop (maize) and cash crop (coffee). Two Tanzanian districts, Meru and Moshi, ranked maize and coffee as the most important crop, while banana was the most important crop in Bukoba and Rungwe.In Bukoba, maize and beans ranked equally as the second most important crop, while in Rungwe maize and coffee were the next most important crops after banana. Two districts reported specific cash crops not grown in other districts: vanilla in Bukoba and cardamom, ginger, and tea in Rungwe.Some crops were associated with men or women (i.e., described as a men's or women's crop). Often, men's crops were also cash crops while women's crops were for sustenance. For example, participants in one FGD in Uganda described how bananas were formally a women's crop until they became marketable, and then became a men's crop. The sex association is also based on who (men or women) participated in associated cropping activities. For example, sweet potato cropping activities were conducted entirely by women 12 and sweet potatoes were described as a women's crop in both Tanzania and Uganda. Bananas were also often described by FGD participants as a men's crop because of men spending more labor on bananas than on other crops such as maize or beans; for example, by participants from one FGD in Uganda.The association between bananas (and coffee) and men can also extend to land ownership. Women FGD participants from both countries reported marrying into a man's family with an established banana (or coffee) plantation, and that the plantation was therefore for the men. Other crops associated with women, such as beans, were described as women's crops as women do the primary physical labor and planning for crop activities. Although most cash crops were associated with men (e.g., coffee, tea), women also participated in the cultivation and selling of these and other crops. FGD participants in Tanzania described how the profits from crops sold by women were used for school fees.Some of these associations between specific crops and sex (e.g., coffee, tea, beans, and maize) are reflected in the crop importance rankings by sex (Figures 3 and 4). In Tanzania, women ranked banana as the most important crop, followed by maize and beans, while men ranked banana highest, followed by coffee and maize. The crop importance scores for men for banana and coffee were closer than the crop importance scores for women, indicating that there was wider agreement by the women FGD participants on the ranking order of these three crops (banana, maize, and beans) than by the men. In Uganda, 13 women ranked beans as the most important, followed by millet and banana, while men ranked banana as the most important, followed by millet/coffee and beans/maize (two crops ranked as equally second and equally third most important). However, as noted in Section 1, because of the limited number of FGDs that reported sex-differentiated rankings, caution should be used when interpreting these results.Some crops had peaks in activity that mirrored the rainy and dry seasons to some extent (e.g., beans, banana; Figure 15); however, most other cropping activities were consistent in terms of the total number of activities across the year without a strong relationship to weather patterns. In terms of daily and weekly activities, there was a more marked difference between men and women and between busy and slow seasons. Friday-Sunday is the time for faith-based activities (Figures 18 and 19). Faith-based and farming activities were consistent across busy and less busy weeks; however, more time was spent on healthcare, child care, and community/village activities in less busy weeks. Some of these differences may also be because of weather affecting the ability of certain work to be completed (as reported by participants from a men's FGD), such as heavy rain preventing men from attending to their fields and using that time to socialize instead.Differences in busy/quiet days included more time spent on farm and livestock activities on busy days and more time on food preparation (women) and socializing (women and men) on quiet days (Figures 21 and 22). Men reported more time spent resting and socializing than women on both busy and quiet days, whereas women reported more time in food preparation, child care, and home activities (which include cleaning but also making handicrafts or other income-generating activities).In subsequent use of FGD tools, researchers should ensure that adequate information on the different sections is collected in the field to be able to answer specific research questions. This will allow for meaningful comparisons at the data analysis stage. At various points in the report, there were gaps in the data from inadequate sample sizes (e.g., cases when only one or two FGDs reported data); hence, some results must be treated with caution. For example, in locations where participants completed the ranking exercise, not all reported sex-differentiated rankings.Focus group data from Uganda reported sexdifferentiated crop importance less frequently than in Tanzania. 14 Therefore, interpreting crop ranking by sex and at the country level should be approached with some caution. Furthermore, there is a need to probe and obtain more detailed information to adequately inform the conclusions and recommendations.It is possible that response bias occurred.14 The focus group in Uganda that reported for women specifically was a women's focus group, while the two that reported specifically for men were both men's focus groups.Photo: CIP/S. Quinn     "}
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Alternativos (Maíz) 10 GM","CP","D Girasol*","Maíz Camas anchas permanentes Parcial Cult. Alternativos (Girasol) 11 MG","CP","D Maíz*","Girasol Camas anchas permanentes Parcial Cult. Alternativos (Maíz) 12 MM","CP","P","GSAS Maíz","Maíz* Camas angostas permanentes Parcial GreenSeeker (AS) 13 MM","CP","P","GSFR Maíz","Maíz* Camas angostas permanentes Parcial GreenSeeker (FR) 14 MM","CP","P","GSSF Maíz","Maíz* Camas angostas permanentes Parcial GreenSeeker sin FR"],"sieverID":"fc0ad8ed-ac30-41a2-a722-5a899ffdbfdb","content":"cimmyt) es un organismo sin fines de lucro dedicado a la investigación agrícola y la capacitación. Trabaja para reducir la pobreza y el hambre mediante el aumento sustentable de la productividad del maíz y del trigo en el mundo en desarrollo. El cimmyt cuenta con el banco de semillas de maíz y trigo más grande del mundo y es conocido en particular por haber iniciado la Revolución Verde que salvó millones de vidas en Asia, hecho que motivó que el doctor Norman E. Borlaug, del cimmyt, recibiera el Premio Nobel de la Paz en 1970. El cimmyt es miembro del Consorcio del cgiar y recibe fondos de gobiernos nacionales, fundaciones, bancos de desarrollo y otras instituciones públicas y privadas.Introducción a las Plataformas de Investigación Red de Plataformas de Investigación cimmytIntroducción a las Plataformas de Investigación L as plataformas son espacios destinados a la investigación, donde se evalúan diferentes prácticas agrícolas. Su objetivo es desarrollar y adaptar los sistemas productivos, prácticas culturales y tecnologías más adecuadas para la zona agroecológica en las que están ubicadas. La investigación siempre busca la intensificación sustentable basada en Agricultura de Conservación, sin embargo, las tecnologías específicas que se evalúan en cada plataforma dependen de la zona.La investigación en las plataformas no solo tiene una perspectiva técnica, también se consideran factores socioeconómicos y ambientales que podrían impactar la implementación exitosa de las nuevas prácticas en la escala del productor. La validación y calibración de diferentes prácticas y/o tecnologías en las plataformas facilita la implementación de estas en las parcelas de los agricultores, que pueden adoptar las tecnologías que prueben ser las más adecuadas para sus sistemas de producción local.Las plataformas de investigación son instaladas por colaboradores como universidades, asociaciones de productores y centros de investigación, entre otros, los cuales son los responsables de la misma. La investigación se realiza de manera participativa, procurándose que en cada paso del proceso los actores locales estén altamente involucrados. Es por ello que es importante que los colaboradores cuenten con los recursos humanos, tecnológicos, financieros y de infraestructura necesarios para garantizar la realización y continuidad de la investigación durante un periodo determinado, de entre cinco a 10 años en la mayoría de los casos.• En las plataformas se validan y desarrollan prácticas y sistemas de producción que: • Estén basados en la Agricultura de Conservación.• Se enfoquen en las necesidades de los productores locales.• Estén orientados a mejorar la productividad, la rentabilidad y la sustentabilidad de los sistemas de producción. • Sean accesibles y relevantes para los productores de la zona de impacto.Cada plataforma tiene un objetivo específico a nivel local, por lo que debe adaptarse a las capacidades e intereses de los colaboradores del área de estudio, por ejemplo, a las necesidades de los productores de la zona y a su situación socioeconómica. Gran parte de una plataforma de investigación, y algo que la diferencia de otros trabajos de investigación en campo, es la importancia de la vinculación con productores y otros actores clave.La estrategia de plataformas no es solamente establecer vínculos con productores y técnicos, también busca recibir retroalimentación por parte de ellos, de manera que todos puedan contribuir al proceso de innovación. Parte de esta vinculación se logra haciendo de las plataformas un punto focal para capacitaciones y distribución de maquinaria, entre otras funciones.La plataforma se establece en una parcela, la cual debe cumplir con ciertas características como: ser representativa de las condiciones locales de la zona agroecológica donde se realizará la investigación (tipo de suelo, clima, régimen hídrico, etc.); además, la parcela debe estar ubicada en un lugar de fácil acceso para visitantes, para favorecer la vinculación de la plataforma.Hay tres principales objetivos de la vinculación de plataformas que podemos distinguir:1. Involucrar a actores como productores y técnicos para llegar a una investigación participativa. 2. Asegurar que la investigación entregue una respuesta a las necesidades de los actores de la cadena de valor de la zona de influencia, mediante retroalimentación sobre la investigación que se está haciendo. 3. Asegurar que el conocimiento que se genera en la plataforma se comparta a otros actores mediante: a. extensión de tecnologías y capacitación sobre los mismos y b. divulgación de resultados hacia técnicos, actores de la cadena y los usuarios finales, los productores.Existen varias actividades para lograr los objetivos de vinculación. Dependiendo del contexto y el objetivo que se quiere lograr, se elige la actividad adecuada. Ejemplos de estos son: días de campo, visitas guiadas de un grupo pequeño de productores a la plataforma, giras de intercambio entre módulos y plataformas o entre plataformas, un consejo de productores o de actores para revisión de resultados, retroalimentación y/o toma de decisiones en el diseño de la plataforma, reuniones de planeación y reuniones operativas incluyendo a diferentes colaboradores del hub y la generación de materiales informativos como artículos, dípticos, trípticos, boletines, videos, carteles y participaciones en radio.La vinculación empieza desde el proceso de planeación y diseño de la plataforma, el cual se debe llevar a cabo de manera coordinada, con la colaboración y participación de los actores clave con quienes esperamos generar impactos, incluyendo agricultores y técnicos. Mediante la inclusión de estos actores en el proceso de diseño se abre un espacio de co-innovación y evolución desde el principio.En las plataformas se colectan datos para evaluar los tratamientos de manera científica. Estos incluyen datos sobre el desarrollo fisiológico, por ejemplo, fechas de emergencia, floración y madurez, rendimiento de los cultivos, así como los detalles sobre las operaciones de manejo agronómico en cada tratamiento evaluado. Adicionalmente, se pueden explorar temas como la calidad del suelo, incidencia de plagas y enfermedades, uso del agua, entre otros. Estos temas se definen con base en las necesidades de la zona, los intereses y capacidades de los responsables de la plataforma y la disponibilidad de recursos.Introducción a las Plataformas de Investigación Red de Plataformas de Investigación cimmytPlataformas como parte de una red de innovación o hub Una red de innovación o hub se basa en plataformas, módulos y áreas de extensión que sirven para investigar, adaptar, divulgar e implementar nuevas tecnologías que responden directamente a las necesidades de productores de la zona. La filosofía del hub es que los productores estén más abiertos a recomendaciones de otros productores y adapten nuevas tecnologías más rápido si ven que otros productores también las aplican.Por esta razón, el trabajo en las redes se realiza con científicos, técnicos y productores innovadores. Las plataformas, los módulos y áreas de extensión forman la estructura física del hub. Alrededor de esta, se desarrolla una red de actores de la cadena agrícola que trabaja hacia un objetivo común: mejorar la sustentabilidad y rentabilidad del sistema de producción de la zona.Las plataformas, los módulos y las áreas de extensión son tres tipos de espacios para implementar nuevas tecnologías en la red. En las plataformas de investigación se evalúan varios tratamientos que podrían dar soluciones para mejorar el sistema de producción. No todos los tratamientos en la plataforma van a ser exitosos, solo aquellos tratamientos con mejores resultados se evaluarán en los módulos.En las plataformas no solamente se identifican aquellos manejos agronómicos óptimos para cada zona agroecológica desde el punto de vista de optimizar la productividad y sustentabilidad, también se evalúa la rentabilidad de cada práctica, ya que más que en la productividad, los agricultores toman decisiones con base en la rentabilidad de sus campos y su unidad de producción.Los módulos son ensayos en mayor escala en campos de productores. Generalmente en ellos se comparan las prácticas convencionales que realizan los productores, con aquellas más exitosas identificadas en la plataforma. Las áreas de extensión son terrenos en donde los productores innovadores ponen en práctica a escala comercial las nuevas tecnologías sustentables y las divulgan a sus compañeros.En todos los componentes del hub se comunican los resultados con los otros actores y los productores y se trabaja en una retroalimentación constante sobre las tecnologías y resultados a los otros actores de la red de manera de transmitir el conocimiento generado (Fig. 1).Las plataformas de investigación dan respuesta a retos de la agricultura local. Adicionalmente a ser ensayos locales, las plataformas también forman parte de una extensa red de plataformas con el mismo concepto. Esta red permite que las plataformas generen también conocimiento más allá del nivel local. Aunque los tratamientos en cada plataforma son adaptados a las condiciones locales, siempre incluyen variantes de los tres principios de Agricultura de Conservación: cobertura del suelo, labranza reducida y diversificación de cultivos.La multitud de plataformas permite evaluar los efectos de Agricultura de Conservación en varias condiciones agroecológicas y sacar conclusiones sobre el efecto de la Agricultura de Conservación en el rendimiento, la rentabilidad y la calidad del suelo, que estarán mejor fundamentadas que lo que permitiría un ensayo aislado. Un análisis de datos de varias plataformas permite comparar resultados en diferentes condiciones y entender en cuales condiciones (no) funcionan ciertas prácticas de manejo.Para poder hacer tales meta-análisis y facilitar el intercambio de ideas y conocimiento, es imprescindible usar una terminología, metodología y formatos en común en toda la red.La red facilita el intercambio de experiencias e ideas entre investigadores y otros actores involucrados. La experiencia generada en una plataforma de investigación en la red puede ser utilizada para dar respuesta a problemas en otra plataforma o en zonas donde todavía no hay una plataforma. El intercambio de ideas en los talleres y simposios, organizados en la red, facilita además el desarrollo de capacidades de los investigadores. Esto, tiene como objetivo crear oportunidades para investigadores con diferentes especialidades y grados de experiencia, lograr impactos de largo plazo y asegurar que la investigación agrícola continúe realizándose bajo los más altos estándares de calidad y alto impacto en el campo.En 2017 la red consistió de 54 plataformas, (Mapa 1, Cuadro 1), en 10 hubs y 21 estados. De esas plataformas, 34 fueron de temporal, 17 de riego, 2 de riego y temporal y 1 de punta de riego. 45 de las plataformas investigan la producción de maíz y cultivos asociados, mientras que 9 investigan trigo o trigo y maíz. En este libro se destacan los resultados de primavera-verano 2017 y otoñoinvierno 2017-2018 de plataformas de los proyectos de MasAgro Productor, MasAgro Guanajuato, MasAgro Querétaro, Good Growth Plan, Milpa Península Yucatán y Agricultura Sustentable Guanajuato.Figura 1. Infografía mostrando la estructura física del hub con la red de plataformas, módulos y áreas de extensión. También conocido como residuos de cosecha, esquilmo, soca, paja, basura o zacate. Se refiere a la parte de la planta que no se cosecha para grano, puede ser cosechado para forraje y así formar un parte importante de la producción.Se refiere a lo que se hace con el rastrojo entre la cosecha y la siembra del siguiente cultivo. Cuando se remueve todo el rastrojo del terreno en general se usa para forraje (alimento para animales); en el caso contrario se deja todo el rastrojo en el terreno. Bajo labranza convencional eso implica incorporar el rastrojo en el suelo. En general se desvara el rastrojo durante o después de la cosecha si se deja en el terreno, pero en zonas con mucho viento invernal se pueden dejar las plantas intactas y usar un rodillo para tumbarlas. Retención parcial se refiere a que se deja parte del rastrojo como cobertura y se remueve otra parte para forraje, por ejemplo, que se remueven hileras alternantes de maíz, o que se remueve la parte arriba de la mazorca y se deja el resto, o que la trilladora corta a una altura más elevada de la normal, entre otros. Quemar implica que se prende fuego al rastrojo antes de la siembra. Pastoreo implica que se deja entrar animales en el terreno para que coman los residuos de cosecha, dejando su abono.Cultivar el mismo cultivo en un terreno por varios años, se confunde con monocultivo que significa tener solo un cultivo en un terreno en un ciclo de producción. Policultivo significa que hay varios cultivos juntos en el terreno durante el mismo ciclo de producción. La milpa es un policultivo tradicional de maíz, frijol y calabaza. miaf o milpa intercalada con árboles frutales es una adaptación de la milpa tradicional en laderas que incorpora la cultivación de árboles frutales. Intercalado se refiere a sembrar franjas de varios cultivos en el mismo terreno.Cultivar diferentes cultivos en ciclos de producción consecutivos. Un cultivo de rotación en relevo se siembra antes de la cosecha del cultivo anterior. Cuando un cultivo predomina en una zona se refiere a otros cultivos como cultivos alternativos. Cultivos de rotación pueden ser cultivos de venta como grano o forraje, o pueden tener un uso agronómico como cultivos de cobertura o abonos verdes. La investigación en las plataformas evalúa como aplicar los tres principios de Agricultura de Conservación en las condiciones locales. Esos principios son: cobertura del suelo, labranza reducida y diversificación de cultivos. No forman una receta fija, sino que son conceptos para hacer la agricultura más sustentable. La gran variabilidad en la agroecología en México crea la necesidad de adaptar esos tres principios a las condiciones locales. Esa gran variabilidad genera una diversidad en prácticas y sistemas evaluados en las plataformas, lo que causa la necesidad de usar varios términos para describir los tratamientos. En esta sección se da un resumen de los términos más comunes usados en las plataformas.La práctica de labranza común en la zona de la plataforma, por lo general incluye un barbecho y uno o más pasadas de rastra, pero esto no siempre es el caso. El tratamiento testigo que refleja la práctica de los productores se hace con labranza convencional.También conocido como siembra directa. La práctica en que se siembra sin preparar el terreno con labranza. Puede requerir una preparación del terreno con herbicida para controlar malezas, ya que no se controlan con labranza. Labranza cero no es lo mismo que Agricultura de Conservación, ya que no necesariamente implica cobertura del suelo o diversificación de cultivos.Práctica en que se prepara el terreno, pero con una intensidad menor de labranza comparado con la labranza convencional. Después de las operaciones de labranza, al final de la preparación del terreno se levantan camas de siembra durante el surcado, para facilitar el riego por gravedad y el acceso a campo, manejar la retención o escurrimiento de agua. En algunas regiones, las camas son conocidas como surcos. Las camas pueden ser camas angostas con labranza convencional o camas anchas con labranza convencional. Las camas angostas son típicamente de 0.7 a 0.8 m de ancho y en general tienen una hilera de maíz o dos a tres hileras de grano pequeño. A partir de un ancho de 1.0 m, las camas se consideran como camas anchas, aunque típicamente son de 1.5 a 1.6 m de ancho y tienen en general dos hileras de maíz o cuatro a seis hileras de grano pequeño.Siembra en camas que se forman en el año cero. Después de la formación de las camas en los años siguientes no se hace labranza, pero sí se revisten los fondos de entre las camas. El dejar las camas permanentes permite usar tráfico controlado, donde las llantas de maquinaria se guíen en los fondos entre las camas. Las camas pueden ser camas permanentes angostas o camas permanentes anchas.Plataforma | Ocotlán, Jalisco Bajío posemergencia con atrazina, mesotriona + nicosulfuron y paraquat + diurón. Para el control de plagas se realizaron aplicaciones de lambda cyalotrina + clorantraniliprol, emamectina y lambda cyalotrina. Para el manejo de roya se aplicó azoxistrobin + cyproconazol, mientras que en R 1 se aplicó Quilt (azoxistrobyn + propiconazole) como promotor de rendimiento.La preparación de suelo consistió en dos pasos de rastra o dos pasos de rastra y formación de camas anchas. La siembra de maíz fue el 17 de junio en seco. Se utilizó la variedad SYN 914 a una densidad de 90,000 semillas/ha. Dosis de fertilización 76 kg N/ha + 48 kg P 2 O 5 /ha + 36 kg K 2 O/ha + 20 kg/ha de micro mix a la siembra y 184 kg N/ha aproximadamente 45 días después de la siembra. El control de malezas se realizó en Primer ciclo de la plataforma de investigación de Ocotlán, Jalisco Introducción La región Ciénega se ubica al este del estado de Jalisco, reúne condiciones agroecológicas favorables para diversos cultivos y en el caso de maíz se encuentra entre las de mayor productividad tanto en el ámbito estatal como nacional. El maíz es el cultivo principal durante el ciclo primavera-verano bajo condiciones de temporal y se realiza una rotación con trigo durante el ciclo otoño-invierno, aunque en menor superficie debido principalmente a la disponibilidad de agua e infraestructura para riego. En 2017, la superficie sembrada de maíz fue de 127,887 hectáreas con rendimiento promedio de 8.4 t/ha de grano (SIAP, 2017).No obstante, productores de la región coinciden en que existen factores que limitan la productividad y rentabilidad de su cultivo entre los que destacan: manejo ineficiente del suelo, del agua de riego, de plagas y de malezas, así como apli-caciones y dosis inadecuadas de fertilización y de agroquímicos que repercuten en rendimiento, incremento del costo de producción y que además afectan la salud y el ambiente. Es por ello, que la investigación en la plataforma se orienta a buscar soluciones integrales y bajo un enfoque de sustentabilidad, a la problemática de plagas, enfermedades, malezas y nutrición en sistemas con base en Agricultura de Conservación.La plataforma de investigación Ocotlán, Jalisco, se estableció en 2017 como parte de la colaboración cimmyt-Syngenta en la región Ciénega de Jalisco, a una altitud de 1,531 msnm, con coordenadas 20.382647° N, 102.780445° O. En la región predomina el clima semicálido, con precipitación media anual de 809 mm y temperatura media anual de 20.2 °C (CEA, Jalisco). La plataforma inició actividades en el ciclo PV 2017 con cultivo de maíz. Con los datos obtenidos en campo durante el monitoreo, se construyó la gráfica de fluctuación que permitió conocer la dinámica de población de gusano cogollero y los momentos en que la población alcanzó el umbral económico.El comportamiento de la plaga coincidió con el desarrollo del cultivo y en la etapa V4-V5, 20 días después de la emergencia, la incidencia de larvas de gusano cogollero rebasó el umbral económico establecido de 15%. De manera similar, en la etapa V8 del cultivo, 42 DDE, el muestreo indicó la mayor población de gusano cogollero con una infestación mayor a 25% (Figura 7). En ambos casos se tomaron medidas de control.Recorrido durante la demostración de avances en maíz durante el ciclo PV. Plataforma Ocotlán, Jalisco. Octubre 25 de 2017.Figura 6. Relación Beneficio/Costo de la producción de maíz en la plataforma Ocotlán, Jalisco. Ciclo PV 2017.Abreviaciones: C= Tratamiento semilla convencional, FD= Tratamiento semilla Fortenza Duo, N= Sin promotor de rendimiento, S= Con promotor de rendimiento.Utilidad neta Relación beneficio/costo Figura 7. Incidencia de larvas de gusano cogollero (Spodoptera frujiperda) en cultivo de maíz. Plataforma Ocotlán. Ciclo PV 2017.Por otra parte, en el ciclo PV 2017, con cultivo de maíz en camas anchas se tuvo una utilidad promedio de $14,876 MXN/ha, mientras que en labranza convencional la utilidad promedio fue de $9,495 MXN/ha, es decir, 56.6% más de utilidad con cultivo en camas anchas que en labranza convencional (Figura 6).En cuanto al control de plagas, se implementó el monitoreo y criterios de decisión con base en umbrales. El monitoreo se inició en los 10 días posteriores a la emergencia de la plántula (DDE) durante un periodo de 60 días. El procedimiento de muestreo fue el propuesto por Bahena y Velázquez (2012). En el caso de gusano cogollero, el umbral económico de referencia fue de 15%.Se observó una diferencia marcada en función al tipo de labranza, se obtuvo un rendimiento alrededor de 2.9 t/ha más de grano de maíz en camas anchas respecto a labranza convencional. En relación a la interacción entre tipo de labranza y promotor de rendimiento, la diferencia no es tan evidente; sin embargo, el rendimiento se mantiene por arriba (550 kg/ha mas) en camas anchas respecto a labranza convencional.Asimismo, al considerar solamente cultivo en camas anchas, la aplicación del promotor no representa ninguna ventaja en rendimiento a diferencia del cultivo en labranza convencional, donde su aplicación tuvo un efecto positivo al aumentar, en promedio, 1.8 toneladas el rendimiento de grano de maíz (Fig. 5). El tratamiento a la semilla con Fortenza Duo, no presentó un efecto positivo en el rendimiento del cultivo.Figura 1. Rendimiento promedio de grano de maíz en tratamientos en camas anchas y labranza convencional y su interacción con un promotor de rendimiento, ciclo PV 2017. Las barras de error representan los errores estándar de los promedios. Resultados 2017En función al tipo de labranza, se observó una diferencia marcada en rendimiento obtenido a pesar de ser año 0 en Agricultura de Conservación. El mayor rendimiento de maíz se obtuvo en siembra de camas anchas respecto a labranza convencional (dos pasos de rastra).El monitoreo y los umbrales son herramientas útiles en el manejo de plagas. Su implementación permitió pasar de 4 aplicaciones realizadas en ciclos anteriores a 2 aplicaciones, con la consecuente reducción de residuos al ambiente y una disminución del costo de producción.Uno de los factores relevantes y condicionantes detectados por los productores es la fertilización. En el proceso de transición se considera importante estudiar opciones que mejoren la eficiencia en este rubro. En este sentido las propuestas para los siguientes ciclos productivos incluirán el uso de inoculantes y abonos orgánicos.Trazo de área experimental. Plataforma Ocotlán, Jalisco. Junio 8 de 2017.En el estado de Querétaro el maíz es el cultivo de mayor importancia económica en la modalidad de riego, con una superficie cosechada en 2017 de más de 24 mil hectáreas con un valor de la producción superior a 590 millones de pesos. La preparación de los suelos para la siembra, principalmente consiste en retirar los residuos de cosecha y realizar un barbecho y dos rastreos. Estas prácticas han provocado la disminución de la materia orgánica a valores menores a 1.5% en la mayor parte de la superficie de riego del estado. Esto ha ocasionado cierto grado de compactación en el suelo y se ha incrementado la dependencia de fertilizantes principalmente nitrogenados.La Agricultura de Conservación es una opción viable y sustentable, para la atención al problema planteado. Su adopción puede incrementarse si los productores utilizan la sembradora que disponen con adaptaciones sencillas y por eso se evalúan en la plataforma diferentes maneras de siembra en agricultura de conservación.En 2012 se estableció la plataforma en el Módulo Demostrativo y de Transferencia de Tecnología Regina, del inifap-Querétaro, en un suelo Phaeozem con 25 cm de profundidad y un contenido inicial de materia orgánica de 1.5%, en la actualidad con la práctica de Agricultura de Conservación este porcentaje es de 2.8. El interés de la Agricultura de Conservación por los productores ha sido creciente y se ha manifestado por su demanda de capacitación en el tema, misma que ha sido atendida.Los tratamientos consisten en prácticas con diferentes intensidades de labranza: Labranza cero con sembradora de labranza cero; Un cinceleo y sembradora de labranza cero; Labranza reducida con dos rastreos de 15 cm de profundidad; Labranza convencional con un barbecho a 30 cm de profundidad y dos rastreos de 15 cm de profundidad; Labranza cero con sembradora tradicional adecuada a labranza cero; Labranza cero con sembradora tradicional y un cinceleo. En el caso de la fertilización se varió la cantidad de nitrógeno en cuatro niveles buscando la mejor respuesta bajo en los tratamientos de labranza.Durante el ciclo de PV la temperatura promedio de mayo a octubre varió de 16.7 a 21.5 oC. No se presentaron heladas durante el ciclo del cultivo. La precipitación de mayo a octubre fue de 361 mm. En resumen, no hubo eventos climáticos que pudieran afectar de forma negativa el desarrollo del cultivo. Sin embargo, los rendimientos fueron sensiblemente inferiores a los del ciclo inmediato anterior lo que se explica por un retraso en la fecha de siembra, 26 de mayo, debido a la falta de oportunidad en la disponibilidad de agua ya que el Módulo Regina de inifap es usuario de un pozo comunal.Cuadro 1. Tratamientos evaluados en la plataforma de San Juan del Rio II, Querétaro, PV 2017 y OI 2017-2018.La plataforma se sembró el 26 de mayo de 2017 con la variedad Antílope, en surcos a 0.75 m de distancia entre surco, con aproximadamente 7 plantas por metro dando una densidad de población de 90,000 plantas por hectárea. Se aplicó un riego de siembra y cuatro de auxilio. Los riegos se aplicaron 23 de junio, 6 de agosto, 26 de agosto y 18 de septiembre de 2017.Hubo fuerte incidencia de gusano cogollero (Spodoptera frugiperda) el cual se controló con tres aplicaciones de clorpirifos etil, 1 l/ha en cada aplicación, el 21 de junio, 14 de julio y 6 de septiembre.Para el control de maleza, en preemergencia, el 2 de junio se aplicó acetoclor + atrazina a una concentración de 3 l/ha. También se aplicó nicosulfurón + 2,4-D-amina a razón de (1+1) l/ha para control de maleza de hoja angosta y hoja ancha el 25 de julio de 2017.Los muestreos de rendimiento de grano se realizaron del 27 de noviembre al 1 de diciembre de 2017. Los cuatro niveles de fertilización con NPK del cuadro de tratamientos se aplicaron de la siguiente manera: En la siembra, en todos los casos, se aplicaron 100 kg/ha de N, el total del P y del K con la sembradora fertilizadora; el resto del N se aplicó de forma manual antes del segundo riego de auxilio. Las fuentes de NPK fueron urea, súper fosfato de calcio simple y cloruro de potasio. Abreviaciones: CL, STC= Cero labranza con sembradora tradicional, adecuada a cero labranza, CL, SC= Cero labranza con sembradora de labranza cero, LV, SC= Labranza vertical (1 cinceleo) con sembradora de labranza cero), LR, ST= Labranza reducida (2 rastreos) con sembradora tradicional, LC, ST= Labranza convencional (1 barbecho y 2 rastreos) con sembradora tradicional, LV, ST= Labranza vertical (1 cinceleo) con sembradora tradicional.El mayor rendimiento se obtuvo con el tratamiento de labranza cero con sembradora de labranza cero, seguido del tratamiento de labranza convencional y en tercer lugar labranza vertical con un cinceleo y sembradora convencional (Fig. 1).En cuanto a la variable nitrógeno, el mayor rendimiento de grano se obtuvo con 300 kg de nitrógeno/ha (Fig. 2). Sin embargo, estadísticamente no hubo diferencias con las dosis de 240 y 280 kg de N/ha. Después de seis años continuos en labranza cero en el mismo sitio, se obtuvieron buenos rendimientos con cada tipo de siembra. Cuando un productor no dispone de la sembradora específica para cero labranza se puede utilizar la siembra con un cinceleo y la sembradora tradicional. Resultados que se han confirmado en los años anteriores.Debido a que no se han observado una diferencia significativa entre las dosis 280-320 kg/ha de nitrógeno, resultados confirmados en años anteriores, en el próximo ciclo se empleará una sola dosis de fertilización 280-60-30 (NPK) para los seis tratamientos. Se fortalecerá la vinculación con los municipios de Corregidora, El Marqués, Querétaro, y San Juan del Río para promover la práctica de la Agricultura de Conservación con un mayor alcance a través de los programas de fomento.La plataforma de investigación de San Juan del Rio iii está ubicada en el ejido del Organal, municipio de San Juan del Rio, a altitud de 1,903 msnm en la parcela del Sr. Gustavo Rosales Hernández. Esta plataforma está ubicada en la región Bajío que comprende los municipios de Pedro Escobedo y San Juan del Río, una zona de riego de alta producción en maíz y cebada con precipitaciones de 500 a 600 mm anuales.El sistema de producción convencional consiste en realizar un laboreo excesivo cada año (subsuelo, barbecho, rastreo doble, tabloneo, surcado), en donde se utilizan híbridos de alto potencial de rendimiento, uso indiscriminado de plaguicidas y la fertilización generalmente es sin análisis de suelo, lo que puede ocasionar que sea excesiva en algunos elementos y deficiente en otros.Las tecnologías sustentables que pretenden dar respuesta a la problemática presentada tienen como base el sistema de Agricultura de Conserva-Juan Manuel Rojas Cruz¹, Avelino Espinosa Solorio¹ 1 Sustentabilidad Agropecuaria de Querétaro (saq)ción, el uso de fertilización con base en el análisis de suelo y el manejo agroecológico de plagas.Los sistemas de labranza evaluados son: camas permanentes angostas y anchas, en comparación con el sistema de labranza convencional y la labranza reducida, además de tratamientos con porcentajes de residuo.La plataforma inicia su operación en el ciclo Otoño -Invierno 2016-2017 con la colaboración del despacho Sustentabilidad Agropecuaria de Querétaro y la organización Finca Agropecuaria Modulo ii. Al inicio del año cero se decidió realizar nivelación laser, pues el diagnóstico de la parcela decía que se tenían encharcamientos en algunas partes, también se realizó el análisis de suelo y se determinó la dosis de fertilización, el ciclo primavera -verano 2017 representó el primer ciclo en agricultura de conservación para la plataforma.Hub Bajío -Querétaro Para el control de malezas se realizó mediante la aplicación del herbicida selectivo nicosulfuron + mesotrina en mezcla con atrazina, esta aplicacion se hizo a los 13 días después de la siembra.Para el control de plagas en específico el gusano cogollero (Spodoptora frugiperda) se colocaron trampas cebadas con feromonas para el adulto macho, 4 trampas por hectárea. Con base en el monitoreo se determinó aplicar spinoteram el 4 de julio de 2017 y una segunda aplicación flubendiamida el 12 de julio de 2017. La siembra del frijol en el área de validacion de componentes fue el 26 de junio de 2017, sin embargo, se presentaron problemas desde la siembra y no se obtuvieron resultados.En el ciclo OI 2017-2018, la siembra de cebada se realizó el 19 de diciembre de 2017, se empleó la variedad Josefa, la densidad fue de 120 kg/ha. La fertilización consistió en 100 kg/ha de DAP 18-46-00, 100 kg/ha de cloruro de potasio y 266 kg/ha de sulfato de amonio. La segunda fertilización se realizó el día 22 de enero de 2018 con 150 kg/ha de urea más 200 kg/ha de sulfato de amonio. La fertilizacion total fue 250-52-60 y se realizó al voleo.Se aplicó un riego de siembra y dos de auxilio durante el desarrollo del cultivo, con una duración de 7 horas por riego.En el área de validación de componentes se establecieron variedades comerciales de maíz, cebada y cultivos alternativos (Cuadro 2 y 3). Cuadro 2. Evaluación de híbridos de maíz, área de validación de componentes, ciclo PV 2017.En el ciclo PV 2017 las lluvias se presentaron de manera regular y el cultivo solo requirió dos riegos, el de siembra y uno de auxilio, pues el cultivo logró salir con las precipitaciones presentadas en el ciclo. Durante la etapa de llenado de grano se presentó una helada ligera; el follaje Con respecto a los porcentajes de rastrojo, el tratamiento en camas permanentes angostas con 25% de rastrojo obtuvo un rendimiento de 13.8 t/ ha de maíz y 4.1 t/ha de cebada, mientras que con 50% de rastrojo la producción incrementó a 14.8 t/ha y 5.6 t/ha de cebada, y con 100% de rastrojo, el rendimiento fue de 15.8 t/ha y 6.0 de cebada. En la zona se ha comentado que la cebada rinde menos con más rastrojo, debido a mayor daño por heladas, sin embargo, en la plataforma no había menor rendimiento con más rastrojo, sino una tendencia a mayor rendimiento, aunque no fue estadísticamente significativo.Los resultados obtenidos indican que la siembra en camas permanentes angostas con retención del 100% de rastrojo obtuvo la mayor producción de maíz y cebada. Esta combinación de tecnologías no se probó en camas anchas, pero con base en los resultados, se esperaría un resultado similar o incluso mayor.San Juan del Río III, Querétaro. 1era re abonada, el 09 de julio de 2017.Figura 2. Rendimiento promedio de cebada bajo diferentes sistemas de labranza. Plataforma San Juan del Rio III, ciclo OI 2017-2018. Las barras de error representan los errores estándar de los promedios.Para el control de malezas se realizó mediante la aplicación del herbicida selectivo pinoxaden + cloquintocet-Mexy en mezcla con 2,4-D amina.Para el control del pulgón se colocaron trampas amarillas con agua a razón de 5 trampas por hectárea para monitoreo y captura, las poblaciones de avispas parasitoides y depredadores fueron muy altas. Para el control de enfermedades se aplicó propiconazol.Con respecto a los sistemas de labranza (promedio de camas anchas y angostas), la mayor producción de maíz se obtuvo en el tratamiento con labranza reducida (subsuelo), con un rendimiento promedio de 14.8 t/ha, seguido por labranza convencional con 14.4 t/ha y camas permanentes con 14 t/ha (Fig. 1). En cuanto a la producción de cebada, el rendimiento fue similar en labranza convencional y camas permanentes con 5.5 t/ha, mientras que con labranza reducida el rendimiento fue de 5.3 t/ha (Fig. 2).San Juan del Río III, Querétaro. El monitoreo del pulgón se realizó desde la siembra hasta la floración.Figura 1. Rendimiento promedio de maíz bajo diferentes sistemas de labranza. Plataforma San Juan del Rio III, ciclo PV 2017. Las barras de error representan los errores estándar de los promedios.Abreviaciones: C= Cebada, M= Maíz, CC: Camas con labranza convencional, CCA= Camas anchas con labranza convencional, CLM= Camas angostas con labranza mínima, CLMA= Camas anchas con labranza mínima, CP= Camas permanentes angostas, CPA= Camas permanentes anchas, R= Remover todo el rastrojo, P100%= Dejar 100% del rastrojo, P25%= Dejar 25% del rastrojo, P50%= Dejar 50% del rastrojo. El rendimiento promedio de todos los tratamientos fue de 14.6 t/ha para maíz y 5.3 t/ha en cebada. Este rendimiento es alto para la zona, derivado de un buen manejo y la elección al cultivar. El tratamiento en camas permanentes con retención del 100% de rastrojo en la superficie del suelo tuvo la mayor producción de maíz y cebada.El híbrido DK-2061 resultó tener el mayor rendimiento de los híbridos evaluados con 13.9 t/ha, aunque estos fueron evaluados en labranza convencional. Para cebada, la variedad Esperanza fue la que obtuvo el mayor rendimiento con 6.1 t/ha. Considerando la utilidad neta en el ciclo de producción, la siembra en camas permanentes permitiría obtener una ganancia de $13,226 MXN/ha más que en labranza convencional, con los cultivos de maíz y cebada.Es importante seguir evaluando los tratamientos de agricultura de conservación y los de porcentajes de residuos, sobre todo para el cultivo de cebada, para determinar si afecta o no el dejar residuos en la superficie cuando hay heladas fuertes y en qué momento se presentan. Para obtener mejores datos, se incorporará el tratamiento en camas anchas con 100% de rastrojo.San Juan del Río III, Querétaro. Desarrollo del cultivo al 13 de abril de 2018.Como se aprecia en la figura 3, el híbrido DK-2061 obtuvo el mayor rendimiento con 13.9 t/ha, seguido por cimarrón y NB1RO3, con 12.8 y 12.2 t/ha; respectivamente.La cebada variedad Esperanza fue la que obtuvo el mayor rendimiento con 6.1 t/ha destacado de las demás; la variedad Voyager obtuvo un rendimiento aceptable si se considera que la fecha de siembra es tardía para la variedad (Fig. 4).    et al., 2010). Tienen la capacidad para proteger las plantas y controlar las poblaciones de patógenos bajo diferentes condiciones del suelo, además la colonización de las raíces por Trichoderma frecuentemente incrementa el crecimiento y desarrollo de las raíces, la productividad del cultivo, resistencia a estrés abiótico y la captación y uso de nutrimentos (Harman et al., 2004).La siembra de cebada se realizó el 19 de diciembre sobre camas permanentes angostas, con retención parcial de rastrojo de maíz (aproximadamente 4 t/ha); para ello se empleó la variedad Josefa, la siembra se realizó en triple hilera a una densidad de 120 kg/ha. La fórmula de fertiliza-ción fue 190-46-60-2-3.3 de N, P, K, Zn, B y se aplicó 40% de nitrógeno; 100% de fosforo, potasio, B y Zn a la siembra. El resto del nitrógeno (60%) a los a los 30 días después de la siembra, se aplicó sobre la superficie del suelo. También se aplicó un riego de nacencia y tres de auxilio.El ensayo se estableció en un diseño de bloques completos al azar con dos repeticiones. Durante el desarrollo del cultivo no se observó incidencia de enfermedades foliares, por lo que solo se aplicaron los tratamientos con Acibenzolar-S-Metil (ASM) y Trichoderma (Tratamientos 1, 2, 4, 5 y 7 (Cuadro 1). Las aplicaciones se realizaron de acuerdo al protocolo, iniciando el 6 de enero (15 días después de la siembra (DDE), la segunda aplicación se realizó en el amacollamiento 43 DDE y la tercera aplicación se llevó a cabo 60 DDE.Cuadro 1. Tratamientos propuestos para el manejo de enfermedades foliares en cebada, evaluados en la plataforma de San Juan del Rio III durante el ciclo OI 2017-2018.de rizobacterias y otros microorganismos benéficos, y es dependiente del ácido jasmónico y el etileno (Goellner y Conrath, 2008).Acibenzolar-S-Metil (ASM) induce resistencia en la planta hospedante a través de un modo de acción que imita la SAR de manera natural (Oostendorp et al., 2001). El compuesto tiene poca o nula actividad microbial (Oostendorp et al., 2001) y se ha demostrado que no tiene efecto sobre el crecimiento micelial o la germinación de esporas (Myresiotis, et al., 2012).Trichoderma produce una gran cantidad de metabolitos secundarios con actividad biológica, lo cual depende de la cepa e incluye sustancias antifúngicas volátiles y no volátiles. Algunos de estos compuestos son proteínas con funciones enzimáticas e inducen resistencia en las plantas por medio de la vía del ácido jasmónico y el eti-En el área de influencia de la plataforma San Juan del Rio III en Querétaro se han presentado problemas con enfermedades como mancha reticular (Drechslera teres) y septoria (Septoria sp.), por lo que durante el ciclo OI 2017-2018 se llevó a cabo un ensayo para evaluar el efecto de programas de manejo de enfermedades foliares en cebada.La inducción de resistencia sistémica se ha planteado como una herramienta más para el manejo de enfermedades. La resistencia sistémica adquirida (SAR) es activada por el ataque de patógenos necrotróficos, pero puede ser inducida por la aplicación de ácido salicílico o sus análogos funcionales y su aparición se asocia con la expresión de algunos genes que codifican proteínas relacionadas con la patogenicidad (Conrath et al., 2006). En contraste a SAR, la resistencia sistémica inducida está asociada con la colonización de las raíces de las plantas por cepas no patogénicas Evaluación de Acibenzolar S-Metil y Trichoderma como inductores de resistencia en plataforma San Juan del Rio III No se pudo evaluar el efecto de las enfermedades, pero se observó un rendimiento más alto en el tratamiento con Acibenzolar-S-Metil, lo que probablemente fue debido a un efecto de tolerancia a bajas temperaturas. En el Bajío se ha observado ocasionalmente un mayor daño por heladas en parcelas con cero labranza y gran cantidad de rastrojo, lo que hace que el efecto protector de Acibenzolar-S-Metil contra bajas temperaturas merece más estudio. En el otoño-invierno se repetirá la evaluación de Acibenzolar-S-Metil y microorganismos contra enfermedades y/o bajas temperaturas, y además se añadirá un tratamiento con ácido acetilsalicílico o aspirina, que podría tener el mismo efecto con menor costo.Se realizó la evaluación de incidencia de enfermedades foliares al inicio de la floración, sin embargo, la incidencia fue menor a 2% y no se observó diferencia entre tratamientos. Es común encontrar en la literatura que la aplicación de inductores de resistencia puede ocasionar un detrimento del rendimiento por el costo energético asociado a la protección activa de la planta (Van Hulten et al., 2006); no obstante, en los resultados del presente ensayo, el tratamiento con dos aplicaciones de Acibenzolar-S-Metil obtuvo la mayor producción, con un rendimiento promedio de 6.6 t/ha, y fue estadísticamente diferente al tratamiento testigo que obtuvo en rendimiento de 5.3 t/ha (p= 0.013) (Fig. 1).En el ciclo OI 2017-18 se presentaron bajas temperaturas, lo que ocasionó un daño ligero en el cultivo en las primeras etapas de crecimiento. El mayor rendimiento en el tratamiento con base en Acibenzolar-S-Metil (ASM) podría estar relacionado con un efecto sobre tolerancia de la planta a bajas temperaturas. ASM es un análogo funcional de ácido salicílico, el cual puede me-jorar la tolerancia al frío mediante la regulación de las actividades de enzimas (Mutlu, et al., 2013). Sin embargo, es necesario repetir el ensayo para derivar conclusiones más precisas.Aunque no fue posible medir el efecto de los tratamientos sobre la incidencia y severidad de enfermedades, la literatura sugiere que la inducción de resistencia sistémica puede integrarse como parte de un plan de manejo integrado de enfermedades, sobre todo cuando existe alta presión del patógeno.Una estrategia integral para el manejo de enfermedades debe considerar la plantación de cultivares resistentes, pre-tratamiento de los campos infestados, rotación con cultivos no hospederos, agentes de control biológico, tratamientos con fungicidas y activadores de resistencia químicos y biológicos y la aplicación de diversas prácticas culturales. Estas herramientas, en conjunto, pueden reducir al mínimo los daños causados por los patógenos, con un uso racional de los recursos.Aplicación de tratamientos para manejo de enfermedades foliares, en etapa de amacollamiento. En la zona sureste se cuenta con 50,549 ha de riego, de estas 23,323 ha son irrigadas con agua de los módulos de riego Acámbaro y Salvatierra pertenecientes al distrito de riego 011 \"Río Lerma\", 25,056 ha con agua de pozo profundo y 2,049 ha con agua proveniente del rebombeo directo a cuerpos de agua. Bajo este régimen se producen 25 cultivos, destacando la producción de granos: maíz, trigo, sorgo y cebada que en conjunto representan cerca del 75% de la superficie sembrada, dicha producción es realizada en terrenos con poca pendiente, lo cual permite la mecanización de las labores.El nivel tecnológico del que disponen las unidades de producción de riego varía de alto a medio, ya que disponen de maquinaria suficiente para realizar las labores de preparación del terreno como: barbecho, cruza, rastra, siembra y escardas, aplicaciones de insecticidas, herbicidas y foliares. Para la cosecha la mayoría de los productores contratan trilladoras que maquilan a cambio de un porcentaje de la producción cuando el rendimiento es bueno, o por hectárea cuando es bajo.En la subregión sureste alrededor del 20% de los productores que producen a grande y mediana escala, realizan prácticas conservacionistas del suelo al implementar: siembra directa, labranza cero y labranza mínima; generalmente los productores de pequeña escala no aplican este tipo de prácticas debido a que no disponen de maquinaria suficiente. Bajo estos sistemas productivos los rendimientos promedio de los principales cultivos de la subregión sureste se consideran moderados: maíz de grano 8.9 t/ha, sorgo de grano 9.4 t/ha, trigo grano 6.5 t/ha y cebada grano 5.7 t/ha.La problemática de la región incluye el uso de grandes cantidades de agua, el empleo indiscriminado de semillas híbridas, fertilizantes químicos y agroquímicos. Esta problemática impacta directamente en los costos de producción, elevándolos entre un 15 y un 30% de lo necesario.Un buen ejemplo del uso indiscriminado son las altas densidades de siembra de maíz que varían entre 130,000 y 160,000 semillas por hectárea.Otro ejemplo es la fertilización que realiza el productor en maíz y trigo que es de 350-90-50 mientras que la dosis recomendada es 240-40-00. Además, en la región la siembra de cultivos durante el ciclo OI es mínima ya que los productores consideran que es más rentable establecer un solo cultivo al año que establecer dos, uno en primavera-verano y otro en otoño-invierno.La producción en la zona tambien se complica por problemas con susceptibilidad a heladas, ataques de plagas y enfermedades y limitaciones en la comercialización de los productos agrícolas. A pesar de esos problemas, hay una escasa adopción de innovaciones tecnológicas sustentables en la agricultura, lo que ha generado contamina-ción del agua por uso excesivo de agroquímicos, especialmente fertilizantes, herbicidas e insecticidas.Debido a la compactación del suelo y deformación de camas de siembra causada por el paso de la maquinaria al momento de la cosecha del ciclo PV 2016, la plataforma fue acondicionada para la siembra del cultivo realizando dos subsoleos, dos rastreos, empareje y formación de camas de siembra. Existió un retraso de 28 días en el riego posterior a la aplicación del fertilizante, debido a una descompostura en el pozo, por lo que la eficiencia en la aplicación de este insumo estuvo por debajo de lo esperado. Se utilizó el hibrido Antílope que es uno de los más utilizados en la subregión sureste del estado.El experimento se estableció bajo un diseño de bloques completos al azar con dos repeticiones. En total se establecieron 20 tratamientos de los cuales 16 fueron de maíz, 2 de frijol y 2 de girasol (cuadro 1).La siembra del maíz se realizó el 17 de abril de 2017, en suelo húmedo, con sembradora fertilizadora del Bajío con precisión mecánica para cuatro surcos, modelo 6004, a hilera sencilla y con una densidad de 110,000 semillas /ha. Para el caso de los cultivos alternativos, frijol y girasol, la siembra se realizó mecánicamente empleando una sembradora tradicional para grano grande.La fertilización total del cultivo de maíz en la mayor parte de los tratamientos (excepto en los tratamientos MM, CP, P, GSAS, MM, CP, P, GSFR y MM, CP, P, GSSF) en unidades de NPK-Zn-B fue de 321-60-15-2.8-1, la cual se dividió en tres aplicaciones: 31% del nitrógeno, 100% del fósforo, potasio, zinc y boro al momento de la siembra, un reabono aplicado a los 39 días después del riego de siembra con 56% del nitrógeno y un segundo reabono 87 días después del riego de siembra en el que se aplicó 13% del nitrógeno. En los tratamientos MM, CP, P, GSAS; MM, CP, P, GSFR y MM, CP, P, GSSF la fertilización del cultivo con P, K, Zn y B fue la misma que en el resto de los tratamientos.Para el caso de nitrógeno en el tratamiento MM, CP, P, GSAS la dosis total de N fue de 295 debido a que la dosis al momento del primer reabono fue ajustada utilizando el sensor GreenSeeker; en el tratamiento MM, CP, P, GSFR la dosis total fue 461 por tratarse de la franja de referencia a la cual al momento de la siembra se aplicaron 240 unidades de nitrógeno y en el resto de los reabonos las mismas cantidades que en la mayor parte de los tratamientos; en el tratamiento MM, CP, P, GSSF la dosis total fue de 333 debido a que la dosis al momento del reabono se ajustó utilizando el GreenSeeker con un modelo matemático que no emplea la franja de referencia (Cuadro 2).Para el caso de los cultivos alternativos, frijol y girasol, en los tratamientos FG, CC, R; GF, CC, R; FM, CP, P; GM, CP, D la dosis aplicada en unidades de N y P fue de 60 y 50, respectivamente, aplicadas en la siembra. En maíz se realizó fertilización foliar en dos ocasiones, la primera el 15 de junio de 2017, cuando el cultivo se encontraba en V7 en la que se aplicaron por hectárea 2 kg de nitrato de potasio, 13 L de Humus + 2 kg de sulfato de zinc + 1 kg de urea desdiuretizada y la segunda el 13 de julio de 2017 en la que se aplicaron 2 kg de nitrato de potasio, 13 L de Humus + 2 kg de sulfato de zinc + 1 kg de urea desdiuretizada.Debido a que al momento de la siembra de maíz la maleza fue removida mecánicamente, durante el ciclo del cultivo únicamente fue necesaria la aplicación de 1.0 L nicosulfuron + mesotrione + 30 g de prosulfuron por hectárea. En frijol el 30 de junio de 2017 se aplicó 1.0 L de fomesafen/ fluazifop−p−butil por hectárea y el 27 de agosto se realizó un deshierbe manual. En el caso del girasol no se realizó ninguna actividad para control de maleza. La principal plaga del maíz en la plataforma fue el gusano cogollero. 12 días posteriores a la siembra del maíz, se establecieron 4 trampas de feromona por hectárea. Durante el ciclo del cultivo se realizó monitoreo de esta plaga realizando conteo de adultos capturados en trampas de feromona, así como conteo de larvas en el cultivo.Una vez que se alcanzó el umbral de daño económico de 16% de larvas en cultivo, se aplicaron insecticidas de bajo impacto ambiental. Para el caso de frijol y girasol no se presentaron incidencias de plagas por lo que no fue necesaria la aplicación de insecticidas. Durante el ciclo del cultivo se realizaron dos riegos para el maíz, el de presiembra realizado el 15 de marzo de 2017 y uno de auxilio el 23 de junio de 2017. Para el caso de frijol y girasol la siembra se realizó utilizando la humedad del riego de presiembra del maíz, el resto de la humedad fue provisto por el temporal.Los rendimientos del cultivo de trigo en general se vieron afectados por la demora del riego en la etapa de llenado de grano, lo que provocó un secado prematuro del cultivo y llenado de grano incompleto. Los resultados del cultivo de haba en verde se deben tomar con reserva ya que la variedad de haba empleada es más recomendada para la región de valles altos, incluso el porte de la planta fue muy bajo en comparación con el que presenta en valles altos, además la variedad se vio afectada por infección de Botritis.Se utilizo la variedad de trigo Cortazar S94, debido a la fecha de siembra y a que es la variedad más utilizada por los productores del estado. Esta variedad es un material de ciclo precoz con 75 días a floración y 125 a madurez fisiológica. En el área de validación de componentes se evaluaron las variedades de reciente liberación Ibis M2016 y Faisán S2016, las cuales son de ciclo semejante al de Cortazar S94.Para el caso del cultivo de garbanzo se utilizó la variedad Jumbo 2010 por ser una de las de más reciente liberación, su ciclo es de 60 días a floración y 124 a madurez fisiológica, mientras que para haba se empleó la variedad Santa Elena con 60 días a floración y 170 a madurez fisiológica, en esta variedad, las vainas en verde pueden cortarse desde los 130 días.Para el caso de los tratamientos establecidos bajo el sistema convencional, entre el 5 y el 14 de diciembre, se realizaron dos subsoleos, dos rastreos, nivelación (cuadreo) y surcado, mientras que para el caso de los tratamientos de camas permanentes únicamente se realizó la reformación de las camas de siembra el 14 de diciembre de 2017.La siembra de trigo se realizó el 16 de diciembre de 2017, en suelo seco, con sembradora fertilizadora dobladense modelo 130, 8 modificada para siembras en agricultura de conservación, con precisión mecánica para cuatro surcos, a triple hilera y con una densidad de siembra de 100 kg de semilla /ha. La siembra y fertilización base de garbanzo y haba se realizó en húmedo, empleando una sembradora-fertilizadora tradicional a la que se le quitaron los depósitos de semilla para depositarla manualmente en la salida. Antes de la siembra, se hicieron varias pruebas para ajustar la densidad de siembra lo más posible a la requerida.La fertilización total de los cultivos se muestra en el cuadro 2. Las fuentes utilizadas para fertilizar los cultivos fueron: urea, sulfato de amonio, MAP, cloruro de potasio, sulfato de zinc y granubor. Para el caso de los tratamientos con mejoradores de suelo yeso agrícola, Plantifor y Promexol 5XG, los productos fueron aplicados manualmente antes de la siembra para incorporarlos al suelo al momento de establecer el cultivo. Las cantidades establecidas fueron el equivalente a 0.85 t/ha de yeso, 30 kg/ha de plantifor y 20 kg/ha de Promexol 5XG.Para complementar la fertilización al suelo, 41 días después de la siembra, cuando el cultivo de trigo se encontraba en etapa de macollaje final, se realizó una fertilización foliar, donde se aplicaron 10 L de lixiviado de lombriz más 5 L de caldo sulfocálcico, la cual demás de nutrir al cultivo funciona como fungicida y repelente de insectos natural.de producción (labores mecanizadas, insumos, mano de obra y servicios), no se consideraron los costos indirectos como: traslado de insumos, asistencia técnica, renta, seguro agrícola y gastos de administración. Empleando los datos de rendimiento por hectárea y precio de venta del grano se calculó el ingreso bruto para cada tratamiento. Finalmente, se calculó la relación beneficio/costo dividiendo el ingreso bruto entre los costos directos de producción.Primavera, verano 2017Como se puede esperar después del reacondicionamiento de la plataforma no existieron diferencias estadísticas significativas (p≤ 0.05) entre tratamientos los cuales obtuvieron un rendimiento promedio de 13.1 t/ha. * Cultivo establecido para generar rastrojo y lograr evaluar cultivos alternativos en rotación gramínea, leguminosa bajo condiciones de Agricultura de Conservación.Abreviaciones: M= Maíz, F= Frijol, G= Girasol, CC= camas angostas con labranza convencional, CP= camas permanentes angostas D= dejar (se deja el 100% del residuo), R= Remover el total de residuo P= parcial (se deja el 50% del residuo).En el tratamiento con franja rica se aplicaron 295 unidades de N y en el tratamiento sin franja rica se aplicaron 333 unidades, mientras que la fertilización nitrogenada para el resto de la plataforma fue de 321 unidades. No había diferencia significativa entre los mejoradores de suelo que obtuvieron un rendimiento promedio de 14.1 t/ha. El híbrido XR, 47 sí obtuvo un rendimiento significativamente menor (7.0 t/ha que Aguila 10.2 t/ha y Antilope (12.6 t/ha).El tratamiento GM, CP, D a pesar de no ser el de mayor rendimiento fue el de mayor rentabilidad con una relación beneficio costo de 1.62, únicamente 0.01 por debajo del manejo convencional del ensayo principal de la plataforma. A pesar de que el tratamiento MM, CP, P, MS2 con mejorador de suelo Promexol 5XG fue el de mayor rendimiento (14.4 t/ha), su relación beneficio costo se quedó 0.07 por debajo del tratamiento GM, CP, D. El tratamiento con XR-47 generó pérdidas por hectárea de $4,451 MXN, debido al bajo rendimiento obtenido con este material de maíz, mismo que fue resultado de pudriciones de mazorca.No existieron diferencias estadísticas significativas entre tratamientos, sin embargo, la diferencia numérica entre el rendimiento de frijol bajo labranza convencional y de conservación es de 0.6 t/ha que al precio de compra representan $12,000 pesos por hectárea (Cuadro 4).Respecto al cultivo alternativo de girasol, durante el ciclo PV 2017 no fue posible evaluarlo debido a que al momento de preparar el terreno para la siembra del ciclo OI 2017-18 no llegaba a su madurez fisiológica. Cuadro 7. Comparación de medias para variables morfológicas y de rendimiento de trigo de los tratamientos del área de validación de componentes, plataforma de investigación Acámbaro.Cuadro 5. Comparación de medias para variables morfológicas y de rendimiento de trigo al 12% de humedad, de los tratamientos principales de la plataforma de investigación Acámbaro. No existieron diferencias significativas (p ≤ 0.01) entre altura de planta, número de tallos, peso de 200 granos o rendimiento de grano de trigo al 12% de humedad de los cinco tratamientos principales de la plataforma. Eso indica que el sistema de labranza y manejo de rastrojo no impactó ninguna de las variables evaluadas (Cuadro 5).El análisis de rentabilidad (Cuadro 6) indica que los tratamientos MT, CP, P, A y MT, CP, P, B fueron los de mayor rentabilidad, debido a que en dichos tratamientos no se realizaron labores de preparación del suelo. En los tratamientos MT, CC, R y MT, CC, P el análisis de rentabilidad reporta pérdidas relacionadas con los bajos rendimientos de grano obtenidas en el ciclo.Todos los tratamientos de fertilización en el área de validación se evaluaron en camas permanentes con retención parcial de rastrojo. El mayor rendimiento se encontró en los tratamientos 8 ycon rotación con frijol y girasol con 7.6 t/ha, aunque no presentó diferencia significativa con el resto de los tratamientos (Cuadro 7). Abreviaciones: F= frijol, Ga= garbanzo, CC= camas angostas con labranza convencional, CP= camas permanentes angostas, R= Remover el total de residuo, P= parcial (se deja el 50% del residuo). *Valores con la misma letra dentro de las columnas, son estadísticamente iguales (Tukey 0.01).Cuadro 10. Análisis de rentabilidad de los tratamientos del cultivo alternativo garbanzo en la plataforma de investigación Acámbaro durante el ciclo PV 2017.Abreviaciones: M= Maíz, F= frijol, Ga= garbanzo, CC= camas angostas con labranza convencional, CP= camas permanentes angostas, R= Remover el total de residuo, P= parcial (se deja el 50% del residuo).El análisis de rentabilidad indica que la relación beneficio/costo obtenida en todos los tratamientos fue mayor que la del tratamiento convencional donde se obtuvo 1.01, lo anterior se relaciona con la disminución de costos por conceptos de preparación del suelo, ya que, los tratamientos del área de validación de componentes se establecieron en camas permanentes con 50% del rastrojo sobre la superficie. La mayor rentabilidad del cultivo de trigo se encontró en los tratamientos FT, CP, P y GT, CP, P donde se logró una relación beneficio/ costo de 1.54 y 1.44, respectivamente. En estos tratamientos se evaluó la rotación de cultivos leguminosa, cereal y asteracea, cereal.Los tratamientos del área de validación de componentes que superaron el 1.30 de relación beneficio/costo fueron los tratamientos 15 y 16 donde se evaluaron variedades de trigo de reciente liberación Ibis M2016 y Faisán S2016, respectivamente, el tratamiento 12 donde se evaluó la dosificación del nitrógeno al momento del reabono empleando las lecturas de NDVI del Sensor GreenSeeker y una franja de referencia establecida en la siembra del cultivo, el tratamiento 14 donde de igual manera se evaluó la dosificación de nitrógeno al momento del reabono utilizando los valores de NDVI del GreenSeeker utilizando un modelo matemático que no utiliza franja de referencia (Cuadro 8).El garbanzo se evaluó en camas permanentes y en camas con labranza convencional. No había diferencias significativas entre los tratamientos en cuanto a rendimiento o peso de 200 granos entre los tratamientos (Cuadros 9 y 10). Aún cuando el rendimiento de grano fue mayor en condiciones convencionales, la rentabilidad para ambos sistemas de producción fue igual. La diferencia en la relación beneficio/costo es de 0.04 a favor del sistema convencional, lo cual representa $152 /ha más en la utilidad del sistema convencional, lo cual es una cantidad no significativa para el productor y si se consideran los beneficios a mediano y largo plazo que se generan al practicar el sistema de agricultura de conservación, es posible indicar que la producción de garbanzo bajo condiciones de agricultura de conservación es una opción productiva viable para los productores de la región.Red de Plataformas de Investigación cimmytHub | Acámbaro, GuanajuatoCuadro 11. Análisis de rentabilidad de los tratamientos del cultivo alternativo haba en la plataforma de investigación Acámbaro durante el ciclo PV 2017.Abreviaciones: H= haba, M= maíz, G= garbanzo, CC= camas angostas con labranza convencional, CP= camas permanentes angostas D= dejar (se deja el 100% del residuo), R= Remover el total de residuo P= parcial (se deja el 50% del residuo).En PV 2017 no se pueden evaluar los efectos de la agricultura de conservación debido al reacomodo. Sin embargo, las tecnologías de rotación de cultivos maíz, girasol, GreenSeeker sin franja de referencia, mejorador de suelo promexol 5XG y GreenSeeker con Franja rica durante el ciclo PV 2017 fueron las de mayor rentabilidad superando la relación beneficio costo de 1.50.Es importante resaltar la importancia de la rotación de cultivos ya que además de mejorar la productividad de la producción permite la ruptura del ciclo productivo de las plagas. El uso de la tecnología GreenSeeker para dosificar el fertilizante nitrogenado ya sea utilizando o no una franja de referencia permite reducir los costos de producción y contaminación del ambiente y mejorar la rentabilidad de la producción. En la región los suelos presentan problemas de salinidad y/o sodicidad, el mejorador de suelo puede ser una alternativa viable para reducir el efecto negativo de esta.Los resultados del ensayo principal en OI 2017-2018 indican que el sistema de Agricultura de Conservación: camas angostas permanentes con 50% del residuo sobre la superficie generan la misma productividad que con labranza convencional, lo cual sugiere que con este sistema de producción se pueden reducir las actividades de preparación de suelo sin impactar negativamente en el rendimiento, reducir los costos de producción e incrementar la rentabilidad de los cultivos durante el ciclo OI, lo cual puede incentivar la producción de cultivos durante este ciclo en la región sureste de Guanajuato.• Agricultura de Conservación permite reducir más de 10% el costo total de producción• La densidad de siembra de 90,000 semillas /ha permite obtener los mismos resultados en rendimiento que con densidades mayores, lo cual permite reducir los costos de producción• Al utilizar el sensor GreenSeeker en maíz es posible calcular la dosis de fertilización nitrogenada al momento del reabono, hasta el momento con esta tecnología en la plataforma de investigación y algunos módulos dependientes de esta, se logró reducir la aplicación de hasta 100 kg de N/ha, pasando de 350 a 250 kg de N/ha, lo anterior sin impactar negativamente el rendimiento de grano.Por otro lado, en la plataforma se ha encontrado que al realizar un manejo agroecológico de plagas en el que se integren trampas de feromona, monitoreo de larvas y adultos de gusano cogollero y realizando aplicaciones de insecticidas de bajo impacto es posible controlar esta plaga sin realizar aplicaciones indiscriminadas de insecticidas agresivos para la fauna benéfica y el medio ambiente. El rendimiento de haba en verde fue significativamente mayor en el tratamiento GH, CC, R (2.2 t/ha) comparado con el rendimiento en el tratamiento MH, CP, D (0.8 t/ha) (Cuadro 11). El resultado obtenido está relacionado con la susceptibilidad a la enfermedad Botrytis fabae del material de haba empleado en el experimento. Bajo Agricultura de Conservación la severidad de la infección de botritis fue mayor que en el sistema convencional debido a que en el sistema de conservación durante el ciclo del cultivo existió mayor humedad en el terreno. La rentabilidad también fue mayor en el sistema convencional de producción que en agricultura de conservación donde se reportó pérdidas de más de $3,000 MXN/ha, debido a los bajos rendimientos obtenidos. La plataforma de investigación Irapuato I se localiza al sur de Guanajuato, en la región conocida como el Bajío, dentro de las instalaciones del Distrito de Riego 011 (DR 011), Alto Río Lerma que forma parte de la cuenca Lerma-Santiago. Los cultivos más importantes en el DR011 son maíz, sorgo, trigo y cebada, ya que representan el 90% de la superficie sembrada (Pérez Espejo and Aguilar Ibarra, 2012). El clima predominante en la región es el semicálido sub-húmedo con lluvias en verano y con una precipitación media anual de 450 mm.Es importante atender este sistema de producción porque 87% del agua extraída en Guanajuato es destinada al uso agrícola y se tiene una creciente demanda de los sectores urbano e industrial, lo que da como resultado una presión alta sobre los recursos hídricos, esto provoca que el nivel del agua subterránea descienda varios metros por año (Pérez Espejo and Aguilar Ibarra, 2012).La plataforma de investigación de Irapuato I se encuentra a una altitud de 1720 msnm y tiene una superficie de 2 hectáreas, su objetivo es mejorar la rentabilidad y sustentabilidad de los cultivos de maíz y trigo, así como el hacer un mejor uso del agua de riego, para alcanzar esto se comparan diferentes sistemas de labranza y fertilización.La plataforma se estableció en el año 2011 y en el 2013 se implementó un segundo año cero para corregir los problemas de nivelación que presentaba la parcela y se reorientaron las camas de acuerdo con un levantamiento topográfico.Las variables que se han estado evaluando en la plataforma son:Rotación   Las actividades de transferencia de tecnología realizadas en la plataforma incluyen recorridos y demostraciones de campo con productores y estudiantes, la finalidad es dar difusión a los beneficios que se obtienen con la implementación de las tecnologías evaluadas y generar el interés de los productores por conocer y adaptar las tecnologías; durante estos eventos se contó con la asistencia de 3,500 productores, 350 técnicos, 25 representantes de gobierno y 1,200 estudiantes.Después de cinco años de trabajar la plataforma de investigación bajo el esquema de Agricultura de Conservación, el porcentaje de materia orgánica de 0 a 20 cm de profundidad ha alcanzado 5.73% en promedio para los tratamientos con camas permanente angostas (MT-CP-DD-B, MT-CP-DP-B y MT-CP-PP-B), 4.19% en promedio para los tratamientos con camas permanentes anchas (MT-CPA-PP-V, MT-CPA-PP-B y MT-CPA-DP-B) y 3.63% para la labranza convencional y el sistema híbrido (MT-LCA-PP-V y MT-H-PP-V) (Fig. 1). Lo anterior nos indica que el empleo de camas permanentes angostas tiene un efecto directo sobre la degradación de los residuos orgánicos que se dejan en el campo y que se puede igualar este efecto al emplear camas permanentes anchas y dejando el rastrojo en ambos ciclos (5.64% en tratamiento MT-CPA-DD-B), por tal motivo el tratamiento MT, CPA, DD, B es una opción viable cuando el productor no puede emplear camas permanentes angostas.La diferencia en el contenido de materia orgánica entre el tratamiento MT-CPA-PP-V (3.41%) y el resto de los tratamientos de Agricultura de Conservación puede deberse al método de aplicación de la segunda fertilización dado que para que se lleve a cabo la descomposición del rastrojo es necesaria la presencia de nitrógeno. En el tratamiento MT-CPA-PP-V la fertilización se realizó al voleo y por lo tanto el nitrógeno queda de manera superficial en el rastrojo, esto acelera el proceso de degradación del rastrojo, pero causa una menor producción de materia orgánica mientras que en los tratamientos con fertilización en banda el nitrógeno queda debajo de los residuos y se logra una mayor producción de materia orgánica.Una de las razones por la que al emplear Agricultura de Conservación se mejora la calidad del suelo es porque la adición continua de residuos orgánicos al suelo permite que se vaya recuperando la estructura del suelo que ha sido dañada, esto gracias a la actividad de los organis mos presentes en el suelo, esta actividad provee nutrientes (nitrógeno, fósforo y azufre) al cultivo y contribuye a la renovación de la porosidad del suelo, por tal motivo el suelo puede almacenar y conservar más agua. La labranza convencional, en contraste, daña a los organismos presentes y oxigena el suelo, esto causa que la materia orgánica se degrade rápido.El incremento en materia orgánica se tuvo en los primeros 20 cm de profundidad del suelo, esto se debe a la profundidad que tienen los implementos agrícolas empleados para la incorporación del rastrojo y para la aplicación del fertilizante en banda. En las capas de 20 a 40 cm y de 40 a 60 cm no se observaron diferencias en el contenido de materia orgánica.Red de Plataformas de Investigación cimmytHub | Irapuato I, Guanajuato Guanajuato Figura 3. Rendimientos de trigo en los ciclos OI de 2013 a 2016. Las barras de error representan los errores estándar de los promedios.En comparación con los tratamientos de labranza convencional y sistema híbrido, se obtuvo un incremento promedio de 1% con los tratamientos de camas permanentes anchas y de 2.1% con los tratamientos de camas permanentes angostas. Por lo tanto, la calidad del suelo mejora significativamente al emplear Agricultura de Conservación dejando el rastrojo en ambos ciclos, con la condición que se tiene que realizar la segunda aplicación de fertilizante enterrado y en banda.La Agricultura de Conservación permite disminuir los costos de producción entre un 11 y un 15% por ciclo, además permite incrementar la utilidad neta de los cultivos y los rendimientos obtenidos son similares, en algunos ciclos superiores a los alcanzados con la labranza convencional y el sistema híbrido.Pérez Espejo, R., Aguilar Ibarra, A., 2012. Agricultura y contaminación del agua. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas. Los rendimientos promedio de trigo de los ciclos OI del 2014 al 2016 fueron 6.7 t/ha para el tratamiento Agricultura de Conservación, 6.5 t/ha en el sistema híbrido y 6.0 t/ha para la labranza convencional, no se observa diferencias significativas entre los tres sistemas de producción.Los costos de producción por hectárea para el ciclo OI 2014-2015 fueron $19,154 para la labranza convencional y el sistema híbrido, mientras que para la Agricultura de Conservación fueron $16,204, esto representa un ahorro de 15% ($2,950 por ha). Las utilidades obtenidas para el mismo ciclo fueron $2,159 para labranza convencional, $2,482 para el sistema híbrido y $10,954 para la Agricultura de Conservación, por lo tanto, se tuvo un incremento de $8,795 por ha en la utilidad neta del cultivo de trigo.Al tomar en cuenta los dos ciclos del año se tiene un ahorro de 13% ($5,858.29 por ha) en los costos de producción y un incremento en la ganancia de $14,15.18 por ha para el productor, en comparación al sistema de labranza convencional. En México la cebada maltera se cultiva en una superficie superior a las 300 mil hectáreas, de las cuales el 25% se siembra en el ciclo otoño-invierno, los principales estados productores son Guanajuato, Querétaro, Michoacán y Jalisco, de estos sobresale la región de El Bajío porque se siembran de 25 mil a 75 mil hectáreas. La cebada de otoño-invierno se siembra principalmente con riego.El agua es un insumo cada vez más escaso, lo que hace necesario su conservación. La tecnificación del riego superficial y presurizado tiene un potencial bastante aceptable para ahorrar agua y mejorara la producción. Sin embargo, este camino por sí solo no es suficiente, sino que tiene que ir de la mano con un enfoque ecoló-gico de agricultura sustentable, para lo cual se requiere reducir el uso intensivo de insumos, agua y energía, además del manejo de residuos de cosecha a fin de aumentar la materia orgánica y la fertilidad del suelo.La Agricultura de Conservación (AC) juega un papel importante en la restauración de la fertilidad del suelo ya que al realizar mínima labranza del suelo, dejando los residuos de cosecha como cobertura y realizando la rotación de cultivos, se incrementa paulatinamente el contenido de materia orgánica de la capa superficial del suelo y se reduce la erosión hídrica y eólica del suelo, con lo cual se tiene un mejor aprovechamiento del agua de riego y de lluvia.El objetivo de la plataforma Irapuato III es investigar el balance de agua en los cultivos de maíz y cebada establecidos bajo Riego Superficial con compuertas (RS) y Riego por Goteo (RG) en Agricultura de Conservación (AC) y Labranza Convencional (LC). En particular se busca estimar la infiltración y rendimiento del agua en ambos sistemas de labranza. La plataforma busca validar, adaptar e implementar una metodología de trabajo para la empresa Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Heineken en el estado de Guanajuato con enfoque en cebada y maíz para que se fomente el desarrollo, validación, transferencia y difusión de técnicas agrícolas innovadoras a los productores de la región.En el cuadro 1 se presentan los cuatro tratamientos que se están evaluando en la plataforma de investigación, las variables que se tienen son: rotación de cultivos, práctica de labranza, manejo de rastrojo y tipo de riego. De cada tratamiento se tienen dos repeticiones, lo que da un total de ocho parcelas. Resumen del ciclo del reporte:Se contó con tres sensores de humedad en cada parcela, las profundidades de los sensores fueron 30, 60 y 90 cm. La temporada de lluvias abarcó los meses de junio a septiembre, la temperatura máxima fue de 34.7 °C en el mes de mayo y la mínima fue de -3.3 °C en el mes de diciembre (Cuadro 2).La siembra se realizó sobre pata de cebada en camas anchas de 1.52 m el 20 de junio de 2017. Para la siembra, que se hizo el 20 de junio 2017, se empleó la variedad CERES XR20A a una den-Cuadro 2. Datos de clima durante el año 2017 en la plataforma de investigación de Irapuato III, Guanajuato. sidad de 90,000 semillas por hectárea. La fertilización base fue 110-80-00 NPK más 15 kg de micros por hectárea.En la cola de los surcos se colocaron vertederos para poder medir la salida o excedentes de agua por escurrimiento, en riego superficial se aplicó una lámina de siembra de 180 mm, mientras que en riego por goteo se aplicó una lámina de 80 mm. Tres días después del riego se tuvieron lluvias (entre el 25 y el 28 de junio de 2017) que aportaron 51 mm en total, esta cantidad de agua provocó la saturación del suelo en las parcelas de riego superficial.La emergencia del cultivo comenzó el 28 de junio, se determinó que se tenían 80,000 plantas por hectárea. El monitoreo de la humedad en el suelo se hizo cada tercer día, al instalarse los sensores estaban secos y se hizo de esta manera para detectar en que momento la humedad llega a las diferentes profundidades. El primer control de malezas se hizo 23 días después de la siembra con la aplicación de Tembotriona, Atrazina, Dicamba y adherente.El control de gusano cogollero se realizó el 13 de julio con la aplicación de Spinetoram. La segunda fertilización fue de 150-00-00 NPK y se realizó el 13 de julio, las fuentes empleadas fueron urea y sulfato de amonio, el fertilizante fue inyectado con el riego por goteo y se tiró al voleo en las parcelas con riego superficial. Se aplicaron 10 UN al voleo en las parcelas de riego por goteo a fin de minimizar la competencia por nitrógeno durante la degradación del rastrojo dado que fueron las parcelas con mayor cantidad de rastrojo.El espigamiento se tuvo 56 días después de la emergencia (dde) del cultivo, la floración a los 62 dde, la etapa reproductiva 1 comenzó a los 80 días después de la siembra (dds) con la hoja bandera a una altura de 2m, la etapa reproductiva final se tuvo a los 134 dds, en esta etapa el cultivo se encontraba en condiciones para el muestreo y la cosecha. El método de muestreo aplicado fue el de \"cinco de oros\", los sitios de muestreo tuvieron una longitud de 5 m y el ancho del surco (1.52 m).En las parcelas de labranza convencional se retiró la totalidad del rastrojo de maíz y se realizó barbecho, rastreo, nivelación y formación de camas anchas de 1.52 m, mientras que en las de Agricultura de Conservación se dejó el 75% del rastrojo y se hizo reformación de camas.La siembra de cebada variedad Esperanza se realizó el 23 de diciembre del 2017 con una densidad de 90 kg/ha, la fertilización base fue 100-92-00 para lo cual se mezclaron 50 kg de superfosfato de calcio triple, 200 kg de DAP, 150 kg de urea y 100 kg de sulfato de amonio. En el segundo riego de auxilio, 65 días después de la siembra, se aplicó el re-abone con apoyo de equipo de fertirriego, la dosis empleada fue 90-00-00 NKA y la fuente usada fue sulfato de amonio. Los datos del cuadro 3 son útiles para calcular el rendimiento del agua en el cultivo de maíz amarillo. Se debe considerar que solo se dio el riego de siembra y que la humedad restante fue provista por las lluvias y que las precipitaciones dieron una lámina de 703 mm que equivale a 7,030,000 l/ha. Para el caso de riego superficial, el rendimiento del grano fue de 13.3 t/ha y para obtenerlo se utilizaron 210 mm (2,100,000 l/ha) de lámina de siembra más los 703 mm (7,030,000 l/ha) de la lluvia, por lo tanto, se empleó un volumen total de 813 mm (8,130,000 l/ha) y esto da un rendimiento de agua de 611 l/ kg. En riego por goteo el rendimiento del grano fue de 12.2 t/ha, para obtenerlo se utilizaron 80 mm (800,000 l/ha) de lámina de siembra más losComportamiento de las curvas de extracción de humedad.En la Figura 1 se presenta el movimiento del agua en riego superficial, se aprecia que el riego de 210 mm e intensidad de la precipitación (703 mm) provocó que el suelo se encontrara saturado a profundidades de 60 y 90 cm hasta los 100 días (una tensión de 0 Cbar indica saturación del suelo con agua), pasando este tiempo comenzó el ascenso del agua por capilaridad, mientras que en la profundidad de 30 cm la tensión tiene un comportamiento casi lineal con pendiente ascendente que es indicativo de una dinámica de movimiento del agua muy homogénea y de que las necesidades de agua del cultivo fueron satisfechas por las precipitaciones que se tuvieron a lo largo del ciclo.La Figura 2 presenta el movimiento del agua en riego por goteo, se aprecia que en las tres profundidades evaluadas se tiene una dinámica muy homogénea, la lámina de siembra (80 mm) y la frecuencia de precipitación (703 mm) permitieron que las necesidades de agua fueran satisfechas de manera óptima durante 90 días, sin embargo, cuando el cultivo se encontraba en la etapa de llenado de grano las raíces entraron a estrés hídrico por un lapso corto en la profundidad de 30 cm (una tensión de 60 Cbars indica estrés hídrico). Después de los 90 días la tensión de humedad osciló entre los 35 y los 100 Cbars, estos valores de tensión provocaron estrés en la planta e impactó de manera negativa en su rendimiento.En el ciclo PV 2017 no se realizaron labores de preparación de suelo y se dejó el 100% de rastrojo en todas las parcelas de la plataforma de investigación. Esto es la práctica común para la siembra de maíz en el Bajío Guanajuatense.Por tal razón, la única variable que tuvo diferencias fue el tipo de riego. Figura 1. Comportamiento de la tensión superficial de humedad a diferentes profundidades con riego superficial en el ciclo PV 2017 en la plataforma de investigación de Irapuato III, Guanajuato.Figura 2. Comportamiento de la tensión superficial de humedad a diferentes profundidades con riego por goteo en el ciclo PV 2017 en la plataforma de investigación de Irapuato III, Guanajuato. La frecuencia de riego estuvo sujeta a las lecturas de tensión de humedad, cuando se tenían lecturas mayores a 60 Cbars se aplicaba el riego, ya que por el tipo de suelo que se tiene el agua aprovechable se encuentra en el rango de 10 a 60 Cbars. Cada parcela fue regada de manera individual para poder obtener el registro del volumen bruto de entrada, salida y el volumen neto aplicado. El consumo de agua del cultivo para las condiciones climatológicas prevalecientes en el ciclo fue de 361 mm, por lo tanto, en todos los casos el cultivo cubrió sus requerimientos.Para el caso de agricultura convencional en riego superficial se obtuvo un rendimiento de 7.6 t/ ha, para obtenerlo se empleó un volumen de 622 mm (6,221,300 l/ha) (Cuadro 5) y esto da un rendimiento de 819 l/kg, las salidas contabilizadas fueron de 71.18 mm. Agricultura de Conservación con riego superficial, obtuvo un rendimiento de 7.9 t/ha, para obtenerlo se empleó un volumen de 525 mm (5,248,500 l/ha) y esto da un rendimiento de 669 l/kg, las salidas contabilizadas fueron de 77 mm. El rendimiento de agua obtenido fue 18% mayor que en agricultura convencional y el volumen de agua empleado fue 16% menor.Para el caso de agricultura convencional en riego por goteo se obtuvo un rendimiento de 6.7 t/ha, para obtenerlo se empleó un volumen de 430 mm (4,300,000 l/ha) y esto da un rendimiento de 642 l/kg. Agricultura de Conservación con riego por goteo, obtuvo un rendimiento de 7.6 t/ha, para obtenerlo se empleó un volumen de 430 mm (4,300,000 l/ha) y esto da un rendimiento de 56 l/kg. El rendimiento de agua obtenido fue 12% mayor que en agricultura convencional.Cuadro 5. Programa de riegos en la plataforma de investigación de Irapuato III, Guanajuato. Comportamiento de las curvas de extracción de humedad.En la Figura 3 se presenta el movimiento del agua en riego superficial en los dos sistemas de labranza a 30 cm de profundidad. La tensión tuvo un comportamiento casi lineal con pendiente ascendente que es indicativo de una dinámica de movimiento del agua muy homogénea y de que las necesidades de agua del cultivo fueron satisfechas con cada riego. En Agricultura de Conservación se logró retener una mayor cantidad de humedad que en agricultura convencional, lo que se refleja en que la curva de tensión aumenta menos rápido en AC que en labranza convencional. Solo se muestra la gráfica de 30 cm de profundidad porque las de 60 y 90 cm tienen un comportamiento similar.El rendimiento de grano de cebada variaba entre 6.7 t/ha con labranza convencional y riego por goteo y 7.9 t/ha con Agricultura de Conservación y riego superficial pero las diferencias entre tratamientos no fueron significativamente diferentes (Cuadro 4).Cuadro 4. Rendimientos de cebada obtenidos por tipo de labranza y de riego en la plataforma de investigación de Irapuato III, Guanajuato.  Conclusiones de resultados e implicaciones para productores• Con el riego superficial, el cultivo de maíz amarillo tuvo satisfechas sus necesidades hídricas hasta los 100 días después de la siembra, es decir, hasta el final de su etapa reproductiva, gracias a esto se tuvo un buen rendimiento de grano. En riego por goteo el desarrollo del cultivo de maíz se dio a niveles de tensión entre 30 y 40 Cbars, que indican un estrés hídrico en la planta. • Se tiene un buen drenaje en todas las parcelas por el sistema radicular del cultivo anterior y este sistema se pudo conservar gracias a que no se hicieron labores de preparación. • Hay que hacer conciencia sobre el impacto que tiene sembrar en suelos mecánicamente y físicamente destrozados por un mal manejo, por el exceso de laboreo, por retirar la materia orgánica, entre otros factores. • Al implementar AC en riego superficial y suelos arcillosos, es necesario disminuir el tiempo de avance del agua en los surcos, incrementando los caudales unitarios y disminuyendo el agua infiltrada a profundidades del suelo no deseadas. • El factor que tiene mayor influencia en el rendimiento del grano es la cantidad y oportunidad con que se aplique el riego; AC presenta mayor viabilidad que labranza convencional debido a la diferencia de velocidad de extracción del agua del complejo suelo que se presenta en ambos sistemas de labranza.La Figura 4 presenta el movimiento del agua en riego por goteo en los dos sistemas de labranza a una profundidad de 30 cm, se aprecia que también se tiene una dinámica muy homogénea, al igual que ocurría en riego superficial, se tiene una mayor cantidad de humedad en Agricultura de Conservación que en la convencional. Solo se muestra la gráfica de 30 cm de profundidad porque las de 60 y 90 cm tienen un comportamiento similar.Emergencia en riego superficial, PV 2017.Siembra de la plataforma de investigación de Irapuato III, diciembre 2017. Los suelos dominantes en la región centro del estado de Guanajuato corresponden al tipo Vertisol, el clima es semicálido subhúmedo con lluvias en verano, esta zona cuenta con disponibilidad de riego de presa o pozo. En la región la producción de hortalizas y cereales es importante y las prácticas agrícolas son intensivas. En los dos ciclos de cultivo se siembran principalmente cereales: maíz o sorgo durante primavera-verano y trigo o cebada durante el otoño-invierno.Las hortalizas que se siembran con mayor frecuencia corresponden a brócoli, col, cebolla, ajo y lechuga, entre otras. La producción promedio de sorgo y maíz en el estado de Guanajuato, en condiciones de riego, es de 7.9 y 8.9 t/ha, respectivamente; sin embargo, es posible obtener ren-dimientos de 12 y 16 t/ha, respectivamente. La producción promedio de trigo y cebada es de 6.8 y 5.9 t/ha, respectivamente, con rendimientos alcanzables de hasta 10 y 8 t/ha, respectivamente.Las prácticas de agricultura intensiva en la producción de cereales en Guanajuato derivan en el uso indiscriminado de insumos agrícolas, excesivas labores de labranza, deterioro de los suelos, altos costos de producción causando la baja rentabilidad agrícola. Las prácticas de Agricultura de Conservación surgen como una opción viable para mejorar la fertilidad de los suelos, emplear mínimas labores de labranza, hacer un uso más racional de los insumos agrícolas, disminuir costos de producción y aumentar la rentabilidad agrícola.En el ciclo PV 2017 hubo cambios en las autoridades del parque y también se realizó un cambio en el responsable técnico, en este ciclo se incorporó el Ing. Bartolo González Torres y se decidió realizar el año cero de la plataforma para eliminar interferencias de los ciclos anteriores. Se efectúa un seguimiento en las características físicas y químicas del suelo mediante el muestreo y análisis de fertilidad en el Laboratorio Nacional de Fertilidad de Suelos y Nutrición Vegetal del inifap, Campo Experimental Bajío en Celaya, Guanajuato. A partir de este ciclo de cultivo la implementación de las prácticas de Agricultura de Conservación ha sido adecuado y hubo resultados relevantes durante el ciclo otoño-invierno 2017-2018 en cultivo de trigo.Los tratamientos que se están evaluando en la plataforma se presentan en el cuadro 1. Desde el replanteamiento de la plataforma se han venido implementado paulatinamente los tratamientos que originalmente se tenían planteados. Lo anterior representa un gran avance, ya que se lograron implementar las prácticas de Agricultura de Conservación.Durante el ciclo OI 2017-2018 en realidad solo se cuenta con cuatro tratamientos: el manejo convencional con la incorporación de todos los residuos de cosecha mediante las labores de labranza (1), rotación maíz-hortaliza con la totalidad de los residuos de cosecha en la superficie del suelo (2) y rotación sorgo-trigo con la totalidad de los residuos de cosecha en la superficie del suelo (5) y rotación maíz-trigo con la totalidad de los residuos de cosecha en la superficie del suelo (3, 4, 6, 7, 8 y 9). Todos esos tratamientos se encuentran establecidos sobre camas anchas permanentes y el modo de fertilización básicamente es el mismo para cereales.Cuadro 1. Tratamientos en la plataforma de investigación de Villagrán. Abreviaciones: T= Trigo, M= Maíz, H= Hortaliza, S= Sorgo, LCA= labranza convencional con camas anchas, H= sistema híbrido (sin movimiento PV, con movimiento en OI), CPA= camas permanentes anchas, D= se deja el 100% del rastrojo de manera superficial, R= Remover el 100% del rastrojo, P= se deja el 50% del rastrojo de manera superficial, I= se incorpora el 100% del rastrojo, V= segunda fertilización al voleo, B= segunda fertilización en banda (enterrada), Q= fuente de fertilización química. QGs= fuente de fertilización química + greenseeker, Me= mezcla de fuente química + composta.Las temperaturas mínimas extremas se presentaron durante los meses de diciembre y enero, donde hubo solamente un día con temperaturas inferiores a los 0°C, el 16 de enero (-0.5 °C) (Fig. 1). Por otra parte, las temperaturas máximas, por encima de 30°C, se presentaron a partir dePara el control de malezas se aplicaron 2 l/ha de glifosato, después de la siembra, en el tratamiento de rotación sorgo-trigo. Lo anterior para eliminar el rebrote de sorgo; en los tratamientos con trigo se aplicó el paquete vigia de Syngenta y prosulfuron (30 g/ha). En las hortalizas se efectuaron dos deshierbes de manera manual. marzo, alcanzando más de 37°C durante mayo, ya durante la cosecha del experimento. El volumen total de lluvia de diciembre de 2017 a mayo de 2018 fue apenas de 2.2 mm, lo que caracteriza al ciclo de cultivo como extremadamente seco.Red de Plataformas de Investigación cimmytHub | Villagrán, GuanajuatoEn el crecimiento de trigo a lo largo del ciclo de cultivo se observó una tendencia semejante en todos los tratamientos. El tratamiento MT-LCA-R-V-Q, que corresponde al manejo convencional, tuvo el menor crecimiento en altura de planta; sin embargo, no hubo diferencias estadísticas significativas (p<0.05). No hubo efecto en el crecimiento de trigo por el cultivo precedente maíz o sorgo (Fig. 2).Los componentes de rendimiento de la evaluación de trigo mostraron una población de tallos por m² que fluctúo entre 391 y 477, una altura de planta que fluctuó entre 55 y 58.9 cm. No hubo diferencias significativas entre tratamientos en estos parámetros (Cuadro 2). La producción de trigo fluctuó entre 6.6 t/ha en un tratamiento con prácticas de Agricultura de Conservación con el total de residuos de cosecha en la superficie del suelo, hasta 7.9 t/ha en otro tratamiento semejante.El manejo convencional con incorporación de todos los residuos de cosecha y labores de labranza tuvo un rendimiento de 7.0 t/ha. No hubo di-ferencias estadísticas significativas entre tratamientos por efecto del sistema de cultivo (p<0.05).Lo anterior implica una mayor rentabilidad en los sistemas con implementación de prácticas de Agricultura de Conservación, porque hay una inversión menor por concepto de labores de labranza. De manera general, el nivel de producción de trigo estuvo por encima de la producción media estatal, en condiciones de riego, que según estadísticas del SIAP (2018) es de 6.8 t/ha (Fig. 3).El tratamiento correspondiente a la rotación maíz -hortaliza, que en este ciclo de cultivo se sembró calabacita y pepino, solo se obtuvieron datos del primero. El pepino se desarrolló bien, pero no hubo control adecuado en el registro de pesos en los diversos cortes que se efectuaron en este cultivo. La producción de calabacita se evaluó en 14 cortes, de los cuales el quinto y noveno tuvieron los mayores picos de producción con 4 y 3.1 t/ ha, respectivamente (Fig. 4). La producción total de calabacita ascendió a 24.9 t/ha bajo el sistema de Agricultura de Conservación. De acuerdo con estadísticas del SIAP (2018) la producción promedio de este cultivo, en condiciones de riego, en el estado de Guanajuato es de 9 t/ha.Cuadro 2. Componentes de rendimiento de trigo en la plataforma de investigación de Villagrán.  Se evaluó la producción de trigo de ocho variedades de trigo con arreglo topológico de triple hilera por cama ancha permanente, también se dejó el 30% de los residuos de manera superficial en el suelo. Los resultados mostraron una producción que fluctuó entre 8 y 10 t/ha (Fig. 5). La variedad con mayor rendimiento fue la denominada XON, la cual alcanzo las 10 t/ha. Los resultados en general fueron excelentes, ya que la producción sobrepasa el promedio estatal. La producción de cereales con la implementación de las prácticas de Agricultura de Conservación fue relevante, se obtuvieron rendimientos alrededor de 7 t/ha, con una relación beneficio costo de hasta 1.8, que fue 29% mayor respecto a la ganancia que se obtuvo con las prácticas de agricultura convencionales.La producción de calabacita bajo el sistema de producción de labranza convencional fue económicamente viable y la relación beneficio costo fue de 2.25, es decir, más del doble de lo que se invirtió en el proceso de producción.Sistema de producción de trigo en labranza convencional y en Agricultura de Conservación.Se implementarán todos los tratamientos que se plantearon originalmente, ya que en realidad solo hay cuatro tratamientos de los nueve que inicialmente se tenían contemplados. Se implementarán prácticas agrícolas, aunadas a las de conservación, para un uso racional de los fertilizantes químicos, especialmente los nitrogenados, para disminuir aún más los costos de producción y disminuir los riesgos de contaminación, para ello es preciso estudiar el grado de acumulación de las reservas orgánicas del suelo por eso se están efectuando, anualmente, análisis químicos de suelo, para estudiar la evolución de las características físicas y químicas por efecto de las prácticas de Agricultura de Conservación.Red Abreviaciones: M= maíz, T+e= triticale + ebo, D= descanso, LM= labranza mínima, CL= cero labranza, LC= labranza convencional, R= remover todo el rastrojo de maíz y dejar 10 cm de triticale + ebo, P= dejar 30% de rastrojo de maíz y 10 cm de triticale + ebo.La plataforma Pabellón de Arteaga se estableció en 2012 y en 2013 inició su fase de aplicación de los principios de agricultura de conservación, para evaluar el efecto de los sistemas de labranza y manejo de residuos, en el rendimiento de materia seca del cultivo de maíz forrajero. Está ubicada en el campo experimental Pabellón del inifap, en el municipio de Pabellón de Arteaga. La plataforma de investigación es un lugar donde se intercambia información de los resultados obtenidos y se brinda la capacitación a productores y técnicos interesados en la Agricultura de Conservación. En la plataforma se evalúan cinco tratamientos a largo plazo, donde se comparan diferentes tipos de labranza con dos niveles de rastrojo (Cuadro 1). En el área de validación se evalúan cultivos forrajeros alternativos, en PV 2017 se evaluó girasol forrajero. Los tratamientos a largo plazo se evalúan en un diseño de bloques completos al azar con dos repeticiones, mientras que en el área de validación se considera se evaluaron 4 variedades en franjas (303, NTO4.0, Daytona y Sierra).Durante el ciclo del cultivo PV (junio-octubre), se registraron 564 mm de precipitación, y la temperatura fluctuó de 8 a 30 °C. El cultivo de maíz se desarrolló de manera normal, se realizó un adecuado control de malezas y plagas, principalmente gusano cogollero, que es la más agresiva para el cultivo en la región. En el caso de OI (nov-feb) se registraron 76 mm de precipitación y temperaturas de 2.4 a 27 °C. En ambos ciclos se aplicó riego conforme las necesidades del cultivo.La siembra de maíz, se realizó el día 15 de junio de 2017, con el híbrido de maíz CMR-28 de ciclo precoz, la cosecha se realizó 130 días después de la siembra. El girasol se sembró en la misma fecha, la cosecha del cultivo se realizó 112 días después de la siembra. La siembra de la mezcla de Triticale+Ebo, se realizó el 31 de octubre 2017, con la variedad AN-105 y Ebo común, la cosecha se realizó 119 días después de la siembra.El rendimiento de forraje verde y seco de maíz no fue significativamente diferente entre tratamientos (Figura 1). El rendimiento de forraje verde (FV) y materia seca (MS) de maíz, osciló entre 56 y 64 t/ha y 16 a 19 t/ha, respectivamente. El mayor rendimiento se obtuvo en el tratamiento MTr+e, LM, R (labranza mínima sin residuos); esta tendencia de rendimiento ya se había observado en ciclos anteriores, y aunque las diferencias no son estadísticamente significativas, el resultado puede inferirse como efecto del sistema de labranza.Resultados 2017El análisis bromatológico mostró que el girasol contiene mayor valor proteico y de grasas, en comparación con el maíz, por lo que posee un alto valor energético (Cuadro 3). La fracción fibrosa del girasol generalmente presenta una mayor proporción de lignina y menor digestibilidad, comparada con los ensilajes de maíz y de sorgo, características que pueden restringir el uso de ensilaje de girasol para las categorías de animales más exigentes (Ribeiro et al., 2007).El momento óptimo de cosecha del cultivo de girasol, al igual que el maíz, así como un adecuado ensilaje, es un punto clave para lograr un alimento de calidad; para el cultivo de girasol es necesario determinar el momento adecuado de cosecha para cada cultivo y así evitar pérdidas de producción de materia verde, para aprovechar al máximo su calidad nutricional. Cuadro 2. Rendimiento de forraje en la plataforma Pabellón de Arteaga, Aguascalientes, PV 2017.Abreviaciones: FV= forraje verde, MS= materia seca, APL= Altura de planta, AMZ= Altura de mazorca, LM= labranza mínima, CL= cero labranza, LC= labranza convencional, R= remover todo el rastrojo, P= dejar 30% de rastrojo de maíz, CV= coeficiente de variación, DMS= Diferencia mínima significativa (p> 0,05). En el área de validación se evaluó el comportamiento de 4 materiales de girasol híbridos, debido a recientes investigaciones que mencionan al cultivo de girasol forraje como una opción viable para la alimentación de ganado lechero. Los resultados muestran el alto potencial de ren-dimiento de forraje verde, el cual alcanzó rendimientos similares al de maíz; sin embargo, el rendimiento de MS disminuye notablemente, lo cual indica la alta cantidad de agua en la planta (Cuadro 2, Figura 1).  En cuanto a comparación de costos de producción, los principales factores que determinan las diferencias entre tratamientos son la preparación de suelo y el control de malezas. En el caso de labranza cero el costo de laboreo se reduce sustancialmente; sin embargo, se incrementa por efecto del control de malezas, el cual resulta necesario para el buen establecimiento del cultivo. Por tanto, en la plataforma de investigación, el tratamiento con mejor relación beneficio-costo fue la labranza mínima (Fig. 3).El rendimiento de forraje verde varió de 26 a 32 t/ha y de 4 a 5 t/ha de materia seca. Los menores rendimientos se obtuvieron en labranza cero y el mayor en labranza mínima, resultados que ya se habían observado en el año anterior, lo cual se puede atribuir a las propiedades del suelo, como resultado de los ciclos de aplicación de los diferentes tratamientos de labranza (Cuadro 4, Fig. 2).El potencial de producción de biomasa de triticale mas ebo, además de su valor nutritivo, tolerancia a factores adversos como las bajas temperaturas, lo hacen una alternativa interesante en la producción de forrajes de invierno para su uso en la alimentación de ganado lechero en la región.Cosecha del cultivo de otoño invierno (Triticale+Ebo) 2018.Se establecieron favorablemente los cultivos en la plataforma, bajo los distintos tratamientos de labranza y manejo de residuos establecidos en el protocolo. Se llevaron a cabo demostraciones programadas, donde los presentes mostraron interés por el sistema. Aún cuando las diferencias estadísticas no son evidentes respecto al año anterior (2016), la tendencia de resultados de rendimiento se repite, con lo cual ya podemos inferir un cambio en las propiedades del suelo. Los rendimientos obtenidos de ambos cultivos están dentro del promedio regional.Durante el ciclo PV 2018 se mantienen los tratamientos de labranza, con el objetivo de corroborar las tendencias de respuesta de rendimiento en los distintos tratamientos, se realizará un análisis de suelo en cada tratamiento para evaluar de mejor manera los efectos de la agricultura de conservación respecto al manejo tradicional para la producción de maíz-forraje bajo riego en Aguascalientes. En la plataforma se evalúan 4 métodos de preparación de suelo: barbecho más rastra, rastra, multiarado mas rastra y camas anchas permanentes. Las camas anchas se evalúan con 4 niveles de rastrojo: 0, 33, 66 y 100% de cobertura de suelo. En todos los tratamientos se realiza la rotación de cultivos maíz-avena/triticale forrajero (Cuadro 1). La parcela experimental está formada por 10 surcos separados 0.825 m entre sí o por cinco camas de 1.65 m de ancho. El largo de la parcela es de 30.0 m. Los tratamientos están distribuidos en campo en un diseño de bloques al azar con dos repeticiones.Se realiza una rotación de cultivos maíz-avena forrajera bajo condiciones de riego, en donde el maíz se siembra en el ciclo primavera-verano y la avena en el de otoño-invierno. A partir de 2014 se incorporó el cultivo de triticale en el ciclo otoño-invierno.Efecto de compactación del suelo por lluvia el día de la siembra en el tratamiento con labranza convencional, en la plataforma Soledad de Graciano Sánchez, San Luis Potosí, ciclo PV 2017.Mayor rendimiento de maíz en el altiplano de San Luis Potosí con la agricultura de conservación Introducción La plataforma de investigación Soledad de Graciano Sánchez está ubicada en el altiplano del estado de San Luis Potosí. En esta región se siembran aproximadamente 20,000 ha de maíz de riego, durante el ciclo primavera-verano y 10,000 ha de cultivos forrajeros anuales de corte, principalmente avena, durante el ciclo otoño-invierno.La preparación del suelo se realiza tradicionalmente con un barbecho y uno o dos pasos de rastra, antes del riego de presiembra. Posteriormente, se surca para regar, se rastrea y se siembra cuando la humedad del suelo da punto. Durante el ciclo del cultivo se realizan una o dos escardas para control de la maleza y descompactar el suelo.No se realiza un control químico de la maleza; el control de plagas, como gusano cogollero y otros, es muy deficiente; de igual forma la fertilización química al suelo. La cosecha, generalmente, se realiza en forma manual, cortando las plantas y amonándolas en la parcela, para luego pizcarlas y desgranarlas manualmente. Ocasionalmente el desgrane se realiza con maquinaria. El rastrojo se retira en su totalidad de la parcela y se comercializa como forraje o se emplea para alimento del ganado del productor.Los resultados de los métodos que se evalúan en la plataforma permitirán ofrecer a los productores alternativas de preparación del suelo que permitan mejorar y conservar la calidad del suelo y reducir costos de producción.La plataforma Soledad de Graciano Sánchez se incorporó al proyecto MasAgro Productor en el año 2012. Se estableció en el Campo Experimental San Luis del inifap, en un lote experimental donde se inició en 1995 como experimento de agricultura de conservación. En el tratamiento tres (MAT, LM, R) se empleó el multiarado, el cual rotura el suelo sin invertir su perfil del suelo a una profundidad de 30 cm.Posteriormente se dieron tres pasos de rastra para desmenuzar los terrones, también se retiró todo el rastrojo. El tratamiento cuatro (MAT, CPA, R), no se alteró el perfil del suelo y se realizó la siembra con sembradora de cero labranza, en este tratamiento se retiró todo el rastrojo. En los tratamientos cinco, seis y siete (MAT, CPA, P33; MAT, CPA, P66 y MAT, CPA, P100), se trabajó igual que el tratamiento cuatro, con la diferencia de que en estos tratamientos se dejaron 1.3, 2.6 y 4,0 t/ha de rastrojo en la superficie del suelo, respectivamente.Para maíz se empleó el híbrido XR-45 en una densidad de 69,000 plantas/ha, para avena se utilizó la variedad Chihuahua y de triticale fue la variedad Arne. Para maíz se fertilizó con la fórmula 200-100-00, con fosfonitrato como fuente de nitrógeno y superfosfato de calcio triple como fuente de fósforo. Se aplicó el 50% del nitrógeno y 100% del fósforo en banda al momento de la siembra y el 50% restante del nitrógeno al momento de la segunda escarda, para avena y triticale se fertilizó con la fórmula 80-40-00 y se aplicó elEfecto en altura de planta en tratamiento con rastra y a los lados son tratamientos con agricultura de conservación en la plataforma Soledad de Graciano Sánchez, S.L.P., ciclo PV 2017.50% del nitrógeno y 100% del fósforo en banda al momento de la siembra y el 50% restante del nitrógeno a los 45 días después de la siembra.Para maíz y avena/triticale, en los tratamientos con labranza se emplearon surcos a 0.825 m entre sí y en los tratamientos cuatro, cinco, seis y siete se tienen establecidas camas permanentes de 1.65 m de ancho. Para maíz, en todos los tratamientos se tuvo una distancia entre plantas de 0.17 m, en avena y triticale se establecieron dos hileras por surco separadas 0.25 m entre sí y la semilla se tiró a chorrillo.Para maíz y avena/triticale, el control de la maleza, en los tratamientos cuatro, cinco, seis y siete se realizó con el herbicida glifosato a 1,400 g i.a./ha, aplicado antes de la siembra. Después de la siembra, en el cultivo de maíz se aplicó atrazina a 0.75 kg i.a./ha en todos los tratamientos.Para maíz, en los tratamientos MATr, LC, R; MA-Tr, LM, R y MATr, LM, R se realizó un deshierbe mecánico al momento de realizar las escardas, la primera a los 21 días después de la siembra (DDS) y la segunda a los 35 DDS y el control de gusano cogollero se realizó con Spinetoram.Efecto en el desarrollo radical del cultivo de maíz con agricultura de conservación y labranza convencional en evento demostrativo en la plataforma Soledad de Graciano Sánchez, San Luis Potosí, en el ciclo PV 2017.Se reportan los resultados de avena y triticale forrajero del ciclo otoño-invierno 2017-2018 y del cultivo de maíz en el ciclo primavera-verano 2017. Durante el ciclo de la avena y triticale se dieron 4 riegos de auxilio. En el ciclo del maíz, se realizaron cinco riegos de auxilio de 10 cmAntes de la siembra de maíz y de avena/triticale forrajero, en el tratamiento uno (MAT, LC, R), el barbecho se realizó a una profundidad de 30 cm y se requieren dos pasos de rastra para desmenuzar los terrones y se extrae todo el rastrojo. En el tratamiento dos (MAT, LM, R), la rastra se realizó a 15 cm de profundidad y se requirieron tres pasos de rastra para dejar totalmente mullido el suelo, también se retiró todo el rastrojo. cada uno. El día de la siembra se registró una lluvia de 20 mm que ocasionó la compactación en los tratamientos MAT, LC, R; MAT, LM, R y MAT, LM, R. La lluvia de enero a diciembre de 2017 registrada en la plataforma fue de 576 mm, superior en un 88% al promedio histórico de 305 mm (Fig. 1). Efecto de un evento de lluvia en la emergencia de maíz. A la izquierda en el tratamiento con agricultura de conservación se tuvo un 95% de emergencia, a la derecha con labranza convencional (B+R) fue necesario cincelear y rastrillar para tener un 60% en la emergencia de plantas, en la plataforma Soledad de Graciano Sánchez, S.L.P., ciclo PV 2017. Después del problema de encostramiento al momento de la siembra y la emergencia de las plántulas, durante todo el ciclo del cultivo, el suelo en los tratamientos con labranza presentó problemas de endurecimiento que impidieron el desarrollo de las raíces y de la planta en general.En el Cuadro 13 se presenta un análisis financiero con los tratamientos uno (MATr, LC, R) y cinco (MATr, CPA, P33) como el tratamiento del productor y tratamiento en agricultura de conservación respectivamente.El costo de preparación del suelo en el tratamiento MATr, LC, R fue de $3,600 MXN/ha, mientras que con el cinco se gastaron $2,640 MXN/ha por concepto del control de la maleza con herbicida antes de la siembra y la cantidad de rastrojo que se dejó como cobertura, por lo que se tuvo un ahorro de $960 MXN/ha.Posterior a la siembra, en el tratamiento de B+R se tuvieron problemas de compactación del suelo por presencia de lluvias al final de la siembra, por lo que se requirió descompactar y rastrillar a mano para facilitar la emergencia de las plantas con un costo de $1,350 MXN/ha, mientras que en el tratamiento cinco no fueron necesarias esas labores.Otra actividad que tuvo un costo fue la escarda, de $600 MXN/ha en el tratamiento MATr, LC, R y en el cinco no tuvo costo dado que no se realiza esa actividad en agricultura de conservación. El costo total de producción con el tratamiento MATr, LC, R fue de $27,740 MXN/ha contra $26,030 MXN/ha con el tratamiento cinco. El menor costo y mayor producción con el tratamiento cinco permitió obtener un costo de producción de un kilo de maíz en $2.74 MXN/ha, lo cual representó una reducción del 39.5% relación al registrado con el tratamiento MATr, LC, R. La relación beneficio costo en el tratamiento MATr, LC, R fue de 1.10, mientras que con el tratamiento cinco fue de 1.82.Las bondades de la agricultura de conservación, al mejorar la calidad del suelo, expresadas en el tratamiento cinco, permitieron diferenciar los tratamientos en estudio en aquellos en donde se deteriora el suelo, la calidad del suelo se reduce y ocasiona una reducción en el rendimiento de grano, como son los tratamientos MATr, LC, R, dos y tres, mientras que los tratamientos con labranza cero (LC) con o sin residuos de cultivo en la superficie lograron mejores rendimientos y menores costos de producción, por lo que son una mejor opción que el B+R tradicional.Primavera-verano 2017El rendimiento de maíz entre los diferentes tratamientos obtuvo diferencias significativas (p< 0.05). Los tratamientos con labranza cero (LC) obtuvieron un rendimiento promedio de 8.9 t/ha y superaron a los tratamientos con labranza (Fig. 2).En este ciclo, estos últimos tres tratamientos tuvieron un fuerte problema al momento de la emergencia derivado de la presencia de una lluvia de 20 mm al final de la siembra, la cual fue el 7 de junio. A los cinco días de la siembra, se realizó un paso con los cinceles para aflojar el suelo compactado por la lluvia en los tratamientos con labranza, en los tratamientos con camas permanentes no fue necesario, pues el suelo no se compacto. A los 10 días de la siembra, en los tratamientos con LC, se registró una emergencia del 90%, mientras que en los tres tratamientos con laboreo no se registró ninguna emergencia.Fue necesario realizar un rastrillado manual, para remover terrones y descompactar más el suelo para que a los 21 DDS se registrara un 65% de emergencia en los tratamientos MAT, LC, R y tres y del 48% en el tratamiento dos. Este problema de encostramiento de la superficie del suelo es un problema que se tiene cuando se laborean los suelo.La estructura del suelo se destruye y dado el bajo contenido de materia orgánica en el suelo, las partículas de suelo se reacomodan en forma apelmazada, sin espacios porosos, impidiendo la emergencia de las plántulas. El rendimiento de triticale forrajero registrado no reportó diferencias (p<0.05) y al igual que con el cultivo de la avena forrajera no se tienen evidencias del porque en este ciclo los tratamientos con labranza tuvieron un comportamiento diferente al reportado en los dos últimos ciclos (Fig. 4).En el rendimiento en el ciclo OI 2017-2018 de avena forrajera no había diferencias significativas (p<0.5). El manejo fue el mismo que se ha dado en años anteriores, por lo que no se tiene una evidencia de alguna otra variable que indique la respuesta de los tratamientos, en general, durante este ciclo (Fig. 3). Figura 3. Rendimiento de avena forrajera en materia seca (t/ha) con diferentes métodos de preparación del suelo en el ciclo otoño-invierno 2017-2018 en la plataforma Soledad de Graciano Sánchez, San Luis Potosí. Las barras de error representan los errores estándar de los promedios.Abreviaciones: M= Maiz, A= Avena, Tr= Triticale, LC= Labranza convencional, Ra= Rastra, M+r= Multiarado+rastra, CPA= Camas permanentes ancas, R= Remover todo el rastrojo, P33= dejar rastrojo para 33% de cobertura de suelo, P66= dejar rastrojo para 66% de cobertura de suelo, P100= dejar rastrojo para 100% de cobertura de suelo.Figura 4. Rendimiento de triticale forrajero en materia seca (t/ha) con diferentes métodos de preparación del suelo en el ciclo otoño-invierno 2017-2018 en la plataforma Soledad de Graciano Sánchez, San Luis Potosí. Las barras de error representan los errores estándar de los promedios.Abreviaciones: M= Maiz, A= Avena, Tr= Triticale, LC= Labranza convencional, Ra= Rastra, M+r= Multiarado+rastra, CPA= Camas permanentes ancas, R= Remover todo el rastrojo, P33= dejar rastrojo para 33% de cobertura de suelo, P66= dejar rastrojo para 66% de cobertura de suelo, P100= dejar rastrojo para 100% de cobertura de suelo. El cultivo de triticale es una opción para el ciclo otoño-invierno que supera el rendimiento de la avena, además de ser más tolerante a bajas temperaturas. Se requiere promover la siembra de este cultivo. Con el cultivo de maíz, en este ciclo se hizo énfasis el mejoramiento de la calidad del suelo al incrementar la materia orgánica en el área de siembra de las camas permanentes y evitar con ello problemas de encostramiento como el registrado en los tratamientos con labranza en donde se extrae el 100% de los residuos del cultivo y no se añade nada al suelo, por lo que después de 44 ciclos agrícolas en 22 años, la calidad del suelo se ha deteriorado al grado de que el suelo se compacta fácilmente. Mientras en los tratamientos sin labranza, la calidad del suelo ha permitido mejorar la estructura e incrementar la materia orgánica en el suelo.Por la mejoría en la calidad del suelo y la reducción de costos, la Agricultura de Conservación sigue siendo una mejor opción que el tradicional B+R. Cada año se reafirma la bondad de la agricultura de conservación en la rotación maíz-avena/triticale forrajero de riego.Se busca continuar con la plataforma de investigación como parcela escuela para técnicos y productores, pues en cualquier época del año se pueden apreciar las diferencias en la calidad del suelo y en el desarrollo de los cultivos maíz y avena y triticale forrajero.A partir del ciclo otoño-invierno 2018-2019, el tratamiento tres (MAT, LM, R) se cambiará a un tratamiento para ver la recuperación del suelo con una estructura destruida a una estructura mejorada con cero labranza, con rotación maíz-avena/triticale, con camas permanentes anchas y dejando el 33% del suelo cubierto con rastrojo (ME, MAT, CPA, P33).   Ciclo agrícola OILa plataforma de Investigación de Ahome, Sinaloa, está en el norte del estado, específicamente en la ciudad de Los Mochis. La gran mayoría de la superficie agrícola en el municipio es de riego, el cultivo predominante es el maíz. Dentro de los principales problemas podemos citar los altos costos de producción, alto consumo de agua e incertidumbre de rentabilidad. Por lo anterior en la plataforma de investigación la Asociación de Agricultores del Rio Fuerte Sur (AARFS) valida diferentes ensayos de cultivo de maíz con métodos de agricultura de conservación desde 2012. El principal objetivo de la plataforma es promover prácticas de agricultura sustentable que permitan conservar el suelo, el agua y demás recursos naturales, reducir costos de producción e incrementar la productividad y rentabilidad de la actividad agrícola.Para el ciclo OI 2017-2018 se decidió rediseñar la plataforma con el objetivo de tener un diseño más científico y responder a nuevas preguntas que habían surgido en los 5 años desde el inicio de la plataforma. Los nuevos tratamientos se encuentran en el cuadro 1. Debido al rediseño, el ensayo principal de la plataforma se encontraba en año cero en el ciclo reportado. El área de validación se quedó con camas permanentes, lo que dio la oportunidad de comparar la labranza convencional con las camas permanentes también en este ciclo.En este ciclo 2017/2018 validamos los siguientes ensayos: labranza conservación vs. labranza convencional; programa de riego en tiempo real (Irrimodel); comparativo de densidades de siembra; comparativo de siembra hilera sencilla vs. doble hilera; manejo integrado de plagas (liberación de Trichogramma, Chrysopas y Catarinas) y Fertilización nitrogenada (uso de sensor GreenSeeker). En el área de validación donde se evaluaron biofertilizantes se tuvieron problemas de emergencia debido a que se niveló el terreno, teniendo un efecto de nacencia no uniforme debido al corte que se le dio a la capa arable y no se le aplicó sulfato de zinc para compensar el movimiento de nutrientes del suelo. En cuanto al área de validación de fertilizantes, en una repetición del ensayo con nitrógeno más microessentials, así como en los ensayos de GreenSeeker, se presentaron problemas en la calibración de sembradora e ineficiencia en los riegos de auxilio, ocasionando rendimientos bajos. En cuanto al clima estuvo muy benéfico.En el comparativo de densidades, mostró mejor rendimiento la densidad de 9.5 semillas/m respecto a la densidad de 6.5 semillas/m, con 600 kg/ha de diferencia. Sin embargo, la densidad de 6.5 semillas/m tuvo mayor rentabilidad debido al menor costo de semilla.La siembra en hilera sencilla superó con 1,500 kg a la siembra en doble hilera. Consecuentemente la rentabilidad fue a favor del método en hilera sencilla. Es importante señalar que posiblemente el método en doble hilera fue menor debido a que se presentaron fallas en la distribución de semilla, provocada por una falla en la calibración de la sembradora.Se evaluó la fertilización normal (300 N) contra el tratamiento con 300 N + micronutrientes y el tratamiento 300 N + fosforo. Dentro de los comparativos, el mejor rendimiento fue de 14.7 t/ha con la aplicación de solo 300 N, seguido de 14.1 t/ha aplicando 300 N + fosforo y por último 12.3 t/ha aplicando 300 N + micronutrientes. En el caso de la fertilización de 300 N + micronutrientes se presentaron deficiencias en los riegos de auxilio, siendo factor en su bajo rendimiento.El tratamiento destinado a evaluar los requerimientos de nitrógeno del cultivo mediante el uso del sensor GreenSeeker, arrojaron un rendimiento promedio de 11.5 t/ha, con una fertilización de 140 kg/ha de urea en presiembra y 300 kg/ha en la segunda fertilización, comparado con 510 kg/ha en los otros tratamientos. Eso fue el más bajo de los ensayos, por lo que se continuará calibrando esta herramienta con el propósito de elevar los rendimientos.Por lo anterior, el sistema de labranza de conservación permite una reducción de los costos de producción debido al menor laboreo. En el caso de la plataforma dicho costo ascendió a $23,848 MXN/ha, en comparación al costo de la labranza convencional que fue de $27,342 MXN/ha, lo que significa una diferencia de $3,494 MXN/ha (Fig. 2).Resultados 2017La plataforma tiene importancia como un espacio demostrativo de sistemas y tecnologías que permiten comparar esquemas alternativos de prácticas sustentables, con el manejo tradicional. Se mantiene el sistema de labranza de conservación como una excelente alternativa, por los costos más bajos que representa y los beneficios que significa para la recuperación productiva de los suelos y la protección del ambiente. Esta plataforma se ha convertido en un campo de enseñanza y promoción al servicio de los productores.Plataforma de investigación de AARFS A.C, 25 de abril 2018.Se utilizó la tecnología Irrimodel diseñada por inifap, para determinar las necesidades de riego del cultivo con base a diversas variables climáticas, por lo que se aplicaron cuatro riegos de auxilio.Con el apoyo de la Junta Local de Sanidad Vegetal, se llevó un programa de control de plagas a través de la liberación de insectos benéficos (Trichogrammas, Chrysopas y Catarinas). En total fueron 7 aplicaciones con un monitoreo constante de la población de insectos, lo que redujo de manera considerable la aplicación de productos químicos a solo una aplicación de bioinsecticida Security.Durante todos los años de nuestra plataforma de investigación se ha demostrado que se obtienen rendimientos similares en agricultura de conservación en comparación con labranza convencional, permitiendo mayor rentabilidad la agricultura de conservación sobre labranza convencional debido a la reducción de laboreo. La región del Valle del Yaqui es una de las principales regiones agrícolas de México, se encuentra ubicada en el sur del estado de Sonora con una extensión aproximadamente de 450,000 hectáreas. El principal cultivo de la región es el trigo, sin embargo, se producen importantes cantidades de diversas oleaginosas, maíz, garbanzo y hortalizas.La agricultura en el Valle del Yaqui es muy intensiva, con alto uso de insumos, lo que causa altos costos de producción, degradación del suelo y contaminación ambiental. La zona es árida con restricción de recursos hídricos. Los productores tienen como prioridad la preservación de este vital líquido, por lo que se está implementando el uso de sistemas de producción basados en la agricultura de conservación.Con el fin de desarrollar opciones para los productores, que permitiera hacer una agricultura más sustentable y rentable en la región, se ins-talaron dos plataformas de investigación en la estación experimental del Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (cimmyt) en Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, ubicada a una altitud de 37 msnm, en el municipio de Cajeme, Sonora. En el ciclo otoño-invierno 2005/06, se estableció la primera plataforma de investigación Cajeme I, en la cual se evalúan prácticas agronómicas dentro de un sistema de producción de trigo en condiciones de riego.Los factores que incluye son prácticas de labranza, manejo de rastrojo y rotación de cultivo. Para la labranza se están evaluando camas con labranza convencional y camas permanentes. El manejo de rastrojo incluye dejarlo todo como es el caso del convencional, en el cual es incorporado mientras que en camas permanentes se deja sobre la superficie; se tiene remoción parcial de residuos (dejar 25 cm de pata de trigo y empacar el resto), también se tiene quema.Para evaluar opciones para rotación de cultivo se estudia el monocultivo de trigo sin cultivo de verano, las rotaciones de este con cártamo y garbanzo sin cultivo de verano, trigo-maíz, trigo-sorgo, maíz-sorgo-garbanzo-descanso, maízsorgo-trigo-descanso y alfalfa-trigo (mismo cultivo por 3 años).Los factores que incluye este experimento son prácticas de labranza, manejo de rastrojo y rotación de cultivo. Para la labranza se están evaluando: camas con labranza convencional y camas permanentes, el único movimiento que éstas reciben es al momento de la reformación en cada ciclo, mientras que la superficie se mantiene intacta.El manejo de rastrojo incluye dejarlo todo como es el caso del convencional, el cual es incorporado con la labranza; mientras que en las camas permanentes se mantiene sobre la superficie;se prueba la remoción parcial de residuos (dejar solamente 25 cm de pata de trigo y empaque del resto), también tenemos quema. Se estudia el monocultivo de trigo sin cultivo de verano, rotaciones de cártamo-trigo sin cultivo de verano, trigo-garbanzo sin cultivo de verano, trigo-maíz, trigo-sorgo, maíz-sorgo-garbanzo-descanso, maíz-sorgo-trigo-descanso y alfalfa-trigo (mismo cultivo por 3 ciclos) con descanso en verano (Cuadro 1).El diseño del experimento es de bloques completos al azar con dos repeticiones. En el ciclo otoño-invierno 2017/18 la siembra de trigo se realizó el 12 de diciembre, se utilizó trigo de la variedad Quetchehueca Oro a densidad de 120 kg/ha. Este ciclo fue relativamente favorable. Al inicio de la temporada las temperaturas mínimas fueron más elevadas que las registradas en promedio y hubo menos horas frío que lo deseado para un buen desarrollo del trigo. Sin embargo, al finalizar las temperaturas máximas estaba cercas del promedio, lo que permitió un buen llenado de grano (Fig. 1).Cuadro 1. Tratamientos en la plataforma Cajeme I, Sonora, ciclo 2017-2018.Núm. de trat.  Durante el ciclo se recopilaron datos agronómicos como el número de plantas por m², también se hicieron mediciones del índice diferencial de vegetación normalizado (ndvi), los datos fueron colectados utilizando el sensor óptico portátil ndvi (GreenSeekerTM, NTech Industries, Inc, USA). Las mediciones se llevaron a cabo pasando el sensor por el centro de la cama a una altura aproximada de 0.8 m sobre la superficie del cultivo. La cobertura de la franja del sensor es aproximadamente 0.6 m de ancho.Al finalizar la temporada del cultivo, el área central de cada parcela (15 m × 1.6 m) fue cose-chada y se determinó rendimiento de grano y sus componentes del rendimiento, de acuerdo con el protocolo descrito en Pask et al. (2012).Para el análisis de las curvas de ndvi se empleó la función Proc Mixed del paquete estadístico SAS y la instrucción Repeated para las mediciones repetidas. Los datos agronómicos y los de rendimiento se analizaron mediante la varianza de Proc glm (anova) utilizando el paquete estadístico SAS. La comparación de medias de los tratamientos se hizo con la prueba del rango estudentizado de Tukey's, considerando como diferencias significativas con p≤0.05. Respecto a la población de plantas de trigo, el mayor valor fue obtenido en camas permanentes, dejando rastrojo y rotación garbanzo-trigo con descanso en verano (199 plantas/m²), seguido de los tratamientos de rotación trigo-maíz, camas permanentes, quema de rastrojo y en rota-ción cártamo-trigo descanso en verano, dejando rastrojo en camas permanentes (promedio de 187 plantas/m²) (Fig. 2), significativamente más alto que en los otros tratamientos, con excepción de camas permanentes, con rotación trigo-maíz y retención parcial de rastrojo y monocultivo de trigo dejando rastrojo. La menor población de plantas fue en camas con labranza convencional, quema de rastrojo y rotación trigo-maíz (112 plantas/m²).El rendimiento más alto fue obtenido con las rotaciones de trigo-garbanzo y en trigo-cártamo, ambas en camas permanentes dejando todo el rastrojo (promedio de 8.9 t/ha) contrario a la práctica del monocultivo de trigo en camas convencionales dejando rastrojo en el cual se tuvo el menor rendimiento (4.8 t/ha) (Fig. 3), aunque es importante mencionar que este tratamiento tiene problemas con maleza de correhuela (Convolvulus arvensis), la cual provoca disminución en su rendimiento. Se obtuvieron buenos resultados con la rotación de cultivos en camas permanentes, aumentando el rendimiento en más de una tonelada en rotación garbanzo-trigo y cártamo-trigo en comparación con el monocultivo trigotrigo, lo que también genero mayor utilidad en los tratamientos con estas rotaciones. Sin embargo, el rendimiento aumenta 2.7 t/ha cuando en monocultivo de trigo, se omite la labranza convencional y se hacen camas permanentes. Con la rotación trigo-maíz, en camas permanentes el rendimiento fue similar cuando se dejó todo el rastrojo (8.1 t/ha) y cuando el rastrojo fue retenido de manera parcial (7.9 t/ha). En camas permanentes con la misma rotación trigo-maíz la quema de rastrojo disminuyó el rendimiento con 0.6 t/ha (7.5 t/ha) en comparación con retención de rastrojo. En la rotación trigo-maíz, hacer labranza bajó el rendimiento con más de 1 t/ha a 6.9 t/ha cuando se deja el rastrojo y 6.7 t/ha cuando se quema, en comparación con camas permanentes donde se deja el rastrojo (8.1 t/ha).Los rendimientos promedios del resto de los tratamientos en la plataforma fueron: 14.1 t/ha de maíz en el tratamiento de rotación maíz-sorgogarbanzo-nada y 13.7 t/ha en rotación maízsorgo-trigo-nada; 2.1 t/ha de cártamo en rotación cártamo-descanso-trigo-descanso; 1.3 t/ha de garbanzo en rotación garbanzo-descanso-maíz-sorgo y 1.5 t/ha en rotación garbanzo-descanso-tri-go-descanso todos los tratamientos anteriores son sembrados sobre camas permanentes con retención de rastrojo.La mayor utilidad del cultivo de trigo se presentó en camas permanentes, dejando rastrojo, con rotación trigo-cártamo descanso en verano (CDTD, CP, Dej) rotación trigo-garbanzo descanso en verano (GDTD, CP, Dej), en promedio $23,133 MXN/ha (Fig. 4). La menor utilidad ($4,690 MXN/ha) fue con el tratamiento tradicional sobre camas con labranza convencional, incorporación de rastrojo, monocultivo de trigo y descanso en verano (TDTD, CC, Dej); Incrementando a $17,228 MXN/ha cuando de camas convencionales pasan a ser permanentes (TDTD, CP, Dej). En rotación de trigo-maíz la mayor utilidad se tuvo cuando se sembró sobre camas permanentes, dejando rastrojo ($19,629 MXN/ha; TMTM, CP, Dej) disminuyendo a $12,411 MXN/ha cuando se hizo labranza convencional y quema de rastrojo (TMTM, CC, Que).La utilidad de los dos tratamientos de maíz fue similar, en promedio $29,785 MXN/ha. La menor utilidad se obtuvo con el cultivo de cártamo, el cual resultó en una pérdida de $395 MXN/ha. El garbanzo en rotación con trigo fue rentable ($6,376 MXN/ha) debido al buen precio de garbanzo 16 MXN/kg, aunque los costos fueron altos. Garbanzo después de sorgo tuvo un rendimiento más bajo, lo que afectó la utilidad, la cual fue de $847 MXN/ha. Los valles del Yaqui y del Mayo es una de las principales regiones agrícolas de México, se encuentra en el sur del estado de Sonora con una extensión aproximadamente de 450,000 hectáreas. El principal cultivo de la región es el trigo, con alto uso de insumos, lo que causa altos costos de producción, degradación de suelo y contaminación ambiental. Para desarrollar opciones a los productores y hacer la agricultura de la región más sustentable y rentable, se instaló una plataforma de investigación en el municipio de Cajeme, Sonora, en el 2013.En el ciclo otoño-invierno 2013/14, se llevó a cabo la instalación de la plataforma de investigación Cajeme II, en donde participaron productores del Valle del Yaqui y Mayo en el diseño de sus tratamientos. Esto con el objetivo de considerar las necesidades, problemáticas e intereses de los productores en la región e identificar los manejos que realizan de forma convencional.Entre los temas con más relevancia en la región están: i) realizar la siembra de trigo en tres o más número de hileras por cama, ii) hacer uso eficiente del agua, iii) disminuir los problemas de emergencia cuando la siembra se hace en suelo seco e iv) implementar una diversificación de cultivos alternativos al trigo. A partir de las inquietudes de los productores, se diseñó la plataforma con el objetivo de evaluar diferentes prácticas agronómicas dentro del sistema de producción de trigo en condiciones de riego.Los tratamientos permiten evaluar el rendimiento de los cultivos sembrados con la práctica convencional del productor (siembra sobre camas con labranza convencional, trigo en monocultivo e incorporación de rastrojo) y los rendimientos obtenidos en camas permanentes (las camas permanentes se forman al iniciar el ensayo y después de cada ciclo solo se hace una reformación de los fondos, la siembra se hace de manera directa en camas del ciclo anterior).Además, en camas permanentes se evalúan el efecto de dejar o remover rastrojo, el efecto de sembrar en dos o tres hileras y el efecto de la ro-tación de trigo con cártamo. Se consideró el cultivo de cártamo porque en otros experimentos ha demostrado ser un cultivo con efectos positivos sobre la calidad física de suelo. Para evaluar el uso eficiente del agua se tienen tratamientos con solo tres riegos de auxilio en vez de cuatro, en camas permanentes y camas con labranza convencional, para evaluar el efecto del número de riegos en ambas prácticas de labranza.La plataforma Cajeme II está ubicada en la estación experimental del Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (cimmyt) en Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, situada a una altitud de 37 msnm, con coordenadas 27°23'46.26\" N 109°55'23.11\" O.Los factores que incluyen son prácticas de labranza (camas con labranza convencional y camas permanentes), manejo de rastrojo (dejar y remover), número de riegos de auxilio (3 y 4 riegos), rotación de cultivo (monocultivo de trigo, trigo-cártamo y trigo-trigo-cártamo), número de hileras del cultivo de trigo (2 y 3 hileras) y manejo de fertilización (normal y recomendación del sensor greenseeker) (Cuadro 1).El diseño experimental es de bloques completos al azar con tres repeticiones. Todos los tratamientos tienen siembra en ciclo otoño-invierno y descanso en verano. En el ciclo otoño-invierno 2017/18 la siembra de trigo se realizó el 12 de diciembre y el cártamo el 21 de diciembre de 2017. La variedad de trigo que se utilizó fue Cirno a densidad de 120 kg/ha y cártamo Ciano Oleico a densidad de 15 kg/ha.Cuadro 1. Tratamientos en la plataforma Cajeme II, Sonora, ciclo 2017-2018. El tratamiento con dos hileras se sembró con la misma densidad de semilla que los tratamientos con tres hileras. La siembra se llevó a cabo en húmedo. Para trigo la dosis de fertilización fue de 59 kg N/ha y 52 kg P 2 O 5 /ha en pre-siembra y 175 kg N/ha antes del primer riego de auxilio; solo en tratamiento 12 la segunda fertilización se basó en la recomendación de las mediciones con el sensor GreenSeeker (lo recomendado fue de 137 kg N/ha).Para cártamo se aplicaron 25 kg N/ha y 52 kg P 2 O 5 /ha en pre-siembra y 120 kg N/ha antes del primer riego de auxilio. Este ciclo fue relativamente favorable. Al inicio de la temporada las temperaturas mínimas fueron más elevadas que las registradas en promedio y hubo menos horas frío que lo deseado para un buen desarrollo del trigo. Sin embargo, al finalizar las temperaturas máximas estaba cercas del promedio, lo que permitió un buen llenado de grano (Fig. 1 capitulo plataforma Cajeme I).Después de la emergencia del trigo, se contaron las plantas en tres áreas de una cama de ancho y 50 cm de largo, para determinar la población;también se hicieron mediciones del índice diferencial de vegetación normalizado (NDVI), los datos fueron colectados utilizando el sensor óptico portátil NDVI (GreenSeekerTM, NTech Industries, Inc, USA). Las mediciones se llevaron a cabo pasando el sensor por el centro de la cama a una altura aproximada de 0.8 m sobre la superficie del cultivo. La cobertura de la franja del sensor es aproximadamente 0.6 m de ancho.Al finalizar la temporada del cultivo, se cosecharon tres muestras de 15 m de largo y dos camas (1.6 m) de ancho en cada parcela en la plataforma y se determinó rendimiento de grano y sus componentes de rendimiento, de acuerdo con el protocolo descrito en Pask et al. (2012).Para el análisis de las curvas de NDVI se empleó la función Proc Mixed del paquete estadístico SAS y la instrucción Repeated para las mediciones repetidas. Las curvas se dividieron en periodos y cada uno se analizó por separado. Los periodos fueron: periodo I (23-42 días después de la siembra (DDS)), periodo II (58-86 DDS) y periodo III (90-105 DDS), finalizando la toma de datos de manera temprana debido a la presencia de acame en las parcelas desde mediados de abril. Los datos agronómicos y los de rendimiento se analizaron mediante la varianza de Proc glm (ANOVA) utilizando el paquete estadístico SAS. La comparación de medias de los tratamientos se hizo con la prueba del rango estudentizado de Tukey's, considerando como diferencias significativas con p≤0.05.Mediante el uso del sensor GreenSeeker se podía medir el desarrollo de los cultivos en el tiempo. Mayores valores de NDVI indicaron mayor porcentaje del suelo cubierto con cultivo. Las mediciones indicaron que los cultivo sembrado a doble hilera tenían un desarrollo de cobertura más lenta que los tratamientos sembrados a triple hilera (Fig. 2).Respecto a la población de plantas de trigo por metro cuadrado (Fig. 3) los mayores valores fueron obtenidos en camas convencionales, dejando rastrojo, monocultivo de trigo con 4 y 3 riegos de auxilio (TT, CC, Dej y TT, CC, Dej, 3R; pro-Fig. 2. Curvas (NDVI vs. Días después de la siembra) de crecimiento y desarrollo del cultivo de trigo de la plataforma Cajeme II del Hub Pacífico Norte en Cd. Obregón, Sonora.Abreviaciones: T= trigo, C= cártamo; CC= camas con labranza convencional, CP= camas permanentes; Dej= dejar todo el rastrojo, Rem= remover todo el rastrojo; 3R= 3 riegos de auxilio, 2H= Siembra a 2 hileras y GS= Sensor GreenSeeker.Fig. 3. Resultados del número de plantas de trigo en el ciclo 2017/18 de la plataforma Cajeme II del Hub Pacífico Norte en Cd. Obregón, Sonora. Los tratamientos con la misma letra no son significativamente diferentes (p≤0.05). Las barras de error representan los errores estándar de los promedios.Abreviaciones: T= trigo, C= cártamo; CC= camas con labranza convencional, CP= camas permanentes; Dej= dejar todo el rastrojo, Rem= remover todo el rastrojo; 3R= 3 riegos de auxilio, 2H= Siembra a 2 hileras y GS= Sensor GreenSeeker.medio de 220 plantas/m²), existiendo diferencia significativa con el resto de los tratamientos donde se utilizaron las camas permanentes. La menor población de plantas fue en los tratamientos con siembra a doble hilera y recomendación del sensor GreenSeeker (TT, CP, Dej, 2H, GS; 167 plantas/m²).El mayor rendimiento de trigo (7.7 t/ha) fue obtenido en camas permanentes, dejando rastrojo con rotación trigo-trigo-cártamo (TTC, CP, Dej); al igual que cuando se hizo la rotación anual con cártamo (CT, CP, Dej) mismas condiciones de labranza y manejo de rastrojo, así como con monocultivo de trigo, siembra a doble hilera y recomendación de sensor GreenSeeker, los cuales presentaron en promedio 7.4 t/ha (Fig. 4).El rendimiento en la práctica tradicional del productor con monocultivo, camas con labranza convencional e incorporación de rastrojo fue de 6.6 t/ha, incrementando 0.5 t/ha al convertirlo en camas permanentes, con monocultivo y dejando rastrojo (7.1 t/ha). Sembrar 2 o 3 hileras en camas permanentes resultó en rendimientos similares. Omitir el cuarto riego de auxilio resultó en un rendimiento de 5.8 t/ha tanto en camas permanentes (TT, CP, Dej, 3R) como en camas con labranza convencional (TT, CC, Dej, 3R), ambos en monocultivo y dejando rastrojo. En promedio el rendimiento de Fig. 4. Resultados del rendimiento de trigo en el ciclo 2017/18 de la plataforma Cajeme II del Hub Pacífico Norte en Cd. Obregón, Sonora. Los tratamientos con la misma letra no son significativamente diferentes (p≤0.05). Las barras de error representan los errores estándares de los promedios.Abreviaciones: T= trigo, C= cártamo; CC= camas con labranza convencional, CP= camas permanentes; Dej= dejar todo el rastrojo, Rem= remover todo el rastrojo; 3R= 3 riegos de auxilio, 2H= Siembra a 2 hileras y GS= Sensor GreenSeeker.Los rendimientos de trigo fueron más altos en camas permanentes comparados con camas con labranza convencional. La rotación con cártamo incrementó el rendimiento aún más comparado con el sistema convencional de monocultivo.El trigo sembrado en dos hileras cubre el suelo más lento, como fue evidenciado por las mediciones de NDVI y conteo de plantas, sin embargo, el rendimiento de grano es similar a trigo sembrado en tres hileras. Con el uso de GreenSeeker se ahorró 38 kg N/ha obteniendo un rendimiento similar al tratamiento más rendidor del ensayo. Para el establecimiento de esta plataforma se preparó el terreno bajo un sistema de labranza mínima con doble rastreo cruzado, nivelación y marca de surcos a 0.75 m. Todo lo anterior considerando un año cero, con la finalidad de que para el siguiente ciclo se reduzca a una sola remarca de camas de siembra y aplicación de herbicidas.Núm. de trat. La plataforma Culiacán se encuentra en los terrenos agrícolas de la facultad de agronomía de la Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa. Se estableció en el ciclo agrícola OI 2017/2018 iniciando con la implementación de un experimento principal en el que se evaluó el rendimiento y calidad de 14 materiales amarillos de maíz. Asimismo, se estableció un ensayo de validación del sensor Green-Seeker para optimizar el uso de fertilizantes nitrogenados, para esto se contó con una franja rica en N, una franja con la práctica del productor y una franja siguiendo la recomendación del sensor GreenSeeker, también se estableció un ensayo de dosis crecientes de N.Con la implementación de estos ensayos se pretende, en primer lugar, evaluar el potencial de rendimiento y calidad de los híbridos de maíz que podrían ser fuente principal de materia prima para la compañía Kellogg's, mientras que en el ensayo de validación se buscan las alternativas sustentables de reducir el uso irracional de nitrógeno en la producción de maíz. Ciclo agrícola OILos tratamientos evaluados dentro del ensayo principal consistieron en 14 materiales amarillos de maíz en dos repeticiones (Cuadro 1), los cuales son de interés de la compañía Kellogg's, dentro de ellos está el material P32T83 que es el que utiliza dicha empresa como fuente principal de materia prima para la elaboración de ciertos productos. De los materiales se evaluó su rendimiento y calidad de grano.Resultados 2017Se estableció un ensayo de dosis crecientes de nitrógeno, donde se contemplaron 6 tratamientos, los rendimientos variaban entre 2.7 y 10.4 t/ha (Fig. 2). Con la dosis de 430 kg N/ha se alcanzó el rendimiento y utilidad máximo, con la dosis de 500 kg N/ha no aumentaron más. En todos tratamientos la dosis de nitrógeno necesario para producir una tonelada era mayor a los 40 kg, esa baja eficiencia se debe en parte a la fertilización con amoniaco, lo cual se pierde muy fácilmente por volatilización o lixiviación.taron problemas de germinación y emergencia en el material 14 (SJN 106451) y con respecto a plagas la principal fue gusano cogollero para la cual se realizó una aplicación de insecticida.Para la implementación de los ensayos dentro de la plataforma se procedió a realizar la preparación del terreno mediante labranza reducida, que incluyó 2 pasos de rastra cruzado, una nivelación o empareje del terreno, así como la marca de surcos; posteriormente se realizó el trazo de canales y desagües. El riego para germinación se realizó del 27 al 30 de noviembre de 2017.Se realizó una aplicación de glifosato el 20 de diciembre de 2017, a una dosis de 2 l/ha + adherente a razón de 1 ml/l de agua. Posteriormente se realizó una escarificación o descostre y simultáneamente la aplicación de fertilizante nitrogenado con base de amoniaco anhidro a razón de 200 kg/ha. La siembra se realizó el 29 de diciembre de 2017 y al día siguiente se pasó el rodado del tractor para el sellado del surco de siembra. La marca de surcos se realizó a una distancia entre ellos de 0.75 m. Se calibró la sembradora para que depositara 7 semillas por metro, obteniendo una densidad de plantas de 93,100 por hectárea.Asimismo se estableció un ensayo de validación del sensor GreenSeeker para optimizar el uso de fertilizantes nitrogenados, se contó con una franja rica en N (300 kg N/ha en presiembra + 100 kg N/ha en segunda fertilización), un área productor (200 kg N/ha en presiembra + 200 kg N/ha en segunda fertilización y un área de sensor (75 kg N/ha en presiembra + 50 kg N/ha en segunda fertilización), además se estableció un ensayo de dosis crecientes de N, con 75 kg N/ ha en presiembra y 75, 145, 215, 285, 355 y 425 kg N/ha en el primer riego de auxilio. Se utilizó el híbrido comercial DK 4050 de la compañía Dekalb.Las franjas estuvieron conformadas por 12 surcos con separación de 0.75 m y de 105 m de longitud, a excepción de la franja del sensor, la cual contó con una longitud de 50 m, ya que en el resto se estableció un experimento con dosis crecientes de N.La siembra de los ensayos se realizó el 29 de diciembre de 2017, fecha relativamente tardía para el cultivo de maíz principalmente de las variedades amarillas, cuya fecha más recomendable es en noviembre, considerando lo anterior un factor que influyó en el rendimiento de los materiales evaluados.Es importante mencionar que las temperaturas durante el ciclo del cultivo principalmente en febrero y marzo estuvieron relativamente altas y en los meses subsecuentes, lo que originó que el ciclo se redujera aproximadamente 25 días. Se presen-Nivelación del terreno realizado después de dar dos pasos de rastra, 6 de noviembre 2017.Se evaluaron 14 híbridos de maíz amarillo, no había diferencias significativas entre los rendimientos, pero el material NA 102Y obtuvo el mayor rendimiento con 11.1 t/ha; seguido del material XR 22A el cual presentó un rendimiento de 9.6 t/ha, superando al híbrido comercial P 32T83 que es el que utiliza la empresa Kellogg´s como fuente de materia prima con 2.7 y 1.2 t/ha respectivamente (Fig. 1).Pacífico Norte Figura 2. Rendimientos promedio ajustados al 14% de humedad de los híbridos de maíz amarillo.Las barras de error representan los errores estándar de los promedios. Las barras de error representan los errores estándar de los promedios.  Los híbridos de maíz amarillo evaluados presentan un potencial de rendimiento aceptable. El uso de sensores ópticos puede ser una herramienta bastante útil para reducir el uso de fertilizantes nitrogenados en el cultivo de maíz en el valle de Culiacán, pero es necesario validarlo en los siguientes ciclos.La implementación de un sistema de labranza de conservación en la plataforma de investigación permitirá reducir los costos de producción, y por consiguiente un aumento en la productividad, así como también crear un precedente que permita que los productores agrícolas de esta región opten por estas nuevas alternativas de producción de maíz.Establecimiento del año 2 en la plataforma de investigación, asimismo iniciar con la implementación del sistema de labranza de conservación. Se pretende también implementar nuevas alternativas sustentables del manejo de plagas mediante el uso de feromonas para reducir el número de aplicaciones de insecticidas químicos. Establecer el ensayo de validación del sensor GreenSeeker con la finalidad de ir ajustando la calibración más correcta para reducir la cantidad de nitrógeno aplicada en el cultivo de maíz.Labor de cultivo y fertilización complementaria a base de amoniaco anhídrido, 13 de febrero 2018. La Asociación de Agricultores del Río Sinaloa Poniente, A.C. cuenta con una plataforma de investigación con 8 años implementando el sistema de agricultura de conservación. Se maneja un sistema de agricultura intensiva en la producción de granos, con el objetivo de bajar los costos de producción sin afectar el rendimiento del cultivo establecido. Además, en búsqueda de implementar otras tecnologías como el Green-Seeker o Irrimodel para ser un sistema integral y manejable para el productor.Este ciclo OI 2017-2018 fue típico, hubo una precipitación de 322 mm en los meses de junio a septiembre del 2017. En la plataforma no se presentó ningún problema con el manejo de rastrojo y malezas tales como verdolaga (Portulaca oleracea), golondrina hoja ancha (Boerhavia sp.), correhuela (Ipomoea purpurea).Se realizó por quinto año consecutivo la Expo en Agricultura de Conservación, con la participación de empresas distribuidoras de equipos de Agricultura de Conservación, maquinaria agrícola de la región, empresas semilleras que utilizan los genotipos de Cimmyt, además se contó con la compañía el Dr. Bram Govaerts con una conferencia para los productores y estudiantes de agronomía de la región.También estuvo el Secretario de Agricultura del Gobierno del Estado de Sinaloa el Ing. Juan Enrique Habermann Gastelum. Se tuvo una participación de aproximadamente de 500 personas en dicho evento. Se realizó la siembra de los maíces amarillos del convenio con la empresa Kellogg's donde se validaron 14 híbridos de 8 empresas nacionales e internacionales, donde se obtuvieron buenos resultados de rendimiento.En el sistema de agricultura de conservación, la franja con manejo del productor y la franja donde se aplicó la tecnología del Sensor GreenSeeker obtuvieron el mismo rendimiento (15.75 t/ha), la diferencia se dio en el total de unidades de nitrógeno que se aplicó. En la franja del productor en ambos sistemas de labranza se aplicaron 357 kg nitrógeno/ha, en la franja sensor convencional se aplicaron 206 N por kg de nitrógeno/ha, y en la franja sensor de conservación se aplicaron 198 N por kg de nitrógeno/ha, (Fig. 1) Al utilizar las tecnologías de sensor GreenSeeker se logra disminuir el uso de fertilizante nitrogenado en el cultivo lo que se refleja en un ahorro considerable de los costos de producción, si a esta tecnología le sumamos la Agricultura de Conservación los costos de producción disminuyen aún más.En unidades de nitrógeno se ahorró en promedio en ambos sistemas de labranza alrededor de 155 unidades de nitrógeno lo que equivale a un ahorro de $3,169 MXN/ha.Los productores están interesados en incursionar en Agricultura de Conservación donde ya se conformó un club de labranza de conservación de la Asociación de Agricultores donde están integrados 21 productores con una superficie de 650 ha.Además, se obtuvo un buen resultado de los híbridos amarillos que se pudieran incluir en el programa de diversificación de cultivos para apoyar al productor a que obtenga una opción mas de sembrar otro tipo de maíz.En costos de fertilización, en la franja donde se aplicó la tecnología del sensor GreenSeeker en camas convencionales se tuvo un ahorro de $2,051/ha respecto al manejo del productor; en camas permanentes se tuvo un ahorro de $2,168. (Fig. 2)Se evaluaron 14 híbridos diferentes que obtuvieron un rango de rendimiento a partir de 12.9 t/ha como máximo y 8.4 t/ha como mínimo. Los tres mejores híbridos fueron XR35A de la empresa Ceres, el testigo 32T83 de Pioneer y el hibrido NA102Y de la empresa Novasem, dichos híbridos tienen buen potencial de rendimiento para continuar mínimo otros dos años (Fig. 3).Figura 3. Resultado de rendimientos de los híbridos amarillos. El cultivo de trigo es el de mayor importancia económica en el Sur de Sonora, se produce bajo el sistema convencional, con el 85% de la superficie en monocultivo (trigo-trigo). Hay un alto uso de insumos (semilla, fertilizantes, agroquímicos) y la maquinaria se emplea en forma intensiva.Estas prácticas agronómicas inadecuadas a través del tiempo han dado como resultado impactos negativos en la productividad de los suelos y calidad del ambiente.En el Valle del Mayo el clima tiene gran impacto en el sistema de producción. Un problema importante es la recurrente de falta de agua para riego en la presa de almacenamiento, lo que trae como consecuencia reducción de la superficie de siembra para trigo, como ocurrió en ciclo OI 2011-12.Esta dependencia del nivel de agua en las presas genera incertidumbre por los productores año tras año. La presa que abastece el Valle del Mayo con agua de riego es de menor capacidad que las presas del Valle del Yaqui, por lo que en el Valle del Mayo se hacen tres riegos de auxilio en trigo y 4 el Valle del Yaqui.Por eso el rendimiento de trigo es menor en el Valle del Mayo y el uso racional de agua es de aun mayor importancia. Además de esos problemas, se ha observado una mayor variabilidad del tiempo en los últimos años, lo que ha afectado la producción agrícola regional.Para contrarrestar en parte la problemática expuesta, es necesario incorporar alternativas sostenibles. Una alternativa es producir bajo el sistema de Agricultura de Conservación, es una tecnología que incrementa la productividad y se optimiza los recursos e insumos, reduce el costo y trabaja en armonía con el medio ambiente. Un componente importante es la rotación de cultivos, en ese sentido el objetivo del trabajo en la plataforma fue evaluar la respuesta en rendimiento de diferentes números de riegos de auxilio, cultivos y rotaciones en Agricultura de Conservación.La plataforma de investigación se ubica en terrenos del Sitio Experimental Valle del Mayo (INIFAP), en Navojoa, Sonora, a una altitud de 32 msnm. Se estableció durante el ciclo Otoño-Invierno (OI) 2010-11. Cuenta con una superficie disponible de 7.5 hectáreas donde se evalúan los 32 tratamientos los efectos de rotación, variedad de trigo, tipo de labranza y numero de riegos (Cuadro 1). Los principales tratamientos que se están evaluando, son las rotaciones de los cultivos de trigo, maíz y cártamo, validación de variedades de trigo y calendarios de riego en trigo, todos estos bajo el sistema de camas permanentes, más su comparativo en labranza convencional. Resumen del ciclo del reporte:La plataforma normalmente se establece a tierra venida (siembra en húmedo), por lo que durante el mes de noviembre de 2017 se dio el riego de presiembra con la intención de sembrar alrededor del 15 de diciembre, sin embargo, cuando se iba a iniciar la siembra se presentó una lluvia atípica de más de 50 mm, razón por la cual la siembra se retrasó hasta el 10 de enero, sacando a los cultivos de su fecha óptima. Al final del ciclo y derivado de la fecha de siembra tardía, no fue posible aplicar el tercer riego de auxilio al cultivo, ya que cerraron la presa que abastece esta plataforma, esto se vio reflejado en los bajos rendimientos obtenidos este ciclo.La información utilizada para este trabajo comprende el ciclo 2017-2018. Los tratamientos evaluados forman parte de todas las posibles rotaciones entre los cultivos de trigo, maíz y cártamo, evaluación de variedades de garbanzo, variedades de trigo con dos riegos de auxilio, ya que no fue posible aplicar el tercer riego que se había planeado, todo con riego por gravedad.La preparación del terreno se inició con la cosecha del cultivo anterior, esta se realizó con una trilladora equipada con chopper y dispersor de paja, se dejó el 100% de los residuos sobre la superficie del terreno. El control de maleza se hizo con herbicidas, se fertilizo y revistió la surquería (80 cm). La siembra se realizó en suelo húmedo con sembradora especializada para AC, la máquina multi-uso multi-cultivo, con una densidad de 110, 20 y 10 kg/ha de semilla para trigo, maíz y cártamo respectivamente.Las variedades sembradas fueron Cirno C-2008, Borlaug 100, Baroyeca Oro C2013 y Quetchehueca Oro C2013 para trigo, Armadillo para maíz y CIANO Oleica para cártamo. La fertilización de trigo fue 158 kg/ha N y 65 kg/ha P 2 O 5 en banda en presiembra más 92 kg/ha N, en banda antes del primer riego de auxilio (fórmula: 250-65-00).La fertilización de maíz fue 158 kg/ha N y 65 kg/ha P 2 O 5 en banda en presiembra más 140 kg/ ha N, en banda antes del primer riego de auxilio (fórmula: 298-65-00). La fertilización de cártamo fue 158 kg/ha N y 65 kg/ha P 2 O 5 en banda en presiembra más 55 kg/ha N, en banda antes del primer riego de auxilio (fórmula: 213-65-00). Para estimar el rendimiento de grano, se tomaron 6 muestras de 2 surcos de 5 m de largo (8.0 m 2 ). Las variables medidas fueron: rendimiento de grano y principales componentes de rendimiento.Red de Plataformas de Investigación cimmytHub | Navojoa, SonoraPacífico NorteEn el ensayo principal se evaluaron los rendimientos de grano de trigo, maíz y cártamo y sus diferentes rotaciones bajo el sistema de Agricultura de Conservación. El monocultivo afecto fuertemente el rendimiento de grano, especialmente en maíz y cartamo. Los rendimientos más elevados para maíz y cártamo fueron en la rotación con el cultivo de trigo, mientras que el rendimiento de trigo más elevado fue en la rotación con el cultivo de cártamo.El rendimiento de grano de trigo obtenido en el sistema de Agricultura de Conservación, con camas permanentes, retención de rastrojo y rotación de cultivos fue similar comparado con el sistema de labranza convencional. El mejor tratamiento fue la rotación trigo sobre cártamo, superando al testigo de labranza convencional (Fig. 1). Para maíz el monocultivo en camas permanentes presentó el rendimiento más bajo, el mejor tratamiento Figura 1. Rendimiento de maíz en Agricultura de Conservación al 14% de humedad, bajo diferentes rotaciones, comparado con maíz en monocultivo en labranza convencional (LT) en la plataforma de Navojoa, Sonora, OI 2017-2018.Abreviaciones: Trigo LT= Monocultivo de trigo en labranza convencional.Figura 2. Rendimiento de trigo en Agricultura de Conservación al 12% de humedad, bajo diferentes rotaciones, comparado con el sistema de labranza convencional (Trigo LT) en la plataforma de Navojoa, Sonora, OI 2017-2018.Cuadro 2. Rendimiento de grano (kg/ha) de los diferentes cultivos evaluados en AC y sus respectivas rotaciones en el ciclo OI17-18 en la plataforma de Navojoa, Sonora. De los diferentes cultivos evaluados, el cultivo de maíz en promedio presentó la relación beneficio-costo más elevada, seguido por el cultivo de trigo y finalmente el cultivo de cártamo, en lo referente al cultivo de garbanzo, este presenta una tasa de retorno muy aceptable, pero por ser el primer año de evaluación es necesario repetir este tratamiento el siguiente ciclo para tener una mayor certeza. En los tratamientos de Agricultura de Conservación, la mayor relación beneficio-costo siempre for por un tratamiento con rotación, debido al incremento en rendimiento generado por la rotación. fue maíz sobre trigo en camas permanentes, superando al testigo de labranza convencional por más de una tonelada por hectárea (Fig. 2). Para cártamo, el monocultivo en Agricultura de Conservación presentó el rendimiento más bajo, mientras que la rotación cártamo sobre trigo presentó el mejor rendimiento, superando al testigo de labranza convencional (Fig. 3). Los mejores rendimientos de los cultivos en camas permanentes se obtuvieron en los tratamientos donde se realizaron rotaciones, comparados con los tratamientos donde se utiliza el monocultivo, lo que demuestra el beneficio del tercer principio de Agricultura de Conservación, la diversificación de cultivos.La siembra de trigo a triple hilera se presentó como mejor opción que la siembra a doble hilera, debido a la siembra tardia. La relación beneficio-costo de todos los tratamientos siempre fue mejor en los sistemas de AC comparados con labranza convencional.La falta de agua sigue siendo un problema en el Valle del Mayo, por lo que se pretende continuar con los tratamientos en rotación y agregar cultivos de baja demanda de agua como el girasol y cártamo y realizar siembra en seco y continuar con la evaluación de dos y tres riegos en trigo.Madurez de garbanzo en Agricultura de Conservación, Navojoa, Sonora, 16 de abril 2018.En OI2017-2018 por primera vez se evaluado el cultivo de garbanzo en la plataforma, Se evaluaron dos variedades de la cual la nueva variedad Blanoro presentó un rendimiento de grano (1.64 t/ha) algo mayor que la variedad testigo Blanco Sinaloa (1.49 t/ha). También se hizo una evaluación de variedades de trigo cristalino, en camas permanentes con dos hileras de siembra. En cuanto a las variedades sigue sobresaliendo la variedad CIRNO C2008 con rendimientos de 5.3 t/ ha seguido por Quetchehueca Oro C2013 con 5.2 t/ha y Baroyeca Oro C2013 con 5.0 t/ha. Baroyeca Oro C2013 tambien fue sembrado en tres hileras y obtuvo un rendimiento de 5.9 t/ha en esos arreglo.  En cada uno de los ciclos se han establecido variedades comerciales de maíz, trigo y avena propias de la región del Valle del Mezquital, y se ha centrado la atención en el cultivo de maíz, siendo el cultivo de mayor predominio en la zona. Durante el establecimiento de la misma se han efectuado una serie de capacitaciones abordando diversas temáticas como: manejo agroecológico de plagas, manejo poscosecha de grano, uso y manejo adecuado de agroquímicos, así como diversas prácticas en campo mediante demostraciones y recorridos, dirigidas a las demandas de los productores de la región.Se evalúan 6 tratamientos en la plataforma, que comparan la labranza convencional, la retención de rastrojos y la rotación de maíz con avena o trigo (Cuadro 1). La siembra se efectuó el 5 de abril  Antes de la siembra se realizó la reformación de camas. Se efectuaron aproximadamente 6 riegos para los tratamientos con rotación maíz-avena mientras que para los tratamientos con rotación de maíz y trigo se efectuaron 5 riegos durante el ciclo. Todos los riegos se hicieron con el agua residual proveniente de la zona Metropolitana de la ciudad de México; recurso hídrico utilizado en la zona del Valle del Mezquital por más de 100 años (Prieto-García et al., 2015). Los principales daños a consecuencia de plagas, fueron por gusano cogollero y diabrótica ssp, los cuales se controlaron mediante agroquímicos.Los resultados indican que no había diferencia significativa entre los tratamientos establecidos el ciclo PV 2017 sobre las alturas de planta de maíz; los rangos de dichas alturas fluctúan entre 308 a 311 cm. El mayor rendimiento de grano de maíz se obtuvo en camas permanentes, rotación maíz-avena, dejando rastrojo (18.8 t/ha), seguido del tratamiento de labranza convencional al que se le incorporó el rastrojo, rotación maíz-avena (18.0 t/ha), ubicando a camas permanentes, rotación maíz-trigo, con rastrojo con la menor altura  (308 cm) y el menor rendimiento (8.8 t/ha), para éste ciclo (Fig. 1).Se alcanzaron mayores rendimientos con rotación maíz-avena, porque el posible ciclo del maíz es más largo después de avena que después de trigo. Por otra parte, con el sistema de labranza convencional utilizado por productores de la región del Valle del Mezquital se obtuvo 9% menos de rendimiento, es decir, 1.7 t/ha menos que en el tratamiento MA,CP,D. No obstante, se destaca que el tratamiento de labranza convencional al que se le ha incorporado el rastrojo (para que éste no fuera arrastrado por el viento o agua de riego) también es una excelente propuesta para los agricultores, es decir, a pesar de tener algún tipo de labranza en el suelo se reafirma la importancia y beneficios del manejo de rastrojo dentro de las parcelas.Otra de las variables evaluadas ha sido la cantidad de grano podrido en cada uno de los tratamientos. Cabe mencionar que el tratamiento con mayor cantidad de grano de maíz podrido ha sido el de camas permanentes, rotación maíz-trigo con presencia de rastrojo (839 kg/ha), seguido de los tratamientos MA,LC,R (680 kg/ha) y MT,LC,R (564 kg/ha). Valles AltosLas diferentes actividades realizadas durante el proyecto, permitieron involucrar a productores de la región. Las capacitaciones y los días de campo demostrativos en plataforma impactó a diversos productores de la zona, al indagar más sobre la técnica de Agricultura de Conservación, abriendo camino a un panorama más redituable, comparado al sistema de producción convencional, además, se ha trabajado exhortando a disminuir el uso excesivo de insecticidas e implementar estrategias agroecológicas para el control de plagas y enfermedades.Por lo anterior se puede concluir que la Agricultura de Conservación es un sistema que permite seguir produciendo alimentos de manera sustentable, asímismo, es importante mencionar que los productores se encuentran interesados cada vez más en dicho sistema.Plataforma Experimental en UPFIM, estado de Hidalgo. Interés de los expectores al visualizar cada espectador permitió tener una idea clara de cada uno de los tratamientos. 22 de agosto de 2017.Plataforma Experimental en UPFIM, estado de Hidalgo. Intercambio de experiencias sobre el manejo de Agricultura de Conservación establecido en Plataforma MasAgro, 14 de Julio de 2017 .Figura 3. Rendimiento de trigo (kg/ha a 12%) de humedad en la plataforma Fco. I. Madero, Hidalgo en el ciclo OI 2017-2018. Las barras de error representan los errores estándar de los promedios.Abreviaciones: M= maíz, T= trigo, CP= camas permanentes angostas, CL= cero labranza, R= remover y D= dejar.En los resultados de biomasa obtenidos en el ciclo OI 2017-2018 se presentaron diferencias significativas entre los tratamientos. El tratamiento de mayor tonelaje de biomasa (11.3 t/ha) fue el de camas permanentes, rotación maíz-trigo con presencia de rastrojo; seguido del tratamiento de rotación maíz-avena, labranza convencional con rastrojo (10.8 t/ha), quedando en último lugar al tratamiento de camas permanentes rotación maíz-avena con rastrojo (9.0 t/ha). (Fig. 2).Lo anterior permite sugerir a los productores establecer trigo en el ciclo OI para obtener mayor cantidad de biomasa. Finalmente, los rendimientos de grano fueron evaluados únicamente en trigo, es decir para los tratamientos MT, CP, D y MT, LC, R. De ambos tratamientos el de labranza convencional al que se le retiró el rastrojo obtuvo mayor tonelaje (3.5 t/ha), quedando el tratamiento de camas permanentes rotación maíz-trigo con presencia de rastrojo con menor rendimiento de grano (2.5 t/ha) pero mayor rendimiento de biomasa como se abordó anteriormente. (Fig. 3).  En el ciclo PV 2017 en los tratamientos convencionales se realizó un paso de barbecho y un paso de rastra, removiendo todo el rastrojo del cultivo del ciclo anterior. Para la parte de Agricultura de Conservación solo se utilizó el mínimo movimiento del suelo con un paso del equipo de labranza en franjas. Ambos sistemas de producción se sembraron a 0.75 cm de distancia entre surco y surco, a una profundidad de 5 cm.La aplicación del fertilizante y mejorador de suelo se realizó al momento de la preparación del terreno, las fuentes para los tratamientos fueron: 200 kg/ha de bioquimax y 500 kg/ha de yeso agrícola y 800 kg/ha de azufre. Para el tratamiento con bacterias se utilizó un consorcio bacteriano y se aplicó en drench después de la siembra y a partir de V6 hasta R1. Dentro del manejo del cultivo se realizó una aplicación de foliares con base en micro-elementos, aminoácidos y reguladores de crecimiento en etapa V6-V7.Se sembró el híbrido blanco de maíz 2069 de la empresa Dekalb a una densidad de siembra de 80,000 plantas por hectárea. Se realizaron 6 riegos a lo largo del ciclo PV, comprendiendo desde riego de nacencia hasta etapas fisiológicas de R4 (grano masoso) y R5 (grano dentado). En ambos tratamientos se realizó la aplicación de herbicida no selectivo en preemergencia al cultivo de 4 L de glyfosato + 1 L de 2,4-D + Carfentrazone etil, 2 kg de sulfato de amonio y 250 ml de adherente por hectarea.Posteriormente, a los 30 días después de la emergencia, en todos los tratamientos se realizó la aplicación de herbicida postemergente selectivo 1 L de nicosulfuron, + 1.5 kg de atrazina y 250 ml de adherente /ha para control de zacates y de hojas anchas. Regularmente en caso de presentarse segundas generaciones de zacates antes de la floración se realiza la aplicación de forma dirigida de 1 L de glufosinato de amonio + ¼ de L de adherente/ ha. Para el control de gusano cogollero se utilizaron 4 trampas con feromonas desde la nacencia, así como una aplicación de 250 ml de zeta-cipermetrina + novaluron. Para el control de diabrótica se aplicó en etapa de maíz V6-V7 250 ml. de zeta-cipermetrina + novaluron y se repitió durante la floración.En el ciclo OI 2017-2018 en los tratamientos convencionales se realizó un paso de barbecho y un paso de rastra, removiendo todo el rastrojo del cultivo del ciclo anterior, mientras que en los tratamientos de Agricultura de Conservación no se hicieron operación de preparación de suelo. Se sembró triticale el 15 de diciembre 2017 a una densidad de 120 kg por hectárea. Se utilizó una variedad que fue seleccionada en la plataforma, Cinta larga 1 capuchón, lo cual fue seleccionada por su falta de barbas.Solo se hizo fertilización foliar con lixiviados de lombriz y micro-elementos. Se aplicó triasulfuron + nicosulfuron en post emergencia para el control de malezas y deltametrina + imidacloprid para el control de plagas. Se hicieron tres riegos durante el ciclo OI, de manera rodada. Se cosecharon todos los tratamientos el 8 de marzo 2018 con una segadora de tambor.En general se puede decir que existen resultados interesantes en el experimento de mejoradores de suelos donde se lleva a cabo la interacción entre sistema de manejo en cero labranza (CL) y la labranza convencional (LC) con diferentes mejoradores de suelo.El ensayo de híbridos comerciales en PV 2017 se afectó por las altas temperaturas provocando que estos bajaran su rendimiento hasta en un 20% comparado contra los rendimientos de 2016. Por otro lado, el cultivo de rotación en el ciclo OI 2017-2018 también presentó buena interacción con los mejoradores de suelo en su rendimiento para el uso de forrajes.RedFigura 1 Rendimiento promedio en tratamientos de uso de mejoradores de suelo con cero labranza y labranza convencional. Las barras de error representan los errores estándar de los promedios.Abreviaciones: M: Maiz, Tr: Triticale, CL: Cero Labranza, LC: Labranza convencional, R: Retirar rastrojo.Figura 2. Rendimiento promedio en híbridos comerciales bajo labranza convencional. Las barras de error representan los errores estándar de los promedios. Las barras de error representan los errores estándar de los promedios.Figura 3. Rendimiento promedio en el cultivo de triticale dentro de los ensayos de mejoradores de suelos como cultivo de rotación. Las barras de error representan los errores estándar de los promedios.Abreviaciones: MTr= rotación maíz-triticale, CL= cero labranzas, LC= labranza convencional, R= Remover rastrojo.En OI 2017-2018 el rendimiento promedio de biomasa seco de triticale fue 5.1 t/ha, no había diferencias significativas entre los tratamientos en cuanto a rendimiento.En el ensayo principal el experimento de mejoradores de suelo indica que el yeso es el más apto para la zona del Valle del Mezquital, ya que está impactando significativamente en los rendimientos comparado contra el testigo. En ambos sistemas de producción podemos notar que existe una diferencia significativa hasta en un 19% en el convencional y un 11% en cero labranza, lo cual también se ve reflejado en el aspecto económico.En el área de validación de los ensayos de mejoradores de suelo e híbridos comerciales este año se aleatorizó algunos tratamientos, restructurando el ensayo y moviendo el suelo, esto influyó en los resultados. Como todos los años, había una gran diferencia entre el híbrido. El mayor rendimiento obtuvo P3289W (18.9 t/ha) y el híbrido con el menor rendimiento fue Bucefalo (9.3 t/ha) La plataforma ha sido un parteaguas tanto para las productores como para las industrias de la trasformación de los productos del campo ya que las investigaciones planteadas han sido un referente en la toma de decisiones para crear nuevos esquemas de comercialización más seguros y mejor pagados para los productores y volúmenes fuertes de materia prima y con calidad para las empresas comercializadoras, asegurando así nuevas inversiones, la generación de nuevos empleos y más desarrollo en infraestructuras en beneficio de las personas de nuestra región.Seguiremos trabajando en el mismo tenor debido a que estamos dando resultados para los productores de nuestra zona, pero también somos un modelo a seguir por parte del gobierno estatal ya que a la fecha se está pensando en crear nuevas plataformas en otros municipios con alto potencial productivo.Introducción a las Plataformas de Investigación Red de Plataformas de Investigación cimmyt Resultados 2017 sistemas agrícolas es importante que el enfoque no solamente sea obtener el mayor rendimiento, sino que se tome en cuenta el equilibrio entre la productividad, la rentabilidad y el riesgo por el clima o la fluctuación de los precios, entre otros factores.Muchas veces es posible obtener mayores rendimientos mediante inversiones en insumos, maquinaria y riego, sin embargo, la inversión no necesariamente tiene sentido desde el punto de vista económico. La combinación de buenos rendimientos y bajos costos de producción brindan al agricultor la oportunidad de ser más rentable. No obstante, la información sobre cuáles son los ingresos reales del productor es algo que no se reporta a menudo y es un factor limitante para la toma de decisiones sobre las mejores prácticas a adoptar.El objetivo del análisis aquí presentado fue de compilar los datos de rendimiento y costos de producción de 26 plataformas de investigación para analizar la rentabilidad de los tratamientos evaluados en las plataformas y poder generar mejores recomendaciones para los productores sobre cuales prácticas son más rentables.La selección de plataformas se llevó a cabo considerando las que tuvieran los sistemas de producción representativos de las diferentes condiciones en la red, se eligieron 26 de las 40 plataformas de investigación de MasAgro Productor que se tuvieron en 2017.Se tomaron en cuenta diversos parámetros para la selección de las mismas, entre ellos, que cada plataforma contara con una base de datos de sus costos de producción, aunque no fue obligatorio para los responsables de plataforma entregar estos datos, se revisó la calidad de los mismos y se compararon los costos con los de los módulos que están ligados a la plataforma para dar mayor veracidad.Los sistemas de producción que tenemos en el país son muy diversos, es por eso que las plataformas se ubican en zonas estratégicas para representarlos. En el Noroeste del país la agricultura es mecanizada e intensiva, de alta productividad e insumos, bajo condiciones de riego donde los cultivos principales son trigo y maíz y con dos ciclos por año en algunas regiones, mientras que en el sur del país tenemos una agricultura de autoconsumo o de baja productividad donde la mayoría de sus labores son manuales y su cosecha se guarda para sembrar el próximo ciclo y otra parte la destinan para la alimentación.En la región del Bajío las condiciones son parecidas a las del Noroeste, tienen buenas producciones de trigo y maíz, es una agricultura mecanizada, algunas con condiciones de riego y otras de temporal y solo se siembra el ciclo de Primavera-Verano (PV). En la zona centro del país la agricultura también es mecanizada pero su maquinaria es de mediana escala, su régimen de humedad es mayormente de temporal y sus principales cultivos son maíz y trigo.Las plataformas incluidas en el análisis están distribuidas dentro de nueve hubs o nodos de innovación: Pacífico Norte, Intermedio, Bajío, Valles Altos Maíz, Valles Altos Grano Pequeño, Chiapas, Pacífico Sur, Pacífico Centro y Península de Yucatán, que a su vez corresponden a los estados de Sonora, Sinaloa, San Luis Potosí, Aguascalientes, Jalisco, Michoacán, Querétaro, Puebla, Estado de México, Hidalgo, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Morelos y Campeche (Cuadro 1). Tienen diferentes años de instalación, desde la de Texcoco I (Estado de México) que tiene 27 años como plataforma ya que se estableció en 1991, hasta las plataformas que se instalaron en 2016. Están ubicadas a distintos niveles sobre el nivel del mar, siendo la de mayor altitud la de Metepec, Estado de México (2,640 msnm) y la de menor altitud la de Guasave, Sinaloa (16 msnm). Para todas las plataformas los cultivos principales son el maíz y el trigo, aunque se tienen diversas rotaciones con otros cultivos en algunas de ellas. Los regímenes de humedad son de riego y temporal y seis plataformas tienen dos ciclos por año, las otras solamente uno (Cuadro 1).En 2017, la red de plataformas de investigación de MasAgro Productor consistió en 40 plataformas con diversas condiciones, desde siembra manual a altamente tecnificada, de temporal, de riego, en terrenos nivelados y de pendiente fuerte. No obstante, todas las plataformas están enfocadas en sistemas con base en trigo o maíz y evaluando prácticas agronómicas con base en AC. Las diversas condiciones y los diferentes tratamientos dentro de una plataforma nos permiten evaluar cómo puede funcionar AC en un rango amplio de condiciones, cómo se debe ajustar la tecnología y cuáles son los procesos que afectan la probabilidad de éxito de su implementación.El rendimiento integra el efecto de todos los factores bióticos y abióticos que influencian el comportamiento del cultivo durante el ciclo; un buen rendimiento indica mejores condiciones, ya sea por tipo de suelo, clima u otras características físicas, pero también intervienen las buenas prácticas agrícolas. En la evaluación de los Para cada plataforma y cada ciclo de producción se hizo una bitácora de todas las operaciones en campo y su costo real (el costo que tendría para un productor). Todos los costos se calcularon por hectárea por cada tratamiento. Para operaciones manuales se calculó el número de jornadas necesarias para hacer las operaciones, también cuando un productor no pagaría este costo directamente porque dependería de labor familiar.Para operaciones mecanizadas se tomó como costo el precio de la maquila. Se separaron los costos en 7 rubros: preparación de suelo, siembra (costo de semilla + operación de siembra), fertilización, control de malezas, control de plagas y enfermedades, riego y cosecha. No se tomaron en cuenta costos de poscosecha y costos indirectos como renta, seguro o impuestos y tampoco se tomaron en cuenta subsidios. Con los datos de rendimiento y los precios de venta reportados se calculó el ingreso total. Del ingreso total se restó el costo total de producción para calcular la utilidad total. Con estos datos también se calculó la relación beneficio/costo y el costo de producción por tonelada de grano. Los datos de ingreso y utilidad solo se calcularon con el rendimiento de grano a menos que se indique lo contrario.Los datos reportados de rendimiento por los colaboradores se limitan en general a la producción de grano, sin embargo, la venta de rastrojo es una importante fuente de ingresos en algunas zonas del país. Por eso se hizo por primera vez una estimación de la importancia del rastrojo en la utilidad de los tratamientos de las plataformas. Para el análisis del beneficio del rastrojo se tomaron los precios de mercado local de rastrojo y se hizo una estimación aproximada de la producción de rastrojo basado en el rendimiento de grano y un índice de cosecha de 0.5 y el porcentaje de rastrojo cosechado según el tratamiento. Se sumó este ingreso con el obtenido por el grano para hacer el análisis de la utilidad total del tratamiento. En algunas áreas se vende todo el rastrojo a un precio por hectárea a vendedores de rastrojo o a pastores, en este caso se sumó este ingreso ($500-2,000 MXN/ha) al obtenido por venta de grano del tratamiento.Descripción general de los datos Los costos de producción promedio de maíz en general fueron más altos en el hub Pacífico Norte y más bajos en el hub Yucatán (Cuadro 3). Los rendimientos de maíz también son altos en Pacífico Norte y por eso también las utilidades netas son en promedio más altos en este hub. Para trigo los costos de producción promedio fueron similares entre los hubs mientras que las utilidades varían considerablemente entre hubs.Cabe mencionar que son datos promedios y que en los tratamientos de las plataformas también se evalúan tratamientos con manejo convencional y tratamientos de innovación que aún no están perfeccionados, lo que puede causar utilidades menores. Un tratamiento con mal rendimiento o muy elevados costos entonces puede afectar estos promedios, especialmente en los hubs pequeños. En promedio, los costos de producción para maíz fueron los más altos en sistemas de riego (Fig. 1). Los costos de producción de trigo en riego y temporal y los de maíz en temporal fueron similares. La fertilización en general, contribuye la proporción mayor del costo de producción con un 26-38% del costo total (Fig. 2), lo que demuestra la necesidad de trabajar más en el uso eficiente de este insumo costoso. Cuadro 2. Resumen de los tratamientos con mayor y menor costo de producción, utilidad y costo por tonelada en maíz y trigo en las plataformas incluidas en el estudio.Cuadro 3. Costo total, Ingreso total y Utilidad neta de todos tratamientos promedios por hub y por cultivo. El rendimiento de grano de maíz estuvo fuertemente correlacionado con el ingreso total y la utilidad neta, sin embargo la relación entre rendimiento y costo total de producción no fue tan fuerte (Cuadro 4, Fig. 3), lo que indica que con mayor inversión no necesariamente se obtiene mayor rendimiento. Además, la correlación entre el costo total y la utilidad neta fue solamente 0.19 (Cuadro 4, Fig. 4). Esto indica que en sistemas de producción con altos costos de producción (debido a alto uso de insumos) no necesariamente generan los más altos rendimientos y buenas utilidades.La investigación por eso debe enfocarse en un mejor uso de los insumos y mejores prácticas agronómicas que sí pueden aumentar rendimientos. En los tratamientos con trigo (54 observaciones) los resultados fueron similares (Fig. 5, Fig. 6). El análisis no tomó en cuenta los costos indirectos como renta o seguros ya que estos datos no están disponibles para todas las plataformas. En general estos costos son más altos en los sistemas de alta producción donde los costos son más altos, lo que reduciría aún más la utilidad final en los sistemas intensivos y disminuiría la relación entre el monto invertido en los costos de producción y la utilidad que el productor obtiene.Cuadro 4. Correlaciones entre rendimiento, ingreso total, costo total y utilidad neta en los tratamientos con maíz. El costo de labranza variaba entre $5,190 MXN/ha para tratamientos con camas con labranza convencional en Guasave a $0 MXN/ha en tratamientos en varias plataformas donde el costo de labranza no era diferente del costo de la aplicación de herbicidas antes de la siembra. En promedio la opción más costosa para la preparación del terreno son las camas con labranza convencional y la labranza convencional (Cuadro 5), seguido por los tipos de labranza mínima.Los tipos de preparación de suelo usado en la AC, la cero labranza y las camas permanentes son los más económicos. En cero labranza hay un costo de preparación de suelo debido al control de malezas con herbicida, mientras que en camas permanentes es necesario reformar las camas. Como regla general se puede concluir que se ahorran aproximadamente $2,000 MXN/ ha en costos de preparación de suelo en AC comparado con los sistemas con labranza convencional.Para analizar en términos generales las diferencias en costo y utilidad de AC se clasificaron todos los tratamientos en tres tipos. Convencional: tratamientos con labranza convencional, AC: Tratamientos con los tres principios de AC y Mínimo: Tratamientos con labranza reducida pero que no cumplen con los tres principios de AC.Los costos de producción son significativamente más bajos en los sistemas de AC (promedio de $14,727 MXN/ha) que en sistemas convencionales o con labranza mínima ($17,027 y $16,606 MXN/ha respectivamente) (Fig. 7). Sin embrago, la utilidad neta en promedio no es significativamente diferente entre los sistemas (Fig. 8). Cuadro 5. Costo promedio de los tipos de preparación de suelo usados en las plataformas. Camas angostas tienen el ancho de un surco de maíz, camas anchas tienen el ancho de dos surcos de maíz. El valor del rastrojo 13 de las plataformas se ubican en una zona donde el rastrojo tiene un valor para la venta o para alimentar los animales del productor y cuentan con tratamientos que comparan la remoción de rastrojo con dejar rastrojo en la superficie para generar los beneficios en la calidad de suelo. En las otras plataformas no hay tratamientos con diferentes niveles de rastrojo (Indaparapeo, Michoacán y San Martin Hidalgo, Jalisco), no hay un valor bien establecido del valor del rastrojo (Cuautempan, Puebla y San Juan Cotzocón, Oaxaca) o se acostumbra dejar, pastorear o quemar el rastrojo. Porque el rastrojo forma un parte importante del ingreso del productor en muchas zonas, se hizo una estimación del valor del rastrojo y se calculó la rentabilidad de los tratamientos de las 13 plataformas donde los datos están disponibles, calculando el ingreso total sumando el valor del grano producido y el valor del rastrojo.El ingreso por el rastrojo variaba entre $500 MXN/ha en Francisco I. Madero, donde los productores suelen vender el derecho a recoger el rastrojo a vendedores por este precio, a $20,360 MXN/ha en tratamiento MM, LC, R en Metepec, México donde la combinación del alto valor del rastrojo ($2,000 MXN/t) y el alto rendimiento contribuyen a la alta importancia de la venta o el uso de rastrojo en el ingreso del productor.Los datos demuestran que, en efecto, el rastrojo tiene un rol importante en la utilidad neta (Cuadro 6). En general, en las plataformas donde hay un mercado para el rastrojo, la mejor práctica para obtener mayor utilidad es vender parte del rastrojo, es decir, mantener la cantidad necesaria para la fertilidad del suelo y vender el excedente.Por ejemplo, se puede dejar una pata más alta, remover el rastrojo cada otro año, o removerlo de un surco sí y del otro no, o se puede remover solamente el rastrojo arriba de la mazorca de maíz y dejar el resto o ajustar la empacadora para que colecte una menor cantidad de paja.En las zonas donde no hay un mercado para el rastrojo se debe dejar en la superficie y el enfoque de la extensión debería ser evitar la quema del rastrojo. Otra posibilidad es vender el rastrojo y sembrar un cultivo de cobertura en sistemas donde hay agua disponible durante la temporada sin cultivo. Cabe mencionar que el rastrojo tiene también influencia en la incidencia de malezas, plagas y enfermedades, pero estos efectos no aparecerían en los datos ya que el manejo de estos se hace de manera general por plataforma.Introducción a las Plataformas de Investigación Red de Plataformas de Investigación cimmyt Resultados 2017 garbanzo. Estos cultivos leguminosos combinan una alta rentabilidad, debido a sus altos precios de venta, con ventajas agronómicas como la fijación de nitrógeno.Los cultivos de grano pequeño como trigo, cebada, avena y triticale, que se cosechan para grano o forraje tenían una rentabilidad en general menor que la de maíz o leguminosas. En promedio hay una mayor utilidad para maíz en rotación ($8,757 MXN/ha en rotación y $8,096 MXN/ha en monocultivo) y una mayor utilidad para trigo en rotación ($6,658 MXN/ha en rotación y $5,779 MXN/ha en monocultivo), lo que demuestra que es necesario que el cultivo de rotación que se incluya tenga una rentabilidad similar al cultivo principal ya que esta diferencia puede ser insu-ficiente para cultivar un cultivo con menor rentabilidad, pero buenos efectos en el otro cultivo de la rotación.Debido a la gran variación entre sistemas de producción y cultivos de rotación evaluados en las plataformas no es posible usar esos resultados para sacar una conclusión general a nivel del país sobre el efecto de la rotación en la utilidad. Los efectos negativos de monocultivos en general se expresen a largo plazo y la mayoría de las plataformas lleva menos de cinco años evaluando los tratamientos, es probable que los efectos adversos de monocultivos y los beneficios de las rotaciones se expresen más fuerte en los siguientes años, lo que también impactaría la rentabilidad sobre el efecto de la rotación en la utilidad.Cuadro 7. Datos económicos promedios de los cultivos evaluados en las plataformas de investigación en los ciclos PV 2017 y OI 2017-2018. Abreviaciones: B/C: Relación beneficio/costo, No.: No. de tratamientos con el cultivo incluidos en el estudio. Cuadro 6. Utilidad neta por hectárea calculado con el ingreso del grano y rastrojo ($MXN/ha) por sistema de producción y manejo de rastrojo en las 13 plataformas incluidas en este análisis. Las condiciones agroecológicas en el país son muy diversas por lo que es necesario analizar específicamente cada plataforma y el sistema de producción que representa. Hay plataformas como Francisco I. Madero, Hidalgo y Molcaxac, Puebla donde el efecto del rastrojo en mejorar el suelo y así aumentar el rendimiento es mayor que el precio de venta, en estos casos la recomendación es dejar todos los residuos en el suelo.En las plataformas con riego de Pabellón de Arteaga, Aguascalientes y Soledad de Graciano Sánchez, San Luis Potosí hay dos cultivos por año y el suelo siempre está cubierto. En estas plataformas se siembra un grano pequeño en invierno, lo cual también deja cierta cantidad de rastrojo en la pata. En tales casos el residuo no es necesario para mantener la fertilidad del suelo y se puede vender todo.En algunas plataformas, como Metepec, México, San Juan del Rio I, Querétaro y Texcoco I y II, México la mejor opción es vender parte del rastrojo, ya que dejar parte del rastrojo aumenta la fertilidad del suelo y el rendimiento de grano, pero no es necesario o económico dejar todo el rastrojo. Finalmente, en las plataformas de Huichapan, Hidalgo, Venustiano Carranza, Chiapas, Villa Corzo, Chiapas y Zacatepec, Morelos es más económico, al menos a corto plazo, vender todo el rastrojo. Estas plataformas se deberían enfocar en los cultivos de cobertura sembrados en relevo o después de la cosecha del cultivo principal.Los resultados indican que es necesario aumentar la disponibilidad y la siembra de cultivos forrajeros, ya que esto disminuiría la necesidad de usar rastrojo para alimentación de animales. Además, los cultivos forrajeros tienen mayor ca-lidad nutritiva que el rastrojo lo que haría más eficiente la ganadería. Una conclusión importante del análisis es que en sistemas con labranza convencional donde hay un mercado para el rastrojo casi siempre es más rentable para el productor vender todo su rastrojo.Entonces, aunque es necesario dejar los residuos para conservar la fertilidad del suelo, para el productor esto no es económico, ya que va a desgastar a largo plazo sus terrenos y comprometer sus ganancias. Además, en el ensayo a largo plazo de la plataforma Texcoco I, el efecto de incorporar rastrojo con labranza convencional en el rendimiento ha sido mínimo, lo que hace la incorporación de residuos aún menos económico para los productores.Uno de los principios de la AC es la diversificación de cultivos, lo que genera beneficios al incrementar la fertilidad del suelo, rompiendo los ciclos de malezas, plagas y enfermedades y diversificando el agro-ecosistema y los ingresos del productor. Sin embargo, frecuentemente es difícil de encontrar cultivos de rotación con la misma utilidad y aceptación en el mercado que el maíz.En los ciclos PV 2017 y OI 2017-2018 se evaluaron 15 diferentes cultivos en las plataformas (Cuadro 7). Cabe mencionar que muchos de esos cultivos se evaluaron en menos de 10 tratamientos, entonces no es posible extrapolar la rentabilidad de esos cultivos de manera general. Los datos demuestran que en efecto el maíz es un cultivo con buena rentabilidad comparado con el resto de los cultivos, como principales candidatos para ser incluidos en las rotaciones aparecen los cultivos leguminosos como cacahuate, arvejón, frijol yLa red de plataformas de MasAgro Productor da la oportunidad de evaluar prácticas sustentables en los diversos ecosistemas del país y comparar la rentabilidad de dichas prácticas bajos diferentes condiciones. En general los tratamientos en donde se evalúan prácticas más sustentables también generan una buena utilidad con menores costos para el productor. Es entonces posible fomentar una mayor sustentabilidad en la producción de maíz y trigo y al mismo tiempo mejorar las ganancias de los productores.La fertilización es el factor con la contribución más alta a los costos de producción y mejorar el uso eficiente de fertilizantes se presenta como oportunidad para disminuir los costos de producción. No se observó una relación entre la inversión que se hace en los costos de producción y la utilidad neta que se obtiene por hectárea, lo que indica que es más importante enfocarse en un buen manejo agronómico (buena semilla, buena siembra, fecha de siembra correcta, aplicación correcta y a tiempo de los insumos, etcétera) que enfocarse en el mayor uso de insumos.Cada uno de los tres principios de AC tiene un impacto en la rentabilidad. Los datos indican que con la reducción de labranza se pueden ahorrar aproximadamente $2,000 MXN/ha sin que haya un impacto en el rendimiento. La cobertura del suelo se presenta como un factor más difícil en las plataformas donde hay solo un cultivo por año y donde hay un alto precio por el rastrojo. En estas plataformas es recomendable dejar solamente una parte del rastrojo y se necesita más investigación sobre el uso de cultivos forrajeros y/o de cobertura. La rotación de cultivos aumenta la rentabilidad de los cultivos, sin embrago, es importante encontrar los cultivos apropiados que generen una rentabilidad similar al cultivo principal."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"34ba07732916b4b1f742de1c01b8f014","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/15d26042-c8f5-40d8-8daf-701f3bd89f31/retrieve","id":"1681969406"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5813d42c-dd1a-4f93-aa4f-ea6746b04f52","content":"CGIAR is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food-secure future. The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock provides research-based solutions to help smallholder farmers, pastoralists and agro-pastoralists transition to sustainable, resilient livelihoods and to productive enterprises that will help feed future generations. It aims to increase the productivity and profitability of livestock agri-food systems in sustainable ways, making meat, milk and eggs more available and affordable across the developing world. The Program brings together five core partners: the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) with a mandate on livestock; the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), which works on forages; the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), which works on small ruminants and dryland systems; the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) with expertise particularly in animal health and genetics and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) which connects research into development and innovation and scaling processes.Gender norms and practices remain a major challenge in access to and control of resources and decision-making in livestock management in Ethiopia. Given that women and men carry out different roles in animal health management, they are impacted differently in terms of access to markets, human health and livelihoods. Predominant gender norms portray men as 'superior, dominant and decision-makers' while women are considered 'subservient, passive and obedient' (Alemu et al. 2016;Kinati et al 2018). This has implications for livestock health management and access to animal health services. The division of labour and decision-making in managing livestock health and zoonoses needs to engage women and men equally to facilitate lasting and meaningful changes.The community conversation (CC) approach has been tested in Ethiopia by the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock as a mechanism for facilitating change in knowledge, attitudes and practices on both gender norms and different aspects of livestock health management (Lemma et al. 2018). Community conversations use participatory methods to engage community members and local service providers in discussions about the issues that matter most to them. The conversations have been successfully used to create community awareness and actions around gender relations in animal health management (Lemma et al. 2019).Through community conversations, community members and local service providers work with a team of trained facilitators to collectively identify community strengths and constraints, analyse community values and practices, and explore strategies for addressing challenges (UNDP 2004;Gueye at al. 2005;FHI 2010;Born 2012). Community conversations create forums that enable community members to discuss issues in informal social environments, thereby opening spaces for new ways of thinking and questioning (Campbell et al. 2013).Community conversations are based on the recognition that people have the knowledge, motivation and capability that can bring about positive development outcomes individually and collectively. This interactive group process can lead to the evolvement of collective ideas and a critical consciousness, which can contribute to changes in restrictive gender norms (De Cao et al. 2017) and livestock management practices. This guide aims to integrate a gender-responsive and inclusive community conversation approach into animal health extension. The approach provides a platform for integrating gender considerations in animal health management. The intended users of the guide are district-level animal health workers, but it can also be used by development organizations seeking to apply inclusive community engagement processes.Human activities affect animal health in various ways by exposing animals to different pathogens. Human health has in turn been influenced by exposure to zoonotic diseases. Humans therefore have a responsibility to manage animal diseases in order to improve livestock health, production and welfare, and to protect and promote human health. Both animals and humans are beneficiaries of good animal health management.It is necessary for all people involved in animal handling to understand how diseases are transmitted, why and how to control them, which animal populations are susceptible and how to create barriers between pathogens and susceptible animal populations.Disease prevention usually is more cost-effective than control after the event. The main tools for prevention of infection and disease are the application of biosecurity measures and vaccination.Biosecurity measures aim to exclude pathogens from farming operations and to prevent within-herd spread. They include restricting entry to the farm and access to the animals, maintaining a closed herd, quarantine measures for new additions to the herd, quality control of feed and water, providing protective clothing and footwear for workers and other people who come into contact with the animals, cleaning and disinfection, and all-in/all-out management systems. Some of these measures can be implemented easily in on-farm systems, such as, for example, poultry production in confined animal housing but can be more challenging in extensive livestock production as is often practiced for ruminants.Management of parasites, gastrointestinal parasites in particular, is often a primary animal health issue for many livestock keepers. Accordingly, parasite control should form a central part of every livestock health management strategy. The seasonality of helminth infection in Ethiopia, for example, is considered an advantage as it enables community-level strategic use of anthelmintics for control.Therapeutic medication with antimicrobials can be costly and most producers will avoid it if possible and wrong use or dosage contributes to antimicrobial resistance. Prophylactic medication is also not advised, and there is increasing pressure on producers to reduce the use of antimicrobials in order to avoid residues in meat, milk and eggs. Although withdrawal periods are prescribed for all the drugs, there are fears that these may not always be respected.Control measures for vector-borne diseases include vector control, protection of target animals by avoiding contact with vectors, vaccination and chemotherapy. Most of the diseases require a combined approach that is tailored to local conditions, taking into consideration factors like the economic losses caused by the disease compared to the cost of control.Effective animal health management requires collective community engagement and action. This again requires genderresponsive and inclusive interventions to bring about community awareness and attitudinal change for community members to be able to take collective actions to prevent infectious diseases. One of the constraints to communitybased animal health management is restrictive gender norms and practices that constrain women's active engagement, their access to information and services, and decision-making in animal health management.Effective animal and human health management at the household and community-level cannot be achieved without the active engagement and empowerment of women community members. Addressing underlying gender norms and practices requires community dialogues to change attitudes and behaviour. Facilitated community conversations increase men and women's engagement by creating community awareness and knowledge, leading to community actions.Community conversations also provide informal spaces for women and men community members to talk about gender perceptions and roles in their households and community, leading to community awareness and equitable gender relations and decision-making within the household and the community.Community conversations are a facilitated discussion and social learning process which enables men and women and local service providers to identify and explore issues and collectively or individually take actions. It is a participatory and inclusive engagement process that gives community members informal space to listen to each other attentively and speak out about what they think is best about an issue at hand (Figure 1).The CC process creates an informal interactive space for community members to share their experiences, explore their perceptions and practices, and learn from one another with mutual respect and trust. This leads to communitywide practice change because it brings together a wide variety of community members and encourages them to think, discuss and explore their perspectives and practices around an issue in question. • Make community members feel included and empowered in the process of problem analysis and community action and solutions about the problem at hand.• Facilitate collaborative learning and sharing among community members and local service providers leading to joint actions to address community issues.• Provide a learning environment centred around people's own experiences to facilitate learning and understanding through feedback and new knowledge supplementation, leading to changes in perspectives and practices.• Facilitate wider community outreach through social networks and peer influence.• Inform local planning process and interventions through feedback about community concerns and actions.• Engage community members in discussions among themselves to listen to and learn from one another leading to new understanding and insights and community action to address community issues.• Generate new connections and partnerships for behavioural change within the communities.Changing the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of community members in livestock health management is complex and challenging. Their actions are influenced by several factors. Limited awareness and knowledge of community members about animal disease causes, transmission and control measures can influence their livestock health management practices.Knowledge and attitude gaps of community members can partly be addressed by introducing factual information and knowledge through training or other learning mechanisms. But to change their perceptions and practices, community members need more than technical knowledge and information. Addressing underlying sociocultural values, norms and perceptions of community members regarding animal health management requires inclusive and participatory processes and contextualizing and communicating messages that suit local thinking and perspectives.Information provided in conventional formats does little to influence attitudes, knowledge and practices. When men and women community members understand the need for learning and consider and discuss solutions, they proactively think through the implementation of solutions and identify the changes that they are likely to make.Not surprisingly, change happens when community members recognize and own the problem, analyse the underlying constraining issues, identify practical solutions, and commit to their implementations. New learning and insights into an issue in question happen through dialogic and self-reflective practice, resulting in attitudinal change and motivation to act. Participatory community engagement processes such as community conversations facilitate change in attitudes and practices of community members. As such, community conversations are useful for understanding the social and cultural context in which community members operate. This, in turn, is vital for service providers to see how technical solutions would fit within the cultural practices and local realities of communities. As shown in Figure 2, the community conversation approach follows an iterative learning process, which involves four interlinked phases:• Phase 1: The conceptualization and planning phase.• Phase 2: The delivery and action planning phase.• Phase 3: The action plan implementation and influencing phase.• Phase 4: The review, reflection and sharing phase. Table 1 provides a description of each phase, including dimensions of a gender-responsive and inclusive process. The conceptualization and planning phase involves outlining and designing the methodology, identification of discussion issues, defining the learning outcomes, formation and training of local facilitation team, and community mobilization, taking into consideration the gender differences in capabilities and social relations.The delivery and action planning phase involves community members actively engaging in facilitated discussions to explore issues, perceptions, and practices and identify community actions that address the concerns of men and women, including the youth.The action plan implementation and influencing phase involves implementation of community action plans, sharing of information with other household members and neighbours, and provision of social and technical support by community leaders and development agents.The review, reflection and sharing phase aims to engage community members in reflection and storytelling about changes they have made and the challenges they faced. The purpose is to review the overall learning process and share experiences and change stories with wider community members and service providers. Information is disaggregated by gender to aid gender analysis and address gender-based constraints.  Some guidelines independent of content are:• Three to four facilitators per conversation session with one acting as a lead facilitator and the others as small group facilitators and process note-takers.• Two to three hours per session.• Four to five rounds of conversations per community around an issue depending on the intensity of the problem.• Fortnight to a month time interval between conversation sessions.• A recommended site for community conversation is a community centre where there is a wide space for breakout sessions if necessary and that is accessible to participants.• About 40 to 50 community members per conversation session ensuring women's representation.• About 10 to 15 community members per small group in discussions.• Facilitators/note-takers for each small group discussion.• The sitting arrangement should encourage face-to-face contact and should be favourable for women.• All in attendance should have a chance to talk/share their views.Step-by-step community conversation processIn this section, the four phases of the community conversation process will be discussed in detail.Figure 3: Step-by-step process of community conversation.Phase 1 of the community conversation process, which is conceptualisation and planning, involves a set of activities that should be completed before fieldwork begins. The key tasks in this phase are:• Identify discussion issues related to gender and animal health management (or other issues important for livestock production and/or agriculture) in the community.• Define community conversation purpose and outcomes. What do you hope to achieve through community conversations?• Identify content/discussion points.• Develop learning module/activities and process agenda.• Form and train local facilitation team, including women members.• Team alignment on the methodology and facilitation process.• Share team tasks: lead facilitator, co-facilitators, note-takers.• Decide on meeting place and time accessible to both women and men community members.• Community mobilization. Identify who to attend and inform them (invite both men and women community members, including couples).• Community entry is an important task for community facilitators to understand and mobilize the community and get the buy-in of community leaders. Build rapport with community leaders.In selecting and inviting community members and institutional partners:• Strive for a diversity of opinions and perspectives to achieve a richer discussion.• Avoid inviting only the obvious people such as model farmers or community leaders to community conversations.• Aim for more representative and diverse groups of the community.• Invite couples, women in male-headed households, women household heads, community leaders, religious leaders, women's groups leaders, cooperative leaders, informal groups leaders and relevant local partners such as officials from the women's affairs office, government communication office, agriculture and livestock development office, and community development agents.• The participation of couples in community conversations can improve intrahousehold interactions, relationships, sharing of information, collective household decision-making and action, and family harmony. It increases access to knowledge and information by women in male-headed households and enhances their ability to share knowledge and information within the household and beyond. Figure 4 shows the benefits of couple's participation in community conversations that were held under the Livestock and Irrigation Value Chains for Ethiopian Smallholders (LIVES) project.• Involve community members who have a vision for their community and who can actively participate and contribute to the conversations.Ensure that community members realize their voice is essential. Consider delivering invitation messages using local channels through which women are reached.Figure 3: Couples participation can increase women's access to information.Process documentation of activities and team reflections are important actions that happen in all phases of the community conversation process. It is a good practice to review and document processes and results of each activity.Phase 2 of the community conversation process, which is delivery and action planning, is implemented during community conversations in the field.Key tasks here include: Explain the purpose and clarify expectations. Explain the purpose of the community conversations and clarify expectations and roles of participants and facilitators. It is important to introduce the key issues to be explored through the conversation. Why are the issues important to the community? What would happen if the issues were not addressed? What is hoped to be achieved by the end of the community conversations?Set the context for participation. Explain that the facilitators are there to create space for community members to explore issues together, learn from one another, reach a shared understanding about the issue, and agree on actions to address some of the issues discussed.Make clear from the beginning that it is a facilitated community discussion where women and men community members actively participate, and the facilitators only introduce new knowledge to supplement community knowledge or address knowledge gaps.Encourage community members from the beginning to attend all rounds of the conversations. Continuity in participation makes it easier to monitor and capture changes and experiences of participants throughout the process.Put community members at ease and introduce the topic. Start the discussion smoothly with an informal warmup conversation asking people about general life situations and leading to the discussion topics. This helps community members start talking freely and building rapport with the facilitators.Figure 4: Techniques of introducing a discussion topic.Facilitate and manage the discussion. Using a facilitation agenda/process guide, engage community members in active exploration and discussion of the issues.Invite women and men community members to share their views, experiences and tell their stories.Using active learning methods and probing techniques, exhaustively explore existing knowledge, perspectives and attitudes of men and women community members around the issues in question.Make sure that every participant gets a chance to express their views and encourage quiet members to share their views.Appreciate contributions and help community members feel a sense of achievement as they share their experiences. When they are stuck, give scenarios, tell a story or ask provocative questions.Summarize the discussion using paraphrasing techniques, such as \"What I can understand from the discussion is …. Is this the situation in your community? Do we agree with this?'Once the group has fully explored the existing knowledge, attitudes and practices of community members around a discussion topic, then introduce new knowledge to fill knowledge gaps or supplement community knowledge. Make sure that community members get key messages of the discussion and ask if they have any questions.Summarize key messages and identify action plans. Finally, ask community members to identify actions that they would take individually and as a group to apply the knowledge from the community conversation. Encourage community members to agree on simple indicators of change and follow-up and monitoring strategies.Set agenda for next meeting. Introduce the topic and agree on the date for the next round of the community conversation.Thank participants for their active participation and express that you have learned a lot and enjoyed the discussion.Close the meeting positively. Invite community leaders or religious leaders to share reflections from the meeting and close the meeting.The learning activities of community conversations usually go through a process of divergence (exploration and expression of divergent and often opposing viewpoints about the issues in question), convergence (acknowledgement of a problem and critical examination of attitudes and practices around the issue), before leading to community actions to address the issues in question. It is important that the facilitator pays attention to the differences in expressions among men and women and the points at which they reach consensus.Allow participants time to make sense of, and draw meanings, from the discussions, which leads to the point of convergence.Encourage quiet community members (both women and men) to speak up.Remember that people have different learning styles, so use a diversity of learning techniques to engage participants in a discussion. These include visuals, storytelling, provocative questions, role-plays, community theatre, among others.Visual tools foster interactions and lasting memories and facilitators are encouraged to use them.Telling stories helps maintain the momentum of the conversations and allow community members to go deeper into the cultural values that underlie perceptions about the issue in question.Provocative questions make community members rethink and question their views and perceptions about an issue.Community members may not be open and critical initially, and they may only portray the ideal behaviour. But as they develop confidence and trust, they start to acknowledge the issues under discussion and question their attitudes and practices.Depending on local context, women-only groups, men-only groups or mixed groups can be used in community conversations to provide a platform for participants to speak freely without fear or favour. Adjust group compositions based on the cultural context. For example, in some communities, the elderly cannot be grouped together with the young people.If separate group discussions are used, start the conversation process with the whole group to explain the purpose and clarify expectations. After this introductory and warm-up conversation, break community members into men, women and youth discussion groups and assign group facilitators and process note-takers.Then bring separate discussion groups together and have them share their key learnings, emerging issues, and insights in plenary. Further facilitate conversations among community members to address issues arising from separate groups, introducing new knowledge and communicating key messages in the process.Then encourage community members to develop action plans and commit to their implementation. Encourage them to form an action and learning group, which will oversee implementation of the community action plans.Encourage community members to identify change indicators and simple tools for monitoring and documenting early signs of changes.Summary points:• The opening is an important step of community conversations. It sets thestage for open, frank, and active discussions.• Invite religious leaders or community elders to open and close community conversations with prayers and blessings.• The facilitator's role is to create space for community members and facilitate the discussions, helping them identify and analyse issues and develop community action plans to address issues.• Ensure that the sitting arrangement is appropriate and that the displays can be seen by everyone in attendance.• Start the conversations using informal warm-up conversations asking people about general life situations that lead to the discussion topics. This will help the members start talking freely and building rapport with the facilitators.• Begin successive community conversation sessions with a recap of the previous conversation session.• Hold conversations in community centres which are accessible to men and women community members. Avoid places such as roadsides which can cause distractions/interruptions.• Introduce discussion topics in a provocative way to invite exploration of multiple perspectives.• Start simply, contextualize topics in a simple way to get started and get community members engaging and talking.• When participants get stuck, encourage discussion by sharing stories and get them to reflect and share their own experiences and stories.• Interact at the same level with community members, either everybody sits on chairs or if community members are sitting on the ground, sit on the ground too to reduce social distance.• Contextualize and make learning activities meaningful to community members. Use local examples, cases and contexts when you present new information.• Paraphrase and summarize the discussion to feed back to community members and note-takers.• Keep conversations on track and manage time.• Utilize active learning methods to engage illiterate community members.• Use visuals to prompt conversations. Once people start talking, focus on their experiences and stories using a set of probing questions.• Monitor the atmosphere and direction of the discussion.Community conversation facilitation principles:• Explore multiple perspectives.• Respect local norms and understand cultural influences.• Start and end discussions on time.• Pay attention to non-verbal communication signals.• Apply a variety of interactive learning activities and methods.• Make sure that women and men community members are heard and contribute.• Paraphrase and summarize to structure the discussion and keep focus.• Deep dive and explore views of community members using probing questions.• Make sure that the discussion point in question is fully explored and that community members agree with the outcome before you move to the next discussions point.• Make sure that community members listen to and respect one another during discussions.• Remember that every idea counts and encourage women and men community members to contribute.• Ensure open, active and transparence participation.• Make sure that there is shared ownership of decision-making processes and outcomes.This section discusses phase 3: action plan implementation and influencing and phase 4: review, reflection and sharing of the community conversation process.Some actions that would be done after community conversation sessions include:After-action team review and reflection:• At the end of each community conversation session, engage the facilitation team in reflective and generative discussions to capture emerging themes, action points and insights.• Reflection is an interpretive and insight-making process. Document the process, main points discussed, emerging themes, action points and lessons and experiences.Documentation is an ongoing activity of community conversations to capture the process, results, and experiences of the discussions. Process documentation is a systematic process of recording activities, processes and their results and sharing of useful information. It must be conducted in a rigorous way to capture information on activities, process and outcomes.Community conversations require a rich documentation process that includes the description of context, processes, emerging issues, reactions, agreements and decisions of community members.In a rich description, the sentiments, tone, actions and the significance of interactions among community members are captured and reflected upon. It is very important to disaggregate your data by gender to be able to tease out what is working for men and women. This enables the extension worker to adjust the process and tailor it to the needs and preferences of women and men. Analyse your data further by looking at variations by age, education, wealth categories and marital status.What to document and disaggregate by gender:• Group dynamics.• Reactions of community members.• Reflections and observations.• Emerging issues.• Action points.• Recap sessions.• Change stories.• Information sharing and social influencing.Process note-taking techniques• Capture the process, key issues discussed, insights made, agreements, action points and quotes from community conversations without your judgment.• Do not try to put down everything. Summarize key words/phrases.• Listen for statements that might be useful quotes later and write those down as best as you can including the gender/representation of the speaker.• Listen for why women and men community members are saying what they say. Think about what is going on beneath the surface. Body language can give important clues.• Note what women and men community members say and how they say it. Watch for areas of tension and strong emotion.• Listen when the facilitator(s) takes a moment to summarize the discussion.• Look for turning points in the discussion, where community members were able to break through disagreements, find compromises and/or reach a new level (agreements and decisions).• Compare what women and men community members say at the beginning of the discussion with where they have arrived at the end.• Actively take notes during opening and closing sessions when local partners make reflections and remarks.• After the discussion, interact with women and men community members and try to capture their impressions and feelings about the discussions.• Review the notes with the facilitator(s) immediately and organize the notes into a report as soon as possible after the conversation."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"166dcac2950009f2128bcb5d80310c61","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/89803345-bb0f-4974-987c-ef0d333435f2/retrieve","id":"-1720113216"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c68cb428-3b8f-4af9-a230-5ce3eb249ab8","content":"Plant technotogy research has contributed significantly la ¡n,reased production and productivity of vadous crops. This contributton is the result of the systematic and continuous effort of al! institutions ¡nvolved in the agricultural sector, seeking lo find the best aplions in both technology g~neration and transfer. in arder lo maintain the agronomlc, genetic. and morphologic characleristics of the new varieties released by rescarch.Among the various inputs included in the technology transfer process. seed represents the basic bridge established between farmers. on one side. and the benefits generated by research. on the other . This work may mean an increase from a few kilograms of basic seed to the production of varlous ton s of commercial seed. through a multiplication process of many generations. under special production norms different from those used in grain production for consumption.Ideally, the result of this process should be the supply of good quallty seed as an input in large. medium. and sma!! farming operations...However. seed supply is extremely heterogenous among large and medium agricultural entrepreneurs. In Latin America. utilization rates of improved seed {certLfied. fiscalized. and otherJ are stlll low. In conventional seed production and supply systems. in addition to what has been explained. the seed producer and marketing agent benefit from certification programs. fiscalization of the market, and the dynamism characteristic of the private sector.In contrast to the situation described aboye. are small farmers who to a great extent do not use improved seed.• Traditionally they have either produced their own planting material or obtained it rrom neighboring farmers or regions through mechanisms which many times do not involve cash payments, but rather the exchange of seed for other goods or services. Small farmers have been thusly characterized by various authors who. in general terms, provide similar information.Knowledge of the variables which describe the social, economic. and cultural conditions of these farmers is available. but little has been contributed in terms of designing strategies or alternatives to improve their seed production and supply .This paper presents the efforts carried out by the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) wlth the object of contributing 2.It facilitates CIAT's Seed Unit 's role in providing information and training to rural leaders. extensionists. and seed technologists .It serves as a conditionlng plant for small seed lots produced In the Seed Unit, under a quality control scheme.It serves as a protype and a centra l polnt for radiating technologies to small farmer organizations involved or interested in seed production.In addition to the aboye, this effort is unlque and important since CIAT is the only center in the CGIAR System havlng a Seed Unit within its structure, working with crops having partlcularly strong social characterlstics. such as beans and cassava.111. OBJECTIVES Provide trainin9 lo extensionists . field inspectors . and leaders of small farmers' organizations in seed production and marketing activities appropriatc for non-conventionul seed production and supply systems.Utilize the infrastructure for conditioning 5ma!!. basic seed lots.The Seed Unít, in addition lo having a physical infrastructure for seed technology training under conventional (entrepreneurial) models is al50 ¡nvolved in non-conventional activities .To improve and broaden this endeavor . a mini-seedhouse was constructed with special characteristics for developing alternative schemes . compatible with the s peci fic conditions of small farmers (Figure 1).T he objective of this simple seed conditioning infrclstructure goes beyond Its physical structure . Once constructed , it seeks to diffuse the principIes of non-conventional seed production and marketing systems . through the organization of sma11 farmers in associations and othe r community groups. generating new activities and sources of ¡ncome for the ru r a l communities. especially in regions and crops unattended by large seed enterprise5 .In addition to its function as a center for seed reception. drying. conditioning. stor age. and distribution . when in-place in a community. this mini-seedhouse serves as the prototype for the headquarters of an association or coop<!rative of small seed producers. It becomes a meeting place for discussing technical and socioeconomic problems. a p lace for training all human resources involved in this activity (extenslonists. rural leaders . producers. etc . ). and al50 the core of qua lity control for seed produced under this system.  1.The mini-seedhouse (Figure 2) has a 200-m 2 covel\"ed area , with 32m 2 fOI\" storage. an area for installing small-scale seed condition ing equipment, and an batch dryer with foul\" independent cells. The minjseedhouse also has two cement patios . each 100m 2 , fOI\" seed threshing , pl\"ecleaning, and dl\"ying activities. One of these patios 15 adapted so that a tal\"p can be used to cove r up the seed. mesh enclosul\"e Patio for threshing and el i.:::::::::::~:JIIIIII~~~~~~\"\"\",~R\",,ed up t ar ps  1).The operations carried out in the Small Farmer Mini-seedhouse are relaled lo typical postharvest activities. lt is worth specifylng that operations after harvesting cannot make IImiracles ll , They do nol improve the physiologic or genetic qua lit y . or the health status of the seed, even though they can in fact improve the total seed lot composition by removing undesirable material and preserving the quality recelved. thus minimizing deterioration during storage.There are a few important points to be held in mind durlng the preharvest phase. Harvest should be carried out as early as possible, removing the seed from the field and ptacing It in a fresh and ventilated area .Appropriate preharvest management increases the efficiency of postharvest activities--reducing production costs as wetl as achieving expected quallty standards. BUl, on the other hand. if preharvest management has been inadequate, it will be practicatly impossible to correct previous errors during the postharvest phase , leading to los ses both in quality and quantity and increasing production costs. The material received at the minj-seedhouse must be seed coming from those fietds which have been approved for secd production . Clean, d r y seed.In any o( these cases, the Inlernal Quality Control Activities Card must be filled out , the same that was codified and assigned lo each producer during the p r eharvest phase (Annex samples must be taken at random and these must be manually shelled and well homogenized. When the seed is received threshed or shelled.a representative sampling must a lso be taken. using probes or samp lers; if thls equlpment is not availab le. samp les must be taken by hand. T he total sum of all these samples must be approximately 2 to 6 kg. dependlng on the species . In mast cases, a very effective \"test\" is the apiojon of the persao in charge of receptlon .This persao must be familiar with his seed producers. the Iones, the neld, and the lot'5 history . Therefore. physical appearance scen through the \"eyell of the person in charge of the mini-seedhouse is indispensable.The health status of a seed lot can frequently be determined based on symptoms observed in the field . Varietal mixtures, contamlnation with weeds. and other characteristics of the lot must be continuously observed by a responsible persono These observatlons are valuable for taking decisions in the mini-seedhouse. Bearing in mind the need to assure qUillity . to reduce costs. and to integrate pre-and postharvest management. it i5 conveníent that respor,sibility for both field and plant supervision be given to the same person. This is a very practical and inexpensive approach to programming seed production , especially during the initial phase when amounts are smal!.Table 2 shows sorne operational alternatives and quality control tests. depending on the raw material received.The decislon to follow a specific seed conditioning flow is very important in achieving the desired quality levels . Selecting the most appropriate opllon wíll be dlfficult and erratio ir criteria based on simple evaluation tests are not adopted . Constant observation and the simple evaluations suggested enable the person in charge to monitor the rlow and take preven ti ve and corrective measures on time.To illustrate thls idea, Annex 3 shows il flowchart ror seed conditioning ilnd quality control. involving some possible variables and basic analyses. Normally. this 15 one of the operations that causes more mechanical damage to the seed, especially when moisture content is very hlgh or very low; the r e(ore , quick and easy molsture and mechanlcal damage tests must be conducted once operations have started , to determine damage and moisture levels and adjust the equipment or procedures according to needs.Most equipment available in the market had been designed to handle grains, and not necessarily seed. Therefore, when threshing is done mechanically, it is best to use rotary cylinders. adjusting the speed of rotation o( the shaft and the cavity opening; the moisture content of the seed to be threshed rnust also be known. Sorne options for equlpment and methods used are shown in Figures lI, 5, and 6. Hand shelling board.This equipment can be easily constructed using a solid table where metal1ic staples or bent nails are ad-¡usted . The capacity depends only on the number of persons that will be working at the same time. FIGURE 4. Threshing rack. This system. used throughout Central America, facllitates threshlng and causes minimum mechanical damage to seeds. Seeds loosened from the pods fall through a mesh (loor and thus do not receive con tinuous impacts.Threshing. frequently carried out by hltting the pi1e of harvested plants with a stick is also adequate. as long as there is enough plant malter lo serve as a IIcushlonll . The following pictures show sorne userul equipment used lo carry out this task (Figures 7, 8. 9. and 10). FIGURE 7. Wire mesh screen. Can be used as a scalper (to sepa rate conlaminanls having a greate r volume than that of the seed) or as a class;fier (to separa te contaminanls smaller than the seed) . The screen also serves to dry seed lots. by keeping them raised from the ground and permitting the flow of air .  Thls step 15 critical in the process o( obtaining and preserving seed qua lit y . The drying process must be performed as soon as possible afte,. lhreshing. particularly in seed 10t5 having high moislure content (greater than 15%) in arder lO guarantee safe storage. In a 5mall plant , this operation can be carried out using natural or artificial drying systems. Each system ¡neludes varlOU5 alternatives . as can be observed In Figures 1, . 12. and 13. Must be fabricated of a resistan! and water impermeable material to keep out the moisture always found under field conditions.  Seed should be removed frequently in natural drying .During the operation of any drying system, in addition lo ¡nitial samplings, samples must be taken during the intermedia te phases in arder lo decide on preventive or corrective measures when these are necessary.This guaranlees efficient and sure drying.When seed moisture is aboye 18% and relative humidity is below 75%.the air should nol be healed. When reldtive humidity is over 75%. air should be healed lo reduce relative humidity lo 75%. When seed has les s than 18% moisture content, air must have a relative humidity between SO and 60%.In case this is greater. air must be hcated without exceeding the 40°C limit.A simple piece of equipment to measure these environmental and seed parameters i5 the psyehrometer (Figure 14).Psychrometer. Simple instrument used to determine air tempera tu re and rel ative humidity.These fdctors are very important in declsions related to seed moisture content.Ouring this phase . I1seed separation principles l1 • broadly used in conventional conditioning s ystems (differences in thickness. width. length . welght. formo texture. etc.) are equally useful in nonconventional cases.The major difference is that In the latter case.the maehinery and equipment can be sma\", simple. and inexpensive (Figure 15). nificantly improve seed lot quality in a productlon system (Annex 3).In non-conventional seed production systems. prlmarlly when dealing with small-scale producUon, precísion classíficatíon can be performed through manual selection {Figure 16}.  or eaUon sacks; 10-20 liter jars; and plastic containers (Figure 18).Labeled bags. To package 5 and 10 kg of seed. Convenienl in market-Ing small amounts of seed.When seed has been packaged for sale/dlstribution. packages must be identlfled on the oulside with the required i nformation, by stamping directly on the container ar by adhering a label having at least the data presented in Annex 4. This data can be taken from the card explained in Annex 1, and is very necessary as a source of information for farmers purchasing the seed.Good storage does not improve the seed's physical . physiologic, or gene tic quality, or Its health status; it can only reduce the speed of delerioration. Even so, quality loss is inevitable In practical terms.Seed that has been properly dried, conditioned, and identified should be stored in a clean , fresh, ventilated warehouse, isolated from sources of humidity . Pires should be placeó over wooden platforms as shown in Figure 19. Wooden platforms . Essential in seeds .They prevent moisture (rom into the lower layer of seeds. help and fumigation of the stack. and cleaning between stacks.Each pile musl be identified with a tag in arder lo have visible and praCtical information available in the warehouse. fo r taking decisions during commercialization. The tag should be placed in the pite and have the required information. A sample lag is shown in Annex 5.The posslbllity of having one variety per pile shou ld be considered;this facilltales delivery and inventory management.10. BasJc Tests Normally, when considering carrying out tests in conventional seed production and supply systems. worries arise in terms of the high cost of laboratory equipment. in frastructure. human resources. etc.These conslderatlons ar e valid since the system requires these investments due to its profit-earn ing characteristics. to the ri gorous norms and standa rd s • and to the need that test results be precise and replicable. Tests In these cases are conducted under ideal conditions (controlled moisture and temperature)In modern germlnators.Equipment for the purity, moisture, germination, tetrazolium, and health tests, among others, are also modern and relatively expensivc.Under less conventionai seed production and supply situations, these conditions are normally not available; small seed farmers do not have the human , physical. or financia l resources to support a sophisticated assembly of equipment to altend their needs. However , certain key qualitative seed characteristics can be evaluated based on simple schemes .The baslc tests described he re are based on traditional principies , yet they require in many cases only the resources and materials available in a community of organized farmers . These tests are:a.Contrary to other tests which can be evaluated immediately , evaluation of the germination potential r equires more time.However, depending on the objective of the evaluation. a series of options can be considered--from complete germination tests to more simple and quick es tima tion s .To determine real germination , sand trays , r ol ls of special paper, or disposable paper towels or newspaper can be used. Instead of sand. a mixture of soi! and organic matter , or soil aione , is appropriate . The lalter would result in more variation than the sand test , but would also enable the evaluation of the seed under conditions similar to those encountered in the field by the farmer.In addition to the information on germlnation, evaluations in trays provide a very practical appreciation of seed vigor.Representative samples of the lols are required to oblain reliable results and 300 to ~OO seeds must be planted. Depending on the size of the paper. the trays, etc .. groups of 100 or 50 seeds can be planted. Figure 20 shows a sample of this test.In the absence of special chambers, in tropical regions, germination tests can be made taking advantage of the ambient temperature. In this case, depending on the amblent temperature, germinatlon percentage can be evaluated in the time period stipulated in Table 3.  When lime is urgenl. germination percentage can be estimated based on the lelrazolium or conductivity tests or using other methods. A method available to many farmers is lhe evaluation of physiologic germination. This method enables eva luation of lhe basic seed structures as soon as lhe primary roots have emerged.Depending on the species and the temperilture. this evaluation can be done 2 or 3 days after planting. In the meantime, portable electronic testers constitute a viable alternative for these production schemes. In spite of not having the precision of the oven melhod, these testers are easy to operate, inexpensive, and provide an imrnt!diate reading.This test identifies the type of contaminant, and therefore the type of equipment through which the seed lot must flow to separa te inert matter , weeds , and dlseased seed or seed of other varieties that may be mixed with the dcsired variety.This trlal must be carried out upon receiving the lot and at the end of the conditioning process. The first, beca use of the reasons already mentioned, and the lalter , to guarantee that the seed lot does not contain weeds or diseased seed. Furthermore, thls test is important before and after precleLlning and cleaning operations because it defines the rigor of the required separatlons, When possible. the final purity test must be sent to a laboratory accredited lo carry out this analysis. This Is the result to be used in the labels or packages for marketing the seed.Seeds with mechanical damage lose their viability quickly in the warehouse . giving rise to weak and abnormal seedlings. Therefore. care must be taken to not cause damage to the seed When the evaluation methodologies described aboye are correctly used. internal quality control can be established under the local conditions .As the volume of seeds and the clients l demands. and as the personnel acquires more experience. other more complex tests can be used; among these are the tetrazolium test , the phytosanitary analyses. the vigor test, the varietal identification test, etc. No.1 the organization has its own laboratory.28 Qualitative data must be recorded here and a1so on the seed package label. Sesls can be used and the data recorded ln the package itselfj yet a11 data on final qual1ty must be recorded in this cardo 29 Stacks must be organlzed in the warehouse in a numeric sequence and by variety, and they must have so identification record indicating the variety, the number of packages per lot, and on the reverse side, so indication of how the seed will be distributed.!he name of clients should be recorded in space (30).Record the name of the persones) who will purchase this particular lot.31 Data in each card (lot) will indicate those lots that require further analyses before marketing. A germination test should be run on those lots delayed for harvest, those that had a greater mechanical damage, etc., and final genninatian should be recorded as a guarantee far both seed conditioner and client. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"be736cca56f1fd0d97a78b6143273a99","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/933c8c2d-b880-4ab2-9f5c-c903eefdbe46/retrieve","id":"166881128"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6ed0d29d-8ab6-498b-a5d2-ee5d5849ae29","content":"Within the CGIAR Resilient Cities Initiative, RUAF is applying an approach to food system monitoring frameworks and indicators that has been developed, tried and tested in a number of cities globally since 2016. This briefing document shares and explains previous work done by RUAF to develop tools for assessing and tracking food system transformation at both a city and city region level. The experience of conducing indicators work under Resilient Cities contributes to on-going development of the approach and will help inform future applications.The starting point was the City Region Food System 'parent' indicator framework (2018) that became the foundation on which the subsequent MUFPP, CRFS-Resilience and Green Cities indicator frameworks have been developed. These tools are aimed at people who are addressing food system change by working on food policy, strategy and governance using multi-stakeholder processes. These could be researchers, policy makers, local government staff and elected members, food businesses, civil society groups, not for profit organisations.RUAF has used the same design approach for each of the monitoring frameworks listed below although each one offers a different lens to work on food system transformation (see indicator focus notes). This means that they are complementary and to some extent contents can be combined by users. Each of the monitoring frameworks takes a food system approach and offers a 'menu of options' which should be selected and customised in relation to user priorities. The frameworks have been designed to support a participatory multi-stakeholder process over a period of time. The frameworks are multi-functional and can be used to support the development of food policy or strategy, to guide further in-depth research and analysis and to develop ways tracking progress towards desired outcomes. These frameworks have also been linked to SDG goals.RUAF has taken an outcomes approach to developing indicators, as explained in this diagram. There is a logical flow from left to right across the table.A city region food system (CRFS) encompasses the complex network of actors, processes and relationships that are involved in input supply and food production; storage, processing and manufacturing; wholesale and distribution; markets, catering and retail; consumption; and food loss and waste, in a given city region that includes a more or less concentrated urban centre and its surrounding peri-urban and rural hinterland. The CRFS approach reflects the multifunctional nature of the food system. It goes beyond value chains, looks beyond city limits and aims to support inclusive governance of food actors that connects national and local governments. The first phase of CRFS work (2015-2018) developed a toolkit to assess and plan sustainable city region food systems in a way that reflects the multifunctional nature of the food system.Date & status: Developed, trialled, and refined between 2015-2018 during the CRFS1 programme led by FAO & RUAF with the cities of Toronto, Medellin, Quito, Kitwe, Lusaka, Colombo and Utrecht.The CRFS indicator framework is a practical assessment and planning tool designed to help cities: (i) Assess the current status and performance of a CRFS on the basis of a set of performance indicators, following a whole-systems approach. (ii) Identify priority areas for action with clearly defined outcomes and ways of measuring change. (iii) Help with planning strategy and action to achieving the desired outcomes. (iv) Establish baselines and monitor changes resulting from (future) policy and programme implementation.Quick summary: Shaped around six sustainability areas that connect to components of the food system: social sustainability and equity (improved health and well-being); economic sustainability (increased local economic growth and decent jobs); environmental sustainability (improved stewardship of environmental resources); urban-rural integration (improved city region food supply); food governance (improved governance for sustainable food systems); reduced vulnerability and increased resilience. There are 210 possible indicators included in the full CRFS indicator framework. These relate to 9 overarching objectives, 21 desirable 'direction of travel' outcomes and 29 key issues to measure -all of which characterise a more sustainable and resilient city region food system with strong urban-rural linkages ('A Vision for City Region Food Systems', FAO & RUAF) 1 . Based on data gaps and needs and specific policy priorities identified in the CRFS Scan, each city region will need to identify the most appropriate indicators on which to collect data in the CRFS assessment.The focus is both urban and rural. Use of indicators helps to assemble information in response to 'big picture' questions about the longer-term sustainability and resilience of the city region food system and to plan prioritised actions. In addition to the usual practice of defining (or re-defining) indicators as part of action planning in order to monitor progress and assess impacts of interventions, in the CRFS process indicators are used to clarify where attention should be focused from the start.Date: Informed by the CRFS framework (above) and co-designed with cities and developed between 2016-2018. Implementation pilot project with the cities of Nairobi, Quito and Antananarivo in 2019. Over 80 signatory cities are starting to use this monitoring framework (source: MUFPP secretariat, Oct 2022) Purpose: The Milan Urban Food Policy Pact is an international agreement of Mayors, established in 2015 by the then Mayor of Milan. More than a declaration, it is a concrete working tool for cities. The MUFPP monitoring framework was requested by MUFPP signatory cities. It is designed to enable cities to track progress as they adopt the structured MUFPP approach to urban food system transformation and work on their own food policies and strategies. Indicator focus: The focus is on urban food systems. Cities commit to develop sustainable food systems that are inclusive, resilient, safe and diverse, that provide healthy and affordable food to all people in a human rights-based framework, that minimise waste and conserve biodiversity while adapting to and mitigating impacts of climate change. Most cities are currently using the framework to help identify baseline data with which to work in the future in order to track progress over time.Additional resources: Online practical handbook and resources to support cities in adopting their own monitoring frameworks. https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb4181enDate & status: Developed, trialled, and refined during the second phase of the CRFS programme (2019)(2020)(2021)(2022)(2023). Piloted in five cities: Antananarivo (Madagascar); Colombo (Sri Lanka); Kigali (Rwanda); Tamale (Ghana) and Melbourne (Australia).Purpose: Based on the CRFS Sustainability Indicator Framework, the CRFS Resilience Indicator Framework is also a practical assessment and planning tool but designed specifically to help cities to assess resilience capacities and to multiple hazards with a focus on climate and stresses and pandemics, to guide further research that informs action planning. Following the development of action plans, new refined indicators should be agreed within a customised CRFS Resilience monitoring plan. The ultimate purpose is to support the building of resilient city region food systems.Quick summary: Shaped around food system nodes, this indicator framework helps to explore the specific needs of different parts of the food system in relation to building resilience capacities. These nodes are:• input supply and food production • food storage, processing and manufacturing • food wholesale and distribution • food markets, catering and retail • food consumption • food loss and wasteIn addition, the framework includes indicators on emergency food provisioning, food system governance and natural resources and ecosystem services (which are directly impacted by climate shocks and stresses and are intrinsic to the functioning of all other nodes). There are 150 possible indicators included in the CRFS Resilience Indicator Framework. These relate to 9 overarching objectives, 12 desirable 'direction of travel' outcomes and 79 key issues to measure -all of which together, characterise a more resilient city region food system.Indicator focus: Both urban and rural. Use of indicators helps to guide assessment, more in-depth research and thus assemble information in response to agreed priority areas that relate to the impacts of shocks and stresses and the need to develop resilience capacities. Effective actions can then be identified in response to clearly evidenced needs. In addition to the usual practice of defining (or re-defining) indicators as part of action planning in order to monitor progress and assess impacts of interventions, in the CRFS process indicators are used to clarify where attention should be focused from the start.Date: Draft developed by RUAF 2021-2022.Purpose: Designed to complement and add to the urban food system MUFPP monitoring framework in the areas of Urban Forestry and Greening, Urban Agriculture and Governance.Quick summary: FAO Green Cities Initiative encourages an integration of urban food systems work with urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) and with urban and peri-urban forestry (UPF). New indicators have been developed for UPA and UPF in consultation with leading cities that have been working on 'green urban integration' for several years. The new recommended actions and related indicators complement existing MUFPP urban food system indicators.The focus is on urban ecosystem protection, regeneration and integration -maximizing the provision of ecosystems goods and services; fostering sustainable and climate-resilient practices and technologies to improve local food production and management of urban forests and trees; and promoting sustainable urban and peri-urban development with inclusiveness and green and circular economy.(See related RUAF ppt slides that further explain these different monitoring frameworks.) "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d64e32925c35e39b11fae31fae991937","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3a327a60-9e36-43b3-a9c7-0a4bbefe7865/retrieve","id":"-2139327880"},"keywords":["go","nature","com/lskojq"],"sieverID":"d4da37c4-c96b-4bc7-827c-588982f1a76a","content":"nce again an animal influenza A virus has crossed the species barrier to cause an appreciable number of human cases. Now, two months after the first known human infections with the H7N9 virus, the question is: which of the paths set by previous emerging influenza viruses will it follow?One predecessor, H5N1, generated alarm owing to its high pathogenicity in humans. It has proved to be a tenacious adversary, remaining endemic in poultry across large parts of Asia, but thankfully it has not adapted to humans and person-to-person transmission remains rare. A second, H7N7, caused a number of mostly mild human infections in the Netherlands in 2003, with some evidence of limited person-to-person spread, but extensive poultry culling controlled it. A third, the H1N1 swine influenza virus that emerged in 2009, successfully adapted to humans and caused a pandemic.So will H7N9 prove to be controllable? Will it remain entrenched in animals? Or will it, like the H1N1 virus, stably adapt to humans and cause a pandemic? The fine line between foresight and alarmism can only be drawn in retrospect. Nevertheless, my colleagues and I consider that H7N9 has many of the traits that make a new flu virus worrisome.The H7N9 haemagglutinin protein -which binds to target cells -resembles those of other avian flu viruses that cause only mild disease in birds. This means that the virus is likely to spread silently in domestic and probably wild birds. Human infections are therefore the sentinel events, and the numbers and geographic extent of human cases -all of them so far in China -suggest that a hidden epidemic in other animals is well under way.The small number of poultry in which H7N9 has so far been detected is rather puzzling, as are the 20% of people infected with the virus who have not reported exposure to poultry. Nevertheless, domestic birds are likely to be the main source of human infections. And the animal epidemic is likely to spread farther, with large suppliers distributing poultry across China. Flying wild birds are another possible mode of spread. Given that the virus probably does not cause severe disease in birds, and the uncertainty surrounding the animal source, containing the animal epidemic poses an enormous challenge.So far, extensive monitoring of contacts has not found evidence that the virus has spread efficiently between people. Limited human-tohuman transmission may have occurred but, as we saw with H5N1 and H7N7, this does not necessarily represent the early stages of a trajectory towards full human adaptation. However, H7N9 viruses isolated from patients possess some genetic signatures that are associated with effective replication and transmission, and with high virulence in mammals. The regions of China where H7N9 seems to be circulating have large populations of pigs as well as humans, providing opportunities for further adaptation to mammals and for re-assortment with human-or pig-adapted viruses.The clinical epidemiology of H7N9 cases has some similarities to human seasonal influenza. Unlike the H7N7 cases in 2003, which usually took the form of conjunctivitis, the H7N9 infections so far detected have caused respiratory illness, with cases in all ages but being most severe in the elderly and people with underlying illnesses. However, the fact that the average age of people infected is high -around 60 years -and that most reported infections have been severe suggests that the virus is not yet well adapted to humans. Only further clinical and epidemiological data will reveal the full spectrum of infection and severity.Standardized collection and sharing of clinical data would aid risk assessment and treatment. A clinical protocol and case-record and informed-consent forms developed by the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium and the World Health Organization are available online (see go.nature.com/fpsiog). If H7N9 were to stably adapt to humans, it would probably meet with little or no human immunity. Detecting and tracking a partially human-adapted H7N9 virus in a city as vast as Shanghai or Beijing would be difficult; tracking a fully adapted virus would be impossible. And it could easily spread nationally and internationally. Eastern China is now one of the most 'connected' population centres in the world. Seventy per cent of the global population outside China lives within two hours of an airport linked to the outbreak regions by a direct flight or a single connection (see go.nature.com/tvfev8). Travel restrictions or border screening will not contain pandemic influenza for long.If there was an overreaction to H1N1, we should not compound the error by under-reacting to H7N9. Hopefully H7N9 will remain an animal virus, and maybe the fact that it has circulated for at least two months without stably adapting to humans indicates that the species barrier is too great for it; but maybe not. The first human case of H7N9 outside mainland China is perhaps only a matter of time. Then the public-health and clinical community will need to assess, carefully and quickly, whether it represents a single imported case of animal-tohuman transmission, an animal epidemic that has spread abroad, or the international spread of a partially or fully human-adapted virus. Warnings about the emergence of another influenza virus may elicit scepticism, but we should not be complacent, cautions Peter Horby."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4c30c50e248679fa5e3a7916db681f73","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c26d7b8d-7dab-4841-9100-28fe9950fa02/retrieve","id":"1589130387"},"keywords":["École d'agro-développement internationale (ISTOM), Francia 13","2 Inicio pendiente Trachypogon sp",") M","O","2","1 (1G) Altillanura plana Sabana herbosa Arcilla: 35","5 ? (Suroeste Yopare) (Trachypogon sp",") Arena: 29","1 Pendiente M","O","1","5 (1H) Bajo Sabana herbosa Arcilla: 32","9 Ene","85 (Suroeste Yopare) (Cyperaceae) Arena: 9","9 M","O","3","0 (1I) Bajo-Sural Sabana herbosa Arcilla: 30","6 Feb","85 (Suroeste Yopare) (mal drenada -'sural') Arena: 21","3 M","O","2","2"],"sieverID":"1bace7f2-9539-47fb-aaa1-d84b28b2784f","content":"La misión del Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) es reducir el hambre y la pobreza en los trópicos mediante una investigación colaborativa que mejore la productividad agrícola y el manejo de los recursos naturales.El CIAT es uno de los 16 centros internacionales de investigación agropecuaria, conocidos ya como los Centros de la Cosecha del Futuro, que son auspiciados por el Grupo Consultivo para la Investigación Agrícola Internacional (GCIAI).El trabajo del CIAT es financiado por un gran número de países, organizaciones para el desarrollo regional e internacional y fundaciones privadas. En el 2001, los siguientes países son donantes del CIAT: Alemania,v El ecosistema de sabanas reviste importancia mundial porque, en primer lugar, cubre aproximadamente el 20% de la superficie terrestre. Tiene particular importancia en América del Sur porque ocupa el 45% del subcontinente y ha sido teatro de la expansión agropecuaria ocurrida en él en los últimos 40 años.Los Llanos Orientales de Colombia son parte de los 250 millones de hectáreas de las sabanas tropicales de América del Sur; pertenecen a éstas, además, los llanos de Venezuela, el cerrado de Brasil y las sabanas de Bolivia y Guyana. Estas regiones han estado sometidas, en diferente grado, a un rápido proceso de cambio en el uso del recurso tierra. El cerrado brasileño, por ejemplo, se ha convertido, de los años 70 para acá, en parte importante del notable desarrollo de la agricultura y la ganadería de ese país. En efecto, la transformación de la sabana cubierta de vegetación nativa en extensas áreas sembradas con gramíneas introducidas -de ellas hay ya alrededor de 40 millones de hectáreas-ha sido el origen del impresionante ritmo de crecimiento de la ganadería de esa región, donde a la fecha se concentra el 50% del hato ganadero de Brasil. Asimismo, la conversión de otras áreas del cerrado nativo en zonas agrícolas manejadas intensivamente ha hecho de Brasil uno de los exportadores de soya más importantes del mundo.En las otras regiones de la sabana neotropical, el impacto de la intervención humana ha sido considerablemente menor que en Brasil. No obstante, la expansión de las fronteras agrícola y ganadera continúa, muchas veces acompañada del desarrollo de la infraestructura vial, otras veces inducida por la explotación petrolera -como es el caso de Venezuela que se está repitiendo en Colombia-y otras apremiada por la necesidad de aumentar los productos exportables, como ocurrió en Bolivia. En Colombia, además, los cuatro departamentos administrativos que pertenecen a la Orinoquia (Meta, Arauca, Vichada y Casanare) constituyen el 22% del país y contienen una enorme reserva de tierras y recursos naturales.Conviene recordar también que las sabanas de la Orinoquia están situadas en la cuenca binacional del río Orinoco, que ocupa aproximadamente 900,000 km 2 . El Orinoco es el tercer río del mundo, en términos del flujo de aguas que corren por él hacia el oceáno, y el sexto del mundo en cuanto a su aporte de sedimentos (a la cuenca y a la desembocadura). El uso de esta cuenca tendría, por tanto, un efecto ambiental internacional de considerable magnitud.vi La intensificación de la agricultura y de la ganadería en todas esas regiones despoja el suelo de la vegetación nativa, al menos en los sitios en que las condiciones del suelo y la topografía lo permiten. Donde no sea posible este proceso de cambio, es probable que ocurran, a nivel de la finca y del paisaje en general, impactos indirectos en la vegetación nativa. Estos impactos provienen de la intensificación general de los sistemas de producción y de la necesidad de integrar las especies forrajeras nativas con las introducidas y con las que se siembran en áreas destinadas a la agricultura.La publicación de esta obra presenta el trabajo de numerosos colaboradores y encaja bien y oportunamente en el contexto anterior. Hay en ella un inventario exhaustivo de las especies nativas que crecen en áreas muy representativas de la Altillanura bien drenada de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, y una descripción completa de las principales comunidades vegetales en que se agrupan dichas especies. Estudios como éste son fundamentales, sin duda, para caracterizar parte de la riqueza fitogenética de la región mencionada antes de que sufra mayor deterioro.Este trabajo no se detiene en la parte descriptiva de la sabana. En él se reseña también la experimentación con que se ha establecido que esas comunidades vegetales son afectadas por las herramientas disponibles para el manejo de la sabana, es decir, el fuego y el pastoreo. Trata luego de identificar las normas mínimas que hacen compatible el uso productivo de la sabana con el mantenimiento de la diversidad de especies y comunidades que en ella habitan; donde esto no es posible, ilustra las ventajas y las desventajas de un uso más intensivo de ese recurso.La utilización de la vegetación nativa afecta también, sin duda, otros recursos genéticos de la región, como la fauna. En particular, la fauna del suelo ha sido uno de los objetivos del presente trabajo; este estudio ha conducido a la identificación de especies antes desconocidas para la ciencia y cuyo potencial aún debe ser estudiado, resultado éste de particular relevancia. Hay además aspectos del ambiente que pueden recibir el impacto del uso dado a la vegetación nativa; en particular, los procesos de captura y liberación del carbono son susceptibles a ese impacto en cuanto son influenciados por prácticas como la quema, por el crecimiento de la biomasa aérea y subterránea, y por la actividad biológica. Esta obra hace además referencia a estudios relevantes en el campo mencionado y presenta muchas posibilidades de estudios futuros en aspectos aún poco estudiados.La publicación de este trabajo contribuirá a que Colombia y, en especial, los técnicos y productores agropecuarios de los Llanos Orientales aprecien más la abundancia de los recursos disponibles en esa región, y el impacto que puede tener su uso en otras áreas del desarrollo.Agroecología y Biodiversidad de las Sabanas...Los Llanos Orientales de Colombia u Orinoquia colombiana tienen 17 millones de hectáreas y contienen tres sistemas de tierras o paisajes: el piedemonte, las llanuras aluviales y las altillanuras (las bien drenadas y las inundables). Pertenecen a un macrosistema de importancia global (las sabanas tropicales) cuya topografía permite la mecanización agrícola y cuyos suelos exigen un manejo cuidadoso. Su población escasa comprende etnias indígenas y colonos inmigrantes.Sus suelos (Oxisoles y Ultisoles) son ácidos y poco fértiles, están sometidos a temperaturas altas durante el año y a excesos de humedad, y se caracterizan por la lixiviación de minerales y por la formación de laterita (gleyzación). Desde hace años, esta sabana herbácea y poco arbustiva se ha destinado a una ganadería extensiva de carga baja. Actualmente manifiestan estos suelos un alto potencial agrícola comercial y han permitido la introducción de especies forrajeras mejoradas. El subsuelo es muy rico en hidrocarburos.Las sabanas tropicales ocupan, aproximadamente, un 20% de la superficie terrestre; de ellas, el 45% se halla en América del Sur. Las sabanas suramericanas, que ocupan cerca de 269 millones de hectáreas, se conocen como Cerrados en Brasil (76%), Llanos en Venezuela (11%), Llanos Orientales en Colombia (6%), sabanas en Bolivia (5%) y sabanas en Guyana (1.5%). Este macrosistema es considerado como un área importante del mundo porque su topografía plana lo hace potencialmente apto para la mecanización agrícola; no obstante, las condiciones físicas de sus suelos exigen un uso cuidadoso de esa actividad.La región de la Orinoquia colombiana, también llamada Llanos Orientales de Colombia, tiene aproximadamente 17 millones de hectáreas. Limita al norte con el Estado Apure, en la frontera suroeste de Venezuela; al sur, con el río Guaviare; al oeste, con la Cordillera Oriental; y al este, con el río Orinoco. La división administrativa de los Llanos Orientales comprende los departamentos de Meta, Vichada, Arauca y Casanare. El estudio presentado en esta obra se hizo en el área indicada en la Figura 1-1.Orientales pertenecen a la cuenca del río Orinoco que contiene tres sistemas de tierras ('paisajes'): el piedemonte, las llanuras aluviales inundables y la altillanura; este último se subdivide en dos ecosistemas: la altillanura bien drenada y la llanura inundable o mal drenada.-El primero (altillanura bien drenada, ABD) tiene potencial, si se maneja racionalmente, para la producción de pastos y la agricultura comercial e industrial (Figura 1-2).-El segundo (llanura mal drenada, LMD) puede dedicarse a la ganadería tradicional extensiva y a actividades de zoocría, piscicultura y de protección y conservación de la fauna y flora silvestres.Una gran extensión de la ABD está cubierta por una sabana herbácea, típica de los suelos de baja fertilidad, que está drenada por una multitud de caños y surcada por vallecitos estrechos que se alargan como franjas angostas de bosque de galería denominados localmente 'morichales'.La densidad de población es baja. La región está habitada por una población indígena en la que sobresale la riqueza cultural de las etnias Sikuani, Sáliva, Piapoco, Puinave. Hay también inmigrantes recientes de otras regiones del país que se instalan, en su mayoría, en el Piedemonte y en la llanura aluvial a orillas de los grandes ríos.Se ha desarrollado en la ABD, en las últimas décadas, una agricultura comercial basada en palma africana, arroz, maíz, sorgo, soya y en frutales como el aguacate, el mango, los cítricos y el marañón. Es común en sus ríos la pesca artesanal y comercial. El uso casi ancestral de la sabana nativa de Figura 1-1.División administrativa del departamento del Meta y área de sabana nativa estudiada. los Llanos Orientales es la ganadería extensiva de muy baja capacidad de carga (Figura 1-3). La introducción de pastos y leguminosas forrajeras adaptadas a las condiciones naturales de baja fertilidad de los suelos dominantes (Oxisoles y Ultisoles) ha propiciado el establecimiento de ganaderías cada vez más intensivas (CIAT 1985).Figura 1-3. Tierras de la formación Serranía al sur del río Meta, dedicadas a la ganadería.Figura 1-2. Foto del satélite SPOT del área de Meta en que se halla Carimagua; el perímetro dibujado encierra los terrenos de la estación experimental.Los Llanos Orientales de Colombia se consideran -por su vasta extensión y por el tipo de explotaciones que podrían establecerse en ellos (silvopastoriles, agroforestales, agrícolas intensivas)-una región de alto potencial agroecónomico. Actualmente se lleva a cabo en esa región la mayor explotación de hidrocarburos del país. El potencial agropecuario atribuido a las sabanas necesita sistemas de uso y manejo del suelo que se ajusten a las condiciones naturales del suelo, detengan la tasa de degradación de éste, impidan el deterioro de los recursos naturales, y propicien el desarrollo de sistemas agrícolas y pecuarios sostenibles.Las sabanas tropicales son el resultado de la evolución de diversos procesos geológicos, entre ellos, las fuerzas tectónicas, la sedimentación, la erosión y los cambios climáticos drásticos. La interacción entre la historia geomorfológica, el tipo de material original de la corteza terrestre y el clima han determinado, a través del tiempo, el tipo y las características de los suelos. Las sabanas presentan, por tanto, una gran variabilidad geológica y topográfica (Figura 1-4).Según el IGAC (1991), la Cordillera Oriental de los Andes colombianos emergió de las aguas oceánicas en un tiempo situado entre 140 y 100 millones de años atrás, en el período geológico Cretáceo Inferior. Después de un proceso de transgresión, se depositaron en esa región grandes cantidades de sedimentos que rellenaron las depresiones y formaron así extensas planicies. Desde los 100 hasta los 65 millones de años, durante el período Cretáceo Superior, se acentuó la sedimentación marina sobre la Cordillera Oriental, mientras que en el área ocupada actualmente por los Llanos Orientales se depositaron arenas litorales provenientes del escudo de Guayana.Desde los 25 hasta los 12 millones de años, en los períodos Mioceno Inferior y Mioceno Medio, se presentaron nuevas transgresiones que moldearon el área de la Orinoquia. Durante estos 13 millones de años, dominaron masas de agua relativamente superficiales que presenciaron las estratificaciones, en esa área, de nuevos depósitos de sedimentos.De 12 millones de años para acá, la compresión y la presión ejercidas por la placa tectónica oceánica durante el Mioplioceno provocan, en el choque de ésta contra la placa continental sólida del Escudo Guayanés, un plegamiento que dio origen al penúltimo levantamiento de la Cordillera Oriental, cuyo piedemonte emerge en esta época. El levantamiento final de esa cordillera ocurrió durante el Pliopleistoceno y, simultáneamente, los sedimentos desprendidos de ella se depositaron en la región actualmente ocupada por los Llanos Orientales.Una vez creada la estructura de la región, comienza a ser modelada por los agentes climatológicos. Las lluvias, que en la última glaciación del Cuaternario fueron abundantes, abrieron profundos cauces y transportaron enormes cantidades de sedimentos que se acumularon en la parte baja y plana; este proceso dio origen a la actual topografía y a los numerosos ríos de los Llanos Orientales (IGAC 1991).La actividad de numerosas fallas paralelas a la Cordillera Oriental permitió el levantamiento y el plegamiento de la zona más cercana a ella y el hundimiento de la zona más oriental, lo que originó la región conocida hoy como la Orinoquia mal drenada, situada entre la Cordillera Oriental y el río Meta. En contraste, la margen derecha del río Meta inicia la Orinoquia bien drenada.Los suelos de los Llanos Orientales se desarrollaron sobre un espeso manto de sedimentos aluviales arcillo-limosos proveniente de la Cordillera Oriental (Brunnschweiler 1972). Son suelos de los órdenes Oxisol y Ultisol, según el Key to Soil Taxonomy; son también Orthic, Rhodic y Humic Ferrasuelos, según la clasificación de la FAO ('Sols ferralitiques', según la taxonomía francesa).Estos suelos tienen las características típicas de una formación debida a condiciones de temperatura alta y continua, a exceso de humedad en la época lluviosa, a una alta concentración de óxidos de Fe y de Al en las capas de las cuencas de sedimentación. La continua pérdida de minerales esenciales de fácil intemperismo, causado por la lixiviación, origina un alto grado de acidez en el suelo.La alternancia entre estancamiento de las aguas (con reducción y solución o lavado de minerales) y la desecación del suelo (con oxidación y precipitación de minerales) generó procesos de gleyzación o de formación de laterita en esos suelos. Estos procesos se manifestaron en el perfil del suelo por cambios de coloración (gris, amarillo o rojizo) y por la presencia de capas continuas de plintita (en parte de la superficie de la Serranía, p.e.) que al quedar expuestas al aire se transforman en petroplintita o en laterita.El Cuadro 1-1 presenta los resultados del análisis de muestras tomadas en varios sitios del Centro Nacional de Investigación (CI) Carimagua manejado por el ICA y el CIAT. El Cuadro 1-2 muestra los resultados del análisis de suelos de la Altillanura y de la Serranía en un área entre Puerto López y Puerto Gaitán.Los datos consignados en los Cuadros 1-1 y 1-2 indican, en síntesis, lo siguiente:• Hay una gran diversidad de texturas, tanto dentro del paisaje como entre uno y otro paisaje.• Los suelos de la Serranía son más arenosos que los de la Altillanura.• La fertilidad química de casi todos estos suelos es baja: la tasa de M.O. es baja, la C/N entre 15 y 20 indica una M.O. mal descompuesta, la capacidad de intercambio catiónico (CEC) es baja.• Todos los suelos son muy ácidos (pH entre 4.5 y 5.0).• La concentración (o saturación) de óxido de Al y de óxido de Fe (a veces, también de Mn) es alta.• Hay una deficiencia general de P asimilable (Bray II: 0.5 a 3.7 ppm).• Hay deficiencia de Ca.Muestran, además, los datos una dominancia textural del limo y un contenido variable de M.O. El nivel bajo de P y el pH bajo correlaciona bien con una fase de cambio dominada por la actividad del ion Al +++ sobre el Ca, el Mg y el K. Los niveles de S son también bajos y de los elementos menores sólo pueden hallarse trazas.Estos datos provienen de suelos que soportan diferente cobertura vegetal natural. En todos los sitios muestreados, la fertilidad natural y las condiciones físicas no son óptimas para el establecimiento de cultivos o de explotaciones agropecuarias a nivel comercial. Por tanto, estos suelos serán rentables si se les hacen correcciones previas que generen una capa superficial de suelo capaz de soportar cultivos y pastos, y si éstos son variedades adaptadas al estrés nutricional propio de esa región.Cuadro 1-1. Propiedades texturales y químicas de algunos suelos cubiertos con diferente tipo de vegetación, en la Altillanura plana del CNI Carimagua manejado por ICA/CIAT, en Meta, Colombia. Las buenas propiedades estructurales, especialmente las de la Altillanura, compensan en parte estas deficiencias químicas en los proyectos agropastoriles que se establecen en los Llanos Orientales.En esta unidad fisiográfica hay también una gran diversidad en la estructura de los suelos. En las Figuras 1-5 y 1-6 se comparan, en parte, las medidas tomadas en diferentes sitios de la Altillanura plana de Carimagua, en los que crecen distintos tipos de vegetación de la sabana nativa o diferentes especies de forrajes sembrados (por ejemplo, las que contienen las asociaciones de gramíneas y leguminosas). Se observa lo siguiente:• Una diferencia significativa en la densidad aparente y en la humedad (volumétrica) entre los suelos arcillosos y los suelos arenosos (de los 'bancos') en todo el perfil estudiado. Los suelos arcillosos tienen una densidad aparente y una humedad más altas y, por consiguiente, mejor estructura. Los suelos de los 'bajos', de textura arcillosa y con vegetación nativa, tienen características que los acercan más a los suelos arenosos que a los suelos arcillosos de los bancos.Estos suelos han sido muy compactados.• En los suelos arcillosos, el cultivo de especies forrajeras mejoró la estructura del suelo, pero no ocurrió lo mismo en las capas poco profundas (0 a 50 cm) de los suelos arenosos. Ahora bien, en estos últimos la densidad aparente es un poco más baja que en la sabana nativa, y la humedad volumétrica (o reserva de agua del suelo) mejora cuando hay cultivos. Estos datos indicarían que los cultivos de especies forrajeras ensanchan los poros del suelo y, por tanto, aumentan la disponibilidad de agua en el suelo.Figura 1-5. Características físicas de la sabana de los Llanos Orientales: densidad aparente respecto a la profundidad de cinco suelos de tres sitios (ALG, TABAQ., INTR.) de Carimagua. Las medidas de penetrabilidad modifican la imagen antes descrita de estos suelos y de su vegetación (Figura 1-7). Se observó lo siguiente:• En los primeros centímetros de suelo (0-3 cm), los resultados son muy similares para todos los tipos de suelo y de vegetación.• A una profundidad de 3 a 10 cm, la penetrabilidad varía: en los suelos arcillosos es más alta y en los arenosos es, generalmente, normal.En el sitio 6 (B. humidicola + A. pintoi en un suelo arcilloso), los datos se apartan de la distinción anterior; la diferencia se explica, quizás, por la relativa juventud (algunos años) de este cultivo asociado.• A partir de los 10 cm de profundidad, la penetrabilidad varía mucho de un sitio a otro y también según la profundidad. Se distinguen siempre los valores de penetrabilidad para los dos tipos de suelos: más alta en los arcillosos y más baja en los arenosos. Hay efecto de compactación a los 10 cm de profundidad donde se ha trabajado el suelo por los cultivos.Figura 1-6. Características físicas de la sabana de los Llanos Orientales: humedad volumétrica respecto a la profundidad de cinco suelos del área de Carimagua. Características físicas de la sabana de los Llanos Orientales: penetrabilidad respecto a la profundidad de cinco suelos del área de Carimagua. • En los suelos arcillosos, el cultivo no afecta la penetrabilidad en las capas de suelo por debajo de los 10 cm.El principal problema de los suelos de la Altillanura (Typic haplustox hisohyperthermic, Kaolinitic) cuando se utilizan para la producción de pastos es su susceptibilidad a la degradación. Este concepto se define como la pérdida de algunas propiedades físicas, químicas y biológicas del suelo por causa de una inadecuada intervención humana; esa pérdida genera factores de producción negativos que afectarán más tarde la sostenibilidad agrícola.El Cuadro 1-3 presenta el efecto que tiene el uso continuo del suelo con arroz de secano en algunas propiedades físicas de ese suelo, cuya alteración negativa depende de la intensificación del uso (Amézquita et al. 1998).Un sistema inapropiado de labranza (intervención humana) afecta principalmente las propiedades físicas del suelo relacionadas con el comportamiento volumétrico de éste, como la porosidad total y la diversidad de tamaño de los poros, las cuales están íntimamente ligadas con la estructura del suelo. Cualquier cambio en la distribución del tamaño de los agregados del suelo y en la estabilidad estructural de éste debido a la labranza, afectan la infiltración, la capacidad de almacenamiento de agua en el suelo, la penetración de las raíces en el suelo y su crecimiento (al cambiar la distribución de los poros según su tamaño). El sellamiento superficial del suelo es un efecto del desmoronamiento de los agregados y del desprendimiento y salpicadura de partículas del suelo (Le Bissonnais 1996); está relacionado, además, con la labranza en los Llanos Orientales. El efecto de diversos usos en la estabilidad estructural de algunos Oxisoles (Amézquita et al. 1998) se presenta en el Cuadro 1-4.Los principales problemas de orden físico que se han observado y evaluado en los suelos de los Llanos Orientales son los siguientes (Amézquita et al.-sellamiento superficial; -encostramiento superficial; -alta densidad aparente; -aumento de densidad y endurecimiento del suelo en la época seca;-compactación; -baja velocidad de infiltración;Cuadro 1-3. Efecto del tiempo de uso del suelo (Oxisol) con arroz de secano en algunas propiedades físicas de dicho suelo en los Llanos Orientales, en Casanare, Colombia. -baja estabilidad estructural;-deficiente distribución de los poros según su tamaño;-deficiente continuidad del espacio poroso;-poco espesor del horizonte A;-alta susceptibilidad a la erosión (en suelos recién preparados);-alta producción de escorrentía.La Figura 1-8 muestra el efecto del uso del suelo en la distribución de los agregados superficiales (0-25 mm). Si se compara la sabana nativa con los Figura 1-8.Comportamiento del D50 de los agregados superficiales en el suelo de varios tratamientos de uso y manejo de un suelo Oxisol en dos localidades: Matazul y Primavera. R/A = renovación con arroz (se sembraron el pasto y el arroz al tiempo); R/T = renovación y manejo tradicional; SR = sin renovación. El pasto ensayado (asociado o puro) fue Brachiaria dictyoneura. tratamientos de uso del suelo, se observa que el diámetro medio (D50) de los agregados se ha reducido en los tratamientos. El desarrollo de sistemas de labranza que propicien la sostenibilidad agrícola en los Llanos Orientales requiere, por tanto, de las siguientes acciones:-entender los procesos actuales de degradación del suelo en función del tiempo de uso del suelo, del tipo de suelo y del sistema de manejo que éste recibe;-determinar las propiedades físicas, químicas y biológicas del suelo que sufren más el efecto de las prácticas de manejo y establecer los valores críticos de dichas propiedades para varios cultivos;-desarrollar metodologías de campo y de laboratorio que permitan evaluar, con criterio realista, las condiciones del suelo que limitan el buen desarrollo de los cultivos;-diseñar prácticas de manejo de los suelos que preserven la sostenibilidad de este recurso y contrarresten los procesos que llevan a su degradación.La región de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia tiene tres características: su latitud es baja (de 2° a 5° de latitud N), su altitud es también baja (100 a 300 m.s.n.m.), y su cielo está abierto a la acción de los vientos en todas direcciones excepto al oeste, donde se levanta la barrera de los Andes (Figura 1-9).El clima de los Llanos está definido por el ritmo de los vientos y de las lluvias y su régimen térmico es elevado (Brunnschweiler 1972). La cantidad de lluvias y su frecuencia siguen un gradiente diferencial que va de los Figura 1-9.La sabana de los Llanos Orientales está abierta hacia todas las direcciones, excepto al oeste donde se levanta la Cordillera Oriental de los Andes colombianos.Figura 1-10. Datos climatológicos de Villavicencio, localidad del Piedemonte de la Cordillera Oriental de los Andes, donde comienzan los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. Andes en dirección al este. Al pie de los Andes las lluvias anuales superan los 3000 mm y en Carimagua, en el centro de los Llanos Orientales, pasan de 2200 mm.Las lluvias se concentran en la época lluviosa, que dura 8 meses del año (abril a noviembre) y en la cual cae un 95% de la lluvia del año. La época seca dura de 2 a 4 meses (diciembre a marzo), según la distancia del sitio a la Cordillera Oriental de los Andes (junto a ésta es más breve). Esta región nunca ha sido ecológicamente seca. La estacionalidad muy definida de las lluvias es una consecuencia del cambio de latitud del sistema de convergencia intertropical (ITC). La sequía orinocense coincide con el tiempo frío del hemisferio norte y los puntos máximos de la actividad pluvial con la posición zenital del sol sobre el Trópico de Cáncer (Figuras 1-10 y 1-11).En enero de cada año, los Llanos Orientales están bajo la influencia de los vientos Alisios que soplan del suroeste al noreste, mueven las nubes y crean en la región las condiciones que tienden a establecer la época seca. A partir de marzo, la depresión atmosférica se mueve en dirección norte y las nubes se acumulan sobre los Llanos.La temperatura promedio anual es relativamente elevada y es estable: la región de Carimagua tiene aproximadamente 26 °C durante el año, lo que le vale la denominación de 'sabana isohipertérmica' (Sarmiento 1990). Las temperaturas son un poco más altas en el interior de los Llanos Orientales que en el Piedemonte andino (ver Figuras 1-10 y 1-11). La amplitud de la temperatura (diferencia diurna/nocturna) puede ser alta (5 a 6 °C) en la época seca, pero es muy atenuada en la época lluviosa.La humedad relativa supera el 80% en la época lluviosa y es relativamente alta (60% a 65%) en la época seca. Durante esta época, en el centro de los Llanos la evaporación es relativamente alta (> 200 mm) (Figura 1-11), siendo relativamente baja (100 mm) en el Piedemonte (Figura 1-10).La Figura 1-12 presenta las diferentes unidades fisiográficas de los Llanos Orientales en la cuenca del río Orinoco, basadas en imágenes del satélite Landsat (CIAT 1985).Los principales 'paisajes' (o sistemas de tierras) están en la parte bien drenada de la sabana; son los siguientes: la 'Altillanura plana', de 3.5 millones de hectáreas; la 'Altillanura ondulada y Serranía', de 6.4 millones de hectáreas; y las 'Terrazas fluviales', de cerca de 1.25 millones de hectáreas.Es el sistema de tierras de mayor extensión (9,823,000 ha) y el más heterogéneo en términos de relieve. Comprende principalmente los siguientes paisajes; Altillanura plana, Altillanura ondulada y Serranía. La Altillanura plana ocupa el 35% del área (Hoyos 1995).Los suelos de la Altillanura son los más antiguos de los Llanos Orientales. En sus áreas plano-convexas estables hay Oxisoles de tres tipos: Haplustox, Haplorthox y Acrorthox. Las áreas cóncavas han acumulado materiales y ceniza volcánica de las partes más altas y se clasifican como Inceptisoles (por ejemplo, Andaquepts, Plinthaquepts, Tropaquepts) y Ultisoles. Figura 1-12. Principales sistemas de tierras de la sabana bien drenada de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia (adaptada de Cochrane et al. 1985).Altillanura onduladaSerranía arboladaAltillanura plana. Por su relieve, es la zona de los Llanos Orientales más favorable para la agricultura, aparte del Piedemonte. Está situada al sur del río Meta, desde la ciudad de Puerto López hasta la frontera con Venezuela, en un área de 60 km de largo por 6 a 15 km de ancho.Está conformada, principalmente, por sedimentos aluviales del Pleistoceno primario. El paisaje comprende bancos altos y planos que ocupan, más o menos, 90% de la superficie total de la zona, y está cortado por bajos y ríos que constituyen un sistema de drenaje.Serranía. Estas dos formaciones constituyen una franja extensa al sur de la Altillanura plana, con un paisaje de pequeñas colinas redondeadas (Figura 1-3), con pendientes de 1% a 30%. De la superficie total, las cimas y las pendientes hacen el 54%, los bajos secos el 24%, los bajos húmedos el 14%, y las partes inundables el 7%. Cada uno de estos tipos de relieve tiene un uso y un potencial particulares (Cuadro 1-5).Orinoquia mal drenada o 'bajillanura'. Al norte, desde la margen izquierda del río Meta hasta el río Arauca, que define la frontera con Venezuela, se presenta un paisaje de bajos inundables mal drenados (unos 5 millones de hectáreas) que comprende dos subpaisajes: la llanura de desborde y la llanura eólica.Es un relieve plano en el que sobresalen los bancos, que son diques naturales de los cauces. Según su posición en el dique, los suelos varían: van desde Quartzipsamments, pasando por Dystropepts hasta Tropaquepts.Llanura eólica. Se superpone a la llanura de desborde, principalmente, y en sus áreas más arenosas hay suelos Quartzipsamments. Las partes que tienen mayor contenido de limo se clasifican como Dystropepts y las áreas de mayor depresión como Aquepts.En general, los suelos de la Orinoquia mal drenada son poco favorable para la agricultura. La sabana nativa se utiliza para el levante extensivo de bovinos.Algunos sistemas de mejoramiento de los bajos, denominados 'Módulos', se establecieron en las proximidades de Orocué, en Casanare, pero fueron abandonados, como ocurrió también en Venezuela (Tejos et al. 1990), porque eran muy costosos y de difícil manejo.La vegetación 'nativa' de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia y de Venezuela es, en general, la de una sabana herbácea cuyas especies características son Trachypogon vestitus y T. plumosus (Blydenstein 1967;Medina y Sarmiento 1981) y que tiene un estrato herbáceo bajo (< 50 cm) en el que sobresalen árboles como Curatella americana (ver Capítulos 2, 3 y 4 de esta obra).Cuadro 1-5. Tipos de relieve y uso potencial del 'paisaje' denominado Altillanura ondulada y Serranía en los Llanos Orientales. A ambos lados de los ríos se observa una vegetación generalmente arbolada o arbustiva (la selva de galería) que puede tener una anchura de varios cientos de metros. La mayoría de las especies de interés comercial de esta selva son utilizadas para levantar cercas; sufren, por tanto, una explotación intensiva y, con frecuencia, desaparecen localmente.Hay dos teorías principales sobre el origen de las sabanas nativas de la cuenca del Orinoco:• Las sabanas fueron naturalmente inducidas por el clima y las condiciones edáficas.• Las sabanas son el resultado de la acción del hombre sobre una vegetación original que bien pudo ser la de una selva.Brunnschweiler (1972) hizo una lista de las diferentes respuestas dadas a esta pregunta:• Lauer (1952( ), citado por Brunnschweiler (1972)), demostró que 2200 mm de lluvia en 9 meses son necesarios y suficientes para mantener una selva en los trópicos. Tal es el caso de gran parte de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. Brunnschweiler (1972) responde a la tesis de Lauer: este investigador no tiene en cuenta las pérdidas de humedad de los suelos de la región por evaporación y por evapotranspiración; tampoco considera que las reservas de agua del suelo disminuyen rápidamente durante la época seca.• Según Goosen (1971), los límites de la selva no están muy lejos. La frontera entre selva y sabana sería la isoyeta 2500 mm, al sudeste de los Llanos. En Africa, en cambio, la frontera entre selva y sabana coincide con la isoyeta 1500 mm (Aubreville 1949).En opinión de los autores, la diferencia estaría en las condiciones edáficas muy pobres de los Llanos Orientales.• Según un informe de la FAO (1965), una selva cubría la región desde las primeras edades del continente, pero el fuego la habría destruido. La erosión que siguió transformó tanto el paisaje que fue imposible el regreso de la vegetación selvática. El hombre sería el responsable de la extensión de la sabana y la destrucción de la selva porque hace un uso controlado de la quema (para la ganadería) y no controlado (para la cacería, particularmente). Esta teoría se apoya en el hecho de que los arbustos y las especies de árboles de la sabana se encuentran también en la selva.• Cole (1986) piensa también, estudiando los trabajos de la Estación Biológica de los Llanos de Calabozo, al norte de los Llanos de Venezuela, que la quema o su ausencia serían responsables de los cambios de fisonomía y estructura de la vegetación de esa región.• Los trabajos de San José y Farinas (1983) y las observaciones hechas en parcelas protegidas en Carimagua muestran que, en efecto, el descanso de larga duración que recibe la vegetación cuando se la protege contra la quema inicia la arborización del área protegida.• Blydenstein (1967) considera también la sabana de la cuenca del Orinoco como un derivado de la selva donde la quema es un factor de 'sabanización'. La quema debida a la acción del hombre no sería la causa principal o primaria de la formación de esta sabana, sino un modo de mantener las pasturas naturales limpias de árboles leñosos. Reconoce, sin embargo, la existencia de la sabana nativa en algunos sitios que serían sabanas 'edáficas' y que se pueden encontrar en la selva amazónica (Demangeot 1976).• Los trabajos de Wijmstra y van der Hammen (1992) y de otros investigadores sobre el análisis del polen (palinología) indican que las sabanas actuales, en especial, fueron precedidas hace miles de años por una selva húmeda o una sabana arbolada y cerrada; la fisonomía actual de la vegetación de los Llanos Orientales sería el efecto de un cambio del clima (sequía) relativamente 'reciente'.• Khobzi et al. (1980) citan trabajos en que se muestra también que la cuenca amazónica, durante los últimos milenios, presenta épocas secas y húmedas alternas. Durante estas épocas, la mayor parte de los Llanos Orientales se cubría alternativamente de vegetación de sabana o de selva.• Sarmiento (1990;1996)  En síntesis, los análisis del polen de los Llanos, las condiciones climáticas y edáficas actuales, el manejo con quemas dado a los pastos antes y ahora, y los ensayos de descanso de la sabana, permiten concluir que la sabana nativa actual de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia es una formación herbácea o muy poco arbustiva, inestable, que tiende hacia una sabana arbustiva o arbolada o hacia una formación de selva si no interviniera la acción del hombre. El medio residencial está conformado por la suma de factores climáticos, edáficos y bióticos que obran en forma integrada como una unidad de lugar en la superficie terrestre. Cualesquiera de estos factores puede ejercer mayor influencia que los otros en el establecimiento de una comunidad. Un suelo seco se considera una residencia y un suelo húmedo otra distinta; en este caso, el factor humedad del suelo, al variar, altera la suma de factores y cambia el carácter de la residencia. Puede inferirse, además, que es el factor determinante puesto que delimita la existencia de una vegetación típica que es diferente de otra, las cuales pueden diferenciarse fisonómicamente o florísticamente.En las sabanas se pueden observar comunidades vegetales diferentes, respecto a sus características físicas, químicas y biológicas, por causa de la conformación del relieve y de ciertos factores edáficos. Si se estudian en profundidad esas características, se encontrarán asociaciones vegetales que permiten interpretar y manejar de manera integral la sabana, con el fin de lograr el máximo provecho de la productividad de los pastos que crecen en ella.En 1986, el antiguo Programa de Pastos Tropicales del CIAT inicia, en la estación experimental de Carimagua, en Meta, Colombia, una serie de estudios para enriquecer el conocimiento de la sabana nativa con miras a comprender integralmente ese ecosistema, principalmente en sus aspectos florístico y ecofisiológico. Con tal fin, se estableció un convenio cooperativo interinstitucional entre el CIAT y la Universidad Nacional de Colombia-Sede Palmira, con dos objetivos específicos:• Publicar una primera obra con la clave de las principales especies presentes en la sabana en 20 comunidades estudiadas (Escobar et al. 1993).• Desarrollar una segunda publicación sobre la parte ecológica y fitosociológica del ecosistema mencionado, partiendo del análisis de la relación suelo-aguacomunidad vegetal.La presente obra, que servirá de ayuda a los técnicos dedicados al uso de la tierra y al manejo de las sabanas del trópico americano \"en particular de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia\", responde a este último objetivo.Muchos trabajos se han escrito sobre las sabanas africanas y las de América del Sur, no sólo relacionados con la definición del término \"sabana\" sino también con la clasificación de este ecosistema desde el punto de vista florístico y ecológico. Cuatrecasas (1958) hace un bosquejo de la vegetación típica de la \"formación sabana\" tanto en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, en el área de Apiay (Meta), como en los Llanos situados al sur de Neiva, departamento del Huila. Dugand (1973) describe la vegetación de las sabanas subxerofíticas del departamento del Cesar y hace la siguiente división del ecosistema sabana:-sabana abierta o limpia, \"sabana de pajonal\";-sabana arbolada;-sabana de cardonal;-sabana de matas;-sabana de matorral; -sabana de palmar; y -sabana subdesértica. Blydenstein (1967) reconoce 10 tipos de sabana y los clasifica según el elemento florístico. Tres de ellos son distintos desde el punto de vista florístico, aunque teniendo en común el bosque relictual; los otros siete son distintos según el gradiente de humedad y considerando los términos sabana seca, húmeda o inundable.Los estudios anteriormente citados no unifican la terminología ni son una propuesta metodológica técnica que procure proporcionar una idea mejor del uso o del aprovechamiento del agua o del suelo en relación con la vegetación, en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. La opinión anterior no pretende demeritar el esfuerzo hecho por los autores citados.El presente estudio se llevó a cabo en los años 1986 y 1987, en el Centro de Investigación (CI) Carimagua, manejado por el Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (ICA) y por el CIAT, que está situado en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia (lat. 04° 36' N;long. 71° 19' O;altitud: 167 m.s.n.m.). La superficie de la estación es de 23,000 ha (Figura 2-1).Se establecieron cinco transectos de 1 a 5 km, representativos de la zona de estudio y consistentes en líneas que seguían el rumbo este-oeste. Se tomaron en ellos puntos de observación distantes entre sí 100 ó 200 m. En cada punto se hicieron muestreos (20 a 50) que consistían en arrojar marcos metálicos de 2.5 m². Los puntos muestreados constituían una comunidad.Todos los tipos fisonómicos de vegetación fueron estudiados menos el bosque, que se estudia en el Capítulo 4 de esta obra. Las especies recolectadas fueron colocadas en prensa de madera y sometidas a secado y montaje. Fueron determinadas por comparación con ejemplares del \"Herbario Valle\" de la Universidad Nacional-Sede Palmira, y del \"Herbario Nacional Colombiano\" de la Universidad Nacional-Sede Bogotá, con ayuda de algunos especialistas vinculados a este último herbario y con ayuda de la bibliografía consultada.Los parámetros que se fijaron para observación y análisis fueron los siguientes: a. Vegetación: frecuencia y abundancia por familia, género y especie (25 a 50 puntos de muestreo por comunidad).b. Suelo: muestreo (un punto por comunidad) a tres profundidades (0-10, 20-30 y 40-50 cm) de las variables físicas (textura) y de 13 variables químicas por muestra (pH, materia orgánica [M.O.], P, Al, Ca, Mg, K, S, B, Zn, Mn, Cu, Fe), según la metodología utilizada por el CIAT (Salinas y García 1985).c. Agua en el perfil: muestreo mensual de disponibilidad de agua (diciembre a mayo) a nueve profundidades (cada 20 cm).Fitosociología-ecología. Esta metodología se deriva de Braun- Blanquet (1979) y de Boudet (1984). Permite hacer la comparación de las comunidades vegetales y de los datos ecológicos, para identificar las especies características y las más frecuentes en cada comunidad y las que son comunes a los grupos de comunidades más o menos idénticas. Estos datos se obtienen mediante una tabla fitosociológica (matriz de doble entrada con las especies y los levantamientos ecológicos y florísticos para cada sitio uniforme). Actualmente, la clasificación de las comunidades se facilita gracias a algunos programas de computador, por ejemplo, ANAPHYTO, ADDAD 1983 y SAS 1989.Análisis estadístico de frecuencia de la vegetación. Se consideró el número de veces que una especie estaba presente en cada comunidad; con estos datos se conformó una tabla de doble entrada, donde las hileras eran las especies y las columnas eran las comunidades. Con el fin de describir el comportamiento de las especies con respecto a las comunidades, se hizo un análisis de correspondencia (AC).El AC (Guinochet 1973;Johnson y Wichern 1982;Lebart et al. 1984) es una técnica que permite reducir la dimensionalidad en el número de categorías de una variable (por hileras o columnas), de tal manera que se pueda representar en un plano la correspondencia o similitud de las categorías de cada variable. El AC requiere de una tabla de datos cuyas hileras y columnas correspondan a las categorías de dos variables bajo estudio, y los datos de cada celda de la tabla correspondan al número de observaciones en que haya combinación de hilera por columna. Partiendo de la tabla de doble entrada, se calculan los valores de ? 2 ('chi'-cuadrado) según las frecuencias de cada celda y las frecuencias marginales. Estos valores se transforman en distancias métricas y con ellos se hace un análisis de componentes principales, el cual permite identificar el número y la importancia de las dimensiones o ejes factoriales. Finalmente se representan las categorías de las dos variables en planos de dos o tres dimensiones, cuyos ejes corresponden a los ejes factoriales que explican la mayor variabilidad; la proximidad de dos puntos indica asociación entre categorías de hileras o de columnas.Se calculó también la diversidad de las comunidades vegetales mediante los índices de Shannon (1984) y la Estadística Q (Kempton y Taylor 1978).Según los 25 a 50 puntos muestreados por comunidad, en los 20 estudiados (Cuadro 2-1) se encontraron 183 especies correspondientes a 108 géneros y pertenecientes a 43 familias (ver Apéndice). La composición florística (número de especies por familia) se establece en los histogramas de la Figura 2-2.  Hay que considerar, además, la gran riqueza florística de la sabana y su diversidad. Tenemos un promedio de 28 especies por comunidad en un área de 100 m², pero la diversidad es importante según las comunidades consideradas.El cálculo de los índices de biodiversidad (Cuadro 2-2), según Shannon (Shannon 1984) o según Estadística Q (Kempton y Taylor 1978), muestra la más alta diversidad de vegetación en los bajos húmedos (comunidad 1: sabana arbustiva) y la más baja en la sabana herbácea de la serranía alta (comunidad 19: Altillanura ondulada) o en las pendientes de los \"bancos\" de la Altillanura plana (comunidades 5 y 6) \"o en una y otra\" donde dominan Trachypogon spp. y Andropogon purpusii. En estas comunidades de baja diversidad de vegetación es muy probable que ocurra el pastoreo excesivo (sobrepastoreo).Para comparar las 20 comunidades y para agrupar, dado el caso, las comunidades similares o muy parecidas -y determinar además las especies características y más frecuentes de cada comunidad y de cada grupo-se hizo un análisis factorial de correspondencia (AF) con la vegetación de estos 20 transectos. La metodología empleada permite clasificar dichos transectos (en los planes 1 y 2) en ocho grupos, tal como se aprecia en la Figura 2-3.Esta figura presenta 'grupos' o 'asociaciones' de vegetación de Carimagua. Cada grupo está delimitado por un 'círculo' o 'papa' (del I al VIII) y en cada círculo aparecen las especies 'características' del grupo en las comunidades vegetales de la sabana nativa de Carimagua. En el Cuadro 2-3 se presentan los ocho grupos de vegetación mencionados y se agrega una síntesis de los resultados del análisis de los suelos de la zona.Cada grupo de vegetación presenta, en efecto, características específicas respecto al suelo y al contenido de agua (Cuadro 2-4); en él se establecen asociaciones definidas y se pueden determinar subgrupos que poseen también asociaciones vegetales características o típicas.Cada grupo lleva un título que resume la fisonomía de su vegetación, su ubicación en el relieve y la característica más notable del suelo correspondiente.Se estudió una parte representativa de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, principalmente la zona bien drenada o Altillanura plana. Se observó una gran diversidad florística y una gran diversidad de 'tipos' de vegetación o de pastura nativa.Esta diversidad se relaciona con la diversidad de los suelos, la del relieve -que siempre existe, aunque no parece muy importante-y la del uso o manejo de la sabana nativa, especialmente el pastoreo y la quema. Estos últimos usos, que se integran a la dinámica de la sabana nativa, se estudian en los Capítulos 6 y 8 de esta obra.El inventario y la tipología de la vegetación presentados en este capítulo serían muy útiles para mejorar el conocimiento de la diversidad florística de la región y el uso que conviene darle a ésta. Se conocen aquí mejor, por ejemplo, las especies raras o útiles para el hombre o para la ganadería en aspectos como frecuencia, dinámica, producción, ecología, valor alimenticio. Figura 2-3. Muestra de la metodología con que se analizó la vegetación de la sabana nativa del CI Carimagua. Mediante análisis factorial de correspondencia, 20 transectos (M0 a M20) se clasificaron en ocho grupos o asociaciones de vegetación (ver Cuadro 2-3) que los investigadores delimitaron en la figura con 'trazos' circulares o elípticos aproximados. Los números dentro de cada área definida por el trazo señalan la posición de algunas de las especies \"características\" de cada grupo y las identifican en el Cuadro 2-3. Cuadro 2-3. Grupos o 'asociaciones' de especies (especie y familia) observados en las comunidades vegetales de la sabana de Carimagua, Meta, Colombia. Las cifras entre paréntesis (1, 2, etc.) indican la posición de la especie en el grupo que le corresponde del análisis de la Figura 2-3.Cuadro 2-3. (Continuación). Areno-arcilloso y limo-arcilloso. Muy bajo nivel de M.O. (0.6%-1.3%) y de P (1 ppm). Muy bajo nivel de agua (reserva) en las épocas seca y lluviosa.Sabana herbosa húmeda Bajos húmedos. Comunidades vegetales 17, 18Clidemia rubra (1) Melastomataceae características:Especies más frecuentes:Arcilloso pesado y arcilloso (>50% arcilla). Muy alto nivel de agua en las épocas seca (26%) y lluviosa (42% Las especies, o grupos de especies, son también un indicador del tipo de suelo (de sus características o sus carencias) y, en consecuencia, del potencial del suelo, de su uso posible para otros cultivos y de aspectos similares.Los datos de frecuencia y de abundancia de las especies, que fueron utilizados para crear una tipología de las comunidades vegetales, sirvieron también para desarrollar la cartografía y hacer el inventario de esas formaciones vegetales; una y otro son muy útiles para la ubicación, la planimetría y el manejo ulterior de esas formaciones (Girard y Rippstein 1994;Rippstein y Girard 1994). Rippstein G.;Girard C. 1994 La diversidad biológica o biodiversidad es un concepto difícil de definir que contiene dos componentes (Magurran 1988;WCMC 1992):• La riqueza de especies, que se expresa generalmente por el número de especies en una unidad de muestreo definida. En general, la biodiversidad se refiere a la variedad y variabilidad existentes en los organismos vivos, en los sistemas ecológicos que los albergan y en las interrelaciones que se establecen entre estos componentes (UICN 1992, citado en Almanza 1994). La diversidad biológica puede ser abordada, por ello, en diferentes niveles jerárquicos: genes, especies, niveles taxonómicos superiores, comunidades y procesos bióticos, ecosistemas y biomas, tanto a escala temporal como espacial (Almanza 1994). En este capítulo, y desde un punto de vista conceptual, adoptaremos un enfoque de la biodiversidad partiendo desde el nivel específico que considera las especies como unidades comparables de diversidad en cuyas poblaciones, a causa de su diversidad genética, actúa la selección natural.Medida de la diversidad de especies. Cada uno de los dos componentes de la biodiversidad (riqueza y equitatividad) provee información sobre la misma. Sin embargo, la relación mutua entre ambos parámetros da pie para combinarlos en índices basados en la abundancia proporcional de especies.Hay tres formas principales de evaluar la diversidad de especies (Magurran 1988):• Indices de riqueza de especies. Se puede diferenciar entre la riqueza numérica de especies, que se define como el número de especies por número determinado de individuos o de biomasa (Kempton 1979, citado en Magurran 1988), y la densidad de especies, que es el número de especies por área de muestreo (Hurlbert 1971, citado en Magurran 1988) (Figura 3-1). En las sabanas, la abundancia de una especie se caracteriza, generalmente, por su porcentaje de cobertura (Bulla 1996).• Modelos de abundancia de especies. Utilizan toda la información obtenida en una comunidad y hacen la expresión matemática más completa de los datos. En este caso, la diversidad se relaciona generalmente con cuatro modelos principales: la distribución normal logarítmica, la serie geométrica, la serie logarítmica y el modelo de la \"vara interrumpida\" de MacArthur (Giller 1984;Pielou 1974, citado en Especies (no.) Area de muestreo Figura 3-1. Diversidad de especies medida por el incremento en la riqueza de especies, según el tamaño del área de muestreo. Magurran, 1988) (Figura 3-2). Estos modelos representan una progresión que va de la serie geométrica -donde unas pocas especies son dominantes y las demás son poco comunespasando por las distribuciones de las series logarítmica y normal logarítmica -en las cuales son más comunes las especies de abundancia intermedia-y finaliza con el modelo de la 'vara interrumpida' -en el cual la abundancia es similar para todas las especies.Otro acercamiento a la medición de la diversidad que tiene en cuenta la distribución de las especies, aunque no se ajusta a modelos, es la Estadística Q (Kempton y Taylor 1976;1978, citados en Magurran 1988)). Esta medida es un indicativo de la diversidad de la comunidad que no da ningún peso a las especies muy abundantes ni a las muy raras.• Indices basados en la abundancia proporcional de especies. Ofrecen una alternativa de más fácil manejo para medir la diversidad cristalizando, en una sola medida, la riqueza y la equitatividad. Los índices más ampliamente utilizados son los relacionados con la teoría de la información (p.e., el índice de Shannon) y el de dominancia (p.e., el de Simpson).-Los índices de la teoría de la información hacen esta racionalización: la biodiversidad o la información contenida en un sistema natural se puede medir de manera similar a la información encerrada en un código o en un mensaje (Magurran 1988). El índice de Shannon, por ejemplo, supone 100 10 1 0.1 Individuos (no.) 5 1 0 1 5 2 0 Rango de especies Figura 3-2. Diversidad de especies según los modelos de distribución de la abundancia de especies. FUENTE: Giller 1984.Serie logarítmica Serie geométrica Distribución normal log que se toman muestras al azar de los individuos de una población 'indefinidamente grande' y que todas las especies están presentes en la muestra (Magurran 1988). Se calcula según la siguiente ecuación:(1) donde:= contenido de información de la muestra (bits/ individuo) = = índice de diversidad de especies S = número de especies p i = proporción de la muestra total correspondiente a la i-ésima especie Cuanto mayor sea el número de especies o la equitatividad en la distribución de las especies, mayor será la diversidad de especies evaluada mediante este índice (Krebs 1985).-El índice que mide la dominancia da mayor peso a las especies más comunes. El más usado es el índice de Simpson, D, que evalúa la probabilidad de que dos individuos escogidos al azar en una comunidad infinitamente grande pertenezcan a la misma especie (Krebs 1985): D = 1 -(probabilidad de escoger dos organismos de la misma especie)(2) donde: p i = proporción de individuos de la especie i en la comunidad.En este capítulo se estudian diferentes aspectos de la biodiversidad de la vegetación nativa en el área comprendida entre Puerto López y Puerto Gaitán y en el área de Carimagua, zonas representativas de la Serranía y la Altillanura, respectivamente, de Colombia.La Altillanura plana es una franja de unos 60 km de ancho, en promedio, que se extiende al sur del río Meta, desde Puerto López hasta Venezuela. Tiene sectores altos y planos con pendientes inferiores al 1%, cubiertos por una vegetación de sabana abierta y 'limpia' o 'herbosa' (o sea, con escasos árboles y arbustos). Estos sectores comprenden cerca del 90% del paisaje. El 10% restante (ver Figura 1-12, del Capítulo 1) está ocupado por bajos y vías de drenaje de la Altillanura (Botero 1989).La Altillanura ondulada y la Serranía constituyen una franja situada al sur de la Altillanura plana en un paisaje dominado por colinas. Tienen pendientes del 1% y 30% y bajos húmedos que ocupan cerca del 25% del área (Botero 1989). Sarmiento (1983;1994;1996a) define este tipo de sabanas como estacionales o secas, porque en ellas ocurre un período de estrés por sequía; tienen un estrato arbóreo diversificado, y los principales géneros de gramíneas que se encuentran en ellas son Andropogon, Aristida, Axonopus, Leptocoryphium, Panicum y Trachypogon.Otro tipo de sabanas bien representadas en los Llanos Orientales, aunque menos importantes en el área específica que nos atañe en este capítulo, son las sabanas hiperestacionales que presentan cuatro S H = -5 p i ln p i i=1 S D = -5 l -5(p i ) 2 i=1 períodos contrastantes. Carecen, generalmente, de componentes leñosos, a excepción de algunas especies de palmas. Los principales géneros encontrados en estas sabanas son Andropogon, Leersia, Panicum, Paspalum, Sorghastrum y, además, los de las Cyperaceae (Sarmiento 1996a). Estas sabanas están ampliamente distribuidas en las llanuras mal drenadas al norte del río Meta.Están, por último, las sabanas semiestacionales que se hallan en sitios de relieve más bajo. En ellas, la principal causa de estrés es el exceso de agua. Los géneros más frecuentes en ellas son Hymenachne, Leersia, Oryza, Panicum y los pertenecientes a las Cyperaceae (Sarmiento 1996a). Una de las formas más conocidas de estas sabanas son los llamados 'esteros'.Bordeando los cursos de agua, es usual la presencia de 'bosques de galería', que alcanzan una anchura de cientos de metros (generalmente son inferiores a 1 km); están constituidos por un dosel que puede llegar a 20 m de altura y tienen estratos bien definidos (ver Capítulo 6 de esta obra). Otras comunidades vegetales comunes son los 'morichales', que están dominadas por Mauritia flexuosa, M. minor o Mauritiella spp., principalmente (o por varias de ellas); los morichales se presentan como formaciones largas y angostas al lado de los caños que corren en suelos húmedos o en bordes de laguna o en esteros.Están, finalmente, las 'matas de monte' y los bosquetes, que son comunidades de selva bien estructuradas o incipientes, presentes en sitios con nivel freático alto y mejores condiciones químicas de suelo.Los suelos de sabana provienen de sedimentos aluviales originarios de los Andes y tienen baja fertilidad a causa de su avanzado estado de meteorización y del bajo nivel de los nutrientes. Son suelos muy lavados en razón de su permeabilidad y de la alta precipitación de la región comprendida.Presentan baja capacidad de intercambio catiónico y una elevada acidez, condiciones ambas asociadas con la toxicidad debida al Al y, en algunos casos, al manganeso (Botero 1989). El contenido total de P en estas sabanas varía de 200 a 600 ppm, mientras que el P disponible (Bray II) va de 1 a 3 ppm (Botero 1989).Los suelos de la Altillanura plana son profundos, bien estructurados, muy porosos y permeables, y se clasifican como Haplustox típicos, Caoliníticos, Isohipertérmicos (Oxisoles). Los de la Altillanura ondulada y la Serranía son generalmente pedregosos por la abundancia de plintita y cantos rodados de cuarzo. Los horizontes superficiales son arenosos, mientras que los profundos son arcillosos; la presencia de plintita los preserva de la erosión, pese a las pendientes fuertes (Botero 1989;Peters 1994).Los suelos de los bajos presentan, generalmente, mayor contenido de materia orgánica (M.O.) y mayor capacidad de intercambio catiónico, aunque son deficientes en la mayoría de los nutrientes esenciales. Se suelen clasificar como Inceptisoles (Botero 1989;Peters 1994). En el Cuadro 2A-7, del Capítulo 2, se presentan las principales características fisicoquímicas de estos suelos.El clima de los Llanos Orientales está determinado por el ritmo de los vientos y de las lluvias. Estas últimas se concentran en un período de 8 a 10 meses al año y representan alrededor del 95% de la precipitación registrada, la cual varía de 1800 mm en el norte de Vichada a más de 3500 mm cerca a Mitú, en Vaupés (Khobzi et al. 1980, citados en Grollier, 1994). La estación seca comprende de 2 a 4 meses; la frecuencia de las precipitaciones disminuye al alejarse de la Cordillera Oriental (Botero 1989) y aumenta proporcionalmente durante la época húmeda.El área estudiada tiene una altura promedio de 150 m.s.n.m. Presenta un período de lluvias que va desde abril hasta diciembre y un período seco desde mediados de diciembre hasta finales de marzo. La precipitación anual es, aproximadamente, de 2200 mm y disminuye hacia el oriente. La temperatura media anual es de 26 °C, razón por la cual estas sabanas son clasificadas como 'isohipertérmicas bien drenadas' con clima típico de sabana: A w en la clasificación climática de Köeppen (Sarmiento 1996a).La humedad relativa es de 80% en la estación de lluvias y de 50% a 60% en la estación seca. Durante este último período es alta la evapotranspiración potencial cuando el agua disponible en el suelo alcanza valores mínimos, especialmente durante los meses de febrero y marzo (Botero 1989).Se tomaron muestras de la vegetación de sabana nativa mediante transectos representativos de las zonas en estudio (Serranía en el área que se extiende entre Puerto López y Puerto Gaitán, y Altillanura en el área de Carimagua) utilizando la metodología del punto cuadrático (Paladines 1992) o la de los marcos metálicos de 2.5 m 2 o ambos métodos (ver Cuadro 2A-1, del Capítulo 2).La información de campo permitió conocer el nombre de las especies y su agrupación en géneros y familias, su frecuencia y su cobertura. La frecuencia se refiere al número de veces que una especie se presenta en un número dado de parcelas de muestreo o de puntos de muestreo (Müller-Dombois y Ellenberg 1974). La cobertura es la fracción proporcional de la superficie del suelo que está ocupada por la proyección perpendicular de las partes aéreas de los individuos de la especie considerada (Paladines 1992).Los listados de todos los levantamientos, que contienen información sobre la composición de especies y sus variaciones cuantitativas, se transfieren a una tabla única, conocida en fitosociología como tabla de síntesis (Müller-Dombois y Ellenberg 1974) la cual, organizada mediante pasos sucesivos, permite reconocer tanto los grupos de especies que tienen una distribución similar entre los levantamientos como los levantamientos que presentan una composición similar de especies.Se ha establecido que son especies 'constantes' o más frecuentes las que están presentes en un alto porcentaje de los levantamientos (p.e., superior al 60%); que son especies diferenciales o características aquellas cuya distribución está restringida a algunos levantamientos (se excluyen las especies de baja frecuencia o raras).Actualmente, la clasificación de las comunidades vegetales es facilitada por programas de computador, por ejemplo, ANAPHYTO, SAS, TWINSPAN, CLUTAB (Rippstein et al. 1994;1995). La información obtenida permite determinar grupos de vegetación de la zona estudiada: para ello se utilizó el Análisis de Correspondencia (AC).Este tipo de análisis representa en un espacio de dos ó tres dimensiones otro de muchas dimensiones y permite visualizar en un plano la correspondencia o similitud de las categorías de cada variable. Requiere la elaboración de una tabla de doble entrada, en la que cada celda corresponda al número de observaciones de dicha combinación de variables.A partir de la tabla de doble entrada, se calculan los valores de ? 2 utilizando la frecuencia de cada celda y las frecuencias marginales. Estos valores se transforman en distancias métricas y, mediante un análisis de componentes principales, se identifican los ejes vectoriales que contienen la mayor información (Rippstein et al. 1994;Falissard, 1996). La proximidad de dos puntos indica la asociación de las variables de una categoría a otra. En general, en la Serranía disminuyen las Cyperaceae y aumentan las Poaceae (gramíneas) y las especies arbustivas pertenecientes a las familias Myrtaceae, Flacourtiaceae, Malpighiaceae, Annonaceae y Erythroxylaceae; todas ellas dan un aspecto de sabana arbustiva al paisaje. Estas familias incrementan su presencia porque la precipitación es mayor y el drenaje del suelo es mejor (Cuadro 3-3), ya que la Serranía se encuentra a mayor altitud que otros sistemas (Rippstein et al. 1994).La diversidad de especies de gramíneas y leguminosas en la Altillanura y la Serranía colombianas puede considerarse elevada en comparación con la observada en otros ecosistemas (Cuadro 3-4). Entre los diversos géneros de gramíneas de la Altillanura están Paspalum (12 especies y variedades), Axonopus (7 especies), Panicum (6 especies) y Andropogon (5 especies). Pott y Adamoli (1996) reportan, en las sabanas del Pantanal de Piaguás en la región del Mato Grosso brasileño, varias especies de gramíneas: 14 en las sabanas de Vochysia, 23 en las de Byrsonima, 28 en las de Elyonorus y 17 en las de Curatella; registran los autores, en cambio, 1, 3, 14 y 4 especies de leguminosas relacionadas, respectivamente, con los grupos de gramíneas anteriores. Sin embargo, la riqueza de especies es similar a la de la  et al. 1995).Otros trabajos realizados para la Altillanura colombiana (Rangel et al. 1995) muestran un gran cambio en la diversidad y en la representación florística de los principales taxa; una de las razones del cambio es que estos trabajos se basaron en una revisión bibliográfica y de herbario y no discriminan la flora según los diferentes ecosistemas representados en la Altillanura colombiana (p.e., sabanas, selvas de galería, morichales, 'matas de monte'). Es, sin embargo, importante la contribución de los principales taxa a la diversidad florística general (Cuadro 3-5).Llama la atención la diversidad de especies que tienen fuera de la sabana las rubiáceas, las leguminosas, las melastomatáceas, las asteráceas, las orquídeas y las euforbiáceas. En las rubiáceas se debe principalmente a la gran diversidad específica de los géneros Psychotria y Palicourea, especialmente en el sotobosque de las 'matas de monte' y en las selvas de galería. En las melastomatáceas y compuestas, la mayor diversidad está en las comunidades arbustivas, como los bosquetes. En las euforbiáceas y leguminosas, la mayor diversidad se encuentra, respectivamente, en los estratos arbustivos y arbóreos de las selvas de galería. Las especies de orquídeas epífitas prosperan en las selvas de galería y en las 'matas' de buen tamaño porque allí es mayor la humedad.En la Altillanura, en la región de Carimagua, se registraron, en total, 20 comunidades vegetales que fueron agrupadas, mediante análisis de correspondencia, en ocho tipos de vegetación (Cuadro 3-6, Figura 3-2); estos tipos reflejan una gran diversidad florística de los ecosistemas (ver Capítulo 2 y su Apéndice, esta obra).Las zonas bajas presentan un mayor porcentaje de reserva de agua en el suelo, mayores contenidos de M.O., un contenido de P total de bajo a intermedio, y suelos con tendencia a ser arcillosos. En estas zonas se observan dos grupos: en uno de ellos (grupo IV) hay especies características, como las dicotiledóneas Clidemia rubra (Melastomataceae) y Rotala ramosior (Lythraceae), esta última capaz de soportar inundación durante largo tiempo; sus suelos son arcillosos y presentan el mayor contenido de M.O. que se halló en los grupos evaluados. El otro grupo (grupo I) está florísticamente poco relacionado con el anterior, es de gran amplitud y presenta también niveles intermedios de M.O. y de P, una moderada reserva de agua en el suelo, y especies características de monocotiledóneas que requieren niveles freáticos elevados; probablemente es uno de los grupos de mayor productividad vegetal.Los demás grupos están conformados por sabanas secas. Los grupos II, III y VI presentan un contenido de M.O. y P de bajo a muy bajo, e igual nivel de humedad en el suelo; son limo-arcillosos y arenolimosos (grupo II), areno-arcillosos y limo-arcillosos (grupo III) y arenosos (grupo VI). El componente edáfico arenoso y el nivel de M.O. (de bajo a muy bajo) que comparten estos tres grupos son, tal vez, responsables de la baja capacidad de retención de agua de éstos, especialmente en la época seca. Es de esperar, además, una baja productividad vegetal.El grupo III, especialmente y, en menor grado, los grupos II y VI presentan formas de vida predominantemente erectas y en macollas (véanse las especies más frecuentes en el Cuadro 2A-6, del Capítulo 2). Esta característica causa un sombreado del terreno en el cual se producen tipos de sabana; éstos, al ser quemados, dejan muchas veces una fracción considerable del suelo descubierta y, por ello, sujeta a procesos erosivos importantes por efecto del viento y de la lluvia. En general, estas condiciones edáficas y de bioforma pueden redundar en una baja productividad y en gran fragilidad del medio, situación que debe ser considerada para el manejo y la conservación de la biodiversidad de este tipo de sabanas.Los restantes tipos de sabana (V, VII y VIII) se presentan en suelos arcillo-limosos, cuyo contenido de M.O. es bajo (entre 2% y 2.9%), tienen niveles muy bajos de P (0.5 a 0.8 ppm) y una retención moderada del agua, tanto en la época seca como en la lluviosa. El grupo V, de gran amplitud florística, presenta una gran diversidad de familias y de especies características, algunas con reconocido potencial forrajero, como Axonopus purpusii; esta poácea, gracias a su crecimiento cespitoso y a su elevada frecuencia de aparición, puede conferir un gran potencial para la ganadería a dicho tipo de sabanas.En la Figura 2-3, del Capítulo 2, se observa que los grupos IV, V y VII comparten características en su composición florística, mientras que el grupo VII las comparte con los grupos VI, IV y VII.Muchas plantas de sabana son empleadas por comunidades indígenas o criollas de manera diferente, según el manejo que ellas dan al ecosistema. La etnobotánica de los Guahibos o Sikuanis, principal etnia de esta área de estudio, se expresa mejor en el aprovechamiento y manejo de la biodiversidad existente en el 'conuco', Cuadro 3-6.Especies características y condiciones edáficas relacionadas con ellas en la vegetación de sabana de la Altillanura plana en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. ES = estación seca; EL = estación lluviosa. una zona cultivada en el interior de las 'matas de monte'; se aplica el sistema de tumba y quema en un área aproximada de 1 a 2 ha.En estos conucos se cultivan especies que entran en producción rápidamente y especies perennes. Entre las primeras se destacan las siguientes:• La yuca (Manihot esculenta), base de la dieta alimenticia guahiba. Llama la atención la gran diversidad de cultivariedades que los guahibos reconocen y seleccionan (p.e., más de medio centenar de variedades de yuca).Al interior del conuco, cada planta se cultiva en las condiciones microclimáticas que genera la tumba de los árboles. Una vez que estas plantas, cosechadas a corto plazo, crean un dosel protector del suelo, se pasa a la siembra de plantas que permanecerán en producción durante largo tiempo, principalmente los frutales. Estos entran en producción en algún momento entre el tercero y el quinto año de edad (p.e., Lacmellea edulis, lechemiel; Pouteria caimito, caimito, madura verde; Annona muricata, anón) (ver Cuadros 3-7, 3-8 y 3-9). A medida que transcurre la regeneración natural en el conuco, se cultivan en él los frutales, algunos de los cuales son especies heliófitas propias de etapas sucesionales tempranas, como la uva caimarona, (Pourouma cecropiifolia); simultáneamente habrá otros conucos en producción. Muchos frutos silvestres han sido domesticados de esta manera (p.e., el caimito, Chrysophyllum auratum; la papaya o lechosa, Carica papaya; la uva caimarona o llanera, Pourouma sapida, etc.) (Romero 1994).Hay muchas especies no cultivadas que están presentes en las selvas de galería, en las matas de monte o en los ecotonos sabana-selva; estas plantas, principalmente las palmas, se explotan recolectando sus frutos comestibles.Otras especies son utilizadas en diferentes rituales culturales o médicos por chamanes o curacas, p.e., el yopo (Anadenanthera peregrina, Piptadenia sp., Leguminosae/Mimosoideae); el yagé (Banisteriopsis caapi, Malpighiaceae) y otras. Muchas plantas utilizadas en labores artesanales son explotadas de manera destructiva. Las palmas son el grupo que tiene mayor diversidad de usos y mayor número de especies utilizadas (Balick 1986).Conviene mencionar los 'cotos de caza', que son conucos especiales o parte de un conuco tradicional, utilizados para la ceba y atracción de animales salvajes que periódicamente son cazados. Finalmente, junto al sitio de vivienda hay huertas familiares en las que se cultivan plantas de consumo diario en pequeñas cantidades, p.e., el ají (Capsicum sp.).Las etnias de sabana han sufrido un brusco cambio cultural al pasar de una condición seminómada a otra sedentaria. Los asentamientos humanos han aumentado de tamaño, pero los conucos y huertos familiares conservan una estructura que no se adapta a las nuevas condiciones sedentarias de vida, es decir, no hay períodos de descanso para las 'matas de monte'. En el pasado, cuando la comunidad migraba o se fragmentaba, ocurrían esos descansos, que actualmente están restringidos por la creación de resguardos territorialmente limitados. La ausencia de descansos somete el ecosistema a degradación y ha traído consigo la pérdida del conocimiento cultural en el manejo de los recursos, porque se traspasan los límites de la capacidad de carga y de la homeostasis del ecosistema. De continuar el proceso, se alcanzará un punto de no retorno (en el sentido que le da Odum 1987).Parte de este conocimiento etnobotánico ha sido transformado por los criollos de la región, quienes han incorporado en él elementos propios de todo proceso colonizador. Los llaneros utilizan plantas de las 'matas de monte' y de la 'selva de galería', principalmente maderables, alimenticias y artesanales. Usan también plantas de la sabana con fines principalmente medicinales; p.e., los mastrantos (Hyptis spp., Labiatae), el pepaemato (Aristolochia nummularifolia, Aristolochiaceae), el alcornoco (Bowdichia virgiliodes, Leguminosae/Papilionoideae), el chaparro (Curatella americana, Dilleniaceae) y otras. Algunas plantas utilizadas por los indígenas en rituales mágico-religiosos son usadas actualmente por los llaneros en conjuros, rezos y sanaciones; con este último fin se usa el bototo (Cochlospermum vitifolium).Los llaneros han convertido la ganadería en actividad prioritaria y gran parte del valor actual de uso de la sabana está en su valor pastoril. Polo (1969)  La biodiversidad afecta el comportamiento de las sabanas por su efecto en la productividad, los ciclos de nutrientes, la economía hídrica, las propiedades edáficas y, posiblemente, en la capacidad de recuperación (resiliency) del ecosistema a largo plazo (Solbrig et al. 1996). En general, una mayor diversidad específica mejorará el funcionamiento de un ecosistema; sin embargo, esa relación continúa siendo confusa y no es posible hacer una afirmación definida sobre el tema (Schulze y Mooney 1993, citados en Sarmiento 1996b).Esta controversia (biodiversidad vs. estabilidad en el ecosistema) se plantea mediante dos hipótesis principales (Tilman y Downing, 1994):• La hipótesis 'diversidadestabilidad' predice que la biodiversidad promueve la resistencia a la perturbación porque aumenta la probabilidad de que haya más especies que puedan prosperar durante una perturbación ambiental dada; de este modo se compensa por la reducción de competencia que cause el disturbio.• La hipótesis de la redundancia de especies afirma, en cambio, que muchas especies son tan similares que el funcionamiento del ecosistema es independiente de la diversidad, con tal que estén presentes los principales grupos funcionales.Tilman y Downing (1994) evaluaron durante 11 años el efecto de la biodiversidad en la recuperación de ecosistemas perturbados consistentes en pastizales de sucesión y nativos de Minnesota, E. U. Encontraron que la composición y la diversidad de especies y el funcionamiento del ecosistema dependían de la tasa de suministro de N. Parcelas con mayor diversidad de especies presentaron mayor resistencia a la sequía, producción de biomasa más alta y más velocidad de recuperación (elasticidad).Otro de los factores que genera baja estabilidad en las sabanas y los pastizales tropicales es el pastoreo, porque esos sistemas han evolucionado en el neotrópico sin las grandes presiones que ejerce el pastoreo de los herbívoros mayores (Sarmiento 1992, citado en Sarmiento 1996b). Por otra parte, la introducción de varios géneros de pastos de origen africano ha causado una disminución drástica de la biodiversidad de las sabanas neotropicales (Baruch 1996).Todas las especies tienen un período de existencia finito; sin embargo, el hombre puede acelerar la tasa de extinción esperada de las especies, bien sea por causas directas o indirectas.Entre las causas directas están los métodos extractivos empleados en la recolección y el uso de plantas. La palma de cumare (Astrocaryum vulgare) es muy utilizada en labores artesanales por las comunidades indígenas de la Orinoquia colombiana. Con tal fin se derriban estas palmas (así como las de muchas otras especies) y se obtienen de ellas los siguientes elementos:-sus hojas, para techar viviendas y extraer fibras artesanales;-sus frutos, que son comestibles y producen aceite;-los meristemas apicales o 'cogollos' para consumo y para extraer fibras artesanales; y -los estípites, que se dejan descomponer para cultivar en ellos larvas comestibles de ciertos coleópteros ('mojojoyes').Las consecuencias de esta práctica son la desaparición, por uso cultural, de la biodiversidad y, en menor grado, el desplazamiento del uso de la misma, aunque a nivel etnobotánico pocas especies se usan como equivalentes de otras. Esta situación se mantendrá mientras el entorno sea manejado de manera \"parcialmente tradicional\", como se explicó anteriormente.Entre las causas indirectas están la destrucción o la modificación de un hábitat (WCMC 1992). En la Altillanura plana, estos efectos ocurren por la introducción de pasturas mejoradas u otros cultivos y por diferentes formas de manejo del ecosistema, en particular, la ganadería extensiva. Esta es la principal actividad económica de la región y presenta varios aspectos: manejo de la carga animal, descanso de los lotes, frecuencia y época de las quemas. Aun la ausencia de quemas periódicas puede convertirse en una perturbación de un ecosistema que ha estado sujeto a dicho tipo de disturbio (Archer et al. 1996). Todo esto trae consigo cambios en la composición botánica (ver Capítulo 9 de esta obra).La destrucción de los hábitat ocasionará fragmentación de muchas comunidades vegetales que, al quedar aisladas, podrían quedar sometidas a restricciones poblacionales predichas por la teoría de la biogeografía de islas (MacArthur y Wilson, 1963, 1967, citados en WCMC 1992), según la cual la tasa de extinción de especies tiende a ser inversamente proporcional al tamaño de los parches de vegetación nativa. Por tanto, para conservar especies durante períodos relativamente largos de tiempo, se deben mantener poblaciones de tamaño grande (de cientos a millones de individuos, según la biología de la especie) o numerosas (Schaeffer 1987, citado en WCMC 1992); es necesario, por tanto, crear reservas naturales de los diferentes tipos de ecosistema de sabana.Los estudios botánicos y ecológicos básicos, iniciados en la Altillanura colombiana, deberían hacerse en otros tipos de sabana, p.e., en las sabanas mal drenadas ubicadas al norte del río Meta. Esta información, aunada a los estudios biogeográficos, permitirá identificar en los Llanos Orientales las zonas de mayor diversidad biológica y el alto endemismo de especies y comunidades. Estas zonas serán prioritarias para la conservación de especies y llegarán a ser declaradas Reservas de Manejo, con las cuales se podrá garantizar un adecuado suministro de agua, disminuir el riesgo de inundaciones, detener los procesos erosivos y los procesos concomitantes de sedimentación.Paralelamente, es necesario evaluar el impacto que tienen en la biodiversidad y estabilidad de ecosistemas como la sabana en sus diversos tipos, actividades como la ganadería, la introducción de pasturas mejoradas, el manejo de las quemas y otras similares. Asimismo, es necesario conocer aspectos de la dinámica de la sucesión de comunidades vegetales y de su capacidad de recuperación (resiliencia) frente a diversas formas de manejo.Aunque existen observaciones aisladas, la valoración y la recuperación sistemáticas del uso de la biodiversidad en términos etnobotánicos, ecológicos y económicos es una prioridad. Es importante evaluar en la sabana el potencial forrajero de géneros que poseen gran diversidad, como Paspalum, Axonopus, Panicum y Andropogon.Dentro de las comunidades indígenas, finalmente, se deben promover y apoyar los procesos que permitan una adaptación efectiva y sostenible a las nuevas estructuras territoriales. En el Centro de Investigación Agropecuaria Carimagua, en Meta, Colombia, se investigaron los cambios en la estructura y en la composición florística que se presentan en el proceso de sucesión vegetal sobre áreas con diferentes edades de descanso después de haber sido sometidas a quemas (sucesión a largo plazo) y la dinámica de la regeneración a lo largo de 6 meses después de efectuar quemas controladas. En la sucesión a largo plazo, la diversidad y riqueza vegetal aumentan desde la etapa I (1 año después de la quema) hasta la IV (15 años después de la quema); al avanzar el proceso, igualmente aumenta la complejidad estructural. Después de 4 años de reposo, se diferencia un estrato subarbustivo, los estratos arbustivo y subarbóreo aparecen en los sitios que han permanecido más de 8 años sin quema. En esta serie, entre las especies con valores mayores en los índices de importancia ecológica (IPF e IVI) figura Vismia baccifera (Clusiaceae).Sobre los sitios que han permanecido cerca de 15 años en descanso, se presenta invasión de especies propias del bosque de galería.En la dinámica de la regeneración (sucesión a corto plazo) se diferencian especies como Axonopus purpusii y Schizachyrium sanguineum (Poaceae) y Rhynchospora nervosa (Cyperaceae), que una vez regeneradas permanecen en las áreas, y otras como Leptocoryphium lanatum y Otachyrium versicolor (Poaceae), que predominan en una etapa y luego desaparecen. La requema favorece el establecimiento de nuevas especies e influye en un grupo de especies con ciclo de vida corto, entre las cuales aparecen Lindernia crustacea (Scrophulariaceae), Sipanea pratensis (Rubiaceae), Hyptis atrorubens (Lamiaceae), Xyris laxifolia (Xyridaceae), Macroptilium monophyllum (Fabaceae), Galactia glaucescens (Fabaceae), Merremia aturensis (Convolvulaceae), Peltaea speciosa (Malvaceae) y Eugenia punicifolia (Myrtaceae). No se encontró variación significativa en cuanto al número de especies, valores de presencia y permanencia en los ensayos sobre los efectos del fuego y la remoción de la parte aérea.Los diferentes ambientes que engloba la Orinoquia colombiana están sometidos a la influencia de valores altos en temperatura, radiación solar y evaporación, particularmente durante la época de sequía, lo cual, sumado al frecuente lavado de nutrientes de los suelos, favorece el establecimiento de varios tipos de vegetación fácilmente afectados por los incendios, como los pastizales o pajonales, que tienen una cubierta casi exclusiva de gramíneas, y los matorrales mixtos, donde hay una capa más o menos continua de pastos debajo de los elementos leñosos.El fuego es un factor ecológico determinante en la fisonomía de varias de las comunidades y formaciones vegetales. En la Orinoquia, su uso se relaciona con el aprovechamiento económico de los pastizales para mejorar el contenido proteínico y la palatabilidad de los elementos dominantes, condición que se logra al obtener los rebrotes después de haber provocado las quemas.El proceso de sucesión vegetal comprende varias etapas que conducen hacia estructuras y composición florística cada vez más complejas, puesto que cada etapa o fase tiene niveles estructurales diferentes que contribuyen a aumentar la diversidad.El Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) adelanta en el Centro de Investigación Agropecuaria (CI) Carimagua el programa de ecología y manejo de la sabana nativa, en el cual desde hace varios años se realizan ensayos sobre el manejo controlado del fuego. Los esfuerzos del programa se han dirigido a optimizar el manejo de vegetación herbácea destinada a la alimentación de ganado vacuno y, simultáneamente, a controlar la degradación y el impacto de la ganadería sobre la sabana.En esta contribución se evalúan los patrones estructurales y los cambios en la composición florística en parcelas que han estado protegidas de las quemas durante diferentes lapsos (sucesión a largo plazo); igualmente, se evalúan los patrones de regeneración después de inducir quemas en estas mismas parcelas (sucesión a corto plazo). A modo de complemento se efectúa una caracterización química de los suelos de las áreas de estudio.El CI Carimagua se halla en el departamento del Meta (ver Capítulo 1 de esta obra). Descansa sobre altiplanicies formadas por sedimentos depositados por ríos que descienden del sistema orográfico andino, evento posterior al levantamiento de la cordillera Oriental (Khobzii et al. 1980).Los subpaisajes que integran el área de Carimagua son diques pequeños y algunos bajos y vegas de reducida superficie en las orillas de los ríos Tomo y Muco, en los caños Caviona, Mapiria y Almorzadero y en la laguna Carimagua (IGAC 1974).Los suelos presentan, en general, baja fertilidad debido al avanzado estado de meteorización y al continuo lavado de nutrientes. Se generan además condiciones de toxicidad para las plantas y otros organismos por la acentuada acidez y por las cantidades altas de aluminio que contiene.La temperatura media es de 26.1 °C, la máxima de 33.6 °C y la mínima de 21.5 °C. La precipitación media mensual es de 189.5 mm y el monto anual es de 2344.7 mm. En Carimagua se registra el valor extremo, para la Orinoquia, de brillo solar mensual: 166.9 h (Rangel y Aguilar 1995).Se siguieron dos procedimientos: el primero tenía por objeto reconstruir el proceso de sucesión vegetal en el tiempo; el segundo conducía a evaluar las fases iniciales de la dinámica de regeneración, después de la quema, en las parcelas donde se evaluó la sucesión.Con la colaboración de los funcionarios del CI, y revisando la estadística del centro respecto a frecuencia de quemas, se seleccionaron sitios representativos con diferentes edades de reposo luego de haber sido quemados, cuya vegetación variaba desde los pastizales hasta los matorrales altos. Adicionalmente, se seleccionó un parche de bosque de galería adyacente al sitio que correspondía a la etapa IV. El tiempo transcurrido desde la quema hasta la época del inventario (1995) en cada sitio se indica en el siguiente cuadro:Edad después de la quema (años)IV 15Parche de bosque Sin quema de galería Los aspectos de la estructura y de la composición florística que se estudiaron se presentan a continuación:Este análisis considera la cobertura, la altura, el diámetro a la altura del pecho (DAP) y el área basal de la vegetación.Cobertura. En los estratos bajos se utilizó el método del punto cuadrático (Paladines 1992) que evalúa el valor porcentual de cada especie en relación con el valor de todas las especies. En los estratos altos se midieron los diámetros mayor y menor de la proyección de la copa sobre el suelo (Rangel y Velásquez 1997).Area basal. Se midió el DAP en individuos de altura (h) superior a 1.2 m y luego se estimó el área basal. Por tanto, los valores obtenidos corresponden a poblaciones con pocos individuos.La altura y la cobertura se midieron a partir de la segunda etapa de sucesión, cuando ya había individuos con tallas superiores a 0.5 m. Las mediciones del DAP (h > 1.2 m) se hicieron a partir de la tercera etapa de sucesión.Los valores representados en las figuras corresponden a los siguientes levantamientos de vegetación: el 2 (etapa III), el 4 (etapa IV), el 6 y el 7 (bosque de galería). Los detalles de estas mediciones aparecen en Torrijos (1996).La distribución en clases para cada uno de los caracteres sociológicos sigue la siguiente formula: c = (X max. -X min. )/m(1) (3) área basal relativa (%) + densidad relativa (%) Se calculó también el Indice de Valor de Importancia (IVI) (Finol 1976):La similitud florística entre las etapas de sucesión se evaluó mediante el Indice de Jaccard (Ij), donde el valor más cercano a 1 indica mayor semejanza: Otra medida empleada fue el coeficiente de distancia euclidiana, que se corrió en el paquete estadístico multivariado (M.V.S.P., v.1.3.), en el que un valor de cero significa que las comunidades son idénticas (Ludwig y Reynolds 1988).En los lugares donde se hicieron los levantamientos de vegetación, se extrajeron muestras por triplicado en los siguientes intervalos: 0-10, 10-20, 20-40, 40-60 y 60-80 cm (Torrijos 1996). Las tres muestras de cada nivel se secaron al aire, se tamizaron y se mezclaron. Posteriormente se hicieron análisis de textura, pH, M.O., fósforo, aluminio, calcio, magnesio, potasio, azufre, hierro y nitrógeno. Los métodos químicos para el análisis de las muestras siguen el procedimiento de Salinas y García (1985). En el Cuadro 4-1 se relacionan los resultados que solamente cubren los niveles entre 0-10 y 10-20 cm.La dinámica de la regeneración de plantas en áreas recientemente quemadas se conoce como sucesión a corto plazo. En las mismas parcelas en donde se habían realizado los levantamientos de vegetación para detectar patrones en la sucesión a largo plazo, se aplicaron dos tratamientos para conocer la regeneración de la cobertura vegetal después de la perturbación. Las parcelas se marcan como II-R, III-R y IV-R. Se aplicaron dos tratamientos:• Remoción total de la parte aérea de la vegetación, que representa un testigo sin quema.• Quema de las partes aéreas de la vegetación.Cuadro 4-1.Caracterización química de los suelos (0-20 cm de profundidad) en las etapas de sucesión y en el bosque. En ambos casos se evitó remover el suelo para no afectar los propágulos, los xilopodios y las raicillas. Los dos tratamientos se aplicaron en las etapas de sucesión II, III y IV. En la etapa I no se practicó la quema por la ubicación de la parcela dentro del paisaje local. Se utilizó el cuadrado permanente (Gómez y del Amor 1979), el cual se subdividió internamente en 24 subunidades y permaneció instalado en cada una de las parcelas durante el tiempo de seguimiento del ensayo (6 meses). Cada tratamiento se aplicó por triplicado. El diseño de los cuadrados permanentes se muestra en el siguiente esquema: Para registrar la composición florística (sustitución y renovación de las especies) y las respuestas a la quema, en cada intervalo de observación se evaluaron las 24 subunidades de cada repetición. Se calcularon dos parámetros: permanencia y presencia.Aunque se relaciona con la presencia, este parámetro estima la abundancia y dominancia de una especie que se ha establecido y perdura en el tiempo después de la quema (Vidal y Rangel 1987). Los estimativos se hicieron en la totalidad de las subunidades que se evaluaron así: Rhynchospora nervosa, por ejemplo, en la etapa II, presentó un valor de permanencia de 0.25, es decir, fue registrada en 144 interacciones (de un total de 576).Se fundamenta en la presencia de la especie al menos en una de las tres repeticiones de cada etapa, sin que importe el número de subunidades en que se podría encontrar la especie. No considera parámetros de abundancia y dominancia. Durante el tiempo de muestreo (160 días) se realizaron ocho observaciones. Se calcula así:x 100 (7)Total de intervalos (N) donde: N = 8 intervalos En la etapa III, por ejemplo, Mesosetum loliiforme tiene un grado de presencia de 1, es decir, la especie se presentó en todas las observaciones realizadas (8) en esa etapa.Se hizo una prueba de independencia para saber si había diferencias significativas en los resultados de los dos tratamientos (remoción y quema) con respecto a los valores de presencia, de permanencia y al número de especies. Los valores obtenidos no tuvieron significancia; por consiguiente, los resultados que se incluyen en la sección sobre dinámica de la regeneración se refieren a las parcelas donde se efectuó la quema controlada.En el Cuadro 4-2, Col. A, se consignan los valores máximo y mínimo de los parámetros altura, cobertura y variación general del DAP, en las etapas II, III y IV de sucesión y en los estratos arbóreo y subarbóreo del bosque de galería. En forma complementaria se incluyen las variaciones del 90% de los individuos que se agruparon en las primeras clases (Cuadro 4-2, Col. B).En la Figura 4-1 se muestra la distribución por clase del 90% de los individuos con el tamaño de muestra (n), la amplitud de la clase (c) y el número de clases (m). En altura, la distribución de los individuos de las etapas II, III y IV es de tipo normal en forma de jota invertida, es, decir la mayoría de los individuos se concentran en las clases inferiores. En el estrato arbóreo del bosque de galería, el comportamiento de la distribución se presenta de manera inversa, con mayor concentración de individuos en la clase más alta; esta condición se esperaba en razón de que se evalúa aquí la distribución de los individuos en el estrato dominante de un bosque de galería.En cobertura, las diferencias entre clases son muy marcadas, pero hay la misma tendencia del parámetro anterior: en las clases inferiores se concentra el mayor número de individuos.La distribución del DAP (etapas III, IV y estratos subarbóreo y arbóreo) es muy regular; solamente en el estrato subarbóreo del bosque de galería se nota una ligera tendencia de los individuos a concentrarse en la clase inferior.La Figura 4-2 muestra, a manera de síntesis, la diferenciación de estratos y los cambios en la cobertura a lo largo del proceso de sucesión. Es evidente que cuando avanza la recuperación, aumenta la complejidad estructural; en la etapa I solamente había un estrato (el herbáceo), mientras que en la etapa IV ya se han desarrollado cuatro estratos. El estrato herbáceo presenta el mayor valor de cobertura (100%) en la etapa II (con 4 años sin quema), que disminuye drásticamente en las etapas III y IV, quizás por el desarrollo de elementos leñosos y la sustitución de la capa de macollas por dicotiledóneas que no tienen este tipo de crecimiento.El estrato subarbustivo se desarrolla a partir de la etapa II y alcanza su máximo valor en la IV. Los estratos arbustivo (1.6 a 5.0 m) y Cuadro 4-2.Variación de los valores (mínimo y máximo) de los parámetros altura, cobertura y DAP en las diferentes etapas del proceso de sucesión en sitios en que hubo quemas antiguas.  subarbóreo (5.1 a 12 m) se diferencian en la etapa III y muestran su máximo vigor en la etapa IV, en la que forman pequeños \"bosquetes\" con manchas hasta de 6 m de diámetro que favorecen la proliferación de plántulas en un medio protegido por el fuego.En la Figura 4-3 se presentan los valores del IPF en las etapas III y IV y en el bosque de galería, junto con los de la especie más importante según este parámetro. En la etapa III, el valor de IPF fue de 1.62 y la especie con el valor más alto fue Vismia baccifera (Clusiaceae) (1.05). En la etapa IV, el valor del IPF fue de 1.75 y la especie con mayor valor fue Curatella americana (Dilleniaceae) (0.416).También cobran importancia especies arbóreas propias de la transición sabana-bosque como Simarouba amara (Simaroubaceae) y Xylopia aromatica (Annonaceae), con valores de IPF de 0.30 y 0.29, respectivamente.En el bosque de galería, el valor del IPF fue de 1.95 y la especie con el valor más alto fue Protium calanense (Burseraceae) (0.43). En general, V. baccifera alcanzó el valor más alto (etapa III), más del doble del valor de cualquiera de las especies dominantes en las etapas restantes.La Figura 4-4 muestra los valores de IVI para las etapas III y IV y para el bosque de galería, así como la especie con el valor más alto de este parámetro. En la etapa III, el IVI fue de 1.02 y la especie con mayor valor fue Vismia baccifera (Clusiaceae) con 0.62, seguida por Davilla nitida (Dilleniaceae) con 0.16; estas dos especies forman pequeños bosquetes. En la etapa IV, el IVI fue de 1.58 y la especie con mayor valor fue Miconia albicans (Melastomataceae) con 0.26; esta especie es propia de la sabana y muy sensible a la quema, ya que aumenta su densidad y vigor en la medida en que avanza la sucesión. En el bosque de galería, el IVI fue de 2.56 y la especie con mayor valor fue Pseudolmedia laevis (Moraceae) con 0.50, seguida por Virola elongata (Myristicaceae) con 0.23.En general, los valores mayores en ambos parámetros los mostró V. baccifera; esta tendencia puede servir para interpretar patrones de distribución en otros parches de vegetación en el mismo paisaje.En las áreas investigadas en Carimagua, se registraron 132 especies de 101 géneros y 46 familias, de las cuales 36 familias son Dicotiledóneas, 8 Monocotiledóneas y 2 Pteridofitas. Las familias con el mayor número de especies son Poaceae (27), Melastomataceae (10), Fabaceae (9), Rubiaceae (8), Burseraceae (5), Annonaceae (5) y Cyperaceae (4). Este espectro es similar al del patrón general del paisaje de altillanura (Rangel et al. 1995), excepto por la importancia que tienen las Burseraceae y Annonaceae en Carimagua. Los géneros más ricos son Miconia (5), Paspalum (5), Guatteria (3), Casearia (Flacourtiaceae, 3), Desmodium (Fabaceae, 3), Hyptis (3) y Andropogon (3).En la Figura 4-5 se muestran los cambios en la composición florística en la medida en que avanza la sucesión; del análisis detallado de la figura se pueden extraer las siguientes conclusiones:• El número de especies, géneros y familias aumenta al avanzar el proceso de sucesión; la etapa III es la excepción.• Hay un aumento significativo (explosión) de la riqueza, al pasar de la etapa I a la II; los valores casi se duplicaron de una etapa a la otra.• El descenso en diversidad registrado en la etapa de sucesión III (con 8 años sin quema) quizás se deba al éxito reproductivo y a la Alude a las especies exclusivas en cada etapa de la sucesión (Figura 4-6); en la etapa IV se registró el mayor número de especies exclusivas, resultado que es un reflejo del aumento tanto en la composición florística como en la complejidad estructural de la vegetación en la medida en que aumenta el período de reposo (sin quema); la excepción se presentó en la etapa III. El comportamiento del parámetro es similar al de la diversidad florística (Figura 4-5).Según el Indice de Jaccard (Magurran, 1988), que es exclusivamente cualitativo y no considera el grado de participación de cada especie en la dominancia ecológica, la mayor semejanza la muestran las etapas I y II (Ij = 0.39), seguidas por las II y III (Ij = 0.27). El valor menor de semejanza lo mostraron la etapa IV y el bosque. La mayoría de las especies compartidas entre las diferentes etapas se ubican en el estrato herbáceo, que es más vigoroso y variado en las etapas iniciales.En la Figura 4-7 se muestran los valores de semejanza con base en el número absoluto de especies comunes. En las etapas I y II se presentaron los mayores valores (8.6%). La tendencia, como era de esperar, es inversa a la de la Figura 4-6.Si se relacionan estos resultados con los de selectividad, se puede afirmar que al aumentar la complejidad estructural de la vegetación, disminuye el número de especies compartidas y obviamente aumenta el de las restringidas. En las primeras etapas predominaron especies como Andropogon bicornis (Poaceae), Rhynchospora barbata (Cyperaceae) y Schizachyrium sanguineum, que se caracterizan por producir gran cantidad de semillas, tener estructuras de propagación vegetativa como estolones, formar macollas que en caso de una eventual quema protegen las estructuras de renovación, y lograr sincronizar los ciclos reproductivos con la estación seca, época en la cual se inducen las quemas (Sarmiento 1990). Igualmente, figuran como ventajas, los ciclos de vida cortos como se presentó en Ruellia geminiflora (Acanthaceae), o el desarrollo de estructuras subterráneas de propagación vegetativa (xilopodios y estolones) como se observó en Vismia baccifera, Davilla nitida y en varias especies de la familia Melastomataceae. Estos grupos de especies estuvieron presentes en todos los muestreos después de inducir la quema, lo que confirma su alta capacidad de recuperación después de una perturbación.Miconia albicans, M. trinervia (Melastomataceae), Simarouba amara y Siparuna guianensis (Monimiaceae) se registraron solamente en las etapas III y IV, donde presentaron mayor cantidad de individuos y crecimiento más vigoroso en individuos maduros.En la etapa IV se registraron especies presentes también en el bosque de galería, como Dendropanax arboreus, Heliconia sp. (Heliconiaceae), Licania apetala y Protium calanense. Estos resultados contrastan con los registrados por Eiten (1972) en San José y Fariñas (1983) para la vegetación del cerrado brasileño; allí, en áreas abiertas, después de 30 años de protección del fuego, no se observó la invasión por especies del bosque, a pesar de la proximidad del mismo. Para el área de estudio se podría plantear entonces que los factores edáficos y climáticos no son limitativos del desarrollo de la vegetación arbórea.Otro índice de semejanza utilizado fue la distancia euclidiana la cual, además de la presencia, considera la variación de un parámetro fisonómico como la cobertura. Las etapas con mayor afinidad florística y fisonómica fueron la III y la IV, con 8 y 15 años de descanso, respectivamente, puesto que presentaron el menor coeficiente de distancia euclidiana (32.31). El coeficiente para las etapas II, III y IV fue 39.07 y para las etapas I, II, III y IV fue 74.80.Según esto, para lograr cambios fisonómicos en etapas avanzadas de la sucesión, se requiere mayor tiempo que en las etapas tempranas. Una parcela con 3 años de recuperación se diferencia fácilmente de una de 4 años de recuperación, lo cual no es tan evidente entre parcelas de 8 y 15 años de recuperación.Las concentraciones altas de nitrógeno en las tres primeras etapas pueden deberse a la presencia y dominancia de leguminosas en esas etapas o al aumento de radiación incidente a nivel del suelo. Los contenidos altos de azufre en la etapa IV se explican por una compensación del elemento por diferentes vías durante el tiempo de descanso (Kauffman et al. 1994). Los valores de calcio y de potasio, no presentaron tendencias definidas en la sucesión.Los contenidos de fósforo, hierro y magnesio tienden a aumentar de acuerdo con el incremento en la complejidad estructural de la vegetación, evento que corresponde a lo señalado por Kellman (1984), quien encontró que los suelos de las sabanas arboladas con largos períodos sin quema eran muy ricos en fósforo y cationes intercambiables, lo cual se reflejaba en el aumento de la fertilidad. Kauffman et al. (1994) encontraron en la vegetación del cerrado brasileño, que el fósforo, el nitrógeno, el azufre y el calcio aumentaban donde había un componente importante de hojarasca de dicotiledóneas, condición similar a la que se presenta en la etapa de sucesión IV y en el bosque de galería de nuestro estudio.Cuando se hizo un solo evento de quema, se registraron 84 morfoespecies distribuidas así: etapa II-R, 60; etapa III-R, 48; etapa IV-R, 47. Aunque 6 meses como tiempo de seguimiento es un período muy limitado que no permite consolidar los valores absolutos de riqueza, se puede decir preliminarmente que en un evento de requema la diversidad florística tiende a disminuir.En la etapa de sucesión II-R, en la que se presentó el mayor número de especies, estructuralmente dominó el estrato herbáceo donde se encuentran las especies con estructuras de resistencia al fuego.En la Figura 4-8 se muestran las especies con mayor valor de permanencia. Axonopus purpusii alcanza figuración en las etapas II, III y IV, con mayor valor en la etapa III; Schizachyrium sanguineum y Rhynchospora nervosa repiten el mismo comportamiento, pero los valores mayores los alcanzan en la etapa II. Davilla nitida y Miconia albicans tienen valores importantes en las etapas III y IV. Leptocoryphium lanatum y Otachyrium versicolor logran valores altos en la etapa II, en la que se encontraron -en términos generales-los valores más altos de este parámetro, ya que allí predominan especies con estructuras subterráneas de propagación como rizomas, xilopodios y meristemos enterrados, que en situaciones adversas les confieren la posibilidad de regeneración después del daño (Noble et al., citados en Vidal y Rangel 1987). Algunas de estas especies poseen alto valor nutritivo y son apetecidas por el ganado, especialmente durante las cuatro primeras semanas luego de la quema.Especies de los géneros Adiantum y Phaseolus se establecieron gracias a los cambios físico-bióticos producidos por el fuego de requema, ya que no se presentaron en los inventarios iniciales y son elementos que han sido considerados colonizadores rápidos de las chacras y conucos indígenas después de las quemas. En parcelas que permanecieron 15 años sin quema (etapa IV), la aparición de las especies fue más lenta; quizás en esto influye la escasa cobertura de gramíneas y ciperáceas, que en otras etapas de la sucesión aseguraron un restablecimiento rápido del estrato herbáceo. A primera vista, los resultados encontrados encajan con los hallazgos de Jones (Blondel 1985); según este autor, en un proceso de sucesión secundaria en vegetación de sabana, la asignación de energía para la reproducción tiende a disminuir en la medida en que avanza el proceso. En las etapas tempranas, después de la perturbación, la estrategia es producir muchos individuos y establecerlos en el medio, mientras que en las etapas maduras se seleccionan mecanismos que aseguran la permanencia de los individuos en un medio saturado. Un grupo de especies con valores bajos de presencia, mostraron ciclos de vida cortos y produjeron semillas a los 40 días de quema; entre ellas figuran las siguientes: Lindernia crustacea, Sipanea hispida (Rubiaceae), Hyptis atrorubens, Xyris laxifolia, Macroptilium monophyllum (Fabaceae), Galactia glaucescens, Merremia aturensis, Peltaea speciosa, y Eugenia punicifolia (Vidal, 1986). El grupo fue sustituido por Schizachyrium sanguineum, Eriosema simplicifolia, Clidemia rubra, Axonopus purpusii, Otachhyrium versicolor, Sabicea villosa, Rhynchospora nervosa, Trachypogon vestitus y Paspalum pectinatum.Las diferencias que se encontraron en los tratamientos remoción y quema, se relacionan con el aspecto fenológico; especies como Sipanea hispida, Hyptis atrorubens, Xyris laxifolia, Galactia glaucescens, Merremia aturensis, Peltaea speciosa y Eugenia punicifolia, florecieron en las parcelas que habían sido quemadas, mientras que en las parcelas donde se había removido la vegetación, permanecieron en estado vegetativo (Figura 4-9). • El desarrollo de elementos leñosos se evidencia luego de 8 años de permanecer un sitio en descanso (sin quema). En las etapas II y III, el patrón de crecimiento de las especies leñosas es agregado y favorece el crecimiento de plántulas en su interior; éstas, en su mayoría, conformarán los estratos subarbóreo y arbóreo, evento igualmente reseñado por San José y Fariñas (1983) y por Bergeron y Leduc (1998).• En la etapa IV se puede presentar invasión de algunas especies propias del bosque de galería, la cual no se presenta en paisajes con rasgos fisonómicos y florísticos parecidos, como los del cerrado brasileño.• En las parcelas con 8 años sin quema (etapa III), la diversidad florística disminuye en relación con la etapa anterior; esto se debe, probablemente, al éxito reproductivo y a la alta productividad de especies como Vismia baccifera, Tococa guianensis y Davilla nitida, que aportan el 82% de la cobertura total, se tornan dominantes y, en cierto sentido, evitan el arraigo o el desarrollo de otras especies. pobreza de nutrientes como factores ecológicos.Estos ecosistemas constituyen uno de los grandes biomas característicos del cordón intertropical y ocupan cerca de 10 millones de km 2 de la superficie terrestre (3 millones de km 2 en América del Sur y Central). En América se extienden desde México y Cuba, en el norte, hasta Bolivia y Paraguay, en el sur, y alcanzan mayor superficie y más importancia nacional como fuente de recursos económicos y como unidad natural en Colombia, Venezuela y Brasil (Hernández et al. 1994).Las sabanas son ecosistemas de bajo potencial productivo y alta biodiversidad (Serna-Isaza et al. 1996) y se dedican a ganadería extensiva, principalmente. El impacto que reciben las sabanas de diferentes formas de manejo (sobrepastoreo, quemas, etc.) y la necesidad de aprovecharlas en forma sostenible requieren de conocimientos sobre la distribución espacial y la dinámica de la vegetación y sobre el potencial forrajero de las comunidades vegetales, entre otros aspectos relevantes. La cartografía de las sabanas puede abordarse mediante la teledetección, una herramienta de estudio de los paisajes, las formaciones y las comunidades vegetales (Girard y Girard 1989).En este capítulo se presentan algunas técnicas de teledetección empleadas para hacer la cartografía de la vegetación, la evaluación de las quemas y de la biomasa, la fenología, el uso y la cobertura de los ecosistemas de sabana. Esta información se organiza en cinco diferentes niveles: zona biogeográfica, formación vegetal, sucesión vegetal, comunidad vegetal y población vegetal. Al final del capítulo se revisan algunos trabajos de teledetección realizados para los Llanos Orientales de Colombia.Este estudio se hace principalmente a escala continental dadas las dimensiones de estas zonas. Los satélites NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) de los Estados Unidos obtienen imágenes de un tamaño de pixel de 1 x 1 km o de 4 x 4 km; pueden hacer, por tanto, este tipo de estudios a escala muy pequeña disminuyendo así el número de imágenes empleadas. Cuando se utilizan imágenes de mayor resolución espacial, como las de Landsat, para cubrir un continente (Africa, por ejemplo), son necesarias 1100 escenas de 185 x 185 km (Girard y Girard 1989).Varios satélites NOAA toman imágenes cada 12 horas de un mismo sitio de la tierra (una de esas dos veces con luz diurna), empleando un campo de visión utilizable de 3000 x 3000 km. La resolución es de 1 x 1 km en el espectro visible y de 17 x 17 km en el infrarrojo, aunque los productos pueden proveer datos con una resolución de 1.1, 4, 15 y 25 km. El sensor utilizado es el AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer). Estos satélites adquieren datos digitales de emisividad y reflectividad de la superficie de la tierra en el rojo visible (0.580 a 0.680 mm), en el infrarrojo cercano (0.725 a 1.10 mm), en el infrarrojo medio (3.55 a 3.93 mm) y en el infrarrojo termal (10.3 a 11.3 y 11.5 a 12.5 mm) (Stone et al. 1994). Completan 14.1 órbitas por día (cada una dura 102 minutos) y las trayectorias orbitales, aunque no se repiten, se asimilan a nodos ecuatoriales cada 8 días (Montoya 1997). Esta baja resolución, tanto espacial como espectral, permiten manejar un menor volumen de datos; la mayor resolución temporal, por su parte, ofrece ventajas para hacer análisis globales de la cobertura, en comparación con otros sensores (p.e., los programas de los satélites Landsat y SPOT) (Brown et al. 1993).Entre las bandas más utilizadas están la 1 (C 1 ) y la 2 (C 2 ) que son, respectivamente, las usadas para el infrarrojo y el rojo (Chuvieco 1995). El mayor valor obtenido en el curso de una semana para cada uno de los índices C 2 /C 1 (Indice de Vegetación Normalizado, NVI en inglés) y C 2 -C 1 /C 2 +C 1 (Indice de Vegetación de Diferencia Normalizada, NDVI en inglés) es retenido para caracterizar cada malla de la rejilla de datos del AVHRR. El mayor valor de cada uno de esos índices, para un período de 3 semanas, es retenido para calificar cada malla. Así se descartan las peores condiciones de 'irradiancia' debidas a la nubosidad o a los aerosoles en suspensión en la atmósfera (Girard y Girard 1989).Con esta metodología se ha realizado el mapa de la cobertura terrestre a escala pequeña (Sylvander et al. 1988;Millington et al. 1992). Se han utilizado datos NOAA/AVHRR del Indice Global de Vegetación (GVI, resolución 15-25 km) para hacerle seguimiento (monitoría) a la cobertura terrestre mundial, mediante una clasificación no supervisada (Murai et al. 1991; Tateishi y Kajiwara 1991) o para hacer el mapa de la cobertura terrestre de diferentes biomas partiendo de datos NOAA/AVHRR LAC (Cobertura de Area Local, resolución de 1.1 km) (Nelson y Horning 1993;Stone et al. 1994). Se ha empleado también el análisis multitemporal de las series de Fourier para obtener una clasificación de la cobertura terrestre (Andrés et al. 1994).Para investigar el cambio de la cobertura terrestre global, es necesario utilizar datos complementarios de múltiples fuentes, incluyendo aquí los de altitud y región ecológica; de este modo se marcan y refinan las clases de cobertura terrestre que presenten diferentes tipos de cobertura para una única firma espectro-temporal (Brown et al. 1993).En otros trabajos se cuestiona la confiabilidad del NDVI por estar influenciado por los cambios climáticos de corta duración. En su lugar se usan datos de Cobertura de Area Global (GAC) obtenidos del AVHRR durante 8 a 9 años, con los cuales se logra una clasificación de la cobertura vegetal. Se logra también, empleando datos promedio multianuales del NDVI y la temperatura superficial (TS) para obtener la relación NDVI/TS, relación que es menos influenciada por variaciones interanuales de las condiciones climáticas (Mather 1992;Ehrlich y Lambin 1996;Malingreau et al. 1996).Otra aplicación ampliamente difundida de los datos del AVHRR en ecosistemas de sabana es la evaluación de la distribución espacial de las quemas de la vegetación de la sabana (Frederiksen et al. 1990;Riggan et al. 1993;Pereira y Setzer 1996), la emisión de gases de dichas quemas (Kaufman et al. 1992) y las implicaciones que éstas tienen en el cambio climático y la ecología de los ecosistemas terrestres (Levine 1991;Lindsay 1992). No obstante, la mejor discriminación de las cenizas y las áreas quemadas se logra con datos de alta resolución espacial, p.e., Landsat MSS (Multi-Spectral Scanner) o TM (Tematic Mapper) (Riggan et al. 1993).En la época seca, la vegetación se ha desecado, en gran parte; por ello, en el infrarrojo próximo, la 'reflectancia' del suelo desnudo es frecuentemente superior a la de la vegetación; lo contrario se observa en las zonas templadas. Es posible poner en evidencia formaciones vegetales con una composición en color realizada mediante tres canales MSS, pero empleando una combinación diferente a la que comúnmente se usa para obtener una composición coloreada que represente el infrarrojo. Bajo esta composición coloreada, las sabanas arbustivas más o menos densas no pueden distinguirse entre sí y son codificadas en rojo; se confunden así con la quema reciente de la maleza que se codifica también en rojo. Las sabanas arboladas, más densas y un poco clorofílicas, aparecen en amarillo verdoso, lo mismo que los bosques de galería que bordean los ríos. Hay que extraer entonces las quemas recientes de la maleza; una forma de hacerlo es seleccionando todos los pixeles cuyo valor de luminiscencia sea el más débil para los tres canales MSS (Girard y Girard 1989).El cálculo del NVI pone en evidencia el suelo desnudo y las diferentes clases de vegetación, p.e., maleza recientemente quemada, barbechos, sabanas herbáceas, sabanas arbustivas, sabanas arboladas y selvas de galería. Una clasificación realizada a partir de los componentes principales daría las mismas unidades (Girard y Girard 1989). Partiendo de los datos Landsat MSS, por tanto, pueden distinguirse formaciones vegetales en función de la mayor o menor abundancia de los estratos herbáceo, arbustivo y arbóreo, a condición de que éstos presenten estados fenológicos lo suficientemente diferenciados para que puedan exhibir diferentes comportamientos espectrales (Armand 1986; Girard y Girard 1989; Townshend y Justice 1990).Ahora bien, es difícil diferenciar entre las diversas sabanas arbustivas, ya que sus valores de luminiscencia son muy próximos y las diferencias estructurales que podrían diferenciarlas no son perceptibles a causa de la resolución geométrica de los datos (Girard y Girard 1989).Se ha usado también con éxito, para discriminar formaciones de sabana, el satélite difusómetro de viento Seasat-A el cual, mediante técnicas de superposición parcial (solapamiento) de imágenes, permite incrementar la resolución de éstas (Hardin y Long 1994).Una etapa de vegetación ocurre en una zona geográfica en la cual el clima condiciona la presencia de uno o varios grupos vegetales (definidos mediante arreglos de especies particulares y diferenciables) y de agrupaciones de igual naturaleza pertenecientes a otra etapa. Una serie de vegetación corresponde a un arreglo de grupos vegetales que se suceden después de estar el terreno desnudo (o desprovisto de agua) y llegan a alcanzar un estado de equilibrio (climácico o no) en una sucesión progresiva o regresiva. La primera de estas unidades corresponde a la región ecológica y al paisaje vegetal, y la segunda a la formación vegetal y a la comunidad vegetal (Girard y Girard 1989).Es posible diferenciar en un territorio relativamente grande, y para una fecha determinada, las etapas de vegetación correspondientes, p.e., a las diferentes fases fenológicas; asimismo, dentro de una serie de vegetación pueden distinguirse los estados de evolución presentes cuyas fisonomías son diferentes. Los datos que entregan Landsat MSS y TM son los más indicados para diferenciar las unidades antes descritas y para seguir su evolución (Girard y Girard 1989).El uso de datos NOAA/AVHRR ha permitido también evaluar la productividad de comunidades herbáceas (Bauliés y Pons 1995). Asimismo, permite distinguir los siguientes aspectos:-las fases fenológicas y los aspectos fisiológicos y fisonómicos de la vegetación empleando el NDVI (Justice et al. 1985;Gregoire 1990;Lloyd 1990;Gond et al. 1992);-la clasificación supervisada o no supervisada (Jackson y Gaston 1994);-la relación entre el NDVI y la Radiación Saliente de Longitud de Onda Larga (OLR), especialmente en el cambio de una fase de reposo ('lag') o una de crecimiento vegetativo (Shinoda 1995).Se pudo establecer, además, mediante el análisis de las series de tiempo, una correlación positiva entre el NDVI y la precipitación como factores condicionantes de las fases fenológicas de los ecosistemas de sabana (Davenport y Nicholson 1993;Fuller y Prince 1996). Se proponen de nuevo las ventajas del uso de la relación multitemporal NDVI/TS (TS = temperatura de la superficie terrestre) para la cartografía de la vegetación sometida a variaciones estacionales, como en las comunidades de sabana (Achard et al. 1989;Achard y Blasco 1990;Mather 1992;Ehrlich y Lambin 1996;Malingreau et al. 1996).La definición de etapas de vegetación y de series de vegetación se hace a partir de observaciones y registros hechos en el campo. Los datos del MSS no pueden servir para este fin. Una vez que se definan y describan las diferentes unidades, éstas pueden ser reconocidas en las imágenes satelitales, cartografiadas posteriormente y acompañadas en su evolución, es decir, en el establecimiento de cultivos, la regeneración vegetal y otras acciones similares.Los datos satelitales, recolectados en fechas en que la vegetación presenta diferentes estados fenológicos, son útiles en una fase preliminar de reconocimiento y en la cartografía e inventario de las series de vegetación. Sin embargo, no pueden remplazar, en ningún caso, los datos y las observaciones de campo que se necesitan en la fase de definición de las series.Una comunidad vegetal puede definirse como un arreglo estructurado y definido de la vegetación, que ocupa un hábitat determinado, homógeneo en sus condiciones físicas y biológicas y con el cual interactúa.Los objetos que se estudian son de dimensiones más pequeñas que las zonas biogeográficas y las formaciones vegetales. Las comunidades vegetales pertenecen, frecuentemente, a una misma formación vegetal y presentan, por ello, fisonomías semejantes. Para distinguirlas, es necesario entonces disponer de información sobre las bandas espectrales más finas y de datos adquiridos en diferentes fechas. Los sistemas de teledetección deben poseer, por tanto, mejor resolución geométrica.La teledetección puede usarse para el estudio de una comunidad vegetal sólo cuando la mayoría de las especies presentes en esa comunidad, cuya descripción y clasificación fitosociológica se busca, contribuyen con su comportamiento espectral a la caracterización radiométrica de la comunidad. Esta situación se presenta cuando la comunidad no tiene estratificación vertical simple y cuando el recubrimiento del suelo tiene importancia para ella. Tal es el caso de las formaciones herbáceas y de los matorrales: rastrojos, estepas, sabanas herbáceas densas, pastizales, praderas seminaturales, etc. (Girard y Girard 1989;Choudury 1993).La metodología desarrollada para una región dada puede aplicarse a otros casos, es decir, a comunidades vegetales herbáceas densas que crecen bajo diferentes tipos de climas (Girard y Girard 1989).Esta caracterización se hace con observaciones y medidas radiométricas de campo (terrestre) y es indispensable hacerla antes de cualquier clasificación o cartografía ya que ésta se apoya principalmente en datos satelitales de teledetección.Los levantamientos florísticos de las comunidades de sabana se hacen, principalmente, por el método del punto cuadrático (Boudet 1991;Paladines 1992) en estaciones ubicadas en posiciones topográficas diferentes que corresponden a diferentes condiciones ecológicas. Debe haber suficientes estaciones para que representen los principales tipos de sabana permanente que existen en un área dada.Estos levantamientos se someten luego al análisis factorial de correspondencia, el cual los reagrupa según la presencia o ausencia de la totalidad de las especies descritas (Boudet 1991). Estos grupos de levantamientos se asignan entonces a alianzas, asociaciones o subasociaciones, según diversos métodos fitosociológicos (Müller-Dombois y Ellenberg 1974).Las mediciones de reflectancia se hacen a baja altura (1.5 a 2 m) sobre las parcelas de muestreo y en diferentes etapas fenológicas de la comunidad vegetal; estas etapas condicionarán las fechas de adquisición de los datos radiométricos (Mueksch 1983;Benoit et al. 1988;Girard y Girard 1989). Pueden tomarse muestras en un amplio espectro de longitudes de onda, según el sensor que se utilice (Girard y Girard 1989); asimismo, las unidades de tierra pueden equiparse con sensores de longitud de onda específica, p.e., para medición de la Radiación Fotosintéticamente Activa (PAR) o del Flujo de Radiación en el Infrarrojo Cercano (NIR), con el fin de conocer el comportamiento espectral durante la época de crecimiento (Begue et al. 1996).Se pueden analizar medidas espectrométricas y densidades ópticas de fotografías aéreas multizonales sintetizadas (escala 1:10,000), según las diferencias en color, el tono y la estructura, con el fin de calcular la disponibilidad de biomasa en los pastizales, de detectar y delimitar áreas de interés específico y de identificar especies vegetales (Ferrer et al. 1988). Para las bandas de infrarrojo cercano (IR) y de rojo (R), de un lado, y para la relación IR+R, del otro, se ha detectado una correlación significativa e inversa con la biomasa seca y con la densidad de la clorofila, respectivamente (Torres et al. 1991). El uso de negativos fotográficos ha permitido compilar índices de vegetación que revelan diferencias en la disponibilidad de las especies de una comunidad de sabana (Torres et al. 1994). Para hacer mapas de la distribución de la fitomasa forrajera y de las comunidades vegetales se han usado también fotografías aéreas pancromáticas e infrarrojas en falso color, mediante la aplicación del programa SIG Terrasoft (Toure et al. 1994).Los datos radiométricos se tratan numéricamente, fecha por fecha, utilizando el Análisis de Componentes Principales (ACP). Generalmente, la información más útil para la cartografía de la vegetación, utilizando los satélites Landsat TM y SPOT, se obtiene de las bandas del visible y del IR cercano. Por ejemplo, si se hace un ACP con datos adquiridos en 12 bandas espectrales repartidas entre los 500 y los 1400 nm, este análisis mostraría que se puede trabajar con sólo 4 bandas espectrales cuyas longitudes de onda serían de 550, 675, 850 y 1400 nm. Esta última longitud de onda se emplea en el campo, pero no puede usarse en el registro satelital, ya que la atmósfera terrestre, rica en agua, no permite pasar suficiente señal. Los canales 5 (1570 a 1780 nm) y 7 (2100 a 2350 nm) de TM, sensibles al agua de la vegetación, deben aportar una información más o menos equivalente a la anterior. Para caracterizar radiométricamente los grupos vegetales previamente definidos, debe calcularse el valor promedio de reflectancia, fecha tras fecha, en cada una de las cuatro longitudes de onda, a partir de los valores de reflectancia correspondientes medidos en las diferentes estaciones. Un ACP hecho con valores de reflectancia de diversos grupos vegetales, en función de las fechas, permite representar los tipos de evolución fisiológica y fenológica según los dos primeros ejes, los cuales corresponden a las cuatro longitudes de onda retenidas en el espectro visible y en el infrarrojo próximo (Girard y Girard 1989).Cada grupo diferente de sabana tiene un comportamiento espectral diferente. Una vez definidas en el tiempo las clases radiométricas cuyos valores de reflectancia en fechas determinadas se conocen, es posible asignarlas a los tipos de sabana.El interés agronómico de las especies de sabana depende de la naturaleza de éstas y de la cobertura que den al suelo. Estas especies pueden convertirse en parte más o menos importante del material de pastoreo y reflejan además, como elementos de cobertura, las condiciones de clima y suelo y la explotación de la comunidad vegetal.Se establece entonces una nueva clasificación de las comunidades herbáceas en función de un número limitado de especies que presenten los mayores coeficientes de abundanciadominancia en los levantamientos. Los conjuntos así definidos se denominan unidades agroecológicas. Los datos radiométricos obtenidos en el terreno sirven para medir el comportamiento de las unidades agroecológicas (Girard y Girard 1989).El estudio de los valores de luminiscencia y reflectancia obtenidos en estaciones de diversos pastizales indica que los valores medidos no son siempre los mismos en las estaciones que pertenecen a una misma unidad agroecológica. Por ello, para determinar las variaciones ocurridas en el tiempo, la evaluación se hace dentro de una unidad agroecológica (Girard 1987b, Girard y Girard 1989).El comportamiento espectral servirá así de base para la clasificación y la cartografía a escala mediana (p.e., 1:100,000), partiendo de valores de luminiscencia suministrados por datos de Landsat TM (Warmick-Smith 1981; García y Alvarez 1994) y de SPOT, principalmente (Girard y Girard 1989, Girard y Rippstein 1994;Rippstein y Girard 1994), utilizando clasificación híbrida (supervisada/no supervisada) y definiendo el sello espectral de cada una de las unidades; cuando se acopla este proceso con fotografías aéreas e información de campo, es posible hacer una diferenciación muy precisa de los tipos de vegetación (Ferrer et al. 1988;Torres et al. 1991Torres et al. , 1994;;Brondizio et al. 1993;García y Alvarez 1994).Los datos de Landsat TM o de SPOT permiten hacer cartografía a una escala de mediana a grande (p.e., 1:100,000 a 1:25,000). Puesto que aquí el pixel tiene grandes dimensiones, las unidades son poco detalladas y se pueden reagrupar en función del drenaje del suelo, por ejemplo (Girard y Girard 1989).Si se aplica el modelo de comportamiento espectral en el espacio de la imagen, se pueden definir diferentes unidades cartográficas. Para caracterizar estas unidades desde un punto de vista agronómico, es necesario hacer el estudio fitosociológico de base (1º) según presencia-ausencia de especies y según la abundancia de un número menor de especies (2º). Este estudio permite colocar una leyenda al mapa (Girard y Girard 1989).Con dos escalas cartográficas, en algunas partes del mapa las unidades pueden reunir varias unidades agroecológicas que corresponden, por tanto, a un mosaico.A escala 1:150,000, por ejemplo, puede tomarse la decisión de reagrupar las pasturas y los cultivos para asegurar una coherencia espacial de la unidad, ya que, en ciertos casos, la resolución geométrica de Landsat no permite hacer una diferenciación confiable (Girard y Girard 1989).A escala 1:25,000, la resolución de SPOT permite diferenciar sin ambigüedad los cultivos en las sabanas. El modo de explotación de las parcelas se puede detectar mediante el satélite; para ello, se reagrupan algunas unidades agroecológicas diferentes que tengan una explotación semejante.Esta escala se usa mucho para evaluar los cambios que experimenta el uso de la tierra en los ecosistemas de sabana (Jadhav et al. 1993;Lovett y Prins 1994). Se aplican, en este caso, diferentes técnicas como el análisis digital de bandas incrementadas con imágenes de Landsat TM, que permite no sólo discriminar el suelo desnudo de los pastizales en diferentes etapas de uso (Movia y Navone 1994) sino también evaluar el impacto que ejerce en la sabana la introducción de germoplama exótico (Boutrais y Lortic 1983). La teledetección se ha utilizado también para definir, según algunos aspectos fisiográficos y edáficos, el uso óptimo de las unidades de tierra (Alcántara et al. 1989); esta información se enriquece, en muchos casos, con técnicas que combinan datos a diferentes niveles (Mackel et al. 1989).La evaluación de la sucesión vegetal en los ecosistemas forestales -los cuales forman parte de las 'matas de monte' en los ecosistemas de sabana (sensu lato) y son manejados principalmente mediante sistemas de tala y quema por los grupos aborígenes-ha sido abordada mediante el análisis de imágenes Landsat TM multitemporales. Con tal fin se utilizaron, como parámetros indicativos de la etapa de sucesión, la reflectancia del infrarrojo cercano, el índice de diferencia, el verdor de Kauth-Thomas, el porcentaje de cobertura foliar, y los índices espectrales del brillo del dosel (Mausel et al. 1993;Steininger 1996).La cantidad de materia seca (M.S.) se establece a partir de medidas y observaciones de campo y mediante la relación IR/R a partir de datos de luminiscencia de SPOT HRV; con estos cálculos se traza un mapa en donde figuren, a escala 1:25.000, las unidades según la cantidad de M.S. Estos mapas, que se obtienen en muy poco tiempo gracias al tratamiento de los datos numéricos espaciales, dan una evaluación casi instantánea del estado o potencial de un territorio (Grouzis y Methy 1983;Girard 1987a;Girard y Girard 1989;Girard et al. 1990).A escala pequeña se han utilizado datos AVHRR para estimar la biomasa de grandes áreas y, en consecuencia, la capacidad de carga de las pasturas (Harrington y Wylie 1989).Una población de individuos de la misma especie puede estudiarse mediante teledetección, siempre y cuando esa población cubra una superficie de dimensiones compatibles con la resolución geométrica de los datos aéreos o espaciales (Girard y Girard 1989). Aquí se aborda el estudio de poblaciones monoespecíficas o pauciespecíficas, seminaturales, ya que las poblaciones naturales son generalmente muy pequeñas.En las zonas templadas o en la intertropical, sólo las plantaciones industriales y algunas masas forestales exóticas cubren varias decenas o centenas de hectáreas cuyas dimensiones permiten una identificación de datos satelitales a mediana o pequeña escala (Landsat MSS). Son ejemplos las plantaciones de caucho (Hevea sp.) y las pasturas de gramíneas introducidas en los Llanos Orientales (género Brachiaria, principalmente).Por lo tanto, es posible hacer identificaciones con fines de inventario empleando solamente datos multiespectrales de buena resolución geométrica (TM o SPOT) o con fotografías a gran escala. La identificación mediante datos multiespectrales se hace partiendo de valores de luminiscencia. En las fotografías aéreas se emplea el criterio de la escala de grises o de la escala de color, así como los criterios de forma, ligados ambos con las características morfológicas de los límites. La identificación de especies será más confiable cuando se definen sus fases fenológicas, que son responsables de los valores de luminiscencia y de fisonomías particulares. Por ello, para obtener una buena identificación es importante la elección de la fecha en que se toman las imágenes. En los pastizales permanentes se pueden reconocer ciertas especies (o grupos de especies) en diferentes períodos del año porque en ellos se presentan estados fenológicos particulares formados por poblaciones densas (Ferrer et al. 1988;Torres et al. 1991Torres et al. , 1994)).Este tipo de evaluación puede hacerse con fotografías aéreas; sin embargo, se necesita un gran número de fotografías para cubrir un área grande, la duración del análisis es muy larga y los resultados se volverán obsoletos rápidamente. Se utilizan, por ello, datos multiespectrales, los cuales ofrecen ciertas ventajas según la resolución geométrica de los diferentes sistemas (Girard y Girard 1989). Cuando se emplea información de satélites Landsat MSS, incluso la relacionada con poblaciones forestales monoespecíficas, el promedio de los valores de luminiscencia de muchas parcelas presenta una desviación elevada debida a la fuerte heterogeneidad de las parcelas, aun suponiendo que las medidas se toman en la misma fecha. Esta heterogeneidad está ligada a las diferentes fisonomías provenientes de los tratamientos silvícolas. La baja resolución espacial le da poca importancia a los estratos del sotobosque.En la cartografía forestal realizada con imágenes SPOT y Landsat TM (p.e., en plantaciones comerciales y 'matas de monte'), la diferenciación no se puede hacer en las mismas condiciones antes mencionadas puesto que el pixel tiene, en este caso, dimensiones mucho más pequeñas. Los estratos arbustivo y herbáceo tienen mayor importancia, ya que su comportamiento espectral puede influir en los valores de luminiscencia. No se puede hablar, propiamente, de reconocimiento de especies, sino de una interpretación de las especies en función de su comportamiento espectral estacionario.Es importante seleccionar, según el objetivo del estudio, los documentos de teledetección que se usarán. Para un estudio de estructura de poblaciones, es conveniente disponer de datos bastante sintéticos, como los que aporta el Landsat MSS. Para una identificación muy precisa y para poblaciones pluriespecíficas, hay que utilizar datos de buena resolución geométrica. Son preferibles las fotografías aéreas a escalas grande y mediana; los datos SPOT y Landsat TM corresponden a la mínima resolución necesaria (Girard y Girard 1989).La teledetección se ha usado en los Llanos Orientales principalmente en aspectos fisiográficos, y poco énfasis se ha hecho en la discriminación de la cobertura vegetal de esa región (Forero 1977(Forero , 1978;;Khobzi 1981). Montoya (1977Montoya ( , 1978) ) utiliza el procesamiento digital de imágenes Landsat MSS por transformación de los componentes principales de las cuatro bandas producidas por el barredor multiespectral; se definen así grupos fisonómicos de vegetación según clases espectrales diferentes.Se parte de una primera distribución general de las unidades fisiográficas por zonas, lograda por interpretación preliminar de las imágenes Landsat (bandas 5 y 7, con escala aproximada de 1:1,000,000) y se hace luego una caracterización de la vegetación de sabana. Se hacen primero inventarios de la vegetación en algunas de las unidades fisiográficas, teniendo en cuenta las plantas dominantes y subdominantes. Las unidades incluidas en los mapas se ajustaron según la información del mapa geomorfológico; sin embargo, la parte contenida en el estudio se apoya en la revisión bibliográfica hecha para Colombia, Venezuela y Brasil (Salamanca 1983).Botero y Serrano (1992) confrontan la información extraída de diferentes tipos de imágenes, como las fotografías aéreas, el radar y los satélite (Landsat TM y SPOT). Se utilizó una cartografía básica de 1:100,000 a la cual se le transfirió la interpretación temática. Estos autores concluyen que las composiciones en color de las imágenes Landsat (escala 1:250,000 a 1:100,000) o SPOT (escala 1:100,000), de las fotografías aéreas pancromáticas (escala 1:60,000 a 1:10,000), de las infrarrojas (escala 1:80,000 a 1:10,000) o de las tomadas en color (escala 1:80,000 a 1:10,000), son buenas para discriminar los tipos de bosques, pastos y cultivos, así como las áreas taladas en el interior de los bosques.En la altillanura de los Llanos Orientales se ha realizado, con la ayuda de datos SPOT HRV (escala 1:50,000), un inventario del uso de la tierra, del manejo de la vegetación y del estado fisiológico de ésta. Paralelamente, se tomaron datos de la reflectancia de la cobertura vegetal, con ayuda de un radiómetro CIMEL (terrestre) en las mismas frecuencias que el sensor SPOT XS (satelital). Estos datos se utilizaron para definir parcelas de verificación, que fueron analizadas más tarde según las imágenes SPOT; la reflectancia a nivel de campo se usó para hacer una clasificación del uso de la tierra en categorías mayores y un inventario de la vegetación de sabana (Girard y Rippstein 1994;Rippstein y Girard 1994).La región de la altillanura está cubierta principalmente por vegetación natural (sabanas y bosques), de relieve bajo, cuya principal característica es la disección de los planos sedimentarios causada por los patrones de drenaje; por ello, Botero et al. (1996) consideran fácil el levantamiento de los mapas de diferentes unidades, ya que se dispone de una cobertura total del área mediante teledetección (hay imágenes de Landsat, especialmente TM; de SPOT en algunas partes; de Radar SLAR; y fotografías aéreas, principalmente de áreas de muestra).La información presentada permite encontrar algunos puntos comunes para la cartografía de la vegetación de sabana, según el nivel de evaluación con que se esté trabajando; estos puntos se resumen en el Cuadro 5-1.La teledetección contribuye a la cartografía de la vegetación de sabana de la siguiente manera:• Localiza mejores puntos de observación sobre el terreno.Cuadro 5-1. Características generales de algunos sensores y procesos desarrollados con ellos para hacer la cartografía de la vegetación de sabana. • Permite extrapolar la información obtenida sobre el terreno. Es un instrumento útil para la cartografía de objetos cuyas dimensiones estén entre 10 y 10 6 m (y más).• Ayuda a seguir la evolución y los cambios experimentados por las comunidades, las formaciones y los paisajes vegetales, mediante el seguimiento intraanual e interanual durante varias decenas de años.• Se convierte en herramienta valiosa para el ordenamiento, la gestión y la protección del medio ambiente, ya que permite resaltar las relaciones entre el ecosistema y las formas de uso.• Es un dato complementario indispensable para refinar distintas clases de cobertura, cuando éstas presentan una misma firma espectral.• Señala que la reflectancia espectral de la sabana está determinada por las especies más abundantes.• Permite diferenciar comunidades de sabana florísticamente diferentes gracias al cambio estacional en la reflectancia. Los análisis estadísticos que se hicieron con las medidas tomadas en las épocas seca y lluviosa permitieron clasificar la vegetación en diferentes tipos. Se hizo así un trabajo de clasificación e inventario de la vegetación de los Llanos Orientales por control remoto.Una caracterísitica de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia es que, en la zona de los bancos de la Altillanura, están cubiertos por una vegetación nativa de sabana que, a primera vista, es muy homogénea.Los estudios ecológicos (Blydenstein 1967;Grollier 1994;Rippstein et  biomasa, el uso que se da a esta vegetación y otras variables. Se obtuvieron tres imágenes del satélite SPOT-HRV tomadas en enero, marzo y octubre de 1991. Se habían hecho previamente mediciones de radiometría terrestre de los diferentes tipos de vegetación del CIA Carimagua.• Distinguir y clasificar en el CI Carimagua, empleando radiometría terrestre, las diferentes comunidades vegetales nativas y de pastos introducidos, y el tipo de explotación (quema, carga animal, fertilización y otras) que se da a estas comunidades.• Clasificar e inventariar, con ayuda de los datos del satélite SPOT y con los datos de radiometría terrestre, la vegetación de la zona de Carimagua y, con esta experiencia, la de otras partes de los Llanos Orientales.El ecosistema en que se halla el CI Carimagua pertenece a la Altillanura plana de las sabanas de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. Su superficie es de 3.5 millones de hectáreas (Vera y Seré 1985), es decir, ocupa el 3% del territorio de Colombia (20% de las sabanas de los Llanos Orientales). Es una franja de 60 km de ancho y 580 km de largo, aproximadamente, que se extiende al sur del río Meta entre la localidad de Puerto López, al oeste, hasta la frontera con Venezuela, en el este. Su suelo está formado por sedimentos aluviales del Pleistoceno antiguo.El paisaje de la Altillanura está conformado por extensos sectores altos y planos, denominados 'bancos', que alternan con los bajos; éstos son estrechos y prolongados y constituyen las vías de drenaje del ecosistema. Los bancos tienen una topografía ligeramente convexa cuya pendiente es inferior a 1% y se calcula que ocupan el 93% de la superficie total del paisaje.La región tiene una época seca de 4 meses (de diciembre a marzo) en que casi no cae lluvia (171 mm) y una época lluviosa de 8 meses, cuyo promedio anual, medido en el lapso 1974-91, es de 2171 mm.Las temperaturas máxima y mínima son, en promedio, de 33.5 y 21.5 °C, respectivamente, en la época seca, y de 31.7 y 21.5 °C, respectivamente, en la época lluviosa. No habiendo mucha diferencia entre las temperaturas de la época seca y de la lluviosa, la humedad relativa es, en promedio, de 70% en la primera y de 85% en la segunda.Los suelos de la Altillanura se clasifican como Oxisoles, así: Haplustox, típico, arcilloso, caolinítico, isohipertérmico. En general, son suelos ácidos (pH: 4.1 a 5.1), que tienen alta saturación de aluminio (82%), baja disponibilidad de fósforo (1 a 2 mg/kg) y baja capacidad de intercambio catiónico (3.4 meq/100 g de suelo) (Spain 1979).La vegetación de los bancos es de sabana, es decir, tiene muy pocos árboles y arbustos. Alrededor de los bosques de galería hay bajos que pueden inundarse, tienen vegetación arbustiva o herbácea y son de muy poca amplitud. Alrededor de las lagunas, en cambio, hay bajos más amplios que tienen importancia para la alimentación del ganado durante la época seca.En los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, Blydenstein (1967) reconoce la existencia de 10 tipos de sabanas. En el estudio reportado en el Capítulo 2 de esta obra se identificaron ocho grupos de vegetación en la region de Carimagua. Predominan las especies pertencientes a los géneros Andropogon, Axonopus, Paspalum, Schizachyrium, Trachypogon y Rhynchospora, casi todos poáceas (gramíneas) y ciperáceas.En el estudio de la vegetación a nivel del suelo se observó el comportamiento espectral de la vegetación nativa y de los cultivos forrajeros sembrados en parcelas de 0.25 a 5 ha de área o en sitios muy conocidos. Esta medida se hizo, aproximadamente, a 1.5 m de altura sobre la superficie del terreno, con un radiómetro CIMEL que capta las ondas reflejadas por los objetos en la banda del verde (500-590 nm), en la del rojo (615-680 nm) y en la del infrarrojo cercano (790-890 nm). Estas mismas bandas son captadas por un radiómetro similar instalado en el satélite SPOT-HRV.Se observaron 60 parcelas, la mitad de ellas cubiertas por sabana nativa y la mitad con diversos cultivos forrajeros. Se tomaron al azar 30 medidas en cada parcela, entre las 10:00 y las 14:00 GMT del día y cuando el cielo estaba despejado. Las medidas se hicieron primero entre el 18 y el 23 de enero de 1991 y luego entre el 23 de septiembre y el 5 de octubre del mismo año.El radiómetro CIMEL registra un porcentaje del reflejo máximo de los objetos. Ahora bien, para comparar las parcelas, corregimos su reflejo ya ajustado según el porcentaje de reflejo emitido desde una hoja de papel blanco (unidad de referencia) en el momento de las mediciones, así:Se determinaron las principales especies vegetales, su fisonomía, su altura promedio, su edad, su biomasa y su porcentaje de materia seca (M.S.). Se precisaron también el estado fenológico de esas especies, los tratamientos y el tipo de manejo que han recibido, y se hizo un cálculo del porcentaje de suelo descubierto en sus parcelas.En primer lugar se empleó un análisis estadístico de multivariables (SAS 1990) en las dos fechas y con las tres bandas, para distinguir grupos ('clusters') de determinados tipos de vegetación. Se empleó además el análisis de componentes principales (ACP) para formar grupos.Se compararon, finalmente, los grupos de tipo de vegetación diferente; se hicieron por ello confrontaciones estadísticas en el interior de cada grupo (análisis de varianza con Prueba de Duncan). y para cada banda de energía (verde, rojo e infrarrojo), para las especies, los géneros y los diferentes tipos de sabana nativa.Se presentan en cuadros los análisis de las medidas tomadas en la época seca (enero) y al final de la época de lluvias (octubre).Los Cuadros 6-1 y 6-2 muestran los resultados de un análisis multivariado (para 'clusters') de las medidas realizadas en los tres canales del Reflejo en vegetación, Reflejo promedio corregido =x 100 (%)Reflejo en papel blanco, promedio(1)Cuadro 6-1. Clasificación de la vegetación de Carimagua según su reflejo en las tres bandas de un radiómetro terrestre CIMEL. Análisis multivariable con las muestras de enero de 1991 (época seca).  Cuadro 6-2. Clasificación de la vegetación según su reflejo en las tres bandas de un radiómetro terrestre CIMEL. Análisis multivariable con las muestras tomadas en octubre de 1991 (fin de época lluviosa). Las medidas tomadas en octubre (Cuadro 6-2) permiten formar clases más heterogéneas; sólo la clase 5 contiene únicamente especies cultivadas. Además, los datos confirmaron una fuerte correlación (0.843) entre la banda verde (XS1) y la roja (XS2), relación que señalaría la posibilidad de prescindir de una de estas bandas en los análisis. Esto fue sugerido por Lallemand y Legendre (1984).La comparación de las mismas parcelas en las dos épocas del año muestra (Cuadro 6-3) lo siguiente:• Las pasturas nativas tienen, generalmente, un reflejo muy diferente según la época, mientras que los cultivos muestran pocas variaciones en el tiempo.• Las formaciones vegetales naturales muy maduras dan, en general, un reflejo en el espectro visible (verde y rojo) más elevado en la época seca, porque esa vegetación es menos clorofílica. Lo contrario ocurre en una sabana joven.• En los 3 ó 4 primeros meses después de la quema, el reflejo es muy débil (6%). Las formaciones nativas, 5 meses o más después de Cuadro 6-3.Comparación del reflejo terrestre (por CIMEL) de diferentes tipos de sabanas nativas y de cultivos forrajeros, en la época seca y en la lluviosa. la quema, tienen pocas diferencias de reflejo en el verde y prácticamente ninguna en el rojo, onda en que el reflejo es relativamente elevado (>11%).• La sabana joven de la Altillanura ondulada -que tiene un relieve notorio y un suelo arenoso y pedregoso-da un reflejo idéntico al de la sabana vieja de suelo arcilloso. La diferencia aparece en el IR cercano, banda en que la vegetación da un reflejo notablemente inferior.• En el IR cercano y para todos los tipos de vegetación (excepto para B. dictyoneura menor de 1 año), el reflejo en la época lluviosa es más fuerte que en la seca.En la Figura 6-1 se presentan los resultados de un ACP con las 53 muestras radiométricas de octubre. En los ejes 1 y 2, la contribución de la variación total es de 67.4%. Esta representación gráfica permite distinguir 10 grupos. Ahora bien, en los Cuadros 6-1 y 6-2 algunos grupos no son homogéneos. Los grupos 3, 6, 8 y 9 son mezclas de sabana nativa y de cultivos forrajeros, los conjuntos 1, 2, 7 y 10 están constituidos únicamente por sabana nativa, y los conjuntos 4, 5 y 8 tienen solamente praderas cultivadas.En los Cuadros 6-4 a 6-9 se compara el reflejo, en cada banda del espectro, de diferentes cultivos forrajeros, así: de un mismo cultivo (Brachiaria dictyoneura) implantado o explotado de diferentes formas (Cuadro 6-4); de dos tipos de suelo (Cuadros 6-5 y 6-6); y de pasturas nativas de edades diferentes o explotadas con diferentes cargas Figura 6-1. Agrupación de la vegetación, y su representación correspondiente, según su reflejo en las tres bandas del radiómetro terrestre CIMEL. Se hizo un análisis de componentes principales con las muestras de octubre (fin de época lluviosa). Parcela no. 44 = Sabana nativa de 2 a 3 meses (después de la quema). Altura: 30-40 cm; biomasa seca: 50 g/m²; MS: 38%; carga: 0.5 an./ha. Parcela no. 45 = Sabana nativa de más de 1 año. Altura: 90 cm; biomasa: 280 g/m²; MS: 57%; carga: menos de 0.2 an./ha. Parcela no. 46 = Sabana nativa de más de 1 año. Altura: 110 cm; biomasa: 327 g/m²; MS: 52%; carga: 0.5 an./ha. Parcela no. 47 = Sabana nativa de más de 1 año. Altura: 110 cm; biomasa: 322 g/m²; MS: 54%; carga: 0.2 an./ha. Parcela no. 48 = Sabana nativa de 3 meses. Altura: 50 cm; biomasa: 70 g/m²; MS: 38%; carga: 0.2 an./ha. b. Promedios con letras iguales (en las columnas) no son estadísticamente diferentes, según la Prueba Duncan, a nivel del 5%.Cuadro 6-8.Comparación del reflejo de la sabana nativa después de la quema y sin quema (observaciones de octubre).Reflejo en la banda:Verde cercano, el orden de clasificación es diferente del visible, aunque también en esta banda B. humidicola da el reflejo más débil.• La comparación de los reflejos que da B. dictyoneura en suelo arenoso, después de recibir diversos tratamientos (fertilización y cargas), y tanto en asociación como no asociada con una leguminosa, indica lo siguiente:-En el espectro visible, la gramínea pura da un reflejo relativamente más fuerte que asociada con una leguminosa.-La gramínea B. dictyoneura, asociada con la leguminosa S. capitata y sometida a la carga más baja, tiene el reflejo más débil registrado en el espectro visible; el incremento de la carga trae consigo un aumento de ese reflejo.-El reflejo en el IR cercano no parece estar relacionado con el manejo de las parcelas; lo está, probablemente, con factores que no fueron muestreados, como el agua, el porcentaje de cobertura, la estructura de la vegetación (es decir, hábito y porte de las plantas, leñosidad, diversidad).• Las observaciones hechas respecto a los datos del Cuadro 6-5 no son válidas para el suelo arcilloso (Cuadro 6-6). Se observa, de otra parte, que la amplitud de la reflectancia en las tres bandas del espectro es menor si proviene de este tipo de suelo.• En lo que concierne a la vegetación nativa, observamos lo siguiente:-grandes amplitudes de reflectancia (en cualquiera de las tres bandas del espectro);-no hay relación evidente entre reflectancia, biomasa en pie (viva o muerta) o contenido de agua de la biomasa, un resultado que confirma los datos del Cuadro 6-8.Se han obtenido datos de radiometría terrestre que permiten agrupar o discriminar estadísticamente los diferentes tipos de vegetación nativa y los cultivos forrajeros, así como los tratamientos o el manejo diferente (fertilización, fuego, carga animal) que unos y otros hayan recibido.Esta discriminación no es siempre posible, especialmente en relación con la vegetación nativa (Cuadro 6-8) o con la vegetación que tenga diferentes edades, es decir, cuya biomasa y contenido de agua sean muy diferentes. No fue posible diferenciarlas estadísticamente en ninguna de las tres bandas del espectro, sobre todo en la época de lluvias.Los cultivos forrajeros, en cambio, pueden discriminarse más fácilmente mediante la combinación de los datos obtenidos en las tres bandas y de las observaciones hechas en la época de lluvias y en la época seca.Las causas de las diferencias en reflectancia no son siempre fáciles de explicar, particularmente de la reflectancia obtenida en la banda del IR cercano. Para tratar de encontrar una explicación, hemos medido algunos parámetros, como las especies dominantes, la altura de la vegetación, la biomasa en pie y su contenido de agua o de M.S., el estado fenológico de la especie vegetal, la carga animal, la fertilización, la edad de la vegetación (época de la quema), y el tipo de suelo.En los Cuadros 6-1, 6-2 y 6-3 (última columna) hemos clasificado la vegetación según los grupos establecidos por Benoit et al. (1988). Estos grupos o clases se adaptan bastante bien a nuestros datos y observaciones (Cuadros 6-1 y 6-2). En la clase D, en que aparecen inflorescencias, pueden incluirse, para nuestro estudio, los cultivos forrajeros invadidos por malezas (generalmente, poáceas en floración) y las sabanas jóvenes en la época de lluvias y en estado de floración, unos 5 meses después de la quema (Cuadro 6-4).Los cultivos forrajeros son difíciles de clasificar, en este caso, cuando tienen un buen porcentaje de M.S. en pie o en el suelo y una carga animal grande tanto en la época seca como en la lluviosa; los datos de las bandas son V débil, R fuerte e IR intermedio para B. humidicola y V fuerte, R fuerte e IR intermedio para B. decumbens.Algunos factores tienen un papel evidente en el reflejo, aunque otros parecen menos importantes. Al final del estudio se percibió la falta de algunas observaciones. Se ha podido observar, o deducir, por ejemplo, que la edad o el manejo de la vegetación son importantes por el aspecto de la clorofila (reflejo en las bandas verde y roja del espectro visible) en los cultivos forrajeros pero no en la vegetación nativa. En ésta, al parecer, la cobertura del suelo desempeña un papel muy importante en la banda visible del IR cercano; este factor (la cobertura) no fue observado con suficiente precisión y no pueden extraerse aún conclusiones más precisas.La edad de las plantas y la biomasa aérea no muestran correlación en el reflejo medido en la banda del IR cercano, en las especies del género Brachiaria (Cuadro 6-4); sin embargo, parece que hay una correlación entre ellas respecto al contenido de M.S. Esta correlación negativa no apareció en las observaciones hechas en B. dictyoneura (Cuadros 6-5 y 6-6).El reflejo observado en el IR cercano no parece estar relacionado tampoco con el manejo de las parcelas (Cuadros 6-5, 6-6 y 6-9), aunque hay cierta relación con factores no medidos en este estudio, como la cobertura o la estructura de la vegetación. El ACP de la Figura 6-1 confirma esta observación.No parece que haya buena correlación entre la reflectancia y las características observadas o medidas (biomasa seca, porcentaje de M.S., edad de las plantas y otras). No obstante, se notó lo siguiente en los grupos constituidos:• El Grupo 1 está formado por pasturas de biomasa importante.• El Grupo 2 contiene la sabana nativa joven después del fuego (biomasa débil).• El Grupo 3 contiene la sabana joven o de cultivos degradados con débil cobertura; este grupo sería muy importante para inventariar las zonas degradadas en que aparece el suelo desnudo y estudiarlas luego.• El Grupo 4 está integrado por cultivos forrajeros jóvenes en que se mezclan gramíneas y leguminosas.• El Grupo 5 contiene parcelas cultivadas en que hay hasta un 50% de suelo descubierto.• Los Grupos 6 y 8 están conformados, principalmente, por parcelas en que hay una mezcla de gramínea y leguminosa; son bastante parecidas a las del Grupo 4, pero difíciles de distinguir por las observaciones hechas en el campo o por el manejo.• El Grupo 7 contiene únicamente parcelas de sabana; el Grupo 9 contiene parcelas de cultivos forrajeros y por ello las reflectancias son idénticas en las tres bandas.• El Grupo 10, por último, tiene dos parcelas sembradas con Andropogon gayanus, que poseen una estructura y una fisonomía particular: hierbas altas muy verdes, en varios estratos.• La radiometría terrestre debe hacerse al mismo tiempo que las observaciones de satélite para que éstas puedan clasificarse mejor; así podrán elaborarse bien los mapas que muestren vegetación nativa y cultivos (de especies forrajeras y otros).• La radiometría terrestre es también una herramienta indispensable para conocer bien la vegetación y poderla clasificar. Tiene, sin embargo, límites respecto a la clasificación de la vegetación nativa; los especialistas deben, por tanto, mostrarse prudentes en la interpretación de datos de satélite y evitar interpretaciones erradas.• A nivel terrestre, es necesario estudiar grandes superficies (más de 5 ha) con buen contraste en cuanto a especies sembradas, época de floración, estructura de la vegetación, manejo de las parcelas, cobertura del suelo y otros factores. Estas características pueden tener una fuerte influencia en el reflejo de la superficie y afectarán, por tanto, la relación que se establezca entre las observaciones terrestres y las obtenidas por el satélite. Las actividades de estos organismos conducen a la creación de estructuras biogénicas, las cuales influyen en la agregación, las propiedades hidraúlicas y la dinámica de la materia orgánica del suelo. Dichas estructuras influyen, a su vez, en la composición, la abundancia y la diversidad de otros organismos del suelo. La abundancia y la diversidad de los macroinvertebrados del suelo son factores importantes en la sostenibilidad de la producción primaria de la sabana nativa y de los agroecosistemas derivados de ella.Las comunidades de macroinvertebrados responden a las diversas intervenciones humanas realizadas en el medio ambiente del modo siguiente: (1) Los sistemas tradicionales de ganadería extensiva tienen un impacto despreciable sobre ellas. (2) Los cultivos anuales causan una reducción dramática de las comunidades de macrofauna del suelo.(3) Las pasturas introducidas y los cultivos arbóreos mantienen la cobertura herbácea del suelo y favorecen el desarollo de una biomasa importante de lombrices nativas de la sabana. Investigar el manejo conservativo de la macrofauna del suelo es una etapa importante del trabajo de sostenibilidad y durabilidad de los agroecosistemas tropicales.En el trópico húmedo, los macroorganismos del suelo (raíces e invertebrados de tamaño mayor que 2 mm) desempeñan un papel clave en los procesos que determinan la fertilidad del suelo, ya que regulan la disponibilidad de nutrientes asimilables para las plantas y la estructura del suelo. Las esferas de actividad de estos organismos se han definido como los sistemas de regulación biológica del suelo, los cuales están constituidos por una fuente de energía (materia orgánica, M.O.), una población de descomponedores (microorganismos) y una población de reguladores (macroorganismos) (Lavelle et al. 1992). Estos sistemas de regulación se distinguen según la naturaleza de los macroorganismos implicados: el sistema artrópodos de la hojarasca y raíces superficiales, la rizosfera para las raíces; la drilosfera, para las lombrices; y la termitosfera, para las termitas.Ciertos organismos del suelo, principalmente las lombrices, las termitas y las hormigas, se han definido como ingenieros del ecosistema (Jones et al. 1994;Lavelle 1996). Estos producen estructuras (turrículos, nidos y galerías) por medio de las cuales pueden modificar el ambiente donde viven, causando dos efectos contrastantes en la descomposición y la dinámica de la M.O. (Lavelle 1996):-aceleran, por un lado, su velocidad de reciclamiento, lo que facilita la actividad microbiana;-favorecen, por otro, su conservación a largo plazo porque la inmovilizan en estructuras biogénicas estables en el tiempo.Se han establecido también relaciones entre las actividades de los ingenieros del ecosistema y la formación y el mantenimiento de la estructura del suelo. Finalmente, influyen en las condiciones de vida de otras communidades de organismos del suelo, más pequeños o menos móviles, y determinan su abundancia y su estructura. Por lo tanto, la diversidad y la abundancia de las comunidades de macroinvertebrados y la importancia relativa de los grupos de organismos de mayor interés pueden ser utilizados como indicadores de la calidad del suelo (Stork y Eggleton 1992).Las actividades de la macrofauna afectan, a veces de manera considerable, el crecimiento de las plantas (Brown et al. 1999). Pueden ser también vectores de microorganismos simbióticos de las plantas, como los fijadores de nitrógeno o los hongos de micorriza, o pueden digerir, de manera selectiva, microorganismos patógenos (Brown 1995). En los ecosistemas naturales, las lombrices y las hormigas afectan también a la dinámica de la vegetación, ya que pueden influir, de manera selectiva, en la diseminación de las semillas y en la composición de los bancos de semilla del suelo (Klaus and Delascio 1991;Thompson et al. 1994;Willems y Huijsmans 1994).Desde el año 1993, la Unión Europea, a través del Proyecto Macrofauna, colabora con el CIAT y la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Palmira, en el estudio de la macrofauna del suelo en diferentes lugares de Colombia. Se prestó una atención especial a las lombrices de tierra por su función clave en los procesos que determinan la fertilidad de los suelos de las sabanas intertropicales (Lavelle 1983b). Se hicieron, por tanto, varios trabajos de investigación en los Llanos Orientales con el fin de identificar los agroecosistemas que conservan, en forma sostenible, las comunidades de macroinvertebrados del suelo. Algunos de los objetivos específicos del estudio fueron: describir las comunidades nativas de macroinvertebrados, definir sus funciones en el ecosistema, y evaluar su respuesta a las perturbaciones inducidas por las actividades humanas.Los estudios se realizaron en el CNIA Carimagua (CORPOICA-CIAT), localizado en el municipio de Puerto Gaitán, Meta, a 175 m.s.n.m. La precipitación anual es de 2250 mm y la temperatura media anual de 26 °C (datos del CIAT), con una época seca bien definida de diciembre a marzo. Los ensayos se realizaron principalmente en suelos de tipo Oxisol (clasificación USDA) y en algunos Ultisoles que corresponden a la selva de galería. Son suelos de textura arcillolimosa, bien estructurados y caracterizados por su baja fertilidad química (acidez y saturación de aluminio altas, bajo contenido de fósforo y de calcio, y baja capacidad de intercambio catiónico) (Cuadro 7-1).El tipo de vegetación está determinado por la topografía del paisaje. A los lados de los ríos y en las depresiones (los bajos), se encuentran los bosques de galería dominados por las especies Mauritia minor Burr. (el platanote) (FAO 1996). Las partes más altas (altos, planos y bancos) están cubiertas por formaciones vegetales de sabana abierta dominadas por las especies Trachypogon vestitus Anders. (la saeta peluda), y los pastos Andropogon bicornis L., Gymnopogon sp. e Imperata sp. (Rippstein et al. 1994;Torrijos et al. 1994).La caracterización de la estructura de las comunidades de macroinvertebrados en las formaciones vegetales nativas es de gran interés científico porque es necesario establecer el papel que dichas comunidades presentan en el funcionamiento del ecosistema. Este estudio permite también hacer una estimación de la calidad de los suelos y de su susceptibilidad a la degradación, cuando son usados para la producción agrícola, porque la macrofauna edáfica es indicador de la calidad del suelo, como se dijo antes (Lavelle 1996; Stork y Eggleton 1992).La comunidad de macroinvertebrados del bosque de galería de Carimagua presentó una densidad comparable a la que generalmente se observa en las selvas húmedas tropicales (Cuadro 7-2), aunque su biomasa fue inferior a la de éstas (Decaëns et al. 1994). Esta diferencia se explica, principalmente, por la presencia de especies de lombrices de tamaño reducido, abundantes en términos de densidad pero que arrojan una biomasa baja relativa (Fragoso y Lavelle 1992). Los habitantes del mantillo o de los primeros 10 cm del suelo, que son transformadores de la hojarasca según Lavelle (1996), son el componente dominante de las comunidades de macroinvertebrados (Figura 7-1). En efecto, de la biomasa total, el 40% está compuesto por artrópodos epígeos y 4 de las 7 especies de lombrices presentes en los bosques de Carimagua pertenecen a esta misma categoría ecológica (Jiménez et al. 1995). La variedad de microhábitats, de hojarasca, troncos descompuestos y corteza de los árboles favorece también la diversidad taxonómica alta de las comunidades de macroinvertebrados.La sabana nativa sin manejo presenta poblaciones de macroinvertebrados dominadas por los grupos endógeos y anécicos (Bouché 1977), principalmente, las termitas y las lombrices de tierra (Decaëns et al. 1994;Jiménez et al. 1995). Los grupos de invertebrados epígeos, que dependen más específicamente de las capas de hojarasca de los bosques, no encuentran en la sabana un medio favorable para establecer poblaciones importantes. Por esta razón, la distribución vertical de la macrofauna tiende hacia los horizontes más profundos (Cuadro 7-2; Figura 7-1). La biomasa, tanto de la macrofauna en su totalidad como de las lombrices, es baja en comparación con los datos obtenidos en las sabanas africanas (Kouassi 1987;Lavelle 1978;Lavelle 1983a;Lavelle 1983b;Lavelle et al. 1992). Las termitas, por su parte, están muy bien establecidas en este medio y representan más del 45% de la biomasa total de macroinvertebrados frente al 30% que corresponde a las lombrices de tierra.Estos resultados demuestran la riqueza de la fauna edáfica en los ecosistemas de sabana natural intertropical y el papel predominante de las termitas y las lombrices de tierra en el suelo. Sin embargo, falta todavía ampliar estos conocimientos y llegar a una buena caracterización de la macrofauna de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, ya que hay variabilidad dentro de un mismo tipo de vegetación (Cuadro 7-2) (Schneidmadl y Decaëns 1995). Hasta ahora ningún estudio ha descrito los macroinvertebrados de otros tipos de suelo y de vegetación, como las regiones de suelos arenosos (serranía de la Altillanura ondulada) o de suelos mal drenados, muy frecuentes en la Orinoquia colombiana (Cochrane et al. 1985).Las lombrices son el componente predominante de la macrofauna del suelo en las sabanas nativas o manejadas de Carimagua (Decaëns et al. 1994). Desempeñan, además, junto con las termitas, un papel clave en los procesos de fertilidad del suelo (Lavelle et al. 1992). La caracterización de la diversidad y ecología de estos grupos es una etapa indispensable para conocer sus funciones en el suelo (Lavelle 1996).En todos los tipos de vegetación de Carimagua se encontraron 21 especies de lombrices de tierra (Cuadro 7-3); las  La diversidad de las lombrices de la sabana se cuantificó según los índices l de Simpson y H de Shannon a partir de los valores de biomasa, como sugieren algunos autores (Hurlbert 1971;Barbault 1992). En la sabana, el valor obtenido para el índice de Simpson fue 0.40, mientras que para el de Shannon fue 1.13; la equitatividad (Pielou 1975) fue 0.54. Estos valores muestran la desigual contribución que cada una de las especies aporta a la biomasa total de lombrices.La comunidad de lombrices de las sabanas de Carimagua se caracteriza por la presencia de especies de tamaño variable. Tanto a nivel taxonómico como a nivel funcional, la diversidad de lombrices está dentro del rango encontrado en otros lugares tropicales (Fragoso 1993). Las especies pertenecen a grupos funcionales distintos (Bouché 1972;Lavelle 1981), lo que permite a la comunidad aprovechar diferentes fuentes de energía. Las epígeas, por ejemplo, consumen exclusivamente hojarasca, las endógeas M.O. del suelo y las anécicas una mezcla de los dos sustratos. En general, la diversidad taxonómica y funcional de la comunidad de macroinvertebrados produce efectos diversos en los diferentes compartimentos edáficos y permite, de esta manera, regular al máximo los procesos de fertilidad del suelo.La densidad media anual de lombrices obtenida en la sabana fue de 114.5 ind./m 2 ; el valor mínimo obtenido fue de 20.4 ind./m 2 (en la época seca) y el máximo de 292.4 ind./m 2 (en mitad de la época lluviosa). La biomasa media anual fue de 4.8 g/m 2 y los valores extremos fueron 1.2 g/m 2 , obtenidos al inicio de la época seca en enero, y 15.7 g/m 2 en la época de lluvias en julio (Jiménez J. J., datos corregidos, sin publicar).En la sabana, las especies endógeas fueron las más abundantes, tanto en términos de densidad como de biomasa. El 88.3% de la densidad total de lombrices corresponde a las especies endógeas: Andiodrilus n. sp., Andiorrhinus n. sp., Glossodrilus n. sp. y Ocnerodrilidae n. gen. (Cuadro 7-4). El 11.5% proviene de la especie epígea Aymara n. sp. y sólo el 0.3% corresponde a la especie anécica Martiodrilus carimaguensis.La densidad y la biomasa de las lombrices son máximas al inicio de la época lluviosa, de mayo a agosto, y mínimas en la época seca, de diciembre a marzo (Figura 7-2). Dos especies endógeas, una polihúmica (Lavelle 1981), Glossodrilus n. sp., y una mesohúmica, Andiodrilus n. sp., dominan la comunidad en cuanto a la biomasa total (63.2% y 16.8%, respectivamente). Casi un 10% de la biomasa total se atribuye a M. carimaguensis, especie interesante desde el punto de vista ecológico (Jiménez et al. 1998a), ya que su gran tamaño le permite ingerir cantidades considerables de suelo que deposita luego en heces superficiales grandes. Estas heces, llamadas turrículos, influyen en diversos procesos físicos, químicos y biológicos del suelo (Decaëns et al. 1999a;1999b). Lavelle (1978) y Kouassi (1987) encontraron, en las sabanas africanas de Lamto, Costa de Marfil, que las lombrices eran también el principal componente de la biomasa de la macrofauna. En el Cuadro 7-5 se comparan los valores de densidad y biomasa de las lombrices encontradas en la sabana de Carimagua y su relativa contribución a las categorías ecológicas, con los valores medios obtenidos en el trópico húmedo. El número de lombrices encontradas en Carimagua es bajo, comparado con el de otros ambientes tropicales de sabana; la comparación debe realizarse, no obstante, con precaución, pues los datos fueron obtenidos empleando métodos diferentes.La aparición de una época seca muy severa de 4 meses de duración juega un papel fundamental en las variaciones de la densidad y de la biomasa de la sabana (ANOVA, p < 0.001). Tanto la densidad como la biomasa presentaron fluctuaciones temporales importantes (Figura 7-2). Las poblaciones fueron más abundantes al comienzo de la época de Cuadro 7-4.Densidad, biomasa y tamaño medio de los adultos de algunas especies de sabana, Colombia (media ± desviación típica). PF = peso fresco. Figura 7-2. Evolución durante el año de la densidad y de la biomasa de la comunidad de lombrices de tierra en una sabana nativa de Carimagua. Las sabanas tropicales se caracterizan por una fuerte estacionalidad ambiental. En Carimagua se presenta un período muy seco de 4 meses que marca el ritmo de actividad de las poblaciones de lombrices, ya que la humedad del suelo sufre una fluctuación estacional importante (de 14.4% a 23.4% en la sabana, en los primeros 10 cm del suelo); no llega, sin embargo, al pF 4.2 o punto de marchitamiento (11.6%). Todas las lombrices de la sabana permanecen inactivas durante la época seca, desde diciembre hasta marzo, aunque hay ciclos de actividad diferentes según las especies. Casi todas las especies de lombrices de tierra son capaces de suspender su actividad en respuesta a los cambios estacionales de temperatura y de humedad del suelo.La actividad de las lombrices se lleva a cabo, generalmente, en los primeros centímetros del suelo, donde los niveles de M.O. son más altos. Las especies han desarrollado diferentes adaptaciones a la fuerte estacionalidad ambiental. Ocnerodrilidae n. gen. se encuentra asociada, durante la época lluviosa, con lugares ricos en M.O., por ejemplo, nidos de coleópteros de la subfamilia Scarabeinae y heces de M. carimaguensis (Jiménez et al. 1998b). Esta especie forma, a consecuencia de su actividad, agregados mucho más pequeños que las otras y puede influir de manera positiva en la estructura física del suelo.• M. carimaguensis ha mostrado un comportamiento muy sorprendente, hasta ahora inexplicado y único entre las lombrices de tierra: los individuos juveniles se inactivan en la mitad de la época lluviosa, mientras que los adultos permanecen activos hasta el final de ésta (Figura 7-4), exactamente después de pasar el período reproductor y de depositar los capullos (Jiménez et al. 1998a). Antes de iniciar este período de diapausa, los individuos vacían el contenido intestinal, tabican el final de la galería con sus propias heces (4 a 5 paredes delgadas), forman una cámara de estivación esférica y se enrollan. Este proceso es desencadenado por un factor ambiental, pero el abandono está condicionado a escala fisiológica ya que, a diferencia de la paradiapausa, no hay respuesta cuando, de manera artificial, se introducen individuos en tierra que ha sido humedecida hasta capacidad de campo (pF 2.8). La lombriz pierde peso pero no sufre deshidratación; hay regresión de los caracteres sexuales pero no experimenta crecimiento durante este período (Jiménez et al. 2000). La combinación de estos patrones de comportamiento permite reducir el alto riesgo de mortalidad de la especie durante la época seca. En la Figura 7-5 se observa la distribución vertical de la inactividad de M. carimaguensis.Los individuos más pesados, que se ubicaron en los estratos más profundos del suelo, pierden casi el 80% de su peso durante este período (ANOVA de Kruskal-Wallis, p < 0.01).Las fuertes variaciones climáticas estacionales en Carimagua limitan la deposición de los capullos a los 8 meses de lluvia al año; en los demás meses las poblaciones están inactivas. Las estrategias reproductoras difieren también, según las especies. Se ha observado que, en general, cuanto mayor es el tamaño del adulto mayor es el capullo que produce, tanto en las lombrices tropicales como en las de latitudes templadas (Figura 7-6). Los adultos de Andiodrilus n. sp. y Glossodrilus n. sp. invierten casi el mismo porcentaje de su peso (6%) en la formación del capullo; los adultos de M. carimaguensis, en cambio, invierten un 16.1%, o sea, casi tres veces más que las dos especies anteriores. Este valor, el más alto obtenido hasta la fecha, muestra la estrategia adaptativa tan compleja y evolucionada de esta especie (Jiménez et al. 1999).Como se mencionó antes, las lombrices, termitas y hormigas forman en el suelo estructuras como los turrículos de las lombrices, los nidos de los insectos sociales, las galerías y cámaras, que son consideradas nexo directo entre la biodiversidad y la función realizada en el suelo (Lavelle 1996).La diversidad de organismos de las diferentes comunidades del suelo se organiza jerárquicamente según el esquema propuesto en la hipótesis de las \"biodiversidades encajadas\" (Lavelle 1996). Esta hipótesis propone que la diversidad de la vegetación epígea determina la diversidad de los ingenieros del ecosistema y que éstos, a su vez, condicionan la diversidad de otros organismos más pequeños.Las especies de lombrices anécicas de tamaño grande son buenos ejemplos del concepto de ingenieros del ecosistema. En las sabanas de los Llanos Orientales, M. carimaguensis deposita turrículos superficiales de gran tamaño (más de 10 cm de diámetro y de alto) debajo de los cuales habitan poblaciones de macroinvertebrados (Cuadro 7-6) más abundantes y diversificadas que las del suelo cercano (Decaëns et al. 1999b). Las galerías y las heces de las lombrices grandes constituyen, en efecto, microhábitas privilegiados para algunas especies de termitas y de hormigas, que aprovechan los macroporos de dichas estructuras para establecer sus colonias. Otras especies (termitas y pequeñas especies de lombrices) pueden utilizar directamente las deposiciones como sustrato alimenticio porque en éstas encuentran un contenido alto de M.O. (Jiménez et al. 1998a;Rangel et al. 1997).Los ingenieros del ecosistema influyen, recíprocamente, en la diversidad de la cobertura vegetal. Las hormigas y las lombrices, por ejemplo, pueden afectar la dinámica y la germinación de las semillas de las plantas superiores (Klaus y Delascio 1991;Thompson et al. 1994). Martiodrilus carimaguensis ingiere cantidades importantes de semillas mezcladas con el suelo y la hojarasca (Decaëns et al., sin publicar). Durante el tránsito intestinal se produce una destrucción, por digestión, de parte de las semillas. La lombriz provoca luego el movimiento vertical de las semillas, que sobreviven cuando son depositadas con las heces dentro del perfil o en la superficie del suelo (Cuadro 7-7). Las semillas enterradas por la lombriz pueden formar parte del banco de semillas permanente del suelo. Las semillas que la lombriz excreta en los turrículos encuentran condiciones favorables para la germinación (niveles de N mayores que en el suelo y acidez reducida) y tienen más oportunidad de influir en la distribución de la vegetación epígea después de la destrucción del turrículo. La gran diferencia existente entre la composición del banco de semilla del suelo y la vegetación epígea se reduce, por tanto, en las heces de la lombriz. Las mejores condiciones para la germinación explican también la mayor riqueza de especies y la diversidad encontradas en los turrículos en comparación con el suelo adyacente.Cuadro 7-6.Efectos de la actividad de M. carimaguensis en la densidad (individuos/m 2 ), en la riqueza taxonómica (número de especies) y en la diversidad (índice de Shanon; equitatividad de Pielou) de otros organismos del suelo en un suelo de la sabana nativa de Carinmagua. Las letras indican diferencias significativas con p < 0.001. Los ingenieros del ecosistema cumplen un papel primordial en los procesos físicos que ocurren en el suelo de un ecosistema natural y son, además, unos de los pocos organismos capaces de participar activamente en los fenómenos de pedoturbación. Su acción afecta notablemente la rugosidad de la superficie, la porosidad y la agregación del suelo y tiene efectos en las propiedades hidraúlicas del suelo (Lavelle 1997). Muchos trabajos de investigación han comprobado que los macroporos debidos a los movimientos de los macroinvertebrados del suelo (galerías y cámaras) ejercen un efecto positivo en la infiltración del agua, a pesar de que no representan más del 1% del volumen total del suelo (Lee 1995). En una sabana de Africa Occidental, Casenave y Valentin (1988) encontraron una relación directa entre la velocidad de infiltración del agua y el porcentaje de la superficie del suelo cubierto por turrículos de lombrices y por colonias de termitas. Las propiedades físicas del suelo observadas en los pastizales introducidos en Carimagua son mejores que las de la sabana nativa, diferencia que se atribuye, al menos parcialmente, a la importante actividad de las lombrices de tierra en estos sistemas (Decaëns, sin publicar; Gijsman y Thomas 1997).En la sabana de Carimagua, el suelo consumido por las especies M. carimaguensis y Andiodrilus n. sp.1 es de más de 30 t suelo seco / ha por año (Fisher et al. 1995) y de 100 t suelo seco / ha por año si se considera la comunidad entera de lombrices; las dos primeras especies no representan más del 40% de la biomasa total de los suelos de la sabana nativa. Sólo el 35% del suelo ingerido es depositado en turrículos superficiales, en tanto que el restante se deposita dentro del perfil del suelo (Decaëns, sin publicar). Este consumo es relativamente bajo si se compara con el observado en otros tipos de pastizales nativos tropicales (de varias centenas a 1250 t/ha por año) (Lavelle 1997). Otros grupos de macroinvertebrados crean estructuras y, por tanto, la cantidad de suelo movilizado cada año por todos los ingenieros del ecosistema debe ser considerablemente mayor. Después de su formación, las estructuras biogénicas quedan expuestas a ataques de diferentes factores, por ejemplo, las lluvias fuertes, las quemas y el pisoteo del ganado. Estos procesos causan poco a Cuadro 7-7.Similitud en la composición entre los bancos de semilla del suelo, los bancos de semilla de los turrículos de M. carimaguensis y la vegetación epígea en una sabana nativa de Carimagua. aSituaciones comparadas Indice de similitud de Sørensen (Cs)Semillas del suelo vs. semillas de los turrículos 0.50Semillas del suelo vs. vegetación epígea 0.05 Semillas de los turrículos vs. vegetación epígea 0.41 a. Indice de similitud de Sørensen: Cs = 2 j / (a + b), donde j = número de especies comunes a las dos situaciones; a y b = número total de especies en las dos situaciones.FUENTE: Decaëns et al. 1999a.poco la destrucción de estas estructuras y afectan así la agregación del suelo (Blanchart et al. 1989). En Carimagua se han descrito, hasta la fecha, 14 estructuras biogénicas de superficie con propiedades físicas muy diferentes entre sí (Decaëns et al. 2001): aquellas constituidas por agregados de gran tamaño (> 5 mm), producidas por lombrices (M. carimaguensis y Andiodrilus n. sp1) y termitas y aquellas constituidas principalmente por microagregados (< 0.250 mm) o por macroagregados de tamaño pequeño (0.250-2 mm), que provienen de los hormigueros (Figura 7-7). La densidad aparente de los turrículos frescos es alta si se la compara con las estructuras producidas por otros invertebrados del suelo (de 1.3 hasta 1.4 g/cm 3 y de 0.5 hasta 0.9 g/cm 3 , respectivamente). El efecto de cada especie sobre la agregación del suelo es diferente y conduce a la formación de agregados de tamaño y densidad variables.Las estructuras biogénicas superficiales perduran a veces mucho tiempo en la superficie del suelo, varios años en el caso de los termiteros. Los turrículos de M. carimaguensis pueden permanecer intactos durante más de un año en la sabana y sus propiedades físicas presentan una dinámica temporal muy notoria (Decaëns 2000). La densidad aparente de los turrículos frescos recién depositados es de 1.4 g/cm 3 y su diámetro medio ponderado es de 13 mm. Durante el envejecimiento del turrículo, ambos parámetros disminuyen gradualmente; después de un año llegan a 1.1 g/m 3 y 5.6 mm, respectivamente. La colonización de los turrículos por otros invertebrados de tamaño pequeño (termitas y hormigas), que excavan galerías dentro de ellos y los descomponen en agregados más pequeños es, sin duda, la causa de esta evolución (Figura 7-8). Las actividades antagónicas que ejercitan las especies de macroinvertebrados de diferente tamaño mantienen en equilibrio la agregación del suelo (Blanchart 1992). Las especies pequeñas disgregan los turrículos compactos y evitan así su acumulación excesiva, la cual puede, en ciertos casos, afectar negativamente el crecimiento de las plantas (Rose y Wood 1980).Martiodrilus carimaguensis, igual que otras lombrices, afecta de diverso modo la dinámica de la M.O. del suelo, según la escala de tiempo considerada (Blanchart et al. 1993;Lavelle 1997;Lavelle et al. 1992b;Trigo y Lavelle 1993).En la fase inicial, M. carimaguensis selecciona e ingiere el suelo rico en M.O.; por lo tanto, sus heces presentan un contenido de carbono total mayor que el del suelo cercano a ellas (Rangel et al. 1999). En una escala de tiempo corta (algunas horas), la lombriz mezcla activamente el suelo con agua y moco intestinal en su tracto digestivo; esta operación facilita una alta actividad microbiana y la mineralización de la M.O. En las heces frescas, las poblaciones importantes de microorganismos desarrollan una intensa mineralización (Figura 7-9) que libera nutrientes asimilables por las plantas (Cepeda et al. 1998;Rangel et al. 1999). Se ha observado también una difusión importante de los nutrientes del turrículo hacia el suelo cercano, donde pueden ser asimilados por las raíces superficiales (Decaëns et al. 1999c).En una escala de tiempo intermedia (días a meses), la M.O. es integrada en agregados estables en las heces secas y queda así protegida de una mineralización rápida. Así, la liberación de nutrientes que ocurre en los turrículos intactos (Figura 7-9) se reduce y desaparece totalmente después de 3 semanas (Rangel et al. 1999). El efecto de factores externos como la lluvia, las variaciones de la humedad, el pisoteo del ganado o la colonización de otros invertebrados modifican poco a poco los turrículos que, finalmente, se incorporan al suelo cercano convirtiéndose en una reserva de nutrientes potencialmente utilizable por las plantas (Decaëns et al. 1999c). Falta todavía información que permita determinar si dichos factores externos pueden movilizar de nuevo la M.O. de los turrículos y reactivar la liberación de los nutrientes asimilables.En una escala de tiempo larga (años o decenios), la actividad de las lombrices forma una reserva de carbono en el suelo y puede mejorar la calidad de la M.O.; en efecto, facilita la descomposición de la parte más vieja y resistente de esa materia y protege, a su vez, la fracción más reciente (Barois et al. 1993;Lavelle 1997;Lavelle et al. 1992). Las actividades de la macrofauna, a través de los efectos producidos en la fertilidad del suelo influyen considerablemente en el crecimiento de las plantas (Lavelle 1997;Brown et al. 1999). Las comunidades de macroinvertebrados pueden considerarse entonces como un recurso natural importante para la sostenibilidad de la producción primaria, ya sea en ecosistemas naturales o en agroecosistemas. Este recurso es altamente sensible al impacto de las actividades humanas (Lavelle 1997); por tanto, los sistemas de producción agrícola sostenibles deben considerar como objetivo esencial la conservación de la abundancia y la diversidad de la macrofauna.Los Llanos Orientales de Colombia han sido utilizados tradicionalmente como praderas nativas de explotación ganadera extensiva. La carga animal es baja y la quema se emplea como medio de renovación del pasto (Rippstein et al. 1996). Sin embargo, durante los últimos 10 años, se ha observado una tendencia a la intensificación agrícola, mediante la introducción de pasturas mejoradas o la siembra de cultivos anuales, en las áreas más accesibles de la región (Cadavid 1995). Los efectos de dichos sistemas sobre los suelos están aún bajo estudio. En Carimagua, el manejo de la tierra para la producción agrícola afecta dramáticamente las comunidades de macroinvertebrados del suelo (Figura 7-7). Los dos factores ambientales más importantes que explican esta respuesta, extraídos de un análisis multivariante (Decaëns et al. 1994), son los siguientes:-las modificaciones en la estructura y tipo de la vegetación (42.0% de la varianza total)-los cambios en la calidad del recurso natural, principalmente de la hojarasca y del estiércol del ganado (24.4% de la varianza total).Las prácticas de manejo tradicional de la sabana no afectan la biomasa de la macrofauna, pero disminuyen ligeramente su riqueza taxonómica. Como ocurre en otras pasturas nativas (Lavelle 1983b), la presencia del ganado y la práctica de las quemas favorecen a las lombrices, pero actúan en detrimento de las termitas. La quema practicada en la época lluviosa causa un efecto negativo inmediato y de corta duración en la macrofauna, aunque las comunidades se recuperan en menos de 6 meses (Figura 7-10). Un resultado diferente se observó en las sabanas de Costa de Marfil (Athias et al. 1975) La conversión de la sabana nativa en pastura mejorada, bien sea de gramínea sola o asociada con leguminosa, mantiene la riqueza taxonómica de la macrofauna y aumenta hasta en casi 13 veces la biomasa de ésta. Este cambio de sistema de manejo reduce notablemente la diversidad de las lombrices según los resultados obtenidos en los índices de diversidad (Jiménez et al. 1998b). El desarrollo de las poblaciones de lombrices nativas generado por el cambio es espectacular, especialmente en el caso de M. carimaguensis, cuya biomasa, durante la época lluviosa, puede pasar de 1 t/ha en una pastura de Brachiaria decumbens asociado con Pueraria phaseoloides (Jiménez et al. 1998a  Lavelle et al. 1981).Un punto importante de este estudio es la conservación de la riqueza de especies de la macrofauna nativa y, en consecuencia, el equilibrio entre las diferentes acciones con que los macroinvertebrados influyen en el suelo. No hay, por tanto, problemas de degradación del suelo como resultado de la proliferación de una especie exótica de lombrices, que es justamente el caso de otras regiones tropicales (Lavelle 1997).Los cultivos anuales causan un dramático descenso, tanto cuantitativo como cualitativo, de las poblaciones de invertebrados. Este fenómeno tiene tres explicaciones posibles: el efecto de la labranza, el uso indiscriminado de pesticidas y la disminución de las reservas de carbono disponibles en el suelo a consecuencia de la desaparición de la vegetación perenne (House y Parmelee 1985;Lavelle y Pashanasi 1989). Los cultivos arbóreos de baja densidad de árboles, por el contrario, ofrecen condiciones favorables para el desarrollo de una alta actividad biológica, ya que conservan una cobertura herbácea permanente, aumentan el grosor del mantillo de hojarasca y tienen un efecto amortiguador sobre el microclima, gracias a la sombra de los árboles. La densidad de estos árboles no es aún lo suficientemente alta para crear un verdadero microclima forestal que permita el mantenimiento de la fauna sabanícola. En un cultivo de marañón (Anacardium occidentale L.) se registró una biomasa de lombrices de tierra nativas que era de 3 a 4 veces superior a la encontrada en la sabana nativa; las lombrices se localizaban, de preferencia, debajo de los árboles (Decaëns, sin publicar). Estos resultados confirman los estudios de Lavelle y Pashanasi (1989) en Perú.En primer lugar, los resultados presentados en este trabajo provienen exclusivamente de las sabanas bien drenadas, cuyos suelos son arcillolimosos, que se encuentran en la región de Carimagua, en Colombia. Cualquier extrapolación a otra región, así tenga las mismas propiedades de suelos y de vegetación, deberá hacerse con cautela, porque las características biogeográficas propias de cada especie (de lombriz, por ejemplo) determinan su presencia en un lugar determinado y su ausencia en otro, sin razón aparente. Además, falta información sobre la composición y la estructura de las comunidades de macroinvertebrados en las regiones de suelos arenosos e inundables, dos formaciones edáficas bastante representativas de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia.La macrofauna del suelo en los ecosistemas del bosque de galería y la sabana nativa presenta una biomasa globalmente inferior a la registrada (datos disponibles) sobre tipos de vegetación comparables de otras regiones del trópico. Sin embargo, la diversidad taxonómica y funcional es grande porque hay especies representativas de todos los grupos funcionales definidos en los invertebrados del suelo (Bouché 1972;Lavelle 1981). Estos grupos utilizan, para su desarrollo, diversas fuentes de energía que van desde la hojarasca hasta la M.O. del suelo en diferente grado de descomposición. Se localizan, además, en diversos estratos horizontales, concentran sus actividades en sitios específicos y logran una buena homogeneización en el espacio de los efectos que regulan los procesos determinantes de la fertilidad del suelo.Las sabanas tropicales son ecosistemas sometidos a una fuerte sequía estacional que influye directamente en la humedad del suelo que es uno de los factores determinantes de la actividad y de la dinámica de las poblaciones de lombrices (Lavelle 1983b). Las especies encontradas en Carimagua poseen diferentes estrategias adaptativas a dicha severidad ambiental y evitar así que sus poblaciones desaparezcan. Estas adaptaciones son la respuesta a los factores limitantes del suelo, o sea, las escasas reservas de nutrientes, el movimiento en un ambiente compacto y las condiciones climáticas desfavorables.Las termitas y las lombrices de tierra son el componente dominante de las comunidades de la macrofauna en las formaciones vegetales nativas de la Altillanura plana, en Colombia. Las actividades de estos organismos afectan la parte abiótica del suelo porque levantan construcciones mediante las cuales modifican profundamente la estructura del suelo y la dinámica de la M.O. Los efectos producidos difieren, además, según las especies y la escala de tiempo consideradas y, a veces, son antagonistas; por consiguiente, la acción global de la macrofauna favorece una regulación efectiva de las características físicas y químicas del suelo. Por tal razón, las estructuras biogénicas se han considerado como un verdadero intermediario entre la biodiversidad y los procesos que determinan la fertilidad del suelo (Lavelle 1996).Las relaciones existentes entre la vegetación epígea y los diferentes grupos de fauna del suelo apoyan la hipótesis de las biodiversidades encajadas de Lavelle (1996). La abundancia y la diversidad de las comunidades de macroinvertebrados está determinada por dos factores ambientales relacionados uno con la estructura y otro con la naturaleza de la vegetación. Se hizo evidente también el papel ecológico desempeñado por las estructuras biogénicas de superficie de los ingenieros del ecosistema, las cuales afectan la abundancia y la diversidad de otros grupos de organismos (Decaëns et al. 1999b). Su acción comprende una redistribución de recursos, principalmente una concentración de la M.O. y la creación de microhábitat específicos. Las interrelaciones entre diferentes grupos funcionales que pertenecen a un mismo taxón o a varios de ellos son estrechas y complejas, como lo demuestra el efecto recíproco de las lombrices anécicas en la vegetación por medio de los bancos de semilla del suelo. Falta todavía realizar investigación para comprender mejor estos fenómenos y para estimar la participación de otros grupos importantes, como las termitas y las hormigas, las cuales cumplen también, sin duda, un papel relevante.Sería necesario investigar también la agregación de las partículas de suelo más pequeñas en las heces de M. carimaguensis que han sido ingeridas por individuos de Ocnerodrilidae n. gen. Este proceso puede constituir un modelo análogo al de las especies compactantes y decompactantes de Blanchart et al. (1997) que favorecen la estructura física del suelo.La macrofauna es un recurso natural altamente sensible a la conversión de la sabana nativa en un sistema de producción agrícola que responde de manera directamente proporcional a la intensificación. Esta respuesta se relaciona principalmente con las modificaciones de la cobertura vegetal, que determina directamente la cantidad y la calidad del recurso orgánico.• Tanto las pasturas nativas como las introducidas mantienen una vegetación cuya estructura vertical es similar a la que posee la sabana y resguardan, además, una macrofauna nativa diversificada. Asimismo pueden, como en el caso de las praderas mejoradas, aumentar la calidad y la cantidad de la M.O. fresca que se incorpora al suelo y mejorar, por tanto, la actividad de la fauna.• Los monocultivos anuales, por el contrario, traen consigo una disminución dramática de la macrofauna porque crean condiciones desfavorables -como la destrucción de la vegetación nativa y la disminución de la cantidad de material vegetal restituido-o causan directamente la muerte de los organismos mediante la labranza y el uso indiscriminado de los pesticidas.Las sabanas bien drenadas de los Llanos Orientales poseen una macrofauna con una buena capacidad de adaptación a los ambientes perturbados. La próxima etapa de esta investigación será la determinación de opciones de manejo de las poblaciones de macroinvertebrados en los diferentes agroecosistemas. Este trabajo se está realizando en Carimagua, enfocado especialmente hacia las lombrices de tierra; el objetivo general es optimizar y aprovechar este recurso para aumentar la sostenibilidad de los sistemas agropecuarios. Se presta atención especial al manejo de las prácticas agrícolas, a la forma y a la disposición de las parcelas y al uso de rotaciones a corto o a largo plazo. Se ha estudiado también la capacidad de movimiento de las lombrices para poder evaluar sus facultades de recolonización del suelo en sistemas de producción destructivos. Por último, se ha desarrollado un modelo de manejo integrado de una finca para formalizar las reglas de interacción entre las lombrices y las prácticas agrícolas empleadas (L. Mariani, sin publicar). Esperamos que el modelo permita ahondar en nuestro conocimiento del ecosistema y comprobar, mediante simulación, la sostenibilidad de las opciones de manejo.  Durante 5 años se llevaron a cabo ensayos de pastoreo con bovinos en pasturas naturales utilizando dispositivos experimentales, en el CIA manejado por el ICA y el CIAT en Carimagua, Meta. Se estudiaron allí la dinámica de las especies, el valor pastoril de la sabana, la productividad animal y la de la cubierta herbácea, la biomasa de las raíces y la fertilidad del suelo bajo el efecto de fuegos periódicos, las diferentes cargas animales y los diferentes períodos de descanso después de la quema y antes del pastoreo. Se propusieron luego a los finqueros modelos mejorados de explotación de la sabana nativa.Se presentan aquí algunos resultados de la dinámica de la vegetación sometida a diferentes tipos de manejo y se hacen propuestas para la recuperación de los pastos degradados.La respuesta de la vegetación, como aumento o disminución de la presencia de la cobertura o biomasa aérea, a cualquier tipo de estrés es inmediata (desde el primer año). Posteriormente, esa respuesta evoluciona más lentamente.Las quemas anuales de la vegetación que estuvo protegida durante varios años producen una reacción muy diferente, dependiente de la época de quema. Las especies más sensibles (entre las más frecuentes) son: Andropogon bicornis, Otachyrium versicolor y, sobre todo, Axonopus purpusii, Gymnopogon foliosus y Trachypogon vestitus.Quemas efectuadas cada 16 meses durante 5 años (o con menor frecuencia) no afectan tanto la sabana y permiten mantener la biodiversidad, la productividad y el valor pastoril. Combinaciones de estas formas de manejo fueron utilizadas para experimentar modelos de explotación de la sabana nativa en Carimagua.Las distintas cargas animales afectan de manera diferente la presencia y la dinámica de las especies botánicas. La explotación de la sabana ocasiona una disminución de todas las especies importantes, sobre todo en el primer año. Sólo A. purpusii aumenta su presencia y su cobertura (o su biomasa).El descanso después de la quema y antes del pastoreo (0, 2, 4, 8 semanas) ocasiona también importantes cambios en la dinámica de todas las especies, especialmente en el primer año. Aumentan también en esta etapa la frecuencia y la cobertura de A. purpusii, mientras que disminuyen las de las demás especies.En los Llanos Orientales de Colombia han ocurrido siempre cambios de vegetación. A lo largo de la historia geológica, ecológica y climática de esa región hubo cambios considerables en la relación proporcional entre sabana abierta, bosque de sabana y selva.Los diagramas de polen realizados por Thomas van der Hammer (1992) muestran los cambios mencionados, especialmente ocurridos durante la era del Cuaternario (Holoceno y Pleistoceno), es decir, desde el Paleolítico hasta nuestra época. Se registra, por ejemplo, entre 4000 y 3800 años antes de la época actual, un período en que casi no existía la sabana abierta que se conoce actualmente. Hubo luego un período más húmedo y frío, cuando cambios importantes modificaron la fisonomía de los Llanos; por ejemplo, la selva y la sabana arbolada o arbustiva dominaron el paisaje.Hace menos de 2000 años había, en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, más de 50% de bosque y de sabana arbustiva; esta condición no sobrepasa hoy el 5%.La fisonomía actual de la vegetación de los Llanos, o sea, una sabana abierta casi sin arbustos en los bancos y con bosques a lo largo de los ríos (bosques de galería), es muy reciente. Esta sabana es el resultado del cambio de clima ocurrido durante los últimos miles de años, en que el clima se tornó más seco y las temperaturas se hicieron más altas.La sabana 'estacional' actual, según Sarmiento (1990), es una consecuencia de la interrelación de varios factores:-aparición de la estacionalidad del clima: una época seca de 3 meses que alterna con una época lluviosa el resto del año;-régimen hídrico del suelo: el nivel freático es bajo en la época seca;-pobreza físico-química de los suelos; y -efecto de la quema sobre la vegetación: puede ser un factor ecológico natural o un factor antropológico (la quema se emplea para manejar los pastos, como sucede actualmente).Aparte de la quema, otros factores antropológicos de manejo de los pastos nativos influyen en la vegetación. Los más importantes son el pastoreo (con diferente tasa de carga animal), el descanso después o antes de la quema, la siembra de leguminosas forrajeras asociadas con los pastos, y los cultivos anuales. Durante 6 años se estudiaron estos factores en el Centro de Investigación Agropecuaria (CI) Carimagua, en Meta, Llanos Orientales. Los autores se preguntaron además si estos factores influían de manera positiva, es decir, mejorando la productividad, o de manera negativa en los pastos nativos.Los objetivos de este estudio de la dinámica de la vegetación de los Llanos son una respuesta a las siguientes preguntas específicas:• ¿Qué efectos tienen la carga animal (sobrepastoreo o subpastoreo) y el descanso de la vegetación después de la quema (el tiempo de descanso, la época de la quema u otro manejo) en la vegetación?• ¿Cuáles son los mejores índices o parámetros que pueden indicar los cambios experimentados por la vegetación? Se sugieren los siguientes: biodiversidad, frecuencia de las especies, aparición de arbustos o especies no deseables, valor pastoril, porcentaje de cobertura del suelo, reflectancia terrestre o por satélite de la vegetación?• De estos índices, ¿cuáles son los que mejor pueden utilizar los técnicos o productores para indicar degradación o mejoramiento de la vegetación?• ¿Es posible manipular la vegetación (con la quema, por ejemplo) para recuperarla después de su degradación?• ¿Hay alguna posibilidad de combinar, en modelos nuevos, estos factores de manejo para mejorar la productividad de los pastos nativos y, por consiguiente, para aumentar la producción animal de manera sostenible, o sea, sin que se degrade la vegetación?Para responder estas preguntas se hicieron varios ensayos en diferentes lugares y con distintos tipos de suelos del CIA Carimagua, entre 1990 y 1996.Los materiales empleados para el ensayo (sitios, suelos, tipos de vegetación, muestreos, tratamientos) se presentan esquemáticamente en el Cuadro 8-1. La dinámica de la vegetación de los Llanos se estudió durante más de 5 años aplicando una metodología de tipo evolutivo basada en los siguientes parámetros:• Frecuencia de las especies.Número de veces que una especie se presenta en un número dado de parcelas de muestreo o de puntos de muestreo. Se evalúa aquí la contribución de cada especie a la constitución de la pastura mediante la fórmula calculada por Daget y Godron (1995):CS i = FC i / åFC i * 100 = n i / ån i * 100 donde:CS i = contribución de la especie i; FC = frecuencia centesimal (es decir, en porcentaje respecto a 100 muestras) de la especie i;åFC i = sumatoria de la frecuencia centesimal de todas las especies;n i = número de unidades de muestreo donde se encuentra la especie i; ån i = sumatoria del número de unidades de muestreo en que está i.• Cobertura que da la especie. Es la fracción proporcional de la superficie del suelo que está ocupada por la proyección perpendicular de la parte aérea de los individuos de la especie que se considera (Paladines 1992). Se expresa mediante una frecuencia centesimal:FC i = n i / N * 100 donde:n i = número de unidades de la muestra donde hay presencia de la especie i; N = número total de unidades de la muestra.Esta cobertura es un índice relativo de la biomasa aérea de la vegetación. Puede usarse también(1)(2) a. Indica que se tomaron muestras de raíces a diferentes profundidades y que se practicaron análisis convencionales de suelos. b. Se refiere al ganado bovino presente en los ensayos y a los datos de ganancia de peso que pudieron tomarse. como un índice de la degradación de la vegetación. La frecuencia de las especies se establece aplicando la metodología de los \"puntos cuadrados alineados\" (Daget y Poissonet 1991) a lo largo de transectos fijos de 20 m en la pastura, donde la unidad de muestreo (o superficie de la muestra) es el punto de una aguja. 1• Productividad del pasto nativo.Se mide haciendo cortes de la vegetación en pequeñas parcelas y determinando la producción y la productividad en la M.S. de los cortes (Daget y Godron 1995); se emplean dos expresiones:Prod. = kg/ha, de M.S.;Prod. = g/m 2 por día, de M.S.• Valor alimenticio. Se obtiene mediante análisis bromatológicos (Salinas y García 1985).• La dinámica de una especie proviene, principalmente, de su contribución específica y de su valor pastoril. El Cuadro 8-2 presenta la frecuencia relativa, es decir, la contribución de cada especie en porcentaje (frecuencia centesimal), y el 'valor pastoril' de las especies dominantes de una pastura nativa de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, que ha sido manejada con quema en diferentes épocas del año y pastoreada con diferentes cargas durante 10 años.Se observa, en primer lugar, la influencia de la época de quema en la frecuencia relativa:• La quema anual en abril favorece la dominancia de las gramíneas Gymnopogon foliosus (34.8%) y Trachypogon vestitus (38.0%).• La quema anual en agosto causa una 'explosión' de Axonopus purpusii (45.1%), la desaparición de G. foliosus, una disminución de T. vestitus (cae hasta un 19.5%), y la aparición de Andropogon selloanus (11.7%), cuya presencia era mínima en el tratamiento de quema en abril.• La quema anual en diciembre modifica la frecuencia relativa de las especies, así: la gramínea dominante es T. vestitus (51.5%); la siguen Andropogon leucostachyus y Otachyrium versicolor, ambas con casi un 11%. Estas dos últimas especies están poco representadas en los dos tratamientos anteriores.Un transecto lineal de 20 m se hace con una cinta métrica y dos varillas que la sostienen a una altura de 1 m sobre la superficie del suelo. Cada 20 cm en la cinta se deja caer hacia el suelo una aguja fina de cobre de 120 cm de largo y las especies vegetales que toquen la aguja son registradas (censadas). Ninguna especie tocará la aguja (y no habrá 'lectura' en ese punto) si el suelo está descubierto.(3)Cuadro 8-2.Frecuencia relativa (%) y valor pastoril (VP) de las especies dominantes de una sabana nativa manejada con quema (en diferentes épocas del año) y con diferente carga durante 10 años. Se observa también en esta quema la aparición de Andropogon bicornis, una gramínea poco deseable por su bajo valor pastoril.La carga alta trae consigo, en la quema de abril, un aumento adicional de la presencia de G. foliosus; en la quema de agosto, un gran aumento en la frecuencia de A. purpusii (62%); y en la quema de diciembre, la dominancia de Andropogon selloanus, una especie cuyo índice de valor pastoril (1.7) es regular.La frecuencia de una especie, combinada con su IVP -que se toma aquí cuando las plantas tienen 4 semanas de edad-permite calcular el VP de la pastura y comparar pasturas de la misma área conformadas por las mismas especies. En el caso estudiado (Carimagua), se observó una diferencia en el valor pastoril del pasto según la época de quema y una disminución de este valor al establecer la carga alta, especialmente en las quemas de abril y diciembre. Este resultado implica una diferencia de productividad en estos pastos y, probablemente, diferencias de producción animal.En las Figuras 8-1A, 8-1B y 8-1C se observa tanto la dinámica de la vegetación pastoreada como la influencia de la carga; en las Figuras 8-2A, 8-2B, 8-2C y 8-2D se muestra el descanso de 0, 2, 4 u 8 semanas después de hacer una quema cada 16 meses.• La Figura 8-1A presenta la dinámica de la sabana nativa; la Figura 8-1B ilustra la influencia de la carga (baja, media o alta) en la vegetación de la sabana; la Figura 8-1C describe la contribución específica de las especies, en porcentaje.En estas figuras se observa el cambio que experimentó la frecuencia de las especies durante 5 años por efecto del cambio de carga animal:-En el primer año, generalmente, hay muchos cambios; en los años siguientes la vegetación es estable. Como en el ejemplo anterior, la carga afecta la contribución específica de cada especie. Este año se nota también un aumento de las especies secundarias, de diverso orden, en todos los tratamientos.-Pasados 5 años, los cambios más importantes ocurren en A. purpusii y en A. bicornis, en todos los tratamientos.• La Figura 8-2A presenta la dinámica de la sabana nativa; la Figura 8-2B ilustra la influencia del descanso (0, 2, 4 u 8 semanas después de la quema) en la vegetación de la sabana; la Figura 8-2C describe la contribución específica de las especies, en porcentaje.Este descanso (después de la quema y antes del pastoreo) ocasiona también cambios importantes durante el primer año y un aumento espectacular de la contribución de A. purpusii.• La Figura 8-3A presenta la dinámica de la sabana nativa; la Figura 8-3B ilustra la evolución del valor pastoril y la influencia de la carga y el descanso después de la quema. En ambas se observa un aumento de este índice en todos los tratamientos.No se observó una disminución del valor pastoril a causa de la carga alta porque los animales no pastorearon las parcelas de este tratamiento (ya degradadas) en la época seca, por falta de pasto. En los tratamientos de 'descanso', el valor pastoril mejoró en el tratamiento de descanso de 4 semanas, entre 1991 y 1996; asimismo, no se degradó el pasto en el tratamiento en que no hubo descanso (cero semanas), aunque podría esperarse una degradación.La cobertura del suelo, en porcentaje, puede considerarse una muestra relativa de la biomasa de la vegetación o del suelo descubierto; es decir, es una muestra o índice de la degradación sufrida por la vegetación, o sea, del peligro de erosión del suelo.• Las Figuras 8-4A, 8-4B y 8-4C presentan la dinámica de la sabana nativa, indicando la influencia de la carga animal (A = carga baja, B = carga media, C = carga alta ) y la relación cobertura/biomasa aérea (de las plantas de las especies).En estas figuras se muestra, para las tres cargas, la dominancia de dos especies o de un grupo de especies: Paspalum pectinatum, A. purpusii o las gramíneas diversas o secundarias. Podemos observar también la disminución de la cobertura de casi todas las especies. Solamente para A. purpusii y G. foliosus la cobertura aumentó entre 1991 y 1995.Al llegar el descanso (Figuras 8-5A, 8-5B, 8-5C y 8-5D) se observa la misma tendencia en la dominancia de las mismas especies. La razón es que todas las especies que dominan aquí la pastura tienen un porte más o menos igual.• Las Figuras 8-5A, 8-5B, 8-5C y 8-5D presentan la dinámica de la sabana nativa, indicando la influencia del descanso después de la quema y la relación cobertura/ biomasa aérea (de las plantas de varias especies, en %).• Las Figuras 8-6A y 8-6B presentan la dinámica de la sabana nativa, indicando la influencia de la carga animal (A) y del descanso (B) después de la quema, así como la relación cobertura/biomasa aérea.La cobertura o biomasa aérea total de la vegetación (Figuras 8-6A y 8-6B) disminuye drásticamente en todos los casos, es decir, la biomasa (o la productividad de los pastos) disminuye en todos estos modelos de manejo de los pastos nativos, especialmente en las cargas alta y media.La degradación de la productividad se observa también en los rebrotes después de la quema (Cuadro 8-3). La productividad disminuyó drásticamente entre 1991 y 1994. Se observó que disminuye cuando aumenta la carga y también cuando llega la juventud de los rebrotes.Se estudiaron también algunos medios para recuperar los pastos nativos degradados. En las figuras siguientes se presentan los resultados de algunos ensayos en que hubo descanso de la vegetación y también quema de la vegetación.Cuadro 8-3.Productividad de los rebrotes de los pastos de la sabana nativa después de la quema mostrando la influencia de la carga animal en este fenómeno. • La Figura 8-7 ilustra la recuperación de la sabana nativa degradada en 1991 y la influencia del descanso (sin quema) después 1991.La pastura presentada en la Figura 8-7 se degradó porque se hicieron cortes de los rebrotes cada 4 semanas durante 1 año. Después del primer año se observó la degradación de la pastura, que se manifestó en los siguientes fenómenos:-aparición del suelo, que quedó descubierto en un 15% (0% antes de los cortes);-disminución del número de especies forrajeras;-aumento considerable de la contribución de poáceas poco productivas, como Mesosetum pittieri, y de ciperáceas (Rhynchospora podosperma);-disminución de la contribución de especies de VP bueno, como Paspalum pectinatum y T. vestitus.En 1995, o sea, 4 años después del descanso, la vegetación se recuperó: no se observó entonces el suelo descubierto y las especies hacían casi la misma contribución que en 1990.El Cuadro 8-4 presenta la dinámica de la vegetación nativa protegida de la quema durante 2 años, en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. Este cuadro muestra el efecto de 2 años de descanso en la vegetación, o sea, la recuperación del VP del pasto nativo al cabo de ese tiempo.Otro ejemplo de recuperación es una pastura nativa invadida por la especie Panicum rudgei; ésta tiene poca aceptación entre los animales, aun siendo muy joven, porque sus hojas están cubiertas de pelos que no gustan al ganado. Además, se ha reportado que causa fotosensibilidad en el ganado (Escobar 1995).En este ensayo se recurrió a la quema para recuperar la pastura.• La Figura 8-8 ilustra la recuperación de la sabana nativa degradada por Panicum rudgei y el efecto del descanso en las especies nativas.Se presenta aquí el efecto de la quema anual en la vegetación La mejor época para la quema fue la época lluviosa, antes de la madurez y de la dispersión de las semillas.El pastoreo de la sabana nativa de los Llanos Orientales y el uso de la quema como práctica de manejo de esa sabana producen, a mediano y largo plazo, dos efectos en una vegetación que no haya sido pastoreada con intensidad anteriormente:-una disminución de la productividad;-la degradación de la vegetación, a veces, cuando ésta es mal manejada.Ejemplos de mal manejo son una carga animal muy alta o un descanso demasiado corto después de la quema y antes del pastoreo. La degradación puede conducir a la pérdida de la biodiversidad o a la aparición del suelo (despojado de vegetación) en la superficie del terreno.La vegetación puede ser recuperada si se le da descanso y, a veces, se le hace una quema combinada con descanso.Se ensayaron modelos de explotación de la sabana con ganado bovino en Carimagua. Se concluyó que existe la posibilidad de obtener una producción animal igual o mejor que en el sistema tradicional manteniendo la biodiversidad, la productividad y el valor pastoril de la sabana a largo plazo (Figura 8-9). Estos modelos se describen en el Capítulo 9 de esta obra (ensayos de Caribey, Corin, Pasoganado I y Pasoganado II). La productividad y el valor alimenticio de los diferentes tipos de pastos nativos de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, manejados sin la práctica de la quema, son generalmente bajos durante todo el año. En condiciones de manejo tradicional, la ganancia de peso de los bovinos de carne es baja en la época lluviosa y muy baja o negativa en la época seca.En el Centro de Investigación Agropecuaria Carimagua, manejado por el ICA y el CIAT en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, los ensayos arrojaron diferencias significativas en la productividad de los animales, que dependía de la composición botánica, o sea, del 'valor pastoril' de los pastos nativos.Se obtuvo una ganancia de peso significativa durante todo el año haciendo quemas secuenciales cada 4 meses en la época lluviosa y quemas mensuales en la época seca, pastoreando los rebrotes de 4 semanas de edad después de la quema, haciendo rotaciones y duplicando la carga animal tradicional. Este sistema evitó la degradación de la vegetación.Estos modelos mejorados de explotación de la sabana tienen un límite; por ello, puede ser necesario intensificar la pastura en la época seca sembrando pastos mejorados y haciendo reservas de forraje; ambas prácticas complementan la nutrición animal.Los estudios ecológicos y fitosociológicos realizados en los Llanos Orientales revelaron una gran diversidad de paisajes, de suelos, de condiciones hídricas y, naturalmente, de tipos de sabana nativa (Blydenstein 1967;Broekhuijsen 1995;Grollier 1995;Rippstein y Girard 1994;Rippstein et al. 1995; Capítulos 1 a 10 de esta obra). La sabana nativa se considera de inferior calidad y su productividad es muy baja (Fisher et al. 1992) (Cuadro 9-1).La explotación tradicional de bovinos, con quema de la sabana nativa o sin ella, no permite que los animales adquieran mucha ganancia de peso, a pesar de que, siendo jóvenes, pastorean los rebrotes de buena calidad nutricional producidos después de la quema, especialmente durante la época seca (Hoyos 1987) (Cuadro 9-2).Parecía posible, sin embargo, mejorar la productividad o ganancia de peso diaria de los animales (GPD, medida en kg/ha) en estas sabanas nativas, empleando modelos de manejo que incluyan las siguientes prácticas:-buen uso de la quema; -cargas de pastoreo adecuadas tanto en la época seca como en la lluviosa, adaptadas a la productividad y a la calidad de la vegetación;-rotación de los animales por diferentes parcelas;-descanso de la vegetación después de la quema y antes del pastoreo.Se evaluaron, por tanto, para explotar mejor la sabana nativa, varios modelos de manejo en el Centro de Investigación Agropecuaria (CI) Carimagua entre 1991 y 1996.Los ensayos se realizaron en cinco sitios diferentes: cuatro tenían suelos 'arcillosos' (los sitios Caribey, Corin, Pasoganado 1 y Pasoganado 2) y uno tenía suelo 'arenoso'.Los suelos arcillosos son relativamente fértiles. Su composición porcentual, en el horizonte de 0 a 20 cm, es el siguiente: arcilla 37%, arena 18%, limo 45%, pH (en H 2 O) 5.5, M.O. 3.44%, N disponible 6.23 ppm, N (total) 1008 ppm, C (total) 2.0%, C/N 19.8, Al 2.6 meq/100 g, Ca 0.21 meq/100 g, K 0.06 meq/100 g, saturación de Al 89%, P (Bray II) 3.9 ppm.Este tipo de suelo arcilloso es muy representativo de la Altillanura plana y ocupa cerca de 3.5 millones de hectáreas en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia (Cochrane et al. 1985).Los suelos arenosos son relativamente escasos en nutrientes. Su composición porcentual es la siguiente (0-20 cm): arcilla 17%, arena 65%, limo 18%, pH (H 2 O) 5.1, M.O. 0.89, N disponible 3.7 ppm, N (total) 339 ppm, C (total) 0.52%, C/N 15.5, Al 0.7 meq/100 g, Ca 0.13 meq/100 g, K 0.03 meq/100 g, saturación de Al 77%, P (Bray II) 2.0 ppm.Este tipo de suelo arenoso es muy parecido a los suelos arenosos de la Altillanura ondulada o de la Serranía de los Llanos Orientales, que ocupan 6.4 millones de hectáreas. La vegetación de Carimagua se describe detalladamente en el Capítulo 2 de esta obra.Las especies que predominan en los suelos arcillosos y su contribución específica (en porcentaje) a la vegetación de la sabana son:-gramíneas: Trachypogon vestitus (41%), Axonopus purpusii (20%), Paspalum pectinatum (11%), Andropogon leucostachyus (7%), Schyzachyrium hirtiflorum (5%), Trasya petrosa (5%);-diicotiledóneas diversas (2%);-ciperáceas diversas (3%);-leguminosas (0.5%).En suelos arenosos, las especies que predominan y su contribución específica (en porcentaje) son las siguientes:-gramíneas: P. pectinatum (14%), S. hirtiflorum (13%), A. purpusii (10%), T. vestitus (10.5%), Mesosetum pittieri (9%), Leptocoryphium lanatum (6.5%);-otras gramíneas (13.8%);-ciperáceas: Rhynchospora podosperma (13.2%), R. confinis (9.2%);-algunas dicotiledóneas (0.1%);-leguminosas (0.7%).Se emplearon dos modelos de manejo:• El Modelo 1 es el sistema tradicional mejorado con quema. La quema se hace en secuencia, en cuatro parcelas, cada 4 meses (o sea, en diciembre, en abril y en agosto). La carga de pastoreo es diferente en cada período. En consecuencia, cada parcela es quemada de nuevo a los 16 meses de la primera quema, tiempo que permite la recuperación de su vegetación y evita su degradación (ver Capítulo 8 de esta obra).• El Modelo 2 es el sistema mejorado con quema y rotación. La quema se hace en secuencia mensual, en 20 parcelas distribuidas en dos bloques. Cada mes, después de 4 semanas de descanso, los animales pasan de un bloque a otro.En la época seca (diciembre a marzo) se quemaron dos parcelas contiguas en el mismo bloque a causa de la menor productividad de los rebrotes durante esa época (Cuadro 9-2). Cada parcela, por tanto, experimenta una quema cada 16 meses.Se aplicaron las siguientes cargas animales o de pastoreo:• En suelo arcilloso:-carga baja: 6 ha/animal -carga media: 4 ha/animal -carga alta: 2 ha/animal • En suelo arenoso:-carga media: 6 ha/animal -carga alta: 4 ha/animal Se ensayaron, además, diferentes tiempos de descanso después de la quema y antes del pastoreo: 0 semanas (pastoreo inmediatamente después de la quema), 2, 4 y 8 semanas. En el Modelo 2 se ensayó una rotación alterna en dos bloques, después de 4 semanas de descanso.Se ensayaron novillos y vaquillas de 2 años de edad, de raza criolla o de cruces Criollo por Brahman, que tenían un peso vivo (PV) inicial de 180 kg (en promedio).Se tomaron las siguientes muestras cada mes:-el peso de los animales (kg PV/animal; kg PV/ha) -la productividad de la vegetación, o sea, la biomasa aérea neta del pasto muestreada en un cuadrado de 1 m² (g M.S./m² o kg M.S./ha).Se tomaron también muestras para estudiar la dinámica de la vegetación (parte aérea y raíces) en transectos permanentes, pero no se reportan en este capítulo.En la Figura 9-1 y en el Cuadro 9-3 se compara el comportamiento de dos tipos de suelo, el arcilloso y el arenoso, en un mismo sistema: el tradicional mejorado en sabana.Al principio del ensayo y durante 1 año (julio 1991 hasta julio 1992), las cargas aplicadas a los pastos fueron de 6 ha/animal en el suelo arenoso y de 4 ha/animal en el suelo arcilloso.A partir de julio 1992, la carga fue de 4 ha/animal para el pasto de ambos tipos de suelo.Durante este primer año, la ganancia de peso por animal fue casi igual (40 kg PV/animal) en ambos suelos, el arcilloso y el arenoso, aunque más irregular en el segundo; fue muy diferente, en cambio, la productividad animal en ambos suelos: 10 y 6.6 kg PV/ha al año, respectivamente.Durante el segundo año (agosto 1992 a septiembre 1993) y empleando la misma carga (4 ha/animal) para ambos tipos de sabana, la diferencia entre los dos suelos fue notoria: la ganancia de peso en el suelo arcilloso fue significativamente diferente (más de 90 kg).En suelo arenoso, la GPD fue débil durante la época lluviosa (E.L.) de 1992 (Cuadro 9-3); fue negativa en la E.L. de 1993 (-47 g) y baja (+21 g) durante la época seca (E.S.) de 1992-93. En suelo arcilloso, la GPD, ya sea en la E.L. de 1992 y 1993, o en la E.S. de 1992-93, fue relativamente buena (+167, +367 y +35 g, respectivamente). En ambos sitios no se obtuvo una ganancia de peso alta durante la época seca, a pesar de la quema de diciembre, cuando se produce rebrote de buena calidad, aunque de escasa biomasa.La diferente ganancia de peso de los animales, especialmente en la E.L. se explica por la diferencia significativa de la calidad de los pastos, no sólo respecto a su contenido de proteína sino principalmente por su diferente composición botánica que se muestra a continuación:-en suelo arenoso, la presencia de las ciperáceas (más del 22%) era importante y estas plantas son muy poco apetecibles por el ganado y tienen un índice de valor pastoril (IVP) muy bajo (ver Capítulo 8 de esta obra; Daget y Godron 1995; Rippstein 1989); asimismo, había gramíneas poco apetecibles, como S. hirtiflorum.-en suelo arcilloso, especies como T. vestitus y A. purpusii, que constituyen el 60% de la biomasa total del pasto, son muy apetecibles y tienen un IVP alto.Figura 9-1. Comparación de la productividad de diferentes tipos de sabana nativa manejados con quema, en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. Se presentan la ganancia de peso de bovinos y las lluvias caídas. El VP de la sabana en suelo arcilloso es de 58.7% y en suelo arenoso es de 42.8%.En la Figura 9-2 y en el Cuadro 9-4 se comparan los dos modelos: el Modelo 1 es el sistema tradicional mejorado con quema, en que la quema se hace cada 4 meses y cada una de las 4 parcelas experimenta la quema cada 16 meses recibiendo diferentes cargas (alta, media y baja); el Modelo 2 es el sistema mejorado con quema y rotación, en que se hace quema mensual en 20 parcelas.La comparación permite sacar las siguientes conclusiones:-En los dos modelos (o sistemas) no existe una correlación general entre la producción de rebrotes 4 semanas después de la quema y la ganancia de peso de los animales.-En el Modelo 1, en la E.S., la ganancia de peso es baja o negativa, a pesar de que hay rebrotes importantes; en el Modelo 2, en cambio, la ganancia de peso es relativamente alta.-En ambos sistemas hay una alta correlación entre ganancia de peso y producción de rebrotes al principio de la E.L.(especialmente entre abril y junio de 1995).-En el Modelo 1, durante la primera E.L. (abril a diciembre de 1994), la carga baja o la media permite obtener mejor ganancia de peso que la carga alta.-Durante la misma época, el Modelo 2 no permite obtener una ganancia de peso alta.-Durante la E.S. del primer año (diciembre de 1994 a marzo de 1995), la GPD fue negativa en el Modelo 1 con carga alta (-111 g) y ligeramente positiva con las otras dos cargas; en el Modelo 2, con cargas media y baja, fue muy alta (+289 g).-Al final del primer año (febrero a marzo de 1995), en el Modelo 1 (sistema 1) la GPD con carga alta (2 ha/animal) fue muy inferior a la obtenida en el Modelo 2 (sistema 2) con esa carga y significativamente inferior a las obtenidas en el mismo Modelo 1 con las cargas media y baja.-Durante el segundo año del ensayo (1995-96), las ganancias de peso obtenidas en los mismos Cuadro 9-3. Ganancia de peso por día (GPD) de bovinos en dos tipos de sabana nativa de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, en un sistema tradicional mejorado (Modelo 1 del ensayo) que experimenta quemas cada 16 meses en cuatro parcelas. -47 +57 (areno-arcilloso) Figura 9-2. Comparación de la productividad de dos sistemas de 'manejo mejorado' de la sabana nativa en la Altillanura plana de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia (quema secuencial cada 4 meses y quema mensual) que se practica en ellos, con diferente carga animal. Se miden la ganancia de peso de los bovinos y los rebrotes del pasto 4 semanas después de la quema. sistemas fueron, durante todo ese año, inferiores a las del año anterior.-En la E.L. de 1995, el modelo que produjo menos ganancias fue el Modelo 2 (+135 g/animal por día); en el Modelo 1, en cambio, la ganancia fue de +164 g, +147 g y +210 g para las cargas alta, media y baja, respectivamente. Durante esta epoca lluviosa, el sistema 1, con carga baja, es el más eficaz en términos de ganancia de peso por animal (pero no por hectárea), -Durante la E.S. del segundo año (diciembre de 1995 a abril de 1996), todos los animales perdieron peso en el Modelo 1, en todas las cargas: la GPD fue de -289 g, -102 g y -133 g para las cargas alta, media y baja, respectivamente. En el Modelo 2, la GPD fue relativamente muy alta (+211 g ).-Durante todo el segundo año (1995-96), el Modelo 2 (sistema 2) es significativamente más productivo que el Modelo 1, para todas las cargas.-Al final de los 2 años, la ganancia de peso fue significativamente más alta en el Modelo 2, gracias a la ganancia de peso obtenida en él en los últimos meses de la E.S. del segundo año; en esa época, los animales perdieron peso en el Modelo 1.-En el Modelo 1, la GPD es inversamente proporcional a la carga animal.-En el Modelo 2 hubo siempre ganancia de peso en la E.S.; en la E.L., en cambio, la ganancia fue inferior a todas las variantes del Modelo 1.Cuadro 9-4. Ganancia de peso diaria de bovinos (g PV/An. por día) que pastorean en diferentes modelos o sistemas de manejo de los pastos nativos de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, en un suelo arcillo-limoso.Ganancia de peso (g PV/An. por día) en período: a -La quema mensual produce ganancias más regulares, en el tiempo, que la quema cada 4 meses.En el Modelo 1 (sistema 1), donde hay quema de cuatro parcelas cada 16 meses (abril, agosto y diciembre), los animales pastorean rápidamente \"durante un poco más de un mes e inmediatamente después de la quema\" los pequeños rebrotes de la parcela recién quemada; terminados éstos, se reparten por toda el área de la pastura para aprovechar también los rebrotes más jóvenes (tallos) de las macollas más viejas.En el Modelo 2 (sistema 2), y durante la E.L., los animales pastorean, en los 10 primeros días de la rotación, principalmente, las parcelas en que la quema es más reciente, es decir, los rebrotes que tienen de 4 a 8 semanas (29% del día) y de 12 a 16 semanas (55% del día); luego hacen un pastoreo total de la biomasa aérea de esas parcelas, pero no consumen los rebrotes de las parcelas más antiguas (Cuadro 9-5). Durante el período siguiente, de más o menos 10 días, los animales pastorean principalmente las otras parcelas, así: 37% del tiempo prefieren los rebrotes de 20 a 32 semanas y 26% del tiempo los de más de 36 semanas. Solamente durante los últimos 10 días, los animales pastorean todas las parcelas del bloque sin atender a la edad de la parcela.En consecuencia, en la E.L. (según el Modelo 1), los animales ingieren más M.S. que en el Modelo 2, porque en este último tienen a su disposición solamente la mitad de la superficie total del sistema aplicado en el modelo.En cambio, en la E.S. (según el Modelo 1), los animales consumen menos M.S. porque se quedan en la parcela más joven (quemada en diciembre) durante toda esa época, es decir, ocupan solamente 25% del área total del sistema 1. En el Modelo 2, los animales pueden usar 40% del área del sistema 2 (4 x 2 parcelas, ya que 2 parcelas son quemadas cada mes durante los 4 meses de esta época). Este resultado explica la mayor ganancia de peso obtenida por los animales durante la E.S. en el sistema 2.El muestreo de la vegetación (composición botánica, cantidad de biomasa), su análisis químico (calidad), la observación de los animales pastoreando la sabana nativa (preferencias, gustosidad de las especies vegetales) permiten proponer Cuadro 9-5.Comportamiento de los animales en la sabana nativa manejada con quema mensual y rotación (Modelo 2). Se midió el comportamiento por el tiempo de pastoreo de los rebrotes de diferente edad (% de un día de 12 horas, de 6:00 a.m. a 6:00 p.m.), durante un período de 1 mes. algunas explicaciones a las diferencias en productividad que exhiben las pasturas y los sistemas de producción.• Las diferencias en productividad de los animales (ganancia de PV por día) que pastorean la sabana nativa de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, en tipos diferentes de suelo, provienen principalmente de la diferente composición botánica de la pastura y, en menor grado, de la diferencia del valor alimenticio global de dichas pasturas.• Por consiguiente, para conocer el valor de una pastura es necesario medir no sólo su productividad y su valor nutritivo, sino también su VP; éste es un buen índice para evaluar y clasificar los pastos de una región.• La comparación de diferentes modelos de manejo de los pastos nativos, en los que la quema es un elemento esencial e indispensable, indicó que la quema secuencial mensual \"es decir, poner a disposición de los animales, cada mes, una porción de la pastura que tenga rebrotes de 1 a 2 meses de edad\" permite obtener ganancias de peso durante la E.S. Una sola quema, al principio de esta época y solamente en una cuarta parte de la superficie requerida por el sistema, no permite obtener esas ganancias.• No parece útil hacer quemas cada mes en la E.L. porque los animales se reúnen en las parcelas donde la quema ha sido más reciente y no pastorean los rebrotes de otras parcelas más antiguas. En la E.L., la quema cada 4 meses (como en el Modelo 1) es suficiente para el Modelo 2.• Hacer rotación entre dos bloques, lo que permite a los animales pastorear rebrotes de 4 semanas de edad y de buena calidad, es una práctica necesaria para prevenir la degradación de la pastura (ver Capítulo 9 de esta obra). En efecto, en una parcela sin descansos, 4 semanas después de la quema, los animales pastorean continuamente y a raz del suelo, hasta arrancar las macollas. Las especies más apetecibles que no hayan sido arrancadas no pueden producir reservas subterráneas (raíces), se agotan y desaparecen; queda entonces el suelo desnudo o cubierto con especies anuales de baja producción o especies perennes poco apetecibles.• En una finca no será necesario tender una cerca entre dos bloques cuando hay suficiente distancia entre ellos. Sin embargo, las rondas de 2 m de ancho, como mínimo, son indispensables para controlar la quema en las parcelas, especialmente en la E.S.; esta anchura depende de la cantidad de biomasa seca del bloque, de la dirección y la velocidad del viento, de la humedad del suelo, y de la humedad atmosférica, entre otros factores.El manejo de la sabana nativa con quema, descanso, rotaciones y variación de la carga animal tiene un límite (Lascano 1991;Rippstein et al. 1996). En la Altillanura plana o en los bajos de la Serranía de los Llanos Orientales, donde es posible desarrollar cultivos, estos modelos tienen que integrarse, cuando las condiciones socioeconómicas son favorables, en sistemas más complejos. En tales sistemas se asocian la sabana nativa, los cultivos de especies forrajeras para la época seca o para reservas de forraje, como heno o ensilaje, y los suplementos a base de subproductos agrícolas o agroindustriales, que desafortunamente son escasos en esta región. El crecimiento y el ciclo de renovación de las raíces son dos componentes clave en el estudio, en los pastos nativos o introducidos, tanto del reciclaje de nutrimentos como del secuestro, en las raíces profundas, del carbono atmosférico fijado por la planta. En las pasturas sometidas a pastoreo, los nutrimentos cumplen un ciclo que va del suelo a las plantas de la pastura y luego de ésta al suelo, ya sea por muerte del tejido vegetal o mediante los excrementos de los animales en pastoreo. Las especies forrajeras tropicales mejoradas usan en forma eficiente los nutrimentos porque los extraen de las capas más profundas del suelo y los reciclan luego en la planta.La evaluación de la dinámica tanto de la biomasa como de la longitud de las raíces de las pasturas basadas en leguminosas, en comparación con esa dinámica en las pasturas de gramínea sola o en las pasturas de especies nativas, es un elemento clave para entender el papel de las raíces tanto en la obtención de nutrimentos y en el reciclaje de éstos en las pasturas como en el secuestro del carbono antes mencionado. Se hicieron, por tanto, ensayos sin pastoreo, en pequeñas parcelas, en las pasturas nativas de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia para conocer mejor ese comportamiento de los pastos.Estos estudios eran parte de un proyecto más amplio cuya meta fue diseñar modelos de pasturas para predecir el efecto, a largo plazo, de las opciones de manejo en la persistencia y en el reciclaje de nutrimentos de las asociaciones de gramíneas y leguminosas sometidas a pastoreo en las sabanas latinoamericanas.La mayor producción de carne, leche y cultivos de sabana, en sistemas sostenibles, que exigen el acelerado crecimiento demográfico urbano, la pobreza extrema y la degradación ambiental vendrá de sistemas de pastura que contengan gramíneas y leguminosas introducidas, ya que éstas obtienen y reciclan nutrimentos en forma eficiente sin que sea necesario agregar al sistema grandes cantidades de insumos o fertilizantes. El uso predominante dado a las sabanas sudamericanas (cuya extensión es de 225 millones de hectáreas) es la ganadería extensiva, aunque en Brasil los cultivos de maíz y soya y las pasturas introducidas han cobrado importancia durante los últimos 30 años (Vera et al. 1992). Esos suelos son, principalmente, Oxisoles y Ultisoles, cuyas características (pH, aluminio y nutrimentos) se discuten en el Capítulo 1 de esta obra). La precipitación anual es de 1500 a 3000 mm y su distribución estacional es unimodal (Cochrane 1986). Las pasturas de la sabana nativa están dominadas por especies de gramíneas de los géneros Andropogon y Trachypogon, que son poco productivas y tienen un valor nutritivo muy bajo.Por consiguiente, el comportamiento animal, 'medido por las ganancias de peso vivo del ganado', es deficiente (de 7 a 20 kg/ha por año). Si se introducen asociaciones de gramíneas y leguminosas forrajeras tropicales mejoradas, se puede lograr que estas praderas tropicales se vuelvan productivas, es decir, que permitan al ganado obtener ganancias de peso vivo hasta de 500 kg/ha por año (Fisher et al. 1996;Lascano y Euclides 1996).La creciente presión ejercida por el crecimiento demográfico urbano, unida a la pobreza y la consiguiente degradación ambiental, exigen una mayor producción de carne, leche y cultivos en las sabanas aplicando sistemas sostenibles (Vera et al. 1992). El aumento en estos rubros vendrá de los sistemas de pastura que contengan gramíneas y leguminosas introducidas, las cuales obtienen y reciclan nutrimentos en forma eficiente sin que sea necesario agregar grandes cantidades de insumos o fertilizantes (Fisher et al. 1996;Rao et al. 1993;Thomas et al. 1995).Los estudios sobre la productividad primaria neta de los ecosistemas de gramíneas naturales en el trópico han indicado que, cuando se toman en cuenta todas las pérdidas de la parte aérea de la planta y de sus raíces, estos ecosistemas son mucho más productivos de lo que se había estimado antes (Long et al. 1989). Si se considera el ciclo de renovación de la parte aérea y de las raíces sólo en los primeros 20 cm de profundidad del suelo, se obtiene una productividad primaria neta cinco veces superior a la obtenida mediante el procedimiento estándar recomendado por el Programa Biológico Internacional. Los cálculos de la biomasa presente bajo la superficie del suelo fluctuaron entre 0.61 y 5.68 Mg/ha. Los ciclos de renovación anual de la biomasa presente bajo la superficie del suelo, calculados dividiendo la producción de la planta por la biomasa media, oscilaron entre 1.7 y 4.0 Mg/ha (Long et al. 1989).En los estudios sobre producción máxima de biomasa epígea 1 en los Llanos de Colombia o de Venezuela, los autores Blydenstein (1967), Paladines y Leal (1979), San José y García-Miragaya (1981), San José et al. (1985), San José y Montes (1989) encontraron, en los diferentes sitios, una producción natural de 1227 a 4821 kg/ha, sin ningún tipo de fertilización. Con fertilización (100 N-100 P-100 K) en una sabana nativa de Trachypogon-Axonopus en la Estación Ecológica de Calabozo, en Venezuela, García-Miragaya et al. (1983) midieron una biomasa máxima de 3686 kg/ha. Rony-Tejos M. (1980), en el Módulo Experimental de Mantecal, Apure, Venezuela, localidad muy parecida en clima a los Llanos Orientales de Colombia (Carimagua), obtuvo una producción máxima de 8884 kg/ha con una fertilización de 330 N y 200 P, cuando la producción del testigo fue de 5659 kg/ha; no hubo restricción o limitación de agua en este ensayo.Recientemente, Jackson et al. (1996) analizaron los modelos de enraizamiento de los biomas terrestres y compararon la distribución de las raíces de diversos grupos funcionales, utilizando una base de datos de 250 estudios de raíces. La distribución de las raíces, medida como promedio global en todos los ecosistemas, indicó que 30%, 50% y 75% de las raíces se localizaban en los primeros 10, 20 y 40 cm de profundidad del suelo, respectivamente. Esos autores compararon la información obtenida sobre raíces en todos los biomas de los grupos funcionales de plantas y encontraron que el 44% de las raíces de los pastos se encontraban en los primeros 10 cm de suelo, mientras que apenas el 21% de las raíces de las especies arbustivas se hallaban a esa misma profundidad. Se requiere información cuantitativa sobre la variabilidad del enraizamiento en función del tiempo y del lugar, para desarrollar modelos sobre las relaciones suelo-planta-animal en las pasturas sometidas a pastoreo. Sin embargo, la mayor parte de la información disponible actualmente sobre la producción y distribución de las raíces de especies de pastos tropicales trata de la biomasa de las raíces y no de la longitud de éstas.El crecimiento y el ciclo de renovación de las raíces son dos componentes clave en el estudio tanto del reciclaje de nutrimentos en los pastos como del secuestro, en las raíces profundas, del carbono atmosférico fijado por la planta. En las pasturas sometidas a pastoreo, los nutrimentos cumplen un ciclo que va del suelo a las plantas de la pastura y luego regresan al suelo, ya sea por muerte del tejido vegetal o mediante los excrementos de los animales en pastoreo (Rao et al. 1992;Haynes y Williams 1993;Boddey et al. 1996). Las especies forrajeras tropicales mejoradas usan en forma eficiente los nutrimentos porque los extraen de las capas más profundas y los reciclan luego en la planta. Además de la obtención de nutrimentos y del reciclaje de los mismos, los sistemas radicales profundos contribuyen también al secuestro, en esas raíces, del carbono atmosférico fijado en la planta (Rao et al. 1993;Fisher et al. 1994).La evaluación de la dinámica tanto de la biomasa como de la longitud de las raíces de las pasturas basadas en leguminosas, en comparación con esa dinámica en las pasturas de gramínea sola o en las pasturas de especies nativas, es un elemento clave para entender el papel de las raíces tanto en la obtención de nutrimentos y en el reciclaje de éstos en las pasturas como en el secuestro, en aquellas raíces situadas en capas profundas del suelo, del carbono atmosférico fijado. Se considera que las diferencias en biomasa y en longitud de las raíces, a través del tiempo, reflejan el resultado neto del crecimiento de nuevas raíces y de la pérdida de raíces por muerte y descomposición. De este modo, el ciclo de renovación de las raíces a través del tiempo contribuye, no sólo con el reciclaje de nutrimentos, sino también con el mejoramiento del suelo mediante el secuestro del carbono fijado por la planta (Deinum 1985;Long et al. 1989;Veldkamp 1993;Fisher et al. 1994;Rao et al. 1994).Para completar los resultados ya obtenidos por otros autores (Paladines y Leal 1979) sobre el potencial de bioproducción y la calidad nutricional de la sabana de los Llanos de Colombia, se hicieron ensayos sin pastoreo, en pequeñas parcelas, en las pasturas nativas de los Llanos Orientales.Los datos reportados en este artículo responden a los siguientes objetivos:• Conocer la dinámica de la producción epígea, la productividad de la sabana nativa y su valor nutritivo, a lo largo del año, con corte y cosecha de la biomasa aérea y con corte a intervalos variados (de 1 a 56 semanas) de descanso de la vegetación.• Conocer la biomasa vegetal en diferentes sitios de los Llanos Orientales, con diferentes tipos de suelo (suelo arcilloso, suelo arenoso en la Serranía o en la Altillanura).• Conocer la producción vegetal de la sabana a diferentes alturas de corte, simulando diversas cargas animales o distintos tipos de manejo.• Conocer el potencial de producción de la sabana nativa con fertilización; esta fertilización, sin embargo, no corresponde mucho a las condiciones reales de manejo de la sabana nativa.• Conocer la dinámica de la producción y distribución de las raíces de las especies de la sabana nativa, en condiciones de pastoreo.• Determinar el papel de las raíces tanto en el reciclaje de nutrimentos en las pasturas como en el secuestro, en las raíces profundas, del carbono fijado por la planta.• Comparar la producción y distribución de las raíces de las especies que componen las pasturas introducidas, ya sea de gramínea sola o de gramínea + leguminosa.Estos estudios eran parte de un proyecto más amplio cuya meta fue diseñar modelos de pasturas para predecir el efecto, a largo plazo, de las opciones de manejo en la persistencia y en el reciclaje de nutrimentos de las asociaciones de gramíneas y leguminosas sometidas a pastoreo en las sabanas latinoamericanas (Fisher et al. 1993).Los ensayos se llevaron a cabo en el CIA Carimagua, en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia; este centro fue manejado por el ICA y el CIAT hasta fines de los 90; se hicieron también ensayos en algunas fincas ubicadas en la Serranía y en la Altillanura plana de los Llanos Orientales.Los cortes y cosechas se hicieron en pequeñas parcelas de 4 a 12 m 2 de superficie, con 4 a 10 repeticiones y con una altura de corte de 5 a 15 cm, según el tipo de ensayo. Después de la cosecha de la materia bruta (M.B.), la materia seca se determinó por secamiento de la M.B. en un horno a 70 °C hasta tener un peso constante. El valor nutricional fue obtenido mediante análisis químico en los laboratorios del CIAT, en Cali, Colombia (Salinas y García 1985).Los tratamientos de fertilización consistían en la dosis mínima o en la máxima, y se prepararon teniendo en cuenta las carencias químicas de los suelos. En algunos tratamientos no hay N. El Cuadro 10-1 muestra los nueve tratamientos aplicados. Se hizo finalmente un análisis estadístico (ANOVA) para comparar los tratamientos.El Cuadro 10-2 presenta la producción y la productividad de la sabana nativa de suelo arcilloso (Carimagua, La Vitrina) durante un año (época lluviosa + época seca). El Cuadro 10-3 presenta los datos obtenidos en el suelo arenoso de Carimagua, en La Alegría, en iguales condiciones. Estos datos permiten llegar a las siguientes conclusiones:• La producción (durante un año o en período mayor) y la productividad (producción por hectárea durante un día) de la sabana nativa son, en casi todos los tratamientos de descanso, más altas en los suelos arcillosos (arcillo-limosos) que en los suelos arenosos (areno-limosos), excepto en el caso del descanso de 8 semanas. Es bien conocido el hecho de que los suelos arcillosos de los Llanos Orientales son más fértiles que los arenosos.La productividad anual bruta (productividad diaria x 365 días) más alta es la correspondiente a 32 semanas de descanso en suelo arenoso (4672 kg MS/ha). Sin Cuadro 10-1. Fertilización de la sabana nativa en ensayos de biomasa epígea, en Carimagua. embargo, en este suelo la producción anual obtenida con cortes cada 4 semanas también es alta (cerca de 4 t MS/ha) y se considera de mejor calidad. Esta producción es un poco más alta que la biomasa obtenida con un solo corte después de un año de descanso (biomasa anual = 3764 kg MS/ha). En suelo arenoso, la producción anual más alta se obtiene con cortes de 16 semanas, aunque los cortes de 4 semanas permiten una producción anual de 2810 kg MS/ha. La biomasa anual aquí es un poco más baja que la de 4 semanas.La producción o productividad (neta) en ambos sitios es muy baja cuando se hacen cortes de 1 semana (3.2 y 4.2 kg MS/ha por día) o cortes de 2 semanas en suelo arenoso (3.9 kg MS/ha por día). La productividad es relativamente alta al principio de los cortes, pero disminuye mucho después de 2 ó 3 cortes, especialmente cuando hay descansos de 1 ó 2 semanas.Los análisis químicos y la digestibilidad de los rebrotes (ver Cuadro 9-2, Capítulo 9 de esta obra) permiten afirmar que los rebrotes mas jóvenes tienen, sin duda, mayor valor nutritivo (energía + proteína). Sin embargo, los rebrotes de 4 semanas tienen todavía buena calidad nutritiva.En el Cuadro 10-4 se presentan los resultados, en kg MS/ha, de biomasa anual (bruta) obtenidos en la Serranía y la Altillanura plana (ver Capítulo 1 de esta obra).Cuadro 10-3. Producción por área (rendimiento) y productividad (rendimiento en el tiempo) de biomasa en la sabana nativa, en un suelo 'arenoso' (Carimagua, en La Alegría) durante un año (época lluviosa + época seca). Estos datos muestran que el valor más alto de biomasa se registró en los bajos de la Serranía y el más bajo en las cimas de la colinas de los mismos sitios. La biomasa de la Altillanura es intermedia entre los dos sitios anteriores.La humedad de la materia verde es relativamente elevada en los bajos así como en la Altillanura plana.Con el fin de simular las diferentes cargas de bovinos y también de conocer la relación entre las variables altura de corte y rendimiento de la pastura, se cortó mensualmente la vegetación, durante un año, a tres alturas: 5, 10 y 15 cm. La Figura 10-1 muestra la dinámica de la producción acumulada cada 6 semanas (kg MS/ha). Se observa allí que la producción obtenida en un año, haciendo un corte a 15 cm, es de 800 kg MS/ha, y con un corte a 5 cm es de 2000 kg MS/ha. La Figura 10-2 muestra la productividad mensual (kg MS/ha por día x 30 días). Estas productividades no son semejantes: en los primeros cortes de 10 y 15 cm (hasta 5 ó 6 cortes) la productividad aumenta y, a partir del corte 7, disminuye progresivamente a medida que disminuyen las lluvias. La productividad de los cortes a 5 cm es menos regular, aunque siempre superior, a la de otros sitios altos. El índice foliar, en cortes a 5 cm, es suficiente para un buen crecimiento de los pastos.Los datos de los ensayos de fertilización de la sabana nativa se presentan en las Figuras 10-3 y 10-4. La producción más elevada se obtiene siempre con el tratamiento en que hay alta mezcla de fertilización y 150 kg de N/ha. Después de 1 año, la producción Figura 10-1. Producción acumulada de la vegetación de sabana en la Altillanura de los Llanos Orientales cortada cada mes a diferente altura. en estas parcelas es de 6790 kg/ha. Esta producción es altamente diferente (P < 0.001) de todos los demás tratamientos.La producción más baja ocurre en el testigo, en la fertilización sin N y en los tratamientos de muy baja o baja mezcla de fertilización (tratamientos 1, 3 y 4). La sabana tiene una producción, después de un año, de 4 a 4.3 t MS/ha. Estos valores de producción son significativamente diferentes (P < 0.05) de la producción con N (tratamientos 2, 5, 6, 8 y 9). El N es, entonces, el elemento más importante para aumentar la producción.En sentido descendente de la producción, los tratamientos se ordenan así: En las Figuras 10-3 y 10-4 se presenta la fertilización de la sabana nativa de los Llanos y la producción epígea acumulada durante 1 año con corte cada 6 semanas. El Cuadro 10-5 presenta la fertilización de la sabana nativa y su efecto en la producción durante las estaciones lluviosa y seca. Se observa la influencia predominante del N sobre la producción y el papel importante del K, seguido en importancia por el P y, solamente  MesesFigura 10-4. Producción epígea de la vegetación de sabana fertilizada en la Altillanura de los Llanos Orientales, en cortes hechos cada 6 semanas. Biomasa, MS (g/m 2 por 6 semanas) después, por la alta dosis de Ca. Los fertilizantes no aumentan mucho la producción en la época seca (Cuadro 10-5), cuyo valor representa del 6% al 7% de la producción anual.Estos ensayos de producción y productividad de las sabanas nativas de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia muestran la extrema pobreza de todos los tipos de suelos que se encuentran en esa región, sin que importen el sitio o el paisaje.La fertilización permite aumentar la producción. Con dosis muy altas de N y una mezcla completa de todos los elementos necesarios para las plantas, la producción no aumentó más del 66% con respecto al testigo.En agosto de 1990 se estableció un experimento de campo en el CIA Carimagua, una estación manejada por CORPOICA y el CIAT en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia (Fisher et al. 1993). Carimagua pertenece al sistema de sabanas iso-hipertérmicas y tiene un clima estacional seco, con una precipitación anual de 2200 mm que disminuye desde mediados de diciembre hasta finales de marzo. El suelo es un Oxisol franco-arcilloso (franco-fino, caolinítico, haplustox típico isohipertérmico) de pH bajo, con alta saturación de aluminio y con baja disponibilidad de nutrimentos. Se tomaron muestras de raíces a los 10,15,19,22,27,32,35 y 39 meses después de la siembra de las pasturas. En cada época de muestreo, las muestras de raíces se tomaban un día antes de que los animales entraran al potrero. Se tomaron utilizando un sacamuestras electrónico que extraía cilindros de suelo sin compactación. Se tomaron, en total, 20 cilindros de suelo en 5 cuadrados (4 cilindros de cada cuadrado) en cada potrero. Los cilindros de suelo de cada 2 cuadrados se mezclaron para tener, en total, 5 muestras de cilindros de suelo para cada profundidad de suelo; esto se hizo con el fin de reducir la intensidad de las mediciones. Este método nos permitió obtener un total de 40 cilindros de suelo de cada tratamiento, con los cuales se reducían al mínimo los efectos de la variabilidad espacial.A las raíces de los cilindros de suelo se les limpió el suelo mediante un sistema de elutriación hidroneumática (Rao et al. 1996). A las muestras de raíces se les determinó la longitud en un 'escáner' de longitud de raíces, empleando el método de intercepción de líneas (Rao et al. 1996). Las raíces se secaron en un horno de aire forzado (60 °C) y se pesaron. Las muestras de raíces se molieron para que pasaran por una malla de 1 mm en un molino de ciclón UDY. Se determinó la composición nutricional de las muestras de raíces según los métodos analíticos estándar (Rao et al. 1996).Se empleó un modelo de distribución vertical de raíces presentado por Gale y Grigal (1987) que se basa en la siguiente ecuación asintótica:Y = biomasa acumulada de raíces o fracción de longitud de éstas (una cantidad entre 0 y 1) desde la superficie del suelo hasta la profundidad 'd' (cm); > = 'coeficiente de extinción' fijado.El único parámetro calculado en este modelo es >, que proporciona un índice numérico simple de la biomasa de las raíces o de la distribución de la longitud de las raíces. Los valores altos de > (por ejemplo, 0.98) corresponden a una mayor proporción de biomasa de las raíces o de longitud de las raíces en lo profundo del suelo y sus valores bajos (por ejemplo, 0.91) suponen mayor proporción de biomasa de las raíces o de longitud de éstas junto a la superficie del suelo. Los valores de > se ajustaron a los datos de cada pastura (Jackson et al. 1996).La cantidad de raíces de leguminosa en las asociaciones de gramínea + leguminosa se determinó mediante la técnica de isótopos estables de carbono (Svejcar y Boutton 1985). La distribución del carbono orgánico del suelo (COS) en la profundidad del suelo se determinó utilizando un espectrómetro de masas. El análisis de varianza se calculó mediante el programa de computación SAS. Un nivel de probabilidad de 0.05 se consideró estadísticamente significativo.El primer muestreo de raíces (10 meses después de la siembra, junio de 1991) se realizó antes de empezar el tratamiento de pastoreo y se tomó como punto de partida. Se determinaron los cambios en la biomasa viva de las raíces de plantas bien establecidas (Mg/ha) según la edad de la pastura y para profundidades del suelo entre 0 y 80 cm (Figura 10-5). Los resultados de las pasturas de gramínea sola introducida (Bd) y de gramínea + leguminosa (Bd + Ca), con niveles iniciales bajo y alto de fertilizantes, comparados con los de la sabana nativa sin tradición alguna en la aplicación de fertilizantes, se presentan en la Figura 10-6A. Los pastos de la sabana nativa tenían niveles de biomasa de las raíces notoriamente inferiores en comparación con los hallados en los pastos introducidos. Entre las pasturas de especies introducidas, la de gramínea sola con baja aplicación inicial de fertilizante presentó mayores cantidades de biomasa de la raíz durante los 2 primeros años del desarrollo de la pastura. Los cambios en longitud de la raíz (km/m 2 ) durante la edad de la pastura, para capas individuales del suelo, se muestran en la Figura 10-6B. Las especies de sabana nativa presentaron una longitud de raíces notoriamente inferior, si se compara ésta con la de los pastos introducidos.La distribución media de la biomasa de las raíces, de 10 a 47 meses después de la siembra de los pastos mejorados, indicó que la pastura con gramínea sola introducida (Bd) tuvo más biomasa en las raíces en estratos profundos del suelo que los pastos de la sabana nativa (Figura 10-7, A y B). La biomasa de la raíz disminuyó al aumentar la profundidad del suelo en ambos tratamientos de pastura. Los pastos de la sabana nativa tenían relativamente menos raíces en los estratos de suelo de mayor profundidad (en particular, entre los 20 y los 80 cm de profundidad) en comparación con la pastura mejorada. La media de la distribución de la longitud de las raíces según la profundidad del suelo, de 10 a 47 meses después de la siembra de las pasturas mejoradas, presentó una tendencia similar a la observada para la biomasa de la raíz (Figura 10-7, C y D). La longitud específica de la raíz (LER), que es una medida de la finura del sistema radical, fue mayor en la pastura de la sabana nativa que en la pastura mejorada (Figura 10-7, E y F).Para obtener la diferencia entre el patrón de enraizamiento de los pastos de la sabana nativa y de los pastos introducidos, se calculó la biomasa acumulada de las raíces y la longitud de éstas (fracción) para cada época de muestreo y para cada capa de suelo. Los promedios de la biomasa acumulada de las raíces y de las fracciones de la longitud de éstas se calcularon para los pastos introducidos y se compararon con los de los pastos de la sabana nativa. Los datos se muestran en la Figura 10-3. Los valores de ß para la biomasa de las raíces y para la longitud de éstas indicaron que tanto los pastos de la sabana nativa como los introducidos presentaban un enraizamiento profundo. Sin embargo, el enraizamiento de los pastos de la sabana nativa fue relativamente más profundo si se considera, proporcionalmente a la profundidad, la longitud de las raíces encontradas. Figura 10-5. Cambios en la biomasa de las raíces y en la longitud de las raíces para diversos valores (de 0 a 80 cm) de la profundidad del suelo, durante el desarrollo de la pastura hasta los 47 meses de edad, en un Oxisol franco-arcilloso de Carimagua. Estas pasturas se establecieron en agosto de 1990 y fueron sometidas a pastoreo 10 meses después (junio de 1991). Los pastos introducidos soportaron una tasa de carga intermedia durante el pastoreo. Bd = B. dictyoneura, Ca = C. acutifolium, SN = sabana nativa, FB = fertilización inicial baja, FA = fertilización inicial alta, S = sin aplicación de fertilizantes. Las tasas de carga se discuten en el texto. El análisis del carbono estable de las raíces en una pastura de gramínea (C4) sola comparado con el obtenido en pasturas basadas en leguminosa (C3), permitió calcular la fracción de raíz de leguminosa según la profundidad del suelo en las asociaciones de gramínea + leguminosa de 22 meses de edad, con niveles iniciales bajo o alto de fertilizante (Cuadro 10-6). La proporción de raíz de leguminosa fue de menos del 10% de la biomasa total de las raíces en las dos pasturas basadas en leguminosa. Fue superior (de 11% a 21%) en las capas más profundas del suelo (de 60 a 80 cm de profundidad), si se compara con los valores obtenidos en las capas superiores del suelo (de 4% a 11%).Las diferencias en la composición nutricional media de las raíces (de 0 a 80 cm de profundidad del suelo) entre pastos nativos e introducidos se muestran en el Cuadro 10-7. Aunque no hubo diferencias notorias entre las pasturas con especies nativas o introducidas, la aplicación inicial alta de fertilizantes a los pastos introducidos mejoró su estado nutricional, lo que redujo las relaciones C:N y C:P de las raíces.Los cambios, a través del tiempo, en el tamaño de las reservas de nutrimentos de las raíces de los pastos mejorados y de los pastos de sabana nativa se muestran en el Cuadro 10-8. Los cambios en las reservas de N y P reflejaron, en parte, los cambios ocurridos en la biomasa de las raíces de estos pastos. La cantidad de N presente en las raíces de los pastos mejorados llegó hasta 18 kg/ha, mientras que en los pastos de la sabana nativa no superó los 6 kg/ha.Las diferencias en la distribución del COS según la profundidad de éste (de 0 a 80 cm) a los 32 meses después de la siembra, entre las pasturas de especies introducidas y la sabana nativa, se muestran en la Figura 10-8. Mayores cantidades de COS se midieron en las pasturas de gramínea sola; asimismo, el aumento de los niveles de COS en las pasturas de especies introducidas, comparadas éstas con las de la sabana nativa, reflejó hasta cierto punto las diferencias en la producción de biomasa de las raíces con el transcurso del tiempo. La cantidad total de COS adicional, entre 0 y 80 cm de profundidad del suelo, de las pasturas de gramínea sola, comparadas con la sabana nativa, se calculó -empleando valores de densidad global del suelo para cada capa del mismo-en 31.6 Mg/ha.Las mediciones de campo de los sistemas radicales durante el desarrollo de los pastos indicaron que, en los Oxisoles franco-arcillosos de baja fertilidad de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, los pastos introducidos producían, en plantas bien establecidas, una cantidad de biomasa viva de las raíces mayor que la producida por los pastos de la sabana nativa. La mayor abundancia de raíces profundas (biomasa) de los pastos introducidos, comparada con los pastos de la sabana nativa, no sólo podría contribuir a la absorción más eficiente de nutrimentos y de agua de los horizontes más profundos del suelo sino también a mejorar el reciclaje de nutrimentos. Además, la mayor cantidad de raíces observada, a medida que aumenta la profundidad del suelo, estaría agregando materia orgánica y nutrimentos al suelo mediante un ciclo rápido de regeneración.Se dispone de pocos datos de campo sobre la distribución y la producción de raíces de los sistemas de praderas tropicales que sean comparables a los de este trabajo (Long et al. 1989;Candell et al. 1996;Jackson et al. 1996). Aunque se ha observado que las raíces de los pastos introducidos penetran en el suelo hasta una profundidad de 8 m (Nepstad et al. 1994), la mayoría de los estudios, incluyendo éste, han encontrado que la mayor parte de la biomasa de las raíces está localizada en los primeros 30 cm del perfil del suelo (Goedert et al. 1985;Svejcar y Christiansen 1987;Spain y Couto 1990;Rodríguez y Cadima-Zevallos 1991;Rao et al. 1992;Cadisch et al. 1994;Nepstad et al. 1994;Jackson et al. 1996). Una de las principales razones que explica la concentración de las raíces en la capa superficial del suelo es que casi todos los nutrimentos de que puede disponer la planta están ubicados allí; en efecto, en esa capa el reciclaje de nutrimentos es más eficiente y la actividad biológica del suelo es más intensa (Rao et al. 1992;Haynes y Williams 1993;Thomas et al. 1995;Boddey et al. 1996). Cuando se compararon los valores de la longitud específica media de la raíz (LER) en la sabana nativa y en las pasturas de especies introducidas, la LER de los pastos de sabana nativa fue notoriamente mayor que la de los pastos introducidos Bd (B), Bd + Ca (FB) o Bd + Ca (FA). Los valores altos de LER de los pastos de la sabana nativa dan un alto valor a la zona de raíces superficiales en lo referente a la absorción de nutrimentos y a la capacidad de explorar el suelo para obtener los nutrimentos disponibles.Fue posible calcular las diferencias que distinguen las estrategias de enraizamiento de los pastos introducidos y de los de sabana nativa, gracias a un modelo desarrollado por Gale y Grigal (1987). Los valores altos de >, en particular para la distribución de la longitud de las raíces en las especies de sabana nativa y en los pastos introducidos, corresponden a la presencia de mayor cantidad de raíces a medida que la capa de suelo que las aloja es más profunda. Los valores más altos de ß y la mayor LER -registrados a una profundidad del suelo entre 30 y 80 cm en los pastos de sabana nativa que no recibieron fertilizante-indican que éstos pueden ser parte de un mecanismo adaptativo para extraer cantidades muy bajas de nutrimentos mineralizados (por ejemplo, N) que hayan sido lixiviados en el perfil profundo del suelo y que sirven, además, para tolerar la sequía. Esta observación señala que la comprensión de las estrategias adaptativas de la vegetación nativa puede contribuir al desarrollo de germoplasma superior de forrajes y de cultivos para condiciones de baja fertilidad del suelo. Deben explorarse las diferencias genotípicas entre las accesiones del germoplasma de Brachiaria y los recombinantes genéticos para este rasgo adaptativo, si se pretende reducir la degradación de las pasturas en los suelos ácidos de baja fertilidad de las sabanas sudamericanas.La gran cantidad de raíces vivas de plantas bien establecidas de los pastos introducidos podría contribuir a intensificar el reciclaje biogeoquímico de nutrimentos y el secuestro, en las raíces profundas, del carbono atmosférico fijado por la planta, una vez ocurridas la muerte y la descomposición de las raíces o como efecto de su ciclo de regeneración. Se espera, en cambio, un aporte inferior de los pastos de la sabana nativa en razón de que la biomasa de sus raíces bajo la superficie del suelo es menor. La dinámica de la biomasa y de la longitud de las raíces, durante los 4 años de producción de la pastura en condiciones de pastoreo, indica que el pasto introducido Bd (B) habría explorado un mayor volumen de suelo durante los 2 primeros años si no se hubiera beneficiado del suministro de N de la leguminosa. La relación C:P de las raíces de las pasturas de la sabana nativa es muy alta, indicando así su adaptación a la baja disponibilidad de P en el suelo. Esta característica de la raíz puede servir como un índice de selección para identificar genotipos de Brachiaria que sean excelentes para suelos ácidos de baja fertilidad. Asimismo, los valores altos de C:N y C:P observados en las raíces de los pastos introducidos indican la eficiencia metabólica de estas especies en el uso del N y del P absorbidos.Los cambios que experimenta, con el tiempo, el nivel de las reservas de nutrimentos de las raíces indicaron que la cantidad de N presente en las raíces de los pastos introducidos ascendía a 18 kg/ha, mientras que en los pastos de la sabana nativa fue un poco mayor que 6 kg/ha. Las reservas de otros nutrimentos, como el P, en las raíces de los pastos introducidos pudieron alcanzar también niveles nueve veces superiores a los de los pastos de la sabana nativa. La cantidad de nutrimentos reciclados mediante la hojarasca que depositan las pasturas de Bd + Ca (FB) en la superficie del suelo fue de tres a cuatro veces mayor que los reciclados en la pastura de Bd (FB) (Thomas et al. 1993). Esta diferencia se atribuyó a las tasas más rápidas de descomposición de la hojarasca de la leguminosa debidas a su menor relación lignina:N y a la mayor concentración de N, P, K y Ca en sus tejidos (Thomas et al. 1993;Thomas y Asakawa 1993).Entre los 19 y los 32 meses de desarrollo de la pastura de Bd (FB), se observó que el ciclo de renovación o reconversión de las raíces era muy intenso. Se calculó la cantidad de carbono (proveniente de la fijación atmosférica) secuestrado en las raíces profundas a los 32 meses y se halló que la pastura de Bd (FB) había acumulado 31.6 Mg/ha más de COS que los pastos de la sabana nativa, probablemente porque la producción y el ciclo de regeneración de las raíces de la pastura de Bd (FB) fueron mayores. Estos resultados confirman otros anteriores sobre el potencial de secuestro, en las raíces profundas, del carbono atmosférico fijado por la planta, potencial que poseen, en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, los pastos introducidos (Fisher et al. 1994). En las pasturas de gramíneas introducidas, la masa de lombrices de tierra era cinco veces mayor \"y 10 veces mayor, si había leguminosa\" que en la sabana nativa (Decaëns et al. 1994). Esta mayor actividad de las lombrices de tierra en las pasturas de especies introducidas debe tener un impacto considerable en los procesos de movilización del carbono desde la superficie del suelo hasta sus capas más profundas.Estos resultados tienen implicaciones importantes para el manejo de los pastos introducidos en lo referente al mejoramiento tanto del reciclaje de nutrimentos como del secuestro, en las raíces profundas, del carbono atmosférico fijado por las plantas. Las características de la raíz serían un criterio importante en la selección de forrajes tropicales introducidos que se usarían en sistemas agropastoriles tales como la rotación de cultivos y pasturas. La combinación de arroz de secano adaptado a suelos ácidos y de algunos forrajes tropicales en la rotación agropastoril ha demostrado ser una práctica viable, desde el punto de vista agronómico y económico, en los suelos ácidos de baja fertilidad que son representativos de las sabanas sudamericanas (Vera et al. 1992;Rao et al. 1993;Thomas et al. 1995). Un ciclo de rotación que tenga de 3 a 5 años de pastura y una fase de cultivos de 1 ó 2 años aumentaría el reciclaje de los nutrimentos y el secuestro, en las raíces profundas, del carbono atmosférico fijado por las plantas. Los agroecosistemas que incluyan las características benéficas de los pastos introducidos -tales como el crecimiento extensivo de las raíces hacia las capas más profundas del suelo y la cobertura permanente de éste-reducirían las pérdidas de nutrimentos porque almacenarían grandes cantidades de éstos en la biomasa acumulada bajo la superficie del suelo, aumentando así la materia orgánica del suelo y protegiéndolo. Estas características benéficas de las pasturas de especies introducidas pueden incorporarse ventajosamente en el diseño de sistemas agropastoriles apropiados para las sabanas sudamericanas, en las que puede haber tasas de pérdida de nutrimentos por lixiviación y erosión de nivel significativo.• La producción epígea de la vegetación nativa herbácea está limitada, en particular, por la composición química del suelo (es débil en N y otros elementos esenciales), por su pH muy bajo, cualquiera que sea el tipo de manejo que reciba la sabana (altura de corte y fertilización), y por la escasez de agua en la época seca. La fertilización no es rentable para el manejo de esta vegetacion nativa; por ello, la introducción de especies exóticas permite obtener mejores rendimientos de biomasa cosechable que es de mejor calidad.• Las medidas empleadas en Venezuela (Martín et al. 2000), en relación con otras sabanas nativas de la región, indican que las especies de las sabanas de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia están bien adaptadas a estos suelos pobres y que estas especies deben ser sustituidas por especies exóticas de mayor potencial para obtener rendimientos más elevados.• Los resultados de este estudio indican que los pastos introducidos producen, durante su desarrollo, mayor cantidad de raíces vivas activas en los estratos profundos del suelo que los pastos de la sabana nativa, en los Oxisoles de baja fertilidad de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia.• El estudio de las diferencias de enraizamiento, basado en la distribución proporcional de la longitud de las raíces según la profundidad, indicó que el enraizamiento de los pastos de la sabana nativa era relativamente más profundo que el de los pastos introducidos.• El análisis del carbono estable de las raíces de los pastos introducidos señaló que la fracción correspondiente a las raíces de la leguminosa, en una asociación de gramínea + leguminosa, era inferior al 10% de la biomasa total de las raíces.• Los pastos introducidos, con su abundante sistema radical a profundidades del suelo que van de 30 a 80 cm, tienen capacidad de lograr dos efectos:-reciclar los nutrimentos acumulados en las capas profundas del suelo;-secuestrar, en las raíces situadas bajo la capa arable del suelo, grandes cantidades de carbono atmosférico fijado por las plantas.• Los agroecosistemas que incorporen las características benéficas de los pastos introducidos, tales como el crecimiento extensivo de las raíces a gran profundidad y la cobertura permanente del suelo, reducirán las pérdidas de nutrimentos por las siguientes razones:-almacenan cantidades grandes de nutrimentos en la biomasa acumulada bajo la superficie del suelo;-aumentan la materia orgánica del suelo;-protegen el suelo con la cobertura que le proporcionan.CAPÍTULO 11 La introducción de pasturas mejoradas y su establecimiento son prácticas que se extienden rápidamente en la Altillanura plana de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia con el propósito de mejorar el nivel nutricional del ganado. La vegetación dominante en esta región consiste en pastos nativos de sabana de baja productividad y poca calidad forrajera.El cambio de la vegetación nativa por monocultivos extensos de especies forrajeras introducidas favorece la aparición de nuevas condiciones agroecológicas y de manejo. Un aspecto importante de estos nuevos cultivos es su posible degradación por la aparición de 'malezas', es decir, de especies no deseadas (END) en la pastura.Una pastura se degrada cuando disminuye su potencial productivo y se reduce el rendimiento del producto animal. Spain y Gualdrón (1991) explican que los siguientes factores son los que más contribuyen a esa degradación:• Mal manejo de la pastura, desde su establecimiento hasta su utilización.• Invasión de malezas, plagas y enfermedades en la pastura.• Pérdida de fertilidad del suelo.• Falta de adaptación de las especies sembradas.• Incompatibilidad entre las especies asociadas.'Maleza' es el término común que designa ciertas especies como 'malas hierbas' en un cultivo. Para un agrónomo, una planta se considera maleza cuando dificulta el desarrollo de las plantas cultivadas o aparece inoportunamente entre ellas (Doll 1989a;1989b). Desde el punto de vista botánico, taxonómico o ecológico, este concepto pierde validez porque todas las especies forman parte de un ecosistema. Como tales, pueden propiciar el control de la erosión, favorecen la presencia de la fauna benéfica, conservan la humedad del suelo, contribuyen a la formación de materia orgánica y al reciclaje de nutrimentos, son germoplasma útil como fuente de alimentos y medicinas, y preservan la vida silvestre.En la naturaleza, por tanto, no existen las 'malezas'. Los agrónomos aplican prioridades de productividad a ciertas especies y les atribuyen a otras, en determinado ciclo de la vida de éstas, la categoría de malezas; la categoría END sería, en cambio, la más apropiada. Estas especies exhiben las siguientes características:-crecen espontáneamente; -están adaptadas al medio; -tienen ciclos reproductivos cortos;-producen muchas semillas de dispersión principalmente anemófila, de mayor latencia que las de los cultivos y de excelente germinación;-son, además, de fácil propagación.Las END se caracterizan principalmente por su capacidad para obstaculizar el desarrollo de especies cultivadas ya establecidas, por los siguientes medios: competencia por agua, luz, nutrimentos y espacio; efectos alelopáticos; invasión del campo y, en el peor de los casos, desalojo de las especies forrajeras cultivadas. Se valen, además, para su supervivencia, de dos mecanismos: el ganado las rechaza y algunas poseen sustancias tóxicas.Consideradas a nivel económico y productivo, las END se convierten en un grave problema cuando superan el umbral de daño económico al cultivo y cuando las pasturas introducidas pierden su potencial forrajero en términos de productividad y calidad.En este capítulo se identifican las END o especies contaminantes de las pasturas y de los cultivos que se siembran en los Llanos Orientales. Se hizo el inventario de las END determinando además su cobertura, su frecuencia y su diversidad. Se midió además el nivel de degradación de diferentes tipos de pasturas establecidas en el CI Carimagua situado en el departamento de Meta, Colombia. Este es un centro piloto en investigación, introducción, establecimiento y adopción de nuevas especies forrajeras destinadas a las sabanas bien drenadas de los Llanos Orientales.Las evaluaciones se hicieron entre agosto de 1993 y marzo de 1994 en el CI Carimagua; la región de este nombre se conoce como sabana alta de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia; su altitud oscila entre 150 y 175 msnm.La región recibe una precipitación anual de 2200 mm, en promedio, distribuidos entre los meses de abril y diciembre. Las temperaturas máxima y mínima promedio son de 32 y 23 °C, respectivamente. La humedad relativa anual promedio es de 76%. Los suelos son de fertilidad baja, profundos, bien estructurados, muy porosos y permeables, y se clasifican como haplustox típico, caolinítico, isohipertérmico (Oxisol).Se evaluaron 36 pasturas (cada una en su lote); en los 36 lotes se establecieron, en monocultivo o en asociación, especies cuyas características se detallan en el Cuadro 11-1. El muestreo se hizo mediante transectos lineales de 20 m y con lecturas hechas al azar cada 20 m, en cada lote; son siete por hectárea, para un total de 700 puntos por tratamiento. Se analizaron las siguientes variables:Se rige por la expresión X i = (m i /M t ) x 100. La fracción proporcional de puntos con que una especie está presente (m i ), derivada de un número infinito de unidades de muestreo (M t ) posibles, equivale a la cobertura de dicha especie (X i ) (Matteucci y Colma 1982).Según el porcentaje de cobertura, se han establecido categorías o grupos para clasificar el tipo de invasión de las END en una pastura. Alemán (1991) usa una escala de cuatro grados cuyos valores generales se presentan a continuación: Se aplicó la prueba de Duncan con un nivel de significancia del 5% y se usaron datos no transformados para estudiar esta variable. La evaluación consistió en comparar tratamientos vs. cobertura de END, de un lado, y lotes vs. cobertura de END, del otro. Se agruparon 10 tratamientos según el tipo de pastura establecida, incluyendo un testigo de sabana nativa.Según los porcentajes de cobertura y los resultados de la prueba de Duncan (Cuadro 11-4), 62% de los lotes se encuentran medianamente invadidos por END, 15% presentan una invasión fuerte y 24% tienen una invasión muy fuerte; entre estos últimos se encuentran los lotes más jóvenes.Esta variable compara el número de veces que cada una de las 91 especies incluidas en el inventario se encuentra en los 36 lotes evaluados. Según la distribución de Huguet del Villar, se obtuvieron los datos que aparecen en el Cuadro 11-5.Especies constantes. Son el 4% del total. La especie Hyptis conferta (mastranto) es la más común; aparece en 33 lotes (92% del total) y nunca es pastoreada en forma constante (Blydenstein 1976). Axonopus purpusii (guaratara) está presente en un 81% de los lotes, tiene excelente valor forrajero y resiste el pastoreo; estas características le hacen perder el carácter de maleza o END (Blydenstein 1967). Están finalmente Galactia glaucenses (guayabo sabanero) con 77% de frecuencia y Lindermia diffusa con un 69%.Especies accesorias. Son el 30% del total. Comprenden 27 especies, de las cuales Andropogon bicornis (rabo de zorro) se destaca con un 61% de frecuencia.Especies accidentales. Son el 60% del total y contienen 60 especies.Esta variable mide la abundancia florística de los lotes comparados. Cuanto menos especies comunes haya en los lotes mayor será el valor de la diversidad (Cuadro 11-6).Del inventario realizado y del análisis de las variables cobertura, frecuencia y diversidad se puede concluir que las pasturas de los 36 lotes evaluados en el CIA Carimagua tienen las siguientes características:• Hay 28 lotes (78%) en fase de productividad media.• La cobertura del terreno con END (presencia de malezas) es, en promedio, de 34%.• La capacidad potencial de carga de los lotes es de 1 UA/ha. y manejo de la pastura (rotación, carga, control mecánico con guadaña, quema).Las asociaciones de gramínea y leguminosa tienen los menores porcentajes de cobertura de END; son, por tanto, un método importante de control de END, además de dar mayor cubrimiento al suelo y mejorarlo en su estructura.La distribución florística de las END en las pasturas mejoradas es la siguiente: dominan las especies accidentales (66%), siguen las accesorias (29%) y, por último, están las constantes (5%).La quema es una práctica de manejo empleada en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia con el fin de promover el rebrote en la época de verano; es además una herramienta de control de END en la sabana nativa y, a veces, en las pasturas mejoradas. Sin embargo, no se recomiendan las quemas continuadas porque el suelo queda descubierto y expuesto a la erosión, lo que afecta su contenido de materia orgánica y su microfauna. Cuando sea necesaria, hay que hacerla racionalmente y muy espaciada en el tiempo (con descanso largo para el lote).Una especie de las Poaceae, Panicum rudgei (paja tigre), se encuentra ocasionalmente en la sabana nativa; causó, sin embargo, graves problemas en los lotes evaluados, por las siguientes razones:-apareció en 21 lotes evaluados (58%);-es altamente invasora y puede desplazar la pastura establecida;-es un forraje tosco cubierto de pelusa que no es consumido por el ganado;-tiene poco valor nutritivo;-su frecuencia aumenta en el lote cuando éste es sometido a pastoreo;-es tóxica para el ganado porque contiene glucósidos cianogénicos que causan el síndrome de caída del ganado: los animales son más susceptibles al envenenamiento en la época de transición de verano a invierno (Tolkamp 1972;Moreno et al. 1976);-está adaptada a la quema, como la mayoría de las especies de los Llanos Orientales, y por eso rebrota muy bien: la quema favorece la escarificación de las semillas y el nacimiento de nuevas plantas.-su agresividad es tal que se mimetiza con las especies de la pastura mejorada: a veces su presencia es tan abundante en el lote que puede confundirse con una pastura introducida.Se destaca también Imperata brasiliensis (víbora o guayacana), una END que exhibe el siguiente comportamiento:-forma grandes manchones (o parches) en la sabana nativa;-sólo fructifica después de la quema y ésta, por tanto, favorece su dispersión;-crece emitiendo estolones subterráneos muy fuertes que tienen forma de punta cuando salen a la superficie: con ellos destroza las otras especies sembradas en el lote.Los productores empiezan a reconocer estas dos especies, junto con Emilia sonchifolia, como END de alto riesgo en los cultivos y en las pasturas de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia.Es necesario investigar la biología y la ecología de las END mencionadas para conocer su capacidad de interferir con otras especies y su potencial de daño económico. Sólo así podrán desarrollarse programas y estrategias para evaluar tanto las prácticas de manejo de pasturas y cultivos, aplicadas durante largo tiempo, como el impacto ambiental que pueden causar esas estrategias.El impacto de las END puede ser mucho mayor en los campos de los productores de ganado que en el centro de investigaciones donde se hizo este estudio, en condiciones controladas y con muchos recursos. Por consiguiente, la evaluación descrita aquí debe hacerse en esos campos para establecer el estado de las pasturas, el manejo que se les da y, lo más importante, el nivel de degradación que puedan presentar esas pasturas por la presencia de las END.Las END son parte de un ecosistema global y su control debe evitar la aparición de un desequilibrio mayor. El buen manejo de estas especies es la mejor solución al problema. Una propuesta interesante de manejo es la asociación de gramíneas y leguminosas en las pasturas.Resumen Histórico de la Investigación Desarrollada por el CIAT en la Sabana Nativa G. Rippstein* y R. Vera**Las sabanas nativas (sensu stricto) de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia ocupan el 80%, aproximadamente, de la superficie total de esa región. Las sabanas nativas se usan para la cría de ganado bovino destinado a la producción de carne, principalmente, y, en menor grado, a la producción de leche. Estos pastos son poco productivos; sin embargo, son la base de la alimentación animal en la mayoría de las fincas de la sabana, situación que se mantendrá todavía durante mucho tiempo por razones ecológicas o geomorfológicas, principalmente. Las sabanas son, además, una reserva importante de biodiversidad vegetal y un refugio para la fauna.A fines de la década del 70 se iniciaron algunos trabajos esporádicos sobre el manejo y la productividad animal de la sabana nativa. En 1986, el CIAT dio comienzo a los primeros estudios de largo plazo sobre la ecología de la sabana nativa de Carimagua; en 1989, extendió ese estudio a otras áreas de la sabanas nativa, o sea, a la Altillanura de los Llanos Orientales.El objetivo principal de este proyecto era incrementar el conocimiento sobre las especies y grupos de vegetación nativos (inventario, ecología, funcionamiento, productividad, valor pastoril) y mejorar el uso que se da a estos pastos nativos incluyendo aquí su integración a los sistemas agropastoriles. Estos sistemas se encuentran actualmente en pleno desarrollo.El proyecto se halla en su fase final de síntesis y publicación de los resultados de 6 años consecutivos de investigación; en este capítulo se presentarán los avances realizados hasta la fecha. Uno de los resultados es el desarrollo de métodos para caracterizar el estado de degradación de la sabana nativa basados en la interpretación de imágenes del satélite SPOT y para verificar ese estado a nivel de campo; otro, son los estudios detallados sobre la dinámica de la vegetación en respuesta a la época y a la frecuencia de la quema, y a la intensidad del uso que hacen de ella los animales en pastoreo.Se anticipa, hacia el futuro, la necesidad de identificar sitios y áreas de particular riqueza de especies y genotipos empleando una combinación de detección remota ('remote sensing') y de investigación de campo y de laboratorio, con la finalidad de identificar las áreas cuya conservación es prioritaria. Se considera también de alta prioridad la descripción y el análisis cuantitativo de las funciones ecológicas de los bosques de galería y la valoración económica de los servicios ecológicos ofrecidos por la sabana y los bosques.Las sabanas nativas (sensu stricto) de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia (ver Figura 1-11, Capítulo 1 de esta obra) ocupan alrededor del 80% de la superficie total de esa región; el resto está ocupado por cultivos (principalmente, especies forrajeras y arroz), por bosques de galería y por ríos.Las sabanas nativas son pastoreadas generalmente por bovinos que producen carne y, en menor grado, leche: estos últimos se hallan cerca de las ciudades.Estas sabanas tienen suelos pobres (Cochrane et al. 1985) y, aunque son poco productivas, son la base de la alimentación de los animales en la mayoría de las fincas. Esta situación se mantendrá todavía mucho tiempo en la región, principalmente por razones ecológicas o geomorfológicas relacionadas con las llanuras mal drenadas y la Serranía. Las sabanas constituyen, además, una reserva importante de biodiversidad de plantas y un refugio de la fauna salvaje.Por estas razones, desde la creación del Centro de Investigación Agropecuaria (CIA, antiguo CNI, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones) Carimagua, manejado por el ICA y el CIAT, en Meta (Figura 12-1), el CIAT investiga sobre el uso dado a la sabana nativa y el posible mejoramiento de ésta.Desde su creación, en 1970, el Programa de Pastos Tropicales del Figura 12-1. Vista aérea del área de Carimagua.CIAT ensayó varios sistemas de producción para aplicar con mayor eficiencia la quema en el manejo de la sabana nativa. Se ensayó entonces la introducción de leguminosas forrajeras en la sabana para mejorar su calidad y alimentar mejor los bovinos (CIAT 1974).En 1986, el Programa antes mencionado inicia el primer estudio botánico y ecológico de las 20,000 ha de sabana nativa del CIA Carimagua (ver Figura 1-2, Capítulo 1 de esta obra), bajo la responsabilidad del líder del Programa José (\"Pepe\") Toledo, ya fallecido. Lo acompañaron en esta tarea el auxiliar en botánica, Javier Belalcázar, el agrónomo y botánico Rainer Schultze-Kraft, el ecofisiólogo Myles Fisher y el ecólogo Jeff Herrikc; colaboró además en el proyecto el botánico Eugenio Escobar, de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Palmira.En 1989, la sección de Pastizales Naturales (del Programa mencionado) desarrolló un proyecto más amplio para estudiar las sabanas de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia, pero enfocado hacia el CIA Carimagua. Este proyecto fue financiado por el Gobierno Japonés y con él se inició también la colaboración con el CIRAD-EMVT de Francia.En 1992, el proyecto se incorporó al Programa de Sabanas del CIAT que a finales de 1993 se fusionó con el Programa de Márgenes del Bosque y conformó más tarde el Programa de Trópico Bajo.Esta reestructuración institucional no ha afectado mucho los objetivos y el desarrollo de la investigación sobre sabanas. Con ella se incorporaron un poco más en este trabajo los sistemas de producción de Carimagua y de Matazul.Desde un principio, el objetivo general del proyecto fue caracterizar, conservar, mejorar y (si fuere necesario) regenerar los ecosistemas nativos sometidos a pastoreo en los Llanos Orientales de Colombia.Los principales objetivos específicos del proyecto y sus actividades conexas se resumen en el Cuadro 12-1. Los principales fueron los siguientes:• Incrementar los conocimientos básicos y el inventario de la vegetación nativa de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia (botánica, ecología vegetal, fitosociología).• Entender y explicar las causas de la forma fisonómica actual, de la composición florística y de la dinámica de la vegetación natural pastoreada por bovinos, es decir, describir el funcionamiento del ecosistema pastoreado, para evitar su degradación. Este proceso de degradación se ha iniciado ya en sitios como las áreas contiguas al río Meta y a la carretera Puerto López-Carimagua.• Estudiar la dinámica de la productividad y de la calidad (valor alimenticio) de las especies vegetales consumidas, así como la dinámica del 'valor pastoril' de los diferentes tipos de vegetación manejados con quema, en rotación, con diferentes cargas.• Estudiar el comportamiento alimenticio de los bovinos en los pastos nativos.• Estudiar los sistemas mejorados de manejo de las praderas nativas adaptadas a las condiciones naturales e integradas a los sistemas de producción intensivos (cultivos y pastos mejorados), que se desarrollan rápidamente en zonas favorables de los Llanos Orientales.• Una vez integrado el proyecto en el Programa de Trópico Bajo, estudiar las especies no deseables (malezas) en los cultivos del proyecto CULTICORE, en Carimagua.Las actividades de investigación sobre el inventario de la vegetación y de la tipología de la sabana fueron llevadas a cabo en los siguientes sitios de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia:-parte de la Altillanura plana del CIA de Carimagua (25,000 ha, 300 km al este de Villavicencio, Meta) y de sus alrededores, en suelos relativamente más fértiles (suelos arcillosos) y más pobres (suelos arenosos);-los municipios de Puerto López y Puerto Gaitán (120 km al este de Villavicencio), que comprenden zonas de Altillanura plana, de Altillanura ondulada (al sur de la anterior) y de la Serranía formada por la erosión y la acción de los ríos.Estas formaciones corresponden, respectivamente, a los sistemas de  Cochrane et al. (1985). La región considerada tiene una superficie cercana a los 2500 km².Las actividades de investigación de la productividad y la calidad de las especies y de la vegetación, de los sistemas de producción y del uso de la tierra fueron realizadas en el CIA de Carimagua en suelos relativamente fértiles (arcillo-limosos o arcilloarenosos) y en suelos pobres (arenosos).Las metodologías empleadas generalmente en estos estudios de pastos -o sea, inventarios, productividad, dinámica, valor alimenticio-fueron las utilizadas por el CIRAD-EMVT (Boudet 1991;Daget y Godron 1995), en particular, la metodología fitosociológica de Braun-Blanquet (Guinochet 1973) y la de los \"puntos cuadrados alineados\" para los estudios de la dinámica de la vegetación (Daget y Poissonet 1991).Para los estudios de uso de la tierra se utilizaron los Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG), en particular los datos del satélite europeo SPOT HRV (Girard y Girard 1989;Girard y Rippstein 1994).El proyecto llegó a su fin en 1997. Los estudios de campo terminaron en 1996 y la fase actual es el análisis de los datos y la publicación de los resultados.Durante el taller regional Agrociencia y Tecnología Siglo XXI: Orinoquia Colombiana, reunido en Villavicencio (Meta) en noviembre de 1996, se presentaron los siguientes resultados:-información parcial sobre el inventario de la vegetación y su diversidad;-parte de los estudios sobre la dinámica de la vegetación manejada con quemas;-influencia del pastoreo y de diferentes cargas en los pastos, y otras formas de manejo de la sabana.Se presentan también resultados sobre la productividad de los diferentes sistemas de manejo de los pastos nativos. La mayor parte de esta información se publica en este libro. Algunos resultados aparecieron en revistas, reuniones científicas y en tesis de estudiantes.La descripción detallada de la vegetación (inventarios, dinámica, tipología) y las metodologías desarrolladas pueden ser aplicadas a otras zonas de los Llanos Orientales y a otras sabanas. Hay que pasar del nivel localizado al nivel más amplio (por ejemplo, la cuenca, el municipio, toda la Serranía o toda la Altillanura mal drenada) para que estos resultados sirvan a los productores, a los servicios de desarrollo del departamento o a los de transferencia de tecnología de los municipios o los departamentos.• Los pastos nativos estarán siempre presentes en las fincas de los Llanos Orientales, especialmente en las zonas no arables: Serranía, Altillanura mal drenada y Bajos. Se sugiere investigar, por tanto, en las fincas, la integración de esos pastos en su sistema forrajero y en sus sistemas de producción, es decir, con los pastos mejorados y con cultivos como el arroz y el maíz. Se han hecho ya varios de estos experimentos en el CIA Carimagua (Fisher et al. 1992) y en la Altillanura plana (formación 201), pero se carece de información sobre otros sistemas de tierras más extensos y, posiblemente, más frágiles.• Esta iniciativa implica la evaluación de la productividad de los pastos y de los animales, y el cálculo de los efectos de esa integración en la biodiversidad, tanto de la flora como de la fauna; hay efectos en la biología de los suelos que ya han sido documentados por Decaëns et al. (1994). Es necesario, además, desarrollar modelos y programas geo-referenciados que ayuden a los productores a tomar decisiones.• Identificar e investigar sitios particularmente ricos en especies vegetales y animales que deban ser protegidas. Definir la tipología ecológica y el uso actual y potencial de las tierras a nivel regional. Producir mapas que muestren la diversidad de la vegetación y de los suelos, en los que puedan identificarse las siguientes clases de tierras: las más favorables, para desarrollar cultivos; las menos favorables agrícolamente, para la producción animal; las más pobres, para mantenerlas con bosque; y las que sean ricas en biodiversidad, para dedicarlas a reserva natural.• Esta investigación debe realizarse con la ayuda de los SIG y de indicadores ecológicos (especies indicadoras, por ejemplo) que es preciso desarrollar.• Determinar el grado de vigor del ecosistema de los Llanos Orientales y la medida en que se le aplican el concepto de los nuevos sistemas 'complejos' y el modelo de 'estado y transición', haciendo una comparación con los conceptos clásicos de sucesión.• Hacer una descripción y un análisis cuantitativo de las funciones ecológica y económica de la sabana y de los bosques de galería, es decir, considerar las reservas de biodiversidad, la protección contra la erosión y las inundaciones, la explotación de las especies maderables o aptas para cercas y otros aspectos similares.• Establecer sistemas de observación continua, por ejemplo, el seguimiento ('monitoreo') por imágenes de satélite, de la dinámica tanto del uso de la tierra como de la degradación de la vegetación y de los suelos (erosión); estos sistemas ayudarán a tomar decisiones políticas sobre el uso de los recursos de tierras.• Hacer estudios ecológicos básicos de los Bajos y de las zonas mal drenadas, es decir, la zona periforestal, al sur de río Meta, y la Altillanura mal drenada, al norte de dicho río. Esta investigación contemplaría el inventario botánico (tipología y mapa de la vegetación), el estudio de los suelos y el mapa respectivo, el régimen hídrico, las condiciones climáticas y otros factores.• Evaluar, en colaboración con investigadores de Venezuela, las consecuencias ambientales y socioeconómicas de los cambios significativos en el uso de la tierra que ocurran a lo largo de la cuenca del río Orinoco. En esta investigación se desarrollarían modelos que permitirán simular diferentes escenarios de desarrollo. Para estudiar la composición botánica y la dinámica de la vegetación de la sabana nativa (sabana alta o Altillanura) es necesario conocer las especies nativas en su estado vegetativo, ya que éstas, generalmente, no presentan floración por tres razones principales: la dinámica de su fenología, las quemas y el manejo de la sabana con animales.Para determinar el género y la especie de una gramínea, los especialistas emplean, como unidad taxonómica básica, la variación morfológica de las espículas, las cuales son, muchas veces, microscópicas y difíciles de observar. Las Claves Sinópticas Ilustradas (CSI) que aquí presentamos se basan, en cambio, en caracteres morfológicos de fácil observación en las gramíneas nativas halladas principalmente en las sabanas del departamento del Meta, Colombia. Estas claves se desarrollaron a partir de la experiencia adquirida por los autores en el Centro de Investigación Agropecuaria (CI) Carimagua, situado en Meta, Colombia, y son un complemento de la Clave Estribada publicada por Escobar et al. (1993).La principal ventaja de las CSI es que permiten \"entrar\" en sus tablas por las características vegetativas más evidentes de cada especie. En las gramíneas (poáceas), varias de esas características son importantes (ver B. Características…, Cuadro B1), aunque sólo se utilizarán algunas de ellas en las CSI.El tallo sostiene la planta poácea y define el hábito de crecimiento de la especie a que ésta pertenece (ver B. Características…, Cuadro B2). Se compone de segmentos denominados entrenudos que están delimitados por los nudos. Tiene consistencia herbácea o leñosa y puede ser hueco o macizo, erguido o postrado y de tamaño variable.Las poáceas (gramíneas) tienen tallos aéreos y subterráneos. Losprimeros pueden ser erectos, decumbentes o rastreros. Los tallos decumbentes crecen 'recostados' sobre el suelo y pueden enraizar a partir de los nudos inferiores. Los tallos rastreros crecen en forma horizontal sobre el suelo y, como los decumbentes, pueden emitir raíces en los nudos. La planta que se desarrolle en un nudo enraizado se denomina estolón. Los tallos subterráneos pueden ser rizomas, tubérculos o bulbos.Las hojas de las poáceas tienen, por lo regular, tres áreas principales (ver B. Características, Cuadro B2, y D. Clave 2):Vaina. Es la parte de la hoja que se inserta en el nudo y que rodea el tallo, en forma más o menos estrecha, uniéndose a él. Puede ser cilíndrica, aplanada o aquillada. Sus márgenes pueden parecer sobrepuestos (vaina abierta) o juntos (vaina hendida) o pueden estar unidos formando entonces una vaina entera o cerrada.Lígula. Es un ápice membranoso o piloso que se halla entre la vaina y la lámina, en la cara superior o haz de la hoja.Lámina. Es la superficie libre de la hoja. Normalmente es lineal y acintada en las poáceas, aunque muchas veces hay variaciones de esa forma. Es paralelinervia según la disposición de la nervadura. Presenta una cara superior (el haz) y una inferior (el envés).Las hojas de las poáceas pueden presentar otras estructuras que permiten caracterizar muchas especies. Son las siguientes:Aurículas. Estas estructuras aparecen en las hojas en forma de apéndice o de dilatación situada frecuentemente en la base de la lámina o en la parte distal de la vaina.Cuello o cordón ondulado. En la zona donde la vaina se funde con la lámina foliar se observan, en el envés de ésta, una coloración de matiz diferente del entorno y una vellosidad: constituyen el cuello de la vaina. En algunos casos (Homolepis aturensis), el cuello presenta además (por el envés de la lámina) una pequeña estructura semicircular membranácea o pilosa.Las CSI presentan gráficamente, como su nombre lo indica, las estructuras vegetales que les sirven de elementos identificadores. Para facilitar más su manejo, la Clave 1 (ver C. Clave 1) divide las poáceas en cinco grupos según dos características: la presencia o ausencia de indumento o pilosidad en la lámina foliar (haz, envés y márgenes) y en la vaina, y la forma de esta última (cilíndrica, comprimida o aplanada). El proceso de identificación tiene tres pasos:Primer paso: reconocer las principales características morfológicas de esa especie (ver B. Características, Cuadros B1 y B2).• Segundo paso: definir el grupo al cual pertenece la especie de poácea (sección C. Clave 1).• Tercer paso: entrar en la tabla que contiene la clave principal del grupo (ver D. Clave 2) para identificar -aplicando por contraste las demás características allí consideradas-el ejemplar que se estudia. Este se identificará, al final, como una de las 31 especies presentes en la Clave 2, que son las más comunes en la Altillanura plana de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia.Cuando no hay un interés particular en conocer todas las características morfológicas de la especie en cuestión, puede obviarse el primer paso. El grupo elegido en B. conduce directamente a las tablas de la sección D., donde están las características más específicas del ejemplar que se desesa identificar.La presencia o ausencia de pilosidad en las hojas es importante para la identificación de una especie. Ahora bien, la pilosidad puede variar con el estado del desarrollo de la planta; por ejemplo, parte de la pilosidad puede perderse por la edad, en las hojas viejas, o también por el estrés que causa la sequía, en hojas viejas y jóvenes. La Clave 2 repite, además de las 31 especies clasificadas, seis especies que pueden manifestar esta variación; están marcadas con un (*).Con ayuda de las claves y por apreciación visual, es posible diferenciar varias especies según las siguientes características: la relación entre la longitud y la anchura de las hojas, la orientación de los vellos en las estructuras pilosas, y las características de los márgenes de las hojas.El Cuadro B2 plegable (p. 253) ilustra las características usadas para identificar las poáceas; sirve también para entrar en la CSI 2 (ver D. Clave 2).Las características morfológicas generales y el hábitat se usan para identificar especies de poáceas. Una descripción de estas características y las estructuras vegetales relacionadas con ellas se presentan en el Cuadro B1.El hábito de crecimiento es una característica importante para identificar especímenes de poáceas (gramíneas). El Cuadro B3 (p. 255) presenta ocho hábitos de crecimiento de especies de poáceas que crecen en la sabana nativa de los Llanos Orientales, y sirve también de ayuda para entrar en la clave sinóptica principal, CSI 2.Cuadro B1. Características de las poáceas (gramíneas).-Arenoso, arcilloso o de arrecife (Altillanura, Serranía) -Según forma: Cilíndrica, comprimida, aplanada -Según envés: Glabra, pilosa, escabrosa -Según AM e : Abierta, en V, cerrada, superpuesta -Según dorso: Lisa (simple), carinadaAusente, vestigial, pronunciadoLaminares, de la vaina Lígula:-Según tipo: Ciliada (pilosa), de cilios cortos, membranosa (simple, ciliada, franjeada o truncada, con corona de pelos largos)-Según forma: Triangular, cimbiforme (aquillada), ovada, oblonga (transversalmente angosta), con mechones laterales de pelos Sinflorescencia:-Según ejes: Solitaria, conjugada (pareada), digitada, subdigitada, racemosa -Según espícula: Sésil, pedicelada, lisa, pilosa, aristada, triaristada, alada -Según UE f : Espiga (esp. sésil), racimo (esp. pedicelada), seudoespiga (esp. sésiles y pediceladas), panícula laxa (abierta, pedicelada), panícula contraída -Los céspedes estoloníferos presentan estolones y culmos.-Los céspedes rizomatosos tienen rizomas y culmos.  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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"17b9faa011eaa83cf3aec77810498005","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2bbb605e-21c9-4725-ad00-35441700a0a8/retrieve","id":"1494835273"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"37429237-533a-4ae6-ba9e-f1bc290eefa1","content":"Food systems that support healthy diets in sustainable, resilient, just, and equitable ways can engender progress in eradicating poverty and malnutrition; protecting human rights; and restoring natural resources. Food system activities have contributed to great gains for humanity but have also led to significant challenges, including hunger, poor diet quality, inequity, and threats to nature. While it is recognized that food systems are central to multiple global commitments and goals, including the Sustainable Development Goals, current trajectories are not aligned to meet these objectives. As mounting crises further stress food systems, the consequences of inaction are clear. The goal of food system transformation is to generate a future where all people have access to healthy diets, which are produced in sustainable and resilient ways that restore nature and deliver just, equitable livelihoods.A rigorous, science-based monitoring framework can support evidence-based policymaking and the work of those who hold key actors accountable in this transformation process. Monitoring can illustrate current performance, facilitate comparisons across geographies and over time, and track progress. We propose a framework centered around five thematic areas related to (1) diets, nutrition, and health; (2) environment and climate; and(3) livelihoods, poverty, and equity; (4) governance; and (5) resilience and sustainability. We hope to call attention to the need to monitor food systems globally to inform decisions and support accountability for better governance of food systems as part of the transformation process. Transformation is possible in the next decade, but rigorous evidence is needed in the countdown to the 2030 SDG global goals.1 Co-first authors. 2 Co-principal investigators. 3 Leads of thematic area working groups.Food systems are essential to achieving most of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly \"zero hunger\" and \"zero poverty,\" (United Nations General Assembly, Seventieth Session, 2015; Independent Group of Scientists appointed by the Secretary-General, 2019) and for staying within \"planetary boundaries,\" the Earth System processes that define a safe space for humanity and all species (Rockström et al., 2009(Rockström et al., , 2020;;Springmann et al., 2018). With less than a decade remaining to achieve the SDGs (the \"2030 Agenda\") and amidst mounting social, political, health, and ecological crises, the global community faces a critical juncture to transform food systems so that they support healthy diets in sustainable, resilient, just, and equitable ways (Blesh et al., 2019;Cowan, 2020;Regilme, 2020;Sachs et al., 2021;Salas et al., 2020;Stevano et al., 2021;Watson et al., 2020). Food systems are central to meeting the SDGs and the targets and commitments established in the three Rio Conventions on climate change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). In addition to global goals and commitments, achieving equity in food system outcomes and the livelihoods of those whose welfare is tied to food systems require more just food systems in which greater power is vested in the hands of consumers and workers (Anderson, 2008;Fanzo and Davis, 2019;Giron-Nava et al., 2021;Klassen & Murphy, 2020;Rockström et al., 2021;Walls et al., 2020;Whitfield et al., 2021).Food systems have contributed to great gains for humanity throughout history (Barrett et al., 2020;Conway, 2012;Fanzo and Davis, 2019; Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, 2020; UNICEF, WHO, & World Bank, 2020). However, these meaningful contributions conceal significant challenges. Billions of people lack access to affordable, healthy diets, are at risk of poor health, and are increasingly suffering from diet-related diseases (Afshin et al., 2019;Bennett et al., 2020;FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP andWHO, 2020, FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP andWHO, 2021;Mulik and Haynes-Maslow, 2017;Penne and Goedemé, 2021;Pinard et al., 2016). Food production and waste are responsible for 21-37% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contribute to many other types of environmental degradation threatening the Earth's systems, but at the same time are one of the largest levers for positive change (Béné et al., 2020d,a;Cattaneo et al., 2021;Fanzo et al., 2020;Gerten et al., 2020;Henriksson et al., 2021;Kremen & Merenlender, 2018;Kummu et al., 2012;Mbow et al., 2019;Molden, 2007;Poore & Nemecek, 2018;Reyers & Selig, 2020;Rockström et al., 2020;Rosenzweig et al., 2020;Springmann et al., 2018;Yates et al., 2021).People who earn their livelihoods in food systems are among the most marginalized, vulnerable, and exploited (Anderson, 2008;Borras et al., 2008;Christiaensen et al., 2021;Fleischer et al., 2013;Holt Giménez & Shattuck, 2011;Hunt, 2016;Parks et al., 2020;International Labour Organization and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2019;One Fair Wage et al., 2020). Most food systems are currently unable to sufficiently anticipate, absorb, and adapt to shocks and stresses or to meet the long-term needs of current and future populationsconcerns becoming even more important with the anticipated increase in frequency and severity of these shocks in coming decades (Barrett, 2020;FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2020;FSIN & GNFC, 2021;Herrero et al., 2020b;Béné et al., 2021a; FAO IFAD UNI-CEF WFP and WHO, 2018;Loboguerrero et al., 2019;Nordhagen et al., 2021;Puma et al., 2015;Rockström et al., 2020;Tendall et al., 2015;Webb et al., 2021). Finally, longstanding power asymmetries, including those related to gender, ethnicity, and wealth, and the enduring legacies of colonization and slavery have led to structural inequities around the control and organization of food systems (Anderson, 2008;Blesh et al., 2019;Harris et al., 2021;Klassen & Murphy, 2020;Leach et al., 2020;Palumbo & Sciurba, 2018;Passidomo, 2013;Walls et al., 2020). Unless designed and governed differently, the structure of food systems may reinforce and deepen existing inequities (Klassen & Murphy, 2020;Passidomo, 2013).These challenges necessitate urgent transformation (Barrett et al., 2020;Webb et al., 2020). The global community increasingly agrees that addressing the longstanding, inherent synergies and trade-offs in food systems must be done through a systems lens, rather than isolated entry points (Barrett et al., 2020;Blesh et al., 2019;Fanzo et al., 2020;Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, 2020;HLPE, 2017;Ingram, 2011;IPES-Food & ETC Group, 2021). In addition to the need to consider the complexity and directionality of the relationships within food systems, for many critical indicators the desirable direction of change (\"transformation\") depends on the starting point and structure of the food system. Some common goals exist across systems, including equitable access to and use of resources (e.g., financial and natural resources, health services, nutrition security, and information), infrastructure, and respect for human rights, while respect for cultural traditions, food preferences, and fulfilling livelihoods are individual and context specific.Transformation further requires redressing the long-standing vested interests that contribute to current outcomes. The food industry faces enormous incentives to continue producing highly profitable ultraprocessed food and drink. The agriculture sector faces incentives to continue focusing on scale and productivity above all else (Barrett et al., 2020;Herrero et al., 2020a). The concentration and market power of a small number of multinational firms in all sub-sectors of food systems exert enormous control over the product landscape and research agendas, and strongly influence government actions (Canfield et al., 2021;Clapp, 2021). Human rights violations, social welfare loss, and environmental degradation carry low (or zero) costs, leaving these impacts as externalities of the food system for which no one is held accountable and no one pays a price (L. Baker et al., 2020;Gemmill-Herren et al., 2021;Hendriks et al., 2021;A. Kennedy & Liljeblad, 2016;Kennedy et al., 2021;Rockefeller Foundation, 2021).The urgent need for transformation is undeniable, yet there is currently no coordinated effort to monitor all aspects of food systems and their interactions. Doing so in a scientifically rigorous, multidisciplinary, inclusive manner is necessary to track change, urge action, and hold decision-makers at all scales accountable. Quantitative efforts to develop and measure indicators of food system impacts can also provide inputs into realizing true cost accounting for food systems, with the goal of internalizing the costs of the current externalities food systems create (L. Baker et al., 2020;Gemmill-Herren et al., 2021;Hendriks et al., 2021;Kennedy et al., 2021;Rockefeller Foundation, 2021). In addition to addressing the full spectrum of economic, social, and environmental activity surrounding food, a systems perspective can help identify the entry points to connect knowledge with actions capable of spurring change and stimulating monitoring-based learning practices. Monitoring systems offer an important mechanism to track change, identify tradeoffs, and develop policy options to address challenges (Belesova et al., 2020;GEOGLAM Crop Monitor, 2021;IPCC, 2019a;Sacks et al., 2021;Swinburn et al., 2013;The Lancet Diabetes Endocrinology, 2015). Building on the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) and the window of opportunity with food systems on the international political agenda, and in recognition of the need for monitoring and accountability, the authors have come together to propose an overarching framework to monitor food systems, commit ourselves to attempt to implement such monitoring, and invite others to collaborate and be similarly inspired by this call to action.A comprehensive, independent, science-based mechanism to globally measure and monitor (i.e., \"track\") the performance of food system activities could help achieve meaningful progress by aligning food system actors, recognizing priorities, setting clear targets for actions, and identifying trade-offs. Such a mechanism can offer food system actors and other stakeholders (e.g., civil society, governments, and international organizations) actionable evidence to hold governments, consumers (specifically, those with the privilege to choose), and the private sector accountable for food system transformation. The authors in this paper propose a monitoring framework for food systems populated with a clear set of relevant, high quality, interpretable, and useful indicators to support evidence-based policymaking. Regularly comparing and analyzing these indicators can help illustrate the current performance of food systems, draw comparisons and lessons across countries, and track changes over time. Assessing performance relative to established targets and goals can track progress and incentivize action. Using a systems perspective-including analyzing interactions, feedback loops, and distal impacts-would provide insight into the state of food systems and their transformation. This type of analysis would complement other global and regional monitoring and tracking initiatives focused on related outcomes, such as sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and health (Micha et al., 2020;Victora et al., 2016;Watts et al., 2021;Our World In Data, 2021;Tubiello et al., 2021b).To build the architecture of this monitoring framework, we suggest adapting the High-Level Panel of Experts of the Committee on World Food Security food system framework (HLPE, 2017), which was informed by many previous frameworks (Ericksen, 2008;Gustafson et al., 2016;Ingram, 2011;National Research Council, 2015). Fig. 1 presents our adaptation, illustrating the confluence and interrelationships between actions across food system components that together manifest in many outcomes. We recognize that a static framework is useful to depict the components of a system, but food systems are dynamic in nature. Drivers can influence the directionality and dynamism of interactions between actors and components, which can help or hinder transformation (Béné et al., 2020a;HLPE, 2017). Food systems also influence these drivers in a series of feedback loops (Ericksen, 2008). Governance and policy actions can both influence and be influenced by food system drivers, components, actors, and outcomes (OECD, 2021). Risks, shocks, and vulnerabilities threaten food system outcomes and their resilience and sustainability (Gaupp et al., 2019;Klassen & Murphy, 2020;Tendall et al., 2015). Food systems also play a role in limiting opportunities and reinforcing socio-ecological and poverty traps; analyzing food systems from a systems perspective can be useful in developing holistic interventions that address the inherent coupled dynamics and feedback loops (Barrett, 2008;Galli et al., 2018;Golden et al., 2021;Rufino et al., 2013).We propose five thematic areas for which we have identified initial indicator domains that can be mapped to the framework and demonstrate the important relationships necessary to monitor. Three thematic areas focus on the outcomes of food systems: (1) Diets, nutrition, and health; (2) Environment and climate; and (3) Livelihoods, poverty, and equity. Cross-cutting areas focus on (4) Governance and (5) Resilience and sustainability. These thematic areas arise from systemic analysis of food systems, the entry points for change, established targets and goals, and the necessary processes and capacities to bring about change. We organized ourselves into working groups around these areas and each working group developed the initial indicator domains proposed in Table 1. These indicator domains are the result of more than two dozen meetings over a four-month period involving all the authors, as well as an internal peer review across our working groups.The next section of this paper describes the rationale for these thematic areas and indicator domains, and their role in a monitoring system. These domains are an initial proposal and will be subject to external consultation in the next stage of our endeavors together with an open consultation process to identify candidate indicators. A description of the consultation and selection process follows the thematic areas.Healthy diets are essential for nutrition and health (Micha et al., 2020;HLPE, 2017;WHO, 2018). Sub-optimal diets are a direct cause of malnutrition in all its forms, including undernutrition and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (DR-NCDs; e.g., diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke) (Afshin et al., 2019;FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP andWHO, 2020, FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP andWHO, 2021; Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, 2016; Hawkes et al., 2020;Swinburn et al., 2019). An estimated 3 billion people cannot afford healthy diets globally, including the majority of people in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2021; Herforth et al., 2020a). This number reflects many aspects of food systems. It speaks to food insecurity, revealing widespread lack of access to healthy diets. It exposes problems in food environments, where healthy diets are too expensive and/or foods available are not necessarily proportional to needs (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2020;Herforth et al., 2020a). Food policies are often not aligned with the provision of healthy diets for all (Sacks et al., 2021). Each of these aspects suggests entry points for food system transformation toward healthy, sustainable diets for everyone.Improving food systems for healthy diets involve monitoring in four essential domains: diet quality, food security (which, by definition, includes access to adequate nutritious food), food environments, and policies affecting food environments (Fig. 1). This thematic area concentrates on diets and their determinants, rather than health and nutrition indicators, which are influenced by more than dietary intake alone and are tracked in other reports (Bennett et al., 2020;Micha et al., 2020;UNICEF, 1990;UNICEF et al., 2020). Specifically, it covers food security and the role that food and food systems play in good nutrition, but would not include the care practices, sanitation, or hygiene required for nutrition security (UNICEF, 1990).Diet quality: A healthy diet is \"health-promoting and diseasepreventing. It provides adequacy without excess of nutrients and health-promoting substances from nutritious foods, and avoids the consumption of health-harming substances\" (Neufeld et al., 2021). Diet quality is measured at the individual level to characterize individual dietary consumption. Understanding the connection between food systems and nutrition requires understanding diet quality and how diets are changing (Herforth et al., 2020b). Efforts are underway to expand and strengthen the global evidence base on diet quality. For example, the Gallup World Poll is collecting nationally representative diet data for all individuals aged 15 and older, and the Demographic and Health Surveys Fig. 1. Food system components, drivers, and outcomes. Legend: This figure depicts the drivers, components, and outcomes of food systems; though static in representation, we emphasize that the drivers are processes, and the components have feedback loops with each other and with the drivers and outcomes. Though not explicit within this figure, power dynamics shape interactions and outcomes throughout food systems-such as by shaping whose voice is heard in politics and leadership, and whom is benefited or harmed by globalization and trade (Anderson, 2008;Gereffi et al., 2005;Klassen & Murphy, 2020;Leach et al., 2020;Walls et al., 2020). Similarly implied is that this schematic reflects a single food system, but food systems exist at multiple scales and interact with one another. is doing so for women aged 15-49. Both will yield data for the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women indicator and indicators about consumption of unhealthy foods and beverages. The Gallup World Poll additionally yields gender-disaggregated data and indicators reflecting diets that protect against DR-NCDs, including food groups that protect health and food groups to limit or avoid (such as ultraprocessed foods and beverages) (Herforth et al., 2020b). These new data will complement the dietary diversity scores already collected across countries for infants and young children aged 6-23 months (Micha et al., 2020). Other efforts are also underway to increase the collection of, or public access to, quantitative dietary intake data (i.e., specific amounts of foods consumed by individuals), which offer greater depth of information but lower frequency and coverage than monitoring data (Intake -Center for Dietary Assessment, 2020, Intake -Center for Dietary Assessment, 2021;Imamura, 2015;Khatibzadeh et al., 2016;Leclercq et al., 2019;Miller et al., 2021).Food security: A prerequisite for consuming healthy diets is having access to them; when food security is lacking, so is diet quality (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2020). Food security exists when \"all people at all times have physical, economic, and social access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life\" (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2020). Three indicators of food security are broadly used in global reports, and the latest assessment is that (1) 9.9% of the global population (768 million people) lack access to sufficient calories to meet their needs; (2) about 2.37 billion people report experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity; and (3) 3 billion people cannot afford healthy diets (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2021). Food systems need to support availability of and access to sufficient healthy food, resilience, and sustainability, as well as agency of people to shape these systems-all of which constitute food security (HLPE, 2020).Food environments: Food environments encompass availability, affordability, and properties of food (including safety, quality, convenience, and sustainability), as well as food messaging and vendor properties (Fig. 1) (Downs et al., 2020;Herforth & Ahmed, 2015;HLPE, 2017;Turner et al., 2018). People's interactions with these environments shape healthy and unhealthy food acquisition and consumption (Downs et al., 2020;Drewnowski et al., 2020;HLPE, 2017). While healthy food environments promote equitable access to healthy foods, unhealthy food environments can lead to unhealthy diets and associated disease (Drewnowski et al., 2020;Hawkes et al., 2020;Herforth & Ahmed, 2015;Laar et al., 2020;Sacks et al., 2021). Food availability and affordability have sufficient data for monitoring across countries (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2020), but for other aspects, such as marketing and product properties (e.g., food safety), the best monitoring angle may be through policies, including regulations (Laar et al., 2020;Nieto et al., 2019;Sacks et al., 2021;Swinburn et al., 2013).Policies affecting food environments: Policies can contribute positively or negatively toward food availability, food access, product properties, and/or food messaging-and ultimately diets and nutrition. Some of the most important policies to track are those related to marketing to children, marketing of breastmilk substitutes, fiscal measures such as soda and ultraprocessed food taxes, trans-fat regulation, added sugar, salt/sodium content, and food safety standards. However, implementation of many of these policies is limited (Booth et al., 2021;Laar et al., 2020;Sacks et al., 2021;Swinburn et al., 2019;Vandevijvere et al., 2019). Monitoring in this domain has been advanced by the International Network for Food and Obesity/NCDs Research, Monitoring and Action Support, which offers ten protocols to evaluate various components of the food environment and create national benchmarks that can be compared between countries, such as the Healthy Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI) (Laar et al., 2020;Nieto et al., 2019;Sacks et al., 2021;Swinburn et al., 2013;Vandevijvere et al., 2019). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) legislative and policy database, FAOLEX, and the World Health Organization (WHO) NCD Progress Monitor report, which includes data from all WHO member states, offer other indicators. Data and indicators from these sources or others are needed to track progress toward regulation of marketing practices, product formulation, and other policies to ensure access to healthy diets.Food systems affect and are affected by the earth's systems. The main environmental systems and processes interacting with food systems are land use, climate, water use, biosphere integrity, and pollution (e.g., biogeochemical flows/novel entities) (Fig. 2). These represent the critical components and processes that regulate the behavior and maintain the stability of the Earth system itself (Crutzen, 1970;Ripple et al., 2017;Steffen et al., 2015;Vitousek et al., 1997). Humans have currently exceeded safe environmental limits on climate, biodiversity, and water pollution globally, and on freshwater use locally (IPCC, 2019a;Rockström et al., 2009). Reversing and improving upon these impacts is required to guarantee basic environmental services for humanity and ecosystems to thrive. These impacts are so significant that many are already supported by international commitments, such as the UNFCCC, UNCBD, UNCCD, and the 2030 Agenda. These commitments also inform many national and regional food production initiatives, as well as industry and other stakeholder commitments and goals. Monitoring and reporting indicators to demonstrate progress toward these commitments and goals forms the basic accountability principle in all these processes. Doing so specifically for food systems can help to better quantify the role of food systems in achieving necessary change.These environmental domains are closely interconnected (Lade et al., 2020a). For example, land clearing (land domain) leads to carbon emissions (climate domain). Surface climate warming (climate domain) impacts land, freshwater, and ocean biosphere integrity (biosphere domain) (Mantyka-Pringle et al., 2015). Clearing of land for agriculture (land) is usually followed by application of fertilizers and fresh water (water), which impacts biodiversity habitat (biosphere) and GHG (climate) (Lade et al., 2020a). Land acquisitions also have negative social impacts and often violate human rights while increasing deforestation and the associated GHG emissions (Chu et al., 2015;Liao et al., 2021;Nolte, 2014;Nolte & Voget-Kleschin, 2014). Nutrient inputs and freshwater extraction can lead to eutrophication in freshwater and ocean systems (pollution). Most interactions are amplifying, meaning that impacts on one domain lead to increased impacts on other domains (Lade et al., 2020a). These interactions add complexity to the governance of food systems because they often occur across different scales (local, ecosystem, global) and thereby involve multiple levels of decision-making, but these interactions also offer substantial scope for synergies: if positive impacts in one domain are obtained, gains in other domains can be easier to achieve (Griggs, 2015).Land use: Agriculture dominates global land use with approximately 1.5 billion hectares of cropland, of which 30-40% is used to produce feed, and 3.5 billion hectares of grazing land (Mbow et al., 2019). Together, these lands cover approximately 40% of the world's ice-free land (Ramankutty et al., 2018). Monitoring land use change is essential, as it is at the center of many environmental processes. Halting deforestation and land conversion will reduce GHG emissions, improve water cycles, and protect biodiversity; together with restoration, this action has the potential to store 200-330 gigatons of carbon (IPCC, 2019a; Leclère et al., 2020). Methodologies to measure forest loss and land use change are constantly improving, as remote sensing data are available at greater resolution and integrated with local statistics, and FAO also reports land use statistics (MohanRajan et al., 2020;Showstack, 2014;Woodcock et al., 2020). The concept analogous to land use for aquatic systems is the spatial expanse of inland waters and oceans used for aquatic capture food production. It is difficult to quantify due to data and technological limitations, and the challenge of defining fisheries' spatial boundaries. Satellite data are being used to start to close this data gap (Kroodsma et al., 2018), though work on methodologies and specific indicators in this area is incipient.Greenhouse gas emissions: In order to keep global temperature rise below 1.5 • C, curbing food system GHG emissions, especially achieving net-zero agriculture emissions, is essential (Rockström et al., 2017;Smith et al., 2015). Food systems account for 21-37% of total GHG emissions, two-thirds of which come from crop and livestock production, land use, and land use change, and the remainder from processing, transport, and packaging (Clark et al., 2020;Crippa et al., 2021;Mbow et al., 2019;Poore and Nemecek, 2018;Rosenzweig et al., 2020;Tubiello et al., 2021a;IPCC, 2019a). Specific emissions of concern relevant to food systems are methane from enteric fermentation (in ruminant animals) and rice paddies; carbon dioxide from land use change, transport, and processing; and nitrous oxide from fertilizer application and manures. Data are available for many countries through regular emissions reporting (by sector) to UNFCCC, though data from low-income countries are largely missing. FAO publishes global datasets of emissions from land use and agriculture.Water use: Water scarcity constrains food systems and human wellbeing; an estimated 1.2 billion people experience physical water scarcity and another 1.6 billion have insufficiently-developed water resources (Molden, 2007). Food production is responsible for 70-80% of global freshwater \"consumptive use\"-surface and groundwater removed from the local water cycle-which can drive water scarcity if not locally replenished (D'Odorico et al., 2020;FAO, 2021). Key indicators relevant to food systems include consumptive use by agriculture, livestock, and aquaculture relative to water scarcity and the quantities of freshwater remaining in ecosystems (i.e., environmental flows) to support inland fisheries (Ridoutt & Pfister, 2010). The degree to which waterways globally are dammed or diverted for food and energy production is a complementary available measure (Grill et al., 2019). Data for most of these indicators are available through AQUASTAT, though the necessary spatial and temporal resolution will be carefully considered in the selection of specific indicators and data sources. Water availability, for instance, varies by location at quite a granular level, and new research in this area (Gleeson et al., 2020) can provide the data necessary to make subnational estimations of water scarcity.Pollution: Environmental pollution from food systems can be classified into four major categories: (1) nutrient loss and run-off (e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus) from food production into water bodies, land, and/ or air, and soil degradation (Häder et al., 2020); (2) novel entities, notably biocides (e.g., pesticides, antibiotics) used in agricultural production systems (European Union, 2021); (3) particulate air pollution from food systems (e.g., burning residues or land clearing, air pollution caused, to a large degree, from manure and nitrogen fertilizer application) (Lelieveld et al., 2015); and (4) solid waste across food value chains (e.g., non-degradable plastics, other non-degradable unrecycled materials, excess animal waste not used as fertilizer, food waste of which 95% is estimated to be sent to landfills) (FAO, 2019;Geyer et al., 2017;Melikoglu et al., 2013;Yates et al., 2021). Pollution causes environmental harm, negatively impacts human health, and limits land and water available for food cultivation. Further, there are clear links between food system waste and negative environmental and livelihood outcomes. The higher content of food waste in total landfill mass changes the known chemical processes that occur in landfills and increases methane emissions (Adhikari et al., 2006;Zhan et al., 2017). The impacts of increasingly used bioplastics in food packaging are just beginning to be understood (Huset et al., 2011;Kakadellis & Harris, 2020). Finally, the proliferation of solid waste reinforces the market for waste picking, an extremely dangerous livelihood strategy and which employs many child laborers (Amegah & Jaakkola, 2016;Ferronato & Torretta, 2019;ILO and UNICEF, 2021). Yet there remain critical research and data gaps in this domain, especially at the national level.Biosphere integrity: Biosphere integrity is a measure of the quantity and quality of natural systems and resources required to maintain nature's contributions to people and halt species extinction (Gerten et al., 2020). Within food production systems, it is nature's capacity to support food production. Indicators of the quantity and distribution of seminatural habitat embedded in agriculture track the capacity of biodiversity to support food production, notably through crop pollination, pest and disease regulation, and the maintenance of diverse rangeland ecosystems (Mokany et al., 2020). Indicators of soil health, notably soil organic matter, measure the production capacity of agricultural soils. Indicators relevant to wild capture fisheries reflect the range of ecosystem services which support them, including clean water, sufficient freshwater flows, intact nursery habitats, and sustainable management of target and nontarget populations (Barbier, 2017). Biosphere integrity is encapsulated in several UNCBD goals (Díaz et al., 2020). Its measures are derived from currently available remotely sensed vegetation and land-use data with anticipated improvements in measurement quality and capacity to include soil and aquatic ecosystems (DeClerck et al., 2021).Food systems support the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people, as well as countless others whose food security depends on them (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2020;FAO, 2017). Ensuring food systems are inclusive requires assessing and monitoring the livelihoods of those involved in food supplies and environments. Doing so enhances the ability of policymakers to address the needs of poor and vulnerable groups, and of others who stand to lose in the transformation process. To identify boundaries around the aspects of livelihoods related to food system transformation, we define the scope of this thematic area as the livelihoods of those working in any part of food systems. Most people who work in food systems are among the poorest and most vulnerable in the world, and that poverty occurs in rural and urban areas, though in terms of absolutely global numbers it is disproportionately rural (Kruseman et al., 2020; P. Pingali et al., 2019;World Bank, 2020;World Bank Group, 2016). The conceptualization of those livelihoods draws on frameworks that consider peoples' assets, capabilities, strategies, and vulnerabilities, as well as multidimensional issues of labor, social protection, and human rights (Giron-Nava et al., 2021;Leach et al., 2020;UNDP, 2020).Dismantling barriers to just and equitable livelihoods, such as lack of access to productive resources or decent jobs, requires institutional changes, policy support, and investments to empower those whose livelihoods are tied to food systems (IFAD, 2016;OECD, 2019). Invisibility in statistics and exclusion from public programs are major challenges to documenting and supporting food system-based livelihoods. For example, the informal food economy is typically excluded from policy and planning, despite its critical contribution to the food security of low-income citizens (Resnick, 2017). Another example is that fisheries subsidies are disproportionately given to large-scale fishing fleets, leaving out many smaller-scale women and youth who work in the fisheries sector and low-income countries (Schuhbauer et al., 2017). What is not visible is neither valued nor viewed as a viable part of food system transformation. To advance monitoring in this area, we emphasize the critical importance of data disaggregation to understanding the unique livelihood challenges that face women, youth, and minoritized groups working in food systems.Poverty and income: Despite their importance, the livelihoods earned in food systems are often insecure and insufficient to support quality standards of living. Agriculture employs a disproportionate share of the world's poorest people (Castañeda et al., 2018;World Bank, 2007), and poverty affects workers throughout food systems (Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, 2020), across the rural-urban divide, and at all country income levels (Klassen & Murphy, 2020). Wages in food systems are commonly below minimums established for other sectors (Giron-Nava et al., 2021;Renkin et al., 2020), particularly for migrants, women, and other minoritized groups (Béné & Friend, 2011;Freeman, 2010;Palumbo & Sciurba, 2018). Measuring the incomes, poverty levels, and welfare of workers in food systems is necessary to monitor progress in its transformation, but the data available to do so are sparse, scarce, and uneven (Dang et al., 2019). Incomebased and multidimensional measures of poverty are measured in most countries (Alkire & Kanagaratnam, 2020;World Bank, 2017), but income derived from food systems and clear identification of food systemtied livelihoods are not.Employment: Monitoring employment quantity and quality is essential to improving equity and livelihoods in food systems. Existing data can capture the scale of primary employment in agriculture, food manufacturing, and food and food-related hospitality services (Thurlow, 2021). Coverage is uneven in other food-based jobs, such as trade and transportation, or where it is difficult to capture the contributions of family labor, seasonal fluctuations, and secondary employment. Fig. 3 presents a range of current estimates to quantify the magnitude of livelihoods tied to food systems and illustrates the empirical challenges. We note that the quantification exercise is an essential part of understanding the welfare of this group, but that the number of livelihoods tied to food systems is not an indicator of transformation. Once identified, indicators such as labor productivity, which is closely tied to income and wages, can reflect the quality of employment (Amin et al., 2019;Zimmermann, 2020).In addition to quantity, it is important to monitor aspects of job quality. This refers to various aspects of working conditions, including slavery, exploitation, harassment, worker safety, and labor rights (ILO, 2018). Women and informal, migrant, undocumented, and \"gig\" workers in food systems are especially vulnerable to exploitation in poor quality jobs (Davies, 2019;Goldstein, 2016;Hunt, 2016;Palumbo & Sciurba, 2018). Data on these issues are, however, generally limited or lacking.Social protection: Universal social protection, i.e., guaranteed minimum access to healthcare, pensions, income or food by vulnerable or low-income citizens regardless of their employment status, is particularly important to support the livelihoods of many food system workers due to the widespread vulnerability and poverty described above (Devereux, 2016;Gentilini & Omamo, 2011). Further, many social protection programs are tied to food, and therefore may play multiple roles in food system transformation. Current indicators of social protection capture spending, while others assess performance, including coverage and impacts on poverty and inequality. Measuring the coverage of food systems workers by national universal social protection programs will be particularly important for our framework. Moreover, existing indicators do not account for informal forms of support, such as remittances, which have important impacts on livelihoods, especially in low-income countries (Housen et al., 2013;Stavropoulou et al., 2017).Rights: Ensuring the human rights of all is key to transforming food systems from their current state to one that is equitable (Anderson, 2008). The most basic right in food systems is the right to food, codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (United Nations General Assembly, 1948, 1966, 2018). The rights to water and participation in public affairs have also been codified by the UN (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2018; United Nations General Assembly, 2010). Specific rights that affect the livelihoods of food system workers include land and property rights, especially for women; rights to unionization and collective action; and rights to public space, which are crucial for informal workers (Anderson, 2008;Freeman, 2010;Giron-Nava et al., 2021;Meinzen-Dick et al., 2019).Monitoring rights is essential to address the reality that current power imbalances favor large corporations, often serving their vested interests at the expense of smallholders', workers', and consumers' rights (Bisoffi et al., 2021;Canfield et al., 2021;Stuckler & Nestle, 2012). Large-scale land acquisitions offer just one example of how current power structures that drive existing food systems manifest in undesirable outcomes; they underscore how larger actors have overwhelming influence and smaller actors comparatively little resulting in adverse residual impacts beyond localized effects (i.e., harm extends beyond local communities and smallholders) (Liao et al., 2021;Nolte, 2014;Nolte & Voget-Kleschin, 2014). Even where there are policies in place to avert social welfare losses, such as Zambia's law requiring compensation of internally-displaced persons, efforts to protect the wellbeing of the vulnerable have had limited success (Chu et al., 2015). While existing indicators (such as FAO's Gender and Land Database, indicators to monitor SDG 5, or the Social Institutions and Gender Index) capture some of these areas, the data are not available across the globe and the most vulnerable remain invisible in current frameworks and databases.Although governance is critical to achieve positive food system transformation, there are multiple challenges to conceptualizing and measuring it. First, \"governance\" depends on what is being governed-food-producing natural resources, food products, food environments, or private industry, among others-and who has the authority to govern in a particular domain (van Bers et al., 2019). Second, governance spans multiple geographic scales and administrative levels, requiring different priorities to be addressed and different coordination mechanisms to be present at various levels (Gereffi et al., 2005;Hospes & Brons, 2016;Tefft & Jonasova, 2020;Termeer et al., 2018). Third, different disciplines operationalize governance in quite distinct ways. The major foci include institutional structures and policy interventions; citizen rights to food, human rights violations, and exploitation perpetrated by food system actors; asymmetrical power between consumer and industry groups; market power and corporate concentration and their influence on prices, products, policies, research, and innovation; and political incentives by leaders to reform practices detrimental to healthy, sustainable, resilient, just, and equitable food systems (Clapp, 2018;Clapp & Purugganan, 2020;Davies, 2019;Delaney et al., 2018;Digal & Ahmadi-Esfahani, 2002;Gereffi et al., 2005;Gillespie & Nisbett, 2019;Hospes & Brons, 2016;Ruggie, 2018;van Bers et al., 2019).Recognizing these challenges, our initial conceptualization of food system governance takes an expansive definition inclusive of the different perspectives above, while also emphasizing policy processes that would be relevant across different food system domains and scales. We propose a working definition of governance for positive food system transformation as the mode of interaction among the public sector, private sector, civil society, and consumers to identify, implement, resource, and monitor solutions for achieving healthy, sustainable, resilient, just, and equitable food systems without leaving anyone behind. Collectively, attention to these domains can foster alignment and coherence across different food system actors, their activities, and progress toward results. Even more so than for other thematic areas in this monitoring framework, there are substantial data gaps specific to food system transformation that will need to be addressed by developing new indicators and collecting new data. Shared vision: Shared vision refers to inclusive, participatory processes to identify priorities and provide guidance on desired outcomes across all the thematic areas of food system transformation. It can be measured by, for example, whether governments establish multistakeholder platforms incorporating relevant stakeholders at regular intervals. Where they have been used (Kusters et al., 2018), such platforms uncover hidden power dynamics and informal relationships that constrain progress (Barzola Iza et al., 2020). Country and independent summit dialogues as part of the UNFSS process have also catalyzed the development of shared visions for food systems in many places (Synthesis of Member State Dialogues Report 1, 2021; Synthesis of Member State Dialogues Report 2, 2021). Further proxies for the participatory environment include indices on freedom of association and civil society organization (te Lintelo & Pittore, 2020), including those captured in the Rural Sector Assessments by the International Fund for Agriculture Development or the civil society index by Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). Critical consideration is warranted regarding who are considered relevant stakeholders in such processes (Leach et al., 2020) and requires in-country expert assessment as is already done for the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) process led by the African Union (Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture and Union, 2020).Achieving shared vision also requires redressing power imbalances, which include market competition and asymmetries in influence that different actors hold in negotiations. A growing body of literature measures the level of concentration and market power in global food value chains, highlighting how such concentration of power in the hands of a few corporations has a wide range of negative consequences for food systems (Bui et al., 2019;Fuglie, 2016;Fuglie et al., 2011;Howard, 2016;IPES-Food, 2017;Swinburn et al., 2019). The greater the market power held by a firm, the more potential it holds to shape markets and features of food environments (e.g., product mix, placement, prices), influence policies and governance through lobbying and other means, and steer research and development agendas (Clapp, 2018(Clapp, , 2021;;Diez et al., 2018;Fabbri et al., 2018;Meghani & Kuzma, 2011;Ruggie, 2018). To date, no agreed upon indicators or global databases exist to monitor the degree of market power held by international corporations in food systems (including agricultural input and output markets as well as the retail food product industry), but the existing literature offers a pathway forward to do so (P. Baker & Friel, 2016;Clapp, 2018;Digal & Ahmadi-Esfahani, 2002;Howard, 2016;IPES-Food, 2017;McKeon, 2014;Murphy, 2008;Nes et al., 2021;Swinburn et al., 2015).Strategic planning and policies: Strategic planning and policies must underpin the shared vision, including relevant legal frameworks and multi-sectoral policy documents that holistically address food systems and reconcile trade-offs. Existing related indicators include the Hunger and Nutrition Commitment Index (HANCI), which tracks whether governments have established nutrition policies aligned with other sectoral agendas and whether the right to food has been incorporated in food policies, or the Food-EPI protocol to monitor food environment policies. Since horizontal coordinating bodies are viewed as essential to address the multi-sectoral nature of nutrition policies, for example, their existence for food systems also should be assessed (Gillespie & Nisbett, 2019;Haddad, 2013;Nisbett et al., 2014). More broadly, the general degree of public sector policy coordination is indicative of the potential to develop well-aligned food system policies, which is assessed regularly by the Bertelsmann Transformation Index through subjective evaluations of the extent to which \"the government coordinates conflicting objectives into a coherent policy\" (Hartmann, 2016). Further, a food system policy index could be developed to monitor specific policies deemed essential to achieving the goals of food system transformation articulated throughout the thematic areas we address in this paper.Effective implementation: Effective implementation requires the alignment of strategic planning and policies with state, private sector, and civil society capacities that are supported by sufficient human and financial resources. Monitoring the level and stability of resource disbursements by governments in line with their food system policy frameworks and national and international commitments is one way to measure implementation. The HANCI, Scaling Up Nutrition, Global Nutrition Report, and Global Network against Food Crises already track budget allocations for food security and nutrition commitments, while the CAADP tracks government expenditure on agriculture. Sustaining expenditures over time requires they be funded by revenue from taxes as opposed to international donors; where new food system commitments are tracked, it is important to disaggregate by funding source. Governments must also allocate relevant human resources-including agricultural extension agents, food safety and quality regulators, cadastral agents, and health providers-to ensure policy actions can be realized. And in more decentralized countries, where autonomy and authority for functions critical to food systems have been devolved to subnational actors, multilevel coordinating bodies are necessary for effective implementation (Gillespie & Nisbett, 2019;Hodge et al., 2015). Other actions could be evaluated against the UN guidelines on effective implementation of the right to participate (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2018). Finally, there is an increase in sustainable finance mechanisms that align corporate incentives with sustainability goals (Fatemi & Fooladi, 2013;Lehner, 2016;Quatrini, 2021). To date, the adoption and use of sustainable financing in food system sectors has lagged behind other areas of economic activity (Barrett, 2020;Koerner et al., 2020;Loboguerrero et al., 2020), but monitoring its adoption and concomitant outcomes within food systems offers another potential measure of effective implementation.Accountability: Accountability mechanisms use monitoring and evaluation to learn what policies work or not, and reward (or sanction) public and private sector actors who deliver on commitments (or fail to). Food system transformation requires so many actors to work coherently toward the shared vision that collective action problems-when all stand to benefit from coordinating for a collective outcome but individual incentives favor acting in one's self-interest-can emerge, making accountability particularly necessary (Resnick, 2020). Indicators of accountability, and the tools that track those indicators, could include the presence of mechanisms such as public sector performance contracts (e.g., the Government of Rwanda's imihigo accountability system) (World Bank Group, 2018); community scorecards whereby citizens independently monitor and report public or private sector performance on agreed commitments (e.g., for health services in Ghana and Uganda) (Kiracho et al., 2020;Ghana community scorecard., 2021); or global/ regional comparative performance metrics that rely on peer pressure to compel governments or the private sector to alter behavior (e.g., CAADP's Agricultural Transformation Scorecards, the Access to Nutrition Index, and the World Benchmarking Alliance's evaluation of private food sector actors). In the domain of mandatory international commitments, the UN human rights framework holds sovereign states and, increasingly, corporate actors accountable, and reports are regularly presented at the UN Council on Human Rights (FAO, 2008). In general, more transparent environments that allow for the free exchange of information and timely access to data are more likely to facilitate accountability of food systems. Several governance data initiatives can approximate such environments (e.g., V-Dem, Freedom House, Open Budget Initiative), though none are specific to food systems at the present time.While \"resilience\" has been used in various parts of the academic literature for almost a century (Lade et al., 2020b;Nara and Inamura, 2020), it only recently emerged in the field of food systems (Béné, 2020;Béné et al., 2021a;Hansen et al., 2020;Meyer, 2020;OECD, 2020;P. Pingali et al., 2005;Ponis & Koronis, 2012;Puma et al., 2015;Schipanski et al., 2016;Seekell et al., 2017;Tendall et al., 2015). Pragmatically, very little is known about what makes a food system resilient (Béné et al., 2021b;OECD, 2020). Yet understanding and being able to measure food system resilience is critical to guide food systems toward more sustainable outcomes.We define food system resilience as the ability of different individual and institutional food system actors to maintain, protect, or quickly recover the key functions of that system despite the impacts of disturbances (Fan et al., 2014;Harris & Spiegel, 2019;Tendall et al., 2015). For instance, weather-related extreme events, such as drought or flood, or longer-term local disturbances, such as conflict, corruption, COVID-19 lockdown measures, local insecurity, or seasonal road inaccessibility, can severely affect local and regional food supply chains and prevent them from operating efficiently (Bakalis et al., 2020;Barrett, 2020;Brück & d'Errico, 2019;Harvey et al., 2014;Hendrix & Brinkman, 2013;Laborde et al., 2021;Sabates-Wheeler et al., 2008). These disturbances generally result in physical and economic disruptions of food systems, leading to food shortages, food loss, or price volatility, with implications for the food security and nutritional status of local populations. A resilient food system would maintain or quickly recover food security following shocks and stresses (Fan et al., 2014;Harris & Spiegel, 2019;Tendall et al., 2015). Beyond maintaining or protecting people's food security, resilience is central to other key functions of food systems, including contributing to climate mitigation and adaptation (Ching et al., 2011;Ericksen, 2008); safeguarding or restoring ecosystem health (Ingram, 2011;Lade et al., 2020a); and providing income stability for the millions who earn their livelihoods in food systems (Fan et al., 2014;Béné et al., 2021a).Finally, there is a growing consensus that food system resilience is strongly related to food system sustainability (Seekell et al., 2017). Resilience contributes to sustainability in the sense that a food system cannot be sustainable in the long run if it is not resilient to shocks and stressors in the short term. In essence, resilience is a necessary condition for sustainability.It is generally recognized that measuring resilience is methodologically very challenging. Part of the challenge is that conceptualization of resilience is still being debated, with different approaches leading to different measurement challenges. In a recent review, Barrett et al. (2020) identify three broad conceptualizations employed for the resilience concept applied to individual or household well-beingresilience as capacity, as a normative condition, or as return to equilibrium (Barrett et al., 2020). Proponents of resilience as capacity, the most common conceptual approach, see the main challenge as being that resilience cannot be measured directly, requiring proxy indicators (e.g., resilience capacities) and measuring elements related to resilience (e.g., exposure to shocks) (Alinovi et al., 2010;Béné & Doyen, 2018). Advocates of resilience as a normative condition focus on measuring resilience as an individual's probability of achieving at least some minimal standard of living conditional on a wide range of observable characteristics, and exposure to stressors and shocks (Barrett and Constas, 2014). Resilience as \"return to equilibrium\" is closer to how ecology and engineering frame the resilience concept, and the focus is on measuring ex-post recovery after a shock (Ganin et al., 2016;Holling, 1996).The approaches above are all centered around individual or household well-being. Another challenge, particularly relevant here, is whether different measures can be scaled up or aggregated beyond the level for which they were conceptualized, or if different measures are needed that consider emergent properties of a system at a more aggregate level. Resilience is scale-dependent, meaning it can be observed at several scales simultaneously, and resilience at one scale (e.g., household) does not guarantee resilience at another (e.g., district), even if an internally-consistent approach is applied across scales (Béné et al., 2011;Mock et al., 2015). This means that measuring resilience at different scales for the same system may show completely different results. Conflict, in particular, can create such conditions where increasing resilience at one level can undermine resilience at another, which is especially relevant since resilience concerns commonly arise in conflict-affected areas (Bateman et al., 2016;Brück & d'Errico, 2019;Ensor et al., 2018;Hendrix & Brinkman, 2013;Jaspars, 2021;P. Pingali et al., 2005). Recent progress on defining and measuring resilience in the humanitarian and food security literature guided the selection of indicator domains described below (Constas et al., 2014;d'Errico et al., 2016;Knippenberg et al., 2019;Puma et al., 2015;von Grebmer et al., 2013).Although sustainable food systems are discussed extensively in the literature (Béné et al., 2019b;Eakin et al., 2017;IPCC, 2019b;Kremen, 2015;Swinburn et al., 2019;Willett et al., 2019), interpretations of \"what a sustainable food system looks like\" and how to measure that sustainability vary greatly, leaving the answer unclear ; Béné et al., 2019b;Johnston et al., 2014). It is broadly acknowledged that food system sustainability transcends multiple systems: health, environmental, economic, financial, social, and political (Caron et al., 2018;Dasgupta, 2021;FAO, 2018;Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, 2016;IPES-Food, 2016;Johnston et al., 2014;Melesse et al., 2020;Rockström et al., 2020;Westhoek et al., 2016).We use a multi-dimensional definition of sustainability that is inclusive of all food system components and outcomes: nutrition; environmental considerations; and economic, social, and equity aspirations, as well as policy coherence and accountability (Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, 2020;OECD, 2021;Thow et al., 2018). Progress toward sustainability cannot be achieved without political commitment or the management of inherent trade-offs and conflicts of interest in food system goals (Webb et al., 2020). Overall, this means that food, nutrition, climate, and environmental security, as well as decent livelihoods and human rights are equally intransgressible goals now and for future generations (Caron et al., 2018;Mainali et al., 2018). Recognizing these core values is instrumental to a holistic understanding of food system sustainability.Measuring food system sustainability provides a clear, normative guide for decision-making. Past food system \"transformations\" such as \"supermarketization\" (Popkin & Reardon, 2018;Reardon et al., 2005;Reardon & Timmer, 2007), agricultural intensification (Mahon et al., 2017), crop and diet homogenization (Khoury et al., 2014), or even the Green Revolution (Patel, 2013;P. L. Pingali, 2012) generated both positive and negative outcomes. It is therefore important not only to monitor and report changes in food systems but also to associate those changes with expected positive outcomes (Searchinger et al., 2019).Measuring sustainability can also unite the issues addressed in the preceding sections into one comprehensive element as an attempt to \"put all the pieces back together.\" Doing so embraces the holistic nature of food systems (Ericksen, 2008) and emphasizes that the sustainability of food system transformation involves more than just the sum of each outcome moving toward its own individual target.Measuring sustainability can capture the interactions, interdependencies, and dynamics of outcomes. Accumulating empirical data suggests that not all food system outcomes can be improved simultaneously and that managing and navigating compromises may become an important part of building or restoring sustainability. Better understanding and monitoring of those interactions is thus critical, and doing so makes it possible to explore the synergies or trade-offs between different food system elements and goals (D'Alessandro et al., 2021;Gusenbauer & Franks, 2019;Kremen, 2015;Mainali et al., 2018;Phalan et al., 2011;Runting et al., 2019).Four domains pertain to resilience, complemented by two domains for sustainability.Exposure to shocks: Assessing food system resilience requires first assessing and documenting the adverse events that affect those systems (Choularton et al., 2015). Some events have been mentioned previously: droughts and flooding, but also typhoons/cyclones or natural disasters (e.g., earthquakes). Others include local or regional economic crises, political unrest, pandemics (e.g., avian influenza, COVID-19), pest outbreaks (e.g., desert locust, fall armyworm), and protracted crises (including population displacements and migrations) (UNISDR, 2015).Internationally available country-level data (e.g., International Disaster Database, Global Disaster Information System) capture the nature, frequency, and intensity of the main shocks that affect food systems, thus providing one indicator relevant for food system resilience.Resilience capacities: Though issues of resilience measurement are still being debated, the most widespread approach, is to measure resilience capacities (Béné et al., 2020b;Constas et al., 2014). These are the features that are expected to make a system or its actors more resilient. Though evidence remains sparse, they are generally accepted to include characteristics such as redundancy (Fader et al., 2016), diversity (Dainese et al., 2019;DuVal et al., 2019;Haughey et al., 2018;Lade et al., 2020b;Renard & Tilman, 2019), flexibility, connectivity, anticipation, self-efficacy (Béné et al., 2019a), or access to insurance or formal credit (Pomeroy et al., 2020;Salignac et al., 2019). Potential indicators of resilience capacities include food system actors' adaptive capacities (e. g., connectivity, social capital), social cohesion, or measures of value chain flexibility, such as the new FAO Dietary Sourcing Flexibility Index that measures the diversity in the different pathways to source a unit of food. From a food system perspective, focusing on resilience capacities has the advantage that proxies can be envisaged at different scales, tailored to available data, and interpreted as a contribution to resilience at the relevant scale.Agrobiodiversity: There is a large, well-established body of evidence that agrobiodiversity plays an important role in building resilience in crop, livestock, forest, fishery, and aquaculture production systems. Interactions between genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity at different spatial scales maintain stability in the face of increasing occurrence of shocks and stresses, enable adaptation, and support recovery from disturbances (Dainese et al., 2019;DuVal et al., 2019;Haughey et al., 2018;Renard & Tilman, 2019). Moreover, agrobiodiversity secures the resilience capabilities of food systems for future generations and yet-unknown shocks.Food security stability: One of the most important aspects of food system resilience is the capacity to maintain people's food security in the face of shocks (Béné, 2020;Constas et al., 2014). Monitoring the stability (e.g., food availability, access, and utilization) of the food security indicators discussed above, over time, is an essential element of food system resilience (Béné, 2020). The emphasis in monitoring the indicators in this domain is on their variability over time rather than absolute levels at each reporting. For example, the FAO Price volatility index measures stability of food access and the per capita food supply variability index measures stability of food supply availability.Food system sustainability index: We propose developing two complementary indices to capture the various elements and relationships of sustainable food systems. The first would aggregate all the indicators in the preceding thematic areas into an all-inclusive, unidimensional composite index. The second would incorporate a parsimonious set of emblematic indicators (still covering all thematic areas). This dual approach aims to balance and benefit from the strengths of each type of index, with comprehensiveness from the first and ease of interpretation from the second (Becker et al., 2017). Both indices can build on well-established methodologies already used in international initiatives (e.g., Human Development Index [HDI] and the more recent Planetary Pressures Adjusted-HDI, Global Hunger Index), and recent analysis of food system sustainability (Béné et al., 2019c;Chaudhary et al., 2018;The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2016), with attention to the need for decomposition to make the data useful and interpretable by policymakers over time (Barclay et al., 2019).The authors of this Viewpoint represent an international, multidisciplinary research collaboration, which includes experts from 27 academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, and UN agencies from nearly all continents. As we go forward, we are committed to consultative processes, inclusiveness, and transparency. We welcome new collaborators and are actively seeking to expand our disciplinary and experiential diversity. Over the next year, we intend to submit our framework as proposed in this Viewpoint and the selection of indicators to external consultation through an adapted Delphi process. We will use that process to determine the initial set of indicators for which data currently exist, or can feasibly be collected, to analyze in a subsequent manuscript planned for 2022.Beyond that, we intend to update and expand the monitoring and analyses in subsequent biennial publications. Our foci in the coming years will include deepening the complex systems science in our analytical approach through analyses of interactions and feedback loops; contributing to new indicator development and data collection where necessary and feasible to undertake ourselves; and continuing to expand collaborations with others, particularly where we can expand the interdisciplinary dialogue and review around the specific indicators, interpretation of their status and trends, and systems analyses. We hope to develop processes of country-level, multi-stakeholder engagement so that this collaboration-a scientific, desk-based effort-can support the accountability mechanisms and social movements necessary to bring about transformation within countries. Data and evidence can provide support to these actions, but we fully recognize that data and evidence alone are insufficient and that partnerships with groups who can use the evidence to enact (e.g., policymakers, business leaders, direct service organizations, consumers) or call for (e.g., advocates, civil society organizations) change will dramatically enhance the relevance of our work. Supporting civil society, governments, and private sector firms as they endeavor to change food systems is also a way in which we can contribute one form of knowledge-using quantitative Western science-to a dialogue with room for additional ways of knowing (e.g., Indigenous knowledge systems), broader perspectives, and localized priorities and values.In the coming months, we will use an adapted Delphi process to gather feedback on the proposed architecture laid out here, identify candidate indicators, and vet the selection of final indicators to be monitored in the first analysis. Our three-stage process is described in Table 2. Throughout the process we commit ourselves to transparently documenting all decisions and revisiting the indicator list in all subsequent publications to consider any new data or indicators developed in the intervening years.We conducted a tailored literature review to develop criteria for the indicators to be monitored. Given the known limitations of many of the possible indicators and data sources, we divided the criteria into required and desirable characteristics. We hope the articulation of desirable characteristics can also inspire indicator development and data improvement initiatives. Table 3 summarizes the criteria, and we provide further detail in the supplementary materials.Food systems have undeniably advanced humanity and sustained a growing number of lives, but such gains have not been evenly shared and have come at great cost to nature and the health and livelihoods of many people. In the present era, humanity faces significant challenges across food systems; many people consume poor quality diets, basic functions of the Earth's systems and many living beings are threatened, and deep inequities shape livelihoods tied to food systems and the welfare of those who labor within them. National and global governments are struggling to govern the increasingly complex crises and powerful forces in food systems, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change have shown the fragility of food systems and the lack of sustainability to continue along the present course. These crises and challenges underscore the urgency to change the trajectory for food systems but also offer great potential to do so (Barrett et al., 2020;Herrero et al., 2020a;Herrero & Thornton, 2020;Klassen & Murphy, 2020;Rosenzweig et al., 2020;Webb et al., 2020). Food systems must be part of the solution, and some existing Indigenous, local, and circular food systems can provide positive lessons for other societies and places. In this context, the good governance of food systems has never been more important, and monitoring is an essential component to support that endeavor.Data and analyses that are accurate, timely, trusted, comprehensive, and accessible can provide a foundation to sustain accountability mechanisms. High-quality evidence is not sufficient to generate action, but it is critical to facilitate informed action founded in deliberate, reasoned consideration of the trade-offs inherent to shifting food systems. Quantifying the impacts of food systems also supports others to develop true cost accounting for food systems (L. Baker et al., 2020;Gemmill-Herren et al., 2021;Hendriks et al., 2021;Kennedy et al., 2021;Rockefeller Foundation, 2021). Monitoring food system transformation in this manner can aid governments in setting priorities and establishing incentives and regulations to align food systems in a transformative direction. Data and evidence also inspire action by civil society, consumers, and governments, which can hold food system actors to account for their commitments and responsibilities. High-quality evidence allows food system actors to undertake \"course corrections\" and demonstrates those who did, or did not, make needed changes. We intend to pursue the effort described here, but we cannot address all the data, evidence, and analytical gaps on our own. We hope that others will also heed this call to action and contribute further evidence of successes and challenges in food system transformation and offer actionable recommendations based on that evidence. Doing so can help spur accountability toward inclusive food system transformation, a future where all people have access to healthy diets, produced in sustainable, resilient ways that restore nature and deliver just and equitable livelihoods. This transformation is achievable. Rigorous monitoring is necessary to keep progress on track."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1bba6a32a418686eaf7e4fd5752b306b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/b81fff17-0a44-4e2d-985e-9e12d6b7e4a7/content","id":"-1342323250"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5946db62-178a-4204-bacf-3d7291fa9e60","content":"Women seem to play a bigger role in farming decisions than is generally assumed. For example, women make food, nutrition and budgeting choices, including how much of the wheat harvest is consumed versus sold.► Women are not considered farmers and yet tend to livestock and crops close to the household, help with post-harvest handling and processing within the household, and perform any on-farm activities allocated by the household head.► Women do more of the on-farm work when living in poor households. Yet, gender norms and sex segregation mean women do not have the same access to technical agriculture information.► The adoption rates of new agricultural practices would increase if extension services could reach more women in a culturally-appropriate, heterogeneous manner. For example, some women prefer to learn as a group through consultations and workshops.► More research on gender inequality in agriculture could help identify opportunities to expand the benefits of wheat-related innovations such as new methods of planting and growing crops, for more women and poor households. Study participants were asked to estimate the percentage of households within their communities that have moved from below to above the poverty line established for each village within the last ten years (fig. 1).In village one, a lack of security increases poverty by preventing people from moving around freely, going to school and finding work. Men in village one reported a slight increase in the number of households in their village that have moved out of poverty while women reported an increase in the number of households that have fallen into poverty over the last ten years. Women in village two reported a slightly higher rate of movement out of poverty compared to men. In village two, poverty reduction is influenced by a commitment to hard work, skills training and women working alongside their husbands.Photo: Gianpiero Gandolfo/Alamy Stock Photo © 2016 In village three, women reported a much higher rate (65 percent), than men (20 percent) of movement out of poverty, which requires further exploration to understand. According to respondents from this village, increased farm and off-farm incomes and remittances have reduced poverty. Yet, why women scored higher in village three, compared to men and compared to other villages is unknown.Men in village four reported that 5 percent of households in their village have fallen into poverty while women reported no change in poverty rates over the last ten years.Women and men perceive and experience poverty differently depending on where they live, their degree of agency and how intra-household relationships allocate resources. For example, women uniquely identified their lack of skills and a lack of cooperation among co-wives as placing economic tension on the household, which contributes to increased poverty. More data on intra-household dynamics and gender relations by location and how this affect agriculture productivity and innovation is required to make better sense of the data. There is value in trying to make sense of gender relationships from a rural household's perspective as it seems to affect norms of behavior that dictate the hours worked and tasks performed (and where).During a ranking exercise, women in all four villages ranked themselves at step two (out of five steps) in 2014 in terms of decision-making power and freedom to make important decisions (fig. 2). In village one, women reported a decrease in their power and freedom to make significant life decisions in the past ten years. In village two, women perceived an increase in their decision-making power. In villages three and four, it stayed the same. Meanwhile, men reported increases from 2004 to 2014 in their perceived power and freedom to make important life decisions, except in village three, where there was no change.Gender norms and expectations affect men and women equally but in different ways. When asked about the qualities of a \"good husband,\" men and women listed being hardworking, providing for his family, behaving well, avoiding conflicts, respecting his wife/wives and being a good Muslim. When asked about the qualities of a \"good male farmer,\" respondents explained that he should be physically strong, work hard on the farm and sell agricultural products daily. He should also be knowledgeable about his farm, cultivate on time, consult with other farmers and achieve a better outcome with fewer expenses.When asked about the qualities of a \"good wife,\" men and women mainly noted a woman's behavior toward her husband and in-laws and her broader family care roles, which include being a good Muslim and always showing respect. Across the four villages, good husbands are strongly associated with the productive sphere and earning an income to support their family while wives are associated with reproductive roles. Consequently, women are generally considered to have little knowledge about and a limited role in farming.Given agency is defined as the ability to make choices and at upon them, the data shows that men have more agency than women and this has increased over the past ten years, whereas only women in village 2 experienced increased agency.Respondents consistently explained that decision-making is largely dominated by men, especially male elders, husbands, brothers or in-laws. The nature of the decision being made, along with the household composition would determine which male of what age played the greater role in the decision to be made.For more information, contact: Kristie Drucza E-mail: k.drucza@cgiar.orgRespondents explained that women have a certain level of decision-making power around how much of the wheat harvest to allocate for household consumption versus how much to sell, as they maintain the household's food security. This has been under-reported in the existing literature, suggesting the need to more deeply probe intra-household decision-making to better understand how women make food, nutrition and budgeting choices.Men's and women's ability to innovate is supported and hindered by different factors. Some factors, such as access to information and financial problems, affect both. Figure 3 shows that, for women, financial support and access to education as well as workshops and consultations (especially with elders) are the most important factors in learning about, trying and adopting agricultural innovations. For men, improvements in the economy are needed along with adequate farm land to test innovations.Figure 4 shows financial problems and poverty as the most important factor hindering innovation for women and men. Lack of information, knowledge and education is the second most limiting factor for women, while men report a lack of courage and poor community relations, and a lack of knowledge and education.For women insecurity and distrust restrict This research illuminates how little is understood about how gender norms and agency work together to shape the opportunities male and female rural farmers have to benefit from agricultural innovations. Innovation in agriculture and natural resource management is vital to reducing rural poverty. Innovation processes that ignore gender relations are limited in their impact and risk worsening the poverty, workload and well-being of poor rural women and their families. Agriculture research for development professionals should consult women more often and routinely address gender inequities in a heterogenous manner.and a female farmer's ability to innovate. Those limitations affect their participation in agriculture and limit their contribution to household food security and nutrition. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a87f04dd9c6a779628a8bcc424c76aab","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/87183b4b-5e25-40bb-8b0f-cade15002a7e/content","id":"1530976973"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8475ba67-5ceb-4280-b2e4-59169588262d","content":"Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) compromises immune function and is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children in many developing countries. Biofortification, or breeding staple food crops that are rich in micronutrients, provides a sustainable way to fight VAD and other micronutrient malnutrition problems. Polymorphisms, with associated molecular markers, have recently been identified for two loci, LcyE (lycopene epsilon cyclase) and CrtRB1 (b-carotene hydroxylase 1) that govern critical steps in the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway in maize endosperm, thereby enabling the opportunity to integrate marker-assisted selection (MAS) into carotenoid breeding programs. We validated the effects of 3 polymorphisms (LcyE5 0 TE, LcyE3 0 Indel and CrtRB1-3 0 TE) in 26 diverse tropical genetic backgrounds. CrtRB1-3 0 TE had a two-ten fold effect on enhancing beta-carotene (BC) and total provitamin A (proA) content. Reduced-function, favorable polymorphisms within LcyE resulted in 0-30 % reduction in the ratio of alpha-to beta-branch carotenoids, and increase in proA content (sometimes statistically significant). CrtRB1-3 0 TE had large, significant effect on enhancing BC and total ProA content, irrespective of genetic constitution for LcyE5 0 TE. Genotypes with homozygous favorable CrtRB1-3 0 TE alleles had much less zeaxanthin and an average of 25 % less total carotenoid than other genotypes, suggesting that feedback inhibition may be reducing the total flux into the carotenoid pathway. Because this feedback inhibition was most pronounced in the homozygous favorable LcyE (reduced-function) genotypes, and because maximum total proA concentrations were achieved in genotypes with homozygous unfavorable or heterozygous LcyE, we recommend not selecting for both reduced-function genes in breeding programs. LcyE exhibited significant segregation distortion (SD) in all the eight, while CrtRB1 in five of eight digenic populations studied, with favorable alleles of both the genes frequently under-represented. MAS using markers reported herein can efficiently increase proA carotenoid concentration in maize.Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a health problem in more than half of all countries, resulting in visual impairment or blindness, and increased morbidity and mortality of at least 190 million preschool-age children and 19 million pregnant women, mostly in Africa and South Asia (WHO 2009). Both supplements and fortification of basic foods, for example sugar and milk, can help alleviate VAD, but the ideal and sustainable solution is consumption of adequate, nutritious diets. Unfortunately, poverty often results in chronic lack of access to well-balanced diets, and particularly to meat products and vegetables that are the best sources of many micronutrients, including vitamin A and provitamin A (proA) carotenoids (the precursors of vitamin A). As food prices increase, over-reliance on generally abundant, relatively inexpensive, widely traded, and easily stored staple grains often increases. Staple food grains are mainly rice in South Asia, wheat in Central Asia, and maize for most of sub-Saharan Africa. These are rich sources of energy, but they typically contain nutritionally inadequate quantities of micronutrients, including proA carotenoids (see Nuss and Tanumihardjo (2010) for a discussion of the nutritional qualities of maize). Average per capita consumption of maize in Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho, South Africa and Mexico, for example, is more than 100 kg per year, providing 30-60 % of both calories and protein for these consumers (FAO Stat, as cited by Atlin et al. 2011).Biofortification is the breeding of staple food crops to increase micronutrient density (Bouis and Welch 2010;Pfeiffer and McClafferty 2007). Graham et al. (2001) suggested that because of the widespread consumption of staple crops, biofortification may be an effective and sustainable way of addressing micronutrient malnutrition. The proponents of biofortification include more than nutritionists and agriculturalists. From an economic point of view, investments in biofortification are justified as a complementary strategy to supplementation and fortification, particularly suited to rural or remote areas where other approaches may have incomplete coverage (Copenhagen Consensus 2008;Qaim et al. 2007). HarvestPlus is a CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) generation challenge program that focuses on three critical micronutrients that are recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as most limited in diets: iron, zinc, and proA. HarvestPlus set preliminary minimum target level of 15 lg/g for proA for maize, based on gross assumptions of daily intake (400 g for adults and 200 g for 4-6 years old children), bioavailability ratio (12:1 lg to retinol activity equivalent) and retention after processing (50 %) (Bouis et al. 2011).One of the biggest challenges to breeding proA biofortified maize is the low throughput and high cost of quantifying carotenoid content in maize grain. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) currently costs USA $50-$100 or more per sample, and while ultraperformance liquid chromatography (UPLC) is a very good alternative to HPLC because its costs for reagents are lower, and throughput is three times that of HPLC, neither HPLC nor UPLC enable efficient and affordable analysis of the many thousands of samples required each year by a breeding program (Palacios Rojas, in preparation). Although the visible light range (400-1,100 nm) is important for predicting carotenoid content in maize grain, calibration curves for estimating carotenoid concentrations using near infra-red reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) have been successful for estimating the major carotenoids (lutein and zeaxanthin) and total carotenoid, but not for proA carotenoid concentrations (Berardo et al. 2009).Marker-assisted selection (MAS) complements conventional breeding through use of inexpensive DNA markers that are tightly linked to a target locus or loci. Identifying the causal loci is an important pre-requisite to enable MAS in breeding programs. The carotenoid metabolic pathway has been well researched in model species and key genes governing critical steps have been identified (Giuliano et al. 2008) (Fig. 1). In maize, three genes have been proposed to play crucial roles in the final accumulation of proA carotenoids in the grain. Phytoene synthase1 (Y1 or Psy1) catalyses the first committed step in the pathway leading to formation of phytoene from geranylgeranyl diphosphate and is primarily responsible for the shift from white to yellow maize (Li et al. 2009). Two genes, lycopene epsilon cyclase (LcyE) and beta-carotene hydroxylase 1 (CrtRB1) have been shown to regulate the accumulation of proA compounds. LcyE converts lycopene into zetacarotene and eventually to alpha-carotene through the action of other associated genes. Naturally existing mutant alleles of LcyE with reduced functionality have been identified that apportion more lycopene into the beta branch of the pathway, thereby enhancing the flux toward proA compounds (Fig. 1) (Harjes et al. 2008). CrtRB1 is a hydroxylase gene that converts BC into beta-cryptoxanthin (BCX), whose proA activity is theoretically only half that of BC. Natural genetic variation for CrtRB1 has recently been discovered that results in the retention of more BC in the maize endosperm (Yan et al. 2010).Molecular markers based on functional polymorphisms within Psy1, LcyE and CrtRB1, and perhaps other genes as well, hold great potential for accelerated and resourceefficient development of proA enriched lines. Markers located within the target genes offer efficient means of tracking the favorable alleles in backcross or pedigree breeding programs. However, genetic background in which these favorable alleles reside, population size, nature of gene action (additive or epistatic), trait heritability and marker-trait relationships influence the effectiveness of such MAS in routine breeding programs.Though the potential applications of MAS are attractive for selecting natural variants of large-effect carotenoid genes, it is rarely a straight-forward exercise in a practical breeding program. Implementation of MAS for LcyE and CrtRB1 in CIMMYT's HarvestPlus maize proA carotenoid breeding program required addressing several operational constraints such as (1) markers that were diagnostic of causative polymorphisms within LcyE, developed based on temperate maize germplasm, were frequently found not to be reproducible in tropical and sub-tropical genetic backgrounds; (2) the PCR programs were sensitive to the machine and cycling conditions used and resulted in frequent amplification failures, indicating that these genes may reside in PCR-recalcitrant genomic regions and hence may require different assay procedures for efficient screening; (3) the effects of LcyE and CrtRB1 in diverse genetic backgrounds, especially in tropical and sub-tropical germplasm are not well established; and (4) both LcyE and CrtRB1 showed severe segregation distortion in the few populations studied at CIMMYT, resulting in very low favorable allele frequency compared to their Mendelian expectations.The objectives of this investigation were to (1) evaluate the phenotypic effects of different functional polymorphisms within LcyE and CrtRB1, alone as well as in combination, in diverse tropical and sub-tropical germplasm; and (2) study the extent of segregation distortion for these two genes in diverse crosses to enable making informed decisions about effective population size in breeding programs.Unless otherwise stated, the germplasm used for this study is from CIMMYT's proA biofortification of maize breeding program funded by HarvestPlus (see supplementary materials, Table S1). The functional polymorphism classes for LcyE and CrtRB1 are listed in Table 1. All allelic nomenclature for LcyE corresponds to that reported by Harjes et al. (2008), while nomenclature for CrtRB1 is as reported by Yan et al. (2010). It may assist the reader to recall that the unfavorable allele for both LcyE and CrtRB1 is always named 'allele 2', while all other alleles are considered favorable for their respective gene.Five F 2 populations (L1-L5) were developed for use in validating the effects of three functional polymorphisms (two favorable alleles of LcyE-5 0 TE and one of LcyE-3 0 Indel) within LcyE. CIMMYT maize line 297 (CML297), a latematuring, lowland tropical line, provided the favorable 'allele 4' for LcyE-5 0 TE in populations L2 and L3, and 'allele 1' for LcyE-3 0 Indel in population L4. In population L1, Carotenoid Syn3-FS11-4-3-B-B-B, a tropicalized line derived from a temperate synthetic population obtained from Dr. Torbert Rocheford, University of Illinois, provided the favorable 'allele 4' for LcyE-5 0 TE. Among more than 100 lines surveyed at CIMMYT for different alleles of LcyE-5 0 TE, only Hi27 was found to have 'allele 1', and population L5 was its cross with CML328. In L5, both CML297 and P72c1xCML297 9 CL02410-3-1-1-B-B had favorable 'allele 4' but differed for LcyE-3 0 Indel polymorphism, The nomenclature for different functional polymorphism assets were according to Harjes et al. (2008) for LcyE and Yan et al. (2010) for CrtRB1thereby allowing us to study the effect of favorable allele ('allele 1') of LcyE-3 0 indel in the favorable allele background of LcyE-5 0 TE. All five populations L1-L5 were homozygous for the wild-type (unfavorable) allele of CrtRB1.For validating the effect of the CrtRB1-3 0 TE polymorphism, individuals with contrasting genotypes were identified in 15 F 3 :F 4 populations (H1-H15), representing 5 different genetic backgrounds (Table S2). An intermediate maturity tropical line, (KU1409/DE3/KU1409)S2-18-2-B, from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), served as the donor of the favorable 'allele 1' for CrtRB1-3 0 TE polymorphism in all the crosses; however, this line is a backcross-derived line in which the temperate line 'DE3' provided the favorable allele. LcyE background of these populations was homozygous favorable 'allele 4' for eight populations, homozygous unfavorable 'allele 1' for five populations, and heterozygous or segregating in two populations (Table S2).Six digenic F 2 populations (Digenic 1-6) were developed for studying the combined and interaction effects of LcyE and CrtRB1 functional polymorphisms on final accumulation of proA-related compounds. The tropical line from IITA provided the favorable 'allele 1' for CrtRB1-3 0 TE polymorphism in all crosses, while six different lines contributed the favorable allele of LcyE-5'TE.Population Digenic 1-6, plus two more digenic populations derived from temperate germplasm (KUI3 9 B77 and KUI3 9 SC55), were used for segregation distortion (SD) assessment.Genomic DNA was extracted from leaves and seeds using CTAB-based protocol (CIMMYT Applied Genetics Laboratory, 2003, Lu et al. 2010and Gao et al. 2008). The primer combinations for LcyE-5 0 TE and LcyE-3 0 indel were slightly changed from Harjes et al. (2008), in order to get reproducible results. We used the following set of primers-LcyE-5 0 TE-F: AAGCAGGGAAGACATTCCAG and LcyE-5 0 TE-R: GA-GAGGGAGACGACGAGACAC for LcyE-5 0 TE; LcyE-3 0 Indel-F: ACCCGTACGTCGTTCATCTC and LcyE-3 0 Indel-R: ACCCTGCGTGGTCTCAAC for the LcyE-3 0 Indel polymorphism. For the CrtRB1-3 0 TE polymorphism, we used the 3-primer cocktail as reported by Yan et al. (2010) without any modification. The PCR and gel-electrophoresis conditions were followed according to Harjes et al. (2008) and Yan et al. (2010).For populations L1-L5, individual seeds were genotyped using a non-destructive DNA extraction and genotyping system (Gao et al. 2008). For each genotype class within each population, 25-50 seeds were bulked and phenotyped for carotenoids using HPLC. For other populations, seed from ears harvested from plants of known genotype class were used for phenotyping.Carotenoid extraction was performed as described by Pixley et al. (2011). Briefly, carotenoids were released from finely ground dried maize grain samples by adding ethanol, samples were then saponified, followed by carotenoid extraction using hexane prior to separation and quantification using HPLC with a 30C column attached to a YMC C30 filter insert. A multi-wavelength detector set at 450 nm was used, and data were collected and processed using Waters Millennium 2010 software (Waters Chromatography, Milford, MA, USA). Lutein, zeaxanthin, b-cryptoxanthin (BCX) and all-trans-b-carotene (BC) were identified through their characteristic spectra and comparison of their retention times with known standard solutions.Total ProA content (lg g -1 of dry matter) was calculated for each sample as the sum of BC plus one-half of BCX. Ratio of ato b-branch carotenoids was estimated as: [lutein/(zeaxanthin ? BC ? BCX)].Segregation distortion was assessed by Chi-square tests of the deviation from the expected Mendelian ratio (1:2:1 for F 2 populations) using the two loci independent marker data. A mixed effects model with fixed effects of genotype classes and their interactions, and random effects of populations was used to analyze the carotenoid data. Data were analyzed using PROC MIXED of SAS, assuming that the error variance was normally distributed with mean 0 and that the error and the fixed effects were uncorrelated. Mean for treatment effects was estimated using PROC MIXED and REML (Restricted/Residual maximum likelihood), in which estimators are obtained not from maximizing the whole likelihood function, but only that part which is invariant to the fixed effects part of the linear model. LSMEANS option was used to compute the least squares mean of fixed effects. The ADJUST option was used to request a multiple comparison adjustment to the p values for pair-wise comparisons of mean.Three different functional polymorphisms of LcyE (LcyE5 0 TE and LcyE3 0 Indel) across the five populations L1-L5 did not result in statistically significant differences either for ratio of ato b-branch carotenoids or for total ProA carotenoids concentration (Table 2). Although two (L1 and L2) of the three populations with the favorable 'allele 4' had significantly more carotenoids in the bthan a-branch (Table 3), this effect on ratio was not statistically significant when analyzed across the populations (Table 2). The LcyE alleles also did not significantly affect total proA carotenoid concentration of the genotypes (Table 3). The second favorable LcyE-5 0 TE allele ('allele 1') also resulted in no significant differences for total proA concentration and for ratio of ato b-branch carotenoids (Population L4, Table 3). Finally, the favorable 'allele 1' for the LcyE-3 0 Indel polymorphism (population L5), hypothesize that in the maize kernel, feedback inhibitionsignificantly reduced the ratio of ato b-branch carotenoids from 0.29 to 0.20 and increased the total proA carotenoid concentration from 2.59 to 2.77 lg g -1 (Table 3), but we hypothesize that such changes are too small to be of biological significance.Effects of the CrtRB1-3 0 TE polymorphism Least square mean and tests of fixed effects based on combined analysis of populations H1-H15 for CrtRB1 are presented in Table 4, while mean for different genotype classes within each of the 15 population is presented in Table S2. 'Allele 1' of CrtRB1-3 0 TE had significant, twoten fold effect over 'allele 2' for BC and total proA carotenoid concentrations in the 15 populations. While 'allele 1' had no effect on BCX content, it significantly reduced zeaxanthin content for 14 of the 15 populations. Across the 15 populations, 'allele 1' of CrtRB1 was significantly associated with enhanced BC content and total proA concentration (Table 4), resulting on average in 3.8times more BC and 2.4-times the proA in homozygous favorable relative to homozygous unfavorable 'allele 2' genotype. The heterozygous CrtRB1 genotype resulted, on average, in 1.9-times the BC and 1.5-times more proA than the homozygous unfavorable. Stated differently, the heterozygotes achieved about one-third of the total effect achieved by the homozygous favorable genotype for both BC and proA, suggesting partially recessive gene action, on average.Several interesting results became apparent when comparing the effects of CrtRB1 alleles separately for the eight populations with unfavorable 'allele 2' LcyE background and the five populations with favorable 'allele 4' of LcyE. Across the homozygous unfavorable 'allele 2' LcyE populations, the homozygous favorable 'allele 1' of CrtRB1 resulted in 4.2-times the BC and twice the ProA as compared to homozygous unfavorable 'allele 2' of CrtRB1. On the other hand, in populations with homozygous favorable 'allele 4' LcyE background, the homozygous favorable 'allele 1' of CrtRB1 resulted in only 1.2-times the BC and 0.6-times the ProA as compared to homozygous unfavorable 'allele 2' of CrtRB1. Although the comparison is among, instead of within populations, and thus may be confounded by differences in genetic backgrounds, the digenic homozygous favorable genotypes ('allele 4' LcyE with 'allele 1' CrtRB1) had on average 3.5-times the BC (10.2 vs. 1.9 lg g -1 ) and 2.2-times the proA concentration (13.8 vs. 6.4 lg g -1 ) relative to the digenic homozygous unfavorable genotypes (Table S2).The homozygous favorable LcyE 'allele 4', in combination with the homozygous favorable CrtRB1 'allele 1' resulted in an average of 25 % reduction in total carotenoid concentration (lutein ? zeaxanthin ? BC ? BCX) relative to when it combined with the homozygous unfavorable 'allele 2' of CrtRB1. In contrast, combining the homozygous unfavorable LcyE 'allele 2' with homozygous favorable CrtRB1 'allele 1' resulted in (probably insignificant) 7 % reduction in total carotenoid concentration relative to its combination with the homozygous unfavorable 'allele 2' of CrtRB1. Across the 15 populations H1-H15, that is, across all LcyE genotypic backgrounds, the homozygous favorable 'allele 1' resulted in a 21 % reduction in total carotenoid concentration relative to the unfavorable 'allele 2' of CrtRB1. The heterozygous CrtRB1 genotypes were most similar to wild-type (no The highest total proA concentration, 19.2 lg g -1 on average, was achieved by populations (n = 7) with the homozygous unfavorable LcyE 'allelle 2' combined with homozygous favorable CrtRB1 'allele 1' (ll_HH), followed by 13.8, 12.3 and 10.3 lg g -1 for populations (n = 5, 5 and 7, respectively) with LL_HH, LL_Hh and ll_Hh.Combined effects of LcyE-5 0 TE and CrtRB1-3 0 TE polymorphisms The carotenoid profile of seeds belonging to nine genotype classes resulting from segregation of two alleles each for LcyE and CrtRB1 within six F 2 populations was phenotyped by HPLC (Table 5). In contrast to results for populations L1-L5, the homozygous favorable LcyE 'allele 4' reduced lutein (&60 %) and increased zeaxanthin (&40 %), resulting in average reduction of 75 % in the ratio of ato b-branch carotenoids, from 0.77 to 0.19 (Table 5). This shift in the flux through the carotenoid pathway resulted in 20-30 % increases in BC, BCX and total proA concentrations. The heterozygous genotypes for LcyE were statistically similar to the homozygous favorable (LL), indicating partial dominance mode of action (Table 5).The favorable CrtRB1 'allele 1' had no effect on lutein, but greatly reduced the concentration of zeaxanthin in grain, resulting in an increase in the ratio of ato b-branch carotenoids, from 0.30 to 0.54 (Table 5). The homozygous favorable (HH) had around one-fourth the BCX and 4.6times the BC, resulting in 2.3-times more proA, on average, than the homozygous unfavorable genotypes (hh). The heterozygous genotypes (Hh) were statistically same or closest to the unfavorable (hh) homozygotes for zeaxanthin and BCX concentrations, whereas BC and ProA concentrations for the Hh were intermediate to the homozygote types.Across populations Digenic 1-6, the double favorable homozygote class (LL_HH) had more BC (3.8 times) and ProA (1.6 times), had lower ratio of ato b-branch carotenoids (51 %), and had less BCX (61 %), zeaxanthin (49 %) and lutein (53 %) than the double unfavorable homozygotes (ll_hh). However, similar to noted above for populations H1-H15, populations Digenic 1-6 also experienced a pronounced average reduction in total carotenoid concentration when the homozygous favorable CrtRB1 'allele 1' was present (Fig. 2). This decrease in total carotenoid concentration relative to the homozygous unfavorable CrtRB1 'allele 2' was 30 % across all LcyE genotypic backgrounds, and 28 % for the double homozygous favorable (LcyE 'allele 4' with CrtRB1 'allele 1') relative to double homozygous unfavorable genotypes (Table 5). The heterozygous were similar to homozygous unfavorable CrtRB1 genotypes having almost no reduction in total carotenoid concentration. The three LcyE genotypes, when considered across CrtRB1 genotypes, had less than 5 % variance for total carotenoid concentration.Of the nine genotype classes, the top three in terms of BC and ProA concentrations were Ll_HH, LL_HH and ll_HH, confirming the pronounced effect of the favorable 'allele 1' of CrtRB1, irrespective of LcyE genetic constitution.Significant SD was observed for LcyE in all eight, and for CrtRB1 in five of the eight F 2 populations (Table 6). The Fig. 2 Combined effect of CrtRB1-3 0 TE and LcyE-5 0 TE on ProA and ratio based on six F 2 populations. H refers to favorable allele 1 and h to unfavorable allele 2 of CrtRB1-3 0 TE polymorphism; similarly, L refers to favorable allele 4 and l to unfavorable allele 2 of LcyE-5 0 TE polymorphism extent of SD was severe for LcyE and mostly moderate for CrtRB1, and appeared to be influenced by genetic background. Unfortunately, SD was skewed toward the unfavorable and/or heterozygote allele genotypes, and the favorable allele was therefore under-represented for both LcyE and CrtRB1 in most of the populations.Our results contrast with the Harjes et al. (2008) report of significant reduction in lutein content and concomitant increase in total proA concentration for the LcyE-5 0 TE polymorphism. Harjes et al.'s (2008) conclusions were based on an association mapping panel comprised of 157 lines from temperate maize germplasm. The weaker association between LcyE-5 0 TE genotypes and the total proA concentration observed in this study is not surprising if we consider that several genes regulate the flux in carotenoid biosynthesis and that hydroxylation reactions also act on proA-related carotenoid components. As emphasized by Vallabhaneni et al. (2009), LcyE-5 0 TE is effective in controlling the pathway branching, but does not necessarily result in enhanced accumulation of proA-related compounds due to hydroxylation of proA compounds to non-proA ones.CrtRB1 specifically controls hydroxylation of BC to BCX in maize endosperm tissues, and its alleles with reduced hydroxylation activity are associated with increased BC content and BC to BCX ratio (Vallabhaneni et al. 2009;Yan et al. 2010). We found very strong association between 'allele 1' of CrtRB1 and the endosperm content of BC and proA concentrations irrespective of the genotypic constitution for LcyE (Table 5 and Figure S1). Although only 4 of 15 populations H1-H15 showed strong association between 'allele 1' of CrtRB1 and reduction in BCX content (Table S2), this association was significant in the combined analysis across 6 digenic populations. The failure of 'allele 1' of CrtRB1 to significantly lower BCX content in several of the populations may be explained by a diverse regulatory system which is likely functional in maize and may involve as many as six paralogs with BC hydroxylase activities (Vallabhaneni et al. 2009), for example ZmBCH1 and ZmBCH2, which have been shown to have functional roles (Li et al. 2010). Based on chromosome location and cDNA sequences, it could be inferred that ZmBCH2 (Li et al. 2010), HYD3 (Vallabhaneni et al. 2009) and CrtRB1 (Yan et al. 2010) refer to the same locus on chr. 10.05. Li et al. (2010) reported that ZmBCH2 could only affect 5 % of BC, while ZmBCH1 (located on chr.2) could hydroxylate large amounts of both BC and BCX, when expressed transgenically in Escherichia coli. Besides these non-heme di-iron mono-oxygenases, the maize genome is known to have at least one copy of each P450 hemethiolate-class BC hydroxylases, viz. CYP97A and CYP97C. This, coupled with the existence of duplicated BC hydroxylase genes elsewhere in the maize genome, suggests a complex regulatory system for maize carotenoid biosynthesis, with each hydroxylase gene playing functionally different roles. Our findings not only highlight the significance of CrtRB1 in enhancing the endosperm BC content but also suggest further possibilities to identify and manipulate other key hydroxylase genes, which may lead to achieving even higher concentrations of proA-related compounds in the maize endosperm.Based on the positions of LcyE and CrtRB1 in the carotenoid metabolic pathway, it is reasonable to speculate that combining the mutant partial knock-out or reduced function alleles for these loci may result in higher accumulation of proA compounds than from partial knock-out of either of them alone. This hypothesis was supported by the association mapping study of Yan et al. (2010), in which a greater proportion of phenotypic variation for BC and for the ratio of BC to total carotenoid content was explained by the combined CrtRB1 and LcyE-5 0 TE polymorphisms than by CrtRB1 alone, although none of the inbred haplotypes in their association panels combined the most favorable polymorphisms for both loci. Association mapping can rapidly identify allelic variation for underlying genes and their interaction effects, but these findings need to be validated before embarking on large-scale marker-assisted breeding efforts.Results from our studies to validate the effects of LcyE and CrtRB1 led to several conclusions that are useful to breeding programs using MAS for these alleles. CrtRB1 clearly has a much larger effect than LcyE on proA concentration (Fig. 2), and MAS for favorable 'allele 1' of CrtRB1 can lead to rapid doubling, or more, of total proA concentration. In contrast, MAS for favorable 'allele 4' of LcyE generally resulted in 20-30 % increase in total proA concentration. Thus, MAS for the CrtRB1 locus alone appears to be a reliable strategy for rapidly achieving genetic gains for BC and total proA carotenoids in tropical maize breeding programs.Results for 21 populations (H1-H15 and Digenic 1-6) showed strong (20-30 %) effect of favorable 'allele 1' of CrtRB1 in reducing the total amount of carotenoids. We hypothesize that in the maize kernel, feedback inhibition action of upstream genes, e.g. Psy1, may be occurring as a consequence of the ''pathway blocking'' action of 'allele 1' of CrtRB1. Research in Arabidopsis in photosynthetic tissues has shown that the regulation of carotenoid biosynthesis is interconnected with that of related metabolic pathways as well as developmental and environmental responses where isoprenoids play a role. The expressions of all genes that encode enzymes that are known to function at each step in the carotenoid pathway are highly correlated with PSY (Meier et al. 2011;Ruiz-Sola and Rodriguez-Concepcion 2012). Another possibility is that demand for compounds downstream of zeaxanthin may be satisfied, allowing zeaxanthin to accumulate, when unfavorable 'allele 2' of CrtRB1 is present, whereas the diminished pool of zeaxanthin resulting from the action of 'allele 1' of CrtRB1 is more fully consumed by downstream reactions. Post-transcriptional regulation mechanisms including sequestration, storage capacity and carotenoid turnover have been identified to play a significant role in the carotenoid pathway, mainly in photosynthetic tissues but more research is needed in kernels (Ruiz-Sola and Rodriguez-Concepcion 2012). Nevertheless, given the fact that maximum proA was achieved, without reducing or while minimizing reduction of total carotenoid concentration, by combining homozygous favorable 'allele 1' of CrtRB1 with homozygous unfavorable 'allele 2' or heterozygous LcyE, our data suggest that breeders should avoid selecting for homozygous favorable alleles at both genes.Our observation of SD for LcyE in all eight and for CrtRB1 in five of the eight digenic F 2 populations is consistent with frequent observation of SD in maize and presence of many segregation distortion regions (SDRs) throughout the maize genome (Lu et al. 2002). SD in maize could be due to the presence of gametophytic factors (ga) (Mangelsdorf and Jones 1926;Neuffer et al. 1997) or to naturally occurring gene mutants like dek (defective kernel), ms (male sterile) and emb (embryo-specific mutation) (Neuffer et al. 1997). Besides, known ga genes, many SDRs have also been mapped to different regions on all 10 chromosomes of maize (Lu et al. 2002). The location of LcyE coincides with that of SDR8.2, whereas the location of CrtRB1 coincides with SDR10.2 (Lu et al. 2002). Such SD may have important implications for population sizes to be used in breeding programs. Because LcyE and CrtRB1 are co-localized with, and behave as if they are located in SDRs, and because their favorable alleles are under-represented in most of the populations studied, use of these markers should assay large numbers of segregating individuals to achieve desired numbers of favorable genotypes.Concerns have been raised earlier that reducing the amount of carotenoids may lead to compromised abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants (Tan et al. 1997). The transcript profiling efforts for these two loci by Harjes et al. (2008) and Yan et al. (2010) revealed that the differences in expression levels were very high in endosperm, not very different in embryos, and not at all different in leaves, which suggest tissue-specific regulation of LcyE and CrtRB1. Thus selecting for mutant allele of LcyE and/or CrtRB1, whose expression is limited to endosperm is unlikely to cause any undesirable effects in the carotenoid metabolism of leaves or other vegetative tissues.Keeping in view the current understanding of carotenoid biosynthesis in maize endosperm, efforts to attain higher proA-related compounds need to focus not only on controlling the pathway branching and carotene hydroxylation but also enhancing the total pathway flux and minimizing the carotenoid degradation (Wurtzel et al. 2012). Several genes such as phytoene synthase (Buckner et al. 1996), carotene isomerases and desaturases (Li et al. 2010) have been implicated in the overall regulation of flux in the carotenoid metabolic pathway, and genes such as ZmCCD1 (Sun et al. 2008) and zeaxanthin epoxidases (Vallabhaneni and Wurtzel 2009) have been shown to regulate degradation of carotenoids to further downstream compounds. Current efforts at CIMMYT aim to identify and introgress variant alleles with enhanced efficiency at multiple points of the carotenoid pathway in maize, of which controlled regulation of BC hydroxylation through CrtRB1 has emerged as one of the important breeding strategies for enhanced accumulation of proA-related compounds."}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"dcb7ab1f-f0bb-4eb5-963b-f9a2c8c4903f","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7fc018649b9f57bbef0ea19266abd497","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c7926c7f-bb06-4328-9f9b-cb6fc818dea1/retrieve","id":"-114261039"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f43387c6-d06f-4ed9-9f84-5a3f9311ea53","content":"This comprehensive review summarises the historic development and current status of different methods used to measure climate impacts on global agricultural production: manipulated experiments, process-based crop models, and empirical statistical models. The paper identifies their respective strengths, limitations, and ideal areas of application. Additionally, it proposes potential prospective models that could be used and suggests directions for future improvements. By addressing the knowledge gap regarding method differences, this review could contribute to a more accurate assessment of climate impacts on agriculture.A recent systematic review from scientists at the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) of the impact of climate change on the yield of major staple crops in West Africa pays particular attention to the potential of common agricultural adaptation strategies to mitigate the effects if climate change on crop yields. This paper explores equity in the UNFCCC negotiations during a time of multiple overlapping global crises. Drawing on a combination of semi-structured interviews and a roundtable with key negotiators and observers engaged in the UNFCCC process during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a collaborative ethnographic study and social media analysis on COP27, this study finds that inequities within the UNFCCC process reflect the broader social and geopolitical inequities at international and intranational levels. Multiple intersecting crises reinforce and compound these inequities for particularly marginalised and vulnerable groups and slow progress in tackling climate change in an equitable manner. Applying a critical climate justice lens, this paper shows that in order for the climate negotiations to be resilient to global crises, the process needs to go beyond a surface-level attempt at achieving justice through representation and move towards a more active shifting of power to poor and climate-vulnerable countries and populations.The Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project aims to build and strengthen African climate leaders and improve their knowledge and negotiation skills to enable them to engage effectively in international climate change policy discourse. Fire suppression is the primary management response to wildfires in many areas globally. By removing less-extreme wildfires, this approach ensures that remaining wildfires burn under more extreme conditions -termed \"suppression bias\" in this paper. The study uses a simulation model to highlight how this bias fundamentally impacts wildfire activity, independent of fuel accumulation and climate change. It illustrates how attempting to suppress all wildfires necessarily means that fires will burn with more severe and less diverse ecological impacts, with burned area increasing at faster rates than expected from fuel accumulation or climate change. Over a human lifespan, the modelled impacts of the suppression bias exceed those from fuel accumulation or climate change alone, suggesting that suppression may exert a significant and underappreciated influence on patterns of fire globally. Managing wildfires to safely burn under low and moderate conditions is thus a critical tool to address the growing wildfire crisis. In light of ongoing global challenges of health, climate change, and food security, there is urgent need to transform our food systems. This commentary calls for stakeholders to leverage collective wisdom garnered from more than two decades of sustainability transitions research into developing and implementing systemic approaches to shortcut theory to action and accelerate the transformation of global food systems. The European Union's Common Agricultural Policy strongly influences the European Union's food system via agricultural subsidies. Linking global physical inputoutput datasets with public subsidy data reveals that current allocation favours animal-based foods, which uses 82% of the European Union's agricultural subsidies (38% directly and 44% for animal feed). Subsidy intensity (€ kg−1) for animal-based foods approximately doubles after feed inclusion. The same animal-based foods are associated with 84% of embodied greenhouse gas emissions of EU food production while supplying 35% of EU calories and 65% of proteins. Many governments and industries are relying on future largescale, land-based carbon dioxide (CO2) removal (CDR) to avoid making necessary steep greenhouse gas (GHG) emission cuts today. Not only does this risk locking us into a high overshoot above 1.5°C, but it will also increase biodiversity loss, imperilling the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) goals. Such CDR deployments also pose major economic, technological, and social feasibility challenges; threaten food security and human rights; and risk overstepping multiple planetary boundaries, with potentially irreversible consequences. This paper proposes three ways to build on the IPCC analyses of CDR mitigation potential by assessing sustainability risks associated with land-use change and biodiversity loss: estimate the sustainable CDR budget based on socioecological thresholds; identify viable mitigation pathways that do not overstep these thresholds; and reframe governance around allocating limited CDR supply to the most legitimate uses. Africa's Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative seeks to plant a wall of trees across the entire Sahel in an effort to hold back the expansion of the Sahara Desert and restore degraded land to the benefit of local communities. Although this geoengineering project has potential advantages, the extent to which the experiment will lead to a noticeable reduction in the intensity of droughts and heatwaves remains unclear. Without a deeper understanding of the potential climate impacts of the project, land restoration goals may not be achieved. Computer modelling that considers different GGW scenarios with different combinations of grasses and tree species reveals that, while the project could increase rainfall and decrease drought duration, this would be accompanied by more extreme heat events in the premonsoonal season. Recognising these diverse effects is essential for policymakers to align the GGW's goals with sustainable climate targets and mitigate potential regional repercussions. Africa emits the lowest amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the global GHG budget. However, the continent remains the most vulnerable continent to the effects of climate change. CGIAR scientists at International Water Research Institute (IWRI) developed the African Agricultural Land Greenhouse Gas Index (AALGGI), which uses scores and specific scale ranges for carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) to map the spatial variations in regional GHG emissions across Africa. Restoring tree cover changes albedo, which is the fraction of sunlight reflected from the Earth's surface. In most locations, these changes in albedo offset or even negate the carbon removal benefits, with the latter leading to global warming. Previous efforts to quantify the global climate mitigation benefit of restoring tree cover have not accounted robustly for albedo given a lack of spatially explicit data. This paper produces maps that show that carbon-only estimates may be up to 81% too high. While dryland and boreal settings have especially severe albedo offsets, it is possible to find places that provide net-positive climate mitigation benefits in all biomes. This study also reveals that on-the-ground projects are concentrated in these more climate-positive locations, but that the majority still face at least a 20% albedo offset. Thus, strategically deploying restoration of tree cover for maximum climate benefit requires accounting for albedo change. This paper provides the tools for doing so.Climate policy has largely focused solely on carbon stocks and sequestration to evaluate the potential of forests to mitigate global warming. However, when forest cover, structure and composition change, shifts in biophysical processes may enhance or diminish the climate effects of carbon released from forest aboveground biomass. A paper from scientists at the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) investigates the unseen effects of deforestation and its biophysical effects on climate. This paper presents an analysis of summertime atmospheric simulation (June-July 2016) for southern West Africa using the RegCM 4.7.1 regional climate model to describe the atmospheric behaviour over the region. It also compares the modelled data and observed upper air data acquired during the DACCIWA (Dynamics-Aerosol-Chemistry-Cloud Interactions in West Africa) field campaign period. Assessments of relative humidity and zonal wind profiles were made for selected coastal and inland stations, to infer the relative vertical and temporal atmospheric differences for both locations. The study then evaluated the model's performance. The authors judge RegCM4 to be a good tool for simulating atmospheric and climate dynamics in southern West Africa.This paper was co-authored by Emmanuel Attoh, a CGIAR scientist based at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Changing rainfall patterns due to climate change lead to earlier droughts and aggravated water shortages. Forecasting these changes in water resources is necessary to ensure their sustainable management. This study applied hydrological models to the Nahr Ibrahim watershed, a typical Lebanese Mediterranean basin. Models simplify complex natural systems, and concerns persist about their reliability in addressing drought challenges. To reduce uncertainties, this study develops new robust methods to improve model simulations. Due to these adjustments, this study reports an improvement in model performances and an increased reliability of low-flow forecasts.A CGIAR scientistauthored study used crowdsourced water level data to calibrate rainfall-runoff modelling. The Earth's energy imbalance is the net radiative flux at the topof-atmosphere. Climate model simulations suggest that the observed positive imbalance trend in the previous two decades is inconsistent with internal variability alone and caused by anthropogenic forcing and the resulting climate system response. This paper investigates anthropogenic contributions to the imbalance trend using climate models forced with observed seasurface temperatures. It finds that reductions in anthropogenic aerosols between 2001 and 2019 have increased the effective radiative forcing on Earth. With most future scenarios showing further rapid reductions of aerosol emissions due to air quality legislation, such emission reductions may continue to strengthen Earth's energy imbalance, on top of the greenhouse gas contribution. Consequently, we may expect an accelerated surface temperature warming in this decade.A study co-authored by Surajit Ghosh of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) investigated the changes in Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), a marker of air pollution, due to the global economic shutdown bought on by the coronavirus pandemic.The early warning, early action, early finance (AWARE) platform is a CGIAR initiative aiming to promote early warning of and effective response to climate hazards. This news feature details how researchers are using various machine-learning strategies to speed up climate modelling, reduce its energy costs and improve accuracy. Conventional climate models are built manually from scratch by scientists, who use mathematical equations to describe the physical processes by which the land, oceans and air interact and affect the climate. These models make climate projections that guide global policy -but they rely on powerful supercomputers, take weeks to run and are energy-intensive. Machine learning could potentially transform climate modelling.CGIAR is working to provide advance information about likely or estimated unfolding climate change patterns and foresight analysis to its partners. Floods are one of the most common natural disasters, with a disproportionate impact in developing countries that often lack dense streamflow gauge networks. Accurate and timely warnings are critical for mitigating flood risks, but hydrological simulation models typically must be calibrated to long data records in each watershed. This paper shows that artificial intelligence-based forecasting achieves reliability in predicting extreme riverine events in ungauged watersheds at up to a five-day lead time that is similar to or better than the reliability of nowcasts (zero-day lead time) from a current state-of-the-art global modelling system. The study achieves accuracies over five-year return period events that are similar to or better than current accuracies over one-year return period events. This means that artificial intelligence can provide flood warnings earlier and over larger and more impactful events in ungauged basins. The model developed here was incorporated into an operational early warning system that produces publicly available (free and open) forecasts in real time in over 80 countries. This work highlights a need for increasing the availability of hydrological data to continue to improve global access to reliable flood warnings. Multiple relentless heatwaves occurred in 2023, with much of the world experiencing at least 20 more heatwave days than the 1991-2020 average. Prominent and record-breaking events included exceptional wintertime and spring heat in South America, large heatwaves over Europe, Africa and Asia, and a prolonged event over south-eastern USA and this paper summarizes extreme terrestrial heat events during 2023 using ERA5 reanalysis.The CGIAR Initiative on the Diversification in East and Southern Africa (better known as Ukama Ustawi) are working with smallholder farmers in East and Southern Africa to drive climate-resilient agriculture and livelihoods across the region. The International Water Management Institute (IWMI)led initiative supports vulnerable smallholders' transition by addressing capacity gaps in deployment of climate information regarding climate change impact and changes in extreme weather events, agro-advisories toward mitigating climate risks and opportunities for mainstreaming climate change adaptation to sustainably intensified, diversified, and de-risked agrifood systems. include help farmers in addressing the gap in the lack of climate information and agro-advisories. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"367edd1aef7153acae9f746ac52b2903","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c0c19417-80fa-423e-af8c-8e45fbcf9c17/retrieve","id":"1711871577"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"aebbda9a-805a-47c5-aad3-b9423015d07e","content":"A standardised and flexible tool to monitor livelihoods, farm management, and food security• The lack of standardization of agricultural household surveys, especially in international 'agriculture for development' research, has resulted in a proliferation of survey tools and indicators. Datasets are often badly documented, incoherent, and with limited interoperability• Business-as-usual limits our ability to compare findings across studies, and to draw general conclusions on the effectiveness of interventions or regarding the tradeoffs inherent in 'agriculture for development'.• A user-friendly questionnaire, carefully designed and refined through many uses. Well known indicators used, with many optional modules available.• Digital infrastructure for data collection, direct upload to web-database, and real-time visualisation.• Rapid data processing and analysis, with code coupled to the standard questions and modules of the survey. Integration of survey results into a global database.• Further development of the tool into a Do-It-Yourself downloadable package• Currently RHoMIS and a simplified version, mini-RHoMIS, are applied for COVID19 impact assessments in 10 countries• New exciting analyses: quantifying pathways towards diverse diets and food security, and quantifying the role of livestock in different systems.Since 2015, the tool and approach have been taken up by a wide range of partners in contrasting settings and projects, leading to a unique database of information on smallholder livelihoods."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4b3ca613a95eac679c8c6c995494f135","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f64c45fb-e1c6-475d-af24-e987becff5c7/retrieve","id":"-1302334277"},"keywords":["AMMI","AUDPC","Maize Chlorotic Mottle Virus","Maize Lethal Necrosis","Sugar Cane Mosaic Virus","Variety × Environment Interaction"],"sieverID":"6ae0f514-c0ae-4257-9fa1-5ddaf9c8735d","content":"Maize is a leading crop in Rwandan agriculture, but its production is threatened by the outbreaks of Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) virus disease. The establishment of MLN artificial inoculation facility in the region where Rwanda is located has facilitated the developing MLN resistant maize genotypes. The objective of this study was to identify maize MLN resistant varieties that are high yielding and stable across environments, and to integrate them with other disease management strategies in Rwanda. Forty-one maize varieties were screened through MLN artificial inoculation facility in Naivasha, Kenya. Then, 24 of them were evaluated under natural inoculation in Karama research station, Rwanda. Twelve potential maize varieties were investigated for genotype by environment interaction in four sites at mid-altitudes in Rwanda, including Cyabayaga Karama and Bugarama, over two consecutive seasons. The study identified three maize MLN moderately resistant varieties; RHM1402, RHM1407, and RHM1409 that are high yielding and stable across environments. MLN was found to increase the incidence of ear rot, hence, raising the risks of infection with harmful mycotoxins such as aflatoxins. In order to manage the MLN disease in Rwanda, it has been advocated that the identified varieties be made available to farmers and integrated with other methods of control.Maize (Zea mays L.) has become a staple food crop in Rwanda. In the year 2020, around 549,000 tons of maize grains were produced in the country (NISR 2020). The crop commodity is contributing to the generation of revenues. Approximately 50,800 tons of maize products (mainly flour and grains) were exported in the fiscal year 2018-2019 and generated 14.6 million US dollars (NISR 2019).In the past 15 years, maize farming in Rwanda has undergone enormous growth and radical change. The most significant factors behind this great progress in a short period of time include the advent of the Crop Intensification Program (CIP) in 2007 (Nahayo et al. 2017), changes in cropping systems, extension and intensive cultivation of maize in mid-altitudes, changes in policies (Bizoza and Byishimo 2013), and availability of markets at national and regional levels (FAO 2013).The outbreak of MLN (Maize Lethal Necrosis) disease in 2013 (Adams et al. 2014) posed a serious threat to maize production and maize cropping achievement in Rwanda. The MLN is a viral disease caused by a combined and synergetic infection of MCMV (Maize Chlorotic Mottle Virus) and one of the three cereal viruses of the Potyviridae family comprising SCMV (Sugarcane Mosaic Virus), WSMV (Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus) or MDMV (Maize Dwarf Mosaic Virus) (Mahuku et al. 2015a;Wamaitha et al. 2018;Redinbaugh and Stewart 2018). In Eastern Africa, the combination of MCMV and SCMV has been commonly reported (Wangai et al. 2012;Adams et al. 2014;Mahuku et al. 2015b;Kiruwa et al. 2016) although there is evidence that the combination of MCMV with Johnsongrass mosaic virus or polerovirus causes MLN as well (Stewart et al. 2017;Massawe et al. 2018).Diseased plants develop several symptoms that include chlorotic mottle on the leaves starting from the base of the young leaves in the whorl and extending upwards toward the leaf tip, mild to severe leaf mottling, dwarfing and premature ageing of the plants, necrosis of leaf margins that progress to the mid-rib resulting in drying of the whole leaf, and necrosis of young leaves in the whorl before expansion. Severely infected plants show dead heart symptoms and eventual plant death (Redinbaugh and Stewart 2018;Awata et al. 2019).Other important symptoms include immature ear husks showing yellow streaks, ears appearing physiologically mature while kernels inside are still at the milk stage, and the rest of the plant is still green before finally drying and rotting. Also, plants affected form small cobs with few and no grain at all resulting in barren ears (Wangai et al. 2012). Losses caused by MLN on maize crops can go up to 100 % (Boddupalli et al. 2020).MLN disease is transmitted through a complex of means that include vectors, mechanical transmission, seeds, and agronomic practices depending on type of the viruses causing the disease. MCMV transmission occurs through insect vectors, mechanical means and seeds (Zhang et al. 2011;Zeng et al. 2013;Regassa et al. 2021). Although thrips (Frankliniella williamsi) seem to be the major insect vector transmitting MCMV, other possible vectors include three species of maize rootworms (Diabrotica undecimpunctata, D. lonicornis and D. virgifera), the maize flea beetle (Chaetocnema pulicaria), the flea beetle (Systena frontalis), and the cereal leaf beetle (Oulema melanopa) (Cabanas et al. 2013;Awata et al. 2019;Regassa et al. 2021). All these insect vectors transmit MCMV in a semi -persistent manner for up to six days (Cabanas et al. 2013;Mwando et al. 2018). The mechanical transmission of MCMV happens through agricultural tools and the transport of infected plant parts to non-infected areas (Redinbaugh and Stewart, 2018).SCMV and MDMV are mainly transmitted by several aphid species that include the maize leaf aphid (Rhopalosiphum maidis), the plum aphid (Hysteroneura setariae), the green bug (Schizaphis graminum), the cotton aphid (Aphis gossypii) and the green peach aphid (Myzus persicae) in a non-persistent manner (Awata et al. 2019;Regassa et al. 2021). Furthermore, the two viruses are importantly spread through seed (Mikel et al. 2008). WSMV is transmitted from infected to healthy plants mainly by the mite, Aceria tosichella (Lu et al. 2011) causing wheat leaf curl through seeds (Dwyer et al. 2007;Hadi et al. 2011).The MLN disease infects exclusively maize crop. However, its components viruses infect several important cereal crops worldwide such as maize, wheat, sorghum, and sugarcane and have several other hosts including wild species. Maize and sorghum seem to be the only natural host of MCMV (Zhang et al. 2011;Awata et al. 2019;Regassa et al. 2021).The control measures of MLN include rigorous disease management practices such as crop rotation and fallowing where farmers would stop growing maize for a certain period of the time, and plant a non-grass crops such as legumes. Other measures include avoidance of continuous maize cultivation, timely planting and weeding, applying correct plant spacing, adequate fertilizer application for maximum plant health (Marenya et al. 2018), and the avoidance of use of seed produced in both MCMV and MLN noninfected zones (Zeng et al. 2013). Moreover, they comprise agronomic practices such as control of weeds and alternate hosts, avoidance of mechanical transmission through tools, control of insect-vectors, use of resistant varieties, adequate isolation from MLN infected fields, and avoidance of transport of parts of maize crop from infected areas (Mahuku et al. 2015a).The control of the seed movement from a MLN endemic region to a non-endemic zone is also a valuable practice that limits the spread of MLN. The national plant protection organizations have a crucial responsibility in ensuring that there is no movement of commercial seed from MLN-endemic to nonendemic countries or regions by issuing MLN -free seed certificates (Marenya et al. 2018).The MLN disease was first reported in the USA where it has heavily infected three states: Hawai, Texas, and Nebraska (Bockelman et al. 1982). Furthermore, it has been reported to be heavily present in China (Zhang et al. 2011;Xie et al. 2010) where it has become a quarantine pest (Zeng et al. 2013). The first report of MLN and MCMV in Eastern and Central Africa was made in 2011 in Kenya (Wangai et al. 2012;Kiruwa et al. 2016) and rapidly spread to Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, D.R. Congo, and Ethiopia (Lukanda et al. 2014;Adams et al. 2014;Mahuku et al. 2015b;Mahuku et al. 2015a). In Rwanda, the symptoms of MLN disease were observed for the first time in February 2013 in Busogo Sector, Musanze District, Northern Province in volcanic highlands (Adams et al. 2014)  (Gowda et al. 2015).The availability of the MLN screening facilities allowed the development of several MLN-resistant inbred lines through conventional breeding methods including pedigree methodology, molecular assisted backcrossing, and forward breeding. The availability of these inbred lines permitted the generation of new maize hybrid varieties tolerant or resistant to disease. A number of screening sites at MLN hot spots with high natural disease pressure were established and used to evaluate pre-commercial MLNtolerant or resistant hybrids identified at the MLN screening facilities at Naivasha in Kenya. Through this network, maize hybrid varieties with MLN tolerance and or resistance combined with desirable traits, including excellent husk cover, reduced ear rots, and tolerance to other stresses were identified and deployed to manage the disease. Some of these varieties such as Bazooka in Uganda, D.R. Congo and Burundi, and H6506 in Kenya are being commercialized (Beyene et al. 2011;Boddupalli et al. 2020;Awata et al. 2021).The genotype by environment interaction (GEI) occurs when genotypes differ in the manner their trait values vary across environments (Saltz et al. 2018). The environments may comprise locations, years, levels of fertilization, different plant density, and many more. GEIs can be grouped into two broad categories: crossover and non-crossover interactions. A crossover interaction occurs when variety ranks change from one environment to another while non-crossover interaction occurs when rank orders of genotypes across environments remains unchanged, i.e. genotypes that are superior in one environment maintain their superiority in other environments. The GEI has been expressed as P=G+E+GE where P was the phenotype, G, the sum of the genotypic contribution, E, environmental contribution and GE, the interaction between genotypes and environments (Kang 2002).Several statistical models to analyze the GEI have been developed and utilized. They range from linear models such as the joint regression developed by Finlay and Wilkinson (1963) to linear-bilinear models such as Additive Main Effect and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) (Gauch 1992;Gauch 2013), and Genotypes + Genotypes × Environments Interaction (GGE) models (Yan et al. 2005). The linear-bilinear models have two components: an additive (linear) component (main effects, intercepts) and a multiplicative (bilinear) component (Crossa and Cornelius 2002;Yang 2014).The AMMI and GGE models have been extensively used to analyze and interpret the GEI, and identify genotypes stable across environment on maize and other several cop commodities. The advantages of one model over the other are still under debate. However, the advantage of AMMI over GGE seems to be the incorporation of yield in the concept of stability whereas the advantage of GGE over AMMI appears to be its powerful graphical representation through biplots (Yan and Tinker 2005;Gauch 2006;Yan et al. 2007;Gauch et al. 2008;Gauch 2013).The AMMI combines classical analysis of variance and principal components analysis in one single analysis with both additive and multiplicative parameters. The AMMI linear model is:. The additive part of the model coincides with the ordinary analysis of variance and it is made of the grand mean μ and the main effects α g : genotype deviation from the grand mean, β e : environment deviation from the grand mean. The multiplicative part of the model decomposes the interaction into Principal Component Axis (PCA) and residual ρ ge if all PCAs are not included in the model. The multiplicative parameters are λ n the singular value for the n th PCA, γ gn the genotype eigenvector for axis n, and δ en the environment eigenvector for axis n. The multiplicative parameters are obtained by Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) of interaction. A convenient scaling for the multiplicative parameters is λ 0.5 γ g and λ 0.5 δ e . However, these multiplicative terms have been called Interaction PCA scores or IPCA scores in order to make a distinction between classical principal analysis and AMMI (Gauch 1992).The distinctive feature of the AMMI model is the use of biplots to present the results of the analysis in a fashion that provides visual clarity and demonstrates the inherent patterns uncovered. A biplot is a scatter plot with two kinds of points. The biplot for GEI has one type of points that represents genotypes and another type that represents the environments. Most biplots currently encountered are drawn in two dimensions and are based on AMM1 and AMMI 2. For those based on AMM1, the means of main effects (genotypes and environment) constitute the abscissa axis and the IPCA1 make the ordinate axis whereas, for those based on AMMI 2, the IPCA1 scores make the abscissa axis and the IPCA 2 scores form the ordinate axis (Gauch 2006;Gauch et al. 2008;Gauch 2013).The usefulness of the AMMI model has been reflected in the use of the yield stability index to obtain genotypes that are high yielding and stable across environments. It is obtained by adding the ranks of AMMI stability values (ASVs) in ascending order and the ranks of yield in descending order (Farshadfar et al. 2011;Oliveira et al. 2013;Oyekunle et al. 2017;Katsenios et al. 2021). The ASVs are obtained using the formulae: ASY= where the ASV is the AMMI stability value, IPCA1 SS is the sums squares of IPCA1 in the AMMI analysis of variance, IPCA2 SS is the sums squares of IPCA2 in the AMMI analysis of variance, IPCA1 Score is the IPCA1 score and IPCA2 Score is the IPCA2 score. The ASVs close to zero indicates high stability.The objective of this study was to identify MLN tolerant or resistant varieties which are high yielding and stable across environments that could be integrated with other control options to minimize the impact of MLN disease in Rwanda. with two replications and a plot size of one row is 3 m length. Sowing was performed with two kernels per hill and next a thinning at one plant per hill reducing the plant stand to 13 plants per row. All the required agronomic practices were followed. The first inoculation with MLN was performed three weeks after planting.The inoculum of MLN was obtained and maintained following the procedures of Gowda et al. (2015) by producing and maintaining separately the inocula of MCMV and SCMV. Briefly, original isolates of MCMV and SCMV were collected from MLN hotspot places and the confirmation of the presence of the two viruses was performed by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). ELISA used, as directed by the supplier commercial kits, double antibody sandwich (DAS) type obtained from Agdia, Inc. (Agdia 2020). Then, the inocula of the two viruses were produced and maintained separately using MLN susceptible maize varieties. The two inocula were mixed with a ratio MCMV/SCMV of 1:4 for making the right MLN inoculum proportions. This proportion was directed by the fact that MCMV is very stable compared to SCMV. Furthermore, the combination of MCMV with SCMV was preferred because it was the mostly reported in Eastern Africa. Thereafter, the carborandum was added to the mixture with 1 g of carborandum in one litre of the mixture. The resulting inoculum (mixture of MCMV+SCMV+ carborandum) was kept in a cool environment till the inoculation was done.The field trials were inoculated with MLN for the first time four weeks after planting when the plants were at the 5-6 leaf stage. The second inoculation was carried out one week after the first. The inoculation was done using a motorized, backpack mist blower (Solo 423 MistBlower, 12 L capacity) following the procedures of Gowda et al. (2015). MLN symptoms appeared 10 to 15 days after the second inoculation depending upon the susceptible nature of the genotype. The MLN severity scoring was performed following the procedures of Gowda et al. (2015). It started two weeks after the second inoculation and was conducted for every two weeks for four consecutive steps. It was done at row basis and was rated visually on a 1 to 5 disease severity score, where 1=no visible MLN symptoms, 2=fine chlorotic streaks mostly on older leaves, 3=chlorotic mottling throughout the plant, 4=excessive chlorotic mottling on lower leaves and necrosis of newly emerging leaves (dead heart), and 5=complete plant necrosis. The genotypes with scores inferior to 2 were considered as resistant, those with scores between 2 and 2.5 moderately resistant, those with scores between 2.5 and 3.0 tolerant and those with scores superior to 3 susceptible. Furthermore, the Area Under Disease Progress Curve (AUDPC) was estimated as described by Simko and Piepho (2013) and Forbes et al. (2014) using the formulae:where \"y i \" was the value of the MLN score at \"i th\" scoring step , \"t i \" the time at \"i th\" scoring step and \"n\" is the total number of scoring steps. The time of scoring \"t i \" was recorded in the number of days after the second inoculation.The AUDPC was used to determine the relative AUDPC noted rAUDPC. The rAUDPC was estimated by dividing the AUDPC of each variety with the maximum potential AUDPC by the formulae:. The maximum potential AUDPC was the AUDPC a variety would have if it had MLN score of 5 at all scoring steps. The analysis of data was performed using Genstat 20 th Edition following the procedures of Baird et al. (2019).Twenty-four hybrid maize varieties (Table 1) based on their performance under MLN artificial inoculation were used in the evaluation trials under MLN natural inoculation. The trials were conducted at Karama research station (latitude 2°16'12''S, longitude 30°15'37''E, altitude 1339 masl) in 2017 A (October 2016-February 2017) and 2017 B seasons (March-July 2017). The experimental design was an alpha lattice (8x3) with four replications. The plot size was two rows of 5-m length. Planting was performed at the spacing of 0.75 m between rows and 0.25 m between hills. Sowing was done by two kernels per hill and a thinning two weeks later reduced the plant stand at one seedling per hill. All usual agronomic practices including mineral fertilizers application and weeding were applied.Data recording included first and second MLN severity scoring, ear rot, grain yield at 15 % grain moisture content, and AUDPC. The first scoring was done at 69 days after planting at the blister stage whereas the second scoring was performed 113 days after planting before physiological maturity when the leaves were still green which was also 44 days after the first rating. The scoring of MLN severity was performed following the procedures of Gowda et al. (2015).The ear rot was obtained in percentage by taking the number of rotten ears divided by the number of harvested ears. Grain yield was obtained by weighing the total ears harvested (fresh weight in kg, FW) and sampling kernels to obtain grain moisture (GM in %) using a portable moisture meter. Grain yield (GY) in t/ha at 15 % of grain moisture content was calculated by taking A as the distance (in m) between rows, B as the distance (in m) between hills at planting, C as the length (in m) of harvested rows, D as the number of rows harvested, DW as the dry weight (in kg) after drying the ears, and GW as the grain weight (in kg) obtained after shelling. using following equation:. Additionally, the AUDPC and rAUDC were calculated following the procedures of Forbes et al. (2014). The analysis of data was performed by using Genstat 20 th Edition following the procedures of Baird et al. (2019) and considering the experimental design as Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD).Twelve selected elite hybrid maize varieties (Table 1) based on their performance under MLN natural inoculation were evaluated at four sites comprising Cyabayaga, Karama, Rubona, and Bugarama (Table 3) both in the 2018 A season (October 2017-February 2018) and 2018 B season (February-July 2018), hence making eight evaluation environments (site × season).Rubona site is the coolest and the highest in altitude and receives, on average 1,171 mm rain per year. In this site, the incidence of diseases on maize is moderate and drought occurs occasionally. The Bugarama site has the lowest altitude in the country. It is the hottest of the sites considered a hot spot for maize streak virus disease. The site experiences drought occasionally. Cyabayaga site is the hot spot of turcicum leaf blight and grey leaf spot diseases. At Karama, the drought is very frequent and more severe than in other sites. All four sites have two cropping seasons in a year that overlap in February. According to Henninger (2013), Rubona is situated in the temperate zone of the central highlands, Karama and Cyabayga in East Rwandan, dry and hot lowland while Bugarama is located in the Lake Kivu climate where the prevailing land-lake-wind circulation creates better climatic conditions.The experimental design was alpha-lattice (4×3) with three replications, and analyzed as RCBD. A plot was made by three rows of 5-m length with a distance between rows of 0.75 m and a distance between hills of 0.25 m. Planting was performed by two grains per hill followed by a thinning at one plant/hill three weeks after planting. Fertilizers were applied at rates of 51 kg/ha N, 51 kg/ha P 2 O5 and 51 kg/ha K 2 O before planting. Six weeks after planting, 46 kg/ha N using urea (46-0-0) were applied at a rate of 100 kg/ha. Rainfall served as the primary source of water, and weeding was done as it was needed.Grain yield (t/ha at 15 % grain moisture) was the trait recorded in all trials. The AMMI (Additive Main effects and Multiplicative Interactions) model was used to analyze the Variety × Environment Interaction (VEI). The AMMI analysis of variance was performed using Genstat 20 th Edition following the procedures of Baird et al. (2019) whereas AMMI1 biplots were constructed using the MS Excel spreadsheet. The stability of varieties was obtained by the yield stability index (YSI) determined by the ranks of AMMI stability values (ASVs) and grain yields as described by Farshadfar et al. (2011) and Oliveira et al. (2013). The ASVs were obtained using the formulae: where ASV is the AMMI stability value, IPCA1 SS is the sums squares of IPCA1 in the AMMI analysis of variance, IPCA2 SS is the sums squares of IPCA2 in the AMMI analysis of variance, IPCA1 Score is the IPCA1 score and IPCA2 Score is the IPCA2 score. The varieties were ranked in ascending order using ASVs because an ASV close to zero indicates high stability. Furthermore, using grain yields, the varieties were ranked in descending order. The two ranks were added to obtain the YSI.The availability of MLN artificial inoculation facilities has allowed making progress in breeding for MLN resistance and has speeded the process of developing MLN tolerant or resistant varieties in Eastern and Central (Gowda et al. 2015;Boddupalli et al. 2020) although the MLN disease was new in Africa (Wangai et al. 2012). The disease is still a serious threat to food security in Sub-Saharan Africa especially in the regions where maize is the staple food crop (Mahuku et al. 2015a).It is anticipated that the current scenario would continue to worsen, causing further damage. (Isabirwhye, and Rwomushana 2016). The utilization of MLN-resistant varieties represents an economically viable, environmentally sustainable approach and a durable measure to control the MLN disease (Mahuku et al. 2015a).The results of the analysis of variance showed significant differences between varieties for the first (P=0.001) and the second (P=0.017) MLN scorings and non-significant differences between varieties for the third (P=0.100) and the fourth (P=0.398) MLN scorings (Table 4). Furthermore, the differences between varieties were highly significant (P<0.001) for the AUDPC and rAUDPC.The first MLN scoring varied from 1.3 (RHT132P) to 2.8 (RHMM129) with an average of 2.1. The scores of the second MLN changed from 2.0 (RHM1409) to 4.0 (RHMM128) with 3.1 on average. The third MLN scoring varied from 2.5 (RHM1409) to 4.0 (RHMM128, RHM104P) with an average of 3.1 while the fourth increased from 2.5 to 4.0 with a value of 3.3 on average. The AUDPC increased from 92.8 (RHM1409) to 157.5 (RHMM128) with a mean of 124.4 whereas the rAUDPC changed from 0.44 (RHM1409) to 0.75 (RHMM128) with a mean of 0.59 (Table 4). (2.8), RHMM140 (2.8), RHMM123 (2.8), RHM1407 (2.9) and RHM1402 (2.9) had the fourth MLN scoring values inferior to 3.0 (Table 4).Twenty-five varieties that included 24 TWCHs and one SCH had a rAUDPC inferior or equal to 0.60 whereas only six varieties comprising RHM1409 (0.44), RHT132P (0.45), RHT132 (0.46), RHMM132 (0.48), RHMM123 (0.49) and RHMM140 (0.49) had a rAUDPC inferior to 0.50. The 24 TWCH varieties with rAUDPC inferior or equal to 0.60 or the third MLN scoring values inferior or equal to 3.0 had an acceptable level of tolerance to MLN (Table 4).The strategy of screening 41 hybrid maize varieties under artificial inoculation in the first step had the advantages of identifying 24 varieties having acceptable levels of MLN tolerance with an rAUDPC inferior or equal to 0.60. A small AUDPC or a small rAUDPC closer to zero indicates low susceptibility to the disease whereas a high AUDPC or a rAUDPC close to 1 implies a very high susceptibility to the disease (Paraschivu et al. 2013). Hence, the varieties: RHM1409, RHT132P, RHT132, RHMM132 RHMM140 and RHMM123 were MLN moderately resistant with a rAUDPC inferior to 0.50 whereas the varieties RHM1407, RHMM113, RHM1402, and RHMM125 were MLN tolerant with a rAUDPC inferior to 0.55.The AUDPC and its derivative rAUDPC, and the standardized AUDPC noted sAUDPC (Simko and Piepho 2012) have been used to correctly measure the level of susceptibility to diseases in various crops (Mukherjee et al. 2010;Forbes et al. 2014;Kebede and Golla 2020) including MLN (Karanja et al. 2018).They have been found to be specifically useful in the identification of MLN-resistant maize germplasm (Karanja et al. 2018;Nyaga et al. 2020).  The screening of selected varieties under MLN natural inoculation had the purpose of knowing their performance under farmers' similar conditions although the expression of MLN symptoms may depend on several uncontrolled factors (Jain et al. 2019).The analysis of variance showed significant differences between varieties for the first MLN scoring, the second MLN scoring, AUDPC, rAUDPC, ear rot, and the grain yield at P<0.001. The first MLN scoring varied from 1.1 (RHMM1402) to 2.4 (RHMM125) with an average of 1.8 whereas the second MLN scoring varied from 1.8 (RHM1402) to 3.8 (RHMM125) with an average of 2.6. The rAUDPC varied from 0.28 (RHM1402) to 0.61 (RHMM125) with an average of 0.45. The ear rot varied from 30.1 % (RHM1402) to 81.9 % (RHM104) with an average of 54.4 % while the grain yield changed from 1.20 t/ha (RHMM125) to 4.17 t/ha (RHM1402) with an average of 2.41 t/ha (Table 5).Sixteen   5).The slope of the regression of rAUDPC on the ear rot (b=159.89) was positive and significant at P<0.001. On the contrary, the coefficient of regression of rAUDPC on grain yield (b=-8.20) was negative and significant at P<0.001 (Figure 1).The positive and significant slope of the regression between rAUDPC and ear rot suggests that MLN disease causes and aggravate maize ear rot. The increase in ear rot incidence of maize may have resulted from the thrips, vector of MCMV, while feeding on immature grains as suggested by Redinbaugh and Stewart (2018). The maize ear rot may be associated with mycotoxins including the most dangerous aflatoxins (Ogara et al. 2017;Logrieco et al. 2021). Consequently, their increase may augment the risks of such aflatoxins thus, may pose health concerns (Fung and Clark 2004;Kumar et al. 2017;Imran et al. 2020). Furthermore, a negative and significant slope of the regression between rAUDPC and grain yield implies that the MLN incidence reduces the grain yields of varieties causing serious impact on maize production (Marenya et al. 2018). According to de Groote et al. (2016) maize losses in affected areas of Kenya in 2012-2013 varied from 23 % to 100 %.The first MLN scoring was done 69 days after planting at the blister stage whereas the second MLN scoring was performed at 113 days before physiological maturity when the MLN symptoms were fully expressed making the scoring to be executed in two points in the time. Hence, the AUDPC and rAUDPC were estimated based on two data points in the time. Mukherjee et al. (2010) used two data recording points, the first and the last data points on one hand and several data points on the other hand, to estimate the AUDPC of rice blast in order to find similar results given by the two estimation procedures.The strategy of screening 24 varieties having adequate levels of MLN tolerance under natural inoculation permitted the identification of 11 varieties (RHM1402, RHM1409, RHM1407, RHMM111, RHT132, RHMM127, RHMM142, RHMM122, RHMM150, RHMM130 and RHMM113) with satisfactory MLN tolerance having a rAUDPC inferior to 0.45.The AMMI analysis of variance showed that the variation due to varieties, environments and VEI was highly significant (p<0.001) (Table 6). The variety effect accounted for 37.6 % of the treatment sums squares followed by environmental effects (40.7 %) and VEI effects (21.7 %) accounted for the remaining percentage. The treatment sums squares were obtained by the addition of variety sums squares with environment sums square and VEI sums squares. Therefore, the percentage of effects is the proportion accounted for in the treatment sums square. The variation due to environments was slightly higher than the variation due to varieties whereas it was approximately two times larger than the VEI variation. However, both variety and VEI variations accounted for 59.3 % which was larger than the environmental variation. Moreover, the variation due to varieties was 1.7 times larger In AMMI analysis of variance, the treatment variation is subdivided into three types of variations: variation due to genotypes main effects, variation due to environments main effects, and variation due to Genotype × Environment Interaction (GEI) effects. These three sources of variation present different problems and opportunities. The genotype variation pertains to broad adaptations, the GEI variation is related to narrow adaptations, while genotypes and GEI variations jointly determine mega-environments (Gauch 2006;Gauch et al. 2008;Hongyu et al. 2014). In the present study, the variation due to varieties jointly with the VEI variation was larger than the environmental variation implying that mega-environments effects were far important than the effects of individual environments. Moreover, the broad adaptation was very larger than the narrow adaptation indicating that the varieties tended to be broadly adapted. Broad adaptation implies that varieties tend to be adapted in several and diverse environments whereas narrow adaptation is when varieties tend to be adapted in specific environments (Gauch 2013). Likewise, there are several studies where it was found that mega-environment effects were more important than the effects of individual environments and broad adaptation is higher than narrow adaptation (Mukherjee et al. 2013;Ngaboyisonga et al. 2014). Also, studies where environment variation was the most important than the two other components were frequently reported (Beyene et al. 2011).The AMM1 biplot showed that the varieties: RHM1402, RHM1409, RHMM113, RHM1407 and RHT132 had grain yields superior to overall mean of 6.8 t/ha. The remaining varieties had grain yields inferior to the overall mean. Furthermore, the cluster made by the varieties RHM107, RHM113, RHM1409 and RHM1402 was very close to the abscissa while the variety RHT132 was very far from it. The varieties, RHM1407, RHM113, RHM1409, and RHM1402 made a cluster with Bugarama-2018 A and Bugarama 2018 B environments whereas RHT132 was very close to the Rubona-2018 A environment. Bugarama-2018A environment had the highest grain yield of 8.7 t/ha and Karama-2018 A had the lowest grain yield of 3.9 t/ha (Figure 2).In AMMI 1 biplot, the usual interpretation of a biplot is that displacements along the abscissa indicate differences in main (additive) effects, whereas displacements along the ordinate indicate differences in interaction effects. Varieties that group together have similar adaptation while environments that group together influences the genotypes in the same way. When a variety and an environment have the same sign on the IPCA axis, their interaction is positive and if the sign is opposite, their interaction is negative. If a variety has a high mean (mean > overall mean) and an IPCA1 score closer to zero (near the abscissa), it has small interaction effects and it is considered stable across environments (Neisse et al. 2018). Therefore, the varieties RHM102, RHM1402, RHM1409, RHMM113, and RHM1407 had similar adaptation and were stable across environments because they have high means and were very close to the abscissa. Additionally, they interacted positively with high productive environments. The variety RHT132 was not stable across environments although it had a high mean. However, it was particularly adapted to specific environments, Rubona-2016 A and Cyabayaga-2016 A.The ranking of varieties showed that the six first varieties arranged in ascending order by the ASVs comprised; RHM1407, RHMM113, RHMM127, RHM1409, RHMM130, and RHM1402 whereas six varieties arranged in descending order by the grain yield included; RHM1402, RHM1409, RHMM113, RHM1407, RHT132, and RHMM130. Therefore, four varieties with excellent YSI inferior to 10 were RHMM113 (5), RHM1407 (5), RHM1409 (6), and RHM1402 (7) (Table 7).The YSI and or the ASVs have been used to identify superior genotypes in several crops (Farshadfar et al. 2011;Oliveira et al. 2013;Kumar et al. 2018)  The use of YSI, in this study, has allowed identifying the varieties: RHMM113, RHM1407, RHM1409, and RHM1402 having excellent performance (YSI<10). The varieties RHM113, RHM1407, RHM1409, and RHM1402 were identified as superior genotypes by combing the AMM1 biplot and YSI.The identification process of tolerant or resistant maize varieties with high yield and stable across environments was conducted in three steps: screening under MLN artificial inoculation, evaluation under MLN natural inoculation, and multi-environments evaluations.Three varieties comprising RHM1409, RHM1402, and RHM1407 had substantial performance under both artificial and natural MLN inoculations and were classified as MLN moderately resistant cultivars. Furthermore, the AMMI analysis and the YSI showed that the varieties RHM113, RHM1409, RHM1407, and RHM1402 were high yielding and stable across tested environments. By combing MLN artificial and natural inoculations with AMMI analysis and YSI, three varieties, RHM1409, RHM1407, and RHM1402 were shown MLN moderately resistance, high yielding, and stable across environments.These four varieties are proposed to be released to farmers and to be integrated with other control strategies to manage MLN disease in Rwanda.The study has further shown that MLN infection not only reduced the grain production, but also increased the incidence of maize ear rots, which may be attributed to mycotoxins, particularly aflatoxins.This paper was written in remembrance of Late Dr. Theodre Asiimwe who contributed significantly to the management of Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) in Rwanda."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f6b0a4d0210bb02baffd271d6cca6204","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/20e3da7e-c2af-475b-8e9c-1f441b97ac5d/retrieve","id":"2063857646"},"keywords":["47","7 54","0 49","3 56","1 60","0 64","2 Agriculture"],"sieverID":"ed927e7d-227f-43e7-80a6-eafdd6967f15","content":"Transformation of the agri-food system (AFS) is a leading pathway to achieve the USG Global Food Security Strategy Objective 1 of \"Inclusive agriculture-led growth\". The AFS encompasses the primary agricultural sector, as well as all upstream and downstream agriculture-related activities. An expansion of the AFS's off-farm components is central to the process of agricultural transformation and is strongly associated with economic development. The Percent change in value-added in the agri-food system (AgGDP+) and Employment in the agrifood system (AgEMP+) indicators are useful to track this process.$ bil.6.1 6.2 6.1 6.7 6.9 7.1 Agri-food (AgGDP+) $ bil. Projecting AgGDP+ in DRC ($ bil.)• In 2019, the AFS generated 35.3% of total GDP in DRC and 74.5% of total employment, while agriculture alone represented 12.3% and 56.3%, respectively.• AgGDP+ and AgEMP+ grew at 3.8% and 6.4% respectively between 2018 and 2019, reaching $17.4 billion and 22 million workers in 2019. This section provides data on the structure of the DRC's economy as a whole and of its agri-food system in 2019. Table 1 shows the breakdown of national GDP, employment, and trade. The importance of agriculture for the economy extends well beyond the sector itself, with many industrial and service sectors forming parts of the AFS. Table 2 reports estimates of AgGDP+ and AgEMP+ by component of the AFS. Agriculture generated $6.1 billion in GDP and employed 16.6 million workers in 2019. Agro-processing generated a further $4.7 billion in GDP and 1.5 million jobs. Both sectors use domestic inputs, whose production created more value-added and jobs. However, the supply of inputs to farmers and processors accounts for a relatively small share of the AFS. Another large off-farm component is the trading of agriculture-related products between farmers, processors, and consumers. This created $3.7 billion in GDP and employment for 3.5 million workers, making it the third largest component of DRC's AFS and responsible for more than two-thirds of the total trade and transport GDP (shown in Table 1). In total, DRC's AFS generated 35.3% of total GDP and 74.5% of employment in 2019. Table 3 breaks down the AFS into different value chains based on major product groupings. The cereals value-chain, for example, includes the on-farm cultivation of cereal crops (agriculture); the milling of cereals into flours (manufacturing); the trading and transporting of cereal products; and the preparation of meals in hotels and restaurants using raw and processed cereal inputs (food services). The cereals value-chain makes up 17.2% of the DRC's AFS. The last column shows the share of off-farm components (beyond the farm gate) in AFS GDP by each value chain. For example, of the GDP generated by the cereals value-chain, 60.2% comes from off-farm activities. 2.5 0.0 2.5 14.2 0.0 21.9 100.0 Source: IFPRI estimates using supply-use tables. Note: GDP is gross domestic product measured in constant 2019 US dollars. Off-farm GDP includes agri-food processing; trading and transport of agricultural and food products; food services; and the domestic production of inputs (see Table 2). The final column is the ratio of off-farm to total GDP generated by each value chain (column 3 divided by column 1).Livestock was the largest agricultural value chain in 2019, followed by root products. Except for roots and horticulture that generated their value-added mainly on the farm, DRC's AFS value chains"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7d055f41aa47833d86f41ff5c93b6c79","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/527e858c-23d8-4c7b-ae17-dc57d9fcecb6/retrieve","id":"-964728500"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cb50d237-917d-4167-80eb-f43870bf5f5d","content":"The Mixed Farming System (MFS) initiative in Ethiopia is a multi-partner initiative that aims to increase access to agricultural research and extension service providers, to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers who are engaged in mixed farming systems across three regions, including Amhara, Oromia and SNNP. These interventions are designed to help farmers in Ethiopia to increase their productivity and incomes, while also reducing their environmental impact. Mixed Farming System initiative aims in Ethiopia:• Promoting the use of improved crop varieties: The MFS Initiative promotes improved crop varieties adapted to the conditions in Ethiopia.• Supporting research and development: The MFS initiative supports research and development of feed and forage varieties that are adapted to the Ethiopian climate and soil conditions.• Increasing the use of fertilizers and other agricultural inputs: The MFS Initiative provides farmers with access to fertilizers and other agricultural inputs. These inputs can help to improve soil fertility and crop productivity.• Strengthening farmer organizations: The MFS Initiative supports the formation and strengthening of farmer organizations. These organizations can help farmers to advocate for their interests, and to access resources and services. Gender norms assessment and community conversation.The livestock interventions are guided by systems perspective at intra and intersectoral levels. Within the livestock system, there is a focus on addressing all three key sub-systems, namely feeding, breeding, and animal health innovations. Across sectors, the forage innovations are embedded in the mixed farming system, with innovations focusing on maximizing synergies (such as dual-purpose crops) and understanding trade-offs (such as transition to commercial forage biomass and forage seed).The forage plants provide various products and services. They serve as a potential supplement for animal feeding schemes. Supplementing dairy cows and sheep with some of the forage resources increases milk yield and body weight gain. ▪ Research centers will produce quality breeder seeds to produce pre-basic seeds. ▪ Pre-basic seeds will be provided to community seed growers and seed unions for further multiplication. ▪ Farmers will have access to quality seeds from nearby seed growers and increase their crop productivity. ▪ Potato and garlic are important crops for home consumption (60%) and income generation (25%).▪ The introduction of the two crops in the farming system would diversify the incomes and diets to the farming communities. ▪ Sheep-fattening groups are growing and women's participation is increasing, reflecting a commitment to gender equality and empowerment in rural communities. ▪ Feed processing units donated to 13 groups of youth and women, empowering them to process their feed resources ▪ Gender Transformative Approach (GTA) will lead to permanent livelihood transformation and benefits for both men and women farmers. Soil fertility is declining in many parts of the tropical region, including Ethiopia. This is due to a number of factors, including low inherent soil fertility, loss of nutrients through erosion and crop harvest, and little or no addition of external inputs in the form of organic or inorganic fertilizers. Evaluation and identification of appropriate integrated nutrient management practices suitable for the intervention area are needed. MFS aimed to evaluate the effects of different rates of combination (organic + inorganic) fertilizers and to identify appropriate combinations for optimizing crop yield, soil fertility and economic benefit to farmers.The introduction of promising as well as improved forage crops such as desho grass, elephant grass and brachiaria is an important strategy to alleviate the prevailing feed shortage in the country. MFS aims to address feed shortages, elephant, brachiaria, and desho grass species were evaluated for their forage production and bund stabilization potentials. In addition, intercropping maize with legumes like Cajanus cajan, soyabean, and lablab was introduced to farming communities in Ethiopia. Anthony Whitbread: a.whitbread@cgiar.org Wuletawu Abera: wuletawu.abera@cgiar.org This publication is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.2023"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0922e00af4561ddaad6ebe1348fa111c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6c45550c-4e15-490c-88b4-a3dc7acc5dcc/retrieve","id":"1609429347"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ed1c01a7-53bb-488a-966e-264e6e760f8d","content":"Planetary health brings together intrinsically linked issues of human health and natural systems. This paper reviews evidence of how agrobiodiversity underpins dietary diversity for current human populations in the context of fruits and vegetables, and ways to maintain and improve these for future generations.Both the conservation and sustainable use of fruit and vegetable biodiversity and the consumption of diverse diets are sub-optimal, and in many contexts getting worse. Agrobiodiversity and nutrition are linked through food availability, access, conservation and consumption, with potential win-wins but notable trade-offs for policy and action through time, place, agrobiodiversity use, and equity. We pinpoint research gaps and call for inclusive deliberation for action.The idea of planetary health brings together intrinsically linked issues of human health and the state of the natural systems on which we depend (Dangour et al., 2017). Within this framework, it has long been understood that nutrition and biodiversity are connected (Johns and Eyzaguirre, 2006). Fruits and vegetables are an important part of dietsproviding essential nutrients, phytonutrients, and fibre for health (FAO, 2021) and of agrobiodiversityabout 1,100 vegetable species are recognized worldwide (Meldrum et al., 2018) and there are at least 1, 250 documented fruit species in Latin America alone (Bioversity International, 2021). Over millennia, human activities have shaped fruit and vegetable biodiversity towards our dietary preferences, which have co-evolved with the availability of different fruits and vegetables in different agroecological settings. The use and maintenance of this biocultural heritage in contemporary food systems depends on a wide range of social, cultural, political, environmental, and economic factors, and there is an important interplay between current and future availability of fruit and vegetable biodiversity, and current and future dietary diversity, within these complex contexts.This paper reviews literature produced in the fifteen years since Johns and Eyzaguirre's initial study on the issue of biodiversity and nutrition more broadly (Johns and Eyzaguirre, 2006). We focus specifically on recent evidence of how fruit and vegetable biodiversity underpins dietary diversity for current populations, and evidence on ways to conserve and improve these for future generations. The aim is to bring together key research findings to frame what we know about links between fruit and vegetable biodiversity and dietary diversity. A food systems lensencompassing all the elements and activities that relate to producing, transforming, delivering, and consuming food for humansis used to better understand the links between healthy people and a healthy planet (HLPE, 2017(HLPE, , 2020)), and identify challenges and opportunities; knowledge gaps for further research; and support for decision-makers and practitioners in achieving global development goals.While overall biodiversity is defined as the sum of all living organisms at the genetic, species, and ecosystem levels, agrobiodiversity is more narrowly defined as the range of species, varieties, and ecosystems -together with crop wild relatives, pollinators, and other associated organisms -which are used by humans for food and agriculture (FAO, 2004;Frison et al., 2011). Agrobiodiversity sustains and stabilizes both agro and natural ecosystems of food production and harvesting, and is the source of genetic diversity for developing future foods that can tolerate changing environments and keep pace with changing food needs and preferences.Fruit and vegetable biodiversity is part of agrobiodiversity. For the purpose of this review, this is defined as any genetic planting material of fruit and vegetable species, and their wild relatives, for current and future food and agriculture, in line with the concept of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA). Besides the large number of vegetable and fruit species that occur worldwide, crop wild relatives are a special group of genetically-related species of fruit and vegetable species, which can be used in breeding new varieties because they can provide characteristics related to climate resilience and other desirable traits (Kilian et al., 2021). Below the species level, local fruit and vegetable varieties and wild populations of fruit and vegetables are also part of a biocultural heritage with unique tastes and histories (Dwivedi et al., 2019;van Zonneveld et al., 2018). These provide for distinct food cultures, as well as an important source of genetic variation needed for developing new cultivated varieties with traits to ensure current and future food supplies (Jansen et al., 2020;Kilian et al., 2021;Schouten et al., 2019).Contemporary fruit and vegetable biodiversity continues to decline in farmers' fields, at landscape level, and generally in ecosystems, in parallel with the rapid global decline in overall biodiversity (Díaz et al., 2019). Ecosystems in 88% of the world's 846 terrestrial ecoregions are poorly conserved, degraded, or disappearing as a result of human actions (Dinerstein et al., 2017). The richness and abundance of wild fruit and vegetable species, as well as the crop wild relatives of fruit and vegetable species and pollinators and seed dispersers, decline with the degradation and loss of these ecosystems under the pressures of land-use change, global climate change, and other threats (Díaz et al., 2019;Pilling et al., 2020). Not all crop wild relatives are threatened, and several benefit from environmental degradation when they become weeds or invasive (Syfert et al., 2016). But endemic and other narrowly-distributed wild relatives are the most vulnerable to extinction caused by land use change and degradation following the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species (Cadima et al., 2014;Khoury et al., 2020;Scheldeman et al., 2006).Four out of five studies on crop genetic erosion has found evidence of crop diversity loss, the magnitude varying by species, geographic scale, and region, as well as analytical approach (Khoury et al., 2021). So far, most genetic erosion studies have been done on cereal crops and their wild relatives; few studies are available on the rate of varietal and genetic losses in fruit and vegetable species (Khoury et al., 2021). For some crops, such as tomato, farmers have already replaced most local varieties in many regions (Cebolla-Cornejo et al., 2012;Walters et al., 2018) and the development of new varieties relies almost entirely on the planting materials safeguarded in crop genebanks and seed-saver networks (Bauchet and Causse, 2012). But whereas tomato is relatively well represented in existing genebank collections, the genetic resources of most other fruits and vegetables are poorly conserved in genebanks, or not at all. For example, 39% of 883 globally-assessed wild fruit and vegetable species requires urgent conservation because they are poorly or not conserved in genebanks or in protected areas; another 58% has a medium priority for conservation; while only 3% is well conserved (Khoury et al., 2019). A quarter of the 1,100 recognized vegetable species worldwide have no samples at all conserved in any genebank (Meldrum et al., 2018), and most fruit tree species and their wild relatives, particularly those of tropical origins, are challenging to conserve in genebanks because their seed does not tolerate the desiccation and low temperatures of orthodox seed storage, and most fruit cultivars have specific genetic combinations that can be maintained only through vegetative propagation (Dawson et al., 2013). Without better conservation options on farms, at landscape level, and in protected areas, and without genebank back-up, these fruit and vegetable genetic resources are at risk of being lost as land use, climate, and agriculture change.Dietary diversity is defined as the variety of foods consumed in a certain time period, and thus far has been described for children, women, and households, with higher individual dietary diversity associated with better nutrient adequacy (Arimond and Ruel, 2004;Arimond et al., 2010). Therefore, from a food system perspective, diversifying diets both within and across food groups is a key strategy. Consuming a diversity of fruits and vegetables-with the nutrients, phytonutrients and dietary fibres contained therein-is important for good health (FAO, 2020). Studies have suggested intake ranges of 300-600g per day (200-600g of vegetables and 100-300g of fruits) to meet the twin goals of human health and sustainable food supply without overly negative effects on the environment (particularly through water use and chemical inputs) (Afshin et al., 2019;Loken et al., 2020;Willett et al., 2019). The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends adults to eat at least 5 portions or 400g of fruits and vegetables per day for protective nutritional effects (World Health Organisation, 2003), with national food-based dietary guidelines translating these into recommendations to eat multiple portions of a variety of fruits and vegetables each day (Herforth et al., 2019). Despite this need for diversity, intraspecific fruit and vegetable biodiversity, and diversity of diets within the fruit and vegetable food group in particular, are little explored in nutrition, which tends to look for diversity across food groups only (World Health Organization, 2015).Globally, the intake of fruit and vegetables remains low for a majority of the population (Afshin et al., 2019;Kalmpourtzidou et al., 2020). Low fruit and vegetable consumption is among the top five risk factors for poor health, with over 2 million deaths and 65 million Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) attributable to low intake of fruits, and 1.5 million deaths and 34 million DALYs attributable to low intake of vegetables worldwide each year, and particularly in low-and middle-income countries (Afshin et al., 2019). Low consumption of fruits and vegetables is a global problem: only 7% of countries in Africa, 7% in the Americas, and 11% in Europe reach 240 g/day of vegetables per person on average (Kalmpourtzidou et al., 2020). Looking at within-country variation, only 20% of individuals in low-and middle-income countries reach the recommendation of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day (Frank et al., 2019).The nutrition transition, whereby global diets are moving away from local traditional patterns through changing demographic and food system drivers, may make diverse fruits and vegetables either more or less locally available, depending on context (Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, 2016; Popkin et al., 2020). While global fruit and vegetable supply has started to increase proportional to staple crops in recent decades, global focus remains predominantly on cereal production (Gould, 2017), and documented supplies remain insufficient for most countries to meet the WHO recommendation: in 1965, sufficient fruits and vegetables (≥400 g/day) were available for 17% of the global population, increasing to 55% in 2015 (Mason-D 'Croz et al., 2019). Supply varies widely: in Africa, only 13% of countries have an adequate vegetable supply, while in Asia 61% do (Kalmpourtzidou et al., 2020). All of these data are limited, likely missing the proportion of neglected and underutilized and wild-harvested food species, missing food loss and waste, and missing within-country variation. In Africa particularly, the consumption of wild vegetables is reported in many countries (Achigan-Dako et al., 2011;Maundu et al., 2009), but data are unavailable on consumption frequency or amount across the continent, and the level of wild harvest is rarely documented.Fruits and vegetables purchased through markets are unaffordable for many, with three billion people, and up to 90% of the population in some countries, unable to afford diverse healthy diets in 2017 (Herforth et al., 2020). Fruits and vegetables appear more affordable than staple foods when comparing prices per micronutrient, where they are likely to be a relatively low-cost source of varied vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrientsbut this is not how most families choose their food, with particularly poorer households focusing on acquiring calories. Even if fruits and vegetables are available, accessible and affordable, most people still do not consume sufficient quantities (Hall et al., 2009), particularly if they are not considered an acceptable or desirable food choice, for instance due to food safety concerns, taste, convenience, or cultural appropriateness, or if people have low knowledge or awareness about the importance of fruit and vegetables for health (Aggarwal et al., 2016;Ha et al., 2020;Hammelman and Hayes-Conroy, 2014),.Food availability, accessibility, affordability, and desirability are therefore the food system links between agrobiodiversity and dietary diversity (Toledo and Burlingame, 2006;Turner et al., 2018) with more species-diverse food associated with better micronutrient-quality diets (Lachat et al., 2018). In specific agricultural diversity studies, and mainly in rural areas, agrobiodiversity has been associated with dietary diversity at the local level: greater crop diversity managed by farming households is usually associated with greater dietary diversity at the farm household level, though depending significantly on local agroecological context (Jones, 2017). Associations between crop diversity and fruit and vegetable intake have been seen specifically in some studies (Herforth, 2010;Jones et al., 2014), though many do not examine this connection explicitly, and fruits and vegetables are often combined into a single food group or assessed together with other plant foods such as pulses. Magnitudes of association tend to be very small when only factoring in cultivated foods (Jones, 2017), prompting some to suggest that increasing production diversity is not an efficient tool to improve nutrition at the household level (Sibhatu and Qaim, 2018).Associations may be stronger when including wild food plants in agrobiodiversity metrics in contexts where these are eaten: In Kenya, for example, when food plants collected from a wider landscape are taken into account, a one unit increase in household access to agrobiodiversity (species diversity score) is associated with a 13% increase in probability of micronutrient adequacy in the diet (Oduor et al., 2019). In a similar way, a case study in Tanzania found a significant association between diversity of vegetables produced or collected from the wider landscape, and micronutrient adequacy and dietary diversity (Keding et al., 2012). In some settings and seasons, wild-harvested fruits and vegetables contribute significantly to nutrient intake (Powell et al., 2013) and incomes (McMullin et al., 2021), with estimates of a billion people relying at least in part on foods gathered in their surrounding environment (World Health Organization, 2015). In some contexts analysed, up to 75% of consumed vegetables and fruits are gathered rather than cultivated or bought (Powell et al., 2015).Despite the wide occurrence of food gathering, it has been suggested that reliance on collecting wild food plants is often a coping mechanism in the face of scarcity, rather than an active choice, which needs to be better understood (Jones, 2017). In addition, overharvesting is a threat to the genetic resources of some wild-harvested species, and high demand for wild food plants could reinforce this threat, or even deteriorate whole ecosystems. For example, in the case of buruti, an ecologically important palm species from the Amazon that is valued for its vitamin-A rich fruits, people destructively harvest female plants, degrading wild buruti populations with potentially negative impacts on species richness and carbon stocks of Amazonian peatlands (Bhomia et al., 2019;Endress et al., 2013). Similar cases of overharvesting have been observed around the world, and there has been call to domesticate threatened food plants so that people can grow them in their yards or farm fields, to reduce harvesting pressure on wild populations while making these nutritious foods available and accessible to a wider public (Akinnifesi et al., 2006;Sundriyal and Sundriyal, 2003). In parallel, research and development initiatives are supporting decision-makers and communities in the implementation and monitoring of sustainable fruit and vegetable harvesting practices at landscape level (Van Loon et al., 2021).While agrobiodiversity may have only moderate associations with dietary diversity at the household level, availability of a diversity of fruits and vegetables is a prerequisite for diverse diets at the food system level. As a sum of local changes, in food systems globally food plant diversity is associated with a food system's capacity to provide sufficient nutrients through different environmental, social, and economic shocks (including population growth and climate change), but over the past five decades this capacity has declined in all regions except Asia (Nicholson et al., 2021;Pingali, 2012). Studies have found that existing agrobiodiversity is underutilized in national food systems, with species consumption globally moderate, and lowest in low-income countries (Jones et al., 2021) and many food species limited to consumption in small geographic regions (Lachat et al., 2018) -though caveats on the limitations of data on wild and local foods, discussed above, still apply.The current food system in many ways contributes to agrobiodiversity loss (Hunter et al., 2016), and fruit species and to a lesser degree vegetables are among the major crop types dependent on pollination services that are in decline (Gallai et al., 2009). Changing diets globally as a result of socio-economic, demographic, agricultural, and food system pressures is a process that while it can bring opportunities of scale and trade, can also be seen as a narrowing of the food base on which humans depend (Frison et al., 2006;Powell et al., 2013;World Health Organization, 2015). Large structural changes such as globalization of supply chains and societies, and changing demographics and urbanisation, have shaped food regimes over the past half-century to prioritise foods that are less perishable and more globally tradable (Lang and Heasman, 2015;Magnan, 2012), side-lining perishable fruits and vegetables requiring local production, processing, or complex food chains to get them safely from farm to fork. Large-scale, high-input monoculture production systems for pineapple, banana, and avocado among other commercial fruit crops, have led to excessive environmental degradation and biodiversity loss (Magrach and Sanz, 2020;Ploetz, 2021;Shaver et al., 2015). In the case of banana, genetic impoverishment has led to a highly vulnerable supply system that largely relies on a single clone that is susceptible to Panama disease, threatening global banana supply (Kema et al., 2021;Ploetz, 2021).In addition to the micronutrients in fruit and vegetable species that we know about, there are also a range of phytonutrients and bioactive compounds across fruit and vegetable species, whose nutritional functions are still poorly understood (Lutaladio et al., 2010). Despite issues of bioavailability of nutrients and the various effects of processing and cooking on available nutrients, dietary diversity within fruits and vegetables is likely to be important, and conserving fruit and vegetable biodiversity for current and future availability may protect health through food in ways we don't yet know.Several important trends are increasing the conservation and use of fruit and vegetable biodiversity in food systems at global and local levels. In addition to the fact that the proportion of fruit and vegetables in global food production is increasing (Gould, 2017;Khoury et al., 2014;Martin et al., 2019), advanced technologies are now accessible to public and private breeders and researchers globally to mainstream the use of genetic diversity for developing new varieties of fruits and vegetables (Jamnadass et al., 2020;Schouten et al., 2019). Cities are becoming important hubs of crop diversity because immigrants bring planting material from their home areas (Rimlinger et al., 2021;Taylor and Lovell, 2014), while at the same time the coverage of protected natural and biocultural environments has tripled in the last 40 years (Pringle, 2017), and at least 35% of the terrestrial protected areas are owned and/or managed by local and Indigenous communities, who play an important role in maintaining agrobiodiversity worldwide (Díaz et al., 2019). Although these trends could possibly bend the curve of decline in fruit and vegetable biodiversity, they may not completely halt, let alone reverse, the loss. For example, the expansion of protected areas provides some opportunities for conservation, but ecosystems in these areas may be degraded already, and fruit and vegetable biodiversity within the landscape may decline (Pringle, 2017).Crop wild relatives stand further away from people's diets and are often relevant for breeding only. Their conservation is taken up by many governments in protected area management (Dulloo and Maxted, 2019), but crop wild relatives of fruit and vegetable species are still of low priority compared to those of cereals and pulses; it is important to raise awareness about the need to conserve the former as well.Local fruit and vegetable species and varieties are still maintained and shared by farmers and communities in different production systems (Dulloo et al., 2017). These plants provide nutritional and food security, income-generating opportunities, and ecosystem services, and contribute to cultural identity (Sthapit et al., 2016), and also represent a valuable conservation of biodiversity for food. To preserve these, governments and societal actors can recognize the custodian farmers and communities who maintain these unique and traditional production systems, such as governments in some countries are doing already for important agricultural heritage systems (Koohafkan and Altieri, 2011). Governments and societal actors can further support these farmers and communities to establish or maintain seed networks, and encourage equitable business linkages to markets for more resilient livelihoods based in maintaining biodiversity, through incentives and regulation (Dulloo et al., 2017).Complementary to local conservation on farms and in protected areas and local seed-sharing, large national and international fruit and vegetable germplasm collections have been established in genebanks in North America, South America, Asia, and Europe (Byrne et al., 2018;Cunha Alves and Azevedo, 2018;Engle and Faustino, 2007;Jacob et al., 2015;Loskutov, 2020;Van Den Houwe et al., 2020). They safeguard fruit and vegetable biodiversity to improve availability of planting material for food and nutrition of current and future human generations, and are a source for breeding and germplasm exchange to develop new foods for new tastes or new agricultural conditions. Sub-Saharan Africa presents a gap in the genebank network; only one out of three countries in this region has a national crop genebank (World Bank, 2017). Investment in genebank infrastructure in this region would help to maintain and document sub-Saharan African fruit and vegetable genetic resources. At the same time, several collections from the existing genebank network are vulnerable because they have large backlogs of old or original fruit and vegetable germplasm samples that require propagation and re-storage (Fu, 2017).Complex access and benefit sharing policies and regulations, in particular domestic policies and regulations that implement the Nagoya Protocol of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), increasingly govern international efforts to conserve and use the diversity of local varieties and wild populations (Brink and van Hintum, 2020). These policies recognize the rights of countries and local communities over genetic resources within their territories, yet all countries and communities depend on each other for genetic resources of fruit and vegetable species for food and nutrition, including neglected and underutilized species (Khoury et al., 2016;van Zonneveld et al., 2021). This interdependence is expected to increase under global climate change (Burke et al., 2009), and regulations will need to evolve alongside.Currently, germplasm exchange of most fruit and vegetable species is limited, including because they are underrepresented in the Multilateral System of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Plant Treaty) that is established to enhance exchange of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture between countries. Furthermore, debates about the relationship and interplay between breeders' rights and farmers' rights are ongoing (Dias, 2011;Gupta and Negi, 2019;Salazar et al., 2007), affecting the development of new plant material and the use of seed by growers. The 2011-2021 Global Crop Wild Relatives project led by the Crop Trust showed how global partnerships for collecting, conservation, and germplasm availability are possible for crop wild relatives of fruit and vegetable species that fall under the framework of the Plant Treaty, such as banana, apple, eggplant, and carrot (Müller et al., 2021). Similar workable agreements enable rescue of germplasm of other fruit and vegetable species and give farmers, breeders, and researchers access to planting material for food and nutrition; these agreements provide a framework for access and benefit sharing following all applicable current laws and regulations at national and international level (Brink and van Hintum, 2020).Promoting neglected and underutilized food plants, such as many traditional fruit and vegetable species, is a key policy option that addresses both healthy diets and agrobiodiversity (Pedersen et al., 2020). The pool of underutilized plant biodiversity includes fruit and vegetable species with exceptionally high nutritional value, such as micronutrient-rich African leafy vegetables adapted to rain-fed conditions (Maundu et al., 2009) and vitamin-rich Amazonian fruit trees that withstand flooding and waterlogging (Van Loon et al., 2021;van Zonneveld et al., 2020), giving impetus to connections between biodiversity and nutrition. The latest generation of food-based dietary guidelines starts to move in the direction of more diverse dietsbut these efforts can better consider cultural acceptability, and may require promotional efforts to increase the willingness of consumers to shift their diets to new or forgotten foods and diversify within the fruit and vegetables food groups (Davis et al., 2021). Alongside improving availability and access, the challenge is to enhance consumer choice of, and preference for, these foods. There is clear evidence that focusing on education at all levels is to some extent effective for modifying behavioural changes in general, whether dietary or environmental (Alderman and Headey, 2017); and nutrition literacy, social norms for healthy eating, and self-efficacy are key components of health-related behaviour change (Eker et al., 2019).We know less for fruits and vegetables in particular, though the general evidence on dietary behaviour change can be tested, and social marketing has been used to promote a return to diverse traditional vegetables in several contexts (Powell et al., 2015). Nutrition literacy programs generally target women, who are in many cases custodians of household nutrition and of local agrobiodiversity, but there will also be a need for community-targeted messages to change social norms around both diets and conservation (Van den Bold et al., 2013). There are reasons that changing food demand might help to reverse the trends reducing agrobiodiversity and homogenizing food systems: There is greater global awareness about the benefits of diverse diets with sufficient fruits and vegetables, though this knowledge has not reached all populations equally. Encouragingly, some neglected and underutilized fruit and vegetable species have regained relevance in urban diets through public and private initiatives in gastronomy and niche markets for local, healthy, or ethnic food (Borelli et al., 2020), and appealing to aspiration can be a powerful promoter of foods. But decades of work on the nutrition transition makes it clear that these positive food system and dietary changes are the exception rather than the norm (Popkin et al., 2020).Deciding what to eat is embedded in the broader food environment, and within people's daily realities (Blake et al., 2021). Promoting home and community fruit and vegetable production, or facilitation of foraging, is a small-scale option where the agrobiodiversity and broader context allows (Baliki et al., 2019;Powell et al., 2015;Schreinemachers et al., 2016), but approaches are needed that can clearly provide for the nutritional needs of large (often urban) populations. Addressing affordability of fruits and vegetables is key to creating an environment where all can access a healthy diet, given that most people buy at least a proportion of their food, and affordability can come from a combination of lower retail prices of diverse fruits and vegetables (through productivity improvements, reduced postharvest losses, or increased market efficiency for stable prices) and higher incomes (from inclusive economic growth, living wages, and social safety nets) (Hirvonen et al., 2019). Cheap food is not necessarily good for healthy diets, fair livelihoods or agrobiodiversity however, so a focus on affordability through equitable economies is important where foods are purchased (Benton et al., 2021), and decisions will have to be made regarding priorities and trade-offs (below).Big-picture policy and political driversincluding research and development investment focus, trade regimes, and a focus on calorie security rather than nutritionhave oriented food systems away from pathways prioritising diverse fruits and vegetable species in diets, and away from agronomic and food system paradigms that might promote a return to more biodiverse production systems and diverse diets (Leach et al., 2020;Patnaik and Oenema, 2015;Rosset and Altieri, 2017;Vivero-Pol et al., 2018). The policy environment in terms of evidence, politics, and capacityand the framing of theseis important for sustainable change in biodiversity and diets (Hunter et al., 2016), though in global analyses the political commitment is low for conserving and using fruit and vegetable biodiversity (Jones et al., 2021) and for improving nutrition (te Lintelo and Lakshman, 2015). This is despite efforts such as the Voluntary Guidelines for Mainstreaming Biodiversity into Policies, Programmes and National and Regional Plans of Action on Nutrition, endorsed by the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA) in 2015, which recognize many of these issues but do not hold powers of accountability for their action.There are potential synergies between a food systems approach to nutrition and an integrated conservation of fruit and vegetable biodiversity on farms, at landscape level, and in protected areas (Powell et al., 2013). Linking agrobiodiversity and nutrition can in theory address some of the negative consequences of current food systems (Johns and Eyzaguirre, 2006): Promoting diverse food consumption can promote conservation of agrobiodiversity; and promoting agrobiodiversity is a practical approach for dietary diversity, food security, and rural development, so there are win-wins to be had in theory (Toledo and Burlingame, 2006). There are also potential trade-offs between preserving agrobiodiversity and enabling diverse diets for everyone everywhere, alongside promoting fair food system livelihoods, which need to be resolved through evidence, policy engagement, and inclusive dialogue.Clearly, more availability of a variety of fruits and vegetables is needed for human populations to meet dietary recommendations, but there are different ways to achieve this, with implications for the use of crop biodiversity at different geographic scales. For sustainable use of fruit and vegetable biodiversity a wide range of approaches depending on contexts, including sustainable intensification and diversification approaches to improve yields while adapting climate change, have been suggested to maintain fruit and vegetable production and livelihoods while minimizing environmental degradation (Godfray and Garnett, 2014;Schreinemachers et al., 2018;van Zonneveld et al., 2020). Participatory approaches that consider multiple criteria including agronomic, environmental, social, economic, and political factors have prooved useful to guide decision-making in balancing sometimes competing interests in making these production decisions (van Zonneveld et al., 2020).Producing sufficient fruits and vegetables can have relatively high requirements for land, water, and chemical inputs, depending on context and production method (Aleksandrowicz et al., 2016), and with one third of global greenhouse gas emissions produced by the food system there is a need to better understand the role of fruits and vegetables in land and input use (Crippa et al., 2021). While we can in theory produce sufficient fruits and vegetables for healthy diets within planetary boundaries (Willett et al., 2019), achieving national food-based dietary guidelines has been found to be incompatible with climate and environmental targets in a majority of 85 countries studied (Springmann et al., 2020). One key solution is a better use of fruit and vegetable biodiversity in breeding globally to make varieties available to producers that are nutrient-rich, eco-efficient in production, and adapted to changing climate conditions. Producing according to context is another key solution. Local production, home garden production, and food gathering may be important sources of biodiverse plant foods in many contexts, to buffer food production homogenization and increase the use of fruit and vegetable diversity at national and local levels (Bharucha and Pretty, 2010;Galluzzi et al., 2010;Schreinemachers et al., 2015). Urban agriculture also brings opportunities for agrobiodiversity in urban spaces (World Health Organization, 2015), with benefits including reducing food losses along the value chain by producing food closer to where it is consumed; creating jobs for urban populations; improving quality of life through greening of urban environments; and closing nutrient cycles by re-using urban waste (Lutaladio et al., 2010). Agroecology research and practice in particular tries to develop, test, and promote practices that promote sustainable production and equitable diets through inclusive and participatory approaches (Méndez et al., 2015;Rosset and Altieri, 2017), and considers the potential of local fruit and vegetable species for sustainable production in specific agroecological zones and adaptation to changing climates (Nabhan et al., 2020;van Zonneveld et al., 2020;Waha et al., 2018).Current discourses encourage integrated approaches between different conservation practices (Dulloo et al., 2017) and between environmental sustainability and human diets (Willett et al., 2019). Notwithstanding, there are trade-offs among conservation of biodiversity as an end in itself vs. leveraging fruit and vegetable agrobiodiversity to provide food options and improve diets, given scarce resources. The approaches mentioned above prioritise agrobiodiversity conservation for human food, which while important for us humans, is not necessarily all that is needed to preserve levels of biodiversity that the planet requires to function well. Within the context of a diet for a healthy planet, there are trade-offs and synergies between leveraging agrobiodiversity to improve diets with more volume of vegetables and fruits, and making food production more eco-efficient with an investment in a broader conservation of biodiversity and environmental sustainability. There are also trade-offs among our ability to preserve the biodiversity of different species, and our requirements in diets: Typically, small and orthodox seed of many vegetables and berries can be saved in genebanks and seed saver networks for exchange, breeding and future use (Hong et al., 1996). In contrast, many fruit species can only be maintained in field collections, or by conserving living tissue in tubes (in vitro), or through cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen because they usually have large and recalcitrant seed that cannot be stored for long time periods (Panis et al., 2020). Appropriate planting material is one of the major bottlenecks for farmers to grow a wide range of fruit and vegetable species (McMullin et al., 2021), so genebanks of vegetable and fruit species can actively engage with different users groups to provide inter-and intraspecific crop diversity for developing and growing planting material with high nutrient values for a win-win scenario (Smale and Jamora, 2020;Stoilova et al., 2019). The fruit and vegetable biodiversity conserved in genebanks and by seed saver networks complements plant genetic resources maintained in farmer fields, at landscape level, and in protected areas (Dulloo et al., 2017). Connecting these genebanks and networks to these efforts on the ground optimizes conservation of fruit and vegetable biodiversity while providing local users opportunities to access new and diverse planting material. The latter being particular relevant under climate change. The way and extent these different practices are implemented and connected may differ depending contexts, with different implications for different societal groups in the food system.In practice, decision-makers and societal actors may need to make a choice between the contemporary use of certain species and varieties in production systems to feed today's population, and conserving agrobiodiversity at a broader scale (including todays' neglected and underutilized species and varieties) to safeguard a biocultural heritage and to keep future food options open. Decisions need to be made about the levels and type of fruit and vegetable biodiversity to be conserved at national and local levels with an eye on the future, depending on the local and global importance and potential of certain species and varieties for human diets under climate change, and in the context of global efforts of conservation and germplasm exchange, such as the Global System of PGRFA (Engels and Ebert, 2021). Also with an eye on future generations, agrobiodiversity promotion through school gardens, sometimes in combination with locally-procured school meals, combines early nutrition education and diverse production as a potential win-win engaging with future eaters and conservers (Hunter and Monville-Oro, 2020;Shrestha et al., 2020). Further down the food system, reduction of food prices through market efficiency and food production homogenization can lead to agrobiodiversity losses, so a trade-off in some contexts is between affordability of food and the availability of agrobiodiversity, which requires further understanding and debate on agrobiodiversity use in value chains and the amount of investment to counteract agrobiodiversity losses through rescue and conservation. Considering trade-offs between current and future populations is part of these deliberations, including with a focus on intergenerational equity (Nisbett et al., 2021).Regarding equity for today's human populations, some of the most nutrition-insecure people live in some of the most biodiverse areas, so issues of nutrition equity and conservation should be considered in national and international policies to link fruit and vegetable biodiversity to dietary diversity (Herrero et al., 2017;Johns and Eyzaguirre, 2006). For example, while the Amazon is a hotspot of fruit and vegetable biodiversity, these territories are also characterized by complex socioeconomic problems that affect local agrobiodiversity as well as health and welfare of indigenous communities, such as the nutrition transition and poor health and sanitation infrastructure (Borges et al., 2015;Coimbra et al., 2013). Costs and benefits of conservation and fruit and vegetable production do not accrue equally or fairly in different dimensions of the food systembut different facets of equity have been described (Nisbett et al., 2021), and can be explicitly factored in to inclusive decision-making processes to debate trade-offs and decide priorities at different levels.Overall, there is considerable literature focused on agrobiodiversity for local diets, including the role of fruit and vegetable biodiversity in populated rural areas; but far less on biodiversity in urban areas, and not enough understanding of the nuances of different agroecological or socio-cultural contexts or production approaches. There are also research efforts highlighting national-level agrobiodiversity and its use in food systems, and specifically on metrics for measuring this, though little looking at the impacts of national policies on the crossovers identified above. Trading and international interdependence are relevant topics at regional and global levels, with some literature on broad food system changes and their impacts on agrobiodiversity and dietary diversity, but there is little literature looking at fruits and vegetables at this level. Below we highlight key research and knowledge gaps from this review.A key knowledge gap is that we don't have good data on the diversity of fruit and vegetable species in farmer's fields or landscapes, as well as in genebanks, especially within species. There is often high nutrient variability among fruit and vegetable varieties, a clear link between agrobiodiversity and nutrition, but data are limited on this, and particularly for neglected and underutilized food plants (Johns and Eyzaguirre, 2006). These include many traditional fruits and vegetables relevant for local production and harvesting but often left out of data collection, policy considerations and agricultural extension (Hunter et al., 2019;Raihana et al., 2015). Many locally cultivated and wild-harvested food plants are missed in available dietary and production data (Jones et al., 2021), limiting our knowledge about real diets and food environments; at the same time, fruit and vegetable specieswhich have very different agronomic, trade, and nutritional profilesare often lumped together into a single 'fruits and vegetables' group, further hampering nuanced research efforts (Harris et al., 2021). Investment in screening the diversity of neglected and underutilized fruit and vegetable species can reveal varieties with high nutrient content (Yang and Keding, 2009) providing evidence for nutrition and marketing messages to promote diet and crop diversification with more fruit and vegetable species among households and producers, and a basis for breeding of nutrient-rich varieties.There is also a key knowledge gap in the diversity of fruit and vegetable species in people's diets. There is little research available on what is eaten where, in particular the use of wild-harvested food plants (World Health Organization, 2015), though in some places and in different languages there may be ethnobotanical and anthropological literature that can be drawn on more than it currently isand that rescues and recognizes traditional knowledge from local voices that still can be heard in some places on how to grow these species, and how to process them for food consumption. There is also a gap in terms of why different fruits and vegetables are preferred in different places, and in the role of nutritional information, aspiration, and gastronomy in inspiring people to eat more diverse plant foods. The lack of data on intra-species food composition, and the context-specificity of diets, means that more research is needed to provide more general policy advice (Hunter et al., 2016).Much of the research on agrobiodiversity in food systems and for diets has focused on rural parts of middle-income countries, where smallholder farming is common, but other regions are important to understand. Rural and urban communities in some middle-and highincome countries especially in Asia and the Mediterranean region have retained aspects of traditional biodiverse production systems in combination with the maintenance of traditional food consumption customs, and seem to have better health outcomes compared to those regions which have notat least so far (Johns and Eyzaguirre, 2006). To which extent biodiverse wild-harvested fruits and vegetables are accessible for urban dwellers and can be used for food-plant harvesting, also remains to be investigated (Rimlinger et al., 2021;Shackleton et al., 2017). Low-income countries are particularly under-represented in food system studies of fruits and vegetables for healthy diets (Harris et al., 2021).We also need better evidence as to how greater agrobiodiversity in general would bring benefits in terms of healthier diets and more sustainable food production. While raising crop diversity at the level of individual farms may indeed not be the most effective strategy to increase dietary diversity in those households (Jones, 2017), at the food system level producing diversity is of course a necessary precondition for being able to consume a diversity of foods, and we need to better understand those pathways. There is little research on effective strategies to promote more diversity in modern or informal supply chains (from producers and traders to processors and vendors), and there is a need to better understand this missing middle and trade-offs among scaling production for broader availability in diets, and conserving fruit and vegetable agrobiodiversity and the broader environment. More research is needed on the potential of agroecological practices to make fruit and vegetable production more compatible with national climate and environmental targets.Given the range of factors important in understanding the links between agrobiodiversity and dietary diversityfrom plant genetic resources and ethnobotany, to nutritional screening and breeding, to socio-cultural behaviours and political economyinterdisciplinary research is clearly needed (Hunter et al., 2016;Méndez et al., 2015). Bringing this research together into a body of evidence can be difficult, as even standard epidemiological studies of agrobiodiversity and dietary diversity can use quite different measures and metrics (Jones, 2017), but it is urgent given rapidly changing diets and declining fruit and vegetable biodiversity.This paper has brought together key research to frame what we know about the links between agrobiodiversity and dietary diversity in the context of fruits and vegetables, and to clarify knowledge gaps for further research. Planetary health through the conservation of fruit and vegetable biodiversity and the consumption of diverse diets is lacking, and in many contexts getting worse. Agrobiodiversity and nutrition are linked, so addressing them together can bring synergies in terms of valuing both issues together and building on the other's gains. There are also potential trade-offs however, and the impacts on health, sustainability and equity of policy or practice change in each area should be closely monitored.The evidence reviewed here is an input into policy engagement, but more research is clearly neededparticularly in the context of fruits and vegetables, which have not been the focus of most agrobiodiversity or dietary diversity research. In the meantime, and building on what we do already know, food system actors from global experts to national governments to local communities must have input into global guidelines and context-specific actions that ensure different perspectives, needs and interests are balanced equitably, for instance through mechanisms such as the UN Committee on Food Security. Building on food system synergies among diverse diets, conservation, and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity is possible, but acknowledging and debating trade-offs and the winners and losers from change is also vital as we move on from the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit and COP26 and seek to improve fruit and vegetable food systems for all."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9d8ec19b6e7387f261feb929060e74a1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/86e0fd2b-c832-4aca-b82e-95d4105ef21c/retrieve","id":"-2129660799"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cb455118-8af1-4d53-802f-824bc248ac05","content":"Growth habit is one of the most important characteristics for classifying bean varieties from the agronomic viewpoint. However, there are several superposing empirical classifications. People talk about bush beans, climbing beans, erect beans, and prostrated beans. Beans are morphologically classified as determinate or indeterminate depending on whether the terminal meristem is reproductive (determinate) or vegetative (indeterminate). This characteristic is genetically controlled. CIAT has designed a widely accepted classification scheme based on the former characteristic and on the type of plant development. The relationship between all these different classifications is shown below.The species Phaseolus vulgaris L. has several names in Spanish-speaking countries: frijol, fríjol, frisol, fréjol, frejol, poroto, habichuela, habilla, caraota, judía, alubia, and chuwi. The most widespread term is \"frijol\", which is used from Mexico to Panama, in Cuba, and in part of Peru. In Colombia it is known as \"fríjol\" and in the Antioquia region as \"frisol\". In Ecuador, it is called \"fréjol\", and in many regions of Peru, Bolivia, and Chile it is usually referred to as \"frejol\". The term \"poroto\", derived from Quechuan \"purutu\", is common in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Bolivia. In Peru, the term \"poroto\" is used in many cases associated with certain varietal names. In the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, the species Phaseolus vulgaris is called \"habichuela\". In Spain, the Arab word \"Al loubia\", which designates Vigna unguiculata, is used as \"alubia\" to refer to common beans.The previous compilation of names is particularly important for Latin America, where different species of edible grain legumes are cultivated. Tables 1 and 2 show the different names given to beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) and other related species in Latin America.Names given to beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) and other Phaseolus species in Latin America."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5b725f0d9bd6640f8789dfe9d2508c2c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/4ba4c8a0-62eb-4d28-b88d-6d1241e016a8/content","id":"-1059236524"},"keywords":["acid soils","additive","dominant","epistatic effects","generation analysis"],"sieverID":"279aafde-89d8-418b-9dc4-f919de89a4e9","content":"Breeding programs for acid-soil tolerance are desirable as a relatively inexpensive and permanent way for increasing maize (Zea mays L.) yield on these soils. Our objective was to compare the genetic effects controlling the expression of maize traits in acid and non-acid soils. Seven related and one unrelated inbred lines, with different levels of tolerance to acid soil, and their F 1 , F 2 , BC 1 , and BC 2 generations were evaluated in four acid and two non-acid soils. Estimates of additive, dominance, and epistatic effects were computed for grain yield, plant height, days to mid-silk, and prolificacy, using the generation means analysis procedure. For all traits the major part of the variation was accounted for by additive and dominance effects, with dominance effects being more important than additive and epistatic effects for both acid and non-acid soils. Epistatic effects were significant for some crosses only, being more pronounced for plant height than for the other traits. Furthermore, epistatic effects were randomly distributed among the crosses and were not related to the grain yield of the single-crosses (F 1 's) and to the genetic relationships of the inbreds in either type of soil. The results suggest that similar pooled gene effects control the expression of the traits assessed in both acid and non-acid soils.Soil acidity is a major yield-limiting factor for many crops and covers extensive areas in tropical, subtropical and temperate zones, with acid soils occupying about 3.95 billion hectares (about 30%) of the world's ice-free land area (Von Uexkull and Mutert, 1995). The lower yield of crops grown in acid soils is because of combinations of low pH, toxicity of Al, Mn, and Fe, and deficiencies of N, P, Ca, and Mg. However, Al toxicity is the main problem because it inhibits maize root growth, reducing the water and nutrient uptake and interferes in different physiological process of crop development (Roy et al., 1988). About 20 million hectares of maize are currently grown under acid soils in the world (Von Uexkull and Mutert, 1995), and different strategies have been suggested to improve the productivity of these soils including lime application and the develop-ment of tolerant cultivars (Bahia Filho et al., 1997;Pandey and Gardner, 1992;Pandey et al., 2007). Genetic variation for tolerance to soil acidity has been reported in several studies using different germplasm, different traits and different genetic analyses. Galvão and Silva (1978) reported that dominance variance was more important than additive variance for shoot and root dry weight in Al-stressed nutrient solution. Duque-Vargas et al. (1994), Borrero et al. (1995) and Narro et al. (2000) reported that dominance variance was either similar to or of greater importance than additive variance for yield under acid soils. On the other hand, reported results from diallel crosses studies carried out in acid soils have shown that for grain yield the general combining ability (additive effects) accounted for the major part of the total genetic variance, although specific combining ability (non-additive effects) were also significant, indicating that additive effects were more important than dominance and epistatic effects (Magnavaca et al., 1987a;Naspolini Filho et al., 1981;Lopes et al., 1987;Eleutério et al., 1988;Pandey et al., 1994;Salazar et al., 1997). Generation means analysis has also been used to estimate genetic effects from crosses between maize inbreds with different levels of tolerance to acid soil. Magnavaca et al. (1987b) reported that for relative seminal root length, additive effects accounted for the largest part of the variation, although dominance effects were significant in all instances and epistatic effects were significant in some crosses, but the magnitudes of the latter were lower than either additive or dominance effects. Ceballos et al. (1998) reported that for grain yield the additive-dominance model accounted for 91.1% of the variation in non-acid soils and 70.0% of the variation in acid soils, and that epistatic effects were more important in acid than in nonacid soils. Pandey et al. (2007) reported that the inheritance studies for grain yield in acid soils indicate that both additive and dominance effects are more important than epistatic effects.Recurrent selection has been effective to improve maize grain yield in acid soils. Lima et al. (1992) reported that two cycles of mass selection for increasing radicle length in Al-stressed nutrient solution resulted in grain yield improvement in acid soils by 0.59 t ha -1 cycle -1 (7.6% cycle -1 ). Granados et al. (1993) reported yield improvement of 2.0% cycle -1 after 14 cycles of modified ear-to-row selection and 7.0% cycle -1 after two cycles of full-sib selection in acid soils. Ceballos et al. (1995) reported an average improvement of 4.9% cycle -1 for grain yield in acid soils after two cycles of full-sib selection in five tropical maize populations.The inheritance of several important traits in maize evaluated under non-acid soils has been well documented (Hallauer et al., 1988;Hallauer and Miranda Filho, 1988). Despite the large area of acid soils in South America and Africa, the information on the inheritance of maize agronomic traits in acid soils is quite limited. Thus, this research was conducted to estimate additive, dominance, and epistatic effects for several traits in maize in acid and in nonacid soil environments and to compare the inheritance of these traits in both environments.Eight S 8 maize inbred lines, selected from a group of 100 lines evaluated in Colombia during 1995 in acid-soils at Villavicencio (55% Al saturation, 10 mg kg -1 P), and Santander de Quilichao (45% Al saturation, 10 mg kg -1 P) and in non-acid soils at Palmira ,Colombia, were used in this study. The traits used for selection were grain yield (t ha -1 ) and a score for tolerance to acid soils, 1 being highly tolerant and 5 highly sensitive. Seven inbred lines were derived from the same full-sib family from population SA4 and one inbred line from population SA5. Populations SA4 and SA5 are in different heterotic groups, adapted to tropical environments and have been improved using full-sib or S 1 family recurrent selection (Pandey et al., 1995). Based on the mean grain yield in acid soil the inbreds were assigned into three groups: G1 which includes tolerant inbreds L1, L5 and L7; G2 includes sensitive inbreds L2, L3, L4 and L8; and G3, includes the moderately tolerant inbred L6. Inbreds of G1 and G2 consisted of sister lines because they were derived from the same full-sib family from SA4 population and L6 (G3) was derived from the SA5 population. In 1996 and 1997 growing seasons, the F 1 , F 2 , BC 1 , and BC 2 generations were developed for all crosses between these lines. The F 1 's were developed using a diallel mating scheme and at least 15 ears were saved to represent each F 1 . The F 2 was developed by selfing the F 1 ; BC 1 and BC 2 refer to backcrosses of the F 1 to P 1 and to P 2 , respectively. At least 20 ears were saved for each of the F 2 , BC 1 and BC 2 generations. Thus, the experiment included 120 entries, i.e., eight inbred lines, 28 F 1 's, 28 F 2 's, and 56 BC's.The 120 entries were evaluated in 1997, 1998 and 1999 growing seasons in four acid and two non-acid soil environments. Acid soil environments in Colombia were at Villavicencio in 1997 and 1998, at Santander de Quilichao in 1997 and at Sete Lagoas in Brazil in 1999. Non-acid soil environments were at Palmira, Colombia, in 1997 and 1998 (Table 1). The design used was the randomized complete block design with three replications per environment. Generations were allocated to different blocks and randomized independently. Plots were 2.5 m long and spaced 0.75 m between plots. Depending on the genetic uniformity of each generation, the plots had different number of rows. For the P 1 , P 2 , F 1 , BC 1 and BC 2 generation the plots were two rows, whereas for the F 2 generations four-row plots were used. The plots were overplanted and thinned to 20 plants plot -1 for the P 1 , P 2 , F 1 , BC 1 and BC 2 generations and to 40 plants plot -1 for the F 2 generation.Data were recorded for grain yield (t ha -1 ), plant height (cm plant -1 ), stand (plants plot -1 ), grain moisture (g kg -1 ), number of ears per plot and number of days to mid-silk. Plant height was recorded in five competitive plants per plot, from the soil surface to the tip of the highest tassel branch, and the plot means were used for analysis. Prolificacy was computed per plot by the ratio number of ears per plot/stand. Days to mid-silk was recorded as the number of days from sowing to 50% of plants plot -1 with silk extrusion. Grain yield of each plot was adjusted for average stand by covariance analyses and for 150 g kg -1 of grain moisture.Analyses of variances were performed for each environment and combined across environments for acid and for non-acid soils for each trait. In the combined analyses, environments and genotype by environment interaction were considered as random effects and genotypes as fixed effects. Genotypes sums of squares were orthogonally partitioned into parental lines, generations F 1 , F 2 , BC 1 , BC 2 and among generations, with genotype by environment interaction being partitioned accordingly. Thus, in the F tests each partitioned source of variation was tested against its respective interaction with environment, and the partitioned genotypes by environment interaction were tested against the experimental error.Means of each generation across acid soil and across non-acid soil environments were independently subjected to generation mean analysis (Mather and Jinks, 1982). Following Gamble's (1962a) notation, the model used was: g k = m + (α)a + (β)d + (α 2 )aa + (αβ)ad + (β 2 )dd , where g k is the mean across environments of the kth generation, m is the mean of two contrasting homozygotes (inbred parents), a is the pooled additive effect, d is the pooled dominance effect, aa is the pooled additive x additive effect, ad is the pooled additive x dominance effect, and dd is the pooled dominance x dominance effect; α and β are the coefficients of the genetic effects relating each generation to its mean.Estimates of additive, dominance and epistatic effects were computed for each cross by weighted least square regression analysis (Mather and Jinks, 1982) using the equation b = (X' D -1 X) -1 (X' D -1 y), where b is the vector of genetic effects (m, a, d, aa, ad, and dd), X is the incidence matrix of the genetic effects coefficients (α, β, α 2 , αβ, and β 2 ), y is the column vector of the generation means and D -1 is a weighted diagonal matrix, where the diagonal elements were the reciprocals of the variances of each generation mean (W i ), computed for each generation (P's, F 1 's, F 2 's, and BC's) as the generation by environment interaction mean squares (MSI i ) divided by the number of locations (L) and replications (R); i.e.:Estimates of additive, dominance and epistatic effects were computed by analyzing the sequential sums of squares calculated from the addition of each genetic effect in the model. The relative importance of the genetic effect estimates was determined using the ratio of the sequential sum of squares and total sum of squares, after sequentially entering the different effects into the model. A Chi-square (χ 2 ) test was used to examine the adequacy of a reduced model with only additive (a) and dominance (d) effects. Whenever the chi-square test was significant, the epistatic effects aa, ad, and dd were incorporated sequentially into the model (Allen and Cady, 1982). Standard errors of the estimates of the genetic effects were obtained from the diagonal ele-Average grain yield in the non-acid soil was highly significantly (p = 0.01) greater than the average of the acid soil environments (3.19 t ha -1 vs. 1.58 t ha -1 ). Average grain yield of the tolerant set (G1) of parental inbreds (1.10 t ha -1 ) presented highly significant differences from the sensitive set (G2) of parental inbreds (0.67 t ha -1 ) in acid soils, indicating that the selection within a full-sib family for tolerance to acid soil environments was effective. In non-acid soils, parental inbreds mean yields of G1 (1.30 t ha -1 ) and G2 (1.00 t ha -1 ) did not differ significantly. Plant height (171 cm plant -1 vs. 127 cm plant -1 ) and prolificacy (0.98 ears plant -1 vs. 0.89 ears plant -1 ) were also significantly (p = 0.05) greater in non-acid than in acid soils. For days to mid-silk there was no difference between the two soil types (59 vs. 60 days) (Table 1).For all generations, the mean grain yield decreased significantly in acid relative to the non-acid soil environments. Grain yield means in non-acid soil and acid soil environments were 1.14 t ha -1 and 0.86 t ha -1 for the parents; 4.18 t ha -1 and 1.97 t ha -1 for the F 1 's; 3.02 t ha -1 and 1.52 t ha -1 for the F 2 's; and 3.07 t ha -1 and 1.52 t ha -1 for the average of BC's, respectively (Table 2). The detrimental effects of soil acidity on maize grain yield have been reported by Granados et al. (1993), Duque-Vargas et al. (1994), Borrero et al. (1995), Ceballos et al. (1998).The combined analyses of variance across environments (data not shown) showed significant differences among environments for all traits evaluated in acid and non-acid soils. In acid soils, highly significant differences were detected for parental inbreds, F 1 's, F 2 's, BC's, and among generations for grain yield, days to mid-silk and plant height, whereas for prolificacy inbreds and among generations were not significant. For grain yield all generations and among generations interacted significantly with environments, whereas for days to mid-silk only the F 2 's generation were not significant and for plant height and prolificacy only among generations were significant. In Genetic effects in maize 91 non-acid soils all generations and among generations were highly significant, except parental inbreds, for grain yield, mid-silk, and prolificacy; also for prolificacy only the F 2 's and BC's were significant. The partitioned generation by environment interactions was not significant for parental inbreds for all traits, except prolificacy; for the F 1 's significance was detected only for grain yield and prolificacy; for the F 2 's no significance was detected for all traits; for the BC's interaction was significant for grain yield and mid-silk; and for among generations all traits interacted significant with environments, except plant height.The genetic analysis across acid soil and non-acid soil environments showed that for most of the crosses a large proportion of the total sum of squares (R 2 ) for grain yield was accounted for by additive and dominance effects. In acid soils the R 2 values averaged 93.2% and ranged from 49.5% to 99.9%, while in non-acid soils the R 2 values averaged 96.0% and ranged from 78.7% to 99.9%. The χ 2 values for the three-parameter model (m, a, d) were nonsignificant for 24 (85.7%) and for 22 (78.6%) out of the 28 crosses in acid and non-acid soils, respectively. Therefore, the three-parameter model explained a major portion of total genetic variation for grain yield in acid and non-acid soils. In acid soils, two crosses involving related inbreds within the G1 group and one cross within the G2 group did not show any significant genetic effects except the mean parameter (Tables 2 and 3).In acid soils pooled additive genetic effects for grain yield were significant for 17 out of the 28 crosses (60.7%). The magnitude in absolute values of the additive effects 92Velásquez et al. were larger for crosses among tolerant (G1) x sensitive (G2) related lines from the same full-sib family (0.21 t ha -1 ), than for crosses of unrelated SA5 x SA4 lines (0.10 t ha -1 ), and, also, larger than G1 x G1 related crosses (0.08 t ha -1 ) and than G2 x G2 related crosses (0.06 t ha -1 ).In non-acid soil, estimates of additive effects were significant only for six out of 28 crosses (21.4%); thus, the pooled additive effects were more important in acid than in nonacid soils to explain the genetic variation among generations. However, the mean additive effects for acid soils did not differ significantly from that of non-acid soil (1.34 t ha -1 vs. 1.39 t ha -1 ), suggesting that the estimates of the pooled additive effects were not affected by soil acidity. Also, the relatedness or the tolerance/sensitivity of the parental inbreds to acid soils had no effect on the estimates of the additive effects under non-acid soils (Tables 2 and 3).The pooled dominance effects for grain yield were significant for 22 (78.6%) and for 28 (100%) crosses in acid and non-acid soils, respectively. The magnitude of these effects was greater than the mean parameter, except for eight crosses in acid soil and six crosses in non-acid soil. Also, these effects were positive for most of the crosses, except for two crosses in acid and one cross in non-acid soil. For acid soil the significant dominance effects averaged 1.11 t ha -1 and ranged from 0.31 t ha -1 to 1.94 t ha -1 , whereas for non-acid soil the dominance effects averaged 3.06 t ha -1 and ranged from -0.99 t ha -1 to 6.95 t ha -1 . Thus, contrary to the additive effects, the magnitudes of the dominance effects were significantly affected by soil acidity. Also, the pooled dominance effects were dependent on the genetic relatedness and on the level of sensitivity to soil acidity of the parental inbreds. Crosses including unrelated (G1 x G3 and Genetic effects in maize 93 *, **Significant at p = 0.05 and at p = 0.01, respectively. 1 L1, L5 and L7 belong to G1 (tolerant), and L2, L3, L4 and L8 belong to G2 (sensitive), both groups derived from SA4 population. L6 was derived from SA5 population. 2 R 2 is the proportion of the total sums of squares accounted for by the model.) lines had the largest estimates (1.80 t ha -1 vs. 4.47 t ha -1 ), followed by tolerant (G1) x sensitive (G2) related crosses (1.34 t ha -1 vs. 3.60 t ha -1 ), by sensitive (G1) x sensitive (G1) related crosses (0.29 t ha -1 vs. 1.66 t ha -1 ) and by tolerant (G2) x tolerant (G2) related crosses (0.16 t ha -1 vs. 1.15 t ha -1 ) (Tables 2 and 3). As expected, crosses between unrelated inbreds presented larger dominance effects (Hallauer and Miranda Filho, 1988). The results from crosses between related lines suggested that selection within the full-sib family for tolerance to soil acidity increased the genetic diversity of the lines, because G1 x G2 crosses presented significantly larger dominance effects than G1 x G1 and than G2 x G2 crosses for both types of soils. These results suggest that unidirectional positive dominance plays an important role in the inheritance of grain yield in both acid and non-acid soils. The importance of dominance genetic effects for the inheritance of grain yield in maize in non-acid soils has been reported (Gamble , 1962a;Darrah and Hallauer, 1972;Cockerham and Zeng, 1996), but for acid soils the available information is limited. Ceballos et al. (1998) reported that, for grain yield, the dominance effects accounted for 63.0% and 81.0% of the total sum of squares in acid and non-acid soils, respectively, and that the estimates of dominance effects were affected by soil acidity; i.e., dominance effect estimates in acid soil were significant lower than those in non-acid soils.Epistatic effects for grain yield were detected in four out of 28 crosses (14.3%) in acid soils, with aa effects in two crosses, ad effects in three crosses, and both aa and ad were detected simultaneously in only one cross. In non-acid soils, six crosses (21.4%) presented significant epistatic effects, with aa effects in five crosses and ad and dd effects in one cross. There was no connection between the relatedness of the inbreds and epistatic effects. The number of crosses with epistatic effects was slightly greater in nonacid than in acid soils, and the magnitudes of these effects were also larger in non-acid than in acid soils (Tables 2 and  3). Narro et al. (2000) conducted a diallel analysis in acid soils and reported that both additive effects (general combining ability) and non-additive effects (specific combining ability) were equally important for grain yield. Ceballos et al. (1998) reported that epistatic effects for grain yield were important in acid soils but not for non-acid soils. Our results did not agree with those reported by Ceballos et al. (1998) because epistatic effects were detected in both types of soils for only four crosses in acid soil and six crosses in non-acid soil, suggesting that soil acidity could not affect the detection of epistatic effects. These results also did not agree with those of Wolf and Hallauer (1997) who reported that epistasis in maize seems to be more important in either poorer or better environments. Jinks et al. (1973) also reported that the frequency and magnitude of epistasis in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) were greater in both extremes of a range of environments. Epistatic effects for grain yield of maize in non-acid soils have been reported to be lower than for its components, such as ear length, ear diameter, and kernel-row number (Gamble, 1962a;Gamble 1962b;Darrah and Hallauer, 1972;Wolf and Hallauer, 1997), but these information are lacking for acid soils.For plant height, the number of crosses in acid soils with significant additive effects (53.6%) was greater than those with significant epistatic effects (50%) followed by those with significant dominance effects (42.9%), whereas in non-acid soils, dominance effects were significant for 71.5%, epistatic effects for 53.6% and additive effects for 50.0% of the crosses (Table 4). Both additive and dominance effects were not affected by the genetic relatedness of the inbreds but they were significantly reduced by soil acidity; the additive effects were less affected (5.5 cm plant -1 vs. 7.5 cm plant -1 ) than dominance effects (20.0 cm plant -1 vs. 48.7 cm plant -1 ) by soil acidity. All estimates of epistatic effects were negative in both soils, with aa effects being more important than the other types of digenic epistasis in acid soil while aa and dd were more important than ad effects in non-acid soil. Similar results for plant height in non-acid soils; i.e., dominance effects more important than additive and epistatic effects, with aa and dd effects more important than ad effects were reported by Gamble (1962b), Darrah andHallauer (1972), andMoreno-Gonzalez andDudley (1981). However, Narro et al. (2000) reported that non-additive effects (dominance and epistasis) were as important as additive effects for plant height in acid soils.For mid-silk in acid soil the pooled additive effects were significant for 11 crosses (39.3%), pooled dominance effects for 21 crosses (75.0%) and pooled epistatic effects for two crosses (9.5%), while in non-acid soil 2 (7.14%), 22 (78.57%) and 7 crosses (25%) presented significant additive, dominant, and epistatic pooled effects, respectively. In absolute values the additive effects averaged 0.8 d and 0.7 d and the dominance effects averaged 3.6 d and 4.7 d in acid and in non-acid soils, respectively. Most of the dominance effects were negative, and most of epistatic effects were positive in both soils (Table 5). Darrah and Hallauer (1972) reported that dominance was the major effect in the inheritance of this trait, followed by additive and epistatic effects. Wolf and Hallauer (1997) also detected significant epistatic effects for mid-silk.For prolificacy (data not shown), only one cross presented significant pooled additive and epistatic effects, and 12 crosses (42.9%) presented significant pooled dominance effects in acid soils, while in non-acid soils only one cross presented significant pooled additive and dominance effects. No significance was detected among parental lines in the joint analysis of variance indicating that the genetic divergence of the parental lines for prolificacy was very low. Thus, the lower number of crosses with significant genetic effects could be attributable to the lower genetic divergence of the parental inbreds for this trait. Wolf and Hallauer 94 Velásquez et al.  (1997) did not detect significant epistatic effects for prolificacy in an F 2 population in non-acid soil.The overall results of this research showed that the dominance effects play a more important role than additive effects and that the latter were more important than epistatic effects in both acid and non-acid soils. Similar results have been reported by Pandey et al. (2007). Epistatic effects were detected for all traits in both acid and non-acid soil environments. Epistatic effects have been considered as a result of unique combinations of genes in specific crosses, which may contribute to increased heterosis in elite single-crosses (Lamkey et al., 1995;Darrah and Hallauer, 1972). For example, Darrah and Hallauer (1972) reported a higher frequency of epistatic effects for yield in crosses between second-cycle inbreds than in crosses between first-cycle inbreds and attributed this to the effects of selection. However, our results showed no relationship between high-yielding single-crosses (F 1 generation) and epistasis because only one of the five high-yielding single-crosses presented significant epistatic effect (ad) in acid soils and in non-acid soil none of them presented significant epistatic effects. Thus, epistatic effects were randomly distributed among the crosses.Our results suggest that the inheritance of grain yield, plant height, mid-silk and prolificacy did not differ in acid and non-acid soils. Obviously, there are detrimental effects of the acid soils, mainly for grain yield, which cause the estimates of the genetic effects to be lower in acid than in non-acid soils. Thus, the accumulated knowledge on the inheritance of quantitative traits in non-acid fertile soils, summarized by Hallauer et al. (1988) and Hallauer and Miranda Filho (1988), can benefit maize breeding programs for acid soils environments.Velásquez et al.Table 5 -Estimates of mean (m), additive (a), dominance (d) and digenic epistatic (aa, ad, dd) effects for maize mid-silk, evaluated in four acid soil and in two non-acid soils environments in Brazil and Colombia."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fb1d4341510b4d7187404947df768737","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/1a42fe94-d039-4146-801c-5472a937b8d0/content","id":"859218340"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"af16ed3d-e3fd-49bf-9076-8e62e440ac74","content":"The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) was established in 2009 to promote durable change at scale in South Asia's cereal-based cropping systems. Operating in rural 'innovation hubs' in Bangladesh, India and Nepal, CSISA works to increase the adoption of various resourceconserving and climate-resilient technologies, and improve farmers' access to market information and enterprise development. CSISA supports women farmers by improving their access and exposure to modern and improved technological innovations, knowledge and entrepreneurial skills. By continuing to work in synergy with regional and national efforts, collaborating with myriad public, civil society and private-sector partners, CSISA aims to benefit more than 8 million farmers by the end of 2020.The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is the global leader on publicly funded maize and wheat research and related farming systems. Headquartered near Mexico City, Mexico, CIMMYT works with hundreds of partners throughout the developing world to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat cropping systems, thus improving global food security and reducing poverty. CIMMYT is a member of the CGIAR Consortium and leads the CGIAR Research Programs on MAIZE and WHEAT. The Center receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies.With high rates of poverty, declining but persistent food insecurity, and an increase occurrence of damaging climate extremes, the smallholder-dominated agricultural systems of South Asia are under considerable stress while, at the same time, projections suggest that crop productivity will need to increase dramatically in coming years to ensure regional food security. Underlying these challenges is an aging rural workforce and a lack of interest among young people for making farming their profession. These dynamics contribute to an unprofitable present and an uncertain future. The promise of appropriate mechanization offers a pathway forward. At its best, new types of scale-appropriate machinery can greatly reduce drudgery and the costs of production while ensuring precision management and timely field operations. Moreover, when machinery services are provided by small and medium-scale entrepreneurs, new jobs are created that help anchor younger people in rural communities while labor-limited farms stay viable by purchasing essential services. Despite the promise of mechanized solutions, progress in the past decade has been uneven with success achieved in some geographies with certain technologies while others largely stagnate. There is much to learn from this experience. Facilitating mechanization transitions is a complex process. Adapted technologies must be available at the right price, in the right place, with the right enabling environment. In most cases this implies the need for strong synergies between the public and private sectors along with rigorous priority setting and strategic planning to assess the business case and to build a scaling plan for mechanized solutions that differs by technology and geography.I am delighted that this compilated draws together the diverse perspectives of researchers, extension officers, entrepreneurs, and private sector representatives from across the region. The conversations that inspired these articles draw upon rich insights that can only be reliably developed by understanding technologies in context, i.e. from the field where they are actually used by farmers and service providers. This compilation provides essential insights for 'what's next' as we collectively learn how to bring mechanized solutions to scale. It reflects the types of critical dialogues that are essential for supporting transitions to a more sustainable and productive future for smallholders in the region. Table 1.                        The importance of agricultural mechanization in sustainable agricultural intensification and production is accentuated by the rising global costs of food and the increasing movement of youth from rural areas to find non-farm work, thus depriving the agriculture sector of manpower (and it is mostly man power). The papers presented here seek to fill the gap and add to the debate on the situation of agricultural mechanization in developing countries.Govinda Basnet, Scott Justice and Timothy Krupnik Nepal. Following the field visits, the experts from several countries presented their research findings.Ten papers were presented at the seminar (Table 1). This compendium presents versions of six/seven of these papers plus this introduction, a study on women and agricultural mechanization by Ms. Rai that was commissioned by the seminar, and an additional paper by Professor MA Sattar Mandal of Bangladesh Agricultural University. The papers presented here focus on the history and situation of the mechanization of the harvesting of cereal crops in South Asia (Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) and two areas of southeast Asia (South China and Vietnam) where mechanization is more advanced and there are lessons for South Asia.This introductory chapter presents an overview of the evolution of agricultural mechanization in these areas and the drivers, benefits, challenges and lessons from these experiences, focusing on experiences from South Asia and in particular Nepal including a case study of the evolution of mechanization in Nepal.There are diverse patterns of agricultural mechanization in South Asia. Agricultural mechanization was introduced in India in the early twentieth century when the British colonial government brought in tractors for clearing brush and shrubs. The government began to import mechanical tillers soon after, although their use spread slowly because of their high cost (Bhattarai et al. 2018). By the early 1960s, the Indian government and private factories began to produce tractors aided by importsubstitution policies that spurred domestic industry. Manufacturing grew so that by the 1980s India was exporting tractors. Production grew even faster after the government introduced economic liberalization in the 1990s. Since 2010, the international manufacturers John Deere, New Holland, Same, CLAAS and others have established plants in India. Today, India is the number one producer of four-wheeled tractors in the world (Singh 2013).Agricultural mechanization in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka occurred more recently and has depended on imported machinery, mainly from India and China. For example, in Bangladesh imports of Chinese-made single-cylinder diesel engines and 2-wheeled tractors greatly increased after the government removed restrictions on their importation in the early 1990s. Previously, the government had banned their sale because a government vetting agency had deemed them as too low quality. However, the popularity of Chinese machines in the free market has proved that the technology is good enough for most farmers' uses (Biggs et al. 2011).The many machines brought into Nepal from China are generally smaller, lighter, and more versatile than their Indian counterparts. Indian tractors are predominantly four-wheeled (4WTs), while the Chinese-made tractors used in South Asia are mostly twowheeled (2WTs It is noteworthy that the mechanization in India, Nepal and Bangladesh has taken place without the large-scale consolidation of landholdings that was once thought necessary to achieve economies of scale (Mandal 2017, Biggs andJustice 2017). This is due mostly to the service providers, who have found scale appropriate machinery that fit their farm size (Baudron et al. 2015) and after using their machines on their own land, rent them out to neighboring farmers.There is also evidence of the shared use of equipment and machines by smallholders through the communal ownership of machines.In addition, some farm machinery is becoming more affordable like 2WT reapers and mini-tillers and thus more accessible to smaller farmers (Bhattarai et al. 2018).Box 1 gives an overview case study of agricultural mechanization in the country where the travelling seminar took place, which complements the paper by Basnyat in this volume (see next page).The other eight papers in this collection provide diverse viewpoints on harvesting mechanization and agricultural mechanization in Asia. Other papers describe the situation where mechanized harvesting is less widespread -in India (Menon), Bangladesh (Mandal) and Nepal (Rai and Basnyat). Prior to the 1970s, there was little agricultural mechanization in Nepal and manual labor and draft animals were the dominant sources of farm power (Biggs et al. 2011). By 1981 only 8 percent of farm power came from mechanical power (Takeshima 2017). The percentage of households using tractors was much lower in the hills than in the Terai plains in the south.Two-wheeled tractors were promoted in the mid-1970s and early 1980s in South Asia with support from Japanese aid programs leading in Nepal to subsidized private-sector imports of over 2,000 2WTs (Takeshima 2017).Threshing technology was introduced in Nepal's Terai in the late 1970s, and continued to spread through the 1990s (Justice and Biggs 2013). By 2010, all wheat threshing in the Terai was mechanized, with 4WT power takeoff-driven threshers for rice spreading across most of the Terai. The use of reapers for harvesting began in Nepal in 2014 (Paudel et al. 2018). Since then, there has been a steady increase in their use, with about 2,800 in operation in 2018 (Paudel et al. 2018). Almost all of them (about 95%) are 2WT-attachable riding reapers, while the rest are selfpropelled walk-behind types. The first combine harvester was introduced in 1999 in the Western Terai (Paudel et al. 2015). Their use is rapidly increasing due to the scarcity of labor and rising wages. By 2018, 650 combines were in use in Nepal, a half owned by Indians who come to Nepal in the harvest seasons (Paudel et al. 2018).Nepal's hills began to see increased tractor use in the 2000s. The use of Chinese-made mini-tillers -which are lighter weight and can be more easily transported up and down slopes, has also expanded in the hills. There has been a high level of adoption of 2WTs in the Midhills around the Kathmandu and Pokhara valleys with a growing numbers of small-scale mini-tillers and powered threshers in surrounding areas.The establishment of several custom hiring centers has facilitated farmers' access to new types of machines, but there are still only a few of these centers. The percentage of farming households renting tractors from informal service providers has increased from 11 percent in the Central Terai and 15 percent in the Western Terai in 1995 to 39 percent and 56 percent respectively in 2003 (Takeshima et al. 2015). Since the 2000s, there have been increasing sales of 2WTs in the Terai and hill regions (Justice and Biggs 2013).In spite of these developments, Nepal's 2011 agricultural census found that the country's agriculture remained heavily dependent on human and animal power, constituting 35 percent and 44 percent of total farm power respectively, with mechanical sources contributing only 21 percent (CBS 2013). The census also reported that only 22 percent of farmland was tilled by tractors or power tillers, and that 22 percent of farmers used mechanical threshers.The pace of agricultural mechanization has increased considerably since 2011.Agricultural mechanization in Nepal varies by agro-climatic zone. Many technologies were first adopted in the Terai, heavily influenced by trends in bordering areas of India. For example, areas of the Terai bordering Uttar Pradesh experienced more mechanization than areas bordering the less-mechanized state of Bihar (Justice and Biggs 2013). The Eastern Terai has higher levels of industrialization and higher levels of thresher use for harvesting.The growth of agricultural mechanization in Nepal has been linked to i) the widespread migration of rural youth to foreign countries for employment after 1990, and ii) many youth leaving the countryside during the Maoist insurgency (1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006), with this trend continuing since then. The absentee population from households in the 2011 census was over 1.9 million, a 151% increase from 2001, with 23 districts in the eastern and central hills and mountains recording negative population growth in the inter-census period. The majority of migrants are male (87% in 2011), causing a decline in the number of males to every 100 females from 98.8 in 200198.8 in to 94.4 in 201198.8 in (CBS 2011a)). This has reduced the availability of farm labor and has led to the feminization of agriculture. This has been a prime driver of the adoption of labor and cost-saving machinery such as tractors, pumps, and harvesters.The adoption of harvesting machinery in Nepal has also depended on other factors. Smaller land holding size and fragmented plots preclude the use of larger harvesting machines. The majority of small-holding farmers cannot afford to purchase harvesting machinery and thus rely on hiring centers or other owners to rent-in equipment. The composition of farming systems also influences the types of harvesting machinery chosen. For example, households that own livestock often prefer reapers over combine harvesters as the straw produced is more palatable as animal fodder. Farming families' levels of cash holdings also influences their access to harvesting machinery with off-farm employment and remittance incomes enabling the hiring of farm machinery. Thus, out-migration contributes to mechanization by reducing the manpower available for the agricultural sector, and by providing cash to access agricultural machines.The adoption of farm machines also follows ethnic and class patterns. Wealthier farmers, who usually come from the traditionally dominant caste and ethnic groups, are best positioned to invest in buying machines. For example, in the Kathmandu valley, Newar farmers are often early adopters of machinery. In the Pokhara area, mechanization is greatest among Gurungs and Magars who have returned from service in the British and Indian armies (Justice and Biggs 2013).Related to the above point, another unexplored social dimension of agricultural mechanization is the social prestige that owning a machine accords owners. Machine ownership also changes the dynamics of social relations of production and enhances the sphere of influence of owners when they rent out their machines. It also works in reverse that the ownership of smaller machinery like 2WTs has less prestige for the traditionally higher status groups, such as Thakuri farmers, but brings prestige for traditionally lower status Tharu farmers.operations that require high power but low control (such as tillage, milling and threshing), then move to operations that require medium levels of power and control (such as seeding, spraying, and inter-row operations), and then to operations that require low power and high control (such as harvesting and transplanting). This suggests that the experiences of countries with more mechanically advanced agriculture can provide lessons for countries where it is less mechanized.  et al. 2011). For many small farmers, however, increasing holding sizes is not an option. Mandal suggests that 'operational consolidation' is more appropriate to encourage integrated crop cultivation by synchronizing the use of varieties and planting and harvesting times.However, the shared use of machines (either through coownership or rental services) as well as the ever-smaller size of machines and more affordable prices are helping small farmers to achieve gains once thought to be possible only through larger landholdings.The papers in this volume highlight the fact that mechanized harvesters can increase the profitability of agriculture by increasing efficiency and reducing losses, even on small farms. Hien says for Vietnam that: \"Mechanization is the way\" and that increased production cannot be achieved and postharvest losses cannot be reduced without machinery.In Nepal, Rai notes that mechanization can have gendered social benefits. Traditionally, men were responsible for ploughing and seeding, while most crops were harvested manually by women. When labor was hiredin at harvest time, women were tasked with cooking for and feeding laborers. Women's responsibility for harvesting has become more pronounced with the spread of migration as many women are left to take care of their homesteads while husbands do off-farm work. Thus, mechanical harvesting with reapers and combines has had special benefits for women in the areas where it is practiced by decreasing the time they need to spend tending their fields and freeing up their time to spend on remunerative non-farm activities. Samarsinghe points to some other social benefits of new harvesting technology in Sri Lanka, such as public health benefits including less fear of snakebites and rat fever during manual harvesting. However, an assessment of the overall public health implications of mechanical harvesting must also consider the risk of injury while using mechanical equipment and crop residue management practices, such as stubble burning, which are discussed below.These papers identify a number of problems associated with the spread of mechanical harvesting. Governments, extension agents, donors, and the private sector should be aware of and address the following problems:Lost incomes -The spread of mechanized harvesting changes rural economies hurting some actors in the process. While the new technology enables households that lack the personnel to increase farm productivity, it has displaced other workers who would otherwise earn daily wages manually harvesting crops. Samarsinghe notes that in Sri Lanka this has knock-on effects as local restaurants that used to feed harvest workers have lost much of this business.Skewed benefits -Another problem has to do with access to the technology. As mechanical harvesters are expensive, they are often rentedin; but even this can be out of the reach of poor farmers. Government subsidies to purchase equipment can help spread the technology, but as Mandal notes, processes for subsidy distribution are often inefficient and leave out deserving individuals. Furthermore, when subsidies are given to machine owners who rent out their equipment, it is unclear how much of the benefits are passed on to their clients. Subsidies can also reduce market efficiency. Menon notes that in India, there have been cases where equipment was procured just because a subsidy was available, without paying regard to whether the equipment could be profitably deployed. Other studies have raised concerns that long-term subsidy programs can raise prices for farmers who are not included in subsidy schemes (Biggs and Justice 2015).Women can benefit less -Although it benefits some women, in Nepal Rai notes that men are much more likely than women to operate mechanical harvesters, limiting the benefits that women derive. This is despite the fact that women were traditionally responsible for manual harvesting, and also despite the fact that funding options are available for women's cooperatives to purchase mechanical harvesters. In one cooperative, she notes, equipment purchased in the women's names was operated by their husbands. Rai suggests that the main problem is that the machinery is engineered for use by men as operating them requires more strength than most women possess. She also notes a kind of stigma against women operating machinery. In conclusion, these papers show that farm mechanization is contributing greatly to, and can further contribute to, increased food security and rural incomes amidst the ongoing and widespread demographic changes, especially the migration from rural areas. These papers also show that farm mechanization is embedded in the socio-economic and policy context of a particular nation thus exhibiting diverse trajectory.Effective farm mechanization should be able to seize upon the emerging opportunities and address challenges.The chronic shortage of agriculture labor in Nepal is due to the widespread out migration of youth from rural areas. This has led to agricultural operations often not being carried out on time, and much arable land being left fallow or abandoned. At the same time the traditional practice of exchanging labor to carry out major agricultural operations is declining fast. This labor shortage has created the opportunity and an increasing demand for mechanization and is a means of attracting youth back to agriculture as they like to drive tractors and operate machines. At the same time, agricultural mechanization has a key role to play in boosting agricultural productivity and production in Nepal.Hence, agricultural mechanization is being prioritized in the plans and policies of national and provincial governments. The promotional activities are mostly capital subsidies for buying agricultural machines, the promotion of custom hiring services for hiring out machinery services, and subsidized bank loans for buying machines. The private sector is importing modern machines, with a few local manufacturers of simple machines like threshers, shellers and milling equipment. The country's dairy, fisheries, meat, honey and other agriculture-based industries are using machines and technologies to process their products.CHAPTER 2Madhusudan Singh Basnyat Summary: Agricultural mechanization in Nepal is accelerating due to the chronic shortage of rural labor, the introduction of a facilitating policy environment and support from government organizations and development projects. There is much more mechanization in the southern Terai plains than in the hills and mountains with almost 90 percent of rice and wheat threshed mechanically in the Terai.Nepal is located on the southern slopes of the Himalayas with mountain, hill, and Terai (plain land) ecological zones (Figure 5). Hills and mountains regions cover 77 percent of the country and the Terai 23 percent.  Until recently, agricultural mechanization was not recognized as important for enhancing agricultural productivity in Nepal and was not prioritized in national plans and programs. For example, the National Agriculture Policy (MoAD 2004) did not consider agriculture mechanization as important. However, the present chronic shortage of agricultural labor in many rural areas has brought agricultural mechanization on to the policy agenda.The Constitution of Nepal ( 2015) has provisions related to food sovereignty, modernizing the agriculture sector, increasing agricultural productivity, and ensuring the access of 'peasants' to farm land. The government has several policies and strategies related to agricultural mechanization:High Himalaya (2,500-8,848 m) High Mountain (2,000-2,500 m) Middle Mountain (700-2,000 m) Sivalik (300-300 m) Tarai (<300 m) The first tractor was imported into Nepal and an agriculture office was established in the country in the 1920s. The various interventions and efforts to introduce agricultural mechanization since then are summarized in Table 2 (see next page).An exploratory study carried out for the Agricultural Development Strategy (see NARMA 2017) estimated that close to 40 percent of farm cultivation operations were mechanized including 61 percent in the Terai, only 15 percent in the hills and 2 percent in the mountains. Farm operations were mechanized on 1.03 million of the 2.65 million hectares of Nepal's arable land mostly using 2 and 4 wheeled tractor power.In the hills and mountains, much cultivation and harvesting is still carried out using wooden ploughs. hoes and sickles. However, in most valley areas, more and more farmers are using power tillers and mini-tillers to prepare their fields with adoption increasing in line with the extension of the road network. Tractor driven threshers are threshing crops in areas with road access. Vegetables cultivation near urban areas is increasing under polythene. Mechanized irrigation, mechanical sprayers, improved water mills, paddy shellers and mechanical grinding mills are being adopted in most valley and hill areas. However, in the mountains, most grain is milled using mortars and pestles, querns and traditional water mills.In the Terai, manual tools, animal drawn implements (ploughs, harrows and cultivators), and mechanical machinery is in use. Traditional wooden ploughs, iron mold board ploughs, disc harrows and wooden planks are the main animal-drawn implements. Animal power was widely used for threshing through trampling while bullock carts with wooden or rubber wheels are still used for transporting crops. Diesel pump-sets are commonly used for pumping irrigation water although solar power is becoming popular for pumping water. An increasing number of planting and harvesting machines are being used to address the acute shortage of labor. Tractordriven ploughs, harrows, cultivators and rotavators are now used for primary and secondary tillage operations. These tractors are also used for transport and threshing.  Almost 90 percent of rice and wheat is threshed mechanically in the Terai. The first combine harvester was introduced in Terai in1999/2000, total of 600 were operated during year 2018, and almost half of them comes from India during crop harvesting season. 2800 reaper for harvesting rice and wheat are been adopted till the year 2018, of which 95 percent is power tiller attached and 5 percent is self-propelled and 80 percent are self-purchased by the farmers (Paudel 2019).Data is not available from a single source on the types, models and numbers of agricultural machines in Nepal. The Central Bureau of Statistics has conducted national sample censuses of agriculture every ten years since 1961/62. The sixth census in 2011/12 covered the use of agricultural implements and others machines. There has been an increasing trend in the use of agricultural machinery and equipment in the last 20 years on Nepal's farms with the number of power tillers and tractors increasing by more than six times and other technology too (Figure 6). There is highly likely to have been an accelerated rate of increase since 2012.The most recent agricultural census (in 2011/12), recorded farmers in Nepal's Terai making far more use of machines and other technology in their farm operations than farmers in the Midhills, with very little use on mountain farms (Figures 7 and  8). The agricultural mechanization policy, subsidies and promotional programs and organizational reform has since greatly increased access to these technologies, which will result in a the next agricultural census (due to be carried out in 2021/22) in all likelihood reporting greatly increased use across all three ecozones.Another source of data on agricultural machines is the registration of tractors and power tillers by the government. All vehicles that ply Nepal's roads, including tractors and power tillers, have to register with the local transport office. Up to 2017/18 the Department of Transport   Management had registered a cumulative total of 143,962 tractors and power tillers. The number registered annually has increased from less than 2,000 in 1991/92 to more than 13,000 in 2017/18 (Figure 9). But note that the actual number of power tillers is greater as those that do not travel on roads need not register. The sale of tractors declined slightly in 2017/18 after the government imposed 13% VAT on their import in that year.   The The study was carried out in May 2019 on:• the benefits to women from CSISA's initiatives to introduce farm mechanization;The study also looked at a case study on a women's farming cooperative in Ransingh, Dang. This site was not visited and the information was collected from CSISA staff.The main limitation was the limited time available to carry out the study. It was a rapid analysis carried out over three days of the gender dimensions of issues concerning agriculture mechanization for women farmers. The women respondents were female farmers engaged directly or indirectly in farming and were either hill migrants or Tharus (an ethnic group).Women's participation in agriculture mechanizationWomen play an increasingly important role in Nepalese agriculture due to the widespread absence of their menfolk working either abroad or in other areas of Nepal. Agriculture contributes a third of Nepal's gross domestic product and about 80 percent of women are employed in agriculture, mostly as subsistence producers.CHAPTER 3Summary: This paper reports the findings of a rapid gender study on women and the mechanization of farm operations in Nepal's western and central Terai plains. Women's increasingly important role in Nepalese agriculture has led to them women taking on additional responsibilities for family farms. It is women-heads of households and women farmers who own and lease farmland who have an interest in acquiring and using agricultural machinery as it saves them money and time. However, these women face social and cultural barriers to using machines and hiring in services, while poorer women cannot afford to hire in machinery services. The main challenge that prevents women from operating farm machines is their lack of familiarity with machines and in some cases not having enough strength to use them. However, the overarching problem is that women's needs and interests are often ignored in decision-making in households, communities and projects in Nepal. The study recommends the carrying out of further studies on the issue, introducing measures to improve women farmers' and landowners' access to services and businesses, and building women's skills to operate and hire out machines.• the factors that constrain women's participation in mechanized agriculture; and• how to improve women's participation in mechanized agriculture.The study first compiled reflections from the travelling seminar on women and farm mechanization and carried out a brief literature review of studies and policies related to women in Nepalese agriculture and farm mechanization (see Section 3 below). The subsequent main part of the study held focus group discussions and key informant interviews with men and women farmers, machine users, machine suppliers, project staff and machinery service providers and maintenance staff at the following locations in Nepal's Terai:• The CSISA project areas of Padampur in Kailali district and Munwa in Kanchanpur district.• Hirapur, which lies on the outskirts of Bhairahawa town in Kapilvastu district, including the Malkit combine harvester demonstration site (Malkit is an Indian made combine harvester).• The women's farm machinery service provider cooperative at Satbariya in Dang district.There have been large recent shifts in the traditional division of labor as women have taken on additional responsibilities, such as ploughing and selling agricultural products, in the absence of their menfolk. • The outmigration of men has increased the time and labor women spend on agricultural activities especially as fewer men are available to plough fields.• The hiring in of mini-tillers to prepare land increases yields by about 10 percent and increases efficiency by about 12 percent, in terms of labor saved. Some women household heads directly hire in machine services meaning they have to spend less time caring for draft oxen and preparing snacks and meals for ploughmen, thus leaving them more time to spend on other income-generating activities such as milk and vegetable farming.• Women's limited access to cash affects their ability to hire in mini-tillers for preparing fields for planting and sowing. Women who can't afford to hire them in often share their labor with other women to manually till their fields.• None of the women interviewed had been trained on operating mini-tillers and pointed to cultural and gender barriers to accessing such training.• The work of repairing mini-tillers and other machines is all carried out by men.The   In 2018, they received a secondhand diesel-powered mini-tiller from the CSISA Scaling Project. In January 2019, two women operators were trained on operating and maintaining their machines. The group subsequently earned an amount equivalent to the retail price of the mini-tiller from providing tillage services over two seasons. Cooperative members are charged NPR 100 and non-members NPR 400 per hour to hire in the mini tiller. The machine prepared about 20 hectares of land for 60 farmers over the two wheat and spring maize seasons in 2018 and 2019.Traditional division of labor -Across Nepal, women are more involved in crop production and post-harvesting activities than men. Men traditionally perform most heavy physical labor, such as ploughing, while women do more of the weeding (Figure 10), harvesting, threshing and milling (Table 4).Absent menfolk -The traditional roles are changing, however, as many menfolk of the women farmers who were consulted were working outside Nepal leaving the women responsible for running the family farms including hiring in farm machinery services.The usefulness of farm machinery -The main machines in use in the four study areas were 4-wheeled tractors, 4-wheeled tractor-powered threshers and 2-wheeled tractor reapers, self-propelled reapers and mini-tillers. There were fewer combine harvesters in Kanchanpur and Kailali than in Rupandehi and Kapilvastu. Discussions at the CSISA traveling seminar and the current study revealed how these machines save time and labor for small farmers and are increasingly used to carry out farm operations in Nepal. All the male and female farmers consulted agreed that power tillers, harvesting machines and seed drum rollers save time and labor costs.High demand for machines -The three combines in the Kapilvastu study area and the two in the Dang study area are heavily booked throughout the harvesting seasons. Local farmers harvest their crops manually if a combine is not available. And there are about 200 self-propelled and 2-wheeled tractor reapers in the study areas, which is insufficient to meet the demand at peak harvesting times.Men control machines -Despite the forward-looking policies in the country (see Section 3.2), women's needs and interests are often not considered when enginepowered machinery is developed, demonstrated, given market support and brought into use. As a result, these machines are almost all used and controlled by men.The study identified the following types of women interested in farm mechanization:• Women heads of households -A major concern of these women is managing the carrying out of farm operations. The shortage of labor means that they have to negotiate and manage the hiring in of machines to prepare land  and harvest crops. A number of women consulted by the study found it difficult to manage this.• Women farmers -Some women consulted in Kanchanpur, Kailali and Dang were women farmers who were beginning to carry out their farm operations with small machinery themselves and even as service providers. A major concern was the need for more women-friendly farm machinery.• Women farmers who lease farmland -These women who lease land are from small and poorer households. Some are ex-bonded laborers who have been allocated small plots by the government covering up to 5 kathas (0.17 ha), which is insufficient to provide their subsistence needs. They therefore lease land from farmers who have large holdings under the bag bandhi (mortgage), adhiya battiya (share cropping) and perma (community contribution of labor to farmers' fields) local systems as well as working part time as daily wage farm laborers.The study found that women are very interested in mechanization as a way of improving their livelihoods.In Hirapur, some remittance money goes to buy farm machinery. Women in this area were interested in learning how to purchase and hire out machines. Younger hill women were confident that once trained they could operate the machines, especially self-propelled reapers and even the large power tillers-2-wheel tractors. The experiences of the mini-tiller group in Dang suggests that women can operate powered machines if supported:\"If we can ride scooters, we can drive self-propelled reapers. We just need training!\" -Woman respondent, Bhajuli, RupandehiAnd some women do operate machines. The husband of a member of the Dhankhola Women's Group Cooperative in Dang said:\"I would not have been able to service so many farmers if our women had not taken turns to operate the mini-tiller during tilling operations.\"Women carry out subsidiary tasks -When grain is harvested by reaper, it is mostly women who carry out the subsidiary tasks of threshing and storing the grain and collecting the straw. These tasks are often done through collective community labor.A number of informants at Hirapur and Kanchanpur said that the main drawbacks of using combine harvesters to harvest their wheat and rice were that they produce less straw (which is used for animal feed) and damage field boundaries:\"Combine harvesters waste a lot of straw by cutting crops too high.When we harvest manually, we cut close to the ground. The combine cuts almost a foot high and damages field boundaries, which we have to fix.\" -Women respondent, Hirapur, RupandehiA woman from Patekhouli, Rupandehi, whose husband owned a combine harvester complained that it had resulted in his behavior taking a turn for the worst:\"I was happier before he bought the combine. Now he earns more, drinks more [alcohol] and beats me more!\"The study identified a number of challenges for women to hire in and use agricultural machines.Social and cultural barriers -Social and cultural factors hinder women's involvement in farm mechanization related to poverty, illiteracy, the patriarchal society and caste and ethnic-based marginalization.The traditional outlooks of many rural men do not even consider women using farm machinery. This hinders or prevents women heads of households from searching for and negotiating machinery services as it involves speaking with male service providers from outside their communities.The hiring in of machinery services -The study found that many women farmers cannot afford to hire in farm machinery. Women from poor households who own less than about 10 kathas of land (0.34 ha) do not have the means to hire in 2-wheeled hand-held reaper harvesters. This was particularly evident in the discussions with women farmers in Tikapur, many of whom are freed bonded laborers. Also, some women landowners find it difficult to manage the process, organize labor and supervise the hiring in of services.The main challenge that prevents women from operating farm machines relates to their lack of familiarity with machines and in some cases not having enough strength to use them. Many women struggle to start diesel mini-tillers (Figure 11). It should however be kept in mind that this may be due to lack of familiarity with using machines rather than a strength issue as many rural women are accustomed to carrying out hard physical work.A number of women said they can run diesel mini-tillers once someone helps them start them. The husband of a member of the Dhankhola Mahila Samuha cooperative in Dang, told how his wife and other women operate the cooperative's mini-tiller with his help:They (the women) find it difficult to start mini-tillers so I start it for them and leave them to till the fields.\"Another issue is that the handlebars of diesel mini-tillers and other machines are set too high for women, who tend to be shorter, although this drawback also applies to shorter stature men.The study also identified scaleappropriate machinery that is suitable for women to own and operate, including petrol powered mini-tillers and drum seeders (Figure 12). Switching from heavy diesel to lighter petrol driven mini-tillers and adjusting handlebar heights makes them easier to operate. Petrol powered mini-tillers are much easier to start than diesel powered tillers.  The overarching problem identified by this study is that women's needs and interests are often ignored in decision-making in households, communities and projects in Nepal.It seems that the predominantly male decision-makers have little interest in the issues and needs of women landowners and farmers.A key objective of most agricultural development projects is to empower women in agriculture. The following questions arise from the findings of this study on enabling the access of women to the benefits of agricultural mechanization:• Could credit be provided to poorer farmers (including poor women farmers) so that service providers can be paid once harvested crops are sold?• Could the woman's cooperative in Satbariya be replicated elsewhere in Nepal?• Could women be trained on service provision and the operation and maintenance of petrol-powered mini tillers for tillage services? The solutions to the above questions and the implementation of the following recommendations would increase women's participation and benefit sharing from the mechanization of agriculture and suggest areas of intervention for future support programs.Further studies -This paper reports the findings of a brief rapid study. More in-depth studies are needed on gender and the use of agricultural machinery and the disaggregated benefits of agricultural development. There is a particular need to study technologies like reapers to see how scaling trajectories can be modified and benefits spread more widely.There is also a need to better understand who benefits from the mature mainline technologies.Improve women farmers' and landowners' access to services and businesses:• Empower women and change communities' attitudes to women operating machinery though training and awareness raising.• Promote women's ownership and management of harvesting machines through public service announcements, training support and prioritizing women and their groups for loans and subsidy programs.• Develop materials in local languages to train poor women and women heads of households on negotiating the hiring in of agricultural machine services.• Support women to access loans and produce simple business plans for buying machines.Skill building -Build the skills of women to operate and hire out machines:• Produce extension materials on all types of machines targeting women farmers and landowners.• Develop women's numeracy and business skills around farm machinery.• Produce technical training material for women machinery operators and owners.• Support cross-learning visits and interactions with other women farmers to exchange, learn and adapt methods.• Promote women-led custom hiring businesses.• Consult women farmers on the design of agricultural machines and adapt them accordingly.• Include well-informed women as decision makers on agricultural development projects.• Create a database of women farmers and women farmers' groups who are interested in interventions by CSISA and other agricultural mechanization projects.• Orientate the staff and stakeholders of agricultural development projects on gender analysis and include gender responsive indicators and interventions in their projects.• Promote the use of household and small farm level machines for processing crops to enhance the livelihoods of rural women.Issues in BangladeshSummary: This paper reviews current policies and issues that need addressing to promote the further mechanization of ploughing, transplanting, seeding and harvesting operations on farms in Bangladesh. The paper presents a series of policy recommendations that address the main challenges to the spread of farm mechanization. The implementation of these recommendations would i) encourage the spread of the use of agricultural machines, ii) improve the system for providing subsidies to buy machines, iii) achieve economies of scale in operating machines on the country's small and fragmented landholdings, iii) foster research and development for farm mechanization and iv) expand the domestic manufacturing of agricultural machinery.This paper reviews current policies and identifies a number of issues that need addressing related to the rapid pace of agricultural mechanization in Bangladesh.The increasing mechanization of agriculture in Bangladesh is mainly due to:• the shortage of male agricultural labor -by about 40 percent during critical farm operations;• the movement of rural youth from farm to non-farm employment and from rural to urban areas and their widespread migration abroad; and• rural youth becoming less interested in performing laborious and uncertain seasonal agricultural jobs.The resulting increases agricultural wages, by about 6 percent a year, has pushed up the cost of rice production to make it unprofitable for some farmers who depend on hired labor.Farm mechanization has also been prompted by the improved efficiency and productivity it usually brings.Appropriately scaled mechanization can maintain domestic food grain self-sufficiency in spite of the current average 0.5 percent annual loss of arable land. Also, the increasing incidence of floods and cyclones is prompting the more rapid carrying out of critical activities, such as the quick planting of crops after flood waters recede and the speedy harvesting of crops before forecasted flash floods occur.This paper highlights the urgency of accelerating agricultural mechanization in Bangladesh. It first describes past policy initiatives and emerging issues. It then discusses the current status of agricultural mechanization, the spread of machines, economies of scale, subsidy management, research and development, the growth of the in-country manufacturing of machines, areas of special focus and institutional capacity building.There are more than 700,000 two-wheeled tractors, 35,000 four-wheeled tractors, 400 rice transplanters, 500 reapers and 200 mini combine harvesters in Bangladesh (Alam 2016;Mandal et al. 2017). An employee of the farm machinery supplier ACI Motors Ltd (Figure 13). recently reported that the number of reapers in the country had surpassed 5,000 and there were more than 2,000mini combine harvesters. Another leading farm machinery supplier (The Metal Pvt Ltd) reported that 8,000-9,000 tractors and 50,000-60,000 power tillers are imported into Bangladesh each year (Zamil 2019). In addition, much locally-made small equipment is in use on Bangladesh's farms including centrifugal pumps, maize shellers, sprayers, driers, threshers, weeders and potato graders.Irrigation, tillage, land preparation, threshing and pesticide spraying are now almost entirely mechanized with transplanting, seeding and harvesting yet to be fully mechanized. The latter are critical farm operations and this 'missing link' needs urgently addressing (Mandal 2016). In 2019, the government responded to the severe labor shortages for harvesting and the falling price of boro paddy (irrigated paddy grown between December/January and May/June) by increasing the budget for subsidizing the purchase of harvesting and planting machines. Agricultural mechanization in Bangladesh was initiated by the public sector introduction of heavily subsidized low-lift pumps and deep tube wells for irrigation in the 1950s, and four-wheeled tractors for addressing the draught power shortages that resulted from natural calamities in the 1970s. The government's agricultural mechanization policy encourages efficient, profitable, and sustainable commercial agriculture and encourages rural youth to take up modern farming as a prestigious and profitable profession (Figure 14). The policy promotes farmer-friendly cost-effective agricultural machinery that is appropriate to the scale of operations across the country's diverse small and fragmented landholdings and diverse soil types and moisture conditions.Amidst the diversification of Bangladesh agriculture from growing staple crops to growing other crops, the scope of agricultural mechanization needs to be broadened to encompass machines for pond fish production; dairy, cattle and poultry rearing; floriculture and orchards. For example, fruit production needs drip irrigation systems, milk production needs milking machines and fish farming need auto-sensor aerators for maintaining oxygen levels in ponds.A major challenge to farm mechanization is to gain economies of scale in the use of machines in a situation where most farms are fragmented in scattered small plots. This is more complicated as farmers choose different varieties of crops at different times resulting in different planting and harvesting times by different farmers. The challenge is to get the farmers of tiny plots to synchronize their operations to facilitate machine use. Machine service providers are working for 'operational consolidation' through the custom hiring of their machines (Mandal et al. 2017: 78). Other constraints confronting agricultural mechanization are i) farmers' limited access to bank loans and subsidies for buying machines; ii) inadequate after-sales services and iii) the shortage of skilled machine operators. Also, local machinery manufacturers need more capital machines for making machines and more skilled workers to produce quality machines and spare parts.The spread of agricultural machinesA key policy issue is how to popularize and disseminate appropriate machines to farmers and service providers. The first requirement is the availability of appropriate, affordable and user-friendly machines. For this, the Department of Agricultural Extension needs to demonstrate locally manufactured and imported machines to farmers on farmers' plots. Hands-on training for operators is also essential.The Bangladesh Bank circular on advancing equipment loans is hardly implemented or monitored (Das 2019)  The government's present subsidy system covers the purchase of imported mini-combine harvesters, reapers and transplanters, and locally made equipment such as threshers, seeder and foot pumps. The subsidy amounts to at least 50 percent of cost, with disadvantaged areas such as haor areas (vast perennial waterbodies), charland (sand bars), the coastal region and hill areas entitled to 70 percent subsidies. The distribution of these subsidies is implemented by the Department of Agriculture Extension. However, the selection of farmers and service providers for receiving subsidies is a long and cumbersome process resulting in many deserving farmers not being selected. Box 2 provides suggestions for improving the subsidy distribution system now that the government has committed to increasing the number of harvesters and transplanters in the country.Besides, since providing subsidies is expensive and difficult, the level of subsidy should be reduced or even withdrawn later as the machines become part of farming systems. For example, in the past the purchase of power tillers was subsidized, but the subsidy was withdrawn as they became popular and farmers could afford to buy them at the full market price.The under-use of machines due to the seasonality of operations and the small fragmented holdings discourages service providers from investing in machines. It is• Introduce the online submission and processing of farmers' applications to reduce processing time and to bring more transparency to the subsidy scheme.• Attach barcodes to all imported machines to verify the delivery of machines.• All importers enlisted for the subsidy scheme should be required to submit data to the Department of Agricultural Extension on the number and types of machines they import.• Suppliers should be required to prove they can provide after-sales and machine rental services to be enlisted in the subsidy scheme.• Subsidies should only be provided to purchase certified quality machines.inefficient to use larger machines on small widely scattered holdings.To overcome this challenge, service providers try and develop contractual arrangements with farmers to synchronize ploughing, land preparation, planting and harvesting operations for adjacent farmers at the same time. In some cases, service providers offer special rates or extra services (e.g. free threshing with reaper services) as incentives for the 'operational consolidation' of areas. The provision of low interest credit and subsidizing the cost of diesel for providers are policy options to enlarge operational areas. Other options include promoting the synchronized cultivation of crop varieties and their planting, fertilizing and harvest times. Bank loans for facilitating land leasing and contract farming should also be provided to promote economies of scale in operating larger machines such as rice transplanters, combine harvester and drip irrigation sets.A range of measures need taking to foster research and development for farm mechanization in Bangladesh (see Box 3):• Provide higher level training, improved laboratory facilities and increased budget support for farm mechanization-related research.• Encourage coordinated research by research institutes and universities involving private sector manufacturers. Note that there are about 20,000 large metal workshops in Bangladesh of which about 800 are formally registered.• Increase the capacity of the metal workshops through skill training, apprenticeships, support to acquire machines to manufacture machines and equipment and business development with cooperation from development partners such as CIMMYT's Cereal System Initiatives for South Asia Mechanization and Irrigation (CSISA-MI) project.• Strengthen the policy environment to facilitate and protect intellectual property rights for machinery innovations.• Encourage entrepreneurs to invest in research in coordination with quality standardization and training on machine use.• Build partnerships between developing and developed countries for technology transfer.• Polytechnics, vocational institutes and technical schools should run more diploma courses in agricultural mechanization to train mechanics and improve after-sales services.• Build and maintain an agricultural mechanization database to inform the improved planning of agricultural mechanization.The foremost policy need to expand the country's agricultural machinery industry is to treat agricultural machinery manufacturing as an agro-based industry so that the sector can access the fiscal benefits the government gives to the agroindustry. The recommendations in Box 4 lead on from this:However, Bangladesh's capacity to manufacture agricultural machinery remains a point of discussion. There is a sizable in-country capacity to manufacture simple adequatequality machinery including threshers, shellers and centrifugal pumps. But the Department of Agricultural Extension and farmers complain about the poor quality of locally produced more complicated machines such as Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI)power takeoff seeders, reapers and also about some imported combine harvesters.Rangpur is famous for manufacturing centrifugal pumps, Bogra is renowned for its manufacturing of spares for single cylinder diesel engines and small transmissions for power tillers. It is estimated that 40-50 percent of power tiller parts are made in Bangladesh. But there is little or no manufacturing of sub-assemblies or whole engine transmissions.The government needs to encourage the country's agricultural machinery industry by providing loans, training and study tours to encourage larger companies to adopt modern manufacturing methods whilst smaller companies supply parts and sub-components. Thailand's agricultural machinery industry is a good example to follow as its policies and programs jumpstarted the manufacturing of two-wheel tractors and combine harvesters there. The Ministry of Agriculture should partner with the Ministry of Industry to encourage these developments.One simple illustrative experiment would be for a research institute or university to purchase spare parts made in Bogra, Bangladesh for engines and transmissions and assemble them to illustrate just how many local components is already produced in country. Then import the remaining components to produce the first Bangladesh made machine such as a 2-wheeled tractor power tiller.The following areas of rural mechanization also need policy attention and encouragement to address the growing impacts of climate change and the increasing cost of fossil fuels:• The use of renewable energy to power irrigation pumps, driers and lighting systems in agroprocessing.• Conservation agriculture, which encompasses zero or minimum tillage for better plant growth and minimum top soil disturbance.• Smart or precision agriculture, which use remote sensor-based machines such as drones, fish feeders and re-circulatory aquaculture systems.And the following agro-ecologically unfavorable locations need specific mechanization efforts and tailormade machinery:• The Haor regions, which frequently suffer from flash floods and hail and thunder storms.• The coastal belt, which is affected by tidal surges, salinity, and submergence.• The sandy soils of the Char lands.• The hill areas with their uneven topography.• The drought prone Barind tract.As the private sector is reluctant to invest in the mechanization needs of these areas due to uncertain returns, the government should implement special policy thrusts for the provision, delivery, and marketing of agricultural equipment for these areas. A 70 percent subsidy is already provided for buying agricultural machinery in these areas.The sustainable implementation of agricultural mechanization needs strong institutions to foster, monitor, encourage and impose standardization and certification for appropriate machines and to foster coordination and cooperation between different agencies.The following public sector institutions have played a lead role in agricultural mechanization in Bangladesh:• The Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) and the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) are the mainstream organizations for introducing mechanized irrigation using tube wells and low-lift pumps.• Reduce import duties on machinery setup to increase the capacity of foundries and thus improve the quality of machines and spare parts.• Encourage the local assembly of agricultural machinery alongside continuing to rebate duty on spare parts.• Rationalize the list of value added tax and duty rebates on agricultural machinery and spare parts in consultation with stakeholders.• Rationalize the duty structure on imported machinery considering the cost of locally produced machines and the prospect of the local manufacturing of high-quality machines; wherever possible encouraging joint ventures.• The government should extend technical and financial support to establish agricultural machinery manufacturing zones and strengthen existing machinery hubs in places like Bogra, Jessore and Sylhet.• The Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) has been involved in developing and testing farm machinery, although their dissemination has not been as widespread as expected.• The Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) develops rice transplanters and reapers.• The Bangladesh Sugarcane Research Institute (BSRI) has developed small machines such as sugarcane crushers.• The Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) has developed and improvised drier, urea super granule (USG) injectors, seeders, threshers and other machines.As the large-scale privatization of minor irrigation and tillage operations took place in the 1980s, many privately run workshops started manufacturing small equipment, such as threshers, using designs from BARI, BRRI and BAU. Pumps and spare parts and accessories made locally by private companies helped foster the expansion of mechanized irrigation and tillage services.The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladeshis proactive and positive about promoting agricultural mechanization. The Ministry of Agriculture emphasized the urgency of agricultural mechanization through its parliamentary standing committee in 2012 and its roadmap for agricultural mechanization in 2015. It is now finalizing its agricultural mechanization policy. At the same time, it has increased the budget to subsidize the purchase of agricultural machinery and is willing to provide more resources for well-implemented mechanization programs.Private sector importers, distributors and local manufacturers are also contributing to agricultural mechanization. They popularize their planters, mini combine harvesters, threshers and other products at machinery fairs and in other ways.A better-calibrated subsidy program will make machines more affordable including the larger machines that are often more reliable and give greater returns on investment.Overall, appropriate scale farm mechanization should be promoted by providing farmers and service providers with easy access to low interest finance to buy handy and durable machines. And users need easy access to quality mechanics and machine operator services to support the smooth functioning of their machines. There is a particular need to improve the provision of mechanic training at the local level and to make available appropriate tools and equipment.Other overarching policy recommendations are to:• facilitate women's use of farm machinery;• provide easy access to credit for educated rural youth and women to develop their farms; and• provide bank loans to machinery manufacturers, farmers and service providers to buy machines.Finally, it needs to be stressed that the increased use of machines for farm operations, although it will reduce the marginal costs of production, will not alone ensure profitable farming. Rice farming remains the core of Bangladeshi agriculture and needs an improved policy environment with respect to rice procurement, the import and export of food grains, technology adoption and an improved energy policy.The use of combine harvesters to harvest rice, wheat and to some extent soya beans has spread across India in recent decades. Almost all of India's combine harvesters are owned by contractors who harvest farmers' fields on a per acre basis in the north and a per hour basis in south and east India. These contractors move between states following the harvests to make full use of their expensive machines seeking a better return on their investments. This has increased the availability of harvesters to farmers, almost all of whom are unable to buy their own machines.Figure 16 shows the current pattern of the migration of combine harvester contractors across India mainly following the rice and wheat harvests.A major migration pattern since the combine harvesting of crops took off in the 1990s has The Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) is a government scheme that started in 2014/15 under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare. It promotes farm mechanization by:• offsetting the adverse economies of scale that arise from the small landholdings and the high costs of individual ownership of machines;• providing small and marginal farmers access to farm mechanization through custom hiring centers;• creating hubs for hi-tech and high value farm equipment; and• increasing awareness among stakeholders through demonstrations and capacity building.While the central government provides a broad policy framework for custom hiring centers, the scheme is implemented by state governments in line with local conditions and requirements.One example of the spread and successful emergence of custom hiring centers is in Karnataka in south India. This has happened as i) there is no requirement for centers to be owned and managed by cooperatives or farmer groups, ii) private companies that can provide rental services and maintain their equipment are allowed to start centers directly or through their dealers, and iii) centers can run on a commercial basis with market-driven hiring rates.In Karnataka, custom hiring centers that mainly provide harvesters are profitable with good hiring rates. However, it is difficult for centers to be profitable that mainly hire out tractors and implements Mechanization, custom hiring centers receive 40 percent subsidy support to buy farm equipment.Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are also implementing custom hiring centers. And Odisha has its own initiative based on the custom hiring center model. However, not all programs are equally successful. There have been instances where equipment has been procured just because a subsidy was available without regard to whether the equipment could be profitably deployed.Custom hiring centers need to be commercially viable with the right package of equipment and freedom to charge market rates for their services. A suitable enabling environment and effective monitoring by state departments of agriculture are essential for successful custom hiring center programs.Mechanization is extending to the harvesting of other crops. Maize is the third most important cereal crop in India after rice and wheat. The lack of high quality appropriatelysized harvesters means that about 90 percent of India's maize crop is still harvested manually and then threshed using stationary threshers.To address this gap, in 2019 CLAAS introduced the CROP TIGER 40 Multicrop harvester (Figure 17). It has interchangeable maize and grain headers and can harvest a range of crops including maize, pulses, soya beans, wheat and rice. This makes it a profitable investment for contractors and a very suitable machine for custom hiring centers. This machine costs about INR 2.7 million ($37,000) including the 4-row maize and 2.6m grain headers.Crop residue management is an important issue in India. In north India, wheat straw is mostly collected by straw reapers and used as cattle feed while rice straw is traditionally burned causing air pollution, which affects far away cities including Delhi. The burning off of rice straw was banned in 2018 in the Punjab and neighboring states, but enforcement is a challenge in the absence of cost effective and comprehensive crop residue management solutions. Wheat is not grown in the south and so rice straw is mainly used as cattle feed there meaning that straw burning is not a serious issue in the south.The baling of straw is increasing in the Punjab as the state government is encouraging investments in biomass power plants for which rice straw is an important source of fuel.In addition to the standard square balers, larger round balers are growing in popularity in the Punjab.Nationwide, the central government has advised the country's largest power producer, the National Thermal Power Corporation, to use rice straw pellets and other agricultural residue to generate electricity. This has increased the demand for balers to collect straw.The baling of rice straw is being rapidly adopted in the south, particularly in Tamil Nadu where small round balers are popular. The bales are mainly used for cattle feed. However, the adoption of mechanized baling lags behind in central India.Several makes of imported and locally produced balers are available. CLAAS produces the MARKANT range of square balers, which cost about INR 1.1 million ($15,000).Other straw management solutions promoted by central and state governments are:• combines fitted with straw choppers;• happy seeders, which are tractormounted machines that cut and lift rice straw, sow wheat seeds and deposit the straw over the sown area as mulch, all at one pass; and• the incorporation of rice straw into the soil by moldboard ploughs.The large volume of crop residues generated after harvests mean that a combination of solutions need deploying to effectively manage harvesting residues.While there has been a large increase in farm mechanization in India, several challenges remain. Small and scattered land holdings, poor quality farm equipment, inadequate after-sales services, the lack of knowledge among farmers about government schemes to promote mechanization and inadequate financing options are the most pressing obstacles. However, measures are being undertaken by the central and state governments to address these challenges by promoting custom hiring centers, providing subsidies to promote mechanization at all levels of the value chain, better equipped testing and certification centers, and policies that encourage corporate farming.In coming years, the benefits of farm mechanization will reach more and more farms of all sizes without them having to own or operate machinery. Modern, high quality equipment like laser land levelers, reversible ploughs, forage harvesters, balers, harvesters with GPS and performance tracking devices, and the use of drones, call-centers and app-based rental services are some modern means by which farm mechanization will extend across the country. Rice is grown on 650,000 ha or 14 percent of Sri Lanka's arable land across diverse conditions. Since the year 2000 the government has encouraged the mechanization of agriculture and has supported the increased production of rice by improving irrigation systems and providing free fertilizer and high yielding varieties of rice to farmers.CHAPTER 6Summary: The proportion of Sri Lanka's rice growing land that is mechanically harvested has grown from 5 percent in 2000 to 92 percent in 2015 with combine harvesters harvesting 72 percent of this area. The main type of machine in use has evolved from threshers to reaper heads on walking tractors and self-propelled reapers via tractor-coupled combine threshers, wheeled and ride-on combine harvesters to tracked combine harvesters. In 2018 tracked combines harvested 72 percent of Sri Lanka's rice fields. Their popularity is due to their ability to thresh and reap rice on both wet and dry fields and the cleanliness of the harvested grain. The paper compares the performance of the different types of machines and discusses the issues facing the further mechanization of rice harvesting in Sri Lanka including the need for more training of machine operators, the benefits of levelling fields, the benefits of having a straw chopping mechanism on combines. Up to 2002 most mechanization was for preparing land using machines with an average horse power (hp) of 2.2 hp/ha (FMRC 2000). There has since been rapid mechanization of rice harvesting. The proportion of rice growing land harvested mechanically increased from only 5 percent in 2000 to 92 percent in 2015.As of 2018, combine harvesters harvested 72 percent of this area with the remaining areas harvested by combine threshers (11% of the area), buffaloes (6.8%), small threshers (4.8%) and tractors (3.7%) (DoCS 2018) (Figure 18). The level of mechanization in the rice sector in 2015 was 3.9 horsepower per hectare harvested (Samarasinghe, unpublished).In a normal year with good rainfall, the country produces all its rice needs across its Yala (May to end of August) and Maha (September to March) monsoon seasons. The mechanization of harvesting has greatly reduced the amount of labor needed to harvest these crops. Prior to 2000, the harvesting of a hectare of rice took about 120 person-hours while the current mechanized harvesting takes only 2.5 to 3.5 personhours per hectare (Epasinghe et al. no date).The average size of Sri Lankan land holdings has changed little in recent times. In 1982, the 4.8 million ha of agricultural land was divided into 1.8 million holdings with an average size of 0.78 ha with 42 percent of holdings less than 0.4 ha, 22 percent less than 0.4-0.8 ha, 14 percent between 0.8-1.2 ha and 22 percent between 1.2-8 ha in size (Guntze 1986). The 2002 agricultural census reported that 81.7 percent of rice land holdings were less than one hectare, 15.7 percent were 1-3 ha and only 2.7 percent were 2-8 ha (DoCS 2002).Between 2000 and 2015 the harvesting of rice transformed from predominantly manual to predominantly machine harvesting triggered largely by labor shortages in the agriculture sector. Machine harvesting started on large rice fields (5-8 ha) in the Eastern Province and then spread to the North Central and North Western Provinces. In the initial phase tractors and combine threshers were used followed by 2-meter wheel-driven harvesters. Farmers selected harvesters based on their size, speed, and cost. In the same period, small Chinese harvesters, reapers and threshers were used on the smaller fields that were difficult for large machines to access. In 2002, a 1.2m reaper took 10 hours to harvest one hectare while the small 1.2m width 15 hp Chinese combine harvester could harvest one hectare in 6 hours. Wheeldriven John Deere harvesters harvested one hectare of larger fields in only two hours.The spread of this machinery was at first mostly influenced by the ability of farmers and service providers to buy machines. By 2009 the main criteria had become the cleanliness of the harvested rice and the ability to thresh and reap rice on both wet and dry fields. Around this time, some farmers used large combine threshers coupled to 45 hp tractors to thresh lodged rice while tracked harvesters were also tried out.The spread of harvesting machines accelerated from 2007 with the introduction of tracked machines. The limitations of the small harvesters and wheel-driven harvesters (bulkers) led farmers to seek more durable machine that could work on both wet and dry fields with minimal grain losses. These features were not prominent in wheel driven harvesters (bulkers) and other machines. Farmers were thus attracted to Chinese tracked harvesters, which were only a little more expensive than the wheel driven harvesters. The Kubota, Yanmar, CLAAS, and New Holland machines made in China and India also had these features and entered the market. The machines were mostly sold under hire purchase through private finance companies.Machines designed to harvest large fields were not adopted because of their too large turning circles and low ground clearance. Other machines were unsuitable for local soil conditions. As of 2018, the Chinese tracked harvesters, which cost about $20,000, held the major share of the market. The Japanese and European brands, which are made in China and India, sell for about $40,000 and are becoming more popular as the Chinese machines are less efficient and less durable.The main external factors that led to the mechanization of rice cultivation in Sri Lanka are the increasing cost of rice, the increasing area of rice grown (from 521,000 ha in 2004 to 651,000 ha in 2009 (DoCS 2009) and the movement of many agricultural laborers to urban areas and foreign employment. The main internal factors have been the increased wages of agriculture laborers -from 500 Sri Lankan rupees (LKR) to LKR 1,500 per day ($2.8-$8.4/day), 7 the outsourcing of field operations and the shortage of male labor following the 2004 tsunami.The growth in demand for machinery has led to 14 importers now offering a variety of brands of harvesting machines. It is important to note that some dealers have sold inappropriate machines without test certificates to farmers, which led to farmers losing their investments and harvests.The most popular harvesters are the Japanese Kubota and Yanmar machines and the Chinese Agrotech, Mubota, Singer; and Edgro machines 7 Exchange rate on 2 September 2019: $1:LKR 179 due to their good after-sales service. These brands are popular as they are certified and meet farmers' needs. The Japanese combines and the European CLAAS and American John Deere harvesters are more durable than the Chinese combines, which last only about five years. Nevertheless, the Chinese machines have the biggest market share due to their lower cost.The engine capacities of combines used in Sri Lanka range from 70 to 100 hp with 2-2.2 m cutting widths. Farmers are attracted to buy machines with offers such as trips to China and free spare parts and gift vouchers.Different types of machines have been used for harvesting and threshing rice. The following describes the evolution of the main types of machines that have come in and out of use in Sri Lanka.Previously, tractors and animals were used to thresh rice crops by pounding and separating the grain from the straw. In 1974, a portable axial flow thresher developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) was introduced in Sri Lanka, followed soon after by tangential flow threshers. In 1970 to 1980 period these threshers were preferred to tractor threshing as they caused less grain breakage. Three main sizes of axial flow thresher are offered by the Jinasena Company (Table 5). These are carried to threshing fields on bamboo poles where it takes an average of 22 hours to thresh a hectare of rice. The carrying of the bundles to the threshing field takes 20-25 hours per hectare. Nowadays these machines only thresh about 5 percent of rice cropping land, mostly in the wet hill areas. The Jinasena threshers use rubber pads for threshing, which are easily replaced when worn out often by pads made from old tires. Local industries manufactured 1,200-2,000 of these machines per year in the 1980s and 1990s, which sold for about LKR 35,000 ($195).In 1984, the reaper was the first machine used by Sri Lankan rice farmers to harvest their crops. These locally made Agrimec reaper heads were coupled to two-wheeled tractors and had 1.2m head cutter blade sets that could reap 0.35 ha per hour.Around 2006, self-propelled lightweight Korean reapers and Japanese Kubota reapers were introduced that could harvest 0.2-0.3 ha/hr (Figure 19). These machines cause little grain lossusually 5 percent and as low as 1-2 percent depending on the grain's moisture content. Their capacity is affected by machine width, forward speed, cutter bar velocity and grain moisture content. They can harvest a hectare of rice in 4-5 hours compared to 35 person days for manual sickle harvesting. Four-wheeled tractor driven 2m reapers didn't become popular as they caused higher grain losses, even though they could harvest 0.54 ha/hr in the large Eastern Province fields.By around 2002, the low performances of traditional threshing methods, labor shortages, the longer turn-around time and the introduction of higher yielding varieties of rice forced farmers to look for alternatives to the small threshers mentioned above. In 2004, the CIC Company, which had large areas of farmland in the Central Province, recognized this need and introduced a new type of thresher. These made-in-Thailand combined threshers, which are coupled to the power takeoff of tractors, became popular with farmers and are locally known as Sunamie (Figure 20). These machines have 96.7 percent threshing recovery, 98.8 percent threshing efficiency, 90.7 percent cleaning efficiency and 1,178 kg/hr corrected output capacity against only 1.8 percent damaged grain, 0.2 percent blown grains and 1.6 percent grain losses. It costs only LKR 2,744 ($15) to thresh a tonne of 15 percent moisture content rice using these machines. Although they suit Sri Lankan conditions, they create much chaff and dust while operating -2.04 mg/cm 3 /hr of dust in inhaled air and 35.9 mg/cm 3 /hr of dust in the surrounding environment (Weerasooriya et al. 2011). Three companies (CIC Holdings, Hayleys and Browns) imported these threshers and made spare parts available. Their life span was, however, only about five seasons under heavy use. These machines can thresh a hectare of rice in 2.5 hours with seven persons feeding them and are still used on about 11 percent of the country's rice cropping lands, mostly in Uva and the Southern Province for raw rice milling operations.Combine harvesters were first introduced in Sri Lanka in 2002 by the government for harvesting seed rice to overcome labor shortages at peak harvest times. This was followed by the hiring of two harvesters in the 2002 Maha season by government agrarian services for farmers in the Eastern Province where productivity was high and there was a serious labor shortage following the 2002 tsunami (Mahrouf and Rafeek 2003).Around 2004, John Deere and CLAAS introduced wheeled combine harvesters in eastern Sri Lanka where many rice fields are large and dry. These machines (Figure 21) successfully addressed the labor shortages as they can harvest one hectare per hour and can harvest a range of crops. However, they are unsuitable for using on wet fields. The demand for this machine declined after the introduction of tracked harvesters around 2006 and no further machines have been imported since then.Farmers with smaller farms (less than 0.5 acres) prefer to own harvesters rather than hiring in contractors as waiting for contractors and their machines can delay harvesting. Smaller 15-17 hp combine harvesters (Figure 22) are handy to use in smaller fields where it is difficult to operate 2m wide combines. These machines began to be used in 2005. They operate with belt and chain drives and need stand by spares for trouble-free operation as they frequently breakdown.   However, these harvesters are fast disappearing due to their high maintenance costs and the increase in plot sizes as plots are combined to make them accessible to larger harvesters. The price of these ride-on combines is LKR 680,00 ($4,000). Their main disadvantage is their lack of a winnower to clean the grain.In 2006, generic 2m rubber-tracked harvesters from China began to gain popularity as they can operate on most types of terrain where rice is grown (Figure 23) and do not sink into wet fields. By 2018 these machines were harvesting 72 percent of Sri Lanka's rice fields.The initial models were cheaper than wheel-driven harvesters, performed well and were convenient to use. They are, however, being superseded by Chinese-made Kubota and Yanmar machines, and Indian-made CLAAS machines, which are more durable and easier to operate, although some have higher grain losses during threshing as they are designed for shorter crop heights. The Kubota machine can harvest 2-3 hectares per day and 50-100 hectare per season. The tracks wear out in two to three seasons and cost about LKR 120,000 ($80) to replace. The Kubota and Yanmar machines cost LKR 6.4 million ($40,000), which is twice the cost of Chinese machines (LKR 3.2 million, $20,000). And farmers need to spend an average of four person days per hectare to prepare entry areas to fields and to transport the crop to stores after bagging. However, the amount of labor needed is declining as operators become more skilled• According to farmers, the hiring cost of combine harvester varies with the availability of machines.The hire charges shown are when 92 percent of rice lands are cultivated.• Weed propagation in rice fields is significantly higher in fields after combine harvesting.Figure 24 illustrates the trend of the import of harvesting machines into Sri Lanka between 2000 and 2015. It shows that the import of mini combines ended around 2004, of combine threshers around 2007 and of bulker wheel-type harvesters around 2013. The branded rubber tracked combines are now the most widely used machine even though they are more expensive suggesting that initial cost is not the main criteria for selecting a harvester. The return on capital is apparently more of a determining factor as the tracked machines can work in most conditions.Combine harvesters have brought an additional 482,532 hp to Sri Lanka's rice fields amounting to an additional 2.02 hp per hectare (assuming there are 10,000 harvesters harvesting the 650,000 ha of rice crops, with an average of 50 ha/machine in 25 days).It is important to note that the average life of combine harvesters is low in Sri Lanka at only 5 to 10 years compared to 17 years in Europe and North America (Fuchs et al. 2015).including to take machines into fields. The training of operators is reducing grain losses and machine damage. These machines can also harvest lodged rice (see Figure 18). Experience shows that harvesting lodged rice perpendicular to the direction of lodging reduces impurities in the harvested grain.However, these machines have several disadvantages (Epasinghe et al. no date)• They have to harvest rice with a higher moisture level to prevent shattering losses; but higher moisture content rice sells for less.• The high operating speed causes higher impurity levels and grain losses.• Farmers say that weed propagation is greater following the use of these combines.Table 6 summarizes data available on the performance of the different types of machines used to harvest rice in Sri Lanka (see next page). These data show the following:• The losses of harvesting as a total do not vary significantly by type of machine.• The moisture level of combineharvested rice is higher than for threshed rice.   Usage pattern -Of the 667,191 ha of rice cultivated in 2017 Maha season 476,646 ha (72%) was harvested using combine harvesters. Among Sri Lanka's 25 districts the highest use of combine harvesters to harvest this crop was in Mannar, Polonnarua, Anuradapura, Trincomalee, and Ampara, where over 90 percent of the crop was harvested using combines (Figure 8). The lowest proportion of this crop harvested by combines was mainly in the central part hill country where only between 12 and 30 percent was harvested using combines.Social implications -The spread of the machine harvesting of rice has several positive social implications:• It saves time as previously whole families had to participate in manually harvesting the crop or by employing migrant labor.• It makes farm work more attractive to young people.• It removes the risk of snakebites and rat fever during harvesting.However, mechanization has causes loss of employment for the mostly female laborers who used to manually harvest rice and the loss of business providing meals for migrant workers at harvesting time.Training In Sri Lanka, rice straw is used mainly for manure, accounting for 90 percent of use in the 2017 Maha season (DoCS 2018) with other uses being animal feed, roofing and burning in the field. Mulching with straw is common before the first puddling in rice fields. In addition, farmers burn unharvested rice and straw in their fields to destroy weeds and pests. In the Eastern Province, straw is collected and used as fuel and to make paper pulp. Note that cattle tend to reject machine harvested straw and that rubber tracked combines do not chop the straw.Combine harvester use in Sri Lanka has reached the global benchmark of one machine to every 50-100 ha of rice growing land.The main overall conclusions of this paper are as follows:• The outsourcing of harvesting achieves economies of scale and enables farmers to access the latest technology.• The most effective combine harvesting machine for Sri Lanka's rice fields are 2m rubber tracked combine harvesters.• Tangential flow threshers are efficient on short crops but inefficient to harvest tall crops and wet rice.• Harvesting lodged rice perpendicular to the crop reduces impurities in harvested grain.• Chinese generic harvesters with local and Chinese brand names are less efficient than Kubota and Yanmar Japanese brands, which are made in China.This review also shows that it is important to use harvesters that match field requirements and to use trained operators to operate machines effectively and efficiently.The efficiency and effectiveness of machines varies with i) the height of harvesting; ii) field levels, soil condition, and the distance between bunds; and iii) the height, moisture content, maturity and density of the crop.Other conclusions are as follows:• There is a skill gap in the operation and maintenance of harvesting machines.• Harvesting losses are minimized when machines are operated by trained operators.• The levelling of fields can improve the efficiency of machine harvesting by reducing the harvesting crop height and the grain to straw ratio.• It is beneficial to add a straw chopping mechanism to combine harvesters for pulverizing and mixing straw into the soil for weed control as on new models of John Deere Harvesters.• Future domestic sales of combine harvesters will depend on the service life of units. Rice is the major food crop in Vietnam with a 7.7 million hectares planted in 2016 when it accounted for 82 percent of all farm area yielding 43.2 million tonnes of paddy (GSO 2017). The production of rice almost doubled between 1994 and 2016.The distribution of rice production is highly skewed as the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam (Figure 26) has only 20 percent of the population but 55 percent of the rice growing area, the same proportion of all rice production and provides 95 percent of the country's rice exports. Each rice farmer-household cultivates an average of 1.2 ha on an average plot size of about 4,000 m 2 . The increases in rice production over the past 25 years has been associated with the use of mechanical equipment. This paper explains the mechanization of rice cropping in Vietnam focusing on rice harvesting in the Mekong River Delta.Tractor and tillageFarm mechanization in Vietnam started in the 1960s with the use of tractors for tillage. Between 1975 and1988 tractors were organized into about 300 state-owned tractor stations. These stations have been discontinued since 1990 when tractor ownership shifted to private owners.In 2005, there were about 300,000 tractors in Vietnam with a total of 3.5 million horsepower. The fourwheel tractors that are used for rice cultivation are mostly Japanese 20-35 hp machines. In 2012, these were mostly used for tillage in 67 percent of the country's rice fields and 92 percent of Mekong Delta rice fields. The average power usage for rice field operations was 2.2 hp/ hectare (ha), and the total power for rice production was 9.0 million hp. The power for carrying out field works accounted for about 20 percent of the 46.0 million hp used for all agriculture-related power, including for cultivating other crops, stationary engines (pumps, processing, etc.), and vehicles and boats for agricultural transport.Tillage costs account for less than 4 percent of rice production costs in the Mekong Delta. This low cost for the heaviest field work (tillage) is due to a contract system, which started in the delta in the 1980s, and has served as a model for other operations and other areas. Experience suggests that mechanical means of carrying out farm operations in the delta need to cover 3-5 ha per day to be acceptable to farmers.Seeding, transplanting and spraying are much less mechanized than tillage and harvesting (Trinh Hoang Viet 2014). Mechanical seeders and rice transplanters are used on less than 20 percent of Vietnam's rice fields, while mechanical spraying is carried out on less than 40 percent of the area.The mechanization of rice harvesting in Vietnam has happened across two main periods related to the introduction of mechanical threshers and mechanical harvesters.The Other benefits of laser land leveling are that rice grown on levelled fields is generally more resistant to lodging, which reduces harvesting losses when using combine harvesters. The harvesting of lodged crops often increases shattering losses to as much as 6-10 percent compared to only 1-2 percent for standing crops.    Each contest involved about a dozen combines and directly led to and reflected progress in the design and performance of these machines. By 2009, an increasing number of imported Chinese combines were participating.The main features and improvements made to the present day to combine harvesters are as follows:• All models except the mini combine now use rubber tracks for mobility on soft soils. The tracks of 1.7-2.7 tonne combines exert a light ground pressure of only 22-25 kilopascals (kPa). The rubber track is a key innovation for combine harvesting of rice in the humid tropics.• The decreased weights allow for the easy crossing of canals (Figure 33). Figure 33. A 2 tonne combine crossing a canal on metal frames.• Cutting widths are mainly 1.5-2.0m, with a harvesting capacity of 3-6 ha/day.• Grain losses are less than 2 percent when harvesting upright plants in firm conditions; with some combines having less than 1 percent grain losses. Note that between 3 and 5 percent of grain is made up of impurities.• The problem of harvesting lodged crops has been solved for all commercialized combines by the more logical arrangement of cutting components. Nevertheless, there are losses of up to 10 percent in the combine harvesting of lodged crops.Rubber tracked combines reduced harvesting costs. In 2008, in An Giang, with diesel consumption of 18-25 liters/ha, the combine harvesting cost was $95-105/ha compared with $130-145/ha for manual harvesting. The rapid payback time of less than two years for owners of these machines explained the rapid increase in their use between 2006 and 2013 (Figure 34).2013 to date -After 2013, machine reliability became a major concern of combine operators. This is why the Japanese Kubota combine, which entered the market in 2009, became the market leader because of its well-known reliability. In 2014, about 85 percent of combines in Vietnam were Kubota machines. This company did not join any of the combine contests; it just watched and improved its machines, and reaped the benefits from the contests' extension results.  Vietnamese manufacturers retreated to supplying spare parts such as threshing teeth, augers, reels and concaves for separating grain.Figure 34 shows the trend in the number of rice harvesting machines in use in Vietnam to 2018. In 2013, rice was being mechanically harvested in 58 percent of Mekong Delta rice fields using about 9,000 combines and 3,500 reapers. There was a wide variation in the mechanical harvesting of rice across this region's provinces. For example, the mechanical harvesting of rice increased from only 10 percent of An-Giang Province's rice growing areas in 2006, mainly with reapers, to 98 percent in 2013 using 2,100 combines and a few reapers (AGDARD 2014). In 2013, the percentages were much lower in the other seven regions, with an average of 6 percent and a range of 1 to 25 percent of rice growing areas. All machines were employed by individual contractors with little cooperative ownership.The situation changed quickly around 2014. Surveys carried out in three provinces of Central Vietnam in October 2014 (Nguyen Van Xuan et al. 2014) found over 80 percent of rice fields being harvested by combines. One Central Province commune had 70 combines, which spent 2-3 weeks harvesting locally, and then moved 200-1,000 km away to harvest for a further 3-5 weeks. Some village areas have 30-50 combines from elsewhere harvesting their rice at peak harvest times.No statistics are available for 2018 on the number of combines in operation, but we estimate that there are 12,000 units in the Mekong Delta. More than 95 percent of this region's rice fields are harvested by combines, and reapers have almost disappeared. From 2018 the trend in this area is towards using higher-capacity combines that can harvest 8-12 ha of rice a day with 2.2-2.7m cutting widths.  The combine harvesting of rice in the Mekong Delta is accompanied by mechanical drying to rapidly dry the rapidly harvested crops. Such driers are only available in this region in Vietnam as the other regions with their less land and more farm workers do not need the support of mechanical dryers.  1990 and 2005 the cost of drying paddy was about 5 percent of its value using 4-10 tonne dryers. By 2010-2014, the cost had fallen to 3.5-2.5 percent of the value of the crop with the introduction of higher-capacity dryers.The Thanks to pre-cleaning by fluidizedbed dryers, arrays of 10-20 units of column dryers, which can each handle 10-30 tonnes per batch, can work smoothly without being jammed by moist paddy (Figure 37). About 10 central drying plants, each with a daily capacity of 1,000 tonnes, were operating in the Mekong Delta in 2013. They are superior to arrays of flatbed dryers in terms of labor saving and grain quality, while the drying cost at mass-production scale is comparable to flatbed dryers due to the higher labor costs of flatbed dryers (Tran Van Tuan et al. 2013).Limited information is available on the post-harvest losses of rice cropping in Vietnam. Even a wide and deep survey over two years (such as the one reported below) may not reveal the true picture, as damaging typhoons and other calamities may only occur once every five years.  2004) found that harvesting and threshing losses accounted for 4.9 percent of the overall 11.9 percent losses (Figure 38). Although no more recent survey has been conducted, it is likely that the expansion of combine harvesting has significantly reduced harvesting and threshing losses to about 3 percent. With more and better drying, losses due to drying and milling are reducing. We estimate that only around 8-9 percent of the 2015 Mekong Delta rice crop was lost. The aim is to reduce losses to 5 percent keeping in mind that each 1 percent loss forgoes $10 million of income.The estimation of the amount of harvested straw or available cut straw is based on the ratio of cut straw to grain. As cutting height increases, the proportion of the weight of cut straw to grain decreases. One study found that the average proportion of the weight of cut straw in eight rice varieties in California was 84 percent for straw cut at 0.1m, 55 percent for straw cut at 0.3m, and 32 percent for straw cut at 0.5m (Summers et al. 2001). However, no such data is available in Asia. So, assuming a cut height of about 0.27m, corresponding to a cut straw to grain ratio of 0.6 (or 60% of the weight being cut straw) -then with average rice production in Vietnam of 26 million tonnes in 1996 and 43 million tonnes in 2016, the amount of straw available would have been 15 million tonnes and 26 million tonnes in those two years, of which about 55 percent (14 million tonnes) was in the southern Mekong Delta.In Vietnam, rice straw has traditionally mostly been burned off in situ, especially in the Mekong Delta for clearing fields to prepare for the next crop; with lesser amounts incorporated into the soil and used for cattle feed and mushroom production.Between 1988 and 2008, with the use of axial-flow threshers, straw was piled up in fields or yards. This straw was easily gathered for cattle feed and mushroom production. In the Northern and Central Provinces, where straw is highly valued, about 70-90 percent of it was used for animal feed and no surplus straw was left for burning off in fields. But in most areas of the Mekong Delta the abundant straw was mostly burned off in fields, with less than 10 percent going for cattle feed, mushroom production and other uses.  • The imported Galan-STAR MRB0855 baler is semi-mounted behind an at least 20 hp tractor (Figure 41). This baler is lowcost (Table 8) as it uses existing tractors; but it ejects bales in-situ,      thus needing additional labor to collect and transport the bales. Also, as tractor tires lead the way, in muddy fields they spray mud on to the bales making them dirty.• The Phan Tan PT-CR57 baler, which is fabricated in Dong-Thap Province in Vietnam, is selfpropelled on rubber tracks, with a platform that holds about 30 bales (Figures 42 and 43). This machine costs twice as much as the Galan, but it transports bales to field borders thus saving labor; and in muddy fields the bales are kept clean as the baling component is up front.Combine harvesters usually operate most efficiently at cutting heights of 0.4-0.45m and produce good grain separation and clean grain. They only need a low cutting height, of 0.2-0.3m, to harvest lodged crops. However, the usual cutting height cuts only 40 percent of the straw with the remainder left behind as stubble. Thus, combine harvesters and straw balers work against each other in terms of economic returns.Research is needed on the trade-off between cutting height, efficiency of operation and economic returns using these two types of machines.The development of straw baling technology is associated with the switch from threshers to combine harvesters. Between 2014 and 2018, the number of straw balers in Vietnam increased from almost none to about 5,000 units, which transformed the rice straw in the Mekong Delta from a residue to a valuable material valued at 25-30 percent of the price of paddy grain.Research carried out in the USA in 1975 estimated that the cost of baling and transporting straw to storage was $32.06 per tonne 10 ( Dobie et al. 1977). A third of the cost was for in-field baling and the other two-thirds was for transporting it an average of 16 km to storage. Thus, for any scheme, the price of straw as input material should be based at the utilization site.However, such data is not available for Vietnam. We thus interviewed baler owners at Tien-Giang and An-Giang Provinces in 2015 on their collection and transport costs (Table 9). It is a coincidence that the collection costs in the USA of $32.06/tonne is between that estimated at Tien Giang and An-Giang of $39.41 and $29.73 per tonne respectively. However, note that the straw was provided free of cost in the USA case while in Vietnam case the collection cost included $4-15 for purchasing the straw from the farmer.Dynamic characteristics of farmers -Vietnamese farmers work hard to produce 2-3 rice crops per year and are very keen to try technical advances that can increase productivity. Bold and determined, some of them have even redesigned machines at their own cost, although this is not always recommended (Nguyen Le Hung et al. 2012). Links between contractors and farmer-users is crucial to exchange the information needed to serve each other. This review of mechanization of rice harvesting and rice straw baling in Vietnam with a focus on the situation in the Mekong Delta could be useful for planning the mechanization of rice production in other Asian countries. To reduce post-harvest losses, improve grain quality, increase the value of crops and enhance the livelihood of farmers, the mechanization of rice production needs further developing in line with the following three points:Mechanization is the way! -It is very difficult to carry out large-scale rice production and reduce post-harvest losses without machinery. The mechanization of farming on small landholdings requires particular types and sizes of machines, as well as appropriate research and extension.The availability of services is the key to the success of mechanization -In Vietnam, the mostly poor farmers hire services from contractors, who own the costly equipment and have good mechanical skills and are business minded. This model works well in the Mekong River Delta and has led to mechanized rice harvesting across this region.The mechanization process is dynamic -Machines and associated technologies should be constantly improved through feedbacks and modifications to suit users' needs. Owner:In Tien-Giang In An-Giang Notes VND/bale VND/bale Purchase of straw (from farmer) 5,000 1,000In Tien-Giang straw costs 600,000 VND/ha to buy in fields, yielding 120 bales (so cost = 600,000/120 = 5,000 VND/bale). In AnGiang, straw is much cheaper as baling equipment is uncommon there. Labor (driver) 1,000 1,000 Twine for knotting 1,000 1,000 In the last 50 years, crop harvesting in South China has evolved from manual harvesting through the use of reapers and threshers to mini and small combine harvesters. Most rice farmers choose smaller horsepower combines to harvest their rice that are well-adapted to the small plots and fragmented holdings. Most of these machines are manufactured in South China.Studies by Liu et al. (2018) and others suggest that the hilly geography, small plots, terraced landscapes and wet rice fields in South China have precluded the introduction of large harvesters. Note that in 2016, 98.1% of China's more than 207 million farms were managed by smallholders (NBS 2017). Liu et al. (2018) reported that the highest rate of crop harvesting by smaller horsepower combine harvesters was 4,300 m 2 /hr.Scale-appropriate agricultural machinery is increasingly recommended for use on small and fragmented landholdings for the conservation of agricultural resources (Krupnik et al. 2015 andBaudron et al. 2015). Scale-appropriate mechanization is a powerful driver of rural development in South Asia with it being a major reason for the large growth in agricultural productivity (Mandal et al. 2017).This paper reviews scale-appropriate farm mechanization in South China to improve understanding of the crop production and harvesting machine technologies in use there.This review collected information from the internet on the types of combine harvesters used in South China and classified it based on agricultural engineering criteria and specifications. The study also consulted experts, harvester producers, users, sales representatives, and extension agencies about these machines.This literature review and market investigation classified the harvesters used in South China into reapers, mini combine harvesters and small combine harvesters. The technical specifications of each class and type of machine were then analyzed. Harvesters with similar machine power, weight, cutting and header widths and other factors were grouped and their features analyzed. This allowed us to study the performance and costs of the various harvesting machines.In addition, the study analyzed the social, economic and agronomical characteristics of crop management and harvesting technologies across South China and the management of crop residues by these machines.In the last 50 years, South Chinese agriculture has moved from manual to mechanized reaping and threshing and on to combine harvesting (Figure 45). In the latest phase many farmers have purchased or hire in the services of mini and small combine harvesters. Note that combine harvesters carry out cutting, threshing and cleaning in a single pass.Reaper harvesters and stationary threshers to process rice crops were rapidly adopted by farmers in South China from the mid-1970s (Zhu 1990). Mechanized reaping radically increased the speed of harvesting as an individual operating a reaper can harvest 2 hectares of rice in a day, which is 20 times faster than manual harvesting (Zhu 1990). Reapers have an average capacity of 2,300 m 2 /hr.Many Chinese manufacturers have produced a range of types of reapers, mostly for harvesting rice and wheat. The main types have been the ride-on 1.2-1.4m wide reaper attachment for 2WTs and the later single purpose self-propelled reaper. Since around 2010, the self-propelled models have been modified as reaper binders and to harvest additional crops such as oil seeds and jute. As domestic demand shifted to combine harvesters these manufacturers shifted to selling their machines abroad. Some representative producers and their products are shown in Figure 46.The large market for reapers prompted engineers and manufacturers to develop industrial standards for their products. Table 10 illustrates the major specifications that have served as general guidelines for reaper Manual Combine Reaping • Xia et al. (2017) used the term 'small harvester' for combines that cut, thresh and clean crops with an engine power of 5-10 kW and a feed rate of 0.3-1.0 kg/second. He added that they should be self-propelled.• Chai et al. (2012) defined mini combine harvesters as machines with a header width of 800-1,200 mm, 5.5-7.5 kW engines and the ability to harvest crops at the rate of 0.04-0.1 ha/hr.• Yue et al (2018) defined large to medium harvesters as machines that could harvest at 0.13-0.2 ha/ hr, which is twice the rate of small harvesters (0.067 ha/hr).It is, however, generally agreed that mini combines:• harvest crops in one-pass field operations;• cut crops, thresh, and clean the grain with the separated grain collected in containers or bags ready for transporting from fields; and• are light weight to facilitate manual carrying in and out of fields even in hilly and mountainous places without paved roads and in muddy and flooded rice fields.Local manufacturers have made a number of technical improvements to their combine harvesters. These include i) downsizing rubber track or caterpillar type ground drive systems to use on mini combines, ii) increasing the on-board capacity for storing grain and bagging cleaned grain, iii) introducing true multicrop combine harvesters, and iv) mounting combines behind tractors (mostly for the Chinese market) and tractors mounted behind combines (mostly for the Indian market).Other features of mini combine harvesters thus now include:• tracked or caterpillar ground drive systems for traction in wet rice fields;• double cutting bars for improved crop residue management and to reduce the power needed for threshing; • powered engines with electric starters, which facilitate operation by the elderly and women;• alternative air cleaning mechanisms;• greatly reduced weights;• sit on designs that reduce operator strain; and• integrated handle operation panels for ease of operation and control.Discussions on what constitutes scale-appropriate machinery for smallholder farmers on fragmented holdings have progressed in recent years, mostly around 2WTs and 4WTs and their attachments (Khondoker et al. 2016, Kienzle et al. 2013, Mahmud et al. 2014, Krupnik et al. 2015and Baudron et al. 2015).The following authors have identified the following features of the evolution of crop harvesting technologies in South China:• Compact construction, light weight, ease of operation (Xia et al., 2017;Wang 2006;Zhen and Lin 2007).• Low cost and lower fuel consumption (Xia et al. 2017).• Adaptable to smallholder farming and rice fields (Xia et al. 2017;Zheng et al. 2007).• Addressing the time constraint for shifting to the next crop for harvesting, e.g. 5-10 days shift window between two crops (Zhang et al. 2018;Zhang et al. 2012).• Operation and maintenance requirements (Wang 2006).The specifications of mini combine harvesters available in South China are listed in Table 12 while some major features are illustrated in Figure 47.Although they only have limited power, current models of mini combines meet the needs of agriculture in South China with their tracked chassis for traction in irrigated rice fields, seated designs to reduce operator drudgery and integrated handle operational panels for ease of operation (Figure 48).There has also been progress on the larger technology of 'small combine harvesters'. As already explained, even in South China's flatlands, most farms are small with fragmented small plots for growing irrigated rice. This pattern is explained by the need to precisely manage irrigation water in level fields as smaller plots enable easier land leveling, irrigation and drainage.The fields tend to be more regular shaped and plot sizes larger in flat areas than the terraced fields on hill farms. This has allowed the industry and farmers to pursue higher profits by shifting from mini combines to the larger 'small' combine harvesters to harvest their crops. The small combines in use in South China mostly have tracked or caterpillar ground drives and have some similarities with larger combines and are more or less scaled-down versions of 90 kW wheeled combines.  Small combines are also referred to as 'medium harvesters'. They tend to have 1,600-2,500 mm cutting or header widths, gross weights of 2-3 tonnes, 35 to 70 kW+ engines and a feed rate of 0.13-0.8 ha/hr. Some common models of small combines are listed in Table 13.The operation of these small combines has been studied on South China smallholder farms (Yang 2016,Ding et al. 2013). They are either semi-feeding (head fed) or whole fed. The two types of wholeprovided an annual profit of $2,600 (Zhan 2017) for farmers compared to only $ 2,230 from manually harvesting the crops.Outmigration from rural areas has made the carrying out of field operations more expensive using manual labor. A study in Guangdong rural region found that men older than 50 years and women laborers accounted for more than 70% of the active rural labor force (Cheng 2015). The scarcity of labor and the increasing wages best explain the widespread adoption of mini combine harvesters. Their relatively low cost compared to larger  Income/USD Income/USD combines, and government subsidies make it attractive for smallholder farming households to buy them (Figure 51a).China is mostly carried out using small combines. Different crop harvesting times mean that the work of contract harvesters in the main season may start at the end of April in Sichuan province in southwest China and end in mid-June in Henan province to the east. The country's good highway infrastructure and policies mean that a well-managed harvesting schedule for a small combine can provide as much as 50 days harvesting services per season. This contract harvesting has been termed 'crossregional mechanized harvesting' (Wang 2014).The high profits from small combine harvesters that provide crossregional harvesting services, as found in Jiangsu Province in 2014 (Figure 51b), has attracted many farmers to this work. This type of service meets a major need in rural China and other developing countries (Wang 2014).The post-harvest burning off of rice straw by farmers is a major cause of air pollution in many towns and cities in South China in spite of it being prohibited in 2016 by the central government. What happens to straw usually depends on how it is left in fields.In conventional rice farming, the straw is either left in windrows for easy collection or is spread evenly over the fields if the next crop is directly seeded. Mini and small combines distribute straw differently. Small combines, with their higher engine power, mature threshing mechanisms, grain separation, straw cutting and spreading enable crop residue management as they windrow straw for later collection (Figures 52 and 53). However, due to their limited engine power and simplified mechanical designs for straw cutting and threshing, mini combines do not satisfactorily cut and process crop residues as they erratically distribute straw in fields (Figure 54). This is one reason why many farmers prefer small combines for harvesting their crops.The last 50 years have seen major changes in crop harvesting in South China with the shift from manual harvesting to the use of powered reapers and threshers and on to combine harvesting.Cost savings and the increasing cost of labor have been the main reasons for the shift. Currently mini combines predominate for individual household ownership while small combine harvesters are the main machines used by crop harvesting service providers.Small combines provide satisfactory crop residue management while mini combines provide timely harvesting and threshing services but the non-ideal handling of crop residues. It remains a technical challenge to develop small powerful and lightweight combine harvesters that can provide both satisfactory grain harvesting and straw management for South Chinese smallholder agriculture."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e3392ab6e832c4220ae00495ed683391","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5b418621-4ac3-4382-a6ef-8bfdf0045ac5/retrieve","id":"-670359842"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4393fcd8-c523-4d83-8955-5dd1a5976042","content":"Project Title: P1753 -Scaling soil-plant spectral technology for targeting and monitoring land restoration and agricultural intensification in Africa and AsiaThe rapidity and low cost of this technology allows soil and plant analysis to be conducted faster and at wider scales than was previously possible. This permits digital mapping of soil properties and measurement of nutrient constraints faced by different crops in multiple agronomic trials over large areas. It is also enabling soil and plant testing services to be delivered to smallholder farmers through handheld devices. Names of top five contributing organizations/entities to this stage:• ARARI -Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute• Spectral-based soil information systems and Taking Agronomy to Scale Initiatives are scaled up to five additional African countries Sub-IDOs:• 22 -Land, water and forest degradation (Including deforestation) minimized and reversedContributing Centers/PPA partners:• ICRAF -World Agroforestry Centre• https://tinyurl.com/ye6cz9t4"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e01f07c5de35fb04071fcace708a9364","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/65874935-8e79-4b38-8af5-08e7bec53d08/retrieve","id":"2085787238"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"89ff6e3b-4835-4d69-9542-86627aa44518","content":"The business model coordinates the collection, segregation and transfer of organic kitchen waste to a bio-digester in order to produce biogas for cooking or for sale to households and businesses. Using anaerobic technology, this model allows institutions with large kitchen facilities to sustainably manage their organic kitchen waste and generate savings from reduced energy costs or make a profit from the sale of biogas.The business model can be set up by either the institution producing kitchen waste or a private company entering into a Build, Own, Operate, Transfer (BOOT) arrangement with the institution. In the first case, the institution itself builds and operates the biogas plant through the assistance of a technology supplier, and produces biogas mainly to be used in its kitchen, thereby reducing operating costs. In the second case, a private biogas technology supplier installs the biogas digester and operates the system by selling biogas to the institution as well as to households and businesses. This is done for an agreed amount of time until the private company has recovered its investment costs and can laterInstitutions with large kitchen facilities to cook for large numbers of peopleAbout 100-300 m 3 of biogas per day used to cook food for around 3,000 to 7,000 people, and about 1-4 tons of sludge per day produced for compostInstitutions with large kitchen facilities (e.g., prisons, schools) or private technology provider on a BOOT arrangementAbout USD 75,000 to 125,000Investment costs (land, building, equipment and gas distribution lines), and operation and maintenance costs (training, utilities, labor)Sale of biogas and bio-slurry (fertilizer), savings from avoided fuel purchases, and potential sale of carbon creditstransfer ownership to the institution. In both models, the biogas plant produces bio-slurry which can be used internally or sold to farmers as fertilizer. Market risks: In the case of a private biogas supplier operating the business, there is a potential risk in the host institution's willingness to participate in a BOOT arrangement.Technological risks: Although the technology used is well established and mature, it might not be available in developing countries and requires skilled labor.In most developing countries, the price of cooking fuels such as kerosene is subsidized for domestic consumption. If the policy is extended to commercial entities and institutions, it can diminish the economic advantage offered by the biogas plant.Safety, environmental and health risks: Processing waste poses a high risk for environmental pollution and human health, if appropriate measures are not taken. These include possible gas leakages, and health and safety risk for workers.Although the business model does not generate a strong revenue source, it performs highly in terms of cost recovery.It also has a strong positive environmental impact, with overall safer management of organic waste and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. However, due to low job creation and basic technology, the model scores low on social impact and innovation.Thanks to the biogas plant, this waste now produces between 69,300 m 3 to 74,250 m 3 of biogas annually. This has replaced liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as the cooking fuel, saving four 19-kg LPG cylinders per day, leading to annual fuel cost savings of USD 24,480. The plant has also created employment for four people, as well as generating 108 tons of bio-sludge annually, which is used as manure in the gardens on Wipro's campus. This has also led to reduced pollution and carbon emissions from avoided municipal waste for landfills and the replacement of LPG burning for cooking. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"909a439dfd553d0af3a2e870ea618c43","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/f91ff008-6fbf-46a4-8b33-c5a09c22f7dc/content","id":"1217683373"},"keywords":["QTL mapping","rachis fragility","threshability","spike morphology","wheat domestication"],"sieverID":"9f570c2d-b4e3-490f-a7a9-3c8d6ba26388","content":"Domestication-related changes that govern a spike morphology suitable for seed harvesting in cereals have resulted from mutation and selection of the genes. A synthetic hexaploid wheat (S-6214, genome AABBDD) produced by a cross between durum wheat (AABB) and wild goat grass (DD) showed partial nondomestication-related phenotypes due to genetic effects of the wild goat grass genome. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) affecting wheat domestication-related spike characters including spike threshability, rachis fragility and spike compactness were investigated in F 2 progeny of a cross between Chinese Spring (CS) wheat (AABBDD) and S-6214. Of 15 relevant QTLs identified, eight seemed to be consistent with peaks previously reported in wheat, while four QTL regions were novel. Four QTLs that affected spike threshability were localized to chromosomes 2BS, 2DS, 4D and 5DS. The QTL on 2DS probably represents the tenacious glume gene, Tg-D1. Based on its map position, the QTL located on 2BS coincides with Ppd-B1 and seems to be a homoeolocus of the soft glume gene. Two novel QTLs were detected on 4D and 5DS, and their goat grass alleles increased glume tenacity. Three novel QTLs located on 2DL, 3DL and 4D for rachis fragility were found. Based on the map position, the QTL on 3DL seems different from Br1 and Br2 loci and its CS allele appears to promote the generation of barrel-type diaspores. Three disarticulation types of spikelets were found in F 2 individuals: wedge-type, barrel-type and both types. Among eight QTL peaks that governed spike morphology, six, located on 2AS, 2BS, 2DS, 4AL and 5AL, coincided with ones previously reported. A QTL for spike compactness on 5AL was distinct from the Q gene. A novel QTL that controls spike length was detected on 5DL. Complex genetic interactions between genetic background and the action of each gene were suggested.Common wheat (Triticum aestivum L., AABBDD genome, 2n = 6x = 42) evolved by hybridization between cultivated emmer wheat (T. turgidum ssp. dicoccum L., AABB genome, 2n = 4x = 28) and goat grass (Aegilops tauschii Coss., DD, 2n = 2x = 14) (Kihara, 1944;McFadden and Sears, 1946). For successful cultivation of hexaploid wheat, suppression of wild characters from goat grass and improvement of agronomical traits in the amphiploid were important. Target traits for domestication might include morphological ones related to seed dispersal such as rachis fragility, spike disarticulation, glume tenacity Edited by Yoshihiko Tsumura * Corresponding author. E-mail: yogihara@yokohama-cu.ac.jp and threshability. Modern cultivated durum wheat (T. turgidum ssp. durum, AABB, 2n = 4x = 28) and common wheat exhibit highly domesticated characters (Li and Gill, 2006).The Q gene in wheat encodes an APETALA2-like transcription factor that mainly confers square-headedness (short compact spike) and pleiotropically affects rachis fragility and glume tenacity, which are responsible for free-threshability (Muramatsu, 1963;Simons et al., 2006). T. aestivum cv. Chinese Spring (CS, AABBDD) and T. turgidum ssp. durum cv. Langdon (LDN, AABB) have an identical Q gene at the nucleotide level of the coding sequences in the gene (Simons et al., 2006;Abdollahi et al., 2012).Another genetic factor controlling threshability resides in the D genome of synthetic hexaploid wheat (AABBDD) that was produced between a free-threshing tetraploid (AABB) and wild goat grass (DD) (Kerber and Dyck, 1969). A synthetic wheat was non-free-threshing, even though it inherited the Q gene. The gene responsible was later identified as a partially dominant gene, Tg1 (tenacious glumes 1; renamed by Li and Gill (2006) and referred to hereafter as Tg-D1), and mapped on the short arm of chromosome 2D (2DS) (Kerber and Rowland, 1974;Simonetti et al., 1999;Jantasuriyarat et al., 2004;Nalam et al., 2006;Sood et al., 2009;Dvorak et al., 2012). Tg-D1 inhibits the action of Q.Modern durum wheat and common wheat have a tough rachis governed by the gene br (brittle rachis). On the other hand, wild and semi-wild types of Triticum and Aegilops species harbor dominant genes (Br) that govern rachis brittleness. The Br genes map to the homeologous group 3 chromosomes in Triticum and Aegilops species (Joppa and Cantrell, 1990;Chen et al., 1998;Watanabe et al., 2002Watanabe et al., , 2006;;Li and Gill, 2006). Besides the brittleness type, rachis disarticulation can be divided into two types, wedge-and barrel-shaped, depending on the breakage point of spikelets. In wedge-type disarticulation, the breakage occurs on the upper side of the junction of the rachis and spikelet base. The associated rachis fragment remains attached below each spikelet (Fig. 1F, left). Wedge-type disarticulation is observed in species containing the A, B, G, S and T genomes (Kimber and Feldman, 1987), although some accessions of Ae. speltoides (SS) exhibit barrel-type disarticulation (Chen, 2001). In barrel-type disarticulation, the rachis fractures on the lower side of the junction between the rachis and spikelet base, leaving the adjacent fragment attached behind each spikelet (Fig. 1F, right). Barrel-type disarticulation occurs in species with the D genome. In the progeny of crosses of hexaploids between Tibetan semi-wild wheat and Yunnan hulled wheat, individuals having three disarticulation types (wedge-type, barrel-type and both) were found, even though each parental strain carries the Q gene and shows wedge-type disarticulation (Chen, 2001).In addition to these effects of major genes, QTLs affecting spike threshability have also been reported on 2AS, 2BL, 5AS, 6AS and 6DL (Simonetti et al., 1999;Jantasuriyarat et al., 2004), and rachis fragility on 2BL and 7BL (Jantasuriyarat et al., 2004).To better understand domestication-related spike traits in cultivated wheat, we produced a synthetic hexaploid wheat (S-6214) by crossing LDN with Ae. tauschii ssp. strangulata (KU-2097, DD). Since KU-2097 exhibits a fragile rachis, barrel-type disarticulation and a tenacious glume, its genotype should be qqBrBrTgTg. S-6214 shows a partially fragile rachis, wedge-type disarticulation and a tenacious glume. The F 2 population after a cross between CS wheat (QQbrbrtgtg, Li and Gill, 2006) and S-6214 (QQBrBrTgTg), where the Q genes from CS and LDN have identical coding sequences, was investigated to find novel QTLs that regulate domesticationrelated spike characters.Plant materials A synthetic wheat, S-6214, was produced by crossing LDN with KU-2097 at Kobe University, Japan. An F 2 mapping population was developed from a cross between CS and S-6214. The F 2 population and F 2:3 families along with their parents were grown under field conditions at the Kihara Institute for Biological Research, Yokohama City University; the phenotype of F 2 individuals was checked in 2010/2011 and that of F 3 individuals in 2011/2012.Phenotyping Three randomly chosen main spikes were used for phenotypic evaluation. Spike length (SPL) was measured from the base of the rachis to the tip of the uppermost spikelet, excluding the awns. Spike compactness (CPT) was calculated by dividing the number of spikelets per spike (SPN) by spike length. To estimate free-threshability (FT), a single spike thresher (MR-D720; Twinbird, Sanjo, Japan) was used at its minimum power (1) and for a fixed time (5 sec) to liberate the grains of CS completely from the spike. Threshability was then measured as the percentage of threshed seeds from the total number of seeds per spike. Rachis fragility (RCH) was measured after threshing as the percentage of broken nodes to the total number of spike rachis nodes. The type of rachis disarticulation generated after mechanical threshing was scored as wedge-type, barrel-type or both. This classification was also applied for F 2:3 families. Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated to determine the phenotypic correlation among traits.DNA extraction and PCR DNA was extracted from 1 g leaf tissue from F 2 plants and parental lines as described previously (Saghai-Maroof et al., 1984). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification was performed in a 10-μl reaction containing 10 ng genomic DNA, 2 pmol each primer, 2 μl betaine (5 M) and 1x SapphireAmp fast PCR master mixture (Takara Bio, Otsu, Japan). PCR conditions were a denaturation step (94°C for 1 min), followed by 40 cycles of 98°C for 5 sec, 50-58°C (primer-dependent) for 5 sec and 72°C for 10 sec, with a final incubation at 72°C for 3 min, using a TP600 thermal cycler (Takara Bio). Amplicons were electrophoresed through 13% polyacrylamide gel, and were visualized by ethidium bromide staining.  (Roeder et al., 1998;Pestsova et al., 2000;Gupta et al., 2002;Guyomarc'h et al., 2002;Somers et al., 2004;Sourdille et al., 2004;Song et al., 2005) were used for screening. To develop a PCR-based marker to detect polymorphism at the Q locus between CS and LDN, BAC sequences spanning the Q locus from CS (acc. JF701619) and LDN (acc. JF701620) (Zhang et al., 2011) were aligned using CLC sequence viewer version 6.6.2 (Supplementary Fig. S1). We found a 16-bp insertion/deletion located 1568 bp upstream of the Q translation initiation site and designed primers (5´-GTACCTGCTCCGCCT-GTG-3´ and 5´-CCCTCCCTCCCTCTAATCAA-3´) with an expected amplification product size of 180 bp in LDN and 164 bp in CS (Supplementary Fig. S2).Genetic mapping Linkage maps were constructed with MAPMAKER/EXP version 3.0 (Lander et al., 1987). Recombination frequency was converted to genetic distance using the Kosambi mapping function (Kosambi, 1943). A framework map for each chromosome was constructed at a LOD score of 3.0, and the 'TRY' and 'RIPPLE' commands were then used to add markers to the framework map and check the final marker order, respectively, with 'DETECTION ERROR ON' to check for any putative misgenotyping. Markers were ordered at a minimum LOD score of 3.0 with the exception of cosegregating or closely linked markers. QTL mapping was performed by composite interval mapping (Zeng, 1993(Zeng, , 1994) ) using QTL Cartographer version 2.5 software (Wang et al., 2005). A forward-selection backwardelimination stepwise regression procedure was used to identify co-factors for composite interval mapping. A 10-cM scan window was used for all analyses, and the likelihood ratio statistic was computed every 2 cM. A genome-wide LOD threshold of 3.00 was used based on 1,000 permutations (P < 0.05). In a few cases, QTL peaks with a LOD score lower than 3.00 but higher than 2.50 were considered if supported by an overlapping QTL for a relevant trait or by previous genetic knowledge. Cosegregation of SSR alleles with disarticulation types and segregation ratios of all SSR loci were examined using a χ 2 -test (P < 0.05). Due to the limited number of F 2 plants showing disarticulated diaspores, especially the barrel type, a larger population size (191 F 2 individuals) was used to test co-segregation with SSR alleles associated with rachis fragility after threshing. QTL peaks linked to significantly distorted marker loci were not considered. Linkage maps were drawn using MapChart 2.2 software (Voorrips, 2002).Phenotypic evaluation Phenotypic traits of FT, RCH, SPL, SPN, and CPT were evaluated for CS, S-6214 and 117 individuals of their F 2 progeny (Table 1). The parental lines differed significantly in all traits studied (Table 1). CS had significantly higher spike density than S-6214. CS spikes had round soft glumes loosely enclosing the seeds, while those of S-6214 had keeled tough glumes tenaciously enclosing the seeds. After mechanical threshing, CS kernels exhibited a completely free-threshing phenotype (100%), while about 40% of S-6214 kernels were non-free-threshing. Both parents had tough rachises. However, under the same threshing conditions, a much higher percentage of nodes of the S-6214 spike rachis had broken, to produce wedge-type disarticulation (Table 1, Fig. 1). In general, all traits showed continuous variation and polygenic segregation patterns in F 2 progeny. Considerable transgressive segregation was observed in SPL and RCH. Besides the expected correlation between spike compactness (CPT), SPL, and number of spikelets per spike (SPN) (Table 2), CPT was positively correlated (P < 0.001) with FT and negatively correlated (P < 0.001) with RCH. Furthermore, SPL was negatively correlated with FT (P < 0.001), and SPN was negatively correlated with RCH (P < 0.01). FT and RCH were negatively correlated (P < 0.001). Consequently, plants with higherdensity spikes tended to have higher FT and lower RCH.Linkage map Out of 342 published simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers (Roeder et al., 1998;Pestsova et al., 2000;Gupta et al., 2002;Guyomarc'h et al., 2002;Somers et al., 2004;Sourdille et al., 2004;Song et al., 2005)  screened for polymorphism between CS and S-6214, 229 SSRs representing 252 genetic loci were used to genotype 117 F 2 individuals. The linkage map spanned 2701.7 cM consisting of 253 loci across all 21 chromosomes (Fig. 2). Only 13% of the SSR loci were mapped as dominant markers and 6.32% showed significant segregation distortion. The genetic length of most chromosomes was comparable to that of the consensus SSR map (Somers et al., 2004) with the exception of chromosomes 5B and 6A, which were not well covered and contained linkage gaps. The mean distance between markers ranged from 5.6 cM on 4B and 6A to 16.3 cM on 6B, with the exception QTL analysis A total of 15 significant QTLs for domestication-related spike traits were detected (Table 3). The QTLs were distributed on eight chromosomes (Fig. 2).The Q gene mainly controls freethreshability in domesticated polyploid wheats (Muramatsu, 1963). Although the location of the Q gene was mapped on 5AL, using the nucleotide polymorphism between CS and LDN upstream of the coding sequence of the Q genes (Supplementary Figs. S1 and S2), we found no QTLs corresponding to this region (Fig. 2E). On the other hand, four QTLs on 2BS, 2DS, 4D and 5DS (QFt_kibr-2B, QFt_kibr-2D, QFt_kibr-4D, QFt_kibr-5D) affected FT, respectively, accounting for 12, 22, 13, and 3% of the phenotypic variation (Table 3, Fig. 2). Increased FT was associated with the CS alleles at all these loci.The rachis of CS was not brittle after threshing. On the other hand, the rachis of S-6214 was fragile (Fig. 1). RCH in the F 2 population was affected by three QTLs (QRch-2DL, QRch-3DL, QRch-4D) accounting for 14, 16, and 35% of the phenotypic variation, respectively (Table 3, Fig. 2). Alleles from S-6214 increased RCH at the QTLs on 2DL and 4D, while CS contributed the higher-value alleles at the QTL on 3DL.Three rachis disarticulation types (i.e., wedge-type, barrel-type, and having both types) were found among the F 2 individuals with fragile rachises. To investigate the association of QTLs detected for RCH (QRch) with rachis disarticulation type, we examined the co-segregation of SSR markers closest to the QRch peaks (Dvorak et al., 2012) with rachis disarticulation type (Table 4). Plants showing both types of disarticulation were excluded from this test, so that 33 F 2 individuals for the wedge-type and 15 for the barrel-type were considered. While the parental alleles at relevant SSR loci on 2DL and 4D segregated independently of both disarticulation types, the barreltype co-segregated with the CS allele at two SSRs, Xgwm645 and Xcfd201, on 3DL with 1% level of significance. The wedge-type character, however, segregated independently from the parental alleles. This map position was different from those previously reported as associated with this character. Br-D1 is linked to Xgdm72-3D (Watanabe et al., 2005). Xgdm72-3D was 38.1 cM away from Xcfd201-3D, which is the marker for this QTL (Fig. 2). While Br-D2 was located in the 3L-0.81-1.00 BIN (Li and Gill, 2006), our QTL was in the 3L-0.22-0.81 BIN, distinct from the Br-D2 region. The CS allele appears to promote the generation of barrel-type disarticulation at the 3DL locus. This gene is designated Br-D3. This is the first report to map the locus of a disarticulation-modifying gene in CS wheat.Spike morphology Three QTLs associated with SPN were mapped to chromosomes 2AS, 2BS and 4AL (QSpn-  d A = additive effect. A positive value indicates that the higher-value allele is from Chinese Spring alleles and a negative value indicates that the higher-value allele is from S-6214 alleles. e D = dominant effect. f R 2 = phenotypic variance explained.2AS, QSpn-2BS and QSpn-4AL), explaining 5, 13 and 17% of the phenotypic variation, respectively (Table 3, Fig. 2). The CS parent contributed the higher-value alleles for the QTLs on chromosomes 2AS and 4AL, while S-6214 contributed the higher-value alleles for the QTL on 2BS. Two QTLs were identified for SPL on chromosomes 2DS and 5DL (QSpl-2DS and QSpl-5DL), accounting for 18 and 17% of the phenotypic variation, respectively (Table 3, Fig. 2). SPL was increased by the S-6214 alleles at both QTLs. CPT was affected by three QTLs on chromosomes 4AL, 5AL and 5DL (QCpt-4AL, QCpt-5AL and QCpt-5DL), explaining 27, 6 and 23% of the phenotypic variation, respectively (Table 3, Fig. 2). The increased CPT was contributed by CS alleles at these three loci.Coincident QTLs were identified for CPT and SPN on 4AL, for SPN and FT on 2BS, for SPL and FT on 2DS, for RCH and FT on 4D, and for SPL and CPT on 5DL. These results indicate either that these QTLs represent genetic factors for pleiotropic effects or that tightly linked genes govern each character.Five domestication-related spike traits (Table 1) of common wheat were mapped to eight chromosomes (Table 3, Fig. 2) using an F 2 population between CS wheat and a synthetic wheat produced by artificial crossing between LDN and wild goat grass. Since CS and LDN are cultivated types, both strains confer the genes as QQbrbrtgtg (e.g., Li and Gill, 2006). Supergene Q exhibits pleiotropic effects on domestic traits (Muramatsu, 1963) such as free-threshability, square head for spike morphology, rachis fragility, glume toughness and plant vigor. The Q gene in wheat was cloned as a homolog of Arabidopsis APETALA2 (Simons et al., 2006). Although the Q genes of CS and LDN have identical coding sequences (Simons et al., 2006;Abdollahi et al., 2012), we found an insertion/ deletion 1.5 kb upstream of the translation initiation site of the Q gene (Zhang et al., 2011; Supplementary Fig. S1). Using this polymorphism (Supplementary Fig. S2), we precisely mapped the Q gene on 5AL (Fig. 2E). As expected, no QTLs for free-threshability, square head for spike morphology, rachis fragility or glume toughness were found in this region, although the QTLs for glume tenacity and rachis fragility mapped around this region in the International Triticea Mapping Initiative (ITMI) population (Jantasuriyarat et al., 2004). On the other hand, the synthetic wheat S-6214 showed a non-domesticated phenotype, tough threshability, distinct spike morphology, and a more fragile rachis than CS due to addition of the non-domesticated genome of Ae. tauschii (Table 1, Fig. 1). From the observation of its phenotype in the field, Ae. tauschii is anticipated to confer Br-DBr-DTgTgq-Dq-D (Li and Gill, 2006;Abdollahi et al., 2012) plus additional genes.In addition to the Q gene, threshability is governed by a partially dominant gene, Tg-D1 (Kerber and Rowland, 1974;Simonetti et al., 1999). We found four QTLs for threshability (Table 3, Fig. 2). A QTL detected on 2DS coincided with one previously reported (Kerber and Rowland, 1974;Jantasuriyarat et al., 2004;Nalam et al., 2006;Sood et al., 2009;Dvorak et al., 2012), suggesting that this peak corresponds to Tg-D1. On the other hand, we detected another QTL peak on 2BS. The map position was apparently different from that of Tg-B1 (Simonetti et al., 1999;Jantasuriyarat et al., 2004). This position was comparable to homoeoloci of sog (soft glume, Sood et al., 2009;Dvorak et al., 2012). Furthermore, we detected two more novel QTLs on 4D and 5DS. These genes should improve threshability.Rachis fragility has long been believed to be a part of the spelt syndrome (q effects, Leighty and Boshnankian, 1921;MacKey, 1966). Since it was shown that fragile rachillae are formed under the control of the Q gene (Joppa and Cantrell, 1990;Chen, 2001), the gene(s) for rachis fragility or brittleness should be different from the Q gene. Our synthetic wheat, S-6214, showed partial rachis fragility (approximately 35%), while CS exhibited little rachis fragility (Table 1). Spikelets of parental S-6214 and CS displayed wedge-type disarticulation, but all three disarticulation types were found in the F 2 population, as in the case of semi-wild wheats in Tibet and Yunnan (Chen, 2001). Since Ae. tauschii showed full brittleness and barrel-type disarticulation, LDN gene(s) partially suppress rachis fragility and completely suppress barrel-type disarticulation in the synthetic hexaploid. On the other hand, CS gene(s) suppress rachis fragility. Segregation data from the F 2 progeny between CS and S-6214 suggest the existence of gene(s) to suppress gene action involved in rachis fragility, and in wedge-type and barrel-type disarticulation, in polyploid cultivated wheats. We detected three QTLs for rachis fragility after threshing, on 2DL, 3DL and 4D (Table 3, Fig. 2). Chen (2001) showed that several modifying genes control wedge-type or barrel-type disarticulation. These modifying genes for disarticulation type should be distinct from the genes for brittleness (Chen, 2001). We checked co-segregation of SSR markers with the disarticulation type. The allele of CS at the 3DL locus was tightly linked with that of the barrel-type disarticulation, while the other two loci showed no co-segregation with the disarticulation type gene (Table 4). Although genes for the barrel-type disarticulation (Br-1 and Br-2) have been reported (Watanabe et al., 2005;Li and Gill, 2006), our gene, designated Br-D3, was at a different position from those. Although Tsunewaki et al. (1990) suggested the presence of Br-D3 in CS, this is the first report on the mapping location of the barrel-type disarticulation type gene of CS.Eight QTLs related to spike morphology were detected in this study (Table 3, Fig. 2). Since a QTL on 4AL for spikelet number and spike compactness seemed to be located in the same region, and spike compactness is the spikelet number per unit spike length, the CS allele increased the spikelet number per spike in this background (Table 3). This location is comparable to that in the ITMI population. Simultaneously, loose spike compactness controlled by a QTL on 5DL should be attributable to the long spike length allele derived from S-6214. The QTL on 2BS affected spikelet number (Manickavelu et al., 2011), suggesting that this QTL region is consistent with the Ppd-B1 gene (Worland, 1996;Sourdille et al., 2000;Li et al., 2002). Although its homoeotic QTL was found in the comparable region of 2AS, no QTL was detected on 2DS (Fig. 2). A QTL corresponding to the Tg-D1 gene (Jantasuriyarat et al., 2004), which affects spike length and threshability, was detected on 2DS. On the other hand, a QTL located on 5AL of CS, which brought about spike compactness, was clearly different from the Q locus (Fig. 2, Jantasuriyarat et al., 2004;Ma et al., 2007;Kosuge et al., 2012). Durum wheat seems not to carry this gene (Jantasuriyarat et al., 2004).While certain QTLs that control spike morphology were confirmed (on 2AS, 2BS, 2DS, 4AL and 5AL), a new QTL for spike length located on 5DL was found. Although spike morphology is governed by a number of genes, identification of each gene by QTL analysis using characteristic trait combinations provides new information to pyramidize useful genes in elite cultivars. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fed2c9c917254c802394ab8393271607","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5fd21115-dc3a-4384-990a-26b4989e9cca/retrieve","id":"948526614"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0f631f72-70c0-4208-bc67-77ae65e5c445","content":"Land use planning and landscape restoration decisions require detailed and spatially distributed information about the condition of resources and associated drivers at different levels. The availability of such information at the required scale and accuracy is limited in developing regions and remote areas. Most of the tools designed to facilitate land use and resources management planning also require complex data and modelling structure. There is thus a need to design 'easy to use' approaches and tools that can help make informed decisions using easily available data.Lulseged Tamene, Kindu Mekonnen, Kifle Woldearegay, Tesfaye Yaekob, Girma Kassie, Zenebe Adimassu, Quang Bao LeSimple tools that can easily be used by local planners and extension workers to evaluate the sediment yield reduction potentials of different land management options helps understand the impacts of conservation practices. This can raise awareness and facilitate technology out-scaling.The main objectives include to: a) design a simple tool to assess the sediment yield reduction potential of different land use and management interventions at landscape scale (Fig. 1); b) test the applicability of the tool in a participatory manner.The modelling interface (Fig. 3) facilitates: 1) data input, visualization and inspection; 2) selecting and/or adjusting coefficients; 3) running model for 'business as usual' and different scenarios; 4) viewing results in different formats, and 5) exporting outputs to facilitate integrated data analysis. The model is also designed to facilitate active participation of stakeholders in the adaptive land-use learning/planning cycles: identify hotspot areas of intervention and suggest potential management intervention for each specific location (Fig. 4). We demonstrate the structure and functioning of the tool formulated based on the commonly used Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) incorporating spatially distributed sediment delivery ratio (SDR) to approximate the sediment delivery efficiency of landscapes (Fig. 2). In most cases a range of default values are suggested (for the different factors as well as coefficients) so that users can adjust considering their local conditions. In order to facilitate interpretation of results, the tool is designed to generate outputs in terms of quantitative values (mean, minimum, maximum, standard deviation), map and graphs. The model out puts (hotspot areas of concern and impact of management options) were tested with local farmers and extension agents.   Annual soil loss rate of about 19 t ha -1 year -1 was observed for a watershed size of 15249.8 ha. Protecting (afforestation, enclosures, etc.) steep slope areas of more than 20 degrees, can reduce sediment yield reduces by about 39%. Through targeting gullies, net soil loss can be reduced by about 16%. This improved when we include managing gully buzzer zones. Conserving/enclosing soil loss areas of more than 10 t ha -1 year -1 can reduce sediment yield by 83%. When all the three options are combined, net soil loss will reduce to about 1.5 t ha -1 year -1 (88%), which is well below the tolerable limit of 2-12 t ha -1 year -1 . "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a9e9bfc2607d55fa48a7e4b5ac4253e9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6f565c6d-854e-452d-9c23-4e0c80e2b720/retrieve","id":"1560006268"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"56dba61b-a072-4d9a-af9f-f4889feb9e2b","content":"Les publications du CIP apportent des informations importantes sur le développement dans l'arène publique. Les lecteurs sont encouragés à citer ou à reproduire leur contenu dans leurs propres publications. En tant que détenteur du droit d'auteur, CIP demande une reconnaissance et une copie de la publication où la citation ou le matériel apparaît. Veuillez envoyer une copie au service des communications à l'adresse ci-dessous. Pertes post-récolte (PPRs) de la pomme de terre au Cameroun  Manque de connaissance technique adéquate sur la gestion appropriée de la pomme de terre pendant et après la récolte par les producteurs et les autres acteurs de la chaîne de valeur ajoutée (CVA) + faible taux de transformation → PPRs élevées  Etude récente: PPRs de la pomme de terre de semence (29%) et de consommation (19%) ont lieu entre les phases de la récolte et de la plantation (semence)/consommation (consommation) Des facteurs importants du aux PPRs qui nuisent au secteur et qui inquiètent sont entre autres:• La quantité et la qualité du matériel de plantation provoquant des rendements ↓• La génération des revenues tout au long de la chaîne de valeur ajoutée de la pomme de terre• La sécurité alimentaire générale  Objectif de ce matériel de formation: renforcement des capacités pour promouvoir l'adoption des pratiques appropriées de gestion post-récolte de la pomme de terre afin de ↓ les PPRs et ↑ la disponibilité de la nourriture et par conséquent d'atténuer les problèmes de pénurie alimentaireModule 1: Quelques généralités sur les pertes PPRs de la pomme de terre  PPRs de la pomme de terre  Réduction mesurable de la quantité et de la qualité de la pomme de terre depuis la phase de la récolte jusqu'à la phase de la plantation (semence)/consommation (consommation) Résultent du fait que les tubercules de pomme de terre sont des organismes vivants → ils respirent et sont soumis aux changements pendant la gestion post-récolte  Dues à une large gamme de facteurs:• Les conditions de production• Les dégâts physiques pendant la récolte, la manipulation, le transport et le stockage• La décomposition physiologique à cause de la respiration• La perte en eau par l'évaporation pendant le stockage• Unité de stockage pas adaptée  Ont lieu pendant la récolte (manque d'un deuxième tour de récolte), le triage, la manipulation et l'emballage, le transport, le stockage, la distribution/commercialisation et la préparation/transformation  Types des PPRs de la pomme de terre  Pertes physiques vs économiques:• Pertes physiques: tubercules impropres à la consommation humaine, pas d'utilisation alternative/pas de valeur résiduelle• Pertes économiques (seulement les tubercules commercialisés): réduction de la valeur monétaire suite à une baisse en qualité et quantité (partiellement abîmés, prix de vente réduit, utilisation alternative) Pertes de quantité vs qualité:• Pertes de quantité: réduction du poids et du volume   Période de maturité différente (temps nécessaire jusqu'à ce que la pomme de terre soit prête à être récoltée) Période de dormance différente (temps nécessaire pour la germination de la pomme de terre) Caractéristiques différentes (taille, durée de conservation, matière sèche ↑ → susceptibilité aux meurtrissures ↑) Etat sanitaire des semences  Désigne la présence ou l'absence des organismes provoquant des maladies  Pomme de terre de semence saine:• Pomme de terre de semence sans aucune maladie ou dégât physique   Stockez seulement des tubercules sains, jamais des tubercules malades  Stockez les tubercules en couches fines sur des étagères ou dans des cageots (+/-3 tubercules pour que chaque tubercule reçoive assez de lumière et les tubercules malades puissent être détectés sans les toucher → risque de transmission des maladies)  Etiquetez les tubercules de différents variétés et parcelles  Garantissez une bonne ventilation pour éviter l'accumulation de la chaleur à cause de la respiration + une humidité relative élevée pour éviter le rétrécissement des tubercules à cause de la déshydratation  Garantissez une bonne hygiène (désinfection préalable en utilisant l'hypochlorite de sodium 0.25%, un simple nettoyage physique/enlèvement de poussière et de saleté suffit normalement pendant le stockage)  Contrôlez régulièrement les tubercules montrant des signes de maladie et enlevez les tubercules en train de pourrir  Contrôlez les ravageurs tels que les pucerons et la teigne de la pomme de terre à l'intérieur et l'extérieur du magasin de stockage (→ installez des pièges à insectes)  Etalez au-dessus des tubercules des feuilles fraîches de Lantana camara pour contrôler la teigne de la pomme de terre et autres insectes (Lantana camara est un insectifuge naturel parce qu'il a des effets répulsifs sur les insectes)  Etalez une couche de feuilles de bananier vertes sur les tubercules (ceci stimule la germination)  Utilisez des insecticides organophosphorés pour tuer les larves et adultes de la teigne de la pomme de terre  Des magasins de stockage ambiants et bien conçus permettent la conservation de la pomme de terre de consommation pendant plusieurs mois dans les hauts-plateaux tropicaux sans des pertes significatives quand:• La variété a une longue dormance/durée de conservation• Les tubercules sont sains• Les conditions de stockage sont bonnes  Bonne conditions de stockage:• Obscurité (verdissement ↓)• Température de 7-10°C (perte de poids à cause de la respiration et développement des microorganismes provoquant la pourriture ↓) → pour mesurer la température, utilisez un thermomètre• Humidité relative élevée de 90-95% (perte de poids à cause de la transpiration ↓) → pour mesurer l'humidité relative, utilisez un hygromètre portable• Flux d'air adéquat (accumulation de la chaleur ↓) • L'évaluation de la qualité des produits transformés à base de la pomme de terre peut être subjective (influencée par des goûts/opinions personnels) ou objective (pas influencée par des goûts/opinions personnels) • Subjective: goût, couleur, texture, odeur, toucher, croquant, taille (au moins 4 cm de long pour les frites) • Objective: qualité physique (matière sèche, couleur de friture), qualité nutritive, qualité microbiologique "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bc786b918e5b61dee6730c2bbebba6a2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a960cf95-4f72-4764-9cab-fe9cd7e78601/retrieve","id":"1017857848"},"keywords":["Philip Thornton (Theme Leader 4.2 -- 80%)","Wiebke Förch (Science Officer -- 100%)","Danny Martinez (Data Manager 100%)","Timothy Mulatya (Program Management Officer 50%)"],"sieverID":"910afc39-f7d2-4679-a448-fd9bca6a7300","content":"Major communications successes were achieved in 2011. CCAFS has been consistently communicating with stakeholders, partners and media through its various online platforms and communications channels. These efforts have been coupled with targeted media outreach around four key announcements and studies. Since the beginning of this year, nearly 100 original news stories have been published. Media coverage has appeared in 28 countries and in 18 languages. In --ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute) report by Polly Ericksen, Phil Thornton et al. got significant global and regional impact in both broad and science media, incl. Science, Time, Guardian and BBC. The study was launched strategically in the run--up to the UNFCCC SBSTA meeting in June. In 2011 CCAFS has produced a number of reports, policy briefs, working papers, AgClim letters and other publications.Welcome by the Chair and announcements The Chair opened the meeting and welcomed the participants. Torben Timmermann provided practical information about lunch, check out etc.Introduction of ISP members, Management Team and Coordinating Unit staff The Chair noted the apologies and invited ISP members to briefly present themselves. The Chair also asked the Theme Leaders, Regional Program Leaders and Coordinating Unit staff to introduce themselves.The Chair invited the members to review the agenda and suggest any additional issues that might be discussed under agenda item #14 Any other business. The Chair asked that CCAFS ISP members voluntarily and openly declare any conflict of interest and that in such cases they would be excused from the particular discussion. There were no conflicts of interest declared. The Chair noted the widespread use of abbreviations in the material and pointed to the enclosed list of acronyms and abbreviations (CCAFS ISP1/3.3).-- To adopt the agenda after any additions to agenda item #14.The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) was initiated on 1 January 2011, but the first six months were seen as a transition period from Challenge Program (CP) to CGIAR Research Program (CRP) management and governance structures. The last meeting of the CP Steering Committee took place in April 2011. In terms of general progress, a wide variety of research activities were implemented, in line with the CCAFS Program Plan (see CCAFS ISP1/4.1), though there have been considerable delays because of the delays in contracting at the highest level (i.e. at the level of the Fund Council and the Consortium Board) and therefore in the disbursement of funds the first disbursement was in August of only 30% of funds (though CCAFS did have funds remaining from the CP which could be used to maintain some momentum). CCAFS has now received indications that the full budget will be received in 2011.The Program Director listed some key science products emerging in the first eight months from CCAFS (these exclude journal articles, as the CCAFS system only captures them on a yearly basis). In addition an Earthscan book, involving various CGIAR Centers and partners will be finalized this year: Wollenberg, E., Nihart, A., Tapio--Bistrom, M., Grieg--Gran, M. (eds). Climate Change Mitigation and Agriculture. In preparation. Earthscan, London.A science workshop entitled Science at the nexus of climate change and agriculture: Science for Sustainable Intensification with about 70 participants from the CGIAR and the global change community was organized by CCAFS in Bonn, Germany in June. The objectives were to identify elements within CCAFS that should be prioritized for collaboration, and to design CCAFS calls for collaborative planning workshops during 2012.The global change community is involved in setting up the ICSU--UNESCO Program on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS) and the Director is on the Scientific Steering Committee. This provides a good vehicle for CGIAR--ESSP interaction, as agriculture and food systems are seen as key component of PECS.The ESSP has facilitated CCAFS making a presentation at the UNFCCC SBSTA research workshop in Bonn in June 2011 and the presentation was subsequently used by the UNFCCC and particular negotiators to justify a focus on agriculture in the negotiations. The ESSP will be convening a major science conference Planet Under Pressure: new knowledge towards solutions in London, UK in March 2012. Among the key aims of the conference are a state of the planet assessment and solutions for a sustainable future; scientific leadership towards the 2012 UN Rio+20 conference; and a new vision for international research. CCAFS submitted several successful applications to lead sessions (i Low carbon development pathways, CCAFS and FACCE JPI with Unilever and others, ii Whole supply chain adaptation and mitigation, CCAFS, CIAT and Sustainable Food Lab (SFL); iii a lunch--time presentation on the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change, presented by Professor Sir John Beddington, and iv a full--day session, outside the main conference, at Willis Re, on index--linked insurance). In addition Professor Carlos Nobre, the Brazilian Commissioner in the Commission on Climate Change and Sustainable Agriculture, has been invited to give a keynote presentation to the conference as a whole and is working with the Commission Coordinator and CCAFS to incorporate key messages on climate change and food security into his presentation.CCAFS hosted, or played a major role, in several initiatives this year. These include: Facilitating the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change (chaired by Sir John Beddington, Chief Scientist, UK) Side events at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) in Bonn, Germany in June. Several keynote presentations (e.g. at Soil Science in a Changing World, Wageningen, the Netherlands).Major part in drafting a policy brief for the African Ministerial Meeting on Climate--Smart Agriculture, South Africa in September. -- To ask that CCAFS be duly referenced in CCAFS--related publications.Terms of Reference of the ISP The Program Director introduced the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the ISP. The ToR outline the composition and the tasks of the ISP that have been approved by the CGIAR Fund Council as part of the CCAFS Program Plan, i.e. the strategic document that defines the objectives of CCAFS research, management and governance structures, etc. One additional item has been added, on the selection of the Chair. The specific responsibilities of the ISP vis--á--vis the participating Centers and universities are outlined in the so--called Program Participant Agreement (PPA), and comprise in particular:Work Plan and Budget Development. The Program Participant shall participate in annual planning and in ex ante priority setting exercises. In the third quarter of each year, the Program Participant shall participate in developing the activity plan and budget for the following year. The Program Management Committee will compile the activity plan and budget for presentation to the ISP by the end of the third quarter of each year. The activity plan and budget approved by the ISP will be presented to the CIAT Board of Trustees meeting in the last quarter of the year. The activity plan and budget shall be on a three (3)  -- To recommend that the CIAT Board approve the Terms of Reference for the CCAFS ISP (Annex 1).Strategic directions 6.1 Overview In this agenda item the bigger strategic issues were discussed, while in agenda item #10 the details of the 2012 activities and their associated budget would be dealt with. The Program Director gave a brief overview of the CCAFS strategy, focusing on the overall goals, the thematic breakdown and some of the key cross--cutting principles (impact pathways, partnerships, gender and social differentiation). The key strategy document for CCAFS is the Program Plan (see CCAFS ISP1/4.1) but brief descriptions of the theme and region strategies are given in the CCAFS Business Plan 2012 (Annex 3). In 2011, a major effort was to engage with centres so that they could better understand the strategy and for CCAFS to better understand their current and proposed work. In this planning process, over the period August--October, we have made some changes to the CCAFS Program Plan, but most of the changes made were driven by the need to better reflect the emerging Centers). Thus most of the changes have been related to the sizes of Outputs and Milestones, which have been standardised. The one significant change, to an Objective, will be discussed under Theme 1 strategy discussion (changes made are outlined in the Business Plan).-with revised Objective, Outcome and three--year performance indicator as proposed and inform the Consortium Board accordingly.-- To agree that more effort is needed in participatory research that is linked to the new Objective 1.3.-- To request Theme Leaders to propose how work on pest and diseases can be considered either within the program or through links to other relevant partners.ccount the underlying ideas rather than focusing excessively on the definitions of the concepts.6.3 Theme 2 Theme 2 addresses the adverse effects of climate--related risk by addressing strategic gaps in knowledge, methodology, evidence, capacity and potentially coordination that currently limit support and uptake of promising risk management innovations by rural communities, and more timely and effective responses to climate fluctuations at the level of food systems. Since many opportunities to deal with climate--related risk are information--dependent and constrained by existing climate information, investing in climate information and services presents particular opportunity to foster climate--resilient rural livelihoods and food systems. The research agenda targets risk management at multiple levels. At the local level of rural communities, addressing gaps in knowledge, methodology and evidence will strengthen support for promising innovations such as anticipatory management using advance information, livelihood diversification and index--based insurance, which will foster more resilient rural livelihoods. At the national to regional level food systems, overcoming obstacles to more timely, better--targeted interventions will contribute toward reducing adverse impacts of climate shocks --term livelihood potential. Improving provision of value--added climate information tailored to the needs of agricultural and food system stakeholders, will enable improved risk management decisions at both levels. -- To agree that the scope of work in Objectives 2.2 and 2.3 needs to be expanded; including Center activity under these objectives.6.4 Theme 3 Theme 3 examines how to achieve climate change mitigation in ways that benefit poor farmers and the trade--offs that mitigation may involve, especially with the intensification of agriculture.cts without compromising yields, these options are not widely practiced or understood at the farm level. Carbon markets appear to offer limited incentives and are likely to be a niche market benefiting only a small proportion of farmers in the near future. Achieving mitigation in agriculture requires producing direct livelihood benefits for poor farmers and helping farmers to overcome initial investment costs of transitioning to new practices. Momentum for REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) is mitigation to new visions for sustainable agriculture, rural development policies and nationally appropriate mitigation actions will be needed to coordinate interventions and achieve the large scales necessary for impact on the climate. The theme seeks to inform the development of mitigation with four complementary research priorities:Forward--looking analysis about transformational agricultural development pathways that reduce impacts on the climate, especially for sustainable intensification of food production (new visions and big picture trade--offs). Identification of novel incentives and institutional arrangements that increase pro-poor mitigation (new driving forces and enabling conditions).Assessment of the feasibility of achieving reduced net emissions on farms and landscapes (demonstrated technical options and impacts). Development of low--cost, rapid measurement and accounting appropriate for smallholder contexts and related capacity strengthening to provide the tools necessary for managing emissions and establishing bilateral and international frameworks (measurement, GHG data). Trade--off analysis is inherent to each priority area to understand the impacts on reduced net emissions, livelihoods, food security and environmental sustainability. Analysis will give special access to benefits. Key strategic products include:Methods for quantification of mitigation by smallholders and regional capacity strengthening Model ensembles enabling identification of low climate impact agricultural pathways. Synthesis of on--farm data and management practices demonstrating the feasibility of agricultural mitigation and its impacts Options for low climate impact sustainable agricultural intensification tested in CCAFS regions Identification of opportunities and barriers affecting increased use of conservation agriculture, agroforestry, and improved livestock management. In particular, the ISP considered the following issues:There is uncertainty around importance of carbon market and international mitigation mechanisms, and therefore it is difficult to know whether these should be given more attention.We need to emphasise the agricultural drivers of deforestation and a comprehensive approach to mitigation and land use, and yet the Centre approach gives precedent to sectoral approaches. This also requires much enhanced collaboration between CRP6 and CCAFS.Big gaps also exist in the analysis of trade--offs, and integrated approaches to farm and landscapes.Much of the Center work focuses on mitigation technologies with very little attention to the incentives and institutions that will be crucial for pro--poor mitigation.-- To agree that the scope of work on the social and adoption dimensions of pro--poor mitigation needs to be expanded.-- To request the Theme Leader and Program Director to explore ways of enhancing collaboration with the CGIAR Research Program on Forests Trees and Agroforestry: Livelihoods, Landscapes and Governance (CRP6); and report at the next ISP meeting how the collaboration has developed. 6.5 Theme 4 Theme 4 comprises three relatively distinct bodies of activity: enhancing knowledge to action linkages; assembling data and tools for decision making and planning; and refining frameworks for policy analysis. Theme 4 provides an analytical and diagnostic framework for the whole of CCAFS that is grounded in the policy environment, incorporates biophysical effects, quantifies uncertainty where possible, and ensures effective engagement of rural communities and institutional and policy stakeholders. Research in Theme 4 is focussed on assessing the likely impacts of climate change on agricultural systems, particularly in the context of other social and economic changes, and on improving the methodologies and information flow necessary to foster adaptation and mitigation in terms of poverty alleviation, food security and environmental health. There are several activities in Theme 4 that cut across many CRPs, particularly to do with database collation, tool development, and model intercomparison, not to mention capacity, engagement and communication approaches aimed at linking knowledge with action. Many of these efforts are linked to Themes 1--3 and thus will be reported under their outputs. Nevertheless, the coordination and linking actions of Theme 4 remain critical, and we will be --The main strategic products for Theme 4 are:Future economic development scenarios and vulnerability analyses for the target regions that are used to test and communicate approaches and policies that contribute to improved decision making in agriculture and food security. Gender and pro--poor climate change research approaches that increase the likelihood that CCAFS--related research will benefit women and other vulnerable groups. Integrated assessment frameworks, toolkits and databases to assess climate change impacts on agricultural systems and their supporting natural resources, along with socially-differentiated decision aids and information for different stakeholders.Analyses of the likely effects of specific adaptation and mitigation options undertaken and results communicated effectively to key local, national and regional agencies and stakeholders. In particular, the ISP considered the following issues:Few CGIAR Centers submitted gender--related activities in their activity plans, so encouraging the involvement of the newly trained gender--climate change analysts in each region and identifying remaining gender--CCAFS theme related research gaps and getting more Centers involved in filling them will be important. Cross--Center sharing, and scaling out, of successful approaches and methods (e.g. scenarios, vulnerability mapping, outcome mapping with partners, innovative engagement approaches, social media and other communication strategies) for linking knowledge with action, also remains a challenge. Complementary science funding from global change partners is still needed. There are gaps in the participatory research work in baseline sites this is taken up under regions in the next section. A key gap identified in all regions is the lack of decision support tools by national level decision makers for making investment choices amongst alternative agricultural technologies, practices and development pathways this discussion is also taken in the regions section.-- To agree that it is necessary to strengthen the gender dimensions of the CCAFS portfolio taking note of the forthcoming CGIAR gender strategy.6.6 CCAFS regions CCAFS is currently working in West Africa (WA), East Africa (EA) and the Indo--Gangetic Plains (IGP), with proposed expansion to another two regions in 2012. The current regions share some common problems (e.g. widespread poverty and low adaptive capacity; increasing climatic variability) but also have some marked differences. Opportunities tend to differ amongst the regions, e.g. the growing economies in South Asia; the increasing regional cooperation in Africa. But there are also some opportunities in common, e.g. the major yield gaps for various crops. There are also untapped opportunities for south--south cooperation in climate risk management. For example, it should be possible to bring the benefits of plant varieties, that have been successful in South Asia in climatic stress tolerance or increasing yield potential, by geo-referencing and mapping them and then evaluating them in analogue sites in East and West African regions. Similarly the huge experience of weather--lined agro--advisories for climatic risk management in India could be extended to many CCAFS priority countries; whereas South Asian countries could learn several lessons from African countries where seasonal weather forecasting has been successful. The Regional Program Leaders have developed a common conceptual framework for the CCAFS regional research strategy involving three key activities: (a) policy analysis and communications; (b) participatory research and capacity strengthening; and (c) attention to models and data. Themes are integrated in these activities. Key to all the activities are partnerships. Some of the main strategic products are:Partnership and learning platform established between farming communities and other stakeholders for climate smart agricultural practices (for managing climatic risks and for sustainable intensification). Climate analogues analysed for some regions and famer exchange facilitated to share adaptation experiences.Capacity enhanced for strengthening low carbon development pathways, climate analogues and yield forecasting. Regional engagement and communication with stakeholders strengthened by engaging them in policy dialogues, prioritizing research, developing regional databases for vulnerability studies by NARS partners, setting up online discussion groups, and highlighting CCAFS research through newsletters and policy briefs. In particular, the ISP considered the following issues:How to ensure effective involvement of CGIAR Centers and integrate them to address regional issues? It has been a challenge working with the Centers as the persons in the region have no control of the budget that goes to their Center, and do not even know which bilateral projects they work in are classified under CCAFS. Building regional teams across Centers is going to be challenging. There is a particular lack of participatory action research at the CCAFS benchmark sites.A key gap identified in all regions is the lack of decision support tools by national level decision makers for making investment choices amongst alternative agricultural technologies, practices and development pathways.There is considerable demand in the regions for strengthening research infrastructure, for example, measurement of GHGs. Should CCAFS be involved in such capital investments? In every country or some selected ones? How to capitalize on numerous existing climate change initiatives, programs, and platforms? CCAFS is tryi -knowledge on the issues of research in CCAFS, but there is a risk being swamped by requests. This needs a very clear strategy and very careful choice of partnerships. And we have to manage unfilled expectations. How to ensure development of long--term partnerships with local/regional/national organisations when funds are released so late in the year, and when there is such uncertainty around them? Decisions:-- To agree that Regional Program Leaders need to allocate funds to Centers that undertake participatory action research on priority topics in the CCAFS benchmark sites.-- To agree that funds should be invested to develop and maintain processes and tools that assist in providing policy--relevant information for decision making in climate smart agriculture.-- To agree that at the next ISP meeting each region should present a detailed research and engagement strategy so as to address the issues raised in this section of the agenda, and in order to remain focussed and ensuring impact.Ruben Echeverría welcomed the ISP members to CIAT in his capacity as Director General of the CGIAR Lead Center of CCAFS. Echeverría mentioned that CIAT is involved in 10 CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) given its broad mandate on food security, natural resouce management and policy related research. CIAT is proud to be collaborating in so many programs, product of the recent reform of the CGIAR and great progress already made in opening up to joint program preparation with CGIAR and non--CGIAR research partners is noticeable. The way the reform is going is very encouraging, focusing on results and on a new programmatic way of operating. He is looking forward to the cooperation with all CCAFS partners and that CIAT feels that is not 'leading' but supporting CCAFS on administration and corporate services, plus contributing with research content on the adaption research needed in the years ahead.Selection of future regions given there is only limited potential for dealing with the full gamut of pro--poor mitigation opportunities in the current three CCAFS regions. There were nine candidates for additional CCAFS regions, on the basis of geographical groupings of countries according to FAOSTAT. Three groups of stakeholders were asked to rank the candidate regions against each criterion: the CCAFS Management Team, the CGIAR CCAFS Contact Points, and members of the Global Change community (partners, donors and colleagues) external to the CGIAR. There were 39 responses. All stakeholder groups solicited rated South East Asia (SEAS) as the first-- or second--ranked region that should be added to the CCAFS portfolio of regions. For the great majority of respondents, SEAS fits the criteria set out very well. With regard to potential sites in this region, there are important vulnerability hotspots in parts of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam (Ericksen et al., 2011), and some of these could be considered as candidate benchmark sites in due course. South America (SAME) and Central America and the Caribbean (CAMC) were closely ranked second and third, respectively. These two regions have somewhat different characteristics, however, and would offer different things to CCAFS, in terms of diversity of systems, possible impact, vulnerability status and mitigation potential. A region covering all of Latin America is unworkable, but the two priority regions could be combined in a transect which does not cover the entire region, but rather combines elements of both. In working along a transect the key elements that were deemed important for both regions were pulled out: vulnerability, mitigation potential. A manageable region with a few priority countries which at the same time are socio--politically well linked would be a constructive additional region. Two other issues related to regions were also discussed: Previously the issue was raised that the IGP region should possibly be changed to a South Asian region.From 2012 CCAFS will have five target regions in its portfolio. However, it is recognised that work also needs to be conducted outside these regions when there is good reason to conduct such work, from a strategic thematic perspective. Thus, while the bulk of resources in CCAFS will be directed to the target regions, some resources can be allocated to other regions where this is justified.-- To recommend that the CIAT Board of Trustees approve South East Asia and Latin America as two additional CCAFS regions from 2012 with an understanding that there needs to be a subset of countries for benchmark sites. Further analysis is necessary to select those based on vulnerability mapping, human development index and importance for CCAFS strategic directions.-- To note the concern expressed by the Director General of ICARDA in terms of not recommending to select West Asia--North Africa (WANA) as one of the new CCAFS target regions and note the transparent and participatory process used by CCAFS in selecting the new regions (Annex 2).-- To recommend to the CIAT Board of Trustees that the Indo--Gangetic Plains region be expanded to South Asia while maintaining greater emphasis on the IGP area.-- To agree to add the following preamble to CCAFS ISP1/7.1 (Annex 2): CAFS is a global program, and over time will work in all regions of the developing world. When CCAFS started, three target regions were selected in which activities were initiated, and two new regions will be added to the portfolio in 2012. The setting up of target regions does not mean that all CCAFS activities have to be undertaken there. Rather, the target regions are those that are (or will be) resourced with a Regional Program Leader, and which will receive a strategic s resources. The objectives and the research theme priorities of CCAFS are sufficiently broad, however, that key contributions will continue to be made by CGIAR Centers and other research partnerships operating outside the CCAFS target regions. There are other regions of the world where research is needed but institutional capacity, infrastructure and resources are limited. An analysis will be made as to how these -- To note that establishment of targeted regions where the bulk of work will be conducted, does not preclude work in other regions if this is strategic from a thematic perspective.Global engagement and communications in the forthcoming six months CCAFS has merged its global strategies for engagement and communications to ensure that activities are fully coordinated towards reaching impact in identified policy processes and among key stakeholder groups. The integrated strategy document, which reflects earlier discussions, guidance and approvals by the CCAFS Steering Committee, is available on the CCAFS website. The global engagement and communications strategy is organized around best--bet impact pathways to achieve the two CCAFS sub--goals: (1) to promote pro--poor adaptation and mitigation practices, technologies and policies and (2) to get agriculture into climate change policies and climate issues in agricultural policies, in ways that bring benefits to the rural poor. These impact pathways are reviewed and updated each year, at the same time as equivalent impact pathways for the CCAFS Themes and Regions, to build on synergies and avoid overlap. Partners are strategically selected to co--deliver the impact pathways across public, private and civil society sectors. Communications are designed towards reaching and influencing these processes and partners. Each year a sub--set of partnerships, events and policy processes are selected for particular effort. Two key processes selected in 2011 were the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture, and Climate Change, and Agriculture and Rural Development Day (ARDD) and associated activities at COP17. The aim of the Commission is to keep climate change and sustainable agriculture high on the international policy agenda, and to provide credible science--based recommendations that take forward the agendas of earlier global reports such as the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). ARDD and other events at COP17 are designed to amplify partners' messages on climate change and agriculture --particularly for the voice of African small--scale farmers -- and to promote inclusion of agriculture within the UNFCCC/SBSTA, as a work program.Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change held its second meeting in Brasilia in May and its third and final meeting at INRA in Paris in September chaired by Professor Sir John Beddington. The main task of the Commission at this meeting was to review the first draft of the Commission report and to plan for achieving impact following the release of the report, planned for November 2011. Preparation of the draft report was led by Christine Negra, based on the following inputs: a review of the major findings of 16 global reports in the past five years, two sub--studies from INRA and CSIRO on eating patterns and price volatility, individual structured interviews with the Commissioners, suggestions from CCAFS staff and the Commi advisors (Global Donor Platform, IFAD, etc.) and a one--week writing workshop with invitees for action in both the short term and the long term. It will be approximately 40 pages in length, with further background materials available on the Commission website. Finalization of the editing for readability and production in hard and soft formats. Going forward, the Commission will direct its work foremost toward the UNFCCC, the Rio+20 Earth Summit, the G--20 process in 2012 and towards the Climate Smart Agriculture partnership. The report will receive attention at the Planet under Pressure conference and we will reach out to the United Nations Committee on Food Security. The Chair has been invited to give the keynote presentation at ARDD (see below). This event will be accompanied by a media campaign managed by a PR company. The Commission has a detailed strategic plan for policy outreach and impact and some CCAFS budget will be allocated in 2012 for ensuring that the process achieves wide and lasting influence.Activities planned for UNFCCC Conference of Parties 17 (COP17) A number of activities are being planned for COP17 in Durban, South Africa in December, namely:1. Agriculture and Rural Development Day 2011 (ARDD 2011). CCAFS is a key driving force in the organization of ARDD 2011 entitled smallholder farmers. The objectives are to 1. To raise the profile of agriculture and rural development in the negotiations by focusing on how climate finance can facilitate and scale--action that leads to positive outcomes for food security, livelihoods, adaptation and mitigation; and 2. To provide a significant networking and sharing platform for those dealing with agriculture and rural development in the context of climate change, including promoting south-south collaboration. Other key organizers include Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of South Africa, ESSP, EU, Global Donor Platform, GFAR, IFAD, SACAU, FANRPAN, CTA, World Bank and WFP. 2. Africa Pavilion at COP17. As per a decision by the African Union, there will be a dedicated discussion and exhibition area called the Africa Pavilion. The Pavilion will provide forum for discourses and debates that set the context for Africa--relevant climate change issues and themes in the larger framework of sustainable development in Africa. Together with CTA, CCAFS will organize a side event that will discuss Opportunities and Challenges for African Farmers. Among the invited speakers are the Minister of Agriculture of Tanzania, representatives from African (SACAU, EAFF, ROPPA), researchers and negotiators. 3. CGIAR/CCAFS booths at ARDD and COP17. It will be a combined booth to display the publications related to climate change, agriculture and food security from CCAFS and all the 15 CGIAR Centers.4. IFPRI side event on Climate Change and BRICS: Findings from the International Conference on Climate Change and Food Security. Senior researchers from the BRICS countries will present findings from the International Conference on Climate Change and Food Security (Beijing, China, November, organized by CAAS and IFPRI). New research from Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, South Africa, and the USA will be featured.-- To note the integrated engagement and communications strategy and to request that future presentations cover at least the next 12 months.-- To note with great satisfaction the forthcoming report of the Commission and to thank the Internal learning, monitoring and evaluation Three closely interlinked activities have been recognized: (a) internal learning, (b) monitoring and (c) evaluation. The first is largely to improve the functioning of the CCAFS Program Management Committee (PMC), other Theme and Regional Program Leaders, Science Officers and Coordinating Unit so as to ensure that CCAFS reaches its desired impacts. The second is largely to provide input to the Consortium Office on the progress of CCAFS, for their onward reporting to the Consortium Board and eventually to the Fund Council. However, the data collected here will also be crucially important for internal learning; and can be used in subsequent external evaluation. The third area concerns external evaluation as required by the evaluation unit of the Fund Council. But external evaluation also includes Center/ISP--commissioned external evaluation.At the time of writing, we await the final paper from the meeting of the Consortium Office on monitoring and evaluation. This paper will lay out the principles which should be followed by CRPs. CCAFS is also awaiting the establishment of an evaluation unit by the Fund Council the plans related to evaluation activities.However, major activities are planned to conduct 2012 (though these may need slight modification.Some of the procedures for internal learning have been outlined, but even these may need to be modified once the paper from the Consortium Office is available.The current proposal for internal learning is as follows:a) For the Program Management Committee (PMC) to discuss and agree on the key likely success factors for CCAFS to achieve impact (e.g. team work within the PMC; exciting scientific agenda to stimulate centre and ESSP collaboration). b) For the PMC to have an annual stock take on the success factors, externally facilitated in order to bring out difficult issues. c) For the PMC to undertake an annual risk analysis to identify high--risk issues and to put in place measures to counter the risks d) For the Center/ISP to commission at least one Center/ISP--commissioned external review per annum on key topics/outcomes/issues (this is likely to be linked into the address the recommendations. e) For the Program Director to organize annual 360 degrees feedback (provided by subordinates, peers, and supervisors) for Theme Leaders, Regional Program Leaders, Centers and Coordinating Unit.-- To note proposal for internal learning and to request a report be presented at the next ISP meeting.-- To note that instructions on monitoring and evaluation will come from the Consortium.-- To consider a possible first internally commissioned external evaluation at the next meeting.-- To note the importance of proper documentation for each Theme and Region as well as for the program as a whole.-- To underline that dialogue with partners is essential to ensure monitoring and evaluation.-- To consider a self--evaluation form for the ISP at the next meeting.The Business Plan 2012 follows the format used by CIAT for 2010, with a few additional categories, though CIAT may be modifying its format. This document that goes to the CIAT Board; thus while it focuses on 2012 it also includes some of the strategic information, so the context for 2012 activities are clear. There is now a standardised planning system whereby Outputs are deliverables carried out over a number of years. Progress towards the Outputs is measured by the annual Milestones. Milestones are about US$1 million of activity (inclusive of all budget categories, including overheads). Centers Activity Plans will be annexes to the final Business Plan in the Business Plan considered at the meeting they were still in draft form. The hope is that 2012 represents the first non--transition year, hence there is a great opportunity to consolidate all the detailed planning that has occurred in 2010 and 2011.The quality of Center activity plans is highly variable and some require quite major attention. Whilst CCAFS cannot micro--manage Center activities, significant investment in time and effort is required to bring some Centers into the CCAFS framework and improve the strategic importance of their research.Platform established for multi--location trials of technologies and genotypes for GxE interaction analysis and the calibration and evaluation of crop models. Robust method developed for calculating spatial and temporal analogue of climate; and training workshop(s) organized and videos produced. Practices developed that enhance the efficiency of water use in aquaculture and small scale irrigation. Assessment of the potential for exploitation of ground water for crop production in at least three basins. Approaches, methods and tools for gender and socially--sensitive participatory assessment of where and when biodiversity rich practices facilitate adaptation to climate change reviewed. Crop breeding institutions coordinated in development of climate--proofed crops for a 2030--2050 world. Document produced that synthesizes institutional arrangements, policies and mechanisms for improving the adaptive capacity of agricultural sector actors Video testimonials produced on gender--specific farmer adaptation and mitigation strategies.Baseline national adaptation policy and plans evaluated in at least five target countries and published in a synthesis report and policy brief. In 2012, funding will be committed for longer term, larger partnerships with key actors. Many of these relationships have been built up over the past 18 months. The partnerships all address key strategic areas of research, and often cover key gaps in the research portfolio when the complete set of Center--based activities are considered.-- To agree to strengthen participatory action research in Objective 1. Evaluation and enhancement of climate information products and services for rural communities. Center 2012--2014 activity plans revealed several areas where work needs to be better aligned with the Theme agenda, and better consolidated among Centers. First, the great majority of work targets Objective 2.1 (local--level risk management), while Objectives 2.2 (food system risk management) and 2.3 (climate information and services) do not receive sufficient human or financial resources. If the activity plans reflect existing expertise, then there seems to be a need to significantly increase allocation of human and financial resources across Centers to Objectives 2.2 and 2.3 challenge.-- To agree that additional investment is needed to strengthen partnership and coordinated action across Centers and key international partners and networks under Objectives 2.2 and 2.3.Major opportunities in 2012 include (i) building on momentum created by REDD+ related to agriculture as a driver of deforestation and increasing interest in agricultural mitigation by the UNFCCC, multilateral organizations (World Bank, FAO) and the private sector; (ii) informing the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5); (iii) collaborating with the Global Research Alliance to enhance methods and national emissions management capacities. Activities in 2012 will emphasize:Development and application of model ensembles and other decision--making tools to identify low climate impact agricultural development pathways.Incentives and enabling conditions for the adoption of mitigation technologies, especially in conservation agriculture and agroforestry.markets, bundling payments for environmental services, developing national carbon credit programs, reducing agricultural drivers of deforestation, and linking mitigation and adaptation. Development of monitoring frameworks for assessing gender impacts Measurement and accounting to provide the tools necessary for managing emissions and establishing bilateral and international frameworks. The technical and economic feasibility of pro--poor mitigation for a range of practices and agroecosystems. The program faces challenges in the skewed attention among Centers to the development of mitigation technologies. The Center weak and dominated by economic analysis. Big gaps exist in social and policy dimensions, analysis of trade--offs, and integrated approaches to farm and landscapes. There is a need for more far--reaching policy research on incentives and adoption research that most Centers are not equipped to provide.-- To agree to invest in a new activity to support an international scientist in a CGIAR Center to work on climate finance and market mechanisms for mitigation (Objective 3.2).The following strategic products will be produced under Theme 4 in 2012:Baseline survey reports for benchmark sites at three levels (household, village and organisation) in three CCAFS regions finalized and disseminated, and a cross--regional synthesis published. Improved methods and training materials in gender--climate change research will be produced and disseminated widely, and trained research teams implementing gender--CCAFS theme--related research in three regions. East Africa One of the major activities in 2012 is enhancing the Regional Learning partnership that has been established.Indo--Gangetic Plains Some of the major activities in 2012 will be:To work with APAARI (Asia--Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions) to bring greater focus on CCAFS.To work through Learning Partnerships that focus on a science to policy dialogue. West Africa Some of the major activities in 2012 will be:Identifying and building existing partnership platforms to engage key players in the sub-region.Further work on identifying the influential organisations to support mainstreaming climate change in national and sub--regional agriculture development plans. Identifying capacity building opportunities at sub--regional level that would empower stakeholders to be more engaged in CCAFS program (e.g. USAID, GIZ, IDRC). New regions Two new regions will be initiated in 2012 (agenda item 7), but these should only start late in the year, after the identification of a host institution and the recruitment of Regional Program Leaders. In 2012 a minimal set of activities will mainly relate to engaging stakeholders in helping to define the research agenda and select the baseline sites.-- To agree to add the equivalent of one Activity per region to enhance the level of Participatory Action Research (PAR) in the baseline sites.-- To agree to adding one Activity per region that focuses on the process and tools needed to improve national level decisions regarding investments in alternative climate smart options. 10.7 Cross--cutting issues CCAFS includes a number of principles and approaches that cut across Themes and Regions. The activities planned for each of these are outlined in the Business Plan.Global partnerships, engagement and communications A key question is whether to co--organize an Agriculture and Rural Development Day 2012 (ARDD 2012), and if so whether to shift it from UNFCCC COP to being linked to Rio+20. One possibility is for CCAFS to a compilation of state--of--the--art best scientific quantitative statements on key parameters of food security, adaptation in agriculture and food systems, mitigation in agriculture and food systems. Such facts are in constant demand, but must be grounded in good science. In 2012 much more effort is needed in support of regional communications strategies, now that there are relatively well established at global level.Capacity enhancement The Business Plan shows how capacity enhancement is mainstreamed into all of CCAFS Themes and Regions. The only new activity at central level will be the initiation of a single grant to higher--level studies for students in order to be able to answer to the numerous requests the Coordinating Unit receives from students.Social differentiation and gender CCAFS is in the process of developing a comprehensive social differentiation and gender strategy. The budget for gender and social differentiation activities is mainstreamed into theme budgets, the intention being to allocate 30% of the total budget to such work. For the Theme Leader and Regional Program Leader budgets this target is achieved, but an analysis of the Center Activity Plans may indicate that the target will not be met. An additional investment is foreseen in Theme 4.3 to stimulate more gender work in Center Activity Plans. The focus of this investment will be decided once the gender strategy is complete.In 2012 Theme 4.3 will continue to build the modelling framework for ex ante impact assessment at the broad level (global, continental, regions), and model development for more local analyses (at farm and household level) will be initiated within Theme 4.2. The first priority setting exercises will be conducted in 2012 with key stakeholders. To ensure that we constantly learn from the implementation of CCAFS, considerable attention will be given to internal learning. As soon as the principles for monitoring and evaluation are completed by the Consortium Office the priority is to finalize a CCAFS Monitoring and Evaluation strategy. In terms of evaluation there will be on--going attention to the baselines survey. A key evaluation to be conducted in 2012 is of the governance and management systems. The budget for ex ante impact assessment, internal learning, monitoring and evaluation is mainstreamed into theme, region and Coordinating Unit budgets, and is expected to be 0.6% of the total budget allocated by Window 1 and Window 2.In 2012, major attention will be given to the internal collaboration platform that allows us to work remotely from each other. The use of video--conferencing will be expanded even further, with reduced need for face--to--face meetings.Decisions:-- To note the various cross--cutting issues.-- To recommend that the CIAT Board of Trustees approves the CCAFS Business Plan 2012 (Annex 3).-- To note the importance of further engaging with universities in the regions in CCAFS work.-- To request better description of integration across themes and regions versus themes.The budget is included in the Business Plan 2012 under section 16 (Annex 3).State of the 2011 budget and expenditure It was only in August that CCAFS received the first 30% of the funds from the Fund Council and there was no clarity on what else would be received by the end of the year. In October it was confirmed that 100% of the funds for 2011 could be expected, with payment likely to be made in November. The lack of funding and the lack of clarity about the total income until late in the year have resulted in slower--than--expected implementation and much consternation amongst Partners.The 2012 budget represents a 14% increase over the 2011 budget, the figure given in the approved CCAFS Program Plan and confirmed in Program Implementation Agreement between CIAT and the Consortium Board. A general 5% increase was assumed plus an investment in two new regions, this being the larger portion of the annual increase. The CGIAR funding is increasing from US$41 million in 2011 to US$56 million in 2012. The 2012 budget assumed that donors would continue to increase their contributions to the CGIAR Fund and would reduce their bilateral funding. There is a relative increase in the proportion of the budget going to theme leaders and regional program leaders, relative to that going to Center Activity Plans. A decision on the 2012 budgets will only be made in November 2011 by the Fund Council. Although we are requesting the same total budget as in the approved Program Plan there are changes in allocation. Various new investments are made to better meet the strategic objectives of CCAFS (as detailed in the theme and region discussions). For 2012 the funds for these new investments will come from the regional program budgets as the implementation of the new regions will be delayed until later in 2012. In the longer term non--strategic work that was inherited at the start of CCAFS will be phased out to accommodate the new investments. If a budget cut is requested by the Fund Council/Consortium Board then all activities will be examined and those that are less strategic will be cut, giving all partners six months advance notice. Some of the key items to note in the budget are: 78% of the total budget is expected to be financed with Window 1 and Window 2 funds. US$300,000 has been set aside in order to cover monitoring and evaluation costs (see section 6 in the Business Plan). Funds going to partners are over 30%. 40% of the CCAFS budget is intended to Theme 1, 18% to Theme 2, 17% to Theme 3 and 25% to Theme 4. There are some issues that still require to be dealt with. Most important are:Capital investment requests in the budget are US$1.4 million, concentrated in six Centers (CIAT, CIMMYT, CIP, ICARDA, ICRISAT, IRRI). Information is requested on what these relate to, in order to judge whether they are essential for CCAFS. The Consortium Office is arguing that there should be no charge for pass--through funds from the Lead Center to the CRP Participants. Therefore any activity which the Center performs in its function as the Lead Center should be covered directly with the CCAFS management budget and not with pass through recovery. A decision in this regard will be taken during the Corporate Services team meeting in Montpellier next month. Indirect costs may increase if Participating Centers charge full overhead on subcontracts with partners. It is expected that the Consortium Office will provide a common overhead policy for 2012.-- To recommend the CIAT Board of Trustees approves the CCAFS budget for 2012 (Annex 3), subject to the points below.-- To agree that if a budget cut is requested by the Fund Council/Consortium Board this needs to be strategically implemented, i.e. greater cuts on those activities that are less a priority than others it should not be just a simple equal percentage cut across all activities. Should a budget cut be necessary, the ISP requests a paper on how the cut is proposed; and will hold a teleconference meeting should this be necessary.-- The ISP requests further details on the nature of the proposed capital purchases, on the basis of which it will make a decision on this budget line. The Program Director will circulate a proposal to the ISP members for their consideration.Annual timeline for the CCAFS ISP A annual timeline regarding ISP agenda items was considered, indicating at what meeting of the year the ISP will deal with the specific issues. Issues such as approval of strategies (e.g. monitoring and evaluation strategy) will be dealt with as and when needed.-- To approve the timeline for ISP agenda items (Annex 4).Forthcoming governance and management review An evaluation of the CCAFS governance and management system will be commissioned by the CIAT Board and CIAT will finalize the Terms of Reference for the evaluator in early 2012. The evaluation will be conducted in July--September 2012 and the report will be reviewed by the ISP and CIAT in October/November 2012. It has been the procedure as part of the meetings of the former CCAFS Steering Committee that the committee conducted a self--assessment at the end of the meetings. The self--assessment form needs to be reviewed and discussed.-- To note that there will be a forthcoming governance and management review by CIAT.-- To provide guidance on ToR for a governance and management review to the CIAT Board of Trustees, through its Director General, for consideration.Future meetings, inc. date and place for future ISP meetings It had been proposed to select Copenhagen, Denmark as the venue for the 2 nd ISP meeting in May 2012. It was proposed that the 3 rd ISP meeting be held in Bamako, Mali in October 2012. It was proposed that the 4 th ISP meeting be held in May 2013.-- To decide on Copenhagen, Denmark as the venue for the 2 nd ISP meeting on 19--20 May 2012.-- To decide on Bamako, Mali as the venue for the 3 rd ISP meeting in October 2012.-- To propose to hold the 4 th ISP meeting in May 2013.There was no other business.Closed meeting without management and Chair Thomas Rosswall Bruce Campbell Chair Program DirectorThe Independent Science Panel (ISP) of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) is established to ensure independence of the programmatic directions of CCAFS. The ISP is accountable to, and appointed by, the CIAT Board of Trustees as the CGIAR Lead Center of CCAFS. The Lead Center has the right to review all decisions made in CCAFS in respect to potential legal, financial or reputational risks that such decisions may pose, and communicate its concerns through the appropriate channels. The ISP has a Chair appointed by the CIAT Board, nine members, and three ex officio members (one from the CIAT Board, representing CIAT on behalf of the CGIAR, one representing the Earth System Science Partnership, ESSP and the Program Director). Ex officio members do not have voting rights. The ISP appoints one of its members as Vice--Chair. The membership consists of internationally recognised scientists in the field of climate change and food security, as well as technical expertise drawn from civil society, development agencies and/or the private sector with a strong record of ensuring outcomes and impacts. Membership should be balanced in terms of disciplinary mix, gender and geographic diversity. The nomination process for ISP members will seek input from the ISP Chair and the ex officio members representing CGIAR and the ESSP, who will consult their constituencies. Members are appointed for 3 years with possible reappointment for an additional period of up to 3 years to ensure a staggered rotation of members. The ISP generally meets twice a year.In order to ensure the independence of the programmatic directions, the responsibilities of the ISP are: 1. To set overall programmatic priorities. Participant is in breach of its responsibilities. 7. To develop a mechanism to ensure that the emerging results from ex ante analyses are leading to strategic allocation of resources. 8. To deliberate on how effective CCAFS is in achieving its outcome and impact goals. 9. To consider an annual report as submitted by the Program Director. 10. The ISP Chair will report annually to the CIAT Board of Trustees and liaise with the Director General as needed. 11. CGIAR and ESSP ex officio members will regularly update their constituencies on CCAFS progress, and alert them to any emerging opportunities or threats that are of significance. In 2012, CCAFS plans to add two additional target regions to its portfolio, in order to make the program truly global. This document outlines the process for the selection of the two new regions, presents some analysis, and provides recommendations to the ISP.The original choice of the current three target regions for CCAFS (East Africa, WestAfrica and the Indo--Gangetic Plains) started from the understanding that South Asia and Sub--Saharan Africa are already affected by food insecurity and particularly vulnerable to climate change; thus deserving of priority attention (Förch et al., 2011). To summarise, of the various candidates in these two parts of the world, the decision to select three reflected a balance between two competing considerations:(i) working across contexts that are sufficiently heterogeneous to ensure that outputs and outcomes of place--based research have global relevance, and (ii)ensuring that sufficient resources are brought to bear to address the deliberately complex problems that CCAFS seeks to address. The initial region selection process sought to sample across the challenges of major hydro--meteorological shocks, significant climate--related environmental problems, and high rural poverty rates coupled with large populations dependent on rain--fed subsistence agriculture.Other factors included were the strength of national and regional climate institutions and processes that can support climate information for adaptation, the degree of CGIAR presence, overall progress toward food security goals, and opportunities for synergistic research with the potential for both immediate regional benefits and transferability beyond the regions. For the future, similar considerations could be applied. As before, projected future climate change is not likely to be a strong discriminator among candidate regions, as all regions are expected to warm, future rainfall trends are subject to considerable uncertainty, and changes in climatology in many places are not likely to be detectable for the next ten years at least.A set of selection criteria for the two additional regions to be added to the portfolio was discussed at the CCAFS launch meeting in Nairobi in May 2010 and further deliberated upon by the Management Team and Steering Committee of CCAFS. The following criteria were selected for ranking potential new regions (they are listed in order of priority):1. Regions that complement the current regions in order to ensure that CCAFS is a global program (complementarities could relate to geographical spread, agricultural potential, and nature of the adaptation challenges, for example);2. Regions with high potential for pro--poor mitigation; the justification for this criterion is that there is only limited potential for dealing with the full gamut of pro--poor mitigation opportunities (unlike adaptation opportunities) in the current three CCAFS regions;3. Regions that are hotspots of vulnerability of the food system coupled with susceptibility of these systems to climate change; this criterion speaks directly to at least three of the four system--Framework: reducing rural poverty, improving food security, and improving nutrition and health.4. Regions with high potential for innovation, adoption and impact; this criterion addresses the need for CCAFS to produce tangible development outcomes in the regions in which it will be working.Regions in which there is sufficient institutional support at regional and national levels to implement a regional research--for--development program.The nine candidates for additional CCAFS regions, on the basis of geographical groupings of countries according to FAOSTAT, are shown in Table 1. The tableshows some example countries in each region in three of the four quartiles of the 2010 Human Development Index (HDI). These possibilities essentially cover the mandate regions of the CGIAR. The overall scores for the nine candidate regions for each criterion are shown in Figures 1  (a)--(e), for the entire sample of 39 responses, expressed as a percentage so that all nine scores for each criterion sum to 100. The total weighted score is each criterion in the ranking exercise (Table 3, column 2). So, for example, the criterion. These weights were selected on an ad--hoc basis, and sensitivity analysis was carried out to assess the robustness of the rankings in the light of different sets of weights (Table 3, columns 3 and 4) results are discussed below.Complementarity: As shown in Figure 1    The vulnerability of SEAS is associated with various factors, including the prospects of heat stress in rice, and sea--level rise and salination effects in agriculturally-important deltas that could affect large numbers of people. WANA will see dwindling water resources and increasing competition between agricultural and non--agricultural uses of water. In OCEA, low--lying island nations are highly vulnerable to sea level rise, and coastal communities will be at increasing risk from extreme events.Innovation potential: SEAS and SAME were ranked highest for this criterion, followed by CAMC, EASI and SAFR. SEAS (and SAME) was seen as containing several middle--income countries with high capacity for innovation and strong institutions.For EASI, several respondents indicated that there could be very substantial potential for major impact if governments (particularly that of China) are fully engaged. In CAMC, target populations would be relatively small, but at the same time there would be good opportunities to work with policy makers. Several indicated that substantial potential exists in SAFR for innovation, given existing involvement of the private sector in regional food systems. Weak NARS were seen as affecting innovation potential in MAFR and CASI, in particular.Institutional support: the pattern was similar to that for innovation potential: SAME and SEAS ranked highest, followed by CAMC and EASI. Such regions are host to one or more CGIAR centres; the private sector plays a key role in SAME and SAFR; and in SAFR, there are many other players currently. MAFR was seen as being a region where things are very difficult, institutionally.For the total weighted score, SEAS was ranked highest, followed by SAME and CAMC. SAFR was ranked fourth, largely as a result of its high vulnerability to climate change, and EASI fifth owing to its innovation potential and institutional support.The scorings were broken down by respondent group and analysed separately, to see if there were substantial differences between the groups. Results are shown in Figure 2 for the total weighted scores for each region as ranked by the CCAFS Management Team (n=17), by the CGIAR climate change Contact Points (n=9), and by Global partners and colleagues (n=13). The top three ranked regions are the same for each of these groups (SEAS, SAME and CAMC), although there are some interesting differences. For example, Contact Points ranked SAME  well ahead of SEAS (the only group to do so), and there was strong Contact Point ranking for Central Asia (CASI). Global partners ranked SAME not as highly as other groups, and ranked West Asia--North Africa (WANA) higher than the other groups.For completeness, the different group rankings for each criterion are shown in Appendix 2.To investigate the robustness of the rankings, the analysis was rerun using two different sets of criterion weights (Table 3), one set that heightens the differences between the criteria and the second set that treats each criterion as of equal weight.The results of using these different sets of weights, compared with the standard set, are shown in Figure 3. The weights that are used in the analysis have little impact on the overall rankings, it appears, and so the results of the analysis can be said to be robust to these weights over a wide range.  Standard Extreme Equal appears that the results are relatively insensitive to higher weights being given to the non--CCAFS respondent groups, and again the results can be said to be robust.  Of the nine regions under consideration, Oceania (OCEA) ranked the lowest. Several respondents expressed the view that while there are areas of this region that are highly vulnerable, in general there may be only limited scope for research activities on the food systems in these places: for some small island states, the problems they face are fundamentally existential in nature. It was also pointed out that if CCAFS Next lowest ranked Middle Africa (MAFR). This region was felt to be highly vulnerable, but profound challenges related to institutions, policy, governance and access were identified, which accounted for its low ranking, compared with other regions.Central Asia (CASI) ranked seventh overall. This region was not seen as being particularly vulnerable by most respondents, and its innovation potential and institutional support were both seen as being low by many. It ranked higher for complementarity to the existing CCAFS regions, however, and for mitigation potential related to livestock emissions and land degradation.West Asia North Africa (WANA) ranked sixth. Its selection would bring the dry subtopics into the CCAFS portfolio, and it was pointed out that the region as a whole is a major centre of biodiversity of crops of global importance, and these genes could be of considerable importance in adapting and mitigating the effects of climate change. WANA is a region of major concern, given the existing structural food deficits in some countries. For most respondents, WANA ranked moderately for many of the criteria, but it was noted that the region is likely to be quite volatile, politically speaking, over the next few years that constitute the time horizon of CCAFS.East Asia (EASI) ranked fifth. Most respondents ranked this region relatively low in relation to complementarity, mitigation potential, and vulnerability, but relatively highly in relation to innovation potential and institutional support. The sheer size of tion could indicate enormous potential impact, although it was noted by several respondents that government engagement would be crucial if impacts were to be achieved. Some also indicated that defining an appropriate niche for CCAFS could be complicated.The fourth--ranked region was Southern Africa (SAFR). This is a region where adaptation work is urgently required, given the consensus of impact studies that suggest clear and deleterious impacts of climate change on agricultural production.Several respondents felt that while the region was important from a food security perspective, a great deal of adaptation activity is already underway by a wide range of different organisations. It was noted that it would be relatively easy for CCAFS to initiate activities in the region that are linked to the existing CCAFS regions (particularly East Africa), but its inclusion in the portfolio would not do much towards making CCAFS a truly global program.Central America and the Caribbean (CAMC) ranked third overall. It ranked in the top three for all criteria considered, and there was widespread agreement that although the region faces considerable future uncertainty and possible instability, there is high potential for pro--poor impacts. The region contains numerous small island states, some of which have high levels of poverty, and this would allow CCAFS the opportunity of working on fisheries and other issues associated with sea--level rise and climate change in an island context (although similar opportunities could doubtless be found in other regions as well).South America (SAME) ranked second overall, and ranked highly for all criteria except vulnerability: there are no highly vulnerable domains in the region, according to the vulnerability mapping work of Ericksen et al. (2011). The region ranked highly in terms of mitigation potential, innovation potential and institutional niche to ensure pro--poor impact.South East Asia (SEAS) was ranked first overall, and for all criteria except vulnerability and institutional support, for which the region was ranked second. It was widely felt to be highly complementary to the existing CCAFS regions, respondents ranked one or more of these regions (SEAS, SAME and CAMC) in their top three. While democratic considerations are not necessarily the most appropriate when it comes to prioritising research decisions, the recommendations made above would appear to be largely in keeping with the views expressed by most people in the sample. monitoring and evaluation strategy), so some of the proposed activities in 2012 may need to be modified as the year unfolds. CCAFS consists of four Themes (Figure 1). While the Themes are global in character, there is a concentration of effort in targeted regions. At the time of writing there are three regions, with two new regions to be initiated in 2012. In addition to the thematic and regional work, a series of cross-cutting issues are addressed in the business plan, as shown in Figure 1.The hierarchy used in the CCAFS planning process (Objective, Output, Milestone, Activity) is based on the currently discussed model for the ach Theme has three Objectives (and an associated proposed Outcome) (Figure 2). Each Objective consists of a number of Outputs products derived from work over a number of years. Progress towards the Output is measured by annual Milestones. Milestones average about $1 million (in a particular year), inclusive of all costs including overheads (the range is from $500.000 to $2 million) . Activities average about $250.000/annum (range from about $150.000 to $400.000). Theme Leaders and Regional Program Leaders also have budgets. In the Business Plan, only the 2012 Milestones are presented, with Centre Activity Plans in the annex to the Business Plan.One major change to Objective level is noted under Theme 1. All Themes made changes to Outputs and Milestones to get them --wide attempt to get standardised procedures). These changes related to trying to standardise the investment size of each Milestone. Smaller Milestones were amalgamated with others; and some Outputs that were too limited in scope were combined with others. None of these changes represented a significant change in strategy.In the sections that follow key issues that need to be tackled going forward are highlighted. For the Themes and Regions there are a number of common issues. These are: a) CCAFS inherited many activities from on--going work at the Centers. There are gaps in the portfolio and work that is not yet aligned with CCAFS objectives. Non--priority work will be phased out as current commitments to bilateral donors (and staff) are finalized; and new strategic activities will be initiated. CCAFS will support the transition in three ways: 1) develop common goals with centers through careful management and negotiation of work plans, 2) invest Theme Leader budgets to lead research and build capacity where CG activity is lacking; 3) start major initiatives as soon as funds are available from the phasing out of current non--strategic work. Major new initiatives to be started in 2012 are highlighted in the final sub--section for each Theme and Region. b) While we worked closely with Centers to fit their Activity Plans into the CCAFS strategy, more work is needed to coordinate activities across Centers to achieve the intended outcomes and impacts. Changes made to Objectives, Outputs, Milestones: Theme 1 is suggesting the change of an Objective/Outcome. While this appears a major revision, in actual fact many of the changes are cosmetic and designed to improve the clarity in explaining the theme, and facilitate greater outcomes and impacts through diversity for increased resilience and productivity under conditions r concrete focus on policies and institutions, which will be crucial for the delivery of planned CCAFS impacts. Furthermore, work on species and genetic diversity is implicit already within Objectives 1.1 and 1.2; and so the content of the former 1.3 is moved under these objectives. The new Objective 1.3 focuses on three outputs which operate on three distinct scales (1.3.1 on local level institutional mechanisms and community--based; 1.3.2 on national--level policies and strategies; 1.3.3 remains the same as in the previous logframe, at the international level). In addition to these major changes, some minor changes in wording have been made to 5 Milestones, and 2 Milestones of 2011 have been passed to 2012 due to the late start due to funding uncertainty during 2011 (Analogue training and videos, Breeding institutions coordination). Key pathways to impact: In 2012, the key impact pathway we will focus on is that related to getting best practice funded through Adaptation funds. This will involve the cost--benefit analysis of adaptation options and insertion of results into national plans, in at least 1 country. This pilot will then be replicated in other countries in 2013 and beyond.  strengthen knowledge sharing and collaborations both within the CCAFS research community and with diverse stakeholders across the target regions. The platform will expand and its community of users will be developed from that of information users into one of information providers that generate new knowledge in the form of data, videos and stories. All research and communication outputs will be widely disseminated through this channel.Major issues that need to be tackled going forward: Significant gaps in the Theme 1 portfolio existed in 2011. These included: Participatory research and good social sciences directed to adaptation research, and policy engagement with respect to climate--smart adaptation strategies. In 2012 one of these gaps, that related to participatory research, will be filled through the initiation of a new Activity on this topic. More is needed to improve the center--based workplans, which are strong on problem diagnostic, moderately strong on evaluation of individual adaptation options, but very weak on the integration of adaptation options into plans and strategies that will have scalable impacts. This latter gap is of most concern, and so in 2012 incentives will be sought to ensure centers develop inter--centre programs of work that in 2013 and 2014 integrate adaptation options into more holistic adaptation strategies. We propose 250k of funds be made available to centers to kick start this in 2012.Budget: The Theme 1 budget for 2012 is US$26.4 million. The larger portion of the Center Activity budget goes to Theme 1 with a 49%.The table below shows the distribution of Theme 1 funds across CG Centers. The major portion of the budgeted contributions is concentrated in three Centers: Bioversity, CIAT and IWMI, being these three almost 60% of the Center total. The Theme Leaders total budget is shown separately as well as the Regional Program Leaders budgets which have been broken down into Themes in order to ensure that regional activities are implemented in line with the agreed agenda.Objective  Changes made to Objectives, Outputs, Milestones. To standardize the size of outputs and milestones across CCAFS, the number of outputs was reduced. Activities and milestones from the eliminated outputs were integrated into the revised set. A new Milestone was added on decision--making tools for low--climate impact agricultural development pathways to better articulate the need for methods under this Objective. Key pathways to impact: Key pathways for pro--poor mitigation will be: (a) Linking farm--and national policy--level participatory action research to demonstrate viable options and translate lessons into public and private investments, infrastructure and policy. Collaboration with corporate social responsibility programs of agri--business (e.g. Unilever, Danone, innovations and scaling up of impacts; (b) Developing measurement methods by engaging leading international methods developers and users, together with standard--setting organizations such as the UNFCCC, FAO, Global Research Alliance, Verified Carbon Standard and the World Bank. (c) Synthesize the evidence needed to demonstrate the feasibility, impacts and required conditions for agricultural mitigation to advance international attention and frameworks for mitigation, with information shared especially with the Global Research Alliance, national policy makers, NGOs, and in COP and SBSTA meetings and with negotiators. Figure 4 provides an example of a more detailed pathway for improving smallholder participation in carbon markets.  for emissions associated with different practices and agro--ecosystems led by CIFOR and ICRAF. Other major communications will be on measurement and accounting methods and internal communications plans among CG scientists.Major issues that need to be tackled going forward: (1) Better coordination between Theme 3 and CRP 6 is essential. Further work on building relationships, coordinating outputs and collaborative research with CRP6 and CIFOR in particular will be key in 2012.(2) The program faces challenges in that most of the focus of Centre work is on the technical development of practices that reduce GHGs or increase carbon sequestration. Mitigation impacts are often incidental to improving the crop system., and even fewer have staff working on incentives, institutional and policy issues. As a first step to rectify this an additional Activity on the social and adoption dimensions of mitigation will be added in 2012. (3) Big gaps also exist in the analysis of trade--offs, and integrated approaches to farm and landscapes. These will be addressed in 2013. Budget: The Theme 3 budget for 2012 is US$11 million. 17%of the Center Activity budget goes to this Theme. Table 5 shows the distribution of Theme 3 funds across CG Centers. The major portion of the budgeted contributions is concentrated in three Centers: CIMMYT, ICRAF and IFPRI, these three being almost 60% of the Center total. The Theme Leaders total budget is shown separately as well as the Regional Program Leaders budgets which have been broken down into Themes in order to ensure that regional activities are implemented in line with the agreed agenda. Table 6 shows the budget per Theme objective. Within Theme 3 the largest budget goes to Objective 3.3 (Test and identify desirable on--farm practices and their landscape--level implications) Global, EA, WA, IGP Changes made to Objectives, Outputs, Milestones: No significant changes in strategy were made. Changed wording was mostly related to the consolidation effort. Key pathways to impact: Figure 5 summarizes the impact pathway envisioned for Theme 4. Key opportunities in 2012 relate to Rio+20 and the Committee on Food Security, where the High--Level Panel of Experts will commission a report on Climate Change and Food Security, with Theme Leader of 4.3 leading the team to write the report. Another opportunity is the Planet Under Pressure conference in early 2012, at which some of the initial regional scenarios quantification results will be presented to a wide audience.  farm input services and early warning systems. Rural radio will be used to stimulate dialogues with farmers on climate risk management options and climate change adaptation measures. There will be linkages to other regional initiatives tapping into a wider network of expertise, knowledge and regional networks and align key research and policy directed interventions. Key pathways to impact: One of the key pathways for engagement is through the Regional Learning Partnership (RLP). The RLP will galvanize key regional economic commissions, institutions, policy entities, farming organizations and researchers and is focused on integrating CCAFS thematic research as well as informing the science -- policy process. Through shared learning on climate information and services the partnership is promoting enhanced up--scaling and sharing of knowledge and tools. A knowledge sharing workshop will be held to c government and/or ministerial conferences such as with AMCEN will be planned to engage policy makers and share widely research results. Feedback from the workshop will be used to further refine RLP knowledge outputs. In addition, a capacity development approach will be adopted where fellowships will be granted to young scientists for mentorship programs while developing approaches for integrating gender and social differentiation at local scales. Major communication efforts: To effectively communicate CCAFS outputs and those of the participating partners, the innovative use of ICTs will be explored, including building a communication platform that fosters knowledge sharing through the use of savvy tools, particularly web applications though the development of a website. The possibility of using existing CCAFS communications tools will be explored before creation of any new platforms. The core focus of communication will be on: cyclical feedback of action research from CCAFS benchmark sites and grassroots partners into the RLP and then into policy relevant outputs. Also, a joint effort with COMESA on the climate impacts of the food insecurity situation in the Horn of Africa will provide a technical paper, a documentary integrating high--level political voices, and a policy brief to outline pragmatic interventions on transformative actions required to increase climate resilience of agriculture in the drylands of east Africa Major issues that need to be tackled going forward: While there are many Centre activities in regions they are not, because of the inherited agenda, well aligned with CCAFS strategy or taking place in CCAFS sites. As indicated in Theme 4 Objective 1 new investments will be made in each region to improve alignment. More emphasis is needed on food security, rather than the current focus on production. In 2012 a major effort will be made to scope out the key research topics related to the broader food system, including post harvest loss as well as new and emerging pests and disease patterns in agricultural systems Budget: East Africa Region budget for 2012 is US$2.66 million. Budgets for regional programs have already been indicated in the Theme budgets as regional programs are integrated into themes. The budget shown here is the overall budget (across all  Holistic, cross--disciplinary and multi--stakeholder research will be central to the impact pathway in West Africa; with participatory action research (PAR) prominent. Such research should fully consider the sustainability of the whole farming system, local knowledge of environmental variability in agricultural landscapes, farm and non--farm livelihood streams, and flashpoints for conflict between different producer groups, as opposed to research on just boosting productivity of discrete components of the food production system. PAR will test, improve and monitor strategic innovations supporting climate-smart agriculture. In the Sudano--Sahelian and Sahelian regions, examples of priority production interventions with expected mitigation and adaptation synergies are soil nutrient management (e.g., organic manure and fertilizer management through micro--dosing), agroforestry (e.g. jatropha and drought tolerant varieties of maize, millet and sorghum), rehabilitation of degraded lands, and water management. Conservation agriculture must be promoted within these cropping systems in order to increase carbon sequestration and to improve soil health. In the humid zones, in addition to agricultural intensification, interventions would focus on agriculture as a driver of deforestation in areas of REDD+ projects, and related policies, incentives, institutional arrangements. Potential mitigation practices will be examined from the perspective of carbon sequestration, mitigation incentives, institutional arrangements, gender impacts, etc. Work will be persued on the analogue method and methods for innovative knowledge sharing and networking among farmers. Climate risk management strategies will focus on downscaled seasonal climate -- crop forecasting Index--based crop insurance; drought--tolerant varieties; climate information delivery mechanisms. At the policy level, CCAFS will support the use of tools, methods, data collection and analysis that support adaptation and mitigation policy decisions that are being made as climate finance becomes a reality. A regional working group will be formed to develop tools and information (e.g. scenarios, emissions factors) relevant to the region for the quantification of greenhouse gases. This group will also be a platform for capacity building at national level. A group of adaptation experts from national adaptation.Capacity in the region is weak on all fronts. Longer--term capacity will be sought through liaising with donors and others who can help develop curricula and provide graduate training. The WASCAL project which aims to strengthening the research infrastructure and capacity in West Africa related to climate change and to pooling the expertise of ten West African countries and Germany, will be a key partner. Major communication efforts: An active engagement and communication strategy underpinning all activities is needed to enable rapid exchange and learning across sectors and between the field and national levels. In addition to sharing relevant knowledge and information with partners in the region during the annual regional stakeholder meeting, a website in French will be launched in 2012, where CCAFS publications, reports, policy briefs, videos, blogs will be posted. Two policy dialogues gathering national stakeholders (scientists, policy makers, private sector, etc.) will be held organized in two selected countries around a specific subject of interest (ex: seasonal forecasting; food crisis). Also, a series of media events with major press, radio, T, in the region will be planned to share key messages and allow their widespread dissemination. Major issues that need to be tackled going forward: As in the other regions, there is a limited work being conducted in the CCAFS baseline sites. This will start to be rectified in 2012 through new investments (Theme 4, Objective 1). There is an urgent need for tools for decision makers to make investment choices amongst alternative agricultural technologies and practices. This will also be subject to a newly initiated Activity in 2012 (Theme 4, Objective 2).Personnel  strengthening of rural women leader in understanding climate change and the adaptation options, and of other stakeholders to understand and apply knowledge for climate linked germplasm evaluation and conservation, vulnerability assessment, and yield forecasting. Major communication efforts: The communications strategy in 2012 will consist of two parts: (a) Project--specific: It will match up all projects with publication outputs (e.g., internal report, CCAFS report, CCAFS working paper, or journal articles) and communications outputs (e.g., project description for IGP webpage, blog post, event on CCAFS event page, photos, video, or AMKN data); (b) Regional program--wide: It will synthesize what CCAFS does in the region, succinctly and clearly. This will entail managing the IGP webpage, creating a brochure about the CCAFS--IGP program and projects, and publishing a short Major issues that need to be tackled going forward: Emphasis needs to shift to developing a few key long--term partnerships and not based on small activities with limited funds which was the case in 2011 due to the start--up activities that were needed. A key need in the region is tools for national level stakeholders to make investment choices amongst different options for climate--smart agriculture. Work on this will be initiated in 2012. It is crucial to get more Centre activities in the baseline sites. Budget: Indo--Gangetic Plains Region budget for 2012 is US$2.66 million. Budgets for regional programs have already been indicated in the Theme budgets as regional programs are integrated into themes. The budget shown here is the overall budget (across all themes).Personnel  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a7b185924b392676cf65a994cb8540f6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/eaf7f0b2-e3cc-4be4-beef-d0e184e1c4cf/content","id":"-394929625"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"db3aea03-24c5-45fe-b1a2-bc6f8fdb30ac","content":"Select DH lines with MSV & MLN resistant haplotypes GS prediction Cross 250-300 lines (PS & GEBV) to 3 elite SC testers 200 Stage 3 yield trials at 15 locations Cross selected 40 lines to 5 elite SC tester 750 Stage 2 yield trials at 5-8 locations Remake best 25-30 hybrids Advancement meeting: select best hybrids, announce products to partners for commercialization Remake best 5-7 top hybrids Genotype selected 2000 DH lines with medium -density markers and keep 50% in a cold room (1000 DH)Genetic analysis of tropical maize inbred lines for resistance to MLN Pedigree GY( t/ha MLN-early MLN-late CKDHL120918 1.21*** -0.47** -0.54** CML550 0.64* -0.11* -0.1 CKLTI0227 0.61* -0.13 -0.18* CML494 0.5 -0.15* -0.22 CKLMARSI0022 0.41 -0.03 -0.01 CKDHL0500 0.35 -0.14* -0.21* CKLTI0137 0.29 -0.2* -0.25* CKLTI0136 0.21 -0.04 -0.07 CKLTI0138 0.16 -0.19* -0.19* These lines have been distributed to public and private partners and are being used for making new breeding starts and hybrids make-ups-GEBV of the line -Hybrid performance (yield under optimal and abiotic stress, foliar disease resistance) -Selection intensity of 10 to 15% is applied -Use of weights as appropriate using desire software -Number of lines used in Stage 1 varies from 1000-1500.-GCA of the line with three testers -Hybrid performance at more locations relative to Stage 1 (5 optimal; 1 drought; 1 low N; 1 MLN; 1 foliar disease) -Sites with low heritability (<0.10) discarded -Selection intensity of 10-15% is applied -Decision on lines to be recycled-Hybrid performance at more locations (10-15) -Sites with low heritability (<0.     ------------------------------------------------------------------------------t/ha------------------------------------------------------------------------------%      "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"697cacd765ba2552ddcd9c467ca3fd89","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/538a545d-3dbf-4f0a-893c-3fdee9135292/retrieve","id":"680093773"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a6622998-1344-44f2-87eb-713a36e63062","content":"ASAC CAC CCAD CCAFS (por sus siglas en inglés) CG CGIAR (por sus siglas en inglés) CIAT COMMCA CONRED EASAC ECADERT ERCC FAO (por sus siglas en inglés) GAF INDE MAG MAGA MARN NAFP (por sus siglas en inglés) NCRIP (por sus siglas en inglésLos países del SICA han visto en la Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima (ASAC) una solución integral para mejorar los ingresos y la productividad, aumentar la resiliencia y capacidades para la adaptación al cambio climático y favorecer la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional, en su objetivo por alcanzar un desarrollo sostenible que incluya las poblaciones más vulnerables. Amparados en la Alianza para el Desarrollo Sostenible (ALIDES) y en concordancia con el nuevo marco global contenido en la Agenda 2030 para el desarrollo sostenible, en el 2018 el Consejo Agropecuario Centroamericano (CAC) aprobó la Estrategia Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima para la región del SICA: 2018-2030 (EASAC).Para la implementación de la EASAC se requiere una transformación y reorientación del sector agropecuario, el fortalecimiento de la agricultura familiar, la revalorización de lo rural desde la perspectiva territorial y el reconocimiento de las dificultades y el valor de las labores de las mujeres. Esto con el fin de que la ASAC se convierta en una fuente de oportunidades para mujeres y jóvenes rurales y que, en general, ayude a reducir las desigualdades de manera significativa.Explícitamente, la EASAC en el Eje 4: Elementos habilitadores, línea estratégica 15 propone: Facilitación de mecanismos de integración del principio de igualdad y equidad entre los géneros, así como el enfoque intergeneracional y la inclusión social en las acciones ASAC.Este documento busca aportar a la implementación de dicha línea estratégica. Para eso, se ha realizado un trabajo de análisis de políticas públicas y entrevistas La Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima (ASAC), es aquella agricultura que incrementa de manera sostenible la productividad, la resiliencia o adaptación a los cambios de clima y, a la vez, reduce o incluso elimina gases de efecto invernadero, en el camino por lograr las metas nacionales de desarrollo y de seguridad alimentaria (FAO, 2010a).Consistió en una revisión documental de algunas políticas a nivel regional del SICA y de los países pertenecientes al sistema. Este análisis no examina los impactos de dichas políticas, pero proporciona información de base sobre el estado de las políticas y constituye un paso crítico para identificar las brechas político-institucional para la planificación e implementación de la Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima (ASAC) con inclusión de género.Se hizo una preselección de diferentes políticas y documentos relacionados con agricultura, cambio climático y género por país y a nivel regional del SICA. Esta primera selección arrojó 155 documentos, los cuales fueron enviados a los expertos y las expertas de CAC y el Programa de Investigación con diferentes actores de la región del SICA. Finalmente, se han identificado acciones claves en diferentes niveles: regional del SICA, nacional y en los territorios. Dichas acciones sugieren una hoja de ruta para la implementación de la perspectiva de género de la EASAC.del CGIAR en Cambio Climático, Agricultura y Seguridad Alimentaria -CCAFS (por sus siglas en inglés). Se solicitó a los y las expertas que hicieran una priorización de documentos relevantes de acuerdo a sus conocimientos y experiencias. Para la priorización se usó un valor numérico de 1 a 5, donde:1. = Esencial o indispensable 2. = Importante 3. = Relevante 4. = Importante, pero no vigenteEl resultado que arrojó la priorización fue una lista de las políticas agropecuarias y de cambio climático en los diferentes países. Adicionalmente, a nivel regional se priorizó la Estrategia Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima (EASAC), La Política Regional de Igualdad y Equidad de Género (PRIEG) y la Estrategia Centroamericana de Desarrollo Rural Territorial (ECADERT). Para complementar la priorización, durante las entrevistas con integrantes de la Red de género de CAC, del Consejo de Ministras de la Mujer de Centroamérica y República Dominicana (COMMCA) y La Comisión Centroamericana de Ambiente y Desarrollo (CCAD), se solicitó a las personas entrevistadas que hicieran recomendaciones sobre los documentos de política más relevantes de su país para nuestro estudio.Con la información recolectada se hizo una depuración y revisión minuciosa de los documentos. Se incluyeron las políticas priorizadas por los y las expertas y adicionalmente se agregaron las políticas de género a nivel nacional para identificar posibles interconexiones. La selección final quedó compuesta por políticas que pertenecen a los tres sectores de interés para la implementación del enfoque de género de la EASAC, a saber: agropecuario, ambiental (cambio climático) y género. En total se analizaron 40 documentos de política: tres documentos por país, que consistían en uno de cada sector mencionado y seis políticas y estrategias regionales de los mismos tres sectores (ver anexo 1). Finalmente, con todos los documentos recolectados se creó una base de datos de 176 políticas públicas relevantes para la perspectiva de género en los sectores agropecuario y ambiental de la región. Este estudio deja a disposición esta base de datos con todos los documentos encontrados, como una herramienta disponible para innumerables posibilidades de análisis a futuro.Para el análisis de las políticas se utilizaron las categorías de diseño de políticas con perspectiva de género promovidas por el PNUD (2000), basadas en Kabeer, N. Subrahmanian, R. (1996). Según esta herramienta, el diseño de las políticas se puede categorizar en cuatro grupos de acuerdo al grado en que reconocen y afrontan los problemas de género (ver gráfica 1): políticas \"ciegas\" a la perspectiva de género y políticas con conciencia de género. Dichas políticas con conciencia de género diferencian a los actores entre hombres y mujeres, reconociendo que tienen diferentes necesidades e intereses y que a menudo dichos intereses pueden entrar en conflicto (PNUD, 2000). Los diseños con conciencia de género (CG) pueden subcategorizarse como neutros, específicos de género y transformadores de género (Kabeer y Subrahmanian, 1996;PNUD, 2000).El análisis cuantitativo consistió en aplicar códigos, cuantificarlos y compararlos con otras políticas. En las políticas del sector agrícola y ambiental se utilizaron los siguientes códigos:Para identificar si las políticas de género habían considerado los sectores agrícola y ambiental en sus políticas creamos códigos que consideramos relevantes para la EASAC. Los códigos son:La creación de los códigos pasó por varias etapas de prueba y error. Los códigos presentados en este informe son los que produjeron los mejores resultados y sirvieron como un indicador rápido de la inclusión de género en las políticas y de la intersectorialidad dentro de las políticas de género. Sin embargo, para hacer el análisis con los indicadores del PNUD, una vez recolectados los códigos se pasó a realizar un análisis cualitativo.Gráfica 1. Las categorías de diseño de políticas con perspectiva de género.Aquellas que no hacen distinción entre actores masculinos y femeninos y, en consecuencia, están sesgadas a favor de las relaciones de género existentes y, por lo tanto, es probable que excluyan a las mujeres. Dichas políticas no tienen en cuenta los roles, responsabilidades y relaciones socialmente atribuidas a hombres y mujeres y, por tanto, tienden a percibir a los hombres como los principales beneficiarios de las políticas (Gumucio y Tafur Rueda, 2015).El diseño de políticas neutrales al género tiene en cuenta las necesidades y responsabilidades diferenciadas por género; si bien no busca abordar ninguna necesidad específica de género, tiene cuidado de no causar ningún daño intencional a un género.Apuntan a transformar la distribución existente de recursos y responsabilidades para crear una relación más igualitaria entre mujeres y hombres. Las mujeres y los hombres pueden ser el objetivo o un solo grupo puede ser el objetivo de la intervención. Las políticas redistributivas de género se centran principalmente en los intereses estratégicos de género, pero pueden planear satisfacer las necesidades prácticas de género de una manera que tenga un potencial transformador (proporcionar un entorno de apoyo para el empoderamiento de las mujeres). Es decir, cuando se abordan las necesidades estratégicas de género, la intención es cambiar ciertas prácticas o instituciones que estructuran la distribución de beneficios entre hombres y mujeres (Gumucio y Tafur Rueda, 2015).El análisis cualitativo consistió en analizar el contenido de las políticas e identificar qué tan explícitas eran en cuanto a los retos que las mujeres y jóvenes afrontan en las zonas rurales y las soluciones específicas que proponen para estos grupos en los diferentes sectores de interés: cambio climático y agropecuario. La meta era identificar si las políticas agropecuarias y ambientales tenían perspectiva de género y cómo esta perspectiva era abordada. De igual manera, para las políticas de género se identificó si incluían a las mujeres y jóvenes rurales y si consideraban al sector agropecuario y ambiental dentro de sus propuestas.Finalmente, teniendo en cuenta tanto el análisis cuantitativo como el análisis cualitativo, se clasificaron las políticas en las categorías de perspectiva de género del PNUD (ver anexo 1).Para las entrevistas se invitó a los y las integrantes de la Red de Género del CAC, en su mayoría directivos de las unidades de genero de los ministerios de agricultura y ganadería de los países del SICA. Además, funcionarios y funcionarias del COMMCA, CCAD y el CAC. Se utilizó un cuestionario semiestructurado (ver anexo 3), con temas relevantes identificados en el análisis de documentos. El objetivo era recolectar la información relevante y específica en cuanto a la implementación de la perspectiva de género en la EASAC.La dinámica de trabajo durante las entrevistas puede ser descrita como una conversación entre expertos de la red y la consultora. La meta era identificar retos y soluciones en la implementación de la línea estratégica 15 de la EASAC. En promedio, las entrevistas tuvieron una duración de noventa minutos. Se realizaron siete entrevistas utilizando plataformas virtuales con interacción sincrónica y dos entrevistas utilizando un formulario escrito. Se logró recopilar información de seis países del SICA: Honduras, Guatemala, República Dominicana, Panamá, Costa Rica y El Salvador, además de un representante de cada institución de la Red: COMMCA, CCAD y el CAC.A nivel regional del SICA  (2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)(2020)(2021)(2022)(2023)(2024)(2025), que representa el posicionamiento del SICA sobre los principios de igualdad y equidad de género y la no discriminación contra las mujeres, siendo una política transversal y de largo plazo y la única que se acerca a un diseño de política transformativo, por esto es clasificada como una política con conciencia de género específica, cerca a ser transformativa (ver gráfica 2).A nivel general se reconoce el importante papel del enfoque de género, especialmente en la agricultura familiar, y se visibilizan los problemas de discriminación y desigualdad que viven las mujeres principalmente en las zonas rurales. La inclusión y la igualdad de género están claramente identificadas entre las prioridades estratégicas transversales de las políticas regionales analizadas, a excepción de la Política Agropecuaria de la Región SICA 2019-2030. Esto se hace visible con el análisis cuantitativo (ver tablas 1-3).A pesar de los avances, las políticas regionales carecen de una clara identificación de recursos para llevar a cabo las medidas y acciones propuestas, y ninguna de las políticas analizadas hace una propuesta clara para una redistribución existente de recursos y responsabilidades entre mujeres y hombres que permita crear una relación de igualdad sustantiva o de hecho (Hepple, 2001). Es decir, en la que hombres y mujeres puedan ejercer sus derechos universales y hacerlos efectivos en sus vidas cotidianas.Por otro lado, La Agenda del empoderamiento económico de las mujeres rurales, que se deriva de la PRIEG, hace una propuesta explícita de implementación en el empoderamiento económico de las mujeres. La implementación de esta Agenda es un paso importante en la igualdad de género en la región, sin embargo, al hacer el análisis de contenido, la agenda no contempla el papel de los hombres en la implementación de las acciones afirmativas para el empoderamiento económico de las mujeres rurales. La exclusión del papel que juegan los hombres en estas acciones puede representar un riesgo en el apoyo que reciban las propuestas de la agenda a nivel gubernamental y local al momento de su implementación.Finalmente, la ECADERT se destacó durante las entrevistas y en el análisis de contenido de otras políticas, ya que varios programas y políticas han sido influenciados por dicha estrategia. Ninguna política analizada pertenece a esta categoría.Ninguna política analizada pertenece a esta categoría. Tabla 3. Análisis cuantitativo de políticas de género a nivel SICA.Tabla 2. Análisis cuantitativo de políticas ambientales a nivel SICA.Tabla 1. Análisis cuantitativo de políticas agropecuarias a nivel SICA.Las características que hacen de la ECADERT un ejemplo en la inclusión de la conciencia de género son las siguientes:» Formulación ampliamente participativa.Contempla como uno de los principios fundamentales: la inclusión social y la equidad.El enfoque de género es transversal en todo el documento.Utiliza como concepto principal el desarrollo territorial.Incluye otros conceptos integradores como: tejido social, redes de cooperación territoriales, identidad cultural del territorio.Utiliza lenguaje diferenciado e inclusivo.» Se desarrolló con una visión a largo plazo.» Debilidad: presupuesto no especificado.La ECADERT es un ejemplo en el diseño de políticas del sector agropecuario y ambiental ya que, al ser una política con conciencia de género específica, utiliza el conocimiento de las diferencias de género en una situación dada para responder a las necesidades prácticas de género de mujeres y hombres, pero no aborda la división existente de recursos y responsabilidades. En conclusión, la PACC es una política con conciencia de género específica, ya que reconoce las diferencias de género en cuanto a cambio climático y propone una participación activa de los grupos vulnerables en varios ejes, sin embargo, la política no da una respuesta específica a las necesidades prácticas de género de mujeres y hombres y tampoco introduce indicadores segregados por género que puedan servir para medir el impacto de la política en grupos específicos.Por otro lado, existen políticas a nivel de los países que tienen un diseño con conciencia de género específico y podrían ser una base de apoyo para la implementación de la línea estratégica 15 de la EASAC (ver tabla 5). Cabe resaltar que, aunque estas políticas tienen un alto grado de integración de la perspectiva de género, ninguna define los recursos financieros asignados para la implementación y, aunque es frecuente que las políticas no incluyan asignación presupuestal en el mismo documento, las entrevistas realizadas a los y las expertas en los países confirman que la falta de asignación de presupuesto para las actividades de género es un gran obstáculo para su implementación.En cuanto a las políticas de género, en su mayoría no incluyen los sectores agropecuario y ambiental de manera específica en sus estrategias de trabajo, aunque reconocen las dificultades de las mujeres Tabla 5. Lista de políticas con diseño perspectiva de género específica.frente al acceso a la tierra, el derecho a la propiedad y la vulnerabilidad de las mujeres frente a los desastres ambientales. En ese sentido, la falta de transversalidad e intersectorialidad a nivel nacional va en doble vía. Es decir, las políticas agrícolas y ambientales han mejorado en la inclusión del enfoque de género, pero el cambio es tímido. Mientras las políticas de género rara vez hacen explícitas las necesidades de las mujeres rurales y no mencionan las oportunidades de cooperación con los sectores agrícola y ambiental.En conclusión, el enfoque de género se introduce frecuentemente en las políticas, pero con cierta falta de especificidad, no hay indicadores que permitan identificar los avances en la igualdad de género y finalmente no hay presupuestos específicos asignados. De esta manera cabe la posibilidad de que, como lo advierten Acosta et al. (2019), la incorporación de la perspectiva de género se convierta en un requisito burocrático que no logra resolver la brecha de género existente en la región. En ese sentido, la EASAC brinda una oportunidad para que los tomadores de decisiones salden la deuda que tienen pendiente en cuanto a la inclusión de mujeres y jóvenes en sus programas y puedan cumplir sus metas de desarrollo rural sostenible en las zonas rurales.Se pudo identificar, a través de las entrevistas, que los funcionarios de los diferentes sectores tienen diferentes ideas sobre qué es y en qué consiste el enfoque de género, pero, además, cómo se traslada o se debe trasladar ese enfoque a las zonas rurales de la región SICA. Esto implica una oportunidad para que el tema de género sea debatido y discutido en los diferentes espacios de interacción.En todos los países del SICA hay institutos de género que tienen nivel ministerial, es decir, son entidades autónomas, con presupuesto para su funcionamiento y están al mismo nivel que los ministerios. Igualmente, hay dos países que tienen Ministerios de la Mujer (Nicaragua y República Dominicana). Además, hay unidades de género al interior de los diferentes ministerios e instituciones de otros sectores. Sin embargo, los institutos de género tienen pocos recursos y las unidades de género dentro de los diferentes ministerios no tienen presupuesto para ejecutar proyectos. Esto puede ocurrir porque las políticas no son lo suficientemente explícitas con respecto a los indicadores de avance en la igualdad y equidad de género, ni hay líneas estratégicas enfocadas en mejorar los problemas de desigualdad. Además, aunque cada institución debería incluir el enfoque de género o variable de género en sus actividades, muchas veces no saben cómo hacerlo. Es decir, se les asigna la tarea más no se ofrecen herramientas de implementación e incluso, según algunos entrevistados y entrevistadas, a veces no es un problema de falta de presupuesto sino de no saber cómo incluir las actividades de género dentro de los presupuestos.En general, las unidades de género se apoyan financieramente a través de proyectos de Cooperación Internacional para la ejecución de sus actividades, lo que hace que el proceso de implementación sea incierto y lento. Además, en muchos casos estas unidades no tienen una oficina particular, sino que la tarea se le asigna a uno o dos funcionarios del ministerio, como una tarea adicional a otras tareas. Por eso, algunos entrevistados y entrevistadas afirmaron que las unidades de género están en un limbo legal, es decir, no están legalmente constituidas. Adicionalmente, la rotación del personal en las unidades de género de las instituciones es alta, lo que hace que los procesos de capacitación se pierdan cuando las personas dejan de ser parte de la red de género o dejan sus cargos.En conclusión, para la implementación de la línea de género de la EASAC se identificó que es necesario la articulación y colaboración de tres sectores: agropecuario, ambiental y género. Esta intersectorialidad ofrece unos retos específicos en la coordinación de actividades y en la institucionalización de la perspectiva de género. La transversalización efectiva de la perspectiva de género implica un cambio de paradigma en las estructuras gubernamentales, las percepciones institucionales e incluso en las concepciones individuales. Es decir, requiere un trabajo con las instituciones en la forma en que organizan y ejecutan sus proyectos y en la forma en que funcionan internamente, pero, además requiere un trabajo con las personas que constituyen las instituciones. Es necesario abordar dichos retos para avanzar en la implementación de la línea estratégica 15 de la EASAC.Cuatro principios para la implementación del enfoque de género en la EASAC a nivel regional, nacional y en los territorios:» La participación implica verdadero diálogo e intercambio de saberes.Las particularidades del contexto son fundamentales.Evitar crear sobrecargas de trabajo para las mujeres con las acciones e iniciativas.» Fomentar la capacidad de empoderamiento y acción colectiva.(Inspirado en Huyer and Gumucio, 2020).Es importante recordar que no es posible, ni es deseable, hacer una metodología única para la implementación del enfoque de género en la EASAC. Primero, porque no es realista asumir que existe una única \"buena manera\" de hacer las cosas y, segundo, porque la realidad de los territorios es diferente entre los países e incluso dentro de las regiones de un mismo país.Por lo tanto, lo primero es identificar qué es necesario y adecuado para cada territorio de acuerdo a sus características geográficas y agroecológicas y sus formas de organización social e institucional y la situación particular de las mujeres y jóvenes en cada caso. Por supuesto, este proceso de identificación se debe hacer de forma participativa, lo que implica generar espacios de verdadero diálogo e intercambio de saberes entre las comunidades, los y las funcionarias de las instituciones de los gobiernos y los demás actores identificados para cada caso, dando prioridad a las necesidades, propuestas y sentimientos de las mujeres y los jóvenes en las zonas en las que se va a implementar la EASAC.Desde esta perspectiva, este segmento busca dar herramientas para la implementación de la línea estratégica 15 de la EASAC. Para eso, se han identificado acciones claves en diferentes niveles:Igualmente, se recomiendan dos acciones claves para todos los niveles:El Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana (SICA) es un marco institucional que vela por el funcionamiento de órganos e instituciones que trabajan en la creación de políticas e iniciativas para el proceso de integración de la región, con la meta de traducirla en beneficios reales para la población.Generar capacitaciones y debates sobre el enfoque de género a nivel institucional, nacional y regional.Promover el enfoque de género con énfasis en igualdad, libertad, productividad, educación, salud, etc.Las acciones recomendadas para los diferentes niveles se describen a continuación y sugieren una hoja de ruta para la implementación de la perspectiva de género de la EASAC.Esto implica continuar con el trabajo conjunto entre CAC, COMMCA y CCAD para la implementación de la Agenda y la línea 15 de la EASAC, con el fin de construir sobre lo construido y generar un espacio de diálogo que sirva de plataforma para ambas iniciativas.El sector agropecuario constituye la fuente de empleo más importante para las mujeres de las zonas rurales, en la mayoría de los países en desarrollo (FAO, 2011). Por lo tanto, es importante que los sectores agropecuarios, ambientales y las instituciones de género trabajen en conjunto en soluciones coordinadas.La EASAC es una excelente plataforma para generar las sinergias necesarias entre los diferentes sectores, ya que combina elementos del cuidado de sí, el cuidado de los demás y el cuidado del territorio, a través de conceptos como la agricultura sostenible, la agricultura familiar y la soberanía y seguridad alimentaria mediante la producción de alimentos saludables.El diálogo es una relación horizontal entre diferentes actores. Es un espacio de crítica, pero en la búsqueda de un bien común. No es igual a un taller o una reunión, aunque en una reunión o taller puede haber un buen diálogo. Sólo hay diálogo cuando los y las participantes entran en una relación con un propósito conjunto y trabajan en pro de ese propósito, navegando los conflictos que surjan en vez de evitarlos.Considerar la posibilidad de que, adicionalmente a las actividades enfocadas en género, todas las actividades tengan enfoque de género. Esto implica promover y verificar la participación activa de mujeres, jóvenes y hombres a nivel regional y garantizar un porcentaje de representantes de grupos minoritarios en las reuniones.Los y las integrantes de las unidades de género de los Ministerios del sector agropecuario, junto con representantes de los Institutos y Ministerios de la Mujer de los diferentes países de la región, representan un grupo de expertos y expertas con gran potencial para el trabajo conjunto. Se propone que se fortalezca esta Red y se formalice a nivel del SICA como la Red de Género del SICA, junto con expertos del CAC, COMMCA y CCAD.Posibles actividades para el fortalacimiento de esta red:Desarollar reuniones periódicas que permitan el diálogo, intercambio de ideas, para abordar qué es y qué implica un enfoque de género en el desarrollo o implementación de acciones ASAC para mujeres y jóvenes en las zonas rurales de la región SICA.Hacer un mapeo de actores que evidencie las redes de relaciones entre ellos y así promover sinergias y acciones en el marco de la línea estratégica 15 de la EASAC. Para el mapeo de actores se puede usar la Governance Analytical Framework (GAF), una metodología práctica para investigar procesos de gobierno, basada en cinco herramientas analíticas: problemas, actores, normas sociales, procesos y puntos nodales (Hufty, M. 2011).Realizar un inventario de fortalezas y debilidades de cada país en cuanto a temas relevantes para la implementación de la línea de género de EASAC.Fortalecer los procesos de creación de políticas intersectoriales con enfoque de género en los países que no las tienen.Las acciones sugeridas en este segmento están dirigidas a los funcionarios del SICA, principalmente a los que pertenecen al CAC, COMMCA y CCAD, con la meta de facilitar interacciones a nivel regional que permitan la coordinación de actividades para la implementación de la línea estratégica 15 de la EASAC a nivel nacional y en los territorios locales.» Generar espacios de diálogo de forma periódica que permitan el intercambio de ideas y posibles sinergias entre CAC, COMMCA y CCAD. Así, los y las integrantes de los órganos del SICA pueden coordinar actividades y juntar presupuestos para tener un mayor impacto.El inventario de fortalezas y debilidades puede tener las siguientes categorías:1. Países con dificultades /facilidades para la coordinación de actividades intersectoriales;2. Países con/sin redes fortalecidas de mujeres rurales u otras redes territoriales locales relevantes para la EASAC;3. Países con experiencias significativas en el desarrollo de proyectos que involucran mujeres y jóvenes rurales;4. Lecciones aprendidas de las experiencias de los diferentes países.Hacer un inventario de proyectos exitosos en la integración del enfoque de género en las zonas rurales y que hayan sido implementados a nivel de país e identificar sus principales características y factores de éxito. En este estudio se pudo identificar, por ejemplo, que hay proyectos en marcha con mujeres rurales prestando servicios ambientales o fincas agropecuarias para desarrollar productos para mercados verdes. Proponemos identificar si dichos proyectos son replicables en otros países y cómo y conceptualizar nuevos proyectos.Fomentar intercambios de saberes y experiencias según el inventario de fortalezas, debilidades y proyectos. Hacer de estos espacios de intercambio una actividad permanente, invitando a líderezas y jóvenes líderes de los territorios a compartir sus experiencias con otras redes a nivele regional, nacional y local y con los miembros de la Red de género del SICA.Fomentar la creación de la Red de Mujeres Rurales a nivel del SICA. Para esto se puede usar el ejemplo de la Red de Mujeres Rurales de Panamá, que está organizada desde la base de los territorios, desde la cual se eligen representantes para el nivel provincial y del nivel provincial se eligen representantes para el nivel nacional.Fomentar actividades conjuntas con la Red de Jóvenes del CAC, para conocer las necesidades, posibilidades, deseos, sentimientos y preocupaciones de los jóvenes de las zonas rurales. La idea es generar un espacio de diálogo que sirva de plataforma para las actividades que ellos mismo identifiquen como deseables y realizables.Generar, mediante un proceso participativo con la Red de género del SICA, una lista de indicadores y productos que sirvan de base para la implementación de la línea 15 de la EASAC y que sea presentada como propuesta base para los gobiernos de los países.En este documento proponemos un ejemplo que puede ser utilizado y adaptado a cada país sobre indicadores de género en la implementación de la línea de género de la EASAC 1 .Para la implementación de la línea 15 de la EASAC se definieron tres productos, cada uno de los cuales cuenta con sus indicadores de verificación. A continuación, se presentan los posibles productos:Producto 1: Promoción y fortalecimiento de asociaciones socio-productivas de ASAC en los territorios priorizados por el Gobierno de cada país.Las asociaciones socio-productivas son formas de asociación solidaria que permiten que pequeños productores se beneficien de la economía a gran escala. La asociación, por ejemplo, les permite comprar insumos al por mayor y bajar los precios de producción para entrar a competir en los mercados, además, pueden hacer otro tipo de negocios juntos e incluso negociar en bloque con los organismos del estado para solicitar apoyo.En el año 2030 se cuenta con __ (número) asociaciones socio-productivas de ASAC creadas y/o fortalecidas.El __% de los cargos directivos de las asociaciones socio-productivas son desempeñados por mujeres.Los micro-emprendimientos son una alternativa viable para pequeños productores y empresas familiares del sector agropecuario. Los microemprendedores no están en condiciones de producir grandes volúmenes y por tanto su alternativa es apuntar a productos de calidad, con valor agregado y marketing en nichos de alto valor adquisitivo que paguen bien su producto, por ejemplo: productos orgánicos y sostenibles y en cadenas de comercio justo.Promover la creación de un sello de igualdad de género a nivel del SICA La propuesta es promover la creación de un Sello de Igualdad de Género en la región SICA para fincas agropecuarias sostenibles con productos para mercados verdes. La práctica del Sello de Igualdad de Género se originó en América Latina, se ha expandido a nivel mundial y consiste en que las empresas (públicas y privadas) reciben un sello de reconocimiento por alcanzar estándares específicos para promover la igualdad de género en el trabajo.Para las empresas, la implementación de estándares de igualdad genera espacios laborales más eficientes e igualitarios, incrementa el desempeño del personal y mejora su imagen pública.El concepto del Sello se enmarca en las nuevas tendencias de los mercados internacionales y la economía global y ofrece a los gobiernos una plataforma sólida para reducir las desigualdades en los lugares de trabajo, promover buenas prácticas y políticas laborales, mejorar su relación con el sector privado e impulsar la cooperación Sur-Sur. Además, es una herramienta concreta para que los sectores público y privado se unan en pro de alcanzar los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible, mediante la reducción de las brechas de género y la promoción tanto de la igualdad en el lugar de trabajo como del empoderamiento económico de las mujeres.El PNUD está promoviendo el trabajo conjunto con socios en diferentes regiones del mundo para adaptar e implementar el Sello de Igualdad de Género a los diferentes contextos y sectores productivos. En la región del SICA se está implementando en empresas privadas de Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Panamá y República Dominicana. En el caso de Costa Rica, se busca implementarlo además en las fincas agropecuarias sostenibles. Este ejemplo muestra que el sello tiene potential para ser utilizado como acción afirmativa dentro de la EASAC.El porcentaje dependerá de las características particulares de las zonas en las que se implementa el producto y de los niveles iniciales. Se debe tener en cuenta que el cambio debe ser gradual y realista, es decir, que se puede lograr en el tiempo estipulado de la estrategia. Además, es fundamental la participación de los y las integrantes de las comunidades, quienes pueden sugerir un porcentaje que les parezca alcanzable y justo para su caso particular.Ver otros indicadores en: Paso a paso para la inclusión de género en iniciativas de agricultura sostenible adaptada al clima para Guatemala (Acosta et al., 2019).El __% de las membresías de las asociaciones socio-productivas está integrado por jóvenes.Implementación de microemprendimientos de ASAC en los territorios priorizados por el Gobierno de cada país.En el año 2030 se cuenta con __ microemprendimientos de ASAC conformados y en funcionamiento.El __% de las posiciones del liderazgo de los micro-emprendimientos es ejercido por mujeres y jóvenes.El __% de los trabajadores y trabajadoras de las micro empresas rurales son jóvenes.Producto 3: fortalecimiento de capacidades técnicas, metodológicas y operativas de los funcionarios de los Ministerios de los sectores agropecuarios y ambientales de cada país, para atender a las familias que practican ASAC con perspectiva de género.» ______ (número) extensionistas han sido capacitados en asistencia técnica para la implementación de ASAC con inclusión y perspectiva de género.» ______ (número) extensionistas cuentan con equipo de transporte, equipo informático y de comunicación para mejorar el servicio de asistencia técnica a las familias que desarrollan ASAC con inclusión y perspectiva de género.Las acciones sugeridas en este segmento están dirigidas a los funcionarios y funcionarias de los Ministerios e Instituciones de los sectores agropecuario, ambiental y de género, con la meta de facilitar interacciones que permitan la coordinación de actividades entre los sectores para la efectiva implementación de la línea estratégica 15 de la EASAC a nivel nacional y en los territorios localesIncorporar el enfoque de género en las políticas, normativas, estrategias, programas, planes, proyectos e instrumentos de los Ministerios de Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Cambio Climático) y los Ministerios Agropecuarios, principalmente en los países donde no hay avances significativos en cuanto a la intersectorialidad. Según el análisis de políticas de este estudio, los países que necesitan mayor atención en este aspecto son: Nicaragua en el sector agropecuario y ambiental; Panamá en el sector agropecuario y ambiental y República Dominicana en el sector ambiental.En cuanto a las políticas intersectoriales y la integración del enfoque de género en los diferentes sectores de interés, se pueden destacar los casos de Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala y Honduras, que tienen políticas intersectoriales con diseño de conciencia de género específico y, por lo tanto, pueden servir de guía para los demás países.Finalmente, una de las herramientas más conocidas para la implementación de una perspectiva de género en las políticas públicas consiste en la inclusión de criterios de género en los presupuestos o, también llamados, presupuestos sensibles al género. En principio, la idea es desagregar el presupuesto de los gobiernos partiendo de los beneficios diferenciados que las inversiones tienen en hombres y mujeres dentro de un contexto específico. Con esto se busca hacer evidente que los presupuestos públicos no son neutrales al género, pues el impacto de las inversiones no es igual para hombres y mujeres (Lombardo, 2006). Los presupuestos, al igual que las políticas pueden ser ciegos con respecto al género, ya que excluyen la mayoría del trabajo productivo y reproductivo de las mujeres (Waring, 1988;Carrasco, 2005). Una medida especial de carácter temporal para la implementación de una perspectiva de género es lo que se conoce como etiquetación del gasto para la igualdad de género (Gallangos, 2007). Consiste en asignar recursos a programas estratégicos para las mujeres, con el fin de acelerar el avance hacia la igualdad sustantiva. Por lo tanto, se crea el concepto de presupuestos etiquetados, no como recursos que se asignan solamente para las mujeres, sino recursos para programas cuyo impacto impulsa el avance hacia la igualdad.Esto implica que a las Unidades de Género sean reconocidas legalmente como organismos del Estado y se les asigne oficina y presupuesto para que puedan ejecutar sus actividades. Para eso, se puede fomentar que los Institutos de la Mujer de cada país, o los Ministerios de la Mujer, coordinen conjuntamente las unidades de género y gestionen presupuestos semilla para los proyectos de ASAC.Igualmente es importante generar herramientas para que las unidades de género trabajen coordinadamente en proyectos de ASAC, donde los ministerios del sector agropecuario y ambiental, junto con los institutos de género hagan sus respectivos aportes de recursos financieros y humanos.Los estándares del Sello de Igualdad de Género incluyen:Eliminar la brecha salarial basada en género.Incrementar el número de mujeres en posiciones de toma de decisión.Mejorar el balance vida/trabajo.Impulsar la participación de mujeres en empleos no tradicionales.Erradicar el acoso sexual en ambientes laborales.» Utilización de lenguaje inclusivo y nosexistaPara esto existe un Marco para Priorización de Inversiones en ASAC (CCAFS, 2015), basado en evidencia y desarrollado por CCAFS y CIAT.Adicionalmente, este estudio sugiere crear sistemas de préstamos especialmente para la agricultura familiar, como un espacio identificado para mejorar la productividad agrícola, imprescindible para la disponibilidad de alimentos y el aumento en los ingresos de las mujeres y jóvenes rurales.Crear asociaciones de usuarios protectores de los bosques, ecosistemas y fuentes de agua, en las cuales las mujeres y los jóvenes tengan al menos 70% de los cargos directivos. Se propone el concepto de usuarios porque incluye el uso sostenible de los ecosistemas, es decir, no se refiere a únicamente prácticas de protección.Características de una política agropecuaria y ambiental con conciencia de género transformadora » Un proceso ampliamente participativo para su formulación.Tener como principio fundamental la inclusión social y la equidad.Presentar el enfoque de género de manera transversal en todo el documento. Es decir, incluir el enfoque de género en toda la política y no solamente como una sección adicional. Un buen ejemplo es el Plan Nacional de Inversión en Resiliencia Climática del 2013 (NCRIP por sus siglas en inglés) de Belice.Basar la política en conceptos integradores como: desarrollo territorial, tejido social, redes de cooperación territoriales, capital social o identidad cultural del territorio, ya que dichos conceptos explican el entramado de relaciones, acciones, prácticas y saberes que se tejen y fluctúan en las zonas rurales y que afectan las actividades productivas, incluyendo la agricultura adaptada al cambio climático.Utilizar lenguaje diferenciado e inclusivo. Esto implica reconocer, como lo ha expresado la Real Academia de la lengua Española (RAE), que el idioma español es machista y, por tanto, debemos ser conscientes de no asumir el género masculino como prioritario. Al respecto, se puede implementar la integración de los artículos los y las para las profesiones y oficios.Asumir una visión a largo plazo con implementación a corto, mediano y largo plazo.Incluir presupuestos especificados y etiquetados para las acciones del enfoque género y los y las jóvenes.Reconocer y plantear soluciones a la división existente de recursos y responsabilidades diferenciadas entre hombres y mujeres de las zonas rurales. Para esto se deben tener en cuenta la división de tareas y recursos en el hogar, la comunidad y los espacios laborales.Incluir protocolos de recolección de datos desagregados por género, edad y etnia.Incorporar indicadores de género y sistemas de monitoreo y evaluación.Estas recomendaciones están dirigidas para los funcionarios y funcionarias que trabajan en la implementación de la línea 15 de la EASAC en las zonas rurales de los diferentes países del SICA.Para la participación en las capacitaciones insistir en la necesidad de la participación de dos personas del núcleo familiar, tales como: el esposo y la esposa, una madre con su hijo o hija mayor, o una abuela con la nieta. La meta es contribuir al acceso igualitario de conocimientos y tecnologías por parte de hombres y mujeres.Para seleccionar los temas de las capacitaciones en ASAC, priorizar de manera participativa las necesidades de cada comunidad, tener en cuenta la división de tareas entre hombres, mujeres, jóvenesPara esta actividad existen varios recursos disponibles como la Guía metodológica para el diseño conjunto de opciones climáticamente inteligentes con agricultores familiares (Andreu et al., 2018) y el Glosario de prácticas de Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima (CCAFS, 2019). En este estudio resaltamos las prácticas que podrían tener mayor impacto en el enfoque de género de la EASAC.» Huertas adaptadas al clima en los hogares, con diversidad de cultivos, prácticas de agricultura limpia y riego proveído por una cosecha de agua. Es relevante para el enfoque de género porque permite a las mujeres tener un ingreso sin necesidad de salir de sus hogares y mejora la seguridad alimentaria y los ingresos familiares.» Intercambio de productos dentro de la comunidad y con otras comunidades, es una práctica relevante para el enfoque de género porque mejora las relaciones en la comunidad, fomenta el tejido social y también mejora la seguridad alimentaria y los ingresos familiares.» Uso de semillas de variedades mejoradas (semillas tolerantes a sequía y fríjol o maíz biofortificado). Esta práctica ayuda a reducir el riesgo de pérdidas fuertes en las cosechas como consecuencia de las sequías. Además, mejora el aporte nutricional del fríjol y el maíz. Es relevante para el enfoque de género porque frente a una sequía, los hombres pueden migrar por motivos ecónomicos, lo que hace que aumente el trabajo para las mujeres en las parcelas. Si se usan semillas de variedad Es necesario diferenciar las preferencias y limitaciones específicas que tienen las mujeres rurales. Es decir, no se debe asumir que son un grupo homogéneo, ya que las mujeres según su edad, situación socio-económica, origen étnico, etc., tendrán preferencias, retos y desempeñarán diferentes papeles en las actividades productivas de las zonas rurales.mejoradas, se puede ayudar a reducir la migración de los hombres y de los y las jóvenes.» Riego por goteo, radica en el uso de un sistema de riego que utiliza un bajo volumen de agua localizado de tal forma que abastece principalmente la zona donde se desarrollan las raíces del cultivo, haciendo que el aprovechamiento del agua por parte de la planta sea muy alto. Es relevante para el enfoque de género porque, al igual que la práctica anterior reduce los riesgos de pérdida de cultivos en una sequía y por tanto puede ayudar a reducir la migración de los hombres y de los y las jóvenes.» Cultivos asociados, consiste en sembrar distintos cultivos en el mismo espacio de terreno, buscando diversificar la producción, aprovechar beneficios que un cultivo pueda generar sobre otro y reducir el uso de insumos. Es relevante para el enfoque de género porque al diversificar se aumenta la posibilidad de obtener cosecha en épocas de sequía o de excesos de lluvias y se reduce el uso de fertilizantes, por lo tanto, se reducen los costos de producción los riesgos de pérdida de cultivos en una sequía y puede ayudar a reducir la migración de los hombres y de los y las jóvenes.Al implementar actividades de la línea de género de la EASAC es necesario conocer y reconocer las dinámicas en las zonas rurales, si bien hacen falta datos sobre las dinámicas, responsabilidades y división de tareas, existe la necesidad de actuar y pronto. Hay dinámicas particulares en las comunidades y familias y hay que estar conscientes de las relaciones de poder pre-existentes, ya que tiene implicaciones en las posibilidades del trabajo en campo y la implementación de acciones y prácticas. Ejemplo: Un taller enfocado en las mujeres en la zona rural implica tener un lugar de cuidado para los niños y niñas y almuerzos para toda la familia. Se sugiere buscar soluciones en las que las y los participantes se organicen para el cuidado de los infantes y para la preparación de alimentos. Además, se debe involucrar a los hombres en estas actividades y hacer capacitaciones que resalten las fortalezas y beneficios de la participación femenina.Tener en cuenta siempre el concepto de gradualidad: Las acciones para la equidad de género y la conservación del ambiente y los recursos naturales deben implementarse en forma activa y progresiva, para ir modificando paso a paso normas y patrones que necesitan transformarse en beneficio del desarrollo sustentable y la equidad. La idea es evitar perjudicar a les participantes con interrupciones abruptas que pueden generar efectos adversos.Para este nivel de acción existe una herramienta llamada, Paso a paso para la inclusión de género en Iniciativas de agricultura sostenible adaptada al clima (Acosta et al, 2019), que fue desarrolla para Guatemala, pero puede ser una base para la implementación del enfoque de género en los territorios locales del SICA.Anexo 2: Entrevistas con integrantes de la Red de Género de la CACProyecto \"Generando evidencia sobre la Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima con perspectiva de género para informar políticas en Centroamérica\"Tema 1: Colaboración entre los Ministerios de Agricultura y las instituciones o Ministerios que trabajan los asuntos de género a nivel nacional y regional.» ¿Cómo funciona la colaboración entre el Ministerio de Agricultura y las instituciones y Ministerios a cargo de los temas de Género?» ¿Cuáles son los aspectos qué funcionan bien y cuáles los que pueden mejorar?» ¿Cuál cree usted que es el principal reto para lograr una integración y colaboración eficaz entre las instituciones mencionadas? ¿Cómo cree usted que este reto se pueda superar?» ¿Cree que la colaboración entre los ministerios de agricultura y ambiente y las instituciones de género está ayudando (o podría ayudar) a mejorar la desigualdad de género? ¿Cómo?Tema 2: Estrategia de Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima para la región del SICA (EASAC).Los Ejes Estratégicos y las líneas prioritarias de la Estrategia tienen elementos para la inclusión de Género. En el Eje 2: Gestión Integral del Riesgo y Adaptación al Clima, punto 8.3 dice: Facilitar y promover la formación y la participación de las mujeres, jóvenes rurales y grupos étnicos en los sistemas agro-productivos que usen sosteniblemente y conserven la agro-biodiversidad.» ¿Qué estrategias se están implementando para promover la formación y participación de mujeres, jóvenes rurales y grupos étnicos en los sistemas agro-productivos? » En dichas estrategias: ¿cuáles son los aspectos qué funcionan bien y cuáles los que pueden mejorar?» ¿Cuál cree usted que es el principal reto para lograr un verdadero incremento en la formación y participación de mujeres, jóvenes rurales y grupos étnicos en los sistemas agro-productivos?» ¿Cómo cree usted que se pueda mejorar en este aspecto en su país y a nivel de la región?» A nivel regional SICA, ¿cómo cree usted que los diferentes países puedan ayudarse para el cumplimiento de dicha estrategia de formación y participación?En el Eje 4: Elementos Habilitadores, punto 15: Facilitación de mecanismos de integración de integración del principio de igualdad y equidad entre los géneros, así como el enfoque intergeneracional y la inclusión social en las acciones ASAC. 15.1: Desarrollar lineamientos para incorporación de los enfoques de género, intergeneracional y de inclusión social en programas, proyectos y otras iniciativas de ASAC. En ese sentido:» ¿Qué estrategias se están implementando para incorporar enfoques de género, intergeneracional y de inclusión social en los programas y proyectos de su entidad?» En dichas estrategias: ¿cuáles son los aspectos qué funcionan bien y cuáles los que pueden mejorar?» ¿Cuál cree usted que es el principal reto para lograr incorporar los enfoques de género, intergeneracional y de inclusión social en los programas y proyectos de su entidad?» ¿Cómo cree usted que esto se pueda mejorar en este aspecto en su país? » A nivel regional SICA, ¿cómo cree usted que los diferentes países puedan ayudarse para el cumplimiento de dicha estrategia de incorporar enfoques de género, intergeneracional y de inclusión social?Tema 3. Algunos estudios e informes en la región del SICA han identificado que uno de los principales problemas para la implementación de programas de género a nivel nacional y regional tiene que ver con que, aunque las políticas incluyen el tema, la mayoría de dichas políticas no asignan recursos financieros para la implementación de los programas de género.» En su opinión, ¿cómo se podría mejorar la situación financiera de los programas de género?» ¿Existen programas nacionales conjuntos entre los diferentes ministerios que integren el tema de género y que sean financiados por varias fuentes a la vez? Sí, ¿cuáles? ¿Cómo funcionan? » Si no ¿es posible crearlos? ¿Cuáles serían los principales obstáculos para este tipo de trabajo interinstitucional?» ¿Cree usted que el sector agrícola puede ser una fuente de recursos y soluciones para mejorar las condiciones de desigualdad de género? ¿Cómo?Tema 4. Políticas relevantes para identificar acciones clave para la implementación de la línea estratégica de género de la EASAC.» ¿Cuáles cree usted que son las políticas más relevantes para identificar acciones clave para la implementación de la línea estratégica de género? En el momento de la entrevista le mencionaremos una lista de políticas y programas (alrededor de 10 max. 20) para usted nos ayude a identificar los más relevantes para nuestro estudio."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1b05f8b4f6bbbdf952e56842d55b203f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f76db2eb-f7eb-4856-9305-c9aec07b8dc0/retrieve","id":"-777491088"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c8d5b088-b0bf-4c29-a65c-e69f2fee0b46","content":"Poultry has gained renewed attention as a promising value chain for women because it is an asset that is widely accessible to women, has low start-up costs, and provides a good source of nutritious animal-sourced foods for children in chicken meat and, especially, eggs. The current study presents evidence from an experimental intervention that randomly provided women either a poultry package transfer of vaccinated, improved-breed chickens and related inputs, or a cash grant of equivalent value within a sample of households participating in a social safety net program. These transfers were embedded in a set of intensive livelihood and enhanced nutrition interventions as part of a broader experiment in rural Ethiopia. We assess the impact of the poultry package transfer as well as the enhanced nutrition intervention on the consumption of eggs by both children and adult women. We find that the poultry transfer increased the frequency of egg consumption as well as the sale of eggs, falling between the extreme of an autarkic household and one in which production decisions are fully separable from consumption choices.Projections of the impact of scaling up 10 proven effective nutritionspecific interventions to reach 90 percent of children in the world's most malnourished countries estimate that success in that endeavor would only reduce stunting by 20 percent and decrease child deaths attributed to malnutrition by a third (Bhutta et al., 2013). Although this would be appreciable and appreciated, it would not achieve the nutrition targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations, 2015). Actions in \"nutrition-sensitive\" sectors are, thus, additional critical components of any global strategy to eliminate undernutrition (Ruel and Alderman, 2013). Addressing the underlying determinants of undernutrition with nutrition-sensitive agriculture programs is a cornerstone of this broad strategy. Despite the appeal of this concept, supporting evidence has been limited, although the mechanisms for impact and contextual support are becoming clearer (Ruel, Quisumbing, and Balagamwala, 2018).In order to reach their nutritional objectives, nutrition sensitive agriculture programs often include behavior change communication to complement measures to increase household production. This program element is motivated by the fact that many increases in farmstead production of highly nutritious food may not translate to commensurate changes in household diets (Sibhatu and Qaim, 2018). Under a commonly used model of a farm household, production decisions are separable from consumption; as producers the household seeks to maximize profits and as consumers the decision of how to allocate these profits is independent of the decisions on production (Singh, Strauss, Squire 1986;de Janvry, Fafchamps, and Sadoulet, 1991). Separability requires access to well-functioning markets as well as an absence of quality differences between what the household produces and what is offered in markets (Hoffmann and Gatobu, 2014), conditions that have been tested and sometimes rejected, particularly regarding labor and leisure (LaFave and Thomas, 2016). Even when these market conditions hold, farm production decisions may still not be fully separable from household dietary choicesfor example, if either production or consumption decisions are not unitary (Udry et al., 1995). Thus, offering women control over resources is another mechanism for nutrition sensitive programs to be effective (Doss 2013).The current study presents evidence from an experimental intervention that provided women either a poultry package transfer of vaccinated, improved-breed chickens and related inputs, or a cash grant of equivalent value within a sample of households participating in a social safety net program. These transfers were embedded in a set of intensive livelihood and enhanced nutrition interventions as part of a broader experiment in rural Ethiopia. The breed provided to beneficiaries reaches market weight rapidly, quickly providing women the choice over how many of the birds to sell as meat and how many to retain for egg production. We assess the impact of the poultry package transfer on the consumption of eggs by both children and adult women. As such, it goes to a debate between Bill Gates and Chris Blattman regarding the relative value of input specific livelihood transfersin Gate's case, poultry -and cash transfers (Blattman, 2017). The relative merits of each approach depend, in part, on what outcome -household diets, female agency, sustainable income, etc. -is prioritized.Eggs are a particularly nutritious food source and there is evidence, although mixed, that regular egg consumption augments child growth (Lutter, Iannotti, and Stewart, 2018;Iannotti et al., 2017). Child stunting is a significant public health problem among the population of the current study with stunting prevalence of 36% in children under the age of 3 years. Egg consumption is uncommon as is consumption of other animal sourced foods, despite widespread experience in production of livestock and small ruminants (Alderman et al. 2019). While it appears logical that such a program would increase consumption of animal source foods, this is not necessarily the case. Given the relative cost of both eggs and meat (Headey and Alderman, 2019), poor households may prefer to sell most of their production and purchase less expensive foods. The degree to which the poultry transfer or the cash grant translates into consumption, particularly by young children, then, has a bearing on the nutritional sensitivity of this program component.A large-sample, cross-country observational study showed that egg consumption as well as consumption of a variety of animal source foods is associated with modestly lower stunting among children aged 6-23 months in Ethiopia (Headey, Hirvonen, and Hoddinott, 2018). Recent experimental evidence points to both the potential and limitations of intervention aimed at increasing egg consumption. For example, a follow-up to a strong proof-of-concept trial in which a program providing daily consumption of eggs reduced stunting in Ecuador (Iannotti et al., 2017) showed no sustained effect after the provision of eggs was discontinued (Iannotti et al., 2020). Mullally et al. (2021) evaluate a program in Guatemala that provides training and poultry transfers and find a large (23.5 percentage point) reduction in stunting of girls despite no significant reduction for boys and no impact on potentially mediating household level egg or chicken production, nor increased expenditure or changes in diets (calories, protein, eggs). Passarelli et al. (2020) provide additional experimental evidence from Ethiopia that indicates that a poultry program with or without nutrition behavior change communication increased child growth in Ethiopia, depending on the study round and intervention package in unadjusted but not in adjusted regressions.The present study provides experimental evidence that compares the provision of a $200 cash grant to an equivalent value poultry package (16 vaccinated, improved-breed chickens, feed, housing and handwashing station materials, cash for veterinary services and training) provided to mothers of young children with a particular focus on improvements in child diets, a plausible necessary condition for the program to improve child nutrition through a dietary pathway. Measured effects are compared to an experimental control group of households that also participate in the public works based social safety net program, but who received no additional lump sum transfer or complementary nutrition counseling. We also present evidence on the effect of the intervention on poultry stocks and sales, to inform the potential tradeoff between the poultry business and dietary benefits. Our study provides this evidence using a comparatively large sample of poor households, many of whom did not own chickens prior to the intervention and who may be a high priority for targeted child nutrition interventions. In addition, we are able to compare the effects of the poultry transfer relative to a cash grant of comparable magnitude and also relative to an enhanced nutritional counseling program implemented in the absence of any lump sum transfer, and to evaluate complementarities between the transfers and the nutritional counseling.This analysis is part of a larger body of research investigating strategies to improve livelihoods, nutrition, and gender empowerment among beneficiaries of Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP). Initiated in 2005, the PSNP is one of the largest safety net programs in Africa. It provides a combination of public works payment transfers for food insecure households and direct cash support to pregnant and lactating women. The program covers a total of 8 million beneficiaries and provides a mix of cash and food with a mean transfer value of $126 per household per public works season (Berhane et al., 2020). The 4th phase, begun in 2015, integrated a nutrition component into the livelihood orientation of the program. To support implementation of this program World Vision and its partners, CARE and ORDA, are providing services to more than 500,000 PNSP clients in 15 food insecure woredas (districts) in Amhara and Oromia regions of Ethiopia with funding from USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance and in close collaboration with the Government of Ethiopia.This five-year project (2016-2021), Strengthen PSNP 4 Institutions and Resilience (SPIR), includes a clustered 1 randomized controlled trial design to learn about the effect of combinations of the primary components of SPIR programming: a basic livelihoods package, a basic nutrition package, and enhanced programs for both livelihoods and nutrition. The enhanced nutrition program includes, among other aspects, additional behavioral change communication (BCC) strategies of household-level counseling for pregnant and lactating women. The suite of enhanced nutrition services also includes efforts targeted to increase male engagement and support for these improved nutrition practices. These interventions were combined and randomized into four treatment arms: T1: combined intensive livelihood and enhanced nutrition, T2: intensive livelihood and basic nutrition, T3: basic livelihood and enhanced nutrition, and T4: a control group.One of the provisions included in the PSNP4 design was a livelihood transfer ($200 equivalent in local currency) targeted to the poorest households among the already food insecure PSNP client households. As an adaptation on this provision, SPIR provided either the cash grant or an equivalent-value poultry transfer in a cross-randomized fashion across the experimental arms receiving the intensive livelihoods intervention. Half of the kebeles (sub-districts) in these two arms of the study were randomly selected to receive a one-time, targeted cash grant and half were randomly selected to receive a one-time, targeted poultry package. In each of these kebeles the 10 poorest households of the baseline survey sample of 18 households were chosen to receive these transfers through a ranking assessment based on an asset index. The asset index included ownership data on more than 30 asset categories, including consumer durables, productive assets, livestock, and land. It was constructed using principal components analysis, in which the first component maximizes the variation of all variables explained by that component, and therefore gives high weights to variables that are highly correlated with each other (Filmer and Pritchett, 2001). While the PSNP often targets the poorest 10-15% in these food insecure areas, the additional targeting of these transfers can be considered as distinguishing the very poor in terms of asset ownership from among an overall poor target group. Fig. 1 illustrates the overlap of the different treatment components.The poultry package and cash grants were targeted exclusively to women. The improved poultry package (16 Sasso breed 6-8 week-old chickens from EthioChicken 2 , 75 kg of feed, chicken coop construction materials, a feeding trough, simple handwashing station materials and $35 to purchase veterinarian services) was provided in April and early May 2019. Prior to receiving the package, participants received training on basic aspects poultry production. The Sasso is a dual-purpose, hybrid breed that can produce four times as many eggs per year as indigenous breeds (240 vs. 60 on average), while those reared for meat take a quarter of the time to reach market weight. Recipients were encouraged to sell the males (half of their flock) at maturation (4 months) and to keep the hens for egg production. In as much as poultry near the household can increase intestinal illness (Headey et al. 2016), a hygiene component was included in the initial training and materials were provided for simple handwashing stations to be set-up near the poultry pen. In addition, the improved poultry package included materials to construct a sturdy poultry pen (poles, nails, wire mesh, iron roof sheeting, etc.) that enabled HHs to avoid free-range mixing of chickens and children around the household premises.Initially 196 kebeles in Amhara (115 kebeles) and Oromia (81 kebeles) regions were selected for the trial and subsequently randomized into treatment groups. However, two kebeles had no PSNP beneficiaries and thus were not eligible for the program. Two other kebeles experienced ongoing civil unrest and were necessarily dropped from the project. Thus, the evaluation sample comprises 192 kebeles. In each kebele, 18 households were randomly sampled, leading to a planned baseline sample of 3,474 households. The inclusion criteria for the sample were that households had to (1) be a PSNP client household, (2) have at least one child aged 0-35 months, and (3) have the mother or primary female caregiver 3 of the 0-35-month-old child as a member of the household. The last criterion enabled measurement of maternal and child diets as well as child-care for nutritionally vulnerable ages in all sample households. As some listed and initially sampled households did not meet the inclusion criteria, the eventual sample was 3,314 households.IFPRI received approval from its Institutional Review Board (IRB) at baseline for the SPIR quantitative evaluation design. This approval was updated for the second-round survey. IFPRI also received ethics approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Hawassa University, which also hosts the national Academic Center of Excellence for Human Nutrition. Informed oral consent was collected from all participants prior to the start of the interviews. Before beginning a household survey, enumerators read the respondent a brief description of the study that was being conducted, informed them that their participation in the study was voluntary and that they could discontinue participating at any time, and asked whether they agreed to respond to the household interview questions.The baseline survey was undertaken between February 8 and April 25, 2018, with a small number of additional interviews and callbacks completed in the ensuing weeks. Fieldwork for the second-round survey data collection was completed from July 25 to October 23, 2019. Only 114 households from the original survey were not available for interview in the second-round survey, implying a 3.4% attrition rate.Both surveys were structured in three parts: a brief household-level interview for identification and household demographics, a male respondent questionnaire and a female respondent questionnaire. The 1 Clustered at the kebele (sub-district) level 2 EthioChicken produces and sells day-old chicks. These day-old chicks are then raised by independent entrepreneurs and sold to small-scale farmers when they are 45-56 days old.3 As 99.1% and 97.9% of children under 24 months and under 36 months respectively were cared for by their mother, the word mother will used instead of caregiver in the rest of this study. Similarly, father is used in lieu of primary male caregiver irrespective of biological roles.female survey instrument included information on various aspects of her livelihood strategy including participation in self-help groups and poultry raising. The survey also asked about child-care and included questions on the number of food groups consumed in the previous day for a child chosen as the index child and for the mother. These are standard questions used to study diet diversity and do not indicate quantities, only whether or not any items from the food group were consumed. The surveys did not ascertain illness or assess hygiene practices. Each household in the baseline had a child under age 36 months designated as the baseline index child. However, information on feeding practices and the child's diet collected in the baseline survey and second-round survey focused on weaning age children 6-23 months.As mentioned, data collected on assets in the baseline were used to target the subsequent poultry and cash intervention. To do this, a wealth (asset) index was constructed using Stata's pca command for principal component analysis of the correlation matrix. We combined consumer durable assets, productive assets, livestock assets, and size of land owned, scores from which the first component explained 11.3% of the variance. Using the scores of this wealth index, we ranked all households within their kebele and selected the poorest ten households.These assets were also used to sweep out attenuation due to measurement error in household expenditures . This entailed regressing the logarithm of household expenditures against assets reported in the baseline, including human capital (potential adult supply and education). The predicted expenditures were used as covariates in subsequent analysis (see Appendix Table 1).The analysis uses the random assignment into treatment groups and transfer modalities to identify program impact based on intention to treat [ITT] assignment. The primary outcomes of interest are the probability that the child [mother] consumed a food category in the previous day, with a particular emphasis on egg consumption. We test whether households in the enhanced nutritional treatment arms or in the intensive livelihood arms have higher consumption of eggs compared to households who were in the control. We include dummy variables for the random assignment into the two livelihood transfer programs and, in some models, the interaction of the nutrition program and the treatment.Where Y ivd is the outcome of interest, either egg consumption or diet diversity for children or their mother. P vd is an indicator for whether Notes: Estimates from the SPIR baseline survey sample. Standard deviations are in parentheses and sample sizes in square brackets. P-value is from the test of difference of means between the treatment arms. Standard errors are clustered at the kebele level.individual ieither the index child or the child's motherin kebele v in woreda d was in a household that was randomly assigned to receive the poultry transfer, C vd indicates randomized assignment to the cash transfer, N vd indicates randomized assignment to enhanced nutritional programs and L vd reflects assignment into intensive livelihood support without the additional grants. Some specifications also include terms for P vd *N vd and C vd *N vd to capture interaction effects of the poultry transfer or cash grant with the enhanced nutrition programs. The regressions also include the baseline observation of the outcome of interest. This ANCOVA approach increases efficiency (defined as retaining unbiasedness with lower variance) in estimating average treatment effects with experimental data (McKenzie, 2012). This is straight-forward when the observation refers to the mother or the household. However, as few children in the second round data were also in the age range necessary for the anaysis of young child diet diversity in the baseline, the mean of the baseline outcome for the corresponding research strata within the kebele is used in lieu of the child's baseline observation.In addition, μ d is a vector of dummy variables controlling for woreda fixed effects. Some regressions also includes a vector of control variables, X, including the predicted logarithm of household consumption, the education of the primary male and female members of the household, household size and whether or not the dietary recall covered a day in which fasting to avoid animal products is customary 4 . Moreover, the child regressions include variables for the child's gender and age, the former to test for gender discrimination and the latter to account for the fact that some of the youngest children may not yet be fully weaned. These regressions provide a measure of the marginal impact of each program and subprogram interventions and their interactions. While this is a standard approach to ITT evaluation of programs, we also seek to directly assess the impact of poultry ownership on egg consumption as a local average treatment effect. To do this we use transfer assignment to instrument poultry ownership. Angrist et al. (2002) use a similar approach to distinguish the impact of scholarship take up from that of winning a scholarship in a lottery and Hoddinott et al. (2013) use random treatment assignment as an instrument to assess the impact of height on schooling and cognitive skills. Similarly, Linnemayr and Alderman (2011) use random assignment and interactions to control for program crossover in a randomized nutrition trial in Senegal. The underlying assumption in such a model is that the random assignment affects the outcome of interest only through the program take up. In the current context, the assumption is that the randomization of poultry transfers, controlling for intensive livelihood and enhanced nutrition program placement, has no direct impact on egg consumption except through bird ownership.Table 1 reports baseline balance and mean value of the variables in the study in the baseline survey. As some children aged out of the 6-23month target population, the number of observations in the table differs from the regression sample. Nevertheless, the table serves to test whether the recipients of the poultry transfer differ in household composition and assets (other than chickens) from the recipients of the cash transfer. We also test that the very poor in the communities that received livelihood transfers of poultry or cash are similar to those who were deemed very poor in terms of assets in other communities. Finally, the table indicates the means for those who were not eligible for Fig. 2. Receipt of poultry package and cash grant by original treatment assignment, reported by household. 4 The variable is defined as one if the household is Orthodox Christian and the interview recall period covers a fast day. Orthodox Christians fast by avoiding meat and dairy products on Wednesdays and Fridays as well as during Lent and two weeks prior to the Feast of the Dormition in August. Weekday fasts are not observed in the week after Easter. transfers in the communities where others received the livelihood transfers or would not have been eligible on the basis of the asset criterion in the other treatment or control arms. These household are still poor enough for participation in the PSNP but less poor than their neighbors; there is no prior reason that these individuals should have the same education and assets as their neighbors, and thus no balance tests are needed. As indicated, roughly 40% of the households owned poultry at baseline with no differences among treatment arms. Households classified as very poor had on average<1.4 birds, with the males indicating that virtually all birds were owned by a female or jointly owned with the male respondent. Females were not asked directly about ownership of birds in the baseline.Fig. 2 shows that there was modest cross over in program assignment as reported by the household. 89.0% of the women randomly assigned to receive the poultry grant claimed to have obtained the birds and other inputs. However, the union of male reports of a grant and female reports is 94.0%. Whether the difference reflects recall errors or a few women not claiming ownership of household poultry is not clear. However, the small difference is not relevant to the ITT results that are based on the offer, not the receipt. Some women in the intensive livelihood project sites and a smaller share of women in the other project sites (combined here with the control communities) also report receiving chickens, although almost exclusively<16. Various other programs run concurrently in rural Ethiopia and these reported grants likely reflect participation in a similaralbeit smallerprogram. This may have a modest downward impact on the ITT results.The figure also shows reported receipt rates of the cash grant, which are lower than those of the poultry package with 63.2% of the households selected for the grant reporting a receipt. Similarly, few households that were not selected for the grant claimed actually receiving some amount of cash transfer (4.5%). World Vision and their partners undertook further investigations of the cash transfer program and found a mismatch between self-reported recall and administrative records. Without a third tie breaker it is not possible to be certain of the discrepancy. To provide some reassurance that the discrepancy did not drive results on the role of the cash grant we include balance tests to assess if there were any observable differences between the households that were scheduled to receive the cash but claimed they had not and those that acknowledged the grant (Appendix Table 2). This includes observations from both the baseline and the follow-up survey. Of the 11 comparisons in the first round and 9 in the follow up surveyincluding poultry ownership and egg consumptiononly household size differed by a p value of < 0.1 (unadjusted for multiple hypotheses). Table 2 reports the impact of being assigned to receive the poultry package on the probability of egg consumption by children 6-23 months and by the mother of the index child. The first two columns are unadjusted with any covariates; the next two columns repeat the model with covariates and indicate very slight differences. For children whose mothers were assigned to receive chickens, column 3 indicates that the probability of consuming eggs in the previous day has higher by 11.6 percentage points to 15.7%, a more than threefold increase from the mean of the control of only 4.1%. Thus, after the poultry transfer, young children in the recipient households consume more than 3.8 times the baseline mean. Similarly, the women in these poultry transfer receiving households increased their own consumption, albeit by a smaller proportion (5.7 percentage points). Not all these women had children of age 6-23 months. As indicated, most children aged out between surveys, but in some cases new children were born to the mothers of initial sampled children. The inclusion of a dummy variable for mothers of children in this age bracket indicated there was no significant difference between those mothers who had young children between 6 and 23 months and those that did not. [This regression is not reported; the dummy variable has a coefficient of 0.003 with a standard error of 0.008.] Thus, the sample using all mothers is reported for precision. As indicated in Table 2, there is no evidence that the similarly sized cash grant influenced egg consumption for children or mothers. While the increased availability of eggs in the community might have spillover effects, the absence of any changes in consumption among children whose mothers received cash or were in the intensive livelihood program but did not receive either grant is consistent with there not being any significant spillover. Indeed, as an average kebele has 5-6000 individuals, the poultry grant to 10 individuals was not anticipated to have general effect on prices that would encourage consumption over a wider population. Moreover, the presence of the enhanced nutrition program independently influenced the frequency of egg consumption for children but not their mothers. However, there is no indication of a synergistic effect of enhanced nutrition and access to either the poultry grant or the cash transfer above the standard PSNP support. In column 5, the interaction terms are small in magnitude and statistically insignificant, suggesting that the impact of targeted nutrition programming on this aspect of diets is not contingent on household's budgetary resources. The enhanced nutrition program is provided to mothers in the appropriate treatment arms regardless of whether or not she received a poultry grant. Conversely, the training that is part of the poultry package focuses on caring for the birds and does not include any messaging on infant and young child feeding (IYCF). Thus, synergy for diet diversity is not an inherent component of the program design.In a sensitivity analysis, we ran the same regressions that are reported in Table 2 using only those very poor households who qualified for transfers based on their asset indices (including both households in the treatment arms who in fact received transfers, and those in the arms that did not include transfers). These results are reported in Appendix Table 3. The treatment point estimates for the models in columns 1 and 2 were 0.100 and 0.057 respectively. The samples are necessarily smaller with sample sizes of 542 and 1793 observationsbut the coefficients estimated for the effect of poultry transfers remain significant (p < 0.05). As the control sample in these regressions includes only households classified as very poor, it can be considered a stricter comparison than that in Table 2. However, the smaller sample reduces power of the assessment for the role of the enhanced nutritional counseling, hence the preference for including the full sample in the main results.Consistent with Hirvonen and Hoddinott (2017) the distance to the nearest town, or the location of the closest marketwhich effectively lowers the net returns to sales as well as increasing the resource cost of purchasesis negatively associated with egg consumption for children. Household expenditures had no significant impact on the probability of egg consumption by children or adult women nor does education of the primary adults in the household influence the probability of egg consumption. While, as expected, the probability of egg consumption increases for older child children but there is no indication of difference by gender. As indicated in the row referring to interviews after fast days and in keeping with previous studies (Kim, et al. 2019), women in Orthodox Christian households reported virtually no eggs consumed on a fast day. This fasting behavior, however, does not translate to children.Table 3 addresses the question as to whether increased egg consumption by children results partially from reductions in other animal sourced foods or, conversely, whether it increases overall diet diversity. As indicated in Columns 4 and 5, there is no reduction in the low levels of consumption of either milk or animal sourced foods in the households that received poultry transfers. The category of flesh foods common in IYCF analysis includes poultry as well as other meat and fish (WHO and UNICEF, 2017). In a separate regression (not shown) it was confirmed that there was also no increase in the subcategory of poultry. There is, however, an increase in the consumption of pulses that contributes to the overall increase in diet diversity. Indeed, the point estimate for the change in total diet diversity in the poultry treatment is close to the sum of the point estimates for legumes and for eggs. This contrasts with the displacement of legumes by eggs in Malawi as observed by Lutter et al. (2021). This increased pulse consumption is also statistically significant for the households receiving the cash transfer, as well as for the other households in the intensive livelihoods arm who have not received transfers. Thus, this particular change in diet diversity is not specifically attributed to the poultry transfer, as this effect does not differ statistically across all households in the intensive livelihood arm, regardless of receiving a poultry transfer or cash grant. As with eggs, dairy consumption also increases in the communities that received enhanced nutrition BCC, although the increase is only marginally significant.Table 4 explores poultry ownership as a first step in an instrumental variables model. Clearly participating in the poultry program accounts for a highly significant increase in the number of birds owned at the time of the second-round survey. As a reminder, at baseline, only forty percent of respondents owned any poultry, and the average flock size among these households was less than four birds. The increase of slightly less than eight birds, half of the sixteen received, is consistent with the recommendation that all male birds should be sold upon reaching peak market weight. Individuals not receiving poultry transfers but residing in the communities where the intensive livelihood program is implemented also report increased ownership of birds. This is not, however, seen among the recipients of the cash grant; they do not seem to be inspired to use their cash grant to emulate the recipients of the poultry transfers. Moreover, there is a significant increase in poultry ownership attributed to being in an intensive livelihood treatment kebele that is independent of any poultry ownership at the time of the baseline survey, The first 4 columns in Table 5 offer a comparison of an OLS approach to the ownership of birds (columns 1 and 2) with simultaneous IV estimates of the number of birds owned (columns 3 and 4). The three randomized assignments into poultry, cash, and enhanced livelihood arms (excluding poultry and cash) in Table 4 5 are used as instruments along with the lagged endogenous round 1 poultry ownership and have Fstatistics of 56.0 and 67.4 for the 3rd and 4th columns respectively, well above the rule of thumb for 4 instruments in Stock and Yogo (2002). The coefficients of birds owned in the IV regressions are larger than the OLS coefficients. If there was a reverse causal chainthat is, those who prioritize egg consumption obtain more chickensthen the OLS estimates would be the larger pair. Possibly, the smaller OLS coefficients reflect garden variety errors in variables attenuation. This cannot be directly tested, but it is both reasonable and useful to assume that OLS estimates are lower bounds. The coefficient of program assignment in column 1 of Table 2 (0.116) is somewhat below the product of the IV coefficient of birds owned in Table 5 (0.011) and the coefficient of program assignment in Table 4 (7.56). There is an unexplained difference that raise the question of whether the program affects consumption entirely through the ownership of birds. 6 The OLS version does not lead to as close a calculated effect.Columns 5 and 6 include an instrumented interaction of the number of birds and enhanced nutrition, again passing the Stock and Yogo test for 2 instrumented outcomes. While enhanced nutrition and its interaction with poultry are jointly significant neither are independently significant. Similarly, a model that has both the number of birds and the interaction of birds and market distance results in coefficients for distance and the interaction term that are jointly significant but not independently so (results not illustrated). It is, thus, difficult to assess whether the negative effect of distance on consumption is moderated by owning larger flocks. However, the result in columns 7 and 8 confirm the influence of distance in the IV model that was noted in OLS model in Table 2.Table 6 indicates that the households that received the poultry Notes: Estimates from the SPIR second-round survey sample. Standard errors are in parentheses and adjusted for kebele and treatment. For children's outcomes, baseline value is the baseline mean of the outcome within the respective kebele and sub-treatment group.Where primary female's/male's education is missing, it is replaced with 0 and respectively controlled for. * p < 0.1 ** p < 0.05 *** p < 0.01 transfer are not autarkic; while egg consumption increased, so did sales. 7  The results also indicate that poultry transfer recipient households sold on average three more birds than did other households. Given that they received 16 birds and the treatment effect on birds owned at the time of the survey was nearly 8 birds, this implies that approximately five birds were consumed by family members, lost to illness or predators, or otherwise not accounted for. Roughly, the annualized sales of eggs plus that of birds provides $20 a year of cash in addition to home consumption. Curiously, the enhanced nutrition program encourages additional sales of eggs beyond that associated with the poultry transfer, although there is no significant association of this program with bird ownership. These are possibly sales to neighbors and are consistent with the consumption increase attributed to that program in Table 2. The distance to a market or town does not affect sales. 8 A final observation from Table 6, is that fasting days appear to influence egg sales. While the Where primary female's/male's education is missing, it is replaced with 0 and respectively controlled for. * p < 0.1 ** p < 0.05 *** p < 0.01. 7 As with Tables 4 and 5, the regressions in Table 6 and Table 7 exclude outliers greater than three standard deviations, resulting in a removal of 0.1 to 0.6% of the sample for the four variables in Table 6 and 7. These households were likely contracted to raise pullets for distribution. Thus, they have sales of hundreds of birds yet no current ownership and do not represent the general population.measure of fasting refers to the preceding day and, thus, is not an ideal variable for monthly sales, the follow-up survey overlapped with the 15 day fasting period prior to the Feast of Assumption in August. This overlap likely depressed sales.The results in birds owned and allows inference on the role of market orientation relative to ownership per se. Sales of birds increase with ownership in a manner fully consistent with the product of Tables 4 and 6. That is, the bird ownership accounts for the net program effect implying that the recipients of the poultry package are no more likely to sell birds or eggs conditional on the size of their flock. Again, being in the enhanced nutrition program influences sales of eggs but not birds. Table 7 again indicates that the distance to a town or market does not significantly influence sales in contrast to the results on consumption.The results confirm that including a poultry transfer in a livelihood enhancement program in rural Ethiopia led to increased consumption of eggs and improved diet diversity for the target groups of young children and their mothers, irrespective of any explicit efforts to link the transfer to child nutrition. This is in partial contrast with the general pattern of nutrition sensitive agricultural projects which often required synergistic behavioral change communication to reach desired improvements in diet diversity (Ruel, Quisumbing, and Balagamwala, 2018). Nevertheless, the enhanced nutrition program component did have a small additive impact on egg consumption by young children whether or not the household received the poultry transfer package. At the same time an equal value cash grant had no discernable impact on poultry ownership or egg consumption. .The main results pertain to the probability of egg consumption by young children and their mothers; the number of eggs or the size of the portion consumed by the child is not available in the data. The data do, however, indicate the production and consumption of eggs at the household level in the previous month. There is no difference in the share of eggs consumed as a ratio of those produced between the poultry grant recipients and other households who own chickens; the mean ratioTreatment effects on probability of egg consumption by mother & index child (6-23 months) Extremely poor households.(1)( of eggs consumed to that produced for poultry transfer recipients is 0.55 [SE 0.51] compared to 0.60 [SE 0.42] for other poultry owners. Thus, the impact on child diet diversity comes from the increase in egg production rather than any shift in marketing shares. This is consistent with the results in Tables 6 and 7.That increased supply of a food at the household level increases consumption is hardly surprising; this has been shown in the case of both milk (Alderman 1994: Rawlins et al. 2014) and eggs (Broaddus-Shea et al. 2020). The randomization of poultry provision assures that this causality runs from ownership to consumption rather than from dietary preference to purchase of birds and, to a degree, runs counter to a strict separability of production and consumption decisions. Market access is a small part of the story. Demand is mediated by physical access; the distance to a market or town slightly reduces the probability of egg consumption, although it has no measured impact on sales. The former association has been observed in other studies of marketing and diet diversity in Ethiopia (Hirvonen and Hoddinott, 2017), albeit without a randomized design. The pattern of lower consumption when markets are not local is also consistent with observations on milk consumption in Ethiopia (Hoddinott, Headey, and Dereje, 2015). Unlike that study, however, we note that the transfer also increased sales of both eggs and birds. A caveat, however, is in order; distance to towns or markets does not cover the frequency or scale of these markets.Other issues besides distance may contribute to inadequate markets for eggs in Ethiopia. At the time of this study, routine vaccination for Newcastle disease was not common. As discussed in Morris, Beesabathuni, and Headey (2018), egg production is seldom at large scale in Africa due to the risk of diseases. The additional 40 egg per kebele total monthly sales implicit in Table 7 is not yet at a scale likely to influence a regular market. The absence of scale production influences the absence of a market and vice versa; a literal chicken and egg first move conundrum. If a household is unable to regularly obtain the quantity desired at its level of income and notional price from the irregular market, then increased household production would be expected to go towards consumption more than it would in the case of reliable markets. Hoddinott, Headey, and Dereje (2015) also ascertained that cow ownership improved nutritional status of children. While a positive impact on child nutrition is plausible with egg consumption as well, the short duration from the time of the transfer to the data collection places that question outside of the scope of the current study. Nevertheless, the poultry transfer, which was designed as a livelihood project for women, exhibits the potential to be nutrition sensitive in these communities where diet diversity is extremely low. On average, children 6-23 months at baseline outside the poultry transfer recipient households and enhanced nutrition treatment kebeles consumed 2.6 out of 8 food groups daily, well below the WHO recommended level of 5 groups including breast milk (WHO and UNICEF, 2017). The increase attributed to increased poultry ownership does not come at a measured decrease in the number of any other food groups consumed. Thus, while still a small incrementalthough of a particularly nutritious foodit is a step in the direction towards a healthy diet.While the PSNP has been recognized as a model for safety nets in Sub-Saharan Africa, complementary activities can strengthen livelihoods and build assets. Targeted provision of improved poultry breeds can play a significant role in this strategy. At the same time, these inkind grants can address a second goal of the PSNP, that of improving the nutritional status of women and children. These livelihood-oriented grants can improve diet diversity even in the absence of specific behavioral change communication paired with the introduction of new poultry breeds, in contrast to many nutrition sensitive agricultural programs. Nevertheless, overall nutrition behavior communication can have an additive impact on consumption of animal sourced foods that are important for child nutrition."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ef5185747333535d0454c7a0cbe55d2d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8f4c9f93-3b3f-496a-97c7-4a96463a329e/retrieve","id":"856628154"},"keywords":["Sustainable agricultural intensification","stakeholder engagement","SHARED","evidence-based decision making","tradeoff analysis"],"sieverID":"ae64cbbd-eace-4652-99c5-d1a7dd04bdba","content":"Sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) has the potential to increase food security without detrimental effects on ecosystem services. However, adoption of SAI practices across sub-Saharan Africa has not reached transformational numbers to date. It is often hampered by lack of context-specific practices, sub-optimal understanding of tradeoffs and synergies among stakeholders, and lack of approaches that bring diverse evidence sources together with stakeholders to collectively tackle complex problems. In this study, we asked three interconnected questions: (i) What is the accessibility and use of evidence for SAI decision making; (ii) What tools could enhance access and interaction with evidence for tradeoff analysis; and (iii) Which stakeholders must be included? This study employed a range of research and engagement methods including surveys, stakeholder analysis, participatory trade-off assessments and co-design of decision dashboards to better support evidence-based decision making in Zambia, Tanzania and Ethiopia. At the inception, SAI evidence was accessible and used by less than half of the decision makers across the three countries and online dashboards hold promise to enhance access. Many of the stakeholders working on SAI were not collaborating and tradeoff analysis was an under-utilized tool. Structured engagement across multiple stakeholder groups with evidence is critical.Multi-functional smallholder farming systems in East and Southern Africa (ESA) are highly diverse in terms of climates, land uses, land cover types, governance structures and socio-economic realities. Increased demographic pressure and a growing demand for food is putting more pressure on these food systems, often resulting in severe land degradation and reduced adaptive capacity to climate change. Smallholder farmers are responsible for the vast majority of agricultural production in ESA, but the most of these farmers remain poor and marginalized (Salami et al., 2010). Decades of economic growth throughout ESA is reshaping food systems as urbanization and demographics impact agricultural production and markets. There is therefore a need for action throughout the food system. Sustainable agriculture intensification (SAI) aims to increase food production from existing farmland while avoiding negative environmental, social or cultural impacts (Garnett et al., 2013;Pretty, 2008). While some argued that SAI focused too much on intensification, the concept of ecological intensification aims to intensify the biological regulation on the system, building on the supporting and regulating ecosystem services (Doré et al., 2011;Tittonell, 2014). Ecological modernization acknowledges the role of agro-ecological approaches and aims to address institutional barriers to implementation (Horlings & Marsden, 2011). Given these holistic perspectives, the definition of SAI continues to be refined and adapted, for example, to be more inclusive by making sure that the human and social considerations were also taken into account so that not only food production was prioritized (Liao & Brown, 2018;Loos et al., 2014). A paradigm shift around SAI has been proposed where agriculture contributes to a 'sustainable world within a safe operating space on Earth' (Rockström et al., 2017). Most recently the global commission on agriculture supported the articulation of the role of agroecology to build resilience to climate change and contribute to the provision of multiple ecosystem services (Sinclair et al., 2019). Despite their differences, these various approaches are a response to the severe environmental and social short-falls of the Green Revolution (Conway & Barbie, 1988) and the negative impacts of conventional agriculture on ecosystem services (Matson, 1997;Tscharntke et al., 2012).In multifunctional agricultural landscapes, tradeoffs occur both within and between agricultural systems, across broader environmental or socio-cultural objectives, across temporal and spatial scales, as well as between actors (Klapwijk et al., 2014). Given the multiple objectives and domains within SAI, it inevitable that tradeoffs will need to be considered. Thomson et al. (2019) outlined key aspects that need to be addressed in SAI, including contextspecific trade-offs and the need for reliable evidence in order to quantitatively assess these multiple dimensions. Several methods have been developed to analyse tradeoffs, including participatory approaches, empirical analyses, optimization models and simulation models (Antle et al., 2003;Folke et al., 2016;Haggar et al., 2017;Kanter et al., 2018;Musumba et al., 2017). Despite, these numerous methods, there is often a gap in how these data and outputs are shared and communicated with the various stakeholder groups, especially those prioritizing and investing in SAI. We also know that approaches that engage policy makers, farmers, and other stakeholders in collaborative processes to facilitate interactive dialogue with data and evidence at appropriate scales are more successful than traditional 'linear' ways of communicating science and evidence (Young et al., 2014). This is critically important in the promotion of SAI, particularly given that it requires the acquisition of new knowledge, skills and attitudes amongst producers, coupled with adoption of fundamentally new ways of managing their farming systems.However, the opportunities for many smallholders, especially women and young people, to benefit from this transition through SAI remain elusive. Lack of information and evidence about locally appropriate technologies, market interventions and enabling policies are often cited as key reasons for the failure of development approaches to foster innovation and transform agriculture in SSA. Extension systems and NGOs operating technology transfer models have generally failed to take sufficient account of the various socio-economic and environmental tradeoffs amongst different agricultural management options, or to sufficiently incorporate local knowledge and variation in context (Coe et al., 2014;Waters-Bayer et al., 2015). As much as the aim of SAI is to increase production efficiency, farmers and other stakeholders need to understand potential tradeoffs between agricultural inputs and biological processes that impact key ecosystem services (Pretty et al., 2011). Others suggest that SAI approaches embrace a farmer-centered approach, encourage constructive communication across multiple stakeholders, and development of a conducive policy environment (Barrett et al., 2002). Suggestions to support this scaling include an 'agricultural system redesign' which incorporates policy measures to support SAI, building of social capital and innovation around SAI practices (Pretty et al., 2018). As SAI continues to gain momentum, many argue there are still knowledge gaps to be addressed, as highlighted by the identification of the most pressing research questions facing global agriculture (Pretty et al., 2010) and the most recent analysis which calls for 'adequate investment and effective R&D prioritization' (Cassman & Grassini, 2020). Therefore, it is clear that stakeholder engagement along the entire process from SAI prioritization to evidence generation and dissemination is critical to its successful implementation.The importance of stakeholder engagement for scaling agricultural innovations has long been recognized. Understanding which stakeholders to engage and their perspectives and interests is critical for work related to sustainability and to ensure legitimacy and quality of related decisions (Prell et al., 2009). Grimble and Wellard (1997) defined stakeholder analysis as a holistic approach or procedure for gaining an understanding of a system, and assessing the impact of changes to that system, by means of identifying the key actors or stakeholders and assessing their respective interests in the system. Engagement of stakeholders is also critical to understand the complexity in both accountability and decision-making processes (Frame & Brown, 2008), which is highly relevant to SAI. Cvitanovic et al. (2016) emphasized the importance of knowledge exchange among scientists, decision makers and stakeholders to enhance decision making. Social network analysis can be used to enhance stakeholder analysis by focusing on the connections between social entities (Prell et al., 2009;Wassermam & Faust, 1994) as well as to identify the role of the various stakeholder groups (Mitchell et al., 1997;Prell et al., 2008). Brugnach and Ingram (2012) recognized that shared knowledge systems among stakeholders include diverse sources of experience, scientific facts, meanings and interpretations. Other authors have outlined a framework for identifying entry points within complex stakeholder engagements and agricultural innovation support systems (Schut et al., 2015). However, very few outline the specifics of multi-stakeholder engagement, including the need to work across multiple administrative policy levels along with systems thinking to enhance decision making around agricultural innovations. Systems thinking perspectives among citizens and decision makers is considered critical to dealing with complex issues in development (Arnold & Wade, 2015). Bringing these together into a decision making framework that takes into account systems thinking; cross-sectoral, multi-stakeholder and multi-scale interaction; and visually accessible evidence has been undertaken using the Stakeholder Approach to Risk Informed and Evidence Based Decision Making (SHARED) method to support integrated planning and implementation in socio-ecological systems (Neely et al., 2017;Vågen et al., 2018).This paper shares insights from an interdisciplinary research project within the Sustainable Agricultural Intensification Research and Learning in Africa (SAIRLA) Programme. SAIRLA is a five-year programme (2015-2020) which aims to generate new evidence and design tools to enable governments, investors and other key actors to deliver more effective policies and investments in SAI. This specific project aimed to increase the uptake of context-appropriate SAI innovations in ESA through evidence generation, data analytics, farmer engagement and the development of innovative tools for stakeholder engagement with evidence, including the assessment of tradeoffs. Research questions included: (i) What is the accessibility and use of evidence for SAI decision making; (ii) What tools could enhance access and interaction with evidence for tradeoff analysis; and (iii) Which stakeholders must be included?The specific objective of this paper was to show the role of structured stakeholder engagement processes to negotiate tradeoffs and synergies of SAI across multiple stakeholder groups. This includes the process of bringing together stakeholders, allowing them to share their perspectives on practices and policy development around SAI, access to credible evidence sources, role of social networks, and finally the utility of open access decision dashboards to share evidence and target SAI interventions.The project was implemented across multiple scales (farm, district, national) in three countries, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia (Figure 1). Farmer-level engagement and implementation of on-the-ground field activities took place in the Solwezi district in the 'new Copperbelt' region of Zambia, specifically in Mutanda and St Francis wards. In Tanzania, activities were based in Mbarali district in the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT). In Ethiopia, activities took place in Ziway, Meki, and Mojo woredas in the rift valley in the Oromia region in southern Ethiopia. National-level activities took place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Lusaka, Zambia; and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The action areas were chosen as hotspots of demand for the development, testing and dissemination of context-specific SAI interventions, as explained in detail below.In Tanzania, the SAGCOT is one of several agricultural 'growth corridors' being proposed in SSA. It covers an area corresponding to about one-third of mainland Tanzania and extends from Dar es Salaam to the borders of Zambia and Malawi. This region has a growing, government-led emphasis on SAI with a focus on increasing agricultural production. The main crop grown in Mbarali district is rice, followed by maize and tomatoes.In Ethiopia, Meki, Mojo and Ziway woredas are important zones for agriculture, especially due to the their close proximity to Addis Ababa. Main crops include maize, wheat, and haricot bean, with areas adjacent to Lake Ziway and Bulbula river irrigated for vegetable farming and horticultural crops. Mean annual rainfall is 750 mm with a monomodal distribution. Some of the key concerns to agricultural sustainability in this region, particularly in irrigated areas, include high soil pH and increased salinization, as is the case in much of the Rift Valley in East Africa.In Zambia, the Solwezi district has favourable rainfall (1000-1500 mm yr −1 ) with high potential for agricultural production, but biophysical conditions constrain crop and livestock production. Subsistence agriculture, using the Chitemene system of shifting cultivation, is the main livelihood activity. Major crops grown in the area include maize, cassava, rice and potatoes and major cash crops include tobacco, cotton and horticulture. The natural vegetation is miombo woodland, which is also an mportant sources of food and income, particularly game, timber, fuel and honey.The project combined several process and technical approaches in building the evidence base for SAI in each of the countries and for sharing of evidence in a format useful for decision making and SAI practice by diverse stakeholders at multiple scales. The project conceptual framework is provided in Figure 2.The Stakeholder Approach to Risk Informed and Evidence Based Decision Making (SHARED) method is a tailored process that builds on rigorous scientific data and evidence to facilitate interaction between people and accessible evidence for planning and decision making that yield sustainable impacts. SHARED is an approach guided by a set of principles and adapted to each case with appropriate tools applied. SHARED is a people-centered and demand driven process with deliberate dialogue and communication to encourage co-learning and negotiation. Furthermore, SHARED aims to enhance decision making capacities for transformative tools.In this study tools included stakeholder mapping, continuous stakeholder engagement across the lifetime of the project, participatory tradeoff analysis, data collection in the field, facilitated interaction with evidence and the co-development of the decision dashboard. The roadmap to building the evidence base and co-designing the dashboards started at the inception of the project, with the initial National SHARED workshops in September 2016, subsequent workshops at the district level in 2017 and National SHARED workshops in 2017. As well as repeated engagement with the National Learning Alliances (NLAs) in each country. All these engagements and interactions culminated in the SHARED workshops on the SAI Dashboards.Stakeholder mapping was used to identify key stakeholders to be included in workshops and to identify the level of connectivity of the network and where stakeholders were disconnected. As such social network analysis (SNA) was used to display and analyse stakeholder information networks using the R-Studio igraph package (Csardi & Nepusz, 2016). SNA is a powerful visualization tool and has been used as it moves beyond the limitations of categorizing stakeholders based on categories such as power and interest to review their role in communication networks and to review stakeholder relationships (Prell et al., 2009).A stakeholder mapping exercise, using social network analysis (SNA) and a survey of access to and use of evidence for SAI decision making took place during a sub-national participatory workshop in 2016 and subsequently with national level stakeholders in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia. Stakeholder profile information was collected using the SHARED Stakeholder Mapping Guide (Bourne et al., 2017). Trained enumerators interviewed respondents individually at the national level and at workshops for the sub-national level. Respondents represented key organizations engaged in SAI and were identified by key informants and literature. An electronic data entry form, using Open Data Kit (ODK), was developed, enabling rapid and high-quality data collection. These data were collected and uploaded to the ODK Server hosted at World Agroforestry (ICRAF) GeoScience Lab. Social network information was collected using the ODK tool for national level respondents and using a paper form for the subnational workshop participants. A participatory tradeoff activity was developed and implemented with stakeholders at both district and national level in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia during the second SHARED workshops. The purpose of the activity was threefold: (1) To gather perspectives on the impact of SAI practices on various socio-ecological domains; (2) Identify key data needs to assess tradeoffs and synergies; and (3) Identify key areas for action to minimize tradeoffs. The tradeoff activity was adapted from the Guide for the Sustainable Intensification Assessment Framework (Musumba et al., 2017) and employed a stepwise approach to assessing the influence of SAI practices on the five suggested dimensions of SAI (agricultural productivity, income, land health, human condition and social aspects). Before embarking on the tradeoff activity, an exercise on what a tradeoff is, and how to interpret a radar graph was developed and implemented. This was an important step to facilitate a better understanding of the concepts of tradeoffs.Each indicator was scored from −5 to −1 for negative influence, 0 for no influence, and 1-5 for positive influence. The results of the scoring exercise were then aggregated at the dimension level and visualized using a radar plot. Based on the scores, the stakeholders identified which dimensions and indicators needed the most attention to reduce the negative influence of the SAI practice, as well as the specific investments needed to overcome these potential barriers. Recommendations from resulting discussions outlined the next steps needed to integrate tradeoff assessments into SAI planning processes in the target countries. Furthermore, key data gaps tthat need to be filled in order to conduct robust tradeoff analysis were identified.The project aimed to develop an interactive, open access platform -'SAI Dashboard'for project action sites to support the engagement of decision makers to interact with data and evidence. The objectives of the SAI dashboard were to: (1) store, access and share available SAI data online; (2) visualize data in a way that is easy and quick to understand; (3) view data on multiple topics at the same time to support decision making; (4) enhance capacity to interpret, discuss and use dashboard data; and (5) enhance capacity to make tradeoff considerations when planning SAI interventions and policies. The dashboards contain both social and ecological data sets and use spatial and non-spatial data analytics and graphics to present the data to users. Along with advanced data analytics and visualization tools, the SAI dashboards provide tools for in-depth exploration of models, data, information and can be used for hypothesis testing. The roadmap to building the evidence base and co-designing the dashboards started at the inception of the project and continued throughout the life of the project.The first step was the identification of key modules to be developed within each SAI Dashboard, for example, from yield datasets to land health assessments. Next was the participatory identification of the data sources that are available to be included under each of these modules. These activities were carried out during the SHARED workshops at the inception of the project.To encourage sustainable use of the dashboards, with intended embedding into planning structures, a Core Dashboard Team was self-nominated during the workshops with drafted terms of reference and guidelines for communication and feedback mechanisms. This core team acted as focal point within the countries, so that co-designed dashboards could be continually updated and iterated with decision makers needs around SAI. Over the subsequent year, further interactions took place to allow key feedback, refinement in design and capacity support, both in interpreting evidence, as well as decision and negotiation support, specifically applicable where tradeoffs across scales have to be captured.A structured dashboard feedback form was developed to elicit feedback on the utility and functionality of the dashboards during interactions with the dashboard. Feedback was given around features that the stakeholders found of interest, ease of navigation within the dashboard, useful modules and visualizations within the dashboard, suggestions for additional modules that could be included in the dashboard, who the users of the dashboard are, and the decisions that the dashboard would be most useful to inform. The feedback was collected in different settings including during the national SHARED workshops and was incorporated in continual improvement of the dashboards.Participants to each workshop filled the dashboard feedback form ranging from NGOs, government, research, donor organizations as well as the private sector (N = 37 in Zambia; N = 43 in Tanzania; and N = 43 in Ethiopia). The feedback form asked the following questions: (1) Which features caught your attention? Please list and describe key features you found interesting and why; (2) Did you find it easy to navigate around the dashboards and access information? Please give direct recommendations for changes; (3) What modules and data visualization did you find most useful? And why?; (4) Are there additional modules that should be included in the SAI dashboard that would support your work? Please list the modules; (5) Who do you think the dashboard is most useful for and why?; and (6) What decision(s) do you think the dashboard would help inform?Of the 124 SAI stakeholders identified and interviewed for the baseline survey on evidence access and use, nearly 60% were considered to hold significant decision-making power, i.e. they worked for government institutions that set SAI relevant policy; designed or managed SAI-relevant programmes, projects and interventions; or occupied senior decisionmaking/ management positions within these organizations. Eighty-one percent were men and 19% were women. There was equal participation of stakeholders across the countries (41 participants from Ethiopia, 45 from Tanzania and 38 from Zambia). Participants were from various institutions including government (representing 48% of the respondents), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) (18%) and private sector (7%), among others (Figure 3).The results of the survey revealed that, while about 40% of the interviewed stakeholders perceived that they had access to general SAI information and evidence and informed their policies and programmes accordingly (Figure 4) more refined information and evidence was lacking (average of 11%) on what works where (e.g. in specific local contexts) and for whom (e.g. for women and other differentiated social groups) (Figure 5). Although almost half of the SAI decision-makers reported that their organizations incorporate SAI related information into their decision-making, far fewer do so with respect to more nuanced evidence pertaining to women and men and specific social groups and contexts. The stakeholder analysis using social network mapping was undertaken at sub-national and national levels. The density of the network shows how connected the actors in the network are with a maximum possible value of one if all actors are connected. None of the networks were highly connected and hence density values are low in general. The district-level network in Solwezi, Zambia had the greatest density of 0.034, out of a possible 1, compared to the other networks (Table 1). Overall, these data  demonstrate the unconnected nature of the networks and the potential to enhance collaboration in terms of information exchange, particularly around SAI tradeoffs and information.The national level stakeholder networks for SAI information exchange were captured for Tanzania, Zambia and Ethiopia and are presented as sociograms. Government, NGOs and research organizations had the highest degree of connectivity in that they had the highest number of connections to other actors. The degree of connectivity indicates the extent to which actors share or access information with other actors and those with a large set of connections in the network are likely to be more powerful or influential given their higher access to information.The stakeholder network captured for Tanzania at the national level, with some interviews of regional actors, showed that government actors, in this case the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MALF), was more connected than other actors (Figure 6). This reflects the centralized nature of information exchange in Tanzania. Other actors with relatively high degrees of connectivity included the NGO Care International, the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group and the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT). The network in Figure 6 also shows that there are many opportunities to enhance or build connections, particularly between research, public-private partnerships and NGOs.The National SAI Stakeholder Network for Zambia included a large number of research organizations that were often linked to NGOs and intergovernmental organizations such as FAO or regional networks such as AGRA (Figure 7). Identification and connectivity with government ministries illustrated a gap in the network and was identified as an area for further intervention for the project. The Interim Climate Change secretariat and the Zambian Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI) were the most connected stakeholders overall. Stakeholders that were not interviewed but were mentioned a number of times included the World Bank and FAO.The national stakeholder network captured as a baseline for Ethiopia included a large number of research institutes, donors, NGOs and some government departments (Figure 8), but with a limited degree of connectivity. For evidence-informed decision making, the connection between researchers and implementers/donors is encouraging and was identified as an area that could be strengthened through SAIRLA. The Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources department was the most important stakeholder linking the network and had the highest number of connections.The participatory tradeoff activity was conducted with partners in all three countries (Ethiopia, Nov 2019 n = 24 participants; Tanzania in August 2019, n = 23 participants and in Zambia in September 2018, n = 47 participants. Participants assessed the influence of selected SAI practices on the five dimensions (Agricultural Productivity, Income, Land Health, Human Condition, Social Aspects). This activity was carried out for at least four SAI practices in each country, e.g. integrated soil fertility management, conservation agriculture, intercropping, agroforestry, among others. Figure 9 shows the radar graph generated by the five groups: (1) Government; (2) Private sector;(3) NGOs; and (4) Research Institutions) during the national level workshop in Ethiopia, note the variation in perceptions. An interesting outcome was the differing views of the tradeoffs from the different stakeholder groups, for example there was not strong agreement on the impact of homegarden agroforestry on human condition nor social aspects, while a majority of the stakeholders agreed on the positive contribution of homegardens to household income. This highlights the need for cross-sectoral engagement with evidence to discuss and debate these tradeoffs for decision making. Another key aspect of the activity was to identify data needs in order to make more informed decisions. For example. at the national level in Ethiopia, stakeholders concluded that sufficient evidence was not available for all of the five dimensions of SAI evaluation, and highlighted the need for this information all in one location. Furthermore, the workshop focused on the investments needed to overcome these tradeoffs and the factors hindering the investments. Table 2 provides the specific feedback from each group during the Solwezi workshops. Key insights include the needed for controlled grazing to improve soil and land health, the need for available tree seedlings for establishing agroforestry practices, demonstration and communication of the evidence on the performance of the various practices.Finally, another key observation from the participatory tradeoff activity was the need for both capacity building in developing and interpreting graphs, including radar graphs which are generally used to describe the influence of a particular SAI technologies on the multiple dimensions. This has implications, in general for barriers to the use of evidence in decision making.A key element of SAI in the context of SAIRLA lies in understanding how various stakeholders obtain and share information, and how this information is used in prioritizing SAI practices that minimize potential negative impacts of agricultural intensification on the environment. During the project stakeholders repeatedly expressed need for data and information at their fingertips to aid in decision making and prioritization. The SAI dashboards were co-developed with stakeholders to allow various groups of stakeholders, to visualize and assess: (1) root-causes of important   6) socio-economic data. In addition, the dashboard visualizes maps of land health indicators such as soil erosion prevalence and soil organic carbon as well as climate trends. These data aided to better understand and identify biophysical constraints facing agricultural productioon and serve as a platform to facilitate communication of data and analysis between scientists and stakeholders, including national and international learning alliances. In Tanzania, the Mbarali district collated and uploaded additional datasets including irrigation scheme data, as well as agricultural production data for several crops over time. In addition, the homepage and navigation bar have been translated into Kiswahili. For the district of Mbarali, the dashboard is also available through the district's website (https://www. mbaralidc.go.tz/dashboadlinks). Figure 10 shows the screenshot of the Tanzania Dashboard homepage and the 10 modules (Socio-economic; Root cause analysis; Stakeholder mapping; Prioritization of SAI practices; SAI trials; Tradeoffs; Land health; Crop production and storage; Climate; and Irrigation).All three country dashboards are available online:. https://landscapeportal.org/SairlaTanzania/ . https://landscapeportal.org/SairlaZambia/ . https://landscapeportal.org/SairlaEthiopia/ To further facilitate the sharing of data and evidence, information from each module can be downloaded as a pdf and the data can be downloaded as a comma-separated (csv) file, which can be opened in all common spreadsheet software. Users can also download a user guide and a facilitation guide for champions building capacity on the use of the dashboard.. Each dashboard also has responsive themes to work on various devices, including smartphones and are optimized for low internet connection speeds.   Using Google Analytics, we tracked the number of unique users, number of unique sessions and the number of countries from which the visitors accessed the dashboard over a period of 7.5 months (between 1 March 2019 and 17 October 2019). Tanzania had the highest number of unique sessions (n = 206), followed by Ethiopia (n = 149) and Zambia (n = 96). The number of unique users in Tanzania was 104, compared to 71 in Ethiopia and 66 in Zambia. These data demonstrate the dashboard was being accessed during this time period.Specific feedback on the ideal users of the dashboard as well as the specific decisions the evidence provided in the dashboard could inform were also tallied. Some of the suggestions on the types of decisions the dashboard could be used for are listed below:. As a planning instrument to evaluate and monitor effectiveness and sustainability -Ethiopia . For planning and evaluation, policy formulation -Ethiopia . Policy decisions: project implementation benchmarks for places where projects can be sited -Zambia Stakeholders suggested the following as some of the decisions that can be informed by the SAI dashboards (Figure 11):  In addition to the dashboard feedback forms, the final afternoon sessions of the workshops were conducted in plenary to ask participants specific actions needed to increase the use and sustainability of the SAI dashboards. Suggestions were made around increasing the visibility and awareness of the dashboard, identifying key champions at various institutions, making an offline version of the dashboard, including additional sources of data, and including the link of the dashboard on the website of the respective Ministry of Agriculture. It was agreed in each country, that the various NLAs have a key role to play in increasing the awareness of the dashboard by targeting the awareness and publicity to the relevant thematic groups within the NLA such as the Sustainable Land Management group or Tradeoffs group. Using the SHARED approach, the intentional use of a suite of structured stakeholder engagement activities at local and national levels identified key entry points for the scaling of SAI. This included the importance of linking stakeholders across the administrative levels and across sectors as a basis for a more coherent approach to SAI. Specifically in terms of prioritizing contextually appropriate and effective interventions, linking existing SAI related projects and policy support, understanding information needs, and identifying evidence accessibility to support best practices and priority investments for scaling SAI.Our focus was the identification of stakeholders to be engaged in the study and to see where further efforts are needed to bring disconnected stakeholders into the network, rather than identify the typology of each stakeholder. We used social network analysis to identify the role and influence of the individual stakeholders based on their position in the network as applied in other studies (Prell et al., 2009;Wassermam & Faust, 1994). Initial stakeholder analysis revealed that the SAI networks were largely disconnected with a few key stakeholders providing central and linking roles. Similar results have been found, even within multi-stakeholder platforms in the region (Hermans et al., 2017). Some variation was seen between the three countries, for example in Tanzania one organization was dominant while in Zambia and Ethiopia a number of stakeholders loosely connected the network. This suggests that diverse engagement processes are needed to bring more stakeholders into connected roles in the networks to ensure information flow and exchange of ideas amongst the organizations.Given this interdisciplinary nature of SAI, the disconnected nature of the SAI networks provides an opportunity to bring together a range of stakeholders to shape the scaling process, as we attempted in this study. However, further and continuous engagements will be needed in the future.The combination of the methods and processes utilized in this study, using the SHARED approach, served as a mechanism for prioritizing and scaling SAI practices and enhancing knowledge exchange and evidence based decision making and investments at the local and national level. In Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia, we demonstrated the value of multi-stakeholder and cross-sectoral engagement and the input of high quality, country relevant evidence to support the uptake of cost effective and contextually appropriate SAI interventions by women and men farmers and to inform local and national decision making and investments in support of scaling SAI nationally.Access to and use of evidence for SAI decision making was found to be limited in this study, particularly with respect to more nuanced evidence related to gender and social groups.While each of the stakeholder groups across scales interviewed reported that they used some information and evidence in their decision making, the sources of information and evidence tended to be from workshops, country specific research reports, the internet and brochures. When the project probed to determine which kinds of data characterizing data for SAI interventions were available to support decisions on SAI implementation and investment, it was found that available data in both an accessible location and format and data gaps are a serious challenge. Stakeholder engagement with evidence and the co-design of the decision dashboards created enthusiasm for collating, sharing and uploading evidence. By applying advanced data visualization and actionable data, the SAI dashboard helped facilitate communication of data and analysis between scientists and stakeholders. This allowed for interrogation of evidence and increase the rate of discovery and help contextualize the data used. However, long-term capacity development efforts are needed for various stakeholders in terms of data collection, curation and interpretation. Creating a culture of evidence use and inclusive decision making takes time. Continuous and regular engagement is critical for the co-design process and ultimate utility and sustainability of the dashboards as well as for the influencing of SAI policy development and implementation.One of the lessons learned is that the importance of capacity development for decision-makers to interpret and incorporate evidence into decision making. A positive outcome of this project has been the capacity development in this area. Data visualization has been acknowledged as a powerful way to support synthesis, communication and use of data. Visualized data is more attractive, sharable as well as easy and fast to understand. Through engaging people to interact with data it inspires curiosity and prompts discussion around interpretation and application. The use and discussion starts to create a culture of data. By presenting available information on SAI in a place that is easy to access and share, that is visually appealing and interactive, people are more likely to access and use the data. Furthermore, this engagement with data is more likely to create a culture for additional data collection and analysis and contribute to enhancing the information available through finding or sharing additional data sets.Perceptions of the various tradeoffs differed by stakeholder groups and provides an important starting point for discussing and deciding what SAI practices to promote, where and for who. In all countries, while the term 'trade off analysis' is often used, the concept of tradeoff analyses around SAI were not immediately understood. An interesting finding in this study was the diversity of responses received in relation to trade-offs. Where evidence was available it was interpreted in diverse ways as seen in the five different trade-off scores developed during the stakeholder workshops. This demonstrates that participatory tradeoff analysis produces 'clumsy solutions' as described in Frame and Brown (2008), where diverse stakeholders are engaged for the co-production of sustainability know-how and there is a plurality of legitimate perspectives. Participatory tradeoff exercises are essential but are unlikely to produce one concrete answer. While the discussion, contextualization and diverse interests are essential, a follow-on negotiated dialogue would be needed to take this exercise to the planning stage. It was important to bring together different stakeholders at local and national levels to collectively raise awareness and build capacity on how to carry out participatory tradeoff analyses including the evidence required.Scaling SAI requires the combination of farmer interest, capacity, adoption and benefits in conjunction with enabling policy and institutional relationships in support. In addition to agricultural ministries, there are other relevant sectors that must be engaged and coordinated, such as environment, lands, education, health, and finance among others, particularly to ensure that underpinning causes of the barriers to adoption are addressed. Multi-level approaches were viewed as critical to scaling up SAI including (a) enhancing coordination across initiatives and institutions; (b) raising awareness and capacity development locally and nationally; (c) on farm interventions and demonstration plots, local level exchange visits (including dialogue and exposure for national level actors) and trainings; (d) national level practice and policy dialogues. Below are a few key lessons learned from the various stakeholder groups.(1) Evidence generation and sharing needs to fit within the decision making cycles of various stakeholders, including farmers, decision makers and investors.(2) Flexibility is needed when co-developing decision support tools, including decision dashboards to ensure their utility and sustainability. (3) Continuous engagement is needed. (4) Responsive capacity development events need to be tailored to meet the needs of the stakeholder groups.(1) The National Learning Alliances (NLA) were key champions for the dashboard and provide a platform for continued co-development of the dashboards in each country. The continuation of such a platform will be essential to link policy makers and research / development actors to enhance knowledge exchange. (2) Early engagement of decision makers in the codesign of the decision dashboards was critical for use, dissemination and promotion. (3) It was stated that while researchers are often consulted during the decision making process at the National level, the feedback process could be strengthened. (4) Enhance capacity for data collection, data storage and data interpretation, including on the concept of tradeoffs for decision making is needed.(1) Co-learning across countries could be useful to share lessons on what is working, where, in terms of scaling mechanisms for SAI.(2) Exposure to diverse farming systems is needed to allow farmers to tailor and adapt farming practices to meet their needs. (3) Experience from the SHARED national workshop needs to shared back to the communities. (4) Enhanced collaboration in data collection efforts may encourage discussions on the performance of various SAI practices on the multiple dimensions.No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).This work was supported by DFID. Partial funding was received from CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3c36a771788055b021f77c5ccd86cdc7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/58a7f9a0-d645-451c-a751-f6273ed878d2/retrieve","id":"815925356"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"14cdf1cf-bc02-466b-8722-c07d6a484485","content":"Hub is a shared agricultural research and biosciences platform located at ILRI in Kenya. It provides world class laboratories to African and international scientists conducting research on African agricultural challenges. It was established as part of the African Union/New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) African Biosciences Initiative and developed in the framework of NEPAD's Centers of Excellence for Science and Technology and the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP).The Hub mobilizes biosciences for Africa's development; it enables research, capacity building and product incubation, conducted by scientists in Africa and for Africa, and empowers African institutions to harness innovations for regional impact.Research at the Hub aims to increase the productivity of food and agricultural systems in Africa:• Food and nutritional safety and security;• Income generation for small scale producers;• Climate change adaptation;• Environmental sustainability, including the conservation and utilization of biodiversity; • Increasing regional and international trade.The Hub partners with the private sector and other stakeholders to develop and deliver products such as crop and animal disease diagnostic tools.To enable a wider range of research and capacity strengthening at the Hub, and to facilitate the mentoring of a larger number of younger African scientists, 'faculty' of the Hub extends beyond its own scientists. The Hub is nurturing and supporting biosciences networks and 'communities of practice', including those among its alumni.The Hub aims to increase the capabilities of African Genomics: The Hub's high output sequencing machines provides cutting-edge genome sequencing and analysis technology that can be used in pathogen detection, diagnostics, and risk assessment, gene expression analysis, metagenomics, and to determine genetic diversity in crops and animals.The bioinformatics platform provides advanced computational capabilities, allowing advanced bioinformatics analysis using high-speed, specialized hardware and sophisticated commercial and academic software. The platform also maintains the latest copies of all major sequence databases.SegoliP: Sequencing, Genotyping, and Oligoneucleotide Services (SEGOLIP) are available to Hub users and other scientists and institutions located anywhere in the world.Plant growth facility: A 1400m² facility consists of a greenhouse, screen house, growth chambers and culture rooms and contains a weather station, light intensity controls, rainwater collection and biosafety chambers.Central core: This prepares tissue culture media, microbiological growth media and plates, and buffers and provides laboratory glass-wash, sterilization and laboratory waste management services.Appolinaire  The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works with partners worldwide to enhance the roles that livestock play in food security and poverty alleviation, principally in Africa and Asia. The outcomes of these research partnerships help people in developing countries keep their farm animals alive and productive, increase and sustain their livestock and farm productivity, find profitable markets for their animal products, and reduce the risk of livestock-related diseases.ILRI's mission is to improve food and nutritional security and to reduce poverty in developing countries through research for efficient, safe and sustainable use of livestock-ensuring better lives through livestock. Working closely with its partners, ILRI's three strategic objectives are:• develop, test, adapt and promote science-based practices that-being sustainable and scalable-achieve better lives through livestock.• provide compelling scientific evidence in ways that persuade decision-makers-from farms to boardrooms and parliaments-that smarter policies and bigger livestock investments can deliver significant socioeconomic, health and environmental dividends to both poor nations and households.• increase capacity among ILRI's key stakeholders and the institute itself so that they can make better use of livestock science and investments for better lives through livestock. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"27fd643d0d46882442da280835273379","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0c346b94-181f-4d27-9e6e-81a7304c9c89/retrieve","id":"1563375424"},"keywords":["Maprooms","Gridded climate information","ENACTS","Onset, Cessation","Wet/dry spells, Rainfall intensity"],"sieverID":"63373358-b186-482f-8e05-b2281b247fa6","content":"This Workshop Report has been prepared as an output for the Flagship 4: Climate Services and Safety Nets (previously Flagship 2: Climate Risk Management) under the CCAFS program and has not been peer reviewed. Any opinions stated herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the policies or opinions of CCAFS, donor agencies, or partners. The geographic designation employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of CCAFS concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. All images remain the sole property of their source and may not be used for any purpose without written permission of the source.the products that can be generated from the Agriculture Maproom. A panel discussion on agro-climate user needs and dissemination strategies highlighted the important opportunities and challenges involved in using gridded observational datasets and derived online products.Finally, there was a discussion on ways to make the GHACOF more useful for agriculture and food security, such as engaging users from different sectors as well as establishing the needs of the agricultural community. Participants agreed that the GHACOF had improved in recent years, while others underline the need for further training by ICPAC. Other topics discussed included data quality and data availability.Several recommendations came out of the discussion, including:• Migrate ICPAC Maprooms to a faster server• Member countries to strongly take ownership of the GHACOF• Employ a communications expert at ICPAC to strengthen the dissemination and use of climate information Dr. Hansen, representing CCAFS and IRI, thanked the participants for taking time to join the discussion. He noted that this was the third meeting following the initial ones held at the GHACOF44 in Kampala, Uganda and the GHACOF47 in Zanzibar, Tanzania. In the earlier meetings, discussions were held with the meteorological services about the direction the project should take. In Zanzibar at GHACOF47, the CSA project collaborated with WISER and Climate Services for Resilient Development (CSRD) to provide training, and shared experience with products and their uses between users and producers.The occasion of the 20th anniversary of GHACOF provides an opportunity to reflect on the many tools and products that have been developed. The development of the Regional Climate Outlook Forum (RCOF) process was a huge milestone, convening regional meteorological services and users around seasonal climate forecasts. There have also been advances in new tools that are being used by the food security early warning community. They are very relevant and meet the needs and gaps of the agriculture sector at the farm level, but many of these tools and products have not reached the farm level yet. Dr. Hansen asked participants whether there is something that needs to change at the GHACOF given the plethora of advances in the past twenty years and whether we are doing all we can technically and politically in exploiting this to make it accessible to the users in the agriculture sector.The opening remarks were followed by presentations and demonstration on ICPAC regional Furthermore, they showed some of the products that can be generated using the Agriculture Maproom, including intraseasonal rainfall characteristics like total rainfall, number of wet and dry spells/days, rainfall intensity, historical and forecasted onsets, forecasted length of growing period and flexible forecasts within the Maproom (Fig. 1-5). The Maproom is therefore an easy to use interface with the capability to compute different statistics and explore the intraseasonal characteristics of rainfall such as the rainy season onset and cessation based on user-defined thresholds.For purposes of referencing, onset is defined by first choosing your search window (start at 15February and execute your search for the next 60 days for this case). The search is done based on a defined criterion which can be changed based on location and user needs. For instance, for this case its defined as first three days that totals 20mm or more and with at least one wet day that is not followed by a seven-day dry spell within the next 21 days.Dr. Desire Kagabo highlighted the developments and lessons learnt in using the Rwanda Maproom. He noted that the Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) approach provides a structured approach for farmers to understand and incorporate climate information. He also indicated importance of the Twigire Muhinzi national agriculture extension system, which is a true \"home-grown\" solution to ensure that all farmers in Rwanda have access to climate advisory services.The presentation was followed by comments from the participants. The representative from Sudan noted that some of the boundaries used in the maps were not the correct ones and thus needed to be rectified. Moreover, Sudan does not have this maproom facility and needs to explore ways to remedy the situation. It is better if all member states are at the same level of knowledge and capacity. However, it was noted that the regional maproom can still serve individual member countries as it has an option to subset to regions of interest. The need for co-production between climate producers and users was also a point of concern, which must be addressed for products to have maximum utilization. Climate products should always cascade to the lowest level as opposed to the current practice where mostly elite users have access. In this regard, small holder farmer representatives should be part of the GHACOF process since they are the most vulnerable group as opposed to the current setup. Some of the agro-climatic products showcased are as shown in figures below.     1. What are the important opportunities and challenges involved in using gridded observational datasets and derived online products?2. How can we make the GHACOF process and products more useful for agriculture and food security?Dr. Zewdu Segele gave an overview of ICPAC's involvement with the Maprooms and noted that GHACOF process could be made more useful by engaging users from different sectors.As producers, it is paramount to establish the needs of the agricultural community. This reinforces the element of co-production that has been widely recommended by different actors. In this case, the GHACOF becomes a forum where co-produced products are made available to users and thus increasing the utility of the information that we provide. The key question is on the downward cascade of climate information once released. ICPAC is interested to know how far the information cascaded down to the local community and how useful it was. This kind of feedback will help us improve service provision.Dr. Philip Omondi noted that ICPAC has moved through an era of information sharing. Data used to be very difficult to obtain; but with the blending of in situ data and satellite estimates, we are exposed to much more climate information than previously. The products that ICPAC provides currently are more refined. The Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) is mostly characterized by sparse density of in situ stations and thus data is not quite representative.With the advent of blending, location specific climate information is now possible. He however expressed the challenges faced when relying on another data provider as, in most cases, there are delays in updating data. For instance, sometimes there is a delay in updating CHIRPS satellite from the UCSB site, which makes it impossible for ICPAC to provide timely products. Information also needs to move to a lower level so that farmers can give feedback on how they are affected. People attending GHACOF forums in most cases are not the direct beneficiaries and thus need to improve on this to include representatives of the small holder farmers to share their experience, bring up new points and/or give critical feedback on the nature of the forecast products they require.Dr. Evelyne Kumutunga, Ms. Claudette Nkurunziza and Dr. Desire Kagabo all agreed that GHACOF products have improved over time, including the dissemination channels to the users. Dr. Komutunga was of the idea that ICPAC should concentrate on training staff from the member states'meteorological services, and that extension officers prefer climate information to be channelled through their administrative household leaders to achieve maximum utilization. Ms. Nkurunziza highlighted that farmers in Burundi get climate information through the national downscaling meetings after which they create crop suitability maps and apply appropriate practices. However, the data in the country is not well spread out, and thus gaps still remain a challenge.Dr. Kagabo highlighted the experience the Rwanda Climate Services for Agriculture project has with use of gridded online climate information in Rwanda, and that they have the most cutting-edge data and a well-distributed network of automatic weather stations that has been blended using the ENACTS approach. The data are merged and are being streamed live in the Open discussion on making GHACOF more usefulThis session was followed by questions, comments and reactions from the participants. They appreciated the fact that the issues being discussed are very pertinent to why we are all here at GHACOF. Data availability is one of the biggest challenges in provision of quality climate information. The data in most of countries in the region has been on a decline. This is a very worrying trend, especially to the WMO and Regional Climate Centers (RCCs) like ICPAC and ACMAD. Member countries should strongly take ownership of the GHACOF, as it is the only way to improve the process. Co-production and proper communication strategies is perhaps an area to invest in, possibly with ICPAC, since different sectors need different information, a key aspect which is envisaged in the upcoming WISER project.One participant raised his concern with regard to the GHACOF funding, mentioning that WMO used to fund the GHACOF processes but is not doing so currently. It has become a challenge for RCCs, such as ICPAC, to organize regional climate outlook forums on a sustained basis, since these institutions are mainly dependent on projects. He suggested that member countries should take the lead in organizing and funding GHACOFs in future.Another point of discussion focused on farmers' needs. It was noted that user engagement is a fundamental concept in understanding needs. ICPAC produces information at a regional level through the support of NMHSs. NMHSs need to help reach out to users by taking advantage of existing national systems. For example, Kenya has a well-developed agriculture extension services that can be readily utilized. Dissemination strategy is thus a fundamental issue to address, and a communication expert is recommended to work with ICPAC in the near future to further improve on this.ICPAC was applauded for championing provision of user-relevant information including intra-seasonal characteristics of rainfall such as rainfall onset, cessation, length of growing period, dry spells and wet spells just to mention a few. These products however need to be improved in future through research.The final discussion point was on the idea of consensus versus purely objective based rainfall and temperature forecasting which was fronted by Mr. John Mungai. The discussions centered on which approach was best suited going forward. Dr. Richard Graham from UKMO clarified to the audience that there are different types of input that go into a consensus forecast, including dynamical, statistical, and the expert judgement-which is sometimes subjective. It is not known which of these are the best inputs and whether the subjective input makes the forecast better or worse. Dr. James Hansen from IRI emphasized that with a consensus or subjective-based approach, the seasonal forecast products that were showcased tonight could not be possible. Based on the above discussion, a parallel study was proposed where purely objective verses consensus-based forecasting is adopted for a period of 2-4 years with recommendations being made after on the way forward.Maprooms are an important tool for providing more tailored information to the user community. The use of new high-quality gridded historical data sets makes it possible for NMHS to provide historical and forecast climate information at a local scale relevant to farm decision-making, with complete national coverage. Intra-seasonal rainfall characteristics, which are provided within the Maproom interface, play an integral part in agricultural planning and day-to-day decisions that a farmer makes. Technical users need to know how to navigate the Maprooms and interpret the agro-meteorological information available.Maproom information products can be provided to farmers through intermediaries, including extension officers, who are trained to interpret, communicate and support the use of the information.Several recommendations came out of the discussion, including:• Migrate ICPAC Maprooms, with assistance from IRI, to a faster server so that users can fully utilize the information available through the interface.• Member countries should strongly take ownership of the GHACOF, as it is the only way to improve the process.• Employ a communications expert at ICPAC to strengthen the dissemination and use of climate information.• A key recommendation was to use the GHACOF process to introduce objective, downscaled, gridded, seasonal forecasts, in parallel with the current consensus forecasts; followed by an evaluation in 2-4 years to determine which seasonal products best serve the user community. Participants proposed both an evaluation of forecast skill, and an assessment of the value of the different seasonal forecast products to the user community."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6fc62222ec46390137cca5ecdb3fd741","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/de0c0976-12c6-4277-8fa6-5a79099dd015/retrieve","id":"316057194"},"keywords":["Agricultural risk","climate services","climate risk","weather forecast","seasonal forecast"],"sieverID":"75877de9-d02a-4e12-9b35-33502c832154","content":"Titles in this series aim to disseminate interim climate change, agriculture and food security research and practices and stimulate feedback from the scientific community.Climate services (CS) encompass the communication of different types of climate and weather forecasts, often paired with agro-advisories to help farmers make climate-informed decisions (Vaughan et al., 2016). The CGIAR's research programme on Climate Change,  (Born, 2020), we aim to provide guidelines on how to implement impactful climate services that help farmers to make climate-informed decisions and thus contribute to resilient livelihoods. Climate services impacts are affected by factors beyond projects design to include climate variability, cultural and individual contexts and the capacity of end-users to incorporate climate information into their decision-making (Vaughan and Dessai, 2014). Establishing guidelines for climate services projects involves considering these broader factors together with consideration of local context and how the situation on the ground may shape interventions and their impacts.There are several diverse principles that guide FP4 climate services projects across the regions. Project design tends to operate according to these principles, although the exact nature in which they are implemented will depend on the target beneficiaries and region.Principles include fostering local partnerships (Vaughan and Dessai, 2014), engaging the private sector (Diouf et al., 2020), building institutional capacity (Hewitt et al., 2020), establishing the local context (Meadow et al., 2015) and engaging beneficiaries in coproduction (Steynor et al., 2020). Such principles are employed across the field of climate services, with USAID (2021) stating that they build on their previous investments and assess capacity in order to document the enabling environment and potential benefits of climate services. Different climate services projects in CCAFS have emphasized principles to different degrees. For example, CASCAID I in West and East Africa focused on public-private partnerships as a model for sustainably scaling climate services to large numbers of farmers.This approach to scaling relied on generating an income from the service, usually through subscription or bundling with inputs. In CASCAID II, the focus broadened to de-risk the entire smallholder value chain. In contrast, ACIS operated in Asia and emphasized co-production approaches that included the voices of women and ethnic minorities, albeit with less emphasis on scaling and public-private partnerships. These differences can also be attributed to the contexts in each region.and regions, and depend on the metric for measuring impact. Some examples include seasonal forecast use in Senegal under the CINSERE project resulting in increased crop yields and agricultural income with users gaining an average of 158kg per hectare more for rice, maize, sorghum, millet and groundnut than non-users (Diouf et al., 2020). The Rwandan Climate Services for Agriculture (RCSA) project showed that participation in PICSA increased net agricultural income by 30% comparing participating communities to non-participating (Hansen et al., 2021). In the pilot of the ICRISAT tool, ISAT (Intelligent Agricultural Systems Advisory Tool), farmers in treatment villages experienced an average increase in groundnut yield of 16% compared to those in control villages (Rao et al., 2019). Impact is define by Vaughan et al. (2019) as \"the degree to which outcomes lead to changes in welfare\". For climate services impact is typically measured as changes in yield, income or cost of production (Tall et al., 2014;Tall et al., 2018). This working paper will document recommendations and guidelines that we can pass on to future climate services practitioners based on our experiences of implementing impactful services under CCAFS Flagship 4.In practice and in the literature, the terminology for climate services also includes weather and climate information services (WCIS) or climate information services (CIS). For the sake of brevity, we refer to both weather and climate services under the umbrella term, climate services, and to the beneficiaries as users, next-users, or farmers. While farmers are not the only intended users of climate services, they are the target users in the majority of the projects, in addition to pastoralists, fishers and other rural communities.Climate services and agro-advisories are intended for use in agricultural decision-making to support farmers in their mitigation of negative climate impacts and to take advantage of the opportunity presented by favourable years (Vaughan and Dessai, 2014). Climate services efforts are generally measured by improvement of yields, incomes, food security, and dietary diversity, and reduction of production costs, as well as fulfilment of farmers' other objectives such as reduced agricultural labour (Carr et al., 2019;Vaughan and Dessai, 2014).However, a persistent challenge in interventions is the difficulty users experience in accessing climate information and subsequently in using the information in agricultural decision-making (Lugen et al., 2020). Users first need to access climate services in order to use them, which is often an easily measured variable for example, the number of people listening to a radio broadcast of a forecast or the number of people downloading a weather application. While this gives us some indication of how many potential users are engaging with a climate service, it is not an indication of how many people explicitly use a service to change their decisions. Documenting climate services use involves evaluating who is using which service to change a behaviour (Carr et al., 2019). It is important that climate services projects are cognizant about how different farmer characteristics may contribute to whether an impact is had, and that projects refrain from exacerbating inequalities among farmers, if not contribute to reducing them (Gumucio et al., 2020). Increasingly, projects are considering how power and equity factor into accessing and using climate services, and are incorporating efforts to target women, youth, ethnic minorities and severely resourceconstrained farmers.The historical supply-side bias prevalent in climate services means that the push for coproduction and user centricity is a recent phenomenon (Lourenço et al., 2016;Jacobs and Street, 2020). Tall et al. (2014) highlight the roles of power and privilege in accessing climate services, and how there are patterns of unequal climate services access in farming communities in Kaffrine. Efforts to include power and equity as key factors shaping demand for climate services are essential across the value chain (Vogel et al., 2019). There is an increasing focus on the social constraints that users experience in accessing and using climate services, including their decision-making power in the household (Carr et al., 2017).In the generation and translation of climate information, it is evident how power plays a role in determining which climate variables are generated by national meteorological services (NMS) and into which format and language. With co-designed and co-produced services, users are more involved in influencing which data are generated and how they are translated into tailored products (Hansen et al., 2019). However, engaging with users requires consideration of access to spaces or methods for engagement such as mobile phones, surveys or meetings. In their analysis of Mali's Agrometeorological Advisory Program, Carr et al. (2017) found that the user base of the advisory was primarily wealthy older men due to \"flawed scaling-up\" of the program. There is the risk of maintaining the status quo or potentially worsening inequalities if issues of marginalisation, ethnicity, gender, seniority, wealth and resource access are not accounted for (Gumucio et al., 2020).Climate services need to account for social structures, contexts and behaviours in order to have a transformational impact (Findlater et al., 2021). Users will have different access to resources and decision-making power which requires consideration of who can access ICTs, communal spaces and digital literacy training opportunities, as well as who can access resources to change agricultural decisions such as fertilizers, improved seeds, technologies, climate-smart practices etc.Climate services risk exacerbating gender bias instead of empowering women if their concerns and priorities are not accounted for (Huyer et al., 2017). While there remains relatively little empirical research on the gendered differences in access and use of climate services (Gumucio et al., 2020;Partey et al., 2020), there is increased recognition of the role that gender may play. Male and female smallholder farmers face differing challenges in their livelihoods, for example, labour roles for men and women in rural areas differ such that they affect resource control and use, agricultural decision-making and climate services needs (Carr et al., 2019;Gumucio et al., 2020). Male and female smallholders can also experience risk differently, have differing needs and demands for climate information, and have different resources and decision-making at their disposal, partly because of cultural norms (Huyer et al., 2017). Women typically have lower rates of land tenure, and differential access to ICTs, networks and peer groups, potentially impacting their capacity to access and use climate services (Gumucio et al., 2018;Coulibaly et al., 2015).Access to climate services is often the focal point of efforts to consider gender in projects, with key elements of access including the availability of products and services, the types of communication channels and the demand for climate information (Vaughan et al., 2019).Studies show mixed results regarding differences between men and women in receiving climate information. Twyman et al. (2014) found that men accessed drought information more than women in climate smart villages in Uganda and Kenya, while Coulibaly et al. (2015) found that men and women household heads had similar rates of access in Tanzania and Malawi. Nevertheless, it is still pertinent to consider how gender may influence farmers' experiences and perceptions of risk, and how it may affect their access to climate services. In this vein, women and men have been found to have different access to communication technologies such as mobile phones (Gumucio et al., 2020). Men more frequently own the technology used to receive climate information such as radios and mobile phones compared to women (Tall et al., 2015). Partey et al. (2020) found that in Ghana, access to financial resources and household income was gendered, affecting ability to purchase and own mobile phones and resulting in women frequently using their husbands' mobile phones.Beyond ICT-based communication channels, face-to-face channels include working groups, committees, peer groups, and visits from extension agents, in which gender might play a role. There may be differences in how women and men access these spaces as women might experience limitations in accessing and participating in meetings and trainings due to cultural norms restricting genders interacting in public spaces (Roncoli et al., 2009). Women may also experience difficultly accessing climate information that is supplied by producer associations and cooperatives due to the exclusivity of membership in such institutions that is typically associated with land ownership.Similar challenges have been found regarding the age of farmers and their access to climate services. In a study on accessing climate information in Kenya, Cherotich et al. (2012) found that younger individuals more often accessed climate information through radio than older women, who rather trusted indigenous knowledge sources. In their case study review, Buckland and Campbell (2021) found unequal patterns of CS use, with predominantly younger, more educated users. It is likely that older farmers may be less ICT savvy than their younger counterparts.Recognizing the context-specific nature of impact of climate services efforts, we endeavour to document some of the good practices that contributed to projects successfully impacting livelihoods. There are several foundational aspects to climate services projects that are widely agreed upon to have the highest chance of success at impacting users' livelihoods.The following tables describe good practice for climate services adapted from several authors, all of whom have different conceptual approaches.  3). While these three evaluations approach \"good practice\" from different perspectives based on lessons learnt, there are common themes that run throughout each of them. User centricity is often highlighted as essential to having legitimate and relevant services.    They were then divided into the categories of recommendations and primary themes were chosen for elaboration in the discussion.Recommendations for Good PracticeParticipants highlighted the importance of evaluating climate services progress and the seeming lack of such efforts, an observation that is prevalent throughout the field (Vaughan et al., 2018;Jacobs and Street, 2020), although evaluating climate services is a challenging endeavour (Boon et al., 2021). One participant suggested that development organisations have been overly focused on scaling up climate services and rolling out new innovations to reach as many farmers as possible, such that we have failed to take the time and money required to evaluate efforts. However, this is changing with increased recognition that conducting evaluations and assessments could improve the efficiency of services, increase relevancy of information offered to farmers and likely improves trust in climate services.While figures on numbers of farmers reached are indicative of access to climate services, they require more in-depth investigation into how impact manifests after access is achieved (Carr et al., 2019). This requires consideration from the beginning of the project of what funding and time is needed to quantify impacts on farmers' decision-making.One interviewee based in Latin America suggested that evidence of successful climate services efforts should be further pursued in the region to demonstrate that it is indeed worth donors investing and projects expanding to Latin America. This was mentioned in reference to the relatively increased focus on Africa as the primary region in need of climate services endeavours. In addition to increased investment in climate services needed in Latin America, there are also opportunities to continue sharing knowledge and practices between the two regions, as with the knowledge exchange between Senegal and Latin America that gave rise to the Local Technical Agro-advisory Committees (LTACs) (Howland et al., 2016).An interviewee highlighted the role that CGIAR research centres fill as knowledge brokers of climate services, as is the increasingly common role of NGOs and non-state actors (Harvey et al., 2019). Knowledge brokers are intermediary or boundary organisations that connect researchers to end-users and contribute to creating and sharing knowledge (Meyer, 2010).In the interviewee's context, ICRISAT is a trusted and neutral knowledge broker that is external to the agencies, companies and associations in the region and can bring together the different domains of agriculture, meteorology, and extension without any bias towards any particular one. This would contribute towards improving the fragmentation and duplication of agriculture and climate data that is prevalent across Africa. Non-state actors tend to focus on the communication and use aspects of the climate services value chain, often playing a role in initiating and sustaining services (Harvey et al., 2019). CCAFS, meanwhile, is involved across the value chain, from generation to use, encompassing the supply and demand sides of climate services. Another interviewee suggested that intermediaries are needed to address the challenge of information asymmetry often prevalent in smallholder value chains. Climate services projects should rely on organisations and individuals who are aware of power structures and asymmetries on the ground, and can manage their way around them. The interviewee suggested that increased transparency in the provision of information would also achieve higher efficiency in smallholder value chains.The experience of accessing meteorological and agricultural data from government agencies appears to differ across the regions. One participant highlighted that sharing data even between agencies is a challenge in Africa, whereas in India, there is an ongoing phenomenon of states investing their budget in their own networks of weather stations. Experience from Central America shows that NMS have open data policies, choosing not to sell data, but rather to cooperate with agencies or organisations seeking to access and use their data. In contrast, projects in Africa often experience difficulty in procuring climate data from a country's NMS, where even if data can be obtained, it is often of poor quality or in too low a resolution (Nsengiyumva et al., 2021). In the short term, climate data can be obtained from private companies or through free satellite data, sometimes merged with station observations. However, in the long term, climate services projects will aim to increase the capacity of the country's NMS to supply data to the public at little to no cost. In many African countries, public funding of the NMS may cover salaries of staff but not other expenses such as the maintenance costs for the observation networks and the equipment on which these services depend. The NMS requires at least some public funding to be able to provide the public good of climate data while maintaining scientific independence (Dupar et al., 2021).As it is, many NMS are said by participants to be overburdened with too many projects and initiatives to engage in, with little coordination between them. Donors and funders are pulling NMS staff in too many different directions with the result that projects have limited engagement, sustainability and impact.The NMS are sometimes viewed as an inconvenience to side-step, however, they have strengths that are often overlooked, such as producing data over a longer term or producing location specific data. One interviewee suggested that there is frequently much more data available than expected from NMS in African contexts. They might have local station data for rainfall but as paper records in satellite offices rather than in HQ, a finding in one of the projects. It is important to encourage NMS to do a final data rescue and organisation that saves data on paper records and allows it to be shared (USAID, 2021). The same interviewee suggested refraining from requesting data from the NMS and instead investing in building their capacity to provide data, which is a process to which the NMS are usually far more receptive. A capacity building approach dispels potential mistrust or suspicion based on data ownership issues and encourages collaboration as the focus shifts to how NMS might improve the usefulness of their data and products. One key recommendation is the continued investment and pursuit of capacity building of institutions involved in upstream generation of climate information. Such efforts have been ongoing in many countries, supported by institutions and organisations with extensive experience in capacity building.One such example is the ENACTS initiative (Enhancing National Climate Services) led by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society at Columbia University (IRI). ENACTS builds the capacity of NMS to support climate information use for decision-making at all levels through increased availability, access, and use of high-quality climate data and products (Dinku et al., 2018). ENACTS is ongoing in over 20 countries and their Maprooms are embedded in the NMS websites of several countries (Nsengiyumva et al., 2021).A further suggestion specific to project design was to invest more in having longer projects so that impacts that take time to manifest can do so. Efforts to influence policy or contribute to the creation of an enabling environment are often time consuming and may not appear to deliver results quickly. Perhaps obviously, the lifespan of the project determines for how long outcomes and impacts can be reported. Longer projects are one method of lengthening reporting cycles such that the lengthier impacts can be reported on. Also suggested was increasing the number of projects that focus on diversification of crops. Monoculture systems tend to be favoured for evaluation software and platforms, a phenomenon that is reflected in the mobile application environment, where most apps are designed for different monoculture crops with little to no integration. Expanding platforms and apps to focus on more diversified and integrated cropping (and pastoral) systems could also encourage goals towards ecosystem restoration and climate adaptation. For project design to achieve these, it is important to consider from the beginning the time and funding it will require and the monitoring and evaluation efforts that will be needed to document them, even after project close.Experiences of involving women and men in project interventions differed across the regions. Project leaders working in Latin America described how in Central America, participation in climate services training was attended only by women as men were too \"busy\" to participate. However, in Colombia men tended to participate as well. Participants described how trainings in Africa required consideration that men would be jealous of women attending, the solution to which was inviting the whole family to participate. Such a strategy also allows for specific experiences of risk and roles assigned by gender or age to be identified amongst women, men and the youth. For example, in coffee systems in Central America women and children tend to prepare seeds to sow in the field and provide labour for harvesting, a practice that was revealed after engaging with communities and farmers.One participant suggested that data on access and use of climate services should be disaggregated by gender, age and wealth, allowing for patterns to be determined in who is constrained in their decision-making, as it is not always immediately evident. USAID (2021) suggests segmenting user groups to better understand differential user needs. Institutional considerations of gender are also important. One project leader based in Africa suggested that the value of including gender considerations in projects is not often recognized by national partners. Their recommendation is to insist on including such considerations until results show that women and men experience different risks that need to be targeted differently, and thus become the status quo for project design. The same leader highlighted the lack of trainings offered to higher level public staff in ministries and government bodies.In some contexts, gender considerations appear more difficult to include in projects. An advisory tool in Asia was used almost exclusively by male farmers due to limited participation by women in farming activities and household decision-making. While the project showed limited effort to explicitly include women, it did include aspects of power dynamics in how trainings with farmers were organised. Farmers were addressed in different groups based on their stated access to certain resources and inputs during the growing season. This shows how there are efforts towards including considerations of power and equity in projects, but further progress is needed to address some of the systemic issues around gender that may reduce climate services impacts and exacerbate inequality.Mobile phone ownership is cited as having high potential for increased inclusion of women in climate services interventions due to increasing penetration in most regions. It seems that mobile phone use and the associated infrastructure is most limited in Africa where network coverage tends to be poor, data is expensive and ownership is low in some parts (Trendov et al., 2019). These challenges need to be addressed at scale as the usage of mobile phones and internet increase, such that both men and women experience the benefits of ICT-enabled climate services. The fintech revolution was suggested by one participant to hold great promise for including more vulnerable or marginalized communities in climate risk management.Considerations of power also need to look at how indigenous knowledge is included in project design. In Senegal, CINSERE found that powerful men in the community dispensed indigenous knowledge-based predictions using bio-indicators from birds, insects and trees.These men were initially against climate forecasts in their communities due to a lack of trust and the potential for forecasts to compromise the standing of indigenous knowledge leaders. The solution was to engage with the leaders to show them how bio-indicators might be declining in accuracy due to climate variability and change, and how forecasts can complement indigenous knowledge. This serves an additional benefit of building trust in forecasts and their providers. Similarly, other community leaders should also be engaged in projects from the beginning, such as town mayors, parliament and village representatives.These leaders can contribute to driving the project forward and engaging with the local community. Leaders in farmer groups and associations also have key roles to play in climate services interventions, particularly young leaders. It was also suggested that there should be clearer guidelines for including youth in leading committees like the LTACs.One aspect of ensuring equity in projects is recognizing that different people have different access to resources and experiences of risk which will affect their access, use and benefits of climate services. This is particularly pertinent in the pursuit of increased digitisation in Sub-Saharan Africa, where access to mobile phones is but one factor in the process. People also need to receive training on digital skills and literacy, and how to include digitally communicated advisories into their decision-making. Investment in the digitisation process needs to be complemented by investment in the capacity of farmers to use digital tools, as well as investment in user centric approaches. There is increasing attention being paid to how farmers perceive climatic and agricultural risk. For example, one participant described how farmers do not measure rainfall per se but do notice the impacts of rainfall such as food availability which they will discuss in interviews and focus groups. Researchers should be aware of how populations experience their environments, including risk, cultural norms and access to resources, amongst others. Project leads each provided a key investment or area of investment that they consider essential to designing or implementing future climate services efforts.• Continue to invest in private sector engagement, recognizing the different methods available (innovation funds, incubation grants, accelerators, etc.) "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"80620e1cfa0f59250a040d01802f3ffa","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c8e3e86a-86f6-47e8-8a4d-764843dae7a0/retrieve","id":"-1415687313"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"77dd7a8b-ac33-4be8-89aa-ff4623640be4","content":"The linkages between climate change and human insecurity have been the subject of considerable debate over the past decade. Critical voices argue that methods for studying these complex interrelations have often ignored local cultural realities, leading to decontextualized constructions of system dynamics. Resulting policy and programming have prioritized technocratic solutions and top-down governance arrangements. In fact, Ide et al., (2021a) argue that a dependence of environmental peacebuilding interventions on external stakeholders, such as international peacebuilders and state institutions, jeopardizes the legitimacy of projects towards local cultural particularities and power relations, implicitly de li ici i g eaceb ildi g Thi i dica e a eed f c flic -sensitive interventions which adopt f ame k a d a ache acc i g f e le c ce ali a i f cial-ecological systems and self-articulated visions of resilience and security.The climate security (Mach et al., 2020) and environmental peacebuilding (Ide et al., 2021b) literatures report the need to systematically explore potential responses to climate-related security risks from a bottom-up perspective. To address this gap, the present study conducted a participatory assessment of climate security risks and adaptation strategies in Kenya as conceived from a local perspective. The methodology is intended to support the participatory assessment of climate security risks as well as identify what kinds of coping strategies are and could be adopted at community level. Measures are proposed towards enhancing adaptive capacities that relate to people´s everyday experience of insecurity and vulnerability. This report summarizes preliminary results from fieldwork research conducted in Kenya between September and October 2022. It is meant to expand our comprehension of climate-related security risks in Kenya, by examining the way local communities capitalise on everyday experience to develop a shared understanding around the effects of climate change over their livelihoods and wellbeing, along with the insecurity problems they collectively face. Ongoing community-level responses are also discussed, identifying short-term coping and long-term adaptive strategies which have most successfully enhanced local capacities towards managing climate risks, along with those which are currently being overwhelmed. This evidence on adaptive strategies is then used as a base to develop collective solutions, through a reflective dialogue with community members, meant to address climate-related security risks and to challenge institutional structures that sustain the underlying causes of vulnerability.This study conducted an assessment of climate-related security risks and adaptation strategies as conceived from a local perspective. The deployed method is in line with a participatory action research (PAR) approach, in which community members, such as farmers and fishers, are repositioned as citizen scientist and experts in understanding the different vulnerabilities that afflict them and in proposing required changes for the better. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted in previously defined case study localities within the CGIAR´s Resilience Initiative (ClimBeR) partner countries. A diversity of formerly applied dialogue-and art-based methods (Rüttinger et al., 2014;Ulrichs et al., 2015) were used as a base toolkit to design a participatory vulnerability assessment at community-level that explicitly integrates a lens on climate-related security risks, meaning traditional methods for climate change vulnerability and conflict analysis were merged. The process also meant to identify and develop resilience building solutions based on collective action that contribute towards sustainable peacebuilding. These workshops were intended to serve as a deliberative space to define, in local terms, the relevant research concepts of social-ecological change, vulnerability and insecurity; and to understand the causal, and reinforcing, interconnections between them in ways that are compatible with practical experiences.Each case study analysis was completed within five days. During the first four days, the assessment took place through a qualitative mixed-methods approach combining direct observation, participatory group sessions and semi-structured interviews. The fieldwork process in each case study location will be conformed of three main phases: 1) community knowledge recognition, 2) conceptualisation of climate security; and 3) collective action planning. Key informant interviews were conducted during the fifth day to complement the analysis.The main goal of Phase 1 is to elucidate and develop a shared vision of what´s already known and understood regarding social-ecological hazards and drivers of vulnerability, their current status and recent developments. This phase guides community members through the analysis of the social-ecological landscape in which the community is embedded; its drivers of change and changing conditions; along with the manner in which livelihood strategies are dependent on a social-ecological balance within this landscape. The method intends to trigger critical reflexion around conditions and trends that the community feels unable to cope with, including changing climatic patterns and their impacts on livelihoods, long present drivers of conflictive societal relations, and changing relational behaviours within agricultural-based livelihoods.Phase 2 builds upon the previous results to develop a bottom-up conceptual understanding of climate security drivers and the relationship between them, by examining different climate and conflict hazards, consequential stresses, and degrees of vulnerability and capacity within the community to deal with climate security risks. The tools adopted facilitate a better understanding of the relationships between multiple drivers of vulnerability as experienced through livelihoods and food security, as well as explore how and why these might have undergone changes over time. This phase is designed with two goals in mind: 1) it is intended to develop a more comprehensive view of the impacts of climate change on livelihoods within the community, and the multiple pathways through which climate impacts are related to conflictive or cooperative societal relations within and beyond the community; and 2) it examines community level responses to risk management and draws lessons on their functioning and maintenance.Finally, Phase 3 involves focusing on selected key issues, prioritised during the previous phases, to identify solutions towards building adaptive capacity in the face of climate security risks. Participants are divided in working groups and asked to develop collective action plans around agreed upon issues they want to target. These plans contain goals that the group wants to achieve, required activities for their realisation, assigned responsibilities for each activity and resources needed for implementation. Action routes are plotted and a set of agreed upon roles and responsibilities defined. At the end of the day, working groups present their plans to each other, hence providing an opportunity for reflection around plausible implementation barriers and synergistic strategies.For conflict to emerge, there needs to be interaction between people who are prone to engaging in violence against one another on the basis of ethnicity and cultural differences, economic inequality, disparities in political influence, long-held collective grievances, among others. Under this understanding, we conducted fieldwork research in Kenyan regions evidencing these underlying drivers of conflict in contexts whereby people are currently facing climate hazards.Despite exhibiting a wide range of climatic profiles, food production is the mainstay economic activity of the three Indigenous Peoples groups who participated in this study, and it is central to the survival of their traditional lifestyles and general wellbeing. The Endorois are semi-nomadic pastoralist whose way of life is intrinsically reliant on access to pasture and water for stock raising. The Yaaku, of Mukogodo forest, have recently adopted herder livelihoods, but rely on a wider diversity of resource-dependent activities, such as honey harvesting, ecotourism and hunting. Banyala communities in Busia depend on Lake Vic ia mall-scale fisheries for an income, plus obtain subsistence crops in locally supplied markets. In short, people´s livelihood strategies in all sites are greatly dependent on predictable seasonal conditions, availability of land and natural resources, and a reliable ebb and flow of ecosystem services from forests, lakes or grasslands. The Yaaku tribe is an Indigenous Peoples group that live around and within Mukogodo Forest, one of the few remaining dry forests in Kenya, which is located at the southern edge of Laikipia County. The Yaaku were originally Cushitic people from Ethiopia who migrated to Mukogodo forest more than a century ago and settled in caves, where they largely depended on hunting, gathering, beekeeping, foraging and keeping small-scale livestock. Throughout the 20 th century, the Yaaku were assimilated into Maasai culture, and largely changed from Yaakunte-speaking foragers to Maa-speaking pastoralists. Kenya´s 2009 la i ce ec ded he Yaak la i i he he ca eg hence complicating an accurate estimate of community members, though it is estimated that about 4,000 Yaakus remain (KNBS, 2010).Mukogodo forest is a government gazetted reserve of about 300 km 2 that sits at the northern foothills of Mount Kenya. It is one of the few remaining dry forest of significant size in Kenya, and it serves a natural habitat for over 45 species of mammals, 200 birds and 100 butterfly species, many of which are endangered. Mukogodo lies within the Laikipia-Samburu ecosystem, which holds one of the highest concentration of wildlife in Kenya, including the largest concentration of wild elephants in the country, and it serves as a wildlife corridor between Samburu and Isiolo lowlands and Mount Kenya forest reserve. The forest also provides food and subsistence materials for the Yaaku, as well as livelihood opportunities, such as livestock grazing, ecotourism, bee keeping and honey harvesting (a long-time tradition coupled with medicinal, spiritual and cultural customs of the Yaaku).The Endorois community, today an agro-pastoralist minority group who live in the territory between Lake Bogoria and the Mochongoi Forest, in Baringo County, were expelled from their ancestral land in 1974 by the Kenyan government. Without formally consulting the group, the national government gazetted the land around Lake Bogoria and created a wildlife reserve, while promising the Endorois for a compensation that was only materialized to a fraction. This illegitimate displacement of the Endorois community led to a legal battle that began in 2003 and continues to this day. The Endorois Welfare Council (EWC) argued to the African Commission on Huma a d Pe le Righ ACHPR ha he E d i di laceme had violated the community´s rights to religious and cultural practice, property, access to natural resources and development.The government of Kenya, in return, contended that the Endorois were not a distinct Indigenous Group, but rather part of the larger Kalenjin community, and that the group had received enough financial compensation through past retribution and continuous benefit from the Bogoria Lake game reserve. In 2010, however, the ACHPR ruled in favour of the Endorois on all accounts, hence effectively forcing the Kenyan government to recognize the Endorois as a distinctive Indigenous Peoples group. The commission also recommended that the government recognized Endorois ownership of the land around Lake Bogoria, grant unrestricted access to its natural resources for subsistence and religious and cultural practices, pay adequate compensation for past injustices, ensure the payment of royalties to the community from the Lake Bogoria Game Reserve, and grant registration of the Endorois Welfare Council as a formal civil society organisation. To this date, only the last recommendation has been implemented in full.In Ea Af ica he fi he ie f he Lake Vic ia ba i l m e ha milli e le i h hei ima source of income, and around 22 million with over 50% of their annual protein intake. Lake Victoria is the largest tropical lake in the world and supports around 200,000 fishers among the three countries that share its waters: Uganda (43%), Kenya (6%) and Tanzania (51%). For many decades, Lake Victoria supported a productive multi-species fishery, but the 20th century brought massive social and ecological changes to the region as human populations increased and demands for aquatic resources intensified. During this period, species introductions and increased eutrophication altered the trophic structure of the lake, thereby changing species composition and reducing catches of several native species.The Banyala are a Bantu ethnic community that originated in Uganda. After migrating to Kenya, they have mostly settled in Busia and Kakamega counties. In accordance to a 2009 census, the Banyala population surpassed the 850,000 members, the majority of which live in Busia County. Their traditional language is Nyala, which is well preserved and widely used, plus the use of Luhya and Kiswahili are also common. Anthropogenic perturbations in Lake Victoria and the Nyala river within Busia County, including climate change, brought about significant biophysical changes to inland aquatic ecosystems with negative impacts on fishery productivity, risks of flooding, and livelihoods as practiced by Banyala populations. Although the main source of income among the Banyala in Bunyala sub-county, part of Busia County, has traditionally been fishing, the plummeting of fishery stocks and the introduction of more stringent regulation on fishing practices has fostered a shift towards agriculture since the 1990s, accelerating thereafter during the 2000s. The planting of sweet potatoes, cassava, sorghum, beans, millet, maize, plus fruit trees have all become common practice. Throughout the last two decades, livestock herding has also been adopted as a main source of income among the Bunyala community at the shores of Lake Victoria, in Banyala sub-county.A potential mean temperature increase in Kenya´s Rift Valley and Western regions of 2.5°C by 2060 and over 3.5°C by 2100, under a high-emissions scenario (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2018), would entail an unprecedented increase of climate-related hazards, such as more intense and frequent droughts and floodings, hence threatening the weather and environmental conditions upon which populations broadly rely. Decreasing availability of natural resources and their access by Indigenous Peoples, as foreshadowed by climate change effects throughout Kenya, would imperil their capacity for development and selfdetermination. In fact, these effects have already begun to materialize and are currently causing devastating impacts for Kenya´s most vulnerable populations. Rising precipitation variability and average surface temperatures have led to more intense and frequent droughts, plus increased risk of flooding, throughout the country. The physical exposure to increased climate hazards in turn interacts with underlying socio-economic, political and cultural drivers of vulnerability that threaten human security.Droughts have affected more people and caused more economic impacts than any other form of climate disaster. Especially in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs), which occupy close to 90% of the country´s territory, stronger and more recurrent droughts have led to widespread crop failure, livestock death, and severe food shortages. As of 2022, people in Kenya´s ASAL regions, such as Laikipia and Baringo counties, have experienced a fourth consecutive below-average rainy season (OCHA, 2022). This ongoing drought is the longest reported in the country for over 40 years, and has left at least 4 million people experiencing acute food insecurity. The amount of people without access to water has increased by 50% in the last year alone, and pastoral communities have faced significant losses in livestock, with more than 1.5 million cattle having died as a result of drought. This not only forces herder populations to move farther afield in search of resources, but threatens their traditional lifestyles and livelihoods under conditions that offer few alternatives for income.Longer periods of drought and harsher storms in non-ASAL regions, such as Bunyala sub-county surrounding Lake Victoria, have led to lower agricultural productivity and increasing flooding events since before the turn of the century (UNECA, 2014). Populations in Bunyala have suffered from disastrous flooding repeatedly during the last two decades (MoALF, 2016), undermining community capacity to recover and deploy suitable coping strategies (Gabrielsson et al., 2013). In fact, a high flood discharge from River Nzoia, combined with an increasing high-water level in Lake Victoria, position the Lake Victoria Basin among the most flood-prone regions in Kenya (GoK, 2007). Increasingly more intense flooding has led to numerous threats for livelihood support systems, such as food shortages that affect households several months per year, usually during rainy seasons, plus widespread displacement, destruction of property and infrastructure, disease outbreaks, and a disruption of cultural and social practices embedded in traditional ways of life (Odida & Nabiswa, 2020). If climate models are an accurate indication of future flooding risks, thousands of people living in flood prone areas in Bunyala will be forced to relocate to higher grounds, and look for alternative livelihood strategies.Although discussions on climate change in Kenya reflect a general perception of droughts and floods as the climate hazards of most notorious concern, the current and expected effects of temperature increase an precipitation variability, as experienced by the most vulnerable groups, vary significantly across the country. Context-specific climate impacts over livelihoods, food and water security, health, ecosystem service provision, infrastructure, and societal relations are the product of contingent root causes of vulnerability, which in turn manifest themselves across counties, wards, communities, households and individuals in relation to socioeconomic, political, ethnic, gendered and environmental factors. The discussion that follows summarizes community-level perceptions around climatic change and its effects over human security.The Yaaku, who live within and around Mukogodo forest, were a traditional hunter-gatherer society until recent decades, when their assimilation into Maasai culture gradually pushed for a transition towards semi-nomadic pastoralist livelihoods. Given their occupancy of a transition ecosystem from arid to fertile rangelands around Mount Kenya and the Aberdares, the community has always experienced incoming transhumant herders and been considerably subjected to cattle rustling. The practice of cattle rustling has been traditionally used as a culturally accepted form of livestock replenishment, securing of dowry payments, and as a rite of passage of young warriors. While cattle rustling by itself is an act of inter-ethnic violence, sparse and low-intensity instances are not deemed an act of conflict among the Yaaku. However, repeated attacks executed through more impactful means -coupled by an increasing rate of cattle deaths fuelled mostly by drought, lack of pasture and diseases-are considered to be a precursor towards the escalation of conflict between neighbouring pastoral communities. In a context whereby long-standing rivalries and mistrust between ethnic groups prevail, the loss of cattle and scarcity of pasture and water are thought to instigate competition for access to increasingly scarce natural resources, mostly expressed as more frequent occurrences of rustling and village raiding.Participants reported that the majority of Yaaku households are currently experiencing the effects of climate change in terms of increasing variability in rainy seasonal patterns, decline in pasture productivity and agricultural yields, and the increased occurrence and intensity of droughts. Under these effects, community representatives voiced the challenges and associated risks of mostly relying on livestock and bee keeping as their main sources of income. Participants´ perspective, from both men and women groups, was that a substantial increase in stress over livelihoods and food security is currently being experienced among the Yaaku; and that this shift towards chronic pressure is mostly caused by persistent agricultural drought. The most frequented water points in Mukogodo now dry up during longer periods of the year, hence forcing people, mainly women, to buy water by walking far distances into Dol Dol town, the largest Yaaku settlement located at the western edge of Mukogodo forest. Staple food products, typically acquired in the market every two weeks, have also doubled in price during the same timeframe, including maize flour and sugar.Since 2015, members of the Yaaku report a noticeable increase in the frequency and intensity of rustling conducted by neighbouring communities, with a particular emphasis on raiding perpetrated by Samburu pastoralists to the north of Mukogodo. Community members inform that, accounting for Yaaku populations across the multiple settlements around the forest, instances of cattle rustling and village raiding occur today around once per week. Beyond frequency, rustling strategies are perceived as increasingly adopting more violent and impactful means, hence further threatening people´s safety and wellbeing. Attackers don´t only steal cattle, but commonly destroy infrastructure and force massive displacement to secure access to land, waterholes and pasture. The impacts of rustling have also intensified by the introduction of automatic firearms, access to international livestock black markets, and more elaborate schemes that even depend on local Yaaku informants. Yaaku community members do not hesitate in relating this increased frequency and intensity of cattle rustling to the effects of drought across the region.Longer migratory routes, adopted by pastoralist to compensate for a lack of pasture in the more arid regions to the north, imply that a higher number of pastoralists now come in contact with Yaaku populations within Mukogodo and the surrounding group and private ranches. Given the legal status of the forest as gazetted land owned by government and protected for conservation, outsider communities do not recognize any legitimate claim by the Yaaku over the use of forest resources, nor the authority of the local Forest Management Association to oversee their sustainable use, including water points and pasture lands contained within. Through cattle rustling, village raiding and land grabbing, members from other ethnic groups have forced the displacement of numerous families settled within the forest, in an effort to secure access to grazing resources. After the loss of herds and property due to village raiding, displaced Yaaku populations commonly settle around Dol Dol town, where there are limited opportunities for alternative income sources and populations are likewise vulnerable to attacks from outsider pastoralists. The settlement of displaced populations in Dol Dol was described by participants as an increasing number of squatters, which exacerbate pressures related to population management and public service provision on an already overwhelmed settlement.The loss of livelihood is also reported to be associated with increasing charcoal burning in the forest, an activity that is conducted mainly by women, and that leads to arrests and fines. Furthermore, an unsustainable use of forest resources due to maladaptive responses among the Yaaku brings about community-wide fears of the Kenyan government deciding to evict Yaaku populations in the protected area, thereby further threatening the existence of the Yaaku as Indigenous Peoples.The Endorois community have inhabited the area around Lake Bogoria for several centuries, but where forcefully displaced by Kenya´s government in the 70s for the creation of Lake Bogoria Game Reserve. The community has since the late 80s mobilized, with iterative success and failure, in fighting for the protection of their rights and retribution for past injustices. The failing of the Kenyan government to implement the 2010 Af ica C mmi i H ma a d Pe le Righ ´ recommendations in support of the Endorois´ claims to access Lake Bogoria Game Reserve and its benefits has significantly affected wellbeing and development among the Endorois community. Unemployment, illiteracy, poverty, food insecurity, lack of access to healthcare, natural resource scarcity, all affect the Endorois in above-average manners as related to the regional population. High levels of poverty and marginalisation are also today exacerbated by the effects of climate change, which have increased the risk of crops losses and livestock death.The community, whose livelihoods depend mostly on farming and pastoralism, has been subjected to increasingly severe droughts, as well as major floods. As a result from climate impacts, coupled with increasing land fractionalisation, the Endorois have lost access to the most important water and pastoral resources on which their livelihoods depend, and are today more susceptible to unassisted migration and displacement. Furthermore, human-wildlife conflict has increased due to the destruction of habitats, breeding sites and migratory routes for wildlife; and, more prominently, natural-resource based conflict with neighbouring communities, like the Pokots, have significantly undermined security in the region.The Endorois report to have experienced an increased amount of cattle rustling in the last 10 to 15 years. Traditionally, resource-based conflict as expressed most frequently through cattle rustling in Baringo, involved small-scale and manageable violence driven by the need for replacement and restocking of animals, gain access to grazing land, and as a cultural practice linked to religio-spiritual beliefs, social status and the payment of dowries. However, recent trends related to conflicts over political influence, the proliferation of small arms and automatic weapons, and increasing disputes over access to land and tenure rights, have worsened the intensity and consequences of cattle rustling.Since 2005, the Endorois have been subjected to violent attacks from the neighbouring Pokot communities to the north of their land. The onset of the conflict coincided with tribal territorial conflicts across Kenya, driven by electoral-based violence, and has continued to revolve around political boundaries, access to land and the interests of political and economic elites. The effects of the conflict on ellbei g ha e bee ca a hic he e e ha E d i e le da ejec he e m ca le li g a d efe ba di e i m D e f h a d f internally displaced people (IDPs) dwell within Endorois territory, many hundreds have been killed, hundreds of residents are maimed by permanent disabilities and other forms of injury, and over 10,000 livestock head stolen or killed. Hospitals, water tanks, roads and other infrastructure has also been destroyed. As a consequence, family dysfunctionality, mental illness and crime rate have further the community. Government interventions have actually exacerbated antagonistic sentiments due to perceptions of favoured groups. For example, the Kenya Police Service in Baringo has disarmed Endorois police reservist without doing the same for neighbouring aggressors.The Endorois mostly understand the conflict as fuelled by political and economic interests in the value of their land. They understand that high levels of vulnerability, poverty and marginalisation among young Pokot populations, which represent the bulk of the attackers, makes them more susceptible to recruitment. Pokot vulnerability to recruitment may be enhanced through the effects of climate change, mainly through the loss of Pokot livelihoods during extreme droughts. Additionally, the effects of conflict have worsened the vulnerability of Endorois populations to climate threats. The impacts of droughts and lower agricultural productivity, they report, are today a lot higher due to the widespread presence of IDPs across the territory and the loss of life and livelihoods due to the impacts of violence.Tha Banyala community live across Busia County, including Bunyala sub-county, right at the border with Uganda and the shore of Lake Victoria. Considered among the most flood prone regions in Kenya, Bunyala lies between Lake Victoria and the Nzoia river estuary, and has been subjected to harsh flooding almost every two years since the turn of the millennium. The Banyala are a traditional fisherfolk community that have largely transitioned towards subsistence and small-scale cash crop farming since the 90s, due to the plummeting of fish stocks in Lake Victoria and increasingly harsh fishing regulations from Kenyan and Ugandan governments. However, with the increase of flooding, finding alternative sources of livelihood is thought to be increasingly challenging. Despite a reduction in the amount of fishermen during the last decades, recent years have seen a reversal increase in their numbers.Fishing communities in Bunyala sub-county are extremely aware of climatic and environmental changes in their surroundings. Commonly perceived changes include the increased frequency of unpredictable dry seasons or long-term drought, which leads to crop failure, and a drastic reduction in fish catches. The increasing frequency and intensity of unexpected wet events, like floods, is also commonly reported, leading to massive temporary displacement in community-managed camps. Rainy seasons are now shorter, although rain comes in more intense instances. Sudden intense rains destroy crops, cause diseases among livestock, damage infrastructure at landing sites, cause post-harvest fish losses and block transportation routes. Although mild floods can increase catch rates as fish tend to move with freshwater inputs, fishers report an overall reduction in the catches of Nile perch and Nile tilapia. There is a general agreement that fish sizes and abundances tend to decrease during droughts and increase during floods and that fish movement patterns are tightly connected to changes in wind and precipitation. Catch reductions are also attributed to overfishing, along with wetland and forest degradation.As a strategy to preserve dwindling fishery populations, Ugandan and Kenyan governments have introduced regulations regarding the use of specific fishing gear to prevent the catching of small fish. Under a context of widespread poverty, increasing numbers of fishers, reducing fishery stocks, and changing behavioral patterns of fish, many Kenyan fisherfolk have been unable to adapt to these new regulations, given the need to actually increase catches for an income and the inability to buy the legal fishing gear. Fisherfolk are forced to conduct illegal fishing both within Kenya and across the border with Uganda, where they are subjected to risk of arrest, torture, destruction of property and death by Ugandan authorities, pirates and other fishers. In Ugandan waters, arrests are also associated with violations of human rights, like torture and arbitrary jailing. Banyala fishers report that Ugandan authorities force them to pay up to 1 million Ugandan shillings per fishing season (every two months) to continue with their livelihood activities. Conflicts between Ugandan and Kenyan fisherfolk are also reported to be very common, mainly as a result of competition over access to fisheries and from increasing amounts of equipment theft. Killings of Banyala fishers in Bunyala sub-county occur on average once every two of months.This increasing risks from more stringent regulations and criminalization, coupled with dwindling fish stocks, were the main drivers for the Banyala seeking for alternative livelihoods in farming and livestock herding. However, increasing flooding, coupled with a low availability and ownership of land, have made it harder for these alternative income sources to flourish and secure a decent and stable source of income. The impacts of flooding extend to all wellbeing dimensions of the Banyala community. Flooding is associated with the loss of lives and the widespread loss of property and infrastructure. Beyond the immediate impacts over people´s houses and assets, crucial community places, such as schools, have been relocated due to recurring floods. Because water logging is common after flooding, particularly after lake backlog has been the main reason for flooding (at which time the water can take up to a year to recede), the community faces an increased incidence of waterborne diseases, including outbreaks of cholera and typhoid. The loss of livestock and crops also is a widespread occurrence during flooding. As a result, many young men have returned to fishing as a measure of last resort. In fact, community members and representatives from the local Beach Management Units perceive that the number of fishers in recent years has increased. In this sense, climate change is forcing Banyala populations to go into a livelihood activity that is directly associated with cross-border insecurity risks from State authorities and other communities.A further narrative that emerged consistently across all case studies is the intra-community and household-level linkages between climate and insecurity. The loss of agricultural-based livelihood, due to the compounding effects of climate and conflict, couples with the physical hazards of climate threats like flooding, has led to decreasing employment rates and income. Under a context whereby men are expected to provide for security and household income, this has rendered many young men with a sense of indignity and low capabilities. The task of finding alternative incomes has fallen to a larger extent on women, who mostly adopt the production of beads or the non-sustainable extraction of resources, like charcoal burning.Despite what is often reported in the literature, an increasing economic role of women in the household was not, in women´s perception, contributing to gender parity. Women were excessively overburdened by work and the lack of income, while their influence over decision making processes, at the household and community levels, had not changed significantly. At the same time, the feeling of ineptness by men exposed women to higher risk of household violence, as men adopt abuse as the only way of reasserting their authority. School dropouts, early pregnancies, substance abuse, crime and prostitution were all readily correlated to the effects of drought and loss of livelihood by the research participants.Preliminary results from Kenya´s fieldwork research indicate that pedagogical tools for collective reflection can support jointly-articulated visions of human security and climate vulnerability. These findings can foster collective action for natural resource management and climate adaptation, and guide the programming of environmental peacebuilding strategies based on local belief systems and adaptive capacities. Something that became evident through the data collection process is the need to account for local social-ecological conditions and insecurity dynamics when designing potential interventions and community-level efforts. The extent and mode to which the climate-smart management of natural resources and agriculture can be used to foster social cohesion among conflictive parties, was considered to be different and unique in nature throughout each assessment site. Proposals built upon specific natural resources available in each region, the concrete climate threats that communities face, and the nature of conflictive relations between the involved actors, whether within the community, between communities or State-society relations. Some prominent examples of this divergence in environmental peacebuilding proposals are include here.The Yaaku community holds a relatively mild grudge against their assailants, the Samburu. This is because, although they do not partake in the practice themselves, they understand cattle rustling as a cultural practice that did not used to have major implications. For this reason, participants reported being willing to explore strategies by which a collaborative governance of natural resources was adopted as a peacebuilding strategy between all involved tribes, including the Yaaku, Samburu, Maasai and Ilgwesi. All of these tribes have used Mukogodo forest as a home or migratory route for decades, and communitylevel efforts for the sustainable management of forest resources are already significant. Proposal by Yaaku community members revolved primarily around the formal implementation of Kenya´s Community Land Act (2016), a policy that is currently not pertinent in Mukogodo given the forest´s status as a protected area. Yaaku participants proposed to develop collaborative arrangements between the ethnic groups for the collective management of forest resources, by transferring ownership of the land to communities and creating a conservation reserve within the forest, hence shifting towards tourism-based livelihoods and reducing their dependence on livestock. Multi-ethnic management committees for forest management would also work hand-in-hand with a community patrol reserve, conformed by recruits from all ethnic groups, which would be charged with monitoring violations to forest resource use bylaws and the occurrence of cattle rustling and village raiding. The deployment of technology, such as drones and climate information services, was discussed as strategic tools for both early warning and responses to the occurrence of violence and climate disasters. These recommendations were meant as a way of seeking 1) alternative livelihood strategies which benefits are not limited to the Yaaku only and that allows the community to diversify incomes beyond livestock; 2) a more sustainable use of forest resources; 3) and the deployment of platforms where the youth across ethnic groups can engage and develop a sense of shared identity based on territorial-based livelihoods around Mukogodo forest. This was also deemed as a strategy for disarmament and reintegration of raiders. Participants recognized that previous dialogue platforms mediated by government have failed to address inter-ethnic conflict, but also acknowledged that these were open only to high-level authorities, rather than fostered reflection and identity by those who actually participate in cattle rustling.The Endorois were significantly more sceptical about deploying dialogue platforms meant to foster sustainable peace between the Pokot and Endorois communities. The conflict between these ethnic groups evidences today traits of protracted conflicts and its effects are highly intensive. However, they still proposed promising solutions that are in line with environmental peacebuilding principles. For example, Endorois participants discussed climate-smart agriculture as a way of reducing dependencies on cattle (an idea which the community had no problem embracing), so as to make populations less susceptible to rustling. The group also proposed a landscape restoration programme that would employ young people from both ethnic groups, and which could operate in both sides of the territorial conflict, hence fostering technical engagement between the two groups around the management of natural resources, fostering a sense of inter-dependence, and creating alternative livelihoods for those who reduce their dependency over cattle. These programme would focus on managing invasive species which limit land for farming and pasture in both Endorois and Pokot territories. Participants then projected the creation of a Water Basin Committee to manage water resources across both territories, hence using water as a shared problem for technical dialogue that could potentially enhance actors´ willingness to reflect on sustainable peacebuilding processes.Given the nature of insecurity problems faced by the Banyala, participants in Bunyala sub-county opted for solutions that enhanced State-society relations and protected livelihoods, rather than a sense of belonging and shared identity between conflictive groups across territorial boundaries. Their environmental peacebuilding proposals revolved around four main issues: the planning of climate-smart agriculture that is more resistant to flooding and drought as a strategy to reduce dependency over Lake Victoria fisheries; the improvement of local institutions for fishery management and enforcement of bylaws regulating fishing practices; increasing the capacity of fishermen to comply with laws both in Kenya and across the border in Uganda; and fostering community participation in decision making spaces, so as to work towards the harmonization of fishing regulations between Kenya and Uganda; long with increasing cross-border collaboration in reducing the instances of corruption, theft, torture and killings.The ability of participating communities to devise actionable environmental peacebuilding proposals, which mostly rely on their own collective action, suggests that the high levels of risk and complexity encountered in fragile contexts, which discourage climate adaptation investments in those regions that need it the most, can be addressed through reflexive dialogue with those most affected by risk. At their core, international efforts for climate adaptation need to internalize the idea that people who are facing a problem are better positioned to understand it and address its underlying roots. Collaboration between different levels and types of actors including practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and local actors holds the best promise to empower communities and produce innovative solutions for environmental peacebuilding through climate adaptation."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0dd1f82b740c205c50147eddd6c1c372","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e4f6fef3-fee2-4d58-8d52-a58706e094c4/retrieve","id":"-585327610"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"327760a2-9d0d-43e9-bcca-3f6aa4040ab3","content":"To support this initiative, ICARDA together with its partners, will: "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8a57d68efa8b0fca00eb26badca9c63e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8bef08c7-5006-46fe-99cc-1c77eaccaf6a/retrieve","id":"1885333434"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7fd9dced-d974-48d3-872c-415fe694b060","content":"El diseño pedagógico de este manual y las ilustraciones utilizadas fueron tomadas de la guía Conocimiento del mercado como la brújula para la innovación: gestores de innovación en agroindustria rural como un camino para llegar a este conocimiento, desarrollada por Érika Eliana Mosquera Echeverry, Jhon Jairo Hurtado Bermúdez y Carlos Chilito Encizo del Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), con autorización de los autores y el CIAT. De igual manera, se tomaron contenidos para el tema de giras en la cadena productiva de este manual.Este manual se basa en la metodología de análisis de cadena y desarrollo de planes para mejorar la competitividad de las cadenas desarrollada por el CIAT, la metodología ValueLinks desarrollada por GTZ y la metodología de organización empresarial de pequeños productores y productoras, desarrollada por el Centro de Competitividad para la EcoEmpresas (CeCoEco) del CATIE.Estas tres metodologías han sido publicadas de forma individual por cada una de estas organizaciones y utilizadas en procesos de capacitación y desarrollo de capacidades. Estas metodologías han sido combinadas y adaptadas para apoyar a las organizaciones de productores a definir o revisar su orientación estratégica, con un enfoque de cadena de valor.Estas metodologías han sido enriquecidas y validadas durante los dos primeros años (2007)(2008) de implementación del proyecto Innovación en Cadenas de Valor Sostenibles, implementado por el CATIE con financiamiento del MinisterioEn este manual se irán explicando los conceptos, las herramientas de apoyo y los principios de esta propuesta metodológica para apoyar a las organizaciones de productores y productoras a desarrollar un proceso de orientación estratégica con enfoque de cadena de valor.El proceso incluye la recolección y análisis de información, así como la discusión amplia y búsqueda de consenso sobre los productos y mercados en los que la organización buscará posicionarse. A partir de esta apuesta estratégica, y con base en el análisis de su situación actual, se definen líneas estratégicas de trabajo para lograr los objetivos propuestos.Apoyar a las organizaciones de productores y a sus proveedores de servicios empresariales en el desarrollo de procesos participativos para la toma de decisiones estratégicas con enfoque de cadena de valor, los cuales les permitan desarrollar, revisar y/o ajustar sus planes estratégicos, permitiéndoles definir de forma clara y concertada el negocio de la organización.Por negocio nos referimos a la razón de ser de la organización. Incluye los productos y las actividades que le generan ganancias a la organización. El negocio de una organización está definido por lo siguiente:• Los productos que ofrece (o busca ofrecer) y los segmentos de mercado a los que estarán dirigidos estos productos.Los servicios (internos y externos) que ofrece (o busca ofrecer) con el objetivo de obtener ganancias, y los clientes a los que van dirigidos estos servicios.La definición clara y concertada del negocio de las organizaciones de productores es clave para que estas organizaciones enfoquen sus recursos (humanos, sociales, económicos/financieros, naturales y físicos) en el logro de sus metas, y los utilicen eficientemente para alcanzar su visión.Una cadena agrupa todas las actividades que realizan diferentes actores [personas y organizaciones] para la producción, desde la provisión de insumos específicos, y para llevar el producto desde el área de cultivo hasta la mano del consumidor. Estos actores pueden ser proveedores de insumos, productores, procesadores, comercializadores e intermediarios.Conceptos básicos metas y líneas estratégicas. Como resultado se espera que las organizaciones cuenten con definición clara y concertada de su negocio, así como de la demanda que busca atender, realizar las mejoras necesarias, e incidir en los actores clave de las cadenas en que participan para realizar las transacciones necesarias que requiere su negocio.Esta guía metodológica está estructurada en Fases y Pasos. La Fase 1 está enfocada en el análisis colectivo de la situación actual de la organización, incluyendo la caracterización de su \"negocio\" actual, así como el mapeo y análisis económico de las cadenas en las que participa la organización. A partir de esto, en esta fase metodológica se busca que las organizaciones de productores y productoras abran su abanico de posibilidades, identificando nuevas oportunidades tanto para el desarrollo de nuevos mercados como de productos.En la Fase 2 se propone que las organizaciones de productores y productoras, evalúen tanto su \"negocio\" actual como las nuevas oportunidades identificadas, de acuerdo con los recursos humanos, sociales, financieros, naturales y físicos con que cuentan las familias socias, y la organización. De esta manera, se busca que las organizaciones lleguen a un consenso sobre los productos y mercados en los que se enfocaran, con base en un análisis amplio de oportunidades y la evaluación de la viabilidad que tienen a nivel de las familias socias y la organización de aprovechar estas oportunidades. A partir de esto, se busca que las organizaciones lleguen a un consenso sobre su orientación estratégica.La Fase 3 busca que a partir del análisis desarrollado en las dos fases previas, las organizaciones analicen sus fortalezas, oportunidades, debilidades y amenazas para alcanzar la orientación estratégica que se plantearon. Con base en esto, en el Paso 2 se definen las líneas estratégicas que debe desarrollar la organización para vincularse efectivamente a los mercados priorizados y/o desarrollar los productos seleccionados. Para implementar efectivamente estas líneas estratégicas, el último paso de la metodología provee algunos elementos importantes que se debe considerar a la hora de diseñar y establecer alianzas para la ejecución de las estratégicas.A partir de la aplicación de la metodología y el proceso propuesto en este manual se busca que las organizaciones de productores pre-empresariales (o en formación) desarrollen su plan estratégico. Para aquellas organizaciones en proceso de desarrollo ó en proceso de consolidación (y que por lo tanto tienen avances en el desarrollo de sus planes estratégicos), se espera que esta guía les ayude a evaluar, las fases y/o pasos metodológicos que ya desarrollaron, yEl proceso propuesto, así como las herramientas y métodos incluidos en ese manual, utilizan el enfoque de cadenas de valor. Esto significa que las organizaciones de productores prioricen su negocio, con base en la búsqueda y evaluación de oportunidades que pueden aprovechar viablemente. Para esto es esencial, que las organizaciones de productores desarrollen un proceso participativo de análisis de las cadenas en las que participan, así como de otras cadenas en las cuales potencialmente pudieran participar.Aún más importante, el enfoque de cadena de valor permite a las organizaciones de productores el diseño y negociación de nuevas formas de coordinación (o alianzas) con compradores, proveedores de insumos y/o servicios, consumidores, organizaciones reguladoras, y el gobierno, todos ellos actores de las cadenas. Estas nuevas formas de coordinación, las cuales pueden estar relacionadas con cambios en las políticas de compra, requisitos, logística de acopio y distribución, o en sistemas de control y certificación de calidad, entre otros, buscan que estas organizaciones agreguen un mayor valor a sus productos y/o servicios, incrementando sus ingresos y los de sus socias y socios, en el corto y mediano plazo.Por otro lado, la definición y concertación del negocio requiere que las organizaciones de productores evalúen la viabilidad financiera, tecnológica y organizativa con que cuentan para responder a las oportunidades que les ofrece el mercado, y con base en esto, prioricen aquellas oportunidades que pueden aprovechar viablemente., y que por lo tanto son de mayor interés para la organización. Para esto no es suficiente hacer un listado de las fortalezas con que cuenta la organización y de las debilidades que enfrenta, sino también analizar a profundidad las causas o raíces de estas debilidades. Esto es esencial para el diseño de estrategias efectivas.Con esta guía se busca fortalecer las capacidades de proveedores de servicio locales, los cuales pueden ser uniones de cooperativas, organizaciones gremiales, ONG o fundaciones locales, así como técnicos locales independientes, para facilitar procesos de orientación estratégica con directivos de organizaciones de productores y productoras, así como de sus socios y socias.De esta manera, esta guía está concebida como material de apoyo en un proceso de fortalecimiento de capacidades dirigido a directivos, socios y socias y organizaciones de productores, y busca desarrollar competencias en estos para que puedan, de forma participativa, recolectar y analizar información relevante, y con base en esto revisar periódicamente su orientación estratégica, incluidas sus aquellos pasos que deben implementar (o en los que deben profundizar) con el objetivo de revisar, actualizar, completar o ajustar sus planes que estratégicos.A continuación, se presenta de forma gráfica las Fases y Pasos Metodológicos.La metodología propuesta en este manual se basa en tres principios claves:1. El negocio de la organización debe ser rentable y sostenible en el tiempo, y la toma de decisiones estratégicas deben incluir la definición de reglas claras sobre la forma en que los ingresos generados serán repartidos entre los socios y socias. 2. La representatividad y participación activa de directivos, socios y socias, y personal en los procesos de toma de decisiones estratégicas para la organización. 3. Una difusión amplia de estas decisiones para lograr una verdadera apropiación y compromiso de éste por parte de los directivos, socios y personal de la organización.Las fases y pasos propuestos, así como su secuencia, debe considerarse solamente como una propuesta, y por lo tanto, estos pueden ser reorganizados para responder a las necesidades específicas de cada organización, así como al contexto en que las diferentes organizaciones desarrollan sus actividades.Fase 1. Identificación y evaluación de oportunidades con enfoque de cadena de valorEsta fase del proceso metodológico busca que las organizaciones empresariales de productores identifiquen, revisen y evalúen oportunidades existentes que se presentan en las cadenas en las que están participando actualmente, así como nuevas oportunidades en cadenas alternativas o nuevas. Esta evaluación les permitirá identificar los requisitos con los que deben cumplir para aprovechar estas oportunidades de manera rentable y sostenible.Comunicarse es ponerse de acuerdo; por eso, lo primero que vamos a hacer es ponernos de acuerdo sobre algunos conceptos básicos.Una cadena agrupa todas las actividades que realizan diferentes actores (personas y organizaciones) para la producción, desde la provisión de insumos específicos, para llevar el producto desde el área de cultivo hasta la mano del consumidor. Estos actores pueden ser proveedores de insumos, productores y productoras, procesadores, comercializadores e intermediarios.Los actores que desarrollan las diferentes funciones en una cadena están relacionados por una serie de transacciones (monetarias o no monetarias) mediante las cuales el producto se lleva hasta el consumidor final. En este proceso puede o no haber transformación del producto, y de darse esta transformación, ésta puede implicar diferentes niveles de complejidad y agregación de valor.De esta manera, las cadenas consisten de una serie de eslabones, los cuales incluyen una secuencia de operadores que desarrollan funciones desde la provisión de insumos, pasando por la producción, el manejo poscosecha y/o procesamiento, y la comercialización, hasta llegar a las manos del consumidor final.El liderazgo de los directivos y la participación de los socios y socias en la toma de decisiones estratégicas, así como la difusión amplia de las mismas, es clave para lograr su compromiso con la implementación de los planes y políticas acordadas, dándole transparencia y fortaleza a los procesos organizativos.Muchas veces se usan los términos cadenas productivas y cadenas de valor de manera intercambiable pero hay unas diferencias importantes entre los dos.Para comenzar partimos de la base que las cadenas productivas existen y pueden ser fortalecidas para mejorar su competitividad.Las cadenas productivas pueden diferenciarse de acuerdo con la naturaleza de su organización en cadenas de valor.• están orientadas por la demanda, es decir, que responden a demandas de los consumidores en los mercados locales, nacionales o internacionales.• involucran productos diferenciados ó especializados • se caracterizan por relaciones de coordinación, colaboración y/o cooperación entre los diferentes actores, lo cual permite controlar la calidad y consistencia del producto. • funcionan con reglas y/o normas concertadas entre los diferentes actores para su gestión, las cuales están claramente definidas y son transparentes.• incluyen actores que reconocen la estrecha interdependencia entre ellos, comparten una visión común de mediano y largo plazo, y por lo tanto, están dispuestos a trabajar conjuntamente compartiendo información, riesgos y beneficios. • permiten lograr rentas más elevadas para todos los actores involucrados (relaciones ganar-ganar) • generan confianza entre los participantes lo cual permite mayor seguridad en los negocios y facilita el desarrollo de metas y objetivos comunes.Desarrollar una nueva cadena de valor o entrar en una cadena de valor existente requiere negociar, compartir información y riesgos, así como colaborar o cooperar con otros actores, cambiando las relaciones y las reglas que norman estas relaciones. Por lo tanto, cuando se mejoran las relaciones entre los actores de una cadena, y se fortalecen las alianzas también se está agregando valor. Sin embargo, no todos los actores de una cadena están interesados o dispuestos a entrar en una cadena de valor, y este es un aspecto importante a evaluar.Para un mejor entendimiento del concepto de cadena de valor, se incluye la experiencia de Eco-Vegetal R. L., una organización que asocia a 73 productores de hortalizas del Municipio de Sébaco en el Departamento de Matagalpa (Nicaragua), en el desarrollo y articulación a cadenas de valor en el mercado local, nacional e internacional, como un ejemplo de cadena de valor.Treinta y un productores de hortalizas de diferentes comunidades de Sébaco, Matagalpa (Nicaragua) vendían su producción a acopiadores rurales e intermediarios mayoristas. En el 2004 estos productores decidieron formar la Cooperativa de Productos Vegetales, Eco-Vegetal R. L, a través de la cual pudieron articularse a tres cadenas de valor.En primer lugar, Eco-Vegetal R. L. está orientada a responder a la demanda de cebolla, calabazas y chayotes del mercado de USA y Costa Rica. Para entrar a este mercado, desarrolló una alianza con OLA AMERICA, una empresa comercializadora que además de facilitar el contacto entre Eco-Vegetal y los compradores de estas hortalizas, financia los costos de comercialización y exportación mediante el cobro de una comisión del 4% por elActores directos e indirectos de las cadenasLos actores que participan en una cadena, se clasifican en dos grupos:Actores directos u operadores son aquellos que se encuentran insertos en los procesos productivos, de manejo poscosecha, procesamiento y comercialización.Por lo tanto son los actores que toman posesión directa del producto y son dueños de éste en uno o más eslabones de la cadena, y por lo tanto asumen un riesgo directo.Actores indirectos son aquellos que prestan servicios operativos a los actores de cadena en distintos eslabones, pero no asumen un riego directo sobre el producto ya que si bien pueden tener le producto en sus manos en algún eslabón de la cadena, no toman posesión de este.Tanto los actores directos como indirectos de la cadena ofrecen servicios para el funcionamiento de la cadena. Los actores indirectos ofrecen una variedad de servicios, y según el tipo de servicio que ofrecen se pueden clasificar en:Proveedores de insumos, que son aquellos que proveen insumos para la producción, manejo poscosecha o procesamiento del producto. Estos insumos pueden ser genéricos para diferentes cadenas (ej. fertilizantes, agroquímicos), o específicos, y por lo tanto, relevantes para una cadena específica (ej. plántulas de café)En tercer lugar, Eco-Vegetal R. L. comercializa hortalizas como el chayote verde y quelite en el mercado nacional, a través de una alianza con la Empresa Hortifruti de Walmart, quien acopia y distribuye hortalizas para supermercados (La Unión y La Colonia), quienes compran durante todo el año un promedio de 25 mil unidades al mes a mejores precios que el mercado local.A raíz de esta incursión en cadenas de valor, la cooperativa ha venido creciendo sustancialmente, pasando de 31 a 73 socios en tres años. La Cooperativa ha sido una alternativa para resolver algunas de las necesidades en la producción y comercialización, con lo que los socios han logrado aumentar áreas de siembra, mejorar sus ingresos, brindar estudio a sus hijos y en algunos casos, reparar sus viviendas para tener mejores condiciones de vida.Alianzas con Empresas para la Comercialización: El Sueño de Muchos Feria de Aprendizaje AdA Nicaragua, 2007 Experiencia apoyada por CRS, CIAT y CARITAS Prestadores de servicios de apoyo, que son aquellos actores que proveen servicios de interés común para uno o varios actores de la cadena, y que son esenciales para mejorar la competitividad de la cadena vista como un sistema (ej. servicios financieros, investigación, desarrollo tecnológico, capacitación, asistencia técnica, facilitación de procesos de coordinación, promoción de alianzas). Por consiguiente, los servicios de apoyo proveen un bien colectivo que normalmente es compartido por los actores de la cadena de la cadena.Las políticas públicas, las leyes y regulaciones (productivas, financieras, de manejo ambiental, sanitarias), las normas y estándares (de calidad, sociales, ambientales), la capacidad y calidad de la infraestructura básica y los servicios públicos, entre otros; definen el entorno en el que los actores de las cadenas desarrollan sus actividades, influyendo directamente en su desempeño. Las organizaciones reguladoras son aquellas que aplican estas políticas, leyes, regulaciones o normas; y se responsabilizan de controlar su cumplimiento. Algunas organizaciones reguladoras cumplen al mismo tiempo otros roles en las cadenas, como es, por ejemplo, brindar servicios de capacitación.Paso 1. Caracterización del negocio actual de la organizaciónEste primer paso busca que los miembros de la organización describan de forma explícita los productos y/o los servicios que ofrece la organización para generar ingresos, y los segmentos de mercado o clientes a los que se dirigen estos productos y/o servicios.Esta información se puede obtener de varias fuentes comenzando con el conocimiento del personal y los directivos de la organización, lo cual se puede complementar con información secundaria de estudios o análisis ya realizados, así como con entrevistas con personas claves. Esta actividad no debe tomar más de un día, puede ser facilitada por el proveedor de servicios, con miembros clave del personal y los directivos de la organización.Matriz de productos y mercados existentes 4. El proveedor de servicios complementa y valida con información secundaria y/o entrevistas con socios y otras personas clave.A continuación se presenta un ejemplo de aplicación de esta herramienta por parte de una organización de productores de café de Nicaragua. En el Cuadro 1 se incluye una descripción de los productos y mercados en los que se encuentra la organización. Cabe notar que si bien la organización participa de la cadena de café, la información organizada en el Cuadro permite caracterizar las cuatro cadenas en las que participa la organización, y también ofrece información sobre la importancia relativa de estas cadenas para la organización en términos del valor de sus ventas que se genera en cada cadena.Cuadro 1. Descripción de los productos ofrecidos por la organización Paso 2. Mapeo de las cadenas en que participa la organizaciónUna vez que se han descrito y caracterizado los productos y servicios que ofrece la organización de productores, el siguiente paso consisten en mapear las cadena de actores (y sus respectivas funciones) que permiten que un producto llegue al consumidor final. Para esto será necesario mapear todas las cadenas en las que participa la organización, y a través de las cuales satisface a los diferentes segmentos de mercado a los que llega (productos y segmentos de mercado descritos en el Paso 1).Evaluar los servicios es muy importante para que las organizaciones definan y puedan ofrecer servicios claves para el negocio, aprovechando las fortalezas de haberse asociado.. El mapa de una cadena es una representación visual de los actores que desarrollan las diferentes funciones mediante las cuales se agrega valor a un producto primario hasta llevarlo al consumidor final, y las relaciones entre estos actores.El mapa de la cadena permite visualizar la serie de eslabones por los que pasa un producto, desde la provisión de insumos, pasando por la producción, el manejo poscosecha y/o procesamiento, y la comercialización, hasta llegar al consumidor final.Esta visualización de la cadena busca que los socios y las socias, los directivos y el personal de la organización:• Visualicen toda la cadena y no sólo el eslabón en el que participan que es el que mejor conocen • Identifiquen a los otros actores que participan en la cadena y sus funciones • Reconozcan su inter-dependencia con los otros actores • Evalúen los intereses de cada actor en su participación en la cadena, y el valor que agregan a esta cadena. • Analicen el tipo de relaciones (formales e informales) que se dan entre estos actores. Se recomienda no hacer cruces con las flechas, esto no permite ver muy clara la ruta de la relación. • Identifiquen y evalúen los factores críticos con los que deben cumplir para participar exitosamente en la cadena.El mapeo de la cadena debe ser comprensible para todos los actores directos e indirectos que participan de ella, para lo cual es necesario que incluya un grado de detalle que aporte la suficiente información para la toma de decisiones, pero que sea los suficientemente simple para su fácil comprensión.Para que el mapeo de la cadena sea ampliamente comprensible, y así facilitar una buena comunicación entre sus actores, es importante cumplir con algunas reglas y utilizar una simbología estandarizada. La metodología ValueLinks, desarrollada por GTZ, aplica una serie de símbolos de mapeo, los cuales se utilizan en este manual con algunos ajustes.Todo mapeo de cadena debería caber en una página. Por ello, un mapeo a pequeña escala de una cadena completa sólo puede mostrar una somera visión general. Para obtener una visualización más detallada, se debe escoger y ampliar una parte del primer mapa. Se mapea dicha parte con mayor detalle y se presenta por separado.El mapeo comienza por el trazado de un mapa básico que provea una visión de conjunto de toda la cadena, el cual incluya los principales eslabones de la cadena, visualizando:• La secuencia de eslabones (flechas blancas con texto interior)• Los actores directos de la cadena (en formas rectangulares amarillas)• Los vínculos comerciales entre los actores directos (flechas con diferentes convenciones, según el tipo de relación que se da entre los diferentes actores) • Los prestadores de servicios ó actores directos que ofrecen servicios operativos (formas rectangulares rosadas), y servicios de apoyo (formas rectangulares azules) • Los actores que regulan la operación de la cadena en sus distintos eslabones (formas rectangulares verdes)Dado que cada actor de la cadena desarrolla una función distinta y complementaria, cada uno tiene un mayor conocimiento sobre el eslabón en el que participa, pero hasta cierta medida, desconoce el funcionamiento de los otros eslabones. Por lo tanto, cada actor ve y analiza la situación desde la posición en que se encuentra. Cada actor de la cadena ve la realidad desde su punto de vista, pero es parcialmente ciego frente a las realidades de los otros actores.Es por esta razón que en la medida en que se obtenga información de una mayor diversidad de actores, la visualización de la cadena será más completa, permitiendo un mejor análisis de la realidad, y la toma de mejores decisiones para que la organización logre sus metas. Esto requiere combinar (o triangular) los puntos de vista de todos los actores que participan de esta cadena.Por lo anterior se recomienda mapear la cadena en una secuencia de cinco momentos:1. Conformación de un grupo facilitador compuesto por el proveedor de servicios, al menos un directivo de la organización y un miembro clave de su personal (si lo tiene). 2. Un taller con una muestra representativa de socios y socias, directivos y personal de la organización de productores, facilitado por el proveedor de servicios (4 horas o medio día) 3. Revisión de información secundaria por parte del grupo facilitador 4. Entrevistas con otros actores clave de la cadena para complementar, ajustar o validar la información obtenida por parte del grupo facilitador 5. Una reunión de trabajo del grupo facilitador para finalizar el mapeo de al cadena (4 horas o medio día)Por otro lado, normalmente existen diferencias importantes entre los diferentes socios y socias de las organizaciones de productores., lo cual puede ameritar un análisis diferenciado de su situación. Para el mapeo de la cadena, es importante definir el criterio que se utilizará y asegurar una convocatoria representativa de socios y socias de los diferentes grupos. Algunos criterios de diferenciación de los socios y socias de la organización son:• El sistema de producción o nivel tecnológico que utiliza, lo cual puede estar también relacionado con procesos de certificación • Ubicación geográfica y su influencia en el acceso a recursos naturales, infraestructura básica, mercados, y servicios • Acceso a bienes de producción como tierra, equipos, capital, recursos humanosA continuación se incluye una matriz que se puede utilizar para visualizar la composición del grupo que participaría en el mapeo de la cadena. Esto ayuda a la búsqueda de un buen equilibrio del grupo convocado.Para el mapeo de la cadena sugerimos lo siguiente:• Presentar sucintamente la teoría de cadenas de valor, símbolos para el mapeo y un ejemplo de mapeo de cadenaEl mapeo de la cadena no es un fin, es sólo un medio para que las organizaciones analicen el entorno en el que desarrollan sus actividades (una realidad compleja).Esto con la finalidad de tomar mejores decisiones sobre el negocio en que la organización quiere posicionarse, y diseñar una estrategia que les permitan lograrlo de forma rentable y sostenible.• Presentar información secundaria de estudios desarrollados sobre la cadena de valor en cuestión• Formular preguntas clave para un análisis detallado de la cadena. Es importante aquí preguntarse sobre la función de cada uno de los actores que participan en la cadena para ubicarlos en el mapeo de la cadena.• Usar tableros y tarjetas para visualizar el mapeo de la cadena y para facilitar el intercambio y las discusiones específicas• No exceda los límites del espacio del tablero en preparar el mapeo general. Si el espacio no fuere suficiente, prepare un segundo mapa que amplíe la parte pertinente del mapeo grande• Preparar un plan de trabajo para responsables para el desarrollo de cada actividad, junto con los tiempos que esto requiere.Ejercicios para el mapeo de la cadena en talleres con actores 1. El grupo facilitador debe determinar el principal criterio que utilizará para agrupar a los socios y socias de la organización para el mapeo de la cadena, y convocar a un grupo representativo de los diferentes tipos de socios, así como a los directivos y personal de la organización.2. Dividir a los participantes en grupos, según el criterio de diferenciación seleccionado, si se considera necesario, y luego consolidar esto en un solo mapa que incluya los aportes de cada grupo.3. A partir de la descripción de los productos ofrecidos por la organización y los segmentos de mercado a los que estos se dirigen (ver Cuadro 1), escribir en tarjetas blancas ovaladas, las características de cada producto y segmento de mercado al que se dirige el producto (tipo de productos y puntos de venta finales). Para cada uno de estos segmentos de mercado, se realizara un mapa.A partir del tipo de producto y punto de venta final (tarjeta blanca ovalada), y moviéndose hacia atrás hasta llegar a la provisión de insumos, se van identificando los actores directos que participan en la cadena. Se escribe el nombre de cada actor directo en tarjetas amarillas rectangulares. Los proveedores de insumos que se incluyen como actores directos son sólo aquellos que proveen insumos específicos para el producto la cadena que se esta mapeado.5. Para cada uno de estos actores se elabora una lista de las actividades ó funciones que desarrolla actualmente, y se las escribe en una tarjeta rectangular blanca.6. Organizar a los actores directos desde la provisión de insumos hasta el punto final de venta, en una progresión lineal de acuerdo a los eslabones en los que participan, y colocar el nombre de cada uno de estos eslabones en tarjetas blancas cortadas en forma de flechas en la parte superior.7. Si los actores directos asumen más de una función, el recuadro que los representa se amplía para cubrir los dos o más eslabones en los que se participan.8. En el caso de productos de exportación, se hace una línea divisoria entre los actores directos domésticos y del exterior.9. Para cada eslabón de la cadena se incluye debajo de los actores directos los proveedores de servicios operativos en tarjetas rectangulares rosadas.10. De la misma forma, para cada eslabón de la cadena se incluye debajo de los proveedores de servicios operativos a los proveedores de servicios de apoyo en tarjetas rectangulares de color celeste.11. Finalmente, en la parte de abajo de cada eslabón, se incluyen las organizaciones reguladoras, es decir aquellas que definen las normas y controlan su aplicación en tarjetas rectangulares de color verde.A continuación se incluye, a modo de ejemplo, el mapeo de la cadena de café orgánico y en transición exportado a Inglaterra en el la que participa la cooperativa de productores de café, COOPROCOM, de Matagalpa, Nicaragua.Esta es una de las sub cadenas en que participa la organización. COOMPROCOM también participa en las sub-cadenas de• café imperfecto, tostado y molido vendido en mercado local de Matagalpa.• café imperfecto, vendido como convencional a intermediarios del mercado localPor lo tanto, sería importante construir un mapa para cada una de estas subcadenas.Por otro lado, en el caso de que no todo el café de los socios sea comercializado a través de COOMPROCOM también seria muy importante construir el mapa de la cadena de café en el mercado convencional en el que participan los productores socios de COOMPROCOM de forma individual, ya que esta cadena compite por el acopio de café con COOMPROCOM.Presentamos los siguientes consejos prácticos para una convocatoria con equidad de género:Ejemplo Conceptos básicosLa información para mapear la cadena será de mayor calidad cuando se involucre a una mayor diversidad de actores que participen activamente en su construcción, la visualización de la cadena será más completa, permitiendo un mejor análisis de la realidad, y la toma de mejores decisiones para que la organización logre sus metas.Prepare el mapa de una cadena de valor utilizando los diferentes símbolos presentados en este paso: Eslabón de la cadena (flechas blancas con texto interior), actores directos (rectángulos amarillos), proveedores de servicios operativos (rectángulos rosados), proveedores de servicios de apoyo (rectángulos azules), actores que regulan (rectángulos verdes) Paso 3. Análisis económico de las cadenas en que participa la organizaciónEl mapeo realizado en el Paso 2 de la metodología permite visualizar los diferentes actores que participan en la cadena, desde la provisión de insumos genéricos y específicos para la cadena, hasta que el producto llega a su punto final de venta; así como las funciones que desempeñan. Esta visión es clave para:• Visualizar a todos los actores que participan en la cadena, tanto los directos como indirectos, y de esta forma definir con claridad las funciones que desarrolla la organización, y aquellas que puede podría y seria estratégico desarrollar en un futuro.• Tomar decisiones acerca de los actores de la cadena con los que seria deseable (y posible) aliarse para desarrollar aquellas actividades que necesita desarrollar porque son estratégicas para el negocio, pero que no es rentable desarrollarlas, o que la organización no cuenta con los recursos ó el conocimiento para hacerlo.Si bien la información que provee el mapeo de la cadena es muy importante, no es suficiente para tomar decisiones estratégicas. Es necesario complementar este análisis con un análisis económico de la cadena.El análisis económico de la cadena es clave ya que los costos de producción unitarios (determinados por los costos y la productividad) y los precios recibidos por los productos (determinados por los mercados, la calidad del producto, y la capacidad de negociación), son los dos factores más importantes para determinar la rentabilidad y competitividad del negocio.El análisis económico de la cadena permite:• Evaluar alternativas de agregación de valor ó de participación en nuevas cadenas • Analizar los factores que inciden en los costos • Determinar los grados de libertad para la negociación de precios de compra y de venta • Monitorear y evaluar el desempeño de la organización, y re-orientar su estrategia si es necesario • Evaluar el posicionamiento de la organización frente a sus competidores.Realizar el análisis económico de una cadena es un desafío ya que casi ningún productor conoce sus costos de producción, ni tampoco lo saben la mayoría de los transportistas, comerciantes o empresas de pequeña escala. Por otro lado, las empresas medianas y grandes, si bien costean sus productos y servicios, no necesariamente están dispuestas a compartir esta información ya que en gran parte es el manejo de esta información, el que les da poder de negociación frente a los otros actores de la cadena.Sin embargo, es importante iniciar con el proceso, aún si la información con la que se cuenta no es suficiente, o no es totalmente confiable, y así tener al menos una aproximación ó estimación de los datos reales. Una vez que el proceso de monitorear esta información se inicia, las organizaciones y sus socios y socias se van dando cuenta de la utilidad que tiene esta para la toma de decisiones, y se van motivando para desarrollar una rutina de registro y análisis de información clave para el negocio.El análisis económico de la cadena incluye los costos y los ingresos. Los costos son los desembolsos que se deben realizar para desarrollar las diferentes actividades. Los costos totales son la suma de todos los costos, mientras que el costo unitario es lo que cuesta producir una unidad de producto (ej. un qq de café oro).La estimación y análisis transparente y participativo de los costos y el valor agregado a lo largo de la cadena, contribuye a fortalecer la transparencia de los procesos organizativos, generando confianza y compromiso por parte de los socios y socias de la organización, y sirviendo como referente para las negociaciones. .El costo total unitario incluye los costos fijos, que son aquellos que no varían con los volúmenes de producción (ej. los costos administrativos), y los costos variables, que son aquellos que cambian según los volúmenes de producción (ej. el costo de la materia prima y los insumos). El ingreso neto unitario de cada eslabón de la cadena, es igual al precio de venta de ese eslabón menos el costo total unitario del respectivo eslabón.El valor agregado por la cadena es una medición de la riqueza generada por la cadena, y es equivalente al valor total de los productos y servicios generados por la cadena. El valor agregado por la cadena, es la suma del valor agregado por cada uno de los eslabones que la componen, el cual es equivalente al valor total de los servicios y productos generados por el eslabón. El valor agregado unitario es equivalente al valor agregado por unidad de producto (ej. US$/qq de café oro).Análisis de costos y agregación de valor de la cadena 1. Con base en las funciones que desarrolla cada uno de los actores de la cadena, se definen y costean las actividades que deben realizar cada actor directo para desarrollar sus funciones. De esta manera se tendrá el costo de producción, de acopio y manejo poscosecha, transformación (si se realiza) y comercialización, hasta el eslabón en que la organización recibe el pago por el producto, y este deja de pertenecerle.2. En el caso en que la organización sub-contrata servicios operativos, no es necesario costear estas actividades, pero si tener el costo de este servicio e incluirlo en los costos del eslabón correspondiente.3. Definir la unidad de medida que se utilizará para estimar los costos unitarios de cada eslabón de la cadena. Esto es esencial para poder hacer comparaciones entre los eslabones de la cadena. Dado que en una cadena existe diferenciación y/o transformación del producto, es muy importante estandarizar todos los costos para expresarlos en la misma unidad de medida, Por ejemplo en la cadena de café se puede usar US$/ qq de café oro. Para esto será necesario convertir el costo del eslabón de producción, que normalmente se calcula en qq de café pergamino húmedo, a su equivalente en US$/qq de café oro.4. Los costos por actividad y los costos totales, se dividen por la unidad de medida acordada, estimándose el costo unitario para desarrollar cada una de las actividades necesarias para cumplir con estas funciones, clasificándolos en costos fijos y costos variables, los cuales se listan debajo de la tarjeta de su respectivo eslabón, y el costo total unitario, el cual es la suma de todos los costos variables y los costos fijos, se coloca a la derecha de su respectivo eslabón.Al precio de venta en cada eslabón, se le resta su respectivo costo unitario, calculándose el ingreso neto unitario que recibe cada eslabón de la cadena, debajo de los costos fijos y variables.6. El ingreso neto (o excedente) de cada eslabón es el valor agregado unitario de ese eslabón a la cadena.A modo de ejemplo, para el análisis de la cadena de frijol de una cooperativa de Nicaragua se decidió estandarizar la unidad de medida a córdobas/qq de frijol de campo. Esta decisión se tomó porque los productores calculan sus costos y venden su producto a la cooperativa en córdobas/qq de frijol de campo. Sin embargo, la cooperativa, lo limpia, seca y clasifica y lo vende en tres calidades (primera, segunda y tercera) a precios diferenciales. Por esto, para realizar un análisis económico de la cadena es necesario convertir los precios diferenciales de venta, a su equivalente de \"frijol de campo\", y esto requiere conocer el porcentaje de frijol que sale de cada una de estas calidades y realizar el siguiente cálculo:Precio en equivalente frijol de campo = % de frijol de primera (precio del frijol de primera) + % de frijol de segunda (precio del frijol de segunda) + % de frijol de tercera (precio del frijol de tercera)En este ejemplo el precio pagado a los productores fue de $C 700/qq de frijol de campo, generando un ingreso neto de $C 300/qq de frijol de campo. La cooperativa seca, limpia y clasifica el frijol, lo cual tiene un costo de $C 100/qq. Luego lo vende a precios diferenciales según la calidad: (i) frijol de primera a $C 1,000/qq; (ii) frijol de segunda a $C 450/qq, y (iii) frijol de tercera a $C 200/ qq. Para estimar el excedente que percibe la cooperativa, es necesario convertir estos precios al equivalente de frijol de campo, de la siguiente manera:Precio en equivalente de frijol de campo = (0.82*1,000) + (0.12*450) + (0.06*200) = 820 + 54 + 12Dando así un precio de venta de $C886/qq de frijol de campo. Con este cálculo es posible ahora estimar el excedente que recibe la cooperativa por acopiar, secar, limpiar, clasificar, empacar y comercializar el frijol, el cual seria de:$C 886/qq de frijol de campo -$C 700/qq de frijol de campo = $C 186/qq de frijol de campo Así podemos determinar que el valor agregado por los productores es de $C 300 córdobas por qq de frijol de campo producido, y el valor agregado por la cooperativa es de $ 186 córdobas por qq de frijol de campo acopiado, procesado y comercializado.A continuación se muestra la representación del análisis económico de la cadena de una cooperativa de productores de café de Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua, donde la información esta presentada en US$/qq de café oro.Una vez descrita y analizada la cadena (o cadenas) en las que participa la organización, el siguiente paso consiste en identificar y evaluar nuevas oportunidades, tanto en las cadenas en que ya participa la organización, así como oportunidades de articulación a nuevas cadenas. Para esto es necesario buscar respuestas a las siguientes preguntas:• ¿Cuál es la tasa de crecimiento del segmento de mercado en que participa la organización y de aquellos en que podría participar? • ¿Cuál es el precio promedio del producto en estos segmentos de mercado, y las tendencias en estos precios? • ¿Quiénes son los compradores actuales o potenciales en estos segmentos de mercado? • ¿Cuáles son los requerimientos de los compradores en términos de volumen, tiempo de entrega, y frecuencia de entrega? • Cómo se debe entregar el producto (con o sin proceso) y en que empaque (bolsas, canastas, bandejas, etc.) • ¿Qué tipo de certificación exigen estos compradores? • ¿Cuáles son los requisitos de calidad de estos compradores?• ¿Cuáles son los requisitos de estos compradores para recibir el producto y las formas de pago? • ¿Qué oportunidades existen para establecer alianzas estratégicas para agregar mayor valor al producto (o los productos) de la organización y/o de sus socios y socias • ¿Quiénes son los proveedores actuales y cómo se está comprando el producto a estos?Para responder a estas u otras inquietudes se recomienda una combinación de las siguientes actividades:• Revisar la información existente sobre tendencias del mercado, y requisitos de los diferentes mercados • Implementar un sondeo rápido para mercados seleccionadosAntes de iniciar con giras, sondeos de mercado, o embarcarse en estudios de mercado, es muy importante revisar la información que ha sido recolectada previamente por otras personas u organizaciones, y realizar giras para visitar experiencias similares.Un sondeo rápido de mercado no pretende ser un estudio completo del mercado sino un ejercicio corto que permite recolectar información clave sobre los segmentos de mercado en que participa la organización, así como de otros segmentos de mercado en los que potencialmente puede participar. Esto incluye información específica y clave para apoyar a las organizaciones de productores en el proceso de toma de decisiones estratégicas.Diseño del sondeo rápido de mercado 1. Conformar un equipo para realizar el sondeo de mercado. Idealmente, este equipo debe estar conformado por: (1) el proveedor de servicios; (2) miembros de la Junta Directiva; (3) miembros del personal encargados del área de comercialización; y (4) socios y/o socias interesados en participar en los sondeos, seleccionados con base en criterios concertados previamente.2. El equipo recopila y revisa información secundaria relevante, y la organiza en una matriz que incluye las siguientes puntos, hasta donde la información lo permita: • Segmentos de mercado actuales y potenciales para la organización • Características y tendencias del segmento de mercado evaluado • Servicios financieros, técnicos o empresariales que ofrece el segmento de mercado a sus proveedores • Requisitos para entrar al mercado 3. Con base en la información existente, el equipo define la información que necesita recopilar y diseña un formato de entrevista o lista de chequeo para las visitas, o entrevistas telefónicas, con compradores actuales o potenciales. Estos compradores pueden ser en segmentos de mercado en los que está participando la organización, o en segmentos de mercado en los que potencialmente pudiera participar.A continuación se incluye un ejemplo de un formato de entrevista o lista de chequeo preparada por una organización de productores de flores para realizar un sondeo rápido de mercados Herramienta EjemploUna vez que se diseña el sondeo rápido de mercado, el siguiente paso consiste en visitar, o llamar por teléfono, a actores clave para desarrollar las entrevista y una sistematización visual de la experiencia, utilizando la técnica de observación directa.Entre los actores claves a visitar y entrevistar se encuentran:• Intermediarios acopiadores, mayoristas y minoristas • Detallistas (tiendas, mercados, supermercados)• Procesadores, agroindustrias u otras industrias • Exportadores o importadores • Proveedores de insumos y otros servicios (transporte, financieros, técnicos y de desarrollo empresarial, etc.)El número de actores a ser entrevistados dependerá del tiempo y los recursos disponibles parar desarrollar las entrevistas. Idealmente, se debe continuar las entrevistas hasta que se complete de recopilar la información requerida. En caso de que los actores que se desea entrevistar estén a una larga distancia del donde esta ubicada la sede de la organización, se puede realizar las entrevistas por teléfono o correo electrónico.A partir de estos sondeos de mercado, las organizaciones pueden evaluar oportunidades tanto en las cadenas que participan actualmente, como en otros donde potencialmente podrían participar. De esta manera, pueden evaluar cuatros tipos de estrategias que se listan a continuación, con sus respectivos ejemplos:• Estrategia de penetración: Organización de productores de pequeños escala para logar económicas de escala y aumentar su poder de negociación en mercados existentes con productos que ya se están produciendo.• Estrategia de desarrollo de nuevos productos: Diferenciación de productos con base en atributos físicos y sociales especiales, a través de certificaciones que reconocen calidad y/o responsabilidad social y ambiental, ó mediante la agregación de valor a la producción primaria a través del procesamiento, empaque, etiquetado, entre otros. • Estrategia de desarrollo de nuevos mercados: Desarrollo de alianzas estrategias para penetrar en nuevos mercados, con productos que actualmente ofrece la organización. • Estrategia de diversificación: Diferenciación de productos (o agregación de valor a la producción primaria) y desarrollo de alianzas para penetrar en nuevos segmentos de mercado A modo de ejemplo, a continuación se presenta una matriz donde se sistematizan los resultados de un sondeo rápido de mercados desarrollado por una organización de productores de café. Esta sistematización incluye las características y tendencias del segmento de mercado analizado, los servicios adicionales que ofrece el comprado, los requisitos del mercado, y la forma de pago. Los datos incluidos en esta matriz dependerán de los intereses de la organización, y de las decisiones estratégicas que debe tomar.Además de obtener la información resumida en el cuadro anterior, durante los sondeos de mercado se puede averiguar si el comprador está interesado en nuevos proveedores del producto, si está interesado en participar en relaciones más estratégicas y de largo plazo con grupos de productores o si quiere otros productos que podría ofertar la organización y/o sus socios y socias. Es importante identificar compradores con quiénes se podría lograr una relación comercial. Este proceso va más allá de solamente decir \"existe una demanda\" para identificar actores de la cadena con quienes las organizaciones de productores podrían negociar.La información obtenida idealmente debe ser también capturada usando fotografía o video para después compartir los resultados con los directivos, el personal y los socios y socias que no pudieron participar del sondo de mercado. Esto permitirá mostrar las diferentes calidades del producto, o los empaques, requeridos por el mercado. A veces el hecho de poder mostrar claramente cuáles son las diferencias entre la calidad de un producto y otro, o una nueva forma de empaque, es razón suficiente para motivar un cambio en los actores de la cadena.Cuadro 3. Oportunidades identificadas y evaluadas Con base en la identificación y evaluación de oportunidades de negocio en las cadenas en que participa la actualmente la organización de productores, y otras cadenas donde potencialmente podría participar, en esta fase se busca que las organizaciones seleccionen y prioricen aquellas oportunidades que son viables desde el punto de vista técnico, económico, financiero y organizativo, tanto a nivel de las familias socias, como a nivel de su organización empresarial.Adicionalmente, con base en los requisitos identificados para acceder a estas oportunidades (existentes o nuevas), la metodología busca apoyar a las organizaciones para determinar los factores clave de éxito, lo cual es fundamental para:• Concertar y definir claramente el negocio en el que se enfocará la organización en los próximos 3-5 años. • Desarrollar un buen análisis de Fortalezas, Oportunidades, Debilidades y Amenazas (FODA), y con base en este análisis, determinar las líneas estratégicas que desarrollará la organización, así como las acciones que debe desarrollar para alcanzar su visión.Factor clave de éxito Los factores claves de éxito son los factores fundamentales y decisivos para el éxito de una organización empresarial. Identificarlos no es una tarea simple ya que están dados por el entorno en el que se desarrolla el negocio, y por factores internos de funcionamiento y desempeño de la organización Una buena identificación y análisis de los factores clave de éxito es esencial para enfocar los recursos con que cuentan las familias productoras y sus organizaciones en estos factores para alcanzar las metas y la visión de la organización.Requerimientos, tales como precio, calidad, volumen mínimo, tipo de certificación, para cumplir con las exigencias de la demanda de los consumidores finales en determinados segmentos de mercado (ej., café diferenciado).Paso 1. Evaluación de la viabilidad de las familias sociasUna vez sistematizada la información de los sondeos de mercado, el siguiente paso consiste en priorizar oportunidades en las cadenas que participa la organización y/o oportunidades de articulación a nuevas cadenas. Los principales criterios de toma de decisión incluyen:Se refiere a la posibilidad de las familias socias de la organización de producir, así como la viabilidad de la organización de agregar valor a la producción primaria de sus asociados, de manera sostenible, para llegar al mercado con productos que cumplan con los requerimientos de este mercado.Se refiere a la posibilidad que tienen las familias socias de la organización de producir, así como la viabilidad de la organización de agregar valor a la producción primaria de sus asociados de manera rentable y sostenible, dados los costos fijos y variables en que debe incurrir para cumplir con los requerimientos del mercado, y el precio promedio pagado por éste mercado.Se refiere a la posibilidad que tienen las familias socias de la organización y la organización de productores, de financiar los costos de inversión, así como los costos de producción necesarios para cumplir los requerimientos del mercado, dados los recursos financieros con los que cuenta (propios y de terceros).Se refiere a la posibilidad que tiene la organización de cumplir con los requerimientos del mercado (ej. volúmenes, calidad, homogeneidad en la calidad, frecuencia, entre otros), dada la calidad de sus procesos organizativos, y sin afectar negativamente las relaciones sociales en el territorio en que esta basada la cadena.Una manera de evaluar la viabilidad de las familias socias de la organización para responder y aprovechar efectivamente las oportunidades de mercado identificadas, es la de determinar los recursos (humanos, sociales, financieros, naturales, y físicos) con que cuentan las familias socias de la organización, y compararlos con los recursos necesarios para responder efectivamente a estas oportunidades.A partir de esta evaluación a nivel de las familias socias, es posible:• Determinar si la oportunidad de mercado puede ser aprovechada de forma efectiva por las familias socias • Identificar los factores clave de éxito que se deben desarrollar a nivel de las familias socias para aprovechar la oportunidad de mercado identificada de manera rentable y sostenible.Evaluación de la viabilidad de las familias socias1. Listar los recursos naturales, físicos, humanos, sociales y financieros con los que deben contar las familias socias de la organización para cumplir con los requisitos para aprovechar efectivamente las oportunidades de mercado identificadas.2. Realizar grupos focales por zonas en las que están localizadas las familias socias de la organización para evaluar con ellas la disponibilidad de los recursos necesarios (a nivel de las familias y de sus comunidades) para cumplir con los requisitos para aprovechar efectivamente la oportunidad de mercado identificada.3. Determinar los factores clave de éxito a nivel de las familias socias de la organización para aprovechar la oportunidad de mercado identificadas 4. Realizar un primer descarte de opciones no viables a nivel de las familias sociasA continuación se presenta a modo de ejemplo el caso de una cooperativa de productores de café que identificó las siguientes oportunidades de mercado.1. Penetración en el mercado de café orgánico y orgánico/justo (Estrategia de penetración)Si bien la viabilidad técnica, económica, financiera y organizativa son criterios clave para priorizar las oportunidades que la organización de productores puede aprovechar, y así definir su negocio, es importante que los socios y socias de la organización incluyan otros criterios propios de toma de decisión para asegurar el desarrollo de un proceso de desarrollo inclusivo y amigable con el medio ambiente.Herramienta Ejemplo 2. Desarrollo del mercado de café especiales de acuerdo con el perfil de la taza (Estrategia de desarrollo de un nuevo mercado) 3. Desarrollo de café tostado, molido y empacado para consumidores con disposición y capacidad de pago por cafés especiales en el mercado nacional (Estrategia de diversificación)El siguiente Cuadro muestra la evaluación realizada sobre la viabilidad de las familias productoras para entrar en el mercado de cafés especiales de acuerdo con su perfil de taza. Este tipo de Cuadro debe construirse para cada oportunidad identificada.A partir de este análisis se realiza una primera selección de oportunidades de mercado a las que las familias pueden acceder viablemente, y se determinan los factores clave de éxito para que puedan acceder a estos mercados de manera rentable y sostenible.Paso 2. Evaluación de la viabilidad de la organización empresarialUna vez que se ha determinado que el aprovechamiento de una nueva oportunidad de mercado es viable a nivel de las familias socias desde el punto de vista técnico, económico, financiero y organizativo; el siguiente paso es evaluar si el aprovechamiento de estas oportunidades también es viable a nivel de la organización de productores. De igual manera será necesario identificar los factores clave de éxito a nivel de la organización para el aprovechamiento rentable y sostenible de estas oportunidades.Hasta aquí, el sondeo rápido de mercado ha facilitado información clave para identificar los requisitos de los diferentes mercados en que participan la organización, o de aquellos en que potencialmente podría participar, así como las características del producto que los compradores y/o consumidores consideran como más importantes a la hora de tomar sus decisiones de compra. Los sondeos de mercado son claves para la correcta priorización de oportunidades de mercado, así como para la identificación de los factores clave de éxito. Sin embargo, para una mejor evaluación de la viabilidad que tiene la organización de productores de aprovechar determinada oportunidad de mercado, así como la buena identificación y análisis de los factores clave de éxito para lograrlo, es importante evaluar la oferta actual del producto en el mercado.Un mecanismo muy útil para evaluar la oferta actual del producto en el mercado, así como la cadena de actores que participan en la producción, manejo poscosecha y comercialización de este producto, es la realización de giras para visitar a los diferentes actores que participan de la cadena, así como a otras organizaciones similares que han entrado a estos mercados exitosamente, con el fin de conocer a fondos sus experiencias.Las giras son visitas que se hacen a diferentes personas y organizaciones para conocer experiencias de otros actores de la cadena y otras organizaciones de productores que están participando efectivamente en el negocio, para reconocer innovaciones, ver otros productos, otros empaques, y conocer como han venido desarrollando sus procesos organizativos y su gestión empresarial.Esta giras se consideran un paso fundamental en el proceso de determinar la orientación estratégica de una organización de productores ya que permite a los directivos de la organización, el personal y sus asociados y asociadas, amplían su conocimiento sobre el negocio, y así realizar una mejor identificación de los factores clave de éxito.Se pueden organizar giras en cultivo para conocer otras semillas, otros sistemas de producción o de riego, tecnologías de producción más limpias u orgánicas, entre otros. También se pueden organizar giras en poscosecha para ver lugares y técnicas de acopio, técnicas de selección del producto, otras técnicas de enfriamiento o de procesamiento. También pueden hacerse giras a procesos organizativos o giras empresariales para conocer como están trabajando otras organizaciones de productores, los mecanismos que han desarrollado para fortalecer sus procesos organizativos, o los procesos administrativos y de gestión empresarial que han introducido para mejorar el desempeño de la organización empresarial.Básicamente, las giras ayudan a:• Conocer mejor la cadena y sus actores • Reconocer limitantes para aprovechar las oportunidades mercado identificadas • Recoger elementos para definir estrategias de producción, poscosecha, organización y comercialización, y diseñar planes de acción.A continuación, se ofrecen ejemplos de algunas preguntas que pueden utilizarse en la guía de entrevista para gira en cultivo o giras en poscosecha.Guía de entrevista para giras de cultivo • ¿Qué tipo de servicios requiere durante la poscosecha?, ¿quién se los presta?, ¿cómo es la calidad de estos servicios? • ¿Qué subproductos genera y cómo los utiliza?Guía \"Conocimiento del Mercado como la Brújula para la Innovación: Gestores de Innovación en Agroindustria Rural\". Érika Eliana Mosquera, Jhon Jairo Hurtado, y Carlos Chilito CIATEvaluación de la viabilidad de la organización 1. Listar los recursos naturales, físicos, humanos, sociales y financieros con los que deben contar la organización para cumplir con los requisitos para aprovechar efectivamente las oportunidades de mercado identificadas 2. Realizar una reunión con los directivos y el personal de la organización para evaluar conjuntamente la disponibilidad de los recursos necesarios ( a nivel de la organización) para cumplir con los requisitos para aprovechar efectivamente la oportunidad de mercado identificada.3. Determinar los factores claves de éxito a nivel de la organización para aprovechar las oportunidades de mercado identificadas 4. Priorizar las oportunidades, concertar y definir claramente el negocio de la organización 5. Recordemos que por negocio nos referimos a la razón de ser de la organización. Por lo que la definición del negocio de la organización de tener claridad sobre: • Los productos que ofrece (o busca ofrecer) y los segmentos de mercado a los que estarán dirigidos estos productos.Los servicios que ofrece (o busca ofrecer) y los clientes a los que van dirigidos estos serviciosA continuación se presenta a modo de ejemplo la evaluación realizada sobre la viabilidad de organización para entrar en el mercado de cafés especiales de acuerdo con su perfil de taza para el caso anterior de una cooperativa de productores de café (ejemplo de aplicación de la Herramienta 5. Este Cuadro debe también construirse para cada oportunidad identificada. Paso 3. Definición del negocio de la organización empresarialA partir del análisis realizado por miembros de la junta directiva, personal y familias socias de la organización de productores, y productoras, se puede entonces tomar la decisión estratégica sobre cuál será su negocio (o negocios) en los próximos 3-5 años, definiéndolo claramente. Esta apuesta estratégica le permitirá a la organización enfocar todos sus recursos en el desarrollo de esta estrategia.En los talleres que se organizan para la definir y consensuar la definición del eje central del negocio de la organización y elaborar la visión estratégica se recomienda hacer dos grupos. El primero estaría integrado por mujeres, y el segundo por hombres. Con base en esto, se puede luego realizar una reunión plenaria donde se comparten y concertan ambas visiones para de esta manera definir de manera conjunta entre mujeres y hombres visión estratégica conjunta de la organización, con enfoque de género. Se deben hacer visibles los aportes de los grupos, porque sino estamos dejando invisible los aportes grupales. Se recomienda hacer lo siguiente:A continuación a modo de ejemplo, se comparte la decisión estratégica que tomó una organización de productores de café.La organización:• Seguirá penetrando en el mercado de café orgánico y orgánico/justo • Desarrollará el mercado de cafés especiales con base en el perfil de taza de sus socios y socias (buena acidez, aroma y fragancia, cuerpo, y con sabor achocolatado y cremoso), y • Lanzará al mercado una marca de café tostado, molido y empacado para consumidores con disposición y capacidad de pago por cafés especiales en el mercado nacional.Para lograr esto, ofrecerá:• Servicios de financiamiento, suficientes y oportunos, para renovación de cafetales y mantenimiento de cafetales y mejoramiento de los beneficios húmedos• Servicios de control interno y asesoría en certificación para el mercado orgánico y justo • Servicios de cata y control interno de calidad • Servicios de asistencia técnica en producción orgánica de café a las familias socias, enfocado a mejorar la productividad de los cafetales Subcontratará, a través de alianzas estratégicas de mediano a largo plazo,• Servicios de tostado, molido, empacado y distribución de café • Servicios de beneficio seco y preparación de café para exportación Desarrollará alianzas con organizaciones de apoyo que ofrecen asesoría técnica en manejo agro-ecológico de café, mejoramiento de procesos de manejo poscosecha y procesamiento del café, y financiamiento y negociará alianzas con agencias reguladoras de manejo de las cuencas en los territorios que operan las familias socias para asegurar que se regula y controla el manejo de las fuentes de agua.Ejemplo construido por los autores del manual, con base en su experiencia práctica de trabajo con organizaciones de productoresHasta este punto, la organización de productores debe haber tomado una decisión estratégica sobre el negocio que desarrollará. En esta última fase del proceso metodológico se busca que las organizaciones realicen un análisis a profundidad de su Fortalezas, Oportunidades, Debilidades y Amenazas (FODA) a partir de las dos fases anteriores de la propuesta metodológica:• El mapeo y análisis de la cadena (o cadenas) en que participa la organización • El análisis de la viabilidad de las familias y la organización para aprovechar las diferentes oportunidades de penetración, desarrollo de nuevos mercados, desarrollo de nuevos productos y de diversificación, identificadas. • La definición del negocio (o negocios) en los que la organización a decidido penetrar o desarrollar Esta es una herramienta analítica que permite a la organización utilizar la información que tiene sobre su negocio, con el fin de definir las líneas estratégicas que desarrollará en los próximos 3-5 años para desarrollar el negocio (o negocios) priorizados, los cuales determinan la apuesta estratégica de la organización (Fase 2, Paso 3).A partir de la definición de estas líneas estratégicas, se diseña un plan de acción que permita a la organización desarrollar acciones para aprovechar las oportunidades identificadas y evaluadas que ofrece el entorno del negocio (Fase 1 de la metodología), así como prepararse para enfrentar las amenazas, apoyándose en sus fortalezas, y reduciendo el impacto negativo que pueden tener sus debilidades.El análisis FODA consta de dos partes:• Una parte interna que tiene que ver con las fortalezas y las debilidades de la organización para desarrollar su negocio, y son los aspectos sobre los cuales el empresario tiene (y debe tener) algún grado de control, y • Una parte externa que se refiere a las oportunidades que ofrece el mercado y las amenazas que la organización debe enfrentar para permanecer compitiendo en el sector. Es aquí donde los miembros de la organización tendrán que desarrollar toda su capacidad y habilidad para aprovechar estas oportunidades, y minimizar o anular esas amenazas, circunstancias sobre las cuales por lo general se tiene poco o ningún control directo.Están constituidas por los aspectos en los cuales la organización muestra una superioridad con relación al resto de organizaciones del sector o competidores. La superioridad puede expresarse en los siguientes términos: buena calidad, alta productividad, tecnología apropiada, volúmenes de producción y comercialización acordes con la demanda del mercado, buena imagen, acceso a mercados diversificados, socios comprometidos con la organización.Están constituidas por aquellos elementos que la organización no ha podido observar o resolver de mejor manera que el resto de su competencia, y por lo tanto, incide en un desempeño deficiente de la organización y una clara situación de inferioridad. Sin embargo, también existen algunas debilidades que no pueden ser del todo imputables a la organización. Por ejemplo el hecho de que una organización sólo cuente con financiamiento de corto plazo, no necesariamente se debe a la mala gestión de la organización, sino que es generada por la naturaleza de alto riesgo del sector en el que desarrolla su negocio.Del análisis de los recursos y la viabilidad de las familias socias (Fase 2, Paso 1), y de la organización empresarial (Fase 2, Paso 2) para aprovechar las El análisis FODA debe enfocarse en los factores clave de éxito del negocio, resaltando los aspectos favorables y desfavorables; y comparándolos de manera objetiva y realista con la competencia, así como con las oportunidades y amenazas claves del entorno.oportunidades identificadas, la organización puede identificar las fortalezas en las que puede apoyarse para, con determinadas estrategias, aprovechar las oportunidades, o enfrentar las amenazas, que ha identificado en el entorno.A partir del análisis de los factores clave de éxito del negocio que desarrolla (o busca desarrollar) la organización, a nivel de las familias socias y de su organización empresarial, y las condiciones o la viabilidad de lograrlos, se pueden determinar las debilidades que podrían afectar la efectividad de las acciones tomadas para aprovechar las oportunidades, y a partir de este análisis, definir la líneas estrategias y acciones para superarlas o neutralizarlas.Las limitaciones (y oportunidades) se pueden referir a:• A la disponibilidad y acceso a servicios operativos o de apoyo, así como su pertinencia, oportunidad y calidad en general • Las habilidades y capacidades de los diferentes actores que participan en la cadena, así como a las relaciones entre los diferentes actores (directos e indirectos) que participan en las cadenas • Los factores tangibles e intangibles de localización que determinan las ventajas de localización de la organización empresarial. Los factores tangibles básicos de localización incluyen aspectos como la infraestructura de comunicación y transporte, la disponibilidad y acceso a servicios básicos e incentivos de política, entre otros. También existen factores que son relevantes a nivel de las familias como son la calidad de la vivienda y de la educación, así como la seguridad pública entre otros. Otros factores son relevantes a nivel de la organización como son la imagen de la región, la proximidad de proveedores y servicios, así como de centros de investigación y desarrollo, y la seguridad jurídica.Evaluación y priorización de las fortalezas y debilidades de la organización 3. Para priorizar las debilidades, se puede seguir el siguiente proceso de toma de decisión:• ¿Qué grado de importancia tiene esta debilidad? Si es poco importante, se descarta, de lo contrario se continua con el análisis • ¿Cómo percibe esta debilidad con respecto a otras organizaciones empresariales que están el mismo negocio de la organización? Si se percibe mejor o igual con respecto a otras organizaciones similares, se descarta, de lo contrario si se percibe inferior, continua con el análisis • ¿De que tamaño es esta diferencia, con respecto a otras organizaciones empresariales mejor calificadas? Si esta diferencia es media o grande, se clasifica como una debilidad prioritaria 4. Para las debilidades prioritarias, se desarrolla un análisis más detallado sobre las causas que conducen a esta debilidad. Muy probablemente lo que vemos es \"el fruto\" o la \"punta del iceberg\", pero no las verdaderas causas que conducen a esa debilidad, las cuales son las que necesitan ser atacadas para aprovechar efectivamente las oportunidades que presenta el mercado, y son en las que debe enfocarse el análisis FODA 5. Por su parte, las fortalezas se clasifican en dos tipos, de acuerdo con su grado de exclusividad • Las fortalezas comunes, es decir que las tienen un gran número de organizaciones, en cuyo caso, si bien la fortaleza existe, esta no es relevante (ej. organización legalmente constituida, órganos de gestión completos, buenas condiciones agro climáticas para la producción) • Las fortalezas distintivas, que son aquellas que tienen un pequeño número de organizaciones, y que le dan una ventaja competitiva a la organización. El análisis FODA se enfoca en las fortalezas distintivas.Las oportunidades ya fueron identificadas, analizadas, y priorizadas en detalle en la Fase 1 dado que la metodología está diseñada con un enfoque de cadena de valor. De esta manera, en esta metodología se da una gran importancia a diseñar estrategias con base en las oportunidades que ofrece el entorno y el mercado.En cuanto a las amenazas, estas se pueden identificar con base en las dificultades que presenta el entorno para cumplir con los factores clave de éxito, y que por lo tanto, representan una amenaza para alcanzar la visión de la organización.El análisis interno debe orientarse hacia el presente, mientras el análisis externo debe estar orientado hacia el futuro, es decir el periodo de tiempo para el cual se está diseñando la estrategia (3-5 años). Esto es porque la estrategia de la empresa debe prepararse sobre la base de las fortalezas y debilidades con que la empresa cuenta \"ahora\", no en el futuro. Pero, el impacto de las decisiones estratégica se verá en el desempeño futuro de la organización, que es en el que los factores del entorno (oportunidades y amenazas) pueden modificarse significativamente. En definitiva, el propósito esencial de la estrategia es adaptar y preparar a la empresa para enfrentar las condiciones previsibles en su entorno en el futuro.A modo de ejemplo, a continuación se presenta el análisis FODA realizado por una organización de productores de café de Matagalpa en Nicaragua.Dado que las organizaciones de productores están compuestas por familias productoras, y la situación particular de los socios y socias no siempre está reflejada en el análisis FODA de su organización, se sugiere realizar este análisis a nivel de las familias socias, así como a nivel de la organización. Con base en esto, se complementa y consensua el análisis FODA. Esto será muy importante para que las líneas estratégicas definidas por la organización, y priorizadas para incluirlas en el plan estratégico de este, tomen en cuenta no sólo la situación de la organización como colectivo, sino de las familias socias que son su razón de ser.Las líneas estratégicas de una organización empresarial determinan la forma como la organización implementará sus acciones para desempeñar su negocio (Paso 2, Fase 3), el cual fue determinado a partir de la toma de decisiones estratégicas por parte de los directivos de la organización, junto con los socios y socias.Para que las líneas estratégicas de la organización sean exitosas, permitiendo alcanzar la Visión de la organización, estas deben ser:Tanto las fortalezas como las debilidades son realidades cuya existencia debe reconocerse con honestidad y utilizarse como elementos de análisis para definir las líneas estratégicas en las que debe enfocarse la organización.Conceptos básicos• Diseñadas de acuerdo con la visión de la organización, es decir de acuerdo con los objetivos que persigue la organización.• Coherentes, es decir que deben estar enfocadas en la misma dirección de las tendencias del mercado y no en contraposición a ellas. Una estrategia deberá ser afín a una necesidad, tanto del mercado de demanda como del de oferta. Por ejemplo, si los demandantes exigen un mejor servicio post-venta, la estrategia a implantar deberá cumplir con dicha necesidad. Igualmente, si la empresa necesita aumentar la rentabilidad a corto plazo, deberá adoptar un tipo de estrategia acorde con ese propósito.• Viables, es decir que no debe exigir demasiado de los recursos disponibles ni producir problemas adicionales insolubles. Hay que determinar si la estrategia puede llevarse a cabo con los recursos naturales, humanos, sociales, físicos y financieros con los que disponen las familias socias, y la organización empresarial.• Estar enfocadas hacia la generación de Ventajas Competitivas, es decir que deben prever la creación y/o el mantenimiento de una ventaja competitiva en un área seleccionada del negocio de la organización.• Rentables, es decir que debe estar analizada desde el punto de vista de la relación costo-beneficio y el plazo en el que este último se espera lograr. Una estrategia no obtendrá el apoyo necesario si los directivos y socios no están convencidos de que existen amplias posibilidades de obtener beneficios significativos que justifiquen el nivel de esfuerzo a realizar en su implementación.• Fácilmente comprensibles, por todas las personas involucradas en su ejecución, y por lo tanto deben explicarse claramente, con objeto de que sean asimilados con facilidad y generen partencia y compromiso por parte de sus ejecutores.Definición de líneas estratégicas 1. Las líneas estratégicas se definen a partir de la matriz FODA, construida en el Paso 1 de la Fase 3.2. Se hace la siguiente pregunta clave: ¿Qué podemos hacer para maximizar nuestras fortalezas de manera que podamos lograr el máximo aprovechamiento de las oportunidades 3. A partir de esta pregunta se definen las Estrategias Ofensivas (F-O), las cuales son las de mayor impacto para la organización 4. Se planta luego una segunda pregunta clave ¿Qué podemos hacer para minimizar el impacto negativo de las amenazas identificadas en el entorno, mediante el máximo aprovechamiento de nuestras fortalezas?5. A partir de esta pregunta se definen las Estrategias Defensivas (F-A), las cuales se diseñan para enfrentar los posibles impactos negativos que pueden crearle a la organización las amenazas que se identificaron en el entorno, mediante el máximo aprovechamiento de sus fortalezas.6. Luego se plantea una tercera pregunta clave ¿Qué podemos hacer para minimizar el impacto negativo que pueden tener nuestras debilidades, para aprovechar al máximo aprovechamiento las oportunidades?7. A partir de esta pregunta se definen las Estrategias Adaptativas (D-O), las cuales se diseñan para reducir las limitaciones que pueden imponerle a la organización sus debilidades, en el máximo aprovechamiento de oportunidades identificadas en el entorno.8. Finalmente, se plantea una última pregunta clave, ¿Qué debemos hacer para reducir los efectos negativos que pueden tener nuestras debilidades, ante las amenazas que hemos identificado en el entorno?9. A partir de esta pregunta se definen las Estrategias de Supervivencia (D-A), las cuales son las más traumáticas, y se generan para reducir el efecto que pueden tener las debilidades de la organización, que puedan agudizar el impacto negativo de amenazas que ha identificado en el entorno. Las estrategias que pueden generarse en este \"cuadrante\" pueden llegar a ser: diversificación, fusión con proveedores o clientes, venta del negocio o iniciar emprendimientos en otro tipo de actividad o negocio."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fa712f473d556aa014177759fb0562b8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ec44a957-30ff-4486-a5b6-a0d69e79cfc3/retrieve","id":"1002447180"},"keywords":["FEMS Microbiology Ecology microbiome","rumen","biomass degradation microbiome","microbiota","rumen","rumen incubation","16S rRNA gene sequencing","rumen fermentation","biomass degradation"],"sieverID":"7373690b-59e6-46b8-9fae-0010fbb87f75","content":"The attachment of rumen microbes to feed particles is critical to feed fermentation, degradation and digestion. However, the extent to which the physicochemical properties of feeds influence the colonization by rumen microbes is still unclear. We hypothesized that rumen microbial communities may have differential preferences for attachments to feeds with varying lignocellulose properties. To this end, the structure and composition of microbial communities attached to six common forages with different lignocellulosic compositions were analyzed following in situ rumen incubation in male Taleshi cattle. The results showed that differences in lignocellulosic compositions significantly affected the inter-sample diversity of forage-attached microbial communities in the first 24 hours (h) of rumen incubation, during which the highest dry matter degradation was achieved. However, extension of the incubation to 96 h resulted in the development of more uniform microbial communities across the forages. Fibrobacteres were significantly overrepresented in the bacterial communities attached to the forages with the highest neutral detergent fiber contents. Ruminococcus tended to attach to the forages with low acid detergent lignin contents. The extent of dry matter fermentation was significantly correlated with the populations of Fibrobacteraceae, unclassified Bacteroidales, Ruminococcaceae and Spirochaetacea. Our findings suggested that lignocellulosic compositions, more specifically the cellulose components, significantly affected the microbial attachment to and thus the final digestion of the forages.The gastrointestinal tracts (GIT) of ruminant animals have evolved to allow the colonization by a diverse community of symbiotic microorganisms belonging to three taxonomic domains of life, i.e. Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya.Particularly, as the first and the largest compartment of ruminant stomach, rumen is the main site of microbial colonization and fermentation. Without the aid of such microorganisms, the host ruminants cannot digest and convert plant lignocellulosic biomasses into energy and other essential metabolites (Jami and Mizrahi 2012;Mackie 2002). It is estimated that almost 70% of the energy requirement of ruminants is supplied by this microbial fermentation (Bergman 1990). In addition to their crucial role in animal nutrition and production, the GIT microorganisms remain vital to animal health, physiology and immunity against pathogenic microbes (Guarner and Malagelada 2003;Hungate 2013).Bacteria are the major colonizers in the rumen and consequently make the greatest contribution to plant biomass fermentation, degradation and digestion. Early studies on rumen microbial communities relied largely on culturebased approaches, which were limited to the bacteria that can grow on culture medium. With the advances in nextgeneration sequencing technologies, culture-independent approaches have gained preference, enabling researchers to achieve a deeper insight into precise composition and structure of rumen bacterial communities. The latest high throughput amplicon-based 16S ribosomal RNA gene (rRNA) sequencing studies suggest that rumen bacterial communities of most ruminants are mainly affiliated to the phyla of Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Fibrobacteres, Spirocheaetes, Actinobacteria, Tenericutes and Verrucomicrobia, which collectively account for greater than 99% of the total rumen bacterial communities (Godoy-Vitorino et al. 2012;Jami et al. 2013;Jami and Mizrahi 2012;Zened et al. 2013). Microbial communities are dynamic in the rumen and depend on the host species and its diet, age, physiology and health status (Godoy-Vitorino et al. 2012;Jami et al. 2013;Jami and Mizrahi 2012;Kocherginskaya et al. 2001;Kong et al. 2010;Petri et al. 2012). Under normal physiological conditions, diet is the major driver to determine the composition and structure of rumen bacterial communities (Petri et al. 2012).Interestingly, the amount of dietary fiber is a key factor shaping the growth and multiplication of cellulolytic bacteria in the rumen. Changing dietary fiber content or substituting the fiber with easily fermentable carbohydrates has a profound impact on the community of rumen microbiota and may result in metabolic diseases, such as subacute ruminal acidosis (Khafipour et al. 2009;Petri et al. 2017).Members of the rumen bacterial communities differ in their preferences for attachment to feed particles and rumen wall, therefore they are accordingly categorized into particle-attached (tightly attached to feed particles), liquid borne (freely available in liquid fraction) and epimural (attached to rumen epithelium) communities (De Mulder et al. 2017;Gharechahi et al. 2015;Kong et al. 2010;Sadet et al. 2007). The attachment of rumen microbial communities to feed particles is a key step in the process of rumen fermentation and digestion (McAllister et al. 1994) and it occurs shortly after feed entry into the rumen. Analysis of microbial communities associated with perennial ryegrass following in situ rumen incubation in Holstein-Friesian cows or steers shows that microbial attachment initiates within five minutes (min) of its rumen entry and stabilizes between 15 and 30 min of its rumen incubation (Edwards et al. 2007  2013). A recent analysis of temporal changes in bacterial community attached to wheat straw in Holstein cow rumen demonstrates that the first wave of microbial-based biomass degradation occurs within 30 min of its rumen entry. The community of bacteria attached to feed particles during this time retains even after 72 hours (h) of the rumen incubation (Jin et al. 2018). The degree of dry matter (DM) degradation differs among forages during the initial hours of their rumen entry (Cheng et al. 2017;Liu et al. 2016). The community composition of particle-attached microbes also varies among feeds and is likely influenced by the chemical compositions of feeds because cellulolytic bacteria such as Fibrobacter, Ruminocuccus, Butyrivibrio and unclassified Treponema tend to attach to feeds with relatively high neutral detergent fiber (NDF, Cheng et al. 2017;Liu et al. 2016). The community of feed particleattached bacteria also changes over the incubation time. For instance, rumen microbiota attachment to switchgrass in Friesian cow occurs at two successive stages: The first wave takes place immediately after its rumen entry (within the first 30 min) and is characterized by high abundances of Bacteroidia and Clostridia. The second wave, however, occurs after 16 h of its rumen incubation, during which the populations of Spirochaeta and Fibrobacteria become dominant (Piao et al. (2014).There is limited knowledge on rumen bacteria diversity, their preference for attachment to and degradation of feeds with extreme values of cellulose and/or hemicellulose. Understanding the dynamics of bacteria attached to feeds at high level of lignification provides opportunities to improve the nutrient efficiency of low-quality forages through pre-treatments or manipulation of rumen microbial communities. We hypothesized that rumen bacterial communities differ in lignocellulose degrading capacities and thus show preference for attachment to feeds with different levels of lignification. We therefore aimed to evaluate whether the rumen microbes have any preference for attachment to forages with different cellulose and/or hemicellulose contents. We also explored the dynamic changes in microbial communities attached to the forages under prolonged incubation in the cattle rumen (e.g. up to 96 h with 24 h sampling intervals). Overall, our 16S rRNA genes-based diversity analysis revealed significant differences in the composition and structure of microbial communities attached to different forages.All experimental procedures relevant to animals were approved by the Ethics Committee for Animal Experiments of the Animal Science Research Institute of Iran. Rumen cannulation was performed according to the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS) using a two-stage rumen cannulation technique (Martineau et al. 2015).Six common lignocellulosic forages, including camelthorn (Alhagi persarum, AP; both stem and leaves), common reed (Phragmites australis, CR; stem and leaves), date palm (Phoenix dactylifera, DP; leaves), kochia (Kochia scoparia, KS; both stem and leaves), rice straw (Oryza sativa; cultivar Hashemi, RS; both stem and leaves) and salicornia (Salicornia persica, SC; both stem and leaves), were selected for in situ rumen incubation. Dried forage materials were cut into pieces of approximately 2 mm in length and an equal amount of the pieces (5 ± 0.05 g) was weighed into heat-sealed nylon bags (5 × 10 cm; 50 μm pore size). Three rumen-cannulated, purebred bulls (Taleshi cattle, an Iranian local breed with a historical origin of Bos taurus mixed with Bos indicus) aged between 2.5 and 3 years were used for this study. Forty-eight heat-sealed bags, eight per forage, were simultaneously placed into each of the three rumens shortly after the cannulated bulls were offered the first meal in the morning. The bulls were housed together in a stable, fed on a mixed diet containing 70% wheat straw and 30% concentrate and provided free access to water. Two nylon bags from each of the six forages were retrieved from each rumen after 24, 48, 72 and 96 h of the incubation, washed thoroughly with distilled water three times to remove liquid borne and loosely attached microbes, which may not have a discriminating preference for attachment to forages with different lignocellulose properties, and finally squeezed by hands with sterile gloves to remove excess water. The bags were then transferred in liquid nitrogen to the laboratory where one replicate was stored at -70 °C for subsequent DNA extraction while the other was processed for physicochemical analysis.The forage lignocellulosic biomasses were analyzed for dry matter (DM) and the contents of neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL) before and after the rumen incubation. DM was determined following 48 h air-drying of the samples in a fan-assisted oven maintained at 55 °C. The dried material was grounded to pass through a 1-mm sieve for the measurements of NDF, ADF and ADL according to the established procedures (Goering 1970;Van Soest et al. 1991). Cellulose content was estimated by subtracting ADL from ADF while hemicellulose content was measured by subtracting ADF from NDF.Microbial cells firmly attached to the forages were subsequently stripped by incubating individual samples on ice in a dissociation buffer containing 0.1% (v/v) Tween 80, 1% (v/v) methanol and 1% (v/v) tertiary butanol (adjusted at pH 2), which has been particularly adapted for the dissociation of microbial cells from the rumen solid digesta. The samples were vigorously vortexed every 1 min and this step was repeated at least 5 times. The forage materials were sedimented by centrifugation at 500  g and the liquid supernatant containing microbial cells was transferred to a new container. This step was repeated at least three times and the collected liquids were centrifuged at 12000  g for 10 min to sediment the detached microbial cells. Metagenomic DNA from the detached cells was extracted using the QIAamp® DNA Stool Mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) according to the manufacturer's protocol for the isolation of DNA from stools for pathogen detection. The quality and quantity of the extracted DNA were evaluated by an agarose gel electrophoresis (0.8%) and a Nanodrop spectrophotometer (Thermo Scientific, Wilmington, DE, USA).The V3-V4 hypervariable region of 16S rRNA gene was amplified using the universally conserved primer set S-D-Bact-0341-b-S-17 (5′-CCT ACG GGN GGC WGC AG-3′) and S-D-Bact-0785-a-A-21 (5′-GAC TAC HVG GGT ATC TAA TCC-3′), which generated a fragment of 464 bp suitable for paired-end sequencing using the Illumina MiSeq System (Illumina Inc. San Diego, CA, USA). PCR amplification was performed in triplicate in a 25 L reaction F o r P e e r R e v i e w containing 12.5 L 2 PCR master mix (Qiagen), 1 L (10 pM) of each primer, 30 ng of microbial DNA and 5-9 L of double-distilled water. The PCR condition consisted of an initial denaturation at 94 °C for 4 min followed by 30 cycles of 94 °C for 30 s, 55 °C for 30 s and 72 °C for 30 s, and a final extension at 72 °C for 5 min. PCR products were purified and 2 L of each reaction was used as a template for the second round of PCR, during which the Illumina adaptors and barcode sequences were incorporated to the 5'-end of the amplified products. The second PCR was also performed in triplicate under the same running condition except the number of cycles were limited to 15. The PCR amplicons were recovered using the Qiaquick® Gel Extraction Kit (Qiagen), quantified fluorometrically, pooled in equimolar quantities and paired-end sequenced (PE300) using the Illumina MiSeq System at Macrogen Inc. (Seoul, South Korea).Quality filtered paired-end sequences were joined using the Flash with --max-overlap option set to 200 (Magoc and Salzberg 2011). Sequences failed to be assembled were discarded. The joined FASTQ files were processed using split_libraries_fastq.py script in the QIIME pipeline v1.9.1 (Caporaso et al. 2010b). This script demultiplexed sequences and filtered out sequences shorter than 200 bp or longer than 1000 bp, along with those containing ambiguous bases with a mean quality score < 20, having runs of six or more of the same nucleotides, carrying a missing quality score and including > two mismatches from the primer sequences. The multiplexed sequences were searched against the latest Ribosomal Database Project (RDP release 11. 5,containing 3,356,809 16S rRNA sequences) to identify and discard chimeric sequences using the VSEARCH v2.8.3 operated under default setting (Rognes et al. 2016). Non-chimeric sequences were then used to pick operational taxonomic units (OTUs) using the pick_de_novo_otus.py script in the QIIME pipeline as described in details in our previous paper (Gharechahi et al. 2017). OTUs were defined at 97% identity using the Uclust (Edgar 2010). The most abundant sequence in each OTU cluster was selected as being a representative; and these sequences were then aligned against the Greengenes core set (gg_13_8; (DeSantis et al. 2006)) using the PyNAST aligner with a minimum sequence identity of 75% (Caporaso et al. 2010a). Taxonomies were assigned to each OTU using the Ribosomal Database Project naïve Bayesian classifier (Wang et al. 2007) by applying a minimum confidence value of 0.8. The OTU table was filtered for low abundant OTUs using the filter_otus_from_otu_table.py script with --min_count_fraction option set to 0.00001 (discarding OTUs represented by < 0.001% of the sequences) and then rarefied to the sequencing depth at 4660 reads corresponding to the number of reads in the sample with the smallest set of sequences. Rarefaction plots and alpha diversity indices, including Shannon, Simpson, Good's_coverage and Chao1, were calculated using the core_diversity_analyses.py script in the QIIME pipeline. Beta diversity indices, including weighted and unweighted Unifrac phylogenetic distance matrices, were constructed with the rarefied OTU table as input and visualized through the principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) plots in the MicrobiomeAnalyst web server (Dhariwal et al. 2017).Statistically significant differences in physicochemical data, including DM, NDF, ADF, ADL, cellulose and hemicellulose contents, were analyzed by one-way ANOVA using the general linear model (GLM) procedure in the SAS software v9.3 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). Permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) was performed using the adonis function of R-package vegan v2.5-5 to test for significant differences between community compositions of forage-attached microbial communities. In addition, permutation multivariate analysis of group dispersions (PERMDISP) based on the betadisper function of the vegan was used to test for the homogeneity of dispersions (variances). Differences in taxa abundances among forages and sampling intervals were estimated using analysis of composition of microbes (ANCOM) based on relative abundances of OTUs summarized at various taxonomic levels (Mandal et al. 2015). Means were compared by Duncan's Multiple Range test (DMRT) in PAST v3.26 given Bonferroni p-value cutoff < 0.05 (Hammer et al. 2001). Error correction was done based on the number of groupwise comparisons performed at each taxonomic level. The Pearson's correlation analysis was performed using the corr.test function of the psych package v1.8.12 and p-values were corrected using Bonferroni method based on the total number of correlations calculated for each variable separately. For all tests, p-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.The six forages were analyzed for the contents of NDF, ADF, ADL, cellulose and hemicellulose before their rumen incubation (Figure 1). They showed different NDF contents (p < 0.05), being the highest in common reed (CR) but the lowest in both camelthorn (AP) and rice straw (RS). Most of them also contained different ADF contents (p < 0.05), being the highest in AP but the lowest in both RS and salicornia (SC). The contents of ADL also differed significantly between the forages (p < 0.05), with AP being the highest at 2 times that in date palm (DP), three times those in SC, CR and kochia (KS; the latter two with similar contents at p > 0.05) and 6 times the lowest value in RS (24.86% vs 4.06%). CR carried the highest cellulose followed by DP, RS, KS and SC while AP contained the lowest cellulose (p < 0.05). SC possessed the highest amount of hemicellulose followed by CR, KS, RS, DP and AP. Overall, all the six forages had different physicochemical properties in terms of their relative contents of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin.The six forages were monitored for their changes in the contents of DM, NDF, ADF, ADL, cellulose and hemicellulose during the rumen incubation (Figure 1 and Figure S1). DM degradation was the fastest in AP but the slowest in CR (42% vs 34%, p < 0.05) during the first 24 h of the incubation. DM degradation was completed in AP at 24 h but continued in CR and KS until 48 h, and in DP, RS and SC up to 96 h of the incubation, with RS having the highest degraded DM (66%) followed by SC (56%) and DP (53%). AP, DP and KS demonstrated similar trends of significantly increased NDF, ADF, ADL and cellulose contents (p < 0.05), mirrored in their patterns of DM degradations, mostly within the first 24 h, but their hemicelluloses decreased continuously (p < 0.05 in most cases) F o r P e e r R e v i e w 8 following the incubation. However, the patterns of these five fiber-related parameters were significantly segregated among CR, RS and SC during the incubation. Although ADF and ADL were significantly increased but celluloses were remarkably declined in CR and SC (p < 0.05), their NDF and hemicelluloses showed contrasting patterns, being significantly reduced in CR while steadily accumulated in SC (p < 0.05) throughout the incubation. ADF, cellulose and hemicellulose in RS maintained stable levels while its NDF and ADL were slightly increased (p < 0.05) along the incubation. It was apparent that the initial differences in fiber-related physicochemical properties significantly affected the rumen digestion of the six forages.The paired-end sequencing of PCR amplicons from the V3-V4 region of 16S rRNA gene resulted in 5,945,300 pairs of raw sequences (averaged at 82,573 sequences per sample) with an average length of 300 bp. Sequences were joined into 4,421,604 full-length amplicons at an average of 61,411  38,275 per sample. The uneven sequencing depths across samples may be due to the true differences in microbial abundance of samples or the technical variations introduced during library preparation and sequencing. Although the numbers of sequences varied greatly among the forages and across the lengths of the rumen incubation, there was a general pattern of a steady increase from the lowest at 24 h (averaged at 44,100 per sample) to the highest at 72 h (averaged at 95,823 per sample).Before processing the amplicon sequences for OTU picking, they were subjected to a single round of quality filtering, resulting in 3,602,510 high quality sequences, of which 994,147 (27%) were identified to be chimeric and thus discarded from further analyses. The qualified sequences (2,493,285) were clustered at 97% similarity level into 110,804 OTUs, of which 106,982 (96.4%, representing 202,403 sequences) were labeled as low abundant features (e.g. those representing reads with frequencies less than 0.001% of the total sequences) and therefore filtered out from the OTU table. Finally, 3,822 clean OTUs representing 2,290,882 sequences were subjected to further downstream analyses. To assess whether our sequencing effort provided sufficient sequencing depths to describe the diversity of forage-attached microbiotaes, rarefaction curves describing the numbers of observed OTUs, species richness (Chao1), Shannon and Simpson diversity at various sequencing depths were generated for all samples (Figure S2a-d).Rarefaction analysis based on observed species and species richness revealed incomplete sampling of microbiota attached to the forages and thus indicated that highly diverse microbial communities attached to the forages with different lignocellulose properties(Figure S2a and b). However, Shannon (Figure S2c) and Simpson indices (Figure S2d) also showedreached plateaus, indicating that the majority of the diversity was explored that forage-attached microbiota had not been evenly sampled.Differences in alpha diversity indices of forage-attached microbiota were mostly limited to the first 24 h of the rumen incubation, during which the maximal differences in microbial attachment occurred (Figure S3). At this time, CR and RS (two forages with the highest initial cellulose contents) had the lowest while AP and KS (two forages with the lowest initial cellulose contents) had the highest average observed species and species richness. CR and RS also showed the lowest average Shannon index, indicating their limited microbial diversity (p < 0.05). Diversity indices in almost all forages were not affected by the incubation length (Figure S4) except that CR had very low alpha diversity measures at 24 h of its incubation (p < 0.05). All samples showed a high Good's coverage (> 0.91, data not shown) at all sampling intervals, indicating that our sequencing effort figured out > 90% of the microbial diversity attached to the forages. However, the uneven sequencing depths did not allow us to fully explore the diversity of forage-attached microbiota. Considering potential random errors due to limited numbers of experimental animals and replicates in this study, such differences in alpha diversity indices among the forages were not robust enough to be interpreted with any biological significance.Beta diversity analysis also showed limited variations among the forages as well as across the lengths of the rumen incubation. Weighted Unifrac dissimilarity matrix, which considered taxa relative abundances and their phylogenetic distances, explained 21% and 26% of the variations among the forages and across the lengths of the incubation, respectively. PERMANOVA revealed that at least some forages (e.g. CR and SC) had different microbial communities (Figure 2a, p < 0.001) while testing for homogeneity of group dispersions (sample distance from group centroid) identified no significant difference between group dispersions (Figure 2b, PERMDISP p > 0.1). Nevertheless, differences in microbial communities across the incubation lengths (Figure 2c, PERMANOVA p < 0.001) appeared to be mainly affected by within-group dispersions, either by the forage types or inter-animal variations, particularly during the first 24 h (Figure 2d, PERMDISP p < 0.05). At this time, CR-attached microbiota was well-separated from those attached to other forages. The entire microbial community structure showed a clear shift among the forages during the incubation because differences in the microbiota were apparent at 24 h but disappeared in later sampling intervals (Figure 2c and d). This finding suggested the existence of a strong preference of rumen microbiota for attachment to the forages of different digestibility while the rate and extent of such preference were quickly compromised after the initial hours of rumen digestion (24 h).A total of 18 bacterial phyla and one archaeal phylum were identified from the forage-attached microbial communities colonized in the Taleshi cattle rumen. The communities were dominated by phyla Firmicutes (45%) and Bacteroidetes (41%) followed with Fibrobacteres (5%), Spirochaetes (3%) and Proteobacteria (2%). Variations in the abundances of major bacterial phyla attached to the forages have been depicted in Figure 3a. The ANCOM analysis followed by Duncan's post hoc test revealed differential abundances of Bacteroidetes, Fibrobacteres, Lentisphaerae and Spirochaetes among the forages (Figure 3b, ANCOM p < 0.05). Bacteroidetes were significantly overrepresented in AP and CR compared with DP and SC (DMRT Bonferroni p < 0.001). Interestingly, fiber-utilizing bacteria belonging to Fibrobacteres were observed in more than 9% of the reads of CR and SC (two forages with the highest initial NDF contents) but in less than 2% of the reads of AP and KS (p < 0.05) and also in DP and RS (Figure 3a). CR contained At the family level (Figure S5), the forage-attached microbes were affiliated to 76 families, of which nine showed differential abundances among the forages, including Bacteroidaceae, Clostridiaceae, Fibrobacteraceae, Victivallaceae, Christensenellaceae, Lachnospiraceae, Spirochaetaceae, Oxalobacteraceae and RFP12 (ANCOM p < 0.05). Interestingly, Victivallaceae were significantly overrepresented in CR compared with other forages (p < 0.05), while Bacteroidaceae was significantly enriched in CR and RS compared with AP, DP, KS and SC. Oxalobacteraceae was more abundant in KS and SC than in AP, CR, DP and RS (p < 0.05). Members of Fibrobacteraceae also more frequently appeared in CR and SC compared with AP, KS and RS with the lowest initial NDF contents (p < 0.02), while those of Clostridiaceae and Lachnospiraceae were underrepresented in CR compared with other forages (p < 0.05).Particle-attached microbiota were affiliated to 119 genera (taxonomic level 6), of which 12 displayed differential abundances among the forages (ANCOM p < 0.05, Figure 4) most of which were among high abundant members of rumen community which are known to play key roles in plant lignocellulose degradation, including Ruminococcus, Fibrobacter,Prevotella,Treponema,Lachnospira,Succinivibrio,Pseudobutyrivibrio,Butyrivibrio,Oxalobacter,Clostridium,BF311 and Succiniclasticum. Ruminococcus and members of BF311 were more dominant in RS than in AP, KS and SC (p < 0.001). Fibrobacter were more highly represented in CR and SC. Species of Lachnospira were present in 0.3% of the reads of AP and KS (p < 0.05) but only 0.11% of CR and 0.09% of SC. Succinivibrio were overrepresented in AP and SC compared with CR (p < 0.05). Species of Prevotella were more abundant in CR (> 21% of the reads) than in DP and SC (p < 0.008). Compared to other forages, CR carried less Butyrivibrio and Pseudobutyrivibrio species (p < 0.007).In order to examine whether the community composition of forage-attached microbes changed during the rumen incubation, the relative abundances of the microbes were tracked at 24 h intervals (Figure 5). The abundances of eight out of the 119 bacterial genera showed significant differences among the incubation lengths (Bonferroni corrected p < 0.05). Interestingly, the proportions of cellulolytic bacteria belonging to unclassified Ruminococcaceae linearly increased with the incubation lengths in AP, KS and SC. The proportion of Fibrobacter sharply dropped after the first 24 h and reached to an average of 4% between 48 and 96 h of the incubation in CR. Members of Pseudobutyribibrio linearly decreased in AP and KS while those of Butyrivibrio increased in CR with the incubation lengths. Members of Clostridium increased in SC but those of Prevotella and unclassified Paraprevotellaceae decreased with the incubation lengths, which were consistent with findings of Cheng et al. (2017). The Pearson's correlation between the initial physicochemical properties of the forages and the composition of the forage-attached microbiota during initial hours (24 h) of the rumen incubation was performed to determine whether rumen microbes preferred specific forages for attachment. Only correlations with p-values (Bonferroni-corrected) less than 0.05 were considered to have significant biological terms. This analysis demonstrated that the prevalence of the family Fibrobacteraceae (r = 0.77, p = 0.03) was positively correlated with NDF contents of the forages. At the genus level, the abundance of Fibrobacter (r = 0.77, p = 0.05) was positively but an unclassified Erysipelotrichaceae genus p-75-a5 (r = -0.79, p = 0.03) was negatively correlated with NDF contents in the forages. When hemicellulose contents were considered, a negative correlation with members of the family Pirellulaceae (r = -0.79, p = 0.02) was detected.We also correlated microbial profiles with physicochemical properties of the forages during the rumen incubation. This analysis revealed that the prevalence of the families Fibrobacteraceae (r= 0.83, p = 0.03 in CR), Anaeroplasmataceae (r = 0.82, p = 0.04 in CR), Prevotellaceae (r = 0.83, r = 0.04 in KS) and Paraprevotellaceae (r = 0.85, p = 0.02 in SC) were positively but Ruminococcaceae (r = < -0.85, p < 0.01 in CR and SC) and unclassified Bacteroidales (r = -0.84, p = 0.05 in RS) were negatively corelated with DM contents of the forages. Particularly, members of Ruminococcaceae were positively correlated with ADF, ADL and hemicellulose contents in CR, DP and SC (r > 0.8 and p < 0.04), the forages with the highest initial NDF contents (Figure 1). The population of Lachnospiraceae was also positively correlated (r = 0.83, and p = 0.04) with cellulose content in CR.To ascertain whether there was any relationship between the rumen microbiota and lignocellulose degradation, an additional Pearson's correlation analysis was performed between DM loss and the relative abundance of forageattached microbial communities during the rumen incubation. Interestingly, DM degradation was positively correlated with the prevalence of the families Fibrobacteraceae (r > 0.76, p < 0.001 in CR) and Spirochaetaceae (r = 0.91, p = 0.0004 in KS) but was negatively corelated with species belonging to unclassified Bacteroidales (r < -0.82, p < 0.05 in CR and DP), Ruminococcaceae (r = -0.83, p = 0.04 in CR), Mogibacteriaceae (r < -0.82, p < 0.05 in CR and RS) and Erysiopelotrichaceae (r = -0.87, p = 0.01 in CR). The correlations of cellulose and hemicellulose degradations with the abundances of forage-attached microbes also showed similar patterns.In this study, we investigated the relationship between biomass degradation of and microbial attachment to six common lignocellulosic forages varying in their physicochemical properties, including percentages of NDF, ADF, ADL and the contents of cellulose and hemicellulose. Forages containing the highest cellulose contents [(common reed (CR) vs. camelthorn (AP)] were degraded to a limited extent during the initial hours of their rumen incubation.The total DM degradation was mainly determined by NDF contents of the forages, because as rice straw (RS) with the lowest initial NDF (77.4%) had the fastest (66%) while CR with the highest initial NDF (87.2%) had the lowest (42%) DM loss over 96 h of the incubation. Variability in DM degradation of feeds reflected the differences in lignocellulose composition of their cell walls (Bruno-Soares et al. 2000;Jančík et al. 2010). The rate and extent of DM fermentation in the rumen determines the nutrition efficiency of feeds to ruminants (Jančík et al. 2010). The 16S rRNA gene sequencing data allowed taxonomic identification and quantification of the rumen microbiota tightly attached to the forages. Rarefaction analysis based on the indices reflecting species richness and species relative abundance, e.g. Shannon and Simpson (Kim et al. 2017), indicated that the majority of the diversity of rumen microbiota attached to the forages was already sampled not sufficiently and evenly sampled. Alpha diversity analysis also showed a limited biologically significant difference among the forages, which could likely be attributed to a high microbial heterogeneity among animals included in the study. The changes in diversity measures were largely restricted to the initial hours of rumen incubation when maximal DM degradation occurred. The differences in species richness and evenness were linked to cellulose contents of the forages, where CR and RS with the highest cellulose contents displayed limited species diversity. This result was in agreement with the data on rice straw and alfalfa hay being fed to Holstein cows, in which more bacteria attached to alfalfa with lower NDF (Liu et al. 2016). These findings suggested that only a limited fraction of rumen microbiota was capable of attachment to feeds with high lignocellulose contents.Analysis of community structure of forage-attached microbiota by Unifrac dissimilarity matrix revealed significant differences among the forages and across the length of rumen incubation. Particularly, CR-attached microbiota was well separated from those of other forages at the first 24 h of the incubation. In addition, microbiota attached to CR and SC, the two forages with the highest initial NDF contents, were also distantly clustered while those of other forages did not show any apparent separation, indicating the similarity of their communities. These variations could likely be determined by the nature of the forages, e.g., their chemical compositions. Unifrac diversity measure also showed that extension of the incubation time contributed to the increased similarity across the samples, as reflected by the overlapped clustering in the PCoA plots for most samples collected at 72 and 96 h of the incubation. This could be explained by the fact that initial DM degradation resulted in the reduction of digestible components but the accumulation of indigestible residues which had quite similar properties across the forages, thus favoring the attachment of structurally similar communities of rumen microbiota. Huws et al. (2013) also observed similar changes in the microbial communities attached to perennial ryegrass following its rumen incubation.Members of Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Fibrobacteres, Spirochaetes and Proteobacteria were dominant in all samples, accounting for greater than 96% of the bacterial communities attached to the forages, consistent with the findings for rice straw and alfalfa hay (Liu et al. 2016). The abundance of these bacterial phyla varied among the forages and across the incubation lengths. Particularly, species of Bacteroidetes were more abundantly attached to the forages with high ADF contents (AP and CR). Bacteroidetes were among highly abundant members of the rumen microbiota being best recognized for their saccharolytic activities. The presence of a high number of pectinolytic and cellulolytic enzymes in their genomes clustered with other lignocellulose degrading enzymes into polysaccharide utilization loci (PUL) suggested that they are also actively involved in pectin, hemicellulose and cellulose degradation (Gharechahi and Salekdeh 2018;Lapebie et al. 2019;Naas et al. 2014). Within this phylum, members of the families Bacteroidaceae, Prevotellaceae and Paraprevotellaceae displayed significant differences among the forages.Particularly, Bacteroidaceae were significantly overrepresented in the forages with the lowest initial ADL contents (CR and RS). At the genus-level, this differential abundance was only affiliated to the BF311, an uncultured and 13 unknown rumen bacterium. Prevotellaceae were particularly positively correlated with DM degradation, suggesting their active role in lignocellulose degradation in the rumen. Prevotella spp. are abundant members of the rumen microbiome that have a high genetic diversity and thus the ability to thrive on a wide range of substrates, including cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, proteins and peptides (Dodd et al. 2010;Golder et al. 2014). They are known for their xylanolytic properties in the rumen and thus play an important role in fiber degradation (Dodd et al. 2010).Fibrobacteres were predominantly represented in microbiota attached to the forages with the highest NDF contents [e.g. CR and Salicornia (SC)]. They are known to produce a battery of cellulolytic enzymes capable of degrading cellulose as a sole carbon source (Flint et al. 2008;Suen et al. 2011). The association of forage NDF content with the prevalence of Fibrobacter is also recently observed in the cow rumen microbiota (Liu et al. 2016). In contrast to Fibrobacteres, the genera Clostridium, Shuttleworthia and Ruminococcus tended to attach the forages with limited NDF and cellulose contents. This is consistent with previous findings on the preference of Ruminococcus species for attachment to high quality sugar-rich hays (Klevenhusen et al. 2017). Ruminococcaceae showed a strong negative correlation with total DM contents in the forages as well. Shinkai et al. (2010) also reported that members of Fibrobacteres, including F. succinogenes, abundantly attached to less digestible fibers while those of Ruminococcaceae, specifically R. flavefaciens, preferred easily digestible fibers and thus were infrequently detected in the stem parts of hays. The rate and extent of fiber degradation by F. succinogenes are also greater than R. albus and R. flavefaciens (Kobayashi et al. 2008). Early microscopy analysis indicated that R. albus is less commonly attached to plant cell walls while F. succinogenes forms extensive microcapsula enveloping the cell walls (Chesson et al. 1986). The community of unclassified Ruminococcaceae tended to linearly expand in AP, KS and SC following their rumen incubation. This finding suggested that the degradation of surface accessible fibers turned forage residues into favored substrates for the attachment by species of Ruminococcaceae. A declined abundance of species of Ruminococcus has been reported in the cow rumen when the starch content of diet was increased (Zened et al. 2013).Ruminococcus spp. have been equipped with specialized mechanisms for fiber adhesion and degradation, in which multiple carbohydrate degrading enzymes assemble into multienzyme cellulosome complexes capable of attachment to and degradation of polysaccharides in various plant cell walls (Bayer et al. 2004;Doi and Kosugi 2004).Recently, Huws et al. (2016) reported that microbial colonization of perennial ryegrass occurred at two successive stages: The primary (the first 1-2 h after its rumen entry) and the secondary phases (4-8 h). It was the secondary phase, during which the maximal DM degradation was achieved and the proportion of Succinivibrio spp. decreased while those of Pseudobutyrivibrio, Roseburia and Ruminococcus spp. increased. Piao et al. (2014) also observed that the populations of Pseudobutyrivibrio and Ruminococcus spp. increased during their secondary colonization to switchgrass in the Friesian cow rumen. The microbial communities attached to feeds during the primary phase were believed to utilize soluble and easily accessible nutrients while those colonized feeds during the secondary phase were considered to be the true lignocellulose degraders (Huws et al. 2016;Liu et al. 2016). In this study, an increased prevalence of Butyrivibrio was noted in CR. Butyrivibrio spp. are known for their proteolytic, hemicellulolytic and biohydrogenating activities (Krause et al. 2003). Liu et al. (2016) reported a strong positive correlation between the In summary, our results demonstrated that physicochemical compositions of the forages, more specifically their cellulose contents, were among the major factors influencing microbial attachments and thus lignocellulose degradation in the cattle rumen. No taxonomic lineage was found to be specific of a particular forage, suggesting that most rumen microbes had an inherent tendency for attachment to lignocellulosic substrates. However, differential attachments to the forages by rumen microbiota suggested that the physicochemical properties were the key factors influencing the rate of microbial attachment. Our results also revealed that members of the rumen microbiota competed for their attachments to the forages with different lignocellulose compositions mostly during the initial hours of the rumen incubation. However, after the degradation of easily digestible components in the forages, relatively uniform microbial communities developed on their surface.It should be noted that the bacterial community composition detected in each forage at each sampling interval may not necessarily reflect the actual abundance of microbes due to an inherent bias in sample collection, processing and storage as well as DNA extraction and PCR amplification, which may cause over-or under-representation of some taxa. For example, a recent comparative analysis of various DNA extraction methods used in rumen microbiome analyses argued that DNA extraction method can have an adverse effect on the community composition of rumen samples and may associate with an increased or decreased abundance of some specific taxa (Henderson et al. 2013).Particularly, the inclusion of a physical lysis step using bead-beating method increased the efficacy of DNA extraction from Gram-positive bacteria (Knudsen et al. 2016). The extent to which our DNA extraction method, in which the physical lysis step was not included, affected community composition of the forage-attached microbiota was unknown.In addition, the high number of PCR cycles may increase the number of PCR artifacts and bias the microbial compositions.  are grouped according to the forages (a) and the sampling intervals (b). Significant differences were tested using PERMANOVA with a p-value cutoff 0.01. The percentage of variation explained by each principle coordinate is indicated next to the corresponding axis. The homogeneity of dispersions was also tested for this diversity measure to examine variance differences between the forages (c) and the sampling intervals (d). Significant differences were determined using the betadisper function of R package vegan v2.5-5 at 999 permutations. P-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. For each treatment, data in triplicate representing three separate bags, were included. AP, camelthorn; CR, common reed; DP, date palm; KS, Kochia; RS, rice straw; and SC, Salicornia.      Alpha diversity analysis of rumen microbial communities attached to the six forages during the rumen incubation. The OTU table for each forage was sampled at an even sequencing depth (n = 4660) and diversity measures were calculated using plot_richness function of R package phyloseq and visualized using geom_boxplot function of R package ggplot2. Statistically significant differences were calculated using one-way ANOVA at p-value cutoff of 0.05.Differences between means were determined using Duncan's multiple range test in PAST v3.26. * p value < 0.05, ** p value < 0.01 and *** p value < 0.001.The proportions of reads affiliated to OTUs at the taxonomic level of family in the six forages during the rumen incubation. Data for each sampling interval is the mean of three biological replicates corresponding to three bags retrieved one each from the three cannulated bulls. For each forage, the OTU table is rarefied to the sequencing depth of the sample with the lowest number of reads.           The attachment of rumen microbes to feed particles is critical to feed fermentation, degradation and digestion.However, the extent to which the physicochemical properties of feeds influence the colonization by rumen microbes is still unclear. We hypothesized that rumen microbial communities may have differential preferences for attachments to feeds with varying lignocellulose properties. To this end, the structure and composition of microbial communities attached to six common forages with different lignocellulosic compositions were analyzed following in situ rumen incubation in male Taleshi cattle. The results showed that differences in lignocellulosic compositions significantly affected the inter-sample diversity of forage-attached microbial communities in the first 24 hours (h) of rumen incubation, during which the highest dry matter degradation was achieved. However, extension of the incubation to 96 h resulted in the development of more uniform microbial communities across the forages. Fibrobacteres were significantly overrepresented in the bacterial communities attached to the forages with the highest neutral detergent fiber contents. Ruminococcus tended to attach to the forages with low acid detergent lignin contents. The extent of dry matter fermentation was significantly correlated with the populations of Fibrobacteraceae, unclassified Bacteroidales, Ruminococcaceae and Spirochaetacea. Our findings suggested that lignocellulosic compositions, more specifically the cellulose components, significantly affected the microbial attachment to and thus the final digestion of the forages. Particularly, as the first and the largest compartment of ruminant stomach, rumen is the main site of microbial colonization and fermentation. Without the aid of such microorganisms, the host ruminants cannot digest and convert plant lignocellulosic biomasses into energy and other essential metabolites (Jami and Mizrahi 2012;Mackie 2002). It is estimated that almost 70% of the energy requirement of ruminants is supplied by this microbial fermentation (Bergman 1990). In addition to their crucial role in animal nutrition and production, the GIT microorganisms remain vital to animal health, physiology and immunity against pathogenic microbes (Guarner and Malagelada 2003;Hungate 2013).Bacteria are the major colonizers in the rumen and consequently make the greatest contribution to plant biomass fermentation, degradation and digestion. Early studies on rumen microbial communities relied largely on culturebased approaches, which were limited to the bacteria that can grow on culture medium. With the advances in nextgeneration sequencing technologies, culture-independent approaches have gained preference, enabling researchers to achieve a deeper insight into precise composition and structure of rumen bacterial communities. The latest high throughput amplicon-based 16S ribosomal RNA gene (rRNA) sequencing studies suggest that rumen bacterial communities of most ruminants are mainly affiliated to the phyla of Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Fibrobacteres, Spirocheaetes, Actinobacteria, Tenericutes and Verrucomicrobia, which collectively account for greater than 99% of the total rumen bacterial communities (Godoy-Vitorino et al. 2012;Jami et al. 2013;Jami and Mizrahi 2012;Zened et al. 2013). Microbial communities are dynamic in the rumen and depend on the host species and its diet, age, physiology and health status (Godoy-Vitorino et al. 2012;Jami et al. 2013;Jami and Mizrahi 2012;Kocherginskaya et al. 2001;Kong et al. 2010;Petri et al. 2012). Under normal physiological conditions, diet is the major driver to determine the composition and structure of rumen bacterial communities (Petri et al. 2012).Interestingly, the amount of dietary fiber is a key factor shaping the growth and multiplication of cellulolytic bacteria in the rumen. Changing dietary fiber content or substituting the fiber with easily fermentable carbohydrates has a profound impact on the community of rumen microbiota and may result in metabolic diseases, such as subacute ruminal acidosis (Khafipour et al. 2009;Petri et al. 2017).Members of the rumen bacterial communities differ in their preferences for attachment to feed particles and rumen wall, therefore they are accordingly categorized into particle-attached (tightly attached to feed particles), liquid borne (freely available in liquid fraction) and epimural (attached to rumen epithelium) communities (De Mulder et al. 2017;Gharechahi et al. 2015;Kong et al. 2010;Sadet et al. 2007). The attachment of rumen microbial communities to feed particles is a key step in the process of rumen fermentation and digestion (McAllister et al. 1994) and it occurs shortly after feed entry into the rumen. Analysis of microbial communities associated with perennial ryegrass following in situ rumen incubation in Holstein-Friesian cows or steers shows that microbial attachment initiates within five minutes (min) of its rumen entry and stabilizes between 15 and 30 min of its rumen incubation (Edwards et al. 2007 rumen demonstrates that the first wave of microbial-based biomass degradation occurs within 30 min of its rumen entry. The community of bacteria attached to feed particles during this time retains even after 72 hours (h) of the rumen incubation (Jin et al. 2018). The degree of dry matter (DM) degradation differs among forages during the initial hours of their rumen entry (Cheng et al. 2017;Liu et al. 2016). The community composition of particle-attached microbes also varies among feeds and is likely influenced by the chemical compositions of feeds because cellulolytic bacteria such as Fibrobacter, Ruminocuccus, Butyrivibrio and unclassified Treponema tend to attach to feeds with relatively high neutral detergent fiber (NDF, Cheng et al. 2017;Liu et al. 2016). The community of feed particleattached bacteria also changes over the incubation time. For instance, rumen microbiota attachment to switchgrass inFriesian cow occurs at two successive stages: The first wave takes place immediately after its rumen entry (within the first 30 min) and is characterized by high abundances of Bacteroidia and Clostridia. The second wave, however, occurs after 16 h of its rumen incubation, during which the populations of Spirochaeta and Fibrobacteria become dominant (Piao et al. (2014).There is limited knowledge on rumen bacteria diversity, their preference for attachment to and degradation of feeds with extreme values of cellulose and/or hemicellulose. Understanding the dynamics of bacteria attached to feeds at high level of lignification provides opportunities to improve the nutrient efficiency of low-quality forages through pre-treatments or manipulation of rumen microbial communities. We hypothesized that rumen bacterial communities differ in lignocellulose degrading capacities and thus show preference for attachment to feeds with different levels of lignification. We therefore aimed to evaluate whether the rumen microbes have any preference for attachment to forages with different cellulose and/or hemicellulose contents. We also explored the dynamic changes in microbial communities attached to the forages under prolonged incubation in the cattle rumen (e.g. up to 96 h with 24 h sampling intervals). Overall, our 16S rRNA genes-based diversity analysis revealed significant differences in the composition and structure of microbial communities attached to different forages.All experimental procedures relevant to animals were approved by the Ethics Committee for Animal Experiments of the Animal Science Research Institute of Iran. Rumen cannulation was performed according to the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS) using a two-stage rumen cannulation technique (Martineau et al. 2015).Six common lignocellulosic forages, including camelthorn (Alhagi persarum, AP; both stem and leaves), common reed (Phragmites australis, CR; stem and leaves), date palm (Phoenix dactylifera, DP; leaves), kochia (Kochia scoparia, KS; both stem and leaves), rice straw (Oryza sativa; cultivar Hashemi, RS; both stem and leaves) and salicornia (Salicornia persica, SC; both stem and leaves), were selected for in situ rumen incubation. Dried forage materials were cut into pieces of approximately 2 mm in length and an equal amount of the pieces (5 ± 0.05 g) was weighed into heat-sealed nylon bags (5 × 10 cm; 50 μm pore size). Three rumen-cannulated, purebred bulls (Taleshi years were used for this study. Forty-eight heat-sealed bags, eight per forage, were simultaneously placed into each of the three rumens shortly after the cannulated bulls were offered the first meal in the morning. The bulls were housed together in a stable, fed on a mixed diet containing 70% wheat straw and 30% concentrate and provided free access to water. Two nylon bags from each of the six forages were retrieved from each rumen after 24, 48, 72 and 96 h of the incubation, washed thoroughly with distilled water three times to remove liquid borne and loosely attached microbes, which may not have a discriminating preference for attachment to forages with different lignocellulose properties, and finally squeezed by hands with sterile gloves to remove excess water. The bags were then transferred in liquid nitrogento the laboratory where one replicate was stored at -70 °C for subsequent DNA extraction while the other was processed for physicochemical analysis.The forage lignocellulosic biomasses were analyzed for dry matter (DM) and the contents of neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL) before and after the rumen incubation. DM was determined following 48 h air-drying of the samples in a fan-assisted oven maintained at 55 °C. The dried material was grounded to pass through a 1-mm sieve for the measurements of NDF, ADF and ADL according to the established procedures (Goering 1970;Van Soest et al. 1991). Cellulose content was estimated by subtracting ADL from ADF while hemicellulose content was measured by subtracting ADF from NDF.Microbial cells firmly attached to the forages were subsequently stripped by incubating individual samples on ice in a dissociation buffer containing 0.1% (v/v) Tween 80, 1% (v/v) methanol and 1% (v/v) tertiary butanol (adjusted at pH 2), which has been particularly adapted for the dissociation of microbial cells from the rumen solid digesta. The samples were vigorously vortexed every 1 min and this step was repeated at least 5 times. The forage materials were sedimented by centrifugation at 500  g and the liquid supernatant containing microbial cells was transferred to a new container. This step was repeated at least three times and the collected liquids were centrifuged at 12000  g for 10 min to sediment the detached microbial cells. Metagenomic DNA from the detached cells was extracted using the QIAamp® DNA Stool Mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) according to the manufacturer's protocol for the isolation of DNA from stools for pathogen detection. The quality and quantity of the extracted DNA were evaluated by an agarose gel electrophoresis (0.8%) and a Nanodrop spectrophotometer (Thermo Scientific, Wilmington, DE, USA).The V3-V4 hypervariable region of 16S rRNA gene was amplified using the universally conserved primer set S-D-Bact-0341-b-S-17 (5′-CCT ACG GGN GGC WGC AG-3′) and S-D-Bact-0785-a-A-21 (5′-GAC TAC HVG GGT ATC TAA TCC-3′), which generated a fragment of 464 bp suitable for paired-end sequencing using the Illumina MiSeq System (Illumina Inc. San Diego, CA, USA). PCR amplification was performed in triplicate in a 25 L reaction containing 12.5 L 2 PCR master mix (Qiagen), 1 L (10 pM) of each primer, 30 ng of microbial DNA and 5-9 L of double-distilled water. The PCR condition consisted of an initial denaturation at 94 °C for 4 min followed by 30 cycles of 94 °C for 30 s, 55 °C for 30 s and 72 °C for 30 s, and a final extension at 72 °C for 5 min. PCR products were purified and 2 L of each reaction was used as a template for the second round of PCR, during which the Illumina adaptors and barcode sequences were incorporated to the 5'-end of the amplified products. The second PCR was also performed in triplicate under the same running condition except the number of cycles were limited to 15. The PCR amplicons were recovered using the Qiaquick® Gel Extraction Kit (Qiagen), quantified fluorometrically, pooled in equimolar quantities and paired-end sequenced (PE300) using the Illumina MiSeq System at Macrogen Inc. (Seoul, South Korea).Quality filtered paired-end sequences were joined using the Flash with --max-overlap option set to 200 (Magoc and Salzberg 2011). Sequences failed to be assembled were discarded. The joined FASTQ files were processed using split_libraries_fastq.py script in the QIIME pipeline v1.9.1 (Caporaso et al. 2010b). This script demultiplexed sequences and filtered out sequences shorter than 200 bp or longer than 1000 bp, along with those containing ambiguous bases with a mean quality score < 20, having runs of six or more of the same nucleotides, carrying a missing quality score and including > two mismatches from the primer sequences. The multiplexed sequences were searched against the latest Ribosomal Database Project (RDP release 11.5, containing 3,356,809 16S rRNA sequences)to identify and discard chimeric sequences using the VSEARCH v2.8.3 operated under default setting (Rognes et al. 2016). Non-chimeric sequences were then used to pick operational taxonomic units (OTUs) using the pick_de_novo_otus.py script in the QIIME pipeline as described in details in our previous paper (Gharechahi et al. 2017). OTUs were defined at 97% identity using the Uclust (Edgar 2010). The most abundant sequence in each OTU cluster was selected as being a representative; and these sequences were then aligned against the Greengenes core set (gg_13_8; (DeSantis et al. 2006)) using the PyNAST aligner with a minimum sequence identity of 75% (Caporaso et al. 2010a). Taxonomies were assigned to each OTU using the Ribosomal Database Project naïve Bayesian classifier (Wang et al. 2007) by applying a minimum confidence value of 0.8. The OTU table was filtered for low abundant OTUs using the filter_otus_from_otu_table.py script with --min_count_fraction option set to 0.00001 (discarding OTUs represented by < 0.001% of the sequences) and then rarefied to the sequencing depth at 4660 reads corresponding to the number of reads in the sample with the smallest set of sequences. Rarefaction plots and alpha diversity indices, including Shannon, Simpson, Good's_coverage and Chao1, were calculated using the core_diversity_analyses.py script in the QIIME pipeline. Beta diversity indices, including weighted and unweighted Unifrac phylogenetic distance matrices, were constructed with the rarefied OTU table as input and visualized through the principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) plots in the MicrobiomeAnalyst web server (Dhariwal et al. 2017).Statistically significant differences in physicochemical data, including DM, NDF, ADF, ADL, cellulose and hemicellulose contents, were analyzed by one-way ANOVA using the general linear model (GLM) procedure in the SAS software v9.3 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). Permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) was performed using the adonis function of R-package vegan v2.5-5 to test for significant differences between community compositions of forage-attached microbial communities. In addition, permutation multivariate analysis of group dispersions (PERMDISP) based on the betadisper function of the vegan was used to test for the homogeneity of dispersions (variances). Differences in taxa abundances among forages and sampling intervals were estimated using analysis of composition of microbes (ANCOM) based on relative abundances of OTUs summarized at various taxonomic levels (Mandal et al. 2015). Means were compared by Duncan's Multiple Range test (DMRT) in PAST v3.26 given Bonferroni p-value cutoff < 0.05 (Hammer et al. 2001). Error correction was done based on the number of groupwise comparisons performed at each taxonomic level. The Pearson's correlation analysis was performed using the corr.test function of the psych package v1.8.12 and p-values were corrected using Bonferroni method based on the total number of correlations calculated for each variable separately. For all tests, p-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.The six forages were analyzed for the contents of NDF, ADF, ADL, cellulose and hemicellulose before their rumen incubation (Figure 1). They showed different NDF contents (p < 0.05), being the highest in common reed (CR) but the lowest in both camelthorn (AP) and rice straw (RS). Most of them also contained different ADF contents (p < 0.05), being the highest in AP but the lowest in both RS and salicornia (SC). The contents of ADL also differed significantly between the forages (p < 0.05), with AP being the highest at 2 times that in date palm (DP), three times those in SC, CR and kochia (KS; the latter two with similar contents at p > 0.05) and 6 times the lowest value in RS (24.86% vs 4.06%). CR carried the highest cellulose followed by DP, RS, KS and SC while AP contained the lowest cellulose (p < 0.05). SC possessed the highest amount of hemicellulose followed by CR, KS, RS, DP and AP. Overall, all the six forages had different physicochemical properties in terms of their relative contents of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin.The six forages were monitored for their changes in the contents of DM, NDF, ADF, ADL, cellulose and hemicellulose during the rumen incubation (Figure 1 and Figure S1). DM degradation was the fastest in AP but the slowest in CR (42% vs 34%, p < 0.05) during the first 24 h of the incubation. DM degradation was completed in AP at 24 h but continued in CR and KS until 48 h, and in DP, RS and SC up to 96 h of the incubation, with RS having the highest degraded DM (66%) followed by SC (56%) and DP (53%). AP, DP and KS demonstrated similar trends of significantly increased NDF, ADF, ADL and cellulose contents (p < 0.05), mirrored in their patterns of DM degradations, mostly within the first 24 h, but their hemicelluloses decreased continuously (p < 0.05 in most cases)8 following the incubation. However, the patterns of these five fiber-related parameters were significantly segregated among CR, RS and SC during the incubation. Although ADF and ADL were significantly increased but celluloses were remarkably declined in CR and SC (p < 0.05), their NDF and hemicelluloses showed contrasting patterns, being significantly reduced in CR while steadily accumulated in SC (p < 0.05) throughout the incubation. ADF, cellulose and hemicellulose in RS maintained stable levels while its NDF and ADL were slightly increased (p < 0.05) along the incubation. It was apparent that the initial differences in fiber-related physicochemical properties significantly affected the rumen digestion of the six forages.The paired-end sequencing of PCR amplicons from the V3-V4 region of 16S rRNA gene resulted in 5,945,300 pairs of raw sequences (averaged at 82,573 sequences per sample) with an average length of 300 bp. Sequences were joined into 4,421,604 full-length amplicons at an average of 61,411  38,275 per sample. The uneven sequencing depths across samples may be due to the true differences in microbial abundance of samples or the technical variations introduced during library preparation and sequencing. Although the numbers of sequences varied greatly among the forages and across the lengths of the rumen incubation, there was a general pattern of a steady increase from the lowest at 24 h (averaged at 44,100 per sample) to the highest at 72 h (averaged at 95,823 per sample).Before processing the amplicon sequences for OTU picking, they were subjected to a single round of quality filtering, resulting in 3,602,510 high quality sequences, of which 994,147 (27%) were identified to be chimeric and thus discarded from further analyses. The qualified sequences (2,493,285) were clustered at 97% similarity level into 110,804 OTUs, of which 106,982 (96.4%, representing 202,403 sequences) were labeled as low abundant features (e.g. those representing reads with frequencies less than 0.001% of the total sequences) and therefore filtered out from the OTU table. Finally, 3,822 clean OTUs representing 2,290,882 sequences were subjected to further downstream analyses. To assess whether our sequencing effort provided sufficient sequencing depths to describe the diversity of forage-attached microbiota, rarefaction curves describing the numbers of observed OTUs, species richness (Chao1), Shannon and Simpson diversity at various sequencing depths were generated for all samples (Figure S2a-d).Rarefaction analysis based on observed species and species richness revealed incomplete sampling of microbiota and thus indicated that highly diverse microbial communities attached to the forages (Figure S2a and b). However, Shannon (Figure S2c) and Simpson indices (Figure S2d) reached plateaus, indicating that the majority of the diversity was explored.Differences in alpha diversity indices of forage-attached microbiota were mostly limited to the first 24 h of the rumen incubation, during which the maximal differences in microbial attachment occurred (Figure S3). At this time, CR and RS (two forages with the highest initial cellulose contents) had the lowest while AP and KS (two forages with the lowest initial cellulose contents) had the highest average observed species and species richness. CR and RS also showed the lowest average Shannon index, indicating their limited microbial diversity (p < 0.05). Diversity indices in almost all forages were not affected by the incubation length (Figure S4) except that CR had very low alpha diversity measures at 24 h of its incubation (p < 0.05). All samples showed a high Good's coverage (> 0.91, data not shown) at all sampling intervals, indicating that our sequencing effort figured out > 90% of the microbial diversity attached to the forages. However, the uneven sequencing depths did not allow us to fully explore the diversity of forage-attached microbiota. Considering potential random errors due to limited numbers of experimental animals and replicates in this study, such differences in alpha diversity indices among the forages were not robust enough to be interpreted with any biological significance.Beta diversity analysis also showed limited variations among the forages as well as across the lengths of the rumen incubation. Weighted Unifrac dissimilarity matrix, which considered taxa relative abundances and their phylogenetic distances, explained 21% and 26% of the variations among the forages and across the lengths of the incubation, respectively. PERMANOVA revealed that at least some forages (e.g. CR and SC) had different microbial communities (Figure 2a, p < 0.001) while testing for homogeneity of group dispersions (sample distance from group centroid) identified no significant difference between group dispersions (Figure 2b, PERMDISP p > 0.1). Nevertheless, differences in microbial communities across the incubation lengths (Figure 2c, PERMANOVA p < 0.001) appeared to be mainly affected by within-group dispersions, either by the forage types or inter-animal variations, particularly during the first 24 h (Figure 2d, PERMDISP p < 0.05). At this time, CR-attached microbiota was well-separated from those attached to other forages. The entire microbial community structure showed a clear shift among the forages during the incubation because differences in the microbiota were apparent at 24 h but disappeared in later sampling intervals (Figure 2c and d). This finding suggested the existence of a strong preference of rumen microbiota for attachment to the forages of different digestibility while the rate and extent of such preference were quickly compromised after the initial hours of rumen digestion (24 h).A total of 18 bacterial phyla and one archaeal phylum were identified from the forage-attached microbial communities colonized in the Taleshi cattle rumen. The communities were dominated by phyla Firmicutes (45%) and Bacteroidetes (41%) followed with Fibrobacteres (5%), Spirochaetes (3%) and Proteobacteria (2%). Variations in the abundances of major bacterial phyla attached to the forages have been depicted in Figure 3a. The ANCOM analysis followed by Duncan's post hoc test revealed differential abundances of Bacteroidetes, Fibrobacteres, Lentisphaerae and Spirochaetes among the forages (Figure 3b, ANCOM p < 0.05). Bacteroidetes were significantly overrepresented in AP and CR compared with DP and SC (DMRT Bonferroni p < 0.001). Interestingly, fiber-utilizing bacteria belonging to Fibrobacteres were observed in more than 9% of the reads of CR and SC (two forages with the highest initial NDF contents) but in less than 2% of the reads of AP and KS (p < 0.05) and also in DP and RS (Figure 3a In order to examine whether the community composition of forage-attached microbes changed during the rumen incubation, the relative abundances of the microbes were tracked at 24 h intervals (Figure 5). The abundances of eight out of the 119 bacterial genera showed significant differences among the incubation lengths (Bonferroni corrected p < 0.05). Interestingly, the proportions of cellulolytic bacteria belonging to unclassified Ruminococcaceae linearly increased with the incubation lengths in AP, KS and SC. The proportion of Fibrobacter sharply dropped after the first 24 h and reached to an average of 4% between 48 and 96 h of the incubation in CR. Members of Pseudobutyribibrio linearly decreased in AP and KS while those of Butyrivibrio increased in CR with the incubation lengths. Members of Clostridium increased in SC but those of Prevotella and unclassified Paraprevotellaceae decreased with the incubation lengths, which were consistent with findings of Cheng et al. (2017).The Pearson's correlation between the initial physicochemical properties of the forages and the composition of the forage-attached microbiota during initial hours (24 h) of the rumen incubation was performed to determine whether rumen microbes preferred specific forages for attachment. Only correlations with p-values (Bonferroni-corrected) less than 0.05 were considered to have significant biological terms. This analysis demonstrated that the prevalence of the family Fibrobacteraceae (r = 0.77, p = 0.03) was positively correlated with NDF contents of the forages. At the genus level, the abundance of Fibrobacter (r = 0.77, p = 0.05) was positively but an unclassified Erysipelotrichaceae genus p-75-a5 (r = -0.79, p = 0.03) was negatively correlated with NDF contents in the forages. When hemicellulose contents were considered, a negative correlation with members of the family Pirellulaceae (r = -0.79, p = 0.02) was detected.We also correlated microbial profiles with physicochemical properties of the forages during the rumen incubation.This analysis revealed that the prevalence of the families Fibrobacteraceae (r= 0.83, p = 0.03 in CR), Anaeroplasmataceae (r = 0.82, p = 0.04 in CR), Prevotellaceae (r = 0.83, r = 0.04 in KS) and Paraprevotellaceae (r = 0.85, p = 0.02 in SC) were positively but Ruminococcaceae (r = < -0.85, p < 0.01 in CR and SC) and unclassified Bacteroidales (r = -0.84, p = 0.05 in RS) were negatively corelated with DM contents of the forages. Particularly, members of Ruminococcaceae were positively correlated with ADF, ADL and hemicellulose contents in CR, DP and SC (r > 0.8 and p < 0.04), the forages with the highest initial NDF contents (Figure 1). The population of Lachnospiraceae was also positively correlated (r = 0.83, and p = 0.04) with cellulose content in CR.To ascertain whether there was any relationship between the rumen microbiota and lignocellulose degradation, an additional Pearson's correlation analysis was performed between DM loss and the relative abundance of forageattached microbial communities during the rumen incubation. Interestingly, DM degradation was positively correlated with the prevalence of the families Fibrobacteraceae (r > 0.76, p < 0.001 in CR) and Spirochaetaceae (r = 0.91, p = 0.0004 in KS) but was negatively corelated with species belonging to unclassified Bacteroidales (r < -0.82, p < 0.05 in CR and DP), Ruminococcaceae (r = -0.83, p = 0.04 in CR), Mogibacteriaceae (r < -0.82, p < 0.05 in CR and RS)and Erysiopelotrichaceae (r = -0.87, p = 0.01 in CR). The correlations of cellulose and hemicellulose degradations with the abundances of forage-attached microbes also showed similar patterns.In this study, we investigated the relationship between biomass degradation of and microbial attachment to six common lignocellulosic forages varying in their physicochemical properties, including percentages of NDF, ADF, ADL and the contents of cellulose and hemicellulose. Forages containing the highest cellulose contents [(common reed (CR) vs. camelthorn (AP)] were degraded to a limited extent during the initial hours of their rumen incubation.The total DM degradation was mainly determined by NDF contents of the forages, because as rice straw (RS) with the lowest initial NDF (77.4%) had the fastest (66%) while CR with the highest initial NDF (87.2%) had the lowest (42%) DM loss over 96 h of the incubation. Variability in DM degradation of feeds reflected the differences in lignocellulose composition of their cell walls (Bruno-Soares et al. 2000;Jančík et al. 2010). The rate and extent of DM fermentation in the rumen determines the nutrition efficiency of feeds to ruminants (Jančík et al. 2010).The 16S rRNA gene sequencing data allowed taxonomic identification and quantification of the rumen microbiota tightly attached to the forages. Rarefaction analysis based on the indices reflecting species richness and species relative abundance, e.g. Shannon and Simpson (Kim et al. 2017), indicated that the majority of the diversity of rumen microbiota attached to the forages was already sampled. Alpha diversity analysis also showed a limited biologically significant difference among the forages, which could likely be attributed to a high microbial heterogeneity among animals included in the study. The changes in diversity measures were largely restricted to the initial hours of rumen incubation when maximal DM degradation occurred. The differences in species richness and evenness were linked to cellulose contents of the forages, where CR and RS with the highest cellulose contents displayed limited species diversity. This result was in agreement with the data on rice straw and alfalfa hay being fed to Holstein cows, in which more bacteria attached to alfalfa with lower NDF (Liu et al. 2016). These findings suggested that only a limited fraction of rumen microbiota was capable of attachment to feeds with high lignocellulose contents.Analysis of community structure of forage-attached microbiota by Unifrac dissimilarity matrix revealed significant differences among the forages and across the length of rumen incubation. Particularly, CR-attached microbiota was well separated from those of other forages at the first 24 h of the incubation. In addition, microbiota attached to CR and SC, the two forages with the highest initial NDF contents, were also distantly clustered while those of other forages did not show any apparent separation, indicating the similarity of their communities. These variations could likely be determined by the nature of the forages, e.g., their chemical compositions. Unifrac diversity measure also showed that extension of the incubation time contributed to the increased similarity across the samples, as reflected by the overlapped clustering in the PCoA plots for most samples collected at 72 and 96 h of the incubation. This could be explained by the fact that initial DM degradation resulted in the reduction of digestible components but the accumulation of indigestible residues which had quite similar properties across the forages, thus favoring the attachment of structurally similar communities of rumen microbiota. Huws et al. (2013) also observed similar changes in the microbial communities attached to perennial ryegrass following its rumen incubation.Members of Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Fibrobacteres, Spirochaetes and Proteobacteria were dominant in all samples, accounting for greater than 96% of the bacterial communities attached to the forages, consistent with the findings for rice straw and alfalfa hay (Liu et al. 2016). The abundance of these bacterial phyla varied among the forages and across the incubation lengths. Particularly, species of Bacteroidetes were more abundantly attached to the forages with high ADF contents (AP and CR). Bacteroidetes were among highly abundant members of the rumen microbiota being best recognized for their saccharolytic activities. The presence of a high number of pectinolytic and cellulolytic enzymes in their genomes clustered with other lignocellulose degrading enzymes into polysaccharide utilization loci (PUL) suggested that they are also actively involved in pectin, hemicellulose and cellulose degradation (Gharechahi and Salekdeh 2018;Lapebie et al. 2019;Naas et al. 2014). Within this phylum, members of the families Bacteroidaceae, Prevotellaceae and Paraprevotellaceae displayed significant differences among the forages.Particularly, Bacteroidaceae were significantly overrepresented in the forages with the lowest initial ADL contents (CR and RS). At the genus-level, this differential abundance was only affiliated to the BF311, an uncultured and unknown rumen bacterium. Prevotellaceae were particularly positively correlated with DM degradation, suggesting their active role in lignocellulose degradation in the rumen. Prevotella spp. are abundant members of the rumen microbiome that have a high genetic diversity and thus the ability to thrive on a wide range of substrates, including cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, proteins and peptides (Dodd et al. 2010;Golder et al. 2014). They are known for their xylanolytic properties in the rumen and thus play an important role in fiber degradation (Dodd et al. 2010). cellulose as a sole carbon source (Flint et al. 2008;Suen et al. 2011). The association of forage NDF content with the prevalence of Fibrobacter is also recently observed in the cow rumen microbiota (Liu et al. 2016). In contrast to Fibrobacteres, the genera Clostridium, Shuttleworthia and Ruminococcus tended to attach the forages with limited NDF and cellulose contents. This is consistent with previous findings on the preference of Ruminococcus species for attachment to high quality sugar-rich hays (Klevenhusen et al. 2017). Ruminococcaceae showed a strong negative correlation with total DM contents in the forages as well. Shinkai et al. (2010) also reported that members of Fibrobacteres, including F. succinogenes, abundantly attached to less digestible fibers while those of Ruminococcaceae, specifically R. flavefaciens, preferred easily digestible fibers and thus were infrequently detected in the stem parts of hays. The rate and extent of fiber degradation by F. succinogenes are also greater than R. albus and R. flavefaciens (Kobayashi et al. 2008). Early microscopy analysis indicated that R. albus is less commonly attached to plant cell walls while F. succinogenes forms extensive microcapsula enveloping the cell walls (Chesson et al. 1986). The community of unclassified Ruminococcaceae tended to linearly expand in AP, KS and SC following their rumen incubation. This finding suggested that the degradation of surface accessible fibers turned forage residues into favored substrates for the attachment by species of Ruminococcaceae. A declined abundance of species of Ruminococcus has been reported in the cow rumen when the starch content of diet was increased (Zened et al. 2013).Ruminococcus spp. have been equipped with specialized mechanisms for fiber adhesion and degradation, in which multiple carbohydrate degrading enzymes assemble into multienzyme cellulosome complexes capable of attachment to and degradation of polysaccharides in various plant cell walls (Bayer et al. 2004;Doi and Kosugi 2004).Recently, Huws et al. (2016) reported that microbial colonization of perennial ryegrass occurred at two successive stages: The primary (the first 1-2 h after its rumen entry) and the secondary phases (4-8 h). It was the secondary phase, during which the maximal DM degradation was achieved and the proportion of Succinivibrio spp. decreased while those of Pseudobutyrivibrio, Roseburia and Ruminococcus spp. increased. Piao et al. (2014) also observed that the populations of Pseudobutyrivibrio and Ruminococcus spp. increased during their secondary colonization to switchgrass in the Friesian cow rumen. The microbial communities attached to feeds during the primary phase were believed to utilize soluble and easily accessible nutrients while those colonized feeds during the secondary phase were considered to be the true lignocellulose degraders (Huws et al. 2016;Liu et al. 2016). In this study, an increased prevalence of Butyrivibrio was noted in CR. Butyrivibrio spp. are known for their proteolytic, hemicellulolytic and biohydrogenating activities (Krause et al. 2003). Liu et al. (2016) reported a strong positive correlation between the abundance of Butyrivibrio spp. and the crude protein contents in the rice straw and alfalfa hay, suggesting their preference for the attachment to proteinaceous components of the feeds.In summary, our results demonstrated that physicochemical compositions of the forages, more specifically their cellulose contents, were among the major factors influencing microbial attachments and thus lignocellulose degradation in the cattle rumen. No taxonomic lineage was found to be specific of a particular forage, suggesting that most rumen microbes had an inherent tendency for attachment to lignocellulosic substrates. However, differential influencing the rate of microbial attachment. Our results also revealed that members of the rumen microbiota competed for their attachments to the forages with different lignocellulose compositions mostly during the initial hours of the rumen incubation. However, after the degradation of easily digestible components in the forages, relatively uniform microbial communities developed on their surface.It should be noted that the bacterial community composition detected in each forage at each sampling interval may not necessarily reflect the actual abundance of microbes due to an inherent bias in sample collection, processing and storage as well as DNA extraction and PCR amplification, which may cause over-or under-representation of some taxa. For example, a recent comparative analysis of various DNA extraction methods used in rumen microbiome analyses argued that DNA extraction method can have an adverse effect on the community composition of rumen samples and may associate with an increased or decreased abundance of some specific taxa (Henderson et al. 2013).Particularly, the inclusion of a physical lysis step using bead-beating method increased the efficacy of DNA extraction from Gram-positive bacteria (Knudsen et al. 2016). The extent to which our DNA extraction method, in which the physical lysis step was not included, affected community composition of the forage-attached microbiota was unknown.In addition, the high number of PCR cycles may increase the number of PCR artifacts and bias the microbial compositions.  examine variance differences between the forages (c) and the sampling intervals (d). Significant differences were determined using the betadisper function of R package vegan v2.5-5 at 999 permutations. P-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. For each treatment, data in triplicate representing three separate bags, were included. AP, camelthorn; CR, common reed; DP, date palm; KS, Kochia; RS, rice straw; and SC, Salicornia.      Alpha diversity analysis of rumen microbial communities attached to the six forages during the rumen incubation. The OTU table for each forage was sampled at an even sequencing depth (n = 4660) and diversity measures were calculated using plot_richness function of R package phyloseq and visualized using geom_boxplot function of R package ggplot2. Statistically significant differences were calculated using one-way ANOVA at p-value cutoff of 0.05.Differences between means were determined using Duncan's multiple range test in PAST v3.26. * p value < 0.05, ** p value < 0.01 and *** p value < 0.001.The proportions of reads affiliated to OTUs at the taxonomic level of family in the six forages during the rumen incubation. Data for each sampling interval is the mean of three biological replicates corresponding to three bags retrieved one each from the three cannulated bulls. For each forage, the OTU table is rarefied to the sequencing depth of the sample with the lowest number of reads. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"eaa74708ef553cd4af708e380ebdba5d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4df730bb-1252-4398-927d-e994d16328c2/retrieve","id":"-844544903"},"keywords":["Contributing Centers/PPA partners","Evidence link","• https","//tinyurl.com/wlf3s3o"],"sieverID":"750eb4c3-72e4-46ed-9df4-00808394482e","content":"As with the 260+ biofortified varieties released in the past, these varieties not only have higher levels of micronutrients but are also high-yielding, climate-smart, and carry other attributes farmers and consumers look for."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fec5e54ba62e016fdfa9e2dbe0f67251","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/0f345bf7-a147-40ef-a29c-56b381996187/content","id":"-1168048982"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"73155a7b-2b65-4687-b3c0-edb3dffccc3e","content":"• In million ha, Total cultivated area, 17.8M ha Bio-physical potential (Rainfall, soil  • 36% of the sample HHs (27% of the maize plots) in the SIMLESA/CASFESA baseline survey apply the practice.• Though not applying all components, but still rational.Grass weeds fill the feed shortage gaps during the wet season. The practice is in favor of women headed households own land but renting (sharing) out due to lack of draft power and male labor for land preparation.Rental market for draft power???"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/5331119805.json b/main/part_2/5331119805.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c0cf9cd9b623a76af0c5371a2f1092cf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c66c1f91-f7c3-433c-8b19-543acf2f5265/retrieve","id":"2063631286"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"74fc3ff2-a04c-4985-8e7f-271fd96eff3d","content":"Enhancing livelihoods through livestock knowledge systems (ELKS)The programme started with a series of livestock sector studies, field visits, stakeholder consultations (to identify value chain barriers), study of partners\" livestock activities and identification of technical, institutional and policy intervention points for ILRI support in the three regions (North East, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand) from a system perspective. Nine specific support components identified for pilot testing are detailed below with the current stage of their implementation:North East India, comprising eight states, has a population of over 39 million. About 80% of the population is tribals and pig keeping is an integral part of their way of life. The majority of households keep one to three pigs (with a few households having larger numbers), and women play a key role in pig keeping. The number of pigs available /100 persons in the North East is 18 compared to 4 in the country as a whole. Almost 100% of the tribals are meat eaters and pork forms the main meat in the daily diet. The demand for pig meat in the North East is increasing at a rapid rate of 20% per year and the current deficit of 49.7% (2.13 lakh metric tonnes) is being met by import from neighbouring countries such as Myanmar and other parts of India.Pig rearers in the North East are reported to be facing a lot of problems in accessing quality and timely livestock services at their doorstep, particularly those who are distant from the urban and peri-urban areas. This is found to be more of an institutional issue than a technical one. Therefore, it was planned to implement a pilot integrated service delivery model in two North Eastern States (Nagaland and Mizoram) in association with various service delivery agents in these states. As per this model, a village youth is selected in each village and trained jointly by ILRI and the Department of Veterinary & Animal Husbandry on primary veterinary services (vaccination, deworming, castration, first aid, management) and on other subjects such as nutrition, extension etc. on a modular basis. The Livestock Service Providers (LSP\"s), apart from providing primary health services, are expected to train farmers in their villages on various pig production topics.Farmers will pay an incentive to the LSPs for the primary veterinary services provided (based on norms fixed by the Village Council). For extension services, the incentive will be paid by the project (during the initial period). The Livestock Service Providers are anchored by the Trust\"s partner NGOs, technically backstopped by the local veterinarian of the Veterinary Department and monitored by ILRI.Several rounds of discussions were conducted with the Veterinary Departments, Village Councils, Trust\"s partners and other key actors to finalise the above model. Following this, it was decided to field test the model in 20 villages (fifteen villages in Nagaland and five in Mizoram). The concerned government departments have issued circulars to the field veterinarians to extend their support to backstop the programme including hands-on training. Consequently, the NGO partners, in association with the Village Councils, started the process of identifying a local youth to be trained as Service Provider. The first modular training for the service providers on \"veterinary first aid\" has been arranged during the first week of February 2012. The first set of extension materials in five different local languages has also been prepared. The service providers will start functioning in the field immediately after the training in February.To ensure sustainability and to have a meaningful exit, the programme has to be functionally synergized with the government department, which is mandated to provide livestock services to farmers (in the present case, the Veterinary Department). But this is a challenging task. It takes a lot of time to prepare the ground. Quite often, change in bureaucracy worsens the situation. But once it succeeds, it will have a far reaching implication. Here, ELKS is trying to create a good example of service delivery through trained community-based self employed youth (based on experience gained in a previous ILRI project in Nagaland and from evidence from other models of livestock service delivery in India and elsewhere) and use the evidence to work with policy makers for its scaling up in rural areas.Classical swine fever (CSF), a highly contagious viral disease of pigs, is reported to be the most serious threat affecting pig production in North East India. Although swine fever vaccine is produced in India it is not available in sufficient quantities and importation is difficult. There are also reports of vaccination failure but the reasons are not clear. Vaccine delivery mechanisms are also reported to be very weak.In this context, two studies were conducted under ELKS: (1) on incidence and livelihood impacts of CSF and (2) the status-impact-and effectiveness of control of the disease in the North East. This was followed by a national workshop (organised in association with the Assam Agricultural University) on \"Classical Swine Fever: Technical, policy and institutional issues and remedial mechanisms\" in North East India, in which nearly 40 participants from a range of government and NGOs representing almost all NE states, research institutes, vaccine manufacturers, development organizations, and international research organizations (FAO, ILRI) participated After the national workshop a high level policy meet was organized, in which the Secretaries and Directors of most of the NE states participated. Dr. A.S. Nanda, Animal Husbandry Commissioner (AHC), GoI and Dr. K M L Pathak, DDG (Animal Science), ICAR were the chief guests. Dr. K.M. Bujarbaruah, Vice Chancellor, Assam Agricultural University chaired the meeting. Dr Iain Wright, ILRI Regional Representative, Asia presented the workshop recommendations before the policy makers. After a thorough discussion in the policy forum, the following decisions were taken to pursue the matter further:1. Impress upon the Dept. of AH, Dairy and Fisheries, Government of India, to launch a fully funded CSF national control program in the XII Plan with a focus on the NE. 2. A North East Regional Action Group on CSF Control is to be constituted under the chairmanship of the Honourable Minister DONER or Secretary, which should preferably be notified by the GoI. The Vice Chancellor, Assam Agricultural University and ILRI Regional Representative Asia shall jointly facilitate constitution of the Action Group. The Action Group shall establish a small Technical Advisory Group for provision of technical advice. The Action Group shall prepare an action plan for control of CSF in NE Region, taking account of the other recommendations from the workshop, and monitor the implementation of the plan by states. 3. A committee under the chairmanship of Dr D K Sharma shall prepare a detailed project report for the establishment of a CSF vaccine production facility in Guwahati.The report shall specify the costs, timetable (with milestones), potential partners and potential modes of operation and management. Members will include Director of Research, AAU, and Dr Ram Deka, ILRI.Other important recommendations 4. The efficacy of the new cell culture vaccine developed by AAU should be independently validated in NRC Pig and other government farms. 5. Involvement and support of NGOs, including KVKs, community level organizations is crucial to the successful implementation of a CSF control programme. 6. Further epidemiology studies of the incidence and impact of CSF should be conducted in other states of India with support from ILRI. 7. Given the limited humanpower available in state government departments, a system of delivery of vaccines by \"vaccination scouts\" should be established under supervision of the animal husbandry and veterinary departments. 8. CSF control program should be designed in line with the national FMD Control Progr. 9. Movement of pigs from outside the NE Region should be monitored for vaccination.Non-vaccinated pigs should not be permitted to enter the region.ILRI is continuously persuading the Assam Agricultural University to operationalise the policy recommendations, particularly to address the issues related to vaccine production. Discussions are also ongoing with the Animal Husbandry Commissioner on arranging a high level meeting with senior officials (including the Secretary) of the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairy and Fisheries, Government of India to discuss including a Classical Swine Fever Control Programme in the 12 th Plan. In the meantime, drawing the recommendations from the workshop (see 5 and 7 above), preparations are made to train the 20 Livestock Service Providers on \"Swine Fever Control\". The LSPs, after the training will arrange mass vaccination programme in the selected 20 villages after creating awareness among the rearers (through extension classes). ILRI is also in the process of arranging procurement of CSF vaccine (required for vaccinating all pigs in the 20 pilot villages) from Indian Veterinary Research Institute and State Vaccine Institute, Bangaluru. The State Veterinary Departments in Nagaland and Mizoram offered their cold chain facilities for vaccine storage and for the mass vaccination programme.The key issue in Swine Fever Control is lack of availability of vaccine in the country.North East alone requires 78 lakh doses of vaccine /year. Whereas, the production in the whole country is only 12 lakh doses. The gap cannot be filled so easily as the available method for CSF vaccine production is lapinised technology, which can produce only limited supplies. Though direct Cell Culture Vaccine Technology has been developed by AAU, it will take 4-5 years to produce it on a commercial scale in a lab with GMP facility. Further, this is a matter that lies purely with the Government. Although the sphere of influence of ILRI in this regard is limited we are interacting with Government at the highest level.In the North East, particularly in rural areas, people rear pigs mainly under a subsistence system. This low input -low output pig production system relies very much on the farming system they practice and the ecosystems in which they live. But production intensification can be achieved in the case of pigs because of their high feed conversion efficiency (3:1). Distance to input and output markets, inadequate availability of concentrate feed, higher price of feed and poor knowledge about feeding act as major constraints for intensifying production in the rural areas. To address this issue a pig nutrition pilot has been initiated in the 20 villages selected for the service delivery programme.The pilot started with a training of partners on \"local resource based pig nutrition\". Following this, with the support of Assam Agricultural University (Nutrition Department) a nutrition gap analysis protocol has been developed. A sample survey and analysis of nutrients in the daily diet of pigs is scheduled in February. Based on this a feeding strategy will be developed and arrangement for supplying the most limiting nutrients will be done in April 2012. If required, small scale feed mixing units will be established in selected locations for the procurement and supply of pig feed to the rearers on cash /credit basis. Demonstration plots of dual purpose food-feed crops such as sweet potato, colocacia (taro), quality protein maize etc. will also be established in farmers\" field as part of the pilot. Later, policy level discussions will be arranged with Veterinary Department for mainstreaming the pilot in other rural areas.Reflections: Partnership development with Assam Agricultural University took considerably longer time because of official formalities. But once established, though time taking, collaboration with national research institutes /local researchers provides a platform for ongoing support and can contribute to the development of livestock systems in the longterm.The ILRI support approach, expected outcome and a road map for the three specific activities in the North East along with policy advocacy plan for out /up scaling of the models tested is given below (please see the Work plan 2012 in Annexure 1 for quarter-wise activity details):  While an increase in demand for livestock products is seen as an opportunity for poor livestock keepers to supply this demand and improve their income and livelihoods, the reality is that availability and access to good quality feed is a major constraint to increasing livestock productivity. Conventional approaches to research and development for increasing feed supply have tended to focus on finding technical solutions. This has included, for example, the promotion of new varieties of fodder crops (grasses, legumes, trees) including distribution of seeds, the application of technologies to improve the nutritive value of crop residues such as urea treatment. Despite these efforts, most attempts to deal with the feed scarcity issue have failed. Absence of a method to evaluate a range of potential feed technologies from various dimensions (productivity, economic, social, labour) is a challenge faced by development professionals to select most appropriate option in a given context.In the above context, a (TechFit) workshop was organized in Dehradun, Uttarakhand to develop and field test an analytical framework tool that can be used to: (i) collect (ii) structure (iii) screen and (iv) prioritise possible feed technologies and interventions using a set of general approaches, generic classifications and critical parameters from multiple angles (technical, institutional, social and economic) in various contexts. About 20 delegates from various ILRI projects and partners in Asia and East and West Africa, including Himmotthan, participated and made their contributions. As part of field testing of the TechFit tool, the participants formed three groups and tested the tool in three villages of three districts of Uttarakhand.Later, after the workshop, the tool was applied in Uttarakhand in consultation with Himmotthan and its partners. It helped to short list the following four context specific and appropriate technologies for large scale promotion in Himmotthan villages by following a scientific and systematic approach:1. Conservation of surplus biomass as \"HAY\" to address seasonal shortage 2. Thinning of dual purpose wheat to address seasonality issue 3. Smart /strategic feeding 4. Cultivation of improved grasses in CPRThe action plan for wider promotion of the above technologies in the target area includes:  -Nutritional gap analysis and identification of strategic /smart feeding techniques  -Demonstrations to improve quality and storage of HAY  -Techno-economic analysis of mini feed mixing units and their standardisation  -Training on nutrition and feed compounding techniques  -Establishment of new mini feed mixing unit/s  -Development of promotional materials on prioritized nutritional technologies  (dual purpose crops, hay enrichment, smart feeding)Nutrition has a key role in expressing genetic potential of livestock irrespective of seasons.But availability and quality of feedstuffs available in various seasons will be different in different locations leading to nutrient shortages /surpluses. Farmers depending on their economic condition, can bridge the nutrient gap by (1) better utilizing the available feed resources (2) produce more and (3) import. But a clear understanding of the nutritional gap is required to address this issue. Since the nutrient information available for different locations is very scanty, it was decided to conduct a study on it in two regions in Uttarakhand: Genwali village in Tehri district and Futsil village in Pithoragarh district. The study design was developed in consultation with the Pant Nagar Agricultural University. Twenty farmers, ten from each village were selected for the study. Feed intake, body weight and milk yield were recorded for individual animals during the study. The observation was repeated in three seasons and feed samples were chemically analysed for proximate principles. From this information daily intake of dry matter, digestible crude protein and total digestible nutrients were calculated. The nutrient gap thus analysed will be published as a report shortly. It will give a broader understanding of nutritional shortages during three seasons in the areas studied. This will help to decide the supplementation strategy (utilize better/produce more/import or combination of the three) to optimize milk production in the partner villages.Experiments conducted by a team of scientists (Singhal, K K, Tripathy, H P, Singh, B and Harika, A S) at National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal revealed that from wheat crop, irrespective of the variety, fodder can be harvested 60 days after sowing, without affecting grain yield. The authors claim that wheat fodder thus harvested had a higher nutritive value than oats fodder and its nutritive value in terms of DCP and TDN was similar to a good quality concentrate mixture.Another experiment carried as part of the Bill and Melinda Gates funded CSISA (Cereal System Initiative in South Asia) project in India revealed that wheat crop (sown with Berseem) could produce about 15 tonnes of additional fodder per ha (having 30% protein) with no yield penalty.As wheat is the main crop cultivated during winter in the hilly tracts in Uttarakhand, it was decided to carry out a field trial in Uttarakhand to understand the performance of two wheat varieties (local variety and VL 829) with and without fodder harvest under different levels of nitrogen application. The idea was first discussed with a group of farmers in Uttarakhand.Researchers from ILRI, CSISA, VPKAS-Almorah, NDRI-Karnal and Directorate of Wheat Research-Karnal participated in the Researcher-Farmer interface meeting. Based on the discussions, a research protocol was developed for wheat and barley. These crops are now sown in the trial plots in the two locations. The wheat crop will be ready for the fodder harvest in the middle of January 2012 (80 days after sowing). In the mean time the partners were exposed to the CSISA project area in Karnal (India) to learn about recording of trial observations and the agronomic practices to be followed at the time of fodder harvest. The trial results will be available by the end of April 2012. Depending on the results, the practice of harvesting wheat fodder at a specific stage of its vegetative phase (without affecting the grain yield) may be promoted in the 20 ELKS pilot villages in Uttarakhand.Reflections: Harvesting of green wheat fodder, without affecting its grain production, could become a potential source of green fodder during the lean season. But in Uttarakhand wheat is cultivated in an \"organic\" way -no inorganic fertilizers are used. If we are harvesting green fodder 80 days after sowing, the nutrients taken out of the soil through the biomass harvested have to go back to the soil (in other places, farmers compensated this by applying urea immediately after green harvest). This is a challenge in a so called \"organic state\". Can the inorganic fertiliser be replaced with cow dung? This remains to be seen. However, in the present trial, this aspect is also being studied.The state of Uttarakhand has a total breedable population of 8.13 lakh cattle and 7.02 lakh buffaloes. Almost 85% of cattle in the state are non-descript yielding less than 2 kg per day.The mountainous topography of Uttarakhand has limited the scope of livestock development in the hills. The Uttarakhand Livestock Development Board (ULDB), formed by the State government is implementing programmes for developing cattle and buffalo breeds in the State. Unfortunately, most of their services are mainly confined to the plain regions of Uttarakhand and not reaching farmers in the hills.Against this background a model breed development programme for the hills was developed through a collaborative arrangement among Himmotthan, ULDB and ILRI. ULDB will provide training to the service providers, supply semen, liquid nitrogen container and other equipments. ILRI and Himmotthan will provide the paravet a remuneration of Rs 7000 per month in the first year (Rs 2800 towards AI, castration and health camps and Rs 4200 towards other activities). In the second year this will be reduced to Rs 4000 and third year Rs 3000. In the first year farmers are expected to pay 25% of the AI charge, second year 50% and third year 100%. It is expected that from the 4 th year onwards the paravet will run the business with no external support.Two paravets selected and trained at ULDB to cover 10 villages received all required equipment and started working in the field. They are now providing breeding services in two clusters of villages (in Ghansali and Gangolihat regions). It was decided that in the above hilly regions, first the local cows are bred with pure Red Sindhi /Jersey depending on farmers\" choice (subsequent generations with 50% Red Sindhi / Jersey). Buffaloes are upgraded with Murrah semen.Extension materials (flip chart and leaflet) on \"breeding for more milk\" have been developed, pre-tested and then supplied to the service providers. The paravets will be trained at quarterly intervals on various subjects (feeds and feeding, extension etc.). The breeding programme is technically supported by an ILRI consultant and the whole programme is locally anchored by the Himmotthan partner NGOs in the two regions. The paravets\" performance is monitored and supported on a continuous basis.Small stock development often provides a less risky investment for the poor compared to cattle or buffalo, especially in remote areas where access to markets for milk is poor. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the demand for goat meat is fast growing in Uttarakhand. This offers considerable opportunities for the smallholders in Uttarakhand. But goat development programmes have to be formulated in such a way that they do not undermine the natural resource base. In this background, ILRI first carried out a preliminary study on various goat development models in Uttarakhand (Bageshwar district in Kumaon region and Chamoli district in the Garwal region) and Jharkhand. This was to provide an understanding of the effectiveness of various activities such as breeding, feeding and health care. Following this an overview of goat development in Uttarakhand has been prepared based on available secondary information.Further, a value chain study has been initiated, the results of which will be presented in a stakeholder workshop in February. In the same workshop, the barriers /opportunities for goat production will be discussed and intervention points for sustainable, livelihood oriented goat promotion in the state will be identified. ILRI will support Himmotthan to convert the workshop outputs into a proposal for submission to the Tata Trust for funding. Once approved, ILRI will provide hand holding support to Himmotthan and its partners for implementing the project.The ILRI support approach, expected outcome and a road map for the five specific activities in Uttarakhand along with policy advocacy plans for out /up scaling of the models tested is given below (see the Work plan 2012 in Annexure 1 for quarter-wise activity details): In the State of Jharkhand, besides crop agriculture, the majority of rural households depend on livestock such as bovines (cattle and buffalo), goats, pigs and chicken for their livelihood. The composition of livestock and poultry across social groups shows that the backward castes (ST, SC and OBC) have a higher proportion of small ruminants and pigs (23-27%) in their stock than the higher castes. Overall, about 37% of the small ruminants and pigs are owned by ST and SC households and another 48% by other backward castes. Productivity of livestock in general is low due to poor feeding, management and other constraints such as lack of health care, exploitative middle agents in markets etc. The low yield levels result in very low income generation or in net losses from livestock rearing. However, as the investment level and the out-of-pocket expenses are nearly negligible in rural Jharkhand, the farmers continue to rear livestock for whatever small production they can get from them. By and large, livestock production absorbs the family labour and in the absence of alternate employment opportunities, it provides a source of employment to the rural households.The demand for goat and pig meat is growing in Jharkhand. Already there is a deficit of 40% goat meat and 25% pork in the market. Studies conducted by ILRI show that there is a buoyant and growing export of goats from the state with traders coming to buy goats from other states like Orissa, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Delhi.Considering the huge potential of goats and pigs for poverty reduction among marginal communities, a study was conducted to understand the strengths and weaknesses of various goat and pig development models currently being implemented by various agencies in Jharkhand and in neighbouring states with similar context. The study findings were discussed in a stakeholder workshop to identify key intervention areas to formulate a model appropriate in the hilly /tribal areas of Jharkhand. Consequent to this study, ILRI and CInI team members had several rounds of discussions with various partner NGOs and gave shape to a comprehensive goat /pig development proposal for submission to the Tata Trust for funding. The proposal has all the essential components (breeding, feeding, health control, extension, marketing, farmer based institutions and capacity building) required for a successful livestock based livelihood project. The ILRI support approach, expected outcome and road map for the project activities is given below (see the Work plan 2012 in Annexure 1 for quarter-wise activity details):  3. Cross cutting activities .A training conducted by ILRI for the Tata partners and stakeholders in December 2009 on \"Training Need Assessment\" helped the partners to systematically analyse project-based competency oriented training requirements of their own organizations and their boundary partners (farmers) to effectively implement the ongoing and proposed projects. The training needs assessment carried out focused on the current and potential key partners in each of the ongoing or anticipated projects, their roles and responsibilities, knowledge and skill requirements to effectively contribute to the task, their current capacity levels, and finally, the capacity gap that needs to be addressed.Considering the project activities and the role to be played by the partners ILRI facilitated development of capacity strengthening proposals for Himmotthan (for Uttarakhand) and North East Initiative (for Nagaland and Mizoram). As regards to CInI (for Jharkhand), the Capacity Development components have already been incorporated in their new project proposal submitted for funding. The capacity strengthening proposals have technical and non-technical components. Past experiences reveal that with better capacities, implementation of development programmes becomes more successful. The changed behavior of participants in terms of knowledge, attitude and practices before and after the trainings will be monitored immediately after the training and at yearly interval.These training programmes will be technically managed by ILRI (identification of right resource persons /institutes, development of training content, schedule, training methodology etc.). ILRI will use own global experience and resource persons who have knowledge in working with local communities. Wherever required, external resource persons /institutions will also be engaged based on need and ensuring local relevance. The Trust\"s Cells (HM, NEI, and CInI) will manage the funds and logistics (if ILRI resource persons are used, like any other trainers, they will also be paid by the Cells using these funds). However, the trainers /institutes and the involved costs will be mutually agreed by ILRI and the Cells well in advance.All ELKS activities indicated earlier (see 2.1 to 2.9) involve intense dialogue /discussion with stakeholders, partner organizations and communities. These research linked activities are highly process oriented, interactive, participatory events which, among other things, result in valuable \"knowledge exchange\" among partners and stakeholders in the respective states. The new knowledge and experiences generated through specific research activities (research on dual purpose crops, nutrition pilot, service delivery model, pig /goat value chain development etc.) are planned to be properly captured in the form of different communication products (case studies, videos) and used to influence policies /programmes with a purpose to scale up /out the successfully tested models /pilots in the states concerned. This will start during the second half of 2012. This is in addition to the dissemination efforts already being carried out by the Cells and ILRI through their websites.Training on \"Monitoring & Evaluation\" was conducted for the ELKS partners in May 2011. About 20 representatives participated in the training programme. As part of the training, the M&E framework for the base-line studies and M&E tools for data collection were developed in consultation with the partners. The base line survey in randomly selected project villages has already been completed in one of the states. This will be completed in the other three states once the project design is finalised. At the end of the programme an end-line survey will be carried out and the project outcome /outputs will be analysed.The ELKS programme is led by ILRI\"s Regional Representative for Asia and managed by a Senior Programme Manager (SPM). The SPM is supported by Research Associates /Senior Technical Officers (one in each region), ILRI thematic experts and short term local consultants are hired based on need.The programme is guided by a steering committee (SC) consisting of members mainly from the Trusts\" three initiatives. The primary objective of the ELKS Steering Committee is to provide strategic direction and oversight to help improve the relevance and impact of the project. The committee provides overall guidance and support for the main activities and overall strategic direction in the ELKS programme by identifying major trends and opportunities, or gaps in implementation. The steering committee meets at six monthly intervals. In the current year the steering committee met once in July. The second meeting is scheduled on 18 th January, 2012.To facilitate smooth field level coordination between ILRI and the Trusts\" Cells and partners mechanisms such as monthly appraisal, quarterly meetings etc. are put in place and reviewed from time to time.Three quarterly progress reports (physical and financial) are produced in the calendar year and shared with the Trusts and partners. They are also widely disseminated through the websites of ILRI and Tata partners. The current report is presented as the 4 th in the series.ILRI started implementing an EC-IFAD funded goat development programme (imGoats) in India (Jharkhand, Rajasthan) and Mozambique, which mainly focuses on development of goat market value chain. To facilitate linkages and explore synergies between imGoats and ELKS programmes, a combined (ILRI-CInI) meeting was arranged in August and identified areas for collaborative action. Collaborative activities include State level stakeholder platform meetings, learning events, joint communication products etc.ILRI is currently in the process of implementing another new IFAD funded project (Milkit) in India (Uttarakhand) and Tanzania. The overall goal of this project is to contribute to improved dairy-delivered livelihoods via intensification of smallholder production focusing on enhancement of feeds and feeding using innovation and value chain approaches. Wherever, possible (and required) synergy will be ensured between ELKS and Milkit programmes. Himmotthan representatives have been involved in discussion with other stakeholders in the project implementation plans."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b75a31c92ef01a9df36350aad5b0b88b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8e277445-f724-43b3-a786-ab76ae0c8177/retrieve","id":"137274582"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a0aa06ed-4e91-489f-a0f9-e69c1752e746","content":"✓ Soil organic matter has declined on most farms, making fertilizer use efficiencies poor. ✓ In Malawi, the most feasible approach to building SOM is through cycling low and high quality crop residues. Livestock populations are low, while an important resource elsewhere, animal manure is in insufficient quantities to make a significant impact on farms. ✓ Residues from grain legumes can be used to optimize fertilizer responses of maize, improve soil health and food security across diverse agro-ecologies. Burning of crop residues as part of land preparation is practice that must be discouragedTo quantify the ecological, economic and nutrition benefits of growing maize in rotations with legumes when crop residues are properly used in the cropping systemsThis poster is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. September 2018We thank farmers and local partners in Africa RISING sites for their contributions to this work. We also acknowledge the support of all donors which globally support the work of the CGIAR centers and their partners through their contributions to the CGIAR systemI) Mineral fertilizer (Mz69) at 10 kg P & 69 kg N ha -1 . II) Maize in rotation with soybean (SbRot), groundnut (GnRot), or peanut/pigeonpea intercrop (GnDLR douled-up) at 6 kg P and 35 kg N ha -1 and, III) Continuous maize/pigeonpea intercrop (MzPp) -improving the traditional system hat 6 kg P and 35 kg N ha -1• There were no significant differences between fertilized maize (Mz69) and maize in rotation with legumes at reduced • Rotating maize with legumes increased nitrogen use efficiency by 56% relative to Mz69. • Adding half the rate of fertilizer and integrating legumes increased gross margins of maize by 29 -75% and increased protein and calorie production by 200 -450%. • Over time, integrating grain legumes in maize systems resulted in stable maize yields (Fig 1)• Field days and training workshops centered on showcasing the benefits of good fertilizer practices and legume integration (Fig 2). • Capacity building of extension system -institutionalizing knowledge in Malawi extension system • Private sector involvement -local agrodealers/farmer partnerships for improved access to seed or fertilizer availability• Using a calibrated and validated APSIM model for the different technologies we will further optimize maize -legume by exploring management options such as plant ratios, fertilizer rates, cultivar types and planting dates.  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"62bfad12059b60214684c2e975dfd45c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0b8db75f-12ab-4e2d-afa7-5d3f2912ac52/retrieve","id":"1701140620"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"475f6263-babc-4ac9-9e23-df3406b2a792","content":"Involvement offarmers in the plarming process resulted in the development of more specific breeding objectives, which were more focused on the farmers' perceíved needs. It has helped to refine the context and process of the participatory plant-breedíng program and has gíven farmers a leading role in the decision-makíng process.ment, considering their resources (time), knowlcdge, and skills, were chosen by the farmers' group. There were mainly three types of activities: a mass-selection program, a crossing program, and a participatory variety selection (PVS) programoThe involvement of farmers in analysis of researchable problems helped change the researchers' perceptions ofthe problem (table 4) and redefine the goal oflhe maize-improvement programo The redefinirion ofthe breeding goals ofthe maize-improvement program provided guidelines for refining the research process !hat had been proposed initially. A multiple approach (mass selection, crossing, screening of improved/pipeline varieties, and PVS) was taken to address the problems, some of which had not been considered before, F armers liked the mass-selection technique because they perceived it as a simple method and as a possible option to improve specific traits, keeping the desirable traits ofthe variety intact. The crossing program was chosen in consideration ofthe slow genetíc gain in fue mass-selection method, partícularly in farmers' fields, Considering the long gestation period ofthe variety-improvement program, which may delay the delivery ofbenefits to the farmers, the variety-selection program was planned. This would provide farmers with access to new, improved genetic materials to test in ruverse farming situations, A farmers' research committee was formed at each site in order lo empower farmers and to ensure farmers' leadership in the project. It was decided that the committee would be equally responsible for the planning, implementation, and mO!litoring ofproject activities. The committee works as an interface between farmers and researchers. It is expected that involving farmers in the planning and  Increase aecess to genetlc materíals . Improve Thulo pínyalo for lodglng reslstance Provide mass-selectlon tralnlng to farmers Provide mess-selection tmlnlng lo farmers implementatíon process will help in capacity building and increase ¡he farmers' sense of ownership in the programo Farmers are very supportive and cooperative in the project area. However, in some technical matters farmers' had different perceptions and altitudes, which changed along with the time. For exampie, farmers perceived that plants with short height could not produce good yields, that detasseling leads to total sterility in maíze, etc. In the beginning, Ihis made it difficult for researchers to facilitate some oflhe field activities, such as crossíng, demonstrating short-statured varietíes, etc. Later, the farmers found thal their perceptions were not correct, and their faith in the researchers increased, leading to better understanding, cooperation, and collaboratíon. Some farmers who were no! positive about the program in the begirming are the strongest members ofthe team now.In eastem India, rainfed rice represents a major component in thediet and income,of.millions of resource-poor people. In these harsh environments, the rate of adoption of modem rice varieties is Iow. Subsístence agriculture ís stilI quite important, although market integration is slowly progressing (Pingali 1997). In these transition systems, grain quality and taste strongly ínfluence the adoplion of modem vaneties. The maín source of vanation in grain qualíty ís the vanety, although envíronment and genotype-x-environment interactíons also affect grain quality. Different grain types, and therefore dífferent vaneties, are needed for self-consumptíon, market sale, and vanous preparatiollS or to pay wages in kínd. For plain rice, precooking practíces influence the vanetal choíces. Among the most common is parboíling, which is an age-old practíce in sorne regions of eastem India, where rice ís partly cooked before being air-dried and then sun-dried to improve íts nutritíonal, cookíng, and storage attributes, Preferences may vary across income levels, various social groups requiring vanous vaneties.Qualíty tests for breeding lines are routinely conducted by scientists in the laboratory. In the frame of a partícipatory plant-breeding project with methodologícal objectives started in ¡ 997 under the collaborative program wíth the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Internatíonal Rice Research Institute (IRRI) (Courtois et al. 1999), we developed a methodology to evaluate the grain quality ofrice vaneties in collaboration with fanners. To test the methodology, theEva/tia/ion o{ Uplalld Rice Varieties-\"w\"'it!!.\".!-F:-\"'arcem\"'e;e:rs'--_______________ _ sensory evaluation of a set of upland rice varieties was organized in a village of eastem India. The objectives of this study were (l) lo document the process of rice preparation at the farm level for raw and parboiled rice, (2) to estimate the influence of the two modes of preparation on rice quality and identify the best varÍeties in each case, (3) to colleet informa1Íon about quality characteristics that determine varÍetal acceptability by female and male farmers, and (4) 10 relate the preferences with the physico-chemical properties of the varieties determined in laboratory.Fifieen modem upland rice varieties and a local check (Brown Gora, widely grown by upland farmers) were tested. The test was conducted in 1998 in the village ofthe Korahar dÍstrict ofHazaribagh, Bihar, India. These varieties had been prevÍously tested for their agronomic values in a participatory varietal tria! conducted in the same víllage (Courtois et al., submitted).F or each variety, two kilos of sun-dried paddy of good quality were used. The paddy was dehulled and mílled using a dhenld, a big wooden bar moving up and down around an axis. The dhenld was operated by two women, one of them moving Ihe dhenld wÍIh her leg, the other shuffiíng the paddy grain afier every stroke of the dhenki. Al! Ihe varieties were dehulled and milled by Ihe same two persons under the same condítions. The times necessary for completion of dehulling and milling, and Ihe milling recovery (percentage of milled rice weight on rough rice weight) were recorded.The head rice recovery (unbroken grains) was not quantified but estimated visually (milled rice appearance ).Before cooking, one kilo of c1eaned rice was washed with water. Aluminum vessels called bhude/i were used to cook each variety separately. All bhude/i were ofthe same capacity. The women sug• gested using 3 liters of water to cook I kg of raw rice. The bhude/i wilh water was kept on the fire up to Ihe boiling point, when the washed rice was added. The cooking test was done by pressing the cooked rice between Ihumb and index finger. The same woman did the eooking test for all varie1Íes.The cooking time of each variety was recorded. The excess water was drained and Ihe cooked rice was displayed on a pattal (leaf mat) for sensory evaluation.As decided by the women, 2.5 kg of paddy were soaked in 3 liters of water in a tin container for 18 houis. A common belief is that the soaking of paddy should be done in the evening rather than during daytime, wilh the excess water drained in the moming, to avoid Ihe heat oflhe day. A temperature Ihat is too high would induce Ihe soaked paddy to ferment, leading to poor rice quality, high breakage, and bad odor (Bhattacharya 1985). The soaking ofpaddy in water startedat 4:00 p.m. and the water was drained al 10:00 am the next day. Afier decanting Ihe water, the soaked paddy was steamed on Ihe fire. During Ihe steamÍng process, the tin containing the soaked paddy was covered with a gunny bag to avoid loss ofheat. When Ihe husks of the paddy started cracking, Ihe container was taken off the fire. The steamed paddy was spread in the shade on a mud floor for drying. The paddy was dried in the shade for 48 hours wilh intermittent mixing. It was then exposed lo Ihe sun for complete drying. An indigenous technique was used to test the proper drying ofpaddy. Twenty lo 30 grains ofpaddy were dropped on a hard floor. The graíns were crushed underfoot by rotating Ihe heet If this removed Ihe grain husk, Ihe rice was considered to be well dried and ready for dehulling. For dehullíng and milling, 2 kg of c1eaned paddy were used and the same process as for raw rice was followed.More water is needed to cook parboiled rice than lo cook raw rice. The women suggested adding 7 liters ofwater to cook 1 kg ofparboiled rice. For the subsequent operations, the same process was followed as for raw rice.A protoco! for lhe practica! organization ofthe sensory evaluation was desígned following the recommendations of Arnerine, Pangborn, andRoessler (1965) andDel Mundo (1991) and adapting them to the realities of an eastern lndian village.Twenty-four farmers (12 women and 12 men) particípated in Ihe sensory evaluation, A hedonic scale was used. The farmers were asked lo indicate whetherthey líked (score 1) ordisliked(score O) the varieties for mílled grain appearance, cooked rice appearance, odor, color, texture (softlhard), stickiness, laste, and overall acceptability. The samples were numbered and randomized to límit the \"first-sample bias.\" The raw rice and parboiled rice were evaluated on different days to limil the teslers' fatigue.The tests were perforrned at the technology laboratory Gf the Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, India, for raw rice and in N.D. University of Agriculture and Technology, Masodha, Faizabad, India, for parboiled rice, The parameters measured for raw rice were milling recovery, head rice recovery, grain length and width, alkali value, volurne-expansion ratio, kernel-elongation ratio, and amylase content. For parboiled rice, hulJing and milling recovery and grain shape were measured.Forrank comparison, Spearrnan's coefficient of correlatíon was used when only two rankings were compared. A Kendall coefficient of concordance was used, as described in Siegel (1956), when more than two rankers were involved. The mean comparisons were perforrned using a Student's t-test.No difference between the two modes ofpreparation was observed for mílling time (table 1). Raw rice took significantly less time to cook as compared to parboiled rice. Milling recoverywas significantly higher for parboíled rice in comparison to raw rice. There was no significant difference between farmers' practices and laboratory method for raw rice but recovery was higher with farrners' practices for parboiled rice. The lower coefficients of variation in the case of parboiled rice índicated a buffering effect ofparboiling across varieties for recovery, which explains why parboiling is considered an excellent means to recover poor-qualíty samples.The method of rice preparation had a great impact on the ranking ofthe rice varieties for aH traits, as shown by the nonsignificant and sometimes negative rank correlations between the two seis of Note: ** = signifieant at (be 1% leve1; ns ｾ ＠ flot significant seores (table 2). The preferred varieties in tenns of aeceptabilíty were RRI51-3, RR352-1, and RR354-1 for raw rice, and RR50-5, RR352-1, and RR354-1 for parboiled rice. For breeding purposes, it was interesting to identifY varieties that could perfonn well under both preparations. RR352-1 and RR354-1 scored quite well in this respect.The farmers were also asked to indicate the fOUT varieties they liked the mosl (high seore indiealed high preferenee) and the fOUT varieties they liked the least (this time high seores indicated high dislíke). By this means, only one variety, RR354-1 recorded a good seore for both raw and parboiled rice (table 3), being liked by 67% ofthe farmers as parboiled rice and 58% ofthe fanners as raw rice. RR151-3 and RR352-1 were apprecíated by the farmers as raw rice but not as parboíled rice.Inversely, RR2-6, RR I 66-645 , and RR265-1 were líked by the farmers as parboíled rice but not as raw rice.For raw riee as well as parboiled rice, the rank correlatíons among characteristícs scored by funners were very strong and posítive (table 4) except for stickiness, for which they were also positive but more seldom significant. This means that there is probably no need ID ask the fanners to seore aH these traits. The aeceptability or the choice of the three or four most preferred varieties should be enough to represent the group of traits. A simplification of the testing procedure an important in order to facilítate the integratíon of partícípatory approaches ín the fonual breeding system and tD sustaín fanners' participatíon.  Opinions of women and men fanners were similar, with significant to highly significant correlations between their rankings for milled rice appearance, cooked rice appearance, texture, color, and taste (table 5). The on1y traite for which their agreement was weaker was stickiness ami, to lower extent, odor. In terrns of overall acceptability, there was no difference in women and men farmers' opinions on the tested varieties nor in their final choices of the varieties they liked most and leasl.The ranks given by farmers for the various quality traits were compared with the ranks ofthe same varieties for the main chemical properties of raw rice measured in the laboratory: alkali value, volume expansion, amylase content, and eIongation ratio. Elongation ability was negatively correlated with stickiness r -0.55, significant at the 5% leve!) but that was the only significant case. In the samples tested, amylase conten! did not seem to have any link to farmers preferences for texture r = -0.14) or stiekiness r = 0.04).It is unexpected to see so few relationships between consumer preferences and measurable chemical properties, since these are standard parameters used by all chemistry laboratories. However, for the varieties inc1uded in the evaluation, the variability for sorne traits was limited and therefore consumers had difficulty assessing differences.There was little relationship between farmers' field ranking and grain quality for parboiled rice, as shown by the very low coefficients of correlation for rank and a negative one for the ranking based on yieJd (tabIe 6). The relationship was stronger and positive for raw rice. Thete was no particular reason why the rankings should be correlated, but a strong negative correlation would complicate the breeding work. These results confirm tha! participatory varietal selection should not stop afier harvest. Sinee a compromise might be necessary, at least for parboiled rice, the trade-offbetween eritena for agronomic performance and cooking quality applied by farmers has to be assessed.  Grain quality is an important selection criterion (Juliano and Villareal 1993), Sensory evaluation with farmers allows us to assess varietal preferences under conditions of food preparabon very close to that of the final consUmer. F or the set of varieties tested, men and women seemed to share the same opinions. The physico-chemical analysis <lid not indicate much power to predict the results of farmers' rankings, The methodology was satisfactory although quite costly in tenns of organizabon time. It is importan! to define whích of the two modes of preparation (raw rice or parboiling) is mos! prevalent in the target area, since they lead to different varietal cholees. A slmplification of the ranking system by reducing the number of ranked traits is possible,Maize is the firsl mos! important food crop in the hílls ofNepal in terms ofboth area and its eontribution to household food security. It occupies about 0.8 million hectares (about 35% ofthe total cultiva!ed area); 78% ofthis is in terraced hill fanning, which produces over 1.3 million lonnes per annurn (CBS 1999). The productivity of maize, however, is quite low (L 7 lonneslhectare) and, as a result, there lS high incidence offood-deficit households in the hills ofNepa!. One of the major contributing factors lo this low yield is the poor perfonnance of fanner-mamtained maíze varieties. Fanners' access to new seeds and varieties is extremely poor and, al the same time, a majority of farmers tend lO keep their own seed without replacing it for years. It ís estimated that nearly 90% of the total seed requirements for eereals and other food crops in the country is met by the traditional seed-supply system (Cromwell et al. 1993;Joshi 1995). Sinee maíze is an open-pollinated crop, even new varieties rapidly get contaminated with the undesired traits oflocal varieties. On the other hand, most of the new varieties developed so far neither fit well with local environments nor meet farmers' diverse needs. Therefore, it lS increasingly being realized that breeding must be carried out in the target envirournent with the full participation of farmers so that the users' perspective is well reflected in the new varieties developed. -The environments where maíze is produced in the hills ofNepal are very diverse in tenns oftopography, soil types, and use of production resources. There are also differences between fanners and fanning cornmunities in terrns of aecess to resources (Le., wealth) and food culture, whích is govemed largely by ethnicity. These dífferences exist no! only between wider agroecological zones bu! also between fanning famílies in the same víllage. F or these reasons, fanners require a large number of varietal options to fit into diverse production ni ches and to meet the varied consumption Various sources of ínformatíon have been used in lhe reporto These include focus-group discussions (FGDs) conducted during particípatory rural appraisals, particípatory gender analysis, and household baseline surveys undertaken at the Darwar Devísthan and Simichaur research sites at lhe inceptíon of the project. Separate FGD sessíons were held wilh different groups of furmers, categorized by gender, wealth, and ethnicity. Ihere were two categories under gender-male and female; three categories under wealth-rich, average, and poor; and three categories under ethnicíty-BrahminlChhetri/Jogi (BCJ), GurungIMagarlNewar (GMN), and KamiIDamai/Sarki (KDS). The categorízation of farming-household weallh was done by lhe farmers themselves, using their own perceptions and knowledge of wealth of lhese households. The ethnic categorization was done by researchers on the basis of sociocultural similarities.The participatory gender analysis involved lhe analysis of gender roles and decision-making pattems in lhe production and utilization system for maize. A sample of 30 selected households was facilítated in doing lheir own gender anaIysis by using a pictorial set of aman, woman, and child, and maize grains, to indicate their roles. Similarly, a detailed household baseline survey was conducted to colleet detailed and widely representative information, which al50 served as a major source of information for this reporto It involved a questionnaire survey of 100 households (40 at Darwar Devisthan and 60 at Simichaur) selected using a stratified random sampling technique.The perspective of users in maize production and utilization was analyzed u5ing two socioeconomic variables: ethnicity and the weallh categories derived from participatory wealth ranking. The analysis of gender perspectives, on lhe other hand, utilized inforrnation from male-and female-headed sample households lhat were included in lhe household baseline survey. Ofthe total sample households surveyed, 19% were female headed. These are mostly de jacto household heads, Le., women have taken charge of managing the farm while men work off-farm away from home for several months, mostly in India.The characteristics of the heads of maize-growing households are presented in table l. The family members who make major farming deeisions are mature, with an average age of 50 yeara. Their literaey rate is much higher (81 %) compared to the nationalliteracy rate (39.6%). However, a majority ofthem (47%) are either barely literate or have a primary-Ievel school education. The family member making tbe main farming decisions is younger and more iIIiterate in the average and poor wealth eategories, in tbe KDS and GMN ethnie households, and in female-headed households.The charaeteristics of the maize-growing households are presented in table 1. The maize-farming families are relatively larger than nonfarming families, with an average of seven members per faroily. The family size is, however, relatively smaller in the average and poor wea1th categories and in tbe KDS and GMN ethnic households than in other households. Thi, implies that the family labor availabJe to these households is less than in other households. Though farming is the major oceuparion for tbe households of tbe two research sites, fami Iy members of72% ofthe farming households are engaged in off-farm activiries to earn additional cash ¡ncome for the family. The percentage distribution oftbese households across wealth categories and male-and female-headed households is similar. The percentage ofhouseholds with farnily members engaged in off-farm acrivities, however, is slightly higher in the GMN and KDS households than in the BC] households.Maize is the main livelihood crop fo. tbe farmera of the research sites. The maize production in the area is subsistence-oriented and production is largely for self-consumption. The self-produced food, however, is not adequate to mee! household food requirements. About 86% of tbe farming household experiences food deficits from less than one to 1I months of the year, and the average length of food self-sufficiency ís only about seven months. The degree of food deficiency varies among the different household categories. The average time of food self-sufficiency is lower in average and poor households, in BCJ and KDS ethnic households, and in female-headed households. Only a small proportion ofthe households (10.4%) sell maize. The proportion ofhouseholds selling maize is similar across households of different ethnic eategories but is lower in the average and poor households and in male-headed households. A high proportion of the households (61 %) purchase maize to offset theÍf food-grain deficit. The differences in the proportion of households purchasing maize is highJy significant (p < .0001) across'wealth categories but no! significant across ethnic categories and across male-and female-headed households. There is virtually no market influence on farmera' choice ofmaize varieties.In general, farmera are smallholders witb an average maize-growing harí land holding ofO.4 hectare, scattered over an average number of 2.3 parcels (table 1). (Bari represents rainfed upland where amaize-based cropping system is dominant.) The average holding size and tbe number of parcels of barí land decrease with the wealth ofthe farming household. The differences in barí land holdings are highJy significant across wealth categories (p < .0001). Simílarly, the variation in number of parcels of barí land per household is also significant (p < .05) across wealth categories. These differences in harí land holdings and the number of harí parcels per household are not statistically significant across either ethnic categories or male-and female-headed households.  Livestock fonns an important and integral part of the fanning system and, among other things, provides a major source of nutrients (Le., manure) for plants. Buffalo, cattle, goats, and chickens are the main kínds oflivestock in the area, wíth an average lívestock unít of2.8 per household. The average livestock unít ís highest among households in the rich and BeJ categories and lowest in poor and KDS households. This difference is significant across wealth (p < .0001) and ethnic (p < .01) categories. Simílarly, the female•headed households have lower livestock units per household than the male-headed households, but this dífference is not statistícaI1y significant. The resource analysis thus indícates that BeJ households have the most resources, followed by GMN households, while KDS households have the fewest resources. Similarly, female-headed households have comparatívely fewer resources than rnale-headed households.The access farmers have to improved maize varieties suitable to local environments and their own needs ís quite límited (table 1). Only 13% ofthe fanners reported growing improved varieties of maize; however, they know the value of changing theír old seeds. Ahout 39% ofthe households reported exchanging their seeds during last five years with other fanners. The users' and gender analysis showed that access to new maíze seeds is similar across al! wealth categories. However, GMN and KDS households have a complete lack of access to new maíze seeds, and a lower proportion of rnale-headed households reported cultívating improved varieties than díd female-headed households. The proportíon of households changing seeds over the last five years, however, ís greater in the poor wealth category, suggesting that farmers in t1ús category change seed more frequently than do the others. Since these households are also híghly food deficit, they may be consuming the seed and, therefore, bOITowing seeds from other farmers. The proportion ofhouseholds changing maize seeds ¡s, however, similar across ethnic categories and between male and female-headed households.Símilarly, fanners' access to teclurical services and inforrnation on technology is also poor. On1y about 3% of the maize-growing households reported participating in agriculture-related training, and on1y 6% participated in educational tours. Likewise, about 15% of the households reported receiving infonnation on improved technology for rnaize production. This reveals that externa! technica! support to farrners in their attempts to develop better maize varieties is quite limited. The proportion ofhouseholds particípatíng in agricultura! training and tours is lower in the average and poor households than in rich households. A chi-square analysis shows significant dífferences (p < .05) in access to infonnation on ímproved technology for maize production across wealth categories. Similarly, on1y BeJ households reported having participated in agricultural training and tours or receiving ínfonnation on improved maize production. The proportíon of ferna!e-headed households particípating in agricultural training and tours and receiving infonnation on improved maize production is lower than male-headed households.Farmers have been found to grow about eight dífferent types ofmaize varieties, which they broadly categorize into two maize types: one is a large type (Thulo makai) with taU plants, big cobs, large grains and long rnaturity, while the other is a srnall type (Sano makai) with short plants, small cobs and grains, and short maturity. A majority ofthe farmers grow large-type maize, and it covers about 87.7% of lhe total maíze area. Among the large varieties, Thulo pyanlo alone covers about 80% of the area planted to this type, which reflects that, although farmers grow a large numberofvarieties, a large portion ofthe maize-growing area is covered by a relatively small number ofvarietíes.A majority ofthe households grow one to two varieties ofmaize (46.5% to 45.5%, respectively) in a season (table 2). Onlyabout 8% ofthe total maize-growing households grow more than tbree varieties per season. The varietal diversity maintained at household level, therefore, is low (figure 1). The ANOVA result shows that the difference in the number of maize varieties grown at household level is significant (p < .05) across wealth categories but not significant across ethnic categories and between male-and female-headed households. A higher proportion of poor households grows one variety of rnaize, compared to rich and average households. This is contrary to !he currently held view that small farmers maintain significant amounts of crop genetic diversity (Jarvis et al. 1997) and agrees with the fmdings of other studies (Rana and Kadayat 1999). Similarly, though no! significant, a very high proportion ofKDS households (90%) grows only one variety of maize.' \" 100% 'tl 90%\"O 80%.c: ., 70% Farmers who grow more tban one variety mentioned various reasons fur this (table2): to prepare different food items, to harvest at different times, to suit dífferent land types, to use as animal feed, and to meet fodder requirements. However, a majority ofthe farmers (67.9%) grow to suit dífferent types of land, and this is true across all wealfu and ethnic categories and between male-and fernale-headed households. Ihe ANOVA result suggests that fue number ofmaíze varieties grown at household leve! is not signifieantly related to the size of the hari land but is highly signifieantly related to the number ofparcels of bari land the farmer is planting to maize (p < .0001). This indicates tbat with the increase in the number of parcels of bari land, the number of maize varieties grown at household level also increases. This also confirms ¡he PRA finding that farmers in the area grow large-type maize on more fertile land while small-type maize is grown on less fertile soil. The number of bari pareels, therefore, appears to be the strongest determining factor in deciding the number of maíze varieties to be grown per season. It is, however, true tbat farmers use multiple eriteria to select maize varieties for their household production.The gender differences in the use of sorne eriteria to choose maize varieties are striking. A large proportion of fernale-headed households (more than tbree times !he number of male-headed households) mentioned growing more than one variety to meet fodder requirernents for their livestock.Ihis is also confirmed by the PRA findíngs. During the focus-group díscussions, women farmers brc<?t:poration ofUsers' and Gender Perspective in Fan¡ strongly expressed their preference for tall varieties ofmaize Iike their local varieties because taller varielies produce more fodder than short varíeties. Women appear 10 be more concemed with this issue because managing livestock fodder is largely theír responsibility. Similarly, women fanners are very particular aboul Ihe suitability of maize varieties for inlercropping, especíally wíth legumes (cowpeas and beans), because these help them meel the vegetable and pulse requirements of their families. The latter sometimes leads to conflicts with their male counterparts because intercropping with cowpeas and beans makes maize plants vulnerable to lodging and can cause big 105ses in the maize yield.Maize is the staple food for fanning households in the study area. Different preparations of maize are made for household consumption, ofwhich steamed grit (makai ka bhat) i5 the mos! common preparation, reported by 77% oftotal production (table 2). Farmers, therefore, prefer maize varíeties thal have high grit recovery. They perceive that ye!low (colored) maize has higher grit recovery and, therefore, prefer colored varieties over the white ones. The food preparation ofmaize is similar across households of different wealth, elhnic, and gender categories, and a majority ofhouseholds use it in grit formo Users' and genderdifferences in the choice ofvariety, Iherefore, do not appear lo be influenced by differences in the use of maize.The analysis díscussed aboye indicates that fanners' choíces for maíze varíeties are not greatly influenced by theír differences in weallh, ethnicity, and gender, Le., different categories of fanners have preferences for similar types of maize varietíes. F anners across all wealth, ethnic, and gender categories grow only one or two maize varieties per household and, therefore, their varíetal needs are not very diverse. However, farmers use multíple criteria ín selectíng the varietíes they grow.They prefer to have as many traits oftheír preference as possíble ín one lo two maize varietíes. InIhis way, they are able to maintaín and manage the variety of their-preference fora long•duration. Since maize ís an open-pollinated crop, a large number of varieties is difficult lo maintain and manage. Thi5 analysis ís also confirmed by the findings of the PRA conducted al the project research siles. The participatory breeding program, therefore, should focus on developing fewer maize varíelies with multíple traits lhat reflect fanners' preferences. Priority should be given lo the maize varieties Ihat have higher grit recovery, grow welI under different land conditions, produce high biomass for use as fodder, and alIow good intercropping with legumes.The informalÍon on gender roles in maize production and utilization is based on a participatory gender analysis done with 30 maize-growing households selected for lhat purpose. The results show that there are distinct gender roles for men, women, and children in the production and utilizalÍon of maize in lhe hilIs ofNepaL Women supersede men in their involvement in all three major functions ofmaize production and utilization: namely, (1) production, (2) household utilization and marketing, and (3) seed managemen! (table 3). Their involvement is particularly high in the application of compost and farmyard manure lo the maize fie1d; seed processing, treatment, storage, and preparation for sowing in the next season; and intercroppíng of maize with beans, cowpeas, pumpkins, and other crops.The results ofthe gender analysis show lhat women are also the prime decision makers in the family and lheir contribution to decision making in actívities related to maize production and utilization is higher than that their male counterparts in the fumily (table 4). Their contribution to decisions is particularly high in the selection of crops fOT intercropping with maize, deciding on date and time of weeding and earthing-up in the maize fields, and in most ofthe activities relaled lo utilizatíon and"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"122d8e76b83275de4548372979e7916a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2a3e6d43-7848-4761-91e5-3d333b669416/retrieve","id":"-1560844448"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a2b54884-f414-4a2e-9508-cf5dd12a9019","content":"Climate smart technologies are demonstrated to sustainably strengthen farmers livelihood capacities and to therefore contribute in addressing the adverse impacts of climate changes on rice production.The project entitled \"Transforming Agri-Food Systems in West and Central Africa (TAFS WCA)\" is a One CGIAR initiative aiming to reduce poverty, enhance food and nutrition security, and improve natural resources in the regions by supporting the Climate Smart Agricultural (CSA). Prior to the diffusion of Climate Smart technologies, it is essential to collect the perception of farmers on such technologies in terms of priority and feasibilities. To this purpose, surveys for data collection are being conducted in four (04) sites in each of the three countries of the studies (Ghana, Nigeria and Ivory Coast). The steps of Cote d'Ivoire and Nigeria have already been completed and consisted in individual interview of farmers.The present report deals with the selection and the training of the enumerators in the different countries.The overall goal of the training workshops was to introduce enumerators to data collection context, requirements, and tools to guarantee the quality of data to be collected in the different countries.Specifically, the sessions aimed to:-Achieve pre and post evaluation of the workshop -Aware the participants of the climate smart technologies -Present and review the different questionnaires using participatory approaches -Strengthen participants' capacities to use mobile device for data collection -Supervise individual and group works -Lead case studies and class discussions of illustrative case studiesThe project is being led by a scientist (Climate Change Specialist) of the Sustainable Productivity Enhancement (SPE) Unit of AfricaRice (M'be Research Station).The data collections were supervised by three consultants of AfricaRice being supported by two (02) permanent staff of the National Cereals Research Institute (NCRI) of Nigeria when conducting the survey in Nigeria. On the field, the consultants participated to the survey as both supervisors and enumerators.In the different countries of the studies, the enumerators have been selected based on the following requirement:-Hold a master's degree in agricultural sciences or related disciplines, -Have strong experiences in data collection -Skills in mobile based survey is a plus -Be habitant and speak fluently a local language of at least one of the selected sites -Have great abilities to adapt to changes -Be responsible with excellent commitment sense -Etc.The team is organized into 3 categories including data manager, supervisors and enumerators, with various responsibilities as presented in the table 1 below: The different materials required for the data collection have been developed or purchased prior to the training. It included:Literature review (especially on the project documents) was achieved to point out farmers' constrains due to climate changes. Based on the data collected during this phase, four (04) questionnaires were developed in line with the objectives of the data collection aiming to carry out:-The bundled technologies based on community needs through an inclusive prioritization process -The barriers and incentives for scaling nature-positive and one health sensitive technologies -The water resources availability, and current rice-fish systems practices -A participatory assessment and mapping of ecosystem services and biodiversity provided by lowlandsA toolkit included:-4-hard-copy questionnairesThese printed questionnaires were provided to the enumerators together with the pictures of technology as training manual during the workshop and as guideline and showcase material on the field when interviewing the farmers.Pen and notebook were used to note some informations during the survey 2.2.3. Renting tablets 7 -12 tablets, depending on the country and the number of enumerators, were rented, and uploaded with the different questionnaires.Two-day trainings of the enumerators were conducted in Cote d'Ivoire and in Nigeria. During these sessions, participants were introduced to the data collection instruments. A variety of training methodologies were employed, in an attempt to enable the course to be participatory and interactive and to allow participants to effectively assimilate the new ideas and learning. Thus, hands-on approach was used to review the different questionnaire, show the enumerators team how to conduct the interview with KoboCollect. The questionnaires were developed in both English and French and the training was conducted in one of these language depending on the targeted country.After having browsed each questionnaire, the class is divided into two groups of 2 persons including 1 interviewer and 1 interviewee to test the instrument and their understanding.The roles are then permutated. At the end of the exercise, the groups are invited to share their views and understanding of the questionnaire, their issues and to make their propositions when something looks wrong.Participants were invited to fill in individual evaluation forms before and after the trainings.To know and how the training built the participants' capacity, the form was used the pre and the post training evaluation. Based on the pre training evaluation's finding, in overall 40% (n=25) of the participants had no prior experiences in mobile based survey. However they finds this method very faster and easier than using paper based questionnaire. The post training evaluation's result showed that they master and fluent with this new method.The number of questionnaires administrated and submitted disaggregated per country, site, category and gender is presented in the table3 below. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/5359276921.json b/main/part_2/5359276921.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fd38aa8ea0456f2c8db015a101b2e148","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4b3a4c72-86a7-45d5-a3b8-68d152e69702/retrieve","id":"169450534"},"keywords":["Li, S.","He, P.","Fan, H.","Liu, L.","Yin, K.","Yang, B.","Li, Y.","Huang, S.-M.","Li, X.","Zheng, S.-J. A Real-Time Fluorescent Reverse Transcription Quantitative PCR Assay for Rapid Detection of Genetic Markers' Expression Associated with Fusarium Bacillus","biocontrol","Foc TR4","biocontrol marker genes","PCR","RT-qPCR","biocontrol mechanisms","Bacillus RNA extraction"],"sieverID":"0f5fcea1-cdf2-46e6-92ae-308e38f0c327","content":"Fusarium wilt of banana, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc), especially Tropical Race 4 (TR4), seriously threatens banana production worldwide. There is no single effective control measure, although certain Bacillus strains secrete antibiotics as promising disease-biocontrol agents. This study identified five Bacillus strains displaying strong antibiotic activity against TR4, using a systemic assessment for presence/absence of genetic markers at genome level, and expression profiles at transcriptome level. A conventional PCR with 13 specific primer pairs detected biocontrol-related genes. An accurate, quantitative real-time PCR protocol with novel designed specific primers was developed to characterise strain-specific gene expression, that optimises strainculturing and RNA-isolation methodologies. Six genes responsible for synthesising non-ribosomal peptide synthetase biocontrol metabolites were detected in all five strains. Three genes were involved in synthesising three Polyketide synthetase metabolites in all five strains, but the macrolactin synthase gene mln was only detected in WBN06 and YN1282-2. All five Bacillus strains have the genes dhb and bioA, essential for synthesising bacillibactin and biotin. However, the gene sboA, involved in subtilisin synthesis, is absent in all five strains. These genes' expression patterns were significantly different among these strains, suggesting different mechanisms involved in TR4 biocontrol. Results will help elucidate functional genes' biocontrol mechanisms.Banana (Musa spp.) is a globally important tropical and subtropical crop. Globally, as the second largest fruit crop with the largest world fruit trade, and the fourth largest food crop after rice, wheat and maize, more than 400 million people depend on it as their staple food [1,2]. Fusarium wilt of banana (FWB)-also known as Panama disease-caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc), especially Tropical Race 4 (TR4), seriously threatens banana industries in China and across the globe. Due to its virulence factor, TR4 isolates are designated as vegetative compatibility group VCG 01213 (or VCG 01216), which originates from Indonesia and affects many banana varieties [3,4]. This disease is known as \"banana cancer\" because of its destructive and highly pathogenic characteristics. Commercially-grown bananas are mainly from the Cavendish subgroup, with a uniform genetic background and lacking TR4-resistant cultivars. Rotation is a partially effective complementary FWB control measure, but not practical in large-scale monocultures, where extensive chemical pesticide use degrades natural environments. Therefore, development and application of bacterial reagent-based biological control agents for banana diseases are greatly anticipated [4][5][6].Amongst biocontrol agents against plant disease, the bacterial Bacillus group displays several advantages over non-Bacillus species, because of its spore-forming ability. Spores can survive in some harsh environments. Moreover, spores have more stability in commercial production and resistance against chemical pesticides, etc. [4,7]. There are many kinds of biocontrol agents in the Bacillus group that could be used against FWB. So far, there is only one Bacillus subtilis bioagent (Registration No. PD20101654,) registered in China's pesticide-registration database of its pesticide information network (http://www.chinapesticide.org.cn/hysj/index.jhtml, accessed on 6 February 2021). In addition to the registered B. subtilis, other Bacillus strains with some proven biocontrol effect against TR4 have been reported, such as (i) B. subtilis strains N11 [8], B26 [9], B04, B05 and B10 [10], (ii) some B. velezensis strains, including HN03 [11] and (iii) B. amyloliquefaciens strains, including: NIN-6 [12], NJN-6 [13] and W19 [14].In recent years, several TR4 antagonistic Bacillus strains have been screened and identified, which provides a new basis for FWB biological control.There are mainly two types of the biocontrol mechanisms for Bacillus: direct antagonism and indirect antagonism. Direct antagonism includes competition (nutrition competition and spatial site competition) and synthesis of secondary metabolites with antibiosis activity, hydrolases and release of volatile organic compounds. Indirect antagonism includes inducing plant resistance and inhibiting pathogens by affecting the diversity of soil or plant microbial community [4].The antagonistic substances produced by Bacillus can be divided into two main categories. One is the cyclic lipopeptides synthesized by non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS), among which surfactin [15,16], iturins [17,18] and fengycin [19,20] are the most important antibioses, where srfAA, ituC and fenD are the key synthetase genes of these three antibioses, respectively. For lipopeptides subtilisin A and bacillibactin, the key synthetase genes are sboA and dhbA, respectively. In addition, two yndJ and yngG proteins are included in the lipopeptide compounds, and their corresponding synthetase genes are yndJ and yngG, respectively. In addition, these genes were used as marker genes for biocontrol [4,21,22]. The conventional PCR method for characterizing functional genes can be used to quickly detect and evaluate the potential of their corresponding antibiotics' syntheses [21], while the real-time fluorescent quantitative RT-PCR method can be used to obtain the expression of functional genes [22]. That will further provide useful clues for elucidating biological control mechanisms. However, current marker genes are not sufficient to categorize all biocontrol agents.Therefore, in this study, we would like to apply microscopic observation on the TR4 mycelial morphology during dual-culturing of five strains: WBN06, HN04, YN1282-2, N67 and G9R-3, which were isolated from two mainly banana-producing provinces of Yunnan and Guangxi. The results could provide the initial pointers for research on Bacillus biocontrol mechanisms. Secondly, a conventional PCR method with thirteen pairs of specific biocontrol marker genes including seven NRPS genes, four PKS genes and two RPS genes in the genus Bacillus will be used to detect five strains of Bacillus, and their biocontrol potential of the above-mentioned five strains was evaluated in vitro. We further plan to develop an improved method suitable for extracting high-quality Bacillus RNA which could provide a reliable technical support for RT-qPCR quantification. At the end, we would like to develop a real-time fluorescence quantitative detection system to detect 12 biocontrol marker-genes in Bacillus that confer TR4 antagonism. We hope that the results could provide an important theoretical basis for further study of gene functions and their biological control mechanisms.The highly pathogenic FocTR4 strain (15-1) was used in this study [23]. The Bacillus strains N67, WBN06, HN04 and G9R-3 were isolated from Guangxi banana plantations and YN1282-2 was isolated from Yunnan banana tissue-cultured plantlets. The fungal and Bacillus strains were stored in liquid medium with 15% glycerol at −80 • C.The scale lines on a PDA medium with a base plate diameter of 90 cm were marked. The scale lines include two straight lines that run at right angles through the centre of the upper surface and are positively intersecting. A hole-puncher was used to extract an agar disk containing TR4 mycelia with a diameter of 0.7 cm, taken from the edge of the TR4 colony, and placed at the centre of the scale intersection. The Bacillus strain monoclonal colony was selected with a toothpick and inoculated on a scale line 2.5 cm away from the TR4 mycelium disk. The process is shown schematically in Figure 1a. TR4 was inoculated at the centre of the scale intersection, and the Bacillus strain inoculated on a scale line at a distance of 2.5 cm from the centre of the scale intersection. Both were used as separate controls. All samples were cultured at 28 • C for 5-7 days, and the growth of TR4 and Bacillus strains were observed, the inhibition rate (%) of each strain was calculated using the formula: The inhibition rate (%) = D dc /D sc (D dc : TR4 colony diameter in dual culture; D sc : TR4 colony diameter in single culture). Each treatment was repeated six times and samples were collected. could provide a reliable technical support for RT-qPCR quantification. At the end, we would like to develop a real-time fluorescence quantitative detection system to detect 12 biocontrol marker-genes in Bacillus that confer TR4 antagonism. We hope that the results could provide an important theoretical basis for further study of gene functions and their biological control mechanisms.The highly pathogenic FocTR4 strain (15-1) was used in this study [23]. The Bacillus strains N67, WBN06, HN04 and G9R-3 were isolated from Guangxi banana plantations and YN1282-2 was isolated from Yunnan banana tissue-cultured plantlets. The fungal and Bacillus strains were stored in liquid medium with 15% glycerol at −80 °C.The scale lines on a PDA medium with a base plate diameter of 90 cm were marked. The scale lines include two straight lines that run at right angles through the centre of the upper surface and are positively intersecting. A hole-puncher was used to extract an agar disk containing TR4 mycelia with a diameter of 0.7 cm, taken from the edge of the TR4 colony, and placed at the centre of the scale intersection. The Bacillus strain monoclonal colony was selected with a toothpick and inoculated on a scale line 2.5 cm away from the TR4 mycelium disk. The process is shown schematically in Figure 1a. TR4 was inoculated at the centre of the scale intersection, and the Bacillus strain inoculated on a scale line at a distance of 2.5 cm from the centre of the scale intersection. Both were used as separate controls. All samples were cultured at 28 °C for 5-7 days, and the growth of TR4 and Bacillus strains were observed, the inhibition rate (%) of each strain was calculated using the formula: The inhibition rate (%) = Ddc/Dsc (Ddc: TR4 colony diameter in dual culture; Dsc: TR4 colony diameter in single culture). Each treatment was repeated six times and samples were collected. The sampling location for dual-culture test. Five Bacillus strains and TR4 were single or dual cultivated, respectively, using dual-culture test, and samples were taken after 7 days when TR4 mycelia filled the whole petri dish. Sampling positions were circled in black ink-about 1 cm wide, and single-cultures of each strain used as controls. The sampling location for dual-culture test. Five Bacillus strains and TR4 were single or dual cultivated, respectively, using dual-culture test, and samples were taken after 7 days when TR4 mycelia filled the whole petri dish. Sampling positions were circled in black ink-about 1 cm wide, and single-cultures of each strain used as controls.2.3. The Effects of Bacillus Strains N67, YN1282-2, WBN06, HN04 and G9R-3 on the Morphology of TR4 MyceliumThe newly-emerged TR4 hyphae near the colony edge of the biocontrol bacteria were picked out with a sterilized toothpick while being dual-cultured with TR4 for 7 days. The morphology of the TR4 mycelia was observed by light microscope at 40-times magnification (Nikon, eclipse E200), and the single-cultured newly-emerged TR4 hyphae were taken as the control, and any morphological changes of those TR4 mycelia between the TR4 singleand dual-cultures with five strains of biocontrol bacteria, respectively, were compared.The Bacillus strains stored on the inclined test-tube surface were taken from the refrigerator at 4 • C and inoculated on the nutrient agar (NA, formula of NA: peptone 10 g, beef extract 3 g, sodium chloride 5 g, agar 15 g, Water 1 L, pH = 7) medium plate by the streak plate method. The strains were cultured overnight at 37 • C. The preparation of Bacillus genomic DNA was performed according to the instructions of Lysis Buffer for Microorganism to Direct PCR (TaKaRa, Dalian, China). The Bacillus monoclonal colony was selected and placed into a microtube contained with 50 µL Lysis Buffer. Then, 1-5 µL of supernatant lysis buffer were used as the template for subsequent PCR tests.The genomic DNA of Bacillus strains N67, YN1282-2, WBN06, HN04 and G9R-3 was amplified, respectively, by PCR using 13 pairs of published primers as shown in Table 1. The amplification system (25 µL) comprised: 22 µL of Golden Star T6 super PCR mix (TsingKE, Beijing, China), 1 µL of upstream primer, 1 µL of downstream primer and 1 µL of template DNA. The reactions were run at 98 • C for 2 min, followed by 40 cycles of 98 • C for 10 s, 56-58 • C for 15 s and 72 • C for 30 s, with the total extending for 2 min. A no-template reaction that replaced DNA with ddH2O was used as negative control. Agarose gel electrophoresis (10 g/L) was used to detect the amplified products. 2.5. Comparison and Improvement of Bacillus RNA Extraction Methods and cDNA Synthesis Bacillus total RNA was extracted according to the instructions of the TaKaRa MiniBEST Universal RNA Extraction Kit (TaKaRa, Dalian, China), the Eastep Super Total RNA Extraction Kit (Promega, Beijing, China) and RNAiso Plus (TaKaRa, Dalian, China). Agarose gel-electrophoresis and a nanophotometer (IMPLEN) were used to detect and compare the concentration and quality of RNA extracted by different methods.Bacillus mRNA was extracted by the improved RNAiso Plus method, with slight modifications according to the RNAiso Plus instructions. First, Bacillus inocula were pretreated before adding RNAiso Plus as follows: after collecting the cells, the cells were washed with 2 mL 0.1% diethyl pyrocarbonate (DEPC) sterilizing water and fully dispersed with the pipette tips, then the cells were precipitated with centrifuging at 10,000 r/min at 4 • C for 1 min. The above treatment was repeated twice. Then, lysozyme (Solarbio, Beijing, China) was used to rupture the Bacillus cell walls as follows: 1 mL sterilized 0.1% DEPC water was added into the cells precipitation, mixed well and the lysozyme solution was prepared by adding sterilized 0.1% DEPC water to the final concentration of 4 mg/mL, incubating at 37 • C for 1.5-2 h, then centrifuging at 4 • C 10,000 r/min for 1 min, precipitating the cells and placing the precipitated cells in liquid nitrogen for 2 to 3 min. Then, 1 mL RNAiso Plus was added to the frozen precipitant and put it into a water bath at 100 • C for 15 to 25 min, finally quickly transferring it to an ice bath. To reduce the contamination of protein and phenols, the chloroform extraction process was repeated twice. The rest of the RNAiso Plus method followed the instructions' steps. On the final step, anhydrous ethanol was used to wash the precipitation for 2 to 3 times. mRNA samples with A260/A280 and A260/A230 of 1.9 to 2.1 and 2.0 to 2.4 (measured by nanophotometer, IMPLEN), respectively, were used as templates for the RT-qPCR process.Each Bacillus strain of N67, YN1282-2, WBN06, HN04, G9R-3 and TR4 was placed in single or dual-culture. Samples were taken after five days, when TR4 mycelia filled the whole petri dish. Single cultures of each strain were used as controls. For sampling of Bacillus dual-cultured with TR4, a sterilized toothpick was used to collect cells from the 1 cm border around edge of the Bacillus colonies, and again the same sampling position for single cultured Bacillus. Sampling positions of single-cultured Bacillus, or for dual-cultured Bacillus with TR4 are shown in Figure 1b.Primer Express (version 3.0; Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA) was used to design the specific RT-qPCR primers (Table 2) based on 12 biocontrol-related genes in Bacillus. The Rop B (RNA polymerase β subunit) was used as a housekeeping gene for RT-qPCR detection [26] (Table 2).A NovoScript ® Plus All-in-one 1st Strand cDNA Synthesis SuperMix (gDNA Purge) (Novoprotein, Shanghai, China) kit was used to reverse-transcribe the Bacillus total RNA into cDNA, in accordance with the kit instructions. The qPCR was performed on a CFX96 TM Real-Time System (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA, USA), and a NovoScript ® SYBR qPCR SuperMix Plus (Novoprotein, Shanghai, China) kit was used to detect the expression levels of genes associated with TR4 biocontrol activities in the five Bacillus strains namely N67, YN1282-2, WBN06, HN04 and G9R-3. The Rop B (RNA polymerase β subunit) was used as the housekeeper gene for all reactions. A 1-4-8-16-32-64-fold dilution gradient of each Bacillus strain cDNA was used to establish a relative standard curve and a dissolution curve for determining the amplification efficiency and the specificity of each pair of primers. Each pair of primers had a single peak for dissolution curve and the slope of the standard curve was greater than 0.99, and exhibited 90% to 110% amplification efficiency in all reactions. The 2 − ∆∆Ct method was used to analyse data describing genes' relative expression levels. No less than 6 repetitions of single-or with TR4 dual-culture treatments for each Bacillus strain were completed, and each reaction was run in triplicate.Statistical differences of gene expression levels in each Bacillus strain between single or dual-cultivated with TR4 were analysed with the Student's t-test (p < 0.05). All analyses were performed using software package SPSS 19.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). The dual-culture test results show that all five Bacillus strains have a pronounced antagonistic effect against TR4. For 7 days after dual-culture tests, compared with singlycultured TR4, the growth of TR4 mycelia were significantly inhibited by strains N67, YN1282-2, WBN06, HN04, G9R-3 with the inhibition rate (%) of 72.12%, 79.63%, 74.71, 72.53% and 74.11%, respectively. There was a distinct inhibition zone between the Bacillus colony and TR4 colony shown as Figure 2a. Comparing with the diameter of the singlycultured TR4 colony, the diameter of the TR4 colony culturing with five Bacillus strains was dramatically reduced (Figure 2b), which suggested that the antagonistic effects of the five Bacillus strains on TR4 were all obvious and could be used in the next step of experiment for its functional gene characterization.YN1282-2, WBN06, HN04, G9R-3 with the inhibition rate (%) of 72.12%, 79.63%, 74.71, 72.53% and 74.11%, respectively. There was a distinct inhibition zone between the Bacillus colony and TR4 colony shown as Figure 2a. Comparing with the diameter of the singlycultured TR4 colony, the diameter of the TR4 colony culturing with five Bacillus strains was dramatically reduced (Figure 2b), which suggested that the antagonistic effects of the five Bacillus strains on TR4 were all obvious and could be used in the next step of experiment for its functional gene characterization.  Compared with the hyphal morphology of single-cultured TR4, N67 induced obvious TR4 hyphal swelling, with shortened internodes during the dual-culture test for 7 days (Figure 3a, arrow 1). Hyphal tips were expanded and vesicular (Figure 3a, arrow 2) and the hyphae expanded in the middle (Figure 3a, arrow 3). YN1282-2 resulted in the enlargement of the TR4 hyphal tips (Figure 3b, arrow 2) and expansion in the middle of TR4 hyphae (Figure 3b, arrow 3). WBN06 resulted in the enlargement of the top of TR4 Compared with the hyphal morphology of single-cultured TR4, N67 induced obvious TR4 hyphal swelling, with shortened internodes during the dual-culture test for 7 days (Figure 3a, arrow 1). Hyphal tips were expanded and vesicular (Figure 3a, arrow 2) and the hyphae expanded in the middle (Figure 3a, arrow 3). YN1282-2 resulted in the enlargement of the TR4 hyphal tips (Figure 3b  All seven genes of srfAA, fend, ituC, yngG, yndJ, yndJ and dhb responsible for syntheses of non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) metabolites were found in all five strains. The other three genes of bae, dfn, bac involved in synthesis of three polytide synthetases (PKS) metabolites were also found in all five strains. However, the macrolactin synthase gene mln was only detected in WBN06 and YN1282-2. All the five Bacillus strains contain All seven genes of srfAA, fend, ituC, yngG, yndJ, yndJ and dhb responsible for syntheses of non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) metabolites were found in all five strains. The other three genes of bae, dfn, bac involved in synthesis of three polytide synthetases (PKS) metabolites were also found in all five strains. However, the macrolactin synthase gene mln was only detected in WBN06 and YN1282-2. All the five Bacillus strains contain the gene bioA, essential for Biotin synthesis (Table 3). However, the gene sboA which is involved in subtilosin synthesis was not detected in all five Bacillus strains. The genomic DNA of Bacillus strains N67, YN1282-2, WBN06, HN04 and G9R-3 was amplified respectively by PCR using 13 pairs of published primers which target thirteen biocontrol marker genes of the Bacillus group. \"+\" represents the positive result of PCR, \"−\"represents the negative result of PCR.Three kits were used to extract the total RNA of the Bacillus strains and the concentration and purity of RNA were tested by nanophotometer. The general criteria for assessing RNA purity were the proportions of A260/A280 and A260/A230, which were within the range of 2.00 ± 0.10 and 2.00-2.40, respectively. If the proportion of A260/A280 is less than 2.00, it indicates that protein contamination existes in the RNA sample. If the proportion of A260/A230 is less than 2.00, the samples contain the remaining guanidine isothiocyanate and β-mercaptoethanol from the kit reagent. However, the results show that three kinds of RNA extraction kits could not be effective in extraction of high concentrations and qualified total RNA from Bacillus, as shown in Table 3. The quality of RNA extracted by the three kits were beyond the standard range required for evaluating the RNA purity, where the proportion of A260/A280 and A260/A230 of most samples were less than 2.00, indicating contaminating proteins, polysaccharides and phenols in the samples. Moreover, the concentrations of RNA extracted by the three kits were generally very low, and only the RNAiso Plus method could extract RNA with a higher concentration than the other two kits. In summary, for tested Bacillus strains, the extraction of total RNA, none of above three kits provided an adequate protocol (Table 4). Some critical steps were added to the traditional RNAiso Plus kit: washing the cells with DEPC water, lysozyme was used to lysate the cells, removing the rRNA and tRNA by heating, repeated the chloroform extraction process for twice and washing the final precipitation with anhydrous ethanol for three times. By modifying the RNAiso Plus kit for total Bacillus RNA extraction, the proportion of A260/A280 and A260/A230 for all samples were within standard range, and RNA concentrations were significantly increased to be more than 500 ng/uL (Table 4). In addition, the 23S and 16S rRNA of the total RNA were successfully removed by heating, so the clear 23S and 16S rRNA bands could not be visible in the electrophoresis bands, and only the 5S rRNA bands were retained (Figure 4). The above improvements indicate that the high-quality Bacillus RNA extracted by modified RNAiso Plus method can be used in subsequent molecular experiments.  Different Bacillus strains have various NRPS gene-expression profiles against TR4. The expression levels of srfAA in Bacillus strains of G9R-3 and N67 were significantly upregulated after being dual-cultured with TR4 (Figure 5a,e), but no significant difference was observed in HN04, YN1282-2 and WBN06 during singly or dual-cultured with TR4 (Figure 5b-d). The expression levels of fenD, ituC and yndJ were significantly regulated by TR4 in all the five strains (Figure 5a-e). The expression of bamD in G9R-3 and HN04 could not be induced by TR4 (Figure 5d,e), but it was significantly induced and up-regulated in three other strains (Figure 5a-c). There was no significant difference in the expression levels of yngG in WBN06 between singly or dual-cultured with TR4 (Figure 5c), but it was significantly induced by TR4 in the four other strains (Figure 5a,b,d,e). The expressions of dhb were significantly up-regulated by 2.48 and 6.55-fold in N67 and YN1282-2 after dualcultured with TR4 compared with that in single cultured cells, respectively (Figure 5c,e). However, the expressions of dhb in WBN06 and G9R-3 were significantly down-regulated (Figure 5a,b), and there were no significant differences for the expressions of dhb in HN04 between single-cultured Bacillus and dual-cultured with TR4 (Figure 5d). The p-value for Student's t-test which was used to compare the difference of NRPS genes expression between each strain single-and dual-cultured with TR4 is shown in Table S1. The results indicate that different strains of Bacillus may adopt different NRPS strategies against TR4. Different Bacillus strains have various NRPS gene-expression profiles against TR4. The expression levels of srfAA in Bacillus strains of G9R-3 and N67 were significantly up-regulated after being dual-cultured with TR4 (Figure 5a,e), but no significant difference was observed in HN04, YN1282-2 and WBN06 during singly or dual-cultured with TR4 (Figure 5b-d). The expression levels of fenD, ituC and yndJ were significantly regulated by TR4 in all the five strains (Figure 5a-e). The expression of bamD in G9R-3 and HN04 could not be induced by TR4 (Figure 5d,e), but it was significantly induced and up-regulated in three other strains (Figure 5a-c). There was no significant difference in the expression levels of yngG in WBN06 between singly or dual-cultured with TR4 (Figure 5c), but it was significantly induced by TR4 in the four other strains (Figure 5a,b,d,e). The expressions of dhb were significantly up-regulated by 2.48 and 6.55-fold in N67 and YN1282-2 after dualcultured with TR4 compared with that in single cultured cells, respectively (Figure 5c,e). However, the expressions of dhb in WBN06 and G9R-3 were significantly down-regulated (Figure 5a,b), and there were no significant differences for the expressions of dhb in HN04 between single-cultured Bacillus and dual-cultured with TR4 (Figure 5d). The p-value for Student's t-test which was used to compare the difference of NRPS genes expression between each strain single-and dual-cultured with TR4 is shown in Table S1. The results indicate that different strains of Bacillus may adopt different NRPS strategies against TR4.The up-regulation patterns of all NRPS genes also varied greatly among different Bacillus strains when antagonizing TR4. The yndJ was the most significantly up-regulated NRPS gene in YN1282-2 during dual-culture with TR4, which was 6.39-fold higher than that in the singly-cultured sample (Figure 5a). The most significantly up-regulated NRPS genes in WBN06 and G9R-3 were yngG and bamD, which were up-regulated 45.28-fold and 46.03-fold, respectively (Figure 5c,e). However, the most significantly up-regulated NRPS genes in N67 and HN04 were fenD and yngG (Figure 5a,d). Our results show that the most significant up-regulated genes in each Bacillus strain during dual-cultured with TR4 are most likely to be NRPS key genes (Figure 5).The up-regulation patterns of all NRPS genes also varied greatly among different Bacillus strains when antagonizing TR4. The yndJ was the most significantly up-regulated NRPS gene in YN1282-2 during dual-culture with TR4, which was 6.39-fold higher than that in the singly-cultured sample (Figure 5a). The most significantly up-regulated NRPS genes in WBN06 and G9R-3 were yngG and bamD, which were up-regulated 45.28-fold and 46.03-fold, respectively (Figure 5c,e). However, the most significantly up-regulated NRPS genes in N67 and HN04 were fenD and yngG (Figure 5a,d). Our results show that the most significant up-regulated genes in each Bacillus strain during dual-cultured with TR4 are most likely to be NRPS key genes (Figure 5).  Different Bacillus strains display different PKS gene-expression profiles and patterns against TR4. In HN04 and WBN06 (Figure 6c,d), there was no significant difference in expression levels of all KPS genes among each strain during single-or dual-cultures with TR4. The expression levels of mln, bae in YN1282-2 and bae, dfn in N67 were significantly up-regulated by TR4 induction, respectively. mln and dfn were the most significantly upregulated genes in YN1282-2 and N67, which were increased 13.56-fold and 4.34-fold after dual-culturing with TR4, respectively (Figure 6a,b). The expression level of bae in G9R-3 was significantly down-regulated by TR4 (Figure 6e). p-value for Student's t-test which was used to compare the difference of PKS genes expression between each strain single and dual-cultured with TR4 was shown in Supplementary Table S1. The above results indicated again that different Bacillus strains may take different strategies against TR4. Different Bacillus strains display different PKS gene-expression profiles and patterns against TR4. In HN04 and WBN06 (Figure 6c,d), there was no significant difference in expression levels of all KPS genes among each strain during single-or dual-cultures with TR4. The expression levels of mln, bae in YN1282-2 and bae, dfn in N67 were significantly up-regulated by TR4 induction, respectively. mln and dfn were the most significantly upregulated genes in YN1282-2 and N67, which were increased 13.56-fold and 4.34-fold after dual-culturing with TR4, respectively (Figure 6a,b). The expression level of bae in G9R-3 was significantly down-regulated by TR4 (Figure 6e). p-value for Student's t-test which was used to compare the difference of PKS genes expression between each strain single and dual-cultured with TR4 was shown in Supplementary Table S1. The above results indicated again that different Bacillus strains may take different strategies against TR4.  During dual-culture with TR4, the expressions of bioA in N67, YN1282-2 and HN04 were significantly induced by TR4. However, it was significantly down-regulated in WBN06 with that in single culture. In addition, there was no significant difference in G9R-3 between single and dual-culture (Figure 7). p-values for Student's t-test, which was used to compare the difference of bioA expressions between each strain single and dual-cultured with TR4, are shown in the Supplementary Table S1. During dual-culture with TR4, the expressions of bioA in N67, YN1282-2 and HN04 were significantly induced by TR4. However, it was significantly down-regulated in WBN06 with that in single culture. In addition, there was no significant difference in G9R-3 between single and dual-culture (Figure 7). p-values for Student's t-test, which was used to compare the difference of bioA expressions between each strain single and dual-cultured with TR4, are shown in the Supplementary Table S1. During dual-culture with TR4, the expressions of bioA in N67, YN1282-2 and HN04 were significantly induced by TR4. However, it was significantly down-regulated in WBN06 with that in single culture. In addition, there was no significant difference in G9R-3 between single and dual-culture (Figure 7). p-values for Student's t-test, which was used to compare the difference of bioA expressions between each strain single and dual-cultured with TR4, are shown in the Supplementary Table S1. In view of the significant potential role of the Bacillus group in controlling Fusarium wilt of banana, a deeper understanding of TR4 biocontrol mechanisms in Bacillus will contribute to the more efficient development and utilization of active Bacillus strains. In this study, all five biocontrol bacterial strains: N67, YN1282-2, WBN06, HN04 and G9R-3, could effectively cause TR4 mycelium deformity and inhibit mycelium growth (Figure 4). Therefore, these could inhibit the reproduction of pathogenic fungi as a next step. Lipopeptide antibiotics synthesized in Bacillus have played an important role in antifungal action. The substances that exert antifungal effects are mainly lipopeptides, of which fengycin and iturin have been proven to have strong antifungal activity, causing teratogenic effects on the pathogenic fungus mycelia, inhibiting spore germination, destroying membrane structure and resulting in metabolic material leakage [27][28][29][30].Chen et al. found that surfactin can effectively enhance the inhibition ability of fengycin against fungi, and there is a synergistic effect between the two substances [31]. B. amyloliquefaciens SQR9 contains two lipopeptides, bacillomycin D and fengycin, which can effectively antagonize the banana Fusarium wilt fungus [32]. While polyketides such as surfactin, bacillibactin, difficidin and bacillaene display antibacterial activity, which can change the cell surface hydrophobicity and damage the integrity of the bacterial biofilm [33][34][35][36]. B. amyloliquefaciens BEB17 crude extract containing the sterile polyketides of bacillibactin, bacillaene and difficidin effectively inhibits the growth of Foc TR4 mycelia [37]. Therefore, it is speculated that the antifungal effect of the five bacillus strains evaluated in this study may be due to the presence of the key biosynthesis genes of these biocontrol substances in their genomes, resulting in the production of a variety of biocontrol substances with significant antagonistic effects against TR4. All previous studies report using only one single strain in their research. In this study, we took five strains from two species of Bacillus for systemic assessment of its genetic markers present/absent at genomic level and expression profiles at transcriptomic level during dual-culture with TR4. Strains WBN06 and YN1282-2 contain a full set of biocontrol genes except for sboA. Interestingly, the dual-culture test also showed that these two strains exerted a slightly better inhibition of TR4 compared to the other three strains (Figure 3). Compared with traditional confrontation and pot experiments, PCR can quickly evaluate the biocontrol potential of these bacterial strains. However, to assess if the biocontrol potential of these strains could be evaluated by the number of genetic marker genes requires further research. In addition, the synthesis of these biocontrol substances in each strain of antagonistic TR4 needs further analysis in combination with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) as a next research step. In view of the significant potential role of the Bacillus group in controlling Fusarium wilt of banana, a deeper understanding of TR4 biocontrol mechanisms in Bacillus will contribute to the more efficient development and utilization of active Bacillus strains. In this study, all five biocontrol bacterial strains: N67, YN1282-2, WBN06, HN04 and G9R-3, could effectively cause TR4 mycelium deformity and inhibit mycelium growth (Figure 4). Therefore, these could inhibit the reproduction of pathogenic fungi as a next step. Lipopeptide antibiotics synthesized in Bacillus have played an important role in antifungal action. The substances that exert antifungal effects are mainly lipopeptides, of which fengycin and iturin have been proven to have strong antifungal activity, causing teratogenic effects on the pathogenic fungus mycelia, inhibiting spore germination, destroying membrane structure and resulting in metabolic material leakage [27][28][29][30].Chen et al. found that surfactin can effectively enhance the inhibition ability of fengycin against fungi, and there is a synergistic effect between the two substances [31]. B. amyloliquefaciens SQR9 contains two lipopeptides, bacillomycin D and fengycin, which can effectively antagonize the banana Fusarium wilt fungus [32]. While polyketides such as surfactin, bacillibactin, difficidin and bacillaene display antibacterial activity, which can change the cell surface hydrophobicity and damage the integrity of the bacterial biofilm [33][34][35][36]. B. amyloliquefaciens BEB17 crude extract containing the sterile polyketides of bacillibactin, bacillaene and difficidin effectively inhibits the growth of Foc TR4 mycelia [37]. Therefore, it is speculated that the antifungal effect of the five bacillus strains evaluated in this study may be due to the presence of the key biosynthesis genes of these biocontrol substances in their genomes, resulting in the production of a variety of biocontrol substances with significant antagonistic effects against TR4. All previous studies report using only one single strain in their research. In this study, we took five strains from two species of Bacillus for systemic assessment of its genetic markers present/absent at genomic level and expression profiles at transcriptomic level during dual-culture with TR4. Strains WBN06 and YN1282-2 contain a full set of biocontrol genes except for sboA. Interestingly, the dual-culture test also showed that these two strains exerted a slightly better inhibition of TR4 compared to the other three strains (Figure 3). Compared with traditional confrontation and pot experiments, PCR can quickly evaluate the biocontrol potential of these bacterial strains. However, to assess if the biocontrol potential of these strains could be evaluated by the number of genetic marker genes requires further research. In addition, the synthesis of these biocontrol substances in each strain of antagonistic TR4 needs further analysis in combination with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) as a next research step.Generating complete and high-quality RNA is the basic condition for gene-expression study by RT-qPCR [38]. The extraction of total bacterial RNA is more difficult than extracting that of eukaryotes [39]. The Bacillus group are Gram-positive bacteria with thick cell walls and the peptidoglycan is tightly cross-linked [40]. Most species in the Bacillus genus have a strong extracellular enzyme secretion system, which can secrete a variety of enzymes into the exocytosis including RNase. In addition, the combination of cellular inclusions with RNA forming the insoluble substances (polysaccharide polyphenols) makes RNA isolation much more difficult [41]. In this study, although reasonable amounts of RNA could be extracted by three conventional kits, there were still problems, such as protein contamination residues. Therefore, the team made a series of improvements to develop a better kit using the RNAiso Plus-based method. By repeatedly washing the cells three times with DEPC water, the endogenous RNase secreted by the Bacillus was effectively removed, and RNA degradation minimized. Lysozyme prepared with DEPC water was used to rupture the cell wall to release intact RNA and increase the concentration of extracted RNA. Usually in the cells, rRNA, tRNA and mRNA account for about 80%, 10% to 15% and 1% to 5% respectively, of the total RNA [40]. For many subsequent molecular biology studies, rRNA and tRNA are usually useless, therefore, researchers often remove rRNA and tRNA from total RNA in order to be more effective for downstream experiments [39]. Due to the broad abundance and various sizes of mRNA, no bands are usually visible during electrophoresis. However, we can judge the quality of the mRNA according to the integrity of the electrophoresis bands. In this study, the heating method was used to remove the 23S and 16S rRNA bands in total RNA, while keeping 5S rRNA in which could be detected with bands in electrophoresis. The results of electrophoresis showed that the obtained RNA bands were sharp and complete without degradation (Figure 5). Therefore, the RNA extracted using the modified protocol was able meet the requirements of RT-qPCR. The high-quality RNA template can be used not only for RT-qPCR, but also for cDNA library construction, northern hybridization, chip hybridization and other studies proposed in our next research steps.There are few studies utilizing RT-qPCR to investigate expression of genes associated with synthesizing biological control substances [33]. However, there are no other studies on TR4 antagonistic biocontrol strains. Therefore, in this study, 12 Bacillus biocontrol marker genes including seven NRPS genes: srfAA, fenD, ituC, bamD, yngG, yndJ and dhbA and 5 PKS genes: mln, bae, dfn, bac and bioA were tested in the genome of five biocontrol bacteria strains during single or dual-cultures with TR4. RT-qPCR results showed that the expression profiles of NRPs and PKs genes vary in different Bacillus strains when against TR4. Several studies have shown that individual or combined lipopeptide antibiotics in Bacillus have contributed to biocontrol of other plant pathogens [9,13,36,42]. In addition, the types and amounts of inhibitory substances secreted by Bacillus strains vary in different cases [21]. Our results also further confirm that different strains of Bacillus may have different antagonistic strategies against TR4. Among the five strains, HN04 and G9R-3 are endophytes while the other three strains are rhizospheric bacteria derived from two main banana producing provinces of China. The gene bamD, as the key biosynthetic enzyme gene of bacillomycin D, was only significantly up-regulated by TR4 in three rhizobacteria, but not in the endophytes. Another study has shown that B. amyloliquefaciens SQR9 mutant not only reduced the inhibition efficiency of Cucumber Fusarium wilt to 40%, but also affected the formation of biofilms and the colonization of the strain [32]. However, whether bacillomycin D is the main difference between endophytic and rhizospheric bacteria in antagonizing TR4 must be further studied. The genes yndJ and yngG encode two kinds of lipopeptides with unknown functions, which widely exist in the genome of multiple biocontrol strains [21]. Our results show that the expression of these two genes in five biocontrol strains could be significantly induced by TR4 (except for yngG in WBN06), indicating that two lipopeptide substances may play an important role in antagonizing TR4. The gene bioA was not previously associated with biological control [21], and its expression was not affected by TR4 dual-culture with G9R-3. Surprisingly, its expression was significantly up-or down-regulated by TR4 with the other four strains. These results indicated that bioA also plays an important role in the process of biological control of TR4. There are many kinds of biocontrol mechanisms in biocontrol bacteria, among which bacillibactin is related to nutrition competition, and competes with the pathogenic fungus for iron. The expression of dhb which related to the synthesis of bacillibactin was not affected by TR4 in HN04, but was significantly up-or down-regulated in the other four biocontrol strains. Determining whether this is due to a synergistic or competitive relationship between nutrient competition and antagonism needs further exploration.With the development of the biocontrol agents, biosecurity of Bacillus should be taken into account. The safety of biocontrol agents and its effect on ecosystem are the premise of field application. In this study, five Bacillus strains have the potential to synthesize NRPS, PKS and other antibacterial compounds and have good antagonistic effect on TR4, but whether these active compounds are safe to human beings and whether they will affect the ecosystem such as other crops and soil microbial communities is still needed for further assessment. Therefore, we will systematically evaluate the biosecurity of these strains to provide a theoretical basis for the development of safe and effective biocontrol agents in next step.We have developed a reliable fluorescence transformation system of all five Bacillus strains for monitoring its colonization in banana for TR4 biological control [43]. In order to categorize the biological functions of these Bacillus stains, knocking-out these specific genes will be the next step in our research for verifying the involvement of these genes.In conclusion, five Bacillus strains: WBN06, HN04, YN1282-2, N67, G9R-3, display strong antibiotic activity against TR4 both in vitro and in vivo. In this work, using conventional PCR methods with primer targets for 13 Bacillus biocontrol marker genes including 7 NRPS genes: srfAA, fenD, ituC, bamD, yngG, yndJ, dhbA and 5 PKS genes: mln, bae, dfn, bac and bioA, we conducted a rapid and effective assessment for biocontrol potential of Bacillus. Using the RT-qPCR method with specific designed primers which target the above genes, we showed the different biocontrol gene expression profiles and patterns among these strains. This may suggest different mechanisms are involved in biocontrol of TR4. The outcome of our study offers a foundation for elucidating the biocontrol mechanisms of functional genes contained in the above strains.The following are available online at https://www.mdpi.com/article/ 10.3390/jof7050353/s1. Supplementary Table S1: p-value of Student's t-test for the difference of biocontrol marker genes expressions between WBN06, HN04, YN1282-2, N67, G9R-3, each strain single and dual-cultured with TR4."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a5993f92f44791985eaef3eac17ac785","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/43eeaab6-6ead-40e3-9616-8e9dcda8722b/retrieve","id":"-1856389605"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"27642afc-e47f-4298-ac9c-edbdd89ef638","content":"• An effective way to identifying animals permanently and uniquely• Unique numbers should be read visually as well as electronically captured so that the information (or data) is securely transferred to a database to be analysed or simply monitored/traced• Creating reliable information depends on data integrity• Commercialization through more secure and efficient channelsChallenges of animal identification• Unique number identifying individual animals• Database structure is fundamental• Electronic reading of the animal's identity and prompt transfer of information to a database• Lost animal identification compromises all efforts and creates loss of information• High-quality tags and RFID are relatively expensive• Distribution of standard tags across an entire population can be very challengingDatabase(s) of animal health and performance data, supporting farmer decision making and industry integration A sustainable business and service model that includes all stakeholders (mainly farmers)Information to support impact assessment, R&D, and policy makingA central database needs "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/5392460898.json b/main/part_2/5392460898.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f721bd841d729c04c7f4013885618c73","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6b4850bc-3651-4451-9e63-0604adda279b/retrieve","id":"-1367676089"},"keywords":["chlorophyll fluorescence","energy use","photosynthetic response","Thanatephorus cucumeris","acidic soil","high temperature"],"sieverID":"b638dcb7-d955-40b8-af26-5d54ef362ed0","content":"Disease stress caused by plant pathogens impacts the functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus, and the symptoms caused by the degree of severity of the disease can generally be observed in different plant parts. The accurate assessment of plant symptoms can be used as a proxy indicator for managing disease incidence, estimating yield loss, and developing genotypes with disease resistance. The objective of this work was to determine the response of the photosynthetic apparatus to the increased disease severity caused by web blight Thanatephorus cucumeris (Frank) Donk on the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) leaves under acidic soil and the humid tropical conditions of the Colombian Amazon. Differences in chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, including F v /F m , Y(II), Y(NPQ), Y(NO), ETR, qP, and qN in leaves with different levels of severity of web blight in an elite line (BFS 10) of common bean were evaluated under field conditions. A significant effect of web blight on the photosynthetic apparatus was found. A reduction of up to 50% of energy use dedicated to the photosynthetic machinery was observed, even at the severity scale score of 2 (5% surface incidence). The results from this study indicate that the use of fluorescence imaging not only allows for the quantifying of the impact of web blight on photosynthetic performance, but also for detecting the incidence of disease earlier, before severe symptoms occur on the leaves.The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important food legume for human consumption [1]. It is cultivated mainly in the tropical and subtropical countries of Latin America and Africa [2,3]. Beans are characterized as an accessible and economical food with high nutritional quality characteristics (protein, carbohydrate, micronutrients such as iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn)) [2] that are fundamental for reducing malnutrition, mainly in developing countries [3]. Likewise, bean production is mainly carried out by smallholders under adverse agroecological conditions that favor numerous infectious diseases caused by fungi, viruses, bacteria, and nematodes, resulting in yield losses of up to 100% [2, [4][5][6][7].Biotic stress caused by pathogens in plants inevitably induces various changes in their physiological functions, resulting in metabolic disorders due to infections or nutritional deficiencies [8]. Symptoms of biotic stress can generally be seen on leaves, stems, and roots, and lesions can also appear on seeds, leading to losses in yield and reduced grain quality [9]. Thus, an accurate assessment of plant symptoms can be used as a proxyPlants 2022, 11, 3238 2 of 22 indicator for monitoring diseases, estimating yield loss, and for developing genotypes with disease resistance [10]. Specifically, web blight (WB) caused by the fungus Thanatephorus cucumeris (Frank) Donk (anamorph: Rhizoctonia solani Kühn), is a great threat to achieving economic benefits from cultivating bean crops [11]. This is because the disease can develop in any developmental stage of the bean, mainly causing defoliation that can lead to the total loss of the crop in the short period of 1 to 3 weeks in areas with conditions favorable to the pathogen's development [11,12]. The incidence and severity of WB is favored mainly by prolonged and sudden periods of high rainfall, under conditions of high humidity and temperatures above 23 • C, that are natural in the humid tropics [13].Much of the research conducted to overcome this disease has focused on breeding to develop WB resistant genotypes [13]. However, the progress has been limited to developing some genotypes with a moderate level of resistance [14]. In addition, some strategies have been implemented for improving genetic resistance of bean lines to manage WB. These include the use of the biological control of fungal pathogens [15] and the inoculation with Rhizobium strains [16,17], as well as some soil and crop management strategies, such as minimum tillage, crop rotation, wider planting distances between plants, dry season planting, and the use of amendments and organic substrates [18][19][20][21]. There are also other strategies related to the use of bean lines with indeterminate growth habits because their plant architecture induces less favorable conditions for the development of WB [22].In breeding programs, disease stress assessment is based on disease severity, which is defined as the area of plant tissue infected by disease-causing organisms, and it is usually expressed as a percentage of the total amount of plant tissue [11,23]. This is considered as an easy and rapid method for evaluating disease susceptibility [24]. However, in most cases, severity is measured based on the subjectivity of the evaluator, often lacking precision, efficiency/productivity, and traceability [25][26][27]. However, there are now other phenotyping methods that are based on the photosynthetic response to the degree of disease incidence [28,29], and these can allow for the identification of moderately disease-resistant bean lines using a disease susceptibility index (DSI) [30]. Thus, the degree of sensitivity of a given bean cultivar to the degree of disease severity is reflected at the physiological level, based on the pathogen-specific or non-specific mechanisms it uses to maintain its photosynthetic activity [31,32]. Therefore, this nondestructive phenotyping method is a way to reduce subjectivity and to obtain a clearer evaluation of disease severity using digital images to quantify the degree of incidence based on changes in leaf color [30,33].Among plant responses to the environment, chlorophyll fluorescence (Chl a ) is very sensitive to physiological changes in plants and is used to measure the physiological state of a plant under both biotic and abiotic stress conditions [24,[34][35][36]. The use of the Chl a imaging method allows for the comparison of differences in photosynthetic efficiency between disease-affected and completely healthy areas of the leaves [37,38]. The Chl a imaging also allows for the tracking of the effects of foliar diseases that cause a decrease in the photosynthetic efficiency, thereby considered as a novel, non-destructive, and highly sensitive technique [37,39,40]. Chl a imaging is based on the amount of light energy absorbed by the chlorophyll molecules in photosystem II (PSII) and how this energy is distributed and utilized in different yield pathways, such as the effective photochemical quantum yield of the PSII photosystem Y(II), dissipation of regulated energy in the form of nonphotochemical heat Y(NPQ), and dissipation of unregulated energy fluorescence Y(NO) [41]. If the quantum yield of one of the processes decreases, the quantum yield of another or both will increase [24,42]. One of the main strengths of Chl a fluorescence measurement is that it can detect many stress-induced changes before visible damage occurs [43,44]. The objective of this work was to determine the response of the photosynthetic apparatus to the increased severity caused by WB in leaves of an elite breeding line of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) grown under acidic soil, combined with the high humidity and temperature conditions of the Colombian Amazon. We tested the hypothesis that the adaptive response of the photosynthetic apparatus contributes to achieve tolerance to disease stress caused by WB in the common bean. Using Chl a imaging information, we determined the area visually affected by WB stress, as well as the total physiologically compromised area of the leaf, which allowed for a full evaluation of the impact of the degree of incidence of WB on photosynthetic performance.According to the severity scale of 1 (0% affected) to 9 (100% affected), there was an exponential growth behavior of the pathogen affected area in the leaf caused by WB stress (mm 2 = 0.0796 exp (0.7759 × severity) (p < 0.001, Figure 1A), which resulted in a decrease in quantum efficiency, with an increase in the severity of stress level (F v /F m < 0.78, Figure 1A). Visually, it was observed that a severity scale score of up to 7 affected the leaf area and was not greater than 15% of the total, which increased by two and six times at severity scores of 8 and 9, respectively (Figure 1A). At the physiological level, during the dark adaptation phase and using F 0 , the necrotic area caused by WB was more visible, and the color gradient went from yellow to red for F m and from blue to green for F v /F m (Figure 1B(a,b,c)). When the lesions caused by WB were analyzed by transects (Figure 2), it was found that at severity scale scores between 2 and 4, the values of F v /F m were not affected. The values observed were above 0.8, while the values from a scale score of 5 and above were reduced. The length of the disease lesions described as pixels (diameter, red line) increased when the severity scale score increased; and the values observed ranged from 6% to 66.87% for scales 2 and 9, respectively. the increased severity caused by WB in leaves of an elite breeding line of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) grown under acidic soil, combined with the high humidity and temperature conditions of the Colombian Amazon. We tested the hypothesis that the adaptive response of the photosynthetic apparatus contributes to achieve tolerance to disease stress caused by WB in the common bean. Using Chla imaging information, we determined the area visually affected by WB stress, as well as the total physiologically compromised area of the leaf, which allowed for a full evaluation of the impact of the degree of incidence of WB on photosynthetic performance.According to the severity scale of 1 (0% affected) to 9 (100% affected), there was an exponential growth behavior of the pathogen affected area in the leaf caused by WB stress (mm 2 = 0.0796 exp ( 0.7759×severity ) (p < 0.001, Figure 1A), which resulted in a decrease in quantum efficiency, with an increase in the severity of stress level (Fv/Fm < 0.78, Figure 1A). Visually, it was observed that a severity scale score of up to 7 affected the leaf area and was not greater than 15% of the total, which increased by two and six times at severity scores of 8 and 9, respectively (Figure 1A). At the physiological level, during the dark adaptation phase and using F0, the necrotic area caused by WB was more visible, and the color gradient went from yellow to red for Fm and from blue to green for Fv/Fm (Figure 1(Ba,b,c)). When the lesions caused by WB were analyzed by transects (Figure 2), it was found that at severity scale scores between 2 and 4, the values of Fv/Fm were not affected. The values observed were above 0.8, while the values from a scale score of 5 and above were reduced. The length of the disease lesions described as pixels (diameter, red line) increased when the severity scale score increased; and the values observed ranged from 6% to 66.87% for scales 2 and 9, respectively.   According to the analysis of variance (Supplementary Table S1), an effect of the evaluated factors (severity level and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR)) and their interaction (p < 0.001) was found on each of the Chla fluorescence parameters analyzed (F0, Fm, Fv/Fm, Y(II), Y(NPQ), Y(NO), ETR, qP and qN). The relationship found for effective quantum yield in the PSII photosystem (Y(II)) and PAR was inversely proportional, a situation that was more evident (Figure 3a, going from blue to yellow, orange, and black) and frequent (Figure 3b) with increasing WB severity level, whose average value (red dotted vertical line, Figure 3b) of Y(II) also decreased. Likewise, as the severity increased, the fraction of energy dissipated as heat (NPQ) increased (red dotted vertical line, Figure 3d) and showed a very specific behavior; as the severity level increased, two peaks of data frequency were generated (Figure 3d). One of these is due to the increase in the necrotic area in the leaf caused by WB. This increased the value to zero, and increased those areas of the leaf showing a change in physiological functioning, which increased the dissipation According to the analysis of variance (Supplementary Table S1), an effect of the evaluated factors (severity level and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR)) and their interaction (p < 0.001) was found on each of the Chl a fluorescence parameters analyzed (F 0 , F m , F v /F m , Y(II), Y(NPQ), Y(NO), ETR, qP and qN). The relationship found for effective quantum yield in the PSII photosystem (Y(II)) and PAR was inversely proportional, a situation that was more evident (Figure 3a, going from blue to yellow, orange, and black) and frequent (Figure 3b) with increasing WB severity level, whose average value (red dotted vertical line, Figure 3b) of Y(II) also decreased. Likewise, as the severity increased, the fraction of energy dissipated as heat (NPQ) increased (red dotted vertical line, Figure 3d) and showed a very specific behavior; as the severity level increased, two peaks of data frequency were generated (Figure 3d). One of these is due to the increase in the necrotic area in the leaf caused by WB. This increased the value to zero, and increased those areas of the leaf showing a change in physiological functioning, which increased the dissipation of energy in the form of heat (NPQ), a situation that generated a gradient from green to blueviolet color (lower tendency to higher NPQ value, Figure 3c). In the case of the quantum yield of the unregulated energy dissipation of photosystem II, Y(NO) at all severity scale levels was reduced as the PAR level increased, whose average color was green (Figure 3e) and the average value ranged from 0.34 to 0.51 (red dotted vertical line, Figure 3f).  Regarding the fractionation of energy use independent of disease severity score, on an average about 30% and 34% of its total value was assigned to photosynthetic processes Y(II) and heat dissipation Y(NPQ), respectively, and the remaining 36% was assigned to unregulated processes Y(NO) (Figure 4a). Specifically, with an increasing WB severity score, Y(II) decreased and Y(NPQ) increased. Likewise, the pathogen caused reductions of the electron transport rate (ETR), as it decreased from 50.3% to 95.3% at severity scores 1 to 9, respectively (Figure 4b). The same trend was observed with the photochemical quenching coefficient (qP), which reached values below 0.5 from a severity score of 5 onwards (Figure 4c). In the case of the non-photochemical cooling coefficient (qN), it was higher than 0.6 with a severity score of 3, at which time the presence of necrotic tissue became evident (Figure 4d).  With regard to the effect of PAR level, it was found that between a severity scale score of 1 and 2, there was a 25% reduction in the functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus (Supplementary Figure S1). This is supported by the behavior of different parameters, such as Y(II) and ETR, which decreased with increasing PAR, a situation that also occurred with the fraction of energy devoted to photochemical processes (qP). For example, at a PAR of 700 µmol photons, m −2 s −1 , which corresponds to the maximum photon flux density (PFD) generated in this study, it was observed that Y(II) was reduced by 35.2% with a severity scale score of 2 compared to a score of 1, increasing up to a 50% reduction with a With regard to the effect of PAR level, it was found that between a severity scale score of 1 and 2, there was a 25% reduction in the functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus (Supplementary Figure S1). This is supported by the behavior of different parameters, such as Y(II) and ETR, which decreased with increasing PAR, a situation that also occurred with the fraction of energy devoted to photochemical processes (qP). For example, at a PAR of 700 µmol photons, m −2 s −1 , which corresponds to the maximum photon flux density (PFD) generated in this study, it was observed that Y(II) was reduced by 35.2% with a severity scale score of 2 compared to a score of 1, increasing up to a 50% reduction with a scale score of 3 (Supplementary Figure S1a). Similar behavior was observed for ETR, where at the maximum PAR level, there was a 34.3% and 54.3% reduction with severity scale scores of 2 and 3, respectively, compared to a score of 1 (Supplementary Figure S1b). It was found that from a PAR of 300 µmol photons m −2 s −1 at severity scale level 3, the ETR did not show a significant increase (Supplementary Figure S1b). In the case of qP, which averaged 0.45 with a severity scale score of 1, the ETR decreased significantly from a severity scale score of 2 (Supplementary Figure S1c). For Y(NPQ) and qN, there was a proportional increase in relation to an increase in PAR, with the values at severity scales of 1 and 2 being the lowest compared to those at the other levels. When analyzing the energy distribution as a function of PAR at each severity scale, it was found that there was no point of intersection of Y(II) and Y(NPQ) at severity scale 1, even at the maximum PAR level (700 µmol photons m −2 s −1 ) (Figure 5). However, as the severity level increases, the intersection point between Y(II) and Y(NPQ) is reduced (area between the blue dotted lines) (Figure 5). It is also observed that from severity scale score of 4, the unregulated fraction (Y(NO)) exceeded the photosynthetic processes (Y(II)) (Figure 5). When we analyzed the area of leaf in operation for each severity scale, we found a significant effect of WB on the photosynthetic apparatus, since from severity scale score of 2 onwards, the use of energy devoted to the photosynthetic machinery was reduced by up to 50%, which was significantly reduced with the increasing value of the severity scale (Figure 6). increase in relation to an increase in PAR, with the values at severity scales of 1 and 2 being the lowest compared to those at the other levels. When analyzing the energy distribution as a function of PAR at each severity scale, it was found that there was no point of intersection of Y(II) and Y(NPQ) at severity scale 1, even at the maximum PAR level (700 µmol photons m −2 s −1 ) (Figure 5). However, as the severity level increases, the intersection point between Y(II) and Y(NPQ) is reduced (area between the blue dotted lines) (Figure 5). It is also observed that from severity scale score of 4, the unregulated fraction (Y(NO)) exceeded the photosynthetic processes (Y(II)) (Figure 5). When we analyzed the area of leaf in operation for each severity scale, we found a significant effect of WB on the photosynthetic apparatus, since from severity scale score of 2 onwards, the use of energy devoted to the photosynthetic machinery was reduced by up to 50%, which was significantly reduced with the increasing value of the severity scale (Figure 6).  When analyzing the relationship of increased PAR on the physiological variables, a high negative correlation (r ≥ −0.30, p < 0.05) was found with the variables (Y(II): effective quantum yield of PSII, and qP: photochemical quenching coefficient). A high positive correlation (r ≥ 0. 70, p < 0.05) was found with the variables (Y(NPQ): regulated energy dissipation quantum yield, and qN: non-photochemical cooling coefficient) for the analyzed factor of \"severity scales\" (Figure 7a). Although the increase in PAR showed a negative correlation with Y(II) and When analyzing the relationship of increased PAR on the physiological variables, a high negative correlation (r ≥ −0.30, p < 0.05) was found with the variables (Y(II): effective quantum yield of PSII, and qP: photochemical quenching coefficient). A high positive correlation (r ≥ 0. 70, p < 0.05) was found with the variables (Y(NPQ): regulated energy dissipation quantum yield, and qN: non-photochemical cooling coefficient) for the analyzed factor of \"severity scales\" (Figure 7a). Although the increase in PAR showed a negative correlation with Y(II) and qP and a positive correlation with Y(NPQ) and qN at each severity scale, its correlation coefficient value decreased as the WB severity scale increased (Figure 7a). Similarly, the electron transport rate (ETR) correlated positively with increasing PAR, but its correlation value decreased with increasing severity to the point of being negative. As for the quantum yield of unregulated energy dissipation Y(NO), its correlation coefficient was found to be negative with increasing PAR and severity level (r ≥ −0.35, p < 0.05, Figure 7a), except for at severity scale 1, which presented no correlation with increasing PAR. When considering the minimum (Figure 7b) and maximum (Figure 7c) values of the severity scale, there were differences in the magnitude of the correlation between the variables. For example, at severity scale 1, PAR presented a positive correlation of 0.99 with ETR and Y(NPQ), while it was 0.98 for qN. However, for this same severity scale, there was a negative correlation between PAR with Y(II) and qP of −0.93 and −0.87, respectively. For example, Y(II) and qP were positively correlated (r = 0.98, p > 0.05) and were negatively correlated with qN, ETR, Y(NPQ), Y(NO), and PAR (Figure 7b). At the maximum scale of severity, the magnitude of correlation between variables is reduced, and the results for additional variables are also presented (Figure 7c).  In general, we found that the classic severity scale proposed to identify the degree of infestation by a pathogen, particularly the one caused by WB, is very subjective. This is mainly because it is based on visual symptoms and not on the actual functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus of the leaf. Results from the present study show that with the severity scale score of 2, the area visually affected in the leaf does not exceed 5%, but the functional status of the photosynthetic apparatus is already compromised by more than 50%, which significantly affects the use of energy. Therefore, the use of chlorophyll fluorescence (Chla) imaging as a tool In general, we found that the classic severity scale proposed to identify the degree of infestation by a pathogen, particularly the one caused by WB, is very subjective. This is mainly because it is based on visual symptoms and not on the actual functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus of the leaf. Results from the present study show that with the severity scale score of 2, the area visually affected in the leaf does not exceed 5%, but the functional status of the photosynthetic apparatus is already compromised by more than 50%, which significantly affects the use of energy. Therefore, the use of chlorophyll fluorescence (Chl a ) imaging as a tool allowed us to quantify the impact of the incidence of WB on photosynthetic efficiency (F v /F m ), as well as the response of the functional status of the photosynthetic apparatus in relation to the increase in disease severity in the leaves. The specific changes in photosynthetic characteristics resulting from the increase in disease severity are discussed below.With the increase in disease severity, different combinations of changes in chlorophyll fluorescence parameters have been observed in the leaf. Changes in photosynthetic efficiency traits (increases and decreases in the different parameters) provide information about the plant's ability to cope with the type of stress [45]. Our results indicate that the dark-adapted fluorescence images could be used for the presymptomatic detection of disease effects at the early stages of disease development. This is an important result, allowing for the observation of the different responses in chlorophyll fluorescence parameters as the severity intensifies with disease development. Specifically, we observed changes related to the increase in initial fluorescence (F 0 ), reduction in maximum fluorescence (F m ), and maximum efficiency of PSII photochemistry (F v /F m ). We found that as the WB severity scale increased from level 2 to level 6, increases in F 0 were present in the infected areas. This could indicate that the infection generated in the infected areas supports a breakdown of chlorophyll, thereby decreasing the reabsorption of red fluorescence light [46,47], triggering a loss of excitation energy, which is required during the electron transfer from pigments to the reaction centers [48]. Furthermore, for the higher disease severity scale scores of 7, 8, and 9, the decrease in values of F 0 were more drastic, possibly due to the change in the rate of electron transport from PSII to the primary electron acceptors, accompanied by a more drastic reduction in the number and size of active reaction centers [49][50][51] time, a decrease in F m was present in the affected areas, starting at a severity scale score of 5. This indicates that WB infestation generated strong alterations in the light-harvesting complexes of the PSII reaction centers [52][53][54]. Moreover, maximal quinone reduction may not have occurred because the reaction centers may not function properly due to an operationally inefficient energy capture process [55,56].We found that in healthy areas (unaffected by WB), there were no variations in the ratio of F v /F m . Interestingly we found that in the case of the affected areas, between scale scores of 2 and 4, the efficiency of PSII was not compromised, as revealed by sustained values above 0.8 [27]. However, from scale 5 onwards, there was a reduction in F v /F m values to 0.6 until reaching values of up to 0.4 with a scale score of 9, indicating the impact of WB in markedly reducing photosynthetic efficiency. Disease severity could induce physical damage to the structure and function of chloroplasts leading to the chronic photoinhibition [45], i.e., photoprotective mechanisms are not efficient enough in bean leaves due to the excess of excitation energy We speculate that WB infection, with its increase in the severity scale scores, interferes with chloroplast protein synthesis, as well as with the number of functional reaction centers of PSII, resulting in an increased inactivation of the reaction centers through damaging the processes and/or increasing the rate constant of the non-radiative dissipation of excitation energy [24,27].Among the different responses to disease stress, the adaptive response of the photosynthetic apparatus is important to achieve tolerance to disease [58]. Since photosynthesis provides the plant with energy that is necessary not only for growth, but also for tolerating disease stress, the regulation of photosynthesis should be integrated into the plant's defense responses to disease [59,60]. For example, in our study, we found that from a WB severity scale score of 2, leaves started to make physiological adjustments to cope with the infection. We observed that there was an effect of infection on the Chl a fluorescence parameters evaluated (Y(II), Y(NPQ), Y(NO), ETR, qP, qN). Specifically, by increasing the incidence of WB, the quantum yield of the PSII photosystem [Y(II)] was reduced due to the saturation of the reaction centers with an increase in PAR. The decrease in Y(II) was accompanied by a reduction in the electron transport rate (ETR) and the photochemical quenching coefficient (qP), as well as an increase in regulated energy dissipation Y(NPQ) [60]. These photosynthetic adjustments in performance were more pronounced with an increase in PAR as the severity of WB increased. Thus, the interaction of these two factors (disease severity and increasing PAR) also generated an alteration in light saturation dynamics. On the one hand, the effect of infection caused PSII reaction centers to be unable to maintain normal electron transport [61]. Thus, as the disease severity increases, it triggers oxidative damage due to a lack of and/or decrease in energy transfer, which is absorbed by photosynthetic pigments for photochemistry [62]. On the other hand, a higher level of PAR causes photodamage in the plant, which, having a decreased photosynthetic activity due to the infection, enters into a chronic photoinhibition (overload of the protection mechanisms) state that is detected by marked decrease in values of F v /F m [63], a situation that was observed for disease severity scale scores of 8 and 9, where photosynthetic activity in the disease affected areas was almost null. When observing the behavior of Y(NPQ), we found certain adjustments due to the incidence of infection. As expected, with an increase in WB severity, there was a greater allocation to regulated energy dissipation Y(NPQ) in the affected areas. This heat dissipation is known to be triggered by the acidification of the chloroplast lumen and the subsequent activation of pH-sensitive enzymes [61], resulting in the conversion of the xanthophyll pigment violaxanthin to antheraxanthin and zeaxanthin, generating changes in the conformation of the light-harvesting complexes surrounding the reaction centers [64,65].The dynamics of Y(NPQ) observed in the disease-affected areas is due to plant pathogenesis impacting the functioning of the chlorophyll-protein complex [66]. As the disease progressively increases in the leaf tissue, the increase in Y(NPQ) triggers a decrease in thylakoid activity [60]. This, in turn, generates a situation that increases the thylakoid proton gradient that modulates the Y(NPQ) process [67,68]. Furthermore, the increase in Y(NPQ) was accompanied by an increase in the qN coefficient from a severity scale score a 3 onwards, reflecting a greater proportion of the absorbed light energy that is dissipated as heat, also indicating a lower efficiency of PSII in using excitation energy for the photochemical reaction [45,69]. However, we found that infected leaf regions showed apparent photosynthetic activity, as represented by an increase in Y(NPQ). This could be considered as a defense response of the plant to delay the process of photoinhibition until the severity of disease reaches scale scores of 8 and 9 [68,70]. We found that the stress response was more drastic at severity scores of 8 and 9. We were able to corroborate this by observing a reduction in the qP coefficient, suggesting physical damage to the light-harvesting complex II (LHCII, PSII reaction centers), starting at the PSII reaction center site that is associated with PSII electron transport (inhibiting PSII repair), moving to the water splitting site in the oxygen evolution complex (OEC), or at both sites at the same time [71,72]. In the case of unregulated energy Y(NO), two trends were observed; on the one hand, as PAR increased, Y(NO) decreased, and on the other hand, as the severity level of WB increased, Y(NO) also increased. This situation reduces the photosynthetic efficiency of the plant, without allowing it to improve regulated energy dissipation, inducing physical damage to the chlorophyll-protein complex, causing chronic photoinhibition, and this is because the photoprotective mechanisms are not efficient enough due to excess excitation energy [45].The specific adaptation level of a bean genotype depends on its physiological responses and its degree of susceptibility to a given stress condition [30]. In our study, tropical climatic conditions (higher values of air humidity, rainfall, and air temperature) in the Amazon region are favorable for the frequent development of WB [73,74]. During the initial stages of infection (scale scores of 1 and 2), the elite bean line (BFS 10) faced the combined stress situation (pathogen infection and higher values of PAR) that increases the dissipation of regulated energy and induces a significant reduction in PSII efficiency, while keeping the ETR intact, thus entering into a dynamic state of photoinhibition [63,75]. For severity scale scores of 3 to 7, the PSII Y(II) yield was reduced proportionally with the increase in PAR level from 100 µmol m −2 s −1 , indicating no photosynthetic activity at a PAR of 500 µmol m −2 s −1 . At this point, this behavior would be expected due to the level of damage caused by the disease [60] and due to the inhibition of light-dependent reactions (Y(II), qP and ETR) [76]. For severity scores of 8 and 9, changes in photosynthetic activity were inversely proportional to the severity score of 1. Under these severe disease conditions, the spread of infection interferes with chloroplast protein synthesis, reaching up to a total loss of photosynthetic activity in the leaf regions that were markedly affected by WB stress [77,78].The experiment was conducted under field conditions during July to October 2019 at the Centro de Investigaciones Amazónicas CIMAZ Macagual of the Universidad de la Amazonia, Colombia (1 • 37 N and 75 • 36 W). The Center is located in the municipality of Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia, in a tropical rainforest ecosystem. The average annual rainfall is 3800 mm, with maximum rainfall periods in the months of April and November, with an average temperature of 25.5 • C and a relative humidity of 84% with 1700 h of sunshine per year (Figure 8a). During the crop growth period, there was a total precipitation of 196 mm, an average humidity of 80.7%, and an average ambient temperature of 36.4 • C, with minimum temperatures ranging between 19.7-24.6 • C, and maximum temperatures between 26.1-35.1 • C (Figure 8b). This crop growing period is normally used by farmers to avoid excess rainfall and very high humid conditions that favor rapid development of symptoms of WB stress.Colombia (1°37' N and 75°36' W). The Center is located in the municipality of Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia, in a tropical rainforest ecosystem. The average annual rainfall is 3800 mm, with maximum rainfall periods in the months of April and November, with an average temperature of 25.5 °C and a relative humidity of 84% with 1700 h of sunshine per year (Figure 8a). During the crop growth period, there was a total precipitation of 196 mm, an average humidity of 80.7%, and an average ambient temperature of 36.4 °C, with minimum temperatures ranging between 19.7-24.6 °C, and maximum temperatures between 26.1-35.1 °C (Figure 8b). This crop growing period is normally used by farmers to avoid excess rainfall and very high humid conditions that favor rapid development of symptoms of WB stress.  An advanced Mesoamerican common bean breeding line BFS 10 (small red) was used, which has shown good phenological, physiological, and agronomic performance under acidic soil and high temperature stress conditions in the Colombian Amazon [79][80][81][82], and it is also characterized by its adaptation to drought and soils with low fertility. For the present study, a completely randomized plot design was used, with three replications; each replication consisted of 15 rows, each row measuring eight meters long, and the rows were created manually. A row-to-row distance of 0.60 m, with a plant-to-plant spacing of 0.15 m, was used, which was equivalent to 11 plants m −2 , for a total of 2400 plants in the experimental area, with an experimental area of 216 m 2 . During the crop growing season, weed management was only done manually at 15, 30, and 50 days after planting the crop. No other agronomic management was carried out during crop development.Using the standard scale system for the evaluation of bean germplasm proposed by Schoonhoven and Pastor-Corrales [11], the incidence and severity of web blight (WB) were evaluated visually (Figure 9A; visual scale score ranging from 1 to 9). The incidence was determined from the number of plants per plot (considered as each replicate consisting of 15 rows) with signs of disease over the total number of plants per plot (n = 475 plants in total) per 100. The severity was determined by the plants with signs of disease in each plot, considering the degree of the affected region on the leaf, with 1 (0%) as the level of severity in which there is no visual presence of WB on the leaf lamina up to 9 (100%) as the maximum level of disease incidence (Figure 9A [11]). The severity was measured during the period of mid-pod filling (individual seeds visible in the first pods, BBCH 79, between 60-65 DAP, Figure 9D(a)), when WB is most rapidly spread [83] (Figure 9D(a)) and during which the deterioration caused by the pathogen at the physiological level can be evaluated. For this purpose, 9 leaves with visual presence of WB (one for each severity scale score from 1 to 9) were selected per plant in each plot (n = 9 plants per plot) (Figure 9A). Leaves without a visual presence of WB corresponding to scale score 1 (0% WB affectation) were taken between the fifth and eighth trifoliate leaf (from apex to base) (Figure 9A(1)), and leaves affected by the pathogen (from scale 2 to 9) (Figure 9A(2-9)) were selected between the lower and middle stratum in plants where WB development and advancement were evidenced (Figure 9D). Chlorophyll fluorescence measurements were obtained on the central leaflet in each leaf for each of the scales of WB affected leaves (Figure 9B). In each leaflet, 12 circular areas of interest (AOI), distributed in the lower, middle, and upper part of the leaflet, were observed, and the AOI in the affected leaves were located next to the lesions, but not on them (Figure 9C); thus, the areas in which the information of the different chlorophyll fluorescence variables was obtained. In total, 2916 data were obtained for each variable, corresponding to 12 AOI in 243 leaves (9 leaves × 9 plants × 3 replicates).  The pathogen stress incidence was monitored using a MAXI-Imaging PAM M-Series fluorometer (Heinz Walz GmbH, Effeltrich, Germany), equipped with 44 high-power royal blue (450 nm) LED lamps, which provide modulated excitation light, as well as ac-  The pathogen stress incidence was monitored using a MAXI-Imaging PAM M-Series fluorometer (Heinz Walz GmbH, Effeltrich, Germany), equipped with 44 high-power royal blue (450 nm) LED lamps, which provide modulated excitation light, as well as actinic illumination and saturation pulses. Chlorophyll a (Chl a ) fluorescence emissions were captured with a 640 × 480 pixel resolution CCD (charge-coupled device) camera with a visible sample area of 24 × 32 mm on each leaf. From the color gradients and trends obtained with increasing photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) captured using Imaging WIN version 2.32 software (Heinz Walz GmbH, Effeltrich, Germany), different parameters related to chlorophyll fluorescence (Chl a ) were determined. The bean leaves with signs of WB infection selected for the fluorescence measurement were detached from the plant between 07:00 and 08:00 am, when the plants did not present saturating light incidence or stress conditions due to high temperatures. Subsequently, the leaves were subjected to a 60 min dark adaptation process in order to completely open the PSII reaction center and minimize the dissipation of non-photochemical energy. After the dark adaptation process was completed, the leaves were individually fixed at a distance of 18.5 cm from the chamber, where they were exposed to a weak, modulated light beam (0.5 µmol m −2 s −1 , 100 µs, 1 Hz) in order to determine the initial fluorescence (F 0 ), and a saturating pulse of white light was immediately emitted (2400 µmol m −2 s −1 , 10 Hz) for 0.8 s to determine the maximum fluorescence emission (F m ), or when all PSII reaction centers are expected to be \"closed.\" Next, the steady-state chlorophyll fluorescence yield (F s ) of the plants under actinic illumination was determined and a second saturating pulse was applied, with the same settings used for determining F m , to measure their maximum light-adapted fluorescence yield (F m ).Using the above protocol, different Chl a parameters were determined in dark-adapted and light-adapted states. First, the maximum quantum yield of PSII (F v /F m = (F m − F 0 )/F m ) was calculated. Likewise, the energy pathways in yield fractions corresponding to the following were calculated: i. effective quantum yield of PSII (Y(II) = (F m − F 0 )/F m ) [85]; ii. quantum yield of regulated energy dissipation in the form of non-photochemical heat of PSII (Y(NPQ) = 1 − Y(II) − 1/(NPQ + 1 + qL (F m /F 0 − 1)) [41]; and iii. the quantum yield of non-regulated energy dissipation of PSII (Y(NO) = 1/(NPQ + 1 + qL (F m /F 0 − 1)) [41], where qL is the coefficient of photochemical quenching, and NPQ is the non-photochemical quenching. From the same protocol, the level of fluorescence emissions of PSII was determined using rapid light curves (RLC) in 13 steps, with a duration of 20 s at each irradiance level (0, 1,21,56,111,186,281,336,396,461,531,611, 701 µmol photons m −2 s −1 ). At each point of the curve, parameters such as the electron transport rate (ETR), acting as an indicator of the photosynthetic capacity of live plants, were calculated (ETR = 0.5 × Y(II) × PAR × 0.84 µequivalents m −2 s −1 ) where: \"0.5\" refers to the stoichiometric distribution of the absorbed light energy between the two photosystems, \"Y(II)\" to the effective quantum yield of PSII, and \"PAR\" to the incident photon flux density µE m −2 s −1 , and \"0.84\" is considered as the empirical absorption efficiency of 84% of the incident light in plants [85]. The photochemical quenching coefficient ((qP = (F m − F)/(F m − F 0 )), where F 0 \" is the minimum fluorescence yield in light F 0 = F 0 /(F v /F m + F 0 /F m )) [86], which is the amount of energy used in the photochemical pathway, was also calculated [86], as well as the non-photochemical quenching coefficient (qN = (F m − F m )/(F m − F 0 ) [86]), which provides an indication of early the detection of stress-induced limitations.From the F v /F m images obtained with the MAXI-Imaging PAM M-Series fluorometer (Heinz Walz GmbH, Effeltrich, Germany) and using the Imaging WIN software version 2.32 (Heinz Walz GmbH, Effeltrich, Germany), we proceeded to calculate: (i) the visually affected leaf area (%), and (ii) the area of the leaf lamina (%) where PSII is not functioning, the latter allowing for the effective identification of the magnitude of the incidence or damage of the pathogen on the photosynthetic apparatus at each level of WB severity.Using the analysis function provided by ImagingWIN, the analysis scale was created by delimiting the range between 0.0 and 1.0 (low to high), which proceeds from a gradient of black to red, allowing this contrast to determine the area, both in pixels and in mm 2 . For this purpose, the relationship between the area in pixels and mm 2 was analyzed, and a linear function was obtained showing the area of the leaf in mm 2 (Y) as a variable dependent on the number of pixels in the image (Y = 0.0423X + 3 × 10 −12 , r 2 = 0.999, p < 0.001). For the calculation of the area affected by the pathogen in relation to the functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus, Y(II) was used, taking 0.157 as the minimum contrast value, which allowed for obtaining the area and the number of pixels for each PAR level (0, 1,21,56,111,186,281,336,396,461,531,611, 701 µmol photons m −2 s −1 ). Both for obtaining the visibly affected area and for determining the area of the affected photosynthetic apparatus, the images were analyzed in ImageJ software (1.52u, National Institutes of Health, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA), following the method proposed by various authors [24,87,88], where the area without visual signs of disease was calculated, as well as the necrotic areas generated by WB. A total of 243 F v /F m images of the same number of leaves (9 leaves from 9 plants with 3 replicates, i.e., 27 leaves at each WB severity scale) were used. In addition to the determination of the area or region affected by WB, transects of 160 pixels wide were made, in which F v /F m were compared in both healthy and affected areas, allowing for quantitatively observing the impact of the incidence of the pathogen on the function of the photosynthetic apparatus.To evaluate the differences in F v /F m , Y(II), Y(NPQ), Y(NO), ETR, qP, and qN between the different severity scales of WB, a linear mixed model (LMM) was fitted. For this purpose, the fixed effects within the LMM were severity level and PAR, as well as their interaction. The AOI, leaves, and plants within the plots were considered as random effects. The assumptions of normality and homogeneity of variances were validated by means of an exploratory analysis of the residuals. Likewise, a Fisher's LSD post-hoc mean comparison test was performed, with a significance of α = 0.05. The graphs were displayed in quadrants with the corresponding means and statistical significance on each axis. To determine the relationship between the disease severity scale and the photosynthetic variables, a Pearson's correlation analysis was performed, and the results were presented graphically using a heat map at the general level, and a chord diagram was used for the most contrasting severity scales using the \"corrplot\" [89] and \"circlize\" [90] packages. LMMs were performed with the lme function of the nlme package, and graphical outputs were performed in the packages \"ade4\", \"ggplot2\", \"factoextra\", and \"dplyr\" in R language software, version 3.4.4 (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria) [91], using the interface in InfoStat [92].In this study, we evaluated the fluorescence response of the photosynthetic apparatus to increased disease severity caused by web blight (Thanatephorus cucumeris (Frank) Donk) on common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) leaves under acidic soil and the humid tropical conditions of the Colombian Amazon. We found a significant effect of web blight (WB) on the functional status of the photosynthetic apparatus. The marked influence on photosynthesis was apparent from a mild disease severity scale score of 2, where the use of energy devoted to the photosynthetic machinery was reduced by up to 50%, in comparison with a scale score of 1. The results from this study indicated that the use of fluorescence imaging could serve as an effective method to reliably quantify the impact of the incidence of WB on the functional status of the photosynthetic apparatus in the common bean. However, further research is needed for evaluating a breeding population developed for WB resistance under controlled and natural conditions of disease development. This effort could increase the value of this physiological phenotyping as a screening tool for bean breeders aimed at the early detection of disease resistance in breeding lines."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"47411f0c9dc59f3e7bb89148e3a1a20e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b4af532d-21e5-4585-ae80-cfe021bf9c7f/retrieve","id":"362083035"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"344d539c-2d82-49a6-9789-795c43ba4194","content":"The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in eastern and southern Africa engages in research, capacity strengthening, and advocacy related to the most pressing issues facing the region. IFPRI's regional focus aligns with the tenets of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) which seeks to: extend the area under sustainable land management and reliable water-control systems; improve market access; increase food security; and improve agricultural research, technology dissemination, adoption, and education.The IFPRI presence in eastern and southern Africa also includes country strategy support programs in Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, and Uganda. The Ethiopia Strategy Support Program (ESSP) is a collaborative program undertaken by IFPRI and the Ethiopian Development Research Institute. The core purpose of ESSP is to help improve the policy-making process in Ethiopia. Increasing the capacity of Ethiopian institutions to undertake sound economic analysis linked to current issues, and improving public information and dialogue, form the cornerstone of evidence-based policy-making. This is achieved through four key activities: 1) Collaborative research; 2) Robust knowledge management; 3) Capacity strengthening and increased knowledge dissemination and 4) Enhanced communications and institutional linkages. "}
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9a2e75cdfd990131e7c1cda2b6325a198e37c556
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6943f68d91c1ca35df21969f5d769516","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9203ffee-3c6e-432f-bf6d-ef88591ff48b/retrieve","id":"-167034193"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"abab2055-3b21-4429-b47c-a82de25c4d01","content":"GIRE) parvient à remplir son rôle et si ses actions incitent les usagers de la ressource en eau à améliorer leur comportement. Ce travail de recherche a permis d'identifier les limites de la Police de l'Eau et de formuler des recommandations.Cette étude, menée en mai et août 2018, s'est inspirée d'un modèle d'analyse qualitatif. L'observation comme technique d'enquête a été utilisée principalement avec les exploitants de berges. Le choix des villages s'est fait en fonction de leur proximité avec le Kou. Il s'agit notamment des villages de Koumi, Nasso, Sosogna, Dienderesso (commune de Bobo) et de Diarradougou (commune de Bama). Des agents de la Police de l'Eau, des exploitants de berges, des industriels, des entreprises et des autorités administratives ont été interrogés. L'objectif était de mettre en évidence les stratégies et les contraintes liées à la mise en oeuvre des recommandations de la Police de l'Eau.Le sous-bassin du Kou Messages-clés :   • Les communautés rurales dépendent presqu'exclusivement de l'exploitation de la rivière, il leur est difficile de changer leurs pratiques au risque de perdre leurs revenus. • En milieu urbain, l'insuffisance de suivi dans le contrôle et la répression : la Police de l'Eau n'arrive pas à s'assurer que toutes les structures sanctionnées se conforment par la suite aux normes en vigueur.• En milieu rural, la supervision insuffisante des activités, notamment de reboisement.• Des sorties sur le terrain trop rares pour un véritable ancrage de la structure dans l'environnement institutionnel.• L'insuffisance de ressources financières : sur un besoin de financement exprimé de 45 millions FCFA en 2017, la Police de l'Eau n'a obtenu que 12 millions.• La mise à disposition tardive des fonds.• L'absence de régie de recette : les contraventions et amendes sont versées à la régie de recette de l'environnement. Les fonds ne peuvent donc pas être utilisés pour renforcer l'autonomie financière de la Police de l'Eau.• L'absence de matériel pour les analyses physicochimiques des eaux.• L'insuffisance de formation des agents : ils n'ont pas suffisamment de compétences en reboisement des berges ni de capacités techniques pour les prélèvements et analyses des rejets industriels.• Les agents sont insuffisamment formés à la rédaction des procès-verbaux dans les normes.• Les attributions du SPE ne sont pas conformes à l'organigramme des Directions régionales. Dans l'organigramme, la Police de l'Eau est une section alors que le décret en fait un service à part entière.• Deux organes destinés à accompagner la Police de l'Eau ne sont plus fonctionnels : le Comité Inter-Service de l'Eau et les Comités de Protection de Berges.• La méconnaissance par les acteurs, particulièrement en milieu rural : 80% des habitants des villages riverains du Kou rencontrés lors de l'étude ne savent pas ce qu'est la Police de l'Eau.• Une appellation inappropriée : le terme « police » effraie certains usagers de l'eau.• L'absence de confiance, notamment dans les villages de Diarradougou et de Sosogna : des sites reboisés ayant été déclarés par la suite espaces protégés interdits à l'exploitation, les habitants considèrent avec méfiance les propositions de conversion à l'agroforesterie.Limites de l'efficacité de la Police de l'Eau : le cas du secteur de l'eau préemballéeLes unités de production d'eau préemballée de Bobo-Dioulasso comptent parmi les structures contrôlées par la Police de l'Eau. Elle a organisé pour ce groupe spécifique un atelier d'information en octobre 2016. Les contrôles et les sanctions infligées ensuite par la Police de l'Eau ont amorcé un assainissement du secteur. Cela a suscité beaucoup d'espoir parmi les producteurs en conformité avec la réglementation qui dénonçaient une concurrence déloyale. Cependant, les agents ne vérifient pas si les structures sanctionnées se conforment par la suite aux normes en vigueur. Les producteurs d'eau préemballée eux-mêmes ont reproché à la Police de l'Eau l'absence de suivi, comme en témoignent les propos de ce producteur : « souvent ils viennent avec des kalachs comme s'il y a la guerre. Ils font ça mais quand ils ferment les unités en infraction là, ça n'aboutit pas. Les mêmes ouvrent encore. Donc on est découragés ». Le rapport 2017 de la Police de l'Eau mentionne que sur un total de 21 unités de production d'eau contrôlées, seule une unité était totalement en règle.L'étude a montré que l'application de sanctions et amendes par la Police de l'Eau favorise l'adoption de bonnes pratiques en matière de protection des ressources en eau, particulièrement en milieu urbain. Elle favorise également l'apparition de mécanismes novateurs que de nombreux acteurs pourraient s'approprier. Par contre, l'étude montre l'inefficacité de la sensibilisation et de la prévention en milieu rural : jusqu'à présent, la Police de l'Eau ne parvient pas à faire respecter la bande de servitude. La perception des exploitants agricoles face à la Police de l'Eau est affectée négativement par des interventions antérieures dans la région. En effet, une grande majorité considère la Police de l'Eau comme un instrument d'expropriation de leurs terres, d'où la réticence à collaborer. Enfin, il apparaît que plus la Police de l'Eau sera autonome sur le plan financier, logistique et humain, mieux elle pourra travailler à contrôler régulièrement les unités de production et les usagers de l'eau dans une perspective de gestion soutenable et écologiquement rationnelle des ressources.• La Police de l'Eau doit être dotée de moyens financiers et matériels suffisants pour exécuter ses missions• La Police de l'Eau doit se faire connaître, en particulier en zone rurale• Le déguerpissement des agriculteurs qui cultivent dans la bande de servitude ne relevant pas seulement de la Police de l'Eau, il faut une implication plus forte des autorités administratives locales et nationales• La réglementation concernant la bande de servitude doit être assouplie au vu de la grande difficulté à respecter une distance de 100m "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/5411863616.json b/main/part_2/5411863616.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f7e8ebbeef90f17808eaf876f9ef268569a5a8c1
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"426d38dedd0d429ff81c5c0a43ae3ea4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/27b24670-9784-41b5-86fd-cdd3b7633644/retrieve","id":"-1859348560"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d5db3ac6-6611-4322-9fea-09bb86e83831","content":"Farmers of the Kushinga Farmer Field School explain their millet breeding experiment.Other policy and legal challenges also exist: how to develop effective and fair regulatory systems for smallholder access to benefits derived from the use of genetic resources? Moreover, the space for multistakeholder collaboration and exchange of germplasm and related knowledge at national and regional levels is often limited.In recent years, a number of international initiatives have piloted various forms of support for novel configurations of actors to work together to conserve and use agrobiodiversity in sustainable agricultural production systems and to equitably share benefits derived from those activities. These configurations operate at farm, community, national and international levels. Among these initiatives, Bioversity International (now the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT) and partners have researched the effectiveness of using agrobiodiversity, in particular in the form of crop and crop variety diversity, as an adaptive practice.The hypothesis informing this research is that crop diversification can result in positive livelihood outcomes, such as food and nutritional security, income generation and good health. These outcomes, in turn, could lead to (increased) resilience of rural households and communities to environmental, socioeconomic and climatic shocks. In this working paper, we present a number of case studies that to a certain extent have \"delivered\" on this impact pathway. The case studies were compiled during the year 2020, the year that COVID-19 spread across the globe with devastating consequences for countries, communities and households everywhere.Agroecology teaches that diversity among and within species serves as insurance or buffer against environmental upheaval. In an agroecological system, different species and varieties occupy different niches and respond differently to change, which results in more predictable aggregate community or ecosystem properties (Altieri et al., 2015, Attwood et al., 2017). In general, there are many more species than there are functions, which creates redundancy in the agroecosystem. Species diversity thus acts as a buffer against failure. In this way, agrobiodiversity fosters ecological resilience (Schroff and Ramos Cortés 2020).Crop diversification is a practical application of this theoretical insight. It is the cultivation of different crop species and/or varieties spatially (mixed land use, intercropping) or temporally (rotations in different seasons). Crop diversity maintains the stability of food production, thus contributing to food security; contributes to dietary diversity and income generation, and reduces risks from climate variability, diseases, pests, and market changes. Farmers can practice crop diversification at the household level. However, farmers can also strengthen their capacity to access and use \"new\" diversity through community-based approaches, such as community-based biodiversity management by farmer groups, cooperatives and community seed banks.While maintaining crop diversity on the farm and in the community is most often associated with riskcoping strategies, there are other potential benefits as well: optimal crop production under heterogeneous agroecological conditions in rainfed marginal areas; production of a variety of products for different uses; provision of commercial opportunities in multiple localities; self-consumption of crops with higher nutritional content, quality, and cultural significance, complementing foods purchased in markets; and, poverty reduction (Bellon et al. 2019). Crop diversification could also improve the management of other natural resources, such as (irrigation) water through the smart use of crop combinations that together are less water demanding (Watson, 2019). Furthermore, practicing crop diversification can also be a way to innovate in the face of climate change (UNU-IAS et al., 2014), e.g. introducing and evaluating promising new varieties of a crop.As part of the Integrated Seed Sector Development in Africa (ISSD Africa) program's activities for 2020, the Agrobiodiversity, seeds and climate change action learning group (Theme 3) sent out a call to various media to learn about inspiring examples of mobilizing agrobiodiversity for climate change adaptation along the lines of the above theory. The intention was to collect, compare and publish case studies from across Africa. The suggested outline: The cases received and accepted are presented in this chapter.Amadou Sidibe and Harouna Coulibaly, L'Institut d'Economie Rurale (IER), Mali, with Ronnie Vernooy, the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIATOver the past three decades, agricultural areas in Mali have been affected by significant climate change, most notably increasing temperatures and a shortening of the rainy season. The effects of climate change and the growing population, which increases the demand for food, make the availability of sufficient food increasingly constrained. In this context, the availability of inter-and intra specific diversity could allow a substantial increase in agricultural production), contributing to more food and nutrition security (this was our main working hypothesis to develop proposals). The results reported here are those obtained from the execution of several projects on (the strengthening of) traditional crop and seed systems in the Ségou and Sikasso regions, and the sites of Bolimasso, Boumboro of the Prefecture of Tominian and Somo of the Prefecture of San, for many consecutive years between 2005 and 2019.The targeted species were millet, sorghum, fonio and cowpeas, and, in recent years (2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)  Three key activities have been the implementation of diversity (seed) fields (photo 1), diversity (seed) fairs and (traditional) food fairs using participatory approaches for the management and conservation of local ecotypes, with a very strong involvement and participation of farmers and the recognition of their knowledge. This has made it possible to establish a local \"forum\" through which producers have access to seed of different crop varieties with different traits and growing cycles, ultimately resulting in the reduction of the negative effects of climate change. This example of the fields and fairs of diversity in Mali is exemplary.Producers from the villages of Diagani Marka, Sokoro, Bogoro and Sadien who have been sufficiently trained, have appropriated the approach and continue with activities without external intervention since 2005 for the village of Sadien and 2006 for the others. Such actions conserve local ecotypes and disseminate improved varieties. These activities also created a feeling of trust among producers, strengthening mutual understanding and social cohesion -a form of community empowerment.Photo 1: Cowpea diversity field, Mali. Credit: IERAnother key activity has been the establishment of community seed banks (CSBs). There are CSBs in Pètaka, Badiari, Gono (circle of Douentza); Fodokan and Socourani (circle of San) and Tassiga (circle of Ansongo). The participatory approach of seed banks was strengthened rooted in the in situ conservation project in Douentza and San where physical infrastructures were put in place with the participation/contribution of the various actors (labor provided by producers, other construction and equipment costs by the project, and monitoring and coordination of activities by the project technical team including researchers, developers of technical services and NGOs). These are initiatives of the farmers following the knowledge and experiences acquired through collaboration with URG/IER and its partners. The seven seed banks keep different types of crops and crop varieties. More than seven tons of seeds of different varieties were produced and then marketed and disseminated in different agricultural areas including San and Tominian. The seed/gene banks have effectively contributed to improving the access of producers to seed of different crops and crop varieties that are well appreciated in the diversity fields and at seed diversity fairs.In the case of Somo village, seeds are given free of charge to members of the community seed bank. Anyone in the community can become a member by paying a nominal annual fee. Members sow the seeds, harvest and then give back to the seed bank double the quantity of seeds received in order to replenish stocks. The seed bank works on seed treatment, selection and planning of seed renewal and also on regeneration activities. This monitored, locally managed barter system both facilitates access to seed and ensures the renewal of seed stocks. It has made a great contribution to seed security of the members and their communities.A fourth activity was the selection of improved varieties by local farmers with the support of the researchers. Women's preferences for varieties of different crops played an important role in the selection process. They are:• Sorghum: white color of flour, consistency of tô (an important local dish resembling a cereal porridge, eaten as a main staple), taste of dishes, glossiness of the grain; • Millet: porridge taste, grain -pale yellow, grain size; • Fonio; ease of pillage, white color of grain, taste of dishes; ease of sale of grain and products; • Cowpea: white color, market value, possibility of transformation into several menus.The following varieties were selected and retained by the farmers following several years of experimentation due to their stability of yield. In Bolimasso: millets Azozounou, Dounou, Doussoula and Toroniou C1, cowpea Korobalen; in Boumboro: millets Toroniou C1 and Kokinko, sorghums Babatassi and Sèguègnon and cowpea Korobalen; in Somo: Toroniou C1 millet, Jacoumbè sorghum and Niatia fonio. This is also demonstrated by the choice of the majority of these same varieties retained in the seed multiplication programs. Analysis of the results shows a higher frequency of improved varieties of Toroniou C1 millet, Jacumbè sorghum and Korobalen cowpea. These varieties have proven to be more suitable and meet the priority selection criteria of farmers. The farmers benefited from several training sessions allowing them to successfully establish a basic seed production scheme. Thus, six varieties of four species were successfully multiplied in the sites and seed was distributed among communities.The above mentioned activities were complemented and strengthened by value chain development as a means to add value to local crops, diversify income sources, generate employment (in particular for women) and improve nutrition (Meldrum et al. 2020).The participatory surveys and diagnostics carried out at the village level have made producers aware of the roles of local varieties, genetic erosion/loss of varieties and the need for their conservation. At the same time, the knowledge and awareness of farmer-producers technicians (extension agents) on the effects of climate change and adaptation measures and good practices increased significantly.The involvement in the participatory research process strengthened the technical level of farmerproducers on rice cultivation techniques; and on the management of Bambara nut, cowpea, millet, and native vegetables. They also acquired new knowledge on the quality of seeds and especially where to find the information to obtain seed. Furthermore, farmer producers strengthened their knowledge about the control of vegetable pests with particular emphasis on the danger of unsafe use of pesticides on human health and the environment. In relation to genetic resources, the working capacity of extension agents through the provision of motorcycles and operational support, was strengthened.The results of the research on crops and crop diversity improved the diet of farmer-producers based on the knowledge acquired on the nutritional role of vegetables; it also contributed to improving the food security of the population (not only paying attention to the economic role of crops, which is known by the farmer-producers). The work done also facilitated the establishment and consolidation of links between formal and informal local institutions that manage seed conservation and do seed multiplication, while also strengthening the flow of inter-village knowledge exchange as well as collective modes of action. Altogether, it reinforced a spirit of collaboration, solidarity and coherence in the villages; contributing to more social cohesion.Farmer producers benefitted from increased crop diversity and now have the possibility to choose different varieties of the crops they were already cultivating. In addition, they now produce \"new\" vegetable crops on certain sites where these important crops were not cultivated before. Through the research efforts, they succeeded to improve the yields of market garden crops (tomato, okra, eggplant, cabbage, pepper, shallot, onion, etc.) through the application of good agronomic practices taught and especially the use of good seeds provided by the IER. IER also facilitated the diffusion and adoption of rice varieties, cowpea, fonio and vegetable crops adapted with high yields.The diversity field tests have led to the adoption of certain new varieties of rice; for the rainfed rice cultivation system: NERICA 4, DKP17 and DKA-P27; for the lowland rice cultivation system: DKA 1, DKA 21, DKA-M7 and BW348. The improved cowpea varieties Wilibali, Djiguiya, IT90-372-1-2, IT90-372-1-3, N'Ganashô were adopted because of their precocity (less than 80 days sowing to maturity) and their yield of more than one ton per hectare. They also adopted the tomato variety Tropimech, the okra varieties Fouroubani, Tiègan, Sabalibougou, Koni, Bendya and Keleya; the eggplant variety Jaxatu Guelevard; the Safi pepper variety; and the Violet de Galmi onion variety. In the community seed banks, there are now seed samples of hundreds of varieties. Overall, farmer producers have strengthened their capacity to adapt to climate change through this portfolio of diverse, early maturing and productive varieties appreciated by producers. It has led to increases in production and monetary income. ISSD Africa 2021-03The following factors will contribute to sustainability:Creation of a 'platform' for exchanges between farmer-producers from the same village and from different villages through fields of diversity, food and seed fairs, and exchange visits.• New knowledge and skills acquired by farmer-producers about good agricultural practices.The involvement of supervisory staff at the local and municipal levels.Provision of resilient varieties (better adapted to climate change).The adoption of novel techniques and seeds in the fields of market gardening and rice cultivation.The use of participatory approaches involving the main actors of the agriculture sector (researchers, extension workers, development officials, farmer-producers) with an integration of modern and local knowledge and all actions are carried out on the basis of needs felt or expressed through participatory diagnostics.The use of social and gender analysis has contributed to more support offered to the vulnerable groups (women and youth).Policy uptake : the agricultural development policy of Mali is now focused on diversification. The key activities put in place by IER and partners align very well with this new policy. The results have contributed to improved seed and food security and adaptation to climate change -all key development goals of the country.   The research started with identifying challenges of the community using a baseline survey. Then germplasm was selected from national genebanks using climate and GIS profiling, which was done by modelling the crop accessions that had GIS information. Genebanks were contacted to acquire those accessions through the Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA) of the International Plant Treaty (ITPGRFA). The acquired accessions were then multiplied, and later subjected to field-testing through participatory variety selection and also through crowdsourcing with farmers in the three countries. For crowdsourcing, three cycles in Uganda, two in Kenya and Tanzania were done with over 2000 farmers.After selection, the varieties are now in the process of being disseminated through various avenues.Seeds are also being conserved in situ through community banks that are also working closely with the national genebanks.In Uganda, a wide range of diversity existed within the community: 15 varieties of beans, 5 of millet, and 4 of sorghum were identified during focus group discussions. However, due to climate change and related challenges, this diversity had been decreasing over time, resulting in the loss of four bean varieties. The remaining diversity was being threatened due to climate uncertainties. Farmers were relying on four varieties of beans, two of sorghum, and two of millet, which could withstand drought and erratic rainfall. The analysis of seed exchange networking among farmers revealed that networks of female farmers were stronger than those of male farmers (Figure 2). The higher total mean betweenness in networks of female workers was 0.26, compared to 0.21 in networks of male farmers. This indicated that more women were connecting with each other and with other actors, creating longer chains of seed exchange. The same analysis in Tanzania revealed that networks of female farmers were stronger than those of male farmers (Figure 3). The higher total mean betweenness in networks of female farmers was 2.04 compared to those of male farmers (0.62) indicating that more women were connecting actors, creating longer chains of seed exchange. The level of diversity of crops in Nyando, Kenya, consisted of 13 varieties of sorghum, 6 of millet, and 6 of bean. Of these, three varieties of sorghum, one variety of millet, and two varieties of bean were used for climate change adaptation. The networks of seed exchange among farmers revealed that networks of female farmers were stronger than those of male farmers. There was higher total mean betweenness values in networks of female farmers (30.3) compared to those of networks of male farmers (4.3) indicating that more women were connecting to each other and creating longer chains of seed exchange than men.Over 500 accessions of five key crops were evaluated by over 2000 farmers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania for important traits for climate change adaptation. This \"basket\" of crop diversity included materials from the national genebanks of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. In Uganda, 63 bean and 44 millet varieties were evaluated.In Tanzania, 24 sorghum varieties. In Kenya, 52 finger millet and 49 sorghum varieties. The evaluation was done through crowdsourcing trials (baby trials) and on-station trials (mother trials) with local checks against the introduced varieties under rainfed conditions. Through on-station and crowdsourcing trials, farmers were able to select the best performing varieties. In Uganda, farmers selected 7 top performing bean and 7 finger millet accessions. In Tanzania, they selected 10 varieties and in Kenya, 10 finger millet and 10 sorghum varieties. Some of the selected varieties came from neighboring countries as shown in figures 4A, 4B and 4C. The selected varieties in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania were taken to the Food and Nutritional Evaluation Laboratory (FANEL) within the Nutrition and Food Safety Platform, Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA) at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi, Kenya, to analyze their nutritional compositions and the potential health benefits to farmers.The results are shown in tables 1, 2 and 3. In bean varieties (Table 1), the iron content varied significantly and ranged from 6.55 to 8.34 mg/100g with TZA 3165 scoring highest. According to Beebe et al. (2000), the average iron concentration in bean is 55μg/g.   In sorghum, the iron content in sorghum varieties ranged between 4.04 and 15.11 mg/100g (Table 2) with UNGB 2279 ranking significantly higher than the other varieties. Their zinc content varied between 1.68 and 10.46 mg/100g with UNGB 2742 significantly outscoring the other varieties. The calcium content of the sorghum varieties ranged between 19.59 and 132.26 mg/100g, in which GBK 051759 (132.26 mg/100g) scored highest.These results align with Saleh et al. ( 2013), who obtained a calcium concentration of 35.23 mg/100g in sorghum. Among the sorghum varieties, total phenolic content was highest in UNGB 65 (173.60%) and ranged between 7.16 and 173.6mg/100g among the 22 varieties analyzed. Sorour et al. (2017) obtained a higher concentration of between 178.28 and 825.36 mg/100g. Sorghum grain has been reported to have phenolic compounds that influence its sensory and nutritional quality (Hahn et al. 1984, Arun et al. 2009). Awika and Rooney (2003) and Arun et al. (2009) reported that sorghum phenols act as antioxidants in vitro. The phenolic profile of sorghum is different, more abundant and diverse compared to other common cereal grains (Xiong et al. 2019).The iron content of the finger millet varieties ranged between 3.99 and 16.80mg/100g with GBK 051725 significantly scoring the highest. Siwela (2009) obtained iron concentrations of 3.3-14.89 mg/100g in finger millet. This is in line with our findings. The zinc content of the finger millet varieties ranged from 2.20 to 3.93 mg/100g, with GBK 051717 scoring highest. Leder (2004) reported the iron content of finger millet as 36.6 mg/100g, which is significantly higher than our results (3.99-16.80 mg/100g). The calcium content in the finger millet varieties ranged between 165.49 and 523.94 mg/100g, with GBK 043275 scoring the highest. These results are in line with Saleh et al. ( 2013), who obtained a mean calcium concentration of 348 mg/100g in finger millet. The total phenolic content ranged from 5.94 to 18.84 mg/100g with the highest contained in GBK 051718.The research data were compiled in comprehensive seed catalogues (Otieno et al. 2020). The selected varieties are multiplied and further evaluated with the aim to be registered and released as quality declared seed. As a result, farmers have succeeded in producing considerable volumes of food in addition to strengthening their agronomic skills concerning seed, soil, water, plant and pest and disease management. Various breeding programs now have access to elite lines of sorghum, finger millet and bean that have various traits for climate change adaptation. Some elite lines with good traits have been identified; for example, a Striga resistant sorghum variety in Nyando, and some very high yielding bean and millet varieties. This information has been disseminated with the expectation that breeding programs will be able to take up some of these varieties and further improve them.Another key achievement was the establishment of two community seed banks that have already been launched (Recha et al. 2018). The Hoima community seed bank in Uganda is currently conserving 20 millet varieties and 32 bean varieties (photo 5). The Nyando community seed bank in Kenya is conserving 17 bean varieties, 15 millet varieties and 22 sorghum varieties (photo 6 ). A second seed bank, called Upper Nyando, is in the process of being established through (women) farmers' own initiative. They contributed money, rented land and multiplied seed on their own. Currently, they have rented a building where they are keeping their seed. In Uganda, the National Plant Genetic Resource is developing a seed bank data base that will contain information on all genetic resources conservation centers and community seed banks in the country, including tracking the exchange and movement of these resources across the communities. This will provide an overview to policy makers, academic institutions and researchers on the use and adaptability of these varieties, which they can use for better decision making. This database/platform is in its final stage.Linkages with national breeding programs have been established. The Institute of Biotechnology and Research of Jomo Kenyattah University of Agriculture and Technology is linked to the farmers in Nyando and has been working with them on participatory variety selection and testing. In Hoima, the Bulindi Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute of Uganda's National Agricultural Research Organization, has been working with farmers on the participatory variety selection of beans and finger millet.Two seed cooperatives have been registered to enable farmers produce Quality Declared Seed. Currently, farmers in Hoima are multiplying seed on a five acre farm. This seed will be sold under the auspices of their seed cooperative. There are seed custodian farmers who would also like to start producing seed and partner with DashCrop limited (in Kenya) and other private sector players.The social seed network analysis showed that farmers exchange seed among themselves, in particular done by women. In order to improve seed distribution, strategies that include expanding the accessibility of agricultural extension services and using organizations named by respondents as a source of seed and information could be used. Individuals identified as nodal farmers, i.e., having high total mean betweenness, could also serve as a distribution source for diverse and adapted seeds.Community seed banks are used as a repository of new and improved varieties at local levels. These conservation efforts should be documented and the right mechanisms put in place to support the efforts of farmers engaged in such activities. For example, the selected varieties which are conserved in Nyando and Hoima community seed banks could be registered and commercialized as farmer varieties, using the QDS standards. In Kenya, the Alternative Seed Delivery System regulation could be adopted to commercialize such varieties by farmers through their seed banks and farmer groups.For breeding purposes and sharing of benefits across the border, the participating national genebanks in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania could develop additional conditions to the Standard Material Transfer Agreement originally used to exchange the seed. These conditions should clarify how access and benefits of the exchanged varieties will be managed according to national policies and laws. A number of policy discussions towards this have been (see: Otieno et al. 2018, Recha et al. 2018, Recha et al. 2019, and Otieno et al. 2020).  The Agricultural Biodiversity programme of CTDT is based on the understanding that increasing crop diversity contributes to improved food and nutrition security at household level, including under conditions of climate change. With climate change induced droughts, there is a very high and increasing likelihood of harvest failure when farmers grow fewer crops and crop varieties. The more crop varieties a farmer plants in any season, the better his/her chances of harvesting something are, as some of the crops will reach physiological maturity even if the amount of rainfall received is below normal or if the rainfall distribution is poor.Working with breeders from the National Crop Breeding Institute, CYMMTY and ICRISAT and staff from the National Gene Bank of Zimbabwe, CTDT has made significant efforts to increase the diversity of crops in farmers' hands in over 20 districts. This strategy was adopted after realizing that farmers are failing to obtain decent harvests, in particular in cropping seasons where total rainfall received is low or in cases where rainfall distribution is uneven. Due to the vigorous promotion of maize by the corporate seed sector in Zimbabwe, the majority of farmers, including those in districts where maize growing is not recommended, still plant maize. This has resulted in the country experiencing persistent food and nutrition insecurity, notably in low rainfall districts, the majority of which are located along Zimbabwe's boarders. Communities in these districts rely on food aid from the government, the World Food Programme and other development partners. Promotion of drought tolerant crops such as sorghum, pearl and finger millet, groundnut and cowpea can reduce chances of harvest failures. However, high yielding varieties of these crops are not readily available. There is little research done on these crops; there are very few releases of new varieties; and challenges related to their processing have not been addressed.Crop improvement initiatives are implemented in CTDT's sites in Mudzi, Tsholotsho, Mutoko, Murehwa, Chipinge, Rushinga and Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe districts. Except for Murehwa and parts of Chipinge, the rest of the districts are located in low rainfall agro-ecological regions of the country. In addition, the soils in these sites are of inherently low fertility. The following actors/institutions are involved in the implementation of activities:The National Gene Bank of Zimbabwe The following methodologies were employed in the implementation of projects to increase crop diversity at field level.Farmers in CTDT's sites seek to access new genetic materials for use in their communities to be able to utilize varieties with traits defined in their breeding objectives that are not present in the varieties currently grown in the community. Farmers, through the FFS, try to identify such new breeding material. The breeding institutions, i.e. CIMMTY, ICRISAT and CBI, have been providing PVS materials of sorghum, groundnut, pearl millet, finger millet, cowpea, maize, chickpea and pigeon pea to farmers, who, together with with Agritex (government extension officers) and CTDT field staff, select stable lines based on the preferred characteristics identified by the FFS. The selection is carried out from a number of stable varieties (usually between six and ten). Farmers select lines with their preferred traits over two to three growing seasons and then retain seed of the most preferred lines. Results of these activities are passed on to the breeders who incorporate the results in their variety release proposals (photo 7). Using this approach, farmers working with CTDT, and with financial support from Oxfam, have contributed to the release of two improved sorghum varieties and two pearl millet varieties.PVS has resulted in a substantial increase in crop diversity in the local communities, following the introduction of new varieties over a reasonably long period of time (Figure 6). In addition, farmers are now utilizing the new varieties to enhance their food and nutrition security, in particular under the prevailing effects of climate change. Some farmers who have been able to join the group of smallholder seed producers because of the knowledge gained in the FFS.   No of new planting materials introduced in project districtsParticipatory Variety Enhancement is sometimes called variety restoration and is carried out by farmers to \"recreate\" a local variety that has deteriorated or is no longer coping with the changing climatic conditions. Farmers apply strong positive and negative selection over a period of three seasons. At the end of the season, only the best 10% of the seeds or panicles are retained for planting in the next season. In the Zimbabwean experience, PVE has led to the recreation old varieties; a process which has resulted in the increase in crop yields of old varieties by approximately 10-30% after yield trials were carried out at the end of the three seasons of PVE.In addition, it has also been observed that after enhancement, the ability of the old variety to adapt to changing climatic conditions improves to a great extend. Results coming from the field have shown that PVE is very attractive to farmers working in the FFS, as they do not need any materials from outside (the breeding institutes), but work with their local varieties with the aim of improving them. This gives the farmers a sense of pride.PVD is more complex than PVE and PVS. Under PVD, farmers select from within a single and large population of different individuals, called a segregating population. The selection is based on their own breeding objectives. Farmers may choose to cross their own varieties, with the aim of combining qualities of different varieties into a new one. In the context of Zimbabwe, the breeders actually provided the segregating populations.The selection by farmers in the FFS is usually by mass selection and bulking of preferred individuals and is used in the first generations after a crossing (F1 to F4). At a later stage, pedigree selection may be used. PVD takes a much longer period of time than PVS. In the context of Zimbabwe, it was realised that the FFS can only manage a small number of segregating populations of usually five populations. Just like PVS, PVD also helps to increase diversity in the communities as farmers select from segregating populations based on their breeding objectives. Farmers who mastered PVD demonstrate greater confidence in farming, most notably women participants.In this process, farmers' selection choices are made based on the changing local climatic conditions; based on CTDT's long experience, it has been observed that breeders do not always come to the same choices -they may have other criteria for trait selection. The farmer-led PVD has also demystified the idea that ordinary farmers cannot do their selections at a high level than PVS.Women make up over 80% of the active members of the farmer field schools. They are involved in evaluating and selecting the best performing lines and/or new introduced varieties. These women were empowered through training, exchange visits and occupying at least 50% of the positions on the management committees. Through these activities, some of the women graduated into key leadership positions in local government and politics.The PPB/PVE work that CTDT and partners has been carrying out has proved to be very important in improving the food and nutrition security status of farmers in project sites, as our observations confirm. It has increased crop diversity at household levels, which is instrumental to improve the chance of getting a harvest, in particular in very low rainfall seasons. Diversification of the crop base has thus contributed to climate change adaptation in project districts. Women are major players in FFS implementation. They are key the true keepers of crop diversity of indigenous vegetables and local cereals and legumes (cowpeas, groundnuts). With climate change, the role of women as breeders has been strengthened.This has seen women investing more time in PPB, PVE and PVD in a bid to increase crop diversity, which has helped them to improve their food and nutrition security status and to absorb the shocks of climate change. Participatory Variety Selection (PVS), PVE and PVD have contributed to crop diversification in project sites. The FFS hosting these activities have become critical sources of seed.Implementing PVD, PVS and PVE has created stronger linkages between breeders within the NARS and CGIAR centres, and the farmers to share expertise with regard to the importance of these crops and how they relate to climate change and food and nutrition security. The involvement of government partners from research, extension and national gene banks is key for the sustainability of such projects as they provide technical backstopping.The involvement of traditional and local governance leadership ensures sustainability. Involvement of political leadership contributes to pro-poor policy formulation and implementation.The strong conviction among conventional breeders that smallholder farmers cannot contribute to the breeding processes is still very strong. While not all farmers can positively contribute to a very long breeding process, breeders should change their mind and adopt participatory approaches to breeding (involve farmers by availing breeding lines at F4, F5 or F6).Smallholder farmers can greatly contribute to the release of varieties that suit their crop growing conditions. PPB and PVD processes are expensive for both NARS and CGIAR centres, but they are worth investing in. However, resources to carry out PVD, PVS and PVE, are limited. A number of communities that requested support to construct a community seed bank could not be supported, because of financial resource limitations.Manata Jeko, Sipiwe Mapanda, Patrick Kasasa and Andrew Mushita, Community Technology Development TrustZimbabwe, with an agricultural sector already in serious challenges, is one of the Sub-Saharan countries worst hit by El Niño, a cyclical climatic phenomenon which occurs every 2-7 years. The El Niño effect is characterized by an anomalous rise in the temperature of the central Indian Ocean between December and January. During the years that it has occurred, it has resulted in a significant reduction in rainfall, with serious consequences for agriculture in general and food and nutrition security in particular in the entire region.The 1992-93 El Niño induced drought was particularly long and intense with a negative impact on crops and livestock, and consequences for millions of people in the sub-region. With the realization that community seed banks could save farmers' agro-biodiversity from being lost in case of similar droughts, Community Technology Development Trust (a NGO) encouraged farmers to build community seed banks in three districts of Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe (UMP), Tsholotsho and Chiredzi. Construction of CSBs has continued over the years and to date, CTDT has established 16 community seed banks in 10 of its 22 operational districts with funding support from a number of partners, in particular Oxfam, Bread for the World (Germany) and a number of funding partners through the Zimbabwe office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).Concerns have been raised in recent years over the increasing loss of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture in Zimbabwe. Crop failures due to climate change induced droughts has resulted in smallholder farmers losing planting materials (seeds and vegetatively propagated materials). The crop failures have resulted in poor or no harvests leading to food and nutrition insecurity among households. Such situations are more pronounced in low rainfall districts of the country, which include CTDT's operational districts. Traditional leaders and smallholder farmers in these districts have raised concerns over the continued loss of local agricultural biodiversity and the traditional knowledge related to processing, utilization and storage of important crops. To curb further agro-biodiversity losses in their communities, smallholder farmers approached CTDT to facilitate the construction of community seed banks.Community seed banks 2 (CSB) provide options for smallholder farming households to conserve, use and exchange seed of local crop varieties. CSBs facilitate the conservation of local seeds through use. The need to establish CSBs has become increasingly evident in light of the severe effects of El Niño, which has resulted in devastating droughts in Zimbabwe. These droughts have had negative impacts on smallholder farmer seed systems resulting in the loss of their crops, but also their seeds and other livelihood means. Community Seed Banks are critical in that they offer opportunities to farmers to conserve their seeds, giving them planting materials in subsequent seasons.Community seed banks provide options for the conservation of seed of local crops and crop varieties. Community Seed Banking is a key strategy in climate change adaptation as it promotes crop diversification, seed exchanges and sales, generation and exchange of knowledge and information on processing and home utilization.Farmers highlighted that CSBs offer the following opportunities (photo 8):• The projects are implemented in CTDT's projects sites in Umguza, Nkayi, Murehwa, Murehwa and Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe districts. Except for Murehwa, the rest of the project districts are located in low rainfall agro-ecological regions of the country. In addition, the soils in the project sites are of inherently of low fertility.The following actors/institutions are involved in the implementation of activities:• the National Genebank of Zimbabwe provides technical support and germplasm • departments of Agricultural, Technical and Extension Services (Agritex) provide technical support • Academic institutions: the University of Zimbabwe-Agrometeorology Group assists designing the research questions, data analysis and interpretation of resultsCTDT and partners regularly develop survey questionnaires to assess baseline situations, monitor progress and evaluate results, administering and collecting data, analyzing data and writing reports.CTDT staff asked some of the research questions below. Farmers gave the corresponding answers.Are you a member of any community seed bank? The majority of woman farmers living within a 5 km radius from the CSB were members. More elderly women indicated that they were members of a CSB compared to the men and the younger women.The majority of the respondents indicated that the CSBs were used as seed storage facilities. Farmers deposited their seeds in rooms designated for general collections or other CSBs rooms referred to as family collection rooms.List the benefits that you have derived from the CSB in the past 5 years:• CSBs provided seed storage facilities for farmers.CBSs acted as meeting places where farmers exchanged seeds and knowledge during seed and fairs.Seed exchanges resulted in increased crop diversity at household levels. The crop diversity contributed to increased adaptation to climate change induced droughts.The increased crop diversity contributed to increased food and nutrition security as yields from the wide range of crops increased. The dietary diversity scores in project sites were better than in non-project sites. The same was better in low rainfall compared to high rainfall districts. This could be due to the fact that farmers in the low rainfall districts grow a wide range of crops whereas those in high rainfall districts plant large areas to maize only.Men remained the major decision makers on the types of crops to plant in the main fields while women were the decision makers for legumes and vegetables.How do you see the changes in agro-biodiversity in your locality compared to the diversity 3, 5 and 10 years? Farmers indicated that agro-biodiversity was being lost in their communities compared to 5 years ago. The majority of the respondents were young farmers who were too young to remember the crop types that their parents grew 10 years ago.Is there any crop type or variety that you abandoned cultivation during the last 5 years? Most of the farmers had abandoned growing traditional rice, because the crop requires a 4-6 months growing period. Farmers highlighted that the rainfall seasons were now short (3 -4 months long) and the long season rice varieties cannot reach physiological maturity.Over the past 4 years, a total of 100 seed and fairs were held within CTDT's operational districts. The seed fair events facilitated local seed exchanges, seed sales, exchange of knowledge and information on how to prepare nutritious dishes from products of farmer's seeds (photo 9). Collaboration between CTDT and government staff from ministries of Agriculture, Health, Women and Youth contributed in building the capacities of the farmers in on-farm seed production, preparation of nutritious dishes. In addition, two women from the CSB management committees in UMP were elected into political and local government leadership positions.The levels of crop diversity within an area can be assessed by considering the number of farmers displaying seed, the number of crops and crop varieties on display; together with farmers, one can then determine whether there is genetic erosion in the community, e.g. through a five-cell analysis.CTDT encourages communities to organize and hold seed and food fairs within the CSB buildings annually. Over 6000 farmers attend the fairs. The majority of participants are women. Although legal frameworks do not recognize such activities, seed and food fairs are considered positively by the ministry of Agriculture because of their ability to make seeds widely available, which are ordinarily not found in the formal market. The seed and food fairs have resulted in a flow of steady agro-biodiversity.Women play key roles in the conservation and management of plant genetic resources. The majority of them are involved in the collection, exchange, storage and processing of agro-biodiversity for home utilization. Over 70% of the direct and indirect beneficiaries are of CSB activities are women. These women were empowered through training, exchange visits and affirmative action of reserving at least 50% of the positions on the management committees to women.Photo 9: A UMP district woman displays crop diversity from her farm during a seed fair. Credit: CTDTCommunity seed banks provide opportunities for the domestication of the International Treaty on Plant Genetics Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) as they facilitate the conservation, use of PGRFA. With CTDT's support, CSBs have contributed to the realization of Farmers' Rights within its operational districts. The seed bank provides a platform to farmers to save, sell and exchange seed.Through linkages and cooperation with the national genebank, farmers are able to repatriate lost seeds from the national genebank for rejuvenation and further enhancement on their farms.There is no specific policy and legal framework providing support to CSBs, but CTDT and partners have initiated discussions on the need for a comprehensive Farmers' Rights legislative framework.The proposed framework will cover for the establishment of community seed banks interacting closely with the National Genebank and the SADC Regional Genebank.Results from CTDT's field work confirms the theory of changel. CSBs contribute to crop diversification; can be employed as one of the strategies to address climate change adaptation; contribute to seed security, hence food and nutrition security at household level, and support income generation by selling surplus produce.The farmer seed systems practiced by community seed bankers have a significant impact on (i) crop diversification at the crop and variety levels, (ii) food and nutrition security, especially during drought years, and adaptation.Women are major players in the conservation and sustainable use of local plant genetic resources within the households and communities. Most of the seed exchanges, especially of indigenous vegetables and legumes (cowpeas, groundnuts), take place between and among women. With the climate change, the role of women as custodians of seed has been strengthened. This has seen women investing more time to seed selection and conservation in a bid to select varieties which help them to absorb the shocks of climate change.Community seed banks contribute to the conservation and utilization of local crop diversity. The CSBs have become critical as sources of seed which enables farmers to plant in seasons following droughts. Farmers who have access to community seed bank materials are seed secure at the start of each season.Implementing CBS activities has created stronger linkages between community seed banks, the national genebank, other civil society organisations and the farmers to share expertise with regard to the importance of plant genetic resources and how they relate to climate change and food and nutrition security.The rainfall seasons are starting late, are now shorter than what they used to be 10-20 years ago and long dry spells are being experienced during the growing seasons. This is causing poor crop establishment in farmers' fields resulting in crop failure due to poor soil moisture.Resources to carry out projects such as community seed banking are limiting. A number of communities that requested support to construct CSBs could not be supported because of financial resource limitations. ISSD Africa 2021-03Community Seed Banks have revived the growing of some of those crops that are neglected by government research such as Bambara nuts, sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet in communities where these were disappearing.Repartition of lost varieties from the National Genebank of Zimbabwe has increased the seed in communities through the engagement of farmers in seed multiplication.Good collaboration with government institutions is key for the effective implementation of projects including CBSs. The involvement of government partners from research, extension and national genebank is key for the sustainability of such projects as they provide technical backstopping.Exchange visits with farmers to national and international genebanks contributes to farmer empowerment, knowledge acquisition and improves their understanding of issues relating to challenges with crop losses, and the importance of its conservation through use. CTDT took farmers from its operational districts to the National genebank in Harare and the Southern Africa Development Community Regional Genebank (SPGRC) in Zambia to create awareness.Women played key roles in the conservation and management of plant genetic resources. The majority of them are involved including collecting, exchanging, storing and processing for utilization almost all the crop biodiversity including some of the Neglected and under-Utilized (NUS) crop species.Up to 70% of the participants in the CSB projects are women. In terms of empowerment through training, exchange visits and participation in the seed and food fairs, women play key roles and now occupy key positions in the community seed bank management committee. Through these activities, some of the women graduated into key leadership positions in local government and politics.The involvement of traditional and local governance leadership ensures sustainability. Involvement of political leadership contributes to pro-poor policy formulation and implementation.Geoffrey Simiyu and Bernard Wanjala, Sustainable Agricultural Development Initiatives (SADI)In Kenya, sugar cane production has been in existence since the 1950s. It was introduced as a major crop to unlock western Kenya's agricultural potential and transform it into the fulcrum of economic prosperity in that part of the country. This study explores the cumulative effects of sugarcane farming and other husbandry practices in the context of income sustainability, versus soil-health and agrobiodiversity in Bumula Sub-county of Bungoma County.In carrying out this research, the concepts of soil health and agrobioversity were useful to analyze data. Farmers in Bumula Sub-county have for many years been fully involved in sugarcane farming for their economic mainstay through contractual arrangements with either the Mumias or Nzoia Sugar Company. Through this vertical integration of business, the sugar millers focused mainly on increasing the yield per ton of raw canes. This was to be achieved by advising farmers, through the extension service, to apply more mineral fertilizers repeatedly. The additional use of heavy herbicides with residual effects in the soils, practiced together with minimum tillage, was considered to be a way of reducing drudgery for the farmers.An expansion program to increase the acreage under sugarcane grown outside the nuclei estates targeted farmers with virgin lands. New land was prepared by wanton bush clearing, leading to the encroachment of fragile wetlands and riparian lowlands. The establishment of outgrower companies, namely Mumias (MOCO) and the Nzoia outgrowers company (NOCO), led to increased intensification of sugarcane production with little regard to growing staple food crops by many farmers.Although national rural development programs, such as the Soil and Water Conservation program, the National Agriculture and Livestock Extension program (NALEP), the National Agriculture Accelerated and Inputs Access Project (NAAIAP) and the current Agriculture Sector Development Support Program (ASDSP) have been in place for many years, their focus has been on a very limited number of crops, in particular maize and bean. None of these programs has promoted crop diversification.Sugarcane farming has been the main cash crop in the area and some of the technologies used, such as continued use of mineral fertilizers and herbicides (Sencar, Atrizine, Diuron and Round-up) have had adverse impacts on the environment and the ecosystem (Wood 1985). Other practices contributed to the loss of wild crop species and varieties, i.e. deforestation and burning of cane trashes. Poor soil fertility due to the acidic state has resulted in the decline of crop production and erosion of biodiversity.Although there have been numerous soil tests and analyses done by various agencies on the sugarcane farms, there has been no proper coordination by an established institution to synthesize all the soil research and share the key results with the farmers.1. To find out the causes of low crop productivity in the region 2. To find out the general challenges that farmers face in the region 3. To assess whether the cause of low soil fertility is caused by the use of synthetic fertilizers 4. To identify the efforts made by farmers in the region towards solving the problem of poor soil fertility 5. To look into the roles of women in both food production and sugarcane farming (Bekele 1997) 6. To determine the constraints and choices of commercial and subsistence farming on the status of women and resilience: Field experiences from Africa Version September 2021 ISSD Africa 2021-03The soils are highly depreciated due to the continued use of chemical inputs that have negatively affected crop production in the region. Generally, Bumula sub-county is a net food importer, with nearly ninety percent of the households accessing food from the market centers. The food consists of cereals (largely, maize) and is sourced from Uganda and Trans-Nzoia county of Kenya. Our theory of change is that bio-intensive agriculture can help to rejuvenate the soils in Bumula Sub-county and restore them to their productive potential. In this context, a healthy soil is a precursor of (rich) agrobiodiversity in the environment and the ecosystem. With improved agrobiodiversity, farmers will be able to produce food sustainably, which will contribute to household resilience.The focal point of study was Bumula Sub-county of Bungoma country, in particular Khasoko and Bumula wards. The sub-county forms part of the expansive southern border of Matungu in Kakamega County and on the far west-side it borders Butula and Teso south of Busia County. Bumula Sub-county has two important agro-ecological zones. According to Jaetzold and Schmidt (1982), an agro-ecological zone (AEZ) is a geographical area which can be defined on the basis of its moisture supply, differences in the soil patterns as well as the associated crops and livestock species the area can raise naturally.The agro-ecological zone of Bumula Sub-county is the Lower Midland Zone (LM). The seasonal crop calendar here is long (Jaetzold and Schmidt 1982). The altitude in this zone ranges from 1,350-1,500 meters above sea level with annual mean temperature of 22-21 degrees Celsius and annual average rainfall of 1,600-1,800mm. The first rains normally begin in February and the second rains come towards the end of August.A large number of crops can be found in this zone (but not on the sugar cane farms) and include: sorghum, sweet potato, soy bean, sugarcane, kales, cabbages, cassava, maize, finger millet, common bean, pigeon pea, cow pea, spider plant, sun-hemp or silver leaf, jute mallow, arrow roots, African nightshades, Bambara nut, groundnut, sesame, okra, pineapple, avocado, passion fruit, watermelon, orange, pawpaw and banana.The main agricultural actors include the Ministry of Agriculture, Sustainable Agriculture Development Initiatives, and the Mumias Out Growers Company limited, and Nzoia out growers.Direct observation: It was employed in observing and recording information on cane farming practices from the outset of preproduction to post-harvesting stages. The method served to formulate relevant interview questions. Furthermore, the method was used as a tool to triangulate and evaluate the information given by the informants.Questionnaire: The interview form (questionnaire) consisted of both open-ended and close-ended questions. In the open-ended questions, the informants responded freely whilst in the close-ended questions, the informants were required to select from a set of categories.The research investigated methods and practices of sugarcane farming, in particular soil treatment aspects, adoption of modern technology, alternative economic strategies, attitudes concerning food production as well as different crops, and food preferences. The important questions addressed were how these variables affected soil and agrobiodiversity in the role of sustainable food production and economic mainstay.The study also focused on the status of women both in ascribed and prescribed positions in relation to land use and decision making. The questionnaire instrument was designed after conducting initial archival work and following a prolonged period in the field.This research technique focused mainly on the cane farmers contracted by Mumias and Nzoia sugar companies and other knowledgeable people about commercial farming and farming technologies in the sub-county. They provided information on historical timelines about the beginning of commercial crops in the 1970's. Some of them were young when sugarcane was first introduced. They witnessed how cash crops changed their subsistence world, in many respects resulting in status reversals between men and women (Cattell 1989).This cohort of informants provided valuable information concerning the impact of sugar cane growing on soils and biodiversity. Other key informants were those persons involved in agricultural extension services and development and community affairs, such as the Ministry of Agriculture staff, members of the Sustainable Agriculture Development Initiatives (a community Based Organization in Bumula).These informants elaborated on the dilemma of unhealthy soils and poor agrobiodiversity versus sustainable food production in the study area.Data analysis: The data were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods.The case study research was conducted by a team of seven researchers, one principal researcher, three male and three female research assistants. Research assistants were familiar with previous sugar cane farming practices in Bumula. In addition, they were conversant with the local social norms, rules and traditions of the communities living in Bumula. All the interviews were conducted in the local languages while English and Kiswahili were only used when interviewing non-resident key informants.The need to have a steady food supply produced by the community itself triggered the formation of Sustainable Agriculture Development Initiatives (SADI), which is a local community based organization.The organization took a central role in the recruitment and mobilization of farmers, with whom the research team worked to promote of crop diversification and organic farming (photos 10-12).In the beginning, farmers were trained by the Ministry of Agriculture on various typologies of conservation agriculture, bio-intensive agriculture (compositing, soil tillage techniques, cropping systems, integrated pest and disease management, agroforestry, and simple soil testing techniques mainly concerning organic carbon. Various soil and crop husbandry practices, such as crop rotations and zero tillage were employed to incorporate the innovation packages aimed at restoring the soil potential.Farmers then implemented these technologies gradually by growing different crop types, such as local vegetables, cereals and pulses, during the study period. At each stage or level of operation, data were collected. Parameters for data collection were mainly germination population and amount of inputs applied, and yield per unit area.Both progressive monitoring and summative follow-ups were used throughout the study period. The collected data from the harvests and descriptive feedback from the farmers on the changes in the yield and restoration of the soil productivity vigor were analyzed and then shared with farmers. Several initiatives were organized to further disseminate the findings.From the results, it was noted that there was an improved production in yield due to improved soils. A case is banana, which increased from 6 kilograms to 13 kilograms per bunch. Many farmers gradually embraced the growing of other food crops along sugarcane as a form of diversification to become more resilient against the vicious hunger-pangs amongst many households.Each household now has nearly 30% of the crop land under different crops and agroforestry trees. Many farmers are now planting horticulture crops and sell them on the market for income generation. The opening up of small village market joints, where women sell food-wares grown on their own farms, has opened up an alternative source of income as opposed to over reliance on sugarcane income that would previously be earned.Although the study resulted in good results and a new hope with regard to soil-health and agrobiodiversity in the sub-county, farmers faced some bottlenecks that portent to water-down the success of adoption rates. Livestock based systems provide livelihoods to 1 billion people and account for 40% of global agricultural gross domestic product. Animal-source foods provide 14% of the calories and 33% of the proteins consumed globally and provide essential micronutrients, such as vitamin A, B-12, riboflavin, calcium, iron and zinc. In addition, livestock has high cultural and social values. Producing feed for livestock uses about 84% of the world's agricultural land (Erb et al. 2007;Foley et al. 2011). The share is even higher in developing countries (FAO 2009). Producing enough animal feed is a challenge, especially in ruminant systems, accounting for 50 to 60% of the total production costs (Swanepoel et al. 2010). Land resources that can be used for feed production are increasingly constrained.In the face of climate change and its expected negative impacts on livestock systems, adaptation and increasing the resilience of livestock production systems should be a priority. Regions identified as the most vulnerable, e.g. Sub-Saharan Africa, are also regions where rural communities rely the most on livestock for nutrition security, income and livelihoods. Well-adapted forages with high productivity and nutritional quality can provide animal feed throughout the year while mitigating GHG emissions. They are amongst the most promising innovations in the livestock sector. However, more intensive on the ground presence of the Alliance started only about a decade ago, through the development of a systems approach to forage based crop-livestock-tree systems. That prompted closer interaction with forage improvement through selection and with the breeding of forage grasses of the Urochloa and -more recently -the Megathyrsus genera to target specific lines and their management for Africa. By integrating improved forages in local livestock production systems, the Alliance's tropical forages program explicitly aims to simultaneously enhance livestock production, natural resource use efficiency, biodiversity and climate change resilience, and mitigate GHG emissions.Tropical forages provide an opportunity to intensify and diversify livestock-crop-tree systems in rainfed environments (with more than four to five months of rain). They could be extended to drier areas if irrigation and/or conservation measures are taken. Until recently, forage production relied on the selection of wild relatives, using only a few species and accessions, e.g. in the case of Urochloa in Brazil 50 million ha are planted to only one cultivar, Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu (Jank et al. 2014). For tropical grasses, breeding is more important, most notably for Urochloa spp. (formerly Brachiaria), Megathyrsus maximus (formerly Panicum maximum) and Cenchrus purpureus (formerly Pennisetum purpureum).The aim to simultaneously diversify and intensify existing systems relies on using enhanced diversity through either breeding and/or selection, targeting specific production niches, increasing at the same time productivity and water use efficiency, avoiding soil degradation and reducing GHG emissions per unit livestock product. The intensification of systems can create opportunities for scaling forages in partnership with both the public and private sectors. Specific benefits for women and youth exist in terms of reducing time to source feeds and developing small-scale business opportunities, such as the multiplication of planting material, and production of hay, silage or fresh fodder, and forage sales. In Africa, the Alliance currently on a few selected countries where there is a defined and increasing demand for improved forages, and where intensified systems are solidly linked to growing markets for animal-source foods (Coulibaly 2009). These countries are Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Further scaling to other Sub-Saharan African countries is expected in the near future.The key methodological approaches employed are: A study by Schiek et al. (2018) defined the role of forages to close the gap between rising demand for livestock products and sustainable production. For all but the lowest levels of adoption and production increases, improved forages have the potential for positive return on investment. A more focused scaling scan analyzing possibilities for adoption in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia confirmed this potential; work on reaching 100,000 forage users in four years is in progress (Notenbaert et al., unpublished). Notenbaert et al. (2018) applied a suitability mapping tool to the case of tropical forages in Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya and Vietnam.Although different forage crops have various reactions to climate change, in general, a negative impact of climate change on forage crops was projected. Smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia used these maps for selecting context-specific no-regret forage species and varieties (Mwendia et al. 2019).The maps also point to the gaps and opportunities for improving and expanding the choice of adapted forage options. This can then be translated to breeding objectives and forage breeding and selection programs can help future generations of farmers by developing a more diversified portfolio of germplasm suitable to future climate conditions. ISSD Africa 2021-03From genebanks to improved hybrids: a multidisciplinary path to deliver genetic gainThe identification of the multiple uses and alternatives offered by the diversity hosted in genebanks is a challenge. When trying to use promising accessions in agroecosystems, challenges are how to deal with diverse abiotic conditions and (new) pests and diseases. In the context of climate change, extreme abiotic conditions are expected to worsen, which demands the selection/breeding of more tolerant cultivars. Forage breeding allows combining in the same cultivar different desired characteristics. Over time, forage breeding evolved from answering fundamental questions of basic biology (1970s), to establishing an appropriate breeding scheme in which apomixis rather than being a barrier to reproduction became an advantage to the stability, multiplication and dissemination of the hybrid (1980s) (Figure 7).  Due to the heterogeneous nature of livestock production systems (given temporal and spatial agroclimatic attributes), the most effective selection and targeting strategy is to subject identified forages to real conditions through participatory engagement of livestock producers.Efforts across several countries in East Africa (e.g. in the southern highlands of Tanzania and in Rwanda), resulted in several good performing forage technologies in terms of high yield and acceptability to livestock producers. In western Kenya, evaluation of Urochloa hybrids and cultivars revealed a performance gradient showing differences within a species. Seed is one of the most crucial elements to meet demand for forages, both for bred materials as well as selections. A sustainable seed system will ensure that high quality seeds of a diversified range of suitable forage are accessible, available in time and affordable to farmers and other stakeholders. The need to support the forage seed sector has been identified by many stakeholders as an important bottleneck (Njarui et al. 2017;Assefa et al. 2017). The development of business models for economically sustainable seed production (including vegetative propagation) and marketing requires concerted action at both demand and supply levels, to ensure a minimum market security for forage seed producers and distributors.The Alliance is supporting a reliable seed distribution network involving public-private partnerships and incorporating international, national and local seed suppliers. For the hybrids originating from its breeding program, the Alliance collaborates intensively with the private sector partner Papalotla/Tropical Seeds. Sizeable quantities of seed are made accessible and combined with awareness creating activities.Import and distribution of seeds led by Tropical Seeds is complemented by supporting small-to medium-scale businesses in the distribution of vegetative planting material.Business opportunities for small-scale seedling producers are identified and training provided to strengthen agronomic and business skills. NARS support National Performance Trials (NPTs) and certification/registration processes of new promising forage varieties. While for tropical grasses there is defined interest of the private sector to engage, this is still more limited for tropical legumes, the latter with a few exceptions relying much stronger on propagation and dissemination through e.g. farmer to farmer distribution, development actors and small to medium scale business involving farmers through contract farming.Despite the opportunities and benefits that increased livestock production could bring, it is widely observed that livestock systems are key drivers of global environmental degradation (Foley et al. 2011).Efforts to maximize production and profitability need to be balanced with long-term sustainability and environmental stewardship. It is therefore important to assess potential environmental impacts before embarking on large-scale development projects geared towards livestock production intensification and value chain transformation (Notenbaert et al. 2020).Alliance researchers developed an indicator framework for ex-ante assessments of environmental impacts of development interventions in livestock VCs, i.e. the Comprehensive Livestock Environmental Assessment for improved Nutrition, a secured Environment and sustainable Development (CLEANED). It estimates biomass, water and nutrient flows and assesses three dimensions of environmental impacts across different spatial and temporal scales: (1) water use, (2) soil health and (3) greenhouse gas emissions. The CLEANED framework is intended to support decision-making and help prioritizing the development actions of governments, donors, NGOs and farmer organizations in data-scarce environments (Notenbaert et al. 2014).The application of the CLEANED tool to the dairy VC in Tanga, Tanzania (Notenbaert et al. 2020), revealed that milk production increases associated with the introduction of improved feeding strategies are projected to go hand-in-hand with increases in land requirements for feed production and associated increases in absolute soil loss. Under unchanged fertility management systems, it would result in an increasing negative N balance. The land productivity (kg FPCM/ha) is, however, expected to increase. In the mixed crop-livestock systems, the absolute total water use is expected to increase due to larger feed requirements. The water appropriated per unit of milk would decrease. The animal herds with bigger and more productive animals are estimated to cause higher GHG emissions.Rough estimates indicate that the economic benefits of improved forages outweigh the costs. Ready markets are available for many inputs and outputs, save for lack of seeds and low prices for milk. Access to credit remains a big challenge with negative consequences for adoption, as is the access to capacity building measures. Our research indicates that most farmers are motivated to adopt improved forages because of their tangible benefits.Amplifying and demonstrating such advantages to farmers would therefore promote adoption. Oulu et al. (2020) analyzed factors that influence the adoption of improved forage varieties in Western Kenya.The results indicate that the choice of which variety to recommend for adoption is complex depending on physiology and genetics, agroecological conditions, agronomic practices, knowledge and skills of the farmers, costs and benefits, availability of resources and challenges with existing forages.While some aspects can rely on perceptions of farmers and other stakeholders, some can only be conclusively determined through field trials and assessments addressing forage production as well as effects on quantity and quality of milk.Results indicate that improved forages are mostly superior to local ones, e.g. in terms of increased milk production, nutrition/protein content and disease resistance. However, traditional forages have attributes that complement improved ones. This explains why most farmers who have adopted improved forages also retain traditional forages.A portfolio approach that promotes the adoption of diverse improved forages with the retention of some of the existing traditional forages is thus recommended and pursued to enhance resilience to climatic and other shocks while promoting agrobiodiversity (photo 13).Gender influences adoption in many ways, with men still key decision-makers even though a more nuanced understanding of the soft power of women is important. Group membership enhances adoption due to informational and other benefits. Like other crops, forages present potential business opportunities along the value chain: sale of forage seeds, seedlings, vegetative splits and forage products, e.g. hay (Mwangi and Onyango, 2019), but also end product differentiation and price premiums (e.g. sustainable beef). Businesses in turn spur market pull, catalyzing adoption and scaling.Engage in awareness creation and capacity building through media, traditional and digital extension and outreachIn order to get forages to be used at scale, awareness creation and capacity building, especially for the smallholder dairy producers, are needed (Mwangi and Onyango 2019). Usually, farmers acquire information through various sources and modes; efforts that incorporate multiple outreach approaches are more likely to have greater reach, e.g. field days, radio and television programs, ICT platforms and farmer visits. Digital extension services should be expanded, and capitalize particularly on the lessons learned due to the COVID-19 contraction of traditional face-to-face extension.Engagement in policy-making processes is crucial to support the adoption of improved forages and sustainable intensification. Our experience from Latin America, in particular Colombia, shows that contributing to multi-stakeholder platforms or sector roundtables with scientific advances helps in validation and awareness creation. It also enriches facts-based public policy-making processes, private sector initiatives along the value chains (e.g. capacity building, development of sustainable products), the development of particular value chain services (e.g. credit schemes for investments in forages) and dialogue among a broad range of actors. Scaling can be realized through linking such national level efforts to international sector platforms and initiatives, such as the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef or the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock.Demand for planted forages is rapidly increasing, with an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 farmers currently having adopted planted forages and a target of 100,000 adopters over the next four years in Eastern Africa, for example. The increased demand for improved forages is due to higher productivity, higher quality and prolonged survival in the drought period, in this combination mostly not available in comparison to forage alternatives currently employed at farm level.In many regions of the world, planting forages is only recently emerging e.g. Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. To respond to new social, economic and environmental challenges, a system's change is needed. This includes maintaining a portfolio of currently used forages, exploring the diversity of forages -e.g. grasses in tropical Africa and legumes in tropical Americas and Asia -in their center of origin and amplifying the diversity of forage options through introduction of germplasm selected from wild relatives and breeding.To be successful, this will require parallel work on the sustainable management of forages to build the much needed capacity. Forage conservation (e.g. silage, hay and densified forages) will play an increased role as land resources decrease and vulnerability increases. Thus, in summary, diversity in plant genetic resources will need to go hand in hand with diversification and intensification of management.In the second part of the impact pathway, the combined improved livelihood outcomes can lead to an increased capacity to foresee and deal with shocks, e.g. by distributing farming uncertainties and risks over space and time. Thus, resilience is constructed or emerges through the aggregation of two or more mutually-reinforcing livelihood outcomes.Methodologically, improvements can be made in terms of a more detailed analysis of the baseline situation (e.g. crop/variety diversity index, level of seed security, diet composition or food intake, income sources and levels, level of exposure to climate shocks, level of exposure to market shocks); and in a more systematic evaluation of results compared to the baseline situation. Five steps are proposed:Step 1: Identifying farmers' goals, including a gap analysis of functional diversity in the current farming system.Step 2: Assessing current and future climate-related production risks.Step 3: Assessing enabling and disabling factors.Step 4: Designing the crop diversification strategy to include impact pathway and expected outcomes.Step 5: A Theory of Change-based evaluation.We refer to the literature review for more details (Vernooy, submitted for review).Vernooy, R. Does crop diversification lead to climate-related resilience? Improving the theory through insights on practice. Submitted for review."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"17f4ea5cd0f918591d1b86772840cb0e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f9b65867-9f39-407c-a54c-02f352949e49/retrieve","id":"1920029930"},"keywords":["Araticum-mirim","microprogation","plant growth regulators"],"sieverID":"67cfff45-f657-4eaa-b6c4-81878bc95847","content":"Annona emarginata is a native fruit tree in the Brazilian Cerrado which, unlike the commercial species, does not present a high fruit quality. On the other hand, it stands out based on its rootstock value. However, there are some problems that hinder the largescale production of Annona emarginata seedlings for use as a rootstock. In order to overcome these difficulties, micropropagation has become a viable alternative for the rapid and efficient propagation of Annona spp, but Annona emarginata micropropagation has not yet been reported. Therefore, the aim of this study was to initiate Annona emarginata in vitro growth. For axillary shoot proliferation, in vitro nodal segments of 0.5 cm were transferred to MS or WPM supplemented with BA at different concentrations. Nodal segments were also cultured on WPM medium with ranging concentrations of different plant growth regulators, aiming for either shoot elongation or rooting. The results showed that the use of 1 µM BA in WPM medium is recommended for in vitro multiplication of Annona emarginata. This is based on the low adventitious shoot formation, combined with a higher number of buds and leaves. The use of GA 3 at any concentration tested induced the formation of malformed plants. Root formation could not be stimulated, regardless the duration of auxin treatment.Annona ssp. represents a group of important fruit trees found in the Brazilian Cerrado and the Amazonian rainforest (Egydio and Santos, 2011). Five Annonaceae species are of major commercial importance (Pareek et al., 2011), such as cherimoya (Annona cherimola Mill.), the hybrid atemoya (Annona cherimola Mill. x Annona squamosa L.), the sugar apple or sweetsop (Annona squamosa L.), known as pinha or fruta do conde and the soursop (Annona muricata L.), known as graviola (Orsi et al., 2012), which are mainly used for pulp or juice production in Brazil.Due to difficulties inherent in conventional propagation through seeds (Padilla and Encina 2003;Santana et al., 2011), the propagation of commercial Annona species happens through grafting or budding (Costa, Bueno and Ferreira, 2011;Nagori and Purohit, 2004;Rasai, George and Kantharajah, 1995). Due to problems of incompatibility between the scion and the rootstock (Schaffer, Davies and Crane, 2006) and the presence of diseases like root rot infection (Neto et al. 2006), it is important to choose a suitable rootstock.A suitable rootstock for other Annonaceae species is Annona emarginata, locally known as Araticum-mirim (Lorenzi, 2009). When grafted on this species, the graft shows 90% survival (Baron et al. 2011). This rootstock also displays a high resistance to soil fungi and it is less attractive to stem borers (Neto et al. 2006). However, there are some problems that hinder the large-scale production of Annona emarginata seedlings for use as a rootstock, such as the low and uneven germination percentage and the rapid loss of viability after seed drying (Costa, Bueno and Ferreira, 2011).Micropropagation is a viable alternative for the rapid and efficient propagation of several species. Although several Annonaceae species have already been micropropagated (Encina et al. 2014), few protocols proved to be successful for the micropropagation process. Most of the species studied, show problems with rooting and acclimatization (Lemos and Blake, 1996;Oliveira et al. 2010).Annona emarginata micropropagation has not been reported yet. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a micropropagation protocol for Annona emarginata.Nodal segments of 0.5 cm were excised from three-year-old Annona emarginata plants, maintained in a greenhouse at the Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory of the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), Brazil. The explants were immersed in 70% ethyl alcohol (v/v) for 30 seconds, followed by sodium hypochlorite treatment (1% active chloride) during 15 minutes. They were then washed three times in sterile distilled water and inoculated into test tubes containing 20 mL MS medium (Murashige and Skoog, 1962), supplemented with 5 µM 6-benzylaminopurine (BA), 30g L -1 sucrose and solidified with 0.65% agar. The pH was adjusted to 5.8 ± 0.1 before autoclaving. All cultures were maintained in a growth room at 25 ± 2 °C with a 16-hour photoperiod and 56 µmol m -2 s -1 PAR (Photosynthetic Activity Radiation).For axillary shoot proliferation, in vitro nodal segments of 0.5 cm with a single bud, were transferred to MS or Woody Plant Medium (WPM) (Lloyd and McCown, 1980) supplemented or not with BA at different concentrations (0, 1, 3 or 5 µM). The media were supplemented with 30g L -1 sucrose and solidified with 3g L -1 Phytagel ® and the pH was adjusted to 5.8 ± 0.1. Each tube contained one explant and was considered as one replicate, with each treatment consisting of 15 replicates. After 45 days of culture, the number of buds and leaves of each explant was counted, and the height of the main shoot was measured.Shoots of 1 cm length derived from the axillary proliferation with four buds were transferred to WPM supplemented with 1µM BA, in combination with different concentrations (0, 1, 5 and 10 µM) of gibberellic acid-3 (GA 3 ), 30g L -1 sucrose, solidified with 3g L -1 Phytagel ® and pH adjusted to 5.8 ± 0.1. The explants were maintained in a dark room at 25 ± 2 ºC for 14 days, and then transferred to a culture room in light at 25 ± 2 °C with a 16-hour photoperiod and 56 µmol m -2 s -1 PAR, or were cultured throughout the whole experimental period in a light. After 45 days, the number of buds and leaves of each explant was counted and the height was measured. Treatments consisted of 12 replicates with one explant per tube.For root induction, shoots of 1-2 cm length with four buds previously maintained in WPM + 1 µM BA for 60 days, were transferred to a WPM basal medium without plant growth regulators (control), or supplemented with different auxins: Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) or 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) at 1, 10 and 100 µM. All media were supplemented with 30g L -1 sucrose and 3g L -1 Phytagel ® with pH adjusted to 5.8 ± 0.1. Treatments consisted of 24 replicates, with one explant per tube. Shoots were maintained in a medium containing auxin for seven or 30 days and then, transferred to a growth regulator free medium. After 45 days of culture, the number of roots was counted and the presence of callus was noted.Statistical analyses were performed using the SISVAR program (Ferreira, 2014). All the experiments were set up in a completely randomized design. The data were analyzed through analysis of variance (ANOVA) and, when significant (P<0.05) by F test, they were submitted to polynomial regression.It was possible to observe that the WPM medium is always superior to MS after 45 days of culture regarding the number of buds produced, provided a source of cytokines is supplemented (Figure 1A). In general, the number of leaves increased in both media in the presence of BA and the highest number of leaves was found in WPM medium, regardless of the BA concentration (Figure 1B). Shoot height was not statistically different when using MS or WPM medium (P>0.05).Cytokines have been routinely used in tissue culture due their action in promoting the unfolding of a complex gene expression program that results in a variety of traits, including shoot formation during plant propagation (Howell, Lall and Che, 2003).The highest number of buds (9) was obtained with the highest concentration of BA tested. However, this increase also takes into account the formation of \"clumps\". Clumps is a swelling at the base of the explant, but which doesn't looks such as callus with undifferentiated and loose cells (Figure 2). This is followed by the appearance of small buds that can sometimes develop into new plants. It was, however, observed that most of the clumps or adventitious buds gave rise to malformed leaves or buds. These malformations observed are undesirable in clonal multiplication cycles, since they may cause somaclonal variation.Clumps were observed at a rate over 80% when MS was used, or over 66% in WPM medium when supplemented with any concentration of BA. In contrast, in the absence of BA in either MS or WPM medium, no clumps were visible.Such increase in the number of buds, following an increased concentration of BA, was also described by Lemos and Blake (1996) when BA was used to induce multiplication in Annona muricata. However, these authors did not describe the formation of clumps and malformed leaves.Shoot elongation reached the highest values at 5 µM GA 3 , irrespective of light conditions (Figure 3).The results obtained in the present study differ from other authors that also tested the effect of GA 3 in the culture medium of Annonaceae. Nagori and Purohit (2004) reported that, when initiated on MS medium containing BA, even after repeated subcultures, or when treated with GA 3 in combination with BA, explants of Annona squamosa did not undergo any significant growth stimulation. Lemos and Blake (1996) also reported that the addition of GA 3 to the basic medium did not stimulate any significant growth in Annona muricata.   Although the use of 5 µM GA 3 increased elongation, the addition of GA 3 induced malformed plants with irregular shapes and color of leaves, regardless of light conditions (Figure 4).Classically, GA 3 is used for elongation of in vitro plants. This compound stimulates an increase in internode length. However, in this study, the addition of GA 3 showed a negative effect. Thus, further studies related to the use of GA 3 or their combination with other plant growth regulators could significantly contribute to determine an appropriate concentration for Annona emarginata.The addition of NAA, IAA or IBA at any of the concentrations tested did not show any statistical influence Callus formation occurred after 30 days of culture, despite the auxin treatment (Figure 5A). The presence of 100 µM NAA, IBA or IAA for 30 consecutive days promoted 50%, 25% and 75% callus formation, respectively. When the same concentrations were applied for seven consecutive days, less callus (16%, 16% and 8.33%, respectively) was observed. The induction of such callus was also reported by Nagori and Purohit (2004) and by Zobayed, Armstrong and Armstrong, (2002) in Annona squamosa. Moreover, a prolonged use of auxin, especially at high concentrations (100 µM), adversely affected the development of Annona emarginata shoots, showing leaf yellowing and bud necrosis in all treatments (Figure 5B). Lemos and Blake (1994) and Oliveira et al. (2007) reported that leaf abscission in Annonaceae in vitro cultures are a serious problem. This can be due to the induction and accumulation of ethylene in the tissue culture container, when auxins are applied for a prolonged period of time (De Klerk, 2002). An increase in ethylene production can be due to a decrease in cytokinin concentration in mature organs (Oliveira et al. 2007) or due to the use of exogenous auxins acting as an antagonist of cytokinins (Shimizu-Sato, Tanaka and Mori, 2009). Ethylene production may also be stimulated by mechanical cutting of the explant (Khalafalla and Hattori, 2000).Leaf abscission was also observed by Farooq, Farooq and Rao (2002) with Annona squamosa, when cultured on medium enriched with IBA. Zobayed, Armstrong and Armstrong (2002) also describe that the addition of NAA to the medium increased leaf abscission in A. squamosa and A. muricata.To avoid or minimize ethylene production and its possible effects on in vitro leaf abscission, cytokinin or ethylene antagonists such as silver nitrate or silver thiosulfate may be applied. Oliveira et al. (2007) describe that the addition of the cytokinins to the culture medium can reduce leaf senescence during in vitro culture of Annona glabra.The use of 1 µM BA in WPM medium is recommended for the in vitro multiplication of Annona emarginata. This is based on the low rate of adventitious shoot formation, combined with a higher number of buds and leaves.Independent of light conditions, GA 3 induced the formation of malformed plants with irregular shapes and lighter color of leaves, at any of the concentrations, when combined with 1 µM BA.In the present study, root formation could not be stimulated, regardless of the duration of auxin treatment, type or concentration of auxin. Further experiments are thus needed to optimize root formation."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c349657312c192fd5d386a412f4f7c48","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/46a4e589-d022-4771-b06b-305340c3bfa8/retrieve","id":"551850080"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f72c697b-ee20-400d-b3e9-793a4c480a1d","content":"Total population: 13.2 million 41% of the urban population lives in Kigali 61% of urban Rwandans live in informal settlements Urban poverty rate (2017): 15.8% Annual urban growth rate: 3.1% Information on child feeding practices shows high consumption of Vitamin-A rich foods in urban and rural areas and a steady increase from 2010 and 2020 in both areas (Fig 2). Vitamin A deficiency among children 6-59 months is slightly higher in urban children (8.3%) than in rural children (6.5%). Among pregnant women, 14% in urban areas are Vitamin-A deficient as compared to 7% in rural areas (8). Consumption of iron-rich foods is low, especially in rural areas, and has not increased over time (Fig. 2) (5).Rwanda is one of the most densely populated countries in Africa. National strategies aim to eliminate chronic malnutrition by 2050 (1). Overall, the country is on track for global nutrition targets for child wasting, overweight and recommended breastfeeding practices (2). However, there are differences in nutrition challenges between rural and urban areas. The dominance of the agricultural economy at the national level, higher poverty and stunting rates in rural areas has led to a greater focus on promoting food and nutrition security in rural areas (Fig. 1) (3,4).National data show that food and nutrition security improved in urban areas since 2010. Child stunting and wasting over this period also declined in both urban and rural areas (Fig. 1) (5). However, urban poverty increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the low-skilled urban poor being most affected (6).Kigali* 1 While there is no data on the impacts of the pandemic on urban child nutrition, a study of secondary cities found high levels of household food insecurity during the COVID-19 crisis (7).Vitamin A-rich foods commonly consumed in Rwanda include spinach, amaranth, cassava, pumpkin, sweet potato, mango; Iron-rich foods include egg, meat, and fish or shellfish. Vitamin B12 deficiency affects 16% of children aged 6-59 months, with no differences between rural and urban areas. However, nearly half of pregnant women in urban areas (46%) are B12 deficient, and 43% in rural areas.Overweight and obesity in women is markedly higher in urban versus rural areas and has increased steadily (almost doubled) between 2010 and 2020, and affected 40% of urban women (Fig 4). Obesity and overweight also doubled among women in rural areas but reached a lower prevalence (22%) in 2020.Nationally representative data indicates hypertension prevalence is slightly higher in semi-urban areas (18.5%) as compared to rural (15%) or urban areas (15.7%), and is associated with older age, increased BMI and residence in a semi-urban area (10). A study using World Health Organization surveillance data found diabetes prevalence is also higher in urban areas (9.7%) than in rural areas (7.5%). Obesity, high cholesterol, hypertension, and age were associated with diabetes and impaired fasting glucose among urban residents (11).Generally, trends in Rwanda mirror the rest of the East African region, with higher rural stunting and wasting but rapidly increasing overweight and NCD burdens in urban areas (12).Photo of Kigali: Gwendolyn Stansbury/IFPRI Overweight and obesity prevalence among urban men was 9% in urban areas and 2.6% among rural men 2010, and has not been updated for either locality (5).There is limited information on urban adult diets. A recent study found urbanites may eat more healthy foods, but their overall diet quality is lower than rural residents relative to global diet recommendations and for unhealthy foods that should be limited (9). Another surveyed women in two secondary cities and found that 67% did not consume an adequately diverse diet (7). Child anemia has seen little improvement since 2010, and affects 34% of urban children and 37% of rural children. Women's anemia slightly declined in urban and rural areas from 2010-2020 (Fig. 3).Likewise, the prevalence of children overweight or obese in urban areas rose from 7% in 2010 to 11% in 2014 but dropped back down to 7% in 2020. Rural child overweight showed a slight decline from 7% in 2010 to 5% in 2020.Urban food environments are also understudied in Rwanda. Work on the topic has been only published more recently (after 2015) and is focused on describing characteristics of urban food environments. Most of this work is focused on the 'availability' dimension of the food environment (n=3) (14). The types of food environments studied were formal and informal markets. Cultivated, wild and institutional food environments were not represented in the literature. Two studies focused on vendors and product properties in Kigali. One assessed food safety in meat in retail outlets, finding a need for improvements in meat handling practices particularly in terms of temperature, hygiene conditions and personnel training (15). An inventory of African indigenous crops in three informal urban markets found only a quarter of consumables available were cultivated or wild native foods, and highlighted the opportunity to promote consumption of native species to improve dietary diversity (16). Another study measured coverage of iron-biofortified beans and biofortified orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) in a peri-urban area. While unfortified bean and OFSP consumption was high, awareness and availability of biofortified crops were barriers to uptake (17). Another study described advocacy efforts to support a ministerial decree for food fortification as a means to support urban food quality (18).There is a need for further descriptive and inferential work to characterize the urban food environment in Rwanda, particularly in relation to informal urban markets and on topics including prices, consumer preferences, stability, accessibility, sustainability and food safety.There was also an evidence gap on developing and testing interventions to improve diets and nutrition via the food environment. No published evaluations of urban food environment interventions were found. However, these types of interventions could prove useful to address the diet and nutrition challenges outlined above in the urban environment. For example, the biofortification of commonly consumed foods such as beans, which already occurs in Rwanda, has the potential to address the low percentage of children consuming iron-rich foods. Integrating information from studies of the food environment -such as barriers to availability of these crops -could inform interventions to encourage healthy diets among urban populations.There is little published evidence on urban nutrition interventions in Rwanda. In the absence of evidence, formative work could help to inform potential interventions. Formative research in rural Rulindo and urban Kigali identified acceptable feeding practices for children and potential barriers to recommended child feeding practices. One potential barrier to nutrition interventions is the belief by caregivers in both urban and rural areas that child overweight is an indication of good health (13). Unfortunately, the lack of rigorous evaluations and few results presented by locality (urban/rural) preclude an understanding of what interventions would be most effective in urban areas. There are major gaps in the evidence on urban dietary patterns and nutrition challenges, interventions and policies in Rwanda. These include understanding the range of nutritional challenges urban dwellers face (e.g., multiple forms of malnutrition), their dietary patterns, and how food environments and other factors influence their food choices and diets. There is also a lack of comprehensive diet, nutrition and health data on vulnerable urban sub-groups and little information on the role of smaller secondary cities and peri-urban areas in shaping the food environments urban dwellers are exposed to. This data is needed in order to align identified nutrition, diet, and food environment challenges with interventions to address them. These interventions must then be rigorously evaluated, with a goal to eventually incorporate lessons into policy or strategies focused on urban areas.Urban farming is also supported by the National Urbanization Policy (2015), but only through zoning regulation that allows for mixed agricultural use including gardening, tree nurseries and communal plots. Vision 2050 is an ambitious national agenda which foresees a transition from a reliance on imported food to a domestic food system that meets dietary needs of an urbanizing population, including through urban farming. However, how that transition will be implemented or financed is not clearly defined. At the local government level, a partnership between local government and the Food and Agriculture Organization on an Urban Food Agenda is building capacity to implement food system strategies to strengthen the connections between rural and urban food systems surrounding Kigali (20). While national policies reference the importance of urban agriculture, greater designated funding and programmatic support could help to encourage these initiatives. The Rwandan policy environment has many comprehensive strategies focused on nutrition, but there are few specific efforts targeted to the challenges of growing urban areas.Rwanda's first National Nutrition Strategy was adopted in 2007. Subsequently, a multi-sectoral National Food and Nutrition Policy (2013-2018) set political commitments to nutrition, reinforced support to nutrition programs and aimed to reduce household food insecurity and malnutrition. However, while the policy acknowledged the growing challenge of overnutrition and NCDs in urban areas, there were few concrete actions outlined to address them. Homegrown school meals and gardening in urban schools were emphasized in the policy but financing or operational efforts are needed (19). The Vision 2020 Umurenge Program (VUP), the national social protection strategy, incorporated nutrition-sensitive interventions such as the nutrition-sensitive direct support program (NSDS) to provide cash transfers to vulnerable women and children. The NSDS targeted districts with high levels of stunting, including some rapidly urbanizing districts, although urban considerations are not explicitly addressed in design or implementation."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a5b9ef90d76e5bc5295fb1932577348d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4f87e0ba-f499-4a8f-a80f-b6e12a9728de/retrieve","id":"1480021552"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"87ae0c82-fd5e-411f-81f1-19ad383134e3","content":"• More productive and adapted potato varieties, with crop yields up by >100% • Commercial seed producers very successful, driving youth employment.• Five of the 30+ varieties released have been adopted by farmers nationally.• Farmer-preferred crop traits added to varietal selection criteria, speeding up adoption. • Drought-tolerant and heat-resistant varieties currently being tested with farmers.• Further >40% increase in potato yield using newly selected late blight resistant clones. • ≈ 60,000 households adopting improved varieties.• ≈ 20,000 households improving food security during the 'hunger months'. • >1.3% increase in national potato production under improved seed and management.This document is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. May 2019The International Potato Center works directly with small-scale farmers in the Amhara; Oromia; Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP) and Tigray regions. Its teams strengthen capacity of national researchers to undertake:• Demand-driven varietal development, adaptation and dissemination through a quality seed production and distribution network.• 'Training of farmer trainers' on good agricultural practices.• Supplemental training for cooperatives to address seed-health related quality issues.• Monitoring to ensure equal access to seed and knowledge for women.• Coordination and knowledge sharing through multi-stakeholder innovation platforms, workshops, fairs, training, etc.• With national partners, increase provision of affordable, improved potato technologies equitably to men and women farmers.• Strengthen national capacity for varietal development supporting climate-resilience of farmers.• Many of the 4 million potato farmers in Ethiopia struggle to feed their families.• Rising temperatures, rainfall variability, pests and diseases further threaten yields.• Improved potatoes and better agricultural practices could help farmers adapt to more challenging growing conditions.• Potato is ideal in difficult conditions: water efficient, matures quickly and can be harvested during the hungry season. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d40893513f7b5ef7526052870ff640ea","source":"gardian_index","url":"http://ciat-library.ciat.cgiar.org/ciat_digital/CIAT/books/historical/117.pdf","id":"-475817897"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6d9bc663-1997-4458-a4f0-8ff094f2b982","content":"En el lneora y el lea. no a\\1llliniatraron itlf_16n. El lna.niero A¡r6ñomo. Al,fonao Zapata Llanos. Asesor Aldcola de la caja Airada •• uminia-tr6uombres d. dos agricu1tore •• Uno pr •• ent6 un eultlro-.yor de s.i. me.e. y el otro no quiso dar itlformacl6n. S!c;cional Cuural CMeta) . J ' Cultivador's entrevistado_ •durant. la ,1'1 • viaita Bdad de la Ro. en-Ext. planta cu,t, NaatlJr' Ieealidad en )P . . .• 4'H 066-41 wisA. Cerretlo V_turcaa 2 120 067-41 luclios. Cubillo_ Cuart.le_ 1 )O 068-41 Alejandro Súarez Cuartel •• 4 120 Cultivadora. entrevistado. para la -eB!!1Ida mig' Local1dadLa Caja Agraria en el Distrito da Caicedonia suministr6 el contacto del Sr. Ram6nDuque, preparador de tierras y mayorista de yuca, para cultivos con grandes extensiones de 'rea sembrada. Cerea de un 20 por ciento de la DIestra.Para loa demJts sectores estudiados se t0m6 la informaci6n del Camite de Cafeteros, con la ayuda de los pr'cticos de esta Entidad. tocalizac16n de los cultivadores .'... --. .. ,• \",n•u f .tocaU.u.c16n de loa cultivadores. Q    El Director de la caja Agraria en Mariquita. Sr. Eduardo Gallon suainistro el nombre de cuatro cultivadores de yuca los cuales no se pudieron visi---tar por dificil acceso al cultivo.Seccional Mariquita (Tolima) cultivadore. entrevistados durante la primera visita \"Edad de laExt.planta lIunicipio       ;¡ • 2 §i t;j ., . .' .• J~~~.. .In las. pr6xlma. v1aitaa 8e tratartl de cubd.r_ionales en el Departa. •.  !2!!      No. en-Dirección ó nombre Edad de 1.    .. Resultados parciales obtenidos durante la primera visita Tipo de planta sembrsda, plagas, enfermedades, malezas, forma de sembrar ls semilla, tamafto en.centímetros y procedencia.Nombre de las dos principalés plantas de yuca localizadas en el lote gue presentaoan mayor frecuencia    m N.,::a !1W,1! 'sia !P,:)  ~"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/5443764593.json b/main/part_2/5443764593.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f6413b0c5b6edcc87eb232fe86b8d03a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b8e16efd-b0ae-4b46-a7ce-58ceb19592df/retrieve","id":"1568832831"},"keywords":["food security","food sovereignty","smallholder farmers","traditional food systems","indigenous food systems","food production urbanization","pollution","policy","food security","nutrition transition","climate change","food markets","urban agriculture","city region food systems food security","economics","climate change","household elasticity","demand nutrition","production","poverty","export","supply chains","bottlenecks","resilience eating practices","home-cooked meals","processed foods","nutrition","metro manila smallholder farmers","middlemen","dependence","market prices","trust food security","nutrition","farmers","climate smart villages","food supply chains","consumption","markets public markets","private markets","lettuce","pechay","parasite contamination","food safety market linkage","smallholder farmers","corporate social responsibility","Jollibee grilled pork intestine (isaw)","pork barbecue","grilled coagulated chicken blood (betamax)","microbial contamination","waste management","food preparation food safety","food handling","city policies","food vendors perception","intention","food safety","consumers","streetfood"],"sieverID":"b54167bb-37f9-4ede-b939-9ad11c15dc76","content":"CIP thanks all donors and organizations that globally support its work through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund: www.cgiar.org/fundersThis literature review will address food marketing, the urban informal sector, and small-scale food processing within Metro Manila to provide a literary background for Workpackage 2 of the Resilient Cities initiative. In the review, literature will be summarized and synthesized through a food security and urban livelihoods lens.Metro Manila is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with rapid urbanization and population growth exerting pressure on food security, education, housing, waste management, and employment (Porciuncula, et al., 2001). Growing bodies of literature emphasize the complexities of urban food security, elaborating on the triple burden of malnutrition which includes stunting, obesity, and micronutrient deficiency (predominantly vitamin A, iron, and iodine). These food security challenges disproportionally affect the urban poor, 44% of which suffer from malnutrition in Metro Manila. To address these food security issues, the Filipino government has historically focused on food production and promoting rice self-sufficiency (Bairagi, et al. 2022). However, recent research urges a food system approach to food security, emphasizing the holistic importance of the availability, accessibility, affordability, adequacy of foods (Wiskerke, 2015). Food marketing, the urban informal sector, and small-scale food processing are undeniably essential elements of this food system in Metro Manila. Understanding how and what kind of foods reach the urban table is essential in designing effective food security interventions. Therefore, this literature review will cover these elements of the food system as a reference for the Resilient Cities initiative.This article uses a human ecology framework to analyze food systems in the Philippines. The article is divided into the sections \"state of human well-being\", \"state of ecosystems\", and \"state of institutions\" which respectively describe the nutrition, environmental, and policy challenges in the Filipino food system. Some factors discussed include the Spanish colonial era, American occupation, land titles, international trade, climate change, land degradation, and income inequality. Figures 1 and 2 are especially helpful illustrations of food system and human ecology frameworks. It should be noted that the article has a focus towards rural livelihoods and food production. Although links to urban food marketing are not explicitly made, an analysis of perpetuating (rural) poverty and unbalanced food availability provides an insightful background to understanding food security.Davila defines the human ecology framework as \"an analytical framework that captures the underlying discourses and associated feedbacks of these [discourses] on institutions, human well-being, and ecosystems\". He uses this framework to reveal and analyze social discourses within the Filipino food system, focusing on nutrition, environmental sustainability, and the policy environment.The Philippines has a history of being exploited for its natural resources. This pattern began during the Spanish colonialization period and continued throughout the Japanese and American occupation. During Spanish colonialization, the Philippines was established as a hub for timber and cash crop trade. Land was cleared at alarming rates, sold to wealthy Spanish families, and used to grow a selection of cash crops. After the Spanish left, 25% of the country's forested land was depleted. During the US occupation, land clearing was institutionalized, and the Philippine Trade Act was established to put American elites in control of Filipino cash crops (for the American market). This power perpetuated Western principles of property rights where informal smallholder and indigenous landownerships were labelled \"illegal\". Paired with incentives to intensify agriculture, indigenous and smallholder knowledge systems were marginalized. The US focused on commodity exports of traditional goods such as corn, coconut, and sugarcane; and high-value crops such as bananas, mangoes, and pineapples.In the modern context, Davila shares an elaborate critique of policies from the Filipino government which focus on staple foods. He argues that not only does this policy orientation reduce agrobiodiversity, but it also limits rural development opportunities, reduces the diversity of livelihoods, downgrades traditional and indigenous local food systems, and ultimately leads to environmental degradation. Despite the many modernization interventions that are linked to these policies, Davila articulates that implied trickle-down benefits rarely reached rural farmers. Furthermore, as agricultural intensification increases the vulnerability of production livelihoods to flooding and drought, smallholder farmers are forced to bear the burden of land degradation. Although there are interventions which address climate adaptation, this support typically focuses on crop protection while disregarding landscapes and people. Davila additionally suggests that socioeconomic and political processes such as \"weak governance, corruption, lobbying, and increased human pressures\" are linked to the perpetuation of this production-oriented model and environmental degradation. Davila advocates for the need to integrate conservation policies with rural development to prevent further environmental degradation.Not only does a reduction in agrobiodiversity pose challenges for the environment, nutritional diversity and household food consumption are also put at risk. Unfortunately, food security challenges in the Philippines are (currently) framed as a primarily economic discourse, ignoring issues of \"social interactions, equity, gender, and environmental concerns\". Davila contrasts food security with the concept of food sovereignty, which highlights \"rights of rural communities to frame and influence their immediate food systems\". Addressing the complex sociopolitical landscape where elite landownership and the disempowerment of famers are major challenges, Davila argues the food sovereignty perspective is essential in future research and policy action.Fill the Nutrient Gap Philippines Summary Report World Food Programme Nutrition Division. (2019, March). Fill the Nutrient Gap -Philippines Summary Report. World Food Programme. https://www.wfp.org/publications/2018-fillnutrient-gap-philippines-summary-reportThis report by the World Food Programme (WFP) is a detailed introduction to nutrition and food security challenges in the Philippines. The report shares a variety of insightful statistics which are supplemented with ample descriptions to illustrate the nutrition environment within the Filipino food system. The report also demonstrates how food marketing, specifically, affects nutrition, elaborating on the influence of school meals, advertising, and transportation. Ultimately, the report provides extensive background information on nutrition challenges and concludes with recommendations for intervention.33% of children under 5 are stunted in the Philippines. The WFP suggests that this statistic is largely due to \"poverty, natural and manmade disasters, low consumer demand for nutritious food, and agriculture policies focused on rice self-sufficiency\". Food prices establish a barrier to a nutritious diet especially for the urban poor. The authors mention that transportation costs in the Philippines are especially high due to the country's archipelagic geography and complexities in the supply chain. Additionally, rice self-sufficiency policies are criticized for their failure to address the needs for increasing food diversification. In response, the authors emphasize the importance of improving the collective \"availability, physical access, affordability, and choice of nutritious foods\".The Filipino diet is \"high in cereals and tubers and low in fruits and vegetables\", regardless of income. At least two meals in a day are rice-based, and 18% of daily consumed foods are processed. Although the World Health Organization recommends only 50% of daily energy intake from staples, staples contribute to 73% of daily energy intake in the Philippines. Furthermore, foods with the greatest micronutrient content are the least consumed, supplemented with the growing consumption of unhealthy snacks. Approximately 85% of advertised foods and drinks are considered unhealthy, complementing the increase in demand for unhealthy foods. The report elaborates on other drivers of unhealthy food demand, including \"access, ease of consumption, affordability, and taste preferences\". Subsequently, the WFP warns that unhealthy snacks not only result in an overconsumption of energy, but also increase the cost of a nutritious diet by 40%. The report emphasizes that dietary needs of the population are in more nutrient-dense, not energy-dense foods.To improve nutrition in the Philippines, the WFP recommends investment in more nutritious school meals, micronutrient supplementation, and fortification of staple foods. The report also encourages the establishment of a sugar tax and conditional cash transfers to vulnerable households. Finally, to promote the diversification and intensification of nutritious foods, the WFP advocates for better investment and social support for smallholder farmers.Environmental hazards also arise, including pollution, inadequate waste disposal facilities, and the heat island effect.Wiskerke emphasizes the importance of food security in urban areas as it affects the local economy, environment, public health, and quality of neighborhoods. \"Food security\" is described in this chapter as the collective availability, accessibility, affordability, and adequacy of food. The authors elaborate on the challenge of food loss to exemplify the different food security challenges for industrialized and developing countries (food losses in developing economies occur predominantly in the harvest, storage, and transport phases, while in industrialized economies, losses manifest further down the food chain). Pairing food security challenges with the shift in urban diets, Wiskerke stresses the need for research in food systems, as opposed to previously production-focused narratives.Many contemporary food systems, especially at the post-harvest stage, are dependent on fossil fuels, leading to vulnerabilities to changes in oil prices. Street shops are discussed as an important source of urban food security as they offer lower prices, flexibility in buying quantity, access to short-term credit, all within walking distance to the urban poor.Wiskerke further argues that the current dichotomy between urban and rural policy is responsible for shortcomings in urban food research, policy, and planning, such that (from p.4):• Study of food provisioning is confined to rural and regional development • Urban food security failure is seen as a production failure (not distribution, access, or affordability) • Promotes the view of food policy as a non-urban strategy, delaying researchIn the conclusion, Wiskerke emphasizes the necessity to adopt a city-region scale for development as this will implement an integrated and comprehensive solution for a futureproof food system. As part of this solution, Wiskerke suggests strategies to build synergies and resilience such as urban agriculture, linking peri-urban family farmers to food markets, and reusing food wastes.The future of food security of the Philippines in the face of climate change and changing consumption This report outlines the different impacts of Covid-19 on food production, domestic and export markets, smallholder farmers, consumer nutrition, and employment. Although the report is written at the national scale, certain sections directly address Metro Manila. Altogether, the report provides unique insight on limitations in the Philippine food system that were made aware in light of the pandemic.The Covid-19 pandemic greatly affected the Filipino food system. Unemployment and underemployment rates rose, leading to a reported 44% of the population with insufficient incomes to meet basic household needs. Women were especially vulnerable to the economic shocks inflicted by the pandemic as they had \"smaller cash flow and reserves, limited credit options, less inventory, and a reduced client base\". Even after governmentimposed quarantine periods, female businesses struggled to return to business as usual. A similar vulnerability persisted in micro and small enterprises. Farmers, on the other hand, had greater resilience as they faced frequent shocks from variable weather events. Many farmers had a risk-averse attitude which limited their adoption of high-risk, high-value farming activities. Conservative farming was practiced more by smallholder farmers due to the limited availability of agri-inputs. Despite protecting farmer livelihoods, these production choices negatively influenced the diversity of food crops produced.Restrictions on transportation and enforced community quarantines affected supply-chain bottlenecks and consumer accessibility to nutritious food. Online options for agricultural trade emerged and grew in popularity, but this was not an affordable option for the majority of the population. Rice supply was protected by the government as rice was purchased directly from farmers and distributed in relief packages. These packages targeted urban areas, mainly Metro Manila, which lacked rice production activity. Other agricultural products, such as the Lakatan banana, did not receive the same treatment. As Covid-19 restrictions complicated inter-island logistics, shipping costs rose and hindered the transportation of food products. Because the Lakatan banana has high spoilage rates of up to 30%, women processed the fruits into banana cakes as a coping strategy. Farmers also shifted production to more fast-growing crops (such as squash) to \"ensure continuity in cash flow\". According to the Pinggang Pinoy model for a nutritious diet, food shortages for vegetable and fruit were 92.2% and 59.8% respectively. Conversely, rice, when including imports, had a 24.8% surplus in supply.Structural shifts in food basket composition of rural and urban Philippines: implications for the food supply system Bairagi, S., Zereyesus, Y., Baruah, S., & Mohanty, S. (2022). Structural shifts in food basket composition of rural and urban Philippines: Implications for the food supply system. PLOS ONE, 17(3), e0264079. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0264079This journal article is a highly technical exploration on the impacts of urbanization and changing diets in the Philippines. These diet changes are then translated to implications for the food system and challenges which arise. A discussion on market systems is taken from an economic perspectivetheories such as elasticity, consumption, and demand are used to explain household food choices. Much of the paper covers the methodology and calculations of price elasticities for various food products and demographics. Furthermore, differences between household food choices in urban and rural areas over time are examined. Finally, although the paper includes many tables and figures to display calculations, a descriptive analysis is limited.1/5 of the Filipino population is considered poor and 1/10 is considered food insecure. Low agricultural productivity due to limited diversification, climate change, and its impact has made the Philippines historically import-dependent. The Philippines government has approached the issue of food insecurity though economic means of high import tariffs and production subsidies for rice. These policies support rice production, paired with pricestabilizing measures to promote self-sufficiency in rice. Yet, as urbanization and incomes increase, the food basket is expected to diversify, putting pressure on rice-focused agricultural resources. The authors stress the need to analyze the changing demographics and diets of the Filipino population to implement policies suitable for the future.To describe the changing Filipino diet, the authors compare price and expenditure elasticities in urban and rural populations. The calculations shared in the article suggest that income growth will lead to greater food consumption and nutritionally diverse diets. Price elasticities for rice (how consumer demand changes as price changes) vary from -0.04 to -2.17, suggesting that changes in demand differ considerably, potentially depending on income, gender, or education. For both urban and rural households, however, expenditure on rice remains to have the highest budget share compared to expenditure on other foods. The report also found that urban households spend 18% of their budget share on eating outside and only 9% eating at home. Compared to rural populations, urban populations spend less budget share on rice, fish fruits, and vegetables. Furthermore, educated household heads spend more on meat and dairy products, implying the benefits of effective nutrition education. Finally, the results demonstrated that expenditure on dairy products is increasing for both urban and rural populations.Overall, the authors recommend interventions in the non-rice sector to supply nutritious food items at affordable prices.Technological and institutional challenges to food security in the Philippines Rola, W. F., Rañola Jr., R. F., Magcale-Macandog, D. B., & Rola, A. C. (2014). Technological and Institutional Challenges to Food Security in the Philippines [E-book]. In U. S. Nagothu (Ed.), Food Security and Development: Country Case Studies (1st ed.,. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315745824This book chapter describes the status, relevant programs, major threats and drivers, investments, education, and reform practices addressing food security in the Philippines. The section \"programs that contributed to food security in the Philippines\" from p.61-64 is especially insightful in briefly introducing current policies and interventions. The authors argue that factors which influence national food security in the Philippines are: poverty, population growth, a weak marketing system, weak institutions to deliver food security programs, environmental degradation, climate change, and the conversion of agricultural lands. Although an explicit analysis of market-related influences is limited, the discussions of overall food security and interventions illustrate the complex environment in which food marketing operates.Filipino food policy has historically favored food production over food accessibility, nutritional balance, and food safety. According to the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), despite the country having sufficient food supply, 15% of the population still lives below the food per capita threshold. Many Filipinos are nutritionally insecure and struggle with undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, overnutrition, and obesity. The authors associate these challenges to a lack of integrative programs \"linking production plans with nutrition security\".The environment threatens food production through soil nutrient depletion, soil erosion, tropical storms, floods, droughts, and mangrove forest conversion. Furthermore, excessive chemical inputs and soil degradation establish positive feedback loops which reduce agricultural productivity. Demands from population growth and urbanization further exacerbate production challenges as fertile lands are converted and agriculture is forced into marginal, hilly lands with lower yields. In response to these challenges, the authors suggest production-enhancing investments and programs such as agroforestry, intercropping, various extension and farm insurance programs.In addition to production challenges, food security is threatened from a marketing perspective. The authors argue the current market system is \"failing\" due to the lack of postharvest facilities, poor infrastructure support for value-adding and transport, inadequate advocacy, and the lack of timely market information. High rates of spoilage and losses in agriculture and fishery damage the profitability of farming activity. Although the financial barriers and investment challenges of farmers are recognized, many credit and insurance programs fail to encourage their participation. Chakraborty, et al. (2016) argues that food consumption is \"embedded in culturally grounded social systems\". In the Philippines, eating patterns are changing, especially for the growing middle class. From the households interviewed, there is increased consumption of processed foods and restaurant meals. Despite the growth of the middle class from 2003 to 2009, the average income expenditure on food remained constant at 27%. Yet, the annual expenditure on eating food outside the household increased from 17% to 20% from 2003-2009. Especially for the student demographic, eating out is described as both time and budget friendly, providing most of their meals even if \"outside food\" to be unhealthier. The article also underlines a correlation between household helpers and eating out, such that households without domestic help cooked less at home. In addition, the interviews revealed an increased popularity of processed meats and canned goods. Many individuals and households cited convenience as the main reason consuming these products. Alternatively, other processed items like powdered milk and bottled water grew popular not because of convenience, but because of their perceived health benefits/advantages. Through describing many examples of different household food activities, the article illustrates how socioeconomic factors and cultural perceptions shape food consumption. They further emphasize that the practice of food consumption is \"a very local affair\". Lastly, the authors advocate for the importance of addressing these complexities and express the need for greater research in household food waste and policy action in the service industry.Building Food and Nutrition Resilience in Quezon City Oyuela, A., EAT Foundation, & UNICEF. (2020, December). Building Food and Nutrition Resilience in Quezon City: A Case Study on Integrated Food Systems. In EAT Forum. EAT Foundation.Retrieved October 6, 2022, from https://eatforum.org/content/uploads/2020/12/Case-study_Quezon-City-Food-and-Nutrition-Resilience-EAT-UNICEF-QUEZON.pdfThis report by the EAT foundation describes an extensive collection of initiatives that address food security in Quezon City. Authors also provide numerous policy recommendations and a clear action plan to deliver these recommendations. The report is especially useful for the Resilient Cities project as an introduction to existing work in food security and relevant actors for potential partnerships. Table 1. in chapter 4 is a particularly helpful reference which outlines how different institutions and partnerships are involved in improving food security in Quezon City.Quezon City is home to a quarter of the Metro Manila population and has the largest share of urban poor in the Philippines. Approximately 20% of the city's households are moderately food insecure and 15% experience severe food insecurity. The city suffers from the tripleburden of malnutrition (undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight/obesity) as there is a lack of access to nutritious, affordable, and sustainable diets. Likewise, increasingly unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles also contribute to this challenge. In response, the Quezon City Food Security Task Force (QC-FSTF) identified access and availability as the two weakest points in the urban food system, suggesting these points for intervention focus.Many organizations, policies, and government initiatives address urban food security in Quezon City. These include the Good Food Cities Declaration, the EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Plant, Health, the C40 Food Systems Network, Joy of Urban Farming, Farmer to Consumer Programme, the Sustainable Diner Project, the Community Mart app, Gulaan sa Paaralan initiative, and the Kadiwa on Wheels initiative (these organizations, policies, and initiatives are separately described in the report). Through the descriptions of pre-existing initiatives on food security, the authors address the importance of the food environment, emphasizing food affordability, nutrition information, and marketing to drive better consumer choices.The QC-FSTF established a two-fold food security framework, addressing urban agriculture and food trade/processing to \"create an enabling environment\" for an improved food system. Although urban agriculture is unlikely to satisfy urban food needs, it has the potential to improve food security and nutrition for the most vulnerable, as well as creating livelihood opportunities and increasing the productivity and spatial quality of urban land. The authors further elaborate that the food system can be strengthened by supporting value-adding enterprises and e-platforms which facilitate trade. In addition, because Quezon City is described as a \"food gateway to Metro Manila\", improvements in the city's food system are argued to also benefit the larger city-region.To achieve food resiliency, the authors share a roadmap which targets vulnerable and food insecure groups and promotes agri-zones and food-zones. The report then highlights partnership and policy guidelines/suggestions to encourage urban innovation \"towards a healthy and sustainable food system\". These include leadership at all levels, integrated programming to address complexity, entering novel partnerships for implementation, and a strong narrative on equitable and sustainable food systems. This report provides a brief overview of the structure of food marketing in the Philippines. There is bias towards the private retail sector, focusing on descriptions of large retail groups such as SM Markets, Robinsons, and Puregold. Wet markets, talipapas, streetfood vendors, or food hawkers are not mentioned in the report, overlooking important food outlets for the urban poor. The descriptions on the commercial food industry, however, elaborate on food processing, different types of products (healthy, prepared, instant, etc.), and cover a small sampling of relevant market regulations. It should be acknowledged that some statements in the report lack consistent citation or register as subjective. Moreover, certain statements contradict or do not fit into messages from scientific literature. Overall, the report covers an extensive range of topics but is limited in detail and evidence. For the Resilient Cities project, this report may be relevant in describing food-related activities for middle-and upper-income groups.Approximately 80% of the total food supply in the Philippines is domestically produced. The authors suggest, however, that the composition of food supply is expected to change as there is a growing preference and demand for imported products (these include \"gourmet and healthy foods, frozen foodstuff, ready-to-cook food, and processed grocery items\"). In addition to dietary preference, growing traffic issues are linked to the popularity of prepared foods. Subsequently, the authors describe the \"frequent snacking culture\" in the Philippines and growth of convenience stores, especially around business centers and residential areas. As of 2019, SM Markets is the lead food retail group with 934 supermarkets and convenience stores across the Philippines. This is followed by Robinsons Supermarket with 615 supermarkets and convenience stores. Other large retailers include Puregold Price Club Inc., METRO Retail Stores Group Inc., and Landers Superstore. Statistics on these stores across the Philippines are provided in greater depth in section 2.1.1 of the report.Food processing is one of the largest industrial sectors in the Philippines. According to the Philippine Food and Drug Administration, most of the registered food and beverage processors are micro-to medium-sized businesses. While large processors directly import raw goods, smaller processors purchase ingredients through distributors. To regulate the production and marketing of \"unhealthy\" processed foods, the Republic Act 10963 was established in 2018. This act taxed 6PHP/liter for caloric or non-caloric sweeteners and 12PHP/liter for using high fructose corn syrup in food processing.The Retail Pattern of Manila McIntyre, W. E. (1955, January). The Retail Pattern of Manila. Geographical Review, 45(1), 66. https://doi.org/10.2307/211730 Keywords: Divisoria market, Sari-Sari stores, parasite stores, talipapas, history, policy This journal article provides a general description of the history of different food markets in Manila. Markets of focus include Divisoria Market, parasite retail concentrations, and talipapas. Although commercial/private food outlets are not as discussed, the article provides a broad background on how food is marketed in Manila. Because the article was published in 1955, some dynamics are expected to be different in modern-day. Nonetheless, the historical descriptions provided remain relevant as background information. A noteworthy element of the article is the included map of Divisoria market. Although outdated, such a map is rare in published works.The food marketing scene in Manila is composed of \"small eating places\", sari-sari stores, general grocery stores, public markets, and parasite stores. In residential areas, \"small eating places\" were seen on every block, with the range of customers limited to immediate vicinity. A sari-sari store is the typical \"neighborhood shop\" and sells miscellaneous things.In most cases, these stores have a low inventory value of a few hundred pesos. Over time, \"small-scale imitations of the American supermarket\" developed in wealthier neighborhoods and replaced sari-sari stores. Especially after World War 2, general grocery stores with refrigerated counters became more commonplace.Most public markets in Manila were built 30-40 years ago, historically located near major churches. These markets were an important food source for the city and became focal points for urban development. The success of a market was heavily dependent on locationmore accessible markets prospered and became fixed. However, as the urban population grew, so did the challenges of overcrowding, the lack of cleaning, refrigeration, and sanitation facilities. In coordination with the growth in demand and opportunity, parasitic activity expanded around the market area, including privately owned retail stores.Divisoria market is the most important market for Manila (and Metro Manila). It's advantageous vicinity to the North Port Area, inter-island shipping docks, and railroad stations promoted food trade and its significant growth and popularity. Products sold in Divisoria were priced lower because of direct access to suppliers. Furthermore, the wide selection of goods sold quickly established Divisoria as a \"favored market\". As of 1955, the market housed over 3000 stalls organized into two sets of long counters, divided longitudinally. Vendors preferred outer stalls because these were more accessible to customers. As a result, stalls in market areas furthest from main entrances (M. De Santos and Tabora St.) were often empty.Parasite stores surrounded public markets to take advantage of its customers. However, sanitary conditions in these areas were often poor. McIntyre defines Talipapa stores as a \"small-scale copy of public markets on private property, often spilling into streets\". Often, stall keepers squat without permission. Since 1948, ownership of these stalls was restricted to Filipinos by law, but were still mostly owned and operated by Chinese. Talipapa stores also grew in popularity in Manila after World War 2 as residential subdivisions grew. McIntyre highlights that the growth of Talipapas marked a notable shift in Manila market dynamics: where people once settled near markets, markets now moved towards people.Empowering consumers in selected public markets in Metro Manila: a framework for the development of AgriWatchPH This conference paper describes the potential for a mobile application -AgriWatchPHto improve communication between market consumers and the Department of Agriculture (DA) as a form of empowerment. Regulatory characteristics of public markets in Metro Manila are described with a focus on market prices and the accountability of vendors. The paper subsequently provides a concise outline of limitations in the public market system such as the mishandling of produce and improper pricing. Although the app is still in its development phase, its proposed features and their intended impacts are detailed in the paper. Altogether, the links made between market limitations and consumer empowerment reveal the intricacies in food marketing.The growing number of vendors in public markets has led to challenges such as overpricing, product mishandling, hoarding, and stiff competition. Although market prices are \"regulated\", mishandling persists. Republic Act No. 7581 (\"The Price Act\") guarantees the availability of \"basic necessities\", which include corn, rice, root crops, fish, pork, beef, poultry, milk, eggs, vegetables, fruits, sugar, and cooking oil. In other words, the DA is responsible for ensuring the prices for these necessities are reasonable. Current price regulation is appointed by \"checkers\" in public markets who oversee product prices from 7AM-9AM to determine daily maximum and minimum prices. These prices are fed to and published on the DA website. The authors express that despite these efforts, a mechanism to monitor whether these prices are followed by vendors is lacking. Furthermore, because the website is only accessible by computer, it is not popularly used by consumers (many of whom prefer mobile devices). Because of \"tedious\" administrative processes to file complaints, many consumers instead post complaints on social media channels such as Facebook. The authors highlight flaws in this system as only some posts will reach proper authorities.The AgriWatchPH app aims to utilize consumers to help regulate market prices and address flaws in communication. A price check module is proposed to display daily prices shared from \"checkers\" and the DA. Consumers may refer to these market prices when shopping and file complaints through the app if they find discrepancies. These complaints will then be forwarded to a DA price watch team who will coordinate an appropriate response. The authors elaborate that establishing a direct connection between proper authorities and consumers would enable governing bodies to cater better action.The paper describes other modules in more detail, including the login, report, check price, budget planner, price checker, accounts management, price adjustment, and market management modules. These additional modules are designed to streamline market information and cater better services to market consumers. The budget planner module, for example, is specifically designed to encourage financial and grocery planning for lowerincome households. While the primary purpose of AgriWatchPH is to improve price regulation and the communication of complaints, the additional features aim to enhance the overall shopping experience for consumers. This book chapter explores the relationship between \"trust\" and agri-food chain mechanisms using an economic lens. The chapter presents a greater focus on theoretical discussion with limited reference to the case studies which are introduced. The authors define and discuss economic theory on trust, satisfaction, communication, personal relationships, reputation, investments, power, and dependence. Succeeding the economic background, the chapter presents results from an empirical study on Australia and the Philippines (this section is most relevant for the Resilient Cities initiative). Although a city or region within the Philippines is not specified in the case, the results share insightful dynamics between smallholder farmers and traders, and how this influences food production and marketing decisions.Research in the Filipino agrifood chain reveals a growing concern that traders are taking advantage of smallholder farmers. Most farms in the Philippines are 0.6 to 1ha in size and are managed by smallholder farmers. These smallholder farmers face challenges to their production and livelihoods from weather events, seasonality, and the perishability of their crops. Often, smallholder farmers also lack direct access to food markets and therefore rely on traders for market linkage and information. These traders have the power to manipulate food supply, access to information, financial capital, credit, and transportation of goods. Although market prices vary from day to day, smallholder farmers have limited power in negotiating prices because of this dependence. Furthermore, high marketing costs can be attributed to \"inefficient transport, inadequate cool storage capacity, significant variations in product form, variety, and quality\". The authors suggest that in many cases, traders take advantage of farmers' limited financial capital by offering credit to lock farmers into trade relationships. In contrast, traders can also establish good relationships with farmers through advising farmers on which crops to grow based on market patterns and profitability. For farmers who grow perishable crops and have limited knowledge on markets, this information is essential.Because of this dependency of farmers to traders, the authors elaborate on the importance of trust in food chain relationships. The authors argue that traders with good relationships with customers make \"higher margins and more efficient exchanges\". In addition, farmers can reduce uncertainty in their business exchanges when there is a greater perception and experience of trust. Finally, results from the empirical study also indicated that to build trust, Filipino farmers valued the \"willingness of the market intermediary to advise the grower of supply problems, a close personal friendship, and perception that the buyer had treated the grower fairly and equitably\".Local food systems in Cambodia, Myanmar, and the Philippines: perspective from the local communities Espino, A., Monville-Oro, E., Barbon, W. J., Ruba, C. D., Gummadi, S., & Gonsalves, J. (2021, May) This working paper under the CGIAR research program on climate change, agriculture, and food security (CCAFS) describes the challenges and drivers for food systems in Cambodia, Myanmar, and the Philippines. The paper describes different aspects of country-level food systems, including but not limited to, production, food environment, and diet. This is followed by an analysis of local-level food systems, where the rural traditional food system in Himbubulo Weste serves as a case study for the Philippines. Although the analysis of the Himbubulo Weste food system is not directly applicable to the urban context of Metro Manila, the description of the broader Philippine food system remains relevant and insightful. The paper includes tables and statistics that are useful references for understanding food marketing (especially in the section of food environment). The following summary is written for sections relevant for context in the Philippines only.Food systems encompass an assortment of activities which collectively constitute four core elements: food supply chains, the food environment, individual factors, and consumer behavior. The seven main drivers of food systems include: \"climate and environment, globalization and trade, income growth and distribution, urbanization, population growth and migration, politics and leadership, and sociocultural context\". The authors describe different ways in which the drivers of the food system influence the different four core elements. The Filipino food system is vulnerable to changes in international prices because of its dependency on international trade to satisfy domestic food demands. Furthermore, despite a focus on increasing rice production, the cereal import dependency ratio continues to rise. In Filipino food supply chains, fragmentation and inadequate storage and distribution facilities result in \"significant supply losses for key food commodities\". Food losses are highest for fruits and vegetables, leading to implications in the quality of vulnerable diets. In the food environment, the authors highlight the vulnerability of low-income households to price or income shocks and describe that these groups are more likely to \"shift to cheaper sources of calories\", such as cereals and processed foods. This contributes to the growing issue of inadequate nutrition in the average Filipino diet. A detailed table in the \"Dietary Intakes\" section outlines the intake of different nutrients and foods in the Filipino diet, revealing an overconsumption in sodium and sugar-sweetened beverages, while fruits, milk, and vegetables lack adequate consumption.In Himbubulo Weste, the food system is characterized as a \"rural traditional\" food system. Although the village has limited diversity in food choices, shorter supply chains increase the resilience of the food system. The village implements climate smart agriculture to help diversity and intensify agricultural production. Despite improvements in production, farmers still face challenges in distribution as buyers have greater market power and demand cheaper products. Moreover, farmers express struggles such as the \"absence of a stable contact market, inadequate storage, distribution and transport infrastructure, and poor economic status\". Local food marketing in this village focuses on small retail stores and food hawkers that sell dry and perishable goods, respectively. The authors emphasize the importance of fresh food hawkers in promoting physical access to foods. The informal and This is a short report on food safety in public and private markets in Munoz, Quezon City, and Alabang, Muntinlupa City. Fresh pechay (Chinese cabbage) and lettuce are sampled from public and private markets in these cities and tested for the following parasites: Ascarid, Ascaris, Entamoeba coli, E. histolytica, Giardia lamblia, Hookworm, Trichostrongylus sp., E. vermicularis, Trichuris trichiura, insect, slug, unknown specimen. The report presents test results to compare contamination between the vegetables, cities, and type of market. Results from table 1. present the difference in vegetable contamination between private and public markets which may be of particular interest to the Resilient Cities project. Overall, the report shares insightful statistics on food safety and market outlets with a brief discussion of why these results may exist.Food-borne diseases in the Philippines are closely linked to the consumption of contaminated vegetables. In 2004, parasitic worms caused over 78.6 thousand deaths in the Philippines. These parasites are commonly transmitted through poor sanitation and handling practices (especially while working with manure in vegetable cultivation). Results from the study indicate that public markets on average had greater parasitic contamination, with 55% and 50% contaminated pechay and lettuce from Munoz and Alabang, respectively. On average, pechay was more contaminated than lettuce, with 55% and 35% of the samples contaminated respectively. Of the contaminated samples, the most common parasites detected were Ascarid (46.25%) and Ascaris (45.00%). The authors express likely sources of the contamination are from issues in sanitation and waste management at the market level. In public markets, vegetables are often handled with bare hands and are subjectively \"dirtier\" than private markets. Private markets may also have less contamination because vegetables are individually packaged, outer leaves and additional rotten parts are removed, and vegetables are \"not exposed to mechanical vectors like flies\". Finally, the authors mention that the presence of Ascaris could indicate that animal manure was used as a fertilizer during vegetable production. Given the prevalence of parasitic infestation in these vegetables, the authors conclude with a recommendation for greater caution for infestation and contamination in the production, processing, and sale of food products.This report describes the pilot project: Bridging Farmers to Jollibee Supply Chain, which is part of the Farmer Entrepreneurship Program (FEP). Although the project is more focused on farmer livelihoods and food production, it also exemplifies linkages between rural and urban food networks. Relevant aspects for the Resilient Cities include the potentials benefits both for large food service groups and smallholder farmers with better market linkages.The main challenges of smallholder farmers in the Philippines (identified by the FEP) include: sustainable production methods, limited access to integrated post-harvest facilities, low business skills, weak marketing links with buyers, and inadequate capital. The FEP found similar challenges while working with Kalasag farmers. The case study illustrated that many farmers had small plots of land, utilized traditional farming techniques, had limited access to production capital, and struggled to find steady markets for their crops. Additionally, the Kalasag farmers were dependent on traders for credit and market access which contributed to their limited bargaining power.Training from the FEP targets market skills and agricultural financing skills which aims to \"build production capacity and enable farmers to produce for institutional markets\". As of 2008, 600 farmers trained by the FEP delivered high-value crops (peeled onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, lemons, chili) directly to the Jollibee Food Corporation (JFC). This contribution covered 25% of the total raw vegetable requirement of JFC. For JFC, this was an opportunity for sustainable corporate social responsibility and the linkage helped adapt to the \"rising number of middle-income urban consumers who want high-quality food\". The FEP describes the effects of this collaboration as a \"win-win scenario\": JFC had access to higher quality goods, and farmers benefitted from additional income. Farmer communities also saw trickledown effects in the form of greater capacity and new jobs (especially for women) in activities such as onion peeling, which lead to 20% higher prices.Literature review of the urban informal sector focuses on the role of this sector in urban livelihoods and food supply. Questions such as: how does the informal sector function? How large is the urban informal sector? And the relationship between the informal sector and different levels of government are explored. The literature in this section is organized to flow from broader to more specific insight on the urban informal sector in the Philippines. For an alphabetical list of literature, see the reference list on page 53.Reconfiguring space mobilizing livelihood: street vending, legality, and work in the Philippines This detailed journal article describes the livelihoods in the urban informal sector through a case study in Baguio City. Experiences of informal vendors are described in detail to provide insight on informality, legality, gender, and policy. Although these experiences cannot be immediately translated to the Metro Manila context, because Baguio is also urbanized and has a vibrant street economy, some general patterns may be transferrable to Metro Manila.Informal activity in Baguio City is largely composed of the sale of fresh produce, manufactured goods, and cooked food. The informal sector contributes greatly to the urban economy; however, is often stereotyped as disorderly, superfluous, interrupts efficient traffic flow, and competes unfairly with larger hygienic establishments. Furthermore, street vending activity is seen by the municipal administration as illegal, rendering street vendors vulnerable to fines, prosecution, and confiscation of goods. Milgram suggests that these conflicts stem from basic differences in vendors' and state workers' understanding of \"space\". Not only are vendors typically excluded from the urban planning process, but they are also subject to frequent police harassment that results in the destruction of their goods. Vendors argue that they occupy crowded areas to maximize business, but to the police, this occupation requires them to forcibly remove vendors and hold demonstrations.In 2007, Baguio City passed an anti-peddling law under the \"Marikina vision for Baguio City\" which withdrew many rights of street vendors. The law exemplified a failure to address the livelihood needs of the poor while attempting to reduce informal activity and minimize congestion/disorder. Several subsequent projects followed the anti-peddling law, such as the 5-point plan, one tray white line policy, and the ID badge project. Vendors struggled as their vending locations were limited to areas with less foot traffic or minimized to \"authorized areas\" which were not defined. Furthermore, lengthy administrative processes for registering vending businesses for an ID badge worked to \"divert vendors' attention from advocating better street working conditions\".In face of these challenges, vendors formed associations and mobilized to mitigate restrictions. Vendors continued their practices and made their best attempt to avoid the police, resulting in a \"continuing game of cat and mouse\". Sometimes, the police were more lenient if they had relationships with the vendors, or municipal workers would be paid to mention when the next police \"cleanup\" would take place. In this manner, the regulations imposed by the municipality created conditions of both illegality and informality. Some vendors practiced a micro-selling strategy called \"tempoc\" or \"atado\" in response to the frequent police \"cleanups\". In this strategy, vendors arranged small pyramids of fruits or vegetables on bright plastic sheets. When the police came, they quickly picked up corners of the sheets and relocated to avoid confiscation. Micro-selling also benefitted buyers who often did not have large disposable income and preferred buying in smaller quantities. Buyers also mentioned they did not mind that street vending was illegal, and neighboring storeowners also described it was beneficial to have nearby street vendors as it attracted customers to their business. This exemplifies the \"permeable borders between formal and informal enterprise\".The author ultimately concludes that the informal economy is \"not restricted to small-scale and survivalist activities of the poor but are also a sphere of accumulation in which non-poor operate\". Street vending activity is simultaneously formal, informal, legal, and illegal. Vendors also showed agency to take positions of leadership and \"overcome barriers of social recognition and livelihood rights\".Street vendors, their contested spaces, and the policy environment: a view from Caloócan, Metro Manila This journal article describes the conflicting strategies between informal street vendors, urban planners, and policy makers. The differing perspectives of vendors and policymakers are outlined with a bias towards street vendors. The spatial, legal, and socio-economic challenges to street vending are described in detail and relevant laws targeting the informal sector / street vendors are listed. Helpful statistics on average incomes of street vendors surveyed are also provided.Street vending is defined as \"the retail or wholesale trading of goods and services in streets and other related public axes such as alleyways, avenues, and boulevards\". Street vendors are often situated in areas with high foot-traffic, expanding and contracting with dynamic peak hours of different streets. Reasons for street vending are summarized as the need to make money, increase autonomy, learn/practice skills, and socialize children. Despite the livelihood opportunities street vending offer to the urban poor, vendors are often unfairly targeted by planners and policymakers to \"wipe the cityscape clean\". Government officials describe concerns towards informal activity such as traffic and sanitation issues, unfair competition, and tax leakage. On the other hand, the authors suggest that street vending \"adds vitality, and contributes to economic activity and service provision\". Rather than a hindrance, informal activity is argued to be a healthy transition to the formal.Because of policymakers' negative association towards informal activity, the needs and vulnerabilities of street vendors are often ignored. Vendors describe their needs as insufficient institutional support, long work hours, material poverty (many resort to loan sharks due to a lack of financial support), absence of permits, and no office to accommodate concerns. Street vendors are also subject to frequent purges by the municipality. The vendors, however, yield political power such that they negotiate bribes and write formal letters to city hall to protect their rights. In this manner, the informal and formal sectors are also argued to have grey boundaries. The authors comment that while street vendors hold informal, mostly verbal, agreements to rent public spaces, many government officials are also engaged in bribery linked to street vending, \"strengthening the culture of informality\".Street foods: traditional microenterprise in a modernizing world This journal article studies street vendors in Iloilo and Manila from a feminist perspective. The case studies highlight the role of women in street vending activity and emphasize street vending as a survival strategy rather than a business operation. In the article, Tinker poses the question: how can governments help the streetfood trade without \"strangling\" it? Although Tinker occasionally delivers subjective messages, she shares critical insight on women's livelihoods (a topic with otherwise limited discussion in streetfood research) and clarifies the specific challenges and opportunities women face.Working women in Southeast Asia are usually limited to commercial occupations because of its considered \"low status\". Streetfoods, however, provide an opportunity for women to redefine their social roles as both genders work together in the enterprise. Tinker articulates that women's involvement in streetfood vending also increases their intra-household bargaining power and enhances their value. In the cases studies of Iloilo and Manila, women often made financial decisions for their streetfood business. As a result, more profits from vending were invested in human capital. Money spent on feeding their children was a means to improve nutrition while sending children to school used education as a way out of poverty. If there was leftover profit after investing in the household, vendors expanded their sales to dry goods, and gradually converted their business into a \"tiny grocery store\". Tinker argues that understanding the purpose and priorities of streetfood vending are important in designing interventions helpful for women. For example, NGOs or vendor associations may offer credit to female vendors, but this does not address their particular needs such as sexual harassment and childcare.Streetfoods provide an \"essential source of inexpensive ready-to-eat food for workers of every class and occupation\". Vendors commonly sold cakes and processed foods and served prepared foods. In Iloilo, approximately 10-12% of the labor force is involved in streetfood enterprise, 4/5 of which are women-owned. Yet, government policies fail to (sufficiently) support streetfood businesses and the informal sector. Regulations such as vending licenses and food safety inspections are inconsistent and often subject to bribery. Additionally, the police operate frequent campaigns to \"clean the streets\" which subject vendors to harassment and destruction to their vending carts. Anticipating damage to their carts, many vendors are therefore reluctant to improve their workstations, leaving implications for food safety. Vendors also mention that although many have high school or even college educations, they entered the streetfood trade because of \"abysmal\" whitecollar wages. Although there was limited competition with mega-malls, vendors had to fight to keep their vending areas, coming to work even when they are sick to occupy their space.Given its importance and popularity, Tinker concludes that it is \"impossible to suppress streetfood trade\". It is therefore important to empower vendors through training and legitimizing their livelihoods. Tinker also suggests connecting local agriculture with streetfoods, promoting greater use of fruits and vegetables in food preparation. Finally, Tinker advocates for the extension of research from this study to further investigate street foods sold to children and their nutritional value.The market in the urban informal sector: a case study in Metro Manila, the Philippines Nakanishi, T. (1990). The market in the urban informal sector: a case study in Metro Manila, the Philippines. The Developing Economies, 28(3), 271-301. https://doi.org/10.1111/j. 1746-1049.1990.tb00185.x Keywords: labor, migration, unemployment, slum, scavengers, sari-sari store .tb00185.x Keywords: labor, migration, unemployment, slum, scavengers, sari-sari store This journal article is the result of lengthy participant observation spanning from [1985][1986][1987][1988][1989][1990] in the squatter community Sitio Paz. Quantitative data presented may be outdated, but observations and certain patterns may remain relevant. It should be noted that most residents of Sitio Paz were employed in the recycling business as scavengers. The study, however, also investigates sari-sari stores, which is elaborated in the second half of the report. Standards of living, income levels and distribution, migration history, employment, and social interactions are described in detail with supporting quantitative data. Notable tables include table IV \"the reasons for migrating,\" table VI \"occupation of employed persons in Sitio Paz,\" and table VIII \"labor mobility in the urban informal sector based on job histories of household heads\". For the Resilient Cities initiative, the article provides insightful information on the relationship between poverty and the urban informal sector.Rural-urban migration has a large influence on the slum areas in Metro Manila. Nakanishi argues that in less developed countries, the urban informal sector is a result of limited fluctuation in urban employment despite a growing urban population. Of the migrants surveyed, 78% indicated they moved to Metro Manila moved in search of job opportunities.Many, however, were unable to obtain jobs in the urban formal sector. Labor mobility between the urban formal and informal sector, as well as within the urban informal sector, was not so active. Most of the migrants in Sitio Paz were landless agricultural workers before coming to Metro Manila, and 54.8% of the population did not finish elementary school. The study found that while most residents were scavengers, migrants who lived in Sitio Paz for longer entered \"more productive\" occupations such as tricycle driving, sari-sari businesses, and jeepney driving. Many residents worked long hours, so information attainment was mostly through relatives or acquaintances. Thus, one's social network and \"reliability\" were the strongest components to labor mobility. Contracts were mostly verbal and labor offers were instable. The author argues that the urban informal sector is not competitive but segmented based on \"mutually beneficial interpersonal relationships, which avoid risk arising from imperfect information\".Owning a sari-sari store was advantageous because family members could be stably employed, and various goods were available for emergency use. The expected income from a sari-sari store was also higher than other jobs in the informal sector. The entry barrier to the sari-sari store business, however, was high: initial capital, management knowledge, and established status in the community are needed. Residents had suki relationships with sarisari store owners: \"purchasing goods has the same meaning as paying for using the store as an information station\". The stores surveyed had a net profit of 30 pesos / day. A table with items sold and their values is listed on p.296. Poverty in Sitio Paz was a significant issue. 70% of homes were made of disused articles (tin, cardboard). Most homes did not have private toilet facilities, nor did they use the public toilet (made of garbage near the river). Instead, many excreted on newspaper and dumped this in the river. Residents in Sitio Paz described it was \"next to impossible\" to access formal financial facilities, resulting in many residents borrowing money from friends, sari-sari stores, or usurers. Money loans were an especially large part of the scavenging trade as this was often the form of obtaining labor.Overall, the study finds that interpersonal relationships are strong determinants of labor mobility, but poor migrants still struggle to enter the urban formal sector due to high entry barriers such as education and technical skills. The author argues this labor market mechanism is reason for the vicious circle of poverty experienced by many in the urban informal sector.SUEAA profile: street vendors of Manila Neary, J. (2018, October 11). Street vendors of Manila. SUEUAA. Retrieved September 8, 2022, from http://sueuaa.org/blog/street-vendors-manilaThis web article by SUEAA provides a broad background on street vending activity in Manila. General descriptions and definitions of street vending are followed by details on challenges vendors face, mainly in terms of recognition and financial capital.Main challenges for Manila are the volume of informal settlements and traffic congestion. Traffic is, in part, affected by the many street vendors in Manila, vending in strategic locations to maximize \"footfall\". Fresh produce is often sold by women, while the sale of manufactured goods is not restricted to a particular gender. Street vending is seen as an \"intersection between public space, economic activities, and temporalities\" which render the activities a \"vital part of city society\". The street vending trade is difficult to control and is viewed by many city planners as illegal. In extreme cases, goods sold on the street are sprayed with kerosene to make them unmarketable. Because streetfood vending is not officially recognized, vendors are also vulnerable to fines or prosecution. As a coping mechanism, many vendors seek security through informal payments or agreements with municipal workers. As their financial capital is usually limited, vendors also typically carry out loans. Lastly, the article summarizes the experience of street vendors in Manila as a \"negotiation of visibility and vulnerability\". Neary expresses additional interest in the gendered differences of this experience, calling to action the necessity for further research on the topic.Street foods: informal sector food preparation and marketing Barth, G. A. (1983). Street Foods: Informal Sector Food Preparation and Marketing. In Equity Policy Center (No. 18143593). Equity Policy Center. https://agris.fao.org/agrissearch/search.do?recordID=XF2015017071 Keywords: Iloilo, nutrition, women, credit, food preparation, handling, policy, suki This is the final report for the Philippines portion of the international research project on streetfoods by the Equity Policy Center. Other case studies of the project include Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Senegal (other additional cases were added in later years). Although the focus of the Philippines study is on Iloilo City (Western Visayas), the national context of streetfoods and nutrition is also illustrated in the report. Furthermore, because Iloilo (despite not being in Metro Manila) is an urban area with an active streetfood scene, case-specific conclusions may be potentially comparable to the Metro Manila context. In short, the report is the result of lengthy research and provides extensive insight on the economic characteristics of streetfoods, livelihood importance of streetfood enterprises, consumer demand, health implications, and policy recommendations.Because of the extensive coverage of the report, different chapters are relevant for the \"Urban Informal Sector\" and \"Small-Scale Food Processing\" sections for the Resilient Cities literature review. The relevant chapters will be summarized for the \"Urban Informal Sector\" literature review: \"Chapter 1: Introduction\" and \"Chapter 2: Street Food Establishments\".Malnutrition is prevalent throughout the Philippines because of insufficient caloric and nutritional intake. Poor sanitation, limited healthcare facilities, inadequate income, limited nutrition knowledge, and uneven intra-household food distribution also contribute to the malnutrition challenge. While the domestic market for rice received the greatest development attention, the market system for fruits, vegetables, legumes, root crops, and fish was left underdeveloped. Despite government programs to boost food production, Barth describes that \"farmers will not increase production significantly unless they believe they can sell the increased production at a profit\".The urban food market in the Philippines consists of \"stores, marketplaces, and food sellers operating without permanent selling structures\". In Iloilo City, many small-scale vendors were part of associations which protected their rights and livelihoods. Although stall fees in the market were usually paid, other requirements such as business permits and licenses were often ignored. Furthermore, because many stallkeepers are not formally registered to their stalls, they are prevented access to credit programs. The greatest legal challenges are for non-permanent sellers as they struggle to obtain proper operating licenses. In Iloilo City, these sellers were usually tolerated as long as they \"did not cause major obstructions\". However, this level of tolerance depended significantly on the administration.In the survey on Iloilo City, 83% of the respondents' households relied on street vending as a primary source of income. As informal workers typically earned below the minimum wage, many pursued a \"mixed occupational strategy\". Permanent streetfood enterprises were found to earn more in sales of both meals and snacks compared to non-permanent enterprises. Furthermore, 79% of the streetfood vendors surveyed in Iloilo city were women, who were found to also have greater control over business decisions than their male counterparts. The survey also revealed that 85% of respondents obtained items such as \"fruits, vegetables, fish, and milled rice\" from Iloilo City's nearby surroundings. Garth also highlights a trend in the replacement of locally-produced goods such as shoes or candy by large Manila-based corporations.Suki is a relationship between a buyer and seller in the Philippines. Although the term is commonly used, it has varying uses. In general, a suki relationship consists of regular contact and credit. Garth describes that especially in the Philippines where \"capital is relatively scarce,\" credit transactions are critical. Suki sellers may provide a small reduction in market price or offer better quality goods to suki buyers. Forms of bargaining included ayo (discussion on the amount to be paid) and paaman (selling a larger quantity at the same price). Garth also explains that bargaining and credit decisions are a key aspect to the success of street food businesses.Many street sellers were exposed to the business from a young age, usually through a family member. Although low capital investments allow an ease of entry, Garth argues that the experience and skills involved in street vending raise the qualifications needed for a successful business. Contrary to literature that suggests self-employment in the informal sector is temporary until workers find formal work, Garth describes that many migrants do not enter self-employment until they have lived in the city for longer. Garth therefore highlights that the skills and experience of the workers should be \"utilized to encourage economic development\".The Sari-Sari store: informal retailing in the Philippines This article describes livelihoods in the Sari-Sari store business with a focus on Metro Manila. Written in 1997, the description of formal and informal sectors is arguably outdated. However, survey and interview results describe how these stores operate as well as introducing the complicated relationship between Sari-Sari stores, legalization, and marketing officials. It should be noted that although Sari-Sari stores are not often associated with retail of fresh foods (with the exception of stores that combine Carinderia activity), Sari-Sari stores are an important source of pre-packaged and dry foods (as well as household goods), especially for poorer populations.Gatchalian et al. (1986) describes to the informal sector as a \"coping mechanism\" for urban populations in response to an economy which \"failed to support them\". The informal sector is an important aspect of the Filipino economy which directly serves the needs of the large, impoverished population. In the Philippines, this informal sector is characterized by \"smallscale production and service activities that are individual-or family-owned and use laborintensive and simple technologies\". Individuals and households involved in the informal sector often work long hours and lack access to public services such as \"electricity, water, drainage, transportation, and educational and health services\".Sari-Sari stores are described as a retail operation selling a variety of consumer goods packaged in small sizes. The stores are seen as mechanisms that \"cushion the impact of high prices\" because of their ability to sell in smaller quantities. Within Metro Manila, Sari-Sari stores comprised of approximately 71% of active outlets (as of 1997). 92% of the Sari-Sari stores surveyed did not formally report their economic activity, and as a result did not have access to \"lawful privileges and benefits\". Only stores that were in highly visible areas obtained a permit to legally operate. Of the storeowners, 36.7% used savings, 52.2% borrowed money, and 11.1% used a mix of both strategies as a source of capital. Most sales were made with credit which was tracked with a listaban system (similar to a credit log for each customer). Within this system, the credit limit of customers depended on their palabra de honor, accounting for how financially dependable the customer was. 72% of the Sari-Sari stores applied a base markup of 5-6% to store goods. Ultimately, despite their \"illegal\" operation, Sari-Sari stores are an accepted and popular form of retailing that will \"remain a medium of distribution as long as there are clusters of low-income Filipinos\".Measuring the contribution of the informal sector the Philippines economy: current practices and challenges This conference paper provides an economic and statistical analysis of the informal sector in the Philippines. The informal sector is divided into the categories agriculture, industry, and services. The informal food sector is mentioned as part of the \"services\" category but does not receive explicit analysis. Criteria to identify the informal sector is followed by detailed calculations using data from censuses and surveys from the Philippine Statistical System. The paper is highly technical with limited qualitative commentary. Many statistics, although helpful to economists, need to be further processed for publishing to a general audience.The informal sector is defined as household unincorporated enterprises which consist of both informal own-account enterprises and enterprises of informal employers. The unorganized sector is described as the sector not covered by establishment surveys of the Philippine Statistical System. As of February 2019, 68.7% of recorded establishments in the Philippines were informal. 62.8% of employed persons above 15 years of age were in the informal sector, and 66.7% and 56.4% of males and females were involved in the informal sector respectively. Between 2006 and 2016, the unorganized agriculture and industry sector grew, while the unorganized service sector decreased in terms of nominal GDP. Overall, there was an increasing gap between organized and unorganized sectors in the Philippines.Policy intervention in the street foods trade and its effects on health and livelihood: a case study of Quezon City Yeung, D. S. (1977, June) This master's thesis provides a detailed description of the street food trade through an extensive collection of surveys and interviews conducted in both Quezon City and Metro Manila (although there is more information presented on street food vendors operating near Quezon City Hall than in Metro Manila). Survey results cover a wide range of topics from demographics, financing, household dependence, training, consumers, and policy. The results are displayed in a number of tables, each accompanied with extended discussion. Because a diversity of topics is covered, the study serves as a strong resource to understand street food vending from both a livelihood and policy perspective. The statistics shared from the survey are also clear and helpful references.The informal sector is characterized by an ease of entry, small-scale, low capital investment, little technology or skills required, use of readily available materials, and mobility of operations. Yeung, however, argues the term \"informal\" masks the importance the sector, \"cutting off formal government support such as the provision of labor laws\". As of 1992, informal activity accounted for 50% of all economic activity in Metro Manila. Interestingly, what is considered regular business at the village level is often tagged \"informal\" in the urban setting. Informal activities are usually unregulated with messy or absent bookkeeping. Contracts and employee benefits are rare, paired with improper tax contributions. 60% of vendors studied in Quezon City obtained permits, while in Metro Manila this was only 36%.Approximately 70% of the Metro Manila informal sector is involved in the provision of sarisari stores, and 25% in preparing raw and cooked foods. Street foods can supply a daily energy intake of 2100-2700 calories and with enough financial means, they can also provide adequate nourishment. Popular streetfoods include \"fried snacks, beverages, soups, ices, native cakes, and assorted barbecued items\". Because there is minimal or simple preparation in streetfoods, nutrients in the foods are better retained. Furthermore, streetfood processing often reflects local/traditional food preparation methods, serving as a vector of cultural preservation. Customers surveyed also indicated a preference towards buying traditional Filipino streetfoods because these take more time to prepare.Streetfood vendors are described as permanent/semi-permanent, mobile, or invisible. Within these categories, mobile operations are the most \"physically risky and prone to harassment\". Mobile operations sold more ready-to-eat snacks while permanent operations sold heartier meals. Permanent vending is preferred and corresponds with higher profit margins. These were often located around offices and schools and had a more regular clientele. By contrast, ambulant vending is common near bus stops, taxi stands, and pedestrian overpasses with a more itinerant clientele. Ambulant vendors were observed to travel furthest from their homes and relied more on borrowed finances. The \"five-six\" rule is a common loan system in the informal sector, where a loan of five pesos in the morning is repaid as six pesos in the evening. Despite many vendors in impoverished conditions, many shared contempt with government neglect because policy changes were thought to negatively impact their financial practices. Furthermore, interviewed vendors feared eviction and harassment and shared that over-regulation would only increase bribing activity. Several vending businesses are unofficially controlled by \"turf bosses\" who collected \"rent\"; however, as these rent collectors were sometimes workers in city hall, complaints were difficult to file.Streetfoods and unsanitary vending practices are linked to illnesses such as botulism, hepatitis, parasitic infections, and cholera. Yet, only 12% of consumers in Metro Manila expressed concern for streetfood health. Yeung argues that \"until customers demand more sanitary food handling practices and are willing to pay for it, these practices will continue\". From the vendors perspective, access to water and garbage pickup services were the most pressing concerns. Vendors currently bring water from their homes, which is challenging with longer commutes and restricts the volume of water available.Lastly, Yueng advocates to use policy as a \"means of rendering informal sector activities compatible with urban growth management\". Suggested interventions include access to credit programs, improving working conditions, and better skills training programs.Batangan, D. B., & Batangan, M. T. U. (2009, January 1). Social security needs assessment survey for the informal economy in the Philippines. In International Labour Organization.Labour Organization. Retrieved September 15, 2022, from https://www.ilo.org/manila/publications/WCMS_125339/lang--en/index.htmThis lengthy report characterizes the informal sector in the \"Greater Manila Area\". The authors describe challenges in defining the informal economy, as well as mentioning the implications due to the lack of proper classification. Subsequently, the report establishes a specific and detailed definition for the informal economy which is utilized in their survey research. The survey targets \"poblacion,\" \"adjacent,\" and \"remote\" barangays (delineated based on distance from the \"town plaza\") from randomly selected municipalities in Quezon City, Tacloban City, and Cagayan de Oro City. Extensive data is extracted from these barangays and cities, covering topics from sources of livelihood and household characteristics, to farming activity, income, and insurance. It should be noted that data from the three cities is consolidated to represent the barangay categories \"población,\" \"adjacent,\" and \"remote\". Therefore, data on specifically Quezon City, for example, is not available. Overall, the extensive information presented throughout the report are helpful not only in presenting the social security needs (such as insurance and micro finance) of the informal economy, but also in providing extensive contextual information on these urban areas.Social security benefits are critical in poverty reduction. It is therefore essential to \"extend social security coverage to the working population in the informal economy\". The authors describe that challenges in developing effective policies and interventions is rooted in the poor understanding of the informal sector. Many studies share varying definitions of the informal sector which lead to inconsistencies in, for example, measuring the economic contribution or analyzing the activities of the sector. Through an exploration of what is necessary in properly defining the informal sector, the authors establish the definition: \"enterprises operated by own account workers, which may employ unpaid family workers as well as occasional/seasonal hired workers … [and] may employ less than 10 employees on a continuous basis\".The informal sector is a major source of employment for the Philippines. However, many individuals in the informal sector earn very little income, have limited medical benefits, and lack retirement insurance. Additionally, many informal workers struggle to sufficiently feed their households or send their children to school. Many workers also avoid seeking medical treatment because of its financial burden. Furthermore, because of the lack of retirement insurance, many individuals are forced to work at old age to continue supporting their livelihoods.Results of the survey on randomly selected barangays in Quezon City, Tacloban City, and Cagayan de Oro City indicate that financial capital was a key driver to both insurance coverage and participation in microfinance projects. Out of all the respondents, 62.1% indicated that they \"did not have any form of insurance coverage\". Furthermore, when respondents experienced unexpected problems, borrowing money from family members or \"others\" was the main response in all barangay categories. Of the respondents who did have insurance coverage, the most common type was health insurance, followed by life/death and illness insurance. The least common were livestock and vehicle insurances. Interestingly, despite a common desire to have insurance coverage (approximately 81% of all respondents), most participants were not interested in acquiring insurance due to their \"inability to pay for the premium or contribution\". Subsequently, the survey found that 91.5% of all participants were not involved in microinsurance or microfinance programs. Again, at high costs were identified as the main barrier to access these resources.Streetfoods into the 21 st Century Tinker, I. (1999). Street foods into the 21st century. Agriculture and Human Values,16(3),[327][328][329][330][331][332][333] https://www-proquestcom.ezproxy.library.wur.nl/docview/214180163?accountid=27871In this journal article, Tinker describes what the future of streetfoods may look like by drawing insight from her experiences in streetfood research both independently and with the Equity Policy Center's \"Street Foods\" study. In the article, Tinker describes the influence of urbanization (and globalization) on streetfood businesses. However, it should be acknowledged that this insight is illustrated primarily through examples of streetfoods in industrialized economies (eg. streetfoods in New York City). Therefore, readers should be critical when applying conclusions from the article to the streetfood landscape in the Philippines. Nonetheless, some broader patterns are still applicable to the Philippines, and small segments in the article also directly address developing economies. A such discussion that is relevant to the Resilient Cities initiative is the section which explores the suitability of streetfoods as a strategy out of poverty.Tinker defines globalization as \"the development of a global economy that impacts on and privileges trade among countries and so affects prices of energy, food, and manufactured goods everywhere\". In terms of food and nutrition, globalization has changed dietary practices and increased the popularity of imported foodstuffs and grocery stores. Urbanization, on the other hand, is linked to the expansion of streetfood vending as the development of slum housing (that lack kitchen facilities) encourages outside consumption.Research in streetfoods is crucial in understanding the nutritional status of a country. Streetfoods are consumed by a range of socioeconomic groups, but especially by the urban poor. As of 1999, approximately 15% of the labor force in the Philippines was involved in streetfood enterprise. Where an average of 51% of the household income was spent on food, this statistic reached 77% household food expenditure for the poorest quartile in the Philippines. Because of financial barriers, their consumption habits are typically characterized as \"frequent snacking\" or \"grazing\". In some countries, streetfoods are also mashed and fed to babies, indicating the importance for streetfoods to be nutritious and safe. In the Philippines, some notable nutrition interventions include the addition of legumes to cassava cookies and the introduction of vitamin-enhanced fishballs. Tinker elaborates that the key to effective intervention is to design a \"culturally appropriate\" approach which does not lead to an increase in price.A major limitation in current streetfood analysis is the fixation in the economic paradigm that defines growth as an essential attribute of entrepreneurship. Streetfood businesses contradict this paradigm as they operate on \"fundamentally different values\": instead of aiming to expand vending business, the purpose of streetfood enterprises is to provide a livelihood for the family. Tinker links this discrepancy to the harassment of vendors, introducing the larger issue of \"big business versus the common man\". In addition, many studies on \"streetfoods\" only target the visible aspects of the trade, overlooking the importance of \"invisible streetfood\". These include foods that are prepared directly for customers, often prepared in women's' homes and eaten as lunch by the working population. Evidently, the streetfood trade is \"an intricate network of traders, processors, and producers\".The involvement of women in streetfoods is complex. As women balance both household chores and streetfood businesses, they are described to have a \"double day\". Because of their external responsibilities, women often earn less than their male counterparts, despite potentially earning more per hour. Still, involvement in streetfoods is linked to women empowerment, increasing bargaining power, and reducing domestic violence. Because women are found more likely to invest in the household than men, the benefits of women in streetfoods expands to the household level. Yet, when microfinance initiatives target women, the efficacy of these interventions is questioned as \"women often funneled money to enterprises controlled by their husbands\". Tinker recommends greater research into this dynamic to improve female-targeted streetfood interventions.Ultimately, Tinker predicts that streetfoods will \"flourish\" in the 21 st century. The demand for streetfood is likely to increase, and vendors will \"adjust the food to suit new palates and higher customer standards for safe handling\". Through this transition, however, it is essential for governments to work with vendors and economists to acknowledge the context-specific definition of \"success\" in streetfood enterprise.Literature review on small-scale food processing targets food processing especially by micro-enterprises and streetfood vendors in Metro Manila. In contrast to the review on the informal sector, small-scale food processing uses a nutrition and food safety lens to gain insight on the linkages between street foods and public health. The literature in this section is organized to first describe small-scale food processing / streetfood processing, then to highlighting the challenges and potential interventions in the streetfood trade. For an alphabetical list of literature, see the reference list on page 53.Street foods: informal sector food preparation and marketing Barth, G. A. (1983) Keywords: Iloilo, nutrition, women, credit, food preparation, handling, policy This is the final report for the Philippines portion of the international research project on streetfoods by the Equity Policy Center. Other case studies of the project include Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Senegal (other additional cases were added in later years). Although the focus of the Philippines study is on Iloilo City (Western Visayas), the national context of streetfoods and nutrition is also illustrated in the report. Furthermore, because Iloilo (despite not being in Metro Manila) is an urban area with an active streetfood scene, case-specific conclusions may be potentially comparable to the Metro Manila context. In short, the report is the result of lengthy research and provides extensive insight on the economic characteristics of streetfoods, livelihood importance of streetfood enterprises, consumer demand, health implications, and policy recommendations.Because of the extensive coverage of the report, different chapters are relevant for the \"Urban Informal Sector\" and \"Small-Scale Food Processing\" sections for the Resilient Cities literature review. The relevant chapters will be summarized for the \"Urban Informal Sector\" literature review: \"Chapter 5: Street Foods and Health\". It should be noted that this chapter highlights calorie deficiencies as the major challenge in Filipino food security, which contrasts with more recent papers that suggest micronutrition deficiencies are critical. Sections of Chapter 5 which are especially helpful for the Resilient Cities initiative include \"Food Preparation and Handling\" and \"Nutritional Significance of Street Foods\".The streetfood environment has many potential sources of contamination which pose risks for food safety. Food safety risks are commonly associated with illnesses such as \"diphtheria, hepatitis, tuberculosis, gastroenteritis, dysentery, typhoid fever, and cholera\". These risks have become so commonplace such that \"frequent mild bouts of diarrhea and illnesses … are accepted as a way of life\". Common sources of contamination include utensils, cooking equipment, glasses, dishes, vendors' hands and nails, soil dust, flies, rodents, nearby garbage, and water. Paired with the temptation to cut costs, preparation and handling practices in the streetfood sector do not meet \"acceptable standards\". In this report, the studied forms of streetfood operations include carinderias, barbecue stands, fried nuts stands, and native cake vending. These operations have different food safety risks (detailed in pg.81-83) linked to their distinctions in handling practices. This report includes a laboratory analysis of Salmonella, Shigella, cholera organisms, and coliform bacteria conducted for samples of popular Iloilo streetfoods. All samples (excluding the donut samples) tested negative for coliform organisms when tested within a few hours of cooking. However, after six hours since cooking, all samples tested positive for intermediate coliform organisms (even if they were recooked). The report recommends that to prevent diseases, food handlers must be \"subject to some type of supervision\". That said, Barth warns that food handling practices will not improve unless there is also greater public awareness and concern over sanitary conditions. Key opportunities for intervention include providing heating devices powered by solar energy to boil water and cook foods. This aims to keep energy costs low while also encouraging vendors to cook foods more frequently.Rice a staple food in the Filipino diet, consumed more than once a day. This is followed by fresh fish or seafood, which is consumed approximately once a day. In an evaluation of household food consumption, nutritionists found that 50% of households had poor nutritional diets. This is argued to be partially due to the lack of knowledge regarding a \"proper diet\". Table 5.4 and 5.5 provide informative values on the nutrient content and cost per peso for streetfood \"meal dishes\". Overall, meat dishes were the highest in calories and proteins, while vegetable dishes were highest in iron, vitamin A, and ascorbic acid. Yet, the 214 calories per peso of rice is unmatched by any other primary ingredient of meat, fish, or vegetables. This explains the popularity of the food, and highlights challenges as many essential nutrients are lacking in rice. Snacks are introduced as foods which may potentially reduce calorie-protein deficiencies. A single serving of \"snack food\" is estimated to contribute 11% of daily required calories and 10% proteins. Survey responses also share that snacks are a popularly consumed food, especially for younger customers. Snacks can be an important food especially for those lacking calories; however, snacks may also drain the budget that could otherwise be spent on more nutritious foods. Barth suggests the introduction of locally grown low-cost nutritious foods which can supplement streetfood snacks and meals for improved diets. A highlighted opportunity is in incorporating more soybeans and soybean products, which has proved popular in Manila.Policies and strategies for the development of small and medium scale food processing enterprises in the Philippines Digal, L. (2014). Policies and strategies for the development of small and medium scale food processing enterprises in the Philippines. In Policy measures for micro, small, and medium food processing enterprises (MSFMEs) in the Asian region (pp. 177-240). Food and Agriculture Organization. http://econ1.upm.edu.my/~fatimah/FAO%20SME%20ASEAN%202014.pdf#page=187This chapter is part of a larger report from the FAO Regional Office of Asia and the Pacific on food processing enterprises in Asia. This chapter on the Philippines describes the employment, challenges, and contribution of food processing enterprises of different scales. It should be noted that the intricacies of micro, small, and medium scale enterprises are discussed in greater detail than large scale enterprises. However, large processing enterprises are listed and briefly described in the section \"Key SMFE players\". Although the linkages between food processing and retail are described, there is a bias towards formal retail and processing establishments. Finally, the detailed recommendations described in pg.197-198 are an especially helpful resource for designing the vendor business schools for the Resilient Cities initiative.Population growth and an increase in the number of dual income households in the Philippines are linked to the rise in local demand for processed foods. Combined with increasing international demand for processed foods, increasing income, and liberalization policies from the Filipino government, the food processing sector in the Philippines is expanding. The impact of these changes is described as \"restructuring\" agrifood markets and popularizing convenience stores and supermarkets. Alongside these formal establishments, the informal sector in the Philippines is estimated to contribute to approximately 17% of the national GDP. Enterprises in this sector are mostly in vending and selling various food goods, miscellaneous items (sari-sari store), and tailoring.Food processing enterprises are classified in the chapter as micro-, small-, medium-, or large-scale enterprises based on the size of assets and number of employees. Within the processed food industry in the Philippines, micro-, small-, and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) comprise of 99.6% of the enterprises, of which micro-enterprises represent approximately 92%. These MSMEs contribute to approximately 60% of the country's exports, where the most common products are Cavendish bananas (17%), canned and frozen tuna products (11%), desiccated coconut (7%), and prepared/preserved pineapples (7%). The chapter further specifies that 68% of MSMEs are based in Luzon, and Metro Manila alone contains 25% of the MSMEs in food processing.Within the food processing sector, the Philippine Standard for Industrial Classification delineates 10 subsectors, covering the processing of meat, dairy, rice + corn milling, starches, animal feed, beverages, bakery products, sugar, crude coconut oil, and others. 85% of micro-and small-scale enterprises are involved in the rice + corn milling and bakery subsectors; however, these enterprises struggle to sell products at the national level, selling mostly at the provincial scale. Moreover, micro-and small-scale enterprises in the food and beverage sector are typically more labor intensive than their larger counterparts. As a result, these smaller enterprises typically face smaller revenues and limited value addition.Challenges in the productivity of smaller enterprises are linked to concerns in \"the business environment, access to finance, access to markets, and productivity and efficiency\". Strict requirements, slow processing, inadequate financial statements, and lacking information on credit facilities act as barriers to adequate funding for smaller enterprises. Banks are also reluctant to provide financing to smaller enterprises because of perceived \"high risks\". Furthermore, in contrast to large enterprises, smaller enterprises lack a consistent supply and quality of raw materials. Because of poor product packaging and limited or lacking certification, products struggle to expand to new or international markets. Digal also highlights that in the processed meat subsector, high costs, limited knowledge of quality raw material, and inadequate technologies and facilities are major issues. Likewise, in the fruit and vegetable processing sector, pressing issues include erratic supply, increasing input costs, poor product branding, limited shelf life, and difficult accreditation.Overall, the chapter emphasizes that despite the significant contribution of MSMEs to the Philippine economy and food environment, these enterprises face many challenges which restrict their expansion and development. It is therefore important for the government and private sector to support MSME development. Digal outlines key recommendations to develop MSMEs: encouraging clustering of MSMEs to improve linkages with larger firms, investing in value-adding and market-orienting activities, developing of credit facilities that are suitable for micro-enterprises, and prioritizing inclusive growth to alleviate poverty. This article describes a study which uses questionnaires, interviews, and literature to quantify and describe popular streetfoods, handling practices, and perceptions of sanitation in Batangas, the Philippines. The literature review section of the article introduces the role of streetfoods in urban livelihoods both in the Philippines and across the globe. Subsequently, results from the questionnaire and interviews are presented and briefly discussed. The discussion of results from the questionnaire and interviews, however, is limited and the conclusion fails to fully cover the scope of the conducted research. It should also be noted that throughout the article, there are multiple instances of improper English or typing errors which risk miscommunication. Despite these limitations, the authors describe Filipino street food culture in authentic detail and insight from the literature review may be relevant for the Resilient Cities initiative.Streetfoods in the Philippines are an important aspect of Filipino culture, inexpensive food supply, and job opportunity. The popularity of streetfoods is rooted in Filipino snacking culture. Filipinos typically eat three meals a day, supplemented with \"merianda\", a generic term for snacks. Although streetfoods are an essential aspect of urban livelihoods they are also linked to rural agriculture and local enterprises to supply traditional ingredients. Furthermore, the authors describe that even as the commercial retail sector grows, the cultural significance of streetfoods in the Philippines remains. Recently, new developments of indoor malls even include a recreation of street-food style establishments.At the same time, streetfoods are also associated with public health concerns. Challenges in streetfood hygiene include inadequate toilet and washing facilities, insufficient disinfection, the presence of insects and rodents, and a lack of organized sewage disposal. Moreover, refrigerated storage is either limited or nonexistent and foods may contain a variety of additives and contaminants. While some researchers suggest that regular consumers of streetfoods may develop immunity to common contaminants, the authors note that especially when these foods are consumed daily, poor sanitation and food practices pose substantial risks to public health. The Department of Health in the Philippines therefore urges consumers to avoid vendors without proper health permits. However, many consumers, especially the urban poor, continue to frequent street vendors. The authors reveal that for poorer communities who depend on streetfoods, individuals prioritize convenience and affordability over the \"safety, quality, and hygiene\" of streetfood vending. Streetfood vendors also demonstrate a similar attitude, where volume and price are prioritized over freshness and cleanliness when purchasing raw materials.The questionnaire on streetfoods revealed that in Batangas City, isaw was the most popular streetfood, followed by balut, fishballs, tokneneng, and kikiam. Responses from consumers also found that although consumers believed the working area of streetfoods were adequately hygienic, the food preparation practices of vendors were a source of food safety concern. Consumers emphasized certain areas of concern, which included the lack of ensuring whether foods were free from fly eggs, the non-use of hair nets or gloves, and double-dipping of foods. The authors note that the use of single-use plates and utensils were not a large source of food safety concern.Ultimately, the authors conclude that streetfoods have the potential to \"improve civic life\". The article advocates for local governments to provide and organize training and seminars to share knowledge on food safety and sanitation procedures.Street vended foods: potential for improving food and nutrition security or a risk factor for foodborne diseases in developing countries? Imathiu, S. (2017). Street Vended Foods: Potential for Improving Food and Nutrition Security or A Risk Factor for Food borne Diseases in Developing Countries? Current Research in Nutrition and Food Science Journal, 5(2), 55-65. https://doi.org/10.12944/CRNFSJ.5.2.02This article outlines the importance, challenges, and opportunities in the streetfood trade in developing countries. The article does not specify patterns related to any single country, rather maintains a broad scope in the discussion of nutrition security and food safety. However, the description of food safety challenges is especially insightful as risk factors such as different chemical interactions in foods and food handling equipment are detailed. These factors and their descriptions are unique to this article as other analyses of food safety tend to focus on hygiene and bacterial/microbial contamination. Because the article covers a range of topics, it provides a strong, albeit general, foundation on streetfoods which can then spur additional research for the Philippines and Metro Manila.Streetfoods are an important food source for city-dwellers as industrialization compels greater out-of-home consumption. Unique flavors and traditional preparation techniques also establish the cultural significance of streetfoods for both locals and tourists. As employment opportunities in the formal sector fail to keep up with rapid urbanization, more households turn to streetfood vending as a livelihood strategy. Still, despite their importance and popularity, streetfood vending in developing countries lack official recognition, regulation, and protection.Streetfoods are a \"variable, but significant\" part of consumers' daily diet and nutritional requirements. The type of foods prepared and ingredients used not only differ per country, but also between vendors. The article further describes that streetfoods may be centrally processed foods from the formal sector, processed by small-scale processors, or processed by vendors themselves. Because of the diversity of and lack of documentation in the streetfood sector, there is insufficient data on the nutritional value of streetfoods. As micronutrient deficiencies (most prominently vitamin A, iron, and iodine deficiencies) in developing countries grow more severe, Imathiu emphasizes the need for research in the dietary and nutritional contribution of streetfoods. The article also highlights that interventions in streetfoods, such as possible micronutrient fortification, may alleviate these \"hidden hungers\". In the Philippines, for example, the intervention of vitamin-enhanced fishballs illustrates the opportunities and successes in culturally appropriate improvement of common foods. Finally, Imathiu also advocates for research especially on children's consumption of streetfoods as they are more prone to deadly food-borne diseases.The poor microbial and chemical quality of streetfoods is a hazard to food safety. Examples of hazardous food handling practices include using unsafe raw materials (harvested from contaminated waters or containing pesticide residues), using non-food grade materials in cooking (can lead to heavy metal contamination), and re-using frying oil (can promote the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and acrylamide). Many streetfood sites also lack basic provisions such as \"running potable water, washing facilities, toilets, and organized waste disposal\". Imathiu also elaborates that where cereals and legumes are a large component of traditional diets, chemical substances such as glycoalkaloids, phytic acid, and tannins may reduce the nutritional benefits of food products.Weighing the benefits and challenges of streetfoods, Imathiu urges the necessity to officially recognize streetfoods, implement guidelines and regulations on food safety, and provide training to both vendors and consumers for a safer and healthier food environment.Food safety knowledge and practices of streetfood vendors in a Philippines university campus Azanza, M. P. V. (2000, July). Food safety knowledge and practices of streetfood vendors in a Philippines university campus. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 51(4), 235-246. https://www.proquest.com/docview/216489154?accountid=27871 Keywords: Quezon city, streetfood vendors, students, policy, food safety, sanitation This journal article provides a helpful description of common food handling practices by urban street food vendors. The article explores the gaps between the knowledge and practice of food safety through literature review, observation, and a survey on street food vendors in an unspecified university campus in Quezon City. The survey results are helpful for case-specific statistics on the knowledge and practices vendors take towards food safety. However, because these vendors are in a university campus setting, it should be acknowledged that their experiences may differ from vendors in city/street settings. These differences are briefly explored in the paper. The topics covered in the food safety assessment include: health and personal hygiene, good manufacturing procedures, food contamination, waste management, and food legislation. Findings from the case study are supplemented with literature and broader theoretical information delivering a strong overview of food handling practices from the perspective of food vendors.Street foods in this study are defined as \"anyone selling ready-to-eat foods and drinks in streets and public places\". The study describes different forms of processing found in the streetfood trade, delineating the categories:• Processed: completely packaged, not requiring additional handling except chilling bottled drinks • Semi-processed: processed foods which require additional cooking (eg. fishballs, pork dumplings) • Vendor-prepared: foods cooked by vendors starting from raw materials Streetfoods are a very popular and important food source for many people; however, they are also a known vector for food-borne illnesses such as cholera, hepatitis A, dysentery, and typhoid fever. To safeguard the quality of foods, the Sanitation Code of the Philippines (PD856) was established to restrict street vending to only packaged food, drinks, biscuits, and confectionaries. However, Azanza argues this code is unrealistic and limits the livelihoods of many street vendors. In reality, the case study reveals that the code not strictly followed or controlled.In the sample of vendors surveyed, most were female, married, without an education beyond high school, and between the ages 30-50. The average daily gross income of these vendors was P100-500. Because many families rely solely on streetfood vending as an income source, many times they will continue their businesses despite ill health, potentially directly or indirectly transferring their illnesses to customers. The interviews also reveal that many vendors take leftovers home for family consumption, which may cause food-borne illnesses within the household (and spread to customers the following day).For food safety practices such as personal hygiene, most vendors were aware of best practices. The gap between knowledge and practice, however, was strongly tied to the availability and vicinity of public sanitation facilities (such as washrooms). This was partially the case for waste management, where survey results found that despite the knowledge that waste accumulation near vending sites was unsafe, many vendors left open plastic bags on the side of push carts which were disposed only at the end of the day. Subsequently, many vendors took \"shortcuts\" in food safety practices, believing their culinary techniques and expertise could control risks in their food preparation. The study revealed that vendors commonly prioritized the price and volume of food purchases over expiration dates or evidence of damage, compromising food safety. Furthermore, although many vendors expressed a general understanding of campus-level food regulations, very few were aware of food regulations at the municipal/city level. Azanza suggests this is largely due to the more frequent interactions with and monitoring from campus police as opposed to city officials.Overall, the results from the survey suggest that while there is adequate knowledge towards health and personal hygiene, manufacturing procedures, and food contamination, knowledge on legislation and waste management was lacking. Furthermore, even when vendors were aware of food safety practices, there was a significant gap between knowledge and practice mainly due to financial and infrastructure constraints. Azanza reasons that if vendors had greater financial capital, food safety would improve. Azanza advocates for the organization of safety net funds to address financial challenges and better provisions for basic utilities, infrastructure, and facilities (with an emphasis on handwashing stations and proper garbage disposal facilities). Finally, the article concludes with an additional recommendation for training and seminars on food safety to encourage and facilitate the translation of knowledge to practice.Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practices on food safety and compliance to microbial safety guidelines among vendors of commonly patronized street foods in Poblacion, Batangas City, Philippines This journal article follows a case study in the Poblacion (town center) of Batangas City, a city south of Metro Manila in the CALABARZON region. The study investigates the food preparation practices of three common street foods in the area: grilled pork intestine (isaw), pork barbecue, and grilled coagulated chicken blood (betamax). Interviews with street food vendors indicate common practices and attitudes towards food safety, which are paired with laboratory testing of food samples for E. coli contamination to quantitatively measure food safety risks. Insight from this article may be helpful for the Resilient Cities initiative in terms of understanding the technical and social interactions of specific streetfood examples. Because isaw, pork barbecue, and betamax are also popular streetfoods in Metro Manila, the conclusions from the article may be extended to this context.Streetfoods play a significant role in Filipino food culture. The streetfood environment is known for its \"diversity, mobility, and temporary nature\" and provides an important livelihood option for the urban poor. However, there is growing attention on issues of the streetfood environment such as food-borne diseases and a lack of adequate food safety practices. Common diseases are diarrhea, cholera, typhoid fever, and food poisoning, typically from microbial contamination. The article further shares that major sources of contamination involve the place of preparation, cooking and serving utensils, raw materials, cooking time, and personal hygiene of vendors.Most of the vendors in Batangas City had limited education and did not receive formal training or education on the streetfood trade. The income of vendors sampled varied significantly, ranging from PHP5000-23300 per year. Of the total vendors, 69% of which were female, the majority lacked access to running water or hand washing facilities. The authors elaborate on poor personal hygiene practices such that vendors did not regularly wash their hands and often coughed or sneezed directly over vended foods. Furthermore, although trash bins were available, waste was not segregated. Researchers observed that food stalls in Batangas City all had display cabinets or covered containers for food. However, they warn that foods were still prone to smoke and dust contamination from passing traffic. Especially during peak hours, vendors described it was difficult to maintain cleanliness.From the administered questionnaire, none of the vendors exhibited \"poor attitude towards food safety,\" however, researchers noted inconsistencies in food safety practices. Most vendors purchased raw materials from the public market, 86% of which were purchased daily to maintain freshness. However, the respondents shared that they did not inspect their purchased ingredients because of their suki relationship with suppliers (characterized by trust and loyalty). Testing the pork barbecue, isaw, and Betamax samples in the lab, the researchers found a 29%, 54%, and 74% E. coli contamination respectively. These discrepancies were suggested to be correlated with the ingredients and preparation practices specific to the food item. For example, the preparation of Betamax involved chicken blood which was often purchased at the market already processed (as opposed to isaw and pork barbecue where more processing was done at the vendor-level). Betamax vendors explained that purchasing pre-processed ingredients was more convenient for their business, but they knew little of the quality of ingredients or processing practices that occurred at the market level. Researchers also found an association between the environmental condition of vending and E. coli load.The article concludes that greater attention is needed towards streetfoods to protect consumer health. The authors advocate for food safety trainings (offered every 6 months), the allocation of vending spaces more conducive to food preparation and selling, and better health regulations and sanitary permits.Street food vending and nutritional impact Blair, D. (1999). Street food vending and nutritional impact. Agriculture and Human Values,16(3), 321-323. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1007580507131 Keywords: EPOC study, health, nutrition, urban This journal article is better described as a review of the Street Foods study by Irene Tinker with the Equity Policy Center (EPOC). Much of Blair's article summarizes findings of Tinker's study, describing general patterns within the Street Foods study (the study covers cases in Indonesia, Thailand the Philippines, Egypt, Bangladesh, Senegal, and Nigeria). It should be noted that some generalizations made, for example regarding the improving relationship between informed officials and streetfood vendors, are not supported by articles specific to the Philippines. Blair elaborates on the Indonesia case, in which she discusses nutrition and potential interventions. Given their geographic proximity / some similarities in food culture, interventions suggested may be applicable to Metro Manila. Reading the original EPOC study is suggested for greater detail of the cases and insight specific to the Philippines.Streetfood vendors across the globe face common issues: \"sanitation problems, competition among pedestrians, vendors, and cars for road space, crowding and police harassment, difficulty, especially for women, in acquiring the time, hands, and capital needed to vend on a remunerative scale\". Poorer families tend to spend a greater percentage of their food budget on streetfoods. Blair elaborates that because streetfood businesses have the advantage of wholesale purchases, streetfoods are sometimes less expensive than homeprepared foods. Streetfoods also pose an advantage for households that have limited or insufficient time to prepare foods. In this way, \"street food vendors help preserve the more labor-intensive local food traditions\".In the discussion of food safety in streetfoods, Blair highlights the biases in Western standards which are applied to \"food safety\". As illustrated in Tinker's study, many locals consider streetfood safety \"typical of home preparation\". Within the wide variety of streetfoods, Blair mentions that foods \"boiled or fried just before serving are most sanitary\".Streetfoods provide an opportunity for improving the nutritional status of urban dwellers through vitamin A, vitamin C, and fat consumption. Blair mentions that vitamin A is linked to reducing blindness and severity of childhood infections. Additionally, iron consumption is linked to reducing anemia and stunting. Where household food consumption is lacking in fats and oils, fried streetfoods can improve this deficiency. Furthermore, Blair argues that \"vitamin A absorption may be improved by the deep fat fried street foods\" and that vitamin C is essential in \"improv[ing] iron availability from phytate containing foods\". To realize these benefits, Blair recommends incorporating local crops such as ripe mango, papaya, and leafy greens (which are rich in these nutrients) into streetfood preparation.The perception of local street food vendors of Tanauan City, Batangas on food safety importance in the categories: food safety practices, vendors' hygiene, and food preparation. The results are further processed to rank variation in response based on age, gender, educational background, monthly income, and working experience. It should be acknowledged that although the results are briefly described, there is limited discussion on why these results occur.Streetfoods in the Philippines are strongly influenced by the cuisine of neighboring countries such as Japan and China. Most vendors are unlicensed, untrained in food safety, and work in unsanitary conditions to prepare street foods. Unsafe food handling practices include \"inadequate storage and reheating of food before sale, insufficient handwashing, and inappropriate cleaning of cooking utensils\". In addition, streetfood vendors typically practiced improper food storage and refrigeration methods. The authors highlight, however, that food safety issues also stem from poor city planning/management. Because streetfood vending is not legally recognized, city authorities hesitate to invest in proper infrastructure for a healthier streetfood environment. Furthermore, city officials reason that because vendors do not pay city taxes, they are not entitled to legitimate support. The article indicates the lack of proper garbage collection facilities are especially concerning. The accumulation of waste near streetfood vending sites results in an increase in pest populations and risk of food contamination.The survey on the perceptions of streetfood vendors indicates different food safety priorities in the categories of food safety practices, food cooking processes, vendors' hygiene, and food preparation. While detailed results are described in the article, notable findings include handwashing was perceived as the highest ranked indicator of vendors hygiene. While the cleanliness of utensils were ranked highest in the food preparation category, results also shared that there was the combination of raw and cooked foods were ranked the lowest (meaning this received the least attention/worry with regards to food safety). The respondents also indicated their desire for better access to and maintenance of water resources. Vendors further described that although they prefer to maintain sanitary vending conditions to protect their reputation with customers, financial constraints limit their investment in the working area. To maintain a clean workspace, researchers noted that many vendors used cheap cleaning products which often contained hazardous chemicals.Ultimately, the authors recommend developing a simple and informative checklist of hygienic practices to share with streetfood vendors. The checklist aims to \"emphasize the implementation of good hygiene standards\" and also guide policymakers in designing effective programs for food safety.The effects of consumers' perceived risk and benefit on attitude and behavioral intention: a study of street food This article shares a broad literature review on consumption choices of streetfoods and presents results from a study on Seoul and Gyeonggi Province in Korea. The literature review offers a unique perspective which emphasizes the role of consumers in the streetfood scene. It should be acknowledged, however, that the review is partial to streetfoods in more industrialized economies. The study in Korea is technical and utilizes abstract variables to quantify perceived risks and benefits of consumers. For the Resilient Cities project, the literature review is more relevant as the study in Korea caters consumption choices in the context of an industrialized economy. Nonetheless, the article exemplifies the interactions between consumers and the streetfood trade, an essential perspective that is otherwise limited in research.Streetfoods offer unique, bold flavors with simple preparation. Despite isolation from the restaurant sector, streetfoods boast traditional, local cultures and authentic cuisine, rendering the enterprise a cultural icon and, often, a tourist attraction. Streetfoods can materialize in different environments, such as hawker centers, night markets, or street stalls. Despite the importance of streetfood vending to local livelihoods, \"streetfood trades are often viewed as a nuisance\".Streetfood vendors typically sell processed meals and snacks in public spaces. A common characteristic of streetfoods is the sale of these goods for immediate consumption; however, this feature is increasingly associated with environmental issues such as the overuse of disposable service ware. Other issues in the streetfood trade include health risks, illnesses from Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli, Listeria, and symptoms like diarrhea, cramping, vomiting, and nausea. Additionally, the frequent consumption of streetfoods can contribute to unhealthy diets and an overconsumption of fats and inferior ingredients. Despite growing research in food safety, the authors highlight that the \"dimensionality\" of streetfood risks and benefits are lacking in research attention.The study uses the \"perception of risk and benefit\" framework to analyze consumer choice in Korean streetfoods. It is well documented that affordability and convenience are popular reasons for purchasing streetfoods. The authors question, however, whether the value consumers receive in streetfoods are \"what the consumer wants\". This is described as perceived benefit: \"a consumer's belief about the extent to which he or she will become better off from the purchase and/or use of an object\". In short, the framework covers the influence of social risk, psychological risk, physical risk, on the purchase and consumption of streetfood. The questionnaires administered for the study highlight five dimensions of risk perception (socio-psychological, hygienic, financial, environmental, and health risk) and seven dimensions of benefit perception (taste, affordability, serving size, prompt service, convenience, accessibility, and food variety). The results indicate that hygiene is the \"most critical determinant of the users' perceived risk, followed by health risk and environmental risk\". Common concerns included \"unsanitary utensils, poor handwashing, improper food storage conditions, ingredients that are not fresh, and insufficient water supply\". Finally, affordability, serving size, and convenience were the most influential factors towards perceived benefit.The authors conclude that food safety training and regulation is important to lower the risk perception of consumers. To realize this, the authors emphasize the necessity of an \"encouraging relationship\" between government and vendors and further research into tourist customers.Streetfoods in developing countries: the potential for micronutrient fortification Draper, A. (1996, April) This two-section report covers first the street food environment in the Philippines from a nutrition and livelihood standpoint, and in the subsequent section describes a more technical outline of further research needed for different kinds of fortification. For the Resilient Cities project, the first section is more relevant as it provides a detailed description of streetfood characteristics and challenges as well as the livelihoods of those involved in streetfood production and consumption. The final argument of the first section profiles the potential suitability of streetfoods as a vector for micronutrient fortification due to its regular and consistent consumption by people from many social classes (but mainly the urban poor). The second section elaborates on this conclusion and describes different considerations for various forms of micronutrient fortification (including vitamin a, b, c, iron, etc.). Draper concludes that to design an effective micronutrient fortification plan, further research on consumption requirements, chemical requirements, and acceptability is essential.The street food trade is large and complex. For many of the urban poor, it is an innovative strategy in response to exclusion from formal employment. Typical characteristics of the streetfood trade and the informal sector include, among others, \"ease of entry, family/household ownership of enterprise, high labor intensity, operating in unregulated and competitive markets\". Draper describes that the streetfood trade is ingrained in the whole food system, not just retail. Vendors are linked to suppliers for ingredients and ready-made foods. Additionally, 75% of the vendors in the Philippines process some or all of the foods they sold. In other words, urban street food provides an \"outlet for products of rural-agro processing\".Streetfoods are often cheaper than foods prepared at home and pre-packaged processed foods. In a sample of streetfoods in the Philippines, a meat-based dish was found to have 193Kcal and 16g protein. Vegetable dishes had less energy but greater iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C content. Competition with other vendors keeps prices low but may also lead to purchasing inferior materials that compromise food safety. Draper notes that hazards such as microbial contamination, pesticide residues, transmission of parasites, use of unpermitted chemical additives, and environmental contamination are prevalent in streetfoods. However, food cooked in poorer households often pose similar health risks. Draper further stresses the necessity to use proper salts, spices, nitrates, and sugars to prevent food spoilage and to avoid using cheap ingredients from unauthorized suppliers. Although regulation is needed to control food safety, Draper warns that over-regulation risks repressing the informal sector and further marginalizing the urban poor (and reducing their access to cheap food).Most streetfood vendors describe a lack of capital as their main constraint. Few have access to formal credit facilities and resort to lending money from family, colleagues, and informal money lenders. In addition, human and physical capital such as business skills, access to water and waste disposal systems, and recognition by the local administration jointly influence the insecurity and vulnerability of streetfood vendors. Draper mentions that the lack of official recognition has led to numerous cases of vendor harassment. Furthermore, women, who comprise of approximately 63% of all streetfood vendors in the Philippines, are often left out of streetfood interventions because they have less time and other responsibilities (such as childcare).Streetfoods are a promising vehicle for micronutrient fortification because they are: inexpensive and available foods, an integral part of urban diets, consumed regularly and consistently across income groups, and particularly consumed by urban poor and children. However, the challenges for micronutrient fortification in streetfoods include the heterogeneity of foods and livelihoods involved in the trade, the large number of suppliers linked to production of ingredients, the lack of reliability in delivery systems, microbial safety, irregular consumption, and cost.To reiterate, this literature review covers food marketing in Metro Manila, the urban informal sector, and small-scale food processing. As the selection of literature indicates, these topics are interconnected and collectively contribute to the food security and livelihoods in Metro Manila.Food security is defined as the combined availability, accessibility, affordability, and adequacy of foods (Wiskerke, 2015). Recent literature emphasizes the complexities involved in food security, and the importance of understanding issues as part of a larger food system. In the Philippines, food security issues have been approached as a production issue, with a focus on rice self-sufficiency. Argente, et al. (2019) criticizes agricultural policies associated with enhancing rice production as associated agricultural intensification contributed to the reduction of traditional food production practices, overuse of chemical inputs, and environmental degradation. This contributes to the vulnerability of food production to climate events, resulting in fluctuations in food supply and price. Nutrient-rich crops such as fruits and vegetables are especially vulnerable to spoilage due to their perishability and long value chains. These qualities are linked to the imbalances in food nutrient consumption. Nutrition deficiencies in the Filipino population highlight that especially for the urban poor, access and affordability of nutritious foods are a key issue (World Food Programme Nutrition Division, 2019).Literature on food marketing highlights the complex food provision system in Metro Manila. Because there is limited food production in Metro Manila, the region is dependent on rural food production and imports to meet growing food demands (Espino et al., 2021). As the Covid-19 pandemic revealed, this rendered the urban food system vulnerable to shifts in both national and international food dynamics (Robins et al., 2020). Batt et al. (2010) also reveals that the long value chains of fresh produce establish inefficiencies in the food trade. Because farmers lack market linkages and information, they are dependent on traders for advice on which crops to grow and have limited power in negotiating farmgate prices. At the urban scale, this may have implications of higher food prices or greater food spoilage as the financial challenges of farmers restricts them from investing in their harvest. Food reaches the urban population through outlets such as public and private city markets, talipapas, large grocery chains, convenience stores, streetfood vendors, online stores, sarisari stores, restaurants, and more. These outlets are a mix of informal and formal establishments, catering to the diverse and changing diets of the urban population. Abela (2019) and the World Food Programme Nutrition Division (2019) link urbanization to the growing number of convenience stores and consumption of processed foods. Interestingly, despite the growth of commercial food outlets, Tinker (2003) reveals that this has limited competition with the streetfood trade. For the urban poor and even the growing middle class, streetfoods remain an important food source because of its affordability and convenience. Paired with a national food culture of frequent snacking, streetfoods are a significant contributor to the Filipino diet (Buted & Ylagan, 2014). Researchers warn, however, that the significant and regular consumption of streetfoods, especially by the urban poor, calls to attention the necessity to better understand the nutrition and safety of these foods.An abundant body of research reveals the hazards related to streetfoods in the Philippines, highlighting issues such as microbial contamination of Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli, and Listeria. These challenges are linked to poor vendor hygiene, inadequate vending environments, the use of inferior ingredients and non-food-grade equipment, and the lack of proper sanitation and garbage disposal infrastructure. Literature suggests that although some of these practices/issues are linked to the lack of food safety knowledge of food vendors, in many cases, food safety challenges are a result of poor institutional support and financial barriers.The inadequate provision of institutional support is linked to the complicated relationship between the government and informal sector. Because streetfood vending often lacks formal recognition (and does not pay tax), municipal halls are reluctant to invest in and provide proper infrastructure (Aquino et al., 2018). To policymakers, streetfood vending is seen as a \"nuisance\" rather than an important livelihood and food source (Recio & Gomez 2013). As a result, this sector is often left out of policymaking, despite its size and significance in Metro Manila. Furthermore, frequent police campaigns to \"clean the streets\" subject vendors to harassment and the destruction of their vending area (Tinker, 2003). These negative perceptions of the streetfood trade not only challenge vending activity, but also the livelihoods of the urban poor. As many households rely solely on street vending as a source of income, the challenges which face the streetfood trade affect the ability to feed the household and send children to school. Additionally, as harassment and other livelihood challenges add to the financial burdens of vendors, coping strategies such as purchasing inferior ingredients or the inability to invest in their vending business create hazards for food safety. In other words, this exemplifies the linkages between the adequacy of streetfoods and challenges of the informal sector.Despite the challenges streetfood vendors face, Tinker (2003) emphasizes that these vendors are not without agency. It is important to recognize that streetfood vending as a survival strategy, not a business strategy, and means out of poverty. As profits from vending activity are funneled back into the household, streetfoods are utilized as a strategy to invest in human capital before the expansion of the business.Ultimately, through the broad exploration of selected topics, this literature review explores the linkages between challenges in nutrition, how food reaches and is distributed within Metro Manila, to the livelihood challenges of the informal sector, and to issues in food safety. These challenges, while associated with food security and urban livelihoods, are also undeniably connected to the pressures of urbanization and population growth. It is important to therefore acknowledge the underlying issues of limited employment opportunities and social and physical infrastructure that motivate the urban population to navigate and reconfigure their livelihoods.Limitations in this review include the bias towards the urban poor in the discussion of food security and livelihoods. Although the prevalence of obesity is briefly mentioned, the review focuses on micronutrient and caloric deficiencies. Furthermore, this selection of literature contains limited discussion on formal/commercial establishments such as malls, supermarkets, and convenience stores. There is an inherent assumption that research focus is less needed to support the food-sensitive development of these establishments. However, as researchers advocate for market linkages between micro-, small-, and large-scale enterprises as a means of livelihood support and poverty alleviation, an additional assessment of formal/commercial enterprise research is necessary. Subsequently, as the literature on small-scale food processing reveal, there is minimal research on the nutritional contribution of streetfoods. Blair (1999) argues that the Western food standards dominate the research agenda and warns readers to realize the impact of cultural predispositions on intervention design. Finally, a further limitation in this review is the diversity of case studies and scope that is included, despite a research focus on Metro Manila. Even though many examples remain within the broader context of the Philippines, it is cautioned that the conclusions drawn may not be immediately transferrable to the Metro Manila context.Nonetheless, the sample of literature shares numerous intervention and policy recommendations which have the potential for implementation in Metro Manila. In addition to recommendations such as microfinance for streetfood vendors, greater research in the eating habits of children, or micronutrient fortification of streetfoods, the literature also shares recommendations that are helpful in designing effective vendor business schools for the Resilient Cities initiative. Overarching considerations include the challenge of including women in vending interventions. Tinker (2021) describes that because women in streetfood enterprises balance business and household responsibilities, limitations in time restrict their participation in intervention programs. Furthermore, even when training and capacity building benefits their business, their specific livelihood challenges such as sexual harassment and childcare are not addressed. It is recommended that because, as an abundance of literature indicates, women compose of a significant portion of the streetfood sector, interventions should be tailored to their gendered experiences and needs.In the example of Baguio City, vendor associations were identified as a successful strategy to protect the rights of streetfood vendors and facilitate communication between vendors and government bodies. Digal (2014) further describes that for small-scale food processing enterprises, forming associations improves linkages with larger enterprises and expands their market reach. Yeung's (1977) study on streetfood vendors in Quezon City, however, describes that despite the available opportunities to join vendor associations, many were hesitant to join due to financial constraints, administrative hassles, or the lack of perceived benefits. It is recommended to address these challenges both in the implementation of vendor business schools as well as financial or institutional support. For communities where vendor associations are active, intervention can further support these groups in sharing information on how to access microfinancing or loan schemes, understanding vending rights, and food safety practices.It should be acknowledged that \"administrative hassles\" appear frequently as a barrier for lower-income communities to organized support. This is, for example, the case with microfinance schemes, insurance services, and the registration of street vending / informal businesses. This pattern highlights that training or capacity-building in administrative skills may improve the ability of these communities to utilize available support. However, these limitations also imply the greater issue of purposefully tedious or lengthy administrative processes to prevent these groups from accessing support. Further research should address this issue to both hold organizations accountable for the accessibility of support and facilitate the improvement of these service systems."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7e272a7a65e8e287ce869e467637c012","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6a83f7b6-1c16-46fd-a713-1f8a3ec06252/retrieve","id":"1867190189"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d4dcc344-c648-4e95-938e-c8032e4ff725","content":"Description of the innovation: Mechanized rice straw composting is an innovation that combines physical and bio-chemical processes for optimizing rice straw decomposition efficiency and organic fertilizer quality. With this technology, the composting process is optimized and efficiently responds to the affected parameters such as C/N ratio, temperature, moisture content, pH, bio-activeness, anaerobic and aerobic conditions. Rice straw composting using this technology takes about 45 days compared to half of that using traditional practices such as manual composting and bulldozer-mixing."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"73d53be70d711a02b06ac2394dee10c7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/627575bf-73f8-4735-adb5-9f862ae4f54c/retrieve","id":"21171387"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"33efb696-22c5-42e4-bfb1-c8e5a3a340cf","content":"The first webinar to raise awareness on Targeting Tools 2.0 was held on the 24 th November 2020 through GoToWebinar. Project team members from two ongoing projects participated: BMZ: Improved forage grasses: Making the case for their integration into humid-to sub-humid livestock production systems in Kenya and Ethiopia and IFAD: Climate-smart Dairy Systems in East Africa through Improved Forage and Feeding Strategies. Scientists from the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT guided participants through the tool's capabilities and how to leverage the features to assess gaps and opportunities for improving and expanding the choice of intervention options while designing programmes for sustainable agricultural intensification at a range of scales. 32 participants from drawn from academia, NGO and research institutions participated in the discussions following the presentations.Find a recording of the webinar here: https://youtu.be/1SRlZBK8DrYBackground of the project: Improved forage grasses: Making the case for their integration into humid-to sub-humid livestock production systems in Kenya and EthiopiaThe project builds on past and ongoing work, with many decades of research on forages to optimize livestock production systems. Multiple actors have been involved in the agronomic evaluation, genetic selection and improvement programs, biotic and abiotic stress resistance of forages and selection for improved adaptation to local conditions, socio-economic research around farm-level costs and benefits of forages, multi-stakeholder interaction, livestock value chains and agribusiness development and development of gendered assessment approaches and tools. This has led to the identification of best-bet improved forage species and varieties that are ready to be piloted with a large number of farmers. In addition, several promising small to medium-scale business opportunities along the forage VC have been identified. The project will engage in piloting these too, thereby building on the partnerships that have been developed over the years.The farm-and business-level pilots will enable us to make a convincing case for investment in forages and set the enabling conditions for future scaling.The project approach adopts sustainable intensification of smallholder dairy production in Rwanda and Tanzania through the development of appropriate context-specific forage solutions with participating farmers, to ensure identified solutions are based on farmers' priorities and needs.Scaling up is built into this project's strategic approach, as the project grant is tied to the ongoing development investments of various other donors. The project's target group comprises 8000 poor smallholder farmers including women and marginalized groups along the dairy value chain. Forty extension agents and 10 policymakers, planners, and investors are working to complete this project. This project will thus generate outputs for direct use by farmers targeted under the development investments and it will build on Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT's expertise through the use of multipurpose tropical forage genotypes with high nutritional value, resistance to major pests and diseases, and suitability to major physical constraints (e.g. low soil fertility and drought). The project's ultimate goal is to design climate-smart dairy production through improved forages and feeding strategies. Simultaneously, the objective is to support the wide-scale adoption of context-specific forage options that improve productivity, livelihoods, and that decrease environmental impacts.The webinar was introduced by An Notenbaert, Africa Team Lead Tropical Forages, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. She welcomed the participants and explained the objectives of the webinar that brought together project team members from two ongoing projects that are geared towards the design of climate-smart dairy production, the Targeting Tools team planned to raise awareness of the \"Targeting Tools\" web application https://targetingtools.ciat.cgiar.orga toolbox ideal for use by development practitioners for targeting and out-scaling interventions in agricultural systems such as above.The first presentation was made by An Notenbaert who set the context of the webinar and stressed that agriculture is highly location specific and to improve its productivity and profitability while ensuring sustainable use of land and other natural resources, we should rely on knowledge and analysis that best captures those local contexts.Online training was then conducted by John Mutua. It entailed introducing participants to the tool's capabilities and how to leverage the features to conduct meaningful analysis. To view a recording of the training see Mutua & Notenbaert (2020).Finally, the webinar included presentations from current users and a discussion of potential applications for policy and decision-making. Sylvia Kalemera: PABRA experience -Targeting Tool and Wilson Nguru: Predicting the future prevalence of pests and diseases.According to the participants, all aspects of the webinar were very useful and valuable. The participants appreciated being introduced to the Targeting Tools web application and how the tool is packaged together with a spatial database for use. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/5487301698.json b/main/part_2/5487301698.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d7ba6286f2937c430cd7195a5b186be7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f3b48970-e931-462c-80bc-70691c268cfd/retrieve","id":"1885495043"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b8e0778a-2525-453d-8340-5ee597e18e96","content":"Although many constraints to increasing food production in the humid and subhumid tropia; exist there is considerable scope for improvement. Studies by scientists of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and other institutions and agencies indicate that increased food production in the humid and subhumid tropics on a sustained basis is possible. Promising approaches include intercropping and multiple cropping, minimum tillage, mulches, improved high-yielding, pest-and disease-resistant crop cultivars, selection of improved crop lines with tolerance to adverse soil conditions, improved hand tools, small machines and appropriate technology that is accessible to the smalI farmers who constitute 95 percent of the farmers of the region to obtain and use . This report includes the findings of research conducted by UTA scientists during 1976. Full details on research completed prior to that are not included. Interested readers are asked to refer to previous editions of lIT A annual reports and are invited to contact the appropriate scientist or scientists involved.The food situation in developing tropical countries of the world remains serious because traditional agricultural systems are unable to support rapidly increasing populations. Even if population planning efforts are successful the world's demand for food in the year 2000 will likely be twice what it is today if present nutritional levels are to be maintained. It should be noted that the nutritional levels for much of the world's population need to be increased and not just maintained at present levels.With the exception of the intensive rice production systems of Southeast Asia, yields of food crops in the humid and subhumid tropical zone have remained low. The predominant cropping systems involve intermittent cropping alternating with varying periods of fallow which in some areas have been shortened to the point of ineffectiveness by population pressures.Continuous cultivation of tropical soils without fertilizers results in rapid loss of soil fertility. Leaving land under fallow for long periods not only keeps farmland out of production, but also increases the labor costs involved in periodic bush clearing. Clearing new land, still the most widespread method of increasing production in developing countries, exposes highly-weathered tropical soils with low inherent fertility to intense leaching, further loss of plant nutrients, and severe erosion. Once this happens, sustained yields of arable crops can be attained on a continuing basis only with costly inputs of fertilizers and pesticides, scientific land development and soil management.If methods can be found to enable continuous food production in these areas without a decline in crop yields or soil fertility, a substantial addit.ion to world food resources will be possible.The humid and subhumid tropics are the largest underdeveloped region to which the world may look for increased food production to meet the needs of growing populations . Research scientists striving to develop the new and improved technologies that will ultimately unlock the food production potential of this vast region, however, face many constraints. Chief among them are these: Small Land Holdings -Approximately 95 percent of the farmers of the region till less than two hectares of land annually.Outmoded Systems of Cultivation -The outmoded systems of shifting cultivation and related bush fallow is still practiced on 36 million square kilometers -30 percent of the world's exploitable soil resources, most of which lies in the humid tropics. This land supports more than 300 million people -10 percent of the world population.Poor Soils -Superficially fertile soils throughout much of the region lose productivity quickly Wider the hostile tropical environment.Plant Diseases, Insects and Weeds -More plant diseases, insects and weeds that cause heavy crop losses are found in the humid and subhumid tropics than in any other region of the world.Lack of Improved Cultivars -Sufficient plant varieties that are resistant to diseases and insects and that responq to better management are not yet available for farmers.Lack of Adequate Credit Facilities -Farmers do not have access to adequate credit facilities and have limited resources to buy needed food production inputs which are often high priced and not easily available .Lack of Trained Agricultural Manpower -Universities in the humid and subhumid tropics of Africa are still new and the number of agricultural graduates prepared to carry out research and extension programs is relati~•e1y low. Agricultural graduates from temperate-wne universities often lack experience with the crops and environment in which they return to work.. Labor Bottlenecks -Lack of available farm labor especially at peak periods limits the area a farmer can effectively cultivate.Insufficient Food Marketing and Distributing Facilities -The infrastructure needed to market and distribute food 1 produced to those who need it and to assure top returns for the farmer are lacking.Farmers Fear Risks -The typical small farmer is in no position to take much risk and will not do so unless the chance of gain can be dearly demonstrated.Overcoming these constraints for the betterment of farmers and through them all people of the humid and subhumid tropical region, is the ultimate goal of all IIT A programs.At the April 1976 meeting of the IITA Board of Trustees certain modifications of the Institute's mandate were proposed. These changes were reviewed during the year and were approved by the Board at its April 1977 meeting. The mandate now reads as follows :\\Nithin the system of cooperating international agricultural research institutes associated with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and provided funds are available, UTA will: I. Conduct studies of and research on farming systems in the humid and subhumid tropical zone-in order to identify viable alternatives to shifting cultivation which will maintain the productivity of the land under continuous cultivation, with particular reference to food crops;2. Accept worldwide responsibility, covering all climatic zones, for research directed to the improvement of cowpeas, yams and sweet potatoes;3. Conduct studies and research, in the humid and subhumid regions of Africa, for the improvement of crops such as maize, rice, cassava, pigeon pea and soybean, for which other international institutes and organizations have special responsibility, cooperating in whatever ways may be appropriate with those institutes and organizations;• Thl humid and suMumid tropical zone I~r-------t-r----------t~~-r--~+-or------~~'--~'------+-------~~~~  tries.substation at Onne, near Port Harcourt, in a high-rainfall area characteristic of the Niger delta region. There is, at present, no climatic station at Onne; the information presented here is based on data collected at Port Harcourt, 15 km . west-5outhwest (Table 1).Average annual rainfall in the area is 2,400 mm . Although the rainy season shows two peaks -in July and in September -mean monthly rainfall during the low point -AugustThe area enjoys an average of 179 rain days a year, with a mean maximum of 25 raindays in September, the period of highest mean monthly rainfall. Relative humidity remains high throughout the year, average values ranging from 78 percent in February to 89 percent in July and September.Temperatures in the Onne-Port Harcourt area are generally moderate . February, March and April are the warmest months, averaging about 27 C ; July is the coolest month , averaging about 25 C . Sunshine hours, based on 1956-60 observations, average 4.2 hours per day, ranging' from 2.0 hours in September to 6.1 hours in February.The soils at the main station in Ibadan are primarily Alfisols, Inceptisols and associated hydromorphic soils derived from basement complex rock. These are falrly fertile soils for the tropics, but have poor physical condition. Soil erosion is the major limiting factor for large-scale farming. 4The soils at the Onne high-rainfall substation are mainly Ultisols. These are strongly leached acid soils derived from coastal plain sediments. They have good physical properties, but chemically rate very poor. Kutrient deficiencies and soil acidity are the major limiting factors. Analytical data of the soils at the two sites are shown in Table 2. At Ibadan the year 1976 could qualify with justification, as the year without a growing season. A pronounced rainfall deficit in July, August and September followlng an earlier one in April drastically reduced the length of both the first and second cropping seasons. Insolation was also comparatively poor, and the weather was generally cooler. Fig. 3. Weekg mean rainfall and eVajlQration (IITA 1976).Data collected at the lITA Ibadan site compared with 2Gyear average data from the nearby University of Ibadan indicate that cumulative rainfall for the year amounted to 1011.6 mm., about 20 percent below average. With t he exception of June, October and ~ovember, the total rainfall in each month fell far short of the corresponding mean.Daytime temperatures at Ibadan during 1976 were generally lower than normal as a result of the lower insolation. Minimum temperatures, however, were above normal averaging + 1.2 C in December. Extreme temperatures during 1976 were 12.6 C on January 22 and 35.8 C on March 2. Higher relative humidities prevailed throughout the year. Climatic data collected at the lITA Ibadan site are summarized in Table 3. During 1976 the Cereal Improvement Program began to emphasize observation and analysis in various climatic and agronomic regions (ecosystems) as an essential first step in conducting genetic improvement and crop-environment interaction research. The goal of all research is to develop maize and rice lines able to produce high, stable and nutritious yields under tropical African conditions.Although considerable research has been done on maize and rice -and dramatic increases in yields achieved in other areas of the world -Mrican yields of both crops remain very low. Many of the constraints to increased production which UTA scientists are seeking to overcome are unique to the continent and materials and methods that are successful elsewhere do not perform well here.Major problems include lack of improved cultivars for African conditions, poor crop-management practices, diseases and insects (many of which are specific to Africa) that severely damage both crops, iron-toxic and other problem soil conditions, heavy losses between harvest and consumption and low protein content and quality.At IITA genetic improvement of both maize and rice is now focused on adaptation to the stresses of problem areas where yields are low. Genetic materials already available for areas where problems are minimal need little further genetic improvement. Research on long-term management required for sustained productivity in these areas is more relevant.This philosophical change in approach to crop improvement has wide applicability in tropical agricultural research. In practice, it will result in fewer attempts to make cultivars and methods developed through research at arbitrarily located experiment stations fit different ecosystems where the fit is often poor. Instead, it will emphasize research within the defined problem areas themselves.Introduction, evaluation and utilization of germplasm. To broaden the sources of maize germplasm at IITA, about 400 materials consisting of inbred lines, composites, synthetics and hybrids were introduced from several countries and evaluated at lIT A.Materials introduced included inbred lines of Hawaiian and USA (Corn Belt) origins, composites and cultivars having resistance to European com borer from the USA, composites of Guatemalan origin for tight and long husk cover and other high-yielding and high-protein-quality materials originating from Ghana, Tanzania, Upper Volta, Mexico (CIMMYT), 7Brazil, and the USA. All these introductions were grown, evaluated and multiplied by sib mating. Several materials found to be promising or potentially promising were incorporated and utilized in the various sub-projects of early maturity, resistance to diseases and insects, and tolerance to acid soils.To combine the good plant type genes which exist in the Corn Belt materials with needed adaptability and tolerance to tropical disease-insect complexes, the selected Corn Belt entries were crossed to high-yielding tropical materials during early season, 1976. A total of 223 assorted crosses were planted in the second season and were advanced to F 2 generation by selective sib mating. Segregating populations are to be grown in the first season 1977 and selections will be made to combine the desirable characteristics of tropical and Corn Belt germplasm.Plant type selection and low-density performance. Excessive plant height, leafiness and inefficient transfer of assimilates to the sink are considered to be important characteristics limiting yield in tropical maize. The plant architecture of high-yielding cultivars available now also seems to be unsuitable for mixed-crop farming systems widely practiced in the African tropics.Selection has not been carried out previously at UTA for performance at low densities . Therefore, either for the African farmers' low plant population practice or for higher-technology intercropping, it has only been assumed that selection at high densities with high competition and inputs for sole crop maize would result in maize with high performance at low densities and mixed-crop farming systems.In 1976, selection under low plant density was initiated for low ear placement and large ears, preferably on short plants. This approach followed observations that in a mixed-cropping, wide-spaced planting TZPB, the population varied greatly in plant and ear height and in ear size and productivity. Thus, it was apparent that within TZPB there was a greater genetic variability than was realized and expressible phenotypically under low density. From the open-pollinated population, 100 ears were selected from plants of short stature with large ears, and low ear placement. These were planted as ear-to-block during 1976 second season, at a spacing of 75 cm x 90 em (14,800 plants/ ha) to avoid inter-plant competition and to allow maximum expression of genotype on an individual plant basis. Results obtained are as follows:1. The population was extremely variable and when allowed to express their genotypic potential through wide spacing, most of the plants were poor. Even if the population became tight, interplant competition among plants of differing vigor would become a major limitation to yield.2. There was a high frequency of plants with very long peduncles producing secondary unproductive ears on the main peduncle. 3. Development of several unproductive ear shoots below the main ear occurred. 4. Some plants produced one large ear each with minimum expression of secondary and tertiary ear growths. 5. In some cases, plants produced two good ears with minimum expression of tertiary ears.Thus, there appears to be a wide range of potentially different types, in terms of ear development and opportunity for accumulating genes for different types and numbers of ears.Plants with ideal plant type of either one or two ears were at a very low frequency. Selection and crossing are underway to develop types with different ear expressions under low plant density.Screening and development of disease and insect resistance.Efforts to develop methods to ensure identification and development of resistance to maize streak virus and the borers Sesamia calamistis and Busseola Jusca were intensified during 1976.Screening system. The methodology developed during 1975 was greatly improved to enable the screening of large numbers of plants and to reduce inoculation variables. The following diagram illustrates the scheme used for evaluating the resistance of maize germplasm to maize streak virus :  and C. mbila are reared on healthy maize plants (cv. Upper Volta) inside cages consisting of three adjacent compartments. Young maize plants are first exposed for oviposition in one compartment where a large population of adult insects is maintained. Mter a five-day period the plants are transferred to another compartment where the eggs hatch and nymphs develop to adults. The life cycle is approximately 25 days and production of adults with our present facilities of six cages is about 10,000 per week.Virus acquisition feeding. Adults are collected from the rearing compartments utilizing a vacuum pump. They are intrOduced into individual cages (500 adult ~~) ~d allowed to feed for 24-28 hours on maize plantS Infected with maize streak virus.8Transmission for evaluation of maize germ plasm. After the acquisition period is completed, the adult insects are released into a large screenhouse (20 x 25 m) where maize materials for evaluation are planted in rows of 25 plants each (50 x 30 em spacing). A susceptible check (Upper Volta) is planted every 10th row to monitor the level and timing of transmission, and the virulence of the virus.Uniform distribution of vectors is achieved by releasing them at different locations throughout the screenhouse. Additional vectors from the greenhouse cages are released at the rate of eight per plant, at five and 10 days after germination. All plants showing no streak symptoms 15 days after germination are reinoculated individually. These are covered for 48 hours with small cages each containing five viruliferous leafhoppers.Evaluation and selection of tolerant materials. Under this screening system, the susceptible check (Upper Volta) is killed three weeks after germination. All susceptible materials are removed at this time and new materials planted. The tolerant plants are either selfed to develop inbred lines or crossed to generate full sibs. This system seems to be simple, accurate, and efficient. Sources of resistance have now been identified for use in the breeding program.Host plant resistance evaluation. About 20,000 plants representing maize germplasm from many sources were evaluated in 1976 using the screening system described above. Sources of resistance were identified in materials from Nigeria, La Reunion Island, and Tanzania. Plants with various levels of resistance were identified in the TZ Yellow population which previously had shown some resistance under field conditions. The frequency distribution for reaction to maize streak virus in two generations of successive selfing in TZ Yellow population is summarized in Table 1.Classification into the various classes is based on a rating scale of 0-5 for evaluating disease severity, where plants rated 0-1 are considered highly resistant, 2-3 are considered moder-Maize streak virus incidence shoun! ~ /ITA scientist. ately resistant, and 4-5 are from susceptible to highly susceptible. Classification into these classes is based on the frequency of streaks, leaf area affected, and degree of stunting. The term 'resistance' is used here for 'tolerance' to infection.Several of the S 1 lines produced in the screenhouse segregated into various classes but some of the lines were uniform for a particular reaction. One of the lines (Ibadan 32) was uniformly tolerant in the SI and 8 2 generations. This line is now being utilized as a resistant parent in breeding and inheritance studies. The data presented in Table 2 provide the 9 -frequency distribution of a few selected 8 1 lines for their reaction to maize streak virus. Utilization of resistant plants with yellow and white grain to develop high-yielding maize materials with resistance to streak will be initiated during 1977. Meanwhile, by crossing selected plants, the full sibs have been generated from resistant plants and these full sibs will be available for African regional progeny testing trials in 1977.Table 2. Distribution of selected S I lines for their reaction to maize streak virus. Inheritance studies. A resistant parent (Ibadan 32) was crossed to a susceptible parent (Vpper Volta) and the FI and the two parents were grown in the screenhouse. All the 100 plants of Ibadan 32 had a rating of 1 while all the plants (100) of Upper Volta were rated as 5. The FI had all the plants (200) with a rating of 3. The F I has been advanced to F2 and has also been crossed to both the parents to produce BC l and BC 2 • All the six generations -PI' P 2' F l' F 2' BC I and BC zhave been planted as a randomized trial in the screenhouse. Data will be subjected to appropriate genetic analysis to study the nature of inheritance of resist ance to maize streak virus.Another plant, La Revolucion-1, which has been observed to possess even a higher degree of tolerance than [badan 32, has been crossed to Ibadan 32 and to the F 1 of Ibadan 32 X Vpper Volta. This should determine whether or not these sources of resistance are carrying the same gene(s ) for resistance.Maize stem borers. During 1976 much effort was placed on developing methods for mass rearing of stem borers. Populations of Busseola fusca and Sesamia calamistis were developed inside large screenhouses (20 X 25 m) and attempts are in progress to explore suitable artificial diets for mass-rearing these two species. Also, locations were identified in Nigeria where natural infestations of these borers are very high and these are being utilized to evaluate maize germ plasm for borer resistance.Init ial evaluations for resistance to this stem borer under controlled infestation conditions were initiated in 1976. A large population of Busseolafosca was first developed in a susceptible cultivar growing inside a screenhouse. Fifty materials for evaluation were planted to coincide with the emergence of adults from the multiplied population.Each entry was planted in four-row plots of 25 plants each and every plant was infested with egg masses 25•35 days after germination. The larval infestation was very high, averaging 12 larvae per plant and most of the plants were destroyed before flowering. Individual plant selections were based on the ability of the plants to produce an ear, under these conditions, which was considered as a high degree of tolerance to this stem borer (Table 3). 3 2 Among the materials tested were six synthetics resistant to the European corn borer. They were severely damaged and no selections were made. Their susceptibility to seedling blight and poor growth conditions may have influenced their reaction to this borer.Evaluation of maize germplasm for resistance to this stem borer was conducted at Vmudike (eastern Nigeria) where high populations of this borer occur, especially during August-December. Several materials (786 ) from various sources, mainly CIMMYT-Mexico, were evaluated. The infestation was extremely high 30 days after germination when 65 percent of the entries were completely destroyed or were severely 10 stunted. Very few materials exhibited a high degree of tolerance to this borer (Table 4). The 59 individual plant selections and the open pollinated bulk of the survivors have been planted at lIT A to develop full sibs in two maize populations based on white and yellow grains. These materials will also be planted at Umudike during 1977, and recurrent selection will be made on both populations to increase the frequency of genes for resistance to this stem borer.Early maturity. The objective of developing early-maturing populations is to develop cultivars which will fit into: (1) a second season in the forest zone, (2) a shorter rainy season in Sudan savanna areas, and (3) mixed and/or relay crop farming systems . This project was initiated in 1975 by crossing the early-maturing cultivar (Upper Volta) with several other cultivars and composites in lIT A germplasm .Since then, several other early-maturing materials originating from India, Indonesia, Philippines, Mexico and Africa have been utilized in developing early-maturing populations. Disease resistance and a reasonable yield of 3-4 t/ha with a maturity period of about 90 days are the final goals. From several hundred full-sibs developed in the F 3 generation during 1976 first season, 200 full-sibs were selected and planted as progeny rows in the second season. Full-sibs were again developed among the selected progenies from which popula-~ions have now been developed.Table 5 gives the number of fuJI-sib progenies selected in these populations that were planted during 1916 dry season for yield evaluation and for seed increase.Table 5. Number of foil-sibs selected in eight eorry maturiry populations deveWpuJ at llTA.Number of full-sibs I. TZ Early I Blancos Tropical Precoz X U.V . 27 2. TZ Early 2 Precoz Blanco Indonesia X VV. 17 3. TZ Early 3 Amarillo Tropical Precoz D X UV. 35 4. TZ Early 4 Amarillo Tropical Precoz F X U.V. 20 5. TZ Early.') Mez. Am. PB X Phil DMR X U.V. 16 6. TZ Early 6 Mez. Am. PB X Thai compo X U.v. 17 7. TZ Early 7 Indonesia Precoz Am. X V.V . 30 B. TZ Early 8 Tropical Late White Dent X V.v. 4 Fifteen families and cultivars which were identified to be agronomically promising were grown out trom remnant seed and have been crossed in various combinations to develop varietal crosses which would be tested in 1977.Preliminary screening was initiated in 1976 under high rainfall, depleted acidic soil and the disease-insect complex existing in the ecosystem at the high-rainfall forest zone of Onne. In the first season, single rows of 400 maize cultivars were evaluated for general growth vigor on plots with and without lime. Several promising entries were selected. These included many local cultivars which see med to have a measure of adaptation to acid soil and aluminum toxicity but had many other undesirable characters which need improvement.In the second season, SI lines of TZPB and 5 2 lines of TZB were grown and reselected. New materials were also introduced from Brazil and these were multiplied at UTA for testing in 1977.Considerable interest is developing in certain African countries in large-scale farming where hybrid maize could be utilized to a great advantage, although a large majority of peasant farmers would continue to operate at subsistence level and the composite cultivars will be appropriate for such farmers . Therefore, it was considered appropriate to develop inbred lines suitable for potential utilization in the development of hybrid maize cultivars. Additionally these are required at UTA for uniformity trials in farming systems and agronomy-physiology research efforts. A total of 1205 1 lines selected from TZB cycle 5 and 52 bulks of 27 lines from TZB cycle 6 were planted in t he dry season of 1976 for producing 52 and 53 lines. Selected plants in selected lines have been selfed. All the 5 2 and 5 3 lines will be crossed to two testers and good combining lines will be selected in 1977. In the meantime, inbred lines of India, Philippines, Hawaii, and Corn Belt origin are being evaluated in the introduction nursery and the promising lines would be utilized in crossing among themselves and with the top lines of TZB to develop single cross hybrids.Initial screening of available germ plasm to select promising populations for savanna and mid-altitude areas was also carried out during 1976. :'lineteen experimental cultivars and 10 Opaque-2 cultivars from CIMMYT, along with TZB, TZ0 2 and local check were planted at Mokwa and Samaru in the savanna area. Experimental cultivar Tlaltizapan 7322 yielded more t han one ton hi gher than TZB and the local check at Mokwa and more than two tons higher at Samaru (Table 6). and 1,250 m . respectively. At the higher altitude of Riyom (Ios Plateau), TZB yield was low owning to its suscept ibility to highland diseases and other factors while Pioneer hybrids were relatively higher-yielding. Population. The recurrent selection program to increase the frequency of desirable genes for higher and stable yields was continued this year at IlT A in four base populations such as: TZ8, TZPB, TZ Yellow, and TZ Opaque by recurrent selection. Yield evaluation of S 1 lines at different plant population levels was determined in a trial where plant density varied as a continuous function wit hin a block.TZB. One-h undred and sixty 5 1 lines developed during the dry season of 1975 were grown in a yield trial in 1976 first season with two replications at [badan, one at Ikenne and two at Ilonga in Tanzania. Trial plots at [badan and Ikenne were planted with density varying as a continuous function from 20,000 to 120,000 plants / ha (UTA Annual Report, 1975).During the same season, these 160 S. lines were grown in a separate block and t he selected plants were selfed to produced S2 lines. Based on the trial data for yield, usable ears, ear height, tolerance to diseases and insects and based on their performance in t he selfing plots, 27 51 lines were selected. S2 ears from these lines were planted during 1976 second season for recombination. The selected recombined ears were planted in the dry season 1976-77 to develop a new set of S 1 lines for initiating the seventh cycle of selection.The bu lk of selected recombined ears will be used as TZB (51) C 6 , which can be offered to national programs for their evaluation and use.TZPB. Composite TZPB was developed to satisfy the need for a short plant-type cultivar, which would resist lodging and fit better in to a mixed-crop farming system . Selected 5 2 ears from the recombination block were planted ear-to-row in the 1976 second season for selfing. Selected plants were selfed and the S 1 lines have been planted in t he dry season for sib bing with a line to ensure sufficient seed for testing these lines at several locations and under stress situations during 1977 early season.TZ Yellow. TZ Yellow composite was formed with similar objectives to TZPB from CIMMYT PJanta bqja yellow selections. The second cycle of selection in TZ Yellow composite was initiated during this year and the ears selected from the recombinat ion block grown in dry season 1975 were planted ear-to-row in the first season 1976 and selected plants were selfed. The selected SI ears were planted for sibbing to increase seed of S 1 lines for mu lti-location testing in international African maize trials.TZ Opaque-2. Composites TZA and TZB were converted to an Opaque-2 (high lysine) version by three backcrosses in 1972. Other materials ident ified from CIMMYT trials have also been added to the base composite. The objective is to develop high-yielding, and high-protein-quality composite for tropical lowland Africa. A third cycle of recurrent selection using a modified SI method was carried out during 1976. A bulk reselected from all entries was used as the pollen source for recombination. The selected lines on the basis of yield and other plant and kernel characters will be planted in the first season 1977 for selfing to start a new cycle of selection.Varietal development in the Tanzanian pr-ogram. A major thrust of the breeding section is to improve level of disease resistance of presently available cultivars to increase yield stability. One major disease problem in the lower elevations of Tanzania is maize streak virus. During the past year, several progenies from six different cultivars were screened for resistance or tolerance to streak disease in the screenhouses at lITA in Ibadan, Nigeria. Of the more than 10,000 plants screened, only three plants survived to produce ean; .These three plants, all from the Tuxpeno cult ivar, were selfed and t he seed returned to Tanzania. The progenies of these plants will be integrated into the Tuxpeno cultivar and further tested under Tanzanian field conditions. Other cuItivars tested with no positive result were Katumani, Katumbili, Lote 23, Lote 24 and Ukiriguru Composite A.A new long-season, high-elevation maize cultivar, H6302 has received tentative approval for release pending the final year's testi ng. The new cultivar is a three-way hybrid developed by the East African Agricultural and Forestry Research Organization (EAAFRO) at Kitale. The cultivar is a replacement for the presently grown H613 and has out yielded H613 by about 25 during the past two seasons. A limited amount of seed is presently under increase for farmer use.During 1976, Msimba Seed Farm grew 60 ha of Tuxpeno.The cultivar, released in 1975, was a t op yielder again in the 1976 Tanzania Maize Variety Trial -low series.An initial trial of quality-protein cultivars, compared to normal detasseled check cultivars, was grown at four locat ions. An improved selection of yellow hard endosperm opaque composite, yielded the same as the checks. If this result is substantiated in further testing, the cultivar has potential use for the stock-feed industry.Environmental and physiological factors limiting grain yield.Results of the West African uniform maize trials since 1967 have shown that maize yields in the guinea savanna are higher than in the forest or derived savanna. These differences have attributed to a combination of adverse biological factors in the forest areas with their high incidence of pests and diseases, and to physical environment differences, especially of lower light intensities in the forest. Although agronomic information is available, detailed physiological response of plants to environmental factor differences of forest and savanna is not fully documented or understood. A trial was therefore conducted in Nigeria with 12 maize cultivars, to test individual plant physiological responses to environments at Ikenne, Ibadan, Mokwa, and Samaru, representing a range of latitude from ca. 6 0 to lIoN .Data average for all cultivars indicated a progressive yield decrease with decrease in latitude, except in the trial at Mokwa which was severely affected by drought stress, atypical for that location. Agronomically, the lower yield in the forest zone at Ikenne was loss of crop stand through lodging (Table 8). caused partly by stem borers and stalk rots. There also was \"mechanical\" lodging associated with taller, thinner plants with higher ear placement (a feature of plants grown in low light intensity).Plant dry matter and grain production were recorded on individual plants from plaoes in the plots where full stand occurred.Total plant dry matter production decreased with decreasing latitude changing from 310 g at Samaru to 235 g per plant at Ikenne. The grain production per plant decreased with latitude, and this was attributable to a progressive decrease in grain number per ear. This was mainly due to a smaller number of kernels per row with a smaller decrease in number of rows per ear from an average of 15 at Samaru to 13.8 at Ikenne. A small increase in grain size (possibly due to less space competition on the cob) at lower latitudes could not compensate for the big reduction in grain number. Whilst the agronomic effects indicate almost a three-fold improvement in yield in the savanna, physiological potential was only 45 percent more grain weight per eaT. This was realized through a 49 percent in kernels per row, 7 percent gain in average number of rows but offset by a decrease in kernel weight of II percent. Also, it was achieved with apparently no alteration in the partitioning of dry matter since harvest indices for forest and savanna sites were similar.Climatic studies wi t h particular emphasis on radiation were con t inued with the two cultivars TZB and TZPB in the first season and with erect and spreading leaf synthetics (see UTA Annual Report 1975) in the second season . Shading (c20 percent of normal daylight, a reduction similar to that encountered in forest areas ) resulted in increased plant height and more lodging as compared with unshaded plants. Grain weight per plant was also lower, due to a decrease in grain numbers per ear in the shade treatments. This is consistent with the components of yield differences between Ikenne and Ibadan.Variation in plant efficiency in composite populations. Previous experiments have indicated that a certain proportion of maize cv. TZPB . grown at relatively low densities, produce •Drought Jtresstd at j/iJwmng.two ears. This proportion differs with the population pressure.For breeding and selection purposes, it is of interest to know whether two-eared prolificacy results in greater efficiency of oonverting current assimilates and preformed carbohydrates. reserves into economic yield, compared with single•eared plants. TZPB maize was planted at 75 X 75cm (17,780 plants/ha) and plants with either two or only one silking ear, but of similar heights and uniform flowering dates, were selected. Serial sampling to determine the distribution of dry matter during ear development indicated a 42 percent higher grain yield per plant with two ears. Additionally, although they were of similar height, the double-eared plants had both great~r leaf and stalk dry matter. Irrespective of the base of expression, the ratio of grain to other plant parts (Table 9), as efficiency indices, was higher in the double•eared plants throughout grain fill to maturity. Interestingly, more than 50 percent of the population produced two ears in this low-density planting. A heritability study of this characteristic and development of a population designed for higher plant efficiency offers a significant yield potential increase, particularly for low-density, intercropping situations. It remains to be determined whether a two-ear•based maize population would be more stable than single-eared material when considered for higher-density monocropping.Comparisons of growth in acid and normal soil. For the management of highly leached acid soils such as the oxic Paleudult soil of the lIT A high-rainfall sub-station a t Onne, examination of the extent of genetic variability in types of growth response was commenced in 1976. The preliminary screen provided contrasting material for in.depth studies of the mechanism of acid soil and aluminum toxicity tolerance and susceptibility, which are just beginning. Selected lines from Onne, representing a range of plant responses, were grown in pots of Onne soil at lIT A. Comparison was made of growth with and without balanced nutrition and the assessment of vigor agreed well with the fIeld performance rating of the various cultivars. Cultivars Columbia 5 and Katumani were vigorous under both balanced nutrition and under N produced Ca deficiency. By contrast, TZPB was vigorous only under balanced nutrition. Poor seedling vigor of some entries was observed under both nutritional regimes; but for other cultivars, interaction occurred with the nutritional state.A subsequent study of 40 entries obtained from CIMMYT revealed a marked degree of genetic variability in seedling response to acid soil. Further studies are underway which include materials with specific genes for aluminum toxicity, tolerance and susceptibility , identified in the USA .During 1976 second season, yield trials were conducted at Onne, withou t lime application, and the cultivars showed both good and poor responses in the screening nursery during the first season. Seven of the entries were grown at lIT A at the same population density (33,000 plants/ha) for comparative purposes. The crop at Onne was heavi ly diseased and had a high incidence of stem borer and ear borer. Lodging was severe (70-84 percent) in all plots and grain yields were low (Table 10).Varietal Improvement and Development Both local and improved cultivars are studied to improve rice.collection of 4,500 in Ivory Coast. Segregating material was introduced for upland rice from Liberia ( 100 entries) and IRRI (28 entries), and for irrigated conditions, eight crosses of Mashuri.In the Liberia rice project, 14Approximately 200 segregating materials were evaluated for upland conditions and eight F2 materials for irrigation. Many advanced dryland materials, previously selected under Liberian dryland conditions were reselected at IIT A and some were advanced to preliminary observation yield trial level. Selections were made under transition dryland at IITA and under marginal wet forest , dryland at Ikenne. In Liberia 27 F 2 populations, introduced from IRRI in 1975 for upland rice improvement, were screened in the blast nursery during the 1975-76 dry season. After 45-50 days, the blast resistant seedlings were transplanted into hydromorphic lowland conditions. About 300 plants with intermediate height, good tiUering and long panicles were selected. On evaluating their F 3 families under dryland rainfed conditions during the wet 'season, it was observed that the majority of them were too tall to be selected further.The 27 F 2 populations introduced from IRRl, were evaluated again under dryland rainfed conditions during the wet season, along with 46 F 2 populations received from IITA and 10 F 2 populations developed at Suakoko. From these variable populations 373 plants possessing intermediate height, high tillering, long and heavy panicle and disease resistance were selected. The crosses made at Suakoko of IR5 X 63-83, IR5 X LAC 23, IR4S0-5-9-3-3XLAC 23, and some crosses made at IRRI often involving an African parent, (IRSOS4, IRSIII, IRSI21 , IR8126, IRS231 and IR8233) gave a proportionately higher number of desirable segregates. Among the F 3 to F 6 LS (20)-3 -3 TOX CI-18-1 pedigree material 35 families appeared promising from wh ich 63 plants were selected . Three of the F 4 families and five of the F6 families (Table 11) appeared uniform enough to bulk[01\" yield trials to be conducted in dryland rain fed conditions next year.In Sierra Leone, crosses were made to incorporate blast and virus resistance into promising cultivars. These crosses were Fossagbe X CP4, Fossagbe X RCK7, OS6 X ROK 1, and Mange 2 X LAC 23 Moroberekan, Gbongoy, Ourado Pracoce and Juma 1.From a total of 106 segregating li nes for dryland introduced from lIT A in 1975, 53 were rated promising for good yield , blast and sheath blotch resistance. These were all from crosses TOXCI and TOX95. From 81 single plant sele ctions in F3 to F5 of crosses TOX23 and TOXCI from IITA, evaluated under irrigated conditions, 10 that rated 'good' would be further tested.Selection and screening of lines: Oryland. Two approaches were taken in 1976 to establish a broader, more analytical base for germplasm evaluation, (1) reexamination of many materials from the germ plas m bank, to include especially IRAT, Brazilian and adapted African materials, and (2) development of a screening system which would evaluate many materials on a m u lti-loeational basis, to obtain performance relating to spacing, and fertility on drought stress tolerance. In addition , a clear separation was made for performance under hydromorphic conditions as opposed to pure dryland cond itions.In Nigeria, in the first approach, the screen consisted of a 'special ' dryland set, the 1975 IURON, 19i5  In Sierra Leone, 1489 e ntries from collections and introductions were evalua ted in different trials , with the obj ec tive of determini ng the best entries for total ecosys te m adaptation. This includ ed disease pressure as part of the criteria, thus eliminat ing resistant lines not otherwise adapted . Therefore all but 50 entries were eliminated for upland conditions.Upland observational yield material: Nigeria. From pre~'ious upland screening in Nigeria plus infonnation obtained elsewhere, 59 lines were selected for an observational yield trial. These were to b e 29 of short duration and 30 of medium duration. Included along with sisters of crosses of TOX 7 (OS6 X IR 154) were some adapted African tall lines, Brazilian upland types, and IRAT 13, a mutant of 63-83.The trial was conducted at six locations in Nigeria, covering dryland and hydromorphic conditions in savanna, transi ti on and wet forest areas. In addition, 25 of the 60 cultivars were tested separately in five locations in Bendel State.The rationale of this trial was to see if any lines previously sc reened could be considered sufficiently superior to the checks; IAC25 for short duration and OS6 for medium duration . In general TOS2300, TOS4120, TOS4138 and TOS 4688 only are worth continuing among the short duration (Table 12 ). Within the medium-duration group the following will be re-evaluated and also used as parents TOS: 2581, 2583, 4106, 4153, 63-83 lAC 5544, Guape Cateto, IRAT 13, Moroberekan, TOS 4153, TOS 4631, TOS 2581, TOS 2583 and TOS 4106. The TOS lines are mostly early non-lodging with good grain quality.In advanced yield trials eight medium-duration cultivars selected in 1974 and 197j were evaluated against LAC 23. Several dwarf entries out yie lded LAC 23, through high panicle numbers (Table 13). However, their short stature, small panicles and th reshability are not appropriate for peasant farming . Entry 63-83 was vigorous but low-tilIering and susceptible to sheath blotch. IR17j4 may be useful for crossing for high panicle weight.A yield trial of early-duration material revealed that several IRAT entries from Ivory Coast and TOS 2581 were highestyielding (Table 14). The Ivorian lines had defects of threshability and susceptibility to sheath blight, sheath rot and husk discoloration.In 1975 IRON and 106 other entries chosen from various IRTP trials on the basis of written information from Asia were screened at the above locations. In addition, 375 entries pretested in Africa were re-screened at lIT A. From the first screening of 197j IRON at UTA, 28 selected materials were re-screened, along with the other African-prescreened material.A general conclusion from this work and field observations is that for typical normal irrigated conditions with good water control, there are many dwarf cultivars which will yield well under some West African conditions. Moreover, high-yielding cultivars, such as TOS is, IR5, IR8, IR442, TOS103 and FARO 15 are already widely grown or available . Therefore, it is now neceSsary to examine the deficiencies of existing high-yielding cultivars in relation to specific problems and difficult areas, rather than continued massive general screening under well-irrigated conditions where there is low pressure from the environment.  Most of the biological problems increase in the wetter, low• light areas of the deep forest ecosystem, especially in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Soil problems are present there as well as in savanna, and they differ by locations . Blast, sheath blight and some other diseases also are important in less wet areas.Screening under irrigated conditions in Liberia. On the basis of their performance in 1975 dry season and 1976 wet season, 45 lines were identified as promi sing for inland valley swamps. Eighty.nine promising lines previously selected at Suakoko for lowland conditions were also evaluated at Mange farm, Sierra Leone under irrigated lowland condition . Thirty• two lines, including IRS, 2526, IR416-131•5 and TOS 78 were observed to be promising there, indicating that selections made in lowland at Suakoko, Liberia could be adapted in Sierra Leone.In Liberian yield trials under irrigated conditions, IR1416 performed best and six others yielded similarly to IRS. Cui• tivar 2526 yielded slightly less than IR5 but it has superior grain quality and iron toxicity tolerance. IRI415 is too short  and spreading for peasant adoption. Advantage can be taken of the diverse characteristics of these entries, including high panicle weights, in a crossing program.In Northwest Liberia, entries IR 1416, IR2071-105, lR2070-57S and lR2055-473 appeared to be best visually. But in the high-rainfall coastal area some of these performed well and instead, lR2071-77-9 and IR2035-654-3 yielded highest.Among the earl~duration (less than 130 days) cultivars evaluated in swamps at Suakoko, Foya and Johnsonville, IR2071-621-2, IR2035-120-3 , CICA 4, lET 1996, CR 12-178 and IR2053-407-2-1 appeared promising. All cui tivars except IR2053-407-2-1 and IR2071-527-6-3 showed poor panicle exertion during the wet season . The earliest entries Hong Sun , and IR2071-559-2 which had good yields during dry season trials suffered from serious bird damage in this trial and they require further evaluation. Considering the amount and distribution of rainfall in the country, early-duration materials should be better suited for dry-season cultivation when there is a likelihood of water shortage during the lat.ter part of the season.Screening: Irrigated rice for soil toxicities and nutritional imbalances. In many locations of West Mrica irrigated rice exhibits yellow-orange symptoms which are associated with high iron or moderately high manganese levels in leaf tissue.The high metal element levels are associated with low levels of Nor P. Thus, the situation is one of nutritional imbalance.Fifteen cultivars were selected earlier as tolerant to toxic soil conditions in Liberia with seven showing susceptible symptoms at IITA : twenty-four that were selected for general performance at IITA were grown under moderately toxic and non-toxic conditions at liT A. Differences in symptom expression and in yield and yield components under two soil conditions were measured and are being analyzed. However, based on leaf symptoms at vegetative stage and general performance before harvest, seven cultivars were selected for tolerance to toxic soil conditions: Mashuri , KLG 6986-161-7, SPR 6726-134-2-6-26, C 168-134, IR2061-228-3-9, IR2071-176-1-5-2, IR2153-550-2-6-3.The first three were initially selected in Liberia, while the other four were previously selected at IITA. Three lines, the KLG, SPR and C showed yellow-orange symptoms initially, but later recovered. Gissi 27 and 2526 which were tolerant to iron toxic conditions in Liberia were not tested. Liberia Selections A rice line that performed well under iron toxic conditions.Soil toxic swamp screening in Sierra Leone. Sixty-seven local and introduced lines were evaluated at Magbolontor inland swamp near Rokupr for performance under soil toxic conditions. The introduced lines had been found to possess tolerance to iron toxicity in Liberia. Twenty-four lines performed well (Table 17).Iron toxicity. In Liberia, 573 lines were screened for tolerance to iron toxicity in inland valley swamps. Both Gissi 27 and 2526 were confirmed to be tolerant to moderately tolerant. The former showed purple pigmentation while the latter had orange discoloration. The purple pigmentation of Gissi 27 was observed to be correlated with the level of iron toxicity in the soil. This cultivar can be used as a marker to determine the relative iron toxicity levels in different parts of inland valley swamps which are generally heterogeneous for this soil problem. lR2035-654-3 was used as a susceptible check and 64 cultivars were identified as tolerant.The following points were revealed: (1) Many tolerant lines were derived from at least one tolerant parent, suggesting that tolerance is heritable.(2) Crosses of IRS and similar types with Gissi 27, 35, 26 and similar types should be carried out and evaluated. (3) Several lines from Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia were tolerant, suggesting that it would be useful to introduce more germplasm from these countries for screening and crossing for development of cultivars suitable for West Africa.Screening: Specific problems: Irrigated rice with different low nutrients. At ITT A, paddies were developed previously to investigate plant response to limiting nutrient levels, with separate paddies for each low element. These were utilized for determining if differences existed among 25 elite and other cultivars in performance under no application of N , P, K, S,or Zn or all nutrients, in comparison with normal complete (N, P, K, S, Zn added) fertility levels. The 25 cultivars (Table 18) were grown as the eighth crop without addition of the particular nutrient. * TOX 161-5-5• Hightst yit/ding IlMer low N. P, K, and NPK •• Hightst yielding across all low nutrient plots Striking differences among cultivars were obtained in growth and yellowing symptoms in the different minus-one nutrient paddies. Yield differences also occurred, showing interact ions between nutrient deficiency and cultivar. The two cultivars yielding highest (more than 39 grams / plant) across all nutrient deficient paddies were Pelita 1-7 and IR578•75•1•3. Five others yielded moderately high (more than 24 g / plant) when either N, P, or K or all three nutrients were low. These were BG 90-2, FARO 15, IR2 I 53•338•3, TOXI61•5•5, and BPI 76/9 X Dawn. The experiment is being repeated to better quantify yield performance. However, the preliminary data indicate that varietal screening under differen t low nutrient levels would be useful for African conditions and should be carried out as a priority . The yield depression under missing nutrients was not consistently correlated with yield performance under high fertility.Screening for insect resistance. The major effort was on identification of rice cultivars having resistance to stem borers , whorl maggot, stalk.eyed fly, and rice gallmidge. The gallmidge screening trial was conducted in the north of Nigeria, while replicated stemborer screening trials were conducted in the east and central parts of the country and also at lIT A. The stemborers at the east and central parts were Chilo and Sesamia spp., while Maliarpha separatella was the predominant species at lIT A. The International Rice Observation Nursery (IRON from IRRI, 351 entries) was also screened at these three locations.Field screening. Forty-seven rice cultivars were tested for field resistance to insect pests at three locations in Nigeria -the east (Adani), central (Badeggi) and southwest (lbadan) of ~igeria . The cultivars were planted in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The level of infestation by stemborers, whorl maggot and Diopsis sp. varied according to location . The overall level of damage by stem borers and whorl maggot was highest at Adani . Infestations of Diopns were low at all locations. Table 19 summarizes the response of some selected cuitivars. T he response of cultivars WC 1251 , WC 1253, and WC 1263 is interesting in that these have been used as donors for stem borer resistance in Asia. Their response of susceptibility to the stemborer complex in Nigeria emphasizes that resistance to Asian borers does not necessarily provide resistance to African borers of the same genus.The insect infestations at Adani were sufficiently severe to distinguish varietal differences to stem borers and whorl mag• 19 got. Cultivars IR207().820-2•3 and IR2071• 77•9•3-5 had the lowest percentage of damaged tillers. These also have good plant type and yield potential. The response of a few selected cultivars is summarized in Table 20. The cultivars WC 1263 and Ptb 18 showed the lowest levels of infestation and these two cultivars have also been reported to possess a high degree of resistance in India. However, RP\\V 6-12 which is resis tant in India was not reo sistant here. Further screening will be directed toward the identification of other sources of resistance. Emphasis will be placed on screening elite breeding materials to identify good sources of resistance combined with good plant type and yield.Table 20.Reaction f!! some of the rice cuitit'ars sCTeened for resistance to the gallmidge, Pacnydiplosis  The insect infestations at Adani were also very low. The seedlings in nursery beds were infested naturally by Hydrellia sp. Scattered infestations of A'ymphuia sp. were observed and the most susceptible cultivars were IR1561-228-3-3, Biplab, OS6, and lET 2938. An average infestation of 17 percent was recorded for stemborers and the most susceptible cultivars were BI51d-Kn-19-3-1, Tongil and Parwarnipur I. Some of the cultivars having least stemborer infestation and also good plant type and yield potential were, B96-TK-23-5-5-2-2-2, Joachin A74, IRIB57-103-2-2, BG 94-2 and IR26.Insect screening: Caseworm. In Liberia, a field screening test of 100 cultivars indicated that cultivars LAC 23, Moroberekan, 2526, TOSI44, TOS143, and IET1996, were less damaged than others. IR1416-131-5, Jaya, CICA 4, TOS 78, and Hong Sun were highly susceptible.Insect screening: Leaf feeding beetIe (Epilachna similis).This insect has been observed to damage upland rice in the seedling and tillering stages. The insect feeds on thl': leaf surface and causes white streaks and patches . Entries in the Liberian leaf blast nursl':ry, whl':re the insect population was high, were rated for damage. Forty-four percent of the lines were grouped in the least damaged category. Among the lines adapted to upland conditions, MRC 172-9, ROK 3, 63-83, TOS 2581, ARC10372b, IR2734-F, B-20-1, IR3839-1 were less affected than others . Some adapted upland lines were very severely affected : IR3880-29, IR5179-2, Dinalaga, Kinandang Patong, ARC 7060 b, ARC 7102 b, IRAT 9, IRAT 10, and IRAT 13.Disease screening: Sierra Leone. A major change was made in this year's disease screening trials by evaluating materials for total performance under disease pressures in the precise agroecosystem of intended use. This procedure of direct field screening eliminated several disease resistant materials inferior in other respects. Concerted efforts were directed to identifying a few superior selections from a large number of introductions and collections. It is envisaged that this approach will greatly accelerate the identification of adapted useful cultivars. 20The ecosystem approach will be adopted starting with the 1977 ARBSEP. This approach involves grouping test cultivars and growing them following recommended agronomic practices in the appropriate agro-ecological condition. This approach is considered to be a more realistic characterization of field resistances in addition to enabling expression of total adaptation to the ecosystem pressures.In Liberia, Many of the lines adapted to lowland conditions showed much higher susceptibility to blast and leaf scald diseases when these were evaluated in the dryland rainfed disease nursery . Similarly, several wl':ll adapted upland cultivars showed higher susceptibility to sheath blight, sheath rot and brown spot when screened in lowland conditions. It appears that for realistic performance it would be more accurate to screen for disease resistance in the same ecological condition for which one intends to use the cultivar.Rice in West Africa is raised in many diverse ecosystems whose complexities are not well understood. Before stress areas are considered, the management required for rice culture in each ecosystem needs investigation. Under normal conditions, management of the major nutrients in depleted upland soils, management of high organic matter swamps, timely planting in relation to rainfall, light and biological factors, the relationship between plant density, fertility and soil moisture, and the role of rice in cropping systems are just a few of the many areas needing research in different representative locations. A limited beginning has been made on some of these points, mainly in our programs in Sierra Leone and at IIT A. The details of the more extensive information from the Sierra Leone project are available in a separate report.Upland rice. In Sierra Leone , large numbers of field experiments were conducted at Makassa near Rokupr and Kenema, in the Eastern Province, to determine agronomic factors affecting rice yield under dryland rainfed conditions.Time of application of nitrogen. Under freely drained, lighttl':xtured upland soils, loss of nitrogen through leaching is a serious problem in high-rainfall regions (2,000 to 3,000 mm) of West Africa, particularly in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Investigations were undertaken to increase the efficiency of chemical nitrogenous fertilizers by split application, synchronizing with early tillering, late tillering, panicle primordial initiation and boot-leaf stages of growth. Fertilizer was applied in two, three, four and five splits, all at the rate of N 80 kg / ha over a uniform basal dressing of P iO and KiO kg/ha. Two split applications gave significantly lower yield than three, four and five splits, there being no significant difkrence among the latter three treatments, confirming 1975 data.Source and placement of phosphatic fertilizers. Studies on the relationships between soil and fertilizer contacts with respect to phosphatic fertilizel1l varying in water soluble and citrate soluble phosphorus were continued. Three sources of phosphorus (single superphosphate, rock phosphate and basic slag) were applied to the soil so that five soil to fertilizer contact. ratios ( 10,30,SO,70,90) were maintained. TIme of application of potassium. Potassium is subject to leaching losses in freely drained, light textured upland soils under heavy rainfall. Optimum times of application to increase the efficiency of potassic fertilizer, applied in the form of muriate of potash were determ i ned at rvlakassa and Kenema. Three split applications at early tillering to boot leaf stages both for K40 and K80 kg/ ha had a distinct ad vantage over two split applications, there being no added advantage from further splitting. Times of application of potassium showed the same response trend as time of application of nitrogen and, therefore, it is possible to recommend economic top dressing of both nitrogen and potassium at the same physiological stages of plant growth .~utritional requirement of rice. The require ments of the three major nutrient elements alone and in combinations under upland conditions were again determined at Makassa ne ar Rokupr. Balanced application of NPK gave significant ly higher yield over all other t reatments (Table 22).The most interesting point is that the response to potassium over N and P combination was dramatically higher than the response to K alone or to all combinations without K. Date of planting. An experiment was la id out near Rokupr, Sierra Leone, in a continuous fun ction design of 5 to 50 cm spaci ng bet ween plants within a row, using three rice cultivars of different maturity durations and sown at fortnightly intervals st arting from the fil1lt rain. The highest yields were obtained from end of May to mid-June plantings. Delay in planting up to mid-July resulted in 38 to 67 percent reduction in yield. Factors limiting yield. An experiment was initiated at Makassa uplands near Rokupr on the third crop of rice after bush clearance to determine the factors limiting rice production under typical rain forest conditions. Treatments included weeding three times during crop growth, adequate fertilization (N80 P ~ K 40 kg / ha), line sowing and chemical plant protection.Treatments minus one factor were compared with the complete treatment using two cultival1l, ROK 3 and LAC 23 (Table 23)_ The complete package gave the highest grain yield of 1624 kg / ha. Absence of weeding, and fertilizer, resulted in the greatest reduction in yield but even line sowing (vs. surface broadcast) and insecticide application gave significantly higher yields.Nitrogen times cultivar interaction. Relative performance and differential response to four levels of nitrogen under uniform dressing of P40 and K~I) were examined with 14 upland cultivars. Two cultivars, ADNY 11 and AD;.lY 2, had higher yields than the recommended cultivar ROK 3 both with and without fert ilizer application (Table 24).Cropping systems. Combinations of rice with maize and rice with cowpea were tested against the respective monocrops because upland rice in Sierra Leone is often grown as a mixed crop . Different proportions of rice ( LAC 23) were grown , either with cowpea (VITA 5) or with maize (TZB-C5) under uniform fertilization at the rate of 80:40:40 N :P :K, following two years of continuous rice (Table 25). Yields of both cowpea and maize were low, and better adapted cultivars to the Sierra Leone ecosystems are required . Rice alone gave higher gross economic returns than any proportion of the mixture. related to the poor performance of the other crops. However, 50 rice:cowpea gave a gross return dose to 100 percent rice due to the high price of cowpeas.Interaction between types of seedling and methods of fertilizer application. To eliminate the tedious process of transplanting, Matsushima in Japan has proposed the use of \" broadcastable seedlings\". As the use of broadcastable seedlings results in shallow or surface planting, methods of fertilizer application would need to be suitably modified.Two types of seedlings -normal seedlings grown in wet-bed nursery, and broadcast able seedlings sown in seedling trayswere compared at IITA under three methods of fertilizer application. The ordinary seedlings were transplanted at 4 to 6 cm. The fertilizer was incorporated with power tiller for deep incorporation , raked for shallow incorporation and applied immediately after planting for surface application.In general, the use of broadcastable seedlings resulted in higher yield irrespective of the method of fertilizer application (Table 26).The greatest difference between the yield of the two types of seedlings resulted when the fertilizer was surface applied, favoring broadcastable seedlings. This method of fertilizer application is the most common and convenient 10 the farmers. Thus, the use of broadcastable seedlings appears to be advantageous not only to eliminate the tedious process of transplanting, but also to better utilize the top~ressed N fertilizer. The economics of the use of broadcastable seedlings under African conditions should be explored.Growth analysis of two promising irrigated rice cultivars.An experiment was designed to evaluate two promising irri• gated cultivars under irrigated transition forest conditions in Nigeria at four different levels of fertility and two spacings.The purpose was to determine the factors which limit yield at each fertility-spacing treatment.   Plant improvement. A strategy was developed to incorporate disease and insect resistance into several plant types and photoperiod reactions suitable for different ecological areas and cropping systems.Three new series of crosses were initiated to improve the clisease and insect resistance and seed quality of proven high yielders and to increase seed size of VIT A-4 and VIT A-5.The breeding nursery was inoculated with the major pathogens and grown under minimum insecticide protection to facilitate selection for disease and insect resistance.Preliminary and advanced yield trials were extended for the fint time to off-site locations (Ethiopia, Tanzania, Puerto Rico and l'igeria). Minimum insecticide protection was given at I1T A and > in addit ion, all entries were screened separately for disease and insect resistance.In trials, VITA lines maintained their high disease resistance levels, but showed considerable fluctuations in yield over environments. Some pre1iminary and advanced lines outyielded the VITA-lines and showed good disease resistance levels.In the population improvement, an insect resistant subpopulation was synthesized and advanced to the F 2 genera• tion. A new cycle of recombination was initiated in the disease sub-population and the different sub-populations were synchronized to permit free interchange of desirable ~nes among them. A system is being developed to integrate the disease resistance sub-population with the International Disease ~urseries.There was progress in the development of green-pod, vegetable type cowpeas for the humid tropics. Several climbing types have shown good yield and disease resistance and will be more widdy tested in 1977, Two hundred and thirty-five germplasm and breeding lines were screened under maize for suitability for mixed crop conditions; several will be tested in replicated trials in 1977.Studies of linkage relationships and of the genetics of anthracnose and root knot nematode resis tance were initiated. Plant protection. A special unit has been set up for multiplication, field inspection, roguing, treating and packeting 23 of seed for international trials to ensure shipment of healthy seed.A technique for a large-scale inoculation of early-generation cowpea breeding material was developed in screening for virus resistance. Serological techniques are now being usod for identification of cowpea viruses. It was demonstrated that Southern bean mosaic and cowpea mottle viruses are transmitted in cowpea by beetles. There was progress in the identification of multiple virus resistance in cowpeas.There was an apparent shift in the importance of cowpea diseases at lIT A, with increased importance of PhaJ:.opsora rust and ColltlotTichum pod blotch. Field surveys showed the importance of bacterial blight and Septoria widely distributed in the African savanna, the importance of Ascoch)'la zonate leaf spot in East Africa, the importance of web blight and Sclerotium blight in t he high-rainfall areas of West Africa , the occurrence of a golden mosaic of cowpea in Nigeria and T anzania and the importance of bacterial diseases of pulse crops in Ethiopia.Techniques were developed for screening breed ing materials to certain important pests. This included rearing and screening for resistance to /Wamca Its/utalis, field techniques for screening for resistance to Taeniothrips ijosledli and Hemipteran bugs and preliminary work to screen some germpLasm for resistance to Aphis cracciuoTa.Several sources of resistance to insect pests were identified: cultivars lVu 1509 and lVu 7274 were found to be resistant to T. sjosted/i; lVu 7274 and VITA-4 showed resistance to the Hmlipteran, Acal1thomyja was confirmed. Identified sources of resistance to various insect pests were used to synthesize an insect resistant population. One early, determinate line (TVx 2869-2-2) showed resistance to several pests (leafhopper Empoasca doiichi; pod borer, M. ttstulalis and foliar thrips, TamiothTips sjosttdli). Large-scale trials on farmers' fields with ultra-low volume spraying have shown that Nuvacron gives effective pest control. Synthetic pyrethroids were found to be effective at very low dosages (50g, a.i.lha), Gro'll.1h and management. A study of nitrogen production and metabolism of field grown cowpea and soybean revealed that both utili;te soil nitrate nitrogen as a primary nitrogen source in the vegetative period. Its importance declines as nodule nitrogen production becomes predominant in the late preflowering period. Estimates of nitrogen fixation by root nodules using amino-K content of the stem exudate were Grain legume scientists carry out their research work in an inter-disciplinary manner.closely correlated with the actual rate of accumulation of total reduced nitrogen in the plant. Whilst cowpea fixed more nitrogen per plant at flowering than soybean, rates also decline more quickly in the former. When nitrogen demand by reproductive organs, as measured by their rate of accumulation of nitrogen, exceeded the capacity of the plant to supply nitrogen to the pods, leaf senescence occurred. Foliar application of major nutrients (mainly N ) after flowering only delayed senescence for a short time and resulted in only slight yield increases.Experiments with artificial shading before flowering decreased leaf area, dry weight and branching at flowering, the effect on yield was small, except in the most severe treatment. Cowpeas sown under maize at tassel emergence showed differences in response to shade, but the responses were not always the same as those observed under artificial shading. To develop cultivars suited to intercropping, selection may have to be made under a cereal crop (maize, sorghum or millet).Management experiments at several sites indicated that for intercrops and sole crops of cowpea, the most important input was two to four applications of insecticide.Record yield for a vegetable type, climbing cowpea of 30 t / ha (3 tons dry weight ) green pod was obtained in the first season at IITA from cv. FARV-13 grown on bamboo trellis. The greed pod yield was only 10 t / ha and the yield of maize was 4.7 tons compared with 6.1 t / ha for sole crop maize.Plant improvement. Eighty-one strains were developed from the breeding population and the preliminary testing showed that two lines TGx 16-2E and TGx 26-34D gave yields of more than 3 t / ha. The cross between TGm 22-1-2205 and TGx 13-3-2644 was particularly good ; 15 progenies of this cross, now in F6 generation, have given good yields, have good seed quality and are resistant to lodging and bacterial pustule.Plant protection. The cultivars were screened in the field for susceptibility to damage by leaf chewing insects (PlathypeTUl sp. and Trichoplusis sp.). Cultivar TGx 13-3-2644 and six new lines showed the least damage. Varietal differences were observed in susceptibility to seed damage by Cy dia sp., a pod borer.Seed quality. The rapid loss in soybean seed viability is a main constraint in the tropics. Studies have shown that there is genetic variation that can be exploited in seed tolerance to weathering and to deterioration in store at high ambient temperatures and humidity . Seed quality at harvest influences seed viability during storage. Poor weed control and careless threshing contributed to poor seed quality at harvest. Good germination and resistance to weathering were associated with small, smooth seeds. Drying seed at 40 to 50 C helped to maintain viability in store; drying at 60 C or leaving seed undried markedly reduced viability.Planl improvement. New accessions have been added 10 the germplasm collection, mostly from Liberia (250) and Nigeria ( 120). A survey was conducted in southeast Kaduna State of Nigeria and samples were collected with various sizes and colors of seed.Segregating lines that were tested (F 2 ) included the crosses between cultivated and wild forms of lima beans (Gembloux collaborative project).A large nursery was screened against golden mosaic first in the field and then in the greenhouse. Forty lines showed good field resistance and of these, 12 lines were identified as highly resistant. Two of the resistant lines (TPI 10 and lilA) were previously included for yield trials.First crosses have been made between resistant and susceptible lines. Some F 2 lines are now being tested in the field.A sap-transmissible virus with filamentous particles has been partially characterized and tentatively named lima bean green mottle virus. The viny lima bean uniform trials at IITA averaged 2.8 t/ha for the seven best entries, with 88 percent of the harvest in less than 100 days. TPL 250B gave the best yield (3.2 t / ha).Many interspecific crosses of P. l/Ulatus with other selected wild species (P. rilensis and P. polyslachyus) were carried out in Gembloux. Progeny from these crosses were backcrossed at IITA and field tested . Two results are particularly significant in this work. First, the percentage of successful pollinations (selfing or backcrossing) is higher in the F 2 than in F I generations. Second, at lIT A in the first season the F I P.IWla/us X P. rilensis and the parent P. ritensis showed no symptoms of golden mosaic.Farmers visit llTA 10 see cowpea performnnce for themselves.Breeding Four main sowings were made at Ibadan in 1976: the dry season (December to March) under irrigation , the first season (March to June), the first/late season Oune to September) and the second season (September to December). Problems were encountered with the second season crop due to an extension of the mid-season dry spell from July to late September. Some trials were not sown and others, sown dry (in early September) did not emerge until 20 September with the first effective rains. Nevertheless, the rapid generation turnover possible with cowpea at Ibadan remains a major tool in increasing the rate of genetic improvement. For the first time, preliminary and advanced yield testings were extended to other locations.The numbers of populations and lines in the conventional varietal improvement program are summarized in Table 1.From the F2 generation onwards, populations and lines were directly inoculated with suspensions of the major diseases: virus (CYMV, SBMV), anthracnose, bacterial blight, bacterial pustule, Cercospora cTUenta and C. canescens. A minimum insecticide regime was applied and emphasis was placed on selection for disease and insect resistance while retaining different plant habits and other characteristics. Segregating populations and lines were advanced by single plants while uniform rows were bulk harvested for yield testing.Recombination. Cross series 7 comprises 215 crosses between VITA lines and other elite material from the germplasm and breeding programs . Single plants were sown in the second season and seed of the uniform rows is being multiplied for preliminary trials in 1977.Plant improvement. New accessions have been added to the germ plasm collection, mostly from Liberia ( 250) and Nigeria (120). A survey was conducted in southeast Kaduna State of Nigeria and samples were collected with various sizes and colors of seed.Segregating lines that were tested (F 2) included the crosses between cultivated and wild forms of lima beans (Gembloux collaborative project).A large nursery was screened against golden mosaic first in the field and then in the greenhouse. Forty lines showed good field resistance and of these, 12 lines were identified as highly resistant. Two of the resistant lines (TPI 10 and lilA) were previously included for yield trials.First crosses have been made between resistant and susceptible lines. Some F 2 lines are now being tested in the field.A sap-transmissible virus with filamentous particles has been partially characterized and tentatively named lima bean green mottle virus. The viny lima bean uniform trials at lITA averaged 2.8 tlha for the seven best entries, with 88 percent of the harvest in less than 100 days. TPL 250B gave the best yield (3.2 t / ha).Many interspecific crosses of P. lunatus with other selected wild species (P. ritensis and P. poiystachyus) were carried out in Gembloux. Progeny from these crosses were backcrossed at IITA and field tested. Two results are particularly significant in this work. First, the percentage of successful pollinations (selling or backcrossing) is higher in the F 2 than in F I generations. Second, at lIT A in the first season the F I P. tunalus X P. ritensis and the parent P. ritensis showed no symptoms of golden mosaic.Farmers visit llTA to see cowpea performancefoT themselves.Breeding Four main sowings were made at [badan in 1976: the d ry season (December to March) under irrigation, the first season (March to June), the firstllate season (June to September) and the second season (September to Decem ber). Problems were encountered with the second season crop due to an extension of the mid-season dry spell from July to late September. Some trials were not sown and others, sown dry (in early September) did not emerge until 20 September with the first effective rains. Nevertheless, the rapid generation turnover possible with cowpea at [badan remains a major tool in increasing the rate of genetic improvement. For the first time, preliminary and advanced yield Ie lings were extended to other locations.The numbers of populations and lines in the conventional varietal improvement program are summarized in Table 1.From the F2 generation onwards, populations and lines were directly inoculated with suspensions of the major diseases: virus (CYMV, SBMV), anthracnose, bacterial blight, bacterial pustule, Cercospora cruenta and C. canescens. A minimum insecticide regime was applied and emphasis was placed on selection for disease and insect resistance while retaining different plant habits and other characteristics. Segregating populations and lines were advanced by single plants while uniform rows were bulk harvested for yield testing.Recombination. Cross series 7 comprises 215 crosses between VITA lines and other elite material from the germplasm and breeding programs. Single plants were sown in the second season and seed of the uniform rows is being multiplied for preliminary trials in 1977. In population improvement the main objectives were the development of a system, the synchronization of the populations to facilitate the screening and interchange of material and the assessment of the performance of lines emer-ging from the main population. Progress made in 1976 is summarized in Table 2.Disease resistance sub-population. The merged virus and disease resistant sub-populations were advanced from F I to G 3 generations . In G l , 30 new disease resistant lines selected from the ICDN were introduced by crossing on to vigorous male steriles and disease free fertile plants \\'Iiere selected for further screening and multiplication before entering the pathologist's disease nurseries in 1977.Insect resistance sub-population. The insect resistance subpopulation was resynthesized in the first season by crossing 25 lines resistant to leaJboppers, thrips, hemipteran bugs, Ml1TtI£a or Callosobruchus •on to male sterile plants in the backup population and advanced to the F 2 generation.Protein quantity and quality. The protein sub-population, synthesized in 1975 by crossing 22 high-protein, high-S IN ratio lines on to male steriles in the back-up population, was advanced t hrough F \\, F• 2 and G 3 generations. Seeds of plants selected in F 2 and G 3 are being analyzed for protein content.High yield sub-population. The high yield sub-population was screened for disease resistance in the F 2 and G 3 generations and is currently being merged with the back-up population.Back-up population. The back-up population was sown only in the first season for synthesis of the insect sub-population and for the selection of single plants for disease screening in the second season. Lines combining good levels of disease resistance will be incorporated in the disease nurseries.Main population. Yield tests of lines from the main population were unsuccessful. In the first season at Ibadan, emergence was poor due to low quality seed. In the second season, yields were reduced at Ibadan due to drought and at Onne due to heavy insect damage. In the Ibadan trial the seed yields of the lines ranged from 82 to 895 kg i ha compared with j96 kg I ha from VIT A-4, the highest-yielding control line. Lines combining good yields and disease resistance will be tested further in 1977.Lines from the breeding nursery are tested first in preliminary trials on the basis of which lines are selected for advanced and then uniform trials. The numbers of tests carried out in each of these categories in 1976 are shown in Table 3.These represent a considerable increase over 197!>. Formerly, preliminary and advanced trials were conducted only at Ibadan but this year were extended to other locations. Lattice designs were introduced to control variability in soils and other factors and were as much as 36 percent more efficient than randomized complete blocks when analyzed in yields. Minimum insecticide regimes were applied but resulted in increased variability due to spatial and temporal variations in insect infestations, the latter being partially oonfounded with varietal differences in time of flowering, Four standard   Records taken included days to 50 percent flowering days to 50 percent ripe pod, growth habit, disease and insect grades, pod and seed yields. Threshing percentages were determined.Where possible the trials were harvested at regular intervals to provide quantitative measures of earliness. Entries in all trials but the two replicate preliminary trials in the first season were screened. Photoperiod reactions are being determined by the physiologist and protein content by the biochemist.Preliminary trials. Two types of preliminary trials were conducted: two replicate trials with single-row plots for preliminary assessment of the performances of large numbers of lines selected from the breeding nurseries in the dry and first seasons of 1976; and four replicate trials with standard fourrow plots including lines selected in 1975.In the first category, insect damage was severe in both trials, contributing to low and highly variable yields. In the first season the seed yields of 186 lines selected from cross series 4 in the dry-season breeding nursery were around 1,305 kg/haCowpea cv. TVu 4557 (now VITA 5) produces high yields.27 each, accompanied by wide variations in other characters measured. Few lines approached the yield of the best control cultivar, VITA-4 which ranged from 1,017 to 1,799 kg/ha but 43 of the highest yielders with acceptable disease levels were carried forward to the second-season trial together with 196 lines selected from the breeding nursery and other trials in the first season. Seed yields of lines were again highly variable (0-540 kg / ha), due primarily to insect damage. In the second season VITA-I was the highest-yielding control cultivar. Thirty-three lines combining good yield and disease levels are being multiplied as possible entries for advanced trials in 1977.In the second category of preliminary trials , a trial of erect types was grown only in the first season and two trials comparing spreading types in both seasons . The data are summarized in Tables 4 and 5 where lines combining high yield with disease levels equal to those of the controls are underlined. In the erect trial (Table 4) significant differences between entries were recorded for most characteristics. Seed yields of the control lines ranged from 2 kg /ha for VITA 1, which is highly photosensitive, to 1,317 kg / ha for Ire Brown.Several lines out yielded Ife Brown, notably TGx 1193-10F and the hastate-Ieafed TVx 33-Ij, the latter also exhibiting low disease levels.The spreading types also gave high yields in the first season but these were reduced in the second season due to heavy combined improved seed yields relative to the best controls lines with good disease levels lines with hastate-Ieaf shape yielded.Advanced trials. Sixty-three advanced lines from the germplasm, conventional breeding and population improvement systems were included in three 5 X!> balanced latt ice square trials grown in five environments.The performances of the highest-yielding lines in four of the environments are shown compared with the four controls in Table 6.Marked interactions for seed yield occurred between lines and environments. Of the four controls Ife Brown was the most consistent , maintaining satisfactory yield levels even at Dnne where many of the entries showed drastic yield reductions.The yields of the photosensitive VITA-I line were poor in the first season. The yields of VIT A-4, the most oonsistent yielder at Gusau were reduced at Dnne, evidently because of acid soil conditions. VITA-5 also yielded poorly at Onne due to susceptibility to golden mosaic.pest damage (Table 5). As in the erect trial, several lines Several TVx lines were similar to or higher-yielding than the  Annual Report 1975.) The increased data now available, from 12 trials in each category, indicate the occurrence of marked interactions between cuitivars and environments. VITA-4 and TVx 30-1G were the highest-yielding entlies followed by VITA-I.In 1976 distribution increased to 28 sets of Trial 1,50 sets of Trial n and 36 sets of a new Trial III including 10 erect entries. At the time of writing no data had been received from off-site locations. Full accounts of all trials will be published elsewhere.Intercropping. More than 200 cowpea lines with resistance to the major diseases and range of plant habits from gennplasm and the breeding program were evaluated for suitability for intercropping. As seed and facilities were limited and since the aim was to identify gross differences in response, only a single replication was sown under a uniform crop of maize with no sole crop com parison.The cowpea lines were single rows 5 m long arranged alternately with single rows of maize 1.5 m apart . In the first season cowpea and maize were sown on the same date. In the second season, the cowpea was sown at anthesis of the maize which was harvested and stalks removed when the earliest cowpea lines were flowering -a procedure more relevant to farm ing practices in the savanna areas . In both seasons VITA-5 was sown in every sixth row as a standard for comparison.In the first season a wide variation was recorded for all plant characters. Small but significant positive correlations were recorded between plant vigor (60 DAP) and time to maturit y and yield. Grain yield was determined primarily by pod number, pod length, seeds per pod and threshing percentage. Disease and insect damage .were Iigh't but a significant, negative correlation was recorded between coreid bug damage and seed yield.During the secon d season, 50 lines from the first-season screening and from the entomology unit were compared under mixed and sole-crop conditions in a split plot des ign with two replications. The intercrop comprised single alternate rows of maize and cowpea sown on the same date. Although insect damage on cowpea appeared less in the mixed than in the sole•aop, yield data were highly variable and the trial will be repeated in 1977.Vegetable cowpeas. Vegetable cowpeas for green pod use are an important component of compound farming systems in the humid tropics. In the firs t season 123 lines were evaluated for disease resistance and pod characteristics including crude fibre content, and 12 were selected for a replicated trial in the second season. Two trellis systems, bamboo and maize were superimposed. Green pod yield, yield components and disease reactions were recorded and the data are summarized in Table 7.Green pod yields were depressed by more than 50 percent where maize was used as a live trellis. Factors involved in-elude competition for light and nutrients and increased incidence of disease and especially web blight under maize. Significant differences between cuitivars were recorded for all characters. TVu 6642 gave the highest yields under both trellis systems with 12.42 and 6.25 tons of green pod per hectare. No correlation could be demonstrated between green pod yield and pod number probably due to the wide differences between lines in pod length. Virus infection reduced yields of lines such as TVu 1270 and TVu 7275. Six lines combining high yield and good disease resistance are being multiplied for a more extensive series of trials in 1977.Crosses have been initiated between erect grain legume and vegetable types and climbing vegetable types. F 2 populations will be sown in the first season of 1977 at IITA and O nne.Genetic studies. Crosses were made between lines carrying genes for different simply inheri ted characteristics to study linkage relationships and to assemble groups of genes for investigations of the inheritance of agronomic characteristics.Preli mina ry data indicate that the hastate-leaf, holly leaf and one of the male sterility loci are not linked. Resistance to pod sucking bug. Acanlhomyia h~rr-ida is one of the common pod sucking bugs found feeding on cowpea pods in West Africa. Infested pods shrivel and dry prematurely, thus reducing cowpea grain yield. Selected cowpea cultivars and segregating cowpea lines were screened in the field.IITA scientists appraise cowpea trials in Tanzania.VITA-4 and lVu 7274 were identified as moderately resistant to pod damage. Table 8 indicates comparative percentage damage to pods by A. horrida in field trials.  crlUcwora.Resistance to cowpea weevil: Cowpea weevil, CallQsobruchus macuiatus, is a serious field-to-storage pest. The initial infestation occurs in the field and a fter harvest multiplies in storage.World germplasm of cowpea consisting of 4,578/ cultivars was screened for resistance to cowpea weevil in storage; so far one cultivar, TVu 2027, has been found resistant to weevil infestation in storage. Table 10 indicates the comparative FI progeny emergence in the resistant and susceptible cowpea cultivars from one cowpea weevil.TtJble 10. Combining resistance to different pests. In cooperation with the plant breeders, efforts were made to combine resistance to several insect pests by crossing insect resistant cowpea cultivars. Along with multiple insect resistance, selections were made for high-yielding erect plant types with early maturity and white seed with black. eye. The selections, TVx 2869-P 2 -2, TVx 2869-P 9 -1 and TVx 2869 P 9 -3-2, have been tested both inside and outside UTA and were found resistant to leatboppers, and with some resistance to M. tutulalis and M . sjostedti in field trials. The low susceptibility to damage is attributable mainly to early maturity and escape.Insecticide and varietal resi.5tance. In cooperation with the plant breeders and agronomist, VITAl , 3, 4, and 5 and the yield of three recently selected multiple insect resistant cowpea cultivars mentioned above compared when given minimum insecticide protection was applied at 40 and 50 DAP only. Four trials were conducted, one in the first season and two in the second season at UTA and one on a farmer's field in the second season at Odo-Ogun, a village 50 km north of UTA. Results obtained are indicated in Table 11. The three multiple insect resistant cowpea cultivars had a higher yield than the VITA's.Table 11.Perfo\"\"\"nce of VITA High volume insecticide applications. During 1976 emphasis was on identifying effective insecticides with low mammalian toxicity in order to find safer insecticides. Efforts were also made in identifying insecticides which are effective in controlling cowpea pests at lower dosages, so that the cost of insecticide may be reduced. Table 12 indicates cowpea grain 31 yield obtained by treatments of various insecticides on Prima cowpea in a field trial. Insecticides were applied at 10 DAP and subsequently four more applications at 1 ().day intervals.The pest complex consisted mainly of leatboppers and M . testulalis. Gammalin at 1000 gr a .i.lha per application and synthetic pyrethroid, Decis, which has low mammalian toxicity at a low dosage of 50 gr. a.i.lha per application had the best yields.Table 12.Yield of PrUrul ci1WJlea under different insecticide ~licatio,.., uCl1lld ,eO$on, IITA. Ultra-low-volume applications. UL V insecticide application appears to have some advantage over c:onventional highvolume spray CHV) in non-irrigated crops like cowpeas where water availability for spraying crops could be a problem. Therefore the comparative performances of UL V and HV insecticide applications on cowpeas were evaluated. A field trial was conducted in the first season of 1976 on Prima. Thiodan was applied as ULV at BOO and 400 gr. a.i .lha per application at 10 DAP and subsequently four more applications at 100day intervals. Almost 17-fold increase in grain yield over the control plot was obtained with the Thiodan ULV treatment at a higher dosage (Table 13). .1ft Broum, Farinwake, Amatin, Blade eye ~an and cowpea 74 respectwely.••Primo, Primn, Local red, Prima, Pusa dofasli respectively.In the second season a similar trial consisting of Nuvacron and Thiodan (UL V and HV) was conducted on the farmer's field at Odo-Ogun. Insecticide was applied at 500 gr. a.i.lha per application at 30 DAP and subsequently two more applications at IO-day intervals on VITA-5. Nuvacron applied as ULV and HV was superior to Thiodan treatments and control. There was no significant difference between UL V and HV treatments within the same insecticide indicating UL V applications are as effective as HV applications (Table 14).Mu1tilocation testing. Cowpea yields obtained under coordi-32 nated mlDlmUID insecticide trials by different entomologists in their respective countries are indicated in Table 15. No insecticide was applied in the pre-flowering plant growth stage of the crop and the insecticide applications (varying from three to five) were confined to the post-flowering pests.In general, pest resistant VITA yields were superior to local checks.The objective of the legume pathology sub-program continued to be the control of diseases causing economic crop loss through the identification and utilization of durable genetic resistance. During 1976, major emphasis was given to virus diseases and the development of serological techn iques for their identification and to the adoption of large-scale field inoculation techniques for early-generation screening of cowpea breeding material. Work was initiated on the effects of intercropping on cowpea diseases.Disease distribution and importance. An apparent shift in importance of cowpea diseases was noted at lIT A during the year. Phalropsoro rust, Synchytrium false rust, Aristastoma, and Colletotrichrun brown blotch have increased in significance so that control measures may have to be sought. Field surveys have demonstrated the importance of bacterial blight , Septon'o and cowpea aphid-borne mosaic in the savanna zone, while web blight and Sclerotium rot can be devastating in high-rainfall areas. Ascochyta zonate leaf spot is a major disease of cowpea in eastern Africa. A striking golden mosaic causes appreciable damage to susceptible cowpea culti ... ars at lIT A's high-rainfall station at Onne; symptoms resemble those reported from Tanzania. Cowpea mottle virus has been identified from Mokwa, Ibadan and Nsukka, suggesting it is widespread in Nigeria.The effect of time of virus infection on the nodulation and yield of cowpea was investigated in the second season 1976 at UTA. The trial was of a split-plot design, with three viruses (cowpea yellow mosaic and southern bean mosaic viruses, and a mixture) as the main plots and four times of inoculation (including an uninoculated control) as the subplots. The 12 treatments were replicated four times. The results (Table 16) show that early infect ion may reduce nodule weight, and that infection as late as 35 DAP can significantly reduce both top dry matter and seed yield. There were no differences between the virus treatments. Data analysis, following appropriate transformation, revealed relatively large variability in the results to which the non-uniformity of contamination of the uninoculated plots would have contributed. transmission. This is believed to be the first report of vector transmission of these viruses in Africa.Preliminary Disease Nurseries (PDN). During the 1976 first season, 100 Hnes, including multiple insect resistant selections and entries from preliminary yield trials, were planted in unreplicated rows and evenly e\"posed to inoculation of 10 diseases by using susceptible spreader lines. Results from scoring at about 70 DAP are shown in Table 17.A second PDN was grown at UTA in the second season in which high levels of Phakopsora and Arista.stoma developed. Few of the 205 entries showed resistance to these diseases, as might be expected if comparable disease pressures had not previously occurred. Two lines possessed resistance to PhaJcopsrwa, 13 to Aristastoma and one to both. Two multiple insect resistant lines were found to possess fair disease resistance.Advanced ffisease Nursery (ADN). Multiple disease resistant lines identified from data analyzed at the Taximetric Laboratory of the University of Colorado, and selections from the 1975 PDN were planted in two replications during the first season at lIT A. Results are shown in Table 17.33  Screening of breeding material. Considerable attention was paid to the large-scale production and application of pathogenic inocula to breeding material in the field.A greater emphasis was placed on screening against bacterial blight than in previous years. The adoption of the use of a high-pressure paint sprayer for field inoculation with a virus 'cocktail' obviated the need for an abrasive (carborundum), was labor saving and pennitted early roguing of susceptible plants.Screerung for resistance to web blight. One hundred and fifty-four lines were screened in three batches in the laboratory during March-April 1976. Pot grown four-week-<lld seedlings of the test lines were spray inoculated with a mycelial homogenate of Rhizoctonia solani and incubated at 23 C within a polythene moisture chamber for 3-4 days. Results showed that although all lines were susceptible, there was some variation in the degree of susceptibility. Further field testing of promising lines will be conducted during 1977.DeVelopment of screening techniques against Pythium. Observations made during the dry season 1975-76 at IITA suggest that there is probably genetic variation in response to JYthium wet stem rot but, owing to vagaries in the natural distribution of the pathogen in soils, a successful screening technique should rely on artificial inoculation. Earlier attempts at artificial inoculation were unsuccessful when various methods of stem infection with both mycelium and zoospore suspensions were used. A technique, involving the addition of small leaf samples of various grass species to agar cultures of P. aphani~rmatum, has facilitated the production of copious sporangia and zoospores which may constitute more appropriate inoculum. Future work will be directed to the soil application of zoospore suspensions under controlled conditions and to the examination of detached petiole techniques.The ICDN program, now in its third year, was initiated in an attempt to identify broad-spectrum stable resistance to many different populations of pathogens (including some that do not occur at lIT A) over various environments. In addition to providing information on varietal resistance and distribution of pathogens it also serves as a means of distributing useful germplasm to national breeding programs. The 1976 ICDN, with which the ICPMVN has now been combined, consisted of 166 entries and was sent to cooperators in Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, USA, Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia. Though in need of cooperators in Asia, this represents a considerable e\"pansion of the program.Some cooperatoI'll will be examining specific diseases, either becau~ of specialist knowledge or suitable localities. Resu lts are to be summarized elsewhere .The ICDN has been screened in the greenhouse at lIT A to an Oyo isolate of southern bean mosaic virus (SBMV) obtained from Dr. S. A. Shoyinka in Nigeria. Results are presented in Table 18. Lines designated highly resistant showed neither local nor systemic symptoms but , since no attempt was made to recover the virus, immunity and tolerance cannot be different iated. Resistant lines produced necrotic local lesions without the development of system ic symptoms, while plants which showed mild systemic symptoms were considered moderately resistant. Results from virus inoculation either in the greenhouse or field have been obtained from various cooperators; they indicate tha t certain cowpea genot ypes possess multi pIe virus resistance as shown in Table 19. Of the 12 shown , at least six of the lines also possess resistance to the major fun gal and bacterial diseases at Ibadan. To be noted here is the combined resistance to CYMV, CMeV and SBMV (as in TVu's 310 and 393, 493) which would be of special value in the West African forest and sub-humid zone; and the resistance of TVu's 408-P2 and 410 to both aphids and viruses (probably CA~V as well as CYMV) in the Tanzanian savanna.Colletotrichum lindemuthianum were continued in oollaboration with W ye College , University of London , as part of an ODM / ARC project. Several mechanisms appear to restrict fungal growth, including failed penetration, penetration leading to encapsulation of hyphae with in 'reaction material', fa ilure of the primary vesicle to deve lop (associated with the appearance of a red halo in the cell wall around the appressorium) and cell death which leads to the cessation of fungal development. In an examination of 'field resistant' lines (TVu 76, 647 , VIT A-3 ). it was found that either the fungus was unable to produce secondary hyphae to cause the development of lessions, instead the host cells containing the primary vesicle became necrotic so inhibiting fungal growth (TVu 76, VITA-3) or that some infection produced well developed primary vesicles without causing necrosis and cell death until' after the formation of secondary hyphae (TVu 647). The expression of field resistance apparently depends upon climatic factors , principally the alternation of wet and dry periods, and upon the maturity of tissue. Essentially, the mechanism of field resistance apparently differs from hypersensitive resistance and susceptibility in that when the primary vesicle eventually does kill the first-penetrated cell, the latter still has the capacity to produce a sufficiently antifungal environment to prevent the development of secondary hyphae . In contrast , the hypersensitive reaction is probably a very rapid response to infection by an incompatible race of the fungus while in a susceptible reaction, the fungus is compatible and thus the initial growth of the primary vesicle goes 'undetected' by the host cell .In a vegetable-cowpea intercropping trial planted at Ibadan during the fiI'llt season 1976, the incidence of the beetletransmitted cowpea yellow mosaic viru s was markedly reduced when oowpeas (FARV 13) were intercropped with maize (TZPB) or when they were sprayed with GammaJin insecticide.In collaboration with the entomologist in the Farming Systems Program, the incidence of disease was soored in a second-Table 19. Sumtr\\4ry of ICDN ruult,: toward multiple virus resi.taftu_ This contrasts with significant increases in web blight which have been reported in cow peas supported by maize.Because light intensity can be a major factor limiting growth of cowpeas intercropped under cereals, attempts were made to assess the effect of light intensity on cowpea disease development . Light intensity was varied both by maize spacing and by artificial shade. Powdery mildew incidence increased significantly with increasing natural shade. Thus, preliminary results indicate that cowpea disease incidence may. either be increased or decreased in a cowpea-maize intercrop, depending upon the interaction of microclimatic, biotic and host effects on the pathogen and, in certain cases, its vector.Nitrogen uptake and fixation. In 1976, emphasis was shifted from bacteriological studies to the host part of the symbiosis: the plant. This approach was adopted because the plant governs the system by providing energy to maintain the symbiosis, and in most cases , the plant is the only segment of the system that is readily manipulatable .To gain a basic understanding of the role of the plant, detailed studies were conducted in which forms of N utilization, rates of N accumulation and re-distribution were monitored throughout growth in both cowpeas and soybean .N accumulation and metabolism. There appears to be three distinct phases of N accumulation representing the preflowering, early pod formation and rapid pod fill stages (Figs. 1 and 2). During the vegetative growth phase, much of t he total plant N is produced. In TVu 3629 (indeterminate, intermediate growth habit), 43 percent of total N accumulation occurred during the pre-flowering stage (before 35 days after emergence). The determinate, erect cultivar TVu 4552 accumulated more than 50 percent of its total N during this stage of growth . In soybea ns, the vegetative growth phase was slower and only 20-30 percent of the total N was produced during the pre-flowering phase. These experiments were conducted in soils where 30 kgfha of N applied , and a different situation may arise in less fertile soils. In the early vegetative growth period most of the pLants' nitrogen requirements were supplied by nitrate absorption from the soil. The relative amount of nitrate utilization was estimated by assaying for nitrate reductase (N.R.) activity in leaf tissue. The specific activity of ~.R. was at a maximum at the early sampling dates and decreased drastically with plant age (Table 20). Although soybeans possess a specific N.R . activity twice that of cowpeas, the total N .R . activity in soybeans was only 50 percent that of cowpeas because of smaller soybean plant size. There also appear to be large differences in N.R. activity between soybean cultivars as TGm 280-3 had a highl'!r activity than TGm 686. This was reflected in the total reduced nitrogen (fRN ) content as TGm 2B()'3 contained 290 mg TRN fplant as compared to 190 mg for 686.During the early reproductive phase both cowpea and soybean started depending upon symbiotic N 2 fixation to satisfy their N requirements. Atmospheric N 2 fixation is difficult to measure under field conditions because the standard procedure (acetylene reduction ) requires excavating the host-nodule system intact. An alternative procedure was developed in which the quantity of N 2 fixed was estimated by determining the amount of amino-N present in the stem exudate. Results from both cowpea and soybeans demonstrated that the amount of amino-K in the stem exudate was closely correlated with the actual rate of TRN accumulation in the plant (Fig. 3).In cowpeas, the maximum rates of TRN accumulation and N ./ fixation were observed a t flowering and decreased rapidly c:.2 a.\"-...    during pod development. TVu 3629 was capable of producing more than 40 percent of its TRN during the two weeks from flowering to start of rapid pod fill , whereas the same period onl~ lasted one week for VITA-S and resulted in 20 percent of Its TRN accumulation. TVu 3629 not only reached a higher rate of fixation than VIT A-S but also maintained a moderate rate for a longer duration.Soybeans had a lower rale of amino-N production -maxi• m um rate of 90 ug amino-1\\\" / pla nt /hr -although they produce an equivalent amount of nodules compared to cowpeas.On a per plant basis, the nodule efficiency of soybeans was only 20 percent that of cowpea (Table 21 ). The low nodule efficiency of soybeans is probably a result of the shading effect produ~ed at the close spacings. In the two weeks following flowenng, TGm 280-3 accumulated 50 percent of its TRN and TGm 686 35 percent.  The rates of TRN accumulation and the amino-N in the exudate greatly decreased during rapid pod development . The N requirement for pod growth exceeded the supply from N 2 fixation between 5-6 weeks after emergence for VlT A-5 and one week later for TVu 3629 (Fig. 4). In soybeans, the rate of pod development was slower and the N demand did not surpass the supply until the eighth week. In both cowpea and soybean, the point at which the N demand by the pods exceeded the N supply coincided with leaf senescence indicating that the N demand was being fulfilled by redistribution of N from other plant organs. Sources of seed N are shown in Table 22. In cowpeas, about 40 percent of the TRN in the seed~ was re-translocated from leaf tissue and 45 percent syn-thesIzed during the pod-filling period . Soybean seeds received less of their total N from the leaves, especially TGm 686, but were capable of producing much nitrogen during pod fill. Howeve r at maturi ty, 40 perce nt of the TRN accumulated by cowpea remained on the plant whereas in soybeans, only 22 percent had not been translocated.Ev~n tho~gh the rate of TRN accumulation, quant ity of ammo-N In the exudate, and nitrate reductase activity were all very low during the pod filling period, most if not all of the TRN produced during this phase of growth was translocated directly to the seed.~od removal and N 2 fixation. As observed earlier, pod formation has a detrimental effect on N2 fixation. This phenomenon was further studied in two cowpea plant types. In VlT A-5 the pods comprise a large percentage of the total plant weight, and removal of flowers for two weeks after anthesis (delayed pod formation ) allowed a continuation of N2 fixation  N, P, K, and S (ratio 10:1:3:0.5) increased the yield of the indeterminate cultivar by 24 percent bud did not alter seed yield in the determinate type. At the higher concentration of foliar spray some leaf burning occurred. Using the same nutrient spray, cowpea responded only slightly to three applications during the pod filling stage. (Table 24). All noted in mung beans, application of foliar nutrients delayed leaf senescence. In the second season, the concentration of the foliar spray was reduced and applied during three phases of pod development.Four applications from flowering to maturity neither increased yield nor delayed senescence in either cowpea cultivar.(Table 25). However, applications commencing at early pod fill and continuing through maturity resulted in significant increases in seed yield in both VIT A-5 and VIT A•4. Applications during late pod fill were ineffective. Indeterminate soybeans also responded to foliar nutrients but only when applied during the period of rapid pod fill. (Table 26).Generally, these results indicate that N is not the only limiting factor during pod development. Abo the grain legumes studied are unable to support a high rate of N2 fixation and rapid pod development simultaneously.Since cowpeas appear to be inefficient in redistributing N compared to soybeans, more emphasis will be directed toward identifying plant types having the following characteristics: 1. early nodulation, thereby decreasing their dependency on soil nitrate during the pre-flowering stage 2. high nodule efficiency with the capability of maintaining an adequate N supply during pod fill and 3. efficient re-translocation of N in the late pod fill period.Reading-ITT A Pl'ojecL In cooperative studies carried out at Reading UniveTllity, certain experiments were conducted on nitrogen nutrition of cowpea cv.K 2809 grown in pots in a greenhouse and inoculated with Rhizohium strain CB 756.The results demonstrated that effectively nodulated plants grown without applied N were vegetatively equal to nonnodulated plants supplied daily with 60 ppm N throughout growth (88 days) and produced significantly greater seed yields. Kodulation promoted branching and improved pod set and retention compared with plants relying on applied N .Average seed yields of effectively nodulated plants were 36 percent greater than those of non-nodulated plants when both received applied N at concentrations ranging from 60 to 240 ppm during one of three periods: emergence to first flower; fiTllt flower to mid pod fill or mid pod illl to maturity. Nodulation improved yields by 45 percent when plants received a 'basal' level of 30 ppm N during growth.Maximum rates of assimilation of nutrient N and of symbiotically fixed N occurred during early pod illl in plants receiving 25 ppm N. Symbiotic fixation contributed significant amounts of nitrogen to seed production even after mid pod fill. Some N taken up before flowering was translocated to post flowering vegetative and reproductive components. Although there was little net change in vegetative dry matter during pod maturation, there was a large decrease in N content which contributed the bulk of N accumulated in fruits.Inorganic N applied as a ' starter dose' (equivalent to 10 kg N ha.]) had no significant effect on seed yield of nodulated plants but 40 percent of the starter taken up during the first three weeks of vegetative growth was located in seeds at maturity.Rhizobium strains isolated from soils at lIT A were shown to be superior to CB 756 in providing N for seed in several cowpea genotypes. The significance of cultivar-strain interactions and the potential of different strains for tolerating diurnal temperature extremes are being investigated. To quantifY further the carbon-nitrogen interrelationships of cowpeas, a system for measuring root respiration continuously throughout the entire growth period has been developed and tested. Vegetative growth and reproductive development are almost identical for plants rooted in the respiration chamber and in conventional pots.Progress in screening cowpea cultivars for environmental sensitivity with respect to the onset of flowering and yielding potential has been accelerated with the establishment of an integrated field and glasshouse screening technique. Screening for photoperiod sensitivity using low intensity incandescent lighting to extend the natural daylength in the field at UTA is followed by a second stage at Reading University, where glasshouses are used to determine the effects of night temperature on time to first flower, and of day temperature on the rate of leaf senescence and components of seed yield . The integrated screening of the first batch of cultivars using this technique was completed in the summer of 1976.Screening for photoperiod sensitivity continued in 1976 outdoors. As b efore, about half of the cowpea lines screened showed no variation in the date of the first flower due to natural versus a 13V2-hour p hotoperiod . Of the 34 soybean lines, none was rated insensitive, with li nes of lndonesian origin particularly sensitive. Of 27 climbing lima bean lines, 18 were insensitive, while none of the three winged bean (Psop hocarpus) or three hyacinth bean ( Lablab niger) lines flowered under a long photoperiod within 60 days. M exican yam bean (Pach~TTh izus trOfUs) neither flowered nor produced tubers under a 13 1 /2-hour photoperiod .Work on drought stress of cowpea and soybean continued so as to develop a field screening technique to detect varietal differences in susceptibility to dro ught. In a field experiment planted in October, 1975 irrigation was withheld from one soybean and three cowpea cultivars for two weeks starting at flowering. Although the cowpeas showed increased leaf stomatal resistance during the stress period compared to the well watered controls , plant moisture tension measured during the early afternoon was only slightly increased, and showed no increase with duration of the drought period (Fig. 5). Soybean, on the other hand, showed increased plant moisture tension as drought was prolonged. Thus 20 III 16'\" ~ '\" '\" IZFiK' S. Plant moisture potential (4) (measured by preslUre bumb)of cowpea and soybean durinK a two-week drought sm\" perWd.  plant moisture tension as measured by the pressure bomb can give indication of soybean drought stress but is less useful with cowpea. Canopy temperatures of stressed plots of both cowpea and soybean as measured by a hand-held infrared thermometer during the stress period were 5 C higher during the middle of the day than non-stressed canopies, with no significant difference among cultivars or species (Fig. 6). Under drought stress, high stomatal resistance preven ted evaporative cooling of the canopy causing an increase in leaf temperature . This appears to be a useful criterion for differentiating drought stressed from non-stressed plots, but the instrumentation is at present too expensive to permit a large-scale u se of this te chniq ue.Seed yields of cowpea were not significantly reduced by the stress period (Table 27). Although pod numbers decrea5ed slightly, a small increase in seed size compensated. In contrast, seed yields of soybean were reduced by 53 percent, primarily due to a 44 percent reduction in pod numbers.It thus appears that work on drought stress at UTA should concentrate on the more susceptible soybean rather than cowpea. A poorly drained soil can frequently lead to waterlogged conditions during an excessively wet growing season. To understand better the response of grain legumes to soil flooding, an experiment was conducted in the dry !lellllOnwith the soil physicist, in which soil flooding was applied to one cultivar each of cowpea, soybean and maize growing in Apomu or Egbeda soil in buried 250-liter drums. Flooding treatments of five-day duration were applied at three weeks after plant-.ing and at flowering. Measurements of stomatal resistance during the fint flooding period indicated that only maize and cowpea experienced drought stress with Hooding, but this was not measurable until the third day of waterlogging. Plant dry weight and leaf area were advenely affected by the first flooding treatment in all thrtt crops. Seed yields showed most drastic decline for cowpea, with plants subjected to two flooding treatments yielding virtually nothing (Table 28). Soybean was less affected by waterlogging, although yields were also significantly decreased. Maize recovered from the effects of the early flooding and appeared to be less sensitive to flooding at tasseling, so that yields were not significantly different between treatments. In cooperative work at Reading, a defoliation experiment with vegetative cowpea plants, dependent largely on applied nitrogen for their total nitrogen requirement has shown that leaves which are from two to three weeks old contribute little to further vegetative dry weight increment. When parts of young cowpea leaves were removed plant dry weight increase was hardly affected as compensatory expansion of the remaining laminae took place. However, the removal of several young leaves (a reduction in total leaf area of 17 percent or above) was highly detrimental to subsequent plant growth. Thus, the outcome of defoliation depends not just on the absolute leaf area removed but also on the age of the leaves treated and whether or not loss of whole leaves or parts of leaves is involved. These results could be used as a basis for deriving rational 'scoring' criteria for estimating the depredation by pests in the field .To understand cowpea growth and yield when intercropped with taller crops such as maize which can severely shade the cowpea, studies of the effects of shade per .u were continued in 1976. Three levels of shade (50, 62 or 75 percent) applied, using metal frames covered with black polyethylene strips, were put on two cowpea cultivars growing in field plots, from emergence to fiowering of the unshaded controls. Dry matter samples taken at the time of shade removal showed progressively more reduction in dry weight, leaf area index and branch numbers with increased shading in both TVx IB36 and VITA-4 used in the first season.Similar results were obtained with TVx 1836 and VITA•5 in the second season. At least partial recovery was achieved by the shaded plants, particularly in the first season, when cool wet conditions permitted harvesting during a seven-week period. In the second season, yield levels were lower and recovery after shading, as indicated by seed yields, less complete. Variability was high but the results indicate that cowpea can recover from heavy shading and produce adequate yields as long as the reproductive period is long. Intercropped cowpea in the savanna zone of West Africa is frequently shaded by tall cereal crops during the vegetative growth stage.Intercropping is the main feature of cropping systems in Mrica. Insect susceptible legumes such as cowpea are often grown in mixtures with cereals and other crops to avoid risks and uncertainty in obtaining yields. To better determine the performance of cowpea when intercropped with maize, sor• ghum or millet, several intercropping experiments were conducted. Effects of plant types, maize density, planting date 39 and insecticide application on intercropped cowpea were ex• amined in these experiments.Comparison between artificial shade and maize shade. Six cowpea cultivars of contrasting growth habit were inter• planted under three maize dens ities 0, 16,000 (60 X 100 cm) and 33,000 (30X 100 cm) plants/ha. one week before the maize (TZPB) started tasseling.The maize produced a leaf area index of 2.45 and 1.51 with• in two weeks after tasseling for the 30 X 100 and 60 X 100 spacings respectively. This corresponded to 67 and 51 percent light interception for the two densities.Maize was harvested 10 days after the unshaded cowpeas started flowering. The abili ty of cowpea to regrow vegetatively after shade was removed was, however, limited by the cessation of rains four days later, so that final seed yield of cowpea was reduced 71 percent and 94 percent by intercrop. ping under less dense and dense maize, respectively (Table 29). Significant varietal differences in cowpea yield occurred, with the erect cui tivar Prima and a tradit ional cultivar (TVu :\\231) of low yield potential producing least yield and VIT A-I and VIT A-4 the highest yields in the trial. The cultivar X intercropping interaction was significant at the.') percent level.Tabk Planting date and maize plant type. The performance of VITA-5 cowpea intercropped with either TZPB or Upper Volta Early (UVE) maize was evaluated by planting it either simultaneously with maize or two months after the maize.The cowpea was planted between maize rows 1 m apart, with in-row spacing set at 15 and 30 cm for cowpea and maize, respectively.Planting cowpea simultaneously with maize permitted vege• tative growth of cowpea under un shaded conditions. There-fore, cowpea dry weight at flowering was only reduced by 25 and 42 percent by association with UVE and TZPB maize, respectively. Growth after flowering was more severely affected, however, and grain yields were reduced 50 percent by UVE and 60 percent by TZPB (fable 30). UVE had less effect on cowpea growth and grain yield than TZPB because it shaded the cowpea less. Leaf area index measured two weeks after tasseling was 0.9 for UVE and 2.3 for TZPB . Maize spacing and nitrogen level. Maize density was varied from 10,000 to 30,000 plants/ha and nitrogen level from 0 to 120 kg Iha to determine the effect of these two factors on intercropped cowpea VITA-5 planted between rows of maize. Maize and cowpea were planted simultaneously with cowpea at 20 by 100 cm. Two spatial arrangements, 33 by 100 with 1 plant / hill and 100 by 100 with 3 plants / hi1l, were also compared. The latter arrangement is widely practiced by subsistence farmers.Because the soil used was fertile, there was no significant effect of nitrogen on intercropped cowpea and maize. However, decreasing maize density increased percent light transmission, leaf area index and seed yield of cowpeas, but reduced maize yield (fable 31). Changing the spatial arrangement at 30,000 plants/ha did not have any effect on percent light transmission and intercropped cowpea and maize yields .In terms of Land Equivalent Ratio (LER), maize planted at 50 by 100 or 100 by 100 em with 3 plants/hill was more productive than maize planted at 33 by 100 or at 100 by 100 em with 1 plant / hill.Spraying regime X cultivar interaction. An experiment was conducted at three locations in Nigeria, Gusau in the north, and Shaki and Odo-Ogun in the west, to determine the productivity of cowpea under two cropping systems and two spraying regimes. In all locations intercropped cowpea produced lower yields than sole cowpea under both spraying regimes (2 or 3 insecticide applications versus none) (Table 32). In the unsprayed plots the level of insect damage (leafhoppers, thrips, Alaruca Ilstulalls and coreids) on intercropped cowpea was about the same as on monocrops in any location. Intercropping did not reduce insect damage in cowpea. In the sprayed plots the low yields of inter cropped cowpea were mainly attributed to light competition particularly when planted two months after cereals at Gusau. In Gusau, VlTA-4 showed the least dry matter and yield reduction under millet compared to the other three cultivars. In Odo-Ogun, TVu 2616P-OID and VITA-4 were the best performers among the eight cultivars tested. As in the previous experiments, intercropping had higher total productivity than monocropping when the yields of both cereals and cowpea are considered.Use of maize as a support for climbing cowpea. Vegetable climbing cowpea provides an important source of protein in humid areas where harvesting of dry seeds is difficult or unprofitable. Although trellising is necessary for high yield, trellising materials are frequently difficult to obtain. Maize was used as an alternative support to determine the effect of planting method, insect control and cowpea cultivars on cowpea and maize yields. Maize and cowpea were planted simultaneously in both seasons.In the first season climbing cowpea FAR V-I 3 planted 50 em between rows of maize TZPB produced 700 to 800 kg/ha more green pods than planting in the same hills or alternate  hills with maize but the yield differences were not significant (Table 33). When yields of both cowpea and maize are considered, however, the former method of planting was more productive (LER = 1.14) than the latter methods of planting (LER 1.02 to 1.05) provided the cowpea was sprayed and properly trained on maize. \\Vithout insect control planting method had no significant effect on cowpea and maize yields.Green pod yield of FARV -13 growing on bamboo trellis with good insect control was 30 tonslha with about 90 percent moisture. The yield ofFARV-130n maize support was reduced by 71 percent because of competition for light and possibly also water and nutrients. The leaf area index of cowpea was reduced from 1.7 in a sole crop to about 1.0 in the intercropping. Cowpea also reduced maize yield by 21 percent as a result of the reduction of maize leaf area exposed to solar radiation. Contrary to previous findings (lIT A Annual Report 1973), maize lodging was not increased by the cowpea. Growing vegetable cowpea with maize in the first season had the advantage of additional yield of maize, lower costs in building trellises, and in the unsprayed plots, lower incidence of virus and Maruca lestuJa/is damage on pods. Without insect control the first-season cowpea yielded 40 percent of the sprayed plots; this was considerable compared to the generally poor yields of second-season cowpea.Harvesting the young tender leaves week.ly or biweekly from 28 to 77 DAP reduced green pod yield of FAR V -13 by 19 percent. This was probably due to low leaf area index of the cowpea (less than 2.0) even when no leaves were removed .In the second season 12 vegetable cowpea cultivars were planted either with bamboo or maize trellis. Maize TZPB was planted 25 X 2oo cm and the cowpeas at 25 X 100 cm. Two rows of cowpea were trained to one row of either maize or bamboo. Green pod and dry seed yields of cowpea under maize trellis were reduced by 61 and 66 percent respectively, mainly through the reduction in the number of pods 1m2 and pod length. There was a significant linear relationship between yield on maize and yield on bamboo trellis for both green pod (r = 0.76*) and dry seed yield (r = 0.93 Planting date. Two day-length insensitive cowpea cultivars, VITA-5 and lfe Brown (TVu 3629), were planted at threeweek intervals starting from 1 April to 28 October to evaluate the effect of climatic factors on growth and yield of cowpea.Seedling establishment was good in all the plantings so that yield differences could be attributed mainly to climatic factors and diseases. The first two plantings in April gave the highest yields at 2000 kg/ha (Fig . 7). As planting was delayed yield progressively decreased and levelled off at 500 kg/ha. The last planting on 28 October yielded only 160 kg/ha, however. Adequate moisture during crop growth particularly from flowering to harvest was essential for high yields provided plants were not attacked by diseases. Powdery mildew was a serious problem when planting was done during cloudy, cold dry weather from June to August. Seed yield was positively correlated to dry matter yield at flowering (r = 0.91*• ), number of harvests per crop (r -0.78\") and growth duration (r = 0.70•\") indicating that any factors, climate or disease, which reduced these attributes reduced the yields of Ife Brown and VIT A-5.Weed control level. Weeds are one of the major limiting factors in cowpea production but information is lacking on yield losses by weeds for different cowpea plant types. Four plant types of cowpea were planted at two-row spacings (50 and 100 e m) and subjected to three levels of weed infestation (no weeding, 10-day, and 2O-day weed free periods).No weeding resulted in no yields at all spacings and in all the four cultivars. The main weed species was Euphorbia htterophy la plus a few grasses.Weed weight and cowpea seed yield were significantly affected by spacing and duration of the weed free period (Tal?le 34). Semi-erect, broad-leaved VITA-] was the most competitive, and semi-prostrate VITA-5 the least competitive against weeds. The erect , leafy TVx 1836-19E and strap-leaf TVx 33-1G were intermediate between the two cultivars in their response to weeding. Apparently, the height of the leaf Report 1975) were analyzed for their nitrogen content . The results showed that seed nitrogen content was greatly affected by location and not by fertilization (fable 35). These results suggest that screening cowpea for high protein content should be done in the same environment so that location effects can be minimized. Among the cultivars planted, VITA-I, VITA-3 and TVu 2616-01D consistently showed higher N content than VIT A-4, VIT A•5 and Ife Brown. Pest management. The practical approach to pest problems in cowpea should be the use of host plant resistance and minimum number of insecticide applications . In the second season , insect resistant cultivars were compared with five standard cultivars under three insecticide regimes, (0,2) and 4 applications of Nuvacron at 0.5 kg a.i/ha) . Without insect control, second season cowpeas produced no seed yield. Increasing the number of insecticide applications increased yield but the differences in yield between two and four applications were variable depending on the susceptibility of cowpea to pests (Fig. 8). The cultivar X insecticide regime interaction was highly significant. Without protection TVx 2869.P2\"2 or ER-l (a cross between Prima and VITA-4) showed the highest number of flowers and pods per pLant compared to the other cultivars. This may indicate the resistance of this cuLtivar to Taeniothrips, an important pest during flowering stage. ER.I is erect, determinate and showed high resistance to leafhoppers and Ctrcospora CTlJI!nta. With two to four insecticide applications it outyielded all the VITA-lines by at least 40 percent. The high yield of ER-I was partly explained by the short rainy season (about 40 days) which favored erect, determinate cowpeas. VIT A•4 performed poorly at all levels of spraying because it was heavily attacked by coreids after the last insecticide was applied at 60 DAP. TVx 2869-P9-3•2 (ER-7) also performed well but was heavily attacked by C~cospora leaf spot just before harvest.Leaf plucking for vegetable use. In East Africa young Leaves of cowpea are often plucked and used as a vegetable. In the second season at lIT A, leaves of two cultivars were removed to varying degrees to determine whether plucking leaves for vegetable use had any detrimental effect on seed yield. Results showed that the traditional method of plucking young tender leaves weekly for four weeks from 28 DAP had no effect on yields of both cuLtivars. Removing up to two-thirds of the Leaves did not have any effect on yield of VIT A•3 but reduced yield of determinate TVx 1836-19E by 49 percent. This confirms earlier findings that semi-erect cultivars can withstand heavier defoliation than erect determinate cultivars.Soybean improvement efforts during 1976 laid greater emphasis on developing new recombinants and making earlygeneration selections between and within crosses to develop strains with higher yields, good seed quality and viability and resistance to diseases, insects, shattering and lodging. Preliminary screening to identify cultivars with good seed quality and storability was continued. In addition, the elite materials arising from breeding efforts were tested at different stages for ultimate registration as potential cultivars or parent stocks for further improvement.Observation plots. During the first season, unreplicated fourrow plots of 82 strains bulked last year were grown with standard cultivars. In the second season, strains were divided into early., medium-and late-maturing groups based on firstseason results and were grown in three separate trials. Each trial was replicated twice and had the standard cultivars as checks. Yield levels of the strains ranged from 500 to 3,833 kg lha in the first season and from 944 to 3, III kg I ha in the second season. Detailed results of the tests in second season are given in Table 36. Fourteen out of 81 strains tested out• yielded standard cultivars. Two strains, TGx 16-2E and TGx 26-34D, yielded more than 3,000 kg/ha.Other trials. Results from other trials in the first and second seasons are presented in Tables 37 and 38  The cross between TGm 220-2205 and TGx 13-3-2644-was the best and showed the highest frequenc y of form trials of IITA entries were sent out to locations in Africa agronomically desi rable recomb inan ts. (90 percent ), Asia (5 percent ), and Latin America (6 percent ). Results from the first of these trials have just been received.Insect pests. The common pests observed so far at UTA are About 100 new recombinants were developed, involving par-Barombia b ee tle, Tamiothrips, and Nazara viridula. Almost no ents with high yield, good seed quali ty, storability a nd bac-work has been done to survey insec t pests of soybean and the terial pustule resistance. Hand crossing, foll owed by a pedigree yield losses they cause. However, during the second season a system of handlin g segregating material, was adopted because preliminary assessmen t of leaf feeding by two lepidopterous natural outcrossing on male sterile plants was unsuccessful.larvae of Trichoplusia sp. and Plathypena sp. was made on 144 Single plant selections were made in the first season fro m F 2 lines in replicated trial plots. The frequency distribution based populations of 93 successful crosses from the previous year.on th e highest score in a ny replication is presented in Studies were concentrated on the effect of conditions at harvest and during storage, with particular emphasis on varietal differences .Conditions at harvest. The effect of weeds and lack of insect control on soybean seed quality and yield were investigated in two experiments during the first and second seasons. Weeds reduced leaf area index and yield in both seasons (Table 40), while decreasing both seed quality and germinat ion. In the first season, percentage of purple-stained seed was greatly increased in the presence of weeds, presumably due to the increase in relative humidity in the m icro-environment around the pods. In the second season, deterioration due to lack of weed control was less because of reduced weed growth and lower relative humidity at harvest. Insect damage decreased leaf area by 6 percent and 20 percent in the first and second seasons, respectively, but caused no significant yield decline. Lack of insect control had slightly negative but non•significant effects on seed quality and germination . To determine the effect of foliar sprays of benomyl fungicide during the seed maturation period on soybean seed quality and germinability , an experiment with four cultivars was grown in the first season. Although the incidence of seed purpling was generally low, it was decreased by benomyl application (Table 41). The fungus most frequently isolated from the seeds was the Phomopsis state of Diaporthe phaseolorum cv. JOjlU, reported to be associated with deterioration of soy• bean seed quality. There was no evidence that benomyl reo duced the contamination of seed by D iapoTlhe. Also, no sig• nificant differences were observed between cultivars in the percentage Diaporthe•bearing seed (incidence ranged from 20 to 90 percent). Other fungi isolated from seed included the Nigrospora state of Khuskia oryzae, Phoma sorghina and two species of Fusarium. Cercospora kikuchii was not isolated from any seed lost although it is known to be associated with seed purpling. Collelolrichum trrmcatwn has also been obtained from soybean seed lots in Nigeria, but this species was not obtained in this study. No significant differences were established between fungicide treatments and percent emergence measured at harvest and after storage durations of one to three mon ths. The method of seed threshing used can also influence germination and emergence through its effect on seed breakage. The traditional method of beating the pods in a bag was compared with hand threshing and using a combine. Only com• bine threshing increased breakage and reduced germination and emergence (Table 43).  Results suggest that selection among lines for high percent smooth, clean seed and small seed size should lead to cultivars with better percent germination prior to storage.  To determine whether the ability to withstand prolonged storage under ambient conditions can be predicted by simple laboratory tests, 50 lines of contrasting seed quality were grown in four successive plantings and harvested promptly or after two weeks delay. The seeds were then stored under ambient conditions for two to nine months. A standard germinat ion test conducted at harvest, and germination tests after accelerated aging of the seed for three days at 40 C and 100 percent R.H . did not correlate well with field emergence after nine months of storage (Table 45). Smallerseeded lines showed better ability to withstand prolonged storage than large-seeded lines. As expected, storage for short or long periods gave the most reliable indication of storability. In two separate nine-month storage tests, the same lines germinated well (r = 0.64**) (Table 46). More work is needed to determine simple tests to predict seed storability. The lines that possess good seed quality and storability are being used in the breeding program to develop material combining good agronom ic characters and the ability to withstand long storage under adverse conditions. The  To assess response to long daylength, 150 good-yielding lines representing 60 accessions were planted in the first season on an area previously sown with lima bean. Consequently, disease stress was very high with a large population of root-knot nematodes and a rapid build-up and spread of golden mosaic and Cercospora leaf spot . DFF ranged from 41 to 83 with 21 percent of the material flowering before 45 days. Some lines flowered at the same time as in the second season 19i5, a possible indicator of daylength insensitivity. During selection , emphasis was given to lines or plants which podded well in spite of disease.Of 20 lines showing no nematode galls on the field, only four had a moderate level of resistance in the greenhouse screening by the nematologist.A germplasm collection comprising 250 accessions was grown in the second season, unreplicated and interplanted with maize. for seed maintenance. Rainfall ceased about one week after sowing and all plantings were exposed to severe drought stress followed by a very short rainy period. Flower and seed production was seriously affected by heavy infestation of postflowering insects, mainly Taeniothrip. and Cydia enabling selection for drought tolerance and good seed quality. Twelve accessions performed well averaging more than 50 g/m2 dry clean seed yield at wide spacing (50 X 75 cm).In 1976, 470 new accessions were added to the germplasm: 118 accessions came from Nigeria (southeast of Kaduna State). the remainder from elsewhere , mainly Liberia.Yield trial. A preliminary yiny yield trial, consisting of 16 elite strains selected from previous evaluation of the germplasm, was conducted in both seasons at IITA and in the second season in Onne under very humid conditions. Also, the 10 best lines from the two advanced viny yield trials conducted in 19i5 were included in uniform trials, at UTA and elsewhere, using a standard bamboo trellis 2m high with strings for plant supports. Mean yields were lower in the second season and reflect two major factors: drought stress at lIT A and waterlogging in Onne.Preliminary trials. The results obtained from the first season at I bad an are shown in  Two cultivars, TPI 1974 and 323A, out yielded TPI 60E which was selected as standard of comparison because of previous good performance. Neither showed resistance to the two major diseases, golden mosaic and Cercospora leaf spot. TP I IliA confirmed its high level of resistance to golden mosaic.In the second season, unusually low dry seed yields were recorded for the two trials, due to climate and soil conditions. At IITA, seed emergence and seedling vigor were reduced by low soil moisture. In addition, a high incidence of green mottling occurred in the early stages of growth. The dry seed yield for the six best entries averaged only 58.8 g/m2, with TPI IliA (77.8 g/m 2 ) and TP I 174 (72.0 g / m2) as the best performers.In Onne, planting was done during the peak of the rainy season on flat beds and stand was severely reduced by waterlogging. In order to assess acid soil tolerance of lima beans, no lime was applied.The six top entries gave a mean yield of 61.5 g/m2.  The extreme growing conditions affected the yield in the second season, both at UTA and Onne. At UTA, the two best cultivan;, TPI 250B and TP1 247, averaged 51 glm 2 and 45 g/m2 dry seeds respectively. At Onne, the results were better than the results in the preliminary trial. The six best cult ivan; gave a mean of 109 g / m• Z dry seed yield. The two top entries were TPI 17 (145 g/m2 and TPI 60E (119 g l m2). Table 52 compares the yield of the six best entries under the three different conditions. The four highest performers in the firs t season (TPI 250B, 60E, 247 and 170-33) showed also the widest adaptation in the three environments. Breeding nursery. In 1976, 87 new outcrosses were obtained by alternating bush lima beans between rows of viny types, selected directly from the germplasm. From similar experiments conducted in the dry and first season 1976, using the bush type as seed parent (recessive parent), the percent of viny out crosses identified in the next generation amounted to 0.7 percent in the dry season and 2.3 percent in the first season , out of a population of 500 bush plants.Sixty-three crosses involving bush and viny types were made in the greenhouse to recombine genes fo r high seed yield, resistance to disease (mainly golden mosaic) and other attributes, such as photoinsensitivity, seed size and narrow leaves. The F) material was multiplied in the greenhouse and 50 F 2 lines are now being grown in the field.Other intra-specific crosses were obtained through a cooperative project with the Faculty of Agriculture at Gembloux  Two cuItivars, TPI 1974-and 323A, out yielded TPI 60E which was selected as standard of comparison because of previous good performance. Neither showed r~istance to the two major diseases, golden mosaic and Cercospora leaf spot. TPI IlIA confirmed its high level of resistance to golden mosaic.[n the second season, unusually low dry seed yields were recorded for the two trials, due to climate and soil conditions. At IITA, seed emergence and seedling vigor were reduced by low soil moisture. In addition, a high incidence of green mottling occurred in the early stages of growth. The dry seed yield for the six best entries averaged only 58.8 g / m 2, with TPI IlIA (77.8 g/m2) and TPI li4 (72.0 g / m 2) as the best performers.[n Onne, planting was done during the peak of the rain y season on flat beds and stand was severely reduced by waterlogging. In order to assess acid soil tolerance of lima beans, no lime was applied.The six top entries gave a mean yield of 61.5 g/m2. The extreme growing conditions affected the yield in the second season, both at UTA and Onne . At lIT A, the two best cultivars, TPI 250B and TPI 247, averaged 51 g/m2 and 45 g/m2 dry seeds respectively. At Onne, the results were better than the results in the preliminary trial. The six best cultivars gave a mean of 109 g / m 2 dry seed yield. The two top entries were TP I 17 ( 145 g/m2 and TPI 60E (119 g / m 2 ). Table 52 compares the yie ld of the six best entries under the three different conditions. The four highest performers in the first season (TP 1 250B, 60E, 247 and 170-33) showed also the widest adap tation in the three environments. by alternating bush li ma beans between rows of viny types , selected directly from the germplasm. From similar experiments conducted in the dry and first season 1976, using the bush type as seed parent (recessive parent), the percent of viny outcrosses identified in the next generation amounted to 0.7 percent in the dry season and 2.3 percent in the first season, out of a population of 500 bush plants.Sixty-three crosses involving bush and viny types were made in the greenhouse to recombine genes for high seed yield, resistance to disease (mainly golden mosaic ) and oth er attributes, such as photoinsensitivity, seed size and narrow leaves. The F J material was multiplied in the greenhouse and 50 F 2 li nes are now being grown in the field.Other intra-specific crosses were obtained through a cooperative project with the Faculty of Agricu lture at Gembloux  Several combinations, at different stages, (F 2 -BC I -BG I ) were introduced to HT A where self and back crosses are being carried out. Two different hybrids: a polyploid, P. lwwlus X P. polyslac~vus and F 1 F 2 P. lunatus X P. rilensis were transplanted in the field to test their reactions. The former showed susceptibility to golden mosa ic but podded well. The latter (P. luna/us X P. ritensis) and the wild (P. rilmsis) were susceptible to Cercospora leaf spot and root-knot nematode but neither showed symptoms of golden mosaic, although they were surrounded by spreaders.Intraspecific hybridization. These crosses involve mainly the wild forms of lima beans and other cultivars, related to three different groups: type Potato, (round seeds) type Sieva (small seeds) and type Bi.'t lima (large seeds). Samples of seeds harvested from F) plants were sent to UTA. Hybridization of cultivars with a new accession (NI: 543) of wild P. lunatus has been achieved in Gembloux. It should be noted that the wild form exhibits high methionine (1.12 percent) and protein contents (27.5 percent).Lima bean golden mosaic (LBGM). The effect of planting time on whitefly activity and disease development was investigated at IITA during 1976. Results (Table 53) generally confirm that LBGM develops more rapidly in earlier plantings , though an April planted crop provided an exception. Preliminary results from trapping of whiteflies from May-December suggest that the seasonal effect on disease is related to changes in the vector population. Peak counts were obtained in May; very low counts were obtained during July and August; a similar pattern was obtained for whiteflies and cassava mosaic. Though the cassava whitefly transmits LBGM and breeds on lima beans under controlled conditions, the exact identity and ecology of the vector under field conditions are yet to be established. The aetiology of the disease is under investigation.During the 1976 first season 340 lines and single plant selections were field screened at IlTA for resist ance to LBGM, using greenhouse inoculated spreaders (TP I 2B) planted two weeks previously. Thirty-two lines were identified as resistant (scores 1-2 on 1-6 scale), following assessments at 80, 100 and 140 DAP. These lines were subsequently retested under greenhouse conditions, again using TPI 2B as a spreader; six lines (TPI 10, 85 , 109A, 1 lOA, and 133A) produced no symptoms and a further four lines (TP 1 IlIA, 133C, 237 50 and 242) mild symptoms. No attempt was made to distinguish between immunity and tolerance by transmission from the symptomless lines to the susceptible standard. From another trial it was shown that the rate of disease develop. ment is slower on a resistant line (TPI iliA) than on a susceptible one. Aug. 30 15 Aug.12 13•PmtTlt dis,tlSld plantJiplot at 50 DOP.Lima green mottle virus. A virus with filamentous particles (c. 800 nm) causes a systemic green mosaic mottle and leaf distortion in lima beans at lIT A. The virus is sap transmissible to lima bean, and to certain cultivars of Phaseolus vul-.'taris. cowpea, soybean, winged bean, African yam bean and jack bean to Nieotiana benthamiana. P. vulgan\"s, TPv 114 was found to be a useful local lesion host.The virus which we propose calling lima green mottle virus (LGrMV) has a thermal inactivation point of 52 C, a dilution end point of 10_ 3 and longevity of three to four days. Its seed and vector transmission, and a search for sources of genetic resistance in lima are under investigation at [ITA.Pest management in lima bean. Insect pests can be a serious problem in lima bean particularly at flowering and podding stages. Leaf damage by leafhoppers and Ootheca mutabilis is negligible at UTA and other locations. The effect of spraying regimes on lima bean was evaluated in the second season using cowpea and soybean as comparison. Results showed that insect problems in lima bean are not as serious as in cowpea but more serious than in soybean (Table 54). Without insect control lima bean yielded 52 percent of the sprayed plots but cowpea produced no yield. Soybean yields were generally low due to early-season drought but were not affected by spraying regimes as expected. Three applications of insecticide 1 Thru appljcalions at 0, 14 and 28 days after fost jiowtrS 2 Five applications incl\"\" ahwt applie4tions plus two Im-jiowtn'ng applicatiom at 14 and 28 DAP. endosulfan at 1 kg/haat flowering and podding stages produced the same yield as five sprays given before and after flowering confirming the previous observation on the importance of postflowering pests. The im port ant pests of lima bean in the second season were Taeniothrips sjostl!dti, Cydia ptycltora and several coreids.Response to seed inoculation and nitrogen. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the response of lima bean TP I 80 to seed inoculation with lima bean inoculant and added nitrogen on Apomu soils series in the greenhouse since field experimentation was not possible due to drought from July to September. Results showed that lima bean nodulated well even without seed inoculation, suggesting that the native bacteria were able to infect the roots of lima bean (Table 55).The presence of added nitrogen reduced the number of nodules per plant at 3WAP but not at six weeks. Nitrogen increased top dry weight at three and six weeks after planting. However, at six weeks the nitrogen fertilized plants (with or without seed inoculation) were yellow and deficient in nitrogen. Plants receiving no nitrogen (with or without seed inoculation) were green and took up more nitrogen from the soil or the nodules than the fertilized plants. Therefore, nitrogen and seed inoculation are not necessary for optimum growth of lima bean provided P and K are not limiting, although this should be confirmed in the field.Trellis design. In a trellis experiment, lima bean was intercropped with cassava, yam and maize. Lima bean intercropped with yam is common in Nigeria. Yam yields were variable because the setts were hot unifonn.Lima bean greatly increased the percentage of lodging in maize and cassava. The incidence of green mottle virus was high in lima bean intercropped with cassava, and later spread to the rest of the plots.The program aims at genetic improvement in cassava, yams, sweet potato and aroids in that descending order of priority.Major emphasis is laid on a multi-disciplinary approach to varietal improvement and evolution of a package of practices which results in a stable high yield and increased farm income.Concurrent with developing new production technology, the program forges links with various national institutions for a rapid transfer of technology among the peasant farmers of tropical Africa.Attention is paid to quality characteristics of the tuber crops to ensure wide consumer acceptance of the cultivars and harvest stability so as to minimize losses in storage.Varietal assessment and cultural practice improvement are dealt with, keeping in view the prevalent practice of intercropping that is extensively practiced by the African farmers.Interacting with the Farming Systems Program of the Institute, the relevance of the research strategy and profitability of the new production technology are continuously reviewed.Location-specific biological production constraints are identified in close liaison with national programs . The interdisciplinary research team at the UTA and in various cooperative programs then pursue the research leading to alleviation of these problems, for example the devdopment of insect and disease resistant and high-yielding cultivars. Agronomists in the Institute then develop appropriate practices which maximize the farmer income with minimum cash inputs. The resultant package of production technology forms the spearhead for national production campaigns. Severe attack of cassava mosaic disease on cassava plants (left) and a resistant plant (right) to both cassava mosaic disease and cassava bacterial blight.The Uniform trial comprising over 50 improved clones has been tested at three Nigerian locations over the last three years. Data from 13 of the best clones (Table 1) reflect the level of improvement for yield (2-3 times), and disease resistance (10-50 percent) and a wide variation for gari quality in comparison to the Nigerian local check 60444.Clones with TMS No. 30572 followed by TMS Nos. 30017, 30110, 30337 and 30555 represented distinct overall improvement in most agronomic characters.Off-site trials in Nigeria were conducted at two heavy-rainfall (about 2,500 mm) locations, Warri and Port Harcourt and one savanna location, Mokwa. The testing at Warri enabled the identification of 32 promising clones (out of 138 tested) which were advanced to the uniform trials. In Sierra Leone, 40 promising clones were selected from the 94 in the preliminary yield trial, based on resistance to CMD, yield potential and root characteristics. These are 54 being further tested in nine different environments. The IITA clones showed an average CMD score of 2.2 compared with 4.7 for local cultivars and out yielded the latter.In Liberia, some promising clones were selected and are being further tested under different ecological conditions.In Cameroon, thousands of seedlings were raised in two different locations and have been screened for resistance to CMD and CBB .In Tanzania, about 20,000 seedlings were raised from the seeds sent by IITA and they showed a high level of resistance to CMD.In Burundi, 60 seedlings were selected from the 150 which were raised from 10 IITA families and were planted for further evaluation under highland conditions.In Uganda, many thousands of IIT A seeds were supplied for screening for resistance to green mite.In Zambia, about 1,000 seedlings were raised from liT A seeds.In India , 5,222 seeds from 166 lIT A CMD resistant families were tested.Resistance to CMD and CBB. Earlier reports indicated genetic correlation between resistance to CMD and CBB. A confirmation of this relationship was sought by an intensive study of two crosses involving 60444 (susceptible to both), Isunikankiyan (moderately susceptible to both) and 58308 (resistant to both). Between 60 and 80 seedlings of the two FI hybrids 60444 X 58308 and Isunikankiyan X 58303 were vegetatively propagated by rooting the green tip cuttings. Each plant so grown was subjected to heavy disease pressure of both CBB (stem inoculation) and CMB (exposed to acquisition-fed white flies); and the mean disease scores were used to establish the correlation. The correlation coefficients for the disease scores of the two diseases in both crosses were highly significant (I' = 0.85** and I' = 0.51 **)  1973-1974 1974-1975 1975-1976 Grand average rrTA nTA Umudike  Seed production for cooperative programs: A vast number of seeds from improved clones and half-sib families were collected and distributed in Africa and some cassava producing countries in Asia. This material contains genes for resistance to CMD and CBB for higher yield, better root characteristics and plant type.Multiplication and distribution of planting material: Rapid multiplication units were established at UTA, Umudike and Warri to produce planting material of the most promising clones for the farmers engaged in the Nigerian National Accelerated Food Production Project. Large-scale rapid multiplication of five of the most promising clones to institutions and farmers was undertaken, using both green and mature two-node stem cuttings. Large quantities of mature stems from lIT A yield trials were distributed through the federal ministry of agriculture to selected farmers. Yardstick stands fo r an esllmate oj the praclic/l{ optimum attainable. Leaf harvest and root yield. Data in Limited leaf harvesting may be advantageous for some cultivars such as 02864 where picking once bi-monthly increased the root yield by about 18 percent over the control (Table 4). This observation may have some physiological relationship to light interception and leaf duration, especially since 02864 produces much foliage during rainy seasons.It seems, therefore, that sufficient «poT/du\" could be produced from fields cultivated for tubers. However, harvesting should be regulated to at most once a month and preferably bi-monthly. Cassava Mosaic Disease: CMD symptom expression. Cuttings of t he clone 58308 were established in a randomized completeblock design with four replicates in April, and subjected to cutting back treatments (detopping the growing tips of young shoots) in July, August, July / August combined, and September. An untreated check (no detopping) was included among the treat ments.The rates of symptom inducement on new growth as a result of the detopping and the symptom intensity respo nses to treatm~nts follow a fairly similar pattern and are summarized in Figure 3. Pathogenic variation. The pat hogenicity of nine isolates was compared on three cultivars, 53101, 60444 and Isunikankiyan .The isolates differed in their behavior on 60444 and Isunikankiyan, four being highly virulent, three of moderate viru lence and two weakly virulent. There was no ~idence of localization of strains of differing virulence on a regional basis .Biology. Several bacteriophages have been isolated from diseased plant material. Thirty isolates of X. manihotis were lysed by five phages while several common white saprophytes which may be confused with X. manih()tis were not attacked. The phages are being used for rapid identification of X. manihotis.Epidemiology. Preliminary data indicate that six weeks after inoculation, at least twice as many plants were infected in monocropped cassava as in that grown with several other crops.Resistance screening. Stem puncture, leaf infiltration, leaf spraying and leaf clipping methods were tested for their comparative advantages in resistance screening. Leaf clipping was the most suitable for routine screening under positive disease pressure.Cassava Anthracnose: Incidence and rate of development.[n an observation plot with 1,860 cassava plants (cv.Isunikankiyan), 377 (20.48 percent) showed one or more of the characteristic symptoms of anthracnose infection. These include stringy superficial stem lesions, leaf blight, and wither-tip.The rate of development of this disease was monitored on the clone 58308 and the percentage of plants with new anthracnose symptoms for the period July to December was 1.07, 0.4, 5.03, 8.07, 6.63 and 2.23 respectively. The total percentage incidence rose from 1 percent in July to 24 percent in December. The average number of stem lesions per p lant ranged from a low of 0.83 in July to 5.53 in October. The incidence and severity of cassava anthracnose are very low in the early season and tend only to increase in the latter part of the season. An efficient techniq ue to p roduce epiphytotics of anthracnose is yet to be developed . Mealybug. The mealybug is the most severe pest problem on cassava in Zaire, Congo Brazzaville, Gabon and in the north of Angola. Together with CMD, CBB and anthracnose, it threatens the future of cassava production.Initially, the mealybug attacks the terminal shoots of cassava. At a later stage, due to lack of food and space, the insect settles a lso on the expanded leaves as well. The damage is 58 caused by sap sucking and possibly by introducing in the saliva an unidentified chemical which causes stunting of the shoots. The economic damage to cassava caused by the mealybug is due both to a definite loss of fresh leaves which are eaten as \"pondu\" and tuber yield loss, the extent of the latter being as yet unknown. The latter seems to depend much both on the age of the plant at the time of heavy attack and the soil type.Little is known about the biology. The mealybug is a typical insect with a hemimetabolic development. The parthenogenetic, wingless female lays several hundred eggs that make the development potential great.There are two principal ways in which the mealybug is spread: by passive transport on infested planting material and as unsettled first instar nymphs (crawlers). The most important observation was t hat crawlers, after having hatched from the eggs, easily became airborne in the mornings due to increasing windspread and positive photostatic behavior. The latter makes them move to the upper leaves and t ips of the plant. The windspread was established by sticky traps and the first instars were caught 30 m away from the source plants and at a height of four meters. Airborne crawlers seem to be mainly res ponsible for effective spread over shorter distance (several hundred meters). Only a few parasites and one predator Spalgis {tmolta Druce (Lycaenid, Lepidoptera) could be found on the mealybug.An analysis of climatic data of the last 15 years available in M'Vuazi indicates that temperature, humidity and rainfall are the principal factors controlling development of mealybug. The dry season is necessary for building up the mealybug population. Up to July the development is relatively slow, probably because of low temperature, low VPD and the residual moisture in the soil which favor plant growth.Increasing drought stress and temperature seem to favor population build up. The windspread is highest when , due to very high population density , the most crawlers are produced.Whiteflies. The development of whitefly population in relation to CMD incidence was studied. Three cassava cultivars 60444 (CMD susceptible), lsunikankiyan (moderately susceptible to CMD), and 58308 (C:vtD resistant). Planting of uninfested open-pollinated cassava seedlings was done every month. Adult whiteflies were caught with sticky yellow traps and counted weekly, while pupae were recorded fortnightly.In Figure 5, when the numbers of trapped adult whiteflies were plotted against CMD incidence, C:vtD incidence is highly related to vector density. However, the disease incidence of the April planting was high while the vector density was low, but this effect was caused by different methods of recording. CMD was recorded for each planting over a period of two months, while whiteflies were counted weekly. Therefore the April planting was probably infested with CMD in May.Pupae counts on the three different cultivars show that 60444 carried one-third less pupae than 5830B. This supports the assumption that 58308 is CMD resistant and not whitefly resistant.The main objective is the evaluation of quality in terms of physico-chemical, biochemical properties, and nutritional values in accordance with the modes of root and tuber utilization in the tropics; and to pass on any helpful  information on these matters to breeders for varietal improvemen t.Roots and tubers are basically starchy staples that supply most of the energy requirements in hu man and animal nutrition in the tropics. However, the quality attributes of their starchy tissues go beyond the mere contents of starch and non-structural carbohydrates -sugars. Quality is determined by a complex interplay of many factors.A scheme was developed to subject each genotype to intensive examination at various product levels from the raw material until it reached the consumer. Texture Profile. The texture characteristics of a root and tuber determi ne its suitability for specific food preparation and utilization. The texture of each genotype of a \"series \" was noted; and where there was no uniformity in tissue texture , a textural profile was annotated. Figures 6 and 7 show the texture profile of UT -and AT -series. The texture of most genotypes is of the \"waxy\" type. Texture analysis of local germ plasm collected for varietal improvement showed that most of the cultivars were waxy. The profiles also show that non-uniformity in texture exists.Food grades. Each clone was tested against major traditional.59  food types such as: gan~ gapitk (products derived from sundried chips, e.g. flour and products), pounded Juju (fourou), and for basic eating qualities as a vegetable.About 65 percent or clones from UT -and AT -series passed for gan and flour prod ucts. On the other hand, only 4 percent and 8 percent of UT -series were acceptable for pounded products and basic vegetable respectively; and for AT -series only 6 peroent and 34 percent of cultivars were suitable for pounding and for good vegetable quality respectively. The poor quality performance of both UT -and Good quality gan in a local market.AT -series against pounded products is att ributa ble mainly to the texture profile. Waxy textura l types a re unsui ta ble for pounding. Most of the clones scored poorl y agai nst factors such as taste, flavor and mouth feel whe n the y were ra ted as vegetables (Figs. 8 and 9). These characteristics suggest that starch might have undergone partial hydrolysis to produce sugars. Table 6 shows radial distribution of starch and glucose in cooked cassava roots. The last two cultivars showed high levels of glucose in the roots. On the whole the pith areas showed a higher glucose content than cortical and cambial sections.Functional properties: Hot and cold paste viscosities of flours. Specific functional properties of starch are important for specific food uses. In the case of flour products, hot and cold paste viscosities were used as functional properties for quality evaluation. Starch hydrolysis and the production of sugars reduce the viscosity of the pasting system of starch. There were no significant differences in the amylose content of high 60 and low grade flours tested; however, the lower grades of flour contained higher levels of sugars.Swelling power of gari. Swelling power was used as a qualit y factor for gari as an end product, and as one of the factors for root suitability for gari production. Figure 10 illustrates the swelling capacity of gari from AT-cassava cultivars. Normally, a swelling capacity of 200 percent, or three times the original volume of dry gari, is the average value for most market samples. Figure 8 shows that some cultivars had demonstrated very high gari quality. HCN in cassava plant. The following investigations were made on the quantitative analysis of HCN in cassava leaves and roots: -HeN in roots of \" low HeN\" collection -HCN in roots of \" local germplasm\" collection -Distribution of HCN in cassava roots -Effect of cooking on cassava leaf detoxication.HeN in roots of ''low HCN\" and local cultivars. A study of HeN distribution in cassava roots, as a guide for food preparation, was applied to ordinary clones (Table 6) and LCN-cassava series (Table 7). Levels of HeN in the peel, cambial zone, and the decambiated root were estimated. Tables 3 and 4 show that HCN is highest in the peel, followed by the cambium and lowest in the decambiated root. In traditional food preparations, the cambial layer is often removed.In most of the samples analyzed, the decambiated root showed HCN content below 50 mg/kg, which is said to be a harmless level. HeN in cassava leaves. Cassava leaves are important as green vegetables in many local parts of the -tropics. Special attention was, therefore, given to the study of HCN in the leaves and leaf detoxication by simple cooking methods. Figure 11 and Table 9 show mechanisms of cassava leaf detoxication by blanching and cooking. Blanching of leaves for 10 minutes can effect HCN removal by evaporation to a low level of 0.2 mg/kg. Cooking of leaves for 15 to 20 minutes was found to reduce the level of HeN to 0.07 mg/kg. It appeared that the level of HeN in the cooked leaves was not affected by the HeN content of fresh leaves.Though leaf detoxicatio~ is effected to a great extent by evaporation, an appreciable amount of HCN is leached into the cooking water. It is therefore advisable that cassava leaves be pre-cooked (open.kettle), the cooking water discarded, and the cooked leaves washed again before they are used in foods .61 Yield trials. Preliminary yield trials were conducted under different environmental conditions at M'Vuazi, Vanga, Kiyaka, Lowa, Kikwit, and Tonu. The results showed that fresh tuber yields of all clones in poor sandy savanna areas were lower than 1.6 kg per plant although mean annual rainfall was high (Kiyaka 1,600 -Tonu 1,700 mm). At M'Vuazi in the rich valleys with a high water table, some selections yielded higher than 4.0 kg per plant: but better results were obtained from well drained areas with deep top soil.Preli minary yield trial data from the different test locations (Table 12) indicated the prosp ects for a major improvement in the year over the local cultivars. Fresh yield of 243 clones of the preliminary yield trial werc plotted in relation to harvest index (Fig. 12). The correlation coefficient between fresh yield and harvest index was 0.57**.The linear regression of fresh yield (Y ) on harvest index (X) was obtained as Y = 41.44 X -1.73. A selection of high-yielding clones with a high harvest index was a ttempted.Major activi ties during 1976 included extension training, distribution of materials, minikit trials, fertilizer trials, production kits and demonstrations of improved technology, all at farmer leveL Multiplicaton of planting material was expanded to meet the increased demand.Investigations on the construction and organization of all trials, demonstrations, and production kits were carried out at zonal substations. These also included commodity research and extension, massive training of all staff and transferring of results to the fie ld for testing by the farmers. Thus farmers acquired new knowledge three to four years sooner than through conventional methods. Project areas and progressive farmers were selected for this purpose and the formation of 62 0•0 0~-IO~\"\"201-0-3\"\"O-4\"\"O----5~O----6~O~7~O cooperat ives to cater fo r market ing, storage and processing was initiated.Variety !fertilizer trials and demonstrations. Herbicide, minimum t illage and fertilizer trials on cassava, multiplication and comparison of fi ve cowpea cultivars, and screening of improved cassava clones were in c luded in pre-min ikit trials. Fifty-nine maize cultivar minikit trials of cassava and cassava/ cowpea were planted on 35 m 2 plots (split into fertilized sub-plots). Eighteen UTA cassava clones were included in the 78 farmer-level minikit trials. In each cu ltivar minikit trial, 60506 and one best local cultivar were compared with three of the new improved clones.Results of mini kit trials. Cassava cuhivar minikit trials with and without fertil izers planted during 1975 were harvested and six of them were selected for further evaluation. The yield da ta from eight locations are summarized in Table 13. The mean yield of the fertilized cassava was double that of the unfertilized. The 1,147 farmer planted demonstration plots of cassava / maize interplanting were harvested. Plots of improved cultivars and practices out-yielded the traditional plots by 3: 1 for cassava and 6: 1 fOf maize (Tab le 14 )Tabl~ 13. Cassava yield of ({minileit\" trials with and without fertilizers in heavily utilized land. and, overall the gross proceeds from both crops were four times higher (Table 15). White yam (Dioscurea rotunda). The goals of the white yam breeding program are: ( I ) to develop culti vars whi ch are high-yielding, resistant to diseases and insect pests, longstoring, with good culinary qua lity and require a minimum of material and labor inputs ; and (2) to generate improved populations with a high frequency of these desirable characteristics. To achieve these goals a breeding scheme has been initiated which includes breeding nurseries for selection of seedlings and field plantings for hill trials, yield testing, and germ plasm evaluation. Recombination to create improved base populations for breeding was accomplished through establishing population crossing blocks and controlled hand pollinations.Selections were made during the growing season for plant type, vigor, resistance to yam virus and leaf spot diseases and at harvest for resistance to nematodes, for tuber number, tuber size, tuber shape, and tuber smoothness, and finally for storage. Breeding families were evaluated for qualit y characteristics.Two breeding populations were evaluated, one grown under traditional conditions of staking, and the other grown without staking for the selection of cultivars adapted to low labor production and mechanical harvesting.  collected from farmers' fields in five states of Nigeria. These introductions plus seed from selected parents in the breeding program will provide seed for next year's seedling nurseries.Controlled hand pollinations. The technique of hand pollination was further improved with the introduction of several new types of bagging material and the use of modified forceps for transfer of pollen. These forceps were three times as e ffective as the pin method previously used (23.3 perce nt frui t set compared to 6.8 percent ).Cross pollinations between selected parents were made for recombinations of desired characteristics. Self pollinations of monoecious individuals and sib pollinations wi t hin families were attempted for inbreeding (Table 17). Sib pollinations were reasonably successful, bu t the pe rcent fruit set from self-pollinations was very low and not sufficiently higher than the controls (female flowers bagged but not pollinated) to conclude that selfing in white yam was achieved . Character associations. Associations between vine and tuber characteristics were studied using data from 530 plants of white yam pooled from five families in the liT A , staked hill trial. Results are given in Table 18.Tuber yield per hill had significant negative correlat ions with leaf spot score and virus score and a significant positive correlation with a subjective vigor rating. The significant JX>sitive association between hill weight and sex expression confirmed past findings relating these two characteristics. The average yield per hill for female plants and monoecious plants was the same: 2.5 kg , compared to 1.6 kg for male plants and 1.3 kg for non-flowering plants. The association between hill weight and number of days from emergence to flowering was non-significant. l...'nstaked hill trial. More than 600 plants from five breeding families were grown without staking and compared with the same fam ilies t hat were staked. The average yield of the unstaked popula tion was markedly lower, 0.8 kg/plant compared to 1.8 kg / plant staked, and the average leaf spot score higher, 3.5 compared to 2.1. Only 14.8 percent of the unstaked plants flowered compared to 48.9 percent of those staked. However, it was possible to select from the unstaked population 68 high-yielding, leaf spot resistant plants for furt her testing.Quality evaluation. Tubers from six breed ing families were evaluated by a biochemist for those characteristics which determine consumer acceptance and processing quality. The results were used to select those families which are to be continued in the breeding program.International cooperation_ True seed of white yam was distributed to cooperators in Nigeria, Republic of Benin, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Upper Volta, Ivory Coast, Ghana, New Caledonia, Sudan, Tanzania (Zanzibar), Philippines, V irgin Islands, West Indies, India, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Brazil.Water 'yam germplasm evaluation. Plants of 176 accessions of water yam (Dios(orea alata) from the germplasm collection were grown in a replicated trial without staking, in pure stand and with maize. These were evaluated for yield, conformation, res istance to sc orch , and flowering . Yields (average of pure and mixed stands) ranged from 2.2 t / ha to 29.2 t/ha with a mean of 13.0 t f ha. High-yielding clones with good conformation were selected for further testing. The highest yields of marketable tubers were obtained from the pure stands at a 1 X 2-m spacing.Scorch scores, noted two months before harvest, ranged from 1.5 -3.5 on a scale of 1 (representing no disease) to 4 (all leaves showing symp toms). No difference was found in the severity of scorch on yams grown in pure stand compared to those intercropped with maize.One female flowering clone and four male flowering clones were identified. Hand pollinations were made, resulting in one fruit but no seed. However, several new accessions of flowering water yam have been collected. This indicator was used to determine the virus disease status of 16 symptomless stunted D. Toturulata plants from a field planting. The characteristic symptom development on N. bentlwmiana after inoculation with crude sap from these symptomless plants indicated that at least eight (50 percent) were virus carriers. Inoculat ion of N. benthamuma with crude sap from D. alala plants with suspected virus symptoms did not induce the' characteristic symptoms.Resistance screening. Four thousand, one hundred and twelve D. Totundala plants fro m 14 families were rated for their field reaction to the yam virus disease. On a 0-3 severity rating scale where 0 = no disease reaction and 3 = most severe, none of the 4,112 plants was rated 0, or I, only 2 plants from the family Boki rated 2, and the rest were rated 3.Cultural control of yam foliage diseases. Tuber yield loss due to leaf scorch and leaf spots on D. alata and D. rolundaia was investigated in a randomized complete block experiment with four levels of light interception treatments (0, 56, 68 and 74 percent). Each treatment was replicated three times. The severity of the two foliar diseases during the growth cycle is summarized in Figure 13. Shading significantly reduced the severity of leaf scorch and leaf spots, but there were no significant differences in yield between the shaded and unshaded check plants (Table 19). It is striking that the unshaded D. ro tundata plants (0 light interception) showing the highest incidence of both types of foliar diseases produced the highest yields. Qiality n 'aluation. Special attention was given to enzymic discoloration of flesh tissues as a screening factor. Annotation of texture of cooked tissues was also used to predict varietal suitability for specific food preparation. The presence of bitter taste or aftertaste was evaluated as a negative factor, especially for use as a vegetable. Pleasant flavor scores positively in overall quality evaluation.Quality performance. Nine \"breeding families\" were evaluated for quality. About 150 genotypes were tested. An experiment was conducted to assess the yields of cassava, white yam, sweet potato and maize when intercropped . The crops were grown on alternate ridges, spaced 1m apart. Plants were spaced within rows as follows : cassava and yams = 100 cm, maize = 20 cm and sweet potatoes -30 cm. The four crops were all planted at the same time. Results for yams, sweet potatoes and maize yields are presented in Tables 21,  22, and 23 respectively.Table 21 shows significantly higher yields of yam when it was grown as a monocrop than when intercropped . This T-able 2 J. Yield of white yam, D. r()tunda/a, under monocropping and intercropping.   Mean s followed by the same I(/ln aTe inSl. t;nificant(v dijfiTtnt from each other (5 ptTCenl level) . . may be expected because of the higher number of yam plants per unit area under a monocTopping system.Also, intercropping yams with cassava gave significantly higher yields than intercroppi ng them with maize or sweet potatoes. T h is is because maize and sweet potatoes, both short•duration crops, have a more rapid growth than cassava. Also, maize would shade the yams while the long creeping vines of potatoes would compete with yams for nu trients.Cassava has a slower growth as do yams, and will not compete with yams because of its short leaves and root ing system. Y ields of sweet potato under monocrop ping were also superior to intercropping (Table 22), although lower than expected. Table 23 shows significantly higher yields of maize when it is grown as a sale crop than when intercropped with yams, cassava or sweet potatoes.Flowering and artificial pollination. A permanent plot containing 28 accessions of C%casia (swlmla and fo ur accessions of Xanthosama saglllifolium was established on site to provide optimum conditions for flow ering.Plants in eight of the ColofOsia clones and two of the X anlho•  Artificial pollinations were made 1•5 days before, on the same day as , and 1-4 days after pollen shed, and with and without treatment of pistils with Calcium nitrate. Results are given in Table 24. Most of the spadices which displayed partial ovary development and all three spadices which set seed neither promoted nor inhabited ovary development or seed set. Thirteen seeds from three spadices of C%emla developed; however, the viability of these seeds was poor.Breeding Yield trials. The 25 most promising clones from the uniform trial were tested , without fertilizers, at IITA, \\Varr-i, Mbiri and ~I()kwa in both wet and dry seasons and were harvested four months after planting. The results are given in Table 25.In  An 8X8 diallele cross was made to investigate resistance to weevil under field conditions. TIS 2525 showed the largest general combining ability for tuber damage, followed by two local cultivars TIb 6 and Tlb 5. TIS ' 2525 also showed resistance to weevil in Liberia. The heritability of resistance to weevil was low with respect to tuber damage. High correlation between tuber damage and tuber depth (r = 0.83) was obtained, which was due to both additive and non-additive effects. High negative genetic correlation between tuber damage and carotene content (r = 2.5 3) was obtained, which was also due to both additive and non-additive effects. The major insect problem obser.•ed in sweet potatoes during 1976 was the weevil G,ylas pUTIcticQiiis and to a lesser extent G,>-ias brunneus. During October and November a Cerambycidae species Nupserha deusta Dalm (Lamiinae) was observed tunnelling in the sweet potato stems and this damage can easily be confused with that caused by Cytas. The vectors for the sweet potato virus complex, white flies and aphids, were not seen in the fie ld .. Sweet potato weevil. Work in sweet potato entomology was concentrated on C)llas puncticalliJ. Priority was given to field and laboratory evaluation of sources of resistance in the germplasm. Because the weevil attacks the leaves, the stems and the tubers, methods were developed to evaluate each part of the plant separately. The method of tuber evaluation was described in the UTA Annual Report, 1975. In the laboratory, the number of weevils emerged from the tubers was counted after five weeks and the tubers sliced to check for any that remained. In the field a tuber score ranging from 0-5 was used and in addition a count was made of attacked tubers. For stem damage screening, five cuttings of each clone were put in glass phials filled with water and exposed to weevils for egg-laying for five days. Later they were planted in pots and after 14 days each cutting was sliced to see whether development of larvae had taken place. The test is still in progress.In a special screening cage the leaves of 45 clones were exposed to abou t 600 weevils for 12 hours. From each clone seven leaf discs two centimeters in diameter with the petiole still on were cut. The petiole was put in a small glass tube filled with water. No significant differences in the amount of leaf feeding among the clones could be detected.   Raw material_ Fresh tissue was evaluated for color intensity. Four breeding clones examined showed varying degrees of fresh color such as white, creamy, yellow and orange. Q.lantitative analysis for B-carotene will only be done on the most advanced trials ; however, the color intensity of fresh tissues served as a guide for estimating B-carotene which is important as pro-vitam in A. Non-unifonn blending of color was detected in some cultivars. Intense enzymic discoloration of t issues is a negative quality factor and was used in the screening exercise.Texture profile. Texture characteristics in sweet potato examined appeared to be the most complex. Besides the mealy or soggy textures, other textural characteristics were prominent in part or wholly in many cultivars. Non-uniformity in texture was obierved in many clones.The mealy texture is preferred in \\Vest Africa, probably because of similarity to yam .Taste profile. Mouthfeel (texture ) and flavor were major factors for consumer preference . Sweetness , on the other hand, was a minor discriminating index. Surveys revealed that less sweetness is preferred, in \"'Test Africa, when sweet potato is consumed as a maj or meal, while very sweet cultivars are popular as a minor meal or snack.Quality performance. Overall quality performance of \"breed• ing materials\" is summarized in Table 2B. The small number of very high quality genotypes in TIX-series may be due to over-maturity of tubers. The food situation in the developing tropical countries of the world remains a serious issue because of rapidly increasing populations that cannot be supported by outmoded agricultural systems. The objective of the UTA Farming Systems Program is to develop crop production systems that enable good yields to be produced on a sustained basis in the various ecological zones of the lowland tropics .With the exception of the intensive rice production systems of south-east Asia, yields of food crops in the lowland humid tropics remained very low. The cropping systems in which they are produced involve intermittent cropping alternating with varying periods of fallow which in some areas have been rendered very short and ineffective by population pressure. Continuous cultivation of tropical soils without fertilizers results in a very rapid loss of soil fertility. Leaving land under fallow for long periods not only ties down a good farm land but also increases the labor cost of periodic bush clearing. Clearing of new land , which remains the most widespread method of increasing production in developing countries , exposes the highly weathered tropical soils of low inherent futility to intense leaching, further loss of plant nutrients and erosion.Sustained yields of arable crops can on ly be attained on a continuing basis with costly inputs of fertilizers and pesticides, scientific land development and soil management . Large-scale mechanization and food production projects in the humid tropics usually fail because of the inability of existing methods to ensure sustained yields of major staples on such farms . The Farming Systems Program seeks to develop suitable methods of land development and scientific soil management to ensure that sustained crop yields are obtained in the humid tropics. Above all, it shQuld develop appropriate and more efficient alternatives to outmoded food production systems of small farmers who constitute 95 percent of farmers of these regions.Preliminal)o studies have indicated that increased food production in the humid tropics is possible with intercropping and multiple cropping, minimum tillage, mulches, low inputs of fertilizers and pesticides; improved, high-yielding, pest and disease resistant crop cultivars; improved hand tools, small machines and appropriate technology within the ability of small farmers to obtain and use.In the Program, interdisciplinary teams give high priority to: 71 1. determining appropriate crop combinations, sequences and management practices for attaining high yields and minimizing the use of inputs (fertilizers, herbicides and other agricultural chemicals) for important cereal, root and tuber and grain legume crops of the humid tropics ; 2. finding or generating the most suitable techniques for forest and bush dearing, integrated land development, land preparation, planting and weed control that will ensure good feeding and plant growth conditions and erosion control at a minimal cost ; 3. studying and understanding of the plant nutrient status; changes, and availability in highly acid tropical soils as a basis for establishing methods for ensuring optimal nutrient supply with appropriate fertilizer formulations in combination with methods that take full advantage of potential biological nitrogen fixation and enhanced phosphate nutrition by micorrhiza; and 4. designing appropriate t()()ls and machinery and developing techniques for their economic use in crop production and other farm operations ranging from forest clearing and land development to harvesting, postharvest handling and storage of crops in the humid tropics .The assessment of chemical, mineralogical properties and nutrient status of major soils in the lowland tropics of Africa continued for the third year. During 1976, researc h efforts were focused on soil phosphorus and potassium .General description of four bench-mark soil groups. The large number of African bench-mark soils studied may be grouped into the following four groups: I. Ultisols and Oxisols are derived from intermediate and acidic rocks. They are the major upland soils in the rain-forest zone of the lowland humid tropics . These soils generally have a good physical condition, but chemically they are very poor. Aluminum is the major exchangeable cation in the soil. D~ficiencies of calcium and magnesium are expected if the present \"slash-and-burn\" practices are to be replaced by more permanent farming systems. 2. Alfisols and Inceptisols are derived from intermediate and acidic rocks. They are highly base-saturated, upland soils with wide occurrence in the derived savanna and in the drier part of the forest zone. They are soils situated in the upper-to-Iower-middle slope of a roll ing topography. These soils are chemically fairly r ich. But most Alfisols formed on basement complex are physically very poor as a result of their sandy top soil and high concentration of quartzite gravels in the upper B horizon. Soil erosion becomes the major limiting factor for large-scale farming. Mulch tillage has been proved a highly effective practice on Alfisols in the drier part of the forest zone where crop residues are not n eeded for fuel or animal feed as in the savanna zone. Potassium status-quantity lintensity relationship. The Q/I relationship is a good measure of the potassium supplying power of the soil because it measures simultaneously the K status in the soil solution phase (intensity factor) a nd the K buffering capacity of the soil solid phase (capacity factor) .The intensity factor is expressed by the equilibrium activity ratio of K in the solution phase with respect to Ca and Mg (ARe). The capacity factor is expressed by the K buffering capacity (PBC) which is calculated from the slope of the QIl plots. Some representative results are given in Tab le 1. The commonest feature is that the surface layer has the highest ARe but lowest PBC within each profile. The group I soils (Ultisols and Oxisols derived from acidic parent rocks) are poor K suppliers as indicated by their low ARe and PBC values (Table I.). This group of soils occupies a large area in the high-rainfall region of the tropics. Heavy basal application of K fertilizers should be avoided to prevent leaching losses. On the other hand, one would not expect a severe leaching loss of K in the other soil groups because of the increasing PBC of the subsoil horizons. The high ARe value in the surface horizons of the Alfisols derived from banded gneiss from the Ibadan area indicates that these soils contain an appreciable amount of weatherable K-bearing minerals in the surface horizons.Sand GrovelEKCh (Co t Mg t K), °/. YOrl';lombi 72 120 f\"\"\"'-T\"-T\"'\"\"-\"-T\"\"\"-' 20 40 60 80 1 00\"1.0 20 40 60 80 100%  For all the soils studied, we found that the external specific surface area of soil measured by the BET-N2 method is the key factor controlling P fixation. The relationship is particularly convincing when the soils are separated into the various groups as described in a previous section. The highest P fixing soils are those derived from basis parent rocks, particularly from basalts and volcanic ash (Table 2). This is because of the small particle size and high specific surface area of sesguioxides existing in these soils. Stud ies on soil organic P were continued. One major problem is the lack of a reliable method for the determination of organic P in soils. A critical evaluation of the various extraction and ignition methods indicates that the simple ultrasonicalkali extraction procedure gives the most consistent resu lts for a wide range of soils.Management of highly weathered acid soils. The highly weathered and strongly leached acid soils (Group I soils) in the high-rainfa ll region are the most infertile soils in the tropics. Exchangeable AI normally comprises more than 70 percent of the total exchangeable cations. Thus, nutrient deficiencies and soil acidity are the major limiting factors for food crop production on these soils. Traditional cultivation method involves \"slash and burn\" of 20-to-30-year-old secondary forest. This is still a common practice in the sparsely populated areas such as Gabon and northern and central Zaire. But with increasing population pressure in areas such as southeastern Nigeria, the fallow periods have been shortened to between seven and ten years in Rivers State, and one to three years in Imo, Anambra and Cross R iver States. Once the forest-nutrient cycle is broken, these strongly leached sandy soils are only able to support crops such as cassava and palms. Crops with higher nutrient requirements and which are sensitive to soil acidity, such as yams, legumes and maize are limited to plots near farm compounds where refuse and ashes could be used as fertilizer and liming materials .Chemical compositions of plant residue ashes (Table 3) show that potassium is the major component. Ashes from maize stover contain much less Ca, Mg and K than ashes from Guinea grass, Leucaena and natural bush. To establish more productive and permanent cropping systems in areas with high population density, chemical fertilizer and commercial liming materials may soon become indispensible. An example is given in Table 4, which shows that the level of exchangeable Ca of limed soil (2t/ha ) is comparable with 73 that from a field four months after \"slash-and-burn\" of a seven-year-old thicket. The farmer's choice is simply between the availability of commercial fertilizers and liming materials, and seven years of waiting. It should be emphasized that when plant nutrients are supplied in the form of fertilizers, these soils normally require less than I tlha of lime to give adequate Ca supply and to correct soil acidity. The slow rate of Ca movement is further confirmed by the Iysimeter studies in the greenhouse which showed that under an effective crop cover, a relatively small portion of applied Ca (as CaCO j ) and K (as KC I) was found in the leachate under intensive leaching. The maximum water applied was equivalent to 1,700-mm rainfall during the two 10-week cropping periods (fable 6).Table 6. Losses of Ca and K beyond :JO...cm depth under intensive leaching condition in the greenlwuse. Yields of maize and cowpea from the Onne field trial in 1976 are given in Figure 2. Maize (cv. TZB) during the first season did not respond to liming when the exchangeable Al saturation of the soil is 45 percent or less. But cowpeas (VITA-I and VITA-4) grown in the second season showed significant responses to the first two rates of liming (0.5 and 1 t/ ha) . VITA-l showed more tolerance to soil acidity than VITA-4. Maximum yield of cowpea occurred when the exchangeable AI saturation is about 20 percent and t he soil pH is between 5.0 and 5.5. Maximum yield of maize is about 4.5 dha. Maximum yields of cowpeas are 560 and 280 kg/ha fOT VIT A-I and VIT A-4, respective! y, harvested during a lO-day period. There was vigorous vegetative growth of cowpea in the limed plots, even though the grain yield was low . Both crops received recommended rat es of fertilizer nutrients (N, P, K, M g, S, Zn) and weekly spraying.The effect of liming on nodule formatio n and total N uptake was also investigated in collaboration with the Grain Legume Improvement Program. Liming at a rate of 0.5 t / ha doubled the nodule formation and total N uptake per plant of both cultivars. There was no significant increase in nodule counts at higher rates of liming (Table 7). Effect ofliming on nutrient interactions and balance. Nutrient imbalance and deficiencies are important problems when the highly weathered acid soils are used for continuous cultivation. The ashes from the traditional \"slash-and-burn\" practices provide more balanced , though insufficient, mineral nutrie nts to the crop that follows. Under continuous cultivation, however, the conventional NPK fertilizer applications and liming may induce secondary and micro-nutrient deficiencies. Magnesium deficiency in maize is common in plots at Onne substation where moderate rates of CaC03 or Ca (OH)2 lime (1 to 2 t / ha ) were applied. Zinc deficiency may be induced by higher rates of liming and phosphate applica- F~f(. 3. Lime-P-Zn interaction as shown by maize dry matttr yield in two Vltisols (200ppmP and IDppm Zn).tions as illustrated in Figu re 3 from a pot experiment . Thus, well -balanced nutrients must be applied in addition to lime. Phosphorus fixation is another limiting factor in these acid soil s. Results from collaborative liming and phosphate trials at Amakama in southeastern Nigeria showed that relative maximum yield was obtained when 120 kgi ha of P 1 0 5 was applied and the soil was limed to pH betwee n 5.0 and 5.5. Grain yield of maize (cv. TZB) of the second season was low (max. 2.6 t / ha) due to severe stem borer damage in spite of regular spraying. Fie ld expe rime nts on lime a nd potass ium interactions were also established on two ulr isols in southe rn Nigeria. Ea rly stage of growth showed tha t t he IITA improved cassava cult.i var 302 11 is more res po nsive to liming a nd K a pplication th a n t he N igerian culti var 60506.oil p roperties under fa llow and con tin uous c ultivation. This experiment w hich consist or four cropping treatmen ts a nd rour fa ll ow treat ments was continued ror the fifth yea r. Soil orga ni c m atter a nd minera l nutrie nt sta tus we re m onitored peri odi call y. During 1976. N03-N content in the surface soils under diffe rent ra ll ow a nd cropping treatme nts were moni tored weekJ y (Fi gu re -\\-). The d a te showed both wee kl y a nd seaso na l flu ctuat ions. oil under pigeo n pea a nd Leucaena ma inta ined a hig her nitra te level than soils under Gu inea grass a nd na tura l bush durin g the growing seasons. There were two distinc t nitra te peaks in the co ntinuous m a ize plo ts. In genera l, soils m a inta in a higher nitra te level in the fi rst wet season t ha n in the second wet season .:\\dsorpt ion of paraqu a t by soils. \" Paraquat•• is a promising herbicide ror more perma nent a nd large-sca le ra rmin g in t he tropics. It has bee n used as a pree me rgence herbic ide in lieu or minimum till age a nd ror sod d es truct ion in mulc hi ng tri a ls . Th e adso rpti o n o r paraqua t by select ed soils was stud ied . T he m a ximum ad sorp tio n capacity calcul a ted fro m Langmuir isothe rms ranged rrom 1,200 to 7,500 /L g / g soil. The iron oxide-ric h soils (U ltisols a nd Alfiso ls) d erived rrom basalts a nd a mphibolites have the hi ghest adsorpt ion capacity, while the stron gly acidic U ltisols de rived from sediment ary rocks a dsorb t he least a mou nt. M ore th a n 50 perce nt or the a dsorbed pa raqu a t is held very stro ngly by the soi l.Long-term field trials Long-term fertilizer trials. The first-season maize grain yield from both locations in the fifth cropping year is shown in Table 5. On the Egbeda soil, significant yield increases were onl y observed with applications of 40 kg N I ha and 30 kg P I ha. There were some residual effects of the applied Nand P on the Egbeda soil. On the Apomu soil, linear significant res ponses up to 160 kg/ha and a significant response to 40 kg P / ha were observed. A N-rate of 150 kg N !ha was adequate for obtaining maximum yield on the Apomu soil. There were no significant responses to K , S Mg, and Zn application on both soils. Removal of the crop res idue for five seasons had an insignificant effect on the maize yield on the Egbeda soil with adequate fertilization. However, on the sandy Apomu soil, there was a substantial vield reduction with annual removal of the crop residue ev~n with adequate fertilization .  results, grain yield was consistently lower with mInimum tillage over the entire N-range studied (Figure 6). On the average t here was a 6 percent yield reduction with minimum tillage .Investigations on the effect of various rock P sources were conducted on a Paleudult at Onne near Port Harcourt . The yield of th e maize of first season 19i6 was low, partly due to Mg deficiency and late planting. As shown in Table 6, there were no significant effects of P application and P sources.  The valley bottom land (hydromorphic soils) is becoming increas ingly important for rice production in West Africa.Greenhouse tests were conducted to determine the sulfur status of eleven representative hydromorphic soils collected from central and southern Nigeria. S content ranges from 46 to 487 ppm, while the amount of Ca (H 2 P0 1 h extractable A ranges from 41 t o less than 1 ppm. The rice plants were grown u nder flooded and non-flooded conditions. Some of the data on the dry mat ter yield response and S percentage in the plant are shown in Table 7. t:\"nder flooded conditions, 55 percent of the soils studies were S deficient, while under nonflooding, only 22 percent of tht'! soils studied gave a significant response to S application.Field investigations with maize in southern Nigeria indicated lower K status of plants grown on soils derived from sedimentary rocks as compared to those grown on soils derived from basement complex rocks. To better characterize the K status of the soils derived from both parent materials , laboratory and greenhouse investigations were carried out. Five soils derived from basement complex rocks and six: soils from sedimentary rocks were used in the study. Soils derived from basement complex rocks showed on the average higher K status  8). The amounts of I'xtractable K determined by IN Am-acetate, 0.25 N H ~ 80 4 +0.05 .'II HCL and water were significantly correlated with maize dry weight with correlation coefficients of 0.778, 0.721 and 0.718, respectively.Studies on the N contribution of grain legumes in mixed cropping and in rotation with cereals were initiated in 1975 on an N deficient Apomu soil series.Results of the 1976 intercropping trial are given in Table 9. Simi lar to the 1975 results , there was no apparent direct N contribution of the cowpea crop to the maize. With no N application , there appeared to be competition for N between the cowpea and maize crops. Yield of the cowpea was generally low, in part due to blight damage. There were distinct reductions in nodulation with intercropping and with increasing N rates.The first year results of the rotation trial are given in Table 10. There appeared to be some N contribution from the 77 The relative tolerance to high soil acidi ty of the tropical grain legumes (cowpea, soybean, lima bean, p igeon pea, and winged bean) was assessed in the greenhouse using an Ultisol (pH 4.4) from the UTA high rainfall station at Onne, Port Harcourt. Eight lime rates ranging from 0 to 5.0 t i ha were used. All species except winged bean were inocu lated with the appropriate Rhizobium, and all species were harvested at immediate preflowering. Cowpea and winged bean showed some tolerance while both soybean and lima bean were very sensit ive to high soil acidity (Table 11 ). The percentage yield increase at 0.5 t f ha, the lime rate required for 95 percent of maximum yield , appeared to be useful criteria for assessing tolerance. Nodulation was observed to be more sensitive to high soil acidity than growth of the host plant. Although all species showed substantial growth responses to as little as 0.25 t l ha lime, soybean, lima bean and pigeon pea were all very poorly nodulated at this rate of lime application. The observation of a dry matter yield response in the absence of nodulation suggests that another factor apart from nitrogen may be limiting growth more d irectly. The symptoms observed and analyses on plant tops suggest this limiting factor was calcium deficiency. However, it would appear that aluminum toxicity, rather than calcium deficiency, was limiting the growth of cowpea and winged bean in the unlimed soil.The response to lime rates from 0 to 5.0 tlha of two cassava cultivars grown for three months in the acid Ultisol from Onne is shown in Fig. 7. Top production, using the yield of leaves as the parameter was little affected by lime rates below 3.75 t f ha, while only comparati~'e ly small yield benefits in early tuber product ion were achieved through the application of lime. Higher rates of lime severely restricted tuber development. The success of cassava on highly acid soils is related to its tolerance to high soil acidity; it can produce a crop under conditions that are unfavorable to many other crops including grain legumes and maize. All plants in this experiment were rated for CMD using the scoring system developed by the Root and Tuber Improvement Program with the modification that half-class units were included to give greater flexibility . A strong reduction in C~D rating was observed in cv. Apuwuru as the lime rate was increased from l.0 to 2.5 tfha. No relat ionship appeared to exist between tuber yield and CMD rating at lime rates from 0 to 2.5 t/h. Some plants with a CMD rating of about 2.0 to 2.2 produced tuber yields (three months old) equivalent to those produced by symptom-free plants. These observations point to the need to re-evaluate whether the major limitation on yield of CMD-affected cassava plants is due to the disease or to the poor nutritional conditions under which cassava is traditionally grown.Soil microbiologyCarbon-14 decomposition studies indicated that organic matter decomposes very fast under humid tropical field conditions. An examination of the daily pattern of nitrogen fixation in cowpea showed two periods of maximum activity -before noon and during the early evening -although environmental factors likely to influence fixation showed one diurnal peak . All crops examined at UTA except rice were found to be mycorrhizal ; the most common endophytes found were Gigaspora, Glomus and Acaulospora.Diurnal variation in nitrogen fixation. Diurnal changes in nitrogen fixation (estimated as C 2 H 2 reduction ) over a 30-hour period were compared with changes in soil, canopy and air temperatures, global radiation and vapor pressure deficit.TV u 3i (Pale Green) and VIT A-I cowpeas and TGm 80 (Bossier) and TGm 280-3 soybeans were examined at early flowering (soybeans) or pre-flowering (cow peas) stage and during pod-fil\\' Although the environmental factors showed one maximum and one minimum during a diurnal cycle the C 2 H 2 reduction rate in nodulated cowpea roots showed two peaks: one between 0600-1200 hrs. and the other between 1800-2400 hrs. and two minima: one between 1200-1600 hrs . and another between 2400-0600 hrs . (Fig. 8). Vapor pressure deficit appeared the most likely factor influencing the decline in nitrogen fixation between 1200-1600 hrs., a period when photosynthesis was expected to be maximum . The rate in C 2 H 2 reduction in cowpea was greater at the pre-flowering than the early pod-fill period; the rate in soybeans was similar a t both periods. The significance of these findings in relation to carbohydrate metabolism, nitrogen fixation and thus protein content in these species is being investigated. Effects of seed inoculation on RhizobillTTl survival and legume performance. As in the UTA Annual Report 1974, cowpea and soybean were sown in newly cleared Apomu and Egbeda series soils. In 1975 the fields were cropped to maize. In 1976, the surviving rhizobia were counted by the plant infection technique before conducting another seed inoculation experiment at the same locations. Each plot was sub-divided, and planted to inoculated seeds. The results are in Tables 12 and  13. Cowpea rhizoba survived well in both soils. However, Rhizobium japonicum. especially that in Nitrogerm inoculant,    Many different G/{)mus spp. of bewildering variety were found (both sporocarpic and not) in nearly all cultivated soils. Compared to above types, however, differences between them are slight and further study will be required to characterize them. Sc lerocyst is spp.In some soil, structures resembling fruit bodies of Sclerocystis spp . were frequent. Whether they are mycorrhizal fungi remains in doubt as inoculation tests were unsuccessful. The occurrence of these was noted but no counts were made.•For descriplion.s of tltt ~rms reliculale and IJtlcuolale Set Mosse & Bowen (1968).indigenous endophytes in soil sievings ('250-500 wn ) gave better dry matter yields of yam and cassava in unsterile Egbeda and Alagba series soils than inoculation with G. jasiculatus, confirming their superiority over G. jasiculatus. Average infection values were 0.50 and 80 percent for control, C. ja.Jzcula-Ius and the indigenous endophytes, respectively. Effects of mulches on legume nodule functioning. In the UTA Annual Report 1975, the results of one year of mulching on legume nodule functioning were given. There were no significant differences in specific activity, but in total activity. After the se~ond yea. of mulch treatments similar effects have again been observed. Mean specific activities varied somewhat more; for cowpea they were in the range 4.0-10.6 and for soybean 10.3-30.3 umol. C 2 H 4 /g fresh nodule/h. Total Soybean activity was reduced by the plastics and gravel but increased over the unmulched treatment in all other cases. Cassava stems and sawdust mulches elicited the greatest acetylene reduction rates in cowpea whereas the plastic mulches brought about the lowest rates.The rates of C 2 H 2 reduction were greater in 1976 than in 1975 but not significantly based on two years' results. The conclusion is that the plastic and gravel mulches are likely to reduce total nitrogen fixed by soybean, as compared to unmulched soybean.Yield reduction due to erosion. Increasing soil erosion resulted in an exponential decrease in the yield of maize and cowpeas (Eq . 1) y=ae'E ...... ..... ........ (I) where Y is the yield (t l ha), E is cumulative soil loss in t / ha, and a and b are constants. For maize, the numerical value of a was about 7 and that of b was 0.003 . For cow peas a was 0.5 and b was 0.004. The removal of surface soil and deterioration in soil structure as a result of erosion cannot be compensated for by additional fertilizer input.Influence of different mulch rates on soil structw-e. Field experiments conducted with different mulch rates on changes in soil physical properties after land clearing indicated the following effects: I. Worm activity increased linearly with increasing mulch rates. 2. Saturated hydraulic conductivity (ks) and infiltration rate increased with high mulch rate and decreased on unmulched plot (Fig. 9).Comparison of various detachability indices. The suitability of various detachability indice~ were evaluated for eight tropical soils. Results indicate that perhaps a combination of wet sieving and rain drop impact techniques can predict the field behavior as regards splashability under rain impact.Comparison of soil properties under mulch and no-tillage with soil conditioning. Field runoff plots on about 10 percent slope have indicated no soil los~ under mulch or with notill. Unmulched plots treated with PAM, Bitumen, Uresol, soil penetrant and asphalt maintained good crop growth . Runoff and erosion losses were observed only under PAM.Laboratory experiments. ~easurement of infiltration rate , contact angle, and diffusivity D (0) showed significant differences amongst soils treated with various soil conditioners. Untreated soil from mulched plots exhibited as good as, or better, water transmission characteristics than treated soil from unmulched plots.Crusting and aggregate stability. Both mulching and aggregate size had significant effects on time to incipient runoff, percent runoff, soil loss, crust conductance, crust strength and time to 50 percent emergence of both maize and cowpeas.Soil erodibility and crusting with simulated rainfall. Equipment is now available for hoth field and laboratory investigations on crusting and soil erodibility as affected by simulated rainfall of various intensities and for soil treatments including mulching and various types of conditioners. This is a collaborative experiment with the University of Ghent.Effects of soil type and fertilizer use. Both soil type and fertilizer use had a significant influence on the maximum depth, total root number, and root elongation rate of maize.Maximum rooting potential of maize intercropped with cowpeas. There were no antagonistic effects of intercropping on the root systems of these crops. Roots penetrated to a depth of 2.5 m within 12 weeks.Influence of cultural practices. There was a significant adverse effect of increased soil temperature under ridges and under clear polythene mulch on root development and rate of root elongation. Straw mulching increased root development of various rice cultivars even under hydromorphic soils, while no-till plots on acidic uitisol at Onne had deeper root systems than with conventional plowing.82Plant-water relationshipWater use efficiency of maize was significantly higher under no-till, as compared with plowed plots. Out of maize, cowpea and soybean, cowpea was more susceptible to transient flooding than maize or soybean. Total consumptive water use, transpiration rate after submergence, leaf color, nutrient content, and plant height were adversely affected (See grain physiology section).Eight new drainage lysimeters were installed, and studies were initiated on the influence of mulching treatments on potential and actual ET of sweet potatoes and other tropical crops.When the influence of soil type and moisture regime on rice was investigated under field and greenhouse conditions, there were significant differences in diurnal fluctuations in leaf water potential as influenced by soil drought stress (Fig. 10).-;: 24 It was found that plowed, unIDulched plots contained more carbon dioxide and less oxygen in the soil when compared with the no-till plots. Also, no-till plots, maintained since 1970, had better response to Nand P than plowed plots (Fig. 11).No-till and plowing treatments did not significantly influence growth of maize, cowpea or pigeon pea on an acidic Ultisol.Maize yieLds were higher on this no-till field than on pLowed land.  The limiting factor in crop production is perhaps water and nutrient availability. In the second season, due to a drought of 5WAP, no-till maize yielded significantly and economically more than plowed maize. Plowed plants showed retarded growth and gave the impression of delayed planting.Clearing methods and crop response. Mechanical clearing with no fertilizer yielded lower than slash-and-burn without fertilizer. No-till treatments narrowed the difference in the grain yield obtained from mechanically cleared plots and that from manually cleared plots. Perhaps soil and water conservations, as obtained with no-till, is an important factor in deciding on the suitable method of land clearing.Carbon dioxide concentration in air within maize canopies. Analyses of air samples collected at different heights in maize at Tabl~ 18. CO 2 concentration in maize canopies 1976. different stages of growth, using an infrared gas analyzer, indicate moderate to fairly high concentration of C02 within these canopies. Therefore the microclimate of maize canopies is potentially conducive to high photosynthetic rates and is favorable for intercrops. But the benefit would be realized only under favorable light conditions -for instance, through proper arrangement of plants to reduce shading (Table 18).Light profile in maize canopies. In an experiment carried out at three different sites global radiation was measured with line pyranometers at three different heights in maize (above canopy, at mid-plant height, and at ground level), planted at two spacings (I00X 20 em , lOa X40 em), and at six fertility levels, (0, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 kg-N i ha). The results show: resul ts show :1. Plant density effect: only 10-20 percent decrease in light received at comparable levels within the canopy by doubling the planting density from 25,000 to 50,000 plants/ha at nitrogen rates of 30 kg/ha or more; the difference is generally small at 0 kg/ha; (Fig. 12) . 2. Fertility effect: at the lower plant density (25,000 pllha) the amount of light reaching the respective levels remains relatively the same at the various nitrogen rates. At the higher plant density, however, there appears to be an initial decrease (about 10 or less) with increase in nitrogen rates from 0 to 60 kg / ha, but further increase up to 120 kg / ha shows little or no further change.  The apparently fiat response of light penetration into t he crop at medium-to-high rates of fertilizer is noteworthy, because for intercropping it would allow cropping at good levels of fertility without increased shading of an intercrop, such as cowpea. These results were confirmed by measurements taken in a second experiment evaluating the performance of maize and cowpea and maize intercrop at different nitrogen rates, (Tables 19a and 19b). Studies on the effects of changes in light climate, simulated according to observed seasonal changes within this region , continued in 1976. The results , summarized in Tab1e 20, basically follow previous trends. Observations on plant development showed a delay in flowering with a decrease in isolation , in Maize (TZBc4, Fig. 13) and in cowpea (VITA-I , Fig. 14). About 15 to 20 percent reduction in insolation generally depressed yields by 15-25 percent. This depression in yield increased to between 30 and 45 percent as global radiation decreased by 30-35 percent. VITA-1 cowpea was an exception, being more sensitive to poor light regimes than the other crops. VITA-5 had earlier shown a similar tendency. These  As before, the objectives of this experiment were to determine the relationship between environmental (agroclimatic) variables and crop yields, hence the potential of producing given The results of the analyses are being summarized and will be presented in a subsequent repon.A parallel experiment on cowpea was staned during the year in collaboration with the grain legume agronomist. The mean global radiation incident on the respective plantings during the pre-flowering period ranged from 42 1.4cal-cm2 daY-l (100%) to 251.1 cal-cm2 daY-2 (60%). During the respective growing periods it ranged from 392.3 cal-cm2 daY-l ( 100%) to 282.4 cal-cm 2 daY-l (72%). The mean of the two highest yields within the normal second season was only 23 percent of the corresponding average obtained within the first season. Details on the results of this experiment are presented within the grain legume agronomy repon.With the increasing possibility of no.tillage as an alternative to conventional methods of land preparation, at least in some IITA research areas, a \"till\" and \"no till \" treatment was superimposed on the previous treatments in this experiment to determine it s effect on incidence of lodging in maize.Because of the lack of severe storms, and therefore of the usual strong winds during the season, lodging was generally low to moderate, averaging 6 to 11 percent of the plant population; the difference in incidence between the tilled and untilled plots was highly significant in favor of the latter (Table 21 ).Preliminary analyses of a repeated study in which lodging was simulated by physical displacement of the plants from the vertical position at a specific time during the season confirmed earlier findings that lodging at 8-10 WAP is most detrimental to yield. As the time of peak occurrence of severe storms both in the first and second seasons appears well defined (May and October generally) it is possible to select planting dates to avoid maximum damage, other factors permitting. Late maize/cassava/melon intercropping This is a late•season repetition at Ikenne of the 1974 earlyseason intercropping experiment conducted at Ibadan. lkenne was chosen for t he late-season experim~nt because of its higher rainfall environment. While the lbadan experiment involved planting of me10n 10 days earlier than maize in April and cassava on different dates at weekly intervals at Ikenne, the first planting was done on 21 June 1975. The maize data have been represented in the lIT A Annual Report 1975. The late•season melon'crop at Ikenne germinated fairly well but as a result of prolonged drought in August. it did not set many fruits and fruits set failed to mature.Plant population, lodging, plant height, fresh and dry weights of roots tended to decrease with lateness of planting but varied somewhat in relation to crops in the mixture. The drought in August and the September rains adversely and favorably affected cuttings planted during these periods respectively. Highly significant differences were observed in plant population, and in fresh and dry weights of roots. From the maize f melon i cassava intercropping experiments of 1974 and 1975, th~ results indicated that relay planting the cassava should not be delayed beyond 4 to 6 WAP.The main objective of this experiment was to study the performance of yams, maize, melon and two plant types of cowpeas in mixtures and patterns some of which resemble traditional pcactices. In 1976, growth analysis data were 86 collected. The tr~atments were located in the same plots used in 1975.Melon: Significant differences in plant population, days to fruit maturity, fresh we ight of fruits and seed yield were observed in melon. The highest plant population was observed in melon intercropped with maize at two plants per stand p lus yam and climbing cowpea (Sitaopole). There were relatively higher plant populations where melon was grown in alternate rows. Nwnber of days to maturity increased significantly with number of crops in the mixture. Fruit we ight was heaviest in sole crop melon as in 1975 (Table 22 ).It was lowest where melon was intercropped with maize, yam and cowpea. Fruit weight tended to decrease with increasing number of crops in the mixture but vaned also with the particular crops in the mixture and pattern of planting. Seed weight followed the same trend .Maize: During 1976 significant differences were observed in lodging, stover yields and grain yields, but not in plant population as in 1975. Although no overall significant differences were observed in plant population, the tendency was for plant population to follow the trend: maize at one plant per stand > maize at t wo per stand > maize at four plants per stand (Table 23). Mean plant population in sole crop maize slightly exceeded that in which maize was grown with one crop but was slightly less than where maize was grown with three crops. The highest stover yield was observed where maize at two plants per stand was intercropped with melon which did not differ significantly from the lower yields observed in sole maize at one or two plants per stand and maize at two plants per stand intercropped with erect cowpeas. While the lowest stover yield in 1975 was obtained when maize and yams were intercropped at four maize plants per stand alternating every two rows with either melon or climbing vegetable cowpea (Sitaopole), in 1976 the lowest stover yield was observed when maize at two plants per stand was intercropped with yam, melon and Sitaopole.Yam. No significant differences were observed in plant popu• lation and tuber number in 1976 as in 1975 but in both years significant differences were observed in tuber yields (Table 24). Although tuber yields on sole yam plots were only slightly lower in 1976 than in 1975, those of yams intercropped w ith maize at two plants per stand irrespective of spatial planting pattern were higher in 1976 than for corresponding treatments in 1975. In general, intercropping resulted in significantly  reduced yam tuber yields but the extent of reduction varied with individual associated crops , number of crops and years.The reduction was greatest when yam was grown with melon, cow peas and maize. Intercropping of yam with erect cowpea reduced yam yield less than intercropping it with either maize or climbing cowpea, Growth analysis. Certain interrelationships a nd d ifferences in development characteristics were observed in yam and other crops . The tuber development of yam was significantly affected by inten::ropping and number of associated crops (Fig. 15). Growth rate was reduced under intercropping and this was more serious with Sitaopole climbing cowpea than by melon or maize, Earlier senescence and untimely maturity occurred earlier in intercropped yams than in the sole crop . The rate of t uber bulking or development, leaf area (LA), leaf area index (LAI) and relative growth rate (RGR) were in varying degree reduced under intercropping. Tops of intercropped yam turned yellow and died earlier than in sole crop yam. The LA, LAI, and RGR were lowest when yam was intercropped with Sitaopole climbing cowpea, Intercropping, with respect to the different crops in the mixture, affected LA , LAI, NAR, RGR and NAR of the various crops in the miJtture.Fig. 16 shows the leaf area development curves of the various crops in the mixtures, This shows that melon, which is often planted first, reached its maximum leaf area development earliest and the leaves senesced first.Leaf area development was slower in maize but did not reach the same peak at the same time in yam which was the slow-   Although maize accumulated the highest dry matter per unit area per day followed by erect cowpea, yam, melon and then Sitaopole, the rate and amount accumulated varied with the crop mixture and pattern of planting (Fig. 17). The overall effects of these are jointly expressed in the final yield. This study indicates some of the rationale behind various times, mixtures and patterns of planting in traditional cropping systems, and also explains why when farmers plant many crops simultaneously, the spacings are unusually wide to reduce competition among intercrops.equivalents and gross returns of the different crop mixtures are presented in Table 25. In both years, highest calorie equivalents were obselVed in maize alone followed closely by mixtures containing yam and/or maize. The highest gross returns were observed in yam followed closely by mixture containing yam and maize and yam, maize, cowpea and melon.Calorie equivalents and gross returns. The total calorieResidue management experiment Cassava 1975. There were significant differences among treatment means in plant height, number of main stems per plant, fresh and dry weight of roots, fresh and dry weight of stems, fresh weight of leaves at harve'St, number of tiers of branching and number of roots per plant (Table 26). There were no significant differences among treatment means in plant populations and dry weight of leaves at harvest.  Plant height was highest in the black polythene mulch (374.97 cm) followed by legume husks (356.7 em), but lowest on the bare plots (254.6 em). Fresh and dry weights of roots were highest in the black polythene mulch amounting to 30.5 and 20, 1 t/ha respectively, followed by rice husks and translucent polythene mulches, The lowest fresh weight root yields of less than 15 t/ha occurred in PenniSl/um polystachion straw mulched plots followed by PQ1Iicum maximum straw mulch. All woody, legume residue and husk mulches gave fresh weight root yields of 19 t/ha or more. Values of other observations were usually highest in the black polythene mulch and lowest in bare and straw mulches. The plants on black polythene grew faster, matured earlier and appeared greener at the early periods of growth than in all the other mulches except legume husks.Maize 1975/1976. In 1975 late maize crop, significant differences in number of missing stands 2 WAP, lodging, tasselling, times of anthesis and silking, stover and grain yields were observed among mulch treatments (Table 27), The highest stover yields occurred in the soybean tops and mixed twigs followed by legume husks, fine gravel and rice husks, Highest grain yields were recorded in chipped cassava stems and sawdust followed by soybean tops, rice husks, and pigeon pea tops. Tasselling, anthesis and silking occurred earliest in the black polythene, soybean tops, elephant grass straw, translucent polythene and pigeon pea tops but was latest in rice straw, Pmnisetu.m polystaehion straw, bare and Panicum maximum straw, Germination fa ilures and supplies were highest in the Pmniutum polystachion straw, fine gravel, rice straw and Panic!IfTI straw but much lower in t he black polyt hene, soy-bean tops, cassava stems and elephant grass mulches , This indicated that in some of the treatments a high number of germinations and survivals contributed to the early maturity, It may also be due to temperature and other environm~ntal conditions induced by the mulches.In the early maize, significant differences among treatments were observed in plant population, tasselling, anthesis and silking times, dry weight of stover and grain yield (Table 27) but not in plant height and lodging, Early-season grain yields in 1976 were lower than those of the early season of 1975 but higher than in the dry season , Cowpea. In t he 1975 late-season cowpea, significant differences were observed in plant population but not in flowering ti me, and grain yield of Ife Brown cowpea grown on the different mulches (Table 28), The early Ife Brown crop of 1976 resulted in significant differences among mulch means in time to flower and gt\"ain yield of Ife Brown. No significant differences were observed in plant population at harvest and pod yield. Apparently the cowpea yielded higher in some of the monocotyled• onous organic residue material than in most of the dicotyledonous residues. In general grain yields of soybean and cowpea were higher in the early season of 1976 than du ring the same season in 1975 when the experiment started , Soybean. No significant differences were observed among treatment means in plant population, days to flower and grain yield of the Bossier soybean, due to wide difference in yields resulting from poor establishment in some mulches and the associated variation. Grain yields were highest in the maize stover, panicum straw, legume husks and Pennisetum poly• stach ion straw as oompared to rice husks, maize cobs and black polythene in the early crop.The early 1976 soybean crop exhibited significant differences in plant population and grain yield (Table 28). In general, all yields of the late crops were lower than in the early crops and response t o woody, legume residue, and gramin aceous straw and related mulches differed markedly.Cassava/Cowpea/Pigeon pea inteTcroppin~, (lkeJUle 1976). This experiment involved study of VITA-5 cowpea performance when grown in combination with cassava on the flat and ridges, on the same and alternating rows with cassava which is planted at the same time, one or two months after cowpea planting. Significant differences were observed in plant population and dry grain yields of the cowpea component (Table 29). Plant population was significantly higher where cowpea was planted.Vegetables Tomato disease screening. In oontinuation of our efforts to identify tomato lines with resistance or tolerance to the virus diseases prevalent in West Africa, 2,927 new lines were field screened. The disease incidence was high, and more than 95 percent of the Jines showed moderate to severe symptom expression. Screening work on them continues.Tomato preliminary yield trial. Some of the new cultivars developed for the humid tropics have been sent out for testing in other locations in West Africa. Six new selections were tested against two checks during the first rainy season. Three of the new lines relatively free from the virus-like disease yielded higher than the highest check but onl y one was significantly higher ( usually low, but the full potential of the crop may not be determined until the fruit fly (Daucus sp. ) which destroys the immature fruit is effectively controlled. By using a mixt ure of Dypterex and Staley's protein bait which give fair control of the fly , the seed yield was determined at various population dens ities. There were no significant differences in seed yield between population densities but it appeared that the optimum population was somewhere b~tween 2,000 and 3,000 plants/ha. Interplant competition mainly in the form of internal shading appeared to be the limiting factor at high p opulation densities . Wide spacings with two plants per hill appeared to be more advantageous. The y ields of over 600 kg / ha are more than five times the yields usually obtained by farmers.Corchorus olitorius. A germplasm compnsmg 18 cultivars and two wild relatives (C. tridens and C. aestuans) was assessed for plant height , number of days to flowering, leaf size, fruit length, leaf appearanoe, pigmentation of stem and fru it during the early cropping season . On the basis of this assessment two promising types, «Onryaya \" and '~4.mugbadu\" have been selected for further improvement.Two diseases -anthracnose associated with CorynesPQra Cassiicola and ColJet,icnum corchonaffected some of the cuLtivars especially those with succulent leaves.Okra mosaic virus (OMV). Search continued for resistance to OMV with screening of newly introduced lines along with segregating generations of some crosses between tolerant and suscept ible individuals. All plants were• susceptible except a short-day lines, Tae 316, which showed tolerance to the disease. When crosses were made to this line, the F I plants produced fruits that were mostly seedless. Pollen viability of F IS ranged from 5 to 15 percent. The pollen grains were of varying sizes and shapes. The viable ones were larger than in either parent. The few seeds collected from the r I plants are to be advanced for selection.Effect of population density on okra performance. The two highest-yielding cultivars in the UTA collection (Tae 38of Nigerian origin and Tae 314 -exotic) were established at different plant population densities -33,000 and 267,000/ha (Table 31). There was no significant difference in the fresh fruit yield of Tae 314 under the two highest densities but both were significantly higher than the next highest population density. However, with the more stout Tae 38 there were no significant differences in fresh fruit yield between the four highest densities showing that increasing plant population density above 67,000fha does not result in yield increase.Population' densities of 133,000 and 67,000/ha could be recommended for Tae 314 and 38 respectively. Cassava with vegetables. Intercropping trials have indicated that cassava might be successfully intercropped with tomato, okra and French bean if one of the vegetables was irrigated through the dry season. In those trials planting was carried out in the dry season and irrigation used on the tomato /cassava section. But the yield of tomato planted during the dry season was usually low because at that period the incidence of the virus-like disease affecting tomato is usually high . Because this disease was not observed during the second rainy season it was decided to initiate the sequence with a tomato /cassava combination at that time.The virus-like disease was not observed in the tomato and yield was higher than observed previously in dry-season crops.The okra crop that was planted during the dry season failed because of poor germination and high incidence of yellow mosaic and stunting virus diseases. The time sequence for the planting of the various crops tomato-cassava-okra-French bean , and the spatial arrangement of the pure stand and the intercrop combinations used were :1. Pure stand tomato spaced 100 X 60 cm followed by okra spaced 100 X 30 cm , followed by French bean spaced 100 X 30 cm . 2. Pure stand tomato spaced 150 X 50 cm fo llowed by okra and French bean in the same sequence and with similar spacing as in combination (1) above. 3. Cassava spaced 300 cm between rows and 100 cm along the row, interplanted with two rows of tomato spaced 100 X 50 cm. The tomato was followed by okra and French bean as in (1) above. 4. Cassava spaced 2000 cm between rows and 100 cm along the row interplanted with tomato spaced 100 X 50 cm. Tomato was followed by okra and French bean as outlined above. 5. Tomato spaced 150 X 50 cm was followed with cassava spaced 150 X 50 cm , planted after the first picking of tomato. 5. Pure stand cassava spaced 100 X 50 cm. i. Pure stand cassava spaced 100 X 100 cm. 8. Pure stand cassava spaced 150 X 50 cm. In all cases except ~8 cassava was planted three weeks after tomato. The performance of the crops and combinations are shown in Table 32. The yields of cassava in combinations #3, #4 and #5 are low be<:ause wind damage was high in the plots. Nitrogen fertilizer applied to the other crops apparently caused excessive canopy development in these cassava, making them vulnerable to wind damage. Although the yield of cassava was significantly reduced in the combinations, the returns of the combinations were generally high. Vegetable/cassava combinations may be regarded as cash/ staple food combinations which could increase the fanner's income without eliminating the staple. stover, panicum straw, legume husks and Pennisetum polyslachion straw as compared to rice husks, maize cobs and black polythene in the early crop.The early 1976 soybean CTOP exhibited significant differences in plant population and grain yield (Table 2B). In general, all yields of the late crops were lower than in the early crops and response to woody, legume residue , and graminaceous straw and related mulches differed markedly.Cassava/Cowpea/Pigeon pea intercroppin~, (Ikenne 1976). This experiment involved study of VITA•5 cowpea performance when grown in combination with cassava on the flat and ridges, on the same and alternating rows with cassa~•a which is planted at the same time, one or two months after cowpea planting. Significant differences were observed in plant population and dry grain yields of the cowpea component (Table 29). Plant population was significantly higher where cowpea was planted.Vegetables Tomato disease screening. In continuation of our efforts to identify tomato lines with resistance or tolerance to the virus diseases prevalent in \\Vest Africa, 2,927 new lines were field screened. The disease incidence was high, and more than 95 percent of the lines showed moderate to severe symptom expression . Screening work. on them continues.Tomato preliminary yield trial. Some of the new cultivars developed for the humid tropics have been sent out for testing in: other locati• ons in West Africa. Six new selections were tested against two checks during the first rainy season. Three of the new lines relatively free from the virus-like disease yielded higher than the highest check but only one was significantly higher (  usually low, but the full potential of the crop may not be determined until the fruit fly (Daucus sp.) which destroys the immature fruit is effectively controlled. By using a mixture of Dypterex and Staley's protein bait which give fair control of the fly, the seed yield was determined at various population densities. There were no significant differences in seed yield between population densities but it appeared that the optimum population was somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 plants/ha. Interplant competition mainly in the form of internal shading appeared to be the limiting factor at high population densities. Wide spacings with two plants per hill appeared to be more advantageous. The yie1ds of over 600 kg/ha are more than five times the yields usually obtained by farmers.Corchorus olitorius. A germplasm compnsmg 18 cultivars and two wild relatives (C. tridens and C. aestuans) was assessed for plant height, number of days to flowering, leaf size, fruit length, leaf appearance, pigmentation of stem and fruit during the early cropping season. On the basis of this assessment two promising types, \"Oniyaya\" and \"Amugbadu\" have been selected for further improvement.Two diseases -anthracnose associated with CorYfuspora Cassiicoia and CoUetn•chum CCTchOTi -affected some of the cuI• tival'S especially those with succulent leaves.Okra mosaic virus (OMV). Search continued for resistance to OMV with screening of newly introduced lines along with segregating generations of some crosses between tolerant and suscepti ble individuals. All plants were• susceptible except a short-day lines, Tae 316, which showed tolerance to the disease. When crosses were made to this line, the Fl plants produced fruits that were mostly seedless. Pollen viability of F I S ranged from 5 to 15 percent. The pollen grains were of varying sizes and shapes. The viable ones were larger than in either parent. The few seeds collected from the F I plants are to be advanced for selection.Effect of population density on okra performance. The two highest-yielding cultivars in the UTA collection (Tae 38of Nigerian origin and Tae 314 -exotic) were established at different plant population densities -33,000 and 267,000i ha (Table 31). There was no significant difference in the fresh fruit yield of Tae 314 under the two highest densities but both were significantly higher than the next highest popula• tion density. However, with the more stout Tae 38 there were no significant differences in fresh fruit yield between the four highest densities showing that increasing plant popula• tion density above 67,OOO/ha does not result in yield increase. Population densities of 133,000 and 67,OOO/ha could be recommended for Tae 314 and 38 respectively. Cassa\"a with vegetables, Intercropping trials have indicated that cassava might be successfully intercropped with tomato, okra and French bean if one of the vegetables was irrigated through the dry season. In those trials planting was carried out in the dry season and irrigation used on the tomato/cassava section. But the yield of tomato planted during the dry season was usually low because at that period the incidence of the virus-like disease affecting tomato is usually high. Because this disease was not observed during the second rainy season it was decided to initiate the sequence with a tomato/cassava combination at that time.The virus-like disease was not observed in the tomato and yield was higher than observed previously in dry-season crops.The okra crop that was planted during the dry season failed because of poor germination and high incidence of yellow mosaic and stunting virus diseases. The time sequence for the planting of the various crops tomato-cassava-okra-French bean, and the spat ial arrangement of the pure stand and the intercrop combinations used were:1. Pure stand tomato spaced 100 X 60 em followed by okra spaced 100 X 30 cm, followed by French bean spaced 100 X 30 cm. 2. Pure stand tomato spaced 150 X 50 cm followed by okra and French bean in the same sequence and with similar spacing as in combination (1) above. 3. Cassava spaced 300 cm between TOWS and 100 cm along the row, interplanted with two rows of tomato spaced 100 X 60 cm. The tomato was followed by okra and French bean as in (1) above. 4. Cassava spaced 2000 cm between rows and 100 cm along the row inter-planted with tomato spaced 100 X 60 cm. Tomato was followed by okra and French bean as outlined above. 5. Tomato spaced 150 X 50 cm was followed with cassava spaced 150 X 50 cm, planted after the first picking of tomato. 6. Pure stand cassava spaced 100 X 50 cm. 7. Pure stand cassava spaced 100 X 100 cm . 8. Pure stand cassava spaced 150 X 50 cm. In all cases except #8 cassava was planted three weeks after tomato. The performance of the crops and combinations are shown in Table 32. The yields of cassava in combinations #3, #4 and #5 are low because wind damage was high in the plots. Nitrogen fertilizer applied to the other crops apparently caused excessive canopy development in these cassava, making them vulnerable to wind damage. Although the yield of cassava was significantly reduced in the combinations, the returns of the combinations were generally high. Vegetable/cassava combinations may be regarded as cash/ staple food combinations which could increase the farmer's income without eliminating the staple. Cassava with cowpea. In mixed cropping situations where cassava is planted before or simultaneously with cowpea, the yield of the cowpea is usually reduced. To overcome this, two combinations in which the cassava was planted four weeks after the cowpea were tested.In combination D (Table 33), both cowpea and cassava were planted on the same ridge while in combination E one ridge with cowpea alone was left between two ridges of cowpea and cassava. The results (Table 33) show that the yield of cowpea was lower in the combinations than in the pure stand, but the differences were not significant. Early growth of cassava expressed as plant height at three months after planting was significantly suppressed by cowpea (Table 34). Although the yield of cassava in the combinations was lower than in the pure stands the differences were not significant. Although cassava in pure stand yielded highest per hectare, the land equivalent ratios (LER) show that the crop combinations were more efficient. The cassava did not affect the quality of the cowpea seeds.  Horizontally placed branches as support for yam. Untrimmed branches of Leucama leucocephala horizontally placed were found to provide suitable support for vines of water yam (Dioscorea alata ). There was no significant difference between yields under horizontal branches and conventional upright stakes (Table 35). The cutting and putting in place of the horizontal branches required less time than did staking.The vines covering the horizontal branches effectively shaded out weeds and weeding was unnecessary after the branches were put in place. Rapid growing strains of Leucama leucocephala that ratoon well have been found to be good sources of the type of branches required. Mulch in-situ. The high cost of using mulch could be drastically reduced if harvesting, transporting and spreading of the mulch could be eliminated. These factors could be removed by finding a suitable cover crop that would leave sufficient organic residue after it has been killed by a herbicide. Pueraria phaseoloides, a legume, has been observed fo be the potential crop. This legume grown for 30 months and killed with the herbicide Paraquat, left a uniform mulch of 14.5 tlha dry weight of organic residue through which tomato was planted by disturbing the mulch and the soil only at the location for the plant. Despite the organic residue when a complete inorganic fertilizer was added, the yield of tomato was significantly increased (Table 36). A single side dressing of nitrogen did not, however, significantly increase yield over the no-fertilizer control. The mulch cover pen!isted throughout the duration of the tomato and rendered weeding unnecessary .In addition, it protected the fruits from ground rot and produced high-quality marketable fruits. Because it has been shown that the legume can be established by minimum tillage without later cultivation or weeding, the system appears suitable for highly erodible soils that should be maintained under a protective cover of crop or plant residue.Mixed cropping studies. One idea of the farming systems program involves several crop combinations and planting patterns which may possess characteristics with beneficial or adverse implications for insect pest management. It is im portant that these be identified with a view to minimizing potential pest problems and developing appropriate integrated control procedures. Studies begun in 1976 have been chiefly concerned with the development of methodology and exploration of a simple system of intercropped maize and cowpea.Leaf feeding insects. Significantly these insects were recorded more on cowpea than on maize (p 0.05), though overall their infestation level was not affected by spacing or intercropping. Particular 95 insects or groups tend to be associated with either maize or cowpea and the presence of other plant types in a mixture does not make it more liable to attack. However, only Ootheca mutabilis occun! at a very low density in the sole maize and significantly (p 0.001 ) larger numbers are foun d on maize in the intercrop where the cereal presumably provides a subsidiary food source and a favored resting site . Significant damage to maize does not occur, however, and the phenomenon does not increase population density on the cowpea.Sap feeding insects. Direct counts are suitable for larger Homoptera such as the Cercopids Poophilv.s costaiis and Locris t~y thacmela associated with maize and the Heteroptera Anoptocnemis curoipts, Acanthomis horrida, Awntkomia tommtosiccltis, l.1irp erus jarulv.s, Riptortus dLntip es, A spavia armigera, Nezara viridula and others, primarily associated with cowpea . Poophilus shows a preference for maize at the w ider spacing (p 0.025) but not at intercrop, where numbers are the same as in the single spaced maize, suggesting a vegetation density effect. Th e intercrop situation increases the occurrence of Heteroptera on maize (p 0.001), an effect particularly marked for AMplomanis and the two spe. cies of Acanthomia. For A . tomentosiccltis there are indications (0.1 p 0.05) of a reduction in numbers on cowpea in a mixed stand but a considerat ion of the whole plot situation reveals a redistribution between the two crops rather than a decrease in infestation. Coreid heteropterans both rest and feed on maize and they frequent ly serve as an oviposition site. Under the conditions of this trial no serious effects were evident as a result of this behavior though in some circumstances the intercrop situation could generate large populations with severe effects on cowpea yield.Estimates for Empoasca dolichi from D-Vac sampling suggested lower numbers from the mixed plots (0.1 p 0.05) with a mean of 8.1 insects / plant from eight sampling times durin g the growing season in mixed cowpea compared to 10.3 for sale crop at both spacings. Sericotkips occipilalis populat ions were also reduced (p 0.01 ) as were those of Callosobruchus maculatus (p 0.01 ) in mixed plots, an effect likely to be associated with reduced pod production in this treatment. A significant reduction (p. 0.001) in flower infestation in the mixed cropping situation is apparent with a tendency toward lower numbers in the double spaced cowpea than in the single spaced crop. This suggests that increased spacing may present some barrier to dispersal within the crop, which is further reinforced by the presence of the cereal. Caution must be exercised in attributing such effects to mixed cropping, however, since the physiology of the cowpea is profoundly influenced by its situation within the maize canopy and flowering is both delayed and reduced. Lower flower density within the stand could also act as a barrier to effective dispersal and colonization. Larvae of the lepidopterous pod borer A-Iaruca testulalis were also recovered from the flowers. No differences were observed between treatments, with a mean of 15.7 percent of flowers infested. Larvae of Euchrysops malatfwna were found in 9 percent of Rowers fro m m ixed plots. This species was entirely absent from sole plots.Aerial invasion. An experiment was conducted on the effect of cropping systems on aerial invasion using water traps placed at 0.5-and 2-m height in each of the three treatments such that the 2-m traps were just above the maize canopy and the 0.5-m traps above the cowpea. Results are shown in Table 39. Results show that the presence of the cereal reduces aerial invasion of cowpea by insects with the numbers of thrips over the intercropped cowpea significantly lower than in sole plots. Because this difference persists at 2-m, the effect may therefore be one of reduced attraction to the mixed crop rather than the maize acting as a phys ical barrier to invasion. These data support the results of the flower sampling but must be viewed with the same reservations particularly since D-Vac data give values significantly lower for TamilJthrips in double spaced cowpea {p 0.05) than in single spaced and mixed. There is evidence that insec ts are attracted into the mixed crop by the presence of cowpea since consistent ly more are trapped than in sole maize . Generally, most insects occur at O.5m in the sole cowpea through parasit ic Hymenoptera are an exception with significantly more (p 0.05) over cowpea in the mixed plot. This may be a beneficial effect of intercropping but the data are not supported by D-Vac sampling, where no differences were detected .Pesticide residue studies. The main objectives of this project have been to establish whether the organochlorine pesticide DDT could, with sustained use for pest control on cowpea, produce long-term deteriorat ion of soil productivity through effects on the soi l population and to investigate patterns of distribut ion and degradation of the pesticide in a tropical crop ecosystem.Decomposition studies. The major undertaking of the project in 1976 has been a comprehensive experiment carried out during the second growing season on decomposition of cowpea stem and leaf material, incorporating elements of previous studies which have shown significant effects of DDT in reducing decomposition rates. Plant materials were presented in nylon mesh bags with varying mesh sizes to limit access to particular components of the soil population, either on the soil surface or buried. Standard leaf discs and stem sections were used either untreated or pretreated with appropriate amounts of DDT to simulate the spraying effect. Bags were placed at random sites in plots of the three treatments and sampled two times to determine percentage weight remaining.Buried residues consistently decompose more rapidly than those on the surface, and for both leaf and stem decompo-sit ion is slower (p 0.05) in soil containing DDT. The effect is more pronounced (p 0.01 ) when materials are exposed on the surface, particularly where bags were further contaminated by spraying during the experiment. Effect of substrate treatment with DDT is variable. For buried stems it is significant after six weeks, presumably affecting the later stages of decomposition, whilst no effect is detectable on the surface. Buried leaves respond significantly (p 0.001) with reduced decomposition in the early stages but less so later (p 0.1 P 0.05), whilst the effect on surface leaves (0.01 ) occurs at the later stage. This may be due to involvement of similar organisms in the earlier stages of leaf decay and the later stages of stem decomposition.Interesting data were obtained using different mesh sizes to enclose the li tter with fine mesh to exclude all but microftora, mediu m mesh to allow access only to smaller faunal elements, and coarse mesh for maximum a~cess . Signific ant effects were detected for both materials, leaf and stern, in both positions In nearly all cases, plant tissue in coarse mesh bags decomposed most rapidly, showing the importance of free access of fauna. For stem material the significant difference was between coarse and medium mesh (p 0.01 ) at three weeks for buried and six weeks for surface bags, whilst for buried leaf the cutoff poin t was between fine and medium with the leaf in fine mesh disappearing more slowly (p 0.001). Surface leaf material followed the same pattern as stem. These results show the importance of microfauna in decomposition of buried leaf material and macrofauna in buried stem and surface residues.Population studies. Populations of total microarthropods continued to be significantly reduced in soil containing DDT, (Table 40). As in previous years the significant effect (p 0.001) was confined to the 0-50-mm horizon though numbers in the untreated plots were also higher at the lower depth . Mites were the faunal component most affected (p 0.01). Predatory ~esostigmata remained lower (p 0.025) in treated soils but without the increased populations of Collembola observed in 1975.Quadrat samples showed a very marked treatment effect on total active fauna, principally ants, spiders, Coleoptera and millipedes. Samples were taken three weeks after the final spray of the first growing season, and all groups were reduced in numbers in the treated plots (p 0.001). Earthworm populations were assessed as in previous years by estimates of numbers and dry weight of casts in 0.25m 2 quadrats over a three day period and by subsequent handsorting of soil in pits below these quadrats. Casting activity in untreated plots was 81.1Jm 2 per day in contrast to 4.1 and 1.9 casts/m l per day in treated and contaminated plots, though earthworm numbers and biomass were the same in all treatments. This suggests either a behavioral effect of the pesticide or selective activity against casting species which could have serious consequences on soil turnover. Crop Studies. In the second season of 19i6 the eighth con-secutive crop of cowpea was grown on the experimental plots.Seed yield for the entire period is shown in Table 41.  Mean numbers of nematodes were reduced in relat ion to the number of nematodes recovered in 1975. Plant parasitic nematodes ( Pratylenchus sefaensi, P. brachyurus, Hdicotylmchus fstudorobustus, H. C01!flUlSs i , /\"ftloidogyne incognita) were 50 percent fewer (Table 42) and nonparasitic nematodes 66 percent fewer (Table 43). Maize maintained the mean Pratylenchus spp. densi ty at 3,803 and 3,581 nematodes per liter soil respectively for both years. Cassava, soybean , maize and cowpea maintained plant parasitic nematode densities above preplant levels of 80B percent for Pralylmchus spp., 162 percent for Hdicotyltllchus spp. and 183 percent Meloidogynt incognita juveniles recovered from the soil.There were four instances of Prat,vlmchus sp. buildup on soybean.Cassava investigations. In a test to determine the variability in susceptibility or resistance of cassava seedlings to Me/io-dJJg)I7It incognita parasitism, 190 11-day-old seedlings were inoculated with 2,000 eggs per pot and grown for 15.5 days. Forty-six plants died and of the remainder all cassava seedlings proved to be highly susceptible with a mean root-knot index of 4.64 (5.00= maximum galling).In a replicated greenhouse trial AI. ill{ognzta, cassava seedling height , tuber we ight and root weight were reduced up to 52, 87 and 44 percent respectively after 155 days of growth (Table 44). The lower inoculation rates increased seedling height and root weight over the controls. Tuber weight was reduced at all levels of inoculum.  Crop rotation investigations_ Cultivars selected as rotation crops were grown for six months for plant parasitic nematode control following Celosia argentea, a leaf vegetable. In general, plant parasitic nematode population levels were reduced by all rotation crops except Cratolaria juncea. The root-knot nema-tode juvenile soil population levels were significantly reduced by 15 rotation crops. The root-lesion nematodes, at a small preplant population level, significantly increased only on Croto/aria jUTlCea. The spiral nematode population levels were significantly reduced by eight rotation crops and to a lesser degree by the other rotation crops. The data are summarized in Table 46.Maize_ Two trials were carried out to evaluate and identify suitable herbicides for weed control in maize (cv. TZB (S)C5) and to assess the effectiveness of some herbicides and their combinations in no-tillage maize production. Two weedings, the first of which should be carried out within two weeks of planting were found necessary to prevent yield reduction associated with weed competition (Table 47). Several herbicides among which is EPTC + R (6.0 kg / ha) gave good weed control in maize without crop injury. [R-2578B (N,N-Diallyl-2, 2-dichloroacetamide). J A commercially available mixture of atrazine plus metolachlor at 2.5 kg/ha gave excellent broad-spectrum weed control when applied preemergence. Postemergence application of this mixture was injurious to the crop. Atrazine plus alachlor was effective at 1.5 + 3.0 kg/ha. There was poor control of annual grasses at lower rates. (All herbicide rates are in kg. a.i.lha) .Glyphosate at 1.3 kg/ha was a better broad-spectrum preplant applied herbicide for no-tillage weed control than paraquat used at the same rate (Table 48). Paspalum orhiculaTe Forst, Panicwn maximwn Jacq, Ta/mum tnangulare Oacq.) Wild and Commelina spp. were among the weeds that were either partially controlled by paraquat at 1.0 kg/ha or fully re-  covered in about four weeks after treatment. Glyphosate killed all weeds when applied sequentially with atrazine plus metolachlar (2.5 kg/ha) or as a tank mixed preplant treatment. Although glyphosate does not mix well with atrazine plus metolachlor, there was no loss of preemergence activity as a result of tank mixing these herbicides.Rice. Several herbicides applied singly and in combination were evaluated for weed control and for their effects on crop yield in direct seeded lowland rice (cv. TOS 42) under poor water management conditions characteristic of the conditions in which lowland rice is grown locally. The best weed control was obtained in plots in which bifenox was applied preemergence at 2.0 kg/ha (Table 49). Other herbicide treatments that gave superior weed control are postemergence      50). Paddy yield from weed-free plots was superior to yields from herbicide treated and hand weeded plots. Yield reductions caused by weeds in weedy plots and in plots that were weeded twice were 92 percent Table 49. Weed control in direct-seeded nee (cv. TOS 42) 1976. and 50 percent respectively, relative to the weed-free plots.In order to reduce weed competition in hydromorphic rice, it may be necessary to increase the crop's inherent ability to compete with weeds. Row width was uniformly altered using Nelder's systematic design in a drilled hydromorphic rice trial. Weed control treatments included no weeding, weeding once, weeding twice and weed-free. Row width varied from 6 cm near the center of the circle to 60 cm at the circumference.At crop maturity, weeds and crops were harvested from each of 60 acres of concentric circles. At a row spacing of 24 cm or less, yield reduction associated with each of the weeding frequencies was less than 20 percent of the weed free check. Yield reductions due to weed competition increased in all weeding treatments with increase in row spacing (Fig. 18). Weed growth was greatly reduced as row width decreased below 30 cm (Fig. 19). Better weed control in hydromorphic rice should be possible at closer row spacing than the 30 cm used in hydromorphic rice herbicide evaluation. 7.    marked sensitivity to commonly available grain legu me herbicides constitute a major constraint in developing satisfactory weed control practices for this crop. During the early rains, a semi-erect cowpea cultivar (VITA-5) was planted and sprayed weekly with Gammalin 20EC insecticide (3 ml product in one litre of water). Metolachlor at 2 or 3 kg / ha applied preemergence to both the crop and weeds gave good control of annual weeds. Grain yield in treated plots was as good as in the weed free check (Table 51). Yam. Several methods of weed control were evaluated in white yam (Dioscorea rQtuntiata L. var Nwaipoko). When weeds were not controlled they caused above 50 percent reduction in yam yield (Table 52). At least three hoe weedings were observed to be necessary in order to minimize yield reduction caused by weeds. All the herbicides tested significantly re-  duced tuber yield relative to the weed free check. All the herbicides with the exception of diuron (4.0 kg/ha) failed to control weeds for the first three months after planting the yam.Cassava. There was good weed control in cassava without noticeable crop injury in preemergence treatments involving fluometuron (2-3 kg / hal , formulated mixture of atrazine plus metolachlor (2.5 kg/ hal, and d iuron (2.0 kg/hal. These treatments gave cassava yields that were comparable to yields from the weed-free treatment (Table 53)_Analysis of long-term fertility trials. Trials conducted on Egbeda and Apornu soil series by the soil fertility scientist during 1972-75 were analyzed to assess whether artificial fertilizers could economically substitute for the bush-fallow phase in shifting cultivation.Data on maize yields, applied nitrogen and phosphorus , pan evaporation , rainfall and a soil test for phosphorus were submitted to a series of regression analyses (  To quantify the factors influencing maize yields and the relative importance of these factors, a regression model was estimated using soil parameter and management fa ctors as the independent variables (Table 58 ). (The partial req uirement coefficients indicate the sensitivity of maize yields to changes in the levels of each explanarory variab Ie and quantify the percentage change in yield due to one-percent change in the level of that variable).Given the technology which included 100:50: 50 NPK the model demonstrates the importance of these factors in achieving high maize yields in the area :I. Increasing the organic carbon level. 2. Increasing the base saturation of soils.3. The management practices of planting early, thinning the crop early, weeding the crop twice and maintaining stand density.The largest single cost component of the recommended practice was fertilizer (63 percent of cash costs; $30 / ha) which is heavily subsidized by the Government.The percentages of farmers who would be financially worse off by using the technology than by following their traditional practices for various levels of fertilizer subsidy are shown in Table 59. If the farmers had to pay for all the cash inputs, the technology might be too risky and not sufficiently superior to present practices -particularly on the least fertile soils -(even at subsidized fertilizer prices) to be generally attractive to the typical small farmer in the region.In summary, unless the allied problems of low-base saturation and low pH can be overcome economically, it appears  61. Except for weeding, labor and other inputs used to grow the crops were not significantly different in the two seasons up to harvest. Labor used for harvest was significantly correlated with yield (r = .056), as were labor or tractor days used to haul the cobs to the farmer's store. Most farmers used tractor hire services (government and private) and employed contract and hired labor for manual operations.The returns to land and management from producing maize appears attractive, partly due to the high price of maize in Nigeria (when compared to world prices) and the subsidized price of fertilizer to farmers. At world prices for these commodities (including freight ) the returns to land and management for the first-and second-season maize would have been $45 and S35 / ha respectively. An intensive farm level survey, whose field work was completed in 1975, was conducted in southeastern Nigeria to quantify changes in farming systems, resource use and production; the productivity of land and labor; and soi l properties and plant climaxes in response to increasing intensity of use of agricultural land and to assess possibilities for increasing the profitability of farming under such circumstances.Labor allocation. Labor allocation for the three survey villages over the farming year is shown in Figure 21. The main cultivation period is the first four months of the year (wet season). The latter half of the year was a relatively slack period with respect to field work; weeding and harvesting are the major operations. The distribution of the use of hired labor follows the same general pattern as total labor with the major use of hired labor being for clearing and weeding -30 percent each and planting 22 percent. Factors influencing farm production. The two most important resource factors found to influence farm income within villages were farm size and the size of the family labor force (Table 62) . The marginal productivity of extra land was found to be higher the greater the populat ion pressure, while the marginal productivity of additional labor was higher in areas where there was no land shortage or where population pressure was low. Of the fertility indicators measured, only levels of organic carbon and soil test phosphate were found to be significantly related to crop productivity. Farm production and sales. The farm family consumes much of what it produces. As the pressure on land use increases, the proportion of the food crops produced that are also sold diminishes, and the sale of products derived from tree crops becomes the principal source of cash income (Table 63).General conclusions from study. The results of the survey demonstrate the impact of increasing population pressure on farm organization, management and productkity. The increasing pressure on land had the following consequences in the farming systems studied: .661. Fallow periods were reduced, resulting In lower soil fertility, and as a result diminishing land and labor productivity. 2. Internal farm differentiation gained in importance.Farmers were found to intensify their com pound farming, which involved the import of mulch from ou ter fields and fallows, and the use of household refuse. 3. The density of trees and arable crops increased, as did the number and range of crops grown in mixtures. 4. Livestock and tree crops increase in importance as a proportion of total farm production and cash income.An important result derived from the survey was the somewhat neglected appreciation of the value and role of various shrubs and tree species in the farming systems. Several indigenous species pr,ovided food during food deficit periods of the year, inputs for farming and for the household, in addition to being a maj or source of income . But while the farmers recognized the importance of tree crops as a source of cash income, their priorities result in labor being allocated first to food crops and second to the cash (tree ) crops during periods of labor scarcity.Two points emerge from the study of food crop / tree crop associations in the forest zone. First, it seems that research aimed at developing food crop technology for these zones should be carried out in a more realistic environment than in an open field , i.e., within a food cropltree crop complex. Second, if the ou tput of tree crops (e.g. oil palm, cocoa) is to be increased by small farmers (which is an objective of many governments) then it will probably be necessary to increase labor productivity during periods of labor scarcity on food crops first.National Accelerated Food Production ProjectThe National Accelerated Food Production Project (NAFPP) was launched to develop a \"master plan\" that would make Nigeria self-sufficient in the production of maize, rice, millet, sorghum, wheat and cassava.The key components and accelerating features of the NAFPP system are research, extension and an agro-service center system.Research. Research is brought together for greater emphasis and specialized treatment for each of the NAFPP crops through three national crop centers: 107The site-specific concept is employed with problem identification in the field and quick feedback to the crop centers for timely solutions. Research is designed to develop highyielding cultivars responsive to management in two to three years instead of the normal seven to nine years, using research tools such as mini kits, production kits and risk transfer of cultivar selection to farmers.Extension. The primary mission of the extension component of the NAFPP system is to bring research information to the mass of small-scale farmers as rapidly and as completely as possible. Feedback of J3roblems encountered in the field are referred to State subject matter specialists, and to the research workers for solution.Agro-Service Center System. The agro-service center system implies an integrated institutionalized delivery system for making agricultural inputs available to farmers when needed and provides a market for their produce. It makes all inputs required for agricultural production and a market conveniently available to farmers in one location.Required inputs are agricultural technology, credit , chemicals, seeds and equipment hire. The responsibility for dissem ination of inputs and providing information on product-use rests with the agro-service center management. Agro-service centers with primary and limited processing and storage have connections with national market ing systems . The meth od of ownership may be cooperative, private, government, or quasigovernment arrangements.Each Center will have a profit and loss responsibility. When the NAFPP is fully implemented, it is planned that farmers in major agricultural producing areas will be within 16 km . of a source of inputs and a market place.A major constraint to increased land and labor productivity is the peak demand for labor at various stages in the crop cycle, when the time available for a particular operation is limited either by the environment or by the characteristics of the crop. For many crops a bottleneck occurs at the field preparation and planting stages when it is vital to make the best use of the period of available rainfall for crop growth rather than in preparation for planting, thus enabling t he growing of more crops within a limited time.Field preparation, planting (seeding) and weed control should be considered together, as one invariably affects the potential of the other. Efficient manual methods of weed control require planting with constant inter-row tillage. The design of a planter needs to take into account both the pre-planting practice and the weed control system. Flexibility in design is essential to provide for various tropical crops and the physical environment and socioeconomic conditions under which crops are grown. Simplicity in design is essential. invariably, a compromise in design is required among simplicity, cost and multiple crop use.Figure 22 illustrates typical soil-slope zones of the humid tropics and the range of crops generally suited to each by virtue of its erodibility and soil moisture capacity. The development of energy reducing systems for crop production and the appropriate tool technology require (a) a range of crops be grown within each of these zones (b) cultural practices most appropriate 'to a sustained agriculture, (c) a waterregime is likely to be available, and (d) methods of weed control which may be applied appropriately.preparatory marking of the intended spray swath. c. The electric motor used to spin the disc not being sufficiently rugged, resulting in inconsistent speed during operation and frequent electrical faults .Test rigs have been built to gain a better understanding of the pattern of droplets and the corresponding swath coverage at various angles of the axis of the spinning disc. These results have led to the development and test ing of units with twin spinners fOT broader swaths of up to 2m. per \" run\" . Preliminary trials demonstrate that with twin spinners a more even coverage and a 50 percent increase in the ground speed over the earlier CDA method of application is possible. So far the twin spinner with 160 ern swath width appears to provide the best coverage.The widespread adoption of the CDA sprayer is at present deterred by the limitations of the d elicate small DC motor.  In ~slem (1) omission of the pre-emngtnt herbicide reduced yit/ds by haljl 109 A simpler motor suitable for local manufacture is being designed so the CDA sprayer wou ld be as easy to operate as a torch.Project on the design of a simple maize sheller. A popular traditional U.S . design for a hand cranked maize sheller (costing S40) was studied fOT possible simplification in design. A simple hand sheller costing about $1.00 to fabricate has been developed. A leaflet containing drawings for fabrication of the \"Tube-sheller\" and simple instructions for use is in preparation.Preliminary field trials with the planting systems and complementary tools developed. Certain trials were conducted to evaluate the scale of improvement which might reasonably be expected if a farmer were to adopt the simplified systems and tools developed here so far.Manual methods for preparing land for upland rice production are both laborious and time consuming. This is true even when assis ted by 'contract' or hired tractor tillage for the primary operation; so is seeding. However, weeding is the most time consuming as the high moisture levels of the rioe field invariably result in a profusion of weeds . While tillage with a two-wheel tractor provides an adequate seed bed for broadcast sowing, chemical weed control is necessary as an alternative to manual weeding. The \"innovative system\" under test using the CDA sprayer and \"Jab\" planter suggests a significant reduction in drudgery and labor requirements . A relatively small cash investment in this system would enable small farmers to cope with a larger land area than the conventional methods permit.As a means of reducing sti ll further the 60 man hours per hectare required for jab planting an alternative of strip-tillage and propelled-seeding is potentially feasible and research in this area will be conducted in 1977. The main constraint of the approach is the high number of hills per hectare (150,000).The potential of the 'CDA spra y plant' system for establishing a crop on land heavily infested with spear grass (lmpaata cylindrica) is illustrated in Table 64. The low manual effort and simple equipment used in the trial are noteworthy . The trial will continue.The year 1976 was the final year of the first phase of the project. Therefore, the main aim for the year was rounding offexperimental work and documenting the material collect ed during the first three years. In addition, the planning of an extension of the project was initiated, culminating in DANIDA approving a second phase for the period 1977 to 1978, to be entitled the \"Post Harvest Engineering Centre (West Africa).\"The effectiveness of the crib for safety drying first-season cob maize, over a three-to-four-month period (August-Deoember) to 15 percent moisture content or below, was conclusively demonstrated, notably through the availability of some 120 tons of cob maize from lIT A experiments, necessitating the use of 225 cu m crib.The use of the crib by some farmers has been recorded in Ghana, the Republic of Benin and the south-east of Nigeria. Acceptance of the system is largely linked to situations where an effort in general extension in agriculture is being undertaken and where crib drying forms part of a package in maize production.The control of insects in crib stored maize appears to present a major worry to farmers, part I y due to the nonavailability of insecticides and partly due to the unimpressive performance of many commonly available insecticides. Some encouraging possibilities have, nevertheless, been revealed through experiments conducted in 1975176 and again in 1976177.The relative effectiveness o f the light stable pyrethroid Permethrin (NRDC 143) and Pirimiphos methyl was revealed in the 1975176 experiments as is shown below in Table 65.  The Permethrin applied at 5 ppm, 10 ppm and 15 ppm proved to contain damage below 10 percent up until the end of March, April and May respectively. The relative insensitivity of maize cobs to superficial wetting whilst in cribs was J>l'eviously established by the project, suggesting scope for the use of liquid insecticides, and thus possibilities for better insecticidal coverage of cobs .For the 1976177 trials the main emphasis was placed on evaluating liquid insecticides, the only exception being \"Perma Gaurd\" a diatomaceous dus t (basically silicon dioxide) applied at a rate of 3.5 kg / ton.The monthly live insects / 200 gm of grain observed in each of the treatments are shown in Table 66, together with the peroentage damaged grain observed at the end of December.  ). In the other case no Actellic was applied initially, but after 30 days, the cribs were sprayed monthly on the outside with a 2 percent a .i. solution of Actellic. This insecticide has a fum igant effect and its effectiveness applied in this way is shown in the Table.The Perma Gaurd performed reasonably well, although the presence of considerable quan~it ies of dust at the time of shelling necessitates its removal.Decis, a further synthesis of the light stable pyrethroids, performed somewhat indifferently, and may well need to be applied at a higher dosage rate.In the case of the Control, the insect population exploded after October. In early December therefore, the outside of these cribs were sprayed with a 2 percent a .i. Actellic solution, resulting in a 3/8 reduction in insect activity by the end of December, but which naturally had no effect on insect damage sustained earlier on.The Actellic applied initially only performed as the I percent dust did in the previous year, with damaged grain reaching the IS percent level by the end of December.Although Permethrin seems to offer the greatest hope for the future, it is not )'et being produced commercially. Meanwhile, Actellic sprayed monthly to the outside of cribs in a 2 percent solution would seem to be well worth using in the control of sitophilus and Iribolium.In Ghana, a reasonably successful technique proved to be fumigation of cobs prior to loading to the cribs and then to admix the material with 2 percent Malathion at the rate of 120 g/200kg dehusked cobs. Damaged grain reached the level of about IS percent after five months. However, the technique is cumbersome and presents many practical problems.The outputs achievable through the use of various small and intermediate-level techniques for the shelling of maize were determined and are presented in Table 67.Table 67. Grain output achievable through uan'ous techniques. 1. The cost / ton using the power or hand operated twin intake sheller would be less than that using labor with the internally ribbed tubes, if some to-II tons or more were to be shelled per annum. 2. The power operated sheller would become more economical that its hand or pedal version if at least 20 tons would be shelled per annum . 3. The cost of the labor intensive system (with internally ribbed tu be) is likely to be $13 / tons or 6.5 percent of the value of maize selling at $'200 / ton. The cost of machine shelled maize at optimal level of employment (30 or more ton / annum) is likely to be some $5/ton , or, 2.5 percent of the value of the maize.The beating of cobs in sacks is popular because of its relatively high output, but is somewhat limited by the heavy wear and tear of sacks (some 10 \" beatings\" being the expected <; life\" of a sack).There is clearly scope for more effici ent and economical shelling machines and techniques for operation by individual farmers with a production of u p to some La to 15 tons of maize per annum. The machines and hand appliances evaluated thus far depend on handling of individual cobs, and it is unlikely that any dramatic improvements in the rate of shelling for these techniques is likely to result from further design refinements, because the handling of individual cobs is an inherent limiting factor.Iron toxicity in riceThe dynamics of iron toxicity in rice fields, outside of recent marine alluvial plains, were investigated. It was found that iron toxicity is, in nearly all cases, related to a source of Fe2+ present at a higher level in the landscape than the affected rice fields. Ferrous iron and eventually manganese in solution also is transported to the root zone by interflow. The process is schematically represented in Figure 24.Ferrous iron is produced in a harmful concentration by weathering primary minerals under conditions of waterlogging in areas with crystalline rock, but it may also be related to plinthite formations in sedimentary parent materials. Conditions for interflow iron toxicity are most favorable in small hydromorphic valleys in areas where dominant soils are Ultisols.Iron toxicity of this type can be alleviated by interception of the interflow water, by improving the overall drainage of the affected areas and the cultural measures, mainly by introducing a system of alternate flooding and drying of the land during the growing season. Present studies of hydromorphic soils at lIT A, subject to interflow iron toxicity are providing additional data on optimized water management and land use of such soils. 111Studies on hydromorphic landtypesComparison of two m~nagement levels of rice cultivation. On newly cleared valley bottom land at UTA, rice was grown in hydromorphic soils at two levels of soil and water management:t. According to the predominant farmers' system in most of West Africa, i.e. without irrigation on non• levelled, non-bunded land . The cultivar was OS6; 25 kg N / ha was applied at 4 WAP. 2. With slightly improved management , on bunded and partially levelled paddy fields, applying intermittent irrigation by simple diversion from an existing small stream. The cultivar was IR20; '200 kg i ha of 15: 15: 15 was applied, with a subsequent 40 kg N Iha as a top dressing, 6 WAP . Yields obtained for the two systems were respectivel y 760 a nd 2,370 kg ! ha of unhulled rice. The difference reflects partly the higher yield pOlential of IR20 and partly the effect of the man• agement type.An analysis of the labor input is given in Table 6B, the land preparation labor in the intensified system includes the largely non-recurrent bund construction and levelling. Time for bird scaring was not included. It should be noted however, that net returns for the improved system will increase in subsequent years due to diminished labor requirement for land preparation and for weeding under proper water management. Hence, the improved soil and water management of hydromorphic soils is essential for sustained rice cultivation with increased producti\\•ity.Effect of high groundwater on the performance of maize. Maize, grown on land with high groundwater, rapidly diminished in growth and productivity. From data gathered on the study of maize performance on a toposequence, the negative effect of high groundwater during the first six weeks after planting could be determined. It can be inferred that the negative effect of yield of high groundwater is both determined by the actual depth of the groundwater and by the duration of waterlogging throughout or at shallow depth in the profile. Maize planted at the beginning of the rainy season (Fig. 28b) reacted Jess to high groundwater than that planted during the minor dry period before the second rainy season. In the latter case, soils were more humid throughout, leading to a poorer plant development at groundwater depth, comparable to those of the first season. Implications are that on moderate hydromorphic soils early maize can be included in the cropping pattern, while maize is not suitable for such conditions in the period of higher rainfall.  Groundwater classes. Studies on the hydromorphic portion of a toposequence at UTA revealed that determination of the highest and lowest groundwater levels during the growing cycle of crops is a good measure for the suitability of such land for these crops. Based on several years of experimentation, groundwater classes valid for the general agroecological area of !ITA were determined; these are schematically represented in Figure 26. Class 1 is closest to dry land conditions, and groundwater has no or little influence during the growth cycle of the crop. Class 11 is submerged during the whole growth cycle, while other classes are intermediate. These classes can be used to characterize conditions for when any given crop is to be grown; classes vary through the year according to climatic and related hydrologic conditions in the hydromorphic land .In Table 69, a summary is given of the suitability of the 11 classes of maize, rice and cassava grown during various seasons at an intermediate level of surface drainage and fertility ... During the Unit's plant collecting expeditions a total of 828 germ plasm samples were added to the Institute's collections.In Ghana, the National Crops Research Institute assisted the team in collecting 248 food legume accessions (Table 1), 116 of roots and tubers (Table 2) and 82 of rice. The rice collected included Oryza sativa, Oryza glaberrima and (Oryza longista-miMia).From the northern parts of Nigeria, 2 12 food legumes, 160 rice and 10 root and tuber samples were added to our collections.The Germplasm Collection enit has taken responsibility for the Institute's seed storage, seed production and distribution. Planned developments in these act ivities are not complete, but some progress has been made .  Full details of exploration in Ghana will be published in a special liT A report (so will the details of all other exploration missions in future, using standard format) . Very briefly , some interesting points arising from Ghana are:1. We had expected to gather many more than 452 samples. There are at least two reasons why we did not. In our attempt to cover all ecological zones and to gather a wide range of species our itinerary was arranged so that we spent at most four nights in any one base. Much travel restricted the time available for collection; it was difficult to dry, sort, package and document seed collected ; and much time was spent either in \" barren\" parts of the Guinea Savanna zone, or in the Forest zone where many of the food crops in our mandate are rare . In trying to cover a large area in limited time we often found crops of interest bearing no fruit , or immature fruits . Severe drought during August and September, followed by flooding in October / November, especially in the north , resulted in poor crops and so restricted our collecting activity. 2. Compared with cowpeas in Nigeria those in Ghana have little diversity. Spreading, photosensitive types of few kinds are interplanted with pearl millet in the north (surprisingly rarely with sorghum). Only a nonphotosensitive type with red seed was found in the moist forest and rain forest regions. It is mos t commonly sown in April / May for harvest July/August . An interesting cowpea interplanted with Guinea yams is widespread around latitude 7 0 _8 0 N . It climbs to 5 m or more on trees and by late November bore no reproductive organs. Its phenology deserves attention . Wild V. unguiculata is abundant and di\\ierse in the northern moist semi-deciduous forest, but not elsewhere. 3. Lima beans are common in the moist deciduous forest zone. None that we saw showed golden mosaic virus symptoms. 4. Miscellaneous \"minor\" food legumes were encountered unexpectedly rarely. 5. The diversity of dry upland and swamp rice in the Sudan savanna deserves more attention than we had time to give. 6. All the cocoyams we found were Xanthosoma. Thev are everywhere in the south where farmers sav th~ cocoyams flower one year after planting in Apri1lMay. There were no reports of seed. 7. A h igh frequency of defoliated cassava (without Zonocerus) occurred where crops had suffered serious drought, perhaps aggravated by pathogens. 8. [n general, apparently sterile plants of D. rotunda/a were rare. A large proportion of females bore fruit.In some areas we found on~v fruiting females and wondered where the pollen had come from.In the Sokoto State of Nigeria, the deep-water and floating types of Oryza glaherrima are grown in the valley of river Sokoto which is a tributary of River ~iger and flows through the northwestern part. In recent years, lesser rainfall, damage due to plant-hoppers and introduction of sativa cultivars is fast changing the varietal picture of the area. In coming years embankment of the rivers and the development of dams and irrigation schemes will further alter the varietal spectrum 114 of the area. The collection of local cultivars of rice from this area was therefore considered an important and deserving priority. Collection of cowpea, Bambarra groundnut, cocoyam and yam was also undertaken during this trip with little additional cost.Altogether 262 samples of germplasm were collected from the whole area. Their area-wise and species-wise distribution is provided in the Table 3. In so far as rice is concerned, the farmers do not rogue their fields and often a number of cultivars grow in the same field. The two species, Oryza glaberrima and O. sativa are not differentiated by the farmers. The varietal diversity seems to be poor when compared with an area of equal size in southeast Asia.The farmers prefer cowpea to Bambarra ground nut for palatability and cultivate the former more often. Only two cultivars of cocoyam seem to be prevalent in the area. About 1,000 volumes of books and 2,000 volumes of periodicals (back and current volumes) were acquired during 1976, bringing the collection to 10,000 books and 15,000 volumes of periodicals. We also have 2,500 pamphlets and reprints plus microfiche, microfilm and slide-set collections. Our collection of French language agricultural publications is a lso growing and with the increased number of French-speaking training participants and visiting scientists , it. is being heavily used.During 1976, a bibliography on yams was completed and distributed . The bibliography brings together the scattered literature on the genus Dioscorta beginning from the 19th century to the year 1975. We intend to publish supplements to this bibliography from time to time.The bulk of the work was completed on a bibliography on farming systems research in Africa. A bibliography of plantains was also finished bringing together the world literature on the subject.The International Grain Legume Information Center is a special project of the Library and Documentation Center supported by an IDRC grant. Its objective is to collect, organize, and distribute information on selected tropical grain legumes worldwide. The Center publishes the \"Tropical Grain Legume Bulletin,\" a publication designed as an informal communication channel to keep grain legume workers around the world informed of developments in their field . Each issue contains abstracts of current grain legume literature ~Ti tte n by staff of the project in addition to contributions from scientists. Five issues of the \"Tropical Grain Legume Bulletin\" have been published and two issues are now in press.The Bulletin is currently distributed to 917 individuals and libraries in 92 countries.lIT A library collaborated with the libraries of the other international agricultural research institutes in the compilation of a union catalogue of theses and dissertat ions, and a union catalogue of periodicals available in the Centers' libraries. The union catalogue of theses and dissertations has been printed at ICRISAT and distributed. The catalogue of periodicals is being printed at CIAT.Communications and Information provides editorial, translation, print, photographic, and graphic art support for UTA research and training programs and also for administration and special projects.New efforts begun during 1976 that will be continued or expanded include design and development of exhibits and displays for use both on-and off-site , at field days and agricultural exhibitions, and initial planning and production of synchronized slide / tape presentations to orient visitors to the Institute. In the future, it is anticipated that such presentations will be developed to help individual seien-117 tists explain specific aspects of their work to interested visitors.A French-English translator joined the staff in ~oyember 1976 and a major thrust now is to publish in both languages.Preliminary screening of t he mailing list for IlTA publications now including more than 5,000 addresses was completed during 1976, and the lists will be programmed for computer printing of mailing labels. This will make it possible to readily identify specific audience groups and to channel relevant information to them. Existing publication categories are being reviewed and new ones will be developed to meet identified information needs."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"92c0f60f243e0448bc35562ad6441a5a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/4eb619a5-e108-48bd-89fd-a012d84b6283/content","id":"-1978846306"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"763b9e67-0b36-44bc-a0ef-97c7d979f045","content":"Around 30% of global food is produced by smallholder farmers, yet they constitute the most food-insecure group. In Mexico, food self-sufficiency is declining. Rural policies in the country have stimulated the production of cash crops to the detriment of the traditional intercropping system, the milpa. Such a decline may have negative consequences for the food security of subsistence farmers. This study aimed to assess changes in nutritional self-sufficiency over the last 30 years and the role of milpa systems in food security for two communities in the highlands of Oaxaca, Mexico. The study used satellite images, censuses, and field data to estimate food production. Three cropping systems, monoculture of maize, monoculture of common bean, and the milpa were compared in terms of nutrients and vitamins produced. Furthermore, a household typology was developed for each community to contrast nutritional self-sufficiency levels between the different household types. Results showed that the milpa produced more volume of food per area compared to the other systems. The milpa also produced all the nutrients and vitamins (except for B12) required to feed at least 2 persons ha -1 . Monocultures of maize lacked vitamins A, B9, B12, and C, and the common bean lacked vitamins A, B12, and C. While farmers recognized the importance of the milpa, they preferred monocultures due to the reduced labor demands of this system. Households that obtained most of their income from off-farm activities had the lowest nutritional self-sufficiency. Enhancing nutritional self-sufficiency through crop diversification has the potential to not only improve the nutrition of subsistence farmers, but also to enhance ecosystem service provision, promote biodiversity conservation and restoration, and improve resilience to climate change.There is a long-standing debate on the role of food self-sufficiency as a strategy for food security [1,2]. Food self-sufficiency refers to the ability of a country, region, or household to reach their food requirements without the need for importing food [3]. Food security is met when people have food availability, access, use, and stability [3]. Recent estimations show that rural households with less than two hectares of land, supply 30-34% of global food [4], and yet, the majority of people suffering from food insecurity also live in rural areas [5]. This food insecurity can be a consequence of drought, conflicts, land pressure, and poverty [6]. Furthermore, food security is threatened by the shift from diverse cropping systems towards more simplified systems, such as monocropping [7]. In Mexico, nation-wide food self-sufficiency has been declining since the country began relying more on imported staple grains [8]. Indigenous people constitute the most food insecure group in the country [9] with 70% of the indigenous population living in poverty, as opposed to 40% of the non-indigenous population [10]. Indigenous groups oftentimes rely on diverse and traditional agricultural systems [11], which offer a range of crops that contribute to overall human nutrition [12]. Yet, no study has quantified the contribution of such traditional systems to the food security and nutritional self-sufficiency of the rural poor in Mexico. In this study, we show how food production and nutritional self-sufficiency (i.e. availability) have changed over time (i.e. stability), while also addressing the role of food diversity provided by traditional agricultural systems (i.e. use) in feeding the local population (i.e. access).The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of 1994 had several political and social implications for Mexico, most notably, decreasing the country's food self-sufficiency and labor sovereignty (the ability of a nation to provide its citizens with living wages) and increasing out-migration (the process of moving from one place to another) [8]. To adjust to the NAFTA, Mexican policies incentivized households to move away from traditional food production systems and towards more economically productive crops [13]. Preibisch et al. [14] showed that although there was a strong disincentive to produce maize (Zea mays L.) after NAFTA, households continued to produce this staple crop. Novotny et al. (submitted) [15] showed similar results for the state of Oaxaca. They also found a decrease in crop areas associated with out-migration and an increase in off-farm income.In Mexico, the traditional maize production systems called milpa provide the basis for rural households' food supply. Milpa systems can be found throughout the Mexican territory [16], extending to South America [11]. In these systems, maize is usually inter-cropped with the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), and squash (Cucurbita spp.) [17]; with the crop species composition changing depending on the agroclimatic zone [11]. Milpa systems are important in affording food security because they increase household access to a diversity of food [16,18]. According to Mann [19], the diversity of crops found in the milpa is nutritionally and environmentally complementary. Although the milpa is a key component of the livelihood of rural families, only 6% of households can fully cover their needs from their own production [20]. In a study conducted in the Yucatan state, Leatherman et al. [21] related deficiencies in zinc and vitamins A and C to low milpa production. Nevertheless, the potential of the milpa to supply an adequate diet in terms of macro/micro-nutrients and vitamins and its role in nutritional self-sufficiency in rural areas, remains largely unexplored.To assess food security, studies have addressed major staple crops such as maize, wheat, rice, and other grains, and their caloric and protein supply. While these crops are important sources of calories and protein, they are usually not sufficient to provide a balanced diet. This requires more nutrition-sensitive approaches [22,23]. Recent studies have called attention to aspects of food security such as diversity of food sources and the nutritional quality of products in terms of micro-nutrient and vitamin provision [24][25][26]. Remans et al. [7] adapted the functional diversity metric used in ecology to a nutritional functional diversity metric. This metric considers species composition as well as their nutritional contributions. Cassidy et al. [27] introduced an assessment of the number of people nourished per area in terms of calories and proteins, which DeFries et al. [28] later refined this to include more nutrients.This study was carried out in the Mixteca Alta region, Oaxaca, where the political context has discouraged traditional systems, decreased interest in agricultural activities, and stimulated out-migration. We assessed how changes in the food production system associated with demographic changes have affected nutritional self-sufficiency in two communities in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico: Santa Catarina Tayata and San Cristo ´bal Amoltepec. Oaxaca is characterized by high migration levels, both nationally and internationally, and an increasing trend to pursue local off-farm activities as a livelihood strategy. These communities are representative of many others in Central America, in that the milpa still constitutes the basis of food production [11,29]. The objective of this study was to assess long-term changes in food demand and supply in a rural context and to analyze the role that the traditional agricultural systems play in local food security and nutritional self-sufficiency. The hypothesis is that milpa systems provide a balanced diet and that while demographic decline reduces the demand for food, it negatively affects milpa production due to reduced labor availability. To test our hypothesis, we investigated the following questions: 1) how has demographic decline caused by out-migration affected food security and nutritional self-sufficiency? 2) what are the nutritional benefits of the milpa compared to monocropping systems? and 3) what are the differences in nutritional self-sufficiency between household types? Answering these questions will inform the development of policies that support food security and the nutritional self-sufficiency of rural populations in conditions with net migration to cities.This study, part of the ATTIC project (under grant agreement A4032.09.20), was approved by the Production Ecology & Resource Conservation graduate school at Wageningen University & Research (project number PE&RC 15101). Consent was obtained orally and the data was analyzed anonymously.Both case study municipalities are situated in the highlands of Oaxaca. Santa Catarina Tayata (SCT) (Fig 1) has an area of 37 square kilometers (km 2 ) and is located at an elevation of between 2000 and 2500 meters (m) above sea level. The climate is sub-humid, with monthly average temperatures ranging from 16 to 18˚C, and annual rainfall between 1000 and 1200 millimeters (mm). Land use in SCT is composed of settlements, private land, and communal land. Settlements are usually agglomerates of houses interspersed with cropland. Private land consists of cropland and fallow land. Communal land includes forests and grassland, both of which are managed by the municipality's officials, who enforce rules for their management.San Cristo ´bal Amoltepec (SCA) (Fig 1) is spread over 32 km 2 at elevations of between 2100 and 2700 m. The climate is also sub-humid, with monthly average temperatures of 14 to18˚C, slightly lower than SCT. Annual rainfall ranges from 800 to 1000 mm. Land use in SCA is distributed in the same way as in SCT.The diversity in food produced varies across the area. Most simplified systems consist of maize and common bean grown as sole crops. Milpa systems in the area comprise maize intercropped with at least one of the following: common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), fava bean (Vicia faba), and squash (Cucurbita spp.). Although sheep production can potentially provide animal protein and vitamin B12, it is usually used as a 'savings account', rather than for consumption. Common bean varieties differ depending on the system, exhibiting a climbing or creeping behavior when grown in the milpa or as a sole crop, respectively.Household survey, population censuses, agricultural censuses, and production survey: A household survey was performed in December 2015 in SCT and in July 2016 in SCA. A total of 51 (25% of total) and 31 (10% of total) households were surveyed in SCT and SCA, respectively. The household survey included questions about family size, average crop production, migration, off-farm activities, and income sources. Demographic data at the municipal level was obtained from the population censuses of 1980, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010. Information on land size, cropping systems, crop yield, and animal production was gathered from the agricultural censuses of 1991 and 2007. To update the 2007 agricultural census, a survey was done between December 2018 and January 2019, and data on crop production, animal production, and labor requirements were collected. To estimate crop production, we visited 30 households in both SCT and SCA immediately after the harvest season. A total of 47 and 42 plots were considered for estimating crop production in SCT and SCA, respectively. Since farmers store their harvested maize and beans in 100 liter (L) tanks, 50 kilogram (kg) bags, or 4.5 kg cans, we counted these storage units as an estimate of total farm crop production. This method has proven to provide reliable results when performed soon after harvest [30]. We also counted the number of harvested squash fruits per farm, which we multiplied by an estimated average weight of 6.5 kg per fruit to obtain the total production in weight. To obtain crop yields in ton per hectare (t ha -1 ), we used Google Earth images with a shapefile containing all privatelyowned plots from the Registro Agrario Nacional (2019b) [31]. With this image, the 30 farmers were asked to identify their crop fields, the crops grown on these, the proportion of a field allocated to each crop (in the case that more than one crop was grown), and the type of intercropping. To estimate animal production, we focused our questions on sheep husbandry since this was the most common type of animal husbandry in the area (although households also usually have between 5 and 10 chickens). Farmers were asked about the size of the flock, the fields used for grazing, and whether these fields were private property or belonged to the community. Based on the total grazing area and the number of sheep, we estimated the stocking rate (sheep ha -1 ). To calculate labor demands per cropping systems, farmers were asked how many people and days were required to produce on a specific plot.Population sizes for 1991, 2007, and 2018, the years when agricultural census and production survey data were available, were estimated based on average growth rates derived from the population censuses. For instance, the average growth rate between 2005 and 2010 was used to estimate the population in 2007 based on the 2005 data. Similarly, the growth rate between 2010 and 2015 was used to project the population for 2018.Spatial data: For up to 3 years before or after the agricultural censuses, Landsat satellite images were acquired and evaluated. Based on our understanding of landscape dynamics in the area [32], we assumed that landscape changes within the 3 years would have negligible influence on subsequent analyses. Image availability and cloud coverage limited the data to 1989, 2010, and 2017. The images selected had been taken at the end of the crop season, allowing robust differentiation of land uses. To facilitate the identification of the different land uses, we overlaid a high-resolution image from Google Earth (WorldView-2; resolution of 0.5 m) with a shapefile containing all fields registered in the municipalities [33].Nutritional self-sufficiency at the municipal level. Total cropping area at the municipal level: To estimate the total crop production per municipality, a semi-supervised land use classification was performed to calculate the total cropland and grassland. This semi-supervised method consists of creating sample polygons based on visual interpretations of the different land uses. These polygons contain the average spectral signature that is used as input to train the classification algorithm and classify each pixel in the image [34]. To improve reflectance values we applied an atmospheric correction on the three Landsat images [35]. We used a high-resolution Google Earth image to select training samples for each aforementioned land use [36]. With the training samples, we applied a maximum likelihood algorithm, which resulted in a land use map for each of the 3 Landsat images [35,37].Actual crop production at the municipal level: The production P hij in the year h of crop j in municipality i in t ha -1 was calculated as:Where CA is the cropping area (ha, excluding fallow), CP is the proportion of the area occupied by a crop species, and CY is the crop yield (t ha -1 ).Actual sheep production at the municipal level: Sheep production SP was derived from the average number of sheep per household and an animal-to-meat conversion rate of 15 kg per sheep. The conversion rate was obtained from interviews and is within the range mentioned for mutton production in extensive, grass-fed systems in Mexico [38].Since maize is mostly consumed in tortilla form, we transformed the maize kernel production to tortilla. Based on farmer information, 1 kg of air-dried maize kernels produced around 1.4 kg of fresh weight tortilla, as water and calcium oxide are added in the process. For each plant and animal food source identified in the survey, we derived the provision of calories, protein, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamins A, B2, B3, B6, B9, B12, and C, using the concentrations shown in Table 1.The total nutrient or vitamin production TNP hli (unit dependent on the nutrient and vitamin) in year h for nutrient l in municipality i was calculated as:Where P hij is the production in year h of crop j in municipality i, NC lj is the content of nutrient l in crop j, SP hi is sheep production in year h and municipality i, and NM l is the content of nutrient l in mutton. A conversion factor of 1,000,000 was used to transform 1 g per food source (Table 1) to t.Actual nutrient requirements and nutritional self-sufficiency at the municipal level: Nutrient and vitamin requirements per person per year were derived from the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) [42], applying the methodology used by de Ruiter et al. [43] and DeFries et al. [28]. The DRI was used for the age group of 31 to 50 (S1 Table ), which is representative of the average age of the population. The requirements of pregnant or lactating women, as well as those of children were not considered in this study. The percentage of people fed PF lj for a given nutrient or vitamin l in a municipality j was calculated as: Where D l is the annual demand for nutrient or vitamin l (derived from 37) and POP j is the total population in municipality j. Average nutrient requirements and nutritional self-sufficiency at the municipal level: Apart from calculating actual nutritional self-sufficiency, we also calculated average nutritional selfsufficiency to minimize the effects of yield variation between cropping cycles. Average yields were reported by farmers during the survey in 2018. We repeated the steps above using the average crop yield to calculate average nutritional self-sufficiency.Cropping systems comparison. Nutrient and vitamin production per system: The system nutrient or vitamin production SNP jlm (unit dependent on the nutrient or vitamin) for nutrient or vitamin l produced in system m (i.e. milpa, sole maize, and sole bean) and in municipality j was calculated as:Labor: Labor efficiency L io of cropping system o in municipality i in kilogram per hour per hectare (kg h -1 ha -1 ) was calculated as:Where W is the total number of working days required in a cycle, 1000 is the t to kg conversion factor, and 6 is the conversion factor from working day to hours. Nutritional self-sufficiency at the household level. Household typology: A principal component analysis followed by a hierarchical cluster analysis was performed to classify households into types [44][45][46]. The following variables from the household survey were used in the analysis: family size, number of household members who migrated, income source (e.g. agriculture, off-farm, remittances, and subsidies), cropping area, number of crop species, and tropical livestock units (TLU) owned. After grouping the households into types, the nutritional self-sufficiency per type was calculated and compared.Nutritional self-sufficiency at the household level: Nutritional self-sufficiency at the household level was calculated using Eq 3 but considering the TNP at the household level and the total number of inhabitants per household.Cropping systems comparison: Based on our survey, average crop yields for the different cropping systems m were compared by the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test, using the PMCMR (version 2016-01-06) package in R (version 3.6.1).Between 1980 and 2015 the population in SCT declined from 864 to 679. In SCA, the population remained close to 1200 persons until 2010. From 2010 to 2015, however, the population declined from 1271 to 1004 (INEGI 2015(INEGI , 2010(INEGI , 1990) )  [47][48][49]. In SCT, there were 400 potential workers (aged between 16 and 60 years) in 1980 and 342 in 2010, with the lowest value of 290 recorded in 2005 (Fig 2). The portion of the population above the age of 60 increased from 33% to 94%. The increase of senior inhabitants may be the result of higher life-expectancy and an older population returning to their municipalities for retirement (a common phenomenon in SCT). The age pyramid thus shows an out-migration of people of working age. In SCA, the age structure was characterized by a large base of young people and a narrow tip of older people.Between 1989 and 2017 the cropping area decreased by 88 ha in SCT and by 113 ha in SCA. Despite a reduction in cropping activities, SCT showed higher maize yields and produced a larger volume of food with less area in 2018 compared to 1991 and 2007 (Table 2). In comparison with SCT, crop yields in SCA were lower for every year assessed.  The variation in crop yields, total cropping area, and population size across the years resulted in different levels of nutritional self-sufficiency (Fig 3). Overall, maize supplied the majority of nutrients and vitamins, but it lacked Zn and vitamins A, C, B9, B12, and C. SCT sustained food production to meet its population demands for nutrients and vitamins, with the exception of vitamins A, C, and B12. SCA did not reach self-sufficiency for several nutrients and vitamins. With a population of 1212 and low crop yields in 2007, SCA only reached self-sufficiency in phosphorous.Farmers in SCA reported that yields were below average in 2018. With average crop yields, SCA was shown to be self-sufficient for most nutrients and vitamins, except for Ca and vitamins A and C (Fig 4). Nevertheless, even with average crop yields there is little surplus of Zn and dietary energy, which indicates nutritional self-sufficiency sensitivity to changes in crop yields and population size in SCA.The milpa was the least common cropping system in 2018. It occupied around 5% and 10% of the total cropland of SCT and SCA, respectively. Milpa systems provided more persons per hectare with a complete set of nutrients and vitamins than sole crops of maize or common bean (Fig 5). Except for zinc and vitamins A, C, B9, and B12, milpa systems provided complete nutrition sufficiency for up to 3 persons ha -1 depending on crop yields and crop composition, while sole crops of maize and common bean provided enough to feed up to 2 and 0.5 persons ha -1 , respectively. As expected, all cropping systems performed better in SCT, as crop yields in the municipality were consistently higher than in SCA (Table 2). Maize plant density and yield in the milpa and as a sole crop were not statistically different in either community. Common bean yield in the milpa was significantly lower by a factor 3 than when grown as a sole crop (Kruskal-Wallis, P = 0.025). This was largely explained by the difference in plant density. In the milpa, maize constitutes the main crop while other species are normally added to the system in varying densities. Common bean is added as second crop at a plant density of 40,000 plants ha -1 compared to 100,000 plants ha -1 when grown as a sole crop. Farmers preferred to keep a lower common bean density in the milpa to avoid competition and consequently decrease of maize yield. Since fava bean and squash were only produced in the milpa, we could not compare their yields to sole crops. One hectare of traditional milpa provided enough nutrients and vitamins to feed at least two people per year in SCT and one in SCA when including zinc, vitamin A, C, B9, and B12.Comparing labor efficiency of the different cropping systems for each municipality, SCT produced more food per hour of labor than SCA (Table 3). In each municipality, maize systems produced the most food per hour of labor, with 5.0 kg h -1 ha -1 in SCT and 2.0 kg h -1 ha -1 in SCA. Bean had the lowest performance with 0.8 kg h -1 and 0.6 kg h -1 for SCT and SCA, respectively. When compared to maize, the milpa produced less food per hour worked. The difference in labor efficiency between maize and the milpa was 1.7 kg h -1 ha-1 in SCT and 0.2 kg h -1 ha -1 in SCA.A total of four and three household types were identified in SCT and SCA, respectively (Table 4). None of the household types produced sufficient amounts of vitamins A and C to meet their demands (Fig 6). Excluding these vitamins, the livestock and migration household types were self-sufficient. The relatively high level of self-sufficiency of the migration type was attributed to small households of an average of two persons (S6 Table ). The crop production type had similar levels of self-sufficiency to the migration type. Nevertheless, low animal production levels in the former group were reflected in an insufficient supply of vitamin B12. Despite having the lowest nutritional self-sufficiency, the off-farm type in SCT produced enough nutrients and vitamins to meet the household demand, except for vitamins A, C, and B12.Labor efficiency (kg h Livestock Mid-size family (4 inhabitants), low migration of family members (0 to 1 person), and 9 months of maize and bean self-sufficiency. Low number of cultivated crops (only maize and bean), focus on livestock production (TLU = 4.8) and medium contribution of animal production to the total income (34%).Mid-size family, low migration of family members (0 to 1 person), and 11 to 12 months of maize and bean self-sufficiency. Medium animal production (TLU = 2.0) and medium-high number of cultivated crops (3 to 4 species). Medium contribution of cropping activities to the total income (20%).Mid-size family, medium-high migration of family members (2 to 6 persons), and 11 to 12 months of maize and bean self-sufficiency. Medium animal production (TLU = 2.0) and medium-high number of cultivated crops (3 to 4 species). Medium contribution of remittances to the total income (20%).Off-farm Large-size family (6 inhabitants), low migration of family members (0 to 1 person), and 9 months of maize and bean self-sufficiency. Low animal production (TLU = 1) and a low number of cultivated species (2). Very high contribution of off-farm activities to the total income (90%).Off-farm Mid-size family, low migration of family members (0 to 1 person), and 10 months of maize and bean self-sufficiency. Low animal production, low number of cultivated species (1 to 2), high contribution of off-farm activities to the total income (60%).Small-size family (3 inhabitants), low-medium migration of family members (0 to 2 persons), and 9 months of maize and bean selfsufficiency. Low animal production and medium number of cultivated species (3). Medium contribution of off-farm activities (45%) and government support to the total income (30%).Medium-size family, low migration of family members (0 to 1 person), and 9 months of maize and bean self-sufficiency. Low animal production and medium-high number of cultivated species. High contribution of government support to the total income (70%).https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246281.t004In SCA, the diversified type was the only household type that achieved self-sufficiency for most nutrients and vitamins. The government support dependent type and the off-farm type did not achieve self-sufficiency for any nutritional element considered.Although SCT had a smaller cropping area, crop yields were higher and the population size smaller, resulting in greater surpluses of calories and protein. In SCA, a demographic decline from 1991 led to a decrease in the demand for food. Nevertheless, the low crop yields precluded achieving nutritional self-sufficiency for more than half of the nutritional elements assessed. SCA achieved nutritional self-sufficiency for all nutritional elements, except for dietary energy and vitamins A and C. Maize production provided greater quantities of most nutrients and vitamins in both SCT and SCA. The milpa provided a complete set of dietary energy, protein, vitamins, and micronutrients. Due to higher productivity levels in SCT, the milpa system fed up to 2 persons ha -1 y -1 with a deficiency of vitamins A, B9, and C, and zinc, and up to 4 and 5 persons ha -1 y -1 when dietary energy and protein were considered, respectively. The milpa yield for SCA was around half that of SCT. Monocultures of common bean and maize were deficient in several micronutrients and vitamins. Sole maize had a clear advantage over other cropping systems when considering labor efficiency, which explained why households tended to grow sole maize instead of the milpa. Although the common bean was the cropping system that produced the least volume per hour worked, households preferred to consume the creeping variety (grown as a sole crop) over the climbing variety (grown in the milpa system). The level of nutritional self-sufficiency depended on the household type. Overall, households that dedicated more time to off-farm activities had the lowest nutritional selfsufficiency. While every household type in SCT was able to fulfill nutrient and vitamin needs (except vitamins A and C), only the diversified household type in SCA provided sufficient amounts of nutrients for the family.Out-migration from the state of Oaxaca intensified in the late 1960s and led to demographic declines in various communities [54]. Low food security can trigger migration processes, and migration, in turn, can support agricultural activities through remittances [55,56] or increase households' capacities to buy food [57][58][59]. At the same time, the departure of a family member reduces labor availability, decreases pressure on resources, and increases food availability [60]. These arguments show that migration does not necessarily improve food security through investments in agriculture and, in some cases, can harm production systems because of reduced labor availability. As such, food sovereignty, which can be defined as, \"the right of people to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their food and agriculture systems\" [61], can be negatively affected. Sunam and Adhikari [62] used both the principles of food security and food sovereignty to explain the impacts of migration on food production and consumption in Nepal. Our data show similar connections between migration, food security, and food sovereignty. Results showed that the milpa has lower labor self-sufficiency when compared to sole maize. During the survey, farmers in the area showed that they understood that the milpa could produce more food volume but they argued that it required a high degree of labor (Table 4). This reflected other studies that have also related lack of interest in milpa systems to its relatively high labor demand [63,64].In recent years, studies of the dietary contribution of crops have shifted from a focus on energy and protein to the assessment of a set of nutritional values [7,23,28,43,65,66]. The milpa had a clear advantage over monocropping systems, especially concerning vitamins A and C, and Zn. Leatherman et al. [21] found a relationship between low milpa production and deficiencies of vitamins A and C, and Zn in Yucata ´n. Also in Yucata ´n, Calix de Dios et al. [67] showed that the milpa provided a little over six months of food self-sufficiency to the majority of households. Other studies have shown the advantage of polycropping systems for improving nutrition [7,68,69]. Our results showed that, in the municipality with lower crop yields, the milpa was particularly important since it provided higher crop diversity and produced more food per area when compared to monocrops of maize or bean.To bring milpa production back into farmers' systems for improving food security and nutritional self-sufficiency, efforts should target reducing required labor (or producing more with similar amounts of labor). Flores-Sa ´nchez et al. [70] showed that milpa production could be improved through better plant nutrition. Reyna-Ramı ´rez et al. [71] found higher milpa production in organic systems. Since weeding is the most laborious activity in the milpa, Parsons et al. [72] recommended using herbicides mid-season to avoid harming companion crops. Recommendations based on herbicide application should be considered prudently, as herbicides damage edible weeds (called quelites) that are usually also harvested in milpa systems [73]. Mulching has been recommended as a weed-suppression measure for several crops, and it could offer an alternative to hand weeding [74][75][76][77]. However, mulching croplands with residues would compete with fodder for animal nutrition. Finally, designing or adapting tools that would facilitate weeding in the milpa could facilitate weeding management and encourage farmers to use the system. Household engagement in off-farm activities and migration highlighted the differences in nutritional self-sufficiency between household types. In families marked by migration, the small household size resulted in lower demands for food. Consequently, these families produced sufficient food to meet their needs in SCT. In the Mexican context, the lack of available labor caused by migration is usually counteracted by hiring labor through remittance money, as shown by Cano et al. [78] and Barrientos and Magaña [79]. Households that dedicated more time to off-farm activities had lower food production and therefore lower nutritional self-sufficiency. Contrastingly, in an econometric study at a national level in China, Yang et al. [80], showed that neither migration nor off-farm income negatively affected production. Given the low crop yields in SCA, households struggled to reach their nutritional self-sufficiency. The diversified household type was the only group that managed to maintain their nutritional self-sufficiency. Low crop yields and self-sufficiency for smallholder farmers are widespread problems in Mexico, which is reflected in the country's high importation of staple foods such as maize and beans [81].While this study focused on two case study locations, the use of the milpa is decreasing across Mexico, and we showed how this affects communities' food security, food sovereignty, and nutritional self-sufficiency. The role of the milpa for food security is recognized [18,67,74,82], but this is, according to our knowledge, the first report of the nutritional value of a milpa system in terms of how many persons it can feed per area. The results will vary among locations, given the diversity of milpa systems [11]. The contribution of diversified cropping systems to greater nutritional self-sufficiency found in this study, however, may be applicable for other food-insecure areas in Latin America, Africa, and Asia [1,1,[83][84][85]. Furthermore, promoting nutritional self-sufficiency through crop diversification can contribute to several political agendas in the field of biodiversity conservation, provision of ecosystem services, and climate change resistance and resilience. For instance, Gurr et al. [86] showed that using crop diversification as an ecological intensification technique contributed to natural pest control in rice fields in China, Thailand, and Vietnam, thereby reducing 70% of the pesticide application and increasing economic gains by 7.5%. Kremen and Miles [87] inspected 12 studies to contrast monocropping systems with diversified system. They concluded that diversified systems offered clear benefits regarding pollination, carbon sequestration, soil quality, and were more resilient to climate change.This study had some limitations. Given the number of surveyed households and the number of plots considered, the performance of different cropping systems is unlikely to be representative of larger regions in Oaxaca. Nevertheless the benefits of the milpa may reflect those of other communities similar to SCA, especially when considering that Oaxaca is the third poorest state in Mexico [10] and had the sixth lowest maize yield in 2019 [88]. Each municipality produced adequate quantities of vitamin B12 from meat. Animals, however, usually act as safety-nets for households to deal with financial stresses, rather than as a food source. Therefore, vitamin B12 provision is likely to be less than what we calculated. Future research could test blood samples for deficiencies, along with dietary recall that includes the provenance of the food eaten [7,89]. Although we showed that food production in the area was not providing sufficient vitamin C, this does not necessarily mean that the population suffered from vitamin C deficiency. During our surveys, we observed that many households had citrus trees in their yard. Such minor food sources are not usually considered in the census data, making it harder to obtain a full panorama of food security and nutritional self-sufficiency. We focused on the nutritional supply and the population demand on an annual basis. This does not reflect food availability and consumption year-round, as several studies have shown that households usually face shortages in the months before the harvest season [67,[90][91][92][93]. Obtaining nutritional values for the different locally grown crops proved to be difficult. Even though Mexico is a hot spot for genetic diversity of maize and the common bean, very few studies are available that reveal the diversity in terms of nutritional value, which may be further affected by the production method and location [94,95]. Finally, in our analyses, we used the average population age for the dietary intake and did not consider children or pregnant women. The inclusion of these groups would provide a more nuanced perspective, as these categories are known to be particularly sensitive to nutritional deficiencies.At the municipal level, the combination of a large population and low crop yields poses a threat to nutritional self-sufficiency. The preference for a few monocultures (e.g. maize and beans) reduces the diversity of food produced, and may lead to a shortage of micronutrients and vitamins. As such, traditional cropping systems with a diverse species composition are recognized as being important for improving food security and the nutritional quality of diets. In the cases of the municipalities under study, the lack of available labor shifted farmers' preferences towards monocropping systems. Consequently, the production of diversified food was insufficient to meet the population's demand for a nutritiously balanced diet. Failing to achieve nutritional self-sufficiency can be particularly problematic for the impoverished and fragile rural communities. In such places, sustained self-sufficiency would provide a safety net for extreme conditions. Enhancing diverse production should thus address two aspects: stimulate households to produce diversified cropping systems, and increase crop yields. Given the low access to inputs in marginalized areas, agricultural development should focus on stimulating practices that maximize natural resources used to increase crop yields (e.g. ecological intensification). By promoting crop diversification rooted in ecological principles, political agendas could address problems regarding biodiversity, low ecosystem services provision, and poor resilience to climate change. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f47f96a5071eb12fadb754d51e127bb1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8f6a0c09-d9fe-4015-b0b3-08cddf35ac2d/retrieve","id":"-1565938564"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"659b37b9-9e4e-4b4a-962d-53e4c0ea86e5","content":"What are we about to discuss? For What Uses?• Focus on research using primary data collection • Guide for researchers to incorporate gender-sensitive approach in ways which respect, protect and benefit all participants and collaborators • Assist IRBs to evaluate gender issues of submissions Gathering Input Seeking your feedback!• What topics or issues do you think should be included that you haven't heard mentioned yet?• Do you have resources in mind that you think would be useful additions?• Do you have suggestions for improving the practical applications and uptake of the Toolkit?"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c2f4c5bd46ff36535cf9b901e5503777","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2600b287-14ff-418d-bf78-29a9266a3d95/retrieve","id":"1104295152"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6f7af7fc-7a1e-460e-8dc5-a847ec83e550","content":"O Centro Internacional para os Recursos Genéticos Vegetais (IBPGR) é uma organização científica internacional autónoma, sob os auspícios do Grupo Consultivo para a Investigação Agrária Internacional (CGIAR). O IBPGR, estabelecido pelo CGIAR em 1974, é composto pelo seu Presidente e por 15 membros; o seu Secretariado executivo é assegurado pela Organização das Nações Unidas para a Alimentação e Agricultura (FAO). A função principal do IBPGR, definida pelo Grupo Consultivo, é o fomento de uma rede internacional de centros de recursos genéticos para a promoção da colheita, conservação, documentação, avaliação e utilização do germoplasma vegetal contribuindo deste modo, para uma melhoria do nível de vida e do bem estar da população mundial. O Grupo Consultivo mobiliza apoio financeiro através dos seus membros de forma a prover às necessidades orçamentais do Centro.O Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária (INIA) é um \"serviço central\" do Ministério da Agricultura, Desenvolvimento Rural e Pescas (MADRP) a quem \"incube realizar as acções de investigação, experimentação e demonstração necessárias ao reforço das fileiras produtivas agrícola, pecuária e florestal, incluindo, designadamente, as conducentes ao melhoramento da produção e defesa do património genético, vegetal e animal\". O INIA, criado em 1974 como instituição integradora de todas as unidades de investigação do Ministério da Agricultura, \"é um organismo dotado de personalidade jurídica, autonomia administrativa e financeira e património próprio\". Compreendendo a nível central as Direcções de Serviços de Planeamento, Formação e Divulgação e de Gestão e Administração e a Divisão de Informação e Relações Públicas, o INIA engloba hoje, funcionalmente, as seguintes \"unidades orgânicas\": AEstação Agronómica NacionalEsta lista de descritores para Phaseolus vulgaris é uma tradução da versão original do IBPGR (actualmente IPGRI), que foi publicada em 1982, de acordo com as indicações técnicas dadas, sobre os descritores e estádios dos descritores, por especialistas de todo o mundo (ver Anexo II). Esta versão portuguesa foi realizada no âmbito do projecto financiado através do Instituto Internacional para os Recursos Genéticos Vegetais (IPGRI). O Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária (INIA), através da Estação Agronómica Nacional (EAN), conjuntamente com o IPGRI, implementa, técnica e financeiramente, o projecto, The Lusophone Initiative on Plant Genetic Resources -collaboration between Portugal and the Lusophone Countries of Africa. Este projecto tem como objectivos principais a implementação e/ou consolidação das estruturas, de colheita, conservação, documentação e utilização sustentável dos recursos genéticos vegetais nos países africanos de língua oficial Portuguesa (PALOP). E é no âmbito deste projecto que se enquadra a tradução e adaptação da presente lista de descritores para o feijão.O IPGRI promove o registo de dados nas primeiras quatro categorias desta lista: 1. Amostra, 2. Colheita, 3. e 4. Caracterização e avaliação preliminar, recomendando que os dados contidos nestas categorias devam estar disponíveis para todas as amostras. Os descritores, a partir do número 5, permitem a codificação de dados da caracterização e avaliação posterior e podem servir como exemplo para criar descritores adicionais no formato IPGRI.Apesar da actual proposta de codificação não dever ser tida como definitiva, este formato tem, no entanto, o apoio do IPGRI e é promovido globalmente. Esta lista de descritores é apresentada em formato internacionalmente aceite e proporciona uma \"linguagem\" universalmente compreensível para a codificação de dados sobre recursos genéticos vegetais. A adopção do presente esquema para a codificação de todos os dados, ou, pelo menos, a produção de um método de transformação para converter outros esquemas para o formato IPGRI, constitui um meio rápido, eficiente e de confiança, para o conservação, acesso e troca de informação e promove a utilização do germoplasma. Recomenda-se, assim, que a informação deverá ser produzida seguindo, o mais fielmente possível, esta lista de descritores, no que diz respeito a: ordenação e numeração dos descritores; utilização dos descritores especificados; e utilização dos estádios recomendados para os descritores.A tradução e adaptação desta lista de descritores segue de uma forma aproximada a versão original do IBPGR. No entanto, para que o conteúdo desta esteja também de acordo com as ultimas disposições do IPGRI, fizeram-se pequenas alterações. Deste modo, os descritores que tenham sofrido alguma alteração serão assinalados com a letra X-a seguir à numeração do mesmo. Foram também acrescentados 4 Anexos.O Anexo I contém os descritores de Gestão que fornecem as bases para a gestão das amostras no banco de germoplasma assim como para as actividades de multiplicação/regeneração. O Anexo IV contém os descritores do local de colheita e ambientais. O Anexo V contém os descritores de passaporte multicultural desenvolvidos conjuntamente pelo IPGRI e a FAO, para estabelecer esquemas de codificação consistentes para descritores comuns entre culturas. Estes descritores visam ser compatíveis com futuras listas, do IPGRI, para descritores de Prefácio v culturas e com a \"FAO World Information and Early Warning System (WIEWS) sobre Recursos Genéticos Vegetais\". O Anexo VI contém Referências bibliográficas.O IPGRI agradece sugestões que conduzam ao aperfeiçoamento dos descritores para Phaseolus vulgaris.vi Phaseolus vulgarisO IBPGR utiliza as seguintes definições na documentação de recursos genéticos vegetais:Dados de passaporte (identificadores da amostra e informação registada pelos colectores)ii) Caracterização (consiste no registo daquelas características que são altamente hereditárias, que podem ser facilmente observáveis a olho nu e que se expressam em todos os ambientes);iii) Avaliação preliminar (consiste no registo de um número adicional limitado de características tidas como convenientes, por consenso dos utilizadores de determinada cultura); X-iv) Avaliação posterior (consiste no registo de um número adicional de descritores considerados úteis ao melhoramento da cultura); X-v) Gestão (fornecem as bases para a gestão dos acessos no banco de germoplasma e informam as actividades de multiplicação/regeneração).A caracterização e a avaliação preliminar são da responsabilidade dos curadores, enquanto que a caracterização e avaliação posterior deverão ser realizadas pelos melhoradores. Os dados resultantes da avaliação posterior deverão ser enviados aos curadores que manterão os registos adequados.As normas aceites internacionalmente para a recolha de dados, codificação e registo do estádio dos descritores são as seguintes: X-a) Sistema internacional de unidades (Sistema SI). As unidades a serem usadas são dadas entre parêntesis rectos seguido do nome do descritor Número de acesso Este número serve como identificador exclusivo para o acesso e é atribuído pelo curador quando a amostra dá entrada na sua colecção. Uma vez atribuído a um acesso, este número não deve, sob nenhum pretexto, ser atribuído a nenhum outro acesso da colecção. Mesmo no caso de perda ou eliminação do acesso, o número de acesso não deverá ser reutilizado. O número de acesso pode ser composto de letras que identifiquem o Banco de Germoplasma ou o Sistema Nacional, seguidas pelo número (e.g. MG indica um acesso originário do Banco de Germoplasma de Bari, Itália, PI indica um acesso do sistema dos EUA).Nome do doador Nome da instituição ou indivíduo responsável pela doação do germoplasmaNúmero de identificação do doador Número atribuído à amostra pelo doadorOutros números associados à amostra Outros números podem ser registados como 1.4.3 etc. Qualquer outro número de identificação, para além do número de colheita (ver 2.1), que se saiba existir, para a mesma amostra, noutras colecções, (e.g. USDA número de inventário). 1 São reconhecidas três variedades botânicas distintas:-vulgaris: todas as formas cultivadas (registar como vulgaris) -aborigineus: formas espontâneas Sul-Americanas, caracterizadas pelas pequenas bractéolas e relativamente grandes sementes (registar como aborigineus) -formas espontâneas Mexicanas: não existe denominação em latim. Bractéolas grandes, ovais e sementes muito pequenas (registar como Mexicano) -infestantes: Estes tipos são frequentemente colhidos nos centros de origem (registar como Infestantes)Pedigree / nome da cultivar Nomenclatura e designações atribuídas ao material de melhoradorA data no qual a amostra deu entrada na colecção, expressos numericamente X-1.8 Data da última regeneração ou multiplicação [AAAAMMDD] 1.9Tamanho do acesso O número aproximado de sementes ou plantas de uma amostra na colecção 1.10 Número de vezes que o acesso foi regenerado Número de regenerações ou multiplicações desde a colheita da amostra originalNúmero de colheita Número original atribuído pelo colector da amostra, normalmente composto pelo nome ou iniciais do(s) colector(es) seguido de um número. Esta informação é essencial para a identificação de duplicados mantidos em diferentes colecções e deve acompanhar sempre as sub-amostras para onde quer que elas sejam enviadasInstituto colector Instituto ou pessoa que colhe/patrocina a colheita da amostra originalX-2.4 País de colheita Nome do pais onde se colheu ou melhorou a amostra. Utilizar as abreviaturas de três letras do código padrão internacional (ISO) para os nomes de países, Codes For The Representation Of Names Of Countries, No. 3166, 4 a edição. Podem-se solicitar cópias desta lista a DIN: Deutsch Institut für Normung e. V., 10772 Berlim, Alemanha; Tel. 30-2601-2860; Fax 30-2601-1231. Tlx. 184 273-din-d.Província/estado Nome da principal subdivisão administrativa do país onde a amostra foi colhida X-2.5 Distrito/concelho Nome da subdivisão administrativa secundária do país onde a amostra foi colhida 4 Phaseolus vulgarisLocalização do local de colheita Número de quilómetros e direcção da cidade, vila ou aldeia mais próxima ou referência a quadrícula de mapa (e.g. Timbuktu 7S significa 7 km a sul de Timbuktu)Latitude do local de colheita Graus e minutos seguidos por N (norte) ou S (sul) (e.g. 1030S). No caso de faltar informação (minutos) deverá ser indicada com um hífen (e.g. 10-S)Longitude do local de colheita Graus e minutos seguidos por E (este) ou W (oeste) (e.g. 07625W). No caso de faltar informação (minutos) deverá ser indicada com um hífen (e.g. 076-W)Altitude Média de 5 plantas. Para plantas de hábito indeterminado: desde a base até à primeira inflorescência axilar. Para plantas de hábito determinado: desde a base até à inflorescência terminalNúmero de dias desde a emergência até ao estádio em que 50% das plantas estão em floraçãoNúmero médio de gomos florais de 10 plantas, por observação de uma inflorescência por cada planta 2Observação efectuada em flores acabadas de abrir; as cores das flores são altamente variáveis após a abertura Observada em vagem imatura mas completamente desenvolvida (ver Fig. 1). Genótipo provável Série Série amarelo-preto verde-vermelho (todos rK)  6. Dados da planta 6.1 VegetativoMédia, em centímetros, de 10 plantas, medido quando a primeira folha está completamente expandidaGenótipo provável 1 Roxo P-C-V-Me 2 Verde P-C-vv 99 Outra (especificar no descritor, X-6.4 Notas) Média de 10 plantas (em plantas à densidade de cultura)Média, em milímetros, de 10 plantas, por observação de uma inflorescência por cada planta 4Média, em milímetros, medido nas flores mais velhas de 10 plantas, por observação de uma inflorescência por cada planta 4Número de dias entre o aparecimento das primeiras flores em 50% das plantas até que 50% das plantas tenham acabado de florir 6.2.12 Posição da vagem na planta 1 Basal 2 Central 3 Apical 4 Combinação de 1, 2 e 3 99 Outra (especificar no descritor, X-6.4 Notas)Média, em milímetros, da largura das maiores vagens imaturas mas completamente desenvolvidas, de 10 plantas normais, ao acaso  Estas reacções são codificadas numa escala de 1-9 (em relação a controlos conhecidos), onde:   Aspecto do declive Exposição do declive onde a amostra foi colhida. Descrever a direcção com N, S, E, W (e.g. Um declive na direcção de sudoeste tem a notação SW)Sistema agrícola (Adaptado de FAO 1990) 1 Culturas anuais 2 Culturas perenes Vegetação de «fórbios» (tipo de vegetação dominada por herbáceas de aspecto não graminóide) 3Floresta (manto contínuo de árvores, com copas a sobreporem-se e um grande número de espécies arbóreas e arbustivas em níveis distintos) 4Bosque (manto contínuo de árvores, geralmente as copas não se tocam, onde níveis inferiores podem ou não estar presentes) 5Mata (manto contínuo de arbustos, com copas a sobreporem-se) 6Savana (herbáceas com um manto descontínuo de árvores e arbustos) 99 Outro (especificar na secção de notas apropriada, 1.23) Anexo IV 33 1.8 Materiais originários (Adaptado de FAO 1990) Duas listas de exemplos de materiais originários e de rochas são fornecidas abaixo. Uma definição geral ou especifica do material originário depende da fiabilidade da informação geológica e conhecimento da litologia local. O termo sapropelito é usado se o material do meteorizado in situ estiver totalmente desagregado, sendo rico em argila, mas ainda apresentando uma estrutura rochosa. Depósitos aluviais e coluviais derivam de um único tipo de rocha. Estes podem ser designados pelo tipo de rocha que os originou.   Indicar para a temperatura diurna (média, máxima, mínima) ou sazonal (média, máxima, mínima) Especificar a média sazonal e a temperatura mínima de sobrevivência. Fornecer o número de horas de luz/dia mensal (média, máxima, mínima) ou sazonal (média, máxima, mínima)Qualquer outra informação relevante pode ser especificada neste descritor.Esta lista de descritores de passaporte multiculturais tem sido desenvolvida conjuntamente pelo IPGRI e FAO, de modo a estabelecer esquemas de codificação padronizados para descritores de passaporte comuns entre culturas. Estes descritores visam ser compatíveis com futuras listas, do IPGRI, de descritores de culturas e com os descritores a serem usados para o WIEWS (FAO World Information and Early Warning System) sobre recursos genéticos vegetais. Esta lista não deverá ser considerada como uma lista mínima de descritores, uma vez que muitos descritores de passaporte adicionais são essenciais para a descrição de culturas e necessitam ser registados. Este documento lista um conjunto de descritores de passaporte comuns, num nível multicultural. Posteriormente, poderá ser alargada com descritores multiculturais adicionais. Por exemplo, descritores que lidam com o uso de germoplasma não são incluídos, mas a sua adequação para a inclusão ao nível multicultural será estudada. Um futuro alargamento poderá também resultar no desenvolvimento de uma lista especializada de descritores comuns a nível de grupo cultural. Esta é a versão mais recente da lista (1997), que contém duas secções. Aúltima (FAO WIEWS Descriptors) inclui uma lista de descritores opcionais utilizados pela FAO wiews. Alista fornece descritores com esquemas de conteúdo e codificação, mas também fornece nomes de campo (entre parêntesis), que pode facilitar o intercâmbio deste tipo de informação.Código institucional (INSTCODE) Código do instituto onde a amostra é conservada. Consiste num código nacional ISO 3166 de 3 letras do país onde se situa o instituto, mais o número ou acrónimo tal como vem especificado na base de dados sobre institutos, que será disponibilizada pela FAO. Os códigos preliminares (i.e. Códigos ainda não incorporados na base de dados institucional da FAO) começam com um asterisco, seguido pelo código nacional ISO 3166 de 3 letras e um acrónimo 2.Número de acesso (ACCENUMB) Este número serve como identificador exclusivo para a amostra e é atribuído pelo curador quando a amostra dá entrada na sua colecção. Uma vez atribuído a um acesso, este número não deve, sob nenhum pretexto, ser atribuído a nenhum outro acesso da colecção. Mesmo no caso de perda ou eliminação do acesso, este número não deverá ser reutilizado. O número de acesso é composto de letras que identifiquem o Banco de Germoplasma ou o Sistema Nacional seguidas pelo número (e.g. IDG indica um acesso originário do Banco de Germoplasma de Bari, Itália, CGN indica um acesso do Banco de Germoplasma de Wageningen, Holanda; PI indica um acesso do sistema dos EUA).Número de colheita (COLLNUMB) Número original atribuído pelo(s) colector(es) da(s) amostra(s). Normalmente é composto pelo nome ou iniciais do(s) colector(es) seguido de um número. Esta informação é essencial para identificar duplicações mantidas em diferentes colecções e deve sempre acompanhar as subamostras para onde quer que estas sejam enviadas.Género (GENUS) O nome do género para o taxon. Letra inicial maiúscula.Espécie (SPECIES) Epíteto específico que faz parte do nome científico, com a letra inicial minúscula seguido da autoridade 1 e da abreviatura permitida: \"sp.\" 6. Subtaxa (SUBTAXA) O subtaxa pode ser utilizado para incluir um qualquer identificador taxonómico adicional, mais a autoridade 1 . Seguindo-se a abreviatura permitida: \"ssp.\" (para a subespécie); \"var.\" (para a variedade); \"convar.\" (para a convariedade), \"f.\" (para a forma).Nome da amostra (ACCNAME) Quer a designação registada ou outra designação formal atribuída à amostra. A primeira letra é maiúscula. Os nomes múltiplos são separados com ponto e vírgula.País de colheita (ORIGCTY) Nome do pais onde se colheu ou melhorou a amostra. Utilizar as abreviaturas de três letras do código padrão internacional (ISO) para os nomes de países (i.e. o actual ou antigo código nacional ISO 3166 de 3 letras para país). 9.Localização do local de colheita (COLLSITE) A informação da localização, colocada abaixo do nível do país, descreve onde a amostra foi colhida, começando-se com a informação mais detalhada. Pode incluir a direcção e a distância em quilómetros da vila, aldeia ou ponto de referência no mapa mais próximo, (e.g. Curitiba 7S, Paraná significa 7 km de Curitiba no estado do Paraná). 10. Latitude do local de colheita (LATITUDE) Graus e minutos seguido de N (Norte) ou S (Sul) (e.g. 1030S). No caso de faltar informação (minutos), deverá ser indicado com um hífen (e.g. 10-S).11. Longitude do local de colheita (LONGITUDE) Graus e minutos seguido de E (Este) ou O (Oeste) (e.g. 0725W). No caso de faltar informação (minutos), deverá ser indicado com um hífen (e.g. 076-W). 12. Altitude do local de colheita (ELEVATION) A elevação do local de colheita expressa em metros acima do nível médio do mar. São permitidos valores negativos. 13. Data da colheita da amostra original [AAAAMMDD] (COLLDATE) (DONORCODE) Código do instituto doador. Consiste no código nacional ISO 3166 de 3 letras do país onde se situa o instituto, mais o número ou acrónimo, tal como vem especificado na base de dados sobre institutos, que será disponibilizada pela FAO. Os códigos preliminares (i.e. Códigos ainda não incorporados na base de dados institucional da FAO) começam com um asterisco, seguido pelo código nacional ISO 3166 de 3 letras e um acrónimo. 17. Número do instituto doador (DONORNUMB) Número atribuído a uma amostra pelo doador. Antecedendo o número, devem-se colocar letras que identifiquem o Banco de Germoplasma ou o Sistema Nacional (e.g. IDG designa um acesso que provém do Banco de Germoplasma de Bari, Itália; CGN designa um acesso do Banco de Germoplasma de Wageningen, Holanda; PI assiná-la uma amostra dentro do sistema dos EUA). 18. Outro(s) número(s) associados ao acesso (OTHERNUMB) Qualquer outro número conhecido, que exista para este acesso, noutras colecções. Antecedendo o número, devem-se usar letras que identifiquem o Banco de Germoplasma ou o Sistema Nacional (e.g. IDG designa um acesso que provém do Banco de Germoplasma de Bari, Itália; CGN designa um acesso do Banco de Germoplasma de Wageningen, Holanda; PI assinala um acesso dentro do sistema dos EUA). Números múltiplos podem ser adicionados e devem ser separados com ponto e vírgula.As observações de campo são usadas para acrescentar notas ou para especificar no descritor com valor 99 (outro). Colocar em prefixo as observações com o nome de campo a que se refere seguido de dois pontos (e.g. COLLSRC: beira de estrada). Separam-se as observações referentes a campos diferentes com ponto e vírgula.Localização de duplicados de segurança (DUPLSITE) Código do instituto onde o duplicado de segurança é conservado. Consiste num código nacional ISO 3166 de 3 letras do país onde se situa o instituto, mais o número ou acrónimo tal como vem especificado na base de dados sobre institutos, que será disponibilizada pela FAO. Os códigos preliminares (i.e. Códigos ainda não incorporados na base de dados institucional da FAO) começam com um asterisco, seguido pelo código nacional ISO 3166 de 3 letras e um acrónimo). Números múltiplos podem ser adicionados e devem ser separados com ponto e vírgula.Disponibilidade de dados de passaporte (PASSAVAIL) (i.e. em adição ao que foi fornecido) 0 Não disponível 1 Disponível 3.Disponibilidade de dados de caracterização (CHARAVAIL) 0 Não disponível 1 Disponível 4.Disponibilidade de dados de avaliação (EVALAVAIL) 0 Não disponível 1 Disponível 5.Tipo da aquisição da amostra (ACQTYPE) 1 Colhido/produzido originalmente pelo instituto 2 Colhido/produzido originalmente pela missão conjunta/instituto 3 Recebido como um depósito secundário 6. Tipo de conservação (STORTYPE) Tipo de conservação do germoplasma. Se o germoplasma é mantido sob diferentes tipos de conservação, são permitidas escolhas múltiplas, separadas por ponto e vírgula (e.g. 2;3). (Referindo os padrões para Bancos de Germoplasma da FAO/IPGRI de 1994, para detalhes do tipo de conservação).1 Curto prazo 2 Médio prazo 3 Longo prazo 4 Colecções in vitro 5 Colecção de campo 6 Criopreservação"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"57240a40f1bd5ab999bab4f89e8a350b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ac39838e-4fb3-46c5-8a22-1cdd2f7a5c8a/retrieve","id":"2128123456"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"33aab727-acbf-4098-9383-dca45c597812","content":"Farming systems that support locally diverse agricultural production and high levels of biodiversity are in rapid decline, despite evidence of their benefits for climate, environmental health, and food security. Yet, agricultural policies, financial incentives, and market concentration increasingly constrain the viability of diversified farming systems. Here, we present a conceptual framework to identify novel processes that promote the emergence and sustainability of diversified farming systems, using three real-world examples where farming communities have found pathways to diversification despite major structural constraints. By applying our framework to analyze these bright spots in the United States, Brazil, and Malawi, we identify two distinct pathways-network and institutional-to diversification. These pathways emerge through alignment of factors related to social and ecological structure (policies, institutions, and environmental conditions) and agency (values, collective action, and management decisions). We find that, when network and institutional pathways operate in tandem, the potential to scale up diversification across farms and landscapes increases substantially.Continued simplification of agricultural landscapes is causing biodiversity loss, soil and water degradation, erosion of local knowledge systems, and climate change, 1,2 destabilizing the global supply of nutritious food. 3 Global and national trends in the diversity of traded commodities (e.g., corn, palm oil, soy-beans, wheat) have increased in the last decades, 4 as indicated by an increasing number of crops contributing to domestic food supplies. 5 Yet, these trends should not be confounded with actual farm-or landscape-level biodiversity, which has declined around the globe. [6][7][8][9] Simultaneously achieving the cross-disciplinary targets of the ''Zero Hunger'' United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 2) as well as global targets on climate change and biodiversity loss will require transforming simplified agricultural systems to help reverse these diversity declines. [10][11][12] We define diversification of farming systems as intentional management to increase the diversity of agricultural plants and animals and non-agricultural biodiversity from field to landscape scales. 13 Such systems can be viewed as transitioning or transformed. The process of transitioning farm management systems takes resources and experience, often proceeding through recognized phases in which diversification efforts emerge and eventually result in system transformation. Transformation represents system redesign; for example, from managing simplified monocultures to managing high levels of crop and livestock diversity. 14 The benefits of farming system diversification are supported by fundamental principles from research on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning 15,16 as well as experiments and observational studies in agricultural systems 17,18 and regional or national trends. 19,20 These studies show that use of diversification practices (e.g., cover crops and agroforestry; Box 1) supports ecological interactions that increase ecosystem services, such as improved crop yields, soil organic carbon storage, pest and disease control, and increased resilience to drought and other shocks. At the landscape level, diversified farms create a more biodiversity-friendly matrix that can provide multiple benefits, such as pollination, habitat for wildlife, and improved water quality. 21 Diversified farming systems can also increase farmers' and consumers' access to a diverse selection of foods and markets, potentially improving food and nutrition security locally and the quality of human diets through direct (i.e., growing more diverse species or varieties) and indirect (e.g., generating income to purchase food products that enhance diets) mechanisms. [22][23][24] Over the last 150 years, macro-scale, or structural, factors related to political and economic forces have driven increasing specialization, simplification, and adoption of industrialized technologies on farms as well as an increase in farm size in many countries. 25 In contrast, public policies or laws that promote diversification practices in agricultural landscapes are not widespread, 26 nor is investment in development of seeds, crop mixes and rotations, and equipment to promote profitable diversified farms in specific contexts. 27,28 These structural conditions influence the ''odds'' of diversification-the balance of enabling and constraining factors-so that many diversification efforts now struggle against the odds.In this paper, we draw on two well-established frameworks, social-ecological systems and the multi-level perspective (MLP), to identify pathways to diversified farming systems that overcome major structural constraints. Briefly, a social-ecological systems perspective [29][30][31] recognizes that farming practices and outcomes are shaped by a complex suite of factors, including ecosystem processes, infrastructure and technologies, markets, institutions, knowledge, social norms, and attitudes and behaviors. The MLP 32 identifies driving forces that facilitate sustainability transitions within social-ecological systems, shedding light on processes that interact and align across three distinct levels to spread innovations. 33 Within the MLP, the ''niche'' level is where innovations, such as farm diversification, often emerge and develop; the ''regime'' is the dominant social-ecological system (e.g., policies, institutions, and norms of simplified agriculture); and the third level is the wider ''exogenous context'' (i.e., trends or shocks that create windows of opportunity for transitions). 33,34 Inspired by the literature on social-ecological systems and the MLP as well as our experience working across global contexts on transitions to diversified farming systems, we developed and applied a conceptual framework to identify novel interactions between structural and behavioral factors that permit the expansion of diversified farming systems. We applied our framework to analyze three ''bright spots'' 35,36 -cases in the United States Midwest, southern Brazil, and northern Malawi-that span disparate farming system types and socioeconomic Box 1. Definitions of terms related to diversified farming systems Agrobiodiversity, agricultural diversity: the varietal and species diversity used directly or indirectly for agricultural production and food, including harvested crops, livestock, and fish, and wild biodiversity, such as tree products or wild animals or fish, as well as non-harvested species that support agricultural production (e.g., soil microorganisms, pollinators). Agroecology: a scientific discipline, suite of farming practices, and social movement transforming food systems toward sustainability. Agroecosystem: an ecosystem managed for production of food, feed, fuel, or fiber, including interactions between biotic and abiotic components and flows of energy and matter. The scale of an agroecosystem can vary depending on the research question but is most often considered to be a field or farm. Associated biodiversity: the subset of agrobiodiversity that includes organisms that support agricultural production and is not directly managed by farmers (e.g., the soil food web, herbivores, natural enemies, pollinators). Diversified farming systems; diversification practices: the use of planned crop, fish, and livestock diversity, which influences associated biodiversity across scales. Example practices include agroforestry, cover crops, crop rotation complexity, intercropping, integration of crops and livestock, landscape complexity, native habitat retention, organic amendments, riparian buffers, rotational grazing of livestock, and varietal diversity. Farming system: the land area owned or farmed by a particular farming household, including managed areas and surrounding habitats. Food system: the set of activities linking people to food, spanning production, distribution, access, and consumption. Functional diversity: the diversity of functional traits present in an agroecosystem. Functional trait: characteristics of an individual organism that determine its effect on or response to the environment. Planned diversity: the diversity of domesticated species selected by farmers (e.g., crops, livestock, fish, etc.) conditions, which we selected to illustrate the broad utility of our framework (Table 1). While many traditional and Indigenous farming communities have maintained crop and livestock diversity (and are working against the odds and should be recognized as such), here we focus on specific cases where clusters of farmers have departed from regional trends toward simplified production to make a transition to diversified farming systems. We describe barriers and pathways to diversification in these three contrasting cases and identify links across them. Our analytical approach advances knowledge of specific mechanisms that increase resources to facilitate diversification in diverse global contexts. Building on insights from these case studies, we identify policy directions to help support and scale transition processes and transformation of farming systems.Through a series of workshops and meetings between 2019 and 2021, we developed a conceptual framework to assess processes that support or constrain farming system diversification and related outcomes for food security and environmental sustainability (Figure 1). The aim of this framework is to enable an integrated assessment of patterns and distributions of farming system diversity, the suite of factors influencing diversification transitions and transformation, and the social-ecological outcomes that accompany diversification when it occurs. Through a participatory and iterative process, our interdisciplinary team of scholars and policy advisors, working across domains of land management and biodiversity conservation in North and South America, Asia, and Africa, incorporated the knowledge and perspectives of a global stakeholder advisory group. We then further elaborated and revised the framework through two additional virtual meetings and multiple asynchronous exchanges with the stakeholder group over a 1-year period. This group included 18 members representing a range of (1) aca-demic, governmental, and non-governmental institutions, including farmer and international donor organizations; (2) subject expertise, including agricultural diversification, global change, economics, and ecology; and (3) region-specific knowledge.The conceptual framework is illustrated in Figure 1. The outer wheel of the framework includes four categories of factors related to social and ecological structure: political economy (e.g., trade and distribution of wealth and power), governance (e.g., markets and policies), environment (e.g., soil type, climate, and topography), and culture (e.g., social norms within the dominant regime), all of which often reinforce, or lock in, simplified production systems. For example, a small number of companies control commodity crop production and flows and accumulate wealth in food systems. 47,48 Horizontal and vertical integration of supply chains, supported by national policy incentives and government subsidies, has created economic inequities and an increase in agricultural specialization. 25 Similarly, corporate influence over research and development, which focuses on input-dependent, simplified agriculture, deepens this path dependency. 27,49,50 These structural barriers increasingly constrain individual farmers' ability to engage in diversification practices on their farms, 51 yet researchers often neglect these large-scale constraints. 51,52 Instead, most of the literature on adoption of diversification practices has emphasized individual-level factors that may explain farmers' management decisions, 52 such as typologies of attitudes, behaviors, and values; [53][54][55] sociodemographic variables (e.g., education level and income); 52 perceptions of risk; 56 and other farm characteristics (e.g., land tenure). However, the importance and effects of these factors vary across contexts so that they are not always significant predictors in models of adoption. 52,57 Consequently, there is growing awareness of the importance of institutional factors and structural barriers to farm diversification 51,52 as well as the need to integrate quantitative and qualitative approaches to understanding them. 30  Data are from surveys and field work conducted by the author team in the case study regions. [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46] Despite structural constraints, the exercise of agency and innovation by farmers and other actors (i.e., building on the attitudes, values, and actions of individuals and their social networks) produces niches or pathways to diversification and its attendant social 58,59 and environmental 16,18 benefits (Figure 1, middle wheel). These diversification practices are most often initiated ''from the bottom up'' through the growth of grassroots efforts by farmers, consumers, and their networks to advance environmental sustainability or social justice goals. 60,61 However, actors within the dominant regime can also introduce innovations, especially in response to bottom-up pressure or exogenous changes, such as climate change or pandemics, which might pressure institutions to reorient around farm diversification. This structural change can facilitate broader-scale mechanisms for diversification. 62 This framework therefore emphasizes how factors related to agency and structure can align and interact to mobilize resources (Figure 1, inner wheel) that increase the odds of agricultural diversification. Important resources include access to land, capital, and markets; knowledge, skills, and social networks; and technology and infrastructure to plant, harvest, and process diverse crops and livestock products (including seeds, equipment, and labor). 37,52,63,64 Finally, ecological functions on farms are governed by crop, livestock, and associated diversity at field, farm, and landscape scales (Figure 1; Box 1). Agricultural diversity is a continuum, influenced by several interacting dimensions of management systems, including use of crop and livestock diversity (and associated diversity, such as pollinators, soil microorganisms, etc.) across scales. 13 Other key dimensions that influence agricultural diversity are soil disturbance through tillage or other mechanical operations and use of external inputs. 65 Transitions to diversification will also manifest differently (e.g., riparian buffers, crop ro-tations, intercropping, grazing, or agroforestry; Box 1; Figure 1B) depending on the type of farming system and broader social and ecological contexts. Together, these social-ecological system interactions produce outcomes that also range along gradients: from food insecurity to food security, 23,24 unjust to just livelihoods, 58,66 and environmental pollution to provisioning of ecosystem services. 21 By applying our framework to understand the multi-level interactions that facilitate agricultural diversification and associated outcomes in distinct contexts, we show how multiple factors across scales align to increase resources to transform farming systems.In this section, we illustrate how interactions between agency and structure have increased agricultural diversity in three distinct contexts-the United States Corn Belt, southern Brazil, and northern Malawi-against the odds. We summarize evidence from these three cases, which were selected from sites where our author team has conducted long-term, on-farm research using interdisciplinary and participatory research methods.The United States Corn Belt in the upper Mississippi River Basin illustrates how bright spots of diversification can emerge and thrive even within a highly industrialized and simplified agricultural region. In many sub-watersheds of this region, 90%-95% of total land area is in corn and soybean production, 67 while diversified farming systems are rare. 8,68 For instance, only 3%-8% of harvested cropland includes cover crops in rotation. 69 The loss of species diversity in the Corn Belt has reduced (B) Schematic to illustrate specific examples of factors across these interacting levels in the three case studies: structure (governing boundaries in the case study regions), agency (photos of the farmer networks described in each case), resources (photos of local and regional markets), and farm diversity (from left to right: perennial alfalfa in strips with row crops, an agroforestry-mixed crop livestock system, and a mixed crop field with pigeon pea, cow pea, and acacia).ecosystem functions required to sustain productivity, such as complex trophic interactions and soil nutrient cycling. Instead, high-yielding commodity crops now depend on fossil-fuel derived inputs, leading to unintended but widespread ecological and social consequences, including the persistent hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico, 67 soil erosion, 70 and the decline of rural communities and local economies. 71 Structural constraints to diversification A confluence of political-economic, governance, socio-cultural, and environmental factors has led to extreme specialization in the United States Corn Belt (Table 1; Figure 2A). This transformation started with colonization by Euro-Americans and displacement of Native Americans in the mid-1800s. Following World War II and the start of the Green Revolution, policies encouraged use of synthetic inputs. Shifts in federal subsidies and insurance products in the Farm Bill (an omnibus law with a suite of agricultural and food programs) encouraged farm consolidation and simplification along with extension, credit, and other supports only for a few commodity crops. 72,73 Regional environmental conditions, including flat topography and former prairie soils, also facilitated land clearing and subsequent loss of biodiversity. 74 Beginning in 2005, new federal policies encouraging ethanol production-the Renewable Fuels Standards-have consolidated these trends. Approximately 35%-40% of United States corn now goes to ethanol production. 75 Increasing demand for corn and rising but unstable corn prices drive farmers to reduce crop diversity and capture economies of scale. Other legal factors reinforce simplification, such as a lack of regulation of non-point source pollution or of habitat clearing or retention in agricultural landscapes. 26 Weakening of anti-trust regulations has further concentrated input industries and commodity markets, creating power imbalances. 47 For instance, in 2011, just three firms (ADM, Corn Products International, and Cargill) controlled 87% of all wet corn milling in the United States, 25 and in 2018, the top four seed companies controlled 67% of the global seed market. 48 Consequently, most farmers only have access to seeds that grow best in simplified stands with inputs of synthetic chemicals, 76 and they now have limited access to markets for crops such as small grains and dry beans. 37 Development of the World Trade Organization and trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have exacerbated corporate concentration in global food systems. 77 These institutions co-evolved with new cultural norms and attitudes about agriculture, such as valuing the esthetics of ''clean'' and weed-free monocultures, and a competitive culture around achieving high yields, even above profitability. 38,78 Policymakers, particularly those who draft the Farm Bill, also focus on the need for intensification to ''feed the world,'' even though more than 50% of regional crop production is sold for livestock feed (and 89% of those feed calories produced are unavailable for human food supply). 79 Taken together, these factors produce large structural constraints to diversification.In a context that promotes specialization, a small subset of farmers dispersed throughout the United States Corn Belt have nonetheless increased the diversity of their cropping systems. They use practices that can mitigate the environmental impacts of monocultures, including diversified organic farming, 80 mixed crop and livestock production, 81 rotational grazing of livestock, 82 ''strips'' of native prairie plants, 83 and diverse rotations with continuous soil cover through cultivation of winter small grains and annual cover crops in the off season. 39,56 Behavioral variables positively associated with farm diversification include positive stewardship attitudes and awareness of conservation programs. 52,57 This bottom-up innovation on clusters of farms has co-evolved with and mobilized off-farm resources, 37 such as formation of new knowledge networks and organizations that increase financial capacity and access to information. 84 For example, Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) supports farmers' transitions to diversified management. 37,72,85 Formed in 1985, the network facilitates on-farm, participatory experimentation and horizontal knowledge exchange, especially through field days and conferences. Through these events, participants share technical information and spread new narratives promoting diversification as a ''practical'' way to support agricultural resilience and sustainability. The organization also works to increase access to financing, infrastructure, and markets to reduce the risks of diversifying rotations with crops such as small grains. 86 To diversify in this landscape, farmers creatively blend knowledge and resources from the dominant regime with the new knowledge systems and infrastructure they are developing through grassroots networks like PFI. They integrate information from commodity groups, Land Grant universities, extension agents, and technical service providers with on-farm experiments to develop new management systems. 37,38 They mitigate financial risks of transitioning through strategies like re-integrating crop and livestock production to increase enterprise diversity, transitioning to certified organic production to access price premiums, and enrolling in Farm Bill conservation programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), a working lands program that can support an array of diversification practices. 87 In turn, farmers' engagement with the institutions that primarily support simplification is slowly creating structural change within the dominant social-ecological regime, 37,88 with spillover effects that can facilitate transitions for a larger number of farmers. For instance, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, new research and extension programs focusing on organic and sustainable agriculture proliferated at Land Grant universities. 89 In 2015, a new ''whole farm'' insurance product became available through the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which is designed to support diversified crop and livestock producers and address limitations of former commodity-focused policies. 90 Pressure from grassroots groups also contributed to a large increase in cost-share payments for practices like cover cropping. EQIP payments to farmers planting cover crops, for instance, increased from $15 million in 2009 to $56 million in 2014 and 2015. 91 Still, commodity programs in the 2018 Farm Bill that support dominant monocultures receive approximately 2.4 times more funding than the federal voluntary conservation programs, limiting the ability of the latter to influence adoption of diversification practices. 92 In summary, often driven by attitudes and values related to the health of the environment and rural communities, farmers in the Corn Belt are building networks that provide social and professional support for diversification. This network pathway has, in turn, created new organizations and participatory research and increased social pressure for important, if still limited, changes within the dominant regime (Figure 2A).Brazil's settler colonial history has shaped farm diversity in its southern region, which encompasses the states of Parana´, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul. Prior to Portuguese settlement, Indigenous peoples in this area (including the Guarani and Kaingang) cultivated traditional crops such as cassava and hunted, fished, and gathered edible forest products. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Atlantic Forest was cleared by settlers for mining exploration and for large-scale cattle and coffee production, furthering Indigenous dispossession and simplifying a complex agricultural landscape with expansion of commodity monocultures. 93 In the 19th century, a new wave of European immigration occurred as the Brazilian government aimed to populate the region, with tens of thousands of predominantly Germans and Italians with a cultural history of cooperativism settling the land. 94,95 Farmers of European descent adopted mixed crop-livestock systems with crop rotations that combined South American staples, such as cassava, beans, and maize, with European forage crops, such as oats and vetch. The subtropical climate in southern Brazil allows farmers to grow an array of horticultural products and raise livestock across multiple growing seasons per year. The scale of farming in this region also tends to be smaller than in other rapidly industrializing regions of Brazil (e.g., the center west) because of constraints imposed by the varied, hilly topography and land distribution practices related to agrarian reform and family farm succession. 96 Today, agricultural management systems in this region are influenced by interactions between global and regional markets, government policies, and strong grassroots organizations.As European-descended farmers passed on their land to their children over generations, parcels of land grew smaller, while other farmers became landless or found themselves in precarious labor contracts on plantations. 97 From 1964 to the mid-1980s, following global shifts to Green Revolution practices, the Brazilian military dictatorship and subsequent governments promoted agricultural specialization and subsidized technologies, such as synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. 98 As a result, mixed crop-livestock systems fell out of practice across much of the region by the late 1980s. 99 A parallel rise occurred in large-scale soybean production and concentrated animal feeding operations for regional and export markets, particularly in the plains regions of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. 100 Government subsidies disproportionately accrued to export crops, supporting cultural narratives around agricultural modernization and Brazil's identity as an ''agricultural powerhouse,'' which emerged as Brazil expanded agribusiness production to boost economic growth through exports. 101 These factors interacted to create a regime that favors land concentration, industrial practices, and large-scale commodity production while hindering diversification practices (Figure 2B).To overcome these structural barriers, social movements and farmer networks in southern Brazil have developed a growing niche of diversified farming systems. As the government redemocratized in the late 1980s, land inequality and recognition of the negative environmental and health externalities associated with an industrial agricultural paradigm contributed to the organization of the Landless Workers Movement (Movimento do Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra [MST]), which advocates for agrarian reform and more sustainable forms of agriculture. Today, two social movements in southern Brazil are global models of grassroots change toward improved social equity and diversity in agricultural systems: the MST and the farmer network Ecovida, which promotes farm diversification through agroecology. 60,94 Ecovida is a decentralized network for farmer-to-farmer agroecological certification that began in 1998 in two municipalities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul and has since grown to include an estimated 5,000 family farms in nearly 200 municipalities across all three states of southern Brazil. 64 Diversification is a cornerstone of Ecovida's peer certification process, and research has identified high levels of crop and livestock diversity and low input-use intensity on farms in the network. 40,41 Concerns about the impacts of agrochemical use on environmental and human health remain strong factors motivating farmers in the Ecovida network. 60,102 As a result, farmers increasingly value diversification practices that support reduction of synthetic inputs (i.e., practices that boost soil fertility and control pests and diseases through non-chemical means), including agroforestry, legume intercropping, and cover crop mixtures. 41 At local and regional meetings, Ecovida farmers share knowledge about diversification practices and maintain and increase the genetic diversity of crops and other native species through seed exchanges. Further enabling these efforts, a growing urban demand for sustainably produced foods has led to new marketing opportunities for Ecovida producers, 103 reflecting the importance of regional rural-urban relations in sustainability transitions. 104 The election of President Luiz Ina ´cio Lula da Silva (''Lula'') in 2003 created an important opening for structural changes in support of farm diversification. Responding to the demands of grassroots movements, the Worker's Party government consolidated food security, nutrition, and family farming policies in the Zero Hunger policy platform and increased financial incentives and credit for organic and diversified farms. 42,105,106 Targeted public food procurement mechanisms, including the national school meal program (Programa Nacional de Alimentac ¸a ˜o Escolar, PNAE), played important roles in increasing market access for diversified farmers in southern Brazil and improving food security. 40,42,106 At the national scale, Zero Hunger policies influenced improvements in food production, poverty reduction, and increases in natural vegetation, especially through programs that provided credit to family farms. 107 Interacting ecological, social, and economic forces related to agency and structure contributed to the emergence of a diversification bright spot in southern Brazil. Support from civil society organizations facilitated the development of participatory agroecological certification networks such as Ecovida and helped farmers in the network access government-sponsored marketing programs that strengthen family farming and encourage organic management practices. 40,42 Southern Brazil also has historically high rates of implementation of national social and agricultural support programs, which has increased access to credit and infrastructure relative to other regions of Brazil. 108 Actors within other agricultural institutions, such as the Santa Catarina state agricultural agency, Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecua ´ria e Extensa ˜o Rural de Santa Catarina (EPAGRI), also spurred research on innovations for soil conservation and increased farming system diversity in response to the negative effects of soil erosion from simplified agriculture in steep terrain. 99 This institutional pathway (Figure 2B), which resulted from the alignment of grassroots organizing and a progressive administration, has scaled support for diversification.Although political retrenchment following the 2016 political coup has dismantled or de-funded much of the national policy framework that supported farm diversification, 109 existing net-works of farmers, consumers, and civil society organizations in southern Brazil have doubled down on efforts to advocate for diversified agriculture at local and state levels. 110 For instance, organizers in the city of Florianopolis shifted their focus to local bills and election of a progressive leader to promote the right to food and agroecology at the municipal scale. 111 Thus, as the institutional pathway narrowed in recent years, collective action again grew increasingly important for maintaining the momentum for change, showcasing how the interplay between network and institutional pathways can enable durable transitions.Agricultural diversity is positively associated with diverse diets for the majority of Malawi's population, which relies on agriculture for food and livelihoods. 112,113 The rain-fed fields of smallholder farms are characterized by nutrient-poor soils. Working less than 2 hectares of land with hand hoeing, farmers grow an average of 2.3 field crops per household. 114 The most commonly cultivated crop is corn, but other cereals, like finger millet, are also grown for food and fermented products, 115 and other cash crops include tobacco and coffee in the northern region. Households also meet subsistence needs and livelihoods by cultivating beans, peanuts, sweet potato, cassava, pumpkin, tomato, onion, cabbage, leafy greens, and fruit trees. 43 Pulses such as pigeon pea, peanut, and soybean are consumed and sold, and contribute to soil regeneration. In some regions, farmers historically practiced mixed crop-tree systems featuring natural fallows and harvesting from forests. 116 Only about onethird of smallholder farmers own ruminants, such as goats, sheep, and cattle, although the majority keep chickens or other small birds. 112 In part because of out-migration of men, 117 women contribute an estimated half of farm field labor. 118 Women influence crop choice and in many cases foster crop genetic diversity by sharing seeds through kin and friendship networks, 119 but they often lack decision-making control over land use and income. 120 The dominant regime, which is characterized by declining agricultural diversity, must be understood through the context of the colonial history of Malawi and contemporary agricultural policy and institutions (Figure 2C). 121 Land tenure in rural communities is customary in northern Malawi, accessed through chieftaincies based on kinship, yet the state maintains ultimate control over land. 122 Colonial and post-colonial policies facilitated acquisition of tobacco, cotton, and tea estates for white settlers and political allies, 123 and contemporary changes to land policy exacerbate land inequities and conflict by permitting private land sales to international buyers. 122 From the 1960s, intensification of corn production has been a key tenet of agricultural modernization. 115 Development initiatives promoted simplified cropping systems, increased input use, and market integration. 7 As a result, intensified, continuous cropping has come to dominate arable land use in much of Malawi, 124 diverse farming systems have declined countrywide, 9 and Malawi has been declared a leading player in an ''African Green Revolution.'' 125 Input subsidy programs have increased access to fertilizers and modern corn varieties for most smallholders. The National Seed Policy of Malawi emphasizes support for the formal seed sector, 126 which is dominated by multinational companies, and largely ignores informal exchange of traditional open-pollinated seed varieties. While the subsidy served as an important political tool in gaining rural support for the ruling party, 121 it has not led to substantial gains in crop productivity 127 or enhanced household nutrition, income, or resilience to extreme weather. 128 Pathways to diversification Industrialized agriculture is being challenged in Malawi by engaged citizens, farmer organizations, and academics who have demonstrated the shortcomings of the fertilizer subsidy program. 9,127 Proposed alternatives include a movement to decentralize agricultural research and extension systems by focusing on farmer-led agricultural development models, 129 which built on the rise of civil society and local governance beginning with multiparty elections in 1994. 130 However, efforts to enhance local control over extension systems in Malawi often run into bureaucratic and institutional barriers. 121 A bright spot for diversification has emerged from efforts of the Soil, Food, and Healthy Community (SFHC) organization. 43 This community-led farmer network was formed in northern Malawi by Ekwendeni Hospital staff in 2000 because of concern about the level of food insecurity and malnutrition in surrounding villages. 131 Community engagement has supported a range of agricultural diversification initiatives over two decades, including legume intercropping, agroforestry, and production of indigenous grains such as finger millet, reaching more than 10,000 households in over 200 villages. 44,63 Farmers, researchers, and community health staff developed a curriculum that addresses nutrition, gender equity, agroecology, and resilience to climate change through participatory approaches, including use of drama and hands-on learning. 45 This diversification niche is centered on community engagement on topics of farmer empowerment, equity, and nutritional education. The network's efforts have resulted in farmer-tofarmer experimentation, teaching, and sharing to develop agricultural systems that support food security, healthy diets, and greater social equity. 132 This capacity building has increased farmer preferences for diversified farming systems, including cultivation of diverse crop species and varieties, livestock integration, and use of compost and other soil health innovations. 43,63 Community-based education, in turn, has supported improved health outcomes, well-being, income gains, and broadening of dietary diversity. 44,46 This case study illustrates a network pathway (Figure 2C) in which farmer experimentation and knowledge exchanges, combined with attention to equity and other community concerns, facilitated increased diversification. The broader relevance of this approach is shown by recent uptake and further co-development of the curriculum with positive impacts on nutrition and gender equity in Singida, Tanzania. 133 Against formidable odds, clusters of farmers and other actors are maintaining and developing bright spots of agricultural diversification in distinct contexts around the world. By applying our conceptual framework to three cases of transitions to diversified farming systems, we identify common, yet often overlooked, structural barriers that can lock in simplified production systems. In the United States, corporate power and productivist priorities dominate the design and implementation of the Farm Bill; in southern Brazil, corporate power coupled with federal subsidies drive land use consolidation; and in Malawi, hierarchical governance supports corporate power that dominates input and seed supply chains. In all three cases, these structural barriers (Figure 1; Table 1; Figure 3) demonstrate how industrial food systems, which disproportionately benefit from government support, 50 do not facilitate diversified farming systems and the social 24,58,59,66 and environmental [16][17][18] benefits they provide.At the same time, our framework enables a novel analytical approach to identify the most influential pathways for transitions toward agricultural diversification and sustainability in distinct global contexts (Table 1). In each case, with support from a range of actors in the food system, groups of farmers are managing diversity from field to landscape scales to restore ecological interactions and associated functions that promote their livelihoods and well-being. Together, these role models for change demonstrate two replicable and interacting pathways that shift resources to farmer-led innovations and facilitate agricultural diversification.The first, a network pathway, is the primary mechanism that facilitated the emergence of bright spots in the United States and Malawi. In this pathway, the agency of individual farmers and their collective action through social networks increased access to key resources for diversification, including knowledge and skills, land, seeds, equipment, processing infrastructure, and markets. In the United States midwest, the formation of farmer networks was motivated by attitudes and values about environmental stewardship, as epitomized in the ideological foundations of organic agriculture. In this region, political-economic constraints to diversification, such as government subsidies to support commodity crop production, mean that the total number of diversified farms is still small, and thus their ability to influence environmental sustainability at scale is limited. However, the United States case also demonstrates how (2) agency is present, but resources constrain diversification; (3) bottom-up processes hit a ceiling because of structural constraints, so diversification does not occur or is limited; (4) network pathway, in which farmer agency and collective action increase access to resources and enable clusters of farmers to overcome some of the structural barriers to diversification; and (5) institutional pathway, in which significant institutional and structural change expands diversification bright spots through spillover effects. The bidirectional arrow (5)  indicates that innovations can be initiated by grassroots efforts or by actors within the dominant regime (which often occurs in response to bottom-up pressure or exogenous trends). Both pathways (arrows 4 and 5) can operate simultaneously and may be mutually reinforcing. farmer-and community-driven action can intersect with and help promote limited structural changes to move farming systems toward sustainability. In the Malawi case, soil infertility, food insecurity, and child malnutrition were overarching concerns that motivated the formation of new grassroots networks linking farmers and the health care system. Through community education and participatory research, access to and consumption of diverse and nutritious food crops increased along with building soil fertility. Efforts to address gender inequities in agriculture and food systems, specifically the needs and concerns of women farmers, also facilitated diversification.The Brazil case exhibits a second, institutional pathway to diversification in which significant structural change occurred with the convergence of bottom-up pressure from social movements and a progressive government. In this bright spot, a strong network pathway enabled niche innovation that was initiated by actors in grassroots networks, which eventually led to institutional innovation within the dominant regime. In this example, the national government established markets for public food procurement programs that explicitly targeted diversified and organic crop production. In Brazil (as in all three case studies), industrial agriculture is heavily subsidized, and market prices do not reflect the true costs of input-intensive production systems. 50 Diversification thus required government intervention through an ensemble of policies, programs, and institutions that restructured markets to provide public goods from agriculture, 42 including institutional models for food access, such as school meal programs. The Brazil case shows the potential for interplay between network and institutional pathways to foster diversification.Network and institutional pathways can therefore operate simultaneously and be mutually reinforcing (Figure 3). The cases show how transitions from simplified to diversified farming systems involved the development of new narratives, attitudes, and production practices; formation of knowledge networks; investment in new infrastructure; and institutional changes. Together, grassroots networks and formal institutions (which are often slower to evolve) can alter the power relations that produce structural barriers, creating openings for broader transformation. Because those benefitting from the current regime do not often have incentives to change it, these pathways are most likely to progress along a continuum from network (agency) to institutional (structural) change, which is associated with an increasing scale of impact. In Brazil, progression along this continuum was most advanced across the three cases, reflecting alignment of agency and structural factors that produced substantial policy support for diversification. It is also important to note that there may be additional pathways to diversification not identified in our three cases. These bright spots were purposefully selected based on our team's long-term, on-farm research, which spans contrasts in socioeconomic and climate conditions and farming system scales and types. However, many more cases could be explored with our framework to further refine knowledge of pathways to farming system diversification.Dynamic, multi-level interactions between agency and structure are a key mechanism of transformative change, in part through spillover effects that expand the reach of bright spots. 31,33 For instance, in the United States, dynamic interac-tions between farmer networks, small changes to Farm Bill conservation and insurance programs, and development of new markets and supply chains are creating opportunities for a wider group of farmers to diversify their rotations. There has also been a growing influence of consumer demand for organic, local, and sustainably produced food, which is a force that could ultimately pressure the dominant regime to transform. In Malawi, changes to governance, reforms such as decentralized extension programs, and participatory research on diversification have reinforced each other and supported the growth of civil society. 129 Farmer networks have grown with support from educational efforts and external researchers, allowing scaling up, while rising costs of purchased agricultural inputs provide opportunities for change. In Brazil, farmer networks and social movements played an important role in motivating and designing progressive federal food systems policies. Although these national programs in Brazil diminished under the administration elected in 2018, they show how the presence of strong network and institutional pathways can produce larger spillover effects, increasing the scale of diversified farming systems (Figure 3), especially in regions with effective policy implementation. Overall, the three cases show that creating a supportive structural context that promotes expansion of local initiatives can be accelerated when civil society groups, such as farmer organizations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and social movements, apply pressure to the dominant social-ecological system.Finally, the need for structural change also applies to research institutions and the institutions that finance research. Scientists have a key role to play in shifting power imbalances by conducting interdisciplinary and participatory research on farming systems, such as the approaches used in our three case studies. Rather than thinking of current governance systems and inequities as inevitable, scholars can co-develop research with communities and other partners to foster the joint goals of human and ecosystem health. Experience shows that, to be effective, these research efforts should be inclusive of diverse stakeholders, particularly those whose voices and knowledge systems (e.g., non-western, traditional) are marginalized and oppressed. 10,45 The increasingly important influence of structural constraints on individual decision-making 51 and the dynamic multi-level interactions in the three cases also demonstrate the need for whole-systems and long-term research approaches that consider factors related to agency and structure.Diversified farming systems are critical for achieving the multidimensional targets of SDG 2, Zero Hunger, with co-benefits for other SDGs, including nature-based solutions to tackling global climate change and loss of biodiversity. 10,12,134,135 Yet, because diversified farming systems are often neglected in policy and research programs, they still face barriers to scaling up. The bright spots we describe here, which demonstrate the feasibility of diversified farming practices despite structural barriers, provide insights that can inform broader policies to accelerate needed farming systems transformations. 50,135 We offer the following broad-scale policy recommendations related to the specific network and institutional mechanisms for diversification identified in the case studies to foster environmental sustainability, public health, and social equity: d Improve anti-trust laws and policies to reduce the excessive corporate power that creates large structural barriers to diversification and to prevent increased supply chain vulnerabilities associated with the concentration of agribusinesses and food systems governance; These recommendations are synergistic. For instance, our analysis identifies the reinforcing interactions between network and institutional pathways that produce win-win outcomes and increase the scale of transitions. In each case study, we identified either a network or institutional pathway as the main mechanism of diversification, yet both pathways work together. These bright spots demonstrate that expanding the presence of diversified farming systems will require grassroots organizing and institutional change to erode structural barriers and mobilize key resources for diversification.Given increasing external pressures to transform agricultural systems, including climate change, human pandemics, consumer interest in sustainable diets, and movements for social justice, there are new windows of opportunity for widespread transitions to diversified farming systems. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) shock and Ukraine-Russia conflict have confirmed that simplified production systems and consolidated supply chains lack adaptive capacity, 136 leading to tragic cooccurrence of unprecedented food waste and rapid rises in food insecurity. 137 In contrast, diversified farming systems increase resilience, 31 including buffering against extreme weather events caused by climate change. 138 It is therefore critical to support efforts to build new coalitions (e.g., across actors with rural and urban interests) that can advocate for the transforma-tive policy changes outlined here. Together, researcher-practitioner partnerships focused on understanding transition pathways and outcomes can help foster the transformative change necessary to scale farm diversification and social and environmental sustainability."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ac610a4636a40c549304b6d62ffeb598","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6f7aaccd-4d3e-4f36-b2fc-6dfbad31964b/retrieve","id":"-1722125146"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3b8da0c3-0020-4261-b865-f81a0dc95a97","content":"Africa is experiencing the fastest human population growth worldwide, now estimated at 2.6% per annum. From around 100 million in 1900, the population is now more than a billion and predicted to be 4 billion by 2100. This population boom would exert greater strain on natural ecosystems as the demand for food and income rises. However, a rapid, unplanned and under-regulated utilization of natural resources would threaten the health of people, animals and the environment. This emerging challenge requires a multidisciplinary and multisectoral collaboration at the animal-human-environmental interfacereferred to as One Health-to be successfully addressed.The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has established a One Health Centre in Africa with support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to enhance human, animal and ecosystem health by developing capacity in One Health, supporting One Health network initiatives, and developing pathways from evidence to policy and practice.To achieve these outcomes, the centre will build on established research and development activities which ILRI has been implementing with multiple partners in the region for over 40 years. These initiatives have established strong One Health networks, research partnerships and knowledge products that can be transformed into policy guidelines. The centre will also link local and international researchers to catalyse exchange of knowledge with a hope of extending our horizons on One Health research and development.The centre's research and development activities are implemented under four themes, each having its own defined technical (scientific), capacity and policy outputs and outcomes. The four themes are: i. preventing emerging infectious diseases;ii. controlling neglected zoonoses;iii. ensuring safe food; and iv. reducing antimicrobial resistance.A new disease emerges every 2-4 months, and some of these result in devastating epidemics or pandemics. Although most of these diseases have been introduced into the continent via international travel and trade in the recent past, the incidence of local emerging infectious disease events may increase with time given Africa's rising human population, rapid encroachment of protected areas, expansion of agriculture and peri-urban settlements. This theme will use existing knowledge on drivers of infectious diseases to identify potential hotspots for these events in the continent, develop syndromic surveillance systems to support early detection and response, and improve existing emergency response protocols for emerging infectious diseases in selected countries. It will also engage with the CGIAR COVID-19 hub.October 2020Endemic tropical zoonotic diseases impose a substantial health and economic burden upon livestock keeping communities and have often been neglected by researchers and funders. Over the last decade, ILRI scientists have been instrumental in producing evidence demonstrating the burden of these diseases on marginalized communities and supporting One Health approaches to control these diseases in human and animal hosts. This theme will produce and synthesize evidence on burden and develop proof of concept for sustainable and contextually relevant control programs for some of these diseases.Foodborne diseases impose a huge burden on developing countries equivalent to malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. The resulting economic loss is estimated at USD100 billion a year. Most of the burden comes from fresh, highly nutritious foods such as milk, meat and vegetables sold mainly in informal markets. Foodborne disease can be best tackled with control mechanisms at each step from farm to fork. Diseased animals, deficiencies in hygiene, contaminated environments, bulking points, informal retailers and poor consumer awareness are critical control points. ILRI has conducted foodborne disease research in Africa for nearly 20 years and this theme will consolidate this work, expand it to include new dimensions on bushmeat and work with policymakers to develop a more enabling environment for informal markets to provide safe foods. The theme will also implement studies to identify incentives for behaviour change.Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is recognized as a silent pandemic that threatens to kill up to 10 million people by 2050. Currently, up to 700,000 people die annually due to AMR, with 90% of these deaths being reported in Africa, Asia and South America. Around 75% of all antimicrobials are used in animal agriculture. In poor countries, the use of antimicrobials is often unregulated. While there have been demonstrated links between AMR in animals and humans, little is known about the role of the environment. This theme will support activities being implemented under the CGIAR Antimicrobial Resistance Hub that was initiated in 2019 with the aim of providing evidence on the role of agriculture in spreading AMR to humans, design interventions that reduce antimicrobial use and irrational use of antimicrobials, promote livestock herd health practices, improve detection of pathogens and AMR, and reduce antimicrobial residues in farm effluents and manure. Some of the activities, such as capacity building, will be implemented as cross cutting activities across all themes. Gender, socioeconomics, political and environmental science will be integrated in each theme, the latter facilitated by the Mazingira Centre at ILRI. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is a non-profit institution helping people in low-and middle-income countries to improve their lives, livelihoods and lands through the animals that remain the backbone of small-scale agriculture and enterprise across the developing world. ILRI belongs to CGIAR, a global research for development partnership working for a food-secure future. ILRI's funders through the CGIAR Trust Fund, and its many partners, make ILRI's work possible and its mission a reality. Australian animal scientist and Nobel Laureate Peter Doherty serves as ILRI's patron.You are free to use and share this material under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence .better lives through livestock"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"10e397328f3e0a0f9a624e23d616ab68","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5c72e71d-c3ca-4d51-b017-bec93aa3ac81/retrieve","id":"1139476115"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fafc13a8-8a66-4d13-84fc-dbdcb7c907d1","content":"China is the world leader in hydropower construction. In its 12th Five Year Plan (2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015), China announced its intention to further expand its hydropower capacity by developing eight hydropower zones with over 60 large-scale hydropower projects, bringing the total installed capacity of hydropower within the country to 284 GW (GEV 2011).An important component of China's domestic hydropower development and its energy strategy is the construction of the Lancang cascade, located in Yunnan Province. The Lancang River 1 , known as the Mekong River south of the Chinese border, has a hydropower potential of 30,000 MW. To harness this potential, the Chinese government has plans to develop a cascade of eight mainstream dams on the Lancang, with five currently in operation. Once completed, these dams will be able to produce 15,720 MW or 52.4% of the Lancang's hydropower potential (Grumbine, Dore and Xu, 2012). Another 20 dams are either planned or under construction on Lancang tributaries (Kummu and Varis 2007).Through the provision of cheap electricity, hydropower development along the Lancang provides opportunities for economic development in China's industrial cities such as Kunming and Guangzhou. Hydropower is one of the five pillars of Yunnan's economy. It is perceived as a clean energy source and an important component in reducing China's heavy reliance on fossil fuels and its CO2 emissions, which are currently the world's highest. According to the Fast Statistics of the National Electric Power Industry, China's installed hydropower capacity in 2010 accounted for 22.18% of its total energy supply.China's hydropower influence, however, is not limited to the Lancang. China is also a major player in Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) hydropower development. Through companies such as the China International Water and Electric Corporation, Hydro Lancang and Sinohydro, China is active in dozens of dams in the Lower Basin including the recently announced Lower Sesan 2 (400 MW) dam in Cambodia. These dams provide an opportunity for China to export expertise, increase its political influence, develop trade links, and boost profits for its state-owned enterprises (SOEs). For the host countries, these projects offer large financial injections into their national economies, while also providing infrastructure and electricity. These dams are thus framed as 'win-win' projects by Chinese developers.The Lancang cascade is an important component of China's plans to develop cheap, renewable, low carbon energy to supply its growing domestic electricity demands. Lower Basin hydropower development offers opportunities for China to increase its political and economic influence in the basin and for SOEs to raise their profits and export their hydropower expertise.Hydropower development on the Lancang was considered as early as 1956, when HydroChina Kunming Engineering Corporation (HCKEC) began site investigations. From 1957-58, HCKEC identified 21 potential hydropower sites along the river, and carried out the primary planning for the HLHC is a shareholder corporation of China Huaneng Group (CHG), Hongta Group (HG) and Yunnan Investment Corporation (YIC). CHG is a state-owned corporation under the jurisdiction of the Chinese Central Government, and one of the five largest corporations in the hydropower sector. HG is a state-owned corporation aligned with China Tobacco. HG controls some of Yunnan's largest cigarette brands and has an increasingly wide portfolio that includes energy, construction, securities, paper production, pharmaceuticals, light chemicals, and hospitality. In China's 2010 Strongest Enterprises Report, HG ranked first in Yunnan and 104thnationwide (ETMOC 2010). YIC is an investment corporation of the Yunnan Provincial Government.Despite China's political, economic and environmental links with the Lower Basin, all of the existing dams on the Lancang were completed unilaterally without downstream consultation. This has spurred protest from downstream countries. These protests climaxed in the dry season 2 in 2010, when significantly reduced river levels on the Mekong mainstream below China coincided with the filling of the Lancang dams (Hirsch 2010). China blamed the low water levels on unusually dry weather patterns and not on the dams, but did agree to increased data sharing regarding water flows and releases, and improved dialogue with lower riparian countries. Goh (2009) posits that China's development of the Lancang cascade has political and ecological consequences for downstream communities. China maintains, however, that \"whatever action [it] takes to exploit the Mekong's potential is purely an internal matter\" (Dupont 2001:129).Nevertheless, the downstream protests that emerged in 2010 have prompted China to officially state that any hydropower developments on its stretch of the river will carefully consider downstream impacts (China Daily 2012). It has further stated that the benefits of dams will include flood control and improvements to water use and drought management downstream by storing water during the rainy season and releasing it during the dry season (China Daily 2012). China has extensive laws regulating hydropower development, including the Environmental Protection Law, the Environmental Impact Assessment Law, the Water Law of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Law of the PRC on Water and Soil Conservation and the Regulations of the PRC on Natural Resources. These laws, however, include few or no provisions that account for the transboundary impacts of hydropower dams. Nevertheless, a number of studies have shown that China's cascade of dams will reduce water levels by as much as 30% as far as Vientiane City in the Lao PDR, increase saline intrusion into the delta and impede vital sediment flows, which would have far reaching impacts on fisheries, agriculture and livelihoods throughout the Lower Basin (Kummu and Varis 2007;Räsänen et al. 2012;etc.).The Lancang sub-basin is a major source of sediment for the Mekong River Basin. Almost half of the Mekong River's length passes through China. It contributes to 35% of the dry season flow and over 55% of the sediment load, and is thus vital to ecosystems throughout the entire basin (Kummu and Varis 2007; CPWF SOK Mekong Sediment Basics 2013). The Mekong's hydrology is characterised by a significant flood-pulse that propels nutrient rich sediments through the system during the rainy season from June to October. These nutrients support the region's ecosystem services and agricultural production upon which the majority of the livelihoods in the region rely (Kummu and Varis, 2007). It is estimated that the cascade of eight dams has a theoretical sediment trapping capacity of 94% (Kummu and Varis, 2007).Sedimentation is also an important consideration for dam planners as it reduces the lifespan and operational capacity of dams by impacting their storage capacity. Erosion rates in the Lancang catchment have always been very high, which has implications for the lifespan of China's dams along this reach. Sediment loads at Manwan are impressively high, quoted at 1.21 kg/m3 (Plinston and Damming, 1999:238). Without intervention, the Manwan reservoir's 'dead' storage would have been filled within 15-20 years, but the construction of the Xiaowan upstream has extended the dam's lifespan because of the Xiaowan's own sediment trapping efficiency (ibid).Sedimentation can also damage hydropower turbines, which are costly and time-consuming to repair. Sediment flushing gates can be installed to move sediments downstream of dams, but these must be incorporated in the early construction phase. They are also costly and can reduce the hydropower potential of the project. (For further information on sedimentation and its impacts within the Mekong Basin see CPWF SOK Mekong Sediment Basics).Politically, the Lancang cascade allows China to control the quantity of water reaching the Lower Basin. This is extremely important to the livelihoods, food security and economies of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Räsänen et al. (2012) found that the Lancang cascade increased the dry season discharge by 34-155% and decreased the wet season discharge by 29-36%, thereby altering the timing and amplitude of the river's flood pulse characteristics. The impact that the current dams are having on fisheries and hydrology, both in the basin and the delta, is still not fully understood, but will undoubtedly be closely watched by downstream nations over the coming years.No formal agreements exist between China and downstream governments on the management of the Basin. China has 'dialogue status' with the Mekong River Commission (MRC), the main river basin organisation (RBO) in the region, with which it shares hydrological data from the Lancang, but it has so far declined the invitation to become a member. Notwithstanding China's stance that the Lancang cascade is a national issue that it has generally been unwilling to discuss, it has continued to engage in hydropower development policy with downstream nations.The downstream governments have been reluctant to engage with China on the Lancang cascade's impacts due to China's relative military and political power and the country's large investments and aid in the Lower Basin.China frames its hydropower development as a win-win for both itself and the Lower Mekong Basin countries. The Lancang cascade impedes sediment transfer throughout the Basin and allows China to control the dry season flow. This has potentially significant political, economic and ecological implications for downstream countries. China has increased its transparency and data sharing with downstream countries, but no formal agreements exist on the management of the basin.China's role as a financier and developer of dams in the LMB has increased dramatically over the past decade. The main drivers of China's recent boom in hydropower development include closer international relations with its neighbours, expanding markets for burgeoning SOEs, energy security, greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, and the rising cost of domestic environmental and social problems. Since 2000, Beijing has been working to increase its influence in the region through policies that encourage overseas investment.China is actively trying to improve and strengthen its relationship with Southeast Asia as a whole, and especially in the LMB due to shared land borders. Improved relations will help China to consolidate its power close to home for both national security and economic reasons. After a conflict with Vietnam in 1979, the cessation of relations with Lao PDR from 1979 to 1999, and supporting the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, China has a lot of work to do to earn back the trust of its regional neighbours. China's relations with Cambodia and Lao PDR were normalized in 2000, when former president Jiang Zemin became the first Chinese president to visit the two nations (Thayer 2001).However, the transition from foe to friend has been remarkable and timely, mostly due to Beijing's political and economic initiatives over the past decade. Some of the most notable political changes have been:• China's decision not to devalue the Renminbi during the chaos of the Asian financial crisis and instead offering financial assistance, (Thailand alone received over USD 1 billion; Halloran 1998).  (Cronin 2012). These policies reflect a transition in Beijing towards regional cooperation and demonstrate its ambitions to open markets, counter Western influence in the region, and establish itself as a leader both in Southeast Asia and globally. The policies have been effective in delivering these goals, and also in offering the LMB nations an alternative to Western -and often highly conditional -investment.Beijing's political initiatives in the LMB have been in tandem with the momentum of China's roaring economy. China is the largest trading partner of Myanmar, Vietnam, and Lao PDR; it is Thailand's second largest, and Cambodia's third (Gronholt-Pederson 2013;Chen Y.W. 2012;Heng 2012). On a country-by-country basis, the value of trade with China in 2010 came to USD 46.0 billion for Thailand, USD 27.3 billion for Vietnam, USD 4.7 billion for Myanmar, USD 1.3 billion for Cambodia, and USD 1 billion for Laos. China has also built much of Cambodia's infrastructure and is its largest aid donor and foreign investor. China's aid programs to Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Myanmar are currently greater than those of the U.S. (Kurlantzick 2007). To get an accurate understanding of China's influence in LMB trade, aid and investment must be viewed as a package, rather than separate initiatives. Urban et al. (2013:312) describe how these elements are packaged together in deals in the LMB:The Chinese practice is hence often to bundle aid, trade and investment by providing, for example, both invest ments and concessional loans for dam building and link ing this to the export of electricity coupled with the import of Chinese manufactured goods and trade deals for Chinese firms.China's hydropower developments in the LMB offer more benefits to energy security when compared to dam building projects abroad. One of the crucial differences between Chinese hydropower development in the LMB and projects in Africa or South America is connectivity to China's electricity grid. The close proximity of the LMB allows electricity to be imported into China's rapidly growing urban centres (Urban et al. 2013). Energy security is a major concern for Chinese decision-makers, who have set a goal of 15% per cent of the energy portfolio coming from nonfossil fuels by 2015, of which half is planned to come from hydropower (CEP 2012). These aggressive energy goals outlined in the 12th Five Year Plan (2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015) have spurred a flurry of large dam construction and cascade projects. The LMB is currently experiencing a huge surge in large dam projects, with more than 50 on-going large dams (over 50 MW) from Chinese companies alone, and with many more still in the proposal phase (Urban et al. 2013).The distribution of large-scale Chinese dams in the region is as follows: Myanmar 30, Lao PDR 13, Cambodia 7, Vietnam 3, and Thailand with some Chinese dam projects, but none over 50 MW (Urban et al. 2013). These projects are financed, developed, constructed, and contracted out primarily to Chinese SOEs. Sinohydro plays at least one of these roles in 30% of the large dam projects in the LMB, and handles the financing, developing, and building 5 of the 13 large Chinese dams in the Lao PDR (Urban et al. 2013). SOEs like Sinohydro often have higher capacity, scalability, greater political backing, more experience gained from domestic construction projects, and can usually build dams at a lower price than their competitors (McDonald et al. 2009). These large-scale projects usually require approval from the highest levels of government in both Beijing and in the LMB nations, and thus connections with the state serve as an asset. In the LMB, almost every major dam project has SOE involvement from well-known global giants, but Myanmar shows some contrast with much smaller and less well-known companies operating there (Urban et al. 2013).The immense scale of the Chinese dam projects in the LMB is a result of political, economic, energy security, and greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. All signs point towards an increase in dam building and 'bundled' economic cooperation through large SOEs in the years to come. An important question will be how Chinese SOEs manage the problematic social and environmental impacts of their projects in the LMB.China has repeatedly stated that it follows the laws and policies of the countries where it invests and develops projects. This includes a policy of non-interference in domestic affairs that has drawn criticism from civil society for its lack of environmental and social protection (See WWF 2008 andInternational Rivers 2012). In 2012, perhaps in response to these criticisms and China's concerns over its reputation, the China Banking Regulatory Commission revised the Green Credit Guidelines that regulate Chinese banks' environmental performance. These guidelines now state that banks must improve the environmental and social risk management of overseas projects and follow international norms.A further step in environmental management was realised when in February 2013, the Ministries of Commerce and Environmental Protection released the Guidelines on Environmental Protection in Foreign Investment and Cooperation. These guidelines encourage Chinese companies to \"identify and pre-empt environmental risks in a timely manner, lead our companies to actively fulfil their social responsibility in environmental protection, build a good foreign image of Chinese companies and support the sustainable development of host countries.\" (For further information on Chinese Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) see CPWF SOK: Corporate Social Responsibility in Mekong Hydropower Development).In 2011, Sinohydro developed a Policy Framework for Sustainable Development that sets out environmental, social and security standards, in line with international standards including obtaining the free prior and informed consent of impacted peoples. To what degree these policies and standards will be implemented in the Mekong Basin is yet to be seen; they represent, however, a promising, albeit belated step for China's sustainable hydropower development.Initially China followed a policy of non-interference, limited engagement with actors and environmental and social protection measures that were limited to the laws and policies in the country in which it was operating. Recently, China has been engaging in improved dialogues with actors across the Mekong and strengthening its social and environmental protection laws and Corporate Social Responsibility policies for international projects.China has significant strategic and economic interests in the Lancang and the Lower Basin, of which hydropower is a key component. China's hydropower development in the Mekong Basin has been cautiously welcomed by states as they seek investment in their water resources and the associated economic development that accompanies strong relations with the Chinese state and its SOEs. These investments, however, have been criticised by many civil society organisations and academics for their lack of environmental and social safeguards. Despite an historical absence of engagement with civil society, academics, and the wider international and regional community in the past, China and its SOEs appear to be increasingly concerned with their reputational risk and the potential social and environmental impacts associated with large-scale water infrastructure projects. As a result of these concerns, China and its SOEs have been progressively involved in dialogue with downstream countries through the MRC, ASEAN, NGOs and forums such as the Challenge Program on Water and Food's (CPWF) Mekong Forum on Water, Food and Energy held in Phnom Penh in 2011, and in Hanoi in 2012. For example, HLHC has experimented with the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol on the Jinghong dam and gave a presentation about its experience at the CPWF's Mekong Forum on Water, Food and Energy. China's continued and increasing engagement with a wide range of actors and its ability to hold its SOEs to the standards and guidelines it has set out will be a litmus test for its promises to promote sustainable 'win-win' development."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"54c3a59f6a61916cb2413afce3961516","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/16ea6f52-6b88-4559-8a2f-2efefd5eec05/retrieve","id":"-1777029230"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5e7e9205-20dd-430c-a6c8-a92e48b1f0ec","content":"En esta sección se incluyen las accesiones de origen venezolano, registradas en la colecci6n del ClAT, las cuales se recolectaron durante las misiones conjuntas de por lo menos una institución venezolana y el eIA T. Las accesiones se presentan en orden numérico, independiente del nombre de género.Los datos de pasaporte y la infonnación sobre el sitio de recolección se extienden para una accesión dada a través de dos páginas de acuerdo con las columnas siguientes: NUMERO CIAT GENERal ESPECIE FUENTE INSTITUCION(ES) COLABORADORA(S) COLECTOR(ES) OTRO NO. ORIG. Número de la accesión (entrada) en la colección del CIAT. Los respectivos nombres cient(ficos. Dice \"CONJ.\" para todas las accesiones en esta Sección 1, indicando que se trata de material de un viaje conjunto de recolección. Nombre(s) de la(s) institucion(es) que colaboraron en el respectivo viaje de recolección. (Para las siglas ver Apéndice 2, página 292). Nombres de las personas que recolectaron el material. Número de entrada, aparte del No. CIA T, que la accesión haya recibido en la institución colaboradora.América tropical es considerada como el mayor centro de origen y de diversificación de leguminosas tropicales con potencial forrajero (Williams, 1983). Debido a la diversidad de las condiciones climáticas, topográficas y edáficas, la diversidad genética es particularmente alta en Venezuela. Las leguminosas nativas se consideran como clave para el desarrollo ganadero del país, mientras a las gramíneas nativas se les atribuye un papel de poca importancia como plantas•folTajeras potenciales (Flores y Rodríguez, 1985).La diversidad de especies de leguminosas venezolanas es conocida y estudiada botánicamente desde hace casi medio siglo (Pittier, 1944). El interés en ellas como recurso fitogenético para el desarrollo de variedades forrajeras es, sin embargo, relativamente reciente. Las primeras actividades de recolección de germoplasma de leguminosas nativas en Venezuela fueron realizadas por investigadores australianos: En 1965 por W. Atkinson yen 1971 por R.L.Burt e 1. MiIler (Neal-Smith y Johns, 1967 y ~971).En 1973 se inició un proyecto cooperativo entre el Fondo Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (FONAIAP)del Ministerio de Agricultura y Cría, y el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIA 1), con el objetivo de recolectar gcrmoplasma de leguminosas nativas de Venezuela. Los esfuerzos de recolección se concentraron en regiones de suelos ácidos y de baja fertilidad, como parte de la estrategia del Programa de Pastos Tropicales del CIAT de ensamblar una amplia colección internacional de germoplasma tolerante a suelos ácidos (Schultze-Kraft, 1985).1 Después de actividades de recolección exploratoria en 1973, 1975 Y 1977 --parte de las cuales tuvo apoyo financiero del Intemational Board for Plant Genetic Resources (lBPGR) --se realizaron seis extensas expediciones de recolección sistemática entre 1978 y 1986. Durante ellas se cubrió la mayor parte del territorio de la República de Venezuela. Pormenores de estos viajes y sus resultados fueron recientemente presentados por Flores y Schultze-Kraft (1991).Este catálogo tiene como objetivos: (1) Informar sobre las accesiones de germoplasma forrajero de Venezuela que existen en la colección del CIAT, y (2) presentar lo más relevante de la información descriptiva de los sitios de recolección. Más información sobre los sitios de recolección está disponible en la base de datos del crA T. Esta información es útil para estudios biogeográficos de las especies, para desarrollar estrategias de recolección futura, para ayudar en la interpretación de adaptación diferencial en ensayos de evaluación agronómica, y otros fines. El énfasis está en germoplasma procedente de misiones de recolección conjuntas, o sea en accesiones para las cuales el ClA T dispone de información original.El catálogo se divide en cuatro secciones principales (Secciones 1-4) y dos secciones auxiliares (Secciones 5 y 6). Las Secciones 1 y 2 presentan las accesiones provenieutes de viajes conjuntos de recolección, y las accesiones recolectadas por personal del ClA T, respectivamente. Ambas incluyen información relevante de pasaporte y de descripción del sitio de recolección. Para una accesión determinada, esta información debe leerse a través de dos páginas. La Sección 3 se refiere a las accesiones introducidas como donaciones de otras instituciones, e incluye sólo algunos datos básicos de pasaporte (que deben leerse a través de las columnas de sólo ulla página). InfOlmación adicional sobre las accesiones de esta Sección 3 puede estar disponible en la base de datos del ClAT, o debería solicitarse preferiblemente a la institución donante como fuente original. La diferencia principal entre esta sección y las dos anteriores consiste ea la autcnticidad de las accesioncs, y en la original idad y cantidad de la infol1nación disponible sobre los sitios de recolección. En la Sección 4 se presentan, sin mayor información sobre su origen, las accesiones resultantes de separaciones de mezclas, poblaciones o segregaciones. Cualquier información adicional podrá encontrarse en las secciones correspondientes a las accesiones originales dentro de las cuales se hicieron las separaciones.Las secciones auxiliares consisten en listados en los cuales se enumeran todas las accesiones de origen venezolano en la colección del CrAT, ordenadas por estado (Sección 5) y por género (Sección 6). El objetivo de estas secciones es facilitar la búsqueda de números de accesiones que por su origen o por el género al cual pertenecen, pueden ser de interés para los usuarios de este catálogo. Cualquier información sobre las accesiones de interés se podrá buscar fácilmente en las respectivas secciones principales.La identificación taxonómica de un gran número de accesiones está actualmente siendo revisada por los respectivos especialistas. Por 10 tanto, muchas clasificaciones taxonómicas a nivel de especie son aún tentativas. Listas de identificaciones actualizadas estarán disponibles en breve.Este catálogo no debe considerarse como un Index Seminum que ofrece semilla sino más bien como una documentación de una parte de la colección de forrajeras tropicales del erA T tal como estuvo registrada en un momento dado. La colección se conserva en la Unidad de Recursos Genéticos (URG) del CIAT bajo condiciones de cuarto flio apropiadas. Una parte de las accesiones, especialmente las provenientes de recolecciones conjuntas, ha pasado por una fase de multiplicación inicial de semillas por parte del Programa de Pastos TropicB les y/o la URG. En consecuencia, de muchos materiales se podrán suministrar cantidades pequeñas de semilla (10-30 semillas) a investigadores interesados en accesiones particulares. Dependiendo de la disponibilidad, se dará prioridad a investigadores de las instituciones que colaboraron en los viajes de recolección.Tropical America is considered to be ¡he major center of origin and diversity of tropicallegumes with forage potential (WilIiams, 1983). Because of the diversity of climate, topography and soils, genetic diversity is partícularly great in Venezuela. Native legumes are considered to be of key importance for Iivestock developmenl, whereas lhe potential of Ilative grasses is low (Flores and Rodríguez, 1985).The diversity of Venezuelan legume species has been known and sllldied botanically since a1most 50 years (Pittier, 1944). Interest in native legumes as a plant genetic resource for development of forage cultivar\" however, is only relatively recent. The first major germplasm collectiol1s of native legumes wcre made by Australian researche!\"s: In 1965 by W. Atkinson and in 1971 by R.L. Burt and1. Miller (Neal-Smilh andJohns, 1967 and1971).In 1973 a collahorative project to colleet germplasm of nalive lcgumes was initiated, with lhe participation of the Fondo Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (FONAIAP) of the Ministerio de Agricultura y Cría, and ¡he Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (ClAn.Collection efforts concentrated on regions with acid, low-fertility soils, as pan of ¡he strategy of CIA T's Tropical Pastures Program to build up a cornprehensive international germplasrn collection for development of acid-soH toleran! forage cultivars (Sehultze-Kraft, 1985).Afier sorne exploratory collection activities in 1973, 1975 and 1977 --prut of which had funding support from lhe Intemational Board for Plan! Genetic Resources (lBPGR) --six extensive, systematic-collection missions where carried out between 1978 and 1986. They covered lhe major par! of lhe territory of Venezuela. Details of lhese rnissions and the respective results were recently presented by Flores and Schultze-Kraft (1991).The objective of this catalog is to document all Venezuelan forage germplasm accessions in the CIAT collection, and to provide sorne collection site description. More collection site data are available on request. This information i8 useful for biogeographical studies of the species involved, to design future collection strategies, to assist interpretation of differential adaptations in agronomic evaluatíon trials, and for other purposes.Ernphasis is on germplasm frorn joint eollectiol1 missions, Le., aceessions for which original information is available.The catalog i8 divided inlo four principal sections (Sectíons 14) and two auxíliary sections (Sections 5 and 6). In Sections 1 and 2, lhe accessions frorn joint collection missions and lhose collected by CIAT personnel only, respectively, are presented, togelher wilh relevant passport information and collection site data which, for a given accession, are to be read across two pages. Section 3 refers to the aceessions introduced from other eollections as donations and il1cludes only sorne basic passport information (which is to be read over one page only). Any additional information may be available in the CIA T data base, or should preferably be requested from lhe donor institutions holding lhe original colleetion data. The main difference between Section 3 and Sections 1 and 2 consists in lhe originality of lhe aceessions, and lhe originality and cxtent of availablc colleclion site information. In Section 4, accessions originating from separations of mixtures, populations or segregations are presented, without major origin infonnation. Any additional information can be found in [he sections lo which lhe original accessions belong.The two auxiliary sections consist of lisL~ oC al! CIA T accession numbers of Venezuelan origin, ordered by state, and by genus name (Scctions 5 and 6, respectively). These sectÍons are meant to facilitate finding accession numbers of any particular genus or from any particular Venezuelan state. AH revelant infonnation can then be found in lhe numerically ordered principal sections.Al the species level, many taxonomic identifications are 31i11 tentative and require revision by the relevant specialisls. This is presently being done for a large series of accessions. Lisis of updated identifications will be available on request.This catalog should not be considered as a seed-offering Index Seminum but rather as a documentation of part of ¡he CIA T collection of tropical forages as il was registered in a given point of time. The collection is maintained by CIAT's Genetic Resources UnÍt (GRU) under appropriate cold-storage conclitions. A major portion of accessions, mainly of those from joint collection missions, have gone through a frrst phase of seed multiplicatíon by the Tropical Pastures Program and/or GRU. Consequently, for many accessions small seed samples (10-30 seeds) can be supplied lo bona fide researchers interested in any particular material. Dependíng on sccd availability, priority will be given to researchers of institutions that cooperated with the collection missions.General ecosystem or original vegetation in the area, and bríef descriptíon of lhe habitat in which Ihe respective accession was collected (for translations of descriptors see Appendix 5, pages 295 -296).Soil infonnation relative lO collection site (for translations see Appendix 5, page 296).Collection date in the tirst line, and date of registration in the CIAT collectíon in fue secOlld lineo f-~----+---t---------------+-----------.--------------.--------------------------------------------------------------~----+--------J  1------+---+---------------+------------------------------------------------------------~--~------------------------------+--------1   -----+---+---------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------~-----~----*-----i--------  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1------+---+---------------1---------------------------------------------------------------------------~------~------~----+--------!  1------+---+---------------+----------------------------------------------~---------------------------------------------~-.--------J  -----+---+-------------_••-----~-----~~--------~--------------------------------------~.--------~~----------------•~---•+-~------I I------+---_______ ~_w __ w ____ +-----+---------~-----+-------------~-----~-~----+-----_________ +----~ _______ ~ __ +- ---------------------   --------------•------~-------------~-------~--------*--------~---~.---------~---~-----------------~----------+--------                           1          ------------------------\"-------.---------.-------------------------------------------------+-------- : ------!---!---------------!-------------------------------------------------cr=---m--~~ ___ ¡07-.   ,------+---~---------------.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-------   --------------+------•\"----------------------------~---------------------------------------------------------+--------   1------+---+---------------+----------------------------------------------------~-----------------------------------------+--------1    I--~-~-+---+----~----------T---------------~-------~---~--~---------------------------------------------------~-~---------t--------I   I I 1 1 1   ---------~--~-+-----+---------------+---------------------~----+--~-----------+~~----~---~----+---\"------------------1   i------+---+---------------+-------------------------------------~-~-----~-----------~--~---------------------------------+--------  I------+---+------~--~•_---+--------------------------------~-------------------------------------------------------------+--------  !------+---+---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-~------I   -----+---+---------------+---------------••------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------   -----+---+---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------1  I------+-~------------------+-----+---------------+      ------------------------~t--------------.---------------+---------------~------         r      ---------------------    --------------+------------------------------------------------------------------~------~------------•-------+     ---------------------  -----+--------------------t-----+---------------+--------------------------i--------------.---------------+-------~--------------     -------------+--------   -----+---+---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------1         -------        -----+---+---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------1   1------+--------------------+-----+---------------+-----~--~-----------------+-~------------+-------   ( 1 ( 1      -----+--------------------+-----+---------------+-__ -----------------------+--------------+---------------+   Iff   -----+---+---------------+-----------------------------------------------~\"------------------~--~-----------------------+-------- ------------+--------------t•--------------+----------------------   ---+---+---------------+-------------~~---------------~~-~~--------------~.------------------------------~-~----------+--------    1 1    -----+---+------------_•-+--•--------------------------------------------------------------------------.-------~---~----+--------  -----+---+---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------  -----+--------------------+-----+---------------+--------------------------+--------------+   -----+---+---------------+----------------~--~---~------~-------~------------------------------~------------------------+--------1  I------+--------------------+-----t---------------+--------------------------+-----~--~-----+-----------_.--+---------------------- -----------------------t--------------t---------------+-----~-~~-------------t       -------1     -----------------------+--------------t---------------+    -----+---+--------~------+------------------------•-----.---------------------~-----------------------------------------+--------   -----------+---~----------------•~-----------------------------------------~-----\"-----.----~-------------+--------   ---------------------1 IR.SCHULTZE-KRAFT,A.fLORES 1 1           ,~-----+---+---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--~-----I    -----.---.---------------.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------1       ----------------------------------------------------------------+--------   ------------------~--------------p--------.--------------------------+--------1  1------+--------------------+-----+---------------+---------     -----+---+---------------+-~--~---_•_--~---~----~----------------------~---------------~--.--~--~--------~---•----------+~-~-----I  1------+--------------------+-----+---------   1  -----+--------------------+-----+---------------         -------------+--------   1 I    -------------------1      -----+-~-+----~----_•_---+----------------~--------------.--------------.---~--~----------------------  ---------____________   -------     -------  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AlT. ANUAL SECOS ECOSISTEMA/HABITAT SUELO IF.REG. 1  ----~---•----M---------~------------------------------------.-----------~--------------------+------.-J  I------+--------------------+-----+------------~--.---------------------~----+.------------_+-------~ _______ +--_•_----------------- ICONJ. I faNAIA? IR.SCHULTZE-KRAFT ,A. FLORES I 1    -----+---+~--\"-----------+------------------------------------------------~-----~-~---------------~--------~------------+--------f  I---•--+---------------~--~-+-----+---------------+  ---------------------1 1  -----+---+---------------+---_•_-------------------------~-----.----.-------------------------~---------.---------------+--------1  1 1   --------------•-•----------------------------------------------------------------------~--------------.------+-.------,  I------+-~-------~--~---~---~-----+---------------+-----------------~~--~----+----------~~--+.--------------+----------------------   -----+---+---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------1 In I-ft----+---_________________ + _____ *- ----~---------*--------------------------+--------------+----------_____ +        -----+---+---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------1  1------+---+---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------11- -----+--------------------+-----+---------------+--------------------------      -----+--------------------+-----+---------------+--------------------------+--------------  -------1 1 1------+---+---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------1      -----+--------------------+-----+-------------   -----+---+---------------+--------*----------------  --------------+--------   -----+---+---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------1 ----------------------+--------------+---~-----------+-------~---------\"----t 1 1 -------------------+-----+---------------+--------------------------+--------------+---------------+------~---------~-----   -------------+--------1 1 I 1 1 1 1  ---------------------    -----+---•---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------1  1------+--------------------+-----+---------------+------------------------~-+--------------+  -----+--------------------+-----+---------------+--------------------------+--------------+---~------~----+--~-------------------        -----+--------------------+-----+---------------+--------------------------+--------------+---------------+----------------••----   ---------+--------------------•-~---------.-------------------------------------------------------------+--------  -----+--------------------+-----+---------------+    -----+---+---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------1  !---*--+-------------~----__ t-----t---------------+  -----+--------------------t-----+---------------+--_----------   --------------+-----------~------------•-~--------------------------------------------------~~---------------+--------   -----+--------------------+-----+---------------+--------------------------+--------------+   -----+--------------------+-----+---------------+----------------------~--~+-------7------+-------~---•---+-------------------~--I l------t-~-+----•-----•----+-------~------------------------------------------------.----------.--------------------------+--~-----I 1  -----+---+---------------+----------------------~------------~--~----------------~--------------------.-----•-------~~--t---~----,  1 1  -----•---•---------------•----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.--------  --------------+--~----------------------~+--------------+---------______ +----------------------   -----+---•---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.--------1  1------+--------------------+-----+---------------+     -----+---+---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------1 t------t~--~-_W~ ____________ +•-•--t-M-------------+-------___________________ + ______________ + ___________ W~--+-----. ----------------  ------..     1------+--------------------t-----+---------------+--------------------------+--------~-----+---------______ +- ---------------------   --------+-----------------------------------------------~~-----------------.---------------------------+----~---I 1 1 1 I 1     -----+--------------------+-----+---------------+--------------------------+--------------+---------------+      I------+----~---------------t-----+---------------+-----------------~--------.--------.-----+---------------+----------------------1    -----+---+---------------+------------------------------------------------------    --------------------------------------------------------------------+--------  -----+---+-~-------------+---------•-~------------------------------------~-~-\"-------------------------~---------------+--------1 ,   -------  -------------------.-----+---------------+--------------------------+----------~---t---------------  Isp.   I------+---+-------------~-+------------------.. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------1    1------+---+---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------[  --------------+-----------------------------------------------------------------~--------------------------~-~--------   -------------------1  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------    I------+---+---------------+~---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+--------1     -----+---+----~~---------.---~----------------------------------~----------------~-------------------~------------------+--------1  1------+--------------------t-----+---------------t---     --------------------+--------------+---------------+----------------------      ¡w~ ____ +-__ + ___ -_-.\"-------+------------------------------__________________ ~ ________ ~~ ________ ~ _______________________ ~ __ +--------I  ---------------------  ----+--------------~-----+---~-+---------------+--------------------------+--------------+---------------+----------------------               En esta sección se incluyen las accesiones de origen venezolano, registradas en la colección del CIAT, las cuales fueron recolectadas en forma oportunística por personal del CIAT, sin la colaboración de una institución venezolana (\"CIAT\" en la columna \"FUENTE\"). Las accesiones se presentan en orden numérico, independiente del nombre de género.Los datos de pasllpOrte y la información sobre el sitio de recolección se extienden para una accesión dada a través de dos páginas, compuestas por columnas idénticas con las de la Sección 1.This section includes all Venezuelan accessions in the CIAT collection that were collected opportunistically by CIA T personnel without the envolvement of a collaborating Venezuelan institution (\"CIAT\" in the \"FUENTE\" column). Accessions are presented in a numerical order, irrespective of genus name..The corresponding passport and collection site infOlmation extends for a given accesslon over two pages, comprising colunms identical with those in Section l.  I------t---+---------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------t--------IEn esta sección se incluyen las accesiones de origen venezolano, registradas en la colección del CIAT, e introducidas como donaciones de otras instituciones (\"DONA.\" en la columna \"FUENTE\"). Las accesiones están ordenadas numéricamente, independiente del nombre de género.La información que se presenta está limitada a una página. que incluye las columnas \"NUMERO CIA T\", \"GENERO/ESPECIE\", \"FUENTE\". \"INSTITUCION DONANTE\", \"ORIGEN\", \"SUBORIGEN\", \"NUMERO DONANTE\", \"OTROS REGISTROS\". \"OBSERVACIONES\", y \"F.COL./F.REG.\". Más información sobre las accesiones puede estar disponible en la base de datos del CIAT, o debería solicitarse preferiblemente a la respectiva institución donante.This section includes all Venezuelan accessions in the CIAT colJection that were received as donations from other institutions (\"DONA.\" in the \"FUENTE\" column).Accessions are presented in a numerical order, irrespective ofgenus.The accession information is limited to one page and includes the columns: \"NUMERO CIA T\", \"GENERO/ESPECIE\", \"FUENTE\", \"INSTlTUCION DONANTE\", \"ORIGEN\", \"SUBORIGEN\", \"NUMERO DONANTE\", \"OTROS REGISTROS\", \"OBSERVACIONES\", and \"F.COL./F.REG.\". Additional information may be available in the CIAT data base. or should preferably be requested from the respective donor institution holding fue original collection data. 1------+---~--------------+-----+---------------+----+---------------+--~-----------~---------------f--------------------+--------1 131/08/771 I------+------------------+---~-+-~~---------~--+----+ ---------------+--------------+---------------+--------------------+--------1 1------+------------------+-----+---------------+----+----------~----+---~~---------+---------------+-------_____________ + ________ 1 I------+---------------~*-+-----+---------------+----+---------------+--~-----------+---------------+--------------------+--------1  REG. 1------+------------------+-----+---------------+----• --~------------+--------------+---------------+---------~----------. --------!       En esta sección se incluyen los materiales que se separaron de accesiones originales las cuales, una vez sembradas en el CIA T, resultaron estar compuestas por tipos de planta tan diferentes (mezclas de ecotipos, poblaciones, ' segregaciones) que se procedió a asignar números de accesión nuevos (\"CIAT SEGR.\" en la colunma \"FUENTE\"). Estas accesiones se presentan en orden numérico e independiente del nombre de género.En vista de que no se trata de materiales reconocidos como diferentes en el lugar original de recolección, con excepción de la columna \"ORIGEN\" no se incluyen datos sobre el sitio de recolección; la información presentada se limita a las columnas de una sola página. Información adicional sobre el (probable) origen podrá encontrarse bajo el número de la respectiva accesión original mencionado en la columna \"OBSERVACIONES\".This section includes materials separated from original accessíons that, once sown at CIAT, proved lo be composed of plant types that were so different (ecotype mixtures, populations, segregations) that new accession numbers were assigned (\"CIAT SEGR.\" in the \"FUEJ','TE\" colunm). Accessions are presented in a numerical order, irrespective of genus.The accession information is limited to one page. As materíals referred to in this section are not accessÍons recognized as different at the original collection site, except for the \"ORIGEN\" column no further location data are included. They can be found under the respecti ve original accession number mentioned in the \"OBSERVACIONES\" column.  -------   ------+----------~----+-----+---~+---------------+--------) -----+---------------+-----+----+---------------+--------1 I NUMERO 1 GENERO? ! FUEN-I ORI -1 I f . COL./ I ICIAT IESPECIE ITE IGEN IOBSERVACIONES If.REG. I I------+---------------+-----+----+-----------~---+- -------    En esta secci6n se enumeran las accesiones de germoplasma de Venezuela, según el estado de origen e independiente de la fuente y/o nombre del género. En total se presentan 22 listados con los nombres de los estados ordenados alfabéticamente. Los listados se componen de números de accesiones ordenados en forma numérica. Cualquier información disponible se podrá encontrar fácilmente en las Secciones 1 (recolecciones conjuntas), 2 (recolecciones CIA T). ó 3 (donaciones).  15866 15908 18967 18968 18975 18976 18992 19024 19025 19026 1903;' 19037 19072 19075 19079 19470 2042. 20444   1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1908 1909   19000 19001 19006 19007 19008 19009 19010 19011 19012  19013 19014 19015 19016 19017 19016 19019 19020 19021 19022 19023 19031 19032 19033 19034 19035 19043 19044 19045 19046 1 I 1 19047 19046 19049 19050 19051 19052 19053 19054 19055 19056 19057 19058 19059 19069 19076 19077 19078 190ao 19081 19082 1 I 1 19083 19084 19085 19056 19087 19069   1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 2789 <790 2791 27n   1903' 19040 19060 19061 19062 19063      19053 19064 19055 19056 19057 19058 19059 19060 19061 19062 19063 19069    19041 19042 19043 19044 19045 19046 19047 19048 19049 19050 20277 20450 Z0451 20452  1--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ad9c370638b88e9b6a2373f48e675794","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/f977beb2-bdaa-43d9-a18f-bfe91204d9ba/content","id":"1645863820"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3ecec13b-d3b7-4dc9-b020-ed310813dc9c","content":"Resumen. La resistencia genética ofrece el más amplio potencial para el control de la resistencia a la pudrición de mazorca y tallo de maíz causado por Fusarium moniliforme, el cual tiene una distribución cosmopolita y afecta la calidad del grano y tallos de plantas afectadas. Además, es una amenaza para la salud del hombre y los animales por la producción de toxinas cancerígenas. Por lo anterior, se propuso como objetivo determinar la aptitud combinatoria general (ACG), la aptitud combinatoria específica (ACE), los efectos maternos, y la heredabilidad para este carácter. La evaluación se realizó en Colombia en el ciclo de primavera-verano 2000 bajo infección natural. Se utilizaron 22 plantas, donde se midió el índice de susceptibilidad de las mazorcas a F. moniliforme. La interpretación genética mediante el método I y II de Griffing indicó que existen efectos maternos, presencia de genes aditivos (ACG) y de genes dominantes (ACE). La varianza genética fue mayor para las cruzas recíprocas o maternas. Los resultados de heredabilidad en sentido estrecho (h 2 ) mostraron una transmisión baja del carácter (0.11). Esta complejidad genética de la resistencia complica más el mejoramiento para resistencia a F. moniliforme.Palabras claves adicionales: Heredabilidad, aptitud combinatoria general, aptitud combinatoria específica, herencia citoplásmica.Genetic resistance offers the greatest potential for control of maize ear and stalk rot caused by Fusarium moniliforme, a cosmopolitan fungus which affects the quality of grain and stalks of diseased plants. This fungus is also a threat to human and animal health, due to the production of carcinogenic toxins. The objective of this study was to determine the general combining ability (GCA), the specifica combining ability (SCA), the maternal effects, and heritability for this trait. The evaluation was carried out in Colombia, during the spring-summer crop cycle 2000 under natural infection. Twenty two plants were used to measure the susceptibility index of ears to F. moniliforme. The genetic interpretation by the Griffing's methods I and II, indicated the presence of maternal effects, additive genes (GCA), and dominant genes (SCA). The genetic variance was greater for reciprocal or maternal crosses. Heritability (h 2 ) in the narrow sense, showed low transmission of this trait (0.11). This genetic complexity of resistance, makes breeding for resistance to F. moniliforme more complicated.Additional keywords: Heritability, GCA, SCA, Cytoplasmic inheritance Fusarium moniliforme Sheld. (sin. F. verticillioides) causa pudrición del tallo y pudrición de la mazorca del maíz (Zea mays L.) (Nelson, 1992). El patógeno tiene una distribución cosmopolita y es endémico en todas las regiones maíceras del mundo, afectando seriamente la productividad. Es capaz de colonizar todas las partes de la planta, incluyendo raíz, tallo, mazorca y semillas; frecuentemente, la presencia del hongo no es perceptible pues no causa un daño visible (Singh y Singh, 1977;Thomas y Buddenhagen, 1980). La infección (Recibido: Diciembre 6, 2002Aceptado: Marzo 6, 2003) Revista Mexicana de FITOPATOLOGIA/ 267 asintomática puede presentarse en toda la planta y el patógeno ser transmitido por semilla a las plántulas, pudiendo o no desarrollar posteriormente una infección sistémica (Munkvold y Desjardins, 1997). La invasión de las mazorcas cobra mayor importancia debido al potencial tóxico de los metabolitos secundarios producidos por el hongo, entre los que se encuentran las fumonisinas, substancias carcinogénicas, como el ácido fusárico, fusarinas (fusarina C), giberelinas, moniliformina, zearalenona, tricotecenos y fumonisinas (Nelson, 1992;Bacon y Williamson, 1992;Sweeney y Dobson, 1998).Éstas últimas han sido caracterizadas como promotoras de cáncer hepático en ratas (Gelderblom et al., 1988), y asociadas a la leucoencefalomalacia y en cáncer esofágico en humanos (Pederson y Morrall, 1995;Nelson et al., 1993;D'Mello et al., 1999). Después de varias décadas de investigación de la resistencia a la pudrición de mazorca, no se han encontrado genotipos inmunes a la enfermedad y su mecanismo de resistencia no es bien conocido. Dada la importancia de esta enfermedad en el mundo, varios estudios, con poco éxito, se han enfocado hacia el conocimiento de las características genéticas de la relación patógeno-planta. Al respecto, Scott y King (1984) reportan que existe acción génica para la resistencia a Fusarium de tipo aditivo y con operatividad en el tejido maternal; este último resultado de herencia materna también lo reportan Headrick y Pataky (1989); otros como Nankam y Pataky (1996) encontraron que la heredabilidad en sentido amplio oscila de 0.24 a 0.46; asímismo, recomiendan la selección recurrente para la acumulación de alelos para la resistencia a F. moniliforme. De acuerdo con De León y Pandey (1989) en un programa de selección recurrente de mazorca por surco modificado, reportaron un progreso genético de -0.9% para resistencia a Fusarium y determinaron que el tipo de acción génica es aditivo y poligénico. Por lo anterior, la estimación de los parámetros genéticos permite conocer la variación y el tipo de acción génica que ayuda al investigador a definir una metodología y un programa de mejoramiento genético apropiado (Mendoza, 1997). La atención que se ha dado a las características citoplásmicas ha sido superficial, especialmente a enfermedades e insectos. Esto cambió en 1970 cuando la raza T del hongo Helminthosporium maydis (Nisicado y Miyake) devastó los campos de maíz de Estados Unidos (Jugenheimer, 1981), debido al desconocimiento que se tenía sobre la interacción alélica entre la esterilidad citoplásmica y la raza T. Entonces, la diversidad citoplasmática es fundamental en plantas autógamas y alógamas en la mayoría de los programas de fitomejoramiento (Grogan, 1972). Considerando que existen pocos trabajos de investigación relacionados con la genética de la resistencia a la pudrición de mazorca causada por F. moniliforme en maíz (Headrich y Pataky, 1989), y que la resistencia genética es considerada como el método de control más económico y eficiente, es necesario conocer el modo y tipo de herencia a la invasión por F. moniliforme. Bajo estas premisas, los objetivos de este trabajo fueron: cuantificar los efectos genéticos aditivos (ACG) y dominantes (ACE), determinar la importancia de los efectos maternos, y estimar la heredabilidad para la pudrición de mazorca causada por F. moniliforme.Material genético. Se utilizaron diez líneas S 4 derivadas de la población Molcates de amplia base genética (Cuadro 1), que se cruzaron en dialelo, obteniéndose todas las cruzas posibles (F 1 ), directas y recíprocas. Simultáneamente, se incrementaron todos los progenitores usando cruzas fraternales en cadena. Los cruzamientos e incrementos de las líneas se realizaron en Ursulo Galván, Veracruz, México, en el ciclo de otoño-invierno 1999. Trabajo de campo. Las 45 cruzas directas, 45 cruzas recíprocas y las 10 líneas progenitoras se establecieron en el ciclo de primavera-verano 2000 en la localidad de Cerrito, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, bajo un diseño de bloques completos al azar con dos repeticiones. La siembra se realizó en forma manual, en surcos de 5 m de longitud, con 0.90 m entre surcos y una distancia entre plantas de 0.25 m, siendo la parcela útil de 22 plantas por tratamiento. La densidad de población fue de aproximadamente 56,000 plantas/ha. El experimento se estableció bajo infección natural. Evaluación y análisis. Se determinó la severidad del daño causado por F. moniliforme a las mazorcas usando una escala de cinco valores, donde 1 = mazorcas sanas, 2 = mazorcas con 10% de granos afectados, 3 = mazorcas con 10-25% de granos afectados, 4 = mazorcas con el 26-50% de granos dañados, y 5 = mazorcas con más del 50% de granos afectados (De León, 1997). Con estos datos se calculó el índice de sanidad (IS), usando una media ponderada, que considera el número de mazorcas en cada grado de severidad: en donde: IS = índice de sanidad; ni = mazorcas dañadas en cada escala; Ei = escala i; y N = número total de mazorcas en la parcela útil. Para la interpretación genética se utilizó un análisis dialélico método I y II de Griffing (1956). El diseño I comprendió el ensayo de la autofecundación, un grupo de cruzas F 1 y las cruzas recíprocas con un total de P 2 combinaciones. Para el diseño II, se consideraron las autofecundaciones o progenitores y las cruzas F 1 , sin incluir las cruzas recíprocas, con un total de p(p+1)/2 combinaciones. La heredabilidad en sentido estrecho (h 2 ) se calculó con la fórmula descrita por Chávez (1995):de la dominancia. Para el modelo I se utilizan los mismos progenitores que en el diseño anterior, además, se analizan las cruzas recíprocas (efectos maternos). Los resultados demostraron que existen genes aditivos, dominantes y de efectos maternos para la resistencia a la pudrición de la mazorca. Estos resultados indican que la contribución de los progenitores al valor fenotípico de la progenie es de tipo aditivo, dominante y materno, es decir, que el grado de resistencia a la pudrición de la mazorca puede pronosticarse como la suma de los efectos individuales inducidos por cada progenitor; nuevamente, el hecho de conocer que existe dominancia y que operan los efectos maternos, ayudan al mejorador a la elección de los progenitores en la formación de los nuevos genotipos. Sin embargo, los efectos dominantes van a depender de la cruza que se examina; asímismo, el valor fenotípico de la progenie es influenciado por un efecto maternal, sugiriendo que el efecto materno atribuible a un progenitor es variable, dependiendo de la magnitud de variación del progenitor masculino que se elija. La varianza genética para estos efectos fue mayor para las cruzas recíprocas o maternas (Cuadro 3); Scott y King (1984) en un estudio en genotipos de maíz determinaron que la resistencia a F. moniliforme fue condicionada por el pericarpio del genotipo; Headrick y Pataky (1989) concluyeron a través de una evaluación de líneas endogámicas de maíz, que la reacción a la resistencia estuvo fuertemente afectada por factores de tejido maternal. En relación a la heredabilidad en sentido estricto (h 2 ), se reporta un valor de 0.118 que se considera bajo. Hallauer y Miranda (1988) indican que un valor de heredabilidad 0.20 es bajo, 0.21-0.50 es intermedio y > 0.50 es alta; al respecto, Nankam y Pataky (1996) determinaron la heredabilidad en sentido amplio en un rango de 0.24 a 0.46, esto debido a que ésta última se estima con base a la varianza genética total; desde el punto de vista genético, es mucho más importante la heredabilidad en sentido estricto, ya que sólo considera la varianza aditiva, la cual permite acumular los genes ciclo tras ciclo de selección para este carácter. Al respecto, Renfro (1985) reportó que la resistencia a la pudrición de mazorca por Fusarium es poligénica, con acción aditiva como el mayor componente y alguna presencia Donde: h 2 = heredabilidad; σ a 2 = varianza aditiva; y σ p 2 = varianza fenotípica que es el resultado de la varianza del error entre el número de repeticiones. Los diseños antes mencionados generaron las estimaciones de la ACG, ACE, varianzas y error estándar.En el Cuadro 2 se muestra los cuadrados medios y la varianzas bajo el método II de Griffing para la variable pudrición de la mazorca. En estas condiciones, se obtuvo una diferencia significativa (p = 0.06), lo que indica que al menos un cruzamiento mostró diferente grado de severidad o resistencia a F. moniliforme, lo que permitirá elegir algún híbrido simple con resistencia a la enfermedad. Para los efectos aditivos (ACG), no se encontró diferencia estadística. No obstante, los efectos de dominancia (ACE) resultaron ser más grandes que la ACG, lo cual indica que existen en mayor proporción genes dominantes para el control del carácter de resistencia. La varianza para estas dos fuentes de variación muestra que la contribución de los progenitores al valor fenotípico de la progenie es dominante, y que la resistencia a F. moniliforme puede pronosticarse; esto significa, que durante la formación de híbridos comerciales, se puede elegir un progenitor resistente cruzado con un material susceptible y/o tolerante, y el resultado será un material resistente debido a la presencia Cuadro 2. Análisis de varianza del dialélico método II de Griffing para pudrición de mazorca causado por Fusarium moniliforme. σ a 2 σ p 2 h 2 = de dominancia. Así, para obtener progresos en la incorporación de resistencia a F. moniliforme, se sugiere utilizar un programa de mejoramiento de selección recurrente para la acumulación del caracter de resistencia. En el Cuadro 4 se presenta el IS de progenitores y cruzas a la pudrición de la mazorca. Los resultados indican que la media más baja la presentó la línea 10 con un bajo valor medio de infección (1.5) que equivale a menos del 10 % de granos afectados por esta enfermedad según escala, mientras que la línea 7 presentó hasta el 25 % de infección, seguida por los progenitores 4 y 6. Las cruzas 1 x 5, 4 x 3 y 5 x 4 presentaron valores bajos de infección (1.25-1.5). El cruzamiento con valor de infección más alto fue la 4 x 8 con 3.95 (hasta el 50 % de granos afectados), seguida por la 4 x 6 y 7 x 9 con un valor de 3.5. En el Cuadro 5 se concentran los datos de la ACG y ACE para el diseño I y II. En los dos análisis se detectaron progenitores resistentes y/o tolerantes y susceptibles. Líneas sobresalientes por su resistencia a través de sus cruzas en ambos diseños fueron 1, 2, 5, 8 y 10. Estas líneas presentan valores de ACG negativos, lo cual significa que presentan nivel de resistencia mayor a F. moniliforme. A través de los dos diseños, el progenitor 10 y la línea 5 fue la que mejor combinó en todas sus cruzas; cabe señalar, que el mejor comportamiento individual para la resistencia lo obtuvo la línea 10. Para las cruzas específicas (ACE), sólamente se reportan las 10 mejores cruzas; sin embargo, para el dialelo I, los valores de ACE oscilaron entre -0.79 y 1.33 para las cruzas 4 x 5 y 4 x 8, respectivamente. Se encontraron 31 cruzas que presentaron valores negativos, lo que significa que gran número de híbridos simples poseen tolerancia y/o resistencia a la pudrición de la mazorca. Resultados similares se encontraron en el análisis del diseño II, donde se obtuvieron valores de ACE que variaron entre -0.61 y 0.84 para las cruzas 3 x 4 y 4 x 8, respectivamente. Al respecto, Jugenheimer (1981) menciona que la interacción de factores genéticos, razas fisiológicas, medio ambiente y la misma herencia citoplásmica llegan a obstaculizar la explicación genética de una característica. Esta complejidad genética determinada en este estudio concuerda con los resultados reportados por Pérez et al. (2001) en un estudio de cartografía de QTL de la resistencia a F. moniliforme, donde determinan un gran número y pequeños efectos de QTL; asímismo, reportan Cuadro 5. Respuesta a la ACG y ACE estimada con los diseños I y II del modelo de  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ee333409be0662d77a5dc564904c6442","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/527a6880-c1e8-447b-a771-99e529a7ae19/retrieve","id":"1912452075"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2de83789-9301-4844-8006-38ede3e6f5e1","content":"Appendix. Summary of actions and milestones for development and submission of the research proposal \"Transregional analysis of maize residue use and markets: Implications for the participation of small scale poor crop-livestock producers and maize improvement programs\" to funding agencies "}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"3a783df2-3ab3-43f9-97f1-813d6f834980","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7c29b55b83d0e2981a08e1bed7c8d815","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4d54ce28-702e-48a9-8273-30d6c1b89564/retrieve","id":"1050572289"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"dd47f941-8401-474c-b067-90a43e71fdc7","content":"• Finally, the success of community action to manage development processes will depend fundamentally on the community' S ability to control the processes ofknowledge production, design, and implementation of actions.The practícal ímplícations ofthís methodology can be summarized as the need to search for ways in which partícipatory research can be part of an ongoing process. Inherent to the process is the acknowledgrnent that power relations between researchers and the researched is problematic and that there ís a need to develop a process of critical reflection that situates the production ofknowledge and action withín a specific context of a negotiated process, emphasizing community actíon (see also Koning and Martin 1996).The major ethnic group ínhabiting the research sites is an ethnically distínct but heterogeneous group ofpeople known as the Raí. Together with a related group of people known as the Limbu, the Raí refer to themselves as Kírals, a term employed as much to unify aH the various \"tríbes\" and c1ans as it is a political statement employed to dístinguísh them from the dominant Hindu majority. Having until the recent past practiced a distinct system of cornmunal land tenure known as Idpat, the Kirats constitute one of the oldest ethnic components of the regíon. Yet in decades following their integration into Nepal after the \"unification\" in the mid-18th century, the Kírats have been confronted with numerous chaIlenges to their traditional way of life. Dominant lowland influences have resulted in changes in sociocultural practices associated with traditional land-management practices and given rise to the ubiquitous rain-fed and irrigated terraces (bari/khét) that suil wetland paddy and other lowland crops. In the process, engineered landscapes have replaced extensive areas of forest cover where traditional swídden (slash-and-burn clearing) was practiced.Compounding the asymmetry ofhistorically derived center/periphery relations are constraints imposed by the harsh mountaín environment. Typical ofthe eastem Himalayan region (see Shrestha 1989), human sertlements are siruated in elevations ranging from 500-2000 melers, where landdistríbution partems combine with steep slopes and shallow soil depths lo severely constrain agricultura! activities. The land-distríbution figures ofTamku VDC (table 1), where the research sites are located, demonstrate the environmental constraints that the inhabitants are confronted with. From the total avaílable Jane!, ónly 10.6% is suitab!e for agriculture, and from this total arable area, 54% has slopes of 40 degrees and soil depths of not more than 20 cm (Goldsmith, 1982).Asymmetrícal center/periphery relations embedded in historical processes have contríbuted significantly to the present deteriorating ｳ ｴ ｡ ｴ ｾ ＠ of local institutional capacities to negotiate and orlen! Source: Khan.1 (1992).development servíces to their benefit, espccially to counter the period of food deficít that typically lasts for four to five months ayear. Unable to support their subsistence needs through crop yields alone, many households have male family members migrating in increasing numbers to urban centers in search of employment, leaving women and children to manage and care for the farm. An additional outcome of prolonged periods of food deficit is the inabilíty of households to save seeds from consumption in times of stress. Thís, along with deteriorating local knowledge about seed-management practices and the absence of organizational capacíties to access external sources of improved seed technologies has profound implícations for the long-term subsistence of households in the region. It also significantly determines the narure and type of research methodology to be adopted for particular sites.The objectives of the project evolved in several stages of a diagnostíc process that sought devolution by emphasizing cornrnunity participation in íncreasing stages during the research process. In order to facilitate cornrnunity control and ownership, the methodology was developed &om the principIes of problem posing, dialogue, and refleetion based on the Freirean (1972,1973,1978) notion that cornrnunity ínvolvement in the development process can be generated through developing a critical awareness of the causes of problems. The diagnostic process ínvolved the following steps:l. A survey was conducted to establish the need for a participatory seed-management initiatíve, based on the following research themes:• assessing the capacity oflocal cornrnunity-based organízatíons • determining existing pattems of food sufficiency • identifyíng appropriate crap(s) for enhancing improved seed-management strategies • determining factors for farmer participation through gender-differentiated varietal assessment ofidentified crop(s) • determining the source of germplasm, either in exísting local vaneties or through external means 2. Analysis was done through a critical examination ofbaseline data to determine how the prob-Iem of food deficit i5 contexrualized by cornmunity members. Ibat ís, are problems of food deficit línked to just econolTÚc issues of subsistence or are they affected by social dynamics of decision-making? And to what extent are these embedded in tbe value5 and cultural constructs of the cornrnunity? Conceprualized problems in this way necessítates posing the following questions:• Do the issues deal mainly with problems of subsistence, decision-making, or values? • Where will action most likeIy come from?• What will most effectively motivate people?3. Problem-posing material was prepared through the development of codes, which are representations of existing problems in the form of stories, dramatized enactrnents, pictures, results of particípatory rural appraisal (PRA), etc. Fundamental to the preparation of codes is tbe need to ensure that they present a scene showing a concrete experience ofthe problem, which is familiar to the participants.4. Discussíon was dírected through an interactive workshop whereby cornmunity members participated in defming tbe problem offood deficit and searchíng for solutioos. The primary objective ofthis process was 10 develop a critical awareness oflhe problem offood deficit through tbe search for potential solutions. Additionally, the process also creates a context for the community 10 provide cornmenls on the research results and to define the direction oflhe process.The process begins witb a description ofcedes, followed by a firsl analysis, which is then related to reallife and followed by a deeper analysis, ending in self-reliant action planning.The degree and type of farmer participation depends principally on the objeclives for participation, as well as the context, as determined by the particular stage of tbe process. Thus, the diagnostic phase, consisting oftbe survey, anaiysis, code preparation, and discussion, involved varying levels of farmer participation. In tbe survey, three members of tbe cornmuníty and two projeet members comprised the researeh team. Clan elders and farmers selected on the basis tbeir knowledge related to seed managemen! were consulted abeu! tbe relevance of tbe project. In addition, tbe executive body of cornmunity-based organizations were consulted to establish interest in developing a working partnership to conduct the project.The survey was conducted to establish (1) a crop inventory, (2) to determine tbe needs and priorities of different groups, based on gender and wealth considerations, and (3) lo identify erop for improving seed-management technology. At tbe same time, farmers were selected for consultation on the basis of tbeir knowledge, financial.status, and gender. The subsequent analysis of the data lo develop appropriate cedes was conducted in collaboration witb local researchers and farmers.The main objective ofthe workshop !ha! followed was to present tbe codes to tbe larger cornmunity  to understand tbe root causes and potentíai solutions to problems of food deficit in the regíon. The selectíon of cornrnunity members was based on tbe eriteria developed in prior consultation witb local members of the research team. During this stage of tbe interface, farmers were more extensively involved in tbe direction of!he discussion of research findings, as well as decís ion making lo determine tbe level of participation in setting tbe agenda for future action.The selectíon of participants was deterrnined by tbe following eritena:• demonstrated instances of innovation in seed management and knowledge of causallinks between problems of food scarcity and gaps in existing seed-management practices• gender-differentiated knowledge and gendered experiences• farming for subsistence as a full-time subsistence activityThe participants selected for participation in the research process demonstrated varying degrees of innovation in crop management. The type of innovations ranged from pre-harvest selection practices to post-harvest storage practices. In sorne instances, the praetices were leamed from experienee gained extemally.asin the case of selecting for desired traits of rice during the pre-harvest period or experimentíng with new strategies as in the case of post-harvest storage of maize mixed with millet to reduce pest attack.While post-harvest selection practices were common for crops such as maize and millet, pre-harvest selectíon was practiced only on paddy, One farmer, selecting specifically for larger panicles, denser grain quality, and tal! height in a landrace (punche dhan) was successful in producing a \"variety\" subsequently named afier him (changkhu dhan,literally \"Changkhu's rice\"), This \"varieti' is currently widely adopted by other farmers in the commnnity, with Changkhu presently selecting for early maturation to coincide with the planting of winter wheat.In seed-storage technology, sorne innovative farmers experiment with the leaves of a locally available plant (bajo) to ward offpestattacks on maize seeds. Dried leaves ofthis plant are placed in the bottom of the seed container and altemately in several layers approximately every three to four inches, then fue container is sealed by additionalleaves at the topo Sealed in September or early October, the relatively airtight spaces and the toxic nature ofleaves sufficiently wards off pest attacks.In another example, one woman farmer, noticing that millet grains were free of pests that attacked maíze seeds, began mixing a handful of millet grains in the container where maize seeds were stored. This relatively simple practice was based on her observation that millet seeds were free from fue pests lhat attacked ｴ ｨ ｾ ＠ maize seeds that were stored in close proximity to fue millet.In varietal assessments of maize, conducted separately between women and men farmers during the inÍtial research phase, women and men listed different categories of preferences based on their roles and experiences. Men listed four varieties of maize, mostly modem varieties that had been introdueed into the commnnity in the last several years. W omen, on the other hand,listed eight varietíes, mostly landraces whose use had been discontinued in the project site but existed in the women's natal villages. Women cited fodder quality, ease in grinding, and taste as fue primary eritecia for their preference oflandraces. Men, on fue other hand, cited high yields, early rnaturation, resistance to drought conditions, and market prices as important in their preference for modern varieties, An additional ranking of maize varieties among farmers revealed differential knowledge and preference priorities between women and men (table 3).That participating farmers be involved in farming as a full-time subsistence activity was an important eriteria for selection for two reasons: the first was prompted by fue project need for the uninterrupted involvement of participants for two production seasons (for most farmers in the area, 8. chepti seti. . -\" ----1 _ food-scarcity periods necessitated involvemcnt in off-farm activities for supplementing household ineomes); the second was because those farmers who were involved in farming as a \"full-time\" activity showed a greater inclinalion to be relative\\y self-sufficient in food production, even during the scarcity período Of the nine farmer participants in Tamku VDC who were included in the \"iunovative\" category, aIl claimed sufficient food security during the year and could be counted upon by other cornmunity members for food loans during periods of food deficit.Out-migration ofmen to urban centers in search of employment is one ofthe primary strategies employed lo counter food deficits. In the past, it was cornmon for men and women to become involved in recíprocal arrangemenls within t/le corpmunity during times of food shortage. UsualIy this involved providing labor for wealthier farmers in return for food provisions during times of scarcity. Increasíngly, however, Ihe presenl trend is for!he majority ofyoung men to migrate to urban cenlers to work as porters for trekkíng companies, perform meníal jobs in restaurants and hotels, or migrate lo Ihe MiddIe East (arab) through the numerous employment agencies !hat have sprung up in Nepalese townships.In addition to out-migration, people a1so forage for a variety offorest foods (kandamul), although a degree of social stigma surrounds foraging activities, príncipally through the perceived notion that it ís part of the \"prímitive\" past.At the household level, food-preparation strategies a1so play an important role in \"making it lasl longer.\" Grains are boiled with excess water, creating a porridge-like consistency to ínerease !he quantity. \"Visitors and guests\" duríng !he time of scarcity are actively discouraged from visiting, though sorne women particípants cited visiting relatives (preferably fue natal home, for married women) as an option to combal food shortages.A seasonal calendar for food production reveals a period of severe food scarcity between !he monlhs begiuning in late February and lasting till early luIy. The relationship between food production and out-mígration, especially of males to urban centers in search of employment, is direct1y proportional to !he íncreasing number of female-headed households as well as the additional, \"gendered\" burden of farming responsibilities that this trend implies. Moreover, !here was a strong relationship between decreasing food produetion and poor aceess lO seed sources and deteriorating seed-savíng practices. Research suggested !hat !he deterioratíon of seed saving was not necessarily related lo loss ofknowledge but was, ralher, determined lO a large extent by food scarcity and the additional burden of farm households to do \"other things.\" Increasing trends in food scarcity over the last few generations have resulted in people consuming ínslead of saving seed materíaL Though there were many reasons for food scarcity, research demonstrated a causal relationshíp between decreased crop yíelds and the ínability to manage seed, in terms of both maíntaíning seed purity (saadha biyu) and poor seed storage practices. Moreover, access to the Agriculture Input Sector (AIC), a public-sector undertaking responsible for seed supplies was dífficult, sínce ít is situated in district headquarters a day' s walk from the village and using il ofien proves to be a dífficult bureaucratic process beyond the reach of individual farmers. The consequenees of low yields, the ínabílity lo maíntain seed purity, and lack of access to reliable sourees of new germplasm aH contribute to food scarcity in Tamk:u.In order to address the objective of developing improved seed technologies in marginal mountain environments while emphasizing community control ofthe rnanagement of the process, it becomes important lo conceptualize farmer participation in the research process as an instrument of empowerment. Dne principie way forward in tlús direction is lo situate farmer participation in the context ofIocal knowledge. In doing so, however, it becomes important to view knowledge, or indigenous technical knowledge, beyond common representatíons of its beíng produced as a raliona! response to environmental contingencies (e.g., Matlúas-Mundy et al. 1991;Howes and Chambers 1980;Brokensha, Warren, and Werner 1980). Instead, it becomes important to sitnate indigenous technícal knowledge within cultural categories of meaning, which can then become an empowering base for participation in the interface with more powerful externa! categories of knowledge.The workshop discussions revealed how empírical experiences cannot be separated from cultural experience, especiaHy in the way Rai farmers talk about food scarcity and place the phenomenon in a mytlúc context. Local discourse offood scarcity finds expressíon both in the dominant Nepali language as well as the various díalects of the Raí group. The words to describe food scarcity range from anikal (foad shortage), bhakmari (to kilI hunger), mahamari (the great killer), and sisawa (famine) in the Kulung dialect ofthe Rai. lt also finds expression through simple expressions such as \"khana ka abab hunu\" (to be short of edíbles), \"dhayrailchitto bhok lagnu\" (lo experience hungerpangs sooner and more frequently than normal), \"chasum na hunu\" (to lack prosperity), as well as more abstraet expressions, such as in tlús lament in the Kulung dialect \"Etenay sisawa udanai [ay tay ha wumche \" (dear friends. and brothers, ... how do we survive the sisawa [food shortage] tlús year?) or the more common instructional verse admonishing people to save seeds to combat food shortages \"Almal ma jiyu bachhaunu, Aníkal ma biyu bachhaunu \" (save oneself in times of confusion, [but] save seeds in times of[food] shortage) or \"Chha geda sabai mera Chhaina geda sabai tenda\" (having seeds, all is mine, [not1 having seeds, all is not mine [Le., lost]).In the indigenous schema, food scarcity is a condition of cultural \"disorder\" that has its genesís in the curse that one warring ancestor castes upon another for perceived treachery. In cultural terms, the condition becomes inevitable and requires annual propitia!ion of the ancestor through ritual appeasement. The myth, consisting of ancestral deeds tbat include the settling of present territories, serves as a metaphor for the sacred relationship that exists between the Raí and the delimited territory they occupy. Traditional Kirati notions of ethnicity canno! be separated from this relationshíp and are symbolized by an ancestor stone that is sitnated in every village and propitiated in annual agricultura! ceremonies (ca:ri).What such a view of knowledge irnplies is that by granting legitirnacy to cultural episternologíes, indigenous explanations for ernpírical categories are not subjugated by ratíonalist scientific explanations and thereby becorne an ernpowering elernent for farrner participation. Wíthín such a context, the transferoftechnical skills to enhance seed technology neither dirninishes nor disernpowers indigenous systerns of rneaning.Crop improvement has been one ofthe strong, continuous programs in the Mekong Delta for major crops, especially rice and beans. However, most breedíng programs have been set and designed by breeders neglectíng the role of users: farmers and farming cornmunities. Breeders have set their own breeding objectives and conducted crop-improvement programs based on their own analysis ofproblems and on-station research findings (COWI 1999). At the end oftheír breeding programs, promising breeding materials are released to fanners as so-called \"technology transfer.\" Fanners are passive users, receiving finished breeding línes/varieties for their production. In many cases, fanners, especially the poor, refuse to try new varieties because they do not want to take the risk.Resource-rich fanners are the Iirst to try such varieties. Participatíon is Iimited to providing a piece ofland to the breeders for on-fann trials. The dissemination process of\"technology transfer\" has been very slow and costly for both breeders and farmers. As a result, the adoption of recornmended varieties, in many cases, has been very slow, doubtful, or has even failed. acceptance. The use of participatory approaches in crop improvement assures farmers' involvemenl in the whole process or, al least, in the evaluation process. This has resulted in better understanding and greater acceptability of new crop varieties generated through breeding programs.Can Tho University, as the leading research institution for adapting participatory approaches in rice improvement, started on-farm breeding programs as early as 1975, afier the war, by sending out their staff and students to work closely with farmers on erop improvement programs (Xuan et al. 1993). In 1994, with the inception ofthe Cornmunity Biodiversity Development and Conservation (CBDC) project, participatory plant breeding (PPB) and participatory varietal selection (PVS) were introduced as methods to develop and identifY crop varieties specific to niche environments and farmers' preferences (CBDC 1996(CBDC , 1997)). Witcombe and Joshi (1996) defined PPB as involving farmers in selecting genotypes frem genetically variable, segregating materials and PVS as involving the selection by farmers ofnonsegregating materials, characterized as products from plant-breeding programs. However, they also agreed lhat PPB is a logical extension ofPVS. In our view, PVS is only a lower leve! ofPPB. PPB, therefore, should be understood in its broader meaning and implications as the involvement offarmers in the whole process of plant breeding, no! only the selection of segregating and nonsegregating materials. Farmers can be involved at the very beginning, when strategies and objectives are se! forplant breeding, in identifYing parents, making crosses (of course with training from the formal sector), and selecting both segregating and nonsegregating materials. The experiences from the CBDC project in Southeast Asia have proven lhat peint, especially in the Mekong Delta in Vietoam and in Bohol, Philippines, for rice (CBDG 1998).These participatory approaches are also being used at one of the study sites, Tra Cu, of the global in situ conservation project implemented in Vietnam in collaboration with the Intemational Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRl).The participatory cropcímprovement program uses pvs andlor PPB approaches, depending on fanners' varietal needs and their breeding knowledge and technical skílls. The pvs approach has been used to improve locallandraces and to evaluate the finished breeding materials, obtained frem research institutions, on farmers' field. When varietal options avaílable to farmers through PVS are limited or exhausted, PPB is initiated (CBDC 1998). Farmers with knowledge ofand interest in breeding are involved in PPB activities, i.e., activities frem crossing desired parent lines to selecting and evaluating the segregating genetic materials (De and Tin 1998). A flow diagram showing the methods used in participatory erop improvement is presented in figure 1. The methods used in implementing PPB and PVS are discussed below.Particípatory plant breeding involves the following steps and activities.Need assessment and seledion of cooperating farmers, Cornmunity meetings are organized to identifY farmers' problems and needs and to come up with suitable crop-improvement strategies and plans. A group offarmers (Group 1 farmers), with knowledge ofand interest in breeding, are selected as cooperating farmers in consultation wíth the community. Breeding acti vities are then formulated and decided upon with these cooperating farmers.fanners with good knowledge and skili in breeding.with good knowledge and .kiU in seed seleclion.with good knowledge and ,km in seed production. Setting breeding objectives and identifying donor parents. Breeders work c10sely with farmers to agree on breeding objectives. Farmers have been found to use both quantitative and qualitative criteria to detennine these breeding objectives. Sorne of the examples of such eriteria are high yield, short duration, resistance to major pests and diseases, stickiness of cooked rice, and so on.Based on the breeding objectives, breeders then assist farmers in searching for suitable donor parents for crossing. These donors may be found among the avaílable genetie materials at the local level or from research institutions and are made available to the cooperating farmers.Making crosses and selecting segregating materials. The Group 1 farmers are given additional training on crossing techniques and assisted in making the desired crosses. In other cases, breeders provide seeds of segregating lines at very early generations (F2, F¡, and F 4) to the farmers ror selection of desired lines based on their own eriteria. Farmers have been found to handle segregating materials from generations as early as F 2 • In the process, farmers apply their own crop-management practices. Based on breeding objectives, farmers observe, evaluate, and harvest the selected plants individuaIly. This process is repeated until stable Hnes are obtained. For management reasons, the number of individual plants selected each season is limited, depending on farmers' capacity for seed handling and the land assigned as a breeding plot. Therefore, the genetic variation in farmers' selections is usually narrow. Only Group 1 farmers are involved in the selection process, while field operations are done with the help of other farmers in the community.Observation test. Pure lines selected from the segregating material s are planted in observation test plots to check for adaptation and yield, with common local varieties used as local checks. Farmers compare the performance of new varieties/lines with the local check and select promising ones for further evaluation in yield trials by Group 2 farmers.Monitoring. The Group I cooperating farmers take close field observations with technical assistance from breeders and agricultural extensionists. These farmers also keep records on field conditions and crop performance for later analysis in determining the suitabilíty of the new erop varieties under selection.Participatory varietal selection involves the following steps and activities.Need assessment and selection oC cooperating farmers. As in PPB, eonununity meetings are organized to identifY farmers' problems and needs in relation to their current erop varieties. F armers may want to improve their current varieties or ehange for promising new varieties. A separate group of farmers (Group 2 farmers), with good knowledge of and skills in seed seleetion and management, are also selected as eooperating farmers in consultation with the conununity. PVS activities are then fonnulated and decided upon with the cooperating farmers from both Group I and Group 2.Provision of genetic materials and participatory selection. Three sources of genetic material s are used to obtain seeds for participatory selection of desired erop varieties:• PVS with improved locallandraces. The improvement oflocallandraces is done through mass as well as pure-line seleetion. Since the mass-seleetion method does not require very specialized skills, Group 2 farmers, afier a simple orientation, have been able to undertake tbis selection. On the other hand, pure-Iine seleetion for erop improvementrequires speeialized skills and care on the par! of the farmers. For this reason, only Group 1 farmers have been used to do pure-liÍle selection, afier adequate training and with inlensive monitoring. The improved locallandraces are then given to a large number of farmers within the eonununity, as PVS material s, for their own testing and seleetion.• PVS witb reintroduced locallandraces. PVS also reintroduces landraces from genebanks back to the conununity when local materials have been destroyed by disaster. Usually the eollected local varieties from different locations within and outside of the eonununity are evaluated in the conununity to give farmers more choiees.• PVS with modern crop varieties. Modem erop varieties from research institutions and finished products from PPB are also given lo the eooperating farmers for testing their suitability under farmers' own management conditions and household requirements.Yield trials oC successful PVS varieties. The erop varieties preferred by farmers under the PVS program are then put into varietal yield trials in the conununity for farmers to observe directly and make selections of their choices. Conunon varieties in the conununity are used as local cheeks in these trials. Farmer field days are organized just before harvesting to bring farmers in the conunu-nity to tbe trial plots for ajoint evaluatíon ofthe tested varieties. Desírable varieties (usually two to three varieties) are then selected for seed multiplicatíon.Seed multiplication. Varieties selected by farmers from yield trials are rustributed to a group of farmers (Group 3 farmers), with consíderable knowledge of and interest in seed production, to multiply large quantities of seeds for use by olher farmers in Ihe community. Seed multiplication fields are closely monítored and used as final checks for large-scale productiori.Monitoring. Field visits and farmer field days are tbe most appropriate tools for participatory monitoring and evaluation ofPVS activities. Breeders, field staff, extension workers, and farmers participate in such activities. Data collection depends on farmers' objectives and ineludes common traits such as growth duration, plan! height, tillering capacity, grain yield and quality, and tolerance to insects and díseases.Rice is tbe major food crop in tbe Mekong Delta. PVS actívities on rice have been undertaken in different forms in tbe Mekong Delta starting as early as the 19708. The most common of tbese actívíties was varietal yield trials. The main objectives ofthe varietal yield tríals were to generate farmer-preferred crop varieties and faster disseminatíon of tbese varietíes. Can Tho University has been a leading research instítution in ínítiating and implementing on-farm research activitíes. In the beginning, breeders and researcherS cooperated witb advanced farrners individually throughout tbe Mekong Delta (De 1997).During the period 1975-1995, hundreds ofpromising rice varietíes were tested in farmers' fields, and a number of varieties were identified and released. Sorne of tbese rice varieties are IR36 (later named NN3A), HT6 (NN6A), MTL30 (NN7 A), HT19 (NN2B), IR42 (NN4B), MTL58 IR 13240-108-2-2-3), and MTL87 (IR50404-57-2-2-3). Souree: CBOC (1998), Besides four cornmuníties the initíal1y selecled, the PPB and PVS prograrns were also expanded to include other advanced, individual farmers in Ihe Mekong Delta. One of these was Mr. Hai Triem from An Giang province, who was well-known as \"farmer of the era\" and was awarded the Third Labour Medal by the central government for his contribution to rice improvement.Problemsofthe farmers means they require more training and the adoption ofPPB is slow.• Few farmers are interested in working with breeding and selectíng segregating materials.F armers are more willing to multiply promising varieties than to select from segregating materials or make crosses.• The number of farmers collaborating in PPB is limited, especially in pedigree selection and selection of segregating material because these are time-consuming activities.• Agricultura! policy is more favorable to cornmercial production than tp conserving diversity.• Due to the fasl turnover of rice varieties by farmers (every three to four seasons), il is difficult to keep their Ínterest and get their cooperation for the entire process of selecting segregating lines, which takes time 10 get results.• Support from local authorities and organizations in term of organization, management, additional funds, and facilitation is very important.Cooperation with groups and eornmunities on PPB and PVS gives better results than working only with individual farmers.• Farmers' field schools and farmers' field days for PPB and PVS are good ways to motivate the farmers' participation at the eornmunity leve!.• Farmers conserve and maintain the diversity of plant genetie resources to meet their own needs for home consumption, marketing, and adaptation to local environments and farm resources.• Biodiversity development should be considered on a temporal and spatial basis at the level of speeies, erop, and agroeeosystem. PPB and PVS inerease plant genetic resources at the level of the gene pool and not at the level of speeific varieties.• In situ and ex situ conservation and development are eomplementary.• Biodiversity in the Mekong Delta is eurrently under pressure but integrated farming systems and diversifieation of plant genetic resources could help to eorrect the situation.Participatory approaehes are very important for erop improvement at the eornmunity level in Vietnam and are efficient ways of aehieving crop improvement at this leve!. PPB and PVS are the key tools for this. Sueeessful results tTom fármers' selections have proven that these are the right approaehes, providing a very useful lesson for national erop improvement programs.Using Farmer Knowledge for Participatory Sweet-Potato Variety Selection in Garut, West Java, IndonesiaCaecilia Aji-a Widyastuti and MinantyorÍniThís paper describes trials usíng sweet-potato gennplasm from lrian Jaya, where sweet potatoes are a sta-pIe foed in the highlands. During the coIlection of sweel-potato gennplasm, fannecs' knowledge ofthose sweet potatoes has a1so been coIlecled. Fanners' knowledge about sweet potatoes in Irian Jaya will be used as a hasis for trus prcjecl and includes information on yields, the use of sweet polatoes as human foed or reed for !ivestock, and the condition of Ihe environmenl.Varieties are selected on the basis offarmers' criteria, including market orientation and table consumption: skin color, l1esh color, unifonnity, and other criteria. The project is also collecting information on farmers' cultivation practices, such as using high ridges in the rainy season and reducing the leaves during Ihe growing period, as well as how lo choose healthy cuttings.The objective of tbis research is not only to get a bigh-yielding sweet potato fuat is adaptable in Garut, but also to get new variety/ies wifu fue agrononllc characteristics required by different user groups (Le., fanners, traders, consumers).The study was set up in fue village ofDesakolot, Cilawu District, Garut Regency ofWest Java Provinee in a rainfed field that had been used for brick makíng six years before and had remained fallow fOT five years. The year befare fue trials took place, fue field was planted wifu yambean. One week prior to planting, ISO sacks ofmanure were applied in order to improve fue soíL Thís ís always done in this area, especially for land has been used for brick makíng. Thls field is Iypical of places where sweet potatoes are grown. The nearest field to this site is planted wifu com, sweet potatoes, and ginger. Thls neighboring field was also used for brick making, and fue vigor offue plants grown on it is good. Prior to establishing lhe field trials, planting material s were multiplied in Cibadak, Pacel, about 3.5 hours away trom Garut, since ít was very dry in Garut.A total of 64 cultivars, including five eheeks (BISI83, SQ27, CIP-I, Jahe, and Keleneng) were tested (fue last two offue checks are well-knowu local eultivars in fue area). There were 36 hills per plol. The date of planting was 26 F ebruary 1998.The experimental design ls a randomized complete bloek wifu three replíeations. The size of individualplotsís 1.6 mx 3.0m. Spacingis 80 cm betweenrowsand 15 cm to 18 cm betweenbills. Harvesting ls done aceording lo fue fanners' sehedules.During fue harvest, we invíted fanners, traders, and extensionists to select sweet potatoes based on their eriteria. By using participatory lools sueh as flags, they walked around lhe tria! field and chose what fuey Iíked. After fuat they ranked the selected varieties based on produetion, skin and flesh color, uniformity, skin smoothness, and general acceptance ( The experimental field was harvested on 22 August 1998, according to the farmers' schedule. No check varieties were select by farmers-not even Racik, the most popular local cultivar. Five new cultivars, i.e., W0139 (Toweko), W033l (Kinta), WOlll (Umakmbi), W01l3 (Lemekuara), and WOlO9B (Pipombi), were selected by the farmers, traders, and consurners (table 2). Toweko appears to be the most preferred cultivar in this area.F armers in Desakolot plant sweet potatoes for cornrnercial purposes. They have several requirements, such as high yield, smoothness of skin, skin and flesh color, uniforrnity in shape and size, and root shape.High yield is one important requirement for cornrnercial purposes. The idea of \"high yield\" includes early maturation. Farmers prefer to plant sweet potatoes that with a high yield but they also require other criteria such as smooth skin, good skin and flesh color, etc. Table 2 shows that Kinta, which had the híghest yield was gíven low acceptance overall because it did not have acceptable skin color, unifonnity, or skin smoothness.Smooth skin color refers to skin that has not been damaged by weevils or nematodes and thal exhíbíts no cracking. Skin should be thick enough to withsland peelíng during transportatíon and to be resistant to weevils or nematodes. The smoothness of the skin has a considerable effect on the príce of sweet potaloes.Farmers always refer lo good-tasting sweet potatoes as ubi ketan (stícky sweet potatoes) ifthey see a sweet potato with purple flesh. According to them, these sweet potatoes get a good price.Toweko (W0139) was given eight flags because it meets the criteria ofbigh yield, good skin color, unifonnity in shape and size, good flesh color (dark yellow), and is suitable for fresh consumption and for snack food (keremes). According to fanners, the mínimum príce for Toweko should not be less !han Rp 500. After tastíng the raw Toweko, the fanners predicted that tbis cultivar would be well received in the market. The particípatíng farmer wanted to plant Toweko 30% in the first season and increase it to 50% for the next season. They said they would plant 100% ifthe market could absorb that mucho Two participating farmers, Haji Sumama and Amin, will be responsible for multiplyíng this sweet potato as asource ofplanting material.Umakmbi (WOlll) was chosen with four flags because the skin is very smooth and thick, meaning it could resist weevil attacks. The flesh color is dark pUIple, meaning it will taste good (ubi ketan-sticky sweet potato), and the roots are very uniform in shape and size. With these critería, the farmers predicted that this sweet potato would command a good price in the market. According to the farmers, they can increase the production oftbis variety. Farmer Unang will be responsible for multíplying this sweet potato as a source of planting material.Kinta (W033 1 ) was given six flags because of its high yield and purple flesh, meaning it will laste good (ubi ketan-sticky sweet potato). The skin is very smooth, with no evidence ofnematode attack. Farmer Agus will be responsible for muItiplying this sweet potato as a source of plantíng material.Lemekuwara (WOI13) was chosen with two flags because of ¡ts rounded shape and smooth, red skin, whích mean it will be easier to seU in the market. Farmers chose this from replication III, whích indicated high productíon. Farmer Eman will be responsible for multíplying this sweet potato as a source of planting material.Pipombi (WO 1 098) was chosen with eight flags because the size is uniform, il has smooth skin color, and it can be sold fresh. Farmer Eneek will be responsible for multiplying Ihis sweet pOlato as a souree of planting material.Based on our experienees with this trial, we have formed the following conc1usions:• Using farmers' knowledge about sweet potatoes from Irían Jaya will help researchers lo do preliminary se1ections for the trial.• The partícípation offarmers in the arca where the trial was set up will help in seleeting sweet potatoes based on farmers' enteria, such as marketability and table consumption.• Farmers selected sweet potaloes based on their marketabílíty and farmers' own eritena.  The importance of agroecological dornams can be found in earlier work on defining and delineating . recornrnendation dornains (RDs), whích is c10sely associated with the farrning systerns research of the late 1970s (Wotowiec, Poats, and Hildebrand 1986). Initial work on RDs concentrated on a few relatively easily identifiable factors (bíological variables), such as land and soil types, agro ecological zones, and erop types and rnanagernent (Harrington and Tripp 1985). The exercise on RD was híghly complex sinee the process was to identify farrning households, based on the sirnilarity in their practiees, rather than farrns. But the delineation of agroecological domains was rnueh less eumbersorne with rice because rice is very sensitive to changes in agroecological conditions and its adaptation is Iirnited, as compared lo sorne other crops such as maíze. Moreover, rice is the rnost important cereal crop in the regíon, so farrners have an in-depth knowledge ofrice-growing environrnents and varieties suitable to different agroecological dornains.The current endeavor on refining the definition of agroecological dornaíns for rice in parts ofNepal is the case of\"sharpening the focus\" fur better targeting of participatory plant breeding (PPB) work, including diversity deployrnent, eonservation of landraees in different dornains, and planning strategic erop rnanagement research. The methodology adopted is quite simple and can be replícated in other areas for wider use by the researchers and deve10pment workers. Field exercises for delineating agroecological domains have largely been influenced by the methodologies on RDs advocated by Collinson (1980), Franzel (1985), and Vaidya and Floyd (1997).Ihey emphasized the use of secondary sources of information, followed by preliminary surveys supplemented later by a formal survey lo refine the domains. However, later views on the subject hold lha! the refining process should take place only after researchers have a clear understanding of the variabílity inherent in the local farming systems (Cornick and Alberti 1985). The current study embodies the thoughts from both the methodologies for delineating domains and associated rice landraces/varieties.In the process of delineating agroecological domains, two group meetings were organized in the Kachorwa and Begnas eco-sítes. The first meeting was held with field-based staff; the second, with farmers from the project area. Ihis was followed by a transect walk by researchers and farmer representatives lo jointly validate farmers' statements. Ihe exercise took about two days, including field visits in each site.Sínce field-based staff are stationed in villages, it was expected !hat they would have a fairly good understanding of the agroecological domains and the farming systems of their respective eco-siles.Hence, the first level of group discussions was organized in field offices, with the field officer, technical assistants, and motivators part.icipating.Afier discussions, the participants were able to come up with four major agroecological domains, mainly defined on the basís of water regímes. They also broadly classified the soíl type and fertility status of soils from each domaín, based on scientific knowledge of soil classification and characterization. Participanls were also asked to estímate the size of each domain and place different landraces/varieties in their right domains. Estimating tbe relative size of each domain was straíghtforward because tbe pok:harilman occupied only a limited area within the eco-site. But placing each landrace/variety in its right domain proved more difficult. The team could place tbe majority of landraces/varieties in their domains, but the number of landraces/varielies per eco-síte was too large for them to rernember aH the names and tbeir right enviromnents. The process was also complicated by the fact lhal sorne of the landraces/varieties are grown in more than one domain.The whole process was reviewed by the participants, and once they were satisfied with the sleps and outputs, the field officer was asked lo facilitate tbe same process for tbe farmers' group discussion.A group discussion was held with farmers witb the specific objective of delineating agroecological domains. Fíeld officers/sile coordinators facilitated the discussion and tbe whole exercise was repeated witb farmers' groups. Both female and male farmers participated in the discussion and put forward tbeir opinions.Farmers identified four agroecological domains within the eco-site (ucha, samta/, nichaJkhalar, and pokharllman), based on the major criteria of moisture regime and fertility status/gradient (tables 1 and 2). They could easily identifY the relative size of each domain, but there were disagreements among about soil c1assification. Perhaps this reflected the variability of the soíl types and soil fertility slatus in each domain. Placing landraces/variety in the domains initiated a lively  debate among the members. However, they were able lO agree upon the major domains for each landrace/variety. They also reported that sorne oflhe landraceslvarieties were grown in more than one domain but Ihe cases were limited.In Kachorwa, of Ihe four domains identified by the farmers, two--ucha and pokharí/man-were extreme cases (dry land and rainfed; wet-Iand conditions, respectively). No modem varieties were grown in Ihese areas. Only landraces were found growing under such conditions, and the number of landraces (cultivars) was relatively small compared to other domains. Samtal and nícha represented better growing environments, wilh a grea!er number of landraces and modem varieties growing Ihere. Samtal represented Ihe major domain in terms of area. There was considerable area under uccha bu! no! much area was under nicha and pokahri. Severallandraces and modem varieties (MVs) were common lo both samtal and nicha. These two domains were more productive in terms of crop production as well.Similar results were found when Ihe exercise was repeated in Ihe Begnas eco-site under mid-hill conditions. However, Ihe domain delineation was less c1ear-cut Ihan ít was in Kachorwa because several of Ihe landraces and MV s were found in more than one dornain. Here again, landraceslvarieties were no! repeated in more than two dornains, and lha! in adjacent domains only. Jumping of domains by certain landraces/varieties was not observed in eilher of Ihe exercises. Allhough several ofthe landraces and MV s were found in two domains, Iheir performance was judged as best only in one domain. Based on Ihe information generated from Ihe discussion wilh farmers, it could be deduced that a landrace/variety fits best only in one domain. It exists in olher domains because Ihere ls no competitive variety to replace it.Having achieved a high degree of agreement between farmers and researchers in Ihe defmition of agroecological domains, it was decided to field-verif)' the definitions through a transect walk and to look for consistency in Ihe field implementation. A representative group offarmers made a transect walk of Ihe eco-site along wilh researchers. They identified domains and located landraces/varieties on different farms. The exercise helped in relating different agroecological domains and Iheir characteristics with Ihé landraceslvarieties being grown Ihere. Thus, Ihis exercise needs to be conducted when the rice crop ls mature or when Ihe crop is standing in Ihe field.Based on the analysis oflhe characteristics of different agroecological domains and Ihe distribution oflandraces/varieties within domains, an attempt lo develop a conceptual model of agroecological domains for rice was made (figure 1). In Ihe following subsections, Ihe characteristíc features of the domains have been explained. Nevertheless, Ihe model needs verification in a larger context and further refinement for wider applicability.Local farmers can provide very reliable inforrnation on Ihe agroecological domains for rice. Similarly, farmers can provide detailed features of each domain in terms of soíl type, drainage, fertility status, production potential, cropping patterns, and so on.The size of agroecological domains varies, with more extreme environments (domains) being relatively smaller as compared to more favorable ones. This follows normal distribution curve. How-  Doma!n 4 ever, depending upon fue geographic location (high-potential production systems or marginal growing envíronrnents), the size of each domain will vary. For instance, in marginal environrnents for rice, fue extreme domain will be relatively larger as compared to ofuer domains; whereas, in favorable environrnents, the míddle domains will be relatively larger.Until fue distribution oflandráces/varieties across domains, the features of domains, and fue traits of cultivars are analyzed, one cannot appreciate fue complexity of farroers' strategies to manage plant genetic resourees to meet fueir multiple needs. From the analysis, it is apparent that one landrace/variety is best suited or most competitive in only one domain, though farroers might grow the same cultivar in more fuan one domain. This implies that fue cultivar competes wifu ofuer cultivars trom within the domain, and that there is less competition between cultivars across domains, except when fuere is an overlap of cultivars. Overlap signifies the presence of transitional zones between dornains, which explains fue presence of landraceslvarieties in two different but adjacent dornains. Within dornajns, fue area and number of households growing different landraceslvarieties is explained by rnarket forces, farrocrs' socioeconomic status, cultural factors, preferences for specific traits, and ofuer abiotic and biotjc factors.Alfuough landrsces/varieties rnay overlap in adjacent dornains, no case was registered where a landrsce/variety was found in more fuan two dornajns. This suggests fuat landraces/varietíes have very specific adaptatíons. In ofuer words, it reinforces fue idea that a cultivar is most cornpetítive in only one dornaín.Landraceslvanetíes falling wíthin the sarue domaín are more likely to be similar in their genetic cornposition as cornpared to landraces/varietíes frorn dissimilar dornains. The logic behind is that they have been put under similar managernent condítions have been selected over time fo! adaptation. However, this hypolhesis needs lo be proved from laboratory analysis of sorne of the saruples frorn each domaín. If it proves tme, then there ís a strong case, from a conservation point ofview, for disaggregating genetic materials across agroecologícal domains. Nevertheless, this process still holds true where diversity deployrnent is the prime objective of the project.The distribution oflandraces/vaneties in different domains is the result of farmers' experimentation with those landraces/vaneties over years. In other words, they are the \"best fit\" under farmers' rnanagement conditions. Therefore, researchers definítely need to know the characteristics of each dornain, as well as the specific traits of the landraces/vaneties in each domain and their distribution across dornains in order to make any intervention in the present system. The anaIysis of agroecological domains is worth the money and time invested in collecting and analyzing the information.Planning conservation strategies for landraces ldentifYing landraees that are grown in small areas by a limited number of farrners and devising ways and rneans of conserving them might seem to be a straightforward task for conserving endangered landraces. Sornetirnes, weighted diversity, as well, might be computed for facilitating Ihe decision-makíng process in choosing which landraces to focus on for conservation when there are numerous landraces falling in the endangered category. However, all these processes and steps consider the diversity oflandraces at the aggregatedllandscape (cornmuníty) level and thus ignore the influence of agroecological domains in deterrniníng the position oflandraees in different dornains.The need for micro-Ievel analysis emerges from the faet that landraces are conditioned over years by their continued growth and selection over time in specific dornains. As a result, Ihey have developed adaptive traits, wruch are uníque 10 landraces falling in that domain. Therefore, analysis of landrace diversity at the aggregated level fails 10 appreciate the position oflandraces in specifie dornains, which in faet might be harboring genes of irnportanl traits. Selecting landraces frorn an aggregated list rnight exclude, certaÍn strategically important landraces from conservation.PPB has been used as one rneans 10 conserve useful genes in landraces through crossing with modem vaneties. However, there could be number of landraces withín a domain that might require sorne forrn of conservation (through breeding and nonbreeding means). Understanding Ihe features of domains and the distribution oflandraces in them will facilitate decision rnakíng about selecting landraces for conservation. Failing to do this could result in selecting landraces with similar genetic traits for conservation (vía PPB) from jusI one or two domaÍns. This would lead lo the neglect of sorne and overrepresentation of olhers.Diversity deployrnenl in simple terrn means \"províding farmers wilh options of genetie materials 10 choose frorn.\" The introduction ofnew genetic material results in temporal disequilibrium because of competition between existing and new genetic material. The competition is for space in farmers' fields, for farm labor, for capital inputs, and so on. As time elapses, Ihe new entrant finds its rightful ss. Rana el aL place in Ihe given environment. This is Ihe outcome of farmers constantly tryíng to rnaintain an equilibrium (meeting farmers' objectives) in terms ofstabilizing yield and production over time.The strategy for diversity deployment must begin by analyzing the distribution oflandraces/varieties across agroecological dornains. Once this is done, researchers would have a clear picture of each domain, aIong with the dístríbutíon of landraces/varíeties, and the dominance of certain cultivars against others would becorne evident Researchers would also come to know the reasons for this dominance. Only then could Ihey develop their strategy for diversíty deployrnent. In the absence of this ínformation, new genetic materials míght fit into domains where there is not much cornpetitíon.It could also happen that new genetic rnateríals compete with each other landraceslvarieties in similar domains, resulting in limited impact of diversity deployrnent.The conflict between breeding varíeties for wide adaptability or for ruche environments will perhaps go on. (Wide adaptability rneans Ihe dornain for which the suítability ofthe landrace/variety is large. Niche environment means the domain for the given landrace/varíety is limited.) In Ihe truest sense, wide adaptabilíty should encompass Ihe ability of a cultivar to be grown in several different domains and vice versa for the ruche environment. However, such is not the case.Whatever Ihe case, the proponents of PPB rnust bear in mind that the approach has to prove its worth in terms of chuming out farmer-acceptable varieties efficiently on such a scale that Ihe economic return on investrnent is positive. But this is possible only when researchers have a clear knowledge of the size and characteristics•ofthe dornains the new varíety will fit into. In addition, Ihey also need to know Ihe likely existing cultivar to be replaced Without this inforrnation, it would be rather difficult to estirnate the potential adoption ceiling ofPPB varietíes, which irnplíes that the estimation of economic returns at the household leve! ig difficult. This will becorne an increasingly important issue in the future, when enough time has elapsed between Ihe developrnent and adoptionldissemination of PPB varíeties and Ihe evaluation of their irnpact.Another important issue that can be addressed by analyzing agroecological domains is oríenting PPB programs towards \"poverty aIleviation\" and food securíty at the household leve!. Since resource-poor farmers rnainly own marginalland, Ihere is limited varietal choice. By conducting PPB programs using landraces from marginal environments, the chances of providing greater options in such environments is' increased, which would contríbute to food security, particularly in resource-poor households. Targeting PPB for equity ofbenefits for the resource-poor can also be justified aIong similar lines.Agroecological delineation using key informants/farmers from fue given cornmunity can be reliably done. The identified dornains and the associated varieties in each domain have 10 be verífied through a transect walk with the key informants. This exercise helps príorítize landraceslvaríeties in each domain based on Ihe number ofhouseholds growing them and Ihe area covered. Using lhis information, a selection oflandraces/varieties for PPB work could be made. Diversity deployment and conservatíon of certain landraces/varieties could also be planned using this information. The argurnents presented here clearly índicate the need to focus PPB irutíatives on marginal environments for which Ihere are no MVs, and where, al the same time, the majoríty oflhe resource-poor dwell. This exercise has to be conducted prior to initiating PPB work in a given area. Information required to delineate agroecological domains and associated landraces/varieties can easily be gathered using key informants at the vilIage leve!. It has been suggested that this exercise be incorporated as a component of PPB work.Decisions about the adoption oftechnology are conditional to farmers' perceptions ofthe performance of a new technology relative to that of the technology currently being practiced. Farmers may assess a new technology, such as an improved variety, in terms of a range of attributes, such as grain quality, straw yield, and inpu! requirements, in addition to grain yield (Traxler and Byerlee 1993). In Orissa, eastern India, farmers indicated preference not only for the visual appearance of rice grain, but also for attributes such as cooking quality, taste, keeping quality, and straw quality (Kshirsagar, Pandey, and Bellon 1997). If fimners perceive an improved variety to be inferior to traditional varieties in terms of one or more attributes, they are unlikely to adopt such a variety (Adesina andZinnah 1993, as cited by Kshirsagar, Pandey, andBellon 1997). Crop improvement could potentially benefit from farmers' assessments of the relative performance of different varieties under farmer management. Information on the traits desired by farmers and their knowledge of the production system could be invaluable in setting the goals of a breeding program, delineating the target environment, identifying the parents for breeding and defining the management treatment for breeding work (Sperling ･ ｾ ＠ al. 1996; Eyzaguirre and Iwanaga 1996).Varietal preferences may differ, not only between socioeconomic groups bu! also by gender.In a farmer-participª1ory breeding (FPB) project on pearl millet in the Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, India, grain yield, early availability of grain, and the case ofharvesting by hand (lower paniele number and lower plant height) were the main considerations for making selections by women. For the men, yield and quality appeared 10 be a stronger eoneern (W' eltzien, Whitaker, and Anders 1996). WhiJe women have traditionally been seed selectors and managers of germplasm in low-input farrning systems, scientists have no! given enough attention to their local knowledge, eriteria for selection, and perceptions regarding new seeds untiJ recently, F or instance, the criteria for selecting seeds, practices of animal care and food processing, and the consequent preferences for different kinds of blending various food materials are useful starting points for building on women'g perspectives in particípatory research (Gupta et al. 1996). Another example is when high labor demands for manual tbreshing may create incentives for women to adopt vaneties that are easier to thresh (Adcsina and Forson 1995). Including women in the early evaluation of varieties ensures that new seeds can be adopted rapidly, Thus, men's and women's entena and preferences for rice vaneties should be well understood and considered in plant-breeding strategies, In March 1997, a farmer-participatory planl-breeding program for raínfed nce was developed at the Intemational Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in collaboration with the Indían Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), This project inc\\udes síx research siles representing different nce ecosystems in eastem India, The project is under the umbrella ofthe CGIAR's Systemwíde Initiative on Participatory Research and Gender Analysis. The goal of this iniliative is to develop, test, and refine methodologies of participatory research and gender analysis as they apply to Ihe development ofnew technologies in germplasm and natural resource management. This FPB projecl aims lo test the hypothesis that farmer particípation in rainfed nce breeding can help develop suilable vaneties more efficiently, It is also designed to identifY the stages in a breeding program where farmer ínterfacing is optimaL The project has two components: the first is a plant-breeding component, whích aíms to develop and evaluate a methodology for participatory improvement of rice for heterogeneous environments, and to produce and improve adoption of matenal suíting farmers' needs. The second is a socÍal-science component (including gender analysis) that aims (1) to characterize cropping systems, diversíty ofvanetíes grown, and the crop-management practices ofrice farmers, (2) to analyze male and female farmers' selection criteria and their reactions to a range of cultivars and breeding lines, and (3). to enhance the capacities of national agricultural research systems (NARS) in participatory research and gender analysis in plant breeding andrice vanetal selection (Courtoís et al. 2000), Thís paper focuses on farmers' selectíon cnteria and their reactions to a range of cultivars and breeding lines UIlder particÍpatory vanetal selection conducted on farmers' fields,The results of the socioeconomic and gender analysÍs in the FPB project includes only two villages (table 1): Mungeshpur in the Faizabad district and Basalatpur in the Siddathnagar district, eastem Vttar Pradesh. These sites are among the research sites UIlder the FPB project. A similar study was conducted in the other FPB research sites in Onssa and Madhya Pradesh, Basalatpur represents favorable (but submergence prone) lowland, rainfed arcas, Mungeshpur represents shallow, submergence-prone areas that are favorably rainfed during years of low rainfalL Basalatpur and Mungeshpur have a rugher proportion of lowland fields (70% and 60%, respectively) with heavier soil and good water-holding capacity, The flow of natural resources like rainwater (field hydrological conditions) tbroughout the season has also had a major impact on vanetal selection in these villages, F armers in Mungeshpur have more access to supplementary irrigation, wruch enables them to diversífY into other crops, partÍCularly vegetables and fodder crops, Only one diesel pump exists ín Basalatpur and trus limits crop diversífication. The importance of livestock between the two villages also differs, Livestock in Mungeshpur is more importan! than in Basalatpur, In Mungeshpur, bullocks continue to be used for Jand preparation, and tbreshing is done manually, In contrast, land preparation and threshing in Basalatpur is mechanized with the use of tractors, The degree of market onentatíon is higher in Basalatpur (nearer the cíty) where more rice is sold, The majority ofthe farming households are owner-cultivators, and share cropping is oflimited importance. F emale labor participation in rice production is four times hígher than that of males in Basalatpur and three-fourths in Mungesphur. There is wide disparity in terms of access 10 education between men and women. In general, females have lower literacy rates than meno The differences in resource endowments, socioeconomic status, importance aflivestock, degree ofmarket orientation, gender roles and responsibilities in rice production, and family size may determine the choice of rice varieties/cultivars and agronomic management practices.Rice followed by wheat + mustard is the predominant cropping pattem in al! villages. In BasaIatpur, wheat and oilseed are grown mainly for domestic use, but rice is grown for consumption as welI as marketing. On the other hand, in Mungeshpur, rice 18 mainIy grown for consumption because oflow yields and low marketabIe surplus. Rice is followed by wheat + mustard, which are grown for both domestic consumption and sale. Land preparation for rice is started in June after the arrival afthe monsoon.  The majority of the respondents belong to the lower social class, with small-sized landholdings.Females are younger and have lower literacy rates, compared to males, and have over 20 years of farming experience. The extent of female participation in rice production is high in both villages. Sorne tasks in rice production and postharvest operations are gender specific. Land preparation and the application of chemicals are men's responsibilities in both villages (10% of fertilizer application is done by women in Basalatpur). In Mungeshpur, women from the lower social status dominate in the work of pulling seedlings (100%), transplanting (70%), weeding (80%), applying farrnyard manure (60%), harvesting (82%), and threshing (82%). In Basalatpur, more men than women participate in pulling seedlings and harvesting. Women do the transplanting of seedlings (100%) and most ofthe weeding (75%), with men doing most ofthe spraying (90%). Women are also mainly responsible for postharvest activities such as cleaning and selecting the seeds for the next season, storage, and processing rice into other food products for home consumption and for sale. They are the primary end-users of rice byproducts and biomass for livestock and other farm use. A village study in eastem India revealed that women from the lower castes provided 60% to 80% ofthe total labor input in rice production (Paris et al. 1996). Aside from their significant contributions in rice production, women also provide labor in non-rice crops, collect green animal fodder, and feed and tend Iivestock. Thus, men's and women'g preferences for specifíc traits in rice varieties may differ, based on gender-specific roles and responsibilities. With inereasing male migration lo cities, women are laking on more responsibilities as farm managers, aside from theír normal household and childcare responsibilities (Paris el aL 1996).The rice varieties eurrently grown by farrners are shown in table 3. Traditional varieties are more cornrnon in Basalatpur than in Mungeshpur. Although modern varieties (MVs) show higher adoption rates in Mungeshpur, these varieties ofien suffer from submergenee, drought, and stress al reproduetive and ripening phases when the erop is planted late. Most farrners felt that traditional varieties are more tolerant to drought, submergenee, pests, and diseases, while MV s performed well under irrigated conditions. The majority of the farrners indieated that they felt that MVs needed better management lhan traditionaI varieties. Modero varieties need more labor, higher levels of fertilízer, and more irrigation, but more farmers prefer to grow MV s because of their higher yields. Farrners generally match varieties wíth their environment. For rainfed rice, this means an adaptation to the hydrological conditions of their fields, Each field position in the topo-sequence corresponds to a risk of drought or submergence. The drought risk inercases frorn the bottom to the top of the topo-sequence, while submergence risk decreases along the same path, assocíated with progressively lower water depths and earlier recession of the water. This translates into different ideotypes for the different situations. Table 4 shows varietal diversity according to land type/topography. In Basalatpur, varieties such as Bengalia, Sarya, Oriswa, Kuwari Mashuri, Malwa, and Ghanbhanan are the major traditional rice cultivars grown in the uplands, and Kalamanak, Malasia, Motibaddam, and Malwa are the major varieties grown in the lowlands. Improved varieties, such as NDR-97, PNR-38 1 , and Sarju 52 are grown in the uplands by a few farrners, but the improved variety, Mashuri, occupied more area in the lowlands. In Mungeshpur, the cornrnon local varieties grown on upland fields are Ari, Bagri, 90 days, Sonia, Lalmati, Punjab, Lalbagra, Ashwani, lndrasan, and Bilaspuri. The improved varieties are Saket-4, NDR-80, and NDR-118 in upland and medium fields and Sarju 52, Mashuri, and dwarfMashuri mostly in lowland fields, Medium-duration fields are grown mostly in medium land. Varieties such as Sarju-52. Ashwani.  andIndrasan are grownon the fields thatare located in between upper and lower levels oí land type. Fanners of Mungeshpur prefer to grow these varieties on the these land types on the belief that they need optimum moisture during the growth period. Fields difter in agrohydrological ｣ ｨ ｡ ｲ ｾ ｣ ｴ ･ ｲ ｩ ｳ ｴ ｩ ｣ ｳ ＠ in Basalatpur; therefore, sorne farrners prefer to grow medium varieties on upland fields also.To determine whether there are gender differences in perceptions of useful traits in varietal adoption, we used graphic illustrations of traits. We first showed cards that illustrate useful traits in selecting rice varieties. We then asked each farmer what traits he or she consider in selecting rice varieties for specific land types-upland and lowland fields. To assess how farmers valued each trait, we asked the question, \"If you had 100 paisa, how much would you pay for each trait? The value in paisa allocated to a particular trait corresponded to the importance given by the fanner. Because many traÍts are interrelated, we rec1assified them in consultation with a plant breeder. For example, we grouped traits such as ease in hullíng and mílling recovery under postharvest quality. Table 2 shows the seleetion eriteria of male and female fanners for different land types and villages.F avorahle rainfed low/ands (Basalatpur, Siddathnagar district) In the lowland areas in Basalatpur, yield and duratíon are the most important trait5 maJe and female farmers consider in selection rice varieties, In this village, the popular traditional varieties are Bengalía, Oríswa, and Kuwari mashuri. These are short-duration (90-110 days), medium-height varieties, The average yields are 2.5 tons per hectare, Farmers prefer short-duration rice varíeties in the uplands because of the importance of growing early winter crops such as oilseed, linseed, pulses, peas, and potatoes. They prefer to parboil Bengalia; otherwise, its grains break easíly. Women in Basalatpur use traditional rice varietíes for making puffed rice and churra, beaten rice Iike cornflakes .. For women who continue to use the traditional method ofhand-pounding rice, postharvest qualities such as ease ofhulling and mgh milling recovery are additional useful traits. The men did not mention these. The finding that women are more concerned !han men with postharvest traits and milling recovery are similar to the findings in a participatory breeding project in the hígh altitudes in NepaL Sthapít, 10sm, and Wítcombe (1996) also observed that women farmers are particularly skillfuJ in assessing postharvest traits, such as milling recovery, and the cooking and eating quality of rice. They found that the evaluation scores between maJe and femaJe farmers in Chhomrong village showed significant agreement. Women farmers reported ¡hat they would like to decide on varíety selection after the postharvest evaluation. Consumers preferred wmte-grained rice to red-pericarped rice because it saves women time in milling.In Basalatpur, both male and female farmers agreed upon the important traits fo! 10wland rice varieties. Grain price is an important cohsiderlltion for farmers here because they seU traditional varíet-¡es in the market. These, like Kalamanak, command a higher price because oftheir good taste and aroma. Kalamanak gives Iow yields of 1.5 to 2 tons per hectare. In contrast, grain price is not an important consideration in Mungeshpur because rice ís mainly used for home consumption and is seldom sold in the market.In Mungeshpur, both male and female farmers agreed upon important traits in selecting varieties for the uplands. Women gave more importance to postharvest qualities and grain quality such as bold and pure graíns. For the lowlands, both males and females cited better grain yield, medium duration (125-135 days), bioniass, and resistance to abiotic stress as their selection critería for lowland rice varíeties. Women gave greater weight to better adaptation to specific soH types and to grain quality. Women mentioned additional useful traits for varíeties in the uplands and lowlands that were not mentioned by men: competitiveness with weeds and postharvest quality. Weeds are the major problem in the uplands, particularly when rice is direct-seeded. In the lowlands, weeds are more prevalent during drought. These additional traits are related to the roles and responsibilities of female farnily members (e.g., hand weeding and feeding rice straw to livestock).During the 1999 monsoon season, two farmers from each of the villages of Mungeshpur and Saríyawan (rainfed neighboring village) ofthe Faizabad district and from Basalatpur were selected to check the performance of rice genotypes in their fields. The genotypes were (1) advanced lines from a shuttle breeding project from Uttar Pradesh, (2) released varieties, and (3) the most common local varieties. Of the 14 genotypes screened in Basalatpur, two are scented varíetíes (Kamini,"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"78ad90e530452cb96b4c4896998e1a6f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ed17df5f-cbba-4e41-ba43-d47bdb25eca0/retrieve","id":"-776815252"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3cc8d295-1074-4d18-acb2-e68d814acb41","content":"Wiebe, IFPRI (lead) Elisabetta Gotor, ABC (co-lead and Work Package 1 lead) James Thurlow, IFPRI (Work Package 2 lead) Gideon Kruseman, CIMMYT (Work Package 3 lead) Dolapo Enahoro, ILRI, and Tonja Schütz, ABC (Work Package 4 leads) And a multidisciplinary team of experts from across 0ne CGIAR Update for ISDCThinking about the future to inform decision making today  Different approaches for different purposes To provide the evidence and capacity needed to inform the complex choices that will shape the future of food, land and water systems, this initiative will, in close interaction with decision-makers at multiple levels:1. Develop a common information base on major medium-and long-term future challenges and strategic opportunities at global and regional scales, with a particular focus on developing areas 2. Work closely with national partners on foresight analyses to inform policy and investment decisions, with special attention to climate variability, risk and resilience "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7e9c675cbaeec0db9a40c9dbf07723e0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7f1da34c-365d-416f-b818-c5c05dede7e0/retrieve","id":"-1329375308"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4b641eec-5663-47b5-be64-be7235aa688a","content":"The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded the University of Florida (UF) Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) funds to establish the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems. This five-year initiative (October 2015 to September 2020) supports USAID's agricultural research and capacity building work under Feed the Future, the U.S. Government's global hunger and food security initiative. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is the UF/IFAS partner in implementation of the Livestock Systems Innovation Lab (LSIL). The six target countries for this project are: Burkina Faso and Niger in West Africa; Ethiopia and Rwanda in East Africa; and Nepal and Cambodia in Asia.The LSIL aims to improve the nutrition, health and incomes of the poor by sustainably increasing livestock productivity and marketing, and consumption of animal-source foods (ASF). This aim will be achieved by introducing new location-appropriate technologies, by improving management practices, skills, knowledge, capacity and access to and quality of inputs across livestock value chains, and by supporting the development of a policy environment that fosters sustainable intensification and increased profitability of smallholder livestock systems.Scenarios can be used in an intensely participatory process used for future envisioning, policy development and planning. Successful scenario analysis efforts have addressed agricultural, climate change and development policy formulation processes with many governments. Success stories are Cambodia, Honduras, Bangladesh, Colombia, Uganda, Tanzania and Ghana (Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security-CCAFS, 2015, 2016, 2018). While the original development and use of scenarios stem from military and private sector planning efforts, scenario planning processes are routinely used by large-and small-scale organizations to effectively envision different plausible futures, thereby addressing future uncertainty, and allowing the planning of better-informed potential responses. Scenarios are \"what if\" stories about the future, told in words, numbers (models), images and other means. Rather than attempting to forecast a single future in the face of broad future uncertainty, scenarios represent multiple plausible directions that future drivers of change may take.Scenarios can be used to develop policies, plans and investments as well as test their feasibility against a range of plausible future contexts. Each scenario offers different future challenges and opportunities. Therefore, for each scenario, planners can ask the question: How well will our plan work under the specific conditions of this scenario? What needs to be changed? When recommendations for improvement from a range of different scenarios are integrated, the plan has a better chance of being effective in the face of an uncertain future -for instance, by having strategies that are expected to work under all scenarios, or by including a range of different options that can be used depending on the specific scenario. Scenarios can also be used before a plan exists, by starting with the challenges and opportunities that different scenarios offer, coming up with ways to approach those issues, and then combining them in a new, robust, plan. Rather than providing a single \"most likely\" forecast, multiple scenarios explore multiple concrete, plausible futures and what these would mean for food security, environments and livelihoods. This way, the set of scenarios engages with broad future uncertainty for the testing of policies, investments and research innovations.The recent CCAFS and the LSIL scenarios process focuses on contextual drivers of change for agriculture and food security -climate change and socio-economic changes (e.g. in markets, governance, broad economic developments, infrastructure).Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems Ethiopia 6Within the CCAFS program, multi-stakeholder regional scenarios have been developed for the East African region and 5 other global regions in order:1. to explore key regional socio-economic and uncertainties for food security, environments and livelihoods under climate change through integrated qualitative-quantitative scenarios describing futures up to 2050; 2. to use these scenarios with regional, global and local actors for strategic planning and research to explore the feasibility of strategies, technologies and policies toward improved food security, environments and livelihoods under different socio-economic and governance conditions.Within the CCAFS program, combined regional socio-economic/climate scenarios have been developed with a wide range of stakeholders in East and West Africa, as well as South Asia, Southeast Asia and Latin America. For East Africa, a set of qualitative scenarios up to 2050 was developed in close collaboration with regional stakeholders. Subsequently, these scenarios have been quantified using two agricultural economic models: GLOBIOM, developed by IIASA, and IMPACT, developed by IFPRI. The CCAFS scenarios project focuses strongly on the use of scenarios for decision making to achieve better policies and investments. In East Africa, government policies and action plans have been tested and developed to be feasible in the face of the challenges posed by the combined socio-economic and climate scenarios. Subsequently, maps on land use, ecosystem services and biodiversity have been developed in collaboration with UNEP WCMC. These maps were used by regional decision-makers to start to review and propose improvements to strategies.Two drivers were considered highly relevant for future food security, environments and livelihoods in Eastern Africa, but with high levels of uncertainty attached to them:-Regional integration: Will the countries of Eastern Africa integrate politically and economically, or will a fragmented status quo be maintained? -Mode of governance: Will governance -the rules, regulations, institutions and processes affecting the behavior of individuals and groups -be characterized by a reactive or proactive stance of governments, the private sector and civil society?These two \"uncertain\" drivers were used to structure four scenarios. An artistic impression of these scenarios by Mauvine Were is displayed in Figure 1. These regional scenarios were used as a basis for the development of national scenarios for Ethiopia in the following section.The objectives of the Scenarios meeting were the following:• Review CCAFS East African regional scenarios and recent IMPACT macro-model projections • Downscale the regional scenarios into Ethiopia-focused future scenarios In July 2018, LSIL organized a 1.5-day workshop to generate Ethiopia-focused scenarios from the CCAFS regional scenarios (Vervoort et al., 2014). The workshop agenda is included in Appendix 1. There were 20 participants in total (13 male and 7 female) from different institutions such as: ILRI, CCAFS, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and FAO.After reviewing the regional scenarios, working groups were formed, each focusing on one of the four East Africa scenarios listed in Figure 1. Each group reviewed the description of the scenario and listed individual thoughts as to what the scenario means for Ethiopia, and for the scope of the LMP, up to 2040-50. Broader, contextual developments were considered, including:• Political and institutional developments   (Vervoort, 2014).After the individual reflections, the group shared thoughts and clustered similar ideas to start to build a coherent world for the scenario in Ethiopia. Having established the 2040/50 picture for the scenarios, the participants consider what the scenarios might mean in the shorter term -up to 2030. Subsequently, more details concerning the livestock sector were added to the scenarios including the primary question: What will the future of the livestock sector look like within the context of this scenario? While participants shared their insights on the livestock sector in general, more specific elements also included the following production areas:• Dairy cattle The four scenarios discussed in this section tailored the regional drivers and issues into a more Ethiopiafocused context. An important caveat to these national-level scenarios is that no one scenario predicts what exactly what future events are going to occur. It is important to note that these national-level scenarios do not represent actual predictions of what events are going to occur. When looking at complex socio-economic and political drivers and their interaction with biophysical drivers, it is impossible to predict the exact form of how future conditions will develop over the coming decades. Thus, all four scenarios have plausible elements and policy makers should resist the temptation to choose their one preferred scenario and disregard the others. Additionally, all scenarios should be considered and possibly integrated into future policy plans and alternatives so that more resilient options are generated. Often one policy measure may successfully mitigate potential problems in several future scenarios.Given that the two Scenario Analysis Groups were relatively small (6-8 members), it was decided to highlight two scenarios per group. As a result of time (1.5 days) and group-sizes, not all scenario elements have equal level of details. Each scenario is presented with a summary of the regional scenarios first with more Ethiopiafocused elements following. After the regional and national summaries, specific societal elements are outlined. Lastly, potential implications for the LMP are reviewed under each Scenario's assumptions.East Africa Regional Perspective: This scenario is characterized by the slow but strong economic and political development of East Africa and proactive government actions to improve regional food security. However, there are costly battles with corruption and security is fragile as the region must deal with new international tensions resulting from its assertion in the global political and economic arena. The region's focus away from export-only commercial crops causes some challenges to compete on the global marketand the region's dedication on regional self-reliance proves to be challenging when a great drought hits in the early 2020s -though by that time many state and non-state support structures are in place to help mitigate the worst impacts. Governments and non-state actors struggle to mitigate the environmental impacts of growing food and energy production Ethiopia Perspective: Ethiopia and Kenya have continued to grow in trade and mutual support as their economies complement each other's deficiencies. While growth in urban areas has led the way, rural development and employment has also increased. Adverse issues such as climate change do raise challenges sporadically, but these impacts are limited to smaller regions and are not long-lingering.Political and institutional developments: The regional integration and proactive governance has allowed the following elements: (1) Good inter-ministerial cooperation, (2) Reconciliation between CGRE and other policies, (3) Active positive, economic ties between Ethiopia and Kenya as well as rest of East African community. There is a good degree of policy dialogue between stakeholders along with a strong relationship Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems Ethiopia 10with Eritrea leading to greater port access. While there is increased competition for land and water resources in the highlands, these issues do not dominate national issues. Overall, the investment environment is positive and provides useful growth opportunities.Socio-economic and demographic developments: This scenario sees more equitable development between rural and urban areas along with better market infrastructures as well as physical infrastructure. Addis Ababa growth is strong with other robust locations emerging as well. In terms of culture, norms, and values, immigration flows increase from less-rich neighboring countries to capitalize on economic opportunities leading to some localized stressors. Nutritional practices of ASF increase during fasting periods.Lifestyle diseases such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes are on the increase as diets follow more western preferences.Strong internet connectivity and good information flows drives science and technology developments. Strong university and research development continue and increase regional cooperation. Additionally, increased efficient agricultural practices to address food security.Natural resources and ecological developments: Environmental issues are given higher focus especially regarding land conservation. While there is an increase in eco-tourism, climate change is still a challenge in specific regions. Overall, there is mostly efficient utilization of natural resources.The following elements are needed (or assumed to have occurred over time) within this scenario.(1) Increased access to livestock insurance for cattle and small ruminants allows more balanced development.(2) Increased irrigation from small dams leads to higher crop/forage/feed production possibly leading to increased water quality problems in rivers. 2. Benefits from other regional countries.3. Producers may source some of their livestock feed components from other countries instead of growing them internally. There may be good opportunities for supplementation of feeds. 4. Encourage food/feed linkages for maize to mix maize into feeds. 5. Lift import tariffs on feed-related items. 6. Explore opportunities to import LS products from neighboring countries. Kenya and Uganda may be in better position to export dairy products to Ethiopia.Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems Ethiopia 11East Africa Regional Perspective: In this scenario, governments and the private sector push strongly for regional development, but mainly through industry, services, tourism and export agriculture, with limited action on food security, environments and livelihoods. East African economies boom, but the region suffers the consequences of its vulnerability to global market forces and unsustainable environmental exploitation.Only when food insecurity becomes extreme, following rocketing food prices during the great drought of the mid 2020s, is action taken to improve the management of water resources and invest in climate-smart food production for regional consumption.Ethiopia Perspective: Ethiopia realizes strong industry-led economic growth along with increased foreign direct investment (FDI). These drivers create a higher demand for goods and services that larger producers can tap into with limited access by smaller producers. Increasing inequity leads to increased urbanization, plus out-migration to other large, East African cities. The unequal growth creates negative environmental effects and natural resource competition/tension is initially high, but governments address these reactively to provide stability when needed.Most national-scale actors move in reaction to both external (global trade, climate) and internal (political stability, economic inequality, socio-cultural) events. Thus, longer-term planning does not have much traction in formulating policies and plans. While regional trade flourishes, there are challenges in providing opportunities for both urban and rural regions, thus cities tend to grow and realize increasing influence.Socio-economic and demographic developments: While the national economy shows boom cycle gains, especially in larger urban areas, issues such as food security, environment, livelihoods do not follow the upward trend in many regions. There is significant vulnerability to global markets and environmental change with concomitant challenges in water, biodiversity loss, intensification of agriculture along with increased pollutants. While more integrated regional agreements allow an increase in flows of people, civil society and educational opportunities, populations remain separated by class, culture, language and religious differences.Additionally, prices remain high with high levels of socio-cultural dissatisfaction.The following elements are needed (or assumed to have occurred over time) within this scenario.(1) Current production targets prove too ambitious, increasing dairy product demand will necessitate imports past what is accounted for by initial levels in the LMP.(2) Commercial sector investment will be largely to the detriment of rural smallholders.(3) In a regionalized system, more steps will be necessary to ensure competitiveness of Ethiopian dairy.(1) A major constraint is livestock numbers and suitable land, with limited government-focused assistance, more large-scale growth may be seen in the other two value chains.(2) Not much investment from government and limited private sector investment in pastoral production. As such the pastoral system will diminish and the feedlot sector will grow to meet demand from the region. (3) Higher domestic prices for red meat.(1) Smallholder market-oriented (informal) production would increase with lack of government regulation. (2) Increased demand and with more commercial production of eggs and meat.(3) Imports of meat will also increase with local demand and increased local incomes. (4) With limited government resources, poultry may serve as best use. ( 5) Vertical integration of commercialized systems proves massive advantage over smallholders to their detriment, driving inequality. (6) Consider additional government support for smallholders, particularly genetics, health and feed.1. To meet LMP targets, large-scale private investment will be needed. 2. Potential dangers include: leaving smallholders behind, food security, environmental issues such as water scarcity. 3. Success will require coordination at the national government scale to facilitate a competitive Ethiopian agriculture sector through strategic use of tariffs, taxes, etc.Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems Ethiopia 13Lone Leopards -Scenario Overview East Africa Regional Perspective: In this scenario, regional integration exists only on paper by 2030. In reality, government, non-government institutions and individuals are busy securing their own interests. In terms of food security, environments and livelihoods, the region initially seems to be heading for catastrophe in the 2020s. However, after some years, national and international as well as government and non-government partnerships become more active and, unburdened by strict regional regulations and supported by international relations, are able to achieve some good successes by the later 2020s/early 2030s. Unfortunately, because of the lack of coordination, this is a hit-and-miss affair, with some key issues ignored while on others there are overlapping or competing initiatives. The inability of governments to overcome regional disputes and work with one another becomes untenable when a severe drought hits in 2025. This pushes civil society, bolstered by international support, into a demand for radical change in governance. In many cases, the resulting change is long lasting and for the better.Ethiopia Perspective: With proactive national governance within a more fragmented region, Kenya and Ethiopia appear to be the primary regional powers in East Africa. Barriers to trade are ever present as well as barriers to joint activities with smaller, regional governments and economies. Both wins and losses occur regularly in this fragmented scenario which has similarities to the current Ethiopian situation. Proactive government policies in developing Chinese investment helps to fulfill agriculture investments and overall national targets, but these investments may not be so beneficial for lower-income populations. There is a significant difference between development/advancement in the highlands and lowlands, leading to a greater chance of social volatility scenarios.While there is progress in some sectors, government policies and actions tend to work from the urban and peri urban areas outwards to the rural highlands and low lands.Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems Ethiopia 14 Some proactive government programs would create cooperatives in areas that have some success. Strong NGOs would be a different factor in making resilient market networks, but only in certain areas.Government is already quite strong but may not be able to service all areas in need. NGOs have an agenda that is not always aligned with the government agenda. This misalignment may cause challenges in coordinating implementing actions. NGO involvement may increase in rural areas and could be more coordinated by the national and regional governments.Socio-economic and demographic developments: Environmental issues are less problematic because the proactive, national government moves quickly to remediate issues before they become crises, but border effects continue because of the lack of strong international agreements. Competition between food and feed crops as well as divisions over water/land resources will pose an issue in this world where regional coordination is lacking. Foreign investment/private sector development may move to regions providing the most lucrative incentives. Although different government programs may create tradeoffs with each other, many believe that not enough is being done on environmental issues to be truly sustainable.The following elements are needed (or assumed to have occurred over time) within this scenario. Because the government is not coordinating efforts, the private sector is taking a larger role due to market forces and demand. These efforts are mostly focused on profits and where money can be made in areas such as intensive poultry production with local, enterprise-level focus in some places while other producers are ignored. Therefore, larger-scale investments such as animal-health services are not addressed.The live animal trade remains with little value addition occurring. Attempts to monitor animal disease dynamics are not very effective, especially regarding One Health, and lack of regional coordination will be detrimental along with a significant lack of effective control of animal diseases.Private sector entities are much more concerned about animal health issues while in public sector reporting is patchy and slow. Given market pressures and export issues, the private sector has a direct interest in being very proactive about animal health issues under their direct control. The diffuse rural environment of livestock held by smallholder populations is more problematic for the government as informal cross-border trade continues under the free grazing system.(1) Dairy consumption grows in urban areas, driving growth. (2) Greater investment by foreign companies that are organized and effective, but not necessarily on the government's terms. Overall, they do have the tacit blessing of the government.(3) There is potential for exports in the dairy sector. (4) Dairy is dependent on animal genetics and health, if in this proactive scenario the government decides to invest in dairy services then it could improve. ( 5) Dairy development would be focused in the highland areas. ( 6) Most dairy development may be very urban-oriented to be near demand centers. ( 7) Government would be willing to provide extension services in key areas (AI genetics, health, and feed). The issue is that developing high quality genetics requires a huge investment. Milk-market standards are in process of being developed. Once implemented they may pose issues to smaller, informal producers. (8) Construction of collection points and cooling facilities.(1) Cattle feedlot systems become more prevalent. (2) Government currently recognizes need for feed production; this proactive scenario means the government could allocate land and resources for feed production.(3) Promotion of intensive forage production leads to land disputes. (4) Cut & Carry promotion would come at a detriment to the environment.(5) Imported feeds are too expensive to import feed then export meat at a competitive price, thus the expansion of stock-feeding/feedlots. (6) Use of soil and water conservation to rehabilitate lands for feed is Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems Ethiopia 15possible. Ethiopia has unique feed resources that other East African countries do not have. ( 7) Promotion of production of indigenous oilseed cake. (8) Small ruminant exports to Middle East increase.(1) Expansion of private investments toward high poultry production, with collaboration of the government for local consumption and export. (2) Government promotion of cooperatives with NGO involvement in contract farming. (3) A current challenge exists for realizing this future scenario, there are not many examples of successful poultry cooperatives. These would need to be prioritized. (4) Real market risk can occur in poultry production with disease spread. ( 5) Fairly strong internal and export markets may exist in this scenario. ( 6) Continued production of local breeds, while improved genetics grow in number.(1) Intensive feed production in highlands with use of stover as feed.(2) Proactive government involvement in market organization.(3) Appropriate delivery of health services for livestock. (4) Private sector-dairy and poultry with public government/NGO-pastoralist and red meat. ( 5) In many cases, private sector vet models may not work well in a pastoral setting but may work better in an intensive dairy setting. ( 6) How much will private sector participate in livestock feed and health? Feedlots and intensive plots will sort themselves out as incentives already exists to do so.(1) Dairy is a sector where genetics can be improved well, presumably. So theoretically, as investment continues, then dairy genetics will improve as well.(2) Continued investment in improved dairies.(3) Missed opportunities for coordinating dairy and poultry development with Kenya and other regional countries. (4) Better coordination between research centers and extension system actors would be beneficial.Within this world, LMP targets are difficult to achieve or not met at all. Domestic red meat production and consumption continues but remains challenging due to priority on meat exports by governmental policies and the need for constant production to meet export demands. Addis demand and forage production in higher rainfall areas are critical. There remains a high risk of uneven development (strong in cities, weaker in rural areas).Emphasis on poultry development/demand to be prioritized within the LMP. Additionally, there is a critical need for feed production for dairies from highland feed sources and government-supported forage programs. Continued support for Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) and Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) to maintain prominence or commitment may diminish under future production pressures. Increased alignment of federal plans/objectives and regional plans/objectives and resource allocations. Strong government presence and NGO presence aids in this process.Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems Ethiopia 16Sleeping Lions -Scenario Overview East Africa Regional Perspective: This scenario is all about wasted potential and win-lose games.Governments in 2030 act only in response to serious situations and in ways to further their own selfinterests, thereby allowing foreign interests free rein in the region. Their actions -or lack of them -have devastating consequences for East Africans' food security, livelihoods and environments. Conflicts, protests and uprisings are common, but each time reform is promised, it fails to materialize. The lack of coordinated effort on climate change and its impacts means that a severe drought occurring in 2025-2027 results in widespread hunger and many deaths among the region's poor and vulnerable. It is only the adaptive capacity and resilience of communities, born out of decades of enforced self-reliance based on informal economies, collaboration and knowledge sharing that mitigates the worst effects of this disaster. The first signs of better governance emerge only in the late 2020s, but the region's population still faces a very uncertain future.Ethiopia Perspective: Political institutions capture resources without redistribution, causing NGOs to try to pick up the slack in delivering required services. Limited infrastructure/institutional growth driven by selfinterested private sector creates some opportunity, but large amounts of the population are unable to capitalize on economic growth. Food imports are necessary to feed massively increasing urban population.Local innovation is necessitated by a lack of resources leading to some small amount of progress. Global trade is variable with product dumping from international companies providing some access to new technologies. Increased land degradation with serious water/resource conflicts results in resource-limited regions. Expansion of informal markets increases without any regulation or input from governmental sectors.Political and institutional developments: Foreign investment tends to be mostly extractive with few local benefits. Increased individualization of land with increased degradation due to short-term, decision-making in crop choice. Significant and prolonged resource conflicts over water and land resources.Socio-economic and demographic developments: High population growth with the largest increase in urban populations. Younger rural populations move to urban fringe age with agriculture left to an aging, decreasing farming sector. Technological progress continues mostly in communications with some localized innovations. Local economic development is occurring with stronger growth in the informal sector. At the national scale, the Ethiopian economy has challenges with product dumping from larger economies that stifle larger-scale product developments from within.The following elements are needed (or assumed to have occurred over time) within this scenario.(1) Some foreign direct investment (FDI) with large-scale dairies near the urban fringes of Addis Ababa. (2) Not much change with smallholder dairy sector.(3) Difficult to achieve both foreign and domestic investment in the dairy sector. (4) Required LMP increases in dairy sector will occur more slowly by 2040 than in the 2020s with production increasing mainly from herd size increases. This inefficiency will cause more conflicts with greenhouse gas (GHG) and environmental issues. Increasing gap between demand and supply.(1) Increasing gap between demand and supply, especially in urban areas.(2) Exports to the Middle East expand. (3) Domestic supply from lowlands into feedlot enterprises increases due to increased demand and prices. (4) Medium sized smallholders and feedlots increase market-oriented production. ( 5) Informal trade increases strongly with little or no regulation causing tensions between domestic and export supplies.Poultry development roadmap: Private sector expands but feed is imported, domestic production has some increases as well. Smallholder sector production shows no increases but remains steady. LMP targets are unlikely to be met through either foreign or domestic production/investment. Increased segmentation between commercial and smallholder production. Medium smallholder production will increase but the sector will not be well regulated with potential OneHealth issues of outbreaks. Any expansion of smallholder production occurs from NGO-supported investments. Some substitution of chicken for beef but no environmental gains in terms of GHG occur as large-scaler production is primarily for export.Within this world LMP targets are difficult to achieve or not met at all due to the limited resources allocated to either direct support or incentives for FDI. Government entities may need to pay increased attention to incompatible tensions between export and domestic consumption. Additionally, a significant rise of the informal livestock sector would create potential challenges to moves to formalize trade to regulate for zoonoses. Smallholder market-oriented (informal) production would increase with lack of government regulation and with limited government resources; poultry may serve as best use of limited resources.While most of the scenario-focused recommendations have been mentioned within the Take-home points sections, there was significant interest in further exploring and refining elements of the LMP with respect to projections of livestock population growth and potential changes in internal-and export-focused ASF demands. There were multiple questions concerning how scenario results could be incorporated into Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems Ethiopia 18upcoming policy planning efforts to allow for greater flexibility in setting potential policy targets under future uncertainty. Additionally, there were questions about how these results could be presented to other Ministry officials and modified to address cross-ministry issues and concerns.The LSIL scenario workshop group was encouraged to conduct a follow-up meeting in Ethiopia with additional ministry officials attending to allow systematic review and expansion of scenario elements. ILRI/CCAFS representatives (Dr. Dawit Solomon) was very helpful in suggesting potential follow-up efforts to build a longer-term plan for collaboration and support plan among GoE and related institutions. In the time since the workshop, ILRI has initiated a new project: the Program for Climate-Smart Livestock systems (PCSL), with support from the German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH (GIZ). The program is being implemented in three countries, one of which is Ethiopia. PCSL aims to support governments, the private sector, and local stakeholders in realizing their development objectives while also fulfilling their commitments to achieve climate change adaptation and mitigation goals. The project takes the stakeholder engagement platform being developed and provides good opportunities in the future for synergistic follow-ups to build on the scenario-led policy testing work undertaken here. Economic modeling tools and data being developed by the foresight team within ILRI's Policies, Institutions and Livelihoods program (various projects) could be adapted to support the policy processes. In particular, there is scope to expand the incorporation of scenario approaches into the LMPs that ILRI's foresight analyses already support."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b5605f34a9a98176d106c1f0243d963d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/eb035c8b-a7d6-41aa-8dda-36cf08341987/retrieve","id":"-1877466587"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"85dfcd70-6761-4065-ad65-6879c4c128d1","content":"Los proyectos sobre manejo colectivo de los recursos naturales, exigen la formulación de planes de acción basados en un conocimiento global del territorio y de la comprensión integral de sus características biofísico y socieconómicas. Esta compleja tarea puede requerir de herramientas que faciliten el diagnóstico de la realidad y el proceso de toma de decisiones para la resolución de conflictos y aprovechamiento de las oportunidades en el manejo de los recursos agua , suelo y biodiversidad, entre otros.En latinoamerica, existen comunidades que están participando en la definición de proyectos relacionados con el manejo de los recursos naturales, y que en algunos casos, hacen parte de planes de ordenamiento territorial. Este es el caso de los indígenas localizados en el norte del departamento del Cauca -Colombia, quíenes desde inicios de la década del 90, han asumido la tarea de diseñar y ejecutar sus propios planes de desarrollo.Tanto las comunidades, como las instituciones que los han acompañado en este proceso, se han visto en la necesidad de utilizar técnicas de tipo geográfico que permitan tener una visión panorámica de la región al momento de diagnósticar el estado de los recursos y de planear acciones tendientes a optimizar su uso. Se ha buscado que tales herramientas sean de bajo costo; favorezcan la activa participación de la comunidad; promuevan el dialógo entre los diferentes actores involucrados en los procesos sociales, económicos y políticos en la zona; faciliten el trabajo interdisciplinario, y conlleven al acercamiento entre el conocimiento local y el técnico. Una de estas herramientas geográficas corresponde con las \"maquetas\" las cuales son modelos tridimensionales del paisaje, que consisten en mapas diseñados en alto relieve, construídos a una escala que permite la visualización general del área y donde se resaltan las características topográficas. A lo largo de la historia la construcción de maquetas ha tenido diferentes aplicaciones. Por ejemplo, existen referencias sobre el uso de modelos tridimensionales del paisaje construidos por indigenas en épocas precolombinas, los cuales eran utilizados para el diseño de sistemas de riego. Actualmente, la visualización tridimensional del paisaje puede lograrse con programas de computador, en los que adicionalmente es posible simular escenarios relacionados con cambios en el uso de tierra, en la dinámica del ciclo hidrológico, etc. Las maquetas sin embargo, en algunos casos siguen siendo utilizadas por que el acceso a tecnologia computarizada no está generalizada.En el caso de las comunidades indígenas en Cauca, las maquetas se han aprovechado para hacer diagnósticos participativos del estado de los recursos naturales, para socializar la información recogida en censos, localizar proyectos prioritarios y principalmente para que los habitantes de la zona reconozcan el territorio que ocupan. Las maquetas tambien han sido de utilidad en planes de ordenamiento de cuencas, porque con ellas se facilita comprender las causas de conflictos relativos al manejo del agua, mediante la visualización de las relaciones espaciales que existen entre comunidades localizadas en las fuentes de agua y las ubicadas aguas abajo.El presente documento, es un manual de procedimientos para la construcción de maquetas, donde brevemente tambien se describe la dinámica participativa aplicada para el uso de tal herramienta. Está orientado a profesionales y técnicos de entidades que trabajan en el área de recursos naturales y que apoyan comunidades en los procesos de toma de decisiones sobre el manejo del territorio.A comienzos de los 90, durante la formulación de los planes de desarrollo de las comunidades del norte del Cauca, se vió la necesidad de alcanzar una visión global del territorio, del uso actual de la tierra, del uso potencial y de las zonas en conflicto. Con este propósito, en el resguardo indígena de Jambaló y por iniciativa de la misionera Cristina Imholtz, surgió entonces la idea de construir y utilizar maquetas.Posteriormente, el Programa de Laderas del Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT -Palmira, Colombia) y la Fundación Sol y Tierra (Popayán, Cauca)', en conjunto con la Asociación de Cabildos del Norte de Cauca (Santander, Cauca), vieron la necesidad de retomar esta experiencia y perfeccionarla para ponerla al servicio de otras comunidades.Para tal efecto, se invitó a participar a algunas personas con experiencia en el uso de este tipo de herramienta en otros municipios, para en conjunto construir una metodología que abarcara no solo la construcción de la maqueta, sino tambien orientara en como utilizarla como herramienta que facilitara la plena participación de las comunidades en el análisis del estado de los recursos naturales (p.ej., agua, bosques, fauna, flora, suelos) y el entorno socio-económico (p.ej., acceso a servicios, indicadores de bienestar).Forman parte del Consorcio Interinstitucional para una Agricultura Sostenible en Laderas (CIPASLA), un grupo de entidades tanto del sector publico como privado que trabajan en forma coordinada en la microcuenca del Rio Cabuyal, municipio de Caldono del Departamento del Cauca en el suroccidente colombiano.Integra a diversos miembros de la comunidad: estudiantes, agricultores, ancianos, mujeres.Aprovecha información secundaria de carácter geográfico, la cual puede integrarse con información primaria recopilada a partir de la observación directa.Facilita la visualización panorámica de la región. 4)Es más económica que otras herramientas, y tambien de más fácil acceso.Desventajas 1) La localización de algunos puntos no son precisas .Construcción del Modelo 1) Conformación del grupo de trabajo. Una persona debe encargarse de los aspectos técnicos y otra de las cuestiones organizativas. La parte técnica implica planear, diseñar y elaborar físicamente la maqueta; la parte organizativa requiere elaborar un plan de trabajo para hacer la maqueta y motivar a la comunidad para lograr su participación en todas las etapas.2) Diseño técnico del modelo tri-dimensional. Es preciso definir los siguientes aspectos:a) Señalar el área de interés. Esta puede corresponder a una cuenca hidrográfica o a una división administrativa como la vereda o el municipio.b) Definir la escala vertical y horizontal. La maqueta se construye según el área y el nivel de detalle que se necesita representar. El tamaño final es el facor clave que determina las escalas que se deben utilizar.El Cuadro 1 proporciona una guía con respecto a la relación entre los componentes. La escala usual que da un buen detalle es la de 1:10 000. Se puede obtener los mapas en el Instituto Geográfico Nacional seccional correspondiente. Si es posible obtenerla digitalizada para computador, se puede ampliar o reducir el área a trabajar con mayor precisión (1 :5 000).ESCALA TAMAÑO DETALLE DE LOS RASGOS AREA VERTICAL HORIZONTAL FINAL Usos del suelo a nivel de parcelas 4.000 a 1:1.500 a 1:3.000a 2a3mts' o lotes de 1 ha., viviendas, cami-7.000 has. 1':2.500' 1:5.000 nos, arroyos y nacimientos de agua Usos del suelo generalizado (ma-15.000 a 1:5.000 a 1:15,000a 1 a 2 mis\" yores de 25 has.), carreteras, rios 25.000 has. 1:10.000 1 :25.000 principales, municipios. tablex o unas tablas de madera (Foto 1, Fig. 1). La lista de materiales que se requiere para construir una sencilla cortadora de Icopor se da en el Recuadro 2. f) Elaboración de la estructura básica. Se analizan detalladamente los mapas antes de cortar el Icopor, delimitando muy bien el área de la cuenca o región que se desea levantar en la maqueta . Se corta el mapa por el borde o límite del área total deseada (Foto 2). En caso que el tamaño de la maqueta exceda el tamaño de las láminas de Icopor, se recomienda hacerla por secciones, lo que facilita su construcción y transporte posterior.El mapa se coloca sobre la lámina de Icopor, bordeándose el lindero con un marcador o lápiz de color. Luego se corta el lcopor, siguiendo la línea dibujada (Foto 3). Entonces se corta el mapa en la CUNa de nivel (llamado también, 'cota'), la altura más baja del mapa . A continuación se toma el mapa y se corta por la segunda línea y sobre una nueva lámina de lcopor se marca el contomo con el marcador, por donde debe seguirse la segunda línea. De esa manera se logra una altura diferente (Foto 4). Se une esta lámina a la primera, empleando un pegante de papel. El grosor de la lámina es el que determina la escala vertical, la cual es posible aumentar o disminuir según el caso. Es aconsejable exagerar la altura 2 a 3 veces para que se note bien el relieve. Se requiere varias láminas de Icopor para lograr esto; los cortes de las cotas altitudinales se repiten según el número de láminas empleadas en cada nivel (Foto 5). Una vez cortadas, se deben pegar siguiendo un orden estricto a fin de que la ondulación del terreno se haga notoria. Se continúa con este procedimiento hasta llegar a la altura máxima de la cuenca (Foto 6).g) Relleno para la maqueta. Se da la forma al paisaje con un relleno que consiste en una mezcla de un material que contiene celulosa (p.ej., papel). El material más sencillo de manejar es el papel periódico o el papel higiénico.En un balde de 12-15Its., se pica finamente y remoja abundante papel periódico o higiénico. Debe mezclarse hasta que se disuelva completamente. En otro balde aparte se mezcla el pegante o engrudo con agua (1 11. de pegante por unos 10 Its. de agua), hasta quedar suficientemente acuoso para combinarlo con el papel húmedo exprimido. Luego las dos mezclas se combinan y se amasan muy bien hasta obtener una consistencia pegajosa y manejable, parecida a la de la arcilla para adobes. Si queda muy aguada la mezcla, debe agregar más papel, bien remojado anteriormente. Se debe preparar solamente la cantidad necesaria para el trabajo inmediato porque el pegante se seca y queda inmanejable.Para evitar que algunos insectos ataquen el material seco, se pulverizan unas bolas de naftaleno y se agregan a la mezcla. Cuando se aplica el relleno a la maqueta (Fotos 7 y 8), debe tener mucho cuidado en seguir todas las curvas de nivel indicadas para lograr una forma parecida a la realidad. Cuando se encuentran muy cercanas, significa que el terreno es bastante pendiente. Cuando son distantes unas de otras, el terreno puede ser ondulado o casi plano.Al terminar de aplicar la capa de relleno , deberá dejarse que seque, unos 2 ó 3 dias. La superficie debe quedar dura, como cartón. Se pinta con vinilo blanco (pintura de agua) con el fin de emparejar los diferentes tonos de la mezcla de relleno. Para darle mayor solidez y permitir su fácil transporte, la maqueta puede pegarse a una base de cartón grueso o a una madera de tablex (Foto 9). h) Ubicación de puntos importantes de orientación. El coordinador debe ubicar y marcar las vías, los rios y otros puntos sobresalientes que ayuden a orientar a los participantes de las comunidades. Si ellos pueden reconocer los rasgos más representativos de su sector, podrán señalar mejor el uso de la tierra. Para maquetas de escala detallada, se pueden señalar los cultivos que ocupan un área de una hectárea en adelante, las viviendas, caminos, trochas y senderos, acueductos y redes de electrificación. Para maquetas con escalas mayores, el uso de la tierra podrá representarse con base en su función (p. ej., potreros, cultivos, bosque) y zonas degradadas. Las poblaciones se representan únicamente por símbolos. Las divisiones políticas-administrativas son útííes en esta escala.El interés por el estado de los recursos naturales, por lo general , no se da en forma espontánea. Es preciso algún catalizador de la acción como un individuo muy motivado o alguna entidad local comprometida con este propósito. De todas maneras, la existencia de grupos organizados en torno a un proyecto facilita el alcance del trabajo. Si no existen estos grupos, es necesario hacer reuniones que expliquen los beneficios que representa para la comunidad conocer su espacio, analizarlo, identificar problemas y plantear soluciones. Se proponen los siguientes pasos para alcanzar este objetivo:Conformación de grupos de trabajo. Son dos los grupos de trabajo que deben conformarse, cada uno de ellos con una finalidad específica: a) Construcción del modelo. Al primer grupo deben haber personas con destrezas manuales, creativas y meticulosas. Pueden ser estudiantes de secundario o de los grados más altos de las escuelas. Conformado el grupo, se propone un plan de trabajo basado en objetivos y fechas concretas. Dentro de este plan, las primeras sesiones deberán señalar qué es lo que se va a hacer y cómo. Este plan no debe sobrepasar los 2-3 meses para no perder la motivación.b) Incorporación de la información. Este segundo grupo será el más heterogéneo. Podemos empezar por llamar desde los ancianos hasta los niños, pasando por los líderes comunales o vecinales, los agricultores, la fuerza pública o policía y los profesores. Para conseguir la información, es indispensable buscar los puntos más altos de la región, donde se tenga una amplia visibilidad de las áreas a trabajar. Este recorrido deberá hacerse con un conocedor de la región para que la información obtenida se acerque a la realidad (Foto 10). Como se necesita una información un poco más detallada de algunas regiones, es importante subdividir la zona y visitar cada una de ellas durante la semana, anunciándose con anticipación para que los líderes y la comunidad se reúnan y la visita tenga el mayor éxito posible.La información llega de manera espontánea. Deben portar lápices negros y de colores para así localizar las viviendas en este paisaje tridimensional. Por ejemplo, ellos pueden colocar un punto como símbolo de la vivienda. El coordinador debe estar muy atento para que la ubicación sea lo más precisa posible. Las señales generales aplicadas con anterioridad , serán de gran orientación (los ríos , arroyos, caminos, trochas y senderos) para que la comunidad se ubique.En el caso del uso del suelo, la comunidad es la que debe especificarlo a fin de que se pueda conocer la manera como lo clasifican y los nombres que le dan. En cada sector señalado por la comunidad, se escribirá el nombre como lo denominan (p.ej., café, maíz, descanso). Previamente, el coordinador habrá elaborado su propio código, el cual debe escribir al lado del escrito por la comunidad. Como hay espacio limitado, el coordinador debe designar una forma abreviada para registrar los nombres de allí en adelante (Foto 11).Con la ayuda de técnicos o de las personas que elaboraron el modelo, se pintan los diferentes usos del suelo con una serie de colores previamente identificados. Con los colores básicos (pintura con base de agua), se preparan los tonos para cada uso. Cuando toda la maqueta esté pintada y seca, se le aplica laca transparente en aerosol con lo que se evita la pérdida de color y se le da brillo.Por último, se coloca una leyenda con la explicación de lo que representa cada color, el título o nombre de la región y la finalidad que tiene la maqueta (Foto 12).2) Análisis Participatvo de la Información. Se seleccionan las personas según las características o intereses del proyecto. Es importante contactar a los agricultores y a los representantes de los grupos existentes (p.ej., los jornaleros, los educadores, los comerciantes) que conocen bien los diferentes niveles de bienestar dentro de la comunidad (ver Recuadro 3) para que aporten una información mucho más precisa.Cuando el grupo está reunido, se explica en términos claros y breves el motivo por el cual se realizó el trabajo, quién lo hizo y qué se espera de eso. Luego, se explica en forma clara las diferentes representaciones que en ella hay. Para que haya una integración, se invita a los participantes señalar sus viviendas con alfileres de colores (Foto 13 Explicar cómo se hizo 3.Nombrar a quiénes participaron (se puede mostrar fotos o una grabación en vídeo) 4.Invitar a los asistentes a identificar sus viviendas en la maqueta con alfileres de color 5.Seleccionar dos o tres usos de tierra (los más predominantes o contrastantes). Se busca que los participantes comenten sobre el suelo (pendiente, color, textura, profundidad, humedad ... ), la vegetación (especies, cobertura, producción ... ) y la infraestructura (vías, puentes, acueductos, transporte, viviendas ... ) 6.Identificar dos o tres lugares claves en la vereda en donde se tendrá un contacto directo con los cultivos en una segunda sesión.1.Reunir a los participantes en los lotes escogidos en la primera sesión. 2.Indagar, de manera informal, por las labores actuales en el cultivo, buscando identificar las razones que motivaron su selección. Hacer preguntas acerca del porqué y cómo de cada etapa del cultivo que implica una decisión:selección del cultivo a sembrar selección del lote preparación del suelo aplicación de abonos u otros insumos selección de la semilla siembra, resiembra, aporques, desyerbas manejo de plagas y enfermedades cosecha limitantes a la producción encontrados Recuadro 4. Metodología a seguir en los talleres de análisis.El trabajo sobre la maqueta motiva a un diálogo entre todos, se conocen con nombre propio, se identifican los lotes, los linderos, la distancia a las vías de acceso y qué cultivos tiene cada uno de los asistentes. Es crucial este momento de la familiarización con la maqueta por parte de la comunidad porque el coordinador puede obtener una cantidad de información valiosa que puede orientarlo mejor hacia sus objetivos. Es importante que el coordinador elabore una guía de las preguntas y/o temas que quiere discutir durante la reunión.Para analizar los usos de la tierra, se les solicita que expliquen las características del terreno (físicas y biológicas) que tos conduce a darle el uso que están haciendo y así mismo, las que se relacionan con aspectos sociales y económicos.Esto ayudará al coordinador a comprender mejor su proceso de toma de decisiones y a elaborar un patrón para todo el sector o partes del mismo. Como sugerencia, se recomienda el uso de una grabadora de casetes para almacenar toda la información posible para recuperarla posteriormente y analizarla. Aunque se puede transcribir el texto literalmente, esto requiere de mucho tiempo. Se sugiere predefinir los puntos de interés y se elabora una matriz para ir señalizando el número de veces tratado, dejando suficiente espacio para apuntar expresiones o términos locales (ver el siguiente cuadro).Color de suelo // / Falta de vías /// Erosión //// / Disponibilidad de agua // /// La maqueta facilita la discusión y ayuda orientar los comentarios sobre el estado de los recursos naturales. Se identifican las zonas donde abundan los vientos, suelos fértiles, húmedos, con y en proceso de erosión, zonas de vegetación especial, viviendas pobres o abandonadas, terrenos en conflicto, baldíos o de la nación. También se puede utilizar la maqueta para definir proyectos de desarrollo, tanto del sector público como privado.Foto 1. Cortaicopor eléctrico.de zonas altitudinales por lineas de"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2fb09394430b4bf6db35bcafbd7451c7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/89396617-5a6b-447a-8d6e-bc36bc40a74b/retrieve","id":"-2125823082"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"93daa5ec-b2b5-4ff3-a840-c37ef45ac160","content":"Thịt lợn là loại thịt được tiêu thụ nhiều nhất tại Việt Nam. Dưới tác động của thị trường tự do và sự phát triển kinh tế thì các chuỗi thực phẩm, thay đổi để đáp ứng lối sống thuận tiện, đặc biệt tại khu vực thành thị (ví dụ sự phát triển của các hệ thống thực phẩm đông lạnh) và khác với các hình thức buôn bán và chế biến thực phẩm truyền thống. Đi kèm với những thay đổi này, các yếu tố nguy cơ, và cả nguy cơ, từ thịt lợn cũng thay đổi. Chúng tôi nghiên cứu các mẫu thịt lợn lấy từ các hình thức bán khác nhau -truyền thống và hiện đạikhi lựa chọn các yếu tố nguy cơ lây truyền qua thực phẩm đặc thù để so sánh mức độ nhiễm khuẩn và an toàn của thịt lợn. Các mẫu nghiên cứu được lấy từ siêu thị và các chợ tại nội thành Hà Nội, và các chợ ở làng nông thôn. Ngoài ra, khi xét đến thông tin về vệ sinh và thực hành xử lý và chế biến thịt lợn, chúng tôi cố gắng mô tả những thay đổi tiềm tàng trong phơi nhiễm của người tiêu dùng. Trong bối cảnh này, chúng tôi thực hiện mô tả nguy cơ và đánh giá phơi nhiễm với họ vi khuẩn Enterobacteriaceae bao gồm E.coli O157, Listeria monocytogenes và tồn dư kháng sinh. Nghiên cứu thử nghiệm này chỉ ra những nguy cơ mới nổi tiềm tàng cần được quan tâm và cung cấp thông tin cho những đánh giá nguy cơ trong tương lai.Các yếu tố nguy cơ từ thực phẩm và bệnh lây truyền qua thực phẩm là những vấn đề y tế công cộng quan trọng toàn cầu. Phần lớn bệnh tật ở người cũng là bệnh ở động vật [1], và thực phẩm có nguồn gốc động vật chính là nguồn có nguy cơ nhất gây ra các bệnh dạ dày -ruột, trong đó các vi sinh vật đóng vai trò chính [ ]. Các yếu tố nguy cơ khác có thể có trong thịt là hóa chất và tồn dư kháng sinh. Tại Việt Nam, nền kinh tế biến chuyển và phát triển nhanh chóng đang thúc đẩy những thay đổi trong tiêu thụ thịt. Càng ngày càng có nhiều người có khả năng mua nhiều thịt hơn, và do đó nhu cầu tăng lên [3]. Trong khi đó, hành vi chế biến và các chuỗi cung cấp thịt cũng như các thực phẩm khác cũng đang trải qua quá trình thay đổi. Các chợ vốn thống trị hệ thống bán lẻ nay được bổ sung thêm hệ thống siêu thị và các cửa hàng tạp hóa ở những khu vực trung tâm thành phố. Một phần lớn dân số trẻ ở thành thị áp dụng lối sống tây phương, nhanh chóng, và thời gian trung bình dùng để chế biến thức ăn cũng giảm xuống [4]. Các hệ thống đông lạnh ngày được sử dụng nhiều hơn trong chuỗi thực phẩm [5]. Những thay đổi này cũng ảnh hưởng đến thịt lợn, loại thịt được dùng nhiều nhất tại Việt Nam [6], cũng như cả hệ thống cung cấp thịt lợn, tuy nhiên không có thông tin về tác động của những thay đổi này mang lại. Trong nghiên cứu thử nghiệm này, chúng tôi xét nghiệm các mẫu thịt lợn từ các nguồn khác nhau để xác định mức độ ô nhiễm một số chỉ số và yếu tố nguy cơ đặc thù ở thịt lợn. Trong khung lượng giá nguy cơ [7], nguy cơ được định nghĩa là sự kết hợp của khả năng xuất hiện tác động sức khỏe tiêu cực và mức độ trầm trọng của vấn đề đó, hậu quả do yếu tố tác hại gây ra. Chúng tôi bàn luận một số yếu tố nguy cơ tìm được trong bối cảnh này để mô tả xác suất xuất hiện nguy cơ đối với người tiêu dùng của các hệ thống cung cấp thịt lợn truyền thống và hiện đại.Qua tổng quan tài liệu và tham khảo ý kiến chuyên gia, chúng tôi chọn các yếu tố nguy cơ hoặc nhóm các yếu tố nguy cơ (Bảng 1) dựa trên tầm quan trọng tương đối của yếu tố nguy cơ cũng như khả năng phát hiện các yếu tố đó trong khuôn khổ nguồn lực hiện có. Đơn vị chọn mẫu chính của nghiên cứu là người bán thịt lợn. Nghiên cứu lấy mẫu từ các chợ và siêu thị trong nội thành, ngoại thành và nông thôn. Năm chợ được chọn ngẫu nhiên từ danh sách các chợ trong một quận đại diện của thành phố Hà Nội (Thanh Xuân).Trong mỗi chợ, chúng tôi điều tra tất cả những người bán thịt và chọn ngẫu nhiên 5 điểm bán thịt lợn. Với mỗi người bán (n = 5), chúng tôi mua 3 mẫu thịt lợn tại các thời điểm khác nhau trong cùng một ngày để phân tích. Các mẫu cũng được lấy từ 3 siêu thị trong cùng địa bàn quận (5 mẫu/ siêu thị; n = 15). Chúng tôi đến 3 làng thuộc tỉnh Hà Tây cũ (nay thuộc ngoại thành Hà Nội) và các mẫu thịt được lấy từ các chợ tại các làng này (n = 10).Các mẫu thịt (khoảng 50g/ mẫu) được mua từ bàn bán thịt tại các chợ và từ các gói thịt đóng sẵn bày bán trong siêu thị. Tất cả mẫu được đựng trong các túi hoặc hộp nhựa riêng, được ướp đá và mang đến phòng thí nghiệm trong vòng 1 giờ để xử lý xác định các chủng vi khuẩn tại từng điểm bán.Xét nghiệm chuẩn đoán, các giá trị tham chiếu Quá trình xét nghiệm chuẩn đoán sử dụng các xét nghiệm thường quy như phương pháp đếm tổng số khuẩn lạc trên đĩa.Các mức tiêu chuẩn để phân loại được dựa trên các tiêu chuấn quốc tế (chuẩn an toàn thực phẩm/ chuẩn vệ sinh quy trình) cho kỹ thuật lấy mẫu đục lỗ đối với thân thịt [8] hoặc lấy mẫu cắt lát, từng phần đối với thịt bán lẻ [9] (xem Bảng 1).Phân tích thống kê và mô tả được thực hiện bằng NCSS (Hintze, J., 007, NCSS. NCSS, LLC Kaysville, Utah). Phân tích sự khác biệt giữa 3 loại hình cung cấp thịt lợn (chợ và siêu thị ở thành thị và chợ ở nông thôn) được thực hiện bằng cách đếm số đơn vị khuẩn lạc hình thành (cfu) của tổng số vi khuẩn hiếu khí, Enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus aureus, và Listeria spp. Những khác biệt này được kiểm định bằng kiểm định t test với mức ý nghĩa (α) là 0,05.Ba yếu tố nguy cơ được chọn để đưa vào khung đánh giá nguy cơ định tính (Bảng ) dựa trên kết quả nghiên cứu này và kết quả điều tra bổ sung đối với người tiêu dùng bằng bảng hỏi (kết quả không được trình bày ở đây) để đánh giá mức độ phơi nhiễm của người tiêu dùng.Tổng cộng nghiên cứu đã phân tích 100 mẫu thịt lợn. Các kết quả và nhóm phân loại định tính so với tiêu chuẩn quốc tế được trình bày trong Bảng 1. Sự khác biệt định lượng giữa các vi khuẩn hiếu khí, Enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus aureus, và Listeria spp. trong các mẫu thịt lợn từ chợ và siêu thị nội thành và chợ ở nông thôn được thể hiện trong Hình 1.Các Xét nghiệm chẩn đoán tìm thấy mức độ ô nhiễm khá cao với một số tác nhân gây hỏng thịt lợn và mầm bệnh trong thịt lợn và đây là nguyên nhân tiềm tàng gây ra những vấn đề sức khỏe ở người tiêu thụ thịt lợn. Để xác định chất lượng của các mẫu ở mức có thể hay không thể chấp nhận được, chúng tôi so sánh kết quả tìm được và các tiêu chuẩn quốc tế. Ví dụ, không mẫu nào đạt mức tiêu chuẩn cho vi khuẩn hiếu khí cho phép, cho thấy thịt không được xử lý tốt và không đảm bảo vệ sinh (Bảng 1). 5% mẫu Staphylococcus aureus không đạt chuẩn và % mẫu Listeria spp. có số vi khuẩn ở mức nguy hiểm tiềm tàng. Để phân tích một số yếu tố nguy cơ, chúng tôi điều tra các mẫu chung. Chúng tôi tìm thấy số lượng lớn vi khuẩn Escherichia coli O157 (trong 19 trên 1 các đĩa chung), nhưng không có mẫu nào dương tính với Campylobacter spp., Salmonella spp. hoặc Bacillus cereus. Kết quả này có thể do độ nhạy bị giảm xuống do khi phân tích các mẫu chung được chọn do thiếu nguồn lực, và không loại trừ sự tồn tại của 3 loại tác nhân gây bệnh qua thực phẩm quan trọng này trong thịt lợn. Mức độ ô nhiễm vi sinh trong mẫu lấy từ siêu thị là một kết quả quan trọng (Hình 1). Mặc dù sự khác biệt này chỉ có ý nghĩa thống kê đối với Enterobacteriaceae, tuy nhiên, độ mạnh của các kiểm định trong nghiên cứu này khá thấp do số lượng mẫu hạn chế.Mô tả nguy cơ và đánh giá phơi nhiễm đối với 3 yếu tố nguy cơ được chọn Cùng với sự phát triển của nền kinh tế, người tiêu dùng tại khu vực thành thị càng có nhiều hành vi lối sống mới thuận tiện hơn: họ có xu hướng thường xuyên mua nhiều thực phẩm hơn như thịt, trong đó có thịt lợn, và các thực phẩm này thường được giữ lâu hơn tại: a) cửa hàng (tại các cơ sở bán hàng chính thống như siêu thị) và b) tại nhà của người tiêu dùng trong các thiết bị làm lạnh, tuy nhiên các thiết bị này không có khả năng duy trì nhiệt độ lạnh tối ưu (có thể do không có hoặc chỉ có hệ thống làm lạnh đơn giản kèm theo hệ thống không ổn định hoặc các thiết bị đó không có chế độ làm lạnh tối ưu). Những điều kiện này góp phần thúc đẩy sự phát triển của các yếu tố nguy cơ và nguy cơ tiềm tàng đến sức khỏe cộng đồng, và khi mà những hành vi \"mới\" này chưa phổ biến trong người tiêu dùng ở Việt Nam [15], cần quan tâm đến những thay đổi này khi đánh giá nguy cơ phơi nhiễm với các yếu tố nguy cơ đến sức khỏe con người. Trong phần tiếp theo, chúng tôi bàn luận về 3 yếu tố nguy cơ mà chúng tôi đánh giá là quan trọng dựa trên nguy cơ tiềm tàng của chúng đến sức khỏe con người qua kết quả của nghiên cứu này và những nội dung đã được bàn luận ở trên: Enterobactericeae, đặc biệt là E. coli O157; Listeria spp.; và tồn dư kháng sinh (xem Bảng ).Enterobacteriaceae là một nhóm vi khuẩn thường được xem xét như tiêu chí xác định mức độ vệ sinh thực phẩm hơn là vấn đề an toàn thực phẩm. Tuy nhiên nhóm Enterobacteriaceae bao gồm cả những vi khuẩn có khả năng gây bệnh như Salmonella spp. và E. coli gây bệnh đường ruột như E. coli sản sinh độc tố (STEC). Mức độ nhiễm khuẩn với Enterobacteriaceae hiện ở mức không thể chấp nhận được, Đặc biệt, kết quả nghiên cứu cho thấy có sự hiện diện của E. coli O157 trong phần lớn số mẫu (Bảng 1).Đây là lần đầu tiên E. coli O157 gây bệnh đường ruột được phát hiện trong thịt lợn tại Việt Nam. Đây là một kết quả quan trọng đối với y tế công cộng, đặc biệt với các nhóm người tiêu dùng dễ bị tổn thương như trẻ sơ sinh, trẻ em hay người già, ngoài ra E. coli cũng có thể gây bệnh trên thanh niên khỏe mạnh.Chúng tôi không tìm thấy Salmonella spp. trong các mẫu thịt, nhưng những hạn chế về mặt kỹ thuật có thể làm giảm độ nhạy của phương pháp nghiên cứu. Các nghiên cứu khác tại Việt Nam đã tìm thấy sự có mặt của Salmonella spp. trong thịt lợn [5]. Nguy cơ từ thịt nhiễm vi khuẩn Enterobacteriaceae có thể được kiểm soát bởi chính người tiêu dùng bằng cách nấu kỹ thực phẩm. Trong phần khác của nghiên cứu này (không được trình bày trong bài báo này) chúng tôi thực hiện điều tra bằng bộ câu hỏi đối với người tiêu dùng thịt lợn tại nội thành và ngoại thành Hà Nội cho thấy người tiêu dùng nấu hoặc rán thịt trong một khoảng thời gian đủ để Enterobacteriaceae bị tiêu diệt. Tuy nhiên, cách này không loại bỏ được nguy cơ nhiễm khuẩn chéo vì chỉ cần một số mảnh của Salmonella và STEC cũng đủ để gây bệnh ở những người cảm nhiễm cao, do đó một mức độ nhiễm khuẩn chéo rất nhỏ cũng có thể trở thành vấn đề quan trọng. Nhiễm phân có Enterobacteriaceae có thể xảy ra tại các lò mổ (khi moi tạng và nhiễm khuẩn chéo từ lông hoặc môi trường bẩn) và đây có thể là bước khởi đầu quan trọng để giảm thiểu khả năng nhiễm các loại vi khuẩn này.Nhiễm khuẩn Listeria monocytogenes có thể dẫn đến bệnh nghiêm trọng như các triệu chứng thần kinh, viêm màng não, sảy thai hoặc thai lưu. Trong nghiên cứu này, Listeria monocytogenes được tìm thấy trong 4% mẫu, nhưng 98% trong đó có số lượng vi khuẩn thấp hơn liều dự kiến tối thiểu gây bệnh (10 cfu/gram L. monocytogenes [10]) ở nhóm đối tượng cảm nhiễm cao (phụ nữ có thai, trẻ sơ sinh, người cao tuổi và người bị suy giảm miễn dịch). Một số mẫu thịt lấy từ siêu thị, mặc dù vẫn trong thời gian sử dụng, là những mẫu duy nhất có nguy cơ nhiễm khuẩn.Listeria spp. có khả năng phát tán rộng rãi trong môi trường và là loại vi khuẩn chịu lạnh có thể sinh sản ở điều kiện nhiệt độ trong tủ lạnh. Do đó, những vi khuẩn này là nguy cơ ngày càng gia tăng đối với cộng đồng khi mà thực phẩm được lưu giữ lâu hơn trong các hệ thống làm lạnh. Kết quả điều tra người tiêu dùng cho thấy những người có tủ lạnh giữ thịt trong một khoảng thời gian dài gấp 3 lần những người không có tủ lạnh, từ đó Listeria sẽ có nhiều thời gian hơn để gia tăng số lượng.Đến nay không có nhiều trường hợp nhiễm Listeria ở người hoặc trong thực phẩm được báo cáo tại Việt Nam. Trong báo cáo về 3 trường hợp viêm màng não do Listeria monocytogenes ở Việt Nam, các tác giả dự đoán tỷ lệ hiện mắc những nhiễm khuẩn này có thể tăng lên do những thay đổi trong chuỗi thức ăn và thói quen ăn uống ở những quốc gia đang phát triển nhanh chóng ở châu Á [11]. Một yếu tố nguy cơ khác chúng tôi tìm thấy là tồn dư thuốc kháng sinh trong thịt. Tồn dư kháng sinh tạo điều kiện thuận lợi cho vi khuẩn kháng thuốc và có thể gây dị ứng cho những người nhạy cảm. Ngoài ra, ngay cả việc chế biến và đun nấu cẩn thận cũng không loại bỏ được những chất tồn dư này, do đó người tiêu dùng không thể xử lý nguy cơ này. Kết quả này của chúng tôi chỉ mang tính định tính vì xét nghiệm sử dụng khá nhạy cảm với mức độ tồn dư khác nhau của từng các loại kháng sinh, và các mức độ này có thể rất thấp. Tính đặc hiệu của xét nghiệm có thể thay đổi tùy theo điều kiện ủ bệnh, và nghiên cứu này không có khả năng kiểm chứng xem các kết quả dương tính có chính xác hay không. Một nghiên cứu về tồn dư của tetracycline trong thịt lợn bán ở chợ tại Hà Nội cho thấy các điểm bán thịt ngoài trung tâm nội thành (thịt có nguồn gốc từ ngoại thành hoặc nông thôn) chính là yếu tố nguy cơ nhiễm tồn dư kháng sinh [1 ]. Lĩnh vực dịch tễ học vi khuẩn kháng kháng sinh chưa phát triển tại Việt Nam, tuy nhiên một nghiên cứu đã tìm ra E.coli kháng thuốc [13] và Salmonella kháng thuốc trong thịt lợn [14]. Trước thực trạng vi khuẩn kháng thuốc ngày càng gia tăng đang là mối nguy toàn cầu, việc sử dụng thuốc kháng sinh và tình trạng kháng thuốc là một chủ đề quan trọng cần nghiên cứu và giám sát chuyên sâu hơn.Trong nghiên cứu này, một số yếu tố nguy cơ y tế công cộng hoặc sự hiện diện của yếu tố nguy cơ đã xuất hiện trong thịt lợn bán ở Hà Nội và các khu vực nông thôn xung quanh. Nhiều nguy cơ tiềm tàng có thể giảm thiểu bằng các hành vi xử lý và chế biến thực phẩm phù hợp, ví dụ lưu giữ thực phẩm trong thời gian ngắn và nấu kỹ thực phẩm. Tuy nhiên, nghiên cứu của chúng tôi hỗ trợ giả thuyết rằng nguy cơ có thể thay đổi khi có sự xuất hiện của các hệ thống bán lẻ và các thói quen tiêu thụ \"hiện đại\", như mua lượng thực phẩm lớn hơn và cần lưu trữ trong thời gian dài hơn tại quầy bán hoặc nhà của người tiêu dùng, nơi có các hệ thống làm lạnh có thể hoạt động không ổn định. Những hành vi lối sống này chưa phổ biến trong giới tiêu dùng ở Việt Nam, nhưng ngày càng gia tăng ở khu vực thành thị cùng với sự phát triển kinh tế, và do đó gây ra những nguy cơ tiềm tàng ở những hộ gia đình có điều kiện tương tự. Các hình thức mua bán thực phẩm truyền thống trong đó người tiêu dùng thường xuyên đến nơi bán để mua một lượng nhỏ thức ăn từ chợ và những thói quen nấu nướng trong phần lớn người tiêu dùng Việt Nam vẫn chưa gây ra những nguy cơ gì cho sức khỏe con người. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/5673709728.json b/main/part_2/5673709728.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..aeaa3e7224b1a881b8153251a4ca131a2a90d2a3
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+++ b/main/part_2/5673709728.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"b30f6140-380e-4f68-8d85-08ec04964140","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/5699371943.json b/main/part_2/5699371943.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..26525af6defb1b57d4de918f6ca0126d6fdf4ef7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/5699371943.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5011972076d7762bd75b6f3fdbeab440","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c90d6d9a-42c4-4a7c-be80-6a365412f9ac/retrieve","id":"641618093"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"efc62a0a-9ff1-4a45-ac4a-0519c4f7656e","content":"Informes admlmstratlvos -Microsoft Excel par mfonnes mensuales y anuales de estadlslicas La Umdad actualmente cuenta con seis bases de datos blbhograficas diferentes, defimdas en MIcro CDSIISIS con e,tructuras hgeramente diferente y dlstmtos formatos de salida Estas bases son bilmgue ([spañol y Ingles) con tradUCCIOnes de titulo s, descnptores y resumenes La base de datos CATAL es la base pnmana de lo cual se denva otras bases de datos especlahzadas (con excepclOn de CINfOS, SERIEAD y GREYLIT) Se conSidera Importante poder prodUCir \"sub-sets\" especIahzados de la base de datos pnnclpal y mantenerlas separadas para poder participar en vanos proyectos de mvestIgaclOn dlstmtos o CATAL -catalogo publIco con 43,000 referenCias, 33% llevan resumenes, 33% son anahtlcas, o SERIAD -catalogo de senadas con eXistenCias con 4,300 referenCias, o CINFOS -retrospectIva y cerrada, hteratura sobre fnJol, yuca, y forrajes tropicales con 38,000 referenCias con re~umene, (puede ser mtegrado con CATAL) o TropILeche -base soble producclOn de ganado de doble propOSltO en ecosistemas tropicales con 1,600 referenCias con resumenes, o GreyLlt -base de hteratura gns sobre manejO de recursos naturales m Amenca Tropical con 10,000 referenCIas, 33% con resumenes, o While fly -base de hteratura gns sobre mosca blanca en Amenca Latma El uso de las aphcaclones en forma separada y en sistemas dIferentes, hace necesano para "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/5706222669.json b/main/part_2/5706222669.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..48179c9609d9302526320cea0e0277fa78272881
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/5706222669.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7ff9819357c1958d35e18ce7317b6530","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/27379781-8151-4139-a42b-4164aaa473e7/retrieve","id":"-2096725640"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"debbfaa2-09c4-4a39-accb-a947850c56ac","content":"The Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems Initiative aims to provide equitable, transformative pathways for improved livelihoods of actors in mixed farming systems through sustainable intensification within target agroecologies and socio-economic settings.Through action research and development partnerships, the Initiative will improve smallholder farmers' resilience to weather-induced shocks, provide a more stable income and significant benefits in welfare, and enhance social justice and inclusion for 13 million people by 2030.Activities will be implemented in six focus countries globally representing diverse mixed farming systems as follows: Ghana (cereal-root crop mixed), Ethiopia (highland mixed), Malawi: (maize mixed), Bangladesh (rice mixed), Nepal (highland mixed), and Lao People's Democratic Republic (upland intensive mixed/ highland extensive mixed).This report presents findings from the parcel and plot level boundary mapping exercise conducted in the Malawi districts: Mzimba, Dedza, Kasungu, Balaka, Mangochi, and Zomba. A total of 356 farming households were randomly selected from the established list of farmers (1,296) who were previously interviewed during a baseline survey conducted in 2022. The survey covered a total of 356 parcels containing 469 unique. 76% of households participated in the co-design of sociotechnical bundles of technologies spearheaded by the Mixed Farming Systems (MFS)Initiative. During the parcel and plot boundary mapping, the enumerators recorded the farm structure (cultivated crops, inputs, productivity, and technologies or practices) and assessed the types and drivers of land degradation (LD). 356 farming households were randomly selected from the established list of farmers (1,296) who were previously interviewed during a baseline survey conducted in 2022. The survey covered a total of 356 parcels containing 469 unique. 76% households participated in co-design of socio-technical bundles of technologies spearheaded by the Mixed Farming Systems (MFS) Initiative. During the parcel and plot boundary mapping, the enumerators recorded the farm structure (cultivated crops, inputs, productivity and technologies or practices) and assessed the types and drivers of land degradation (LD).The plot level data was intended to validate the farmers' recall data collected during the baseline survey, particularly the estimation of acreage, crop yield, and the proportion of land under different management systems. Data obtained from this exercise will further be used as ground truth in a follow-up study to demonstrate the effectiveness of applying remote sensing to characterize the status of the mixed farming systems.The comparison of farmers' self-reported and GPS -measured plot sizes indicated zero agreement since farmers underestimated in 54% and overestimated in 46% of the cases. On average, the self-reported plot size was overestimated by 0.11 ha. In addition, the farmer self-reported data under-estimated average maize yields compared to the global positioning system (GPS) measured ones partly due to inaccurate estimation IV of farmers' plot size. The biased estimation of plot sizes significantly impacts the computation of crop yields per hectare. The biased self-reported crop area has an important implication when evaluating the impact of inputs such as improved varieties and fertilizers on crop yield. Agricultural investment policies formulated based on the biases farmer reported measurements of crop yield and area are likely to cause unintended outcomes. Results highlights the acute need for more accurate but time and cost-effective measurements of measuring plot sizes and yields such as those utilizing remotely sensed data and analytics.Land degradation (LD) in croplands was mainly caused by poor soil management practices (42%) that were mainly accentuated by missing or insufficient soil conservation and erosion control measures (25%) followed by tillage practicesploughing/harrowing on steep or along the slope (12%) and cultivation of highly unsuitable or vulnerable soils (5.4%). Natural causes of LD were caused by changes in seasonal rainfall (17%) and topography (16%).Data further revealed a varying pattern in adopting soil conservation practices across the study districts. Farmers in Balaka, Zomba, Dedza, and Kasungu districts predominantly employed mulching, tied ridges, and trenches, while those in Mangochi and Dedza had a higher preference for contour ploughing. Data revealed that the NPK and Urea were predominantly used as the main and second fertilizers, respectively. The application of these practices reflects the local context and the farmers' understanding of effective soil conservation techniques.Given the shortcomings of the farmer self-reported data, we recommend exploring the use of remote sensing data for agricultural monitoring to complement the traditional survey data.Agriculture in Malawi is predominantly rainfed, and parcels are fragmented, with an average parcel size below 2 ha. The small parcels have plots with distinct crops and management systems. Farmers practice mixed farming systems comprising of growing diverse crops and rearing livestock supplemented by off-farm activities. The resilience of these farming systems is under severe threat due to confounding impacts of extreme poverty, increasing population, and climate change and variability. Therefore, up-todate data is vital for designing sustainable management of these diverse cropping system. Information on the cropping systems is mainly available from household surveys that rely on farmers' recall. Recent studies have shown that farmer reported data have systematic measurement errors on plot size and crop yields (Gourlay et al., 2019;Carletto et al., 2013) . Therefore, policies formulated from imprecise data could lead to mis-adaptation of technologies or inappropriate extension advisories. This calls for methods to accurately measure and characterize the structure and content of the fragmented land parcels. Remote sensing offers an option for synoptic and repetitive monitoring of farms over extensive areas (Nakalembe et al., 2021;Pelletier et al., 2023); however, it requires ground truthing to identify the crops and management practices on the ground._ 2The survey was conducted in six districts in Malawi (Figure 1) from May to June 2023. A total of 356 farming households were randomly selected from the established list of baseline survey sample households (1,296) conducted in 2022. Table 1 outlines the spatial distribution of randomly selected farming households per administrative districts, extension planning areas (EPA), sections, and villages. One parcel was purposely mapped for each sampled household, along with plots located within the boundary. A buffer distance of 50 meters was maintained between the centre of adjacent plots to avoid two plots being in the same pixel of satellite imagery. The unique plots within the parcels were not closed by a river or road or close to the forest edge to avoid mixed pixels. Field data was collected by trained enumerators using a survey questionnaire that was administered using computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) based software (Survey Solutions). This questionnaire was designed in CAPI to easily capture details like the parcel's area or plot and automatic distance calculation from the homestead to the parcel based on global positioning system (GPS) coordinate of the home captured during the baseline survey.Quantitative data analysis was performed using Stata where descriptive statistics were used to generate the results presented in the following chapter. This section provides detailed findings from mapping parcels and plots. After mapping the perimeter of the parcels and plots data were collected on cultivated crops, crop inputs, crop types, size and production systems. receiving more inputs such as farmyard manure, partly due to reduced transport costs and ease of access. Most farmers in the 6 districts cultivated diverse annual crops ranging from maize, rice, sorghum, and soybeans (Figure 2). About 1.1% of plots in Balaka district had perennial crops (coconuts, mangoes, oranges, and cashew nuts).Homesteads and fallowing were recorded only in Kasungu district, though percentage coverage was less than 1% of total land._ 8 On the other hand, Mangochi and Dedza exhibited a higher preference for contour ploughing. This technique involves ploughing along the contours of the land, which helps to slow down surface runoff, which in turn minimizes soil erosion. The farmers in these districts have recognized the benefits of contour ploughing in their specific geographical contexts.It is important to note that adopting agroforestry practices was not explicitly mentioned in the data collection tool, so further information on this aspect is not provided in this document. However, it is worth noting that agroforestry is an important soil conservation practice that integrates trees and shrubs with crops. Agroforestry can provide numerous benefits, such as enhancing soil fertility, improving water management, and diversifying farmers' livelihoods. Fertilizers play a crucial role in providing essential nutrients to the soil, which are necessary for the healthy growth of crops. A recent study showed that the amount of fertilizer applied is a key determinant of maize yield in Malawi (Gachoki and Muthoni, 2023). However, due to various reasons such as limited financial resources and lack of knowledge, many farmers in Malawi do not use fertilizers effectively or at all. This results in nutrient-deficient soils, leading to lower crop yields.Application of primary and second fertilizers was observed in all 6 districts (Figure 4). The results show that Urea and NPK were the most dominant fertilizers used in all districts at varying rates and either as primary or second fertilizers. In terms of Urea application, it was noted that over 60% of its usage was observed as a second fertilizer across all districts. On the other hand, NPK was applied as a main fertilizer between 30% and 40% in all districts. The _ 10 utilization of Urea and NPK fertilizers as main and second fertilizers, respectivelyshowcases their significance in enhancing agricultural productivity. These fertilizers are crucial in providing essential nutrients to crops, thus promoting healthy growth and maximizing yield. The application of Urea as a second fertilizer implies that it is often used to supplement the crops' nitrogen (N) requirements during the vegetative and grain-filling growth stages. This practice allows farmers to address N deficiencies and ensure optimal growth and development. Meanwhile, NPK being applied as a main fertilizer indicates that it is commonly used as a primary source of essential nutrients for crops.NPK fertilizers contain a balanced ratio of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), which are vital for various physiological processes within plants.The dominance of Urea and NPK fertilizers in all districts emphasizes their popularity among farmers. These fertilizers are known for enhancing crop productivity and improving overall agricultural sustainability. During the plot level mapping exercise, the area of the plot in square meters was automatically generated using the CAPI software. This was later converted into hectares to compare with what farmers had self-reported during the baseline survey. The average size for the plots measured with GPS was 0.11 ha higher than the self-reported measurement (Table 4). Results in Table 4 indicate that farmers generally overestimated the plot size in 46% of the cases (216 plots) while underestimating the plot size in 54% of the cases (253 plots).Zero cases of the measurements were identical, therefore highlighting the importance of using GPS to measure the plot area. The implication is that most farmers, therefore, underestimate or overestimate their yields. This may have huge implications, especially when it comes to analysing the impact of inputs such as improved varieties and agronomic practices on yield. Policies formulated based on farmer-reported crop area measurements are likely to be biased, leading to unintended outcomes. Table 5 below provides evidence that the computation of crop yields per hectare has been significantly influenced by the incorrect estimation of plot sizes in farmers' self-reported plot sizes. This issue arises from farmers' overestimation and underestimation of plot sizes, thereby leading to inaccurate yield estimations. Consequently, it is evident that there is an apparent problem in the estimation of crop yields. There is a slight underestimation of the average maize yields when computed using the farmer's self-reported data (1.3 t/ha) compared to GPS measurements (1.5 t/ha).However, the former grossly under-estimated the variability of the yields since the maximum was 5.4 t/ha compared to 29.9 t/ha (Table 5). This trend is evident for most crops. The data reveals that the maize yields computer from farmers self-reported plot sizes under-estimated average yield compared to the GPS measured due to inaccurate estimation of farmers' plot size. This discrepancy highlights the importance of accurate plot size estimation to facilitate more precise crop yields.The implications of inaccurate plot size estimation are significant.Overestimating plot sizes may lead to excessive use of resources, such as shown remarkable accuracy in predicting field boundaries (Estes et al., 2022) and crop yields (Lobell et al., 2020) at different development stages during the growing season. 2.23.0 Sorghum 7 0.9 0.5 7 1.5 1.5 141.21.1In Malawi, the main crops cultivated are maize, beans, cowpea, soybeans, and groundnuts. However, these crops have relatively low average yields per hectare, ranging from 0.4 to 1.5 tons.Various studies have been conducted to understand the reasons behind these low yields (Khonje et al., 2022;Manda et al., 2016). One common factor that has been identified is the low adoption of improved agricultural technologies, particularly fertilizer and improved seeds. The lack of access to and utilization of these technologies significantly affects crop yields, including cereals and legumes.Similarly, the use of improved seeds is essential for achieving higher yields.These seeds are specifically developed to better resist pests, diseases, and adverse weather conditions. They also have higher productivity potential compared to traditional seeds. However, the adoption rate of improved seeds in Malawi remains low, mainly due to farmers' limited availability, high costs, and lack of awareness. Additionally, initiatives should be taken to enhance the availability and affordability of improved seeds and create awareness about their benefits among farmers. Figure 5 shows that the average yield between farmers using inorganic and organic fertilizers for maize crops is significant (0.8 vs 1.3 tons/ha). However, farmers should ensure the use of inorganic fertilizers to have assured productivity for crops like maize and millet. Organic fertilizers have some significant effects on some crops like cotton. The decomposition of organic amendments improves soil organic matter content and, consequently the structure and fertility of the soils. However, their impact takes a longer duration to be realized.Overall, fertilizers play a crucial role in providing essential nutrients to the soil, which are necessary for the healthy growth of crops. However, due to various reasons such as limited financial resources and lack of knowledge, many Table 8 presents the results on the effect of applying fertilizers on crop yields between farmers who applied versus those who did not apply any form of fertilizer (organic or non-organic). Generally, fertilizer users produce much higher yields (1.5 tons/ha) than those without fertilizer (1.1 tons/ha). This section provides details on the assessment of the types, extent, and drivers of land degradation (LD) in farmers' plots over different environmental gradients (slope, cropping system, soil types in six districts of Malawi. Biological degradation and soil erosion by wind constituted less than 19% of all land degradation problems, with the former mainly being driven by reduction of vegetation cover, loss of habitats, decline of vegetative biomass, effects of Fires, species composition change or diversity decline, and bush encroachment (Table 9). However, biological degradation was mostly recorded in plots with flat slopes (52%).Limited degradation reported in plots with steep slopes, could be the effect of sampling bias since the survey focused exclusively on croplands mostly located in flat to gentle slopes. The direct causes of LD in the surveyed plots are presented in Table 10. LD in croplands was mainly caused by soil management practices (42% of sites) that is mainly accentuated by missing or insufficient soil conservation/runoff and erosion control measures (25%) followed, by tillage practices -ploughing/harrowing on steep or along the slope (12%) and Cultivation of highly unsuitable or vulnerable soils (5.4%). Natural causes of LD are prominent and largely caused by changes in seasonal rainfall (17%)and topography (16%). Topographical causes are related to the steepness of slope and topographical positions such as cultivation on hillsides. Over-exploitation of vegetation, especially conversion of forests to agriculture was recorded in 6.8% of plots. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"df8961ab489e8a4141db6fbbffead700","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f4f09738-ec30-4d05-b2b7-6e06124011c0/retrieve","id":"-1917654032"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d414a6fb-6891-430c-a455-bb735f23df77","content":"This report summarizes the results of discussions with 47 communities and local leaders undertaken by multidisciplinary facilitation teams in the Northern, Upper West, and Upper East Regions of Ghana. This first phase of a participatory research and extension process, involved community engagement and social mobilization supported by communities' own analysis of their existing situation.Each region is dominated by cereal and legume cropping systems with livestock also providing an important source of food and cash. Major crop production constraints include low and declining soil fertility, a lack of improved seed, problems of pests, disease, and weeds especially Striga, a lack of draft power and equipment, and the high cost of agri-inputs associated with each. These problems are compounded by erratic rainfall and drought, floods, bush burning, deforestation, and destruction of farm land though smallscale mining in some areas. At the same time local communities raised concerns about lack of crop storage facilities, postharvest pest and disease problems, and lack of knowledge about processing with little or no processing equipment, compounded by low market prices, inadequate access roads, and poor transport facilities. With regards to livestock, community-raised problems included pests and diseases, poor access to veterinary services leading to high mortality rates, compounded by a lack of improved breeds, and inadequate grazing and watering points in many areas.The major trend across the three regions is increasing maize, decreasing sorghum and millet production with generally static legume production, apart from soybean which is increasing in some areas. This is due to its low production cost and ready market providing an important income source, particularly for women. However, lack of soybean utilization knowledge and processing skills are limiting production in other areas. With regards to livestock, small ruminants and poultry production in particular are increasing in those areas where disease is not a major problem.A wide range of research and development (R&D) agencies and community-based organizations (CBOs) were identified including Government, international agencies, international, faith-based, and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and a few private sector organizations. One hundred and sixty CBOs including men's, women's, mixed gender, and youth groups were identified, some operating independently but many requiring ongoing support and capacity building.Key interventions for the way forward were identified. These include the introduction of a number of improved sustainable land and livestock management practices supported with training not only in production, utilization, and processing skills but also leadership, marketing, and communication skills to encourage farmer-to-farmer learning and extension. At the same time advocacy to promote improved policies to reduce land degradation, improve market infrastructure and build partnerships will be required. These will require community and local leadership involvement in planning appropriate interventions, trying out new ideas through farmer experimentation, and, importantly, monitoring the process through lesson learning and experience sharing.Rural livelihoods in West Africa are mainly agro-based and dependent largely on crop and livestock production, processing, and subsequent marketing. Farmers produce cereals, legumes, vegetables and fruit trees and keep livestock (Blench 2006a). However, optimal system productivity is limited by socioeconomic, biophysical, institutional, financial, and sometimes, policy constraints. Farmers' dependence on traditional methods of agricultural production without improved interventions has often resulted in environmental degradation, poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition especially among the most vulnerable. Up until recently, development in rural communities has often entailed extension agents advising or teaching farmers about \"best practices\" developed by researchers, with little community participation in their identification or development. Unfortunately this often resulted in low or zero adoption of new technologies. The Africa RISING-Ghana Project is using a research-for-development (R4D) strategy for targeting sustainable intensification of cereal/legume farming systems in the Guinea savanna area of Ghana.The Project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the \"Feed the Future\" support and is coordinated by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan. The project goal is to provide pathways out of hunger and poverty for smallholder families in the region, particularly women and children.The project uses a participatory research and extension approach (PREA) (Ellis-Jones et al. 2005 andHagmann et al. 1999), which encompasses four principle phases. The first involves community engagement and social mobilization, requiring a facilitation process for communities' own analysis of their existing situation. This is reported here. The remaining phases include community level action planning based on the opportunities identified; implementation through trying out new ideas involving farmer experimentation; and monitoring the process through sharing experiences and lesson learning. This will include an assessment of the PREA process, allowing modification for repeating in the second and subsequent years.PREA entails involving farmers in a continuous process from definition of a R&D agenda, conduct of research, evaluation of results, and promotion of findings. PREA requires facilitation of local communities in an analysis of their farming systems, identification of constraints, and the search for solutions and new opportunities. This requires the building of strong links between stakeholders, with local communities, extension agents, researchers, and the private sector working as partners, and encouraging farmer-tofarmer extension of appropriate technologies and new knowledge. The partnerships established during the PREA process can be regarded as innovation platforms, where initially R&D agents provide leadership with active participation of local communities and the private sector. In time ownership and leadership should be transferred to local communities with the R&D organizations continuing to provide back-up support services. Ongoing participation by the private sector will largely depend on commercial opportunity. Such partnerships or platforms should survive beyond the life of the project and contribute to sustainability of project achievements.The Guinea savanna area in Ghana comprises three administrative regions in the north of the country, the Upper West, the Upper East, and the Northern regions. These fall within two main agroecological zones (AEZs), the Northern Guinea and Southern Guinea savannas (Map 1), which occur across much of West Africa. The climate of both AEZs is relatively dry, with a single rainy season that begins in April and ends in October, with a mean annual rainfall that varies between 900 and 1200 mm, with lower rainfall in the north and increasing southwards. The dry season starts in November and ends in March or April with maximum temperatures occurring towards the end of March-April and minimum in December and January. Harmattan winds, which occur during the months of December to early February, have a considerable effect on the temperatures in the region, which may vary between 14 °C at night and 40 °C during the day.The prevailing climatic conditions are rainfall for half the year, with the remaining period being very dry and hot, registering practically no rains. This coupled with a generally gentle relief are conducive to alternating wetness and dryness resulting in extensive occurrence of shallow soils often overlying impenetrable ironpan or laterite. These have been classified locally as groundwater laterites typically sandy loams with gravel across some areas. These are by far the most extensive soils occurring within the savanna zones (Obeng 2000;FAO 1967). These support small land holdings of low input-output farming systems with low yields and consequent household food and nutritional insecurity. Major problems raised by farmers were declining soil fertility and declining crop yields largely due to continuous cereal cropping and deforestation. The Northern Region is characteristically savanna becoming increasingly Sudano-Sahel in the extreme Upper East and Upper West Regions as rainfall decreases. One of the characteristics of these semi-arid savannas is the unpredictability of the onset and establishment of rainfall, with droughts both between and within seasons. Increasingly erratic rains were often mentioned by farmers as a concern among the array of problems identified during the community analyses.The semi-arid climatic conditions and fragile soils of all three regions have hitherto supported sorghum and millet-based farming systems. These will need consistent amelioration to support the emerging maize-based system. There will therefore be a need to focus on interventions that will improve soil fertility and increase soil moisture availability during the greater part of the rainy season.The three regions are generally not densely populated and sometimes under cultivated with communities living in clustered settlements. The Upper West, being the driest area, has the lowest population density with the natural vegetation often being underutilized, contrasting with often serious deforestation in the Upper East and North.Individual communities have populations that range from less than 200 in the sparsely populated areas to over 4000 in more densely populated areas. There are a wide range of different ethnic groups who speak many languages (Table 1), although Hausa, Dagbanli, and Waali serve as lingua franca and act as a medium of communication. The main objectives of the community engagement and analyses were to:• Share knowledge and gain information about people's livelihoods in local communities especially in relation to crop and livestock production systems, processing, and marketing. • Identify constraints and opportunities for improving people's livelihoods.• Assess existing technology options, coping strategies, and opportunities for improvement.• Identify entry points with key stakeholders for testing selected new technology options to ensure sustainable development. • Identify community-based organizations and community leaders with whom to work in testing technology options and addressing constraints that might limit adoption.Community engagement and situation analyses were undertaken after facilitator training at a stakeholder workshop on the use of appropriate methods and tools. This was followed by a field survey over the period 9-21 May 2012, in 47 communities across 10 districts in the Northern, Upper East, and Upper West Regions (Table 2).The number of people participating in each community ranged from around 50 to over 100 individuals, often involving more women than men, with over 4000 people participating across the three regions. The discussions provided an opportunity for mobilizing and encouraging communities to undertake an analysis of their own situation, and identify and prioritize constraints and opportunities for resolving their problems.The data shared and collected in each community included:• Information on the numbers of men and women, the main ethnic groups, and natural resources of the area.• Identification and priority ranking of the crops grown and livestock kept for food and cash purposes with preferences by men, women, and youth. • Production trends of crop and livestock and the reasons for this.• Existing crop and livestock processing and marketing and preferences by men, women, and youth.• Priority ranking of problems and coping strategies for each problem.• Opportunities for the way forward.In each community, discussions were facilitated in separate groups of men, women, and youth before sharing the information in general meetings. This encouraged free discussion while allowing information to be widely shared between community members, research, and extension staff.   Table 3. Priority ranking of cereals, legumes and livestock across the three regions.Reports from communities confirmed that cropping systems are dominated by cereals and legumes, the main cereals being, maize, sorghum, rice, and millet with early and late millet being differentiated particularly in the Upper East. The relative importance of each cereal differed both between and within regions and sometimes between men, women, and youth.Maize was largely regarded as the most important crop for both food and cash except in the Upper East where early millet is preferred as a food, largely because grain becomes available while other crops are still growing (Table 3). Rice is regarded as an important cash crop in the Upper East, especially by women.The four main legumes grown are groundnut, cowpea, soybean, and bambaranut with Kersting's groundnuts and pigeon pea being grown as minor crops in the Upper West and North, respectively. Groundnut and cowpea are the most important across regions for both food and cash with cowpea being a particularly important cash crop in the Upper East. While men tend to be more involved with cereals, women play a greater role in legume production and their subsequent processing and sale.Other crops of some economic importance that contribute to livelihoods include yam, sweetpotato, cassava, tomato, onion, pepper, mango, citrus, and banana.Poultry, goats, sheep, and cattle were the most widely kept livestock species across regions with poultry being the most important for both food and cash, followed by the small ruminants, goats, and sheep. Cattle were favored by the youth especially for selling. Although pigs were kept across regions, they were more widely kept in the Upper East, where donkeys and dogs were also kept. Rabbits were noted in some communities in the Upper West.Many interrelated constraints were identified across regions, in some areas being prioritized and in others merely identified (Table 4). Most serious were low and declining soil fertility, lack of improved seed, problems of pests, disease and weeds, and the high cost of agri-inputs associated with each. Other serious problems mentioned across regions included increasingly erratic rainfall and drought both between and within seasons, poor land preparation due to lack of draft power and equipment, Striga infestation, and lack of production credit, more especially for women and youth. Other problems mentioned in the Upper East were poor extension coverage, flooding in some areas, inadequate land (this being the region with the highest population density), and destruction of crops by livestock.  With regards to processing and marketing, serious constraints included lack of crop storage facilities leading to postharvest pest and disease problems, lack of knowledge about processing, and lack of processing equipment, for instance, groundnut shellers, dryers and grinding mills, which limited opportunities for adding value. At the same time concerns were raised about lack of organized local markets, low market prices, inadequate access roads, poor transport facilities, and sometimes low demand for farm produce.With regards to livestock, poor access to veterinary services, and pest and diseases leading to high mortality rates were of major concern. These were compounded by a lack of improved breeds, inadequate grazing, watering points-all mentioned as problems limiting production.Processed foods are produced from most cereals and legumes with processing being undertaken largely during the dry season, largely by women and their daughters. Processed products are used for both domestic consumption and cash sale, providing an important supplement to family and women's incomes.Ease of processing, multiple products, and a ready market have all contributed to an increase in processing activities. However lack of processing skills, suitable equipment, and limited crop yields limit the amount of processing taking place. In the absence of local markets, middlemen from district and regional towns are often involved in purchasing sorghum and soybean products.Among the cereals, sorghum is processed into pito, a local brew in high demand with a ready market. Maize is processed into flour for food or sale as kenkey and banku, millet is used in preparing millet cakes, koko, a watery porridge and masah, a fried paste. Among legumes, groundnuts are processed into oil, paste, and cake with the oil often having to compete with other cheaper cooking oils. Soybean is processed into dawadawa with the crop gradually replacing groundnuts because of declining groundnut yields. This is despite dawadawa being the only soybean recipe known. Cowpeas remain popular and are processed into many local recipes.Processing of livestock products is not common other than for domestic consumption, local ceremonies, and rituals. Sheep and goats are processed by both households and local butchers and often used in funeral and child naming ceremonies, whilst cattle are often sold to local butchers who sell the meat directly to consumers. Men tend to be more involved in the processing of animals into kebab with women more involved when meat is smoked or fried for subsequent sale.The major trend across all regions is increasing maize production, with maize regarded as a new crop with high yield potential, especially when new varieties and inorganic fertilizers are used. At the same time increasing market opportunities for maize and maize products were reported. Consequently maize is now gaining dominance over sorghum and millet both as a cash and a food crop so the production of sorghum and millet is decreasing in most communities, reasons being the increasingly erratic rainfall, declining soil fertility, poor management practices, and Striga infestation. This also applies to rice in some communities whilst in others, rice production is increasing, particularly in the Upper West due to the availability and use of new varieties and improved management practices.Legume production trends are generally mixed, increasing in some communities due to availability of improved seed with increased drought tolerance. In other communities legume production is declining again due to erratic rainfall, declining soil fertility, pests and diseases, and unavailability of improved varieties. This was particularly so for groundnut, bambaranut, and cowpea, which are badly affected by pests. Soybean, like maize is regarded as a new crop with production increasing the reasons given that the crop is easy and low cost to produce, and doesn't require external inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides. At the same time soybean is considered a nutritious food with a ready market providing income, particularly for women. However, a lack of utilization knowledge and processing skills were reasons advanced for a decline in soybean production in some areas. Cowpea production is increasing across those areas where improved management practices are being utilized. These include use of improved varieties and appropriate pest control practices. Where seed and pest control practices are not available production is decreasing.Generally livestock production especially small ruminants (goats and sheep) and poultry is increasing particularly for ceremonial functions, paying bride price as well as providing a means of saving and source of income when required. Poultry are particularly popular and have multiple uses in rituals, spiritual uses, festivals, payment of dowry as well as being regarded as a high quality food and when sold, a quick means of obtaining cash. However some communities did report decreasing production as a result of high bird mortality especially from Newcastle disease.With regards to cattle, trends are mixed, sometimes decreasing, for instance in two northern districts cattle theft is a serious problem, while in another two districts, cattle numbers are increasing as they provide a stable source of income as well as being a store and an indicator of wealth.In parts of the Upper East, livestock production is decreasing for all categories except poultry despite incidences of Newcastle disease. High cost of food, drugs and housing, livestock theft, and inadequate grazing were the major reasons given for the decrease. Rabies incidence in dogs was also rising in some areas. However in Bawku municipal the prolificacy of small ruminants and pigs and their ability to provide ready cash was encouraging increased production. At the same time shortage of draft animals meant that use of donkeys as work animals was increasing.In the Upper West, livestock production was reported as generally increasing due to improved veterinary services, availability of pasture, and good market prices. For instance an increase in cattle and rabbits were reported in Tabiase and donkeys in Goriyiri due to improved health care. At the same time good cattle husbandry provided by the Fulani owners was resulting in increased cattle numbers. However, the decline in some communities was also reported largely due to an increase in diseases, high mortality, high incidence of theft, and poor management.Most communities do not have organized local market days, these being largely restricted to district and regional capitals. At present farm produce often has to be taken to distant markets along poor roads that attract high transport costs. At the same time poor transport links between communities affects intercommunity movement of farm produce with resulting weak market access. Consequently there is little incentive to increase productivity due to low farm produce prices received. In addition there are few buyers who visit the communities and farmers complain of exploitation by middlemen, more especially in the Upper West. Equally there are few local agro-dealers, so farmers also depend on district and regional markets for purchasing farm inputs. This results in high input costs.These constraints present serious problems for intensification and the development of profitable marketdriven, value-added agriculture. Improving links between farmers and input-output markets are a prerequisite but this requires substantial improvement in market infrastructure, processing, and marketing skills. To make this a reality requires community leaders and policymakers to promote the establishment of community markets and market infrastructure development particularly improved road access.Better input and output market links have the potential to increase crop yields substantially and result in improved farm incomes. This will also require improved access to credit. However inadequate credit access has been ranked as a high priority constraint especially by women and youth preventing farmers from paying for inputs and farm operations.If as is likely, maize emerges as the major cereal food and cash crop, increasing soybean production will provide opportunity to augment soil fertility and reduce Striga infestation, two major emerging challenges.For instance maize grown in rotation with soybean can help sustain land productivity. At the same time, oil processing and feed milling agro-industries in the larger towns can be linked to soybean producing communities for ready supplies. Both middlemen and processors can provide a ready market for farm produce provided the volumes of production are attractive to buyers.Capacity strengthening for community members, especially women in soybean value addition will improve its utilization, household nutrition, and income as well as encouraging further production. However at present a lack of knowledge and skills for soybean processing and low prices are major factors limiting its production.Typical coping strategies for the increasing spread of Striga included intercropping of cereals with legumes, use of crop rotations, use of fertilizer, and hand weeding. It was however of concern that Striga still remained a serious problem. Other coping strategies included farmer sharing of knowledge, where extension coverage was considered inadequate; community education to overcome problems of mining and bush burning; avoiding the use of areas prone to flooding in the rainy season; and using such areas for dry season cultivation, although clearly these coping strategies were often not overcoming the problem.With regards to postharvest problems and lack of storage facilities, triple bagging (PICS bags) had been introduced in some communities, but lack of organized local markets meant that produce had to be taken to distant markets at high cost and is often sold at low prices.Government, NGOs, and other R&D organizations are present in many communities especially near district and regional capitals, with both individual households and CBOs benefiting from the livelihood support services provided. A wide range of R&D agencies were identified by the communities, including Government, international agencies, international, faith-based and local NGOs, a few private sector organizations as well as ongoing projects. While some worked across the three regions, others had specific community focuses.A wide variety of support and development services have and are being provided ranging from technology dissemination, provision of agro-inputs on credit usually for repayment in kind, improved water supplies, education, health, to household support. Although support may have been received, in many cases communities were often unaware of agency names, referring to them by either the kind of support provided or names of project staff. Opportunity was indentified for greater coordination of many projects and programs linking stakeholders and promoting partnerships between the different organizations.Some 160 CBOs were identified in the communities, 48 in Northern Region, 79 in the Upper East, and 33 in the Upper West (Table 6).These included men's, women's, mixed gender, and youth groups, many being formed as a result of support from NGOs. Some of the identified CBOs had formed very recently, some being less than a year old while others had been in existence for over 15 years. Often those in existence for some time have been registered and are now operating independently operating with their own bank accounts. However many, often those more recently formed, remain less formal and unregistered. It was noted that any intervention will need to provide capacity building not only in technical skills, but also in leadership, communication, financial, and marketing skills.  Sustainable agriculture requires natural resource conservation balanced with meeting the needs of improved food and nutritional security, poverty alleviation, and increased household incomes. This in turn requires a focus on system integration, agrodiversity, ecological friendliness, equity, humaneness, adaptation, economic viability, and social justice.There is indication that competition for use of natural resources is increasing as demonstrated by an increase in incidences of shocks including floods, drought, bush burning, and activities of the small miners that destroy the top soils and charcoal gatherers that increase the rate of deforestation. This is especially the case in the Northern and Upper West regions where charcoal gatherers pose a serious threat to the environment. Land degradation is most acute in the Upper East region where population density is highest and the vegetation and soils have been depleted by frequent bush burning and continuous cultivation.Hence improved land management will be essential for sustaining agricultural productivity in the fragile ecosystem of the Upper East and the human endangered ecology in the Upper West and Northern regions.The ongoing decline in soil fertility and increase in Striga infestation across all regions is an indication of increasing continuous cultivation, probably as a result of increasing population and shortage of land. The fact that shortage of grazing land was mentioned as major reason for the decline in production of cattle and donkeys is a clear indication of land shortage.Increasing farmer demand for fertilizers is also a clear indication that much of the cultivated land has been depleted of its natural fertility. Observations across regions however indicate that there is large expanse of land in the Northern and Upper West regions, which are still fallow with high levels of natural fertility. Blench (2006b) aptly described this zone as being under populated and under cultivated. This expanse of land will be readily available for food production as competition for community lands become more acute and crop yields continue to decline in the areas that are presently habited and becoming progressively marginal.Some communities have other resources providing opportunity for utilization. These include low lying areas and inland valleys that can be utilized for rice production and irrigation farming; burrow pits or dug outs for fish production and animal watering points; and inaccessible land and grazing areas that could be effectively used in improved cereal-legume rotations with close crop-livestock interaction.The promotion of improved crop management practices, notably the use of improved varieties and fertilizer with increased income from maize, are likely to be major catalysts for an ongoing increase in maize production. Already farmers realize higher yields and income from maize than from sorghum or millet, although the latter two are still considered important for food security as they produce adequate yields in poor soils and under low moisture regimes. However, the shift to maize will change the farming system and could adversely influence food security in the region. It would therefore be desirable to promote the production of extra-early and early maturing maize varieties along with legumes. Since production of groundnut, cowpea, and soybean is increasing in many areas, opportunity is provided to promote increased cereal-legume integration improving both crop productivity and agrodiversity.Since livestock production of poultry, sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle is also increasing for both food and cash, the opportunity is also provided for increased crop-livestock integration, involving the use of manure for crop production and use of crop residues for livestock feed. At the same time encouraging the use of cattle and donkeys for animal traction can help to resolve constraints in land preparation. System integration of crops and livestock can be either in-situ or ex-situ. In-situ integration involves the same farmer producing both crops and livestock and ensures flow of resources between enterprises, while ex-situ is where crops and livestock are produced by different farmers, but with resources exchanged between their respective crop or livestock enterprises. For instance, lease of land by crop farmers to Fulani herders immediately after harvest for grazing of crop residues is a good example of ex-situ integration. This provides feed to Fulani cattle, while soil fertility is increased by the animal droppings.The R4D strategy and PREA processes being used in this project utilize a four phase-approach, the first of which, community engagement and social mobilization, facilitating the communities own analysis of their situation preparing has now been completed. The remaining phases include community level action planning; implementation through trying out new ideas based on researcher and farmer experimentation; and monitoring the process through lesson learning and sharing experiences. If R&D activities are to be owned by the community, two key pre-conditions need to be in place, real motivation and enthusiasm by the community, and effective community organizations which can support the development process and take it forward. This requires committed involvement by CBOs in selecting their own representatives for participation in R&D activities. At the same time development partners including local communities and their leaders, research and development organizations, and the private sector need to ensure a coordinated action plan to which they all agree, implement, and monitor.The way forward needs therefore to consider a series of interrelated activities including local community and partner capacity building that includes not only production and marketing interventions but also leadership and communication training and policy advocacy. These include:• Promoting sustainable land management practices to reverse land degradation and sustain system productivity. • Sourcing improved soil management and crop varieties that are early or extra early maturing, Striga and/or drought tolerant and disease/pest resistant from research institutes for on farm-testing after validating on-station in mother trials. • Testing farmers' coping strategies along with other best practices in on-farm testing to generate solutions to the constraints and opportunities identified. This will involve CBOs and their selected representatives in on-farm research. • Promoting community-based seed production to improve seeds availability at affordable cost for local farmers, through CBO identified seed producers. • Linking community seed producers to private seed companies to enhance availability of improved seeds across all regions of Ghana. • Promoting cereal-legume integration through rotation and intercropping to improve system productivity.• Promoting crop-livestock interaction for system integration and bio-resource flow.• Conducting training on improved crop management practices, pesticide use, and Striga control for participating CBOs and farmers. Such training will include leadership, communication, and encourage farmer-to-farmer learning.• Sourcing improved breeds of poultry, sheep, and goats from research institutes for multiplication and upgrading of local breeds. • Promoting poultry, sheep, and goat multiplication and share schemes especially among women and youths to improve their economic base. • Conducting training on soybean utilization and processing especially for women groups.• Linking CBOs and farmers to input-output markets, especially for soybean and maize.• Conducting training for farmer groups on processing and marketing skills.• Collecting and sharing market information, especially on prices, among farmer groups."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4841d77101e907001c93702e99976ffe","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a6616f26-7df9-4614-9c03-9a537ad0724a/retrieve","id":"760849951"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c58b52f1-0ff9-4b81-993b-a8381e49e07c","content":"in 1975, provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition. IFPRI's strategic research aims to foster a climate-resilient and sustainable food supply; promote healthy diets and nutrition for all; build inclusive and efficient markets, trade systems, and food industries; transform agricultural and rural economies; and strengthen institutions and governance. Gender is integrated in all the Institute's work. Partnerships, communications, capacity strengthening, and data and knowledge management are essential components to translate IFPRI's research from action to impact. The Institute's regional and country programs play a critical role in responding to demand for food policy research and in delivering holistic support for country-led development. IFPRI collaborates with partners around the world.The role of market concentration and potential market power exertion in the agri-food industry is a topic of longstanding interest and concern to policymakers, stakeholders, and researchers. This study provides a comprehensive overview of recent trends in market concentration upstream, midstream, and downstream the agri-food industry at the global, regional, and country level, and assesses how and to what extent concentration could be affecting market conduct and performance of food systems in developed and developing countries. The analysis similarly discusses, to the extent detectable, implications of concentration, including vertical and horizontal integration that favor concentration, for food security and nutrition and environmental sustainability. While market concentration in the agri-food industry has increased across most segments, the evidence on market power exertion is inconclusive. Several knowledge and data gaps are identified, and additional research is necessary to derive more generalized conclusions and policy recommendations. Market concentration in the agri-food industry (from agricultural inputs through the retail sector) has generally increased over the past years. The upstream segment of the agri-food chain is composed of highly concentrated industries, including fertilizers, agrochemicals, and seeds, which show trends of consolidation (i.e., reduction in the number of firms in a market) with important global market players. Several upstream firms have consolidated (benefitting from economies of scale, i.e., saving in unit costs by producing in larger scale) and have presence in multiple countries with subsidiary firms. Some of them further operate their exports through common trading companies, which contribute to concentration in the distribution channel. Markets midstream the chain, particularly food manufacturing and processing industries (that are more developed and consolidated in high income countries while scarce in low income ones), generally show moderate to high levels of concentration that have either increased or remained stable in recent years. The few midstream industries that show low levels of concentration include grain mill and processed meat products, although it is not a general pattern across all major producing countries in each region. For instance, Australia and the US show relatively high levels of vii concentration for grain mill products that include breakfast cereals, while Australia and Brazil do the same for processed meats. Downstream, grocery retailers and especially supermarkets, show relatively high concentration levels both in developed and less developed regions, where indicators in the latter can also be moderate to high (or even higher than in developed regions) as is the case of South Africa, Brazil, or Mexico. Similarly, large multinational firms have presence across different regions and exhibit growth and consolidation through acquisitions of local firms. Grain commodity trade is also highly concentrated. There are relatively few companies (trader firms) purchasing bulk agricultural commodities for international trade. Important data gaps remain across industries and regions, which combined with data aggregation challenges (including defining the relevant market in terms of geographical scale and product definition), limit a comprehensive picture of market concentration in agri-food systems and constitute an invitation for devoting more efforts on data access, compilation, and processing. Market concentration may originate from multiple factors. Over the past years, mergers and acquisitions combined with the transformation of agri-food chains (including the supermarket revolution) have particularly favored market concentration or consolidation in input agribusiness, food processing, and retailing companies. A typical concern in the industry is that high levels of concentration of market shares among a few large sellers (buyers) may result in market power exertion, imbalance in bargaining power, or tacit collusion that could affect the efficiency of food systems. Yet, the relationship between concentration and market power exertion is complex and the evidence supporting market power abuse is not necessarily obvious and may be context specific. Concentration alone is not sufficient to exert market power or to effectively coordinate strategies among few large market players as this also depends on other market characteristics and contextual factors. viii  Deriving conclusive evidence regarding market power exertion in concentrated markets is thus both theoretically and empirically challenging considering the multiple factors at play that may vary by context and the lack of wide-ranging and detailed data. Studies focusing on midstream and downstream markets in developed economies, for which more data is available, do not find strong evidence of market power exertion, especially buyer power from food processing firms. In developing countries, the literature is scarcer but shows the importance of contextual elements such as remoteness, financial liquidity constraints, credibility, and reputation issues in conferring considerable market power; high transaction costs (e.g., search, storage, contracting costs) can also sharply limit competition as well as local trade frictions (e.g., transportation and other related costs that create price gaps across areas) and lack of appropriate processing facilities. In these contexts, intermediaries can capture large economic rents in detriment of consumers and farmers. The emerging experimental evidence in developing countries is, in turn, mixed, although it is not generalizable as it has largely focused on establishing the relevance of a specific market mechanism or characteristic in the value chain under study. Upstream, high levels of concentration in fertilizer and seed markets, combined with elevated levels of multimarket contact in those industries (where big multinational firms compete with the same rivals in multiple markets) are a matter of concern, including recent record high fertilizer prices (in a context where supply disruptions and export restrictions or bans to one of the few major worldwide producers can provoke immediate impacts on global fertilizer availability and accessibility). As more disaggregated data can be accessed or compiled (including detailed transaction data), new approaches are being developed to better understand the complex relationship between market concentration, conduct, and performance. More research is similarly needed to assess the impact of unfair trading practices (UTPs) along the agri-food chain (not only on farmers), while efficiency and rent distributional implications of some practices are not fully clear. In developing countries, the implications of the transformation of food value chains (including favoring concentration) on market performance could also be studied relying on advanced ix empirical industrial organization methods (widely used in developed economies), as more data, including scanner data, become available. In rural areas, the association between participation in modern commercialization channels, especially supermarket channels that have increased vertical integration and coordination favoring concentration along the chain, and access to better diets among small farmers in lower income countries appears to be positive, but the literature is still relatively limited to derive more generalized conclusions. The evidence is generally more conclusive on the positive contribution of participation in value chains of supermarkets on rural smallholders' income, consumption expenditure, labor market insertion, and agricultural productivity. In urban areas, the relationship between supermarkets' presence and consumer health and nutrition remains poorly understood. In both developed and developing countries, the evidence is not yet robust enough to be conclusive regarding the positive or negative effect of supermarkets on consumer nutritional status. Part of this ambiguity could be explained by varying driving forces that influence urban consumer food choices, including market competition that has not been encompassed in previous analyses of the linkages between supermarkets and dietary patterns, probably due to the lack of detailed data. The literature on the links between market concentration and environmental sustainability can be studied from different perspectives as vertical and horizontal integrations that favor concentration may occur both upstream and downstream the food value chain, which can result in varying competitive practices and environmental consequences. Yet, the current evidence is highly context specific as it pertains to specific market segments, supply chains, or regions. In the seeds sector, for example, the evidence is mixed. Similarly, the literature on food loss and waste (FLW) points out that food waste could be a symptom of structural problems that relate to power imbalances and lack of incentives to minimize food waste.x  There is an important research gap that could be fulfilled by studying potential environmental effects across different value chains and market segments that are important for the food industry, as well as on the efficient use of resources such as water, land, and energy. The scarce literature in developing countries is also evident where the lack of concentration (or vertical integration) could alternatively be a cause of food waste as smallholder farmers typically do not have the incentives or means to adopt food loss preventive practices, while downstream coordination problems with small-scale operating agents, whose additional lack of sufficient storage, transportation, and processing capacities, could contribute to food losses. While increasing levels of concentration through horizontal and vertical integrations can be associated with higher efficiencies (especially through economies of scale and better coordination), they could also result in anticompetitive behavior in the absence of these efficiencies and other offsetting factors (such as technological efficiencies or pro-competitive gains). Still, the occurrence of mark-up pricing, unfair trading practices, collusion, crowding out of small-scale businesses, lower access to healthy diets, less innovation, and more (or less) food waste may be context-specific and influenced by factors other than concentration. As pointed out above, several key data and research gaps remain, to better understand these relationships and derive more generalized conclusions. It is important to invest in stronger national and multinational competition authorities and encourage more coordination among them to facilitate the convergence and effective enforcement of antitrust laws at the local, regional, and global level, and ensure that regulations and other policies do not accidentally create barriers to entry, restrain competition, or restrict trade between countries. Yet, it is equally important to keep in mind that guaranteeing competition among agri-food markets will not solve poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition, and environmental issues, such that other, more targeted policies are additionally needed.xi  There is also an important need to expand capabilities of competition authorities to perform more in-depth market studies in specific industries or sectors along the agri-food value chain and encourage the disclosure of more detailed (and frequent) data. With the wide use of new technologies of information, the development of easily accessible virtual platforms (whether through local, regional, or global initiatives) that report relevant market data, promote business (trade) opportunities and access to new markets, or even permit to submit complaints about potential regulatory violations or unfair trading practices, could contribute to increase market transparency and efficiency across different agri-food industries.Market structure, defined as the number and type of sellers (buyers) in a market and the nature and level of competition between them, plays a key role in the functioning of agricultural and food markets and can have important implications for prices, product quality and innovation, contractual arrangements along the supply chain, income generation, and welfare distribution. Of particular interest and concern to policymakers, stakeholders, and academics is the role of market concentration and potential market power exertion in agri-food supply systems (IPES-Food, 2017;MacDonald, 2017;Saitone and Sexton, 2017;Sheldon, 2017;Bonanno et al., 2018;Swinnen, 2020;Deconinck, 2021). A typical concern is that high levels of concentration of market shares among a few large sellers (buyers) may result in market power abuse, imbalance in bargaining power, and/or tacit collusion that could affect the efficiency of food systems where these large actors capture most of the rents and alter welfare distribution, especially against poor smallholder producers (and consumers). This raises additional concerns about the implications of market concentration for food security and nutrition and overall environmental sustainability.However, the relationship between concentration and market power exertion is complex and the evidence supporting market power abuse is not necessarily obvious and may be context specific (Dillon and Dambro, 2017;Lloyd, 2017;Sheldon, 2017;Sheldon, 2018;Swinnen, 2020;Deconinck, 2021). In particular, market concentration may originate from multiple factors. These factors include natural barriers to entry resulting from reduced market size or limited availability of resources and high up-front required investments (e.g., agricultural input markets); natural growth and changing trends among traders, processors, and retailers towards horizontal and vertical integration (e.g., mergers and acquisitions, the \"supermarket revolution\", contract farming) allowing them to capture larger shares of a market or favoring market consolidation (i.e., a reduction in the number of firms involved in a market); overall changes in consumer demand favoring product differentiation and monopolistic competition (i.e., many sellers competing against each other but offering differentiated products by branding or quality); and policies and regulations (or deregulations) that could restrict market entry or favor concentration among a few major players along the supply and distribution channels of agricultural and food value chains (e.g., market deregulation in Asia in the 1980s and 1990s that promoted the entry of foreign large companies and reduced space for small local players).In the case of input agribusiness, food processing, and retailing companies, market concentration or consolidation has occurred through natural growth as well as through mergers and acquisitions (Dobson et al., 2003;Swinnen, 2020;Deconinck, 2019Deconinck, , 2020)). On this matter, Barrett et al. (2019Barrett et al. ( , 2021) ) describe how the transformation of agri-food value chains in low-and middle-income countries occurs from traditional to modern markets and how this relates to concentration. The authors identify three stages of transition: a first stage characterized by traditional spot markets, which are typically competitive with many agents competing on price, volume, and observable quality terms; an intermediate stage with increased inter-firm competition both upstream (commodity procurement) and downstream (retailing), increasing firm pressure to reduce costs and coordinate with suppliers to provide feedstocks and differentiated products that are more highly valued in the target market (Swinnen, 2020); and a modern stage with re-concentration downstream, particularly in the more capital-intensive segments, among a shrinking number of large firms that have become ever more important in the value chain (Swinnen and Vandeplas, 2010). Besides natural barriers to entry, re-concentration can similarly emerge upstream if intellectual property rights confer market power as in the global seed industry today (OECD, 2018a;Deconinck, 2020).While mergers and acquisitions combined with the transformation of agri-food chains over the past years have favored concentration in the industry, it is also important to keep in mind that concentration per se is not inevitably bad and documenting and deriving conclusive theoretical and empirical evidence regarding market power exertion is challenging due to multiple factors at play and lack of wide-ranging and detailed data (beyond prices). Although market concentration (or consolidation) may facilitate coordination between fewer market players (Fraas and Greer, 1977;Baker and Farrell, 2019), concentration alone is not sufficient for firms to be able to exert market power or to effectively coordinate strategies with other actors, or for them to (tacitly) collude as this also depends on other market characteristics and factors, including the type and nature of competition.This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of the role of market concentration in the agrifood industry. The study reviews the available evidence on market structure (concentration), conduct (behavior), and performance (efficiency and rent distribution) across different segments of the agri-food supply chain and identifies key aspects of agri-food chains that should be considered when examining market concentration and market power relationships. After first documenting global and regional concentration patterns at different segments of the chain, the analysis then focuses on assessing whether market concentration translates into different manifestations of market power, considering the nature of competition between market actors and using concrete examples available in the literature. The discussion on market conduct focuses on an examination whether and how concentration (i) translates into lower buyer prices (i.e., buyer power) or higher seller prices (i.e., seller power), (ii) limits product quality and/or innovation, (iii) promotes unfair trading practices or contracts, or (iv) results in coordination strategies among powerful actors or tacit collusion. The discussion on performance, in turn, focuses on potential impacts of concentration on price margins (markups), profits, and rent allocation. Evidence on the implications for food security and nutrition, including access to healthy diets, and environmental sustainability, including food loss and waste, are also discussed.Figure 1.1 depicts the segments of the agri-food industry considered for this study. Upstream, these comprise key agricultural input markets (e.g., fertilizers, agrochemicals, seeds), which are highly concentrated global markets that seem to be in a consolidation path; midstream, agricultural production (farming), storage, distribution, and processing that traditionally have shown low to medium levels of concentration, except for food processing and manufacturing where concentration is increasing; and wholesale, retail, and food services downstream that generally exhibit medium to low concentrations, with the exception of retailing (especially supermarket retailing) where concentration is higher and increasing.Two standard measures of market concentration are (i) the four-firm concentration ratio (CR4), which is the sum of the market shares of the four largest firms competing in a market, and (ii) the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI), which is the sum of the squared of the market share of each firm operating in a market. 1 To facilitate comparison of concentration patterns across different segments of the agri-food chain and across regions (countries), we focus on concentration ratios, as more data is available allowing to calculate these ratios. In the same vein, we treat these measures as indicators of market structures or the level of concentration in a market, but not necessarily as indicators of the degree of competition or certain market power that requires a more detailed analysis, as extensively discussed in the paper.Overall, the study aims to inform the Food System Economics Commission on recent trends in market concentration in the agri-food industry and on how and to what extent concentration could be affecting market conduct and performance of food systems, as well as implications for food security and nutrition and environmental sustainability. On this basis, the study provides recommendations for the research and policy agenda and signals knowledge and data gaps to be addressed through further analyses.The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents an overview of market concentration across different segments of the agri-food industry based on the most recent available data. Section 3 reviews the existing empirical evidence regarding how and the extent to which market concentration could affect conduct and performance in agri-food systems, while Section 4 discusses the implications of concentration for food security and nutrition and environmental sustainability. Section 5 provides concluding remarks and recommendations moving forward.This section presents an overview of market concentration across the agri-food industry.Concentration measures and recent trends are separately described upstream, midstream, and downstream the chain at the global, regional, or country level depending on data availability. Most of the analysis is based on concentration ratios, especially the widely used four-firm concentration ratio (CR4) that is equivalent to the market share of four largest firms in any given market, but measures of the Herfindahl-Hirschman index (HHI), which is the sum of the squared market shares of all firms operating in a market, are also presented when available.As noted earlier, the measures described in this section should be treated only as indicators of the degree of concentration in a market. 2 They do not necessarily represent indicators of market power, although the level and variations of these indicators, combined with the number of competitors in a specific market, are employed by competition authorities and economists to assess competitive conditions (Kwoka, 2016;Nocke and Whinston, 2022). In the case of the CR4, a market may no longer be considered competitive when four firms have more than 40% of the market share (Shepherd and Shepherd, 2004;Howard, 2016). In the case of the HHI, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Horizontal Merger Guidelines (2010) classify industries as un-concentrated for HHI less than 1,500, moderately concentrated for HHI between 1,500 and 2,500, and highly concentrated for HHI above 2,500. Typically, industries that are classified as unconcentrated are not subject to DOJ scrutiny, while mergers that would increase the HHI by 100 points or more among moderately concentrated industries can raise competition concerns and are often evaluated; increases by 200 or more among highly concentrated industries are, in turn, presumed to be likely to enhance market power. The European Commission also has horizontal merger guidelines that adopt similar thresholds based on the HHI level and change (Nocke and Whinston, 2022).It is worth to mention that when applied to studying market competition, the use of indicators for the degree of concentration should always be accompanied by the definition of the relevant market, which varies depending on the industry considered. 3 As pointed by Crespi and MacDonald (2022), easily available or published measures of market concentration often fail to fully capture economic markets and should be taken as a starting point. Even with disaggregated data, industries may not necessarily correspond to relevant economic markets, either because of too narrow or too broad definitions. In the context of agri-food markets, characteristics like the perishability of some products, the difficulty to transport livestock or the local nature of food retail and grocery stores, difficult defining the geographic scope of a market and is important to be aware of these limitations when analyzing published concentration data.The production of fertilizer, as well as other agricultural inputs discussed below, is highly concentrated among a few countries. This is mainly explained by its intense requirements of specific raw materials and the provision of natural gas that are not available worldwide, as well as by economies of scale in production, which generate cost efficiencies for firms (i.e., lower their per-unit costs of production). Several of the major producers are also high-income countries with high trade volumes and comparative advantage in commercialization at the global level.Using data from International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) for 2008-2009, Hernández and Torero (2011, 2013) show that most of the global production capacity for the main fertilizers (ammonia, urea, ammonium nitrate, monoammonium phosphate, MAP; diammonium phosphate, DAP; and phosphoric acid, potash, and nitrogen-phosphate-potassium, NPK, compounds) is concentrated in few countries. Except for ammonium nitrate, the top five countries control more than 50% of the world's production capacity for all these fertilizer products. In the case of potash, Canada and Russia alone are responsible for more than half of the production capacity, while in the case of for ammonia, urea, DAP/MAP, and phosphoric acid, China, India, Russia, and the US are among the countries that dominate their production capacity. 4 Hernández andTorero (2011, 2013) also show a high level of concentration among producers within each main producing country (except for China), which is in part explained by the large upfront investments required that result in economies of scale in production (Kim et al., 2002). In most cases, the top four firms control more than half of each country's production capacity.Concentration of potash production at the country level is the most extreme case: in four of the five main potash-producing countries, the CR4 index is 100%. For DAP/MAP and NPK, four of the five main producing countries exhibit a CR4 over 60%, while for urea three countries show a CR4 over 50%.Market research data compiled from Euromonitor International (hereafter Euromonitor) permit to depict more recent concentration trends in the fertilizer industry. Using information on company shares for annual production turnover of fertilizers and nitrogen compounds at current prices (in US dollars applying year-over-year exchange rates), market concentration indicators based on country shares in the global market can be calculated by simply adding company shares within each country. 5 According to these calculations, a global CR4 index of 56% is obtained for 2012 (compared to 43% in 1997) with China being the main producer (38%), followed by Russia (6%), India (6%), and Brazil (6%). The global level of concentration peaked in 2015 to 65% and has returned to 56% in 2021 where China (40%), Russia (6%), India (6%), and Brazil (4%) remain as the main producers. Hence, these high levels of concentration at the global level have maintained over the past years with the consolidation of China as the main producer.At the country level, the CR4 indexes among the top four producing countries have similarly either maintained or slightly increased between 2012 and 2021. As shown in Figure 2.1, in India and Russia the CR4 index is above 40%, while in Brazil and China it increased from 24.5% and 11.5% to 27.6% and 14%, respectively. The same companies also remain among the top producers in each country and in the same ranking; the only exception is Yunnan Yuntianhua Co Ltd in China that was not among the top four producers in 2012 and became the most important producer in 2021 with a 4.2% of the total volume of sales.Overall, the fertilizer industry is in a consolidation path with major companies holding important market shares, such as Yara International (Norway) and The Mosaic Company (US) and the recent merger of PotashCorp with Agrium (Canada), combined with a growing importance of manufacturers in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in China and India. Given the capitalintensive nature of the fertilizer industry, several firms have consolidated to benefit from economies of scale and the size of dominant firms inhibit the entry of smaller companies (IPES-Food, 2017). Several companies also have presence in multiple countries, including subsidiary firms in developing countries, due to cost reductions in gathering or producing inputs (e.g., mining) or for strategical reasons to locate near demand (e.g., Yara International and The Mosaic Company). Similarly, as noted by Fuglie et al. (2011), some of them operate their exports through common trading companies (e.g., Canpotex for PotashCorp, Agrium, and The Mosaic Company and Belarus Potash Company for Uralkali in Russia and Belaruskali in Belarus) that contributes to concentration in the distribution channel and could favor market power exertion.The agrochemical industry also exhibits an important level of concentration. Using firm-level sales data for crop protection chemicals, Fuglie et al. (2011) notes that the global CR4 index in this industry increased from almost 29% in 1994 to 53% in 2009, which, according to this study, is comparable to the trends shown by other agricultural input industries that invest heavily in agricultural research (i.e., seeds, animal health, farm machinery). IPES-Food (2017) further points that the agrochemical industry has been the most recognizable example of consolidation in the agri-food system in recent years, with some of the largest deals in mergers and acquisitions history (both within this industry and expanding to the seed sector), which have additionally renewed a public debate on its implications. Based on 2014 data from the Action Group on Erosion, Technology, and Concentration (ETC), the report remarks that the world's largest agrochemical corporations at that time, Syngenta (Switzerland), Bayer (Germany), BASF (Germany), DuPont (USA), Monsanto (USA), and Dow (USA), known as the 'Big Six', are linked to the proprietary seed industry, and controlled both 75% of the global pesticides market and 60% of the global seed market. 6   Similar to fertilizers, market information provided by Euromonitor for the production of pesticides and other agrochemical products permits to compute market concentration measures at the global and country level and visualize more recent trends. 7 Compared to a global CR4 index of 52% in 1997 with the US being the main producer (27%) followed by Japan (9%), France (8%), and China (8%), in 2012 the concentration ratio increased to 64% with a substantial growth from China that concentrated 31% of the global production, followed by the US (16%), Brazil (10%), and Germany (7%). The level of concentration then peaked in 2015 with a global CR4 of 68% and has remained at 63% in 2021 where China (34%), US (14%), Brazil (8%), and Germany (7%) continue to be main producers.Within each of the four top producing countries, however, the level of concentration has followed different patterns. Figure 2.2 shows that the CR4 index in China basically doubled between 2012 and 2021 (from 18% to 35.8%), where Wuhai He Ye Chemical Engineering Co Ltd has continued to consolidate its position as the major market player. In the US and Germany, in contrast, the 6 Seeds became logical and complementary acquisitions for pharmaceutical and chemical corporations investing in biotechnology. Multinational firms -including Bayer and BASF -continue to support crosssector research in pharmaceutical (human and livestock), chemical and agrochemical applications, while others have been divesting their agricultural units. For example, Pharmacia spun-off Monsanto and AstraZeneca and Novartis spun-off their agricultural unit, Syngenta (IPES-Food, 2017). These interactions with crop protection chemicals are also noted by OECD (2018a) and Deconinck (2020), indicating that seeds and crop protection chemicals can be complements (as with herbicide-tolerance traits and herbicides) or substitutes (as with insect-resistance traits and insecticides), which can have different implications for firms' strategies (Just and Hueth, 1993). Thus, mergers are an effective way of internalizing positive spillovers from investing in complementary products and can facilitate coordination of R&D (Deconinck, 2020). The relative importance of these complementary and substitution effects is therefore essential in order to evaluate the welfare effect of a merger (OECD, 2018a). 7 Pesticides and other agrochemical reported comprise insecticides and herbicides, plant growth regulators and disinfectants (anti-sprouting products), and fungicides and rodenticides. While the data reported by Euromonitor cannot be disaggregated by each specific sector, it is worth noting that the off-patent herbicide sector has significantly grown over the past years, particularly in developing countries (see also Haggblade et al., 2017). concentration ratio decreased but still remain over 40%, while in Brazil it has remained around 9-10%.Similar to other agricultural input industries, the seed industry is highly concentrated. Fuglie et al. (2011)  A more recent study on seed market concentration by the OECD (2018a) provides a comprehensive coverage for different seeds disaggregated at the country level. The estimates are based on the overall seed market value, including both commercial and farm-saved seeds (that are more common in developing countries), using data from Kleffmann amis® AgriGlobe® database that covers 65% of the global market value in maize (32 countries), 86% in soybeans (7 countries), 62% in rapeseed (17 countries), and 75% in sunflower (11 countries). Other crops considered, although with a minor coverage, include sugar beet with 43% of the global market value (4 countries), cotton with 35% (3 countries), wheat and barley with 23% (15 countries), and potato with 4% (2 countries).In the case of maize, the CR4 index is above 60% in 30 of the 32 countries covered and above 40% in the other two countries, while the HHI is above 1,500 in 27 of them; if the indicators are based on volume instead of value, CR4 is over 60% in 28 countries and HHI is above 1,500 in 24 countries. For soybeans, the CR4 index is 42% in Ukraine while in the other six countries is above 60% in terms of both value and volume; the HHI is similarly over 1,500 in six of them, while in four countries is above 2,500. For rapeseed, CR4 is above 60% in terms of value in 16 of the 17 countries and above 40% in the remaining country, while the HHI is over 1,500 in 12 countries; in terms of volume, CR4 is above 60% in 12 countries and the HHI above 1,500 in ten countries.Lastly, for sunflower the CR4 index is above 60% across all countries in terms of value and only one country (Russia) has a CR4 below 60% in terms of volume (58%); the HHI in this market exhibits values over 2,500 across most countries.The OECD (2018a) study also mentions that shares based on volume could be a more representative estimate of market concentration at the global level than shares based on sale values, such as Fuglie et al. (2011) andIPES-Food (2017), because sale shares assign a greater weight to markets with higher seed prices. It is thus difficult to derive a precise estimate of global market concentration as data, when available, varies across countries and market segments that prevent aggregation. In the same vein, Bonny (2014Bonny ( , 2017) ) argues that value estimates in the seed industry tend to vary across different sources and methods, sales of small and medium-sized firms are often underestimated, and farm saved seeds are not necessarily always included in the estimations; as a result, concentration measures based on under-estimates of total market size could overstate the degree of market concentration. Deconinck (2020) provides additional elements regarding potential shortcomings of global concentration calculations. The author remarks that GMO seeds have much higher unit prices such that these markets could be over-weighted in global estimations (and thereby Monsanto's market share); similarly, a large portion of global seed markets is barely commercialized (e.g., Sub-Saharan Africa, India) and seeds are very context-specific (unlike, for instance, pesticides), so local instead of global market shares can offer more useful statistics. Bryant et al. (2016) also analyzes the level of concentration for maize, soybean, and cotton seed markets in the US using 2014 and 2015 corporate level data from multiple data sources. 10 Their estimates reveal a very high level of concentration across all three seed markets. The CR4 index is 83% for maize where Monsanto alone has a 35.5% share and DuPont Pioneer another 34.5%. In soybeans, the CR4 is 76.2% where DuPont Pioneer and Monsanto have shares of 33% and 28%, respectively; while in cotton (upland) the CR4 is 91.4% where Bayer has a market share of 38.5% followed by Monsanto with a 31.2% share. These estimates, however, reflect the situation before the merger of Bayer and Monsanto, which also required these companies to divest certain businesses to get the merger approved. Deconinck (2020), using various data sources, elaborate market shares in US upland cotton seed for the period 1970-2017, and notes that publicly available data for this crop makes it possible to track in detail the evolution of market shares over time; 11 based on the author compilation, the CR4 of upland cotton seed in the US has been over 90% since 2000.Despite the widespread use of market concentration statistics across several industries, reliable data midstream the agri-food chain is relatively scarce, including food manufacturing and processing. For the US, for example, nation-wide concentration ratios for food manufacturing industries are available from Economic Census data that are compiled every five years (Deconinck, 2021). Using these data, Saitone and Sexton (2017) show that, out of the 37 food manufacturing industries covered by the data in 2012, 29 were unconcentrated (HHI below 1,500); five were moderately concentrated (HHI between 1,500 and 2,500); and three (specialty canning, flavoring syrup and concentrate manufacturing, and other snack food manufacturing) were highly concentrated (HHI above 2,500). This trend is confirmed with the latest US Census data, reported in Crespi and MacDonald (2022), showing that out of 35 food processing industries with available data, only five report HHI values over 1,500 where breakfast cereal manufacturing is the most concentrated industry (2,210). 12 Yet, Saitone and Sexton (2017) point out that these nation-wide estimates using North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes to identify 11 The data sources include OECD (2018a), US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, \"Cotton Varieties Planted\" various years , and Fernandez-Cornejo (2004). 12 Nevertheless, Crespi and MacDonald (2022) similarly present CR4 indicators for 42 food processing industries using the US Census data and show that 23 report a CR4 above 40% and 11 above 60%; some of these industries include: other snack food manufacturing; animal (except poultry) slaughtering; specialty canning; soybean and other oilseed processing; cane sugar manufacturing; and breakfast cereal manufacturing.industries, are not very relevant for analyzing potential buyer power in agricultural markets, an argument also acknowledged by Crespi and MacDonald (2022). As farm products are often bulky and perishable, the relevant procurement markets are local or regional. The same applies for final consumer products. Detailed information at these more disaggregated scales is generally not available. Crespi and MacDonald (2022) conclude that with this evidence, changes in recent years have been industry-specific, and that the analysis of concentration remains a data-intensive and industry-specific proposition. Deconinck (2021), in turn, provides estimates of market concentration in the US livestock slaughter for the period 1980-2015, based on various statistical reports from the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA-USDA, 2016), and shows an increase in concentration in recent decades. In particular, the share of steers and heifers slaughtered by the four largest firms increased from less than 40% in 1980 to 85% in the last decade; for cows and bulls, from around 10% to close to 60%; and for hogs, from one-third to around two-thirds. These increasing concentration ratios have additionally raised competition concerns among the US Department of Agriculture and Department of Justice as hog and cattle producers repeatedly mentioned concentration and centralization of meatpacking as an issue (US Department of Justice, 2012). While allegations of anti-competitive conduct by meatpackers have continued, Deconinck (2021) points to empirical research showing that producers may be better off because of lower costs and innovations introduced (Wohlgenant, 2013) or even suggesting that the markets have become more competitive since the 1980s (Ji et al., 2017). As noted earlier, this discussion is connected to the fact that market structure (concentration) itself is not necessarily a good predictor of competitive conditions. This matter is further discussed in the next section.Estimates for food manufacturing in the European Union are available from the European Commission (2014) study on the economic impact of modern retail. Data for 14 member states in 2012 across 23 product categories, show that baby food, frozen ready-cooked meals, and cereals and coffee exhibit the highest concentration levels, while ham, bread, and cheese exhibit the lowest levels. When averaging across the 23 product categories in each country, the supplier concentration varies from a HHI less than 1,400 in Germany to over 2,800 in Denmark, with a median of 2,100.In addition, average concentration increased between 2004 and 2012 across most countries. 13   Comparable data for other regions and countries are generally difficult to find, although for some countries or industries detailed studies exist. In Mexico, Deconinck (2021) refers to a 2015 study by the Federal Economic Competition Commission (COFECE) that reports estimates of concentration levels at various stages of the agri-food chain using economic census data. The study shows that concentration appears to vary considerably by product category as in the US and Europe. For instance, the estimated HHI is less than 1,500 for sugar cane, vegetable oils and fats, cookies and pastries, among others; moderately concentrated markets include beer, prepared foods other than frozen foods, and condiments and dressings; and highly concentrated markets includes snacks, breakfast cereals, and industrial baking. The report similarly stresses that HHI estimates based on census data may underestimate true market concentration in some markets.In sum, publicly available estimates of market concentration midstream the food chain should be analyzed with caution as they may not capture the relevant market. This is further emphasized by Deconinck (2021) who indicates that this not only applies in terms of geographical scale (i.e., procurement markets for agricultural products will rarely parallel with national or regional market definitions used in Census data) but also for product definitions, because product categories used for concentration estimates in food manufacturing are not always the relevant ones from the farmers' perspective.Market data from Euromonitor also permit to depict recent concentration trends for selected product categories in food manufacturing and processing that include dairy, grain milled products, and meat and meat products. 14 Annual company shares are available from 2012 through 2021 for several countries based on production data (at manufacturer selling price). For illustrative purposes, the most important market (i.e., country with the largest production) is selected in each region and product category. Except for Brazil and Russia, the concentration ratios are above or close to 50% and have generally remained rather stable or increased over time. China shows an 8.5-percentage points (pp) increase (from 46.9% in 2012 to 55.4% in 2021), followed by South Africa with a 7pp increase (from 53% to 60%), Australia with a 5pp increase (from 58.3% to 63.3%), and Saudi Arabia with a 2.9pp increase (from 51.5% to 54.4%). In Germany the ratio has remained rather stable at 49-50% while in the US it decreased from 58.3% to 53.6%.Figure 2.4 depicts the evolution of the CR4 index for grain milled products. For this product category, only Australia and the US exhibit important levels of concentration. In the case of Australia, the CR4 maintained around 74-75% between 2012 and 2021 while for the US it increased from 50.9% to 56.5%. For the remaining countries (Turkey, Brazil, Russia, and China), the concentration levels are below 20% and have remained rather stable over the last decade.Finally, Figure 2.5 presents CR4 trends for meat and meat products. Australia also exhibits in this case the highest level of concentration, although it decreased from 67.6% in 2012 to 57.3% in 2021, followed by Brazil with a relatively stable CR4 of 43-44%. The other countries show concentration ratios below 30% that have generally maintained steady over time, except for Saudi Arabia that increased from 20.6% to 27.8%. In the US and Germany, CR4 indexes situate at 27.8% and 23.6%, respectively, in 2021, while China barely has a concentration ratio of 10.7% and Russia of 4.6%.Downstream the agri-food chain, most of the available information focuses on the retail sector in the US and EU, where particularly food retailing was a largely fragmented sector until the 1980s (Dobson et al., 2003). In the UK, for example, the leading five firms controlled only 8-9% of national retail goods sales in 1961 and 14.4% by 1982 (Swinnen and Vandeplas, 2010). The real consolidation wave of the retail sector in the US and EU largely took place in the 1990's (Swinnen, 2020). In the US, the combined market share of the four largest grocery retailers increased from 14% in 1984to 22% in 1994and 55 % in 2001(Swinnen and Vandeplas, 2010). Einarsson (2007) similarly reports that by 2004 in the Nordic countries the market share of the largest three retailers in the grocery market was already 79.6% in Finland, 81% in Iceland, 82% in Norway, and 91.2% in Denmark and Sweden.More recent estimations confirm that the high level of concentration in the retail sector generally persists, which has also been a matter of concern (especially in the US and Europe). Using US Census data up to 2013, Saitone and Sexton (2017) show that the four leading grocery retailers have a combined share of close to 40% of the national market (compared to less than 20% in 1992).In several large US cities, CR4 indexes are even 60% or higher, pointing to larger concentrations at the local level. A similar trend is observed in small nonmetropolitan and rural areas, as reported by Crespi and MacDonald (2022) using data from US counties that show an increase in food retail concentration between 1990 and 2015. 15 In Europe, the European Commission ( 2014) study on the retail sector notes that the market share of the largest five food retailers reached over 80% in the 2000s. By 2012, the HHI varied from less than 1,200 in Italy to more than 3,900 in Finland, with a median of around 2,000. Yet, in contrast with concentration among food manufacturers, average retail concentration saw a decline between 2004 and 2012 in 16 of the 26 member states for which data are available, due to growth of retailers who had a small market share in 2004 or were not even present (such as discounters), but in the other ten member states retail concentration increased (European Commission, 2014).An up-to-date study of the retail sector in the US, performed by the Economic Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture (ERS-USDA, 2021a), remarks that the total food sales of supermarkets, other grocery (except convenience) stores, warehouse clubs, and supercenters reached 653 US billion dollars in 2019, and the concentration of sales among the largest retailers has been on an upward trend after the 2007-2009 recession. More specifically, the share of food sales by the top four retailers have been continuously growing from 31% in 2012 to 34% in 2019.A contributing factor to this rising trend over the past decade has been the steady growth of Walmart Supercenters, making Walmart the largest US retailer of grocery products, followed by Kroger, Albertson's, and Target. In addition, Kroger, the largest traditional retailer, has been a major player in mergers and acquisitions activities, acquiring important retailers such as Harris Teeter and Roundy's over the past decade, while Albertsons' acquired Safeway (another important retailer) in 2015. 16 Overall, more than 300 food industry mergers and acquisitions were recorded in 2019 in the US.Available data for grocery retailers and supermarkets in Euromonitor also allows to show concentration trends between 2012 and 2021 for selected countries across the world. 17 The estimates are based in this case on annual company shares using sales data (at retailer selling price).Similar to the midstream figures, the country with the largest grocery store or supermarket sales is selected in each region.For grocery retailers, Figure 2.6 shows important (over 40%) and somewhat increasing concentration levels among several countries. As in food manufacturing and processing, Australia reports the largest CR4 in grocery retail (from 74.4% in 2012 to 78.6% in 2021), followed by South Africa (from 47.2% to 54.3%), France (around 50%), the US (around 40%), and Russia that reached 40.2% in 2021 (exhibiting a 23.8pp increase relative to 2012). Of the remaining countries, the CR4 increased from 32.5% to 35.8% in Mexico and from 14.1% to 19% in Saudi Arabia, while in China the concentration ratio remained at 3%.For supermarkets, there are even higher levels of concentration that in several cases have further increased over time, depicting the consolidation of this sector. As shown in Figure 2.7, In 16 Another important recent acquisition was that of Whole Foods by Amazon in 2017, although the overall market structure of the retail sector was not largely affected as Amazon was not a major player in the industry (ERS-USDA, 2021a). 17 Grocery retailers comprise retailers selling predominantly food/beverages/tobacco and other everyday groceries; these include hypermarkets, supermarkets, discounters, convenience stores, independent small grocers, chained forecourt retailers, independent forecourt retailers, food/drink/tobacco specialists, and other grocery retailers. Supermarkets comprise retail outlets selling groceries within a selling space of 400-2,500 square meters; excludes discounters, convenience stores, and independent grocery stores.Germany, Australia, and South Africa, the CR4 index reached 96%, 89.6%, and 81.5%, respectively, in 2021 reflecting increases of 4-7pp from 2012. In the US and Saudi Arabia, CR4 levels reached around 40% in 2021, compared to 31% in 2012, while in Brazil the concentration ratio has remained relatively stable at 40-41%. Russia also shows an important increase from 12.1% to 22.8%, whereas in China the level of concentration is barely 3%.The food service industry is another large and growing sector downstream the agri-food chain. In the US, for instance, this industry was larger than food retailing until 2019 (prior to the pandemic).According to ERS-USDA (2021b), full-service and fast-food restaurants, the two largest segments of the commercial food service market in the US, account for about 74% percent of all food service outlets in 2020. Food service companies are major customers of wholesalers that distribute specifically to this industry and do not necessarily compete with food retailers for customers.Instead, food service distributors offer value-added services designed to meet the needs of singlestore restaurants and small chains. Two firms, Sysco and US Foods (formerly U.S. Foodservice), dominate this broadline distribution in the US with over 70% of the market (AMS-USDA, 2022); in 2015, Sysco's planned merger with US Foods was dropped after being blocked based on antitrust grounds.Globally, the fast-food industry is a highly fragmented market composed of a few large and many small competitors. The market was worth 972.74 billion US dollars in 2021 and is projected to increase to 1,467.04 billion US dollars by 2028 due to a growing number and variety of quick service restaurants in developing and developed countries, increasing tourism, expanding millennial population base, and dual-working households, and despite increasing awareness of health issues related to fast food consumption (Fortune Business Insights, 2022). 18 The US alone has close to one third of the global fast-food market share, while the burger and sandwich segment dominates the world market (explaining almost 36% of the market share) due to the presence of burger chains in most countries, followed by the pizza and pasta segment. According to an industry report by T4 (2021), the leading fast-food chain in the market is McDonald's with 21.4% of total revenues in 2018, followed by Starbucks with 7.5%, and KFC and Subway with 2.8% each.The high concentration in the international distribution and commercialization of grains also deserves some discussion. There are relatively few companies (trader firms) purchasing bulk agricultural commodities for international trade. The four major corporations that produce, process, transport, finance, and trade food and agricultural commodities (known as the ABCD): ADM -Archer Daniels Midland (USA), Bunge (USA), Cargill (USA), and Louis Dreyfus Commodities (France), are estimated to account for up to 90% of global grain trade (Murphy et al., 2012). A more recent estimate of the combined 2016 revenues of ABCD traders plus the two big emerging firms from Asia, COFCO Group (China) and Wilmar International Ltd. (Singapore), is 365 billion US dollars, a figure that far exceeds the combined global markets for seeds, agrochemicals, farm equipment, and fertilizers, according to IPES-Food (2017). 19 Hence, agricultural (grain) commodity trade is highly concentrated, while much data remain proprietary and companies continue to globalize and diversify their activities.All in all, the upstream segment of the agri-food chain is composed of highly concentrated industries, including fertilizers, agrochemicals, and seeds, that appear to be in a consolidation path with important global market players. Markets in the midstream of food supply chains, particularly food processing, as well as those further downstream, especially supermarket retailing, similarly show moderate to high levels of concentration (and consolidation in some cases) that have either increased or remained stable in recent years across several countries in different regions. The international distribution and commercialization of grain also shows high levels of concentration. 20   In the next section, we extensively discuss the implications of concentration on market conduct and performance in the agri-food industry, considering that this high and/or increasing concentration has been a matter of recurrent concern, particularly in the US and Europe, over the past years.Despite the estimates and trends presented above, it is worth noting that important data gaps remain across industries and regions that prevent a more comprehensive picture of market structure in agri-food systems. IPES-Food (2017) point out difficulties in accessing detailed firm and market data, which constitute a major obstacle in examining concentration of power in the agri-food industry. The study further remarks that the available analyses are typically geographically incomplete. There is, for example, a disproportionate presence of US and UK companies on global markets and emerging technologies but limited disaggregated data to understand their domestic and global roles. 21 Lack of detailed data (including historic data) also limits understanding of the growing influence of leading companies from the Global South (e.g., China, India, Brazil). In the same vein, Fernandez-Cornejo and Just (2007) and Mammana (2014) indicate general difficulties in obtaining market share data at a disaggregated level (when examining the seed industry). These data shortcomings, combined with the issues outlined above regarding data aggregation challenges or complications, including the use of different variables for analysis (e.g., shares based on volume versus sales) or defining the relevant markets across segments in the agri-food chain, are certainly an invitation for devoting more efforts on data access, compilation, and processing.It is fair to indicate, however, that competition authorities do not necessarily have difficulties in obtaining disaggregated market data. In many jurisdictions, these institutions can conduct market analysis on their own initiative, and in some cases even compelling testimony. Following a roundtable discussion on market studies held in 2008, the OECD and the UK launched a project in 2014-2015 to provide support to competition authorities from several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in their use of market studies as a competition tool, and in developing a legal framework. 22 Furthermore, with the release of the Market Studies Guide to Competition Authorities (OECD, 2018b) and the exchange of experiences between competition authorities, the topic has continued to trigger interest in recent years. Additional to regular functions held by the authorities, the goal of these market assessments is to verify if competition is working efficiently and identify measures to address issues detected. These measures comprise recommendations such as proposals for regulatory reform or improving information dissemination, and they can also include the opening of antitrust investigations.Inferring a causal relationship between market structure (concentration), firm conduct, and performance is generally a difficult empirical task. Since the pioneer work of Demsetz (1973), which was later articulated as an empirical problem by Bresnahan (1989), economists have advanced from \"structure-conduct-performance\" studies in favor of alternative approaches, considering the necessity to correctly address problems of endogeneity, simultaneity, and causality between modeled market equilibrium outcomes (O'Brien, 2017;Berry et al., 2019;and Miller et al., 2022, provide a recent discussion). 23 Despite methodological challenges and data limitations, there is a general agreement that while increasing levels of concentration, including mergers, can be associated with higher efficiencies (through, e.g., economies of scale), they could also result in anticompetitive behavior in the absence of these efficiencies and other offsetting factors (e.g., technological efficiencies or pro-competitive gains), 24 whether through unilateral or coordinated actions (effects) (Hovenkamp and Shapiro, 2018;Nocke and Whinston, 2022).In this section, we present key aspects and findings from the up-to-date literature that examine the effects of concentration on conduct and performance across markets upstream, midstream, and downstream the agri-food chain. Special attention is paid to potential market power exertion reflected in traditional conduct outcomes such as price or quality; 25 in coordination strategies among powerful actors (or tacit collusion); in the prevalence of unfair trading practices (UTPs), which is an issue of increasing concern especially in Europe; 26 and in performance indicators such as price margins (i.e., markups or differences between sales and purchase price) and profits. Kim et al. (2002) analyze trade-offs between market power and cost efficiency in the US nitrogen fertilizer industry, using data from 1976 to 2000. The industry is characterized as a price-leadership model for oligopolistic competition (i.e., where there is a dominant firm among the few firms in the market) and the analysis shows that market power costs outweigh (by 55%) the benefits in terms of manufacturing cost efficiency associated with economies of size from increased concentration. The authors note that strong market power effects have implications for the stability of both the nitrogen fertilizer supply and farmers' revenues, as production is lower and the price paid by farmers is higher than if the market operated under perfectly competitive conditions. In their view, long-term contracts by fertilizer producers do not necessarily lead to a stable supply at a relatively low price; as natural gas price rises, which is the most important production cost, nitrogen fertilizer producers may be better off by selling their contracted natural gas rather than producing fertilizers, putting supply at risk. Hernández and Torero (2013) examine the fertilizer industry at the global level and assess the relationship between market concentration and prices. The authors note that despite the fertilizer industry is already highly concentrated, in further concentrated markets prices are even higher, which could limit fertilizer access to many smallholder farmers. Using annual data on urea prices and market shares for a panel of 38 countries for 1970-2002, the authors perform some simulations to show the potential positive effects of increasing global and regional competition in the industry on agriculture in low-income countries, which are highly dependent on imported fertilizer. For instance, a 10% increase in competition could increase fertilizer use by 13% to 19% and rural incomes by 1% to 2% in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa. Considering that local fertilizer distribution channels in developing countries are similarly characterized by a small number of traders, Hernández and Torero (2018) supplement earlier results discussing partial correlations between market concentration and price margins in Kenya. Using data collected in 2016 through interviews with wholesalers and retailers in major market centers across Kenya's Central and Western regions, the authors find a positive correlation between local market concentration and wholesale and retail price margins for different fertilizer products (CAN, DAP, NPK, and urea). 27   As more data become available, the authors encourage a closer look at the fertilizer industry and the relationship between concentration and prices in order to obtain a better understanding of competitive behavior along global, regional, and local supply and distribution channels that can help prevent potential market power exertion.Likewise, the global fertilizer market has been showing unique record high prices over past major events. During the food price crisis of 2007-2008, the price spikes in the fertilizer industry were much higher compared to commodity prices in energy and agricultural markets (Hernández and Torero, 2013). In 2021-2022, fertilizer prices have spiked again and more than tripled in real terms since the start of the pandemic (while grains less than doubled) due to surging input costs, supply disruptions, export restrictions and sanctions, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This has upped concerns about fertilizer availability and accessibility, which heavily depend on a few major producers worldwide (see above), and, hence, the impact fertilizer shortage may have on global food security (Glauber and Laborde, 2022;Hebebrand and Laborde, 2022). Baffes and Koh (2022) expect fertilizer prices to remain high for some time to come. These exceptional price hikes, combined with past industry reports from Green Markets indicating record profits by leading fertilizer producers (with joint total revenues of over US$50 billion per year), 28 invite for a more in-depth assessment of fertilizer firm behavior.A study from the OECD (2018a) provides a comprehensive assessment of the effects of market concentration on prices and innovation in the seed industry based on disaggregated cross-country data for various crops, including cotton, maize, potato, rapeseed, soybeans, sugar beet, sunflower, and wheat and barley. 29 The statistical analysis using various specifications do not find clear evidence of a positive association between market concentration and seed prices, after controlling for crop-specific and country-specific effects on prices. According to this study, apparent structural differences in price levels between countries could be explained by quality differences and the presence of public plant breeders in some markets, besides varying market concentration levels.In the case of innovation, while there is a positive association between market size and innovation in plant breeding (number of new market entries), 30 the role of market concentration is less clear: the partial correlations are all imprecisely estimated and vary across specifications.The study similarly reports a considerable degree of multimarket contact (i.e., overlap between the same group of players in different markets), which is worth paying special attention; 31 a high degree of overlap between the same firms across different markets could increase the likelihood of (tacit) collusion between firms as well as reduce the contestability of markets by diminishing the likelihood of entry by outsider firms (Bernheim and Whinston, 1990;Fernandez and Marin, 1998). 32 The data and analysis presented by OECD (2018a) covers mostly developed countries and some emerging economies, so for most developing and least developed countries, information 29 Data availability for prices comprises several EU Member States and a selection of countries from North and South America (United States, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina), Oceania-Asia (Australia, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia) and Africa (South Africa). In innovation, the analysis is focused on the EU. 30 Marketing of seeds in the EU requires the variety to be registered in the national list of one Member State. 31 The degree of multimarket contact seems to be higher, for example, for maize, rapeseed, and sunflower seed but lower for wheat and barley. Unfortunately, limitations on their dataset made it difficult to assess the impact of multimarket contact on seed prices, as the dataset does not have full coverage across crops and countries. The authors further note that any empirical measure of whether firms have contact across different markets would tend to understate the true level of multimarket contact. 32 The study also remarks that in the context of the seed industry, multimarket contact can occur across several dimensions: firms in the seed industry can compete in agrochemicals (or even in non-agricultural products); firms competing in one geography may also face each other as competitors in other geographies; firms competing in the seed market for one crop may also compete in the seed market for other crops.regarding market concentration or the potential impact of recent mergers in the seed industry on market outcomes is scarce. Bryant et al. (2016) perform model-based simulations of mergers in the seed industries for maize, soybeans, and cotton in the US. While their method has some limitations (as discussed in OECD, 2018a), 33 the findings suggests that price increases tend to be greater in markets where the combined market share of the merging firms is higher, which points to a positive correlation between concentration and prices. The results further indicate that firms with smaller initial market shares are more likely to raise prices the most after merging.Çakır and Nolan ( 2015) developed a theoretical model with both an input and complementary input sector upstream and an output sector downstream that can help to better understand the implications for producer and consumer welfare of market power exertion upstream the agri-food chain. 34 The authors compare market power exerted in the complementary input versus downstream sector and find that market power exercised by the supplier of the complementary input generates greater negative welfare effects than the same level of market power exercised by downstream firms. The intuition for the result comes from the differences between the information available to downstream firms and suppliers of complementary inputs or complementors. As downstream firms can exert oligopolistic power by using their knowledge of demand for the composite commodity and/or oligopsony power by using their knowledge of supply for the primary input, complementors can exert oligopolistic power by using their knowledge of derived demand, which comprises information on both demand for the composite commodity and supply for the primary input. Compared to the welfare distribution under perfect competition, the oligopolistic power exercised by complementors generates greater welfare losses to consumers and producers than welfare losses stemming from an equivalent degree of oligopoly or oligopsony 33 Some caveats in the analysis include the high level of aggregation (the US as a single market) and assumptions that only the merging firms will increase their prices or that other factors (e.g., product choice or innovation) remain unchanged. 34 The model focuses on a primary input sector, which consists of numerous suppliers (upstream firms), and allows for exertion of market power in a concentrated complementary input sector (complementors) as well as in the downstream sector (downstream firms producing a composite commodity using the two inputs). The model setting is an oligopoly/oligopsony for a homogeneous good in an imperfectly competitive market assuming Cournot (quantity) competition with symmetric firms. market power from downstream firms. 35 Their results are discussed in the context of the Canadian grain-handling and transportation system, showing that benefits from regulation in that sector could potentially accrue to downstream firms more than to upstream suppliers for whom the regulation intended to achieve competitive outcomes.McCorriston (2014) summarized the literature in the context of the 2013 OECD Roundtable on Competition Issues in the Food Chain Industry (OECD, 2014), and concluded that \"[e]mpirical evidence on the existence of buyer power is generally lacking.\"A more recent compilation by Perekhozhuk et al. (2017) includes 38 studies on buyer and/or seller power in agricultural product markets, and only find modest deviations from competition in most of their conduct parameter estimates; the relatively low magnitude of supply elasticity estimates (i.e., implying that a demand reduction has a large impact on farm prices) explains why several studies tend to find large price effects, but only modest levels of market power. 36 The reviews by Sheldon (2017Sheldon ( , 2018) ) also conclude that there is little robust empirical evidence of food processing firms exerting buyer power. Similarly, Sexton and Xia (2018) point out that empirical studies \"have tended to find only mild departures from perfect competition\". Nonetheless, they argue that today's market characteristics are not consistent with standard economic model assumptions and \"likely cause market power to be less than would be predicted based on the highly concentrated structures of many modern agricultural and food markets.\" In a review of competition issues in agri-food value chains, Swinnen (2020) notes that there is \"mixed\" evidence of a systematic problem of buyer power at the expense of farmers. Deconinck (2021) reviews 42 relevant empirical studies regarding buyer power affecting farmers (16 of them not considered in earlier works by 35 Or equivalently, for the same degree of market power, the welfare consequences from complementors' oligopoly power are the same as those due to the downstream firms' combined oligopoly and oligopsony market power. 36 In the studies reviewed by Perekhozhuk et al. (2017), buyer power is exerted by restricting purchases to farmers in order to lower prices. The estimated price effect is thus a combination of the overall level of demand reduction and the impact the reduced demand has on farm prices (captured by the elasticity of farm supply). If farm supply is highly inelastic (i.e., the supply is not much affected by the price at which farmers are able to sell their product), even a small demand reduction could result in large price effects, as appears to be the case in the studies reviewed. Perekhozhuk et al. (2017), Sheldon (2017Sheldon ( , 2018)), and Sexton and Xia (2018)) and only finds evidence of economically significant levels of market power and/or price distortions in some of them, as in the Greece food supply chain (Kaditi, 2012). 37   As Perekhozhuk et al. (2017) and Sexton and Xia (2018) highlight, the different methods to estimate price markups are based on different assumptions such that the resulting estimates can also differ significantly. Koppenberg and Hirsch (2021) note that if these assumptions are potentially inaccurate, estimates for market power and the resulting predicted welfare effects can be biased and recommendations for policy makers may be inaccurate. Sexton and Xia (2018) consider that the most promising methods to obtain reliable market power estimates avoid either estimation of conjectural elasticities and market conduct parameters or avoid estimating cost parameters.There are also several studies estimating (asymmetric) price transmission across the chain and its relationship with market power. 38 In an edited volume on price transmission in agri-food markets, McCorriston (2015) concludes that the evidence regarding asymmetric price transmission is mixed and varies between sectors and periods, and there is no strong evidence of its association with buyer concentration. For example, in an empirical analysis of the Germany dairy sector, Holm et al. (2012) find substantial asymmetric price transmission, but the authors do not find a correlation with the strength of a brand (a proxy for market power), while the impact on profits is limited. A similar mixed conclusion is reached in the price transmission studies reviewed by Swinnen and Vandeplas (2015), but their conceptual framework is additionally helpful to understand that an important shortcoming in the price transmission literature is the assumption that factor markets 37 Kaditi (2012) finds that buyer power is exerted to some extent by all firms in the supply chain in Greece, including the (relatively large) agricultural firms in her sample based on data from nearly 3,000 companies between 1998 and 2007. Her estimates show that food processing firms reduce prices by around 14%, while the corresponding wholesalers' and retailers' estimates are 27% and 42%, respectively. 38 Broadly, this literature tests if price transmission depends on whether prices go up or down, and the hypothesis is that concentrated businesses in segments of the value chain can take advantage of differential effects (i.e., asymmetric pass through of prices) to extract rent. Deconinck (2021) discusses that at least when it comes to deriving conclusions on market structure, a limitation of this literature is the lack of a price transmission and market power link in theory. The review of price transmission research in the food chain (both empirical and theoretical) performed by Lloyd (2017) concluded that \"[t]heoretical analysis highlights the fact that, without careful consideration of the range of factors involved, little can be inferred about market power from the low (or high) value of the price transmission coefficient alone\". work well and that contracts are enforced, and vertical coordination and search and monitoring costs are often ignored. The authors argue that these factors are widespread and are not only present in less developed regions, but also in many sectors in modern agri-food value chains where search costs can be significant. In the same vein, the authors stress that vertical constraints and supply chains that require contract-specific and critical investments by buyers rule out the traditional assumption that weaker price transmission is associated with lower supplier welfare, such that the belief that powerful intermediaries in the supply chain are capturing rents is no longer applicable.As pointed out by Deconinck (2021) and more recently by Crespi and MacDonald (2022), the US meatpacking industry has received special attention over the past decade with an important number of studies examining the effects of concentration on market outcomes, including studies commissioned by the government, due to persistent anti-competitive allegations concerning important players in the industry. 39 Yet, a review of this literature concludes that concentration in procurement of livestock (cattle or hogs) has not adversely affected prices received by producers or prices paid by consumers. There is evidence that producers may be actually better off because of lower processing costs due to concentration and introduction of technical innovations (Wohlgenant, 2013). A more recent work by Ji et al. (2017) is consistent with these findings, and further suggests that markets have become more competitive since the 1980s (despite higher levels of concentration). In the same industry in Canada, an empirical analysis by Rude et al. (2011) shows that market conditions did not deviate from competitive conditions between 1992 and 2001, in line with earlier studies which similarly did not find evidence of market power as long as 39 Over the past months, the US meatpacking market has regained political attention. On July 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order (EO) 14036, \"Promoting Competition in the American Economy\", and in the ensuing months, federal agencies have begun to implement several initiatives to address competition issues across the economy, including a more competitive meat and poultry supply chain. On January 2022, the US Department of Justice and US Department of Agriculture issued \"Shared Principles and Commitments to Protect Against Unfair and Anticompetitive Practices\", including a statement that commits to jointly develop a centralized, accessible process for farmers, ranchers, and other producers and growers to submit complaints about potential violations of the antitrust laws and the Packers and Stockyards Act; and to vigorously enforce the laws that protects them from unfair, deceptive, discriminatory, and anticompetitive practices (available at: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-and-agriculturedepartment-issue-shared-principles-and-commitments-protect). On March 2022, the US Department of Agriculture announced a supplemental funding to promote competition and create more markets for local and regional food producers by expanding and strengthening opportunities to sell to institutions, e.g., universities, hospitals (available at: https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2022/03/01/usdaannounces-supplemental-american-rescue-plan-funding-available).Canadian producers had the option of shipping live cattle to the United States; however, they did find evidence of buyer power during the temporary ban on Canadian live cattle imports into the US in May 2003 (after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Canada).In a wide-ranging study that covers several elements relevant for the analysis of agri-food value chains in low-and middle-income countries, Barrett et al. (2021) point out that most studies on market power in agri-food value chains have focused on developed economies. The study includes a review of the empirical literature for developing countries' agri-food distribution markets, and remark that the degree to which perfect competition or market power prevails has been one of the longstanding preoccupations. Within very localized areas, competition typically prevails, although remoteness, financial liquidity constraints, and associated credibility and reputation issues can confer considerable market power in niches that require significant capital or are characterized by non-trivial economies of scale or scope, especially long-haul, large-scale trading (Dillon and Dambro, 2017;Casaburi and Macchiavello, 2019;Bergquist and Dinerstein, 2020;Casaburi andReed, 2017, 2022). Aspects like high search, storage and contracting costs can sharply limit competition over longer distances and across seasons, limiting spatial and inter-seasonal competition (Barrett, 1997;Moser et al., 2009). In these contexts, intermediaries can take large surpluses in detriment of consumers and farmers. Barrett et al. (2021) emphasize that across different countries and periods, food marketing intermediaries are typically distrusted as predatory agents rather than celebrated for facilitating welfare-enhancing transactions, while the low quality of infrastructure and long distances in many markets can indeed foster market power. 40   Another important dimension of potential market power abuse studied in the agri-food industry are UTPs and their impact on farmers, although the evidence is mainly anecdotal and, in most cases, outdated (Falkowski, 2017). UTPs are various types of practices that can be linked with abuse of market power and can be classified into four categories: i) the retroactive misuse of unspecified, ambiguous, or incomplete contract terms; (ii) the excessive and unpredictable transfer of costs or risks of a trading partner to its counterparty; (iii) the misuse of confidential information; and (iv) the unfair termination or disruption of a commercial relationship (Swinnen, 2020). In most surveys to farmers reviewed by Di Marcantonio et al. (2018), the majority of respondents have 40 Intermediaries, however, may also bear large operating costs. experienced one or more UTP, but as Sexton (2017) remarks the surveys generally collect the view of one party of the transaction, which difficult assessing the problem from a more comprehensive perspective. Deconinck (2021) adds to this problem that the definition of UTP can vary across countries, and not all UTPs are equally common or severe. For example, nearly all (98%) dairy farmers from France, Germany, Poland and Spain surveyed in Di Marcantonio et al. (2018) reported at least one UTP; 41 by comparison, the share of respondents reporting experiencing UTPs during or after contract execution is considerably lower. 42 To further inquire in this finding, estimations using the aforementioned survey of dairy farmers, presented in the work by Di Marcantonio et al. (2020), show that contract completeness increases the likelihood of farmers reporting that their contracts with processors include practices that may be considered as UTPs and, in contrast, contract completeness does not seem to affect UTPs during the contract execution or its termination. According to the authors, these results support the hypothesis that surplus extraction is generally done through the inclusion of specific contract terms, while given the signed contract, UTPs are much less likely during contract execution and its finalization.Deconinck (2021) also notes that in surveys regarding the prevalence of UTPs, the rates obtained in EU countries are relatively high. In addition, the author remarks that several in-depth studies of competition authorities have found instances of UTPs in agri-food sectors across numerous European countries (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Slovenia, and Sweden), as well as in the wine grape sector in Australia. The study discusses a recent proposal to improve knowledge on UTPs, based in Russo (2020), that combines a broad-scope empirical analysis across sectors within each country (e.g., with a general survey) and more in-depth studies for specific sectors (e.g., using expert panels to design sector-specific surveys), including interviews and economic analysis to achieve a more efficient monitoring system for UTPs. More information can further help to better understand the actual impact of UTPs on consumers and 41 Specifically, almost 90% of farmers reported that the contract does not define any safeguard for the farmer if the buyer fails to fulfil the contract, while close to 20% of farmers reported that the price is set unilaterally by the buyer in the contract. Deconinck (2021), however, remarks that having an incomplete contract could not be considered itself an UTP, and the same applies for the price being unilaterally set by the buyer (Sexton, 2017). 42 For example, only 2.7% of farmers reported that the buyer unilaterally changed the price; 1.2% reported a unilateral change in required quality; and 1.5% reported a unilateral change in required quantity. These figures are remarkably low in a sector where UTPs were thought to be common. suppliers and disentangle if some practices described as unfair, may in fact have an ambiguous economic effect. For instance, no consensus exists in the literature regarding how efficiency and income distribution are affected by certain forms of market power conduct, such as \"reverse margin\" practices (Falkowski, 2017). 43   Swinnen (2020) similarly discusses the evidence regarding the effects that requirements of standards can have on welfare, as a way dominant firms could gain additional market power. The author exemplifies this situation noting that suppliers are often confronted with a limited number of buyers willing (or able) to reward high standards because these (and the associated quality premiums) are, for example, company-specific (Henson, 2006;Smith, 2009). Thus, effects on efficiency attributed to solve asymmetric information problems can be offset by market power gains and implementation costs of the standard or label (Bonroy and Constantatos, 2015), such that conclusions regarding aggregate effects are mixed. Swinnen (2020) add that most studies do not focus on the distribution of welfare between producers and consumers but rather on total welfare. Only a few explore the effect of labels on the distribution of surplus, such as Bonnet and Bouamra-Mechemache (2016) that consider the effect of an organic label on the share of surplus created along the value chain between manufacturers and retailers with an explicit discussion of bargaining power.Certain modern commercial relationships (e.g., contract farming or participation in supermarket channels) tend to enhance market concentration and vertical integration of the agri-food chain.Research of such relationships in developing countries has led to recommendations that public policy should be supporting the establishment and maintenance of this type of contractual arrangements, especially when involving small-scale farmers. Such recommendations stem from the evidence provided by those studies that inclusion and participation in contractual arrangements, even in regions with different agro-ecological conditions, crops, characteristics of buyers' firms and contracting practices, tends to (i) increase households income (Reardon et al., 2009;Miyata et 43 \"Reverse margin\" practices are contractual clauses which require a supplier to pay a fee to the buyer, for example, in exchange for services offered by the buyer such as promotional activities. Deconinck (2021) recall that both theoretically and empirically it is less clear whether such practices negatively affect efficiency. If a stronger party can negotiate a more advantageous price, it is unclear why it would resort to additional contract terms to extract more surplus if doing so has a negative effect on efficiency. al., 2009;Bellemare, 2012), (ii) improves productivity and efficiency (Rao et al., 2009), and/or (iii) increases the portfolio of suppliers' assets (Michelson, 2013). This stream of research also emphasizes the importance of providing technical advice (extension services) and access to inputs (e.g., seeds, agrochemicals), and contextual elements such as the availability of infrastructure, proximity to markets, involvement of NGOs or donor-funded projects in the development of supply chains, or the fact that in developing countries the retail sector is still developing (Michelson, 2013).Yet, while the spread of supermarkets and retail companies generally have a positive impact on participating smallholder farmers in developing regions, Barrett et al. (2012) note that only a small fraction of smallholders manage to access modern commercialization and dynamic markets while many other remain in the semi-subsistence system. Ebata and Hernández (2017) stress that commercialization by small-scale agricultural producers is often hindered by high transaction costs related to coordination failures between agents (whether private and/or public) and to regulatory requirements. In addition, many small-scale producers in developing countries lack appropriate managerial capacity and lack access to adequate production technology and infrastructure, preventing them from effectively accessing markets and commercialization.In the case of Sub-Saharan Africa, Bjornlund et al. (2020) further point the importance of improving governance structures and market integration for a transition from low-producing, unprofitable agriculture to modern, efficient, and profitable systems. The authors similarly recognize the role of history in preventing the development of agro-processing and manufacturing industries (with African colonies having been used to source raw products for export to colonial powers where processing would occur thus favoring concentration of manufacturing and processing activities among a smaller number of countries) as well as geopolitical, financial, and trade issues that constrain African countries from introducing policies to adopt modern technologies and increase agricultural productivity.Hence, conclusions drawn from participation in modern channels are typically presented with caution, and often recommend policies that include improved credit, extension services, and input delivery systems, which can help farmers to sustainably upgrade their production technology.However, more research is necessary to better understand the implications of market concentration in contexts of increased market linkage and commercialization activities with the retail (supermarket) sector. As remarked by Swinnen (2020), with search and contracting problems, increased competition may complicate coordination and contracting since hold-up opportunities and/or transaction costs increase, which can apply both to developed and developing market conditions. 44 On this point, Macchiavello and Morjaria (2021), recently analyzed relational contracts between upstream farmers and downstream mills in the Rwanda coffee chain and show that additional competition by mills increases the likelihood of farmers defaulting on contracts, makes farmers worse off, and results in lower aggregate quantity of coffee supplied to mills. 45   Lastly, the role of cooperatives in generating or countervailing market power has received some attention in the literature. Lee and Van Cayseele (2022), for instance, recently estimate firm-level markups and markup volatility to identify the market power of farmer and processor cooperatives in the Italian fruits and vegetable and dairy sectors. The period of analysis (2007-2014) is characterized by major price volatility in global agricultural and food markets that also allows to assess whether cooperatives could function as a management strategy against risk. The estimation results show a tradeoff in cooperatives' roles between obtaining market power and stability, i.e., cooperatives obtain stability in their markups at the expense of lower markup levels. Farmer cooperatives seem to place a higher importance on profit stability due to the inherent uncertainties that already exist in agricultural production. Processor cooperatives, instead, obtain more market power in the fruits and vegetable sector that appear to arise from the product differentiation strategy of these cooperatives, while processor cooperatives in the dairy sector obtain higher stability but their market power is lower. 44  Mérel and Sexton (2017) observe that the length of processors' commitments (in the form of contracts) is shorter than the lifespan of the specialized sunk assets required by farmers to meet the processors' needs. This leads to the so-called holdup problem: anticipating that processors will exploit short-run input supply inelasticities (exacerbated by perishability and limited selling outlets), farmers underinvest in specialized resources relative to the social optimum. 45 The authors, however, remark that the benefits of competition might be hampered by the presence of other market failures (e.g., imperfect input and financial markets) and point to the possibility of excessive entry when contracts are hard to enforce. In this case, a mill's efficiency requires well-functioning relationships with farmers in which the sale of coffee cherries at harvest is bundled together with the exchange of services before, during, and after harvest in both directions.Koppenberg and Hirsch (2021) study mark-up pricing behavior in the food retailing sector in the EU, specifically in Finland, France, Italy, Portugal, and Sweden, for the period between 2010 and 2018. The authors use two different mark-up identification methods (the stochastic frontier approach-SFA and the production function approach-PFA). 46 These countries were chosen based on data availability and the fact that their retail sectors exhibit different degrees of concentration.Their analysis indicates that the two methods lead to significantly different average mark-up levels, which provide differing assessments of the state of competition in the analyzed sectors.Accordingly, the authors encourage other researchers examining market power to discuss assumptions in greater depth and to be careful when submitting policy recommendations based on consumer welfare loss calculations stemming from markup estimates. Bonanno et al. (2018) reviews the predictive capability of traditional models and tools to assess and measure market power in the agri-food sector and remarks the importance of thinking in terms of other paradigms, especially bargaining power rather than (or in addition to) market power.Similarly, in their review of pricing strategies among food retailers in developed countries, Hamilton et al. (2020) assess theoretical and empirical evidence for retail pricing and the vertical relationships that have emerged among retailers, food manufacturers, and farmers. 47 The study presents several examples of strategies to price above marginal cost and considers an emerging body of research that frames vertical relationships between suppliers and retailers in terms of bargaining power (for example, using the Nash bargaining model) instead of the traditional market power approach. 48 The authors remark that future research should consider new ways of thinking 46 The authors chose the EU food retailing sector for the analysis since antitrust authorities have recurrently initiated investigations against food retailing companies in several member states, for example, the Czech Republic and Finland (OECD, 2014) or France (European Commission, 2019). 47 The analysis of consumer behavior in multiproduct retail markets includes consumer search, habit formation, and reference pricing. The authors also discuss retail market outcomes for price discrimination, price fairness, and price obfuscation; and then turn to examine the relationships between retailers and food manufacturers through bargaining outcomes, market foreclosure, and slotting allowances, and discuss the resulting implications for retail-price pass-through. 48 In the standard Nash bargaining model, the estimator of bargaining power is a function of agreement and disagreement payoffs, the latter being the payoffs earned by each player in the absence of an agreement. In satisfying the solution, this model assumes simultaneous and bilateral negotiations such that, in equilibrium, no party wants to renegotiate (Horn and Wolinsky, 1988). For instance, the solution of the Nash bargaining problem between retailers and manufacturers, assuming Bertrand rivalry in downstream retailers, yields a about vertical relationships among farmers, distributors, manufacturers, and retailers, and more closely examine how market power is consolidated in an increasingly concentrated food system at each of the various points in the supply chain.For example, in an application of the Nash bargaining model to assess vertical relationships between Chilean retailers and coffee manufacturers, Noton and Elberg (2013) challenge the view that large supermarket chains can extract most of the surplus generated across the value chain.During their period of analysis, the two retail chains included in the study captured more than 60% of the total supermarket sales in the country and 88% of the coffee sales at supermarkets. 49 Yet, the authors find that small coffee manufacturers obtain a sizeable fraction of the surplus, consistent with a strong bargaining power and despite their small market shares. In addition, in a context of a volatile surplus due to large swings in international coffee prices, manufacturers absorb most cost shocks, which could be due to their relative advantage, compared to retailers, in terms of inventory or hedging management. In this line, the authors suggest that more research is necessary to examine the relationship between cost absorption and inventory and/or hedging behavior in vertical channels under surplus volatility (as in bread-wheat, poultry-corn, chocolate-cacao, cooking oil-oilseeds value chains), exploring the sources of bargaining power with richer datasets in terms of the number and characteristics of bargainers.More generally, advancing in this area of research could complement with the relatively recent findings in the analysis of strategies of large firms, such as supermarkets in food retail. Hausmann and Leibtag (2007) show that retail food prices fall when a Walmart store opens in a specific geographic location using US household data for the period 1998 to 2001. 50 Based also on data single parameter that describes the share of the total margin that is appropriated by either the manufacturer or the retailer, depending on the relative bargaining strength of each party. Substitution and complementarity (i.e., the structure of demand) are key factors determining the payoffs and can have significant effects on estimated bargaining-power parameters, as shown by Richards et al. (2018a) using data on multi-category soft drink purchases among households in France. 49 One supermarket chain was acquired by US-based Walmart, and the other had started an internationalization process to several other Latin American countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. 50 The study uses a customized subset of the ACNielsen Homescan scanner panel data for randomly selected households across the US. The authors further argue that Walmart supercenters have had the biggest impact on food retailing as they compete most closely with traditional supermarkets and offer many identical food items at an average price about 15%-25% lower than traditional supermarkets. from US markets from late 1980s to late 1990s, Jia (2008) develop an empirical model showing that expansion of a large retailer could make unprofitable or unable to recover sunk costs for roughly 50% of discount stores in the same markets. These findings have encountered explanation in Smith and Thomassen (2012) and Rhodes (2015), who argue that product complementarity influences pricing strategies among retailers downstream. Internalizing cross-product pricing effects on the intra-retailer margin with product complementarity leads to lower retail prices as retailers have an incentive to drive volume rather than margins. As this food business works with small margins, reaching high volume of sales is essential; this similarly provides support to why supermarkets may enter into price wars to wipe out competitors in local markets or, alternatively, profile products for niche markets (e.g., gourmet foods; organics) or store \"feeling\" (including convenience of selling assortments as broad as possible of food and non-food items). 51 On the other hand, regarding inter-retailer strategies, Richards et al. (2018b) present evidence in the other direction showing that product complementarity is associated with anti-competitive effects and is a source of market power for retailers; the authors point out that previous evidence on single category purchases does not take into account that once customers have made the trip to the store, product complementarity could lead to softening competition and higher equilibrium prices relative to the case where customers purchase products with independent demands. Yet, Richards et al. (2018a) argue that none of these studies focused on vertical relationships between multiproduct retailers and manufacturers. To incorporate this dimension, the authors develop an empirical model of bargaining that includes products from four different sub-categories in the softdrink industry in France and show that product complementarity can lead to a higher retailer share of the total margin. This means that retailers can enhance their bargaining power, relative to manufacturers, by selling complementary products across categories. Retailers understand that manufacturers may need to offer a broad array of products across different categories to extend their company (brand) appeal; 52 hence, knowing the pressures faced by manufacturers, retailers can negotiate accordingly and are able to extract greater rents in the vertical channel. As brands expand across related categories, and even related channels, retailers can take advantage that manufacturers need to be omni-present to stay in consumers' minds. Manufacturers negotiate with 51 The emergence of larger retail-store formats enhances the opportunity for retailers to generate rents from cross-category purchases through price discrimination (Hamilton et al., 2020). 52 For instance, food processors may brand (or set some standard) for their own products and compete for market shares through such branding (alleged quality) in a way to enjoy higher margins for such products. retailers' incentives in mind, so complementarity between products should imply more retailer bargaining power and lower manufacturer power, relative to the usual substitute-products situation. 53   In the aforementioned research review of Sheldon (2017), there is evidence suggesting that US food retailing may already be undergoing further structural change in recent years, with traditional food retailers finding difficulties to follow a strategy of product variety expansion, given competitive pressure on their margins from big retailers and the increasing incentive to focus on a narrower range of high-quality fresh unpackaged foods (Watson, 2016), combined with the fact that online food retailing is expected to grow more rapidly over the next decade compared with traditional food retailing. On this matter, Hamilton et al. (2020) point out that retailers such as Walmart offer a wide range of in-store services, potentially increasing their opportunities to raise overall store margins through other mechanisms, like price obfuscation strategies (Piccione and Spiegler, 2012); the authors further remark that pricing complementarity strategies not only provide an alternative explanation for the rise of large retailers, but also help to explain increased investment in the food retailing industry (e.g., the entrance of Aldi into the US market and the purchase of Whole Foods by Amazon). 54   In a broader assessment of macroeconomic implications of market power in the US, De Loecker et al. (2020) document the evolution of market power across all sectors of the economy using firmlevel data for publicly traded firms over the period 1955-2016 and data from the US Census on manufacturing, wholesale, and retail. 55 The authors show that markups started to rise after the 53 When products sold by one manufacturer are complements downstream, the disagreement profit, which is the amount earned if the parties fail to agree, is lower with complementarity than under strict substitutability. Lower disagreement profit implies a higher opportunity cost of agreeing. As a result, manufacturers are essentially keener to arrive at a negotiated solution, such that their bargaining power is lower (Richards et al. (2018a). 54 Hamilton et al. (2020) also point out that the ability to search more efficiently for desired product attributes in online markets can sharpen inter-retailer product differentiation and reduce the elasticity of demand for foods sold online, thereby raising retail margins. 55 The study is based on Compustat firm-level financial variables of all US publicly listed companies active at any point during 1950-2016. Census data for manufacturing , wholesale (NAICS code 42), and retail (NAICS codes 44-45) is used to perform robustness checks and verify the extent of selection bias in the sample of publicly traded firms. The authors estimate that these three sectors account for roughly 20% of the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The figures for manufacturing and wholesale using Census data are in line with the main results using data from publicly traded firms; but in 1980s, from 21% above marginal cost to 61% in 2016, and the increase is mainly driven by sharp increases in the upper tail of the markup distribution (i.e., in the upper percentiles). They also find a reallocation of market shares from low-to high-markup firms within industries as well as an increase in the average profit rate from 1% to 8%. These estimates are based on a method developed in De Loecker and Warzynski (2012) that uses information from firms' financial statements and does not require any assumptions on demand and how firms compete. 56 As data requirements become more accessible, this method could be more suitable for analyzing specific industries across the agri-food sector in other countries, compared to more standard approaches using structural methods.In developing countries, Atkin and Donaldson (2015) generate estimates of the relative scale of intra-national trade frictions and show their implications for market power. Using data from Ethiopia, Nigeria, and the US, the study analyzes barcode-level price data for many processed food items (that permit to control for unobservable product quality differences) and identify the exact point of origin of each product matched with observed consumer retail prices in spatially varied markets (to account for the distance each product travelled to where its price was observed). The authors find that the effect of distance on trade costs is 4-5 times larger in Africa than in the US, which permits to infer the extent of local market power exertion. On this matter, Barrett et al. (2021) indicate that these local trade frictions lead to intermediary market power such that traders capture most of the gains from reduced costs of imports that result from lower international trade barriers.Finally, as part of the nascent experimental literature to learn about market competition, Busso and Galiani (2019) examine the impact of randomly induced entry of small retail shops on prices and quality in the Dominican Republic. By experimentally varying the number of new stores authorized to accept debit card payments of a conditional cash transfer program, the study shows that incumbent stores reduced prices from 2% to 6% and exhibit a statistically significant the retail sector, the pattern of markups obtained is flat or slightly increasing until 2002, and for 2012 show a sharp increase that is not observed for publicly traded firms. 56 In this method (PFA), markups are obtained by exploiting cost minimization of a variable input of production, which requires defining the production function (i.e., technology) to obtain the output elasticity of (at least) this variable input of production. improvement in customer-reported service quality, with greater effects in places with more new entrants. The authors argue that competition seems to have driven part of the customers away from incumbent retailers.Overall, most reviews of market power in agri-food value chains have mainly focused on midstream and downstream markets in developed economies, where there is more data availability, and do not find strong evidence of market power exertion, especially buyer power from food processing firms. Few studies find evidence of economically significant levels of market power and/or price distortions. The evidence regarding asymmetric price transmission and its relationship with buyer concentration is similarly mixed and varies across sectors and periods. In developing countries, the literature is scarcer but shows the importance of contextual elements such as remoteness, financial liquidity constraints, credibility, reputation issues, and high transaction costs in conferring considerable market power, where intermediaries can take larger rents from consumers and farmers. Similarly, the emerging experimental evidence in developing countries on market competition and performance is mixed although it is not generalizable as it has largely focused on establishing the relevance of a specific market mechanism or characteristic in the value chain under study; e.g., the aforementioned work by Busso and Galiani (2019) showing that randomized entry in grocery stores in Dominican Republic reduces prices and improves quality; randomized subsidies to cocoa traders in Sierra Leone revealing a relatively competitive intermediary (traders) segment, with a low degree of differentiation and a large market size, but showing substantially less competition downstream the value chain (e.g., wholesalers, exporters), as shown by Casaburi and Reed (2022); and randomized cost shocks and subsidies to maize traders in Kenya showing a high degree of market power and rent capture among intermediaries while exogenously induced firm entry has negligible effects on prices, as presented by Bergquist and Dinerstein (2020). See Reed (2022) for additional discussion on the possibilities that randomized studies and experimental design can offer to research questions related to market competition, welfare, and policy. More generally, and borrowing a term used by Macchiavello et al. (2022), the literature on food value chain transformation have not sufficiently \"cross-pollinated\" to empirical industrial organization. The authors argue that applying these advanced methods to food value chains in developing countries is now relevant because of the transformation (including favoring concentration) that has occurred and possibly due to the increasing availability of data from surveys of farms, processors, and wholesalers, and scanner data from some retailers.Upstream, high levels of concentration in fertilizer and seed markets, combined with elevated levels of multimarket contact in those industries (where big multinational firms compete with the same rivals in multiple markets) are a matter of concern in terms of the effects that reduced competition or coordinated actions could have on fertilizer uptake or, more generally, on agricultural productivity. Record high fertilizer prices over the past and recent major events, such as the Russian aggression against Ukraine, further rise these fears, including global food security concerns, in a context where supply disruptions and export restrictions or bans to one of the few major worldwide producers can provoke immediate impacts on global fertilizer availability and accessibility.In the same vein, as argued by O'Connor, ( 2021), the global pandemic has spread preoccupations derived from disruptions and shortages in agri-food supply chains and the increasing presence of larger and powerful downstream buyers across the globe. While achieving efficiency is a desired objective from both an allocation of resources perspective and for obvious reasons regarding its capacity to achieve low prices and welfare enhancing features from the perspective of consumers, there is an increasing need to further understand the implications of concentration among a few powerful buyers in the agri-food chain, at the expense of farmers, other producers, and workers.In addition, the relatively few companies purchasing bulk agricultural commodities for international trade (pointed in Section 2.3) merits some attention in a context where global wheat prices have been recently increasing and fluctuating substantially (FAS-USDA, 2022), after market reactions to announcements about the Indian wheat export ban and ongoing negotiations regarding Ukraine's ability to ship, while Russia is still expected to be the main wheat exporter in 2022-2023 (despite economic sanctions and export taxes). Murphy et al. (2012) note that the few major trading companies act as midstream buyers who purchase high volumes and have leverage in terms of setting prices, particularly with farmers with whom they contract directly, as well as with grain elevators to which farmers in industrialized production systems deliver their grain. The authors further remark the role of the four major corporations (ABCD firms) in the so called \"financialization\" of commodity markets and on potential speculation and food price volatility, which is worth exploring. 57   As more disaggregated data can be accessed or compiled (including detailed transaction data), new approaches and methodologies are being developed to better understand the complex relationship between market concentration, conduct, and performance at various points in the agri-food chain among input suppliers, farmers, distributors, food manufacturers, and retailers. These include an emerging body of theoretical and empirical research that frames vertical relationships between suppliers and retailers in terms of bargaining power instead of the traditional market power approach; recent developments in markup estimation methods that discuss assumptions in greater depth and recommends being careful when submitting policy recommendations based on consumer welfare loss calculations; and novel approaches based on experimental designs that represent new streams of research on market concentration and power and their welfare implications, particularly in less developed countries where data are typically collected from the field (as data availability is very limited) in more controlled settings. More research is also necessary to assess the impact of UTPs along the agri-food chain, i.e., not only on farmers but on other suppliers down the chain and consumers. Efficiency and rent distributional implications of some practices are similarly still not clearly understood in the literature. Although beyond the scope this study, studies analyzing the impact of concentration on conduct and performance in the food service industry (e.g., restaurants, fast-food chains) could be another interesting avenue for future research as the literature on this topic is very scarce.This section assesses the potential implications of market concentration on food security and nutrition and environmental sustainability. In the case of food security and nutrition, the analysis pays special attention to access to healthy diets and reviews the available evidence both among smallholder farmer households and urban consumers considering the changing trends in commercialization channels and the food retail sector, particularly with the rapid expansion of supermarkets that have increased vertical integration and coordination favoring concentration along the chain. 58 In the context of environmental sustainability, the analysis focuses on reviewing the existing literature on the implications of concentration and/or vertical integration or participation in modern commercialization channels across the agri-food chain on environmental issues, including food loss and waste (FLW).As pointed out earlier, the modernization of commercialization channels over the past decades has promoted the establishment of supply agreements with small farmers, with the potential to improve their welfare (e.g., Reardon et al., 2009;Rao et al., 2012). Several studies have examined the impact of participation in supermarkets' value chains on income, consumption expenditure, labor market insertion, and agricultural productivity (e.g., Miyata et al., 2009, Neven et al., 2009;Rao and Qaim, 2011;Bellemare, 2012;Michelson, 2013;Rao and Qaim, 2013;Andersson, et al. 2015;Mossie et al. 2021). Most of these studies conclude that supermarkets can contribute to rural economic growth, increased incomes, and modernization of the small farm sector. However, the evidence is scant regarding changes in dietary habits or nutritional status among smallholder households associated with engagement in supermarket chains (Gomez and Rickets, 2013;Popkin, 2014;Chege et al., 2015).58 Following Lee et al. (2013), a healthy diet can be defined as a diet that provides recommended amounts of foods, nutrients, and other food components, within estimated energy requirements, to promote normal growth and development in children, reduce risk of obesity and noncommunicable diseases, and promote optimum well-being at all ages, consistent with national dietary guidelines/recommendations.Most of the recent research in developing countries about the impact of small farmers participation in modern value chains on food access and consumption has focused on African and South Asia with mixed results. Carletto et al. (2017) use data from Tanzania, Uganda, and Malawi and find little evidence of an association between increased commercialization and improved nutrition among farm households based on children's anthropometric measures, household per capita food expenditure, and household per capita caloric consumption. In Tanzania, Herrmann et al. (2018) investigate the impact of market linkages on agricultural income and food security. Even though farmers who have access to markets exhibit higher crop yields and receive better prices, there are no significant differences in household food security measured through weekly total per capita food consumption, household dietary diversity, or a household food insecurity access scale. Mishra et al. (2018) assess the impact of contract farming on smallholders in India and, among other results, find that its adoption increases food security measured through a higher share of food expenditures on total expenditures. Debela et al. (2022), show that the impact of contract farming in palm oil on smallholder nutrition in Ghana depends on the type of contract employed. Resourceproviding contracts that include in-kind credits and technical assistance have larger effects than marketing contracts, which can even have negative effects in some cases.Literature that specifically address the relationship between supermarket contracts and smallholder farmer's nutrition is more conclusive, but equally mainly focused on African countries. For example, Chege et al. (2015), compare nutritional indicators between farm households with and without supermarket contracts in Kenya and report that participation in supermarket channels can increase household income and diversify crop production, thereby improving household nutrition. Ochieng (2017), also using data from Kenya, analyzes the situation of vegetable producers in Kenya and finds that having contracts with supermarkets increases household income and dietary diversity, as well as calories consumed and zinc intake. Onyeneke, et al. (2020) examine the case of Nigerian poultry producers and find that the availability of modern food retail markets, including supermarkets as well as fast food firms, hotels, and convenience stores, correlates with better quality diets. Factors contributing to healthier diets include an increase in dietary diversity, a growth in poultry consumption and the production of vegetables, and changes in household gender roles.In sum, the association between participation in modern commercialization channels, especially supermarket channels, and access to better diets among small farmers appears to be positive, but certainly the literature is still relatively limited to derive more generalized conclusions. The impacts may be context specific and could be affected by a variety of factors such as contract terms and farmers' conditions. More research is required in this area to explore these factors. In the same vein, it is important to extend the research to other countries or regions, as the effects may vary across areas considering the major role of geographic location and accessibility on effectively integrating small farmers into global supply chains. In addition, future work should attempt to capture more detailed data, including macro and micronutrient data, to assess impacts beyond consumption of specific food groups and dietary diversity.On the other hand, the rapid growth of urban populations worldwide has contributed at the same time to a significant transformation of food retail systems to attend the increasing demand for a wide range of food in fast-growing cities, including many developing countries. Part of the transformation has been led by the wide expansion of supermarkets in urban and peri-urban areas (i.e., the \"supermarket revolution\"), which has changed the nature of distribution networks and supply chains while seeking to satisfy consumer food demand for year-round in a timely and efficient manner (Reardon et al., 2003). 59 Supermarkets have modern procurement systems, such as buying in bulk to lower costs and improve efficiency (i.e., offering competitive prices), and impose private standards to raise quality (Reardon and Timmer, 2007), but their diversification of food availability, including both healthy fresh foods rich in essential nutrients and less healthy energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods (usually processed), can also have important implications for the health and nutrition of the population, particularly the poor.In this context, several studies have reviewed how changes in the food retailing system due to the increasing presence of supermarkets is correlated with variations in urban consumption and dietary 59 While supermarkets started to proliferate in developed countries (such as the United States and Canada) since the mid of the twentieth century, their expansion in developed countries started in the 1990s and occurred in four \"waves\": a first wave in South America, East Asia (excluding China), and South Africa in the early 1990s; a second wave in Central America, Mexico, and Southeast Asia in the mid 1990s; a third wave in China, India, Vietnam, and parts of Africa in the late 1990s to early 2000s; and a fourth wave in other parts of Africa and South Asia in the mid to late 2000s (Minten and Reardon, 2008).patterns. Hawkes (2008) performs a wide-ranging literature review and indicates that supermarkets can make a more diverse diet available and accessible to more people but can also promote the consumption of energy-dense and nutrient-poor, highly processed foods among poor populations;the author concludes that supermarkets overall encourage consumers to eat more, despite the type of food. Monteiro et al. (2013) shows that ultra-processed products (i.e., energy-dense, fatty, sugary or salty and generally obesogenic foods) are increasingly dominant in high-and middleincome countries mainly driven by transnational food manufacturing, retailing, and fast-food service corporations. Popkin (2014) indicates that the rapid growth of the retail sector in middleand low-income countries is contributing for processed and packaged food to rapidly reach food insecure and overweight populations, which can pose major challenges to the health of the poor.Similarly, Qaim (2017) points out that although there is still an important presence of wet markets and traditional grocery outlets in several developing countries, the growing role of supermarkets and processed foods can contribute to overweight and obesity among consumers. Reardon et al.(2021) argue that the increase in stunting, overweight, and obesity in Africa is linked to the increase in the consumption of ultra-processed foods, which is driven by the expansion of the food processing sector and massive investment by large private enterprises. In their recent review of the evidence of dietary transition and food system transformation during economic development, Masters et al. (2022) find that supermarkets have had a rather negative impact on nutrition outcomes, mainly through their association with increased consumption of ultra-processed foods with harmful attributes.Concrete evidence, however, on the direct effect of supermarkets on consumer nutritional status using detailed micro data is still mixed and context specific. In the US, for example, Drewnowski et al. (2012) find that the risk of obesity is not associated with physical proximity to a supermarket, but it is inversely associated with supermarkets offering higher priced products, concluding that improving access to health foods is beyond improving access to supermarkets. Lear et al. (2013) find that the food basket price of supermarkets is inversely correlated with the body mass index (BMI) of their shoppers. Rogus et al. (2018), in turn, show that the opening of a supermarket in a low-access neighborhood affected local food purchasing and consumption behavior: while the purchase of both healthy and unhealthy foods increased, the consumption of healthy items (water, fruits, vegetables) also increased and of unhealthy items decreased (soft drinks, salty snacks, pastries). Li et al. (2021) recently performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of 35 studies (most of them in the US and Canada) analyzing access to grocery stores and childhood obesity and find a rather weak relationship, while Zhou et al. (2021) systematic review across 24 studies (21 in the US) reveals a mixed relationship between access to supermarkets and weight-related outcomes. 60   In developing countries, the literature is similarly not conclusive. Minten and Reardon (2008), using data from Madagascar, find that supermarkets sell higher quality food than traditional markets, but they charge higher prices, even after controlling for quality. Tessier et al. (2008) find that regular users of supermarkets in Tunisia have a slightly improved diet quality. Asfaw (2008) examine the case of Guatemala and show that supermarket purchases increase the share of highly and partially processed foods at the expense of staple foods and are also positively associated with individuals' BMI. Rischke et al. (2015) find that supermarkets in Kenya promote the consumption of processed food, relative to unprocessed food, and increase daily calorie availability. Kimenju et al. (2015) indicate that supermarkets may increase the BMI and probability of overweight among adult consumers in Kenya, but no effects are observed for the BMI among children and adolescents combined with a positive impact on their height-for-age. Umberger et al. (2015) do not find a significant relationship between shopping in supermarkets and nutrition outcomes among adults in Indonesia. Demmler et al. (2018) show that shopping in supermarkets in Kenya contributes to higher consumption of processed and highly processed foods and lower consumption of unprocessed foods, thereby significantly increasing the BMI of the population. In contrast, Debela et al. (2020) find positive effects of supermarket purchases on child nutrition in Kenya.Overall, the relationship between supermarkets' presence and consumer health and nutrition in urban areas is still not well understood. Part of this ambiguity could be explained by the different driving forces that affect consumer food choices (Ruel et al., 2020), including market competition that has not been encompassed in previous analyses of the linkages between supermarkets and dietary patterns, probably due to the lack of detailed data. While supermarkets may charge, on average, higher or lower food prices or offer a higher or lower share of high-quality foods than traditional markets, little has been said about how the level and type of competition they face in specific markets may accentuate (or weaken) these differences, ultimately affecting the dietary habits and health and nutrition of the population, especially the urban poor. The pricing of healthy, nutrient-rich fresh foods versus less healthy processed foods can certainly depend on the level of competition in each area of operation and constitutes an important avenue of future research. 61There are important environmental sustainability concerns in the agri-food industry. 62 According to Tubiello et al. (2021), food systems are responsible for one third of the total global anthropogenic (human-caused) greenhouse gas emissions, where three quarters of these emissions are generated either within the farm gate on in pre-and post-production activities, such as manufacturing, transport, processing, and waste disposal. Crippa et al. (2021) indicate that the largest contribution to greenhouse gas emissions comes from agriculture and land use/land-use change activities. The overuse of chemicals and fertilizers and pesticides has brought environmental problems such as water pollution, biodiversity loss, and nitrous oxide emissions (Eicher and Staatz, 1998). In food retail, the primary energy resources are gas and electricity due to business operations, shopping activities, and equipment used for food preparation, storage, and presentation, which leads to a significant emission of carbon dioxide (Lukic, 2016). In supermarkets, for example, refrigeration, lighting, and heating/air conditioning systems are managed with a high electricity consumption, which has a negative environmental impact (Baldwin, 2011;Beshr et al. 2015). Among the reasons why retailers are hesitant to adopt energysaving technologies is the enormous cost of implementation along with a lack of internal financial resources available to support these changes (Dixon-O'Mara and Ryan, 2017). Food retail operations also contribute to air and water pollution. Most supermarkets discharge grease and food waste directly into municipal sanitary sewers, and vertically integrated food retailers manage warehousing and distribution functions, concentrating air pollutants generated during the production process as well as emissions from trucks in these distribution centers (Davies and 61 A standard textbook model would predict higher prices with market power, but the impact on nutrition is not clear as higher prices for highly processed or junk food would be good and the opposite for higher fruits and vegetable prices. 62 Environmental sustainability refers to the preservation of natural resources by not exceeding the local environment capacity to absorb emissions (Goodland, 1996). Konisky, 2000;Renko et al., 2010). The increase in concentration in the agri-food system suggests that ecological degradation may be influenced by a small group of major market actors in food and agriculture (Shelke et al., 2011;Hendrickson et al., 2020). Yet, there is little evidence that specifically analyzes the relationship between market concentration and environmental sustainability.Some of the literature has focused on the upstream segment of the agri-food chain, particularly in the seeds market, and the evidence is mixed. According to the OECD (2018a), researchers have noted that a high degree of market concentration in the seeds market may not necessarily be harmful. Competition among a few large players can in fact promote innovation that contributes to environmental sustainability, productivity, and resilience. However, non-horizontal mergers (i.e., vertical integrations) are not necessarily harmless as they could be used to exclude competitors from accessing important markets or resources. Solberg and Breian (2015), for example, find that consolidation of seed enterprises and vertical integration caused the Nordic countries to concentrate on a few crops and abandon others for nearly fifty years. The shift away from regional and locally produced products decreases diversity, which is detrimental to environmental sustainability. Mustonen-Park (2018) performs a wide-ranging literature review and points that outside of the United States, seed markets are very restricted due to lack of research and development, contributing to a decline of seed varieties.Several studies have also examined the impact of the food industry on environmental sustainability using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method. This methodology involves incorporating all the material and energy flows associated with a product during its entire life cycle to estimate the environmental impact associated with a food value chain. This kind of research can be useful for identifying which parts of the chain may have an impact on the environment. Yet, since most of the studies are focused on a particular food supply chain and rely on a series of assumptions according to a forthcoming work on the topic by the OECD, they typically lack external validity. Cerutti et. al (2013), Garofalo et al. (2016), Poore andNemecek (2018), andShen et al. (2021) are some examples. Most of this literature do not explicitly account for market concentration or competitive practices in these industries but generally find that land use and agricultural production account for most of the total environmental footprint. Keyes et al. (2013) is one of the few studies that addresses vertical integration through the analysis of environmental performance and opportunities for improvement in apple supply chains in Canada using the life cycle assessment approach. The authors compare the environmental impacts between standard orchard production and cradle-to-retail chains (namely vertically integrated chains) and find that the latter have most adverse effects on electricity for long-term storage and long-distance truck delivery.Regarding the literature on FLW, there is some discussion of the connection between market concentration and environmental sustainability. FAO (2019) defines FLW as the decrease in quantity or quality of food along the food supply chain. 63 In the food supply chain, losses occur during the production, postharvest, storage, transport, and processing stages, whereas food waste is the food discarded in the food retail sector, food service sector, and households (Parfitt et al., 2010;UNEP, 2021). Kummu et al. (2012) estimate that around one quarter of the water resources, cropland, and fertilizers used to produce food are lost due to FLW across the global food supply chain. A study on food waste by European Communities (2011) remarks that environmental sustainability is affected due to transportation and shipping towards landfills combined with upstream production, resources usage, and life cycle processes that could have been avoided. Feedback (2017) argues that food waste is a symptom of structural problems that relate to a power imbalance and lack of incentives to minimize food waste. Power imbalances can result in a decline in innovation and investment that will affect small and medium-sized food businesses in the long term, deriving in higher food prices and fewer choices for consumers. However, there are some authors who argue that waste is part of any optimal production process, and that food waste can be used for other non-food purposes, such as animal feed, fertilizer, and biomass to produce other goods. Under this premise, food waste would be defined only as produce that ends up in landfills (Bellemare et al., 2017).In this context, there are only few studies examine FWL in specific food value chains and their links with market concentration and/or vertical integration. Some of these focus on developed countries and find that most of the losses stem from the power imbalance in the retail side of the chain. Devin and Richardson (2018), for example, assesses how retailers in the fresh fruit supply chain in Australia contribute significantly to food waste by interviewing different actors along the chain, including retailers and producers. Since the bargaining power of retailers is high, they can pass food waste responsibility upward the chain to growers by offering lower prices after delivery and setting strict standards regarding the cosmetic appearance of food that leads to discard suitable food. Ghosh and Erickson (2019) use five-year company data for a medium-sized premium bread manufacturer and supplier in Sweden to examine how take-back agreements can be used by retailers to exert coercive control over suppliers in highly concentrated markets. In these contracts, the retailer is only required to pay the supplier for the quantity purchased but not for the quantity ordered. As a result, larger downstream players can negotiate better contracts with producers and reject viable products that end up being thrown away. Herzberg (2022) examines fresh fruit and vegetable supply chains in Germany based on multiple interviews with stakeholders. The author notes that the industry exhibits an upward trend of concentration and consolidation that are associated with short-notice cancellations, order changes, and sudden changes in quality requirements that contribute to food losses and waste.Studies in developing countries, where market concentration and vertical integration are not that high, present mixed evidence regarding how market concentration and/or participation in modern commercialization channels influence FWL. Minten et al. (2020), for instance, explore postharvest losses (PHL) experienced by teff milk and perishable liquid milk in rural and urban areas of Ethiopia. The authors analyze PHL at all levels of the chain and conclude that modern retailers generate lower PHL than traditional retailers. More specifically, modern retailers maintain higher quality standards in the procurement process, provide better packaging and protection systems, and provide refrigeration, storage, and sales facilities that offer better quality. However, the authors argue that the stricter requirements by modern retail could also contribute to larger PHL upstream.Chanboud and Moustier (2020), in turn, examine FLW in the tomato supply chain (from production to retail), comparing the amount generated by supermarkets and non-supermarket channels in Colombia. The authors do not find significant differences in the resulting FLW between both commercialization channels.All in all, the links between market concentration and environmental sustainability can be studied from different perspectives as vertical and horizontal integrations that favor concentration may occur both upstream and downstream the food value chain, which can result in varying competitive practices and environmental consequences. Yet, the current evidence is highly context specific as it pertains to specific market segments, supply chains, or regions. 64 In this sense, there is an important research gap that could be fulfilled by studying potential environmental effects across different value chains and market segments that are important for the food industry, as well as on the efficient use of resources such as water, land, and energy. The scarce literature in developing regions is also evident, where the lack of concentration and/or vertical integration could alternatively be a cause of food waste as smallholder farmers typically do not have the incentives or means to adopt food loss preventive practices, while downstream coordination problems with small-scale operating agents, who additionally lack of sufficient storage, transportation, and processing capacities, could favor food losses.64 Related to this matter, Barrett et al. (2021) remark that firms continuously search for new markets, more efficient management practices, inputs of higher quality, and new ways to differentiate their products in order to generate new profit sources as their past innovations diffuse to competitors. A study on sustainability and competition by the OECD (2020) points out, in turn, that the answer to the well-known Schumpeter-Arrow debate regarding whether monopoly or competition leads to more innovation, and in particular innovation in sustainability, can be better assessed with concrete situations.This study attempted to provide a comprehensive assessment of recent trends in market concentration in the agri-food industry and on how and to what extent concentration could affect market conduct and performance of food systems, as well as implications for food security and nutrition and environmental sustainability.Regarding the current state of market concentration in the agri-food industry, the upstream segment of the chain is composed of highly concentrated industries, including fertilizers, agrochemicals, and seeds, which appear to be in a consolidation path with important global market players. Markets midstream the chain, particularly food manufacturing and processing, as well as downstream, especially supermarket retailing, similarly exhibit moderate to high levels of concentration that have either increased or remained stable in recent years across several countries.Grain commodity trade is also highly concentrated. Still, important data gaps remain across industries and regions that prevent a more comprehensive picture of market structure (concentration) in agri-food systems, including difficulties in accessing proprietary market and scientific data and market share data at more disaggregated levels, as well as analyses that are typically geographically narrowed. In addition, there are data aggregation challenges and complications, including the use of different variables for analysis (e.g., shares based on volume versus sales) or defining the relevant markets across segments. These shortcomings point to the necessity of devoting more efforts on data access, compilation, and processing.Market concentration and consolidation along the chain over the past years have been largely led by mergers and acquisitions combined with the transformation of agri-food chains, including the expansion of supermarket retailing worldwide. While these increasing horizontal and vertical integrations can be associated with higher efficiencies (particularly through economies of scale and better coordination), they could also result in market power exertion, tacit collusion, and other anticompetitive practices in the absence of these efficiencies and other offsetting factors. Recent events, including the global pandemic and the Russian aggression against Ukraine, with disruptions in agri-food chains and record high (input) prices, have further raised these concerns.Yet, the relationship between concentration and market power exertion is multifaceted and the evidence supporting market power abuse or anticompetitive behavior is not generally obvious and may be context specific. Concentration alone is not sufficient to exert market power or to effectively coordinate strategies among few large market players as this also depends on other market characteristics and factors, including the type and nature of competition. Deriving conclusive evidence regarding market power exertion is further challenging due to lack of comprehensive and detailed data.Most reviews of market power in the agri-food industry have mainly focused on midstream and downstream markets in developed economies, where there is more data availability, and do not find strong evidence of market power exertion, particularly buyer power from food processing firms. The evidence on asymmetric price transmission and its relationship with buyer concentration is similarly not conclusive. In developing regions, the literature shows the importance of contextual factors such as remoteness, financial liquidity constraints, credibility, and reputation issues in conferring considerable market power; high transaction costs (search, storage, contracting costs) can also sharply limit competition as well as intra-national trade frictions. In these contexts, intermediaries can take large surpluses in detriment of consumers and farmers. Upstream, high levels of concentration in input markets, combined with elevated levels of multimarket contact in those industries, are a matter of further investigation in terms of the effects that reduced competition or coordinated actions could have on agricultural productivity.Additionally, more research is required to assess the impact of unfair trading practices (UTPs) along the chain (not only on farmers), while efficiency and rent distributional implications of some practices are still not fully clear.New approaches and methodologies combined with access to more disaggregated data can be helpful for an improved understanding of the complex relationship between market concentration, conduct, and performance at various points in the agri-food chain and better inform eventual policy decisions. Some of these new approaches include an emerging strand of research that frames vertical relationships between suppliers and retailers in terms of bargaining power instead of the traditional market power approach; recent developments in markup estimation methods; and novel experimental approaches on market concentration and power and their welfare implications, particularly in less developed countries, although the results may not be generalizable. In developing countries, as more data (including scanner data) become available, the implications of the transformation of food value chains (including favoring concentration) on market performance could also be studied relying on advanced empirical industrial organization methods that have been widely used in developed economies.On the implications of market concentration on food security and nutrition, the association between participation in modern commercialization channels, especially supermarket channels, and access to better diets among small farmers seems to be positive, but the literature is still relatively limited to derive more generalized conclusions. The impacts could be affected by a variety of factors, such as contract terms and farmers' conditions, and more research is required to explore these factors and extend the research to other regions (beyond Africa and South Asia).Additionally, future studies should attempt to capture more detailed data, such as macro and micronutrient data, to evaluate effects beyond consumption of specific food groups and dietary diversity. Future research about this subject could explore some of the following specific questions: Does participation in modern commercialization channels, especially supermarket channels, promote access to better and healthier diets to all participating farm households or are these impacts heterogenous or specific to particular groups? Do changes in dietary patterns hold in the medium and long term? What are the impacts on health and nutritional outcomes among household members, especially women and children? Do the effects observed in Africa or South Asia replicate in other developing regions? Do market conditions affect the contractual arrangements of smallholders participating in modern marketing channels and thereby their food access and diet quality? These questions can help to better understand the implications of participating in modern commercialization channels on farm household health and nutrition and aid in the design of policies that can enhance the potential benefits of smallholders' participation in modern integrated markets.In a similar vein, the relationship between supermarkets' presence and consumer health and nutrition is still not well understood. This could be explained by the different factors that influence consumer food choices, including market competition that has not been accounted for in previous analyses of the linkages between supermarkets and dietary patterns, probably due to data restrictions. Food prices and quality may, on average, be higher or lower in supermarkets compared to traditional markets, but these differences may be aggravated or lessen depending on the degree of competition faced by supermarkets. More important, the pricing of healthy, nutrient-rich fresh foods versus less healthy processed foods may also depend on the level of competition and can have important implications for the health and nutrition of the population, especially the urban poor. Specific questions that could be addressed in future work include: Do the price differentials between the set of healthy and less healthy foods vary with the level of competition faced by supermarkets? Are supermarkets more likely to change their pricing behavior when they directly compete with other supermarket chains than when they compete with traditional markets? How do changing market conditions and consequent varying relative pricing behavior of supermarkets affect consumer food choices and the health and nutrition of the population, especially the poor?How do changing market conditions affect non-price competition in terms of product quality and information, including labeling and stop signs, and how can public policies contribute to influence those decisions? This type of analysis will allow to better inform how institutional arrangements and regulatory framework governing market activity in the retail sector could be modified to improve market performance (if applicable) and promote the consumption of healthier foods, particularly among vulnerable populations.On the implications of market concentration on environmental sustainability, the literature on the links between concentration and environmental sustainability is highly context specific as it pertains to particular market segments, supply chains, or regions. In the seeds sector, for example, the evidence is mixed. Similarly, the literature on food loss and waste (FLW) points out that food waste could be a symptom of structural problems that relate to power imbalances and lack of incentives to minimize food waste. Available studies focusing on developed countries and specific food value chains argue that most of the losses stem from the power imbalance in the retail side of the chain. Certainly, in developing countries the lack of concentration and/or vertical integration could also be a cause of food waste as smallholders generally do not have the incentives or resources to implement food loss preventive practices, while downstream coordination difficulties with small-scale operating agents, who further have limited storage, transportation, and processing capacities, could contribute to food losses; this hypothesis, however, has not been much explored in the literature. Some research questions that may be interesting to further explore in the future include: How is concentration upstream and downstream the agri-food chain affecting the environmental sustainability of two key agricultural resources such as water and land? Are more concentrated markets being less or more efficient in energy use with more advanced processing, cooling, packaging, and other energy-efficient practices? Is market concentration along the agrifood chain favoring specific competitive behavior and practices that, for example, hinder technology development and research or promote FWL? Is the extent of the situation on this regard different in developed versus developing countries?In sum, the relationship between market concentration, conduct, and performance should be regarded as complex where the occurrence of mark-up pricing, unfair trading practices, collusion, crowding out of small-scale businesses, lower access to healthy diets, less innovation, and more (or less) food waste may be context-specific and influenced by factors other than concentration.As pointed above, several key data and research gaps remain to better understand these relationships and derive more generalized conclusions.An action that could be implemented to alleviate part of the data and research gaps could be to expand competition authorities' capabilities to perform more in-depth market studies in specific industries or sectors along the agri-food value chain and encourage the disclosure of more detailed (and frequent) data. More important, it is key to invest in stronger national and multinational competition authorities and encourage more coordination among them to facilitate the convergence and effective enforcement of antitrust laws at the local, regional, and global level, and ensure that regulations and other policies do not accidentally create barriers to entry, restrain competition, or restrict trade between countries. The International Competition Network (ICN) is an interesting initiative on this regard as it is a global body devoted exclusively to competition law enforcement and its members represent national and multinational competition authorities. Yet, it is equally important to keep in mind that guaranteeing competition among agri-food markets will not solve poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition, and environmental issues, such that other, more targeted policies are almost certainly needed.Similarly, with the wide use of new information technologies, the development of easily accessible virtual platforms (whether through local, regional, or global initiatives) could also contribute to increase market transparency and efficiency across different agri-food industries. These platforms Note: Calculations based on adding company shares within each country for annual production turnover of fertilizers and nitrogen compounds at current prices (in US dollars applying year-over-year exchange rates).Source: Euromonitor International. Note: Calculations based on adding company shares within each country for annual production turnover of pesticides and other agrochemical products at current prices (in US dollars applying year-over-year exchange rates).Source: Euromonitor International. Note: Calculations based on adding company shares within each country for annual sales at retail selling price (in US dollars applying year-over-year exchange rates).Source: Euromonitor International.  Hernández andTorero (2011, 2013) China, India, Russia, and the US among the countries that dominate production capacity in the case of ammonia, urea, DAP/MAP, and phosphoric acid. Russia and Canada control more than 50% of world's production capacity of potash.Top four firms control more than half of the production capacity of each major country producer. Concentration of potash production at the country level is the most extreme case: in four of the five main potash-producing countries, the CR4 index is 100%. For DAP/MAP and NPK, four of the five main producing countries exhibit a CR4 over 60%, while for urea three countries show a CR4 over 50%.Country level (main producing countries)International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), Hernández andTorero (2011, 2013) Fertilizers and nitrogen compounds: nitrogen products associated with fertilizer production (nitric and sulphonitric acids, ammonia, ammonium chloride, ammonium carbonate, nitrites, and nitrates of potassium) and phosphate, potash, and compound fertilizers.A global CR4 index of 56% is obtained for 2012 (compared to 43% in 1997) with China being the main producer (38%), followed by Russia (6%), India (6%), and Brazil (6%). The global level of concentration peaked in 2015 to 65% and has returned to 56% in 2021 where China (40%), Russia (6%), India (6%), and Brazil (4%) remain as the main producers.At the country level, the CR4 indexes among the top four producing countries have similarly either maintained or slightly increased between 2012 and 2021. In India and Russia, the CR4 index is above 40%, while in Brazil and China it increased from 24.5% and 11.5% to 27.6% and 14%, respectively. The same companies also remain among the top producers in each company and in the same ranking; the only exception is Yunnan Yuntianhua Co Ltd in China that was not among the top four producers in 2012 and became the most important producer in 2021 with a 4.2% of the total volume of sales.Country Euromonitor shows important (over 40%) and somewhat increasing concentration levels among several countries. Australia reports the largest CR4 in grocery retail (from 74.4% in 2012 to 78.6% in 2021), followed by South Africa (from 47.2% to 54.3%), France (around 50%), the US (around 40%), and Russia that reached 40.2% in 2021 (exhibiting a 23.8pp increase relative to 2012). Of the remaining countries, the CR4 increased from 32.5% to 35.8% in Mexico and from 14.1% to 19% in Saudi Arabia, while in China the concentration ratio remained at 3%.Main country in each geographical region available Euromonitor International Supermarkets (only retail outlets selling groceries within a selling space of 400-2,500 square meters; excludes discounters, convenience stores, and independent grocery stores)In Germany, Australia, and South Africa, the CR4 index reached 96%, 89.6%, and 81.5%, respectively, in 2021 reflecting increases of 4-7pp from 2012. In the US and Saudi Arabia, CR4 levels reached around 40% in 2021, compared to 31% in 2012, while in Brazil the concentration ratio has remained relatively stable at 40-41%. Russia also shows an important increase from 12.1% to 22.8%, whereas in China the level of concentration is barely 3%.Main country in each geographical region available Euromonitor International Note: For additional details and references refer to the main text.Source: Authors' own compilation."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6194d4996eaf63e2b63b0f318c698ed4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/77ef621a-8328-4240-a1ac-4d037ec32905/retrieve","id":"-1041554898"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e2fd138d-9fef-4360-aa06-e4f570443a27","content":"The growing shortfall in Vietnam's domestic supply of pork:Significance and policy implicationsPork is an important component of the Vietnamese diet.Since its market reforms, Vietnam's domestic production and consumption of pork have risen substantially.Nevertheless, in recent years Vietnamese demand for • pork has grown at a faster rate than its domestic supply. This has resulted in a steep rise in Vietnam's pork prices.The fact that most Vietnamese do not want to purchase imported pork because of their strong preference for fresh (warm) pork has also contributed to the rising pork prices in Vietnam.This concerns the Government of Vietnam which is • searching for ways to increase the domestic supply of pork.Households keeping few pigs are the main source of • Vietnam's pork supply. Some policymakers believe that these households are inefficient and an obstacle to expanding Vietnam's pork supply.These policymakers argue that the government should • favour larger commercial pig producers on various efficiency grounds and that these producers can fill the shortfall in the domestic supply of pork.While small household pig producers have limited • capacity to increase their supply, they are often low-cost producers because they utilize inputs that would otherwise be unused or under-utilized. They are less reliant on imports of pig food than are large producers.A combination of small household producers and large • pig producers is most efficient for Vietnam at this stage of its development. Efforts should be made to increase the economic efficiency of both small and large producers.Following Vietnam's market reforms, its domestic production of pork and its per capita consumption of pork have risen substantially 1 . Vietnamese demand for pork has risen due to higher incomes, an increasing population and growing urbanization. Vietnam's increased pork supply occurred as a result of an increase in its stock of pigs and greater pork yields, the relative importance of which has varied 2 . However, at least since 2000, Vietnam's domestic supply of pork has grown more slowly than its demand for pork and there has been a substantial rise in the real price of pork. This has happened because Vietnamese consumers have strong and persistent preference for fresh (warm) pork 3 and therefore, most avoid imported pork.There are natural barriers to pork imports and so the rise in pork prices had not been moderated by imports 4 .Given the importance of pork in the diet of Vietnamese, this trend is of concern to the Government of Vietnam. Some policymakers think that the main problem is the inefficiency of small household suppliers of pigs and believe the answer to the problem is to expand production by larger-sized commercial producers 5 . However, at this stage in Vietnam's development, small household producers still make an important contribution to Vietnam's supply of pork -they account for about 90% of supply. In many cases, their costs of production are lower than can be achieved by larger commercial producers because they utilize inputs that otherwise may be unused or under utilized. They are also much less reliant on imported pig food than large commercial producers.In the current situation, ways should be explored to reduce the cost of production for both household and non-household producers. Attention should be given, for example, to increasing the supply and reducing the cost of domestically produced pig food and utilizing available supplies more efficiently. The real price of pork in Vietnam has risen rapidly in recent years. According to data in the Statistical Yearbook of Vietnam, 2008 (p. 471) the producer's price index for products from domestic animals (mainly pigs and cattle) has increased at a faster rate than that for all other categories of agricultural products, and this increase has accelerated. Between 1995Between and 2008Between , this index increased by 174% and between 2000Between and 2008 it rose by 148.5%. That means it more than doubled in these periods. The producer's price index for agricultural products gives a measure of the real prices (excluding taxes and levies) which farmers received for their products when they sold them to consumers. Also note that the producer's price index for agricultural products has risen in recent years at a faster rate than the general price index. Therefore, agricultural goods have become more expensive in relation to other goods.  The persistent strong preference of Vietnamese consumers for fresh (warm) porkThe CAP-ILRI survey of urban households in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and a sample of rural households reveals that pork is the preferred type of meat for urban households, and one of the two most preferred types for rural households (see Table 1). This preference is persistent and there is evidence that it existed at least a decade ago. Furthermore, on average, pork accounts for the largest proportion of expenditure on meat by households -more than a third in urban and rural areas (see Table 2). One important finding of the CAP-ILRI meat consumer survey is that Vietnamese consumers have a strong preference for fresh pork, and an aversion to chilled, frozen and processed pork. As a result:Vietnamese consumers do not like to buy pork from • supermarkets and prefer to buy it from traditional market outlets 6 .They avoid imported pork because it is of necessity, • chilled, frozen or used in processed pork products. Thus, most consumers demand domestic pork.They buy pork frequently and do not store it for long. • These tastes probably result in pigs being slaughtered • close to retail markets and limited transport of pork from rural areas to large cities. The following trends can be noted:Annual output of pork, beef and carabeef combined grew • at 6.1% per year in the period 1995-2000, accelerated to 9.7% per year in the period 2000-05, and fell back to 4.8% per year in the period 2005-08 (Figure 1). Thus, the growth rate of production is no longer being maintained.The increase in the real price of pork, beef and carabeef • combined has accelerated. It rose by 10.5% in the fiveyear period to 2000, by 35.1% in the next five-year period and by 88.5% in the three-year period to 2008 (Figure 1). This indicates that the increased supply of pork has failed to keep pace with rising demand.  Vietnam, 2008 (p. 471). There is a failure of increased supply of these meats to match rising demand.Small households rearing pigs are a major source of pork supply in Vietnam and on the whole, they make an efficient contribution to Vietnam's pork production given its present stage of development 8 . That is not to say that the efficiency of their production cannot be increased.Household pig producers still supply about 90% of • Vietnam's pork and account for around 90% of its pig stock 9 .The number of household producers is declining, their • proportionate contribution to pork supply is slowly falling 10 and the average size of household pig herds is rising (see Fig. 3).In comparison to larger producers, most households raising • pigs in Vietnam play a cost-effective role in the supply of pork because:They employ household labour (especially female labour) that otherwise is likely to be unemployed or under-employed.They utilize pig food available from the household or locally 11 that otherwise may not be utilized or be used for lower value alternatives.They are less reliant on imported pig food than are larger commercial producers.The number of household producers of pigs can be • expected to continue to decline with Vietnam's economic growth but for some time they will be an important source of pork supply for Vietnam 12 . They should not be neglected in policies designed to increase Vietnam's level of pork production 13 . The following are the main conclusions that can be drawn:As a result of Vietnam's economic growth and the strong • preference of Vietnamese for fresh pork, the rising demand for pork has outstripped its increasing supply. The result has been an upward trend in the real price of pork which has started to accelerate at a worrying rate.Given the importance of pork in the diet of Vietnamese and • their strong preference for it, the trend is a policy concern. However, the view that household pig producers are to blame for the situation because they are inefficient seems to be misplaced at this stage of Vietnam's development. It should also be borne in mind that household pig producers have made a substantial contribution to increasing the level of Vietnam's pork production in recent decades.A combination of household and large commercial • producers of pigs is likely to be efficient in meeting Vietnam's demand for pork in the present stage of its development 14 .The major cost for pig producers is pig food and its rising • price seems to be a major restriction on expanding pork supply. Particular attention should be paid to increasing Vietnam's supply of pig food, reducing its costs of production, and better utilizing Vietnam's available supplies of pig food, including self produced food and locally available food.The government should invest in research and • development, and extension services to improve the efficiency of pig producers of all sizes, especially households, because they are still the major pork suppliers.These "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"693afdcd251930197a99228ff281f2e5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/560cf1e2-4156-4eae-8a53-3b7ded6d56fc/retrieve","id":"1305335516"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2a0896eb-87e6-47f3-b513-46016ddd32ec","content":"The Ghana climate change science policy platform is a multi-stakeholder institutional innovation which came into being in 2013 with the support of CCAFS West Africa. It was set out to bridge science-policy literacy gap at the national and sub-national levels.  This info note communicates as an outcome how the national platform facilitated the Upscaling of sub-national platforms in seven regions of Ghana covering only 11 districts out of 245.Globally the picture on climate change and its effects on humanity appear quite disturbing as food systems and consumption patterns are sliding towards low against prediction values. In Ghana population expansion as a driver has quadrupled now and calls for more food and fibre needs than ten decades ago (Karbo et al, 2015).The awareness of climate change on socio-economic development among development workers, scientists and policy decision makers appears high though more attention has been given to the search for biophysical solutions than the policy institutional environment enabling their uptake.The CCAFS programme in West Africa coordinated by ICRISAT, Bamako involving Ghana, Mali and Senegal was able to set up national multi-stakeholder platforms for sharing information on climate change and related policy issues. The platforms also provide a linkage mechanism between research, policy decision makers and community level actors in order to positively influence climate change investments and project trajectory in agriculture with effective adaptive, resilient and mitigation outcomes at the farmer level. The Ghana CCAFS Science -Policy Platform formation preceded with a meeting held in Burkina Faso in 2013 where a three member team from Ghana was involved with subsequent drafting and submission of proposal in request for funding leading to its establishment. The Ghana national climate change science policy platform as a multi-stakeholder institutional innovation came into being in 2013 with the support of CCAFS West Africa, set out to bridge science-policy literacy gap at the national and sub-national levels.In 2014, Ghana through the collaborative efforts of the national Platform implemented CCAFS Flagship4 activities which sought to deepen interaction at all levels. This culminated into the establishment of platforms at Lawra, Jirapa and Nandom districts with the view to strengthen climate change discourse, attitudinal change and actions at that level while maintaining a vibrant functional linkage mechanism with the national platforms for policy influence.An assessment of climate change policy and institutional context by Essegbey 2014, in these three districts, revealed that large gap exists between the national and subnational levels in terms of policy development and dissemination. The report identified weaknesses in harnessing societal grassroots inputs for policy formulation process and lack of awareness and knowledge about the policy especially in the decentralized levels of society in these three districts (Essegbey 2014). This suggests that policy literacy is very low and could pose challenge to effective implementation of the NCCP.The establishment of these platforms were necessary to help bridge the policy literacy gap. Today, these platforms provide soft landing for research activities and projects such ASSAR project, Water and Land Ecosystem project etc. The platforms also provide inputs into the districts level development annual plans. Effective networking with other local and international bodies have also been recognised.This info note seeks to give a process description of the scaling up of district sciencepolicy platforms in Ghana, the structures, the perceptions of the actors with particular reference to the platform, perceived functions, fears and organizational leadership diversities.Structurally, the national platform has a three-tier organizational structure namely: the secretariat of four staff from the host institute (CSIR-Animal Research Institute), core team of 12 strategic key organizations and a platform of over sixty members. The national platform has a chairman, vice chairman, secretary, accountant, communication and M&E focal persons operating within institutional framework. The national Platform is a member of the Global Alliance since 2015. The subnational platform also has similar three-tier structure, Secretariat, Core Team of key organisation and a platform of over 20 members (Figure 1). Memberships however are opened to every institutions and groups since the platform is multi-institutional and require concerted efforts by all (multidiscipline). They form part of the expanded members and there is no barrier of entry. The Ghana Climate Smart Agriculture Action Plan of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), was developed to operationalise the Ghana Climate Change Policy. The Action Plan recognises the need for the establishment of district level governance structure to effectively address climate change issues at the district level. It is in light of this that the Directorate of Crop Services, Ministry of Food and Agriculture through West Africa Agriculture Productivity Programme (WAAPP 2) in collaboration with the National CCAFS Platform signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate the establishment of sub-national (i.e. District Level CSA) platforms beginning with five districts namely Ada West, Ho West, Birim South, Tain and Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese districts. Also MOFA in its policy drive is currently being decentralized and that also calls for the mainstreaming of climate change activities into the district assemblies plan which make the establishment of the platform very relevant.Donor pressure to mainstream climate change issues into project formulation and implementation is also a drive factor culminating into the scaling up of subnational platforms. World Bank requires research projects implemented under the WAAP II for instance to ensure that the projects have relevant components addressing climate change issues. As a result most of the projects under implementation in Ghana have components relating to climate smart practices and innovations.Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) which is one of the partners of the Ghana science-policy interactive Platform on CSA is supporting MOFA to transition CSA to the district levels. The National Platform is a member of the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture for learning and sharing thus contributing to the work of the CSA Knowledge Action Group hosted by a Unit under the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The Global Alliance is also looking for models that will ensure that CSA activities are mainstreamed into subnational level activity pathways in an attempt to address food and nutrition insecurities.Also the Ghana Climate Smart Agriculture Action Plan (2015), recommended for the need to address climate change in the context of location (agro-ecological zone) specific. This was against the background that climate change affects people at different locations differently, hence the usual one-size-fits all approach of doing things cannot be relied upon to improve agriculture and food systems in the face of climate change and variability. As such ecological drivers also have the potency to trigger the establishment of CSA Platforms in districts within Ghana as propounded by the Ghana Action Plan Document.The scaling up of the platforms apart from the Flagship4, was initiated through collaboration. In the case of CARE Internatinal Ghana, a request for facilitation support led to the signing of MOU towards the assignment. The collaboration with WAAPII project ws as a result of interaction and it also witnessed the signing of MOU after a detailed presentation which highlighted the need for the platform was made. The national platform collaborates with institutions and organisations such as CARE International Ghana, MOFA-WAAPII project, FAO, NGOs, Religious bodies, EPA,tradional authorities, district assemblies, farmer-based organisation, academic and research institutions and other relevant organisations such as the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Fire Service, Forestry Commission and the media among others (GCCAFS Platform Review Vol, Issue 1, 2014). As part of the consultative process and institutional profiling ('membership scouting') agenda for the platform formation during reconnaissance field visits, these relevant organisations and institutions were contacted.Reconnaissance field studies were made with the objective to identify relevant actors and conduct individual awareness creation on the platform formation prior to its formation and launching. The initial field visits into the districts ranged from a day to four depending upon distance and availability of key persons. Specific objectives of the field visit are to facilitate:  set dates for the mobilisation and sensitisation workshop in the districts.  identify potential participants for the mobilisation and sensitisation workshop in the districts. select appropriate organisation in the districts that will support in the organisation of the mobilisation, sensitisation and launching workshop in the districts.The key stakeholders were contacted for face-face discussions while other persons were contacted by telephone. The reconnaissance visit report informed the national core team in designing appropriate pathways activities for the identification and mobilization of multi-stakeholder at the district level for the purpose. Always a consultative team of twothree persons from the national core team entered the districts with a designed checklist ensuring participatory engagement of district key stakeholder organizations and thereby conferring ownership of the process.Care is always taken to ensure fair representation of women during the identification of the potential participants for the district platform mobilisation workshop and about at least 36% of the participants are expected to be females.In most cases, the departments of agriculture of the various district assemblies were unanimously selected to assist with the organization of the sensitization and launching workshops.At each workshop video documentaries on CCAFS 2 o up and also documentary on the effect of Climate were shown. Resource persons were also engaged to further sensitise participants on climate change during the plenary sessions.Group breakout working sessions were also held to deliberate on platform formation, structure and actions.All the district science-policy platforms that emerged from the mobilization workshops were formally launched and their executives sworn into office by a political head. Each district platform democratically elected a Chairman, Vice Chairman, a secretary, an Organizer and a deputy organizer (where no female is elected) (Figure 2). Key people present during such occasion included Regional Ministers (with or without their Deputies), Members of Parliaments, Municipal/District Chief Executives, Directors, Chiefs and Queen mothers.During the various sessions for each district, the national core team representatives took down notes and collected data on participants' environmental scan and their perceptions These were necessary to arrive at the process outcomes and lessons drawn through consensus building and feed-back validation input mechanisms from the district actors.Ghana has ten (10) administrative regions consisting of 245 districts. So far out of the ten regions, CSA platforms have been scaled up into seven (7) regions. In all, there are 245 districts in Ghana but only eleven (11) districts have been covered out of 245 representing only 4.5% of coverage. In this case over the last three years platform establishment in Ghana has grown from 1.2% to 4.5%.This suggests that more platforms are required if mainstreaming CSA into subnational level and bridging policy literacy gap are required. Figure 3 shows the regional distribution of Science-policy platforms in Ghana.  The response to the mobilization and launching of the district platforms in terms of numerical participation by gender were great. Though the number of participants was not the same for all the districts, they were generally encouraging in diversity of institutional representation.In the Lawra District launching, over 100 participants attended, followed by Nandom (78) and for Ho West (70) participants were recorded (Figure 4). The low level of participants recorded at Jirapa was due to conflicting programmes within the district at the time of the workshop but in general the differences were largely due to limited budget since snacks, lunch and fares for local transportation were covered at each programme.Figure 4 shows district level actors participation by gender during the mobilization and establishment workshops of the nine (9) District CSA Platforms in Ghana.  Karbo et al (2015), reported that indiscriminate setting of bush fires was an issue in the Lawra district, where the president of the hunters groups indicated that hunters in the district are in three categories; namely, the small boys, the organized hunters and the professionals. The report revealed that the first two categories of hunters usually cause the bush burning within the district and therefore the professional hunters group called to see the vegetation intact to provide habitat for the game to breed so that they can sustainably practice the hunting livelihood.Generally all the stakeholders at the mobilization discussions expressed a positive perception of the platforms coming into being with the advantages of networking with others on climate change, a voice for the people on climate change issues at that level, enact local by-laws and sharing information.Some farmers mentioned that the platform will help them to share experience and best farming practices to increase their productivity. Figure 5 shows highlights of advantages enumerated by the districts with all the participants in each district platforms mentioning that the platforms will help them to exchanges experiences, ideas, serving as conduit for collaboration and networking and used to create awareness of climate change and its impact and needs for addressing it. Collective raising of funds for these activities through joint proposal development was also seen to be effective with such platform in place.In the Ada West district, the economic cost of climate change to agriculture was emphasized in their discussions. The participants indicated that climate change is impacting negatively on water and health sectors as well. The participants recognised the need for more education on environmental management and climate change, and also mainstreaming of climate change into its medium term development plans. They proposed for the need to incorporate climate change into school curriculum to educate pupils and students on climate change issues.Following from these discussions the participants appreciated the need for the formation of CSA Platforms to address climate change issues. However, some perceived fears or obstacles that may impede the functioning of the platforms were observed to include unnecessary political interference, negative beliefs and customs of the people, the needed resources and logistics for work may not be adequate and high level of illiteracy amongst the people could retard or negate programme progress. Some perceived weaknesses in the sustainability of the platforms due to short project duration not typical for climate issues which take time. The ignorance of many people about government policies on land leases and ownership could hamper platform activities. Figure 6 summarizes the perceived fears and obstacles that could impede the progress and sustainability of the platforms with almost all indicating lack of funds and logistics, political interference and attitudinal changes by members as key fears which require attention by relevant stakeholders.These perceived fears notwithstanding the formation of the district level platforms were seen as a kind of institutional innovation where all those who matter in the natural resources management affecting climate change can interact for greater understandings for common decision making and implementation for the better.In structure all the district platforms adopted model operated at the national level. The host organizations or institutions in the districts were identified, secretariats put in place and the strategic core teams formed. Table 2 below shows the host institutions for the various district level platforms produced from the breakout working group sessions during the mobilization workshops. The three breakout groups in each district debated on the issue host institution and the view collated at plenary. In Jirapa all three working groups came out with the view that the District Department of Agriculture (DoA) to host the platform. In the case of Lawra, the traditional council and Department of agriculture were proposed. A 2 to 1 verdict was returned by the group session discussions in favour of traditional council. Similarly in Nandom where NADRIDEP (NGO) and DoA were considered the 2 to 1 decision by participants was in favour of the NGO being host Institute. Ho West CSA Platform is equally hosted by an NGO called Development Institute. Other institutions hosting the platforms are elaborated in table 3 with majority of the platform hosted by Districts Department of Agriculture.Main reasons adduced for the host preferences were the ability to mobilise and organize people, transparency and trust, influential and closeness to the communities. A strong point for the NGO and DoA mentioned for the leadership was their work in the communities as extension agents. Indigenous knowledge and custodians of the land and natural resources, enormous local power including contributing to making and It is clear that the national platform has performed creditably in terms of regional upscaling. However, much more funding is required to upscale into nearly 95% of the the remaining districts in Ghana since climate change change is described as site and ecological specific and hence required district specific intervention. Lesson learnt include the competitive nature of hosting the platform.The initial target of about 36% women participants for the mobilization activities was below expected. The mobilization workshop analysis revealed that women participation fell short of the expected due to the fact that those women present were selected based on the representation of their interest groups.The existence of knowledge on CCAFS activities in selected districts in the Upper West Region. and the facilitating role of the National Platform provided soft landing in the mobilization and launch of the nine ( 9) District (sub-national) CSA science-policy platforms in Ghana. Administrative and political structures at the district level appear well defined and needs to be taken into account during project engagement to avoid possible protocol breaches. The receptiveness of the political and administrative leadership at both the district and regional level to the mobilisation and formation of all the platforms cannot be discounted in the success of the process.With the mainstreaming of climate change focus into the district assembly systems in Ghana, calls for the establishment of similar platforms across the country. Hence the Ghana Science Policy Platforms calls for partners in mainstreaming climate smart agriculture (CSA) through the establishment of platforms within the country and also serve as an entry point for CSA investments. It was acknowledged that the local people see themselves as part of the climate change problem and could therefore be part of the solution working together on the platform. However, similar local groupings at community level collapse due to politicization, nontransparency in the leadership and more so when local by-law and regulations meant to protect the environment are not applied evenly to offendersselective justice.The use of interpreters during mobilisation of stakeholders and the launch workshops in order to effectively communicate with all participants was very helpful though time consuming. Scientists, development workers and at times the interpreters appeared short in expressions for local categories that mean for climate change, policy, science, law, environment, climate-smart, etc. Facilitation the process may require a glossary to get started."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0dd5506ff44cb81886dc360ccf80f5a5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H021898.pdf","id":"-545524672"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e705ffd5-0d2b-4005-97d9-d799fdf41459","content":"Turnover of management responsibilities of irrigation systems to Irrigators' Associations (lAs) has been a primary policy objective of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) of the Philippines. Instead of treating \"turnover\" in isolation or as a separate issue, NIA has always considered it as an integral component of the Institutional Development Program (lOP). The lOP has as its goal, the formation, development and sustenance of functional, cohesive and viable lAs which are highly capable of managing partially or fully the operation and maintenance (O&M) of irrigation systems under formal contractual agreements with N IA.Most of the Communal Irrigation Systems (CIS) covering approximately 47 percent of the total irrigated area in the country are managed by the farmers. While the systems vary in scope and type of structure, most serve less than 1,000 hectares of farmland. As a tradition, the communal systems are constructed and developed jointly by NIA and lAs. At the completion of this phase, the systems are turned over to farmers. Most of the National Irrigation Systems, on the other hand, are managed jointly by NIA and lAs. Upon the acquisition of a legal status, an IA can enter into a contract with NIA. Aside from this, the IA to prove that it is capable of managing its affairs, particularly, the system's maintenance and the collection of Irrigation Service Fees (IS F). There are three types of contracts governing the NIA-IA partnership in the management of National Irrigation Systems. Type I contract entitles the IA to undertake canal maintenance while Type II contract allows the IA to collect ISF and retain a portion of the collection according to the NIA-IA incentive schedule. Type III contract stipulates that the IA amortizes the cost of construction. Such type of contract can be executed based either on a partial or total turnover of management. NlAs' current programs and future plans are aimed at achieving full turnover or Type 11\\ status in the majority of National Irrigation Systems.The objective of this paper is to describe briefly the strategies and processes adopted by NIA in achieving its lOP goals with special reference to the turnover of management responsibilities to lAs. The"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cdabc244bb1103bbfd997ff5cf3ecaa0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9bacf831-d7c1-45ab-bdaf-fa451e57c808/retrieve","id":"-1704725989"},"keywords":["Crop Wild Relatives: 1. Crops-Germplasm resources-Economic aspects-Africa-Case studies. 2. Agrobiodiversity-Economic aspects-Africa-Case studies. 3. Plant varieties-Economic aspects-Africa-Case studies. 4. Genetic resources conservation-Economic aspects-Africa-Case studies. I. Edilegnaw Wale. II. Drucker","Jagadish Chandra Gautam","Agri-Business and Trade Promotion Multipurpose Cooperative","723/67 Tank Prasad Ghumtisadak","Kathmandu","Nepal","email:"],"sieverID":"0be1899d-d324-4977-808a-b59a50d388c1","content":"This series of books is published by Earthscan in association with Bioversity International. The aim of the series is to review the current state of knowledge in topical issues in agricultural biodiversity, to identify gaps in our knowledge base, to synthesize lessons learned and to propose future research and development actions. The overall objective is to increase the sustainable use of biodiversity in improving people's well-being and food and nutrition security.The series' scope is all aspects of agricultural biodiversity, ranging from conservation biology of genetic resources through social sciences to policy and legal aspects. It also covers the fields of research, education, communication and coordination, information management and knowledge sharing.• Local or regional benefits to farmers and, ultimately, consumers when the choices make farming more resilient to biotic and a-biotic stress driven by agro-ecological changes; 2 and • Global benefits to future farmers, plant breeders and consumers when the choices they make protect against genetic erosion.Apart from these utilitarian arguments, there are also ethical and moral reasons to ensure the maintenance of biodiversity in general and agro-biodiversity in particular.Narrow genetic stock implies higher susceptibility to any potential danger, especially for African agriculture which is dependent mainly on nature. Reduction in diversity often increases vulnerability to climatic and other stresses, raises risks for individual farmers and can undermine the stability of agriculture (Thrupp, 2000). For instance, if all farm households in a given area plant a single local variety of sorghum and if a certain disease occurs in that area which the variety cannot resist, then the negative socio-economic and agro-ecological consequences will be enormous. The loss of agro-biodiversity has inevitable risks and costs to agricultural productivity and food security (Thrupp, 2000), which matters everywhere (Perrings and Lovett, 1999). Therefore, conservation and sustainable use of agro-biodiversity will remain to be a key policy issue for the sustainable development of every country's agriculture.Smallholder farmers of the developing world maintain the majority of the remaining agro-biodiversity. In developing countries, the lack of access to technologies has been the artificial cause of maintenance of traditional ways of farming by most smallholders (Hammer, 2003). However, for various reasons, conservation by farmers and the market is not enough (Wale, 2004). An individual farmer is not considering the number, quantity and identity of local varieties other farmers are maintaining on their farm. No farmer produces agrobiodiversity for its own sake and no farmer takes into account the effect of their actions on the level of agro-biodiversity regionally or nationally. Moreover, farmers' decisions are based on crop variety traits observable and relevant to them, which may not necessarily reflect all the public values discussed above. Farmers only produce crop diversity to the extent that it meets their private needs.Due to differences between private (to farmers) and public (to society) values of crop genetic resources, the private optimum level of conservation will not be equal to the social optimum. It would be sheer coincidence if the level, composition and quality of diversity corresponded to the one demanded by society (Maier and Shobayashi, 2001). Farmers as a group underproduce crop diversity as a public good (Smale, 2006b) because they are not rewarded for their contribution to crop diversity with additional social (public) benefits (Kontoleon et al, 2009b). As noted above, crop diversity has both private and public benefit (quasi-public goods) dimensions and farmers will produce the aspect of diversity meeting their private demands. Thus, society cannot rely on farmers and market forces alone (Cooper et al, 2005c). Consequently, there is a conservation gap -a gap between what is maintained by the farmers/market and the level of agro-biodiversity that needs to be maintained to capture the three benefits listed above.Though the causes, magnitude and consequences are context specific, there is now an increasing consensus that loss of crop genetic diversity is an ongoing rural development problem in developing countries. Genetic erosion is the single most serious strategic threat to the global food system (Gore, 1992). Habitat conversion (including the replacement of traditional varieties by improved/exotic ones), over-exploitation, trade and invasive species are the most important causes of biodiversity loss in general (Kontoleon et al, 2007a). Major causes of agrobiodiversity loss include degradation of agro-ecosystems, pollution, introduction of exotic species and genetic technologies, and selection pressure from human activities (Boef, 2000). Introduction of genetic technologies leads to the replacement of a large number of local varieties with a few, more uniform, high-yielding strains (Swaminathan, 2000) and deletion of indigenous species (Perrings and Lovett, 1999).Publicly driven agro-biodiversity policy measures are, therefore, indispensable to address the conservation gap. In this book, agro-biodiversity policy refers to any course of action in which national regulations and guidelines are set for the operation of specific instruments aimed at sustainable use and conservation of agro-biodiversity and monitoring the extent to which those objectives are met. If a country is signatory to the international conventions/treaties (e.g. the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture), it can include principles detailed in those treaties.There are four main elements in a policy for biodiversity conservation (Perrings and Lovett, 1999):• Regulatory regimes to protect key species, habitat and ecological services; • An appropriate set of property rights in natural resources (along with their supporting institutions); • A compensation mechanism; and • A supporting structure of incentives and disincentives to induce the desired response.Due to its scope, this volume will contribute mainly to the last two aspects. The first two are addressed in another Genetic Resources Policy Initiative (GRPI) book of this series. Every country has, within its specific constraints and opportunities, different options to conserve these resources.The two main options can be classified into:1 Public ex situ conservation strategies (cold room gene banks, botanical gardens, agricultural research stations and field gene banks); and 2 In situ conservation strategies in the form of farmers' de facto conservation, 3  conservation on farmers' fields through external incentives, national parks, and national reserves.Of the different in situ conservation options, conservation on farmers' fields, also called on-farm conservation, has recently received considerable attention by governments, NGOs and the international community.In situ conservation is gradually gaining greater acceptance because it is recognized that it is impractical to conserve all potentially useful genes ex situ for cost and technical reasons (Hawtin and Hodgkin, 1997). On-farm conservation, a subset of in situ, is also becoming more attractive. Its dynamic features, its capacity to maintain crop diversity and the indigenous knowledge associated with it, and the opportunity it opens up to link conservation and rural development are the typical desirable features of on-farm conservation. Poverty-ridden custodians of genetic wealth are increasingly confronted with severe socio-economic problems (Swaminathan, 2000). On-farm conservation offers a unique opportunity to link up conservation objectives with this poverty. Farmers participate in conservation initiatives if these activities support their livelihood strategies (Méndez et al, 2007). Agro-biodiversity conservation is not just a matter of ensuring the continuous survival of traditional varieties; it is a question of sustaining and enhancing the incomes and survival strategies of the rural people with which crop genetic resources are entwined. The challenge will be to develop cultivation systems that are a workable compromise between what is good for the farmers and what will benefit biological diversity (Perfecto et al, 1996).Agro-biodiversity on farmers' fields is the outcome of utilization of indigenous varieties of crops on farmers' fields (Wale, 2008b). Since the use of traditional varieties on-farm automatically maintains genetic resources contained therein along with farmers' indigenous knowledge, the distinction between use and conservation is irrelevant for on-farm conservation. As noted above, in terms of the attention they deserve for conservation, one can identify two categories of traditional crop varieties: those with use value to farmers and hence are conserved de facto, and those which do not currently address farmers' concerns and are not maintained on-farm. Those elements of genetic resources of no current use value to farmers (but of public value for the future of agriculture) will have to be maintained through public conservation strategies.To these effects, there is a need to identify the kinds of varieties that can/cannot survive in the course of economic development interventions. Considering crop varieties as good as their attributes, the studies reported in the subsequent chapters (e.g. Chapters 2, 3 and 5) will generate information as to which types of variety traits are useful for farmers, consumers and traders. This information is meant to assist decision-makers to identify those varieties that will be maintained as the outcomes of agricultural production and those that need to be maintained via public conservation strategies.This book has sought to document a variety of economic issues identified during the implementation of a global project -the Genetic Resources Policy Initiative. In Chapters 2-6 it presents the results of the various demand-driven topics identified in three of the six GRPI countries (Ethiopia, Nepal and Zambia). These empirical chapters are meant to highlight the mechanisms of linking genetic resources conservation, utilization and development.Target audiences for this book include decision-makers and other stakeholders (mainly in GRPI countries) involved in the conservation and sustainable utilization of crop diversity. It is hoped and believed that agricultural/development economists and other professionals working on the management of agro-biodiversity can also benefit from this piece of work.The rest of this introductory chapter is organized as follows. The ensuing section deals with the economics of genetic resources policy in some selected areas relevant to the book. This is followed by a discussion on the genesis of the GRPI-Economics work.The GRPI-Economics research/policy objectives and the research methodology are briefly presented subsequently. Finally, this chapter concludes presenting the road-map and overview of the empirical chapters.Biodiversity economics refers to the economic analysis of the principles, causes and implications of changes in biological diversity (Kontoleon et al, 2009b). It deals with identifying the social benefits of agro-biodiversity conservation and the social opportunity costs that result from agro-biodiversity loss.Economic analysis (e.g. research on the costs and benefits of maintaining agro-biodiversity) can feed into the multidisciplinary issue of agro-biodiversity policy. In general, the purpose of economic analysis (as it relates to agro-biodiversity) is to understand the linkages between policy interventions, autonomous changes and how all these changes influence farmers' preferences/incomes/ decisions and agro-biodiversity outcomes. The critical element of the analysis is addressing the impact of economic development interventions in the conservation, management and utilization of agro-biodiversity. To mitigate their impacts, the mechanisms through which development interventions affect farmers' cropvariety use decisions have to be understood and documented (Wale et al, 2009).When a farmer chooses to adopt a new variety and replace an older variety, it reflects the farmer's judgment that the new variety offers some net benefit or advantage (Evenson and Gollin, 2003). To the more commercial and marketoriented farmers, abandoning production of local varieties may appear to be economically rational if returns from the improved varieties are higher. Other factors, such as subsidized inputs and services (e.g. improved varieties, fertilizer and extension advice) might also create incentives to grow exotic varieties. Subsidies on improved varieties, which do not reflect the social opportunity cost of the activity to which they apply, distort the comparative advantages and artificially make traditional varieties less profitable to farmers (Pretty, 1995) while subverting farmers' expression of their own preferences and priorities (Chambers et al, 1989). Moreover, the profitability of modern agriculture is the outcome of free-riding on those farmers who are investing in such genetic diversity (Kontoleon et al, 2009b). Such policy distortions can ultimately undermine the farmers' contribution to maintaining traditional varieties of crops (Brown et al, 1993).Economic analysis can help understand the incentives that farmers need in making the choice between raising local and/or improved varieties, as well as the identification of interventions compatible with the conservation and sustainable use of agro-biodiversity (Drucker and Anderson, 2004). Such analysis will inform policy-makers on the possible trade-offs (see 'Genetic resources policy trade-offs' below) between development and agro-biodiversity outcomes. In doing so, it helps to inform policy options that can achieve both agro-biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction.The livelihoods literature (e.g. Ellis, 1998;Scoones, 1998;Bebbington, 1999) suggests that farmers respond to policy, environmental and resource constraints (e.g. by changing crop and variety choices). According to this literature, livelihoods diversification is the most widespread strategy. Livelihood diversification, which can be voluntary or involuntary, is defined as the process by which rural families construct a diverse portfolio of activities to survive and improve their standards of living (Ellis, 1998). Growing a portfolio of traditional varieties of crops is one of the most common strategies of farmers to address various concerns including risk.The relationship between agricultural production and genetic resources is two directional, i.e. agricultural production affects genetic resources outcomes, and agricultural production and productivity also depend on the state of genetic resources (Day-Rubenstein and Heisey, 2001). Consider Figure 1.1 below which sketches the links among farmers' contextual characteristics, policy variables and crop diversity/seed technology use outcomes. It portrays the mechanisms through which farmers' decisions become genetic resources friendly or otherwise and the synergies/trade-offs involved. It also depicts the possible interlinkages between genetic resources policy-making and development interventions, issues addressed in the empirical case studies of the book.According to Figure 1.1, farmers' resource endowments, institutions, policy and contextual characteristics influence their resource allocation behaviour. Endowments refer to the resources and rights that social actors have (Leach et al, 1999). Given their needs and constraints and the types of crop varieties (technologies) to which they have access, farmers follow certain livelihood strategies which involve resource allocation decisions. Seed technology choice, diversification and variety use are examples of these decisions.The end results are rural welfare (incomes, productivity, poverty, vulnerability, etc.) and natural resources outcomes, sustainable or unsustainable.The impact of farmers' decisions on the outcome variables (natural resources and farmers' poverty/income conditions) reflects the trade-offs discussed in 'Genetic resources policy trade-offs' below. The synergy or conflict is context specific (Smale et al, 2006) as the conflicts between agriculture and biodiversity are by no means inevitable (Thrupp, 2000). The net effect of the trade-offs and synergies will result in genetic resources and human dimension outcomes which, in turn, will be affected by the contextual factors, endowments, institutions and farmers' livelihood strategies through the feedback loops and linkage effects.For the most part, policy-makers fail to understand the role of genetic resources for sustainable agricultural development. This could partly be because of the fact that the role/value of these resources in agriculture is not as visible as resources like soil and water. In other words, the loss in genetic resources and its impact on the national economy is invisible and less immediate but cumulative. To address this gap, valuation of agro-biodiversity conservation remains high on the policy agenda (Kontoleon et al, 2009b). In this book, valuation of genetic resources does not mean pricing in a cardinal sense but it is taken as a mechanism for the recognition of the diverse values of these resources in society and accounting for those values whenever possible (Wale, 2008a).Valuation is meant to inform policy on the benefits of maintaining and the costs of losing genetic resources, and it is a means to justify investment on conservation. It is an input to undertake cost-benefit analysis of alternative policy options (Nunes and Nijkamp, 2008). In so doing, it entails addressing policyrelevant questions such as: Is conservation of biodiversity worth it? Does the minimum benefit outweigh the costs?To the extent that the effort to value these resources does what the market fails to do and identifies the beneficiaries of these resources along the value chain, Setting the Scene for GRPI Economics 9Source: Adapted from Scoones (1998) and Wale (2004) conservation agents can identify the agents of the loss (the would-be contributors to finance conservation) and the amount each agent has to contribute. Similarly, it also enables conservation agents to identify the agents of conservation who will have to be rewarded and decide on how much the reward should be. The valuation exercise is also an input to access and benefit-sharing legislations and bio-prospecting agreements so that the arrangements to share the benefits and implement the bio-prospecting agreements can be made in accordance with the value of the genetic material. In sum, valuation is important for all facets of public decision-making that impact upon biodiversity resources (Kontoleon et al, 2007a). Wale et al (2009) have noted the inevitability of policy impact trade-offs in genetic resources policy-making in the context of the situation prevailing in the GRPI countries. The relevance of the concept of policy impact trade-offs emanates from the interlinkage and interdependence of agro-biodiversity conservation and agricultural development (Day-Rubenstein and Heisey, 2001). The recent book edited by Kontoleon, Pascual and Smale (2009a) echoed the lively debate surrounding the trade-off between the dissemination of high-yielding modern varieties and the potential erosion of plant genetic diversity, as the former is often argued to have the potential to induce genetic uniformity.Trade-offs in the current volume refers to the gain in the agricultural development objective and the loss in agro-biodiversity conservation, and vice versa, due to any agricultural policy. Even though there are possible synergies between agrobiodiversity and agricultural development, this book will focus on the trade-offs aiming to contribute towards policies directed at averting agro-biodiversity loss.Trade-offs are often experienced through the impact of the development interventions on the comparative advantages of local/improved varieties. Extinction is related to the process of development itself (Drucker and Rodriguez, 2009). In the absence of mitigating policy measures, negative externalities of development policies/projects (meant to take care of rural poverty through crop productivity) will be revealed through crop diversity loss. A lot of crop varieties have already been discarded as a result of policy incentives and consequently farmers' decisions to improve their livelihoods (de Ponti, 2004). For instance, adoption of wheat genetic technologies is resulting in wheat diversity loss in the central highlands of Ethiopia (Yifru and Hammer, 2006). Moreover, the loss in crop diversity (of food crops like sorghum) is sometimes due to displacement of the crop and its traditional varieties by other more rewarding cash crops such as khat (Catha edulis) in Ethiopia (Wale, 2004). 4  On-farm conservation involves opportunity costs. These costs often increase with better access to markets, inputs and productive farming systems (Wale, 2008b). There is an inverse relationship between on-farm conservation outcomes and opportunity costs (Cooper et al, 2005b). In other words, less-favoured areas, which maintain the dominant stock of agro-biodiversity, are the ones that face lesser opportunity costs of growing diverse traditional crops and varieties. However, this does not imply that poor farmers will have to remain detached from markets and technological options to maintain traditional varieties. It rather shows the policy trade-offs decision-makers face.Markets have major impacts on agricultural biodiversity, by affecting farmers' choice of crops and varieties to grow (Lipper et al, 2009). Market development often reduces the chance of cultivating traditional varieties (Smale, 2006a). Agricultural market linkage has often been associated with a number of negative impacts, including the reduction in on-farm crop genetic diversity and narrowing the crop genetic resource base of agricultural systems (Bellon, 2004).The specific trade-offs identified in different GRPI countries have been discussed in more detail in Wale et al (2009).Despite all such trade-offs, policy-makers and donors do not often consider biodiversity impacts during the design of policies, projects and programmes (Wale et al, 2009). Development interventions often fail to internalize their unintended impacts on biodiversity (Srivastava et al, 1996). This problem is by and large the outcome of lack of understanding of the above interdependencies and linkages. Trade-offs between conservation of biodiversity and poverty reduction (food security) should be taken into account when designing conservation policies (Kitti et al, 2009). To deal with trade-offs, decision-makers will have to consider and internalize genetic resources issues when they formulate other development policies and programmes. They also have to place mitigating measures when development policies are in conflict with genetic resources. Otherwise, agricultural development interventions that erode crop genetic diversity will become self-defeating in the long-run as crop genetic resources are inputs for genetic technology development. The case studies presented in this book analyse some of the contextual trade-offs and suggest possible mechanisms to arrive at the 'right but hard' mix of policies, choices and decisions.Value chains 5 can be defined as the sequence of value-adding activities leading to end use (Sturgeon, 2001). It encompasses all activities involving input supply, production, processing and marketing. Due to its holistic nature, no problem will be left untouched and this makes it a suitable avenue to address the preceding trade-offs in a manner that adds value to the products of traditional crop varieties so that farmers can benefit from these varieties and diversity outcomes can be improved.Why and how do research and development (R&D) in value chains address the conservation of agro-biodiversity? Policies to promote in situ conservation include promotion of demand for products of diverse (landrace) varieties (Cooper et al, 2005b). One of the innovative elements of R&D on value chains for crop genetic resources is the opportunity it offers to link farmers' incomes, their survival strategies and the diversity of those crops. 6 Value addition to the products of traditional varieties of crops will create extra market demand for the crop as an intermediate product. This will, in turn, increase its market price and improve farmers' income, increase their incentive to grow the traditional crop varieties and ensure the sustainable cultivation of the crop. Instead of directly compensating farmers the financial opportunity costs, linking the products of farmers' varieties to agricultural value chains is more attractive on sustainability and feasibility grounds (Wale, 2008b).Addressing the institutional and transaction cost problem along the value chain can enhance the cultivation, processing and marketing of those traditional varieties with a value-adding role in the chain. However, not all landraces are equally valuable (Smale, 2006b). Market value chain analysis (e.g. Chapter 6 in this volume) can inform policy decisions as to which types of traditional varieties will be more useful along the value chain. As it could be that all varieties of a given crop are not suitable for value addition, value chains may discriminate against certain varieties, i.e. the use and diversity of some varieties can be enhanced at the expense of the others.This calls for further R&D on this subject, which is becoming increasingly important.The problem of losing genetic resources in developing countries, among other things, can be attributed to policy and institutional failures. By and large, biodiversity loss is a problem of inadequate institutions and incentives (Kontoleon et al, 2007a). The failures have occurred because the policies do not lead to the desirable outcomes set in advance, or rural development policies do not account for the agro-biodiversity impacts, or the recommendations are not taken up altogether.In any attempt to formulate and implement biodiversity policy, technical, institutional and capacity constraints are prevalent, especially in developing countries where most of the world's genetic resources are found. Taking these imperatives into account, the GRPI project, among other things, was initiated to strengthen capacity in genetic resources policy in six selected developing countries (Egypt, Ethiopia, Nepal, Peru, Vietnam and Zambia) and three regions (East Africa, West and Central Africa, and the Andean regions). To contribute to capacity-building in the economics of genetic resources policy issues, a postdoctoral researcher and a graduate student (MSc) were supported by the project to do data collection and empirical analysis in one of the GRPI countries, Ethiopia.GRPI, among other things, was designed to assist decision-makers with measures that can reduce negative impacts of development policy measures on genetic resources. It was designed to contribute towards cost-effective, stakeholder-sensitive and community-based genetic resources conservation and utilization strategies. The GRPI-Economics work, as part of this international initiative, initiated in Phase 2 of the project, aimed to feed economic analysis results into genetic resources policy-making.The economics research in the GRPI project has been underway in Ethiopia, Nepal and Zambia since June 2005. Taking into account the 3M (multidisciplinary, multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral) 7 nature of genetic resources policy, it was found critical to engage the relevant stakeholders.Although a number of studies and books have been produced on the economics of agro-biodiversity conservation (e.g. Smale, 2006a;Cooper et al, 2005a;Kontoleon et al, 2007b;and Kontoleon et al, 2009a), there is little evidence of economic analysis being 'mainstreamed' in the policy-making process. Relative to other research areas of public policy, economics has contributed little to debates about the value of these resources (Smale, 2006b). Experiences in terms of integrating economic analysis results into the policy process are very scarce. Previous studies do not appear to have had an impact on policy proposals in different countries.One of the tenets of this current volume is that, among other things, this is due to the lack of participatory process that engages all the relevant stakeholders in the identification and examination of the problem(s). It is recognized during the implementation of GRPI project that it is imperative for decision-makers to understand how economic policies and programmes in different sectors affect agro-biodiversity conservation outcomes.Hoping to make the recommendations more appealing to decision-makers, GRPI launched a participatory process during the early stages; the specific issues/topics addressed are identified by stakeholders themselves (decisionmakers, government organizations, researchers from various disciplines, NGOs and grass-root organizations, farmers and private businesses) in the respective GRPI countries. Engaging various stakeholders in the respective countries, some of which have conflicting mandates and vested interests, has been entrusted to enhance the willingness and ability of different stakeholders to take collective actions so as to improve both farmers' incomes and agro-biodiversity outcomes.The case studies reported in this book are not topics identified by the authors of the respective chapters. Like many other GRPI products, this book is the outcome of a demand-driven process during the implementation of GRPI. It is, therefore, expected that the results and their implications will be integrated into the policy processes in the respective countries. Consequently, the GRPI team firmly believes that the products will not be shelved but taken up by the decisionmakers in the respective GRPI countries. That is how this volume and other GRPI products in this series aim to elevate the profile and agro-biodiversity policy impact of research in various fields (economics, institutional analysis, legal analysis, etc.).The general objective of GRPI-Economics is to conduct economic analysis on policy issues identified through the process outlined in the section above so that the results can feed into harmonizing genetic resources policy trade-offs. To this end, as the subset of the global multidisciplinary project, GRPI-Economics had the following specific demand-driven objectives:• to study farmers' preferences/choices to identify crop varieties maintained de facto and those that need policy interventions; • to examine the values (mainly trait-based) of traditional varieties of crops; • to explore farmers' views and perceptions on replacement (of traditional varieties of crops by improved ones) and loss, and the importance of the outcome of this process to their livelihoods; • to examine the potentials (to genetic resources policy) of value addition and commercialization of traditional varieties of crops; and • to generate policy relevant information that will contribute towards developing a policy framework for the value addition, commercialization and incentive design for the sustainable utilization and conservation of traditional varieties of crops.Household survey data were collected in 2007 in some of the GRPI countries (Ethiopia, Nepal and Zambia) to address the economics research questions identified in the respective countries. In Ethiopia and Nepal, multi-stage stratified random sampling (to identify regions, districts, villages, local communities and farm households studied in the respective countries) was applied. In Zambia, there was no formal sampling as consumers/traders of maize and groundnut were identified more purposively in various areas of urban Lusaka. It has to be reemphasized that all the case studies in this volume have implications limited to areas with similar contextual features. Data were collected through interviews with individual farmers/ consumers/traders using questionnaires (different in content in each country). The questionnaires were pre-tested in all countries. Moreover, key informant interviews (with elderly farmers, extension agents, community leaders, local officials, women's groups and members of local informal institutions) and group discussions were held as necessary. Secondary data were also gathered and consultations made with policy-makers, development practitioners and agricultural researchers in each country.Broadly speaking, drawing from the environmental economics literature, there are two main sets of methods (stated and revealed) for addressing genetic resources policy issues to which economic analysis can contribute. In stated preference methods, individuals (economic agents) are given options to state their preferences by making choices from a range of defined alternatives which represent hypothetical market situations/scenarios. Choice experiments (as in Chapter 2), exploratory studies that deal with views, perceptions and attitudes (as in Chapter 4), 8 and variety attribute preference ranking (as in Chapter 5) fall under stated preference methods.The revealed preference methods, on the other hand, explore individuals' decision behaviour in the real world by observing their transactions in markets. In this class of methods, one can think of approaches such as hedonic pricing (as in Chapter 3) and analysis of outcomes -gross margin analysis, value chain analysis and farm business income analysis of alternative choices (for instance, in Chapter 6).While choice experiments have frequently been applied in animal genetic resources literature (e.g. Scarpa et al, 2003aScarpa et al, , 2003b;;Tano et al, 2003, Zander andDrucker, 2008), they are not that often applied in the crop diversity literature. Chapter 2 is one of the first studies of its kind to apply choice experiments to crop diversity. In this chapter, choice experiments were designed to elicit farmers' preferences for a range of discrete variety attributes (yield, price, yield stability and environmental adaptability) identified from the information gathered from the rapid rural appraisal and key informant interviews. Every effort has been made to make the choices simple and clear for farmers to compare. For instance, instead of offering the households with high-yielding and marketable varieties, precise yield levels and market prices were set to elicit their preferences. This has created the opportunity to understand the trade-offs that farmers make between non-monetary variety attributes (yield stability and early maturity) and money convertible traits (yield).Chapter 3 evaluates different useful traits of rice landraces in Nepal using attribute preference analysis. A hedonic pricing model is employed disaggregating the prices paid by the consumers for different useful traits of rice. The model captures consumers' willingness-to-pay for each rice variety trait. For estimating farmers' derived demand for seeds with different useful traits, a contingent valuation method is employed. This model captures farmers' bid for seeds of new varieties of rice with desirable traits. Chapter 4 analyses farmers' perceptions and views on loss and replacement of traditional varieties of crops in Ethiopia using descriptive statistics and a simple logit analysis. The estimated model is used to identify characteristics that distinguish farmers of different perceptions on issues of loss and what it means to their respective households.In the Zambian case study, the maize and groundnut data are analysed using variety attribute preference ranking and regression analysis. The attribute rates were subjected to paired t-test analysis while regression analysis was conducted to understand the influence of different contextual characteristics of households on the quantity of local maize (Gankata) purchased per week.Chapter 6 utilizes farm business income as the measure of the financial viability of rice landraces to farmers. Farm business income is computed as the income to the farm family from the crop after deducting the cost of purchased inputs from the total gross income.The valuation concept taken in this volume is largely the one followed in Smale (2006a): the use of economic concepts to explain and predict human choices. If one defines valuation more broadly as the use of economic concepts to explain the role of traditional varieties of crops in agricultural R&D and predict the impact of human choices on the future of traditional varieties of crops, all the chapters can be considered as valuation case studies.This small volume is organized around seven chapters and four parts. The five empirical chapters are grouped according to the methodological approaches adopted, the subject matters addressed and the policy implications drawn. The book will present the economics of managing crop diversity on-farm in terms of crop variety attribute preferences, value addition and marketing of the products of traditional crop varieties.The absence of traits preferred by farmers and the presence of unacceptable traits are variety-dependent qualities that determine farmers' use of crop varieties. Identification of varieties maintained de facto and those which need policy interventions is done in all case study countries: Zambia, Nepal and Ethiopia. The diversity of traditional rice varieties is valued in Nepal and the commercialization potentials of traditional varieties are examined in Nepal and Zambia.Chapter 1 has so far set the scene by introducing the subject matter of the book. It has explained the need for agro-biodiversity policy and the rationale for the volume. The genesis of the book, the objectives and the methodology are presented subsequently.In Part 2, the book turns to variety trait preferences, perceptions and on-farm conservation policy. Chapter 2 of this part analyses Ethiopian farmers' preferences for sorghum and teff variety traits. It begins establishing the relationship between farmers' concerns and variety attribute preferences. This is followed by the theoretical underpinnings behind the choice experiment approach. Having described the study sites and sampled farm households, the findings are explained in the second half of the chapter.The analysis has generated policy-relevant information on the relative importance of crop-variety attributes to farm households. It has also made it possible to capture yield and price levels that farmers are willing to sacrifice to get non-monetary traits like yield stability and environmental adaptability. This further sheds light on how non-monetary variety attributes can be converted into their monetary values.In Chapter 3, having discussed the approaches for measuring the economic value of crop diversity, the authors estimate the economic value of rice landraces. This case study documents the different useful traits of rice landraces in Nepal. Accordingly, Nepalese farmers attach a substantial value to a combination of high-yielding and aromatic traits, enough to justify investment in conservation.Chapter 4 investigates farmers' views on the problems of replacement and loss of traditional varieties. It also looks into whether or not farmers view replacement and loss relevant to their livelihoods. This chapter starts presenting the scientific controversies on the questions of replacement and loss mainly drawing from the literature. Having established the research gap -integrating farmers' views and perceptions into this discussion -it then discusses the data collection process and analyses the data elicited from 395 farmers. Based on the empirical results, the chapter concludes that future on-farm conservation strategies have to target farmers based on their perceptions of replacement and loss, and the importance of the loss to their livelihoods.Part 3 then deals with market value chains, commercialization and on-farm conservation policy. This part has two chapters from two GRPI countries. Chapter 5 deals with consumers' attribute preferences and traders' challenges affecting the use of local maize and groundnut varieties in Zambia. Recognizing the links among on-farm utilization of traditional crop production and consumption, this case study examines preferences of consumers and traders. This is done drawing from trader and consumer surveys on both maize and groundnut. The results have revealed that before making decisions to buy maize, consumers pay more attention to quantity-related attributes (such as grain size and kernel density) than to quality-related attributes (such as food taste). In contrast, when consumers make decisions to buy groundnut, quality-attributes were perceived as important. It is concluded that, when dealing with staple foods such as maize, breeders should focus on quantitative traits whereas qualitative traits should be targeted for non-staple food crops such as groundnut.Chapter 6 deals with value addition and commercialization of rice landraces in Nepal. The results of the input cost and income analyses are then presented subsequently. This chapter explains farmers' rationale for engaging themselves in growing traditional crop varieties despite net loss if all the inputs, including homeproduced resources, were to be imputed and costed. Based on the empirical results, the chapter suggests possibilities for promoting value-addition enterprises for rice and some selected local varieties of crops.Part 4 concludes the book and offers outlook on the possible ways forward for economics and genetic resources policy. It recaps the issues, summarizes the major findings and draws the implications of the results for genetic resources policy.1 Conservation of a diverse portfolio of traditional crop varieties safeguards agriculture from potential losses (due to disease outbreaks, pathogens, pests, and vagaries of climate) that could arise in the foreseeable future. 2 The loss of every gene and species limits our options for the future to breed varieties responsive to changes in climate, for instance (Swaminathan, 1996).The need to adapt to climate change and increased variability of production conditions is likely to increase farm-level demands for crop diversity (Lipper et al, 2009). 3 De facto conservation is the decision of farmers to continue cultivating local varieties (Meng, 1997) without any external public inducement. It is, in short, the positive externality of farming which, as noted above, will not result in the optimum level of crop genetic resources.4 This is an economically important stimulant cash crop in many parts of Ethiopia, especially southeast. Consumers chew the leaves. 5 Value chains are also called commodity chains, activity chains, production chains or supply chains. 6 While there are R&D activities on the poverty and growth dimensions of agricultural value chains, there is hardly any study that links agricultural value chains with agrobiodiversity outcomes. 7 For details on the 3M methodology, see Wale et al (2009). 8 Such studies can also generate information on farmers' views/perceptions about a certain genetic resource policy question that permits farmers' perspectives to be integrated into crop genetic resources policy issues.Part 2Chapter 2Attributes: A Choice Experiment ApproachSinafikeh Asrat Gemessa and Kerstin K. ZanderEthiopia has immense wealth of crop genetic resources, which is due to its diverse agro-ecology and cultural diversity. The country's genetic resources are, however, subject to serious erosion and irreversible losses due to policy, institutional and market failures. This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the challenges with bearings on the sustainable management of crop genetic diversity through analysing farmers' crop variety attribute preferences and identifying the key socio-economic factors that condition their attribute preferences. The study applied a choice experiment (CE) method to elicit preferences and estimate the relative importance of the attributes in defining the perceived utility to be derived from four traits of sorghum and teff varieties, the two major food crops in the country (as a source of staple food for many parts of the country, teff, an annual grass, is primarily grown to prepare Ethiopian bread known as 'injera', porridge and some native alcoholic drinks). The attributes included selling price, productivity, environmental adaptability (resistance to drought, poor soil and frost occurrences) and yield stability of the variety despite occurrences of disease and pest problems. The analysis of farmers' preferences was based on primary data collected from farmers growing 131 teff and sorghum in the northeastern part of Ethiopia. Farm households attached the highest private value to the environmental adaptability trait of both sorghum and teff crops. This was followed by yieldMany societies around the world depend on agricultural innovation processes for their daily livelihoods, particularly food supply. Crop genetic resources, embodied in the diversity of seeds planted by farmers, are important to secure food production and supply (di Falco et al, 2010). Different stakeholders such as farmers and breeders as well as gene-bank managers and crop scientists draw on diverse crop genetic resources to innovate, support and benefit society as a whole (Smale, 2006). Sustainable management of crop genetic resources means assuring their diversity, both in trust collections or gene banks (ex situ) and on farms (in situ) (Smale, 2006;Bezabih, 2008). For farmers crop biodiversity is important to combat risks, from plant diseases to pests, and to adapt to changing production systems and changing environments (di Falco et al, 2010). Crop biodiversity is essential for the functioning of ecosystems and the provision of ecosystem services (e.g. Naeem et al, 1994) and also provides dietary needs and services that consumers demand as economies change (Smale, 2006).Crop genetic resources are environmental goods that are renewable but vulnerable to losses from either natural or human-made interventions. Crop genetic improvement and the increase in farm inputs, such as pesticides and fertilizers, were driven by the goal to increase yield and yield stability, and have transformed rural societies in many parts of the world (Smale, 2006). There is, however, a growing concern about potential loss of crop biodiversity associated with social and economic change. The common challenge now is to develop strategies that enable crop genetic resources to be managed in ways that satisfy the needs of farmers and consumers at present and in the future. Crop biodiversity is a quasi-public good (Bezabih, 2008) and its conservation also benefits society as a whole, including future generations. The provision of crop biodiversity is largely on-farm, in particular in low-input agricultural systems in developing countries, and therefore the level of conservation is highly dependent on the preferences and decisions of farmers.The purpose of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the challenges of crop genetic conservation by providing an insight into Ethiopian farmers' preferences for crop variety attributes and to identify the key socioeconomic characteristics that influence these preferences. Ethiopian policy-makers have to be informed about, inter alia, 'Who prefers what kind of variety attributes the most?' and 'How much are farmers willing to trade-off one variety attribute for another?' if on-farm conservation programmes are to be undertaken successfully. This study deals with these two questions by analysing farmers' attribute preferences, expressed by their willingness to pay for varieties of the two major crops in the country: sorghum and teff.Similar questions about the WTP for certain attributes and about preference heterogeneity have already been raised in the context of evaluating animal genetic resources (AnGRs). These studies have attracted considerable attention, starting off with the work by Scarpa et al (2003aScarpa et al ( , 2003b)). The most recent studies in East Africa are on the evaluation of cattle (Zander and Drucker, 2008), goats (Omondi et al, 2008a) and sheep (Omondi et al, 2008b), all based on choice experiments. For crop genetic resources, we are aware of only a few studies that use CE. Birol et al (2006) applied a CE to study farmers' demand for agricultural biodiversity in the home gardens of Hungary's transition economy, while Ruto and Garrod (2009) investigated farmers' preferences in a wider perspective, not on crop attributes but on agri-environment schemes. It is, therefore, important to conduct further research using stated preference methods such as CE on crops and their preferred attributes. Having knowledge about the holistic value of Ethiopian indigenous flora and fauna, and in particular its total agro-biodiversity, can inform conservation priority setting. Understanding the role of farmers in cultivating specific local crops or keeping unique farm animals in the conservation process is essential if improved varieties/breeds developed by breeding programmes are to address the concerns of farmers and their wellbeing.For this study, a CE was conducted to estimate the individual utility farmers derive from four attributes of sorghum and teff varieties including:• producers' price; • productivity; • environmental adaptability; and • yield stability.In a CE, individuals are given a hypothetical setting and asked to choose their preferred alternative among several options in a choice set, and they are usually asked to perform a sequence of such choices. Each alternative (a teff or sorghum variety in this case) was described by a number of attributes and their levels. Crop varieties possess private as well as public benefits, together accounting for the total economic value of crop genetic resources. Maintaining local crop varieties in Ethiopia provides a quasi-public good benefit with the external effect of conserving a genetic pool that has global significance for breeding and biodiversity. However, given the approach taken in this study, only internal (private) values to farmers, which are mainly use values, were captured. Assessing such use values plays a key role in orienting conservation and breeding strategies as conventional economic analyses often ignore the importance of indirect use values (e.g. sociocultural/medical use, their ability to withstand biotic and abiotic stresses) associated with local varieties (see Zander and Drucker, 2008). The empirical analysis of farmers' preferences for the above attributes was based on primary data collected from farmers growing 131 teff and sorghum in the northeastern part of Ethiopia.The remaining part of this paper is structured as follows. A relationship between farmers' concerns and variety attribute preferences is drawn in the next section.The third section outlines the theoretical underpinnings behind the choice experiment approach. The fourth section explains the data generation process followed by a description of the study sites and sampled farm households. The design and administration of the choice experiment is explained in the fifth section. The penultimate section discusses the findings from the analysis of the choice experiment data. Policy implications are drawn in the final section.Understanding farmers' preferences for crop attributes and their incentives to grow diverse varieties are critical to the success of on-farm conservation (di Falco et al, 2010). Such an understanding will also help in the areas of research prioritysetting and improved breeding (Wale and Yalew, 2007). Preferences for variety attributes are, in turn, shaped by farmers' economic (resource constraints, markets and risk) and non-economic (religion, culture, norms and attitudes) concerns. For example, when local variety attributes satisfy farmers' concerns, their de facto conservation is the outcome of the correspondence between variety attributes and farmers' concerns. The preference for a variety and land allocation decision is dependent on farm household characteristics, their attitudes and concerns (Wale, 2004).The probability that farmers choose to cultivate a certain crop variety, on the other hand, is dependent on the key attributes the farmers associate with the variety. Each farmer, however, derives different utility from consuming different varieties with different attributes based on the farm household's characteristics and attitudes. The survival of a variety on-farm, or the successful adoption of a newly introduced improved variety, is mainly a function of the maximized benefit to the farm household (Wale and Yalew, 2007).Since most of the attributes that characterize the varieties of crops are not directly tradable, non-market valuation methods must be used to determine their relative economic value. These benefits primarily accrue to farmers in non-market values or utility. The preferences of farmers, who are both producers and consumers of crop variety outputs, determine the implicit values they attach to crop varieties and their attributes (Louviere et al, 2000).Of the range of environmental valuation approaches, the choice experiment method is appropriate for valuing crop varieties, considering their multiple benefits and functions.This method makes possible the estimation not only of the value of the environmental asset as a whole, but also of the implicit values of its attributes (Hanley et al, 1998;Bateman et al, 2003).The approach, upon which the framework for choice modelling is based, has a theoretical grounding in Lancaster's model of consumer choice (Lancaster, 1966), and an econometric basis in models of random utility (Luce, 1959;McFadden, 1974). From random utility models, welfare measures can be obtained, expressed as farmers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) or willingness-toaccept (WTA) compensation for a change in crop varieties' attribute levels. The estimates for these welfare measurements are obtained from applying a conditional logit (CL) model, whose specification is detailed in many textbooks (e.g. Greene, 2000;Freeman, 2003). With one attribute being price, the implicit price (IP) for a change in any attribute, all else being equal, can be calculated. If the IP for an attribute is negative, then we obtain a WTA estimate, because farmers will be worse-off with a utility change and require compensation to be left at the same utility level. If the IP has a positive sign, then farmers have a WTP for the attribute in question. The IP is calculated by the ratio of coefficients of the attributes in question ␤ attribute , as obtained from the CL model and the coefficient of the monetary variable ␤ monetaryvariable (see e.g. Rolfe et al, 2000;Zander and Holm-Mueller, 2007).The assumptions about the distributions-of-error terms implicit in the use of the conditional logit model impose the independence of irrelevant alternatives (IIA) property (Louviere et al, 2000). This property states that the probability of a particular alternative being chosen is independent of other alternatives, whether or not IIA property holds can be tested by dropping an alternative from the choice set and comparing parameter vectors for significant differences (Louviere et al, 2000). A common test to detect violation of the IIA property is the Hausman test (Hausman and McFadden, 1984), as applied to our data.Survey data was drawn from farmers residing in two peasant associations (PAs) 1 in the northeastern part of Ethiopia (North Wollo zone of Amhara Regional State). Two phases of data collection procedures were implemented for this study within the framework of the Ethiopian component of Bioversity's GRPI project. Stratified multistage sampling was adopted to identify Zones, Districts, PAs, villages and farm households. Overall, a total of 131 farmers were selected and interviewed from the two PAs found in the Guba Lafto district of North Wollo zone. The next part discusses the characteristics of the selected study sites (PAs) covered in this study. See 'Design and administration of the choice experiment' section below for the design of the CE survey.A summary of the main characteristics of the two PAs surveyed is reported in Table 2.1.Teff, sorghum and maize were among the most important food crops in both PAs. Agro-ecologically, the midland area (locally known as 'Woina dega') is the dominant agro-ecology in Woinye PA, covering 83 per cent, whereas the lowland area (locally known as 'Kola') is the major agro-ecology in Ala Wuha PA, covering 95 per cent.This should, however, increase the representativeness of our surveyed farm households since our sample covers farmers from the three major agro-ecologies of the country (midland, highland and lowland) growing the two major crops (sorghum and teff).The characteristics of the surveyed households and farm decision-makers are indicated in Table 2.2. The descriptive statistics for the binary variables (e.g. Gender) are reported in percentage terms. Assuming that the variables reported in Table 2.2 have the same direction of influence on preferences of attributes of both crops, their hypothesized effects on the demand for attributes considered in this study are also included in  where 1 denotes male and 0 denotes female); 2 the number of household members who share the same food stock (denoted as 'Household size'); 3 farming experience of the household head in years (denoted as 'Experience'); 4 whether or not any member of the farm household works off-farm (denoted as 'Off-farm work', where 1 denotes at least one member working off-farm and 0 otherwise); 5 whether or not the farm household has been participating in the agricultural extension package programme (denoted as 'Agri. extension', where 1 denotes participating and 0 otherwise); 6 average walking distance (in minutes) the household head takes to reach electricity, piped water, telephone, primary school, secondary school, allweather roads and irrigation infrastructures (denoted as 'Access services'); 2 7 whether or not the household head considers land shortage as the most important problem facing the household (denoted as 'Land shortage', where 1 denotes land shortage considered as the most important problem and 0 otherwise); 8 total land size operated by the household in hectares (denoted as 'Total land size'); 9 total value of livestock (including hives and poultry), in Birr, 3  The average characteristics suggested that a typical farm household in North Wollo zone was male-headed and medium-sized with six members, two of which were economically dependent.The experience of the primary decision-maker was about 25 years. The typical farm household had no members working off-farm, lived 50 minutes walking distance away from basic infrastructures and participated in the agricultural extension programme.The average land size operated by a farm household was 0.75 hectares and most farm households considered scarcity of land as the primary problem. The average farm family had 5000 Birr worth of livestock (including hives and poultry).Setting the scene: attributes and levels for the choice experimentThe crop variety attributes and levels used in this study are reported in Tables 2.3 and 2.4.These very important attributes and their levels were identified in consultation with experts (crop breeders and researchers with hands-on experience and practical knowledge of the relevant variety attributes), by reviewing previous studies and historical data, and by identifying the most important seed selection criteria put forward by a focus group of surveyed farm households and extension workers in the villages. Apart from their importance to farmers, these attributes ('Producers' price', 'Productivity', 'Environmental adaptability' and 'Yield stability') are also policy-relevant for designing an incentive mechanism to undertake on-farm conservation ventures at least cost (for example, by identifying farmers who are demanding attributes embedded in local varieties) or for successful rural interventions like crop variety development and diffusion. Inclusion of monetary attribute(s) is necessary for the welfare analysis (see 'The choice experiment and welfare measures' section above). Producers' price and productivity attributes can be used as a direct monetary attribute or as a proxy for monetary attribute depending on the socio-economic setup of farmers participating in the choice experiment survey. For farmers actively participating in the local markets by supplying their teff and/or sorghum output to the local market, it would be appropriate to use producers' prices as direct monetary attribute. However, for farmers whose output is less than or just enough to satisfy their household food consumption needs, productivity seems to be more appropriate as a proxy for monetary attribute.The levels for these attributes were based on the Zone's minimum, average and maximum values of producers' price and productivity of the crops during the last decade.With more than 92 per cent of the surveyed households reporting that they have faced drought problems at least once during the last ten years, the choice of environmental adaptability trait of both crops was appropriate. The same can be said about the attribute yield stability of both crops: about 90 per cent of the surveyed households stated that they have faced disease or pest problems (causes of yield instability in our attribute definition) at least once during the last ten years. 4 These attributes had two levels representing the existence or absence of the attributes in each crop (see Tables 2.3 and 2  A large number of unique crop variety profiles can be constructed from these set of attributes and levels. 5 However, in this study, fractional factorial design was used to capture only the main effects, yielding nine alternatives which were allocated to different choice sets. 6 These nine alternatives were created using an orthogonal design. 7 The choice sets were then completed using a cyclical design principle (Bunch et al, 1996). A cyclical design is a straightforward extension of the orthogonal approach. First, each of the alternatives from a fractional factorial design is allocated to different choice sets. Attributes of the additional alternatives were then constructed by cyclically adding alternatives into the choice set based on the attribute levels.That is, the attribute level in the new alternative became the next, higher attribute level to the one applied in the previous alternative. If the highest level was attained, the attribute level was set to its lowest level (Carlsson et al, 2007).We then assigned the initially created 9 alternatives from our fractional factorial design to nine choice sets and constructed 2 other alternatives per choice set (hence 18 others) following the procedure mentioned above. In total, we constructed 27 alternatives for sorghum and 27 alternatives for teff divided between 9 choice sets per crop. An example of a choice set is presented in Figure 2.1.To check the relevance of the choice experiment questions about local conditions, farmers' expectations and level of understanding, the questionnaires were pre-tested on a focus group of 16 farmers (8 from each PA). The pre-test results were discussed with the enumerators and necessary changes were made, taking into account farmers' responses. During the actual data collection, enumerators explained, using the local language, the context in which choices were to be made; that attributes of crop varieties had been selected as a result of prior research and were combined artificially; and defined each attribute and choice set using visual aids to ensure uniformity.. Respondents were informed that completion of the exercise would help agricultural policy-makers in the design of variety development and local variety conservation interventions. Out of the 131 households interviewed for the choice experiment survey, 66 of them were randomly chosen and presented with choice sets containing sorghum variety options while the remaining 65 were given teff variety options. All of the surveyed households answered all of the 9 choice sets (either sorghum or teff version) presented to them and hence a total of 1179 choices were elicited from our survey. Bateman et al (2003) suggest restricting the number of attributes chosen for the design to a relatively small number (such as 4, 5 or 6). This is because the minimum required sample size increases exponentially in the number of attributes. Given our constraint to a relatively small sample size of about 130, we hence decided to include 4 attributes in the profiles.The choice experiment was designed with the assumption that the observable utility function would follow a strictly additive form (Louviere et al, 2000). The model was specified so that the probability of selecting a particular crop variety was a function of attributes of that variety. That is, for the population represented by the sample, indirect utility from crop variety attributes takes the form of Equation 2.2:where ␤ 1-4 refer to the vector of coefficients associated with the vector of attributes describing crop variety attributes and ␤ 0 is the alternative specific constant.To begin with the estimation of Equation 2.2, two conditional logit models were fitted for each crop (for either teff or sorghum variety options). The Independence of Irrelevant Alternative (IIA) property was tested, which is implicit in the error structure of the conditional logit (CL) model, using the Hausman and McFadden (1984) test contained within LIMDEP Nlogit. The tests, however, provided inconclusive results for both crops by failing to find a positive definite difference matrix for any two alternatives; and this was the case for all three tests conducted by dropping a different alternative each time,indicating that the models do not fully conform to the underlying IIA property. Models that relax the IIA property, such as Random Parameter Logit model (RPL, also referred to as Mixed Logit), have to be estimated as it is done in this paper (Hensher et al, 2005). In the RPL model estimated for each crop, all of the attributes except for the monetary attribute (producers' price) and the proxy for monetary attribute (productivity) were defined to be normally distributed. The models were estimated with simulated maximum likelihood with Halton draws using 500 replications (see Train, 2003 for details on simulated maximum likelihood and Halton draws).The models were estimated using Nlogit 4.0.Although the experiment was generic, we included two alternative specific constants, since the purpose was to test if there were any other factors than the attributes themselves that affected farmers' variety choices. The results are presented in Table 2.5.The results in Table 2.5 show that all of the sorghum and teff variety attributes were highly statistically significant factors in the choice of both crop varieties, and that they had the expected signs in that the fulfilment of any single attribute increases the probability that a sorghum (or teff) variety was selected, other attributes remaining equal. The overall fit of the model for each crop, measured by McFadden's 2 , was good. The estimated standard deviations of the random parameters were also significant, and in relation to the mean estimates they were not as large as the mean coefficients, suggesting relatively low preferences heterogeneity for these attributes. The only unexpected finding was that the two alternative specific constants were significant. This indicates that all else being equal, respondents were more likely to choose alternative 1 or 2, compared to alternative 3.This might be due to the design of the choice experiment questions. In Table 2.6 we report the estimated mean marginal willingness-to-pay (MWTP) for each of the attributes.These are simply the ratio between the attribute coefficient and producers' price coefficient (expressed by MWTP 1 ) or the ratio between the attribute coefficient and coefficient for productivity (expressed by MWTP 2 ). Note that the attributes for environmental adaptability and yield stability were binary variables, and thus they could be directly compared. For productivity, it is the MWTP in Birr for an increase in productivity by 1 quintal per hectare.The productivity attribute may also be used as a proxy for monetary attribute, and may even be more appropriate in cases where only a small portion, if any, of the agricultural output of a farm family makes it to the market after satisfying household food consumption needs of the family.The MWTP 2 values reported in Table 2.6 are based on productivity attribute taken as a proxy for monetary attribute.The results of both measures of MWTP showed that farm households in North Wollo zone seemed to be very risk averse since they were willing to pay a rather substantial amount for more adaptable and/or stable varieties of both crops. This is perhaps reflected in their strong willingness to diversify the crops they plant between different kinds of traditional and improved varieties to buffer the impact of drought and/or disease problems.The MWTP 1 and MWTP 2 values for environmental adaptability were higher than their counterparts for yield stability for both crops, and for teff the difference in WTP was significant using a t-test. The MWTP 1 values for the productivity attribute showed that respondents were are willing to pay 15 Birr and 25 Birr for an increase in productivity by 1 quintal per hectare.To account for observed heterogeneity of preferences across farm households, we also estimated models where a set of socio-economic characteristics are interacted with the attributes. However, in random utility models the effects of Economic Analysis of Ethiopian Farmers' Preferences for Crop Variety Attributes 37 social and economic characteristics on choice cannot be examined in isolation but as interaction terms with choice attributes. Due to possible multicollinearity problems, it was not possible to include all the interactions between the explanatory variables collected in our survey and the four crop variety attributes when estimating the random logit models with interactions (Breffle and Morey, 2000).The results of the two models with socio-economic characteristics are presented in Tables 2.7 and 2.8. The results in Table 2.7 showed that the interaction between the demand for higher levels of productivity in sorghum varieties and the sex of the household head was positive. This showed that male-headed households demanded more productive sorghum varieties than female-headed households. This may be because households with male heads have larger sizes (and hence demand more output from their land) than households with female heads and those females usually assume this position in a family when they are either widowed or separated from their husbands. 8  Farm households with at least one member working off-farm demanded more productive sorghum varieties compared to those households with no members working off-farm. At least two explanations can be forwarded here. First, the opportunity cost of labour in crop production is higher for farm households with an off-farm job opportunity compared to those without, reflected in their higher demand for highly productive sorghum varieties. Second, production of sorghum by resource-poor farmers is usually at least partly for home consumption. However, the percentage of sorghum grain produced and then marketed may be greater for farm households with off-farm job opportunity since they are more likely to be better integrated into the local markets, prompting them to demand higher productivity from their sorghum variety options to get more marketable surplus. The results in Tables 2.7 and 2.8 also showed that farm households with more experienced heads demanded higher environmental adaptability trait from both sorghum and teff variety options. In the drought-prone areas of North Wollo zone (such as the PAs covered in this survey), more experienced farmers were likely to have gone through a greater number of recurrent drought encounters in the past, inducing them to look for varieties that are better resistant to such environmental pressures.The results in Table 2.7 may also shed light on why farmers choose to participate in the agricultural extension package programme, with the positive interaction term between productivity attribute and agricultural extension participation. Farmers might be motivated to participate in the extension because they demand high-yielding sorghum varieties from these services.The results in Table 2.7 also showed that farmers operating a relatively large land size also demanded less environmental adaptability trait in sorghum varieties compared to those operating smaller lands. Smaller land size can be translated into smaller total output and less scope to diversify into different crop varieties, and farmers were particularly risk averse towards non-adaptable varieties planted on these plots since, otherwise, they put at risk the much needed output that these plots provide to the vagaries of nature.The results of the RPL model for teff variety choices with socio-economic characteristics are presented in Table 2.8.The RPL results for teff variety choices showed that farmers with larger land size to operate also demanded more productive teff varieties compared to those operating smaller lands.This is unexpected because with more than 63 per cent of the surveyed households reporting land shortage as a primary problem, households with smaller land sizes were expected to compensate for this by demanding more productive teff varieties. This might be because teff is a highly commercial crop and the perceived utility from more productive teff varieties was higher for farm households operating larger land sizes and who were likely to produce a greater proportion of their output for the market, i.e. marketable surplus.The results further showed that farmers who reported higher drought frequency in the past also demanded more productive teff varieties compared to those with fewer drought encounters. This might reflect their uncertainty about the future production prospect and the need to hoard maximum teff production output for household consumption in the coming season.Households with larger livestock assets demanded less environmentally adaptable and stable yielding teff varieties compared to those with smaller livestock assets. Crop production is the single most important source of livelihood for farmers who cannot rely on their livestock assets as an insurance against crop Economic Analysis of Ethiopian Farmers' Preferences for Crop Variety Attributes 39 failure.Therefore, they are very risk averse and less inclined to take up non-adaptable and/or non-stable teff varieties. Results in Table 2.8 also showed that the demand for environmental adaptability attribute of teff varieties increased with the household size. The shock to output associated with growing non-adaptable varieties has a much larger negative effect on larger households than smaller ones, inducing bigger households to be more risk averse towards such crops.The aim of this study was to estimate the private values that farmers attached to crop variety traits and to identify the most important farm household contextual factors that condition their variety attribute preferences. Data was collected in personal interviews from sorghum and teff growing farmers in two peasant associations (PAs) of North Wollo zone. The choice experiment method was applied to investigate farmers' demand for crop varieties and their attributes conditional on the characteristics of the households and the main decisionmakers. The results of both measures of MWTP (with producers' price and productivity taken as the monetary attributes alternatively) revealed farmers' strong preferences for environmental adaptability for both teff and sorghum.Yield stability was also more important than increased productivity. These findings may explain the low adoption rates of high-yield variety seeds in Ethiopia over the last several decades. 9 The fact that farmers attached sizeable values to both environmental adaptability and yield stability traits of sorghum and teff points to the need for supplying a crop genetic variety with additional attributes of resilience to harsh environmental conditions, rather than a breeding strategy that solely targets enhanced agricultural productivity. The results also revealed that there were differences among farm households in terms of household characteristics, resource endowments, extension participation and off-farm job opportunities that affect farmers' private valuations of crop variety traits. There were significant differences between farmers that manage larger and smaller lands, between experienced and less experienced farmers, and between households with low and high values of livestock.These results have important implications in the areas of on-farm conservation and variety adoption. First of all, farm households who attached the highest values to attributes already embedded in traditional varieties would maintain the varieties de facto. Targeting these farmers would minimize conservation costs and enhance compliance in on-farm conservation activities. For instance, de facto conservation of environmentally adaptable sorghum varieties by more experienced farmers with small land areas implies that there is little need to design external incentives for these varieties. This strategy, however, needs close followup and is likely to change in the medium to long run with farmers' incentives. For instance, the transformation of Ethiopia's rural infrastructure such as roads and markets that is occurring in the country will increasingly provide farmers with the incentive to shift from environmentally adaptable and stable yielding varieties towards highly productive and commercial crops. In such instances external incentives will have to be in place to ensure on-farm conservation of these crops.Second, understanding farmers' variety trait preferences also informs decision-makers about the variety attributes that have to be considered in on-farm conservation. For instance, more experienced farmers and small farm holders with smaller livestock assets were affected the most when they had to forego teff and/or sorghum varieties with better yield stability and environmental adaptability. They are, therefore, less likely to cooperate with on-farm conservation activities that expect them to replace varieties with these attributes unless they get equivalent compensation.The third important policy implication relates to the area of variety adoption. For agricultural technologies to be successful, their attributes should address farmer concerns. Clearly, understanding farmers' variety trait preferences is an input to this end. For instance, according to the results, to target and address variety demand for asset-poor, experienced and larger farmers, the priority variety attributes are environmental adaptability and yield stability of both teff and sorghum varieties.Notes 1 A peasant association (PA), often comprised 400 to 500 people, is the smallest rural unit in the government's organizational structure in Ethiopia. 2 Respondents were asked to specify the walking distance (in minutes) for each type of infrastructure and then an average walking distance (in minutes) was calculated for each household. 3 Birr is Ethiopia's currency where Ethiopian Birr 8.93 = US$1 at the time of the experiment (June and July of 2007). 4 Even though environmental adaptability and yield stability are linked, we separated them because a 'non adaptable' variety can still be conceived to give 'stable yield' in the absence of drought and frost problems. In designing choice experiments, one assumes that the alternatives are mutually exclusive (Hensher et al, 2005) while the attributes need not be mutually exclusive. Some level of inter-attribute correlation is unavoidable, which is the case in this study for yield stability and environmental adaptability attributes. 5 The number of crop varieties that can be generated from 4 attributes, 2 with 3 levels and the remaining 2 with 2 levels is 3 2 * 2 2 = 36. 6 Fractional factorial designs or main effects involve the selection of a particular subset or sample (i.e. fraction) of complete factorials (possible combinations), so that particular effects of interest can be estimated as efficiently as possible (Louviere et al, 2000). 7 This procedure makes the variations of the attributes of the crop descriptions (profiles) uncorrelated in all choice sets (Alpizar et al, 2001). 8 After running a Pearsonian bivariate correlation between household size and sex of the household head, it was found that the two variables are positively and significantly correlated (0.01 significance level). 9 Despite huge investments and extension programmes to promote improved seeds, the use of improved seeds is still very low -only 3 to 5 per cent of Ethiopia's cultivated agricultural area is covered with improved seeds -leaving a great proportion of the farm households to depend on traditional varieties (World Bank, 2005). Commercialization of valuable consumption traits (like aroma, taste and easy expansion in cooking) and production traits (like high yield and pest resistance) can make traditional crop varieties more attractive for local farmers, enhancing their on-farm conservation. Market-driven methods of conservation based on incentives and opportunity costs require a priori knowledge about farmers' preferences for varieties and traits. This case study has attempted to value different useful traits of rice landraces grown in Nepal. A sample of randomly selected 200 Nepalese rice growers, 100 each from the hills and the plain, were surveyed on production of rice landraces and the market price fetched by each of them. Two types of valuation methods were used: hedonic pricing and contingent valuation. The results of the hedonic pricing method (HPM) showed that consumers value aromatic and tasty traits of rice landraces close to NPR (Nepalese rupee) 11 billion ($148.6m) and NPR 2 billion ($27m), respectively. The contingent valuation method (CVM) was employed for estimating farmers' derived demand for hypothetical seeds with different useful traits combined as desired by the farmers.The results showed that farmers were willing to pay nearly NPR 1 billion (close to $13.5m) for high-yielding landraces with aromatic traits and over NPR 1 billion for disease-resistant landraces highly suitable for cooking. These values of unique traits of rice landraces are likely to exceed the costs of conservation.The estimates are indicative of the values of the rice traits embodied in the rice landraces that justify the need for their conservation. Therefore, it has been concluded that every dollar spent in conservation of such landraces makes the society better-off.Biodiversity on the earth is a reservoir of genetic resources (GRs) that have been used by humans for centuries and have vast potential for the production and manufacture of food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products for the generations to come. Though biodiversity exists at the genetic (allelic variation), species and ecosystem levels (CBD, 1992), genetic level diversity is more important for food and agriculture as they are important for future crop breeding with conventional technology as well as modern biotechnology. The diversity of food plants consists of crop resources that are created and maintained as active components of agroecosystems (Brookfield and Padoch, 1994;Vandermeer et al, 1998) by the farmers.As noted in Chapter 1, the need for the conservation of the biodiversity is indispensable. Conservation of GRs is important for future production of food that is needed for the sustenance of the human race on the earth. The literature suggests that the continued production of agro-biodiversity is dependent upon adequate supplies of farm resources among rural households (Brush et al, 1992;Mayer and Glave, 1999). A wealth of indigenous knowledge associated with the utilization of plants and animals exhibits the food and medicinal values of the GRs to local communities, including consumers, producers and other actors involved in the market value chain. Many of the farmers in developing countries are joint producers and consumers of the food, and both consumption traits and production traits of the crops are relevant for them.Nepal has developed many modern varieties that, as expected, give higher yield in shorter duration than the landraces. 1 There is a high rate of replacement of landraces by the modern varieties. The higher the profit gap from the modern varieties and landraces, the faster the replacement process.Thus, finding an effective strategy for conservation and sustainable utilization of crop GRs would involve enhancing the comparative advantage of the landraces, i.e. reduction in the profit from the modern varieties and/or increase in the profit from the landraces. The decrease in the profit from the modern varieties is not desired as it decreases the welfare of the people. That makes increasing the profitability of landraces the most plausible mechanism to improve their maintenance and slow down the replacement. Promoting the commercial use of GRs for increased profit to the farmers who grow them is emerging as one of the major strategies of effective in situ agro-biodiversity conservation. 2 This approach of agro-biodiversity conservation is discussed in Chapter 6 in detail.Sustainable use and conservation through commercial use of landraces builds on farmers' self-interest and it is incentive-based rather than the 'command and control' approach. It is more suited to agro-biodiversity conservation that has larger direct use values on-farm. More specifically, the commercialization of GRs can generate income for the farmers and let them realize the economic importance of the resources for their livelihoods. However, the origin of new conflicts for dealing with biodiversity stems from the rules of division and appropriation of the benefits out of the commercial use of the genetic resources. As policy-makers cannot fully understand the value of the landraces, it is likely that they are unable to negotiate with giant seed development companies (including biotechnology companies) for the best use of GRs and their effective conservation.The future prospects of commercialization, however, crucially depend on the potential market value of the GRs. The market value, in turn, depends on three factors, namely:1 How much one can commercialize it. 2 How much the breeding/seed development industry is willing to pay for the samples of GRs. 3 How much revenue a single provider can earn.For GRs that have many potential suppliers and few seed development companies to buy them, the suppliers cannot expect revenue enough for their conservation as the market has a monopsonistic nature. Whether or not a market for GRs can effectively support the conservation of biodiversity essentially depends on the scarcity of the GRs. It is often assumed that the scarcity of the GRs, particularly those that control commercially important traits (such as cooking and production qualities), is rising as demand for them increases due to current advances and future prospects in the seed development sector.Some crop GRs are found to be owned, managed and used by a few farmers or a limited number of communities. To the extent that benefits accrue to their users and owners, crop GRs are private goods. Their benefits are also public to the extent that they are accrued by all economic agents involved in the market value chain. Due to its public goods nature, the use of biodiversity by one person does not exclude others from using it. Therefore, as noted in Chapter 1, agrobiodiversity has both public and private goods features.Replacement of the indigenous varieties by exotic high-yielding varieties and changes in farming practices and land use patterns are important causes of agrobiodiversity loss in Nepal (Upreti and Upreti, 2002). This is a typical case of market failure as the farmers fail to value the benefits to society from the conservation of the landraces. As noted in Chapter 1, farmers always maintain crop GRs to the extent that these resources address their household concerns. Thus, their conservation is not optimal as there are crop varieties that have little utility to address farmers' current concerns but have potential future public utility. Market failures, particularly its failure to account for the public goods values, are the major causes of loss in agro-biodiversity. Estimating the total economic value (TEV) 3 of landraces by means of non-market valuation methods can help to develop policies that address the problem of market failures. The valuation of biodiversity can assist decision-makers with the development of mechanisms of equitable sharing of benefits from utilization of GRs, and help to justify investments in their conservation.As noted in Chapter 1, environmental values can be estimated using revealed and stated preference methods. The revealed preference methods use the market data as revealed by the respondent (consumer, farmer, etc.) while the stated preference methods are based on the preferences stated by respondents under hypothetical market situations. The discussion of stated preference methods in resource and environmental economics dates back to the 1940s (Ciriacy-Wantrup, 1947). Extension of these valuation techniques to agricultural biodiversity is, however, a recent phenomenon (see e.g. Hoyos, 2010).This chapter aims to evaluate the genetic diversity of traditional rice varieties in Nepal, using both revealed and stated preference methods.The outcome of this case study is expected to help in designing cost-and benefit-sharing approaches for the conservation and use of rice GRs. Information about the values of traditional rice varieties will be valuable to prioritize their on-farm conservation. Hedonic pricing method was used to find the value given by consumers for each trait of rice landraces and contingent valuation method was used to estimate the bidding price of a new variety of rice with useful desirable traits required by farmers.Human decision-making (in natural resource use and agricultural technology adoption) involves a series of trade-offs such as between environmental concerns (e.g. biodiversity protection) and meeting the immediate economic needs (e.g. income generation and food security). If traditional crop varieties are low yielding, on-farm conservation of these resources will involve opportunity costs in terms of food production and productivity. Economic principles of valuation can offer mechanisms to estimate the value of agro-biodiversity and make sound decisions aimed at internalizing the trade-offs, while contributing to both objectives of agro-biodiversity conservation and enhancing agricultural productivity.Measuring the value of biodiversity is a great challenge. Reid et al (1993) observed that even though the debates on the measurement of biodiversity started in the 1950s, there is still no clear consensus about how the value of biodiversity should be measured. Pearce and Moran (1994) examined some aspects of measurement of biodiversity at genetic, species and ecosystem levels. Accordingly, the genetic differences can be measured in terms of phenotypic traits, allelic frequencies or deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences. The measurements of allelic diversity and DNA sequence require high-level technical information which is out of the scope of this paper.This study relies on the phenotypic characteristics of the products. The consumers and farmers (i.e. the users) can observe the consumption and production characteristics of rice at the grocery store and decide which ones to buy. Most of the characteristics can only be known after the product has been used as a consumer good and/or production input. For example, the consumption characteristics of rice will be known after cooking and eating whereas the production characteristics of the seed will be known to the farmers during their experience with the seed from its storability as an input all the way through post-harvest traits (germination, early maturity, pest/disease resistance, tolerance to water stress, yield, marketability, perishability, post-harvest loss, etc.).In this case study, rice consumers are surveyed to capture their preferences for different combinations of consumption traits of rice and the demand for seeds by the farmers is taken as the derived demand. Use values are assumed to be the most important part of the values of rice GRs from a consumer point of view and, by applying hedonic pricing, these use values can be assessed. The application of the contingent valuation method, on the other hand, allows the assessment of the TEV of rice GRs.The sources of data, sampling designs and analytical procedures underlying the empirical analysis are discussed in this section.For valuation of GRs, two districts, namely, Kaski from the hills and Bara from Terai (the plains at the base of the Himalayas), were selected purposively in consideration of the richness of rice diversity. From each district, two village development committees (called villages hereafter) with a high concentration of the rice landraces have been identified by a survey of key informants including professionals, researchers in agro-biodiversity and extension officers in agriculture, all working in the district. 4 Key informants were asked to rank five villages in the district with the highest diversity of rice landraces. Data were collected on accessibility (to markets, roads and transport services), area characteristics and rural development interventions in place. The area characteristics include the number of farm households, total geographic area, distance from district head quarter, area under paddy and total irrigated area. These statistics were scored and aggregated. The two villages with the highest aggregate scores were selected for the survey. On this basis, Lekhnath and Lumle villages were selected from Kaski district (Begnas area) and Kacharba and Maheshpur villages were selected from Bara district (Kacharwa area).Considering the situation of the villages and the farm households, a checklist of questions for focus group discussions was prepared. From the discussions with the relevant stakeholders, a draft questionnaire for household surveys was drawn. More focus group discussions were conducted to refine the draft questionnaire. The questionnaire was then pre-tested on 30 farm households in each survey district.A household was the sampling unit. The farm households cultivating the rice landraces formed the sampling frame. The sample households were selected using a simple random sampling method without replacement. A sample of 50 farm households was drawn from each of the four selected villages. Thus, 200 sampled households were surveyed altogether for estimating the value of important traits of rice varieties. A team of two well-trained research assistants was deployed for the survey. The pre-tested questionnaire was administered by trained enumerators.According to the survey data, the price of rice varieties varies from NPR 725 ($10) 5 (for Chaite and Janaki varieties) to NPR 1622 ($22) (for Basmati varieties). The sampled 200 farmers were found growing 78 rice varieties altogether. Nearly 50 per cent of the farmers were found growing a high-yielding variety (BG-1442). Over 30 per cent of them were growing Basmati rice. Four varieties, namely BG-1442, Basmati, Sona Masuli and Anadhi, were the most popularly grown varieties. Most of the landraces were grown by less than 10 per cent of the farmers. If one is to take relative abundance and continuous use of traditional rice varieties as an index for on-farm conservation, those landraces grown by a small number of households are more likely to be lost easily if some conservation measures are not applied. The relative abundance of each of the variety is presented in Farmers' knowledge of different traits of rice varieties can be used as an input in the sustainable use and conservation of agro-biodiversity. Their knowledge is the accumulation of the inherited experiences, updated by the observations in the field (Berkes et al, 1995;de Boef, 2000). They understand the connection between organisms and their surrounding environment (Perrings et al, 1995;Wood and Lenne, 1999). As a result, they grow different landraces of rice that are better suited to their farming systems (taking the seeds as production input) and their cooking preferences (taking rice as consumption good).One of the widely used environmental valuation methods as a subset of the revealed preference approach is the hedonic pricing method. The philosophy behind hedonic pricing is that people pay for a product by valuing the embedded bundles of attributes of this product. The conceptual and analytical basis of this valuation technique emanate from Lancaster's characteristics model (Lancaster, 1966). The early applications of this method, however, started in the 1920s. The first application of hedonic modelling is found in fresh vegetables.Though Waugh (1928) first used hedonic pricing on land characteristics, Ridker (1967) was the first to use this method on environmental goods for estimating the marginal value of air quality in residential areas.Rosen (1974) used the hedonic price theory to interpret the derivative of hedonic property price function with respect to air pollution as a marginal implicit price and, therefore, the marginal willingness-to-pay (MWTP) of individuals for air pollution reduction. Rosen's model starts with a distribution of utility-maximizing buyers and a distribution of profit-maximizing sellers. The equilibrium is achieved when the variation in price reflects the variation in the attributes under the condition of full information. Price (p) of a house, say, with a vector of attributes (z) and a vector (␣) of parameters (Haab and McConnell, 2002) can be written as:The equilibrium will exist when the buyer maximizes the utility from consumption of a composite bundle of commodities (x) with a vector of household preference function (␤). The utility function is u(x, z, ␤) and budget constraint with income y = h(z) + x. Maximizing the utility subject to the budget constraint, we get optimal condition for each attribute.where the Lagrangian multiplier, , is the marginal utility of the income. From Equation 3.2, MWTP for the i-th attribute can be calculated as ␦h(z)/␦zi.The hedonic price method has emerged as a powerful tool for the valuation of environmental goods that can be extended for valuation of newly recognized environmental amenities like biological diversity. Dalton (2003) estimated a nonseparable household hedonic pricing model of upland rice attributes combining both production and consumption traits. Accordingly, yield was not a significant attribute in determining farmers' WTP for new varieties. However, this trait has served as the defining factor for promoting a new variety for official release. What amount the farmers are paying for a particular new variety that comprises different gene combinations can be taken as the revealed preference of the farmers for genetic resources.The value of major rice traits established by the Nepalese market can be estimated using hedonic pricing method based on the market price of varieties. It is assumed that the price the farmers pay for the rice depends on the variety attributes of rice, i.e. consumers pay more for the more useful variety attributes. Using this principle of price determination on the basis of the attributes of the product, the following model is used for estimating the use value established by the consumers on rice that are attributable to major traits of rice landraces.where PP, T, A, BR, LS, Md, Ce, Ex, ST, MP, TA, Ms and v refer to the price of paddy rice, tasty trait, aromatic trait, quality for bitten rice, 6 quality for 'latte' and 'siroula', 7 medicinal uses, uses in ceremony, expansion in cooking, good storage quality, milling per cent,Terai area, season and the error term respectively (a more complete description of all these variables is given in Table 3.3). ␤ 1 to ␤ 11 are coefficients to be estimated.Revealed preference methods of environmental valuation are preferred over the stated preference methods like the contingent valuation method (CVM). However, the revealed preference methods cannot always be employed, particularly when the values of the resources have not yet been realized. The diversity of landraces has immense future potentials from breeding high-yielding varieties with useful traits available in the landraces. Therefore, the potential future values of those varieties can be valued using only stated preference methods. The CVM relies on a questionnaire survey about WTP of individuals for conservation of a certain environmental resource. Pearce and Moran (1994) have argued that CVM is a promising option for biodiversity valuation in general because of the potential for information provision and exchange during the survey process, which offers scope to experiment with respondent knowledge and understanding of biodiversity. A variation of this approach has been used by Brown and Goldstein (1984) in order to value ex situ (plant) collections. They used a model where the benefits of reducing expected future production losses are weighed against gene-bank operating costs and searches, arguing that all varieties should be conserved for which the marginal benefit of preservation exceeds marginal cost. Oldfield (1989) focuses on actual crop losses (in this case related to southern corn leaf blight) as a measure of value of the genetic improvement efforts used to eventually overcome such losses. A recent study by Poudel and Johnsen (2009) has also applied CVM to assess rice landraces in Nepal.In this study, two basic steps were followed to estimate the value of useful traits in the landraces:1 A hypothetical description (scenario) of the new rice varieties, with combinations of different traits available in landraces, was presented to the farmers. This included the combination of different useful traits into a single variety. The farmers were asked to bundle the different useful traits of rice into a single variety. 2 The farmers were asked questions to determine how much they would be willing to pay for 1kg of seed of the new variety combining the useful traits they have chosen. These questions took the form of asking how much a farmer was willing to pay for some new variety that contains a desired mix of the useful traits. Depending on the preferred elicitation format, econometric models are then used to infer a WTP for the change. An aggregate welfare measure was calculated by multiplying the mean with the relevant population of users.The values put by the farmers on the rice seeds with different traits were estimated based on farmers' bid for a price of a hypothetical rice variety with a combination of traits they desire to have in a single variety. The following mathematical model was used for empirical estimation of the value the farmers attach to different combinations of the traits.where PS, HA, T, Ex, SL, DrR, LF, DsR, TA, A, FR, F, PT, RA, I and v refer to price of hypothetical seed, high-yielding and aromatic traits, tasty trait, cooking expansion trait, suitability to be sown late, drought resistance, suitability for less fertile land, disease resistance, Terai area, age of the household head, gender, number of family members, number of plots of paddy land, ownership of radio, non-agriculture income and the error term respectively (a more complete description of all these variables is given in Table 3.5). ␤ 1 to ␤ 14 are coefficients to be estimated.Farmers planted each variety separately on different plots or sometimes in different parts of the same plot. On average, each farmer grew 4.62 varieties of rice every year, each on small areas. For example, the average area under the most popular variety (grown by over 44 per cent of the households), modern variety BG-1442, was 0.26ha followed by the landrace Basmati 0.16ha (Table 3.2). Though Basmati was grown by a larger proportion of the households (nearly 38 per cent) than Sona Masuli (nearly 30 per cent), the area commanded by these two varieties showed the opposite. This was more distinct in the case of Anadhi. Though this long grain aromatic landrace was grown by over one-fourth of the total households, the average area under this landrace per household was very small. These precious landraces (like Basmati and Anadhi) are unable to compete with other commercially grown modern varieties. They are thriving in the farmers' field only due to their special and desirable phenotypic characteristics.The reason for the small area of land under Anadhi was its low price and productivity. It is clear that the gross return from Anadhi is about one-third of the gross return from the competing modern rice varieties. It showed that the typical landraces with unique genes are unlikely to survive in situ under business as usual situations.The options are either to go for ex situ conservation or to make the society understand the value of these landraces and find market-based in situ conservation mechanisms to benefit farmers and generate better consumption outcomes.The descriptive statistics of rice traits used for the hedonic pricing model are presented in Table 3.3. Though some of the traits appeared to be not mutually exclusive, they were used separately as long as there was no problem of multicollinearity.These variables were fitted to a regression model to estimate the contribution of different traits to the price of the type of rice purchased. Many phenotypic properties like taste, aroma, expansion in cooking, storage quality and suitability to various dishes (bitten rice, latte and siroula, and ceremonial dishes), and 54 Variety Trait Preferences and On-farm Conservation Policy medicinal values were preferred by the consumers. These results were expected a priori. Some undesirable traits were also identified. The undesirable traits included coarse grain (beside medium grain) and lack of taste (beside medium taste). The undesirable traits were hypothesized to bear negative prices in the bundle of properties. As the price was taken for fresh harvest of paddy rice, the milling percentage was also a concern for the buyer. It was assumed that the higher the milling percentage, the higher the amount the buyer would pay, keeping all other traits constant (all else being equal). The geographical area 'Terai' was fitted to catch the fixed effects of hills and plains. The average price paid by the market to the fresh harvest of paddy was NPR 1034 ($14), ranging from NPR 500 ($7) to NPR 2,400 ($32). If we assume that all farmers obtain equal market opportunities, the variation in the price is due to the difference in the quality, taking quality as the bundle of desirable traits.The results of the linear hedonic model fitted to the above data are presented in Table 3.4 along with the 95 per cent confidence interval of the coefficients estimated. The model explained over 40 per cent variations in the price of the paddy. To the extent that the model faces omission of the relevant explanatory variables, the marginal value of each trait was overstated. It is also important to bear in mind that the non-use values of rice landraces are not included in this analysis.The estimates showed that consumers paid NPR 36 ($0.5) per quintal for a tasty trait. This coefficient was on average about 3.5 per cent of average price of paddy. The estimate was highly significant. It can be inferred that by conserving the landrace with this trait and keeping alive the potential of incorporating this trait to other rice varieties in the world, it is possible to maintain the potential benefits of increasing the value of global rice production by over 3 per cent.Similarly, for the aromatic trait, the consumers were willing to pay NPR 293 ($4) per quintal. This was over 28 per cent of the average price of the rice. If we were to lose this trait, the potential financial loss to society would be 28 per cent of the total value of rice produced globally. This is a value large enough to warrant investing in the required conservation measures.Rice varieties suitable for bitten rice attracted lower prices (negative coefficient). This finding suggests that this trait had negative impact on utility for 56 Variety Trait Preferences and On-farm Conservation Policy consumers relative to other traits.This is because rice varieties just harvested with poor quality and higher moisture content are more suitable for bitten rice. Such varieties are less storable and less preferred for steam rice and hence fetch a lower price. However, the rice varieties with traits suitable for other snacks like latte and siroula can fetch a higher price by NPR 122 per quintal. Similarly, the traits suitable for traditional healing purposes and for use in ceremonies are valued higher than other varieties.As expected, the varieties with traits that make the rice coarse were valued negatively by the consumers as compared to the medium coarse. The result suggests that the higher the milling percentage, the lower the consumers were willing to pay. This is against a priori expectation. This might be because the consumers generally buy milled rice (not paddy rice) and hence the milling per cent is the concern of millers, not consumers. Even if some consumers buy paddy rice to mill it themselves, the milling per cent is not known to the buyers at the time of bidding a price. It is a trait that buyers know through experience. The farmers in the plain region are getting higher price of paddy for similar quality as compared to the farmers in the hill region.This can be because of the fixed effects factors, such as better transportation and communication facilities for better market connectivity in the plain areas.Rice in Nepal accounts for more than half of the principal food crops. On average, 4 million tons of rice are produced every year (GON, 2007) with an estimated value of NPR 41.4 billion ($559.5m). This means that the aromatic traits of rice generate an extra NPR 11 billion ($148.6m) per annum for Nepal and tasty traits over NPR 2 billion ($27m). However, there are different landraces with different degrees of aroma and different levels of taste. A separate study is worthwhile to quantify and understand the importance of such traits and to value each specific aroma and taste trait.The analysis apportions the price paid by the consumers to the value given to the different traits. Accordingly, protecting each of the preferred traits roughly increases the value to the society by the respective values.Since it is unlikely that one rice variety will supply all of the attributes that the farmers value, they demand varietal diversity (Joshi and Bauer, 2005). In general, the producers' demand for certain traits is the consumers' derived demand for the traits. Moreover, some traits like high yield and disease (pest) resistance are additional concerns to the producers. If one is to follow the contingent valuation to estimate the producers' valuation of the preferred rice traits, a contingent market has to be created in the minds of the farmers and they would be asked how much they are willing to pay. Some preferred major traits like aroma, taste, high-milling percentage, expansion in cooking and good storage quality are highly demanded by consumers. In addition, producers also put value on high-yielding traits, the variety that can be late sown, drought resistance, suitability for less fertile land and disease resistance.Considering that access to suitable seed is a priority issue for in situ agrobiodiversity conservation (Cleveland et al, 1994;Cleveland and Soleri, 2002;Rhoades and Nazarea, 1999;Zimmerer, 2002), the willingness to pay for new type of seeds is analysed. Each sample household was asked to select three combi-58 Variety Trait Preferences and On-farm Conservation Policy nations (X,Y, Z) of desirable traits they prefer in new rice varieties. The traits are considered as fully separable and combinable.The only exception is that the highyielding and aromatic traits are inseparable for the farmers because the farmers who prefer high-yielding varieties also prefer aromatic ones. The correlation between these two traits is 0.95.The most popular traits selected by the farmers to be incorporated into a new variety are found to be high yield and aroma combined, high milling percentage, taste and a variety that can be sown late (Table 3.5).To estimate farmers' WTP for different traits, each respondent was asked to bid a maximum price for 1kg of rice seeds with different combinations (X,Y, Z) of desirable traits. Under the condition that the combinations they made are available in the market, the farmers on average are willing to pay NPR 60 ($0.80) per kg of such rice seed.Farmers' WTP for the hypothetical traits they combined was fitted with the desirable traits they selected, a geographical dummy for catching fixed effects, the age and gender of the respondents, family size, the number of the plots the farmer is operating for rice cultivation, radio set ownership, non-farm income 8 and farmers' quoted price of seed.The coefficients of different variables that explain farmers' WTP for the rice seed are presented in yielding aromatic traits. The farmers were willing to pay NPR 6 more for tasty trait. One of the major cooking characteristics, the expansion in cooking, was also highly valued by the farmers. For the rice variety that leads to expansion in cooking, the farmers were ready to pay NPR 22 extra for 1kg of improved seed.The farmers as producers also positively valued the traits that make the landrace suitable for less fertile land. For these seeds, the farmers were willing to pay nearly NPR 11 per kg extra.This reduces the fertilizer cost for the farmers and the environmental problems associated with fertilizer application. For diseaseresistant traits, the farmers were willing to pay the most (NPR 22 extra per kg of seed).This reduces the loss of crop and costs of pesticides for the farmers on top of the ecological benefits to the society. In addition, it avoids human health problems due to the pesticide residue they consume with rice and health problems of animals that consume the straw.The result showed the importance of rice genetic resources that can be incorporated to other varieties for the development of new varieties with high-yielding and disease-resistant characteristics.There were some biases on the part of the respondents, which have been captured. Older farm household heads bid slightly higher prices for the new seed than the younger farmers. Older farmers who knew the traditional food habits and culture could better understand the importance of the traits of landraces than younger farmers. Similarly, female farmers were ready to pay more than male farmers. This might be because the traditional dishes of rice are prepared mostly by women and they are in a better position to understand the values of the rice traits than their male counterparts. The women also have better understanding of their farm situations than men and can appreciate better the production traits of rice.The farmers in the Terai (plain) areas were willing to pay less for the new varieties. This might be because they had better access to new varieties of rice in border towns of India. Similarly, the larger the number of plots the farmers had, the lower their WTP for the new varieties. This might be because the larger the number of plots they have, the more diverse their agro-ecology and thereby the better their chance to grow a larger number of varieties in their farm. Rana et al (2007) have found that on-farm landrace diversity is positively affected by the number of parcels of land that farmers manage. Unlike previous expectations, the farmers with radio sets (means higher access to the information and a higher living standard) were willing to pay less.This might need further study to disprove or explain it further. A similar result was found for farmers with higher non-farm income. For these farmers, the improved varieties were less important.The farmers highly valued the production traits and cooking characteristics of rice varieties. Older people in hill areas with a smaller number of plots were willing to pay more for seeds of new varieties with multiple traits than farmers with the opposite features. The farmers, on average, were willing to pay 23 to 62 per cent higher prices for different traits of rice.In Nepal, more than 1.5 million hectares of land are planted with rice every year (MOAC, 2006). Given that the recommended seed rate for rice is 30kg per ha, the total rice seed planted every year is about 46,500 tons. The farmers were ready to pay NPR 19 per kg extra for seeds of high yielding aromatic traits combined. It means, in total, farmers value NPR 0.88 billion ($11.9m) for highyielding aromatic traits. Similarly, the farmers on aggregate give a value of NPR 1.03 billion ($13.9m) for each trait of expansion in cooking and disease resistance.The Green Revolution in Nepal is still considered as a cause for concern through the displacement of landraces by high-yielding and fertilizer-responsive modern varieties. As the market supplies high-yielding modern varieties of rice, the profit-maximizing and risk-taking farmers generally replace the more diverse landraces by more uniform modern varieties. Consequently, a few genetically uniform high-yielding varieties have replaced genetically variable crop landraces over the longer term.About 53 per cent of the farm households in Nepal continue to grow both modern varieties and landraces side by side. Their demand for both types is clearly shaped by markets, land and soil heterogeneity, and the consumption preferences of their families (Joshi and Bauer, 2006). Other authors have emphasized the development approaches that can value, conserve, develop and market agro-biodiversity to alleviate the extreme poverty (Bardsley and Thomas, 2005).To conclude, commercialization of the valuable consumption traits (like aroma, taste and expansion in cooking) and production traits (like yield and pest resistance) can increase the importance of the landraces among the farmers. This approach can help conservation of rice diversity in the farmers' fields.Understanding the values that users (producers and consumers) put on the specific traits of rice landraces grown by smallholder farmers will be helpful to the design of market-based conservation strategies. With this motivation, this case study has focused on the valuation of genetic diversity of rice landraces in Nepal. The valuation is required not only for developing mechanisms for the equitable sharing of benefits from its utilization but also for the justification of added investment for conservation and bio-prospecting. The study uses both revealed and stated preference methods. Hedonic pricing method was used to find the value given by the consumers for each trait and contingent valuation method was used to value new variety seeds with a combination of traits that they consider useful.The hedonic analysis apportioned the price paid by the consumers to the value they give to different traits. The study concludes that protecting each of the preferred traits increases their value to society. For instance, the value of the aromatic trait of Basmati or other local landraces can be about one-fourth of the value of rice produced globally.For Nepal alone, the aromatic traits of rice have values of about NPR 11 billion ($148.6m) and tasty traits over NPR 2 billion ($27m) per annum. These estimates include only the use values of rice that arise from the actual use consisting of the direct use value from consumption by the households and option values generated by an individual's WTP to protect rice production against any future risks. The value given by the farmers to use seeds of aromatic landraces was derived from the value given by the consumers. Other use values (like the ecosystem functions of paddy field) and non-use values are also important elements but are not captured here. For all these reasons, the estimates were indications of the lower bounds. As the estimates showed, the values of different unique traits of rice landraces were assumed to be larger than the costs of conservation.The conservation costs will become even more justified and appealing when the total economic values are accounted by including their non-excludable and non-rival use (like ecosystem functions) and non-use values.As expected, consumers valued more consumption traits (such as aroma and taste) that can maximize their utility. In contrast, farmers as producers valued more production traits (such as high yield and disease resistance) that increase their income.Market-driven methods of conservation are effective and efficient as they are based on incentives and opportunity costs. Efforts are needed to establish new markets for the conservation of landraces with unique traits. Commercialization of the valuable consumption and production traits can make landraces more attractive for local farmers.This will decrease the income gap between the modern rice varieties and landraces, decreasing the rate of replacement of landraces by the modern varieties. Market-driven methods of conservation are plausible to all actors involved as they are implemented based on incentives and opportunity costs. For both moral and equity reasons, it is essential either to compensate local poor farmers for maintaining low-productive rice landraces or to enhance the comparative advantages of these landraces so that farmers can earn better incomes. From a moral perspective, the poor cannot afford to bear the opportunity costs of agro-biodiversity conservation on behalf of society. 9 Notes 1 The landraces include the farmers' traditional varieties produced and maintained by them for many generations, and even high-yielding varieties that have been bred and released for more than 15 years have since become incorporated into farmers' own seed production systems (Almekinders and Louwaars, 1999;Cleveland and Soleri, 2002). 2 There are other strategies to protect biodiversity, including in situ conservation through protected area conservation, and ex situ conservation through zoos, aquaria, botanical gardens, seed banks and gene banks. 3 The concept of TEV states that an environmental good or resource consists of two broad categories of values: use and non-use values (Bateman et al, 2002) Crop diversity loss is one of the emerging but less visible rural development problems in Ethiopia. While landraces are used and maintained in traditional agriculture, the objective of farmers in such systems is not so much conservation but economic survival (Hardon, 1996). Farmers maintain traditional varieties only if the varieties generate private benefits, address household concerns and support their livelihoods. As noted in Chapter 1, this does not ensure maintenance of all components of crop diversity as some varieties might be marginalized and lost.The issue of loss of crop genetic resources has been a concern since the 1930s (Harlan and Martini, 1936). The major focus of the discussion is how to address the potential conflict between the dissemination of agricultural technologies (or intensification of agriculture) and maintaining agro-biodiversity. Much of the concern is that local diverse crop varieties will be replaced by uniform improved ones. If the replacement is occurring, there will have to be mitigating measures.Farmers' perceptions are important in influencing their crop variety choice and use (Tripp, 1996). Their perception shapes their actions in terms of variety choice which, in turn, affects on-farm conservation and crop varietal diversity. For instance, if they view local varieties as better adapted to the local (and harsh) environment (pests, diseases, erratic rainfall, etc.), they will keep on using traditional varieties to the extent that adaptability is their concern. If they appreciate the role of traditional varieties to their livelihoods (e.g. stabilizing incomes), they will maintain these varieties to the extent that they value stable income. Thus, to integrate their knowledge in future on-farm conservation policy, there is a need to understand their views and perceptions. If the perception patterns across farmers can be established, they can be used in the formulation of on-farm conservation policy acceptable to farmers contextually.Much of the on-farm conservation policy recommendations thus far have been based on the presumption that farmers will comply with scientific recommendations. Farmers' propensity to collaborate with policy measures targeted to enhance their incentives to ensure sustainable use of crop genetic resources, however, depends on their compatibility with their perceptions and thoughts. Moreover, understanding farmers' perceptions can help identify pro-diversity farmers (or communities). It is very important to identify partner farmers (Maxted et al, 2002) and to strengthen the linkages of these farmers with others for better on-farm conservation outcomes (Subedi et al, 2003).Studying the impact of farmers' perceptions about farm input characteristics on adoption has been receiving attention in recent times (for example, see Adesina and Baidu-Forson, 1995;Negatu and Parikh, 1999;Batz et al, 1999). However, there is little research on what their perceptions and thoughts are about traditional crop varieties and their loss. Even though farmers are custodians of the available agro-biodiversity, there is hardly any research on their perception about replacement and loss.The only study known to the author is a comparative analysis of farmers' perceptions of biodiversity from more developed economies (Estonia and Finland) (Herzon and Mikk, 2007). Accordingly, farmers of both countries rated intensification of agriculture as the major driving force behind farmland bird declines.Based on these premises, this chapter seeks to investigate farmers' views on the problems of replacement and loss of traditional varieties. It will also look into whether or not farmers consider replacement and loss relevant to their livelihoods. To this effect, the paper is organized as follows. The next section deals with the controversies on the questions of replacement and loss, mainly drawing from the literature. It highlights the diversity of views on the issue. The third section discusses the data collection process which is followed by a brief presentation of some contextual information about the study areas. The fifth section presents a qualitative description of farmers' perceptions which, among other things, shows variation in perceptions across farmers, and this is followed by a description of the variables used in the regression meant to explain this variation. Following that, the penultimate section presents and discusses regression results. Based on the empirical results, the chapter concludes with the implications for purposive (incentive-based) on-farm conservation strategies.Detecting and assessing genetic erosion is the first priority in any major effort to arrest loss of genetic diversity (Yifru and Hammer, 2006). According to Ehrlich and Wilson (1991), the loss of biodiversity should be of concern to everyone for three basic reasons:1 ethical and aesthetic reasons that give moral responsibility; 2 ethnocentric/utilitarian benefits derived in the past and to be foregone in the future; and 3 an array of essential ecosystem services provided with no substitutes.Economic (e.g. Perrings et al, 1995), legal 1 (Wolff, 2004) and agroecological/environmental explanations have been given for loss of traditional varieties of crops. The major conclusion of the economic literature is that the prevailing incentives and institutions do not account for the unintended negative impacts (such as crowding-out effects of introduced varieties) of economic activities (Wale et al, 2009).The diagnosis of the underlying causes of loss offered by economists has tended to focus on the role of institutions/property rights and policy in distorting the operations of agricultural commodity markets (Perrings and Lovett, 1999). Accordingly, the causes of the loss are economic (market failures), institutional (property rights) and social factors (Nunes et al, 2003). More details have been provided in Chapter 1 of this book.Changes in agricultural activities and land-use practices affect the cultivation of certain crop varieties from the available stock (Virchow, 2003). New varieties could either add or reduce diversity in lieu of replacements of the local materials. Adoption of improved varieties can result in the replacement of one type of germplasm for another and/or the integration of new genetic materials into existing gene pools through gene flows. While the first is a human-driven process, the second is governed by the natural process of gene flow and integration (Cooper et al, 2005). As noted below, the literature suggests a considerable lack of consensus on the issue of replacement and traditional variety loss.In general, there are two polarized views. While some authors take the occurrence of replacement for granted and blame the Green Revolution for most of the loss of agro-biodiversity (Tilman, 1998;Matson et al, 1997), others question this and find implicit and unfounded assumptions to those claims (Smale, 1997;Wood and Lenne, 1997).The first view, which can be named as the genetic erosion model, is the one that assumes that intensification of agriculture is leading to replacement. 2 Genetic uniformity has been a concern for development practitioners during the last four decades. It is motivated by the potential replacement of traditional varieties by the improved and uniform ones (Brush, 1991). Accordingly, replacement is happening and threatening the diversity of the respective crops (Cleveland et al, 1994;Tripp, 1996;and Bardsley and Thomas, 2005). Modern cultivation practices exert a direct impact on species richness (Potvin et al, 2005). Changes in the biophysical (climate change, desertification, land degradation, etc.), socio-cultural environment (education, culture) and emerging opportunities (new Green Revolution technologies) are further triggering the biophysical change (Cleveland et al, 1994), leading to a reduction in landrace diversity (Bardsley, 2003), and resulting in biophysical and socio-economic costs in many parts of the world, in both the global North and South (Thrupp, 2000).The second view, which can be named as the complementarity school of thought, takes improved varieties as having an important role in maintaining and even enriching genetic diversity of the local gene pool and indigenous cropping systems (Dennis, 1987;Almekinders et al, 1994;Wood and Lenne, 1997). Accordingly, there is a useful complementarity between the use of improved and traditional varieties.The claim that the Green Revolution caused genetic erosion cannot be established against a counterfactual because of the difficulties in measuring genetic erosion and proving causality in the presence of multiple intervening factors (Smale, 1997). There are unfounded and implicit assumptions within the claim (Perales et al, 1998):• modern varieties are always superior to traditional varieties in economic profitability; and • net return or profit maximization is the only motivating factor in farmers' variety choice decisions.Regarding the first implicit assumption, results of some studies suggest that improved varieties may not always have a clear advantage over local varieties in terms of income (Perales et al, 1998;Wale, 2006) and there is no need necessarily to adopt improved varieties to improve productivity (Brush et al, 1988). On the second point, there is a whole body of literature in development economics that shows the diversity and complexity of objectives of small farmers. Accordingly, it is too simplistic to equate variety choice and replacement with net return alone (Brennan and Byerlee, 1991;Bellon and Taylor, 1993;Smale et al, 1994). Moreover, according to the partial technology adoption literature (Just and Zilberman, 1983), farmers do not adopt a new technology and forget old ones automatically for safety-first behaviour and learning reasons (Smale et al, 1994). Some studies have also shown that, for satisficing reasons (like capturing desirable consumption and production traits), farmers who adopt improved varieties often continue to plant local varieties (Smale and Heisey, 1995;Brush, 1995) and complete displacement may not occur (Brush et al, 1992).Presenting the various views above should not imply an argument against improved seeds. The institution of on-farm conservation does not reject modern agriculture or its associated technologies (Bardsley and Thomas, 2005). Rather, it presents the case that strengthening farmers' capacity to conserve agro-biodiversity includes addressing the poverty with which that diversity is associated (Tripp, 1996). Even though highest diversity is correlated with traditional farming (Perfecto et al, 1996), rural people cannot be locked into their unproductive agricultural practices (Srivastava et al, 1996) and smallholder agriculture cannot be a museum of repository for traditional varieties (Bardsley and Thomas, 2005).Overall, there seems to be a reasonable agreement on the absence of automatic displacement, the inevitability of the change in population structure, 3 and the cumulative and slow nature of the replacement process. 4 There are no clear-cut reasons for farmers to automatically displace traditional varieties because all crop varieties have both desirable and undesirable attributes, and no crop variety (even a combination of varieties) has all the diverse traits that farmers demand. One of the reasons for lack of adequate commitment in conservation of agro-diversity is that the loss is not automatic and its impacts are gradual. The impacts are not vividly felt until it is too late and only a serious crisis will provoke society into meaningful action (Thomas Eisner, as quoted by Powledge, 1998).Given the diversity of views, this chapter is meant to add farmers' perspectives to this discussion and pave the way for integrating their thoughts in future on-farm conservation policy.The field work for this research was undertaken in the northeastern part of Ethiopia. Discussions were held with a total of 73 key informants (10-14 per session) during the 2006-2007 cropping season. Moreover, information was also collected from concerned individuals and records of local government agricultural offices.The study considered two zones (South Gondar and North Wollo) in Amhara Regional State. 5 In South Gondar, Farta and East Estie districts (called 'Woredas') were considered whereas in North Wollo, Guba Lafto Woreda was considered. In each Woreda, two peasant associations (PAs) were selected, i.e. Mainet and Kolley Dengorse in Farta, Shimagle Giorgis and Sholekt in East Estie and Ala Wuha and Woinye in Guba Lafto.The villages surveyed in Mainet include Eyesus, Antira, Guasat and Mainet. Villages called Dengorse, Kona, Gundiba, Libanos, Egziabher-Ab and Kolley were surveyed in Kolley Dengorse. In Shimagle Giorgis, Giorgis, Tirtiriat, Medhanie-Alem and Mehalgie are the surveyed villages. For Sholekt, the villages include Modir, Mehalgie, Enzona and Sholekt. In Woinye, Shall, Mamuarecha, Kokeba and Kolegenda were surveyed while the villages surveyed in Ala Wuha were Doro Gibir, Hayqote, Ambalat, Guasat, Kulu Baine and Woineba.In consultation with agricultural bureaus and development agents (DAs) working with farmers, the survey was structured to cover a wide range of villages and farmers.To this effect, finding the most important sources of heterogeneity of peasant households was the most important step. By and large, poverty status/wealth and accessibility (roads and markets) were the two most outstanding sources of heterogeneity. In the sampling exercise, farm households of each poverty group (using wealth ranking done by the key informants) and those found in sites close to markets/roads and far away from markets/roads were considered. The other variables considered during the sampling (in the respective PAs) include importance of income sources outside agriculture, education and gender. The records from local agricultural offices were used to sample the farm households in the respective villages. In each PA, five to ten reserve farmers were also selected in case the sampled farmers went missing.In terms of PA distribution, 76, 68, 68, 64, 64 and 55 farm households were sampled from Shimagle Giorgis, Ala Wuha, Mainet, Sholekt, Woinye and Koley Dengorse, respectively. In total, the sample involves 2 zones, 3 Woredas, 6 PAs, 25 villages and 395 farm households. Essentially, multistage stratified random sampling was the strategy used.The draft questionnaire was then pre-tested to check its feasibility in line with farmers' expectations, responses and understanding. About 18 farmers were involved during the pre-test. Following the pre-test, the necessary changes were made to the draft questionnaire to ensure the consistency and validity of each question. The information from the key informant interviews was also used to refine the household survey instrument. In total, 26 enumerators who knew the local language and culture were hired and trained to do the personal interviews.Moreover, 3 facilitators, who were mainly engaged in making appointments and locating farmers, were involved.All of the enumerators, employees of the Woreda Agriculture Bureau as DAs, were diploma holders with extensive experience in assisting farmers in the villages. Utilizing the local DAs was helpful to internalize the meaning of what farmers say. Some farmers were not able to identify varieties by names while other farmers gave different names for the same variety. Whenever such difficulties arise, the DAs were consulted to verify variety types and sort out differences, similarities and inconsistencies.The sampled farmers were interviewed from mid-October 2006 to mid-January 2007. The data were then entered using SPSS (version 14) by professional data-entry clerks. Having coded all the open-ended questions and entered all the valid data, it was decided to go to the villages for the second time to rectify some of the key variables where the responses were found to be invalid/inconsistent. A total of 123 questionnaires were revised in the field during the last three weeks of April 2007.Agro-ecologically, East Estie Woreda has Woina dega (midland, 1500-2500m above sea level) accounting for 66 per cent of the area of the Woreda, Dega (highland, 2500-4000m above sea level) accounting for 27 per cent and Kola (low land, 1400-1500m above sea level) accounting for 6 per cent. The average annual rainfall (RF) in this Woreda ranges from 1300 to 1500mm. The temperature ranges from 8 to 25°C. The average temperature in Farta Woreda ranges from 9 to 25°C and the average annual RF is 900 to 1099mm per annum. This Woreda is situated 1500 to 4135m above sea level. It is found 11°-32°to 12°-03°E astern longitude. Guba Lafto, a rural Woreda, is 0 to 50km from Woldeya, the capital city of North Wollo zone. Agro-ecologically, most of the PAs are Woina dega with the exception of Ala Wuha which is mainly Kola (95 per cent). In terms of altitude, the PAs range from 500 to 3000m above sea level. The average temperature is about 25°C with annual average RF of 1000 to 1500mm. The soil types are by and large loam and land degradation is one of the cross-cutting problems in all PAs.There is one typical PA worth mentioning, namely Woinye. The landscape in this PA is typically rugged and mountainous. It is located 23km west of Woldeya town. Irrigation is more common in this PA, which has enabled about 25 per cent of the farmers to produce during both 'meher' and 'belg' seasons. Cash crops like vegetables, fruits and sugarcane are very common in this PA.In each PA, primary and secondary (mostly up to eighth grade) schools are available. Most of the PAs also have access to all-weather roads while all have seasonal/dry weather roads. There is also telephone communications in each PA.There is at least one safe (treated) drinking water well in each PA. It takes farmers 30 to 120 minutes walk to reach markets.Coming to an overview of the sampled farmers, about 88 per cent of the heads of the sampled farm households are male, and 54 per cent of the heads of the sampled households cannot read and write. Only 26 per cent of the heads of the households have received a level of education better than reading and writing through church, mosque and/or schools. For 91 per cent of the farm households, agriculture is the most important economic activity. For the rest, household activities (mainly for female-headed households), non-farm small-scale economic activities and working in the church are the most important activities supporting the household. More than half (53 per cent) of the respondents are net buyers of agricultural products.Given the diversity of views presented in the section titled 'Do new varieties have a crowding out effect?' above, we now discuss the farmers' perspectives.To generate data, questions were framed and presented to farmers one by one to elicit their views on replacement and loss, and what this means to their livelihoods. Following their agreement or disagreement, they were further requested to give reason(s) for their response.Their reasons are coded and presented in the tables that follow.To start with, if farmers do not see a change in the composition of the varieties they grow over the course of many years, they will not be able to appreciate the occurrence of replacement and loss. Hence, the first question was 'How far do you agree with the idea that the composition of the crop varieties in your village has changed in the last five years?' 6 The data show that most farmers (88 per cent of the 373 respondents) agree.Table 4.1 below reports their reasons.In most of the cases, the local varieties have been replaced by the improved ones 24 The productivity of traditional varieties is decreasing every year 21 There is frequent supply of various seeds resulting in the change 14.4 The improved seeds themselves will be changed to local ones as time goes on 10 The local varieties are getting old 8.5 Over time, varieties have been susceptible to frost and wind 8 The types of varieties (colour, size, yield, etc.) we see differ from one year to another 4.2 Others 9According to Table 4.1, replacement of traditional varieties by the improved ones and frequent supply of improved seeds are important reasons for farmers to think that there is a change in the portfolio of varieties on-farm.This is in line with the notion that increasing the rate of varietal improvement speeds varietal replacement (Heisey and Brennan, 1991). It is striking to notice that some farmers are knowledgeable about the adaptation of improved varieties to local ones due to the evolution that occurs in response to agro-ecological dynamics. 7  About 12 per cent of the respondents do not see a change in the composition of the crop varieties they grow in their village. This is probably because they are typically dependent on traditional varieties of crops. For some of them, there are no improved seeds at all: only the land is changing (for the worse), not the seeds.The second question was 'How far do you agree with the idea that it is becoming ever difficult to find traditional varieties of crops in the village and on farmers' fields?' About 74 per cent of the 393 respondents agree with this idea. Table 4.2 reports their reasons.According to the preceding table, farmers think that it is becoming harder to find traditional varieties of crops due to their replacement by the new ones as the traditional varieties are becoming less productive, no longer tolerant to drought, susceptible to diseases and incompatible with the type of soil farmers are dealing with. For livestock, Zander et al (2009) have shown that local livestock keepers (about 34 per cent in Ethiopia and 21 per cent in Kenya) agreed that it is increasingly becoming harder to find pure Borana cattle in local markets.Farmers understand the general pattern of yield deterioration in their own varieties (Heisey and Brennan, 1991) and make a replacement decision accordingly. Apparently, farmers who agree with the preceding question are getting better access to improved seeds and their preferences are for high yield and tolerance to environmental stress (drought and diseases).About 26 per cent of the respondents feel that it is not difficult to find traditional varieties of crops in the hands of most farmers. Their reasons are that old varieties are still in the hands of many farmers and/or old varieties are easily adaptable to local harsh weather conditions.Since we are using the new seeds, the old ones are getting lost 35.6 The local varieties are not productive; their yield is dwindling every year 22.9 The traditional varieties are no longer in the hands of many farmers 6.6 The old varieties are no longer tolerant to drought 4.6 If the local seeds are used for many years, they become susceptible to diseases 2.3 Traditional varieties are no longer compatible with the type of soil we are dealing with 1.5The third question was 'How far do you agree with the idea that growing traditional varieties of crops is inevitable for better adaptation to harsh local conditions?' About 76 per cent of the 384 respondents agree while the rest think otherwise.Table 4.3 summarizes their respective reasons.Most farmers feel that growing traditional varieties of crops is inevitable because these varieties are better adapted to harsh local conditions and can still give some yield however bad the situation is. Landraces often tend to be low yielding but dependable and adapted to crude cultural practices and poor soil quality (Harlan, 1975). For others, traditional varieties are better known to them and do not carry the risk of becoming exposed to an unforeseen situation. For some farmers, there is simply no other choice, and they lack the experience and capacity to take on the new varieties.For farmers who do not believe that growing traditional varieties of crops is inevitable for better adaptation to harsh local conditions, their reasons had to do with failure of the varieties to be productive enough, lack of tolerance to local stress and poor quality of their land for growing local varieties. The fourth question was 'How far do you agree with the idea that replacement of local varieties by the improved ones is happening and leading to disappearance of traditional varieties?' About 70 per cent of the 384 respondents agree while the rest do not.Table 4.4 summarizes their respective reasons.Most farmers think that the replacement of traditional varieties of crops by the improved ones is happening and it is leading to the disappearance of the former for yield differential and land suitability reasons. According to Heisey and Brennan (1991), farmers' varietal replacement decision can be the result of yield deterioration. The land seems to be no more in harmony with the demands of local seeds. In some cases, the improved varieties are found to be more suited to the land and the potentials of the traditional varieties are exhausted. Farmers often note that varieties become 'tired' and need replacement (Wood and Lenne, 1997). In sum, the extent to which farmers adopt improved varieties and replace their landraces depends on the extent to which the new varieties better satisfy their household livelihood strategies (Maxted et al, 2002).Farmers' reasons for thinking that replacement and loss is not happening are based on their trust in the local varieties in terms of yield, better adaptation and  maintaining soil quality. Moreover, farmers' better knowledge about local varieties and their intention to avoid indebtedness are also important factors.The last question was 'Do you believe that loss of traditional varieties of crops is influencing your livelihoods?' About 71 per cent of the 369 respondents have responded affirmatively while the rest do not believe so. Their respective reasons are contained in Table 4.5.Most farmers are aware of the impact of the loss of traditional varieties of crops on their livelihoods in terms of input cost, income, health and nutrition. Accordingly, local varieties are not only sources of improved seeds but also they are easily and cheaply accessible. Farmers' knowledge about the utility of traditional varieties is thorough and instructive.On the contrary, farmers who do not think that their livelihoods are affected by loss of traditional varieties have a lot of trust in the improved seeds. These farmers, unlike the previous ones, seem to think that improved seeds are able to solve most of their agricultural problems. Accordingly, improved seeds are perceived to be superior.In summary, the discussions held with farmers suggest that yield is the overriding factor in farmers' variety choice decisions. Land degradation and deterioration of the productive potential of farmers' varieties is leading to the loss of traditional varieties of crops because some of farmers' varieties are retiring (losing their desirable attributes). Drought and desertification are the ever-increasing problems 76 Variety Trait Preferences and On-farm Conservation Policy faced by many farmers that are influencing variety choice. Hence, measures that enhance the productivity of farmers' varieties (e.g. irrigation, land husbandry practices, integrated pest management, etc.) can support on-farm conservation (Heisey and Brennan, 1991). Now that farmers' views have been described, the next question is 'Why do farmers differ in their views concerning variety replacement, loss and the impact of such an event on their livelihoods?' The rest of the paper will dwell on the possible reasons, considering the responses as dichotomous variables.Farmers perceive the performance (with respect to different traits) and utility of local and improved varieties differently. Their perception regarding loss of crop diversity and its impact on their livelihoods can be shaped by a multitude of factors. Essentially, farmers' heterogeneity with respect to those factors has to explain their differences in perception. For instance, two of those factors include the suitability of their working environment and resource endowment.For this study, variables that can capture household contextual characteristics (age, gender and education level of the household head), social networks, poverty/wealth status, experience in growing improved seeds/agricultural extension, access to markets/roads/improved seeds, variety attribute preferences and own experience in abandoning local varieties are the ones considered to explain perceptions.These variables are identified based on theory, previous literature, the descriptive statistics in the previous section and field observations during the discussions held with farmers.Subjective perceptions of farmers about technologies and consumers of agricultural technologies influence their adoption decisions (Adesina and Baidu-Forson, 1995). Similarly, one can argue that subjective perceptions of farmers about loss of traditional varieties and the impact of such a loss on their livelihoods (as acknowledged by farmers) influence their variety choice and use decisions. That is the motivation to study farmers' perceptions.The first variable considered is farmers' age because perception is the cumulative knowledge of farmers' experience. The older farmers are, the higher the chance for them to notice the occurrence (if any) of replacement and loss, and the higher the chance for them to notice that their livelihoods have been impacted.Education involves exposure to new ideas and knowledge that affects farmers' perceptions. In most of the cases, better educated farmers are better informed, and they are ready to take and exercise new technologies. Therefore, better educated farmers can be expected to perceive that loss and replacement is occurring. Similarly, farmers' networks affect perceptions because information exchange among farmers, which occurs through their networks, makes them aware, i.e. more networked farmers are more likely to perceive replacement and loss happening.Women farmers have typically great preference for varieties with food and cooking quality attributes (Bellon and Risopoulos, 2001). However, since it is not a priori known as to which varieties (local or improved) are superior in terms of food-quality traits and since they are crop-specific, the impact of gender on perception remains unpredictable.If crop production is the most important income source for the household, the farmer is more likely to notice changes in variety type and composition. Because of their engagement with crop production, farmers are also more likely to miss the local public goods value 8 of traditional varieties. Similarly, net sellers of agricultural products are more likely to perceive changes in the crop variety portfolio, replacement and loss. Their livelihoods will also be more influenced by the loss.A farmer's perception may be shaped by their experience of growing the new variety, extension services, and their knowledge about the modern variety (Negatu and Parikh, 1999). Most farmers who have been taking part in the agricultural extension programme and/or have longer experience with improved varieties can be expected to notice the possibility of replacement and loss. Those farmers who have got a better chance to get improved seeds (due to access or better purchasing power) can also be expected to perceive the occurrence of replacement and loss in their respective villages.Poor farmers who often face food shortages often depend on traditional varieties. Consequently, they do not believe that replacement and loss is happening. On the contrary, those better-off farmers who cultivate large farms and own more livestock are mostly able to take risk and try new genetic technologies.These farmers are, therefore, more likely to see the replacement and loss process happening.Farmers' variety attribute preferences are the other important factors that can influence and shape their perceptions. Subsistence farmers who have more preference for yield stability and early maturity will have a higher chance of growing traditional varieties of crops if these traits are better embedded in traditional varieties of crops. Those farmers with greater preference for higher price and yield are more likely to be using mainly improved seeds if these attributes are better embedded in improved varieties. Since there was no a priori information on which attributes are embedded in which varieties (improved or local), the relationship could not be predicted.Perceptions, by and large, are derived from the individual's own behaviour and actions. Farmers' own experience in abandoning local varieties is, therefore, another important variable which is expected to shape their perceptions. Those farmers who have abandoned one or more local variety of a crop are more likely to notice the change in the composition and perceive occurrence of replacement and loss. Tables 4.6 and 4.7 describe the complete list of variables and present the above hypothesized relationships.Farmers' perceptions drive their decisions to maintain traditional varieties of crops. Thus, explaining perceptions is an input to establish the targeting mechanisms for on-farm conservation, to test the policy relevance of scientific recommendations and to harmonize development interventions with crop  diversity outcomes. To gain more insights on these issues, from among the questions presented to farmers and discussed in the previous section, farmers' perceptions regarding questions 4 and 5 are further analysed using the logit model which takes the form:where z refers to the explanatory variables discussed and hypothesized in the previous section and presented in Tables 4.6 and 4.7. The regression results (Tables 4.8 and 4.9) and related discussions are presented subsequently.Overall, the model rightly (see (2) = 49.5; Prob > 2 = 0.00) also show the significance of the model. Those farmers who can easily access improved seeds seem to be more convinced that replacement and loss is happening. If they themselves can easily get improved seeds, they are more likely to consider that improved seed distribution is leading to replacement and loss.Social networks increase farmers' awareness on what is happening in terms of the replacement of traditional varieties of crops by the improved ones, which is supported by the results. If farmers are concerned with this trend, their awareness (through the information exchange via their networks) will shape their subsequent actions and influence their engagement with on-farm conservation initiatives.Farmers who have a greater preference for varieties which can fetch a better price are also more likely to see replacement and loss happening. This cannot be surprising as these market-oriented farmers are more likely to be using improved varieties. The results also show that net sellers of agricultural products are less likely to notice replacement and loss.The results suggest that farmers who have taken part in agricultural extension (at least once) do not see replacement happening. Though this is against our  prediction, involvement in agricultural extension does not necessarily mean use of improved varieties. Moreover, the message that participating farmers get from agricultural extension officers is mainly about increasing production and productivity. It hardly raises issues of losing traditional varieties of crops.This might have influenced their attitude. Unlike our expectation, farmers whose most important income source is crop production do not seem to see replacement and loss happening, which could be due to the greater dependence of these farmers on traditional varieties. Overall, the model rightly (see Table 4.9) predicts 75 per cent of the farmers who think that local varieties are important to their livelihoods and 66 per cent of those who think otherwise. The overall prediction rate is 74.5 per cent. The likelihood ratio test results (LR 2 (2) = 43.2; Prob > 2 = 0.00) also show the significance of the model.According to the results in Table 4.9, farmers' networks increase the chance that they value the importance of losing traditional varieties to their livelihoods. The information exchange is enhancing their appreciation of the role of traditional varieties to their livelihoods. This reinforces the role of these local networks in future on-farm conservation endeavours. Total value of livestock owned also increases the chance that farmers will value the importance of the loss of traditional varieties to their livelihoods. This can be attributed to the production synergy between crop and livestock production because in most cases the traditional varieties of crops are preferred for livestock feed.Farm households who have been facing more frequent food security problems appreciate the effect of losing traditional varieties of crops to their livelihoods. This result reinforces the typical role of traditional varieties of crops to the poor (Wale, 2004).Voluntarily and/or involuntarily, the poor farmers mainly grow traditional varieties and they better appreciate the desirable features of these varieties (yield stability, early maturity, environmental adaptability, etc.).Farmers with greater preference for yield stability trait are more likely to value the loss of traditional varieties to their livelihoods. This result suggests that this trait is one of the desirable attributes of traditional varieties and hence those who have mentioned it as their priority will have to be concerned with this trend.Those farmers who have greater preference for a variety that is good for food do not see the importance of losing traditional varieties of crops to their livelihoods. This can be because either the improved varieties that farmers are knowledgeable about are found to be good for their food traits or the local varieties have been perceived to have lost their desirable food-quality attributes. As a result, farmers are not missing food taste-related values of traditional varieties.As expected, those farmers who are more experienced with improved varieties do not see the importance of losing traditional varieties to their livelihoods. Those farmers who have taken part in the agricultural extension programme (at least once) also do not feel the impact of losing traditional varieties to their livelihoods. Their engagement with the programme and the chance they had to use introduced varieties and inputs might have convinced them that it is possible to do crop farming without necessarily using traditional varieties. As noted above, the message that agricultural extension participant farmers often get is mainly about enhancing agricultural production and productivity, not the utility of traditional varieties of crops to their livelihoods.Those farmers who have reported that they have been constrained by market and price-related problems, or those farmers who are engaged in commercial activities but are market-constrained, value the importance of losing traditional varieties of crops to their livelihoods. Even though this is not as expected, it can be attributed to desirable attributes of traditional varieties to consumers.This study has been motivated by the idea that farmers' perceptions on the questions of traditional crop varieties replacement and loss, and what this means to their livelihoods, are important determinants of their variety choice and use decisions. However, they are hardly studied despite the importance of integrating Farmers' Perceptions on Replacement and Loss of Traditional Crop Varieties 83 farmers' perceptions into the design of on-farm conservation policy. The important value that this study adds, therefore, is in terms of integrating farmers' perspectives to the replacement and loss question. This, among other things, can ensure the design of policies and strategies that can enhance farmers' compliance with on-farm conservation incentives.A partial review of the available literature shows that there is considerable controversy on the issue of replacement and loss. While some question the occurrence of loss and replacement, others take them for granted. While some consider improved varieties as threats to traditional varieties, others take them as complementary. Overall, most studies agree on the absence of automatic displacement, the inevitability of the change in crop varietal population structure, and the cumulative and slow nature of the replacement process. Thus, there is a need to carefully monitor the nature of the change before jumping into any conclusion.Most of the on-farm conservation policy recommendations so far seem to take farmers' compliance for granted. Their compliance, however, will depend, among other things, on its compatibility with their perceptions and thoughts. It will, therefore, be imperative to understand farmers' views on the questions of loss and replacement and what it means to their livelihoods.It is remarkable to learn that a sizable number of farmers are aware of the fact that the local varieties are the inputs/raw materials for developing the improved ones. Farmers are also knowledgeable about the process of change from improved to local varieties due to the adaptation in response to agro-ecological dynamics.It is the view of the majority that replacement of traditional varieties of crops is happening and it is leading to the disappearance of traditional varieties, mainly for yield differential and land-suitability reasons. According to the regression results, these are farmers with better local networks, with easy access to improved seeds, and greater preference for varieties which can fetch better prices. Farmers' belief that replacement is not happening is based on their trust in the desirable attributes of local varieties. The regression results have shown that these are net sellers of agricultural products whose most important income source is crop production.According to most farmers, loss of the traditional varieties of crops is already influencing their livelihoods in various ways. For one thing, cost of production increases as improved seeds are not physically and financially accessible to most smallholders. Secondly, these farmers are missing the health and nutrition benefits of traditional varieties of crops. The regression results have identified these farmers as those with better networks, owning more livestock, facing frequent food security problems and having greater preference for yield stability trait. On the contrary, farmers who do not think that their livelihoods are affected by the loss of traditional varieties have a lot of trust in the superiority of improved seeds in terms of solving most of their agricultural problems. The regression results identify these farmers as those who have taken part in the agricultural extension programme and those more experienced with improved varieties.The results of the study have implications as inputs for future on-farm conservation policy in various ways. First of all, there are genuine reasons to be concerned about replacement and loss, which have been confirmed by the overwhelming majority of farmers, i.e. whatever time it takes, it is occurring and mitigation measures are indispensable. Since the results suggest trade-offs between access to improved seeds and the survival of farmers' varieties on their fields, it is high time to link dissemination of improved varieties with on-farm conservation initiatives.In terms of policy, it would be unproductive to rule out either the products of modern breeding or the products of farmers' indigenous knowledge-based breeding (Tripp, 1996). The daunting task ahead is to formulate strategies that can achieve agricultural development and agro-biodiversity conservation. Since these issues are not sequential, decision-makers will have to consider both aspects of sustainable development in the design of projects, programmes and policies.Improved varieties should not be considered as a panacea to farmers' problems. The agricultural extension programme should focus not only on enhancing productivity through improved seeds but also on ensuring the survival of traditional varieties.To this effect, the programme has to make on-farm conservation an integral component. According to this study, farmers who have greater preference for survival-maximizing attributes (like yield stability and early maturity) and those found in less accessible areas have to be targeted with policies that can enhance the productivity and comparative advantages of traditional varieties.Farmers' networks and the exchange of information have positively affected not only their perception towards replacement and loss but also the importance they attach to traditional varieties. Thus, to enhance on-farm conservation, mechanisms have to be designed to create and support the exchange of information among farmers so that the farmers who appreciate the utility of traditional varieties (pro-diversity farmers/communities) can share their knowledge and experiences (with other farmers) about traditional varieties.Farmers who are more experienced with improved varieties and extension services and those who prefer marketable varieties most are the proper partners to be targeted by awareness creation campaigns and mitigation measures.Farmers' compliance with the demands of on-farm conservation can be enhanced when the conservation measures target those farmers who believe that their livelihoods are more connected to the survival of traditional varieties. On the other hand, localities/farmers/communities of an opposite nature have to be targeted to reverse potential loss.The results suggest that socio-economic changes (new markets, new crop enterprises, new crop varieties, etc.) and agro-ecological dynamics (climate change, land degradation, drought and desertification) in smallholder farming can play against the comparative advantage of these varieties of crops, especially when traditional varieties retire and become incompatible with the changes. This is a loss that happens in rural areas due to socio-economic and agro-ecological Farmers' Perceptions on Replacement and Loss of Traditional Crop Varieties 85 changes occurring in the villages. In those scenarios, measures that enhance the utility of farmers' varieties to the local community can support both farmers' livelihoods and on-farm conservation.1 The legal explanations mainly focus on national and international legal/regulatory gaps. 2 Of course, the issue of replacement of traditional varieties by the improved ones is crop-specific. It is more important for crops that have been affected by Green Revolution technologies (e.g. wheat, maize and rice). 3 A review by Brush (1995) for maize, wheat and potatoes in their respective centres of diversity shows that the spread of modern varieties has resulted in changing population structure/compositions, not complete loss. 4 Yifru and Hammer (2006), for instance, have reported a reduction in the use of local varieties over the years for triploid wheat in Ethiopia. 5 Since this is a case study, there was no compelling reason to choose these zones apart from their typical features in terms of facing frequent drought, degraded land and having a mixed cereal-livestock farming system. 6 The response options were: fully agree, partly agree and disagree. For the analysis here, options 1 and 2 are merged into the same category as the reasons given for the choices were the same. 7 This is a process, often called creolization, which has been shown to have happened, for instance, for maize in Mexico (Bellon and Brush, 1994). 8 This refers to the utility of the diversity of traditional varieties of crops (in terms of insurance against yield fluctuations, nutrition and health values of dietary diversity, and other desirable production and consumption attributes) enjoyed by all the farming communities locally.The local crop varieties constitute a valuable component of the available genetic diversity necessary in the development and improvement of crop enterprises. However, this diversity is continuously being lost or threatened because of natural-and human-driven factors. Local crop varieties are often underutilized and there is often little effort made in terms of the realization of their contribution to the socio-economic needs of the people locally and nationally. In addition to their contribution to risk reduction in agriculture, local varieties are also known to have potential nutritional values and cooking qualities.Maize is Zambia's staple food and Gankata is a widely grown local maize variety among most small-scale farmers in Zambia. Alongside maize, groundnut features predominantly in the production systems of Zambian small-scale farmers. Kadononga, a local traditional groundnut, is a very common variety in the country. During a priority-setting exercise conducted under the auspices of Genetic Resource Policy Initiative (GRPI) project in 2006, Gankata and Kadononga were found to be the most widely grown local varieties in Zambia. However, the area allocated to these crop varieties was found to be significantly smaller than that for hybrid varieties of maize and groundnut (GRPI, 2006). Generally, the production of local crop varieties (including maize and groundnut) has been declining over the years. According to Gumbo (1986), the production of local maize varieties has been decreasing since Zambia's independence in 1964.This is mainly attributed to the emphasis the then government had attached to improving the existing genotypes of maize such as 'improved SR52', which was introduced in 1979. During the time, SR52 was developed to meet a wide range of farmers' needs in different environmental conditions (Gumbo, 1986).Over time, the use of improved maize varieties in Zambia has been increasing. Howard and Chitalu (2000), for instance, note that the area allocated to improved seeds increased in Zambia from 4.5 per cent in 1983 to 58.6 per cent in 1992.The use of local maize varieties reduced from 65.5 per cent to 26.0 per cent during the same period. More notably, the introduction of a more liberalized market economy (in 1991) brought with it many seed companies whose major objective was profit maximization through the promotion of their improved crop varieties. In addition, there has been a lack of appreciation or inadequate integration of local resources issues (including crop genetic resources) into various sectoral policies and instruments. All these factors have led to drastic drops in the production of local crop varieties in the country.The displacement of local crop varieties by improved ones in rural communities has been the result of the advantages of improved varieties in production attributes (such as high yields and early maturity). Several studies (for instance, Mafuru et al, 1999) have shown the main production advantages that improved varieties have over local varieties. In this case study chapter, it is recognized that both production attributes (e.g. yield), market or trade attributes (e.g. price) and consumption attributes (e.g. taste) play an important role in crop variety use decisions. While there is increasingly important literature on variety-specific attributes with impact on the production of local varieties (for instance, Smale et al, 2001;Edmeades et al, 2004;Wale and Yalew, 2007), there is inadequate or little information on the variety attribute preferences of consumers and traders. Most previous studies are on farmers' preferences which naturally focus largely on production traits (Wale et al, 2005). Since many farmers produce for their families and the market, consumers' and traders' variety attribute preferences affect the production of local crop varieties on-farm. Variety choice is a revealed preference to respond to production constraints, satisfy consumption preferences and fulfil specific market requirements (Smale et al, 2001). Since farmers' production decisions and consumers' preferences are linked through the market, farmers respond not only to their own preferences but also to consumers and traders' demands/preferences. This consumption/production linkage can be explored (and opportunities seized) to inform policy decisions.Understanding important attributes affecting consumers and traders' preferences for local varieties can shed light on the missing links in the market chain and marketing constraints that affect the consumption and sustainable use of traditional varieties of crops. In most of the existing literature, there is a systematic omission on the role consumers and traders play in the maintenance and/or disappearance of certain local varieties.In this case study, it is assumed that production of local varieties is affected by the preferences of urban consumers and the market constraints the traders face. As the empirical results will show later, this assumption has been shown to hold in the areas studied. The study uses maize (Gankata) and groundnut (Kadononga) to understand the attributes that consumers like, or otherwise, and the marketing constraints that traders face in the marketing of the two products. The overall objective is to study consumers and traders' variety preferences and generate information that can support decision-making towards the sustainable use and conservation of crop genetic resources. The study will also explore the mecha-nisms for identifying traditional varieties that have less chance to stay on-farm -to support possible conservation priority-setting.The next section presents the methodology, describing the data collection procedures and methods of data analysis. This is followed by the presentation of findings from both maize and groundnut trader and consumer surveys. The major results are then discussed. Finally, the conclusions and implications of the results are presented, drawing from the empirical results.The study was conducted in Lusaka, the most densely populated city in Zambia (CSO, 2000). There are markets with large volumes that involve diversity of various products including most agricultural products. Interviews among groundnut (Kadononga) consumers took place in seven residential areas, namely Mtendere, Ng'ombe, Kalingalinga, Kalikiliki, Chawama, Mandevu and Chipata. There was no stratification made in sampling residential areas and groundnut consumers. For maize, consumers were not stratified according to residential areas because only a small proportion of Lusaka's urban consumers directly buy maize grain for subsequent milling as straight-run meal (Kuntashula, 1999). Most consumers buy maize flour. Consumers of maize grain were interviewed either at the place of grain purchase (urban markets) or at maize grain processing locations (at hammer millers). A total of the household heads of 106 groundnut consumers and 63 groundnut traders were interviewed for the groundnut survey. A total of 104 consumers and 60 traders were interviewed for the maize grain survey. None of the interviewed consumers or traders was a maize or groundnut producer. It has to be re-emphasized that this is a case study and no claim can be made on the representativeness of the sample. The results only hold in those contexts where the features of the study areas and the interviewed consumers/traders prevail.Structured questionnaires were used throughout the study. During pre-testing of the questionnaires on 20 households, 5 main maize attributes (market price, grain colour, grain size, kernel density and food taste) were identified as relevant for consumers. Similarly, a total of 8 important attributes were identified for groundnut (market price, grain colour, easiness to peel testa, kernel density, food taste, oil content, grain size and number of pods).All the interviewed maize consumers were asked to rate all the attributes on a scale of 1 to 5 regardless of whether or not they viewed them as important in their decision to buy maize grain because all attributes were important for all maize consumers. During the groundnut interviews, consumers were asked to only rate the attributes they found relevant in their groundnut-buying decisions because some attributes were not important for some groundnut consumers. In both cases, a rate of 1 meant least important and a rate of 5 meant an attribute to which consumers attach the highest importance when making purchasing decisions. In between were rates of 2, 3 and 4, designating the respective importance of the attributes in an orderly manner.The questionnaires had sections covering individual characteristics, groundnut and maize grain buying and selling activities, marketing constraints, asset ownership and the market-related decision-making process. The description of the data (from maize consumers) used in the regression analysis is presented in Tables 5.1 and 5.2.According to the data in the preceding tables, most household heads were male and married. The household size was about 5 people per household. The average consumer monthly income is about 474,327 Zambian Kwacha (≈US$118.6). The average number of rooms in the house is about 2.4 while the frequency of purchase of maize per month is about 8. It takes about 25 minutes to walk to the nearest market for a typical consumer.The survey data were descriptively analysed using SPSS (version 11) and the regression analysis was done using STATA (version 9). The attribute preference levels were subjected to paired t-test analyses while regression analysis was conducted on the influence of different household contextual characteristics on the quantity of maize purchased per week.The majority of the interviewed households (86 per cent) do not consume Gankata evenly due to scarcity during some months of the year. Most consumers prefer Gankata for large grain size (47 per cent), kernel density (28 per cent) and good taste (19 per cent).That is why they continue to buy and use Gankata in the presence of other varieties such as Pioneer and Moffat. However, the quantity of Gankata coming to the market is declining due to the decline in production.Comparing the last five years, the purchase of local maize varieties has decreased for most consumers (60 per cent) due to its scarcity and expensive price, which has forced most consumers to reduce their purchase. For the households who had increased purchases of local maize grain, increase in family size was cited as the major reason.Trader enquiries, however, revealed that price differences between local and improved maize was hardly significant and in most cases nonexistent. This is because the government regulates the maize market at the source and sets the same price regardless of the quality differences among the different types of maize grain. During the survey, the price of 50kg of maize was around K40,000 (≈US$10) in almost all the markets. Essentially, the same maize market price prevailed in most markets surveyed, regardless of the variety of maize.The purchase of improved maize in the last five years has increased for 50 per cent of the consumers due to ready availability while it has decreased for others due to poor taste. Most consumers (81 per cent) buy maize from vendors. In terms of time of purchase, most consumers (80 per cent) buy maize after harvest (May-November).According to the consumers, good quality maize is one which: is white in colour, has large grain size and has good kernel density. The most important characteristics considered by consumers in the purchase of maize are grain colour, grain size, kernel density, market price and food taste (in the order presented). In this connection, the most important desirable consumption traits of Gankata are: quantity of flour, better taste and white flour. A few households (around 12 per cent) have pointed out that Gankata had undesirable attributes, such as its being expensive, having poor taste and/or an unpleasant colour. Table 5.3 reports consumers' preferences between local and improved maize grain with respect to different variety traits.About 88 per cent of the households preferred local to improved maize grain with respect to all the variety traits (Table 5.3). The superiority of the local varieties in terms of kernel density, grain size, food taste and colour were frequently cited as the major reasons for this preference.Maize in Zambia is consumed in the form of a thick porridge locally known as 'nshima'. Almost all consumers (99 per cent) purchasing dry maize grain mill it into flour to make nshima. In addition, about 20 per cent of consumers indicated that they purchase maize grain for use as 'samp'. Table 5.4 reports the relevance of different maize variety traits for the interviewed consumers. Grain size stood out as the most important attribute for a household's maize grain purchase decisions. More than 80 per cent of consumers attached a 'relevant' or 'very relevant' ordinal score to grain size. Most households considered food taste and market price as less relevant traits (Table 5.4). Statistical tests on the means of the ratings showed that the ratings of the attributes in order of importance were: grain size (4.23) > kernel density (3.46) = grain colour (3.15) > market price (2.09) = food taste (2.01). The mean paired rank differences for these attributes are shown in Table 5.5.Grain colour, grain size and kernel density were rated higher than the grain market price. Grain size was rated higher than grain colour, kernel density and food taste. Kernel density and grain colour were rated higher than food taste (Table 5.5). All these results confirm that for staple food crops like maize, quantity traits stand out as most important for consumers' purchase decisions. Eighty-eight per cent of the Gankata consumers agreed that Gankata possesses the most desirable maize variety attributes and that was the reason why consumers accepted it in the market. That also explains why this variety has stayed in the market for so long and it is well known by producers, consumers and traders.About 95 per cent agreed that the quantity of Gankata coming to the market has been declining in recent times. About 72 per cent of the consumers have indicated that they could not always find local maize whenever they wanted to buy it. However, 87 per cent of the consumers have pointed out that they could always find improved maize varieties whenever they wanted to buy them. This is despite consumers' preference (88 per cent) for local maize.A few consumers (17.3 per cent) had memories of local maize varieties that are fast disappearing from the market. The varieties they mentioned include Kalimwa, Kapwawangu, Nsanga, Kanjerenjere, Bantam-Chipata, Senga and Manidza Chala.   As in the case of maize, consumers were asked to order their preferences for different attributes of groundnut varieties. Table 5.6 reports the results of this exercise. Most groundnut consumers consider food taste and grain size as most relevant traits in their decisions to purchase groundnut. Kernel density, grain colour and oil content were cited as important attributes next to food taste and grain size. Number of pods was the most irrelevant attribute considered by groundnut consumers because most consumers buy shelled grains of groundnut. The other most irrelevant attributes were easiness to peel testa and groundnut market price (Table 5.6).The ratings above suggest that consumers' preferences are in the order of: food taste = grain size > oil content = kernel density = grain colour > market price = easiness to peel > number of pods. The mean paired rank differences for groundnut attributes are reported in Table 5.7.The pair-wise ratings showed that, with the exception of easiness to peel (and number of pods), all other attributes were viewed more important than the market price attribute. While grain colour was found to be more important than easiness to peel, food taste and grain size were rated more important than grain colour. Food taste, oil content and grain size were all viewed as more important than easiness to peel. Food taste and grain size were rated more important than kernel density. Grain size ratings dominated oil content ratings, which, in turn, dominated food taste ratings (Table 5.7).Although 28.8 per cent of consumers did not agree, 58.5 per cent agreed that Kadononga possesses most of the desirable attributes of groundnut. About 74 per cent agreed that the quantity of Kadononga coming to the market these days has been declining. Most consumers (83 per cent) had an opportunity to buy local groundnut whenever they wanted. Regarding preferences of consumers for Consumers' Attribute Preferences and Traders' Challenges 101 It was expected that male-headed households could buy more quantities of Gankata than female-headed households. The results show that the male-headed households bought 6.1kg more Gankata per week than their female-headed counterparts, other factors held constant. This could be attributed to the fact that male-headed households are economically better-off.It can be hypothesized that the more members a household has the greater quantity of Gankata they are likely to buy because maize is generally a staple food in Zambia. Every member of household would want to consume maize meal at least once in a day. Since Gankata is in most cases bought for maize meal, it is not surprising that household size increases the quantity of Gankata that the household is likely to buy. The regression results suggest that an additional household member will trigger a household to buy 4.2kg more of Gankata per week.Consumers' Attribute Preferences and Traders' Challenges 103 Households with married heads bought more Gankata than single-headed households. According to the results, the single-headed households bought 7.4kg less Gankata per week than their married counterparts. This can be attributed to the relative income poverty of single-headed households.The regression results suggest that households with more rooms in their houses were buying more Gankata than those with fewer rooms.The number of rooms in a house is often positively related to the level of income and living standard. Similarly, those who own houses are also relatively better-off than those who don't own houses. Consequently, the results show that house ownership positively affects the quantity of Gankata purchased.Maize grain is mainly bought for making either maize flour that is later used to make nshima, the staple food for most Zambians, or maize samp, mainly used as a breakfast meal. The quantities of Gankata bought were significantly related to the purpose for which maize grain was bought, i.e. households whose main purpose of buying maize was nshima were buying more Gankata. Maize grain is mostly bought by the poor to produce nshima (Kuntashula, 1999).According to the regression results, the shorter the time to reach the nearest maize market, the more quantities of Gankata were purchased, other factors held constant. For households closer to markets, the transaction cost is lower and they do not have to exert too much effort to obtain Gankata. This result supports previous studies whereby distance to markets for local maize varieties is found to be a serious constraining factor in Zambia as most local maize varieties are consumed in places where they are produced (Hara, 2008).The results suggest that those consumers who prefer local to improved maize varieties bought more Gankata. This is expected as Gankata is one of the most common and well-known local maize varieties.The interviewed maize grain traders had their grain trade business located in several areas of urban Lusaka including Soweto, Mandevu, Kalingalinga, Mtendere, Chipata, Kalikiliki, Chawama, George, Ufulu, Ng'ombe, Katambala, Kadzimai, Chaisa and Lupilu. Groundnut traders have their businesses in Soweto, Buseko, Kuku, Mtendere and Chawama.About half of the sampled maize grain traders were male and the average age of the traders was 37 years. Most of maize grain traders (65 per cent) had completed secondary schooling. While most traders were trading maize alone, only a few were trading other cereals such as popcorn (21.8 per cent) and sorghum (1.8 per cent). About 33.3 per cent of the maize traders were involved in non-cereal trading.About two-thirds of the groundnut traders are male. The average age of the groundnut traders was 33.4 years. About 50 per cent, 45 per cent and 5 per cent of the groundnut traders had completed primary schooling, secondary schooling and tertiary education, respectively. While 90 per cent of the groundnut traders were middlemen, the rest were farmers. About 57 per cent of the groundnut traders run other businesses in addition to groundnut business.The other types of businesses that these traders are engaged in include grocery, beans, poultry, vegetables, beans, kapenta (dried sardines) and cloths.Maize trading in most urban Lusaka markets is dominated by the seasonal petty traders. The traders buy maize grain in the rural areas of the country and bring it to urban areas for resell. Usually these traders are involved in other businesses after the maize grain is out of season. There is a high supply of maize just after harvest, i.e. starting from the end of May through June to September. The supply begins to dwindle towards the end of the year as the rainy season approaches. In January to April there is a serious maize grain scarcity.Most maize traders (more than 90 per cent) revealed that maize grain supply is high just after harvest and low during the rainy season. This also shows that traders do not target to supply maize when maize supply from the farmers is low. About 48 per cent of the maize traders indicated that it only took up to three days to dispose of the maize grain while the rest were able to do so within a week.All the maize traders interviewed sell Gankata. The majority of the traders (78.3 per cent) indicated that the selling of Gankata was seasonal, which was mainly attributed to lack of availability throughout the year.Most of the traders (61 per cent) revealed that local maize was preferred to hybrid maize and a few traders (17 per cent traders) mentioned that Gankata was the most preferred maize variety. Most traders attributed the preference to local maize in general and Gankata in particular to the varieties being demanded by most consumers. They revealed that consumers like local varieties because the varieties produce a lot of mealie meal (more flour) and can be used to make good samp.The major challenges faced by the maize grain traders in order of their importance were: shortage of capital, low grain prices, high transportation costs, lack of supply, lack of demand and poor market infrastructure (e.g. storage costs and lack of information).As it is the case for maize, groundnut traders revealed that supply of groundnut (including Kadononga) is high just after harvest and Kadononga is mainly traded during harvest season and hardly traded throughout the year. The supply is normally low during the growing season and seasonality is the common feature of trading groundnut.The major challenges faced by the groundnut traders were high transportation costs, seasonality in supply, lack of capital and market-related problems (low demand, poor market infrastructure, price fluctuation and high market levies). The problem of seasonality in supply was further compounded by the absence of storage facilities and high storage costs.Maize and groundnut feature prominently in the consumers' food basket in Zambia. Maize is Zambia's staple food while groundnut is commonly eaten as a roasted snack, added as a relish to maize meal porridge. As a staple food, more than half of Zambia's population relies on maize for most of their calorie intake and spend a large share of their disposable income on it (Kuntashula, 1999).Given the importance attached to maize, it is expected that the quantity attributes that are directly related to its availability are likely to dominate the other traits. In this study, consumers rated grain size high (followed by kernel density), showing that maize consumers first attach importance to issues of quantity before looking at the quality attributes like food taste. Regression results also show that the households' characteristics such as family size (with direct implication on market demand) influenced the quantities of maize bought.This again shows that availability of maize is far more important than quality, especially for many poor urban consumers.Food taste and market price were rated low by maize grain consumers. Although there are some variations in the way the meals from different maize grain would taste, these differences have not been important to most of the urban poor who make the maize meals using hammer or custom mills. One of the reasons for the urban poor to use custom mills is to obtain more meal than the quantity of maize flour the same amount of money would buy in the supermarkets and shops (Hassan, 2005: Kuntashula, 1999).The fact that market price is irrelevant in the maize grain purchase may look counter-intuitive to economic theory. It must be noted, however, that the floor price for maize grain in the country is often set by the government to protect the producers. The urban market price is generally the same in urban markets irrespective of the quality differences. 3 The floor price of maize will be the same whether the variety is local or improved, yellow or white or multicoloured. This explains why consumers did not attach much value to market price as an attribute in their decision to purchase one particular maize grain type to another. Of course, price as a factor becomes important in deciding whether to purchase grain to be milled later or to purchase meal that has already been industrially milled. Most studies (e.g. Rubey and Masters, 1994;Bagachwa, 1994) have indicated that the relatively low price of hammer (custom) milled meal has forced most of the urban poor to resort to hammer mills. Since the interviewed maize grain consumers are from relatively poor areas of Lusaka, the price of maize and/or maize meal will be an important consideration in the choice of meal type, not maize type.The most favoured attribute for Gankata is grain size. Most consumers agreed that Gankata had most attributes desirable for maize and that was the reason why consumers accepted it in the market. In addition, Gankata has a good taste for food (GRPI, 2006). Although most consumers preferred local varieties (like Gankata) to improved varieties, they alluded to the fact that the number of other local varieties has been declining over the years. Most of these varieties are small-seeded and have less flour compared to Gankata, which could be the reasons why they have disappeared from the market.Unlike maize, most groundnut consumers give more priority to issues of quality (such as food taste and oil content) in making decisions to buy groundnut. Size of groundnut grains and the prevailing market prices were not important for consumers. Since it is not a staple food, consumers could afford to prefer food taste to quantities of groundnut. According to most consumers, Kadononga possesses most of the desirable attributes of groundnut.Maize grain and groundnut, including local varieties of these crops, are widely traded on several Lusaka urban markets. Generally, there was no evidence suggesting that hybrid varieties are more favoured than local varieties. In fact, there was some evidence pointing to the fact that local maize varieties are preferred by traders because the varieties are also preferred by most customers. This case study has shown that the marketing of both maize grain and groundnut is highly seasonal. The two products are in high supply just after harvest and then they will become rare commodities during the rain or growing season. Most traders of these products are not involved in storage (due to capital shortage) and hence a continuous supply of the commodities beyond a few months after harvest is not occurring. In addition, high transportation cost has reduced the volumes of local maize grain and groundnut marketed in the urban market.The results of this chapter have shown that grain size followed by kernel density were rated high by maize consumers, and food taste and market price were rated low.Thus, for staple food crops like maize, consumers attach importance to issues of quantity before they start to value quality attributes like food taste. The direct and strong impact of household characteristics such as family size on quantities of maize bought further demonstrates the importance of quantity and availability to consumers. The most favoured attributes of Gankata are grain size and kernel density. Most consumers agreed that Gankata has these desirable attributes. That is the reason why this well-known variety has prevailed in the market for so long as it satisfies quantity characteristics that consumers demand most.The chapter also demonstrates some important contrasts between maize and groundnut. For groundnut grain, the traits which received more preference by consumers were food taste, oil content and grain colour (quality attributes). Market price, easiness to peel and the number of pods are the least important for groundnut. Unlike maize, quality traits are more important for groundnut, a nonstaple food crop.According to most consumers, Kadononga, the most common traditional groundnut variety, possesses most of the desirable attributes of groundnut, which again explains its survival for so long in the market and on farmers' fields. The availability of the most desired attributes embedded in the local crop varieties (such as Gankata and Kadononga) will ensure that these varieties continue to be demanded by consumers, marketed by traders and grown by farmers. Consumers, however, have observed the general trend that the supply of Kadononga and other local crop varieties have been declining in the urban markets.This trend of potential policy concern might require further investigation in the future, especially for sustainable use and conservation of traditional crop varieties.Local varieties of maize grain and groundnut are widely traded on several Lusaka urban markets. In fact, there was some evidence pointing to the fact that local maize varieties are preferred by traders due to greater demand by many consumers. The study has shown that the marketing of both maize grain and groundnut is highly seasonal, i.e. the two products are in high supply just after harvest and become rare commodities during the rain or growing seasons.The results of this chapter show that the income/poverty status of consumers, proximity to markets, purpose of purchasing maize for the staple food (nshima prepared from mealie meal or maize grain powder) and consumers' preference for local varieties over improved ones are the most important factors to explain the quantity of maize (Gankata) purchased.What do the results mean for the conservation and sustainable utilization of traditional varieties of the two crops studied? There are some important policy implications of the results for breeding, production and utilization of traditional varieties of maize and groundnut. However, as this chapter is a case study, the results cannot be extrapolated beyond similar study areas.The results suggest that future breeding efforts should target quantitative traits (like kernel density and grain size) for staple food crops like maize and both quantitative and qualitative traits for non-staple food crops like groundnut. Policy-makers should take advantage of the already existing better preference of local varieties (over hybrid or improved ones) by consumers to further increase their demand by supporting production, processing and marketing of traditional varieties of crops. Campaigns and seed fairs that take advantage of the good attributes of local varieties should be mounted. Deliberate efforts to commercialize local varieties can ensure the continuous survival of these varieties on farmers' fields and improve conservation outcomes. These measures could increase urban demand for local maize and groundnut and thereby increase their production, use and on-farm conservation. For better conservation and livelihoods outcomes, traditional varieties of these crops should be made more rewarding and appealing not only to farmers but also to all actors in the market value chain, including consumers and traders. Value addition on the products of traditional landraces could be important entry points for future policy.To boost the maize grain and groundnut (and thereby promote the local varieties such as Gankata and Kadononga), there is a need to provide loan facilities to traders involved to address their liquidity problems and financial constraints. Improving market storage facilities would help to ensure constant supply throughout the year, take advantage of economies of scale benefits, and enhance the use and market values of traditional varieties of crops. Moreover, addressing problems of transportation costs and poor storage facilities can reduce the seasonal variations in both supply and prices of the commodities. This will also induce farmers to produce more to meet the increased demand. Since most consumers prefer Gankata and Kadononga, and since there is no discrimination against local maize and groundnut varieties in the urban markets, these measures would ensure the increased availability of local varieties of these crops in the agricultural production systems of Zambia.The study found non-existence of trade discrimination between the hybrids or improved varieties and local varieties of the crops studied. This is pertinent for the continued existence of the local crop varieties. However, this does not ensure that all potentially important traditional varieties are maintained. Some important varieties can be left out from the market value chain. There is a chance that some traditional varieties important for the future of agriculture could be crowded out. Identifying those varieties and taking measures to ensure their continuous survival is very important. Those traditional varieties which do not currently possess the relevant traits for consumers should be targeted for in situ/on-farm and ex situ conservation.1 At the time of the survey, US$1 = 4000 Zambian Kwacha, the local currency. 2 'Samp' is pounded maize grits without husks that is boiled and eaten with the addition of either sugar, groundnut, salt or milk, or any combination of these. 3 Some small variations may exist which could not be attributed to differences between local and hybrid maize prices.development of niche product enterprises and forming public-private partnerships for the conservation and utilization of traditional varieties can improve both farmers' livelihoods and conservation outcomes.The farm income analysis of local rice landraces was undertaken in the Begnas area of Kaski district. Fifteen rice-cultivating farm households were selected for this case study. The following relationships for the income and the cost valuation of local landraces were applied:Net income (NPR/ropani) 1 = Gross income -Total cost Farm business income = Gross income -Cost of purchased inputs (NPR/ropani) (Eqn 6.1)Estimated farm business income is the income to the farm family from the crop after deducting the out-of-pocket costs of purchased inputs from the total income. The costs of own (non-purchased) inputs (labour, home saved seeds, manure, etc.) were not included in the cost calculation. Thus, the farm business income only gives a proxy of income as a return to own inputs and family labour.The study implicitly assumed that most of the farmers' own resources had very little alternative uses under the subsistence agriculture. Though this assumption may not be fully correct, the approach still explains farmers' rationale for engaging themselves in the traditional crop-farming business despite net loss (in the strict financial sense) in the cultivation of the crop.Farmers, consumers and sellers in Kathmandu Valley (Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktpur) and entrepreneurs and consumers of Palpa (Tansen Municipality and Suburb Pokhrathok), mid-hill areas of Nepal and Butwal haat bazaar (a Terai market with mixed community of hill and Terai people) were surveyed to assess the prospects of commercialization and the potentials for promoting and marketing local rice varieties (and their products) grown by Nepalese. Prospects for promoting commercialization of underutilized local rice varieties were also explored. Respondents were randomly selected for the interviews.The study area (Kaski district) is in the mid-hill region (800-1500m above sea level) of Nepal. The topography of the region consists of ancient lake and river terraces found on moderate to steep slopes. It experiences high rainfall (>3900mm/annum) with a warm temperate to subtropical climate. Mean daily minimum temperature of the coldest month is 7°C and the mean daily maximum of the hottest month is 30.5°C with monthly mean of 20.9°C (Sthapit et al, 1999;Rana et al, 2000).The area is reported to be a hotspot in terms of crop diversity (Rijal et al, 1998). A total of 32 crops were reported to be grown. The major crops are rice, maize and finger millet. Rice, the major staple crop, is grown in different environments (lowland, irrigated land, partially irrigated land, rain-fed and upland). The total rice varieties maintained by the local farmers in this area are about 69 (Rijal et al, 1998), 63 of them local (Rana et al, 2007).Out of 50 rice-growing farmers sampled in the Begnas area, 15 rice growers were sub-sampled for the analysis of input uses and cost of production for rice. The rice farmers in the district are homogenous and farm-to-farm variation is very low. Most of the farmers are growing rice with similar sets of inputs. The purchase of inputs and sales of outputs are done in local markets and most of the farmers fetch similar prices for their products. Due to such homogeneity among the farm households, even a small proportion of the total households can represent their situation well. Moreover, for the study on the marketing of underutilized local crop species and their products, more than three dozen entrepreneurs, shopkeepers and departmental stores (of Kathmandu Valley, mid-hills town like Tansen and a Terai-located town like Butwal, both in the western region of the country) were interviewed with a structured questionnaire. The questionnaires covered the production, production costs and rice variety attribute preferences of the interviewees.Table 6.1 reports input cost and income analysis of eight local varieties of rice. Net income was calculated by deducting the total costs from the gross income. Farm business income is obtained by deducting the costs of purchased inputs from gross income (see 'Methodology', above). As there is neither tax nor subsidy on farm income, the farm business income is the family income. The traditional varieties -Anga, Chotte, Local Mansuli and Mansara -were found to provide negative net incomes to the farmers. However, excluding Mansuli, they generated positive farm business income. For Anadhi, average farm business income (NPR 1808) was almost five times its net income (NPR 362). Jetho Budo ranked very high in net income (NPR 1393) and provided the second highest farm business income (NPR 2392). Bayarni Jhinuwa provided the highest average farm business income of NPR 2438, but its net income was almost half of the Jetho Budo. Farmers cultivating Bayarni Jhinuwa gained higher benefits by using more of their own inputs and less purchased inputs. Farm income of these farmers was higher than that of Jetho Budo farmers, though the latter earned more net income. Maintaining traditional varieties by traditional farmers might be partly explained by the better resonance and resilience to the family, immunity to higher market fluctuations and protection against natural hazards.Jetho Budo and Anadhi resulted in better net income because they were in high demand and their market price was also higher than that of other varieties. Despite the net loss which farmers faced by growing some other landraces, their farm business income from their home-grown inputs (landraces) was still positive. Therefore, farmers grew rice landraces and made maximal use of their own inputs. If they did not use landraces, their own inputs had no or very little alternative uses. Thus, these traditional varieties enhanced the value of farmers' own resources. Further, these local varieties have their own cultural importance. For instance, Anadhi was used in special festivals for making 'latte' (rice made with large amount of ghee) because it absorbs ghee during cooking. Due to their unique characteristics, such rice varieties are highly demanded by consumers and farmers therefore continue to cultivate them. Farmers' rationale in maintaining traditional varieties need to be further examined so that effective partnership programmes (that can enhance the productive capacity of farmers' landraces, improve farm income and ensure the continuous survival of traditional rice varieties) can be developed.The sources of seed, its acquisition and replacement systems differ from farm to farm. In Begnas, about 93 per cent of farmers retained their own rice seed for next year planting. About 5 per cent of farmers received seeds from neighbouring farmers and only about 2 per cent of farmers obtained seeds from development organizations (NGOs, cooperatives, seed-selling enterprise, etc.). The farmers were asked where they sell seed paddy. About 73 per cent of them reported that they sold it to their neighbours, not for money but in exchange for paddy. The prices for seeds are not different as the rice for seed is not produced differently. In the previous year, only 20 per cent of the respondents sold seeds to the cooperatives and NGOs. The cooperatives and NGOs were reported to occasionally visit villages to buy seeds. The price of rice landraces was, as expected, found to be different across seasons. The price of rice was found to be lower shortly after the harvest than after 12 months of harvesting. Consumers preferred one-year-old rice (for its desirable consumption traits) to newly harvested rice which is part of the reason for the price variation. During the harvesting season, both the one-year-old rice and the newly harvested rice are sold side by side but at different prices. The percentage difference in prices during harvest time and the later period was higher for paddy than for the milled rice. The difference for paddy ranged from 17 per cent to 30 per cent whereas in the case of milled rice the difference ranged from 1.2 per cent to 26 per cent. Table 6.2 reports the price differences during harvest and 12 months after the harvest.Traditional farmers depend on the farm production for their food security and income. To achieve their household food security, the farmers attempted to grow high-yielding varieties, with the consequence that farmers more often chose to cultivate modern varieties, pushing the low-yielding landraces to the verge of extinction. At the same time, some better-off farmers wanted to meet their sociocultural needs by growing landraces with unique properties. Farmers always seemed to face trade-offs between high yield and preserving their unique culture and taste. Commercialization of the landraces and increased income from them seemed to attract farmers towards the landraces, thereby contributing to their conservation.A marketing channel is the path through which the commodity flows via different traders from producers to consumers. As far as the marketing channel of rice seeds is concerned, farmers can be considered producers and also consumers. In Nepal and in many other developing countries, seed distribution systems, particularly for local producers, are mostly based on barter through exchange among neighbouring farmers. Agricultural products were reported to pass through different functionaries/channels involving various economic actors before reaching the final consumers. In the case of the present study area, such actors include collectors/vendors, processors, group suppliers, wholesalers and retailers. In general, producers sold their paddy to traders or local millers. In some cases, the cooperatives were working in seed marketing. Cooperatives were reported to buy seeds from farmers and resell to other farmers.The general system of marketing of local paddy cultivars in Nepal is depicted in Figure 6.1.In the framework of GRPI-Nepal, a market survey on underutilized local crop species was conducted in Kathmandu Valley and Tansen, a less urbanized town in the mid-hills. The survey was done for various local crop species that also included neglected and underutilized local species such as 'maseura', 'buckwheat flour', 'finger millet flour', 'gundruk', 'soybean', 'horsegram', 'perilla', 'sesame', 'rice bean ', 'cowpea', 'bhang', 'blackgram', 'timur', 'jimmu', and 'ash gourd' (ABTRACO, 2006). The number of consumers buying local products from local stores and wholesalers ranged from 5 to 500 per week in Kathmandu Valley. These products were bought for their medicinal value and because foreigners were attracted towards these indigenous products. Due to availability of market demand, most of the stores expressed an interest to deal with these products. They also noted that export markets of such products are India, Japan, Israel and the USA.According to the retailers, local people were the main consumers of the local rice products. At the same time, many foreigners were also reported to have been consuming local products. The study suggests possibilities of promoting value addition enterprises for some of the selected local crop varieties. Obviously, with enhancement of such enterprises, farmers might be willing to participate in maintaining the diversity of the species.Price margin is defined as the difference between the price paid by the consumers and the buying price of the sellers. In this study, the price margin of sellers was calculated on the basis of the purchasing and selling prices of the sellers.In the case of certain items such as maseura, perilla, sesame and rice bean, the wholesale and retail prices were reported to be the same.This is mainly because in many cases the retailers are also the producing entrepreneurs who are also the sellers to other sellers such as department stores. This shows a small-channel and emerging nature of the markets of these species.The price margin for selected department stores often varied, i.e. NPR 2 (10 per cent price margin) for gundruk to NPR10 (30 per cent) for soybean per kg. In the case of retailers, it varied from NPR 2 (5 per cent) to NPR 20 (75 per cent) for perilla, cowpea, timur and jimmu. The other secondary sellers also share the margin (the difference between selling and buying price) from NPR 5 (33 per cent) to NPR 20 (40 per cent). Prima facie, there were several possibilities of promoting the marketing of local varieties of crops and their products. However, the pricing structure and analysis of the enterprise establishment need further research, incentives and policy measures for promising public-private partnerships to be devised.Promoting the commercial use of traditional varieties of crops and marketing their products is one of the important approaches for utilizing, enhancing and conserving crop genetic resources. This can support the sustainable development of agriculture in two ways:1 by improving farmers' incomes/livelihoods; and 2 by ensuring the conservation of these resources on-farm.To augment these objectives, farmers should be provided with appropriate technologies that help reduce the production cost to get higher benefit from the local rice varieties. Small industries or micro-enterprises based on products of traditional crop varieties (landraces) should be established on a participatory basis.Net incomes for some traditional varieties were found to be negative; they were less preferred and grown on small areas. However, the growers of these and most of the other local varieties of rice earn positive farm business income. By utilizing their own farm-grown resources, which often do not have other alternative markets, rice producers managed to gain benefit and enhance the productivity of underutilized traditional varieties.This is why farmers are growing rice landraces in spite of the net loss in net farm income. Moreover, retaining traditional varieties by traditional farmers may also be explained by their better resonance, better resilience to local households, increased immunity to higher market fluctuations, and better protection against vagaries of nature -factors contributing to the livelihoods and household economics of local farmers.The local species that are not producing positive net farm income may be discarded by farmers in the long term, especially when access to improved varieties and other inputs increases. However, varieties with important traits should be conserved for breeding purposes through additional public efforts, which will be more successful if they are linked to the livelihoods of rural communities.Scented rice varieties like Jetho Budo have high values for consumers.Thus, a programme of development of aromatic rice needs to be implemented with the active participation of farmers. A consolidated network of production, processing, marketing and consumption of aromatic rice could be launched. Expansion of market linkages with the promotion of enterprises for value addition and marketing activities for local varieties (plus their products) should be carried out (ABTRACO, 2007). The values and importance of the products of local rice varieties in generating incomes and employment for the local entrepreneurs should be recognized. Further research on nutritional values, product design, processing and attractive packaging of the local products needs to be undertaken. 2  Part 4Chapter 7Findings, Conclusions, Implications and Outlook Edilegnaw Wale, Kerstin K. Zander and Adam G. Drucker In this concluding chapter, we provide a synthesis of the economic methods used in the case studies, a summary of the findings and associated implications, as well as suggesting some directions for future research.This book has sought to document a variety of economic issues relating to agrobiodiversity policy, with particular reference to the conservation of plant genetic resources used in food production. Different GRPI project country case studies (Ethiopia, Nepal and Zambia) were used to address various economic research questions identified through a participatory process. The information obtained can be used to better account for, and potentially mitigate, any negative externalities that may arise from development interventions, such as, inter alia, the introduction of improved crop varieties and improved market access.In this chapter we provide a summary of the main findings and implications for farm management and policy decisions related to the in situ conservation of plant genetic resources used in food production. Many of these resources have a range of important non-market values but have low financial profitability and/or are underutilized. Consequently, the case studies presented in this book require and use a variety of economic methods to account for these diverse values. The applied methods include choice experiments, hedonic pricing, variety attribute preference ranking, contingent valuation and farm business analysis. The empirical analyses focused on a range of issues related to farmers, consumers and traders' preferences for traits and varieties; farmers' perceptions of the livelihood impacts of the replacement and loss of traditional crop varieties; and the commercialization/marketing of, and value chain development for, traditional crop variety products.By presenting the various case studies, the book not only aims to strengthen the support of economic analysis for a better understanding of on-farm values of crop genetic resources, but also demonstrates the market and consumer values associated with crop landraces (e.g. taste). Emphasizing these kinds of values can support the generation of sustainable sources of conservation funding, for example, by facilitating the provision of niche products from landraces for which consumers are willing to pay a premium. In the best case scenarios, this premium acts as a direct contribution to farmers' income and may favourably influence farmer decisions regarding switching to improved varieties, continuing with landraces, or using both.The partners and stakeholders engaged with the GRPI project have identified the issues and found the subsequent synthesis of the economics work useful in supporting their policy development processes. This demand-driven work was carried out with the expectation that such an approach will facilitate the uptake of the results by rural development policy-makers in the respective GRPI countries. In this context, the book will contribute to showing how addressing economic questions can feed into the genetic resources policy process. The overall findings are relevant not only to the GRPI countries involved in the study but also to other countries concerned with the sustainable utilization of such resources. Above all, the book will have achieved its objectives if it can illustrate how genetic resources issues can be integrated into development interventions to address potential policy trade-offs and if the issues addressed are picked up by the decision-makers in the respective GRPI countries.As demonstrated in this book, different crops have different values to different actors in the crop production and distribution value chain. Naturally, different economic analysis methods are suited to different types of genetic resources and different types of policy issues. The choice of specific method, for instance, depends to a great extent on the type of values being assessed (e.g. monetary, non-monetary, current, future, private, public, etc.), the economic questions we wish to answer, and the availability and potential sources of data for analysis, as well as the time-frame and budget available, as some approaches are more complex/expensive than others.Teff and sorghum variety traits in Ethiopia related to yield, environmental adaptability and yield stability, are valued in Chapter 2 using a choice experiment approach. Producers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) estimates were derived for both crops considering the most important and relevant traits (yield, price, environmental adaptability and yield stability). For both sorghum and teff, the highest WTP was associated with environmental adaptability (256 Birr and 516 Birr per quintal, respectively). Producers' WTP for the yield-stability trait for sorghum and teff is estimated to be 229 Birr and 360 Birr, respectively. By contrast, WTP for yield per se was much lower for both crops (14 Birr for sorghum and 25 birr for teff). Such a result may be explained by sale price variability and poor market conditions during better harvests. Farmers' differential valuation of crop variety attributes were shown to be associated with differences between farm households with respect to their endowments, constraints and their level of developmental integration (in terms of basic infrastructure, access to markets and agricultural extension).The case study of rice in Nepal (Chapter 3) had a similar goal of assessing the value of specific crop variety traits. Combining hedonic pricing and contingent valuation methods, both consumers' and farmers' WTP for traits of different rice varieties were considered. Aroma and taste traits were found to have a nationallevel value of NPR 11 billion ($148.6m) and NPR 2 billion ($27m) per annum, respectively. At the national level, farmers value a combination of high-yielding and aromatic traits at nearly NPR 1 billion ($13.5m) and for traits related to expansion during cooking and disease resistance at over NPR 1 billion ($13.5m). As might be expected, compared to consumers, farmers also derive higher utility from the yield and disease-resistance traits, as these two traits play an important role in income generation.The estimations of value included the direct use value from consumption by the households and option values generated by an individual's WTP to protect the rice landraces for the future use in rice breeding. The value given by the farmers to use seeds of an aromatic landrace is derived from the value given by the consumers. Other direct use values related to the ecosystem functions of paddy field and option values were also considered. However, non-use values were not taken into account in this study and the authors concluded that the values quantified were consequently lower-bound estimates.Ethiopian farmers' perception of the loss/replacement of traditional crop varieties and the impact of the loss to their livelihoods is analysed in Chapter 4. That chapter deals with a subject that is left to scientists to analyse, debate and make recommendations. Farmers are found to be knowledgeable about the process of creolization (i.e. the adaptation of improved varieties to local agroecological dynamics) and the role of local varieties (as inputs or raw materials) in improved variety development. According to most farmers, the composition of the crop varieties they grow in their villages has indeed changed during the last five years as a result of the replacement of traditional varieties by improved ones, resulting in a decrease in the probability of finding traditional varieties on farmers' fields. Farmers have reported that the traditional varieties are losing their desirable traits and becoming incompatible with the poverty of the soil.Results of a logistic regression analysis of that chapter further revealed that such perceptions are held by farmers who are more experienced, are better networked, have a better chance to get improved seeds and have greater preference for crop varieties that can fetch higher prices. By contrast, farmers who have higher preferences for yield stability and early maturity traits (and hence are typically dependent on traditional varieties of crops) do not perceive such replacement to be occurring to the same degree, arguing instead in favour of the adaptive traits of local varieties. These farmers are typically net sellers of agricultural products. Livelihood impacts tend to be felt by farmers in terms of the perceived (in)accessibility to improved seeds and the high cost of improved seeds, and thereby lower farm income. Farmers whose livelihoods are affected by the loss of traditional varieties are also missing the health and nutrition benefits of traditional varieties of crops. The results suggest that these farmers face frequent food security problems and have a greater preference for the yield-stability trait. On the contrary, farmers who do not see their livelihoods being affected by the loss of traditional varieties have a lot of trust in the superiority of improved seeds with which they have better experience.By recognizing the links between consumption, production and on-farm utilization along the market value chain, and ranking variety attribute preferences, differences in attributes influencing decisions to purchase maize (Gankata) and groundnut (Kadononga) in Zambia are explored in Chapter 5. The chapter typically deals with the preferences of urban consumers and traders.The findings show that as a result of being a staple food, quantity-specific attributes (such as grain size and kernel density) are very important for maize. Facing poverty and food insecurity, consumers prefer to maximize the quantity of maize for a given price and are not willing to pay a premium for better quality maize varieties such as those with better taste. By contrast, when consumers make decisions to buy groundnut (a non-staple), quality attributes (e.g. taste) were perceived more important. Such preferences explain the widespread existence of the most common local maize (Gankata) and groundnut (Kadononga) varieties, as these possess preferred attributes. On the other hand, the disappearance of other local varieties could be associated with their absence of the desired traits in those varieties.The income status of consumers, proximity to markets, purpose of purchasing maize (as a staple: nshima) and preferences for local varieties over improved ones are the most important factors explaining the quantity of maize purchased.The direct and significant impact of household characteristics (such as growth in family size) on quantities of maize bought also demonstrates the importance to consumers of maize availability over quality.The chapter demonstrates interesting contrasts between maize and groundnut. With groundnut grain, the traits that received more preference were food taste and size of grain, which are equally more important than oil content, kernel density and grain colour. Market price, easiness to peel and the number of pods are the least important traits for groundnut. Size of groundnut was also not very important. According to most consumers, Kadononga, a famous traditional groundnut variety, possesses most of the desirable attributes of groundnut, which again explains its fame and survival for so long.Chapter 6 has argued that the commercial use of genetic resources, which depends on the market value of their products, is one of the major strategies for achieving sustainable agro-diversity conservation. Where such commercial potential exists, there remains the possibility of protecting and utilizing neglected and underutilized local crop varieties through public-private partnerships supporting the development of diversified and niche local product markets. In support of such an argument, aspects of the commercialization of local rice varieties in Nepal and their contribution to farmers' livelihoods are investigated using a gross margin approach.The results show that gross margins vary across different types of traditional rice varieties, ranging from those which generate negative margins (Bayarni Jhinuwa, Anga, Chotte, Mansuli and Gurdi) to those which are very profitable (e.g. Jetho Budo). Although the landraces with negative margins tend to be allocated less land than high value cultivars, they continue to be cultivated as their output value still outweighs their purchased input costs. Farmers cultivating varieties like Bayarni Jhinuwa are benefiting in terms of employing their own inputs and less of purchased inputs.They grow these rice landraces and make use of their own inputs which have lower or zero shadow price and very little alternative uses. By employing their own resources which otherwise could not have been used productively, farmers manage to generate some subsistence income.To cope with cash shortages, they have to reduce the purchased inputs and use more of their own inputs. That is one of the reasons for traditional farmers to retain traditional varieties despite very low incomes. Additional unquantified economic benefits include better employment opportunities for the family labour, buffering against market fluctuations, insurance against varying climatic impacts, early maturity and cultural values.Furthermore, consumers were found to be willing to pay a premium for scented/aromatic rice. This suggests that an aromatic variety development programme could be implemented with the participation of farmers and other actors in the marketing chain.The various topics empirically examined in this book reveal the importance of understanding the link between farmers' livelihoods (strategies and incomes), consumers' preferences and crop diversity outcomes. In other words, there can be no sustainable conservation if farmers' concerns/preferences/incomes are not linked with crop variety traits and the marketability of traditional varieties of crops. As far as agro-biodiversity is concerned, conservation for maintenance sake is unlikely to succeed. There needs to be a paradigm shift in the agro-biodiversity arena. Conservation (with a human and crop diversity face) has to be the policy objective. This can be achieved through, inter alia, enhancing the production of local varieties, value addition and the commercialization of traditional variety products. As a complement to ex situ conservation strategies, in situ conservation creates untapped opportunities to link rural development interventions with conservation of these resources. Sound conservation policy needs to be based on a better understanding of the types of varieties preferred by different farm household types (Chapter 2). This permits the identification of varieties conserved de facto and those that need additional incentives to ensure their continued survival. For instance, de facto conservation of environmentally adaptable sorghum varieties implies that there is no need to design incentives to maintain these varieties. By contrast, for those varieties not maintained de facto, strategies and policies need to be designed to ensure their conservation (Chapters 2 and 3). In particular, this will be necessary where a certain variety trait is unique (i.e. contributing significantly to overall diversity) but current demand for that trait is low, leading to declining use and an increasing extinction threat. Of course, such strategies would have to be responsive to dynamics in preferences (of both consumers and farmers), agro-ecological factors (e.g. climate change, land degradation, drought and desertification), opportunities and institutions (e.g. new markets, new crop enterprises, new varieties, etc.). However, it may nonetheless be the case that conservation costs may be relatively small compared to the value of the unique traits conserved (Chapter 3). That is why this chapter concludes that protecting each of the preferred and non-preferred rice variety traits adds value to society.Gaining an improved understanding of variety choice and the preference for adaptive traits informs not only conservation policy but also future breeding activities. Given that poorer teff and sorghum farmers highly value environmental adaptability and yield stability (Chapter 2), future breeding programmes should incorporate such traits into their agenda rather than tending to concentrate on productive traits. To target and address variety demands of poorer farm households, the priority variety attributes are the environmental adaptability and yield stability of both teff and sorghum varieties, not yield/productivity which is often given more attention by breeding programmes. Part of the explanation for farmers' relative lack of interest in yield is the decline of prices during good harvests because of the lack of effective market demand to absorb the extra production. In terms of opportunity cost compensation (Wale, 2008), poorer farm households most affected by losing varieties with better yield stability and environmental adaptability will require equivalent compensation if the policy entails denying them the use of those varieties. Where farmers continue to face opportunity costs by growing traditional varieties, it will be essential to compensate poor farmers for maintaining low productive landraces since, in the long term, they cannot afford to bear the opportunity costs of on-farm conservation. To avert potential loss, conservation agents have to target those varieties that have demand from neither farmers nor consumers and pursue income support through compensatory measures (Chapters 2, 3 and 6).However, consumers and farmers differ in their variety attribute preferences (Chapters 3 and 5).The cultivation of crop varieties depends not only on farmers' perceptions and their utility from the traditional varieties of cultivated crops (as shown in Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 6) but also on consumers' demand for those varieties (Chapters 3 and 5). While consumers place more value on consumption traits (such as aroma), farmers place more value on production traits. In Zambia (Chapter 5), for example, the empirical results have shown that future breeding efforts should target quantitative traits (like kernel density and grain size) for staple food crops (like maize) and quality traits (like food taste) for non-staple food crops (like groundnut). Thus, breeding objectives need to account for both sets of demands in order to ensure that farmers will have access to varieties demanded by consumers.Where demand for varieties with outstanding quality traits is low, de facto conservation is unlikely to happen because it is financially not attractive for farmers to cultivate these varieties. One strategy for conserving such varieties is to identify alternative markets (local or international markets) in order to improve marketing channels and generate a higher volume demand for these varieties and/or their products. In this context, the preference of consumers for local varieties over hybrid or improved ones (for cultural and taste reasons) can be taken as an opportunity to improve farmers' incomes and conservation outcomes. Campaigns, seed fairs and commercialization efforts that build on and benefit from the preferred attributes of local varieties may also have a role to play in this context, leading to an increase in urban demand (for example, for local maize and groundnut) and thereby increasing their production, use and on-farm conservation.Expansion of market linkages, together with the promotion of enterprises for value addition, for traditional varieties and their products needs to be carefully considered. The process can lead to the crowding out of some traditional varieties important for the future of agriculture. In this context, marketing studies and value-chain analyses can play an important role in terms of identifying the missing links and constraints of relevance to the promotion of enterprises based on products made using traditional varieties. Those traditional varieties that do not currently possess the relevant traits for farmers/consumers should be identified and targeted for conservation. Technologies that can enhance the comparative advantages of local varieties and result in value addition on their products can be important entry points to ensure the survival of such varieties perceived to be useful by farmers, consumers and traders.Another area of conservation policy is related to the need for facilitating farmers' access to appropriate technologies that can help reduce local variety production costs and increase the benefits of their marketing/commercialization. This might include research and development (R&D) activities that can address the nutritional values, product design, processing and attractive packaging of the products of traditional varieties. These actions can support the three pillars of sustainable development (discussed in Chapter 1). Appropriate recognition should also be given to the synergic role of in situ conservation to the rural economy in generating employment and incomes for local entrepreneurs and the Findings, Conclusions, Implications and Outlook 131 additional multiplier effects to the economy at large through the development of small-scale agribusinesses. Incentives and policy measures promoting publicprivate partnerships should also be considered in this context.The last area of agro-biodiversity conservation policy is related to the importance of linking the dissemination of improved varieties with on-farm conservation initiatives for traditional varieties (Chapter 4). Where the former displace traditional varieties to the point of extinction and impose costs on society by undermining overall diversity, an externality is generated. Presenting improved varieties to farmers as a panacea can lead to the irreversible loss of traditional varieties, even in cases where the improved varieties eventually prove to be inferior. Given that trade-offs exist between access to improved seeds and the survival of local varieties, agricultural extension programmes that involve the introduction of new (improved) varieties need to ensure that this is done in a participatory manner that engages farmers, and integrates their views and perceptions as to what it means to crop diversity and their living conditions. The results also suggest that socio-economic changes and agro-ecological dynamics in smallholder farming often work against the comparative advantages of traditional varieties of crops, especially when those varieties retire and become incompatible with the changes.Furthermore, where agricultural extension and dissemination of improved varieties may seriously threaten the continued use of traditional varieties, those farmers who are more likely to continue to value the traditional varieties (e.g. because they are isolated from input markets or they prefer adaptive traits or they consider taste and socio-cultural aspects to be of particular importance) are those who should be targeted to participate in on-farm conservation initiatives to facilitate the attainment of wider (e.g. national) diversity conservation programme goals. Support mechanisms may include facilitating the exchange of information among traditional variety-growing farmers (i.e. pro-diversity farmers/communities) so as to share (with other farmers) their knowledge/experience and create synergic collective action outcomes. However, such pro-diversity farmers should not become forced to retain traditional agriculture practices simply to maintain crop diversity for the public good. They should either get equivalent compensation for their public contribution or the productivity of their traditional varieties needs to be enhanced.The case studies in this book have shown that farmers' preferences, values, responses to new genetic technologies, and potential to add value and market traditional crop varieties need to be integrated into genetic resources policy in order to facilitate both conservation and the enhancement of farmers' livelihoods.In this final section, we seek to highlight some of the main issues and unanswered questions that need to be tackled to better integrate agro-biodiversity issues in future rural development policy decisions.The majority of crop genetic resources are cultivated in developing countries where markets tend to be segmented, volatile, unreliable, risky and poorly connected to other businesses. Farmers have limited alternative distribution channels for their local products. Global changes are also occurring that are likely to further influence the status of crop genetic resources in the foreseeable future. These changes can be institutional, market-related and environmental.Globalization is likely to play a key role in determining the future ability of farmers to compete in crop and seed markets. For example, changing food market conditions (e.g. commodity price increases and the growth of supermarkets) may affect landrace use and conservation. This has particular implications for farmers dependent on traditional varieties and the incentives they face to sustainably use threatened and underutilized crop varieties. Questions to be raised include, inter alia: whether and how rising food prices and the emerging competition between food and biofuels production will affect the status of local crop varieties; how might price changes and alternative uses of traditional food crops affect poor farmers; and how the cultivation of local varieties will be affected by input cost (e.g. transport, fertilizer) changes.Institutional economic analysis, market chain analysis and exploring value addition opportunities can support improved understanding of: the income share of all actors involved in the market chain; the functions performed; the value added at each step of the chain; and the opportunities and constraints related to the flow of a particular variety and of potential entry points into the market (Wale, 2006). In some cases, such analyses will reveal opportunities for niche market development as an avenue towards promoting conservation through sustainable use.To build on the work done as part of GRPI in identifying the importance of the link between local variety production, value chains and marketing networks, there is a need to extend these studies to understand the factors that may permit improved commercial exploitation (e.g. how local variety competitiveness can be increased; the threshold market size for commercially marketing a local variety; and how niche markets can be identified and exploited). Such studies would help in distinguishing between genetic resources that can be conserved by self-sustaining market development and those that will have to be treated as a public good requiring other public interventions for conservation. In both cases, improved understanding is needed with regard to the ways and means of increasing the comparative advantage of traditional varieties of underutilized crops through the use of better production, processing and marketing methods/technologies.Facilitating conservation through the use of compensation or support payments could also be explored within the context of 'payment for environmental services' (PES). PES schemes have so far tended to focus on carbon sequestration and storage; non-domesticated biodiversity protection; watershed protection; and protection of landscape aesthetics. A review of the PES literature Findings, Conclusions, Implications and Outlook 133 (see Mayrand and Paquin, 2004;Dasgupta et al, 2008;Wunder, 2008), covering hundreds of PES and PES-type schemes, reveals that there has been almost no explicit consideration of PES in the context of agro-biodiversity. The ability of 'payment for agro-biodiversity conservation services' (PACS) schemes to permit the 'capture' of public conservation values at the farmer level and thereby create incentives for the conservation of agro-biodiversity and supporting poverty alleviation, therefore appears to be worth exploring. However, implementing such a policy development strategy would require an assessment of the degree to which generic PES scheme opportunities and constraints might apply to PACS.Underutilized crops are locally abundant, globally rare, little-known scientifically but known in-depth by farmers and local community; most importantly their use is limited compared to their potential (Gruère et al, 2009). If countries continue to depend on a handful of crops, markets will face price shocks subject to the supply fluctuations of these few crops. Recent food price increases can in part be attributed to our dependence on a handful of food crops. Where change and interventions can support increased multiple variety and traditional crop competitiveness, increasing the food crop portfolio (by exploring the potential of traditional food crops) may lead to the generation of hitherto unexploited economic opportunities (in terms of new products, new job opportunities, new income sources, price stabilization and diverse food choices). If such benefits trickle down to disadvantaged smallholder farmers, not only will farmers' incomes be enhanced but also on-farm conservation of the diversity of the crops is more likely to be ensured. Significant R&D work needs to be undertaken on the ways and means of increasing the comparative advantage of traditional varieties of underutilized crops through use of better production, processing and marketing methods/technologies.Concerning environmental and agro-ecological changes, there is a strong need to analyse their effect on farmers' capability to continue with the cultivation of local crops and to consider farmers' adaptation and coping strategies when facing natural disasters (in particular, droughts and floods) and agro-ecological changes (climate change and land degradation). The impact of such changes on the comparative advantages of cultivation of local varieties needs to be explored urgently. If research shows that such changes are having a negative impact on agro-biodiversity, mitigation measures will have to be designed.Further methodological advances within the field of genetic resource valuation will also continue to be important. For example, there is potential to extend recent applications of choice modelling (Zander and Drucker, 2008, among others) and methods of assessing the opportunity costs associated with avoiding the use of crop genetic technology (Wale, 2008), as well as the opportunity costs of variety substitution (as per Zander et al, 2009 for breed substitution).Institutional analysis in agro-biodiversity research is generally lacking (Smale, 2006). Contract and behavioural theory, institutional economics and transaction cost economics are also potentially promising and untapped areas to better link up economic analysis to genetic resources policy design. These areas of economics are becoming increasingly important as the management of genetic resources increasingly depends on crucial institutional and organizational decisions. When involving farmers as part of in situ conservation activities, principal-agent problems might arise (due to the existence of asymmetric information) and agent-based models could be helpful to assess farmers' willingness to deliver conservation services.Given that most developing countries are at a fairly early stage in the formulation and implementation of genetic resources policy, the effectiveness and impacts of policy initiatives and conservation strategies on crop diversity remains to be assessed. The policy landscape itself may also undergo significant changes over time. Potential policy impact pathways have to be clearly established to better mainstream genetic resources policy-making and permit economic analysis to become more prominent in this process. Thus, another area for the future is crop diversity impact assessment and evaluation of genetic resource policies and conservation strategies.Effective policies to stem the loss of traditional varieties of crops will require improved tools and the capacity to properly account both for the values associated with the services and the benefits derived from agro-biodiversity, as well as to design appropriate instruments to capture such values. There is a need to further improve economic methodologies and develop decision-support tools, combining economic concepts/data with ecological or genetic concepts/data. Without such tools, cost-effective interventions can be neither designed nor implemented. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3c460584a18b4141a1a5671b1d1580dc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9167930f-99c6-4996-8444-6f4c6bc68042/retrieve","id":"-483766641"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"671dfa99-4e40-4805-b336-9568f525035f","content":"Các chủ đề trong báo cáo kỹ thuật này nhằm mục đích phổ biến kết quả nghiên cứu tạm thời và thực tiễn liên quan đến biến đổi khí hậu, nông nghiệp và an ninh lương thực nhằm thu thập phản hồi từ cộng đồng khoa học. Chương trình Nghiên cứu của CGIAR về Biến đổi Khí hậu, Nông nghiệp và An ninh Lương thực (CCAFS) là mối quan hệ đối tác chiến lược giữa CGIAR và Tổ chức Tương lai cho Trái đất (Future Earth), được điều phối bởi Trung tâm Nghiên cứu Nông nghiệp Nhiệt đới (CIAT). Chương trình được thực hiện với nguồn hỗ trợ tài chính của nhóm các nhà tài trợ của CGIAR, Cơ quan Phát triển Quốc tế Đan Mạch (DANIDA), Chính phủ Úc (ACIAR), Cơ quan Hỗ trợ Phát triển I-rơ-len (Irish Aid), Cơ quan Môi trường Canada, Bộ Ngoại giao Hà Lan, Cơ quan Hợp tác Phát triển Thụy Sỹ (SDC), Viện Nghiên cứu Nhiệt đới Bồ Đào Nha (IICT), Cơ quan Hỗ trợ Phát triển Anh (UK Aid), Chính phủ Nga, Liên minh Châu Âu (EU), Bộ Ngoại giao và Thương Mại Niu Di-lân, cùng với sự hỗ trợ kỹ thuật của Quỹ Phát triển Nông nghiệp Quốc tế (IFAD).• Bất lợi về thời tiết -thực hành có hiệu quả cao là không nhạy cảm với các bất lợi về thời tiết có liên quan, trong khi các hệ thống canh tác có hiệu quả thấp lại chỉ có độ tối ưu hạn chế với khí hậu (chịu đựng trong phạm vi thay đổi nhỏ về nhiệt độ hoặc bất lợi về nước)điều này đôi khi được gọi là các hệ thống có khả năng chống chịu.• Ổn định năng suất -sản lượng ổn định so với bất ổn, sản lượng ổn định là biểu hiện của hệ thống canh tác có khả năng chống chịu với bất lợi.•    Các loài chịu hạn hán, đặc biệt là lạc X Áp dụng lịch mùa vụ nông nghiệp để tránh mất mùa và trải dài thời gian thu hoạch (ví dụ: sắn)      Trước khi giới thiệu danh sách này cho nông dân, tránh dùng các chỉ số không thích hợp và thêm hoặc chỉnh sửa các chỉ số còn lại dành thành danh sách ngắn. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"875dbe13a2e12d2ff0d6fb06e8cb3106","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a08aca67-5021-486d-aa31-8bcf629f7868/retrieve","id":"-919600619"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"104733e8-e7b7-4e26-84e2-15c95bc9d5e9","content":"Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above. The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used.Editing, design and layout-Gendered Feed Assessment Tool (G-FEAST) is a farmer-centred diagnostic approach, which employs the use of forms and spreadsheets, to collect and analyse the data. The assessment methodology provides a systematic and rapid assessment of feed resources at site level to develop a strategy for improving feed supply and use through technical and organizational interventions. The main objective is to identify gender aspects in households that affect livestock feeding practices and feed intervention uptake.Sontala is located in Matobo District of Matabeleland South province of Zimbabwe. It is 125 km south of Bulawayo. The ward's main livelihood sources are livestock production (goat breeding), vegetable sales and remittances. The main livestock species kept in the area are goats, cattle and poultry. Farmers practice extensive livestock production and small-scale cropping under irrigation. The village has two seasonal dams and one perennial dam.There were two groups of male and female gendered focus group discussions that were held at Sontala shopping centre on 05 May 2021. The study was conducted in partnership with agricultural extension service and Gwanda State University.The farm sizes range from 0.5 to 6 ha. The smallest land holding ranges from 0.5 to 2 ha, medium land holding ranges from 2.1 to 4 ha while large land holding ranges from 4.1 to 6 ha. Thirty per cent of the households are in the small holder, 40% in the medium and 20% in the large land holding category (Figure 1).Figure 1. Household land holding category in Sontala.The farming system in Sontala is generally communal mixed farming with cropping and extensive livestock production interactions. Average farm sizes of 2 ha are under crop production. Fodder production is practised by 10% of the farmers.Table 1 depicts farm sizes by gender of the household heads. It can be observed that across the three land holding categories, both men and women own land. The largest proportion of female headed households fall in the mediumscale farms category. In Sontala both male and female headed households have equal access to land.  The land tenure system is communal and the land is governed by Matobo Rural District Council. A large proportion of the farms are jointly owned by husband and wife, followed by female headed farms and the least are owned by single men. Women and men can equally own land. Most farmers belong to the medium-scale farming sector which have an average of 2 ha, which are used for crop production. The small-scale farmers own less than a hectare, which is used mainly for crop production. Grazing land is communally managed, with no or limited adherence to principles of rangeland management. Communal land ownership has constraints in that grazing is quickly depleted due to overstocking. There is no control of the number of livestock each farmer can keep at a time.Hired labour is readily available but it is not affordable to some households especially to the female headed. Most female headed households cannot afford to hire labour, as they have limited financial resources.Rainfall received in Sontala is mostly not adequate during the cropping season and this result in crop failure. Farmers reported that over the years, unpredictable weather patterns have negatively affected rainfed agriculture and livestock production. Normally, there is no rainfall during the dry season (May to September), as shown in Figure 2. Sontala receives high rainfall between November and March. Water for livestock is readily available during the wet season. During the dry season livestock travel long distances (more than three km) in search of drinking water.The area has a perennial dam that supports irrigation and livestock throughout the year. During the dry season livestock and human are watered from seasonal boreholes and dams. The seasonal dams usually dry out in August.The ward has 12 boreholes, of which 6 are perennial. However, when these perennial boreholes are not functional during the dry season, the livestock and people travel long distances to access water as the remaining functional boreholes are overwhelmed. The rangeland yield follows the rainfall patterns, when the rainfall is high, rangeland productivity is high.Figure 2. Sontala annual rainfall pattern and feed availability.Seventy-five per cent of the households have access to irrigation facilities. Farmers irrigate vegetables in their gardens during the dry season. The crops grown in irrigation schemes include maize, tomatoes, cabbages, butternut and sugar beans. The constraints among some farmers accessing irrigation facilities are distance from the water sources, limited resources for the water conveyance system. Most of the youth are not members of the irrigation schemes because they (youth) migrate to towns and neighbouring countries like Botswana and South Africa in search of employment opportunities. Therefore, women are said to be the ones who are more active in irrigation schemes. Some farmers travel longer distances of more than 5 km to irrigable gardens, which deters other to partake in irrigation activities. During the dry season when the dam levels are low, there are restrictions on the use of water, resulting in reduction in irrigated land and reserving water for livestock.The irrigation system used is less efficient and labour intensive. Farmers use bucket system for watering and this causes a constraint on the elderly. Overall, the area under irrigation is reduced due to high labour requirements of the bucket system. They also practice flood irrigation which is wasteful as most of the irrigation water is lost through surface evaporation. Most of the irrigated gardens are fenced with brush wood that can be easily broken by livestock. The village has four cropping seasons that is winter, summer, autumn and spring (Table 2). Goat, cattle, donkeys, poultry and sheep are the livestock species kept by farmers in Sontala ward (Figure 3). The most common livestock owned by 95% of the Sontala farmers is goats. Goats are kept for meat, milk, cash and for traditional use like paying fine for wrong doing while donkeys are kept for draught power. Cattle are kept for meat, milk production, cash and paying bride price. Poultry is kept for egg, meat and income. The farmers practice extensive production system in all the livestock enterprises. The livestock rely on natural rangeland for grazing with minimum supplementation. The Sontala community practice random mating as the bull/ buck runs with herd/flock hence the breeding system is not well defined. The rangeland is communally managed and is characterized by low biomass yields mostly from non-palatable grass species and bush encroachment which are signs of poor rangeland management. The local leadership who are the custodian of the natural resources shows limited knowledge on the roles they have on rangeland management. Decision-making on livestock sales varies from species to species, for cattle it is mostly jointly decided, for goats and sheep it is mostly men who decide, however for poultry the decision is made by women.For agricultural activities credit is not available both from formal and informal sector. The available credit is for household use, such as buying food, paying school fees and medical expenses. The credit for non-agricultural use is from village savings and lendings or from burial societies. All of the farmers are willing to access loans for agricultural activities but they lack collateral for them to access credit from formal sector.Crops inputs are sometime seasonally available at the local business centre. Livestock inputs are not available at the local market. The available inputs are expensive which makes them inaccessible to most of the farmers. Farmers' travel about 25 km to Maphisa to get the unavailable inputs, the distance costs 350 Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) (USD 1 = ZWD 361.9000 at 07 July 2022). There are a resident extension officer and veterinary officer who resides 4 km away from the village and provide free of charge service to farmers.Most of the farmers (85%) belong to cooperatives that are for irrigation gardens and development partners cooperatives like Sizimele. Women are the majority members of associations.In Sontala ward livestock sales have the highest average household income of 51%, followed by cropping with 20% while labour is the least with 12% (Figure 4). The major income source is small livestock sales followed by vegetable sales. The men are decision-makers for high income earner enterprises like cattle sales while women are decisionmakers for low livestock earners like poultry and small stock. The major feed source is grazing (72%) and the least is purchased feed (3%) (Figure 5). Grazing is seasonally available. The highest rangeland yield is realized in autumn when the rain is highest. During the winter and summer seasons, feed is scarce both qualitatively and quantitatively. During the leaner season the livestock is supplemented with crop residues, cultivated fodder and purchased feed. Commercial feed is inaccessible to farmers because of unavailability at the local market and also it's expensive. During the dry season there is a decrease in nutritive value of rangeland species in terms of metabolizable energy, crude protein and minerals. Hence there is need to provide supplementary feed.Figure 5. Metabolizable energy by source.• Drilling more boreholes in the villages to improve water availability• Training farmers on water harvesting• Linking farmers to the livestock markets• Training farmers on livestock value addition like pen fattening.This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0d45c0326d5ea092cac198edac29c704","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/49987a44-874e-448c-a027-84f4329bc619/retrieve","id":"980796637"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8921119c-d6c8-45d8-972d-e2e6cbc6a212","content":"Conservar los recursos genéticos de una especie cultivada, es de vital importancia ya que evita pérdidas de biodiversidad y facilita su acceso y uso en la investigación y en la agricultura. En el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical-CIAT se desarrolló un protocolo de crioconservación para establecer un banco básico de la colección mundial de yuca (Manihot esculenta Crantz).Las fases de pre-tratamiento y secado del proceso de crioconservación afectan drásticamente la respuesta después de la congelación. Para resolver estas diferencias se plantearon algunos ajustes al proceso de Encapsulación-Deshidratación usando materiales considerados recalcitrantes a la congelación (con muy baja o nula respuesta). En algunos casos, esto generó un aumento en los porcentajes de recuperación de plantas después de la congelación.1. La evaluación inicial de los puntos críticos de la metodología de Encapsulación-Deshidratación muestra que las fases de pretratamiento y secado en el proceso afectan la respuesta de los ápices disminuyendo su capacidad de rebrote.   2. La respuesta en porcentaje de brotes, a menores tiempos de secado en sílica gel (10,16,20 y 24h), es baja en todos los tratamientos después del congelamiento.El análisis estadístico mostró una interacción significativa entre los tratamientos y los genotipos para las dos variables. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3fb33c98f69483bd2eb91fe8f394207d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f081246e-66c7-499a-9b19-3658fe30ec0a/retrieve","id":"835595090"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c6b13177-5b29-4a51-80de-9a0332c34485","content":"E 1 térmi no de termi nado está us ado aquí ba j o 1 a reserva de 1 significado dado en e l glosario.Da niel G. Debollck Rigoberto Hid a l go Dentro de l g r'J p ~ ' :: e l a s legum inosas com('subles, el frijol cOIllC n es una de la s más importdntes deb ido a su amp 11a distribuci6n en los 5 continentes y por se r com plemento nutriciondl indi s pellsa ble en la di e ta alimenticia prin c ipalmente en Ce ntro y Suraméricd. 1\"!éx íco ha s ido dce ptadc como el más proba ble centro de odge r. , o al me nos . co mo ~1 centro de d;ver s ;fic ~c;6n primar ió .El culti vo Oc l fdj o l es considercldo uno de los ma s dn t ig uos; hallazgos arqueolúgicos eli Su posibl p c~lItro de origen y en Sur amerl ca indican que era conocido POI-10 menos unos ~. OOO año s antes de la era cr;stlona ( Fig. l). 7 .000 __ ------TEHUACANHUACA PRIETA _ ----'VAllE DE N~L\"\" _-Figura 1, Antigüedad (años) , y localización de los hallazgos arqueológicos de Phaseolus vulgaris L.Debido al interés del hombre por es t a leguminosa, las selecc iones l\"ea lizada s por culturas precolombinas originaron un gran número de formas oiferentes, y en consecuencia diversas denominaciones comunes o vernáculas. Es así como el frijol se conoce con los nombres de Poroto, Alubia, Jud1a, Frixol , Ñuña. Habichuela, Vainita, Caraota y Feij~o , para citar a lgunos.La planta de frijol es anual, herbácea, intensamen te cultivada desde el tróp ico hasta las zonas templada s . (Fig. 2), aunque es una especie t erm6fila, es decir, que no soporta heladas; se cultiva esencialmente pora obtener l a s semillas, l as cuales tienen un alto contenido de proteínas, alrededcr de un 22% y más, contenido éste calculado co n base en materia seca. las semillas pueden ser consumidas tanto inmadura s como s ecas . l ambién puede consumirse la vaina entera inmadura y las hojas.Sólo en la s dos últi mas dé cadas se han establecido bases sólidas Ultlversales en la taxonom;a de Phaseolus.Este género ha sido bien diferenciado de otros como ~ y Ma cro ptilium, con lo s cuales se tenían confusiones respecto a su cTasTIicación y se le reconoce como de origen exclusivamente americano. Distribución mundial aproximada (sombreado) del cultivo del frijol común.De sde el punto de viStd taxonómico ps ta especie e s e l prototipu del género Phaseolus j su nombre cientifico es Pha seolus vulgaris L. asignado por l inneo en 175 3. Pertenece a la tribu Phaseoleae de la subfamilia Papl1ionoideae dentro del orden Rosales (Fig. 3). La lilorfo log1a estudia lo s caracteres de cada ó r gano , visibles a escala macroscópi ca y microscópica. El examen de cada uno separadamente. faci l ita la comprensión de la pla nta en Su tota lidad.Lo s Célrac teres de l a morfología de las especies se agrupan en caracteres co nstantes y caracteres varia bles; los constantes so n aq uellos que lde nt ifican al taxon, es decir la espe c ie. O la vari edad; generalmente son de al ta heredabilidad. Lo s caracteres variabl es reciben la influencia de lds condic i ones ambientales; podrían ser considerados como la resu l tante de la acción de l medio ambiente sobre el genotipo (F i g. 4 ). El e s tudio de la morfología de frijol, se hará en el siguiente orden:Ramas y complejos axilares 4. Hoja s Ra1z 5. Inflorescencia 6. Flor 7. Fruto 8. Semilla En la prllllera etapa de de s arrollo el si s tema radical está formado por la radícula del embrión la c ual se convierte posteriormente en la raíz principdl o primaria , e s decir. la primera identificable.A los pocos días de la emergencia de la radícula es posible ver las raíces secundarítts, que se desarro llan especialmente en la parte superi or o cuellCo de la raíz principal (Fig. 5); se encuentran de 3 a 7 de estas raíces en di s posición de corona y tienen un diametro un poco menor que la raíz principal.Se denominan secundarias debido a que s u desarrollo ocurre a partir de la raíz principal o primaria.Existen otras raice s secundilrias que apare cen un poco más t arde y más abajo sobre la raíz principal.Sobre las ra~ces secundarias se desarrollan la s raices terciari as y otras s ubdi v isiones como los pelos absorbentes, los cuales además se encuentran en todos los puntos de crecimiento de la raíz. La raíz principal se puede distinguir entonces por su di~metro y mayo r longitud.En general el s istema radicales supe r ficial ya que el mayor volumen de la ra1z se encuentro. en los primeros 20 cms de profundida d del sue lo.-Al~'--raJces secundarias raíz primaria Figura 5.Sistema radical iniciar.Las raíces terciarias aparecer. 'Iateral merte sob re ! aS ralces secundar;fl 5 J' las c uat ernarias sobre las terclilrias ( Fig. G) . Con un a lupa se pued~ obse rvar la última subdhlsión constitu~dc por lo s pe l os absorbente!>.órganos epidérmicos lo ca l izados princi pa l mente en la s Jartes jóvenes dE: la s ra'ces, que juegan un papel muy i mpo rtante ero la ahsorción de agu a y nutrimentos.Figura 6.Aunque generalmente se distingue la raíz primaria, el sistema radi cal tiende a ser fa s ciculado 7 fibro so en alguno s ca su s , pero con una amplia variación, incluso dentro de una misma vari edad (Fig. 7) . El tipo pivotante auténtico. se pre sellta en un baj o porcentaje.Como miembro de la subfamilia Papiliono ideae, Phaseolus vulgaris L. presenta nódulos distribuidos en las raíces l aterales de la parte superior y media del sistema radical (Fig. 8).Figura 7.Figura 8. Nodulación del frijol.Estos nódulos tienen fonna poliédr ica y un diámetro aproximado de 2 a 5 mm. Son colonizados por bacterias del género Rhizobium, las cuales fijan nitrógeno atmosférico.El nitrógeno fijado contribuye a satisfacer l os requerimientos de este elemento en la planta.Características del suelo tales como la estructura, la porosidad. el grado de a i reac i 6n, 1 a capad dad de retenci 6n de humeda d. 1 a temperatura, el contenido de nutrimentos, y varias otras, pueden ser muy importantes en la confonnaci6n del s istema radical y su tamaño. Es necesario recordar, s in embargo, que el sistema radical se concentra generalme'lte cerca de la base del tallo, casi en la superficie del suelo. En condiciones muy favorables, las raíces pueden alcanzar más de un metro de longitud. En casos de excesos de humedad (inundaciones por ejemplo), el hipocótilo puede desarrollar raíces adventicias.El tallo puede ser identificado como el eje central de la planta el cual está formado por una sucesión de nudos y e ntrenudos (Fig. 9). Se origina del meristema apical del embrión de la semilla; desde la germinación y en las primeras etapas de desarroll o de la planta, este meristema tiene una fuerte dominancia apical y en su proceso de desarrollo genera nudos. Un nudo eS el punto de inserción de las hojas (o de los cotiledones) en el tallo. El ángulo formado entre el pecíolo de la s hojas y la prolongaci6n del tallo se denomina ax ila¡ en las axilas aparece un complejo de yemas que luego se desarrollan como ramas laterales y/o como inflorescencia s (Fig. 22 ). TaHo.El ta ll o es herbáceo y con seC Clon cilíndrica o levemente angular, debido a pequeñ as corrugaciones de la epidermis.El ta llo es e l resul t ado de un proce so dinámico de construcción por parte de un gru po de células situadas en Su parte final, llamada mer i stemo terminal> en proceso de división activa desde sus primeros estados de crecimiento. Este proceso de construcción incluye asi mismo, la formación de otros órganos en los nudos y la de los ent renu do s. El entrenudo es la parte del tallo comprendida entre dos nudos.El tallo tiene genera lmente un di ámetro mayor que las ramas. Puede ser erecto. semi postrado o postrado, según el hábito de c recimiento de l a variedadj pero en general> el tallo tiende a se r vertical ya sea que el frijol c rezca sol o o co n algún soporte.Algunas caracter~sticas de la planta re la cionadas con el tallo son ut ilizadas en la identifi ca ción de variedades. Dentro de é sta s se pueden mencion ar : el co lor, l a pilosidad, el tamaño, el número de nudo s, el carácter de la parte terminal. el diámetro, la longitud de los entrenudos, la aptitud para trepar , la filota xia y los ángulo s de inse rción de diferentes órganos.La pilosidad y e l color va r ian según la parte del t a llo , la etapa de de sarrollo de la plan ta , la variedad de frij Ol y las condiciones ambien ta le s como sequía y luz.En cuanto a la pilosidad, el tallo pu ede Se r subglabro y pube scente. Se pueden encontrar pelos co rtos o pelos 1argos , o de ambos tamaños; pero siempre se encuentran unos pelos pequeños en forma de gancho, llamados pelos uncinulados fá cilmente observables en la s part es jóvenes (Fig. 10).Tipos de pilosidad (esquema amplificado).Existe una variación en lo qu e res pec t a a la pigmentación del tallo; pu eden encontrarse de ri vaciones de t res colores fundamenta les: verde, rosado y morado. El pa t rón de di s tri buc ió n oe l os colores en el t al l o es tafT'bién muy vari able. En a lgu no s casos el tallo 'j el pecíolo so n del mismo col or.Pu ede ocurrir que el col or se concc;ntre Estas cdracteríst;cas de color en e l mejoramiento como un marcado r ge lié tico.Además de es tas caracterfst;cas cual itati vas, existen otras cuantitativas , más relacionadas con la estructura misma del tallo. Una muy utilizada es el número de nudos y por 10 tanto el número de pntrenudos.El tallo empieza en l a inserción de las ra'ces. En orden ascendente , el primer nudo que se encuentra es el de l os cotiledones; éste se caracteriza por tener dos i nserc i ones opuestas correspondiente a los cotiledones. La primera parte del tallo comprendida entre la inserción de las ra1ces y el primer nudo, se llama hipocótilo. El hipocótilo tiene una longitud aprec i able porque el frijo l común es de germinación epigea (F i g. 11) .Los cot ; ledones de desarrollo.en el ta ll o .permanecen adheridos al tall o durante las pr imeras etapas De spués de unas dos semanas caen queddndo dos cicatrices El siguiente nudo es el de l as hojas pr imarias , la s cuale s son opuestas . Entre el nudo de los cotiledones y el de l as hojas primarias, se encuentra un entrenudo real llamado epicótilo (Fig. 11).Los dos primeros nudos, el de l os cotiledones y el de las hojas primarias son formados durante la embriogénesisi por 10 tanto existen ya en l a ~tmilla.En el tdllo se encuentran presentes, a nivel de cada nudo otros órganos cor!iO las hojas, las ramas, lus vainas. l os rac imos y l as flores (Fig. 12).  El tallo se puede distinguir fácilmente ya que está compues to por una sucesión de nudos y entrenudos; e n cdda nudo se encuentra una estípula, una hoja y entre el pec~ol(J de l a hoja y la prolongación del tallo, es dec i r en la s axi las. se enc uentran estructuras vegetativas como las ramas o reproductivas como las i nf l orescencias.LoS !'ludos del tdllo se numeran en forma ascendente en tal forma que el primer nudo corresponde al de lo s cotiledor.es, el segunco al de las hOjas primar i as, el tercero a la primera hoja trifoliada y así sucesivamente.Al iniclo de la fase reproductiva de la planta, el t a llo presenta a lo largo de su estructura diferentes nivel es de desarrollo de los órganos vege tati vos y/o re produc tiv os. En general se observa:1.Un cambio en la dispOS1Ción de las ramas, es dec ir en la ramificac i ón a pdrtir d~ lo s dos prim~ros nudos, el de los cotiledones y el de las hojas primari as cuyas ramas está\" dispu es tas en forma opuesta (disposición decusada). A parti r del terce r nudo la di spos i ción de las rdm~s y/o inflorescencias es alterna (dispOSición dí s tica).Un desarroll o cara cterí s t ico de la parte t1!rminal, dependiendO del hábito de crecimiento de la variedad. Relacionado con este punto existen dos posibilidades :d.Qu e el tallo term ine en una inflorescencia (raCimo) cuyas inse rcion es se desa r rol l an primero en flores y despu és en vainas. Al aparecer esta inflorescencia el tallo normalMente cesa su crecimiento. En este caso, l a planta es de háb ito de crecimiento determin ad o* (Fi g. 13a).b. La otra po s ibilidad es que el tallo prese nte en su parte te mi na 1 un meri s tema vegeta t i va que le permite eventua lmente co ntinuar creciendo, es decir, forma r más nudos y entrenudos. En este caso la planta es de hábito de crecimiento indeterm inado ( Fig. 13b).Cuando la planta es de hábito de crecimiento determinado , normalmente el t a llo posee un bajo número de nudos y termina en la inserción de l a última hoja t r ifoliada.En las plantas de ha.bito indeterminada, el número de nudos de l tallo es [¡1ayor que en las plantas de hábito determinado ya que en la fase r eproducti va, el tallo continúa creciendo.Para facilitar el conteo y establecer comparaciones, el número de nudos se debe determinar en una etapa espec1fica del desarrollo de la pl an ta como por ejeniplo a la floración y a la maduración.Baj~ ccndi ciones simílar~s de ambiente, el número de nudos del tallo de un material genéticamente de purado se puede considerar como un c a r~c ter de poca variación (Cuadro 1).Al contar el núme ro de nudOs se conoce directamente el número de entrenudos. El número y la longitud de ca da entrenudo determinan la l ongitud del tallo y por ende la altura de la planta. Se debe anotar que esta l ongitud varia de un entrenudo a otro del tallo , s i t uaci ón que depende de las correlac iones de crecimiento entre la s diferentes partes de la planta. Para una misma var iedad puesta en las mismas condicione s ambientales, se pueden de finir rangos de variaclOn en longitud para cada entrenudo.Cuadro l. Número de nudos de algunas variedades de frij ol bajo las cond icione s ambientales de CIAT.  Caracter(sticas de la parte terminal del tallo.(a)a. Torsión primaria del tallo sobre SI mismo. b. Torsión secundaria del tallo sobre el tutor.Los pri nci pa 1 es ca racteres morfo-agronómi cos que ayudan a determi na r el hábito de crecimiento son:1.El tipo de desarrollo de la parte terminal del tallo: determinado o indeterminado.El núrnero de nudos.La longitud de los entrenudos y en consecuencia, la altura de la pl anta. Adicionalmente hay que considerar la distribución de las long itudes de los entrenudos a lo largo del tallo.La aptitud para trepar.El grado y el tlpo de ramificaci6n. Es necesario incluir el concepto de guía definido como la parte de l tallo y/o las ramas que sobresalen por encima del follaje del cultivo.Los primeros cuatro caracteres es tán especialmente relacionados con el t allo pero es pos ib le t e nerlo s en cuenta para el caso de las ramas originadas en cualquier nudo. Se debe revisar entonces 10 concerniente al grado de ramifi cación.La planta de frijol común es por naturaleza muy principales puden tener a su vez r amélS laterales; 105 lugares potenciales de fl oración.ramificada. l.as rama s l o anterior multiplica Cada un o de los nudo s del tallo po see una hoja trifoliada a excepción del nudo coti1edonar y el nudo de las hojas primarias. En las ramas los dos primeros nudos (difícilmente diferenciab les ) poseen una estructura foliácea de forma triangular denominada prófil o. El tercer nudo (lo. viSible) presenta una hoja trifoliada del tipo normal.La ramificación se desarrolla especialmente en los nudos de l as hojas trifoliada s inferiores del tall o a partir de las yemas presentes en la axila de dicha s hojas. l as yemas de los dos primeros nudos (de los cotiledones y de las hojas primarias) pueden permanecer en estado latente pero tienen el potencial de desarrollo generalmente como rama s axilar~s. Esto puede suceder con mayor probabilidad cuando el tallo sufre a1g0n daflo. Pero cualquiera que sea el hábito de crecimiento, la ramificación es muy reducida en l as parte s terminale s del tallo o de las ramas. En estas partes, el desarro ll o de las yema s axilares tiende a ser reproduc t i va.Según estudios hechos en el CIAT se consideró que los habito s de crecimiento podr~an ser agrupados en cuatro t i pos principales; esta clasificación estd sometida a modificaciones posteriores, las cuales seguramente tendrán en cuenta las situaciones particulares e intermedias (F;9. 15).Figura 15.Tipo 11Indeterminado postrado Esquema de los cuatro tipos de hábito de crecimiento.Tipo IV Indeterminado trepador Tipo 1: Háb ito de crecimiento determinado arbustivo (Fi g. 16 ).Las plantas Tipo pre sentan las si guientes caracteristicas:1.El tallo y las ramas terminan en una inflore scenc1a desa rrollada. Cuando esta inflorescencia esta. formada. el crecimiento del tallo y de las ramas generalmente se detiene.En general el tallo es fuerte, con un bajo número de entrenudos. de 5 a 10. comúnmente cortos.La altura puede varidr entre 30 y 50 cm. Sin embargo hay casos de plantas enanas (15 a 25 cm).La etapa de floraci6n es corta y la madurez de toda s las vainas ocurre casi al mismo tiempo ..Sin embargo se debe hacer notar la presencia de una varla Clon dentro del hábito de crecimiento determinado; en la cual los entrenudos son más largo s , pueden ser má s numerosos (más de 8) y en algunos casos con aptitud trepadora.Figura 16.Esquema de una planta de hábito de crecimiento determinado arbustivo (Tipo 1) .Tipo 11. Hábito de crecimiento indeterminado arbustivo (Fig. 17).Figura 17. Esquema de una pla nta de háb ito de crecim ien to indete rm inado arbustivo (T ipo 11) .Ta ll o e re cto s in a ptitud para trepar, au nqu e terr.1i na en una guí a co rta. Las ramas no producen gu1as.Pocas ramas, pero en número s uperior al tipo 1 y gene r a lmente corta s co n respecto al tallo.El núme ro de nudos del ta ll o es superlOr a l de las plantas del t ipo 1; generalmónte más de 12.Como todos las plantas de háb ito de crec iMiento indeterminado, é stas continúan cre ci l2 nd o durante la etapa de fl or ac ión , au nqu e a un r itmo menor.Tipo IJI: Hábito de cr~c imi en to inde te rm inado postrado (Fig. 18 ) .Figura 18 . Esquema de una planta de hábito de crecimiento indeterminado postrado (tipo 111).Las características mAs sobresal ientes de l as plantas de hábito de c l~e cimie nt o Tipo III, sen: l.Plantas postradas o semi postradas con ramificación bien de sa rrollada.2. la altura de l as plantas es s uperior a la de las plantas del Tipo 1 y 11 (gen.ralmente muyor de 80 cm).3 . lo anterior se debe a que el nur.¡ero de nudos del tallo y de las ramas es superior al de los tipos 1 y II; aSl mismo, la longitud de los entrenudos es s uperior respecto a los hábitos anteriormente descritos y tanto e l tallo como la~ ramas terminan en guíós.El de sarrollo del tallo y el grado de ramificación originan variaciones en la arquitectura del tipo I! I. Alg unas planta s son postradas desde la s primeras etapas de la fa se vegetativa. Otras son arbustivas hasta prefloración y luego son po s trada s. Dentro de estas variaciones se puede presentar aptitud tre padora especialmente si las plantas cuentan con algú n soporte en cuyo caso suelen llamarse semi trepadoras.Tipo IV: Há bito de crecimiento indeterminado trepador ( Fig. 19).Se co nside ra Que la s plan tas del t1pico frijOl trepador. se encuentra generalmente en Se caracteriza por:de este tipo de hábito de crecimiento son las Este es el tipo de hábito de crecimiento que la asociación ma1z-frijol .A partir de la primera hoja trifoliada el tallo desarro lla la doble capacidad de torsión lo que se traduce en su habilidad trepad ora.Ramas muy poco de~arrolladas (exceptuando algunas), a consecuencia de la dominancia apical.El tallo puede tener de 20 a 30 nudo s y a lcanzar m~s de dos metros de a ltura con un soporte adecuado.4. la etapa de florac i6n es s ignifi cativamente más larga que la de los otros hábitos de tal manera que en la planta se presentan a un mismo tiempo las etdpas de flora ción, forma ci6n de las vainas. llenado de las vainas y mad uración.Por 10 general hay de 10 a 20 nudos en el tallo principal de las plan t a s de los tipos 11 y JIl; este número de nudos se considera intermedio l o mismo que la a ltura de la planta s i se comparan con la s plantas de los tipos 1 y IV.Finalmente es impor tante señalar que hay variedades que tienen hábitos de cre ci miento que no se pueden incluir en ninguno de estos cuatro tipos, pues son hábitos intermed ios entre cualqu i era de los descritos (lnter i ormer.te.Además, algunos de los parámetros componentes del hábito de crecimiento han evolucionado, por ej empl o el tipo de ramificación, debido a la selecc i ón de fenotipos ade cua dos a nece s idades locales o regionales. Esto ha dad c.. orig en a subcldsificaciones de gran util idad en el proceso de mejoramiento.Figura 19.Esquema de una planta de hábito de crecimiento indeterminado trepador {T ipo IV }.Por ejemplo en el tipo lI[ existen plantas postradas denominadas lIra. mientras que otras tienen el tallo y las ramas con aptitud trepadora.aunque no muy desarrollada y se denominan lllb (Fig. 20).En el Tipo IV se hacen subdivisiones según la distribución de las vainas en la planta; por ejemplo, cuando las vainas se distribuyen uniformemente a lo largo de la planta se denomina IVa y si las vainas se concentran en l a parte superior de la planta se denomina IVb (Fig. 20). Esquema de sub clasificaciones de los tipos 111 y IV.Tambi¿n es necesario tener en cuenta que las condiciones ambientales influyen en la expreslón del hábito de crec imiento, por ésto, en diferente~ ambientes una variedad puede presentar variaci on es en la expresión de e s te car~cter.Por ejemplo, algunas variedades de h¡ §bito de crecimiento Tipo III bajo las condiciones ambientales del CIAT. pueden tener hábitos semejantes a los tipos del sue l o, la densidad de población, la presencia de tutores, el sistema de cultivo, etc.Sin embargo la s diferencias entre los hAbitas determinados e indete rminados son estables y más claras. ya que el funcionamiento de los mer i stemas es compl e tamente diferente. además de que existen diferencias notorias en la s corre laciones entre las partes de la planta. El sentido de la floración, constituye una diferencia importante entre estos hAbitas ya que en los determinados es descendente, es decir de las partes apicales hacia la parte inferior de la planta, mientras que en los indeterminados es al contrario (Fig. 21). La s ramas se desarrollan a partir de un complejo de yema s localizado siempre en la axila de una hoja o en l a inserc i ón de los co til edones. Este es el denominado complejo axilar Que gene ral mente esta: formado pcr tres y&rr.as visibles desde el inicio de su desarro ll o.Una rama en sus primeros estados de desarro l lo se pu ede di st ingu ir porque las estipulas de lo primera hoja trifoliada de e sa rClma, cubren casi totalmente dicha estructura. Estas esUpulas tienen fonna triangular y aplanada; además son visibles los apices de l os folíolos de dich a hoja.De este cor.,plejo ax; l ar. además de ramdS se puede n desarrollar otra s estru cturas como las inflorescencias; el predominio de ramas y/o ;nflorescencicls depende del hábito de crecimiento y de l a pa rt~ de l a planta co nsideradd. Estas tres yema s forman un complejo axilar llamado TrIada ( Fig . 22) . La s yema s pueden ter.cr tres ti pos de des arrol l o: l. Caso 1 , desarrollo completamente vegetativo. Localización esquemática de la triada de yemas axilares.Caso 1; Desarrollo completamente vegetativo.Se denomina vegetativo porque la s yemas que se desarrollc.n en el complejo axilar producen exclusivamente ramas en cuyo priaer nudO vis i ble se encuentra una hoja trifoliada (Fig. 23) .la yelTld central se desarrolla primero. formando la rama centt'al. Las dos yemas laterales tienen el potencial para de sarro llarse como ramas pero generalmente se desarrolla una sola. Tanto en la rama central como en l as laterales el desarrollo después del primer nudo visible es en ü1ti ma instancia dependiente del genotipo y por 10 tanto puede o no existi r similitud en el desarrollo de las ramas a partir de dicho nudo.Como consecuencia . se encontrará generalmente la rama central bien desarrollada y una lateral produciendo al menos un nudo visible con una hoja trifoliada. En algunos casos una rama la tera l puede tener a su vez. dos ramas, es decir, una en cada lado y as1 sucesivamente.Este tipo de desarrollo. completamente vegetativo, ocurre generalmente en la parte baja de la planta. o sea, en el nudo cot iiedonar, el de la s hOjas primarias y en l,)s nudos de la s primeras hoj as trHol iadas del tallo y de las ramas cualquiera que sea el hábito de crecü,liento.  Sin embargo, muchas veces después de la forma ci!!n de las vainas en la infl orescencia central, o debido a cualquier accidente ocurrido en este racimo central, las dos yemas la terales o una solamente, pueden salir del estado latente e iniciar un desarrollo vegetativo , produciendo al menos un nudo con una hoja trifoliada .Este tipo de desarrollo se encuentra generalmente en la parte I!led ia y superior de los tallos. Caso 3: Desarrollo completamente floral.Se denomina floral porque las yemas del complejo axilar se desarrollan como 6rganos reproductivos. las dos yemas la tera l es, generalmente se convierten directamente en botones florales (f l ores so li tarias) (Fig . 25).Es te tipo de desarrollo se enc uentra generalmente en la parte superior del tallo y de las ramas.Las ramas potencialmente podr1an desarrollarse como e l tallo, pero en la realidad su desarrollo es mas reducido; esta similitud en el crecimiento y desarrollo, no se debe al azar; es el resu1 tado de correlaciones que tienen un contro l genético-fisiológico. Las hojas del frijol son de dos tipos: simples y compuestas (Fig. 26).Están insertadas en los nudos del tallo y las rama s . En dichos nudos siempre se encuentran est1pulas que constituyen un carácter importante en la sistemática de las leguminosas.En la plan ta de frijol se lo hay dos ho j as s impl es: las primarias; aparecen en el segu ndo nudo del tallo y se forman en la semilla durante la embriogénesis.Son opuestJs . cordiformes, unifoliadas, auriculadas, simpl es y acuminada s .Estas caen antes de que la planta esté completamente desarrollada. Las est'ipu las son bHidas al nivel de las hojas primaria s . (Fig. 27).Figura 26 , Tipos de hojas de la planta de frijol.Figura 27 . D isposicibn de hojas primarias.La s hoja s compuestas ( Fi g. 26) , trifo liada s , (trifo lioladas ) , so n l as hoja s típi cas de l frij ol. Tienen tres fol 1010s . un pecio lo y un raquis . Tanto el pec í olo como el raquis son acanalados. El foliolo central o terminal es simétrico y ac umina do; los do s l a terale s so n asi métricos y t ambién acuminados.Los follolos son ent eros; la forma tiende a ser de ova l ada a tr ia ngular, principalmente cord iformes, pero sin aurículas; so n g-•. bras O subg labros. los f01 10105 tienen peciolulo s que pueden ser considerados corno pulvínulos y po seen es tipe la s; dos en e l f01 1010 central y una en cada folíolo lateral. co locadas en l a base de lo s p~c i o lul os.En la ba se de l peciol o cerca del tall o ó de la s ramas está n el pul vínulo; los pulvínulos están rel ac iollados con l os movi mi entos nictiná st icos de la s hojas. En la inserción de las hoja s trifo l iadas hay un pa r de est~pulas de forma triangula r y de inserción basi -f i j a que s i empre son v i sibles (Fig. 28).En condic io ne s normales existe una gran variación en cuanto al color y pil os idad de ld S hojas l a cual está relacionada con la variedad , con la pos i c i ón de la hoja en e l tallo y la edad de la planta . Es tos caracteres pueden o roo tener relación con el color y l a pilosidad del tallo y de l as r amas .Estipula _ _ --J-p\"lj'!iif Tallo -Figura 28.Parte basal de la hoja tr ifol iada.Las inflorescenc ia s pueden ser axilares o tenninales . DeSde el punto de vista bo tA nico se cons ideran como racimos de racimo s: e s decir, un racimo principal compues to de rac imos sec undarios, los cuales se originan de un complejo de tres yemas ( tdada f lora l ) que se encuentra en l as axila s forr.w.das por l as brácteas pr imarias y l a pro longación de l raquis (Fig. 29). El racimo se dist ingue en s u es tado inicial porq ue la fama del conjunto tiende a ser ci11ndrica O esfér i ca y estA cubierto principalmente por dos est ruc tu ras fal i áceas de fo rma t r iangular, es decir la s brácteas primarias de las primeras inserciones florales de la i nflo rescencia; en dicho conjunto también se pueden dis ti nguir las bracteolas redondeadas y mul t inervial es de las primeras flores.La inflorescencia t i ene tres partes pri ncipales: el eje de la i nf 1 orescenc i a que se compone de pedú ncu 1 o y de r aqu i s • 1 a s bráctea s primarias y los botones fl orales. Antes de ab rir las primeras fl ores, el pedúncul o de la infl orescenc i a se a l arga rápidamente. El raquis es una s uce s ión de nudos. Los nudos se di stinguen porque en ellos se local izan las brA c tea s primarias.El pedúncu 1 o y el raq u i s JJue den te ner co 1 ocae ibn y pubescenc i a caracte r~stica s según l a va riedud, pero s i empre tienen pequeños pelos uncinulado s . Lo s nudos del raquis no son no t or ios y no tienen glándulas pedicelares (nectariOS) comu nes e n mucho s géneros a fines.En cada tríada floral cada una de la s dos yemas la te rales generalmente produce una fl orj t?stas dv s yemas late ra l es son las dO S primeras que aparecen so bre el eje del ra c imo secundari o, en sucesiOn alterna ( Fig. 30). En cambio l a yema central no se desarrol la direc tamente; como e l eje es muy reducido, las dos flores parecen estar al mismo nivel. En algunos caso s , especialmente cuando las vainas producto del de sa rrollo de la s flores estAn ya desarrolladas, la yema central puede prOdu cir un pequeño eje con otra tríada floral.De esta nueva tríada puede resul tar una tercera flor (Fig. 30). El desarro110 a partir de la tercera flor está limitado por fenómenos de competencia ya que al madurar la s vainas de las dos pr i meras yemas, la planta generalmente está en la etapa de maduración y por l o tant o presenta disminución de su actividad fot os intética y normalmente esta flor no se desarrolla . El desarrollo y la estructura de la tríada se repite en todas las inserciones de la inflorescencia; teóricamente se pueden esperar más de dos O tres inserciones florales por racimo en el raqui s. y más de dos va inas por cada inserción (Fig. 31). Sin embar90~ como ya se explicó el comp leto desarro 110 oe Esta estruc tura es tá 1 im; tado por procesos fisioló9iCOS. especialmente de competencia, re su ltantes de la formación y llenado de vainas. Flor , \\ :, ' , ' La flor del frijol es una tlpica flor papilionácea. En el proceso de desarrollo de dicha flor se pueden distinguir dos estados; el botón floral y la flor completamente abierta.El botón floral, bien sea que se origine en las inserciones de un racimo o en el desarrollo completalilente floral de las yemas de una axila. en su esta do inicial está envuelto por las bracteolas que tienen forma ovalada o redonda. En su estado final, la corola que aún está cerrada sobresale y las bracteolas cubren sólo el cáliz.Cuando ocurre el fenómeno de antesis la flor se abre.La flor tiene simetrla bilateral con las siQuientes caracterlsticas (Fig. 32). l.Un pedicelo glabro o subglabro con pe los uncinulados y en su base una pequeña bráctea no persistente, unilateral, llamada brá ctea pedicelar. _0\"\" ~ Bráctea pedicelar\"\"\" Pedicelo Figura 32. Componentes de la flor.El c~liz es gamo sépa l o , campanulado, con cinco dientes triangulares dispuestos como labios en dos grupos, en la siguiente forma: dos en la parte alta completamente soldados y tres ma~ visibles en l a parte baja.En la ba se del cá liz hay dos bracteolas ovoides y multinerviales que persisten hasta poco después de la flora c ión; ordinariamente de un tamaño equivalente a dos veceS la longitud de l ca 1 iz o 3.La corola es pentAmera y papilionéicea, con dos pétalos so ldados por su base y tres no solda dos. En ella se pueden distinguir:El pétalo más sobresa liente corresponde al est.andarte y es uno de los no soldados; es glabro~ s;métr;co~ con un apéndice ancho y difuso en la cara interna. Puede ser, de color blanco, verde, rosado o púrpura, pero nun ca amarillo. En la mayoría de las flores de colores claro s la corola se torna amarillenta después de la fecundación. Dos alas cuyo color puede ser muy variado: blanco, rosado o púrpura . En general las alas son más oscuras que las otras partes de la corola; pero puede ocurrir también lo co ntrario, que el estandarte sea de un color más intenso que las a1a$.La qu i lla presenta foma de espiral l1lJy cerra da, es asimétrica y está formada por dos pétalos completamente unidos.La quilla envuelve completamente el androceo y el gineceo.El androceo está formado por nueve estambres soldados por su base en un tubo y por un estambre libre llamado vexilar que se encuentra al frente del estandarte (Fig. 34).El gineceo es supero e incluye el ovario encorvado y el estigma interno lateral estigma se puede observar una agrupación brocha (Fig. 33). comprimido, el estilo terminal. Deba j o del de pelos en forma de La morfolog1a floral de Phaseolus vulgaris L. favorece el mecani s mo de autopolinización.En efecto, las anteras están al mismo nivel que el estigma y además ambos 6rganos est~n envueltos completamente por la quilla. Cuando se produce la dehiscencia de las anteras (antesis ) el polen cae directamente sobre el estigma. Fruto de la planta de frijol.LO S óvuloS, que son l as futuras sem;ll~s, ¿ Iternan en la sutura pla cental; en consec uenci a, la s semi ll as también a lterna n .Las vainas son generalmente glab ras o s ubglabras con pelos muy pe qu eños; a veces la epidermis es pilosa (F ig. 36) . Pueden se r de div ers os colores, uniformes con rayas. ex istiendo diferencias entre la s va inas jóvenes o estado inmaduro, las va inas maduras y las vainas comp le tame nte secas. El color depende de la varieddo.La pre sen ci a de fibra en l as su t uras y e n l as capas pe rgami nosas adheridas a la superficie interna de l as val vós determina la dehisce nci a , carac te l' morfo-agronómico us ado algun as ve ces para cla s ificar la s vari edade s de frijol. la textura de l a vaina perm i te consi derar tres tipos de dehiscenc ia (Cuadro 2).1.El tipo perganlinos a posee f ibras fu ~rt e s y orien tada s en 1(1 ca pa pergamino sa , induce un i ; z fuerte dehi s cencia e n l a madurac ión . Las variedades con es te tipo de de hiscercia son cultivadas exclusivamente para la cosecha de granos secos.El tipo coriáceo es aquel en el cual se separan las dos suturas l evemente sin que haya separación tot al de li!s dos valvas . Es tas va i na s se pueden co nsumi r CORlO hab i chu p 1 a s cuando es t án ; nma dur a s, o como fri jo les s ~ccs cuando están maduro~.Figura 36.Pilosidad de la vaina.Cuadro 2. Tipos de dehi scencia de acuerdo a l a presencia de fibra. En el tipo carnoso o no fibroso la vaina es casi indehis cen te, las va l vas no posee n fi bra y se co ns umen como habichuela, ya que no pre senta se paraci ón de las va l vas a 10 largo de la s s utura s .Semill a l a semilla es ex albumino sa es decir que no posee albumen, por lo tanto la s reservas nutriti vas se concentra n en los co tlledones. Se ori gina de un óvulo compilótropo (Fiy. 37). Puede tener varias fonna s: ci lindrica , de riñón, esférica u otras . Partes externas de la semilla de frijol.1.La testa o cubierta., que corresponde a la capa secundina del Ovulo.El hilum, o cicatriz dejada por el funiculo, el cual conecta la semilla con la placenta.El micrópilo que es una abertura en la cubierta o corteza de la semilla cerca del hilum.A través de e sta abertura se realiza principalmente la absorción del agua.La rafe, proveniente de la so ldadura del fun1culo con los tegumentos externos del óvulo campilótropo.Respecto a la posición de la semilla en la vaina, los micropilos están dispuestos en la direcc ión del ápice de la vaina y la s rafes en la dirección del pedicelo.Internamente la semilla está constituida solamente por el embr ión el cual está formado por la plúmula, las dos hojas primarias, el hipocótilo, los dos coti ledones y la radlcula (Fig . 39). El comp l ejo plumula-rad1cula está situado entre los cotiledones, al lado ventral del grano de tal manera que la radícula está en contacto con el micrópilo. En el grano seco el complejo plúmula-radícula. ocupa solamente una parte muy reducida de l espaciO libre entre lo s cot iledones .Calculado en base a materia seca de la semilla, la testa representa el 9%, los cotiledones 90% y el embrión el 1%.La semi ll a tiene una amplia variación de color (bl anco , rojo, crema, negro. café, etc.), de forma y de brillo. La combinacibn de colores también es muy frecuente.Esta gran variabilidad de los caracteres externOS de la semilla se tiene en cuenta para la clasificación de variedades de fríjol como consecue ncia de la gran diversidad genética Que existe den tro de esta especie."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"120fa1b59f9a7a36150406010cf7399b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7a093fdd-3f24-478b-b099-1b22fad44884/retrieve","id":"110043027"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"99739938-7a74-4658-b443-f4f753e09f88","content":"Bioversity International es una organización internacional de investigación para el desarrollo, en cuya visión la biodiversidad agrícola alimenta las comunidades y sustenta el planeta. Bioversity International genera evidencia científica, prácticas de manejo y opciones de política que permitan salvaguardar y utilizar la biodiversidad agrícola y forestal del mundo, para alcanzar y mantener la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional. Trabajamos con socios de países de bajos ingresos, en regiones donde la biodiversidad agrícola y forestal pueden mejorar la nutrición, la resiliencia, la productividad y la adaptación al cambio climático. Bioversity International es un Centro de Investigación del CGIAR, una alianza mundial de investigación agrícola para un futuro sin hambre.Nuestra misión en el Fondo Internacional para el Desarrollo Agrícola (FIDA) es poner fin a la pobreza rural. Para lograr este cometido, el FIDA invierte en personas, ayudándolas a aumentar sus ingresos, mejorar su seguridad alimentaria y nutricional, así como fortalecer su resiliencia. Desde 1978, hemos canalizado US$ 20.9 billones en subvenciones y préstamos a bajo interés a proyectos que han mejorado la vida de más de 483 millones de personas. Cuando el FIDA invierte en la población rural, suceden cosas buenas. Hay más comida. Los ingresos aumentan. La nutrición mejora. Los recursos naturales están protegidos. Las comunidades prosperan. El FIDA es una institución financiera internacional y un organismo especializado de las Naciones Unidas con sede en Roma -Centro de alimentación y agricultura de las Naciones Unidas.Este documento se desarrolló en el marco de una subvención del FIDA para el \"Apoyo estratégico en la incorporación de aspectos de nutrición en las inversiones del FIDA\", financiado por el Gobierno de Canadá e implementado por Bioversity International durante el período 2017-2018. Los autores agradecen el apoyo del FIDA, especialmente el aporte técnico proporcionado por los miembros del equipo de nutrición (Ilaria Bianchi, Antonella Cordone, Joyce Njoro, Giulia Pedone) y de las oficinas subregionales del FIDA en Costa de Marfil y Panamá en la revisión de los diversos borradores del documento. El documento también se benefició enormemente de las discusiones, comentarios y opiniones de varios colegas de Bioversity, especialmente Gennifer Meldrum, Rose Robitaille, Dunja Mijatovic, Gaia Lochetti, Nadezda Amaya, Hugo Lamers y Nina Lauridsen.Stefano Padulosi es científico principal y líder temático de los sistemas agroalimentarios urbanos-rurales dentro de la Iniciativa de dietas saludables de sistemas alimentarios sostenibles en Bioversity International, Italia. Obtuvo su doctorado en ciencias biológicas en la Universidad de Louvain-La-Neuve, Bélgica, y trabajó en Nigeria en el Instituto Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (IITA), como especialista en recursos genéticos, antes de unirse a Bioversity en 1993.Durante los últimos 25 años se ha centrado en la promoción y el uso sostenible de la agrobiodiversidad y, en particular, de las especies olvidadas y subutilizadas (NUS por sus siglas en ingles). Ha dirigido numerosos proyectos internacionales en Europa, África, Medio Oriente, Asia Central y Meridional, así como en América Latina; coordinando actualmente un programa del FIDA-UE dedicado a cultivos resistentes a cambios en el clima en Malí, Guatemala e India. Es autor y coautor de más de 160 publicaciones, de las cuales 61 son revistas revisadas por pares (otros científicos).Phrang Roy es actualmente el Coordinador de la Asociación Indígena para la Agrobiodiversidad y la Soberanía Alimentaria (TIP por sus siglas en ingles), una organización indígena global organizada por Bioversity International. Es miembro de la comunidad indígena Khasi matrilineal del noreste de la India. Se unió al FIDA en 1981 como uno de sus primeros empleados jóvenes y trabajó en Roma, Bangkok y Kuala Lumpur. Se retiró del FIDA como su Presidente Adjunto en diciembre de 2006.Posteriormente se unió a The Christensen Fund, Palo Alto, EE. UU. como su líder global antes de asumir el cargo de Coordinador de TIP en Bioversity International.Desempeñó un papel clave en la configuración de los programas del FIDA para Pueblos Indígenas a nivel de proyecto en Asia y el Pacífico, y luego a nivel de política global. Fue miembro del Panel Internacional de Expertos en Alimentos Sostenibles (IPES-Food) en 2014-16 y actualmente es el Presidente fundador de NESFAS, Shillong, Meghalaya, India.Francisco J. Rosado-May es profesor titular y presidente fundador de la Universidad Intercultural Maya en José María Morelos, Quintana Roo, México. Su campo de investigación y formación académica se centra en sistemas alimentarios indígenas, agroecología y educación indígena, con el objetivo de desarrollar conceptos y métodos hacia el desarrollo intercultural mediante la comprensión de la epistemología del conocimiento indígena, con énfasis en los mayas, su propia etnia. Su experiencia académica incluye trabajar para la Universidad de California, Santa Cruz, su alma mater, la Universidad de Nuevo México, la Universidad del Atlántico en Maine, la Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica y la Universidad de Quintana Roo. Además, ha sido miembro del comité ejecutivo del Fondo de Agroecología y del Programa de pequeñas subvenciones del Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo durante varios años. Su experiencia incluye varios países de América Latina, Europa, Asia y África. La agrobiodiversidad es un recurso que apoya al bienestar humano y medio ambiental.El apoyo de FIDA para el mejor uso de la agrobiodiversidad, específicamente el referente a especies olvidadas y subutilizadas (NUS) 1 y a un mayor reconocimiento de los saberes tradicionales de los Pueblos Indígenas (IP) asociados al uso de NUS y de comestibles silvestres, son importantes para combatir la inseguridad alimentaria y nutricional, especialmente en el contexto del cambio climático. Ambos factores tienen el potencial de promover y mejorar una agricultura sensible a la nutrición (ASN) sostenible; así como los medios de vida asociados.Invertir en una ASN no es sólo un bien social, sino una contribución a un desarrollo saludable y una buena economía.Las vías de impacto incluyen producción resiliente, generación de ingresos y consumo saludable. El empoderamiento de mujeres y concientización sobre la nutrición entre los consumidores son mediadores clave de impacto.Existe un amplio ámbito para maximizar la contribución de las NUS y de los Pueblos Indígenas a la nutrición, mediante la aplicación de un enfoque nutricional al diseño de las intervenciones de los proyectos del FIDA.Los equipos encargados del desarrollo de proyectos durante la formulación, evaluación, o negociación de programas y proyectos de inversión agrícola, puede mejorar los resultados relacionados a la sostenibilidad y nutrición, reconociendo que:• De los 5,000 cultivos estimados que existen en todo el mundo (RBG 2016) 2 , los sistemas alimentarios globales están dominados actualmente solo por tres especies de cultivos (arroz, trigo y maíz), los cuales proporcionan la mitad de las calorías provenientes de las plantas del mundo. 3 Esta situación se encuentra en continuo deterioro e ilustra una homogeneización gradual de la producción mundial de alimentos 4 , que tiene múltiples repercusiones negativas en la vida de las personas: sistemas de producción más vulnerables al cambio climático y a otros impactos; reducción de activos y opciones de ingresos de los agricultores;y los consumidores tienen menos opciones de dietas nutritivas y saludables.1 NUS (por sus siglas en inglés), incluyen cereales, granos, legumbres, frutas, vegetales, raíces, semillas y nueces. • La agrobiodiversidad agrícola es un precioso activo para apoyar nuestros sistemas de vida, pero es altamente vulnerable y susceptible a la erosión genética causada por el monocultivo generalizado, estandarización de métodos de cultivo, mercados uniformes, falta de incentivos económicos para diversificar cultivos y cambio en hábitos alimenticios. El conocimiento tradicional asociado con el uso de NUS y de comestibles silvestres, están desapareciendo rápidamente debido a cambios en estilos de vida; falta de transmisión del conocimiento entre generaciones y marginalización de la cultura local culinaria.• Incrementar el uso de la agrobiodiversidad ha probado ser un medio invaluable para mejorar los medios de vida de poblaciones locales, lo cual ha sido demostrado por los proyectos de granos andinos en Bolivia (2014) 5 y el trabajo con mijos menores en la India (2015) 6 ; ambos apoyados por el FIDA, a través de su portafolio de proyectos de investigación.• Los \"hot spots\" o áreas críticas de diversidad de NUS coinciden con las mismas regiones donde viven los Pueblos Indígenas; áreas en gran parte remotas no expuestas a prácticas agrícolas intensivas y donde las prácticas agroecológicas locales han prevalecido. La investigación sobre productos cultivados o recolectados por los Pueblos Indígenas es aún marginal.• La segunda reunión mundial del Foro de los Pueblos Indígenas realizada en el FIDA en 2015 acordó abordar los sistemas alimentarios tradicionales de los Pueblos Indígenas y el uso de la biodiversidad para la nutrición. Como resultado, las contribuciones de los Pueblos Indígenas hacia el manejo sostenible de los ecosistemas y la protección de la biodiversidad a través del conocimiento y métodos tradicionales, deben analizarse y apoyarse adecuadamente en el diseño de proyectos\" 7 .• La educación nutricional y comunicación para un cambio de comportamiento, son elementos clave del diseño de proyectos.• Un uso más amplio de NUS es consistente con varios de los Objetivos de • Las NUS han sido ignoradas por los responsables de formular políticas y marginalizadas por la Revolución Verde. Su exclusión en inversiones de investigación y desarrollo (I&D) han dejado atrás a estas especies en términos de avances en relación con su conservación, cultivo, cosecha, postcosecha, comercialización y estudios relacionados con su contribución a la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional, ingresos y medios de vida, género, políticas y marcos legales para regular su uso.• Las NUS, incluyendo comestibles silvestres, son una parte integral de las culturas locales, ampliamente usadas en la preparación de comidas tradicionales y están cada vez más en el centro de atención de los esfuerzos para revitalizar la cultura culinaria local y celebrar la identidad del \"terroir\" 12 . Los festivales de comida son importantes iniciativas para atraer la atención de los jóvenes.• Las NUS y comestibles silvestres están altamente adaptados a nichos agroecológicos y áreas marginales, siendo resistentes al cambio climático.Probablemente este es el rasgo más atractivo para los responsables de toma de decisiones en el ámbito agrícola.• La mayoría de las NUS se cultivan en base al conocimiento de los agricultores, el cual se va perdiendo rápidamente debido al fenómeno generalizado de la erosión cultural, que a su vez contribuye a la marginalización y pérdida de la diversidad genética a niveles inter e intra específicos. Este doble impacto debe detenerse antes de que sea demasiado tarde.• Las NUS están pobremente representadas en los bancos de germoplasma ex situ, lo cual es una consecuencia directa de la baja prioridad que estos cultivos han recibido en el pasado por programas de investigación nacionales e internacionales.La mayor parte de la diversidad de NUS se conserva en campo. Utilizan sistemas de semillas informales y débiles.• Existe una falta de capacidades profesionales en los Sistemas Nacionales de Investigación Agrícola (SNIA) para promover las NUS a través de un enfoque interdisciplinario, holístico y participativo. Sin embargo, la selección de especies y cultivos debe realizarse con el consentimiento previo, libre e informado de todos los actores involucrados para comprender el impacto ambiental y de género. La selección de cultivos y especies por sus valores nutricionales debe enfrentarse al reto de la adaptación al cambio climático.• Existe la necesidad de fortalecer las evidencias sobre la contribución de las NUS a la agricultura sensible a la nutrición y al mismo tiempo reforzar las capacidades y generación del conocimiento sobre el diseño, implementación y monitoreo para la gestión, evaluación y asistencia (promocion).• Desarrollar un enfoque holístico y sensible a la nutrición que involucre a NUS requiere una construcción sin precedentes de estructuras de apoyo, sistemas de conocimiento, cooperación y alianzas con comunidades tales como Pueblos Indígenas, así como mujeres y jóvenes.El Se estima que aproximadamente el 70% de la biodiversidad restante en el mundo se encuentra en territorios de comunidades indígenas, donde las mujeres indígenas continúan desempeñando un papel fundamental en la conservación de la diversidad de NUS, conservación del conocimiento tradicional y en mantener la seguridad nutricional a nivel familiar. Desafortunadamente, el rol benéfico de los Pueblos Indígenas en el mantenimiento de la diversidad genética y cultural es a menudo ignorado.El enfoque en las NUS y en la alimentación de las comunidades de los Pueblos Indígenas apoyará la implementación de la política del FIDA sobre su compromiso con los Pueblos Indígenas. 16  de entenderse de la misma manera por todos. El término \"Especies olvidadas y subutilizadas\" puede no ser la expresión ideal y puede no ser atractiva para las personas. De hecho, a las comunidades locales a menudo les disgusta. Su uso en este Marco Operativo y en las 5 Notas complementarias se conserva por razones prácticas, debido a que el termino NUS es ahora cada vez más utilizado en la literatura científica, narrativas de proyectos de I&D y discursos que abordan sistemas alimentarios nutritivos. El personal del FIDA debe tener la libertad de usar cualquier otro término adecuado cuando trabaje con comunidades donde pueden tener otro nombre que sea más apropiado para el contexto cultural y otras sensibilidades de las personas con las que trabajarán.Este Marco Operativo sobre NUS complementa los volúmenes recientemente publicados sobre el Marco Operativo del FIDA sobre \"Cadenas de Valor Sensibles a la Nutrición: una Guía para el diseño de proyectos\" (Guía CVSN) 27 . Es probable que las NUS se destaquen en la selección de productos (PASO 2 -Guía CVSN) en este último Marco Operativo debido a su gran potencial para mejorar la nutrición. HTDN no. 1 describe los enfoques y métodos para asegurar que las NUS se consideren en dichos procesos de selección de cultivos, ya que a menudo fácilmente se pasan por alto como resultado de ser poco conocidas. El análisis de la situación (PASO 1 -Guía CVSN) es un elemento central del proceso para identificar NUS de alto potencial. El análisis de la cadena de valor (PASO 3 -Guía CVSN) es un paso clave en el marco operacional de las cadenas de valor sensibles a la nutrición, que identifica limitaciones y oportunidades para guiar el diseño de las intervenciones (PASO 4 -Guía CVSN). Como las cadenas de valor NUS tienen algunas peculiaridades en comparación con productos agrícolas bien establecidos, los enfoques y métodos específicos para el análisis de las mismas se describen en HTDN no. 2, mientras que los enfoques específicos de NUS para el desarrollo de mercados nacionales y de exportación se analizan en las Notas 3 y 4, respectivamente. La Guía de las cadenas de valor sensibles a la nutrición está respaldada por un entorno propicio que promueve el desarrollo e integración de diferentes etapas de la cadena de valor. HTDN 5 analiza enfoques para crear un entorno propicio para el desarrollo de la cadena de valor de NUS.27 De la Peña I. and J. Garrett (2018). Nutrition-sensitive value chains, A guide for project design (Vol I and Vol II). IFAD https://bit.ly/2PWtTzV and https://bit.ly/2D8qoBfque generan resultados resilientes en temas de nutrición, mercados y medios de vida de las personas en general. La Figura 2 ilustra los puntos de entrada sugeridos para programas y proyectos, sobre las formas de reforzar la contribución de las cadenas de valor NUS para lograr resultados más vinculados a la nutrición. Las Figuras 3 y 4 ofrecen algunas descripciones generales de las formas de maximizar la nutrición en las cadenas de valor típicas de alimentos. El Cuadro 10 ofrece algunas sugerencias sobre como fortalecer el papel de los agentes de extensión y los profesionales en la promoción de NUS.Cuadro 2: Cómo se puede hacer que un proyecto de NUS sea más sensible a la nutrición Paso 1. Incorporar explícitamente el concepto de nutrición en los objetivos del proyecto e integrar indicadores relevantes en el marco lógico del proyecto.Paso 2. Incluir un análisis de la situación en el contexto de la nutrición que aborde las brechas de nutrientes de los beneficiarios seleccionados.Paso 3. Incluir NUS con alto contenido de nutrientes en las intervenciones de desarrollo agrícola para complementar el papel nutricional de los cultivos básicos guiados por un enfoque de dieta sostenible basada en la diversidad.Paso 4. Rastrear la ruta de impacto, es decir, los pasos desde el mejoramiento, producción de sistemas de semilla hasta el consumo, para que la intervención mejore la nutrición a través de la cadena de valor de NUS. Diseñar e implementar acciones de los proyectos que afectarán esa vía de manera sistemática.Por ejemplo, determinar si es necesario un cambio en los hábitos alimenticios para alentar el consumo de algunos comestibles silvestres y, de ser así, implementar acciones para promover el cambio. Asignar recursos financieros destinados a implementar actividades sensibles a la nutrición.Paso 5. A través del compromiso de políticas y alianzas, abordar oportunidades y limitaciones que afectan el camino y efectividad de la intervención, como ser el entorno institucional, género o sostenibilidad ambiental, y definir las reglas de implementación para la entrega de actividades sensibles a la nutrición. El FIDA utilizará a sus socios locales como ser los sistemas alimentarios de los Pueblos Indígenas y organizaciones comunitarias, incluidas organizaciones de agricultores y mujeres, ONGs, autoridades locales y organismos nacionales para mapear el uso de NUS sobre un área específica y así explorar la disponibilidad, accesibilidad y diversas opciones nutricionales de sus recursos genéticos, cuando se investiguen su potencial y expansión de mercado. El equipo del proyecto utilizará enfoques participativos para obtener el consentimiento libre, previo e informado de las comunidades participantes, antes de realizar cualquier actividad en las comunidades de los Pueblos Indígenas.En todos los ejercicios de priorización se utilizarán criterios relacionados con la nutrición, adaptación climática, generación de ingresos, diversidad cultural, salud del ecosistema y la urgencia de la intervención debido a la erosión genética vigente. Las mujeres, jóvenes y Pueblos Indígenas deberan ser participantes activos en todos estos ejercicios. Se prestará especial atención al mantenimiento de la diversidad genética, sistemas descentralizados de selección y producción de semillas de NUS; cosecha, procesamiento local, comercialización local o regional y campañas promocionales.Estas son las vías de impacto de un programa o proyecto agrícola sensible a la nutrición de NUS.Las oportunidades y puntos de entrada para programas y proyectos se describen en las siguientes secciones que también son capturadas gráficamente en la figura 2 (Página 18).Para mantener la diversidad genética en un determinado proyecto o área programática necesaria para fortalecer la agricultura sensible a la nutrición, se deberá seguir las siguientes acciones:1. Incluir NUS en programas y proyectos: destinados a mejorar la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional a través del mejor Manejo de Recursos Naturales (MRN) y medios de vida rurales. Medidas de apoyo incluyen el desarrollo de patrones de siembra mejorados y mejores prácticas aprovechando la combinación de ciencia con el conocimiento tradicional y provisión de tecnologías y procesos para movilizar NUS capaces de hacer frente a variaciones climáticas extremas.2. Llevar a cabo un inventario de especies de alimentos disponibles localmente (silvestres y cultivados): a ser utilizados para llenar brechas de nutrientes existentes dentro del área objetivo. Este trabajo debe centrarse en los medios de vida locales, con especial atención a mujeres y Pueblos Indígenas, y en las NUS disponibles a nivel local dentro de grupos de alimentos insuficientemente consumidos. Se deben considerar las necesidades nutricionales y la dinámica estacional del hambre en las comunidades focales.3. Apoyar la conservación e intercambio de semilla: fortalecer la conservación de la diversidad genética y conocimientos tradicionales mediante la inclusión de acciones integradas de conservación ex situ y en las acciones a nivel de finca en proyectos financiados por subvenciones y préstamos; establecer parcelas de demostración que involucren a agricultores interesados; fomentar el intercambio de semillas entre agricultores mediante el apoyo a sus redes de semillas y recocer a las comunidades por su inestimable función en la protección de dicha diversidad mediante la entrega de certificados de organizaciones locales o internacionales.4. Fomentar la visibilidad de NUS: en medios locales y regionales (por ej., periódicos, programas de radio y televisión y redes sociales), en cooperación con organizaciones locales e internacionales, y esforzarse por cambiar la imagen de NUS asociada con la pobreza y el atraso.A 5. Apoyar campañas educativas: mediante la inclusión en los programas de estudios básicos y de educación superior, actividades e información sobre NUS y su importancia para el sustento y bienestar de las comunidades locales.Cuadro 3: Consejos para promover la participación de actores clave en el establecimiento de prioridadesLa participación de diferentes actores clave es fundamental para explorar colectivamente el potencial de las NUS en un contexto ambiental, económico, social y cultural dado, en el que los Pueblos Indígenas (PI) y otros grupos vulnerables pueden participar activamente. La selección de algún NUS especifico es una de las primeras actividades que se deben realizar para establecer un proyecto NUS. En la práctica, esto se hace involucrando a un número representativo de actores clave (lo ideal es no más de 15 a 20 personas) que deben tener un entendimiento común y conocimiento relevante de NUS y su potencial. Los participantes deben incluir una sección transversal relevante a todos los actores clave a fin de proporcionar puntos de vista diferentes y complementarios sobre los temas relacionados con la mejora del uso de NUS, y por supuesto, dicho equipo debe estar bien equilibrado en términos de género, edad y representatividad de los PIs. Se debe buscar a actores clave dentro de ONGs y Organizaciones de Base Comunitaria (OBC), agricultores, comerciantes, autoridades locales, investigadores capaces de cubrir los diferentes aspectos de la promoción de NUS (incluyendo etnobotánica, nutrición, mercadeo, ciencias sociales, políticas), sector privado, agentes de extensión y proveedores de servicios de agronegocios. Involucrar a una variedad de actores ayudará a garantizar que una revisión de las NUS existentes y de potencial interés para el Proyecto se base en el conocimiento colectivo y seá coherente con los desafíos actuales relacionados con los agronegocios. También permitirá una selección justa, objetiva y robusta de especies prioritarias. Los criterios para la selección de NUS objetivo deben manejarse de manera flexible, teniendo en cuenta los múltiples y altamente interrelacionados aspectos de caracter social, ambiental y económico que existen en el área objetivo 28 .Debido a su alta capacidad de adaptación a los entornos locales, las NUS exigen una selección de semilla y sistemas de producción altamente descentralizados, donde su resiliencia puede ser aprovechada (por ej., uso de Selección Participativa de Variedades -SPV-como crowdsourcing) mediante una evaluación directa de los agricultores en sus propios campos. Los cuellos de botella comunes encontrados en el cultivo de NUS incluyen la falta de disponibilidad de semilla, prácticas agronómicas deficientes, rendimientos pobres y trabajo pesado en las operaciones de cosecha.Estaciones climáticas comunitarias y métodos indígenas de predicción del clima, son enfoques que podrían ser apoyados para ayudar a los agricultores a monitorear las fluctuaciones climáticas.Para mejorar los sistemas descentralizados de selección y producción de semilla, se deberán buscar realizar las siguientes acciones:1. Incentivar practicas agro-ecológicas: mediante la promoción del uso óptimo de NUS en sus operaciones con el objetivo de reducir el uso de insumos externos y aprovechar al máximo su capacidad de adaptación a áreas vulnerables y propensas a la sequía, donde las NUS pueden aprovechar la humedad residual del suelo y los regímenes de escasez de lluvias; promover los cultivos NUS intercalados dentro de los programas de cultivos comerciales.2. Introducir NUS en programas de SPV de proyectos financiados por subvenciones y prestamos: y acumular una base de conocimientos sobre su desempeño agronómico, incluyendo su adaptación al cambio climático para usarlos en comparación con cultivos básicos. Tal proceso debe involucrar a todos los actores de la cadena de valor y alentar la participación activa de mujeres, Pueblos Indígenas y jóvenes. Las actividades de evaluación deben ir de la mano con la caracterización del contenido nutricional de los recursos genéticos para apoyar una selección de especies resilientes, nutritivas y económicamente interesantes.3. Promover el llenado de vacíos de conocimiento: para mejorar prácticas de cultivo de NUS, con el fin de eliminar el trabajo pesado en campo e introducir enfoques de cultivo innovadores, basados en la combinación de conocimientos tradicionales y hallazgos científicos.4. Documentar y difundir información: sobre selección de semilla, manejo y conservación de NUS entre las comunidades locales.Cuadro 4: Consejos para promover la participación de grupos marginadosEs importante elegir estratégicamente un punto de entrada significativo desde el punto de vista de una comunidad marginada para cualquier promoción comunitaria de una Agricultura Sensible a la Nutrición (ASN).Por ejemplo, la Asociación Indígena para la Agrobiodiversidad y Soberanía Alimentaria (AIASA) encontró que los festivales de comida y talleres de degustación son eventos muy útiles para conectar a las comunidades de los Pueblos Indígenas con una agricultura sensible a la nutrición. No siempre es fácil asegurar la participación activa de grupos marginados como mujeres o ciertos grupos étnicos. Una situación de marginación de algunos grupos se encuentra a menudo en la implementación de un proyecto de desarrollo rural, incluidos aquellos que se centran en NUS, y esto causa tensiones en la comunidad. La experiencia ha demostrado que las actividades en las que ciertos grupos son los perdedores y otros los únicos ganadores (\"juego de suma cero\") no son útiles en lo absoluto. De hecho, la inclusión social se logra mejor cuando podemos demostrar que todos los grupos se beneficien de un enfoque inclusivo, es decir, cuando trabajamos todos juntos podemos obtener un \"pastel más grande\" para todos, en lugar de redistribuir pequeñas rebanadas a cada participante. Mejorar el uso de NUS es un área de trabajo donde la participación de todos los grupos es extremadamente relevante y no solo por principios éticos. La inclusión abarca mayores beneficios que surgen del aprovechamiento de los escasos pero ricos conocimientos tradicionales que posee cada grupo en múltiples usos asociados con estos recursos tradicionales. Aprovechar este conocimiento compartido, protegido por mujeres y Pueblos Indígenas durante generaciones, permitirá desarrollar cadenas de valor más exitosas, aprovechando ideas innovadoras y perspectivas que, en última instancia, ayudarán a abordar los problemas encontrados en el cultivo, procesamiento o comercialización de NUS. También es importante que este intercambio de conocimientos reconozca un marco intercultural donde diferentes tipos de conocimiento tradicional y ciencia contemporánea puedan y deban reforzarse mutuamente y tratarse respetuosamente como socios iguales.Mejorar los métodos de cosecha y almacenamiento son aspectos relevantes para las NUS, dada la poca atención que la I&D previamente realizados les han dado. Las actividades de los proyectos deberán:1. Apalancar lecciones: acumuladas en métodos de cosecha desarrollados por proyectos anteriores financiados por el FIDA, para mejorar instalaciones de almacenamiento de NUS nutritivas y resilientes. El traslado de las lecciones aprendidas en un país para ser aplicadas en otro, deberá ser contextualizado adecuadamente.2. Promover un intercambio cruzado del conocimiento: adquirido sobre cultivos básicos, a través de subsidios de investigación del FIDA y de los Centros CGIAR para promover las NUS. Este enfoque será valioso como vehículo para satisfacer la creciente demanda de un enfoque de sistema en la investigación del CGIAR.3. Documentar y difundir enfoques mejorados sobre recolección y almacenamiento:de NUS entre comunidades locales.Es necesario el procesamiento innovador de los alimentos de NUS para mejorar su acceso, incrementar su duración y facilitar su transporte y almacenamiento. Sin embargo, las mejoras en el procesamiento se deben realizar de manera que respeten el valor nutricional de las NUS, como el caso del fonio (mijo importante en África occidental e India) y mijos menores, donde sus operaciones de pulido de grano mostraron eliminar importantes micronutrientes de dichos cultivos. Tales procesamientos de NUS deberían aprovechar la tecnología indígena y la sabiduría local, para combinarla con la ciencia.Para mejorar las plantas de procesamiento local, se deberán realizar las siguientes acciones:1. Invertir más en diferentes formas de eliminar el trabajo pesado en el procesamiento de NUS: Esto aprovechará el enorme potencial nutricional y de generación de ingresos de la agrobiodiversidad actualmente sin explotar. Las unidades de procesamiento comunitarias apoyarán la generación de ingresos a partir del valor agregado, un uso más efectivo de NUS nutritivas, y contribuirán al empoderamiento social de mujeres y Pueblos Indígenas. Se debe prestar especial atención al desarrollo de tecnologías innovadoras, como es el uso de energía renovable disponible localmente.2. Introducir sistemas de inteligencia de mercado: y aprovechar las plataformas existentes para compartir información sobre la oferta y demanda de productos caseros a través de teléfonos móviles, como se practica con éxito en Kenia y otros países africanos. Dicho trabajo, beneficioso para todos los esfuerzos de marketing, debe complementarse con el desarrollo de aplicaciones móviles para comunidades locales que brinden información sobre dónde encontrar NUS en la comunidad, cómo usarlas, comprarlas y venderlas.3. Reconocer y promover valores comunitarios de cooperación y diversificación en el desarrollo de la cadena de valor de NUS: es importante reconocer que la motivación principal de las actividades de mercadotecnia no es simplemente aumentar la riqueza sino también desempeñar un rol clave en la comunidad. En las áreas que corresponde a los Pueblos Indígenas, la ampliación de las cadenas de valor debe hacerse lentamente y sin la interrupción innecesaria de los sistemas de producción tradicionales y la visión indígena de bienestar. Es importante reconocer que los aspectos culturales de las cadenas de valor en las áreas indígenas no son de competencia sino de coexistencia y cooperación.Cuadro 5: Máquina procesadora de mijo menores en la IndiaEl primer ejemplo de una mejor práctica es la introducción de una máquina de procesamiento adecuada para mijos menores en la India. Este trajo cambios importantes para las mujeres rurales pobres. Mientras que las mujeres tardaban aproximadamente dos horas en procesar suficiente mijo para las necesidades diarias de sus familias utilizando métodos tradicionales, los nuevos micro molinos introducidos por la donación FIDA-NUS en India realizan la misma tarea en 5-7 minutos. La eliminación del trabajo pesado y reducción del tiempo de procesamiento contribuyo significativamente a aumentar el uso doméstico de estos alimentos nutritivos, generando una mayor disponibilidad de nutrientes importantes, especialmente calcio (Ca) y hierro (Fe), cuyo contenido es notablemente más alto en mijos (por ej. el mijo africano tiene 37 mg/100 g de Ca y 6.2 g de Fe comparado con los encontrados en el arroz que son de 28 y 0.8 mg/100 g respectivamente) 29 . Además, muchas mujeres reportaron una mayor condición social y autoestima, y el tiempo disponible les brindó oportunidades para obtener ingresos adicionales y fortalecer su independencia y seguridad financiera. La capacitación de las mujeres en generar productos con valor agregado también les dio confianza y habilidades adicionales para discernir cuáles de los productos son apropiados para uso doméstico y cuáles para desarrollo comercial. Todos estos factores contribuyeron a su empoderamiento y transformación de amas de casa y trabajadores agrícolas a desarrolladores y empresarias de productos basados en el mercado 30 . Cuadro 6: Encurtidos de mango salvaje en la IndiaLos mangos están profundamente arraigados en la cultura de la India, donde los encurtidos o salmuera, predominantemente de las especies de mango o cítricos, son ampliamente utilizados. En las montañas occidentales de Ghats en Karnataka, los agricultores todavía recolectan mangos silvestres llamados \"appe midi\". Los agricultores locales identificaron tipos superiores y árboles en el bosque que producen mangos con un agradable aroma de alcanfor o comino y que permanecen crujientes sin perder su sabor con el tiempo.El \"appe midi\" es parte de la amplia cartera de NUS presente en la India que se puede utilizar mejor para optimizar los ingresos de poblaciones locales, especialmente de los Pueblos Indígenas que son custodios de un vasto conocimiento relacionado con la recolección y procesamiento de estas frutas silvestres. Marcas locales de salmuera en Karnataka están creciendo rápidamente y obteniendo precios sustancialmente más altos que las marcas industriales establecidas. En consideración a esta creciente oportunidad de mercado, el Proyecto GEF sobre Diversidad de Árboles Frutales Tropicales 31 (2009-2015), incluyó en su trabajo la generación de capacidades de comunidades locales para desarrollar las cadenas de valor de encurtidos de mangos silvestres.Estas actividades ayudaron a Grupos de Mujeres de Autoayuda Financiero (SHG por sus siglas en ingles), a establecer cooperativas de agricultores, mejorar operaciones de procesamiento, desarrollar mapas de cadenas de valor de mangos silvestres y otras NUS, y recopilar datos de inteligencia de mercado para guiar planes de negocios y, finalmente, expandir las ventas de encurtidos a grandes ciudades como Bangalore y Dharwad.Notablemente, el proyecto fortaleció la competitividad de las mujeres en el empaque, mejorando la calidad de los productos, seleccionando los mejores ingredientes naturales y aprovechando las muy apreciadas recetas caseras para lograr un mayor impacto en el mercado. Todas estas intervenciones contribuyeron a elevar la autoestima de las mujeres y su propio empoderamiento. Gracias a este trabajo, en solo 4 años, un grupo organizado de mujeres que comenzó la producción de mangos silvestres alcanzo un volumen de negocios total de US$ 2,000 por año y otros grupos están siguiendo su ejemplo. Más información sobre el Proyecto GEF en: https://www. bioversityinternational.org/e-library/publications/detail/tropical-fruit-tree-diversity/ 31 https://bit.ly/2G1jS3rSobre la base de las recomendaciones de las secciones anteriores, los esfuerzos de comercialización y promoción deben incluir 32 :1. Identificar y promover soluciones de empaque amigables con la nutrición:incluyendo formas que sean accesibles a proveedores locales y pequeños mercados.2. Fortalecer colectivos u organizaciones: (ej. cooperativas, empresas productoras, confederaciones de productores), para construir sistemas de distribución confiables. Estas intervenciones deben realizarse de manera que incluyan a mujeres y Pueblos Indígenas.3. Fomentar el uso de información nutricional: así como también otro tipo de información sobre aspectos útiles presentes en las NUS (incluida la resiliencia), para promover una mayor adopción por parte de los actores de la cadena de valor.4. Construir una mayor conciencia: entre los consumidores sobre la importancia de NUS; sensibilizar a los responsables de la toma de decisiones sobre políticas de apoyo e incorporación de NUS en programas de desarrollo agrícola que apunten a sistemas de producción más resilientes y su inclusión en programas de adquisiciones (ej. programas de alimentación escolar); incluir NUS en los programas educativos escolares en todos los niveles para apoyar su popularización y apreciación entre consumidores jóvenes y adultos.5. Incluir NUS: en huertos familiares y planes de negocios de proyectos desarrollados a nivel nacional para fortalecer el consumo y comercialización de estas especies nutritivas.6. Promover el consumo: de NUS a través de la publicidad de sus beneficios nutricionales y proveyendo recetas con sesiones de cocina comunitaria, y formar alianzas entre productores, cocineros, otros actores de la cadena de valor, y movimientos alimentarios aprovechando el impulso de las tendencias actuales para alimentos saludables 7. Apoyar festivales de comida y utilizarlos para hacer un reconocimiento del valioso trabajo que realizan los agricultores, Pueblos Indígenas, mujeres y organizaciones juveniles, para salvaguardar la riqueza de NUS y el conocimiento tradicional.8. Apoyar una mejor comprensión de la perspectiva indígena para el marketing:facilitando su participación y compartiendo puntos de vista en reuniones a las que asisten actores claves involucrados en el desarrollo de cadenas de valor y mercados de NUS.9. Promover alianzas: con movimientos y organizaciones que abogan por un mayor uso de la biodiversidad en sistemas alimentarios (como Slow Food).Cuadro 7: Impulsando el consumo de la espinaca maya en GuatemalaChaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius), también conocida como espinaca maya, es un arbusto de hoja perenne, domesticada por los pueblos mesoamericanos en la época precolombina. Por lo general, se cultiva a pequeña escala en jardines y en bordes de parcelas para uso doméstico. En comparación con otras verduras de hoja verde oscura, la chaya contiene cantidades mucho más altas de varios macro y micronutrientes, que incluyen proteínas (¡60 g por 1 kg de hojas!), Vitamina A, niacina y Vitamina C, y tiene un gran potencial para ayudar a combatir la desnutrición generalizada en Guatemala. En el marco del Proyecto FIDA-EU sobre NUS 33 , se analizó la cadena de valor de la chaya para identificar cuellos de botella que dificultan su uso más amplio en Guatemala. El estudio reveló, entre otras cosas, que: 1) la comercialización de chaya a pequeña escala existe en las áreas objetivo (Corredor Seco) donde los agricultores la venden directamente en pequeñas cantidades a consumidores o proveedores; 2) una empresa está produciendo productos nutracéuticos en base a chaya para la exportación, con pocos puntos de venta en el país dirigidos a consumidores pudientes; 3) algunas compañías están comercializando chaya en otros países, especialmente en México, donde el cultivo es más popular; 4) la baja demanda es un factor limitante importante en la comercialización de chaya y esto se debe a: i) poca conciencia de los consumidores sobre la existencia del cultivo o beneficios nutricionales; ii) percepción del cultivo como \"alimento de los pobres\"; iii) renuencia de los pueblos a cambiar hábitos alimenticios; iv) número limitado de recetas, y v) recojo de hojas de chaya por dueños de casa generalmente de sus propios jardines en lugar de comprarlas en el mercado. El bajo valor de mercado, baja rentabilidad y disponibilidad inconsistente del producto fueron otros desafíos que surgieron de la evaluación.El Proyecto realizó varias intervenciones para promover la chaya en el Corredor Seco de Guatemala, especialmente en Chiquimula, donde las comunidades agrícolas enfrentan una severa inseguridad alimentaria y malnutrición, ambas exacerbadas por el cambio climático. Se distribuyeron más de 16,700 esquejes de chaya a los agricultores para plantarlos en huertos familiares y en viveros comunitarios, junto con capacitaciones sobre mejores métodos de cultivo y propagación. De las cuatro variedades cultivadas en el país, la variedad \"Estrella\" se promovió por su alto contenido en proteínas, grasas, cobre, manganeso y calcio. También se estableció una cooperativa dirigida por mujeres (\"Cooperativa Integral de Comercialización Chorti\") para comercializar chaya, que vincula a los productores locales con pequeñas empresas, chefs y restaurantes en la ciudad de Guatemala. Las mujeres recibieron capacitación sobre diversas técnicas de procesamiento, incluida la extracción de proteína, secado de hojas utilizando paneles solares (equipo proporcionado por el proyecto) y nuevas recetas desarrolladas por chefs que se especializan en la cocina guatemalteca. Otro éxito del proyecto está relacionado con la promoción de la chaya. El compromiso activo con el gobierno local llevó a la introducción exitosa de la chaya en diferentes comidas del programa de alimentación escolar en Chiquimula, y a su suministro por parte de los agricultores locales directamente a las escuelas. Los recetarios e información sobre el valor nutricional de la chaya se difundieron en mercados locales de Chiquimula para ayudar a popularizar este cultivo. Las campañas a nivel nacional y esfuerzos para promover un uso más amplio de la chaya por parte del sector gastronómico también tuvieron un gran éxito. Más sobre el trabajo de Bioversity con chaya disponible en: https://www.bioversityinternational.org/news/detail/uniting-efforts-to-enhance-the-useof-neglected-mayan-superfood-chaya/ Cuadro 8: Devolviendo a la mesa verduras de hoja africanas en Kenia y Tanzania Verduras de hoja africanas (VHA) como el amaranto, planta araña, malva de yute, hojas de calabaza, duraznero africano, ortigas y chicharro, han sido durante mucho tiempo considerados alimentos de pobres, a pesar de sus excelentes valores nutricionales y alto contenido de Vitamina A y hierro. Los investigadores han descuidado estas verduras en favor de otras especies vegetales comerciales, y a los consumidores no les parecían atractivas, sobre todo por las malas condiciones higiénicas en que se vendían en carreteras. La comercialización de VHA representó un gran desafío para agricultores locales debido a la presencia de varios intermediarios que disminuyen sus ingresos. Gracias a la contribución de varios actores, entre ellos Bioversity International y el Centro Mundial de Vegetales (AVRDC), la situación de estos vegetales NUS ha mejorado. En Kenia, las actividades incluyeron evaluaciones nutricionales y mejores prácticas de cultivo (que cubrieron más de 100 especies de vegetales locales); capacitación de actores de la cadena de valor en calidad de productos; construcción de un suministro consistente; vinculación de agricultores directamente a mercados y supermercados; desarrollo de capacidades de actores de la cadena de valor para desarrollar campañas publicitarias exitosas que involucren también a políticos altamente visibles y hacer que esos cultivos sean más interesantes a través de la difusión de recetas más atractivas. Estas actividades desarrollaron habilidades de mercadeo en las mujeres, que, al aumentar su confianza y autoestima, contribuyeron a su mayor participación en las cadenas de valor. EnTanzania, AVRDC estableció parcelas de demostración, donde agricultores fueron capacitados en prácticas de cultivo mejoradas y aprendieron sobre valores nutricionales de VHA. También se proporcionaron paquetes que contenían semillas mejoradas de varias especies a agricultores que normalmente solo pueden acceder a unas pocas variedades de bajo rendimiento. Recientemente, el proyecto Biodiversidad para Alimentos y Nutrición (BAN) financiado por GEF, y ejecutado por Bioversity International con el apoyo de la ONU y FAO (2011-2019), aprovechando los esfuerzos anteriores, también apoyó la promoción de VHA centrándose en un análisis más extenso de la composición de aquellas especies con contenidos de micronutrientes significativamente más altos (por ej. col rizada etíope, malta de yute y plantas araña) y ayudo a fomentar cooperación intersectorial e interdisciplinaria que involucra a comunidades locales. Más sobre el trabajo de Bioversity sobre VHA en https:// www.bioversityinternational.org/research-portfolio/markets-for-diverse-species/african-leafy-vegetables/ y sobre el trabajo de BAN en Kenia en www.b4fn.org/countries/kenya/.Incrementar mejores prácticas para un uso más eficaz de NUS requerirá una inversión sólida en el desarrollo de capacidades que incluyan a grupos objetivo, asi como a una serie de temas altamente interrelacionados incluyendo adaptación al cambio climático de la producción agrícola, seguridad alimentaria y nutricional, cadenas de valor y comercialización; contribuyendo a una mayor sensibilización pública y promoción de políticas 34 .1. Fortalecer la administración y capacidad técnica de las asociaciones de agricultores: especialmente asociaciones comunitarias alimenticias de los Pueblos Indígenas, como parte de una iniciativa amplia de asociaciones públicoprivadas y como una meta de inversión en el marketing agrícola de NUS.2. Establecimiento de prioridades para NUS: Como parte de los esfuerzos para apoyar programas de inversión sensibles a la nutrición, se debe incorporar en el proceso de diseño de proyectos un mecanismo para fortalecer las capacidades de los actores para que ellos puedan tomar decisiones informadas y apropiadas sobre las especies y actividades prioritarias. Tratar con NUS requiere una amplia comprensión interdisciplinaria de sus roles, que a menudo no están disponibles entre los expertos en de investigación y desarrollo. Por lo tanto, en el proceso de diseño del proyecto se debe incluir oportunidades para un diálogo interdisciplinario entre actores clave, donde el conocimiento sobre NUS es provisto y compartido.Preferentemente estas reuniones se deberán llevar a cabo en el país que será el objetivo del programa. Esto permitiría que todos los actores clave se familiaricen con el rol/es de NUS, especialmente con respecto a la resiliencia, nutrición y generación de ingresos en la región o país objetivo. Dichas revisiones participativas pueden apoyarse a través de un análisis ex ante para capturar los valores existentes de NUS en el contexto socioeconómico de las áreas objetivo, a través de datos disponibles y modelización de sistemas alimentarios.34 Son consistentes con el Plan Estratégico para la Biodiversidad (ref. Programa de Trabajo sobre Biodiversidad Agrícola, decisión X/34, en el que la COP reconoció la importancia de la agrobiodiversidad, incluidos los cultivos subutilizados para la seguridad alimentaria y la nutrición, especialmente ante el cambio climático y recursos naturales limitados); el Plan de Acción Mundial de la FAO para los RFAA (Actividad 18), Tratado Internacional (artículo 6 sobre uso sostenible de PGRFA). La promoción del uso de NUS para un futuro seguro alimentario se ha reiterado en numerosas deliberaciones internacionales, incluida la Plataforma de Acción de Chennai para reducir el hambre y la pobreza a través de los recursos fitogenéticos (2005), la Declaración de Córdoba sobre cultivos prometedores para el siglo XXI (2012) y la Declaración de París sobre la Diversificación Agrícola (2015).F 3. Fortalecimiento de las capacidades de los miembros de la comunidad:incluyendo mujeres, jóvenes y Pueblos Indígenas, es necesario para aumentar la eficiencia de la producción, mejorar tecnologías de postproducción, negocios y habilidades para emprendimientos, mercados e información de mercado; así como inversiones sostenibles en infraestructura física y acceso a productos.4. Fortalecer el acceso a mercados: mediante el aprovechamiento de redes de mercados semanales locales ya existentes en la mayoría de los países para vender NUS. Esto será sostenible sólo si se encaran una serie de limitaciones presentes en la comercialización de NUS, como el aislamiento de las áreas de producción, e infraestructura deficiente para almacenamiento, procesamiento y empaquetado.Se debe buscar asistencia técnica especializada para los productos de NUS y desarrollo del mercado, junto con el desarrollo de capacidades sobre agronegocios, así como procesos de mentoría para apoyar a grupos de productores. Para promover el escalamiento, tecnologías innovadoras para el procesamiento de NUS y su viabilidad comercial, estas deben ser probadas en un contexto comercial.5. Promover el uso holístico y sostenible de la biodiversidad de las NUS para la nutrición: La promoción juiciosa de especies silvestres evitará la sobreexplotación y la promoción de su domesticación puede ser útil para evitar este riesgo. La biodiversidad disponible localmente puede no ser capaz de encarar todos los problemas relacionados con la mala calidad de la dieta y la nutrición. Por lo tanto, una combinación con otros enfoques, incluida la introducción de especies nutritivas de otros lugares, podría ser requerida para llenar algunas brechas de nutrición.6. Cooperación entre extensión y servicios de salud rural: puede ser efectiva para promover NUS resilientes y nutritivas en dietas y sistemas de producción.La capacitación de agentes de extensión en aspectos de agronomía, mercadeo y nutrición sobre NUS, es una forma estratégica de aprovechar su rol para la promoción de dichas especies (ver Cuadro 9). Fortalecer el conocimiento de estos agentes, para que logren una mayor familiaridad con las plantas silvestres y semi-domesticadas localmente, apoyará su rol en asistir a las comunidades en la identificación de especies prioritarias. Comprender dietas locales y problemas nutricionales de las poblaciones objetivo, ayudará al proceso de priorización. La sensibilización sobre preferencias de consumo local y percepciones de cómo comprometer a los agricultores para recolectar este tipo de información, es importante para identificar problemas relacionados con la demanda. La capacidad de reconocer a actores importantes en la cadena de valor y tener una actitud proactiva para involucrar a estos actores para superar los cuellos de botella, ayudará a mejorar el uso de estas especies nutritivas.7. Apoyar métodos para abordar la falta de datos sobre la adaptación de cultivos: se puede encarar mediante el uso de una selección varietal participativa realizada en campos de agricultores. El crowdsourcing o colaboración abierta de información o recursos, puede ser una forma altamente efectiva de seleccionar las mejores variedades, cuyo rendimiento se evalúa dónde está la necesidad y no en las estaciones de investigación.8. Establecer un fondo para las NUS: dedicado específicamente a apoyar el desarrollo de capacidades de los actores locales para el mejoramiento del uso de estas especies.9. Desarrollar un plan de acción de creación de capacidades del FIDA: para avanzar en la agenda de NUS a nivel mundial a través de pretamos o subvenciones.Mejorar el uso de NUS es una forma sólida de empoderar a mujeres, Pueblos Indígenas, jóvenes y a otros grupos marginados que dependen de estas especies para su sustento. El empoderamiento económico debe estar en el centro de todas las acciones mencionadas anteriormente. Esto incluirá intervenciones dirigidas a fortalecer instituciones comunitarias y grupos de agricultores para aprovechar la agrobiodiversidad local, acceso al mercado, procesamiento agrícola y adición de valor;prestando especial atención al desarrollo de habilidades empresariales y orientación al mercado. Estas acciones deben ser diseñadas a través de un enfoque sensible culturalmente. El mejoramiento del uso de NUS a lo largo de la cadena de valor debe ser impulsado por consideraciones de equidad e inclusión de grupos vulnerables. En particular, los proyectos financiados por subvenciones deben considerar lo siguiente:1. Mujeres: se observa que en general ellas experimentan niveles más altos de pobreza extrema en comparación con los hombres y se ven afectadas de manera desproporcionada por situaciones tales como desastres naturales y conflictos.Además, las mujeres en muchos contextos socioculturales se ven privadas de sus derechos básicos y la capacidad de decidir sobre sus vidas, una situación que se intensifica si se identifican como indígenas. En las comunidades, muchas actividades dependen de las funciones clave que realizan las mujeres en el cultivo, recolección, preparación y almacenamiento de alimentos, así como en el manejo de la dieta familiar. La migración de otros miembros del hogar a menudo puede intensificar esta carga y aumentar las responsabilidades de las mujeres para apoyar al hogar. En los casos de escasez de alimentos, la alimentación de las mujeres es a menudo la que se ve sacrificada para mantener el bienestar y nutrición de hombres y niños. La marginación de las mujeres tiene consecuencias sobre la nutrición infantil, crecimiento y bienestar general. Para mejorar la participación de las mujeres en las cadenas de valor de NUS sensibles a la nutrición, es importante comprender las limitaciones que pueden enfrentar, como por ejemplo no poder salir de sus hogares debido al cuidado de los niños, cocina, tareas domésticas o restricciones de viaje. Cuando se organizan actividades destinadas a involucrar a mujeres, se deben tomar medidas adicionales, como proporcionar opciones de cuidado infantil o garantizar servicios de transporte o tiempo apropiados para superar tales barreras socioculturales. Es importante destacar que cualquier facilitador nunca debe proporcionar su propia opinión acerca de las normas y valores de la comunidad con respecto a las mujeres y su trabajo, sino que debe esforzarse por facilitar las discusiones entre los propios participantes, durante las cuales los problemas se pueden abordar de manera respetuosa tomando en cuenta las costumbres locales, y tratar cuanto sea posible de apoyar el proceso de aprendizaje social.2. Pueblos Indígenas: En su Política de Compromiso con los Pueblos Indígenas, el FIDA destaca la participación de los Pueblos Indígenas en los procesos de toma de decisiones relacionados con el desarrollo, uso de recursos naturales y participación en las cadenas de valor. Debido a la gran presencia de NUS en áreas habitadas G por Pueblos Indígenas, una forma poderosa de contribuir a su empoderamiento, es mediante el aprovechamiento de su conocimiento sobre el uso de estos recursos y equiparlos con habilidades y capacidades infraestructurales es una forma poderosa de contribuir a su empoderamiento y lograr un flujo sostenible de beneficios económicos de las NUS. Las NUS pueden ofrecer una oportunidad real de adquirir un enfoque holístico del desarrollo para las minorías étnicas, basado en recursos locales resilientes y nutritivos, valorando al mismo tiempo la sabiduría y culturas que van desapareciendo. Capacitaciones enfocadas en jóvenes indígenas sobre la comercialización de NUS a través de más inversiones en Servicios de Asesoría Reembolsables (SAR) deberían apoyarse, así como programas de becas para promover la educación técnica, un mayor acceso a programas sociales, productivos y de comercialización, y fondos de inversión diseñados para adaptar microemprendimientos para jóvenes de Pueblos Indígenas.3. Jóvenes: La agricultura está perdiendo su atractivo entre los jóvenes, que cada vez más emigran a las ciudades en busca de empleos mejor pagados. Las NUS ofrecen la oportunidad de inyectar un mensaje de novedad en los agronegocios y esto puede aprovecharse para atraer a jóvenes y mantenerlos comprometidos. Los proyectos pueden capitalizar la integración de una agricultura sensible a la nutrición y aprovechar el potencial aún sin explotar de las NUS para innovar, agregar valor, impulsar la competitividad, sostenibilidad y rentabilidad de cultivos ricos en nutrientes. Para hacer que este trabajo sea atractivo a los jóvenes, se pueden inyectar nuevas tecnologías (ej. marketing en Internet), nuevas plataformas de colaboración (ej. redes sociales), nuevos mercados (ej. entregando productos directamente a consumidores como se hace en muchos países europeos). Los jóvenes pueden convertirse en agentes de transformación productiva en las zonas rurales y el FIDA puede liderar este cambio. Tal tarea requerirá esfuerzos conjuntos de las instituciones gubernamentales y no gubernamentales, sector privado y organizaciones internacionales para brindar capacitación, desarrollar soluciones organizativas y tecnologías innovadoras, abrir nuevos canales de mercado y movilizar fondos para la creación de empresas.Típicamente las NUS fueron dejadas en los márgenes de la I&D. Las políticas para traerlas devuelta a la mesa de trabajo para apoyar dietas más nutritivas y sanas, son necesarias en diferentes frentes. Los proyectos deberían en particular:1. Abogar por políticas de apoyo: El FIDA podría desempeñar un papel importante enfatizando la necesidad de crear políticas regionales, nacionales y locales que reconozcan el valor de estas especies para mejorar la nutrición y medios de vida resilientes. Idealmente estas políticas deberían asignar fondos específicos, incentivos y apoyo programático para su desarrollo y expansión de su cultivo.Existen oportunidades a través de enlaces con programas de alimentación escolar, turismo y otros programas nacionales de adquisiciones para incluir NUS nutritivas, ayudando a crear demanda para estos recursos. Los programas de inversión del FIDA representan una enorme oportunidad para aprovechar el interés de los países en la diversificación de cultivos en busca de sistemas de medios de vida más resilientes y nutritivos, a través de la cartera de NUS.2. Promover diálogos para el cambio: Programas y proyectos pueden promover diálogos para desarrollar reformas de políticas que pueden desencadenar cambios positivos para las cadenas de valor de NUS, tales como facilitar el acceso a germoplasma, producción de semilla de alta calidad, apoyar la estandarización del procesamiento para exportaciones competitivas, suministrar incentivos sostenibles para insumos, garantizar la compra de los productos de los agricultores, y facilitar/ desarrollar mecanismo de intercambio de información para la comercialización de NUS (como ya se hizo con cultivos básicos) 35 .Cuadro 9: Impacto del entorno propicio de políticas en BrasilEn muchas regiones de Brasil, la \"modernización de la agricultura\" ha llevado a agricultores a especializarse en la producción de un número limitado de cultivos básicos y a adoptar prácticas agrícolas insostenibles basadas en el uso intensivo de pesticidas y otros insumos químicos que, a su vez, exponen a sus familias a riesgos económicos, sociales y de salud. El Programa de Adquisición de Alimentos (PAA) lanzado en Brasil en 2003 ayudó a cambiar esa situación. Este programa ha fomentado la diversificación de la producción de cultivos, conectando así el suministro agrícola a una demanda diversificada, y trabajando activamente para rescatar, recuperar y promocionar comercialmente las NUS y sus productos, algunos de los cuales nunca se habían comercializado anteriormente.Los esquemas de contratación pública que se respaldan a través de este Programa también ayudan a fortalecer el policultivo, una característica tradicional de la \"forma de vida de los agricultores\" en Brasil, y conectan con éxito el suministro agrícola a una demanda diversificada. Además de proporcionar incentivos para la diversificación, el PAA también está ayudando a comunidades a rescatar, recuperar y promover las NUS junto con la revitalización de conocimientos tradicionales y culturas locales de alimentos asociadas con ellos. Alimentos como la harina de babasú (Attalea speciosa), piñones, harina de barú (Dipteryx alata), cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflora), palmito, umbu (Spondias sp.), maxixe (Cucumis anguria) y jambú (Syzygium sp.), entre otros, ahora se ven cada vez más en los mercados y ayudan a apoyar dietas más nutritivas. Otro ejemplo exitoso de la integración de NUS en la sociedad brasileña, tiene que ver con los esquemas de alimentación escolar. Desde 2011 hasta 2019, el proyecto BAN ha estado aprovechando los marcos existentes, como el PAA (implementado bajo la Estrategia Hambre Cero), como puntos de entrada para sus intervenciones en apoyo de las NUS. Trabajando en estrecha colaboración con socios brasileños, el proyecto se centró particularmente en el Programa Nacional de Alimentación Escolar (PNAE), que llega a más de 40 millones de estudiantes brasileños cada día. El proyecto ha caracterizado unas 43 especies frutales de alto contenido nutricional (por ej., ¡camu camu tiene 2 veces más Vitamina A y 35 veces más Vitamina C que el encontrado en las naranjas!). A través de este trabajo, PNAE ahora trae frutas indígenas más ricas en nutrientes provenientes de pequeños agricultores para alumnos de todo el país. Curiosamente, bajo este esquema, las comunidades indígenas y comunidades agrícolas 'quilombolas' están recibiendo atención prioritaria en la compra de los frutos, están fortaleciendo las redes entre las asociaciones locales y se otorga un 30% adicional de márgenes de ingresos a los agricultores que producen productos orgánicos y agroecológicos.BAN también ha contribuido a influir en las Guías Alimentarias Nacionales que ahora recomiendan comer una gran diversidad de alimentos elaborados particularmente de especies nativas, locales y estacionales cultivadas a través de prácticas sostenibles. Más información sobre el PNAE en: https://bit.ly/2tbgIRS y el Proyecto BAN en Brasil en: http://www.b4fn.org/countries/brazil/.El objetivo de integrar NUS en los proyectos agrícolas sensibles a la nutrición del FIDA es abordar problemas de seguridad nutricional y alimentaria, erosión de la biodiversidad y cambio climático que enfrentan las comunidades indígenas, pobres de zonas rurales y pequeños productores en países en desarrollo. En línea con ese objetivo general, este marco de trabajo busca aumentar el impacto nutricional y mantener la diversidad genética a través de proyectos alimentarios sensibles a la nutrición que de manera creciente se enfocarán en mejorar la adecuación de la dieta (tanto en calidad como en cantidad) y oportunidades de subsistencia para los grupos vulnerables de las comunidades rurales incluyendo comunidades indígenas. El marco operativo propuesto descrito está alineado con diferentes formas de maximizar la nutrición en Para alcanzar este objetivo general, el FIDA trabajará para lograr los siguientes resultados estratégicos a nivel de país y globalmente:• Proyectos agrícolas sensibles a la nutrición dan forma a sistemas alimentarios locales de manera que contribuyan al diseño de dietas nutritivas mejoradas.• Proyectos promueven la comunicación para el cambio de comportamiento y una educación sobre nutrición efectiva, e información para mejorar la selección de alimentos y prácticas relacionadas con preparación y postcosecha (almacenamiento y procesamiento), y así contribuir a lograr dietas saludables y nutritivas para personas de todas las edades.• Proyectos promueven la igualdad y el empoderamiento de las mujeres y otros grupos vulnerables de manera que mejoren su nutrición y uso de las NUS para el bienestar de ellos mismos, de sus hijos y familias a través de generaciones.• Actividades relacionadas con la participación en políticas, promoción, alianzas, y gestión de investigación y conocimiento contribuyen a una mejor gobernabilidad, un entorno propicio de apoyo para los proyectos y por ende proyectos más efectivos a nivel global y nacional.Para llevar a cabo un M&E efectivo de NUS, las oficinas de país del FIDA (ICOs) los equipos de diseño y sus expertos técnicos deben deberán en particular:1. Identificar rutas de impacto: mediante vinculación de actividades y selección de productos e indicadores de resultados y la implementación de hitos que indiquen cómo el proceso de impacto está avanzando.2. Asegurar que los análisis y estudios participativos midan el interés: de actores clave y evalúen el progreso en cada uno de los espacios descritos anteriormente.3. Directores de País y Gerentes de los Proyectos por País (CPM): deben monitorear de cerca los hitos de implementación para asegurar que los socios institucionales en agricultura, educación, salud, agua y saneamiento, sector privado y sociedad civil estén comprometidos e incentivados, y que mecanismos de coordinación multisectoriales estén establecidos y funcionando.4. Realizar análisis de costos, beneficios, impactos, implementación, limitaciones operacionales y soluciones para garantizar que las iniciativas sean factibles.Este proceso de M&E debe permitir ajustes, colaboraciones y correcciones a lo largo del tiempo, a medida que el proyecto sea implementado.Evidencia de impacto, sostenibilidad y escalabilidad NUS pueden apoyar a lograr una mejor calidad de la dieta en comunidades locales y ayudar a construir sistemas de producción y alimentos resilientes. El impacto de las NUS se puede ver en términos de mejora de la sostenibilidad, menor uso de insumos externos, sistemas agrícolas diversificados y de mayor valor, y de una mayor resiliencia de los sistemas alimentarios en períodos de crisis de precios o clima. Es posible que las NUS no se conviertan en cultivos multimillonarios, pero pueden establecerse de manera realista como cultivos de nicho a nivel distrital, nacional e incluso internacional, mejorando el acceso directo a alimentos nutritivos para el consumo comunitario y generando ingresos sostenibles para apoyar a agricultores locales y otros actores de la cadena de valor involucrados en su promoción 36 .A pesar de que todavía no se tienen estudios a gran escala para evaluar los impactos, existen ya ejemplos de cómo las NUS se pueden apalancar para mejorar los medios de vida locales. Por ejemplo, el gobierno de la India ha incluido mijos menores en el Sistema Nacional de Distribución Pública (PDS), en reconocimiento de su papel estratégico en la seguridad nutricional, creando una oportunidad sin precedentes para un consumo más amplio en todo el país 37 .36 http://bit.ly/2uY4pYD37 http://bit.ly/2uY2mDICuadro 10: Extensión & trabajo con NUS El mejoramiento en el uso de NUS puede ser efectivo en términos de costo y culturalmente apropiado para mejorar la resiliencia de sistemas locales de alimentación e incrementar los ingresos y nutrición de los hogares.En general, los programas de extensión de Servicios de Asesoría Rural (SAR) no abordan adecuadamente las NUS, centrándose típicamente en la producción de cultivos básicos. Esta es una deficiencia en estos programas que debe ser abordado si queremos aprovechar al máximo los esfuerzos de extensión de cualquier país para promover NUS en busca de resultados agrícolas más nutritivos e impactos a largo plazo en los medios de vida.Los SAR requieren un amplio conjunto de habilidades y conocimientos para promover el cultivo, comercialización y consumo de NUS nutritivas. La colaboración cruzada entre la extensión agrícola y los servicios de salud rurales puede ser más efectiva para promover estos cultivos en las dietas y sistemas de producción. La capacitación en agronomía es una buena base desde la cual los agentes de extensión pueden evaluar las principales limitaciones para la producción, procesamiento y comercialización de estas especies. La familiaridad con las plantas silvestres y semi-domesticadas en el entorno local apoyará la identificación de especies prioritarias. El personal de los SARs también debe aprovechar el conocimiento local y científico asociado con NUS por varias razones, incluyendo el hecho de que algunas de estas especies pueden tener propiedades tóxicas o anti nutrientes y deben consumirse en pequeñas cantidades o procesarse de manera especial para reducir el contenido de toxinas y, por lo tanto, siempre se debe seguir adecuadamente el intercambio de conocimientos. La comprensión de las dietas locales y los problemas de nutrición en las poblaciones objetivo también respalda el proceso de priorización para las cadenas de valor NUS. La comprensión de las preferencias y percepciones del consumo local, y cómo comprometerse con los agricultores para recopilar este tipo de información, es importante para comprender los problemas relacionados con la demanda. La capacidad del personal de los SARs para reconocer a actores importantes en las cadenas de valor y llegar a ellos para superar los cuellos de botella en la comercialización, también será muy útil para avanzar en el uso de NUS.Maximizar \"entradas\" nutricionales en la cadena alimentariaMinimizar \"salidas\" nutricionales de la cadena de alimentaria Comunicación para el cambio de comportamiento, mercadeo social, etiquetado de alimentos, políticas de precio (impuestos y subsidios), guías de nutrición, políticas de zoni cación, etc.Ejemplos de políticas y programas enfocados a mejorar la calidad del medioambiente alimentario Estatus socio-económico Ejemplos de políticas y programas que pueden generar salidas nutritivas de la cadena de abastecimiento Subsidios a la producción de alimentos menos nutritivos (ej. ricos en azúcar), acuerdos comerciales que limitan el \"espacio de políticas\" para políticas enfocadas a mejorar la nutrición, etc. Guías de nutrición incongruentes con la evidencia, etiquetado engañoso, mercadeo irrestricto de alimentos y bebidas para niños, etc. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5c34de523fbb3cf6d6a79ab66b41c0a4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/d244d6d6-9c61-4a0a-ae6a-1692ee13e870/content","id":"-1796757559"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"16387d46-fad4-4615-bcd2-b1e3191b31e0","content":"Fusarium head scab of wheat was first reported in England around 1884; however, scab is generally more important in warm and humid areas. The various fusaria that cause scab are among the most variable and insidious fungi. Scab can cause significant yield and quality damage as well as toxicoses in animals and humans.Concerns about toxin-related illnesses caused by fusarium in animals and humans have increased in recent years. Part of the reason is the increase in the incidence of fusarium head scab in several areas of the world, namely, the United States and several countries in Europe. Its increase appears to be principally related to changes in weather and cropping patterns.Damage due to scab in the USA was estimated at more than one billion dollars in 1993 and 500 million in 1994. Epidemics in China are most common and severe in the Yangtze River Valley, and can affect more than 7 million hectares of wheat. It is estimated that in China up to 2.5 million tons of grain may be lost to scab in epidemic years. Diseases related to fusarial mycotoxins in humans have been reported in China, India, and Japan, whereas in animals they have been reported in numerous parts of the world.CIMMYT has been working to control this disease in wheat and maize for many years due to its importance in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, China, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Breeding for resistance in wheat over the last 15 years has only been partially successful due to the difficulty of incorporating sufficient levels of resistance. The progress that has been made owes a great deal to the shuttle breeding program between CIMMYT and China. As part of its efforts to control scab of wheat, CIMMYT sponsored two previous workshops related to scab control and the effects of Fusarium toxins. One was held in Uruguay in 1987 and focused on the control of scab, and the other in Mexico in 1989 and dealt with mycotoxins.To date, international funds to achieve control of fusarium scab have been modest in relation to its impact on health, grain yield, and quality. Due to this and its increase in many areas, it was thought overdue to organize a worldwide workshop with the following objectives:• To obtain an update on the global situation of small grains scab and its impact on food-feed production and health;• To document relevant research and increase communication among researchers; • To search for funds to increase research on sustainable control methods.The workshop was supported by CIMMYT and by the generosity of the government of Austria, specifically the Institute of Agrobiotechnology, Tulln. Participants came from Argentina, Austria, Canada, China, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, Russia, UK, Ukraine, Uruguay, USA, and CIMMYT, Mexico. It is hoped that the results of this workshop, and the integration of scientists' efforts worldwide, will focus attention on this disease, provide new data, and increase the support necessary to achieve economical and environmentally safe control. H.J. Dubin, CIMMYT, and P. Ruckenbauer, IFA districts of northeastern and northcentral North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota.The FHB level in crops and the losses to producers, millers, maltsters and brewers, and local communities have been unprecedented. Wheat and barley producers in Minnesota bore losses estimated at 1 billion dollars in 1993, with the damage equivalent to a 33% decrease in wheat production. Losses to the Minnesota wheat crop were estimated at 18% in 1994, and 8% in 1995. In Ohio, crop losses in 1996 were estimated at 10-12%, and loss in farm income at $107 million. Wheat producers have been affected through losses in yield and by reductions in test weight which has in turn adversely affected grain prices. Losses in barley due to FHB have resulted largely from concerns over the presence of deoxynivalenol (DON) in grain. In 1996, barley prices dropped to $2.75 from $3.00 per bushel if DON was detected. Prices were discounted a further $0.05 for every additional ppm of DON detected. Barley with 4 ppm DON was sold as feed barley at $2.25. The impact of FHB on malt barley has been so serious, concerns have been raised over the future of malt barley production in the Red River Valley.Weather conditions promoting FHB development have occurred in the heart of the small grains production area in each of the last four growing seasons. In 1988 and 1989 dry conditions prevailed in Minnesota. In 1990, conditions favored small grains production and FHB was not a concern to producers. In 1991, wet weather in west central Minnesota led to FHB development and associated losses in the wheat crop of that region. FHB was not considered a problem in 1992 except in late planted crops, although rain in August delayed harvest and prevented many fall tillage operations. In 1993, extensive flooding along the Mississippi River devastated crops in southern Minnesota and Iowa. Rain was reported on 26 days from June 15 to July 15 in Crookston, MN, and FHB was epidemic. Similarly the wet conditions of 1994 favored FHB development. The 1995 and 1996 growing seasons were drier, although rainfall at anthesis again promoted FHB.In 1990, the federal farm bill mandated a minimal requirement of 28% residue cover at the time of crop emergence for land classified as highly erodible. This legislation.ifollowing the drought conditions in Minnesota in 1988 which had raised concerns over soil erosion issues, led to the rapid adoption of conservation tillage practices statewide. Conservation tillage practices have contributed to significant increases in crop residues across much of the small grains production areas in Minnesota. In the eastern and central maize belt, severe FHB epidemics in the first half of this century are reported to have essentially eliminated barley production from that area. The more recently documented northern movement of maize production in Minnesota may also have facilitated the increase of FHB. The buildup and survival of inoculum associated with these crop residues was presumablyIn Minnesota, a large collaborative research effort was initiated by grower organizations and the University of Minnesota, and funded by the Minnesota State Legislature. This project, initiated in 1995, is currently in the third year of funding and a request for 1998-99 funding is currently in preparation. Aspects of the project include:.Greenhouse screening for resistance to spread of FHB within a wheat spike is currently considered the most reliable screen available. This is being used to identify new sources of resistance and to screen breeding material. Field screening is, however, considered a vital part of the breeding program and is being conducted at multiple locations including the University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station at St Paul, West Central Experiment Station (WCES) at Morris, MN, and the Northwest Experiment Station (NWES) at Crookston, MN. All field locations have irrigation to facilitate disease development. Field nurseries are inoculated either by spreading colonized grain (wheat and maize) or spraying heads with aqueous suspensions of F. graminearum at anthesis. Recurrent selection is being used in an attempt to combine the various sources of resistance 4 R. Dill•Macky into a single population. Germplasm currently being used for resistance include the following lines from China: Su Mai 3, Wang Shui Bai, Ermai 9, F-5114, F-5125, F-60096, Ning 7840, Ning 8306, Ning 8331, Wuhan, Wen Zhou Hong He Shang (WZHHS), Yumai 7, and Yanshi 9. The Japanese line Nyu Bai is also being used. The wheat breeding effort suffered a setback in 1996 with the loss of winter increase nurseries in Arizona. The nurseries were lost as the result of quarantine regulations following the detection of Tilletia indica (karnal bunt) in durum wheat in storage in four states (Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, and California). The issue of where to conduct future winter increase nurseries has not yet been resolved.Resistance to Fusarium infection and reduction in DON production in grain are equally important goals of the barley program. Screening nurseries have been conducted at multiple locations (St Paul, WCES, NWES) since 1994. In 1995, Minnesota cooperated with North Dakota in an effort to screen breeding material in China. Greenhouse screening methods using macroconidia applied to the head 5-7 days post-anthesis using an airbrush inoculator have been examined and the results are encouraging. The first full scale greenhouse screen is in progress this autumn following preliminary screens in the autumn and winter of 1995/96. While this breeding effort is relatively new, promising lines have been located in a long term breeding effort directed at kernel discoloration where Chevron has been a principal source of resistance. Potential sources of FHB resistance under evaluation include: Chevron, Gobernadora, Kitchen, Zhedar 1, and Zaoshu 3. The possibility of using resistance from two-row material in a six row breeding program has not been fully examined. Testing material for DON has proven a useful tool and entries in field screening are now being routinely analyzed for DON.Biology, epidemiology, and management of FHB Mechanisms of host resistance and the effect of environment on disease development are being studied. It is understood that PHB resistance in both wheat and barley is conferred through several different mechanisms: resistance to spread in the head, resistance to initial infection, and resistance to the accumulation of DON within host tissues. At present, however, only spread in the head (wheat) and initial infection (barley) can be used in the search for resistant germplasm and screening breeding lines. The aim of this research is to examine the nature of the resistance and assist in the development of procedures to identify and screen for resistance. Wheat cultivar 2375 (released by Pioneer and sold by North Dakota State Research Foundation) has been of particular interest to this project. This cultivar has consistently maintained its test weight in commercial fields when other wheat cultivars were severely affected by PHB. Cultivar 2375 exhibits more symptoms than would be expected of lines with resistance to spread of Fusarium in the spike, and was not selected as a resistant line based on visual symptoms. Despite yielding less than other cultivars in the absence of FHB, competing poorly with weeds, and being susceptible to shattering, 2375 dominated the Red River Valley in 1995; a time when producers in Minnesota were desperate for resistance. Preliminary work suggests that 2375 has the ability to fill kernels more rapidly and that kernels fill better than susceptible checks in the presence of DON.Analytical services for the detection and quantification of DON have been established to provide for the needs of breeding programs, other research projects, and for crop surveys. The detection and characterization of DON derivatives have also been undertaken. Studies on DON development in infected heads have been initiated to determine the role of DON in pathogenesis. A technique for the detection and quantification of DON in individual spikelets, single kernels, and purified F. graminearum macroconidia have been developed. Initial findings indicate that DON is not present in F. graminearum macroconidia and is not detected in inoculated barley spikelets for at least 24 hours after inoculation. The ability of DON to be translocated within a spike is currently under investigation.A field experiment was established in 1994 at WCES to determine the effects of previous crops and tillage practices on FHB development. Three previous crops (maize, soybean, and wheat) and three tillage treatments (moldboard plow, chisel plow, and no-till) were examined. The incidence and severity of FHB was examined in Norm wheat (susceptible to FHB) in the year following the previous crops. Incidence and severity data from the 1995 and 1996 Norm plots indicated that FHB is more severe in wheat following maize and/ or chisel plow and no-till tillage treatments. Differences in the level of disease assessed early in the season carried through to differences in yield and test weight, suggesting that residue management plays a role in FHB development in localized areas.Foliar fungicides have been tested for efficacy in reducing disease incidence. Benlate (benomyl) is registered for use on wheat at heading in the USA and appears to be the most effective fungicide currently available to producers. Benlate, however, is not labeled for application to barley. Other fungicides, while showing activity against FHB, are unlikely to be registered for heading applications on either wheat or barley in the USA because of environmental regulations and/ or low efficacy. Effective seed treatments for control of seedling blight are available and include mancozeb, thiabendazole, and defenconazole. Preliminary work on the feasibility of using microorganisms to reduce FHB has been initiated. Biocontrol may provide an alternative form of protection against FHB when chemicals have limited effectiveness and when heading applications raise concerns over chemical residues in harvested grain.One objective of this research is to find molecular markers linked to genes conferring resistance to FHB in wheat and barley, and thus develop a system for marker assisted selection. The mapping of resistance genes in Chevron barley has been undertaken as a cooperative effort with researchers as part of the North American Barley Genome Mapping Project (NABGMP). Another objective is to develop molecular markers that enable species and intraspecific strains of Fusarium to be identified. Markers able to distinguish F. graminearum from F. culmorum and other Fusarium species have been developed. Further, markers able to identify individual isolates of F. graminearum are under development.In addition to the aspects of the FHB initiative listed above, work has been completed on the effects of feeding DONcontaminated barley on performance and meat quality in beef production, the storage of Fusarium infected grain, and the effect of FHB on wheat and barley quality. Research, proposed for inclusion in the 1997/1998 FHB initiative, includes the development of machine vision and neural network systems to quantify FHB infection in grain samples, field and greenhouse studies to examine the decomposition of residues under a range of tillage and management strategies, and the evaluation of residues at various stages of decomposition to determine their inoculum potential. An expansion of molecular approaches for identification and development of genetic FHB resistance in wheat and barley, including the use of novel anti-fungal genes for FHB resistance in wheat, is also anticipated.A regional committee (NCR-184) was established in 1994 to provide a mechanism for planning and coordinating efficient and effective research. States participating in this regional coordination include: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and the USDA. This committee meets annually, allowing participants updates on the current disease situation and status of research efforts. The purpose of the NCR-184 is to coordinate research and exchange information in the following areas: basic epidemiology, germplasm identification and evaluation, determination of the nature of resistance, inheritance of resistance, Fusarium biology and genetics, mycotoxin production, molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis and resistance, chemical control, biological control, and the effect of FHB on quality of wheat and barley. In addition, the committee has facilitated the exchange of techniques, germplasm, and coordinated regional uniform nurseries in which gerrnplasm can be tested in several environments.CIMMYT has influenced wheat production worldwide. Scab is recognized as an important biotic stress in many areas, especially where humid or moist conditions prevail from anthesis to maturity (Ireta and Gilchrist 1994).Three mechanisms of scab resistance in the wheat plant have been reported (Shroeder and Christesen 1963;Miller ei al. 1985;Miller and Armison 1986;Wang and Miller 1988). Type I is referred to as penetration resistance, which prevents initial fungal penetration; type II is spread resistance, where spread is reduced within the spike; and type III is related to biochemical resistance where toxins produced by the fungus are broken down by the host plant. For many years, CIMMYT has concentrated on type I and II resistances under field conditions. Trials have been conducted at three locations in Mexico: Toluca in the State of Mexico (natural and artificial epidemics), Patzcuaro in Michoacan State, and Sierra del Tigre in Atoyac, [alisco State (natural epidemics). The aim of these trials is to develop high yielding germplasm with enough resistance to sustain good production in scab affected areas.Surveys carried out in Toluca and Patzcuaro localities over two years (1988 and 1989) identified Fusarium graminearum as the most important species in these localities. Depending on the season and locality, F. avenaceum was also found to be important, whereas F. equiseti and F. nivalewere less common (Ireta and Gilchrist 1994).Though scab resistant germplasm is limited, resistance originating in diverse genetic sources from Brazil, Japan, and China has been incorporated into high yielding genotypes. Cognizant of the slow progress, important results have been obtained, and the first varieties are in the process of being released in large areas of China. These varieties are Ningmai 7 (Shangai4-3B-OY), Longmai 19 (Long 755778/Ke74-207/ /Long82 H522/ Alondra), and Chuanmai 25 (1414/ Shuanyu5/ /Genaro80) released in [iangsu, Heilongjiang, and Sichuan provinces, respectively.Another group of resistant bread wheat lines with good agronomic type are Catbird, Bau /Milan, Sha5/Weaver, Nanjing 82149/Kauz, Gov / Az/ /Mus/3/ Dodo/4/Bow, and Chil/Chum 18 (Table 1). In the last five years, germplasm has been developed by the Wide Crosses group, with the aim of increasing the available genetic diversity. To this end, turgidum/Aegilops squarrosa; 2n=6x=42, AABBDD) and derived lines (BWISH) have been tested under field conditions for scab resistance, and diversity has been identified.Both type I and II resistances are present in synthetic bread wheats (Table 2). A key synthetic cross is Can/Ae. squarrosa (427) with type I and II resistance, while Gan/Ae. squarrosa (408) has type II. Two other important crosses Fusarium Scab Screening Program at CIMMYT 9 are Rabi/ /Cs/Cra/3/Ae. squarrosa (190) and 68.111/RGB-U / /Ward Resel/3/Stil/ 4/Ae squarrosa (633). The incorporation of different types of resistance from various sources into well-adapted bread wheat genotypes is now under consideration.Unique germplasm has been screened in the ICARDA/CIMMYT barley program based in Mexico. One hundred lines including Gobernadora, a widely grown variety in the lower Yangtze of China, and Shyri/Copal/ /Shyri/Grit,  were used as parents. The lines were developed as a doubled haploid (DH) population by the Hordeum bulbosum method at Oregon State University by Dr. P. Hayes. Some DHs with superior resistance to that of both parents were identified during the 1995 Toluca cycle. This population was also sent to North Dakota to be included in the germplasm for evaluation in Shanghai, China, in 1995. Two entries (24 and 91) were found to be among the six best resistant lines in both locations (Table 3). Resistance types I and II were present in the population. Some DHs with low DON levels were found (B. Steffenson, North Dakota State University, USA, personal communication).Thirty-three genotypes reported as resistant by Takeda and Hetta (1989), the variety Chevron, and two lines developed in Shanghai were evaluated for F. graminearum type II resistance at CIMMYT has had a significant impact on wheat germplasm improvement and the training of scientists in the developing world. Over the last decade, three important fusarium head scab workshops were convened:1. Fusarium Workshop for Latin America, Encarnacion, Paraguay, 7-11 September 1987, conducted in collaboration with the Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganaderia de Paraguay (19 participants).2. Workshop on Fusarium Head Blight and Related Mycotoxins, Sonora, Mexico, 30-31 March 1989, conducted in collaboration with Agriculture Canada IDRC (33 participants). 3. Fusarium Head Scab: Global Status and Future Prospects, El Batan, Mexico, 13-17 October 1996, conducted in collaboration with Austria (35 participants).In the future, research will be carried out into inheritance aspects, particularly to identify type III resistance germplasm.M. Diaz de Ackermann! and M.M. Kohli 2  INIA La Estanzuela, Colonia, Uruguay 2 CIMMYT, Montevideo, UruguayFusarium head blight (FHB) of wheatwas considered a sporadic disease in Uruguay until 1976; however, due tofavorable weather conditions in the spring of 1977, thefirst of many epidemics occurred. Disease samples collected around the country during 1990-92 showed Fusarium graminearum to bethe most prevalent species causingFHB. During 1991-93, studies carried out to identifygenetic variability in thefungus showed differential responses in aggressiveness with respect to the isolates' reaction on the host. However, no host-pathogen interaction was observed. To further analyze this variability, workwas conducted in collaboration with the John Innes Institute, UK, using random amplified polymorphism DNA (RAPD) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Although certain differences in the intensity of the bands were observed amongdifferent isolates, these belonged to the same general pattern; hence, in this case, RFLP markers were not successful in identifying polymorphisms within F. graminearum. At present, research is underway to identify superior FHB resistantgermplasm underfield conditions, using artificial inoculation. In general, Chinese sources of resistance, though agronomically poor, haveperformed well. CIMMYT germplasm derived from crosses with Chinese germplasm show superior levels of FHB resistance in high yielding plant types. Of these, a Catbird selection (CM91045-5Y-OM-OY-4M-OY-OB) has been selected for its stable FHB resistance underfield and greenhouse conditions, and is beingcrossed with local germplasm. In order to transfer high levels of resistance to locally adapted types, inoculum density and timing of inoculations havebeen found to beof critical importance. A large CIMMYT collection evaluated for FHB during 1994 demonstrated significant differences in the infection level on advanced lineswith the sameday offlowering. It wasalso observed that the highestlevel of natural infection tookplace during a very short period of time, whereas outsidethis period, the level of infection was generally lower, even on moderately susceptible to susceptible germplasm. Therefore, in order to avoidescapes under natural infection conditions, resistance in germplasm must be identified during the peak infection period. Sinceall Uruguayan wheat cultivars are susceptible to FHB at present, diversification of sowing dateand/or chemical control are recommended. Experimental data show that two applications of Benomyl, Prochlora, or Tebuconazol at stage61 and 65 (Zadoks' scale) achieoe better results than a singleapplication at either stage61 or 65.Wheat is an important crop in the for grain purposes. Total production of western region of Uruguay, where it is the crop has oscillated between 200,000sown either as a double purpose crop 500,000 t during the last six years, (grain and forage) in the mixed farming depending on the area seeded (Figure 1; system prevalent in the country, or solely Souto 1996). Apart from economic 14 M. Diaz de Ackermann and M.M. Kohli(000) t ha' Kg ha' 6 0 0 , --------------, -3000  , 1990-1995. factors, the lower production levels during these years have also been caused by disease epidemics, especially leaf and head blights.Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused by Fusarium graminearum, has become one of the most destructive diseases of wheat, especially during warm and humid spring seasons (October). All commercial cultivars presently grown in the country are susceptible to this disease; however, infection level is related more to weather conditions at flowering time than cultivar behavior.The first serious FHB epidemic in Uruguay occurred in 1977 when a complex of diseases reduced the national wheat production by almost 50% (Table 1). Since then, such high levels of FHB infection have not been observed. Levels of infection in 1985, 1990, and 1993 were 40%, 53%, and 40%, respectively, of that observed in 1977. It has been suggested that severe FHB epidemics can occur approximately every 11 years (Diaz de Ackermann 1996; Tavella et al. 1979).In general, the damage caused by FHB under field conditions appears to be more severe than the actual losses (Reis 1986). Yield losses caused by FHB during the epidemic years of 1990,1991, and 1993 ranged between 0.5-31% (Diaz de Ackermann 1996). An average of 54% infected heads between 1990-1993 were responsible for only a 10% yield loss.In addition to yield loss, FHB is also considered serious due to the potent mycotoxins produced by the fungus. In 1993, wheat samples analyzed for toxin production in the Rubino Veterinarian Institute showed very high levels of DON (1000-5000 mg kg-I), even at low levels (12-14%) of infected kernels. The level of DON in the respective flours ranged from 200-2000 mg kg' 1 (Diaz de Ackermann 1996). Fusarium graminearum is the most prevalent and important species causing FHB in Uruguay; however, other species such as F. culmorum and F. poae have been identified from infected seed samples (Stagno 1980).During 1991-1993, an effort was made to identify any pathogenic variability occurring in the fungus. Disease samples were collected from three locations (Salto, Young, and La Estanzuela) representing the total wheat area of the country. These 14 monosporic F. graminearum isolates were multiplied for testing under greenhouse conditions on three wheat differential lines (Table 2)The wheat lines used as differential sets were sister lines from the same cross (Catbird); however, each reacted differently to FHB infection under field conditions. These differences were later checked and verified under controlled conditions in the greenhouse. The lines were:• Chuan Mai#18/Bau\"s\" CM 91045-5Y-OM-OY-4M-OY-OB • Chuan Mai#18/Bau\"s\" CM 91045-6Y-OM-OY-IM-OY • Chuan Mai#18/Bau\"s\" CM 91045-6Y-OM-OY-IM-8Y-OB During anthesis, three stages of spikes were selected for inoculation purposes: spikes without protruding anthers, spikes with 1-4 protruding anthers, and spikes with >4 protruding anthers. Marked spikes were inoculated with a syringe into the central spikelet using 10 3-104 spores ml' of the spore suspension. Inoculated spikes were sprayed with water and kept under high humidity conditions for 10 days. Disease symptoms were evaluated after 15 days by counting the number of affected and healthy spikelets within a spike.Ten of the fourteen monosporic isolates common during the three years of the pathogenic variability study showed significant differences among isolates but not among cultivars (Table 3). and year was highly significant, showing variation in the level of infection in the same cultivar from year to year, the interactions between isolates and cultivars and isolates and years were not significant. These results confirm earlier studies indicating significant differences among F. graminearum isolates for aggressiveness but not for virulence.In order to further analyze the pathogenic variability among the F. graminearum isolates, molecular techniques such as soluble proteins, isozyme, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and random amplification polymorphism DNA (RAPD) were used in collaboration with the John Innes Institute, UK (Pritch 1995).The soluble protein technique used on the group of isolates and check species showed a specific sequence of bands for each species viz. F. graminearum, F. avenaceum, F. culmorum, and F. poae. Even when small differences in the intensity of the bands could be observed, these belonged to the same general pattern. No polymorphism was observed within F. graminearum through RFLPs, and all isolates of this species belonged to a group different from other species of the genus. Two diagnostic bands, OPV-05/3 and OPV-19/9, were able to be distinguished using RAPDs for identification of F. graminearum isolates under study (Pritch 1995).Since 1975, wheat nurseries have been artificially inoculated with a mixture of isolates under field conditions to screen for FHB resistance. Several sources of resistance from the region, such as Frontana, Encruzilhada, Alvarez 110, Toropi, CEP 11, PAT 19, Klein Atlas, Tezanos Pintos Precoz, Trigal 706, Convenio 1, Estanzuela Young, and Itapua 25, have been identified as maintaining acceptable levels of disease resistance. However, it has been very difficult to transfer this resistance to high yielding lines with better agronomic type (Kohli 1989).In contrast, resistance sources from Chinese and Japanese origins, such as Abura, Nobeoka Bozu, Nyu Bay, Fan 1, Suzhoe 3, Nanjing 7840, Sumai 3, and Peking 8, demonstrated much higher levels of resistance even if they were unadapted and agronomically poor (Kohli 1989). The distribution of newer FHB-resistant CIMMYT germplasm with Chinese sources of resistance has represented real progress in combining a high degree of FHB resistance in agronomically better plant types.In the meantime, CIMMYT germplasm derived from crosses with newer Chinese sources of resistance is already demonstrating a superior level of FHB resistance in high yielding plant types. Among these, a Catbird line (CM 91045-5Y-OM-OY-4M-OY-OB) has been selected for its stable FHB resistance under field and greenhouse conditions.At present, research to transfer this high level of resistance to locally adapted superior germplasm continues, involving artificial inoculation under field conditions. Shading and water spray systems are being added to the field nursery in order to increase the efficiency of inoculations, and also syringe inoculations will be conducted in the future. Disease development is visually scored 21 days after inoculation on a 0-5/ 0-5 scale, where the first digit represents the percentage of spikes affected in a population and the second scores the percentage of spikelets affected within a spike.A large CIMMYT collection evaluated for FHB during 1994 demonstrated significant differences in the level of infection on advanced lines with the same flowering day (Table 4). It was also observed that the highest level of natural    Selection of segregating populations under natural infection conditions, to some extent, has limited the progress achieved in transferring even high levels of FHB resistance to adapted types. Besides the critical need to find ways to artificially inoculate several times during the critical period, the importance of timely evaluations poses a real challenge for a breeding program in order to identify locally adapted types.Since all commercially grown Uruguayan cultivars grown are susceptible to FHB at the present time, farmers are recommended to spread planting dates as widely as possible in two or more varieties (Diaz de Ackermann 1989). At the same time, chemical control of the disease is being studied to provide adequate recommendations. The experimental data generated during 1993, a severe FHB year, show that a single fungicide application at stage 61 or 65 on the Zadoks scale provides low to moderate control of the disease (Table 5); however, a double application at the same two stages provides between 49-76% of the efficiency of control considered adequate under field conditions. Of the three a Day/month. b Double digit scale 0-5/0-5. fungicides used to control the disease, Tebuconazol seems to provide the best results with a single or double application.Fusarium head blight of wheat has become one of the most important diseases in South America during the last two decades for which research has yet to find an adequate solution. Although excellent sources of disease resistance have been identified, their transfer to high yielding and adapted genotypes has not been possible to date. Several difficulties have been responsible for the slow development of new germplasm including adequate disease level and its evaluation under field conditions.Considering the annual production losses caused by the disease and industrial quality losses due to toxins present in the harvest, FHB has been made a research priority in Uruguay. INIA, Uruguay, plans to emphasize its work not only in the breeding program but to expand it further to include chemical control and prevention of the disease development through cultural practices. In this particular case, INIA will be willing to participate in all future international collaborations. During the last 50 years, 16 fusarium head blight (FHB) epidemics, mainly caused by Fusarium graminearum, haveoccurred in the central-north area ofArgentina. Other known Fusarium species less pathogenic on wheat include F. equiseti, F. semitectum, F. poae, F. acuminatum, F. moniliforme, F. m. var. subglutinans, F. rn. var. anthophilum, F. oxysporum, and F. solani. Studies on the toxigenic capacity of isolated F. graminearum strains noted the abundance of deoxynivalenol (DON) producers, with a lesser proportion of nivalenol (NIV) producers. Some strains produced both DON and NIV Zearalone (ZEA) was identified in more than halfof the strains, and no relation wasfound between DON and NIV groups with regard to ZEA production. An integrated approach should beadopted to decrease FHB damage, taking into account. the epidemiological characteristics of the pathogen, scarce genetic resistance in the host,and thestrongenvironmental influence on FHB. Studies carried out at Marcos Juarez Agricultural Experiment Stationaim to develop germplasm with higher FHB resistance levels andgood agronomic traits to beused as parents in the bread wheat breeding program. The methodology includes: 1) identification of resistance sources under semicontrolled conditions and artificial inoculation, and 2) incorporation of resistance into genotypes that havegood agronomic traits. Despite somereferences suggestingthat resistance is controlled by afew major genes, most indicate poligenic inheritance with additive effects and components of dominance. It may therefore beconsidered possible to obtain higher levels of resistance through a process of crossing and selection in order to accumulate resistance genes. To achieve this objective, a recurrent selection scheme with planned crosses combining parents of different origins is underway. Two cycles of combination are performed, alternating between selection for resistance under semicontrolled conditions and selection for agronomic traits in thefield. To date, about 20 lines showresistance levels similarto the controls Sumai 3 and YMI #6 under test conditions.Traditional Argentine wheat growing southeast of the region and the other in regions are situated between 31° and 40° S the east of the central-north area where latitude and 58° and 65° W longitude. In severe epidemics (incidence >45%) may some areas, the environment is conducive be expected in just over 2 years in 20. In to the epidemic development of fusarium the latter area, the probability decreases head blight (FHB). Two high risk areas to 1.5 years in 20 in the central zone and were characterized by a predictive model to 1 in 20 in the west (Moschini 1994).developed by R. Moschini using local data, based on epidemic records of the An increase in the disease has been last 50 years. One is located in the observed over the last decade, mainly in 20 M.T.V de Galich the central-north area, and can be attributed to several reasons: the increase in soil conservation tillage systems with significant advances in no-till practices; a high frequency of maize as the summer crop prior to planting wheat; and the diffusion of FHB susceptible wheat germplasm (Galich and de Galich 1996).During the last 50 years, 16 FHB epidemics of varying severities occurred in the central-north area. The worst outbreaks occurred in 1945-46,1978, 1985, and 1993, where yield losses varied among zones but were estimated to average between 20-30% (de Galich 1989;de Galich and Galich 1994; Kohli et al.   1996). In 1993, the highest estimated losses reached 50% in areas of no-till over maize stubble. The extent of the damage was magnified by a considerable loss in the trading value of the grain resulting from low weight per hectoliter, presence of scabby grains, and mycotoxin contamination. In the most affected areas, nearly all production traded below established standards. To assess this problem, a wide sampling over the entire wheat growing region was carried out. Analysis results of whole samples from primary elevators, port terminal elevators, and flour mills showed that 57% of grain was marketed within established standards. Among these samples, 11% had mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) concentrations over 2 ppm, while 53% of the samples below the standard exceeded this level (Luqui and Gomez 1995).In the southeast wheat growing area, the main durum wheat region, severe epidemics occurred in 1963, 1976, 1978, and 1985, with crop losses as high as 70%. In 1976, durum wheat accounted for 20% of the area's wheat production. The epidemic was so severe that 60% of samples from farms fell below established standards. Consequently, and due to other contributing factors, the planting area was heavily reduced. Eight years later, the proportion of durum wheat was reduced to 3.5% and was displaced by bread wheat which is more resistant to FHB. As a result, durum wheat production in some years was less than the home market demand and had to be imported (de Galich 1989;Garcia 1989;Jenson 1995). Recently, there has been a trend to increase the area sown to bread wheat, and this appears to be continuing owing to the new possibilities offered by the MERCOSUR (common market of the Southern Cone countries of South America).In Argentina, the main pathogen associated with FHB is Fusarium graminearum Schw., whose perfect stage Gibberella zeae (Schw.) Petch. has been known in the country since 1928 (Fernandez 1978). Other Fusarium species less pathogenic on wheat have been isolated from infected grains including F. equiseti, F. semitectum, F. poae, F. acuminaium, F. moniliforme, F. moniliforme var. subglutinans,F. monilijorme var. anihophilum, F. oxysporum, and F. solani (Carrera 1954;Dalcero et al. 1996;de Galich 1989;Lori et al. 1992). Few references have been published on these species; one on F. culmorum published in 1954 (Carrera 1954), and one on F. iricincium, F. heierosporum, and F. nivale published in 1986 (Banchero et al. 1986).A recent report indicates the presence of F. proliferatum in the central-north area (Dalcero et al. 1996).Several toxins were identified during wheat production in years of epidemic FHB development. All reports note the preponderance of the tricothecene deoxynivalenol (DON). This is to be expected since F. graminearum is the most important Fusarium species known to produce this toxin (Marasas et al. 1984).The first toxin survey was undertaken after the epidemic of 1985, based on 84 injured non-random grain samples. Several Fusarium species were isolated and all samples were found to be infected by F. graminearum. All were contaminated with DON, with levels ranging from 0.1-25 ppm; however, almost half of the samples had levels ranging between 0.3-0.5 ppm. In 8% of samples, the toxin T2 was present at levels of 0.3-0.5 ppm. This is the only reference to this toxin in the country. No zearalenone (ZEA) was found in the analysis (Banchero et al. 1986).In 1987, when FHB incidence was low, 406 samples were analyzed from 17 sites over the traditional wheat growing region. More than 90% of the Fusarium spp. isolated were F. graminearum, and among them, 89.4% were toxin producers Fusarium Head Blight in Argentina 21(trichothecenes group Band zearalenone producers; no trichothecenes group A were found). Of these, 55.9% were DON chemotype, 10.7% nivalenol (NIV) chemotype, and 33.8% produced both DON and NIY. Zearalenone production was identified in 63.2% of the strains, and no relation was found between DON and NIV groups with regard to ZEA production. The geographic distribution of different toxigenic strains led to the conclusion that regional differences exist (Lori et al. 1992).During the severe FHB epidemic of 1993, DON was the only toxin reported. In one of the more affected areas, Cordoba province, the mean DON level in a milling sample was 1.06 ppm -lower than the internationally accepted level for grain. Nevertheless, as previously mentioned, just over half of the regional production was able to be marketed within the standard. Furthermore, there was not a strong correlation between DON level and percentage of Fusarium infection (Dalcero 1996;Luqui and Gomez 1995).The combination of the epidemiological characteristics of the pathogen, scarce genetic resistance in the host, and the strong environmental influence on FHB development make it necessary to adopt several integrated measures to decrease disease damage. In order to adjust integrated control measures, studies are being carried out in different subjects related to FHB management.Fusarium graminearum is a facultative parasite and is pathogenic on many other grasses including common weeds of wheat. Therefore, agronomic practices such as rotation with non host crops or the management of crop residues are not very effective alone, but in combination can reduce the source of primary inoculum (Bai and Shaner 1984). Since soil conservation practices are essential in most areas of Argentina and few crops are profit-producing, compromise measures must be found.In 1993, under severe epidemic conditions, an analysis of FHB development through incidence, severity, and fusarium index was made to determine the effect of no-till and reduced tillage systems. The previous summer crops were soybean and maize, and the fertilizers used were urea and diamonium phosphate. The results indicated that FHB incidence was not affected by the tillage system following both previous crops; however, there were significant differences in severity (P=0.05) and fusarium index (P=O.Ol). The highest disease scores occurred in the no-till system and following a maize crop. The effect of fertilizers, at moderate rates, was observed only on incidence values in the control plots and only on those with the lowest nitrogen dose, suggesting an escape effect. Furthermore, the similarity of the severity values in all treatments may indicate that the fertilizers did not affect disease susceptibility (de Galich et al. 1994). In another area, a trial including the same kind of fertilizers showed that incidence and severity were not affected, except in one cultivar in which the treatment with diamonium phosphate at sowing time plus urea at tillering showed reduced severity (Formento and Visintin 1994).The use of fungicides is a complementary control measure when weather conditions are conducive to infection from heading to flowering time. The economic return is uncertain due to the preventative nature of applications, the high variability of climate parameters in the risk areas, and the moderate efficacy of the available fungicides for FHB control. Variables are quantified from the beginning of the sensitive period to the eighth day (maximum exposition of anthers). At this time, considering the weather reports for the next 4-5 days, the decision for fungicide treatment can made more confidently (Moschini 1994).The fungicides that performed well in local trials were tebuconazole (187.5 g.a.i. ha\"), flutriafol (125 g.a.i. ha\"), prochloraz (450 g.a.i. ha'), and propiconazole plus carbendazim (125+150 g.a.i. ha\"). The best control was achieved with the triazole fungicide tebuconazole. Less control was obtained using the benzimidazoles, benomyl, carbendazim, and m-thiophanatc (Annone et al. 1995;de Galich and Galich 1994).Optimal application time was evaluated in an experiment carried out over two years in a greenhouse with artificial inoculation. Treatments applied between early anthesis (EC 61, Zadoks' scale) and at kernel watery ripe (EC 71) had the same efficacy. The treatment at early heading did not differ from the inoculated control without fungicide treatment (LSD, p=0.05) (de Galich and Galich 1996).The traditional Argentine germplasm was derived from local adapted varieties and from those brought in by European immigrants, mainly from Italy in the last century. Introductions of the same origin and from North America were incorporated thereafter. This germplasm was used intensively until 30 years ago and nowadays is sometimes used for its adaptability, quality, and resistance to some diseases.A few old varieties have moderate FHB resistance levels: Klein Atlas, Vilela Sol, Oncativo INTA, and Pergamino Gaboto. Similar to the best current varieties, these old varieties exhibit Fusarium Head Blight in Argentina 23 resistance consistent with resistance types I and II (Schroeder and Christensen 1963), except in Pergamino Gaboto where only type I seems to be effective.At the present time, all commercial varieties have different susceptibility levels, but about 40% of them have reduced symptoms under moderate epidemic conditions. These varieties were qualified as moderately susceptible under artificial inoculation and semicontrolled conditions. Due to this character and other agronomic traits, three of the varieties, Klein Cacique, ProINTA Federal, and Buck Charrtia, were sown over approximately half of the central-north wheat growing area last year.The low success in obtaining FHB resistant, high yielding varieties is due to several reasons: the complexity of resistance inheritance, poor agronomic characters, and low quality of the well known resistance sources. Furthermore, the lack of a consistent natural environment for selection strongly affects conventional wheat breeding programs.In order to facilitate the production of improved varieties, studies are being carried out at Marcos Juarez Agricultural Experiment Station. The aim of the studies is to develop germplasm with higher levels of FHB resistance and good agronomic traits to be used as parents in the bread wheat breeding program.The methodology applied has two steps. The first involves the identification of resistance sources in semicontrol1ed conditions and artificial inoculations. In the second, the purpose is to incorporate resistance into genotypes with good agronomic traits.a. Greenhouse-A drop of inoculum (1 x 10 5 conidia ml\") is injected into one floret of a spikelet in the middle of the spike using a calibrated syringe. Inoculated plants (4-5 per pot) are maintained at about 25°C and 90-100% RH until symptoms appear. During the next two weeks the plants are maintained at about 75% RH. Evaluation is made at maturity when the proportion of infected spikelets per spike is determined. The control gentoypes with different reactions are: resistant (Sumai 3 and YMI 6); moderately resistant (Klein Atlas); and susceptible (line 7C/ /Polk/On).b. Field with sprinkler irrigation under a web cover-Each entry is sown in two hill plots: the control, and the inoculated plot, which is sprayed at anthesis (3 x 10 5 conidia ml\"). The first evaluation is made at 350 degree-days after inoculation, and the second at 450 degree-days. The adopted scale (0-5) considers the proportion of infected spikelets per spike. At maturity, five spikes per hill are threshed by hand. The percentage of diseased grains is determined in the inoculated plots. Differences in kernel weight and weight per 1000 kernels are calculated between the inoculated plots and the controls.Inoculum-Isolates of F. graminearum from naturally infected grains are selected by their capacity to produce conidia in the bran agar multiplication media. (For 1 L: 20 g agar and 40 g of previously washed wheat bran, boiled for 1 hour in sterile water, and filtered through cheese cloth.) A pathogenicity test is performed on germinating seeds in petri dishes, and three isolates of moderate to high aggressiveness are chosen. Each isolate is maintained on sterile wheat grains. Multiplication is performed in Erlenmeyer flasks on bran agar under continuous fluorescent light, and the three isolates are mixed before inoculum calibration.The level of resistance to F. graminearum is relatively low, as is in most necrotrophic pathogens, and the few studies on inheritance illustrate its complexity. In spite of making references to resistance controlled by a few major genes (Nakagawa 1957), most studies state poligenic inheritance with additive effects and components of dominance (Gu 1984;Uu 1985;Snidjers 1990;Wilcoxon et al. 1992;Zhang and Pan 1984). Therefore, it is considered possible to obtain higher levels of resistance through a process of crossing and selection in order to accumulate resistance genes. To achieve this objective, a scheme of recurrent selection with planned crosses is performed as follows.a. Parent selection-The criterion greenhouse evaluation is prioritized adopted for selecting lines is that the (resistance type II). Lines and varieties resistance level shown in at least two are assembled into five groups, years under semicontrolled conditions according to their origin. To illustrate must be statistically higher or similar to this, some entries from each group are that of the control Klein Atlas. The listed as follows:Group 1:  26 M.T.V. de Galich Year 4 F3 are sown in the experimental field at two planting times for intercrossing.When planning these crosses, populations derived from parents as divergent as possible are combined, in order to increase variability.Year 5 The resulting F3 x F3 populations are considered Fl, being the first generation after crossing. The procedure is similar to that of Year 2. Year 6 F2 are sown in rows in the field, under the same environmental and contamination conditions as described in lb. Evaluation is made at harvest, taking into account the number of infected spikelets and level of grain filling compared with Klein Atlas. In each population selected plants are mass threshed. Year 7 F3 are sown in the experimental field. Modified mass selection is made for -agronomic traits and other disease resistance. Year 8 F4 populations are tested and selected in the same way as the F2 in Year 6. A replicate is sown in the experimental field to take account of agronomic type. Year 9 F5 are sown at low density in the field in order to select individual plants for agronomic traits and other disease resistance, mainly stern and leaf rusts. Year 10 Lines are multiplied under field conditions, and those with deficiencies are discarded. Year 11 Lines are tested for FHB resistance with the injection and aspersion methods under conditions described in la and lb. In the field, a preliminary yield trial is carried out in small plots and paired controls. These are the best short and long cycle commercial varieties.The selected lines have similar or higher FHB resistance than the best resistance sources used as parents in the basic crosses.The first lines obtained with this statistical joint analysis of four and two methodology were selected beginning years, respectively (LSD=5%). This report with F2 populations that carne from refers to greenhouse evaluations as CIMMYT in 1982 (Table 1). At that time, described in la. the planned crosses started with materials selected at Marcos Juarez, and the continuing to the present time. Table 2 shows some of the lines with improved Lines included in Tables 1 and 2 haveBow/Nobeoka Bozu//CEP 75203Nee similar or higher resistances to the control   et al. 1995;Hohn and Desjardins 1992;Proctor et al. 1995).The role of trichothecene antibiotics in a number of plant diseases caused by Fusarium species has been investigated (Proctor et al. 1995;Desjardins et al. 1989;Desjardins et al. 1992;Desjardins et al. 1996). To determine if trichothecenes play a role in wheat head scab, trichothecenenonproducing mutants were generated by disrupting the TriS gene in G. zeae. These TriSmutants were reduced in virulence in wheat seedling blight and head scab tests in the growth chamber (Proctor et al. 1995), and in tests of wheat head scab in the field in 1994 and 1995 (Desjardins et al. 1996). The field tests were conducted under terms outlined in permits 94-006-01 and 95-003-01 granted by the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.The virulence of the trichothecenenonproducing mutant GZT40 was first tested in 1994 on hard red spring wheat cultivars Butte 86 and Wheaton by inoculating flowering heads with approximately 1000 spores of the wild type strain GZ3639 (TriS+), the mutant strain GZT40 (TriS-), or with water. In Field Test 1 (Desjardins et al. 1996), 1800 wheat heads were individually inoculated. Seven days after inoculation, heads began to show symptoms of premature spikelet bleaching. Between 7-18 days after inoculation, each head was assessed once or twice for disease symptoms by counting the number of heads with scab symptoms (disease incidence) and the percent bleached spikelets per head (disease severity). For cultivar Butte, disease severity was significantly greater on heads inoculated with the wild type strain (65%) than on heads inoculated with the TriSmutant (41%), but disease incidence was similar for the two treatments (84% and 73%, respectively). For cultivar Wheaton, disease severity was significantly greater on heads inoculated withthe wild type strain (52%) than with the TriSstrain, but disease incidence was similar for the two treatments (99% and 97%, respectively). There was only 1% premature spikelet bleaching on control heads inoculated with water only, and on uninoculated heads. In both cultivars Butte 86 and Wheaton, the mutant was less virulent than the wild type strain when number of seeds per head, individual seed weight, and total yield per head were compared to water-inoculated controls. For cultivar Butte 86, total seed weight per head was reduced by 56% upon wild type inoculation and reduced by 34% upon mutant inoculation when compared to water-inoculated controls. For cultivar Wheaton, total seed weight per head was reduced by 43% upon wild Reduced Virulence of Trichothecene Antiblotic-Nonproducing Mutants of Gibberella zeae in Wheat Field Tests 31 type inoculation, and reduced by 4% (not significant) upon mutant inoculation, when compared to water-inoculated controls.Because trichothecene-nonproducing mutants were obtained by specific gene disruption, they are unlikely to have additional defects that fortuitously reduce virulence. However, to further demonstrate that reduced virulence of Trib-mutants is due specifically to loss of TriSfunction, TriS+ revertants of G. zeae were generated by selfing GZT33, a Tribtransformant that had undergone additive gene disruption (Proctor et al. 1995). To facilitate strain tracking during the field test, the revertant was marked by transformation with a plasmid conferring resistance to the antibiotic hygromycin b. The resulting transformants, GZTl06 and GZTl08, were hygromycin resistant and produced wild type levels of trichothecenes. Spring wheat cultivar Wheaton was inoculated rns:~~6$1 T as described above with water, with spores of a trichothecene-producing strain (GZ3639, GZTl06 or GZTl08), or with spores of a trichothecenenbnproducing strain (GZT33 or GZT40). In Field Test 2 (Desjardins et al. 1996), 1800 wheat heads were individually inoculated. Spikelet bleaching symptoms were assessed at 12 and 19 days after inoculation. Heads inoculated with either of the trichothecene-nonproducing mutants showed less scab than heads inoculated with the trichotheceneproducing parent and revertant strains, whether assessed by spikelet bleaching or individual seed weight (Figure 1) or by percent bleached or \"tombstone\" kernels (Figure 2). The average individual seed weight was reduced by 27-39% upon inoculation with TriS+ wild type and revertant strains, but by only 3-12% (not significant) upon inoculation with TriSmutant strains. Data on number of seeds per head and total yield per head could not be accurately determined for Field Test 2 because of selective grazing by rabbits of approximately 10% of the inoculated wheat heads in some plots.Additional characterization of wheat seeds harvested from Field Tests 1 and 2 demonstrated that poor seed quality was correlated with poor seed yield (Desjardins et al. 1996). Trichothecene toxin levels were higher in seeds from heads inoculated with TriS+ strains than in seeds from heads inoculated with TriSstrains or with water. The ability of the seeds to germinate and produce a viable wheat seedling was also reduced to a greater extent following inoculation with TriS+ strains than with TriSstrains. The percentage of seeds infected with Fusarium was determined by plating surface disinfested seeds on a medium that was selective for Fusarium species, and showed no consistent relationship with either wheat yield or quality. Many apparently normal seeds contained Fusarium, although the species and the amount of fungal biomass per seed could not be determined by this method. Percent Fusarium infection tended to be lower after inoculation with TriSstrains than with TriS+ strains, but the difference was generally not statistically significant.Although both trichothecenenonproducing mutants GZT33 and GZT40 were less virulent than wild type strains, polymerase chain reaction (peR) analysis of strains from the harvested wheat seeds (Desjardins et al. 1996) indicated that both GZT33 and GZT40 retained the ability to survive in wheat Reduced Virulence of Trichothecene Antibiotic-Nonproducing Mutants of GibbereJla zeae in Wheat Fietd Tests 33 and were recoverable from inoculated heads in all plots where they were introduced. The trichothecene-producing revertants GZTl06 and GZTl08 also retained the ability to survive in wheat.Wild type strains of G. zeae were usually present in seeds from heads inoculated with mutant strains, probably as a result of natural infection during the field test.Specific disruption of a gene can determine its importance in a complex biological system, particularly if loss of that gene causes a dramatic change. Trichothecene-nonproducing mutants of G. zeae have been generated by disrupting a gene encoding the first committed enzyme in trichothecene biosynthesis, and these mutants have been shown to be dramatically less virulent than wild type strains in causing wheat head scab. It has also been demonstrated that a trichothecenenonproducing mutant can regain trichothecene production and wild type levels of virulence when its disrupted TriS gene reverts to a functional wild type via meiotic recombination. Loss of trichothecene production appears to convert G. zeae into a relatively benign pathogen that survives in wheat heads and colonizes developing seeds, but no longer produces severe disease symptoms. Contrary to expectations, natural infection during the wheat field tests did not obscure differences that resulted from inoculation of the wild type strain compared to the trichothecenenonproducing strains. In fact, differences between wheat plants inoculated with TriS+ strains and TriSstrains were greater in the field tests than in our previous growth chamber tests.The conclusion that trichothecene antibiotics are virulence factors in wheat head scab caused by G. zeae is consistent with our earlier findings that trichothecenes are virulence factors in parsnip root rot caused by F. sporotrichioides and G. pulicaris (Desjardins et al. 1989;Desjardins et al. 1992). Perhaps the next question is why are trichothecene-nonproducing strains less virulent? Studies of trichothcene toxicity in animal and fungal cells and cell-free systems indicate that toxic effects seem to be the result of inhibition of protein synthesis and, specifically, of peptidyl transferase (Wei and McLaughlin 1974). Trichothecenes are growth inhibitors of wheat and a wide variety of other plants (Miller and Arnison 1986;Desjardins et al. 1992). The trichothecene target site in plants is likely to be protein synthesis, but this hypothesis remains to be proven in a plant in vitro translation system. Any hypothesis that trichothecenes are virulence factors because they inhibit plant protein synthesis and, thereby, alter the host response to infection has to accommodate the fact that Tribtrichothecene-nonproducing mutants of G. pulicaris retain wild type virulence on potato tubers (Desjardins et al. 1992).Recent studies suggest several mechanisms that may account for the apparent lack of response of potato tuber tissue to trichothecene production, including degradation of trichothecenes, inhibition of their biosynthesis, or an Analyses ofgenetic diversity in pathogen populations are usefulfor evaluating risks associated with various control strategies. Diverse sexualpopulations can reassort genes through recombination to produce novelgene combinations more quicklythan can asexual populations, which must rely primarily on mutation. Thegenotypic diversity of Gibberella zeae (anamorph: Fusarium graminearum Group 2) was analyzed on both macro-and microgeographic scales using vegetative compatibility groups and DNA fingerprinting with an oligonucleotide probe. Genotypic diversity was high at both scales. Gibberella zeae is homoihallic and has not been reported to participate in sexual outcrossing. In laboratory studies using marked strains, it wasfound that isolates ofG. zeae from South Africa,Asia, and Kansas were sexuallyinterfertile, but that noneof these isolates was cross-fertile with a set offour isolates ofF. graminearum Group 1. Sexual outcrossing could account for the high diversityobserved in populations ofG. zeae.  Perithecia have never been obtained from monoconidial cultures and only very rarely in paired cultures. Members of this group are presumed to be heterothallic andlor infertile (Francis and Burgess 1977). Group 2 is primarily airborne and causes scab of wheat and other small grains, stalk and ear rot of maize, and stalk rot of sorghum. Members of this group are homothallic and produce abundant perithecia in the field and under laboratory conditions on certain media (Francis and Burgess 1977).Cullen et al. (1982) distinguished two subgroups within Group 2 of G. zeae from maize ear rot. Type A is pathogenic to maize, grows rapidly, produces redpigmented colonies with abundant aerial mycelium, and produces varying amounts of zearalenone. Type B is nonpathogenic to maize, grows slowly, and produces appressed brownish-yellow colonies and high levels of zearalenone. Type A was dominant, comprising 95% of the isolates. The relationship of Type A and B isolates is not known, but it is possible that B types are infected with mycoviruses.With the exception of the Group II Group 2 distinction, there is little evidence for pathogenic specialization in G. zeae (Bai and Shaner 1994). Although isolates lack host specialization, several authors have found differences in aggressiveness between isolates (Purss 1971;Woodward and Wilcoxson 1994).The long term goal is to understand the population structure of G. zeae. This knowledge could guide the development of new control methods and could help predict the potential for G. zeae to evolve counter measures to the controls. Hence, the objectives of the study were to: 1) determine genotypic diversity at large spatial scales, 2) determine genotypic diversity at small spatial scales, 3) determine whether G. zeae can undergo' sexual recombination, and 4) determine potential barriers to sexual fertility between different strains of G. zeae and its relatives.Twenty-four single-spore isolates of G. zeae were obtained from scabby wheat heads collected from 23 locations in Kansas, USA, in 1990 (Bowden andLeslie 1992b). All isolates produced fertile perithecia and were identified as Group 2. Nitrate-nonutilizing (nit) mutants of each isolate were generated on a medium amended with 1.5% chlorate. Four nit mutant classes were obtained: those able to utilize nitrite and hypoxanthine (nitl), those able to utilize hypoxanthine but not nitrite (nit3), those able to utilize nitrite but not hypoxanthine (NitM), and those unable to utilize a broad range of nitrogenous substrates (nnu). Vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) of the isolates were tested by pairing nitl mutants of each isolate with either a NitM or a nit3 mutant from each isolate on media containing nitrate as the sole nitrogen source. Complementary mutants of isolates in the same VCG were able to anastomose and formed a zone of robust growth. Mutants of isolates in different VCGs formed only thin, wispy colonies. Each of the 24 isolates belonged to a different vegetative compatibility group. Therefore, genotypic diversity is high at large spatial scales.To study diversity at smaller spatial scales, 50 wheat heads were randomly sampled from a 0.25-m 2 quadrat in a field of mature wheat with severe scab symptoms in 1993 (Bowden and Leslie, 1994). Isolations of G. zeae were attempted from sample positions at the top, middle, and bottom of each head, and one isolate was saved per position. Vegetative compatibility groups were used to identify different genotypes. DNA fingerprinting with a (CAT)s oligonucleotide probe was also performed on all isolates from the quadrat. Results of the two methods were similar. From the first 10 heads in the first quadrat, a total of 19 VCGs were found among the 26 isolates in the sample. Four heads were colonized by 3 different VCGs, 5 heads were colonized by 2 VCGs, and 1 head had 1 VCe. One VCG was found colonizing 4 different heads and another was found on 2 heads. The frequent occurrence of several genotypes per head suggests that opportunities for sexual recombination exist in the field.The high genotypic diversity suggested that sexual recombination might be possible in G. zeae despite the fact that it is homothallic. Homothallic perithecia of G. zeae are readily obtained in the laboratory; however, to test for Diversity and Sexuality in Gibberella zeae 37 sexual recombination, markers were needed to distinguish homozygous from heterozygous perithecia. Four classes of nit mutants (nitl, nit3, NitM, and nnu) were previously described in this fungus .. In this study (Bowden and Leslie 1992a), complementary nonallelic nit mutants were used to identify recombinant progeny.Complementary nit mutants from isolates in different VCGs were cocultured on carrot agar plates. Ascospore cirrhi from different perithecia were plated on a medium containing nitrate as the sole nitrogen source and with Lsorbose and tergitol to restrict colony size. Approximately 25% of the ascospores from heterozygous perithecia produced recombinant wild type colonies, while homozygous perithecia produced only sparse, wispy parental colonies. The best method of obtaining heterozygous perithecia was to pair isolates on carrot agar at 24°C in the light, knock down the aerial mycelium after 7 days, and then select individual cirrhi from perithecia at the colony interface. The frequency of heterozygous perithecia at the colony interface varied in different crosses. Crosses of nit3 x NitM mutants segregated in expected dihybrid ratios. Analysis of VCGs of progeny indicated two vegetative incompatibility (vic) genes segregating.A rapid method for testing sexual interfertility was developed by pairing nit mutants on carrot agar, then inverting mature perithecial cultures over nitrate Bowden, RL., and J.F. Leslie. 1992b Until recently, no method was available to identifiJ and quantify individual Fusarium species present within plant tissue. Specific DNA markers havebeen identified for the Fusarium species that are predominant components of the fusarium ear blightcomplex' (scab) of cereals. In the UK and continental Europe, two varieties ofMicrodochium nivale (oar. majus and var. nivale),jormerly F. nivale, are also involved in the ear blightdisease complex. Assays based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) havebeen developed for detection of several of these fungi in DNA extracts from plant tissue. These assays have been refined to enable quantification of each species, allowing the relative contribution of each component to the disease of the plant to beestimated. The role of trichothecene mycotoxins in the pathogenicity of Fusarium species towards cereals is also being investigated. Attempts to disrupt the Tri5 geneofF. culmorum are described, alongwith the results of experiments using Tri5 disruptants ofF. graminearum. Visual disease scoring and quantitative PCR are beingused to investigate the effects of Tri5 genedisruption on the infection of seedlings and ears of wheat. Examples of the use of PCR techniques in epidemiological studies involving F. poae, F. culmorum, F. graminearum, F. avenaceum, and M. nivale varieties are also presented. Otherworkongoing in the research program is summarized.Visual diagnosis of disease, where increasing concern in many European several fungi may be present in the same countries because of the potential of the plant, is difficult as the symptoms causedFusarium species to produce mycotoxins by the Fusarium species as well as by M.within the grain that are harmful to nivale are, generally, indistinguishable.humans and livestock. In Europe and the Attempts to evaluate the relative UK, the predominant fungi involved in proportion of each species in plant FEB are F. culmorum, F. graminearum, F.samples by isolation into axenic culture aoenaceum, and F. poae along with may be confounded because, in the Microdochium nivale. Surveys in the UK absence of selective media, the relative have indicated that glume spot lesions amounts of each pathogen may not be are predominantly associated with F. accurately determined. For example, F.poae, although the relationship between culmorum tends to outcompete M. nivale this and ear blight is not known (Polley which may result in an underestimation and Turner 1995).of the prevalence of the latter in mixed infections (Pettitt ei al. 1993). Whatever the method, the isolation of pathogens from plant tissues can only reveal what may be grown out of the plant rather than what is in the plant.Molecular techniques are being developed to overcome many of the problems associated with the study of disease complexes such as FEB. Among the most sensitive techniques available is the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Assays based upon this technique have been developed for components of the ear blight and stem-base disease complexes of cereals (Nicholson et al. 1996;Parry and Nicholson 1996;Schilling et al. 1996).Although PCR is an extremely sensitive technique, it has generally been used only to reveal the presence of pathogens and not to quantify pathogen biomass. However, quantitative PCR has been developed for pathogens involved in a number of disease complexes including Vertieillium species (Moukhamedov et al. 1994) and Mierodaehium varieties (Nicholson et al.  (1985) reported that those species producing high levels of trichothecenes were the most virulent on cereal hosts. However, deoxynivalenol (DON) and 15acetyldeoxynivalenol (15-ADON) did not appear to be required for pathogenicity, as some isolates unable to produce these compounds in culture were, nonetheless, pathogenic towards wheat, rye, and triticale seedlings. Protoplast fusion between toxigenic and nontoxigenic isolates of F. graminearum (Gibberella zeae) indicated that DON and 15-ADON were not pathogenicity factors on maize or carnations (Adams and Hart 1989). Recently, gene disruption studies have been used to investigate the role of trichothecenes in the pathogenicity and virulence of a number of Fusarium species on a wide range of hosts (Desjardins et al.  1993; Proctor et al. 1995). To date, most work has concentrated upon the gene Tri5 which encodes trichodiene synthase. This enzyme catalyses the isomerization and cyclization of farnesyl pyrophosphate to trichodiene, the step at which trichothecene biosynthesis branches from general isoprenoid metabolism. Disruption of the TriS gene prevents biosynthesis of trichothecene products and their intermediates, making this gene ideal for studying the role of these compounds in plant pathogenesis.Gene disruption of the Tri5 gene of F. sambucinum (G. puliearis) indicated that production of 4, 15-diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS) increased virulence on parsnip roots but did not affect virulence on potato tubers (Desjardins et al. 1992).Similar studies with F. graminearum suggested that disruption of trichothecene production reduced virulence on seedlings of winter rye and certain cultivars of wheat (Wheaton), but did not affect virulence on maize (cv. Golden Bantam). In addition, ear blight on Wheaton developed more slowly when inoculated with the Trib: mutants than with the wild type isolate (Proctor et  al. 1995). Thus it appears that trichothecene production may contribute to the virulence of Fusarium species on some hosts. The results of preliminary experiments are reported to investigate the role of trichothecenes in the pathogenicity of F. graminearum towards cereals and progress towards disruption of the TriS gene of F. culmorum.DNA was extracted from a range of isolates of each Fusarium species of interest and from isolates of other pathogens and saprophytic fungi associated with ear and stern base disease complexes of wheat. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) assays (Williams et al. 1990) were performed on each isolate of each selected species to identify amplification products cornmon to all members of that species. Selected products were cloned, sequenced, and analyzed to identify regions suitable to act as primer sites in PCR. All primers were designed to have a similar theoretical melting temperature of 62°C to facilitate multiplex PCR, if required. Primer pairs were tested for their specificity against DNA of a range of isolates of the species of interest along with related species and other fungi associated with FEB. Primer pairs were also tested against DNA from uninfected plant material to ensure that there was no cross-reaction with the host. To date, specific primers have been generated for each of four Fusarium species, (F. culmorum, F. graminearum, F. poae, and F. avenaceum), and two M. nivale varieties (Nicholson et al., unpublished;Parry and Nicholson 1996;Nicholson et al. 1996), as well as for Tapesia yallundae and T. acuformis (Wand R-types of eyespot respectively), and Rhizoctonia cerealis (sharp eyespot) which are of importance in the stem-base disease complex.Competitive PCR assays were developed for each of the above pathogens to quantify biomass in plant tissues as measured by DNA content. In this system, a known quantity of 'competitor' template DNA is added to the sample before PCR. The 'competitor' template has annealing sites identical to the primer sites in the fungal 'target' DNA but differs in size from that of the 'target'; the two PCR products can be separated by electrophoresis through an agarose gel. The fungal 'target' and 'competitor' template sequences compete for reagents during PCR such that the ratio of fungal 'target' DNA to 'competitor' DNA amplified increases with increasing amounts of fungus. By estimating the ratio of fungal 'target':'competitor' product, and relating the ratio to a standard curve, the quantity of fungal DNA in the sample may be calculated. In uninfected plants, only the 'competitor' DNA is amplified, confirming that the PCR is functioning normally.It is generally not possible to determine the causal agent of FEB by visual disease diagnosis. This was highlighted in an experiment in which PCR was compared with visual disease assessment. In a 42-m field plot, the central sub-plot was inoculated with conidia of F. culmorum at mid-anthesis, with the intention of establishing a disease gradient from which to investigate the relationship between disease caused by F. culmorumand yield loss. Samples were scored for disease at GS 80, and ears separated into component parts of grain, glumes, and rachis. DNA was extracted from each tissue and analyzed by PCR for ear blight pathogens.There was a good correlation between visual disease assessment and PCR in the inoculated sub-plot, both techniques indicating a high incidence of F. culmorum. Disease incidence was also high in sub-plots outside the inoculated region, but PCR analysis did not detect F. culmorum in many of these ears. However, PCR analysis detected M. nioale varieties and F. poae, and it is presumed that these were the cause of the FEB symptoms rather than F. culmorum.Fusarium culmorum was detected in the great majority of ears exhibiting the highest disease scores (both within and outside the inoculated sub-plot). For the ears away from the inoculated sub-plot it could be inferred that F. culmorum was the most pathogenic species present in this field plot under the prevailing environmental conditions. However, M. nioaie varieties and F. poae and F. avenaceum were detected in some ears (in which F. culmorumwas not detected) which had particularly high disease scores, indicating that these species could cause severe disease, particularly when present in the same ear.Analysis by PCR of the component parts of each ear revealed that F. poae was predominantly present in glumes tissues. This finding is in agreement with results of a survey of winter wheat in the UK which found F. poae to be the most common pathogen associated with glume lesions (Polley and Turner 1995). Together, these results suggest that F. poae may initiate infection of wheat ears by colonization of glumes before penetrating further into the ear. Quantification of F. culrnorum revealed high levels of fungus (up to 6 ng fungal DNA mg' dry weight of tissue) in the grain of samples within the inoculated sub-plot as well as in the grain of ears exhibiting severe FEB symptoms outside the inoculated area. Similar levels were detected in the glume samples from within the inoculated plot, although levels in glumes outside this region were considerably lower. Fusarium culmorum was detected in high/moderate levels in the rachis of ears within the inoculated sub-plot, but it was rarely detected in rachis samples outside this region.PCR assays developed for the species/varieties involved in the 'ear blight complex' will be a valuable tool in epidemiological studies, providing a rapid and reliable means of detecting and quantifying pathogens in cereal tissues and other plants, throughout the season. This technique also provides a way of evaluating the effect of factors such as crop variety, fungicide treatment, and environment on each of the fungi involved in a disease complex. Using this knowledge, it may be possible to develop strategies to ensure that all the fungal species involved in a particular disease complex are effectively controlled, and that suppression of one fungus does not merely lead to it being replaced by another.A series of glasshouse experiments have been established to investigate fungicide efficacy for the control of FEB. Preliminary trials indicated that prochloraz and tebuconazole reduced the level of disease caused by F culmorum and F poae, as well as the fungal biomass, as determined by quantitative PCR, thus leading to a significant reduction in yield loss. Further experiments are underway to investigate interactions between Fusarium and Microdochium species involved in FEB, including competition studies on wheat ears.  coding region truncated at both the 5' and 3' ends into vector pAN7-Blue 1 which includes the gene hph for hygromycin resistance. A recipient isolate of F culmorum was selected on the basis of high pathogenicity towards wheat seedlings and high toxin production in vitro. Transformation of conidia or germinating conidia by biolistic particle delivery of P6-coated gold or tungsten particles using 'helium' or 'electricaldischarge' guns was unsuccessful. Transformation of protoplasts using a modification of the PEG-mediated technique described by Curragh et al.  (1992), produced a number of hygromycin resistant transformants of F. culmorum. Analysis of these transformants by PCR and southern hybridization revealed that integration of the transforming DNA had not been due to homologous recombination of the construct with the TriSgene. In a separate study, F. culmorum has been transformed with the GUS reporter gene and the transformant is being used to investigate infection and fungal development on resistant and susceptible hosts.Recently, TriSand progenitor isolates (kindly donated by R. H. Proctor) have been used in studies of seedling infection of a range of material. Seedlings of 15 wheat lines were inoculated with the TriStransformant and its progenitor isolate, and were visually assessed for disease after 28 days. Although significant differences were observed in the levels of disease on the different hosts, no differences were observed in the level of disease caused by the TriSand the wild-type isolates. DNA was extracted from the seedlings, and quantitative PCR used to compare the amount of F. graminearum present in the plants inoculated with the two isolates. Preliminary analysis indicates that the amount of the TriSisolate was generally less than that of the wild type on several of the cultivars examined. The test is being repeated to confirm these results.The TriSand progenitor isolates have also been used in a glasshouse study of FEB of cv. Avalon; this awaits further analysis.A program has begun to investigate the genetics of host resistance with the ultimate aim of producing molecular tags to resistance genes for use in breeding programs. Crosses have been performed between resistant cultivars (Frontana, Sumai 3, and commercial lines) and the monosomic series of Dwarf A (a common susceptible host) to determine the chromosomal location of resistance factors. The resistant cultivars have also been crossed onto the Dwarf A, and Fl progeny from these crosses have been used to generate haploid progeny by pollination with maize. Embryos rescued from these plants have been grown on and await colchicine treatment to produce doubled haploid lines. These lines are to be assessed for ear blight resistance and analyzed for amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers to identify those markers linked to resistance genes.The evidence to date suggests that head blight (FHB), caused by Fusarium resistance is multigenic (Grausgruber et graminearum Schwabe., have increased in al. 1995;Yu 1982). Canada, especially in southern Manitoba and Ontario, causing yield and qualityAn attempt was made to identify reductions and concerns for the safety of PCR-based DNA polymorphisms linked food supplies (Gilbert and Tekauz 1995).to FHB resistance genes in doubled Breeding programs have used resistant haploid (DH) populations derived from Chinese or Chinese-derived germplasm crosses between resistant and susceptible in crosses with adapted cultivars to parents. Following screening with 600 attempt to develop FHB-resistant lines.primers, one putative marker was identified in a DH population generated from cv. Sumai 3 and Biggar, The marker was also present in the more tolerant adapted cultivars and thus did not represent a major resistance gene from Sumai 3 (Gilbert et al. 1995). Additional DH populations were generated from crosses between resistant FHB37 (HY611 X NING8331) and susceptible RL4761. To attempt to derive single resistance gene lines, a second round of DH plants was generated from crosses of DH plants that were considered intermediate in reaction to the resistant and susceptible parents. Twenty plants from each of four families of second round DH populations were inoculated by spraying with a spore suspension containing 50,000 conidia ml\" or a 10 ul (500 conidia) single floret (point) inoculation. A wider range of symptom expression resulted from spray inoculations than from single floret inoculations (Figure 1). Disease reactions resulting from single floret and spray inoculations were not correlated and appear to be expressions of different genetic responses to FHB inoculation. As the parent of the second round DH family was as resistant as the resistant check (original parent FHB37), it is certain that the attempt to identify DH plants with lower levels of resistance than the parent was unsuccessful. The next step is to select from the original DH population and make additional second round DH families in the hope of identifying single resistance gene lines. Meanwhile, as the number of polymorphic DNA bands identified between the parents of the DH population was so low, these subsequently have been screened with simple sequence repeats (SSR)Primer set #9, developed by the University of British Columbia. Seventy-five PCRbased polymorphisms were found between the parents when screened with this primer set.Wild species of the Triticeae have provided sources of disease resistance genes for wheat breeding in the past (Pienaar 1990). Screening of some of these same species has revealed the presence of sources of FHB resistance. Baier et al. (1980) found FHB resistance in accessions of Brazilian landraces of rye. Screening of 40 accessions of Thinopvrum intermedium revealed strains that showed no disease (Fedak unpublished). Addition lines series in wheat were obtained from the following sources: wheat-rye addition lines from P. Larkin, Canberra, and wheat-Dasypyrllm lines from A. Lukaszewski, Riverside, California. Hordeum californicum-wheat addition lines were produced in Ottawa.Seeds of all species were examined on filter paper. Root meristems were collected from germinated seeds of all addition lines, pretreated in cold water (2°C) for 24 hours, fixed in a 3:1 Feulgen solution, then squashed in acetocarmine. Combinations known to have a winter growth habit were vernalized at 2°C and 8 h photoperiods for 6 weeks. Following vernalization, plants of all aneuploid stock, parents, and check cultivars were grown in controlled environment chambers at day/ night temperatures of 20/15°C, and a 16 h photoperiod using combinations of fluorescent and incandescent lamps supplying energy at 800 I1E m? s'. All inoculations were performed by injecting 10 IIIof a 5000 spore 111-1 suspension into the central floret of one spike per plant at anthesis. Following inoculation, plants were kept in a mist bed at 90% RH for 48 h, then moved to a greenhouse for maturation. Fusarium head blight symptoms were scored on a scale of 0-9 at 4 weeks after inoculation. In addition to discoloration of the florets, the number of infected florets and blackening of the rachis were criteria used to arrive at a severity score. The determination of resistance and susceptibility of addition lines using solutions containing concentrations of deoxynivalenol (DON) was performed by J. D. Miller of Ottawa. The amphiploids between wheat and rye were produced by standard methods of post-pollination application of hormones to hybrid embryos and colchicine treatment of hybrid seedlings (Fedak 1987).The rye landraces described by Baier et al. (1980) as being resistant to FHB were evaluated for their tolerance to DON toxin. No observed effects at 10-3 and 10-4 M DON concentration were considered to be resistant reactions, while lines with visible effects at 10-5 and 10-6 M concentration were rated as susceptible. \"White rye\" selections from the state of Sao Paulo were used as pollinators of the wheat cultivars Encruzilhada, Maringa, Max, and Nyu Bay. The amphiploids were inoculated with a spore suspension of F. graminearum. Of the 18 amphiploids, 6 were judged to be resistant (Table 1). No resistance was observed in hybrids of Encruzilhada and Maringa. One resistant amphiploid involved the wheat cv. Max, and 5 involved Nyu Bay. Rye is an outcrossing species and inherently heterozygous at all loci. This may explain The lowest symptom expression of King II rye additions to Holdfast wheat was for rye chromosome 7 R addition. The remaining addition lines were similar to that of Holdfast wheat. Six of a possible seven disomic additions of Th. iniermedium in the background of Vilmorin winter wheat were inoculated with a fungal spore suspension. The wheat cultivar Vilmorin with a visual symptom rating at 4.6 was superior to the Roblin check cultivar (Table 2). The partial amphiploid with a chromosome number of 2n=56, containing the entire wheat genome plus one of the genomes of Th. intermedium, also gave a low FHB rating at 2.8. Addition lines 1 and 4 gave the highest ratings at 4.0 and 6.0, respectively, while line 3, representing homoeologous chromosomes, gave the lowest rating at 2.0.Fusarium head blight symptoms of six disomic addition lines of Dasypyrum uillosum added to Chinese Spring wheat were rated much higher than on the Th. iniermedium addition line series. The symptoms ranged from 4.0 on line 6V to 8.6 on line 7V Another partial series of aneuploids, addition lines of Hordeum californicum in a Chinese Spring wheat background, was tested. One particular addition line which appears to correspond to chromosome 4 of barley gave a symptom reading of 1.0, four weeks after inoculation. The infection remained localized and did not spread beyond the zone of inoculation.Attempts to cross resistance into durum lines from the Chinese hexaploids were unsuccessful. Ninety-seven tetraploids, mostly Triticum dicoccoides, were obtained from P. Dyck, Winnipeg, and screened for reaction to FHB with a spray inoculation. Six T dicoccoides lines appeared to be quite resistant, of which two, 160 and 161, were used in crosses with durum line DT484. A limited number of F3 progeny were planted in an artificially inoculated, irrigated nursery at Glenlea, Manitoba, 1996. More resistant lines were derived from Td.161 than from Td.160 (Figure 2). They will be planted and screened during the winter, and F4-derived F6 lines will be field tested in 1997 and the best used for further backcrosses.  Recentliterature on the inheritance of scab resistance in wheat is reviewed and discussed in comparison with our results. Scab resistance in the widely used Chinese cultivar Sumai 3 and its relatives, as wellas the Brazilian cultivar Fronuma, appears to begoverned by two to three genes with major effects. The chromosomal location of resistance genes is still somewhat obscure. Several research groups now work on the identification of molecular markers for scab resistance. This research will lead to an improved understanding of its inheritance, and open the wayfor marker assisted selection. An assay wasdeveloped using the toxicfusarium metabolite deoxynivalenol (DON), which inhibits eukaryotic protein synthesis,as a selection agent to predict fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance (FHBR) in wheat. Tolerance to DON was tested during wheat seed germination, a process requiring intensiveprotein synthesis. It was concluded that DON tolerance appears to bean important mechanism contributingto quantitative FHB in wheat. The role of DON as an aggressiveness factor is therefore expected to be minimal on highly toxin-tolerant cultivars. Because not all investigated wheatgenotypes with a high FHBR hadhigh DON tolerance, at least oneother resistance mechanism must exist. With this assay, FHB resistant lines were successfully selected from the progeny of a cross with a parent possessing bothgood FHB resistance and good DON tolerance. The following topics were and are still addressed in this research program; the last two will be described in more detail.• Improvement of artificial inoculation techniques (Buerstmayr ei al. 1995).• Influence of Fusarium species and strain on resistance (Van Eeuwijk et al. 1995).• Screening of cultivars registered in Austria (Lemmens et al. 1993).• Collection and evaluation of germplasm from cooperators worldwide (Lemmens et al. 1993;Buerstmayr et al. 1996).  (Lemmens et al. 1994). • Studies on the inheritance of resistance (Buerstmayr et al. 1995; Grausgruber et   al. 1995).'Conventional' genetic analysis Chen (1989) proposed one dominant resistance gene and some minor modifiers for scab resistance in Sumai 3, Zhou et al. (1987) estimated two, andBai et al. (1989), three major resistance genes. Bai (1995) confirmed three genes with major effects on scab resistance in Sumai 3 and Ning 7840 (a cultivar descended from Sumai 3). In the Brazilian cultivar Frontana, another important scab resistance source, Singh et al. (1995) estimated at least three resistance genes, and van Ginkel et al. (1996) reported two in Frontana and two in Ning 7840, with all four genes being different. Bai (1995) found that additive effects account for most of the genetic variance in scab resistance, although dominance and epistasis were also important in some spring wheat crosses. Similar results were reported by Snijders (1990a) for winter wheat. In an Fl diallel with seven winter wheat lines, only GCA effects were found to be significant, whereas SCA and maternal effects were not. This is in agreement with Snijders (1990b).Published information on the chromosomal location of scab resistance genes is somewhat contradictory and confusing. An intervarietal chromosome substitution series for Sumai 3 (donor) in Chinese Spring (recipient) was created at Nanjing University, China. The substitution lines for this study were developed in duplicate and backcrossed four times to Chinese Spring. In the resistant cultivar Sumai 3, the chromosomes 7A, 2B, and 4D were found to carry major resistance genes, whereas chromosome 2D of Sumai 3 even promoted susceptibility (Yongfu Ge, personal communication). However, Yu (1982) found chromosomes iu 2A, 5A, 6D, and 7D to enhance resistance, and 2D to promote susceptibility in Sumai 3 by F2 monosomic analysis using the monosomic series of Chinese Spring.The research to identify chromosomes carrying major resistance genes involved 'back-cross reciprocal monosomic analysis' using the monosomic series of the highly scab sensitive cv. Hobbit-'sib', kindly provided by Mr. AJ.Worland (Norwich, UK), and two resistant genotypes, U-136. Here, this paper focusses on one experiment: the back-cross reciprocal monosomic analysis involving the highly scab resistant wheat genotype U-136.1, a breeding line descended from a Sumai 3 cross, and the monosomic series of Hobbit-'sib'. Chromosomes 6B, 5A, and 6D were found to have the most pronounced and constant influence on scab resistance. These findings are in partial agreement with Yu (1982), It is concluded that scab resistance is mainly controlled by only a few chromosomes; however, knowledge of gene numbers and the possible chromosomal locations does not yet greatly help the breeder to select for improved genotypes, Nevertheless, novel molecular techniques should enable inheritance studies and the development of selectable markers for scab resistance.To date, few preliminary results have been published on molecular markers for scab resistance. Bai (1995) and Bai et al.   (1995) used bulk segregant analysis with random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers in an F6 recombinant inbred population of Clark (susceptible)/ Ning 7840 (resistant). Of 1120 primers, 5 markers were associated with resistance. These RAPD markers were placed on two linkage groups. Two loci for scab resistance associated with these RAPD markers were identified using interval mapping. Gilbert et al. (1995) screened 600 RAPDs and found one RAPD band possibly associated with resistance in Chinese cultivars including Sumai 3.It can be assumed that scab resistance is controlled by oligogenes. It also seems likely that different resistance sources (e.g., from China and Brazil) possess different genes which could be combined in improved genotypes; however, whether or not a combination of different genes results in even further improved resistance remains to be seen. Molecular markers for scab resistance offer a promising tool for more efficient breeding, and may reduce the need for tedious resistance screening. Different resistance genes could be skillfully combined in improved genotypes. Several research groups (in America, Asia, and Europe) have begun work on marker development. Cooperation between research groups would be very profitable, for instance in the sharing of mapping populations and DNA markers. A possible hazard to scab resistance breeding is that only a few resistance sources are widely used; the narrow genetic base may be vulnerable to the' pathogen. Diversification in resistance sources could minimize this risk.Trichothecenes, such as deoxynivalenol (DON), are Fusarium mycotoxins produced in the wheat plant after Fusarium infection. It has been reported that plants tolerant to these toxins have an increased FHB resistance (FHBR). The toxins probably playa role in the aggressiveness of the pathogen and promote disease development and colonization by interfering with the plant's defence response which requires protein synthesis (Snijders and Krechting 1992). This hypothesis was tested by disrupting a fungal trichothecene biosynthesis gene, but did not yield clear cut answers (Proctor et al. 1995). In only some wheat cultivars was a significant difference observed in the aggressiveness of the wild type F. graminearum strains and mutants deficient in toxin biosynthesis; however, Shaner and Buechley (1996) reported that a DON deficient mutant was much less aggressive on wheat. Of the several methods described in the literature to select wheat plants with increased levels of toxin tolerance, either crude toxic metabolite extracts or highly purified Fusarium toxins have been used. Selection was carried out on germinating seeds and seedlings, callus, coleoptiles, or microspores. High correlations between in vitro tests and FHB resistance have been reported (Wang and Miller 1988;Wakulinski 1989;Lijuan et al. 1991).In this paper, an assay is presented to test DON tolerance of wheat. The method was developed using a winter wheat nursery, the FHBR of which was well known and optimized for the highest correlation with field resistance data. The assay was applied to a set of highly FHB resistant wheat genotypes and to the progeny of a cross with a wheat genotype with good FHBR and DON tolerance.Three sets of wheat genotypes were investigated. In the first series of experiments, the toxin tolerance of a nursery of 25 winter wheat genotypes was determined. The FHB field resistance of these genotypes had been meticulously investigated in five European countries from 1991-1993(Van Eeuwijk et aI. 1995). The fusarium head blight index (%FHB) of the nursery varied from 32 (highly resistant) to 67 (very susceptible). In addition, the toxin tolerance of a set of highly FHB resistant genotypes and a set consisting of breeding material was tested.To measure differences in toxin sensitivity between wheat varieties, an assay was developed based on the germination time on toxin-containing medium. Surface sterilized seeds (100 per plate, 2 replicates) were placed with the embryo upward on medium containing 20 or 30 ppm DON and on control medium, and allowed to germinate in the dark at soc. The number of germinated seeds was counted daily, plotted against days after imbibition, and subsequently fitted to a Gompertz function. As a measure of toxin resistance, the Number of Germinated seeds in the Ioxincontaining medium when in the .control medium 80% of the seeds had germinated (NGT ) was used cso (Lemmens et aI. 1994). Calculation of Gompertz functions, correlation and variance analyses were performed using SAS/STAT.Reproducible and statistically significant differences in toxin tolerance were observed between the wheat cultivars. If DON significantly contributes to the aggressiveness of the 56 H. Buerstmayr, M. Lemmens, H. Grausgruber, and P. Ruckenbauer fungus, differences in toxin tolerance of wheat genotypes are expected to correlate with differences in FHBR. The linear correlation coefficient (r) between the %FHB and NGT c 80 data varied from -0.60 to -0.85, depending on the year of testing (three seasons). This result suggests that tolerance to DON is one mechanism contributing to quantitative FHBR. The role of DON as an aggressiveness factor is therefore expected to be minimal on highly toxin tolerant cultivars. For the assay described, at least 200 seeds of a homogeneous wheat line are required. A method based on electrolyte leakage measurements, with which toxin tolerance of a single plant can be measured, is established and currently under evaluation.A small set of wheat genotypes (see Table 1) with a high FHBR level was investigated using the aforementioned method (with 30 ppm DON). A large variability in DON tolerance was observed, with Sumai 3 having a relatively low tolerance. It is concluded that not all highly resistant wheat genotypes are highly DON tolerant. This suggests that at least one additional resistance mechanism plays an important role in this pathogen-host system. Tolerance of wheat to the extracellular hydrolytic enzymes produced by Fusarium might be such a mechanism: a hypothesis currently being tested.In a final experiment, the assay was used to investigate wheat breeding material originating from a cross with a parent with good FHBR and DON tolerance. The relationship between the field resistance and NGT c 80 data is illustrated in Figure 1; the correlation coefficient was -0.82. Based on this, it is concluded that the assay could be successfully used to select FHB resistant lines. Clearly, field experiments remain indispensable; however, by using the outlined assay, the number of field inoculations can be reduced with a preliminary screening.   Wheat scab, orfusarium head blight, is the most important disease of the southern winter wheat and northeastern spring wheat growingareas in China. In recent years, scab epidemics have invaded the northern wheat growingarea. The development and utilization of disease resistant varieties is perhaps the most economical and efficient control approach. Scab resistance is thought to becontrolled by two to three major genes with several minorgenes as modifiers. Through genetic recombination and gene convergence for different resistance components, resistance levels may be further improved. To broaden genetic resources, Leymus racemosus, Roegneria kamoji, and R. ciliaris have been found to behighly scab resistant. Addition lines with chrornosomeis) of related species have been developed and identified; some show higher resistance than that of the parent Chinese Spring, and even Sumai 3. Genome and hDmoeology identification of thealien chromosome involved are analyzed through C-banding, in situ hybridization, and RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) techniques. Evidence shows that two or three chromosomes are related to scab resistance in L. racemosus and R. kamoji. To induce recombination between wheat and alien chromosomes, radiation, Phgene mutants, orgametocide genes are applied. In order to develop alien chromosome lines with higher resistance, intercrosses between different resistant alien chromosome lines have been performed. In addition, crosses between alien resistance linesand moderately resistant wheat varieties are conducted. High yieldingcultivars or elite lines are usedas recurrent parents in the backcrossing program to improve theagronomic characters of resistant lines. Anther culture is extensivelyusedfor generation advancement and homozygosity acceleration. At present, promising advanced lines with resistance and agronomic characters superior to Sumai 3 are available. Analyses of resistance and molecular cytogenetic studiesof these linesare underway. Techniques such as casting diseased seeds in thefield and singlefloret inoculation havebeen extensivelyusedfor identifyingresistance levels of parental materials, the segregating population, and advanced lines, as wellas analysis of resistance components.  however, no specific differences in varietal response have been found (Wang et al. 1985). A mixture of pathogen isolates with high virulence is commonly used as inoculum for scab resistance screening.Fusarium graminearum can attack wheat plants at all growth stages, causing seedling and stem rot or head blight; the latter causes the most significant damage to wheat yield in China. Head blight resistance can be divided into two major types: resistance to infection, and resistance to spread. Varieties with resistance to spreading suffer lower yield losses in epidemic years, hence wheat breeders should concentrate on screening for this type of resistance. Though some plant and ear morphology may have some effect on disease resistance, such as plant height, long and springy peduncle, lax spike; thin glume, and few anther residues, the association between these traits and scab resistance is never consistently observed. Some varieties with the latter traits are at times severely susceptible to scab.Differences in the speed of symptom development and final severity among land races, improved varieties, and elite lines were found after natural or artificial inoculation. In some cultivars, scab symptoms spread quickly during early stages, while in others it occurred at later stages (Yu 1990). Such differences might be controlled by different genes in different varieties; hence improvement of scab resistance by gene recombination should be possible. In addition, based on the fact that some resistant varieties are rich in enzymes which degrade deoxynivalenol (DON), Miller et al. (1985) suggested defining a third type of resistance, and screening resistant individuals by means of the retardation rate of coleoptile elongation (Wang and Miller 1988). This suggestion, however, was generally not accepted.Scab resistance of common wheat has been considered by a number of scientists to be quantitatively inherited and controlled by many minor genes (Chen 1983). Accordingly, attempts to improve scab resistance by means of recurrent selection have been made in China (Wu 1986); however, the fact that many resistant varieties were derived from crosses between resistant parents supports the existence of major genes for resistance. In transferring alien scab resistance into common wheat, evidence showed that three different addition lines New Countermeasures ot Breeding Wheat for Scab Resistance 61 involving Leymus racemosus chromosomes had high resistance (Chen et al. 1993).There are at least three major resistance genes on three different chromosomes of Leymus racemosus. At the same time, it was also observed that resistance varies among addition lines with the same Leqmus racemosus chromosome. This may suggest that scab resistance is also controlled by some minor genes in addition to major genes. A similar phenomenon was observed in the course of transferring Roegneria kamoji resistance to common wheat.Wet and warm weather conditions between heading and maturity increase scab severity. To date, mankind is still not able to control weather, and the large scale application of fungicides is hardly practical in years of abundant rainfall, resulting simultaneously in low efficiency, high cost, and environmental pollution. Thus, development and utilization of disease resistant varieties is the most economical and efficient approach for controlling scab.Scab resistance is a result of the interaction between wheat and pathogen. Genetic resources for scab resistance exist in Chinese varieties grown for centuries in epidemic areas. For instance, Wanshui bai, Red Monk, and Jianzimai from the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have been identified as highly scab resistant; however, due to undesirable agronomic traits, such as a tall plant, weak straw, lax spike, and low yield potential, these local varieties are no longer in commercial use and are rarely used in breeding programs.In the 1950s and 60s, the major wheat breeding method for scab resistance was to select variants from improved cultivars. Wannian 2 and Wumai 1 with moderate resistance were selected from the susceptible Nanda 2419 and Funo. respectively, which have been the most popular cultivars in the middle and lower Yangtze Valley.To increase mutation frequency, irradiation and tissue culture have been used in breeding for scab resistant varieties. Emai 6 with moderate resistance was developed from the progenies of a susceptible variety Nanda 2419 treated with y-ray of C0 60. Recently, elite line Ning 89-5004 was screened through somaclonal variation from susceptible cultivar Ningmai 3 (Lu et al. 1995). Irradiation combined with anther culture is widely used for increasing mutation frequency and accelerating homozygosity.Resistant varieties have been selected from different types of crosses such as susceptible x susceptible, susceptible x resistant, and resistant x resistant. The famous Chinese variety Sumai 3, with fairly stable scab resistance, was developed from a cross between two susceptible cultivars, Funo and Taiwanxiaomai; however, the appearance of resistant genotypes in the progenies of such combinations is usually very low. Using resistant varieties as parents in crosses generally increases the frequency of resistant genotypes. For example, in 1981For example, in -1983  To screen new highly resistant cultivars with superior agronomic traits, researchers have attempted to cross susceptible and high yielding cultivars with a resistant primitive variety (i.e., Wanshuibai). The resistant progenies often show inferior agronomic traits (i.e., tall plant, weak stem, and a lax spike) because the primitive variety is genetically very conservative. In the 1970s, resistant varieties such as Sumai 3, Jingzhou 1, and Xiangmai 1 were widely used in breeding, and resistant cultivars with superior agronomic characters started to appear, but unfortunately the resistance levels of these varieties never reached those of their parents.At present, some high yielding cultivars with moderate scab resistance have been developed from crosses between moderately susceptible or moderately resistant and moderately resistant cultivars, e.g., Yangmai 158 was screened from the progenies of Yangmai 4(MR) and St 1472/506 (MS). These cultivars, however, may suffer significant yield loss in severe epidemic years, thus breeding wheat for scab resistance remains a difficult task for Chinese breedersPedigree analyses of current improved resistant varieties showed that the genetic resources for scab resistance of these cultivars is limited to a few varieties such as Mentana, Funo, and Tawanxiaomai. Restricted resources for scab resistance not only hinder breeding achievements, but also bring about the problem of genetic vulnerability. Consequently, exploration of new genetic resources for scab resistance is an urgent task for wheat breeders.To broaden the genetic resource for scab resistance of common wheat, investigators have searched for new resistance genes from related species or genera. The Wheat Scab Research Cooperative Group in China identified 1557 accessions from 21 related species or genera and found only one moderately resistant material with an ancestry of Secale cereale. Jingzhou 1 and Jingzhou 4, with moderate resistance, were screened from the hybrid progenies of Nanda 2419 and the indigenous rye. Mujeeb-Kazi et al. (1983) reported that Elymus giganteus (=Leymus racemosus) showed good resistance to scab, and hybrid progenies with scab resistance were obtained. The scab resistance of E. giganteuswas confirmed by Wang et al. (1986Wang et al. ( , 1991)). Furthermore, Roegneria kamoji and R. ciliaris, growing in the humid and warm areas of southern China, were identified as having high scab resistance (Liu et al. 1989). Some alien additions with chromosomes from these related species have been identified by C-banding, in situ hybridization, or RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) techniques. Three T. aesiioum-L. rucemosus, two T. aestivum-R. kamoii, and one T. aesiioum-R. ciliaris addition lines showed higher scab resistance than their parent Chinese Spring and even Sumai 3.Although the transfer of alien genes is promising, there is still a long way to go to attain the final goals. The problems include: 1) the difficulty in using alien addition or substitution lines in conventional wheat breeding directly because alien and wheat chromosomes hardly pair and the recombination frequency is low; 2) scab resistance genes are related to two or three different chromosomes of Leymus racemosus or R. kamoji, therefore the addition, substitution, or translocation line involving one alien chromosome often shows lower resistance than its parent; and 3) wild parents exert a strong influence on agronomic traits, so the hybrid progenies are usually agronomically inferior. To overcome the difficulties, the following approaches are being tested: 1) the application of irradiation, Ph gene mutants, or gametocide genes to accelerate development of translocation lines which could be used more easily in breeding program or even for direct commercial production; 2) anther culture assisted intercrosses between different alien addition, substitution, and translocation lines to converge different resistance genes and accelerate the homozygosity process; 3) continuous backcrosses or \"rolling\" crosses (using different recurrent parents) to improve the agronomic traits of advanced lines.To raise resistance levels, recombination of resistance genes available in common wheat with those from alien species is another of our strategies. Several new advanced lines with higher resistance and better agronomic traits compared with Sumai 3 have been developed by crossing the progenies of wheat-L. racemosus with Sumai 3 or Xiangmai 1.Precise identification of resistance genes is critical; however, it is difficult to distinguish two or more by conventional methods. Molecular markers linked with scab resistance might be helpful. In cases where scab resistance originates from different species, simultaneous identification of the resistance and the alien chromatin in the progenies of wheat-L. racemosue, wheat-R. kamoii, and wheat-R. ciliaris through C-banding and in situ hybridization are adopted. In addition, attempts are being made to 64 P. Chen, D. Liu, and W. Sun seek or induce susceptible mutants from the resistant pure lines. Mapping F2 populations might be developed through the crosses of resistant and susceptible genotypes. Molecular marker maps could be also constructed through the resistant and susceptible pools.To date, no wheat germplasm has been found to be immune to scab (Liu et al., 1991). Furthermore, scab occurrence is largely affected by weather conditions so it is difficult to precisely identify disease severity. Casting the diseased seeds in the field (preferably at the site of frequent scab occurrence) at the booting stage of wheat, combined with sprinkler irrigation during anthesis to filling stage, is generally used by breeders for screening resistance to infection as well as resistance to spreading of the segregating population. Dripping a pathogen spore suspension into single florets during flowering particularly meets the requirements for identification of resistance to spreading. This technique has been extensively used for identifying the resistance to spreading of parental material and advanced lines, as well as , the analysis of resistance components (Wang et al. 1982;Xu and Fan 1982).Plant Science Department, South Dakota State University, USAAlthough scab has been recognized asan important disease in the USA sinceearly this century, research efforts havebeen sporadic. The 1993 epidemic in the Northern Great Plains, with an estimated loss of more than a billion dollars, revealed that research efforts on this disease were far from adequate. In the autumn of 1993, researchers, producers, and commodity group representatives from North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba, Canada, met to discuss the status of scab research. Research progress was reported and strategic plans for thefuture were formulated at this Annual Regional Scab Forum. This yearly event has facilitated cooperative projects and has led to the proliferation of scab related research. Regional spring wheat breeding programs are workingboth independently and cooperatively to develop scab resistant culiioars. The breeding objective is to combine \"field tolerance\" and resistance to spread in the spikeinto an acceptable agronomic background. The breeding approach is to steadily recombine different resistance sources and to simultaneously select for resistance and desirable agronomics. Although each of the breeding programs has evaluated a large diversity of germplasm, the most universal source of resistance used traces back to the Chinese cultivar Sumai 3. Field screening is performed under mist irrigation and more precise evaluation is carried out in thegreenhouse. The Uniform Regional Scab Nurseryfor Parental Germplasm facilitates the evaluation of material overa wide range of environments and provides an opportunityfor germplasm exchange between the breeders. Although the need for further research was clear to many researchers, it took the severe epidemics of 1993 and 1994 to wake up the industry and particularly the funding sources. With an estimated loss in excess of a billion dollars in the spring wheat region alone, it was evident that such research efforts were far from adequate. In the autumn of 1993, researchers, producers, and commodity group representatives from North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba, Canada, met together to discuss the status of scab research (jones et al. 1994). Research progress was reported and strategic plans for the future were formulated. It was so beneficial that the second Regional Scab Forum was held in the autumn of 1994 (Gallenberg et al. 1995), followed by a third and fourth in 1995 and 1996, respectively. Also, a regional committee (NCR 184) consisting of representatives from 13 states was organized. NCR 184 has met annually since 1994, usually in conjunction with the Regional Scab Forum. At these meetings, state representatives present updates on current disease situations and status of research. The annual scab forum and NCR-184 meetings have facilitated cooperative projects and greatly accelerated scab related research in the USA.It did not take wheat producers long to notice that cultivars varied in their reaction to scab. The profile of spring wheat cultivars has changed dramatically since the 1993 epidemic. Highly susceptible cultivars are no longer grown in scab prone areas and have been replaced by cultivars that show some \"field tolerance\". I am defining \"field tolerance\" as maintained volume weight and grain yield relative to other cultivars with similar disease symptoms. The most notable of these \"field tolerant\" cultivars is 2375. This cultivar was developed by Pioneer Hi-bred International and is currently marketed by the North Dakota Research Foundation. In northeast North Dakota where scab has been prevalent, 2375 went from being grown on 14% of the spring wheat acreage in 1993 to being grown on nearly 50% in 1996 (North Dakota Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA). The mechanism of resistance or \"field tolerance\" of 2375 has not been studied, but its early maturity and rapid grain filling rate seem to playa role. At best, 2375 is classified as moderately resistant and can certainly be ravaged under heavy disease pressure. Advanced experimental lines have been identified that have a better levels of \"field tolerance\" than 2375. Several are currently being increased and will offer producers some protection against moderate disease levels, but improved resistance is imperative.We know that with adequate genetic variability and appropriate screening methods, progress can be made through traditional plant breeding. Currently, there are three public (North Dakota State University; South Dakota State University; and University of Minnesota, USDA) and one private (Agripro Seeds Incorporated) USA spring wheat breeding programs that concentrate on breeding for scab resistance, and we work closely with Agricultural Canada, Manitoba. Although we had all been working on scab resistance, in some form or another, it was not on the top of our priority list. It was more of a desired characteristic rather than a required characteristic. Beginning in 1993, breeding for scab resistance became one of our top priorities. The breeding objective, as I see it, is to combine \"field tolerance\" and resistance to spread in the spike into an acceptable agronomic background. The breeding approach is to steadily recombine different resistance sources and to simultaneously select for resistance and desirable agronomics. Each breeding program is separate and distinct from each other. Each program uses different germplasm, various screening methods, and unique breeding schemes.A large diversity of germplasm is being used including Chinese, Japanese, South American, European, and CIMMYT. The most universal source of resistance used appears to be the Chinese cultivar Sumai 3 or Sumai 3-derived lines such as Ning 7840. Sumai 3-derived resistance gives good resistance to spread in the spike, but we continue to struggle with poor agronomic traits in segregating populations, particularly susceptibility to shattering. Other sources of resistance are continually being evaluated. We have looked at a variety of accessions of Triticum dicoccoides, T. iauschii, T. monococcum, and probably others that I am unaware of. Variation exists in most sets of germplasm, but nothing has been found that is substantially better than the resistance derived from Sumai 3. In addition to \"exotic\" sources of resistance, the recombination of \"field tolerant\" adapted breeding lines is thought to be very useful. We have also begun a joint recurrent selection program that is being implemented by Agripro. Each breeding program has contributed material, and random mating will be facilitated by the use of the chemical hybridizing agent Genesis\",Each of the breeding programs uses a combination of inoc~lation techniques, and utilize both field and greenhouse. Several field screening nurseries have been established, three in Minnesota, two in North Dakota, one in South Dakota, and one in Manitoba. Moisture is provided by automated misting systems, and inoculum is provided by either spraying the plants at anthesis with a spore suspension or spreading colonized grain. All of the programs use a mixture of Fusarium graminearum isolates collected from their respective states to produce inoculum. Studies have been done using other Fusarium species, but F. graminearum is used for large scale inoculum production. It should also be noted that in the field nurseries, the plants are also exposed to natural inoculum which is produced by the native profile of species. Greenhouse screening is normally the more precise single floret inoculation, where inoculum is placed into a central floret and spread of the disease is measured 2-3 weeks later. South Dakota and Agripro also have greenhouses equipped with mistirrigation systems, and screening is similar to the misted field nurseries.Scoring the material usually consists of a combination of a visual assessment of infected spikelets per a given number of spikes, and some assessment of infected kernels after harvest. The amount and type of data collected depends upon the desired precision level. Sometimes all that is undertaken is a visual assessment of the seed after harvest, other times individual spikes are tagged at inoculation and disease progression is recorded at regular intervals.Correlations between the different nurseries and techniques have been reasonable, particularly for resistant and highly susceptible materials. There is normally much more discrepancy among the moderately susceptible and moderately resistant lines. We have all found that it is relatively easy to eliminate highly susceptible material, but the identification of resistance requires more precision.One program I believe will be very successful is the Uniform Regional Scab Nursery for Parental Germplasm that was initiated in 1995. Spring wheat breeders from the various institutions submit their best lines to be evaluated for scab resistance in the various screening nurseries. We all test the same set of lines in our own scab screening nurseries using our own protocols. The objectives are to: 1) evaluate material over a wide range of environments, and 2) provide each other with parental germplasm. This year 36 entries were tested at 6 different locations. Mist-irrigation and supplemental inoculum were provided at all locations. The environment, inoculum source, and scoring system were different at each location. Evaluating each other's material under our own environment gives us the agronomic and scab resistance data to help us decide whether or not we want to include a particular line in our crossing block.The USA and Manitoba spring wheat breeding programs are in alliance to increase scab resistance levels in spring wheat. The greatest strength that we have is diversity. We are each using different germplasm, selecting under different environments, and using different breeding schemes. New insights are shared at the annual Regional Scab Forum, and germplasm is exchanged via the Uniform Regional Scab Nursery. We can then recombine these \"best of the region\" lines with our favorite germplasm, and begin selection under our environment. I am confident that sequential, step by step progress will be made as we recombine different sources and continue to simultaneously select for scab resistance and desired agronomic traits.Developing wheat varieties of high quality and early maturity (required for making Japanese noodles) is an important breeding objective for regions where farmers grow wheat in double cropping systems with rice. Although Nobeokabouzu-komugi shows excellent FHB resistance, at present its agronomic characters are not suitable for practical cultivation. Hence, wheat breeders have preferred to use only Sumai 3 as a crossing parent for FHB resistance. Recently, a resistant line, Saikai 165, has been developed from the cross between Sumai 3 and leading variety Asakazekomugi. However, no germplasm has been found to improve resistance to F. nivalein Hokkaido, although Sumai 3 is presumably highly resistant to both F. graminearum and F. nivale.The inheritance of FHB resistance in wheat has been studied over the last four decades. Many genetic sources of FHB resistance were classified into several groups (Snijders 1990b). The mode of inheritance and number of genes involved in the resistance of several varieties has been determined (Nakagawa 1956;Snijders 1990a;van Ginkel et al. 1996). It is essential to identify the resistance genes of these groups to be able to integrate them.The objectives of the present study were to clarify the genetic constitution of FHB resistance in Sumai 3 using doubled haploid (DH) lines and recombinant inbred (RI) lines, and to identify genomic regions of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for FHB resistance using molecular markers.Doubled haploid lines were developed from three F1 crosses (Sumai 3 x Gamenya, Sumai 3 x Emblem, and Fukuho-komugi x Oligo Culm) through the wheat x maize system (Suenaga and Nakajima 1989). F6 and F7 populations of RI lines were derived from the F1 cross Emblem x Saikai 165, by single seed descent methods.In 1995 and 1996, FHB resistance was examined in a field equipped with a sprinkler system. Simulated rainfall, ca. 13 mm dol, was provided intermittently as a fine mist to keep spikes wet after heading until harvest maturity. Six-row barley cultivar Kashimamugi, highly susceptible to FHB and early maturing, was planted in every fifth row as the spreader. When the FHB incidence of the spreader was at a low level, macroconidia of F. graminearum 'G87-36B' were distributed through the sprinkler. At the ripening stage of each line, FHB incidence and severity of five representative spikes were scored three times to obtain a consistent result according to the criteria shown in Table 1. The FHB resistance level was adjusted to that of a normal year, based on the FHB severity of 16 standard cultivars. Finally, response to FHB was classified as resistant (R), intermediate (M), or susceptible (5).Screening of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was examined in 110 DH lines developed from the F1 cross Fukuho-komugi x Oligo Culm. Polymerase chain reaction was performed using genomic DNA of DH lines as templates. Each reaction comprised 1 unit Taq polymerase (Promega), 50-70 ng genomic DNA, 0.4 mM oligonucleotide primer (10-mer Kits, Operon Technologies), 200 mM each dNTp, 1.5 mM MgCl 2 , 50 mM KCl, 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 9.0), and 0.1% glycerol (Ban et al. 1995). The temperature cycling parameters were: pre-heating, 2 min at 94°C; 60 'l-min cycles at 94°C, 1 min at 40°C, and 2 min at 72°C; and one final step of 7 min at 72°C. The association between FHB resistance and RAPD markers was evaluated by comparing the means of FHB severity of two groups of DH lines, classified according to each marker type, using at-test.More FHB incidence was detected in 1996 than 1995 due to low temperatures throughout the vegetative and maturing stages of wheat until the rainy season. The frequency distribution of FHB in DH(Sumai 3/Gamenya) fitted a trimodial distribution, classifying the FHB response into resistant, intermediate and susceptible categories (Figure 1). A similar distribution was observed for DH(Sumai 3/Emblem). The FHB severity of F1 plants of both crosses was slightly lower than that of the moderately resistant parent. Chi-square tests showed that the segregation of FHB response closely fitted a 1R:2M:1S ratio in both DH lines with FHB resistance introduced from Sumai 3 (Table 2), indicating that the resistance of Sumai 3 is governed by two major genes with additive effects.Segregation of FHB response in Rl(Emblem/Saikai 165) deviated from 1R:2M:1S because more resistance lines than expected were detected for the twogene model (Table 2). This would more likely fit the three-gene model with a 7(R+M):lS expected ratio, e.g., the observed ratio in average numbers of F6 and F7was 78(R+M):l1S (c 2=0.002, P>0.95). Furthermore, a high correlation coefficient for FHB severity between F6 and F7 (r=0.92) was found, indicating that the residual heterozygosity causing the dominant effect was low in the Rl lines. Hence, it is suggested that Saikai 165 carries three genes for FHB resistance.  3). Awned lines were more one of the resistance genes of Sumai 3 is resistant than awnless lines. Both groups definitely linked to the Bi o: B2 gene in of DH lines segregated in a 1:1 ratio for the repulsion phase. From these results, awnedness, and both F1 plants were recombination values between FHB awnless. Awnedness is considered to be response and awnedness are roughly   estimated to be 14.77±3.26% and Classifications by the four RAPD 20.69±4.20% in DH(Sumai 3/Gamenya) markers showed Significant differences and DH(Sumai 3/Emblem), respectively.in the average FHB severity of the two groups at the 5% significance level A weak relationship was detected (Figure 2). Three RAPD markers linked between FHB response and culm length each other with recombination values of in two crosses with coefficients of r=-0.57 6.4 and 11.8%. Transgressive segregation and -0.43, respectively, which implies was detected in DH lines with R, MR and that shorter plants are likely to suffer M levels of FHB resistance, suggesting FHB infection due to moist conditions in that the genetic background of FHB the test block.resistance differs between the parents.Apparent  FHB resistance associated with the four markers seems to be carried by the susceptible parent Oligo Culm (Table 4); however, three linking markers amplified the DNA bands when using Fukuho-komugi as a template, indicating lack of the Fukuho-komugi template results in increased FHB resistance. Therefore, these RAPD markers seem to be associated with the latent susceptible modifier carried by Fukuho-komugi.Expression of FHB resistance in wheat is genetically controlled and affected by environmental conditions. It is difficult to carry out experiments with several replications in various environments. Doubled haploid populations developed from F1 crosses are useful tools to evaluate quantitative characters such as FHB resistance because: 1) they are homozygous, 2) experimentation with replications is feasible, and 3) dominance effects can be excluded from the analysis.The Chinese cultivar Sumai 3 is one of the most readily available sources of FHB resistance in wheat (Liu and Wang 1991;Snijders 1990b; Wang and Miller 1988;Yu 1982). In the present study using DH lines, it was shown that the FHB resistance of Sumai 3 is governed by two major genes with additive effects. This is consistent with previous investigations of Sumai 3 (Yang 1994) and Ning 7840 derived from Auroral Anhuill I ISumai 3 (van Ginkel et al. 1996).Furthermore, a relationship between FHB response and awnedness was demonstrated, i.e., awned lines were more FHB resistant than awnless lines. This relationship is similar to that found during the investigation of F. culmorurn on winter wheat (Snijders 1990a). Clearly, one of the FHB resistance genes of Sumai 3 is linked to either awned suppression gene Bl or B2located on the long arm of chromosome SA or 6B. (McIntosh et al. 1993) in the repulsion phase.  The PHB resistance of Saikai 165 was developed from the Sumai 3 cross, and the genetic constitution of their FHB resistance was identical. This study indicates that Saikai 165 carries three PHB resistance genes, signifying that at least one resistance gene was introduced from Asakaze-komugi, the other parent which possesses a moderate to high level of FHB resistance. The segregation ratio for FHB response in the RI lines strongly fitted the three-gene model with a ratio of 7(R+M):lS. Assuming the three resistance genes expressed an additive effect, the RI lines should segregate according to a 4R:3M:1S ratio; however, they actually segregated as 25R:53M:llS in an average number of F6 and F7lines, closely fitting the 2R:5M:1S ratio (c 2=0.456, P>0.95). It was noted that one of the resistance genes introduced from Asakaze-komugi expressed weak FHB resistance with no additive effects.It was reported that Frontana, representing the Brazilian gene pool for PHB resistance, carries two or three genes, and Ning 7840, representing the Chinese gene pool, also carries two genes, and that these genes differed from one another (Singh et al. 1995;van Cinkel et al. 1996). Two resistance genes were detected in Sumai 3 as well as a new gene in a Japanese cultivar. It would be highly advantageous to be able to identify the FHB resistance genes from various gene pools and to integrate them into a leading variety.Molecular markers are useful tools to tag resistance genes or QTLs and to conduct indirect selection. From the result of a QTL analysis using 65 RAPD markers in DH lines developed from an F1 cross (Fukuho-komugi x Oligo Culm), four RAPD markers associated with FHB severity were found. It is possible to detect the latent susceptible modifier of Fukuho-komugi using three markers. They are considered to be effective not only for tagging resistance genes, but also to estimate the interaction between resistance genes during marker assisted selection.Increasing information of mapped genes and useful markers is necessary to analyze QTLs for FHB resistance. We are looking to identify genomic regions of QTLs for PHB resistance of Sumai 3.A. Mesterhazy Cereal Research Institute, Szeged, HungaryAs sources offusarium head blight(FHB, scab) resistance haveexisted for decades, the most important breeding problems havebeen the lack of information about the natureof resistance, and the lack of reliable methods to test it. Methods havebeen evaluated during the past25 years, and theircritical pointsare largely known. Spring wheat resistance sources have been incorporated into winter wheats, producing a large numberof lines with excellent resistance to FHB. Toxin accumulation only partly correlates with susceptibility. Data from replicated trials indicate that some genotypes havevery limited amountsof deoxynivalenol (DON) in comparison with infection severityof thegrains; however, in the most resistant lines, none, or only a very slight infection, occurs. In these cases, DON contamination has neverbeen detected; therefore, we can beoptimisticin breeding for highlyresistant cultivars to scab. The major problem is to incorporate this knowledge into a practical breeding process, and combine high FHB resistance with other important traits, includingresistance to other diseases, high yieldpotential, and good grain quality. mostly from Chinese, Japanese, and Brazilian wheats (e.g., Sumai 3, some This paper firstly deals with Wuhan lines, Peking 8, Nobeoka Bozu, methodical problems. As mentioned, Frontana, and Encruzilhada). Such high these problems were and are of utmost resistance levels have not been identified importance, because without reliable in winter wheat; however, excellent field methods, nothing can be concluded about resistance has been observed (Mesterhazy resistance levels, resistance factors, inheritance, and appropriate selection procedures. Additionally, nothing can be said about pathogenicity of the isolates and of Fusarium species. Also, in tests where artificial inoculation and infection are required, a lack of reliable methods will result in misleading information.According to our experience in the field, the following should be taken into consideration when using the methods for scientific purposes. 1. All inoculations should be performed at the same developmental stage, i.e., at flowering time.to obtain approximately the same flowering time for all of the heads inoculated. This is nearly impossible to achieve in wide-spaced stands. 3. Relative humidity of 100% should be secured after inoculation to gain comparable infection results. 4. More isolates are needed to produce useful information about the resistance levels of the genotypes considered. We do not have vertical races in F. graminearum and F. culmorum, but there are significant pathogenicity differences between isolates that should be considered. This largely influences the measurement of the resistance level. 5. It is necessary to maintain the same pathogenicity level for the entire inoculation time with a pathogenicity control before and after finishing the inoculations. Cultures that lose pathogenicity should be omitted from the evaluation. 6. As genotypes have different disease progress curves, four to five readings are needed to get a picture of their resistance capacity.7. As we have special resistance factors such as tolerance and kernel infection resistance, yield response and visual kernel infection are important traits to measure. 8. To properly evaluate yield reaction, it is necessary to select those heads that have been uniformly infected. Laterflowering, secondary tillers that were not inoculated with the main tillers should be omitted. 9. Foliar diseases such as powdery mildew might significantly influence the FHB reaction of genotypes; therefore, they should be controlled as far as possible without influencing FHB reaction. 10. Even if we try to achieve uniformity following these rules, results from different days when climatic conditions are not uniform at the time of inoculation might cause problems.Relative humidity can be increased by irrigation, but the temperature differences might not remain the same. Therefore, three to four control genotypes with known resistance backgrounds in every ripening group are needed to rank the new genotypes properly. Even then, at least two to three years of data are needed; otherwise, there is a high probability that inaccurate data and results may be published.Naturally, different laboratories will have different responses to these suggestions, depending on climatic conditions, financial support, trained staff, and other factors.For screening we are in a better situation. As we do not have vertical races and FHB resistance is considered horizontal and race non-specific, the methodology can be simplified. Thousands of genotypes can be screened with a single, highly pathogenic isolate of F. graminearum and F. culmorum in a single replicate. The plusvariants will be checked next year so methodological mistakes or problems can be corrected; however, inoculations should be timed according to flowering. One reading is perhaps sufficient 18-20 days after inoculation. As yield and kernel infection closely correlate with head symptoms in many cases, FHB evaluation might be sufficient for a rough judgment. Later, for varietal release, more precise work can be carried out as described. This simplified methodology is based on many years' research, as outlined by Mesterhazy (1995).Some of the latest results in resistance research in our laboratory are summarized in this section. Most effort was concentrated on spring type resistance sources. As outgoing material, Sumai 3 and Nobeoka Bozu were used to develop winter type lines with resistance similar to these donors. Among crossing partners, lines were used that had high resistance to powdery mildew and leaf and stem rust, but lacked FHB resistance. Stable lines with excellent scab resistance in winter type were produced. Their FHB resistance was screened over years. Some had good or very good resistance to FHB, leaf and stem rust, and powdery mildew, and agronomically they were improved. These intermediate products are used in Breeding for Resistance to Fusarium Head Blight of Wheat 81 breeding to improve resistance of commercial cultivars. They were free of infection or only mildly infected with highly pathogenic F. gruminearum and F. culmorurn isolates (Tables 1 and 2). It is evident that FHB is closely linked to yield reduction and kernel infection; however, there are genotypes that yield higher or have less kernel infection than anticipated, based on FHB values. Consequently, it can be stated at this stage that special resistance factors of tolerance and kernel infection resistance exist. The resistance background of these species is the same and no vertical races could be identified using isolates from different European countries; hence scab resistance seems to be durable.Toxin analyses show that the most resistant genotypes also have less toxin contamination. This was also the case when the isolate in susceptible cultivars yielded up to 100 ppm DON. Table 3 presents the DON data for 1995, showing that DON contamination depends not only on the cultivar, but also on the isolate. During tests over several years we realized that there are very large differences in DON contamination of genotypes when infection severity is similar to that shown in Tables 1 and 2. This is important, because not only resistant genotypes (Snijders 1994) can degrade DON; some susceptible genotypes can also degrade DON or can inhibit toxin accumulation although the mechanism is unknown. It is thought, therefore, that resistance to toxin accumulation can differ from resistance to FHB. Similar data were produced by  Mesterhazy and Bartok (1993), and are nearly every cross between more supported by the new findings.resistant genotypes. This would be an However, the pathogenicity of the important inclusion in our winter wheats isolates correlates much better with total since other sources of resistance help to trichothecene production (DON + avoid genetic vulnerability. We are aware nivalenol) than with production of DON that this danger is not as high as it is for alone (Table 4). This is true not only for pathogens with vertical races, but other DON-producing isolates, but also for types of race development should not be nivalenol-producing strains. The 1995 excluded. This would mean that results show that genotypes with the pathotypes with higher pathogenicity highest resistance never have detectable could be selected from a cultivar with amounts of DON; therefore, high FHB high resistance. More research is needed resistance also provides protection to answer this question. against toxin contamination.All of these breeding approaches are Other methods for improving FHB based on the assumption that FHB resistance in winter wheats should be resistance can be identified only on the considered. The cultivars Arina and heads, and therefore selection should Ringo Star, among others, show the also consider this; however, possibility of producing even more investigations have proved that in some resistant material from their crosses, genotypes, the seedling and adult stages since transgressive segregation occurs in of resistance are connected (Mesterhazy  1987). In this case, an indirect method of selection for FHB resistance is possible via seedling resistance using mass seedling selection. We now have several lines, such as 74.2 and 84.42, in which these two resistances occur simultaneously. More fundamental research is needed in this area. With this type of system, segregating generations could be screened much more simply and effectively.Another general problem is that the genetic background of FHB resistance is not very well known; work in this field is in its early stages. In FHB genetics, we are at about the level that rust scientists attained 60-70 years ago; however, the situation may change following the recent severe epidemics in Canada and USA, as it changed in Hungary in 1970.In Sumai 3, two or three genes were identified; in other genotypes (Nobeoka Bozu), polygenic inheritance is evident. Nothing is known of resistance in the European winter wheats. Furthermore, information does not exist on the different resistance sources and commonness of genes, although hypotheses can be made for both. We know now how problematic it is to Breeding for Resistance to Fusarium Head Blight of Wheat 85 identify resistance in individual plants of segregating generations, and significant improvement is needed. Therefore, caution should be taken in accepting these results as fully proven facts. It is hoped that molecular genetic work will support and help to gain up-to-date information in this field. Scab of wheat, caused by Fusarium spp., is a major constraint in the humid and semihumid wheat production areas of many countries. The progress in breeding resistant cultivars at CIMMYT and elsewhere has been slow because most known resistances occur in unadapted germplasm, and the resistances are usuallyquantitative and based on theadditive interactions of afew to several minorgenes. Three breeding strategies which may enhance the introgression and accumulation of minor genes into adapted wheats are proposed. In thefirst scheme, theF1 hybrids are developed by crossing two diverse, scab resistant wheats, eg.,Ning 7840from China and Frontana from Brazil. TheF1 hybrids are then top-crossed (three-way) with a third parent which is adapted to the target area but may lack adequate scab resistance. A large (between 1000-2000 plants) top-cross population is required to obtain sufficient plants with all four orfive minorgenes in a heterozygous condition. We propose to eitherapplyonly mild selection pressure, or no selection pressure, for scab resistance in early segregating generations F2,and F3). However, in the meantime, strong selection pressure must be applied in these earlygenerations for desirable agronomic attributes and resistance to other diseases such as rusts. The selected plants could be maintained as bulkand a large population size should be maintained in each generation. Intense selection pressure for scab resistance should beapplied in the later(F4 and F5) generations, when the level of homozygosity is higher, in order to identify afew transgressive segregants havinggood agronomic type andfour tofive genes combined for fusarium resistance. A large number of selected F5 plantscouldbe harvested in a pedigree fashion to achieve pureF6 lines, whichcould befurther assessed for resistance tofusarium. The two alternative strategies, which will reduce the population size in segregating generations, will require breeding in two steps: first, parent building; and second, transferring resistance into adapted wheats. The proposed strategies should result in the introgression of additive minor genes in an adapted background.Scab of wheat, caused by Fusarium (Schw.) Petch] predominates in wheat spp., is a major constraint in the humid growing areas of China and North and and semi-humid wheat production areas South America (Luzzardi 1985 Presently, throughout China, 5-7 million ha are cultivated to new varieties carrying CIMMYT germplasm in their pedigree, representing about 25% of the total Chinese wheat area (Wang, personal communication).No complete resistance or immunity to scab is known to occur in wheat. Various studies have shown between two to five genes involved in resistance (Gu   1983; Lin et al. 1992; Snijders 199Gb, 1994).In a recent study, Singh et al. (1995) have shown that three additive genes contribute to resistance in the Brazilian cultivar Frontana. They also observed variation in the responses of Mexican cultivars where Pavon 76 showed lesserscabbed spikelets than Opata 85 (Table 1). In a Frontana/Pavon 76 cross, transgressive segregates with superior resistance to either of the parents were recovered (Table 2). This further indicated the presence of minor additive genes. Van Ginkel et al. (1996) estimated the presence of two additive genes in the Brazilian cultivar Frontana and Chinese cultivar Ning 7840. Moreover, their results Table 1. Wheat cultivars and their mean response to scab when inoculated by cotton method, 1991 and 1993.Scabbed spikelets (0/0)  indicated that the genes in Frontana were different from those in Ning 7840, and transgressive segregates with better resistance than either of the parents were again recovered (Figure 1).The following are a few considerations for choosing a crossing and selection scheme for the introgression of scab resistance into locally adapted germplasm: 1) The best resistance sources are only moderately resistant; 2) resistance sources are usually unadapted in areas outside of their origin; 3) resistances are quantitative and under oligogenic-polygenic control; and 4) resistances are environmentally sensitive; therefore, large errors can occur in the correct identification of resistant segregates in segregating generations. Three breeding strategies are discussed.1. Simultaneous utilization of resistance from two donor sources-To allow the extraction of resistance genes from two donor parents while maintaining 50% contribution from the adapted parents, a three-way (or top) crop is suggested where Fl can be achieved by crossing the two resistant donors. This F1 can then be top-crossed with the adapted recipient cultivar. One example of such a cross is Ning 7840/ Frontana/ /Pastor, where Ning 7840 and Frontana are two diverse resistant sources and Pastor is a CIMMYT advanced breeding line and shows wide adaptation. The number of F1 top-crossed plants required to be grown will depend on the number of additive genes targeted for transfer (Table 3). It is apparent from Table 3 that large population sizes are required to enable some selection pressure to be applied. Population size should be at least 10 times larger than the minimum family size given in Table 3. Apply mild, or no, selection pressure for scab resistance in early segregating generations (e.g., Fl-top, F2, and F3) to allow homozygosity to increase; however, a strong selection pressure for desirable attributes and resistance to other diseases, such as rusts, can be applied in early segregating generations. Selected plants in these early generations can be advanced to the subsequent generations as bulk populations. Intense selection pressure for scab resistance can be applied in F4 and higher generations. A large number of selected F5 plants could be harvested in pedigree fashion to achieve pure F6 lines, which can be further assessed for fusarium resistance and other agronomic attributes. The size of segregating populations to be grown will again depend on the number of additive genes involved in the resistance (Table 4). The population size can be drastically reduced by avoiding highly susceptible recipient cultivars, i.e., using adapted parents which also contribute one or two minor genes (e.g., Pavon 76 or Catbird) (Table 4). Mild selection pressure for scab resistance applied in early segregating generations will further reduce the population size to be grown in the subsequent generation (Table 5).The success of this crossing and selection scheme will depend on the availability of resources to grow very large population sizes in each segregating generation; however, this methodology should result in adapted, scab resistant germplasm in one breeding cycle.2. Parent building-Combine scab resistance genes from various resistance donors in one parent (first step), then a Plants with at least one resistance allele at all loci. b Plants with 0-2 resistance alleJe(s). C Plants not desirable, but may be selected due to their moderate resistance. a Family size to ensure the recovery of at least one plant homozygous for all resistance alleles at P=0.05.transfer them to an adapted recipient cultivar (second step). The suggested cross in this scheme is a four-way (or double), i.e., resistant donor l/resistant donor 211resistant donor 31resistant donor 4. One example of such cross could be Frontana/Ning 78401lJapanese cultivar1central European cultivar. Selection criteria should be the same as discussed earlier, i.e., mild selection for scab resistance in early segregating generations, and an intense selection pressure from F4 onwards.Utilize highly resistant lines emerging from the above step as complex resistance donor parents. The suggested cross is simple, or one backcross with the adapted recipient cultivar. The selection process and criteria should be the same as discussed earlier. A smaller population size is required in case a simple cross is used; however, for backcrossing, the population size is the same as for strategy 1, but the contribution from the adapted parent is higher (75%) (Table 6).3. Parent building-Transfer scab resistance genes from each source to an adapted parent (first step), then combine the resistances of the derived improved lines (second step). The suggested crossing scheme in the first step involves crossing the resistant donor parents with the recipient adapted parent and then limited (one or two) backcrossing with the adapted parent, e.g., Frontanal Pastor z/Pastor = cross 1, and Ning 78401 PastorliP astor = cross 2. The selection criteria are the same as earlier and the popula!ion size considerations are the same as given in Table 6 for one backcross. The population sizes are expected to be within the manageable limits because no more than three genes are expected to be transferred in a given cross.The second step involves the crossing of resistant Pastor-type derivatives from crosses 1 and 2 in step 1. Because the resistant Pastor derivatives are related by at least 75%, a smaller population size is required to extract lines with combined resistance from two sources.The advantages of this crossing scheme over the first two schemes are twofold. Firstly, manageable segregating population sizes are required to be grown, and secondly, the intermediate products emerging from the first step can be grown commercially until the highly resistant progenies in step 2 are identified. Epiphytotics of head scab caused by Fusarium spp. havebeen severe in the southern regions of Russia since1986, most likely due to higher relative humidity levels and changes in wheatcultivation practices. Rotations with maizehave increased the incidence of scab because maizedebris is a source of initial inoculum. Besides management practices, breeding for resistance is used to control head scab. The plant uses many mechanisms to minimize pathogen damage, and theyfunction at different stages of ear and kernel development. Resistance depends on pathogen characteristics and weather conditions. These factors help to explain the variability of disease reactions both within and among varieties, as wellas amongyears. Some varieties, such as Partizanka, sustain more damage when inoculated late, whereas others, such as Massive, suffer less. Differences in the degree of damage to head, glumes, and kernels were observed in most varieties. The influence of pollen on F. graminearum spore germination has been investigated. Initially, specific pollen secretions were found to promote or depress conidial germination. With the aim offinding resistance to scab, 1500 winter wheat selection samples and 200 samples of local andforeign wheats areannually screened using artificial inoculation. Datato dateshow variation for resistance, but no immunity. Clume damage and kernel damage werefound to be poorly correlated. Furthermore, there appears to bepoor correlation between glume damage and accumulation of the toxin deoxynivalenol (DON) in the kernel. Some varieties show lowglume damage but high DON accumulation; therefore, toxin content and glume damage shouldbeevaluated separately. Good resistance wasfound in lines 4000Kll, 1221Kll -4, 2814K12, 2392h8, 89-724a719, 1432h81, and 1322h1l3 overseveral years. Planshave been made to incorporate these resistant lines into breeding programs and, in conjunction with appropriate tillage practices, control the disease in an ecologically sound way.The predominant species causing caused by Fusarium spp. have occurred scab in the Krasnodar region is F. in the southern regions of Russia since graminearum, which appeared in 96% of 1986. High relative humidity and the wheat varieties sampled. Two main changes in wheat cultivation methods for preventing head scab technologies have promoted disease epiphytotics are known at present. One is initiation and development. As a result, to interrupt wheat and maize rotation, large amounts of Fusarium inoculum since maize debris is the source of initial have accumulated, increasing damage to infection. The other method is to develop wheat crops.resistant varieties.Breeding for resistance to head scab is difficult and time consuming. The difficulty lies in the large number of mechanisms that characterize resistance in the wheat plant. Each of these mechanisms limits the development of the pathogen at different steps of pathogenesis, and ensures plant resistance at certain stages of ear and kernel development. In addition, the manifestation of plant protection reactions depends upon the conditions of initial inoculum infection, the agressiveness of the strain of the pathogen, and the environmental conditions at the time of inoculation and during disease development. These factors explain the significant differences within avariety, both within and between years. Moreover, the level of damage increases with later artificial inoculation in some varieties (e.g., Partizanka) and decreases in others (e.g., Massive and Flomura 80). Some varieties have been found to suffer no ear damage (e.g., Daritsa) (Table 1).The following results from the study of disease development and inoculation date were observed. Plants inoculated at a later date had less glume and kernel damage. Some resistance differences between varieties were sporadic; however, reliable differences between degree of glume and kernel damage were observed in most. This is because intensity and velocity of fungus colonization during glume and kernel formation are controlled by different mechanisms.The influence of wheat pollen on the germination of F graminearum conidia was also examined. Germination of fungal spores was investigated in the presence of pollen at the different stages 'of development, and was collected from different varieties. Data indicated that specific variety features occur just at these stages of host and parasite alteration. Thus, head infection by Fusarium fungi can occur at each stage from the beginning of heading till plant maturity. Plant protection from the pathogen occurs in different ways at all of these stages. For example, specific pollen secretion can initially promote or depress more active germination of pathogen spores.The aim of the investigation was to find sources of head scab resistance in Data on polymorphism for disease resistance were obtained in continuing investigations of wheat varieties and lines. Immunity was not observed. As seen in Table 2, degrees of glume and kernel damage are poorly correlated (r=0.40). This is due to the fact that glume damage evaluation gives only partial information about disease severity and it must be aided by kernel information.Analysis of the severity of head scab damage on commercial and prospective varieties of our institute showed the absence of a reliable correlation between glume damage and toxin accumulation in the grain (r= -0.15). Poor correlation (r=0.49) also occurred between kernel damage and toxin accumulation.From Table 3 it can be concluded that the manifestation of external disease Light damage to crops does not always guarantee grain useful for food and forage. A large amount of toxin may accumulate in the grain of some varieties even when lightly damaged (e.g., Krasnodarskaya 70, Olympia, and Spartanka).When variety damage was studied, it was observed that different features of the disease were manifested in the grain (Table 4):• light glume damage -light kernel damage (Daha); • heavy glume damage -heavy kernel damage (Yugtina, Otrada); • heavy glume damage -light kernel damage (Ofelia); • light glume damage -heavy kernel damage (Gorlitsa). These variations are due to different pathogen protection mechanisms. It is necessary to evaluate grain toxin content because of the absence of correlation between glume damage, kernel damage, and toxin content of the grain. When lightly damaged, kernels of some varieties accumulated large amounts of toxins, the most dangerous of which was DON.The investigations demonstrated that plant height and early maturity are important plant defense mechanisms under certain environmental conditions. Analysis of varietal disease development shows that short straw causes the wheat head to be in close proximity to the source of infection, such as soil and debris. The longer the stages of flowering, ripening, and maturation of the grain, the longer the period of ear susceptibility to infection. Tall and early maturing varieties are the most resistant (Figure 1). In the near future, use of resistant lines will result in resistant varieties, significantly decreasing the speed of epiphytotic development. Cultivation of these varieties in combination with adequate tillage operations will result in ecologically pure and sound grain. YZ. Wang Institute of Plant Protection, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, PR ChinaWheat scab orfusarium headblight (FHB) of wheat, caused by Gibberella zeae (Schw) Fetch, can befound in more than 20 provinces of Chinaand affects more than 6.7 million ha. The most affected areas are in the provinces along the Yangtze River,especially in Jiangsu province where the disease hasa high epidemic frequency and causes severe yield losses. Eighteen species of Fusarium have been identified from 21 provinces or areas. Among them, F. graminearum predominated, representing 94.5% of the samples. The differences in pathogenicity among species of Fusarium and among isolates ofF. graminearum weresignificant. Among 18 species of Fusarium, F. graminearum was most virulent and was divided into threepathogenic types: strongly, moderately, and weakly pathogenic. The number of strongly pathogenic isolates from the regions of high epidemic frequency was much greater than thatfrom regions of low epidemic frequency. To date, no pathogenic specificityofF. graminearum isolates have been found. The wheat scab pathogen multiplies on the residues of many plants. The main infectionsources are perithecia and ascospores produced on paddy stubble. Test results have demonstrated that the pathogen can survive through winter and summer in soil, diseased seeds, and in the straw of wheat, rice and maize; however, it was observed that it mainly overwintersand oversummers in the soil. In general, the pathogen can only besaprophytic on ricestubble in rice-wheat rotation areas and on maize stems in dry planting areas. Growth and decline in the number of airborne spores of the pathogen correlated closely with rainfall. Number of spores usually peaked on days of rain, and 1-2 days after rain. Ascospores and conidia had the same pathogenicity. Disease developed most rapidlyat 25°C and high moisture persistingfor more than 36 hours. Ascospores on paddystubble were the main source of initial scab infection. The disease was observed to occur sporadically. Factors determining disease development includedclimate, inoculum levels, and wheat growth stage, with temperature and humidity during headingtoflowering stages having most influenceon epidemic development. Effective disease control was based on integrated management including proper agronomic practices, chemical application, and the utilization of resistant or tolerant culiioars.Wheat scab or fusarium head blight provinces and affects more than 6.7 (FHB) of wheat, caused by Gibberella zeae million ha of the total wheat growing (Schw) Fetch, is a serious problem in area. The most affected areas are the many countries with temperate climates, provinces along the Yangtze River, especially in humid regions. In China, especially in Jiangsu province where the the disease can be found in more than 20 disease has a high epidemic frequency 98 YZ. Wang and causes severe yield losses. During 1950-1990,7 years of severe epidemics and 14 years of moderate epidemics occurred. Generally, yield loss was 10-20%; however, in years of severe epidemics, the incidence of diseased heads reached 50-100% and the yield loss was at least 40%. In addition, grain contaminated by Fusarium mycotoxins is toxic to humans and domestic animals, thus compounding the economic losses.Eighteen species of Fusarium have been identified from 2450 samples from 21 provinces or areas according to research conducted by cooperating groups in China (Table 1). Among them,  2 and 3). The incidence of strongly pathogenic isolates from the regions of high epidemic frequency was much higher than that from regions of low epidemic frequency.In Jiangsu province, the virulence of 102 isolates of F. graminearum collected from 33 counties was determined on 9 representative wheat cultivars. Differences were found in the virulence of isolates and in the resistance response of the various wheat cultivars; however, when the virulence of isolates was averaged per county, there were no significant differences between regional collections. To date, the results indicate that no pathogenic specificity of isolates of F. graminearum has been found. The wheat scab pathogen multiplies on many types of plant residue including paddy stubble and the diseased stalks of crops such as maize and soybean. These are the main sites where the pathogen lives through the winter or summer and produce perithecia. Scab was frequently found in [iangsu province where wheat was planted after rice. The main infection sources of wheat scab are perithecia and ascospores produced on paddy stubble.Test results demonstrated that the pathogen could survive through winter and summer in soil, diseased seeds, and the straw of crops including wheat, rice, and maize. It was observed that the pathogen mainly overwinters and oversummers in the soil. Infected seeds-According to tests, over 90% of inoculum from infected seeds could survive at seeding time in autumn. Although the infected seeds could increase the amount of inoculum in the soil, they had little or no direct influence on FHB of wheat.Infected wheat straw-More than 70% of ascospores from infected wheat straw could survive through to mid-May of the following year. This indicated that perithecia could overwinter and oversummer in infected wheat straw; however, under natural conditions, there is no evidence to prove that the infected wheat straw related directly to the occurrence of wheat scab.Soil-By separating the infected tissue from soil in moist fields, it was shown that the pathogen could survive 70 days, whereas survival time in the soil of dry fields was as long as 6 months. Spores could only live for 15 days in a submerged condition, but the pathogen could survive for a long time on paddy stubble in moist fields. For example, before transplanting rice, inocula was spread over the test field and compared with non-inoculated plots. The results demonstrated that perithecia were produced earlier in inoculated plots than in non-inoculated plots. The frequency of paddy straw carrying the pathogen in treated plots was 45.5-61.2%, compared with 2-5% in the control plots. These data showed that the scab-causing pathogens could survive to the next spring in the soil of rice-wheat rotation fields as saprophytes, then transfer to the rice stubble and produce perithecia. The amount of perithecia produced on rice stubble depended on the pathogen numbers which survived through summer and winter in the soil. How the pathogen oversummers and overwinters in the soil is an area that needs to be further studied.Parasitizing rice-Inoculation experiments proved that the wheat scab pathogens could parasitize rice grains, and the rate of occurrence of infected seeds could reach 1-5%. The incidence of the disease on rice was quite low under natural conditions; the average rate of infected rice ears was generally lower than 0.1% and had no direct relation to the amount of infected rice stubble and little effect on pathogen accumulation in the soil.Perithecia formation firstly requires suitable media such as paddy stubble, maize stems or wheat straw. Perithecia can also be produced on inoculated stalks of cotton and soybean, but this was rarely observed under natural conditions. In general, the pathogen could only be saprophytic on rice stubble in the rice-wheat rotation areas, and on maize stems in the dry planting areas.The research showed that the lowest temperature for producing perithecia was 7-10°C, and the most suitable was 15-20°C. The lowest soil moisture content was found to be 50-60%, and the most suitable was 70-80%.During the heading and flowering stages of wheat, the majority of airborne spores were ascospores, greatly outnumbering conidia; however, in later growth stages, the majority of spores were conidia. Growth and decline of airborne spore numbers was closely related to rainfall. Number of spores usually peaked on days of rain, and 1-2 days after rain. Ascospores could be forcibly released 1-2 em high over the soil surface, and conidia could only be released and spread under conditions of wind and rain.Inoculation experiments showed that ascospores and conidia had the same pathogenicity. The most favorable temperature range for spore germination was 15-25°C. The lowest temperature for invasion was 15°C, and scab could not occur below 15°C. Disease developed most rapidly at 25°C with high relative humidity for more than 36 hours. The shortest disease incubation period was 2-3 days, the general period was 5-7 days, and the longest was over 15 days. Length of incubation period depended on temperature and amount of inoculum.Investigation results showed that ascospores from paddy stubble were the main source of initial scab infection. Wheat scab epidemics depended mainly on the amount of primary inocula, rather than secondary inocula. Invasion mostly occurred during the flowering period of wheat. The secondary infection of conidia usually occurred after the diseased spikes appeared in the field, when it was not suitable for the invasion of conidia to wheat spikes due to a slight delay in the wheat growth period. Disease severity, however, could certainly be increased. Where different growth stages of wheat occurred simultaneously in the same region, the ascospores from rice stubble and conidia produced on earlier-sown wheat could both become primary inocula of later-sown wheat.Interval and occurrence were significant characteristics in the appearance and epidemic development of wheat scab.Interval: Between 1950-1990, severe levels of disease occurred 7 times; moderate disease, 14 times; and slight or no disease, 19 times. The disease level changed greatly ever year. The probability of an epidemic occurring was 52.5%, according to the 40-year information.Occurrence: The disease occurred over large areas in a short time. Our information showed that in some areas, the incidence of wheat scab reached up to 100% in 9 days.The factors determining disease development included climate, inoculum levels, and wheat growth stage.The effect of climate on disease occurrence was divided into three independent phases. In the first phase, the period prior to wheat heading, weather influenced the formation and accumulation of Gibberella asci and acospores. From heading to flowering, the second phase, suitable temperature and moisture was essential for the spread and infection of ascospores. Following infection, the final phase, weather influenced disease development. Of the three phases, the weather conditions of the second phase had the strongest influence on disease epidemic development.Temperature and moisture greatly influenced infection and disease occurrence. At SO% RB, the time from spore invasion to symptom occurrence was 7-S days at 15°C, 4-5 days at IS-20°C, and 2-3 days at 25°C. Below 15°C the disease was not produced, hence warmer and rainy days during the susceptible wheat flowering stage determined scab epidemic development. The most favorable epidemic conditions were at 25°C and >SO%RH.Ascospores that developed on paddy stubble were the source of initial inoculum. The relationship between developing time and/ or amount of ascospores and disease development was determined by humidity and temperature at the wheat heading to flowering stages. As temperature increased in early spring,perithecia were produced early, and maturation and spread of ascospores was also earlier. When the weather was favorable for ascospore formation and accumulation, and favorable for infection and disease development, the disease was severely epidemic. If these conditions did not occur, the disease could reach epidemic levels, even if the acospore population was sufficient for infection in the early spring.Our study showed that wheat susceptibility to scab varied with growth stage, and was highest during flowering.• The relationship between warmer, more moist climates and disease epidemic development was illustrated when flowering occurred during warm, rainy days, and resulted in severe disease levels. When these climatic conditions occurred after flowering stage, scab intensity was low. • In the field, scab occurred 10-15 days after flowering. For the same wheat variety, a difference in flowering time caused a corresponding change in the time of disease initiation and outburst. Accordingly, the wheat growth stage was selected strictly for inoculum invasion. • When the different growth stages of wheat (up to heading) were sprayed with fungicide, the most effective protection time was found to be during flowering; at other stages, the benefits of spraying declined sharply. • When the different wheat growth stages were sprayed with inoculum (conidia suspension), wheat heads at flowering were infected most. When sprayed before or after flowering, the wheat was infected to a lesser extent.According to the factors affecting the occurrence of wheat scab, disease control was found to be effectively based on integrated management induding proper agronomic practices, chemical application, and the utilization of resistant or tolerant cultivars.Scab occurs during moist, warm weather, and especially where soil moisture is high. If the groundwater level and soil moisture content can be smoothly lowered, inoculum on host residues in the soil can be reduced, growth of wheat roots promoted, and disease resistance of wheat enhanced. Results demonstrated that scab was able to be controlled in this way by up to 50% in a year of slight disease occurrence, and 20-30% in a year of serious scab occurrence, provided the water in the field was easily drained away.This is the most effective measure for controlling wheat scab. Our study focused mainly on techniques for evaluating the scab resistance of wheat varieties, and selecting scab resistant germplasm sources or cultivars.Screening techniques for resistance to wheat scab-Wheat scab reached epidemic levels when conditions were favorable. These conditions had to be created by artificial means in order to accurately evaluate the resistance of 1. Spreading the diseased wheat grains on the soil surface in the field at the booting stage of wheat: This method induced scab epidemics in the field, similar to the natural pathogenproduced condition. In a dry climate, the moisture levels of the spikes and soil surface could be maintained by sprinkler irrigation. Perithecia and ascospores of Gibberella zeae on diseased wheat grains on the soil surface were produced and spread conveniently. The method was effective for evaluating large numbers of wheat germplasm or material in the field. 2. Inoculating the floret during headingflowering by injecting a spore suspension into the middle of the wheat spike: The inoculum was able to be quantitatively applied. This method could be quickly and reliably used for evaluating the hyphal spread resistance of the key materials and advanced lines, and even for the genetic study of scab resistance. 3. Spraying spore suspension onto the spikes during the flowering stage of wheat:. This method was usually applied in the greenhouse or in the field for selecting effective fungicide. Sometimes it could be used to evaluate both the initial infection resistance and the hyphal spread resistance of wheat material; however, more valuable material could be destroyed by spraying spore suspension under highly favorable conditions for scab. Selecting scab resistant cultivars-The results showed that a significant difference in scab resistance was found among wheat cultivars (or lines), but no immune varieties existed. Some resistant varieties such as Sumai 3, Wang shui bai, Yan gang fanf zhu, Wen zhou hong-heshang, and Ning 7840, have been obtained from more than 10,000 lines of wheat. These materials were usually used as parents for crossing to improve scab resistance and agronomic characters. In recent years, new cultivars with moderate resistance and high yield, such as Ning 9312 and 895004, had been developed in Jiangsu province.The results from 12 test sites in Jiangsu in 1996 demonstrated that the average yield of Ning 9312 reached over 6.75 t ha'. The planting area of line 895004 in southern Jiangsu reached 7,000 ha. These varieties will shortly be included in wheat production in Jiangsu province.Wheat scab often occurs and spreads rapidly in rainy climates, so suitable fungicides with strong systemic properties and high adhesiveness are needed for control.Our research demonstrated that carbendazim and thiophanate-methyl were the most effective fungicides for scab control. Mist spraying at 0.75 kg(a.i.) ha' was the best application method, which gave 5-7 days effectiveness on the plant. A mixed fungicide, Wen-Mei-Jin (WMJ), composed of carbendazim and triademefon, and developed by the Institute of Plant Protection, [iangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, had a significant synergistic action. The application dosage was 0.75 kg ha' using the mist spray method as above. Wen-Mei-jin was widely applied in scab prone areas such as Jiangsu province, Anhui province, Hubei province, and Shanghai. The level of control achieved was 80-90% and wheat yield increased by 20%.The level of control achieved with a fungicide spray was determined, to a great extent, by spray period and number of applications. Flowering period, determined as the most susceptible wheat growth stage, was the key period for fungicidal protection. Number of applications was determined according to the weather forecast. If a cloudy and rainy period lasted for 3 days during the heading to flowering stage, fungicide must be applied 1-2 times at the 80% heading to 10% flowering period. Spraying interval was about 5-7 days. If it was raining at the time of spraying, two applications in the interval between rains were found essential to achieve a satisfactory level of control. About 10-15 main species make up   o+--+---t-+--+-f---+--+-+---+-  pathogenicity is countered by the use of resistant wheat varieties,Fusarium spp, were collected in southwestern Ukraine and identified by Bilai (1977), Strains were divided into pathogenic groups using a laboratory test described by Klechkovskaya (1986), In field tests, plants were treated with routine phytopathological methods such as sowing infected ears (Klechkovskaya and Korenevsky 1990). In vivo enzyme activities were determined according to Afshari-Azad (1992), and in vitro enzymes by the method proposed by Wolf and Wirth (1990), Enzyme activity was expressed in conventional units of optical density (E) on 100 mg dry mass of fungi mycelium, or on 1 g green mass of plant. Common saccharides in the. healthy control plants and in the infected plants were determined by colorimetrical anthronic method (Levitsky and Kulbida 1992). Activity of trypsin inhibitor (TI) was monitored by a method used for winter wheat varieties (Adamovskaya et al. 1990).Highly pathogenic Fusarium strains possess mostly high levels of hydrolase activity, especially xylanase and cellulase (Table 1), Common hydrolase activity in the infected plants depends on the level of variety resistance to Fusarium. In our experiments, the varieties Zaliv and Obrij were used as relatively resistant and tolerant genotypes, and Odesskaya polukarlikovaya and Orestis as susceptible and nontolerant. The fungi mycelium mass was considerably larger in the susceptible varieties (Figure 2a). Due to Fusarium fungi enzymatic activity, the common enzyme activities must be higher in extracts from susceptible varieties; however, as it can be seen in Figure 2b, the resistant wheat varieties had a higher hydrolase activity after infection. It can be assumed that the plant's hydrolase activity predominates in the analyzed extracts, taking part in the lignification of infected tissue of resistant and tolerant wheat varieties. It can also be assumed that the process of decomposition by hydrolase was so fast in the susceptible varieties that within two weeks after infection, the concentration of hydrolysis products became high enough to suppress the synthesis of all other enzymes and their activities.When considering the important role of plant-derived hydrolase during the growth and defense reactions of plants, it is necessary to mention the role of saccharides. Due to the activation of splitting cellulose and hemicellulose, the monosaccharide content increases in the tissues of infected plants. Experimental results show a typical surplus of fructose concentration in areas of pathogen penetration, such as the epidermis and parenchyma, In the resistant variety Obrij, the fructose concentration increased by 30% compared with the control, whereas the susceptible variety Odesskaya polukarlikovaya did not show concentration changes after inoculation. Thus, the higher the common hydrolase activity in plants, the more saccharides are accumulated in One of the important components of sites of pathogen contact (r=O.47-0.85***). the common protective reactions of The more saccharides that accumulate in wheat plants is the activity of protease infected tissue and the more enduring inhibitors. Winter wheat varieties that are they are, the longer plants can resist relatively resistant to scab possess a infection.  Analyses of plant breeding history demonstrate that breeding for transgressions is the most productive method of selecting resistant plants. For instance, the highly resistant and tolerant winter bread wheat cultivar Odesskaya 51 was derived from the hybridization of varieties Odesskaya 16 and Bezostaya 1.Both were susceptible and nontolerant to Fusarium infection. In our experiments, stable plant resistance and tolerance have been achieved by selecting steppe ecotypes in local breeding institutes. These varieties do not possess very high levels of resistance and tolerance but complement each other with different components which determine productivity and resistance to Fusarium infection. Negative transgressions were found for all hybrids in the second generation (Table 3).We succeeded in increasing the levels of resistance and tolerance of such varieties as Progress, Yuzhnaya Zarya, and Odesskaya polukarlikovaya through three cycles of selection under conditions of severe infection. A quick elimination of weak, nonvital genotypes, and the general correction of the proportion of variety compounds with different Interesting information was obtained characteristics were observed. As a result by comparing the intravarietal structure their resistance increased by a factor of of resistant and susceptible varieties. 1.5-2.0. For resistant and tolerant Odesskaya 51 and Obrij were chosen as varieties Zaliv, Obrij, and Ol'viya. no long-living, resistant and tolerant significant increases were obtained varieties, and Odesskaya (Table 4).polukarlikovaya and Yuzhnaya Zarya as   influences of microorganisms. One genotype which could perish under severe infections can produce a significant yield increase in response to stimulation; however, such genotypes were not numerous among nontolerant varieties (these did not exceed 15-20% of the total samples). On the contrary, about 25-30% of the studied mycotrophic lines suffered and perished under severe infection pressure. Correlation coefficients between these properties are positive, but not significant (r=0.21-0.26). Therefore, genetic systems which cause mycotrophy and tolerance could have a common genetic background.Resistant and tolerant Odesskaya 51 and Obrij, which have sustained their qualities for many years, consist of nearly 60% resistant and tolerant lines. It is obvious this number is enough to maintain yield stability and general resistance. Highly susceptible varieties Odesskaya polukarlikovaya and Yuzhnaya Zarya mostly have proportions of resistant and tolerant lines of 82.4% and 75.4%, respectively. These results are contradictory but in line with data from other experiments. As shown in our field trials, intravarietal selection is more effective for highly susceptible varieties (Table 4).Pathogens attacking resistant lines suffer extreme conditions. In these situations, fungi survival depends directly on their ability to produce a large number of spores, chlamydospores, and conidia (Zdanova and Vasilevskaya 1982). It can be assumed that if the proportion of resistant lines in a variety technological qualities. A feeding trial exceeds 60%, a selection of highly carried out on white rats showed that pathogenic Fusarium strains may occur.weight gain in g kg' feed intake wasThis may lead to a more aggressive high for varieties with a good pathogen population which is lethal even combination of Fusarium resistance and for relatively resistant types. Therefore, excellent technological and fodder we propose the development of varieties qualities, e.g., variety Obrij (Table 5).composed of about 60% resistant and tolerant lines, and about 20%   1982 1983 1984 1985 1987 1989 1990 1991 1993 (no.)  In Fusarium culmorum-inoculatedfield trials, a significant regression relationship was found between incidence and severityoffusarium earblight (FEB), and between % infected spikelets and 1000grainweight of wheat. In cv. Avalon,an estimated 0.5 t ha! would belost for every 10% increase in the disease. In glasshouse trials, the most effective fungicidal control ofF. culmorum infection of wheat ears was demonstrated by tebuconazole and prochloraz, applied 7 days prior to inoculation. The variable retention of a sodiumfluoroecein tracer was demonstrated on theears of a range of wheatculiioars, and scanningelectron microscope studies showed massive internal colonization of protected surfaces prior to the appearance of visible symptoms. These factors may help to explain variability in fungicide performance. A link between height and FEB resistance in wheat cultivars was demonstrated.      Mean % of spikelets infected a 7 0 , --------------- was harvested and threshed using a single ear thresher, and total grain weight together with four replicate 1000 grain weights were recorded. Single tillers were harvested and the number of grains per ear, weight of grains, and 1000 grain weights calculated. Regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between disease, number of grains per ear, and 1000 grain weight. A similar analysis was also carried out in an attempt to relate incidence and severity data from the miniplots.The relationship between % ears infected and % spikelets infected 28 days post-inoculation in miniplots is given in Figure 1. These data indicate that the relationship between incidence and severity was linear and close (r 2 =0.94).In future, therefore, assessments of disease incidence in miniplots may be used solely as a quantitative measure of disease. The effect of FEB on the 1000 grain weight of wheat determined in miniplots and on 1,200 individual tillers is given in Figure 2. Increasing FEB severity, as expected, reduced the 1000 grain weight. The regression relationships Mean % of spikelets infected b 7 0 r - ------------  for the miniplots and single tillers were not significantly different, and over 50% of the variation in 1000 grain weight was accounted for by these relationships. It can be estimated that in the cultivar Avalon, a yield loss of 0.5 t ha\" would result for every 10% increase in FEB (assuming an average yield of 8 t ha\").An experiment was set up in the glasshouse to test the efficacy of a range of fungicides against F. culmorum. Winter wheat plants of cv, Avalon were inoculated with 200,000 conidia per ml of F. culmorum to run-off when plants were at early to mid anthesis. Twelve hours after inoculation, plants were mist irrigated. Each of the fungicides were applied at each of three times: 7 days before inoculation, 2 days after, and 5 days after inoculation, using a precision pot sprayer. Tebuconazole was applied at 1 L ha\" ai (treatments 5, 9, and 13, respectively). Chlorothalonil was applied at 2 L ha? ai (treatments 6, 10, and 14, respectively). Prochloraz was applied at 0.9 L ha\" ai (treatments 7, 11, and 15, respectively) and pyrimethanil applied at 3 L ha\" ai (treatments 8, 12, and 16, respectively). Treatments 1-4 were the four fungicides applied to non-inoculated plants. The mean % spikelets infected per plant was calculated 12 days after inoculation.Figure 3 shows that tebuconazole and prochloraz applied 7 days before inoculation (treatments 5 and 7) were the Mean % of spikelets infected 35 30 -------------------------------------25 ------------------------------------ The results of a parallel F. culmoruminoculated field trial did not completely reflect these data. In general, both trials demonstrated the superior performance of protectant pre-inoculation treatments, but in the field there was reduced fungicide efficacy compared to the glasshouse, and less difference between products.Problems associated with efficacy and consistency of performance of fungicides are the result of several 118 DW. Parry. P. Jenkinson, J. Liggitt, A. Hilton, and J.A. Clement factors including difficulties of applying fungicides designed primarily for the leaf to the ear. Preliminary investigations have been conducted into the retention of a tracer dye, sodium fluorescein, on the ears of wheat at a range of stages during anthesis. The tracer was applied in a mixture with a surfactant using a conventional applicator at a rate of 210 L ha'. Treated ears were allowed to dry for 20 minutes prior to washing in water, decanting solutions, and determination of the concentration of sodium fluoroscein using a spectrophotometer. Ears were then oven-dried and the amount of retained tracer expressed as rnl g-l dry weight of tissue (Table 1).Cultivars differed considerably in the amount of tracer retained, from 5.36 ml g-l in the cultivar Riband, to 28.18 rnl g-l in Brigadier. Retention was maximal at the end of anthesis. These data indicate that fungicide performance may vary because some cultivars are likely to retain more active ingredient than others. It is unusual for fungicides to be formulated for application to the ear although it is likely that this could improve performance significantly, particularly on those varieties which retained lower amounts of sodium fluoroscein tracer.A further factor which is likely to influence fungicide performance is the timing of application. In order to be cost effective, some farmers only apply fungicides either when wet weather occurs during anthesis, or when the first symptoms appear. Studies conducted using the scanning electron microscope have revealed that once there are visible symptoms of F. culmorum, there has been massive internal colonization of protected surfaces by the fungus (Figures 4a and b); hence, it may be too late for fungicides to have a major impact on disease development.During the 1994/95 season, the morphological characters in wheat cultivars which might influence the development of FEB were measured and related to disease severity in field plots inoculated with Fusarium spp./M. nivale.Measurements were taken from cultivars which differed in heights: relatively tall cultivars, Spark, Cadenza, Mercia, and Riband; and shorter cultivars, Hereward, Brigadier, Hunter, and Genesis. Regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between disease severity and these selected morphological characters (Table 2).   Tiller height was the only 3. Development of a forecasting system morphological character of those for FEB in order to maximize fungicide performance and reduce pesticide measured which showed a significant input. relationship with FEB severity. The 4. Further development and application of shorter cultivars had more disease than diagnostics in the studies of FEB the taller. For example, six weeks after significance, epidemiology, and control. inoculation Spark had 25% FEB, whereas 5. Increased understanding of infection Brigadier showed 58%. Whether or not processes. this is the result of a microclimate effect 6. A greater understanding of the basis of around taller ears or a genetic effect is disease resistance in cereal cultivars the subject of current research.leading to a more rational approach to breeding for disease resistance.Resistance tests over many years have proved that most commercial wheat cultivars are susceptible or highly susceptible to fusarium head blight (FHB). As the development of more resistant cultivars is slow, the susceptible genotypes should be protected with fungicides. In the past decades, chemical protection has given only moderate results, possibly due to application mistakes (delayed) and poor fungicide efficiency. Generally, data from control experiments is limited (Parry 1995), with most originating from extension papers (Daugenet et al. 1991;Caron 1995;Caron et al. 1990;Obst 1991). There are a number of scientific publications that show that the efficiencies of different fungicides on FHB largely differ (Deimel and Schramm 1990;Fehrmann and Diehl 1989;Hutcheon and Jordan 1992;Mesterhazy and Bartok 1996). It is widely agreed that tebuconazole is among the most effective fungicides tested to date.Not only does FHB cause yield reductions and losses in baking and feed quality, but toxin contamination of harvested grain is a health hazard to humans and animals. Grain contaminated with well over the accepted levels for deoxynivalenol (DON) or zearalenone results in a total loss for the grower; the grain cannot be traded, and additional costs are incurred to destroy it.Test results from 1992,1994, and 1995 are considered in this paper. Sections of this work have been published by Mesterhazy and Bartok (1996); however, the first evaluation of the 1995 results is presented here. The novelty of these tests is that a very effective microplot method was applied (Mesterhazy 1995), and besides visual field symptoms, yield reduction, kernel infection, and toxin contamination were also investigated to provide more detailed information on the effect of fungicides on FHB. Fungicide tests were performed from 1991 and included many fungicides suggested for FHB control. Spraying was carried out at full flowering, and artificial inoculation performed, on four different isolates per plot (6 m-) in three replicates. All fungicides were applied according to the manufacturers' recommendations. One replicate comprised a group of 20-25 heads, sprayed with the suspension of the given isolate.Inoculation involved the application of two Fusarium graminearum and two F. culmorum isolates with differing pathogenicities and capacities for DON production. Inoculum production, inoculation techniques, and trait evaluation have been described by Mesterhazy (1983Mesterhazy ( , 1995)). Each treatment was carried out in a four-plot replicated design. Following spraying, a polyethylene bag was placed over every group of heads for 24 hours to ensure 100% RH necessary to initiate the infection process. As the isolates differed in agressiveness, four epidemic situations were able to be simultaneously studied. The tests involved two or three genotypes of differing resistance levels (Zombor and Zugoly, more susceptible; Bence, more resistant). Evaluation of head symptoms was carried out five times. After harvest, 10 ears were separated, threshed, weighed, and visually rated for scabby grains. The grain samples were screened for DON content by HPLC supplied with a diode array detector which enabled an exact identification based on the DON spectrum. No other Fusarium toxin was found despite the capacity to detect nivalenol, zearalenon, and other toxins in the samples. In view of these results, chemical control of the disease can be considered ecologically friendly because the Fusarium toxins are 100-1000 times more poisonous than the fungicides used to control them.Control of FHB is higher on more resistant varieties, with full control sometimes achieved. The 1992 results (Table 1) show that fungicide efficacy of was higher on Bence than on more susceptible cultivars.In 1992, an inoculation was made the day after fungicide treatment, followed by a further inoculation 10 days later. All fungicides were found to be as effective as when applied at flowering time, demonstrating a prolonged effect. Usually a later inoculation is less effective, however in this year, heavy rains occurred after the second inoculation so the epidemic developed just as severely, 10 days earlier. The tests demonstrated that delayed inoculation may cause serious consequences.In 1994 and 1995, more fungicides were tested to produce an overview of the chemicals frequently used for FHB control (Tables 2 and 3). The aggressiveness of the isolates significantly influenced the protective effect of the fungicides and correlated well with DON levels measured in the samples. Carbendazim generally gave 122 A. Meslerhazy poor protection, whereas all other fungicides were significantly better (Kolfugo with 25% carbendazim, 1.5 L ha-l ) but did not achieve sufficient control (Tango, 1 L ha-l; Rex, 1 L ha-l ; Duett, 1 L ha-l ; Alto Combi increased dosage, 1 L ha-l ; Granit, 1 L ha-l ; Tilt, 250 ECi Milstar, 1 L ha': Bayleton, 0.5 L ha-l; Benlate: Bayfidan; Alert). The best results were achieved using tebuconazole fungicides [Folicur, BT 1 L ha-l; Folicur 250 EC (Horizon), 1 L ha-l; Folicur Plus (Matador), 1 L ha']. At lower epidemic levels, effectiveness differed only slightly between these fungicides, but at higher levels, Folicur 250 EC and Folicur Plus with doubled tebuconazole content were significantly better. However, under heavy epidemic conditions the protective effect was only 50-60%. Grain toxin contamination was proportional to the infection severity of the heads or grains. Where no visible infection occurred, no detectable DON concentration was measured. Correlations between DON contamination and disease severity, yield reduction, and kernel infection were above r=0.95, significant at P=O.l %.Toxin contamination is dependent not only on the fungicides used, but also on the pathogenicity of the isolate. For FHB susceptible cultivars, it is reasonable to automatically include a preventative spraying into the plant protection technology. Special care is needed to protect seed-production fields. For cultivars with higher FHB resistance, a control is needed for when a longer wet and warm period occurs. Spraying severely infected fields has only a 124 A. Mesterhazy moderate or very moderate efficacy and is a waste of money. It should be noted that for wheat growing areas where average yields are low, such as large areas in USA, Canada, or Russia, and in developing countries, fungicide treatment is not highly feasible. In these cases, only the more resistant cultivars will be useful.Modern fungicides have a broad spectrum against different diseases. Therefore, spraying at flowering time would be economic even if FHB is absent, because rusts, powdery mildew or Septaria spp. can be effectively controlled and, according to the resistance data of cultivars, most are lacking one or more of these resistances and thus require protection.It can be concluded that most fungicides have only a limited effect on FHB. This is surely the main explanation for the results of insufficient control. Among those tested, the more efficient fungicides, such as those with a tebuconazole content, were found to achieve the best FHB control; however, there is a great need to develop even more effective fungicides. In the meantime it would be reasonable to withdraw highly susceptible genotypes from commercial production. Breeding efforts should concentrate on creating cultivars that are not susceptible to FHB and other important diseases.M. Pifieiro Mycotoxin Department, Technological Laboratory of Uruguay (LATU), Montevideo, UruguayIn Uruguay, Fusarium spp. (mainlyF. graminearum) invade grain both in thefield and in storage, and produce mycotoxins of which deoxynivalenol (DON) is the most prevalent. Under temperate and humid conditions, F. graminearum causes fusarium head blight (FHB, scab), adversely affecting crop development and grain quality. A three-year study was conducted in order to determine the naturaloccurrence of Fusarium toxins [trichothecenes (DON,Ac DON,NIV,FX, and zearalone (ZEA)] in wheat and other prioritygrains in Uruguay. DON was the most abundantof the toxins detected with significant values in 47.'7% of samples, and 15 Ac DON was the predominant isomer. ZEA was detected in 17.7% of samples. DON concentrations in wheat samples ranged from <80 to >1000 ppb. As 1994 was a prominent year for FHB of wheatin Uruguay, CIMMYT advanced breeding lines were evaluated for FHB susceptibility and mycotoxin content. The trichothecene with the highest incidence was DON, with levels of 80-2235 ppb. A direct relationship between disease severity and toxin concentration was notfound based on the association of Fusarium field infection and DON content; however, high levels of DON were found only in heavily infected plants, and low toxin levels correlated with a lack of disease incidence in thefield. The majorityof the Chinese-origin lines showed high levels of FHB resistance combined with low trichothecene concentrations. These could be selected as scab resistant lines for future use in wheat improvement programs.causes seedling death, reduces germination, affects grain size, color, and Fusarium graminearum is the most industrial quality, and produces toxins. common toxic fungal species affecting wheat and other small grains in Uruguay.Under ideal environmental conditions, temperate and humid weather with coldIn order to assess the intake of and hot daily cycles, it causes grain scab.mycotoxins from food sources in Laboratory of Uruguay (LATU). These toxins were chosen because Fusarium is the predominant fungal contaminant due to prevailing weather conditions.Samples were screened for trichothecenes and ZEA by TLC and confirmed by HPLC. Of a total of 443 samples surveyed, 47.4% showed evidence of DON and 13.5% of AcDON, with 15 AcDON being the predominant isomer (Table 1). ZEA was present in 17.7% of the samples. Of the samples, 68.4% were negative for all toxins tested.  All grain categories contained some Fusarium toxins, with wheat and barley having the highest levels of DON (Table 2). For wheat, 3.2% of samples exceeded the DON 1 ppm MERCOSUR guideline, and 3.7% were above the ZEA 200 ppb recommendation (Table 3).Twelve F. graminearum monosporic isolates were also tested for toxin production. They were grown on moist rice, cultured, and extracted with methanol-water (45:55.) / chloroform. Analysis was performed by TLC and HPLC, and toxins were confirmed by GC/MS (Plant Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada). Results showed that 11 of the 12 strains were DON and/ or ZEA producers, and 9 isolates were 15 AcDON producers (Table 4). No NIV or FX was detected. Mass spectral data yielded other minor mycotoxins; 13-0H-apotrichothecenes, 11-epiapotrichothecenes, From the grain survey data in which DON, ZEA, and 15   AcDON). These results are in accordance with North American, Argentine, and Mexican data.A pilot plan for monitoring mycotoxin contamination in food and feeds was implemented by the Mycotoxin Department of LATU and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (Singh and Tu, in press). The aim of the project was to determine the potential hazard posed by priority food-contaminant combinations.The choice of foods and contaminants to be monitored was based on the importance of the food in the local diet, the economic importance of the product, and the potential health risk posed by the specific combination. The principal commodities selected were wheat, barley, and rice. Among the mycotoxins analyzed were the Fusarium mycotoxins zearalenone and DON. Also included were aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, and ergot alkaloids.The survey results of 1993-95 showed differences in both the incidence and levels of mycotoxin content for the principal commodities. Of all food categories analyzed, feed had the highest values for all mycotoxins. Fusarium toxins were the most prevalent and DON wac; the only toxin present in all groups. In all grain categories, DON was detected in levels above 1 ppm. For wheat, DON concentrations ranged from <80 to >1000 ppb. Most wheat samples (93%) had DON levels <500 ppb (Figure 1). All grain categories tested had >83% undetectable levels for ZEA, with 95% of wheat samples <100 ppb.Due to climatic conditions, 1994 was a prominent year for fusarium head blight (FHB) disease in Uruguay. Given this unique opportunity, numerous CIMMYT advanced breeding wheat lines were evaluated for FHB field infection, and selected for varying degrees of resistance. A group of these selected lines (75), with different degrees of susceptibility to FHB, were assayed for Fusarium mycotoxin content (DON,NIV,and T2). The aim of the experiment was to identify the prevalent trichothecenes in Uruguayan wheat and to study the Samples from CIMMYT selected wheat cultivars and special lines of the 1994-95 crop were collected from experimental plots at INIA/La Estanzuela, Uruguay. Severity of FHB was determined by surveying wheat spikes in the field and employing the CIMMYT visual double-digit system. Mycotoxin analyses of the naturally infected wheat samples were performed by TLC and confirmed by HPLC.The frichothecene present with the highest incidence in the wheat lines tested was DON, with levels varying between 80-2235 mg kg'. In 5 of the 75 lines, the presence of 15-AcDON was detected, and in only one line, NIV and T2.Association of Fusarium field infection with mycotoxin content did not indicate a direct relationship between disease severity and toxin concentration; however, high levels of DON were only found in the heavily infected plants, and low toxin levels correlated with a lack of disease incidence in the field. Intermediate toxin values could not be correlated to disease severity or virulence.High levels of resistance, expressed as low FHB severity, combined with low DON concentrations were found in the majority of the Chinese-origin lines (Figure 2, Table 5). These could be selected as scab resistant lines for future use in wheat improvement programs.Fusarium contamination and toxin formation. This will be attempted through selection of resistant lines, employing genotype identification, and screening resistance genes to FHB and mycotoxins using RAPD primers and other molecular techniques. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9cab53ebe8d50d44fa989e4dca145b10","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1e14bbea-e90b-41a2-928c-d1a936174a86/retrieve","id":"-1424453553"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"da9d6db7-d1e9-4ece-8929-572556461352","content":"Published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 License * The authors acknowledge the support of the government of the Netherlands, through the GRPI-2 project, which made the country-specific research possible. The GRPI-2 project is operated under the umbrella of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)/Treaty Secretariat/Bioversity Joint Capacity Building Programme for Developing Countries on the Implementation of the International Treaty and its Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-Sharing. The authors also acknowledge support from the Consortium Research Programmes on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) (led by CIAT) and Policies, Institutions and Markets (PIM) (led by IFPRI). Many thanks are due to the following people who provide written comments on early drafts of this article:The objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) are basically identical -to promote the conservation and sustainable use of the biological diversity and the equitable sharing of benefits derived from its use. 1 However, the access and benefitsharing systems to which these international agreements commit their member states in pursuit of these common objectives are very different. One system, under the ITPGRFA, is designed to support the international pooling and sharing of genetic resources for agricultural research and food security. The other system, under the CBD, is designed to allow each country to carefully control access to its sovereign resources, subject to individually tailored benefit-sharing agreements.Progress in domestic implementation of both systems has been considerably slower than expected. One factor contributing to this delay is that national policy makers are uncertain about how to address the interface between these two access and benefitsharing systems. This challenge is exacerbated by the fact that, in most countries, departments of agriculture have responsibility for domestic implementation of the ITPGRFA, and departments of environment are responsible for the CBD, and these agencies are often not coordinating sufficiently their policy development concerning access and benefit-sharing issues. Another factor contributing to delay is that, so far, no comprehensive guidelines or decision-making tools have been created to assist countries to implement the ITPGRFA's multilateral system of access and benefit sharing. Such guidelines do exist with respect to access and benefit-sharing norms under the CBD, most notably in the form of the Bonn Guidelines on Access to Genetic Resources and Fair and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits Arising Out of their Utilisation (Bonn Guidelines), which were adopted by the sixth Conference of the Parties to the CBD in 2002. That said, the Bonn Guidelines do not address the interface with national systems implementing the ITPGRFA. 2 This article seeks to respond to these challenges. The article sets out the fundamental issues that need to be addressed and the steps that national policymakers need to follow, when implementing ITPGRFA's multilateral system of access and benefit sharing. The article identifies the main points of intersection, at the national level, between the ITPGRFA's multilateral system, and laws to implement access and benefit-sharing norms under the CBD. It analyses the hazards that can result from the mismanagement of that interface and offers recommendations for overcoming these hazards, to ensure that access and benefit-sharing systems under the ITPGRFA and CBD are mutually supportive. To set the scene for this analysis, the article begins with a brief overview of the most salient (and contrasting) elements of the access and benefitsharing systems anticipated by the CBD (including the recently adopted Nagoya Protocol 3 ) and the ITPGRFA.This article is based on research conducted (and practical lessons learned) in a number of countries supported by the Genetic Resources Policy Initiative (Phase 2) (GRPI-2), an international project designed to support domestic implementation of the ITPGRFA's multilateral system of access and benefit Law, Environment and Development Journal 70 1 Convention on Biological Diversity, Rio de Janeiro, 5June 1992, 31 Int'l Leg. Mat. 818 (1992)  sharing. 4 The steps proposed by the article to implement the multilateral system were developed with the leaders of eight national project teams supported by GRPI-2 and are being 'piloted' in those countries.1.1 The ITPGRFA's Multilateral System of Access and Benefit Sharing (Multilateral System)The ITPGRFA creates the multilateral system, whereby contracting parties agree to virtually pool a subset of the genetic resources of 64 crops and forages to be used for 'utilisation and conservation for research, breeding and training for food and agriculture' ( Article 12.3(a)). The main attraction of the multilateral system is that it allows participants to enjoy a multiplier effect. In exchange for putting plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) of the listed genera in the system, they get facilitated access to the pooled PGRFA of all the other (currently 127) member countries with minimal transaction costs. A number of studies confirm that countries have proactively taken advantage of other, closely related systems of facilitated access to receive a wide diversity of plant genetic resources, often considerably more than they put in. 5 The multilateral system operates using the first-ever internationally agreed upon formula for sharing benefits associated with the use of PGRFA. Monetary benefits derived from commercialisation (or voluntary donations) are directed to an international benefit-sharing fund, which dispenses funds under the direction of the ITPGRFA's governing body.Not all of the PGRFA of the 64 crops and forages listed in Annex 1 of the ITPGRFA are included in the multilateral system. The negotiators of the ITPGRFA appreciated that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for most countries to agree to put all of the genetic resources of these genera in the multilateral system. Consequently, they adopted a formula whereby some subsets of the PGRFA of the listed genera are automatically included, withImplementing 'Mutually Supportive' Access and Benefit Sharing Mechanisms 71 4 To complement the authors' country-specific research and expert knowledge, a literature review was conducted concerning progress implementing access and benefitsharing mechanisms in the 127 countries that are parties to both the ITPGRFA and the CBD. Surveys were sent to 33 countries that were identified as making the most substantial progress implementing the multilateral system, to see how, among other things, they addressed the interface with CBD-inspired access and benefitsharing laws. Efforts in the first phase of the GRPI project (2002-08)  the rest remaining outside the multilateral system unless/until they are voluntarily included. 6 According to the ITPGRFA, access to genetic resources in the multilateral system will be provided 'expeditiously' and either free of charge or for 'minimum costs involved' (Article 12.3(b)) using the standard material transfer agreement (SMTA) adopted by the governing body of the ITPGRFA (Article 12.4). 7 The SMTA includes non-negotiable terms related to the permitted uses of the supplied resources, benefit sharing, prohibitions regarding intellectual property rights, reporting, information sharing, dispute resolution, and enforcement by a representative of the third party beneficiary interests of the multilateral system. 8 The SMTA legally binds both providers and recipients to the fundamental terms of the multilateral system and sets the stage for the enforcement of those terms. Interestingly, the SMTA, which is a private contract between individual providers and the recipients, is relied upon as the principle mechanism for the operation of the multilateral system -which is a creation of international public law. 9 Not surprisingly, it took the parties to the ITPGRFA a number of years to negotiate the SMTA. 10Now that the SMTA has been adopted (and its terms are unalterable), one could argue that the hardest task -agreeing upon access and benefit-sharingLaw, Environment and Development Journal 72 6 A third source of materials included in the multilateral system are international institutions that have signed agreements with the governing body of the ITPGRFA, placing collections they manage under the ITPGRFA framework. In 2006, the eleven CGIAR centres hosting international plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) collections signed such agreements.To date, those collections (approximately 750,000 accessions) represent the majority of the PGRFA that is confirmed as being within the multilateral system. Since the focus of this article is on countries' implementation of the multilateral system (and not international organisations'), this article does not deal with material held by international institutions. 7 The Ad Hoc 8 According to the SMTA, in addition to the genetic resource, providers will also make available, nonconfidential information about the transferred resource (Article 5b). Recipients are not allowed to seek intellectual property rights over materials in the multilateral system that would restrict access to the same resource by others in the form it was received by the recipient (Article 6.2). Users of materials accessed from the multilateral system must choose between two mandatory monetary benefitsharing options. The default benefit-sharing schema is that the recipient will pay 1.1 per cent of gross sales to the international benefit-sharing fund established under the ITPGRFA if they commercialise new PGRFA products that incorporate materials accessed from the multilateral system and restrict its availability to others to use for training research or breeding (Article 6.7). Alternatively, recipients can opt for a benefit-sharing formula whereby they pay .5 per cent of gross sales on all PGRFA products of the species they accessed from the multilateral system, regardless of whether the products incorporate the material and regardless of whether or not the new products are available without restriction (Article 6.11 National implementation of the multilateral system does not take place in a policy vacuum. Requests for PGRFA that are not included within the multilateral system (or that are requested for purposes other than those set out in the SMTA) will be subject, by default, to whatever other laws or policies apply in the country. All of the 127 contracting parties to the ITPGRFA have also ratified the CBD, so, in theory, the national access and benefit-sharing norms that apply to materials outside the multilateral system will be inspired by, and consistent with, the CBD. 11 A great deal has already been written about national level implementation of access and benefit-sharing laws created pursuant to the CBD. 12 We limit ourselves here to highlighting some of the most salient factors, particularly those that stand in contrast to the multilateral system under the ITPGRFA, to help readers appreciate why the interface between the two systems is potentially complicated.  13 National legislation and regulations to promote this approach create processes for applying for access, negotiating agreements, and obtaining authorisation from competent authorities. They are designed to ensure that no loop holes exist whereby unauthorised access can be obtained. 14 The Bonn Guidelines, adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the CBD, reinforce this bilaterally oriented approach. So too have a number of guidelines and decision-making tools developed by organisations that provide technical assistance to countries implementing the CBD. 15 The access and benefit-Implementing 'Mutually Supportive' Access and Benefit Sharing Mechanisms multilateral system is in harmony with the CBD. Article 4 of the Nagoya Protocol concerning its 'relationship to other agreements' does not explicitly mention the multilateral system but clearly operates to recognise it and exempt it from being affected by the Nagoya Protocol. The same article affirms that the protocol will be 'implemented in a mutually supportive manner' with other international instruments, including presumably the ITPGRFA.The text of the COP decision adopting the text of the Nagoya Protocol affirms that the ITPGRFA, along with the Bonn Guidelines, the Nagoya Protocol, and the CBD are all components of an overarching international regime on access and benefit sharing. 17Notwithstanding these assertions, national policymakers in many countries are uncertain about where and how to draw a line between the multilateral system under the ITPGRFA and national access and benefit-sharing laws pursuant to the CBD and Nagoya Protocol and how to manage the interface between those two systems. The third part of this article will identify those situations in which the frontier with, and relationship to, the Convention on Biological Diversity (and the Nagoya Protocol) has proven to be particularly relevant in countries that are 'piloting' mechanisms for implementing the ITPGRFA's multilateral system. The authors will also identify factors at or near the interface of those systems that are contributing to some implementation challenges and suggest practical mechanisms whereby the agencies responsible for the implementation of the two agreements can work together to develop mutually supportive mechanisms.sharing clearing house maintained by the CBD Secretariat lists 57 countries as having implemented some form of access and benefit-sharing measures.Many more countries are in the process of developing/considering related legislation. Some countries -mostly developed countries -have taken the position that they are able to regulate access and benefit sharing to the extent they desire pursuant to the CBD without creating specialised legislation. While the governing body of the ITPGRFA has not endorsed guidelines for the implementation of the multilateral system, over the years since the Treaty came into force there has been a slow evolution (informal, unwritten) of agreement regarding the requirements or issues that countries need to address as part of their implementation of the multilateral system. This informal agreement is based partly on a common sense, plain reading of the ITPGRFA and partly on the body of shared knowledge and experiences that has developed over recent years. system, and their own constituents' ability to take advantage of it. We note some such options in passing. However, the purpose here is to propose the minimum steps that countries can take to meaningfully implement the multilateral system.2.1 Issue 1: Is There 'Legal Space' to Implement the Multilateral System?Member states must be able to provide facilitated access to PGRFA in the multilateral system under the terms of the ITPGRFA using the SMTA. One fundamental issue that all member states need to address is whether there are policies or laws in force in the country that would impede their ability to do so. Access and benefit-sharing laws passed to implement the CBD are particularly important in this context. Many countries with specialised access and benefit-sharing legislation developed those laws before they ratified the ITPGRFA, so they do not include procedures related to the multilateral system. 25 In such cases, it is necessary to investigate means by which these laws can be amended, or powers established by them can be exercised, to create the requisite 'legal space' to provide facilitated access to the multilateral system using the SMTA (see Box 1 for examples of such laws). In the absence of such accommodation, full implementation of the multilateral system will not be possible. that must be included in all access agreements that are inconsistent with providing facilitated access to multilateral system materials using the SMTA. While Kenya acceded to the ITPGRFA in 2003, there is no mention of the ITPGRFA or the multilateral system in the 2006 regulations. The need to make space for the implementation of the multilateral system has been the subject of national workshops and interagency meetings. 29 More recent access and benefit-sharing legislation, developed since the ITPGRFA came into force, address this situation by either (1) exempting PGRFA in the multilateral system from the applicable legislation (see Box 2) or ( 2) anticipating the passage of specialised regulations, pursuant to the same legislation, to implement the multilateral system (see Box 3). The former approach is currently more common than the latter. As far as the authors are aware, no country with legislation that anticipates developing specialised multilateral system-related regulations has actually put such regulations into force.With very few exceptions, almost all countries that have made progress in implementing the multilateral system vis-à-vis the metrics identified later in this article either (1) do not have access and benefit-sharing legislation or (2) have national access and benefitsharing legislation that explicitly excludes PGRFA in the multilateral system from its scope. In those countries, the absence of a legal impediment to providing materials (legal space negatively defined) appears to have been a sufficient condition-precedent to start implementing the multilateral system. As far as the authors are aware, no additional laws, executive orders, or high-level policies were deemed necessary, at least to make as much progress as they have to date.It is important, however, to qualify this observation.As shall be seen later in this article, in some other countries the mere absence of legal impediments to providing facilitated access under the ITPGRFA has not been sufficient to make significant progress in implementing the multilateral system. In those countries, it is considered necessary to have positive legal enactments (for example, in the form of legislation, regulations, executive orders, or official guidelines) to put measures in place and empower actors involved in implementing the multilateral system. It is also important to note that, even in countries where it has been possible to make significant progress to date (for example, confirming a wide range of ex-situ PGRFA that is automatically in the multilateral system), those countries may still need to amend or develop new laws or policies or administrative guidelines to provide access to particular collections or to in-situ materials under the ITPGRFA. Situations where countries have felt (or not felt) the need for new, positive legal enactments are highlighted in the following sections.Box 2: Provisions exempting operation of the multilateral system from national access and benefit-sharing laws Another example of PGRFA that are clearly not in the control of the national government is material that a natural or legal person has deposited in the gene bank, under contract, which stipulates that the gene bank will not regenerate or redistribute the material (referred to as 'black box' conditions). This is a relatively well-established practice in some gene banks, providing conservation services when depositors do not have the capacity to conserve and store the materials themselves. The gene banks are more likely to engage in such agreements when the genetic diversity of the resources concerned is unique and might otherwise be lost or when a depositor pays a fee for the service provided.However, there are some cases where it may not be obvious if Annex 1 PGRFA is automatically in or out of the multilateral system. For example, questions have been raised about whether collections held by parastatal corporations or national public universities are under the management and control of the national government. In this case, in the context of Malaysia's implementation of the multilateral system, Gurdial Singh Nijar analysed the legislation used to establish the organisations in question to ascertain whether they are able to 2.2 Issue 2: W hat Genetic Resources are Automatically Included in the Multilateral System?The PGRFA of the 64 crops and forages listed in Annex 1 of the ITPGRFA that are 'under the management and control' of the national government and 'in the public domain' are automatically included in the multilateral system by virtue of a country ratifying or acceding to the Treaty. Commentators and the TAC have provided interpretations of key terms in this formulation. 31 The TAC opined that 'under the management' refers to a contracting party's 'capacity to determine how the material is handled and not to the legal rights to dispose of the PGRFA', while control refers to the 'legal power to dispose of the material'. 'Contracting party' refers to national governments, not to provincial or municipal governments. The TAC and commentators consider that 'public domain' should be interpreted as referring to the state of not being subject to intellectual property rights. 32 Commentators and the TAC also largely agree that in-situ materials may also be 'under the management and control' of the national government and 'in the public domain' and as a result be included in the multilateral system. 33 In-situ PGRFA in the multilateral system is considered in more detail below.Implementing In light of these earlier considerations, a basic threepart process to identify Annex 1 materials under management and control and in the public domain is as follows:• first, identify the collections of Annex 1 PGRFA held by national public organisations. Identify lands owned or controlled by the national government where there may be in-situ populations of Annex 1 crops;• second, if there is any reason for doubting that material held by the organisation is under the management and control of the national government, examine evidence such as the legislation or executive order creating the organisation (or protected area), to ascertain whether or not the organisation is independent to set its own policies regarding the management of the collections concerned or if they are subject to the overriding authority of national government; and• third, once it is confirmed that a collection or in-situ population is under the management and control of the national government, consider whether materials in that collection are subject to intellectual property rights (and therefore not in the public domain).To date, a number of contracting parties have gone through exercises to confirm the identity of at least some portion of the PGRFA within their borders that are automatically included in the multilateral system. As of March, 2013, thirty-three contracting parties had sent notices to the ITPGRFA Secretary confirming the identity and content of collections that are in the multilateral system. In most of these cases, the materials are explicitly identified as being under the management and control of contracting parties (the corollary being that an extremely small proportion is identified as voluntarily included PGRFA -see next section). Two additional countries -Ireland and Latvia -have publicised information in the EURISCO catalogue concerning PGRFA that they will make available through the multilateral system material (despite the fact that they did not notify the Treaty Secretary). It is safe to infer that in most of these cases, some assessment process was followed within the country concerned, involving competent authorities, ensuring that the PGRFA transferred were automatically included in the multilateral system or could legally be included voluntarily by whoever was transferring them.As far as the authors are aware, these actions were taken by the relevant competent authorities exercising discretion that already existed within the framework of mandates, powers, decision making, and practices in the countries concerned. Creating new, or amending existing, legislation or regulations was not necessary in these cases. On the other hand, it is important to recognise the potential impact, in some countries, of lingering uncertainty in the minds of government officers about the 'management and control' and 'public domain' status of PGRFA collections or in-situ populations they manage. As Nijar notes, such uncertainty 'may impede the exchange of materials … clearly under the country's management and control'. 36 In such cases, even though it is not legally necessary, 'it may be prudent for the Government, in consultation with the institution holding Annex 1 materials' to clearly state that the materials in question are in the management and control of the national government, thereby allowing 'managers to make materials immediately available through the multilateral system'. 37 The level of government from which such a statement would need to be issued, and in what form, depends upon the political and legal culture of each country. In this context, Nijar raises the possibility that it might be worthwhile to address lingering doubts on behalf of a national public university, to amend the act that established the university, clarifying that materials held by that organisation are presumed to be under the management and control of the national government. In Peru, the Instituto Nacional de Innovacion Agraria has been negotiating agreements with public national organisations, including La Molina National University, to confirm that Annex 1 collections are included in the multilateral system. 38 As far as the authors are aware, no country has created executive orders, ministerial decrees, new or amended legislation, or regulations as part of the process of confirming what PGRFA in the countries is under the management and control of the contracting party and in the public domain.It is not necessary to have all of the PGRFA within the country that is 'under the management and control' of the national government 'and in the public domain' exhaustively identified before taking steps to make the easier-to-confirm PGRFA available under the ITPGRFA, using the SMTA. Indeed, countries that have made progress appear to be taking pragmatic approaches, dedicating energy and resources to confirming the fairly obvious instances of PGRFA that are automatically in the multilateral system first (and publicly sharing information about those materials -see discussion below), and then working on resolving more difficult cases, if there are any, later on.Under the ITPGRFA, member states 'agree to take appropriate measures to encourage natural and legal persons within their jurisdictions' to include Annex 1 PGRFA in the multilateral system (Article 11.3). As of March 2013, there was not much information in the reports from contracting parties to the ITPGRFA governing body about materials that have been voluntarily included in the multilateral system. Six countries -France, Germany, Netherlands, Peru, United Kingdom, and Switzerland, have provided such details. 39 There is also little information documented to date about the measures that member states are taking to encourage such inclusions. national financial support for research involving plant genetic resources to make those materials available through the multilateral system. 40 The national gene bank of the Republic of Korea routinely pays research organisations to duplicate and deposit desirable materials in the gene bank on the understanding that the gene bank will be able to redistribute the materials freely (Dr. Hyun-jin Baek, personal communication). It is useful to consider the kinds of incentives that countries' national gene banks and research organisations have traditionally provided to encourage natural and legal persons to deposit materials in the gene banks or to participate in or permit collecting activities that culminate in materials being deposited in public gene banks. A number of countries have conducted collecting activities in recent years -since the Treaty came into force -with a large number of deposits into national gene banks as a result. 41 The ITPGRFA is silent regarding the means by which natural and legal persons can place PGRFA in the multilateral system. One possibility, discussed earlier, is that a natural or legal persons make agreements to deposit material in a collection maintained by an organisation that has an established practice of (and funds for) maintaining and providing samples under the ITPGRFA -for example, a national gene bank. In this way, they would be converting 'voluntarily included' materials into PGRFA that is 'under the management and control' of the national government. Another possibility is that natural and legal persons provide the material themselves using the SMTA. 42 A third possibility would be to deposit them in an international collection hosted by an international institution that has signed an agreement with the governing body of the ITPGRFA undertaking to make those collections part of the multilateral system. These approaches are not mutually exclusive; all three could potentially be accommodated and encouraged in a national implementation strategy.Most contracting parties appear to be giving priority, for the time being, to the exercise of confirming which Annex 1 PGRFA are automatically in the multilateral system. This approach is likely in response to the combined facts that such a confirmation is directly within their control. Developing new mechanisms or incentives for natural and legal persons is one step further removed.PGRFA that are automatically or voluntarily included in the multilateral system are only useful if people know they exist and have access to information about them, including passport information and characterisation and evaluation data. Sharing such information is absolutely necessary for the multilateral system to be able to function. The Treaty anticipates (in Article 13.3(a)) that such information will be made available by contracting parties through a global information system that will eventually be developed and strengthened by the contracting parties under the ITPGRFA framework. The global information system could eventually take many forms, from highly centralised to radically federated, based on networked connections of various strengths between existing systems. However, to date, there has not been agreement at the level of the governing body concerning the shape, components, or function of a global information system. As a result, there is not yet a commonly agreed-upon set of protocols and/or places for sharing information about materials in the multilateral system. To address this situation, the ITPGRFA Secretary circulated a request to national Treaty focal points requesting information about the collections that are included in the multilateral system. To date, 33 countries have provided such information, and more are planning to do so relatively soon. That information is posted on the Treaty website, including, in most cases, links to databases containing accession level passport, characterisation, and evaluation data (which is nonconfidential). Some parties who provided notifications were not able to provide links to additional information as they do not have accession-level information systems in place. In some of those cases, the notification indicates that the party intends to make such information available in the future. It is important to underscore that it is not necessary to have digitalised accession-level information to provide notice to the secretary about collections in the multilateral system. That said, in the longer term, countries will be significantly boosting the potential utility of the materials they do include in the multilateral system by developing such systems. The US Department of Agriculture has developed GRIN-Global, a plant genetic resource information management system, which a number of countries are experimenting with or have adopted.Organisations such as Bioversity International, the Global Crop Diversity Trust, and the Treaty Secretariat have provided technical backstopping to countries considering such systems.The Treaty website is not, of course, the only way to share information about materials in the multilateral system. Many of the organisations hosting the collections about which the Secretary has been notified host their own websites, where the same information is also available. Similarly, notice can be provided through regional genetic resource networks. Many countries complain that they do not have resources to characterise and evaluate the materials that they already possess. One important value-added activity that countries can engage in (and seek support for) is to generate such information about materials in the multilateral system and make that information available.The ITPGRFA is silent with respect to who should be empowered within member states to (1) consider/ approve requests for PGRFA in the multilateral system and (2) physically provide those resources.As noted earlier, PGRFA that is automatically included in the multilateral system may be spread across a number of national governmental research organisations, gene banks, and protected areas.PGRFA that is voluntarily included in the multilateral system may reside in community gene banks, companies' collections, farmers' fields, or hobbyists' gardens. In theory, as noted earlier, all such organisations or individuals could be empowered to consider/approve requests for multilateral system PGRFA as well as to physically provide the resource.Alternatively, the authority to consider/approve/ reject requests could be limited to a smaller number of persons or organisations or just one central national governmental authority to make final decisions on all requests. Likewise, physical provision of the requested resources could be limited to a small number of providers or possibly just one ultimate provider, who acts as a meta-conduit for all would-be providers in the country. This approach would involve natural and legal persons agreeing to voluntarily place the PGRFA they want to include in the multilateral system under the management and control of the national government as a first step. Thereafter, it would be up to the national competent authority to manage requests and supply the material concerned. There is, of course, the danger that such centralised systems can be difficult to implement and result in procedural bottlenecks.In this context, it is important to recall that, within the ambit of the multilateral system, what needs to be considered/approved is relatively narrowly constrained. Conditions concerning access and benefit sharing, reporting, dispute resolution, and so on have already been decided and are contained in the immutable SMTA. The few issues that remain to be considered in each case would include whether the provider:• has adequate supplies of the PGRFA in question to be able to provide samples;• wants to provide the samples for free or for minimal costs involved in shipping and handling;• has available, non-confidential information about the resource to provide at the same time and how they will provide it;• could consider rejecting a request on the basis that it comes from country that is not a member of the ITPGRFA (if the provider or provider's country has a policy to not send materials to non-member states); 43 and• actually knows the materials will not be used for the purposes specified in the SMTA, in which case they should decline to provide or use another appropriate transfer instrument with requisite authorisation. 44 The actual custodian of the resources in question will be in the best position to address the first three issues.The fourth issue -whether or not providers may send materials to recipients in non-member states -could be addressed at higher policy levels, for decentralised providers to follow. As a consequence, countries may be more comfortable distributing the authority to consider/approve requests for materials in the multilateral system than they would be if there was a bigger role for a competent national authority to play, such as the role that is anticipated in most national access and benefit-sharing legislation that has been passed pursuant to the CBD. 45 Regardless of what approach to this issue is eventually adopted, it is essential that all interested actors in the country clearly understand the applicable policy and the steps that must be taken to comply with it. If organisations or individuals have the discretion to consider requests and provide materials themselves, it is essential in many countries that they be supported through clear policy statements from the relevant authorities. Otherwise, these actors may be reluctant to engage in the multilateral system as providers for fear of being accused, post facto, of impropriety. 46 Likewise, if a request to a natural or legal person must ultimately be approved by a central authority, the process for referring requests to that authority must also be clearly established and understood by everyone involved and easy to follow. In the absence of such clarity, requests will frequently reach dead-ends, with no decision being made and no one taking responsibility. What Peterson Wambugu and Zachery Muthamia call 'fear of the unknown' about access and benefit-sharing processes and decision-making authority will lead to inactivity and system failure. 47 Again, the level of government from which such clear policy statements must come, and the form in which they are delivered (ranging from a description of the system on a government website to a revised act by parliament) will depend upon the political and legal culture of each country. Box 5 includes examples of different countries' approaches to this issue.Box 5: Who can consider requests for PGRFA in the multilateral system?In the Netherlands, the authority to consider requests and transfer PGRFA using the SMTA is widely distributed. Natural and legal persons -for example, the two Dutch non-governmental organisations that were reported to the governing body (in 2011) as voluntarily including materials in the multilateral system -can send those materials anywhere in the world using the SMTA without seeking authorisation from, or informing, a centralised governmental authority.In Instead, this role of the PGRC reflects the fact that there is just one institution that holds PGRFA that is considered to fall automatically within the multilateral system. The mechanism most used by natural or legal persons to contribute PGRFA to the multilateral system in Canada is to make a donation of germplasm to the PGRC. In addition to being simple and direct, and cost efficient for the depositor, it also makes the PGRFA more widely available to the global community through the PGRC online catalogue. That said, there is nothing preventing a natural or legal person who wants to include PGRFA in the multilateral system from making it available directly using the SMTA (Brad Fraleigh, personal communication).A draft Peruvian decree to establish an institutional framework for the national implementation of the ITPGRFA anticipates that the national Treaty focal point will receive and centralise requests for access to genetic material under the multilateral system. 48 A more recent draft directive provides additional details about the focal point's responsibilities, stating that the focal point will have responsibility for considering requests for access to materials that are under the management and control of the national government and in the public domain, leaving open the question of whether natural and legal persons can provide materials directly, if they want to include them voluntarily in the multilateral system. 49 This approach is consistent with the announcement that the communities that manage the Potato Park in Peru are voluntarily including in-situ materials in the multilateral system.While the policy development process is not yet complete, in Uganda it is anticipated that one or two institutions will be designated to play the role as 'provider' of multilateral system materials that are 'under control and management' of the national government, particularly in reference to ex-situ collections. This approach is informed by the fact that most of the collections in Uganda are housed in organisations that operate under the overall umbrella of the Uganda National Agricultural Research Organisation and public universities.Concerning in-situ, on-farm, PGRFA (not automatically included in the multilateral system) the existing Ugandan access and benefitsharing legislation and regulations give individuals and communities the space to negotiate matters on their own, with local councils empowered to take the role of 'lead agencies'. To address the interface between the national access and benefit-sharing law and the multilateral system -particularly with respect to voluntary inclusions of materials in the multilateral system through deposits to the national gene bank (as discussed in the third part of this article) -it may be useful to develop model clauses/instruments/procedures for use by the potentially hundreds of lead agencies.Implementing While actual use of the SMTA follows naturally from the issues discussed in the previous sections, our collective experience suggests it is worth dedicating a section in this article to the issue of when to use the SMTA, for both international and domestic transfers. The ITPGRFA Secretariat has coordinated the development of some useful tools to help ease organisations' transition to the use of the SMTA -for example, 'Easy SMTA' a software that any provider can use to generate filled-in SMTAs and send reports to the governing body. National authorities responsible for ITPGRFA implementation can promote use of these tools within the country and request technical assistance from the Treaty Secretariat if necessary.It is important to underscore that the SMTA should be used for domestic, as well as international, transfers of multilateral system PGRFA. The benefitsharing (and other) terms and conditions established under the ITPGRFA must be transferred along an unbroken chain, from providers to recipients, until a final new PGRFA product is developed. If the national gene bank sends material to a university researcher in the same country without using the SMTA, he or she could, or the university could, commercialise it themselves or pass it on to nationally based companies or branches of international companies (which could then transfer it internally to other branches in other countries) without the SMTA's benefit-sharing conditions.In-situ PGRFA of Annex 1 crops and forages under the management and control of the national government and in the public domain are included in the multilateral system, 50 for example, wild relatives of Annex 1 crops in national government protected areas. 51 Many countries will already have laws and guidelines in place concerning access to, and collecting materials from, protected areas -rules that seek to protect the habitat, for example, by limiting the numbers of people who visit, proscribing how they conduct themselves on the site, and limiting the amount of material they can collect.Usually responsibility for implementing those rules will lie with ministries of environment. As a result, coordination between the agricultural agency with responsibility for implementing the ITPGRFA and the agency responsible for protected areas will be essential. 52  legislation or, in the absence of such legislation, in accordance with such standard as may be set by the Governing Body'. The TAC noted that many countries likely 'already have the capacity within their domestic frameworks to provide facilitated access in accordance with the Multilateral System' and that 'national legislation is not a pre-condition precedent in order to provide facilitated access, in accordance with the provisions of Article 12'. 53 As far as the authors are aware, to date, no country has developed specifically targeted laws or regulations or guidelines for access to in-situ materials in the multilateral system. Nor has the governing body set any standards in this regard.As already noted, countries are first addressing the lower threshold issues of putting systems in place for ex-situ material before they focus on in-situ specific strategies. Some of the urgency that one might think would be associated with the lack of visible progress vis-à-vis access to in-situ PGRFA is mitigated by the way national plant genetic resources programs actually work. It is within the mandate of most national gene banks to collect particularly interesting or vulnerable in-situ materials and conserve them ex situ. Yesterday's in-situ resource may become tomorrow's ex-situ resource (and vice versa in a dynamic program). Where the in-situ materials are, ab initio, 'under the management and control' of the national government 'and in the public domain' (for example, a wild relative in a national public protected area), their status vis-à-vis the multilateral system is not altered by being collected and deposited, ex situ, in a national gene bank. The situation vis-à-vis collections of in-situ materials that are, ab initio, outside the multilateral system and deposited in a national ex-situ collection is more complex and will be examined in more detail in the third part of this article.The SMTA states that all providers must report information about their transfers directly to the governing body. This information is kept in an encrypted data store in Geneva. The Easy-SMTA referred to earlier can assist in making that reporting easier. A number of countries have expressed interest in developing additional mechanisms whereby providers in their countries also send information about transfers to a centralised authority within the provider country. In this way, it will be possible to maintain an overall record of all of the materials distributed within, and outside, the country concerned. Such initiatives are not called for by the ITPGRFA, nor have they been endorsed by the governing body; they should not inadvertently create impediments to facilitated access.A wide range of PGRFA users can benefit from access to the genetic diversity and related information that is available through the multilateral system. However, some users, such as community and farmer organisations, may not have the capacity to take advantage of it. While working through options for domestic implementation of the multilateral system, policy-makers should consider mechanisms by which the capacities of farmers and other groups can be strengthened to take advantage of the multilateral system. The national gene bank, for example, could conduct outreach with farmers and conservation groups, informing them about the multilateral system and providing technical back-up to groups seeking to locate, request, and receive germplasm from both domestic and international sources. National agricultural research organisations and national gene banks are being engaged in pilot projects in Nepal, Bhutan, Uganda, Rwanda, Côte D'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, India, and Papua New Guinea to work with farmers to identify materials that are adapted to changing climate conditions in those farmers' areas. These exercises have involved providing training, technical back-up, and service provision, using climate analogue tools, crop modelling, accession-level information systems, seeking access to useful material through the multilateral system, and participatory evaluation of the performance of the materials used.Implementing 'Mutually Supportive' Access and Benefit Sharing Mechanisms 87 53 Id at 14.In the second part of this article, the importance of the frontier between the multilateral system and national access and benefit-sharing laws under the CBD was evident in a number of places. In this part, we examine a number of these 'frontier situations' in more detail. These situations exist because many PGRFA users, conservers, providers, and recipients (including farmers, gene banks, plant breeders, and national parks) do not operate exclusively under one regime or the other. Many of their actions and decisions cut across the interface between the access and benefit-sharing rules under the ITPGRFA and the CBD. The analysis of each of these situations will highlight why coordination between the two agencies responsible for implementation of the CBD and ITPGRFA is critical. In many countries, these agencies still are not coordinating their access and benefit sharing-related policy development activities closely; we will analyse some of the factors that are contributing to this state of affairs.The diversity of PGRFA that is available through the multilateral system was not meant to remain fixed at the number of accessions in national and international ex-situ collections (and in-situ populations on national government controlled lands) when a country ratifies the ITPGRFA. The multilateral system was developed with the idea that it would continually be refreshed with new diversity that could be the source of desirable traits to meet biotic and abiotic stresses in agricultural systems around the world, including those associated with climate change. However, as pointed out in the introduction and in the second part of this article, aLaw, Environment and Development Journal 88 lot of plant genetic diversity is not automatically included in the multilateral system. It has to be included voluntarily by the farmers, gardeners, hobbyists, and commercial and provincial plant breeders and researchers who play keys roles in its development and conservation.Voluntary inclusion of PGRFA in national and international collections, on the understanding that such material may subsequently be redistributed, is not new. It is the principal means by which all such collections have been developed, and it is a key component of national and international genetic resource conservation and sustainable use strategies. 54 Indeed, between 1996 and 2007, national programs coordinated the collection and deposit in national gene banks of 240,000 accessions of crops and forages. 55 Between 2007 and 2010, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) gene banks received deposits of materials collected from in-situ conditions (immediately beforehand) from seventeen countries based on the understanding that the centres could redistribute that material internationally using the SMTA. 56 In this context, however, it is important to underscore two important developments in recent years. The first is the formal legal requirement, in some countries at least, to obtain prior informed consent (PIC), on mutually agreed terms, from farmers before collecting PGRFA samples from them and doing anything with those resources, including depositing them in a national gene bank. Such laws currently exist in Uganda, Philippines, and Costa Rica. Even where national access and benefit-sharing laws require only the consent of the competent national authority -the CBD does not oblige countries to include additional requirements for access seekers to obtain PIC from indigenous and local communities -there is a growing sense of responsibility to ensure that collectors from national programs (usually the main points of contact) fully explain the purpose of their collecting activities to local peoples and obtain their consent. National implementation of the Nagoya Protocol should clarify any grey areas that exist within national frameworks in this regard, as it goes further than the CBD regarding states' obligations to protect the rights of indigenous and local peoples vis-à-vis the use of their knowledge and genetic resources under their control. National strategies to promote farmers' rights as per Article 9 of the ITPGRFA could also contribute clarity (and would benefit from coordinated policy development).The second important development is regarding the geographical scope of distribution that member states are committing themselves to under the ITPGRFA. Previously, most countries (including their national gene banks, with some notable exceptions) limited themselves to transferring materials domestically. By becoming ITPGRFA members, they are undertaking to provide access to multilateral system material to recipients all over the world. Natural and legal persons considering collection requests (or considering making direct deposits into a national gene bank) need to understand this expansion in the potential use of the materials concerned.The interface between the CBD (including the Nagoya Protocol) and the ITPGRFA is very important in this context. PGRFA collectors seeking to enrich the diversity of materials included in the multilateral system have a responsibility to promote knowledge about, and comply with, national access and benefit-sharing norms governing access to PGRFA that is outside the multilateral system. They need to proactively engage competent local and national authorities responsible for regulating access and benefit sharing under both the CBD/Nagoya Protocol and the ITPGRFA to ensure that the rights and interests of farmers as potential providers are understood and complied with. On the other side of the equation, access rules and procedures under the CBD/Nagoya Protocol must be clearly articulated and easy to follow so that farmers and others who are interested in including materials in the multilateral system are able to do so without incurring high transaction costs. Officials and agencies supporting implementation of those laws must also let farmers and others know about their options vis-à-vis the multilateral system.Article 17 of the Nagoya Protocol sets out the minimum information to be included in an internationally recognised certificate of compliance. Agreements with farmers, indigenous and local communities, and other persons or organisations to voluntarily include PGRFA in the multilateral system (via deposit in a gene bank, for example) could/should include those minimum fields, to be recognised in jurisdictions where the Nagoya Protocol is implemented. Our cursory analysis suggests that the SMTA includes those fields and could be used also for the initial transfer/deposit of such materials. 57 Alternatively, another instrument could be used as long as it includes the minimum fields and specifies that the recipient institution could subsequently make the material available using the SMTA. 58 Information about that initial voluntary transfer into the multilateral system would need to be shared, as is set out in the Nagoya Protocol. Once the PGRFA is included in the multilateral system in this way, it could subsequently be transferred using the SMTA under the ITPGRFA framework, based on the recognition of the multilateral system subject to Article 4 of the Nagoya Protocol. 59 This raises other very important questions, which are largely beyond the scope of this article, but clearly need to be addressed on an urgent basis. They are: what incentives do farmers and farming communities need to voluntarily include materials in the multilateral system?; what incentives or 57 SGRP, A De Facto Certificate of Source: The Standard Material Transfer Agreement under the International Treaty (Rome: Bioversity International, 2007). 58 The newly founded national gene bank in Nepal has initiated collecting in-situ materials from farmers and community seed banks for conservation. It is developing agreements, which are registered as evidence of mutual agreed terms with depositors, recognising their contribution and issuing an accession number. The CGIAR centres have received deposits of PGRFA from countries under contracts that specify them may conserve and distribute the materials through the multilateral system using the SMTA. See SGRP, note 5 above. 59 One issue that needs to be clarified is the situation of recipients of PGRFA under the SMTA in states that are not parties to the ITPGRFA (but are parties to the Nagoya Protocol). Can they pass on that material as anticipated by the SMTA, without obtaining additional authorisation from a competent authority? Countries might consider making such allowances based on Nagoya Protocol. See Nagoya Protocol, note 3 above, Article 4.3.benefits can national or international gene banks (as the main repositories of materials in the multilateral system) or other interested actors make available, on an ongoing, sustainable basis, for farmers and other possible access providers to voluntarily include materials in the multilateral system? 603.2 Requests for PGRFA (Otherwise in the Multilateral System) for Non-food/non-feed Pur poses or Direct Use in Cultivation by Farmers Under the ITPGRFA, contracting parties undertake to provide facilitated access to multilateral system PGRFA 'solely for the purpose of utilisation and conservation for research, breeding and training for food and agriculture, provided that such purpose does not include chemical, pharmaceutical and/or other non-food/feed industrial uses' (ITPGRFA, Article 12.3(a)). Where a request is made for access to such materials for other purposes, it would have to be considered pursuant to national access and benefit-sharing laws or policies that are applicable with respect to genetic resources outside the multilateral system. Gene banks dedicated to PGRFA conservation occasionally receive requests for materials that will be used for non-food/nonfeed uses, such as biofuel-related research and production. Indeed, such requests appear to be increasing in number. The managers of these collections need to be equally conversant with the rules governing the implementation of the multilateral system and whatever other access and benefit-sharing rules apply. They need to understand if and when they need to seek approval from a different authority and what that process is, and what material transfer agreement they should use, if they are able transfer the materials for the nonfood/non-feed related purposes.Requests for materials in the multilateral system for direct use in cultivation by farmers raise many of the same issues. Direct use in cultivation -that is, placing materials received through the multilateral system directly into production, without any form of alteration/improvement -is not an included use of material in the multilateral system. From the point of view of the interface of the ITPGRFA and CBD, the most important questions for potential providers are: how can they know if a farmer will use the material for direct use or when the farmer will experiment with the materials to the point that their actions constitute research or breeding (that is, accepted uses under the SMTA)? If the provider is certain that the farmer-recipient will use the 60 While it is beyond the scope of this article to analyse this question in detail, we include a few observations here.There is evidence that many would-be voluntary depositors of materials are not 'holding out' for large cash payments.Organisations in over twenty countries agreed to send safety back-up copies of unique PGRFA (that were previously held only in national collections) in return for relatively small amounts of money from the Global Crop Diversity Trust to support the regeneration of those materials. The depositors agreed to send samples of the regenerated materials to gene banks in other countries on the understanding that those gene banks could redistribute them using the SMTA. Halewood et al., note 22 above. Similarly, as part of relatively low budget research and capacity-building activities supported through the ITPGRFA benefit-sharing fund, national programs, indigenous and local peoples, and individuals have agreed to deposit new PGRFA that is the subject of their funded activities in the multilateral system. These developments indicate that many of the individuals, peoples, communities, and organisations who could potentially share PGRFA through the multilateral system are willing to do so if their own efforts at conserving and enhancing the value of those resources are simultaneously supported … and recognised. This reflects the reality that the multilateral system is not a self-perpetuating system (at least not in terms of attracting new diversity in a sustained way over time). At least at the present time, it appears that sustained rates of new materials being voluntarily included in the multilateral system will likely depend upon corollary forms of support, often internationally coordinated and supported. Another point worth underscoring is that would-be depositors want credit and recognition for their contributions; they do not want to disappear from the records as soon as they allow materials to be collected from them or as soon as they voluntarily contribute them. Mechanisms for recording the identities of contributor and publicising their contributions (both within the country and internationally) need to be developed. Good working relations between gene banks and communities are also essential. If a gene bank is proactively engaged with communities, making germplasm readily accessible to a community and supporting community efforts to improve their skills in management of genetic resources, farmers will be more likely to identify with the objective of 'internationally linked-up conservation and use' that the multilateral system supports. As such, they will be more likely to see the rational for, and benefit of, including their material in the multilateral system. The TAC has considered these issues in the past, suggesting generic questions and processes that a potential provider must consider in this regard. 61 Germany has gone one step further, adopting a onepage material transfer agreement (not the SMTA), specifying that the farmer or gardener concerned may get access to material if she explicitly states that she will not use the material for research, breeding or training, and that she will either not pass it on to third parties or will pass on the same restrictions. Hence, the material will only be available by the farmer or gardener for direct use and not for purposes set out in the SMTA (Dr. Frank Begemann, Personal communication). 62Access to protected areas and collecting biota from them are already subject to various forms of regulation in many countries. Article 12.3(h) of the ITPGRFA expresses an intent that access to in-situ materials in the multilateral system should be provided within the context of such laws and that such laws should be developed if they do not exist.A whole reading of the ITPGRA suggests that those laws should operate to ensure that collecting activities are conducted in ways that respect domestic conservation, phytosanitary, cultural, and other standards. The in-situ materials in question should ultimately be made available under the SMTA, if and when the other standards are satisfied/complied with. 63 Extant rules may need to be revised or new rules developed in this regard. The agencies responsible for regulating access to these areasusually not the agriculture agencies that are responsible for implementing other aspects of the multilateral system -will have front-line responsibility for implementing them. Clearly, there needs to be coordination between the ministry or department responsible for the ITPGRFA and agencies overseeing protected areas. Otherwise, the managers of these areas will understandably be uncertain about which rules apply and to which competent authorities they should turn for guidance and approval.As emphasised in the first part of this article, access and benefit-sharing laws under the CBD have the potential to block implementation of the multilateral system. Mutual supportiveness requires, at the very least, amendments or accommodations to be made to access and benefit-sharing laws passed pursuant to the CBD to make space for the operation of the multilateral system. A number of countries have addressed this situation by 'carving out' the multilateral system from the scope of the existing access and benefit-sharing law. Some countries, for example, Peru, have done this when creating access and benefit-sharing legislation, in anticipation of implementing the multilateral system (but before actually making progress with the latter). Others are in the process of considering means to retroactively amend access and benefit-sharing laws. It is important to note, however, that no country has yet managed to retroactively amend national access and benefit-sharing laws in this regard. Some of the factors contributing to the lack of progress will be taken up in the next section.In some countries, where draft access and benefitsharing bills do not include exemptions for the multilateral system, they are cited by national actors as impediments to progress in implementing the multilateral system, despite the fact that they have no legal force. In a number of countries -for example, Nepal -such draft laws have been in circulation under various forms of government consideration for over a decade and date back to before the country became an ITPGRFA member state. The fact is, however, that these draft laws, and the aspirations they embody, have been part of national public discussion for so long that they have taken on an informally recognised presence and authority of their own.Before proceeding to the next section, it is important to note that few countries have opted to develop omnibus legislation that attempts to address implementation of access and benefit sharing under the Treaty and the CBD simultaneously, instead of simply exempting the multilateral system with the promise of developing separate policies and mechanisms as part of its implementation. (Costa Rica and Norway have started the process but have not yet finalised it.) Among other things, such legislation could delegate responsibility to different ministries or departments for considering requests for PGRFA in the multilateral system, and it could include whatever kinds of details are necessary to make such a system work, depending on the political and legal culture of the country. More importantly, such legislation could be used to establish to whom access applications may be directed for access to different genetic resources and to establish interdepartmental mechanisms through which requests could be redirected and monitored. The law could create an interagency committee to consider difficult cases where it is not clear which rules should be applied, depending on the range of variables discussed earlier, including the resources concerned, who holds them, the proposed uses, and so on.3.5 Using the SMTA to Provide PGRFA of Crops That are Not Included in the Multilateral System Member states' obligations to provide facilitated access through the multilateral system only extends to the genetic resources of the 64 crops and forages include in Annex 1 of the ITPGRFA. However, to lessen administrative burdens for collection holders, some countries have voluntarily adopted policies to make non-Annex 1 PGRFA in publicly held collections available using the SMTA. Indeed, this policy has been adopted on a European regional level, in the context of establishing a European Genebank Integrated System (AEGIS). 64 To adopt this approach, countries are in effect exercising their rights under the CBD (or national laws implementing the CBD) to decide to make the resources in question available under the SMTA. As far as the authors are aware, no developing countries have yet adopted such a policy. 65About the Multilateral System (And to a Lesser Extent, the CBD)In most countries, there is a persistently low level of awareness about the ITPGRFA in general and about the benefits of participating in the multilateral system in particular. This is the case both within the agricultural sector and outside it. In most countries, very few people outside the relatively small circle of plant breeders, university researchers, plant genetic resources specialists, and a handful of farmers and civil society organisations appreciate the importance of access to genetic diversity to national food security. By contrast, stories about biopiracy are much more widely appreciated by the general public in many countries. As a result, concerns about controlling unauthorised access to genetic resources overshadow, and to some extent undermine, popular interest in the benefits associated with sharing plant genetic resources through mechanisms such as the multilateral system. To counteract this phenomenon, national partners in eight countries supported by the GRPI-2 project are conducting studies to document the extent to which the countries concerned have benefited from access to plant genetic resources from other parts of the world. These studies involve assembling data concerning germplasm flows into, within, and out of the countries, the international pedigrees of modern varieties released in the countries, and the contribution those varieties have made to the economic development of those countries concerned. The national research teams are also analysing the extent to which their countries' dependence on PGRFA from other parts of the world may increase as a result of climate change. 66 Challenges associated with low levels of awareness are compounded by the fact that responsibility within ministries of agriculture for ITPGRFA implementation is often delegated to agricultural research organisations and, within these organisations, to departments dealing with genetic resource conservation. These departments and their activities are often relatively low profile within their own ministries, with the result that they have difficulty in getting their own minister to recognise the importance of multilateral system implementation. This phenomenon was noted by Michel Petit et al 67 and his colleagues over twelve years ago in the context of the negotiations of the ITPGRFA, and it persists today as a factor affecting national implementation.Isabel López Noriega, Peterson Wambugu, and Alejandro Mejias point out that low level of awareness about the ITPGRFA can be partly attributed, in some countries, to the fact that very little consultation preceded their ratification of the Treaty. 68 As a result, in some countries, parties whose cooperation is required for implementation -including ministries of the environment -do not actually know much or anything about the multilateral system and may not feel a shared sense of its importance. As a result, they are likely to feel less compelled to accommodate, and make policy space for, the implementation of the multilateral system. The same thing could also be said about farmers and civil society groups in many countries. In this way, low levels of awareness about the multilateral system can play a significant role in holding back progress in its implementation.Clearly, more work needs to be done to raise awareness about the benefits of facilitated access to germplasm through the multilateral system to support national and local research and development objectives. This article is written primarily from the perspective of persons involved in the implementation of the ITPGRFA, so it has focused on challenges associated with low levels of awareness about the ITPGRFA. It is worth noting that commentators also note low levels of awareness about the CBD at a national level as a challenge to overcome. 69 Efforts to raise awareness about, and build capacity to implement, access and benefit sharing under the CBD and the ITPGRFA have also been largely separate and distinct exercises. This is a tendency that has percolated 'from the bottom, up' as a result of the fact that in most countries different agencies are responsible for the negotiation and implementation of the different agreements. It has also been reinforced 'from the top down', with international development assistance being delivered through sector specific channels.It makes sense that resources committed to awareness raising should address access and benefitsharing issues for all genetic resources in the country under all applicable international laws. Otherwise, resources will not be optimally used, possibilities for coordinating implementation (where coordination is necessary) will be overlooked, and there will be less likelihood of overcoming the sense of competition that sometimes exists between ministries regarding access and benefit sharing.As highlighted in the first part of this article, despite the fact that the ITPGRFA and CBD list practically identical objectives, their approaches to regulating access and benefit sharing are extremely different. The access and benefit-sharing articles of the CBD were developed largely in response to perceived injustices about developed countries' unchecked exploitation of developing countries' resources. Concerns about this issue were exacerbated by developed countries' push to extend intellectual property rights into international trade negotiations and the concomitant 'boom' in share values of biotechnology companies in the 1980s. 70 The access controls that mostly developing countries put in place pursuant to the CBD are designed to stop such practices and force users to pay a fair price for accessing developing countries' resources. 71 It is not an exaggeration to say that, in many developing countries, national access and benefit-sharing laws have been developed in the spirit of redressing historic, geopolitical inequalities and injustices.Countries' participation in the multilateral system is based on a different historical justification and meta-narrative. All countries are interdependent on PGRFA; all countries benefit from sharing their resources. No single country can possibly conserve all of the genetic diversity it needs to support its agricultural research and development and plant breeding programs. Many of the genetic resources concerned are already spread around the world and are potentially available for numerous potential providers. The benefit of facilitated access to the pool of shared plant genetic resources in the multilateral system outweighs whatever benefits can potentially be gained from strictly controlling access to those resources. All countries, developed and developing alike, will benefit from reaching out beyond their national borders and interests, to cooperate and share responsibilities in globally coordinated systems of conservation, use, and benefit sharing. The story that must be understood to appreciate the contributions of the multilateral system to conservation, agricultural research, plant breeding, and, ultimately, food security is more complex and not as immediately compelling from an 'historical wrongs and rights re-balancing' point of view.The CBD came into force eleven years before the ITPGRFA. Ministries of environment, supported by highly motivated civil society organisations, international conservation organisations such as International Union for the Conservation of Nature and international and country donors had already spent over a decade struggling to implement the CBD before it was possible to know what form the ITPGRFA or the multilateral system would take.There is an understandable tendency, therefore, on the part of some champions of the CBD to see the ITPGRFA and the multilateral system as an unasked-for baby brother who threatens to detract attention and resources away from his older sibling.The structural issues and tensions listed earlier have likely contributed to delay in amendments being made to national laws that limit the national implementation of the multilateral system. They are likely also contributing to the fact that, as far as the authors aware, ministries of agriculture and environment have not jointly developed guidelines, jointly published information documents, or advertised the availability of joint support services to address the interface issues highlighted in this article.The forgoing analysis is not meant to suggest that divisions between the ministries of environment and agriculture in the implementation of access and benefit-sharing norms are insurmountable. There are promising examples in a number of countries of efforts to coordinate policy development and implementation efforts under the guidance of the respective lead agencies. Some countries are experimenting with cross-departmental, multistakeholder initiatives to help address some of the issues mentioned earlier. India, Rwanda, and Uganda, for example, have created permanent multistakeholder committees or boards to facilitate information sharing, awareness raising, interagency consultation, and identification of options for national policy development pursuant to both the CBD and the ITPGRFA. These bodies include representatives from departments of agriculture, environment, forestry, and the attorney general. They also include representatives from national farmers' organisations, indigenous peoples, industry groups, and civil society organisations. However, in many countries, these kinds of multi-stakeholder committees exist only on paper and need resources to be put into practice.  In Rwanda, a steering committee to oversee the implementation of the CBD is composed of delegates from different ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources. Rwanda recently acceded to the ITPGRFA, so there is still no formalised oversight committee. In this regard, the Rwandan Agricultural Board (RAB), a national agricultural research organisation, has proposed a national gene bank strategy (to be approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and also possibly the Ministry of Natural Resources). Among other things, it proposes to create a permanent national steering committee to provide policy guidance on issues related to collection, conservation, sustainable use, and benefit sharing. The committee would include representatives from RAB (currently the focal point for both the CBD-ABS and the ITPGRFA), the Rwanda National Gene Bank, the Rwanda Environmental Management Authority (CBD-national focal point), the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, MINAGRI, the Rwanda Natural Resources Authority, the Rwanda Scientific and Technological Research Institute, (including National Herbarium), the National University of Rwanda, farmers' associations, and the Rwanda Development Board (including protected areas), In addition, in other countries -for example, Rwanda and Côte D'Ivoire -there are discussions about the possibility of ministries of environment and agriculture working together to develop a single law, with delegated responsibilities between ministries, to implement the multilateral system under the CBD, including the Nagoya Protocol. Costa Rica and Norway appear to have committed themselves to taking such an approach but have not yet developed the requisite supportive policies and mechanisms. Such an approach may be simpler to follow in those countries where the ITPGRFA is the focal point, and the CBD access and benefitsharing focal point are the same person, as in Rwanda, or the same government agency, as in Bhutan.This article has identified nine issues that national policy-makers need to address and the concomitant steps they need to follow when implementing the multilateral system under the ITPGRFA. In this respect, it responds to an outstanding need for a synthesis of research and practical experiences to date concerning the implementation of the multilateral system.The article also identifies those situations where national mechanisms to implement the multilateral system come face to face with access and benefitsharing mechanisms designed to implement the CBD (and those that are being planned to implement the Nagoya Protocol). The authors have described the practical consequences that can result from mismanagement of the points of interface and suggest means by which national agencies can coordinate their technical support to the constituencies of conservers, users, providers, and receivers of genetic resources at the frontier of the two systems. The authors hope that the article will help increase national policy actors' confidence in their collective capacities to clearly and practically delineate the interface of the two systems.Finally, the article identifies a range of structural, administrative, and political factors that are currently challenging the mutually supportive implementation of the access and benefit-sharing mechanisms under the CBD and ITPGRFA. In this context, the article has drawn attention to the fact that, in many countries, efforts to domesticate the multilateral system and access and benefit sharing under the CBD have been led by separate agencies through largely independent processes. While this separate approach may be acceptable in many ways -it is not necessary to coordinate on all fronts -it appears to have contributed to some blocked policy development processes, at least as far as the implementation of the multilateral system is concerned. It is beyond the scope of this article to develop prescriptions for dealing with these administrative, structural, and political challenges. Instead, the article is meant to assist others to address those issues in the context of their own domestic policy-making processes or in designing support for these processes. That said, we will underscore here a few observations that flow directly from the earlier analysis. It is critically important for the communities of people working in the agricultural sector, on the one hand, and in the environmental sector, on the other hand, to overcome their apparent reluctance to engage with one another concerning access and benefit-sharing issues. It is incumbent upon the agencies responsible for the implementation of the ITPGRFA and CBD/Nagoya Protocol to initiate processes to engender information exchange, increased trust, and a shared sense of purpose between their respective constituencies. There is not one 'best way' to approach coordination of national access and benefitsharing norms developed pursuant to the ITPGRFA and the CBD. What is most important is that the applicable rules related to the implementation of both the CBD and ITPGRFA are clearly established so that providers and recipients can easily ascertain when the different sets of rules apply, who is responsible for administering those rules, and what kinds of assistance they can obtain when they are not sure how to proceed. How this clarity is ultimately concretised and communicated will vary from country to country depending on their political and legal cultures and the issues about which there is most sensitivity and or uncertainty. Some countries will require more overt, formal mechanisms such as new or amended regulations, executive orders, or ministerial decrees. For others, it may suffice for the government to publish information documents clearly describing the systems in place and how they work and relate to one another.To achieve the required clarity, the lead agencies responsible for implementing access and benefitsharing norms under the ITPGRFA and CBD will need to work together more closely than they currently do in many countries. To that end, they should conduct joint background studies, capacitybuilding projects and workshops, national consultations, and awareness-raising activities. If they need financial support, they should approach donors with joint proposals to develop complementary policy options and mechanisms for implementation of the ITPGRFA, CBD, and Nagoya Protocol as outcomes of the same project. These coordination processes can be formalised through the creation of joint inter-ministerial committees, or they can remain informal and ad hoc. National circumstances will dictate which arrangements are most appropriate. In the absence of such efforts, implementation of all three instruments may be significantly delayed or completely frustrated in many countries, and their full contributions to the conservation and equitable, sustainable use of biological diversity will not be realised."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"82b97a3c6885dc2e0372411d11cf1f3e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/eb3bbfb5-e6cc-4e76-a37a-cdd6faa00841/retrieve","id":"-882617129"},"keywords":["Transcriptomics","proteomics","metabolomics","mixOmics","abscisic acid","anthocyanins"],"sieverID":"16846151-8224-4b08-bf33-b9609459b0cd","content":"Exocarp color de-synchronization with softening of 'Hass' avocado is a relevant recurrent problem for the avocado supply chain. This study aimed to unravel the mechanisms driving this de-synchronization integrating omics datasets from avocado exocarp of different storage conditions and color phenotypes. In addition, we propose to develop biomarkers to predict color synchronized/de-synchronized fruit. Integration of transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics and network analysis revealed eight transcription factors associated with differentially regulated genes between regular air (RA) and controlled atmosphere (CA) and twelve transcription factors related to avocado fruit color de-synchronization control in ready-to-eat stage. CA was positively correlated to auxins, ethylene, cytokinins and brassinosteroids-related genes, while RA was characterized by enrichment of cell wall remodeling and abscisic acid content associated genes. At ready-to-eat higher contents of flavonoids, abscisic acid and brassinosteroids were associated with color-softening synchronized avocados. In contrast, de-synchronized fruit revealed increases of jasmonic acid, salicylic acid and auxins levels.Avocado (Persea americana Mill) is considered among the most economically important subtropical/tropical fruit in the world. Avocado consumption has significantly increased in the last ten years due to its appreciated taste, texture and culinary characteristics besides being one of the most nutritious fruits (Dreher and Davenport, 2013). The dark-skinned cv. 'Hass' is the most popular and commercialized cultivar in the world. Worldwide, heterogeneity at export markets (Mpai and Sivakumar, 2020) in terms of firmness, color, days to reach edible firmness, response to forced ripening protocols, pathological and physiological disorders remain major quality issues and may result in food losses of up to 10-30 % (Landahl and Terry, 2020). Fruit color and firmness guide consumers purchase, thus when color is desynchronized with firmness, it contributes to fruit losses during marketing (Donetti and Terry, 2012).Relatively recently, the skin color de-synchronization with softening of 'Hass' avocado has been systematically evidenced during the last seasons in different avocado producing and exporting countries around the world (Mathe et al., 2018;Arancibia-Guerra et al., 2022).Most of the published studies on this problem are merely descriptive, highlighting factors such as orchard topography, harvest maturity, or 1-methylcyclopropane (1-MCP) response as displaying either positive or negative effects (Mathe et al., 2018) on skin color desynchronization with softening. A recent study of Arancibia-Guerra et al. (2022) provided the first insights at the biochemical and molecular levels reveal ing the participation of ethylene and abscisic acid (ABA) in color synchronization and the potential role of cytokinins during controlled atmosphere (CA) prolonged storage on fruit maturation off the tree resulting in improvements of skin color synchronized with fruit softening.The acquisition and integration of multiomics datasets (transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics) could help to perform a comprehensive study of the underlying mechanisms of different fruit traits (e.g., physiological disorders) (Jamil et al., 2020). Systematic multiomics integration approaches in plant systems biology at three different levels include:(i) element-based approach (correlation, clustering and multivariate analysis), (ii) pathwaybased approach (pathway mapping, co-expression analysis) and (iii) the mathematical-based approach (differential analysis and genome-scale analysis) (Jamil et al., 2020). Integration of the different omics at least at levels 1 and 2 can be achieved by using MixOmics (Rohart et al., 2017) and DIABLO (Data Integration Analysis for Biomarker discovery using Latent cOmponents; Singh et al., 2019) as well as network analysis with ConnecTF platform (Brooks et al., 2021).Multiomics studies on fruit quality traits and development integrating all three platforms are scarce and, in most of the cases, restricted to well sequenced species such as grape and apple (Savoi et al., 2017;Favre et al., 2022). More studies are available on the combination of two omics platforms (Liu et al., 2021).Since anthocyanins are the main pigments associated with the purple/black color expected at edible ripeness in 'Hass' avocado exocarp, it is crucial to comprehensively study its biosynthesis regulation during different postharvest storage conditions and ripening. The recent research of Arancibia-Guerra et al. (2022) revealed the role of other hormones than ethylene and ABA in the skin color de-synchronization with softening. Thus, a complete integrative multiomics study is needed to understand the regulation of pigments (mainly anthocyanins) on the skin of 'Hass' avocado during ripening. The integration of omics data will allow targeting key modulatory genes of the anthocyanin biosynthesis and other pigments and phenolic substances pathways such as transcription factors, hormone biosynthesis enzymes and signal transduction pathway components. Thus, in this study we:(i) integrated omics data (transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics) from avocado exocarp of different storage conditions and displaying differences in color phenotype at the ready-to-eat stage, (ii) constructed a regulatory network using omics variables highly correlated with the color de-synchronization and (iii) identified and selected potential biomarkers for storage condition treatments and green/black fruit color skin phenotype.Avocado fruit cv. 'Hass' (24.6 % dry matter content) were harvested from one interior Chilean orchard during the 2020/2021 season. This orchard was located at a distance from orchard to sea ≥ 45 km and elevation between 300 and 900 m.a.s.l. This orchard was chosen based on historical data of our group that consistently revealed avocado fruit displaying a high incidence of color de-synchronization with softening.Sampling was performed as reported in Arancibia-Guerra et al. (2022). Briefly, 150 fruit (~ 200 g) were harvested and transported immediately to the Postharvest Laboratory of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, cooled to 5 °C and further subjected to the storage conditions specified below.Fruit were divided as follows: 20 fruit were collected at harvest time without storage treatment (\"H\" samples). Sixty fruit were stored under controlled atmosphere (CA; 4 kPa O 2 and 6 kPa CO 2 at 5 °C for 40 d; \"CA 40d\" samples), and 60 fruit were stored under regular air (RA; at 5 °C for 40 days; \"RA 40d\" samples). After CA and RA storage, the fruit were brought to shelf life at 20 °C and 60-70 % RH until each fruit reached the \"ready-to-eat\" (RTE) stage with firmness of 4-8 N (RTE CA and RTE RA samples). RTE CA and RTE RA samples were further subdivided in green (G) and black (B) phenotypes resulting in \"RTE CA G\", \"RTE CA B\", \"RTE RA G\" and \"RTE RA B\" samples according to a 5-point hedonic color scale of Arancibia-Guerra et al. (2022). Exocarp samples were taken from 10 fruit from each condition. All exocarp samples were frozen and ground in liquid nitrogen immediately after sampling and stored at -80 °C until analyses.Total RNA was extracted from 100 mg of frozen exocarp tissue using a Spectrum TM Plant    Total RNA kit (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Luis, USA) following the manufacturer's instructions and stored at -80 °C. Extracted RNA was quantified with a Qubit ® 2.0 fluorometer (Invitrogen TM , Carlsbad, CA, USA) using a Qubit TM RNA BR assay kit and RNA integrity was assessed by capillary electrophoresis using a Fragment Analyzer TM System (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA) with the RNA kit DNF-471-0500 (15nt). The RNA quality number (RQN value) was used to identify RNA integrity. RNA samples with an RQN value beyond 7.0 were used for the following steps.RNA libraries were constructed according to the TruSeq Stranded mRNA Kit (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA) following the manufacturer's instructions. The libraries concentrations were determined with a Qubit ® 4.0 fluorometer (Invitrogen TM ) using a Qubit TM dsDNA BR assay kit and library size and integrity were evaluated by capillary electrophoresis using the Fragment Analyzer TM System (Agilent Technologies) with the DNF-474-0500 HS NGS Fragment Kit. The constructed libraries were sequenced using Macrogen sequencing services (Seoul, Korea) in paired end mode on a HiSeq4000 sequencer.Raw sequencing data files were evaluated with FASTQC software and read quality trimming and filtering process was made using Flexbar v3.5.0 (Dodt et al., 2012). The STAR aligner software v2.7.10 (Dobin et al., 2013) was used to align filtered reads against Persea americana var. drymifolia reference genome v3.0. Details of sequencing, filtering and alignment metrics can be seen in Table S1. For each library, the featureCounts function from the R package Rsubread v2.8.1 (Liao et al., 2019) was applied to assign expression values to each uniquely aligned fragment. Normalized expression values were obtained with the R package edgeR v3.36.0 (Robinson et al., 2010) using a trimmed mean of M-values (TMM) normalization method.Proteins were extracted according to the protocol modified by Buts et al. (2014). The digested samples (0.5 μg) were injected (5 μL) and separated on an Ultimate 3000 UPLC system (Dionex, Thermo Scientific) equipped with an Acclaim PepMap 100 pre-column (C 18 3 μm-100 Å, Thermo Scientific) and a C 18 PepMap RSLC (2 μm, 75 μm-50 cm, Thermo Scientific) using a linear gradient (300 nL/min) of 0-4 % buffer B (80 % ACN, 0.08 % FA) in 3 min, 4-12 % B in 17 min, 12-15 % in 10 min, 15-18 % in 45 min, 18-20 % in 40 min, 20-30 % in 65 min , 30-35 % in 30 min, 35-65 % in 10 min, 65-95 % in 5 min 95 % for 40 min, 95-4 % in 1 min, 4 % for 39 min. The Orbitrap Elite Velos Pro ETD mass spectrometer (Thermo Scientific) was operated in positive ion mode with a nanospray voltage of 1.8 kV and a source temperature of 275 °C. Pierce LTQ Velos ESI positive ion calibration mix (Thermo Scientific) was used as an external calibrant. The instrument was operated in data-dependent acquisition mode with a survey MS scan at a resolution of 60,000 for the mass range of m/z 375-1500 for precursor ions, followed by MS/MS scans of the top 20 most intense peaks with +2, +3, +4, and above charged ions above a minimum signal threshold count of 500 at rapid resolution setting of ion trap using normalized collision energy (NCE) of 35 eV with an isolation window of 2.0 m/z, and dynamic exclusion of 10 s. All data were acquired with Xcalibur 3.0.63.3 software (Thermo Scientific). For protein quantification, the software Progenesis QI for proteomics ® v4.2 (Nonlinear Dynamics, Waters) was applied using all peptides for quantification. We applied MASCOT v2.2.06 (Matrix Science) against the translated mRNA database (22441 accessions) using the search parameters parent mass tolerance of 12 PPM, fragment tolerance of 0.5 Da, variable modification by oxidation M, Deamidation NQ, fixed modification by carbamidomethyl C, with up to two missed cleavages allowed for trypsin. Scaffold (version Scaffold_4.11.0, Proteome Software Inc., Portland, OR) was used to validate MS/MS based peptide and protein identifications. Peptide identifications were accepted if they could be established at greater than 96.0 % probability by the Peptide Prophet algorithm (Keller et al., 2002) with Scaffold delta-mass correction.Protein identifications were accepted if they could be established at greater than 5.0 % probability to achieve a FDR less than 1.0 % and contained at least 1 identified peptide. X!Tandem was set up to search the reverse concatenated database also assuming trypsin.Proteins that contained similar peptides and those that could not be differentiated based on MS/MS analysis alone were grouped to satisfy the principles of parsimony. Proteins sharing significant peptide evidence were grouped into clusters. The total of 2,016 proteins were annotated via BLAST.Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses were carried out to achieve the relative quantification of polar metabolites. The extraction and derivatization of the metabolites of interest was done by applying the modified protocol by Fuentealba et al. (2017).Chromatographic peaks were assigned and identified by comparing retention times and mass spectra to a home-built library of commercial standards and the NIST14 library using Mass Hunter Quantitative software (Agilent Technologies). Metabolites were reported based on relative quantification.Extraction and derivatization of non-polar metabolites was performed according to the modified protocol of Lytovchenko et al. (2009). The samples were derivatized using 150 µL of N-trimethylsilyl-N-methyl trifluoroacetamide (MSTFA) and incubated for 30 min at 37 °C with shaking. One µL of each sample was analyzed through an Agilent 7890B gas chromatograph equipped with a 5977A single quadrupole mass spectrometer, an electron impact ionization source, a PAL3 autosampler and a 30 m x 0.25 mm x 0.25 µm DB-5ms column (Agilent Technologies). The injector and interface temperatures were 220 °C and 280°C, respectively. The helium flow rate was 1 mL min -1 and a split ratio of 25:1 was used.The initial oven temperature was 120 °C for 1 min, then, it was increased to 300 °C (5°C min -1 ) and maintained for 15 min. The source and quadrupole temperatures were 230 °C and 150 °C, respectively. Mass spectra were obtained in the range of 50 to 600 m/z with a Scan rate of 2.66 scans per second. Metabolites were identified using Mass Hunter Quantitative software (Agilent Technologies) and the NIST Library14. Metabolites were reported based on relative quantification.Fatty acids were determined according to the protocol described by Campos et al. (2020). Same chromatographic conditions of Campos et al. (2020) were used. Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) were identified and quantified based on retention time comparison with previously injected external standards. The results were expressed as g fatty acid kg -1 dry weight (DW).Peel phenolics extracts were obtained as described by Uarrota et al. (2020). Polyphenolics were analyzed using an Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) system composed of an Acquity H Class separation module (Waters, MI, USA) equipped with an auto-injector, an Acquity photodiode array detector and the Empower software. The column used for UPLC separation was an Acquity BEH C 18 (1.7 µm, 100 x 2.1 mm) (Waters, MI, USA) with an Acquity Vand Guard BEH C 18 pre-column (1.7 µm, 5 x 2.1 mm) at 30 °C.Same gradient and running conditions as reported in Uarrota et al. (2020) were used. Spectral data were recorded from 200 to 700 nm during the whole run. Phenolic compounds were identified and quantified by comparing their retention time and UV-visible spectral data to previously injected standards (280, 320, and 360 nm). The results were expressed in g kg -1 DW.Variables with statistically significant differences in at least one condition were identified by an ANOVA test (p-value < 0.01) of transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic datasets and visualized in a Venn diagram using the Venny v2.1.0 software (available at https://bioinfogp.cnb.csic.es/tools/venny/). Normalized transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic datasets were scaled considering the mean-centered and divided by the standard deviation of each variable. For variables with transcriptomic and proteomic information, the protein data was prioritized and maintained for the following analyses. The R package mixOmics v6.20.0 (Rohart et al., 2017) was used to perform a multiblock partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) considering the average representation space between all datasets with the block.plsda function, and correlations between omics datasets were calculated and plotted with the plotDiablo function of the same package.Clustering was performed using the R package pheatmap v1.0.12 with the hclust function using the ward.D2 clustering method and graphed with Prism v9.1.0 software (GraphPad Software Inc., San Diego, CA, USA). To search for genetic functions and pathways overrepresented in each cluster, a gene ontology analysis was performed with the R package ClusterProfiler v4.0.5 (Yu et al., 2012), using the compareCluster function. The parameters used for this analysis were: the list of variables in each cluster in ENTREZID, enrichGO subfunction, the universe from the total of variables that present annotation as genetic background, Benjamini-Hochberg statistical test and a filter of FDR < 0.05. Subsequently, the semantics filter of GO terms was performed using the simplify function of the same package using a p-value and q-value cutoff less than 0.05.Network analyses were made using the ConnecTF platform (Brooks et al., 2021). The lists of variables in each cluster were used as \"Target Gene List\" and \"Filter TFs\" to identify transcription factor candidates with DAP-seq information in the ConnecTF database for network construction. The Target List Enrichment tool was used to identify the significance of each transcription factor by comparing the target gene list and queried analyses to filter them considering only transcription factors with p-value < 0.01. Additionally, the candidate transcription factors were filtered considering a minimum normalized expression of five TMM to construct each cluster network. Finally, network construction was made using Cytoscape software v3.9.1 (Shannon et al., 2003). Expression profiles of candidate transcription factors were graphed with Prism v9.1.0 software (GraphPad Software Inc., San Diego, CA, USA).To identify highly correlated variables discriminating treatments or fruit color desynchronization phenotype integrating all omics datasets, a multiomic analysis was performed with a MixOmics derived software called DIABLO (Data Integration Analysis for Biomarker discovery using a Latent cOmponents; Singh et al., 2019). To evaluate the number of components to retain in the sparse PLS-DA analysis we use a repeated k-fold crossvalidation through the DIABLO perf function and the tune.block.splsd function was used to determine the optimal number of variables of each component. Selected variables in the sparse PLS-DA were plotted using the circosPlot function with a correlation cutoff of 0.8 and expression patterns of candidate variables were graphed with the boxplot function of R package.Avocado fruit softening was evaluated (Figure S1A) considering firmness evaluations at harvest, after prolonged cold storage stage (40d) and ready-to-eat stage (RTE) in two storage conditions, regular air (RA; regular air at 5 °C) and controlled atmosphere (CA; 4 kPa O 2 and 6 kPa CO 2 at 5 °C). Significant differences between CA and RA were identified after 40 days at 5 ºC, presenting a higher softening rate in fruit stored in RA conditions (Figure S1A). However, despite these differences, fruit at RTE stage reached firmness between 4 and 10 N, so there were no differences in fruit firmness at this point. When fruit reached the ready-toeat firmness, they were classified by fruit skin color in green and black fruit. Values less than three represent green colored fruit and four and five values represent black fruit (Figure S1B; bars values). As shown in Figure S1B (line values), for fruit stored under controlled atmosphere conditions, only 10 % presented the color-softening de-synchronization phenotype, remaining green, while for fruit stored under regular air conditions, color desynchronization reached values close to 60 %, since only 40 % of the fruit showed the black exocarp color change.A total of 17,772 transcripts, 2,016 proteins and 84 metabolites were identified and quantified in the three stages and two storage conditions analyzed. Using an ANOVA test to identify the variables with statistically significant differences in at least one condition, a subset of 13,825 transcripts, 794 proteins and 46 metabolites were selected with a p-value < 0.01. For variables with transcriptomic and proteomic information (643 variables), proteomic abundance values were maintained (Figure 1A). Sample evaluation and separation of the different conditions was made using PLS-DA considering the average representation space between all three datasets (Figure 1B). Component 1 separates the harvest (H) and treatments (RA 40d and CA 40d) samples from the ready-to-eat (RTE) samples, while component 2 discriminated between treatments (RA 40d and CA 40d) and harvest samples. Black and green fruit RTE samples could only be separated by the fourth component with 5 %, 7 % and 4 % of explained variance for transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic datasets, respectively (data not shown). As shown in Figure 1C, Pearson correlations between omics datasets exceeded 0.89. The highest correlation was between proteomic and metabolomic datasets (0.98), while the lowest correlation with 0.89 was obtained between transcriptomic and metabolomic data.A clustering analysis was made using the 14,022 variables described in Figure S1A. Five clusters of interest were constructed (Figure 1D) and for each cluster, a gene ontology analysis was performed to identify gene enrichment terms associated to each expression profile (Figure 1E). Cluster 1 contained 584 variables (489 transcripts, 88 proteins and 7 metabolites) that increased their expression/abundance with prolonged storage conditions and at the ready-to-eat stage and presented higher levels in the conditions associated with black fruit (\"RTE CA B\" and \"RTE RA B\"), highlighting the presence of anthocyanin, catechin and epicatechin content. Figure 1E shows an enrichment of GO terms in cluster 1 associated with regulation of hormone levels, phenylpropanoid metabolic process and polysaccharide and secondary metabolite biosynthetic processes. On the other hand, cluster 2 contained 1,038 variables (1,018 transcripts and 20 proteins) that also increased their expression/abundance with prolonged storage conditions and ready-to-eat stages, however, unlike cluster 1, it presented the highest expression/abundance levels in the green fruit associated condition (\"RTE RA G\"). Cluster 2 is characterized by presenting GO terms associated post-embryonic and seedling development, root epidermal cell differentiation and photoperiodism, and containing metabolites like α-ketoglutaric acid, fumaric acid and succinic acid. Clusters 3 and 4 presented variables with higher expression/abundance values in controlled atmosphere (CA 40d) and regular air (RA 40d) samples, respectively (Figure 1D). These clusters contained a total of 927 (Cluster 3; 903 transcripts, 20 proteins and 4 metabolites) and 440 (Cluster 4; 427 transcripts, 8 proteins and 5 metabolites) variables. On the one hand, cluster 3 presented enrichment of GO terms associated with ncRNA processing, methylation and jasmonic acid metabolic process, in addition to containing metabolites such as D-(-)-rhamnose, GABA, L-serine and L-threonine. Cluster 4 was characterized by metabolites from the group of fatty acids (linoleic, oleic, palmitoleic and stearic acid) and enrichment of GO terms related to programmed cell death and hypersensitive response.Finally, cluster 5 contained variables with the highest expression/abundance values at harvest that declined rapidly with CA and RA treatments and stayed low even up to ready-to-eat conditions. This cluster contained 872 variables (868 transcripts and 4 proteins) and it was characterized by the enrichment of photosynthesis, post-embryonic plant morphogenesis and cell wall biogenesis GO terms (Figure 1E).Clusters 3 and 4 (Figure 1D) were characterized by presenting expression/abundance peak levels in controlled atmosphere and regular air prolonged storage conditions, respectively.On the one hand, the 927 variables contained in cluster 3 and the 440 variables contained in cluster 4 were evaluated to identify interactions between transcription factors and target genes. Using the ConnecTF database, five and three candidate transcription factors were selected as regulators of the expression/abundance patterns of the variables in cluster 3 and 4, respectively.For cluster 3 associated to CA 40 d storage condition, a G-box binding factor 3 (GBF3), one heat shock transcription factor (HSFA6B), one WRKY DNA-binding protein (WRKY40), one cycling DOF factor (CDF3) and one MYB family transcription factor (PHL7) were selected. Figure 2 shows a representation of the proposed regulatory network for cluster 3 using the five candidate transcription factors mentioned above and 396 target variables with functional information (393 transcripts and 8 proteins). An enrichment of variables associated with auxins (red border nodes), brassinosteroids (dark green border nodes), cytokinins (light blue border nodes) and ethylene (dark blue border nodes) biosynthesis and signaling were found along with chlorophyll metabolism related genes (light green border nodes).On the other hand, for cluster 4 associated to RA storage condition, one homeobox-leucine zipper protein (HB7), one MYB related protein (MYR2) and one protein basic penta cysteine (BPC1) were selected as regulators of cluster 4 variables. The proposed network analysis for cluster 4 with the three candidate transcription factors and 183 target variables with functional information (183 transcripts and 3 proteins) is shown in Figure S2. An enrichment of genes with cell wall remodeling function (yellow border nodes), gibberellin biosynthesis and regulation (orange border nodes) and abscisic acid related genes (dark red border nodes) were found. Of the genes classified in the ABA pathway, we highlight two genes associated with carotene biosynthesis, the phytoene desaturase 3 (PSD3) and the lycopene cyclase (LYC). Network analysis for cluster 3 and 4 covered the regulation of a total of 763 and 348 target variables, respectively (representing the 82.3 and 79.1 % of total variables of cluster 3 and 4, respectively).Using only harvest, regular air and controlled atmosphere samples (H, RA40d and CA40d), a sparse partial least square discriminant analysis (sPLS-DA) was performed to classify and select a subset of variables from each omics dataset that explain each component according to its loading vector coefficient (coefficient that indicates the importance of each variable in each component of the PLS-DA). In this way, a total of 55 and 45 variables for transcriptomics, 37 and 40 variables for proteomics, and 8 and 5 variables for metabolomics were selected to define components 1 and 2, respectively. Figure 3A shows the results of the sPLS-DA for components 1 and 2 of each omics dataset. In all cases, component 1 separated samples at harvest from the rest of the samples with 48 %, 25 % and 28 % of explained variance for transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic datasets, respectively, while component 2 allowed to separate regular air from controlled atmosphere samples with 31 %, 22 % and 26 % of explained variance for transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic datasets, respectively. Considering that the treatments are separated only by component 2, to identify biomarkers that differentiate between regular air and controlled atmosphere storage conditions, the following analyses were carried out on this component. A global overview of component 2 correlations between omics datasets is shown in Figure 3B. Strong correlations were extracted by DIABLO between omics datasets with Pearson's correlations > 0.97.Selected variables belonging to component 2 from each omics dataset that separated different storage conditions were plotted in the cirscosplot shown in Figure 3C. As mentioned above, a total of 45 transcripts, 40 proteins and 5 metabolites were selected. Of all these variables, 64 showed higher expression/abundance in fruit samples stored in controlled atmosphere conditions, while only 26 showed higher expression/abundance in fruit samples stored in regular air conditions. The complete information of these candidate biomarkers is presented in Table S2. Finally, considering the information obtained from the network analysis and the identified biomarkers, six variables of interest with the information of expression/abundance in all conditions studied (Harvest, CA40d, RA40d, RTE CA B, RTE RA G and RTE RA B) were plotted in the boxplots shown in Figure 3D. These six variables corresponded to γaminobutyric acid (GABA), myo-inositol, a ribosomal RNA small subunit methyltransferase (PCF1), one ethylene-responsive transcription factor (RAP2.4), the heat shock transcription factor A6B (HSFA6B) and one xanthoxin dehydrogenase (ABA2).Cluster 1 (Figure 1D) was characterized by containing variables that increase their expression/abundance with prolonged storage after harvest, presenting higher levels of expression/abundance in black-colored than green-colored fruit, so it is the cluster with the highest correlation with the color de-synchronization phenotype.Of the total of 584 variables contained in cluster 1, six candidate transcription factors were selected as regulators of the expression/abundance patterns of the variables present in cluster 1 using the ConnecTF database. Two bZIP transcription factors family protein (TGA1 and TGA2), one homeodomain-like superfamily protein REVEILLE (RVE1), one BES1/BZR1 homolog protein (BEH4), one WRKY DNA-binding protein (WRKY70) and one MYB domain protein (MYB61). The six candidate transcription factors covered the regulation of a total of 472 target variables (80.8 % of total cluster 1 variables).Figure 4 shows a representation of the proposed regulatory network for cluster 1 using the six transcription factors and 252 target variables with functional information (199 transcripts, 50 proteins and 3 metabolites). An enrichment of variables associated with flavonoid biosynthesis was identified in cluster 1 presenting high correlation with the three metabolites found in this cluster, the anthocyanin, catechin and epicatechin content (Figure 4, purple border nodes). Among the transcriptomic and proteomic data associated with the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway variables such as phenylalanine ammonia-lyase 4 (PAL4), 4coumarate:CoA ligase 3 (4CL3), chalcone synthase (CHS), chalcone-flavanone isomerase 3 (CHI3), flavonoid 3'-monooxygenase (F3H), dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR), leucoanthocyanidin dioxygenase (LDOX) and two flavonoid-associated UDPglycosyltransferases (UGT85A5 and UGT89B1) were found. Finally, an enrichment of genes associated with gibberellins (Figure 4, orange border nodes) and brassinosteroid (Figure 4, dark green border nodes) hormonal regulation or biosynthesis were identified.On the other hand, for cluster 2 which presented a similar pattern of cluster 1 but with maximum expression/abundance values in green fruit samples, six other transcription factors were identified that could be regulating the expression/abundance patterns of the variables contained in this cluster, one auxin response factor (ARF2), three NAC domain containing proteins (NAC002, NAC073 and NAC075), one protein sensitive to proton rhizotoxicity (STOP1) and one heat shock transcription factor (HSFB3). This network analysis covered the regulation of 689 target variables (66.4 % of total cluster 2 variables).The proposed network analysis for cluster 2 with these six candidate transcription factors and 322 variables with functional information (260 transcripts and 62 proteins) is shown in Figure S3. Enrichment of genes associated with embryo and seed development were identified in this cluster (Figure S3, orange border nodes), along with genes associated with jasmonic acid (Figure S3, dark green border nodes) and salicylic acid (Figure S3, pink border nodes) biosynthesis and signaling.Using only ready-to-eat (RTE) sample information of black (CA B and RA B) and green (RA G) colored fruit, a sparse PLS-DA was performed to identify the most important variables for each omics data set and each component. A total of 55 and 55 variables for transcriptomics, 25 and 10 variables for proteomics, and 14 and 5 variables for metabolomics were selected to define components 1 and 2, respectively. Figure 5A shows the results of the sPLS-DA for components 1 and 2 of each omics dataset. In all cases, component 1 separates green from black fruit samples with 27 %, 24 % and 23 % of explained variance for transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic datasets, respectively, whil st component 2 allowed to separate regular air from controlled atmosphere samples with a 21 %, 28 % and 38 % of explained variance for transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic datasets, respectively. Considering that color phenotypes were separated by component 1, to identify biomarkers that differentiate between green and black colored fruit, in a similar way as in previous section, the following analyses were carried out on this component. A global overview of component 1 correlations between omics datasets is shown in Figure 5B. Strong correlations were extracted by DIABLO between transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic datasets with Pearson's correlations > 0.94.Selected variables belonging to component 1 from each omics dataset that separated the black and green fruit phenotypes were plotted in the cirscosplot shown in Figure 5C. As mentioned above, a total of 55 variables from transcriptomics, 25 variables from proteomics and 14 variables from metabolomics were selected. Of all these variables, 38 showed higher expression/abundance in black skin color fruit samples regardless of storage conditions and 56 showed higher expression/abundance in green skin color fruit samples. The complete information of these candidate biomarkers is presented in Table S3. Finally, considering the information obtained from the network analysis and the identified biomarkers, two metabolites, anthocyanins and epicatechins, two transcripts, the protein argonaute (AGO1) and a NAC-domain containing protein 75 (NAC075), and two proteins, the lipoxygenase 5 (LOX5) and the OPC-8:0 CoA ligase 1 (OPCL1) were selected and plotted in the boxplots shown in Figure 5D with the expression/abundance values of all conditions studied (Harvest, CA40d, RA40d, RTE CA B, RTE RA G and RTE RA B).Using the KEGG database starting from phytoene synthase (PSY) in carotenoid biosynthesis to ABA conjugation in 8'-hydroxyabscisate, it was possible to identify 25 variables related to ABA content in avocado fruit omics datasets. These variables were grouped considering the condition in which they presented their highest level of expression/abundance as shown in Figure 6 (left side). Comparing the variables associated with prolonged cold storage (Figure 6; orange and gray groups), an enrichment of ABA biosynthesis-related variables was observed in CA condition (orange group), while in RA condition (gray group) an enrichment of variables associated with carotenoid biosynthesis was found. On the other hand, the black RTE samples (Figure 6; green and yellow groups) also present these differences, associating a greater number of ABA biosynthesis-related variables to CA stored samples (RTE CA B; green group) and a greater number of carotenoid biosynthesis variables to RA stored samples (RTE RA B; yellow group). Finally, Figure 6 (purple group) shows that in green fruit samples (RTE RA G) we found an enrichment of variables related to ABA catabolism (CYP707A2 and CYP707A4).Previous studies have already reported this problem of skin color de-synchronization with softening in 'Hass' avocado specially in early and middle harvest fruit and stored in regular air conditions (Mathe et al., 2018). CA prolonged storage resulted not only in greater synchronization of color with fruit firmness (Figure S1B), but also in enhanced firmness retention upon release from cold storage (Figure S1A). Previous studies have already reported the benefit of prolonged CA storage for 'Hass' avocado regarding firmness retention (Hernández et al., 2021) as well as on synchronizing exocarp color with firmness (Arancibia-Guerra et al., 2022). Previous descriptive studies on this problem, instead, reported 1-MCP application to be efficient in improving color development in exocarp of 'Hass' avocado (Mathe et al., 2018). CA and 1-MCP share some similarities in terms of delaying senescence and controlling ethylene action, thus extending shelf life. But 1-MCP treated 'Hass' avocado fruit has reported problems of ripening heterogeneity, thus its application to improve color development is ruled out (Olivares et al., 2020).Three transcription factors with higher expression/abundance values in RA storage conditions were selected for RA network construction (Figure S2). MYR2 has been described as transcriptional repressor of gibberellic acid-dependent response (Zhao et al., 2011).Moreover, HB7 has been reported as a plant development and growth modulator and its overexpression shows improved tolerance to water deficit, decreasing auxin levels (Basso et al., 2021). Finally, BPC1 belongs to a basic pentacysteine family associated to circadian clock regulation, plant growth and development, and regulates cell wall β-1,4-galactan content (Yan et al., 2021).Only two genes related to gibberellin biosynthesis (KAO1) and homeostasis (GAI) were found with higher expression in prolonged RA storage (Figure S2). Considering that: (i) MYR2 is a transcription factor that represses GA response, (ii) the GAI gene encodes a DELLA protein that represses GA signaling, and (iii) no significant differences in bioactive GA content (GA 1 and GA 4 ) were found by Arancibia-Guerra et al. (2022) in RA stored samples, we dismissed that GA signaling was part of the changes observed in samples stored under RA conditions. On the other hand, a group of ABA response genes were identified associated with RA storage conditions (Figure S2), along with two key genes in carotenoid biosynthesis (ABA precursor), the phytoene desaturase 3 (PDS3) and lycopene cyclase (LYC). Regarding genes associated with cell wall remodeling, an enrichment of genes with xyloglucan endotransglucosylase/hydrolase (XTH and XTH6), pectin methylesterase (PME and PME8), β-glucosidase (BGLU and BGLU40) and β-galactosidase (BGAL8) activity were found. Ahmed et al. (2010) associated an increase in PME activity with avocado fruit softening process accompanied by a decrease in cellulase activity, while Brummell et al. (2004) reported the participation of cell wall-related genes such as exo-and enopolygalacturonases, pectin methylesterases, α-arabinosidases, endo-1,4-β-glucanase and βgalactosidase in the peach softening process. These data suggest that cell wall-related genes identified with higher expression in samples stored under RA conditions could explain the differences in fruit firmness observed in Figure S1A.Five transcription factors were identified with higher expression/abundance values in CA storage conditions (Figure 2). On the one hand, GBF3, HSFA6B and CDF3 have been described as osmotic, salinity and drought stress response transcription factors induced by ABA (Corrales et al., 2017;Ramegowda et al., 2017;Wenjing et al., 2020). In addition, CDF3 could also increase γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels (Renau-Morata et al., 2017).GABA was identified as one of the most correlated metabolites with differences between storage conditions together with HSFA6B (Figure 3). For these reasons, HSFA6B and CDF3 seem to be reliable candidates to explain the changes that occurred during storage under CA conditions. The results obtained in the cluster analysis of Figure 1 suggest that in addition to the roles described in previous works, GBF3, HSFA6B, CDF3, WRKY40 and PHL7 could also be considered transcription factors that respond to hypoxia under CA prolonged storage conditions.CA storage conditions showed an enrichment of genes associated with photosynthesis and chlorophyll metabolism (Figure 2). In tomato fruit, CA storage prevents ethylene production, decreases carotenoid levels and αand β-galactosidase activity and slows down chlorophyll degradation and loss of firmness (Sozzi et al., 1999). Similar results were obtained in broccoli florets (Paradis et al., 1996) and green slender peppers (Özden and Bayindirli, 2002). On the other hand, key genes in auxin (YUC10, TSB2, IAA11, IAA13 and IAA16), brassinosteroid (BSL1 and CDL1), cytokinin (CKX1, CKX3 and CKX6) and ethylene (ACS1, ACS8, ERF019, ERF025, ERF112 and RAP2.4) biosynthesis and signaling pathways were found associated to CA (Figure 2). Among of them, RAP2.4 was selected as one of the biomarkers that explain the differences between storage conditions (Figure 3). Lin et al. (2008) proposed that RAP2.4 acts in a downstream convergence point of light and ethylene signaling pathways, coordinating the regulation of multiple developmental processes and stress responses. These results suggest that one or more of these hormones signaling in cold storage may be involved in the increase in color synchronization observed under CA conditions (Figure S1B), however, more analyses are needed to determine their participation in this process.The six transcription factors positively correlated to black fruit samples were used to construct the network analysis of Figure 4. The TGACG-binding factors (TGA1 and TGA2) have been widely associated with plant defense by regulating salicylic acid (SA) levels (Budimir et al., 2020) and plant development (Wang et al., 2019). WRKY70 is considered a transcription factor involved in senescence and biotic and abiotic stress response, it has been reported as a negative regulator of SA biosynthesis (Li et al., 2017) and promote brassinosteroid-regulated plant growth (Chen et al., 2017). BEH4 has been described as a growth promoter transcription factor that respond to brassinosteroid signaling (Galstyan and Nemhauser, 2019). RVE1 participates in the integration of light perception and GA signaling pathways in seed dormancy and germination by the direct inhibition of gibberellin 3-oxidase 2 transcription (Yang et al., 2019) and MYB61 has been described as an essential transcription factor in GA biosynthesis and degradation (Matías-Hernández et al., 2017); both transcription factors are associated with bioactive GA inhibition.A high correlation between black fruit samples, flavonoid biosynthesis-related genes, and the content of anthocyanins, catechins, and epicatechins was identified along with a group of genes associated with brassinosteroid homeostasis (Figure 4). The same correlation between black fruit and anthocyanin content was identified by Arancibia-Guerra et al. (2022). In addition, as shown in Figure 5, the anthocyanins and epicatechins contents were significantly higher in abundance in fruit with black color, reinforcing the hypothesis that the regulation of flavonoid content is key for the synchronization of color with softening.As seen in Figure S3, an enrichment of genes associated with auxins (TSB2 and TRP1) and jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthesis (LOX2, LOX5, OPCL1, ACX1 and KAT2) were found correlated with avocado skin color de-synchronization phenotype or green colored fruit, along with genes associated with salicylic acid (SA) response and regulation (NPR1, WRKY4 and MYB7). The hormonal measurements carried out by Arancibia-Guerra et al.(2022) in these samples showed that although they were not significant, there was a tendency in green fruit samples to have higher contents of JA, SA and auxins than black fruit samples.In addition, two genes related to JA biosynthesis (LOX5 and OPCL1) were selected with the multivariate analysis as color de-synchronization biomarkers (Figure 5). All these results suggest that JA content could have a fundamental role in color de-synchronization in avocado fruit.The five transcription factors used to build the regulatory network associated with green fruit samples were studied as possible repressors of color change in avocado. The transcription factors NAC075 and NAC073 have been associated with secondary cell wall modifications, regulating cellulose and hemicellulose biosynthetic genes and promoting cell wall glucose and xylose content (Sakamoto and Mitsuda, 2015). NAC075 was identified as a biomarker for avocado fruit color de-synchronization (Figure 3). As it has been described that NAC075 is a regulator of cell wall modifications, it is possible that it was responsible for the delay between the fruit color development and softening. However, more analyses are needed to determine the role of this transcription factor in color de-synchronization. ARF2 has been associated with seed development by linking auxin signaling, cell division, and seed size (Schruff et al., 2006), correlating ARF2 with auxin biosynthesis-related genes (TSB2 and TRP1) and seed and embryo development genes (Figure S3). On the other hand, contrary to what was expected in this cluster, NAC002 has been described in Arabidopsis as a transcription factor induced by high salinity and ABA levels (Liu et al., 2016), that induces the expression of NCED3 (Jensen et al., 2013) and is repressed in SA and JA treatments (Wang et al., 2009). It probably has a regulatory function of SA and JA levels, but more analyses are required to determine its role in the regulation of green fruit genes. No information was found for the transcription factor HSFB3.In a previous work of our group, hormone levels were quantified in the same storage conditions evaluating fruit color de-synchronization (Arancibia-Guerra et al., 2022), a high correlation of anthocyanins and abscisic acid contents with 'Hass' avocado black fruit color was found, having higher levels in black than green fruit. However, when Arancibia-Guerra et al. (2022) analyzed the expression patterns of NCED1 and NCED2 by qPCR, no correlation between NCED genes and ABA content was found. Similar results of fruit color development correlations between ABA and anthocyanins contents were reported in other climacteric fruit such as apple (Wang et al., 2020). As shown in Figure 4, concordant results were found with the multiomic analysis correlating the anthocyanin content and anthocyanin biosynthesis-related variables with black fruits samples. Nevertheless, it was not possible to identify correlations between the previously measured ABA content and black fruit phenotype (Arancibia-Guerra et al., 2022) with ABA biosynthesis-related variables in the multiomic analysis. It was only possible to identify ABA biosynthesis-related variables such as NCED3 and ABA2 in cluster 3 (Figure 2), which have higher expression/abundance values in cold-stored samples under CA conditions and have very low levels in RTE stage.To identify the mechanisms by which the ABA levels quantified by Arancibia-Guerra et al.(2022) correlate with black fruit samples, all genes associated with carotenoid and ABA biosynthesis, including genes related to ABA homeostasis were analyzed (Figure 6). We identified a NCED9 in the transcriptomic data that increased its expression after cold storage under RA conditions, being the only NCED in avocado fruit that maintained high expression levels in the RTE stages with expression values of 28, 89 and 400 times higher than NCED1, NCED4 and NCED3, respectively. Although NCED9 appears to be a strong candidate to explain the correlation of ABA levels and color de-synchronization in RTE stage, it exhibits its highest expression level in black samples only under CA conditions. In samples of RTE stored under RA conditions, NCED9 expression levels were higher in green than black fruit samples, so it could explain only part of the correlation between ABA and color desynchronization. As shown in Figure 6, in RTE RA samples, we can identify an enrichment of genes associated with carotenoid biosynthesis in black fruit such as PDS3, Z-ISO and ZDS, and even a PSY gene classified in the group of genes associated with RA 40d (Figure 6; gray group). Meanwhile, in green fruit (RTE RA G), higher expression of two cytochrome P450 genes (CYP707A2 and CYP707A4) were identified. These genes present ABA 8'hydroxylase activity associated with ABA catabolism (Kushiro et al., 2004), which could be decreasing ABA levels in RTE RA G samples. These results suggest that although there is a higher level of NCED9 in green fruit samples, the ABA content could be lower due to an increase in ABA catabolism activity, in addition to the fact that a higher content of carotenoids could favor ABA biosynthesis in black fruit stored in RA conditions.Through a multiomic analysis using transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic data, it was possible to identify eight transcription factors associated with the differential regulated genes between RA and CA storage conditions and 12 transcription factors associated with avocado fruit color de-synchronization control in ready-to-eat stage.An enrichment of genes associated with hormonal biosynthesis and signaling of auxins, ethylene, cytokinins and brassinosteroids was identified with greater expression/abundance values in samples stored under CA conditions. However further analyses are necessary to determine their role in the color synchronization with softening. The samples stored under RA conditions were characterized by a greater softening associated with an enrichment of cell wall-remodeling genes and a higher ABA content.On the other hand, in the RTE stage, a higher content of flavonoids (anthocyanins, catechins and epicatechins), ABA and brassinosteroids were associated with color-softening synchronized avocados producing black fruit, while color de-synchronization was associated with an increase JA, SA and auxins levels producing green avocado fruit.      "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8992693addd6e10f4ad6a46b53b383cb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/88f76f3f-bca3-4b82-8944-b28171e38ba9/retrieve","id":"1940259140"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"447f7451-1a3e-406a-ae86-4e777119a704","content":"Private sector funding for farmers to combat climate change and protect and restore nature ('Paying for Nature') is rapidly increasing, alongside many calls for repurposing of public agricultural subsidies to achieve global goals. Yet this new funding may not reach its aims without improving farm-level reward mechanisms.n Public and private investors who want to deliver environmental outcomes should invest sufficient resources into innovating fair and effective farm reward mechanisms that support farmers to protect and restore nature and tackle climate change in agri-food systems of the Global South.n Such 'Paying for Nature' investors should work with farmers, communities and local governments to innovate and monitor payment and reward mechanisms to ensure they are practical and relevant to local conditions and to jointly address policy constraints.n Investors should develop credible systems to monitor investment impact and ensure no one is left behind, for example rural workers with little or no land. Badly-designed payments can make the poor poorer.n Governments and international development partners need to invest sufficient public finance to reach public sustainability goals, including for technical assistance and market information for farmers, and fixing underlying conditions for success such as land and subsidy policy.Innovation in farm reward mechanisms is pivotal for transforming agriculture to protect and restore nature in the Global South The global agri-food system emits nearly a third of greenhouse gases and is the sector that poses the single greatest threat to biodiversity. Private sector impact investment to support and encourage farmers to combat climate change and protect nature is rapidly increasing.There have also been many calls for repurposing public agricultural subsidies.A large amount of this new money will be channeled to farmers and landowners through farm-level reward mechanisms, or 'Paying for Nature' schemes. CoSAI has engaged in a series of public conversations with experts and commissioned a review of common Paying for Nature schemes in agriculture, and found some positive examples -but many schemes are still small pilots and not ready to absorb major funding or scale effectively.Paying for Nature schemes often fail to deliver multiple social and environmental goalsThe debates also shone a spotlight on some weaknesses of common approaches. Over-optimism reigns about what the private sector can fund, given challenges in 'monetizing' environmental outcomes at scale. For example, sustainability standards cover only a sliver of agricultural land area, mostly in high-value chains such as coffee and tea. Farmers are still often exposed to the highest risk and the lowest return. Programs designed for specific outcomes, such as cutting carbon emissions, often rest on untested assumptions that they will do no harm to other goals, such as protecting biodiversity or access to forest resources for the poorest.In particular, programs often lack reward mechanisms for hard-to-reach public goods, as when climate smart agriculture programs focus on adaptation and productivity (mostly private goods, albeit often with lower emissions), with little if any measurement of biodiversity and other public goods. Social inclusion and effects on the poorest are often not adequately considered or addressed in sustainable agriculture investments.While these issues are not new, the coming influx of finance into Paying for Nature schemes means that they deserve more attention and investment in innovation.Developing effective, efficient and inclusive reward mechanisms is challenging, often context-specific, and requires focused investment in innovation and learning.There are two common design problems in Paying for Nature schemes. One is developing practical and locally acceptable metrics for clear and agreed outcomes.The other is developing a fair and inclusive structure of payments and benefits that provides the right incentives -for richer and poorer farmers, landlords and tenants. These are often very challenging for the private sector, which prefers clear, simple, cost-effective and standardized financial products.Beyond the design stage come several common implementation problems. First of all, farmers who feel externally controlled can be demotivated. However, there is evidence that well-designed, locally agreed payments can help support farmers' own interests in protecting nature.Monitoring and reporting on desired actions and outcomes are also costly, with a lack of enforcement in many existing schemes. Public and international development finance must support Paying for Nature and SocietyRecent debates and reports have implied that private finance might fill the huge global funding gap in Paying for Nature. This is highly optimistic. Private operators may understandably not want to tackle multiple social and environmental goals, rural complexities and the myriad risk factors in serving small-scale farmers. It has been said that private schemes for biodiversity are in \"permanent proof of concept\". Research on blended finance has shown while leverage ratios can be over 3:1 for large agricultural developments, they are likely to be only about a tenth of this in low-income countries.The vast majority of farmers in the Global South sell to local or national markets, where only a small fraction of consumers can afford to pay extra for sustainable produce. In a few countries a growing middle class demands sustainable vegetables or tea, but this still represents a small fraction of the market, and willingness to pay extra may collapse if food prices rise. Public procurement is one approach, but also requires further innovation and learning.A major scale-up of public and development finance will thus be required to ensure that public goods and social inclusion goals are properly addressed in Paying for Nature. As countries increasingly adopt the UN system for environmental economic accounting and count the true cost of food, this should become more attainable. Public investment should, for example:n Fund innovation in instruments for on-farm and community reward schemes n Innovate in and improve public procurement schemes n Provide technical assistance and extension services n Address land and natural resource tenure issues that underlie all Payment for Nature schemes n Provide complementary support to the poorest rural people, in particular social protection.In the coming years, the signs are that more and more money will be channeled to farmers in the Global South to help them protect and restore nature. Scaling up funding will require effective funding channels and instruments, at a much wider scale and in more countries than anything seen today.This policy brief argues that many current farm reward mechanisms -such as Payment for Ecosystem Services, carbon payments, voluntary sustainability standards and investment in sustainable agriculture programs -deliver mixed environmental and often negative social outcomes when they are poorly designed. While these issues are not new, they are given new prominence by the arrival of new funding.To solve this will require serious investment in innovation of reward and compliance mechanisms, working closely with farmers, communities and local governments to develop practical and relevant solutions. This needs to be a part of all major investments. Close attention must be paid to fairness and social equity, as well as reaching multiple environmental outcomes, such as protecting biodiversity and preventing water pollution, along with maintaining or increasing agricultural productivity to feed increasing demands. These are formidable challenges.As CoSAI has argued elsewhere, broader investment in social, institutional and technical agri-food innovation will be crucial. For more information, see the full report at: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/119419Supported by:"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e9bfcd8d06414a7fadddaaaf10141be1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ea8461d9-3e7f-4a14-9677-3c70acbbbb63/retrieve","id":"-61633667"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"87e3ddae-f8fc-4221-91a9-203d7182efbb","content":"Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above. The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used.Cover photo-NIRS technology capacity building for NEPAL animal science field officers (photo credit: ILRI/Kathyayani G).Editing, design and layout-Revisiting basic handling of NIRS instruments (FOSS XDS RCA, FOSS 6500 and FOSS 5000)• Reviewing most frequently used versions of Infrasoft International (ISI) scan software• NIRS diagnostics, setup and running of check cell performance• Overviewing WinISI calibration software and versions, creation of product profiles, spectral collection and exporting of spectral files• Extracting and interpreting spectral information and selecting suitable representative samples for conventional laboratory analysis• Selecting samples from a spectra file• Expanding a product file with a new spectra file Tuesday, 23 August:Development and validation of predictive NIRS equations for feed quality analysis• Comparing available regression models• Developing equations with full spectrum options• Calibrations using indicator variables or selected wavelengths• Validating and monitoring results• Comparing the predicted feed quality values with conventional laboratory results• Reducing spectral calibration files and bias and slope adjustments for calibration models Wednesday, 24 August:Maintaining and updating a global NIRS technology platform to support agricultural research in SAPLING initiative value chains and across National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES )and partner institutions• Reviewing the IRS hard and software infrastructure, such as a validated NIRS equation repository in the region and different value chains, such as:• Cereal crop feeds: sorghum, millet, maize, wheat, rice, oats, barley etc• Legume crop feeds: cowpea, groundnut, pigeon pea, chickpea, dolicus, soyabean, mung bean, faba bean, field pea, alfalfa etc.• Tuber crop residue: sweet potato, cassava etc.• Grasses: Napier, para grass, Brachiaria, Co4 grass, forage crops etc.• Feed ingredients, concentrate cakes, grains, fodder market samples etc.• Creating NIRS networks to link inherently compatible NIRS instruments and calibration sharing between similar models and different models Thursday 25, August:Master instrument approach: Sharing standard samples for spectra calibration • Thermo Micro Phazir GP: instrument identification, signature collection, transforming spectra in method generator GP calibration development software for further model development using Grams Suite 9.0 and model validation.• TellSpec and SCiO molecular sensors: instrument review, signature collection, spectra transformation in WinISI calibration development software for further model development (Limitations: Cloud platform with annual subscriptions) and testing model performance using an unknown sample set.• FOSS DS 2500, FOSS DS 2500F, FOSS XDS RCA, FOSS 6500 and FOSS 5000: familiarization with the instruments, using machine software to collect spectral signatures, software versions for calibration development using repeatability spectral file to offset the spectral aberrations and standardization between inherently compatible machines, hand-held NIRS development and migration from MS-DOS to MS Widows.• Discussion on filtered, dispersive, fourier transform and solid-state devices of NIRS technology and their opportunities, limitations and major constraints: the collection of high quality spectral signatures with light and no light interferences, trimming the spectra according to the choice of wavelength selections based on the instrument sources and convert the spectra files to master NIRS then use the global calibration models for predicting the samples of unknown origin.• Comparison of the blind predicted results by SAS general linear regression model procedures to see the standard errors and correlations between all the NIRS machines and thus expand the work from the laboratories to the field. • A FOSS NIRS DS2500F machine (serial number 91813909, see Picture 2) was installed by the service engineer from FOSS India (B. Ashish) for its initial qualifications (installation qualification, operational qualification and performance qualification). The equipment is composed of the FOSS machine, a desktop computer and other connection materials such as power saver and power stabilizer backup. Installation was done in the presence of Surya Prasad Paudel (director, NAFQML) and ( Najuma Joshi (technical officer, NAFQML) on 14 August 2022.Another FOSS mobile NIRS machine DA1650 (serial number 91814490, see Picture 3) was also installed but showing erroneous results (of twofold protein prediction compared to the DS2500F NIRS machine). There was no time for the NIRS expert to rectify that machine so the NAFQML director was warned to ignore its blind predicted results.• On 4 December 2022, the ILRI NIRS expert calibrated the NIRS machine using an FOSS calibration cell (electronic radiofrequency certified sealed cup with P/N 60053129) and performed wavelength corrections for standardization and validation. The machine was used to scan 120 standard feed samples which were taken to Nepal for NIRS (FOSS DS2500F -host NIRS) analysis. Both NIRS spectra were compared after standardization using the ILRI master NIRS and the results predicted by the Mixed Feeds Global Calibration (MFGC_24June2020) model for eight quality traits that are highly positively correlated (r = 0.95 for N%) and (r = 0.93 for nitrogen and in-vitro organic matter digestibility %).• On 5 December 2022, the ILRI NIRS expert visited NARC and checked their Buchi NIRM54 FT-NIR (serial number 1000273300, see Picture 4) in their Feed Quality Testing Laboratory (FQTL) and Buchi FT-NIR machine located in the Food Technology Testing Laboratory. The faulty parts identified in the FQTL FT-NIRS machine are being replaced while the other NIRS machine has been dismantled for relocation from the laboratory along with other high throughput instruments. This work is being handled by the service engineer who installed the two machines.Once they are up and running, the NARC NIRS machines will need to be standardized with the 120 feed samples to develop a calibration model and to have their results validated through inter-laboratory collaboration studies between NIRS machines and wet laboratory chemistry.• On 6 December 2022, the ILRI NIRS expert travelled to Birgunj to visit the NIMBUS Probiotech feed manufacturing industries to scan the ILRI 120 standard feed samples and standardize their Brucker FT-NIR machine (serial number 0001139, see Picture 5). He also checked their laboratory facilities for integration into the ILRI NIRS network global platform to support and validate their NIRS results by quality control and assurance. The scanning of 120 standard feed samples was completed and the spectra transformation is underway with the help of M. Sriram, a senior service engineer from Brucker Service in Bangalore, India. This will take a lot of time and the ILRI NIRS expert has to travel to NIMBUS in Birgunj for calibration development and validation for inter-laboratory collaboration.• On 7 December 2022, the planned training on calibration, validation and result prediction failed to take place due to unavailability of an official licence for the WinISI for the machine. The training was demonstrated using the ILRI Hyderabad official licence and the team agreed to send all their spectra files scanned on FOSS stationary DS2500F to Prasad, Hyderabad (k.v.prasad@cgiar.org) for their NIRS predictions until they get their official licence for future predictions. Thus, the NAFQML team used Prasad's laptop to understand the NIRS workflow in the WinISI chemometric platform after scanning the samples in FOSS NIRS DS2500F. Prasad installed the demo version of WinISI 1.5 version II (similar to the ILRI Hyderabad official licence purchased for FOSS 5000 with 32 bit configuration) on his NAFQML laptop (also 32-bit) for training purposes until the DS 2500F gets an official licence from FOSS."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"62bcdbd98a6109b5fc93cb907decb669","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6e50daa6-5373-4335-b7c4-e200255438c0/retrieve","id":"577298657"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9d35e50b-653a-4963-b9dc-3584164646d5","content":"Intermediate Outcome #1. Increased and in gender equitable manner utilization of improved and marketable bean varieties , new crop management techniques and micro-nutrient rich bean based products particularly by women P.I. #1.1. Number of HHs (m/f) simultaneously utilizing combinations of accessed technologies and practices in 1.1.1;1.2.1;1.3.1;1.4.1 P.I. #1.2. Levels of on-farm bean yields P.I. #1.3 Level of satisfaction of end-users with: (i) improved varieties resistant to multiple stresses, (ii) integrated management options, (iii) micronutrient rich varieties and products, (iv) niche market varieties and value added products ACTIVITIES HIGHTLIGHTS OF ACHIEVEMENT Immediate Outcome 1.1 Increased access by especially women farmers to improved dry bean varieties resistant to multiple environmental stresses P.I. # 1.1.1. Number of HHs (m/f) accessing improved bean varieties resistant to multiple environmental stresses P.I. # 1.1.2. Level of satisfaction of men and women farmers with options (channels) for accessing bean varieties resistant to multiple environmental stresses Output 1.1.3. At least 130 new multiple stress resistant bean germplasm identified , widely tested and selected for release Activity Set # 1.1.3.1. Identify, select and test widely new multiple stress resistant bean germplasm for release 1.1.3.1.7. Evaluate germplasm for multiple environment stress resistance [bush and climbing MAC lines, BILFA nurseries (to low N, low P, saline and/or acidic soil), drought and RR lines] 28, 56, 55, 31 and 30 climbers, biofort, root-rot resistance, red mottled and dark kidney bean lines, respectively evaluted 1.1.3.1.8. Conduct national variety performance trials including cooking quality test (all stages) (all constraints including drought), and develop descriptors for bush or climbing beans in various countries using gender sensitive PVS: (WECABREN,SABRN, ECABREN) 3 Kakmega and 1 Embu beans released. In NPT short rains 2011: KARI -6, KSC -2, Frescho -2 1.1.3.1.9. Increase nucleus seed of micro-nutrient rich pre-release/released varieties and/or promising genotypes to facilitate further on-farm evaluation 150kgs of NUA 1 and NUA 4 seed increased for soil fertility studies and start nutritional studies 1.1.3.1.10. Carryout PVS across agro-ecological zones capturing farmers' preference and gender considerations for selecting bean varieties 3 PVS done (KARI Katumani, One acre fund, KARI Kakamega) 1.1.3.1.12. Constitute and distribute breeding nurseries (ECABREN, SABRN, WECABREN) for example; drought, disease, soil fertility and nutritionRoot rot tolerant nursey at Kakamega while BSM nursery at Katumani ahs seed of 15 lines Output 1.1.4. Gender responsive and efficient dry bean varieties de-livery systems developed, assessed and used for targeting end users Activity Set # 1.1.4.1. Develop and assess gender responsive and efficient seed delivery systems 1.1.4.1.1. Increase/multiply/produce foundation seeds by both formal and informal seed producers/ partners (all countries); at least 200 kg (breeder) and 400 kg (foundation) for each released variety -engage both public and private partners KSU produced over 40tons basic seed of drought tolerant bean varieties, while, 1,600 basic seed of root rot tolerant (KK8) beans. 3 acres planted at KARI Embu.1.1.4.1.2.4. Build the capacity of foundation seed producers and trainers in integrated crop management including seed quality supported in BU, UG, and ZM by COMESA/ACTESA.One training for 50 seed producers done in collaboration with KEPHIS for farmers growing seed under irrigation in Taveta 1.1.4.1.3. Mainstream and carry out specific new action research on small seed packets and other seed marketing especially targeting women and resource constrained farmers. Funds for countries not supported by ASARECA Small pack sales supported by BioInnovate and TL 11. Over 30,000 small pack seed sold. One seed company Dryland Seed company through bean program influence is packaging and selling seed packaged into 0.5kg, 1kg and 100g. Packaging seeds of beans, maize, green grams, cowpeas and pigeon peas. 1.1.4.1.4. Design and mass produce information materials and tools for promoting bean varieties and integrated crop management technologies -(Linked to MCK in selected SABRN countries; in ECABREN -KE, RW, BU, ET, TZ and UoN -BioInnovate) and assess the effectiveness and efficiency of these delivery systems (ASARECA support to UG, DRC, BU, RW) 1 pamphlet on soil and water designed and in the web 32,000 seed packets sold. In field days majority purchasing were women while in market days it were men (also in 1. One meeting held at KARI Thika "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/5906015345.json b/main/part_2/5906015345.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a06cb6a5e5ee1cc112e5c16bf87d1a19","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/14c05880-6f1d-4711-9ecf-3e09cb6eaf03/retrieve","id":"-275977198"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"81528d26-034c-4474-a176-de353c77308b","content":"• CRISP is an interactive tool that supports mainstreaming climate risk considerations into project design and implementation.• For project managers and practitioners in agriculture, rural development and food and nutrition security projects."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/5906752639.json b/main/part_2/5906752639.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d5c4f600035f921c09d54e8c46dece61b55cfbe3
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"050417ee4d0e5c2ce90b143a1423c5c3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/605c8cc9-e606-4e9f-88f7-470f4b7f3983/retrieve","id":"283493353"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c9ec4a39-68d9-4b95-958e-ca92bcbbf361","content":"Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above.The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used.The livestock sector is a major contributor to food security in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), contributing a vital source of income to many rural poor people as well as providing critical nutritional benefits through animal source foods that are protein dense and that contain a wide array of micronutrients. Agricultural production in general is highly vulnerable to climate change, and in the drylands, livestock systems mainly depend on scarce water and vegetation resources. In the future, more frequent and intense extreme events such as drought will exacerbate the challenges faced by livestock keepers in the region. Livestock production is not only affected by climate change but also contributes to it. In many countries in the region, the agricultural sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, a large proportion of which comes from livestock production. Such emissions are released during the digestive process of ruminants, the storage and application of manure, and fodder production. Poor animal health and low-quality feeds leading to low productivity contribute to the GHG burden.The Program for Climate-Smart Livestock Systems (PCSL), funded and coordinated by the German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH (GIZ) and implemented by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in partnership with the World Bank, was set up to support the identification and uptake of interventions to increase the contribution of livestock production to the three key pillars of climate smart agriculture (CSA): increased productivity, mitigation of GHG emissions, and adaptation to climate change (Lipper et al., 2014). The program, running from 2018 to 2022, is being implemented across major livestock productions systems in three focus countries: Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda. The objective of the program is that key livestock stakeholders will increasingly direct their practices, sector strategies and policies and investments towards more climate-smart livestock systems. PCSL is supporting governments, the private sector, and local stakeholders in realizing their development objectives. The program is supporting countries to improve their monitoring and reporting of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in the livestock sector, helping them to achieve their adaptation and mitigation goals. This document focuses on Uganda. Section 2 summarises information on the prevailing livestock systems in the country, along with their baseline performance. The livestock systems in the PCSL study region are briefly characterised. Section 3 contains a stocktake of what is known about the impacts of climate change on livestock production and livestock systems in the country. A summary of adaption and mitigation options in Ugandan livestock systems is presented in section 4. Section 5 summarises some recent work on foresight and the future of livestock systems and the livestock sector in Uganda. Section 6 considers the national livestock policy environment, and in section 7, the paper concludes with a consideration of system intervention points and major gaps in knowledge, to help guide future project activities. This stocktake draws on a large amount of existing information assembled from different sources.Uganda is a lower-income country with a current population of about 43 million and an expected GDP per capita of about USD 770 in 2019 (World Bank, 2019). The population is growing at about 3.3 percent per year, equivalent to a doubling of the population in 21 years. The GDP of Uganda grew 5.7 percent on average annually from 2008 to 2017, expanding by nearly 60 percent in real terms. Agriculture is a major sector in the country, contributing nearly 25 percent to GDP and 71 percent to employment. Industry and services contribute around 20 percent and 47 percent to GDP, respectively (FAO, 2019). Agriculture in Uganda comprises a great mix of farm sizes and different levels of efficiency, although small-scale producers dominate, growing cereals, coffee, plantains, cassava, sweet potatoes and beans. Many keep cattle, small ruminants, poultry and pigs. Beekeeping and aquaculture are gaining in importance (FAO, 2019). More than 40 percent of the agricultural land of the country is semi-arid, a major constraint to agricultural productivity.Nearly 42 percent of the population live below the poverty line (World Bank, 2019). The country is overwhelmingly rural: 78 percent of the population live in the rural areas, although the rate of urbanisation is more than 5 percent per year: projections indicate that by 2040, more than 20 million people in Uganda will live in cities. More than 40 percent of the population are undernourished, and 25 percent are food insecure. Low rainfall and droughts affect Uganda regularly, particularly the Karamoja region in the northeast of the country (Figure 1). Currently, about 4 percent of the wetlands and forests are converted to agricultural use annually.Approximately 6.3 million or 23 percent of Uganda's rural population (2010 estimates) were classified as poor livestock keepers, when poverty lines are determined nationally (see Table 1a).Livestock sector activities account for nearly 25 percent of the total contributions from all agricultural activities to national income in Uganda. There are around 14 million cattle, 4.5 million sheep, 16 million goats, 4.1 million pigs and nearly 48 million poultry birds (Table 1b). The livestock sector accounts for around 4 percent income of the general economy, and contributes 1-1.5 percent to the country's export trade value, mostly via dairy products and eggs.   Sources: data on prevalence of underweight is a 3-year average (World Bank, 2019). The data on the other indicators are 3-year averages of published national statistics (FAOSTAT, 2019). Cattle are spread throughout the country in a variety of different livestock production systems (Figure 1), based on the classification system of Seré and Steinfeld (1996). Grassland-based systems are those in which more than 90 percent of dry matter fed to animals comes from rangelands, pastures, annual forages and purchased feeds and less than 10 percent of the total value of production comes from non-livestock farming activities. The mixed systems are those in which more than 10 percent of the dry matter fed to animals comes from crop by-products or stubble, or more than 10 percent of the total value of production comes from non-livestock farming activities (Seré and Steinfeld, 1996). The mixed systems are further split into those that are rainfed and those that are irrigated. These three major system types (mixed crop-livestock rainfed, mixed crop-livestock irrigated, and pastoral / agropastoral) are then broken down on the basis of temperature and length of growing period (Robinson et al., 2011).  (1996) mapped in Robinson et al., (2011).LG, pastoral / agro-pastoral systems (in which >90 percent of dry matter fed to animals comes from rangelands, pastures, annual forages and purchased feeds and <10 percent of the total value of production comes from nonlivestock farming activities.M, mixed crop-livestock systems (MR, rainfed; MI, irrigated) in which >10 percent of the dry matter fed to animals comes from crop by-products or stubble, or >10 percent of the total value of production comes from non-livestock farming activities.A, arid / semi-arid; H, humid / subhumid; T, tropical highland.UBOS (2014) estimated that there are more than 8.5 million people living in households keeping cattle and producing some beef. Using a somewhat different (but closely related) livestock classification system, ASL (2018) estimate that there are about 5.7 million people raising cattle in agro-pastoral (mixed) systems with 49 percent of the national herd, 2.5 million in pastoral systems with 41 percent of the national herd, and 0.4 million in semi-intensive (mixed) systems, with 2 percent of the national herd (Table 2; Figure 2). The ranching systems account for about 8 percent of the national cattle herd. Off-farm and non-farm income are important sources of income for all of the three major cattle systems, contributing 11-25 percent of household income (ASL, 2018), via employment generated along the beef value chain. Milk sales make up 20-48 percent of cattle income in the three systems.The study region identified for PCSL project activities is in the Southwestern region of the country.Some household characteristics of this broad area using existing survey data are shown in Box 1.  For the livestock systems, projections indicate some increases in net primary productivity in the highlands, and some reductions in the drier areas, though less extensive reductions than in the Sahel and parts of southern Africa, for example (Boone et al., 2018). Other projections indicate widespread negative impacts on forage quality and thus on livestock productivity, with cascading impacts on incomes and food security (Thornton et al., 2015;Thornton et al., 2018). In addition to climate change effects on the quantity and quality of feeds, other effects are anticipated on water availability in livestock systems, and on the distribution and severity of livestock diseases and their vectors (see, for example, reviews in Rojas-Downing et al., 2017;Mbow and Rosenzweig, 2019).Other, more indirect effects of climate change on agriculture and food systems are gaining in importance. Recently, Smith and Myers (2018) projected that the effects of elevated CO2concentrations by the 2050s on the sufficiency of dietary intake of iron, zinc and protein an additional 175 million people will be zinc deficient and an additional 122 million people will be protein deficient. The mechanism is via more carbohydrates being produced in C3 crops at the expense of other nutrients such as protein, iron and zinc. Similar effects on forage quality have been found in forages (Augustine et al., 2018). About 57 percent of grasses globally are C3 plants (Osborne et al., 2014) and thus susceptible to CO2 effects on their nutritional quality. These impacts will result in greater nutritional stress in grazing animals as well as reduced meat and milk production. Another impact of climate change is that of higher temperatures on the capacity of people to work in the fields (Watts et al., 2017) and on the ability of livestock to cope with heat stress. Both may have major implications for livelihoods based on livestock keeping; for Uganda, preliminary analyses indicate that heat stress in cattle may become a widespread and serious problem, particularly for dairy systems, as the century progresses (Thornton et al., 2020).While there is growing evidence that the risk of extreme events will increase in the future, the ways in which these risks will manifest themselves and affect agricultural systems are not always that clear (Thornton et al., 2014). Increasing climate variability and extremes have been identified as one of the key drivers behind the recent rise in global hunger and a leading cause of severe food crises (FAO, 2018), affecting both crop and livestock systems. Forage production and animal stocking rates can be significantly affected by drought intensities and durations as well as by longterm climate trends. After a drought event, herd size recovery times in semi-arid rangelands may span years to decades in the absence of proactive restocking through animal purchases, for example (Godde et al., 2019). Indeed, increasing climate variability may threaten the long-term viability of agriculture-based livelihoods in many places.A summary of some of the climate hazards in Uganda is shown in Figure 3 (from Thornton et al., 2019). The areas of vulnerability were projected for the 2050s based on RCP 8.5, a high GHG emission scenario, using the methods in Jones and Thornton (2013;2015), overlaid on cropland and pastureland from the data set of Ramankutty et al. (2008). In these areas of cropland, pastureland or mixed land-use, hazards were mapped with respect to three main hazards:• Areas where the coefficient of variation of annual rainfall (the standard deviation divided by the mean, expressed as a percentage) is currently greater than the median value for the global tropics (24 percent). In lower latitudes, climate change is projected to increase this variability, making both cropping and rangeland production more risky. Because there is little information on the nature of this variability change, current variability is used as a proxy for future variability.• A reduction in the number of reliable crop growing days per year below 90, a critical threshold for rainfed cropping (Nachtergaele et al.,2002), mostly due to changes in rainfall distributions and amounts.Increases in average maximum temperature during the primary growing season above 30 ⁰C), a critical threshold for several major crops (Boote et al., 1998;Prasad et al., 2008).Areas where more than one of these hazards is projected to be present are also shown in Figure 3.Two other important climate hazards are the frequency and severity of drought and of flood. Table 3 lists the PCSL intervention sites in Uganda with respect to agro-ecological zone, livestock system, and the climate hazards shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4. The location of the districts containing these intervention sites are shown in Figure 5.    Sub-humid: 9-12 wet months per year, 1200-1500 mm annual rainfall. Semi-humid: 6-9 wet months per year, 950-1200 mm annual rainfall. Semi-humid to semi-arid: 4-6 wet months per year, 500-1000 mm annual rainfall.Agro-ecological zones modified from Karanja (2006).From a technical viewpoint, there is a wide range of interventions in livestock systems that can help livestock keepers adapt and become more resilient to climate change; many of these have mitigation co-benefits too. Table 4 from Bell et al. (2018) lists some of these practices, scored for their potential to address climate risks including those shown in Figure 3.Table 4. Interventions in livestock systems and their potential to address different climate hazards.From Bell et al. (2018).Direction (+, -) relates to whether a practice has a positive (ameliorating) or negative (exacerbating) impact on the climate risk. Magnitude is shown by the intensity of the color in the gradient and the number of symbols, where more symbols is a larger impact. Boxes with a +/-sign indicate practices that either (1) do not address the climate risk, (2) there is not enough known to make a recommendation, or (3) the effect may be highly context specific.  on the type of intervention package considered. Large production increases are achievable with interventions such as better feeding and wider use of crossbred animals (Herrero et al., 2016). In many places, overcoming biomass constraints will be key to achieving such productivity increases.Cross-breeding dairy animals can substantially raise milk productivity, with the prospect of achieving production targets with fewer animals; but this will only work if higher quality feed is available (Herrero et al., 2016;Mayberry et al., 2017).In Ugandan dairy systems, forage grasses may be important feed sources during both wet and dry seasons. Climate change will have impacts on the suitability of different forage grasses in the future. Kekae et al. (2019) shows that in some parts of the region, Buffel grass is likely to be negatively affected by climate change in some regions of the country, while Rhodes grass and improvement can all have substantial effects on emissions intensity reduction as well as increasing the productivity and resilience of livestock systems (Njeru et al., 2016).Targeting such interventions at broad scale remains challenging because of the variation in local agro-ecological and socio-economic contexts. In addition, there are several barriers to widespread uptake of livestock interventions in Uganda. For the diary systems of Southwestern region, for example, farmers reported a range of issues, including limited capital, animal diseases, difficulties posed by an unpredictable climate, poor quality veterinary drugs, and lack of capacity development (de Vries, 2019). There may also be limits to the agricultural adaptation that is achievable at the household level: Call et al. (2019) suggest that in the future, smallholders in parts of Uganda will struggle to maintain their livelihood portfolio and agricultural productivity during extended periods of heat stress, and new livelihood strategies may be necessary.As the agricultural sector in Uganda transforms in the future, FAO (2019) highlight one issue concerning the increased prevalence of urban, peri-urban middle-scale commercial livestock operations and value chains. These entities will frequently be operating near densely populated urban areas, and these hotspots of human-animal interaction will need to be properly regulated, as any disease outbreak would escalate rapidly in such densely populated areas (FAO, 2019). The national-to-local policy environment is a key enabler of uptake; this is considered in section 6 below.Several studies have investigated the possible futures associated with livestock systems in countries of sub-Saharan Africa (e.g., Herrero et al., 2014;FAO, 2019). Enahoro et al. (2019) extracted a set of global projections for Uganda, and this section draws on and summarises that work.Projections of demand and supply of livestock-derived food in 2030 and 2050 were developed by Enahoro et al. (2019) for several countries including Uganda using the IMPACT model, an integrated modelling system that links information from climate models, crop simulation models and water models to a core global, partial equilibrium, multimarket model focused on the agriculture sector (Robinson et al., 2015). IMPACT's multi-market model simulates the operations of global and national markets for more than 60 agricultural commodities, covering the bulk of food and cash crops traded globally. It solves for production, demand and prices that equate global supply and demand of these agricultural commodities. For the results briefly discussed below, several scenarios were simulated, based on the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) andRepresentative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) jointly developed by research communities under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) initiative (Riahi, 2014). The SSPs are a set of narratives that together describe the alternative demographic and economic developments determinizing energy, land use and related trajectories globally; while the RCPs are trajectories of greenhouse gas concentrations. Simulations were carried out for 16 scenarios (Table 5); the scenario with moderate economic growth and no climate change assumed (alphabet codes A and C in Table 6) was selected as the baseline. All other scenarios were compared with the year 2010 and 2030/50 results for this baseline. IMPACT generates country-level outcomes of food production, demand, and prices. These are reported below, along with livestock feed demand linked to production. Food supply was used as a proxy for average consumption and intake (thus in effect using the three terms interchangeably). However, only food availability can be inferred from the aggregate data that are readily available (FAO national statistics and IMPACT measures). In 2010, the supply of livestock derived foods in Uganda was around 141 kcal per person per day (Table 6). This supply was 54 percent meat, 44 percent milk and 2 percent eggs. Of the meat supply, pork made up 54 percent, beef 30 percent, and lamb and poultry each around 8 percent.   Total Dairy Demand, '000 MTs Total Dairy Production, '000 MTs year of the model simulations. Figure 9 presents the model simulations on net imports of beef, lamb and poultry relative to their aggregate demands.There is not much variation in the import shares of demand for beef, poultry and lamb under the different scenarios of 2050. The projected changes in all LDF demand in Uganda however lead to important changes in the demand for livestock feed biomass (Figure10). Nevertheless, results do give some initial indications about areas in which policies that emanate from or affect the livestock sector in Uganda may need to evolve. The effects of higher local and global demand for ruminant animals and animal products, and of international trade in these commodities, need to be included in livestock, environment and land use policy design and implementation in the future. Concerns about food prices, poverty reduction, agricultural biodiversity and environmental sustainability, amongst others, will also be central in livestock sector planning. These issues are briefly returned to in section 7 below.In Uganda, it appears the demand for livestock-derived foods will be more diversified in 2050 compared with 2010. Dairy and pork demand decrease relative to non-pork meat types. Possibly these trends may be explained by demographic factors such as income growth and urbanization, but they need to be explored better through research. An understanding of what drives LDF diversification in a country will be important for assessing what changes can be anticipated in food and nutrition security, economic welfare, and environmental impacts as livestock sector-related determinants change.Assuming the quantitative scenarios used have adequately captured the essence of key assumptions about the future, the results here suggest that country-level solutions that effectively manage the livestock sector under one future will do so in event of the otherat least with respect to factors that impact directly on LDF supply (though see para above on limitations of the IMPACT analysis). Robust policies, i.e., those that will hold up under all/most of the identified possible futures may however not be so straightforward to attain. For one, the analysis has focused on country-level interactions within the livestock sub-sector, and national aggregates of indicators.Additional analyses will be needed to understand how the results will play out at more disaggregated levels. For example, to understand who the losers and winners are from increasing production gaps, what categories of livestock producers and production need to be better supported, managed or regulated, and how different livestock value chains and end consumers may possibly be affected differently by the status quo and by interventions.This section is taken from Ashley (2019) and Enahoro et al. (2019).In Uganda, agriculture is overseen by the ministry of Agriculture, Animal industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), a cabinet-level ministry of the government, charged with creating an enabling environment in the agricultural sector. Its role is to support, promote and guide production of crops, livestock and fisheries to ensure qualitative and quantitative supply of these products for domestic consumption, food security and export. As noted above, the livestock sector is important to the livelihood of many households in Uganda. Uganda's policy record on the intersection of the The NAMA identifies additional conditions inhibiting the dairy sector, many of which are also relevant for broader livestock sector adaptation and mitigation including:▪ low animal productivity due to poor feeding and animal health;▪ low level of commercialisation and lack of regulation of hay and concentrated feed production;▪ low adoption of improved management practices and technologies;▪ no standards or labelling for animal feeds;▪ extremely limited infrastructure for collection, storage and chilling of milk across the country;▪ limited incentives for smallholders and informal milk traders to participate in the formal segment; and▪ no quality control, standards, or labelling for milk production.In addition to issues of support for mobility, an issue of concern in rangelands is that a rush to secure mineral and oil mining deposits is threatening communal rangelands including through ▪ The NAP-Ag, 2018, provides the most holistic approach to livestock sector adaptation, is aligned with NDP II, and has synergies with adaptation strategies across policy areas.▪ Robust options to support adaptation in extensive livestock systems are lacking including insufficient attention to mobility, protecting rangelands from encroachment and degradation, and improving feeding in pastoral production. The focus on commercialisation and agricultural intensification and limited attention to pastoralism risks leaving pastoralists behind.▪ Efforts to explore livestock insurance options are minimal; agriculture insurance is only referenced in the NCCP, NDP II, and NAP-Ag. Uganda faces some major challenges to the middle of the century. These include a population growing from 42 to 106 million people, more than 40 percent of whom will live in urban areas.Calorie consumption from livestock-derived food is expected to increase by 70 percent, which will entail a quadrupling of beef and chicken meat production and a trebling of milk and egg production.By 2040, Uganda's vision is to transform the country from a predominantly low-income one to a competitive upper middle-income country with a per capita income of USD 9,500. These are ambitious targets, particularly in the context of climate change, and achieving these targets through a sustainable and equitable development pathway will require considerable investment and prioritisation.There is relatively little literature on the national impacts of climate change on Ugandan livestock production, though regional and continental analyses from the IPCC and other sources show clearly what can be expected. Increased frequency and severity of extreme events such as drought and heat will increasingly test the resilience of livestock keepers and their animals, particularly in the pastoral and agropastoral lands. Substantial knowledge gaps exist on the impacts of climate change on non-ruminants, its potential effects of water availability in livestock systems, and effects on zoonotic and other livestock diseases. Preliminary research suggests that rising temperatures will result in marked increases in heat stress in cattle. Such considerations highlight the need for characterisation of species and breeds of livestock that may have high adaptive capacities to climate change.At the same time, a wide range of adaptation options is available, particularly to address increasing climate risk, and many of these have mitigation co-benefits. Targeting these at broad scale is challenging because of the variation in local agro-ecological and socio-economic contexts. In addition, there are several barriers to widespread uptake of livestock interventions in Uganda. For the diary systems of Southwestern region, for example, farmers reported a range of issues, including limited capital, animal diseases, difficulties posed by an unpredictable climate, poor quality veterinary drugs, and lack of capacity development (de Vries, 2019). There may also be limits to the agricultural adaptation that is achievable at the household level: Call et al. (2019) suggest that in the future, smallholders in parts of Uganda will struggle to maintain their livelihood portfolio and agricultural productivity during extended periods of heat stress, and new livelihood strategies may be necessary.With respect to the policy and enabling environment, several opportunities exist for engagement with climate-livestock policy in the country. The national focus on commercialisation, for example, particularly across agriculture and development policy, brings considerable opportunities for interventions along different value chains. Multiple policy documents refer to improving natural resource management (including rangeland management and sustainable land management) as a key adaptation and mitigation strategy. At the same time, livestock could be better integrated into climate policies and climate into livestock policies for adaptation and mitigation objectives. In view of the considerable expansion of the beef sector envisaged, robust strategies for mitigation across the livestock sector need to be developed. The focus on commercialisation and agricultural intensification runs the risk of leaving pastoralists behind; increased attention may need to be paid to mobility, protecting rangelands from encroachment and degradation, improving feeding in pastoral production, and implementing risk protection instruments such as insurance."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6834b2ea4915b767edd49f0945afd3e2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1181e9ee-67d8-44c0-8ddf-8b13088f1b56/retrieve","id":"-974348140"},"keywords":["Tick spp Host from which ticks were collected Amblyomma cohaerens Cattle","sheep","goat","camel","equine A. gemma Cattle","sheep","goat","camel A. lepidum Cattle","sheep","goat","camel A. variegatum Cattle","sheep","goat","camel","equine Boophilus annulatus Cattle B. decoloratus Cattle","sheep","goat","camel","equine Haemaphysalis aciculifer Cattle","sheep","goat","equine H. parmata Cattle","sheep","goat Hyalomma dromedarii Cattle","sheep","goat","camel H.m. rufipes Cattle","sheep","goat","camel Rhipicephalus bergeoni Cattle","sheep","camel","equine R.e. evertsi Cattle","sheep","goat","camel R. pulchellus Cattle","camel","equine Argas persicus Chicken tick numbers (A. variegatum","A. lepidum","B. annulatus","B. decoloratus","H.m. rufipes","R. praetextatus 582","670 km 2 Population: 25 million Cattle population: 13.5 million Number of exotic cattle (Bos taurus): 3.2 million Number requiring immunisation against ECF: 3.2 million Number requiring immunisation against other tick-borne diseases: None Appendix 2"],"sieverID":"cbd166d7-e84f-44bb-a9ec-a91534273254","content":"Shortly after the workshop, the organisers were saddened to learn of the death of Dr Soviet Kamwendo, Controller of Agricultural Services and former Chief Veterinary Officer of the Government of Malawi. Dr Kamwendo played a prominent and distinguished role in promoting the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases in Malawi and elsewhere in Africa, and in recognition of Dr Kamwendo's contributions, the editors wish to dedicate these proceedings to his memory.A Food and Agriculture Organization/International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases (FAO/ILRAD) workshop on training and impact assessment in relation to control of ticks and tick-borne diseases (TBDs) was held in Nairobi in August 1994(FAO 1994). This workshop recommended the standardised collation and dissemination of data and of reports on tick control and TBD vaccination, and further training in immunisation and monitoring. However, country needs and proposals for specific priority actions were not identified. From this starting point, the present workshop took the position that there are now appropriate technologies for the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases which, if correctly applied, can have a major influence in reducing the impact of ticks and TBDs on livestock productivity in Africa. Although technological improvements are still required in development of vaccines and diagnostic tools, the present tools and technologies can now be used with a degree of confidence and knowledge that was, until recently, lacking.Against this background, the emphasis can now shift away from technology development to assessing the efficacy of the technologies; to improving their application and delivery; and to determining the epidemiological and socio-economic implications and consequences of applying tick and TBD control at field level, particularly amongst smallholder farmers. It was these areas that the workshop set out to explore under a number of themes within which a series of questions was posed. The final session was devoted to identifying priorities for future work and collaboration. This included consideration of a number of issues which related specifically to the FAO Regional Programme; these were: 1. To identify priorities and develop plans for the epidemiology component of the FAO/Multi-Donor Regional Programme on Control of Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. 2. Taking account of the Programme's comparative advantage with respect to other groups and organisations: i) to establish regional and country needs ii) to identify potential collaborating partners iii) to determine needs for research, data collection and information exchange Workshop themes and questions Coordination on-going programmes and interactions role of Regional Programme role of other groups (national and international) ii) Collaboration data sharing and information exchange collaborative research standards and quality control iii) Planning common problems, needs and priorities country-specific problems, needs and priorities training role of Regional Programme role of other groups (national and international) iv) Action points five-year plan for the Regional Programme complementary/collaborative priorities for other programmes Workshop proceedings follow-upTechnologies for the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases (TBDs) in sub-Saharan Africa still need improvement but many are now at the stage where, if correctly applied, they can have a major impact on reducing the deleterious effects of ticks and TBDs. However, uptake of these technologies is slow, and programmes must in the future focus more on delivery than on technology development.If the technologies are to be adopted, policy makers, veterinarians and farmers have to perceive them as reliable, affordable, available, appropriate and sustainable. The current paper examines each of these considerations in turn and suggests where future priorities should lie.Reliance must not be placed on a single approach to control ticks and TBDs. Integrated approaches are required which combine an appropriate balance between tick control, vaccination, chemotherapy and management. Veterinary and other delivery services must be sufficiently effective and reliable to provide these inputs and back-up at the time that they are needed.The present-day acaricides, if used properly, are very reliable in controlling ticks but, as so often happens, they are used incorrectly and the reliability of the compounds may be unjustly questioned. However, their reliability can decline when resistance to their use builds up in tick populations. This is most frequently a problem in Boophilus spp. ticks; less so with Rhipicephalus spp.The blood vaccines against babesiosis and anaplasmosis have been widely and successfully used in Australia, South America and South Africa and, apart from a few problems with contamination (e.g. with bovine leucosis virus), have generally been reliable. A similar vaccine for control of heartwater is widely used in South Africa. The sporozoite stabilate vaccine for the control of theileriosis by infection and treatment is becoming increasingly applied in East Coast fever (ECF) endemic areas with considerable success. However, attempts to increase the scale of vaccine production to a semi-commercial level by construction of a 'vaccine factory' in Malawi, ran into difficulties when the product, for a variety of reasons, was perceived as being unreliable. As a consequence ECF vaccine production at this unit has now been suspended.In order for any vaccine to be acceptable for field use it must be shown to be effective against the target disease(s); safe, so that it causes neither disease nor adverse reaction; and pure and free from extraneous contaminants or other agents. The current vaccines for control of TBDs are now meeting these requirements but, as international standards for vaccine production become more stringent, quality assurance and control procedures become more complex and costly, and vaccine prices inevitably rise. We must guard against seeking to attain standards beyond what is practically and economically feasible.FAO's particular strength lies in its ability to operate apolitically in the different African countries. Within the present context, this means that it can assist in steps to standardise vaccines, diagnostics and their application. FAO specialists currently participate in the FAO/OAU/ILRI committee that is seeking to improve and regulate the standards used in production of TBD vaccines. The Organisation is also leading in negotiations with relevant institutes to revive production of the cryopreserved stabilate vaccine for control of ECF. This thrust will seek to draw on the combined expertise of relevant research and production laboratories and of the private sector, so that a reliable, safe and effective product can be produced. Not only must this product be seen to be reliable under laboratory conditions, but it must also be able to stand up to the rigours of use in the field when used in less than ideal conditions and by operators not wholly familiar with the product and procedure. If these qualities can be built into the technology, its widespread adoption is likely to be assured. The reliability of any technology depends very much on the competence of the people applying it and FAO places emphasis on training at all levels.No farmer is prepared to pay for inputs the costs of which exceed the possible benefits which might accrue. This particularly applies to the infection-and-treatment method of immunisation against ECF, where a major cost lies in the concurrent chemotherapy which has to be given with sporozoite stabilate. Similar costs are faced with the blood vaccine for control of heartwater.In future, particular attention must be paid to reducing costs of delivered product (vaccines) and, while donors may be prepared to meet capital and development costs of such products, they are most reluctant to enter into programmes which depend on continuous external support for their sustainability. Since control of TBDs is largely of benefit to the individual animal owners and is only of indirect benefit to the public good, it is increasingly felt that it is the beneficiaries (farmers) who should pay for control, rather than national governments which need to prioritise expenditure ever more strictly within their declining budgets. However despite this budgetary decline, government veterinary departments are, in many cases, reluctant to recognise that their former policies for tick and TBD control are no longer working or are on the brink of collapse. Against this background, it seems that tick and TBD control will have, in future, to rely increasingly on establishment of disease endemic stability and/or farmers paying for control. In this latter context, only those farmers with regular cash income will be able to afford to pay; thus, immunisation schemes can only realistically be adopted where farmers obtain income from sale of milk or meat, or are prepared to subsidise inputs to their livestock from other sources of income such as sale of crops or labour. Furthermore, it is essential that revenue that is collected from sale of vaccines or from tick control should mostly be returned into the system and not disappear into government treasury departments from where it is most unlikely to emerge for the purposes of tick and TBD control. It is clear that the whole economic strategy of tick and TBD control needs a major re-appraisal if a sustainable system is to emerge within the current economic environment of Africa.Acaricides are mostly manufactured by commercial companies who not only need to recover developmental costs from the sale of products but also rely on making a profit from the sale of those products to remain in business. With the increasing complexity of acaricides there is a continual rise in their cost to the end-user and, while commercial farmers generally have the resources to pay, many others do not. This applies, at one end of the scale, to the smallholder farmer and, at the other end, to governments of developing countries who lack the necessary foreign exchange. As a consequence of cost, the former wide-scale practice of regular (weekly) tick control is no longer possible for many farmers. Furthermore, it is now clear that for many situations total elimination of ticks is not a desirable aim, since it removes the element of challenge to TBDs which is required to establish and maintain endemic stability to the diseases. This is a biologically more robust state than maintaining populations of tick-free but disease-naive animals, which can suffer high mortality if tick control breaks down. More research and attention needs to be given to determining appropriate post-vaccination strategies for tick control which balance the needs of establishing and sustaining endemic stability, but at the same time reduce frequency and cost of acaricide application without allowing significant tick worry or tick damage to occur.If one excludes the developmental costs (which may be very high, particularly for future sub-unit vaccines) the cost of TBD vaccines is generally not a major concern, even to smallholder farmers; the costs lie in supportive therapy and in back-up and monitoring. This is particularly the case with heartwater and ECF vaccines, both of which require prophylactic drug cover, and in many cases other forms of back-up as well. Nonetheless, the economic impact of ECF is such that many farmers in endemic areas, especially those in dairying, are prepared to pay for vaccine with concomitant prophylaxis at a cost in the region of US$10.00 an animal. However, the recent successes in Zimbabwe, immunising cattle with locally-produced theileriosis vaccine (Bolvac) without chemotherapy, give hope that this approach may also find application in other countries where the more virulent form of theileriosis (ECF) occurs.The Programme will be looking particularly at ways to reduce the cost of tick and TBD control, especially by promoting an integrated approach to control which is both affordable and sustainable. This will mean looking at improved and alternative ways of delivering control measures, for example developing, in association with the private sector, a package of control measures which target a range of conditions. The development of such a package will require an improved understanding of both tick and TBD epidemiology, and the socio-economic constraints facing smallholder farmers.As the benefits of control begin to have an impact, livestock productivity (particularly milk production) will increase, income will be generated from sale of products, and control measures will become increasingly cost effective. Cost recovery will then enable control measures to move onto a more sustainable footing with farmers being increasingly willing and able to pay for the inputs, with a concomitant reduction in the need for donor intervention.On the technological side, FAO will work closely with vaccine producers to explore ways of improving quality and cost-efficiency of production of ECF and other vaccines.Because of poor communications in so many African countries, there are problems in getting drugs, vaccines and acaricides to farmers. There are at present many weak links in the delivery chain from producer to end user and, in each country, the nature of the problem is different. In general, delivery programmes which rely on the government sector are weak and attention is increasingly turning to the commercial companies, the private sector and even non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which often have their own communication networks and delivery chains which are not subject to the same constraints that national delivery programmes sometimes face.In several African countries there is a strong move to privatise veterinary services and use this channel to deliver ECF immunisation. However, the 'top-down approach' to privatisation is generally not working well, particularly where veterinarians are expected to take out loans to capitalise their practices. On the other hand, where a 'bottom-up approach' can be developed with the impetus coming from the farmers themselves employing their own veterinarians (for example through cooperatives), then there is a good prospect of private veterinary service being viable and sustainable. Such a system is now gaining momentum in the smallholder dairy sector in Kenya and needs to be explored in other countries. This approach, if linked to commercial delivery and back-up, may well be the key to making tick and TBD control more readily available to the smallholder farmer.The availability of acaricides depends on an effective delivery chain which, in turn, is essentially linked to the purchasing power of either the farmer or, if a national delivery service is offered, the government. In this latter context the usual scenario is that the veterinary department requests treasury for X amount of funds for purchase of acaricides; the treasury agrees to contribute Y, which is substantially lower than that requested; in the end, the amount provided (Z) is substantially less than Y, and is usually provided late. Under this scenario, which unfortunately occurs in so many African countries, the availability of acaricides becomes very unreliable and regular acaricidal control programmes break down. Farmers are then forced to abandon a regular tick-control schedule unless they have sufficient resources to purchase acaricides direct from the commercial sector.Only in South Africa is there a reliable source of TBD vaccines, but here ECF does not occur. Elsewhere on the continent, availability of TBD vaccines is still irregular. In the case of ECF, infection-and-treatment immunisation has been demonstrated to be very effective and the demand for vaccine is increasing, particularly in the dairy sector and where improved/cross-bred cattle are kept. Although ECF immunisation programmes are progressing well in a number of countries, present demands cannot be met, either because of the shortage of vaccine or the inadequacy of the delivery service. Both these aspects need to be urgently addressed in the future.FAO is placing particular emphasis on the establishment of a reliable and sustainable source of ECF vaccine which can be made available throughout the region to meet the specific requirements of the individual countries. Negotiations are currently in hand to identify and contract a suitable producer. Discussions are also being held with the commercial sector about their possible role in supporting marketing and delivery of vaccine. If negotiations are successful, they will go a long way to solving the problems of availability of vaccines which farmers currently face. Once adequate stocks of vaccine are available, FAO can assist countries to develop improved delivery systems.Farmers' perceptions of their needs and priorities in terms of disease control are not always in line with those of veterinary authorities. In order that more appropriate control methods of tick and TBD control can be developed, more attention needs to be given to understanding farmers' needs and priorities. This can be done by improving extension linkages and communications with farmers, and adopting participatory appraisal methods to involve farmers in decision-making. It is also important that tick and TBD control methods become recognised and accepted as an appropriate part of an integrated package of improvements aimed at increasing livestock productivity and not as stand-alone interventions.More attention needs to be given to developing appropriate methods of strategic tick control as the ability or willingness of many farmers to purchase acaricides declines. The 'once-a-week' dipping mentality that still persists in the minds of many farmers and veterinarians must be critically questioned and examined according to circumstances that prevail at farm level. Tick control by rote is neither biologically sound nor currently affordable. Opportunities for moving to cheaper and more appropriate strategies for tick control are now presented with the advent of effective vaccines and therapeutics against TBDs, particularly ECF. These opportunities must be explored and appropriate strategies formulated. Farmers must be given scientifically sound advice on which to revise their tick control strategies; they should not need to be left to make ad hoc decisions which may be biologically or economically unsound and inappropriate.The current drive to produce sub-unit or genetically engineered vaccines for the control of TBDs is an indication that present-day vaccines are not wholly appropriate or acceptable for field use. The present shortcomings relate to a variety of factors including the need for cold or liquid nitrogen chains, the dangers of adverse or severe vaccine reactions, the difficulties in quality control and assurance, and the need for post-vaccination follow-up and monitoring. While many of these problems can be avoided with molecular vaccines, such vaccines are not yet available except at laboratory level. Until they are available for field use, efforts must continue to be made to improve the existing vaccines, particularly in terms of their quality control and ease of delivery and application.FAO can assist countries to develop integrated approaches to tick and TBD control which are more appropriate to circumstances which currently prevail. This can be particularly achieved through training of veterinarians and field staff, improved communications, information dissemination and exchange, and by establishing linkages between projects and programmes.In order for the methods which farmers adopt for control of ticks and TBDs to be sustainable, all the above criteria of reliability, affordability, availability and appropriateness must apply. This is most likely to be achieved if a package of balanced technologies is adopted which are integrated into the particular farming system being practised. Furthermore, in adopting such technologies the farmer must see the benefits in terms of improved productivity, increased profits or reduced risk and costs.As already discussed, the key to sustainability of tick control lies in moving towards endemic stability which allows a reduction in frequency of acaricidal application in strategic ways which are targeted at reducing tick populations at critical times of the season when challenge is highest or populations particularly vulnerable. For example, in areas where tick populations show strong seasonality, it may be more cost effective to intensify tick control when ticks are in their nymphal instar and thus reduce the numbers which progress through to the adult stage, rather than reserve intensive control for the adults which are less easily killed by acaricides and which are more damaging to their hosts in terms of both tick worry and disease transmission. Such an approach requires a good knowledge of tick biology and behaviour, which needs to be passed onto the farmers, since one is advocating control at a time of year when, to the untrained observer, cattle may appear tick-free.As with other forms of control, if vaccination to control TBDs is to be sustainable, farmers must perceive it as being beneficial and cost-effective. In particular, selffinancing operations must become established which do not require subsidising from external sources, whether in terms of vaccine production or delivery. Where vaccine delivery has relied on government services, whether in human or livestock health, the programmes have generally failed, except in wealthier countries where governments are able to subsidise delivery or where there is substantial donor funding from outside. However, governments are normally only prepared to subsidise vaccination against epidemic diseases which pose a threat to national disease security. Where TBDs are endemic they do not pose such a threat, and delivery services will need to become privatised in response to need at the field level if they are to be sustainable. In other words, the beneficiary (farmer) must pay for his animals to be vaccinated against TBDs.FAO now recognises that tick and TBD control programmes must no longer be free-standing if they are to be sustainable but must be integrated into existing farming systems alongside or in collaboration with other development programmes as part of a package aimed at improving livestock production as a whole (particularly in the smallholder sector), with tick and TBD control being but one component of the package. In this respect, FAO can play an important role in establishing contact and linkages with other programmes and projects, and thus help to achieve a common objective of sustainable development at both national and regional levels.Livestock and livestock products play an important role in the socio-economic development of Ethiopia. There is a growing demand for meat, milk and eggs to improve the nutritional status of the population. Hides and skins are important components of the agricultural sector in generating foreign export earnings. draft animals provide power for cultivation of many peasant agricultural holdings. Moreover, livestock help as a source of security and supplementary cash income for rural agricultural households.Improved dairy animals are increasing in numbers and there are now estimated to be 100,000 head of Bos taurus/B. indicus crosses which are the basis of the attempts by the government to strengthen dairying in both the commercial and smallholder sectors. All these cattle are at risk from the effects of ticks and tick-borne diseases (TBD).Anaplasmosis, babesiosis, cowdriosis and theileriosis (Theileria mutans), together with a range of vector tick species, have been demonstrated to be important, and streptothricosis (Dermatophilus congolensis infection) is becoming more important. Although East Coast fever (T. parva infection) and its vector Rhipicephalus appendiculatus have not been found, the relatively uncontrolled passage of livestock from the southern Sudan ensures a considerable risk. (Norval et al 1991) Losses from tick damage to hides and skins were claimed in 1979 to be in the region of one million Ethiopian Birr (US$ 500,000) per annum (Radley 1980), but are likely to be much higher. An estimate of the yearly cost of acaricides in 1989 was 3 million Birr (US$ 1.5 million) (Newson 1991). When other losses such as deaths, reduced growth rate and reduced milk production are added, economic losses due to ticks and tick-borne diseases are highly significant. Ticks are controlled mainly by the application of acaricides. A national policy on ticks and tick-borne diseases control was recently drafted and submitted to the government for approval.The objective of this paper is to review the available information, including that recently collected, on the occurrence of ticks, tick-borne diseases and the control strategies practised in Ethiopia.Tick surveys have been carried out through the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) projects ETH/83/023, TCP/ETH/0053 and GCP/ETH/048/DEN in different ecoclimatic zones of the country. The major tick genera recorded during the tick distribution survey were Amblyomma (40%), Boophilus (21%), Haemaphysalis (0.5%), Hyalomma (1.5%) and Rhipicephalus (37%) (Table 1). However, over 60 species are known to exist in the country. A. variegatum (vector of Cowdria ruminantium and T. mutans) and B. decoloratus (vector of Anaplasma marginale and Babesia bigemina) are the most widespread of the ticks collected. The distribution of A. variegatum is similar to that of B. decoloratus (Pegram et al 1981), and together these two species constitute more than 40% of the total collections. More than 80% of ticks were collected from cattle and B. decoloratus (28%) was the most abundant tick found and heavy infestations by this species were observed on cross-bred cattle. B. annulatus is restricted to Gambella, south-west Ethiopia. A. cohaerens predominates in western Ethiopia ( de Castro 1984) and R. pulchellus was mostly found in southern Ethiopia along the Rift Valley. R.e. evertsi appeared to occupy a wide range of climatic and ecological zones.A. gemma and R. pulchellus are confined to semi-arid areas (Pegram et al 1981) and lowland tick densities are usually greater than those in the highlands. Amblyomma, Boophilus and Rhipicephalus ticks are mainly found on livestock. The remaining species occur in limited numbers and have little practical significance to livestock production. Tick population levels in local cattle are generally low for most of the year but numbers increase during the rainy season.Tick seasonal dynamics studies were carried out at four sites over a 30-month period. Monthly collections from six cattle were made at three sites in Region 4 (Agaro, Arjo and Bedelle) and one site in Region 12 (Gambella). Additional seasonal collections were made at another three sites in Region 4 (Bonga, Fincha and Tepi). The Region 4 sites had rainfall for most of the year and were characterised by moderate tick infestations (A. cohaerens, A. variegatum, B. decoloratus, R. bergeoni, R.e. evertsi, R. lunulatus, R. praetextatus) throughout the year although a peak occurred at the beginning of the heavy rains (June-July). At the Region 12 site, with only May-August rains,The major cattle tick-borne diseases in Ethiopia are anaplasmosis, babesiosis, cowdriosis and theileriosis. There are no reported cases of bovine tropical theileriosis (T. annulata) or East Coast fever (T. parva).Infection by A. marginale is widespread in the country as is its major vector B. decoloratus (Table 2). Serological studies carried out in different ecological zones in Ethiopia showed that the prevalence of antibodies against A. marginale in dairy cattle was 99% (Table 3) but few showed parasitaemia on examination of thin blood smears (Table 5). The impact of this disease on the livestock industry in the nation is negligible.Babesiosis is mainly a disease of cattle and is caused by B. bigemina (vector B. decoloratus) and B. bovis (vector B. annulatus) (Table 2). Infection with B. bigemina is widespread in the country and B. bovis is of recent origin in the livestock disease scenario of the country and has so far only been detected in Gambella, south-west Ethiopia. The occurrence of B. bovis was confirmed serologically in sera taken from Sudanese refugee cattle in this area. Serum samples from these cattle were tested by IFAT at Lilongwe, Malawi and 59% were shown to be positive for B. bovis and 59% for B. bigemina (Table 4). During a serological survey of tick-borne diseases in private and state dairy farms, which was carried out in 1992, ELISA test results indicated that over 60% were positive for B. bigemina. In another serological survey in which sera were tested by IFAT, 49% showed the presence of antibodies to B. bigemina, but very   (Radley 1980) and B. canis have also been reported.Cowdriosis (heartwater) caused by C. ruminantium is considered to be the most important tick-borne disease of exotic and cross-bred cattle. Its economic importance is recognised but not well documented. The most important tick vector is A. variegatum which is widespread in the country. For years, the disease has been known to be present in Ethiopia. Outbreaks have occurred in some dairy farms in which mortality rates have reached as high as 25%. In 1992 a devastating outbreak occurred at Abernosa ranch where Boran × Friesian crosses are kept (Solomon Gebre, personal communication). Cowdria ruminantium was demonstrated in brain crush smears in 17 of 40 carcasses. Heartwater is regarded as a problem in this ranch causing high losses, particularly in young animals of 2-8 months of age. Pegram et al (1981) isolated the agent and a suspected outbreak has been reported by Hailemariam (1980).Theileria mutans has been known for a long time to occur in Ethiopia. It is certainly as widespread as its vector A. variegatum (Morel 1980). During a serological survey of TBDs in private and state dairy farms carried out in 1992, ELISA test results indicated that over 30% of sera tested were positive for antibodies to T. mutans (Table 3) and in 1993, of 190 sera collected from four state dairy farms, 27% were positive for T. mutans. Of 5208 blood smears collected from different ecological zones of the country, T. mutans was identified in 29.7% (Table 5).From 700 blood smears collected in the western zone of the country, laboratory findings indicated that over 40% were positive for a Theileria species (Mekonnen et al 1992). This species was more prevalent in indigenous cattle than crosses and clinical symptoms observed were minimum. It is regarded as almost entirely non-pathogenic in nature.  The occurrence of T. orientalis in cattle in western Ethiopia was confirmed on morphological and serological grounds (Becerra et al 1983). T. velifera was observed in bovine blood smears (Radley 1980). Nairobi sheep disease was reported in Ogaden rangelands with its vector R. pulchellus (Pegram et al 1981).Dermatophilosis was reported as being an emerging concern in dairy farms where crosses and exotic cattle breeds are kept. It was reported that cases appeared in the month or so before the start of the main rains. This correlates with the start of attachment of Amblyomma males and is thus yet another suggestion that these ticks have some sort of causal relationship (Norval 1986). However, the predisposing factors need further investigation. In 1992, an outbreak of dermatophilosis occurred in Abernosa ranch in which many animals had to be culled because of the presence of severe lesions, although some animals recovered without treatment. Its occurrence would appear to be seasonal and cases are expected to recur with rains and high numbers of ticks.Acaricide application is still the main tick control method in Ethiopia. A multitude of acaricide is used and their application seems to be regulated primarily by their availability. Two formulations of camphecheor have been banned by the Ministry of Agriculture on residue and public health grounds. Bacdip (quintiofos), Bercotox (dioxathion), tick grease (quintiofos) and Steladone (chlorfenvinphos) are mainly used to treat indigenous cattle. CBM-8 (carbaryl), Bayticol pour-on (flumethrin) and spot-on (deltamethrin) are used to control ticks on cross-bred animals. Very few functional dips and spray races are present. Acaricides are mainly applied by hand spraying and hand dressing.Apart from the use of chemical compounds for tick control, certain cultural practices, such as the hand picking of ticks, burning with a hot iron, and application of plant preparations, are widely used by cattle owners in the rural areas. Ticks on indigenous cattle are treated whenever the farmers bring their animals to the veterinary clinics either for tick control or for other complaints. There is no planned programme of tick control except on dairy farms. The majority of tick infestations on local cattle are mild and can be solved by spraying a localised part of the animal such as axilla, ventrum, abdomen or udder-common sites for Amblyomma ticks. Reduction in Amblyomma tick numbers would be beneficial in controlling heartwater and dermatophilosis, thus preventing udder damage which can lead to loss of udder quarters or, in bulls, sterility from testicular abscesses (Tatchell 1992). Within the country's indigenous zebu cattle population there appears to exist a high degree of endemic stability to tick-borne disease. In the dairy herds with their cross-bred cattle, the high percentages of anti-bodies against A. marginale (>90%), B. bigemina (60%) and T. mutans (30%) found during the project's surveys seem to indicate a high degree of endemic stability in respect to these tick-borne diseases.Boophilus decoloratus ticks collected from most of the dairy farms were resistant to toxaphene, but no resistance was detected in ticks collected from indigenous cattle (Regassa and de Castro 1993). Ali and de Castro (1993) carried out a study to obtain information on tick burdens as an indication of differences in host resistance to ticks between the different breeds of cattle. They indicated that Horro (zebu) animals had the lowest tick burdens when compared with crosses with B. taurus breeds, although Horro × Jersey crosses had a high degree of resistance.The Veterinary Service Department accepts that dependence on acaricides is expensive, both in terms of local and foreign currency. It is against this background that the department is now reviewing the current strategy of tick and tick-borne disease control, and considering possible alternative options to reduce the cost.Chemotherapy and chemoprophylaxis provide useful tactical alternatives within a tick-borne disease control programme. Oxytetracycline has a therapeutic effect against C. ruminantium when administered at an early stage of the infection. Tetracyclines have long been the only drugs with a significant effect on A. marginale. Diminazene is used against B. bigemina and it has been shown to be protective for two weeks (Lawrence and de Vos 1990).Tick-associated dermatophilosis and cowdriosis are the most serious disease constraints to increased livestock production in Ethiopia. The development of the livestock sector is essential to increase the quantity of protein available for local consumption. To achieve this, the productivity of local cattle must be increased or more productive exotic breeds introduced. However, dermatophilosis and cowdriosis are regarded as a serious obstacle to the future of cross-breeding programmes for dairy cattle. These diseases can also affect the utilisation of draft oxen and thus crop production. Therefore, it is essential to carry out epidemiological and economic studies on them to generate adequate data which can be used in planning and implementing cost-effective disease control alternatives.The long-term objective of the proposed research concentrates on reducing mortality and morbidity due to dermatophilosis and cowdriosis in improved dairy cattle leading to increased milk production, reliable income for the smallholders and improved nutritional status at national level.• To alleviate problems due to dermatophilosis and cowdriosis currently threatening the dairy industry. • To establish long-term research and dissemination initiatives on environmentally safe, economically feasible and acceptable tick management strategies. • To reduce the overall national level of potential environmental contamination with acaricide, and decrease land degradation through improved management of livestock. • To increase livestock production for local consumption and enhance the possibilities for increasing exports of meat and milk. • To strengthen capacity building of local staff and expertise through training and improvement of laboratory capabilities in the diagnosis of TBDs using serological tests. • To identify the mechanism of resistance of certain breeds of cattle to dermatophilosis, cowdriosis and A. variegatum, and to establish threshold numbers of ticks for the development of immunity to these two diseases. • To assess the epidemiology and economic impact of dermatophilosis and cowdriosis in crosses and exotic dairy cattle. • To identify possible ways in which cost-effective treatment of clinically affected animals, especially valuable breeding stock, might be made more effective.• Epidemiological data on the occurrence of dermatophilosis and A. variegatum will be collected in herds having cattle of different breeds. Monthly tick counts of the various species present will be carried out on a number of tagged animals in each herd and the whole herd examined for the presence of skin lesions. The frequency and method of acaricide application in each herd will be noted.• Studies will be carried out on the apparent resistance of certain breeds of cattle to ticks to see if such cattle pick up fewer ticks, the ticks remain attached for a shorter period, or they engorge less well. A. variegatum tick counts will be carried out on cattle kept under similar field conditions in experimental herds and in local herds.The stage of feeding of female ticks will be noted. The number of ticks picked up by cattle of the various breeds within a set period of time will be recorded and the time that ticks remain attached will be investigated. • Studies will be carried out to determine the threshold number of ticks required for the development of chronic dermatophilosis in two breeds of cattle of different susceptibilities which will be experimentally infested with different numbers of A. variegatum and observed closely for the development of dermatophilosis. • Friesian cattle will be experimentally infested with the different Amblyomma species and observed closely for the development of dermatophilosis.Sero-epidemiological studies of cowdriosis on crosses and exotic dairy cattle will be conducted.Progress in the research will help in the development of control methods for dermatophilosis and cowdriosis which could ultimately lead to increased production of meat and milk and increased work output of draft animals, and thus improved nutrition of the local population.Despite the importance of the TBDs present in Ethiopia, the country is spared the three most serious TBDs found in neighbouring countries. These are Theileria annulata tropical theileriosis (vector Hyalomma a. anatolicum), Babesia bovis cerebral babesiosis (vector B. annulatus) and Theileria parva East Coast fever (vector R. appendiculatus).Although ECF (T. parva infection) and its vector R. appendiculatus have not been found in Ethiopia, the relatively uncontrolled passage of livestock from the southern Sudan and Kenya where the disease and vector are found ensures that a considerable risk exists. If infected ticks become established on the climatically favourable highlands of Ethiopia, close to 100% mortality of improved and indigenous cattle could occur (Norval et al 1991).Boophilus annulatus ticks carrying B. bovis have moved east across the Sudan into western Ethiopia. Further movements into the central part of the country could have disastrous epidemic results.• To prevent the establishment of ECF (T. parva) and its tick vector R. appendiculatus in the country. Ticks and tick-borne diseases are some of the most significant and serious constraints to the improvement of livestock production in Ethiopia. Tick-borne diseases and their vectors are wide spread in the country. They affect production in various ways, such as growth rate, milk production, fertility, the value of hides and mortality.Attempts have been made to control ticks and tick-borne diseases in Ethiopia. However, these have failed due to shortage of trained manpower, financial constraints and lack of policy.It is therefore extremely important to have a national policy and a strategy to tackle these problems.Minimise the adverse effects of ticks and tick-borne diseases by using cost-effective, environmentally safe, sustainable and integrated control methods.• A sustained increase in the production of milk and meat in Ethiopia by mitigating the harmful effects of ticks and TBDs on the national dairy hard. • To develop strategies for integrated tick control, making maximum use of naturally induced host resistance to ticks, minimal use of chemical accentuates incorporating any traditional practices or remedies that appear to be of value. • To develop and implement surveillance systems and action plans to prevent exotic infections such as T. parva and T. annulata from becoming established in the country, and B. bovis from spreading. • To reduce expenditure of foreign exchange resources for ticks and TBD control and an increased GNP that will include a higher value for hides and skins on the international market.For dairy farms stocked with crosses and exotic breeds:• To combine strategic and threshold acaricide application with due attention to inducing enzootic stability. • To closely supervise use of acaricides and monitor acaricide resistance.• To encourage good management practices.• To closely monitor TBDs and institute chemotherapy as required.• To implement planned, safe, effective and economically sound immunisation of animals at risk from TBDs, based on epidemiological findings.• To institute threshold level acaricide application by farmers in order to maintain endemic stability to TBDs. • To encourage minimal use of acaricide with emphasis to local application.• To install use of existing, safe and environmentally sound traditional tick-control methods.Other livestock (ovine, caprine, equine, avian, camel etc):• To install threshold level tick control with minimum acaricide application.• To encourage use of safe, existing and environmentally acceptable traditional tick-control methods.• Allocate adequate and consistent funds to establish new and rehabilitate existing facilities and infrastructures. • Establish purpose-oriented and efficient manpower training system.• Establish relabel data management and communication system.The ticks and tick-borne disease control unit, in collaboration with the relevant governmental and non-governmental organisations, will carry out the following research.• Epidemiological studies of tick-borne diseases to provide the necessary incidence and prevalence data. • Distribution and population dynamics studies of economically important ticks.• Studies on different breeds to select an appropriate tick resistant breed.• Further investigation on traditional tick-control practices.• The role of wildlife in the epidemiology of tick-borne diseases.• Economic impact of ticks and tick-borne diseases.• Educate farmers on the importance of ticks not only as external parasites but also as vectors of diseases. • Train farmers/peasants to be actively involved in restricting free livestock movement across international boundaries in order to protect the country from importing dangerous exotic tick-borne diseases and vector ticks. • Educate farmers on the importance of reduced (relaxed) chemical (acaricidal) control of ticks in order to establish and maintain endemic stability and also produce safe livestock products. • Encourage community to practice safe and economical traditional control methods as part of integrated tick management.• Planning, guidance, monitoring and evaluation of all services will be undertaken by the responsible government body.• Encourage the private sector to be involved in the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases. • Encourage the involvement of non-profit making international and other nongovernmental organisations in the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases.Ticks and Tick-Borne Disease Control Unit (TTBDCU) being accountable to veterinary service team shall undertake the following activities.• Conduct further surveys on ticks and tick-borne diseases.• Coordinate, monitor and evaluate tick and tick-borne diseases control activities.• Initiate and assist in generation of guideline policies and regulatory issues on matters related to tick and tick-borne diseases control. • Formulate, monitor and evaluate ticks and tick-borne diseases-related projects.• Prepare and organise workshops, seminars and training courses.• Prepare and develop extension package and information dissemination.• Perform other relevant tick and tick-borne diseases-related activities.Kenya, which occupies an area of 582,670 km 2 , has 25 million people. Farming is the country's main economic activity. The country has 13.5 million head of cattle, out of which 3.2 million are exotic (Bos taurus) breeds (Appendix 1). The dairy industry is ranked second to maize as the most important agricultural income-generating enterprise. Unfortunately, ticks and tick-borne diseases particularly East Coast fever (ECF) are major constraints to this industry.East Coast fever, which is a febrile, lymphoproliferative disease of cattle caused by the protozoan parasite Theileria parva and transmitted trans-stadially by the brown ear tick, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, is by far the most economically important tick-borne disease in Kenya. In 1993, 230,000 cases of ECF were reported and many more may have occurred without being reported. Four other Theileria species (T. taurotragi, T. mutans, T. velifera and T. buffeli) which are usually benign, have also been reported in Kenya.The other important tick-borne diseases of cattle in Kenya are babesiosis (caused by Babesia bigemina), anaplasmosis (caused by Anaplasma marginale) and heartwater (caused by Cowdria ruminantium).Epidemiologically, Kenya can be divided into endemic areas and epidemic areas. Areas where exotic cattle and their crosses exist, and acaricide has been applied for a long time on a regular basis are classified as epidemic while areas where indigenous Zebu cattle dominate and acaricide application has not yet been introduced or has been used minimally are termed endemic.In ECF epidemic areas, tick-control measures are enforced by the Cattle Cleansing Ordinance Act, under which the Minister in charge of Livestock Development is empowered to proclaim infected areas and enforce weekly cattle cleansing with government-approved acaricides.Before 1977, the Veterinary Department was responsible for supervising the Cattle Cleansing Act but not for managing dip tanks and spray races. Concern over escalating losses due to tick-borne diseases, in particular ECF, and emergence of acaricide resistance accentuated by inefficient acaricide application caused the Department, through the Tick Control Programme, to assume the management of communally operated dip tanks serving small-scale farmers in the proclaimed areas. Under the Tick Control Programme, there are 3,330 dip tanks serving just over six million head of cattle, one-third of which are exotic or improved dairy or beef stock. In 1995, out of 5,100 completed communal dips, 3,800 were operational while the rest were nonfunctional due to lack of acaricide supply, breakdown or abandonment as farmers had switched to hand spraying.Except on an experimental basis, other methods of tick control such as the use of acaricide-impregnated ear tags, 'pour ons', the use of tick-resistant cattle and vaccines against ticks have not been encouraged in Kenya.In the past decade or so it has become apparent that intensive tick control is prohibitively expensive. The government's policy is to privatise tick control. This has resulted in a decline in control since it has become difficult to enforce the Cattle Cleansing Ordinance Act to farmers who are expected to pay full costs for tick control. This may be advantageous since it is now recognised that many animals, in the absence of any tick control measures, readily acquire immunity to both ticks and tick-borne diseases as a result of natural challenge. Indeed, intensive use of acaricide may lead to the loss of both resistance to ticks and endemic stability to tick-borne diseases.Recently, smallholder cattle have been immunised against ECF by the infectionand-treatment method using T. parva (Marikebuni). This is being encouraged but there are no plans, at least in the near future, to immunise cattle against other tick-borne diseases.The Veterinary Department classifies cattle diseases either as 'public good' or as 'private good'. Under 'public good' are listed diseases that are contagious and can affect the whole national herd and/or international trade. This includes viral diseases like rinderpest and foot and mouth disease. These diseases are controlled by the Veterinary Department at a greatly subsidised rate. Under 'private good' are listed diseases that affect individual farms without necessarily affecting the neighbouring ones. This includes diseases like mastitis and tick-borne diseases. Control of these diseases is left largely to the individual farmer. Consequently, ECF immunisation is expected to be performed by private veterinarians. Where private veterinarians are lacking, government veterinarians are allowed to immunise cattle against ECF but in their private capacity. The farmer is expected to meet the full cost of the immunisation.Before any veterinarian is allowed to immunise cattle against ECF, he or she must have undertaken a training course on ECF immunisation run by the National Veterinary Research Centre (NVRC).The key players in the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases in Kenya are the Veterinary Department and the NVRC. The Veterinary Department plays the role of testing efficacy of acaricides and acaricide resistance, and making recommendations on the acaricides to be used. They also treat for tick-borne diseases.Presently there is a project funded by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute and the Overseas Development Administration of the United Kingdom (KARI/ODA) at the NVRC. The project, entitled 'Support to research into the field application of East Coast fever immunisation and the epidemiology of related tick-borne diseases', project is manned by 10 scientists, 14 technologists and 17 technicians (Appendix 2). Its main objective is 'to generate an affordable, easily managed, effective and safe ECF vaccine and to evaluate and use it under field conditions with smallholder farmers'.To make the method affordable, research at the centre has shown that: • oxytetracycline preparations that are much cheaper than the ones previously used are equally effective; • monitoring after immunisation can be reduced from daily to once every three days; • one-month old calves can be successfully immunised. Since calves are easier to handle, this will lead to reduction of the cost and, therefore, more cattle can be immunised per day, require less drugs and there is no additional cost associated with milk withdrawal.Recently, a T. parva parasite of low pathogenicity has been identified. This parasite does not cause clinical disease and confers a very broad spectrum of protection. Studies are being undertaken to determine whether virulence will change after cattle-tickcattle passage and whether daughter stabilates will maintain similar low virulence and broad spectrum of protection.To make the immunisation procedure easily manageable, studies have been undertaken to determine the duration the stabilate can stay at room temperature or on melting ice after reconstitution to eliminate carrying of liquid nitrogen containers to the field (these items are not readily available). These studies have shown that the stabilate remains viable for 24 hours and protective up to four hours if kept on melting ice after reconstitution. In addition, stabilates are stored in 0.5 ml straws instead of the original 2.8 ml vials. Stabilate in the 0.5 ml straws can be easily thawed just by rubbing the straw between the palms of the hands.To make the procedure safe, field trials have shown that immunisation does not precipitate other tick-borne diseases, a fear expressed since ECF is immunosuppressive. The stabilate undergoes quality control testing in the laboratory before it is used in the field to avoid transmission of any other livestock diseases. In addition, very elaborate training is given to the immunising personnel informing them how to handle the risks involved. The reactor rate has been reduced to 3% and, as a precaution, where cattle handling facilities are very poor, long-acting tetracycline (TLA) is given before the stabilate to avoid cattle running off with the potentially lethal stabilate. A training manual for use by field staff during immunisation has been produced.To prove that the procedure would be cost-effective, a model has been developed to compare the financial implications of immunisation of calves, immunisation of whole herds, treatment of clinical cases without immunisation or a 'do nothing' option. These factors are considered before immunisation is undertaken.To make the procedure acceptable to the user (small-scale farmer), meetings are held with the farmers to explain to them about the potential risks and benefits associated with the immunisation. To date, 600 cattle have been immunised and the full costs paid by the farmers.Despite successful immunisation against ECF, Kenya has not produced an integrated tick and tick-borne diseases control package. To do this, it would be necessary for research workers to generate information from various agro-ecological zones so that livestock keepers can control ticks and tick-borne diseases in an integrated manner so that the tick population is maintained at a level below that causing economically unacceptable damage and loss, while at the same time maintaining a tick-borne disease stable situation after ECF immunisation. This information should be made available to farmers and policy makers so as to determine where intensive, strategic or threshold tick control should be conducted.For the full benefits of immunisation against ECF to be realised, tick control must be reduced after immunisation. However, since vectors for ECF coexist with vectors of other tick-borne diseases like anaplasmosis, babesiosis and heartwater, before tick reduction can be advised, the incidence and severity of these other tick-borne diseases must be established. Preliminary data using sera from animals immunised against ECF indicate that up to 70% of the animals have antibodies to Babesia bigemina antigens.Cowdria ruminantium has been readily isolated in 10 different ecological zones in Kenya where heartwater is not reported as a problem. The ease with which Cowdria was isolated from these areas indicates that endemic stability may have been established in these areas. This would mean that it is not necessary to control ticks to control either babesiosis or heartwater and therefore tick control can be relaxed after immunisation against ECF.Cattle movement in Kenya is not well regulated. This means that cattle found in a particular area may have originated from different places. During these movements, different parasite strains may be introduced in an area. It is therefore important to periodically isolate parasites from areas where cattle have been immunised to study changes in parasite population dynamics. The parasite population has potential to change enough to resist the immunising parasite stock.Cattle immunised against ECF become carriers and consequently a source of infection to ticks. It would therefore be useful to assess the effects of these cattle on tick-infection rates. Increased infection rates would increase disease risk in the susceptible population. In addition, since immunity in the field may be maintained by continuous low challenge, the effects of a higher challenge would require studying.In Kenya, buffalo-derived T. parva parasites occur. However, apart from cattle kept by pastoralists, smallholder cattle and cattle in well-maintained large-scale farms are unlikely to graze together with buffalo. Therefore, there may be need to quantify the threat due to these buffalo-derived T. parva parasites.Currently, there is no in vitro test to determine protection after immunisation. This is required to avoid expensive in vivo cross-immunity studies using cattle. There is need to differentiate between the immunising parasite from the field parasite. This would help differentiate between real reactors and those cattle that get infected before acquiring immunity.To avoid expensive, tedious titration trials to determine dose of stabilate to use for immunisation, a simple method to quantify infective sporozoites is needed.The immediate priority is to deliver immunisation against ECF to the Kenyan farmer in a cost-effective way that will ensure its sustainability. The problems raised under 'epidemiological issues that need to be addressed' need to be solved to achieve this objective.The NVRC has the ability to produce enough stabilate to cater for the country's needs. Its role would be to provide the stabilate and to train veterinarians to immunise cattle against ECF. It should also offer the necessary 'back stopping'.The role of the international research organisations would be to provide improved diagnostic tools and new technologies for use in parasite characterisation. Recently, a diagnostic test introduced to NVRC by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) appears to show real T. parva prevalence before and after immunisation. A group of cattle were shown to be 70% sero-positive before immunisation by the indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT) using Theileria schizont antigens. The same cattle were shown to be 40% sero-positive using the 'ILRI test'. From the IFAT results, endemic stability looked likely and therefore those cattle may not have required immunisation. However, using the 'ILRI test', the cattle would have required immunisation. Since the 'ILRI test' is specific for T. parva it showed that those cattle were likely to be harbouring other Theileria parasites. A test that is able to prove that daughter stabilates produced at different places and times are similar should be developed.International organisations like the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) should provide expertise (where and when required) and the necessary logistical support. For immunisation programmes to be effective, good diagnostic facilities are required. International organisations should assist by providing the Veterinary Department with the minimal requirements.Ticks and tick-borne diseases are amongst the major constraints to improvement of the cattle industry in Malawi. Conventional intensive tick control for purposes of controlling tick-borne diseases has proved very expensive, difficult to implement in the traditionally managed cattle and smallholder dairy sectors. Alternative practical means are being sought. In this report, we summarise the changes in tick and tick-borne disease control in Malawi, highlight the key epidemiological issues and indicate future plans with regard to tick and tick-borne disease control in the country.In formulating the current control strategies, Malawi recognised the existence of two major groups of cattle in the country. These are the indigenous breed, the Malawi Zebu (forming over 97% of the cattle population) and the high-yielding group comprising both pure taurine breeds and their crosses. In 1993, Malawi reviewed its dipping policy on the basis of available data and cost-effective measures were recommended for the ecological zones as stated below.'For the indigenous breed of cattle under traditional management systems, from mid-November 1993, all government dip tanks (371 in number), except those in Shire valley where dipping was abolished, would only operate fortnightly a non-compulsory dipping in Chlorfenvinphos throughout the rainy season (i.e. mid-November to end April). There would be no dipping in the dry season (May to mid-November). Veterinary assistants would continue to provide alternative tick-control measures on a cost recovery basis'. This policy statement also ended the use of arsenic trioxide which was an environmental hazard.On premises in the milkshed areas of Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu, where pure taurine breeds and their crosses are reared, Chlorfenvinphos had been recommended for use a decade earlier before the above policy came into being. Safer acaricides continue to be used at intervals recommended by the manufacturers. In addition, the government is encouraging adoption of immunisation against tick-borne diseases, particularly East Coast fever (ECF), in the taurine breeds and their crosses with the hope of eventual reduction in the intensity of application of acaricides. Similarly, Zebu cattle which for various reasons have been under similar intensive tick control are also considered candidates for immunisation against TBDs.Although in the past Malawi had several projects involved with ticks and tick-borne diseases control, there are only two projects which, amongst other things, currently deal with control of ticks and tick-borne diseases, these are: the Malawi German Basic Animal Health Services Project (MGBAHSP) based in Mzuzu, northern region of Malawi; and the Vaccine Production Project.The MGBAHSP has been in existence since 1989, and its third phase is due to terminate in 1997. Its main objective is to establish a primary animal health care programme in Mzuzu through introduction of village-based animal health and production services (i.e. run by the rural people/farmers). The project activities include: • analysis of the disease constraints to livestock productivity; • setting up a cost-effective drug revolving fund for treatment of economically important livestock diseases; and • depending on success in achieving the original objective, extending the basic animal health programme to other areas of Malawi.The main achievements of the project so far have been:• identification of tick-borne diseases and helminthiasis as major disease constraints in the pilot area; • successful establishment of the drug revolving fund which is managed by farmers with logistical support from project personnel;  • capacity building with particular emphasis on training of veterinary experts, financial management personnel and the farmers; and • strengthening of the Mzuzu veterinary laboratory with regard to physical infrastructure, equipment and supplies. The Vaccine Production Project is based at the Central Veterinary Laboratory, Lilongwe. The main immediate objective was initially to establish an operational, independent, financially responsible company (parastatal or private) capable of manufacturing vaccines and biological materials connected with the diagnosis and prevention of tickborne diseases. Following suspension of vaccine production since 1994, the Project has:• maintained a minimum level of activity to safeguard the equipment, biologicals and experimental animals on site; • provided serological services to countries requiring such in the region; • provided veterinary advisory services related to the products from the vaccine production laboratory; and • participated in discussing and formulating standards for the production of live veterinary tick-borne diseases vaccines with personnel from other institutions. The Project has endeavoured to deal with the above objectives within the limited available human and financial resources.The following are the main epidemiological issues to be addressed: • proper assessment of endemic stability to TBDs, particularly ECF.• evaluating suitability of TBD immunisation in indigenous, traditionally managed cattle. • monitoring the impact of TBD immunisation (particularly in regard to productivity).Depending on availability of funds: • define appropriate tick control regimes following immunisation of the high grade cattle. • conduct further investigations on undipped herds of cattle to clarify the status or otherwise of endemic stability to TBDs and the possibility of allowing a non-dipping policy to be extended much more widely than at present. • continue and extend immunisations against TBDs in the field through a national delivery project focusing on the smallholder dairy sector based on a systems approach.The main areas of cooperation between national and international organisations should include provision of the following:• Technical assistance (personnel);• Training (workshops, study tours, seminars etc);• Equipment and supplies (laboratory equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, biologicals etc); and • Coordination of efforts to combat ticks and tick-borne diseases in the region.The livestock population in Mozambique has decreased drastically in the last fifteen years. For example, the cattle population has reduced from approximately 1.3 million in 1982 to only 238,000 in 1994. This was mainly due to prolonged drought, indiscriminate slaughter and poor disease control. All these factors were associated with the civil war that devastated the economy of the country. As a result of all these problems, the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases during that period was also poor. Although few attempts were made in the early 1980s, no sound studies towards a better understanding of epidemiology and control of ticks and tick-borne diseases have been carried out in Mozambique.Strategies for tick control are mainly based on the application of acaricides. The most widely used method is dipping. The total number of dip-tanks in the country is around 690 of which only 38% were operating in 1994 (National Directorate for Livestock, 1994). Most of the dip-tanks were destroyed and others were paralysed due to safety reasons.From the late 1980s to date, \"Pour On\" acaricides have become popular in the country. These constitute an alternative where, for several reasons, dipping facilities are not available. However, these acaricides are too expensive for the majority of livestock farmers in the country. About 85 to 90% of cattle in Mozambique are kept by smallholders.Studies on tick resistance carried out in the early 1980s showed that several species of ticks were resistant to several drugs then used (Arsenical, Bacdip, Delnav, Neocidol, Ektaphos and Toxaphen). This might have occurred due to the irregular supply of these drugs which caused irregular utilisation.Although some trials on tick-borne disease vaccination were carried out by the Veterinary Faculty of the Eduardo Mondlane University in the 1980s, there is no vaccination programme against these diseases taking place in the country at present. One reason for not producing tick-borne disease vaccines in Mozambique is the absence of susceptible animals for the dissemination of the agent which makes the programme economically not viable (Jacobsen 1985).Recently, there was an FAO project at the National Veterinary Research Institute whose main objective was to establish the current tick and tick-borne disease situation in Gaza Province in the south of the country. Currently, there is no project involved specifically with the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases in Mozambique. However, some projects run by NGO's and one funded the by the African Development Bank, which are primarily involved with livestock restocking programmes, also help to rehabilitate livestock infrastructures which are the main contribution to the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases.Studies carried out on tick infestation in the early 80's showed that the commonest species of ticks of importance for cattle in Mozambique were Amblyomma hebraeum, Boophilus microplus, Boophilus decoloratus, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus and Rhipicephalus evertsi. Taking into account the numerical data of infestation, A. hebraeum is economically considered the most important. The Amblyomma infestation is frequently associated with the reduction in weight gain, abscesses, loss of udder quarters and lesions which frequently lead to male sterility (Asselbergs and Lopes Pereira 1990). Its maximum infestation is observed in November and its minimum in May-July depending on the region of the country concerned.The highest infestation of B. microplus varies according to the region of the country. In relatively dry areas the maximum infestation is observed in October/November whilst in others this occurs during the winter season but also in the month of September. R. appendiculatus also has a seasonal distribution. Its infestation generally increases during February/March in most of the country. R. evertsi, however, has no marked seasonal distribution and its infestation is generally low.The distribution of these species of ticks in the country is not clear as no specific study has been carried out. This distribution is only deduced from the prevalence of tick-borne diseases that these ticks transmit.Although the diagnosis of TBD's which has been carried out by the Central Veterinary Laboratory does not reflect the real situation in the country because very few samples are from the smallholder sector, which owns most of the cattle in the country. There are indications that tick-borne diseases are mostly caused by Anaplasma marginale, Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina, Theileria parva and Rickettsia.Serological studies carried out in the early 1980s in undipped cattle have revealed the existence of a high level of endemic stability in relation to most tick-borne diseases. In addition, there was no significant difference between these animals and those which had access to dipping facilities (Jacobsen 1985). However, newly imported cattle from neighbouring countries, and dairy cattle, are highly susceptible to tick-borne diseases and there have been considerable losses.An interesting result of these studies is the almost non-existence of clinical cases due to T. parva in the southern part of the country. The only known region of the country with endemic East Coast fever is Angonia District which borders with the south-west part of Malawi.However, the results of the studies mentioned here should be interpreted with caution as most of the samples were collected from the south of the country where the Central Veterinary Laboratory is located. Another reason for such precaution is that the epidemiology of ticks and tick-borne diseases might have changed during the last thirteen years and little is known regarding this situation.All future plans regarding control of ticks and tick-borne diseases have to be based on the results of epidemiological studies and economic assessment of different control strategies. Currently, most of these aspects are not well understood and therefore, there is a need to prioritise these studies in Mozambique. Meanwhile, in parallel with the restocking programme being carried out in the country using imported animals, the rehabilitation of livestock infrastructures, mainly geared to the control of ticks, is being prioritised.The low incidence of clinical cases of tick-borne diseases observed in indigenous breeds when, for several reasons, there were no acaricides available for tick control, brings new hope for tick-borne disease control strategies. Taking into account the eco-climatic conditions of each region of the country, dipping can generally be concentrated in periods of high tick infestation rate and suspended during those periods in which tick infestation is low. However, special tick control strategies in areas such as Angonia District are recommended until immunisation against theileriosis is possible. For animals susceptible to tick-borne diseases, such as dairy and imported cattle, intensive tick control programme is likewise recommended.Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute Post Bag X05, P.O. Onderstepoort, 0110 South AfricaSouth Africa, with the exception of KwaZulu-Natal, has no national or provincial control programmes for ticks or tick-borne diseases (TBDs). It is entirely up to the primary livestock producer 'farmer' to decide what strategy to follow. Information and 'technology' are available/accessible and role players in this regard are organised agriculture, veterinarians, state departments (veterinary laboratories), private sector (pharmaceutical companies), Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, veterinary faculties at universities etc Certain scientists, recognised experts in this field, are involved in policy making and strategic planning. The available information and technology, however, are not always effectively transferred or applied, for reasons that will not be discussed here.Biological and geographical diversity do not allow blanket approaches to control ticks and TBDs. The pursuit of endemic stability of TBDs is generally propagated through integrated control measures and is adapted to best suit the circumstances.Government funding has fully supported research, development and vaccine production in the past. However, since the parastatal Agricultural Research Council was set up in April 1993, cost recovery (varying rates) has been implemented for clientdriven needs, including products, research, development of technology and diagnostic services.Special approved programmes directed at the needs of the small-scale farmer will also be funded by the government's Reconstruction and Development Programme.To demonstrate the current prevailing tick and TBD strategies from a commercial farmer's perspective the following information was obtained from two recent surveys (questionnaires).According to Du Plessis et al (1994) in the first survey, neither does the present vaccine control heartwater adequately, nor do anaplasmosis or babesiosis vaccinations have any beneficial effect on the mortality rates of these diseases in heartwater endemic areas.The authors believe that the frequency of acaricide application is too high in heartwater endemic areas but recognise the inability to lay down epidemiological parameters that will achieve endemic stability. They conclude that farmers do not regard heartwater in cattle as a serious problem as it is generally believed to be. However, small stock in the bushveld regions and especially Angora goats in the valley bushveld of the Eastern Cape Province are seriously affected.In the other survey (Spickett and Fivaz 1993), dealing with current cattle tickcontrol practices and attitudes of commercial farmers towards tick control in South Africa, it was found that: • Producers favoured intensive tick control (25 times per annum).• Beef and dairy farmers preferred synthetic pyrethroid acaricides.• Most farmers change acaricides because of price.• Hand-spray application techniques resulted in higher confirmed acaricide resistance. • Relatively small numbers of producers use TBDs vaccines.Much criticism is often directed at questionnaire-type surveys. However, the relevant information obtained compensates for the absence of adequate reporting systems and lack of empirical data, and offers the scientists and policy makers a different perspective.These projects are listed in the appendix to this paper. Epidemiology of TBDs is understood to be the interaction between host, parasite and vector. This was probably true before man arrived on the scene, because he has now become such an integral part through his creative attempts at manipulation of the epidemiological parameters that special mention should be made of these 'issues'.• If man wants to intervene in this relationship through the use of vaccines he must focus attention on the low temperature cold chain dependence of the existing vaccines. • He must be able to measure performance of the vaccine effectively in the field.• Potential sub-unit vaccines are envisaged but not much thought has been given to the impact which such vaccines might have on the epidemiology of TBDs. • Game ranching is increasingly competing with livestock practices. The impact of African wild ruminants as important role players in the epidemiology of TBDs should be taken into account. • Technology should be user friendly and sustainable.One of the problems with making future plans and determining their priorities is forgetting to maintain and improve existing technologies where possible. A lot is said and written about the disadvantages of the use of live blood vaccines. Unfortunately, there are no substitute vaccines at present except the ones which exist to motivate applications for funding of research and development of new technologies. The blood vaccines play an important role in disease prophylaxis as judged by existing markets and the demand for these vaccines.In the 'interim', almost 85 years since the first dose of anaplasmosis vaccine was sold in South Africa in 1912, we seem to be reliant on basically the same crude methods of immunising cattle and small stock against TBDs.A future priority/objective should be not necessarily to substitute the live blood/tick vaccines with sub-unit vaccines as is often proposed, but rather apply the new-found molecular technology to characterise these vaccine isolates and improve the existing diagnostic 'tools' for which there will be wide application for many years to come. It is estimated that effective sub-unit vaccines will not be available within the next 10 years.There should probably be a 'concerted action plan' for the maintenance and improvement of the only existing methodology of immunising livestock against TBDs. Characterisation, standardisation, quality assurance and validation of live TBD vaccines are indicated.1. Develop improved technology to control ticks. 2. Maintain tick biosystematics as a support service to research and training.   Possible role of national and international organisations in future programme(s)  The project is coordinated by Dr Albert Bensaid of the French CIRAD-EMVT institute in Montpelier. The other partners are the University of Utrecht (Holland), the University of Bern (Switzerland), the University of Zimbabwe, the Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine (UK), the Pirbright Veterinary Laboratory (UK), CIRDES (Burkina Faso), and LNERV (Senegal). The total budget is ECU 700,000 of which OVI will receive ECU 115,340. This is 16.5% of the total, amounting to R556,900 at today's conversion rate, over a period of four years.A USAID grant has been approved and formally runs for three years from January 1996 to December 1998. The official designation is CDR Grant TA-MOU-95-C15-194 entitled 'The use of T-lymphocytes to identify vaccine antigens against heartwater'. This is a three-way grant, funded by USAID and coordinated by Dr Varda Shkap of the Kimron Veterinary Institute, Beit Dagan, Israel. The other partner is Washington State University, Pullman, USA.The total budget is $199,893 of which OVI will receive $138,675. This is 69.4% of the total, amounting to R531,800 at today's conversion rate, over a period of three years.  Swaziland covers an area of 17,363 km 2 and is geographically divided into four distinct agro-ecological zones (AEZs) namely: highveld, middleveld, lowveld and Lubombo plateau (Figure 1). These AEZs have further been divided into physio-graphic zones (PGZs) which not only delineate altitude, climate, vegetation and topography, but also land-use patterns. These are highveld, upper middleveld, lower middleveld, western lowveld, eastern lowveld, and Lubombo plateau (Figure 2). The major tick-borne diseases (TBDs) in order of importance are Asiatic babesiosis (Babesia bovis infection), anaplasmosis, heartwater, sweating sickness, and African babesiosis (B. bigemina infection) (Figure 2). Previous work and recent disease outbreak patterns suggest there is widespread endemic instability to Asiatic babesiosis at national as well as at area (diptank) level. Heartwater does not appear to be a serious problem on Swazi national land (SNL) cattle but can be serious on farms with stringent tick control, particularly in exotic breeds of cattle and goats. This disease which is endemic in the lowveld, Lubombo and the middleveld is a problem in goats. Goats are not dipped for ticks but for mange only once yearly.Since the early 1900s when East Coast fever (ECF) control was instituted, Swaziland has been using intensive dipping to control ticks and TBDs. The current system of tick control differs little from that employed then to control ECF whereby chemical application is the main form of reducing tick attachment and tick numbers (Nxumalo 1991).Legislation established during the ECF era still features to date in the regulation of dipping. The government requires that all cattle must be dipped or sprayed at frequent intervals (Nxumalo 1991). Veterinary assistants (VAs) supervise all dipping whether at communal dips (which are on Swazi national land-SNL) or private farm dips (on title deed land-TDL).The country is presently served by a network of some 417 communal dips (SNL dips) and 298 private dips (TDL dips). The SNL consist almost entirely of plunge dips (414, with 2 spray races); while TDL have 165 plunge dips and 133 spray races.Weekly dipping/spraying is compulsory in summer months (usually beginning of October to end of May) in all regions except the highveld, where dipping is done fortnightly. During the winter months, dipping is done fortnightly in all regions except the highveld where dipping is done monthly. This means that animals are exposed to acaricide about 40 times per year in all regions except the highveld where the figure is about 22 times. The present schedule of dipping was based on the life cycle of the ticks involved, the observed effects of the climate and to some extent the epidemiology of the parasites transmitted. Ticks of importance are the two Boophilus species (B. microplus and B. decoloratus), Amblyomma hebraeum, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, R. evertsi evertsi and Hyalomma truncatum in order of importance.The main types of acaricides, from arsenic through organochlorines, to the latest synthetic pyrethroids, have at one time or another been used in Swaziland. Presently, the most-used chemical is Amitraz applied mostly in powder form in a total replacement system. Amitraz is usually used in government communal tanks; more recently, government cattle stations and private farms have been using synthetic pyrethroids which are claimed to provide better fly control. Triatix liquid is now used in a few spray races.Amitraz degrades rapidly and is inactivated by dirt-the reason why the total replacement system is used. This ensures that the acaricide is used at full strength. Lime-stabilised Amitraz was initially used when few animals were being dipped as the total replacement system is uneconomical (Nxumalo 1991). This is no longer done. Swaziland used to produce sheep blood infected with Cowdria for developing artificial immunity to cattle coming from heartwater-free to heartwater-endemic areas. This project was sponsored by the Swaziland Government (GOS) in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1989 Callow did a review on the epidemiology and control of ticks and tick-borne diseases in Swaziland, and in 1991 Ramsay did some immunisation trials using Babesia bovis and B. bigemina, as well as Anaplasma centrale vaccine from the Vaccine Production Centre in Wacol, Australia. Unfortunately the sponsorship of the project was not sufficient to carry through the work started and there was no follow-up and monitoring.Today the only ongoing project that is involved with ticks and tick-borne diseases is the Food and Agriculture Organization-Swaziland Government (FAO-GOS) project TCP/SWA/4452-Immunisation Against Tick-borne Disease in Cattle. The project started in March 1995 with the following objectives: • to provide support to the Department of Veterinary Services for developing an integrated tick and TBD control policy to be implemented at national level; • to establish an epidemiology unit; and • to reduce the overall regional level of environmental contamination with acaricides and decrease environmental degradation through improved livestock management practices. Babesia bovis cases (%)Heartwater cases (%)Anaplasmosis cases (%)Babesia bigemina cases (%)The project has so far undertaken the following research activities in pursuance of the above objectives:• The analysis of past work on TBDs in Swaziland has been reviewed. • Pilot vaccination trials have been undertaken at four government breeding stations, two TDLs, two Tibiyo and two SNLs. The effects of breed, age and efficacy of previous tick-control methods on immunity and sero-prevalence are being monitored. • Pre-and post-vaccination sera have been taken and assayed for TBD titres.• National tick collection and tick identification to genus level only has been undertaken.• A functional epidemiological unit with computerised data handling facilities has been established. The number of cattle immunised against specific TBDs and numbers intended for vaccination are given in Appendix 1.Having set up the epidemiology unit, there is still a lot to be done in terms of the functions of this unit. Due to too much time being taken by the TBD project, not much attention has been given to other aspects of veterinary epidemiology including other diseases of national importance such as rabies, bovine tuberculosis, Brucella abortus and Brucella mellitensis, among others.1. There is a need to explore the concept of exploiting natural calf-hood immunity to TBDs as the foundation of a strategy to progressively convert the national (SNL) herd of indigenous cattle from a state of variable endemic instability to general endemic stability. This should be epidemiologically sound with respect to the host, the environment and the parasites involved in TBDs in Swaziland. 2. There is also need to establish the seasonality of tick species and to conduct tick-population studies in the different physiographic zones. This will assist in the understanding of tick-population dynamics. Tick studies done by Ramsey in association with Michael Bowie and Dr Charlie Pitss of the USAID Cropping Systems Project, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, in 1991 were identifying species in the different agroecological zones in Swaziland. No population studies were done. 3. Regular testing of acaricide resistance to monitor areas where resistance might be developing or have developed should be initiated. The capacity for the Department of Veterinary Services to do its own testing will greatly enhance the capacity of the epidemiology unit. Resistance testing is done by Hoechst on request and certain dip-tank areas, although few and scattered so far, have had resistance to Amitraz detected. When farmers report less than adequate tick control, rapid and detailed investigations should follow to find out the cause of the reduced efficacy of the acaricide. assessed or measured. Both the productivity and economic impact will need to be established for a sustainable and economic TBD control method applicable to each of the different production systems. Private farms have made their own assessment of the economic viability of immunisation against TBDs in cattle, with favourable cost/benefit ratios. Greater challenges lie in the assessment of these factors for the smallholder traditional livestock owner/farmer. 5. There is a need to find out if a single strategy for achieving endemic stability in the SNL sector will be applicable as a standard approach for the whole country, or if there is a need to tailor the strategy to suit different areas? 6. Find out if indigenous breeds, e.g. the Nguni, are more suited to the strategy of exploiting natural resistance. 7. Specific instructions for incorporation into simple guidelines to enable field staff and farmers to understand and manage threshold dipping should be prepared. 8. The role of chemotherapy in immunisation needs to be elucidated and exploited in Swaziland. It is likely that immunisation will not be recommended for the widespread development of endemic stability, thus the role of chemotherapy and natural immunity mechanisms need to be clarified. 9. Increased capacity of diagnostic methods for TBDs is needed for the evaluation and monitoring of alternative control strategies. ELISA techniques could prove more valuable for TBD diagnosis as well as in the diagnosis of other diseases. ELISA techniques also have better specificity especially for Cowdria detection.The overall strategy is one that will promote endemic stability to TBDs in mainly SNL herds. The following outlines some of the major activities being undertaken by the project. 1. Extension of SNL trial sites for immunisation against two or all three of the TBDs. 2. Continuation of TBD immunisation in yearly calf crops and older animals to establish the reactivity of different ages to the TBD vaccines. 3. Continued serology and clinical surveillance to monitor the development of immunity in trial and control calves at the same sites. 4. Application of alternative dipping programmes (threshold dipping) once the TBD epidemiological status of the herd is established. 5. Assessing the delivery mechanisms of alternative TBD control methods recommended to the SNL areas. This will be addressing issues like cost recovery and the integration of such a strategy with other programmes.The Department intends to broaden its understanding on the endemicity and epidemiology of diseases like Brucella mellitensis (and B. abortus), Mycobacterium bovis and other zoonoses. A national survey on the prevalence of B. mellitensis in goats is under way and is sponsored by the government.1. Training of the TBDs diagnostic staff in alternative and improved TBD diagnostic methods that could be applicable in continued monitoring and surveillance of TBDs in Swaziland. This includes more especially ELISA techniques. Training of a full time epidemiologist is also a priority. In the meantime an epidemiologist with experience in TBD control programmes is required. 2. Tick resistance monitoring.3. An extension of the present technical cooperation programme (TCP) to successfully complete the tasks set to achieve laid-down objectives. The present project expires in August 1996. 4. There is need for the epidemiology unit to get linked into electronic mail, especially Internet. This will make communication with other researchers and research centres easier.There are not many national organisations that can be seen assisting the present TBD project and future programmes. An institution such as the local university could play an important role in collaborative research with the Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Veterinary Services. Programmes involving disease sero-surveillance, e.g. brucellosis, seem to attract the university's researchers. The TBD control programme will need regular monitoring for changes in tick and tick-borne disease dynamics, and such surveillance could be undertaken with research components from the Faculty of Agriculture.The pharmaceutical companies could also play an important role in limited research, and also in disease monitoring and surveillance. Research trials can be tailored to improve the company's understanding on the suitability of their products and show the commitment of the company to improving the welfare of their customers. This could ultimately improve sales.International organisations could assist in supporting the following activities: Reference Centre (WARRC), Berlin.• Procuring equipment for the epidemiology unit, equipment such as a light microscope, dissecting microscope (for tick identification) and e-mail facilities installed for better communication. These would assist in diagnosis and monitoring of diseases. ELISA equipment would also be very valuable. The general policy of the Ministry of Agriculture has been formulated with four approaches in mind:1. Manipulation of the environmental ecology in relation to vector biology. 2. Destruction of the vectors by application of effective pesticides to their habitat/ hosts. 3. Application of chemo-prophylactics, chemo-therapeutics or immunisation against parasites transmitted by the vectors. 4. Integrated interventions whereby strategic/threshold pesticide vector control, chemo-therapeutics and/or chemo-prophylactics, immunisation, endemic stab-ility and genetic resistance may be interwoven as deemed feasible.The principal method used for the control of ticks and tick-borne diseases (TBDs) from 1900 to date has been application of acaricide to livestock through dipping, spraying or dusting. This traditional control has been constrained by two main factors, namely: inadequate finance, and poor management. Reports available from the regions show that of the 2100 dips in the country less than 5% are operational.Considering the myriad of co-existing problems relating to application of acaricides in the control of ticks and TBDs, which include high costs (acaricide cost, maintenance of infrastructure and operational costs), toxic food residues, environmental pollution, emerging resistance to acaricides etc, the Ministry of Agriculture is planning to embark on integrated intervention for the control of ticks and TBDs. This new approach will embrace rational, integrated, cost-effective control methods such as threshold or strategic dipping, selection of genetically resistant breeds to ticks and/or TBDs, immunisation against TBDs and/or ticks, pasture management (including inter-planting of plant species toxic to ticks), study of seasonal tick distribution according to ecological zones for strategic acaricidal application, and exploitation of endemic stability.In the current programme to immunise cattle against East Coast fever (ECF), immunisation against the other TBDs will be included for exotic and grade animals as deemed necessary. It will also be essential to vaccinate cattle moving from tick-and TBD-free areas to endemic areas in order to avoid mortalities due to TBDs.In places where intensive dipping/spraying has been practised for a long period and the animals rendered highly susceptible to TBDs, it will be rational to vaccinate herds, especially the adults, in order to prevent epidemics in the event that acaricide application ceases.Eventually vaccination of young stock will be promoted country-wide when (if) endemic stability is re-established and the safety and delivery of the vaccines has improved. The vaccine delivery will be privately done by certified registered veterinary surgeons. In spite of the importance of ECF and other TBDs, together with the increasing popularity of keeping dairy cattle, very little is known regarding the epidemiology and socio-economic impact of these diseases in small-scale dairy units. Likewise, no up-to-date information is available regarding numbers, breeds and distribution of dairy cattle and socio-economic factors affecting these within Tanzania; nor between the two social groups: full-time and part-time small-scale dairy farmers.There also exists an increasing demand from the indigenous livestock keepers to immunise calves against ECF.Recent activities and sero-surveys have confirmed the presence of Babesia bovis in the northern region of Tanzania, previously believed to be free of this disease and its vector Boophilus microplus.Field exposure experiments in Tanga have clearly demonstrated the importance of heartwater (Cowdria ruminantium) in dairy animals. Although this TBD has always been recorded as suspected cases, no relevant information is available on the distribution within Tanzania and sero-prevalence among traditional and improved cattle.We therefore propose studies on epidemiology and socio-economic impact of ECF and other TBDs on small-scale dairy farms in Tanzania to be conducted in the areas of Southern Highlands, Dar es Salaam, and Coast, Mwanza, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Tanga and Morogoro regions, where ECF immunisation is currently going on. These studies should be complemented with investigations in the indigenous cattle population to estimate prevalence rates of TBDs and morbidity/mortality figures for the different age groups.There is a need to re-address tick distribution and dynamics particularly in respect of B. microplus (possibly B. annulatus) in the northern zone of Tanzania.There is need to quantify the economic importance of heartwater in relation to cattle mortalities in the different livestock production systems.The socio-economic and epidemiological studies to be carried out will have the following objectives and outputs: Objectives 1. To conduct a census of dairy cattle and explore socio-economic factors affecting the populations of dairy cattle in small-scale farms in the present ECF endemic areas.TBDs in the present project areas. 3. To monitor incidence of ECF, other TBDs and host tick burdens over a two-to three-year period in both livestock production systems (traditional and improved breeds), and explore factors affecting these, such as environmental, socioeconomic, practised control measures etc 4. To assess socio-economic impact of ECF and other TBDs in the ECF endemic areas. 5. To assess the revised and adapted tick-control measures after ECF immunisations have been carried out.The following information should have been gathered: 1. Exact information on numbers, breeds and distribution of dairy cattle in ECF endemic areas and between the social groups, together with socio-economic factors influencing the observed distribution. 2. Prevalence of Theileria species and other TBDs will provide useful baseline data for implementing immunisation activities and adjusting current tick-control strategies.3. Incidence of ECF, other TBDs and host tick burdens will outline the magnitude of the problem and assist the government in planning and budgeting control programmes. 4. Information on socio-economic impacts will enable programme managers and policy makers to estimate a realistic cost-benefit factor for the projected control methods against TBDs. 5. Develop an adaptable and sustainable tick-control strategy for the different ecological zones and different farming systems in Tanzania.1. Qualitative and quantitative evaluation and impact analysis of immunisation against TBDs remain a high priority project activity for immediate implementation. This evaluation should be based on data derived from studies on TBD epidemiology, seasonal vector dynamics and ecology, strategy for integrating other control approaches with immunisation to obtain optimal cost-benefit ratios, production indices, socio-economic effects including community awareness and follow-up on possible TBD parasite strain variation in the regions where immunisations are carried out.A work plan to study cost-benefit ratios (based on comparison of morbidity, mortality and performance between ECF immunised and non-immunised dairy animals) in Southern Highlands, the lake zone and Tanga has been included in the activities for 1996. The study will use the available databases of the dairy projects active in these regions and embrace some of the above parameters.Since the present project budget may not allow implementation of the recommended evaluation adequately, there exists a need to consider additional funding from both the government and the donors. 2. Building up of institutional capacity nationally by deliberate development of local expertise, further long-term training (MSc/PhD level) of national experts, development of facilities and constant flow of implementation supplies. 3. Creation of capable programme management with well informed and motivated manpower. 4. The scope of the present TBDs immunisation project should be expanded as soon as possible into a true integrated tick-and TBD-control programme which will address both the improved cattle breeds and the indigenous cattle, through various proven strategies.The government's contribution to the project so far has been very low in comparison to the committed obligation by the donors and the executing agency FAO. However, despite the existing economic problems, we believe that agriculture, including live-stock development, is the mainstay of the country's future economic development. The government will sooner or later need to consider a higher financial allocation to the project, commensurate to its high economic importance and magnitude.The Central Veterinary Laboratory should play an important role in the coordination of survey activities related to TBDs programmes.Sokoine University of Agriculture has already pledged its support in some of the research activities and in the provision of manpower to assist in projected surveys as part of field training activities for veterinary students.The National Livestock Extension Programme (NALEP) could assist in the extension activities related to an integrated tick-and TBD-control programme.In addition to the FAO/multi-donor-funded Integrated Tick-and Tick-Borne Disease Control Project GCP/RAF/299/NET, extra funding should be sought from multi-lateral and bilateral donors such as the Overseas Development Administration (ODA) and the European Union (EU).Besides this, there is need for a more extensive collaboration with other existing relevant livestock development projects and programmes in the country such as the Kagera Livestock Development Project (KALIDEP) in Kagera region, west of Lake Victoria, financed by the Netherlands; the Small Scale Dairy Development Project (SSDDP) in the Southern Highlands, financed by Switzerland; Tanga Small Scale Dairy Development Project (TSDDP), financed by the Netherlands; and the Livestock Development Services Project (OAU/IBAR Pan African Rinderpest Project), financed by the European Union.External collaboration with the Regional Coordination and Training Project, Harare, the Vaccine Production Centre, Lilongwe, the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Pretoria, and the International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, is already proposed in the project document and assistance in training national experts will be invaluable.Collaboration between international laboratories and field projects with regard to heartwater serology surveys is requested as the information gathered will help in addressing TBD-control programmes.Already there has been collaborative work to study the impact of immunisation between the project and SSDDP in the Southern Highlands where computerised data from immunised and non-immunised animals is being analysed. Similar data will be available from KALIDEP and TSDDP.Cross-immunity trials to study possible T. parva strain variation has recently been conducted by TSDDP in collaboration with FAO, while KALIDEP intends to carry out studies on the broader spectrum of the pre-and post-immunisation effects. Collaboration is thus effectively desirable and applicable.Further efforts to broaden the scope of the project has been expressed by the Ministry of Agriculture to the executing agency, FAO, on various occasions from 1992 to date. There has been a promise to look into the possibility of instituting a tick-and TBD-control programme which will address the indigenous national herd. This requires further follow-up especially when the present programme comes up for review. numbers will be equally high if the presence of the tick vector and prevalence of the disease can be demonstrated. The need for immunisation and the duration of this exercise will, however, depend on the feasibility of (re-)establishing endemic stability.Sero-surveys to record the prevalence of Anaplasma have shown that, in the commercial sector (high density of livestock units), a high prevalence exists and the need for immunisations is not urgently required. Further information is needed to address the possibility and need for Anaplasma immunisations in the small holder dairy sector.Heartwater will most likely be the next disease candidate for vaccination after ECF immunisations have been carried out. Target numbers will depend on available information from the epidemiology studies. Uganda, which is situated along the equator from one degree south to four degrees north, is fortunate to have fertile soils and abundant rainfall for much of the country. Uganda's agriculture potential is enormous with vast areas of the country suitable for livestock production. Uganda is attempting to increase cattle production by improving its national herd through the introduction of exotic cattle breeds. The same favourable climatic conditions for cattle also support a large tick population which provides transmission of four important tick-borne diseases (TBDs):The present cattle population of Uganda is estimated at 4.57 million. Improved dairy cattle and beef cattle number 231,900 and 194,294, respectively, 9.3% of the total cattle population (Appendix 1). The economic control of ticks and tick-borne diseases (TBDs) is probably the single most important animal health issue affecting cattle in Uganda.Uganda is formulating a national tick-control policy which will be advocated by the government. Presently, cattle owners must provide their own individual tick control for their respective herds. Acaricides are approved by the government and sold on the open market. Depending on each farmer's individual situation, he selects an acaricide and a tick-control method which provides satisfactory tick-control results. Some communal tick-control programmes do exist which are usually centred around a functional dipping-tank. However, most cattle owners provide individual treatment to their herds as they deem necessary.Most veterinary officers recognise that only minimal tick control can be justified for the local cattle breeds. Owners of indigenous cattle accept participating in tickcontrol programmes only when their costs remain very low. This would be through communal dipping programmes or the rare application of an acaricide by a hand-pump sprayer when tick numbers are extremely high. Otherwise, the removal of ticks by hand provides some tick control.Improved cattle must be given much better protection from ticks and TBDs. The most commonly practised method is semi-intensive to intensive tick control through the regular application of acaricides. In order to protect the more susceptible cattle from TBDs, Ugandan veterinarians and the commercial sector involved with the marketing of acaricides suggest that intensive tick control is the only method for controlling TBDs. Due to the presence of ECF, all tick-control strategies are aimed at controlling Rhipicephalus appendiculatus. The most popular methods for tick control for improved cattle are: • Dipping or hand-spraying one to two times each week with an organophosphate acaricide (primarily Chlorfenvinphos preparations). • Dipping or hand-spraying once each week with an acaricide having a longer residual effect on the treated cattle (e.g. Deltamethrin or Amidines). • The application of a synthetic pyrethroid (e.g. Flumethrin) by the pour-on method once every 7 to 14 days.The FAO project GCP/UGA/030/DEN (see Appendix 2) has introduced the use of immunisation using teh infection-and-treatment method to control ECF. The vaccine improves herd resistance to ECF which allows the respective tick-control programmes to be relaxed. Although this is a new concept for disease control in Uganda and this technique has been criticised by many national veterinarians, cattle raisers are increasingly demanding this vaccine in an attempt to decrease tick-control costs and mortalities due to ECF.There are a number of projects either directly or indirectly associated with tick and TBD control in Uganda (Appendix 2). More effort should be made at the national level for closer collaboration between these projects which would facilitate information exchange and data collection.The most important epidemiological issues concerning ticks and TBDs, and the control measures required to reduce livestock production losses created by them are centred around the economics of the various control measures. For Uganda, increased information concerning the economics of tick and TBD control is required to help establish national policies and provide better recommendations to cattle farmers.We understand that minimal tick control is required but what level of tick infestation is considered acceptable for these indigenous breeds? Some areas of the country may experience specific seasons when tick infestation of the bovine host is at a peak. These seasons should be determined to help direct us when planning tick control based on the presence of high tick numbers. Therefore to assist the majority of Ugandan cattle farmers with developing tick-control strategies, we should establish: • the threshold level of tick infestation that justifies the application of an acaricide; and • the seasonal variations of tick infestations which may help us develop a strategic tick-control approach for these cattle.Two choices still remain:• intensive tick control, attempting to keep the cattle tick-free and having no contact with TBDs; or • immunisation against ECF (and possibly other TBDs) coupled with a more relaxed tick-control policy. Further tick-control evaluations are required to develop optimal tick control for these two situations.There is a wide range of very diverse acaricides which are available to cattle owners. Unfortunately, these cattle owners do not have enough information to allow these acaricides to be used effectively and economically. The available acaricides should be evaluated in Uganda to determine how they should be utilised to achieve best results. Information should include: 1. Optimal application method for each acaricide (dipping, hand-spraying or as pour-on). 2. Ability of the acaricide at recommended concentrations to adequately kill ticks on the bovine host. 3. The residual period of each acaricide. 4. The estimation of the optimal treatment interval of each acaricide required to keep cattle tick-free. 5. The monitoring of tick resistance to the various groups of acaricides. 6. The true cost of acaricide application to the farmer (acaricides, infrastructure, labour, etc).For farmers opting to follow this control strategy, many questions still remain which require further investigation:1. What measures can be taken to keep the cost of the immunisation process as low as possible (reduced inputs, reduced monitoring, etc)? 2. How can the impact and efficacy of ECF immunisations be most accurately measured?3. What type of tick control should be advocated for a particular herd following ECF immunisations (relaxed but adequate)? 4. When should other TBD vaccines be advocated? 5. What is the overall cost/benefit of this control measure? 6. Given the socio-economic situation of the various participating farmers, what price could they justify to pay for this immunisation service? 7. How can the TBD vaccine delivery service be structured so that it will remain self-sustainable and permanently available to cattle owners?Although the national tick and TBD control policy for Uganda has not been finalised and there are several different opinions concerning this subject, it is widely accepted that all control programmes must be economically justifiable. The future plans and priorities concerning tick and TBD control for Uganda are to address the priority issues outlined above, and establish extension links to the cattle farmers that require this information. This up-dated approach for the control of ticks and TBDs should be integrated into an overall animal health improvement package to be proposed to the cattle farmers. Integrated tick and TBD control should not be isolated as an individual activity but combined with other basic animal health inputs and delivered to the farmer as a complete animal health improvement programme.The largest economical impact will affect the improved cattle of Uganda which are usually raised by farmers who understand that investments in animal health programmes lead to higher animal production and more profits. Due to this, emphasis should be placed on the support of improved cattle breeds with a priority of providing assistance to the small-scale dairy farmer.There is still a great deal of work to be done concerning the establishment of economical tick and TBD control programmes. It takes a great deal of time and convincing in order to get national policy makers to change old traditional beliefs. Future programmes must generate enough information so that these policy makers can make accurate decisions concerning the introduction of new control methods.National and international organisations must collaborate closely together to advance the following activities: 1. Continual data and information collection. 2. Promotion of integrated tick and TBD control strategies attempting to improve control economics. 3. The development of self-sustainable animal health improvement programmes. 4. The training of veterinary field staff in the new techniques.5. The development of an extension system required to make the technologies available to the farmers. 6. The progressive development of a TBD vaccine delivery service. 7. Improvement of available inputs such as TBD vaccines, acaricides and thera-peutic drugs. 8. Promotion of veterinary privatisation (delivery of inputs to farmer). 9. Support to laboratory facilities associated with animal health improvement activities. 10. Assistance with the promotion of improved cattle breeds. Relatively few studies in the field of tick ecology have been carried out in the recent past in Zambia. This situation is unfortunate because little is known about the factors contributing to the differences in tick abundance between different places. Knowledge on the epidemiology of different tick-borne diseases has suffered as a result. However, of late, steps have been taken to redress the situation. The Zambian Government is currently co-operating with the Belgian Government through the Assistance to the Veterinary Services of Zambia (ASVEZA) animal health project. Studies on tick ecology are among the project's mandate.Theileriosis is by far the most important tick-borne disease in Zambia. It is present in the major livestock producing provinces of the country threatening an estimated cattle population of 1.93 million out of the country total estimate of 2.6 million head.In the Eastern Province of Zambia the disease present is typical East Coast fever (ECF) whereas in Southern Province the situation is still unclear with most people referring to the version of the theileriosis there as Corridor disease although no buffalo/cattle transmission has yet been demonstrated.A total of 130,000 calves have been immunised against ECF in five districts of the Eastern Province since 1987. The calves included in the campaign are between two and six months old. The immunisation campaigns were initially performed by the Belgium-funded animal health project but the situation has since changed with the veterinary department carrying out the immunisations as from last year. The ASVEZA project only supplies logistical and limited financial support. Currently the annual number of calves immunised totals 18,000. The immunisation is charged for and modalities have already been worked out to move towards a full cost recovery within a three-year period in line with the government's new policy of charging farmers the full cost for veterinary services.Studies in the Eastern Province have determined calf mortality to be around 30% in the absence of immunisation. After immunisation the mortality rate was reduced to below 5%. The age at which calves naturally come into first contact with the disease has been shown to be between seven and eight months.In the Southern Province large-scale surveys in all the districts have been carried out to screen for the disease and to determine the distribution of the tick Rhipicephalus appendiculatus. The initial screening revealed a patchy distribution of the disease. These surveys have been complemented by detailed follow-up of 12 sentinel herds in different districts of the province. Information relating to (calf) mortality rates and age at first contact is expected to be derived from the sentinel herds' follow-up. A programme to re-equip and strengthen the diagnostic capabilities of the district laboratories has also been put in place.The government has a full cost drug delivery system running in Southern Province. The drugs included in the system are Butalex, Parvaquone, trypanocides; more than 100 bottles sold. It is still premature to consider immunisation as an option for the control of the disease in Southern Province. A clear understanding of the epidemiology of the disease is required before arriving at the appropriate control measure.Tick-borne diseases, other than theileriosis, do not cause problems under normal circumstances in traditionally kept cattle which constitute about 82% of the national herd.In Zambia there is full endemic stability for B. bigemina. The situation is different for B. bovis, as its vector has only been recorded in Eastern and Northern Provinces.Under normal circumstances anaplasmosis is also not a problem but poor management and stress from factors like other diseases and nutrition, coupled with high tick burdens, can lead to considerable problems.Cases of sweating sickness occur sporadically especially in the rainy season. Control is being directed at educating the farmers on dipping or manual de-ticking of the infected animals. Removal of (Hyalomma) ticks normally leads to spectacular recovery.• Continuous studies on the population dynamics of ticks in order to understand the underlying factors.• Continuous investigations on the spread of the ticks.• Laboratory and semi-natural studies on the development of ticks.• More studies need to be conducted to acquire a full understanding of the epidemiology of the disease for appropriate control measures to be recommended. • Further studies to determine the T. parva isolates occurring in Southern Province.• Research directed at determining whether cross protection occurs between the Southern Province T. parva isolates. • Determining whether mass immunisation of calves against ECF results in higher, lower or identical disease pressure in comparison to pre-immunisation levels. • Determining the effect of mass immunisation of calves against ECF on the epidemiology of the disease. The overall disease control strategy proposed for Zimbabwe is to introduce integrated tick and tick-borne disease control, which includes the eventual attainment of endemic stability to these diseases through immunisation coupled with strategic seasonal tick control. Towards this end, the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS), in collaboration with a number of international agencies (see below), has embarked on several projects targeting the four major tick-borne diseases (TBDs) in the country, namely anaplasmosis, babesiosis, cowdriosis and theileriosis.These projects are involved mostly in applied research on the development of vaccines and related field trials. They are also involved in some basic research where relevant as in the case of heartwater (cowdriosis).Since 1985, the department has also been working towards implementing integrated tick and tick-borne disease control based on the need to establish endemic stability and reduced reliance on acaricide application. This has resulted in the move away from intensive tick control (averaging 42 treatments per year), which had been practised since 1912, to strategic tick control (averaging about 25 treatments per year). However, the department recognised that the actual move towards a strategic/threshold type of tick control must be a cautious one and required more epidemiological information as well as the need to minimise losses during the transition to establishing endemic stability. Now that vaccines are available against anaplasmosis, babesiosis and Theileria parva (January disease), there is increased confidence in advocating a policy of modified tick control. As pointed out below, the finer details of post-vaccination tick control still need to be worked out.The following projects are currently going on in the department: • To produce effective and safe vaccines based on field trials (over 8000 head of cattle have been immunised in various trials in the past two years using vaccine produced by the project). Future plans: A three-year replacement project is planned which will focus on field delivery systems and epidemiological monitoring. Epidemiology is the study of diseases in populations or the study of the health status of the population. Thus, to understand the epidemiology of theileriosis in Zimbabwe, it is necessary to know how the parasite is maintained within the host and tick vector populations.In the epidemiology of theileriosis, patterns of disease occurrence are as follows: • sporadic-where the disease occurs rarely or without regularity in a given population; • endemic-where the disease occurs with predictable regularity in a given population, but with minor fluctuations in its frequency over time; • epidemic-where the disease occurs at a frequency in a given time interval and is clearly in excess of its expected frequency.As already stated, the overall disease control strategy proposed for Zimbabwe is to introduce integrated tick and tick-borne control and the eventual attainment of endemic stability to these diseases through immunisation and strategic seasonal tick control. Endemic stability to T. parva has been defined as the state in which the large majority of a given cattle population becomes infected and becomes immune by six months of age resulting in little or no clinical disease occurrence (Norval et al 1992). Thus, the possible epidemiological states can be described as:• very unstable-when a given cattle population experiences a high case-fatality rate, occurring in all age groups and the population/herd shows a low antibody prevalence, with the incidence of disease ranging from low to very high; • unstable-when a given cattle population experiences a high case-fatality rate in all groups, but predominantly in young animals, with the antibody prevalence being low to medium and the incidence of disease ranging from medium to high; • stable-when a given cattle population experiences a low case-fatality rate, mainly in young animals with a low disease incidence and a medium to high antibody prevalence; • very stable-when a given cattle population has a low case-fatality rate occurring in young animals only with a low incidence of disease and a very high antibody prevalence.In Zimbabwe, theileriosis is endemic to certain farms/areas in which a stable to unstable situation appears to prevail. The majority of farms, however, are very unstable and at risk of epidemic disease outbreaks.The determinants/factors contributing to the epidemiology of theileriosis in Zimbabwe include: 1. In the case of the tick vector:• a seasonal tick activity due to a seasonal rainfall pattern and day length;• frequency of acaricide applications and husbandry practices; and • level of infection in ticks dependent on infected hosts i.e. carrier cattle or cattle with clinical infection. 2. In the case of the host:• susceptibility of breed and type of cattle;• frequency of acaricide application;• presence of R. appendiculatus in the agro-ecological system;• infection rates in ticks; and • cattle movements. 3. In the case of the parasite T. parva:• presence or absence of antigenic strains; and • virulence of parasite strains. From the above factors, the single most important determinant regarding theileriosis outbreaks in Zimbabwe has been the frequency of acaricide application, due to an intensive dipping policy that was practised from 1912 until recently when a strategic dipping policy was formally introduced through the Animal Health (Cattle Cleansing) Regulations, 1993. Intensive dipping, coupled with the seasonal and regional occurrence of the tick vector, resulted in a stable situation on most farms largely by the elimination of the parasite, resulting in no clinical disease or presence of antibodies. Unfortunately, intensive tick control is no longer financially sustainable, and is beset by the risk of tick resistance to acaricides, environmental pollution and residues in animal products. However, its greatest disadvantage is that it results in a highly susceptible and potentially unstable cattle population.The current situation in Zimbabwe is that clinical theileriosis is restricted to the wetter provinces in natural regions (NR) II and III (i.e. Manicaland and Mashonaland East, Central and West provinces). The causative T. parva parasites are remarkably homogeneous and usually of low virulence relative to those causing ECF. The local parasites have also a well developed carrier state. However, accurate determination of sero-prevalence is complicated by the occurrence of Theileria taurotragi which is apathogenic, but is morphologically and serologically (in IFAT) indistinguishable from the more pathogenic T. parva parasites.Zimbabwean theileriosis (locally known as January disease) occurs seasonally with disease incidence coinciding with the flush of adult R. appendiculatus activity during the rainy season (i.e. November till March).Over the last five years a pilot vaccination programme has been implemented using a locally produced T. parva Boleni vaccine (Bolvac). Recently, the vaccine has been tested and registered for use without oxytetracycline blockage. This has brought down very significantly its cost of delivery, thereby making it affordable to farmers. The current policy is to vaccinate only in well defined problem farms. Such problem farms or herds are identified using a number of disease indicators, the most important being case-fatality rate.The availability of vaccines against tick-borne diseases creates the option of establishing endemic stability in a herd artificially. It is intended to select vaccinated herds for long-term monitoring in order to fully understand post-immunisation parasite drifts. The T. parva carrier state should be investigated to establish whether or not, vaccinated carrier cattle constitute a practical danger to other herds. The effects of post-immunisation tick relaxation on the epidemiology of theileriosis also needs to be investigated in selected herds.In East Africa, it has been shown that the buffalo-derived T. parva parasite can transform in repeated passage in cattle to be indistinguishable from the cattle-derived parasite that is normally transmitted between cattle. The implication of this needs to be validated in the case of the vaccine strain used in Zimbabwe.The relationship between the locally-occurring T. parva parasites, especially in relation to the vaccine stock, needs to be further elucidated. As ample evidence also exists to show that there is cross-protection between the local vaccine strain with East African strains, investigations are needed to establish whether the local vaccine strain could be used for ECF immunisation.From a disease control viewpoint, there is a need to consolidate and expand on the field delivery system for theileriosis and other tick-borne diseases on the basis of a sustainable cost recovery system. Above all, there is a need to develop revised tick-control strategies in an integrated package as appropriate for each agro-ecological zone.Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) caused by different protozoan and rickettsial species occur all over the world but their greatest impact is in the tropics and subtropics where they cause huge losses mainly in improved breeds of cattle. The economically important tick-transmitted diseases of cattle are caused by the protozoan parasites Babesia bigemina and B. bovis, and Theileria parva and T. annulata, and by the rickettsial organisms Anaplasma marginale and Cowdria ruminantium.In the tropics, countries in the eastern and central regions of Africa are probably most affected. In these regions theileriosis, caused by T. parva, combined with babesiosis, anaplasmosis and cowdriosis, continues to restrict the introduction of improved breeds of cattle. Live vaccines for babesiosis, anaplasmosis and cowdriosis have been available and used for several years. Despite this, the intensive application of acaricides on cattle has been required mainly to control the brown ear tick, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, the principal vector of T. parva, for which no vaccine was available. In the last 20 years, a significant research effort has been put into the development of a vaccine against T. parva. This has resulted in the infection-and-treatment method of immunisation, which has opened up the possibility of reducing the use of acaricides. The FAO Regional Programme on Control of Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases is deploying live vaccines to control TBDs (particularly theileriosis) as part of the integrated control of ticks and TBDs in the predominantly small holder dairy sector in the region. The live vaccines for tick-borne diseases other than theileriosis have been used for several decades and their efficacies have been well defined. However, the infection-and-treatment method immunisation against T. parva has only been used on a limited scale and the need to assess efficacy, evaluate delivery systems and measure the long-term impact of immunisation is clearly recognised. This paper attempts to identify the problems of producing and delivering a live vaccine against theileriosis and the parameters that need to be monitored to evaluate the efficacy and long-term biological impact of immunisation. The paper also briefly describes the technologies that are available to monitor immunisation.Currently all vaccines used against the important TBDs utilise live organisms. The vaccines for babesiosis, anaplasmosis and cowdriosis contain viable organisms in cryopreserved blood. The blood vaccines for babesiosis and anaplasmosis are prepared from donor cattle after the parasites have been rapidly passaged several times between cattle. This procedure attenuates the parasites so that they can infect recipient cattle and invoke protective immune responses without causing disease (de Vos, in press). The vaccine against cowdriosis utilises whole sheep blood containing live, potentially lethal C. ruminantium organisms. The blood is inoculated intravenously into susceptible cattle followed by a treatment(s) with oxytetracycline approximately five to ten days later when pyrexia is observed.The problems associated with the use of live vaccines have been well recognised. These include requirement for a cold chain for delivery, severe reactions following immunisation, introduction of new strains of parasites and potential danger of spreading other organisms contaminating the vaccines. Therefore attempts are being made in various countries in Africa, Australia, Europe and the USA to use recombinant DNA technologies to produce subunit vaccines against various tick-borne pathogens (Musoke et al, in press). So far, a vaccine against theileriosis based on the antigen p67, found on the surface of T. parva sporozoites, shows promise in laboratory immunisation trials (Musoke et al 1992). However, this vaccine still needs further development and evaluation in the field. Therefore, in the short to medium term, live vaccines will continue to be used in the field. This paper focuses on the use of the infection-andtreatment method of immunisation against T. parva and the level of monitoring required to determine the efficacy of the method.The method as it is currently used for immunising cattle against T. parva involves the use of live, potentially lethal parasites inoculated subcutaneously over a lymph node (usually the parotid) and the simultaneous intramuscular injection of a long-acting oxytetracycline at 20 mg/kg body weight. This method induces mild theileriosis followed by recovery. The drug provides prophylactic cover for up to five days. The vaccinated animals are subsequently immune to homologous challenge. Several formulations of long-acting oxytetracyclines are available through commercial companies while stabilates which could be used in immunisations are produced by only a few laboratories. The most critical element in the immunisation method is the availability of a well-characterised sporozoite stabilate(s). Only a few such stabilates are produced on a large scale and none is available commercially.Over the years several stocks of T. parva have been identified to be suitable for immunisation using the infection-and-treatment method. One important criterion for the selection of suitable immunising stocks is the ability to provide protection against a wide spectrum of parasites. For example the Marikebuni stock, isolated from the Kilifi District of Kenya, has been shown to protect against field challenges in the Coast Province of Kenya and experimentally against 15 different stocks of T. parva derived from various parts of eastern, central and southern Africa (Morzaria et al 1987a;Mutugi et al 1989). This stock has been selected for wider use in Kenya and is currently produced at the National Veterinary Research Laboratory at Muguga, Kenya. Similarly, a number of other well-defined stocks produced in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Zambia are being used for immunisation (Koch et al 1990;Morzaria et al 1986;Berkvens et al 1989). These include the Boleni, Zanzibar and Katete stocks. The Serengeti transformed, Kiambu 5 and Muguga stocks have been combined to produce a cocktail, referred to as 'Muguga cocktail', that provides protection wider than any of the three stocks used individually (Radley et al 1975a;Uilenberg et al 1977). This cocktail has been used in Malawi, Zambia, Uganda and Tanzania.The cell-mediated immune responses to schizont-infected cells are shown to play a major role following immunisation by this method. The immunity engendered is effective against challenge with high doses of the homologous stock (Morzaria et al 1987b) and, in the absence of further challenge, the immunity has been demonstrated to last for more than 36 months (Burridge et al 1972). It is known that this immunity can be prolonged through further natural challenges. Cross-immunity studies and field challenge of animals immunised by the infection-and-treatment method have shown that different immunogenic types exist and that the immunity is strain or stock specific (Radley et al 1975b;Young et al 1973;Dolan et al 1980).It is known that stocks of T. parva can contain a heterogeneous population of parasites and the quality and spectrum of protection provided by these parasites depends on the immunogenic composition within stocks. Different immunogenic types can be identified by in vivo cross-immunity studies. Parasite stocks that cause severe ECF reactions in cattle previously immunised with another stock are classified as immunologically different and are referred to as breakthrough stocks. In many of the cross-immunity studies that have been described for cattle-derived T. parva parasites it is interesting to note that only a small proportion of immunised animals (between 25 and 30%) undergo severe disease (breakthrough) when challenged with a different immunogenic stock. To ensure the widest possible protection, in the infection-and-treatment method, it is a common practice to test the protective capacity of the candidate parasite stabilate against a range of field isolates, derived from the area where immunisation will be applied. However, it must be borne in mind that even the stabilate of a stock selected by this procedure may sometimes not provide the expected protection when used in the field.The virulence of T. parva stocks has not been properly characterised. It is known that different stabilates of T. parva cause different ECF reactions ranging from mild to severe disease. It is generally accepted that severity of ECF is related to sporozoite dose and there are certain parasite stabilates that cause mild disease in cattle. A stabilate of the T. parva Lanet stock, isolated in Kenya (S.K. Mbogo, D.P. Kariuki and R. Rumberia, unpublished data), has been shown to produce mild disease in cattle. If stabilates of this stock, following several passages through cattle and ticks, retain their low virulence for cattle and yet provide extensive and long-lasting immunity, the use of such stocks as vaccines will be much more acceptable since drug treatment will not be required. The Boleni stock of T. parva, isolated from Zimbabwe, has been reported to be a mild parasite. It is being evaluated for immunisation without the use of oxytetracycline (J.J. Mutugi, personal communication). However, it must be noted that certain passages of the Boleni stock have produced severe reactions in cattle (Irvin et al 1989). It appears that the nature of the disease produced by ticks or sporozoite stabilates may not only depend on the dose but a number of other factors, yet to be identified.Determining an optimum immunising dose requires titration of the candidate stabilate against a fixed dose of the drug in groups of cattle. This may provide a dilution of a stabilate that gives acceptable reactions upon immunisation. However, this may also result in a loss or reduction of some important immunising parasites originally present in the stock. Generally it may be difficult to achieve an ideal immunising dose of a stabilate that will not cause severe reactions and yet stimulate 100% protection. A compromise may be accepted that errs on the side of safety.Currently, in vitro tests are not available that correlate with the infectivity of stabilates in cattle. Therefore, an infectivity test of a newly prepared stabilate needs to be performed in susceptible cattle. The ECF reactions obtained with this test give some idea of the potency of the stabilate.Susceptibility to T. parva infection varies among cattle breeds. It is known that Bos indicus cattle are more resistant to infection than the B. taurus breeds. This is often reflected in the way different breeds respond to the infection-and-treatment immunisation. The optimum immunising stabilate dose determined for Boran (B. indicus) cattle may produce severe ECF reaction in exotic (B. taurus) cattle. This factor needs to be kept in mind when developing and applying the vaccine in the field and consequently characterisation of immunising stabilates should be carried out in the most susceptible cattle.It has been observed that ECF reactions observed in cattle may vary according to the age of animals. For example, an LD70 determined for T. parva Muguga stock (ILRI stabilate 3087) in young Boran cattle between three and six months of age produced less severe reactions when used in cattle over one year of age (S.P. Morzaria and T.T. Dolan, unpublished results). It is not clear if this variation in infectivity was due to different age susceptibility or due to the size of the animals. Therefore further research is needed to investigate the correlation between age, weight and the dose of stabilate on the success or failure of immunisation.Several immunisation trials have shown that when the infection-and-treatment method is applied using a well-defined parasite stabilate it can provide solid protection against ECF. This success depends on the production and characterisation of the stabilate according to established standards and with correct application. However, due to the nature of the method, it is also recognised that careful supervision is required during immunisation. Experience in the field has shown that if appropriate immunisation protocols are not followed problems may arise. A number of factors have been identified that can influence the efficacy of the method. The effects of these factors can be classified into four categories. These are: • failure to invoke protective immunity after immunisation; • severe reactions following immunisation; • breakthroughs following successful immunisation; and • induction of carrier state following immunisation.In some instances immunised animals do not develop immunity due to the failure of sporozoites to establish infection in the recipient animal. This is due to a decrease in or a complete loss of infectivity. Freeze/thawing of the cryopreserved parasites, exposure of sporozoites to high ambient temperature following thawing, severe osmotic shock due to improperly prepared diluent and radical changes in the pH are some of the factors that affect the infectivity of sporozoites. These problems are associated with improper planning and handling of stabilates prior to and during immunisation.Because live, potentially lethal T. parva sporozoites are used, animals can undergo severe ECF if the infection is not adequately covered by oxytetracycline. This problem occurs when lower than the recommended dose of tetracycline is used or when the drug used has expired and subsequently become ineffective. Likewise, a higher dose of stabilate than recommended can cause severe disease. Improper stabilate dilution is often the problem. Severe theileriosis might also occur if the immunising parasite is used in animals of different breeds or age groups than those in which it was initially characterised. Immuno-compromised animals may also undergo severe ECF reactions following immunisation. Severe ECF reactions due to immunisation are usually detected within the first 30 days.Occasionally, animals are immunised while they are incubating theileriosis following natural exposure. It may be difficult to differentiate the disease due to immunisation from the disease that is caused by natural challenge under this circumstance. Characterisation tools are then necessary to identify the problem (see below).Following immunisation, and after exposure to natural tick challenge, some animals may develop theileriosis. This is likely to be due to new immunological types present in the natural tick population. Such outbreaks of the disease in immunised cattle are referred to as 'breakthroughs'. As described above, the immunising stocks may contain a mixture of different parasite genotypes and the protective immune responses invoked in cattle are complex. It is unlikely that any one stock will protect against all the field challenge stocks. Fortunately, breakthroughs normally occur in only a low proportion of the immunised animals.Most T. parva stocks cause a 'carrier' state (Young et al 1981). This implies the presence of parasites that are transmissible to ticks in apparently healthy animals. Carrier states occur naturally in cattle that have been exposed to infections and have recovered. Animals that have been artificially immunised using the infection-andtreatment method may also become carriers of the immunising parasites, as demonstrated with the Marikebuni, Zanzibar and Boleni stocks. It is possible that the immunisation method might introduce the immunising stock into the non-immunised cattle population. This can be determined by monitoring the non-immunised cattle population. Recently, Morzaria et al (1992) have shown in a series of laboratory experiments that a sexual cycle occurs in T. parva and that genetic polymorphisms exist due to recombination. The possibility that the immunising parasites may recombine with the local parasite with the emergence of new genotypes should be borne in mind. Epidemiological studies need to be integrated with the infection-and-treatment immunisation to assess the impact of introducing new parasites on endemic stability, infections rates, parasite polymorphisms in the wild population and the long-term efficacy of the immunisation method.Several in vitro methods are available for characterisation of T. parva parasites. Numerous attempts have been made to develop in vitro tests that would correlate with in vivo immunity. So far these attempts have been unsuccessful. All the tests described below are either based on the use of parasite-specific monoclonal antibodies or DNA probes. These tests demonstrate polymorphisms in T. parva populations and are currently used as a set of tools to define existing laboratory-maintained populations of parasites as well as for characterising new field isolates.Several mAbs that recognise the polymorphic immunodominant antigen on the surface of the schizont stage of T. parva (Shapiro et al 1987;Toye et al 1991) have been generated (Pinder and Hewett 1980). There are a number of mAbs that are being routinely used at ILRI to define polymorphisms in this antigen. Monoclonal antibody profiles are generated by reacting a set of selected mAbs in an immunofluorescence test (Minami et al 1983) against schizont antigens made from infected cell lines. Such parasite mAb profiles can be compared with other previously characterised stocks and those with similar profiles can be grouped together. Initially, using a few mAbs, a small number of profile groups were created and it was believed that those parasites that belonged to the same mAb group were cross-protective. This belief was based on the results of cross-immunity studies carried out with a limited number of parasite stocks (Irvin et al 1983). However, as more schizont-specific mAbs were generated and further cross-immunity studies were performed, using a larger number of parasite isolates from wider geographical regions, this correlation did not hold. Currently, mAb profiles are simply used as identifiers of parasite stocks and represent one of many useful tools available to monitor any changes or selection or accidental contamination that might occur during handling of stocks.These are generated from genomes of different T. parva stocks and are based on unique parasite specific DNA sequences. Several such sequences have been used to define polymorphisms in different loci in the genome (Bishop et al 1993;1994). The currently used, most useful probes are briefly described below. These probes can be used on either schizont-or piroplasm-derived genomic DNAs. It is important to note that the polymorphisms detected in the DNAs derived from the piroplasm and schizont stages of a T. parva stock may be different. It is believed that this is due to differential selection of parasites that might take place during its development in culture and in vivo.Tpr DNA probes: These are derived from the repetitive sequences of a multicopy gene family in the T. parva genome which is transcribed in piroplasms. Two specific probes, all cloned in plasmids, include PMB3, a 623 bp fragment isolated from T. parva Muguga, and pBOLREP1, a 2.4 kb sequence isolated from T. parva Boleni. Both clones have been sequenced (Allsopp and Allsopp 1988;Allsopp et al 1989). These probes detect restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) in EcoRI digested DNAs of different stocks of T. parva. These probes have been shown to discriminate 20 different stocks and isolates (Bishop et al 1993).Telomeric DNA probe: This was generated from a sequence of a chromosome end of T. parva and cloned in a plasmid. The clone pTpUtel contains a 1.74 kb fragment isolated from T. parva Uganda DNA, and cloned in pBluescript (Bishop et al 1993). The clone includes simple telomeric repeats and subtelomeric sequences. The clone detects up to 8 loci and differentiates most stocks/isolates. In a recent study of theileriosis epidemiology in Zimbabwe (Bishop et al 1994), this probe was the most useful for parasite isolate discrimination.LA6 DNA probes: These consist of sequences derived from a multicopy gene family in T. parva which is transcribed in schizonts and piroplasms. The original clone was isolated by screening a T. parva Muguga schizont cDNA library with total genomic DNA. This clone is predicted to encode proteins with an unusual amino acid composition. The probe discriminates all T. parva stocks that have been examined.Minisatellite probe: Dispersed repeat sequences have been isolated by screening a T. parva genomic library with M13 'minisatellite' sequences. This probe (laboratory code 6.21) hybridises to multiple loci in the T. parva genome and is present on most SfiI fragments unlike the other available probes which are confined to limited regions of the genome. Most T. parva stocks/isolates are distinguished using this probe.The sporozoite antigen gene p67 probe: A PCR-based assay is available for identification of the presence or absence of DNA insertion potentially encoding additional amino acids in the p67 protein.Currently the above five probes are used to provide comprehensive and reliable characterisation of T. parva immunising stocks.Although it is desirable to abolish any need for monitoring cattle following immunisation, this is as yet not possible because of the nature of the immunisation method. However, good planning and adherence to the described immunising protocol can greatly reduce the need to monitor cattle intensively. At the time of immunisation it is important to observe and record accurately the procedure of thawing and inocu-lation, time from thawing to inoculation, the age and breed of animals, the method of weighing animals, the weight of immunised animals and the amount of drug used. In addition, information regarding method of tick control and type of husbandry practised is useful. The drug manufacturer and the batch of drug used should be recorded. All these data are useful background information for further investigation in the rare event of the immunisation failing.The primary purpose of monitoring is to ensure that the vaccine is safe and efficacious. Information obtained from several field trials performed in various parts of the ECF-endemic areas show that there are three different periods during and after immunisation when monitoring is required.The period between the time of inoculation and sero-conversion is referred to as the immunisation period. Following immunisation the majority of the animals should undergo a mild, transient ECF reaction. However, a small proportion of immunised animals may develop clinical theileriosis. The immunised cattle should be monitored during the critical period when such reactions are expected. This period is usually well defined (usually between 10 and 20 days after immunisation) but varies according to the parasite stabilate used. This monitoring ensures timely diagnosis of any clinical disease and administration of appropriate therapy if required. This approach is recommended and serves to increase farmer confidence in the immunisation method.Careful planning and participation from the farmers and veterinary assistants can reduce the monitoring period and potential loss of cattle. If a disproportionately large number of animals is found to be reacting following immunisation it is essential to intervene with treatment and investigate the reasons for these reactions. The procedure should be carried out to check if the theileriosis reactions result from immunisation or other causes such as incubation of theileriosis at the time of immunisation.The need to have biological markers such as DNA probes specific for vaccine strains is very important to discriminate disease due to immunisation from natural infection. Theileriosis due to immunisation may occur between days 10 and 30 after immunisation. Disease observed before or after this period may be due to a different T. parva stock or another pathogenic agent.After immunisation, acaricide control may be reduced. This may increase the risk of tick-borne diseases and farmers and veterinary assistants should be made aware of this possibility. Monitoring may be necessary at this stage to ensure that accurate diagnosis is carried out of outbreaks of disease in immunised cattle. Any outbreaks of theileriosis are likely to be due to new immunological stocks. Further investigations are necessary if a large number of immunised animals develop severe theileriosis. These breakthrough parasites need to be isolated and characterised using all the tools described above.Long-term monitoring is required to study the effects of introducing immunising parasites into an area. This should involve the impact on infection rates in ticks, endemic stability, the emergence of new parasite populations through sexual recombination and studies of parasite population dynamics. Although these studies are not necessarily required to be carried out as part of the immunisation programme they could provide information on the long-term impact of immunisation and its sustainability.The infection-and-treatment method is available for immunisation against theileriosis caused by T. parva. The method when properly administered provides a significant level of protection. However, due to the nature of the procedure, it is necessary to monitor immunisation. Short-term monitoring is necessary to ensure that disease reactions due to immunisation can be treated in time to prevent losses. Medium-term monitoring is required to check on the spectrum of immunity provided by immunisation. Long-term monitoring is necessary to assess the effects of immunisation on the epidemiology of theileriosis.The purpose of this presentation is to review briefly those developments in control of ticks which may be useful in adapting to the situation where substantial control of tick-borne diseases (TBDs) may be achieved by vaccination. Focus is on the control of Rhipicephalus appendiculatus on commercial dairy and beef cattle that are the primary targets for vaccination with the infection-and-treatment vaccine against East Coast fever (ECF). This topic is the best documented and of the greatest economic importance amongst the African tick-borne diseases. The review is intended to stimulate discussion and appropriate research; not to provide prescriptive answers.It is assumed that when farmers have their cattle vaccinated they will be unwilling to spend as much as they used to on tick control. There is evidence from personal communications and observation that tick-control practices are changing rapidly regardless of professional opinion. In some circumstances of peri-urban dairy farming there appears to be negligible tick control for unvaccinated cattle, where it would be expected from previous opinion that there would be severe problems with ticks and tick-borne diseases. Possibly farmers are ahead of scientists in establishing, by trial and error, systems that adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. It is the responsibility of scientists to formally structure and promote knowledge combining correct theory and farmers' experience (Cook 1991).The traditional systems of tick control established in Africa about 80 years ago were based on the need to control the severe risk of outbreaks of ECF, particularly in imported cattle, and to meet the demands for national improvements in cattle productivity. The system of intensive and continually maintained acaricide application was modelled on the attempt to eradicate the cattle tick (Boophilus annulatus) and babesiosis from southern USA (FAO 1987). It was substantially supported by central government subsidy as part of systems of agricultural development, and it also enabled private farmers to raise exotic cattle in the face of threatened catastrophic disease. Okello-Onen et al (1992) describe the establishment and development of such a system in Uganda.However, the high risk of relying on one method for control of tick-borne diseases was revealed starkly in Zimbabwe when a nationally high level of tick control collapsed during the war, resulting in heavy mortalities from TBDs in herds which had not acquired sufficient immunity by natural exposure (Norval 1983). The changing attitudes and practices in Zimbabwe are detailed by Norval et al (1992); the predominant influences being knowledge of the high risk of the previous strategy and of the importance of maintaining endemic stability; the increasing cost of acaricide use; and the availability of additional methods of control, particularly vaccination.Eradication of ticks is possible on the scale of a single farm using intensive control on fenced pastures, particularly if the pastures are improved and intensively managed. Ticks are habitat-specific vectors, with very limited independent mobility. However, such local eradication cannot be maintained without resort to some form of tick control available for newly introduced infestations. Eradication on a national scale, up to the limit of sustainable barriers to re-infestation, has only been achieved once, in the USA, at great length and cost. A similar eradication attempt against Boophilus microplus failed in Australia (FAO 1987). Furthermore, it can be shown by mathematical modelling, particularly of the basic reproductive rate of vectors and transmitted pathogens, that extremely high levels of control need to be sustained for a long time to achieve eradication of any vector or pathogen. This applies equally to chemical control of vectors (Medley et al 1993) or vaccination against transmitted pathogens (Anderson and May 1991). Pegram et al (1995) have defined the terminology of tick control in three categories. Intensive control is 'acaricide application aimed at keeping animals totally free of ticks to prevent transmission of pathogens causing TBDs; this usually involves frequent application of acaricide throughout the year'. Strategic control is 'acaricide application aimed at (substantial) reduction of tick populations and consequent reduction of level of transmission of pathogens causing TBDs; the timing of acaricide application is based on ecological information on the seasonal numbers of ticks and the frequency of application will vary during the year'. Threshold control is 'acaricide application aimed at controlling ticks when they exceed a pre-defined, economically damaging number of adult ticks'. These consensus definitions should be adhered to, but I will later introduce the additional idea of control aimed at a threshold defined by pathogen transmission.The changes in tick control required by vaccination are toward strategic and threshold control. The former has been tested in several situations, for example Moran and Nigarura (1990), Amoo et al (1993), and Soldan and Norman (1994). The application of this method to a national strategy has been advocated by Perry et al (1990). The necessary data for threshold treatment of R. appendiculatus was obtained by Norval et al (1988). This is the damage coefficient of the ticks: the loss of potential gain in liveweight of cattle caused by the feeding of one female tick (4.0 g of lost weight of whole cattle carcass per adult female tick). I can find no documented example of it being put into practical use so far.However, caution has been advocated by many who are reluctant for institutional, national strategic, and political reasons to reduce the traditional system of mandatory country-wide dipping. The ability to access cattle at dips for surveillance of foot-andmouth disease in Zimbabwe is a powerful strategic reason. Dip construction has become part of the system of political patronage in some countries, and in some veterinary departments many jobs depend on maintenance of the old system. In addition, Norval et al (1994) presented evidence of the spread of Amblyomma ticks in Zimbabwe, apparently as the result of reduced application of acaricide.The options for change are often in the context of rapidly changing environments. The rapid increase of human population in Africa should be seen as an opportunity in the context of control of livestock diseases. This is particularly true for those diseases transmitted by vectors which are habitat specific such as ticks and tsetse flies. The larger human population boosts demand for cattle products, particularly commercially available milk in large cities. This improves cash flow to the farmers, enabling purchase of veterinary products and services. More fundamentally, the land becomes more intensively used which will, at best, clear out ticks from fenced and improved pasture or, at worst, reduce ticks in overgrazed pasture. The overgrazed land and its effect on ticks has been described in Zimbabwe by Norval (1977), Perry et al (1991) and Curry (1992).Well managed land, climatically highly favourable to ticks, but becoming hostile to them because the pasture microclimate has been modified, are typified by the fertile highland areas of Kenya. The other pre-condition to such environmental control is a political system suitable for legalised land tenure, permitting fencing and private investment in the improvement of the land.It may seem that the only reason for controlling ticks after vaccination would be to control tick damage and worry (Tatchell 1987), using threshold treatment. The situation is probably more complex. Individualised systems of TBD control on adjacent farms is likely to produce highly patchy distribution of ticks and pathogens. At its most extreme, a situation could arise on neighbouring farms with one farm having effective herd immunity with live parasite vaccine and no tick control giving large numbers of infected ticks on that farm, and on the other a reliance on strategic treatment and pasture management giving very few ticks but with poor herd immunity. A spread of ticks on infested cattle straying from the first to the second farm could result in a serious problem.Furthermore, the benefits of endemic stability need to be artificially maintained by all means possible. The primary means of doing this is intended to be by vaccination, but vaccination is a controlled means of doing what the tick does naturally, that is deliver parasites. Given vaccination and backup of curative drugs then the aim should be to allow a low population of ticks which transmit a small amount of pathogen. The tick feeding will induce and enhance resistance to ticks, even in exotic cattle, and the transmitted pathogen will boost the vaccine immunity. The fundamental difficulty is maintaining the ticks at a steady level, high enough in numbers to be useful, low enough to be of minimal risk.There is a well developed body of theory and practice in crop pest control which gains maximum benefit for minimum cost by combining several elements of control measures, particularly making use of ecological factors and natural host resistance. Theoretical frameworks for IPM of Boophilus microplus were published by Sutherst et al (1979) and Norton et al (1983), incorporating strategic use of acaricide, pasture management and host resistance. The same approach has been advocated for African ticks by Tatchell (1987), Young et al (1988) and Pegram et al (1993). Integrated management of a vector-borne disease of cattle depends on manipulating the rate of flow of the pathogen through the cattle population such that immunity is gained at a controlled rate and timing. Obviously vaccine pathogen is controlled, but as long as there are vectors present their contribution to the rate of flow of pathogen must be controlled as well. However, none of these papers has dealt with the problem of what level the tick numbers should be managed to.There are three solutions to this dearth of information. All of them should be worked on simultaneously. The simplest approach is farm survey work, to learn from the trials and errors of farmers (Cook 1991;Blanc 1992;Spickett and Fivaz 1992;du Plessis et al 1994). The most expensive but most direct approach is to set up experimental herds under conditions of natural exposure to ticks and tick-borne diseases and to protect test cattle with combinations of vaccine, acaricide and drugs, and compare their fate with unprotected control cattle. This has been done for beef and dairy cattle in three different epidemiological situations of ECF in Kenya ( de Castro et al 1985;Morzaria et al 1988;Young et al 1992;Amoo et al 1993). The consensus of these studies was that vaccination is an economical alternative to reliance on acaricidal control, allowing acaricide use to be considerably reduced. Amoo et al (1993) concluded that the most cost-effective treatment was once per four to six weeks, at the Kenya coast. However, the ecology of R. appendiculatus here is sufficiently different from other areas to require follow-up studies elsewhere.The cheapest and most fashionable approach is the construction of mathematical models, although without the long and expensive business of field validation none of them can ever be trusted for managerial use on farms.The earliest and still the best was the simple empirical model of Mahoney and Ross (1972) for the transmission of Babesia by Boophilus. This can be used to predict the numbers of infected ticks that are required to infect sufficient proportions of calves with Babesia whilst protected by maternal antibody in the first nine months of life and thus gain pre-immunity. A more highly developed model of the same type has recently been developed by Randolph and Craine (1995). This has the great advantage of having been tested by them with data on transmission of Borrelia, and of being mathematically simple to use involving little more than multiplication of proportions. It should be applied as soon as possible to the empirical data available on ECF.Statistical or stochastic models have been applied to the forecasting of Amblyomma population dynamics using time series analysis (Meltzer and Norval 1992), and stochastic elements have been combined with computer calculated simulation modelling of R. appendiculatus population dynamics (Nokoe et al 1992). Both these studies have the advantage of the statistical methods and simulation methods being accessibly described, but neither include pathogen transmission.Fully developed deterministic simulation models, described in the literature and available as free-ware discs, have been produced for babesiosis (Haile et al 1992) and for ECF (Gettinby and Byrom 1989). These contain simulations of the seasonal population fluctuations of the ticks, the calculations being driven by data on the development rate determined by temperature. Onto these fluctuations are superimposed assumptions on the transmission rate of pathogens. However, in some models the assumptions on the ecological factors controlling tick populations are unrealistic, keeping the models at prototype level. However, when more developed and fully validated by field data these models hold the promise of being the easiest to use managerially.A differential equation model of Theileria transmission has been developed by Medley et al (1993), including much validation from laboratory and field data. This requires good mathematical knowledge to use fully, but has the advantage of providing some simple sub-models, which can be adapted, such as the risk assessment equation detailed below. It also demonstrates how non-linear or counter intuitive many epidemiological relationships are, and thus the need for these theoretical studies. Elder and Morris (1986) provided an example of economic analysis applied to control of B. microplus such that the costs and benefits of various managerial decisions could be predicted. What is required for assessing the appropriate level of tick control in the context of vaccination is a simple model for assessing risk. An obvious relationship can be described by multiplying proportionate estimates of susceptibility of cattle (S) with tick numbers feeding on cattle (T) with infection prevalence and density of the ticks (I), to give a figure representing risk (R): R = S × T × I A very similar equation derived from a differential equation model of ECF is in Medley et al (1993).This type of model is most likely to be managerially useful, as long as it can be validated by field experience and data and related to a threshold for acaricidal treatment based on pathogen transmission. Furthermore, the use of such models has to be related to the practical options available to farmers. To a farmer the choice is likely to be constrained by other farming needs, to two or three simple alternatives. Thus, any decision-making model or expert system must provide simplified answers useful within the same constraints.Previous reviews of this topic (Norval and Young 1990;Berkvens 1993) stressed the need for more field work to monitor changing epidemiology and validate models. Sadly, there seems to be less access to field reality since then. As long as there are vectors, the management of vector-borne disease will never be more than trial and embarrassing error, unless the current and local contribution of the vectors to disease is understood by means of ongoing field studies.Tick control should be considerably reduced when cattle are protected by vaccination. More information is required on local variations in the degree to which control should be reduced. Better predictive and risk assessment systems will be useful for more efficient tick control.In the tick-borne disease (TBD) control research and development continuum, delivery systems for TBD control have invariably been considered last, after diagnostic tests, vaccine development and other technical functions. This is not altogether surprising, since from an animal health research perspective the development of a TBD control technology comes before its delivery. However, from an investment and commercial perspective, the logical first step is to critically evaluate, ex ante, what are the potential net benefits of different control options. In the calculation of potential net benefits, the costs, feasibility and sustainability of delivery systems need to be included as factors.The general economic and specific agricultural environments influencing the choice and delivery methods for animal health services are changing very rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa. Reduced public sector resources, privatisation and market-oriented policies are new and future realities that have been adopted by virtually all governments in the region. In the delivery of animal health services, there has been increased interest in the last 10 years in the relative role of the public and private sector and other issues related to the feasibility and sustainability of the delivery systems for animal health services (de Haan 1995;de Haan and Bekure 1991;FAO 1990;Holden et al 1996;Leonard 1985;Perry 1996;Schillhorn van Veen and de Haan 1995;Umali et al 1992). Any proposed animal health delivery service must be demonstrated to be cost-beneficial, adaptive and sustainable. This paper will focus on the general considerations for planning and evaluating TBD control delivery systems and not emphasise technical considerations such as cold chains and handling of live vaccines. It will be argued that the net benefits, ease of delivery and sustainability of TBD control delivery systems will vary greatly between potential target groups of farmers and between specific farming systems. The identification and ranking of the most promising target groups and areas should be done using ex ante methods. However, for other groups and areas without a high economic or sustainability ranking, special provisions will need to be made if other criteria require that TBD control be delivered there, most probably relying on lessons learned as experience is gained in delivery methods in target groups and areas. In the planning of delivery systems for TBD control for any group within any area, special emphasis needs to be placed on the linkages between different key players, since the total system can be undermined by the failure of any one component.The basic organisation of any TBD control delivery system includes components at regional, national, provincial/district/area, and farm levels. An important question at each level is who should act as key players and provide specific service components. Prospective candidates include international and regional organisations, government veterinary services, private veterinarians, commercial companies, and non-governmental organisations (including farmer groups). Who does what depends on the comparative advantage of different players, the scale of operation required, sustainability considerations and the ability of the player to form linkages with other groups. Two general sustainability criteria in developing delivery systems for TBD control are that there should be a proper mix of public and private sector responsibilities, and that there should be an emphasis on transforming key players into stakeholders, who must depend on the success of the delivery system for their own success.For the optimal functioning of a delivery system, it is important to consider linkages between the key players or stakeholders. While it is important that each group concentrate on doing their part well, it is also important that everyone considers the broader picture and contributes constructively to difficulties that other players in the system are having. This is particularly important in linkages with farmers. Ashby (1987) demonstrated that involving farmers in research and delivery planning was more cost-effective than planning by scientists and technical staff only. In these partnerships, neither farmers nor technical staff should be passive. Everyone has a role and valuable information to contribute. One example of an attempt at building linkages within a research and development project is a resource management project in Egypt which designed a programme to involve all stake-holders (de Haan 1995).The relative roles of the public and private sector depend on who benefits. If the benefits mainly accrue to individuals, then it is mainly a private sector concern and if there are collective benefits then the public sector should be involved (Umali et al 1992). In many circumstances a mixture of public and private sector involvement will provide optimum benefits. Table 1 provides examples of delivery or delivery-support functions for which different key players at different levels would have a comparative advantage. For TBD control, I would argue that information and quality control assurance were mainly public goods, but that vaccine production and vaccine and acaricide delivery were mainly private goods, although in some settings (communal grazing), their public good function would increase. For vaccine production, it could also be argued that since many of the vaccine users would be resource-poor farmers, this would also make it an important public good. An important consideration for functions such as vaccine production and information services is the scale of operation.If a standard TBD live or subunit vaccine is agreed upon, standardised quality control and production would probably be most cost-effective if the vaccine was produced at one or two sites. For information services, there will be different scales of information requirement from regional to national to local levels that can best be handled by organisations functioning at those levels.In the delivery of TBD control, it seems likely that either joint private/public or solely private delivery systems with public sector monitoring will evolve. Different countries and perhaps different areas within countries will choose different mixtures of delivery. A guiding principle should be that whether the deliverers are in the private or public sector, they need to become stakeholders in the system.The usual starting place in determining whether an area should have high priority for TBD control efforts is the relative risk of morbidity or mortality from TBDs versus other areas. These risks need to be determined by well-designed sampling studies A key concept in characterising areas as to their potential for TBD control is the notion of endemic stability and instability (Norval et al 1992). Unstable areas for specific TBDs have either high and/or fluctuating morbidity and case fatality rates for that TBD or else require careful control to prevent morbidity and mortality. The goal of a TBD control programme should be to assist in the development of endemic stability. Quick but imprecise methods to characterise areas as to their endemic stability and instability have been used and follow-up recommendations made (Deem et al 1993). Factors that influence the endemic stability and risk of TBDs include: ecologic/climatic factors, grazing system, predominant cattle breed and standard TBD control measures (Perry and Young 1995). Although the absolute and relative risk of TBD occurrence are a guide to establishing priority areas, other criteria may override them. These include the impact of control measures and the economics of livestock production.The impact of a technology in most agricultural delivery systems cannot be assumed to be uniform everywhere and is likely to vary somewhat from area to area (Biggs and Farrington 1991). Impact estimates by major farming system and area (e.g. periurban smallholder dairy, more extensive smallholder dairy/beef, and more extensive farming systems, etc) need to be made, in conjunction with appropriately designed efficacy trials. In such assessments it is important that not just the costs of disease are estimated, the question of importance is what is the economically optimal level of control (McInerney et al 1992).Since the impact of control needs to be considered prior to planning the delivery system, an ex ante assessment of net control benefits is required (Mukhebi 1992;Mukhebi et al 1992). A theoretical graph comparing net benefits under three different control programmes is illustrated in Figure 1. The shape of the net benefit curve versus time is mainly influenced by expected adoption rates. Note that if adoption is delayed this will delay the benefits resulting from the programme and adversely affect the return on investment. Ex ante assessments can be aided by ex post assessment of control programmes conducted in pilot areas. Limited ex post analyses could be used to refine impact of control estimates over time but in general it is better to concentrate on doing good ex ante assessments; just as for private practitioners it is better to perfect preventive medicine rather than post-mortem skills.An important consideration in estimating the potential impact of controlling one TBD is the risk of other TBDs in that area. For example in East Africa, theileriosis is the main problem in many areas while in Central and Southern Africa a mixture of TBDs (e.g. heartwater, babesiosis, anaplasmosis and theileriosis) is more common. This will influence both impact estimates and delivery package options.Of crucial importance in characterising areas as to their potential for sustainable delivery of TBD control programmes is to assess the effective demand for control. Canvassing farmers' views and including farmers in planning and revising delivery systems is an important beginning. However, it is not always easy in meetings, discussion groups or interviews to determine what people will actually pay. Market surveys, or pilot schemes to offer products at sustainable pricing levels can be important in quantifying farmers' willingness to pay and thus the potential adoption rate.A number of criteria could influence the effective demand for TBD control. The value of saleable or monetarily valued livestock commodities (e.g. milk, draft) will strongly influence farmers' ability to pay, and the impact of TBDs on these, their willingness to pay. In some circumstances the average risk may not be high, but for valuable cattle, such as expensive dairy cattle on smallholdings, farmers may be very risk averse and anxious to avoid any loss.Available infrastructure will influence the cost of delivery and will reflect the general economic demand for livestock products. Good roads and a high density of farms and cattle will greatly decrease transportation costs and minimise cold chain storage requirements. If these are not available, special arrangements to muster cattle to reduce costs will need to be made.Two specific needs for the delivery of sustainable TBD control are the availability of an organised animal health staff and the development of effective farm organisations. Since TBD control is fundamentally a private good and unlikely to be supported for long by public funds, either an efficient private veterinary service or a costrecovering public service is required. Farm organisations can vary in their effectiveness and sustainability. In Kenya, dairy cooperatives near Nairobi are relatively strong compared to others because they can market the majority of their milk at retail prices, thus avoiding reliance on the large Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC), which pays less and often months in arrears.Clearly, the factors used above to characterise areas as to their suitability to support delivery systems will be important determinants of their sustainability. There are also some specific organisational factors that will influence sustainability. These include the development of a system in which all key players benefit, both a perceived and actual impact in reducing losses to farmers, a performance-related payment system for service deliverers, and a method by which the delivery of TBD control can be linked to the payment system for livestock products (e.g. monthly milk payments). Key players or stakeholders in the delivery system will incur different costs and obtain different benefits, some quantifiable and others difficult to quantify. In TBD control delivery systems there must be, and be seen to be, benefits for all participants.These mutual benefits will not be obtained without effective linkages within the target livestock production and TBD control delivery systems. For TBD control to be sustainable, the livestock production system it serves must be sustainable. Thus, a key feature of delivery system planning will be to coordinate TBD control with the provision of other services to livestock farmers (Walshe et al 1991).The objective of all monitoring and evaluation efforts should be to promote learning and responsive management to improve the delivery system. It should not be viewed solely as an evaluation procedure. Little benefit is gained by assessment unless lessons learned are to be applied. Since the ultimate clients are farmers, participatory methods to obtain farmer's assessments and suggestions for improving delivery must be an important component of evaluation (e.g. Chambers and Jiggins 1987).Only a few assessment measures on impact should be widely collected. Otherwise, the assessment component becomes too cumbersome and costly. I would recommend changes in morbidity and mortality rates of TBDs, adoption rates by farmers, and costs of production and delivery as the essential measures. Other crucial information on changes in production parameters and changes in farm and deliverer income could be collected in specifically designed studies of sampled populations rather than on a routine basis. This additional information will allow for the assessment of cost:benefit ratios.Delivery system function can be assessed using staged delivery designs in which the control programme is first introduced in randomly selected delivery units (e.g. area and deliverer within area) and short-term impact measures quickly assessed between programme and control areas. Then the delivery programme can be adjusted and extended to other areas. Since there are a number of levels of delivery, multi-level statistical models (e.g. Schall 1991;von Korff et al 1992) have been suggested for such assessments (Kadohira and McDermott 1994) based on the example of Entwisle et al (1984) who assessed the delivery of birth control services in Southeast Asia. Such studies can be particularly valuable in isolating the critical control points in the system. This could be important in the delivery of the live and difficult-to-handle vaccines used in TBD control since they could identify, for example, whether all or just a subset of veterinarians undergoing a certain training programme were having a poor response.The delivery of TBD control should be targeted to areas where it will provide the greatest benefit. Potential benefits should be assessed using ex ante methods based on data from well-designed epidemiological studies. In the planning of TBD control delivery systems, specific attention must be paid to developing strong linkages both with other service providers in the target production system(s) and among key players concerned with TBD control. Particular attention needs to be paid to the needs and opinions of the client farmers. Since the control of TBDs is primarily a private good, development of private or mixed public/private delivery mechanisms based on full cost recovery must be emphasised. The primary objective of methods to assess TBD delivery should be proactive, to improve system management. Only a few outcome measures should be collected routinely, supplemented by targeted studies in sampled populations.This paper briefly addresses some of the issues involved in 'gearing up' to full commercialisation of the system for immunising against theileriosis.I have purposely assumed that many of the points raised in May 1994 by N.McHardy in a similar address to the Lilongwe meeting on tick-borne disease control have been answered and that it is believed by governments and donors alike that some involvement of the private sector will be crucial to the final success of delivering immunisation against theileriosis.Secondly, I do not intend to examine the technical merits of the system, but once again I assume that we have a product which, when used according to the manufacturer's recommendations, will immunise cattle against theileriosis within the relevant country. I will attempt to follow the logic in the text through a series of subheadings.Infection and treatment (IT) is a more difficult 'product' than most to sell, because the success of the product and hence the benefit to the customer is reliant on a technically involved delivery system; one cannot currently have one without the other. As has been pointed out many times previously, IT is potentially lethal and so it is unlikely that, unless significant changes to the present product can be made, 'backup' could be substantially reduced.Whilst the successful use of IT in many countries has shown real and demonstrable demand for the system, little thought seems to have been given to the needs of the buyer i.e. the farmer. Levitt (1983) defines the difference between marketing and selling as: 'Marketing focuses on the needs of the buyer: selling on the needs of the seller.'Currently there has been a crude assessment that the poor farmer requires this technology and we are now involved in a desperate attempt to 'sell' the system. Whereas, the real need of the customer is to control tick-borne diseases (TBDs) cost effectively and, in order to offer a real benefit, we will need to demonstrate much more than simple efficacy.The marketing world is full of good product ideas which crashed. From my own company, FECUNDIN which successfully enhanced fecundity in sheep failed because the majority of farmers could not manage the resulting number of multiple births. In the big league, Sony's BETACAM system was acknowledged as being technically superior to Panasonics VHS, but became an expensive failure.Product casualties arise because: • The real needs of the customer are not met.• The product is outsold/marketed.In moving to the next level of achieving 'commercial success' the project would do well to consider another definition of Levitt's: 'The purpose of business is to create and keep customers. To do this, goods and services must be produced and delivered that people want and value, at prices and conditions that are more attractive than those of competitors.'The missing link currently is the absence of a real marketing plan which should comprise the following elements: • define target audience (partially achieved); • SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis/key success factors; • establish pricing; and • sales/advertising and promotion plan.The key question is whether or not there is a product available to sell now. At the moment the product seems stuck in the perennial battle between scientists and marketeers in the product development cycle; i.e. scientists want to continue researching until the product is 100% proven; whereas marketeers, once basic criteria are met, want to get the product to the market as soon as possible.If the decision is that the product is 'ready to market' then the scientists must let go and abide by the SWAN principle-'sell what's available now'.At a previous workshop I was asked to talk about the communication challenge facing popularisation of IT and I still believe this is the most difficult question facing the project for the following reasons.As suggested previously, IT needs to be supported by adequately qualified people; such people are not currently abundant in the target areas. This is why IT has often been linked to the privatisation of veterinary services, but the fact is that the project cannot afford to link itself to this noble but as yet largely unachieved goal.IT, because of its nature, is not another product which can be sold like a soap powder. The product will become popular through demonstration which is a very effective means of advertising, although very costly as it needs to be constantly repeated on a regional basis.Although the system can be complex to explain, final 'buying decisions' of the farmer may well be made on the advice of 'lay staff', e.g. extension officers, veterinary pharmaceutical representatives who may not have the same scientific grasp as the current project personnel. It is therefore extremely important that all communication must be at the simplest common denominator. If we can't answer simple questions like 'how often should I dip or spray my animals after vaccination?', we are not providing the customer with evidence of the real benefit to him/her.Given a systematic, structured approach to the marketing of IT technology by a commercial company, i.e. one that focuses on the real benefits to the customer, there is a significant market for 'the vaccine'. However, it is doubtful that any attempt 'to market the vaccine in isolation' will succeed.It should be centred as part of a total approach to improving the current methods for controlling TBDs. As Table 1 demonstrates, the cost-benefit equation to each farmer in using the vaccine will vary according a number of factors including: level of TBD challenge; cost of alternative methods of TBD control (analysed under current Zimbabwean costs); and cost/quality of available labour.In reality an overall lack of 'cash in the pocket' in most parts of Africa tends to mean that the second factor will be predominant.My final message to scientific colleagues assembled here is: if you are fully satisfied that the product you have developed works, leave the marketing to the marketeers and concentrate your efforts on what you do best, developing even better systems of control.In a world of ever-increasing competition for resources, human, economic and environmental, it is now more important than ever before that a thorough understanding is acquired of the effect of large-scale interventions to relieve constraints to livestock production, such as disease control programmes. This is in order that the impacts of such actions can be defined not only in biological efficacy terms (the focus of the paper by Morzaria in these proceedings), but also in terms of the improvements in livestock productivity, and in terms of socio-economic and environmental impacts the programmes will have. In the case of tick-borne infections of livestock, which are widely distributed in Africa and many other tropical and sub-tropical regions of the developing world, their effect on livestock productivity varies widely by production system, agroecological zone, and other factors. It is thus important to define clearly their impact under priority production systems, such as smallholder dairy enterprises, and determine the impact of interventions to control them. This will help identify priority populations at which to target tick-borne disease control technologies, as well as demonstrate to farmers, implementing groups and donors the value of investing in such interventions.At ILRI, a systems analysis and impact assessment research group exists, with the responsibility of evaluating the impact of priority constraints to livestock productivity, and predicting the impact of new technologies under development at the institute to relieve these constraints. The group operates by developing strategic impact assessment models, with the collaboration of selected national agricultural research system (NARS) institutes as case studies, and of advanced research institutes with expertise in model development. This framework (see Figure 1) permits the progressive improvement of model quality and capacity, the enhancement of data sets on impact, and the use of models in some countries to determine the impact of specific constraints. This framework has been applied in particular to determining the impact of theileriosis and its control through immunisation, and the host country for this workshop, Zimbabwe, has been an active collaborator in this research.Impact assessment, with reference to tick-borne disease control, is a multidisciplinary evaluation of the effect of these diseases on agricultural productivity, and the effect of alternative interventions to relieve them. It is a response to questions raised by different key stakeholders in the processes of national development, enhancing agricultural productivity, and improved tick-borne disease control. These questions include: • How important are tick-borne diseases as a constraint to livestock productivity?This requires an evaluation of their effect on parameters such as mortality, morbidity, milk and meat production, traction and other direct and indirect products of livestock production systems. • Where do tick-borne diseases occur, where are they a priority and where are they not? This requires an assessment of the different risks of the effects of tick-borne infections to which cattle are exposed. This will vary according to climatic factors and agro-ecological factors, cattle susceptibility factors, economic factors, as well as the relative priority attributed to different geographical regions, socio-economic groups and livestock products. • Which is the best strategy to control tick-borne diseases? This requires an assessment of both epidemiological and socio-economic consequences of alternative disease-control interventions. • What other constraints need to be addressed in order for tick-borne disease control to have its optimal impact? This involves assessments of the other factors likely to impede the optimal adoption and impact of tick-borne disease control measures, and often includes feed resources and the availability of improved genetic stock. The results of assessments of the impact of tick-borne diseases and their control are required by different client groups. These groups vary in the breadth and depth of their perspective, and may be asking different questions, so the results often have to be packaged and presented in different ways to meet client needs.Donor agencies and national development and planning departments share some requirements for impact assessments of tick-borne diseases and their control. These include a broad understanding of the role of livestock in agricultural development in different regions, a knowledge of the relative importance of tick-borne diseases vis-à-vis other constraints to livestock production, a knowledge of the predicted effects of controlling tick-borne diseases, the likelihood and timing of this being achieved, and an understanding of the returns on investment if control is successful.In addition, they will need to have an estimate of the resources required to ensure the effective control of tick-borne diseases, and an understanding of what else must be done to ensure the optimal impact of interventions.Once resources have been allocated, the questions required of impact assessments become more specific. Thus for implementing groups such as departments of veterinary services, under whose authority tick-borne disease control programmes may lie, requirements of impact assessment would include an understanding of the character, location and size of populations at risk that are targets for control programmes, of the relative efficacy of different control strategies, of the costs and benefits, including improvements in productivity, of different control options, and of the relative merits of different delivery mechanisms to transfer the tick-borne disease control technology to the ultimate clients (see McDermott's paper in these proceedings).For farmers, the requirements for impact assessment are even more specific. These will include establishing whether livestock performance, in terms of milk yield, beef production, traction, etc, is optimal, and if not, determining what factors are constraining the performance. If these factors are deemed to include tick-borne diseases, farmers will wish to know the control options available, their relative efficacy, the costs and benefits, and any risks involved.Thus it is important to see that at all levels of impact assessment, there is a need to put tick-borne diseases in a broad context that allows its importance to be ranked alongside other issues of importance to the particular client.In the past, veterinarians have been somewhat conservative in their interpretation of impact assessment, and have concentrated on demonstrating biological efficacy of control measures. Thus for vaccines, this might include the demonstration of an acceptable antibody response, and reduction in mortality. With the fierce competition for resources, this interpretation is no longer adequate and greater breadth to impact assessment is now required. This includes quantitative assessment of any alteration in the productivity performance of animals subject to control programmes, and the economic impact this has on farmers, on consumers of livestock products, and on national economies. But impact assessment is extending yet further, and many donors, for example, require assessments of the social and environmental impacts of disease control interventions. It is worth noting that for many bilateral donors and international agencies, their missions are no longer to enhance agricultural productivity in the developing world, but to alleviate poverty, enhance food security and protect the environment.As mentioned above, historically much of the impact assessment of tick-borne diseases control has been calculated on the basis of statistics on the reported occurrence of the diseases, and in some cases the extrapolation of these figures to other regions. This has relied on passive disease surveillance systems, which are notoriously inaccurate (FAO 1994). Impact of tick-borne diseases has been measured more effectively in a few areas and production systems through the use of longitudinal studies (e.g. Barnett and Bailey 1955;Yeoman 1966;O'Callaghan et al 1994;Okello-Onen et al 1994). In such studies, animals are observed over extended periods of time, and the relationship between tick-borne infections and productivity losses established and quantified. In addition, some indicators of tick-borne disease occurrence, particularly serology, have been used as surrogates for disease incidence and mortality data (reviewed by Perry 1996), and applied in both longitudinal and cross-sectional studies.As far as the impacts of tick-borne disease control are concerned, these have been assessed predominantly through the use of biological efficacy studies, carried out by clinical trials. It is only relatively recently that an economic perspective has been added, and initially at ILRI this was done as a retrospective economic evaluation of a study already undertaken (Mukhebi et al 1989). However, it is now recognised that economic impact assessments should be incorporated into the design of clinical trials and field evaluation studies to ensure that the appropriate parameters are measured, and that the appropriate analysis methods are used.Impact assessment therefore requires the selection of appropriate indicators of impact and their incorporation into well-structured methods. Common methods include surveys (in which areas or production systems are described through the use of interviews or direct observations) and studies (in which comparison groups are included). The main study designs, which are described in detail in most epidemiological texts (such as Martin et al 1987;Thrusfield 1995), comprise crosssectional, case control and longitudinal studies. The cross-sectional study, which measures prevalence retrospectively, has been employed commonly with tick-borne pathogens (Deem et al 1993) to measure antibody prevalence, but as discussed by Perry (1996) this is often an inadequate measure of the impact of tick-borne diseases. This is because the relationships between antibody prevalence and disease incidence have not been determined for the different tick-borne infections in all the production systems. Although there is generally a relationship between high antibody prevalence and low disease incidence under conditions of endemic stability, and low antibody prevalence and high disease incidence under conditions of endemic instability, there are numerous intermediate conditions which are poorly defined (Figure 2).More valuable as a study design is the longitudinal study, which may be descriptive (e.g. Barnett and Bailey 1955) or a clinical trial in which a group receiving a tick-borne disease control intervention is compared to one which is not (e.g. Morzaria et al 1988). As for the indicators to be used in such studies, the commonly used indicators are infection prevalence, disease incidence and case-fatality. The latter two can only be measured effectively through longitudinal studies. Performance indicators, which also require longitudinal studies for measurement include weight gain, milk production, meat production, animal sales, hides/skins sales, manure use and traction use.For economic impact assessment, there are a range of techniques that can be used, including partial farm budgets to assess farm level interventions, and benefit: cost analysis to evaluate large-scale, long-term programmes. A number of computer models are available to undertake these (e.g. Mukhebi et al 1992;Nyangito et al 1994), and this subject has been considered in detail by Mukhebi (these proceedings). Source: Perry and Young (1995).Where do the data come from?The poor availability of appropriate data sets for impact assessment of tick-borne diseases and their control often presents a significant problem. Most broad-level studies use data from a variety of secondary sources, such as published reports, government and FAO statistics, and these are in many cases inadequate, varying in their precision, their currentness and their level of resolution. Recently, there has been a much wider availability of many digital geo-referenced databases but these tend to be of highest quality for features such as climate, and of lowest quality for the parameters required for impact assessments, such as socio-economic variables.Better quality data are published reports of specific studies on tick-borne diseases gathered at higher levels of resolution, and there are some such data sets available in the literature. The drawback to such studies is that they are often highly specific to certain regions and production systems, and cannot be extrapolated to other areas with validity. These published reports are being supplemented in some regions of Africa by new longitudinal studies, but these are inevitably few due to the high cost of such studies. The current research of George Gitau and colleagues on the impact of theileriosis in smallholder dairying in highland Kenya and that of Trevor Peter and colleagues on the impact of heartwater on beef production in Zimbabwe are two such examples.There are several products of impact assessment studies. The first is the 'bottom line', figures on the cost of a particular disease, or the net present value or benefit:cost ratio of a particular disease control programme. While these are what are required by donors and others, they should be interpreted with caution. Mukhebi et al (1992) published a framework to evaluate the economic impact of theileriosis and its control, with the intention that the framework be used as a stimulus to refine the crude data sets used in the study. However, it is the 'bottom line' of the cost of theileriosis being estimated as US$ 168 million per year that has stuck in people's minds and in the literature, rather than the methodology described by the authors. Nevertheless, such methodologies are valuable interim products of impact assessment studies, and allow others to refine and apply them to their own specific problems.Reports are the most common product of impact assessment studies, such as the cost-effectiveness study of alternative tick-borne disease control interventions carried out in Zimbabwe (Perry et al 1990).However, it is considered that inadequate attention is given to ensuring that the results of impact assessment studies are effectively fed back to the different clients, so that they are used effectively in decision-making on strategies and resource allocation. One medium for this is decision-support systems. These can take the form of simple guidelines, conceptual models, mathematical models or knowledge-based (expert) systems. However, there are a variety of potential products of impact assessments, and Table 1 shows the link between client needs, studies required and products (Perry and Young 1995).Impact assessment of tick-borne diseases and their control is an increasingly important consideration in the light of ever more scarce resources, and should be incorporated into tick-borne disease control programmes to ensure their long-term viability.The scope of impact assessment is changing rapidly; as we are just starting to incorporate economic evaluation into our studies, the demand for broader evaluation of poverty alleviation, enhanced food security and environmental protection are becoming increasingly important considerations for the donors of disease control programmes.Expertise for impact assessment is often lacking from veterinary departments in many national system, and is still uncommon in the animal health departments of international implementing agencies. Greater efforts will therefore have to be made to develop effective collaborations with individuals, groups, departments or institutes with such capacities to respond to the needs of different stakeholders.In this presentation, I first discuss why we need to assess the economic impact of livestock diseases and their control. I then discuss the conceptual framework for assessing the economic impact of diseases and their control. This is followed by a brief explanation of some of the economic concepts behind the control of livestock diseases. A computer spreadsheet model which has been used in the past for assessing ex-ante the economic impact of theileriosis and its alternative control by the infection-andtreatment method is explained.The data requirements for the model are discussed. Examples of the application of the model in various case studies and some of the results obtained are discussed briefly as an illustration of the type of information that the model can generate for disease control decision-making. The presentation ends by highlighting some of the issues that need to be addressed to facilitate assessments of the economics of tick-borne diseases.There are a number of good reasons why we should assess economic impact of livestock diseases and their control. Some of these include the following: • To show the importance of a disease, to help in deciding whether resources for control should be allocated. • To determine an optimal control strategy. • To show returns to investment into a disease-control programme to those who provide funds such as donors and government. • To provide information for planning a control programme: costs, potential market for control technology. • To provide information for research and development priority setting: scale of disease as a constraint; costs, benefits and returns from control investments. • To show who benefits from disease-control investment and by how much, producers as well as consumers of livestock.A conceptual framework for assessing the economics of livestock disease controlThe control of a livestock disease can be viewed in the broader context of a farming system depicted in Figure 1. The target disease for control should have an economic importance. Economic importance can be shown by the amount of losses in outputs the disease causes, and the amount of expenditure incurred by livestock producers and government to control the disease. Control expenditure is an input of the target livestock enterprise. Together with other inputs, they affect the costs, outputs and income from that enterprise. That enterprise may be only one of several enterprises, crops and/or livestock, that a farmer may be producing. The enterprises compete for available farm resources (land, labour, capital and management) identified in Figure 1 as resource constraints. The income from the enterprise(s) satisfy the needs of the household, thus determining the human well-being or welfare of the household. The well-being of the household in turn affects the types and scale of future enterprises and the allocation of resources to them, as shown by the upward arrows from the human well-being box in Figure 1. Farm production occurs within the context of a complex set of interacting factors, including infrastructure, government policies, markets and trade. There are additional broad factors that also impact on-farm production: the physical environment (e.g. climate and soils), the social environment (e.g. traditions and customs), the biological environment (e.g. other diseases and vectors), and the political environment that defines policies and controls public resource allocation.The important point about Figure 1 is that we should view and analyse livestock disease control in the wider context of the farming system and economy, being cognisant of the varied and complex inter-relationships among the system's physical, biological and socio-economic components. This is important for the sustainability of the control strategy to be adopted.The concept of economic cost is used to measure the economic importance of a disease. Economic cost may be defined as: Economic cost = production losses + control expenditures Production losses are the sum of the value of output (milk, meat, traction, manure) losses from mortality and morbidity; control expenditures are the value of resources that livestock producers and government spend in controlling the disease.Another useful economic concept is that of an 'optimal level of disease control', which may be defined as:Optimal control = when an extra $ (cost) of control expenditure yields a $ (benefit) of savings in production losses.The concept of economic cost can be used to show the relationship between the value of output losses from a disease and the expenditure incurred in the control of the disease (McInerney et al 1992). This relationship is described as the loss-expenditure frontier (Figure 2). At one extreme, if no expenditure is made to control the disease, the losses in output could be very large or even infinite (on the y-axis). At the other extreme, a huge expenditure may be incurred to eradicate the disease (on the x-axis), i.e. reduce the output losses to zero. Often, and especially in relation to tick-borne diseases, the options of 'do nothing' (zero expenditure) or 'eradication' are not acceptable on economic grounds. This means that a 'control option' is the preferred strategy, i.e. reducing the output losses to a tolerable level by spending some resources in a control programme. An optimal control point is point A on the loss-expenditure frontier in Figure 2. This is obtained when OE 0 expenditure is incurred to reduce the losses in output to OL 0 .The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has developed a computer spreadsheet model (Figure 3) for estimating the economic costs of disease and assessing the economics of alternative control strategies for the control (Mukhebi et al 1992). In this model the relationships between the occurrence of a disease and its effects on livestock productivity through epidemiological parameters such as incidence, mortality and morbidity and through a control strategy are modelled. The model has been applied in a number of case studies to assess the economic impact (cost) of theileriosis and ex-ante economics of its control by the infection-and-treatment method (e.g. Laker 1993;Mukhebi et al 1995). The assessment was first conducted for the whole region of 11 countries in eastern and southern Africa where the disease occurs (Mukhebi et al 1992), and then in selected case studies in several countries (Table 1).After data requirements for the model are discussed below, some results of the case studies are briefly discussed to show what sort of outputs (economic information or indicators) the model can generate for disease control decision-making.Data required for application of the spreadsheet model can be summarised into the following groups:• Beef and milk production and use.• Traction and manure production and use.• Treatment, acaricide and immunisation costs.• Input and output prices.It is useful to spell out the data variables in more detail as a guide for compiling sufficient data for analysing the economic costs of livestock diseases and the economics of their control by alternative control strategies. • Cattle population under risk: types, numbers, by production system. • Proportion of breeding females and the calving rate.• Incidence: in calves, immatures and adults.• Case-fatality: in calves, immatures and adults.• Milk yield per cow per year.• Beef yield per animal in the herd per year.• Milk loss in infected cows per cow per year.• Beef (liveweight) loss in infected calves and immatures per animal per year.• Traction loss in infected animals per traction animal per year.• Total other mortality in calves, immatures and adults.• Off-take rates in calves, immatures and adults per year.In production systems where animal traction and manure are important products of a livestock enterprise, these should be quantified and valued as part of the outputs of the enterprise. If these products are used in the production system but are ignored or not valued, then the output of the livestock enterprise would be undervalued. Where no market prices or rates exist for valuation, other methods have been devised, for DISEASE OCCURexample using the opportunity cost of traction or manure. To estimate traction and manure production, the following parameters are needed:• Proportion of adults used for traction.• Crop area prepared per animal per year.• Reduction in traction due to the disease per traction animal per year.• Manure production per animal per year.• Reduction in manure per animal per year due to the disease.Recommendations on functions of the epidemiology component of the FAO Regional Programme 1. Establish strong linkages and provide epidemiological support and advice to national TBD steering committees and smallholder livestock development programmes. 2. Coordinate the development and adoption of standard methods to assess efficacy, delivery and impact of TBD control. 3. Provide interim guidelines for tick control post-immunisation based on current information, and coordinate research on tick-control strategies post-immunisation within the region. 4. Collaborate with international and national research institutes focusing on TBD control and smallholder livestock development in establishing research programmes for the assessment of efficacy of delivery systems and their impact; decision-support systems; and the impact of TBDs on milk production. 5. Develop epidemiological training programmes and materials, particularly on risk and impact assessment, in collaboration with NARES and national universities. 6. Assist national programmes/projects in the design and establishment of standardised data recording and information systems relating to TBD impact and control in the region, and in the communication and dissemination of epidemiological information. 7. Explore and assess alternative delivery systems for TBD control in collaboration with national TBD steering committees, NARES and smallholder livestock development projects. 8. Assist in advising national programmes on prioritising project formulation needs with regard to impact assessment of TBD control, particularly the need for initial baseline data. In order for the FAO Regional Programme to fulfil these functions, the workshop urged that the proposed post of epidemiologist be filled as soon as possible."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/5917674640.json b/main/part_2/5917674640.json
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"d1d97f73-6ba5-41f8-b907-a27a26032f72","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/5924229688.json b/main/part_2/5924229688.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fe422329f149c02961aedf8385a50a9484615e75
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4f4ada0b1995fdc252a3b98afc409ec3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9e128b08-6053-4ab2-8ec6-1ead0225de62/retrieve","id":"-1114354782"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6897cdec-d558-4d9a-b16c-d43db859e32e","content":"Vinh Phuc animal health and livestock sub-department • In Vietnam, around 80% of pork is produced by smallholder farmers who often use antibiotics for disease prevention and growth promotion due to their low cost and lack of farmer knowledge or concern over AMU.• To reduce AMU in livestock, there is need to identify how farmers could benefit from reduction to motivate behaviour change.• The use of nanosilver as replacement of antibiotic added to the feed showed no difference in ADG, nor in AMR profile of E. coli in a small-scale pig production.• These trial results suggest a possible alternative to antibiotic use in pig production to reduce AMU and AMR.• Evidence of efficacy, cost-benefit, acceptability to farmers, development of resistance, risk assessment for transfer to pork and an environmental impact assessment of nanosilver are needed before scaling up its use. • No significant difference observed between the control and intervention group at all times of measurement (p>0.05).ADG after different times of measurement (by gram/day)"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/5927031406.json b/main/part_2/5927031406.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4dc79235db24181b3e09d18897cee615b1deef3e
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2973132b531ad8577c2678d20c1d5ef1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/01921531-b949-4a89-9bf0-eda52be7f72b/retrieve","id":"1330462606"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"288f34f4-ca29-4fb1-9ffa-e373cc98e1a6","content":"Country snapshots are a description of the baseline situation of the core market system for coffee or cacao in MOCCA countries at the national level based on rapid appraisals carried out in each country. 1 The level of detail presented is to some degree a reflection of the complexity and maturity of the sector in each country. We would not expect the market system for a new crop, in a small sector, in a small country, to necessarily be as developed as that for a historical crop, in a large sector, in a large country. Country Snapshots are available for coffee and cacao market systems in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Peru, and also for the cacao market system in Ecuador. The tables and figures are described below in the order in which they appear in the country snapshots.Map -The country map at the beginning of each snapshot uses shading to show the major cacao or coffee producing areas of the country by department/province.Cacao or Coffee in Country -provides general statistics on the country and on the sector to provide the reader with a basic contextualization of the different cases, for example the size of the sector and relative economic importance for the country. Data sources are described in the Appendix. We used sources for which similar data was available across countries. In some cases, particularly for Guatemala cacao data, we were unable to find consistent data across official sources. The center shows the market chain and its principal competing channels. The market chain is the chain of economic actors (players) who own a product as it moves from primary producers to consumers. The arrows represent the flow of money, from left to right, as the product is purchased from one actor by another. Where possible, we have mapped this for different qualities of coffee/cacao and added numbers of actors or market share where available. This section helps to understand chain structure and to think about systemic efficiency. The top shows the rules and business environment including policies and institutions (influencers) that shape the market system. These are organized from left to right based on the year in which they became an influence on the market system, with the most recent on the left and the oldest on the right. This section helps identify policies or institutions that are influencing how the chain works. The bottom shows the services, for example business and extension services, that support the market chains operation at any point along the chain. These are organized as much as possible based on actors or part of the chain for which they provide a service, with services on the far right most relating to production and those on the far left most relating to exports. This section helps identify key services or missing services and link services with users within the chain.Figures: Key Supporting Market Systems -These market system doughnut diagrams unpack some of the supporting functions for the coffee and cocoa market systems identified as areas for intervention in MOCCAs Theory of Change, including technical assistance, research, genetic material and financial services. The doughnut is a simplified Market Map where the center shows a generic supply and demand function for the support service of interest. The top of the doughnut shows the services that support the provision of the core service and the bottom of the doughnut shows the rules that shape the provision of the core service. Where this service or regulating function is predominantly associated with a single or few actors, and space permits, they are named. Using technical assistance as an example: Technical assistance provided to farmers is at the center of the diagram, and described briefly in the text underneath the diagram in terms of who provides the service, who pays for the service, the nature of the service, and the key supporting functions and regulations. In the top of the diagram we have listed supporting functions identified that enable technical assistance to be provided to farmers including training of extension agents, funding of technical assistance, production of content, research, etc. In the bottom of the diagram we have listed all of the rules, regulations, institutions that influence how technical assistance is provided to farmers, for example an entity that certifies technical assistance providers or dictates content or the methodology used to provide technical assistance to farmers.Peru is the second most important origin for fine and flavor cacao, after Ecuador. Yet Peru distinguishes itself from Ecuador on several fronts -it has higher yields, higher prices and a higher growth rate. Peru also has greater genetic diversity of cacao including commercially exploited materials such as Piura white and Chuncho, as well as many other still to be explored. Peru is also the world's largest producer of organic cacao. Peru has significant production of CCN-51 cacao variety, introduced in 2002 as an alternative to coca; by 2011 Ministerio de Agricultura y Riego (MINAGRI) estimated that it accounted for over half of national cacao production (1). More recent efforts have introduced international fine flavor clones instead of CCN-51. Production of cacao in Peru has more than doubled since 2011 due to increases in area planted as a result of heavy investments by USAID, the Peruvian government and other donors to introduce cacao as an alternative crop in coca producing areas (1). Almost half of the current production area in Peru can be attributed to alternative development projects such as Alianza Cacao Perú. As a result, a large percentage of Peruvian cacao plantations are young, contributing to the higher average yields.2 See Appendix for data sources. APPCACAO represents organized cacao farmers (30,000 farmers in 25 organizations), so around 30% of all farmers, and plays a strong role in advocacy for farmers within the sector. The organization is relatively strong and well respected within the sector and by its constituents. The Cámara de Café y Cacao brings together major players from the private sector and is a small but well-regarded organization. Both sit with MINAGRI to support the development of the National Cacao Plan, underway with support from the UNDP Green Commodities program, following the example of the coffee sector.Alianza Cacao Perú, a USAID funded initiative started in 2012 to support alternative development in coca growing areas through introduction and support for cacao has done an impressive job bringing actors together to support development of the sector. In particular, Alianza Cacao has been very successful in engaging private sector actors ranging from processors, traders, inputs suppliers and financial institutions in creative models for improving farmer access to different services needed to support cacao production.Alianza Cacao Perú has also developed technical content and training for extension agents and farmers that has helped to homogenize and disseminate best practices for cacao production and processing.Current trends and concerns in the sector center around strengthening farmer organizations to improve quality of cacao, generating information and management options related to Cd, building capacity for sensorial analysis, and establishing a research network. Debate is ongoing about what genetic material should be promoted and whether CCN-51 should be among them.The issue of R&R is different for two different zone types in Peru. First are the traditional cacao producing regions where plantations are older, less dense and largely in need of renovation. In these areas there is interest in conserving existing genetic biodiversity, with sought after flavors. There is a large network of clonal gardens in different regions of the country and within different institutions but work has still to be done on identifying, characterizing and multiplying promising materials for different agroecological zones.The second group are the areas where cacao has been introduced, relatively recently, as an alternative crop to coca. In these areas, plantations are much younger (under 10 years), much more compact (over 1,000 plants per Ha), and farmers are provided access to planting material, finance and technical assistance, including post-harvest and marketing support. Many of these have introduced the highly productive CCN-51, as well as international fine flavor clones in polyclonal arrangements, so in some sense, the production models are different.Piura, with is production of white cacao, is a particular example where farmers are expanding areas under production of a special type of cacao adapted to the dry low region along the coast for very specialty markets. Given the genetic diversity of cacao in Peru there is interest in developing strategies that support in situ conservation of this genetic diversity on farms.TechnoServe and others have worked on techniques for rehabilitation. The TAPS method, which successfully synchronized fertilization and pruning, was widely disseminated by TechnoServe and by others under different names. This experience could be a starting point for MOCCA.Over half of Peruvian cacao is sold as conventional fermented cacao. This cacao is largely exported by multinational firms in the form of beans, or by national firms who may also process before exporting. The majority of this cacao is purchased from intermediaries who purchase the cacao from farmers who are not associated. A second important category of cacao is certified cacao, which is largely produced by farmers who sell through associations to large cooperatives who export the cacao. Some of this cacao is also purchased by multinational firms from associations for export. There is a small amount of Peruvian cacao that is sold at differentiated prices based on flavor and is largely exported through the larger cooperatives, or transformed into fine chocolate by national chocolate firms.There are a number of rules relevant for the sector including access to finance, sector governance, quality standards, certifications and government programs. Support services include subsidized technical assistance and seedling distribution, as well as growing research on Cd related issues. In areas where DEVIDA works, there are also important support services in terms of general rural infrastructure improvements including roads and services.  Research in cacao is largely funded through public and donor funds, with some private sector investment i.e. Yara. Research is currently focused on cadmium, genetic material and quality. R&R is not a specific topic. Research is disseminated through presentations, trainings and public events. Regional universities and CITEs play an important role in innovation and dissemination locally. The Center for Innovation in Cacao is an interesting collaborative initiative recognized and funded nationally, with national and international collaborators.Supporting functions include regional innovation centers which serve to disseminate and validate research findings regionally; student theses at all levels; funding for research from the state and donors; engagement in regional and international research platforms such as that recently formed for Cadmium. Natural genetic diversity was also mentioned as a supporting function providing opportunities for genetic research other countries do not have, and attracting international research collaborations.Research is regulated by a series of laws related to the national system for science, innovation and technology and the National Agricultural Innovation System, led by INIA. These laws assign mandates and resources to specific institutions to coordinate and promote research in different topical areas. The national competitiveness strategy and the national cacao working group establish research priorities that are then taken up by donors. Cadmium in particular has been a focus of research funding and work.Figure 5 Market system for genetic material for cacao in Peru Genetic material -Seeds, budwood and seedlings are produced by farmers, formal and informal commercial nurseries, farmers organizations, Agencias Agrarias, and development initiatives. In newer cacao regions, large initiatives like Alianza Cacao Perú and DEVIDA are major funders of the production and distribution of cacao genetic material, particularly budwood from international clones (ICS95, ICS39, TSH565, CCN-51), which they have georeferenced. Alianza Cacao Perú has focused on fine flavor materials and grafting by farmers. Farmers in traditional production areas often select their own seed or budwood from supertrees, especially for specific types of cacao (i.e. Piura white, Chuncho or Amazonas).Commercial nurseries sell to projects or larger farmers and farmer organizations and regional Agencias Agrarias often receive funding from PNIA.Supporting functions for the production of cacao genetic material for farmers include regional collections/clonal gardens, demonstration plots with polyclonal arrangements, georeferencing, as well as funding from development initiatives. All of these contribute to availability of materials for planting. The genetic diversity of cacao in Peru also supports differentiation, breeding and in situ conservation.Regulations exist to certify seeds, budwood, nurseries and nursery managers, but they are not regularly applied. SENASA certifies nurseries in terms of production practices and phytosanitary measures, but their coverage is limited. INIA is legally responsible for certification of nursery managers (also APPCACAO) and genetic material including seeds and budwood, but cacao seed has yet to be certified in Peru. The traceability systems implemented for example by Alianza Cacao Perú for the international clones they have distributed makes an important contribution to establishing a national system for certified budwood.Figure 6 Market system for financial services for cacao in PeruFinancial services for cacao farmers are provided through three main channels. 1. Microfinance organizations, especially those services affiliated with farmer organizations such as the Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito (CAC) Norandino or CAC Cristo de Bagazán; 2. From the government through AGROBANCO often in alliance with projects or inputs suppliers (AGROBANCO suspended operations for the past year but anticipate that with the new law support for small farmers will expand); and 3. Social impact investors who lend to cooperatives, largely commercial credit or for infrastructure. The first two offer products that could be used for R&R. Funding for microfinance organizations come from social lenders, commercial lenders and member savings and therefore limit possibilities for long term financial products for farmers. Public sector financing has greater flexibility in this regard, and the government seems committed to providing financial services to the agricultural sector, but it will take a while to restructure. Social impact investors loaning to cooperatives are focused on commercial credit that when transferred to farmers mostly support cash flow for regular cacao management practices.Support services include the funding mechanisms for microfinance and farmer organizations that are based in production regions and lend to farmers such as second tier lenders. Technical assistance and inputs provision are other important support services that could be more tightly integrated.Rules and incentives for second tier lenders and those related to capture and use of member savings place limitations on how those resources can be offered to farmers in terms of funding amounts, interest rates/costs, and term limits. Regulations related to farmer debt relief, restructuring of AGROBANCO, and national strategy for the sector have an impact on public financial resources available for the sector • Carve out a complementary niche to Alianza Cacao -Alianza Cacao is a dominant player, a much larger and longer standing investment, and is working one way or another with almost every other relevant player at the national level. It will be important to explore with USAID and Alianza Cacao how MOCCA should complement the work of Alianza Cacao geographically or thematically. One possibility that is in line with MOCCA's work plan, is to focus more directly on the longer standing cacao producing regions and on more differentiated cacaos, partnering with NORANDINO to add value where possible and improve overall quality management and differentiation. Another complementarity could be work in the Vraem which is a region of interest for the US where Alianza Cacao is not currently active. It will also be important to take advantage of advances made by Alianza Cacao and extend these where possible to the MOCCA regions, as well as to collaborate in national level market system interventions. Possible partners: Palladium, USAID • Collaborate with UNDP on national cacao strategy development with MINAGRI -UNDP has expressed their plans to engage in a national process to develop a strategy for cacao, similar to that developed for coffee. This is an early opportunity for MOCCA to identify together with other actors desired system level changes and strategies for interventions that may then become part of a plan that others will contribute to implementing. Possible partners: UNDP Green Commodities program, MINAGRI, Cámara Peruana de Café y Cacao, APPCACAO. • Support system for improved genetic material -The regulatory infrastructure exists for certification of genetic material, nurseries and nursery operators. Farmer organizations could be natural partners with whom to build capacity for production of seeds, budwood or seedlings either as a business or as a provider to cooperatives and their associates. In some cases, it could make sense to collaborate across coffee and cacao on this. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/5945846510.json b/main/part_2/5945846510.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e0f1f316d3785b850cec273f58b68b6d4af64761
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"34b19f91d650e980ef5c5147b9935b60","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4e651d57-e23d-4b21-8c98-728a398248cf/retrieve","id":"597695338"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0a453a46-c4b3-463c-b0b1-721e0cf394e4","content":"m 2009 celebrámos 25 anos de dedicação à melhoria da produtividade agrícola e das condições de vida rural nos países ACP.No último quarto de século a agricultura sofreu as consequências de financiamento insuficiente das organizações internacionais, uma situação que ainda hoje persiste. Isto é em parte devido ao facto de os governos frequentemente analisarem apenas as estatísticas oficiais da produção agrícola: de acordo com estas, a agricultura contribui apenas com 4 a 6% do PIB. Contudo, quando se toma em consideração toda a cadeia de valor, o contributo da agricultura aumenta significativamente para 25% ou mais.A consciencialização e sensibilização dos governos e do público em geral para o valor da agricultura são tarefas vitais e os media têm um papel muito importante a desempenhar nesse sentido. Foi por este motivo que dedicámos o nosso Seminário Anual de 2009 ao Papel dos Media no Desenvolvimento Agrícola e Rural nos países ACP.Este ano também finalizámos o nosso processo de reestruturação interna, reduzindo o número de departamentos operacionais de quatro para três e recrutando novos especialistas em Marketing, Tecnologias da Informação e da Comunicação, Publicações e Media.Até à data examinámos o impacto dos nossos produtos e serviços em 13 países ACP, para melhor compreendermos a opinião dos seus utilizadores. Isto permitiu-nos melhorar a qualidade dos nossos produtos e serviços e redefinir as prioridades orçamentais em função da procura. Através destas missões nos países ACP identificámos as parcerias mais estratégicas para o CTA, o que por sua vez nos possibilitou visar melhor a nossa informação e os nossos produtos e serviços de divulgação de conhecimentos.A introdução de uma abordagem mais orientada para o mercado permitiu-nos alargar o alcance do nosso trabalho. Isto foi conseguido através de uma maior tiragem de publicações como Esporo e criando um importante programa de donativos de livros para equipar bibliotecas, centros de informação e serviços de extensão, com as últimas publicações de leitura essencial no domínio da agricultura.Estou imensamente satisfeito com a renovação introduzida no CTA através dos seus programas de Estágios de Formação e de Jovens Profissionais e com os resultados conseguidos.É com optimismo que espero que as nossas realizações e a nossa maior eficiência convençam as autoridades de tutela a aumentarem o seu apoio e a fazerem com que o CTA responda ao aumento constante da procura de produtos de informação e de comunicação.Gostaria de agradecer a todos o interesse que têm mostrado pelo trabalho do CTA e desejo a todos os maiores sucessos em 2010.O CTA edita e co-edita livros e guias práticos em inglês, francês e português, além de produtos multimédia e das revistas bimensais Esporo e ICT Update. Os websites como Agritrade, Knowledge for Development e Brussels Development Briefings fornecem infor-mação temática aos leitores. As publicações, bibliografias e bases de dados são distribuídas gratuitamente às organizações ACP pelos serviços de distribuição do CTA e mediante programas especiais de donativos de livros.De que modo o CTA facilita a partilha de conhecimentos?O CTA organiza, isoladamente ou em cooperação, seminários, reuniões e visitas de estudo ligados a temas prioritários e possibilita a participação de especialistas dos países ACP em conferências internacionais.O CTA dá formação em gestão da informação, práticas de comunicação e tecnologias da informação e da comunicação (TICs). Ele apoia a formulação de estratégias de gestão da informação e da comunicação (GIC) e o desenvolvimento de produtos e serviços de informação agrícola nos países ACP.\"A principal contribuição do CSD para o trabalho do CTA é assegurar que, uma vez identificadas as estratégias de comunicação relevantes, se disponibilizem as ferramentas mais apropriadas para os nossos beneficiários. Em primeiro lugar é necessário escutá-los e compreender as suas necessidades de informação, antes de fornecermos a informação e as ferramentas de comunicação. Em seguida concentramo-nos no reforço da capacidade, para que as pessoas possam usar estas ferramentas para melhorar o seu meio de vida. \"\"Em 2009 o CTA reconheceu a necessidade de exposição aos media para ajudar a agricultura a ter uma posição de maior destaque na agenda dos decisores. Com efeito, o Seminário Anual do CTA incidiu sobre o Papel dos Media no Desenvolvimento Agrícola e Rural na região ACP. Esta foi uma realização muito importante do nosso departamento. \"\"A reestruturação do CTA constituiu um grande desafio para nós este ano. É necessário tempo e empenhamento para criar e desenvolver novas equipas, mas o resultado final demonstra que o esforço valeu a pena, pois agora estamos melhor equipados para cumprir a nossa missão. \"  Apesar disto, as estatísticas agrícolas recolhidas em países da SADC incidem sobre a produção primária de culturas e gado e portanto não abrangem as ligações a montante e a jusante entre a agricultura e os outros sectores. Se tivermos em conta essas ligações, torna-se óbvio que um sector agrícola forte representa um forte impulso para o desenvolvimento económico e social.No seu diálogo anual sobre políticas regionais realizado no Maputo, Moçambique, de 31 de Agosto a 4 de Setembro, o parceiro do CTA, a Food, Agricultural and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network -FANRPAN (Rede para a Análise de Políticas Alimentares,O valor acrescentado criado pela produção de pequena escala de biocombustíveis e de outros produtos é frequentemente mais rentável para as comunidades do que a simples exportação de produtos agrícolas em bruto. Contudo, a produção de biocombustíveis não deve ameaçar a segurança alimentar na região. O CTA estabeleceu uma parceria com a South Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission -SOPAC (Comissão de Geociências Aplicadas das Ilhas do Pacífico Sul) para apoiar uma iniciativa de investigação da transformação de óleo de coco em biocombustíveis e outros produtos, com base na comunidade. Isto implicou consultas feitas à comunidade, actividades piloto e iniciativas de formação em Nacamaki, Fiji.Agrícolas e de Recursos Naturais) lançou um processo, inspirado no estudo do IICA, que visou o desenvolvimento de provas empíricas das funções económicas e sociais da agricultura. Isto sustentará a defesa de um melhoramento radical do apoio público à agricultura na região. As etapas seguintes da avaliação incluem formação em metodologia de matrizes de contabilidade social. Num futuro próximo organizar-se-ão outros diálogos sobre políticas.Briefings em 2009participantes em duas visitas de estudo sobre produção agrícola na África Oriental e Ocidental É necessário tomar em conta mesmo as contribuições mais pequenasO CTA lança uma nova iniciativa de apoio às bibliotecas de universidades, institutos, centros de investigação e formação e estruturas de extensão agrícola. No âmbito da iniciativa, que opera actualmente em 32 países, cada instituição recebe uma colecção das publicações do CTA, com um valor aproximado de € 5.000.No Quénia, a indústria de lacticínios emprega 1,8 milhões de pequenos agricultores e uma rede de 40.000 recolhedores. Emprega 350.000 pessoas a tempo inteiro e exporta os seus produtos para a África do Norte e o Médio Oriente. O CTA convida os profissionais da indústria de sete países ACP a participarem numa visita de estudo que dá aos participantes uma oportunidade única de aprenderem as melhores práticas.Exploração agrícola e extensão  Foi lançado o novo website corporativo (www.cta.int) do CTA. Mais interactivo e mais dinâmico, o website oferece agora um maior leque de serviços, como as Notícias do CTA, um mapa interactivo dos parceiros do CTA, relatórios e vídeos online, assim como um motor de busca que permite aos visitantes procurar projectos em função da região.Uma semana, dois eventos... A dedicação do CTA ao seu Plano Estratégico ficou demonstrada ao dar as boas vindas a três novos funcionários responsáveis por publicações, Stéphane Gambier (França), actividades dos meios de comunicação social, Samuel Mikenga (Uganda), e marketing, Therese Burke (Irlanda). Ken Lohento (Benim, 2º a contar da esquerda), juntou-se à equipa em Novembro, para trabalhar na área das Tecnologias da Informação e da Comunicação para o desenvolvimento.A aquisição de terra foi um \"tema quente\" em 2009. A necessidade de proteger as condições de vida dos pequenos agricultores está a ser gradualmente reconhecida, tendo em conta a rápida expansão da agricultura mecanizada de grande escala.A disponibilidade de terras para produção agrícola está sujeita à pressão constante resultante do rápido crescimento demográfico e urbanização, bem como da recente crise económica e alimentar. No decorrer dos últimos anos os investidores privados e os governos demonstraram um interesse crescente na aquisição ou arrendamento a longo prazo de grandes áreas de terras aráveis, principalmente nos países em desenvolvimento. A terra mais cobiçada é a que tem melhor acesso a recursos hídricos, o que permite a instalação de irrigação de baixo custo, e junto a mercados dos quais os produtos podem ser facilmente exportados. Embora o investimento agrícola possa ser bem recebido, a aquisição de terra levanta sérios desafios para os países em desenvolvimento. A transição para a agricultura mecanizada de grande escala e para as monocul-  A adopção de um código de conduta internacional para a aquisição de terra que seja transparente e que inclua processos de negociação participativa, assim como a monitorização independente da futura implementação, está a ser presentemente discutida por organizações multilaterais e bilaterais. Esse código ajudaria a assegurar que os investimentos beneficiem a população do país anfitrião, incluindo os grupos mais vulneráveis.A produção de biocombustível a grande escala também constitui uma ameaça para os pequenos agricultores O s mercados internacionais estão a tornar-se cada vez mais competitivos e segmentados. Se os países ACP quiserem manter ou aumentar a sua quota de mercado, precisam de repensar as suas estratégias de comércio agrícola, diferenciar os seus produtos e fazer a transição do comércio para o marketing. Uma maneira de resolver isto é por meio da utilização de \"indicações geográficas\" que são usadas em vários países desenvolvidos (principalmente os da União Europeia) e em alguns países em desenvolvimento (como a Colômbia). Uma indicação geográfica dá aos consumidores informação sobre a região de origem de um produto, onde a qualidade ou a reputação está essencialmente ligada à origem geográfica do produto.Os desafios relacionados com o uso de indicações geográficas pelos países ACP constituíram o Outras actividades tiveram como objectivo racionalizar a presença on-line do CTA e melhorar a sua visibilidade por meio da optimização de motores de busca, publicações on-line, através de artigos semanais publicados no portal Web2forDev, e discussões facilitadas em listas electrónicas de DGroups. Os métodos tradicionais não foram esquecidos, como se demonstrou pela popularidade contínua de publicações periódicas como ICT Update.A publicação de vídeos de curta-metragem, que documentam o feedback dos beneficiários das iniciativas de TICs do CTA, passou a ser uma actividade de rotina. De igual modo, o CTA também produz regularmente documentários curtos sobre as lições aprendidas com a criação de capacidade de TIC/Web 2.0 em clientes com diferentes níveis de conhecimentos de informática.As TICs ajudam a ligar entre si as comunidades "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d9164a799130a22ea2b0a88cede71934","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a72a659a-b821-439c-a447-b002d2b5fe8d/retrieve","id":"-394122823"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0093f7b9-60a5-4f43-93a2-51c1dab6d088","content":"A systemic analysis of the role that climate, natural resource and food systems play in conflict and peace is key to design and implement interventions addressing and preventing conflict. This document is one part of the 6-policy note outputs from the CGIAR Climate Security Webinar Series. These notes summarize the key messages made during the webinar panel discussion. Recordings of the webinar sessions can be found here.The semi-arid transitional zone between the Sahara Desert and the savannas to the south, known as the Sahel, is one of the most fragile regions in the world, with the OECD characterising all Sahelian countries bar Senegal as either fragile or extremely fragilefootnote 1 . Threats to stability include multiple secessionist movements, armed struggles, high incidence of drugrelated state penetration, and terrorism. Against this background, Al-Qaeda's rise to prominence in northern Mali in 2012 prompted a counterinsurgency response from the EU and the international community. However, despite this renewed securitisation effort, extremist ideologies remain a chronic threat to even the survival of states, already fragile from different perspectives. It is therefore clear why many of the factors enabling terrorist groups to operate within the region remain unaddressed. Local state structures have not been able to fully control the situation.Against the backdrop of these acute security threats, there is also a microcosm of localised conflict driven by natural resource scarcity and ethnic identities. As Dr. Moderan noted, an overwhelming majority of conflicts along the semi-arid regions arise locally. Increasingly variable seasonal weather cycles have pushed traditional herders and farmers of different ethnic groups towards the edge of their communal resilience. Dr. Grayson-Courtemanche cited the example of northern Mali, where droughts have forced nomadic herders to travel long distances to find water ponds. There, a lack of institutional presence and localised governance has caused disputes between herders and farmers, the latter heavily dependent on irrigation for their crops.These disputes often escalate into violence along ethnic lines. Dr. Moderan emphasised the need to solve these disputes at the local level to prevent such conditions from becoming fertile ground for further instability as communities in Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad and other states have become trapped in a mutually reinforcing cycle of conflict, poverty, weak institutions, and lack of social safety nets. Poverty and conflict have impacted access to essentials to the extent that a massive humanitarian crisis has emerged within the region, where mass migration has become prevalent. Dr. Grayson-Courtemanche noted how the ICRC estimates that there are over 2 million nutritionally vulnerable refugees in the area, with over 400,000 malnourished children. Health indicators within the West African region exceed the Against this backdrop of high-risk factors and tangible instability, the Sahel is also facing an increasingly variable climate. The impact of climate irregularity on basic subsistence conditions first became apparent during the devastating 25-year drought in the Sahel from 1968-1993, which destabilised rural livelihoods and sparked a major humanitarian crisis. Following this trend, contemporary challenges due to increasing droughts have continued to propel these patterns.The ability of populations to adapt and cope with these changes is essential, making the resilience of communities a key factor. Unfortunately, cyclical crises of environmental challenges, unsuitable basic farming practices, weak institutions and conflict have undermined this. Agriculture, including livestock, remains heavily reliant on adequate precipitation, meaning that variability and climate extremes will contribute to crop failures and livestock deaths, causing economic losses and undermining food security.  Climate variability and change pose a direct threat to food security in the region, combined with the demographic pressures arising from population increases, are set to accelerate the competition for natural resources. In the absence of adequate state capacity to mediate and support those in need, and in the presence of war, Dr. Grayson-Courtemanche stresses that the poor will turn ever more destitute. On this, an analysis conducted by CGIAR has found a startling spatial overlap of where violent conflicts occur and high precipitation variability (Figure 1).The rising threats of extremist terrorism and widespread conflict in the region described in the above narrative have prompted efforts to place a greater emphasis on development initiatives but have also given rise to securitised approaches which carry the risk of permanent military interventions. Over the past decade, international priorities have shifted towards a heavy military and counter-insurgency focus. Given the complexities in dealing with the cycle of poverty and conflict in the region, the current response lies in stark contrast to the type of approach most desirable. Moving away from a reactive scheme, a more preventive approach, including establishing sustainable livelihoods and addressing the root causes of conflict becomes an imperative.The nature of current security engagements in the region has unfortunately not contributed to the emergence of cross-cutting work among actors of the humanitarian and development field.The situation in the Sahel, however, needs unity of purpose and must be addressed on three separate levels: Biophysical Level: Dr. Zougmoré called for a better understanding of how the changes in environmental factors are influencing livelihoods of farmers and those who reside in vulnerable regions. How do impacts on the food system trickle into other security threats for the region?  Livelihoods Level: How do we design interventions that can allow for the sustainable establishment of livelihoods for affected populations?  Institutional Level: How do we improve government capacity to deal with conflict, mediate grievances and provide strong social safety nets for the populace? Whereas the international community's focus in the Sahel has been marked by an emphasis on security and to some degree on governance themes, efforts to support vulnerable farmers adapt to climate change have been few and far in between.. Dr. Charbonneau highlighted the fact that there are conceptual challenges when it comes to integrating these priorities with the notion of Climate Security. Incorporating climate change into security planning will require a change of time scales, focusing on decades rather than point interventions. This runs counter to the current paradigm of reactive, short-term UN military interventions. As a result of these conceptual challenges, the Climate Security lens does not seem to have been properly embedded into Sahel security partnerships. On top of that, it is key to highlight that although it is recognised that climate acts as a driver for poverty and conflict, there have not been any mandates specifically addressing this nexus.There is room for optimism, however. Amb. Koti has noted that Norway, poised to enter the Security Council this next year, has been prioritising the Climate Security nexus. It is also spearheading multi-disciplinary research and interventions, having recently adopted a climate change strategy that aims to tackle three targets, namely climate change, enhancing resilience, and conflict prevention. Discussions around this topic emerged in a seminar in Dakar focused on how multilateral Climate Security cooperation can occur, using the Sahel as a primary example. Doubling down on these Norwegian initiatives, the webinar agreed that the ubiquitous impact of climate change demands now more than ever a multi-disciplinary, systemic, and longterm approach. Segmented approaches are guaranteed to produce fragmented, as well as potentially contradictory or counterproductive results, and these challenges must therefore be viewed from an integrated perspective, where the role of the biosphere is acknowledged when tackling socio-economic, institutional and security issues.Recognising this, the panel developed three key action points to move the discussion forward: Finally, partnerships will be central in fully integrating this new approach to address challenges in the Sahel. As noted by Dr. Moderan, partnerships need to be established at local, national, and regional levels to fully align this multi-disciplinary understanding of the situation. November 2020"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c0a271755222f669e9ed1434fe3817f6","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/15b08418-0d0b-4d44-b800-ce2c3aa1d878/retrieve","id":"840721520"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"efbb37c7-ed14-4def-a706-7a089d7967a5","content":"New practices could double agricultural production, protect natural systems and be \"game changer\" for global food security STOCKHOLM (22 August 2011)-According to the authors of new research released today at the World Water Week in Stockholm, a radical transformation in the way farming and natural systems interact could simultaneously boost food production and protect the environment-two goals that often have been at odds. The authors warn, however, that the world must act quickly if the goal is to save the Earth's main breadbasket areas-where resources are so depleted the situation threatens to decimate global supplies of fresh water and cripple agricultural systems worldwide.A new analysis resulting from the joined forces of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) outlines the urgent need to rethink current strategies for intensifying agriculture, given that food production already accounts for 70 to 90 percent of withdrawals from available water resources in some areas. The report, An Ecosystem Services Approach to Water and Food Security, finds that in many breadbaskets, including the plains of northern China, India's Punjab and the Western United States, water limits are close to being \"reached or breached.\" Meanwhile, 1.6 billion people already live under conditions of water scarcity, and the report warns that number could soon grow to 2 billion. The current situation in the Horn of Africa is a timely reminder of just how vulnerable to famine some regions are.\"Agriculture is both a major cause and victim of ecosystem degradation,\" said Eline Boelee of IWMI, the lead scientific editor of the report. \"And it is not clear whether we can continue to increase yields with the present practices. Sustainable intensification of agriculture is a priority for future food security, but we need to take a more holistic 'landscape' approach.\" Meanwhile, a separate report by IWMI, Wetlands, Agriculture and Poverty Reduction, warns against seeking to protect wetlands by simply excluding agriculture. It argues that policies focused simply on wetland preservation and ignore the potential of 'wetland agriculture' to increase food production and contribute to reducing poverty.\"Blanket prohibitions against cultivation do not always reduce ecosystem destruction and can make things worse,\" said Matthew McCartney of IWMI, who co-authored the report. \"For example, the grassy 'dambo' wetlands of sub-Saharan Africa often provide vital farmland to the rural poor. Banning farming in these areas, however, has exacerbated rather than reduced ecosystem destruction. It has prompted deforestation upstream and led to a shift from farming to grazing in the wetlands themselves so that, overall, there has been a much greater impact on these natural systems. What is needed is a balance: appropriate farming practices that support sustainable food production and protect ecosystems.\"The two reports seek a new path toward achieving both food security and environmental health. They focus on radically reorienting practices and policies so that farming occurs in 'agroecosystems' that exist as part of the broader landscape, where they help maintain and supplement clean water, clean air and biodiversity.\"We are seeing a growing trend of alliances between traditionally conservationist groups and those concerned with agriculture,\" said David Molden, Deputy Director General for Research at IWMI. UNEP is the voice of the environment of the United Nations, and IWMI is part of the world's largest consortium of agricultural researchers, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).\"For instance,\" Molden continued, \"UNEP has adopted food security as a new strategic concern. And IWMI and its partners in the CGIAR are developing a multi-million dollar research program that will look at water as an integral part of ecosystems to help solve issues of water scarcity, land and environmental degradation. IWMI has also recently become a key partner with the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands on the topic of the relationship between wetlands and agriculture.\" \"The various political, research and community alliances now emerging are challenging the notion that we have to choose between food security and ecosystem health by making it clear that you can't have one without the other,\" he added.UNEP and IWMI and collaborators have identified multiple opportunities to use trees on dryland farms that will intensify the amount of food produced per hectare of land area while helping to improve the surrounding ecosystem. They note that by integrating trees and hedgerows, farmers can prevent runoff and soil erosion and retain more water for nourishing their crops.Another example of innovative thinking include better water and soil management in rainfed systems in sub-Saharan Africa, which have demonstrated the ability to reverse land degradation while at the same time increasing crop yields by twofold or threefold.Overall, the authors say it's time for decision-makers at the international, national and local level to embrace an agroecosystem approach to food production. These changes could include providing more farmers with incentives to adopt improved practices through 'payments for environmental services (PES)'.One example being explored by the CGIAR's Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) is the potential for benefit sharing in river basin areas of Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. Upstream users value the water for irrigation and ecotourism and also have a spiritual affiliation with the ecosystem. The hydropower companies need a steady stream to support electrification of the growing urban population downstream. Large-scale farms and agro-industry also need increasing supplies of water.\"More and more agriculture needs to be brought into the 'green economy',\" said Alain Vidal of the CPWF. \"We need to value farming practices that protect our precious water resources in the same way we are beginning to value forest management that helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially because those natural resources support the livelihoods of the most vulnerable.\"In the report, An Ecosystem Services Approach to Water and Food Security, experts from UNEP, IWMI and 19 other organizations acknowledge that one major impediment to adopting a more sustainable approach to food production is that it requires a new level of cooperation and coordination among officials and organizations involved in agriculture, environmental issues, water management, forestry, fisheries and wildlife management-individuals and groups who routinely operate in separated, disconnected worlds.\"It is essential that in the future we do things differently. There is a need for a seminal shift in the way modern societies view water and ecosystems and the way we, people, interact with them,\" said David Molden. \"Managing water for food and ecosystems will bring great benefits, but there is no escaping the urgency of this situation. We are heading for disaster if we don't change our practices from business as usual.\"The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is a nonprofit, scientific research organization focusing on the sustainable use of land and water resources in agriculture, to benefit poor people in developing countries. IWMI's mission is \"to improve the management of land and water resources for food, livelihoods and the environment.\" IWMI has its headquarters in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and regional offices across Asia and Africa. The Institute works in partnership with developing countries, international and national research institutes, universities and other organizations to develop tools and technologies that contribute to poverty reduction as well as food and livelihood security (www.iwmi.org).The CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) was launched in 2002 as a reform initiative of the CGIAR. The CPWF aims to increase the resilience of social and ecological systems through better water management for food production (crops, fisheries and livestock). The CPWF does this through an innovative research and development approach that brings together a broad range of scientists, development specialists, policymakers and communities to address the challenges of food security, poverty and water scarcity. The CPWF is currently working in six river basins globally: Andes, Ganges, Limpopo, Mekong, Nile and Volta (www.waterandfood.org)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dc21ca58280419301084d5159c58ec98","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8df67b1b-9ad2-485b-bc76-18d377d1d339/retrieve","id":"-822928396"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d1be1f6e-13fe-47f5-89a5-bb272f7ff24c","content":"AUG 2017 The major goals of the Sweetpotato for Profit and Health Initiative (SPHI) are to improve access to quality clean planting material of sweetpotato, increase production and consumption (or sales) of sweetpotato and improve the quality of the diet of vulnerable households. The households of particular interest to SPHI are those at greatest risk of vitamin A deficiency, especially those with children under the age of two years and pregnant/lactating women. To date, most efforts have focused on reaching such households directly with quality planting material coupled with nutrition education and, in some cases, market linkage. To supplement these efforts, a few projects and initiatives have targeted primary schools, usually with the aim of using school children as agents of change. These initiatives introduce orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) to the school children through multiple channels, including school gardening (Fig. 1) and school lunches/meals. But how responsive are school children to messages designed to reach them? How can this mode of reaching vulnerable households be strengthened?The primary aim of this initiative is to use schools as channels of disseminating clean sweetpotato planting material and nutrition information about OFSP to schools and surrounding communities. Secondarily, it aims to understand how school children perceive information they receive about OFSP, their response to such information and the extent to which they transmit such information (about OFSP) to their families. Lessons from this initiative can be used to calibrate the type and nature of messaging targeting school children to stimulate them be effective agents of change.  Quite a few sweetpotato projects have or are currently targeting school children in their interventions. Some (especially those on school feeding) do so with food security and/or nutrition objectives. Others are targeting the wider communities. These initiatives use a combination of the following strategies: a) School feeding in which OFSP is introduced into existing school lunch programs alongside some structured or non-structured nutrition information/education provided to children in-class or during school gatherings (Fig. 2). The nutrition information is provided by area sweetpotato project staff, teachers or both. b) School gardening in which OFSP is introduced into school gardens managed by student clubs. Students grow, observe and learn about OFSP from their teachers and project staff (Fig. 1). They are, in some cases, invited to take some roots and vines to their parents during harvest. This interactive initiative is aimed to create knowledge and stimulate life-long interest in OFSP. Smith (2002) argues that many of our notions of what is good or acceptable, which can influence future food choices and consumption practices, are determined in the early years of life. Moreover, studies have shown that school gardens can increase consumption of nutritious foods. c) School-based demonstration plots -where projects establish a demonstration plot within the school premises for the purposes of reaching school and surrounding communities with information about the benefits of OFSP, basic agronomic practices and vines. These plots can be used for vine multiplication; hence a source of vines to school and surrounding communities. d) Cooking demonstration: this strategy is often combined with b) or c), but can be stand-alone. It aims to introduce different OFSP recipes to communities and diversified use of OFSP, and to practically show how to prepare OFSP foods. e) School-based OFSP-focused school educational teaching materials. This relatively new addition to the list of strategies for reaching school children and teachers (and subsequently their households) uses pre-designed school (science) books to systematically introduce OFSP to school children through in-class teaching. It has been piloted in two Sub-Saharan African countries.CIP has recently conducted studies in Nigeria and Ethiopia among school children to understand their response to information they receive about OFSP. The studies used experimental methods, to introduce OFSP along with nutrition information designed to nudge children to regularly consume OFSP as part of regular school lunch meal (Fig. 3). OFSP was introduced alongside normal local popular food or regular school lunch meal. Consumption of OFSP was measured using the plate waste method -that is, the proportion of OFSP left uneaten -over several weeks. Results demonstrated that the nutrition messages that tout the virtues of OFSP increased consumption of OFSP, but the longevity of such effect depended on the nature of the message: Messages that promoted OFSP based on its experiential attributes (such as taste and color) produced longer lasting effects, while those that focused on nutritional/health effects (also known as instrumental attributes) did not. Moreover, the studies found positive the effects of behavioural nudges regardless of food security status of children.CIP is undertaking this research with multiple partners in collaboration with advanced agricultural research institutes and national school authorities. Other national partners include the department of agriculture and national curriculum development centers.Current and future efforts are focusing on understanding how behavioural nudges can be used in further promoting the consumption of OFSP among school children, and in different contexts. Lessons learned from various initiatives will be valuable in designing strategies that more effectively use schools as channels of reaching communities with clean quality sweetpotato planting material, and to strengthen the use of school children as change agents."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/6032610663.json b/main/part_2/6032610663.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8dd3b93fab4eaa604c6eb0c9b0e4aba507796a5b
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"967d385a16106e62e92bdbb751f2df95","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0d83105c-0076-45c6-bf84-bc24adc43bde/retrieve","id":"-1387090009"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"bb4baa90-9f52-4329-9eb4-400ff3055420","content":"En el preserlte documefllo se realiza un arlálisis ex-ante de presllpuesl~ ción parcial para estimar la rentabilidad y liquidez de distintas alter-  (CIAl, 1989b).Los primeros resultados de ca~po se~alan que los costos totales de establecimiento del sistema as6ciado fueron equivalentes a producir 2.0 ton de arroz paddy por hectárea, valorado a precios de mercado.Alli los costos asignables al establecimiento de la pradera equivalen a O.~ ton/ha o aproximadamente US$75/ha, equivalentes a la mitad de Jos desembolsos que se hacen en el establecimiento de una pradera sola que pueden ser de US$150/tla (CIAT,19Btb).Este proyecto está siendo elaborado en conjunto entre los Programas de Arroz y Pastos Tropicales del CIAl y está investigando Jos distintos sistemas de asociaciones y rotaciones del cultivo de arroz utilizando variedades adaptadas y praderas (puras y con leguminosas) con el objetivo de incrementar la productividad por área en la r~gión de la Altillanura Colombiana. Esta tecnologia lograria además finarlciar el establecimiento de ~raderas mediarlte la producciÓn inicial de arroz, distribuiria los costos de producción, aprovecharia el efecto residual de la fertilización del arroz y conserv«ría el ecosistema. Para tal fin se ha utiliz~do el Programa LOTU5 1-2-3, Versión 2.2, empleando técnicas de presupuestos parciales para el cAlculo del flujo _ ... r . \" --\" ' -/ neto de efectivo mensual y anual descontados duranH\" el perlodo de producción y para estimar la 1lR del proyecto en su totalidad.Entre las distintas alternativas simulad,'s se han tenido en cuenta los primeros resultados obtenidos en la producción de a\"oz quedando la pradera mixta extablecida (alternativa arroz-pradera mixta).5e asume para el primer año la preparación temprana del terreno para el cultivo de arroz y establecimiento simultAneo de la pradera; la perslslencia de la pradera en pastoreo seria de ocho aRos con una refertilización y control de maleza de la pradera al Quinto año del proyecto.Otras alternativas analizadas permiten modificar en el tiempo la época en la cual Se asocia o rola el cultivo arroz-pradera (ver más adelante las distintas alternativas). El empleo de presupuestos parciales aSume la existencia en la finca de la infraestructura blsica para producir como son vivienda, cercas, internas, etc. saladeros, bebederos, corrales. vías Entre las i\"versiorles necesarias para la simulación se consideraron:preparación del terreno, construcción de cercas (para el cultivo de arroz r establecimientu de praderas mejoradas se requiere una rotación de los potreros para un manejo apropiado), labores de siembra, fertilización, control de malezas y plagas, gastos en transporte, administrición r asistencia léclliea. Para el calculo del coslo total por hectárea, se asume un costo de oportunidad de la tjerr~ equivalente al ingreso obten.ido produciendo carr\", (12 kg/ha/año), en las condiciones tradicionales de manejo de la sabana nativa.Al considerar los cJlculos por hectárea como la unidad de simulación, se suponen rel.dimientos constantes a escala, con coslos uni taFios constantes para el productor. Sin embargo, esle 61limo supuesto no necesariamente se reflej~ en las explul~cioltes g~naderas, donde se ! presentan economías de escala ,l costos unitarios decrecienles para ciertos in sumos, a medida que se incremente su nivel de uso com.o es ,el , caso de maquinaria y mano de obra (RIVAS, RAMIREZ '.' , 1999).Este análisis asume que las inversiones en la nueva tecnología son marginales para el productor, para lo cual se valoran los insumos, ~ servicios y ganado, ,.a su costo de reposición, usando precios para el segundo semestre de 1999 y asumiendo que éstos permanecen constanl~~ en términos reales durante ~l horizonte del proyecto (9 años).El modelo arroz-pasto~ está conformado por los siguientes componentes:, a)Coeficientes técnicos de arroz y praderas: en cuanto hace relación a la magnitud y costo de los niveles tecnológicos empleadus en las labores de preparación del terreno, densidad y siembra de semilla de arroz y pastoi (gramlneas y leguminosas), nivele~ y fuentes de fertilizantes, control de ma~e2as y plagas, gas los en transporte de insumos y producto cosechado, a\"demás de los rendimientos de arroz y de semillas de pastos. Estos insumos, servicios y productos se valoraron a precios individuale, de mercado para la zona de Altillanura (Anexo 1).Un segundo componente del modelo, hace relación a los coeficientes .\"t\"' é-\"c\"' n' \"i\"c\"' o\"-s\"------\"d\"' e' --_p\"-' -r \"o\"d-\"U..,C~t,\"l,-• v,,-,-i \"d .. a\"d,-_,.g \"a\"n\"a\"d\"e .. r,-a\", ' . par a cad a una de las alternativas simulada. Entre olros coe'ficieJltes E'llumerados estáll:pesus incial y final de los animales, carga animal, ganancia de peso, precios de compra y venla de los animales, prolluccciólI dI? leche, niveles de insumas y drogas, costos de conslrucción de   , .  arroz prddera mixla-arroz-pra~era mixlaarroz. tsta alternativa supone una rotación cada cuatro aRos del sistema: cultivo de arroz al primero. quinto y noveno aBo con producción de carne en la pradera mixta durante el segundo al cuarto y sexto al octavo aBo de vida útil del proyecto.Esta alternativa generarla un flujo\"de efectivo muy .tractivo para el productor en los períodos de cultivo de arrOI acumulables despu's de la inversión en ganado e insumas.La rentabilidad alcanzada seria del 291 anual aproximadamente.7. Rotación cultivo de arroz-pradera mixta-arroz. Esta alternativa permitiría establecer una pradera mixta a través de un cultivo de arroz y recuperar al final de su vida útil la pradera (noveno , año del proyecto) a trav's de un nuevo cultivo de ar.oz. La rentabilidad de este sistema es de aproximadamente 32.51 anual y generaría al productor recursos financieros de US'109.ó6/ha/año para sostener la actividad prOductiva a trav's del tiempo. 9. Establecimiento de la pradera mixla para la producción de carne y leche (doble propósito) a t.avés de un cultivo de arroz en el primer alo. La rentabilidad seria del 30.9% anual y generarla un flujo de fruldos acumulable para el productor a Iravés de la vida útil del proyecto. Esta liquidez es el resultado de la venta de arrOl en\"el primer año y de los ingresos obtenidos por la venta periódica de l~che. ademAs de la venta de crias al destete.• i • 9. Sistemas de rotación cultivo de arroz-producción de semilla de pastos y producción de carne en l. pradera mixta establecida.Esta alternativa optimiza el uso de l. tierra al establecer simultineamehte el arroz y un semillero de gramlnea y leguminosa quedando la pradera establecida para la producción de carne.Esta asociación o rotación, potenCialmente viable para el producto. en l. Allill.nu.a, generaria unos flujos de efectivo netos positivos para su reinversión en la actividad ganadera y adopción de la tecnología mejorada. Este sistema alcanzaría una rentabilidad del 72% anual.10. Sistema de rotación: cultivo de arroz-semilla de pastos-doble propósito. La rotación cultivo de arroz-producción de semilla de pastos-pradera mixta en producción de carne y leche (doble propósito) se constituye en una alternativa de optimilación del sistema. Para el productor este sistema lograrla una rentabilidad del 67% anual y un flujo de efectivo para acumular mediante.la adopción de esta tecnología mejorada.Un flujo comparativo de tres alternativas contrastantes (sabana, arroz-pradera y arroz-semilla-doble propósito) se presenta en la Figura 5.Un resumen de la rentabilidad de las alternativas enumeradas Se presenta en el Cuadro q. Igualmente se indica los flujos netos anuales de cada una de estas alternativas. -600AlIas FIGURA 5. LIQUIDEZ PARA DISTINTAS ALTERNATIVAS: CULTIVO ARROZ y -PRADERAS Por otro lado la viabilidad de adopción de esta tecnología está determinada por una serie de factores exógenos al productor individual: condiciones agroecológicas de la finca, áreas aptas, disponibilidad de maquinaria, equipos, mano de obra y conocimierllo de la tecnologla. vias de comunicación, in•fraeslruclur,\\ regional par.a s,u comercidlización, cercania a los mercados de consumo, precios de mercado y pullticas macroeconómicas del gobierno (RIVA5 y 5ANINT, 19901  m¡¡p,rS C~ mTlUI~~!~11 5.2'1 -a¡¡!¡:;a:i;:í'i ta! tij'r:¡: S.21? \"ft~U:acit::¡ •t,:::f::r:~? :1r;:: 10.21 \"'Jiit:rpcr<ti:¡ ~a! ~. i:j.::f~;;:r. ;:-~¡::5:.29 -a~t!¡:;.¡:;l¡¡:! !:2!•:;rit.; n:::!:'I.r¿¡::: 0.52 \"'';filiu•:~:\":¡ i.J\"2~, zr:-::i: [j:rr,.~ 0,00 -aplkr.c~r¡¡¡ :'':~i''i~Ef=::: : .. ~::. 0,00 -a~!:t:•:¡~:: 1',~1 :::::-,~ .. ¿ ::;::-:: 0.00 -SpliCi!':l~l1 ':~1 r:;¡lc\",',;,::i•:\" ;::~:! 5.29 ~~pna:!r,l ,! .. !?;. ~;;'~j3•:;•::!:\":-       -'j, ~2 \".L.. : ...    -:. 'r::-!, :5 -1.01 -1.95 ~/J ... ~ .. .. ', ..  ;~\" \" ,11•,;e , \\      "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c00804c42a8b8df4f4c33746ebcc5312","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/90c4edff-8a62-4738-a3cd-423ffbb957ff/retrieve","id":"1036437090"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"426584fc-f157-46b9-97e7-52d698ae163f","content":"About CTAThe Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU). Its mission is to advance food and nutritional security, increase prosperity and encourage sound natural resource management in ACP countries. It provides access to information and knowledge, facilitates policy dialogue and strengthens the capacity of agricultural and rural development institutions and communities. CTA operates under the framework of the Cotonou Agreement and is funded by the EU. For more information on CTA, visit www.cta.Effective communication is an essential part of the scientific endeavour \"I am pleased to note that CTA continues to play an important role in addressing the subject of scientific writing in agricultural research.Agricultural research in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries has been characterised by poor communication and limited use of its results by beneficiaries. This could be attributed partly to the lack of formal training programmes in scientific writing and editing. As a result, although a lot is invested in research, very little is made available to users in the form of either peer-reviewed publications or extension materials. Generally, after scientists have successfully completed their research, they should communicate and share their results with colleagues and the broader scientific community. To be successful, scientists must develop the culture of writing and communication, so that they can promote the effective dissemination and use of their research outputs.Effective communication is an essential part of the scientific endeavour. Scientists and development workers have several motives for writing research papers for publication in technical and general journals. The original initiative of AfricaRice (formerly WARDA) and CTA to strengthen scientific writing in agricultural research has been very well received. Advances in internet and other communication technologies have necessitated a revision of the original (1995) publication to reflect new developments, including as e-publishing and online journals. We believe this revision will make a useful contribution to the efforts of agricultural researchers, publishers and the scientific community at large. This revised edition addresses practical issues that agricultural researchers face on a daily basis. It aims to give valuable advice and direction to agricultural scientists in the ACP countries, who often grapple with how to write an effective paper and get it published. This book also addresses the challenge of communicating with nonscientific audiences and informing them about the benefits of investments in agricultural research.I would like to thank the contributors who dedicated their time and energy to revising and, in some cases, rewriting the various chapters in this publication. I also extend my deep appreciation to past trainees on CTA's scientific writing courses, whose questions and comments provided useful feedback and inspiration to the authors when updating the manual.Director, CTAIn preparing this new edition of Scientific Writing for Agricultural Research Scientists, we have considered and reflected on the concept of the manual in terms of achieving two major objectives. First, the book aims to serve as a guide for agricultural research scientists and other practitioners in writing research papers for publication in scientific journals and in preparing research reports. Secondly, it serves as a training resource manual for resource persons who are planning training courses in scientific writing.The number of chapters in the original edition has been increased in this new edition, with three new chapters on:-reporting statistical results in research papers; -communicating science to non-scientific audiences; -electronic publishing.In addition, all the original chapters have been rewritten to reflect current developments in the patterns of communicating scientific information and to make the content more complete and easily comprehensible.At the end of some chapters, where appropriate, exercises are presented to facilitate greater understanding of the chapter topic. The annex to this new edition presents guidelines on a framework for planning and managing training courses in scientific writing, as well as practical, hands-on exercises that can serve as a guide for preparing practical exercises in group training courses. These exercises can be adapted to suit the particular circumstances in which a training course is being conducted.It is our hope and belief that this new edition achieves the two objectives stated above. CTA and the editors are grateful to all the authors who have contributed to this new edition. We expect that this book will be useful in promoting effective communication of agricultural research results and in supporting group training courses in scientific writing for agricultural research scientists.The need for training targeted at African agricultural research scientists on the procedures and techniques for writing and publishing the results of their research has been identified by a variety of institutions, organisations and agricultural research and development networks throughout the region.Early in 1990, the West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) and the West African Farming Systems Research Network (WAFRSN), coordinated by the Semi-Arid Food Grains Research and Development Project (SAFGRAD), met in Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire to discuss this training need and to formulate a joint effort to organise a series of training courses in scientific writing for agricultural research scientists in West Africa. This discussion led to an expert consultation in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, supported by the Ford Foundation and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) in 1991.At this consultation, the target audience for these courses was identified, details of the training course curriculum and pattern of instruction were elaborated, and a 3-year training project was developed. An important component of this project was the development and publication of a training manual to accompany these courses.Group training started in Togo in 1991, and has continued every year, with the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) collaborating from 1994. Our aim in these courses is to achieve the following:-strengthen scientific communication capabilities of agricultural research scientists in Africa; -encourage and promote a culture of scientific publishing among agricultural researchers; -create a community of agricultural researchers who regularly communicate with one another and thereby minimise scientific isolation; -share experiences on problems encountered by researchers in publishing their research.During the training sessions, we focus attention on analysing the structure of a scientific research paper, planning the writing process, observing style and ethics in scientific writing, correctly citing bibliographic references, and presenting agricultural research results orally.Avenues for the communication of scienceScience and scientific research are essential components in the process of development. Continued agricultural research is critical to the progress of countries that are agriculturally based. Disseminating the results of such research so that they can have a clear impact is also essential. However, a problem in many countries is that information is not easy to obtain -research results are ineffective unless they are put to some use.Most scientific communication today is still made in written form -even though websites such as YouTube feature hundreds of thousands of science-based films. Effective communication is based on the people involved in the system, of whom none is more important than the interpreter or editor, who is able to see what sort of information should go where, how, and to the best effect. Most scientists are not expert writers; they are professional scientists. But with a little effort, all scientists can go some way towards adapting their material to suit a specific audience. The most common example is the way that scientists can generate a visual presentation to a meeting from a research paper that they have written. This chapter is concerned with avenues of communication within the research field.After completing this chapter, you will be able to: -recognise the different avenues of communication within scientific research; -choose the avenue most suitable for the audience you are addressing; -be aware that you must adjust your writing style to suit the needs of your audience.What avenues of communication do scientists have open to them in order to deliver information? For research communication, these include:-research journals; -research reviews; -short communications; -conference papers and posters; -theses; -books and book chapters; -annual reports; -working papers; -newsletters; -project proposals and reports; -websites; -blogs and discussion groups.Each of these has specific uses in certain situations.There are two types of reader of research papers. One is the expert in the field, who will want to read all of the paper to obtain all the information from it. But, more commonly, there are more casual readers, who will be interested in the results only as a background to their own work.In their initial form, research journals may be widely disseminated, as paper publications and online; in their secondary form, where titles, or titles and abstracts, are published by the secondary publishing industry, they are exposed worldwide.Assessment of the number of papers a scientist has published as a measure of their success and as a basis for promotion is very common. In the United States and some other countries it has gone even further -if a scientist does not produce papers from their research, they cannot obtain funding for their research, and they may lose their job.The findings in most international research articles are believed to be fact because they are known to have been refereed or judged by experts in the field before they can be accepted for publication. Because of the high standards usually required of articles in overseas journals, it is often difficult to have a locally based paper accepted.The whole basis of peer-reviewed publication is to make available work that is worth publishing. Scientists should not be rewarded for writing a paper; they should be rewarded for performing work of a sufficient standard that they can write a paper based on it that is acceptable to a critically minded audience. The system becomes meaningless as a measure of merit and promotion if any and all papers are accepted and published without critical assessment.Publishing research results internationally will stimulate debate and encourage further work on the subject. It will produce information exchange, advance knowledge, and open up new opportunities for research. To achieve this, a paper should be directed at a specific journal read by a suitable audience of interested researchers.The review is a special type of scientific article that, in many ways, is like an extended version of the discussion section of a research paper. An essential feature of a review is that the reader is led to the frontiers of science in the area covered.The review summarises all aspects of a particular field; it also develops logical arguments until they end in new hypotheses, and speculations on how they may be tested. It leads to new areas of research, which must be testable and must be supported by facts -but the review is not a catalogue of facts. Rather, it interprets existing facts and theories within a particular field, often with the intention of explaining that field to other workers in closely allied fields of investigation.These are preliminary results of a project, perhaps one season's results, or results that are not of major significance but are nevertheless interesting. The exact nature of these communications will vary with the target publication.Conferences offer scientists an opportunity to present results of research that is still at a preliminary stage, but that contains interesting developments. Because time is limited during a conference session, papers that are presented orally at conferences are necessarily short. They are usually confined to a brief presentation of the methods and, more importantly, the results, which may be preliminary, and several clearly stated points brought out in the discussion. Speculation can be introduced; interpretation is by far the most important area to have impact. The version presented for publication can be more thorough. Conference organisers accept or reject papers based on an abstract that the author submits.Reviewers develop a list of papers and allocate them to different sections of the conference. Usually there are many more papers submitted than can be read, so organisers offers authors of less significant, but still interesting, papers the chance to present a piece of work as a poster. Authors have wall space, usually about 1 × 1.5 metres, on which to present their findings, and are given an opportunity to discuss their work with passing scientists.The thesis is written evidence of sustained research, testing a particular hypothesis in a novel area, done over a considerable period, usually 5 or 6 years. The overriding characteristic of a thesis is its length. It generally contains an extensive review of the literature, as well as the results of a number of experiments, all aimed at testing a unifying hypothesis. Some of the material may already have been published in a series of research papers during the course of the research.The book chapter is a synthesis of knowledge and information about a particular subject. It rarely has a fundamental hypothesis. It is more likely to form one part of an overall contents list that, taken together, exhaustively describes a clearly defined aspect of one field of science.Annual reports contain straightforward descriptions of work that has been done during a year or 12-month period. The intention is not so much to prove a hypothesis, rather to describe activities, justify budget expenditure in terms of research undertaken, and demonstrate impact to attract more funding. The traditional approach to annual reports was to describe all activities of all the programmes of an institution. This approach is useful to give an overall idea of the institution's work, and to form a historical record. However, such reports can be long and very detailed.There is a tendency more recently for annual reports to concentrate on one aspect of the institution's work, or to select the areas of work that have had most impact.A working paper or technical report may be a preliminary report of a piece of research that is interesting, but suitable or intended for peer-reviewed publication. In many cases, a working paper can be developed later, with the addition of more material, into a scientific paper. Often authors may release working papers to share ideas about a topic or to elicit feedback before submitting to a peer-reviewed conference or academic journal.The purpose of a newsletter is to communicate quickly facts that are of interest to its readers. Thus the content of any contribution is basically factual, with little emphasis on justification or methodology. Usually having a more general readership, newsletters should never be regarded a substitute for the true publication of research results.A project proposal represents the justification for a programme of work, with the aim of producing measurable outputs that will demonstrably reach a clearly defined objective. Like a research paper, it starts out with a hypothesis that has led to a proposed course of action and a programme of research designed to test the concept.Most research institutions now have a website, where they present their most up-to-date or significant results, describe the institution and its programmes of research, and list its staff. Often there is a list of publications, with some sites offering the possibility of downloading copies of institutional publications, working papers, etc.Websites have a potentially huge audience with different levels of expertise, and so offer scientists an opportunity to publicise the results and impact of their research to groups of people different from the usual scientists.A blog (a contraction of the term 'web log') is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Blogs are personal, representing the views of the writer, and so offer scientists a chance to put forward their own ideas, free of the constraints of the institution they are working within.Discussion groups are electronic meeting places, where groups of people with a common interest can share their views in a continuing discussion.The technical content of any publication is crucial to the understanding of its intended audience \"Many groups of people are concerned with agricultural research in one way or another, but have very different needs, and receive information in different way.The most common audience groups include:-researchers within a specific field of research; -researchers with a peripheral interest in a field of research; -research managers; -extension agents; -university teachers; -students; -policy-makers; -donors; -governmental research coordinating committees; -technicians; -commercial interests; -farmers.Different research communications have different intents. They take the same basic information and modify it so that different audiences, with various levels of scientific understanding, can understand it (see Table 1.1).The technical content of any publication is crucial to the understanding of its intended audience. If the person reading the material cannot understand it, then the whole point of the work is lost. This will obviously have tremendous implications for the impact of the work and its benefit to the writer.List the different types of publication you have to write.-Who are you writing for? -What level of scientific content should each type of publication have? -Draw up your responses into a table for later use.The intent of a research communicationSo much research is published today that there is a whole science based on impact assessment and citation analysis. Information analysts keep careful note of which papers are being cited and who is writing them. Careers depend on it, as do the success and prestige of journals, and the reputations of university departments and research institutions. So you need to target your writing and publishing to maximise the chances of someone reading it and making use of your findings.When you have decided that you should be writing a paper, and that you have a paper to write, you must then start thinking about your audience. From the very start, you should aim at getting the paper seen by the right audience. To do this, you should direct your paper at a specific journal that is read by the people you want to contact. Before you start planning your article, you need to decide in which journal you want to publish. The choice of journal will influence the format and style of your article, and how you prepare it. For example, many of the biggest journals these days accept only online submissions.After completing this chapter, you will be able to:-evaluate a journal's publishing policy, scope and content; -define the special requirements for producing an article for publication; -choose the best journal in which to publish your work.Most journals today receive many more papers than they can possibly publish. The best journals have a very high standard for papers they accept, and a very high rejection rate. Ask yourself if your paper is really good enough to send to the very best journal. It may be better that you select a less important journal, to stand a better chance of acceptance. There are a number of factors to consider. Study published copies of different journals and look at their websites. Many journals have a lot of information available to help you understand their requirements and to prepare a paper for submission.Look at past issues of the journal and ask yourself the question: is my work as good as, or better than, the material the journal is publishing? Who is the editor? Who is on the editorial board? Which authors publish in the journal? Does the journal have an international audience? Does the journal want complete research projects, or will it accept accounts of work in progress and preliminary papers?2.3.2 What are the aims and scope of the journal?These are often printed on the inside cover of the journal and published on the journal's website. Read their \"Aims and scope\" statements to find out exactly which area of your discipline the journal is interested in. It is no use sending a research paper to a journal that only publishes reviews, and it is no use sending a theoretical paper to a journal that publishes only practical research. For example, Agronomy IntroductionObjectives and expected learning outcomesAbout Agronomy Journal Scientific publishing is usually a slow process, and a journal that is published twice a year will have a much longer potential publication time than one that appears once every 2 weeks. You have to ask yourself \"Will a 15-month publication time affect the relevance of my article?\". If the paper should be published quickly, then you can send it to a fast-publication journal, but if rapid publication is not essential, then the editors of such a journal will probably reject your paper immediately, just because of that, not because of its scientific quality.Will yours fit this pattern? Many journals have a specific format for the articles they publish, for example, the IMRAD format (Introduction, Materials, Results and Discussion; see Chapter 3). If your article does not fit this pattern, the paper may be rejected. If your paper is going to be 20 printed pages long and the journal only publishes papers up to five pages, this will mean that yours will be rejected -not because of the scientific content, but just because of the format of the paper.Are there any conditions to submitting to the journal?For some journals, one of the authors must be a member of the society that publishes the journal. Sometimes there are certain types of statistical analysis that must be used, and the experiments must have been repeated a certain number of times. Many journals have page charges, where you have to pay the journal to publish your paper. The charges are based on the number of pages in the final published paper. These charges can be extremely high. Page charges are widely used throughout the scientific publishing community, and are widely accepted. For example, most US government agencies recognise the payment of page charges as a legitimate part of the cost of performing research and development work under government contracts. You should look for these conditions carefully in the journal, and consider whether you have enough money in your budget. However, some journals will not charge authors from certain countries.Most research journals are published by an academic publisher or scholarly society. These have to make money, so people have to buy the journal, or pay for access to the papers online. Publications are an important output of scientific research. A good publications record, especially authorship of research papers in peer-reviewed journals, is an indicator of your success as a scientist, and a major part of how scientists and academics are evaluated for employment and promotion. Donor agencies will also look at your publications record if you submit grant proposals to them.Journals that use the peer-review system are generally regarded as being of better quality than those that do not. Obviously, it is more difficult to get your paper accepted by them, but remember that the entire process of peer review can be considered positively as providing training in more effective writing and publishing of your research.Journal ranking is widely used to evaluate impact and quality. Journal rankings show the place of a journal within its field, the difficulty of being published in that journal, and the prestige associated with it.Nowadays, the importance of journals is ranked by their impact factor, which is a measure of the frequency with which an article in a journal has been cited in a given period. Journals with a higher impact factor are considered to be of higher rank and more prestigious than those with a lower score.The impact factor for a journal is calculated based on a 3-year period, and can be considered to be the average number of times published papers are cited up to 2 years after publication. For example, the impact factor for a journal for the year 2011 would be calculated as follows:Open-access journals Note that the impact factor 2011 will actually be published in 2012, because it cannot be calculated until all the 2011 publications have been received.Information on the impact factor can viewed on the home pages of many reputable journals, or from the Journal Citation Reports (http://thomsonreuters.com/ products_services/science/science_products/a-z/journal_citation_reports/), published annually as part of the Science Citation Index. Growing competition for research funding and academic positions has led to the increasing use of bibliometric parameters to evaluate careers by number and quality of publications and the impact factor of the journals they appeared in.Just about all journals with measurable impact factors are peer reviewed. Peer review is criticised as an imperfect system, and indeed it has some problems. However, it is the best system that we have available at the moment, therefore we have to make the best of it. Even the Public Library of Science (www.plos.org), a series of journals published on the web under the Creative Commons system of copyright, uses peer review.Citation analysis is a method of bibliographic measurement that highlights the difference between producing a lot of average research papers, and fewer good papers. This is an objective way of measuring the quality or impact of a paper by charting how many times it is cited by other researchers. The logic is that the better a paper is, the more people will cite it, and this has been confirmed as a valid measure of research quality or impact by many researchers. So your publishing objective should be to publish not only good quality papers, but good quality papers that people will want to cite in good quality journals. This is a complex and fast-moving field, and this chapter merely introduces the concepts. Interested readers can find up-to-date information online by searching for the following terms:-bibliometrics -citation analysis For example, you can write:Effects of drought, aging and phosphorus status on leaf acid phosphatase activity in riceOr you can write:Acid phosphatase activity in rice leaves: effects of drought, aging and phosphorus statusReaders will assume that the subject that comes first in the title is the main focus of the paper, so be sure to reflect that in the paper.There is a third way of writing a title; that is to make a statement:This is a very clear approach, almost a mini-summary of the paper.The first author should be the person who carried out most of the work reported, with other workers mentioned in decreasing order of contribution. The scientist who oversaw the work is usually placed last. All people who are listed as authors must be aware of the paper, must have agreed to be named as an author, and must have had the opportunity to contribute to and comment on the paper. Some journal websites comment on authorship, so check on the website of your target journal.Give the names of all authors, in the style the journal specifies. For example, this may be the first name in full, the middle initial only, and the last name in full. Most journals do not print authors' qualifications.Do not make a distinction between men and women -do not write:M.E. Williamson and Meryl G.Simpson.Indicate which author should receive correspondence and proofs (the corresponding author), with their email and full postal address.You should give an address for each author you mention on the title page -that is, the address of the author at the time when the work was done. If any authors have moved, include a footnote with their present address.An abstract represents the contents of the article in short form. There are three types of abstract: informative, indicative and structured. There is often confusion about the words 'Abstract' and 'Summary'. A summary restates the main findings and conclusions of a paper, and is written for people who have already read the paper. An abstract is an abbreviated version of the paper, written for people who may never read the complete version. So a summary is not the same as an abstract, although some journals call the abstracts of the articles they publish 'summaries'.An informative abstract should answer the following questions:-Why did you start? -What did you do, and how? -What did you find? -What do your findings mean?The abstract must be written so that it can be read on its own, for example, if it is output from a bibliographic retrieval system. Do not waste words by repeating the title in the abstract. Try to mention in the abstract all the main information covered in the paper. Be as brief and as specific as possible, and write with non-specialists in mind. Emphasise the different points in proportion to the emphasis they receive in the body of the paper. Do not refer in the abstract to research that is not in the paper.Generally speaking, a short abstract should be written as a single paragraph. To help computerised text searching, use significant words from the text in the abstract. Avoid unfamiliar terms, acronyms, abbreviations or symbols; if you must use them, define them at first mention. Use generic names, not trade names, for chemicals and drugs, except when trade names are the most accurate way to describe such substances. Identify living organisms by their Latin (binomial) names.Do not include tables, diagrams, equations or structural formulae in an abstract, unless it is intended for consideration by a conference organising committee rather than as part of a journal article. Avoid citing other work; if you must include a citation, for example to a paper that inspired your investigation, include a short form of the bibliographic details in the abstract itself -\"as D.G. Ngoyo pointed out (J. Rice Res. 2005; 4: 2111-13)\" -for the benefit of readers who will read only the abstract.Indicative abstracts contain general statements describing what is in the text, giving readers a general idea of the contents of the paper, but little, if any, specific detail. They are more common in field reports, long papers such as review articles, and for books or chapters in books.They are the lazy way of writing an abstract; many journals will ask for a more informative version.Some journals now ask for an abstract with a specific structure, especially in the medical area, for reports of clinical trials. Background: The scientific article in the health sciences evolved from the letter form and purely descriptive style in the seventeenth century to a very standardized structure in the twentieth century known as Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion (IMRAD). The pace in which this structure began to be used and when it became the most used standard of today's scientific discourse in the health sciences is not well established.The purpose of this study is to point out the period in time during which the IMRAD structure was definitively and widely adopted in medical scientific writing.In a cross-sectional study, the frequency of articles written under the IMRAD structure was measured from 1935 to 1985 in a randomly selected sample of articles published in four leading journals in internal medicine: the British Medical Journal, JAMA, The Lancet, and the New England Journal of Medicine.The IMRAD structure, in those journals, began to be used in the 1940s. In the 1970s, it reached 80% and, in the 1980s, was the only pattern adopted in original papers.Conclusions: Although recommended since the beginning of the twentieth century, the IMRAD structure was adopted as a majority only in the 1970s. The influence of other disciplines and the recommendations of editors are among the facts that contributed to authors adhering to it.The IMRAD format is a well established approach to writing and publishing scientific research \"The Introduction should answer the questions \"Why did you do the work?\" and \"What did you want to find out?\" It should contain three parts:-the background to the work and a brief review of the relevant literature, to allow the reader to evaluate the present work; -the logic that led you to do the work, and your hypothesis; -a clear statement of the objectives of the work.You need to show the logical development of your theory or objective within the context of existing work. Explain how your hypothesis came about, briefly reviewing previous published work on the subject. Use references to support everything you say. Most authors initially make the Introduction too long by including too much background material, for example, \"This crop is one of the most important food crops in the world\". If you have exceeded two pages of typing, you have probably written too much.Here the questions are \"What did you use?\" and \"What did you do?\" In this section, you only describe the materials you used, and the methods you used in the work. You do not need to interpret anything. However, you must make sure you have described everything in sufficient detail so that another scientist could repeat your experiment after reading the description.Justify your choice of one method or treatment over the others available. State the assumptions that you have made. This will allow your readers to understand the purpose of the methods you are about to describe. Follow a logical order; this section falls naturally into two sections: the Materials first, then the Methods.Describe all the materials -chemicals, animals, plants, equipment, etc. -that you used. Identify chemical compounds (fertilisers, etc.) so that other workers will be able to obtain the same materials. If you use trade names, you should include the full chemical name or active ingredient the first time you mention it. Some journals ask you to give the name and address of the supplier or manufacturer of the material.Use internationally recognised standards for naming materials, and also use metric units, standard nomenclature, etc. Give the full genus, species, race, strain, cultivar or line of any experimental plants, animals or microorganisms you used. Species names can be abbreviated once they have been fully described.Check the journal's Instructions to Authors for correct usage and terminology.In this section, you answer the questions \"What did you do?\" and \"How did you do it?\". Describe your experiments in a logical order. If you have used well known methods, just give their names and a reference, but if you made any changes, these should be explained. The readers of the paper will be scientists themselves, so you do not need to describe familiar things in detail. Be brief, but do not leave out important information such as sizes or volumes.Describe the statistical techniques you used, but do not go into detail. Most tests are well known and do not need much description. If a technique is not so well known, then you can give a reference. Only if the method is new or original should you describe it in detail. If a journal demands a certain type of statistical treatment, then you must follow the recommendations exactly.In the Results, you describe what happened in your experiments. You can present your results making no comment on them, giving your own interpretations later in the Discussion section. Another approach is to interpret the results up to a point, to make some connections between the different statements, but to give more detail in a separate Discussion section. A third way is to combine the results with a discussion of each point.Whichever way you choose, you should present the results in a sequence that corresponds to your original objectives. Report any negative results that will influence your interpretation later on. Present all the relevant results in this section so that you do not need to introduce new material in the Discussion. Remember your original purpose. In an experimental paper, your objectives tell you what you should be writing about. Results that do not relate to them should not be mentioned.Many journals nowadays will allow you to upload large tables or other forms of data to a dedicated website and allow you to link to that site in your paper. This allows you the freedom to publish complete data sets, without trying to include them all in your limited-size paper.Write in relation to tables and figures that you have already prepared. There is no need to repeat boring lists of statistics in the text when they are already in the tables or figures. Describe the overall results, not each individual value.\"The results of experiment A are reported in   In the Discussion, you must answer the questions: \"What do my results mean?\", \"Why did this happen?\" and \"What are the implications?\". This is the most thoughtful and demanding section of the paper, but also the most important. You must interpret your results for the readers so that they can understand the meaning of your findings. You need to distinguish among a mass of information and select that which is most relevant to your argument. Use a series of findings or statements to come to a clear conclusion. This conclusion must match your originally stated objective.Use the Discussion to interpret your results, giving particular attention to the hypothesis or objectives that you put forward in the Introduction. 'Discussion' is really short for 'Discussion of results'. It is not a section in which you review the literature on the subject. All literature cited must have the function of supporting arguments about your results. Relate your findings to previous work, and if they do not agree with your work, then discuss why not. Discuss any negative results.In this section, you discuss why something happened and why things did not, highlight the strengths and explain the weaknesses of your work. You discuss the relevance of your research to the specific field, point out how it relates to other fields, and make recommendations from your work. You can also mention work in progress, and point out unanswered questions and possible avenues of further research.Say what is important, with statements such as \"The most important aspect of these results is …\". But do not use this formula too often, as readers will quickly tire of hearing how 'important' your work is.One of the most common faults of the Discussion is that it is too long. It may be difficult to follow, or too much data may be repeated from the Results.In the Discussion, you should generalise, make comparisons and draw conclusions.The central element in every report is its major claim or its main point. You cannot just make the claim. You need:-good reasons for the claim; -reliable evidence to support it.Your evidence needs to be substantive, contestable and explicit:-substantive -having a firm basis in reality, and so important or meaningful -contestable -able to be defended during an argument; -explicit -clear and detailed, with no room for doubt.Your claim is supported by evidence, which must be accurate, precise, sufficient and authoritative (reliable because it is true and accurate).Your data must be correct above everything else. Any suspicion that your information is not accurate will make the reader disbelieve your work. Ask yourself, \"What evidence am I certain of?\". Then question what evidence could be more reliable. You can include questionable evidence if you acknowledge its quality, and you explain anomalies in the data. In fact, highlighting such problems reinforces the credibility of your other data.You should be precise in presenting your data, corresponding to your data-gathering techniques. Do not be over-precise, or too vague, and always quantify your claims. You need to present data in the form that best illustrates what you want to demonstrate. You also need to digest raw data so that the underlying patterns and trends are obvious. This is usually done using statistics, tables, figures and graphs. Spell out what you want readers to understand. Do not assume a trend that is obvious to you will be obvious to the reader. Introduce a figure or table by pointing out what you want readers to notice, and explain why this is interesting.You need to present enough data to convince your reader that the claims you make are based on enough evidence. For example, many agriculture journals will not accept papers based on data from one growing or cropping season. They want to see repeatability demonstrated in the data.All your claims need to be supported by evidence, either from your own data or from the literature. Reference material needs to be primary (that is, from journals or conference proceedings) and current. A list of references that is out of date is not convincing. Secondary sources, such as book references, also need to be authoritative rather than popular.Often you will not need to write a Conclusions section because you will have already stated your main conclusions in the final section of the Discussion. You should certainly never include a Conclusion just to repeat what you have said in the Discussion. However, if your results and the subsequent discussion have been especially complicated, it may be useful to bring all your findings together.Here you should acknowledge technical help and advice that you received from others. Bodies or individuals granting money that supported either the research or the authors of the paper should be mentioned. Keep this section short.See Chapter 7 on how to cite and list references.Guide to writing: http://classweb.gmu.edu/biologyresources/writingguide/ ScientificPaper.htmDay, R. A. and Gastel, B. 2006. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper (6th edn). Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, USA.List the five most popular journals in your field. Find samples of articles in these journals online.Look at the structure of the articles in these journals. Are they using the IMRAD structure? How well do you think it works? Could there be an alternative structure?Find one research journal that does not use this structure. Why do you think this is?Write first an indicative, then an informative, abstract of one of your own papers or reports, then write a corresponding structured abstract. Which do you think is best?Writing a research paper 4Many young scientists think that writing a paper is difficult and time-consuming. However, approaching the task systematically, just like any other work in science, can make the job easier. Breaking the process into steps that build on each other is a process that can simplify writing a research paper.After completing this chapter, you will be able to:-construct a skeleton or plan for a research paper; -produce a preliminary draft of a scientific paper; -produce a final version of a paper that is suitable in form and content for your chosen journal; -submit a paper a suitable format, either online or on paper. Some scientists can conceive a paper in their head and just start writing, but most people cannot do that. The easiest way to write a paper is to plan it first, get all the material together, and then start writing. But before you can start planning, you must have something to say -a message to describe. You usually need to look at all of your research and select part of it as the content of an individual paper. Most research journals are looking for \"significant results\" or \"papers reporting a significant advance in knowledge\". That will be one of the first questions the editors of the journal will ask themselves when they receive your paper. Is the information in the paper significant, as well as new?You must try to look at your work objectively, as if someone else had written it. Put yourself in the place of an editor or a referee. They will be asking themselves the question \"Why should I publish this paper?\" You have to make sure that the answer is \"Because it reports significant results.\" What you write will have to stand up to the examination of the editor and the criticism of the referees.  The questions you answer when planning a paper help you break the paper down into its elements, which can be explained as follows:-what was known, and what was not known, before the investigation was started; -what the work was expected to show, or the objectives, and the hypothesis under test; -setting and conditions of the experiment that eliminate variation; -experimental plan; -methods used; -how the data were collected; -methods of analysing the data and statistical techniques; -results obtained; -validity and meaning of the results, and conclusions to be drawn from them; -implications of the results in relation to other work; -directions for future work; -references to other work in the field.It is usually best to put your results in graph and table form before you start writing. Usually you will have a lot of data, and you must select parts of it to support the arguments in your paper. While you are doing this, you will also be deciding exactly what you want to show, and the best ways to illustrate your findings.The basic idea is to build up your paper step by step. Look at the list of elements above, and start thinking about the answers. This will help you start to develop an outline of the paper.First, decide on the main divisions of the article. That means you have an overall plan that will help you in your next task, which should be to make separate plans for what you will include in each section. Look at a single heading, for example, the Materials and Methods. You can immediately break that down into a Materials section and a Methods section. Now think about what materials you did in fact use. You can write down headings such as Chemicals, Animals, Equipment, Soils, etc. That is, you start making a list of subdivisions or sections.Many word processing programmes, such as Microsoft Word, have a documentmapping facility that allows you to review all your headings easily. What you have is a list of section titles that will go together to make up, for example, the Materials part of the Materials and Methods section. You are already developing a plan of the paper. You can do this with each part of the article in turn, planning the content of each section. Spend some time doing this, because writing from a plan is always easier than writing from start to finish. Another way is to try to write the most difficult section first, the Discussion, which contains much interpretation and independent thought. Everything after that is easier.Once you start writing, you should write as quickly as you can. Do not worry about language, grammar, style or spelling. Just write down as much as possible while the flow of whatever section you are working on is clear in your mind. Try to write simply. In this way, you will lay down a basis to work on later. It is always easier to come back to something than to start filling in a blank screen. Concentrate on scientific content and nothing else.Write in the language that is easiest for you. You can always translate it later -that is just mechanics. Most important at this stage is to turn your notes into written language. Finish with each section before going on to the next one. Do not go back and start revising parts of what you have written until you have completed your writing. Be practical as well.Once your first attempt is finished, you can start revising the paper. You should always be prepared to revise what you have written. Ask yourself:-Are all the parts of the paper properly described? -Are there any major changes needed? -Is the logic of the paper sound? -Is the order of presentation satisfactory? -Is all the text needed? -Can any figures or tables be eliminated or combined? -Is each piece of text in the correct section? -Is the sequence of paragraphs correct? -Are there enough, or too many, headings and subheadings?Review the scientific content of the paper until you are certain it is correct, then put the paper aside for several days, then reread it. A short time away from the work gives you a perspective that will allow you to judge what you have written. Once you aresatisfied with the standard of your work, format the paper in the style of the journal. Then give the article to your co-authors or some colleagues and ask them to comment on the scientific content, pointing out errors of logic and interpretation, noting where your writing is clumsy, and recommending further improvements.By now, you should be confident of the science in your article. Next, you need to look at the language and style, so that the paper can be read and understood easily. This is one of the things that editors will be looking for. Use a spell checker; however, most grammar checkers cannot handle scientific text very well, without \"training\" (see Chapter 5 on writing English).At this stage, you must check that all the references listed are mentioned in the text. Then look at it the other way around, and check that all the references in the text are included in the reference list. If you are using a \"reference assistant\" program such as EndNote, then this process is easier; but you may be doing it manually. If you are using the numbering system (see Chapter 7), tick each reference in the list as it is cited in the text, and carry on. Make sure that all references are numbered in the order they are mentioned. If you are using the name/date system (see Chapter 7), you have to be more careful. Check first that the references in the list are in the correct order, either in order of citation or, more commonly, in alphabetical order. Check then that the spelling of the authors' names in the text corresponds with that in the list. If they are not the same, check the original, and also check the date. How many authors are there in the reference? If there are two, then both names should be given in the text. If there are more than two (or sometimes three) names in the reference, you should use the first author's surname and \"et al.\" in the text (see Chapter 7). Should et al. be in italics? That is another question you should answer by looking in the journal. Is the date in the text the same as that in the list? Should you also be using a, b, c to distinguish references by the same authors from the same year? Work through and check every page of the typescript and every reference. When you have finished, check that you have ticked every reference in the list. If some are not marked, then you should go back and look again to see where they should be cited in the text, or delete them. Then, when you have done all that, go back and check with the original reference, wherever possible, to make sure that all the information in the reference is correct.See Chapters 8 and 9 on how to prepare figures and tables. Chapter 10 deals with statistics in your paper, but check in the publishers' Instructions to Authors on how to handle your tables and figures. You may have to collect all the tables at the end of the paper and submit all the figures as separate files. Many authors prefer to paste their figures into the computer file where they are mentioned, but this may cause problems for the publisher. Check on the journal's website.Revising language and style 4.9 Check the referencesRemember that the journal will expect you to prepare your paper according to the instructions of the journal. You might not think this is very important, but the journal editor will. You only have to worry about your own article; the editor has to worry about the whole journal. The editor wants all units, abbreviations, etc. to be the same in every paper in the journal. That is, the editor is looking for consistency throughout the journal.Look again at the journal and its Instructions to Authors. Some of these are very detailed. Note how wide the margins of the page must be, the line spacing, whether headings should be on the left or in the middle of the page, how to indicate bold face and italic letters, etc. Number the pages and insert a header in the computer file that includes your name and a short title of the paper.On the title page, make sure that you have given a title, the correct spelling of the authors' names, an accurate list of authors' addresses, an abstract, and keywords if required. You should also make clear on the manuscript to whom the proofs of the paper should be sent. That is, who is responsible for the paper and who the editor or publisher should contact. If you do not state it, then the publisher will assume it is the first author on the title page. Some journals ask for a covering letter that gives basic information, such as contact details of the corresponding author, the title and authorship of the paper. You might also be asked briefly to describe the specific area of the paper and the scientific strengths that qualify it for consideration by the journal. The editor will use this information to check that the paper is within the scope of the journal, and which referee to send it to.Many journals today actively encourage you to submit your paper by email (see Chapter 15). It is faster than posting manuscripts around the world. Check on the journal's website how to submit a paper electronically. Some journals have their own on-screen submission forms. These might take a while to complete, so be sure you have enough time on the computer to complete the procedure, and all the files you need, in the correct format. Note, for example, that the American Journal of Agricultural Economics will accept manuscripts only in pdf format (http://ajae.arec. umd.edu/newsubmissions.htm).If you are submitting a paper copy (some journals require this as a supplement to email submission), check that you have the right number of copies, then wrap up the whole package securely. Then look in the journal and find the correct address. You will often have to send the paper to an editor or editorial board at an address that is different from the publisher's address, so make sure you select the right one. Some journals have different editors dealing with different parts of the world, or different subject areas. All this information is usually on the inside front cover of the journal, or on the website, so make sure you read all the information carefully. Send the manuscript via airmail, and wait for an acknowledgement.The final manuscript 4.12 Preparing a covering letterOnline submission allows international authors and referees to become a part of the journal's community. As an author, you can check on your paper's progress while peer review takes place. Usually, everything is managed and tracked online, so the whole process is logged and accountable. The process is designed to be simple for everyone involved. -Does the paper report new, significant or innovative work? -Is the title accurate and informative? -Does an introduction describe the background and objectives of the work? -Are the methods explained clearly enough for the reader to repeat the work? -Are the results valid, and properly presented and described? -Is any criticism or review well thought out, supported and researched? -Do any parts of the paper need to be shortened, or lengthened? -Is the paper adequately referenced? -Are all figures, tables and photographs necessary? -Can the paper be improved in any other way? Can the paper be:-accepted as it stands? -accepted conditional on recommended revisions? -if so, list the revisions -submitted for reconsideration after recommended revisions? -rejected?If you have brought a paper of your own, the group could analyse it for you in the same way -if you are willing!Publishing is a highly competitive field, and journals receive many more good papers than they can publish. An editor will select a well written and well presented paper before one that is clumsily written and presented, if the scientific quality is similar. Language and style are like packaging: good packaging can never make up for poor content, but attractive packaging enhances good content. Clear, concise writing gives the impression of confidence and knowledge, credibility and authority.Much of the advice on writing scientific papers applies to writing in general. The following points can help you in scientific writing. Even so, bear in mind that few papers are rejected solely because of poor English. If the scientific content is good enough, the language can be corrected.After completing this chapter, you will be able to:-become aware of good writing style and how it can increase comprehension; -differentiate between the elements of good and poor style in writing research papers; -correct the style and English of a paper to enhance readability.If English is not your first language, don't expect to write it perfectly. English is a difficult language to write well -even native English speakers have problems. Do not worry about, or waste time on, the finer points of grammar. The journal editor or publisher will usually correct your language. The most important thing is that your message is clear. For editors to correct your language, they must be able to understand what you are trying to say. Be as definite and specific as possible when you are writing. Avoid vague statements.Be sure of what you want to say. The following points could help when you are writing and revising your paper:-use simple and direct language; -avoid abstract nouns made from verbs; -avoid noun clusters; -be aware of errors of meaning and form; -avoid jargon; -be aware of sentence structure; -use the correct verb forms (tense and voice); -use personal pronouns (sometimes).Unnecessary and difficult words 'Verbosity' means to say a thing in a complicated way, with lots of words, usually to make it sound more important. This is poor style. For example, you might say:The efficacy of the soil restorative agent utilised was undeniable.The fertiliser we used was effective.Use simple verbs such as use instead of utilise. Cut out phrases like \"It is interesting to note that...\". Many writing guides and grammar texts give lists of unnecessarily wordy ways of saying things along with preferred, shorter alternatives. Always try to use the simple expression. Avoid buzzwords and phrases that are suddenly popular but are not well defined, for example, sustainability, participatory approach, proactive, gender-sensitive. Concentrate on what you want to say, and try to say it in the simplest, most direct way.In English, you can use two negatives or negative words together to make a positive statement. For example: \"It is not unlikely.\" \"Not\" is a negative, and so is \"unlikely\", so they cancel each other out and mean: \"It is likely.\" Although this sort of construction is common, it is convoluted and often gets in the way of plain speech. There is sometimes a fine difference in meaning between a positive statement and a double-negative one, but if your first language is not English, it is better to avoid using the construction. Examples are:The total was not unimpressive. (It was impressive.)Here the reader might miss the word \"not\" and thus misunderstand the meaning. This is also verbose -it uses extra words to say a simple thing in a more complicated, less direct way.This is vague and ambiguous. Does it mean the numbers stayed the same, or the numbers increased?Spelling Check to see if the journal you have selected uses British or American spelling -or Canadian, which is a mix of both. Then use that style of spelling consistently. Consistency is part of the packaging and helps give a paper a finished look.Abstract nouns are often made from verbs. This can be done quite easily: the verb to measure gives the noun measurement, a common English word. But because it is a noun, you have to put a verb with it, for example, \"The measurement was done [or carried out]\". Often it is much easier to use a verb and say that something was measured. So instead of: \"Measurements were carried out on the variation\", write \"The variation was measured.\"Or, if the subject of the action is important: \"Yilma (1992) measured the variation.\"Other common examples of this are production from produce, interpretation from interpret, and observation from observe. Using such abstract nouns too often produces long sentences and dull prose. The extra length comes in part from the length of the \"-tion\" nouns, and in part from the need to use extra words as verbs. The dullness results from the abstractness of these nouns and the usually passive, weak verbs that must go with them. Replacing an abstract noun with a verb gives you more chance to bring the subject into the sentence and to make it more alive and specific.In science writing today, abstract nouns are extremely common, but it is better to avoid using too many of them. When you review your manuscript, look for the nouns ending in -tion, -ance, -sion, -ment, -ness, -cy. Usually you can replace them by rewriting the sentence using the verb. These changes may also shorten a sentence and put its elements into a clearer sequence.It is possible that the pattern of herbs now found at the site is a reflection of past disturbances.The pattern of the herbs now found at the site may reflect past disturbances.In English, nouns can be used as adjectives, and strings of them can be put together to form a phrase. To some, these clusters sound impressive. But in fact they hide the meaning of what you are trying to say and also make the message unclear or ambiguous, leaving your meaning open to interpretation. Although these noun clusters are used frequently, your writing will be clearer if you avoid them.Note that nouns in a cluster are usually abstract nouns. Sometimes you can go back to the verbs and make a good sentence with a clear meaning. Look at the way a noun cluster can build up. We can start with:Which leads to:Then:This final phrase has become hard to \"unstring\" and understand. It is much clearer if you break it up:Unfortunately, noun clusters are common today, especially in science writing. Two nouns together are easy enough to understand; when more are strung together, the meaning can be lost. As you look through your text, mark the places where more than two nouns occur together. Then go back and try to rephrase the sentences, using verbs instead of nouns.Make sure you understand the meaning of all the words you are using. Do not use a long word that you think sounds impressive unless you are certain of what it means. If you have used it wrongly, you will hide what you are really trying to say. It is much better to use several simple words that give the correct meaning and are easily understood. There are many words in English that look almost the same but have different meanings, sometimes subtly -for example, various, varying, variable.Remember that words such as data, phenomena and criteria are plural, not singular; equipment and information are always singular and never have a closing \"s\".According to the Oxford English Dictionary, jargon is \"a mode of speech familiar only to a group or profession\". All scientific disciplines have their own special language of technical words, but be careful not to use them in your manuscript without defining them. English has become the universal language of science because so many people understand it. But if the reader cannot understand the specialised terms you are using, you are not communicating. Remember that researchers outside your own field or discipline may not understand the terms. Review your manuscript to make sure you have defined all the jargon that you may have included.Suakoko 8 rice yields less than other lowland varieties.Suakoko 8, a lowland variety of rice, yields less than other varieties.Samples were 5-cm augered from depths of 2 and 3 metres.Samples from depths of 2 and 3 metres were taken with an auger 5 cm in diameter.Avoid long sentences. How long is a long sentence? Any sentence that is more than two typewritten lines may be too long. However, remember that a mixture of short and long sentences adds variety and improves the rhythm of your writing. There are several different types of sentence that are too long. Below are two common examples.If too much information is compressed in one sentence, it is difficult to understand the message. If a sentence seems too long, look for a place to split it into separate parts. Read this sentence straight through, then ask yourself if you understood it all: \"Preparation of the derivatising agent required the addition of 5 ml molecular sieve-dried benzene to 200 mg nitrobenzoyl chloride in a test tube which was vortex mixed then 5 ml dry pyridine was added and lightly mixed after which a 1.5-ml portion was added to the dried ethers, the tube capped and heated for 45 min.\"Several things are wrong with the sentence, but the main problem is the lack of punctuation. Breaking up the long string of words makes the text more understandable: \"The derivatising agent was prepared by adding 5 ml of benzene, which had been dried in a molecular sieve, to 200 mg nitrobenzoyl chloride in a test tube. This was mixed by vortex, 5 ml dry pyridine was added and the whole lightly mixed. A 1.5-ml portion was added to the dried ethers, then the tube was capped and heated for 45 min.\"Hiding the subject under conditions Often you may have a list of conditions that describe the main topic of the sentence, but by including them all, you bury the main statement. Sometimes you can make a series of sentences, but at other times it may be better to take the conditions out of the way. Either start a new sentence after you have said the most important thing, or make a list.For example, here is a long sentence with a list of conditions hiding the main subject.\"If the society is to provide farmers with a milk-collection service and help them market their milk, and also dry their pyrethrum and help market it, and provide a ploughing and harrowing service, and market farmers' wool, it is meeting its objectives.\"This can be understood much more easily if the subject and verb are first identified and brought to the beginning of the sentence. A short list could follow: \"The society can meet its objectives if it provides member farmers with the following:-a milk-collection and marketing service; -a drying and marketing service for pyrethrum; -ploughing and harrowing services; -a wool-marketing service.\"Tense Most of the time, the past tense is used in scientific papers because whatever is described in the paper has already happened. The Introduction describes work that has already been done. The Methods section describes how the current work was done, and the Results section describes what happened. However, in the Discussion section the present tense might be used for something that exists or has already been demonstrated. \"These results mean that less fertiliser will be needed.\"Active and passive voices Many books on English style, and grammar checks in word-processing software, recommend that you avoid the passive voice because it makes text boring and dull, adds words, reduces impact and may confuse. This is true, but the passive voice is often used in scientific style. In the sentence \"We measured the variation\" (active), it is clear that the subject (we) did something (measured) to an object (the variation).In the passive voice, the object comes first and has something done to it by the subject: \"The variation was measured by us.\" But in the passive voice you can also leave the subject out and say: \"The variation was measured.\" Most of the time the subject is you, the writer, and the subject is not important in what you have to say. Readers do not need to be told that \"you\" measured the variation. However, you should try to use the active voice where it fits, because it adds variety and interest to your writing.-passive: \"In this paper, the second approach is considered.\" -active: \"This paper considers the second approach.\" or \"In this paper, we consider the second approach.\" -passive: \"The screening procedure is illustrated in Figure 5.\" -active: \"Figure 5 shows the screening procedure.\"If you did the work, or if you think something is right, then you should say it. Don't say, \"It is felt by us that...\" or \"One of us...\". Take responsibility for your ideas or work. Classical science writing encouraged the use of impersonal language at the expense of readability and clarity. But the contemporary trend is to use personal pronouns sometimes for a livelier style and easier reading.Lists are often a good way to present material clearly and concisely. All items in a list should be grammatically parallel in their construction. Sometimes, however, an author starts a list one way and then switches gear, changing to a different construction half-way through.It would be wrong, for example, to write: \"The objectives of the society can be met if it provides member farmers with:-a milk-collection and marketing service; -to dry their pyrethrum and market it; -ploughing and harrowing services for members; -marketing their wool for them.\"A good way to check if your series is parallel is to see if each item correctly completes the introductory part of the list. The rule of parallel construction applies even if the list is in straight text, without bullet points.Hedging, or qualifying a statement, is done when you are not certain of the truth of what you are writing. You may use conditional verbs and qualify what you want to say. It is good to say \"perhaps\" when you are not sure of something, but it can be taken to extremes.You can still stop short of being too definite by using a single conditionalnot:\"Within the limits of experimental error, and taking into account the variation in the statistical treatment, it may be likely that the drug produced a favourable response in the sample of patients.\" but:\"The drug appears to have produced a favourable response...\".The latter says the same thing and is a lot more effective in delivering its message.Watch carefully to make sure your paper does not include hidden biases in its language. To say \"the farmer and his wife\", especially in Africa, is not only biased, it is probably inaccurate, as a high percentage of African farmers are women.The English language has many words with discriminatory overtones, such as spokesman, chairman, mankind. The following guidelines give advice on how to write in English without bias.\" …make sure your paper does not include hidden biases in its language \" 5.5 QuantificationDo not use \"to man\" as a verb. Work, staff, serve, operate and other alternatives may be used insteadnot:\"The emergency room must be manned at all times.\" but:\"The emergency room must be staffed at all times.\"Speakers and writers often use \"man\"-prefixed compounds in contexts where man represents males alone, or both males and females. Alternatives for man here are humanity and human beings. With a little thought, sentences can be rewrittennot:\"Will mankind murder Mother Earth or will he rescue her?\" but:\"Will human beings murder the Earth or will they rescue it?\"Various sex-neutral alternatives to \"man-made\" are available, including hand-made, hand-built (in this case \"man-\" comes from the Latin manus, hand); also synthetic, manufactured, fabricated, machine-made, constructed.\"Manpower\" can usually be replaced by personnel, staff, workforce, workers, human resources.Again, with thought, sentences may be rewrittennot:\"A spokesman of the corporation will meet with the press at 4 pm.\" but:\"A representative of the corporation will meet with the press at 4 pm.\"not:\"Englishmen are said to prefer tea.\" but:\"The English are said to prefer tea.\"See Table 5.1 for additional recommended alternatives. Use lady only as a parallel to gentleman; the term has become debased and its use is often jocularPeople, humanity, human beings, humankind, the human species, the human race, we, ourselves, men and women, Homo sapiens, one, the public, society[to] Man (verb) Operate, work, staff serve at (or on, or in)Man and the biosphere While existing titles of programmes, documents and so forth cannot be changed, avoid man, he, etc., in all cases in new titles It has been common in English to use the pronouns he, his and him to refer to any unspecified or hypothetical person. Using \"he or she\" and \"his or her\" is clumsy, and becomes especially awkward when repeated. A writer can often recast the material in the plural, for examplenot:\"Each farmer received his share.\"but:\"All farmers received their share.\"not:\"The learner should not be cut off from his roots; his own culture and traditions should be respected.\"but:\"Learners should not be cut off from their roots; their own cultures and traditions should be respected.\"One may also substitute \"he\" with \"they\" without changing the verb. This may seem grammatically wrong, but, in fact, \"they\" was used as a singular pronoun long ago, as in Lord Chesterfield's remark (1759):\"If a person is born of a gloomy temper … they cannot help it.\"Pronouns may be eliminated by repeating the noun to which they refer, but this can also sound clumsy. Instead, a synonym or substitute for the word may be usednot:\"The farmer may have to do all the field work himself.\"but:\"The farmer may have to do all the field work alone.\"not:\"With this technology, the farmer makes best use of his farmyard manure and his green manure.\" but:\"With this technology, the farmer uses farmyard manure and green manure to the best advantage.\"Instructions or practical advice can avoid the problem by addressing the reader directly, for example -\"The warehouse store is another way for you to curb your food bills.\"\"One\", or the passive voice, sometimes serves as a third-person pronoun.\"The warehouse store is another way for one to curb one's food bills.\"or:\"The warehouse store is another way for one to curb food bills.\"or:\"Food bills can be curbed by using the warehouse store.\"Contracts and similar formal documents may be found with \"he/she\", '\"his/her\", and so on, where one pronoun or the other must be selected. However, avoid using \"he/ she\" in your writing.The assignment of gender to common-gender nouns may distort the information being presented, as when terms such as immigrants, settlers and farmers are used in contexts that refer to males only. Many farmers in the developing world are women.According to United Nations estimates, women produce 60-80% of the food supply in Africa and Asia. Nevertheless, many people will be surprised and even confused by a statement such as \"The farmer showed she knew more than the scientist.\"Gratuitous modifiers often slip into writing as a result of prejudice or out of habit, such as \"women scientists\", \"women students\", \"a woman photographer\". In most cases, such gender-specific modifiers can be deleted.Many pronouns in English are traditionally (not grammatically) given a gender. Cars and ships are frequently called \"she\". Use \"it\" instead. Do not write \"sister centre\" or \"sister institution\"; instead use \"related centre\" or \"sibling centre\", or change the sentence.These words have strong overtones of immaturity and dependence (in the case of girl), and of decorum and conformity (in the case of lady). They can be very offensive, as for example in:\"I'll have my girl make some copies right away.\"\"The ladies may join us at the coffee break.\"\"Lady\" is not a synonym for woman. Lady is used most effectively to evoke a certain standard of propriety, correct behaviour or elegance. However, ladies may safely be used in the formula \"ladies and gentlemen\".Used as either a noun or an adjective, \"female\" is appropriate when the corresponding choice for the other sex would be male:\"The ewe had triplets last night: two females and one male.\" \"Woman\" is the most useful all-round word for referring to an adult female person:\"The project team of seven women and five men was chosen quickly.\"Traditionally, women tend to be seen as wives, whereas men are called men more often than husbands, which is the appropriate parallel term. Spouse is a genderneutral word. If the husband is referred to, then his spouse is his wife. If the wife is referred to, then her spouse is her husband.\"To father\" (the biological act of insemination) is disappearing. A new word, parenting, is gaining acceptance.Note also the following errornot:\"Research scientists often neglect their wives and children.\" [Thus the scientists must be men.] but:\"Research scientists often neglect their families.\" [The scientists may be men or women.]Used as a noun, woman connotes independence, competence and seriousness of purpose as well as sexual maturity.Emphasis on the physical characteristics of people, particularly women, is offensive in contexts where men are described in terms of achievements or character. It is still common to come across gratuitous references to a woman's appearance in contexts where similar references to a man would be ludicrous. Similarly, there is no need to refer to anyone's complexion or build in scientific or official writing.Language used to describe women's actions often implies that women behave more irrationally and emotionally than men; for example, it would seem that women \"bicker\" whereas men \"disagree\".Women are frequently referred to by their first names in circumstances where men are called by their last names, in particular in the titles of papers and books. There is no reason for this. However, some women prefer to use their first names to avoid possible confusion. This is a matter of personal preference. Unless specifically requested, use initials only. The impression created, intentionally or not, is that women merit less serious consideration and less respectnot:\"Dr J.D. Morgan and Dr Judith James\" but:\"Dr J.D. Morgan and Dr J.E. James\".Because many people feel strongly about social titles, the obvious and courteous solution for anyone writing about, or to, a particular woman is to follow her preference. If this is not known, use Ms.The salutation \"Dear Sir or Madam\" is permissible but clumsy. \"To the addressee\" or \"To whom it may concern\" can be better. Some contemporary letter forms omit the formal salutation altogether.\" Good scientific writing communicates in simple terms, even though the subject may be complicated \"Dealing with numbers, units, nomenclature and abbreviationsScience publishers are very particular in the way that they present numbers, units and other terms. There are some standards, but different journals follow their own rules for many of the numerical aspects of writing papers. Journal editors want all the papers in their journals to use the same forms of units, abbreviations, etc. in a standard format. You should study carefully papers in previous issues of the journal you have chosen, and look at the Instructions to Authors for guidance. The styles used in science writing are very specialised. This chapter presents rules and methods of handling numbers, etc. that are most common. More specific information will be found on the website of the specific journal.After completing this chapter, you will be able to:-understand the importance of correct usage and nomenclature in scientific publishing; -use the units, abbreviations, nomenclature and terminology that are common in research papers.Abbreviations and symbols can have several forms; simple English words can appear in various forms as well. In fact, many words in English can have different forms, each one of them correct (e.g. appendices, appendixes). There are many different ways of presenting and using numbers, units and abbreviations. Even a simple unit can have a number of variations, for example:-29 kg/ha (space before unit); -29kg/ha (no space before unit); -29 kg per ha; -29kg per ha; -29 kg ha -1 ; -29kg ha -1 .A number is more quickly read and understood than a word, for example, two thousand and six compared with 2006. A standard convention with numbers is that, if there is no unit, then write out the numbers from one to nine in words, and use figures for numbers of 10 and above, for example, \"more than two\" and \"over 500\".In either style, start a sentence with words:\"Fifty-two of the respondents were…\"Use numbers with all units of measurement, even those below 10:3 ml; 5 m; 10 kg.A standard convention in technical and scientific papers is to put a single space in between the number and the unit (5 ml) unless the style guide specifically states otherwise.Objectives and expected learning outcomesThe Système International d'Unités (SI) (see below) recommends that numbers of four digits should be written without any space, comma or point: 1000; 4567Five-digit numbers should be written with a space after the third figure:10 000; 98 765.There is a very good reason for this. In some parts of the world, the decimal point is marked with a comma, but in other parts it is a full stop or period, so 10,500 means ten point five to some people and ten thousand five hundred to others. To avoid this, SI recommends using a point for the decimal (10.5 = ten point five) and a space for every three zeros from the decimal (21 000 = twenty-one thousand; 42 000 000.5 = forty-two million point five).In a table or column with a mixture of values, but not in text, four-digit figures should also be written with a space so that they line up neatly:23 678 10 456 6 990 3 000Adjust your units to avoid too many zeros in numbers less than one, for example, 45 mg, not 0.000 45 g. Another way to avoid this is to use numbers with factors of 10 after them:3 500 000 = 3.5 × 10 6 .Use billion to mean 1000 million. To avoid ambiguity with former usage (a million million), define this in an abbreviations list or at first mention (by putting 1000 million in brackets).Some journals use the negative exponential with units, for example, 560 mg kg -1 , rather than 560 mg/kg, although the SI web page uses the mg/kg form.The numbers in ranges are usually written in full, for example 1992-2003, to avoid any ambiguity. Some journals require the form 1982-03. Check in the instructions to authors. Note that the US usage \"1994 through 1996\" is very convenient as it means \"from the start of 1994 up to the end of 1996\", although some journals will discourage this use.If you are using the Microsoft Word program, use a non-breaking space (Ctrl+Shift+space) between numbers and units and five-digit+ numbers. This will keep the whole expression on one line, rather than allowing Word to break it in two if it comes at the end of a line. Ctrl+Shift+hyphen will give you a non-breaking hyphen.You can also insert these by using Insert/Symbol in Word.There is real danger of confusion when writing dates, because Most journals use the metric system based on the Système International d'Unités (SI). You will be familiar with most of these. You should always express all quantities as metric units. If you are using traditional or local units, or a unit that may be well known only in one country, you should always include a metric equivalent so that other workers can fully understand the amounts you are talking about.Note that SI uses these spellings:-metre (and litre) -kilogram.Prefixes for SI units are listed in Table 6.1. The dictionary defines nomenclature as \"a … system of names for things; terminology of a science, etc.; systematic naming\". There are different systems of nomenclature for different fields of science. There are nomenclatures for animals and microorganisms, chemical and biochemical nomenclatures, physical and mathematical nomenclatures.The important point is that each system of nomenclature is well recognised, published and understood by a wide circle of scientists, with strict rules, so that any new name made up under these rules is instantly understandable to anyone who knows the rules, or who knows where to look for them.There are standard ways of naming animals and microorganisms, chemicals and biochemicals. Most journals' Instructions to Authors include detailed explanations of the nomenclature needs for papers submitted, and their web pages contain plenty of advice.Chemical, biochemical and molecular biological nomenclature should be based on rules of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB). Chapter 16 of Huth (1994) gives guidelines (see Resources at the end of this chapter).Abbreviations, shortened forms of a word or term, are very common in science. Many scientific, technical and industrial bodies have adopted standard forms of abbreviation. The object of using shortened forms is to save space and make reading easier.The danger with abbreviations is that the reader may not understand the abbreviation. When you use abbreviations, be sure to explain them on first use, and perhaps include a comprehensive list of them in the paper as well. The safest way is to use the term in full the first time it occurs in the text, and give the abbreviation you intend to use in brackets. From then on, you can use it quite safely. You can also include a list of the abbreviations or acronyms you use so that readers can look them up easily.Journal editors are always watching for correct use of abbreviations in the papers they publish. Most have a list of terms that may be used, and others that may not be. Different journals will have different policies. You will find a description of the use of symbols and abbreviations in almost all Instructions to Authors.An acronym is a word formed from the initial letters of other words, for example, WHO (World Health Organization), IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry). As a general principle, acronyms do not have a full point between the capital letters.Symbols are similar to abbreviations or acronyms, but they are usually shorter, for example, A 260nm for absorbance at 260 nm, P i for inorganic phosphate, Ω for ohm. Many symbols are very widely accepted and do not need definition (such as %).Taxonomy is a complicated subject, and the names of particular species need to be given very clearly in any paper you are writing. You should take care to find out and give the complete species name (the full binomial name in Latin) in the title, the abstract, and the first time it appears in a paper, in italic type. Afterwards the generic name is abbreviated to a single letter, for example, Escherichia coli becomes E. coli.The genus name always begins with a capital letter; the species name always with a small letter. The same rule applies to subgenera and subspecies.A genus name can be used alone, but a species name must always be preceded by the name (or the initial) of the genus. If the species is unknown, or if you are referring to several species in a genus, you can use 'sp.' (for one species) or 'spp.' (for more than one species):The words or abbreviations that are not part of the Latin scientific name itself are not put in italics: sp., spp., var., cv., etc.Scientific names of all categories above the genus -family, order, phylum -start with a capital letter but are not italicised:Compositae Diptera Arthropoda Often a scientific name is the same as the common name. In these cases, the word is not put in italics or capitalised:Acacia acacia. Paul NeateThere are many different styles for citing and listing references; every publisher and every journal seems to prefer its own variations. There is not a \"right way\" and a \"wrong way\" of citing and listing references, but there are many ways, some with major, some with minute stylistic differences. Butcher et al. (2006) state \"The exact punctuation within references does not matter, provided all the necessary information is given clearly and consistently.\"For simplicity, the reference examples given in this chapter follow a minimal punctuation style; CTA's own house style is to use full points and commas within author names.How to choose which style to use? Where possible, you should obtain the Instructions to Authors for the publication for which you are writing, and follow its rules. Such a guide is generally published in the first issue of a new volume of the journal, and on the journal's website. Failing to follow a journal's style creates the impression that your paper was not written with that particular journal in mind. Top journals, in particular, receive far more papers than they can possibly publish, and you risk having your paper rejected out of hand if you do not follow their instructions precisely.After completing this chapter, you will be able to:-recognise the three common styles of citations and references in the biological sciences; -cite a reference correctly in the text; -be aware of the elements of a publication that are included in a reference; -construct a reference list with the elements listed correctly.There are three common citation and reference styles in the biological sciences:-name-year system; -numbered alphabetical list; -citation-sequence system, most frequently used in medical sciences.In the name-year system, the author and year of publication are given in parentheses in the text; the list is arranged in alphabetical order.Text citation \" Ajayi (1987) demonstrated…\" or \"previous research (Ajayi 1987) has shown…\"; \"Franzel et al. (1989) found that…\" or \"similar to previous findings (Franzel et al. 1989)…\"The list in the numbered alphabetical system is arranged in the same order as in the name-year system, but the references are numbered. The citation in the text is by a number in parentheses or a superscript number, rather than name and year.\"previous research has shown (2) In the citation-sequence system, references are numbered in the sequence in which they are cited: the first reference cited is numbered 1, the second 2, etc. Citations are indicated by the number of the reference cited. The references are listed in numerical order. Each citation in the text is given a number, superscript or in parentheses, in the order in which it is first mentioned; the reference list is arranged sequentially by number and is not alphabetical. The main name of all authors is given first, followed by initials.\"…previous research has shown1,2…\" or \"Franzel et al. [1] and Ajayi [2] showed that…\" \" Careless documentation that leads fellow scientists to waste time pursuing a faulty reference should lead to your obliteration from the scientific community.\" The explanations and examples given here are for the name-year system. But all the reference systems require the same items of information, largely in the same order.Within reference systems there are many variations, some minute, such as whether to enclose the year in parentheses; whether to put full stops after authors' initials; whether to write journal titles in full or abbreviate them. The general objective of the citation style recommended by most science editors' associations is to produce an easily understood citation with a minimum of punctuation marks.The rules given here, for the name-year system, are those followed by many international agricultural research centres. You should modify them according to the style of your organisation and/or the style of the publication for which you are writing.Use no comma between author and year: \"Some trees are tall and some are short (Mungai 1990). Mungai and Taylor (1993), however, state that 'a tree is a bush that made it'.\"If you are giving several quotes from a work, then be specific as to location as follows:(Mungai 1990 p 33) (Mungai 1990 pp 33-44) (Mungai 1990 ch 7)\" There are many different styles for citing and listing references; every publisher and every journal seems to prefer its own variations \"In any given year, works written by an author precede those edited by the same author.Alphabetise \"Mc\" following the order of the letters, not as if it were written out \"Mac\": MacBrayne, Mackenzie, McDonald. Alphabetise \"St\" in the same way, not as if it were written out \"Saint\": Simmons, Stanley, St Vincent.The major components in the listing for a journal article, in order, are:-author -date -title of work cited -name of journal -volume, inclusive pages.The major components for a book are:-author -date -title of book -city of publication, publisher.The major components for a chapter in a book or a paper in a proceedings are:-author -date -title of chapter or paper -inclusive page numbers -title of book or proceedings -city of publication, publisher.Generally the author's surname or main name should be given first, followed by the initial letter(s) of their given name(s Often the best approach is to determine how the names have been alphabetised and handled in previously published work.Many languages and cultures have their own systems of naming and alphabetising.Here are some guidelines on some of these, taken from the style guide of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute.The family name of most Arab names comes last, so take the final name as a basis for ordering. Include, but do not take into account (for alphabetising), any prefixes such as ibn-or abu-.Spell the name as given in the original work. The names are traditionally written with the family name first, so do not reverse the sequence of the names, or use commas, unless the name has been westernised, with initials, e.g. TJ Chin.The Burmese do not use family names. Take the main part of the name for alphabetising, the initial will most probably be a title.French names can start with the articles le, la, l', du, de la, etc. Since there is such variety, ignore the articles (see German and Dutch names, below).These can be very confusing. Some Dutch names begin with 'van' and some German names with 'Von'. One approach is to take the main names as the subject and put the rest behind the name, as in:Klaus, Von, DJL Meer, van, PH Veer, van de, TR.Another is to leave the 'Von' or 'van' where it is, but still read the first letter of the name:van Meer, PH van de Veer, TR Von Klaus, DJL.Many journals will have their own specific way of treating these names. Be careful that van and Von begin with a capital or small letter, as cited in the original reference.The surname appears last in Indian names. Some Indians have only one name.Many Indonesians have or use only one name. If they use two or more, use the last name as a basis for ordering.The family name comes first in Japan and so should be treated like Chinese names. However, in most journals the name will have been westernised, with the family name last.Surnames are usually double-barrelled, for example, Hosé Ortega Garcia. Use Ortega for ordering. Ignore words like y and de, go to the start of the surname.The family name comes last in Thai names, so the name should be inverted.The family name comes first and so the order should not be changed.The first name is the person's given name, the last name is the father's given name. Ethiopian names should be written out in full, not abbreviated or reversed.The title of an article in a journal or magazine, or a chapter in a book, is not italicised, nor is it enclosed in quotation marks. Capitalisation is sentence style -capitalise only the first word and proper nouns, as you would in a sentence.It is common to capitalise the first word and all significant words in book and journal titles. The title of a book, or the name of a journal, may be italicised, although this becoming less common. The journal title may or may not be abbreviated, according to journal or house style. There are definite rules for abbreviation of words in the title.If you do not know the proper abbreviation (which you usually can find in the journal in which you read the article), it is better to write out the whole title, then the editor can determine the correct abbreviation.If text is to be italicised, use italics rather than underlining if possible. But note that words that are normally italicised, such as genus and species names, appear in roman if they occur in a title that is italicised.Often extra information is included in the reference list, such as the edition of a book; the volume number if the book is one of a set of several volumes; the inclusive pages if the work cited is a chapter in a book. See the examples in the following section.Give the publisher and the city where the book was published. One style is to give the city followed by a colon, then the name of the publisher followed by a full stop. Another, increasingly common style is to give the publisher, followed by a comma, then the city of publication (and often the country in which the city is located Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.In general, it is best to avoid citing unpublished reports, as they may not be readily accessible to the reader of your paper. Some journals do not permit inclusion of unpublished reports in a reference list. They must then be cited in the text in the same way as personal communications: (Anthony Youdeowei 1993, unpublished report).If including unpublished reports -such as a paper presented at a conference or report produced for internal use -in the reference list, you should not italicise the title. -Tables are good for presenting precise numerical data.-Graphs are best for illustrating trends and relationships among sets of variables.-Figures and photos give vivid evidence of research findings.After completing this chapter, you will be able to:-recognise the faults in poorly prepared tables; -construct well designed tables.The first consideration in designing your tables is -where do you intend to publish your report? If you are writing for a particular journal, your first step should be to obtain and follow that journal's style guide. Most journals' guidelines do not specify the dimensions of tables that are acceptable, so look at the size and layout of the journal for an idea of what will fit. Aim to construct your tables to fit across one column or the full width of the page (assuming a two-column layout). If possible, avoid tables that are too wide to fit across the width of a page; consider breaking large tables into several smaller ones.One thing to remember: do not duplicate information across text, tables and graphics. The data should be reported in only one form. If your data can be reported simply in text, do so -tables and graphics are time-consuming and expensive to prepare and reproduce.As you write, make life easy for your reader: tell them what the data show, do not expect them to work it out for themselves. For example, do not write \"The results of the trial are summarised in A table is a systematic arrangement of data or information in a format that allows the reader to observe variations or trends and make comparisons. Generally a table consists of most or all of the following elements:-number and title; -column headings; -stub, or row headings; -field, or body of the table; -footnotes.Tables may be constructed using numbers, as in Table 8.1 (which also names the parts of a table); symbols (Table 8.2); a mixture of words and numbers (Table 8.3); or words only and no numbers (Table 8. 4). These examples show the variety of ways in which different kinds of information can be communicated through tables. The choice of the method adopted depends on the nature of the information to be communicated.    A table should be able to stand alone: casual readers often read the tables and figures to get the main points of a paper before deciding if they want to invest time reading the whole paper. Also, tables are often reproduced out of context (e.g. in another paper, or as an overhead for a presentation).Every table in a manuscript for publication should have a number and be numbered sequentially: Table 1, Table 2, and so on. Do not use modifiers for table numbers such as Table 1a.Tables should be numbered in the same order as they are cited in the text.Tables should present analysed and summarised data, not raw data.Give the table a clear and concise title, which immediately tells the reader its contents. Apply logic to the sequence in which data are presented in tables.Be consistent: use the same sequence of columns and rows in tables presenting similar information.Use the same units, symbols and terminology in text, tables and graphics, for example, do not use t/ha in a table and then use kg/ha in the text.Discuss information in the same order in the text as it is presented in the tables and graphics.Do not put data in a table if they can be easily and clearly presented in the text; a rule of thumb is that the table field should contain at least eight items. If percentages are used (e.g. in describing solutions), distinguish between percentage by weight (w/w) or percentage by volume (v/v).Align the data in columns for ease of comparison down the column. In most cases, this will mean aligning numbers on the decimal point.Data should be rounded for significance: 76.4, not 76.42796.Think about the accuracy of your data collection: for example, if you are reporting on a small-plot trial, does it make sense to report a grain yield of 5671 kg/ha rather than 5.7 t/ha? Use a zero (0) when writing data values less than 1, for example, 0.25 kg.Choose units to avoid too many digits, e.g. 240 μg rather that 0.000 24 g.Use powers of 10 to avoid numbers with strings of zeros: 39 200 000 should be written as 3.92 × 10 7 . For column headings, follow the designation of units with '000 to indicate thousands, and use 42 as the entry for 42 000.Avoid using a dash (-) in tables, but rather indicate whether no data were available (nd), the item is not applicable (na), or whatever may be the circumstances, using footnotes if necessary.Do not use numbers with multipliers in column headings as this can cause confusion.Use appropriate symbols to identify items that are explained in the footnotes, depending on the journal style. These may be superscript numbers ( 1, 2 ), superscript letters ( a, b ) or symbols (usually the following, in this order: †, ‡, §, ¶). Avoid using asterisks (*) other than for indications of significance. Choose a system that will not be confused with data in the table.Use a consistent system for indicating statistical significance. One common standard is: * P ≤ 0.05, ** P ≤ 0.01, *** P ≤ 0.001. State which test of significance was used. In Table 8.5, the independent or fixed variables (in this case, cultivars) are arranged in rows, while the columns are the dependent, or measured, variables. In Table 8.6, the arrangement is reversed. It would be better to have one arrangement for both tables, to help readers orient themselves. Most people find that it is easier to compare numbers or entries running down a column than across a row. In this case, Table 8.5 has the better arrangement.Another consideration is the sequence in which to present the information. If there is a reference treatment or entry (Robusta, in the case of Table 8.5), it is best to put this in the first or last row. The most important variable, the one on which you want your readers to focus (whole plant weight, in this case), ideally should come in the first column, although this may have to depend on logic if, for example, the focus is on a derived parameter.Again, the sequence of the independent variables or rows should be guided by the message you want your readers to pick up from the table. If, for example, you want to highlight those with the highest whole plant weight, you could order the rows from heaviest to lightest (leaving the reference row at the top or the bottom).Based on these considerations, Table 8.5 could be improved by ordering the rows in descending order of whole plant weight and by removing the columns for parameters that show no significant variation -these can be mentioned in text, with a simple range of values across the treatments (Table 8.7).Following this approach, Table 8.6 would be rearranged to match Table 8.7. You should keep the same order of rows in the tables, to help readers compare results across the tables (Table 8.8).These changes both improve the readability of the tables and make them smaller, which simplifies the layout of your final paper in its printed form.   Illustrations are frequently used in presenting scientific data because they present information in a way that is easy to read and understand quickly. As illustrations (often called figures) are intended to present data vividly, they must be simple and clear so that readers can immediately understand the message. Illustrations present information in a form that otherwise would need many words.This chapter suggests some guidelines for making clear and effective illustrations for your scientific papers and reports.After completing this chapter, you will be able to:-understand the basic principles of preparing illustrations for scientific papers and reports; -recognise faults in badly prepared illustrations; -prepare good illustrations from numerical data.-be simple and clear; -contain relevant legends; -be independent of the text and of each other; -be visually appealing, not crowded; -be organised in the way data are presented.According to the Council of Biology Editors (1988), illustrations should do the following:-show the data without distorting what they have to say; -lead the viewer into the substance of the data with ease; -encourage comparison of different pieces of data; -present statistical information in a small space selectively, without being too densely packed (i.e. good composition); -match the content and style of presentation to the abilities, knowledge and preferences of the target audience; -take into account the final production/printing process.Line graphs demonstrate relationships among data, or dynamic comparisons. Actual quantities are not marked on line graphs, they tend to be obscure. The type of line graph selected depends on the purpose of the graph and the type of data. An example is shown in Figure 9 A flow chart shows a process or a complicated system (Figure 9.5). These are used when processes, sequences or systems need to be presented in a successive and organised fashion.  Producing scientific illustrations is a skilled activity. Scientific illustration is a profession, and people are trained as graphic artists and scientific illustrators. Some institutions have in-house scientific illustrators, and you may be able to seek their assistance with your illustrations.However, even if you have not been trained as a scientific illustrator, you can still produce good illustrations for your paper. This has been made easier by the use of computer programs such as Harvard Graphics, MS Word and MS Excel. For example, once data have been entered in an Excel file, you can choose the type of illustration needed (pie chart, line graph, histogram) and the program will produce the illustration accurately.When making illustrations, the most important issue is to decide what is to be illustrated -you need to ask the question \"How best can the data or information be presented in a pictorial form?\"Examine the data carefully, and decide on what should be illustrated and which type of illustration best suits the data or information you wish to present.demonstrates the relationships between two data sets or a dynamic comparison over time.shows the frequency distribution of observations for each class of variables, such as weights or crop yields.Pie chart compares sizes or proportions of components of a system.Flow chart explains a process or system.shows the pattern of an experimental layout or a geographical map of the distribution of insect pests, for example, over a country or region.Line drawings illustrate objects or present numerical data.show the actual appearance of a specimen or something you wish to describe.Make your figures simple enough so that the reader can understand the message instantly. A figure that tries to show too many things usually ends up not showing anything clearly. The figure you submit for publication should be drawn and lettered neatly as it may not be redrawn for publication.Journals provide guidelines on how to present illustrations. Usually it is best to submit each figure on a separate page with appropriate legends; the editor will incorporate each figure into the text in the most appropriate place on the page of the journal.Letter sizes, fonts and styles are used to ensure information stands out -follow the importance of the information. Axis labels should be the largest and boldest letters on the figure. For maximum legibility, keep labels in upper and lower case, in a sans serif typeface of medium weight. Units of measurement should be given in parentheses in lower case letters: (°C).Artwork should be larger rather than smaller than the finished print size.Illustrations should be simple enough to convey the message with ease. Originals should be clear and sharp.Scanned images should reproduce easily and clearly.Council of Biology Editors (1988) Illustrating Science: Standards for Publication. Scientific Illustration Committee of the Council of Biology Editors, Chicago, IL, USA.Points to remember\" Illustrations provide information in a form that otherwise would need many words \"The findings of your investigation should be reported in the Results section of a scientific paper. Here we assume that you have already written the earlier sections of your report, have done part of the analysis, and have produced provisional tables (Chapter 8) and graphs (Chapter 9).You are nearing the end of your research road. Just like building a real road, this should be an exciting stage because the end is in sight. It is also a vital stage. A research grant or other support for your work has been given in good faith, and respondents and collaborators have given their time, on the assumption that the research gap needed to be filled. If no report or paper is produced, it is like taking funds to build a road and squandering them, so there is no road. If the report is done only sketchily, it is like building a substandard road that will soon need further work because it is not fit for purpose.Many people feel strongly that taking money to build a road and then squandering the funds, so there is no long-lasting road, is a clear case of corruption. Taking funds for research and failing to report the results is the same.After completing this chapter, you will be able to:complete the analysis necessary to report your research results in scientific papers.It is usually necessary to include a description of the statistical methods that have been used. This is so that readers can see that the methods are appropriate, and so the analyses could be repeated later if necessary. In simple cases a clear description can be given briefly, as in Box 10.1.The average soil nitrate was calculated from the 10 samples in each plot. Logs of the plot means were taken to stabilise the variance, before calculating an analysis of variance, based on the randomised block design.In other cases it can be difficult to be brief, because the analysis involved many steps or was otherwise non-standard. There then has to be a compromise between an incomplete and a detailed description. You must be clear about any data that were omitted from the analysis, and the reasons for the omission. It is usual to name and give a reference for the statistical software that was used. If the analysis was particularly complex or novel, it may be appropriate to give the software commands that were used. These may be in an appendix to the paper, or on a website.The study you have undertaken was to fill a knowledge gap. This gap was described in the Introduction of your paper or report. It led to the specification of the study, which has been described in the Methods section. Now you are ready to report on how the results of your study have filled this gap, or at least provided evidence to help to fill it.Your results may reinforce, or they may contradict, results from previous studies that have been reported in the literature. When the comparison is simple, it may be mentioned briefly in the results section, for example:\"The results in Table 7 confirm those in Youdeowei et al. (2002), and show that variety xxx gave the highest yields, except in 1999, which was an exceptionally dry year.\"Usually comparisons are not so simple: there may be caveats because of the different years, sites, sampling schemes, etc. In that case, comparisons with previous work should be left to the Conclusions section of your paper, because these caveats will distract the reader from the evidence provided by your study.You are writing a scientific paper, so you must report the evidence that can be drawn from your study in an objective way. In the conclusion to the paper, you may also wish to add your personal views. This is permissible, but you must distinguish between the evidence from the study and your personal views. Avoid letting your personal views bias the tables, graphs and reporting of the study.If research is well planned and executed, and is solving a real problem, the report is usually easy to write. If not, difficulties are often resolved by reviewing the research as a whole. Common reasons for difficulties include the following.The case for the research, or the research objectives, may not have been specified sufficiently clearly. A clear specification should have implied the measurements to be taken, the treatments to be applied, and so on. Box 10.2 gives an example where the routine measurements taken were not related to the objectives.Box 10.2 Dealing with a measurement that cannot be reported easilyIn a study on maize, the most time-consuming task was measuring the height of the plants. This was done on 10 plants, randomly selected in each plot. The team knew how to do the analysis, but reporting the results did not satisfy the \"so what?\" test. It merely confirmed that some maize varieties were taller than others, which was already well known from early breeding trials on the same varieties.Examining the knowledge gaps and the objectives showed that they did not relate to plant height. Furthermore, the research team could not think of any further useful objectives that could be added at the analysis stage, that would use the measurement of heights.Further discussion showed that tradition (we always measure plant height), rather than the objectives, had dictated the measurements to be made.The solution was to omit any reporting of plant height in this study, and also to save funds in future studies by measuring only the variables that could be justified by the objectives.Why might effective reporting of the results be difficult?10.4.2 An inappropriate methodology was used for the researchThe example in Box 10.3 shows the use of an inappropriate methodology for the objectives that were specified. This was an extreme case; more commonly the objectives may have to be modified once the data are available. There may be four objectives, and you now realise that one of them is unattainable, given the data.A cotton-production group demanded research from the National Agricultural Research System cotton specialist. They reported that they currently planted their cotton earlier than before because of climate change. However, sometimes early planting had led to problems when the cotton was ready for harvest but the rains were still continuing. They required information on the optimal planting date.The researcher felt that this problem demanded the use of long-term climatic records, which he obtained from the National Meteorological Service. But he was trained as an experimenter, and did not know how to process the climate data. He therefore designed an experiment with a single treatment factor of planting date, at six levels. This was conducted for 3 years and analysed with the usual analysis of variance (ANOVA). He was now ready to write the report and present the results.The report showed only that the optimal date was different each year -a fact already well known by the cotton group. Looking back at the objectives, the researcher had been correct in obtaining the historical climate data, but not in doing the single-factor experiment.Perhaps the study was on diseases or pests in years when they do not occur; or on different varieties in years when a pest is prevalent. A survey may suffer from a very low response rate, or from questions being understood differently by different groups.Often the difficulties can be resolved partially by modifying the objectives. Some of the objectives may no longer be realisable, but the difficulties may also permit a new objective to be added.In extreme cases, the objectives simply cannot be realised. Then a report may have to be changed substantially, for example, it might assess whether the methodology that was adopted should be avoided in future years. The report becomes effectively one of a pilot study that recommends the ways for further action, if any.Sometimes the analysis is separated from the report writing. A junior staff member may be asked to \"do\" the analysis, and the results are then used by a more senior researcher to write the report.This separation of analysis and reporting was used more commonly before the advent of computers and statistical software encouraged an interactive approach to data analysis. It is not to be encouraged, because it misses the opportunity to adapt the analysis as the first results become available. The analysis is part of your \"voyage of discovery\", which is unlikely to be a very productive voyage if it is specified completely, before seeing the first results.A few staff still restrict the methods of analysis they use to those they were taught as students. Statistical methods have advanced substantially in the past decades, while the limited methods taught earlier concentrated unduly on significance testing, the normal distribution and so on.The role of statistics in your paper or report is to provide the numerical evidence to support the arguments being made. Your detailed results probably have produced numerous tables of means, standard errors, coefficients of variance, analysis of variance tables, regression results, r values, and so on. You now have to sift through these results so you can justify why you are reaching the conclusions in your paper. Do not present results just because you have calculated them.The role of measures of precision (such as standard errors) is to quantify the uncertainty in other numbers, perhaps treatment means. This uncertainty is important because it shows how much confidence can be placed in the other numbers, and hence how firm or clear the conclusions are. Thus these measures of precision are part of the essential information that supports the conclusions, and should be included.It is necessary to discuss statistical results in the text, but you should avoid repeating lists of results that can be see more clearly in the tables or graphs. However, some results from each table or graph must appear in the text, otherwise that table or graph can probably be omitted.In describing the results from a table or graph, avoid long lists of \"effects that are significant\". It is common to find strings of sentences (see Box 10.4) that just repeat items that can seen more clearly in the corresponding table. Instead, the text should draw attention to the important patterns that will later be interpreted (bottom of Box 10.4).Avoid sentences such as:\"Soil nitrate was significantly different (P < 0.05) between treatments in all seasons, except 1997, when it was nearly significant (P = 0.07). Soil ammonia-N was significantly different in the first two seasons, but not in 1997 or 1998.\"Instead, consider something like:\"Soil nitrate and ammonia-N were clearly higher in agroforestry plots than the control, in all years except the driest, when the difference was only half that seen in normal years.\"What should be reported?-\"Significant\" has a different everyday use from the statistical use, and some readers may be confused. \"Significant\" in general use is roughly a synonym for \"important\", whereas a result that is statistically significant may be of no practical importance.-There is no clear boundary between \"significant\" and \"not significant\". The use of 5% and 1% was a convenience in the pre-computer age, when tables could be prepared for only a few probability levels. Instead, phrases such as \"clear evidence for…\", \"some evidence for…\", or \"little reason to believe that…\" enable the current state of your knowledge to be presented more informatively.-Results that are \"not significant\" are sometimes misinterpreted as not being present. A result may exist and be of practical importance, and at the same time be non-significant. This is usually when a study is small or the data are very variable.The significance testing approach is sometimes overused. Many study objectives need estimates not just of whether a treatment difference exists, but of whether the difference is large enough to be useful in some way. It is often more appropriate to give estimates of the size of an effect (e.g. with a confidence interval) than to present statements about significance.The coefficient of variation (cv) is an over-reported summary statistic. It is the residual variation of the data as a percentage of the mean. It makes sense only for variables that are positive, and where the average is meaningful, such as yields; it would not make sense for disease score on a 1-9 scale because it could equally be 0-8, or for temperatures because negative values are possible. The main reason for rationing its use is that the cv is rarely related to the objectives of a study. A low value is usually an indication that an experiment was well conducted. If it is to be discussed, it should be when other aspects of data quality are being considered, such as outliers or missing values.In many studies, the analysis does not finish with conclusions based on a simple analysis of the data. The real objectives of the analysis are met only when the results are used in further analysis. This can take many forms, for example a farm-level financial analysis; a comparison of the results with those from a simulation model; the estimated impact of adoption of the recommended treatment on productivity in the region; or the mapping of potential adoption domains. For example, the measure of precision (standard error) of the benefit of a new treatment compared with the standard is needed (and often ignored) when estimating the financial return on its adoption. What is new is that these further analyses usually combine information from the current study with information from further sources.The tables in Chapter 8 are from a study on a single factor, so the structure of the tables is simple. A revised version of Table 8.7 is given in Table 10.1.The term \"significant\" is overused in papers and reports.Reporting when there is a single factor The objectives of this study can be deduced partly from a section in its introduction titled \"genomic status and fibre yield\". The first table in the paper gives the genomic status of each of the six cultivars, and the results are periodically related to this status. This indicates that the varieties were used, slightly in their own right, but particularly to represent the different genomic status.Unfortunately, it does not appear that the genomic status was used in the analysis. This is perhaps because only simple statistical software was used, but also perhaps because the analysis was distracted by the multiple comparison tests that were in the original tables (Chapter 8).Multiple comparison tests are an overused and misused tool. They are misused when the structure implies particular ordering of the levels, such as fertiliser amount, which is quantitative. In analysing experimental data, the only commonly used factor where the tests can be justified is variety. Hence it is not misuse to consider varieties in the example above. Even in this case, there are two reasons for avoiding multiple comparison tests, as follows.-The objectives of a study are only rarely met by doing significance tests. These tests are usually appropriate only at the start of the analysis. Further analyses move from the testing phase to estimating the size of an effect, in ways that correspond to the objectives.-The logic of multiple comparison tests, though correct, often distracts the analyst from conducting a more perceptive summary of their data, even within the testing framework.In the example above, take the key variable of whole plant weight, used to order the varieties in the table. When considered in relation to genomic status, the weights appear to divide into three groups with the different genomic status. An obvious question is whether there is any detectable variation in plant weight between the varieties within each group, or does the evidence show that the variation can all be explained by the genomic group? In the report, the table could still be given as above, but the text should report the results of this additional test.There was clear structure in the six varieties that were used. This genomic structure was discussed at length in the justification for the research, but it was then ignored in the analysis. In this example, the scientists were distracted by the lure of multiple comparison tests that bore no relation to the objectives of the study.Table 8.8 omitted the variables that were not significant from the original table. This was correct because these variables could then be discussed briefly in the text. However, with the additional genomic structure considered, Table 10.2 above reinserts two of the variables: pH and total carbohydrate (%). Although, ignoring genomic structure, there was no significant difference in the carbohydrate percentage, it is perhaps of interest to note that the three ABB varieties had a mean around 2.15%, compared with around 1.95% for the AAB varieties and 1.1% for the AAA control. It is quite possible also that this genomic status (with 2 degrees of freedom, df) is statistically significant, while the overall variety effect (with 5 df) is not statistically significant, because the varieties within each genomic status have added \"noise\" to the data. In Table 10.2, the reader could learn more if the significant (or critical) difference was given, even if the result is not significant. This could be given together with the NS. Preferably, there would be an extra row in Tables 10.1 and 10.2 that gives the exact significance level. All that is known in Table 10.2 is that pH and carbohydrate has a significance level greater than 5%. The report might be different if the significance level is 6% or 60%.Finally, it is usual to use the same level of significance for all tables, unless there is a good reason otherwise. No reason was given in this paper. With all the improvements that have been suggested for this short paper, the refereeing process is questionable, as well as the statistical support available to the authors.Most studies have multiple factors. The ANOVA then dictates how complicated the tables and graphs need to be. Table 10.3 is taken from Stern et al. (2004), where there is no interaction between two treatment factors.When there is an interaction that is statistically significant but of relatively minor importance, the results could still be presented as shown in Table 10.3, but with an extra row giving the F-test probability for the interaction. The explanation of the interaction should then be explained briefly in the text.When there is an interaction, the results for a single variable may be reported in a two-way table . A skeleton table for more than one variable is shown in Table 10. 4.The role of statistics in your paper or report is to provide the numerical evidence to support the arguments being made \"Many research studies now include a participatory component. The level at which data are collected may be a focus group rather than a household or a plot of land.We assume the sample size (in this case, the number of focus groups) is large enough for the work to be reported in a statistical way, rather than being anecdotal (see Barahona and Levy 2003). Much of the reporting of results can be in simple tables and graphs, usually after coding the information.In addition, most participatory studies also have insightful individual contributions. These can usually be reported in the text, or in separate boxes, taking care that they illustrate valid points in a way that does not mislead readers. Examples from the education section of a study in 36 villages in Uganda are given in Boxes 10.5 to 10.7 (from UBOS 2006).The study found that in rural areas most parents valued education, agreeing that it contributes to individual and collective wellbeing of both family and community. For example:\"There is nothing better a parent can give a child than seeing a child through school.\"(Elderly man, Kirimamboga, Wakiso).Longer stories can be in a box within the text, for example:Box 10.6 Case study: The importance of education \"I am a widow. I have no means of subsistence and I am a squatter on church land. My eldest daughter is 14 years of age; she is in Primary Six but she is in and out of school due to lack of money to pay school dues. My second and third daughters have had to drop out because we can't afford to pay. I took them out of school so that I could pay for the one in Primary Six.The children are losing so much by not going to school. An illiterate person who does not know how to read and write is hopeless. For girls it is worse. You find those near town engaging in prostitution as young as 12 years old. The government should make efforts to make sure that all school-age children can remain in school. Although UPE has helped, books, pencils and other things are not easy for us to afford. As a parent, I am at a loss.\"(Parent, Kabwohe Hill, Bushenyi)In the section on coping mechanisms the following quote is particularly moving in its implications:Box 10.7 Raising money for medical treatmentSale of assets to raise money for medical treatment in case of sickness was reported as a significant coping mechanism:\"My husband sold his bicycle to get money to take me to Kanyeganyege clinic, where I got treatment and recovered.\"(Woman, Kyesika, Bushenyi)In this chapter we have concentrated on the presentation of results, in the text and in tables. This is not to negate the importance of charts (see Chapter 9), but generally more attention has been given to graphs. It is through the appropriate use of all methods that results can be presented in ways that are fair and informative, as well as being eye-catching and clear. Anthony YoudeoweiOral presentation of research results is a major method of communicating the results of a research endeavour. This pattern is commonly adopted in institutional seminars, international conferences, workshops and training courses. Oral presentation is important for effective communication of research results, and improved presentation skills result in more effective communication. Agricultural research scientists, as well as other practising researchers, need to develop good presentation skills.Oral presentation:-is an opportunity for the audience to see, listen to and hear the speaker; -gives the audience only a limited time in which to hear and understand the speaker; -uses visuals to enhance the communication process; -offers the opportunity for two-way interaction between speaker and listeners to facilitate communication.This chapter provides some guidelines for the effective oral presentation of research results.After completing this chapter, you will be able to:-identify the main faults in a poor oral presentation of research results; -improve your skills in preparing presentations for scientific meetings; -develop more effective techniques for making presentations.There are major differences between a scientific paper written for reading and a paper written to be presented at a scientific meeting. A scientist reading a written paper has the luxury of lingering over the text to absorb and understand the contents, even going back to a previous paragraph to help grasp the significance of something later in the text. But in an oral presentation, the listeners may have only one chance to understand the material being presented, so the speaker needs to present each idea clearly -and perhaps even repeat key points and ideas.Research has shown that in oral presentation, it takes an average of 3 minutes to put across a new idea, so the speaker must repeat and expand on an idea several times for the audience to get the message. In most scientific meetings, each speaker (except the keynote or specially invited speakers) is normally allowed only about 15 minutes. The speaker should allow 2 minutes for presenting the introduction and 1 minute for the conclusion. This leaves about 12 minutes for the presentation of the actual research results. This suggested pattern is:-Introduction -2 minutes; -The facts -12 minutes; -Conclusion -1 minute. This is a very short time in which to present research results that probably took several months, seasons or years to complete. This is not an easy task, and scientists who wish to present their research results at scientific meetings should make the time to prepare adequately for the event.What is oral presentation?11.2 Objectives and expected learning outcomesA few key issues should be considered in the process of preparing oral presentations.First: decide on the purpose of the presentation. The primary purpose of making the scientific presentation is to inform your audience about the results of your research work. It could also include persuading your listeners to accept your ideas and take appropriate actions, especially when specific recommendations are made in your presentation -or even to entertain your audience.Following consideration of the purpose of the presentation, other key considerations include the following.Characterise your audience -who are they? Is the audience a group of persons with mixed technical and social backgrounds; or a homogeneous or clearly defined group of specialists, for example entomologists or plant protection specialists? And what are the interests of your audience?What is the objective of your presentation? What do you wish to achieve through it?Here are a few hints about how to prepare and deliver an oral presentation at a scientific meeting.The process for preparing and making oral presentations of research results has the following components: preparation actions; pre-presentation review; and the actual presentation or delivery.Adequate preparation is required to make successful oral presentations. Remember to pay attention to the following issues.-Always prepare your presentation carefully.-Decide on the specific topic of the presentation -make it simple and clear. Cover a limited number of ideas, for example two or three only.-Find out how much time is allowed for the presentation -in conferences, usually 15 minutes maximum.At normal speed, speakers generally deliver about 400 words in 5 minutes. This is about 2 to 2.5 double-spaced, typewritten A4 pages. Therefore, for a 15-minute presentation, your paper should not exceed 10 double-spaced, typewritten A4 pages, including the illustrative matter. The text should contain only your main ideas. Avoid citing references and acknowledgements -these will waste your precious presentation time.-Write your presentation fully. Revise and edit it to improve the technical accuracy and language.-Make it precise and logical.-Make it interesting.-Focus on the major ideas -there is no time for extras. -Do not crowd too much data into the visual materials.-Double-space the text and/or use large letters so that the text is easy to read.-In your presentation text, mark the exact spots where visuals will be presented.-Organise your illustrations in the sequential order that you intend to use them, and number them serially.-Rehearse your presentation with a colleague so that you know it fits into the time allocated.-Anticipate questions and prepare short answers.Dress neatly and well, and avoid flamboyant or outrageous dress that will attract undue attention.Before actually making your presentation, it is useful to review the facilities available in the conference room.These days, most presentations are made as PowerPoint slides, therefore you should develop skills in the design of effective PowerPoint presentations.-A few minutes before the scheduled time of your presentation, usually during the preceding coffee or lunch break, load your PowerPoint slides onto the presentation computer.-Test-run the presentation to ensure the sequence of slides is correct and that the projection on the screen is clear and straight.-Review the text and visuals to ensure they match.-Familiarise yourself with the sitting pattern of the audience and the type and location of the microphone -is it hand-held, or attached to your coat lapel of shirt collar?-Familiarise yourself with the remote control mechanism if one is in use in the conference room.-Review the mechanism for pointing at the screen during presentation to emphasise specific points. The mechanism may be a torch pointer or a rod pointer. It is strongly advisable always to have your own torch pointer whenever you are making a presentation at a scientific meeting.Speak very clearly -and speak to not at your audience.Speak slowly, but not so slowly as to bore your audience.Present a single idea or fact in a variety of ways by varying your construction and voice modulation. Remember to present only one new idea every 3 minutes and repeat it in order to allow your audience to pick up the idea.Adopt a simple, conversational style -do not shout at your audience.Be relaxed and confident. Look at the audience, not at the floor or out of the window, no matter how shy you may be.Allocate your presentation time in the following suggested pattern:-Introduction 35% -Methods 40% -Results and discussion 25%.Pause after each new slide is projected to allow time for your audience to absorb the new material.Do not distract your audience by pacing up and down the room, tripping over the microphone cable, or fiddling continuously with the microphone, and do not place it too close to your mouth because the sound quality will be poor. If possible, complete your presentation 2 minutes before your allocated time is up. Do not get into a running battle with the Chairperson, who will be struggling to stop you talking. Give other speakers a chance to present their work as scheduled in the conference programme.At the end of your presentation, thank the chairperson and the audience for their attention.Agricultural research results are sometimes presented as posters, which are usually mounted on the walls of rooms or along the corridors of research institutions. During scientific conferences, it is common to find many scientific posters on display in specially assigned poster display rooms.At some scientific meetings, special poster sessions are organised during which scientists stand by their posters to answer questions and provide explanations.After completing this chapter, you will be able to:-understand the basic principles in the use of posters for communicating agricultural research results; -plan and design poster presentations of research results for conferences.A scientific poster is a single large page containing all the information to be communicated. In effect, a poster is an abridged form of a journal article, and therefore follows the IMRAD (Introduction, Materials, Results and Discussion) format (see Chapter 3).Posters are a highly effective scientific communication medium generally used at technical workshops, conferences and other scientific meetings.A poster can also be used effectively to present pictures that tell a full story or a research activity, as well as the results. Information in a poster is provided mainly through the use of visuals, so an effective poster must be visually appealing.The main aim of a scientific poster is for the information to be presented through the use of visuals in a well coordinated and organised combination of text and illustrative matter.A good scientific poster should:-be simple and highly informative; -tell the story fully and completely; -be easy to read and understand, with relevant legends; -be visually appealing and attractive to encourage people to read it; -contain text and illustrative matter combined harmoniously to produce an effective presentation; -contain minimal colour clashes, which can confuse readers.The examples in Box 12.1 illustrate how the subject matter of a scientific poster determines its elements. Results -text and illustrations (graphs, histograms, photographs, line drawings or even actual specimens).A poster describing the life cycle of the rice stem borer and its damage to the rice plant Life stages of the rice stem borer.Clear photographs or drawings with short descriptive legends.Rice plants at different stages of damage by the rice stem borer.Photographs or drawings with short descriptive legends.Distribution of the rice stem borer within the geographical region of concern (e.g. a well labelled map of West Africa to indicate its occurrence in different countries).A poster on WARDA's West African Rice Information Services (WARIS) project in Bouaké, Côte d'IvoireColour photographs of the WARDA library and documentation centre, showing shelves with books and journals.Photographs of WARDA library staff involved with in-house document production and distribution of documents to rice scientists.Text that explains briefly the range of information services on rice science provided by the WARIS project.Photographs of the range of CD-ROM agricultural databases available at WARDA.The following steps are suggested for preparing a scientific poster.-Before you start preparing a poster, decide on the precise topic and subject matter you wish to communicate; ensure that the story is interesting and possibly new.-Then proceed to plan the poster in the same way as you plan a research article for a journal (see Chapters 3 and 4).-Write the complete text of the story. Revise it thoroughly until you are satisfied that all the information you wish to communicate has been included.-Edit the text conscientiously to make it brief, without compromising on technical quality or details.-Identify the parts of the text you wish to illustrate. Approach a graphic artist and describe exactly what you wish to show in the poster. The artist will produce a design of the poster for you to review and approve. Study the design carefully.When you are satisfied with it, give approval for the artist to proceed with finalising and producing the poster.If you do not have access to a good graphic artist, you can prepare a good poster yourself. Here are some hints to assist you in preparing a poster for a conference.-Plan, write and edit the text of your poster.-Decide on what you wish to illustrate.-Arrange to make large prints of the pictures you need for the poster.-Make a large sketch of the graphs and diagrams you plan to include. The relative importance of the material being illustrated will determine the relative sizes of your illustrations.-Set the text in large font sizes, about 20-36 point. Make the text concise, brief and clear.-Print out the text groups onto separate sheets of paper, the sizes will vary according to the amount of text.-Check on the overall size of the poster. If you are preparing for a conference, the organisers will usually provide information on the maximum poster size.-Prepare a rough layout plan to scale (Figure 12.1), indicating where each element will fit in the final poster.-Using this layout as a guide, measure the actual sizes of the text and illustrative matter and fit them on a full-size dummy of the poster sheet.-Paste the various sections onto your poster sheet -ensure they are in straight lines, both vertically and horizontally.-To enhance the appearance of your poster, you could print the text on coloured paper, or print it on white and paste the text blocks onto contrasting coloured paper. Photographs, drawings and graphs could also be pasted onto contrasting colour backgrounds. Review your poster critically with a colleague, specifically noting the following:-clarity of the message; -visual appeal and colour scheme; -readability; -balance of text and illustrations.If you are sufficiently computer literate, or have access to desk-top publishing (DTP) facilities and expertise, you can prepare your poster electronically using standard DTP software such as PageMaker, PowerPoint, CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator or InDesign. Once the poster has been designed using the computer, it can be printed to any size you desire. To do this, copy the file to a pen drive and take it to a reliable printer with appropriate facilities to print out your poster to the desired size.Finally -never leave home to go to a scientific conference without the poster you have prepared to communicate your research work -save yourself the embarrassment!Here are some important points to remember when you display a poster at a conference poster session:-display your poster at the point allocated to you; -remember to stand by your poster at the appointed time/s to interact with people viewing it; -anticipate questions and prepare answers; -remember to include your contact information in the poster.  As with a research article, the title is one of the most important parts of a research proposal. It should immediately attract the interest of a potential donor. Therefore the title should be concise and, above all, accurately reflect the content of the project document.With most research project proposals, you will need to designate a project leader and include an abridged curriculum vitae. Donors wish to know who will be responsible for leading the project. Most donors specify requirements that are detailed in the project fund application forms. If there is no requirement to designate a project leader, give at least the name, institutional and correspondence address, details of qualifications, experience and a list of similar project leader assignments undertaken, and a list of selected publications.The project document should have an executive summary which is comprehensive, detailed, not too long, and written in a logical sequence.Assessors will often base their preliminary judgement of your project's merit and immediate suitability to the needs of the potential donor on the executive summary. In just a few sentences you should justify the project, outline the work plan, and describe the expected outputs and their significance.This list contains the meanings of all the abbreviations and acronyms used in the project document.Examine the background of what the project is aiming to do; say briefly why you think the work should be done; and relate it to what is already known, or to similar work that has been done by other researchers on this problem.State what you want to achieve through conducting the research. Your statement might have two levels, for example, an immediate objective that the project activities will achieve, plus a long-term development objective to which the project will contribute.The expected outputs indicated must be significant, but also finite and measurable. For example, do not say that you intend to increase productivity in the Sahelian sub-region; rather say that you aim to raise productivity of a specific crop by a predicted amount in a precise region over a finite amount of time. This is one of the main faults of many project proposals -the outputs are not clearly defined, and therefore it is impossible to determine when the project has achieved its objectives.List the names of any national or international scientists or organisations that will collaborate as partners in executing the project activities. The role of each of these partners or collaborators should be clearly stated. The consent of collaborators and partners should be sought before they are included in the project proposal.Early in the proposal, you should indicate the duration of the project (e.g. 18, 24 or 36 months). This time frame is different from the work plan or timetable of research project activities.Describe the timetable of activities that you intend to follow for project implementation. Specify the time, during the project cycle, when each of the project activities will be scheduled. Note that specific project outputs lead to other outputs, and this pattern should be reflected in the project work plan.Some donors specify that all project proposals submitted for funding should include a logical framework (log frame); they also provide a format for preparing the log frame.The log frame is a project planning and management tool which is commonly used for guiding implementation, and subsequently provides an evaluation instrument for project evaluation. The log frame is presented as a simple table or matrix that clearly summarises the project elements, with associated indicators, means of verification, impact, outcomes, outputs, project activities, and important assumptions that are likely to influence the successful implementation of the activities. These elements of the log frame are presented in a matrix like the simple version in Table 13.1. -The impact is the goal of the project -what influence the project's implementation will have on the intended project beneficiaries.-The outcome is the expected result of the project, which is a consequence of the impact.-The outputs are the achievements realised through implementing the project activities.-The activities are the specific actions taken during project implementation (e.g. training of women cowpea farmers in the adoption of integrated pest management practices for cowpea production).Thus the activities involve the actual actions taken; the outputs are what those actions accomplish.The budget is the most important part of the project document. Donors always provide guidelines and formats for constructing budgets for the projects they fund. The budget must be prepared to comply strictly with the format specified by the potential donor. The budget must be realistic, detailed and accurate, listing personnel costs, equipment, materials and supplies, travel, and any other significant expenses. Personnel costs may include support staff to be recruited specifically for the project, part-time or full-time administrative and technical staff involved in the project, and consultants. Cost each budget item carefully and make provision for inflation, as there is usually a long time lag between applying for project funds, getting approval and release of funds. Do not include large amounts for contingencies or other vague purposes. Include a spending plan of when funds will be required throughout the life of the project. You may have to justify travel to meetings separately, apart from travel for conducting project activities.Finally, remember to include reporting costs -the costs of preparing research reports and publishing articles that will emerge from the research activities.If your proposal is well written and successful, you will receive a grant from the donor to execute the research project. As you execute the project, the donor will expect to receive reports on the progress of the research. In many project proposals, the reporting schedule is included as a guide for submitting reports. The two kinds of reports that donors normally expect are progress and final reports, and financial reports.The scientist usually prepares the research report; the financial report is prepared by the financial officer of the institution in consultation with the scientist. In addition to preparing research reports for donors, scientists in research institutes are usually expected to prepare periodic progress reports as well as annual reports of their research. So the major kinds of research reports that scientists normally write are:-progress report of research execution; -end-of-project report; -annual report of research.Project budget 13.5 Writing project reportsBefore writing a project report, you should make decisions about:-the kind of report needed -a progress report, an annual report or a final report; -particular aspects of the research work that are mature enough to be reported; -the pattern of the report; -the required schedule for submitting the report.Some donors provide guidelines for preparing research and financial reports. In such a case, you should follow the format provided strictly. It is in your own interest to do so in order to satisfy the donor and remain in their good books, to receive favourable consideration of future project proposals.When no special format is provided, research reports are usually prepared according to the Introduction, Materials, Results and Discussion (IMRAD) formula (Chapter 3).The outline of a research report should consist of the following elements:-Title; -Name of author/authors; -Addresses of author/authors; -Executive summary; -Introduction; -Materials and methods; -Results; -Discussion and conclusion/recommendations; -Acknowledgements; -References; -Annexes.Note that the structure of a research report is similar to that of a research paper, except that a research paper may contain an annex, which could be a summary of data from which the text tables were prepared, or some other materials to which reference is made in the body of the report. The research report should be organised to conform to the objectives and concepts in the project proposal.Effective writing of a research report requires careful planning, just as you planned the research activity, or as you plan the research paper you write for publication. In writing research reports, you should therefore adopt the procedures described in Chapter 3 for writing a research paper.One final tip -within every research report, remember to acknowledge the financial support received from the donor for conducting the research project.Communicating science to non-scientific audiences -the popular media, governments, policyand decision-makers \" If the reader is to grasp what the writer means, the writer must understand what the reader needs.\" (Gopen and Swan 1990) As well as communicating their research to their peers in the scientific community, agricultural researchers also need to reach various stakeholders with their findings, in the language and format best suited to these target audiences. This chapter addresses this need, and guides researchers to appreciate the need for this type of communication, identify and choose the channels, and develop the appropriate messages.After completing this chapter, you will be able to:-discuss the need for communicating with a wider audience than the scientific community; -identify the different non-scientific audiences and types of media appropriate to each audience; -describe the special requirements when writing for a broad audience; -adapt the content of a scientific paper to a news story for the general public.Communication can be defined (using the Macquarie Little Dictionary) as \"to give to another, impart, transmit; to make known; to have an interchange of thoughts\". This definition summarises three concepts:-awareness-raising -to make known; -information exchange -to give to another, impart; transmit; -dialogue -to have an interchange of thoughts.Agricultural researchers may think that they and their research are somehow removed from the mainstream -from the general public and the media. However, they have to realise that for their work to be meaningful to the stakeholders they serve, there must be effective communication.It would be impossible to keep up to date on all the latest scientific findings, in all disciplines, without the various channels of communication that make it possible for research results to be transmitted in formats that are more easily comprehensible by a broad audience of non-specialists.It is unlikely that funding will be reduced for research that has been widely publicised in the media, where it is shown to be interesting and relevant in solving problems.Writing up research results in a popular and human way for non-scientific audiences does not trivialise or demean the work; it simply makes the role of researchers in society more relevant.The importance of communicating science the popular media, governments, policy-and decision-makers Thinking about your audience is essential to developing and conveying your message effectively. Within the general public are audiences that are crucial to researchers:-donors (both national and overseas), who decide what research (and which researchers) receive funding; -taxpayers, who foot the bills and elect the people who become policy-makers; -policy-makers, whose decisions may be influenced by research findings, and whose biased preconceptions could block your funding; -educators, trainers and extension officers, who transmit research findings, and whose understanding and acceptance of your findings will facilitate their adoption and use; -user groups, who benefit from research findings, and whose questions and comments will improve your research direction; -potential collaborators, who may want to work jointly with you on future projects.There are many ways of communicating to the general public the value of agricultural science and the potential benefits of the research undertaken.Scientists need the media, so they also need to learn how to interest the media in their work and how to write basic articles that convey information -clearly and simply -to a broad audience. Scientists will need to tailor their messages to suit the target audience, without compromising the quality of the message and the validity of the science.The most common communication channels are listed below.Consider inviting the press to a scientific conference that your institution or network is organising. Identify presentations that may be of interest to the media, and structure your invitation around these.Issue a press release on the day of the conference, highlighting presentations and items of general interest.Write feature articles on your area of research for newspapers and magazines, in collaboration with the media.These could offer a guided tour of research facilities and outputs, and conversations about the kinds of work researchers are doing. They can be a very good platform for invited key stakeholders -donors, policy-makers and farmers' associations -to obtain a first-hand view of the research being done. They also offers opportunities for explanation at face-to-face level.Interviews and documentaries Programmes on radio and television are also very effective for the communication of your scientific findings. Television can have a very vivid effect when a production is supported by multimedia -using sound, images, script and interviewees to tell a story. In this regard, a camera with still and movie functions is an indispensable tool of the researcher.Recent developments have made it possible for researchers to publish their stories on the internet via web logs (commonly called blogs) and other web-based platforms. A scientist can dedicate a blog to a given area of research interest. One interesting advantage of blogs is that readers have the opportunity to provide direct feedback by making comments directly to a blog post. Readers can reach your blog by searching on the web for the specific area or interest or topic.Naturally, different publications have different audiences. Even daily newspapers cater for different groups of people. These range from the tabloids, which cater for readers of a certain income and educational level, to the serious highbrow papers that carry more in-depth news items and analysis, and more features. It is in the latter that serious articles on science are most likely to appear.Researchers can also write popular articles for publication. Some of the most highly respected scientists regularly take the time and energy to write popular articles, which adds to their stature in the scientific as well as the lay community.Just as you choose a scientific publication for your research paper, so you should consider what kinds of media, publications and audiences would be interested in the kind of research you are doing. Consider why you are doing the research, and how it can help change people's lives -these are questions the media will always ask.To justify publishing of an article in the mass media, a story must be of interest to a considerable portion -or at least a specific part -of the audience.The audience will depend on the type of publication, which may be general circulation, or more specialised according to subject, age, profession, nationality, region, gender, level of expertise, or specific language specialisation, for example.Writing popular articles is not very different from writing scientific articles. You must, of course, write well. That means you must write draft after draft until your article is clear, simple to understand and free of jargon. You will need to keep your sentences relatively short and straightforward, but you should do this in good scientific writing generally. Most of what is covered in Chapter 3 is applicable in popular writing as well.There are, however, some basic differences.Chapter 14 -Communicating science to non-scientific audiencesthe popular media, governments, policy-and decision-makers 14.6.2 Capture your audienceIn popular writing, you do not have a captive audience as you do in a scientific journal. Readers of scientific papers have usually made a special effort to find the journal and the paper, and they will scan or read it through because they need the information it contains.Readers of popular publications or media audiences generally happen upon your story by chance. This means your article or story must compete with many others to keep the reader's (or listener's or viewer's) attention. Your goal is not merely to communicate information; you must first capture your audience and keep them reading, or listening, or watching to the end. To achieve this, you must tell them an interesting story.You should start with a title that captivates and intrigues the audience. You do not need to abstract your article in the title; if you do, your potential audience will have fallen asleep or will look for an article that promises more punch. It pays to use a catchy or \"sexy\" title (Box 14.1). Scientific writing usually starts off by introducing the topic. Then, in a logical step-by-step approach, it presents research and leads to a conclusion. The IMRAD format summarises the logical sequence of presenting scientific research to other scientists. The sequence is exactly the reverse in a news story. A news story in a newspaper begins with the most important points, or the climax. This is called the lead. Then the facts are arranged in decreasing order of importance. This is called the inverted pyramid form. The most important fact is at the beginning of the sentence, the most important sentence is at the beginning of the paragraph, and the most important paragraph is at the beginning of the story.News articles report timely events, ideas or situations of interest to readers of a particular publication. There is always more news than space to report it. Thus stories are shortened to fit the space available in the newspaper or magazine. Most news editors do not have time to read your article and rewrite it to fit the space. They will \"cut from the bottom\"; in other words, they will start chopping off paragraphs from the end of the story until it fits the space. This is why it is so important to put all the key facts in the beginning of the story.The key facts of any story are the answers to six simple questions:-who? -a person may be widely known in the area, nationally or internationally (also applies to organisations);-what? -the idea or event may be more interesting or significant than who is doing it;-where? -interesting only if it is somewhere out of the ordinary;-when? -interesting only if the time is extremely important or unusual;-why? -interesting when the reason why someone did something has a great deal to do with human interest;-how? -if something was done in an unusual or interesting way, or has never been done before.Of these six elements, 'why' and 'how' are often the most difficult to answer, but may also be the most significant.Chapter 14 -Communicating science to non-scientific audiencesthe popular media, governments, policy-and decision-makersFeatures and articles (which are longer and more literary than news stories) are the most common format for science in popular publications. Most often, such articles are between 1000 and 3000 words long -and the editor will expect you to keep to the number they request.Good features capture and hold the reader's attention quickly, usually with the first two or three lines. This is called the \"hook\", and it often sketches a human storyperhaps that of someone whose life has been changed by research results. It can also provide context for, and therefore show the importance of, the actual research -if the article is about research into managed tree fallows, it might relate some startling statistics about declining amounts of arable land around the world.The body of the article contains more detailed information on the actual researchwhen, where and why it was carried out, highlighting anything new or exciting in the way it was done. Here, as well, reference should be made to the ultimate purpose of the research, which will justify it to the public.The conclusion of the article should tie the story together, much as it does in a scientific paper, but there is more room for human drama in a feature. Often it is useful to return to the story used in the hook, showing how the research has changed someone's life, or helped solve a large problem.Writing good feature articles is not easy -it is a craft that takes time to perfect. However, it can be a great deal of fun, and it allows the researcher to be more human and personal than is permitted in scientific papers. It provides an outlet for creativity that many researchers have, and the writing process will often help clarify, for both researcher and the reader, why the research is important. This is always useful, particularly when you are writing research proposals to solicit funding.Measure the facts you wish to communicate against the following:-timeliness -how recently did it happen? -proximity -how close is it to the audience and the point of publication or broadcast? -importance -what is the significance of the story -and who really cares? -policy -how does a publication, radio or TV station view different events?The opinions, attitudes and beliefs of readers shape their interests and reactions. People strive to reduce tension in their lives by seeking solutions, which makes them interested in certain elements reported by the media. These may include:-conflict -all types of struggles of the human condition; -progress -improvements people make to the status quo; -oddness -rare, out-of-the-ordinary ideas, events or situations; -human interest -ideas, events or situations that strongly affect human emotions.People are generally fascinated by what other people are doing. For example -a tree is not of intrinsic interest to the broad public; how human beings may use and benefit from that tree is. This chapter provides information about the different types of online journals that scientists may encounter. It also explains some of the different expectations that authors and journals may have in regard to online publication.After completing this chapter, you will be able to:-understand, and make informed decisions about, online publishing;-explain what open access is, and what benefits and disadvantages it can bring to journals and authors; -identify what online benefits are important to authors and readers; -feel confident to submit your articles to an online journal.Research communication has been greatly affected by the growth of the internet, and has made substantial use of this medium to improve the speed and efficiency of disseminating research results. The speed of communication and the potential of speaking to researchers throughout the world have led to rapid adoption of the web throughout all sectors of practitioners, researchers and academia. It has also affected how researchers work, encouraging greater inter-country collaboration and discussion.The internet has also changed expectations -for example, authors are no longer willing to wait months (or even years) to have their work published, and there may be reduced credibility for articles that are not available online. It has also affected readers' expectations, and it is now required that articles make reference to current thinking and discoveries.When journals started to publish online they were usually facsimiles of the print version, but this has changed, and you need to be aware of the different types of online journal now available.In the past few years, an increasing number of journals have been launched as online-only titles (e.g. The African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines, 2010, www.africanethnomedicines.net/journal.php). At first these journals were considered inferior to journals that retained a print format, and some indexes would not include them. The concern was that they were ephemeral compared with print titles, and that the quality of their content was suspect. Time has shown that online titles are not as ephemeral as originally thought, and there is now increasing acceptance of them as valid publications. Major indexes include them on an equal footing with print journals, and academia is accepting them as valid publications for their staff to publish in and use.With regard to quality, it is accepted that the quality of a journal is not determined by its format -print or online. A quality journal is one that has a respected editorial board, and that publishes articles that are quality assured (usually through peer review). There are many print journals that do not conform to this test of quality, and many online-only journals that enforce a high level of quality control. There is a More commonly, many journals from large publishers put the accepted papers (those that have been reviewed and are scheduled for publication) on their website in advance of the issue publication. At this point the articles can be cited by users as \"in press\". An example of this is the \"early view\" service provided by Wiley-Blackwell. In this system, articles scheduled for publication are made available (to subscribers) on a separate part of the journal's website. Once they have been selected for an issue, and that issue is published, the \"early view\" article is taken off the site (www3.interscience.wiley.com/aboutus/journals.html).In all cases, authors can request that their papers are not pre-published if they have a reason to do so (perhaps they have a patent pending). However, pre-publication means the article can be read and cited sooner than awaiting final publication -and this can be a benefit to the author (as well as the research community).Note that once an article is made available, it is associated with the author and the research contained within the article is attributed to the author. Therefore prepublication can help to protect authors against their work being \"stolen\".A few journals publish each article as it is ready for publication -not pre-publication, but incremental publication as a replacement for waiting for issue collation. An example of this is the South African Journal of Chemistry (http://journals.sabinet. co.za/sajchem). This journal opens the volume each year on 1 January and adds papers as they are ready. At the end of the year, the volume is closed.The largest journal in the world operates in this manner. PLoS One is a journal launched in 2007 that publishes medical articles as soon as they have been accepted and formatted, grouped into annual volumes (www.plosone.org).Most journals publish articles in PDF format. This mimics the look of a printed article, and is nice to print out -but it is not easy to read online. Ideally, online journals should publish articles in HTML format (as a web page), plus PDF.Publishing in HTML has several advantages: any hypertext links are quick to work and provide a seamless way for users to navigate the content; also HTML pages are often a smaller file size than the equivalent PDF, and so open more quickly where online access is slow.PDF is an ideal format for printing out, as it provides a neat and tidy series of pages which are easy to read. However, file sizes can be large, so opening a PDF article can be slow when internet access is not ideal.Usually the article title and abstract are made available in HTML, free for anyone to look at. This is very important as the abstract is frequently read to determine whether the entire article is of interest to the user. It is important, therefore, that the online journal provides easy access to the abstract. Some journals allow the author to publish content in other media -audio files, video clips and animated illustrations. In some instances these can greatly add to the readers' understanding, so if the author feels they are required, it is important to choose a journal that allows them.The online environment provides a great opportunity to make journal content interactive. Some journals have added a discussion forum, encouraging readers to comment on the articles and to engage in debate. The online environment also provides a more efficient way to update content and correct errors than the traditional errata published in print journals.However, the most important benefits that online journals bring are searching, hypertext links, alerting, wide dissemination and usage statistics.Online search facilities are used extensively by researchers. There is evidence that more researchers rely on search tools (e.g. Google and Google Scholar) than they do on browsing issues of journals. Therefore it is important to ensure your article has a clear title, and to use suitable key words within the title and the abstract, as these will help to make sure your articles are discovered when users search for their area of interest.Due to the website design, some journals cannot easily be searched by the online search engines (Yahoo, Google, etc.), so it is important to select a journal that has high online visibility. You can check this by searching for the journal online and seeing if the search engines find it quickly.One of the most important developments in online publishing has been the introduction of linkage. The most common (and arguably most useful) type of linkage allows readers to navigate from a text citation to the full reference at the end of the article, and from there directly to the article cited.In a survey of authors undertaken by Association of Learned, Professional and Society Publishers in 1999, Swan and Brown (2003) found that reference linkage was one of the most valued additions to online journals -since it allowed readers to undertake their information research easily, moving from article to article. There is also more recent evidence which shows that authors more frequently follow (and repeat) citations that are linked -so if a reference within the article list does not have a link to the article on the web, it is less likely to be used and cited by the reader (Evans 2008).When writing an article (regardless of whether it is for a print or online journal), it is now increasingly important to give a web address for the references (where available) so that the reader can look them up online. Where a submitted article includes a web address within its references, this can be used by journal publishers to add a hypertext link within the online article.The most common web address to include is the URL (e.g. www.plosone.org/article/ info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0001470). However, these are clumsy, and are also vulnerable to changes in the online location and can lead to dead ends. Where it is available, the article DOI should be used (e.g. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0001470). The digital object identifier (DOI) is a unique number that identifies an article and is used by the journal publisher to provide a permanent hypertext link to the article (very useful when the URL of the article changes). These are usually displayed at the head of the article with the citation 15.6 Online benefits 15.7 Searching 15.8 Hypertext linking information. They can also be found using the CrossRef website guest query form: www.crossref.org/guestquery. By entering the publication details into this form, you can look up the DOI, which can then be cut-and-pasted into the reference.It can be extremely important for journals to set up alerting systems to tell users when a new issue (or a new article) has been published. This brings readers back to the journal, instead of relying on them to go to the website in the hope that a new issue has been published.There are three systems for alerting -table-of-contents alerts, search alerts and RSS feeds -depending on the sophistication of the publisher, only some of these may be available.The most common is a table-of-contents alert, where a user signs up to receive an email every time a new issue is published. An RSS feed is similar, but instead of sending an email, it adds the alert to the user's RSS reader, which may be online, on their desktop, or on a mobile device. A search alert allows the user to undertake a search for preferred terms, and then to be alerted whenever articles matching these terms are published.These types of alert are very important to promote the journal -and ensure that potential readers are alerted to the articles that have been published.All online journals should provide authors with usage statistics -how many times has their article been downloaded, and (if possible) from where (which countries have accessed the article and downloaded it). This is an important metric for authors to use to determine the importance of their article. To avoid inflated ideas of how many downloads to expect, the journal should also provide an average download figure so authors can compare their article against others published in the same journal.The journal PLoS One provides a variety of metrics on its site, which are made available to all users as well as authors. See www.plosone.org/static/almInfo. action and consider what benefits this type of information would bring to users as well as authors.You should be aware of how accessible your article will be when published, as this will affect how many people read and subsequently cite your work. In the print environment, this is restricted to the number of subscribers and other people who receive the journal. In the online environment, access to the full text may be similarly restricted, but non-subscribers will also be made aware of articles when they appear within a search result.One additional factor that can greatly improve dissemination of a research article is whether or not it is open access.Since the advent of on online publication, there has been a growing movement arguing that research information should be made available to all who need it -and especially to those who funded the original research (the authors' parent institutions, the funding bodies, and the taxpayer). Technology has been developed to allow institutions to place their research content (theses, articles, working papers, conference proceedings, etc.) within a database that is then made available within the university's intranet, or to the world on the internet (Lynch 2003). These developments are called institutional repositories (IRs), and there has been a tremendous growth in their number, particularly within European and American Universities, plus recent developments within Africa (there are more than 2700 registered IRs around the world -see http://roar.eprints.org/ view/geoname).There are also some subject-specific repositories to capture any article/paper within a particular discipline. One of the best established is www.arxiv.org (for physics papers) and another is www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed (for biomedical and health papers). These are not tied to a particular institution, and operate as community sites, frequently allowing commentary on the articles that authors place within them.The relationship between these repositories and journals has developed from one of suspicion (with journals unwilling to accept articles that have been already \"published\" in a repository) to a situation where the majority of journals accept that funding and institutional rules require authors to place their article in these systems, and that it does not undermine journal publication.When submitting to a journal, you should consider if there is a repository that you should also be placing your article into -for example, within your own institution. You should check (1) that the journal to which you are submitting allows this; (2) what article version the journal allows you to submit -the submitted manuscript, the accepted version (after peer review) or a PDF of the final article; and (3) if there is an embargo period -for example, not allowing you to post your article onto the repository for 6 months after publication. Also, it is important to remember to provide the published citation information on the article in the repository, so that readers can find the \"final\" published version -and cite this.Open-access journals allow any users, anywhere in the world, to access and read the full journal article (on the journal website) without a subscription. The articles should also be free for anyone to re-use (with full citation) in course packs or in other publications.There is some evidence that making articles available free online increases the use of the article, and therefore enhances the impact of the research behind it. However, there is also other research that disproves this. The general rule is that, although publishing open access should increase the number of readers, it is still the quality and relevance of the article to users that will determine whether or not they cite it (OpCit Project 2009).There are different financial models for open-access publishing, and many journals require authors to pay publication charges. Some ask for a small submission fee to permission must be given in writing (an email may be sufficient). Sometimes a standard permission form will include only permission to reproduce the content in print, so if you are publishing in an online journal you must make sure that online permission is granted.When you submit your article to a journal (whether in print or online), you must explicitly grant the journal permission to publish your work. Commonly, journals require you to assign copyright to the journal -this means that the journal \"owns\" the content and you may not do anything with it (e.g. use it in teaching literature, republish it, etc.) without permission from the journal. Most copyright assignment forms clearly state what rights the author retains, and good journals will allow you to use your own article for non-commercial purposes, such as teaching, without seeking permission from the journal.More enlightened journals now use a \"licence to publish\" form, in which you as author retain copyright in the article, but grant the journal the right to publish your work. This means that you can re-use your work where you wish without permission, and that the journal needs to obtain permission from you if it wants to re-use your work in any way. You should note that many such licence forms grant the journal \"exclusive\" rights to publish your work, so you may still not be able to republish your work elsewhere.When submitting online, many journals simply ask you to tick a box that confirms your acceptance of the copyright agreement with the journal. Other systems require you to sign and return a printed form. Before signing any form (or ticking an online box), you should ensure that you have the authority to do this -that you own copyright in what you are submitting. If the article was written as part of your employment, you may not be able to assign it without authorisation from your institution.Publishers and journals are experimenting with online publication, and there are some very interesting developments which you should be aware of. It is recommended that you look at PloS One, and also at the journal Cell (www.cell.com), which is using a new presentation for online articles (articles published in the first four issues of 2010 are freely available).There is a strict code of ethics in the field of scientific publishing, which is aimed at ensuring the quality and integrity of information that is published. Ignoring this code can have dire consequences, ranging from your being blacklisted by key journals to jeopardising your scientific career.After completing this chapter, you will be able to:-understand the ethics of scientific publishing; -conform to the international recognised conventions surrounding copyright and intellectual property.In signing a publication contract or submitting a paper to a journal, authors guarantee that:-the work is original; -the author owns it; -no part of it has been published previously; -no other agreement to publish all or part of it is outstanding.If any of these statements is not true, you should not submit your material for publication.If you have published a significant part of the material elsewhere, you must obtain written permission from the copyright holder to reprint the material, and send a copy to the publisher. You must also mention this matter of copyright in your paper.Double publishing is when you use the same body of data to produce two papers that are published in two different places. This is strictly forbidden in scientific publishing circles. In addition, you should never submit the same article to several journals at the same time. When you are found out, it could be very embarrassing for you, and you could find yourself blacklisted by the editors of the journals concerned.Another practice that is frowned upon by many journal editors is \"salami publishing\". This is where authors break their work down into \"minimum publishable units\" (O'Connor 1991) to try to get as many publications as possible out of a piece of research. If a journal editor believes you are practising salami science, he or she may reject later \"slices\" on principle. Author beware.Many international journals are becoming ruthless in their treatment of what they consider to be dishonest authors. Double publishing and multiple submission are looked upon as cheating. Most journals make it a condition of considering a paper that it is not being considered for publication anywhere else. Submit one paper to one journal at a time. Never try to make two different papers out of the same block of data. The exception to this rule is writing for a general audience in a popular publication. After your research paper has been published in a scientific journal, you may then rewrite the material for a lay audience and publish it in the media. Not only is this ethical, it is to be encouraged. If you have already published an article in your own language, you should not expect to translate it, send it off to an English-language journal and publish it there also. This may be seen as unethical. If you intend to do this, you should tell the editor of the English-language journal what you have done as you submit the paper. Remember also that you will probably need the original journal's permission to use the material in that way.If an article or a body of research has been published already as a preliminary communication, or read at a major symposium or published in a proceedings, this should be pointed out to the editor. Prior publication may not mean that your paper is automatically rejected, but telling the editor is common courtesy and will protect you from later misunderstanding.If the journal article is published first, you will need that publisher's permission to print the paper in the conference proceedings, even though you read the paper at the conference before sending it to the journal. If the paper is to be published by a journal and the conference proceedings are already published, you will need the permission of the conference publishers to print the paper in the journal. Either way, you will be publishing the same research results twice; that makes journal editors nervous. With the advent of the internet, it is easy to access vast amounts of information, and it is so easy to cut-and-paste blocks of text to help your writing along. But if you do this and do not acknowledge the source, and that the material is a direct quotation, this is plagiarism and tantamount to theft. Don't do it. Because you will get caught -the internet also makes it easier to identify copied text and where it came from. At best it will be embarrassing; at worst it will be a serious black mark against your name. You should also note that extensive paraphrasing of others' work without acknowledging the source of the original material is also considered plagiarismsimply rewriting the material in your own words does not make it original.Another practice that is becoming recognised is \"self-plagiarism\" (Green 2005).\" Self-plagiarism occurs when an author reuses portions of their previous writings in subsequent research papers. Occasionally, the derived paper is simply a re-titled and reformatted version of the original one, but more frequently it is assembled from bits and pieces of previous work.\"(SplaT website, http://splat.cs.arizona.edu) Some would argue that this has been common and accepted practice for many years. The argument that is now being made against it is that so much information is now available in various forms -journal articles, books and book chapters, web pages, secondary journals and the like -that putting out the same or closely similar information in several forms makes it more difficult to find core information on a particular topic. SPlaT also notes that \"whenever a self-plagiarised paper is allowed to be published, another, more deserving paper, is not.\" Some amount of self-plagiarism is almost inevitable. If you have performed a series of trials addressing essentially the same problem and using the same basic protocol but, for example, working with a different crop or in a different farming system, much of your introduction to the problem and the materials and methods will be the same or similar. It seems unreasonable to expect you to rewrite and substantially change these sections for each paper you write. Where the protocol has become a standard approach, you could consider citing the seminal paper rather than reproducing the protocol in full on each occasion, but this may not always be appropriate and does limit the free-standing nature of your papers.You, as the author, have to make up your own mind on this issue, but it would be wise to err on the side of caution and not reuse your previous writings too liberally.Another consideration is authorship. Who holds the rights to the data? Who did the research? Are you entitled to write up and publish the work? Whose names should be on the paper? If you did some research in another country, perhaps for an MSc or a PhD, you are entitled to use that material, but you should always clear it with the supervising body of the university or institute in which you worked.If you intend to name other people as co-authors, you must check with them to ensure that they have no objections.The names at the top of the paper should be those of the scientists who did the research, and nobody else. Some journals allow special mentions, such as \"with the technical assistance of...\", on the title page, but these are rare. Journals do not want directors' names first, or anywhere at all, if they did nothing in the experiments or in helping to write the paper. Do not load up your paper with a long string of names.Authorship is a dangerous area. Journal managers are just as sensitive about disputed authorship and allegations of stolen results as they are about double publishing. So be very careful that every author you mention fully agrees with the publication of the paper in the form in which you present it.The following guidelines for authorship are suggested:-the first author should be the person who did most of the work and wrote most of the paper; -second should come the person who supervised the activity of the first, as well as planning the study and helping to write the paper, or alternatively the person who did a smaller part of the work; -next, any other workers are listed in decreasing order of contribution.In most countries, people who write or create anything, including graphics, photographs and designs, automatically possess certain rights over their work. This is based on the idea that if you have spent your time writing or creating something, if someone else uses it, you should expect to be rewarded for that use. You created it, so you should be able to choose and control where and how it is published. This is known as copyright. You hold the copyright to your work. The exception to this general principle is the concept of \"work for hire\". Work you do as part of your normal employment, such as your research, the photographs you take to document it, and the papers you write based on your research, is automatically considered work for hire, and your employer owns the copyright. If you have been hired as a consultant, the situation is less clear-cut, but ownership of copyright should be explicitly stated in your contract to avoid any misunderstandings at a later date. For more information on work for hire, see Jassin (n.d.).If a written work is to be published, the copyright owner (the authors or their employers) will usually transfer some or all of these rights, by formal agreement, to the publisher. Two of these rights are the right to make copies of the work, and the right to distribute these copies. This is international practice. Most journals willpublish a copyright notice where they claim the copyright. This is made up of the copyright symbol, ©, sometimes the word \"copyright\", the year of publication, and the name of the copyright holder. Sometimes the phrase \"all rights reserved\" also appears.Contributors to a journal possess exactly the same rights as authors of books. When an article is accepted by an international journal, the author is usually asked to sign a formal transfer of rights to the publisher. The publisher will then hold the copyright.The issue of copyright is complicated. This is only a brief summary. Most publishers are strict about copyright matters. You should be certain of your position before you commit yourself to publishing. You are advised to seek further information from relevant books in the list of recommended reading or from the journal editors themselves.If you want to include in your publication a figure or a table, or other matter from a published work that is under copyright, you must obtain permission from the copyright holder. It is your responsibility as an author to do this. Remember, material on the internet is published and copyrighted, even if there is no copyright statement. You need to obtain permission to use material from the web, just as if it were published in a book or a journal.Obtaining permission is not difficult. Write to the publisher giving exact details of what you want to reproduce and where you want to print it. Most publishers will grant all reasonable requests, at no charge, subject to the agreement of the author. At the same time, write to the author and ask for permission. When you receive that, again usually automatically, you send copies of both permissions with your article to your publisher or journal editor.Take care to include in the legend of the copied item a full credit to the source, including author, publication, date and publisher. A typical credit line in a figure legend would read as follows:Reproduced with permission from CSIRO Australia, Jones AB, Aust J Bot 1985; 53: 121-5.Open-access publishing and self-archiving are relatively new developments that you need to be aware of as a scientist. Both of these approaches are aimed at promoting free and open access to scientific literature.Self-archiving calls for authors to deposit their articles in eprint archives at their institutions (Harnad 2001). If these archives use the Open Archives Initiative's metadata standards (see www.openarchives.org), information in these archives can be easily searched and made accessible. Free software is available to set up such archives (e.g. ePrints, www.eprints.org).Many journal publishers now explicitly permit authors to self-archive either a pre-print (the version of their paper prior to peer review) or a post-print (the final version of the paper, following revision to address reviewers' comments) on their own or their institution's archive. A listing of publishers and their policies on self-archiving can be found on the SHERPA/RoMEO website (www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo).Open-access publishing is a business model that provides for: This section provides a general guide for resource persons conducting training courses in scientific writing. These suggestions could be adopted as they stand, or could be adapted to suit particular circumstances to make the course relevant for a particular audience. These materials have been developed and used for several years in group training courses conducted in various countries of the ACP region.First we present general guidelines on the process for designing and conducting training courses in scientific writing. This is followed by suggestions of a series of practical exercises that can be set up in training course situations. Follow-up of training When participants have completed practical, hands-on training, they should return to their station with a plan for future activities using the knowledge and skills gained from the training. Design an instrument to facilitate preparation of a back-to-office report, and design a simple plan for future activities that you could implement when you return to their station or organisation; an example is provided below (Instrument 2).-preparing back-to-office reports; -presenting the action plan designed, obtaining approval, and implementing the action plan to conduct training for other colleagues in scientific writing and communication.In preparing follow-up actions, trainees should not be ambitious and unrealistic about what can be achieved through their action plans. Remember that your anticipated achievement will depend heavily on:-the nature of your plan; -the resources and opportunities available to you; -the implementation pattern of your plan; -the effects your actions will have on assisting other research scientists to improve their scientific writing and communication skills and increase their research publication records; -how the environment in your department supports your efforts.Making a plan for back-home activities is an innovative way of demonstrating initiative and keen interest in supporting your organisation. Normally the director of your region or district will be pleased to see such a plan and how you intend to implement it.At the end of this training, we expect that you will have gained some experience and improved your knowledge and skills in scientific writing and communication of agricultural results. What will you do when you return to your station?The purpose of this practical exercise is to assist you to plan your future scientific writing and publishing activities.Read the questions carefully and try to answer them as best as you can. You may use an additional sheet of paper.Each participant will then be given 5 minutes to present his/her plan to the group. Time allowed: 45 minutes.Exercise 4 Working group activitywriting in simple and clear English language Working in your sub-groups:-Study the following sentences carefully.-Identify the message intended.-Make a list of all the things that are wrong with these sentences.-Rewrite each sentence in clearer English.-Report back your findings in plenary.(a) The best pesticide was adopted to annihilate the great pestilence organisms.(b) The results of the field experimental trials were subsequently subjected to statistical analysis based on the ANOVA system of variables. The significance levels of 5% were achieved; therefore we reached many good conclusions.(c) The invention and introduction of Information Technology otherwise designated as IT for reporting results of field data from research is a wonderful and terrific invention which makes easy writing of papers for publication and will give the inventors outstanding opportunities to make many financial killings.(d) Our results from the experimental fields demonstrated that the soil management mechanisms on the basis of Mucuna planting very much depend on various amounts, varieties, and the financial magnitude of the soil amendment products used.(e) No exploration of this unique possibility has yet been carried out or even investigated.(f) We studied the nutrient uptake of cabbage crops in the valley slopes of the experimental area and found that even when the substance known as phosphorus was abundant there, only the young cabbage seedlings had the capability of utilising this product, nevertheless we also found that when we grew cabbages with tomato in the same fields, all the crops did very well indeed to give high productivity and yields so we quickly recommended this style of cabbage and tomato production to the benefit of the farming folks.(g) The statistical analysis showed that the variables were not highly significant.(h) The milking cows were sent from overseas to our farm.(i) This field experiment is more difficult and therefore we will need more time (j) Many of our scientists are very busy women (k) In the Upper East Region of Ghana high population growth coupled with the impacts of climate and land-use change have led to an increasing demand for water resources. As the yields of rain-fed agriculture are decreasing and become increasingly unreliable a large number of farmers have started to engage in the production of dry-season vegetables. Thereby they are increasing the scarcity of already limited water resources of this semi-arid part of Ghana.(l) This study is an attempt to address part of the problem highlighted above by assessing water productivity for tomato production under contrasting sources of irrigation supply and management in semi-arid savannah during the dry season. This book is an essential tool for ACP scientists and development workers who wish to develop the culture of scientific writing and communication, so that they can promote the effective dissemination and use of their research outputs."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"77cbd036678db48ad0c8714146ac92b4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/2adc72b9-40b4-422e-b1c7-3d4ba8d47ff8/content","id":"-576148664"},"keywords":["machine learning","convolutional neural network","maize yield","ear","image analysis","deep learning"],"sieverID":"6c360231-7c9b-4f83-beb8-43da15bcbe80","content":"Maize kernel traits such as kernel length, kernel width, and kernel number determine the total kernel weight and, consequently, maize yield. Therefore, the measurement of kernel traits is important for maize breeding and the evaluation of maize yield. There are a few methods that allow the extraction of ear and kernel features through image processing. We evaluated the potential of deep convolutional neural networks and binary machine learning (ML) algorithms (logistic regression (LR), support vector machine (SVM), AdaBoost (ADB), Classification tree (CART), and the K-Neighbor (kNN)) for accurate maize kernel abortion detection and classification. The algorithms were trained using 75% of 66 total images, and the remaining 25% was used for testing their performance. Confusion matrix, classification accuracy, and precision were the major metrics in evaluating the performance of the algorithms. The SVM and LR algorithms were highly accurate and precise (100%) under all the abortion statuses, while the remaining algorithms had a performance greater than 95%. Deep convolutional neural networks were further evaluated using different activation and optimization techniques. The best performance (100% accuracy) was reached using the rectifier linear unit (ReLu) activation procedure and the Adam optimization technique. Maize ear with abortion were accurately detected by all tested algorithms with minimum training and testing time compared to ear without abortion. The findings suggest that deep convolutional neural networks can be used to detect the maize ear abortion status supplemented with the binary machine learning algorithms in maize breading programs. By using a convolution neural network (CNN) method, more data (big data) can be collected and processed for hundreds of maize ears, accelerating the phenotyping process.Maize (Zea mays L.) productivity is strongly related to the number and mass of harvested kernels which are the key grain yield determinants. The number of kernels per ear is a function of ear length (kernels per row) and kernel rows per ear [1]. In most cases, kernels at the tip of the ear cease dry matter accumulation (i.e., abort) very early in their development, and because of their greatly reduced mass, aborted kernels represent a significant grain yield loss. Kernel abortion may occur throughout the ear, not just at the tip [2]. Failure to form a kernel could occur for a variety of reasons, such as a defective ovary, pollination failure, or abortion of the fertilized ovary [3], usually caused by stressful conditions (drought, heat stress, nutritional deficiencies) [4,5].Accurate estimation or prediction of the kernel number per ear together with the extent of kernel abortion can inform breeding for yield improvement, especially under stressful conditions [1]. There are few methods that allow the extraction of ear and kernel attributes through image processing. These methods enable to significantly reduce the cost of data collection through reliance on simple cameras and open-source image processing computational pipelines [6][7][8]. Ears are a primary agricultural product of maize, which has led the majority of previous phenotyping efforts to focus on aspects of the ear that influence yield, such as ear size, row number, and kernel dimensions [7][8][9]. Among the phenotyping methods, one was patented by Pioneer [10]. It enables to extract kernel count, kernel size distribution, proportion of aborted kernels, and other information using image processing algorithms that include, without limitation, filtering, water shedding, thresholding, edge finding, edge enhancement, color selection, and spectral filtering. Another method involves scoring maize kernel traits based on line-scan imaging and provides 12 maize kernel traits through image processing under controlled lighting conditions [9]. In 2017, Miller et al. proposed three custom algorithms designed to compute kernel features automatically from digital images acquired by a low-cost platform [8]. Shen et al. (2018) reported another method that provides kernel counts from ear photos, assuming that a maize ear has double the number of rows and kernels than can be visible on a photo [11]. These methods proved to be very useful for ear phenotyping but, except for the pioneer-patented method, they do not enable to assess the extent of kernel abortion on the ear.In fact, kernel abortion represents a major challenge to the extraction of maize ear and kernel features through image processing. Traditional approaches such as bio-physical modeling struggle to attain high precision and accuracy in modeling and processing images with and without abortion [12]. In addition, they do not offer the possibility of processing a large volume of data. Machine learning algorithms have emerged as a robust tool that can significantly improve data collection efficiency both in terms of volume and accuracy. According to Bengio (2009), the birth of artificial intelligence brought about deep learning and machining learning algorithms that can learn from experience and predict the future [13]. Machine learning (ML) is a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that allows software applications to become more accurate at predicting outcomes without being explicitly programmed to do so [14]. It is a branch of artificial intelligence based on the idea that systems can learn from data, identify patterns, and make decisions with minimal human intervention. There are two major branches of machine learning, namely, supervised and unsupervised. A supervised learning algorithm learns from labeled training data and helps to predict outcomes for unforeseen data while unsupervised learning algorithms learn from unlabeled training data to predict the outcome. In detecting the maize cobs abortion, the supervised machine learning methods were used since the abortion and non-abortion were properly labeled.Deep learning is a type of machine learning that trains a computer to perform human-like tasks, such as recognizing and identifying images or making predictions. Instead of organizing data to run through predefined equations, deep learning sets up basic parameters about the data and trains the computer to learn on its own by recognizing patterns using many layers of processing [15]. Deep learning has shown high performance in object detection, classification, and segmentation [16]. Convolution neural network (CNN), as the most commonly used method of deep learning, proved to be performant in some image-based phenotyping tasks [17,18]. For example, the deep learning method was used to detect plant disease [19], to count plant stalks and calculated the stalk width [20], and CNN was employed to segment rice panicles successfully based on images [21]. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are a class of machine learning models that can be trained to accurately detect objects in images, making them the current standard for object recognition [22].Machine learning presents several advantages, including (i) easy identification of trends and patterns (machine learning can review large volumes of data and discover specific trends and patterns that would not be apparent to humans), (ii) automation, (iii) continuous accuracy improvement (as ML algorithms gain experience, they keep improving in accuracy and efficiency), (iv) handling multi-dimensional and multi-variety data in dynamic or uncertain environments, and (v) a wide range of applications, which makes them more robust compared to the traditional statistical procedures [23]. In addition to all the above advantages, machine learning has also limitations mostly related to the requirements for massive, inclusive/unbiased, and good quality data sets to train on, as well as time and resources needed to achieve reasonable accuracy and relevancy and high error-susceptibility.This research sought to assess the possibility of using binary machine learning (ML) classification algorithms or deep CNNs for detecting and classifying the kernel abortion status of maize ears. Literature suggests that binary machine learning (ML) classification algorithms for decision-support and forecasting applications in maize kernel abortion analysis have not been previously evaluated. Therefore, the specific objectives of the study were (a) to evaluate the accuracy of binary classification machine learning algorithms (logistic regression (LR), support vector machine (SVM), AdaBoost (ADB), Classification tree (CART), and the K-Neighbor (kNN)) in maize kernel abortion classification and detection, (b) to assess the abortion classification and prediction capabilities of these methods, and (c) to evaluate the capability and accuracy of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in detecting and classifying the maize kernel abortion status.Maize ears were harvested from both optimum and drought stress trials at the drought phenotyping site of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) in Chiredzi, Zimbabwe (Lat, Long: −21.015432, 31.573004 (WGS 84)). A total of 60 ears were selected as a mixture of those with and without abortion and photographed individually on a black background using a 12.8 megapixels Sony camera (Cyber-shot DSC-WX220) (Figure 1). improvement (as ML algorithms gain experience, they keep improving in accuracy and efficiency), (iv) handling multi-dimensional and multi-variety data in dynamic or uncertain environments, and (v) a wide range of applications, which makes them more robust compared to the traditional statistical procedures [23]. In addition to all the above advantages, machine learning has also limitations mostly related to the requirements for massive, inclusive/unbiased, and good quality data sets to train on, as well as time and resources needed to achieve reasonable accuracy and relevancy and high error-susceptibility.This research sought to assess the possibility of using binary machine learning (ML) classification algorithms or deep CNNs for detecting and classifying the kernel abortion status of maize ears. Literature suggests that binary machine learning (ML) classification algorithms for decision-support and forecasting applications in maize kernel abortion analysis have not been previously evaluated. Therefore, the specific objectives of the study were (a) to evaluate the accuracy of binary classification machine learning algorithms (logistic regression (LR), support vector machine (SVM), AdaBoost (ADB), Classification tree (CART), and the K-Neighbor (kNN)) in maize kernel abortion classification and detection, (b) to assess the abortion classification and prediction capabilities of these methods, and (c) to evaluate the capability and accuracy of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in detecting and classifying the maize kernel abortion status.Maize ears were harvested from both optimum and drought stress trials at the drought phenotyping site of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) in Chiredzi, Zimbabwe (Lat, Long: −21.015432, 31.573004 (WGS 84)). A total of 60 ears were selected as a mixture of those with and without abortion and photographed individually on a black background using a 12.8 megapixels Sony camera (Cyber-shot DSC-WX220) (Figure 1). An Image Embedding process which reads images and evaluates them locally was done in Orange using the Embedding widget as shown in Figure 2. The procedure was used as a deep learning technique for the dimensionality reduction of the input maize ear image data to be processed by general suggested binary classification machine learning algorithms and a deep convolutional neural network [24]. The process is very important for image classification as it is capable to process huge data (e.g., a 20-megapixel camera picture with 3 RGB layers means 60 million of integers as the total information stored in the image). In order to analyze maize ear images, they were converted into numeric data to enable deep and machine learning algorithms to be trained and tested. Embedding transforms raw images into a vector representation or multi-dimensional feature space (image descriptors) which contains more information than image name, width, size, and height [25]. Since the images were evaluated locally from a computer, the SqueezeNet embedder was used as it offers fast evaluation which does not require an internet connection. SqueezeNet is a deep model for image recognition that achieves AlexNet-level accuracy on ImageNet with 50x fewer parameters. An Image Embedding process which reads images and evaluates them locally was done in Orange using the Embedding widget as shown in Figure 2. The procedure was used as a deep learning technique for the dimensionality reduction of the input maize ear image data to be processed by general suggested binary classification machine learning algorithms and a deep convolutional neural network [24]. The process is very important for image classification as it is capable to process huge data (e.g., a 20-megapixel camera picture with 3 RGB layers means 60 million of integers as the total information stored in the image). In order to analyze maize ear images, they were converted into numeric data to enable deep and machine learning algorithms to be trained and tested. Embedding transforms raw images into a vector representation or multi-dimensional feature space (image descriptors) which contains more information than image name, width, size, and height [25]. Since the images were evaluated locally from a computer, the SqueezeNet embedder was used as it offers fast evaluation which does not require an internet connection. SqueezeNet is a deep model for image recognition that achieves AlexNet-level accuracy on ImageNet with 50x fewer parameters. Deep learning convolutional neural networks use a similar concept as that of multilayer perceptions (Figure 3) which are made up of the input layer, hidden layer, and output layer [15]. The input layer (in(t)) consists of the imbedded multidirectional maize ear features (x1, x2, x3,… xn). It is then connected to the hidden layer (wo(t)) where w1, w2, w3, … wn are the estimated coefficients. The number of hidden layers (neurons) can be adjusted in a general neural network to improve accuracy. This original neural network (NN) is used mainly for character recognition tasks. Deep learning convolutional neural networks seek to exploit the unknown structure in the input distribution in order to discover good representations, often at multiple levels, with higher-level learned features defined in terms of lower-level features [30]. The convolutional neural network in Figure 4 is similar in architecture to the original neural network and classifies an input image into two categories: maize ears with and without abortion. As observed from Figure 4, on receiving a maize ear without abortion image as input, the network correctly assigns the highest probability for maize ear without abortion among the other category without abortion. The sum of all probabilities in the output layer should be one. Maize ear images comprised of two samples representing abortion and no abortion. The samples were considered as clusters to be examined using a hierarchical clustering algorithm before implementing machine learning and deep learning techniques. This enables the evaluation of the validity of the two important features differentiating the two samples, that is, images with abortion and images without abortion. Hierarchical clustering is a cluster tree (a dendrogram) that represents data, where each group (or \"node\") links to two or more successor groups [26]. The groups are nested and organized as a tree, which ideally ends up as a meaningful classification scheme. Each node in the cluster tree contains a group of similar data. Nodes group on the graph next to other similar nodes. Clusters at one level join with clusters in the next level up, using a degree of similarity. The process carries on until all nodes are in the tree, which gives a visual snapshot of the data contained in the whole set. The total number of clusters is not predetermined before the start of tree creation.The study and construction of algorithms that can learn from and make predictions on data is the major task of deep learning and machine learning. The algorithms work by making data-driven predictions or decisions through building a mathematical model from input data [27]. A training dataset is a dataset of examples used for learning or training, that is, to fit the parameters (weights) of a classifier, and a test dataset is independent of the training dataset but follows the same probability distribution as the training dataset. In this study, 70% of the maize ear image dataset was used to train the algorithms and the remaining 30% was used as a test set. It is necessary to have a validation dataset in addition to the training and test datasets to avoid overfitting [28]. The algorithms were given a set of known images with and without abortion on which training was run (training the dataset) and a dataset of unknown data (or first seen data) against which the algorithms were tested (the validation dataset or testing set). The major use of cross-validation in this study was to test the algorithms' abilities to classify maize ear images based on abortion status in order to flag problems such as overfitting or selection bias [29]. The 10-fold cross-validation was used, which portioned the original sample into 10 subsamples of equal size. Of the 10 subsamples, a single subsample was retained as the validation data for testing the algorithms, and the remaining 9 subsamples were used as training data.General machine learning algorithms are not usually recommended for image processing and analysis especially when the classification problem is not binary (more than two classes) [30]. There are some machine learning algorithms that were examined and proved to perform very well given a binary classification problem [29]. Since the task was to classify the maize ears according to whether they have abortion or not, the following machine learning algorithms were used: logistic regression (LR), neural network (NN), support vector machine (SVM), AdaBoost (ADB), Classification tree (CART), and the K-Neighbor (kNN). Figure 2 shows how the machine learning (ML) widgets were connected in Anaconda Orange 3.24 supported by Python version 3. The images were imported using the image viewer and connected the embedding widgets which converted the images to numeric data before apportioning into training and testing datasets at the test and score widget. All the experimented algorithms were then connected to the test and score widgets for performance evaluation using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, confusion matrix, and calibration plot.Deep learning convolutional neural networks use a similar concept as that of multilayer perceptions (Figure 3) which are made up of the input layer, hidden layer, and output layer [15]. The input layer (in(t)) consists of the imbedded multidirectional maize ear features (x 1 , x 2 , x 3 , . . . x n ). It is then connected to the hidden layer (w o (t)) where w 1 , w 2 , w 3 , . . . w n are the estimated coefficients. The number of hidden layers (neurons) can be adjusted in a general neural network to improve accuracy. This original neural network (NN) is used mainly for character recognition tasks. Deep learning convolutional neural networks use a similar concept as that of multilayer perceptions (Figure 3) which are made up of the input layer, hidden layer, and output layer [15]. The input layer (in(t)) consists of the imbedded multidirectional maize ear features (x1, x2, x3,… xn). It is then connected to the hidden layer (wo(t)) where w1, w2, w3, … wn are the estimated coefficients. The number of hidden layers (neurons) can be adjusted in a general neural network to improve accuracy. This original neural network (NN) is used mainly for character recognition tasks. Deep learning convolutional neural networks seek to exploit the unknown structure in the input distribution in order to discover good representations, often at multiple levels, with higher-level learned features defined in terms of lower-level features [30]. The convolutional neural network in Figure 4 is similar in architecture to the original neural network and classifies an input image into two categories: maize ears with and without abortion. As observed from Figure 4, on receiving a maize ear without abortion image as input, the network correctly assigns the highest probability for maize ear without abortion among the other category without abortion. The sum of all probabilities in the output layer should be one. Deep learning convolutional neural networks seek to exploit the unknown structure in the input distribution in order to discover good representations, often at multiple levels, with higher-level learned features defined in terms of lower-level features [30]. The convolutional neural network in Figure 4 is similar in architecture to the original neural network and classifies an input image into two categories: maize ears with and without abortion. As observed from Figure 4, on receiving a maize ear without abortion image as input, the network correctly assigns the highest probability for maize ear without abortion among the other category without abortion. The sum of all probabilities in the output layer should be one. There are four main operations in the convolutional neural network (ConvNet) shown in Figure 4 above: convolution, non-linearity (rectifier linear unit (ReLU), pooling or subsampling, and classification fully connected layer). These operations are the basic building blocks of every convolutional neural network. Pooling (also called subsampling or down sampling) reduces the dimensionality of each feature map but retains the most important information [25]. Spatial pooling can be of different types: max, average, sum, etc. In particular, poolingMakes the input representations (feature dimension) smaller and more manageable; • Reduces the number of parameters and computations in the network, therefore, controlling overfitting; • Makes the network invariant to small transformations, distortions, and translations in the input image;Helps to arrive at an almost scale invariant representation of the image. This is very powerful since we can detect objects in an image no matter where they are located.The fully connected layer is a traditional multi-layer perceptron that uses a softmax activation function in the output layer. The term \"fully connected\" implies that every neuron in the previous layer is connected to every neuron on the next layer. The full analysis of the deep learning convolutional neural network was conducted in Python 3 using the Keras Tensoflow library for deep learning.The performance of the tested algorithms in accurately classifying the maize ears with and without abortion was examined using different evaluation techniques, namely: confusion matrix, ROC analysis, and calibration plot.A confusion matrix is a figure or a table that was used to describe the performance of a classifier [31]. It was extracted from a test dataset for which the ground truth was known. Each class was compared with every other class and investigated how many samples were misclassified. The image detection was considered as a binary classification case with the output 0 (no abortion) and 1 (abortion). The confusion matrix contains the following major information: true positives (TP), true There are four main operations in the convolutional neural network (ConvNet) shown in Figure 4 above: convolution, non-linearity (rectifier linear unit (ReLU), pooling or subsampling, and classification fully connected layer). These operations are the basic building blocks of every convolutional neural network. Pooling (also called subsampling or down sampling) reduces the dimensionality of each feature map but retains the most important information [25]. Spatial pooling can be of different types: max, average, sum, etc. In particular, poolingMakes the input representations (feature dimension) smaller and more manageable; • Reduces the number of parameters and computations in the network, therefore, controlling overfitting; • Makes the network invariant to small transformations, distortions, and translations in the input image; • Helps to arrive at an almost scale invariant representation of the image. This is very powerful since we can detect objects in an image no matter where they are located.The fully connected layer is a traditional multi-layer perceptron that uses a softmax activation function in the output layer. The term \"fully connected\" implies that every neuron in the previous layer is connected to every neuron on the next layer. The full analysis of the deep learning convolutional neural network was conducted in Python 3 using the Keras Tensoflow library for deep learning.The performance of the tested algorithms in accurately classifying the maize ears with and without abortion was examined using different evaluation techniques, namely: confusion matrix, ROC analysis, and calibration plot.A confusion matrix is a figure or a table that was used to describe the performance of a classifier [31]. It was extracted from a test dataset for which the ground truth was known. Each class was compared with every other class and investigated how many samples were misclassified. The image detection was considered as a binary classification case with the output 0 (no abortion) and 1 (abortion). The confusion matrix contains the following major information: true positives (TP), true negatives (TN), false positives (FP/Type I error), and false negatives (FN/type II error). Accuracy matrices of all the examined algorithms were calculated from the confusion matrix as follows:Recall = TP TP + FN .(5)The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was a useful way to assess the accuracy of model predictions by plotting sensitivity versus 1-specificity of a classification test (as the threshold varies over an entire range of diagnostic test results) [31]. The full area under a given ROC curve or area under the curve (AUC) formulates an important statistic that represents the probability that the prediction will be in the correct order when a test variable is observed. The ROC analysis supports the inference regarding a single AUC, precision-recall (PR) curves, and provides options for comparing two ROC curves that are generated from either independent groups or paired subjects.The calibration plot was used to assess the goodness of fit of the algorithms graphically. It enables to qualitatively compare an algorithm's predicted probability of an event to the empirical probability. Assessing calibration by plotting a scatter plot smoother and overlaying a diagonal line represents the line of perfect calibration. If the smoother lies close to the diagonal, the algorithm is well calibrated [25]. If there is a systematic deviation from the diagonal line, it indicates that the algorithm might be misspecified.Maize ears encode a vast amount of information in agriculture and provide insights into the value of a crop through yield and seed quality [32]. The maize cobs with their abortion status were subjected to clustering analysis using the hierarchical algorithm. The results were presented in form of a dendrogram (Figure 5). Distances between rows were calculated using the cosine metric and ward linkage. The images were clustered from top to down or using divisive clustering. The dendrogram shows six major computed clusters and each represents a single group of images. A cluster labeled (a) represents images without abortion and (b) images with abortion. The hierarchical clustering algorithm accurately identified the abortion status of all the images as the clusters contain maize cobs images with the same similarity. Abortion was easily detected and recognized which makes it possible to apply the binary classification ML algorithms and deep convolutional neural networks. The results of the hierarchical clustering algorithm are in agreement with the findings in other researches where they were used to recognize and discriminate maize and weed species with 100% accuracy [33]. The approach was also successfully evaluated in more complicated clustering problems such as in radiomic machine learning classifiers for prognostic biomarkers of advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma [34]. Clustering brings an important aspect to the classification aspect but the two are different. Class labels of images were not given during clustering and the learning process was unsupervised as the hierarchical algorithms manages to identify the class labels on its own. In classification, the class labels are given and the learning process is supervised. All the experimented algorithms in the study were supervised machine learning algorithms that were trained based on the two major identified clusters of the images with and without abortion.AI 2020, 1, FOR PEER REVIEW 8 was unsupervised as the hierarchical algorithms manages to identify the class labels on its own. In classification, the class labels are given and the learning process is supervised. All the experimented algorithms in the study were supervised machine learning algorithms that were trained based on the two major identified clusters of the images with and without abortion. After clustering analysis, the six tested binary ML classification algorithms were trained and their performance evaluated on a test dataset based on a 10-fold cross-validation. The evaluation criteria included the time in seconds taken by each algorithm during training and testing, the classification accuracy (CA), precision, recall, logarithmic loss (LogLoss), and specificity. The minimum time in seconds was taken by the CART algorithm during training and testing (1.55 and 0.00 s, respectively). kNN, ADB, and LR took an average of 2 s during training and testing. Neural network (NN) and the SVM algorithms took the maximum time in seconds: an average of 9 s during training and 3 s during testing. All the algorithms performed very well as their classification accuracies were greater than 85% (Table 1). The LR and SVM algorithms were more accurate as they reached 100% accuracy capacity. This was also supported by the corresponding precision, recall, and After clustering analysis, the six tested binary ML classification algorithms were trained and their performance evaluated on a test dataset based on a 10-fold cross-validation. The evaluation criteria included the time in seconds taken by each algorithm during training and testing, the classification accuracy (CA), precision, recall, logarithmic loss (LogLoss), and specificity. The minimum time in seconds was taken by the CART algorithm during training and testing (1.55 and 0.00 s, respectively). kNN, ADB, and LR took an average of 2 s during training and testing. Neural network (NN) and the SVM algorithms took the maximum time in seconds: an average of 9 s during training and 3 s during testing. All the algorithms performed very well as their classification accuracies were greater than 85% (Table 1). The LR and SVM algorithms were more accurate as they reached 100% accuracy capacity. This was also supported by the corresponding precision, recall, and specificity metrics. Logarithmic loss (LogLoss) related to cross-entropy was used with the goal to minimize the prediction probability between 0 and 1. The LR and SVM algorithms were effective in minimizing the probability with values approximately equal to zero. CART and ADB failed to minimize the prediction probability with values exceeding 3, while the kNN and NN were on average with values approximately equal to one also. This implies that all the tested algorithms were effective and efficient in detecting the abortion status and classifying it according to abortion or no abortion. However, based on the 10-fold cross-validation, the best algorithms were LR and SVM while the remaining algorithms performed very well. In several other researches where the SVM was used to solve a binary image classification problem, the algorithm gave excellent precision and accuracy. In Binch et al.'s (2017) research titled 'controlled comparison of machine vision algorithms for Rumex and Urtica detection in grassland', the SVM gave 97.9% accuracy compared to other experimented tools [33]. In detection and classification of common types of botanical and non-botanical foreign matter that are embedded inside the cotton lint, the LR and SVM recorded 96% accuracy and precision [35]. Furthermore, the tools were also evaluated in the classification of parasites and automatic detection of thrips in strawberry crop giving approximately 100% accuracy [36]. Similar prediction power of the tested algorithms suggested the need to verify the accuracy stability as the cross-validation increased. Furthermore, given a binary image classification problem, the algorithms can be recommended as they managed to reach a favorable accuracy. The efficiency and prediction power of the tested algorithms were also evaluated by tracing the predicted probabilities versus the calibration curve which is effective in binary response prediction and classification (Figure 6). This added value in assessing the goodness of fit of the tested algorithms. The loess smoother lies close to the diagonal line, which indicated that the tested algorithms were a good fit for the image classification data and, therefore, they can be recommended for detecting and classifying abortion in maize cobs. The loess curve is systematically close to the diagonal line for very small and very large values of the predicted probability. This indicated that the empirical probability (the proportion of events) was not higher than predicted on these intervals. In contrast, when the predicted probability is in the range (0.1, 0.45), the empirical probability is lower than predicted and this implies a lack of goodness of fit [37]. The calibration plots of the predicted abortion and no-abortion images crossed the loess line between the 0.4 and 0.5 threshold probabilities and exponentially increased to 0.9 and remained constant. Overfitting is one of the threats to ML algorithms which need to be investigated. Based on the calibration plot, the tested binary classification algorithms fitted very well. In addition to the goodness of fit assessment, the tested algorithms' predictions and classifications were also evaluated using the receiver operating characteristic (Figure 7). ROC analysis evaluated the sensitivity (true positive rate) of the algorithms versus the false positive rate (1specificity). True positives denote accurate classification prediction while the false positives were regarded as correct prediction but in actual fact, they were not correct. The ROC curve shows the trade-off between sensitivity (true positive rate (TPR)) and specificity (1-false positive rate (FPR)). Classifiers that give curves closer to the top left corner indicate a better performance. The ROC curves exhibited a sharp bend which is an indication of perfect performance in classification. As the true positive suggests how good the algorithm is in detecting a target class, all the tested binary classification algorithm curves were very close to the top left corner, which indicated the best performance [37]. Across all the abortion statuses, the algorithms performed very well with all curves close to the top left corner that is the true positive rate. The confusion matrix summarizes the performance of all the algorithms as the major metrics can also be derived from it. Figure 8 shows the actual and predicted prediction and classification proportions of the two classes (abortion and no abortion). The LR and SVM algorithms accurately predicted and classified the abortion status of the maize cobs as they gave 100% correct prediction and 0% misclassifications. The kNN correctly predicted abortions with an accuracy of 100% while misclassified no abortion with only 10.8%. This indicated that the algorithm can be used to solve the classification problem with a very low misclassification error. The CART algorithm also gave a very In addition to the goodness of fit assessment, the tested algorithms' predictions and classifications were also evaluated using the receiver operating characteristic (Figure 7). ROC analysis evaluated the sensitivity (true positive rate) of the algorithms versus the false positive rate (1-specificity). True positives denote accurate classification prediction while the false positives were regarded as correct prediction but in actual fact, they were not correct. The ROC curve shows the trade-off between sensitivity (true positive rate (TPR)) and specificity (1-false positive rate (FPR)). Classifiers that give curves closer to the top left corner indicate a better performance. The ROC curves exhibited a sharp bend which is an indication of perfect performance in classification. As the true positive suggests how good the algorithm is in detecting a target class, all the tested binary classification algorithm curves were very close to the top left corner, which indicated the best performance [37]. Across all the abortion statuses, the algorithms performed very well with all curves close to the top left corner that is the true positive rate. In addition to the goodness of fit assessment, the tested algorithms' predictions and classifications were also evaluated using the receiver operating characteristic (Figure 7). ROC analysis evaluated the sensitivity (true positive rate) of the algorithms versus the false positive rate (1specificity). True positives denote accurate classification prediction while the false positives were regarded as correct prediction but in actual fact, they were not correct. The ROC curve shows the trade-off between sensitivity (true positive rate (TPR)) and specificity (1-false positive rate (FPR)). Classifiers that give curves closer to the top left corner indicate a better performance. The ROC curves exhibited a sharp bend which is an indication of perfect performance in classification. As the true positive suggests how good the algorithm is in detecting a target class, all the tested binary classification algorithm curves were very close to the top left corner, which indicated the best performance [37]. Across all the abortion statuses, the algorithms performed very well with all curves close to the top left corner that is the true positive rate. The confusion matrix summarizes the performance of all the algorithms as the major metrics can also be derived from it. Figure 8 shows the actual and predicted prediction and classification proportions of the two classes (abortion and no abortion). The LR and SVM algorithms accurately predicted and classified the abortion status of the maize cobs as they gave 100% correct prediction and 0% misclassifications. The kNN correctly predicted abortions with an accuracy of 100% while misclassified no abortion with only 10.8%. This indicated that the algorithm can be used to solve the classification problem with a very low misclassification error. The CART algorithm also gave a very The confusion matrix summarizes the performance of all the algorithms as the major metrics can also be derived from it. Figure 8 shows the actual and predicted prediction and classification proportions of the two classes (abortion and no abortion). The LR and SVM algorithms accurately predicted and classified the abortion status of the maize cobs as they gave 100% correct prediction and 0% misclassifications. The kNN correctly predicted abortions with an accuracy of 100% while misclassified no abortion with only 10.8%. This indicated that the algorithm can be used to solve the classification problem with a very low misclassification error. The CART algorithm also gave a very low misclassification rate of 13% under no abortion and 6.7 under abortion, which indicated that the algorithm performed very well. AdaBoost gave a similar misclassification rate (9.1%) under all the abortion statuses and the classification accuracy was approximately 91%. The NN was 100% accurate under abortion without any misclassification and 94.3% under no-abortion images with only 5.7% misclassification (meaning, images which were identified as if they had no abortion but in fact they had). The confusion matrix becomes the major algorithms evaluation technique as it gives a clear comparison of the predicted and the actual images. Results of the confusion matrix also indicated that the SVM and LR algorthms are the best perfomers as they did not have any misclassification error. A similar trend of performance was also discovered when the tools were evaluated for an active learning system for weed species recognition based on hyperspectral sensing [38]. However, all the other tested binary classification ML algorithms had very low misclassification errors. In the study, a balanced number of pictures were used, each class represented by 33 images, which makes the comparison and evaluation of the tested tools fair.AI 2020, 1, FOR PEER REVIEW 11 low misclassification rate of 13% under no abortion and 6.7 under abortion, which indicated that the algorithm performed very well. AdaBoost gave a similar misclassification rate (9.1%) under all the abortion statuses and the classification accuracy was approximately 91%. The NN was 100% accurate under abortion without any misclassification and 94.3% under no-abortion images with only 5.7% misclassification (meaning, images which were identified as if they had no abortion but in fact they had). The confusion matrix becomes the major algorithms evaluation technique as it gives a clear comparison of the predicted and the actual images. Results of the confusion matrix also indicated that the SVM and LR algorthms are the best perfomers as they did not have any misclassification error. A similar trend of performance was also discovered when the tools were evaluated for an active learning system for weed species recognition based on hyperspectral sensing [38]. However, all the other tested binary classification ML algorithms had very low misclassification errors. In the study, a balanced number of pictures were used, each class represented by 33 images, which makes the comparison and evaluation of the tested tools fair. Accuracy reliability and validity is also important when evaluating the performance of algorithms (Figure 9). This was achieved by investigating the classification accuracy at different crossvalidation sizes (2, 3, 5, 20, and 20). The cross-validation size increases the classification accuracy of LR and SVM remaining constant at 1 (100%). This gives evidence of consistency and accuracy of the tools as the number of training subsamples increases or decreases. The NN showed a significant increase as the cross-validation reached 20. The remaining tested algorithms' classification accuracy fluctuated between 0.80 and 0.90 which implies that they were not stable in giving the expected accuracy. The evaluation was based on the general comparison and abortion status. The best performers maintained the same trend under abortion and no abortion which indicated consistency in their prediction power. Some algorithms are quick to reach the best accuracy at a single crossvalidation size and fail to maintain or increase the performance. This is evidence of inconsistencies and, therefore, the recommendation must be based on the algorithms that exponentially increase in accuracy or remain constant when the cross-validation is adjusted [39]. Accuracy reliability and validity is also important when evaluating the performance of algorithms (Figure 9). This was achieved by investigating the classification accuracy at different cross-validation sizes (2, 3, 5, 20, and 20). The cross-validation size increases the classification accuracy of LR and SVM remaining constant at 1 (100%). This gives evidence of consistency and accuracy of the tools as the number of training subsamples increases or decreases. The NN showed a significant increase as the cross-validation reached 20. The remaining tested algorithms' classification accuracy fluctuated between 0.80 and 0.90 which implies that they were not stable in giving the expected accuracy. The evaluation was based on the general comparison and abortion status. The best performers maintained the same trend under abortion and no abortion which indicated consistency in their prediction power. Some algorithms are quick to reach the best accuracy at a single cross-validation size and fail to maintain or increase the performance. This is evidence of inconsistencies and, therefore, the recommendation must be based on the algorithms that exponentially increase in accuracy or remain constant when the cross-validation is adjusted [39]. Unlike other machine learning techniques, the deep convolutional network comes with different activation and optimization techniques to boost performance (Table 2). In evaluating deep convolutional neural network algorithm, four activation functions (Logistic, Identity, hyperbolic tangent activation function (Tanh), and ReLu) and three optimization techniques (Adam, SGD, and L-BFGS-B) were used. Across all the activation and optimization techniques, the area under the curve (AUC) was equal to one, implying that the deep neural network performed very well, as there was a 100% chance of its ability to distinguish the abortion status. Classification accuracy (AC) using the Adam optimization technique was 1 (100%) across all the used activation methods. Stochastic gradient descent (SDG) and L-BFGS-B = Limited-memory BFGS (L-BFGS or LM-BFGS) classification accuracy was approximately 100% across all activation methods. The other metrics such as precision, f1 score, Recall, and specificity of the deep convolutional neural network followed the same trend to their corresponding classification accuracy. LogLoss minimizes the prediction probability between 0 and 1. The Adam optimization technique minimizes the LogLoss to zero at different examined activation techniques, while the other optimization techniques were also giving LogLoss reduction. Designed specifically for image recognition, the deep neural network accurately predicted and classified the image abortion status. The stability and consistency were examined using different optimization and activation techniques. Adam and ReLu gave the best accuracy. The CNN method is more popular in various non-agriculture fields, but its application in the agricultural research has been witnessed. In 2005, the approach was successfully used in the detection of yellow rust-infected and healthy winter wheat under field circumstances from data fusion of hyper-spectral reflection and multi-spectral fluorescence imaging giving an accuracy of 99.4% [40]. CNN was further used in wheat research to identify and discriminate yellow rust-infected, nitrogen-stressed, and healthy winter wheat in field conditions, and the approach gave 99.92% accuracy [41]. In addition to wheat-related studies, the CNN method was suggested to be the best method with 99.53% accuracy in the detection of plant diseases [19]. In legumes, the approach was used in the identification and classification of three legume species: soybean, as well as white and red bean, giving an accuracy of 98.8% [42]. According to the ML in agriculture review paper, artificial and deep neural networks were successfully used in the following fields: yield prediction, disease detection, weed detection crop quality, species recognition, animal welfare, livestock production, water management, and soil management [33]. The findings of this study recommend the application and use of deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) supplemented with binary classification ML algorithms in detecting and classifying the maize cobs images abortion status. Unlike other machine learning techniques, the deep convolutional network comes with different activation and optimization techniques to boost performance (Table 2). In evaluating deep convolutional neural network algorithm, four activation functions (Logistic, Identity, hyperbolic tangent activation function (Tanh), and ReLu) and three optimization techniques (Adam, SGD, and L-BFGS-B) were used. Across all the activation and optimization techniques, the area under the curve (AUC) was equal to one, implying that the deep neural network performed very well, as there was a 100% chance of its ability to distinguish the abortion status. Classification accuracy (AC) using the Adam optimization technique was 1 (100%) across all the used activation methods. Stochastic gradient descent (SDG) and L-BFGS-B = Limited-memory BFGS (L-BFGS or LM-BFGS) classification accuracy was approximately 100% across all activation methods. The other metrics such as precision, f1 score, Recall, and specificity of the deep convolutional neural network followed the same trend to their corresponding classification accuracy. LogLoss minimizes the prediction probability between 0 and 1. The Adam optimization technique minimizes the LogLoss to zero at different examined activation techniques, while the other optimization techniques were also giving LogLoss reduction. Designed specifically for image recognition, the deep neural network accurately predicted and classified the image abortion status. The stability and consistency were examined using different optimization and activation techniques. Adam and ReLu gave the best accuracy. The CNN method is more popular in various non-agriculture fields, but its application in the agricultural research has been witnessed. In 2005, the approach was successfully used in the detection of yellow rust-infected and healthy winter wheat under field circumstances from data fusion of hyper-spectral reflection and multi-spectral fluorescence imaging giving an accuracy of 99.4% [40]. CNN was further used in wheat research to identify and discriminate yellow rust-infected, nitrogen-stressed, and healthy winter wheat in field conditions, and the approach gave 99.92% accuracy [41]. In addition to wheat-related studies, the CNN method was suggested to be the best method with 99.53% accuracy in the detection of plant diseases [19]. In legumes, the approach was used in the identification and classification of three legume species: soybean, as well as white and red bean, giving an accuracy of 98.8% [42]. According to the ML in agriculture review paper, artificial and deep neural networks were successfully used in the following fields: yield prediction, disease detection, weed detection crop quality, species recognition, animal welfare, livestock production, water management, and soil management [33]. The findings of this study recommend the application and use of deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) supplemented with binary classification ML algorithms in detecting and classifying the maize cobs images abortion status.  The hierarchical clustering algorithm precisely detected the two abortion clusters (with and without abortion) from the maize ears images without being supervised and suggested the possibility of using binary machine learning algorithms and a deep convolutional neural network in maize ear phenotyping. All the tested binary machine learning algorithms performed well in detecting and classifying abortion, but the SVM and LR were far better than the other tested methods. In evaluating the used methods at different cross-validation intervals, the SVM and LR were more stable and reliable as they maintained 100% level of accuracy compared to kNN, AB, CART, and NN. Moreover, the binary classification algorithms were evaluated to depict the best performer given the abortion status using the ROC analysis and the calibration curve as well as the confusion matrix. All the methods performed well but LR and SVM were outstanding among all. The deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) was evaluated separately because of its uniqueness. The evaluation criteria was based on a 10-fold cross-validation, 100 neurons, four activation techniques, and three optimization methods. The DCNN performed well in maize ear abortion status detection and classification using the Adam optimization method and ReLu activation technique as they quickly gave the best accuracy. In solving a binary image prediction and classification problem, the binary ML classification algorithms can be recommended, specifically SVM and LR, supplementing DCNN, which was specifically designed for image classification. The detection of kernel abortion on maize ears can provide valuable information for crop improvement, targeting stressful growth conditions given that kernel abortion is caused by any stress that greatly limits photosynthetic rates during or shortly following pollination. However, the extent of abortion would be more useful in selection. Therefore, further research is needed to identify, test, and validate machine learning-assisted methods that can simultaneously identify and quantify kernel abortion on maize ears. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"06f82b93d3957358573d08ad032a11ab","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/46fe900f-3ad4-4e57-8e01-b709ad03efd2/retrieve","id":"-517019561"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"73f4ce57-28a3-4d89-af21-b8b4bc75bebf","content":"ment Institute (IIMI) was transformed to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Our research focus has been widened to a comprehensive view of water used for food production and the generation of rural livelihoods. Irrigated agriculture remains our core business, but we look at it in the context of other uses and the environment.In addition, we are looking at the changing face of irrigation. Since IIMI was originally established to improve the performance of large, public-sector irrigation systems-there have been two revolutions in the world of irrigation.First, the development of groundwater irrigation using tubewells with diesel or electric pumps has had a tremendous impact. These investments were largely made by private farmers. In India we estimate that, today, more than 50 percent of irrigated agriculture depends on groundwater. But also, where tail-end farmers were inadequately served by the canal irrigation systems in the past, many now use groundwater for supplemental irrigation to achieve substantially higher production levels.Second, we are witnessing an emerging revolution based on micro-irrigation. A range of affordable small-scale technologies, from micro-lifting devices such as treadle pumps to affordable drip irrigation systems, allows poor farmers to grow high-value, labor-intensive crops on small plots. Irrigated agriculture is changing more rapidly than its public perception. IWMI fosters and documents the changes, and analyzes their impact at the basin scale-on agriculture, poverty, health and the environment. This is the new IWMI that has developed under David Seckler's leadership. His leadership received the highest praise from our five-yearly External Program Management Review (the 1999-2000 EPMR).We are proud that our external review concluded: \"….over the past six years IWMI has transformed itself from an institution focusing on irrigation management and involved in a combination of research and technical assistance activities into a much more researchoriented institution...\" -and that it has created a niche for itself in specific research areas related to water resources management and poverty. The review concluded \"….IWMI, led by David Seckler, and ably supported by his senior management team and by IWMI staff, and with the general support of the Board, deserves much credit for this achievement….\".Our transformation from IIMI to IWMI-that was in progress for several years-was formally capped by the Parliament of Sri Lanka on 18 August 2000, when it voted into Law the revised Act approving the change in name.We are looking forward to a new era for IWMI-which will no doubt be marked by continued rapid change-under the leadership of Professor Frank Rijsberman. He comes to us as one of the leaders of the World Water Vision and World Water Forum process. IWMI was a key contributor to the scenarios developed for the Vision and leader of the Groundwater session at the Forum. We were invigorated by this process. It brought together the largest-ever number of people concerned about water-both from inside and outside the traditional water world. This initiative put 'water' on the global radar screen. Yes, water resources management is one of the critical issues for the coming decades. And this is illustrated by increasing recognition of this fact in the international agricultural research community. One after the other of our sister CGIAR institutes are ranking water issues among their top priorities.We in IWMI are looking forward with confidence to a future in which many thingsincluding the CGIAR itself-will change. But the importance and urgency of our mandate are clearly reaffirmed. In partnership with many others, we expect to have a major impact toward productive, equitable and sustainable use of water resources.How much irrigation do we really need? Shortly after being appointed at IWMI in March of 2000, I stood in for David Seckler in the plenary session on Water for Food and Rural Development at the 2 nd World Water Forum, and I asked the question: \"How much irrigation do we really need?\" Both the intensity and the diversity of the reactions that I received-and continue to receive-might surprise you. Probably the most disappointing result of the Vision and Forum process was that we did not really manage to create a genuine dialogue between those for and against irrigation. These two camps are equally deeply convinced that irrigation is an absolute necessity and needs to be expanded and that irrigation is a waste of precious water, has cost the public purse billions and has not delivered on its promise. And yet, both the Vision 1 and the Framework for Action 2 conclude that resolving this issue is the most critical for sustainable development of water resources in the coming decades.IWMI can be relevant to this debate in several ways, and these are worked out in our new Strategic Plan. 3 First, IWMI has offered to initiate-and possibly facilitate-a dialogue among the main stakeholders. To this end we are organizing-jointly with FAO, GWP, ICID, IUCN, and WHO-an exploratory workshop in Colombo in December. 1 Cosgrove and Rijsberman. 2000. The World Water Vision: Making Water Everybody's Business. Earthscan Publications, London. 2 Global Water Partnership Framework for Action Unit. 2000. Framework for Action: Towards a Water Secure World. GWP, Stockholm. 3 The latest draft is available on our website: www.iwmi.org. Approval of the Plan is expected at our Board meeting in December 2000.Second, we are preparing for a Comprehensive Assessment of Irrigated Agriculture (1950-2000). We expect that if we-with partners, of course-are able to provide an authoritative assessment, deemed credible by all stakeholders, this will be an important input to the debate on the future of irrigation. Such an assessment would deal not only with the beneficial impacts of the investments in irrigation on food production and rural livelihoods as well as with all public and private costs involved, but also with the costs in terms of people displaced, and ecosystems destroyed and affected. One of the difficult parts in such an assessment will be to separate the impacts of investments in water from the investments in genetic improvement in their joint impact on increased productivity in agriculture. This will be a task that-if anybody can-should be done jointly by the institutes of the CGIAR, possibly as a Task Force that might replace the System-Wide Initiative on Water Management.Even as IWMI reports on its achievements in 1999-2000, we are preparing an effective contribution in the years to come. The emerging research themes in the new strategic plan focus on:• Integrated water resources management in irrigation, including the dialogue and comprehensive assessment outlined above, but maintaining IWMI's traditional strength in management of irrigation systems.• Smallholder land and water management, with a focus on poor farmers and an approach that includes watersheds, sustainable land management, micro-irrigation and rainwater harvesting.• Sustainable groundwater management, also included in the two themes above, but sufficiently important to warrant special focus, both related to groundwater assessment and modeling as well as groundwater policy and management.• Water resources policies and institutions, where maintaining strengths in community level (farmer-) organizations, will go hand-in-hand with strengthening our expertise in basin-level institutions and conflict management-all with a strong policy focus.• Health and environment, where we will maintain our strength in health impacts of water management-for example on malaria-while strengthening our environmental work on the interface of ecosystems and irrigated agriculture.New Programs in Southern Africa and IndiaIn line with the increased focus in the CGIAR on poverty in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, IWMI has recently closed its offices in Turkey and Mexico, and is strengthening its programs in the SADC (Southern Africa Development Committee) and SAARC (South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation) regions. The agreement with the South African government that will formally allow IWMI to open a sub-Saharan Africa office in South Africa will be signed during ICW 2000. In 2001, we also expect to expand our activities in India significantly. This will be done administratively through close cooperation with ICRISAT, which will allow for highly efficient operations.The majority of IWMI's work to date has directly impacted the managers of irrigation systems-both farmers and managers in irrigation agencies. In recent years, IWMI has also focused on making high-impact research reports widely available in printed and electronic formats. While all of this is useful, and will be continued, it needs to be complemented by ways to reach larger audiences both faster and with lasting impacts.The two new pathways that IWMI will explore vigorously are:• Closer cooperation with development NGOs that have the means to reach large numbers of villages and farmers directly-with IWMI-produced knowledge or interventions.• Actively incorporating IWMI-produced international public goods research results into the curricula of universities that can pass these on to generations of new managers and scientists.At the same time, IWMI will assess its own impacts more actively. The methodologies IWMI has developed to monitor irrigation system performance, as well as new methodologies for benchmarking, may also be used to measure the impact of IWMI research. Assessing impact does require long-term monitoring. To this end IWMI plans to develop and expand the concept of benchmark basins. These are basins where IWMI will make a commitment to long-term research in partnership with local organizations.There is considerable scope for IWMI to improve its effectiveness and impact through stronger and deeper partnerships in various forms. First, we see rapidly increasing cooperation within the CGIAR, both in terms of regional integration and harmonization of CG-institute research agendas-drawn up in consultation with stakeholders-and in terms of harmonization of administrative policies and procedures. The latter can result in system-wide policies-such as personnel policies-or a shared CG-wide Intranet. In any case, we see Given the relatively large group of senior scientists currently at IWMI, there is considerable scope to expand the group of young scientists (Postdocs and up) while maintaining a balance. Through a focus on young scientists from the South-with recently completed doctoral research in our key areas of interest-we are increasing our science capacity, reducing our overheads and getting a better representation from the countries where we want to work. A recruitment drive in the second half of 2000 has allowed us to appoint an excellent group of young researchers, all from Asia and Africa. We have high expectations of the stimulus to our research that this group will provide.At the same time, this policy will increase the representation from the South in our scientific cadre. During the five years of our new Strategic Plan, I target the percentage of scientists at IWMI from the South to rise to above, and probably considerably above, 50 percent. I also target the percentage of female scientists to rise to above 33 percentincluding in-senior scientist and management positions.The International Water Management Institute is ready for the New Millenium-for a significant contribution to integrated management of water and land resources for food security, rural livelihoods and nature conservation.The research context: W International Water Management Institute 9Water Supply and Demand, 1995 to 2025Prophecy is a good line of business, but it is full of risks.Mark Twain, Following the Equator Water scarcity is determined by a variety of factors. In this paper we summarize some key issues for water management that will influence the degree of scarcity that different The basic scenario is rather optimistic. Within an overall framework of social, technical and economic feasibility, it relies on substantial investments and changes in policies, institutions and management systems intended to achieve four major objectives:• Achieve an adequate level of per capita food consumption, partly through increased irrigation, to substantially reduce malnutrition and the most extreme forms of poverty.• Provide sufficient water to the domestic and industrial sectors to meet basic needs and economic demands for water in 2025.• Increase food security and rural income in countries where a large percentage of poor people depend on agriculture for their livelihoods through agricultural development and protection from excessive (and often highly subsidized) agricultural imports.International Water Management Institute 10• Introduce and enforce strong policies and programs to increase water quality and support environmental uses of water.Realizing these objectives requires three major actions in the field of water resources and irrigation management in water-scarce countries:• Greatly increase the productivity of water resources use.• After productivity is increased, there generally remains a need for substantial increases in the amount of developed water supplies.• Water resources must be developed with substantially reduced social and environmental costs than in the past-and people must be willing to pay the increased financial costs this policy necessarily entails.As our water scarcity map shows, we have grouped the forty-five countries into three basic categories of water scarcity.Group I represents countries that face physical water scarcity in 2025. This means that, even with the highest feasible efficiency and productivity of water use, these countries do not have sufficient water resources to meet their agricultural, domestic, industrial and environmental needs in 2025. Indeed, many of these countries cannot even meet their present needs. Their only options are to invest in expensive desalinization plants and/or reduce the amount of water used in agriculture, transfer it to the other sectors and import more food.Group II represents countries that face economic water scarcity in 2025. They have sufficient water resources to meet the 2025 needs but they will have to increase water supplies through additional storage, conveyance and regulation systems by 25 percent or more over the 1995 levels to meet their 2025 needs. Many of these countries face severe financial and development capacity problems in meeting their water needs.Group III consists of countries that have no physical water scarcity and that will need to develop less than 25 percent more water supplies to meet their 2025 needs. In most cases, this will not pose a substantial problem for them. In fact, several countries in this group could actually decrease their 2025 water supplies from the 1995 levels because of increased water productivity.The crosshatched countries on this map are those that are projected to import over 10 percent of their total cereal consumption in 2025. The correlation between this set of countries and Group I is clear.The data in PODIUM are currently being updated by IWMI, with local partners in several locations, to provide a more accurate perspective of the water/food picture at the country and regional level.Food and water are two of the basic human needs-and the latter, in the form of irrigation, is necessary to produce much of the former.The single most important component of nutrition is calorie consumption per capita. The average for developing countries is around 2,200 kcal/person/day. With reasonably varied diets, if people satisfy their calorie requirements, they will also satisfy their requirements for protein, minerals and vitamins. A major exception to this rule is when a very high percentage of total calories is from rice, which is low in protein. Other exceptions occur with low vegetable consumption, which may cause vitamin and mineral deficiencies. But, on the whole, the principal target is adequate calorie consumption.But even if the average calorie intake of a country is 2,200 kcal/capita/day, this is not enough to assure that everyone in the country is actually obtaining enough. People with relatively high incomes tend to overconsume calories, mainly from animal products. Therefore, it is necessary to get a substantially higher average calorie consumption in a country to attempt to achieve the minimum for poor people. How much higher this amount must be is largely a function of the distribution of income in a country. As a rule of thumb, something in the range of 2,700-3,200 kcal/day is adequate for most countries to satisfy basic food needs, depending on the distribution of income and other factors in individual countries.One of the most difficult issues in projecting the demand for food and related agricultural products in 2025 is consumption of animal products-meats, milk, cheese, etc. In most countries, the total calories consumed and the percentage of calories from animal products increase with income, even at high-income levels.However, because of a variety of causes including urbanization, health concerns and costs, it is likely that there will be:• A reduction in excessive per capita calorie consumption by higher-income groups.• A rapid growth in consumption per capita of meat products in developing countries, such as China and India, as incomes increase, combined with a tendency to plateau at lower levels of consumption than in the traditionally meat-consuming countries of the west.• A shift toward more vegetarian, or \"Mediterranean\" diets, away from meats.• A shift from red meats, notably beef, to white meats, notably chicken.The issues to be discussed in this section may be introduced by the following statement from the World Bank 1997:Irrigated farmland provides 60 percent of the world's grain production. Of the near doubling of world grain production that took place between 1966 and 1990, irrigated land (working synergistically with high-yielding seed varieties and fertilizer) was responsible for 92 percent of the total. Irrigation is the key to developing high-value cash crops. By helping guarantee consistent production, irrigation spawns agro-industry. Finally, irrigation creates significant rural employment. The Bank has been a major actor in the expansion of irrigation systems.… More than 46 million farming families have benefited directly from the Bank's irrigation activities. 1 While the exact values cited here may be debated, 2 the importance of the central issues is beyond question. These are:• The near doubling of cereal production, which kept food prices low for poor people in face of rapid population growth.• The crucial role of irrigation, working synergistically with the other factors, in achieving this result.• The importance of sustaining and improving rural livelihoods.As this report also notes, the policies under which these accomplishments were achieved have been substantially changed by the World Bank and other donors-and, to a lesser extent, by developing countries.Since agricultural policies are major variables in projections to 2025, these changes present an especially difficult problem because the policies under which past results were created are changing in a way that is difficult to predict.A popular idea is to concentrate food production in rain-fed, rather than in irrigated areas. The total cultivated area of the world 2 We estimate that in 1995 irrigated area produced 43 percent of world cereals, with this value increasing to 57 percent in 2025. However, the World Bank values are correct for the developing countries.Low cost, high-tech tools help poor countries better manage their water resources IWMI researchers have developed satellite remote sensing tools that interpret low-cost public domain satellite images to have a more precise view of water resources and water/crop interactions.Where is the potential for increasing the productivity of water in agriculture? Where can water be reallocated from one area-or use-to another to best fulfill the needs of all users? Where is water in an irrigation system reaching crops or not reaching them? These questions can be answered using IWMI's satellite remote sensing tools.IWMI is currently working with partners in Sri Lanka, Iran, Turkey and Pakistan to help these countries put in place satellite imaging services to strengthen their water and food security policies. Sri Lanka has been used as a test case. Using these new techniques, its meteorology office will soon be reprocessing satellite images that it receives for weather forecasting, to answer water resources and crop planning questions for colleagues in the agricultural and irrigation departments.For more information visit our website www.iwmi.org is about one billion hectares, of which only about one-third is irrigated. Thus, a 10-percent increase in the productivity of rain-fed agriculture would have twice the impact as the same increase in irrigated agriculture. As the beneficial impact would be largely on poor farmers in marginal areas, this is an enormously attractive idea.It should be recognized from the start, however, that this is by no means a new idea. The goal of increasing productivity of marginal rain-fed areas has been energetically pursued, using all the tools of agronomic science, for at least a century, with highly disappointing results. We believe that the sciences and technologies of agronomy and water management have now advanced to the point where there are grounds for optimism in this fieldand, indeed, there are notable cases of success on the ground. But before solutions can be found, the depth and extent of the problems must be thoroughly understood.There are three central problems of agriculture in marginal rain-fed areas.• Most of a farmer's costs are the fixed costs of cultivating land, independent of yield. Thus as yields decrease, net returns to farmers decrease even faster. For example, if costs represent 2 metric tons per hectare (MT/ha), the farmer earns a net of 3 MT/ha at an economic maximum yield of 5 MT/ha, with optimal water supply. But the farmer makes only 1 MT/ha if yield is reduced to 3 MT/ha due to deficient water supply.• In most cases, rainfall is highly unreliable. Farmers rationally minimize their investments in labor, improved seeds, fertilizers, soil and water management and the like to minimize losses due to drought. But this lack of investment in productive inputs means that even when good rainfall occurs, the yield is not as large as it should be.• Since rainfall affects large areas, prices rise dramatically in times of drought, when there is nothing to sell and collapse in periods of good rainfall, when harvests exceed subsistence needs and there is alot to sell.It is hoped that advances in biotechnology will result in drought-resistant and more waterefficient crops. One problem with this idea is that, hitherto, drought-resistant crops and varieties have been, for that very reason, low-yielding. Such a crop may produce a more stable yield over varying climatic conditions but at such a low-yield potential that it is uneconomical or unable to respond to favorable conditions. As with yield, there is no single gene, or any known set of genes, that determines drought resistance. While there are likely to be advances in this field, largely through classical selective breeding, there is little likelihood of a substantial breakthrough.Last, it is important to guard against the common assumption that rain-fed agriculture somehow uses less water in food production than irrigated agriculture. Several effects of rain-fed agriculture should be understood:• Rain-fed crops are almost always planted on lands that previously supported low-valued grasses or trees. These plants consume all the water that enters the soil, through evapotranspiration, just as do the crops. Thus there may be a gain in the value per unit of water consumed, or \"crop per drop\"-if the crops are more valuable than the previous plants. In terms of environmental values, they may not be.• Rain-fed crops are usually planted using various kinds of soil-moisture conservation techniques, such as tillage, mulching, bunding, terracing, etc., to reduce non-beneficial evaporation from the land and runoff from the fields. When non-beneficial evaporation is reduced, there is a real gain in water productivity; but utilizing runoff may simply represent water that does not flow into other surface and subsurface areas where it may have a higher-valued use-such as domestic water supplies or, indeed, downstream irrigated areas.• The productivity of water used in agriculture, the \"crop per drop,\" is highest when the relative water supply is low, at around 0.35. But this finding must be treated cautiously, because it only optimizes returns to water-not to all the other factors of production that affect farmers' income. Also, the degree of water-management precision required to attain this optimum is available only in the most sophisticated irrigation technologies and management systems.• Another problem in rain-fed agriculture without inorganic fertilizers is that plant density is typically low in order to extract nutrients from the soil. Consequently, the crop canopy is open and non-beneficial evaporation from the soil surface increases. A study in Africa, for example, showed that only 5 percent of the water entering a field wasBy the end of 2000, IWMI will have established its sub-Saharan regional office in South Africa. This office will coordinate research being done in East and West Africa. This work links into IWMI's research programs-especially on groundwater, smallholder water management and water management policies and institutions.Based in Pretoria, the office is home to a core of scientists from several countries and disciplines, including hydrology, economics, agronomy and sociology. Much of the work done here is being done in collaboration with universities, including the University of the North and the University of Pretoria. Current African research projects include: Catchement management (national and regional/ international level), small-scale community-based irrigation, water harvesting, groundwater and smallholder precision irrigation, environmental sustainability of water systems and multiple uses of water, agro-ecology and human health.An important goal for this research office is to identify and promote the exchange of research findings between Africa and Asia. As the only CGIAR center in the region, this IWMI office provides a useful link for other CG centers to further their research in the region.beneficially used for crop production; the balance was runoff and non-beneficial evaporation; this study also shows the potential for improving the situation because of this high water loss.For these and related reasons, contrary to what is commonly thought, a large shift to rainfed agriculture in many marginal areas could result in reduced productivity per unit of water consumed in agriculture.However, under specific agroclimatic conditions, small-scale farming can be productive in marginal rain-fed areas through supplemental irrigation. Of course, all irrigation is supplemental irrigation because it is designed only to \"top up\" effective precipitation on the crops.But supplemental irrigation is a technique specifically designed for water-scarce regions, where scarce water is stored and used only in limited quantities at the critical growth stages of crops.In many areas, for example, there is sufficient average rainfall over the crop season to obtain good yields, but yields are greatly reduced by short-term, 15-to 30-day, droughts at critical growth stages of the plant. Water stress at the flowering stage of maize, for example, will reduce yields by 60 percent, even if water is adequate throughout the rest of the crop season. If there is a way to store surplus water and apply it if the rain fails in these stages, crop production would increase dramatically.There are many ideas for water conservation and supplemental irrigation for smallholders. This is a long and complex subject that cannot be gone into here other than to say that most of these ideas have failed in practice because of two important factors:• They do not adequately consider the need to actually have and store surplus water before the drought episode.• They fail to consider the economic costs, relative to benefits-which is all the farmer cares about.One of the single most promising technologies in this field that has gained wide adoption in India, is \"percolation tanks.\" These are small reservoirs that capture runoff and hold the water for percolation into shallow water tables. The water is then pumped up onto fields when and only when, it is most needed. Groundwater storage avoids the high evaporation losses of surface storage; with pumps, the water table provides a cost-free water distribution system to farms; and percolation losses from irrigation are automatically captured by the water table for reuse. These percolation tanks can be combined with highly efficient sprinkler and drip irrigation conveyance systems to provide just the right amount of water when it is needed most.In order to evaluate the agricultural potential for marginal rain-fed areas it is necessary to have rather detailed climatic maps of countries. IWMI's Climatic and Agriculture Atlas of the World (on IWMI's website: http://www.iwmi.org), the final version of which will be available for Asia and Africa within the next 6 months, will be of enormous help in addressing this issue.In sum, for all these reasons, it is likely that an increasing proportion of the world's food supply will have to be from irrigation. An important need is supplemental irrigation, in marginal rain-fed areas such as in sub-Saharan Africa, using advanced irrigation technologies. In fact, this absolutely has to happen if sub-Saharan Africa is to produce enough food to feed its rapidly growing population without an unacceptably high level of food dependence and provide remunerative rural employment. IWMI researchers in Pakistan have become trusted advisers of national and regional irrigation authorities. The most recent impact of IMWI's research here is lending support to the Punjab Province in its efforts to reform the irrigation management structure and the legal basis that allows cost sharing and devolution of irrigation management to local Farmer Organizations.From its Lahore office, IWMI helped facilitate the dialogue that created the farmer/irrigation department cost-sharing and joint-management structure.From its field station in Haroonabad, IWMI researchers worked with farmers and authorities to create a pilot Farmer Organization. Now the key research activity for IWMI is to measure the progress and problems that this ambitious experiment will encounter.Pedaling out of Poverty: Livelihood Impacts of Treadle-Pump Irrigation in South AsiaThis research is set out in Eastern India, Nepal terai, and Bangladesh-the heartland of the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghana basin, and South Asia's so-called poverty square. The region packs 500 million of the world's poorest people; but it also has one of the best groundwater resources of the world, available at a depth of 1.5-3.5 m. The population density is over 500/sq. km; each of over 90 percent of the holdings is less than 1 hectare and the sizes of these holdings have been halving every  This study was designed to examine whether the picture is indeed as rosy as the IDE sug- Adoption invariably results in increased land-use intensity, and thus has a powerful 'land-augmenting' effect; however,The study of smallholder water management practices in Africa and Asia is a research theme that IWMI will substantially expand over the coming three years. There have been many attemps at developing effective and low-cost water management practices suitable for poor peopleand poor people are among the innovators, developing some of the most practical approaches. IWMI researchers feel there is tremendous scope for the spread of some of these practices.IWMI scientists are now identifying practices that can have the highest impact on improving the water situation for poor people. These innovations will be scientifically scrutinized, and the most promising ones sifted out. In doing this, IWMI can assist governments and NGOs to identify appropriate practices for specific situations, and see how they can be used to improve the lives of poor people.South Asian villages hold a wealth of knowledge and useful practices, for water harvesting, groundwater recharge and shared management of a common village well or resource. Here IWMI is working with the NGOs, Pradan and IDE 1 to identify high-potential practices.In sub-Saharan Africa, low-cost, informal irrigation such as treadle pumps and bucket drip-kits are being used in rural communities and family gardens on an increasingly wide scale. IWMI`s research projects on these topics is asking three key research questions: what is the extent of this informal irrigation (using satellite imaging to gather this data, which is not known); what are the real economic impacts and constraints of these practices on poor communities; and what will be the consequence for water resources, as several million more people jump on the small-scale irrigation bandwagon.water management innovations in Asia and Africa  Overall income impact is the product of increased land-use intensity, increased proportion of high value crops, and improved crop yields. Income impact varied across households and regions but an average increase in annual net income of US$100/year seems a conservative estimate; at least 20 percent of adopters earn US$5-600 more per year in net terms.Impact of treadle-pump adoption at household level takes two forms: less enterprising among the poor use it to bring their surplus family labor under productive use. Their gain is an 'implicit wage' on family labor that is 1.5-2.5 times the market wage rate. In contrast,  the more enterprising among the poor use treadle-pump irrigation to make a transition from 'subsistence farming' to intelligent commercial farming; it is the latter who evolve and use new ideas like early planting to beat the market glut, husbanding hired dieselpump irrigation with treadle-pump irrigation, priority application of inputs, building market linkages, growing new types of vegetables, and so on; they earn much more from treadlepump irrigation-only a small part of their increased earning is a return to their labor; the bulk of it is a return to their entrepreneurial effort-by innovating, risk-taking, searching for new market opportunities, and so on.A number of hypotheses about the second-generation impact emerge from our research:Treadle-pump adopters not only obtain high productivity of land but also secure high 'cropper-drop' and high 'cash-per-drop' through intensive management of treadle-pump irrigated plots; for, unlike diesel pumps that deliver 8-10 l/s, a treadle-pump discharge of 1-1.2 l/ s is easier to manage.The short-run impact of treadle-pump adoption on household income, food security, better cash flows, etc., seems well-established; in the longer run, treadle-pump adopter households are likely to perform better in terms of savings and capital accumulation, investment in agriculture, education, and so on.As the density of treadle pumps in a community increases, the local labor market becomes tighter as treadle-pump adopters withdraw fully or largely to work on their own lands; this is likely to result in greater employment and higher wage rates for the landless and nonadopters who are more dependent on wage labor.Similarly, the growing treadle-pump density is likely to ease the demand pressure in local pump-irrigation markets obliging water sellers to offer a better deal to their buyers, who may be mostly non-adopters of treadle pumps. In Bangladesh, there are regions where the treadle-pump density is as high as 1.5-2/ha; many of these have used treadle pumps for 12-15 years now; it is therefore possible to test these second-generation hypotheses in North-West Bangladesh.The overall scale of the livelihood impact of treadle pumps will then ultimately depend  manufacturers who market them through a decentralized, largely unregulated marketing channel on which the IDE has very little influence, much as it would like to have. In Bangladesh, the fastest moving treadle pump was the cheapest, and could not possibly have been the best on offer (see fig. 4). In India, in its concern for high quality, the IDE has adopted a more 'professional' approach in building a manufacturing base, a marketing network and a promotional strategy that delivers a presumably superior product at a commensurately higher price under one brand name, Krishak Bandhu (farmer's friend);the IDE maintains fairly tight control over the consumer price, marketing margins and quality through its own organization. Could it be that there are lessons to learn from the Bangladesh experience? Could it be that a variety of treadle-pump qualities at a range of prices delivered through a decentralized manufacturing-cum-marketing network with the IDE taking a purely promotional role would do more to put the treadle pump into the hands of the poor? It is hypothesized that AWDI is one of the water-saving practices that has enabled Zhanghe to transfer water to other higher-valued uses without significant loss in crop production.We are conducting research at three levels to assess the extent of application and impact of AWDI. These include: (i) controlled experiments with and without AWDI and for different timing of fertilizer application, (ii) farm surveys to identify the degree of adoption of AWDI, and (iii) flow monitoring at various scales within ZIS to assess the farm up to the basin impact of AWDI.Our ultimate goal in this research is to see whether water-saving technologies used successfully in China can be used in other rice-growing areas of the world. We feel that water-saving irrigation practices such as AWDI and recapture of return flows are suitable for monsoonal areas where there is considerable outflow that could be saved and put to productive use. In the more arid regions, especially where the water resources are fully committed to various uses, the scope for water saving by AWDI and related techniques may be limited.Here we report on one of the initial steps in our research, an analysis of the historical records compiled by the Zhanghe system. This includes annual data compiled since 1966 on water inflows and allocation among alternative uses, area irrigated, and crop yields per hectare and per cubic meter of water. From the late 1970s to the late 1990s, water from the Zhanghe reservoir allocated to irrigation dropped from 600 mcm (million cubic meters)to about 200 mcm (fig. 1). The water allocated for other uses (municipal, industry, and hydropower) has increased steadily. However, the area irrigated and total grain production in ZID has declined only modestly. In analyzing the changes taking place, we identify those factors that seem to have contributed to sustained agricultural production despite a significant reallocation of water from irrigation to other uses.The time series on which this report is based has been compiled by ZIS for the period  In ZIS, most of the irrigation comes from the Zhanghe reservoir supported by medium and small-size reservoirs and supplemented by a pumping station. Thus, a large irrigation network including storing, diverting, and withdrawing water has been established.The water available for irrigation includes rainfall, water from main and minor reservoirs, river water, and groundwater. The annual rainfall is 960 mm with a standard deviation of approximately 20 percent. The inflow of water seems to have increased significantly over time. Also in more recent years, there have been significant releases of water for flood control. The flood year 1996 provides a clear example. The rainfall (1,354 mm) and inflow (16.4 x 10 8 m 3 ) were abnormally high. Water released for flood control (8.2 x 10 8 m 3 ) was the highest on record. Adjusting for water released for flood control, the available supply of water from the Zhanghe reservoir does not appear to have changed significantly over time. However, there are large year-to-year fluctuations which affect the annual releases for irrigation (fig. 1). When rainfall is low and the irrigation system needs more water for irrigation, the water yield from the catchment is small and vice versa.Zhanghe is a multipurpose reservoir. While the primary purpose is irrigation other uses include flood control, hydropower, municipal and industrial water supply, navigation, and aquatic culture. The tasks of regulation are based on planning, design, and experience.The objectives of water supply are subordinate to flood control and the prerequisite reservoir safety. As much water as possible is stored to meet water demand for all users, but irrigation has the priority. In years of extreme shortage, such as the current year, water for hydropower is reduced.In the 1966-78 period the main water use was for irrigation, but water was not managed well. The standard of flood control was low. There was excess water at the upper end of the canal but farmers at the lower end often did not receive water. In the period 1979-88 there were substantial improvements in regulation and management and volumetric pricing of water was initiated. In the most recent period, 1989-98, new management tools and information technologies were tested and implemented. These included multi-objective optimization modeling, real-time information feedback regulation management for forecasting weather and inflow into the reservoir, and remote sensing. An emerging impact of IWMI's research over the past five years is a set of Irrigation Performance Indicators (water productivity in irrigated agriculture) which help water managers quantify the performance of a system from nine different perspectives.Through more recent research, IWMI scientists have further refined these to four key indicators: agricultural output per cropped area; output per irrigation unit command; output per irrigation supply; and output per unit of water consumed. Agricultural systems have been studied in South America, Asia, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and the United States.Since their introduction, the Indicators have been used to measure 40 irrigation systems in 15 countries. IWMI Research Report 20, available at www.iwmi.org presents this performance measurement data.Others are starting to use this thinking and fine tune it to meet their own needs. The Indicators are core measurement criteria in the World Bank/ IPTRID Irrigation Benchmarking System. Nepal, Sri Lanka and Mexico are at various stages of using the Indicators as agricultural policy tools.However, the largest increase in water allocation has been for hydropower, followed by industry and municipal use (table 1). The Zhanghe main reservoir was designed with one hydropower plant of 2 x 800 kw capacity utilizing, on average, a water supply of 0.84 x 10 8 m 3 . In contrast to most irrigation systems, the water flowing through the generators cannot be diverted back to irrigation. In 1989 and 1995, two new hydropower sets of 1x 800 kw and 2 x 1,600 kw were installed. The water allocated to hydropower in the 1989-98 period exceeded the water allocated to irrigation-2.5 versus 2.1 10 8 m 3 per annum (table 1). As a result of the growth in demand by hydropower and other sectors, the amount of water from the Zhanghe main reservoir allocated to irrigation in the past decade has declined to one-third of its 1966-78 level (6.0 to 2.1 x 10 8 m 3 ).Figure 2 compares the trend in water supply to irrigation by the Zhanghe main reservoir and by ZIS. In the 1960s and 70s the main reservoir supplied three-quarters of the water for irrigation, but now it supplies only half. The water supply for irrigation by ZIS has dropped sharply since the mid-1980s. Despite the sharp drop in the water supply from the reservoir in the 1979-88 period, the total water supply for ZIS declined only slightly. This is because in the 1980s, a number of medium-size reservoirs and ponds were restored or constructed to increase the water-storing capacity. This evened out farm-level water availability from year to year and provided greater water control during the cropping season, facilitating water saving through alternate wetting and drying management of water in paddy fields. In the mid-1980s onward, however, the ZIS water supply from small reservoirs and other source declined. The apparent reason for this is that many of the medium and smallsize reservoirs were required to support themselves and were technically no longer a part of ZIS. What impact has the reduced allocation of water for irrigation had on crop production, and on land and water productivity? The rice-irrigated area in ZID has declined, particularly during the 1990s (table 2). However, the area planted to upland or non-paddy crops has increased from 19,000 ha in 1966-78 to 63,000 ha in 1989-98. Since our focus is on irrigation, in this section we analyze the changes in production and yields only for rice.The reported paddy rice grain production and yield per hectare are shown for ZID in table 2. No data are available on ZID water supply for irrigation. However, we assume that the main supply of water to areas in ZID not served by ZIS is the ZIS drainage water. Based on this assumption, we have estimated the yield per cubic meter of water. (This assumption seems reasonable since during the period 1966-78 the area irrigated by ZIS and ZID were almost identical).Rice production rose sharply during the period 1979-88 compared to the previous period despite a decline of 13 percent in planted area. This is because rice yields rose sharply due to the spread of modern varieties and increased use of chemical fertilizers following the change in agricultural policies at the end of the Cultural Revolution. Comparing the period 1989-98 with the previous period, rice planted area dropped by 19 percent and yields rose by 16 percent. Thus, rice production declined slightly. Over the three periods the yield per hectare of rice doubled, but the yield per cubic meter of water appears to have tripled. The increase in water productivity was greatest between the second and third period.The long-term trend in water allocation across sectors and the trends in yield per hectare and per cubic meter of irrigation water supplied show that there have been water savings and a considerable increase in water productivity over time. Despite the decline in water for irrigation from the reservoir (table 1) and in the area irrigated in ZID (table 2), crop production has been sustained.Several factors may have contributed to sustained rice crop production including: (i) economic and institutional reforms initiated in 1978, (ii) higher crop yields due to adoption of modern varieties and increased use of chemical fertilizer, (iii) a shift in the cropping pattern from two to one crop of rice, (iv) on-farm and system water-saving irrigation practices (e.g., AWDI of paddy fields), (v) volumetric pricing of water, which may have encouraged AWDI, (vi) development of alternate sources of water such as small reservoirs and groundwater, and (vii) recapture and reuse of return flows through the network of reservoirs. Of course, the various changes that occurred are not independent of each other, but we are attempting to identify more precisely the contribution of each of these factors.The Zhanghe Irrigation System was initially designed as a multipurpose reservoir. Water was supplied initially only for irrigation. Gradually, the supply and management of water for other purposes has grown in importance. This includes flood control, hydropower, and municipal and industrial water needs. The reservoir also serves environmental needs, tourism, aquatic culture, and navigation.In this report we have examined the trends in water allocation among sectors, in area irrigated, and in crop production and productivity. As water demand has grown for purposes other than irrigation, the water supplied to irrigation has fallen sharply. In order to maintain crop production, several water-saving practices have been adopted. While yield per hectare has doubled from the 1960s to the 90s, yield per cubic meter of water appears to have tripled.  There are a number of factors that may have contributed to the increase in water productivity. Research is being conducted to identify the impact of water-saving practices. The initial focus is on AWDI. A major objective is to identify those practices that could be successfully extended to other regions outside of China.  To help cope with these issues, IWMI and Iranian organizations are working together in a series of studies that look at water resources for agriculture from the basin perspective, enabling the development of an integrated approach to the management of water and soil salinity to help sustain agricultural productivity.The The Zayandeh Rud is the most important river in the Esfahan Province in central Iran.Largely fed by snowmelt from the Zagros mountains, it flows down into the basin where the city of Esfahan is located. It is a closed basin with no outflow to the sea: the river terminates in the Gavkhuni swamp, which is a natural salt pan.The river has provided the basis for centuries of important economic activity, including the growth and establishment of Esfahan itself as the former capital city of Persia. The region has been able to support a long tradition of irrigated agriculture in addition to meeting the domestic needs of a substantial population. More recently, a huge increase in industrial activity has increased the demand for water, and the Zayandeh Rud is showing typical signs of a river basin under threat.The continued growth of urban population and the recent rapid increase for industrial uses have led to a competition for water with the agriculture sector, and there has normally been insufficient water to irrigate the total irrigable area. This has resulted in the development of saline soils in the lower portions of the basin, significant gaps between actual and potential yields, and a reduction in the quality of return flows into the Zayandeh Rud.In addition to increased salinity in the river downstream of the major irrigated areas, there is more urban and industrial effluent being returned into the river, so that downstream water is badly polluted. Although some of the gross shortfalls in water are met through trans-basin diversions from other catchments in the Zagros mountains, these will not au- tomatically reverse the trends towards less water, and water of poorer quality, for both agricultural and nonagricultural uses.The primary threats to sustainable irrigated agriculture are: a) reductions in water for agriculture because of competition from other sectors, b) declining water quality in both groundwater and surface water resources, and c) soil salinization.Several measures have been adopted over the past couple of decades to help alleviate these problems, including installation of drains and augmenting water supplies through trans-basin diversions. However, these structural measures require proper management to be effective: merely adding more water and more drains will not automatically overcome the threats to sustainable agriculture. Should drains fail, for example, there will be increased threats to agriculture as water tables will rise and salinity will increase.Agriculture remains the largest single user of water in the basin despite increased demands from other users of water. The data on extractions show that in a typical year as much as 90 percent of water released from the Chadegan reservoir is diverted into irrigation systems. Although there are also substantial return flows to the Zayandeh Rud their quality is poorer than that of the diverted water and may not be suitable for downstream users.Esfahan is the second largest city of Iran with a population of some 2 million. In recent years, the province has seen a significant industrial expansion with steel mills, refineries, cement works, and a host of smaller industries established along the Zayandeh Rud. As in most other countries, industries are more capable of paying for water than farmers, so there is a potential for decreased supplies for irrigated agriculture. Similarly, urban demand is rising annually not merely through population growth but also because more affluent people consume more water per capita.Finally, and increasingly important, is the growing concern with environmental degradation, with pressure to maintain higher base flows to dilute pollutants so that acceptable standards in water quality can be maintained.The measure seen as most effective in this regard has been the construction of diversion tunnels from the Kuhrang river in the Chaharmahal-va-Bakhtiari province. The two tunnels already constructed can deliver 540 million cubic meters of water a year into the upper reaches of the Zayandeh Rud and make a significant contribution to the total water supply in the basin. A third tunnel, expected to be ready in a few years, will deliver a further 250 million cubic meters of water annually.As the river flows downstream, an increasing proportion is being used for irrigation. The solute content of the irrigation return flow into the aquifers and the river, combined with urban and industrial effluents, is much higher than that of the water flowing in the river.The mixing leads to progressively increasing levels of salinity (EC) and total dissolved solids along the Zayandeh Rud. At the regulating dam, EC values are about 0.3 dS/m. A significant increase occurs as the water passes through Esfahan (fig. 2) with values going up to 2.5 dS/m. As the river receives return flow from the Abshar irrigation scheme, the values further climb to 4 dS/m. With the inflow of water from the main northern drain after Ejiyeh, the EC reaches a maximum of 16 dS/m, after which it slowly decreases to 12 dS/m because of mixing with less-saline tributaries. Finally, after 280 km the remaining river water spills into the Gavkhuni swamp.Hydrochemical analyses of groundwater from boreholes along the Zayandeh River reveal the same pattern, which is not surprising as the aquifers are recharged by the river water and return flow and with leakage from the irrigation schemes. A detailed hydrochemical study of a small sub-catchment (Lenjanat), along the Zayandeh Rud upstream of Esfahan over a 10-year period, has shown that the groundwater composition is subject to longterm trends. In some parts of the aquifer, salts are slowly being flushed out, whereas in other parts concentrations are rising. It appears that the groundwater composition is slowly changing in response to expanding or variable cultivation practices. Further studies on groundwater chemistry are underway using the existing database for different aquifers, notably in the more-saline parts downstream of Esfahan, especially in the Rudasht area.It is estimated that about 23.5 million hectares (or 14.2% of the total area of the country) are salt-affected, which is equivalent to about 50 percent of Iran's irrigated potential.Therefore, salinization poses a serious threat to the sustainability of irrigated agriculture in Iran.Salinity levels of water used for irrigation in the Zayandeh Rud vary substantially from values of less than 1 dS m -1 upstream up to around 6 dS m -1 at the Rudasht irrigation scheme located downstream. As salts will not leave the system by evaporation, a salt accumulation is likely to occur if no surplus of water is applied to leach them. Due to this accumulation, salinity levels of soil can be higher those of the irrigation water. A dramatic example of this can be seen in the Rudasht area where the salinity of soil is reported to be about 14 dS m -1 , while that of irrigation water is about 6 dS m -1 . Obviously, these high salinity levels of soil have a severe negative impact on crop yields, as evidenced by the big gap between actual and potential yields obtained from some field experiments in the Rudasht irrigation system (fig. 3).Two hazards are likely to occur if no proper water management is applied to reduce this soil salinization. First of all, irrigation applications are too low, causing a salt accumulation in the soil. In an attempt to reduce this salt accumulation, a surplus of irrigation water will be supplied to leach these salts from the root zone. This, in many cases, leads to the second problem, waterlogging due to rising groundwater. Often, this groundwater is also very saline and will increase the salinity level of the root zone substantially. So, irrigation applications must be high enough to minimize salt accumulation in the root zone and low enough to limit the hazard of waterlogging. Obviously, problems related to waterlogging can also be diminished by an adequate drainage system.These threats, either singly or in combination, result in two main effects: declining irrigation intensities and a significant shortfall in actual yields compared to potential (fig. 3).The The project has adopted a joint program of training and research to accomplish its aims, and uses the Zayandeh Rud as its main research location. In the later stages of the project, it is hoped to extend the methodologies developed in Esfahan to other parts of Iran.Three elements of the project distinguish it from other water management studies in Iran:• The use of an integrated approach to studies at basin/irrigation system/field level (referred to as the IWMI water resources paradigm) that not only looks at problems at different levels in a river basin but also examines the interactions between them. The scope of the study ranges from operation and management of water resources at the main reservoir downwards through irrigation system management to farm-level irrigated agricultural practices.• The use of information technology and modeling to understand the dynamics within each level, as well as the interrelationships between them. Currently, five different model approaches are being adopted: -basin-level hydrological modeling that assesses inflows into the reservoir and the downstream hydrology as affected by extractions of water for different uses;-modeling of the quality of river water to examine relationships between the main sources of pollution and the rate of decrease in water quality in the Zayandeh Rud;-modeling of the quality and quantity of groundwater to determine the changes in water-table levels, the deterioration of groundwater resources over time, and the impacts of groundwater-based irrigation on water availability and quality;-soil-water-atmosphere-plant (SWAP) modeling to assess water and salt balance at field level, determine the productivity of water at field level and to examine causes of yield gaps; and-irrigation system assessment using aggregated field-level models that determine performance for different combinations of soil, crop, and irrigation water application.• The extensive use of already existing information and remotely sensed data (IWMI researchers have already demonstrated that basin modeling can be successfully performed using publicly available datasets and remote sensing data).At the end of the current phase of the project, a series of possible remedial actions will have been proposed whose adoption can provide a sustainable basis for irrigated agriculture in the Zayandeh Rud. Where can rain-fed agriculture be expanded? Where can supplemental irrigation increase yields in marginal rain-fed crop areas where the majority of poor people live? Where is irrigation necessary to increase crop yields? The IWMI World Water and Climate Atlas helps to answer these questions by providing water and agricultural planners with a complete worldwide dataset of water and climate information spanning the past 40 years.The data has a resolution of 18 square kilometers at the equator, the highest resolution currently available for a global dataset. This is the first tool of its kind that brings data from some 30,000 weather stations to users in an open and easy-touse format.Using the Atlas, agricultural planners can reduce the time needed to plan irrigation systems or evaluate agricultural plans-from months to weeks; in some cases days or even hours. The data covers precipitation, temperature, humidity, hours of sunshine, evaporation estimates, wind speed, total number of days with and without rainfall and days without frost.Many useful applications are possible with the Atlas. IWMI is working with other CGIAR centers and national research partners to help them use the Atlas to sharpen their crop research. The World Water and Climate Atlas can be downloaded at the IWMI website www.iwmi.orgHydrological Modeling of the Mekong River BasinThe Mekong river, with a basin of almost 800,000 square kilometers and a length of nearly Cambodia's Tonle Sap, or \"Grand Lac\" plays a vital role in the Mekong river system and in the Cambodian economy. In the dry season, the Great Lake's shallow waters cover roughly 3,000 square kilometers, and the lake drains slowly into the Mekong river. As the rainy season progresses, the river rises above the Tonle Sap level, and the flow reverses, filling the lake. The lake typically expands to more than 10,000 km 2 . As floodwaters reach the surrounding forest and agricultural areas, the lake receives a massive influx of nutrients that triggers a surge in productivity. The Tonle Sap is renowned to be one of the most productive freshwater ecosystems in the world, supporting 60-75 percent of the inland fisheries in Cambodia, with harvests whose levels have historically reached 100,000 tons per year. After rice, fish is the most important component of the Cambodian diet, accounting for as much as 80 percent of the animal protein consumed.The   planned for completion before 2010. In 1990, the Mekong Secretariat released a study proposing nine main-stem run-of-river dams. Since the first comprehensive survey of the Mekong in the 1950s, more than 180 dams and diversion projects have been proposedfor the basin. Earlier plans envisioned a cascade of main-stem dams with more than 6,000 square kilometers of reservoir area. For political, social, economic and environmental reasons, dam proponents have scaled down the main-stem project proposals to pursue sites on the Mekong tributaries in Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam (fig. 1).The development of the Mekong basin and, in particular, the construction of dams on the main-stem will affect the water levels and flows downstream that, in turn, impact on the fisheries and environment. The implications of basin developments on these interests can be studied using distributed hydrological models. Such hydrological models generally require large numbers of data which, in many countries, are not always available. However, global datasets are becoming increasingly available and data from the internet can often The SLURP hydrological model divides a basin into subbasins using topography from a digital elevation map. These  As I come from a large publicsector organization, working in IWMI three days a week provides a breath of fresh air. During the past three years of my association with IWMI, I have found the work environment here very conducive to research on water-related issues. For myself, I would like to know more about how Remote Sensing/GIS and hydrologic modeling could help better manage large river basins for irrigation, hydropower, and flood management. This should make IWMI an ideal place for people like myself to work at. IWMI is a place where you listen to and get to work with people from different backgrounds such as social scientists, economists, agriculture researchers, etc. As an engineer, I find this enjoyable. It gives me an opportunity to learn about many new concepts and ideas, and so to accept differences of opinion. Most people I have the privilege of working with here at IWMI are nice and cooperative and they, bailing me out from difficult situations and reciprocating my feelings.Transport Office (Sri Lanka)I have been at IWMI for well over a decade and feel that the Institute is in a good position and has a good work environment. Initially I worked at the regional office in Colombo when the head office was near Kandy. Being a driver, I have accompanied many researchers on field trips and helped them in their work, by helping with their instruments and collecting data, translating their questions to local people, etc. So I feel I have some contact with the research that we are doing. many changes in the institute, starting with our name change from IIMI, irrigation management to IWMI, water management. The research done by us, I feel, could reach a larger audience and there could be more research done in the host country Sri Lanka. I have benefited by working at the Institute, learned to work as part of a team and worked with people from different nationalities and cultures.Accounts Department (Sri Lanka) IWMI, I feel, has played a major role not merely in its host country Sri Lanka but also in other countries where it does research. It is encouraging to hear that the Institute is well known and recognized both locally and globally. Having been with IWMI almost from its inception I feel that becoming part of the CGIAR was a turning point for the Institute.Performance and Impact Assessment Program, Indus Basin (Pakistan)   I see IWMI's evolution over the past years as moving from the position of jack-of-all-trades to that of master of a few! My journey with the Institute has passed through different phases and I have worked with people belonging to different cultures and concepts toward life and professional accomplishments. I have learned much from the multidisciplinary and multicultural nature of the Institute.My current work addresses water distribution and hydraulic performance of irrigation canals using decision support systems for hydraulic/design evaluation and capacity building. The goal of our research is to achieve improved performance of irrigation systems and sustainability of irrigated agriculture, in the context of the competition for water.The main output of our work is to present the irrigation system as it actually exists and understand the drift from the original planning. Understanding this drift gives us a better knowledge of the system and helps identify rational targets for better management of water resources.The end result of this work will be to revisit the original authorized benchmarks, convert the new datasets into knowledge, and to integrate these pieces, which are individually managed by different institutes and disciplines, into a whole.Science is not useful unless it changes the lives of the people for the better. For our work, even cutting-edge science can be useless if it does not reach those who can make change. To succeed in our research on water resources, we must ask the right questions and ensure that our conclusions and observations reach the right people at the policy and operational levels.For example, why place all the emphasis on targeting water allocation managers to better manage a country's water resources? We must also give policy-level people in developing countries enough practical information on the results of our research, that allow them to shape effective policies.In my current research I am working with colleagues to precisely document the extent of informal small-scale irrigation in southern and western Africa-at the family and community levels. People know that these practices exist, but there is no clear picture of the precise economic input and water consumption that they bring.Our research on water looks at many important questions related to water use in poor countries that, outside the context of an international group such as IWMI, would not otherwise be addressed. We have the opportunity to look at a variety of difficult problems that developing countries face, and a variety of solutions. Some of these topics are quite complex, others seems very simple-perhaps this is why they have been not been examined by the research community.For me, the research goal of an Institute such as ours must be to sustain a high level of research thinking, and to concentrate on identifying and addressing strategic questions that others have not adequately examined elsewhere. For example: How can the productivity of water in agriculture be increased to help solve problems of water scarcity? or How can highly productive groundwater use be more sustainable in areas of severe overdraft?My personal motivation for getting involved in this type of research is the hope that our research will help improve the lives of poor people.Travel and Conferences (Sri Lanka) I have seen the Institute go through many changes, including a new research focus and increased collaborative work here in Sri Lanka. I am particularly happy about the latter because it gives us more identity here. They say that 'travel broadens the mind' and the same can be said about working with people of different nationalities. It is heartening when you realize that scientists and researchers have much the same interests as the rest of us! The big question is always, how much does this work help the man in the field, so an improvement would be to see not just research for publication, but research for practice.After completing my studies in the UK, my professional background was that of a researcher in a Sri Lankan NARS.The most striking fact that dawned on me when after I joined IWMI was the ease of access to information and contacts with the international scientific community. This transnational and multidisciplinary approach brings an entirely new perspective to my research thinking.At IWMI, I have experienced the importance of teamwork and interdisciplinary science-that looks at water issues from the agricultural, health, economic, environmental and social perspectives.What would I do if I returned to work in a NARS one day? Bring with me this international spirit. I would open more collaboration with other countries and find a way to connect national researchers with colleagues and information in other countries. IWMI has grown over the years, entered the CGIAR and gained international repute. The seed for attaining greater heights has been sown and we must keep growing and further establishing ourselves, in other countries and locally. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6d292dccca4adfc042336d22034f214d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/70697b03-4d50-4d9a-ac09-825c480d495e/retrieve","id":"-498346242"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"79d2d585-5d31-4172-a23d-eab9d0097adb","content":"El Programa de Investigación del CGIAR en Cambio Climático, Agricultura y Seguridad Alimentaria (CCAFS) es liderado por el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) y se lleva a cabo con el apoyo del Fondo Fiduciario del CGIAR y mediante acuerdos de financiación bilaterales. Para obtener más información, visite https://ccafs.cgiar.org/donors.Este documento presenta los resultados de la implementación del Marco de monitoreo multinivel sobre Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima (ASAC), en el TeSAC de Olopa en Guatemala. Este monitoreo ha permitido generar evidencia sobre la adopción de prácticas y tecnologías agrícolas viables y climáticamente inteligentes implementadas en el territorio. Además, otro objetivo del monitoreo fue evaluar el efecto que tiene la implementación de prácticas ASAC en la seguridad alimentaria, los medios de vida de los hogares y varias dimensiones de género. Para ello se recopiló información sobre las características socioeconómicas de 106 hogares y 187 agricultores (84 mujeres y 103 hombres), su percepción ante el efecto de eventos climáticos y la implementación de prácticas ASAC, entre otros aspectos.El monitoreo se realizó en febrero del 2020 y abarcó cinco comunidades del municipio de Olopa, perteneciente al departamento de Chiquimula, en Guatemala: La Prensa Centro, Nochán, Tituque Tishmuntique, Tuticopote Centro y Valle Nuevo.Las prácticas ASAC evaluadas fueron nueve: Huerta de hortalizas con techo, Zanjas en contorno (Acequias), Barreras vivas (Madre Cacao, Maguey, Piña e Izote), Reservorios de agua para riego, Cosecha de agua lluvia, Labranza mínima de conservación, Rotación de cultivos maíz-frijol, Biopreparados (sulfocalcio y madrifol) y Reservorios para producción de peces y riego.Como resultado del monitoreo, se evidenció que las familias del TeSAC están en cabezadas de hombres y de mujeres en una proporción igual (50% cada uno). La mayoría de las parcelas son pequeñas y en promedio el área productiva de los hogares encabezados por mujeres y por hombres es de 2.16 tareas 3 . En términos generales, el 32% del área cultivada está en manos de hogares encabezados por mujeres, que corresponden también a aquellos donde se encuentra la mayor proporción de \"jefes de hogar\" que no tuvieron acceso a educación (21%).La principal fuente de alimento para los hogares del TeSAC es el mercado (82%) y la segunda fuente es la producción en la finca (18%). En todas las comunidades más del 85% de las familias reportaron haber tenido dificultades para suplir sus requerimientos alimentarios básicos durante el 2019, lo que se ve reflejado en los indicadores de seguridad alimentaria, los cuales indicas que hay un 39% de hogares donde prevalece la inseguridad alimentaria.Desde el punto de vista económico, la mayoría de hogares dependen de actividades agrícolas (51%), sin embargo, en el caso de los hogares encabezados por mujeres, dicha dependencia es mayor (61%). En el 2019, el 71% de los hogares encuestados vieron sus ingresos agrícolas afectados, siendo la afectación mayor en los hogares encabezados por mujeres (80%). De igual forma estas afectaciones se vieron reflejadas en la capacidad de ahorro, expresada por solo el 5% de la población y agravada por el 72 % de las personas que expresaron no tener acceso a crédito.En el 2019, 32% de los hogares realizaron cambios en sus actividades agrícolas (el 56% de este valor en sus actividades de crianza de animales. Los cambios realizados por los hogares fueron en su mayoría inducidos por impactos climáticos, tal y como lo manifestó es 72% de los encuestados.Los cambios en las actividades agrícolas de los hogares (impulsados por impactos climáticos) consistieron principalmente en prácticas de manejo de cultivo (50%), cambio de variedades (15%) e infraestructura física de la finca (15%).Las sequías fueron el evento climático más recurrente que afecto a los hogares del TeSAC (77%). Las principales estrategias de afrontamiento de las familias a los impactos de los eventos climáticos adversos son la busqueda de otras fuentes de ingresos (33%), reducir los gastos del hogar (27%) y cambiar del trabajo en la finca a trabajo fuera de ella (13%).Desde el punto de vista financiero, los préstamos de dinero (50%) y el uso de ahorros (38%) son las estaregias mas utilizadas.En el TeSAC la totalidad de agricultores encuestados reportaron haber accedido a información tanto de pronósticos diarios como de estacionales y el principal asesoramiento que han recibido los productores junto con los pronósticos fue el manejo de riego o agua (39% en el caso de los pronósticos de corto plazo y 46% en los estacionales).Tanto para los pronósticos de corto plazo como para los estacionales, se determinó que el contacto personal o con grupos sociales es el principal medio de comunicación por el cual los agricultores accedieron a la información climática. De igual forma, la mayoría de ellos manifestaron estar en capacidad de utilizar dicha información, tanto de corto plazopronósticos de tiempo-(75%) como de mediano plazo -pronósticos estacionales (74%).El factor limitante al uso de esta información climática estuvo asociado en los pronósticos a corto plazo principalmente a la falta de seguridad en las decisiones a tomar (46% en agricultores, 43% en las mujeres y 57% en los hombres) y en el caso de los pronósticos estacionales el limitante fue que no entendieron bien la información (46% en agricultores, 47% en mujeres y 44% en hombres).La implementación de prácticas ASAC por parte de los agricultores fue muy alta en 2019 con 95% de hombres y un porcentaje similar en el caso de las mujeres. La gran mayoría de hogares adoptaron alguna práctica ASAC, ya que 98% de estos lo reportaron.Las practicas más frecuentemente implementadas por los hogares fueron: \"Barreras vivas\" (65), \"Cosechas de agua lluvia\" (64), \"Zanjas en contorno\" (63), \"Labranza mínima de conservación\" (62), \"Rotación de cultivos\" (57) y \"Biopreparados\" (56). El número de hogares encabezados por mujeres que implementaron prácticas ASAC fue igual al número de aquellos encabezados por los hombres. Las mujeres implementaron más prácticas que los hombres, y las dos más frecuentes fueron las \"Cosechas de agua lluvia\" (66) y las \" Barreras vivas\" (59). El área dedicada a las prácticas ASAC en las fincas es pequeña, en buena medida por el tamaño igualmente pequeño de las fincas.Asociado a la implementación de todas las prácticas ASAC, la gran mayoría de los agricultores reportaron en cada práctica haber percibido un incremento en la producción agropecuaria (entre 56% y 86%), la generación de ingresos adicionales para las familias (entre 82% y 100%), la mejora en acceso (entre 85% y 100%) y diversidad de alimentos (entre 74 y 100%), así como la disminución en la vulnerabilidad de los sistemas productivos al clima (entre 91% y 100%).En términos generales las mujeres toman más decisiones de forma autónoma que los hombres; la práctica en la cual las mujeres mostraron mayor autonomía en la decisión fue en \"Labranza mínima de conservación\" (74%) y en la que menos decisión reportaron fue en las \"Huertas de hortalizas con techo\" (18%). La implementación de \"Cosechas de agua lluvia\" fue la práctica que más redujo tiempo de trabajo de las mujeres, según expreso el 53% de quienes implementaron esta práctica. Con respecto a la toma de decisiones de inversión sobre ingresos generados por las practicas ASAC la gran mayoría de agricultores afirmaron tener algún tipo de participación, sin embargo, en las prácticas correspondientes a \"Reservorios de agua para riego\" (17%), \"Labranza mínima de conservación\" (13%), \"Biopreparados\" (13%), \"Cosecha de agua lluvia\" (7%), \"Zanjas en contorno\" (5%) y \"Barreras vivas\" (5%), las mujeres respondieron que no tenía participación sobre los ingresos.Basados en lo encontrado, es de interés continuar promoviendo prácticas en la zona cuyo principal insumo sea la mano de obra, ya que las comunidades cuentan con este recurso en abundancia. Es necesario continuar con la implementación de alternativas sostenibles de uso intensivo del suelo, que generen alto valor. Por lo anterior es importante continuar con la implementación de prácticas ASAC cómo los estanques con tilapia e irrigación, las cosechas de agua lluvia y las huertas familiares, las cuales, en el futuro, trabajando para abrir mercados, podrían convertirse en una de las fuentes importantes de ingreso para las comunidades.De igual forma, es relevante continuar con la implementación de prácticas que permitan diversificar las dietas de los agricultores, incluyendo en la medida de lo posible sistemas que generen proteínas de tipo animal y otros productos que permitan tener dietas balanceadas.Es importante trabajar en el TeSAC para facilitar acceso a servicios financieros a los productores de las comunidades, que les permitan recuperarse después de impactos climáticos que les generen perdidas en producción y afecten su economía y seguridad alimentaria.En términos de género, el porcentaje de participación real de las mujeres con respecto a la implementación de las prácticas ASAC en el territorio fue alto, y se evidenció un aumento en el empoderamiento de ellas sobre todas las prácticas ASAC implementadas tanto en los patios de las casas como en las parcelas de las fincas. Por otro lado, para mantener el éxito logrado y empoderar más a las mujeres es importante identificar tecnologías que permitan reducir el tiempo invertido en las mismas. Esto se puede lograr más adelante identificando la automatización de algunas acciones a través del uso de energías renovables de bajo costo.Prácticas agrícolas sostenibles y adaptadas al clima, Territorios Sostenibles Adaptados al Clima, Monitoreo, Métricas, Clima, Adaptación, GéneroJesús David Martínez (j.d.martinez@cgiar.org), es el Coordinador de los Territorios Sostenibles Adaptados al Clima en América Latina de CCAFS. Rol: Coordinación del proceso de capacitación para los TeSAC LAM, liderazgo sobre la escritura del reporte de actividades y análisis de resultados del monitoreo.Claudia Susseth López (claudiaslp93@gmail.com), es la coordinadora local en Olopa de las actividades a desarrollarse en el TeSAC, funcionaria de ASORECH, socio local estratégico responsable de la implementación de las actividades de evaluación participativa de prácticas ASAC en Olopa. Rol: Coordinación de actividades de monitoreo en el TeSAC de Olopa, escritura del reporte.Este trabajo ha sido desarrollado como parte del Programa de Investigación del CGIAR en Cambio Climático, Agricultura y Seguridad Alimentaria (CCAFS), el cual es llevado a cabo con apoyo de los donantes del Fondo CGIAR, a través de acuerdos bilaterales de financiación y en particular con el apoyo del Centro Internacional de Investigaciones para el Desarrollo (IDRC) basado en Ottawa, Canadá, en el marco del proyecto \"Generando evidencia sobre la Agricultura Sostenible Adaptada al Clima con perspectiva de género para informar políticas en Centroamérica\".De igual forma, se agradece a las comunidades de La Prensa Centro, Valle Nuevo, Tituque Tishmuntique, Tuticopote Centro y Nochán, pertenecientes al TeSAC de Olopa, las cuales han hecho parte de esta actividad e monitoreo y han colaborado son su paciencia y tiempo para responder las preguntas realizadas.    ........................................................................................ 3.1.2 Practicas priorizadas para el monitoreo 2020 .......................................................................................... 3.1.3 Lista de hogares ......................................................................................................................................................   4.2.1 Características demográficas ........................................................................................................................... 4.2.2 Seguridad Alimentaria......................................................................................................................................... 4.2.3 Medios de vida,capacidades y servicios financieros ................................................................................ 4.2.4 Eventos climáticos y estrategias de respuesta (afrontamiento) ......................................................... 4.2.5   Tabla 1. Comunidades incluidas en el monitoreo .........................................................................................  ......................................................................................27 Figura 9. Fuente principal de alimentos .......................................................................................................27 Figura 10. Dificultad en acceso alimentos en el último año .........................................................................28 Figura 11 Indicador HFIAS promedio ..........................................................................................................29 Figura 12. Indicador HFIAS de seguridad alimentaria .  .......................................................................................................32 Figura 17. Reducción de ingresos agrícolas .................................................................................................32 Figura 18. Reducción en producción / ingresos agrícolas por el clima por comunidad...............................33 Figura 19. Capacidad de ahorro agrícola ....................................................................................................33 Figura 20. Acceso a crédito agrícola ............................................................................................................34 Figura 21. Este documento presenta los resultados de la implementación del Monitoreo de opciones ASAC realizado por CCAFS en el mes de febrero 2020, diseñado con el fin de contribuir a la generación de evidencia global sobre la implementación e impactos asociados a las prácticas y tecnologías agrícolas viables y climáticamente inteligentes. El objetivo del monitoreo fue evaluar la adopción y acceso, así como el efecto que tiene la implementación de prácticas ASAC sobre la seguridad alimentaria, los medios de vida de los hogares de agricultores y dimensiones de género. Para ello se recopiló información sobre las características socioeconómicas de 106 hogares y 187 agricultores del TeSAC de Olopa (Guatemala), su percepción ante el efecto de eventos climáticos, el nivel de implementación de prácticas ASAC y acceso a servicios de información climática y financiera, entre otras. Uno de los principales objetivos era entender qué motivó a los productores a realizar cambios en la planificación y ejecución de sus actividades agrícolas, así como a la implementación de prácticas de manejo de los cultivos y si estos cambios tuvieron un efecto en su vulnerabilidad ante eventos climáticos.Para la recolección de datos se utilizó la aplicación Geofarmer, en la cual se integró la encuesta con el fin de capturar los datos de manera digital y en tiempo casi-real, agilizando así el proceso de captura y la consolidación de la información. En la fase actual de consolidación, CCAFS está enfocado principalmente en el empoderamiento del proceso TeSAC por parte de los agricultores de las comunidades y de la Asociación Regional Campesina Ch'orti' (ASORECH), que es una organización de pequeños productores campesinos de segundo nivel, conformada por instituciones de los departamentos de Zacapa y Chiquimula; lo anterior con el ánimo de escalar el enfoque a nivel regional y nacional a futuro y garantizar la sostenibilidad del mismo en el tiempo.Por lo anterior, en la fase actual, es fundamental contar con un sistema de monitoreo de los avances realizados a nivel territorial, de comunidad, de hogar y de género, que permita identificar el progreso del proceso TeSAC para tomar decisiones en cuanto a la continuidad de las actividades llevadas a cabo de forma exitosa, hacer análisis en retrospectiva, revisar las decisiones tomadas y finalmente llenar los vacíos identificados.Como parte de la Plataforma de aprendizaje 2, sobre la evaluación participativa de las prácticas y portafolios ASAC en los Territorios Sostenibles Adaptados al Clima (TeSAC), CCAFS desarrolló el Plan de monitoreo ASAC. Este plan, está diseñado para respaldar la creación de evidencia global de prácticas y tecnologías ASAC y está respaldado por un marco de monitoreo integrado a un instrumento basado en TIC, el cual es robusto, costoefectivo y fácil de usar, que permite recopilar y rastrear la adopción y los efectos de ASAC en los hogares de forma rápida, confiable y sistemática.El monitoreo tiene como objetivo recopilar anualmente evidencia sobre las opciones ASAC y examinar preguntas de investigación claves a tres niveles distintos:Este marco de monitoreo propone un pequeño conjunto de indicadores de base, vinculados a las preguntas de investigación, y un conjunto de indicadores ampliados que cubren aspectos relacionados con el entorno habilitador (Esquema 1).A nivel de hogar (17 indicadores):• 7 indicadores de implementación/acceso ASAC que rastrean la implementación ASAC, los motivadores de implementación o abandono de prácticas ASAC, el acceso a servicios de información climática y alertas agrícolas y la capacidad para utilizar dichos servicios al igual que los factores limitantes. • 10 indicadores de resultados, que abordan tanto las percepciones de los agricultores sobre los efectos de las prácticas ASAC en sus medios de vida, seguridad alimentaria y capacidad de adaptación, así como en las dimensiones de género. Los indicadores de resultados relacionados con el género abordan: la participación en la toma de decisiones sobre la implementación o des adopción de las práticas ASAC, la participación en su implementación, el efecto de las ASAC sobre la carga de trabajo agrícola y la participación en la toma de decisiones sobre el control y/o el acceso sobre los ingresos generados por las prácticas ASAC.• Un conjunto adicional de indicadores extendidos complementarios permite determinar y rastrear cambios en las condiciones favorables y las características de los agricultores, tales como: seguridad de los medios de vida, habilitadores financieros, seguridad alimentaria, frecuencia de eventos climáticos, estrategias de afrontamiento a desafíos climáticos, acciones de mitigación de riesgos, acceso a servicios financieros, capacitación, conocimiento y aprendizaje sobre ASAC.A nivel de finca (7 indicadores):• Estos indicadores se utilizan para determinar el desempeño de ASAC de las fincas, así como las sinergias y las compensaciones entre los tres pilares (productividad, adaptación y mitigación, mediante el análisis del modelo de la finca). Para la implementación del plan de monitoreo en el TeSAC de Olopa, ASORECH fue la institución encargada de coordinar todas las actividades necesarias para su cumplimiento en campo. Las actividades realizadas fueron: Recolección/actualización de información necesaria para ajustar las encuestas del monitoreo a las especificidades del año 2019 (texto del consentimiento informado, meses más críticos para la seguridad alimentaria, principales eventos climáticos, moneda y unidades de medida local, lista de prácticas priorizadas para el monitoreo, lista de hogares y comunidades a muestrear etc.), limpieza de las bases de datos de familias a encuestar, revisión y aportes conceptuales y territoriales a la herramienta digital diseñada para esta tarea, identificación y manejo de las contrataciones locales de supervisores y equipo encuestador, la coordinación local para la realización de los talleres de entrenamiento para el personal encuestador y supervisor, seguimiento de campo durante el levantamiento de datos y su envío a la base de datos en la plataforma digital de CIAT.Durante el año 2019, CCAFS a través de su socio implementador ASORECH, logró la intervención en cuatro de las siete comunidades identificadas en línea base 2015, siendo éstas: Valle Nuevo, Tituque Tishmuntique, Nochán y Prensa Centro; además se incluyó una nueva comunidad siendo ésta Tuticopote caserío Centro, todas las mencionadas corresponden al territorio de Olopa. Éstas cinco comunidades fueron seleccionadas para el monitoreo ASAC, debido a la intervención, implementación y adopción de prácticas ASAC.En la Tabla 1 se muestran las comunidades que fueron parte de la línea base de CCAFS y las comunidades intervenidas en el año 2019, todas con código correspondiente. Para la actividad de monitoreo se priorizaron 9 prácticas que fueron implementadas en el año 2019, mismas que corresponden a:1. Huerta de hortalizas con techo 2. Zanjas en contorno (Acequias)3. Barreras vivas (Madre Cacao, Maguey, Piña e Izote)4. Reservorios de agua para riego 5. Cosecha de agua lluvia 6. Labranza mínima de conservación 7. Rotación de cultivos maíz-frijol 8. Biopreparados (sulfocalcio y madrifol)9. Reservorios para producción de peces y riego Algunas de las prácticas listadas anteriormente fueron implementadas en las comunidades con base en el documento de CCAFS, CIAT, MAGA (2015), que proporciona alternativas de prácticas y tecnologías agrícolas para el corredor seco de Guatemala, contribuyendo al logro de objetivos con base en los tres pilares ASAC. El primero busca el fortalecimiento de la seguridad alimentaria al implementar prácticas que fomenten la productividad de forma sostenible, el segundo basado en el aumento de la capacidad adaptativa de los grupos de productores que desarrollan estas tecnologías en sus fincas y parcelas, y el tercero que busca la reducción/eliminación/captura de gases de efecto invernadero.Ver Anexo 1 : Glosario detallado de las prácticas priorizadas.Un total de 272 hogares fueron inicialmente identificados para ser cubiertos por la actividad del monitoreo: 146 pertenecientes a la línea base de CCAFS (HBS) y 126 que formaban parte de los beneficiarios directos del año monitoreado (BEN) quienes fueron capacitados para la implementación de las prácticas (Ver anexo 2). El plan inicial de encuestarlos a todos finalmente no fue posible de llevar a cabalidad dado que iniciaron las medidas gubernamentales contra la emergencia del COVID 19.Para la implementación del monitoreo se buscó personal con las siguientes características:-Personal tipo 1: Personas con experiencia de trabajo con productores, que conozcan sobre las prácticas ASAC y cómo usar tecnologías como celular o Tablet.-Personal tipo 2: Al menos 2 técnicos o profesionales del sector agropecuario que sepan técnicamente de prácticas utilizadas en el campo y de conversión de unidades usadas por los agricultores a unidades internacionales. Adicionalmente deben conocer sobre las practicas ASAC y cómo usar tecnologías como celular o Tablet.\"Los requisitos adicionales para el personal contratado fueron:-Un teléfono celular inteligente con sistema Android superior a la versión 5.0 -Cada persona debía suplir sus necesidades de alimentación e hidratación.-Cada persona debía suplir sus necesidades de transporte (carro, moto, gasolina, etc.)-Cada persona debía tener la disponibilidad de conectar sus celulares a internet para descargar la información de las encuestas.\"Con base en los anteriores criterios, el personal que participo en el monitoreo se relaciona a continuación en la Tabla 2. El taller de capacitación para personal que realizó el monitoreo de prácticas ASAC implementadas en el año 2019 se llevó a cabo en el departamento de Chiquimula en las fechas correspondientes del 3 al 7 de febrero del año 2020. El taller estuvo a cargo del equipo de la alianza Bioversity -CIAT, quienes acordaron realizar un solo evento de capacitación para ambos socios tanto de Guatemala como de Honduras, dicho evento se realizó en el país de Guatemala.En la actividad participaron los técnicos seleccionados para el evento de formación de monitoreo de la Comisión de Acción Menonita CASM (socio de CCAFS en el TeSAC de Santa Rita, Honduras), así como personal técnico de ASORECH, que tendría a bien realizar el proceso de monitoreo en las comunidades del TeSAC de Olopa. El taller de capacitación teórico/practico tuvo una duración de 3 días (3,4 y 5 de febrero de 2020), los encargados del evento presentaron la dinámica de cada uno de los módulos del monitoreo en la herramienta Geofarmer (Esquema 2), explicando su importancia, el registro de los monitores en el canal de Olopa, la utilización correcta de la herramienta y la importancia de comprender el contexto de los grupos de preguntas por módulo.Seguidamente se realizaron diferentes ejercicios que consistieron en el entrenamiento de los monitores, la práctica y reconocimiento de los grupos de preguntas por módulos, esta dinámica se realizó entre equipos, donde uno fungía como monitor y el otro como entrevistado.Posteriormente al evento técnico/practico de formación, ambos equipos se trasladaron a los territorios correspondientes; en el caso de Honduras el quipo capacitado se trasladó al TeSAC de Santa Rita y para Guatemala a las comunidades del TeSAC de Olopa, para realizar el trabajo de campo correspondiente que consistió en la recolección de información entrevistando a diez beneficiarios, cinco de Prensa Centro (6 de febrero de 2020) y cinco de Nochán (7 de febrero de 2020) para el desarrollo de esta actividad el equipo de CIAT-CCAFS se dirigió a campo para contribuir a la formación del equipo de monitoreo.Esquema 2. GeoFarmer Módulos de encuesta del monitoreoPrevio a la fase de colecta de información que se realizó en el mes de marzo del año 2020, se llevaron a cabo sesiones para informar a las comunidades que en los próximos días se realizaría la actividad de monitoreo a través de visitas domiciliares. Para la colecta de información en campo se organizaba a la comunidad y se seleccionaban líderes que acompañarían a la pareja de monitores para facilitar el proceso de visitas domiciliares.Posteriormente el grupo de monitores se trasladaba a las comunidades para obtener datos de la comunidad en un lapso de tiempo no mayor a cinco días por comunidad, algunos de los factores que demoraron la colecta de datos se debió a que productores aun no regresaban de las fincas a las que migran por actividad de corte de café, misma razón que no permitió la obtención de datos de algunos responsables de finca o segundas personas.Finalmente, durante la fase de implementación, cuando se iban a incluir algunas comunidades de línea base -No adoptantes, se debió suspender el trabajo debido a que iniciaron las restricciones de movilidad a nivel nacional como consecuencia de la pandemia de COVID -19.En el marco del plan de monitoreo sobre la implementación de las prácticas ASAC desarrollado por CCAFS y CASM, se encuestaron 187 agricultores (84 mujeres y 103 hombres) pertenecientes a 106 hogares 4 , distribuidos en 5 comunidades (Tabla 3). De estos encuestados, 48 fueron jóvenes entre 13 y 30 años (25 mujeres y 23 hombres). Las comunidades con mayor número de encuestas tanto de agricultores como de hogares fueron La Prensa Centro y Nochán. Las comunidades con mayor población tanto de hombres como mujeres, fueron las mismas dos mencionadas anteriormente. En la totalidad del TeSAC se identificó una leve tendencia a que en las comunidades haya menos hombres que mujeres, sin embargo, tal y como se observa en la Figura 1, el liderazgo en las familias está tanto en cabeza de hombres como de mujeres. La comunidad en donde hay más mujeres cabeza de hogar son Valle nuevo, Tuticopote Centro y La Prensa Centro.Figura 1. Cabezas de familiaEn promedio, el tamaño de los hogares encuestados fue de 5 personas y de igual forma tanto en los hogares encabezados por mujeres como en los encabezados por hombres. El 80% de los hogares tienen entre 3 y 7 personas, siendo que mayoría de hogares tiene 3 integrantes de acuerdo a lo observado en la Figura 2. Los hogares con mujeres cabeza de familia que tiene mayor cantidad de personas, fueron los de 5 individuos (22%), mientras que aquellos con hombres cabeza de familia fueron de 3 personas (33%).Según la información mostrada en la Figura 3, la fuerza de trabajo en el territorio en la mayoría de los casos recae sobre 2 personas que se dedican a actividades agrícolas en las fincas por cada familia. No obstante, en los hogares encabezados por mujeres se observa que la mayoría de hogares cuenta con una sola persona que trabaja en la finca. En cuanto al área con la cual cuentan las familias para desarrollar sus actividades agropecuarias, tal y como se observa en la Figura 4, es muy pequeña ya que en promedio la mayoría de familias del territorio cuenta con menos de 0.1 hectáreas productiva (2.08 tareas).Con respecto al área reportada con práctica ASAC, tanto implementadas en áreas de cultivos comerciales como de cultivos de seguridad alimentaria, se estima que en total en el territorio hay cerca de 186.77 tareas (~ 8.12 hectáreas) de las cuales el 53% está en manos N°de miembros que participan en actividades agrícolas en la fincaEncabezados por un hombre Encabezado por una mujer de familias encabezadas por mujeres y 47 % en manos de familias encabezadas por hombres (Figura 5).Figura 4. Área productiva promedio con prácticas ASAC Figura 5. Área productiva total reportada con ASAC Del total de hogares, el 65% (33% encabezados por hombres y 32% por mujeres) manifestaron se propietarios de toda la tierra cultivada, seguido por el 18% de agricultores (12% encabezados por hombres y 6% por mujeres) que afirmaron que la mayoría de la tierra que trabajan es propia y una parte es alquilada (Figura 6). Vale la pena anotar que el 50% está en manos de hogares encabezados por mujeres y de este valor el 64% es de propietarios, mientras que el 14% es de arrendatarios. Área productiva total de los hogares con prácticas ASAC Figura 6. Propiedad de la Tierra Según lo observado en la Figura 7, con respeto al nivel de educación, en el TeSAC la mayor parte de la población, independiente del género, cuenta con educación primaria, seguido de la población que no cuenta con ningún tipo de educación. A nivel de las cabezas de familia (Figura 8), se observa que cuando se trata de mujeres, 21% no recibieron ninguna educación y 28% accedieron a primaria, mientras que en los encabezados por hombres, solo el 18% no tuvo educación y el 28% declararon haber alcanzado un nivel educativo de primaria. Ninguno (sin educación) Primario Secundario Técnico / Vocacional (no universitario)Figura 8. Nivel de educación de los jefes de hogarAcorde con lo mostrado en la Figura 9, la principal fuente de alimento para los hogares del TeSAC es el mercado (82%) y la segunda fuente es la producción en la finca (18%), tal cual se observa en la (Figura 9)Figura 9. Fuente principal de alimentos El porcentaje de hogares que reportaron dificultades para suplir sus requerimientos alimentarios básicos en los 12 meses anteriores al monitoreo, fue mucho mayor en todas las comunidades al de aquellos que no tuvieron dificultades en acceso a alimentos, siendo la comunidad de Valle nuevo en la que la totalidad de hogares reportaron dificultad en acceso a alimentos. (Figura 10). Al clasificar los hogares en las cuatro categorías del indicador de Prevalencia de Experiencia de Inseguridad Alimentaria (HFIAP por sus siglas en ingles), se obtuvo que el 39% de los hogares están en la categoría de inseguridad severa, el 36%% en la categoría moderada, el 12% en la categoría levemente inseguros y el 14% en la categoría de seguridad alimentaria (Figura 13). Lo anterior muestra que más del 70% de los hogares están en un nivel de seguridad alimentaria crítico.Figura 13. Indicador HFIAP de prevalencia de inseguridad alimentariaCon respecto a los ingresos, la situación encontrada en el territorio de acuerdo al monitoreo revela que la gran mayoría de los hogares dependen de actividades agrícolas (51%), de actividades tanto agrícolas como no agrícolas (34%), de actividades no agrícolas (13%) y la inmensa minoría de pende de remesas (1%), tal cual se observa en la Figura 14.En lo que se refiere a los ingresos de acuerdo a la cabeza de familia, en aquellos hogares cuya cabeza es un hombre dependen en igual medida de actividades agrícolas y de actividades tanto agrícolas como no agrícolas (41% cada una) y un 15% de actividades no agrícolas. En el caso de los hogares encabezados por mujeres, dependen Porcentaje de agricultores N° de Hogares e ingresos mencionadas, la mayoría fueron atribuidas por los agricultores a eventos relacionados con el clima en todas las comunidades del TeSAC (Figura 18).En términos de la capacidad de ahorro de los ingresos agrícolas (Figura 19), se determinó que la misma es lograda por un porcentaje muy bajo de la población (12%), y se encontró que la capacidad de ahorro de las mujeres es mayor que la de los hombres (15% y 8% respectivamente).Figura 19. Capacidad de ahorro agrícola Porcentaje N° de personasCon respecto al acceso al crédito, se encontró que el 72% de los agricultores del TeSAC no tienen acceso este tipo de servicios, y del restante 28% que si aceden a crédito, el 17% son mujeres y 11% son hombres (Figura 20).Figura 20. Acceso a crédito agrícolaCon respecto a los eventos climáticos que los agricultores encuestados identifican como aquellos que afectan en mayor medida sus ingresos agrícolas, las sequías continuas fueron el evento más recurrente con un 77%; los otros eventos fueron lluvias intensas y vientos fuertes, los cuales presentaron reportes del 32% y 28% respectivamente (Figura 21).En cuanto a las estrategias con las que las familias afrontan los efectos negativos causados por eventos climáticos (Figura 22), se determinó que principalmente procuran buscar otras fuentes de ingresos (33%), reducir los gastos del hogar (27%) y cambiar del trabajo en la finca a trabajo fuera de ella (13%).De acuedo a los datos, los recursos que los agricultores emplean para hacer frente a los impactos de las variaciones del clima sobre sus sistemas productivos (Figura 23), son los préstamos de dinero (50%), seguido del uso de ahorros (38%). Con respecto a la respuesta de los hogares a cada uno de los eventos climáticos antes mencionados, se identificaron diferentes estrategias, las cuales se pueden observar en la Figura 24. En cuanto a las lluvias intensas los hogares mostraron que reducir el gasto es la más usada (29%), seguido de la búsqueda de nuevos ingresos (23%). En lo concerniente con las sequías continuas, la principal respuesta que mostraron los hogares a este evento climático, fue la búsqueda de nuevas fuentes de ingresos (37%). Finalmente, es evidente que, en el caso de los eventos relacionados con vientos fuertes, los hogares además de reducir el gasto (27%) y buscar nuevas fuentes de ingresos (33%), cobra también relevancia el cambio de trabajo en la finca a fuera de ella (23%).En lo concerniente con la respuesta de tipo financiero de parte de los hogares ante eventos climáticos, en el caso de las lluvias intensas recurren principalmente a créditos (67%) y al uso de ahorros (22%); con respecto a las sequías continuas, los hogares además de buscar dinero prestado (50%) manifestaron utilizar sus ahorros (42%); y finalmente con respecto a los vientos fuertes los hogares manifestaron utilizar tanto los ahorros (40%) como una estrategia mixta de uso de ahorros y préstamos de dinero (40%). Lo anterior se puede ver en más detalle en la Figura 25. Prestamos Ahorros Número de hogaresCon respecto a cambios en las actividades agrícolas en el 2019, el 32% de los hogares reportaron que había realizado cambios (Figura 26).Los cambios realizados en las actividades agrícolas motivados por factores diferentes al clima, fueron en el total de hogares correspondientes al 28% (Figura 27). Dichos cambios correspondieron principalmente a la gestión en actividades agrícolas, cambio en variedades e introducción de nuevos cultivos (Figura 28). Número de hogaresCon respecto a los cambios en las actividades agrícolas por el clima, se observa que el 72% de los hogares adoptantes de prácticas ASAC tomaron la decisión de realizarlos (Figura 29). Los principales cambios que los agricultores adoptantes realizaron correspondieron principalmente a prácticas de manejo de cultivo, cambio de variedades y infraestructura física de la finca, tal y como se observa en la Figura 30. No Número de hogaresEn cuanto a cambios en las actividades relacionadas con los animales, el 56% de los hogares reportaron haberlos hecho (Figura 31). Los tipos de cambios realizados fueron principalmente correspondientes a la mejora de la infraestructura física, abandono de animales, reducción en el tamaño del hato, cambio de gestión forrajes y diversificación en la producción animal (Figura 32). Con respecto al acceso a la información climática, el 100% de los agricultores reportaron tener acceso a pronósticos tanto de corto plazo (diarios-semanales), como estacionales. Esto correspondió tanto a agricultores hombres como a mujeres, habiendo una mayor proporción de agricultores que manifestaron tener acceso a estacionales con agro avisos, de acuerdo con lo observado en la Figura 33.Por otro lado, en cuanto al asesoramiento recibido por los agricultores junto con los pronósticos, estos manifestaron haber recibido principalmente orientación en cuanto a manejo de riego y de agua, y manejo de cultivo. Con respecto a los pronósticos de corto y largo plazo, una proporción importate de hombres manifestaron también capacitación en cuanto al manejo de plagas y enfermedades (Figura 34).Respecto a los canales de información por los cuales los agricultores reciben la información climática mencionada (Figura 35), vale la pena decir que, tanto para los pronósticos de corto plazo como para los estacionales, el contacto personal o grupo social es el principal medio y el uso de radio, TV o Altavoz, es el segundo medio de comunicación por el cual se accede a la información climática.  No Número de agricultoresEn cuanto a los factores limitantes para el uso de la información climática, se identificó qué en el caso de la información de corto plazo para los hombres la \"No sabían que decisión tomar\" fue el primer factor limitante, mientras que para las mujeres fue el ya mencionado uso y que \"No entendían la información\". Para el caso de los pronósticos estacionales el comportamiento es similar entre hombres y mujeres, siendo la respuesta \"no entendí la información\" la que más se repitió (Figura 37).Figura 37. Factores limitantes para el uso de información climáticaCon respecto a la implementación de prácticas ASAC a nivel de agricultores (Figura 38), la mayoría de estos manifestaron haber implementado al menos una de estas (95%). En fue igual tanto para agricultores hombres como para mujeres. Por otro lado, al evaluar la implementación de prácticas a nivel de hogares, el comportamiento de adopción de prácticas es similar al de los agricultores sin embargo se observa que la implementación fue del 98% en todos los casos (Figura 38).Con respecto a la implementación de prácticas ASAC por parte de los agricultores, aquellas más implementadas en orden descendente fueron \"Cosechas de agua lluvia\", \"Barreras vivas\", \"Zanjas en contorno\", \"Labranza mínima de conservación\", \"Biopreparados\" y \"Rotación de cultivos\". Estas mismas prácticas fueron las principales implementadas tanto por hombres como por mujeres, siendo evidente que la cantidad de prácticas No entendí la información No confiaba en la información / no era lo suficientemente precisa No sabia que decisiones tomar No tenía los recursos para implementar cambios Número de agricultores implementadas por mujeres en términos generales, es mayor que la cantidad implementada por hombres. Todo lo anterior se puede observar en detalle en la Figura 39.Para el caso de los hogares, las prácticas ASAC que fueron principalmente implementadas fueron \"Barreras vivas\", \"Cosechas de agua lluvia\", \"Zanjas en contorno\", \"Labranza mínima de conservación\", \"Rotación de cultivos\" y \"Biopreparados\". El número de hogares encabezados por mujeres que implementaron prácticas ASAC fue igual al número de aquellos encabezados por los hombres, tal y como se puede observar en detalle en la Figura 39.Con respecto al área cubierta por las prácticas ASAC en el TeSAC (Figura 40), se evidencia que el promedio de cobertura de cada práctica es bajo, dado principalmente a que las fincas de los productores son muy pequeñas. Las prácticas que ocupan mayor espacio en promedio son \"Zanjas en contorno\", \"Rotación de cultivos\", \"Labranza mínima de conservación\" y \"Barreras vivas\"; todas estas correspondientes a aquellas que se pueden implementar en las parcelas grandes conde se cultivan principalmente café, maíz y frijol.Por otro lado, los \"Reservorios para producción de peces y riego\", son la práctica que en promedio tiene una menor área (0.15 tareas)Por otro lado, para el momento del monitoreo, la práctica ASAC adoptada con mayor área cubierta en el territorio fue \"Zanjas en contorno (57.2 tareas), y aquella práctica con menor área cubierta fue \"Reservorios para producción de peces y riego\" (2.1 tareas), tal y como se observa en la Figura 41. Área media (ha)Figura 41. Área total cubierta por prácticas ASAC Con respecto a la implementación de prácticas ASAC en hogares encabezados por mujeres en cada una de las comunidades, se observa que La Prensa Centro es en donde hubo una mayor implementación (68), siendo las \"Cosechas de agua lluvia\" la práctica con mayor extensión de implementación. En las demás comunidades, también hay un importante nivel de implementación de prácticas ASAC, siendo muy similares a aquellas prácticas implementadas por los hombres en cada comunidad (Figura 42). En el caso de estos últimos, la comunidad de Nochán, es la que demuestra una mayor adopción de prácticas ASAC (59) siendo las más relevantes las \"Zanjas en contorno\", \"Labranza mínima de conservación\", \"Biopreparados\" y \"Barreras vivas\". La comunidad con menor implementación de prácticas fue Valle Nuevo (24 en hogares encabezados por mujeres y 25 en hogares encabezados por hombres), tal y como se observa en la Figura 42.En lo concerniente a los impulsores de adopción de prácticas ASAC por parte de los agricultores (Figura 43), el interés por aprender y formarse, es el que principalmente ha motivado todas las prácticas ASAC y ha tenido una mayor relevancia para la decisión de implementar \"Barreras vivas\" (100% de los agricultores) y la implementación de \"Reservorios para producción de peces y riego\" (89% mujeres y 83% hombres). Área total (ha)En cuanto a la respuesta a algún evento climático como impulsor, para la implementación de prácticas ASAC cobra relevancia para los \"Reservorios de agua para riego\" (18% mujeres y 20% hombres). El impulsor de interés por adaptarse a futuros cambios climáticos, fue importante sobre todo para la práctica de \"Reservorios de agua para riego\" (18% mujeres y 20% hombres), y finalmente, la posibilidad de abrir nuevos mercados, cobro menor relevancia en todas las prácticas.Durante el monitoreo, también se levantaron algunos datos sobre aquellos agricultores que han des adoptado prácticas ASAC, los cuales han correspondido al 30% de la población de agricultores y al 39% de hogares (Figura 44). Las prácticas que más han des adoptado los agricultores y los hogaes fueron: \"Zanjas en contorno\", \"Cosechas de agua de lluvia\" y \"Reservorios para producción de peces y riego\" (Figura 45 Biopreparados (Madrifol y Sulfocalcium) Rotación de cultivos de maíz y frijol Zanjas en contorno (Acequias)Barreras Vivas (Madre Cacao, Maguey, Pina. Izote) Labranza mínima de conservación Cosecha de agua de lluvia Reservorios para producción de peces y riego Figura 46. Motivos de des adopción de prácticas especificas ASAC Otro de los aspectos evaluados en el monitoreo, fue la identificación por parte de los agricultores de los efectos de la adopción de prácticas ASAC en diferentes aspectos principalmente económicos y de seguridad alimentaria.Con respecto al efecto de las prácticas sobre el rendimiento / producción (Figura 47), se identificó que para el total de estas el principal efecto reportado por los agricultores fue el incremento en la producción. Por otro lado, un porcentaje menor de agricultores reportó que no podía aún definir los efectos de las prácticas, dado que llevaba muy poco tiempo con ellas, y finalmente, la menor parte de los agricultores dijo que no habían identificado efectos o que habían tenido alguna reducción en la producción.La práctica que más cantidad de mujeres identificaron que habíaa representado aumentos en rendimiento fue \"Labranza mínima de conservación\" y en el caso de los hombres fue \"Reservorio de agua para riego\". Por otro lado, las prácticas que menos cantidad de mujeres identificaron que habían representado aumentos en rendimientos fueron \"Biopreparados\" (64%) y \"Reservorios de agua para riego\" (64%). En el caso de los hombres, la práctica en la que la menor cantidad e ellos reporto aumentos en producción fue \"Reservorios para producción de peces y riego\" (56%). No ayudó a adaptarse a los eventos climáticos / meteorológicos No generó beneficios económicosEn cuanto a la identificación por parte de los adoptantes del efecto de las prácticas sobre ingresos adicionales a los que normalmente tenían, más del 80% de los agricultores en todas las prácticas manifestaron que si han generado ingresos adicionales (Figura 48). Las prácticas donde la mayor cantidad de hombres no identificaron aumentos en los ingresos fueron \"Zanjas en contorno\" y \"Labranza mínima de conservación\" (18% cada una), mientras que las prácticas donde una mayor cantidad de muejeres no identificaron aumentos en los ingresos fueron \"Rotación de cultivos\" y \"Biopreparados\" (12% cada una).Con respecto al uso de los ingresos adicionales generados por las prácticas ASAC (Figura 49), se identificó que dichos ingresos se invierten principalmente en la compra de alimentos para la familia y en algunos casos para comprar insumos /activos agrícolas o servicios. Se puedo observar que los hombres tienen una mayor tendencia que las mujeres a usar los recursos para cosas distintas a alimentos; un ejemplo son las prácticas de \"Bioprepardos\" y \"Reservorios para producción de peces y riego\", ya que en ambas el 100% de hombres manifestaron usar los ingresos para comprar insumos /activos agrícolas o servicios.En cuanto a la mejora de acceso a alimentos como beneficio de la implementación de prácticas ASAC (Figura 50), la mayoría de agricultores (hombres y mujeres) identificaron dicha mejora. Sin embargo, la práctica en la cual la mayoría de los hombres identificaron que no mejora el acceso al alimento fue \"Zanjas en contorno\" (15%) y en el caso de las mujeres fue \"Reservorios para producción de peces y riego\" (10%).Respecto a la diversidad de alimentos como beneficio de las prácticas ASAC (Figura 51), la mayoría de agricultores (hombres y mujeres) identificaron que todas aportaron a mejorar la diversidad de alimentos. La práctica en la que mayor cantidad de mujeres identifico que no ha mejorar la diversidad de alimentos (26%) fue \"rotación de cultivos\" y en el caso de los hombres fue \"Zanjas en contorno\" (21%).Finalmente, de acuerdo a lo observado en la Figura 52 la gran mayoría de agricultores (hombres y mujeres), identificaron que hay efectos positivos de las prácticas ASAC sobre la disminución de la vulnerabilidad climática. Al evaluar la participación de los hombres y las mujeres en la toma de decisiones sobre la implementación de las prácticas ASAC (Figura 53), se encontró que en términos generales las mujeres toman más decisiones de forma autónoma que los hombres; y por el contrario más hombres reportan haber tomado las decisiones de forma conjunta que las mujeres. La práctica en la cual las mujeres mostraron mayor autonomía en la decisión fue en \"Labranza mínima de conservación\" (74%) y en la que menos decisión reportaron fue en las \"Huertas de hortalizas con techo\" (18%). Por su parte los hombres mostraron mayor autonomía en la decisión de implementar fue en \"Huertas de hortalizas con techo\" (71%) y en la que menos decisión reportaron fue en la \"Labranza mínima de conservación\".En cuanto a la toma de decisiones de des adoptar una práctica ASAC, hay más prácticas y ocasiones en las que los hombres toman esta decisión, sin embargo, las mujeres participan también en prácticas como \"Zanjas en contorno\" y \"Barreras vivas\" (Figura 54)Con respecto a la contribución a la implementación de las prácticas ASAC (Figura 55), se encontró que la mayoría de las veces las mujeres reportan que ayudaron a implementar y los hombres dicen que fueron ellos quienes hicieron la mayor parte del trabajo. La práctica en la que más mujeres reportaron qué hicieron la mayor parte del trabajo fue en la de \"Reservorios de agua para riego\" (27%) y en la que más reportaron que ayudaron a implementar fue en \"Labranza mínima de conservación\" (80%). Por otro lado, en el caso de los hombres la práctica en la que más reportaron que hicieron la mayor parte del trabajo fue en la construcción de \"Huertas de hortalizas con techo|\" (71%) y en las que más reportaron que ayudaron a implementar fue \"Biopreparados\" (30%).En cuanto a lo que se referente al tiempo de trabajo dedicado para las diferentes prácticas ASAC (Figura 56), la mayoría de las veces hombres y mujeres indicaron que gastan igual tiempo que el que estaban gastando antes de su implementación. No obstante, en algunas prácticas algunos, algunos productores manifestaron que gastaba menos tiempo del que utilizaban antes y en una menor medida que gastaban más tiempo. En el caso de las mujeres la práctica en la que más reportan que les ayudó a gastar menos tiempo fue con el uso de \"Cosechas de agua lluvia\" (53%) y las \"Zanjas en contorno \"fue la práctica en la que más dijeron que les hacía gastar más tiempo (24%). En el caso de los hombres la práctica en la que más reportaron que gastaron menos tiempo fue en la de \"Rotación de cultivos\" (26%) y en las que más dijeron que habían gastado más tiempo, fue en \"Barreas vivas\" (11%) y \"Reservorios para producción de peces y riego\" (11%).Con respecto a la encontrado sobre la toma de decisiones y control sobre los ingresos generados por las prácticas ASAC (Figura 57), la gran mayoría tanto en hombres como de mujeres reportaron que si tenían participación al respecto. En el caso específico de las mujeres, en las prácticas correspondientes a \"Reservorios de agua para riego\" (17%), \"Labranza mínima de conservación\" (13%), \"Biopreparados\" (13%), \"Cosecha de agua lluvia\" (7%), \"Zanjas en contorno\" (5%) y \"Barreras vivas\" (5%), respondieron que no tenía participación sobre los ingresos. En el caso de los hombres, el 38% dijo no tener decisión sobre los ingresos generados por los \"Biopreparados\", el 33% por los ingresos generados por \"Cosechas de agua lluvia\" y el 11% por los ingresos generados por \"Labranza mínima de conservación\" y \"Barreras vivas\".En cuanto al grado de conocimiento expresado por los agricultores con respecto a las diferentes prácticas ASAC evaluadas en el monitoreo (Figura 58), la gran mayoría manifestó haberlas implementado o haber escuchado de ellas. En el caso de las mujeres más del 60% de las encuestadas manifestaron haber escuchado de prácticas como \"Huertas de hortalizas con techo\", \"Reservorios de agua para riego \"y \"Reservorios para producción de peces y riego\". Por otro lado, también en el caso de las mujeres más del 50 % de las encuestadas manifestaron haber implementado las prácticas de \"Zanjas en contorno\", \"Barreras vivas\", \"Cosechas de agua lluvia\", \"Labranza mínima de conservación\", \"Rotación de cultivos\" y \"Biopreparados\". En cuanto a los hombres, más del 70% de ellos han escuchado de prácticas como \"Huertas de hortalizas con techo\", \"Reservorios de agua para riego y \"Reservorios para producción de peces y riego\". Por otro lado, también en el caso de los hombres más del 50 % de los encuestadas manifestaron haber implementado las prácticas de \"Zanjas en contorno\", \"Barreras vivas\", \"Cosechas de agua lluvia\", y \"Labranza mínima de conservación\".Con respecto a la pregunta sobre las fuentes de información con las que han contado los agricultores para fortalecer sus conocimientos sobre ASAC (Figura 59), la mayoría de estos manifestaron que fueron servicios de extensión o capacitación por asistencia técnica de otra institución y otras fuentes no especificadas. En el caso de las mujeres las prácticas en las cuales más reconocen que fueron capacitadas por instituciones diferentes a CCAFS son:\"Huertas de hortalizas con techo\" (95%), \"Cosecha de agua lluvia\" (94%), \"Biopreparado\" (92%) y \"Reservorios de agua para riego\" (90%). En el caso de los hombres fueron \"Huertas de hortalizas con techo\" (100%), \"Reservorios de agua para riego\" (100%), \"Cosechas de agua lluvia\" (98%), y \"Biopreparados\" (94%). Con respecto a las mujeres que manifestaron procesos de autoaprendizaje para la implementación de prácticas ASAC, la práctica en la que más respondieron lo anterior fue la de \"Rotación de cultivos (22%), y en el caso de los hombres la respuesta \"Labranza mínima de conservación\" (23%).Finalmente, otro de los aspectos del monitoreo correspondió al abordaje de población presente en el TeSAC que no ha sido adoptante de prácticas ASAC, para identificar el interés de estos agricultores de aprender sobre cada una de las prácticas. Los resultados al respecto, mostraron que hay interés de al menos el 96% de los encuestados en profundizar sus conocimientos en cada una de las prácticas.Figura 53. Toma de decisiones sobre la implementación de las prácticas ASAC En el siguiente link, se puede acceder al álbum de fotos del proceso de monitoreo: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmQWNuD5Con respecto al contexto en el cual se encuentra la comunidad del TeSAC y al ambiente habilitador para el desarrollo de prácticas ASAC, se determinó que los hogares son numerosos y adicionalmente que la mayoría de estos cuenta con mano de obra disponible para trabajar en la finca, por lo tanto, es de interés continuar promoviendo prácticas en la zona cuyo principal insumo sea la mano de obra.Dado que también se identificó que en el TeSAC el área de las unidades productivas es extremadamente pequeña (~2 tareas), es necesario continuar con la implementación de alternativas sostenibles de uso intensivo del suelo, que generen alto valor. Por lo anterior es importante continuar con la implementación de prácticas ASAC cómo los estanques con tilapia e irrigación, las cosechas de agua lluvia y las huertas familiares, las cuales en el futuro, trabajando para abrir mercados, podrían convertirse en una de las fuentes importantes de ingreso para las comunidades.De igual forma, con base en lo anterior es relevante trabajar en mejorar la seguridad alimentaria de las familias, dado que en todas las comunidades manifestaron que aún hay dificultades importantes en el acceso a alimentos y a la diversificación de los alimentos consumidos. Por lo anterior, es importante continuar con la implementación de prácticas que permitan diversificar las dietas de los agricultores, incluyendo en la medida de lo posible, sistemas que generen proteínas de tipo animal y otros productos que permitan tener dietas balanceadas. Lo anterior adicionalmente está más que soportado por las cifras nacionales de desnutrición reportadas por el gobierno nacional y otras instituciones.El acompañamiento en cuanto a transferencia de tecnología debe ser permanente en la medida de lo posible, dado que los niveles de escolaridad en el TeSAC son bajos y adicionalmente, durante las capacitaciones se ha encontrado gran dificultad por parte de los agricultores de retener lo que se les enseña. En este aspecto jugaran un rol muy importante el diseño de mecanismos innovadores y didácticos de transmisión de la información a los productores.Otro aspecto relevante y ligado a lo discutido con anterioridad, es lo concerniente a la reducción en los ingresos en algunas comunidades atribuido a impactos climáticos, por lo que hay que reforzar los mecanismos de captación y almacenamiento de agua, ya que el mayor impacto identificados por las comunidades es la sequía prolongada. En este sentido adicional a las prácticas mencionadas con anterioridad, es relevante evaluar algunas nuevas como la extracción de agua de pozos, la instalación de mallas para captura de agua de neblina, entre otras.Dado que los agricultores manifestaron una casi nula capacidad de ahorro y un gran porcentaje de ellos también reporto que no tienen acceso a créditos (más del 70%), es importante trabajar para facilitar acceso a servicios financieros a las personas de estas comunidades, que les permitan recuperarse después de impactos climáticos que les generen perdidas en producción y afecten su economía y seguridad alimentaria. En este sentido es importante identificar proyectos que puedan brindarles capital semilla para conformar grupos de ahorro, fortalecer bancos comunitarios de alimentos que alberguen principalmente maíz y frijol, así como otras alternativas innovadoras.En lo que respecta al acceso de información climática, se encontró que de momento hay un mayor acceso a los pronósticos estacionales que a los pronósticos diarios o semanales, por lo tanto, es necesario fortalecer el acceso y uso de esta información que es relevante para la toma de decisiones a corto plazo en sistemas productivos agropecuarios.Ya que se identificaron los canales principales por los cuales llega la información climática a los productores, es importante establecer una estrategia que permita difundir de forma ampliada en estos canales la información más relevante, de forma que llegue a agricultores incluso fuera del TeSAC.Con respecto a los factores limitantes para el uso de la información agroclimática, es importante fortalecer los mecanismos de transferencia ya que un grupo importante de productores aun manifiesta no entender la información de los pronósticos. De igual forma el acompañamiento para que puedan tomar sus decisiones aún es relevante.Con respecto a la implementación de prácticas ASAC, es evidente que la comunidad de La Prensa Centro tiene un avance mayor que las demás, por lo que sería recomendable para el 2020 y 2021 fortalecer el trabajo en las demás comunidades.La mayoría de agricultores evidenciaron un efecto positivo de las prácticas ASAC sobre el rendimiento y la producción de sus sistemas productivos agropecuarios, lo que demuestra la utilidad y pertinencia de las prácticas promovidas en el territorio, y abre la oportunidad de continuar trabajando con ellos y explorar nuevas alternativas, ya que lo anterior indica que se ha generado un grado de confianza entre los productores y la iniciativa promovidas en el TeSAC.Con respecto a aquellos productores que han des adoptado algunas prácticas, es importante hacer seguimiento en campo para evidenciar si esto es cierto o si fue una mala interpretación de las preguntas de la actividad de monitoreo. De ser verídico que han abandonado algunas prácticas, es importante enfocarse en fortaleces los aspectos que manifestaron motivaron esta des adopción. Es probables que sea necesario hacer seguimiento a la implementación y mantenimiento de algunas prácticas para evidenciar que se han estado realizando de forma correcta por parte de los agricultores.En términos de género, el porcentaje de participación real de las mujeres con respecto a la implementación de las prácticas ASAC en el territorio fue alto comparado con el monitoreo del año anterior, y se evidenció un aumento en el empoderamiento de ellas sobre todas las prácticas ASAC implementadas tanto en los patios de las casas como en las parcelas de las fincas.Con respecto al trabajo invertido en las prácticas ASAC, aún hay un reto importante para identificar tecnologías que permitan reducir el tiempo invertido en las mismas. Esto se puede lograr más adelante identificando la automatización de algunas acciones a través del uso de energías renovables de bajo costo.Finalmente, en lo relacionado con el grado de conocimiento de los agricultores sobre las prácticas ASAC, hay aún un reto importante para empoderarlos en dicho conocimiento, dado que aún no se evidencia en la información capturada en el monitoreo. "}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"780ec125-3e09-4a9f-a2be-5b63225cebb9","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6d391be0a13f75ea627acb822cd39891","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bb4fa794-4d62-46a9-b615-75bbac5abbb3/retrieve","id":"-1625213911"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"edc1d725-206e-4127-b20d-5bf0618d5b8d","content":"It is the result of the management of palm oil carried out by the Central Committee of Palm Growers of Ucayali (COCEPU) whose fundamental principle is the conservation of forests and the recovery of soils degraded by the cultivation of the coca crop, livestock, and others. The palm oil tree is a permanent crop that over time allows to generate new agroecosystems, improves soils, leaves areas for forest conservation and at the same time generates a product of high economic value. It is an alternative for the development of the Amazon that is socially equal, economically viable and enviromentally sustainable.What is palm oil and its derivatives that contribute to Low Greenhouse Gas (GHG) EmissionsZero DeforestationImprove the quality of life and support in the forest conservationTo be recognized as a leader in compliance with national and international environmental standards "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/6114421525.json b/main/part_2/6114421525.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..7a38f482aa88e83bafacbd4f1c0ced78981ba204
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8f16babde9fd03c60dcb053f4b75b86f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3c215077-3268-4bdc-b3b9-5371112bd9f3/retrieve","id":"-1800563993"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8c1b0414-785d-4df9-afeb-ef880d5ff679","content":"Common names: amora-guaya (Amharic); lablab, lupp (Arabic); guangono abrua (Côte d'Ivoire); njahi (Kenya); wáákén dànfámíí (Nigeria); mfiwi, mafuta (Swahili); agni guango ahura, o-cala, gerenga, fiwi bean, kikuyu bean, kashrengeig, lubia• The field should be well prepared without big clods and with a fine tilth • Ploughing can be done using a tractor or manually with hoe.• Planting should be done early before the onset of rains. Lablab seeds takes longer to germinate and emerge • Planting can be done in furrows at a depth of 5 -7 cm. • Place 2-3 seeds per hole and then thin to 1 at 3 weeks. • Seed rate is 3 -5 kg per acre • Will grow at altitudes from sea level to elevations of up to 2,000 m above sea level in tropical environments • While it is common to grow lablab without fertilizer applications, sowings in sandy soils often require applications of phosphorus and Sulphur and benefit from applications of lime in very acid soils. • Distance between rows is 100cm between plants and 50cm if planted as a pure crop. • Lablab can be intercropped with maize or sorghum.• Lablab is a legume and fix free nitrogen into the soil thus fertility • The first weeding must be done within 2 weeks after emergence and the second 3 weeks after the first. • Lablab does not require fertilizers and can be grown in very poor soils • Crop protection measures should be taken as it can be affected by insects e.g. borers and aphids. • Lablab has no known serious diseases.• Lablab is an annual but if harvested leaving a stubble of 30 cm is possible to harvest 1st and 2nd ratoon but with reduced yield (weak perennial) • Seasonal yields of 2 t/ha leaf or 4 t/ha stem and leaf are common in sub-humid subtropics • Harvest when the pods are dry and brown.The pods start drying at the base of the fruits and not the top. • Harvest the pods first as they are likely to be damaged by weather and insects if left for long in the field • Dry the grains and apply insecticide for storage• Lablab is a legume and thus used for supplementationprotein source• Feeding should constitute of up to 30% of daily basal diet, otherwise contribute to bloating • Leaf has CP content of 21-38%, commonly about 26%. Much lower for stem (7-20%).Grain contains 20-28% CP. Digestibility ranges from 55-76%, commonly >60% (leaves). Grain high in vitamins A, B and C • Lablab cannot withstand heaving grazing.Grazing can be done 10 weeks after sowing with care taken to ensure stem are not eaten with leaves. • Lablab can be made into silage alone or mixed with sorghum. • If ensiled alone, wilt to 30 -35% DM by wilting 18 to 24 hours to concentrate soluble sugars and fasten fermentation. • Lablab does not regrow if cut below 15cm• Lablab can also make excellent hay.However since the stem is coarse, it should be mechanically treated to fasten curing."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2fad59d26815d8f11b1d4de9833ad2b0","source":"gardian_index","url":"http://ciat-library.ciat.cgiar.org/Articulos_Ciat/Digital/SB327.P782C.1_Pan-African_Working_Group_Meeting_on_Bacterial_and_Virus_Diseases_of_Common_Bean.pdf","id":"1751078853"},"keywords":[".","¡, ,-R","Á. Buruchara, erA T F. Opio, NARO t.7:~--•-> ,'''~~'->'","' !","~",". . . .","- \\,,•v (.' ,.J"],"sieverID":"6fad0487-1c8e-4dbe-ad26-7a1fe982203d","content":"Tlús volume reports the proceedings of a Pan-African working group meeting on bacterial and virus diseases of the eommon bean, and is the 34th in a series of workshop proceedings amongst whieh it is a sequel particularly to No. 13 (that a!so addressed virus diseases) and to No. 20 (that reported proceedings of the fITSt bean pathology workshop, ineluding work on common baeteria! blight).Since this workshop was held, bean common mosaie virus (BCMV) has been separated into two distinct potyvirus species ; the necrosis-indueing strains of serotype A are now named bean eommon mosaie necrosis virus (BCMNV), while serotype B isolates, that do not normally induee necrosis except at high temperature, retain the name BCMV that now embraces strains ofblaekeye eowpea mosaie and several other legume virus isolates (eds.).The First African Bean Pathology Workshop, which was held in Kigali in 1987, addressed \"the most damaging diseases of common bean in Africa\". Virus diseases were not covered, so that in due course a worldng group meeting on virus diseases was convened, in Kampala in 1990. In May 1992, the flfst Pan-Africa Bean Pathology Working Group met in Thika, where proceedings focussed only on fungal pathogens. In order to retain an appropriate balance between pathogen groups, the present meeting provides a forum at which to give adequate attention to bacteria! and viral diseases of beans.Research on bacteria! and viral diseases of beans in Africa is conducted under the auspices of national bean programmes, universities and other regional and international research institutions in Africa. Collaborative research between universities or between advanced laboratories in the USA and Europe, and the national institutions consider certain thernes to make use of comparative advantage of collaborators. The Bacterial and Vira! Worldng Group comprises key scientists from the bean research networks in Africa who are actively worldng on bacterial and viral diseases ofbeans. The group has the responsibility of offering specialist advice to the Steering Committees of the bean networks on important bacterial and viral constraints, when considering research activities, priorities and strategies proposed by network scientiests. This particular meeting brings together scientists from sorne of the national programmes in Africa, universities and some of the collaborating research institutions in Europe working on viral and bacterial diseases.The objectives of the meeting are : a. To offer a forum for peer review of on-going research activities on bacterial and viral bean diseases and to facilitate exchange of informatíon among scientists. b. To review past and current research actívities of regional (bacteria! and viral) sub-projects and any other to be able to assess past achievements and on-going research on bacterial and viral diseases. c. To develop future strategies and determine specific arcas, and priorities to be considered by research (sub-projects). d. To review the effects of bacterial and viral pathogens and the role of research on quarantine regulations and excbange of germplasm. e. To identify ways for improved collaboration, sharing of responsibílities and exchange of information and research results. The meeting will be ron in two separate parts. The first will comprise presentation of research on virus diseases (Session 1) and on bacterial diseases (Session 2), with speakers drawing attention not only to their results bUí also to their failures and difficulties. These will then be used as the basis for the second part, topies to be addressed in two worldng groups, one for bacterial and one for viral diseases. The working groups will employ the Projeet Planning by objectives (ZOPP) method that was used most effectively at the Thika meeting (see Workshop Procs No. 23) to identify problems, analyze solutions, and to develop areas for future research.The aim of this study was to investigate the pathogenicity of BCMV isolates obtained from samples of infected beans and wild legume species in central, southern and eastem Africa. Several sources of resistance to BCMV are available but it is essential for plant breeders to have knowledge of the distribution of and variation among BCMV isolates in the region where new cultivars are to be deployed to achieve a sustainable improvement in crop production. Pathotypes of BCMV are identified by their pathogenicity on a set of differential bean cultivars. Hitherto, ten pathotypes of BCMV (referred to previously as pathogenicity groups) have been identified on the basis of differential host responses (Drijfhout, 1978). Monoclonal antibodies differentiate BCMV isolates into two serotypes and there is a correlation between pathotype and serotype where ¡solates belonging to pathotype 111, VIa and VIb also belong to the \"A\" serotype, while isolates of all other pathotypes belong to the \"B\" serotype (Wang et al., 1984).Field surveys were carried out in collaboration with personnel of Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) and National Bean Programmes in Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, Uganda and Zimbabwe (January 1990), Ethiopia (September 1990), Morocco (November 1990), Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zaire (May 1991), Burundi, Kenya and Rwanda (November 1991). In addition, samples were received at Wellesboume directly from Africa.Seeds of test plants were germinated in plastic boxes on damp cellulose wadding by incubating them for four days at 25°C. The germinated seed was planted in M2 Levington compost (Fisons, UK) in 7 cm plastic pots. Plants were sown in an insect-proof glasshouse at 26\"C; from October to March supplementary lighting was provided to give a daylength of 16 hours. Seeds of the genera Chenopadium and Nicotiana were sown directly in sifted peat compost and germinated seedlings pricked out into individual pots.Infected plant material was collected as leaves. ff samples other than bean were collected, addilional herbarium material was preserved in a flower press and photographs taken to aid identification. For each sample, records were taken of locatíon, altitude, host species, cultivar (if known) and disease severity. Leaf samples were placed between two sheets of filter paper (Whatman No.l), lightly moistened with water and placed in a polythene bago The samples were stored in cool bags in the field and later refrigerated at 4-5°C, until they reached the laboratory (usually within 2-3 weeks). Additional similar leaf samples were immediately dried in plastic scintillation vials containing approximately 10 g of coarse CaCI 3 • Samples (fresh or dried) were homogenised in 1 % ~HP04 solution containing 0.1 % N~S03 (1 g/mI) and used for sap transmission to appropriate test seedlings including: P. vulgaris ev. Double White (Dubbele Witte), Chenopadium quinoa, Nicotiana benthamiana, N. clevelandii, Vigna unguiculata and V. radiata. Sap inoculum. for sub-culturing was prepared in the same way. Some virus isolates were obtained from infected seedlings grown from seed samples coIlected in Africa.BCMV strains representing pathotypes: 1 (NLl), III (NLS), !Va (NVRS), IVb (NL6), Va (NY15), VIa (NL3), Vlb (NL5) and VII (NL4) (Drijfhout, 1978) were maintained in bean ev. Double White and are referred to as .. standard\" strains to be used for comparison with unidentified isolates. Cultures of blackeye cowpea mosaic potyvirus (BICMV), eowpea aphid-bome mosaie potyvirus (CAMV), peanut mottIe potyvirus (PMV) and alfalfa mosaie virus (AMV) were also maintained for comparison.Original seed was obtained from E. Drijfhout (Agricultura! Research University, Wageningen, The Netherlands) and multiplied at Wellesboume in insect-proof polythene tunnels. Up to 22 eultivars were used to characterise BCMV isolates on the basis of systemic infection (Drijfhout, 1978). A mínimum of two cultivars per host resistanee group were used in eaeh test and four seedlings of each cultivar were inoeulated as soon as the primary leaves unfolded. In addition, two further plants of eultivars in resistance group 8, 9a, 9b and 10 (which possess the dominant 1 gene) were inoculated with eaeh isolate and maintained in a eontrolled enviromnent eabinet at 32°C to identify those iso lates which induced systemic necrosis only at this higher temperature.Eaeh plant was scored for symptoms at intervals up to 4 weeks after inoculation. Differential eultivars lhat developed questionable symptoms were back-inoculated to plants of ev. Double White to check for virus infection, or the suspect plants were tested for infection by ELISA. PotentialIy míxed infections were baek-inoculated from individual cultívars to a new set of differential cultivars. Isolates were assígned to pathotypes according to the reactíon patterns of the differential host cultivars. The reaction pattern of the differential host cultivars following inoeulation with the standard BCMV strains was investigated to confirm the original deseriptions by Drijfhout (1978).A number of monoclonal antibodies and polyc1onal antisera were used in ELISA to aid the identification of the BCMV isolates and other viruses (Clark & Adams, 1977). Monoclonal antibodies bc-1-3 (BC3) and 197 were broad-spectrum, reacting in plate-trapped antigen ELISA (PTA-ELISA) with a11 BCMV strains and other potyviruses inc1uding BICMV, CAMV and PMV. In contrast, monoclonal antibodies bc-l-1A4 (BC!) and 12 were highly specific 10 BCMV strains of the \"A\" serotype only. Each survey sample was tested with these monoclonal antibodies by PTA-ELISA in duplicate wells. To aid identification, samples were also tested in direct double-antibody sandwich ELISA (DAS-ELISA) with a number of polyclonal antisera raised to specific BCMV strains and other potyviruses.In general, the reaction paneros observed following inoculation of the differential bean cultivars with the standard strains of BCMV were consistent with those described by Drijfhout (1978). SmaJl differences that were observed can probably be atrributed to enviroumental variation (particularly temperature). BCMV was isolated from 149 ofthe 647 samples of P. vulgaris collected in Africa (Table 1). From the remaining 498 samples either no virus was detected, or BCMV was detected by ELISA but not isolated. Viruses other than BCMV were isolated from sorne samples or detected by ELISA but not isolated (Spence & Walkey, 1994). Variation in the reaction paneros observed on differential cultivars following inoculation with the BCMV isolates from Africa suggested that each could be considered as distinct. However, the ¡solates have been assigned, wherever possible, to the pathotype to which their reaction patteros most c10sely conformed. In sorne cases, assigument to a pathotype was clear-cut as rcaction paneros were identical to those of the standard strain representative of the pathotype. In other cases there were small but distinct and consistent differences between the reaction phenotype ohserved and that of standard strains. This variation included the failure of an isolate to infect one particular cultivar from a particular host resistance group even though other cultivars of the same group were infeeted. Isolates whose reaction phenotype deviated from that of the standard strain by variations such as this were still assigned to the pathotype they most closely resembled. Isolates whose reaction patteros did not conform to any previously described pathotype were considered to represent novel pathotypes.Approximately 53% ofBCMV ¡solates from P. vulgaris were assigned to pathotype VIa, the reaction phenotypes on differential bean culti vars being similar to NL3. Isolates of pathotype VIa occurred widely in all the areas surveyed except Ethiopia. Isolates assigned to pathotype III, being similar to NL8, had a more limited distribution, being found only in Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania. Isolates assigned to pathotype 1 were found occasiona11y in Burundi, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda aod an isolate assigned 10 pathotype IVa was found in only one sample from Zimbabwe. The distribution of isolates assigned lo pathotype IVb was more widespread and they were frequently isolated from infected seed. The distribution of isolates assigned to pathotype Va was restricted to westem Kenya, which was in marked contrast to the rest of the country where all other isolates obtained were assigned to pathotype VIa. Isolates of apparenúy novel pathotypes were found infeeting P. vulgaris in aJl of tbe countries surveyed except Uganda.In Ethiopia tbere was a much lower incidence of BCMV tban in !he otber areas surveyed and !he absence of isolates of tbe \"A\" serotype is significant. When infection by BCMV was found, !he symptoms were generally mildo OnIy two isolates of BCMV were obtained which were botb of tbe \"B• serotype and were assigned to patbotypes 1 and IVb. In addition, !bree isolates of apparently novel patbotype were found al different locations in tbe Rift Valley, tbese were confirmed to be of tbe \"B\" serotype of BCMV.In most countries tbere was Httle difference between tbe strains found at or near research stations and tbose found in fanners' fields. In Malawi, however, isolates assigned to patbotype VIa were only found near tbe Bunda College and Makapwa Research Stations while ¡solates assigned to patbotype IVb were only found in fanners' fields. The recovery of a single isolate confonning to patbotype IVa from tbe Harare Research Station, Zimbabwe, may have originated from imported virus-infected seed because no otber isolates of tbis type were found in Zimbabwe.The \"A\" serotype of BCMV was detected by ELISA in several bean plants collected in a very limited survey in Morocco. However, BCMV was always present in a mixed infection witb alfalfa mosaíc virus (AMV) and as a consequence the reaction of differential bean cultivars to tbese isolates was not detennined.Full details of a1l BCMV isolations made during the survey have been documented by Spence & Walkey (1994).BCMV isolates rrom wild legume species BCMV was isolated from several wild legume species in Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda (Table 2). Isolates 28 and 30 from Crotalaria incana and isolate 38 from Glycine max obtained from Nakabango, Uganda were all oftbe \"A\" serotype and prnduced a similar set of reaction patterns on differential host cultivars. Systemíc veinal necrosis was observed in cultivars of host resistance groups 1 and 4, but this reaction was not tbe typícal hypersensitive reaction associated witb tbe action of the 1 gene. The phenotypic reaction pattern was not similar to any previously described BCMV pathotype and !he isolates were tberefore considered to comprise a novel pathotype. Isolate 465 from Cassia hirsuta (synonym Senna hirsuta) obtained at Bnkalasa, Uganda was of the \"B\" serotype and following inoculation of differential host cultivars tbe reaction pattern confonned to patbotype I. An isolate of tbe \"A\" serotype (499) from Macroptilium atropurpureum obtained at Mubuku, Uganda confonned to pathotype VIa following inoculation of differential bean cultivars.An isolate of the \"A\" serotype (531) from Vigna unguiculata growing as a weed in a bean plot in Rwanda confonned 10 pathotype VIa while tbree otber isolates of!he \"A\" serotype (820, 830 and 836) trom Cassia sophera (synonym Senna sophera) obtained trom different sites in Rwanda displayed a novel set of reactions patterns on differential cultivars and were considered to be previously undescribed patbotypes.Isolate 145 from a Rhynehosia spp. (not in flower) growing at Champhira, Malawi was of !he \"B\" serotype. This isolate conformed to pa!hotype IVa following inoculation of differential bean cultivars.At Nyangusu, near Kisii, Kenya an isolate (956) of!he \"B\" serotype was obtained from Vigna vexillata and !he reaction pattem on differential host cultivars assigned it 10 pa!hotype Va. At Nyangena, c. 30 km Crom the Nyangusu site, an isolate (963) of!he \"B\" serotype obtained from Crotalaria eomanestiana produced a novel reaction pattem on differential bean cultivars and was !herefore considered lO represen! a novel pathotype. The survey indicated !hat herbaceous wild legume species were numerous in Burundi, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda and !he wetter parts of Ethiopia and Kenya. Fewer herbaceous Iegumes were observed in o!her areas and no samples were collected from wild legumes in Leso!ho, Swaziland, Zaire or Zimbabwe as none were observed to have virus symptoms.Full details of all BCMV isolations made from wild legumes in the different countries have been documented by Spence & Wa1key (1994).BCMV isolates were assigned lo pathotypes according to !heir pa!hogenicity phenotype on differential host cultivars and could readily be classified as belonging to ei!her the \"A\" or \"B\" serotype by ELISA. Pa!hotype and serotype were strongly correlated. The results clearly demonstrated the widespread occurrence and predominance of the \"A\" serotype in central, eastem and sou!hem Africa; this serotype was completely correlated with the occurrence of a temperature-independent necrotic response by cultivars carrying the 1 gene. The study also demonstrated !he variation in pathogenicity which existed between isolates from wild populations of BCMV. The widespread occurrence of isolates similar to NL3 and NL8 and of o!her isolates of!he \"A\" serotype wi!h novel pa!hogenicity phenotypes, emphasizes !he importance of incorporating resistance to !hese so-called necrotic strains into new cultivars. Many cultivars !hat have been introduced into bean improvement programmes in Africa carry muy !he dominant 1 resistance gene and are therefore susceptible to \"black root\" when infected by any isolate which provokes necrosis in the presence of this gene. In areas where necrosis-inducing isolates exist it is essential to incorporate additional resistance genes such as bc2 2 or be3 into breeding programmes. Exceptionally, necrosis-inducing isolates of!he \"A\" serotype were not located in E!hiopia. However, three isolates ofa novel pathotype were found !hat did induce necrosis in host group 8 cultivars even though !hey were of!he \"B\" serotype. In Ethiopia, cultivars carrying the [ gene alone may be sufficient to confer resistance against BCMV in most areas, but plant breeders need to be aware of the existence of !his novel pa!hotype which could influence !he durability of any newly introduced resistant bean cultivars. Because of the considerable variation that between isolates, the use of local isolates is considered more appropriate for screening local germplasm for resistance. The occurrence of BCMV in several wild legume species has significance as if such species have a role in !he epidemiology and evolution of BCMV this could also affeet !he durability of resistant cultivars.  Bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) is a disease of global importance occurrlng wherever common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) are grown and can cause severe crop losses in eastern, central and southern Africa. The virus is recognised as comprising two serotypes based on their pathogenicity reactions on a range of differential bean genotypes (Drijfhout, 1978;Morales & Bos, 1988). Serotype \"A\", also known as the necrotic strains, induce a hypersensitive and ofien lethal necrosis in bean genotypes possessing the dominant 1 resistance gene, while \"B\" serotypes (non-necrotic strains) cause only mosaic symptoms in susceptible bean cultivars (Drijfhout, 1978;Wang, 1983;Vetten et al., 1992).Strains of the \"A\" serotype have been reported lo predominate in the major bean growing regions of eastern, central and southem Africa with the exception of Ethiopia, where only \"B\" serotypes have been found (Goothales, 1986;Vetten et al., 1991;Spence & Walkey, 1994). The predominance of \"A\" serotype strains in Africa, which is not the centre of origin of Phaseolus vulgaris suggests that these necrotic strains may have originated in sorne other, indigenous legume species in Africa ... The substance of this paper has now appeared in revised form in Plan! Pathology 46,95-103 (ed.)Recent serological and protein sequencing studies have indicated tIlat the \"A\" and \"B\" serotypes may be distinct viruses and it has been suggested tIlat the \"A\" serotypes should be called bean common mosaic necrosis virus (BCMNV) (Vetten et al., 1992, Khan, 1993). Until the debate on the systematics of BCMV is resolved, both the \"A\" and \"B\" serotypes are referred 10 as BCMV in this paper.Previous studies have reported the occurrence of necrotie \"A\" serotypes similar to the standard NL3 strain (pathogenicity group V1a; Drijfhout, 1978) infecting bean erops in Uganda and the isolation of novel isolates from Crotalaria ¡ncana and Glycine l1U1X which were similar but distinet from the \"A\" serotype standard strain NL8 (pathogenicity group III;Spence & Walkey, 1994). This paper reports the results of a more extensive survey of legume weed and forage species throughout Uganda in whieh numerous nA\" serotypes isolates have been found and charaeterised. New hosts of the virus and novel strains are reported.For the purposes of this paper the defmition of novel isolate, novel strain, strain type, standard strain, pathogenicity group and pathogenicity phenotype are as defmed by Spence & Walkey (1994).MATERIALS AND METHODSSarnples were eolleeted from wild and forage legume species showing suspeeted virus symptoms in various regions of Uganda during 1992 and 1993. Leaf samples were refrigerated at 4° C prior to laboratory testing, or were dried in vials eontaining ealcium ch10ride (Spence & Walkey, 1994). Virus inoculum was prepared by grinding leafmateriaJ in 1 % phosphate solution ~HP04 containing 0.1 % Na2SOJ, in the proportion of 1ml solution to 19 leaf material, and inoculated to bean seedlings of ev. Double White. EUSA serology tests were also made on the collected leaf samples (Spence & Walkey, 1994).Isolates whieh gave positive tests in EUSA for BCMV were further propagated in bean plants cv. Double White to increase virus eoncentration before they were stored in liquid nitrogen. Additional cultures of each ¡solate were maintained in ev. Double White by subculturing and by harvesting infected seed from these plants. Virus-free seed stocks of ev. Double White were used in all experiments and the isolates were maintained in an aphidproof screenhouse (Clovis Lande) at Namulonge and in aphid-proof glasshouses at Wellesboume.The BCMV standard strains, NL3 and NL8 (Drijfhout, 1978) The virus isolates were identified and charaeterised according to the reaetíons they induced.(pathogenieity phenotype) in a selected range of differential bean eultivars (Drijfhout, 1978). The eultivars used are shown in Table 1. Four seedling of each were raised in an aphidproof screenhouse and sap-inoculated with the test ¡solate at the primary leaf stage using standard procedures (Morales, 1989). The standard strain of NL3 and Ugandan isolate 458 were also inoculated to four seedlings as controls. Plants were observed for 4 weeks, after which symptomless plants were tested by ELISA and back-tested on ev. Double White 10 detect any latent infection.Each test isolate was retum inoculated to the legume species from whieh it was isolated. The test seedlings were grown in Levington (M2) compost in a glasshouse maintained at approximately 21 0 (day) and 170C (night). Inoculated seedlings were observed for symptoms ror 6 weeks and symp10mless seedlings were tested for latent infeetion by ELISA. A range of legwne species ( Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay mLISA) and eleetron microscollY Direct ELISA using polyclonal antibodies (Pab) and indireet ELISA using Pab's and monoclonal antíbodies (Mab's) were carried out using standard procedures (Clark & Adams, 1977;Kemeny, 1991). A reaetion was considered posítive ¡fthe absorbency value at 405nm was twice that of the healthy control. The following antibodíes were used in ELISA and electron microscopy tests: Pab's to standard BCMV strains NL3, NL8, NL6, isolate 30 ( a novel \"A\" serotype BCMV strain isolated from erotalarla incana in Uganda, Spence & Walkey, 1994), blackeye cowpea mosaic (BlCMV), peanut mottle (PnMoV), and cassia severe mosaic (CSMV) viruses. AIl Pab's were supplied by N.J. Spence. Mab's 1-2, 197 and 463 were supplied by G.L Mink, University of Washington, USA.Leaf samples showing virus symp10ms were examined in an electron microscope using the , quick -dip' method (Brandes, 1957) to detect the presence and size of any virus particles. Immunosorbent electron mícroscopy (ISEM) (Derrick, 1973, Walkey & Webb, 1984) was used as an aid to identify each isolate and to investigate their relationship with the standard BCMV strains and other potyvimses.The seed-transmission of the thirteen test iso lates was assessed in P. vulgaris cv. Double White in three experiments. Firstly, seeds were collected from the plants used for maintenance of stock isolate cultures. Seedlings gerrninated from this seed were visually assessed for virus symplorns. Secondly, seed was harvested from 45 plants grown in fifteen 20cm clay pots each containing three seedlings. Each seedling was inoculated at the trifolioIate leaf stage (considered to be earIy enough 10 insure infection but not too soon to prevent seed set; Morales & Castano, 1987). The experiment was carried out in a screenhouse (Rossel-type) which allowed daytime temperatures of 30 to 36\"C. Harvested seeds were germinated and seedlings evaluated for visual virus symptoms. Thirdly, the above experiment was repeated in a Clovis-Lande screenhouse which provided daytime temperatures 4\"C cooler than the Rossel house.Aphid-transmission tests were carried out using a virus-free coIony of Aphis Jabae. The aphids were cultured on bean genotype MCM 5001 (a cultivar protected by the 1 gene and known to be resistant to BCMV infection; H. Gridley, personal communication. Test virus transmissions were made using the \"leaf-piece\" melhod (Walkey, 1991). Apterous aphids were starved for 1 h and placed on infected leaves for acquisition feeds lOmin.1ong. One centimetre squares, each wilh several feeding aphids, were cut from Ihe leaves aod placed on the test bean seedling cv. Double White. Five or ten seedlings were used for each of Ihe ten isolates tested. Inoculated seedlings were kept in an isolation chamber for 24 h before the aphids were killed by watering with Ambush (SOg/1 Cypermethrin). Test plants were evaluated for visual symptoms 3 to 4 wk after inoculation.Isolatiol  Walkey, 1994). In addition. isolate 472 gave a negative reactíon against Mab 1-2 but a positive reaction against Mab 463 and Pab 30, which are specific for BCMV aod BCMV \"A\" serotypes, respectively (Spence, 1992). lsolate 429 also reacted negatively against Mab 1-2 bul positively against Pab 30.Electton microscope examínation of leaf samples infected with these 13 isolates showed lbat all contained elongate, rod-shaped particles of approximately 750nm in length, consistent with the known length of BCMV (Morales & Bos, 1988).BCMV \"A\" serotypes were al80 detected by Mab ELISA tests in Albizia coriaria Welw. ex Oliv., Desmodium intonum (MíII.) Urb, D. uncinatum (Jacq.) DC, Rhynchosia resinosa (A.Rich.) Bak, Tephrosia barbigera Welw. ex Bak. and T. paniculata Bak., but virus was not isolated in bean ev. Double White from these species.The 13 \"A\" serotype isolates were further eharaeterized in pathogenieity, serological and transmission tests.The pathogenicity phenotype of the 13 iso lates was determined by inoculation of the differential bean cultivars as shown in Table 3. Isolates 741,197,218,463,473 and 496 eaused reaetions that were typical of the standard strain of NL3 (pathotype group VIa) and isolates 472 and 534 reaetions that were typical of the standard NL8 strain (pathotype 111).Isolate 472 was serologically atypicai, however, in that it did not react with Mab 1-2 (Table 3). The responses of the other five ¡solates were distinct from those of Imown strains of the virus and must be considered novel isolates. Isolates 308 and 574 differed from the standard NL3 strain in not infeeting host resistance group 2 and would eorrespond with the theoretical pathogenity genotype V9 (Drijfhout 1978;Spence & Walkey, 1994). Isolate 598 differed from the standard NL3 strain in not infecting host resistance group 3 cultivars and corresponds with theoretieal genotype V7. Isolate 429 differed from the standard NL8 strain by latently infeeting host resistance group 6 eultivars, so eorresponds with theoretieal genotype VII. Isolate 524 also differed from the standard strain NL8 in infeeting ev. Pinto 114 of host resistanee group 5.AH 13 isolates eaused systemic necrosis at both 26 and 32 C ~p. s~ptiplebeané\\lí~~~s earrying the 1 gene, indicating that they are temperature-indepébdent isOlates..In EUSA tests the 13 isolates did not react with Pab's to PnMoV, BICMV or CSMV; exeept for isolates 429 and 472 which gave positive reactions against PnMoV antiserum (Table 3). Considerable variation was observed in their reaetions against Pab's lo BCMV strains NL3 and NL8, and isolates 741 and 534 did not reaet against Pab'g to ¡solate 30 from Uganda.As mentioned earlier, all13 isolates were detected by Mab 197 whieh is specifie for BCMV and related potyviruses, but isolates 429 and 472 did not reaet with Mab 1-2 whieh is specifie for \"A« serotypes. Similarly, isolates 197 and 308 did not reaet with Mab 463 whieh is norrnally specifie ror all BCMV strains.In ISEM tests, all ¡solates were deeorated by Pab's to both NL3 and NL8 standard strains exeept 429 and 472 whieh were decorated by NL8 but not by NL3 antibodies.In screenhouse tests, all 13 ¡solates were found to reinfeet the original host from which they were isolated. In a further experiment ¡solate 197 Ca standard NL3 strain-type) isolate 308 Ca novel\" A\" serotype strain) and isolate 458 (NL3 strain-type originally isolated from P.vulgaris in Uganda), were inoculated to a range of indigenous and introduced legume species that occur in fue wild in Uganda. The symptoms induced by fue viruses and fue results of fue ELlSA to test tor latent infection in fuese hosts are shown in Table 5. The results showed that fue three ¡solates varied in their virulenee in fue 14 legume species that became infected and that fue majority of fue species infected developed no visual symptoms. The following additional species were inoculated but did not become infected : Calopogonium mucunaides, Crotalaria brevidens. C. labumifolia. lndigofera hirsuta, l. erecta, Macroptilium atropurpureum and Neonotonia wightii.Eight of the test isolates and isolate 458 were found to be seed-transmitted in bean cv. Double White with percentage transmission ranging from 31 to 64 pereent (Table 6). Aphis fabae transmitted ten of fue test isolates as well as isolate 456 and the standard strain NL3 in a non-persistent manner from infected to healfuy seedlings of cv. Double White.This study has confmned that necrosis-inducing \"A\" serotypes of BCMV are prevalent in Uganda in many wild legume species. Sorne of the isolations made were in areas of scrub vegetation distant from cultivated P. vulgaris. These results provide further evidence in support of fue fueory that fue wetter, humid areas of Uganda and eentral Africa, where the number of wild endemic legume species is high, could be the geographical centre of origin of fue \"A\" serotype strains of BCMV (Spence & Walkey, 1994). In contrast, the nonnecrotic \"B\" serotype strains that oceur in Africa are likely to have been introduced as seedborne virus, together wifu P. vulgaris from Latin America (F. Morales, personal communication). This study, together with other reports (Spenee & Walkey, 1994), has clearly demonstrated that fue \"A\" serotype strains are readily transmitted to beans from wild legume species by local aphid 5pecies and that they may be seed-transmitted in P. vulgaris.The results of the experimental sap transmission of isolates 197, 308 and 458 to a range of locally occurring legumes species are interesting (Table 5). Firstly, fuey show Crotalaria spinasa and lndigafera spicata to be hosts of BCMV for the fírst time and secondly, they indicate that the infection induced in many species is latent. Such symptomless infection suggests that many of these species are tolerant to these isolates, whíeh may indicate coevolution of the \"A\" serotype strains with these species in this region, so providing further evidence that central Afríea is clase to the centre of origin of these strains.The independent origin oC fue \"A\" serotype strains in this region oi Africa would strongly support the proposal that the \"A\" and \"B\" serotype strains are two distinct viruses and that the \"A\" serotypes should be called bean commonmosaic necrosis virus (McKern et al, 1992;Vetten et al., 1992).The prevalence both of susceptible wild legume host species and of aphid vectors of fue virus in this region of Africa would also provide the ecological opportunity ror the evolution of novel strains of BCMV. Such novel strains could result from the recombination of virus RNA's when two virus strains jointly infect the same host plant. This process is known to occur between c10sely related potyviruses (Lecoq & Purcifull, 1992;Goldbach, 1992). Previous studies have identified novel \"A\" serotype strains of BCMV infecting Crota/aria incana and Glycine rnax in Uganda and Senna sophera in neighbouring Rwanda (Spenee & Walkey, 1994). In the present study, novel isolates were found infeeting Lablab purpureus (isolate 598), P. lunatus (574), Senna hirsuta (472), S. sophera (429, 524) and Vigna vexillata (308) (TabIes 1 & 3).The varialion shown by these isolates was characterized by their pathogenicity genotype in differentíal cultivars of common bean (Table 3). Sorne of the isolates had phenotype responses that c1early identified them as being related to the standard NL3 or NL8 strains of BCMV. The phenotype responses of these iso lates were not necessarily identical to those of NL3 and NL8 in every cultivar of each host resistance group. Sorne isolates failed to infeet an individual cultivar of a particular host group, even though they infected all other cultivars of that hos! group. Where such small variation occurred the isolate was considered lo be of the NL3 or NL8 strain-type (Spence & Walkey, 1994). Isolates 197,218,463,473,496,741 (NL3 strain-types) and 472 and 534 (NL8 strain-types) were in this category (Table 4), a1though it should be pointed out !hat isolate 472 showed additional atypical serological reactions (Table 3).Other isolates, however, showed phenotypic expression that differed considerably from the standard strains in !hat they failed to infect any cultivar of a specific host resistance group. Such isolates were considered to be novel. The response of isolate 598 from Lablab purpureus, for instance, indicated that it possessed pathogenicity genes PI and P2 (Table 4), which suggests !hat il belongs to the theoretical virus pathogenicity group V7 proposed by Drijfhout (1978); in addition, it carries the temperature-independent Px gene for necrosis proposed by Spence & Walkey (1994). This is the first report of Ihe isolation of a BCMV strain from this pathogenicity group. Similarly, isolate 429 (from Senna sophera) is novel;it carnes pathogenicity genes P2 and P2 2 (as weIl as Px), so placing it in theoretical pathogenicity group VII. Isolates 308 (from Vigna vexillata) and 574 (from P. lunatus) have similar phenotype responses !hat suggest that they carry pathogenicíty genes P1 2 and P2 and belong lo pathogenicity group V9. These would then belong to the same strain group as isolate 836 (from S. sophera in Rwanda; Spence & Walkey, 1994).The reactions of the isolates in ELISA 10 BCMV Mab's 1-2 and 463 and to BCMV Pab's 301 NL6 and NLB, also indicated significant variation in their viral proteíns (Table 3).The horticultural importance of the widespread occurrence of these temperature-independent, neerosis inducing \"AH serotype strains of BCMV in Uganda and their aphid veetors is considerable. The basis of most national bean improvement progranunes in Uganda and elsewhere in east, central and southern Africa has been the introduction of new, high yieldíng cultivars carrying the 1 resistance gene, effective against \"B\" serotype strains of BCMV. The ability of the necrotic \"A\" serotype strains to overcome the 1 gene resistance emphasizes the importance of protecting new bean cultivars in this regíon against the potentially devastating necrotic strains. The Ugandan national bean breeding improvement progranune is now incorporating germplasm ¡nto its new 1 gene carrying cultivars !hat possess the recessive resistance genes be3 or be2, which afford total resistance against all known pathogenicity genes of BCMV (R. Gridley, personal communication). Resistance genes be-u be-u, be-1 be-u be-e , be-u, be-2 be-u, be-l, be-2 be-u,be-1 2 , be-2 2 be-u, 1 be-u, be-l, 1 be-u, be-l, 1 be-u, be-I z , 11 Drijthout (1978). Vigna vexillata (L.)Namalere. Mpigi A. rucho I An additional \"A\" serotype was isolated from a different C. incana plant at this site. Table 3. Reactions in RLISA tests of the \"A\" serotype legume iso lates of BCMV.  ------------------------------------------------------------------~.----------------- Table 5. Experimental infeetion of wí1d legume species by three \"A\" serotype isolates.Isolate ------------------------------------------------------------  --------------~------------------------------------ For a number of years now, the national bean progranunes of Rwanda, Burundí and Zaíre in the Great Lakes Region of central Africa have been handling large numbers of segregating populations, generated either from crosses rnade in their breeding progranunes or receíved directly from CIAT, Colombia. Many of the crosses have one or more of the parents with the I-gene which offers protection against certain strains of BCMV. However, the I-gene materials give a hypersensitive reaction to necrotic strains of BCMV (particularly the NL3 and NL8) resulting in systemic necrosis and sometimes death of plants. Considering that these strains have been shown to occur in the region (Spence and Walkey, 1993) and in sorne cases their effect on-station has been considerable, national bean prograrnmes have shown interest in detecting the presence of the unprotected I-gene in their advanced Unes. This allows decision-making on how and where best to use advanced lines, including protecting the I-gene by incorporating the recessive genes be2-2 or be,. The objective of this study was to develop effective methodologies for field aod greenhouse detection of the 1 -gene in advanced lines. This paper presents results obtained from field trials.Fíeld trials were conducted at ISAR, Karama station in south-east Rwanda, situated at an altitude of 1300 masl and receiving a bimodal ralnfall of about 900 mm per year. The site is a hotspot for BCMV and the NL3 strain has been isolated from the station (Spence and Walkey, 1993). The common bean line AFR 13 infected with NL3 was used as the source of the virus.Time al pJanting infectar and test plants.To determine the appropriate time of planting, an infector line was planted early relative to test Iines so as to rnaximize infection. AFR 13 and A 321 were used as infector and test Hnes, respectively. AFR 13 gives a mosaic reaction whereas A 321 (an I-gene line) develops black root if infected with necrotic strains of BCMV. Test Hnes were planted altemately, between two infector rows. During the 1993A season, two planting methods were compared.Method 1. At the initial planting date (12/11/93), al! infector rows were sown with AFR 13. At the same time the fust treatment of test Hnes was planted. On the tltree subsequent planting dates done at weekly intervals. only the test line was planted.Method 2. 80th the infector and test Hnes were sown on the initial planting date as well as on each of the three subsequent planting dates, done at weekly intervals. A split plot design was used, with planting of infector plants as rnain plots and test Iines as subplots.During the 1993B season, a trial was conducted to determine the effect of establíshing screening trials for the I-gene at the beginníng of fue season or establishing fue trial about tltree weeks Jater. Late planting necessitated the use of irrigation to supplement fue 234mm of rainfall received tltroughout fue trial periodo In both cases, the test line was planted as described in Method 1 above, except for fue fael that 5 planting dates were used at 2 weekIy intervals.Screening for the presence of I-gene.A Planting of infector rows of AFR 13 before test lines resulted in a significantly higher incidence of black root on A 321 than when both were planted al the same time (Table 1).There was a significant method x date interaction. Late pJanting of fue test lines resulted in eatly appearance of black root symplOrns soon after emergence, but it taok 32 days from emergence for black root symptoms to appear, when both infector and test lines were planted al the same time. However, when test plants were sown tltree weeks Jater than infector plants, black root symptoms did nol develop unti118 days after test plant emergence. Sowing (by Method 1) in whích A 321 was sown three weeks after AFR 13, also led to increased plant mortality from blaek root.During the 1993B season, sowing the trial tltree weeks later resulted in early appearance of black root (16.4 days compared to 20.5 days) (Table 2), increased the percentage of plant mortality due to black root (4.7% and 11.9% from early and late planting, respectively), and reduced the number of escapes (12.9% versus 2.9%)(Table 3).Our results indieate that it is advisable lo sow an infector crop before fue test lines. This allows detection of black root earlier and reduces disease escape. Under field conditions, transmission of the virus from infector to test lines relies on aphids. Thus, it is important thal dates of planling are timed 10 ensure Ibat both virus and aphíds are present to facilate transmission. The optimum method at Karama station appears to be by sowing 3 weeks into the season combined with planting of test lines 2 to 4 weeks after planting of infectar rows. However, under sueh conditioll5' irrigation is necessary during dry periods.AFR 13 was used as fue infectar Hne because it is susceptible to the virus but, at the same time, it maintains a good amount of vegetative growth; being a climbing cultivar, it serves as a source of virus fOf a longer period Iban bush types. Since most advanced Hnes are likely to be genetically uniform, it is not necessary for aH plants of test Hnes 10 be affected 10 confrrm presence of the I-gene. Sowing oC test lines 2 to 4 weeks after the infector rows enables early deteetion oC black root. This gives the option oC using the same infector plants to evaluate several entries serially, as long as the infector erop remains viable and irrigation is possible. Dry conditions also favour aphid infestation.Screening for the presence of I-gene A total oC 39 cultivars (22.2 %) gave the black root reaction. Four entries (2.3 %) remained free of mosaie and black root and the rest gave a mosaic reactíon. These four together with those showing dubious reactions are to be tested further using artificial inoculation in the screenhouse. Entries found black root susceptible are shown in Table 4.This study demonstrates conditions and methods under which screening of advanced lines for the presence or lack of I gene can be done under field conditions with a good degree oC success. In the absence of laboratory or greenhouse facilities to conduct artificial inoculation this offers an alternative or even a complementary approaeh.   - -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------u3~61~ i ¡ ¡,Qv, 1998H.E:Gridley CIAT, Kawanda Research Institute, PO Box 6247, Kampala, Uganda.Bean production constraints comprise fungal, bacterial, viral and insect pests and a range of soil fertility problems. Wortmann and Allen (1994) have recently compiled information on the constraints in bean producing countries in Africa to assist CIAT (Centro International de Agricultura Tropical) and national bean research prograrnmes in defming priorities.Based on the estimated bean production area affected, the five principal constraints of high (yield 108S > 300 kg/ha) and moderate (100-300 kg/ha lost) importance across all countries of eastern and southern Africa are given in Table 1. Similar data for the highland (> 1500m) and mid-altitude (1000m to 1500m) areas of eastern Africa are also included in Table 1 as these areas account for 70% of bean production in sub-Saharan Afriea.Across sub-Saharan Africa, angular leaf spot (Phaeoisariopsis griseola) is the most serious coustraint, estimated to be of high importance in 67% of the bean producing area, followed by low nitrogen (53%), anthracnose (Colletotrichum lindemuthiammt)(47%), bean stem maggot (46%) and low phosphoros (44%) (Table 1). The two soil fertility eonstraints and bean 8tem maggot are the three least widespread amongst the constraints of moderate importance, with bruchids the most widespread at 95%, followed by phosphorus fixation by iron oxides, at 69%.Of the five most widespread biotic constraints of high importance, three have already been noted, with common bacterial blight (XanthomofUlS campestris pv. phaseoh) at 29% and bean common mosaie virus at 22%, ma1Qng up the top five. Three of these five occur amongst the top five of moderate importance which also includes rust (Uromyces appendiculatus) at 44%, and phoma blight (Phoma exigua varo diversispora), at 26%.The constraints of high importance in eastern Africa are very similar 10 those aeross sub-Saharan Africa although the rootlstem rot eomplex and eharcoal rot (Macrophomina phoesolina) are more serious in this region. Also the prominence of the eonstraints changes with altitude (Table 1), notably with anthracnose switching from a major problem at the higher to a minor one at the lower altitudes, whilst common bacterial blight shows the opposite trend. Overall, four of the five most important biotie constraints are common 10 both regions, namely, angular leaf spot, anthracnose , common bacterial blight and bean common mosaic virus.Biotic faetors have long been recognized as important constraints to bean productivity but it is clear that the abiotic constraints of low nitrogenIntroductions are a fasl and cost effective means of íncreasing genetic varíation in a breeding prograrnme. Selectíon in well adapted segregating populations potentially should generate a higher frequency of Iines with improved yield potential !han occurs amongst introduced homozygous breeding lines, which inevitably have been selected in a 'foreígn' environment. However, retention of on1y resistan! progenies and lines inevitably drastically reduces the amount of genetic variation within populations for yield and other traits. To counteract this, and in view of the well documented low heritability fo! yield, a relatively large number of populations were utilized to create a diverse pool of genetic variation; the number of progenies screened and lines tested were maximized within available resources (Table 1). Multisite replicated yield testing was imposed from !he preliminary yield trial onwards to reduce the genotype x environmental variance.No reselection was consciously practised within the lines, following selection of resistant (usually F2) single plants, to aIlow exploitation of lnherent genetic variation for yield and locally important biotic and abiotic constraints in different eountries which received the African BCMV nursery. Preliminary results from the evaluation of progenies (from selection in F2 derived lines) indicate lhat such variation can be exploited practically but there is need to eonfinn this in a further season of testing.To date, breeders have main1y utilized the dominant 1 gene and more recent1y Ihe recessive genes be3 or be2 2 in breeding for resistanee. The former has been used for over 20 years in Latín America and, although produclng a hypersensitive reaction with the necrotic strains, has yet to be overcome. However, breeders and pathologist cannot feel complacent, noting the regular breakdown of disease resistance in many erops, and the recent detection of novel strains of BCMV in Africa (Spence and Walkey, 1994), so posíng a future problem for the resistant sources current1y beíng utilized.  Pastor-Corrales : There is lots of evidence for co-evolutíon between fungal pathogens and comrnon beans, in both srnall and large-seeded types.Spence : We are using PCR analysis to reveal differences.Pastor-Corrales: The centre of diversity of the virus may be Africa not Latin Ameriea, which ís the eentre of origin of beans. Studiés of diversity and co-evolution can help us to understand the system.Spence : Yes, 1 agree.Lana ; Are sequences between strains of the black rool pathogen identical? Are they the sarne between strains from bean and wild legumes ?Spence : Beans and wild legumes next to each other may have different infections, perhaps from different sources. Sueh inforrnation could help in predicting the evolution of strains.Pastor-Corrales: Do different strains have different DNA fmger-prints ?Spence : We are working on this with other viruses and hope to investigate this in BCMV in the future.Lana : Rave the isolates of Spenee and Sengooba been compared ?Spence : Yes! Selection appears to be for variation in BCMV.Pastor-Corrales : Sometirnes there is diversity in eharacters other than pathogenicity ! Buruchara : On current evidence, necrotic strains of BCMV are originally Afriean, indicating that P. vulgaris may not be the original host.Spence : Genetic diversity in the host perrnits us to identify diversity in the pathogen.Sengooba : This kind of researeh is appropriate to Universities.Spence : Much depends on funding, and colIaboration between groups may be essential. Spence : There are reservoirs of BCMV on-station.1 7The following paper was presented at the Pan African Working Group Meeting on Bacterial and Viral Bean Diseases. It is fue summary of seven years work and therefore only a proportion of fue information could be presented. The following is a summary of the parts of fue study most pertinent to the practical control of balo-blight in Africa.Balo-blight of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) caused by fue bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola, is seed-borne and spread through the crop by rain-splash. It is favoured by cool temperatures and is found at medium to high a!titude (1500-2500m) in the tropics.Resistant cultivars are fue only practica! means of controlling halo-blight in countries where farmers keep their own seed and a!ternative hosts make the carry-over of disease from one season to the next a significant problem. However, fue deployment of resistance without an awareness of pathogenic variation within fue patbogen populatíon could result in costly failure. To avoid this, it is necessary 10 identify variants (strains/races) of P.s. pv. phaseolicola before fue deployment of resistant cultivars, ensuring that only appropriate resistance sources are deployed.Two mees of the pathogen (faces 1 and 2) have long been recognised on fue basis of fue differentíal reaction of the P. vulgaris cultivar Red Mexican Ul3 (Walker and Patel, 1964).These races are widely distributed throughout the world, including Africa. More recently a third race was described from Africa which was recognised by the differential response of the cultivar Tendergreen (Taylor & Teverson, 1985;Mabagala & Saettler, 1992). The differential reactions of cultivars to these races is shown in Table l.Halo-blight infected material was collected by the authors and collaborators worldwide but with special empasis on Africa. Isolates were selected on the basis of colony characteristics on King's Medium B (King, et al.. 1954) and were usually the predominant orgamsm.Although P. vulgaris was the main host, collections were made of tropical legumes representative of seven different genera.A total of 1106 isolates were examined, representing 394 disease occurrences and including 54 reference strains. Detaíled race determinations were made on 175 selected isolates. More techtúcal information can be obtained from publications by the authors and collaborators (Taylor el al., 1996a & b;Teverson et al., in prep.).pathogemcity tests were carried out as detailed in (Taylor et al., 19900). Bean seedlings were spray inoculated at primary leaf stage and kept under humid conditions for two days. After this period they were retumed to normal glasshouse conditions and symptoms were evaluated 10 days after inoculation. Symptoms were graded on a 1 -5 scale where one is completely resistant and five completely susceptible. Using this system 1048 accessions were evaluated for resistance to six or more races.Eight hundred and ninety three isolates of P.s. pv phaseolicola were grouped into three provisional race categories corresponding to the original races 1 and 2 and the new race 3 on the basis of the responses of the three differential cultivars shown in Table 1. A more extensive series of eight differential cultivars was developed as a result of screetúng nearly 1000 host accessions with a group of isolates representative of different geographical areas and the three previously categorised races. As a result of these tests, which suggested a complex race structure, the original three races were each itútially sub-divided, resulting in the identification of 6 races (races 1-6). Subsequent tests were then done on a selection of 175 isolates using the revised differential series and the iBolates were categorised into mne races. Tbe chronological order of identification of races is shown in Fig. 1 and the developed race structure based on the interaction of !Úne races and eight differential cultivars Is shown in Table 2.The geographical distribution of the 172 isolates is shown in Table 3. Race 6 occurred most frequently and comprised 3 % of the isolates categorlsed. Nineteen per cent of isolates were race 4 in contrast to only 4 % of isolates categorised as race 3. However, both of these isolates produced the characteristic hypersensitive resistance on cv. Tendergreen. Race 1 accounted for 12% of the isolates. In total, the three most frequent races 6,4, and 1, accounted for over 60% of a11 P.s. pv. phaseolicola isolates characterised.The geographical distribution of race 6 was widespread. It was detected in seven African countries, as far north as Ethiopia and as far south as Lesotho. Race 1 occurred throughout the world, with 21 isolates originating from nine different countries; mee 7 was also distributed worldwide.Races 3 and 4 were, with the exception of one ¡solate, collÍmed to east and central Africa.Six race 5 isolates were identified, a11 except one of which originated from Africa. Race 8 was a1so collÍmed to Africa, mainly Lesotho, with a single isolate {rom Tanzania. Race 9 was rare and represented by only two isolates, one each from Malawi and Colombia.The host range distribution of 172 selected isolates is shown in Table 4. Of the 11 different host species of P.s. pv. phaseolicola represented, Phaseolus vulgaris was the most frequent (78% of isolates). Neonotonia wightii, apasture legume and common weed around bean fields, was host to 4 % of isolates whilst Phaseolus coccíneus and Lablab purpureus were host to 6% and 3% of isolates, respectively. The other seven species were each host to fewer than 2% of isolates. The widest host range was shown by race 7 with 18 isolates derived from seven different hosts.Two types of resistance were detected in the 1048 Phaseolus bean accessions which were evaluated for resistance. Race specific resistance was characterised by highly incompatible interaction phenotypes (resistant, grade 1) between certain combinations of races and accessions, but complete compatibility (susceptible, grades 4-5) with others. Race nonspecific resistance was characterised by generalised resistance to aH races. lt could vary from a relatively high level resistance (grades 1-2) to intermediate levels of resistance (grades 2-4).Approximately half of the 1048 accessions tested showed specific resistance to one or more races oC the pathogen. From genetic studies accession groups could be c1assified according to the likely resistance (R) genes they carried. By inference the frequency of these genes in the seven accession groups could then be estimated. Thus Rl was estimated to be present in 10.3% of accessions, R2 in 0.3%, R3 in 25.0%, R4 in 35% and R5 in 0.2%. Details of this work are given in Taylor et al.,(l996b). Similarly, details of the gene-for-gene relationship postulated to explain in the interaction between races and cultivars, and the interpretation of the relationship is detailed in the third paper of the series, (Teverson el al., in prep.).Race non-specific resistance was shown by only 1 % of accessions tested. Accessions sbowing useful levels of this type of resistance are shown in Table 5. These accessions originate from diverse sources. HBr72 is a North American green bean, whilst 2702/2 was found as a low frequency component of a high a1titude Rwandan bean mixture.The objective of this study of pathogenic variation was to probe a1ternately for variation in pathogen isolates and host cultivars (Taylor et al., 1996a & b), as pathogenic races can only be identified in relation to specífic host resistance and vice versa.The practical significance of tbis work is iIlustrated by tbe often uneven geographic distribution of races (Table 3). For example, races 3 and 4 were almost entirely confmed 10 east and central Africa and, sirnilarly, race 8 was found mainly in Lesotbo. In constrast, some races hall worldwide distribution, in particular races 1, 2, 6 and 7, which probably reflects tbeir distribution via tbe international seed trade.The wide natoral host range of tbe halo-blight patbogen (Table 4), represents 11 species of tropical legumes from seven different genera, includin!¡ grain and fodder legumes and leguminous weeds. Inoculation studies (Teverson, 1991) showed tbat tbe potential range was even more extensive. In particular, tbe occurrence of P.s. pv. phaseolicola in certain weed species (Neonotonia wightii and Desmodium sp.) was tbought to provide an important reservoir of infection for tbe carry-over of disease between seasons (Teverson et al., 1993).In conclusion, il is suggested tbat use of mee non-specific resistance together witb mee specific resistance appropriate 10 particular regions (eg. R3 in east and central Africa) could provide an effective strategy for establishing enhanced and durable resistance lo halo-blight.Teverson D.M., TayJor J.D., Crute I.R., Kornegay J., Jenner C.E., Tsiamis G. and Mansfield J.W. Pathogenic variation in Pseudonwnas syringae pv. phaseolicola III. Analysis of the gene-for-gene relationship between pathogen races and Phaseolus vulgaris cultivars. In preparation.Walker J.C. and Pate) P.N. (1964) Inheritance of resistance to halo blight of bean.Phytopathology 54, 952-954.   is important in Rwanda and Zaire but is not !he most devastating disease in Burundi. Nevertheless, !he risb must not be neglected in medium and high altitude regions where low temperatures during !he night create favourable conditions for !he development of!he disease. It can also be a problem in seed multiplication fields. In Burundi, !he cultivar Doré de Kirundo, which was released in 1984 and became very popular among farmers, was withdrawn in 1988 because of its high susceptibility to !he disease. Genes for resistance to halo blight have been identified in otber local cultivars and can be introduced through hybridization to susceptible traditional or released cultivars.~ .. ' .The main objective of the sub-project is 10 introduce resistance to halo blight in commercial varieties of fue region. The main activities of the sub-project are:-hybridization at the ISABU station of Moso. In fue crossing block, varieties are planted every 15 days in order to have them flower simultaneously. The row and plants are separated by distances of 1 m and 20 cm, respectively. An insecticide (dimethoate) is sprayed at 2-3 weekly intervals during the vegetative and reproductive stages. Crosses are made on floral buds without emasculation just before opening.-Fl hybrid multiplication and checking whether the Fls are hybrids at Moso. Seeds from the same pod are planted in one row, with distances of 1 m between the rows and 10 cm between the plants.-Carrying backcrosses on Doré de Kirundo (recurrent parent), in order lO recover the interesting characteristics of that variety as well as to keep resistance to halo blight. However, only two backcrosses were made in 1990-1991 and in 1991-1992. Evaluation and individual selection at Moso and Gisozi. Until the frrst rainy season of 1993, evaluation was carried out under natural selection pressure. &cause of low disease incidence, even at Gisozi where the heavy rains and low temperatures would norrnally favour disease development, it was decided to inoculate the different progenies. The inoculation is carried out at the primary leaves stage, some 10 to 15 days after planting, by cutting fue tips of the primary leaves with scissors which have been immersed in a bacterial suspension containing about lO\" bacteria/mI. The frrst evaluation is made about 10 to 14 days afier inoculation. A second evaluation is made at the pod filling stage. The technique has been used with success at Moso and Gisozi in 1993B. The evaluation is based on the scale of severity and intensity established at CIAT by van Schoonhoven and Pastor-Corrales (1992). As for the progenies evaluated under natoral selection pressure, eifuer fue populations were bulk harvested when the pressure was too low, or the single pod descent method was used.The activities are carried out during both rainy seasons: the first rainy season, season A, from October to ]anuary (e.g. 1993A: from October 1992 to ]anuary 1993), and tbe second rainy season, season B, from February to May (e.g. 1993B: from February 1993to May 1993).From 1991A unti11993B, a total of 3096 crosses were made and 475 hybrid pods were obtained, with a mean success rate of 15,3 %. The results are presented in Tables 1 and 2, and show that the success rate was better in 1993, because the hybridization technique was mastered better.The first backcrosses were carried out in 1991B on the Fls obtained in 1991A, and also in 1992A on the Fl obtained in 1991B. A total of 76 Fl farnilies were involved and 722 backcrosses were made, with a success rate of 12,6%.The second backcrosses were carried out in 1992A on the BCIFl hybrids obtained in 1991B, and in 1992B on the BCIFl hybrids obtained in 1992A. Seven hundred and twenty backcrosses were carried out on 74 BCIFl families, with a success rate of 21,1 %.The evaluation of resistance to halo blight began in 1992A with 18 F4 popuIations which carne as F3s from CIAT and were multiplied in Moso in 1991B. Since the selection pressure was not severe, the single pod descent method was used at harvest and the F5 progeny was planted in 1992B at Gisozi. Within each population, the four best resistant plants were selected and the rest of each population was harvested as a bulk. The parent combinations of the selected individuals were the following: AND 303 x PV A 1320, PV A 15 x PV A 1320, PVA 1438 x PVA 1320, PVA 773 x PVA 1320, Doré de Kirundo x A 182, Nain de Kyondo x A 410, Doré de Kirundo x A 410, G 20523 x A 410, G 20523 x G 4450.Twelve F2 populations from CIAT were also planted in Gisozi in 1992A. Afier being multiplied, an individual selection of 50 plants was carried out in the F3 in 1992B. In 19911992B. In -1992, no hybrid population from the crosses made in Moso was evaluated in Gisozi because those populations were used in backcrosses in Moso. The selection of the materials created at ISABU began in 1993A.At the Moso station, tbe following materials were multiplied in 1993A: 40 Fl populations, 39 F2 populations, 43 BCIF2 populations and 82 BC2Fl popuIations.At Gisozi, the materials planted in 1993A included 29 F3 popuIatíons, 26 BCIF3 popuIations, 65 F4 popuIations and 34 F6 populations of bush and semi-climbing beans, and 6 F4 populations oC climbing beans. Because of the low selection pressure of halo blight, those materials were buIk harvested and planted again in 1993B.During 1993B, 19 F2 populations were inoculated tentatively in Moso. The symptoms appeared 8 days afier inoculation and an individual selection was carried out. Within a total of 1860 p!ants evaluated, 40 symptomless plants were selected: 25 plants among the crosses Doré de Kirundo x H 75 and 15 plants among the crosses Doré de Kirundo x HM 21-7, as well as one population from the cross Doré de Kirundo x Aroana. On the other hand, the following materials were multiplied in Moso: 269 Fl and 46 BCIF1,37 BC2F2,23 BCIF3 and 38 F3 populations. Those materials were bulk harvested.During 1993B at Gisozi, the families included F2, BC2F2, BCIF3, F3, BC1F4, F4, F5 and F7 populations. The F7 carne from crosses made at CIAT (Colombia). The results of the individual selections afier inoculation are presented in Tables 3 and 4. In F7, 16 populations were selected out of 33 populations.The results (Table 3) show that HM 21-7 is not highly resistant to halo blight and therefore very few highly resistant hybrids were obtained: between ° and 0,9 % depending on the progeny, with a mean of 0,5 % for all progenies.The evaluation of the F2 populations carried out at Gisozi confumed the high degree of halo blight resistance in the Doré de Kirundo x Aroana population.The young plants were high1y affected by the inoculation and frequently died. The number of dead plants were counted at flowering time. Other factors (including bean fly, root rots) may have contributed 10 the death ofthe plants as was the case in the BCIF4 progeny, where the death rate is 46,6% for the resistant check A 321. These data, as well as the halo blight scoring at R8, are presented in Table 4.The susceptible check, Doré de Kirundo, was heavily affected by the inoculation: most plants were already dead at flowering time, while the resistant check A 321 was symptomless or expressed only very light symptoms. These data show the low level of resistance of the BC2F2, with scores of 6,3 to 7,6, with a mean of 7,2.As for the crosses with A 321, the generally low resistance can be explained by the susceptibility of the halo blight resistant pIants to black root, which were eIiminated during the muItiplication of the eariy prugenies in Moso. As shown by Teverson (1991), the resistance gene R3 to halo blight is identical with the resistant gene 1 to BCMV. This would explain why A 321, A 410 and Aroana which have the 1 gene, are aIso resistant to the race 3 of halo blight.Because of the political problems during the year 1993-1994, the materials were only multiplied in Gisozi in 1994A, and in Moso in 1994B. In Gisozi, in 1994B the materials are being evaluated under natural selection pressure. The populations which were planted in Gisozi and Moso during 1993-1994 are: a. in Gisozi, in 1994A: F2, F3, F4, F5, BCIF2, BCIF4, BCIF5, and advanced Iines (F6 and F8); CIAT's International Bean Nursery for Halo Blight in 1994B: F3, F4, F5, BCIF3, BCIF5, and advanced lines (F6, F7, F9, BCIF6); CIAT's IBNHB.  - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------------_-.-------------------------------------------------------------------   (Sengooba, 1985). The disease is most important in fue lowland, high rainfall areas. It is also in fuese areas where common bean is most important in fue diet as a protein supplement to fue starchy staple, Matoke.Research work on CBB in Uganda, which was initiated in 1987, has been carried out cooperatively by a breeder and a pafuologist. Work of fue pafuologist (1990)(1991)(1992) is presented here. Objectives were the following :1. To study the nature and extent of variation in pathogenicity oC Xanthomonos campestris pv. phaseoli.2. To determine the ability of XCP to survive on weeds, non-host crops and in soil.3. To determine whefuer there are differences among genotypes in their ability to transmit CBB with a view to selecting for low seed transmission efficiency.4. To assess erop 1058 associated with CBB.5. To form an Eastem African common bacterial blíght nursery.Reviews of the work earried out toward each objective are given separately in the text that follows. Fuller details have becn publíshed elsewhere (Opio et al., 1992(Opio et al., , 1993(Opio et al., , 1994(Opio et al., , 1996)).Naturally infected leaves, sterns aud pods of P. vulgaris that bOfe eharacteristic symptoms of CBB were collected from most bean growing arcas of Uganda, supplemented by collections made in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania. lsolations were made on yeast dextrose carbonate agar (YDCA) and MXP (Claflin et al., 1987) a semi selective medium for XCP.Colonies of MXP that were yellow and hydrolysed starch were selected and considered XCP. Single colonies were selected for purification and subculturing and were conftrmed to be XCP by pathogenicity tests. patliogenicity tests were made by inoculating the first trifolio late leaves of cultivar Kanyebwa with a bacterial suspension prepared from 48 hr old cultures grown on YDCA. The concentration of the suspension was adjusted to aptica! density 0.5 at 640hm to contain 5 x loa colony forming units (cfu) per millilitre. This was diluted to 10 ' cfu/ml before inoculating the bean leaves by the razor blade method (pastor-Corrales ~ al.,• 1981).In studying the nature and extent of the variation in XCP isolates, reactions of different hosts (P. vulgaris and P. acutifolius), phage-typing and growth characteristics on different media were used. Twenty genotypes of P. vulgaris and eight of P. acutifolius were used. Out of 98 isolares collected, 30 were selected for these studies. The selection was made on the bases of their contrasting origins.The results revealed the existence of two types of pathogenicity. There were differences in aggressiveness of the isolates on the 20 P. vulgaris genotypes (Table 1) indicating a quantitative relationship, and no host specificity. On P. acutifolius, the 30 isolates tested interacted differentially with tepary bean genotypes and eight distinct physiologic races of XCP were defmed (Table 2), suggesting an underlying gene-for-gene relationship. Although variation was found in parameters including phage-type, the prnduction oí brown pigment and in vitro growth rate, there was linle consistent relationship between these characterictics and pathogenic variation.The role of infested soil, infested bean debris, weeds and non-host crops in the survival of XCP was investigated between April,l990 and October, 1992, at two sites (Kawanda and Bukalasa) in Uganda.For soil, fields were first sown with beans. After harvest, the field was then subdivided into different plots. The treatrnents applied to the different plots was varying the time when beans was sown again in that field. A range oí 1 -4 seasons was used (Table 3).Infested bean debris was sampled from beans during the cropping season. Then the debris were left standing in the field. Sampling continued weekly. Soil samples were taken at the pod filling stage when CBB was severe in the field, at harvest time, and thereafter at month1y intervals throughout the experimental periodo The soíl samples were randomly taken from different parts of the field. The bacteria were recovered from soil samples by serial dilutions in O.01m phosphate buffer (pH 7.2) and plating on YDCA and MXP.The infected debris left standing in the field were sampled weekly for XCP, from immediately afier harvest up to the next planting. Weeds and non-host crops within and around severely infected debris were also sampled. XCP was extracted by grinding of the material in O.Olm phosphate buffer (pH 7.2), serial dilution and plating on MXP and YDCA.XCP survived on infected debris, in soil and on weeds for several months in the absence of a bean crop. Crop rotation resulted in a decrease in the XCP population in the absence of beans. The population dynamics of XCP appeared to depend on the movement of this bacterium from infected leaves (or/and infested debris) 10 the soH. This is because the XCP population was highest at physiological maturity of the host when CBB was most severe and immediately after harvest when most of the infected crop residue had dropped to the ground.Tbe XCP population declined thereafter. This decline may have been due 10 decomposition of infected debris, suggesting that XCP cannot survive as a free bacterium in the soil in the absence of debris, conftrming previous fmdings (Weller and Saettler, 1980.) XCP was isolated from the following weeds: SenfUl hirsuta Aeschynomene sensitiva. Ageratum conyzoiáes, Siegesbeclda orientalis, Bidens pilosa, Sonchus oleraceus. Amaranthus hybridus, Amaranthus thunbergii. CommelifUl benghalensis, OxaJis latifolia. Dígitaria scalarum, Galinsoga parviflora. Sorghum verticilliflorum, Erucastrum arabicum. and Portulaca oleracea. The non-hosl crops include Zea mays and Glycine max. AlI the weeds and non hosts were symptomless carriers of XCP. XCP was recovered from four weeds 3-4 months after harvest of the bean crop; and at six months from Senna hirsuta. TItís índicates that, in absence of the bean crop, Senna hirsuta would harbour epiphytic XCP even in long dry seasons which in most of Uganda is less than 5 months. Hence ít bridges the gap between bean crops and perpetuates XCP inoculum. XCP could no1 be recovered from soil nor from any weed species after seven months.This means that, under Uganda conditions, effectíve rotation to control CBB would involve a mínimum of one year (i.e. two cropping seasons).Ten elite bean lines from breeders in different countries in East Africa were evaluated for their ability lO transmit XCP. The lines were : K.20, CAL 96, RWR 136 and MCM 5001 from Uganda; 2395-B-b-l and 2439-B-b-1 from Tanzania; Awash 1, Roba and ICA Linea 64 from Ethiopia; and GLP 585 from Kenya. Kanyebwa and Kasuka Nywele were susceptible checks and XAN 112 was a resistant check. Seed of each line was increased from a single seed in the screen house. The seeds were aH inoculated by soaking in a bacterial suspension for four hours before planting.The inoculum concentration used was 5 x 107 cfu/millilitre. The ¡solates used were 1068, 1073, 1010, and 1029 (see Table 1). The design was a split plot wíth ¡solates in main plots and genotypes in subplots.Records were taken on incidence of CBB as percentage of infected seedlings at lO, 18, 35 and 56 days after sowing. Disease transmission efficiency (TE) was calculated as TE = NDS x lOO TGS where NDS is the number of diseased seedlings at 10 days afier sowing and TGS is the total number of seedlings that germinated.The results showed significant differences (P.::;. 0.05) between genotypes in their ability to transmit XCP from seed lo seedling. K.20 had the highest infected seedlings at 10 and 18 days afier sowing. These were foHowed by RWR 136, 2395-B-b-l, GLP 585, 2439-B-b-l, Awash 1, CAL 96, Roba and ICA Linea 64, respectively. All seedlings from seeds ofMCM 5001 and XAN 112 were hea1thy for all treatrnents. These results indicate that these two genotypes had very low seed transmission of the disease and could be nsed by breeders for developing bean varieties that are resistant to CBB and with low transmission efficiency of the disease. A significant interaction between ¡solates and genotypes was obtained in tbis study, indicating tbat the rate of seed transmission in beans depends both on XCP ¡solate and host genotype. The main results obtained in genetic diversity studies are that isolates 01 the two CBB pathogens can be separated into lamilies. Isolates from the same geographical origin (eg country) tend to have very similar RFLP patterns. It was also interesting to note that there were no XCPF ¡solates andlor families from Costa Rica or the Caribbean countries. This implies that isolates of XCP and XCPF of different geographical origin are no! clonal as previously thought. Pathogenicity tests conducted with selected isolales of both palhogens corifinn that they a/so have differences in pathogenicity.Evaluarion af 303 accessian 01 P. acutifolius has been made with artificial inoculatian under field conditions. Out 01147 cultivated accessians, 90% were resistant while 85 -89 % ofthe wild accessians were susceptible. However, some af the cultivated accessions were more susceptible than the common bean susceptible check. The iriference of these results is that during the process of domesticanon, CBB-susceptible genotypes were either not selected or may have not survived. On the other hand, wild accession have not been subjected Ea the sume selection pressures and their survival did not relay on CBB resistance. CBB resistance in wild accessions might well be a random feature. Reports from the Working Group Sessions.R. Buruchara,. CIAT, P O. Box 6247, Kampala,. Uganda.The primary objective of tbis meeting was to review past and current research on bacterial and viral bean diseases, identify future strategies, and prioritize research and non-research activities or themes that could be the basis for developing regional sub-projects. The framework developed was meant to serve as a guide for Steering Committees of the bean networks for orienting, approving or rejecting sub-projects.Planning Methodology: PPO.A modification of the Project Planning by Objective (PPO) method applied in the Pathology Worlcing Group Meeting on fungal bean diseases in 1992 and described by Scheidegger and Buruchara (1992) was used. The planning period was 3 years and the areas of intervention were restricted to bacterial and viral diseases in Africa.Applíeation orpPO in the pan-Arríean meeting on bacterial and viral beao diseases.OnIy common bacterial blight (CBB), halo blight (HB) and bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) were considered for detailed discussions. Other bacterial and viral diseases were regarded to be of minor importance to warrant consideration Oí aIlocation of research resources at tbis stage. The same principie and procedure as applied in the 1992 bean fungal meeting, to identifY problems, solutions and activities was used. Neither verifiable indicators nor resources necessary for suggested activities were determined' This was because such details were regarded justifiable at sub-project leve!. But a1location of responsibilities among participating and non-partícipatíng institutions, and prioritizatíon at pan-Africa level was done.Results: Problem Aoalysis Results on problem analysis are found in the following 4 pages. The logic and steps used are similar to those described by Scheidegger and Buruchara (1992), The BCMV tree go over two pages,"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8f914deaf41cbc8324c8a09f0220021f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/ee4bab1b-8892-4858-8aed-02a4112eb777/content","id":"596939556"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"55b8f146-b653-434a-a397-667a2b5b358e","content":"Lesion mimic (Lm) mutants display hypersensitive responses (HR) without any pathogen attack; their symptoms are similar to those produced by a pathogen and result in cell death. In wheat, such mutants have been reported to be resistant against leaf rust due to their biotrophic nature. However, Lm mutants tend to encourage spot blotch (SB) disease caused by Bipolarissorokiniana since dead cells facilitate pathogen multiplication. In this study, 289 diverse wheat germplasm lines were phenotyped in three consecutive growing seasons (2012)(2013)(2014)(2015). Genotype data was generated using the Illumina iSelect beadchip assay platform for wheat germplasm lines. A total of 13,589 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected andused for further association mapping. Lm was positively associated with Area Under Disease Progress Curve (AUDPC) for SB but negatively with glaucous index (GI), leaf tip necrosis (Ltn) and latent period (LP). Ltn had a negative association with AUDPC and Lm but a positive one with LP. In a genome-wide association study (GWAS), 29 markers were significantly associated with these traits and 27 were an notated. Seven SNP markers associated with Lm were on chromosome 6A; another on 1B was found to be linked with Ltn. Like wise, seven SNP markers were associated with GI; one on chromosome 6A with the others on 6B. Five SNP markers on chromosomes 3B and 3Dwere significantly correlated with LP, while nine SNP markers on chromosomes 5A and 5B were significantly associated with AUDPC for SB. This study is the first to explore the interaction in wheat between Lm mutants and the hemibiotrophic SB pathogen B.sorokiniana.Plant lesion mimic(Lm) mutants exhibitnecrotic symptoms on the leaves that appear in the absence of any pathogen. These symptoms mimic the HR displayed during plant-pathogen interactions [1]. First reported in barley [2,3], this type of mimicry has also been witnessed in Arabidopsis [4][5][6], maize [7,8], rice [9][10][11], and wheat [12,13]. Lesion mimics form patches of dead cells without any natural wound, injury, stress or infection being present in the plants. HR-associated cell death arrests the growth of biotrophic pathogens by restricting the supply of essential nutrients from the host. However, it confers no resistance to hemibiotrophs or necrotrophic pathogens [14] such as Botrytis cinerea [15], where cell death follows infection [16]. Another trait, leaf tip necrosis (Ltn), provides resistance against various plant pathogens at the adult plant stage and is linked to genes such as Lr34 [17]. This gene was first reported in wheat PI58548 [18] and was later described in many wheat varieties [19][20][21]. It slows development of rusts and, under suitable conditions, has the ability in seedlings to provide resistance to certain rust races including leaf rust (Pucciniatriticina) and stripe rust (P.striiformis) [19]. Wheat genotypes possessing Lr34 also show resistance against SB caused by hemibiotroph pathogen B.sorokiniana [17]. SB progress may also be inhibited by other components of resistance such as increased latent period (LP) [17] and glaucous index (GI) or waxiness. Disease potential of the crop may be reduced by utilizing genotypes with a long LP [17] and a high GI.Wheat SB causes average yield reductions in South Asia and India of 19.6% and 15.5% respectively [22]. Losses may be20-80% in susceptible genotypes [23] and complete failure can occur with the most severe infections [24]. B.sorokiniana infects most Poaceae family crops, but even though it can infect a vast range of cultivars including wild and cultivated varieties, the chances of the migration of an isolate from one crop to another are remote because the causal pathogen is mainly seed born [25,26].Because Lm checks the growth of stem rust pathogen, research using molecular markers has been undertaken to find robust Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) against stem rust [27]. This is in contrast to the case of Lm and SB where the phenotype-genotype association is not well understood. To our knowledge associations between Lm, Ltn, GI, LP, and SB have not previously been studied.Because lesion mimics restrict the growth of biotrophic pathogens such as rusts, Lm genes are being introduced into wheat cultivars to achieve a degree of immunity against these pathogens. However, the cell death of leaves in response to the Lm genes expression is a major drawback, as this provides suitable conditions for the growth of hemi biotroph and necrotrophs pathogens. Therefore it is important for wheat-cultivating areas globally to establish the effects of Lm genes on SB, which is caused by a hemibiotrophic fungus.For complex traits, association mapping can identify significant correlations between phenotypes and the corresponding sequence variants within an existing diversity panel [28]. The present study was undertaken to characterize Lm, Ltn, GI, and LP, and their association with SB resistance in spring wheat.The Wheat Association Mapping Initiative (WAMI) panel of 289 diverse wheat germplasm lines was obtained from the Global Wheat Program (CIMMYT, Mexico). It contains a wide range of genotypic and phenotypic genotypes which are stable for the traits under examination. These lines were evaluated for Lm, Ltn, LP, GI and AUDPC for SB. The details of the germplasm lines used are given in S3 Table.The research trials took place at the Agricultural Research Farm, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India (25 o 15' N, 25 o 15', 83 o 03'E; 70 m above sea level) during three consecutive crop seasons, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16. Planting was done between26 th November and 5 th December in each crop season to ensure that grain filling coincided with local high temperatures and relative high humidity. Wheat genotypes were sown in two replicates each year in an alpha lattice design. Each genotype was sown in two 1-metre rows, with a row-to-row distance of 25 cm and a plant-to-plant distance of 5 cm. Agronomic practices recommended for normal fertility conditions for irrigated wheat were followed for all three crops; 120 kg N, 60 kg P 2 O 5 and 40 kg K 2 O ha -1 .A pure culture of B.sorokiniana (HD 3069/MCC 1572) for artificial inoculation was obtained from the Department of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi [29]. Following multiplication of the isolate on sorghum grain, a suspension in water of 10 4 spores/ml was applied uniformly at the heading stage [30], with the spraying being done in the evening [31]. The field was irrigated the next morning to provide a favourable environment for disease development.The plants were observed in the experimental plot for the traits Lm, Ltn, SBGI and LP. Five randomly tagged plants of each genotype were evaluated for the expression of Lm symptoms. Lm was scored on flag leaf at growth stages (GS) 63, 69 and 77. Leaves showing typical Lm expression were scored with modification of the 1-9 rating scale [13]. Within the scale, the % area denotes the leaf area necrosis, where 1 = no visible specks, 2 = 1-10%, 3 = 21-30%, 4 = 31-40%, 5 = 41-50%, 6 = 51-60%, 7 = 61-70%, 8 = 71-80% and 9 = more than 80%. Flag leaves of the tagged plants of each genotype were evaluated for Ltn at GS69. For Ltn, leaves were scored in two ways-first, as a presence or absence of Ltn; second, when present, scored as the level of its expression on a scale of 1-5, where 1 = no Ltn, 2 = 25%, 3 = 50%, 4 = 75% and 5 = necrosis of more than 75% of the flag leaf. Glaucous or waxiness on the 5 tagged plants was recorded visually at the time of flowering on the peduncle and flag leaf sheath on a scale of 1-5. Here, 1 denotes a very low or minimum appearance of waxiness, 2 denotes low waxiness appearance, 3 denotes a comparatively moderate level of waxiness, 4 denotes a high level of waxiness appearance while 5 indicates a maximum level of waxiness.LP is the period in days between inoculation and spore production and was observed and recorded using the process described by Parlevliet [32]. Five randomly selected flag leaves from each tagged plant were examined with the aid of a 20 × magnifying lens to establish when 50% of the primary lesions were sporulated.Ten randomly tagged plants of each genotype were evaluated for SB severity at three different growth stages, GS63 (beginning to half-completion of anthesis), GS69 (anthesis complete) and GS77 (late milking) using a double-digit scale (DD, 00-99) according to Saari and Prescott [33]. For each score, the disease severity percentage was calculated using the formula:Where, D 1 ¼ vertical disease progress on the plant D 2 ¼ the disease severity score on the affected leaves AUDPC was based on disease severity at GS63, GS69 and GS77 using the percent severity estimates as outlined in [34], given as:Where, DNA was extracted from 20-day fresh leaves of each line following the CTAB procedure [35] and genotyped at CIMMYT, Mexico using the Illumina iSelect beadchip assay [36] for wheat. To avoid low polymorphic and low-quality SNPs, markers were filtered on the parameter of minor allele frequency < 0.10. Thus 13,589 out of a total of 15,737 highly polymorphic SNPs were selected and used for association mapping.Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was carried out to determine genotype, year, and genotype × year variances among the traits measured. Correlation analysis was performed to better understand the relationship among the traits. All these analyses were done using SAS 9.3. The population structure (Q) for the WAMI marker panel was determined using the program STRUCTURE v2.3.4 [37]. The number of clusters (K) was predefined as1-10 with a burn-in of 10,000 iterations followed by 10,000 Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) replicates, passed as initial parameters for running STRUCTURE. The number of subgroups of the population was estimated using 'Structure Harvester' [38], a web-based utility that provides maximum likelihood estimates of the proportion of each sample derived from each of the K populations. The population Q-matrixwas also obtained for further analysis.TASSEL 5.0 [39] was used for the identification of significant marker-trait associations, based on the Mixed Linear Model (MLM). MLM takes into account both the population structure (Q-matrix generated through STRUCTURE) as well as the ancestral relatedness i.e. kinship matrix (K). TASSEL 5.0 was used to calculate the population kinship matrix by applying a scaled Identity By State (IBS) method. The general mathematical formulation of this mixed linear model can be written in the following form:Where, y ¼ the vector of phenotypes a and b ¼ vectors of fixed effects u ¼ the vector of random effects ðKinship matrixÞ e ¼ the vector of random residuals X ¼ the genotypes of markerSince the Q-matrix is used as a covariate in the model, it controls the structure and also avoids false positives. MLM is used preferentially because of its efficiency in terms of reducing time complexity [40]; its parameters were left at the default settings when running TASSEL. AP-value �0.001 was taken as denoting a significant marker-trait association (MTA) and the R 2 value was used to evaluate the magnitude of the QTL effects. For better visualization of results, Manhattan plots were also generated. Linkage distribution among the markers was also calculated.The results of the ANOVA for the five measured traits of the WAMI panel over three consecutive growing seasons are presented in Table 1. It can be observed that the genotypes exhibit differences at a 1% level of significance for all the traits. The year was also found to be significant for all traits except Ltn. Moreover, significant differences were observed for genotype × year (P<0.01) for all the traits. Partitioning of the total sum of squares indicates that the year accounted for more variation than genotype for all the traits except Ltn. In addition, AUDPC for SB was negatively and significantly correlated with Ltn (-0.302) and LP (-0.529), while positively and significantly with Lm (0.493);Ltn is positively correlated with LP (0.313) but negatively with Lm (-0.426) (Table 2).From model-based analysis using STRUCTURE (Figs 1 & 2) the optimal K was determined to be 6. Subpopulation I contained 58 (20.1%) genotypes; II, 56 (19.3%); III, 74 (25.6%); IV, 35 (12.1%); V, 48 (16.7%); and VI, 18 (6.2%). Individuals of each population were categorized as pure or admixture types. Genotypes with�0.8 of member proportions were considered as pure were others were labeled admixtures. Considering this criterion, the composition of the six subpopulations was as follows; I, 2.8% pure and 17.3% admixture; II, 4.8% pure and 14.5%  A total of 29 SNPs exhibited significant marker-trait associations with Lm, GI, Ltn, LP and SB AUDPC at P<0.001. They occur across seven different genomic regions (1B, 3B, 3D, 5B, 5A,  Individually the SNPs explain5-8% of the total phenotypic variation.For lesion mimic a total of seven significant marker trait associations (MTAs) were mapped on chromosome 6A with four situated at 90 cM and the remaining three at 91cM. Each of these markers explained 6-7% of total phenotypic variation. A single SNP marker was significantly associated with Ltn and mapped on chromosome 1B at a distance of 115 cM. This SNP explained 6% of total phenotypic variation. Seven SNPs were found to be in significant marker-trait association with GI. One marker was on chromosome 6A at 21 cM. All others were on chromosome 6B. Two of these were each at 118 cM, another two were at 119 and 120 cM, while the remaining two were mapped at a distance of 122 cM. The phenotypic variations explained by these loci were in the range 5-8%. For LP, five significant SNPs were identified on chromosome 3B and 3D. Two mapped together at 26cM on chromosome 3B which suggests that a single QTL for LP may link to these SNPs. Another two occurred on chromosome 3B at 11 cM and 32 cM respectively, while the remaining marker was on chromosome 3D at 18 cM. Each explained 6-8% of total genetic variation. A total of nine SNPs on chromosomes 5A and 5B were found to be in significant marker-trait associations for AUDPC (Table 3). Six of these SNPs were on chromosome 5B, each at 90 cM; the other three clustered on 5A at 83 cM. It is possible that two QTLs for SB resistance may link to these SNPs. The phenotypic variation explained by each individual locus was around 6%.To analyze and further annotate significant MTAs, we located them on a reference wheat genome (RefSeq v1.0). Due to the large size of the wheat genome, extended 250 kb genomic regions either side of significantly associated SNPs were analyzed to identify putative genes. A total of 27 candidate genes were annotated by function (Table 4). The MTAs that could not be annotated were Kukri_rep_c79491_139, associated with GI, and Tdurum_contig_12066_126 associated with AUDPC.For trait Lm, markers mapped within a very narrow interval of 0.09 Mbpon chromosome 6A, in the region from 56.34 Mbp (wsnp_Ku_rep_c102901_89769309 and wsnp_CAP11_c1178_684471) to 56.43 Mbp (Tdurum_contig55363_297). This interval contains seven genes, of which five have annotations with high confidence (Table 4). Few of the candidates genes having more than one SNPs at same chromosome position like TraesC-S6A02G33100 (wsnp_Ra_c12086_19452422, wsnp_Ku_rep_c102901_89769309) and TraesC-S6A02G331000(wsnp_CAP11_c1178_684471, wsnp_RFL_Contig3136_3092151) at 91 and 90 cM respectively. These genes encode for various classes of proteins and enzymes including a WD40-repeat-containing domain superfamily member (which regulates a plant-specific developmental event to control cell cycle) and MAG2-interacting protein (which acts as a precursor for the accumulation in dry seeds of the two major storage proteins albumin 2S and globulin 12S. The single marker identified for Ltn was located on chromosome 1B and belongs to the protein kinase-like superfamily, which is common to both serine/threonine and tyrosine protein kinases and has a catalytic domain that contains anucleotide-binding site (NBS), playing a critical role in disease resistance.Similarly, for trait LP, most markers mapped on to chromosome 3B in a 0.21 Mbp interval at 0.90-1.11 Mbp. Likewise for lesion mimic here alsowe found two SNPs falling under same candidate gene viz. TraesCS3B02G025200 (tplb0043c20_1046, GENE-1851_76). Their underlying identified genes were found to relate to the Cytochrome P450 superfamily and Fructosebisphosphate aldolase, which are involved in specific mechanisms like stress and defense response, energy and metabolism.For GI, six of the seven MTAs mapped on to chromosome 6B. The identified genes related to Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme/RWD-like proteins (with functions involved with plant innate immunity), Synaptotagmin-like mitochondrial-lipid-binding protein (that acts as molecular hubs for the exchange of small molecules such as lipids, and of signals, such as calcium ions), haem peroxidase superfamily members (which act as an electron acceptor to catalyze several oxidative reactions), the Lunapark family, and AP-5 complex subunit beta-1 (i.e. floral organ development and plant reproduction).A total of 9 SNPs were found to be in significant association to AUDPC of which 6 SNP mapped on chromosome 5B, four SNPs (BobWhite_c48435_165, tplb0027f13_1493, Tdurum_contig12066_247-1 and tplb0027f13_1346-1) represents same candidate gene i.e. TraesCS5B02G368500, whereas SNP wsnp_Ku_c40334_48581010 represent candidates gene involved in S-acyltransferase (i.e. TraesCS5B02G368600) and remaining one (Tdurum_contig12066_126-1) could not be annotated (Table 4). Lm in wheat is governed by four recessive genes-lm, lm1, lm2 [13] and lm3 [41]. Since they are known to demonstrate a protective effect against biotrophic pathogens [12,27,41], Lm genes are being introduced in wheat genotypes to provide resistance against these pathogens. However, these genes express their symptoms as cell death in the leaf tissues of the host genotypes. If this expression is severe, there may be a negative effect due to a reduced photosynthetic area. In addition, the dead tissue might be a nutrient source for various hemibiotrophs and necrotrophs. Therefore it is necessary to establish the effects on Lm plants of diseases like SB, which is one of the major concerns for the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) region of South Asia covering the >10 Mha wheat belt of India, Nepal and Bangladesh [42][43][44]. Analysis of variance indicated the presence in the WAMI spring wheat panel of significant variability for Lm and the other traits investigated. Lm was positively correlated with AUDPC which indicates that it promotes SB severity, confirming previous reports [45]. Lm appears to enhance the impact of SB due to the hemibiotrophic nature of B.sorokiniana, which germinates on living cells but multiplies on dead cells. Since Lm contributes to SB progress, reduced Lm expression can control the necrotrophic action of the pathogen. The results of this study demonstrate that higher LP is associated with lower levels of SB and Lm. Higher levels of GI can also restrict the progress of SB. Therefore, for the development of SB-resistant genotypes, a combination of Ltn and GI with higher LP may be utilized, which can reduce Lm gene expression as well as SB disease.An inhibitory effect of Ltn on Lm was observed in this study. The association of LP with Ltn was positive, which indicates that resistance against SB is enhanced by the presence of Ltn [17]. Ltn can thus be recommended as a phenotypic marker for the selection of SB resistant genotypes. Recently, Singh et al. [46] proposed that stacking Lr34(Sb1), Lr46, and vrn-A1 (which are prevalent in the CIMMYT gene pool) with additional SB resistance QTL can lead to a high level of SB resistance. Ltn in wheat is associated with Lr34 [47] and it can provide resistance against rust as well as SB [17,47]. Glaucous index also showed a positive association with Ltn indicating the cumulative positive effect of Lr34and increased waxiness on SB resistance. For this reason, genotypes with well-expressed GI or waxiness also appear to inhibit the expression of Lm. Similarly, LP displayed a negative association with Lm, and longer LP contributed to enhanced levels of resistance against SB.In this study, GWAS was performed using 90 k Illumina SNPs chip markers to establish the genotypic relationships of five traits-Lm, Ltn, LP, GI, and AUDPC for SB. To validate the broader applicability of SNPs and GWAS, we also verified the resistances that were previously detected using DArT markers [48][49][50]. Nine QTLs relating to AUDPC were identified on chromosomes 5A and 5B for improved resistance against SB.In the association study of Adhikari et al. [49], genomic regions associated with SB resistance led to the identification of nine SNPs on chromosomes 1B, 5A, 5B, 6B, and 7B. The study used 528diverse spring wheat genotypes that were phenotyped for SB and genotyped utilizing a 9K SNP wheat chip [51]. Ahirwar et al. [52] reported 14 SNPs on chromosomes 1B, 5B, 6A and 6B. We detected MTAs that corresponded to nine previously-reported loci on two chromosomes [47,53,54] from biparental QTL analyses. The present study identified QTLs for SB resistance that were reported previously at similar positions which confirms the robust inheritance of QTLs associated with the SNPs mapped here.This work is the first to study Lm and its association with LP, Ltn, GI, and AUDPC for SB. Novel SNPs for these traits were firmly identified. The genotypic relationships among these traits need to be further studied for improvement of the wheat research program. The reported QTLs from this study should provide a foundation for further research in this area.Twenty nine significant marker-trait associations were identified in the present investigation. We found seven markers closely associated with Lm, all on chromosome 6A, one for Ltn on 1B, and seven for GI across 6A and 6B. Five markers for LP were mapped on chromosomes 3B and 3D while nine SNPs on 5A and 5B were associated with AUDPC for SB.A notable phenotypic and molecular variation was observed in the WAMI panel, which confirms the diverse genetic background of the WAMI germplasm. The genotype analysis showed significant positive correlations between Lm and AUDPC, Ltn and LP, and between LP and GI, whereas Lm was significantly negatively associated with Ltn, LP, and GI.This study established for the first time an association of markers for Lm, Ltn, LP and GI, and QTLs mapped through GWAS. Our data revealed that most of the SNPs were present on the A and B genomes of wheat. These identified SNP markers linked to different QTLs will be useful in breeding for Lm and for SB resistance in wheat. The study also establishes a clear association between Lm and Ltn with AUDPC for SB, GI and LP. Based on a positive association of Lm and AUDPC, the pattern of appearance of HR, and necrosis and lesion formation by Lm, it is evident that the structure, expression, function and pathways of Lm genes can provide useful information. Utilizing this information to better understand the nature of SB pathogens is will be critical in the development and selection of resistance cultivars."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9fd12ca2453d65f0441077ed98d01791","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/187d418f-fc91-47fb-9696-62f08d3ceb7a/retrieve","id":"-1402915705"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b39db632-65b1-423e-b245-79e2a6bd702e","content":"Yams (Dioscorea spp.) are important food and commercial crops in West African countries. They contribute significantly to global food production and provide dietary energy. The quality of yam food products depends on specific internal and external parameters, such as the DMC and other biochemical traits. However, measuring these traits can be challenging, particularly when analyzing many genotypes. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of using near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral imaging (932-1721 nm) along with machine learning to rapidly measure the dry matter content (DMC) of fresh, intact yam tubers. Hyperspectral images were acquired across the yam tuber's cross-sections, and the resulting spectra from the images were averaged and preprocessed. Partial least square regression (PLSR) combined with successive progressions algorithms (SPA), Competitive Adaptive Reweighted Sampling (CARS), Artificial Neural network (ANN) and Boruta algorithms (BA) were used to select the important wavelengths for developing a prediction model for DMC (g/100 g). The PLSR-SPA-CARS model showed the most accurate prediction performances with a coefficient of determinations in calibration (R 2 cal) and prediction (R 2 pred) of 0.974 and 0.958, respectively, and low root mean square error (RMSEP) of 0.898 g/100 g. The distribution of DMC was visually represented by projecting the developed model to generate color chemical maps. This study resolves that NIR hyperspectral imaging can rapidly assess the DMC of fresh, intact yam tubers.Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is a staple food and economic crop in West African countries, particularly Benin, Ghana, Côte d′Ivoire, Cameroon, and Nigeria. These countries account for 98 % of global crop production (FAOSTAT, 2021), with Nigeria accounting for 73 % of total African production (FAOSTAT, 2021). As a critical root and tuber (RTB) crop, it contributes significantly to world food production and offers dietary energy in the form of carbohydrates in human and animal diets. Yam is a food security crop because it may be stored and used during the lean months or dry seasons, particularly in the tropics, where farmers rely on rainfed agricultural production. Rising consumer demand for high-quality food products derived from RTB crops necessitates detailed characterization of their external and internal quality traits, influencing their end products' cooking behaviour and acceptability. There is a high demand for precise and cost-effective techniques for determining the quality of food products to ensure they meet customer's quality expectations (Sun, 2009). Recent advances in quality characterization of RTB crops have employed near-infrared hyperspectral imaging techniques (NIR-HSI) as a non-destructive, rapid, and environmentally friendly alternative (Peng et al., 2022;Adesokan et al., 2023) to conventional approaches, which could be costly, time-consuming, and may involve exposure to harmful chemical materials, which in most cases are not responsibly disposed of, thus, negatively impacting the environment.NIR-HSI is a high-throughput, non-destructive technique that uses spectroscopy and imaging to determine food products' quality characteristics and spatial distribution. It has demonstrated the ability to characterize biochemical and biophysical components simultaneously, including their spatial distribution within the target sample (ElMasry and Nakauchi, 2016;Adesokan et al., 2023). Several authors have described the use of imaging techniques for the reliable quantification of multiple qualitative features of roots and tuber crops such as sweet potatoes, potato, cassava, yam, taro and sugar beet (Wang et al. 2022;Pan et al., 2015;Su et al. 2019;Su et al., 2020, Heo et al., 2021and Luo et al., 2020). Meghar et al. 2023 recently acquired hyperspectral images of 31 boiled cassava genotypes to quantify the dry matter, water absorption and textural attributes. A coefficient of multiple determination of 0.94 was reported, with root mean square error in prediction (RMSEP) of 0.96 g/100 g, which shows the potential of NIR-HSI for quality characterization of contrasting cassava genotypes.However, large data size, multidimensional spectral information, noisy signals and collinearity of spectral bands are some of the significant drawbacks of the technique. Therefore, appropriate image processing algorithms must be implemented to reduce the dimension of the spectra data while retaining important information and minimising the data analysis time (Ray et al., 2021). Food materials have a complex matrix, which may result in variations in acquired data; therefore, sample presentation must be carefully chosen to minimise noisy signals and ensure a representative image of the target is acquired (de Araújo et al., 2023). Within the RTBfoods project, water distribution in fresh tubers was monitored across the longitudinal section of yam slices (Meghar et al., 2022). Further study was recommended by Adesokan et al. (2023) to investigate the distribution of traits across the cross-section of RTB crops and to examine the variations in quality parameters from different sections of the same tuber. The conventional DMC analysis methods for RTB crops, including yam, are expensive, take much time, and are destructive to the samples (Alamu et al., 2021). It sometimes involves extensive sample preparation steps, such as peeling, cutting, and drying in the oven for 72 hours; these create limitations in improving the breeding cycles for the crops.The dry matter content of RTB crops and other essential quality parameters could be obtained on the intact yam tubers with minimal sample preparation, making on-farm phenotyping possible and minimising the time required for the analysis workflow. Prediction models for determining the critical quality traits in RTB crops using hyperspectral imaging will provide cost-effective, high-throughput phenotyping tools to breeding programs and food processors. In addition, visualization of the spatial distribution of key quality parameters in RTB crops is essential in helping to understand the biochemical changes that occur during storage and post-harvest activities. Shao et al. (2020) reported that the spatial distribution of the soluble sugar content of sweet potatoes was possible using hyperspectral imaging techniques. Anthocyanin content prediction in purple sweet potatoes using hyperspectral imaging was also reported by Tian et al. (2021) in their study. Presently, there is scanty information on the applications of NIR-HSI on yam quality analysis; therefore, our hypothesis is to explore the potential of hyperspectral imaging systems to accurately predict the DMC of fresh yam without destroying the samples. The current study developed prediction models for rapidly determining the DMC of intact fresh yams using PLSR and other machine learning algorithms. The optimum prediction model was used to establish a spatial distribution map for the DMC (g/100 g) of fresh yam tubers.Sixteen yam genotypes with contrasting food quality, comprising landraces and improved varieties, were collected from the experimental field plots at the IITA stations in Ibadan, Ubiaja and Abuja (Supplementary Table S1). Healthy and large yam tubers from each genotype were washed, peeled, and allowed to dry at room temperature. After preparation, an approximately 2 cm thick slice was cut off from both ends of the yam tubers to eliminate the stalk (Adinsi et al., 2021). Then, each tuber was cut into three cross-sections, each about 3 cm thick, using a stainless-steel knife and a measuring tape (Adinsi et al. 2021). These sections were labelled as proximal (P), central (C) and distal (D). 288 sampling points comprised 144 samples (16 genotypes x 3 cross-sections x 3 locations) x 2 replicate measurements was generated during the analysis. After hyperspectral imaging analysis, each sample was placed into a well-labelled paper bag and prepared for wet laboratory analysis. See Fig. 1 for the sampling and analysis workflow.This study used a push broom near-infrared hyperspectral imaging system (Fig. 2) consisting of a 12-bit (CCD camera (V-light; Lowel Light Inc., New York, NY, USA) with a two-dimensional (2D) light detector. It has a spectrograph with high sensitivity from 932 to 1721 nm and a spectral resolution of 8 nm. A translation Lab Scanner with a dimension of 40 cm×20 cm (LxW) was attached for image acquisition, and an illumination component made up of 150 W tungsten halogen lamps (Fibre-Lite DC950 Illuminator; Dolan Jenner Industries Inc., Boxborough, MA, USA). The distance of 500 mm was between the halogen lamps and the sample and at an angle of 45 0 C to the horizontal plane. The exposure time of the camera and the moving speed in the translation Lab scanner stage was set at 2 ms and 40 mm/s, respectively. A Lumo control software (SPECIM) was installed on a computer for systems operations. Due to the non-uniform distribution of light and the effect of dark current in the camera, it is important to calibrate the raw hyperspectral image with white and dark calibration references (Equ.1). This is done using a white Teflon board with diffuse reflectance of 99 % (Spectralon, SRT-99-100, Labsphere Inc, North Sutton, NH, USA) to obtain white calibration references (R w ). Also, a black calibration reference (R d ) with a reference of 0 % was obtained by closing the camera shutter. Images of fresh, intact yam tubers were collected using optimum acquisition parameters such as exposure time of 4 m/s, binning of 2 and scanning speed of 16.5 mm/s. The acquired image is a three-dimensional (3D) hypercube with (x, y, and z) dimensions of the image pixel, where (x, y) represents spatial dimension and (z) represents spectral wavelength (224 nm).where Rs = calibrated reflectance image; Ro = raw hyperspectral image; Rw = white reference image and Rd = dark reference image.Breeze (version 2024.1.0) and Evince Professional (version 2.7.21) are commercial software packages provided by Prediktera AB (Tvistevagen 48 A SE-907 36 Umea, Sweden) used for processing 3-dimensional hyperspectral images. These images are multidimensional and often contain redundant information and spectral noise, which can impact the predictive ability of models and complicate spectral data manipulation. To address this, preprocessing steps such as image segmentation and pretreatments were implemented using principal component analysis (PCA), which removed the background spectral intensities and reduced the spectral dimensions while retaining important features (Shao et al., 2022). The calibrated reflectance image (R s ) for each sample was imported to the Breeze software, and a PCA model was created to analyze the spectral variations in the sample images based on all the pixels in the image to generate the variance scatter plot (Fig. 3a). Each point in the scatter plot corresponds to pixels in the image or the background. The PCA model clustered pixels based on spectral similarities to separate the sample pixels from the background. The model showed the spectral variance between the sample and the background pixels, as shown in the maximum variance image of the samples (Fig. 3b). PC 1 explains the maximum variance (89.7 %) and visualizes the most important spectral variations in the sample image (x-axis of the scatter plot). The pixels of the sample in the scatter plot were selected to mark the region of interest, while the background pixels were eliminated (Fig. 3c).Also, the raw image spectra contain some non-important and noisy signals, which may be caused by strayed light from the instruments or external interferences from the environment. These signals could affect the identification of relevant spectra information during the modelling    process (Osco et al. 2022). Therefore, several preprocessing algorithms, described in the next sections, were applied to eliminate random noise and improve the signal-to-noise ratio (Xu et al., 2023).The raw spectra were pre-processed to eliminate noise and correct the baseline distortions. Preprocessing the spectra before model building helped to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio, remove atmospheric interferences and improve the prediction accuracy. Hyperspectral images were subjected to different pretreatment algorithms, including Standard Normal Variates (SNV), Savitzky-Golay (SG), Multiplicative scatter corrections (MSC) and Derivatives. The Standard Normal Variance (SNV) method normalizes the spectra by subtracting each spectrum by its mean and dividing it by its standard deviation. After SNV, each spectrum will have a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1 (Jiao et al., 2020). SNV is useful in removing scattering effects caused by physical variations of surface imperfections (Fig. 4a). MSC created a reference spectrum by averaging multiple spectra to form a spectrum with minimal scattering effects. The reference spectrum was divided by their average spectrum to represent the chemical information in the samples accurately. SG uses a polynomial least-squares fitting approach to approximate the data points within a moving window, effectively removing high-frequency noise while preserving the underlying trends and features in the data set (Dombi et al., 2020). Important parameters for SG, such as the window size and the polynomial order, were considered during the SG pretreatments. The window size, which determines the number of neighbouring data points that fit the local polynomial, was set at 2, and the polynomial order, which determines its complexity (Zimmermann et al., 2013), was set at 4 to obtain the optimum model. The first and second derivatives (Fig. 4b-c) were used to reduce the baseline shifts, enhance peak detection and resolve superimposed peaks (Fellows et al., 2020).Wavelength selection in hyperspectral data analysis is crucial to removing redundant information and noisy signals, potentially weakening a calibration model's predictive capacity. This study used Successive Progressive Algorithm (SPA), Competitive Adaptive Weighted Sampling (CARS), Boruta Algorithm (BA) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to select effective wavelengths from the full spectral wavelength bands using the R statistical software version (R.4.3.3). The SPA algorithms selected the wavelengths with the minor redundant information using vector projections analysis to find the variable group with minimum reducing information; this minimizes the collinearity between variables and then reduces the number of variables required for the model development. The multilinear regression model of different subsets of the wavelengths was established, and the subgroup with the minor root means square error (RMSE) was selected during SPA operations (Hu et al., 2023). The effective wavelength selection was also done using other algorithms like BA, similar to the Random Forest algorithm; it evaluates the relevance of each wavelength feature using statistical testing and shadow characteristics. Boruta created a randomized shadow feature for each original wavelength band, which was used as a baseline to compare the importance of the original wavelength bands. The BA developed a random forest model using the original wavelengths and the shadow feature as training datasets and generated importance scores for all the features. The original wavelength scores are compared with the maximum importance score of the shadow features, and the ordinal wavelength bands with a consistent importance score over its shadow feature are selected as important wavelengths. The algorithm iterates in several cycles until the selection is completed (Manikandan et al., 2024). Other feature selection approaches used were CARS and ANN algorithms. CARS aimed to enhance the efficiency of selecting important wavelengths by adaptively reweighting and competing among the different wavelengths, thus helping to select the most informative bands and improving the prediction models.The PLSR model was developed to determine yam samples' dry matter content (DMC) using full wavebands and effective wavelength selection. The calibration model was developed using the quantitative relationship between the extracted spectra and the DMC of fresh yam samples. The calibration and validation sets were chosen from the entire spectral data using the Kennard-stone algorithm, with a training-to-test set ratio of 3-1 to ensure data representativeness for modelling (Wei et al., 2024). During the development of the PLS model, the spectral data were the X variables, and the reference results for yam DMC (g/100 g) were input as the Y variables. The model's performance was evaluated using the correlation coefficient during calibration (R 2 cal ) and validation (R 2 pred ). Other performance criteria for the models are the root-mean-square error of prediction (RMSEP) and the ratio of standard deviation to standard error in prediction (RPD) (Maraphum et al., 2022). See Eq. 2 to 4 below.where yi, ýi, ÿ and SD represent the measured response variable, the predicted mean, and the standard deviation, respectively.The optimal PLSR model created a spatial distribution map for DMC. Each hyperspectral image contains a spectrum for every pixel, and the prediction model can determine the response attributes of each pixel in the image. The hyperspectral images were unfolded at specified wavelengths into a two-dimensional vector and then multiplied by the regression coefficient for the PLSR model. The resulting matrix was refolded into coloured images with dimensions similar to the initial image, generating a distribution map using a pseudo colour bar to represent the spatial distribution of the DMC in each yam piece.The dry matter content of fresh yam tubers was determined by the method of (Adesokan et al. 2020). Aluminium cups were washed and dried in an Oven (Memmert UN 55, GmbH) for 16 h at 103 • C until a consistent weight was reached. The cups were removed and allowed to cool for 10 minutes in a desiccator. About 10 g of the fresh homogenous yam samples were weighed (using a weighing balance calibrated to 4 decimal places) into the pre-ignited aluminium cups and placed in the oven maintained at 103 0 C for 16 hrs. The cups were removed and transferred immediately into a desiccator to cool. The loss in weight after drying was estimated as the sample's moisture content, and the DM (g/100 g) was computed as (100 -Moisture content). DM(g/100g) = (100-Moisture content)The dry matter content (DMC) of the fresh yam genotypes used for the study is shown in Table 1. Overall, DMC ranged from 26.30 to 42.60 g/100 g, with a mean±SD of 35.90±4.52 for the Abuja location, while for the Ibadan location, DMC ranged from 22.51 to 36.79 g/100 g with a mean±SD of 34.01±4.31. Ubiaja location had DMC ranging from 28.30 to 46.10 g/100 g and mean±SD of 37.45± 4.48, respectively. The average DMC of samples from the Ubiaja location is consistently higher than the two other locations, which could be due to differences in the agroecological conditions of the three locations, such as annual rainfall patterns, temperature, and soil nutrients. A dry matter content of 36.2 ±2.4 g/100 g was reported for Dioscorea rotundata by Matsumoto et al. (2021), which was within the range of values obtained in this study. The results also showed that the proximal part of the yam cross-sections has the highest DMC than central and distal regions, except at Ubiaja, where the distal section has an overall average of more than the proximal and central (Table 2). These results were consistent with the findings of Hamadina and Asiedu (2015), who discovered that the yam head area (28.6 g/100 g) had a higher dry matter content than the middle section (26.9 g/100 g), while the tail had the lowest value (22.30 g/100 g). However, the values reported in their study were lower than the current work, which could be related to different yam genotypes, as this study used advanced breeding lines from IITA germplasm. Mestres et al. (2023) also reported that dry matter and starch content vary significantly between various sections of boiled yam tubers. The dry matter content of RTB crops can affect product yield and influence the storage stability of tuber crops such as yam.The analysis of variance (Table 2) indicates that the location, crosssection, and genotype significantly impact the dry matter content of yam tubers. This suggests diversity in the dry matter content among the selected yam genotypes. Furthermore, the significant effect (p<0.001) of the cross-section (proximal, central, and distal) suggests variations in the distribution of dry matter content across the sections of a yam tuber, which agrees with the findings of Cheng et al. (2023).The raw spectra for all the samples (n = 288) were extracted in the 932.61-1720.20 nm wavelength range, as shown in Fig. 5. Notably, a slight increase in reflectance values was observed between 980 and 1001.40 nm and a prominent reflectance increase at 1400.20 and 1470.00 nm. The bands at 980 and 1470 nm are related to the first and second stretching overtones of O-H bonds, which may be attributed to the moisture in the samples (Yang et al., 2021;Jiyang et al., 2022;Ma and Sun, 2020). Also, the absorption peak at 1213.90 nm corresponds to the second overtone of the C-H bond and is attributed to the carbohydrate (Yang et al., 2021;Ding and Xu, 2000;Zhang et al., 2020). All the raw spectra for the yam samples exhibited similar patterns based on the genotypes and planting location; some noise was observed between 932.61 and 977.11 and 1673.70-1720.20 nm, respectively. These spectrum regions were eliminated to improve the quality of the spectra data.A PLSR model combined with various machine learning algorithms for spectra pre-processing was implemented on the full spectra data and selected wavelength bands to establish quantitative models for DMC by establishing a correlation between the spectra reflectance from the image and the laboratory reference from each section of the yam samples. PLSR is one of the most commonly used linear regression algorithms and an optimal option for developing a prediction model because it could incorporate both the spectra data matrix (x) and the variable matrix (y). PLSR can also resolve the collinearity problem in large data sets (Ismy et al., 2023). A total of 288 spectra data points were generated from the samples, and during the modelling, Kennard-stone's algorithm was used to divide the samples into 192 training and 96 test sets, where the test set was one-third of the total spectra. Pre-processing methods include standard normal variate, Satvizsky-Golay smoothing and derivative. After removing the wavelengths with noisy signals, the PLSR model was developed in the wavelength range of 949.43-1695.20 nm. Cross-validation was performed using the leave-one-out approach and implemented in 7 groups (Figs. 6 and 7).Table 3 shows the PLSR models for quantification of DMC (g/100 g)Summary of dry matter content of fresh yam (g/100 g) N = 288.  and first derivatives demonstrated the best prediction performances with a coefficient of determination in calibration (R 2 cal) and prediction (R 2 pred) of 0.90 and 0.83 respectively. The model processed with SNV + SG + 2nd derivatives had a higher R 2 cal of 0.92 but slightly lower R 2 pre (0.82), and the standard error of prediction is greater than the model processed using the 1st derivative by 0.04 Several authors have routinely used PLSR to develop models from hyperspectral data (Jiang, 2017;Yu et al. 2023;Zhang et al. 2023a). In their study to predict the moisture content of steamed and dried purple potatoes, Heo et al. (2021) also reported the highest accuracy from a model developed using PLSR combined with SG and the first derivative preprocessing with R 2 pre of 0.96 for quantification of moisture content of steamed and dried potatoes. The R 2 cal is higher than the value obtained in this current study but has a similar mean square prediction error. Hyperspectral image spectra data always contain reductant information and collinearity problems, which affect the model's accuracy and robustness (He et al., 2023). Therefore, SPA, CARS, BA, and ANN were implemented to extract important wavelengths from the raw spectra information. Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 11 indicate the selected SPA, BA, CARS and ANN wavelengths, respectively. The green region in Fig. 9 indicates the selected wavelengths for the BA, while the red region shows the non-informative or rejected wavelengths. Table 3 shows the optimized PLSR models using the selected wavelengths. The prediction accuracy for DMC was improved for all the wavelength selection methods; PLSR combined individually with SPA, CARS, BA and ANN gave R 2 pre of 0.930, 0.973, 0.910, 0.940 and 0.943, respectively. Furthermore, PLSR combined with multiple algorithms such as   PLSR-SPA-BA, PLSR-SPA-ANN and PLSR-SPA-CARS had R 2 pre ranged from 0.850 to 0.966 with the PLSR-SPA-CARS giving the best model where R 2 cal, R 2 pred, and RMSEP were 0.974, 0.958, and 0.898 g/100 g, respectively (Table 3, Fig. 12). The optimum model was above the R 2 pred of 0.94 obtained by Meghar et al. (2023) for DMC on fresh, intact cassava roots using CovSel multiple linear regression (Cov Sel_MLR).Similarly, Wang et al. (2021) investigated the prediction performance of the PLSR model for potato starch quantification in three regions, namely the middle head and umbilicus, using the hyperspectral camera. These authors also combined competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) and support vector regression (SVR) to develop a model for each region. At the same time, the umbilicus gave the best performance, with correlations R 2 cal and R 2 pre of 0.94 and 0.93, respectively, and RMSEP of 17.4 g/kg. The correlation coefficient in calibration for the PLSR-SPA-CARS model in this current study performed better than the values reported in their findings.The PLSR model has been combined with hyperspectral data for other cereals and legumes; for instance, Qiao et al. (2022) utilized hyperspectral imaging spectroscopy to determine maize hardness. They developed a PLSR model after selecting characteristic wavelengths using the successive projection algorithm (SPA), achieving R 2 cal and RMSE values of 0.912 and 17.76 MPa, respectively. Additionally, the moisture content (MC) of maize seeds was predicted using long-wave near-infrared hyperspectral imaging technology. Wang et al. (2021) achieved optimal prediction performance of MC with the CARS-SPA-LS-SVM model, reporting R 2 pre and RMSEP values of 0.93 and 0.00094 %, respectively. NIR-HSI was investigated to quantify protein, starch, and moisture content using 77 wheat varieties converted into flour. Effective wavelength algorithms were combined with the hyperspectral data to develop a prediction model, the coefficient of determination and root mean square error for prediction of 0.98 and 1.15 g/100 g for protein, 0.9243 and 0.2068 g/100 g for starch, and 0.8646 and 2.1669 g/100 g for moisture was obtained. The performance of a prediction model is appraised using some important metrics, including the coefficient of determination in prediction and the root mean square error, which is the   measure of the difference between the predicted values and the observed values from the standard method. Generally, an accurate model should have R 2 cal and R 2 pre values closer to 1 and lower RMSEP and RMSEC. Also, RPD values must be > 2 for a model to be considered suitable for quantitative purposes (Cortes et al. 2019). The PLSR model developed in this study showed robust and reliable prediction performances and could be useful for routine analysis, especially when the PLSR model is built on the important wavelengths in the spectra bands, giving a better prediction capability.Table 4 shows the results of prediction models built using other machine learning algorithms, including linear regression (LR), random forest (RF), decision tree (DT), and support vector machine (SVM). The best model for DMC using a machine learning algorithm was obtained with linear regression with an R 2 of 0.808, a mean absolute error of 1.590 and an RMSE of 2.326. Decision trees and Random Forests have a similar mean absolute error, but R 2 of 0.733 and 0.719, respectively, which are also close. SVM also had an R 2 of 0.745 and a very low MAE of 0.231. Generally, most algorithms demonstrated a good predictive capacity for DMC with a relatively low mean absolute error, indicating the prediction error. However, the PLS models built on the selected important wavelength had better prediction performance than those developed using the other machine learning algorithms. This could be due to the nature of the data, as most machine learning algorithms work best with non-linear data. Nantongio et al. ( 2024) also reported that iPLS performed better than RF and XGBOOST in the prediction of sensory attributes of sweet potatoes. CARS was also combined with PLSR to  predict DMC in potatoes, and the authors reported an R 2 of 0.968 and an RMSE of 0.413 %. (Wang et al., 2022). PLSR combined with SPA-CARS in this current study also demonstrated the best prediction model for DMC in fresh, intact yam tubers.The distribution of dry matter content in fresh, intact yam was analyzed using a PLSR-SPA-CARS model. Each point on the yam samples corresponds to a pixel in the hyperspectral image and has a unique spectral intensity. Essential wavelengths were determined from the pseudo-RGB image of the sample and used to predict the dry matter content, resulting in a dry matter distribution map (Fig. 13). The distribution map clearly shows the variation in dry matter content across different parts of the fresh yam tuber. The colours on the map indicate the variance in dry matter content; blue represents low dry matter, while red represents high dry matter content. The chemical imaging map displays the variation in dry matter distribution in the yam tuber's proximal, middle, and distal regions. The proximal region exhibits higher dry matter content than the middle and distal regions of the yam cross-section.The study used the PLSR model and various machine learning algorithms to process spectra data and develop a model to quantify fresh yam tubers' dry matter content (DMC) for routine analysis. The PLSR-SPA-CARS model showed the most accurate prediction performance by effectively selecting wavelengths compared to the model using the full spectra wavebands. The PLSR-SPA-CARS model was enhanced with SNV-SG to develop an optimal model with R 2 cal and R 2 pre values of 0.974 and 0.958, respectively. The root means square error of prediction was low at 0.898 g/100 g, indicating the model's robustness and a high RPD of 4.88. The high coefficient of prediction suggests that hyperspectral imaging is a valuable tool for rapid analysis of the dry matter  Results of prediction models developed using machine learning models. content of fresh, intact yam tubers, which is useful for yam breeders and food scientists. The study also found that the proximal section of yam tubers has the highest DMC, with an overall average of 36.21 g/100 g, followed by the central section, with an average DMC of 35.07 g/100 g.The distal region has the lowest value (33.90 g/100 g), indicating that evaluating traits across the different cross-sections of the yam is important for accurate prediction. A chemical distribution map was developed in the study to visualize the spatial distribution at various points and sections of the fresh yam tubers, which will be helpful for quality control and monitoring of nutrient transfer during storage. The results of this show that NIR hyperspectral imaging can accurately assess the DMC of fresh yam tubers and has provided low-cost and rapid tools for phenotyping dry matter content without destroying the samples, allowing for prompt decisions on the quality characteristics of large yam germplasm for breeding programs."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"897116c5e54ee202e4ad3dd90abc0141","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/Publications/PDFS/WP21022.pdf","id":"-1228173851"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"02f88dac-fe89-4fc4-ab7e-caecd7066e6d","content":"Tesfaye Woldeyohanes is a postdoctoral fellow at CIFOR-ICRAF based in Nairobi, Kenya. His work involves quantitative impact assessment of agricultural policies, technology adoption, and economic modelling of ex-ante impact estimation of development projects and programs. Prior to joining ICRAF in 2020, Tesfaye worked for the Oromia Agricultural Research Institute in Ethiopia and as research assistant at the University of Bonn, Germany. He holds BSc in Agricultural Resource Economics and Management from Hawassa University in Ethiopia and a master's degrees in business and economics from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and food and resource economics from Bonn University. He expects to receive his doctorate degree in agricultural economics from Bonn University.The CGIAR 1 Research Program for Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals (CRP GLDC) undertakes crop improvement, complementary farm management, and policy research on grain legumes and dryland cereal crops in the semi-arid and sub-humid dryland agroecologies of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia. These agro-ecologies are characterized by high levels of poverty, malnutrition, soil degradation, and climate variability, which are key challenges specifically targeted in the CGIAR's Strategy and Result Framework (SRF). CRP GLDC aims to address these challenges by bolstering the productivity, profitability, resilience, and marketability of specific GLDC crops, on which farmers and others within these agro-ecologies significantly depend.CRP GLDC has committed to achieving an ambitious set of impact targets. These contribute to those of the overall CGIAR system and include:• 8.9 million farm households to have adopted improved GLDC varieties • 4.4 million people assisted to exit poverty (50% women)• 1.2% per year rate of yield increase for GLDC crops • 12.7 million more people (50% women) assisted to meet minimum dietary energy requirements • 7.5 million women of reproductive age assisted to meet daily protein dietary requirements • 4.9 million metric tons of cumulative carbon input to soils from increased GLDC productivity.CGIAR has invested significantly in legume and cereal improvement research over the last four decades. This has been through CRP GLDC itself since 2018 and three preceding CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs): Grain Legumes, Dryland Cereals, and Dryland Systems. Direct funding for these CRPs has been augmented by bilaterally funded projects that constitute part of the CRPs, including those supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Key CGIAR research centres involved in the larger research effort associated with GLDC crops include the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) (chickpea, groundnut, pigeon pea, millet, and sorghum), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) (cowpea and soybean), the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) (common bean), and the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) (lentils).Recent reviews by Varshney et al. (2019) and Walker and Alwang (2015) show that CGIAR legume research has resulted in the release of 322 new varieties in 18 SSA countries alone between 2007 and 2017 (Table 1). Of these, 183 are new common bean varieties, with Ethiopia leading the release of such varieties, followed by Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Tanzania. New varieties of groundnut, cowpea, and chickpea have also been released in large number. Overall, the trend of varietal release for legume crops has increased more in recent years than in the early 2000s.Most of these varietal releases were facilitated by bilateral projects, including three Tropical Legume (TL) Projects (Monyo and Varshney, 2016). One report document that 304 improved varieties of legume crops have been developed in 15 countries in Africa, India, and Bangladesh (ICRISAT, 2020). Among South Asian countries, India has released the greatest number of new legume varieties. This includes 16 groundnut, 7 pigeon pea, and 3 chickpea varieties (Varshney et al. 2019). Unlike legumes, no comparable review of recent varietal releases for dryland cereals has yet been undertaken. However, an ICRISAT-led project, Harnessing Opportunities for Productivity Enhancement (HOPE), documented that 49 cultivars of dryland cereals (25 sorghum, 13 pearl millet, and 11 finger millet) were released between 2009 and 2016 (ICRISAT, n.d.). 2Releasing new crop varieties does not automatically lead to their adoption, particularly among key target groups. Consequently, farming household surveys have been conducted by CGIAR centres and others to ascertain levels of adoption and factors that facilitate and constrain it (Tripp 2011;Pacheco 2014;Walker and Alwang 2015). There have also been several noteworthy attempts to synthesize the results of these studies. One study, for example, by Pachico (2014) reviewed and synthesized the work carried out by over 30 impact assessment and adoption studies conducted in more than 20 countries in Africa.The Diffusion and Impact of Improved Varieties in Africa (DIIVA) and Tracking Improved Varieties in South Asia (TRIVSA) projects have also documented varietal adoption and diffusion for various crops (including those related to GLDC's mandate) in SSA and South Asia from the period between 1998 and 2010 (Walker and Alwang 2015). This was a large body of work that involved comparing household survey, local informant, and expert opinion approaches to estimating national-level adoption of improved crop varieties.Our paper builds on and updates these efforts by reviewing and synthesizing more recent adoption studies and data, while also identifying gaps. We treat the Walker and Alwang (2015) adoption estimates from 2010 to 2014 survey data as our benchmark, and we examine what has changed since and where. However, we treat estimates derived through survey data and expert opinion with higher and lower levels of confidence, respectively, and, consequently, provide two sets of estimates. Noting that adoption is a dynamic process, we estimate current levels based on the latest available data combined with conservative projections, as needed.In the next section, Methods, we describe our hybrid approach of identifying and synthesizing evidence from recent adoption studies, coupled with the use of trends in adoption, to estimate current levels. In Section 3, Results, we review the nature of the adoption studies emanating from our systematic literature search and what they reveal.We then present our estimates of current levels of improved GLDC adoption by crop type and by country following the application of our 'updating' procedure, both in absolute levels and from 2011 onwards (i.e., since beginning of CRP Phase 1). In Section 4, we summarize key findings and present recommendations.To obtain recent estimates of GLDC varietal adoption, we carried out a systematic review of adoption-related studies conducted between 2007 and 2020, focusing on countries and crops targeted by CRP GLDC. We chose to include studies published after 2006 to capture research carried out under the first phase of the three abovementioned CRPs, as well as the two major bilateral projects, TL and HOPE. In this section, we describe the process followed, as well as our national-level adoption estimation approach.We relied on three methods to compile post-2006 GLDC adoption evidence: (a) an online search targeting scientific publications and grey literature available online; (b) a search of relevant organizational archives; and (c) direct communication with CRP GLDC scientists for relevant data and reports not yet published online.For the online search, we used Google Scholar and a string that combined 'adoption' with each of CRP GLDC's target countries and crops as keywords. We retrieved additional grey literature not published online from organizational archives, which included those of ICRISAT, IITA, and CGIAR's Monitoring Evaluation and Learning database. During our validation process and corresponding communications with eight CRP GLDC scientists, we obtained five additional studies unavailable from any of the above.From our search, we retained papers and other relevant documents that met the following eligibility criteria:• Focus on one or more of CRP GLDC's target crops. These include seven grain legumes (chickpea, common bean, cowpea, groundnut, lentil, pigeon pea, and soybean) and two dryland cereals (pearl millet and sorghum). • Focus on one or more of CRP GLDC's 13 target countries: 11 in SSA (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia) and 2 in South Asia (India and Myanmar). • Focus on adoption of one or more of the GLDC improved crop varieties by farmers in the priority countries. • Timeframe: 2007-2020 to cover the first two phases of the CGIAR's CRPs, as well as research carried out under major bilateral projects. • Type of publication: adoption and impact studies, including peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers, working papers, book chapters, and discussion papers that use primary data; and project annual reports and baseline and endline evaluation reports. • Only one version of the same study (e.g., only the published paper and not its associated working paper). • Published in English.• Studies based on unrepresentative samples, which would, thereby, prevent extrapolation.trials, as such would be similarly problematic for drawing population-wide inferences.We coded relevant studies and documents meeting the above criteria and tabulated their associated metadata in a spreadsheet. This spreadsheet was shared with key CGIAR scientists involved in GLDC research for validation. They also provided other relevant documents and data not captured in our search process. Through this process, several errors in our captured adoption estimates were identified and corrected (i.e., for cowpea in Nigeria and common bean in Ethiopia).Our objective was to use the screened studies and documents as a means of estimating the number of households that have adopted improved GLDC varieties both overall and from 2011 onwards.However, we encountered four main issues:• Varying units. Many studies do not use 'household' as the main unit for measuring adoption. For example, the area of land under improved varieties measured as a percentage of total area grown vis-à-vis the crop is commonly used. Several other studies also use the percentage of plots under improved varieties or share of improved varieties of seeds used by farmers.• Temporal extrapolation challenges. The estimates associated with the 35 shortlisted studies range from as early as 2010 to as late as 2020. Thus, many estimates do not necessarily reflect current levels of GLDC crop varietal adoption.• Geographic extrapolation challenges. The adoption estimates ascertained from household survey data correspond to the main crop-growing areas or project intervention areas in the target countries. Hence, we could not use these estimates to directly infer adoption at the national level. The DIIVA and TRISVA studies provide national-level estimates, but many of these were derived through a Delphi-informed expert estimation method, rather than survey data (Walker and Alwang, 2015), leading to our fourth issue. • Survey data versus expert opinion. Of our 35 shortlisted studies, 19 are informed by survey data, while the remaining 16 are based on the expert opinion solicitation method used in the DIIVA/TRISVA studies. There is significant variation in the extent to which the resulting expert opinion estimates are consistent with those derived from adoption surveys (Walker and Alwang, 2015).For some crop types, there is reasonable consistency, but this is not the case for others.Our adoption estimation and updating method addresses these four issues (Figure 1). We began by estimating the national adoption rate (Step 1), particularly for those studies only providing region (or sample area) adoption estimates. Specifically, we multiplied the region-specific estimates by the share of cropping area that this rate applies to (i.e., the cropping area targeted by the study) vis-à-vis the national cropping area. For example, if the share of the study's sampling area represents 75% of the national cropping area, a sample adoption rate of 40% would convert to a national adoption rate of 30% (75% × 40% = 30%). CGIAR centres tend to administer adoption surveys in growing regions where the improved variety was promoted. Consequently, we do not expect adoption rates to be similar in other regions. Indeed, our approach is conservative, as the resulting national estimates assume that no spillovers of the improved varieties to non-surveyed regions has taken place. Consequently, our adoption estimates for the national level likely systematically underestimate actual adoption levels and can, therefore, be treated as 'lower bound' estimates.Second, we updated our national adoption estimates up to 2019 (the latest available year of FAOSTAT data (FAO, 2020) 3 using the average annual adoption growth rate for each crop (Step 2). For example, for a national adoption rate of 38% in 2016 with an average annual adoption growth rate of 2%, the corresponding 2019 estimate would be 44%. However, adoption growth rates are only reported in some of our shortlisted studies. Out of the 19 higher confidence studies, 12 involved at least two survey rounds.For these, we were able to compute the adoption growth rate, which we used to update our estimates to 2019. For the other studies, we computed the adoption growth rate using changes in yield derived from FAOSTAT data as a proxy. We assume that the adoption growth rate per year is proportional to the long-term average yield growth rate for that crop. We acknowledge the inherent limitations, given that yield is affected by factors other than varietal adoption (e.g., weather and management practices).Notes: CCC = country by crop combination; HC = higher confidence; LC = lower confidence; HH = household Next, we multiplied our estimated updated national adoption rate by the national area under the crop during the survey period and in 2019 (obtained from FAOSTAT), thereby deriving the estimated number of hectares under the improved variety in question (Step 3). We then we divided these results by data on the average area cultivated per household to derive an estimated number of adopting households (Step 4). 4 Finally, we adjusted for potential double counting by only taking the highest number of households associated with a specific crop in areas where there is geographic overlap in the cropgrowing area. This approach is, again, conservative because it assumes that all households in these areas of overlap that adopt the most popular improved GLDC variety also adopt the other improved varieties. This is unlikely to always be the case, thereby resulting in a likely underestimation of total number of households adopting one or more GLDC improved variety.For Steps 4 and 5, we generated higher and lower confidence estimates.Complementing the findings of Walker (2015), we find that that expert opinion derived adoption estimates are consistently higher than those associated with will follow-up household surveys (cf. Manda et al., 2019;Mwakimata, 2018;Tufa et al., 2019). Therefore, we treated such adoption estimates as less reliable and used them to estimate current levels of varietal adoption only when household survey data were unavailable, thereby leading us to generate two sets of estimates. (See Appendix B for how the shortlisted studies are grouped by level of confidence.)In this section, we first present the results of our search, including a brief description of 69 filtered adoption studies. We then provide a detailed synthesis of the results by target country and crop combination (CCC).Our online search returned 203 studies and 17 additional studies were identified through other sources, bringing the total to 220 (Figure 2). Of these, 67 were removed as duplicates and the remaining 153 studies were screened based on their titles and abstracts, which led to 63 studies being dropped. Of the 90 remaining studies, 63 met our inclusion criteria. Our validation process retrieved 6 additional adoption studies from Center scientists, bringing the total to 69. From these, we relied on only 35 CCCs with the latest adoption data to generate our adoption estimates. However, we used the 34 older studies to inform our adoption growth rate computations, as per our modelling approach presented in Section 2. Most of the retrieved studies are articles published in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, followed by research reports of different types ( Figure 3).Figure 4 shows the number of studies across survey years. 5 The year 2010 stands out as it includes projects summarized in Walker and Alwang (2015). Of the 35 studies that form the core basis of our estimates, only 18 are based on household data collected after 2010, revealing a lack of up-to-date information on the level of GLDC crop adoption. This is the rationale for implementing our adoption rate temporal extrapolation approach described in Section 2.  Figure 7 presents our updated 2019 CCC adoption rate estimates, defined as a percentage of national cropping area (Step 2 in Figure 1). There is large variation across the crops and countries, ranging from as low as 7% for improved millet varieties in Burkina Faso to nearly 100% for chickpea in Myanmar. We indicate which adoption rate estimates are informed by higher confidence studies (i.e., survey data (**)) and those informed by lower confidence studies (i.e., expert opinion (*)). From data associated with both the higher and lower confidence studies, we estimate that the adoption rate of GLDC improved varieties has increased considerably over the 2011 to 2019 period (Table 2). On average, we estimate that there was an increase from 37% to 52% for all studies and 30% to 46% for the higher confidence studies. This 15-16% increase in the adoption rate varies across the GLDC crop portfolio. However, there is considerable variation across individual CCCs, ranging from as high as 46% for pigeon pea to as low as 3% for soya bean. Notes: HC = higher confidenceIn this section, we present our adoption estimates for both the area under improved varieties (Step 3 of Figure 1) and the number of adopting households (Step 4) by country.Estimates by target crops are presented in Appendixes D and E.Using data from all studies, we estimate that improved GLDC varieties were planted on approximately 32 million hectares of land in 2019 in the 13 target countries (Table 3). This figure is over 15 million when only the higher confidence studies are considered. We further estimate the overall increase in area from 2011 to 2019 to be over 14 million hectares for the set of studies and nearly 7 million hectares for only the higher confidence studies. The largest gains were in the two most populous countries in CRP GLDC's portfolio, India and Nigeria. For the former, there is a considerable difference between the estimates from all studies and the higher confidence studies: 5.4 million and 2.9 million, respectively. Sudan ranks third, but we are only able to offer a lower confidence estimate of 2.2 million hectares. The gains in area for the remaining countries are under 1 million hectares. Ethiopia is the only country where our higher confidence estimate is negative (-67,000 ha), driven by less area devoted to growing improved varieties of common bean (see Appendix F). a Change in adoption rate from the benchmark is used to calculate additional area under improved varieties (IVs) since 2011, rather than deducting area under IVs in the benchmark from the areas under IVs in 2019. The latter approach is influenced by area change. For example, when area of respective crop in 2019 declined compared to the benchmark, the area under IVs will decline which is not realistic.As explained by in Section 2, our estimation approach divides our national area estimates for each crop by its associated average household cropping area. Areas of geographic overlap in cropping areas are further identified, with only our highest single crop-specific estimates taken from these areas to adjust for potential double counting. We estimate a slightly lower but comparable increase in the overall number of households that adopted improved GLDC varieties: 12.5 million (Table 4) compared with 14.1 million hectares (Table 3). However, this same difference vis-à-vis our higher confidence estimates is considerably greater: 1.15 million households compared to 6.97 million hectares.We find that this apparent inconsistency is driven by our estimates for India, which are considerably larger than those of the other countries. For this country, we estimate that there was an approximate 11% drop in the numbers of households growing improved GLDC varieties overall. However, this was not necessarily due to the dis-adoption of improved varieties; indeed, the adoption growth rates are all positive for all GLDC crops targeted for this country (Appendix C). Rather, it is due to a significant decrease in the cropping area devoted to sorghum between the two time periods. Nationally, the area devoted to this crop dropped from 7.4 million to 4.1 million hectares over this period (Charyulu et al., 2016). This, in turn, resulted in a drop in our estimated area devoted to, as well as households cultivating, improved sorghum varieties (see Appendix C and Appendix F). At the same time the adoption of other improved GLDC varieties increased considerably, notably chickpea, which we estimate to have increased by over 500% (Appendix F). While the estimated drop in households cultivating sorghum is considerably greater (2.16 million) compared to the increase in improved chickpea adopting households (0.55 million), the average area per household devoted the former crop is considerably less (0.3 ha) compared with the latter (4.9 ha). This is why our area estimates derived from the higher confidence studies are considerably greater than are those corresponding to our household estimates. There are several other differences between the cropping area and household adoption estimates. For Ethiopia, Malawi, and Mozambique, our area estimates are considerably lower than those for adopting households. The main explanation is that the average household cropping area for the crops that saw the greatest expansion over the 9-year period are significantly less than 1 ha. In Malawi, for example, our estimated increase in cropping area devoted to improved groundnut varieties is 0.162 million hectares (Appendix F, yet the average household area cultivated for this crop is only 0.3 ha (Appendix C). Hence, the estimate for households is significantly greater than it is for hectares (Appendix G). The same is the case for sorghum in Ethiopia and cowpea in Mozambique.For Nigeria and to a lesser extent Sudan, the trend is the reverse; the area estimates are significantly larger than the household estimates. For Sudan, the reason is straightforward: The average household area allocated for sorghum is 2.2 ha, resulting in fewer households than hectares. For Nigeria, the situation is more complex, due to the five improved GLDC varieties with differing average household cropping area allocations -several significantly over and several significantly under 1 ha. In short, the reason the area estimates are larger is both due to a greater increase area covered by crops with an average cropping area above 1 ha and adjustments made for potential double counting.Arguably, GLDC is, at its core, a crop improvement program. Improved GLDC varieties have been bred to address specific needs or problems; for example, low productivity, erratic rainfall patterns, recurrent droughts, pest attacks, and emerging trends in consumer demand. These improved crop varieties are then released through national variety release systems, with the expectation that farmers will adopt them and, in turn, experience the associated benefits, particularly when complemented by other interventions, such as extension and market access support. The large-scale adoption of improved GLDC varieties is therefore a key prerequisite for program impact.Fortunately, efforts by GLDC, its predecessor research programs, and others have invested in carrying out country specific adoption studies and other estimation approaches. Several methods have been used, most notably expert opinion solicitation, representative household-level adoption surveys, and more recently DNA fingerprinting. We capitalized on this investment by systematically searching and screening all relevant studies pertaining to the adoption of improved GLDC crop varieties in the 13 countries targeted by the program. Through this, we identified 35 unique CCCs and 69 relevant studies that target CRP GLDC CCCs.Unfortunately, we were unable to simply combine the results of these studies to ascertain current levels of adoption. The units in which estimates are reported vary, and data collection for most studies took place several years ago in non-nationally representative survey areas. Moreover, 16 of the 35 studies relied on soliciting expert opinion as the main estimation method, which can be less reliable Our approach addressed these issues. This involved (a) multiplying the study's adoption rate by the surveyed region's share of the national cropping area to derive a conservative estimate of the national adoption rate at the time of data collection; (b) updating a to 2019 using the average adoption growth rate for the crop in question; (c) multiplying b by the national cropping area to estimate of the area the improved variety in 2019; and (d) dividing c into the average cultivated area per household for the crop in question to derive an estimated number of households growing the improved variety in 2019. We further mitigated the potential for double counting at the household level by conservatively informing our overall household adoption estimates with the highest cropspecific estimates in overlapping national cropping areas. Finally, we treated estimates derived from studies based on household surveys and expert opinion with higher and lower levels of confidence, respectively, thereby generating both overall and higher confidence estimates.From this, we estimate from both the higher and lower confidence studies that the area under improved GLDC varieties increased by approximately 15% on average across the 13 targeted countries between 2011 and 2019. As of 2019, we estimate from the higher confidence studies that improved GLDC crops were cultivated on 15.37 million hectares of land across 17.64 million households in these same countries. When we include the lower confidence studies, these estimates increase to 32 million hectares and 44.64 million households.The gain in both area and household-level adoption from 2011 is also significant, but less so for our estimates based on household survey data. From the higher confidence studies, we estimate the gains in cropping area under improved GLDC varieties to be 6.96 million hectares. With the inclusion of lower confidence estimates, this rises to 14.13 million hectares. Our estimates from only the higher confidence studies for the number of adopting households is far lower, standing at 1.53 million. This is primarily driven by a significant reduction in the overall sorghum cropping area in India, but this is not indicative of a drop in the adoption rate of this crop or any other.With the inclusion of expert opinion-based studies, our estimates of additional households adopting improved GLDC varieties increases considerably to 12.5 million. This estimate exceeds CRP GLDC's adoption target (8.9 million households) by over 40%. Hence, we can be reasonably confident that the program at least met this target, as there would need to be considerable upwards bias among the 16 of the 35 studies relying on expert opinion solicitation and/or our overall estimation approach for this to be otherwise.Moreover, if we consider likely spillovers of improved GLDC varieties to (a) non-surveyed areas in priority GLDC countries and (b) non-priority countries but where scaling efforts have taken place (e.g., Bangladesh), as well as (c) the diffusion of non-priority GLDC varieties in priority countries (e.g., groundnuts in Zambia and Kenya), our confidence only grows. For example, Mausch et al. (2013) highlight improved groundnut varieties are high adaptable and have diffused far beyond the areas and countries where they were initially released. Similar results have been highlighted for sorghum (Charyulu et al., 2014).In addition, our approach addresses the potential of double counting by taking only the highest adoption estimate in potential areas of overlap, thereby assuming adopting households adopted all improved varieties in question. In reality, it is unlikely that all households adopted the full set of improved crop varieties in these areas of geographic overlap, thereby resulting in an underestimation of the total number of adopting households.Despite our confidence that GLDC's overall household adoption target has likely been significantly exceeded, we cannot confidently say by how much; there are too many factors that prevent us from providing precise estimates. We therefore conclude by making three recommendations on how such adoption estimation can be improved. First, continued efforts should be made to improve the accuracy of such estimates. While adoption surveys are likely (at least in general) preferable to soliciting expert opinion, recent studies comparing results obtained from farmer self-reporting and DNA analysis of seed samples obtained from farmers' fields reveal high levels of inconsistency with respect to the former (cf. Jaleta et al., 2020;Maredia et al., 2016). DNA fingerprinting is the only reliable identification method for many crops (Milne et al., 2015).A second area of improvement is to the frequency of adoption-related surveys. As highlighted above, only 4 of our 35 shortlisted studies are based on data collected from 2018 onwards. This required us to compute adoption growth rates to generate more upto-date estimates, another potential source of measurement error, given that the average adoption growth rate may vary year by year. Of course, increasing the frequency of adoption-related surveys will increase costs and, therefore, may not be always financially viable. However, recent efforts to include indicators in large-scale efforts, such as the World Bank's Living Standard Measurement Survey, could prove valuable in gaining a deeper and broader understanding of adoption dynamics at a more granular level (Kosmowski et al., 2020).This leads us to our third and final recommendation: explore ways of increasing the efficiency of reliable adoption estimation approaches. Here, we recommend innovatively integrating such surveys as part of project-related monitoring, evaluation strategies, and even trait-demand appraisal exercises, alongside scaling up efforts to 'piggy back' on nationally representative data collection exercises (Macours et al. 2021). For observation with at least two sets of survey data, this is used to calculate adoption growth rate while we used average yield change over the last decade based on FAOSTAT data as proxy for adoption growth rate for the remaining observations. * For crops with no information on average area allocated, 0.5 ha is assumed.  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1d267e638b5ed9602356450c7c7f4084","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2362799f-0483-4710-8aa9-7f8f887bdca5/retrieve","id":"1636405334"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3510ae7b-60d7-4a51-a4af-2de4c126e83b","content":"Bulk 5515 55 125De\"'elopment of inbred lines and hybrids. During the year 260 S2 lines of TZB, 60 S2 lines of TZB and 61 lines from NCRI were grown in the top-cross nursery for crossing to TZPB tester. Researchers rejected 86 lines on the basis of field observation and 120 lines were finally retained. Top crosses of these lines will be tested in a trial at two or three locations in 1978 early season to select the top 10-20 lines based on their general combining ability. In the meantime, 10 lines were selected on the basis of field observation and 20 assorted single crosses were produced in the dry season of 1977 using the remnant seed of these lines. [n addition, 15 single crosses were produced by crossing some other introduced, in bred lines which were found to be promising in the 1976 introduction nursery. These single cross hybrids will be tested in a yield trial and compared with TZB and TZPB composites in 1978 early season.The high es t-yielding full sib rrZ PB F.S. 138) yielded 583 1 kg / ha which is 25 percent h ig he r than TZ PB check cuhi va r included in the sam e tri al. Mean of se lected 20 fam ilies was 5 170 whi ch is about II percen t higher than the }' icld of TZPB. The new se t of full sibs developed in 1977 wi ll be grown in 1978 for yield evaluatio n and fo r ini t iati ng the secon d cycle of seiL'Clion for efficien t plants. On ly t hose fam ilies whic h give pro mising perform a nce a re selected 10 initiate new cycle of selecti on agai n under low plant d ensity.In additio n to TZPS Composi te, F2 generation of Tropi ca l X SA ge rmplasm devel oped in 1976 was also p lanted in 1977 to select for e ffi cient plants under wide spacing. TZB and TZ PB were used as the t ropi ca l ma terial a nd corn bell hybrids as USA germplas m .Plants with th e USA hybrid lype arc hitecture possessing field tolerance to tropical ru st a nd blight diseases were selected and subjccted to d ry mailer a na lys is 1O determ ine g rain /stove r ratio. Selected fu ll sibs a nd half sibs wi ll be eva lu a ted for yield in a replicated trial in 1978.Ano ther app roach fo r achievin g oc tt er ph ysio logica l efficie ncy in trop ical ma ize was to select for pro lific ( two ears / plant ) plant type. Preliminary studi es show lha t frequency of plants with high effi cie ncy and hi g h yiel d occurs more often in the pro lifi c fami lies. Pl ants with two good size ea rs with no or fe\\\\' unprodu cti ve extra ear initials or ear proliferation were selec te d rrom 1976 TZPB plan ti ngs. These 162 ears we re gTown under wide spacin g ( 7.5 cm X 100 cm ) as hair-si b ramilies and a sccond round or sel ect ion ror t\\\\'o-cared p lants was d one in 1977 first season. One hundred plan ts each o r selected ears were planted as haIr-sib famil ies in 197i, second year under wide spaci ng. Selecti on for two-ear plants was done in the selected ram ilies. Se lected plants were se lfed and se lred ears from p la nt s whi ch had twO reason abl y good ears wi ll be grown as ear-lO-row in 1978 to develop -5 2 li nes and rull -si b ramil ies a m o ng prolific pl anlS.Developm en t of po pu lations resistant to ma ize st reak virus. Since the sources of resistance iden tified in 1976 and confirmed in 1977 were not vigoro us and were agTo no mi ca ll y unaccep ted , the major thrust du ring 1977 was to combine hig h-yield pot ential and resistance to streak. In a dditi on to the twO sources o r resista nce, IB 32 a nd La Revolu ti on , several o ther 5 1 and S2 lines rro m the base populatio n TZY were identified which were segregatin g fo r a high level or resistance.All suc h lines or IB 32, IB 33 and IB 34 were pla nted in the scree nhouse and we re su bjected to streak inocul a t ion. Thc resista nt plants were bulk-sib bed in the screenhouse. The sib seed was planted in two la rge blocks in the field as ye llow and white grain bulks. Further reco m bin ation was accomplished by pla nt-to-plant se lecti ve sibbing utilizing agron omica ll y superior plan ts. One-hundred-a nd -sixty .t\\,,•Q e ars in white a nd 212 ears in yello\"\" bu lk \\\"ere finall y selected and planted as ear-to-row using w ide spacing fo r ind ividua l pl ant selcction in the selected families. All the 374 ears were also planted in the screen house to monito r the res istance t o streak. Based on ramily reactio n to streak in t he scree nhousc, full sibs among agronom ically superior p la nts were produced in bo th yellow and white populations in the field , a nd 189 ru 1\\ sibs in while and 292 rull sibs in ye llow po pulation were finall y retai ned. All 48 1 ru ll sibs in white a nd yell ow gTa in popul a tion were tested in a replicated yield lrial and also wcre planted in the screenhouse to tes t the yield potent ial a nd level of resistan cc. There we rc several full-sib ramilies whic h yielded more than 3000 kg / ha a nd were having a ra ting of 2.0 (re-4 Sever; ; ]1 si ng le crosses of maize we re prod uced by crossing so me oth er int rod uced, in bred lines wh ich wcre foun d to be promising in th e 1976 introd uction nu rser y. sistant ) fo r strC<.'lk in the screcnho use . Ten bes t ramili es in the white popu la tio n and 10 in t he ye llow popu la t ion have been chain-<:rossed to dcvelo p TZS R (w hit e ) and TZSR (yellow ) composit es . Enough seed of these composites is being produ ccd ro r multil oca ti o na l tes tin g du ri ng 1978 seco nd season .In a dditi on. se lec tcd plants in agronomica ll y superio r fu ll -sib famil ies have been se lfed to producc 5. lines. A large n umber or m ate rials sent rro m UTA to the nationa l maize progTam in Zaire a re bell er than thci r improved c ult ivaI' which was plantcd every I;:) row s alon g wi th thcse materia ls.Co nve rsio n progra m . Seventeen hi gh-yielding lro pi ca l co mposit cs in clud ing itS, TZPB, 096EP6 a nd S 123 from Nigeria a nd 10 C IMMYT experimen tal c ult ivars we re tcsted earlie r a nd found promi sin g in Africa. UCA from Tan 7.a nia , C4 fro m G hana , and Madagasca r cultivar rrom Zambia \\\\'ere se lccted for convcnin g th ese cuiti vars to streak resista nce. The sl\" cak res istant rull sibs e xhibi ted e pidemio logical field res istance under natural inocula t io n and spread .In the scrcen ho use where in oculati on is ens urcd , so me F I rows sho\\ .. 'ed uni rorm in tcrmediate reaction t o st reak. where as man y showed segregation fo r susce ptibilit y. Thc agrono m ically superior plants in a ll F I ear-to-TOw were self-pollinated in the field . Th ese S I lines will be grown ear-tO-row in t he field and will be inoculated by rel easi ng \\,iru li re ro us lea nlo ppers and t he selec ted p la nts in the se lected S. lines will be cTOssed to d eve lo p a new se t or rull sibs.Borer resi.stan ce. Two bu lks, white a nd ye llow grained, made rrom the surviva l plants under hig h na tura l infes tati o n of StSlUnw calamtstis borer at Umudike we re p la nt ed at I badan in 1976 and agronomicall y superior plants were sel rcd and utilized in developi ng full -sib famili es.Selected pl ants in ramilics showi ng a good level of rcsista nce in twO replications wcre eithe r sclfe<! or crossed to gene rate new se t or rull-sib ra m ilies and 75 full si bs in white and yellow grain populations were finall y retained. These full-sib ramilies were p lanted in the re pli cated lri a l fo r yield evaluation in th e d ry season 1977 at Ibadan. The top .50 percem will be selected and the remnant seed will be planted at Umudike in 1978 for the next cycle of selection.International testing. Maize is widely grown in several ecosystems all over Africa with different stress situations limiting maize yields. An international program that aims to produce elite germplasm with wide adaptation cannot safely rely upon selection and testing in anyone location. International testing of full-sib families generated in two high-yielding base populations TZB and TZPB was initiated in 1977. Full-sib progenies were sent to Cameroon, Republic of Benin, Togo, Guinea Bissau, Upper Volta, Sao Tome, Sierra Leone and Liberia.These were also grown at Ikenne and Onne (high-rainfall areas), Mokwa and Ibadan (transitional and savanna areas), Zaria (Guinea savanna area) and Umudike in Nigeria. In addition, materials for specific objectives \"• .. •ere also sent to five countries. For example, streak resistant material was sent to Ghana and Tanzania, high lysine material to Liberia, and promising germpJasm to The Gambia and Burundi.Families selected by such an international testing network would be combined with an objective of developing a widely adapted Tropical 'White lntermediate Dent (TWID) composite. A new set of families will be developed and sent again to various locations for the second cycle of selection.With the same objective, the 28 most promising composites, developed at IITA or identified through introduction nurseries and CIMMYT trials of 1976, were selected and tested in a yield trial at several locations. Table 3 gives the perfonnance of promising composites at two locations. Milho Maya, La Maquina 7422, Tlaltizapan 7322 and Poza Rica 7422 were found to be promising at both the locations.Based on these results and other observations at UTA, three composites designated as TZ 7801, TZ 7802 and TZ 7803 and two hybrids have been entered in the national zonal maize trial to be conducted at 16 locations in 1978 first season. The Table 3. Grain yield (kglha) of promising composites tested in 1977.TZB. Two-hundred-and-sixty-five S 1 lines developed in 1976 were evaluated in replicated yield trial at Ibadan and Mokwa in Nigeria. Based on the data for yield, usable ears, ear height and tolerance to diseases and insects 4j lines were selected. Performance of the selected lines, as compared to base population TZB is given in Table 4. Remnant seed of these lines was planted in the dry season of 1977 recombination. Recombined ears will be planted in early season 1978 for selfing the selected plants to initiate the eighth cycle of selection in this composite.TZPB. During the first season 1977, 12j S, lines produced in 1976 were tested in replicated trials at two locations, lbadan and Samaru. Twenty-eight lines were selected and remnant seed planted in isolation for recombination. The yield and other agronomic characters of some lines selected in 1977 trial are given in Table 4.TZ Yellow. One-hundred-and-eighty-five S, lines of TZY were planted in a trial and 25 lines were finally selected. Remnant seed of these lines which was kept in seed store showed very poor germination. Open pollinated ears of selected lines will therefore be used for initiating new cycle of selection in this composite.TZ Opaque. A modified S 1 line recurrent selection scheme was used to improve TZ02 composite. Recombined ears were planted ear-to-row in the first season 1977 to self the agronomically superior plants. One-hundred-and-thirty S, ears were selected and these were evaluated in a replicated trial in the dry season of 1977. Severe lodging due to bad weather was experienced. Lines selected on the basis of yield and other agronomic characters will be used for next cycle of selection in 1978.CIMM\\'T international testing. Three Elite Variety Trials (ELVT), namely ELVT 18, 19 and 20 received from CIMMYT, Mexico, were planted in the second season 1977. These trials could not be planted in the first season due to late release. All the data collected from these trials have been returned to CIMMYT for compilation.In a similar cooperative activity 160 F 1 ear~to-rows of promising composites crossed to downy mildew resistant materials were grown at UTA in the dry season 1977, for the NCR I [bad an. These F 1 crosses were grown at I1TA for advancing to F 2 generation by selective sibbing. The F 2 seed produced will be returned to NCRI for further work in 1978 to produce populations resistant to downy mildew disease. Since the incidence of HY -HE was of 10\\'\" frequency in these maize populations such plants could arise by chance because of more favorable growth conditions at random places in the wide-spaced planting, indicating that HY -HE may not be a heritable trait.Factors influencing yield of maize. Maize yield differences between temperate and tropical areas have been attributed in part to higher night respiration losses associated with the higher night temperatures of the humid tropical zone, To explore the advisability of germ plasm selection for low night respiration rates, overnight dry weight loss was measured in the field in a maize stand at intervals spanning the life of the crop. , . . The results showed that maize in the humid tropical environment is a conservative plant with respect to carbon con• sumption for respiration. Figure 1 shows the dusk-to-dawn dry weight decrease of the whole plant. Thus maize yield differences between the temperate zone and the humid tropics cannot be attributed to high night respiration losses. Screening for even more conservative carbon consumption is considered to be unimportant.Influence of radiation on ear development and grain survi. val. One factor which reduces potential yield of tropical maize is the abortion of grains. This is observed in the field by the incidence of barren second ears on two-eared plants and by abortion of terminal grains on the cob of the first eaT. An understanding of factors leading to grain abortion and the way in which selection could be made against that character was required. Previous work had indicated that the environment of the ear with respect to radiation was of importance, and this was investigated.Two approaches were used to vary light receipt of the ear.Results of the artificial shading experiment showed no significant differences in gra~n numbers per plant irrespective of light receipt of the ear, but the significant increases in grain yield were found to be a result of thinning at time of silking.The main findings of the experiment are summarized in Table j. The key difference between the plant stand in the A strategy for achieving a better physiological efficiency in tropical maize, such as selecting for prolific plant type, is being pursued. close planting (T2) and the thinned plants (T3) was in the incidence of second ears. Only 10 percent of the plants in T2 supported two ears whereas in T3, 72 percent of the stand had two mature ears per plant at final harvest. This was the source of yield improvement in T3. Table 5 shows that the characteristics of both first and second ears in T2 and T3 are very similar in respect of grain numbers and grain size. As shown in Table 6, the percentage partitioning of dry weight in various plant parts was similar in all cast'S. As a result of thinning, there were significant increases in the weight of leaves below the first ear and in the lower stem. It was concluded that while radiation environment of the ear does not directly influence ear development, the environment of the leaf canopy immediate to the ear is very im port ant. I t apparently produced the additional assimilates that were used in grain development and probably provided some type of hormonal stimulus to ensure that grain survival rather than grain abortion occurred.The effect of leaf removal on wide-and dose-spaced plantings of maize was also examined. Leaf removal markedly altered the incidence of mature two-eared plants in both wide-and closer-spaced plantings (Table 7). Removal of middle leaves at time of silking had the most severe effect. but other treatments also reduced second ear incidence. This experiment did not produce any clearer understanding of the underlying causes of grain abortion and no information was gained on how the overall plant type of tropical maize should be modified to reduce grain abortion. \"\"Leaf at first ear node called O. Nodes above, +, nodes below, Lower leaf was from -3, -4 and -5 nodes, middle leaf was from 0, -J and -2 rwdes and upper leaf was frTJm + 2, + 3, + 4 nodes.8Maize streak virus (MSV)Host plant resistance evaluation. About 30,000 plants representing maize germ plasm from many sources were evaluated in four large screenhouses. Plants were exposed to viruliferous leafhoppers from germination to flowering. A susceptible check (l.\"pper Volta or TZB) and a resistant check (IB 32) were planted every 10th and 11th row to monitor the level and timing of transmission and the virulence of the virus.Several maize populations from CIMMYT were evaluated for their reaction to maize streak virus. All the populations were highly susceptible, thus selection of tolerant plants was not possible.Several elite experimental cultivars from CIl\\.1MYT which are high-yielding and well adapted in several African countries were evaluated with the idea of combining resistance and yield. None of the four cultivars tested had any tolerant plants and are at present in a conversion program to introduce resistance to :MSV.Various SI lines from Tropical Late \\Vhite Dent selected under field conditions in Tanzania were evaluated using the screenhouse method and inoculation technique (48 hours with two vectors/plant). The entries tested were 8 1 lines whose field reaction to .MSV was designated as ;'slow spread.\" Regardless of the method used no tolerant plants were identified in any of the SI lines tested.De\\'elopment of inbred lines. Several plant selections from TZ Yellow population and La Revolution have been selfed and tested for their reaction to MSV under screenhouse conditions. TZ Yellow S3 lines which have a uniform reaction to MSV have been produced; these will be re-exposed to deVelop S4 lines, and eventually selfal to establish inbred lines. Plant selections from La Revolution have been selfed to generate 8 2 lines, these lines will be selfed for two more generations to develop S4 lines. The reaction of several of these lines is presented in Table 8. In general selections were made against drought, iron toxicity, iron deficiency, leaf scald, brown spot, leaf and neck blast, sheath blight, sheath blotch, sheath rot and other panicle diseases. Some of the physiological and agronomic characters being considered are good vigor, large panicles, big grain size, good grain quality, non-shattering clean grains, plant type and growth duration. From the three main sites the following lines and families were selected: 928F 9, 363F 4, 143F s , 64F 6. Several of these lines were higher-yielding than their checks; an example are some F4lines at UTA (Table 9). Short-duration preliminary variety trial. In a preliminary variety trial both in Nyankpala, Ghana, Makassa, Sierra Leone, and Ibadan, Nigeria, cultivars were evaluated. The data on Tables 10, 11 and 12 show the best 10 in each location. These will be used as parents and for replicated yield trials in 1978. Two of the entries IB 101 and TOs 4120 were top yielders in two locations. TOs 4120 was free of any major deficiency at Makassa. TOs 4153-B-2 was top-yielding at both UTA and Nyankpala, Ghana.Medium-duration preliminary variety trial Many cultivars were evaluated at Nyankpala, Ghana, Makassa, Sierra Leone and Ibadan, Nigeria. The best 10 at each location are shown in Tables 13, 14, 15. LS(24)-5-NI-4 was outstanding in two locations. The best will enter the regular yield trials in 1978.Screening of promising dryland lines_ Two groups with short and medium growth duration were planted in Ikenne, but      B151-b-kn-19-3~1 were superior to the check cultivars at more than one location. These will be evaluated in the coordinated yield trial during 1978.    26 and 27) for further evaluations in a replicated yield trial.Replicated yield trials. There were many replicated yield trials carried out in different places especially in Sierra Leone.An example is a yield trial in January sowing at Mange (Table 28).During June-November at the same site some other cultivars were entered in a replicated yield triaL Many cultivars were significantly higher-yielding than ADNY 11, the check (Table 29).Outstanding lines. IR1416-131•5, identified in Liberia and ADNY 11 reselected in Sierra Leone, as high-yielding, blast resistant cultivars, can be recommended for cultivation for improved, non-iron-toxic swamps and irrigated conditions with good water control. ADNY 11 was reselected from Colombia lines. It remained immune to neck blast for several seasons and yielded well in both irrigated and hydromorphic conditions in \"Vest Africa.Effect of seed soaking on dryland rice. In an experiment at IITA pre-germinated rice remained viable for 30 or more days when stored at room temperature. The seed was soaked for 24 hours and then incubated for a further 24-hour period before drying. The dried, germinated rice was seeded in a prepared dryland seedbed at two~ay intervals, Some yield reduction was noted from the plots planted five days after germination, but then yields were quite stable from plots planted through the next 15 days. The major difference in plant physiology was in number of tillers, and this probably accounts for most of the yield difference, Seedlings from the germinated rice emerged in two or three days while seedlings from dry rice planted at the same time emerged in five to seven days. This could give an advantage to the germi'nated seedlings during seasons of little rainfall.Yield and plant characteristic data are given in Table 30.  It can be concluded that Gissi 27, the cultivar previously tested and found to be resistant to iron toxicity, could be recommended as a replacement for BD 2 in inland swamps.Transplanting of Gissi 27 produced a yield just as good as broadcasting. For good yields, nurseries should be sown by mid-June and transplanting done by the first week in July.Different methods of direct seeding were tested against transplanting using the cultivar BD 2. The grain yield data and response of treatments over control are presented in Tables 39, 40 and 4 L Beushening had varying effects on the two methods of direct sowing, but none of these differences was statistically significant. Line sowing was significantly superior to broadcasting (Table 40).The effect of the age of seedlings on the yield of the transplanted crop is presented in Table 41. In conclusion, line sowing is better than broadcasting but transplanting is best. Transplanting twenty-day-old seedlings is better than transplanting at 40 days. Rectangular planting (20 X 10 em) was distinctly superior to random planting.The grain yield data presented in Tables 42, 43 and 44 show that the yield increased with increasing fertilizer levels up to N8C> P4{J K 40 . The highest responses to fertilizer were obtained where straw was plowed or burne,d (Table 43).These data indicate that liming increases the pH and reduces the'toxic effect of iron and increases the yield significantly, In addition, the incorporation of straw by either burning or  Drainage and application of basic slag. The experiment involving surface drainage of the soil and the application of different levels of phosphorus in the form of basic slag , ... as repeated in the inland valley swamp at !v:lagbolontor. Two adjacent fields of the swamp were used for laying out 1\\'1.'0 separate experiments. One was kept in the natural condition, completely water-logged. The other field was freely drained with channels dug around each of the treatments creating oxidized condition of the surface soil. The cultivar Mahsuri was used in this experiment.The grain yield data and treatment response are presented in Table 45.In conclusion, surface drainage resulted in 45 percent increase in yield. In poorly drained swamps, application of basic slag alone at 40kg P 2 0s increased the yield by nearly 100 percent.For well drained soils, balanced application of NPK at N 40 P4()K 40 increased yield by 72 percent.Fertilizer requirement for iron toxic swamp. Fertilizer treat• ments involving nitrogen (urea), phosphorus (single super• phosphate) and potassium (muriate of potash), applied at different levels singly and in combination were set in an ex• periment in the inland valley swamp at Magbolontor in the wet season of 1976. Treatments involving lime alone (4 t/ha), basic slag alone (P 4o/ha) and control were also included. The experiment was repeated on the same location in the wet season 1977. The grain yield data and treatment responses are presented in Tables 46 and 47.In iron toxic swamp, a high dose of phosphorus is necessary to counteract the effects of iron toxicity and to give good yields. The incorporation of low levels of nitrogen (N4()) and moderate level of potassium (K. w to Koo) respectively also increased the yield significantly.Yield maximization. An experiment was designed using the cultivar ADKY 11 with treatments involving drainage, fer• tilizer (NgOP40K40), and soil amendments of straw (4 t/ha) and lime (2 t /ha). Basic slag was used as the source of phos. phorus. The objective was to test the effects of individual components of an intermediate package of cultural practices on the grain yield of rice in inland swamp. Two adjacent fields of the swamp were used. The grain yield data and the relative contribution of each of the main cultural practices are presented in Tables 48 and 49.Among the various production factors influencing rice yields in the inland valley swamp, the contribution of surface drain• age is the highest, followed by soil amendments (straw burn• ing plus liming) and fertilizer in that order.Sources of phosphorus. The first international trial on sources of phosphorus in flooded rice was conducted during the wet season of 1977 in the inland swamp at Magbolontor, as a part significant effect of plant spacing on grain yield of rice cultivan; included in this study. Nitrogen showed significant interaction with plant spacing (Table 52). Yield maximization. This experiment was initiated in the wet season of 1977 to identify the optimum combination of cultural practices (weeding, fertilizer application and methods of transplanting) for rice production under irrigated ecology.The results (Table 55) indicated that methods of transplanting did not significantly affect grain production. Under the non-fertilizer treatment the difference between chemical weeding and manual weeding was not significant. \\\"'ith moderate fertilization, however, chemical weeding was superior to hand weeding.The effect of sulfur. Chlorosis of rice on transitional soils (between hydromorphic and dry land) has been thought to be a result of nitrogen deficiency. Rice was planted in soil from a hydromorphic valley bottom and soil from dryland above the valley and subjected to the two moisture regimes of flooding and saturation. Vv•hen nitrogen was the limiting factor, yield reduction was constant through the two moi!iture regimes. When sulfur was the limiting factor, yields varied greatly between the moisture treatments. Yidd reduction was greatest when the dryland soil was flooded and when the hydromorphic soil was saturated. Yidd reduction was slight when the valley soil was flooded or when the dryland soil was saturated. This will be !itudied further in 1978.Availability of zinc. Incorporating straw into the soil at harvest time had no influence on the availability of zinc through four seasons at Ibadan, Nigeria. No significant differences were found in rice plots treated with NPK alone, NPK + straw, KPK + zinc, and NPK + straw + zinc.Effect or spacing. Two spacing trials were carried out with two different irrigated cultivars at UTA. lET 1444 is less leafy and more erect than BG 90-2 which is quite leafy and produces more tiller:s. lET 1444 showed no significant difference between the five spacings but in the case of BG-90-2, the differences were highly significant. Highest yields were obtained with the closed spacing of 20 x 20 cm followed by the spacing of 30 x 15 cm ( In a \\VARDA co-ordinated varietal trial conducted at Suakoko with 14 medium-duration cultivars, 4418 -an introduction from Colombia -out yielded LAC 23 {white). However, the plant type of this cultivar is not suited to peasant farm dryland condition in Liberia. It can, however, be used as a parent in the breeding program.Although none of the short-duration cultivars (TOs 2583, TOs 2581, 63-83, >155, M18 and IRAT 13) was found superior at all locations, TOs 2581, TOs 2583 and IRAT 13 were found to be higher-yielding than others at Suakoko, Zleh Town and Voinjama. However, IRAT 13, 63-83, ~55 and .M 18 were again observed to be highly susceptible to the sheath rot and sheath blotch diseases in Liberia, and their yield was reduced. Some of these lines have been crossed with LAC 23 to combine their high yield potential with disease resistance.Irrigated rice. In Liberia during 1977, medium-duration elite cultivars were evaluated on multilocation basis in replicated yield trials under upland and lowland conditions. The seven sites of Suakoko, Foya, Kolahun, Voinjama, Bong Mines, Zleh Town and Cestos Agriculture Project were selected because of their importance in rice research and deVelopment activities.Varietal trials under lowland conditions. Among the mediumduration cultivars (130-150 days) evaluated, none of the cultivars was superior at all the locations; however, cultivars IR 2071-586-5-3, Brengut, IR 2055-473-2-1, Improved rvlahsuri, IR5 and Suakoko 8 were found promising enough to be tested in the on-farm trials (Table 59). Improved Mahsuri, Suakoko 8 and Brengut are semi-tall to tall, have moderate tillering and medium-long to long (26-28 cm) panicles, whereas the other cultivars have semi-dwarf to intermediate-height and medium to medium-long (24-26 cm) panicles. All of these cultivars showed resistance to moderately susceptible reaction to the major stress factors of neck blast, sheath rot, sheath blight, glume discoloration, leaf scald and iron toxicity. Except at Suakoko during dry season, none of the cultivars was significantly higher-yielding than IRS.In a \\VARDA co-ordinated varietal trial, Improved Mahsuri was promising among medium-duration cultivars.Among the short-duration cultivars (less than 130 days) none of those tested showed consistently superior performance at all the locations. However, some ofthe short-duration cultivars IR 2053-94-1-2, CR 12-178, IR 2053-407-2-1, IR 2035-120-3 and CS  Under improved practices of cultivation which consisted of application of fertilizer (l\"60P wKto kg/ha), line sowing and weeding, there was an improvement in rice yields as compared to traditional practice of cultivation, whether it was the farmers' cultivar or an im proved one.On uplands, ni tragen application between 20 and 100 kgN /ha gave a response of 20 to 15 kg per kg of K applied. Response The common practice of retaining excess water after irrigation was adopted in Kana. One of the treatments in Sokoto was ~looPO (split), which gave a yield of 1680 kg/ha.The frequency and duration of harmattan during the growing season was more favorable than in the previous year, hence the farmers had a good harvest even in cases of delayed planting. ]n general, the trials in Borno and Sakata appeared better organized with better results. Shortage of water at critical stages of growth and poor management in general contributed to poor crops in Hadejia, Kazaure and Dambatta areas in Kano State.Cultivar 301 x Son-Pi appears promising compared to the traditional Siette cerros, and it has been planned to further test it in trials in 1978. Its bread making quality is being checked at Oshodi in Lagos and if acceptable, the cultivar may become popular.The response to fertilizer dose K 1001'50 (N in split application) does not seem to have improved over single basal application of the same dose at Kadawa, considering the high soil permeability and high frequency of irrigation, this appears to merit checking during the next season.The farmers apparently drained all the plots after irrigation, hence the poor drainage plot did not suffer as expected.N Particular attention is drawn to the strap-or narrow-leaved lines (indicated by (s) in the table) which were among the highest yielders in both trials in which they were included, suggesting a real advantage over traditional broad-leaved types. In Trial 1 TVx 289-4G averaged 1400 kg seed/ha, 29 percent higher than the controls.However, there were highly significant interactions between the lines and their environments. Much of the variation could be accounted for by the regression of individual cultivars on environment mean yields which indicated that VITA-I, for example, does not appear to respond to improved conditions while TVx 2713-2C and some other lines are relatively better than average in these situations.Population improvement. Population improvement methods involving genetic male sterility are being used to develop recurrent selection methods in a naturally self-pollinated crop. The system involves sub-populations selected for specific characteristics such as disease and insect resistance, and seed protein, from which lines are incorporated in to back-up or main populations to upgrade agronomic characters before entering the routine breeding and testing program. The generalized system is illustrated in Figure 1.In 1977 the disease, insect and back-up populations underwent their fourth, second and fifth cycles respectively. The number of crosses achieved totalled more than 100,000. Intercropping. Thirty lines were grown as a sole crop and in association with cereals at UTA (second seasons) and Funtua in northern Nigeria and Ouagadougou (Upper Volta).In the first season at Ibadan, sale crop cowpea was compared with cowpea and maize sown simultaneously. Owing to ..,.0  Green pod yields of nearly 30 tlha were obtained from TVu 1209 with TVu 3654 producing the lowest yields. Taste tests indicated, however, that TVu 1209 \\\\/as least prererred while FARV-J3 was the most acceptable to consumers. The lines differed significantly in total sugar percentage and there were indications of a correlation between taste ranking and total sugars. Data from the other locations are yet to come.During 1977, emphasis continued to be placed on the identification of multiple virus resistance in cowpea, and on earlygeneration screening of cowpea breeding material.Work was begun on the etiology and epidemiology of whiteflyborne virus diseases in legumes. Results from cooperative \\ .... ork at CIAT have provided evidence that a golden mosaic in lima bean in Nigeria is closely related serologically to the bean golden mosaic virus \\\\-'hich has been purified and shown to possess doublet particles. A golden mosaic of cowpea in southeastern Nigeria has been shown to be transmitted by whiteflies; similar symptoms have been observed in cowpeas in Kenya, Tanzania and ~iger. Cowpea (yellow) mosaic virus was serologically identified from cowpeas in a farmer's field in Togo and southern bean mosaic virus was similarly found in the Guinea Savanna of Ghana.Recent cooperative work with the University of Ife has con~ centrated on the greenhouse screening of elite multiple disease resistant lines in the International Cowpea Disease Nursery (ICDN) for resistance to southern bean mosaic virus (SBMV), cowpea aphi~-bome mosaic virus (CAMV) and cowpea mottle virus (CMeV). Twelve lines combine resistance to cowpea (yellow) mosaic virus (identified previously) with SBMV and CAMV resistance, while five lines possess resistance to all four viruses. Field screening during 1977 first season at lIT A's high-rainfall station at Gnne, Port Harcourt, has identified numerous sources of resistance to the whiteflyborne golden mosaic which is epidemic at Gnne. Three lines have been found to possess resistance to all five viruses which, together, are amongst the most important in African cowpeas. These results are summarized in Table 5.The cooperative work in the University of He on resistance to SBMV is reported fully elsewhere, and a report of results from the ICDN for 1975-77 is being compiled.28 The ICDN, grown in 20 countries to date, is in its fourth year. It was established to identify broad-spectrum, stable resistance by exposing lines found to possess multiple disease resistance under Ibadan conditions to various environments and pathogen populations. Essential reports received so far are summarized here.Locations have been found which favor the development of natural epidemics of certain diseases not present at Ibadan; testing at these sites has permitted the identification of resistance which is additional to those already reported. Thus, trials in Malawi and Zambia have demonstrated the widespread susceptibility of the current ICDN lines to Ascochyta blight which is a locally devastating disease in parts of eastern Africa. Three entries appear to possess low susceptibility to Ascochyta. The identity of these lines, and of others found to be resistant to other locally important diseases including Fusarium wilt, root knot nematode and Synchytrium are shown in Table 6. The number of lines which mmbine some of these additional resistances with resistance to six major diseases is summarized in Table 7. Thus, lines ha .... e been identified possessing combined resistance to at least eight fungal and bacterial pathogens, some of them additionally being resistant to viruses.  274,310,316,393,408•2, 1563 612, 1258•1, 1962, 2455•2, 4540 264•2. 401. 857, 1560 43, 222, 612, 647, 984, 1081, 1330. 2331, 2480, 2897. 3433, 4535, 4537. 4544, 4j45, 4546. 4569, 6666, TVx 157•IE Differential reactions have been obtained with several major diseases including anthracnose, rust, powdery mildew and bacterial blight. Similar differential responses have been Pod sucking bugs. The germ plasm collection was also screened in the field for resistance to a complex of pod sucking bugs.Eight cowpea cultivars showed resistance to damage (fable 9). These cultivars along with a local check were subsequently tested for resistance in replicated field trials in which plants were protected up to 40 DAP by spraying N uvacron at 400 g a.i./ha per application at 15, 30 and 40 DAP. Maize and tall pigeon pea plants were planted in the field for attracting A. curvipes and R. tkntipes for egg laying. The results confirmed that the eight cultivars identified in the initial screening were moderately resistant.Insecticides-high-volume application. Nine insecticides were compared for control of cowpea pests (Table 10). All were applied at 500 g a.i./ha except for the synthetic pyrethroids-Decis, Ambush and Sumicidin which were applied at the rate of 25.0, 50.0 and 100 g a.i.lha respectively. Insecticides were applied at 25, 35, and 45 DAP on Prima cowpeas. The number of leafhoppers, and the damage caused by flower thrips and pod borers were significantly lower in all the Phenology of cowpeas. Flowering of Nigerian cowpea had been demonstrated to be cultivars controlled by their response to photoperiod, local cultivars flowering at the end of the rains at their latitude of origin. Because in vVest Africa the rains begin later and finish earlier with distance north and inland from the coast local cultivars of cowpea exhibit different degrees of photosensitivity depending on their origin.To examine the response more closely, 29 lines collected from latitudes 5°N to 15°N in Nigeria and Niger, were sown on six dates during the year at UTA (7°N latitude) and on two dates at three locations further north. From observations 32 on these lines and on five standard cultivars at IITA, five categories of photoperiod response can be distinguished (Table 15). The most sensitive Lines failed to flower when sown in April; when sown in August they did not flower until late October. Moderately sensitive lines began to flower when sown in April, but as the daylength increased they became vegetative again. Sensitive lines flowered and set fruit in natural day lengths ,\"vhenever they were sown, but did not flower in the artificially extended photoperiod (13 1 /2 hI'S.). A 131f2-hr. photoperiod delayed flower development of slightly sensitive lines by 4-10 days but had no effect on flowering date of insensitive cultivars.Data from these studies at !ITA and at one other site have been used to estimate the date and hence the photoperiod at which induction of reproductive growth occurs. For this it was assumed from other observations that the interval from initiation to anthesis is 31 days. No correction for temperature has been made since night temperatures at the two sites differed by only 2°C. The calculation showed that very sensitive lines initiated flowers at a photoperiod of 12 hrs. 31 mins., or shorter; moderately sensitive lines at photoperiods of 12 hrs. 50 mins., or less.Cultivars from northern latitudes were usually the least sensitive to photoperiod, but included a few very sensitive and moderately sensitive lines. These would yield well only in seasons of abnormally prolonged rain or if sown on soils with a large water storage capacity that would allow them to continue growth beyond the end of the rainy season.Yield physiology. To investigate whether light limits the yield of cowpea in the field at Ibadan, the broad-leaved erect cowpea cultivar TVx 1193-10F was grown in rows 1 m apart with white aluminum reflectors placed to direct radiation into the base of the canopy. Light from the reflectors amounted to 25 percent of incident radiation during the middle of the day, compared with 6 percent from bare soil. Although there was no significant effect on plant dry weight or leaf area, the reflectors produced a 10-percent yield increase when placed in the crop from flowering to maturity or from mid-podfill to maturity (Table 16). When the experiment was repeated with a narrow-leaved cultivar (TV x 332-4G), the reflectors had no effect on yield. The difference between these two results suggests that the narrow-leaved plants allowed better distribution of light within the canopy and to the lower leaves. A further experiment will be conducted in 1978 to verify the results. Tolerance to acid soils. The role of legumes in cropping systems in the lowland tropics depends partly on legume tolerance to acid soils. Studies begun in 1975 to determine the reaction of different cowpea lines to isolated factors of the soil acidity complex were continued.ones becomes obvious , .... hen they are adopted together with improved management practices. This was well illustrated in a number of fanners' field trials conducted in western Nigeria.The local cultivar, when fertilized bu t not protected against insect damage, gave no yield at all, but the improved cultivars (particularly ER-I) gave 500 kg/ha of seed. TVx 930-OIB gave twice the yield of the local cultivars when protected against insects. By far the best yields were obtained when ER-l and TVx 930-01B were fertilized and protected -at this level of management they produced four times the yield of the local cultivar (Table 18). The principal objectives of soybean breeding are to combine the good seed storability and germinability, and capacity to fix nitrogen, in association with native rhizobia of Asiatic lines with the resistance to lodging and shattering and heavy yield potential of materials from the U.S.A. Disease and insect resistance are also being incorporated.Recombination and selection. The numbers of lines screened in the breeding nursery in 1977 are shown in Table 19.  Although common checks were not included, several lines produced very satisfactory mean yields across the three locations and will be tested further in 1978.Preliminary trials. Forty-two lines were . compared in three randomized block trials with three replications in the first and second seasons at Ibadan. The performances of the better lines compared with Bossier or Jupiter are summarized in Table 22.Despite reduced plant stand due to inherently poor seed storability, Bossier produced high yields in all trials. Nevertheless, some lines were significantly higher-yielding com bined with satisfactory levels of resistance to bacterial blight and lodging. Notable were the perfonnances of TGx 11-3E (Trial 3), the former producing a mean seed yield over 2 tJha.Advanced trials. Twenty-four advanced lines were compared in two randomized block trials with four replications in the first and second seasons at Ibadan. The performances of the best lines and controls are shown in Table 23.In Trial 1, Bossier was the highest yielder, despite reduced stand; and several lines were resistant to bacterial pustule. In Trial 2, several lines yielded significantly better than Jupiter and showed resistance to bacterial pustule.Uniform Trial. Twenty-six lines were compared in two randomized block trials with four replications at Ibadan in the first and second seasons. The yield performances of t he betteryielding lines are summarized in Table 24. Deterioration of seed viability during storage is a problem in the lowland tropics where ambient temperature and humidity are high. Varietal differences in storabiIity exist, but a method is needed to identify them quickly. To develop such a method, eight soybean cuItivars that differed in keeping quality were stored at ambient temperature (Ca, 27OC), 350C or 4CfC, and at a relative humidity of about 70 percent. Disused refrigerators into which heaters and thermostats had been in-36 . .•60'\" u z '\" '\" a:'\" \" '\"'\"\"' stalled were used as storage cabinets. A pan of water in the bottom of each cabinet maintained the desired humidity. Samples of seed were removed at intervals and sown in trays of soil to determine changes in the viability of seed. High temperature hastened the decline in seed viability, and the decline was more rapid with seed of Bossier and TGrn 686 than of TGm 737, which is consistent with earlier results (Figure 3). The viability of seed of cultivars having poor keeping quality fell sharply after three weeks at 40°C, after 6 weeks at 35OC, and after 12 weeks at ambient temperature. Therefore, rapid aging of seed at high temperature and high humidity can be used to distinguish between lines of good and poor seed-keeping quality.The main objectives continue to be the incorporation of golden mottle mosaic and green mottle mosaic resistance into high-yielding viny and bush lima beans.Germplasm evaluation. In the first season the agronomic and disease resistance characteristics of 335 viny and 91 bush lines were evaluated in non-replicated rows at Ibadan and 4 i were also grown at Dnne. The best of the new Jines will be evaluated again in 1978.Recombination and selection. The numbers of lines examined in breeding nurseries in 1977 are shown in Table 25.Table 25. Numbers of lima bean lims in nurseries, 1977.Cross series*Some lines also l:rown at Onne and lkenne.Cross series 1 and 2 include artificial and natural crosses, respectively between viny (v) and bush (b) germplasm lines exhibiting good yield and agronomic characteristics or resistance to golden yellow mosaic. Cross series 3 are intraspecific crosses between wild and cultivated forms of P. iU1l1ltus and cross series 4 are more recent crosses specifically to incorporate resistance to golden mottle mosaic or green mottle mosaic into high-yielding lines.In all the nurseries, plants showing symptoms of golden mosaic were removed and single plants were selected on the basis of freedom from Cercospora leaf spot and general appearance. Flowering notes and seed types were also recorded. Some single plants will be screened further in non-replicated plots at Ibadan in 1978.Yield Trials. The numbers of entries in yield trials in 1977 are shown in Table 26.  27.Seed yields and root knot scores were higher and days to flowering longer in the first than in the second season. In the Advanced trial, TP 1 174 yielded highest in both seasons to give a mean yield of 1600 kg of dry seed per hectare. In the Uniform trial, TPI 250B gave the highest yield for the second successive year. TPI lIlA in the Advanced trial maintained its high level of resistance to golden mosaic but had the lowes t seed yield.In contrast to previous years, TP 1 10 showed only a low level of resistance to golden mosaic. All other entries in the trials were highly susceptible. Significant differences were recorded for Cercospora leaf spot and root knot, with several line:.; exhibiting relatively low scores for these conditions. An important observation was the occurrence in both trials of significant negative correlations between seed yield and root knot score (r = -0.60, P >.05; r = 0.92, P > .01) suggesting that root knot nematode may be a major limiting factor to lima bean yields at Ibadan. The best lines from the trials will be tested further in 1978.Phase(Jlus lunatus with P. rilmsis and P. polystachyus continued in collaboration with the University of Gembloux in Belgium. Field plantings of early generations of both crosses were screened for diseases and pest incidence, yield and other agronomic characteristics and single plants have been selected for further observations in 1978. In addition, seed of intersown parental materials will be grown to check for natural hybrids.In Tanzania, USAID and !ITA scientists have identified high-yielding and multiple disease resistant lines of cowpea (SVS-3, VITA-4, Ife Brown and TVx 96&-OID). Good prog-38 ress has been made in incorporating the disease resistance with high yielding capability.Studies conducted involving surveys and management trials in farmers' fields have indicated insect pests as major can• straints in cowpea production. Meantime, pest management studies are underway for the control of cowpea pests.In Kenya, an aggressive research and management program has been initiated with national scientists at the University of Nairobi and the ministry of agriculture. This program is supplemented by basic research on insect resistant lines from the International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Nairobi, Kenya.Cowpea cultivars identifIed as resistant to leatboppers (Empoasca sp.) and to stem damage by Maruca teslulafis at lIT A will be further evaluated for resistance to these two pests in Kenya.Breeding nurseries and on• farm trials were successfully completed at several locations in \"Cpper Volta as part of a special food legume project made possible through a grant from the International Development Research Center (IDRC). The best selections from these trials consistently out yielded the best check cultivars by about 40 percent.In screening for root quality, the most recommendable is the root that shows the central primary xylem as the only prom~ inent woody vascular tissue.Texture profile and amylose content of cassava. Cassava is generally classified into sweet and bitter cultivars, based on the cyanide ron tent and the eating qualities. This basis of classification can be misleading especially when there appears to be an overlapping in cyanide content in sweet and bitter cultivars.Under optimal conditions, clearly defined textural characteristics do exist among certain categories or tissue types.Previous studies (1976) had established the major and minor textural characters in heax~treated cassava tissues. In generaL almost all cassava cultivars that are regarded as \"sweet\" show a \"mealy\" or floury texture. The \"bitter\" types are predominantly of a \"waxy\" texture.Intermediate or \"mixed\" texture also exists. A mealy tissue which contains a higher moisture can give rise to a \"soggy\" or wet texture. A \"gummy\" texture is the intermediate of mealy and waxy textural types. The major textural types of mealy, waxy and mixed or heterogeneous were evaluated for dry matter, starch and amylose contents.Mealy cassava cultivars have an average amylose content of 21 percent. This level of amylose is similar to those of yams (D. rotundatn) and potato (Solanum luberosa). Isunikankiyan, a popular mealy cassava cultivar has 21 percent amylose.The waxy types show amylose contents of about 15 percent. On the other hand, those clones which demonstrated heterogeneous textural characteristics have about 17 percent amylose.Gari as quality index. Gari is a grit derived from fresh cassava by grating, fermenting, de-watering and roasting. It is one of the principal forms in which cassava is utilized as human food in \\'\\1 est Africa. The cassava root has to undergo a series of processing operations to produce the pre-cooked grits, and several quality factors are affected or introduced by the gan process. One example is the partial removal of fiber during processingHigh vascular woodiness in a fresh cassava root not only affects the quality of the end product. but also affects the yield in processes where the excess fiber has to re removed Processing factors must be taken into consideration when relating gan quality to the ra' .... material.However, development of woodiness in the cassava is used as one of the screening indices. Table 5 shows how degrees of vascular woodiness can affect the quality of gari. Although sifting off fibrous material is done in the gari process, higher fiber levels persist in gari manufactured from very fibrous roots than from the least vascularly woody raw materials.Particle -water relationships. Some water-related quality factors of gaTl~ as a product, are:1. Ability to swell in water. 2. Water holding capacity.3. Water vapor sorption characteristics.Studies show that particle size in gari is related to the swelling capacity and the water holding capacity of the product. These results provide a guideline for sample preparation in a quality control program. Water sorption by gan also varies in relation to particle size. This information is relevant to the problems of packaging and storage as environments with relative humidity above 75 percent can adversely affect gari quality.Table 5. Fibrousness of cassava roots and effect on gari quality. Relatively, all D. roturulata lines showed higher degrees of mealiness. The undesirable textural characteristic; of waxiness, gumminess and jelliness were found in some D. rotundata clones.Enzymic browning and taste score. Phenolic activity, with respect to enzymic browning, was also applied to screening for quality in two major breeding families of D. rotundata (FL and MFS series). Most of the clones demonstrated minimal enzymic browning. Those which showed phenolic activity index beyond the value 13 were rejected. On the basis of taste score, 24 clones of D. rotundata (24.5 percent of total) could be rejected for astringent taste. In overall quality performance of the D. rotunda/a lines 91 percent of FL series and 94 percent of the MFS series were acceptable.About 60 clones of the Advanced, Uniform and Intermediate trials were evaluated for quality. In Table 6 are those cultivars which, on the basis of their superior qualities, are recommended highly for distributable accessions. Texture profile of sweet potato. There is more diversity in the texture of heat-treated sweet potatoes than in any other root crops under study. Texture profiles of the TIX and TIB series show that only 3 percent TIX and 17 percent of TIV clones showed a completely mealy texture. The TIB series were mealier than those of TIX.The negative textural characters of pithiness, graininess and lumpiness appeared to be more pronounced in the TIX clones than in those of TIB.Pigmentation and carotene content. A quantitative determination of total carotene content in sweet potato was carried out on typical cultivars. \\Vith the results as a guide, it is possible to estimate the carotene content of a done according to its exodermal and flesh color.Phenotypic categories and quality characteristics.. Representatives of five major phenotypic categories were evaluated for texture profile, sensory sweetness and total sugar content. \"Most of those with a creamy flesh (e.g. TIS 3247) have a mealy-lumpy texture, and are mildly sweet with total sugar content of about 5 percent (Table 7).[n Nigeria, the main insect problems of cassava were variegated grasshopper (Z07locerus owiegatu.s) , whitefly (Bem!'sia taban) and red spidermites (Ohj:o~'chus gossipiij, while outside the country green mite (Mo7lo7lychellus tanajoa) and mealybug (PhelUlcoccus maniholi) remained the main problems.Mealybug. The main emphasis of the mealybug program in Zaire is to identify sources for resistance in the IITA and local germplasm. At the same time a biological control program is under way and first releases \\\\lill be made in 1978.Green spidermite. The green spidermite has now reached the coast of Tanzania, Zanzibar and the east of Zaire. In Zanzibar, local and UTA germplasm collections were evaluated by local scientists for resistance. Several clones showed levels of resistance.Red spidermite. Spidermite infestation at Ibadan during 1977 was very high due to high temperatures and early starting dry Season. This provided ideal field screening conditions. The Table 7. Sweet potato phenotypes and sugar content.Latin American seedling nursery \\\\las screened for sources of resistance, and about 10 individual plants were identified as less attacked.Whiteflies. Thejoint experiment with the pathologis.t to study the relationship of whitefly population development in relation to CMD incidence was repeated on a smaller scale. Symptom development of CMD again followed whitefly population density. Highest incidence of the disease' was observed during May-June planting as that was the peak of the whitefly population.Variegated grasshopper. Of the 1976/77 cassava planting, 104 clones could be identified where no barkfeeding or even shootfeeding took place. These clones were replanted in two replications and at three different planting times: April, June and August. The three planting times were included to study defoliation by Zon.ourus on younger and older cassava. This should give an indication whether age and defoliation have any influence on yield.The major insect problem observed in sweet potatoes during 1977 was the weevil Cylas puncticollis. During September -October a ha\\\\lkmoth caterpillar made considerable leaf damage.Screening for resistance in the germ plasm over the past two years indicates that there are yet no major sources of tuber resistance. Minor differences could be found and the clones are now included in the breeding program.Apart from tuber screening, a leaf screening method has been developed for the field. The major idea of the method is to expose only a certain area of the leaf for feeding. The area fed is then measured by a leaf-area meter.The first results show that there are differences in the area consumed by the weevils on different clones. This indicates that leaves might be a good indicator also for measuring the level of tuber resistance. For stem screening, a field cage method is under testing. So far only one clone, TIS 1419, has shown a high degree of stem resistance.Cassava pests in Zaire include the cassava mealybug, Phenacoccus manihoti, l\\1at-Ferr., the cassava green mite, Monon),che-Ius tanajoa; these two being the major pests of economic importance. The black scale Saissetia miranda; white scales, Pinaspi.)\" strachani and Aonidomytilis albus, and an unidentified subterranean scale which occurs occasionally in parts of Zaire have no significant damage to the crop. able soluble nutrients during the dry season, may have a positive effect on mealybug development. Field trials at M'vuazi show that tuber yield reduction due to mealybug infestation can be as high as 54 percent. Information collected from farmers' fields (Fig. 6) show that yield reduction could go as high as 75 percent at a damage severity score of 5 for October planting. Comparative studies for later plantings are in progress.Population dynamics. Annual population fluctuation of P. manihoti was investigated using three sampling procedures: trapping of airborne crawlers, direct examination of 100 randomly selected plants and direct monitoring of all plan ts of two plots at ~'vuazi and Kimpese.Crawler activity corresponds with dry conditions, low humidity, moderate temperatures and light radiance and an increased wind speed. Similarly increased pest infestation may be explained by changes in cell sap composition and concentration imposed by drought stress and their effect on pest population development. Unfortunately, the predators are only attracted to the high densities of P. manihoti and seem not to be particularly adapted to it as control agents. It becomes imperative that exotic predators be introduced from South Africa with priority being given to parasites, as they are totally lacking in Zaire.By screening over 1,000 families of cassava introduced as seeds from ClAT, UTA and PRONAM selections, where individual plants were artificially infested, it was shown that there is scope for the selection of resistant cultivars.The use of insecticides as foliar sprays is discouraged because cassava leaves form a major part of the daily diet in Zaire. However as a component of an integrated pest man-49 agement program, it may serve to limit the spread of the pest by the use of clean planting materials. [n a preliminary trial, by dipping cuttings in dimethoate solution, infested planting materials were adequately protected for eight weeks. Other insecticides are being screened for their efficacy.In a preliminary mulching experiment with a grass base of lmperata cyfindrica, mulch plots were less attacked in percentage, number of plants and severity of attack. Other suggested cultural practices include early planting, mixed cropping with three legumes to serve as windbreaks against airborne crawlers and laying down of vegetation twice during the dry season and turning under before first rains in October.CMD host plant resistance screening. Reaction of new improved cassava cultivars to the cassava mosaic agent varies considerably with locations. The following investigations were carried out to identify some environmental factors which modify cassava plant reactions to CMD to further improve the methodologies for host plant resistance screening.. Effect of high soil nitrogen. To test the effect of high soil nitrogen on CMD expression and plant vigor, cultivars 60444 and Isunikankiyan (highly and moderately susceptible respectively) were used as indicators. The results summarized in Figures 7 and 8 show that for 60444, high soil nitrogen induced a high CMD severity and vigor response over a threemonth period for the former, and throughout the whole fivemonth period for the latter, compared to the reaction of the ~ Brown leaf spot disease (Cercospora henningsii) host plant resistance screening. Twenty-eight improved cassava cultivars were artificially inoculated 90 days after establishment with a suspension of 50,000 spores Iml of Cercospora hen.ningsii to test the applicability of this method for host plant resistance screening to brown leaf spot disease. Twenty-six of the cultivars tested scored a higher severity rating than the uninoculated controls. The highest severity ratings were recorded for seven of the improved cultivars included among which was cultivar 30395 (highly rated for field resistance to CMD and CBB). Cassava Bacterial Blight. eBB was newly recorded from Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania. In East Africa, it was observed on local farms and experiment stations around Lake Victoria. It was not observed on the East African coast. Seed transmission. A previously unreported potential for seed transmission was demonstrated by the recovery of X. maniholis from seed which had been stored at 5°C and 6 percent relative humidity for 15 months. In addition, eBB was observed in two-month-old seedlings in a situation where infection from outside sources was unlikely. These findings indicate that given the appropriate environmental conditions, seed transmission of the disease can occur. Treatment of seed in hot water at 60°C for 20 minutes eliminated the pathogen without appreciably reducing germination.Ecology. eBB survived the dry season at Ibadan in dry angular leaf spots, green stems and dead branches on infected plants and in plant debris on the soil surface. The numbers present in the debris decreased sharply with increasing moisture and temperature. Evidence that it survived in soil was all negative.During the 1976 growing season and in January, during the dry season, an epiphytic population was found on leaf surfaces. In June 1977 the pathogen was detected on the surface of apparently healthy leaves, before new angular leaf spots were formed, suggesting that a low population of the pathogen survived the dry season as an epiphyte. The magnitude of the epiphytic population fluctuated during the season depending on the prevailing weather conditions, especially rainfall.Resistant screening. Forty-seven experimental cultivars were compared with five others of known field reaction after inoculation in the greenhouse. The five standards ranked in the same order as they behave in the field. Stem and leaf infiltration methods of inoculation were compared, with the former giving more consistent results. However, further studies are necessary to see if resistance screening in the greenhouse is feasible, since field performance depends on more complex epidemiological factors than can be measured in the greenhouse.Effects of soil fertility on disease de\\'eiopment. The addition of 200 ppm NPK to \\Varri soil (sandy, acidic) and Egbeda subsoil (clayey, alkaline) reduced the severity of eBB symptoms in plants subsequently grown in the soil and inoculated with Xanthomonas maniholis. Although disease symptoms developed earlier in plants supplied with fertilizer, the unfertilized plants became more severely affected after five weeks and showed a higher mortality rate. This suggests that there is a correlation between plant vigor and resistance to bacterial blight.A severe disease-like condition considered a potential threat to cassava production_ This is the first report of the incidence of a disease-like oondition on cas.sava, the agent of which 51 has not been identified, but for which the effect of intercropping on its development and almost total recovery during the growing season has been documented.Characteristics. The condition clearly bears striking resemblance to cassava mosaic disease, but other characteristics hitherto unassociated with CMD suggest the involvement of other agent(s).In Figure Il the incidence of this unknown condition was. highest on cassava as a monocrop for the first four months after it was first observed. It is also evident that there was a sharp increase in incidence on cassava intercropped with maize and cowpeas when these crops had matured and were harvested. The data also show that two months after the maize and cowpea were harvested, the incidence on cassava which was intercropped with these two crops was higher than on that which was monocropped. Control of lh'oscorea aiala diseases by cultural practices. The effect of three staking systems and the canopy orientation resulting from these systems on the incidence and severity of foliar and tuber diseases of D. alata was investigated.The three staking treatments were as follows:1. Each plant attached to a 3-m stake and each vine trained only on individual stakes. 2. Each plant attached to a 1.5-m stake and all vines exceeding the height of the stakes were trained on cross wires to form a dense low canopy above the soil. 3. None of the plants was staked, and vines were allowed to cover soil randomly.There were only very small differences in incidence and severity of leaf spot and anthracnose or scorch at 60 and 120 DAP, and at harvest for the three staking treatments. At harvest, leaf spot severity averaged just below 3 (on an increasing severity scale of 1-5) and scorch severity averaged just above 3.There was a marked difference, however, at harvest in the percentage of tubers among the different treatments that had penetrated the soil surface, with the highest percent of exposed tubers in the 3-m staking treatment. The highest percentage of rotted tubers also occurred in the 3-m staking, and is likely associated with the high percentage of exposed tubers.Ground cover by yam foliage was best in the zero staking treatment and least in the 3-m staking. There was an attendant high degree of erosion control because of the ground cover in the zero staking which also drastically reduced tuber exposure and possibly tuber rot.The yield obtained from the 3-m staking was significantly higher than those of the other treatments. However, with the reduction in cost of planting if zero staking is practiced, coupled with the reduction in soil erosion and tuber rot, and the absence of any significant effect on disease severity, the potential yields obtainable from unstaked D, alala recommends the practice as a viable one.Development of a model for assessing yield reduction due to defoliation by Dioscorea a/ata diseases. Defoliation of D. a/ala due to diseases was simulated by mechanically detaching leaves when plants were 40, 60, 120 and 180 days old. The four levels of defoliation were 0 percent, 40 percent, 60 percent and 100 percent of the total number of leaves at the time of defoliation. Percentage natural refoliation when plants were 40, 60 and 120 days old re•spectively, and actual leaf area reduction per plant due to defoliation of 120-and 180day-old plant respectively were assessed.The data, summarized in Table 8, show that there was a highly significant interaction between age of pLant at defoliation and level of defoliation. Figure 12 shm,,•s the differences in yield reduction when defoliation occurred at the various stages of growth.Figure 13 shows that for 51 percent and 66 percent actual defoliation there was a 20 percent and 30 percent differential respectively in the actual yield loss recorded when compared to the predicted loss from the model.The results indicate therefore that field rating for defoliating diseases of D. alata may be more accurately carried out 40 DAP for early or vegetatively borne diseases, or at 120 DAP for late developing diseases, the model can be utilized for prediction of yield reductions with minor adjustments for differential values between actual and predicted yield reductions.Resistance screening. Fifty-seven sweet potato lines from the breeding pl\"Ogram were screened for resistance to the sweet potato virus by the tuber graft transmission method. Vines from symptom-free seedlings were grafted on to viruliferous tubers of the high susceptible cultivar TIS 1499. Each of the 57 grafted test lines was replfcated four times. Vines of Ipomoea setosa (a sensitive indicator for SPVD) were randomly grafted to representative batches of the virus source (1499) tubers to confirm their viruliferousness. The characteristic SPVD symptom developed on the indicator plants within 14 days of grafting.Resistance to SPVD was categorized on the basis of rate of symptom development and severity of disease expression. Five lines were categorized as highly resistant to SPVD. Eight lines were moderately resistant while the remaining 44 lines were highly susceptible.52  The Farming Systems Program (FSP) has the task of developing methods of crop management and land use suited to the humid and subhumid tropics which will enable more efficient and sustained production of fooderops to be technically and economically feasible in these zones. While recognizing the interact ions between annual food crops, perennial crops and livestock, the Farming Systems Program focuses on the food crop components of tropical farming systems. The Program places particular emphasis on incorporating in its crop production and land management research the improved cultivars emerging from IITA's crop improvement programs, and from international and national agricultural institutions.The farming systems in the lowland humid and subhumid tropics are diverse, so research priorities of the Program are focused on dominant agricultural typologies within major agro-ecological zone5. As the Program aims to develop meth• ods of food crop production which will make the most efficient use of the farmer's natural resources (land, weather, adapted crops), the major agricultural regions are characterized for research purposes on this basis.A broad diversion of the humid and subhumid tropics of Africa and Latin America in terms of land types, cropping -----------------~ systems and dominant bio-technical Limitations is shown in Figure 1; a further subdivision, not shown, is based on population densities. The distribution of the major soil types within the tropics (Table 1) shows that the highly ' .... eathered low-and high-base status soils occupy the majority of the region within which IITA operates. The IITA station at Ibadan (3°54'E, 7°29'N) is representative of the region with high-base status soils, and the Gnne sub-station (l°Ol'E, 4°43'N), the low-base status soils of the tropics.The vast majority of food crops produced in the tropicsother than for intensive rice production on hydromorphic soils -are grown in various mixtures by subsistence farmers relying on shifting cultivation and bush fallow systems to replenish soil fertility. While such systems are stable when land is not a Limiting factor, they tend to break down when the number of people the land must support becomes such that fallow periods are substantially reduced. Therefore, greater population and economic pressures are resulting in more intensified systems of land use, and with an absence of new technology and declining soil fertility there is falling productivity of resources committed to food crop production.  In 1977 the Farming Systems Program was reviewed as part of the Technical Advisory Committee's Quinquennial Review Mission of IITA and the \"Stripe1' Review Mission by TAG of farming systems programs in the international institutes. As part of this review the structure of IITA Farming Systems Program was examined. It was resolved to retain the structure on which the Program has been focusing its activities.The purpose of Regional Analysu is to develop and analyze inventories of resource use, and the bio-technical, physical and socio-economic environments of farming systems of the humid and sub-humid tropics. These analyses, which are highly interdisciplinary in nature, assist in the identification of limiting factors to production and resource potential and so assist in the definition of the Program's problem oriented research.The focus in Crop Production is to develop cropping practices which are productive, biologically stable, and economically viable, and also identify systems of crop management adapted to the conditions and needs of farmers in the humid and subhumid tropics.Land Management has the task of developing and testing methods of land development and soil management which will economically overcome the constraints to intensified use of fragile tropical soils.The purpose of Energy Management is to adapt and develop implements and methods which are complementary to the technology developed elsewhere in the Institute, which can help relieve the energy (largely labor) constraints to crop production and processing, and reduce post-harvest storage losses.Finally, Technology Evaluation provides the point of integration and synthesis of Farming Systems research. The purpose of this project area is to develop, evaluate and adapt appropriate systems of crop management and land use for different ecologies, drawing on the findings of Farming Systems and the Institute's crop improvement programs.Regional analysis is involved in three major project areas:1. Studies of Farming Systems. 2. Benchmark Soils Project. 3. Agro-climatological Analysis.Three intensive interdisciplinary studies of indigenous farming systems were in progress in 1977. The three sites (in Nigeria) are as characterized in Table 2. Analysis of the first study (the majority of field work being undertaken in 1976) is nearing completion, while data collection in the latter two investigations will finish at the end of the 1977-78 dry season. Rice production systems in north-west Cameroon. Five systems of rice production were studied among a sample of 118 farms in northwestern Cameroon. In this region, rice is grown under both pluvial and irrigated conditions, under improved and unimproved cultivars and systems of management. The area is high altitude -1,500 to 2,000 metres.A constant product price for paddy and average factor prices were used for all inputs including hired labor. The major findings resulting from this study are:1. While four of the five rice production systems had several countries of West Africa and tropical America. Special attention was given to two aspectS of basic soil research that bear important implications to the management and agricultural land classification of soils in the tropics.Physico-chemical properties of soH oxides. The surface and charge properties of Fe and Al oxides and hydrous oxides and their interactions with silicate clay minerals play an important role in influencing the physical and chemical properties of highly weathered soils. The heavy-textured Ultisols and Oxisols with stable structure and low bulk density, generally contain large amounts of very fine, clay-size Fe oxides having an average diameter around 0.1 micron. These oxides have large specific area (200 m 2 /g of Fez03), higher point of zero charge (PZC), and high surface reactivity with respect to soluble phosphate and silica. Soils dominating in \"high specific surface oxides\" are mostly derived from basic parent rocks such as basalts and amphibolites. , the soils into two groups which, to some extent, relate to parent materials and clay mineralogy and the chemical environments when the formation of Fe oxides took place.    The effect of weed control methods and cropping pattern on maize yield is shown in Table 6. In each of the cropping patterns, maize population was three-quarters that in the sole cropped maize (40,000 plantsfha). Maize yield was depressed in the maizefyam mixture but not in the maize/cassava and maize/yam cassava mixtures. Unlike in the longer-season yam, all cover crop treatments effectively covered the ground throughout the period of maize growth. The sweet potato treatment significantly reduced maize yield. Similar yield depression was noted in yam when sweet potato was planted at the same time as yam but not when the sweet potato followed melon. As in yam, Primextra stood out as a superior weed control tool for both sale cropped and mixed cropped maize.Nematode dynamics in intercropping. The intercropping experiment was sampled for nematodes at preburn, postburn, and at crop maturity at the end of the first and second growing seasons. Nineteen kinds of plant-parasitic nematodes were found on the plots during the four sampling periods. ) and pin nematodes (Paralyimchus spp.) occurred at low-population densities. The other 15 kinds of plant-parasitic nematodes were also recorded to enable their population trends under the conditions of the experiment to be monitored and effects on plant-parasitic nematode populations evaluated (Table 7).After nine years of bush fallow, the mean of 352 plant parasitic nematodes per liter of soil was belm ... • levels expected to cause damage to the following crop. A significant decline in the numbers of all kinds of nematodes occurred after burning. At planting (29 April), 40 days after bush burning, the numbers of plant-parasitic nematodes had doubled compared to the pre burn situation. The increase in plant-parasitic nematodes suggests a heat stimulation in the hatch rate of eggs of plant-parasitic nematodes. The numbers of predacious and saprozoic nematodes had returned to their approximate preburn population levels at planting time. The root-knot nematodes and the spiral nematodes followed the general population trend at planting. The numbers of root-knot nematode juveniles ended the crop growing season at about damage was caused by thrips and the treatment in which no protection \\ . . . . as given during this period had a significantly higher (p. 0,05) damage rating than those in which Carbofuran was applied, This was associated with increased populations of Srricothrips occipitalis.Numbers of }vlegalurothritH were low and unaffected by the treatment at this stage though after flowering they increased markedly in unsprayed plots to 23.6± 6.0 per plant compared to 1.2±0.5 in those sprayed with Nuvacron and Gammalin.A similar situation was apparent in flowers. At 65 DAP those from the preflo\\ .... ering treatment contained 63.8± 10.4 thrips per flower compared to sprayed treatmen ts with 0.6± 0.2. Observations were made on r.,.,laruca populations from the same sampling \\ .... hich took place at peak flowering. Significantly more larvae were recovered from flowers on plants which had been sprayed than those which had received only Carbofuran at planting. A higher flower production, resulting in increased attractiveness of the crop for oviposition, may provide an explanation for this phenomenon. The flower density at 65 DAP was significantly higher in the pre-and post-flowering protection treatment than in either of the others which were similar at this stage and both had about the same flower production over the flowering period. However, the pattern of production was different, with plants receiving post-flowering protection showing peak flowering at 62 DAP while those which received only preflowering protection did so at 72 DAP.Carbofuran had relatively little effect on most Homoptera though populations were significantly reduced at 50 and 64 DAP in plots treated with Gammalin and ::'J\"uvacron, there being no significant difference between post-flowering and total protection treatments. An exception to this generalization was provided by Cicadulina (Table 16). ]n this case Carbofuran appears to suppress early population development and even at 64 DAP numbers remain lower than in plots sprayed only with Gammalin and Nuvacron, which seem to have no significant effect. This information is of interest because Cicadu lina is a vetor of maize streak virus. The maize was untreated and because population development was affected by Carbofuran, cowpea therefore, apparently serves an alternative food source for the insect; this observation may have important implications for maize/cowpea intercropping. Yam production -staking. Staking to support the vines of yam is one of the most expensive and time consuming practices in the management of the crop and is often suggested as a reason for the decline in yam production. \"\"hen fallow periods are reduced to two or three years, natural regeneration seldom prod uces the types of shru b or tree growth capable of providing desirable stakes. Leucaena lrucocephala (a tree-type legume) is a species which produces stakes and may be either cut or used in situ. It is suitable for supporting yam in 9 to 12 months in climates similar to that of IITA.64An 18-month-old plantation of Leucaena (150 em x 50 cm) was used to evaluate six methods (Table 17) of using its stem as support for yam vines. Method F gave highest yields; however, its superiority co B was due to the higher plant population. Method B was significantly better than A, C, D, or E. This superiority was ascribed to taller vine height and better leaf area distribution. The similarity in yield of A, D and E suggests that the conventional method of staking yam can be substituted by placing smaller untrimmed branches on the soil surface. In situ support with live trees was as ,good as conventional staking when the trees were kept pruned (E) but unpruned live trees (C)  Handweeding three times or a pre-emergence application of a mixture of fluometuron plus metolachlor at 2.0 + 2.0 kg a,i./ha gave similar yields to weed-free plots.Diuron which is used in some parts of the tropics as a standard herbicide for weed control in yam was inferior to fluometuron and metolachlor mixture in both total weed control and yam tuber yield. A weed competition study designed to identify the critical time of weed removal and frequency of hoe weeding in white yam showed that when weeds were not removed during the first three months of growth, they resulted in about 30 percent reduction in yield when compared to the weed-free control. When yam plots were not weeded for the first four months yield loss was identical to those that were not weeded at all (Table 18), Similarly, keeping yam weed free for the first four months was identical to the weed-free treatments. At least four weedings at one monthly interval during the first four months of yam establishment were found to be necessary to minimize yield loss due to weeds.  weeds. The other intercrops were not good weed suppressors and weeding accounted for the dominant labor use, Aggregate production of food crops was generally higher with intercropping than with pure cropping, and plantain/cocoyam and plantain/maize/cassava at close spacing intercropping had higher cash return than the pure stand plantain (Table 21). Reducing the plantain density resulted in reduction of income as increased yield from the lower-priced maize and cassava did not compensate for the reduction in plantain yields. Thus, where cash income is the goal, the feasible plantain intercrops are cocoyam and maize/cassava with high plantain density.During the year the number of plantain accessions reached 149. Thirty-three cultivars were identified, 19 were hom type and 14 French type plantain. Data from horn type cultivars indicate that at least three new accessions may have higher potential than the popular Agbagba (Table 22).Maize. A formulated mixture of atrazine plus metolachlor (Primextra) identified in previous years' studies as an effective preemergence herbicide for weed control in maize at 66 2.5 kg a.i./ha continued to give good weed control and maize yield (Table 23). 'Weeds not controlled by this mixture were Commelina ben,ghalensis L. and Talinum lnangulare \\Vitld. from old root stock. A formulated mixture of atrazine plus alachlor at a comparable rate was as good as the standard herbicide in the first-season maize trial. Penoxalin at 2.0 kg/ha was the only herbicide that controlled Rotiboellia exaltala, a serious weed in tropical crops.An unexpectedly prolonged dry spell after application of preemergence herbicides in maize often results in poor su bsequent weed control. It is thus appropriate to identify suitable postemergence herbicides for use in maize for situations where the preemergence herbicide has failed. Herbicides evaluated for postemergence weed control in both first and second season trials gave fair to poor weed control (Table 23). The most prevalent weeds in the weedy plots were Rottboellia exaltata, Brachiaria lata, Talinum triangulare, Euphorbia heteroph))IIa, and Commelina benghalensis.Rice. Herbicides that gave promising weed control under poor water management conditions in 1976 direct-seeded lowland rice trials were again evaluated in 1977. Several herbicides including thiobencarb and propanil (3.6 kg/ha) and monilate (3 kg/ha) were less effective in controlling weeds when water control was poor. Yields in plots treated with these herbicides were significantly lower than weed-free plots and were not included in results reported in Table 24.\"Veed was controlled best in p]ots treated preernergence Table 25. Effect of herbicides on weed control and crop ,yield in cQu;pea rev. VITA-5) second season, 19i7.-' ------- the population was increased to 80 plants/mz cowpea yield reduction of 68 percent and 75 percent respectively were noted in the semi.prostrate and erect cowpea cultivars. Only the wild poinsettia seedlings that established within 20 days of planting cowpea significantly reduced cowpea yield relative to weed-free plots. This implies that effective control measures will require keeping cowpea free of wild poinsettia within the first 30 days of establishment to minimize competition with the crop.The tolerance of cowpea cultivars to selected herbicides was also evaluated in 19i7. The cowpea cultivars tested were more tolerant of metolachlor and pendimethalin than of alachlor. VITA-5 was more susceptible to alachlor than other cultivars tested. Pendimethalin at 2.5 kg a.i. /ha caused stand reduction in VITA-4.Soybean. Fluorodifen at 3.5 kg/ha or metolachlor at 2.5 kg/ha applied preemergence gave good weed control and high grain yield in soybean. Preemergence herbicide 'mixtures which also combined excellent weed control with good crop yield were metolachlor plus metribuzin, metolachlor plus metobromuron and metolachlor plus chlorbromuron. These mixtures were superior in crop yield and weed control to mixtures involving alachlor or pendimethalin. The latter herbicide was toxic to soybean.Cassava. A weed control study was carried out in cassava in a field fallowed for one year prior to the study. \\Veeds when not controlled caused a yield reduction of 64 percent relative to cassava plots that were kept weed free until harvest. Two or three properly timed weedings were as effective in controlling weeds as when the cassava was kept weed free throughout the growing season. Preemergence applications of fluometuron at 2.0 and 3.0 kg/ha, diuron at 2.0 kglha and a formulated mixture of atrazine and metolachlor at 2.5 kg/ha gave cassava yields that were similar to the weed-free treatments.Fallow legumes. Besides nutrient regeneration and rebuilding of soil physical properties, fallow legumes are useful in providing conditions favorable to certain crops and cropping systems. These fallow species can compete favorably with undesirable fallow species -for example, against Imperata cylindrica, a noxious weed in the derived savanna zones of West and Central Africa 68 Fallow shrubs and trees. In addition to Leucaena leucocephala, certain species are being evaluated for use in specialized fallow e.g., providing in-situ support for climbing crops. Those being evaluated in replicated plots include Acioa bateri, Glyricidia sepium, Tephrosia sp. and Cajanus cajan.Mulches as modifiers to populations of plant. parasitic nematodes. A long-term trial is being conducted at lIT A to evaluate the effect of selected plant residues on soil microflora and micro-fauna as sources of plant nutrient and the yields of maize, cassava, cowpea and soybean.After the third year of the trial the spread of plant•parasitic nematodes above and below the mean of the unmulched control plots was within the range of the previous two years.Changes in nematode populations under the various mulch treatments were mixed. Soil populations of plant-parasitic nematodes were generally consistent under soybean tops, rice stra\\\\o\", maize cobs, cassava stems and pigeon pea stems in relation to the control plots (Table 26). In plots mulched with mixed twigs, Pennisetum straw, pigeon pea tops, rice husks, oil palm leaves, black plastic and fine gravel, the previously observed decline in nematode numbers continued. Sawdust, typha straw, Panicum straw, elephant grass straw, Andropogon straw, bean husks, maize stover, Eupatorium tops and clear plastic mulches showed a mixed response in nematode numbers.The mean numbers of aU plant-parasitic nematodes were greater than the previous two years and higher than the preplant mean. Maize had the highest numbers of nematodes followed by soybean, cowpea and cassava in that order. The numbers of nonplant-parasitic nematodes remained under the preplant mean for all crops. Populations under soybean, maize and cowpea were similar to the first year of crops while population under cassava declined to one-third. The root lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus uJjaensis, P. bracJryurns) con- Crop response to simulated light climate. Studies on the implication of the seasonal and areal changes in global radiation on crop production were continued using two cultivars of sweet potato, TIS 1499 and TIS 2543. As was the case with the cereal (maize) and grain legumes (cowpea, soybean) reported earlier, moderate reduction in insolation decreased yields in both cultivars. Unlike the other crops however, the yield reduction, particularly in the case of TIS 1499 appears to level off su bstan tially (for the 23 percent and 34 percent light reduction studied) as evident from the relative yield per hill (Table 29). This suggests a fair degree of tolerance for low light within certain limits; it should lend the crop well to production in mixture, i.e., as an intercrop, as well during seasons with relatively poor isolation. TIS 2534 proved far more sensitive to reduced incident light.Crop water requirement. ~1aximum water requirements \\vere determined for two cultivars of cowpea (TVu 3629 and VITA-s) using the drainage lysimeter set-up previously described (UTA Annual Report, 1975).Total water consumption I by TVu 3629 during the dry season 1976/77 amounted to 321 mm with a mean daily requirement of 4.28 mm over the season. These compare with values of 276 mm and 3.58 mm respectively for the cultivar TVu 6204 (UTA Annual Report, 1976) during the corresponding season of 1975/76. The extremes in weekly mean values, 2.95-5.69 mm/day, are also higher than in the previous case. This appears to be mainly due to the higher evaporative demand during the latter season. The mean daily water use DP VITA-5, grown during the second season of 1977 ranged from 2.87 to 4.79 mm, averaging 3.78 mm/day over the season. As noted in previous studies, consumption by the same crop on the Iwo soil lysimeter was slightly higher (+9 percent) because of the better growth of the crop. The ratio of evapotranspiration to pan water evaporation ranged from 0.i2 to 1.11 and from 0.79 to 1. 22 on the Alagba and the Iwo soils respectively.The preceding results together with those previously reported indicate a mean water requirement of 3.5-4.5 mm/day for the area.Early research in land management at ITTA was focused on nutritional and physical aspects of soil management, using as a starting point the land after clearing. However, methods of forest or bush clearing and subsequent land development will have a major impact on the subsequent productivity and problems of managing the soil. The Farming Systems Program has initiated a research program to investigate methods of land clearing and soil management as a continuum which will ensure that the productivity of tropical soils is not Diurnal changes in nodule efficiency and carbohydrate content in cowpeas. Previous studies have shown a decline in nodule efficiency in cowpeas between 1200-1600 hrs. and reference was made to the relationship between changes in carbohydrate metabolism and nitrogen fixation. Two field experiments were conducted to examine the relationship. Cowpea cultivars TVu 3629 and TVx 715 were inoculated with Rhizobium sp. so\\ ... n in a completely randomized block, with five replications. At flowering and pod fill, data were taken daily at 0900, 1200, 1500 and 1600 for three consecutive days.In general, total activity (C 2 H 4 produced/pl.lhr), total reducible carbohydrate per plant and amino acids per plant were low in the morning, increased between 1200-1500 and then decreased. Figure 3 shows changes in specific activity, the concentration of amino acids in bleeding sap and the amount of total reducible carbohydrates. The increases in nitrogen content of sap lagged by about three hours behind carbohydrate content. Specific activity was not related to amino acid content until 1500 hours when both increased. The fall in the quantity of amino acids in bleeding sap as a result of the decreased rate of nodule fixation, is in part a consequence of the low amounts of carbohydrates available for fixation.Rhizobium. When inoculated legume seed is planted it is desirable to knO\\\\l how many inoculations are necessary to establish adequate num bers of efficient rhizobia and to remove the need for subsequent inoculations. Soils were collected from various locations in Nigeria (Table 30) and estimates of nodulation and rhizobial numbers made. In 15 soils from Mokwa, Samaru, Yandev, Onne and lIT A, rhizobia infecting soybean cultivar TGrn 294 were absent or few (0-12/g soil) in soil not previously cropped to soybean. In soils with one or more inoculations there were many rhizobia (up to 3,600) -more than adequate to give effective nodulation. Nodulation, nodule efficiency and total nitrogen followed a similar pattern. A similar study was made of soils from locations with a known history from the IITA site.Nodulation, nodule efficiency and total nitrogen fixed again were significantly higher in soils with one or more inocu- lations within the past four years. The differences in efficiencies in Egbeda soils suggest selection and adaptation of different strains since it is known that the inoculant which was used contained different strains.Collection and typing or indigenous rhizobia strains. In improving the nitrogen contribution from legume rhizobia to crops and soil fertility in the lowland humid tropics, nodules were collected from 16 legumes from various locations in Kigeria. Rhizobia insolated from nodules of several of these hosts were added to the lIT A collection of cultures of Rhizobium after they were typed and authenticated.Authenticated strains of rhizobia already in the culture collection were utilized in laboratory and screenhouse studies to identify highly superior legume -Rhizobium combinations. The isolates were screened in Leonard jars for their ability to infect and form effective nodules on four hosts: cowpea, lima bean, soybean and Cerilrosema The results from this preliminary screen are shown in Table 31. f\\tfost of the 60 strains tested (65 percent) were effective on cowpea. The low percentage of isolates effectively nodulating soybean was a reflection of the few R . .Joponicum used in the test. Out of the seven R. japonirum strains included in the test, two were highly effective.Cross-infectivity among members of the cowpea group is little studied and consequently little is understood precisely why, for example, rhizobia isolated from certain members As part of the initial phase of 'a broader study, an experiment was initiated to examine cross-infectivity and the identity of rhizobia, using seven RhizobIUm strains and five legume hosts. The results (Table 32) indicated that not all the cO\\\\lpea isolates nodulated other members of the cowpea cross-inoculation group. Moreover, an isolate from one cowpea cultivar (strain 89) failed to nodulate the cowpea under test. Previous work (IITA Annual Report, 1976) suggested that field inoculation with Vesticular-arbuscular mycorrhizae did not increase grain yield of plants. Follow-up experiments were conducted in 1977.Phosphate fertilization and m}'corrhizal inoculation of cassava. The effects of inoculating cassava with Glomus mosseae on the availability of rock phosphates in an Egbeda soil series were investigated in a screenhouse experiment. [noculation failed to increase root infection in nonsterile soil because the soil contained abundant spores of Giomu5 and Gi~aspoTa spp. Phosphorus uptake and concentration in plants were increased by inoculation of sterile and nonsterile soils. Plants supplied with Morocco rock absorbed more P than those supplied Togo rock. Dry matter production follo\\ved a similar trend. The benefit of inoculating cassava with C. mosseae was limited to the sterile soil, reflecting the abundance of efficient indigenous mycorrhiza in soiL Endogone spore type on cowpea yield. The yields of TVx 1836-44G when inoculated with four mycorrhizal ~pore types were compared in a pot experiment (Table 33). C. masseae was found to be superior to the other spore types.Methods of field inoculation. Efficient methods for largescale field inoculation of mycorrhyzal spores are not known. ]n two field experiments two ways of inoculating VITA-4 and TVx-44G were compared: seeds were either preinfested and the seedlings transplanted, or inoculum was placed directly below seeds at planting time. The method of inoculation had little or no effect on the parameters 72 ---------*Seeds wer (' inoculated ( +) or not (-) at time of sowing in soanhouse or field examined (Table 34). Inoculation was the more efficient; it increased all parameters examined, including grain yield. Direct placement of inoculum with seed will be adopted in all future work as it is less laborious and less time-consuming than pre-infecting and transplanting.Field sterilization and mycorrhizal inoculation on cowpea and maize yield. The effects of indigenous mycorrhiza and an introduced strain, G. masseae, on phosphate nutrition and yield of cowpea and maize were examined. Root infection, P uptake and dry matter production in both crops were increased by inoculation, whether the soil was sterilized or not. Maize grain yield was increased more in non-sterile than sterile soil by inoculation. These results show that under low soil fertility, inoculation of highly effective strains will increase crop yield although indigenous strains already influence such yield. On-going research is designed to establish the relationship between soil fertility and the role of mycorrhiza on crop yields.The effects of different rates (0, 0.25, 2.5 and 250 ug/g a.i.) of Paraquat on soil respiration, nitrification and dehydro\" genase activity were examined in the laboratory using 13 soils and in the field on Apomu soil series.Respiration of incubated soils treated with cowpea residue and paraquat was significantly lowered by treatment with paraquat. The clay content of the soils was significantly correlated with respiration. At the highest rate, paraquat significantly depressed oxidation of added ammonium, especially, in Abomey and Kola soils. Increasing clay content or CEe of soils decreased the inhibitory effect of paraquat, reflecting paraquat inactivation by the soil. Dehydrogenase activity was little affected by paraquat, but this was probably due to loss of enzymatic activity during handling and storage.The Apomu field soil treated with 0, 0.50 and 50 kg/ha a.i. paraquat, was sampled for incubations initially and after one and seven days. Respired CO 2 was unaffected by paraquat, but dehydrogenase activity was significantly depressed (Table 3j). Though paraquat reduced nitrification and dehydrogenase activity its use is acceptable because a high rate of these two processes is undesirable. Long-term liming experiment. Field experiments were established at the Institute's substation at Onne to investigate the requirement and residual effects of lime in a Paleudult (pH 4.3) under high-rainfall conditions (2600 mm). Maize, cowpea and cassava were used as testing crops. Downward movement of applied Ca and reoccurrence of exchangeable AI were monitored periodically. In the maize-cowpea rotation trial, grain and stover yield in maize of the second year are given in Table 36. Initial rates of lime above 0.5 t /ha did not increase maize grain yield although higher lime rates slightly increased stover yield and root growth. Surface soil pH of the 0.5 t/ha plot measured at planting time during the second year was 4.6. The same maize cultivar yielded 70 percent more (6 tlha) on an Alfisol without liming at lIT A (rainfall 1400 mm). The large differences in growth and yield between the two locations are apparently due to factors other than soil nutrient supply because macro, secondary and micro nutrients were maintained at adequate levels throughout the growing season. Varietal adaptability and low radiation in the high-rainfall region may be important growth limiting factors. Ultisol. Judging from the field data accumulated to date, it seems that a sum of exchangeable Ca and Mg of approximately one meg per 100 g of soil which, corresponding to about 40 percent of exchangeable Al saturation and pH 4.7 (in water), would provide adequate conditions for the TZB maize to correct Al toxicity and supply Ca and Mg to the plant in this. coarse-textured, kaolinitic Ultisol.Lime-phosphorus-zinc interactions. An extensive factorial greenhouse experiment to investigate the lime-P-Zn interactions was concluded during the year. Two Ultis-ols representing different mineralogy and degree of weathering were used. A Paleustult (Nkpologu series) was collected from the savanna, and the Paleudult (Onne series) was collected from a high-rainfall region.Strong, high]y significant nutrient interactions were observed, indicating that nutrient imbalance is an important growthlimiting factor in the Kaolinitic Ultisols. \"\"'hen P was optimal, relatively ~mall lime rates produced maximum dry matter yield of three-week-old maize and were sufficient to reduce exchangeable Al to less than 30 percent and soil solution Al to less than 2 ppm.Growth responses to liming also depend upon the levels of native and applied P in the soil. In the low P status Nkpologu soil (Bray P:, 5 ppm), there was no response to lime without P, while liming doubled dry matter yield of maize on the Onne soil (Bray Ph 90 ppm) without additional P application. The most pronounced effect of balanced lime and P supply was on root development.Liming soil to neutrality depressed dry matter yields on both soils only when no zinc was supplied. Overliming did not effect P availability as indicated by P uptake by plant when other nutrient elements were maintained at adequate levels.The response to Zn was most striking in the older and wellweathered Kkpologu soil (PaleustultJ from the savanna region. \\Vhen no Zn was applied, dry matter yields were depressed significantly by high lime rates, which corresponded to a soil solution Zn level of 35 ppb (parts per billion) or lower (Fig. 5).Calcium deficiency appears to be a major growth-limiting factor in both soils, although experimental data do not permit a definitive discrimination between the effects of lime as a soil acidity ameliorant and as a source of Ca for the plant.Total nutrient accumulation in plants is controlled by factors both within the plant and in the soil. Under well balanced conditions of lime (or Ca), zinc and other nutrients, maize dry matter yield correlates significantly with P concentrations in plant tissue, depicting a critical concentration of about 0.18 percent for the three-week-old maize. However, under conditions where Ca or Mg or Zn is growth-limiting, this relationship is not obeyed.Soil analysis (Table 37) indicated that the increased surface charge due to liming was balanced by increased exchangeable Ca. But high concentrations of Ca were also found in the soil solution of the limed soils which would be subject to leaching loss under field conditions. Soils incubated with soluble salts, such as KC 1, YlgS0 4 and NH 4 N03 used in the pot experiments, resulted in a 100fold increase in solution AI and a big drop in soil pH in both soils; while the amount of exchangeable AJ and the percentage exchange Al saturation was slightly reduced. Such phenomena indicate the limitations of using exchangeable Al alone as a criterion for predicting Al toxicity without referring to the concentration of Al in the soil solution phase.Increased lime rates did not affect the distribution of exchangeable K and soil solution K, whereas the soluble and 100 ..  The negative Kc values in the K-AI system indicate that the soil exchange complex has stronger affinity for K. \\\"'hile in the AI-Ca system, the positive Kc values indicate the preference of Al to Ca. The same horizon which has the maximum affinity for Al ion in the K-AI system also depicts the maximum affinity for Al in the Ca-AI system. Mineralogical data of the soil shm .... more amorphous materials in this particular horizon of the profile.Attempts are being made to use the ion-exchange data to predict the effect of Al saturation on potential K and Ca leaching. At given soil physical conditions (e.g., porosity, hydraulic conductivity and diffusion factor), it may be possible to determine optimum levels of Al saturation (or rates of lime) at which leaching could be minimized. Nand P responses on both soils were observed during the first three years of cropping after land clearing. Despite six years of intensive cropping, no response to K application is seen on the Egbeda soil (Table 39) indicating the high productivity of this soil.However, responses to K application on the Apomu soil were observed since 1976 on the maize grain yield. Yield increases due to K application were also observed on the cowpea crop in 1977. The response on the Apomu soil was expected, considering the low K status of the surface soil even with annual K application.The inclusion of cowpeas in the cropping cycle, already showed some beneficial effect on the maize even after only one cowpea crop. There were marked increases in the 1977 grain yield on both soils in the control treatment and also in the no N treatment on the Apomu soil.On the Egbeda soil annual removal of the maize crop residue from the plots since 1972 had no effect on maize yield. On the less productive Apomu soil, on the contrary, removal of crop residue tends to decrease maize yield.75 ]\\\" contribution from grain legume. The N contribution from grain legumes gro\".•n in rotation with maize has been investigated on an Iregun -soil. (Oxic Haplustalf) at the [ITA site in Ibadan since 1975. Four rotation patterns: maize-maize; maize-cowpea, maize-pigeon pea and maize-soybean were tested. ~1aize was grown as the first season crop, except for the maize-maize rotation where maize was also grown in the second season. The grain legumes were all grown in the second season following maize. Four N rates respectively 0,45. 90, and 135 Kg N /ha were applied only to the first-season maize crop.In this trial maize grain yield in the no N treatment showed significant increases after one crop of the grain legumes. The effect of two years rotation , .... ith the grain legumes on maiz~ yield is marked at the 0 and 45 kg N /ha as evaluated from the maize grain yield (Fig. 6). No distinct differences were obsented in the effects of the three legume species. It thus appears that inclusion of cowpea, pigeon pea and soybeans in crop rotations has a significan t effect and can reduce the need for applied nitrogen.Cassava response to phosphorus. A field trial was conducted on Egbeda soil series (Oxic Paleustalf) at the IITA site in Ibadan to determine the external and internal P requirement of cassava cultivar Isunikankiyan. The cassava was harvested 15 months after planting. Tuber yield responded significantly to P application. Tuber yields are correlated with P concentration at low levels in the soil, but not so at higher P values. Thus, to obtain 95% of the maximum yield, the required P concentration in the soil solution established at planting is estimated to be about 0.04 ug P /ml. This value corresponds to a Bray no. 1 extractable P concentration of about 8 ppm P.The degree of mycorrhizal infection of the cassava roots was also determined. During early growth the percent root infection declined wi th increasing P concentration in the soil so- .-Z '\" 0 '\" Z '\" 0'\" Z \"'0 ~ '\" \"'0 ~... a.  lutian (Fig. 7). There is an increase in percent root infection with age. At 13 months after planting the effect of initial P concentration on the percent root infection is less pronounced, which may be related to the decrease in P concentration with time.It appears that the low P response of the cassava crop in the field and also ability to do well in soils with low P status, may in part be attributed to the high degree of mycorrhizal root infection, which enable the plant to forage more P, particularly at low soil P levels.P concentrations in the blades and petioles of the uppermost fully mature leaves determined at 3 and 13 months after planting increased with increasing P rates. At 3 MAP, the critical P concentrations in blades and petioles are estimated at respectively 0.50 and 0.38 percent P. Increased Prates also significantly increased N content of the leaf blades.Effect of soil heating on soil properties and plant growth. Burning of plant residue as a method of land preparation is widely practiced under traditional farming systems in tropical Africa. However, ver)' little information is available on the direct effect of soil heating during burning on properties of tropical soils and also on plant growth. Surface soil temperatures and duration of heating observed under field conditions vary widely depending mainly on the nature and quantity of plant residue burned. Laboratory investigations were conducted to simulate the effect of burning. The effect of heating of Egbeda (Oxic Paleustalf) surface soil for six-hour periods at various temperatures is shown in Table 40. Heating the Heating the soil at IO\\\\' temperatures, which has little effect on the chemical soil properties, significantly improved the grO\\\\'th of rice (Table 41), while heating at 20QoC and 500ae had an adverse effect on dry matter yield and growth of rice. Effect of liming and nitrogen application on cowpeas. In previous studies to identify the tolerance of various grain legume species and cultivars to soil acidity using an Ultisol from Onne (Typic Paleudult), it was observed that cowpea shows higher degree of tolerance to factors associated with soil acidity than soybean, lima bean or pigeon pea. However, some of the cowpea cultivar. showed poor early growth and chlorosis. Greenhouse studies were therefore conducted to determine the causal factors. Nitrogen and Ca deficiencies associated with poor nodulation and N. fixation appear to be limiting factors for good cowpea growth on the Onne soil. Application of mineral N in the absence of liming increased Ca content of pLant tops and partially corrected Ca deficiency in cowpea TVu 1977-0D. Without limi ng and at low lime rate, N application increased plant dry weight (Figure 8). Application of mineral N had little or no effect on plant dry weight at higher lime rates. Nodulation was improved with application of low and moderate lime rates (250-1000 kg CaC0 3 /ha). which also corrected N deficiency. High lime rates (5000 kg CaCO]\"!ha) suppressed nodulation, plant dry matter yield and the Mg, Zn and Mn concentrations of plant tops. Application of low lime rates and small amount of Slarter mineral N appears to be important for growing cowpeas on the Onne soil.Field trials were established at Onne to provide a better understanding of the importance of the local practice of burning the plant residues during land preparation particularly on the acid soils. In this trial, burning and retaining the plant residue as mulch after land clearing and fertilizer combinations are compared. Preliminary data from this trial showed that burning plant residue from 6 to 7 years of fallow (pre• dominantly Anthonata) added about 560 kg ash/ha. This amount of ash increased the pH.H 2 0 of the 0-7-5 cm surface soil from 4.29 to 5.03. Addition of the ash also increased the amounts of extractable P, cations and micronutrients and also significantly decreased the amount of extractable Al. The trial is still in progress.Climatic erosivity. Experiments were continued on the characterization of climatic erosivity. Previous observations on drop size measurements have indicated the following relationship between median drop diameter (D50) in mm, and peak rainfall intensity (1, mm/hr., sustain over a 7.5 minute period): D50 =2.59 l u40 (r = 0.97) The limitation of this equation lies in the fact that only the maximum intensity was taken into consideration, which may account for the large exponent. Sand splash, measured by Ellison's splash cup, was correlated with various erosivity indices (Table 42). Whereas the amount of sand splashed was related exponentially to indices AIm and E1 30 , it was linearly related to Dj[) and KE>1. The measurements of drop size distribution by \"Distromet\" has shown D~o ranging between 2.5 and 3 mm for the majority of rains received between August and October 1977. Seventy percent of the rains fell with a drop size ranging from 2.25 to 5.50 mm. This particular storm was highly erosive with an energy load of 69 Joules/mm of rain. Research will continue to characterize climatic erosivity of tropical rains in relating sand splash with energy load, drop size distribution, intensity and wind velocity, for different agroecological regions of the tropics.Slope length and degree effect. Experiments were conducted in field runoff plots of 1, 5, 10, and 15 percent slopes to investigate the effect of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25-m slope length on runoff and erosion for bare fallow plowed soil surface. Runoff and soil loss per unit area is exponentially related to slope length as shown in Table 43. For gentle slopes of 1 and 5 percent, erosion is proportional to the reciprocal of slope length. However, for steeper slopes the erosion increases as a square root of slope length. The validity of these results will be further assessed.Effect of cumulative soil loss on maize yield. J\\..iaize grain yield, grown on land eroded to various degrees and with recommended levels of chemical fertilizers, declined exponentially with successive increase in soil erosion: Yield = 30.5 E .o.s where yield and erosion are both expressed in tlha. This type of cause-effect relationship has limitations that may be due to the crop, cultivar, and the soil conditions of the experiment. More basic research, relating crop productivity to degradation of soil physical and chemical characteristics (infiltration, porosity, organic matter, CEe, etc.) is needed to develop empirical models to assess the quantitative effects of soil degradation on crop yield.Crusting and seedling emergence. The effect of matric potential, aggregate size, and soil temperature on germination of maize, cowpea, soybean and rice was investigated in the laboratory. Both soil moisture potential and aggregate size had a significant effect on seed germination. Whereas rice germination at zero suction was between 50 and 100 percent, it was 0.30 percent for cowpea, 0 to 40 percent for soybean and only 0 to 7 percent for maize.There was no germination of any of the crops at 15 bar suction. At 10 bar suction, germination ranged from 40 to 60 percent for cowpeas, 20 to 30 percent for soybean, 13 to 30 percenl for maize, and merely 7 to 13 percent for rice (Table 44).Effect of soil conditioners and mulching on runoff and soil loss. The comparative effects of soil conditioners (PA.M, Bitumen, Soil Penetrant) on runoff and erosion were evaluated on field runoff plots and compared with that of control, mulch, and no-tillage system (Table 45). The treatments mulch, no-tillage, PAM, and bitumen provided good erosion control for the gentle rains received during the 1977 second season. Soil penetrant was not effective in controlling erosion. Soil chemical properties and crop performance were also compared. Straw mulch was the most effective conditioner for growing crops on this fragile tropical Alfisol.Effect of mulch rate on runoff and soil loss. Runoff and erosion decrease exponentially with increase in surface cover provided by straw mulch (Table 46). ]ncrease in the infiltration with high mulch rate was attributed to high mean-  No-tillage experiments with paddy rice. The influence offour levels of Nand P combinations, with direct sO\\ving and transplanting, on rice yield was compared for no-tillage and puddling systems of seedbed preparation. In the first year of this experiment, no significant differences III nce yield were observed between tillage treatments.Earthworm activity and soil characteristics. Crop yields on no-tillage and mulch treatments are generally high, whereas runoff and erosion are low compared with plowed treatments. Good soil structure and high infiltration rate in the no-tillage plots are partly attributed to earthworm activity. The chemical characteristics of worm casts are more favorable for plant nutrients than the soil from which casts are derived. The organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus can be two to three times more in casts than the soil (Table 49). This is a natural recycling mechanism, and can have an im port ant effect on fertility management of tropical soils.The primary objective of the agricultural engineering component of the FSP is to develop and adapt tools and machines which will complement improved methods of crop production and land management being developed elsewhere in the institute. The focus of crop engineering in 1977 was on developing equipment suitable for zero and minimum-tillage farming practices adapted to the low-resource farmer's situation.The logistical difficulties of transporting 400 to 500 1 lha of liquid for the conventional (knapsack) application of insecticides and herbicides suggest that the use of controlled droplet applicators (CDA), which take 5-15 1/ha would be a realistic, low-energy alternative. The \":Micron\" CDA system has been evaluated against conventional applicators and shows an enormous saving in labor requirements for crop production (Table 50).A problem encountered with the CDA involved patches within adequate and uneven spray coverage. The cause was due to blockage of the venting system, especially noticeable when using \"flowables\" which formed a cake inside the vent tube. This was relieved by increasing the diameter of the vent pipe, and has now been incorporated in production models of the applicator. Other faults emerging during field use are faulty or severed connections in the electrical system, the poor dependability of the motor spinning the disc, and inadequate sealing of the motor against ingress of chemicals and water. Many of the defects have now been resolved in cooperation with the manufacturer. The motors of CDAs are powered by a set of flashlight batteries, the herbicide sprayers consuming about 1.5 watts and the insecticide sprayer, 5-6 watts. As the cost of photo-voltaic cells (now about $18 per \\ .... att) is expected to drop within some years, the potential for operation of the CDA's using solar power was investigated. A photo-voltaic panel containing 33 semi-circular silicon cells was assembled onto a light shoulder-supported frame to provide over 6 watts at 1 watt to 14 volts; Ni-Cad cells were used in the application to absorb surplus electrical energy for use during dull periods and to act as a voltage stabilizer. Subsequently the Ni-Cad cells were replaced with regular flashlight cells maintained at peak voltage by the panel. Despite the low humid tropical solar intensity of aoout 350 g.cal/cm 2 Jday, continuous (6 hrs/day) daily use was possible without change of batteries. The potential for solar energizing of such low-powered agricultural equipment wiB improve with the anticipated industry improvement in conversion efficiency (10-15 percent) and reduction in cost. The expected figure of $0.50 per watt is less than the cost for thermally generated electrical power sources.tillage required for broadcast seed to be in contact with the soiL although not inserted into it. Herbicide application techniques are relied on for subsequent weed control.,,---O-FfSEl MEl ~lL woo~ HOPPH--------...System 3, direct seedling into the soil, was not satisfactory given the laborious task of planting up to 160,000 hills/ha. System 2 may be considered a \"minimum.tillage\" system as ,,'fl.REAR CUTAWAY VIEW  it involves the least tillage required for broadcast seed to be in contact with the soil, although not inserted into it. Herbicide application techniques are relied on for subsequent weed control.A compact 5~hp tractor based on the proven and popular (in Asia) ;'Landmaster Lion\" tractor. but incorporating features which will enable its manufacture and maintenance in Africa with minimal fabricating facilities, has been designed and constructed at IITA. All bearings are bushes, to eliminate the cost and complexity of roller or ball bearings. The internal transmission gears have been replaced by sprockets and chains (Fig. 11). A non-press-found and non-welded fabrication transmission case is a major contribution toward simplicity in manufacture_ vVith a 5-hp engine the \"Chief\" achieves the operating performance of the 7-hp \"Lion,\" due to more economical selection of transmission reductions. Through most of 1977 the \"Chief' as continued in steady and consistent field test and evaluation, with no repairs apart from a change in design of the forward-reverse clutch levers to avoid chance of misuse.The tractor was developed specifically for the \"intennediatelevel\" and to have the following capabilities: 1. As a sitting, (4-wheel) tractor for: Development work on the system, which has been specifically directed toward the small power needs of the intermediate farmer in the humid tropics, will be completed in 1978 for the basic range, and extension of the project commenced.A furnace and appropriate boxes for casting up to 14-cm diameter and O_5-kg weight have been developed. ThisMaize yields in 1977 on the zero tillage plots continued to be superior to yields obtained from the conventionally tilled lands. The low second season yields of the portion of the conventionally tilled plots were due to massive invasion of stem borers where carbofuran was not applied to the area at planting. \"Cnobserved blockages in the pesticide applicator tubes of the planter occurred when planting on wet, tilled soil. This problem further demonstrated the ease of managing equipment on zero as opposed to conventionally tilled plots. The zero tillage technique has proven superior to conventional tillage on economic grounds for a wide range of crop and input prices. The cost advantages of zero tillage include: 1. Elimination of the costs of soil conservation structures and their maintenance. 2. No loss of land from production due to soil conservation strucrures. 3. Speedier operations. 4. Saving on tractor fuel. 5. Minimized soil erosion. 6. lmprovement in levels of organic matter and soil structure. 7. Reduced soil damage and compaction. S. lncreased water retention and reduced runoff.A negative aspect of zero tillage is its dependence on herbicides for weed control. However, with labor costs generally increasing more rapidly than the cost of agro-chemicals, the availability as opposed to cost of herbicides is the critical constraint.The zero-tillage technique is now being evaluated at five sites outside [ITA to determine its performance over a range of soil types and climates.Five \"unit\" farms were developed to provide a focus for inte• grating and evaluating the potential and constraints of crop production methods and land management developed by the Institute. This on-station evaluation of research within a whole-farm framework is designed to serve as a filter or bridge between research plot experimentation and on-farm evaluation of the most promising technology. As the availability of inputs (credit, implements, improved cultivars, agro-chemicals) and land base per unit of labor force vary within tropical Africa, the five unit farms were designed to represent different resource combinations and as a result, different levels of appropriate technology and farm management (Table 54).The crop combinations, planting sequences and placement of crops on various aspects of the landscape were chosen to make the most effective use of the farmer manager's resource base 86 -his land, labor and capital. From earlier toposequence based studies of crops in relation to soil type and moisture regimes, cropping patterns based on cassava, maize and cow• pea were established on the upland (pluvial) soils; yams, plantain and cocoyam on the lower (ftuxial) slopes; and rice and off-season vegetables on the hydromorphic (phreatic) valley bottoms. As 1977 was the first year of the unit farms operation, a considerable amount of energy was devoted to site development (particularly the paddies) and the farms were not stabilized. Nonetheless, the follO\\ .... ing points were verified:1. The integrated management of hydromorphic valley bottoms and associated uplands in this environment is attractive. The diversification over crops and landscape increases the efficiency of labor use and provides a more stable ftO\\\\>' of output over the farming year. 2. Improved cultivars of maize (TZB, TZPB) were profitable under local and improved management levels in the first season and performed well as a sole crop and when intercropped with cassava. 3. 110 to 120-day maize as a second•season crop in the derived savanna remains a risky proposition; the development of a shorter•season cultivar (e.g., TZE) for this zone is appropriate. 4. The improved cassava cultivar 30211 grown is clearly superior (in yield and disease resistance) when compared to the local material. j. Yams and plantain are profitable on the lower slopes and integrate well within the overall management of the farm units. 6. Important components of the management of hydromorphic valley bottoms are water and weed control. 7. \\Vith the CDA herbicide applicator for weed control and a mini.mum tillage planter, a farmer has the potential to handle several times the previous area cropped with a higher level of output, compared to currently used systems of hoe cultivation. S. Under the crop management system mentioned in (7), harvesting and post• harvest handling and processing of crops may well become effective constraints on farm production.The evaluation of research results in an integrated, though simulated, farm environment by a multi-disciplinary team of UTA scientists has identified some limitations in components of proposed technologies. These findings have contributed to the focus of collective research within the Institute to the modification of proposed management practices to reduce these constraints.June 30,1977 concluded Phase I -the pilot operations and planning stage of the ~igerian National Accelerated Food Production Project (NAFPP). The plan was published under the title A New Dimrnsion for Nigerian Agriculture and presented to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development who accepted and agreed to implementing the plan and issued guidelines for its implementation.During Phase 1, the research and extension components were tested in five plot states. These components will continue as the basic plans of action. :\\1odifications and improvements are being incorporated to include fewer and better mini-kit trials, better selection of participating farmers, more fertilizer and herbicide trials, more demonstration plots, organization of farmer groups, and personnel development through in ten• sive training courses. Whereas the research and extension components have been field tested in the pilot operations, the third component, the Agro.Service system wa~ not field tested before implementation. Flexibility exists for the guidelines that were established by the government for the implementa• tion of the Agro-Service system to be redefined and modified with accumulated experience in their operation.Essential ingredients for operational success as identified in the NAFPP Plan and endorsed at a planning workshop for the Agro-Service Centers were a uniform plan of action, an autonomous organization with accountability and strong management emanating from a manpower development program. The implementation committees set up for developing the Agro-Service Centers in each state are interpreting the guidelines to meet local government requirements.Diffusion and adoption of cassava technology, One of the major thrusts of IITA's involvement in the NAFPP has been the introduction of a cassava production package in southeastern Nigeria. Although cassava is the dominant food crop in the region, the practice recommended was to intercrop with maize (TZPB). This has proved to be more profitable than sale crop cassava, is in line with farmers' customary practices and also reduces the spread of bacterial blight disease in cassava.The yield of improved cassava intercropped with maize (over 14 t/ha) was three times that of the local cultivars, while maize yields (2 t/ha) were at least doubled. After allO\\ving for the increased cost of the new technology (principally labor for ridging and agro-chemicals), profits were doubled, compared to local cultivars and practices. This technology is clearly profitable, and justifies the considerable effort that went into its extension.Demonstration plots \\vere used to encourage adoption of the new methods of cassava production. Among the groups examined, the best included those , ... •hose members were most closely related. The performance of the group was also related to the capability of the extension officer; the major constraint to adoption of the new technology was unavailability of inputs. The adoption of components of the package by farmers not in the groups was dependent more on the success of neighboring groups and a farmer's personal contact with group members than on the demonstration plots.In all 12 locations, farmers within and outside the target groups considered that high yields and early maturity \" .. •ere the most important attributes of the improved cassava. However, mass adoption of the total package (cultivars, spacing. ridging, fertilizer, plant protection) appears unlikely at present because inputs are not always available, and the costs (particularly labor costs for ridging) and complexity of the package is high compared with current practices.Outside the supervised group plots, the new cultivars of cassava \\vere usually planted according to traditional practices. Almost all farmers who grew the improved cassava had experienced difficulty in obtaining inputs and planting material. This is one of the problems that Agro-Service Centers hope to solve.It is too early to specify the effects on farmer income of the program. Where maize marketing had been successful, farmers were aware that their income had increased; but the extra was largely used to repay the loans for the maize/cassava package.The NAFPP cannot also dispose of the extra malze at prices attractive to the farmers. Gari is the most profitable form in which to sell cassava, but farmers feel that the capacity to process cassava in the villages is a factor that limits potential sales.A new disease, discovered in maize at lIT A was proved to be caused by maize dwarf mosaic virus. The virus is mechanically transmissible, belongs to the Poty-virus group of aphid transmitted viruses and is closely related to or identical with sugarcane mosaic virus and sorghum red stripe virus. Only a few plants out of populations of most cultivars, developed or used in the maize breeding program at UTA, were found to develop characteristic symptoms after artificial inoculation. This partly explains the low infection incidence observed in the field.Maize streak virus was proved to be efficiently transmitted by Cicaduii7!i1 triangu1a. not earlier reported as a vector of this virus. Streak disease symptoms commonly observed in rice at UTA, but, to our knowledge, not earlier reported for rice, proved to be caused by a virus which was found to belong to the streak virus complex of maize and several grass weed species. Investigations into the etiology of other virus-like diseases of maize and rice are in progress.A useful extension of the Dwscorea rotunaala-virus indexing method was found in a local lesion assay on Chenopodium amarantico{or (or C. quinoa); inoculated from Nicoliana benthamiana, earlier identified as a sensitive alternate host for this virus. It is necessary that yam seedling is included as a control, since N. benthamiana is a host for many different viruses, inducing similar symptoms.The sweet potato virus might have a reservoir in a wild sweet potato-like plant, found in the Port Harcourt area of eastern Nigeria. It showed the same type of symptoms and also contained fimamentous virus particles, similar to the aphidtransmitted component of the sweet potato virus disease. However, aphid transmission to the s,,,•eet potato virus test plants, Ipomoea setosa, could not be achieved.Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) could not be transmitted toNicotiana glutinosa and N. bmthamiana in whitefly transmission experiments. A cassava collection from a farmer's field near Iseyin (OyoState), Nigeria, found to be remarkably free from CMD symptoms, persistently developed only minor disease symptoms on cuttings further propagated at IITA.A virus isolated from bambara ground nut (Voandzeia subttrranea) in the Zaria region (northern Nigeria), was thought to be a manifestation of cowpea mottle virus, once described as an apparently distinct virus of cowpea and bambara groundnut in southern Nigeria (Robertson, 1967).Unfortunately neither an original antiserum nor a stored isolate of the once tentatively identified cowpea mottle virus was available.An antiserum prepared for our bambara groundnut isolate later revealed the occurrence of a serologically identical virus in cowpea at Mokwa in central ='Jigeria which is additional evidence for the cowpea mottle virus earlier described to be involved.Its persistent occurrence in southern Nigeria was subsequently confirmed at the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training, Moor Plantation, Ibadan, when using this same antiserum to the bambara groundnut isolate.Extensive characterization work at Boyce Thompson Institute in New York also revealed that most likely a distinct virus of cowpea and bambara groundnut is involved.89An aphid transmissible (~yzus persicae) filamentous virus {Poty-virus group) from cowpea at lIT A ,vas found to be serologically related to cowpea aphid-borne mosaic virus in East Africa. Of 30 promising, multiple virus resistant cowpea introductions tested with this virus, only three remained symptomless, the multiple virus resistant introduction TVu 410 being among these.A randomly collected locally grown cowpea selection from Kano State (northern Nigeria) proved to be highly resistant too, which is good evidence for a high level of natural resistance to this virus in the main cowpea growing area, where virus disease incidence was found to be very low. Aphid in• festation of the young crop, however, is a common feature.A very severe and conspicuous golden mosaic disease of cowpea at IITA's high-rainfall substation at Onne near Port Harcourt, however, predominantly occurring in vegetable cowpea types (V. unguiculata var. sesquipedalis) was proved to be whitefly transmitted. Sap transmission, like that recently found for similar golden mosaic of PhaseollLS vulgaris in Central and South America could not be achieved, however.Resistance screening conditions for this virus in the field are essentially adequate since generally the whole infection occurs at early stages of growth. Soybean, besides showing symptoms due to infection with a sap and aphid-transmissible filamentous virus soybean mosaic virus, widely found wherever soybean is grown in the world was found to show symptoms of a disease which was found to be graft-transmissible only. Strong indications were obtained that the whitefly transmitted lima bean golden mosaic virus is involved in this case.Electron microscopic and host range studies at lIT A revealed that in lima bean, often a latent virus occurs in addition to lima bean golden mosaic virus (whitefly transmitted) and lima bean green mottle virus (aphid-transmitted, Poty-virus).The identity and ecology of this virus and viruses of the same type, electro microscopically, isolated from cowpea and so),bean, is presently being investigated. Mosaic, ring spot and sometimes vein necrosis symptoms often leading to die-back of plants were commonly observed in wing bean (Psophocarpw letragonQlobus). Host range and electron microscopic investigations with two isolates, one representing mosaic and the second vein necrosis symptoms, revealed that in both cases probably the same virus, poty-virus, is involved.Of several introductions tested generally only a low number of plants out of each population proved to be susceptible to each of the two isolates.Vein necrosis and mosaic symptoms could both be induced with the necrosis and the mosaic isolate, indicating that host plant genetics playa predominant role in the type of symptom expression by this virus, whereas its epidemiology is apparently governed by the same genetic heterogeneity.A comparison of the symptoms in a series of test plant/species evoked by viruses isolated from severely virus diseased African yam bean (Sphenos~ylis stenocarpa) and jack bean (Canavalia ensiform is) and electron microscopic studies revealed that the viruses are probably closely related or identical, and belong to the Poty-virus group. Also, symptoms induced in lima bean were reminiscent of lima bean green mottle virus. To prove their identity and relationship, purification and serology are anticipated.Exploration. The first priority of the Genetic Resources Unit (CRU) is to collect the germplasm of African rice, food legumes, root crops and aroids from sub-Saharan Africa. During 1977 the unit was involved in nine germplasm collection missions within West Africa, and received seeds from important collections already held at the International Rice Research Institute and the University of Ghana. From all these sources 2,736 new accessions were gathered (Table 1), and by the end of the year the unit held a total stock of 17,945 items of germplasm (Table 2). This total excludes the year's 1,417 collections from outside Nigeria which had not been released from Nigerian post-entry quarantine screening by the end of the year.Grants of money to assist germplasm collection for lITA were made to collaborators in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and :\"Jiger. Germplasm from these collaborators will begin to reach the lnstitute during 1978. A grant was also made to [RAT to support their exploration for rice in Africa during 1977.Evaluation, maintenance, documentation. During the year 6,585 food legumes, 594 rice accessions, 2,032 cassava clones and 615 yam clones (Dioscorea spp.) were grown for maintenance or evaluation. Arrangements were made with the crop improvement programs of UTA to share the work of germplasm evaluation. The GRlJ will observe and record stable (mostly qualitative) characters at UTA whereas specialists in the crop programs will evaluate new germplasm for less stable characters of agronomic importance in more than one environment.For every accession at least 20 \"passport\" descriptors defining provenance are recorded at the time of collection. Progress was made to define minimum sets of descriptors for the subsequent evaluation of collections. Data from these two sources have been accumulated, but no use was. made of the computer to store genetic resources data or to publish catalog pending the installation of a ne\" . . . . machine and a suitable program for it.Seed production, storage and distribution. The GRU managed aU the Institute's seed stores and completed their reorganization in 1977. An order was placed for a -20°C longterm store big enough to contain about 25,000 seed samples of 0.5 kg each (store volume 88 m:». This facility will be used. primarily to preserve base collections of cow peas and . .<\\frican rice, but about 20 m 3 will be available to other genetic resource centers to duplicate their collections. The unit multiplied legume breeders' seed on 6 ha and helped to pack and distribute it for off-site uniform trials. In addition, legume germ plasm was distributed to 66 countries in response to 215 requests and within Nigeria in response to 384 requests.90 "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"00d317de687d6610514de364677d050c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://dataverse.harvard.edu/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/SNL11W/C3QZRX","id":"-1081751819"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d4afb3a2-077f-4317-bbce-dacbda1926e6","content":"The community survey is a very important component of the overall household survey. For this questionnaire, the community is defined as the kebele or peasant association (PA). Interview at least five people, perhaps together, who are knowledgeable about the community (e.g., community leaders, PA chairmen, elders, priests, teachers). You must include at least one member of the Kebele Food Security Task Force and at least one woman. You may need to meet with other members of the Kebele Food Security Task Force in order to complete some sections relating to PSNP. In general, when there is uncertainty regarding an answer, record the details in notes to the questionnaire. Q.8. Latitude Q.9. LongitudeTeam members of this project will start to introduce themselves. The statement for the whole team will be provided by one of the team members according to the following paragraph. The respondents need not sign the statement, as consent is obtained verbally.\"Hello, My name is [Team member's Name]. First please allow my colleagues to also introduce themselves.  If several instances of PSNP road work, ask the respondents to start with those they find most important., and record up to three. We would like to ask about the most important road construction projects conducted by PSNP, three at most. If several instances of PSNP soil conservation work, ask the respondents to start with those they find most important., and record up to three.We would like to ask about the most important soil conservation projects conducted by PSNP, three at most. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"af1e1358a0d4cf9ab6ed7457edf5c874","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f335b35f-3506-4c43-9cde-68937e37e1ee/retrieve","id":"-1507721831"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"47455e5f-5e13-44c2-90c3-6712bb986055","content":"This background paper is one of three papers commissioned by the World Bank and jointly implemented with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) as part of the first phase of a two-phase Technical Assistance (TA) project to assess the opportunities for adaptation to climate change in the water sector in South Asia (including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka). The TA -Climate Risks and Solutions: Adaptation Frameworks for Water Resources Planning, Development and Management in South Asia -is funded by the South Asia Water Initiative (SAWI), a partnership of the governments of Australia, Norway and the United Kingdom. SAWI funds a multi-donor trust fund implemented by the World Bank that works to improve the management of the major Himalayan river systems of South Asia for sustainable, fair and inclusive development and climate resilience.Tables viiiAcronyms and Abbreviations ix xiii information and solutions. While Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan all advocate regional data sharing and cooperation in their water instruments, transboundary information sharing is focused on rivers and makes little mention of sharing information on transboundary aquifers. Afghanistan, Bhutan, India and Nepal have adopted basin-level water planning and management. Bangladesh agrees, in principle, with this approach, but points out that it means greater cooperative management of the Ganges River Basin.There is an emphasis on technical methods for improving water-use efficiencies, although nontechnical methods can be effective and are often cheaper. Conjunctive use and reuse of treated wastewater are also proposed to augment irrigation water supplies, although the latter carries considerable public health risks unless stringent water quality regulations and guidelines are in place and enforced. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka all have special provisions in their water policies to protect groundwater quality, while India has also developed a draft model bill for groundwater. India has a clear strategy of rainwater harvesting and artificial recharge using treated wastewater to remediate overdrawn aquifers.While all countries support community-level participation in adaptation activities in their climate instruments, it is, however, often seen as a top-down activity. Nevertheless, Nepal has now instituted about 90 Local Adaptation Plans of Action, while Bangladesh is recognized for its local responses to climate-induced disasters and Sri Lanka has proposed a small grants program for local community adaptation activities.There is widespread agreement about the importance of building an understanding of climate change and its implications for water resources among the public, as well as among sectoral groups and decision makers. There is also a need to build a wider understanding among the public and decision makers that some climate change impacts are regional in scope and can best be tackled through regional cooperation.This analysis also suggested several topics that could be developed under the second phase of this project to assist South Asian countries in climate change adaptations (Box ES.1). xiv Box ES.1. Potential topics for phase II.• Assistance with regional data sharing, especially for transboundary surface water and groundwater information • Assistance with community-level monitoring and data sharing • Building a greater understanding of scientific findings about climate change impacts among water managers• Identifying specific opportunities to support promising attempts to implement components of IWRM, particularly improving intersectoral coordination • Building an understanding among water managers that implementing IWRM also helps This is the second of three reports commissioned by the World Bank to assess opportunities for adaptation to climate change in the water sector 3 in South Asia. The first report (Lacombe et al. 2019) describes current scientific understanding of the predicted impacts of climate change on water resources and the associated risks in South Asia, while the third report (Suhardiman et al. 2019) assesses the governmental financial, economic and institutional landscape in South Asian countries for adapting to climate change. This report assesses the suitability of the enabling policy environment (existing policy, legislation, strategy and planning instruments) for adapting to the impacts of climate change in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The analysis includes surface water and groundwater, and the major water-using sectors (water supply and sanitation, agriculture, energy, industry and the environment). However, it does not investigate the implementation of these instruments, although the third report does analyze the effectiveness of financing and institutional aspects of water and climate change instruments.The following summary of the water resources of South Asia, the main water uses, and the major climateinduced risks is taken from the first report (Lacombe et al. 2019) and from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 4  More than half of the surface area of South Asia is drained by three major river basins: the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) river system, the Indus River Basin and the Helmand River Basin. The remaining areas comprise the numerous watersheds of peninsula India, the river basins of Sri Lanka, the rivers of northern and western Afghanistan, smaller rivers in Balochistan and coastal rivers of Bangladesh.The GBM river system has an annual average flow of 1,310 cubic kilometers (km 3 ), which originates primarily from the monsoon rains from June to September. The Ganges River Basin in India and Nepal has an annual groundwater yield of 108.5 km 3 , while the Brahmaputra River Basin in Assam (India) has a groundwater yield potential 5 of 10.7 km 3 . The groundwater resources of Bhutan, which lies within the Brahmaputra River Basin, are believed to be limited and have yet to be properly assessed or developed. Groundwater recharge in Bangladesh is estimated at 21 km 3 per year.Irrigation represents 88% of water usage in the GBM. Other water uses, such as power generation (hydropower and cooling water for thermal power stations), recreation and navigation are rapidly increasing, largely owing to changing lifestyles associated with socioeconomic development. Current hydropower production in the Ganges Basin is about 12 terawatt-hours (World Bank 2014). Rapid urbanization is affecting water demands and water quality, especially in the Ganges River Basin. Water from the Ganges River is heavily used, compared with water from the Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers, with seven Ganges subbasins in India using more than 50% of their available water resources.About 35-40% of river flows in the Indus River Basin originate from glacier melt and snowmelt in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) mountains, providing perennial flows to the Indus River and some of its tributaries. If water from the Indus River was not used for irrigation, the river would discharge about 207 km 3 of water to the sea annually. 6  The Indus River Basin contains an extensive aquifer. Prior to the development of the irrigation system, the water table was well below the surface (greater than 30 meters [m]). With the introduction of irrigation, increased percolation to the aquifer has resulted in a rise in groundwater levels, and associated waterlogging and salinity issues in the large irrigation schemes. In other areas, such as the lower and central parts of the Bari Doab, there is severe overuse of groundwater with declining water tables (Basharat et al. 2015). The high water table now allows for irrigation with dug wells and tube wells in the fresh groundwater zone. The Indus Basin's water resources are under considerable stress, especially in the eastern parts of the basin shared by Pakistan and India, mainly due to extensive water withdrawals to support agricultural production. According to FAO, annual diffuse recharge for all of Pakistan is estimated to be 55 km 3 , while annual groundwater abstraction was estimated to be 62 km 3 in 2008. There is high connectivity between surface water and groundwater, such that surface water supplements diffuse aquifer recharge.Irrigation accounts for 93% of the water withdrawn, the remainder being used in the domestic and industrial sectors. Pakistan is the largest water user in the basin (at 63% of withdrawals), followed by India (36%), Afghanistan (1%) and China (less than 1%). Currently, there is an installed capacity of about 11,000 megawatts of hydropower generation from large dams in the basin, with another 19,000 megawatts of generating capacity under construction (SANDRP 2013).The Helmand River Basin is an internally draining basin, situated mostly in Afghanistan, although Iran is a key riparian country with significant water use. It receives snowmelt and spring water from the HKH mountains and has a mean annual flow of about 15 km 3 , although this is subject to extreme interannual variation due to the semi-arid climate. River flows are highly seasonal, with droughts and floods being common.The latest water use data for the Helmand River Basin are from 1998. They show total surface water and groundwater withdrawals of about 17 km 3 , almost all of which was used for agriculture. Groundwater withdrawal is mostly from shallow unconfined aquifers, although deeper confined aquifers are now being developed for domestic and municipal water supplies (Rout 2008).South Asia is exposed to a variety of climate-related risks resulting from the geo-climatic characteristics of the region, many of which frequently transcend national boundaries.Because of the high intensity of monsoonal rains, the large rivers of the region regularly flood, causing widespread damage and, sometimes, large losses of life. Severe flooding in 2007 along the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers affected over 13 million people in Bangladesh; and flooding in Pakistan in 2010 affected 20 million people (Shah and Lele 2011). At the end of 2015, heavy rains caused severe flooding in Chennai. Storms and cyclones are additional climate hazards that cause flooding across coastal regions of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Extreme rainfall can also cause local flash flooding, mostly in mountainous areas. Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are a specific type of flash flood that occurs in the HKH mountains when unstable terminal lakes, formed by retreating glaciers, breach their walls.Droughts cause the highest number of deaths and the greatest economic losses of all climate-related hazards in South Asia. Not only do droughts reduce surface water availability, but they also reduce groundwater recharge. In some cases, declining groundwater levels are accompanied by the intrusion of saltwater and other contaminants (for example, arsenic) into aquifers.High-intensity precipitation causes erosion and landslides, particularly in the foothills of the HKH. The resulting high riverine sediment loads can cause siltation of reservoirs, riverbeds and irrigation channels (Annandale et al. 2016;Palmieri et al. 2003). By the end of 2020, sedimentation is expected to reduce the storage capacity of three of Pakistan's major reservoirs-Tarbela, Chashma and Mangla-by 32%, while sedimentation of the GBM delta impedes navigation during periods of low flow and contributes to flooding (WARPO 2001).Groundwater, too, is under severe threat in parts of the region. Saline water intrusion, pollution and land subsidence are effectively irreversible threats in the short to medium term; others, such as overabstraction, are technically reversible although it has proven to be extremely difficult to control in practice.Across South Asia, average temperatures are predicted to increase (although not uniformly) as a result of climate change, with heat waves occurring more frequently. Changes in precipitation will be quite varied, with recent projections based on results from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (CDKN and ODI 2014) showing increases in annual precipitation across the Himalayan region, Nepal and Sri Lanka with smaller increases in Bhutan. There is likely to be a reduction in annual precipitation in lower parts of Afghanistan and across India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It is expected that there will be an increase in rainfall extremes (see Paper 1 [Lacombe et al. 2019] for details) and the assumption of climate stationarity will be breached (Box 1.1). However, CDKN and ODI (2014) warned about the high uncertainty of these rainfall projections for South Asia, exhibiting trends partly offset by the natural climate variability.In their review, Nepal and Shrestha (2015) concluded that there may be little change (or a small increase) in streamflow in the Indus Basin, while overall water availability is likely to be maintained in the Ganges Basin up to mid-century. Moreover, in the Brahmaputra Basin, there is likely to be a reduction in upstream water supply. There is likely to be a marked change in the seasonal distribution of flows in the Indus Basin, with a smoothed and earlier peak of the flood pulse because of its relatively high reliance on snowmelt and ice melt that will start earlier in the year. The changes in seasonality of flows in the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers could lead to increased flooding.Box 1.1. Climate stationarity.The conventional belief among hydrologists has been that, while climate varies between seasons within years and between years, the long-term mean and the variance of climate parameters remain constant, i.e., the average climate that we have experienced in the past and its variability around that average will continue into the future. This belief, called the stationarity assumption, allows engineers to plan for infrastructure by assuming that future hydrology repeats itself and will be the same as that experienced in the past. However, due to climate change, with its steady rise in temperatures and changes to other climatic parameters, this assumption will no longer hold. We cannot assume that the mean and variance of climate parameters will be the same in the future as it was in the past.Increasing temperature, more erratic rainfall patterns and altered flow seasonality will induce a rise in demand for irrigation water, leading to increasing pressure on water resources even in countries predicted to receive increases in precipitation unless there are significant improvements in water-use efficiencies and water storage capacities. The increased variability in precipitation is likely to cause increased frequency and intensity of droughts and floods. Importantly, climate change is expected to reduce food security across the region (Box 1.2).Groundwater recharge will be affected by climate change, although it is difficult to predict the direction and magnitude of the change (Clifton et al. 2010). However, given that groundwater use is more compatible with a hotter and more variable climate than surface water (because it is protected from evaporation and is buffered against extremes), it is very likely that, even if recharge rates do not change significantly, there will be an increased demand for groundwater.The warming of the oceans and the melting of ice caps are causing sea levels to rise. The rising sea level, coupled with more severe cyclones and storms, means that saline waters will penetrate further into estuaries, exposing coastal aquifers to risks of salinization. Bangladesh and Pakistan are highly vulnerable to rising sea levels, while coastal regions of India and Sri Lanka will also be affected.This report assesses the extent to which the policy instruments of South Asian countries are suited to adaptation for these likely effects of climate change in the water sector. The assessment is based on a desk study of water resources and climate change documents available on government websites and the websites of international agencies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), together with analyses and critiques of policy environments published in the academic literature. In some cases, these documents were not available in English and could not be included in this analysis.Being a desk study, the analysis did not include information from interviews conducted with government officials or other in-country sources. In particular, it does not examine the degree of success in the implementation of the various policy instruments. A draft version of this report was presented at a regional stakeholder conference held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on July 12-13, 2016, and was circulated to experts in six of the seven countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) for feedback before being finalized.Table 1.1 illustrates the range of adaptation options available for responding to the different risks arising from climate change. The primary risks arise from changes in climate and marine parameters, whereas the secondary risks arise from the consequences of those primary changes. Thus, floods and droughts both arise as a result of changes in precipitation, while some coastal aquifers will experience decreases in water quality because of sea-level rise.Box 1.2. Food security under climate change.The impacts of climate change on crop production have been widely studied in South Asia, and it is commonly predicted that food shortages will occur because of reduced crop productivity (see, for example, CDKN and ODI 2014). A recent study has found that climate change could also kill more than 500,000 adults worldwide by 2050: not because of food shortages, but due to changes in diets and body weight. Most of these deaths are expected to occur in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific Region, with 160,000 of the deaths occurring in India. The study considered both the quantity and quality of food consumption under a number of climate change scenarios. A decrease in global crop productivity is expected because of changes in temperature and precipitation as a result of climate change, leading to people consuming less red meat and fewer water-intensive fruits and vegetables. These dietary changes will lead to increases in diseases such as heart disease, stroke and cancer.Source : Springmann et al. 2016. These options fall within the following five groups of integrated water resources management (IWRM) attributes: knowledge; governance structure; infrastructure; planning and management activities; and communications, education and participation. These groups were taken and extended from an earlier analysis of climate change adaptation for the Government of Zimbabwe that had been adapted from a report to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on climate change adaptation in the water sector (SADC 2011).The report consists of five chapters. Chapter 1 (this chapter) provides the background and context of the report. Chapter 2 introduces IWRM, the framework adopted in many policy instruments across South Asia, and explains why it provides many of the features needed for adapting to the impacts of climate change. Chapter 3 analyzes the water resources policy environment in each South Asian country (considered in this study) against 12 criteria (defined in the chapter) that describe the adequacy of these instruments for adapting to climate change. Chapter 4 analyzes each country's climate change instruments for their inclusion of water resources adaptation measures. Chapter 5 summarizes the findings on the extent to which each country's water and climate change policy environments are compatible with each other, and provides the tools for adapting to changes in water availability and demand as a result of climate change. It also contains possible topics for phase II of this work. The Appendix contains a detailed description of the contents of both draft and approved water resources instruments.Integrated water resources management (IWRM) is an approach that seeks to improve the efficiency, equity and flexibility with which a country's water resources are managed. It also emphasizes the need to manage climate variability through data collection and management, infrastructure, planning and institutional coordination. These are the attributes required for adapting to climate change. It is a framework that is widely embedded in water and climate policy instruments in South Asian nations.IWRM is defined as \"a process which promotes the co-ordinated development and management of water, land and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems\" (GWP 2000, 22). This definition makes it clear that IWRM incorporates both development as well as management of water resources. It also states that IWRM is a process rather than a result, with benefits arising from the cycles of learning that emerge as water management practices are improved.The term 'integrated' in IWRM carries several meanings. Most importantly, it refers to integration of water-dependent sectors (including irrigation, hydropower and domestic water supply) in making decisions about water use. However, it also includes integration of decisions made by those upstream with those who are affected downstream; integration of the management of water quantity and quality; integrated management of connected surface water and groundwater systems; integrated management of water bodies and connected catchments; and the integration of freshwater and connected estuarine and marine systems. Essentially, IWRM is advocating the management of the complete water cycle at a watershed scale as far as possible, with input from the water user community. However, IWRM also recognizes that some tasks can only be undertaken at the state or national scale, such as managing transboundary water and establishing the rules by which water management is to occur. Some of the key features of IWRM are (GWP 2000):• Taking an intersectoral approach to water resources development and management. Coordination across sectors is essential, because links between activities within a watershed are not always understood within sectoral ministries. It is common to find ministries with nearly impenetrable barriers between them, and with technically competent staff that pursue narrow sectoral objectives (see Paper 3 [Suhardiman et al. 2019]). Establishing a genuinely intersectoral approach is probably the most contentious feature of IWRM, as it often upsets established power relationships.• As far as possible, management should be devolved to a basin level, because this is the natural area within which many water-related decisions are interdependent and need to be managed. Decentralization has proven to be contentious partly because it challenges the authority of centralized water management agencies, and partly because river basins do not match existing institutional boundaries (see Paper 3 [Suhardiman et al. 2019]). It can also be difficult to recruit trained staff to regional areas.• Managing water as efficiently and cost effectively as possible. This includes assessments of surface water and groundwater resources, reuse and recycling of water, and evaluation of the environmental and social impacts of all distribution and water use decisions.• Strengthening demand management by establishing prices for surface water and groundwater use that reflect its full value, introducing water-efficient technologies and a sense of responsibility among water user groups, and establishing decentralized water management authorities.• Ensure equitable access to water by establishing water user associations (WUAs) that provide a voice for individual and community water users, including marginalized groups. It is also important to bear in mind equity considerations within policies, strategies and plans for infrastructure investments and management activities by, for example, extending the water supply to poor communities. Equity also implies that those groups that contribute to water resources issues should take responsibility for their impacts. This includes the corporate sector, which can seriously affect both the quantity and quality of surface water and groundwater.• Establishing policies so that government intentions are clear regarding overarching principles such as state ownership of water, ensuring polluters pay, establishing water quality standards and introducing market-based regulatory mechanisms. This should be backed by legislation that provides institutions with the authority to implement these policies.IWRM means using different management instruments in a coherent and collective manner under systems of resource governance that engage stakeholders (as users) alongside planners in resource allocation and management decisions.Water resources are commonly depicted in the IWRM framework as constituting the handle of a comb (Figure 2.1), where the teeth of the comb are the various sectors that use or depend on these water resources. The environment is included as a water-using sector along with irrigation, energy and water supply as it (the environment) requires water to provide beneficial ecosystem services, such as mangroves that provide storm surge protection and trap sediment; floodplains that attenuate peak flood events and allow the recharge of alluvial aquifers; and removal of nutrients and other contaminants to make water more potable for downstream domestic consumption. In this report, the combination of water resources and the water-using sectors (i.e., the whole comb) is referred to as the water sector.IWRM can be used to protect water quantity and quality in the natural environment (surface water and groundwater), and to plan and manage the access of the various water-using sectors to the resource. Figure 2.1 shows that infrastructure provision is an essential element of IWRM, along with the policy and institutional framework needed to implement integrated management, the use of a range of management instruments (described below), and attention to the political economy of water management including the norms and issues of each jurisdiction within which IWRM is to be applied.  There is no universal model for implementing IWRM. Different features will be needed depending on the specific issues faced by each country, including water management norms and priorities as well as the state of knowledge about water resources. Twenty years of experience shows that implementing IWRM is almost always slow and incremental. It is worth agreeing on an implementation strategy with agreed milestones and timetables but, at the same time, this should be open for review and modification as experience is gained with what works and what does not work.Various commentators have criticized IWRM on both conceptual and practical grounds (for example, Gain et al. 2013). The principal conceptual objection is that there are so many different interpretations of IWRM that it is not possible to know what the concept means in practice (Biswas 2008). In this report, we will use the above, widely accepted definition by the Global Water Partnership (GWP). The practical objections revolve largely around the difficulty of bringing about changes that challenge existing power structures in water management. Some of the IWRM principles are certainly difficult to introduce. For example, introducing a mechanism for coordinating decisions about water development and management will always be challenging when sectoral ministries are used to acting independently. Similarly, agencies responsible for managing water quantity and water quality do not always work together efficiently. However, it is difficult to see how progress can be made in sharing scarce and uncertain water resources without challenging some traditional social and institutional relationships and assumptions. In their comprehensive review of IWRM, Snellen and Schrevel (2004, 14) concluded that, despite the difficulties of implementation, \"It is generally accepted that to manage water resources there is no alternative to IWRM.\"Consequently, we have structured this report around IWRM concepts because they remain the best blueprint for improving water management. They are widely accepted among South Asian governments, as reflected in most water and climate policies, even though policy implementation may face obstacles.Climate change affects many water-dependent sectors (irrigation, water supply and sanitation, hydropower generation, industry, environment and tourism) through changes in water availability and demand, and increases in the risk of extreme weather events. Consequently, several reports conclude that water is the medium through which most early climate change impacts will be felt (Alavian et al. 2009;GWP 2007;Sadoff and Muller 2009a;World Water Council 2009). Water also multiplies some of the impacts of climate change. For example, a 1% change in annual average precipitation often translates into a 4-5% change in runoff and streamflow. Thus, adapting to the effects of climate change means adapting to changes in water availability and demand, and water-related risk.An important point is that adaptation to climate change is about improving existing water management rather than undertaking a fundamentally new approach. In their report from an International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and GWP workshop on adapting to climate change in the water sector in South Asia, Shah and Lele (2011, 14) concluded that \"climate change adaptation does not call for a different way of managing water resources; we need to simply do a far better job of planning and managing our water resources than we have done so far.\" Having said this, there are two additional topics that need to be added to the suite of existing water management activities: the effects of nonstationarity of climate parameters (see Paper 1 [Lacombe et al. 2019]) now need to be accounted for (for example, in monitoring, modeling, and establishing infrastructure design standards and operating procedures); and the impacts of sea-level rise on coastal surface water and groundwater systems need to be added to existing coastal water quality concerns.Adopting IWRM principles means that water users and water managers can adapt to climate change by using water more efficiently and equitably where there is increasing pressure on water availability, and managers can respond more flexibly in the face of increasing variability. Consequently, IWRM is well placed to be the basis for adapting to the effects of climate change for several reasons:• If countries follow a strictly sectoral approach to adaptation, they risk exacerbating competition for water resources. For example, a pursuit of food security to respond to reduced water availability or increased variability because of climate change may cause problems in hydropower generation and provision of water for water supply and sanitation. Also, some mitigation strategies (such as a shift to hydropower generation or increased reliance on biofuels) can have water resources implications. In reality, trade-offs will be needed between competing water demands. IWRM, with its emphasis on collaboration and consultation, provides tools for dealing with these conflicts (Sadoff andMuller 2009a, 2009b).• The emphasis of IWRM on water-use efficiency and demand management is also important, especially where water shortages are likely to increase because of shifts in demand or reductions in water availability. Similarly, coping with existing climate variability through IWRM helps adaptation to increases in water variability from climate change (Cap-Net 2009). IWRM includes infrastructure and institutional responses, demand management and supply augmentation, as well as structural and non-structural approaches to efficiency (Box 2.1).• IWRM is a reflexive learning process intended to allow for modifications as circumstances unfold. As Slootweg (2009) highlighted, developments in society such as population growth or economic development are already strong drivers of change in water demand-climate change adds yet another layer of complexity. IWRM can cope with this, by providing robustness and flexibility in solutions.• Adaptation will require better information and more responsive institutions alongside both infrastructure investments and structural and non-structural responses at all levels. IWRM offers a coherent way to implement these responses (GWP 2007).• IWRM provides the tools to promote adaptation at all levels in a coherent way (Sadoff and Muller 2009a, 16). \"The impacts of variability, aggravated by climate change, will have to be felt at different levels. Individual farmers, commercial organizations, urban residents and national governments will all have to engage with the issues and take difficult decisions. Because decisions at all levels can affect the holistic resource, they will have to be coherent with one another if they are to be effective.\"Box 2.1. Possible IWRM activities to respond to climate change.In areas of water stress, adaptation interventions could consist of the following:• Seasonal water rationing during times of shortage There are also shortcomings in using an IWRM approach to climate change adaptation. Slootweg (2009) cautioned that, even though IWRM advocates a multisectoral approach, its implementation is inevitably limited by sector boundaries. \"Sectors outside the water sector may be totally ignorant of the principles of IWRM. For example, energy supply, tourism or agriculture all have to adapt to potential water stress or water-related hazards as a result of climate change. Yet, there are few mechanisms to get a foothold for IWRM in these sectors.\" Also, IWRM has been developed primarily for national water management, and there are few examples of the principles being successfully applied to transboundary water management: an important requirement in South Asia, with its major transboundary rivers. Gain et al. (2013) assessed six principles of IWRM against four desirable characteristics of adaptive approaches. While they concluded that, overall, IWRM does enhance adaptive responses to climate change, they see a need for IWRM to be more flexible if it is to be used to respond to the effects of climate change.This report places emphasis on the management of groundwater because this is likely to become a more important source of water as climate change advances: unlike surface water, it is shielded from evaporative losses and better buffered against increased climate variability. Surface water and groundwater are closely linked, and should be managed together. At the same time, groundwater balances will be affected by climate change, although there is considerably more uncertainty about the effects than there is with surface water (Box 2.2).Box 2.2. Regional groundwater vulnerability under climate change. Clifton et al. (2010) constructed an index expressing the vulnerability of the World Bank's six regions to the likely effects of climate change (Table 2.1). The index incorporates the following four criteria:• Sensitivity: current level of exploitation of groundwater resources relative to average annual recharge (after IGRAC 2004) • Exposure (recharge): the magnitude and trend in changes in rates of groundwater recharge under 2050 climate change projections (after Döll and Flörke 2005) • Exposure (sea-level rise): the exposure of regional water resources to sea-level rise and contamination due to storm surge• Adaptive capacity: wealth, as measured by per capita gross national income (GNI), as a proxy for capacity to adapt Twelve key criteria were developed from these dimensions. These criteria do not cover all possible actions, but are based on the authors' judgment of the most important requirements for adapting to the impacts of climate change. These criteria are used in the next section to assess the status of IWRM in each South Asian country, and its preparedness to adapt to climate change in the water sector. Not all criteria are of equal importance in each country. For example, countries that are endowed with abundant water resources may not place as much emphasis on developing water storages as do countries that have scarce water resources.Staff in water resources and water-related institutions need to be properly trained in IWRM as well as in the management of impacts that result from climate change. This may require developing training courses and establishing centers of excellence in water resources and climate change, and establishing guidelines on how to effectively implement these provisions.Staff need access to the best available information from meteorological and water monitoring networks, as well as from scientific models of quantity and quality of surface water and groundwater, and how these are affected by climate change. Water resources data should be held in databases that collate information from the various institutions that undertake monitoring. The data should be readily accessible at low or no cost. Where relevant, the data should be collated across national borders for transboundary river basins and transboundary aquifers. These monitoring and modeling requirements apply to meteorological data, surface water, and especially to groundwater, where there is usually much less information and growing demand. Where water information is collected by institutions other than departments of water resources (for example, ministries of health or environment), the information needs to be freely shared so that it is available for decision making.Criterion 1. Undertake climate monitoring, and monitoring of quantity and quality of surface water and groundwater, so that there is a factual basis on which to base strategies of adaptation to climate change.Water needs to be treated as a common-pool resource, held in trust and managed by the state on behalf of the people, rather than as an individually owned resource (Schlüter and Pahl-Wostl 2007). Water users are licensed to use the water for various purposes, including abstractions for consumptive uses such as irrigation, flow-through for non-consumptive uses such as hydropower, and as a sink for discharging waste. Water use licenses should specify conditions of use such as limiting pollution of any water discharged.State management helps institute equitable access to water, particularly when it is scarce; for example, to prevent upstream users from abstracting water regardless of downstream impacts. Of course, this upstream-downstream conflict remains with transboundary waters, where water should be treated as a shared resource to be used for mutual benefit under agreements that provide rules for water sharing.Criterion 2. Agreement that water (surface water and groundwater) is held in trust by the state rather than owned by individuals.Establishing an effective water governance framework that defines institutional responsibilities and promotes coordination between institutions with an interest in water resources is essential for adaptation to climate change. Coordination between water resources managers and water-using sectors in all decisions that affect a number of sectors is probably the most important governance action to improve the allocative and technical efficiency with which water is used, and also to help prevent intersectoral and upstream-downstream disputes over access to water. Often, a water department or water ministry is established to have overall responsibility for water resources management and to undertake coordination with water-dependent sectors. Good governance can also include establishing the right of the environment as a water-using sector, separation of regulatory institutions from water operations to avoid conflicts of interest, instituting independent bodies to establish water prices to avoid political interference, and ensuring that policies and practices in some sectors do not have perverse influences on water availability and quality elsewhere.Criterion 3. A policy framework that provides a common set of objectives across all waterdependent sectors and a means for these sectors to work together effectively.IWRM advocates that river basins be designated as the primary unit of management, and that this is most efficiently implemented by establishing river basin authorities with the responsibility for establishing and implementing water plans. 7 This includes transboundary river basins and aquifers where cooperation is key not only for tackling issues that are cross-border in nature, such as widespread flooding, but also for handling common issues such as arsenic and fluoride contamination of groundwater and saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers. Regional activities could include data sharing, development of early warning systems, research and development, and capacity building across national institutions in a regionally coordinated way. Efforts to promote regional adaptation will have to account for the existing asymmetries in economic and political power, geography, resource endowments, skills, institutional capacities and country priorities.Good governance also includes establishing means for community involvement in water management through water user associations (WUAs) or other such groups. Governance requires that cooperative mechanisms be implemented for managing transboundary surface water and groundwater.Water governance involves establishing clear policies and strategies that are widely agreed and understood, coupled with legislation and regulations to implement these policies. Recognizing climate change as an important influence on future water management in these policies and strategies supports a country's ability to respond and implement adaptive actions.Dams help manage variability, and having sufficient water storage will become increasingly important as greater rainfall variability and reduction of ice melt and snowmelt (as a result of climate change) ensure an increase in streamflow variability (see Paper 1 [Lacombe et al. 2019] for details). Dams provide water for irrigation, hydropower, industry and domestic consumption, thereby contributing to both climate adaptation and mitigation efforts. Reducing sediment loads will prolong the life of existing storages (Annandale et al. 2016;Palmieri et al. 2003). However, even with improved water efficiencies and reduced sediment loads, increased storage (including natural storages such as aquifers and soil moisture) will eventually be needed to cope with increased variability in precipitation, as well as reduced precipitation and snowmelt and ice melt in some areas.Interbasin water transfers have been proposed in South Asian countries (for example, the Sutlej-Yamuna link between the Indus and Ganges basins within India) to move water from regions of relative water abundance to those where water is scarce. However, they require detailed negotiations and benefit sharing before they can be implemented.An important caveat is that additional infrastructure can only provide a buffer against increasing variability if it is constructed and operated according to design rules that consider climate change. Thus, new infrastructure, such as hydropower dams, needs to be accompanied by a review of design criteria and operational rules to ensure that it is adaptive to climate change, including the ability to cope with future extremes.Infrastructure is not restricted to surface water development. Existing groundwater supply can be augmented through artificial recharge (managed aquifer recharge [MAR]). Small-scale infrastructure, such as household and community water tanks, and rainwater harvesting can also help to provide water during droughts.However, dams can also alter the patterns of river flow, so that they provide too little or too much water to downstream ecosystems and communities, thereby lessening their ability to adapt to climate change. Infrastructure developments that interrupt flows (dams, weirs and barrages) need to be operated according to environmental flow plans that minimize downstream disruptions.Criterion 5. Implement an investment program to develop sustainable water storage infrastructure to help smooth out peaks (high flows) and troughs (low flows) in water availability while aiming to preserve environmental flows.Dams can also reduce downstream flooding, while embankments and levees can protect critical areas from floods (although they may simply divert floodwater to other areas), and canals and pipelines can move water from areas of abundance to those of shortage. These infrastructure investments could also be accompanied by non-structural flood and drought protection measures, such as flood mapping, land-use controls and preparation of emergency response plans.Not all investments need be directed toward new infrastructure. Rehabilitating and improving existing infrastructure can often be more cost-effective than constructing new infrastructure.There are numerous actions involved in good water resources planning and management that help adapt to the impacts of climate change. They include undertaking assessments to establish the size and dynamics of the water resource, and producing basin-level water use plans for allocating surface water and groundwater among competing uses.Criterion 7. Institute water allocation plans at the basin level that are developed collaboratively with all water users to establish principles of equitable use.IWRM advocates that demand management methods be used to enhance efficiencies, and reduce wastage where there is increasing competition for the resource due to reduced water availability and increased evaporative losses as a result of climate change. Demand management includes establishing realistic prices for water, public education and participation, removal of perverse subsidies that encourage excessive agricultural water use, technical measures such as reducing leaks and illegal connections, and water-saving technologies in domestic water supply. Recycling and reusing water, in addition to the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater, makes more efficient use of existing resources.Water quality guidelines and regulations are essential for water recycling and reuse, especially where treated wastewater is the water source. Technical guidelines and coordination between surface water and groundwater managers are also important for conjunctive use.Criterion 8. Introduce demand management methods, reuse and recycling, and conjunctive use to make the most efficient use of water resources.There are many other techniques to use water more efficiently. Irrigation technologies such as drip and sprinkler irrigation can be employed where practical; irrigation operating procedures can be optimized; industrial production procedures can be modified to reduce water use and contamination (and, therefore, minimize the need for expensive treatment). MAR requires scientifically established standards to ensure that groundwater is not contaminated with chemicals, salt or pathogens from the source water, and that recharge does not preclude important uses downstream, including environmental flows. Markandya et al. (2017) undertook a preliminary assessment of the investments needed to achieve different levels of improvement in water-use efficiency in South Asian countries. Thus, a 10% improvement in efficiency in India requires an investment of USD 27 per hectare, while the same level of improvement in Sri Lanka requires an investment of USD 41 per hectare.Criterion 9. Apply technical efficiency measures in the main water-using sectors.Climate change can potentially affect water quality in diverse ways. For example, increasing temperatures are likely to increase biological activity in rivers, lakes and other water bodies, exacerbating pollution problems; turbidity may increase as a result of more intense rainfall events; and coastal aquifers are likely to experience increased salinization from sea-level rise and more intense storms. Protecting water quality provides more usable water for irrigation and water supply in the face of increased evaporation and water demand, and, in some places, reduced water availability as a result of climate change. Water quality protection measures include protecting catchments or watersheds to reduce erosion and sediment loads; protecting riverine vegetation that intercepts sediments and contaminants; and controlling industrial, domestic and irrigation discharges to surface water and groundwater. Aquatic environments should also be protected so that important environmental services are maintained.Regulations on land use, land clearance and zoning schemes can be used to help protect watersheds. Additionally, having water quality discharge standards in place is important to control discharges to waterways and to protect aquatic environments. Discharges to groundwater systems should normally be banned because of the difficulty of policing water quality and the great difficulty of remediating groundwater once it is contaminated.Criterion 10. Protect water quality in rivers and aquifers, and prevent erosion in watersheds to make the available water more usable.Many of the actions necessary to improve water management are not supported by sectoral interest groups as well as the general public. Vesting ownership of water in the state can challenge traditional beliefs among individual landowners; an integrated collaborative approach to decisions about access to water can threaten the rights of dominant sectors to make independent decisions about water use; and instituting basin-level planning and management can undermine the authority of central water resources ministries. The delays to water reforms in Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka can partly be traced to a lack of public and other stakeholder understanding about proposed changes. It is essential that the general public, as well as key water-dependent sectors (and key states or provinces in federal systems), senior decision makers and politicians, are educated about the long-term benefits of reforming water management despite any changes in long-held beliefs and authorities. In federated systems such as India and Pakistan, it is essential to establish support from state and provincial governments. Without widespread public support, IWRM approaches are vulnerable to partisan attack.Criterion 11. Educate the public, officials, and decision makers to ensure there is widespread support for efficient and equitable water management.One of the important principles of IWRM is the inclusion of water users in decision making. This includes educating the general public, as well as administrative and political decision makers, in collaborative water management. It specifically includes helping to organize water user groups such as farmer organizations (FOs) and WUAs so that they can participate in the water management decisionmaking process. In many cases, governments have devolved responsibility to such groups for the management of irrigated areas.Criterion 12. Ensure participation by water user groups so that local knowledge is incorporated into decisions and there is support for those decisions.South Asian countries have instituted a framework of policies, legislation, regulations, plans and strategies to manage their water resources. These instruments, which vary from nation to nation, have been developed in the water sector as well as in water-using and water-dependent sectors, especially in the major waterusing sectors of agriculture, industry, power, and water supply and sanitation (WSS). There are also regional instruments such as international water agreements that are briefly described but not analyzed here (see Paper 3 [Suhardiman et al. 2019] for a fuller description of transboundary instruments). For example, the Indus Waters Treaty governs transboundary water management between India and Pakistan.Policies are central to water resources management, because they describe the intentions of governments in relation to water management. In some cases, these policies are backed with legislation, strategies and plans that provide details of how policy provisions are to be implemented. The policies and other instruments of water-related sectors-WSS, industry, irrigation or agriculture, power and the environment-can also contain elements of IWRM approaches that contribute to adaptability to climate change. For example, it is common to find irrigation policies and strategies that empower local WUAs to manage their irrigation districts and thereby potentially enable greater flexibility in adapting to changing local conditions.Table 3.1 provides the full list of water-related instruments, both drafted and approved, that were collated for this report. The Appendix describes the content of these instruments for each South Asian country, organized under the five dimensions of IWRM.The water resources and water-related instruments of each South Asian country are analyzed in the following section against the 12 criteria that measure whether water management is sufficiently equitable, informed, flexible and efficient for responding to the impacts of climate change. All water-related instruments are described in the Appendix. However, only those instruments that have been accepted by governments were included in the analysis in this chapter (shown in bold in Table 3.1).This analysis was confined to water resources and water-related instruments. However, other government policies can have an indirect, but sometimes important, influence on water resources management. For example, a country's foreign policy establishes its relationships with riparian countries, and influences management of transboundary surface water and groundwater resources. These indirect influences, while undoubtedly influential, are too complex and diffuse to be included in this analysis.    The need to monitor surface water and groundwater volumes and quality is widely recognized in water sector and subsector instruments, except for those in Sri Lanka, where monitoring is not included in the National Wetland Policy and Strategy 2006, National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Policy 2001, or the National Drinking Water Policy. However, the Sri Lankan National Environmental Policy and Strategies 2003 advocate monitoring of industrial discharges, while the Comprehensive Program for Disaster Management 2014-2018 calls for an improved rainfall monitoring system. Nepal emphasizes, in particular, that groundwater monitoring needs to be expanded in order to obtain more comprehensive information on both water levels and quality in irrigation districts, while further exploration is needed to locate additional groundwater resources for development.Several countries identify early warning systems for floods, droughts, landslides and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) as priorities. In its National Disaster Risk Management Framework 2006, Bhutan wants to develop an early warning system for flash floods and GLOFs in vulnerable basins as part of its community approach to disaster management.India establishes the link between climate change and monitoring in its National Water Policy 2012. The policy states that because of climate change, more information is needed on snow and glacial dynamics, evaporation losses, tidal hydrology and hydraulics, river geometry, and erosion and sedimentation.A number of countries point out that merely collecting data is not enough. The information is sometimes closely held by the collecting agency and not made available to other institutions. Bangladesh wants to establish a central database of surface water and groundwater information, while India, through its National Water Policy 2012, proposes a national informatics center to hold data (Box 3.1). Bhutan specifies that there should be open access to its monitoring data, as do India and Pakistan. All South Asian countries, except Pakistan and Sri Lanka, have clarified in their water instruments that water is owned by the people with the state adopting the role of trustee or custodian. All water extractions require a permit, although most countries provide exemptions for basic human needs and sometimes other traditional uses, such as navigation in Afghanistan. Permits are also required for discharge of pollutants to waterways and, in cases such as Bangladesh's Water Act 2013, for diverting or impeding flows, thus asserting government authority over embankments and other structures erected by landowners for flood control.This clarification about authority over water resources applies to both surface water and groundwater in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal. This is important, because in some countries there has been a traditional belief that groundwater is the property of the owner of the overlying land, sometimes supported by colonial era common law principles. In India, private ownership of water is incorporated in the constitution. This contributes to overuse of what is, in reality, a common-pool resource.Of course, all countries, including Pakistan and Sri Lanka, have long-established mechanisms for assigning water rights and for sharing water. However, this assertion of public ownership clarifies the right of governments to implement actions to help adapt to climate change, such as controlling overabstraction and introducing artificial recharge and conjunctive use (Box 3.2).Groundwater 2011.The 2011 draft Model Bill for the Conservation, Protection and Regulation of Groundwater marks a distinct change from the previous groundwater model bills in 1970, 1992, 1996 and 2005. It clearly states that the state is the public trustee for groundwater and that everyone, not just landowners, has a right to access water for basic needs. The Bill breaks with the long-held belief that groundwater is linked to landownership. It assigns management responsibility to the lowest possible level of elected organization that encompasses the boundaries of an aquifer. These Groundwater Committees will be supported by technical expertise residing in state agencies. The Bill allows for protection zones and groundwater security plans for areas of high groundwater stress. The former allows state water authorities to control water extraction and overlying land uses, and to manage potential pollution of aquifers. The latter provides priorities for access to groundwater and encourages conjunctive use. The Bill also encourages replenishment and recharge of aquifers.Source: Cullet 2012.All countries, except Sri Lanka, have formally adopted IWRM principles in their water instruments.  (2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018).All countries have some institutional mechanism for coordinating across water-dependent sectors, although the structure and effectiveness of these mechanisms varies greatly. This is examined in more detail in Paper 3 (Suhardiman et al. 2019). Approaches vary from Afghanistan's Supreme Council for Water Affairs Management, chaired by the First Vice President and containing all relevant ministers (now the Supreme Council on Land and Water chaired by the President), to India's long-established (since 1983) National Water Resources Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, and Nepal's Water and Energy Commission, which has limited authority and whose role is not well recognized by some sectoral ministries (Suhardiman et al. 2015). India has had, for a long time, separate surface water and groundwater organizations (the Central Water Commission and the Central Ground Water Board), which has led to a lack of coordination and has hampered attempts to manage water resources as a whole. A recent review has recommended that the functions of these organizations be combined into a National Water Commission, which would also promote other IWRM principles such as participation by water users and river basin water allocation planning (Roche and Khanna 2016). 8Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and, to a lesser extent, Pakistan and Sri Lanka explicitly recognize the impact of climate change in their water sector instruments. In Bhutan, climate change is recognized as being important enough to be one of the drivers for the Water Act 2011. In fact, an IWRM approach was adopted in the Water Act 2011 specifically to help respond to the threat of climate change (NEC 2016), while the National Disaster Risk Management Framework 2006 states that landslides, GLOFs, flash floods and forest fires will be exacerbated by climate change. The Indian National Water Policy 2012 clearly recognizes climate change as being one of three key pressures on water availability, along with population growth and increasing water demand. Climate change figures prominently throughout this policy, including a detailed section on adapting to climate change. The Bangladesh National Plan for Disaster Management 2010-2015 states that climate change could substantially increase the frequency and intensity of existing climatic events (floods, droughts and cyclones), and that floods and cyclones will start to occur outside their established seasons.At All South Asian countries, except Bangladesh, have plans for water storage expansion. Bangladesh, in its National Water Management Plan 2001, calls for a limited number of new irrigation schemes but does not specifically mention new storage facilities. However, the National Plan for Disaster Management 2010-2015 does recognize that increases in drought will mean that barrages will have to be installed across rivers to provide water, because groundwater resources are heavily used and, in some areas, contaminated with arsenic. As proposed in the national water policy, the Bangladesh Water Development Board is mandated to undertake large water-related infrastructure projects. The main water infrastructure issues in Bangladesh concern protection from floods, cyclones and storm surges, which are described in the next section.The Afghanistan Water Sector Strategy 2008 proposes that a National Water Resource Development Plan be prepared to identify options for dams and other storage facilities for multipurpose use (Mahmoodi 2008). The strategy already lists 31 surface water and groundwater infrastructure projects for irrigation, water supply, flood control, hydropower and groundwater recharge purposes, while the National Development Framework 2002 identified urban water supply and sewage treatment infrastructure as an urgent need. Irrigation infrastructure, damaged during conflict, will also be rehabilitated under the Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy and Strategy 2005.Pakistan, in its water sector strategy, makes it clear that improved water-use efficiencies will not be sufficient to meet future water needs and that additional large storage will be required.The Indian National Water Policy 2012 requires that all projects, including hydropower, should be planned as multipurpose projects. This will increase their flexibility in terms of adaptation responses to climate change. The policy also requires all storages to be designed to take account of climate change (Box 3.3). Nepal and Bhutan have ambitious plans to develop hydropower plants to generate export revenue by selling the electricity. The Scaling-up Renewable Energy Program Investment Plan for Nepal 2011 contains details of proposed mini hydropower schemes. Hydropower development has been included in both five-and three-year plans since the 1980s.The standard projection from climate change research has been that extreme wet and dry events will become more frequent, and that drier regions are likely to become drier and wet regions will become wetter under climate change. However, a recent study from India has found that, while the intensity and frequency of extreme monsoonal rainfall events are increasing, the mean monsoonal rainfall is decreasing over the country's major water supply basins and increasing over drier areas. The water yield is decreasing in surplus river basins, while it is increasing in deficit river basins. These findings, contrary to standard beliefs, are important for reassessing the yield of existing river basins as well as for planning new infrastructure such as dams and interbasin water transfers.Source: Gosh et al. 2016. Finally, Sri Lanka has developed the National Water Use Master Plan 2013, which details possible new water infrastructure for irrigation, hydropower and WSS. This includes 10 dams in the short term for a total investment of LKR 94,000 million (USD 640 million), with a further 16 infrastructure projects in the medium term. Interbasin water transfers are a further option for the longer term, but there are likely to be resettlement issues. It is apparent that Sri Lanka has various surface water infrastructure options available for coping with increased variability in precipitation and changes in monsoonal rainfall, if funding is available. However, no groundwater development options were examined in the master plan.Climate change is likely to affect these proposed storage developments, although the effects may not always be direct or immediate. For example, in countries with highly variable climates and where the financial conditions affect the economics of storages, the uncertainty introduced by climate change may be of secondary importance compared with other factors. Box 3.4 describes the decision tree approach that was developed to assess whether climate change is likely to be a major influence on infrastructure investments, compared with uncertainties arising from other sources. A recent World Bank report to the Nepal government found that smaller run-of-river hydropower projects will be most affected by climate change because they are the most susceptible to flow conditions; increases in climate risks (sediment transport, extreme floods, GLOFs) are the most important additional risk from climate change; and while climate change is potentially important, its impacts are outweighed by other issues and uncertainties such as pricing, regulatory conditions and institutional factors (World Bank 2017).Expansion of groundwater use is proposed in some water instruments. Thus, the Afghanistan Water Sector Strategy 2008 argues for the installation of more wells, extraction equipment for both municipal and rural water supply, and the artificial recharge of depleted groundwater systems. In its National Water Policy 2012, India also advocated artificial recharge of groundwater, more to replenish overdrawn aquifers than to open up new groundwater systems. Nepal actively looked to groundwater as an untapped source that would allow year-round irrigation in the terai. 9 Pakistan recognizes that storing water in carryover storages as well as in aquifers (because of minimal evaporative losses) constitutes a response to climate change. However, in all cases, groundwater development must be accompanied by stringent regulation, monitoring and oversight together with support for strong farmer-led management groups, if the problems now present in both India's and Pakistan's groundwater systems are to be avoided.Box 3.4. The decision tree approach to infrastructure investment decisions.The decision tree approach has been developed to guide infrastructure investment decisions taking account of climate change. There are large uncertainties surrounding the effects of climate change on future hydrological resources because of the uncertainties in emission scenarios and the diverse results from different global circulation models and downscaling methods. Rather than attempting to incorporate the effects of climate change on local hydrological resources, the decision tree approach assesses the project performance objectives (safe yield, reliability of supply, etc.) which are likely to be affected by the range of possible climate change impacts. In many cases, the uncertainties arising from climate change are subsumed within uncertainties arising from other sources.The decision tree approach has been applied to planning Nepal's Upper Arun Hydropower Plant and a closely related method (decision making under uncertainty) was applied to a portfolio of projects in the Koshi Basin. In the former trial, five possible hydropower designs were subjected to a \"climate stress.\" All designs were robust to the range of possible climate change impacts. Among nonclimatic factors, the price of electricity and construction costs emerged as key risk factors. The latter trial identified various potential investment portfolios that could be implemented, depending on Nepal's preferences for water supply, irrigation, environmental flows and flood control.Source: Karki et al 2015. 9 The terai is a lowland region of southern Nepal.Floods are one of the major climate-induced water risks in South Asia as described in Paper 1 (Lacombe et al. 2019). The source of the floodwaters varies from GLOFs in HKH countries to monsoonal rains in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and tidal surges and contamination of surface water and groundwater in low-lying and estuarine areas of Bangladesh and Pakistan. Consequently, all countries include infrastructure protection against floods in their water instruments, although the extent and detail of coverage varies considerably.Afghanistan, Bhutan and Sri Lanka make little mention of infrastructure for flood protection in their water instruments, apart from a passing reference to flood protection systems in all river basins in Afghanistan's water sector strategy, although these countries report serious local flooding issues.Bhutan and Nepal have taken a risk reduction approach for flood protection, requiring flood zoning, hazard mapping and early warning systems for GLOFs. Bhutan instituted a National Disaster Risk Management Framework in 2006 and a Disaster Management Act in 2013. Under the Act, an Inter-Ministerial Taskforce is to be formed to oversee hazard zoning and risk reduction activities, among others.On the other hand, Nepal has a specific Water Induced Disaster Management Policy 2015, focused on floods and landslides, to provide direction for disaster response, prevention and preparation. It includes the need for detention basins and river training works (embankments), classifies flood-affected areas into different zones, and recommends different land uses for these zones. Bangladesh's Coastal Zone Policy 2005 specifically links the need for flood protection infrastructure to the expected impacts of climate change. India's National Water Policy 2012 and National Water Framework Bill (draft) 2013 require that embankments and other flood infrastructure be designed to take account of climate change.Most of the water instruments across South Asia advocate a mix of structural (i.e., infrastructure such as embankments) and nonstructural measures. In the case of India, the National Water Policy 2012 advocates an integrated approach ranging from early warning systems and flood forecasting to flood preparedness and flood protection, and disaster recovery. Nonstructural measures include rehabilitation of natural drainage systems, changes in reservoir operating procedures and community flood planning. The Bangladesh Disaster Management Act 2012 makes it an offence to contribute to flood hazards and impede the flow of waters.All countries except Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have adopted basin-level water planning and management in their water policies or other instruments. The functions of these basin authorities are generally similar across countries: developing water allocation plans with participation from water users (sometimes devolving responsibility to subbasin level), issuing water use permits taking account of water availability, monitoring water use, and enforcing action if there are breaches of water use permits.Bangladesh, in its National Water Policy 1999, opted to develop a National Water Management Plan in 2001, which recognizes different geographic areas of the country rather than basin-level plans. However, the National Water Policy 1999 makes it clear that Bangladesh is primarily interested in developing a basin plan for the entire Ganges Basin, and that would require greater levels of transboundary cooperation with India than what has been achieved to date. Although Pakistan has adopted most of the principles of IWRM, it has not included basin-level management in its Water Sector Strategy 2002. This may be because of the dominant position of the Indus Basin for water management in Pakistan-consequently, water management in the country is intrinsically basin-centered and heavily influenced by the Indus Waters Treaty and relations between provinces. Sri Lanka included basin-level water planning and management in its draft water policy of 2006, but it was not approved by the government. There are agencies (primarily the Department of Irrigation and the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka) that are responsible for river basin management in the country, but these do not undertake the planning and management functions of river basin agencies envisaged in the IWRM model. Also, there are clear conflicts of interest, with the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources being both the river basin manager and the major water user in most basins.India is the only country that specifically requires that basin-level plans take account of climate change in its water instruments. While Afghanistan does not require that climate change be incorporated into basin plans, it does require that climate change be included in the national water resources development plan with which the basin plans must be consistent.In its National Water Plan 2005, Nepal points out that the correct enabling environment-policies and legislation, institutions and management instruments-has to be in place before river basin management can be implemented. Even when this enabling environment has been established, the experience of other countries shows that it has been difficult to establish effective basin-level management agencies (for example, the South African experience). The extent to which these institutions have been established in South Asia will be examined in Paper 3 (Suhardiman et al. 2019).Demand management is generally endorsed in water instruments across South Asia, although the specific mechanisms by which demand will be controlled are not always spelled out. This is the case in Afghanistan's Water Sector Strategy 2008, which has the explicit intention of elevating demand-side management to an equal status with supply augmentation to meet increasing demand, but does not provide details.India, in its National Water Policy 2012, has probably the most complete description of demand management and water reuse. Its national water policy wants to treat water as an economic good and proposes that states should introduce water regulators who can set water tariffs. It also encourages water recycling and reuse, and conjunctive use of canal seepage water for irrigation. It sees demand management as a mechanism to help combat the impacts of climate change, and calls for alignment with compatible agricultural strategies. The National Agriculture Policy 2000 also promotes optimal water use through water conservation, conjunctive use and control over receding groundwater levels.A number of countries-Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka-support economically realistic water prices as a mechanism to help manage demand. Nepal is already moving toward cost recovery for operation and maintenance of surface water and groundwater irrigation, while Sri Lanka's National Drinking Water Policy and its Irrigation Amendment Act 1994 both advocate establishing a water tariff that covers operating costs and promotes water conservation (although not to control demand for water).Conjunctive use is included in the National Water Management Plan 2005 of Nepal, as well as its Irrigation Policy 2003, while Bangladesh's National Water Policy 1999 and National Water Management Plan 2001 encourage conjunctive use generally. The former instrument makes special mention of its potential to help combat drought.Technical measures to improve the efficiency of irrigation, urban and other water uses are widely included in water instruments. Irrigation techniques, such as drip and sprinkler, and better crop management are called for in the water resources and irrigation instruments of all South Asian countries except Sri Lanka. In Pakistan, there is considerable scope for improving water-use efficiencies, not only to reduce demand for water sources but also to halt salinization and loss of usable groundwater. The Pakistan Water Sector Strategy 2002 estimates that there is the potential to save 5,800 giga-liters (Gl) annually by 2025 through increasing irrigation efficiency from the current efficiency of 40% to 45%.There is also considerable scope for water-efficient technologies in urban water supply systems. Two countries, Pakistan through its National Drinking Water Policy 2009 and Sri Lanka through its National Drinking Water Policy, propose a number of technical means to reduce urban water wastage, such as replacing old pipes, detecting illegal connections, using water-saving plumbing, and replacing common outlets with individual connections (Fan 2015).Protecting water quality from irrigation, industrial and human contaminants is often required under both water resources and environmental policies and legislation. Thus, Bangladesh seeks to control pollution through three policies: the National Water Policy 1999, the National Policy for Safe Water Supply and Sanitation 1998, and the Environment Conservation Act 1995 and its 2010 Amendment.Although country policies and legislation focus primarily on protecting surface water quality, there is also protection for groundwater quality in the instruments of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Indian National Water Policy 2012 points out that groundwater quality requires special attention because of the difficulty of remediating groundwater once it is polluted. Unsurprisingly, one of the objectives of the Indian Model Bill for the Conservation, Protection and Regulation of Groundwater 2011 is the prevention of groundwater pollution and degradation.There is also considerable concern about preventing contamination of surface water from erosion, landslides and consequent sedimentation across the South Asian water and environmental policies and legislation. Not surprisingly, Bhutan and Nepal have detailed prescriptions for controlling erosion and landslides in their instruments. In Bhutan, the National Environment Commission can declare threatened water sources to be water management areas where special controls can be applied, while the National Environment Strategy (The Middle Path) 1998 advocates maintenance of watersheds to reduce erosion and sediment loads. In Nepal, the Water Induced Disaster Management Policy 2006 calls for catchment conservation work to prevent landslides, and river corridor tree plantings and inclusion of environmental conservation as part of watershed conservation. The National Water Plan 2005 proposes an environmental action plan to rehabilitate degraded watersheds to reduce erosion and the danger of landslides.The Indian National Water Policy 2012 recognizes that climate change is likely to make erosion worse because of increased rainfall intensity. Water and land conservation should be practiced to protect river corridors, wetlands and floodplains. The National Agriculture Policy 2000 also advocates watershed development programs to protect water quality.Despite the importance of building public support for water reforms, it is uncommon to find much attention paid to this criterion in the instruments analyzed. However, in its National Water Management Plan 2001, Bangladesh recognizes that there is a need to improve water knowledge and raise public awareness of sustainability, while Nepal's National Water Plan 2005 recognizes the need to raise awareness of the advantages of IWRM among all stakeholders, the general public, legislators, political activists, civil societies and professional societies. Sri Lanka does not recognize the need for educating the public or specific groups about water management generally, although the subsectoral policies on wetlands and drinking water propose awareness campaigns on the importance of wetland conservation and watershed protection, respectively.Pakistan has perhaps the most comprehensive requirement for public and interest group education. Its Water Sector Strategy 2002 is quite clear that public awareness is lacking on water management issues. It states that it will be necessary to improve awareness to build public support for the changes that are needed in water management in the short to medium term. In addition, the National Wetlands Policy 2009 argues for a broad communication strategy to develop public awareness of wetlands, and to sensitize environmental magistrates toward wetland issues and regulations, as well as designing an education campaign targeted at wetland stakeholders and users. The National Drinking Water Policy 2009 also seeks to build public awareness about water conservation to help maintain domestic water supplies.Participation by water users is widely advocated in water instruments. Irrigation and agricultural policies have, for some decades, pursued the establishment of WUAs and FOs as a means to transfer responsibility for managing irrigation infrastructure to the irrigators within irrigation districts. These organizations are often given the authority to charge water use fees and to use the funds for maintenance of their irrigation infrastructure. Although WUAs have enjoyed some success in Afghanistan, it has proved difficult to fully develop them, largely because they lack a formal institutional status (CPHD 2011). The success of this devolution of responsibility varies, and the factors underlying successful WUAs are often difficult to establish (Small 2011).More generally, user participation in water resources decisions is widely endorsed in the water instruments of the seven South Asian countries examined here. Most advocate the establishment of mechanisms by which water user representatives can participate in water allocation and development decisions at basin and local levels. In most countries, participation of irrigators in their districts is also endorsed in agricultural or irrigation policies. In the cases of Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the relevant drinking water policies and legislation encourage participation by water users in the development and management of water supply and sanitation systems.The Bangladesh National Agricultural Extension Policy 2012 and the Indian National Water Policy 2012 make it clear that one of the reasons for advocating stakeholder participation is to advance adaptation to climate change at the local level. The Bangladesh policy states, \"Climate change adaptation in agricultural extension may include . . . documenting and promoting indigenous farmer practices against disasters and vulnerabilities\" (MoA 2012, 10). The Sri Lankan National Policy on Disaster Management 2010 also proposes that indigenous knowledge should be drawn on when responding to disasters, including those arising from climate change.The water instruments generally contain most of the features needed for adapting to climate change. All countries, except Sri Lanka, have designed their water instruments around IWRM principles and, consequently, the 12 IWRM criteria used here are generally incorporated in these instruments. Thus, there is a widespread understanding of the importance of the following:• Monitoring surface water flows and groundwater levels • Coordinating actions across water-dependent sectors • Extending their water storage capacity (although these development plans do not usually incorporate the effects of climate change)• Undertaking basin-level planning, although (with the exception of India and Afghanistan) these plans do not have to include the effects of climate change• Implementing demand management as well as technical measures for improving water-use efficiencies• Protecting water quality• Improving public understanding of water management• Encouraging public participation (including disadvantaged groups) in water managementThese actions are not usually proposed specifically to help prepare a country for the impacts of climate change (although there are exceptions, such as India recognizing that there will be a growing need for sediment control because of increased erosion under climate change, and Bangladesh and India advocating participation because it will help adapt to climate change at a local level). Nevertheless, by advocating IWRM principles, these water instruments establish an effective platform for adaptation to climate change as long as intentions spelled out are actually implemented and reflected in actions on the ground. Table 3.2 provides a summary of the extent to which each country meets the 12 criteria for adaptive management of water resources. These scores and the above analysis are based on the approved government instruments alone. They do not represent the full range of government, traditional or informal procedures or practices. Thus, in Sri Lanka, there are several initiatives under way to improve water management, even though the country does not have a water policy. Not every criterion is of the same importance in each country; as explained in chapter 2, IWRM can be implemented with different emphases in different circumstances. With these qualifications, Table 3.2 provides a snapshot of the extent to which each country's water instruments are well suited to promoting adaptation to climate change. Water resources communications, education and participationNotes: 0 = not present in main water instruments; 1 = mentioned or small description, but not major inclusion in main water instruments; 2 = significant feature in main water instruments. Draft instruments are not included in the assessment, and more recent instruments have been given more weight.All South Asian governments are signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and are committed to reducing carbon emissions and undertaking adaptive actions to respond to the risks arising from climate change. As Non-Annex I parties to the convention, South Asian countries provide communication reports to the UNFCCC on progress with both mitigation and adaptation actions every 4 years. They are also required to submit biennial update reports every 2 years, although these updates are focused on mitigation actions and need not include adaptation. Not all developing countries provide these updates. In addition, all signatory countries were required to provide an Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) Report to the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) in Paris in December 2015. This report focused on mitigation activities, but countries were invited to also include adaptation activities.The UNFCCC provides funding to help least developed countries (LDCs) develop National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPAs) that focus on selecting short-term, urgent adaptation projects, usually using a multi-criteria decision analysis method. Once NAPAs are accepted by the UNFCCC, the LDC can apply to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for funding to implement the priority projects. There are four LDCs in South Asia-Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal-and each has prepared a NAPA.In addition, the UNFCCC has established National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) that, in contrast to the NAPAs, describe medium-to long-term adaptation needs. NAPs can include activities that bring climate adaptation into national and subnational development, and sectoral planning into the mainstream. No South Asian country has yet submitted a NAP to the UNFCCC, although Afghanistan and Nepal have stated they intend to develop NAPs, Bhutan has developed sectoral adaptation plans, and Sri Lanka has completed its NAP.These reports to the UNFCCC constitute one group of documents that describe a government's intentions for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The South Asian governments' own policy instruments-policies, legislation, strategies and plans-constitute a separate group. Unlike the reports to the UNFCCC, these instruments are subject to internal review and debate by all sectors of the government, and consequently describe the agreed position of the government in dealing with climate change. Some states in India and provinces in Pakistan have also developed climate change instruments, but these will not be analyzed here. Table 4.1 summarizes the various reports and instruments analyzed in this chapter. These climate change instruments will be examined to assess the extent to which they respond to six criteria described below that discuss important aspects of adaptation in the water sector.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recognizes that many climate change impacts will be mitigated directly and indirectly through changes in water availability and demand. Each country's climate change documents should recognize this and explain clearly how changes in water availability are expected to affect the water-dependent sectors in that country, as well as opportunities for adaptation in water development, planning and management. These opportunities should include both surface water and groundwater, and coastal and estuarine waters to the extent relevant in each country.Chapter 3 analyzes the extent to which the various documents incorporate good water management practices as advocated through integrated water resources management (IWRM), and which documents would strengthen a country's ability to adapt to climate change. The major adaptation opportunitiescoordination across water-dependent sectors, improving water-use efficiency, developing water allocation plans at basin level (Box 4.1), controlling demand, etc.-should be reflected in the adaptation sections of the climate change documents. The water resources instruments would provide the details of management practices, but the climate change documents should be consistent with the broad outlines of the former. The Rufiji River Basin, covering 20% of Tanzania, is vital to the country's economic development. It provides over 80% of the country's hydropower capacity, contributes 15-18% of gross domestic product (GDP) through agriculture, and contains the country's largest national park-a major tourist attraction. The catchment's water is already heavily committed, with water use permits representing 61% of annual average water supplies in 2015. Moreover, water use is projected to reach 82% of water availability in 2035. The catchment's wetlands, including the Great Ruaha National Park, have experienced severe water shortages because of the upstream irrigated areas, with wetland areas decreasing from 180 km 2 in 1990 to 120 km 2 at present. Power generation has also been affected by upstream abstractions for irrigation, with frequent load shedding during the dry season. The sectoral plans for expansion of the irrigated areas and development of further hydropower stations are unsustainable at present rates of water use.Climate change will exacerbate the situation, with temperatures predicted to rise by 1.5-3.9 °C by 2097; potential evapotranspiration will increase by 7-11%, while annual precipitation will increase by 3-5% in the wet season and decrease by 11-21% in the dry season. Proposed increases in water use combined with the effects of climate change could see annual runoff decrease by about 60%.The Rufiji Integrated Water Resource Management and Development Plan is based on a detailed hydrological and climatological study that incorporates the potential effects of climate change on water availability and irrigation water demand. The plan proposes a wide variety of actions across five key areas: social development, environment, economic development, disaster management and water governance. The key to meeting development plans is to make irrigation water use more efficient through technical improvements together with stricter regulation. With these improvements, a new hydropower dam can be developed and some wetlands can be restored, while providing minimum environmental flows to the National Park.Source: Georgakakos 2016.Each country identifies the major risks it faces from climate change in its climate change documents. The documents can be expected to describe adaptation options for the water-related risks.Adaptation needs to be undertaken at all levels, from that of the individual to national governments and transboundary actions (Box 4.2). Community-level adaptation is important, because local impacts vary and it is necessary to take advantage of different local experiences of dealing with variability in water availability, and to build ownership among water users (see Paper 3 [Suhardiman et al. 2019] for a more detailed discussion). However, some adaptation activities are best undertaken at a river basin or aquifer level, because they affect users of a whole water resource, while other activities need to be conducted nationally or even across borders. A comprehensive climate change adaptation document should incorporate all such scales of activity.Adaptation requires actions across the continuum from individuals to groups (including the private sector) to governments, and to transboundary and international actions. These actions can be motivated by private benefits (in the case of individuals, companies and self-organized groups) as well as by societal protection. However, adaptation is most effective when it occurs within a common framework, because individual actions can generate both benefits and costs when wider scales or time frames are considered. For example, flood control embankments may help one community avoid the impacts of increased flooding, but can also shift the flooding problem downstream or upstream unless embankments are part of a wider basin-scale adaptation plan. Burton et al. (1993) classified adaptation actions as falling into three broad categories: reduce sensitivity to climate change; reduce exposure to climate change; and increase resilience to cope with climate change. All three categories can occur at any scale. Thus, expansion of reservoir storage and planting climate-resilient crops are both actions that reduce sensitivity to climate change, although the former would operate at basin scale while the latter would occur at individual or community scale.In some cases, reducing exposure to impacts may only generate individual benefits if others collectively invest in these adaptations, e.g., by developing defenses against sea-level rise in coastal communities. Even when an individual action can generate the adaptation benefit, it will often require a permissive regulatory framework.Source: Adger et al. 2005;Burton et al. 1993.Water resource risks are usually best managed across an entire connected water body, including transboundary river basins and aquifers. Thus, large regional floods and water sharing during droughts require transboundary management, if they are to be dealt with effectively. Climate change documents should recognize that regional cooperation is an essential component of adaptation for countries with transboundary water bodies (see Paper 3 [Suhardiman et al. 2019] for a more detailed discussion). Information and data sharing, research and development (R&D), and training can also be undertaken regionally to help build capacity to respond to climate change.Climate change adaptation is usually treated as a separate government activity with its own suite of activities, and separate sources of funding and management structures, usually centered on environment departments. However, it is most effectively carried out when adaptation is accepted and undertaken as part of the routine activities of affected ministries. This is most apparent with water resources adaptation where, to a large extent, good water resources management also constitutes good adaptation. Mainstreaming adaptation requires education and training for staff of water-dependent ministries, while still retaining coordination with central climate change authorities. One downside of mainstreaming is that it is more difficult to account for adaptation activities once they are integrated into normal ministry activities, including from a financing perspective (see Paper 3 [Suhardiman et al. 2019]). According to the NCCSAP and the NAP, floods and landslides, drought and associated desertification are the major water-related and climate-related threats facing Afghanistan.The NAPA assessed 51 project proposals for addressing the above threats across a range of sectors. Eleven projects emerged from the multi-criteria decision analysis as being important, with the highest priority project being 'Improved water management and water-use efficiency, and land and water management at the watershed level'. Two others, dealing with climate-related research and early warning, and improved water management and water-use efficiency, were also included in this priority group.The First National Communication to UNFCCC 2013 explicitly recognizes that strengthening water resources management contributes directly to adapting to the impacts of climate change. Thus, externally funded projects, such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) USD 300 million Water Resources Development Program and the European Union (EU)-funded Multi-annual Program, which includes a river basin management component, are expected to help build a water sector that can respond to the changes arising from global warming. It also states that the Water Law 2009, which authorizes IWRM and river basin management with multi-stakeholder participation, and the water sector policy, which endorses a river basin and subbasin approach to management, are contributing to adaptation in the face of changes brought on by global warming.The NCCSAP and the NAP include water resources and irrigation as an immediate adaptation priority, because declining or uncertain water availability is a direct threat to the majority of Afghanistan's population, who rely on agriculture and livestock for their livelihoods. The increasingly erratic and unpredictable patterns of precipitation also increase the frequency of flooding and erosion of topsoil. Water resources adaptation activities include (a) watershed management; (b) increased use of traditional irrigation systems; (c) introduction of global best practices; (d) canal and river networks; and (e) water resources management in drylands.All climate documents call for improvements in climate and water resources monitoring and knowledge. The First National Communication to the UNFCCC 2013 calls for predicting climate-induced disasters, including the ability to communicate information to people in advance. It also states that the government will attempt to rehabilitate damaged weather and meteorological stations, and add a few new facilities, including at high altitudes to monitor glacier lakes. Moreover, the INDC Report states that the draft NAP includes a proposal to strengthen and expand hydrometeorological monitoring networks, and develop a national database at a cost of USD 100 million.Governance structures also need to be improved. The NAPA states that \"Inter-institutional coordination mechanisms addressing critical themes related to the implementation of the Rio Conventions are either ineffective or non-existent\" (UNEP 2009, 55). The draft NAP also recognizes that there are significant barriers to coherent policy formulation and implementation when responsibilities are divided between the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (groundwater management), the Ministry of Energy and Water (surface water), and the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (irrigation systems). It states that the responsibility for water resources should be centralized under a single body.Given the design and objectives of NAPAs, it is not surprising that the priority projects focus on technical requirements for adapting to climate change, such as improving irrigation water efficiency. Nevertheless, the above water efficiency and watershed management project also includes other elements of IWRM, such as establishing fully functioning Water Management Associations and building public awareness about the importance of demand-side management.The INDC Report includes a USD 24 billion program for adapting to climate change. This includes three water projects:• Development of water resources through rehabilitation and reconstruction of infrastructure: USD 0.75 billion• Planning watershed management and community-based natural resources management: USD 2.5 billion• Increase irrigation to 3.14 million hectares (Mha) through restoration of irrigation systems: USD 4.5 billionThe First National Communication Report recognizes the importance of IWRM to adaptation in the water sector. The Water Law 2009, in particular, required the establishment of river basin organizations. The NCCSAP also states that it is important to promote basin-level, integrated water resources management.The NCCSAP and the NAP propose strengthening traditional irrigation infrastructure, such as the karez, 10 to improve water availability to the community in the dry months from April to October. They also propose developing a canal network to facilitate irrigation and help build community-level resilience to climate change impacts.The 11 priority projects in the NAPA contain components aimed at improving the understanding of water efficiency. The top-ranked project-improved water management and use efficiency-includes funding for public awareness, while other projects include participation and community training in land conservation techniques. The NAP advocates improving irrigation water-use efficiency by drawing on international experience, especially on micro and drip irrigation techniques and sprinklers, particularly for dryland areas where effective use of limited water resources is crucial to sustaining the local economy.The First National Communication Report concludes that more attention is needed to educate the public about climate change and its potential impacts.The NCCSAP and NAP include adaptation responses to the main water-related climate issues of drought, floods and landslides. A combination of strengthening traditional irrigation systems, new water storage and distribution networks, and a strong afforestation initiative will provide adaptation against drought and desertification. Adaptation to floods includes short-term measures such as flood preparedness, early warning systems and structural measures to reduce the impact of flash floods, as well as longer-term measures such as improvements to community-level resilience and avoiding settlements in flood-prone areas. Controlling overgrazing and deforestation, and replanting vegetation provide adaptive responses to landslides.The First National Communication Report reinforces this focus on the major water-related risks when it states that the 51 projects in the NAPA were reduced to 11 specifically to address the two major water-related climate change risks: drought and flooding.The NCCSAP states that in the next 10-15 years, community-level action will remain central to any effective strategy to enhance resilience to climate change impacts; hence, it seeks to promote climate change adaptation at the subnational and local levels in addition to the national level. It also points out that, while the Disaster Risk Reduction Plan does not explicitly identify the linkages between climate change and disaster risks, it includes actions by various line ministries that would improve community-level resilience to climate change impacts, such as flood forecasting and strengthening irrigation projects against disasters. This is consistent with the NAPA, where the first project sought to reduce the vulnerability of livelihoods in drought-affected communities through improved water distribution and utilization at the community level, while the second project dealt with watershed management issues at the community level.The First National Communication Report states that Afghanistan proposes to engage in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Thimpu Declaration program for regional education and awareness. This involves developing regional educational material on climate change for use in schools, and establishing information sharing and capacity building among national institutions.While the NCCSAP recognizes that up to two-thirds of the water received is lost to neighboring countries, it does not incorporate any proposal to engage with neighboring countries on topics such as joint management or even information sharing on transboundary rivers, where climate change may exacerbate management issues. The Afghanistan Human Development Report (CPHD 2011) points out that most of Afghanistan's neighbors depend on surface water resources originating from within the country. Therefore, Afghanistan must address these transboundary water management issues in its plans for infrastructure development.All documents recognize the importance of mainstreaming climate change adaptation into sectoral instruments, with the INDC Report stating that the overall objectives include \"mainstreaming climate change considerations into national development policies, strategies, and plans\" (Government of Afghanistan 2015, 4). The First National Communication Report states that the government is committed to mainstreaming climate adaptation into national and sectoral development strategies, and to performing climate risk screening to make adaptation programs and projects produce beneficial outcomes: \"Climate mainstreaming and developing national and sectoral policies is vital\" (Government of Afghanistan 2015, xii). Both the NCCSAP and the NAP are designed to be mainstreamed into national policies and sectoral strategies.The INDC states that some policies and plans already include climate change, such as the National Water and Natural Resources Management Priority Program. It states that other policies, such as the Strategic Policy Framework for Water Sector, do not currently include climate change but have entry points that allow climate change adaptation to be mainstreamed into the policies. Even the priority NAPA project to improve irrigation efficiency and watershed management contains a component to mainstream climate change adaptation at the national level.Afghanistan has recently approved two climate change instruments that provide a coherent allgovernment response to climate change mitigation and adaptation, with good recognition of the opportunities to undertake adaptive actions in the water sector. Its reports to the UNFCCC clearly recognize that water resources will be central to adaptation, and that implementing IWRM contributes directly to adaptation in the water-dependent sectors. The main climate risks are all water-related and these documents contain methods for strengthening adaptive responses to these risks, including strengthening local-level resilience.As well as the three UNFCCC reports-the National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA) 2009, the Second National Communication to UNFCCC 2012, and the INDC 2015-the Bangladesh government has approved a Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (CCSAP). The INDC describes two recently established Trust Funds, the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF) for governmentbudgeted activities and the Climate Change Resilient Fund for donor-funded activities, the first of which is authorized through legislation. The government is also preparing a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) to facilitate the coherent integration of adaptation into policies, programs and activities across all sectors. The Government of Bangladesh has made climate change an integral part of its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). The INDC confirms that the CCSAP, together with other sectoral policies, remains the guiding document for adaptation actions.The CCSAP identifies the following threats to Bangladesh from climate change:• Greater monsoonal rains leading to flooding• Sea-level rise causing coastal flooding and aquifer contamination• Increased droughts• Erosion of stream banksBangladesh's NAPA points out that the country has a long experience in adapting to climate extremes. However, even though awareness of climate change and its potential impacts is growing, there are still barriers to large-scale adaptive actions. First, the extent and severity of the climate change impacts may be leading to inertia, whereby the issues seem too large to deal with; second, adaptation activities are not integrated into ongoing programs and policies in key sectors such as water (although the CCSAP is a step toward such integration); and third, Bangladesh still lacks the tools and knowledge at both an institutional as well as an individual level. Consequently, knowledge generation and dissemination are vital for effective adaptation.Bangladesh sees climate change through the lens of water resources. There is a very high recognition of the potential impacts on the country and, not surprisingly, its climate change (and other) documents contain extensive discussion of adaptation measures. Thus, the CCSAP identifies 44 programs and actions, most of which are adaptation activities and many of which are waterrelated, while the NAPA identifies water-related impacts from climate change as likely to be the most critical issues facing Bangladesh, especially coastal and riverine flooding and drought. In addition, changes in the riverbed level due to sedimentation and changes in morphological processes due to seasonal variation of water level and flow are also critical for the country. The National Plan for Disaster Management 2010-2015, 2010, has a section on the likely impacts of climate change on the country's water resources.The PRSP identifies climate change as a major threat to Bangladesh along with various waterrelated threats such as flooding, droughts and cyclones. The NAPA points out that climate change is likely to exacerbate these existing threats and, as such, the NAPA complements the activities in the PRSP.The discussion of adaptation in the INDC is almost entirely focused on water-related hazards. However, the adaptation activities described largely revolve around infrastructure such as embankments, polders and cyclone shelters, while nonstructural responses receive little attention.The various documents recommend a number of activities and programs that are included in the IWRM approach to water management. The CCSAP includes the following:• Infrastructure development (such as flood protection and drainage schemes, coastal embankments and coastal greenbelts)• Prioritizing drinking water and sanitation programs in risk areas The documents pay most attention to flood adaptation as a result of more intense monsoonal rains.Considerable infrastructure (including embankments, coastal polders and flood shelters) has already been constructed, and the NAPA and the NCCSAP call for maintenance of this infrastructure and the construction of new protective measures. Since 2015, the BCCTF has funded over 236 projects, many of which are for flood control and flood shelter. The documents also call for early warning systems for floods, droughts and cyclones, as well as better urban drainage and river training. Drinking water and sanitation projects should be implemented in areas at risk from both floods and droughts. Importantly, the Second Communication Report to the UNFCCC and the NAPA state that the design standards for flood protection embankments should be modified to take climate change effects into account.While the Second National Communication Report calls for community-based flood management, the adaptive responses are biased toward infrastructure. There are limited options for preventing seawater contamination of coastal aquifers resulting from sea-level rise. However, the Second National Communication Report suggests that improvements in the Ganges River flow regime and a barrage across the river with linking canals will limit seawater intrusion up the river. Rainwater harvesting is included in the NAPA as an adaptive option, if coastal aquifers become too contaminated to be usable.The CCSAP does not propose many drought adaptation options, apart from changing cropping strategies, and implementing drinking water and sanitation programs in drought-prone areas. However, the NAPA and the Second National Communication Report suggest that more tube wells, re-excavation of canals and ponds, and improvements in water-use efficiency, together with supplementary irrigation, could help respond to drought.The reports call for new erosion control infrastructure to limit erosion of stream banks to meet the altered conditions expected with climate change.The growing risk of increased sedimentation as a result of climate change receives little attention, apart from proposals for river training and increased dredging.Bangladesh is renowned for its community response program for floods and cyclonic storms.Communities have learned to adapt to floods and cyclones, often using local solutions such as planting short-duration crops and artificial temperature controls in poultry sheds (MoEF 2009). The Bangladesh government fully recognizes the value of building on this local adaptation and disseminating the solutions more widely (Ahmed 2010). In the NAPA, the government also recognizes that local adaptation often needs to be supplemented by government action, such as the construction of cyclone and flood shelters. While the NAPA contains a good appreciation of community-level adaptations, the CCSAP is focused on top-down approaches.The Bangladesh National Agricultural Extension Policy 2012 makes it clear that one of the reasons for advocating stakeholder participation is to advance adaptation to climate change at the local level (Box 4.3): \"Climate change adaptation may include ... documenting and promoting indigenous farmer practices against disasters and vulnerabilities\" (MoA 2012, 10).Bangladesh has pioneered community-based approaches to reducing vulnerability to climate change. The village of Sona Mollar Dangi illustrates typical local action to respond to increased flooding risk. Flooding became more frequent in the village, with major floods in 1988 and 1998, followed by devastating floods in 2004 and again in 2007. With the assistance of a nongovernmental organization (NGO), the villagers decided to lift all houses and farm buildings above the 1998 flood level. They intend to also lift all tube wells above this flood level.Source: MoEF 2008.While many adaptation activities are best carried out locally, some activities such as management of scarce water during droughts and management of floodwaters will require government leadership in regional negotiations. As the Second National Communication Report states, \"85-86% of the river surface water flow originates outside the international border in the neighboring countries and without a regional framework for sharing and caring for water, some of the efforts now or in the future may not bear much fruit\" (MoEF 2012, 133). The CCSAP states that the government is trying to work with neighboring countries to manage climate change impacts through regional action plans. The government also wants to enhance cooperation with neighbors on key issues, including water security.There are also various regional organizations that Bangladesh has joined for exchanging environmental information and helping to develop scientific expertise.Bangladesh has recognized the importance of moving climate change adaptation from a separate set of activities to activities that are integrated into sectoral policies, strategies and programs. The NAP is being developed specifically to help integrate climate change adaptation into all policies, programs and activities.The CCSAP, NAPA and the INDC propose that all sectoral policies be reviewed for the inclusion of climate change and the possibility of incorporating adaptation activities. There is also a need to mainstream climate change into development plans at all levels, from national to community scale, and for climate change impacts to be included in all sectoral planning. The NAPA states, \"A key feature of any adaptation action to climate change proposed to be undertaken (either through the NAPA or other programmes) is that they need to be well integrated with other ongoing activities so that they can build upon the synergy among them to be cost effective rather than stand-alone activities at higher cost\" (MoEF 2009, 36).The BCCTF has funded 41 projects so far, all for infrastructure and hardware, and most of which are water-related. While these projects are not part of the main sectoral programs, the INDC Report points out that sectoral ministries and agencies, such as the Bangladesh Water Development Board, have also funded mainstream adaptation projects, although it is difficult to account for the extent of this (see discussion in Paper 3 [Suhardiman et al. 2019]).Bangladesh has put adaptation in the water sector at the center of its adaptation activities, with a strong emphasis on infrastructure and knowledge development in the sector. There is little in the climate change documents about the importance of ensuring coordination across water-related sectors, or water saving through demand management and water-efficiency approaches. It is not surprising that the NAPA does not deal with these issues, since it is focused on discrete short-term projects, but more surprising is that the CCSAP does not raise them as being important to improved water resources management. There are no groundwater considerations in these documents. The reports focus on adapting to increased flood risk-not surprisingly, given the damage caused by historic floods-and pays much less attention to other risks, including increased erosion and sedimentation. Most of the responses to these risks are focused on engineering solutions.Transboundary activities, within the continuum of scale for adaptation actions, are recognized as essential for adapting to climate change. The CCSAP states that the government will work with neighboring countries to manage the impacts of climate change and to improve water security. The CCSAP also clearly recognizes that adaptation must involve civil society and the business community, and proposes to work with civil society organizations to develop innovative approaches to climate change adaptation. The NAPA lists the country's major vulnerabilities as a result of climate change as follows:• Moraine dam lakes leading to glacial lake outburst flood (GLOFs) (regarded as the most likely adverse impact of climate change)• Landslides due to high rainfall intensity• Flash floods from GLOF or rainfall intensity• Drought due to temperature rise and changing weather patternsAll the vulnerabilities mentioned above are water resources issues.One of the major barriers to implementing adaptation activities is simply raising awareness of climate change-it is still a new concept, given the previous focus on development. Other barriers include lack of national capacity, lack of physical access to many regions of the country, poor scientific knowledge and information, lack of technical capacity and, according to the SAPA, limited understanding of the impacts of climate change, as well as divergences between Bhutan's water, forestry, biodiversity and agricultural policies.The above list of climate vulnerabilities shows that water-related issues are seen to be central to responding to climate change impacts, and the three documents examined here have a major focus on adaptation in the water sector. Of the 45 potential adaptation projects identified in the NAPA, 15 were water resources projects. These projects were reduced to nine priority adaptation projects, six of which are concerned with improving water resources management. Examples include artificial lowering of the Thorthormi Lake, GLOF hazard zoning in Chamkhar Chu Basin, and flood protection of industrial and agricultural areas in the Taklai River Basin. Five of the eight activities under the NAPA II projects are related to water, namely landslide management and flood prevention, enhancing national capacity for weather stations and seasonal forecasting in Bhutan, community-based food security and climate resilience, flood protection for downstream industrial areas, and rainwater harvesting and drought adaptation.The Second Communication Report and the INDC Report also recognize the importance of water resources to climate change adaptation. The SAPA devotes considerable attention to adaptation opportunities in water resources, with the identified actions being watershed management planning, a comprehensive water resources inventory and assessment, promotion of rainwater harvesting to assist during water shortages, and the use of traditional knowledge and local perspectives in adapting to climate change.The Second Communication Report identifies some structural water resources governance issues that need improving if the water sector is to be able to adapt to climate change impacts. It states that there needs to be institutional restructuring, as well as better collaboration between agencies, local government and WUAs. It also calls for an independent water authority to be established as described in the Water Act.This report confirms that IWRM is the approved approach to water management, and that river basin planning and management is needed for adaptation. The report proposes one element of infrastructure-impoundments to provide water during the dry season-as well as watershed management to control erosion and sedimentation. There is a need for capacity building in the water sector. Importantly, surveys had shown that there was a need to develop better awareness among the public, to mount education campaigns in schools, and to provide decision makers with better technical information on climate change.The need to take an integrated approach was further confirmed in the Water Act 2011. The Water Act requires the river basin to be used as a unit for the management of water resources in an integrated manner. In line with the Water Act, the National Environment Commission was mandated to prepare a National Integrated Water Resource Management Plan (NIWRMP) in the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018). The NIWRMP was prepared and published in 2016.The INDC Report confirms the Second National Communication Report, again stating that IWRM is the approach to provide water security in the face of climate change. The recommended actions to adapt to climate change include water harvesting and water-use efficiency measures, integrated watershed management, and monitoring for GLOFs and climate extremes. Mounting a public awareness and education campaign is important, and capacity building and institutional strengthening will be essential.The NIWRMP provides a framework for coordination and management of water resources in achieving water security in the country. The framework is built on the Asian Water Development Outlook, and consists of five key dimensions: rural drinking water supply and sanitation; economic water security; urban water security; environmental water security; and disaster and climate change resilience.The SAPA argues that improved irrigation efficiency will be needed to help adapt to climate change, along with improved water supply infrastructure, better community awareness about climate change impacts, rainwater harvesting to build adaptive capacity against droughts, and an expansion of hydrometeorological stations to build a better understanding of changes in water resources.The NAPA 2006 Report proposes six priority projects to address immediate hazards. These are not intended to be considered as a comprehensive program to address adaptation. Nevertheless, they contain some IWRM elements such as climate and river flow monitoring, infrastructure for lowering hazardous lake levels, and building capacity in local communities for watershed management. However, they do not include any of the institutional and governance activities described in the Second Communication Report.The Second National Communication Report and the SAPA both identify a baseline water resources assessment as a high priority, since one has never been undertaken in Bhutan. This would provide information on how much water is available in different river valleys so that factual decisions could be made as climate change and development progressively affect the resource. The report also calls for development of a GLOF early warning system and strengthening of the climate observation network.The latter recommendation is reinforced in the INDC Report. Strengthening the hydrometeorological network, and introducing flood and weather forecasting is a priority for adapting to climate change.GLOFs from moraine-dammed lakes are regarded as the most likely adverse impact of climate change on Bhutan's water resources. The NAPA lists a number of adaptation options, including artificial lowering of glacier lake levels, as well as protective measures such as installation of early warning systems with associated awareness raising, implementation of a Hazard Zonation Plan in the Pho Chu River Basin, and assessment of GLOF threats for hydropower projects.To combat landslides caused by high levels of rainfall intensity, the second risk from climate change, the NAPA proposes a number of remedial measures such as soil conservation activities, riverbank protection, small stream catchment protection, and slope stabilization of major landslideand flash flood-prone areas. It also assesses landslide risk areas, while the INDC Report suggests that a monitoring and warning system for landslides could be introduced.The risk from flash floods can be reduced through a mix of preventive measures and early warning systems. The NAPA proposes that watershed catchment management, integrated with land management, soil conservation, and community-based forest management and afforestation projects, can help reduce the runoff that contributes to flash floods. There is also a need for a monitoring and early warning system for flash floods.Bhutan proposes adapting to increased droughts by first studying the likely impacts on hydropower generation, drinking water and irrigation supplies, and installing a weather and climate forecasting system. It proposes building impoundments to store water for use during lean seasons. Bhutan also needs to undertake a study into the reasons why springs and small streams are drying up. These are important sources of water for drinking and irrigation across the country and their decline is of serious concern.The Bhutan Second National Communication Report to the UNFCCC, along with the SAPA, describe the importance of education and awareness of climate change among decision makers as well as the public. While several community-level programs are proposed, none of the documents highlight the importance of empowering communities to respond to climate change impacts at a local level and providing support to these activities.None of the reports refer to Bhutan undertaking regional consultations with its neighbors on adapting to climate change. All the actions described in the NAPA, Second Communication Report, and the INDC Report are internally focused, except for reference to the use of the regional climate model and the use of a regional flood warning system of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).The NAPA 2006 was developed to be consistent with Bhutan's development goals, including the PRSP, which has several crosscutting issues that are supported by projects in the NAPA.The Second Communication Report is even more explicit, identifying mainstreaming climate change and water resources into plans and programs as one of the five water resources adaptation measures. The SAPA was developed to help mainstream adaptation actions into the water resources (and other renewable resources) activities.The water security index, developed as a framework for a coordinated approach for management of water resources, focused on mainstreaming water management in the five-year development planning cycle, starting with the 12 th Five Year Plan (2018)(2019)(2020)(2021)(2022)(2023). The work on enhancing the indicators of the water security index is in progress.The Bhutan climate change documents show a high level of awareness of the need to improve water resources management as part of adapting to climate change. Importantly, these improvements include institutional and governance changes as well as improved water and catchment management activities, and the development of increased storage to provide water during drier periods. None of the documents mention the management of groundwater, but this is not a major source of water in Bhutan. However, The Water Regulations of Bhutan 2012 highlights the importance and need for the study of groundwater as an alternate source of water. Public education, capacity building, resource assessment and hydrometeorological monitoring are all recognized as important activities to improve Bhutan's adaptive capacity.Along the continuum of scale at which adaptation actions can be taken, Bhutan has focused much of its attention at the national scale. The climate change adaptation reports do not mention regional activities in the water sector, while basin-level activities are confined to GLOF hazard zoning and early warning systems in the Chamkar Chu and Pho Chu basins, respectively. While community-level activities are proposed, there is no mention of empowering communities to undertake adaptation actions themselves.India's National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) 2008 identifies eight priority areas (Missions) under which climate change will be tackled. One is the National Water Mission (2008), which is currently being redesigned according to the INDC 2015 Report. The National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change is also relevant to adaptation in the water sector.India also submitted a Second National Communication to UNFCCC in 2012, followed by a Biennial Update Report in 2016 and their INDC Report in 2015. In addition, the government has implemented a series of schemes to improve the adaptive capacities of vulnerable communities through poverty alleviation, health improvements and disease control, as well as other water resources programs such as the National Mission for Clean Ganga. The Biennial Update Report confirms that the National Water Mission remains the definitive document describing adaptation in the water sector, with four goals:• Development of a water database in the public domain, particularly in relation to assessment of the impact of climate change on water resources• Promoting water conservation, augmentation and preservation, focusing attention on overexploited areas from a water use perspective Andhra Pradesh has developed its Action Plan to complement the NAPCC. It identifies adaptation and mitigation actions in the state's key sectors. Water is not identified as a key sector, although water-related concerns arise in several water-dependent sectors such as irrigation and water supply, and manufacturing.Adaptation actions in agriculture include improving water-use efficiency, increased recycling of domestic wastewater, strict regulation of groundwater abstraction, and engineering solutions to recharge groundwater. Andhra Pradesh is concerned about coastal zone issues, but the adaptation actions are focused on disaster warning and response and do not include protection of coastal surface water and groundwater. The industrial sectoral responses include infrastructure (seawalls and alternative water sources) to protect industrial production from disasters, while existing urban and rural water supply and sanitation (WSS) facilities will be remodeled to reduce vulnerability to climate change. Watershed degradation will be reversed. The state also proposes to undertake agroclimatic vulnerability studies in major river basins. There is little attention to support household and community adaptation actions.Source: EPTRI 2012.According to Shah and Lele (2011), climate change will result in the following:• Kharif (monsoon) season crops will be subject to heightened risk of floods and droughts.• Rabi (winter) season and, in particular, summer crops will experience increased evapotranspiration and thus will need greater, more frequent irrigation.• Surface water storage-large and small-will benefit from increased runoff, but will also suffer increased evaporation from the large open surfaces of reservoirs and open canal networks, as a result of a higher mean temperature.The Water Mission, following the discussion in the First National Communication to UNFCCC, identified the following as India's water resources issues: The Government of India's recognition of the importance of the water sector in adapting to climate change is very clear. Four of the eight national missions identified in the NAPCC 2008 are intended to build the capacity for adaptation 11 -water is one of these four missions. While the Water Mission is currently being revised, recent reports, such as the INDC Report and Biennial Update Report, make it clear that the Water Mission remains central to India's adaptation response. The NAPCC points out that the national water policy stresses nonconventional methods for utilizing water such as interbasin transfers, artificial groundwater recharge and desalinization, along with water conservation through rainwater harvesting. However, many of these procedures are based on supply augmentation and not on demand management.The Water Mission relies on an IWRM approach; basin-level management through IWRM is one of its five goals. The mission identifies intersectoral coordination, capacity building and an awareness program as its three most important actions. Most of the elements of IWRM are included in the Water Mission. Storage needs to be augmented and drainage improved to address droughts and floods, watersheds need to be protected, old water tanks should be restored and there should be enhanced storage in multipurpose hydropower dams.The mission identifies various governance improvements, including legislation for groundwater regulation and clarity over surface water and groundwater ownership, more use of market mechanisms, establishment of water regulators, and reducing electricity subsidies for groundwater pumping. It also calls for the water policy to be revised and for climate change considerations to be incorporated when new projects are being considered. Improving regulatory and institutional measures for groundwater is seen as one of the most important measures. Some of these proposals, including a new water policy, have now been implemented.The document calls for basin-and subbasin-level authorities to be established with stakeholder representation, so that river basin management can be introduced. It also calls for technical improvements to help meet the water-use efficiency targets, including evaporation management and wastewater reuse. Other actions include better flood management, greater emphasis on estuarine management, and better data collection.To improve groundwater overexploitation, the Water Mission proposes water harvesting and artificial recharge in relevant urban areas, enhancing recharge of deeper groundwater aquifers, ensuring proper disposal of industrial wastes, and regulation of power tariffs for irrigation.Finally, one of the goals of the Water Mission is a national, publicly available and comprehensive database. The water monitoring network will be strengthened, particularly in the Himalayan region, and the groundwater monitoring network expanded. The database will hold coastal and estuarine data, hydrological and climatic data in low rainfall areas, hydrological and climatic data in the Himalayan region, groundwater level data, and surface water and groundwater quality data. The INDC Report states that the Indian Network on Climate Change Assessment, called for in the Water Mission, has now been established.The Water Mission incorporates actions to respond to the following five water resources risks from climate change.1. Responses to increased risk of drought include economic studies into the effects of drought, production of drought management plans (unspecified), and several technical improvements including groundwater recharge, pollution abatement, reuse of effluent on crops, improving irrigation efficiency, reducing evaporation, and modeling the effectiveness of conjunctive use.2. Adaptive actions for increased flood risk include constructing embankments for flood protection and developing multipurpose dams, modeling flood risk areas, using floodwater for productive uses, conjunctive use of groundwater and floodwater, and preventing reservoir siltation. The INDC Report points out that there are also various state and national flood management programs.3. The Water Mission has little to say on protecting groundwater quality, except for the need to model the effects of sea-level rise on salinity of coastal aquifers.4. The Water Mission specifically recognizes that groundwater recharge may decrease as a result of climate change. The major response is to implement rainwater harvesting in areas where groundwater is at risk and to use the water for recharge. The Second National Communication Report to the UNFCCC confirms that water from rainwater harvesting and recycled water are to be used for groundwater recharge.5. Responses to increased seawater intrusion into coastal aquifers include models of saline intrusion, better monitoring of coastal aquifers, and modeling the implementation of seawater intrusion barriers.While the National Water Policy 2012 states that local adaptation is needed to combat climate change, there is little detail evident in the reports examined. There are details about various community climate change awareness initiatives, but no clear acknowledgement that communities need to be supported to undertake water adaptation activities that take advantage of local knowledge and initiative. The Second National Communication Report describes some community-based disaster preparedness initiatives and an NGO project to support community-based models for mangrove restoration and rehabilitation.India recognizes that regional conflicts over water could become more acute with climate change, and supports a common approach to resolving this issue. The Water Mission proposes engaging in cooperative regional flood forecasting and modeling-possibly under the auspices of the SAARCwith China and Pakistan for the Indus Basin, with Nepal and Bangladesh for the Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin, and with Bangladesh for the Meghna Basin and the Teesta and Lower Brahmaputra rivers. It points out that the effects of climate change need to be documented in the Ganges Basin, since they have not been foreseen, while it welcomes improved cooperation in the Indus Basin, taking account of increased water demand, reducing resources and ecological water needs. India also recognizes the need for a regional approach to climate modeling, particularly for the Himalayan region where snowmelt models need to be developed for general use at a regional level.The Water Mission document is designed around the assumption that responding to the impacts of climate change requires improved water resources management primarily through departmental programs. The First Biennial Update makes this clearer, stating that significant efforts are being made to mainstream policies and acts relating to climate change. Twenty-one of the government's 51 66 Central Government Schemes have been identified as being directly related to climate change adaptation. Total spending on developing adaptive capacity and adaptation was around USD 91.8 billion in 2013-2014. This mainstreaming lies behind the government's claim that expenditure on climate change adaptation has been growing rapidly, primarily through departmental programs with critical adaptation components. 12 Discussion India's NAPCC 2008 is very closely aligned with its water resources instruments. In fact, the National Water Policy 2012 and the new Model Bill for the Conservation, Protection and Regulation of Groundwater 2011 were both called for in the NAPCC. The Water Mission is predicated on the idea that improving water resources management through IWRM will improve adaptation to climate change. The document includes a wide range of IWRM features. It includes governance changes (many of which have now been implemented), improvements in water-use efficiency and water demand, some infrastructure expansion for flood control and drought management, and a major investment in water information.Groundwater management figures strongly in the adaptation program, with attention being paid to both groundwater quality and quantity management. The major water resources risks from climate change are all included in the goals of the Water Mission.The climate change documents incorporate some actions along the continuum of scale.1. They deal, in a limited way, with the increased pressure on transboundary water, both upstream and downstream of India, because of climate change. Thus, they propose transboundary flood management, but stop short of wider transboundary water sharing and management. Increased pressure on transboundary aquifers (because of climate change) is likely to require modification to existing treaties. The INDC Report states that transboundary and regional issues need to be factored in, but does not elaborate.2. The documents contain considerable detail on actions that the national government will implement, including strengthening data collection and analysis, expanding infrastructure for flood management, better management of groundwater, and improved legislation.3. The National Water Mission calls for legally empowered basin authorities to be established, in line with the National Water Policy.Change that are consistent with the National Plan and that focus on adaptation.5. While the National Water Mission has community and state action as one of its five goals, it is relatively silent on how communities can be empowered to take action at the local level to build adaptive responses. The NAPA notes that changes in flow patterns will also affect hydropower operations, but does not include this as a separate risk.Nepal is also formulating a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) to help integrate adaptation activities into sectoral policies and strategies, although it is not clear whether this is a combined effort by UNFCCC and NAP or a separate national effort.The Climate Change Policy 2011 and other government documents recognize that climate change will have major impacts on Nepal's water resources, and that the water resources sector needs to adapt to the risks arising from climate change. The NAPA puts this succinctly, noting \"Water and the hydrological cycle are both the root cause of climate change related problems as well as the mainspring of solutions\" (MoE 2010, 25). The NAPA recognizes that climate change impacts on water resources will stress agricultural productivity; cause malnutrition and other health issues; and affect settlements, infrastructure, agriculture, micro-and main hydropower, solar power, prevalence of forest fires, siltation and landslips. The Second Communication Report to the UNFCCC contains many details of the modeled impacts on river flows, glaciers and GLOFs, and suggests several adaptation actions.Neither the policy nor other government climate change documents mention IWRM as the blueprint for organizing the water sector to adapt to climate change. The NAPA states that the National Water Plan 2005 remains the basis for adaptation action. However, the Water Resources Strategy 2002 and the National Water Plan 2005 are based on IWRM.The NAPA identifies the multipurpose use of water resources, conservation of watersheds and an expanded hydromet network as being the most urgent adaptation requirements.The Climate Change Policy 2011 proposes that the network of climate observation centers should be expanded and a real-time data acquisition system developed. A Climate Change Center will be established to formulate climate change-related programs and research. Village-level early warning systems will be developed for floods and landslides according to the Second National Communication Report to the UNFCCC, together with an early warning system for GLOFs. One of the more important research initiatives is the Optimum Sediment Exclusion project, which will facilitate developing methods to protect hydropower plants from the increased sedimentation risk arising from climate change.The NAPA proposes the construction of additional water storage infrastructure consistent with plans to expand the country's hydropower generation capacity. However, there is no indication that these will be designed to take account of climate change.Conserving soil and water through measures such as source protection, rainwater harvesting and environmental sanitation are included in the Climate Change Policy, together with adopting a basin approach for water management through regular monitoring of water resource availability. Protecting mountain watersheds from degradation is clearly a government priority and is included in the Climate Change Policy, the INDC Report and in the Second National Communication to UNFCCC.The Second National Communication Report also describes sprinkler and drip irrigation, and rainwater harvesting as water-saving measures and a \"reorientation of supply-driven approaches\" (MoSTE 2014, 109), implying a shift toward demand management. The GLOF threat from Tsho Rolpa Glacial Lake has been reduced by lowering the lake's water level.The Climate Change Policy emphasizes the participation of NGOs and user groups in the formulation and implementation of programs related to climate adaptation, as well as the need for public awareness and capacity building programs. The capacities of WUAs are also being improved.GLOFs are being tackled by lowering the levels of the most threatening lakes and installing early warning systems for downstream populations. Micro-hydropower plants are also being developed to reduce the exposure of the power sector to GLOFs.The Second National Communication Report explains that various structural and nonstructural adaptation measures have been adopted to reduce the impacts of floods, including construction of embankments, check dams and spurs, emergency protection measures, development of a flood early warning system, piloting of a flood forecasting system, awareness raising programs, flood hazard and risk mapping, and the provision of insurance schemes.Watershed conservation programs have been initiated to help reduce the incidence of landslides, together with zoning, to regulate development in landslide-prone areas. Nepal is investing in the Optimum Sediment Exclusion research project to develop methods for protecting hydropower plants from increased sediment loads resulting from climate change.Apart from various cropping and agronomic practices that are being introduced to help combat increased incidence of drought, the Second National Communication Report proposes that more efficient irrigation techniques and rainwater harvesting should be expanded.Nepal is strongly committed to empowering local communities to respond to the impacts of climate change. It has developed Local Adaptation Plans of Action (LAPAs) to implement adaptation at the community level. According to the INDC Report, these are meant to ensure a bottom-up contribution to the national adaptation process, and to educate and engage local people in adaptation activities and in implementing adaptation plans. The LAPA process provides opportunities for either stand-alone local plans or plans that are integrated into regular planning and implementation processes. Nepal is currently implementing LAPAs in 90 village development committees and seven municipalities, and there are about 375 local adaptation plans and nearly 2,200 community adaptation plans of action (CAPAs) for community forests.Localizing climate adaptation actions is also deeply rooted in the planning and implementation of the Nepal Climate Change Support Program (NCCSP) target areas.The Climate Change Policy recognizes the need for regional cooperation, particularly between upstream and downstream areas. However, it does not propose any actions to advance regional approaches, apart from expanding cooperation for risk reduction in transboundary areas.Nepal also engages in regional research collaborations through ICIMOD and other institutions. Both the NAPA and the Climate Change Policy contain adaptation components. Although the Government of Nepal has not included IWRM in its adaptation responses in the water sector, it has identified three priority adaptation actions: multipurpose use of water resources, conservation of watersheds, and an expanded hydromet network. However, Nepal is drafting an integrated water resources policy and Water Resources Act that will embrace the IWRM and climate change adaptation strategy. There are a large number of less urgent adaptation actions it intends to take into account in the water sector.The NAPA and Climate Change Policy emphasize actions at some points along the continuum of scales at which adaptation should ideally occur. While the climate change documents make little mention of engaging in regional water management initiatives as part of water resources adaptation, they do provide a strong basis for national adaptation actions in the water sector, including adoption of a basin approach to water management, consistent with its National Water Plan 2005. Nepal is probably the most advanced country in South Asia for engaging local communities in adaptation actions. These are formalized in a number of LAPAs under a national framework.Pakistan approved a National Climate Change Policy in 2012, followed by a Framework for Implementation of Climate Change Policy in 2013. It had submitted its First National Communication to UNFCCC in 2003, but has not provided further communications or updates. Although it provided an INDC Report to UNFCCC in 2015, the document is very brief and provides no information on adaptation activities.Pakistan is heavily dependent on flows in the Indus River, which are fed from both snowmelt and glacier melt as well as from rainfall. According to Ghazanfar Ali, \"Once the glaciers are finished melting in the coming three decades or so, no country in the region will suffer as much water stress from the Himalayan impact of climate change as Pakistan\" (Shah and Lele 2011).According to the Framework for Implementation of Climate Change Policy (2014-2030), 2013, the important water-related climate change threats to Pakistan are as follows:• Decrease in the glacier volume and snow cover leading to alterations in the seasonal flow pattern of the Indus River.• Increase in the formation and burst of glacial lakes.• Higher frequency and intensity of extreme climate events coupled with irregular monsoon rains causing frequent floods and droughts (according to Nasir Gilani, the increasing intensity of flood events is Pakistan's major threat [Shah and Lele 2011]).• Greater demand for water due to increased evapotranspiration rates at elevated temperatures.The National Climate Change Policy and its implementation framework start by acknowledging that water resources are inextricably linked with climate, because \"freshwater resources in Pakistan are mainly based on snow and glacier melt and monsoon rains, both being highly sensitive to climate change\" (Government of Pakistan 2013, 10).The Climate Change Policy and the implementation framework both state that IWRM plays an important role in addressing climate change impacts in the water sector. Both instruments want IWRM to be implemented at a river basin level \"by involving downstream and upstream stakeholders in planning and decision-making processes and by integrating their issues of water quality and quantity, for achieving long-term social, economic and environmental benefits\" (Government of Pakistan 2013, 11). The framework briefly comments that the draft national water policy needs to be approved and implemented (this policy has subsequently been approved by the Government of Pakistan).There is little mention in the policy or the framework about the need for water-relevant sectors to be coordinated through an apex institution. A number of legislative changes are proposed, including harmonizing all legislation, policies and plans in the water sector to ensure that they include climate change adaptation measures.The framework devotes considerable attention to irrigation water efficiency measures, mostly through technical means, although pricing reform is mentioned as a means to generate resources for sustainability. Demand management is not mentioned. Rainwater harvesting can be used to provide water for irrigation and domestic use. Farmers should participate in making decisions about their irrigated areas. Groundwater needs protection through regulatory frameworks, licensing water users and by introducing artificial recharge using treated wastewater. Catchment areas should be protected from erosion, and environmental flows should be provided to help repel saltwater intrusion into the Indus Delta.Other elements of IWRM are also advocated in the climate change policy, including raising the awareness of the general public about the effects of climate change on water resources, and the need for conservation and sustainable use of water. There is a need to train government officials about climate change impacts on water resources. Furthermore, the Indus River System Authority needs to be trained to implement the IWRM approach to water allocation.The policy recognizes that the hydrological network needs improvement, along with seasonal hydrological forecasts, and a comprehensive inventory of surface water and groundwater resources.Overall, the climate change policy and its implementation framework emphasize that adaptation in the water sector rests on improving all aspects of water management, consistent with an IWRM approach.The emphasis of the climate change policy on improving water efficiency and protecting groundwater resources is a response to the likelihood of increased droughts under climate change. The policy also proposes contingency plans to help adapt to water shortages caused by droughts.Apart from a proposal to use floodwaters for irrigation in Balochistan, the policy has little to propose on flood responses other than studies to identify flood-prone areas, developing floodplain regulations and laws, and mapping flooded areas.There is little mention of responding to GLOFs in the policy or the implementation framework, apart from establishing an early warning system and conducting research.Although the policy makes no mention of adaptation responses to higher temperatures and increased evapotranspiration, many of the water efficiency measures together with some of the agricultural responses (for example, drought-tolerant species) would help adapt to this threat.Saltwater contamination of coastal aquifers is not recognized as a risk from climate change in the policy. However, there is a brief mention of this impact later in the policy.Although Pakistan recognizes, in its First National Communication to UNFCCC, that autonomous adaptation (i.e., adjustments made within the system, initiated by the stakeholders themselves) can occur alongside planned, top-down adaptation measures, it does not explicitly encourage autonomous actions in the water sections of its climate change instruments.There are various initiatives involving local groups, although the program design and organization comes from the national level. These include rainwater harvesting, watershed management and, in the Indus Delta, mobilization of local communities for irrigation.The Government of Pakistan says that it will explore the possibility of joint watershed management of transboundary catchment areas with neighboring countries (presumably referring to the Indus catchment), although it will also safeguard the country's rights on transboundary water inflows. It will also look at developing a water treaty with Afghanistan and entering into an agreement with neighboring countries to protect the HKH glaciers. It is difficult to imagine how the latter could be achieved apart from relying on international efforts to mitigate greenhouse gases.It is also committed, through the policy, to engage in scientific exchanges with neighboring countries, including the sharing of real-time hydrological data for flood forecasting and early warning.The policy does not discuss the benefits of mainstreaming adaptation responses into the normal business of sectoral ministries. However, the framework for implementation states that it has been developed as a catalyst for mainstreaming climate change concerns into decision making and national planning.The policy is only partially responsive to the nominated water-related threats from climate change. It contains many proposals to improve water-use efficiency as a mechanism to combat increased incidence of drought under climate change, but fewer recommendations for dealing with floods, apart from studies into flood extent, and very little on combating the threats of GLOFs and the effects of higher temperatures on agriculture.Overall, the policy sees IWRM as the desired approach and incorporates a wide range of methods to improve water management, including nontechnical approaches such as pricing reform, river basin management (even though this is absent from the water instruments), integrated water flow and water quality management, and provision of environmental flows to limit seawater intrusion into the Indus Delta. It calls for a national water policy to be approved quickly and implemented, although it says little about coordination across water-dependent sectors (the national water policy was approved in April 2018). The policy also recognizes the need for raising public awareness and improving hydrological monitoring. There is little evidence that the government recognizes the need to mainstream climate change into its regular water management activities.The policy is strongly focused on adaptation activities that are led from the national level. However, the section on international cooperation to deal with regional climate change issues, such as large-scale floods, is an encouraging recognition that some of the impacts of climate change cannot be dealt with on a national basis only. The implementation framework envisages that provincial governments will also be engaged in adaptation actions along with the private sector and civil society. At this stage, community actions are seen as being directed from the national level.Sri Lanka produced a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy (NCCAS) in 2010, followed by a National Adaptation Plan for Climate Change Impacts (NAPCCI) in 2015. The latter document was designed following the UNFCCC guidelines for National Adaptation Plan (NAP) reports. These two documents constitute the definitive instruments for climate change adaptation in Sri Lanka. The National Climate Change Policy 2012 includes adaptation, but is also concerned with mitigation and other issues. An Information, Education and Communication Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation and a Water Sector Vulnerability Profile were produced in 2010 to support the preparation of the strategy.Sri Lanka has also produced two communication reports to the UNFCCC (2000 and 2011) and submitted its INDC Report in 2015. The Second National Communication to UNFCCC 2011 identifies the risks to water resources as follows:• Reduced river flows because of increased rainfall variability.• Increased rainfall intensity causing floods and landslides.• Reduced groundwater recharge, especially in the north and northeast regions.• Soil erosion causing sedimentation and loss of reservoir capacity.According to Sri Lanka's INDC, \"[the] water sector is the most crucial sector where immediate adaptation measures are required that cut across all the other sectors including health, food security and renewable energy generation (hydropower)\" (Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment 2015, 6). The policy and the NCCAS both recognize the potential impacts and needs for adaptation across the sectors dependent on water. The strategy recognizes that climate change will affect not only water availability and the risk of disasters but also the demand for water as a result of errant precipitation patterns and increased temperatures.The NAPCCI provides an additional reason for focusing on water sector adaptation to climate change. It quotes the National Water Development Report (Imbulana et al. 2006) as noting that there is no policy, plan or program in the water sector, and consequently the NAPCCI provides an opportunity to state the adaptation needs in the sector.The NCCAS states that Sri Lanka currently has poor management of watersheds and water sources, and that the principles of IWRM are rarely implemented. However, both the strategy and the climate change policy promote integrated watershed and water resources management. None of the climate change instruments mention the need for a water policy for Sri Lanka to guide adaptation actions, although the proposed review of all sectoral policies will undoubtedly highlight the country's lack of a water policy.According to the NCCAS, more water storage is needed along with interbasin transfers. However, the National Water Use Master Plan has concluded that interbasin transfers are a long-term option and could be contentious because of resettlement issues.Better watershed planning and management is widely advocated in the instruments because of the currently degraded state of watersheds, and the likelihood that climate change will lead to more intense storms and sedimentation. Development projects should be required to take the effects of climate change into account.Improvements in water-use efficiency through technology and changed behaviors are advocated for irrigation water use. These include micro-irrigation and drip irrigation, as well as more efficient use of groundwater and reuse of drainage water. For urban water use, the instruments advocate rainwater harvesting systems (for example, ferro-cement tanks and rooftop systems). Wastewater can also be recycled for industrial and aquaculture use.The instruments propose research into the impacts of climate change on water availability. They advocate a long-term monitoring program into the effects of climate change on water resources. There is a need to improve the existing system for timely issuance of short-term weather forecasts and to strengthen early warning systems. Although the instruments advocate monitoring sea levels, there is no proposal to check the intrusion of saltwater into coastal aquifers resulting from sea-level rise.The Information, Education and Communication Strategy recommends working through small groups and selected on-the-ground implementation agencies, rather than mass media campaigns, to raise awareness of climate change and the need to adapt.The instruments do not have specific discussions of the detailed threats or risks. Nevertheless, the NCCAS anticipates an increased frequency and severity of droughts, combined with increased soil erosion and siltation due to high intensity rainfall. These risks will be ameliorated through improved water-use efficiency, augmentation of water storage, and rainwater harvesting. Areas vulnerable to floods and drought will be mapped, and disaster risk management plans and early warning systems developed. Drainage will be improved in the flood-prone areas.Increases in salinity resulting from sea-level rise are seen as a problem for surface waters and coastal lands. There is no mention of contamination of coastal aquifers in the NAPCCI or any mention of combating reductions in groundwater recharge.The NAPCCI points out that the risk of soil erosion will be managed through the National Action Program for Combating the Degradation of Lands, which incorporates a range of identification, assessment and remediation actions for soil erosion. The plan will complement these activities through the development of a Climate Information Center.The climate change instruments endorse the need for community-level adaptation activities. The NCCAS suggests that existing mechanisms, such as district coordinating committees, local government and the extensive grassroots networks of the NGO sector, could be mobilized toward climate change adaptation. However, regulations and incentives are lacking. The NAP has a section on building the adaptive capacities of local communities through the provision of a small grants program for community adaptation, identifying traditional knowledge for adaptation to climate variability, and identifying indigenous assets that are vulnerable to climate change. The NAP also suggests that climate-resilient indigenous practices of water management should be explored and ways found to integrate them into modern practices. Although seeking to assist local communities, these activities are still directed from the top down.As an island, Sri Lanka does not have transboundary water management issues to resolve. However, it supports regional and international cooperation and networking to promote climate change research.Mainstreaming adaptation activities into national planning and development is one of the five key features of the NCCAS. The NAP states that sectoral and macro policies and other instruments will be assessed to identify options for mainstreaming adaptation. No other details are provided as to how the mainstreaming will be implemented.Sri Lanka has developed a specific adaptation strategy and, separately, an adaptation plan. It fully recognizes the centrality of water resources to adaptation activities and particularly recognizes the importance of identifying adaptation in the water sector because of the absence of a national water policy. The climate change instruments propose a range of adaptation activities, from constructing more water storage to improving water-use efficiencies in irrigation and urban areas, watershed management and promoting IWRM. Sri Lanka has developed a specific information, education and communication strategy for climate change adaptation. Although the instruments endorse the concept of community-level adaptation, their approach is largely driven from the national level. The importance of mainstreaming is clearly spelled out, although details on how it is to occur are not provided. Note: 0 = not present in main climate change documents; 1 = mentioned or minor description, but not major inclusion in main documents; and 2 = significant feature in main documents. Draft documents are not included in the assessment, and more recent documents have been given more weight.There is generally a high level of appreciation of the impacts of climate change within the water sector instruments, together with a clear understanding that the water sector is key to climate change adaptation within climate change documents.IWRM is formally adopted as guiding principles in all countries, except Sri Lanka, in water resources instruments. Nevertheless, Sri Lanka had designed its 2006 draft Water Policy around IWRM, although this was not approved by the government. Similarly, the climate change documents recognize the importance of adaptation in the water resources sector and accept that improved water governance and management practices are at the core of adaptation.Like the water instruments, the climate change documents see IWRM as the appropriate way to improve water management. While there is no argument about IWRM being the correct approach to water management, there are often doubts about its applicability, including for transboundary basins where there is little experience of successful applications. However, implementation need not be a problem if IWRM is regarded as a process and not a plan according to Arriens (in Shah and Lele 2011). The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has found that IWRM is accepted at the basin level, if it meets the economic, social and environmental aspirations of stakeholders.The need for improved monitoring networks for surface water and groundwater volume and quality is one of the most consistently voiced actions across South Asian water resources and climate change documents. Four countries-Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and India-advocate that these data be held in a central repository and be made available when needed. Coastal countries also propose monitoring of sea levels, although it is not clear how this information would be used.A number of countries recognize the importance of specific disaster monitoring systems, such as monitoring of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) in Bhutan and Nepal. Nepal specifically recognizes the importance of village-level early warning systems for floods (including GLOFs) and landslides.Transboundary actions are largely restricted to technical cooperation. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan all advocate regional data sharing and cooperation in their water instruments. Some countries, such as Bangladesh and Pakistan, also advocate assessing the development potential of transboundary rivers, while others propose cooperation in managing transboundary river basins. However, most of these transboundary information-sharing proposals are focused on rivers and do not include sharing information on transboundary aquifers.There is also a wide acceptance of the need to invest in research, including modeling the hydrological effects of climate change. Three countries-Bangladesh, India and Nepal-propose establishing specific centers or networks for research into the impacts of climate change.Probably the biggest gap in water instruments is the absence of agreed water policies and legislation in two countries: Nepal and Sri Lanka, with the recent approval of the national water policy in Pakistan. Consequently, these countries lack a coherent response to water problems, and are reliant on subsector instruments or the policies of water-related sectors such as environment, energy and agriculture. While Ahmed and Suphachalasai (2014) found that there was a shortage of climate change instruments in South Asia, this review has found that all countries have now developed strategies or policies for responding to climate change. In fact, two countries-Afghanistan and Sri Lanka-have developed instruments to guide their adaptation activities generally. Two others-India and Bhutan-have even produced instruments specifically on adaptation in the water sector.Four of the seven South Asian countries considered in this study-India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka-recognize and incorporate climate change and its impacts in their water instruments. India has a full section on climate change adaptation in its water policy. Pakistan and Sri Lanka acknowledge climate change. On the other hand, Nepal, which is likely to be heavily impacted, does not address climate change in its Water Strategy 2002 or Water Plan 2005, beyond a commitment to study the phenomenon. However, the Integrated Water Resources Policy, currently being prepared, will incorporate climate change adaptation.The four least developed countries (LDCs) in South Asia-Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal-have produced national adaptation programs of action (NAPAs), and all except for Bhutan 13 have agreed policies or strategies for dealing with climate change. However, the NAPAs are a mixed blessing. While they provide LDCs with a vehicle for developing adaptation options, they also focus attention on short-term (usually technical) priority projects at the expense of coherent programs of adaptation. This shortcoming has been recognized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and it has proposed that national adaptation plans (NAPs) be developed to help countries mainstream medium-and long-term adaptation actions into their regular management activities.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also emphasizes the need to integrate adaptation into government processes, thereby creating synergies with development simply because people who are socially and economically marginalized are also highly vulnerable to climate change (CDKN and ODI 2014). Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bhutan have developed NAPs, while Nepal has indicated that it is developing these instruments. In the meantime, most countries recognize the importance of mainstreaming adaptation. India already includes mainstreamed activities in its accounting for adaptation (Ganguly and Panda 2010).The key institutional feature of IWRM, coordination across water-dependent sectors, is recognized as being important in the water instruments of all South Asian countries. All countries have established coordinating institutions, although the composition and authority of these bodies varies considerably from weak intersectoral coordination in Sri Lanka to a National Water Resources Council in India, which is chaired by the country's prime minister. However, the climate change documents, while detailing many aspects of water management, pay little attention to cross-sectoral coordination of water-dependent institutions in spite of its importance to adaptation in the water sector. Afghanistan is an exception: its National Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (NCCSAP) and NAP call for the formation of a single water resources management institution.Climate change policies also need to be coordinated across central and sectoral ministries (including finance, economics, environment, energy, transport, water and health) (ADB 2009). This could lead to conflicts over which ministry is taking the lead role in implementing adaptation in the water sector-the apex water organization or the apex climate change organization (usually the ministry of environment). The effectiveness of these coordinating arrangements in South Asian countries is examined in depth in Paper 3 (Suhardiman et al. 2019).Managing groundwater will assume an even greater significance than it already does, because of climate change. Climate change will not only affect groundwater supply in diverse and hard to predict ways, but will also lead to an increase in demand for the resource. Yet, the links between groundwater and climate change have not been explored in detail in South Asia.All countries, except possibly Bangladesh, have plans to develop additional water storage, both small and large. This will only provide additional flexibility to respond to increased climate variability, if such storage is not fully committed to new production (for example, hydropower plants or irrigation expansion). Pakistan, in particular, has not built enough dams according to Pervaiz Amir (in Shah and Lele [2011]) and now needs to rapidly develop dams as a defense against climate change. In India, on the other hand, the available water resources may have already been developed according to Mihir Shah in Shah and Lele (2011), especially in light of revisions of the country's available water resources, and the focus should be strongly on improved management rather than new infrastructure development.Managing groundwater storage will acquire greater significance than ever before under climate change. In addition to affecting the demand for groundwater, climate change is expected to have an impact on supply of the resource in direct and myriad ways, although the actual impacts are complex and hard to determine. Yet, links between climate change and groundwater have received little attention in the literature or policy compared with surface water, and attempts to raise the profile of groundwater management (for example, India's Model Bill for the Conservation, Protection and Regulation of Groundwater 2011) have had little impact in practice. Given that the region has come to depend heavily on using groundwater for irrigation, greater analysis and sound policy on the resource are critical for South Asia's agricultural future.Afghanistan, Bhutan, India and Nepal have adopted basin-level water planning and management. Bangladesh agrees in principle with this approach, but points out that it means greater cooperative management of the Ganges River Basin. Pakistan does not include basin-level water management in its water instruments, presumably because the Indus River Basin is already the focus of its management attention.South Asian countries, with their many large and small transboundary rivers, need to take a regional approach to climate change adaptation, not only to tackle regional issues such as large-scale flooding but also to promote data sharing, research and development, and capacity building among national institutions. Many countries recognize this in their climate change documents. For example, in its climate change policy, the Pakistan government offers to explore joint watershed management of transboundary basins with neighboring countries.Given the low water-use efficiencies in irrigation across South Asian countries, most countries see improved water-use efficiencies through technical methods as providing the primary response to the threat of increased frequency and severity of droughts caused by climate change. Some technical solutions such as lining canals are popular, but they often do not achieve any real water savings (Facon and Mukherji in Shah and Lele [2011]). Nontechnical methods, including demand management, can be just as effective and are often cheaper. Facon and Mukherji found that the greatest scope for delivering better service in South Asian public irrigation systems lies in improving the management of the main canal system. Tightly run irrigation agencies that focus on better employee management through incentives, empowerment, supervision and capacity building play a big role in improving the irrigation service to farmers.Conjunctive use and reuse of treated wastewater are also proposed to augment the supply of water for irrigation, although the latter carries considerable health risks unless stringent water quality guidelines are in place and enforced. Given the leakiness of many irrigation canals, there are considerable opportunities to introduce deliberate managed conjunctive use in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Foster, in Shah and Lele (2011), believes that conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater, especially by increasing groundwater use in upstream areas and improving surface water availability downstream, is of central importance in the Indo-Gangetic Plains and in Pakistan's Punjab.Pakistan and Sri Lanka have drinking water policies that also propose technical measures to improve urban water-use efficiency.Groundwater levels and quality, which are already major issues in India and Pakistan, are likely to deteriorate further under climate change unless remedial actions are taken. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka all have special provisions in their water policies to protect groundwater quality, while India has developed a draft model bill for groundwater.India has a clear strategy for rainwater harvesting and artificial recharge using treated wastewater to remediate overdrawn aquifers. However, Foster (in Shah and Lele [2011]) warned against easy solutions such as artificial recharge and technical irrigation improvements that avoid the basic issue of controlling overabstraction. He believes that governments cannot avoid reducing overabstraction of groundwater, extremely difficult as this is, but need to develop different solutions in different places that combine an understanding of the hydrogeological setting and the socioeconomic situation.Ahmed and Suphachalasai (2014) stated that a two-pronged approach is needed for adaptation: (a) mainstreaming from top-down policy and institutions, and (b) awareness raising and provisions for climate change at the basin level. This means that there needs to be institutional strengthening, genuine community participation, the development of national capacity, and local and regional expertise. According to Gyawali (in Shah and Lele [2011]), the household level is the key to climate change adaptation in South Asia. He stated that, traditionally, South Asia muddles through from the bottom up rather than the policy level down.All countries support community-level participation in adaptation activities in their climate change instruments. The irrigation sector has the greatest experience with devolving responsibility to local water user associations (WUAs), although there is little evidence that self-management of irrigation districts improves productivity. Mukherji et al. (2009) found that there were no major differences between irrigated areas that had strong participatory management and those that did not. Nevertheless, participatory management may help improve adaptive behaviors in the face of a changing climate.Policies often include education and communication campaigns for local communities, and the participation of farmer organizations (FOs) and WUAs in committees. Sri Lanka has proposed a small grants program for local community adaptation activities, while Nepal has now implemented 90 Local Adaptation Plans of Action (LAPAs) that fit within a national framework.There is widespread agreement about the importance of building an understanding of climate change and its implications for water resources among the general public as well as among sectoral groups and decision makers. Thus, the technical priority projects in the NAPAs typically include a community education and involvement component, while national climate change policies and strategies also include public educational and capacity building components. There is also a need to build a wider understanding among the public, as well as decision makers, that some climate change impacts are regional in scope and can best be tackled through regional cooperation.Of course, there are likely to be significant differences between the intentions of South Asian governments to improve water management, and address the potential impacts of climate change and the reality of implementation. These intentions are not always translated into reality for a number of reasons, including lack of funds, lack of political will, lack of skilled staff and opposition from vested interests. Paper 3 will examine the extent to which the financing and institutional aspects described in these water instruments have actually been realized (Suhardiman et al. 2019).A number of possible topics for further investigations are suggested by the above findings.1. A number of countries have proposed sharing water data across transboundary river basins and aquifers. A project could be developed to provide regional data collection guidelines and support information. These regional data collections should be publicly accessible, and this may need legislative and administrative agreement from participating countries. The project could include designing an online method for collating and reconciling data collected through different protocols across countries, examining administrative impediments to sharing surface water and groundwater data. This activity could be integrated with South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) initiatives.2. Community-level adaptation needs to be included as a significant part of the response to climate change. Methods need to be developed for community-level monitoring and data sharing so that they can contribute to higher levels of management. This would include protocols for data collection, training and capacity development. Nepal may provide a useful case study.3. It would be useful to explore methods for passing on the growing understanding of scientific climate change impacts in the water sector to decision makers. An analysis of potential bottlenecks in the uptake of scientific information and actions to reduce these bottlenecks would be timely.1. IWRM is widely adopted within water resources instruments across South Asia, but its implementation is lacking. Existing studies into the reasons for this lack of implementation could be reviewed, and experts could be interviewed to identify some specific entry points-water management topics, countries or catchments, institutions-where there is a likelihood that components of IWRM may be adopted. A project could be initiated to support these opportunities.2. The characteristics of successful institutional coordinating mechanisms could be investigated so that models can be developed of effective coordination between agencies and institutions responsible for water management and climate change, both within each country and with neighboring countries.3. While most water instruments examined here recognize the potential impacts of climate change, many water managers do not still understand these impacts. A project could be developed to improve their understanding and to reinforce the importance of IWRM (even if components of this approach are difficult to implement) as an adaptation response to climate change.4. It is important to mainstream climate change adaptation across water-dependent sectors, so that adaptation becomes the normal business of each ministry. A project could be developed to educate officials in water-related ministries, coordinate agencies responsible for climate change, and design ways that adaptation activities could be properly defined and tagged within ministry budgets.5. In federal systems (India and Pakistan), a significant proportion of the adaptation budget occurs through state or provincial agencies. These contributions could be examined to assess how well they are coordinated with both the national effort and local adaptation activities.6. The impacts of climate change on groundwater need greater attention in both policy and practice. The best ways to control groundwater use in different hydrogeological and socioeconomic settings need to be better understood (following concepts by Foster in Shah and Lele [2011]).1. Most infrastructure plans focus on major structures for storage. However, it may be more effective to revive small, local structures, including traditional storage mechanisms, or make more use of local groundwater storage (including sand dams). A pilot project to help restore these local storages could be undertaken to build understanding of alternatives to major storage infrastructure, taking account of the circumstances under which smaller structures are more vulnerable to climate change (World Bank 2014).2. Major infrastructure will only provide adaptation to climate change if design standards and operating rules are developed to take account of climate change. Bangladesh, in its Second National Communication Report to the UNFCCC, states that it will establish design standards for flood embankments that take account of climate change. This could be used as a case study.1. Some preliminary confidence building studies could be undertaken to pave the way for transboundary water planning (see Paper 3 [Suhardiman et al. 2019] on transboundary water recommendations).2. Introducing basin-level planning and management is a major challenge. There may be lessons to be learned from examining pilot studies in Nepal and Pakistan, as well as international efforts to introduce climate change considerations into basin planning (for example, the Rufiji Basin, Tanzania), and drawing on the experience of the ADB about how to do this.3. Water-related adaptation measures need to be designed to benefit the poor and the disadvantaged. It would be valuable to examine how they can be linked to poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs) and other mechanisms for poverty alleviation.4. Saltwater contamination of coastal aquifers will affect Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. However, this impact receives relatively little attention in climate change strategies. Protective mechanisms need to be examined and understood for different geophysical circumstances.5. While the development and sharing of transboundary river information receives attention in some water instruments, transboundary aquifer management is almost absent. It would be useful to undertake projects to develop information sharing for transboundary aquifers as an initial step in managing these resources, in the face of increased drought risk from climate change.1. Building community-level action is essential to adaptation in the water sector. Bangladesh has considerable experience of community adaptation to climate extremes, while Nepal now has 200 NAPAs in progress. It would be timely to undertake an examination of the success of these community action initiatives. Such an examination would assess how they can be organized to provide nationally coherent responses while still retaining local control, how they should be financed and provided with skills thatThe network of hydrological monitoring stations has been destroyed or degraded during years of conflict, although the system is now being rebuilt and the number of installed and rehabilitated monitoring stations has increased. The Water Sector Strategy 2008 states that rehabilitation of the network will be accompanied by data storage in a central database.The frameworks and the Water Law 2009 say little about monitoring water flows, although the Water Law does require all water extractions and discharges to be monitored. However, Mahmoodi (2008) states that special priority has been given to the rehabilitation of the hydrometric network. None of the instruments mention education and promotion of awareness of water resources among the general public, or target groups such as decision makers. They also do not mention research and knowledge acquisition.The Water Law 2009 regulates ownership, fees, rights, permits and usage of water. Ownership of water is vested in the Afghan people, and the government is responsible for its protection and management. All uses of water, except for basic human needs and navigation, require a permit. This includes new developments of surface water and groundwater, disposal of wastewater and drainage water, sinking shallow and deep wells, and construction of dams and levees. The law authorizes a water policy and strategy to guide development, storage, use, control and conservation of water resources.The law divides responsibility for water among a number of ministries, with the Ministry of Energy and Water being responsible for the planning, development and management of water resourcesdefined as including both surface water and groundwater. However, groundwater investigations and monitoring are assigned to the Ministry of Mines, while the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock is responsible for irrigation infrastructure and operations. A Supreme Council of Water Affairs has been appointed to coordinate activities across these ministries.River basin agencies, overseen by river basin councils, are to be established for integrated water resources planning and management. The councils determine water allocations, including issuing water permits, and monitoring their use. Subbasin councils are also to be formed with similar powers to the river basin councils, although they will not be authorized to issue water permits. The Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy and Strategy 2005 supports the need for an integrated approach to irrigation and natural resources management. Moreover, it also supports the devolution of responsibility to river basin authorities.Afghanistan and Iran signed a treaty governing the use of waters of the Helmand River in 1973 (Ahmad 2013). Afghanistan shares the Kabul River with Pakistan, but there is no water sharing treaty between the two countries. Disputes occur over dam developments between Afghanistan and both Pakistan and Iran-the latter in spite of the treaty.The Water Sector Strategy 2008 identifies 31 infrastructure projects that need to be implemented for water supply, irrigation, hydropower, flood control and groundwater recharge. Most are new or rehabilitated dams, but there are also flood diversion and groundwater recharge projects included in the strategy. It also advocates rehabilitating irrigation infrastructure that has been damaged or destroyed over the last 20 years. The Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy and Strategy 2005 notes the inadequacy of dams and canals. It calls for the rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure, although it proposes that, in the long term, maintenance costs will be borne by users.The National Development Framework 2002 identified the need to reestablish a working urban water supply and sewage system. It also gave urgency to the repair and rehabilitation of the irrigation infrastructure and revival of the traditional karez systems, as traditional law has been used successfully to manage small-scale irrigation in the past.The Water Sector Strategy 2008 calls for Water Sector Master Plans for each river basin that include, among others, climate change considerations with the purpose of placing demand-side management on an equal footing with supply augmentation.Under the Water Law 2009, water quality standards are to be established for drinking water supply, agricultural use and industrial wastewater discharge. The law also prohibits pollution of water resources by wastewater, industry and chemicals beyond the established water quality limit. Water users cannot harm environmental systems and are prohibited from actions that cause erosion and landslides.Some of these provisions are backed up by the Environment Law 2007. This also prohibits the discharge of pollutants to water 15 without a license, requires protection of aquatic ecosystems and biological diversity, and the reduction and prevention of pollution of water resources. It is more explicit in some areas than the Water Law 2009. For example, it states that ministries must take watershed management, sustainability of groundwater abstractions, the regulation of water for industries and agriculture, and wetland protection into account when developing water management plans. The Water Sector Strategy 2008 states that the riverbank protection program is providing emergency interventions in the short term. It also identifies high priority river reaches for medium-term investment to control riverbank erosion.The Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy and Strategy 2005 notes tube wells being drilled illegally by wealthy farmers, but does not advocate any particular action. However, the drilling of new deep wells is now covered by the Water Law 2009. This policy also notes the damage caused to watersheds from widespread deforestation. This is now subject to control under the Environment Law 2007.The Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy and Strategy 2005 wants to improve irrigation methods and management by taking an IWRM approach. This would include improving water-use efficiency by reducing water losses, introducing drip irrigation and other technologies, and better water sharing between upstream and downstream users. The policy also advocates enhancing groundwater through reforestation, and reducing the number of deep wells and storage ponds.There are several provisions in the various instruments for participation by water users. The Water Law 2009 states that water users are to be engaged in river basin planning and management, and that river basin councils are to include water users, central government agencies and local departments. Water user associations (WUAs) and irrigation associations are authorized under the Water Law (although their purpose is left undefined), and the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock is authorized to delegate responsibility for water distribution to irrigation associations. The Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy and Strategy 2005 also encourages a participatory approach to management and requires WUAs to be strengthened for management of irrigation networks. WUAs will be based on traditional mirabs, 16 but will be reorganized with agreed powers and expanded roles (DAI 2006;Thomas and Ahmad 2009).The Government of Bangladesh enacted a National Water Policy in 1999 that marked the first incorporation of IWRM principles in water management in the country (Gupta et al. 2005). The policy places emphasis on protection against natural disasters-principally floods, droughts and cyclones. It notes that floods are closely linked to erosion and sedimentation. The policy does not specifically refer to climate change as either a driver of water-related issues (such as accelerated erosion and sedimentation) or as a reason for adaptive action. This policy was supported by a National Plan for Disaster Management 2010-2015 in 2010 and a subsequent Disaster Management Act in 2012. This Plan and Act clearly recognize that water-related disasters in Bangladesh will be exacerbated by climate change.A National Water Management Plan was produced in 2001, two years after the national water policy was enacted, because there was concern over the extent to which the actions required by different policies were to be coordinated among different ministries (Gupta et al. 2005). A strong institutional framework was needed. Therefore, the Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO), under the Ministry of Water Resources, was instituted as the apex planning and coordinating organization. The plan discusses the likely impacts of climate change, such as the effects of climate change on sealevel rise and cyclonic storm surges. Some of the elements of the water policy were formalized in the Water Act 2013.Water pollution is not dealt with under the Water Act 2013. However, it is envisaged that it will be controlled under the Environment Conservation Act 1995 and the Environment Conservation Amendment Act 2010, and also by the National River Protection Commission Act 2013. Drinking water and sanitation are dealt with under the National Policy for Safe Water Supply and Sanitation 1998. This policy is primarily concerned with extending the coverage of safe water supply and sanitation services, although it does provide for protection of water source areas.The Government of Bangladesh approved a Coastal Zone Policy in 2005 (the water policy also recognizes the importance and vulnerability of the coastal areas to water-related issues). The Coastal Zone Policy fully recognizes that the country's vulnerability to natural disasters in coastal areascyclones, flooding and siltation-will be exacerbated by climate change. The policy accepts that the coastal zone is affected by the policies of a wide range of ministries, and requires all government agencies with water responsibilities to protect the environment.A National River Protection Commission has been authorized under 2013 legislation to make recommendations to the government concerning encroachment on riverbanks, pollution and harmful use of water bodies. However, the commission will not have any executive powers, and environmental groups doubt that it will be effective.According to the National Water Management Plan 2001, groundwater recharge, water use, and changes in surface water and groundwater quality will be monitored, and a central database of all water information will be established. According to this Plan, research should be expanded into practical issues such as flood control. It also calls for more research into climate change implications and responses, and the sustainability of groundwater resources. The Water Rules 2015 require local governments to keep an inventory of groundwater use to ensure that safe yields are established. The National Plan for Disaster Management requires a flood monitoring and floodplain mapping program, together with erosion prediction and monitoring activities. Finally, the coastal zone policy advocates a coastal resources survey, a coastal resources database, information dissemination and a capacity building program.Under the National Water Policy of 1999 and the Water Act 2013, ownership of water is vested in the state, which will allocate water to beneficial uses. Under the Water Act, water users (apart from domestic water users) are required to obtain a permit to extract water or to divert or impede water flows (unauthorized embankments have been a significant issue for flood management). The Act allows water-stressed areas to be declared and to establish a priority order for access to water in such areas, with domestic use and drinking water given priority.The National Water Resources Council is to be the apex water management institution, with the tasks of overseeing coordination among water sector agencies and developing a national water management plan. WARPO, under the Ministry of Water Resources, was created in 1999. In the Water Act 2013, WARPO is required to develop a national water resources plan that promotes integration of surface water and groundwater, determines water quality standards, and includes basin-wide development plans. This new plan is still under development.The national water policy recognized that water should be managed at the basin scale and encouraged cooperation with other countries to manage transboundary waters. The policy paid specific attention to groundwater. Irrigation with groundwater was to be regulated. Surface water and groundwater quality would be protected.WARPO has drafted Water Rules (2015) as required under the Water Act 2013. The rules appear to propose a new water policy to replace the 2003 policy, as authorized in the Water Act 2013.Given the importance of transboundary rivers to Bangladesh, it is not surprising that the water policy pays particular attention to the management of this issue. It commits the government to exchange data with co-riparian countries and jointly understand the issues associated with these rivers, and to work collaboratively to share the development potential of the rivers.Although the 1972 agreement with Bangladesh on sharing transboundary waters led to the institution of the Joint Rivers Commission, there is continuing tension between India and Bangladesh, particularly over the Farakka Barrage on the Ganges River. There are no water sharing treaties with China, although there is a memorandum of understanding (MoU) covering data sharing signed between China and Bangladesh.The National Water Policy 1999 proposes that a Water Development Board be established to institute large water resources infrastructure projects, such as dams and flood barriers, for flood protection in sensitive areas. Rivers are to be desilted and early flood warning systems are to be developed. The National Water Management Plan contains a number of infrastructure proposals, including improved flood control, new irrigation schemes and coastal protection work that take account of climate change. It also proposes more development of surface waters based on comprehensive plans because of the overdevelopment of groundwater. The National Plan for Disaster Management recognizes that barrages will have to be built across rivers to provide additional water for drought periods, because groundwater resources are heavily used and are unsafe because of arsenic contamination. The drafted Water Rules 2015 also specify the types of projects (flood management, irrigation, drainage, etc.) that must be checked for consistency with the Water Resources Plan before being undertaken.The Coastal Zone Policy 2005 promotes economic development and poverty alleviation together with a reduction in vulnerabilities to natural disasters, including the effects of climate change, through infrastructure such as dykes and shelters.According to the National Water Policy 1999, drought management plans would be introduced taking into consideration technical measures such as conjunctive use during droughts. The policy envisages that water planning will be based around the country's principal river systems, together with the hilly areas to the east. The water needs of fisheries and wildlife will be included in water plans, along with drainage schemes for wetlands with ecological values.Many elements of IWRM are proposed under the National Water Management Plan: cost recovery, decentralized water management, community participation, clarity about rights and accountability and conjunctive use because of the overreliance on groundwater. Minimum streamflows will be maintained for navigation and to preserve coastal estuaries, although their role in maintaining environmental health is not mentioned. The Water Act 2013 legislates for environmental river flows, wetlands can be designated as flood passages, wetlands that support migratory birds cannot be drained for development, and potable water sources are protected. Flood embankments are to be protected from development.Under the national water policy, industrial and agricultural pollution will be regulated. The National Policy for Safe Water Supply and Sanitation 1998 also requires the prevention of pollution of surface water and groundwater sources. The Water Act 2013 does not deal with establishing ambient water quality levels or pollution discharge standards. Pollution control is left to the Environment Conservation Act 1995. However, this legislation does not provide the power to establish water quality standards or to regulate discharges of pollutants from industry or other sources to surface water or groundwater (other than from accidental discharges). The Environment Conservation Amendment Act 2010 does place some restrictions on misuse of water reservoirs, but does not appear to strengthen powers to set water quality standards and control water pollution. The coastal zone policy recognizes the seriousness of high groundwater arsenic concentrations, while the National Water Policy 1999 makes only one passing reference to this issue and does not propose remediation action.Under the national water policy, groundwater extraction would be controlled in recharge areas and conjunctive use will be encouraged, particularly in drought-prone areas. The Water Act also recognizes that both surface water and groundwater must be managed. It requires safe yields to be set for all aquifers in water-stressed areas. Groundwater receives attention in the draft Water Rules 2015. Aquifers that are under stress are to be identified, and a safe yield established for each aquifer. All industrial and commercial abstractions of groundwater require permits.Water pricing will be introduced so that users recognize scarcity value, with funds to be retained locally according to the National Water Management Plan. Public water supply agencies can charge for services, and financial incentives will be introduced for water reuse and conservation. The National Policy for Safe Water Supply and Sanitation 1998 also advocates pricing water at its economic value to cover the cost of supply. The draft Water Rules 2015 propose that water pricing be set based on the volume of water abstracted (apart from subsistence and potable water uses).Under the water rules, floodplains are to be delineated and no structures are permitted in the high flow portions of the floodplain without permission.The coastal zone policy also calls for sustainable natural resource management, including environmental flows to prevent seawater intrusion and preserve coastal ecosystems, rainwater harvesting, water conservation and groundwater sustainability. Conservation of critical coastal ecosystems receives specific attention in the policy, with the recognition that monitoring climate change effects and undertaking actions to adapt to climate change are required.The National Water Management Plan 2001 states that stakeholder participation will be encouraged in all project planning. The subsequent Water Rules 2015 propose the formation of integrated water resources committees at district, upazila (subdistrict), pourashava (town) and union levels, although these are largely composed of government officials. The National Policy for Safe Water Supply and Sanitation 1998 encourages user participation in planning, development and operations. More generally, the National Water Management Plan 2001 states that there is a need to improve water knowledge, and raise public awareness of sustainability. Bangladesh published Rules for Participation in 2000 to help local people influence decisions that affected them, although the effectiveness of these attempts at inclusion has been questioned (Dewan et al. 2014).increases, as a result of the irrigation master plan, and the extensive hydropower development plans. Climate change may result in more intense monsoonal rainfall with extreme river flows while there will be reduced river flows in winter, although these possibilities are uncertain given the lack of data and modeling (NEC 2016). The National Disaster Risk Management Framework 2006 states that landslides, GLOFs, flash floods and forest fires will all be exacerbated as a result of climate change.Bhutan has recognized the importance of an integrated approach to water resources management for a number of years, making it a crosscutting objective of the environment sector in the Tenth Five Year Plan 2008-2013, and in the draft Eleventh Five Year Plan 2013-2018(ADB 2014). The Government of Bhutan approved a Water Policy in 2007 and a Water Act in 2011, both of which are based on the principles of IWRM. Climate change impacts were one of the drivers for the Water Act, and the focus on IWRM was specifically adopted to help respond to climate change impacts (NEC 2016). Water Regulations of Bhutan were promulgated in 2012.Prior to the water policy, each water-using sector had been responsible for its own water use. While the policy continued with this disaggregated approach, it envisaged a broad multisectoral framework within which each water-related subsector would contribute to the overall policy objectives. The policy and Act assign responsibility for coordinating across sectors to the National Environment Commission (NEC) within the National Planning Commission. The NEC was also given the responsibility for developing water legislation, establishing water quality standards and guidelines, research and development, undertaking capacity building and managing water data. However, other functions remain with relevant departments. Thus, the Department of Power retained the responsibility for hydrological and meteorological data collection, while the Ministry of Health manages rural water supply and sanitation (WSS). The Water Act provides a table detailing these responsibilities.The Water Regulations of Bhutan, approved in 2012, complement the Act. They require the NEC to establish a National Water Resources Board, comprising directors from relevant ministries, to act as a technical advisory committee to the NEC.These instruments are all aware of the potential impacts of climate change on Bhutan. Hence, they are all designed to provide greater resilience against current climate variability and the long-term impacts of climate change.An integrated water resources management plan (IWRMP) has recently been drafted, but has yet to be approved by the Government of Bhutan. It recognizes that there are no pressing water problems at river basin scale at present. However, water-related problems are felt acutely at the local level by dispersed communities who rely on water from small sources and rivulets. Their problems cannot be solved at central or even basin level, and should be addressed at the level of villages and gewogs (group of villages) (NEC 2016).The IWRMP is a discussion document rather than a plan. It explicitly recognizes that IWRM is an adaptation response to climate change. Its six components are: managing water at the basin level; optimizing water supply (i.e., conservation and evaluating environmental impacts); demand management (i.e., cost recovery, efficient technology, decentralized management); providing equitable access to water; establishing policy (e.g., polluter pays, water quality standards, and market-based regulation); and taking an intersectoral approach. The plan recognizes the importance of mainstreaming IWRM. It states that IWRM will be integrated into Bhutan's next Five Year Plan (Twelfth Plan 2018-2023) with possible key result areas (KRAs) in water security for urban and rural water supplies, economic water security for hydropower and irrigation, sustainable environmental flows and climate change resilience. Climate change is one of the five key areas in the Twelfth Five Year Plan. There is even a possibility that the water security KRA can be integrated into the current Eleventh Five Year Plan.The National Disaster Risk Management Framework 2006 describes eight types of disasters that Bhutan is prone to, including landslides from heavy rain, GLOFs (arising from climate change), flash floods and artificial dam bursts. It states that droughts have not been a major issue in Bhutan. The framework argues for an integrated water resources approach and the installation of early warningThe NEC is tasked with coordinating water management across ministries. The IWRMP states that the Water Act and regulations need to be harmonized with other legislation.The Eleventh Five Year Plan includes a target of 100% water supply coverage for all settlements (up from 81% coverage when the plan commenced). It also proposes the construction of five new water supply reservoirs and the construction of flood protection infrastructure. There are three new hydropower projects under construction, and seven more will commence during the Eleventh Five Year Plan. The 2004 revision of the power sector master plan ranks 11 candidate hydropower projects against a number of criteria, including danger from GLOFs and sedimentation of reservoirs. As these will be run-of-river projects, the Master Plan accepts that their power production will be seasonal and does not regard water availability as a factor influencing the selection of preferred projects.The NEC was required, under the Water Act, to develop an IWRMP that will be mainstreamed into national policies, plans and programs. The IWRMP is a framework document-specific actions are to be contained in each river basin plan. While groundwater is included within all water resources, there are some specific requirements for groundwater management. Thus, the Water Regulations 2012 require the IWRMP to analyze impacts on quality and quantity of groundwater, and the river basin management plans to identify the location of groundwater, control pollution of groundwater, and monitor groundwater quantity and quality. The national environment strategy does not mention water allocation planning, but does propose that land-use planning occurs on water catchments.The Water Act includes the principles of polluter pays, user pays for water use, and protection of water catchments to minimize the risk of erosion and landslides. The NEC can declare threatened water sources to be water management areas, where special controls can be applied to water abstractions, discharges, vegetation loss and development of structures. The water policy and the national environment strategy advocate maintenance of watersheds to reduce erosion and sediment loads, provide food and fodder, and help maintain local climate. They also see that controls over industrial pollutants and wastewater will protect rivers. The NEC is required by the Water Act to establish water quality standards and guidelines, set effluent discharge standards and establish minimum environmental flows.Both the Water Act and the National Environment Strategy recognize the need to maintain environmental flows to protect ecosystems downstream of dams.The Water Policy establishes that sustainable water management should occur through the use of water-efficient technologies and good management practices. This is supported by the National Irrigation Policy 2010, which requires environmentally sustainable operations (including training of irrigation department staff in catchment protection, payment for water use, and environmental mitigation), improved technical efficiency and intersectoral planning.The draft IWRMP recognizes that there is a need to develop new infrastructure design standards, given the expected increase in high flow events under climate change.The Water Policy and Water Act require full participation of water users in water management decisions. Stakeholder participation in water management had been introduced earlier in the Irrigation Policy 1992 (and also included in the National Irrigation Policy 2010), which encouraged farmer participation, and the formation of WUAs for publicly-owned irrigation schemes. Under the Water Act, WUAs and traditional communities are to be on river basin committees.It was apparent that, by the 1980s, there needed to be a national approach to water, leading to the first National Water Policy in 1987, which was modified in 2002. The current water policy was approved in 2012, although with objections from a number of states. A draft National Water Framework Bill was produced in 2013 to reflect this policy, but has yet to be passed by parliament, and is now likely to be superseded by a new draft model bill. This most recent draft will focus on demand-side measures, although it will also include measures to recharge groundwater. A Model Bill for the Conservation, Protection and Regulation of Groundwater had been drafted in 2011 to replace the outdated Model Groundwater Bill 2005. However, this bill has yet to be passed and, in the past, there has not been much uptake of these model bills by state governments. Groundwater is still governed by colonial-era legislation, in which the resource is seen as a private property right. The new bill has been carefully drafted to both reflect the current legal situation (the Supreme Court tends to view groundwater as a common-pool resource) and help control overuse and pollution of aquifers. It encourages the treatment of groundwater as a resource to be managed at the lowest possible level, with technical support from state water agencies.Water  1997 (updated in 2003) provides the government with the power to apply volumetric pollution discharge levies to polluting industries.Other relevant national instruments include the National Agriculture Policy 2000 and the National Urban Sanitation Policy 2008. Drinking water is included in the National Water Policy 2012. In the absence of water resources legislation, water is primarily managed through the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974 and the Environment (Protection) Act 1986, which are concerned with water quality and do not deal with the surface water and groundwater availability and sharing issues facing India today.In addition, each state has its own instruments and institutions dealing with water resources. The plethora of institutions and legislation governing water at central, state and local levels, together with the existence of traditional rules for water access, have led to diffused accountability and inaction on important water issues such as overdraft of groundwater. The Supreme Court has stepped into the breach a number of times. For example, it ruled that, under Article 21 of the Constitution, the right to life includes a right to access to basic water requirements and that this should be the highest priority for water sharing. The court has been asked to rule on a water sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over the water of the Kaveri River.India has a number of transboundary treaties in place with neighboring countries. These include the 1960 Indus Treaty with Pakistan, which has allowed the Indus waters to be shared peacefully for 50 years, along with a number of other agreements. However, the Kosi River Treaty with Nepal has been a matter of concern for Nepal. The 1996 Mahakali Agreement is less contentious, and there is technical cooperation between the two countries. The 1972 agreement with Bangladesh on sharing transboundary waters led to the institution of the Joint Rivers Commission on the Ganges River. However, both countries remain dissatisfied with the limitations of the 1996 Ganges River Treaty and there is continuing tension between the two countries, particularly over the Farakka Barrage on the Ganges River. There are no water sharing treaties with China, although there is an MoU covering data sharing signed between the countries.The water policy advocates improved information, including flood forecasting, flood mapping, community action plans and disaster preparedness. Climate and hydrological data should also be collected for each river basin, as well as water use data for surface water and groundwater. Surface water and groundwater quality should also be monitored in each river basin. A national water informatics center should be established, and all possible data placed in the public domain. Because of climate change, more data are needed on snow and glacial dynamics, evaporation losses, tidal hydrology and hydraulics, river geometry, and also on erosion and sedimentation. Both the national water policy and the National Water Framework Bill (draft) 2013 propose that flood forecasting systems be developed. More research and development (R&D) and training are needed, and a water policy research center should be established.The National Hydrology Project, phases I and II, have helped the central government and several state governments in southern India to expand their institutional and technical capacities including flow, water quality and meteorological monitoring. Under phase III of this project, currently being prepared, this assistance will be extended across all of India and will support a river basin approach for IWRM. The interstate dimensions of the major river basins and aquifers will be handled by participating central agencies.The National Water Resources Council, established in 1983 and chaired by the prime minister with state chief ministers as members, is the apex body for water management in India. It is supported by the National Water Board at Secretariat level.India's National Water Policy 2012 marks a change in direction for water management in India (Singh et al. 2013). It proposes a rational approach to water sharing based on water budgeting and auditing; state governments appoint water regulators, introduce systems for water tariff and establish criteria for water charges; subsidies on rural electricity for groundwater abstraction be removed; government water service providers shift to regulatory and facilitator roles; a national legal framework be introduced to guide state water legislation; and that all forms of subsidies be abolished for agricultural and domestic water use. However, subsidies would be available to industry for recycling and reuse. The draft National Water Framework Bill 2013 repeats many of the principles of the policy, including state ownership of water, river basin management, and that water resources should be planned and managed in a coordinated way across national, state and local levels. It also calls for participation and transparency, and provision of environmental flows to protect ecosystems.The policy clearly identifies climate change as one of the three key drivers of water management, along with population growth and increasing demand, and contains a section on adapting to climate change. The policy contains a number of IWRM elements. It states that water is a common-pool resource held under trust by the state (both surface water and groundwater, the latter of which is seen by many citizens to be associated with landownership). The Model Bill for the Conservation, Protection and Regulation of Groundwater 2011 breaks with tradition by emphasizing state custodianship of groundwater. This assertion opens up the possibility of management based on aquifers as opposed to land titles, and has major equity implications. The bill proposes that permits be required for medium to major irrigation and industrial uses that draw on groundwater (Cullet 2012).The national water policy also requires a national perspective on water planning, management and development, and equity over water allocation. Water is seen as an economic good, and ecosystems have a right to water (the Model Bill for the Conservation, Protection and Regulation of Groundwater 2011 extends this to include groundwater). The policy requires integrated management of water quantity and quality, planning and management at river basin level, increased emphasis on demand management including water-use efficiency, integrated water quality and quantity management, use of economic instruments for pollution control, and public participation and accountability. IWRM should be the principle for river basin planning, and institutions should be restructured to promote a multidisciplinary approach to water management. The National Agriculture Policy 2000 also states that an integrated plan of augmentation and management of national water resources needs to receive special attention.The water policy recognizes that water storage will need to be increased, from small to large storage structures, because of increased variability from climate change. Other approaches to water supply augmentation should also be explored to cope with rising demand, including desalination, direct rainfall use and evapotranspiration control. All infrastructure planning should include the effects of climate change.The water policy supports water planning on a basin and subbasin scale, including surface water and groundwater. Basin authorities will need to be established for this purpose. Water resources planning should include environmental water needs, and account for trends resulting from climate change. The draft National Water Framework Bill 2013 also proposes that basin committees should be established at central and state levels to prepare water resources plans up to 2050, support basin management, and undertake investigations into issues such as pricing and climate change. In particular, the policy states that the environmental needs of the Himalayan regions, aquatic ecosystems, and wetlands and floodplains should be included in water planning. Both the national water policy and the draft National Water Framework Bill require planning for infrastructure such as dams and embankments, and should incorporate strategies to cope with the effects of climate change, presumably by ensuring that design standards take account of changes in critical hydrological parameters.The national water policy places strong emphasis on demand management in irrigated areas, along with water recycling and reuse, technical improvements and conjunctive use of canal seepage. Demand management can help combat the impacts of climate change through improved water application methods and alignment with compatible agricultural strategies. The National Agriculture Policy 2000 also promotes optimal water use through water conservation, conjunctive use and control over receding groundwater levels. However, it is silent on water pricing and does not consider the effects of climate change on water availability or crop growth.According to the national water policy, water and land conservation should be practiced to protect river corridors, wetlands and floodplains. Encroachments into water bodies and drainage channels should be prevented, and developments upstream of key sensitive areas, including groundwater recharge zones, should be strictly regulated. The National Agriculture Policy 2000 also advocates watershed development programs to protect water quality. The Model Bill for the Conservation, Protection and Regulation of Groundwater 2011 requires a groundwater security plan for all declared protection zones and other aquifers selected by the government. The plan should allow for managed aquifer recharge (MAR), conjunctive use, social equity, efficient water use and incentives for conservation.According to the national water policy, small-scale water harvesting should be encouraged, although developers need to be aware of possible downstream effects.The water policy states that pollution should be prevented, and punitive action should be taken against polluters. This is especially true for groundwater, because of the difficulty of remediating polluted groundwater. The policy states that erosion is likely to be worse because of increased rainfall intensity from climate change. The National Water Framework Bill 2013 states that pollution should be managed through provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 and the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974, including waste reduction and setting water quality standards. However, the Model Bill for the Conservation, Protection and Regulation of Groundwater 2011 includes provisions for protection of groundwater from pollution and depletion.The National Water Framework Bill (draft) 2013 enshrines many of the operational features of the national water policy, such as priority for demand management, use of water harvesting and micro-watershed management, water pricing based on economic principles (with prices set after wide consultations and through an independent state-level water regulatory authority), and encouragement of reuse and recycling. Floods and droughts are to be managed through both structural and nonstructural measures.For groundwater, the policy proposes that overuse needs to be controlled, aquifers should be mapped and artificial recharge should be used where possible. The National Water Framework Bill (draft) 2013 has a special section on groundwater that calls for conjunctive management, local management of groundwater extraction, reduction of electricity subsidies, protection of recharge areas, protection of groundwater quality and public provision of groundwater information.The national water policy states that urban water supply should be from surface water, using conjunctive sources including water harvesting. Leakages and theft should be reduced, pricing should include sewage costs, industries in water-short areas should consider water reuse, overuse and contamination from industries should be prevented, and there should be subsidies and incentives for industrial water recycling.The water policy strongly supports community involvement in water management for several reasons. First, it sees that climate change adaptation can be carried out at the community level, although communities will need capacity building. Irrigation WUAs should be given statutory powers to manage and allocate water within their areas, allowed to establish water rates, and collect and retain a portion of water charges. The policy also encourages water users to be involved in water quality monitoring of issues such as salinization as part of prevention and remediation. Second, local organizations (WUAs, local government and others) should be included in project planning and there should be community involvement in all projects. The Model Bill for the Conservation, Protection and Regulation of Groundwater 2011 also advocates user representation in water decisions, with a hierarchical structure of representative committees from Gram Panchayat level to the State Groundwater Advisory Council, to devolve management to a local level wherever possible.State government personnel will need training in design practices, planning, management techniques and modern field practices. Regular training courses should be held in water management, along with a national campaign to improve water literacy.Adaptation to climate change is clearly embedded in many of India's water instruments. Notable, the National Water Policy 2012 identifies climate change as one of the three main drivers of change in the country's water sector. The policy marks a major change from the past. It embraces the principles of IWRM which, if put into practice, would strengthen India's ability to respond to the impacts of climate change. However, there are structural impediments to implementing the policy. The policy is reliant on provisions of the National Water Framework Bill (draft) 2013 being adopted and implemented by states, and this has proven to be difficult in the past.supply schemes dependent on sources with variable and limited flows. The recent Water Induced Disaster Management Policy 2015 mentions the effects of climate change on disasters.Nepal's current hydropower policy, which dates from 2001, is primarily focused on development of the hydropower resource. It does not discuss the potential effects of climate change on hydropower generation. However, a recent report (Sangroula 2015) highlighted that hydropower production is exposed to a range of natural hazards, including floods, landslides and debris flows, extreme weather events, GLOFs and landslide dam outburst floods that will be exacerbated by climate change. It is also vulnerable to changes in runoff patterns and river hydrology that will make it more difficult to maintain electricity generation throughout the year. Sediment-induced wear on hydraulic machinery is currently one of the major issues in hydropower operations, and this is likely to increase with increased rainfall intensities and erosion under climate change (Aryal and Rajkarnikar 2011). A World Bank-funded project has recently commenced to improve the readiness of the power sector agencies for regulatory and institutional reforms by, among others, developing recommendations for updating the Water Resources Act and to support IWRM-based river basin planning in selected river basins (World Bank 2015b).In 2011, WECS published a report on the effects of climate change on the country's water resources (Aryal and Rajkarnikar 2011). This emphasized that the country is vulnerable to floods through a variety of mechanisms, including cloudbursts, GLOFs, landslides, infrastructure failure and sheet inundation, all of which will be exacerbated by climate change. The report proposes that the best responses are to invest in research, including Himalayan snow and glacial melt, to strengthen the water resources observation network, to undertake programs into integrated river basin management, and to develop suitable climate models. It also proposes redefining design criteria for water structures, identifying vulnerable areas, conserving water resources through reduction, reuse and recycling, and addressing impacts on landslides, debris flows, floods and droughts. Programs also need to be developed to build mass awareness of climate change and to build expertise in climate responses. Relevant sectoral policies also need to include awareness of climate change impacts on water resources.The Water Induced Disaster Management Policy 2006 considers actions to mitigate and respond to landslides, GLOFs, erosion, sediment deposition and flooding. It advocates IWRM approaches to watershed management, including watershed protection, protection of riparian areas, conservation of wetlands and involvement of local user groups.Nepal has signed the Kosi River Treaty as well as the Mahakali Agreement with India. The latter has led to technical cooperation between the two countries.One of the ten outputs of the water resources strategy and plan is to strengthen water information systems. This includes environmental databases, mapping important watersheds and ecosystems, rehabilitation of existing flow monitoring stations and extensions to the monitoring network. The plan includes monitoring stations at strategic points to detect GLOFs and other catastrophic events. The Water Resources Strategy 2002 envisages a groundwater regulation authority that would undertake investigations to assess the potential for development of groundwater.At present, water modeling is embryonic in Nepal and, as such, developing river basin flow models will require training and investment in software and hardware, as well as helping managers to understand how to use models in decision making. Disaster management will also require capacity for flood forecasting.Under the Water Resources Act 1992 and its associated regulations (1993), ownership of water is vested in the state and all users, apart from specific exemptions for individual users, must obtain a license to use water. The Act gives priority to water for drinking purposes, followed by irrigation and agriculture, hydropower and other smaller uses. Environmental water is not recognized as a legitimate use in the Act, although water uses should not affect the environment through floods, erosion, etc. Water for hydroelectric generation must be developed and managed in accordance with this Act. The Act authorizes the government to formulate regulations governing water quality and pollution discharge standards. It makes no specific mention of climate change and, while usefully clarifying that water is owned by the state and not by landowners or water users, provides few tools for adaptation.The water resources strategy recognized that Nepal needed a comprehensive water resources policy if it were to overcome the fragmented and antiquated policy and legal framework. Apart from the proposal for a Himalayan Climate Change Study Center, the strategy does not explicitly mention the need for water resources management to adapt to the effects of climate change, although it recognizes that global warming will increase the incidence of natural disasters. Nevertheless, eight of the strategy's 10 outputs are relevant to building climate change adaptation. The governance outputs include sustainable management of watersheds and ecosystems, building regional cooperation for transboundary waters, developing an integrated water resources policy, an amended Water Resources Act, and a requirement to improve institutional mechanisms such as enhanced planning and implementation capacities and improved WECS coordination.The strategy looks forward 25 years and suggests that NPR 1,000 billion will be needed (excluding hydropower development) for implementation, with 75% of these funds coming from the government and donor budgets; i.e., NPR 30 billion a year on average.The National Water Plan 2005 states that the lead organization for aquatic ecosystems and pollution control, as well as government institutions, need training in the relevant areas. Moreover, it mentions the need for a coordinating body. The plan also states that groundwater is not properly conserved and lacks legal protection, and that it will be included in a new Water Resources Act that will resolve contradictions between other Acts.The plan states that new basin-level institutions need to be established, and that regulatory and operational entities need to be separated. The irrigation policy, dating from the same time as the strategy, supports the need for the institutional reforms set out in the strategy, primarily because it recognizes that groundwater needs better protection from pollution and overexploitation. This policy also advocates that irrigation fees be introduced.In the absence of a water policy, the Irrigation Policy 2003 states that water taken for irrigation should leave enough water in rivers for environmental flows, and that development activities should coordinate with the Department of Irrigation at local and central levels.The Hydropower Development Policy 2001 proposes that hydropower needs to be developed \"in broader context of the macro-economy in developing and managing hydropower in line with the concept of developing water resources in an integrated manner\" (MoWR, Nepal 2001, 5). The recently drafted National Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Policy 2014 also notes that it is difficult to protect water supply sources from degradation because of legislative weaknesses.The National Water Plan 2005 includes irrigation expansion as a major priority. Where feasible, irrigation development will be integrated with multipurpose water storage projects and interbasin transfers. The storage projects are recognized as being important to reducing the potential impacts of climate change. The water resources plan also includes a feasibility study for a dedicated navigational canal from Chatara to Kursela on the Ganges River as part of the proposed Kosi High Dam. The water resources plan calls for water-induced disaster flood structural measures: for example, dikes, check dams and embankments. There are also major infrastructure investments planned for WSS, amounting to 18% of total water sector investment in the 14 th Three Year Plan. Hydropower represents the largest infrastructure investment in the water plan, accounting for 46% of the total water sector investment portfolio.Nepal also has plans to invest in mini-and micro-hydropower systems, according to the Scalingup Renewable Energy Program Investment Plan for Nepal 2011. The water plan has a detailed section on economic costing of infrastructure for irrigation, WSS and hydropower for a total cost of NPR 950 billion.The national water plan has a section on river basin management. This states that the correct enabling environment needs to be in place: policies and legislation, institutions and management instruments.The Water Resources Strategy 2002 and National Water Plan 2005 describe a number of activities that would help adapt to climate change, including managing the effects of water-induced disasters (many of which are exacerbated by climate change), improving irrigation management and moving toward more sustainable hydropower development. Some of the changes proposed in the strategy are already under way; for example, the government is moving toward full cost recovery for groundwater irrigation, and shifting responsibility for de-sedimentation of surface water irrigation channels to WUAs. The draft Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Policy (2014) (as well as the earlier WSS policies) advocate the protection of groundwater from pollution by human wastes.The national water plan proposes an environmental action plan to protect watersheds and aquatic ecosystems from flash floods, pollution and the effects of deforestation. Degraded watersheds need to be rehabilitated to reduce erosion and the danger of landslides. Water quality (including instream flow requirements) and wastewater standards need to be developed and enforced. Standards also need to be established for agricultural water use. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) rules and regulations need to be reassessed, and guidelines need to be introduced for conservation and protection in water supply catchments.The Water Induced Disaster Management Policy 2006 also focuses on landslips and erosion causing loss of life and economic damage. It also deals with floods, including GLOFs. It requires landslide and flood risk areas to be mapped and watershed conservation to be implemented in these risk areas. It supports the involvement of local user groups in watershed conservation activities.The National Water Plan also advocates various ways in which irrigation water-use efficiency could be improved, including conjunctive use in existing irrigation areas, rehabilitation of existing schemes, improving on-farm water management and participation, and introducing efficient technologies (for example, drip and sprinkler systems) in new irrigated areas. It also proposes a program for groundwater recharge.The Water Induced Disaster Management Policy 2006 and the National Water Plan 2005 both call for disaster hazard mapping and zoning to restrict development in hazardous areas.The Irrigation policy also advocates that irrigation fees be introduced. Some of the changes proposed in the strategy are already under way; for example, the government is moving toward full cost recovery for groundwater irrigation. The irrigation policy states, \"This demands promoting the conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water irrigation systems\" (DoI 2003, 1). The Irrigation Policy 2003 does not include a lot of detail and hardly mentions technical efficiency.River basin management is central to IWRM, and this will require an education program to raise awareness with legislators, the public and the management groups. It will also require data to be collected on a river basin basis. Groundwater monitoring needs to be expanded to provide information on both water levels and water quality in irrigation districts, while exploration is needed to locate further groundwater resources for development.The national water plan advocates education in water conservation through soil conservation training, as well as conducting academic training courses on water and the environment. There is a need to strengthen water management capacity in local irrigation institutions and to train farmers in water management. Research into ecological water requirements, glacial lakes, dam structures and climate change is needed.Community engagement is already included in existing subsector policies. The Irrigation Policy 2003 places considerable emphasis on participatory management of irrigation systems and the formation of water user groups. Urban and rural water supply and sanitation policies have been successful in improving WSS coverage, while increasing community participation and ownership of water supply schemes. The draft National Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Policy 2014 is designed to further improve consumer involvement and tackle a range of new issues facing the subsector, primarily to do with service levels, coverage for poor and marginalized groups, and sustainability. The national water plan states that community participation is also needed in watershed management, but this will require legislative changes if it is to be effective.Without an agreed national water resources policy, water management in Nepal remains fragmented, with the policies followed by water-dependent sectors not always being consistent. Water resources legislation is outdated and not designed to implement the changes envisaged in the Water Resources Strategy 2002 and the National Water Plan 2005. Overall, Nepal remains committed to an IWRM approach to water resources management, although at the watershed level rather than at the national level.The national water plan states that there are few formal instruments for implementing policy. Guidelines exist for project planning and environmental assessment, as well as for project evaluation, but these are dated and not fully comprehensive. WUAs set up during project development are not always sustainable in the long term. Hydrometeorological monitoring is not comprehensive and is reliant on manual recording methods. There is no open access policy for monitoring data.Kharan Basin is a closed basin with flows from the Pishin, Mashkhel and Baddo rivers discharging into shallow lakes and ponds that dry out completely in the hot season (MoWP 2002b). The total inflow of the two basins is less than four mean annual flows (MAFs). About 25% of the inflow of these rivers is used for flood irrigation.The waters of the Indus River are shared between Pakistan and India according to the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty signed in 1960. Water sharing between Pakistan's four provinces in the Indus Valley is governed by the 1991 Water Apportionment Accord, which is implemented by the Indus River System Authority.Water storage capacity is low by world standards, at only 9% of average annual flows (Planning Commission, Pakistan 2005). Because of its limited surface storage capacity and its inefficient irrigation system, there has been a massive expansion in groundwater irrigation -to the point where groundwater now accounts for 80% of rural domestic water supply and 50% of irrigation water use. Groundwater use is unregulated and uncontrolled, leading to overabstraction, secondary salinization and chemical pollution of aquifers (ACS, EGC and SMEC 2011). Overabstraction is occurring in both the shallow aquifers of the Indus Valley and the deeper hard rock aquifers, such as the barani areas of Balochistan. Groundwater abstraction was about 70 billion cubic meters (Bm 3 ) in 2011 from 1 million tube wells (ACS, EGC and SMEC 2011).Pakistan experiences floods and droughts as a result of variability in monsoonal precipitation. There are also high sediment loads in river flows because of the high erosion rates in rivers rising in the HKH Region, causing siltation of dams and barrages. In some areas, farmers have erected riverbank flood levees, causing further problems as sediment is deposited onto the riverbed, raising the levels of riverbeds and further increasing flood risk (ACS, EGC and SMEC 2011).Pakistan's Water Sector Strategy 2002 recognizes that monitoring and evaluation are important if management is to be effective, but delegates this aspect of IWRM to subsectoral strategies, which are yet to be developed. The draft National Water Policy 2006 takes a broader view. It proposes that a national planning database will be established to consolidate water information from diverse agencies and make it easily available to the public. The ability of water agencies to collect data will be strengthened and data sharing will be encouraged. The policy also requires that industrial wastewater is treated, effluent discharge is monitored to meet \"international standards\", and that a national water quality monitoring program is established to set water quality standards and to develop a monitoring program. The policy also proposes that groundwater is monitored to determine its potential and to prepare groundwater budgets for sustainable development. The draft National Water Policy 2006 acknowledges that flood forecasting has been strengthened through additional weather radar and telemetric systems, but there needs to be greater emphasis on accurately forecasting precipitation in catchment areas and on the development of a flood early warning system.The current draft National Water Policy (2016) requires monitoring of drinking water quality and prohibits it from dropping below specified standards. Each water delivery agency must develop a water quality monitoring plan. Similarly, industrial discharges will be monitored and water quality standards will be enforced. The National Drinking Water Policy (2009) also proposes that a water quality monitoring program be established to protect water users. Under the current draft National Water Policy 2016, groundwater monitoring will be enhanced to help assess sustainable yields, while early warning flood systems will be introduced. The proposed national water quality monitoring program would include an information system for storing and disseminating water quality data.The draft National Water Policy 2006 states that a national water research agenda will be encouraged and given high priority. The research includes water conservation in irrigation districts, drought prediction, drought-tolerant crops, technologies to reuse agricultural drainage for beneficial uses, sediment control in watersheds, and artificial recharge from rainwater harvesting. The wetlands policy also proposes research into wetland processes and establishing the values provided by wetlands in Pakistan. The draft National Water Policy 2006 advocates that more work needs to be done on flood forecasting and early warning systems as well as floodplain mapping of some major river reaches. The current draft National Water Policy (2016) does not nominate specific research topics but proposes that a national water research agenda be developed, with 1% of project costs being allocated for this research.Pakistan does not have a national water policy 18 or Water Act. The Pakistan Vision 2025 (Planning Commission, Pakistan 2014, 62) puts this bluntly, \"Institutional structure for water management in Pakistan is fragmented and there is no holistic national water management policy.\" Provincial water legislation is either old or was passed for specific aspects of water management (ACS, EGC and SMEC 2011). The main national water-related Acts are the Water and Power Development Authority Act (1958) and the Environmental Protection Act (1997). A strategy was developed in 2002 to modernize Pakistan's water management, including production of a new water policy. The policy was drafted in 2006, but was not adopted. A new national water policy has recently been drafted by WAPDA (Bagel 2016).Pakistan has a subsectoral water policy; it also has a National Sanitation Policy ( 2006), a National Drinking Water Policy ( 2009) and a draft National Wetlands Policy ( 2009), but no irrigation or agriculture policy.Both the 2006 and the current (2016) draft water policies recognize the likely impacts of climate change on Pakistan's water resources and the need for adaptation. The 2006 policy advocated that climate change impacts should be incorporated into strategies for planning, development and management. The current draft policy proposes that adaptive measures are put in place in anticipation of the following: the effects of temperature rises on agriculture, changes in precipitation patterns and the consequent effects on glacier melt, and increased siltation of reservoirs. The National Wetlands Policy 2009 also recognizes the possible impact of climate change on wetlands because of changes in river flows (with a focus only on changes in glacial melt as the cause) and the need for adaptive action. It also acknowledges that wetlands, if they can be protected, act as buffers against natural disasters. The National Sanitation Policy 2006 does not mention climate change, while the National Drinking Water Policy 2009 sees climate change as affecting planning and development of drinking water supplies, but provides no details.The Water Sector Strategy 2002 and both drafts of the national water policy (2006 and the current draft policy 2016), while following the principles of IWRM, proposed that water management be undertaken in a coordinated framework. The earlier policy proposed a single apex water institution, the Pakistan Water Council, comprising senior national and provincial politicians and other leaders who would direct the water reform process, with a Pakistan Water Commission to carry out the reform effort. However, provincial irrigation and drainage authorities would need to retrieve their construction responsibilities from WAPDA. The earlier policy also proposed that the numerous legislations dealing with water be consolidated into a small number of comprehensive Acts, and that this revised legislation empowers institutions to carry out their mandates effectively. The current draft policy spells out the establishment of a new National Water Commission.The National Water Policy 2006 recognized the environment as a legitimate water sector, although it had a low priority in water allocation decisions. The current draft Water Policy (2016) requires that river flows be maintained to preserve the ecology and morphology of rivers, deltas and coastal ecosystems.Although the Water Sector Strategy 2002 and both water policies recognize the serious overdraft of groundwater in many aquifers, there are few legal tools available for controlling overuse. The National Study of Groundwater Availability and Conjunctive Management reviewed water legislation and concluded that there is no primary legislation in place that allows control of groundwater levels (ACS, EGC and SMEC 2011). The Punjab Soil Reclamation Act 1952(amended in 1964) has been promulgated to all provinces and acts as the legislative basis for groundwater management. However, this Act only authorizes controls where salinization is a declared problem, and doesn't apply for overdraft or other issues. It concluded that groundwater abstraction was mostly unregulated and uncontrolled, and proposed a groundwater management strategy. The National Drinking Water Policy 2009 also recognizes that groundwater is largely unregulated, and proposes that legislation be introduced to regulate groundwater use and quality.The draft Water Policy 2006 states that Pakistan will work with national administrations and neighboring countries to understand river basin potentials and develop strategies for optimal use, particularly during flood and drought conditions. Moreover, it states that Pakistan will be working with and through international agencies to prevent chemical and biological pollution of shared waters. The new water policy that is currently being drafted proposes mechanisms for improving management of transboundary aquifers and watersheds, including sharing real-time water information and undertaking a study to assess the impact of developments in the upper catchments of western rivers.A recent document (Planning Commission, Pakistan 2014) states that the goal is to establish a National Water Commission with powers to manage all water subsectors (surface water, groundwater and rainfall), and their sectoral and regional allocations. The Commission intends to formulate an IWRM strategy and recommends that a comprehensive national water policy be adopted soon. Among other things, the policy should give due consideration to climate change. The current draft water policy echoes these intentions by calling for the National Water Commission to be established, and for it to oversee water resources development as well as management activities across all relevant sectors at national and provincial levels.Irrigation, flood control, hydropower and WSS subsectors have plans to develop water resources infrastructure. While additional storage and flood protection development is an integral part of adapting to the effects of climate change, none of the relevant policies mention this as a rationale for the development. Vision 2025 (Planning Commission, Pakistan 2014) states that the goal is to build new water storages for irrigation, industry and domestic use so that retention times will increase from 30 to 45 days by 2018 and to 90 days by 2025. Vision 2025 proposed that an integrated water resources master plan be developed to determine needs and potential for a water storage development program. However, no infrastructure master plan has been developed at this stage. The Medium-Term Development Framework (Planning Commission, Pakistan 2005) also recognizes that structural as well as nonstructural measures are needed for flood control.Earlier, the water sector strategy (MoWP 2002b) also highlighted the need for rehabilitation and development of existing infrastructure across the main water-using subsectors. It called for an urban water supply strategy, including infrastructure improvement and expansion, and the modernization of old barrages, rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure and the safe conveyance of saline water to the sea in the irrigation subsector. It also called for new infrastructure to harness hill torrents and floodwaters in Balochistan, new large hydropower storages at Kalabagh and Basha, and raising the Mangla Dam, along with new run-of-river schemes.The Water Sector Strategy 2002 also contains a medium-term investment plan for consideration by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and others. There is a total amount of USD 12 billion in infrastructure, excluding hydropower projects. Projects include multipurpose storages, drainage projects, WSS and flood protection.The draft Water Policy 2006 states that expansion of irrigation will come partly from improved irrigation efficiencies and partly from additional irrigated areas serviced by new infrastructure. It also encourages harnessing hill torrents, and the development of additional storages and run-of-river schemes for hydropower. It estimates that, despite a massive investment in flood protection embankments (over 5,800 km), breaches are common and cause heavy loss of life and property. Further flood protection will be needed, but design standards will have to be reviewed. Any further development should follow an integrated approach for the entire reach. It also recognized that additional carry-over storages would be needed to combat drought years, although none of these additional storage options are linked to the expected effects of climate change.The draft Water Policy 2016 recognizes that existing water storages were reaching the end of their design lives and require replacement. It does not mention additional new storages. However, it states that new water projects should take the effects of climate change into account.The National Drinking Water Policy 2009 envisages significant expansion of water supply coverage. It does not explicitly mention requirements for new water storages; however, it does propose that existing infrastructure be rehabilitated. It also requires that the effects of climate change are included in any planning and development.The draft National Water Policy 2006 proposes that planning, development and management should be devolved to an appropriate level, corresponding to river basin boundaries insofar as it is feasible. These plans should be integrated with sectoral development plans and include water conservation measures. Various issue-based national plans are also proposed in the draft National Water Policy 2006 and the Medium-Term Development Framework 2005-2010(Planning Commission, Pakistan 2005), including separate drought management plans for the Indus Valley and for the Hill Torrent basins, a water conservation plan and a national plan for irrigation efficiency. The drought management plans should take account of the effects of climate change, as this may lead to an increasing prevalence of droughts.The major water management issue in Pakistan revolves around the sustainable use of the irrigation system and its surface water and groundwater sources. The Water Sector Strategy 2002 proposed that irrigation water-use efficiency be improved from 40% to 45% through modern irrigation technology, lining canals, laser leveling and other technologies. This alone would facilitate conservation of 5.8 Gl per year. Nonstructural measures are also important in water conservation. The draft Water Policy 2016 advocates adequate water pricing for proper operation and maintenance of the irrigation system, and for improving its long-term sustainability. The Water Vision 2025 endorses this, stating that proper water pricing and crop-based price variations should be used as tools for promoting water conservation. Programs are under way to improve irrigation efficiency (ACS, EGC and SMEC 2011). The National Project on the Improvement of Watercourses will improve 88,000 watercourses at a cost of PKR 66 billion (about USD 0.8 billion) in 2009; and the National Program for Water Conservation for Productivity Enhancement using High Efficiency Irrigation System will provide a subsidy of PKR 90,000 per hectare (USD 1,070 per hectare) in 2009 for installation of water conservation technologies such as sprinkler and drip irrigation.The draft water policy currently being developed advocates an integrated water resources management regime (including water conservation), improved water reliability and water quality, controlling groundwater overdraft, introducing realistic water pricing for long-term irrigation sustainability and maintenance, managing for floods and drought, and catchment protection. It includes aquifer recharge in areas prone to drought. The draft Water Policy 2006 also proposed that groundwater use should be controlled in both the Indus Valley and in hard rock aquifers to avoid overdraft, and that groundwater tables under irrigation districts should be lowered to prevent salinity and waterlogging. Lateral movement of saline water needs to be controlled and groundwater recharge should be promoted. This policy also endorses the concept of realistic water pricing (taking account of users' ability to pay) 99 in all subsectors, not just irrigation, in order to provide realistic information to users on the cost of water provision. The current draft water policy also advocates an increase in water prices for irrigation to meet the operating and maintenance costs of water supply.As part of its strategy for regulating groundwater use, the government commissioned a national study of groundwater availability and conjunctive management in 2011 (ACS, EGC and SMEC 2011). It identified areas where artificial recharge, including floodwaters, could be employed to augment natural recharge of overdrawn aquifers. Conjunctive management of surface water and groundwater in irrigated areas could be employed by regularizing and controlling the current excessive leakage of surface water into groundwater systems, while maintaining water quality. The various provincial irrigation and drainage authorities already have responsibility for both surface water and groundwater use, and are therefore institutionally best placed to employ this management technique.There are also improvements needed in water management outside the irrigation sector. For urban water supply, the draft Water Policy 2006 proposed full financial sustainability through reduction of nonrevenue water and the introduction of comprehensive water metering, while rural water supply should be at affordable rates. Drinking water sources-surface water and groundwater-should be protected from contamination and groundwater abstraction should be regulated. The National Drinking Water Policy 2009 specifically states that the impacts of climate change should be considered in planning and development. The policy also calls for the introduction of ambient water quality standards for drinking water, rainwater harvesting to be expanded for household use, and groundwater to be recharged. It also calls for recycling and reuse, encouragement of water metering, and the use of water-efficient technology. The policy does not mention water pricing to control demand and provide operating funds.The water policy currently under development advocates watershed management such as soil conservation, and provision of environmental flows to maintain the ecology of rivers and the Indus Delta. The Medium-Term Development Framework 2005-2010 also proposed soil conservation and watershed improvement activities (Planning Commission, Pakistan 2005).The draft National Water Policy 2006 advocates the policy of polluter pays, treatment of wastewater prior to discharge, and enforcement of water quality standards for surface water and groundwater. These would be coupled with measures to reduce pollution from industry, agricultural drainage and municipal wastewater, and a study into a national water quality monitoring program. The National Sanitation Policy 2006 requires liquid and solid effluent and industrial wastes to be treated before discharging them to waterways and, where possible, for wastes to be reused and recycled through, for example, land disposal schemes. Pollution charges for industrial wastes can be imposed by rules introduced under the Environmental Protection Act (1997).Flood control will require a review of the design and maintenance standards for flood protection structures (draft Water Policy 2006), flood zoning to control development in flood-prone areas, and the development of flood management plans and flood manuals to help introduce a systematic response (Planning Commission, Pakistan 2005). Reservoir operating rules need to be reviewed, and flood forecasting and early warning systems should be introduced. Drought management also needs good predictive modeling. Because droughts are likely to place more pressure on groundwater resources, it is sensible to promote artificial recharge of aquifers in drought-prone areas.The draft Water Policy 2006 called for stakeholder participation at all levels of water planning and management, and in all aspects of irrigation, drainage, domestic water supply, flood protection, drought, wastewater discharge and pollution control. It also recognizes that improved awareness of farmers and government delivery service personnel, and the participation of communities and farmers in irrigation management decisions, will improve the sustainability of irrigation infrastructure. However, no details were provided about how this ambitious proposal would be implemented or funded. The recent draft Water Policy 2016 calls for active stakeholder involvement in all aspects of water management. The 100 National Drinking Water Policy 2009 also advocated community participation for planning, managing and monitoring local drinking water schemes as part of the expansion of water supply. However, ACS, EGC and SMEC (2011) warned that participation, by itself, is not enough. Because farmer organizations (FOs) have no control over the water actually being delivered to them, participative management can be illusory unless there are concomitant reforms to irrigation agencies.The Water Sector Strategy 2002 called for enhanced public awareness of water quality issues and, more generally, states that public awareness is lacking on water management issues in Pakistan. It will be necessary to improve awareness to build public support for the changes that will be necessary in water management in the short to medium term. The draft Water Policy 2006 recognizes that an education program will be needed to build public awareness of water management issues, including awareness of the importance of environmental needs and conservation. There is, specifically, a need to build awareness among farmers about the advantages of reforming irrigation water management. The National Wetlands Policy 2009 argues for a broad communications strategy to develop public awareness of wetlands, and to sensitize environmental magistrates toward wetland issues and regulations, as well as designing an education campaign targeted at wetland stakeholders and users. The National Drinking Water Policy 2009 also wants to build public awareness about water conservation to help maintain domestic water supplies. The Vision 2025 document (Planning Commission, Pakistan 2014) states that there is a need for a comprehensive awareness drive to educate people about the benefits of judicious consumption of water and shared consequences of wastage.The drinking water policy advocates capacity development for all agencies involved in water supply, with training on planning, implementing and monitoring the provision of safe water supply. The wetlands policy recognizes that the sustainable use of wetlands is impeded by a lack of capacity among the agencies charged with managing wetlands. It proposes that human capacity be developed among local communities and users of wetlands, and calls for training to be provided for staff of those agencies with a mandate for wetland management.The most notable shortcoming in Pakistan's water governance is the absence of an accepted coherent water policy and legislation, despite various attempts to develop such a policy. Provincial water legislation is old. Earlier water sector strategies and policies, although not endorsed by the government, were comprehensive in calling for significant improvements in water management through both structural and nonstructural means, consistent with IWRM approaches. Without an overarching national policy and accompanying legislation, Pakistan will find it difficult to respond coherently to the impacts of climate change on irrigation, hydropower, environment, and water supply and sanitation. It remains to be seen whether the water policy currently under development will be accepted and implemented by the government.Subsectoral policies for drinking water, sanitation and wetlands include many sensible proposals for improving water-use efficiencies within their realms that would contribute to climate change adaptation. However, there is no agreed policy for the all-important irrigation subsector. It is not possible to tell, from assessing these policies, whether their components have been implemented in practice or not.The impacts of climate change have been recognized in policies and reports since around 2006.For some decades, Sri Lanka has had multiple institutions, operating under different Acts, responsible for various aspects of water management. The various Acts were not fully consistent and there was no overall coordination of water development and management. By the early 1990s, a consensus had developed within the Sri Lankan government that a consistent water policy was needed in order to meet future water demands and improve water quality. An IWRM-focused project, supported by ADB, commenced in 1992 to draft a national water resources policy and supporting legislation. The draft policy was passed by the cabinet in 2000, and supporting legislation was drafted. However, the draft policy and legislation were never adopted because the process became highly politicized. The major points of dispute revolved around issuing entitlements to water users and introducing a tariff for water use, introducing water conservation and efficiencies that were seen as undermining small farmers, the marginalization of the Irrigation Department and the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka in the development of policy, and the introduction of an apex water resources institution that would threaten the expertise and independence of existing institutions such as the Irrigation Department (Ariyabandu 2008).Water-relevant policies include the National Drinking Water Policy, National Environment Policy and Strategies (2003), successive National Environmental Action Plans (NEAPs), the National Watershed Management Policy ( 2004), the National Wetland Policy and Strategy (2006), the National Policy on Disaster Management (2010), and the draft National Policy on Protection and Conservation of Water Sources (2014). In general, the water sector legislation is old, and is concerned with development rather than management and conservation. 19 A Water Sector Vulnerability Profile was produced in 2010 as part of the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for Sri Lanka 2011 to 2016.The National Policy on Protection and Conservation of Water Sources, Catchments and Reservations in Sri Lanka 2014 includes sections on monitoring of unauthorized activities in water catchments and monitoring the condition of water reservoirs. The National Environmental Policy and Strategies 2003 advocates a mechanism to monitor all industrial discharges. The National Policy on Disaster Management 2010 includes a disaster early warning system, although the types of disasters are unspecified. However, there is little in the government instruments about monitoring flows, groundwater levels or ambient water quality, presumably because there is no national water policy where monitoring would be dealt with comprehensively.The National Drinking Water Policy encourages research into water-saving technologies, improved system designs, and services, while the National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Policy 2001 identified one of the government's roles as the conducting of research for development of the subsector. The National Wetland Policy and Strategy 2006 also advocates research into wetland ecosystems to assist with their conservation, sustainable use, restoration and adaptive management. The strategy accompanying this policy proposes multidisciplinary research into wetland conservation and sustainable use while seeking external funding support.Some of the policies are concerned with the effects of climate change. The environment policy recognizes that management needs to be flexible to respond to changing circumstances such as the effects of climate change. The National Policy on Disaster Management mentions climate change in passing as an issue needing coordination. It is not recognized as a cause of increased risk of disasters. The draft National Policy on Protection and Conservation of Water Sources, Catchments and Reservations in Sri Lanka (2014) does not see climate change as a potential accelerator of water source degradation (although the National Climate Change Policy 2012 does recognize the need to 19 The Sri Lankan government website has been checked for all legislation passed since 1991. 103 conserve water resources and biodiversity), while the Water Sector Vulnerability Profile 2010 contains considerable detail on the threat posed by climate change as well as adaptation actions.The absence of an overarching water policy means that Sri Lanka's water resources management continues to be fragmented and uncoordinated (Ratnayake 2014), with multiple institutions governing water management based on subsectoral policies, laws and regulations. The water sector vulnerability profile states, \"the absence of a governing policy with regard to the institutions involved with water resource management is a major factor that impedes water resource management in the country\" (Ministry of Environment 2010, 23). There are over 50 Acts dealing with water management, leading to confusion, duplication and inaction. However, according to the profile, there are no laws governing excessive extraction by civil society or the private sector.The National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Policy ( 2001) contains high-level IWRM principles, 20 which could lay the foundation for an adaptive approach in this subsector, but most of the policy is concerned about the provision of WSS services. However, the policy does state that the role of the government is to decentralize decision making, introduce a legal framework for regulating water extraction from natural sources, set water quality standards, and conserve watersheds. This policy has now been replaced by the National Drinking Water Policy (undated), developed to accommodate community WSS schemes. This also states that the government will ensure coordination among stakeholders; establish guidelines for efficient use of water resources; promote decentralization to provincial, regional and local levels; and promote social and environmental sustainability. All these actions would provide better water governance for the WSS subsector in the face of climate change.The National Environmental Policy and Strategies (2003) recognizes the need for institutional coordination to tackle environmental issues. It also states that the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Management should develop water management policies, and support legislation and regulatory bodies.The draft National Policy on Protection and Conservation of Water Sources, Catchments and Reservations in Sri Lanka (2014) incorporates both surface water and groundwater sources. It sees the impediments to better water source protection as boundaries of catchments not being identified, shortcomings in legislation and regulations, institutional problems, misuse of land, encroachments on water source catchments, lack of public participation, and limited resources and information. The draft policy proposes that existing watershed legislation needs to be amended and institutions need to be strengthened for better water source protection. The regulations to implement the Soil Conservation Act (2000), administered by the Agriculture Department, have yet to be gazetted.The Irrigation Amendment Act, passed in 1994, is largely concerned with development rather than conservation, while the Agrarian Development Act ( 2000) is primarily concerned with the rights and responsibilities of owners and tenants of paddy lands.Water supply and sanitation is regulated under the Water Supply and Drainage Board Act of 1975Act of (amended in 1992)). A water service reform bill in 2003 sought to introduce regulation into the subsector, but the bill did not proceed because of legal challenges (Fan 2015). The WSS regulation is now the responsibility of the Public Utilities Board under the Public Utilities Act. Presently, water service providers are responsible for overseeing their own performance, which may affect the efficiency of operational and investment decisions. The drinking water policy encourages private sector involvement in water supply. Without independent regulation, there is a danger that the private sector will seek to maximize its profits at a higher than necessary level of risk to the consumer. 20 Policy principles include the following:• Freshwater is a finite and vulnerable resource essential to sustain life and ecosystems.• Water is a basic human need, which warrants equitable allocation. • Water has an economic value and should be recognized as an economic good.• Sector activities should be based on a participatory approach involving users, planners and policy makers at all levels. • All sector activities should be in harmony with the environment. actions that would improve water quality including soil conservation and erosion control, mobilization of farmer groups, restrictions on sand mining, safe sewage disposal, conservation and reuse of water, and rainwater harvesting. The vulnerability profile lists a number of projects that have been carried out to reduce siltation of reservoirs by protecting catchments, and thereby contributing to climate change adaptation.The Irrigation Amendment Act 1994 is primarily concerned with development and management issues rather than with water conservation and efficiency. However, it does contain some powers that would assist irrigation groups to adapt to changing climate; for example, it authorizes charging for water use, thereby potentially promoting water conservation, and encourages local advisory groups, although these mainly comprise government officials. The Agrarian Development Act 2000 encourages the formation of FOs that promote soil conservation, water-use efficiency and control the discharge of waste into watercourses. The Act pays little attention to groundwater, although it does mention the requirement for approval to drill wells in paddy areas.The National Water Use Master Plan 2013, as well as assessing infrastructure development options, also examined several measures to improve water-use efficiency in irrigated areas, largely through nonstructural means such as farmer education, demand management and institutional strengthening. It found that structural water-use efficiency measures (such as lining channels) were not usually cost-effective.There has been a long history of farmer participation in irrigation management in Sri Lanka, stemming from the Agrarian Services Act 1991. FOs are able to formulate rules for maintenance, conservation and management, control the distribution of water, and levy charges for operation and maintenance. The Irrigation Amendment Act 1994 also authorizes irrigator associations to be established for participatory management. Samad and Vermillion (1999) found that this transfer of responsibility was only partially implemented with continuing strong government intervention, and that participatory management only resulted in improved agricultural productivity when it was accompanied by rehabilitation of infrastructure. While they did not investigate whether the transfer of management resulted in increased responsiveness to changing environmental conditions, local management does open up the possibility of applying local solutions to changing climate conditions in irrigated areas. The National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Policy 2001 and the National Drinking Water Policy also encourage user participation in the development and management of rural water supply and sanitation facilities. The draft National Policy on Protection and Conservation of Water Sources, Catchments and Reservations in Sri Lanka (2014) also advocates stakeholder participation as an essential ingredient in the protection of water sources.Several water-related policies have advocated capacity building in the water sector. For example, the draft water source protection policy identifies a need for improved capacity within institutions that manage water catchments, while the national drinking water policy requires water service providers to have the capacity to match best industry practice. The national wetland policy and strategy advocates training for managers and other staff.The national wetland policy also proposes awareness programs for the general public, policy makers and politicians, along with school-based education programs on the importance of conserving wetlands. The national drinking water policy wants to build public awareness among stakeholders about the importance of watershed and catchment protection, and promote awareness of demand management and water conservation. Furthermore, the draft policy on protection and conservation of water sources also encourages public education on the importance of watershed and catchment protection to maintain clean water supplies."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fdca4b2bf491ed95cb026218a828a4cb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a794841a-766e-43a0-8fb3-c7d0e3afb301/retrieve","id":"-782018372"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4ecfc053-2a1b-4c55-91e9-212455d44531","content":"The International Potato Center (known by its Spanish acronym, CIP) seeks to reduce poverty and achieve food security on a sustained basis in developing countries through scientific research and related activities on potatoes, sweetpotatoes, other root and tuber crops, and on the improved management of natural resources.CIP headquarters are in La Molina, located in Lima, Peru's capital, in an irrigated coastal valley. CIP also has experimental stations in Huancayo in the high Andes and in San Ramon on the eastern, rainforest-covered slopes, taking advantage of Peru's varied geography and climate. The Center has another high Andes experimental station in Quito, Ecuador, and a worldwide network of regional offices and collaborators. CIP has recruited an international team of scientists from 26 countries, supported by nationally recruited staff.CIP is a member of the Alliance of the CGIAR Centers and receives its principal funding from the members of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which is made up of governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations. The Alliance of the CGIAR Centers works to build awareness and support for food and environmental research for a world with less poverty, a healthier human family, well-nourished children and a better environment. The Alliance supports research, promotes partnerships and sponsors projects that bring the results of research to rural communities, farmers and families in Africa, Latin America and Asia.We have audited the accompanying financial statements of INTERNATIONAL POTATO CENTER, that include the statement of financial position as of December 31, 2008 and2007, the statement of activities, the statement of changes in net assets and the statement of cash flow for the years then ended, as well as the recapitulation of important accounting principles and other explanatory notes.Management is responsible for reasonably preparing and presenting these financial statements in accordance with the Accounting Policies of the Consultative Group Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Financial Guidelines N° 2 -Accounting Policies & Reporting Practices Manual revised in March 2004 and updated to February 2006. This responsibility includes: designing, implementing and keeping the corresponding internal control in the reasonable preparation and presentation of the financial statements for them to be free from erroneous representation of relative importance, be it as a result of fraud or errors, selecting and applying appropriate accounting principles and preparing reasonable accounting estimations according to the circumstances.Our responsibility consists of expressing an opinion on the financial statements based on our audit. We have conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing. Such standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from erroneous representations of relative importance.An audit includes the execution of procedures to obtain audit evidence on the balances and disclosures in the financial statements. The selected procedures will depend on the auditor's judgment, which includes the assessment of the risk that the financial statements contain erroneous representations of relative importance, be it as a result of fraud or error. In performing this risk evaluation, the auditor takes into consideration the corresponding internal controls of the Center in the reasonable preparation and presentation of the financial statements in order to design the audit procedures according to the circumstances, but not with the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the internal control of the Center. An audit also includes assessing whether the applied accounting principles are appropriate or whether the estimations made by Management are reasonable, as well as an evaluation of the general presentation of the financial statements.We consider that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide us with a base to our audit opinion.In our opinion, the above-mentioned financial statements present fairly, in all material aspects, the financial position of the INTERNATIONAL POTATO CENTER as of December 31, 2008 and 2007 and the results of, its activities and its cash flows for the years then ended in compliance with the guidelines supported by the Depreciation of acquired assets is calculated by using the straight-line method. Depreciation starts in the month the assets are placed in operation and continues until they have been fully depreciated or discontinued for use.Constructions in progress are capitalized when the work is completed and the facility is put into use.Property and Equipment acquired through the use of grants restricted for a specific project are recorded as assets. Such assets are depreciated at a rate of 100%.Revenue Grants are recognized upon fulfillment of the donor-imposed conditions attached to it. They are classified according to the type of donor restrictions. Grants received for the funding of activities to be performed in future periods are recorded as Accounts Payable to Donors. Foreign Currency transactions are stated in US dollars at the exchange rate prevailing on the date of the transaction. Exchange differences resulting from the collection of receivables and/or the settlement of obligations at an exchange rate different from the one originally used to book the transaction are credited or charged to operations in the period the transaction is settled and are included in the statement of activities.Outstanding assets and liabilities in currencies other than the US dollar at year-end are adjusted at the market exchange rate. Gains or losses are included in the statement of activities.Expenses represent actual or expected cash outflows that have occurred or will eventually occur as a result of the Center's ongoing operations during the period.Other Accounts Payable and Accruals represent amounts to be paid in the future for goods or services received, whether billed by the supplier or not.Employee Benefits are all forms of consideration given by the Center in exchange for services rendered by all employees whether internationally recruited staff (IRS) or nationally recruited staff (NRS). Employee Repatriation Cost is paid in accordance with the terms and conditions of recruitment. Internationally recruited staff is entitled to repatriation benefits on the completion of their contract period. Provision is made for repatriation payable for all international staff members based on the estimated cost of airfare, relocation and freight charges.The preparation of financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statement and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c7e0d00a4d3c5ac71f1d6789f3a4cb9d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1dc72572-a550-4281-aa6f-7b449b3d78af/retrieve","id":"-1684522985"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3540edf4-3c79-4af1-be43-09cb5b23e8fa","content":"Simple and conceptually robust decision support tool for developing climate-resilient watershed plans. Identifies the best mix of agriculture water supply and demand interventions considering current and future agriculture and climate scenarios in the watershed.Agriculture in India is highly sensitive to the weather, with most of the rain falling in just three to four months of the monsoon season, and half of the farming land being rainfed. Climate change is making things worse by raising temperatures and increasing rainfall vulnerability, which leads to more frequent and intense weather events. There's a clear need to make farming less vulnerable from these weather changes.With agriculture dependence on water and impacts of climate change primarily felt though changes in water cycle, water resource management is central to reducing vulnerability and building resilience. Watersheds, as the fundamental units of land for the hydrological cycle, provide the ideal scale for examining, understanding, and efficiently managing agricultural water use. Furthermore, increasing population growth, urbanization, and land-use changes have led to mounting pressure on watersheds, which are critical for the functioning of ecosystems and the provision of water resources.Developing agricultural watersheds that are both sustainable and resilient is now a key priority for policymakers and those managing water resources.  (2019).• Based on the widely used and available Excel spreadsheet.• Low data requirements.• Incorporates widely used and published methods to estimate water balance.• Water balance based on simulation of runoff and soil moisture balance.• Incorporates 20+ most-used watershed interventions and can simulate their impact.• Provides the capability to simulate scenarios on land use, cropping pattern, and climate change.• Provides water balance results in an easy-to-access and user friendly dashboard for current and future climate and different droughts scenarios.• Water balance results for the runoff, evapotranspiration, recharge, crop water requirements, and yield for the overall watershed and each crop. WAT-NRM is a user-friendly, Excel-based tool (Figure 2) that requires minimal data input. It is founded on robust methods that have been widely used and documented in the field (see Table 1). This tool is designed to perform the following key functions:• Evaluates the water balance, considering both supply and demand within the watershed, under various hydrological conditions, including dry and normal rainfall years, as well as under projected future climate scenarios.• Provides recommendations for the most suitable supply and demand-focused agricultural water management interventions, tailored to support the development of sustainable and resilient watersheds in both current and anticipated future climate conditions. This feature is particularly useful for detailed project planning in watershed management.• Assesses the potential impact of proposed agricultural water management interventions, helping to determine their effectiveness in creating sustainable and resilient watersheds.Simple Tool with Low Data and Software RequirementsThe tool utilizes a monthly water budget approach to balance water availability and demand within the watershed. Using robust and widely applied scientific methods (Table 1). The use of robust methods implies that the water availability and demand estimates produced are likely to be reliable Soil moisture storage Daily soil moisture balance is simulated.Crop yield FAO yield response factor FAO crop yield function (Steduto et al., 2012) The WAT-NRM tool was created to assist natural resources management personnel and NGO staff who gather relevant watershed data and prepare project reports for watershed work. Therefore, the tool is designed to be simple yet robust, with minimal data requirements. It is an Excel spreadsheet with a user-friendly interface (see Figure 2) and is intended for use in small watersheds (1,000-10,000 ha) where agriculture is the primary land use. To minimize user input, the tool is inbuilt with a large set of data on crop parameters (yield response factors, crop coefficients, etc.), soil parameters (soil field capacity, infiltration rates, etc.), and the SCS curve number for various land types to keep the user input data requirements low. This can be updated with location-specific data if needed. The built-in database includes:• Details for forty-five crops (yield response factor, stage-wise crop duration and coefficients, cover type, root depth, depletion factor).• Five soil types (field capacity, wilting point, infiltration rates).• Curve number matrix (curve number for each crop type, crop cover, and soil).Detailed information about the user input data and built-in database can be found in the tool's user and technical manual. Figure 3 shows the conceptual workflow of the tool.Water availability is segregated into effective precipitation (Pe), surface runoff (SR) and surface storage (SST), soil moisture (SM), and groundwater (GW) recharge. Precipitation is separated into overland runoff using the USDA SCS-curve number method (USDA, 1986). Adequate precipitation infiltrates and replenishes soil moisture storage. Soil moisture storage is simulated using the daily single-layer soil moisture balance methodology (Rushton et al., 2006). It is depleted through actual crop evapotranspiration and soil evaporation estimated using the FAO four-stage crop 1 coefficient approach (Allen et al., 1998) 2.3 1• The FAO four-stage crop coefficient approach is a method for estimating crop water requirements, which is widely used for irrigation scheduling and water management in agriculture. It involves dividing the growth cycle of a crop into four stages (initial, development, mid and late season), each with a different crop coefficient, which represents the ratio of crop evapotranspiration (ETc) to reference evapotranspiration (ETo) during each stage.2• Guide developed by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) in India to estimate groundwater resources in different regions of the country. The method uses a combination of field observations and data analysis to estimate the recharge and discharge of groundwater in a particular area (MoWR, RD & GR 2017).3• The method involves calculating a yield response factor (Ky) for a particular crop, which represents the sensitivity of crop yield to water stress and reflects the ability of the crop to maintain its yield under varying water availability. The Ky value is a dimensionless number representing the effect of a reduction in evapotranspiration on yield losses.   5). These interventions are categorized as under supply, demand, and soil moisture.Supply side interventions involve building water storage to support irrigation, while demand management interventions focus on reducing demand by increasing irrigation water application efficiency. Soil and moisture interventions enhance soil moisture storage, increase recharge, and reduce non-beneficial soil evaporation. A detailed methodology of how these practices interact within the tool can be found in the technical manual. drought categories (Severe, Moderate, Mild, and Normal). Drought intensity is categorized using the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) 4 (Sonmez et al.,  2005). The tool provides results on the watershed water balance, crop and irrigation water requirements, crop water requirement met, yield and benefit-cost ratio for different drought years and intervention scenarios (see Figure 6).  Once the best interventions and strategies have been identified, they can be used as input to the watershed GIS planning process to identify location of interventions under the participatory planning of sustainable agriculture systems.The tool has been applied across 6 diverse watersheds (Figure 9) in India (partnership with ITC and NABARD). The application show that tool can satisfactorily simulate watershed water balance and the impact of drought on agriculture. The use of tool by planners had led to the implementation of more holistic measures.Current "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"309f7c26f779690189221467361dc8ce","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/65ca4a33-1ca1-454f-b1ff-395619ecd524/retrieve","id":"-1751475245"},"keywords":["adoption","Africa","cropping system intensification technologies","Great Lakes region","impact","poverty"],"sieverID":"a6ecabdd-5fd1-4dc3-8507-93e026d3f132","content":"In Africa, agriculture has long been placed at the center of poverty reduction strategy. This was evident in the \"Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security in Africa.\"In July 2003, in Maputo, the African Heads of State and Government, including those of Burundi, DR Congo, and Rwanda, endorsed the Maputo Declaration that contained several provisions with greater bearing on agriculture. Prominent among the provisions was a commitment toallocate at least 10% of their respective national budgets to achieve 6% agricultural growth (AfDB, 2013;AU, 2003). While the commitments were fulfilled in most countries over five years, no meaningful resources were deployed in the Great Lakes region that consists of Burundi, eastern DR Congo, and Rwanda. This was due to decades of episodes of civil strikes, conflicts, wars, and political instability that devastated much of these countries' physical, social, and human capital since the 1990s until 2005 (Sanginga, 2006;Vanlauwe, Astern, & Blaume, 2014). As a result, agricultural productivity remained very low and poverty became prevalent (Kintché et al., 2017;Shackelford et al., 2018;USAID, 2015). As the region started to emerge out of the protracted conflicts that had disrupted the agricultural system, and the political instability in the region subsided in the mid-2000s, three independent CGIAR centers (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and Bioversity International) came together to revive the agricultural system by establishing a research and development project called the Consortium for Improving Agricultural-based Livelihoods in Central Africa (CIALCA). The project primarily aimed at reducing poverty among smallholder farmers through increasing farm-level productivity and household income, and improving nutrition. Hence, through the CIALCA project, many CSI technologies were developed, validated, packaged, and introduced into the three countries to increase agricultural productivity and improve household income, thereby reducing poverty while maintaining the natural resource base. The CSI technologies include improved crop varieties (ICV), improved crop management (ICM) practices, integrated pest management (IPM) practices, and postharvest (PH) technologies. The introduction of such technologies was based on consistent research findings in neighboring countries such as Kenya and Central African Highlands that demonstrated the potential of such technologies to contribute to development outcomes and poverty reduction (Asfaw, Shiferaw, Simtowe, & Lipper, 2012;Marenya & Barrett, 2007;Pypers, Sanginga, Ksaereka, Walangululu, & Vanlauwe, 2011;Vanlauwe et al., 2010). For example, Marenya and Barrett (2007) demonstrated the high potential of ISFM practices in increasing food production in Kenya. Similarly, Pypers et al. (2011) demonstrated the high potential of cassava-legume systems in the Central African Highlands.The CIALCA project had been actively going on in the Great Lakes region for over eight years since 2006 at the time of this study. Yet, little was known about the poverty impacts of the CSI technologies disseminated by the project in the region. This study thus aimed to assess the poverty reduction impacts of the adoption of the CSI technologies introduced into the region through the project. Beyond establishing the causal effect of the adoption of the CSI technologies on crop yield, crop income, and per capita consumption expenditure, the study estimated the number of poor adopters that escaped poverty in the region, more specifically the CIALCA areas of Burundi, eastern DR Congo, and Rwanda. To our knowledge, this is the first paper inclusive of major agricultural technologies to establish a causal link between agricultural research products and poverty reduction in the Great Lakes region of Africa using a more rigorous approach that controls for both measured and unmeasured heterogeneities in household characteristics. Most of the past impact studies have considered only crop varieties, ignoring complementary innovations and technologies (Ogundari and Bolarinwa, 2018). Further, while some of the past studies (e.g., Asfaw et al., 2012;Dontsop, Okoruwa, Adeoti, & Adenegan, 2012, Kassie, Teklewold, Marenya, Jaleta, & Erenstein, 2014;Khonje, Manda, Alene, & Kassie, 2015;Mathenge, Smale, & Olwande, 2014;Rusike et al., 2014;Shiferaw, Kassie, Jaleta, & Yirga, 2014) have established the causal link between adoption of improved agricultural technologies and consumption expenditure, they have not estimated the actual number of poor lifted out of poverty. Furthermore, some of the past studies which have estimated the poverty reduction effects have, however, not evaluated the distribution impacts of the technologies on different groups of households such as male-headed vis-à-vis female-headed households (e.g., Khonje et al., 2015).To fill in these gaps and move beyond the impact of genetic improvement (use of ICVs), our study considered ICM and IPM practices along with ICVs. Further, we extended the poverty analysis methodology beyond identifying the causal effect of the adoption of the CSI technologies, making it possible to estimate the actual number of poor lifted out of poverty as a result of the adoption of the CSI technologies. We also extended the poverty analysis to examine the distributional impacts of the CSI technologies on male-headed vis-à-vis female-headed households. Furthermore, as an improvement over some of the previous studies which used the propensity score matching method that only controls for measured characteristics, our study applied a more rigorous analytical approach, the instrumental variable-based approach, particularly the ESR which controls for both unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity in the covariates. The advantage of the ESR model is that it deals with self-selection bias caused by heterogeneities in observed and unobserved household characteristics, resulting in robust estimates of the impact of the intervention on individual adopters' outcomes (Maddala, 1986). Only a few studies have recently addressed the issue of unobservable heterogeneities (Manda et al., 2019;Wossen et al., 2019).The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 describes how the CIALCA project was implemented and provides an overview of the different CSI technologies introduced into the region. Section 3 discusses the survey design and describes the data used in the analysis. Section 4 presents the theoretical framework, highlighting the adoptiondecision, while Section 5 presents and discusses the empirical model estimation of adoption decision and outcome variables. This section will highlight the challenges in impact assessment and discuss the empirical model (ESR) used in the study to address the challenges and assess the poverty impacts of the CSI technologies. Section six presents the results and discusses the poverty impacts of the adoption of the CSI technologies. The last section concludes and draws some implications.The operational domain of CIALCA was the Great Lakes region, including Burundi, eastern DR Congo, and Rwanda. The project was led by the three CGIAR institutions mentioned above (Ouma et al., 2011). Given the fact that the proposed activities were expected to complement each other, the three CGIAR institutes agreed to operate as a consortium to create synergy and ensure efficient resource utilization at the national level (Macharia et al., 2012;Ouma et al., 2011). In this joint initiative, IITA was mandated for developing and disseminating CSI technologies, addressing the ecological and economic dimensions of the sustainability of banana-based farming systems in the region. In particular, IITA focused on market access as a driving force for improving the banana-based farming systems. The mandate of Bioversity International was also related to enhancing the contribution of the bananabased farming systems to rural well-being. However, its focus was on enhancing the capacity of the national and regional institutions to mobilize investments toward research for development. The mandate also included enhancing the capacity of national research institutions to conserve local Musa germplasm. This was aimed at introducing and evaluating new MUSA cultivars, which would lead to the selection of best-performing cultivars that would later be multiplied and disseminated to the smallholder banana producers. CIAT was mandated with developing and disseminating stress-tolerant and biofortified crop varieties for market-driven diversification and intensification as well as natural resource management (NRM) systems, which are adapted to the local conditions of the project areas. As in Bioversity International, CIAT was also mandated with revitalizing the capacity of national and regional in research for development.In addition to low genetic potential of the local cultivars, the project targeted addressing declining soil fertility by introducing multipurpose legumes through integrated (strategic, adaptive and applied) research approach that involved a strong partnership with various organizations such KU Leuven and UCL, which backed the strategic research on sustainable use of the natural resource. Capacity building was also a big part of the project, involving the National Agricultural Research System (NARS), universities, nongovernmental organizations (NGO), community-based organizations, and the private sector.Table 1 presents the list of over 30 technologies developed, validated, and disseminated by CIALCA in different locations in Burundi, eastern DR Congo, and Rwanda. These technologies broadly included ICVs of banana, maize, cassava, soybean, and beans among other crops; ICM practices such as recommended crop spacing, intercropping, and use of fertility enhancement practices; IPM practices used especially for control of banana diseases such as banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) and banana Planting of beans in mulched bananas using sticks, not hoes.Banana plantation management.Applying Chromolaena or Tithonia.Soybean processing into milk and cake.Collective marketing/bulking of produce Source: www.cialca.org.bunchy top virus (BBTV); and PH technologies including business plans and collective marketing and processing of soybean into soy milk. In addition to the development, validation, and dissemination of various technologies, market opportunities were identified for banana and banana products such as banana juice and wine.While the development and validation of the technologies were implemented in action sites using on-farm trials and farmer participatory approaches in partnership with NARS, the dissemination was carried out in satellite sites in partnership with development partners. An increase in farm-level productivity, extra protein intake, and household income by at least 20% constitute the milestones of the project (Macharia et al., 2012).The data for this study came from a household survey conducted in three countries (Burundi, eastern DR Congo, and Rwanda) between October and December 2014. The sample was proportional across the three countries, with each country constituting one-third of the total sample (501 in Burundi, 503 in eastern DR Congo, and 491 in Rwanda). The sampling strategy involved the identification of action sites, which are made up of several villages, followed by a random selection of households. Action sites are administrative units known by different names in different countries. For example, in DRC, an action site is called \"Localité,\" while in Burundi and Rwanda, it is called \"Cellules\" and \"Secteurs,\" respectively. In this study, we defined a household as a group of people residing in the same household for at least half of the year and regularly sharing meals. The selection of the sample households proceeded in two stages. First, five villages were selected from the list of villages in the action sites where the consortium of the three CG centers, in partnership with the national programs, developed, validated, and disseminated the CSI technologies. Then, 20 households were randomly selected from each of the selected villages. In total, 1,495 households were randomly selected from 130 villages in the three countries. The female-headed households accounted for 30% of the total sample.Data were collected on the household composition and characteristics, assets, expenditure, food security, technology adoption (ICVs, ICM practices, IPM practices, and PH practices that include preparation of business plans, soybean processing into milk and other products, and improved marketing), land use and management, livestock ownership, livestock products, access to institutional support services (extension, training, and credit), communal property resources, and multistakeholder platform and intervention landscape. Besides, data were collected on the adoption of more than 30 agricultural technologies that were disseminated in various locations of the three target countries (Table 1 ). The adoption study considered over 30 technologies that included ICVs (e.g., banana, maize, cassava, soybean, and beans), ICM practices (e.g., crop spacing, intercropping, and use of fertility enhancement), IPM practices (e.g., BXW control), and PH technologies (e.g., business plans and collective marketing and processing of soy milk, banana juice, and wine). In addition to the development, validation, and dissemination of various technologies, market opportunities were identified for banana and banana products.Following Singh, Squire, and Strauss (1986), we relied on the standard economic model that combines the production and consumption behaviors of an agricultural household to assess the impact of the adoption of the CSI technologies on outcome variables of interest such as consumption expenditure.An agricultural household is assumed to maximize the utility of consumption subject to a combined set of budget, production, and time constraints. The household optimal choice problem is generically set as follows:where U (•) is the household utility function; x is the full set of choice variables including consumption and production; z is the set of nonchoice variables that may affect the utility function U; and S(z) is a set of constraints.The maximization of the household utility subject to the combined constraint (budget, production, and time) shows that the household can choose the level of consumption and inputs used in the agricultural production.where c denotes the vector of consumption goods with the corresponding price vector p c ; x j = (x jk ) k=1,…,K vector of inputs with the corresponding price vector, p k ; z u is a vector of household characteristics affecting household utility; z j is a vector of different environmental characteristics affecting production; f is a production function; and p ri is the price of good i.The optimal choices can be solved recursively in two stages. The first stage involves solving for the optimal choices of the inputs of production and generating the maximized value of profits, which will then be substituted into the combined constraint set (\"full\" income). The second stage involves solving for the optimal choices of consumption by maximizing the household utility function subject to the \"full income\" constraint that contains the maximized value of profits.(1) maxIn assessing the impact of adoption of CSI technologies on the outcomes of interest (e.g., consumption expenditure), the model is recursive. That is, the production decision is made first followed by consumption decision conditional on production decisions but not vice versa. That is, the household first chooses the optimal set of production inputs that result in higher income and maximize the utility of consumption of food and nonfood items subject to the maximized income.The above theoretical exposition clearly shows that the solution to the household utility maximization first resulted in the optimal choice of production inputs that maximized profit. This captures the production behavior of the household. In the second stage, the household maximizes utility subject to the income constraint that contains the maximized value of profit. The solution to this utility optimization resulted in the optimal choice of consumption goods, capturing the consumption behavior of the household. The combination of the production and consumption behavior would capture the economic behaviors of the household, leading to poverty analysis. An individual consuming $1.25/capita/day or less worth of goods and services adjusted for PPP is considered poor.We now show how farmers decide to adopt a CSI technology using the random utility framework. Adoption was defined in terms of the number of different technological components. Farmers who used at least two of the ICVs disseminated combined with at least four ICM and IPM practices were considered as adopters. Different criteria were applied to ensure that the CSI technologies in questions were developed, validated, and disseminated as part of the implementation of the CIALCA project (Dontsop, Diagne, Okoruwa, Ojehomon, & Manyong, 2013). In particular, we asked a series of questions that include the year of first awareness and first use, as well as the source of the technology. This allowed us to retain only the one that fell within the dissemination framework of CIALCA.A rational household is assumed to adopt a technology if the utility of adoption is greater than that of nonadoption. However, since we cannot observe the utilities, we define the adoption criteria as follows:where C* denotes the difference between the utility of adoption and that of nonadoption for household i; C i represents the observed adoption status where C i = 1 if the farmer reported to have used the CIS as defined above, and C i = 0, otherwise; α denotes a vector of parameters to be estimated; Z represents household-and farm-level characteristics; and i is the random error term.If observational data are used to assess the impact of the adoption of a given intervention, the difference in mean values of the outcome variables of interest between adopters and nonadopters may result in biased estimates, even if measured characteristics of sampled households are controlled. This is because adopters and nonadopters can be different based on unmeasured characteristics as they were not randomly assigned to the technologies. In the presence of self-selection on unobservables, it will not be possible to identify the causal effect of the adoption of the CSI technologies. In this study, the sample households were not randomly assigned to the CSI technologies. As a result, it was likely that the sample farmers had selected themselves into adoption and out of adoption based on both observables and unobservable (Diagne, Midingoyi, & Kinkingninhoun-Medagbe, 2009;Dontsop et al., 2012;Imbens & Wooldridge, 2009). To address the self-selection bias, we used an instrumental variable (IV)-based estimator (Abadie, 2003;Imbens, 2004;Manski & Pepper, 2000). In particular, we applied the ESR model in this study to account for the potential self-selection bias in adoption (Maddala & Nelson, 1975). Several have used this model in their studies in recent time (see Asfaw et al., 2012;Kassie et al., 2015;Khonje et al., 2015;Manda et al., 2019;Tufa et al., 2019;Shiferaw et al., 2014).In this study, we assessed the impact of the CSI technologies on three outcome variables-crop yield, crop income, and per capita consumption expenditure using the ESR model. The impact assessment proceeded in two stages. The first stage involved estimating a probit model of adoption. The second stage involved estimating a linear model of each of the three outcome variables with selectivity correction. The linear consumption expenditure equations, conditional on adoption decision, were given as follows:where y 1i and y 2i represent the consumption expenditure for adopters and nonadopters; x 1i and x 2i are vectors of exogenous covariates; 1 and 2 are vectors of parameters to be estimated; and w 1i and w 2i are random disturbance terms.Although the nonlinearity in the probit model of adoption makes identification possible during the simultaneous estimation of the adoption and outcome equations, it is usually advisable to include a valid instrumental variable in the adoption equation (Shiferaw et al., 2014). The validity of an instrumental variable can be verified using a simple falsification test (Di Falco, Veronesi, & Yesuf, 2011). A validinstrument is directly associated with the selection equation, which, in our case, is the adoption equation, but not directly associated with outcome variables (e.g., consumption expenditure). Ordinary least square estimation may lead to biased parameter estimates since the expected values of the error terms (w 1 and w 2 ) conditional on the selection criterion given in Equation (3) are nonzero (Shiferaw et al., 2014). We assume that the error terms in the selection equation (Equation 3) and outcome equations (Equations 4a and 4b) to have a trivariate normal distribution with mean zero and covariance matrix given in Equation ( 5).where 2 = var( ), 2 1 = var(w 1 ), 2 2 = var(w 2 ), 1 = cov( ,w 1 ) , and 2 = cov( ,w 2 ).We also assume that the variance of the selection equation ( 2) to be equal to 1. This is because the α parameter estimates in the selection model (Equation 3) are estimable up to a scale factor. Note that the covariance between the error terms of the outcome equations (w 1 and w 2 ) are not defined because y 1 and y 2 are never observed simultaneously (De Janvry, Dunstan, &  Sadoulet, 2011; Maddala, 1983). It is also important to note that since the error term of the selection equation ( i ) can be correlated with that of the outcome equations (w 1 and w 2 ), the expected values of w 1 and w 2 conditional on the selection criterion are nonzero (Asfaw et al., 2012) as given in Equations ( 6) and ( 7).where is the standard normal probability density function and Φ the standard normal cumulative density function.(5)  To correct the selection bias, we can use a two-stage procedure where in the first stage, we compute the inverse Mills ratio ( 1i = (Z i )∕Φ(Z i ) and 2i = (Z i )∕1 −Φ(Z i )) at the predicted probability of adoption (Equation 3). In the second stage, we estimate the outcome equations (Equations 4a and 4b) after including the inverse Mills ratios computed in the first stage.However, the efficient method is simultaneous estimation using the full information maximum likelihood estimator (FIML; Maddala, 1983). Following the FIML estimation, we use the parameter estimates and associated covariates of regime 1 and regime 2 to compute the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) and the average treatment effect on the untreated (ATU).Following The difference between Equations (8a) and (8c) gives the estimate of ATT.The difference between Equations (8d) and (8b) gives the estimate of ATU. (8a)  The first term on the right of Equation ( 9) measures the predicted mean value of outcome variable for adopters, had they have the same returns to their characteristics as nonadopters. Similarly, the first term on the right of Equation ( 10) measures the predicted mean value of consumption expenditure for nonadopters, had they have the same returns to their characteristics as adopters. The parameter estimates ( ) measure the potential effects of unmeasured characteristics.The procedure employed in measuring the poverty reduction impacts of the adoption of CSI technologies is described as follows. First, the ESR model of consumption expenditure was estimated as described in the previous section. Then, to assess the impacts of the adoption of the CSI technologies on poverty reduction measured by the FGT indices of poverty, we first generated the distributions of the expected consumption expenditure for adopters under observed and counterfactual conditions using Equation (8a) and Equation (8c), respectively. Then, we computed the FGT indices of poverty for both distributions of expected consumption expenditure and took the difference in the FGT indices of poverty between the two distributions. The differences would provide the estimates of the poverty reduction impacts of adoption in average terms.A similar procedure was applied for nonadopters. That is, first we generated the distributions of the expected consumption expenditure for nonadopters under observed and counterfactual conditions using Equation (8b) and Equation (8d), respectively. Then, we computed the FGT indices of poverty for both distributions and calculated the difference in the FGT indices of poverty between the two distributions. The differences would provide the estimates of the poverty reduction impacts of potential adoption in average terms.The rate of poverty was determined based on the poverty line of $1.25/capita/day at PPP (purchasing power parity exchange rates) 1 (Sen, 1999). That is, individuals whose per capita consumption expenditures were at or below $1.25/capita/day evaluated at PPP were considered poor. The poverty line was computed using data on per capita expenditure data because in developing countries data on expenditure are considered more reliable than income data in developing countries (Christiaensen, Scott, & Wodon, 2002). Based on the distributions of per capita consumption expenditure under observed and counterfactual conditions, the poverty rate was calculated under observed and counterfactual conditions, with the difference providing an estimate of the poverty reduction impacts of the adoption of the CSI technologies. The actual number of individuals lifted out of poverty (₦) because of adopting CSI technologies was estimated as follows:where p rr denotes poverty reduction rate based on ESR estimates; C A is the number of farm households who adopted CSI technologies; H s is the average household size; p sf is population of sampled households or individuals; and P ssa is the population size of sample area.Table 2 presents the descriptive statistics of the independent and outcome variables for the Great Lakes region by adoption status. Across the three countries in the region, the poverty rate as measured by the poverty headcount index stood at 64%. The depth of poverty as measured by the poverty gap index was 29%, indicating that the poor, on average, had an income shortfall of 29% (or $0.36) below the poverty line. The severity of poverty as measured by the poverty gap squared index suggested income inequality among poor households.Without holding other factors constant, adopters and nonadopters were significantly different with respect to several variables such as access to credit services, age, household size, consumption expenditure, farm size, livestock ownership, and value of assets. For example, we found that about 27% of adopters had access to credit services compared to 29% of nonadopters. Given that there were systematic differences in most of the household characteristics, we cannot identify the causal effect of the adoption on the outcome variables such as crop yield, crop income, and consumption expenditure based on simple mean differences. This is because the causal effect of the adoption of the CSI technologies on the outcome variables could be due to the statistically significant differences in the household characteristics. For example, adopters had a consumption expenditure of $0.68/capita/ day compared to $0.45/capita/day for nonadopters. The poverty rate among adopters was 2% lower than nonadopters. The depth of poverty and the severity of poverty were also lower among adopters than nonadopters. These differences may not necessarily be due to adoption alone. Since the difference in the outcome variables such as poverty between adopters and nonadopters could be due to differences in the measured and unmeasured household characteristics, we opted to use the ESR model that takes account of the heterogeneities in both the measured and unmeasured household characteristics. Figure A1 shows that adoption rates of the disseminated CSI technologies varied greatly across the three countries, ranging from 30% in Burundi to 59% in eastern DR Congo. The average adoption rate for the region stood at 49%. The adoption rates of ICVs of beans and cassava were the highest in eastern DR Congo. As in eastern DR Congo, a relatively large percentage of households adopted improved bean varieties followed by improved maize varieties in Rwanda. In general, the adoption of ICM practices is the highest in Rwanda where two out of three households in the sample adopted ICM practices. IPM practices focused mainly on reducing the effects of BXW and BBTV that had led many households to uproot infected banana plants to avoid contamination. Despite the worsening effects of these diseases, the adoption rate of IPM practices was lower in eastern DR Congo, compared to the case in Burundi and Rwanda. The adoption rate of IPM practices in Burundi and Rwanda was 43% and 54%, respectively. The adoption of PH technologies was the lowest among the CSI technologies. These technologies included largely business plans and collective marketing in eastern DR Congo and Rwanda, while in Burundi, in addition to these, the processing of agricultural products was included.A maximum of 17% of the sample households adopted these technologies. The plausible explanation was the limited level of education of households, capital, technical know-how, and delay in the implementation of the latter, all of which were essential for the successful adoption of PH technologies (Doss, Mwangi, Verkuijl, & Groote, 2003;Kamdem, 2018). Also, the high rate of adoption in Burundi and Rwanda was due to better organization of the extension services in the two countries compared to the case in DR Congo, which experienced years of civil instabilities.Table 3 presents the parameter estimates of the ESR model of crop income. The correlation coefficients between the error term of the adoption equation and that of the crop income equation for adopters (rho1) were negative and statistically significant for all the three countries, suggesting self-selection in adoption. Households who had below-average crop income tended to adopt the CSI technologies. These results are in line with several past studies (Lokshin & Sajaia, 2004;Manda et al., 2019;Tufa et al., 2019;Wossen et al., 2019).The result of the likelihood ratio test also indicated that covariates had statistically significant differential effects between adopters and nonadopters. For example, the number of memberships to associations, farm occupation, education, farm size, and livestock ownership significantly affected the crop income of adopters in Burundi. However, none of these variables affected the crop income of nonadopters in the same country. Similarly, in eastern DR Congo farm size and value of assets were important determinants of the crop income of adopters. But, none of these variables were determinants of crop income of nonadopters in the same country. In Rwanda, household size was inversely related to crop income. Similar patterns of variations could be observed for Rwanda. These results suggest the existence of two regimes consistent with the assumption. These results are in agreement with previous studies (Kassie et al., 2015;Khonje et al., 2015).Table 4 presents the ATT and ATU of adopting/not adopting CSI technologies on crop income in the three countries of the Great Lakes region. The estimation of the ATT and ATU was based on parameter estimates of the ESR model of crop income. Results revealed that both the ATT and ATU for crop income were all statistically significant (p > .01). For example, in Burundi, the adoption of CSI technologies resulted in $49.7 worth of additional crop income. In contrast, nonadopters would have earned about $50 more, had they adopted the same technologies. Similarly, in DR Congo, adopters of the CSI technologies gained $12.6 crop income. In contrast, nonadopters would have gained $59.7, had they adopted the same. Among the three countries, Rwanda gained the least from adoption ($7.9). However, nonadopters would have gained $20.6, had they adopted. Generally, results showed that the adoption of CSI technologies was positively and significantly associated with crop income in all targeted countries in the Great Lakes region. These results are in line with that of Manda et al. (2019) who found a positive and statistically significant association between adoption of improved cowpea varieties and household income in Nigeria. Results also showed that the benefit to nonadopters Significant at 1% level.would have been higher in DR Congo and Rwanda, had they adopted the same technologies.The positive income effect of the adoption of the CSI technologies was expected to have resulted from the increase in crop yields. Though the focus of the paper was largely on income, we estimated the impact of CSI technologies on selected crops (beans and maize). Table 5 presents the ATT of adopting/not adopting CSI technologies on the two crops in the three countries of the Great Lakes region. The ATT for yield of beans and maize were statistically different from zero at 1% for both crops. For beans, the yield gain at the plot level varied from 43 kg in Rwanda to 89.3 kg in Burundi to 117.4 kg in DR Congo. For maize, the gain was higher than that of beans, ranging from 236.8 kg in Burundi to 443.7 in Rwanda to 636.3 kg in eastern DRC.Table 6 presents the parameter estimates of the ESR model of consumption expenditure. While the ESR model is theoretically identifiable even when the same independent variables are in all the three equations, it is often suggested that instruments be used based on substantive arguments for better identification (Manda et al., 2019;Tufa et al., 2019). In this study, the number of neighboring farmers that were using the technology in the area was used as an instrument after performing a simple falsification test for its validity. Results suggested that the selected instrument could be considered as valid, as it was related to the probability of adoption of CSI technologies (z = 5.12; p = .000) but not directly associated with the outcome variable (consumption expenditure) at less than 5% probability level (t = 1.67; p = .095). 2 This suggests that if neighboring households are already using some of the CSI technologies, it is easier for the sample households to follow suit given their knowledge of the inherent characteristics of promoted technologies. This is in agreement with the findings of Adegbola and Gardebroek (2007). Results also showed that the correlation coefficient between the error term of the adoption equation and that of the consumption expenditure equation for adopters (rho1) was negative and statistically significant. This suggests that adopters have self-selected themselves into adoption. The results also revealed differences in the parameter estimates of the effects of covariates between adopters and nonadopters. This is consistent with the assumption of the existence of two regimes. For example, farm size and livestock ownership significantly affected the consumption expenditure of adopters in Burundi. However, none of these variables affected the consumption expenditure of nonadopters in the same country. Similarly, in eastern DR Congo livestock ownership and value of assets were important determinants of the  consumption expenditure of adopters. But, none of these variables were determinants of the consumption expenditure of nonadopters in the same country. In Rwanda, value of assets significantly affected the consumption expenditure of adopters but not that of nonadopters. Table 7a presents the ATT and ATU of adopting CSI technologies on consumption expenditure in the Great Lakes region. Results showed that the adoption of CSI technologies was positively and significantly associated with consumption expenditure in the Great Lakes region. For example, the gain for adopters in the Great Lakes region was $0.35/capita/day, with households in eastern DR Congo gaining the most ($0.45) followed by Rwanda ($0.27) and Burundi ($0.03). These impacts are displayed graphically in Figure A2(a-c) (see Appendix 1). Similarly, had the current nonadopters adopted the same technologies, they would have benefited. On average, nonadopters in the Great Lakes region would have gained $0.06 per capita per day, had they adopted. Under such a scenario, nonadopters in eastern DR Congo would have benefited the most followed by those in Burundi and Rwanda. The potential impacts under the scenario of adoption are displayed in Figure A3(a-c) (see Appendix 1).Comparing the ATT with ATU, nonadopters in Burundi, had they adopted, would have benefited more than adopters. The average gain in consumption expenditure for nonadopters in Burundi would have been $0.19/capita/day, compared to $0.03/ capita/day for adopters in the same country (Table 6). This means that nonadopters in Burundi would have gained $0.16/ capita/day more than what the current adopters had gained.Comparison of the ATT between female-headed and male-headed households showed that the former had  Source: Author's calculations using CIALCA survey data 2014 (The calculation procedure of figures in this table is given in the Appendix 1).T A B L E 8 Impact of the adoption of CSI technologies on poverty benefited from adoption ($0.32/capita/day) compared to the latter ($0.04/capita/day). The ATT and ATU for household consumption expenditure were all statistically different from zero at 1% (Table 7b). These results are consistent with those reported by Dontsop et al. (2012) for the impact of New Rice for Africa (NERICA) adoption in Nigeria.6.5 | Estimation of the total number of poor households lifted out of poverty  (2015), and Wossen et al. (2017). Results showed that the gain in crop income and hence consumption expenditure due to the adoption of CSI technologies led to poverty reduction, with eastern DR Congo experiencing the most reduction (13% point) followed by Rwanda (6% point) and Burundi (2%). In terms of the actual number of poor who managed to overcome poverty, an estimated 99,653, 75,972, and 4,358 poor individuals managed to escape poverty in eastern Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi, respectively. This gives a total of 179,983 poor individuals that moved out of poverty in the three countries of the Great Lakes region. This conforms to the findings in several studies which demonstrated that the adoption of agricultural technologies, particularly improved crop varieties, helped to reduce poverty levels in Tanzania, Nigeria, Zambia, and Ethiopia (Asfaw et al., 2012;Khonje et al., 2015;Manda et al., 2019;Wossen et al., 2017Wossen et al., , 2019;;Zeng et al., 2015).This article assessed the poverty reduction impacts of the adoption of CSI technologies using the ESR model in the Great Lakes region of Africa. The study data came from a household survey conducted in 2014 with a sample of 1,495 households in three countries of the Great Lakes region (Burundi, eastern DR Congo, and Rwanda). Each country had one-third of the sample (501 in Burundi, 503 in DR Congo, and 491 in Rwanda). Results indicated that adoption has increased crop yield (e.g., beans and maize) and crop income, which in turn led to increased consumption in the region, resulting in poverty reduction in the region. Among the three target countries, eastern DR Congo witnessed the most reduction (13% points) followed by Rwanda (6% points) and Burundi (2% points). These translated into an estimated 180,000 poor in the Great Lakes region escaping poverty through the adoption of the CSI technologies. Comparing results by household type, we found that the female-headed households had benefited more from the adoption of CSI technologies than maleheaded households.The results present important evidence in favor of policy interventions geared toward promoting CSI technologies for poverty reduction and improving rural household welfare. Besides, the dissemination should target and reach out to the current nonadopters for effective poverty reduction in the region. For example, the current nonadopters in Burundi, had they decided to adopt the CSI technologies, would have increased their consumption and reduced the poverty level to a larger extent than had the current adopters. Nonetheless, given the large population size that remains poor even after adoption, adoption of CSI technologies alone cannot be sufficient to lift the poor out of poverty, suggesting that research-based poverty reduction strategy should be complemented with development interventions. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4500f30a2582fe0aeb7f0240ea2b4aa0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/78bcec85-5d1e-4cb7-89b6-ae22702d2146/retrieve","id":"1968889670"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2bb23f03-3f8f-46d1-ac54-7584fa826e57","content":"The Yellow River has played a key role in Chinas long history as the cradle of Chinese civilization. Ironically, the river has also been called Chinas Sorrow because the alluvial deposits, which have fostered human development on the North China Plain, are associated with frequent, sometimes catastrophic, floods. The devastation brought by these floods, often at scales unimaginable in the West, made successive Chinese administrations from the legendary Xia Dynasty through to the twentieth century to treat harnessing the Yellow River as a number one priority civilian affair. While the possibility of flooding is ever present, major achievements have been made in flood control and prevention since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949(Wang 2001;Chen 2002;Jin 2002). As a result of this success and the rapid economic and social changes taking place in the recent decades, new issues such as water scarcity, overuse of resources and environmental degradation are now rising to the top of the basin water management agenda. A transition in river management is now taking place, in which focus is shifting from prevention of the river doing harm to people, to a focus on preventing people from doing harm to the river.To bring about such a fundamental transition in a river management system that has evolved over two millennia requires significant institutional, policy and legal reforms. As importantly, it requires the application of new forms of knowledge and science as well as perceptual changes in basin residents, managers and the nation as a whole. The Yellow River Conservancy Commission (YRCC), as the primary water management institution in the Yellow River basin, must be, and is, at the forefront of these changes.To help facilitate these changes, the YRCC and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) decided to join hands in producing this Comprehensive Assessment of the Yellow River basin. Through this assessment, the YRCC brings an in-depth knowledge of the conditions of the Yellow River basin, while IWMI brings experience on water management from throughout the world. Together, the two organizations are able to develop new ideas to address the critical water issues facing the basin while at the same time share the Chinese experience with the rest of the world.The Yellow River is the second longest river in China. It flows through 9 provinces and autonomous regions over a length of 5,400 km and has a basin area of 795,000 km 2 . The basin contains 9% of Chinas population and 17% its agricultural land (YRCC 2002a), and is at the center of Chinas political, economic and social development.The Yellow River originates in the Bayangela Mountains in western China. It drops a total of 4,500 m as it loops north into the Gobi Desert before turning south through the Loess Plateau and then east to its terminus in the Bohai Gulf. The river can be divided into three reaches for analysis.In the upper reach, which drains 51% of the basin area, the river begins in a high moisture plateau and provides 56% of total basin runoff (based on pre-1990s averages). As it moves northward into the desert plain, however, evaporation rises to a level several times that of precipitation, resulting in a largely reduced river flow.The middle reach covers 46% of the basin area and provides 43% of basin runoff on average. In its southward route, the river cuts through the Loess Plateau, the worlds most erodible land surface. Massive amounts of loess soil enters the main stem and tributaries, providing 90% of the rivers total sediment, and resulting in sediment loads unprecedented amongst the worlds major waterways. Unpredictable and intensive summer storms in the reach exacerbate the sedimentation problem, and cause devastating floods in the basin.The lower reach is one of the most unique river segments in the world. Here the sediment transported from the middle reach begin to settle as the river spills onto the flat North China Plain, producing a consistently aggrading, meandering riverbed. To stabilize the channel, millennia of successive river managers have constructed levees to hold the river. While such structures may succeed in the short term, their success depends on consistently raising levee walls as the silts constantly elevate the channel. Over time, the process has created a suspended river, in which the channel bottom is above ground level, sometimes by as much as 10 meters (Liu 2002). The suspended river channel brings in severe flood threats if the levees break. In addition, rainfall on surrounding lands cannot drain into the river nor can tributaries enter the it. In the lower reach, the basin becomes a narrow corridor no wider than the few kilometers breadth of the channel. With almost no inflow, the contribution of the lower reach accounts for only 3% of basin total runoff.The table below shows characteristic parameters of the three river reaches. During 1956-2000, the average annual basin runoff was 57 bcm (billion cubic meters) (YRCC 2002b), while the figure in the 1990s was only 43 bcm, a drop of 24% in the drought decade. Groundwater has been extensively utilized in the basin since tubewell usage began in the late 1950s. In yearThe Yellow River flows through the Loess Plateau, a 640,000 km 2 area, with a thick loess soil layer dozens to hundreds of meters deep. Seventy percent of the area is classified as an active erosion area, and the region as a whole is considered to be the largest erodible area on earth (MWR 2002c). The soil of the Loess Plateau is washed down into the Yellow River and its tributaries in massive quantities, in particular during the concentrated rainstorms of the summer months. As a result, the Yellow River carried an average 1.6 billion tons of sediment each year in the wet decades 1950 and 1960 and has, by far, the highest silt concentration of any major river in the world. If made into a square belt with one meter-wide sides, the quantity of sediment moved annually by the river would be sufficient to loop around the earth at its equator 27 times. Of the total sediment, only about 25 percent is carried through to the sea, and the remainder is deposited in the riverbed, forming a suspended channel on the downstream plain. The riverbed has risen at an average rate of 5-10 centimeters per year and flood control embankments have been periodically raised in response. It is this sediment and its impact on channel dynamics that has made governance of the river in its lower reaches so difficult.Approximately 75% of the basin lands are covered with mountains and hills, while plain areas account for only 17%. The basin has 12 million ha of arable land, 10 million ha of forests, and 28 million ha of pastoral lands. The average per capita arable land is 0.12 ha, a low figure compared to many international river basins but still 1.5 times Chinas national average (YRCC 2002d).The basin has rich mineral resources, including 37 of Chinas 45 listed minerals. In particular, 45% or more of Chinas coal and aluminum ores are located in the basin. The hydro-energy potential in the upper reach, the coal mines in the middle reach and the petroleum and natural gas in the lower reach, have made the basin an energy base in China.In year 2000 the population within the basin boundary was 110 million or 8.7% of Chinas total population. The figure would be 189 million or 14.9% of Chinas total if the flood Schematic representation of a cross-section of the Yellow River just above the railway bridge linking modern Zhengzhou with Xinxiang, i.e., just west of the old Bian Canal. area surrounding the lower reach were included. (Li 2002a). The level of urbanization in the basin is 26.4%, a lower level than Chinas national average of 29% for the year 2000.The basins gross output value was 77.1 billion US dollars in 2000, representing 6.8% of Chinas GDP. If the downstream flood zone is included the figures increase to 131.3 billion US dollars and 11.8% respectively (YRCC 2002d).The grain production in the basin and its flooding area reached 76.2 million tons or 16.2% of Chinas national total in 2000. While the absolute values of these statistics are large, the basin remains an economically backward region in China. The basin population is projected to continue growing to 121 million by year 2010, and similarly, to 121 billion US dollars of GDP by that time.Flood and drought have been the twin major disasters in the long history of the Yellow River basin. As shown in historic records, before 1949 there were, on average, two river breaches every 3 years and one river course change every 100 years, caused by the lower reach floods. The flat North China Plain, which was created by the alluvial deposits of the Yellow River, was always prone to flood threats. Droughts also frequently hit the basin, probably more than 1,000 times in history before 1949 (YRCC 2001). Even in more recent times, 34 million Chinese people were struggling on the verge of death in the decadelong drought during the 1920-1930 period. The Yellow River is known as Chinas sorrow.The Yellow River basin has played a key role not only in Chinas economic development but also in the historical cultural identity of the Chinese people. Chinese culture in the Yellow River basin probably began to emerge about 12,000 years ago. The nutrient-rich soils carried from the Loess Plateau and deposited in the lower reach, along with a favorable coincidence of precipitation and solar energy, would have been the major factors behind the origin of early agriculture in the basin. These agricultural origins and human habitation, as exemplified by the Yangshao, Majiayao and Dawenkou cultures, provided the basis for Chinese culture.The connection between Chinese culture and the Yellow River is recorded in the Legend of Yu. Considered one of three early, probably mythical, leaders of China from 4,000 years ago, he is known for taming the Yellow River floods. Repairing river dikes damaged by floods and feeding people during droughts in the Yellow River basin was a major responsibility of every Chinese dynasty. Many Chinese philosophers built their philosophic theories and views around how to harness the Yellow River. The rich experience of mass mobilization of labor for the Yellow River dike constructions might explain why China has had long-lasting centralized governments for thousands of years.The establishment of the New China in 1949 ushered in fundamental changes for China socially, politically, and also in terms of the development of the Yellow River basin. The basin witnessed a large array of infrastructure development on flood control, hydropower, and irrigation during the past 5 decades. In 2000 the basin had 10,100 reservoirs of different sizes in operation, among which 22 are large reservoirs with a total storage capacity of 62 bcm, a figure exceeding the basins total annual runoff. There are 9,860 diversion gates, 23,600 lifting stations, and 380,000 tubewells. Equipped hydropower capacity is 11.1 million KW, providing 40 billion KWH of electricity per year. More impressively, the irrigated agricultural area expanded from 5% to 46% of the basins arable lands since 1950, accompanied by a 440% increase in human river-water consumption. The river also supplies the domestic and industrial water demands of 50 cities and 420 counties in the basin, and has periodically diverted water to the Tianjin, Qingdao, and Jinan cities, thousands of kilometers away from the basin.As shown in the following two figures, the basin population (excluding the downstream flood-prone area) in 2000 almost doubled that of 1950. Human water use (including both river water and groundwater) jumped 4.4 times from 9.1 bcm to 40.1 bcm in the past 5 decades, and is projected to reach 48 bcm by 2030 (YRCC 2002d).Clearly, water is highly developed and utilized in the Yellow River basin. The trend will likely to continue in the course of the next decades, given Chinas demographic and economic growth pattern. It is not an exaggeration that the Yellow River has served China so much that every drop of water it has is exhausted.The basin experienced several stages in its water development. In the 1950s when the New China emerged, an ambitious plan was made to conquer the river by building more than 40 large dams to control sediment and increase hydropower and irrigation. Large-scale river engineering constructions were carried out in the decade with a conviction in human power to overcome nature.In the 1960s the difficulties of the Sanmenxia Projecta reservoir constructed on Russian aid, without sediments flushing design which lost its storage capacity to sand in the first two years of operationwoke up the people and the government. The fact that sands is routinely carried in the river, as well as the crux of river management, received recognition as a lesson of this failure. The big diversion, big irrigation policy in the Great Leap Forward of 1958 left severe water-logging, salinization, and crop yield drops in irrigated lands. This decade cooled down the enthusiasm for pure engineering solutions to basin development and was followed by a slow but sustained revision of river plan, drainage development, and irrigation system rehabilitation.In the 1970s, large dam construction continued in the basins upper reach, soil conservation campaigns brought in new terraced croplands on the Loess Plateau along the middle reach, and irrigation diversions were substantially expanded in the lower reach provinces. A wide-ranging set of reforms swept through China in the 1980s. The commune system was abolished and a rural household responsibility system moved production decisions and power towards individual farmers. Government control became less centralized, and also, investment in the water sector declined. During this decade, public environmental awareness started to grow, particularly related to water quality and the flow-cut events in the lower reach.The 1990s saw a new water era in the basin and throughout China. The booming economy of the nation demanded an accompanying growth in the water sector. However, water resource shortages began to emerge, undermining the continuous economic growth. In addition, the 1990s was a drought decade on the North China Plain. The conflicts between reduced water supplies, but constantly rising demands on water made water scarcity a more acute challenge than the flood threat. A shift away from a singular emphasis on flood control toward a comprehensive basin management strategy began evolving in the basin. In addition, an increasing awareness of the ecological value of water developed, coinciding with the downstream flow cutoffs, which started in the 1970s but became acute in the mid-1990s.Partially in response, the Chinese government strengthened, and adjusted, its intervention and investment in the water sector during the 1990s, particularly through legislation. Water-related laws, such as the Water Law of 1998, the Soil and Water Conservation Law, the Flood Control Law, the Environmental Protection Law, the Fishery Law, the Forestry Law, and the Mineral Resources Law were passed in the 1990s. Many administrative rules and regulations for water management were also promulgated. In 2002 China issued a new Water Law, calling for a transition from an engineering-dominated to a resource-oriented water development strategy.The large-scale exploitation of water has driven the Yellow River basin to its water resource limit and resulted in series of water problems and even crises. This study has identified the following four major challenges in the basin: Water stress represents the most pressing issue in basin water management in the Yellow River basin (Li 2002b;Liu Changming et al. 2003). The stress is caused by an expansion of human useparticularly for agriculture, a period of drought since the 1990s, and a growing awareness of environmental water needs after the flow cutoff events in the lower reach.The table below gives the YRCC estimate of the water resources at the two major river gauging stations, LZ (Lanzhou) and HYK (Huayuankou). The HYK station is the virtual end of the basin, and its figure represents the total basin water resources.The following table shows the water uses in the basin. The average annual human use has been around 50 bcm in recent years. Agriculture is by far the largest user of water, accounting for 81% of total withdrawal, with industrial and domestic sectors sharing the remaining 19%. Ecological water is not budgeted as a water use in practice. Note that the human use figures are larger than total basin resources because of groundwater pumping outside the basin in the lower reach region and the effect of recycling.Source: YRCC 2002b 1 According to the YRCC, water depletion means the portion of human withdrawal without returning to the river or groundwater.As shown in the table below, the basin had 48.4 bcm of utilizable water in year 2000, of which 35.0 bcm was river water and 10.7 bcm was groundwater generated by the rainfall within the basin boundary. Another 2.7 bcm was from well abstraction outside the basin. Depletion from human withdrawal accounted for 36.6 bcm or 76% of the utilizable basin resources. Only 4.9 bcm (10%) entered the sea as outflow, leaving 6.9 bcm (14%) as unaccounted depletion from surface evaporation or other unrecorded losses. Human use has also constantly increased in the basin (Chen Zhikai 2002; Ma 1999). As shown in the table below, the total depletion from human use has grown by 21% over the past 10-year period. Sectorally, the increase consists of a moderate increase in agricultural depletion and dramatic growth from the industrial and domestic sectors.Human use depletion in 1988-1992 and 1998-2000 (bcm) Partially in response to declining supplies and increasing demand, groundwater pumping has also increased dramatically by 5.1 bcm over the Source: Data from Chen Zhikai 2002 andYRCC 2002b past 20 years (MWR 2002b). In many cases groundwater overdraft has caused land subsidence and an extension of aquifer funnels. Seasonal desiccations have appeared in the lower reach. During 1995-1998 there was no flow in the lower reach for some 120 days, each year (Geography Institute of China Science Academy 1998). The affected river section extended to Kaifeng, a city 700 kilometers distant from the river end. This cutoff in flow has serious repercussions to basin function in terms of accessibility of river water to downstream provinces, sediment transportation to the sea, the river deltas ecologic sustainability, and costal fisheries. With the enforcement of the 1987 Water Allocation Scheme, the YRCC has since 1999 managed to nominally end absolute flow cutoff, though the flow levels are sometimes so low as to be largely symbolic.A large part of the Yellow River basin is located in an arid and semi-arid geographic region. Irrigation is important for crop production. While irrigation has been part of the basin for thousands of years, it has rapidly expanded since 1949. Currently the basin has a total irrigated area of 7.5 million ha, accounting for 46% of the arable lands. Large-scale schemes of 20,000 ha or more are located in four major irrigation districts: Ningmeng, Fenwei, Henan, and Shandong (YRCC 2002d). The spatial distributions of these irrigation lands along the river reaches are given in the following table. systems in the world, the Yellow River basin shows a lower rate of irrigation water intake, indicating a pressing competition for water use, and a probable high water use efficiency in the basin irrigation systems.Irrigation withdrawal rates vary with locations, and are higher in upstream and lower downstream because of the differences in rainfall. The average basin withdrawal rate in 2000 was 5,164 m 3 /ha (Zhu et al 2003). Compared to many irrigation Water scarcity is now the number one priority in Yellow River water management. Given the growing supply and demand imbalance in the basin, it is difficult, if not impossible, to meet new water demands from one sector without decreasing supplies to another. There will be hard choices in allocation of water between sectors and locations (Giordano et al. 2003). Since agriculture is by far the largest consumer of water, a reduction of water supply to agriculture would be unavoidable in the future. Given the importance of agriculture to the Chinese economy, its role in rural livelihoods, and the long-standing policy of self-sufficiency in food production, reduction may seem disruptive and radical. However, as reflected in Chinas rural reform history in the late 1970s, when few foresaw what the massive success the Household Responsibility System policy would bring, changes in water policies will indeed be adopted in the basin and lead to real water savings in agriculture. A key issue is how to practice the reallocation with minimum disruption to the livelihoods of farmers and agricultural output. Chinas recent ascension to the World Trade Organization, and the expected changes in the nations agricultural product market may help provide an opportunity to begin considering options. As the Chinese saying goes, zhi nan er jin: though it may be difficult, it is necessary to proceed.A further complication are the environmental water requirements in the basin. With the rivers unique nature of heavy sediment load, according to the YRCC, the number one consideration of environmental water is the river flow needed for flushing the sediments. The average sediment load in the river was approximately 1,000 million tons during 1956-1995, as will be further explained in the next section. The YRCC plans the following four strategies to move the sediment load (YRCC 2002d): 400 million tons to be captured by the Xiaolangdi reservoir and irrigation diversions 100 million tons allowed to deposit in the lower reach channel 100 million tons to be moved out by non-flood season river flow the remaining 400 million tons to be flushed by an environmental flow of 14 bcm (3.5 m 3 of water per ton of sand)The planned environmental flow needs of 14 bcm were equivalent to a quarter of the basin runoff in 2000. Whether or not the situation of 2000 is permanent and how environmental water requirements will eventually be reflected in the basin water allocation plan remains to be seen.In the more traditional sense of ecological use, YRCC scientists also recognize the value of maintaining dry-season flows for bio-diversity protection and sustenance of grass, wetlands and fisheries at the mouth of the river. To meet these needs, a minimum flow requirement of 5 bcm or a continuous flow of 50 m 3 /s at Lijin gauging station in the non-flood season is required. This minimum flow is also expected to be sufficient for diluting and degrading human-introduced pollutants in the river. Together then, the environmental water requirements for the Yellow River basin are currently estimated by the YRCC at 20 bcm per year, a figure predicted to remain relatively constant as reductions in sediment-flushing requirements are offset by increases in erosion control requirements.A fundamental issue is how the environmental requirements will be met. The requirements of 20 bcm represent approximately one third of the average annual flow over the past 4 decades and nearly one half of the flow during the dry decade of the 1990s. With the river almost fully utilized at present and with industrial growth, urbanization and agricultural demand further claiming water resources, the challenge to balance human demand with ecological needs will be vitally serious and difficult to meet.Over the millennia, Yellow River floods have caused the deaths of literally millions of people and sometimes portended dynastic change, and it is therefore not surprising that until recently, flooding was considered to be the primary management issue in the Yellow River basin. During the 2,500 years from the beginning of the Qin Dynasty to the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China, records indicate over 1,500 dike breaches and 26 significant course changes in the Yellow River. On average, that is two breaches every 3 years and one course change every 100 years (Chinese National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage 1991). These course changes have been substantial with the mouth of the river shifting back and forth at various times from the Tianjin city in the north to the Huai and Yangtze rivers in the south. The most recent natural shift occurred in 1855 when the channel mouth moved from the southern to the northern side of the Shandong peninsula, a change of a 1000 km. The channel also shifted in 1938 when the dikes near Huayaunkou were purposefully breached to stop advancing Japanese troops. The breach, which left some 800,000 Chinese struggling on the verge of death, was plugged and the river returned to its current channel in 1947.Since 1949 the Chinese governments efforts in huge river dam construction and dike repairs has greatly reduced the risk of flooding. However, flood threats are reduced but have not disappeared. Damming has reduced probability of big floods, but the river channel has become more constricted by sediments and vulnerable to even small floods. For example, the flow of 7,600 m 3 /s passing Huayuankou gauging station in 1996 caused a rise in the river 1 meter higher than the rise caused by a flow rate three times greater in 1958 at the same station. In addition, some tributaries remain unregulated, and therefore, a threat to flooding.Sediments in the lower reach became more severe in the 1990s. As shown in the following table, the sand load passing Lijin gauging station (LJ) in 2000 was 24 million tons or only 3% of the average prior to 1995. However, deposited sands between Sanmenxia (SMX) and LJ accounted for 380 million tons or 73% of the level prior to 1995. The drought moved little sand to the sea but left comparably large amounts of sand in the river channel. The continuously raising lower reach channel is now some 13 meters higher at Kaifeng City and 5 meters higher at Jinan City, aggravating the impact of a possible flood.The downstream flood-prone area is densely populated with 90 million residents. If the flood area were a country, it would have the twelfth largest population in the world. In addition, the area is amongst the most economically developed in China, with numerous cities, national transportation arteries providing key North-South and East-West linkages. More importantly, the area is one of Chinas breadbaskets. Ensuring the safety of the areas presents a priority consideration for the Chinese government.A form of flood, known as ice flood, occurs in the early spring in the middle reach near the Ningxia/Inner Mongolia area and in the lower reach near Kaifeng city. In winter, higher latitude but further downstream reaches could be the first to freeze, blocking the passage of flow from lower latitude but more upstream regions and causing floods. Similarly, higher latitude but downstream reaches could stay frozen longer into the spring than upstream reaches, again blocking flow and causing floods. The ice floods have been responsible for about 1/3 of all floods in the basin. Ice floods are notoriously difficult to control, so much so that there was a saying in the Qing Dynasty that a river official could not be found guilty of causing such a flood.Note: Lanzhou (LZ), Toudaoguai (TDG), Longmen (LM), Sanmenxia (SMX), Huayuankou (HYK) The Yellow River flood control policy since 1950 is to retain water in the upper and middle reaches, drain water at the lower reach, and divert and detain water on both sides of the river, following the notion of keeping wide river sections and strengthening embankments. The government has spent vast sums of money and devoted massive amounts of human resources to Yellow River flood control. In total an estimated 1.4 billion m 3 of earth and rock works have been constructed, which is a volume equivalent required to build 13 Great Walls.Because of efforts by the government and people, there has been no major dike breach in the basin over the past 50 years, an achievement almost unprecedented in the history of China. However, reservoirs lose storage capacities to silt at rates faster than planned and sediment deposits in the lower reach requires continual heightening of the dikes. Each time the dikes are raised, the potential consequences of a break increases. As former minister Qian Zhengying suggested (Qian 2001), dike raising will not be a sustainable solution. A reduction in sediment flows would increase the life-span of reservoirs and postpone the limit of dike raising. But given the nature of the physical landscape and climatic conditions, it is unlikely that such an outcome will be possible in the near future, if ever. The dream of letting the river run clear is probably just that, a dream.Thus the job of flood control, in the sortterm, is to continue protecting the lower reach from flooding by improved reservoir operation, dike maintenance, regulation of the Sanhuajian tributaries, flood pre-warning systems, and other technical measures as the YRCC is doing now. In the long-term, however, it is important to think back to the earlier Chinese river philosophies, not in specific methods but more in general concepts. Both the Taoists and Confucians prefer using the river to manage itself, which is quite consistent within the context of integrated water management to improve both flood management and address other issues such as water scarcity. For example, emptying the flood detention areas such as Dongping Lake from human residence can provide both a means to dissipate flood water and recharge groundwater aquifersa way to make it possible not only to stop the destructive power of floods but also to actually produce benefits from the floods. It is up to the government to balance the costs and benefits of such strategies. Examples of attempts to create such win-win strategies might be sought from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the management of the floods in the Mississippi, where the Corps strategy is, instead of continuous embankment construction, to move people out of the flood plain so that the area can serve its natural function.Soil conservation on the Loess Plateau as a policy began in the mid-1950s, primarily as a means to increase food production rather than ecological preservation, as indicated in the early policy slogan let bald hills become green fields. After the difficult experience in handling sediments in the Sanmenxia reservoir in the 1960s, the role of sediment control in Yellow River has been recognized. From that time on, the Chinese government has taken a two-birds with-one-stone approach to use soil conservation as a means to both increase local grain production and control sand eroded in to the Yellow River.The main thrust of soil conservation policy on the Loess Plateau has been technical treatment of the erodible soils. Over the last 40 years, about 3,000 km 2 have been treated per year. At present, 166,000 km 2 or 36.6% of the farmland in the erosion area is considered to have been brought under control through the use of terracing, strip farming, sediment retention dams (swamping dams), and the planting of trees and grasses among other measures. According to one analysis, the average annual reduction of sediment deposition from such measures has been about 300 million tons since the 1970s, resulting in accrued benefits of 200 billion Yuan and an annual increase in grain production of 4 million tons. As stated in YRCC research, the achievements of the effort could be further improved if focus is placed on the coarse-sand areas in the upper portions of the middle reach, where the majority of the sediments silted in the downstream channel originate.However, the challenge in soil conservation on the Loess Plateau will still obviously be huge. At current rates, it would take 100 years or more to fully treat all the erosion areas, assuming the current treatment is in fact as successful as claimed. As a matter of fact, current treatment structures such as swamping dams do not survive for long in practice, and repeated construction of these dams every 5-8 years has been the experience on treated sites. Adding to the problem, erosion control efforts have been offset by other non-agricultural activities in recent decades. For example, small-scale coal and nonferrous metal mining in the black triangle of Shaanxi, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia has created severe erosion. Mining activities are still under the unofficial permission, even support, of local county governments for developing their economies.Within the context of current technical treatment efforts, improvements may be made, though the improvements can only have marginal impacts on the rate of control. An alternative is a change in erosion control paradigms. Soil erosion control could be viewed from a broad perspective in which conservation efforts are placed within a overall economic planning and policy reform framework (Giordano et al. 2003). For example, soil conservation strategies could consider activities such as the mining previously mentioned. In addition to direct impacts, mining indirectly aggravates soil erosion, for example by encouraging the cutting of trees which has contributed to continued loss of forest area and thereby erosion-controlling vegetative cover. For soil conservation strategies to focus on technical solutions in the agricultural sector may cause one to overlook such basic opportunities. More fundamentally, the choice between alternative conservation strategies should be better placed within a comprehensive analysis of short-term costs, long-term benefits, and the distribution of those costs and benefits. For example, while the energy resources of the Loess Plateau are being developed, the main economic and employment benefits of that energy are enjoyed by other regions of China in the form of cheap energy and raw materials. Thus the Loess Plateau receives much of the environmental damage from coal mining but little of the benefits of the down-stream industries that could provide alternatives to farming marginal, highly sloping and erodible lands on the Plateau.From a water use perspective, the basic strategy behind current soil conservation efforts also needs to be more closely examined. Qian (2001) argued that while soil conservation may help block erosion it also depletes water through increased vegetation. A policy question is whether the increasing agriculture upstream by building swamping dams as part of soil erosion control sufficiently justifies the reduction in downstream runoff where economic development and demand on additional water continues to expand.It is promising that the YRCC has launched a chain of pilot actions to explore additional measures for reducing the pressure of sediments in the river. In July 2002, the YRCC organized a man-made pick-flow using the reservoir release of Xiaolangdi to flush sediments in the lower reach (YRCC 2002c). An amount of 2.6 bcm of water was purposely released at an average flow rate of 2,740 m 3 /s from July 4-15. The release carried 66.4 million tons of sand to the sea (or 39 m 3 of water per ton of sand) during the 11day pilot projectan unprecedented reservoir operation for river sediment movement in the basin as well as, probably, in the world. In this way, the basins 22 large dams as giant, modern river engineering structures may hopefully find a different functioning role than hydropower generation, which is no longer in big demand in North China. New research studies have also been started by YRCC to search sediment depository pocket sites along the middle reach before the river enters the downstream plain area. Those pockets could shorten the travel distance of sediments and reduce the silt accumulation in the Xiaolangdi reservoir.The Yellow River is now the second-most polluted large river in China. Rapid degradation of river quality is becoming an increasing challenge in the basin (Li 2002a and2002b).The deteriorating river quality is exemplified in the following table (YRCC 2002d). According to the classifications in the Surface Water Quality Standards by Chinas National Environmental Protection Agency, classes I and II are good drinking water sources, class III represents potentially potable water after appropriate treatment, and classes IV and V signify low water quality appropriate only for industrial and agricultural uses. In 2000, less than 40% of the water courses in the basin were in class I, II and III, and 24% were unfit for human use (class V or worse).Wastewater discharge is the main pollution source. In year 1998 the basin had a wastewater load of 4.7 bcm (3.7 bcm industrial and 1.3 bcm domestic), equivalent to 10% of the total river runoff in the year.Non-point source pollution from agricultural lands is another important factor in water quality decline. From the early 1980s to the middle 1990s, farmers substantially increased the use of fertilizer and pesticides with the result that a considerable fraction of residues now enter the river with return flow from irrigation. In the upper reach, large quantities of agricultural return flow drains directly to the main river while in the middle reach most of the return flow goes to tributaries such as Weihe, Fenhe and Qinhe. In the flooding season, pollutants are taken up from the large flood plain and enter the river, providing a second non-point pollution source.Another type of environmental disruption is the shrinking wetlands along the lower reaches and in the river delta (Liu 2003). These wetlands used to hold a rich array of aquatic species, provide habitats for migrating birds, and serve as the basis for valuable fisheries. Historically, floods played an important function in cultivating the ecology of these wetlands. The success in flood control in the past 5 decades meant an end to natural flooding, and caused a retreat in the shore-line in the delta, caused saltwater intrusion, and increased salinity and lowered sea water temperature in the Bohai estuary. Further complicating matters, the Shengli Petroleum field, the second largest petroleum base in China, is located in the delta and competes for the trickling river flow for environmental needs.The water quality in many parts of the Yellow River is already approaching or at crisis levels, and the current trend is likely to be a worsening of the situation, rather than an improvement. It also appears that there is little hope for the construction of new wastewater facilities to keep pace with rapid economic growth and urbanization. Discharge of untreated sewage into the river is likely to continue into the future. Thus efforts at improving water quality must take a realistic approach in determining water quality protection and pollution abatement plans.Using river flow to flush the pollutants in the basin has been discussed (YRCC 2002d). The idea, however, may have limited scope for success when flow is abundant but is unfeasible under the water scarcity conditions that are likely to continue in the future. In addition, dilution wont be the solution for toxic materials. Many industrialized nations used similar dilution strategies in the 1960s but have changed plans as environmental awareness grew and additional knowledge of the costs of pollution became known. By studying these experiences, the YRCC has an opportunity to learn from the lessons of others and may be able to skip over an environmental development stage in its efforts to satisfactorily solve the pollution problem.An immediate step may be to begin considering legal and institutional reform. At present, the situation is one of local environmental agencies standing on the bank while the YRCC stands in the river. In other words, YRCC has the control over the river but not of the pollutants being discharged in to the river. With the promulgation of the 2002 Water Law, this may be a good time to integrate the management and responsibility for pollution control and work towards having all parties with one foot on the bank and one in the river. How this will work out in practice should be a matter for discussion by parties from multiple sectors and points of view. For example, the state of California in the United States uses a committee composed of one political appointee, two lawyers, two biologists and two engineers to, guide environmental water policy.Secondly, it may also be useful for the YRCC to investigate the use of semi-market mechanisms in pollution control. For example, the Commission could set annual pollution discharge levels and issue permits to polluters up to that level. Over time, the limits could be reduced. Dischargers who can more cheaply reduce effluents could then sell their permits to those whose reduction is more costly. In this way, pollution loads could be reduced with the least harm to the overall economy.As a third option, the YRCC may wish to build from Chinas National Environmental Protection Bureaus policy on regulating the river by function. A central point is to reserve good quality river reaches from damaging discharge by properly utilizing the rivers selfpurification capacity. In other words, some river reaches can be designated as discharge reaches, some reaches as intake reaches, and some as recovery reaches. The effort may involve investments for relocating river intake points, but in the end, this may still be more economically viable than the treatment of more polluted water intakes that would otherwise be required.Additional focus on the following research topics is likely to especially contribute to improved water management in the Yellow River basin:With increasing water stress in the basin, one key question is how to meet the growing demand from industrial and domestic sectors. One possibility is to cut agricultural water. However, agriculture in China holds an important status in high politics. Meanwhile, the rural sector is the most impoverished, and shifting water away from the rural sector has implications on equity and, perhaps, social stability. On the other hand, it is industrial growth that has been the driving force in powering Chinas transformation to a world-class economy, and growing urban/ industrial water demand will continue. A better understanding of the trade-off between equity and efficiency in water resource allocation and the range of possibilities for institutionalizing water allocation decisions would serve to better inform future critical water allocation decisions.The agricultural sector is now by far the largest consumer of the Yellow Rivers water and pressure is growing to decrease irrigation water. Increasing irrigation efficiency is one of the ways to reduce agricultural water use. However, while there are areas in the upper basin where this may be possible, there is also evidence that overall irrigation efficiency from the whole basin perspective is already quite high. Another option is to shift thinking away from irrigation efficiency and focus instead on crop water productivity. That is, increasing the value of irrigation output by shifting water to those crops or regions which can produce a higher value of agricultural output per unit of water input or by rationalizing agricultural input and output prices to provide economic incentives for more efficient water use. Key areas worthy of additional analysis include examinations of the true scope of potential irrigation water savings, the costs and benefits of alternative water saving farming systems, the potential role of agricultural and other policy changes in changing irrigation water use decisions, and the institutional frameworks which are best suited to realizing the decided options.Water pollution levels in the Yellow River, and especially some of its major tributaries, are exceptionally high. In addition to its direct environmental and health costs, pollution exacerbates the water scarcity problem by discounting water usability. The key question is what measures can be taken to improve the situation in the short term while addressing the true nature of the problem in the long term without inflicting undue harm to economic growth. The problem with pollution control is not, fundamentally, technical know-how. Rather, it is in devising ways to finance and enforce existing anti-pollution regulations and effectively integrate the interests and authority of various organizations and agencies responsible for pollution creation and control. Analysis of these issues will be critical in changing the trend in the Yellow Rivers water quality.There is now growing recognition in the basin that water should be used to serve ecological and environmental functions in addition to direct human use. Currently, ecological water requirements are not an explicit category in water budgeting or allocation in the Yellow River. The definition of environmental water use in the basin includes not only maintenance of biodiversity and natural ecosystem function, as is emphasized in the West, but also sediment flushing to control potentially devastating floods. Three issues related to environmental water use in the basin would benefit from additional work. The first is ensuring that definitions of environmental use by policymakers and researchers, both within and outside of China, are consistent or at least understood. The second is developing better methodologies for determining the value of various environmental flow levels on annual or shorter time scales so that the costs of particular environmental flow choices can be evaluated and debated. The final issue is the development of mechanisms for ensuring that any environmental flow requirements are actually met. Since the present YRCC estimate of environmental water requirements are between one third and one half the total annual river runoff, this final issue is clearly going to be the most challenging for basin managers to address.A problem facing researchers, not only those outside China but also those within, in attempting to understand the Yellow River basin is data access and attribution. In some cases, data is collected but functionally unavailable. While unwillingness to make data available can occur for legitimate state reasons, it is probably more typically a result of lack of clear dissemination rules and desire for control by decentralized collection agencies. In other cases, data is made available but collection methodologies and key parameters necessary for understanding its context are missing. For example, many papers discuss average Yellow River runoff of 58 bcm, sediment loads of 1.6 billion tons, and an expanding river delta. In fact over the last 10 years runoff has averaged less than 50 bcm, sediment loads have been closer to 1 billion tons, and the Yellow River delta is retreating rather than expanding. While data problems are not unique to the Yellow River basin, they can perhaps still be improved within the Yellow River basin context if users and collectors become precise in their data use and attribution, and consider more openness in data availability and dissemination.Water management is an inherently complex issue in part because the natural unit for administration is the river basin while the actual institutional governance may have other boundaries. In the case of the Yellow River, the Yellow River Conservancy Commission (YRCC) does not have the power to act as a true basin authority in basin water allocation and other water policy decisions. While the new water law of 2002 has partially addressed the issue by positioning river basin authorities at higher institutional status, the authoritative scope of the YRCC and how it can and should interact with the 9 Province Governments over key issues such as upstream-downstream river flow conflicts and groundwater administration, remains ambiguous. The YRCC, like all government organizations in China, must now operate in a different economic and social environment than before. The basin authority was primarily functioning as an engineering agency for flood threats. While it has had much success in this regard, the problems today are much broader with less easily definable solutions. This shift in the nature of the problems is well reflected in official Chinese water management focus from engineering water utilization to resource oriented water development. However, the question remains as to what institutional arrangements can best turn the change in thinking to a change in practice."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cf0899ea9c8999fafa908ee848cb39af","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f74edfad-7015-4b66-ab3d-e74c9d5ed5a9/retrieve","id":"1382004084"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7d8863d2-b44f-4fdc-acb7-c7012244431e","content":"The value of zndvi of the last 16-day period was not available at the time of index announcement and it was extrapolated based on the values of zndvi in the previous 22 16-day periods. For more information on the IBLI project, visit http://livestockinsurance.wordpress.com."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/6210265121.json b/main/part_2/6210265121.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"14c6ef038c8bf738d9434b0ce225599e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/30219036-31c0-4dcf-952a-14cbd258576a/retrieve","id":"1445742444"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8b08bb44-0ea4-4192-a663-3251d4f259ff","content":"Los recursos genéticos forestales (RGF) -material genético de especies leñosas de valor actual y futuro para sostener la producción de madera y productos no-maderables y para proveer servicios ambientales-son esenciales para los medios de vida de las poblaciones humanas dependientes de los bosques. Estos recursos también son la base para la producción frutícola y de madera en bosques cultivados para satisfacer la demanda global de madera y papel. Sólo algunos recursos genéticos de especies maderables, no-maderables y frutales son conservados ex situ mientras que la gran mayoría de los RGF existen exclusivamente in situ. Los RGF mantenidos in situ están cada vez más amenazados por intervenciones humanas, y por tanto requieren de medidas eficaces de protección. Desafortunadamente es escaso el conocimiento sobre la distribución y estado de conservación de la mayoría de estos recursos.MAPFORGEN es un proyecto creado conjuntamente por Bioversity International y el Centro de Investigación Forestal del Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (CIFOR-INIA, España), en colaboración con la Red Latinoamericana de Recursos Genéticos Forestales (LAFORGEN) y con el apoyo financiero del INIA-España. El proyecto tiene como metas principales apoyar acciones de conservación para los RGF en América Latina y el Caribe, y elevar su visibilidad. Con esta finalidad, el proyecto MAPFORGEN producirá un Atlas sobre la conservación de 100 especies leñosas (árboles, palmas, arbustos y bambúes) de importancia socio-económica y nativas de América Latina y el Caribe. En el Atlas se podrá observar la distribución, el estado de conservación y el grado de amenaza de las 100 especies empleando análisis espaciales.Las 100 especies fueron seleccionadas a través de ejercicios de priorización del panel de RGF de FAO y LAFORGEN (FAO 2001;IPGRI 2006), según los siguientes criterios de selección: industrial, madera para uso doméstico, productos no-maderables y frutales. las especies se seleccionaron de manera que hubieran al menos cinco especies nativas por país.stribuidas en por lo menos dos o más países de América Latina y el Caribe, excepto para especies con una distribución amplia en México y Brasil que son dos países grandes e importantes en cuanto a recursos genéticos forestales.En colaboración con miembros de LAFORGEN, se recopilaron datos de presencia de las 100 especies para elaborar mapas de la distribución observada, mediante Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG). Se predijo el rango completo de la distribución de cada especie usando el programa de modelación de distribución Maxent (Phillips et al. 2006). Con base en esta información, se hicieron (1) análisis espaciales para evaluar el estado de conservación in situ, incluyendo entre otros parámetros, dos criterios de la IUCN, extensión de ocurrencia (EEO) y área de ocupación (AOO); y (2) análisis de vulnerabilidad con base en mapas de amenazas (Jarvis et al. 2010).Una página web esta en desarrollo (www.mapforgen.org) con mapas disponibles para consulta, sobre la distribución observada y proyectada de las 100 especies seleccionadas. Para cada especie, país y eco-región incluido en el estudio, se muestra el estado de conservación y las amenazas correspondientes. Además, para cada especie, se recopiló información general como el sistema de reproducción, dispersión y polinización, más información sobre el estado de conservación ex situ. Adicionalmente, ejecutado en colaboración con miembros de LAFORGEN, se presenta análisis de diversidad intra-específica para seis especies basados en marcadores moleculares, cuya finalidad es priorizar poblaciones para su conservación in situ.Los resultados de MAPFORGEN aportan a un análisis regional del estado de los RGF en América Latina y el Caribe. El Atlas demuestra la importancia de la colaboración entre investigadores de diferentes países en la recopilación de información para tener un mejor conocimiento sobre la distribución y la diversidad intra-específica de especies leñosas de importancia socio-económica, y el estado de conservación de RGF en la región. Se espera que los resultados generados puedan servir a tomadores de decisiones en la elaboración de políticas dirigidas a la conservación tanto in situ como ex situ de RGF en América Latina y el Caribe, con el propósito de asegurar un uso sostenible de aquellos materiales genéticos para mejorar la situación socio-económica de las poblaciones que dependen de estos recursos. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ebb6ad5d6838e8b14e6caff927bc7440","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b3d8efe0-83a8-4b29-b951-35292d97998a/retrieve","id":"559783516"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"86ee649a-379f-4641-9915-80fdd3b83b72","content":"Les changements climatiques globaux peuvent limiter ou mettre en péril la disponibilité de ressources majeures, telles que l'eau potable, les eaux des grands fleuves, les terres arables, les forêts et les pêcheries. Des signes indiquent déjà que les répercussions des changements climatiques sur les ressources en eau transfrontalières, la sécurité alimentaire, le niveau des mers, les risques d'inondation et les schémas de migration, nécessitent une adaptation et une atténuation à grande échelle, ainsi que des mesures de réduction des risques de catastrophe et de renforcement de la résilience.La sécurité́ climatique fait donc référence à la manière dont le changement climatique peut, directement ou indirectement, exacerber ou aggraver les risques de violence, de conflit et d'autres vulnérabilités et menaces au niveau individuel ou collectif (Sarzana et al., 2022). Au Sénégal, les principaux secteurs de production tels que l'agriculture, la pêche et l'élevage sont particulièrement vulnérables aux risques de conflits associés aux changements climatiques. Le changement climatique peut contribuer à l'aggravation des conflits par des voies indirectes en amplifiant les vulnérabilités existantes et les causes profondes des conflits telles que la pauvreté, l'insécurité́ alimentaire, l'emploi et les inégalités. Le changement climatique est rarement, voire jamais, la cause première d'un conflit. La variabilité des précipitations et les longues périodes de sécheresse affectent la production agricole, la productivité et la mortalité du bétail par leur effet sur la disponibilité des ressources en eau et des pâturages. Ces phénomènes accroissent l'insécurité alimentaire et les moyens de subsistance: (i) La sécheresse de 1982 a affecté 1,2 millions de personnes, celles de 2011 et 2014 respectivement 850 000 et 640 000 personnes, (ii) les pluies hors saison de janvier 2002 ont généré des pertes estimées à environ 41 millions de dollars (MEDDTE, 2018).La monétarisation croissante des ressources, associée à des sentiments répandus de discrimination et d'exclusion en matière de gestion des ressources naturelles, entraîne un risque accru de conflit pour l'accès aux ressources et incite davantage les personnes et les organisations privées à adopter des pratiques d'extraction illégales. les périodes de sécheresse prolongée réduisent la quantité d'eau et de pâturages disponibles et, par conséquent, causent et aggravent les conflits, en particulier au sein des communautés agro-pastorales, (ii) les phénomènes météorologiques extrêmes peuvent amplifier les conflits qui pourraient naître de l'opposition à un projet d'adaptation tels que la délimitation des couloirs de transhumance dans les zones agro-pastorales ou d'élaboration et de mise en oeuvre d'un plan d'occupation et d'affectation des sols.Le changement climatique contribue à la dégradation des écosystèmes marins et exacerbe les vulnérabilités socio-économiques existantes des personnes dont les moyens de subsistance sont liés à l'industrie de la pêche. Le climat affecte la disponibilité des stocks de poissons et accentue les conflits et les tensions liés à l'accès et à l'utilisation des ressources entre et parmi les différents utilisateurs. Les conflits entre les pêcheurs artisanaux et les entreprises de pêche industrielle d'une part et d'autre part entre gestionnaires d'aires marines protégées (respect repos biologique) et acteurs de la pêche illégale, constituent une menace importante pour la sécurité humaine et la durabilité. (ii) Co-production, avec les collectivités locales, les Centre de recherche et le COMNACC, d'une matrice nationale de solutions climatiques prioritaires selon les secteurs de développement, les zones géographiques et le principe de transversalité des actions à entreprendre ; 2. A travers l'Unité Finance Climat du CSE, inciter les institutions porteuses de projet à soumettre au Fonds Vert Climat ou au fonds d'Adaptation, à s'intéresser au concept de sécurité climatique et de l'intégrer dans les proposals en vue d'améliorer la partie Justification climatique des propositions. Intégrer le volet sécurité climatique dans les ateliers de renforcement de capacité organisés par l'Unité Finance Climat. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/6226885644.json b/main/part_2/6226885644.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3b3f060cf15bef7e028949f8741206f612e16fa6
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4d0e83ecd7226e5a692d6d181dda7eff","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/dc12d630-8741-4eb8-b95d-533f67c6083a/retrieve","id":"-1263283632"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"49ef1cce-48a1-4f29-83d6-bdae588e4103","content":"Somalia is among the most impoverished nations globally, grappling with severe poverty, persistent armed conflicts, and recurrent droughts and floods, leading to a humanitarian crisis marked by substantial internal displacement. The site of this evaluation, Baidoa, has 517 sites for internally displaced persons (IDPs), housing nearly 600,000 households. Notably, 64% of the residents in these sites are women and girls. The 2nd Somali High-Frequency Survey (Pape and Karamba, 2019) revealed that poverty is particularly pronounced in IDP settlements, compounded by high unemployment rates and a lack of income-generating opportunities, thereby exacerbating the challenging circumstances in this area.This brief reports findings from a qualitative assessment conducted in January 2024 exploring the effects of severe floods in Baidoa and the role of the Ultra-Poor Graduation (UPG) intervention in protecting households from these shocks. 24/4/2024). Consequently, Somalia does not have the means to sufficiently respond to the impact of these floods. Baidoa is characterized by frequent extreme weather events, in particular, heavy floods. In October 2023, severe flooding affected over 122,000 people in Baidoa district (ACAPS, 2023). Shelters housing over 92,000 IDPs were affected, causing a second displacement (OCHA, 2023). This extreme weather shock was the focus of this qualitative exploration.The qualitative study yielded valuable insights into the extensive impact of recent floods in Baidoa. The floods wreaked havoc on livelihoods, homes, and infrastructure, causing disruptions in education and employment while limiting mobility for both UPG participant and non-participant households. Notably, food insecurity was a significant challenge, particularly for women. While many households exhibited resilience through relocation, social networks, and mutual support, non-participants were more vulnerable than UPG participants, given that the latter had additional resources to draw on. Those receiving the UPG program leveraged vocational skills, assets, and community savings that they saved with help from the program to meet their basic needs and generate income during the recovery period. However, the effectiveness of the UPG interventions with respect to resilience to floods varied, with some facing challenges in putting their training to use and others experiencing complete asset loss. Gender and the type of support received also influenced vocational training outcomes with respect to livelihoods. Infrastructure damage exacerbated existing challenges, prompting calls for rehabilitation and disaster preparedness support. Both UPG participant and non-participant households underscored the need for sustainable solutions, including disaster preparedness, strengthening of infrastructure, job creation, and diversified training programs.The Ultra-Poor Graduation (UPG) program aims to empower internally displaced households facing extreme poverty to graduate towards self-sufficiency within displacement-affected communities. This involves establishing gender-sensitive, context-appropriate, and sustainable livelihoods in an urban environment. IFPRI, Delta, and World Vision are collaborating to conduct this study. The intervention provided cash transfers for nine months and simultaneously established savings groups. The program also provided either technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) or assets to households. Additionally, participants also received coaching on financial literacy and business facilitation.In terms of Somalia's vulnerability to climate change, Somalia has a score of 9.3/10 for flood exposure score and a score of 8.8/10 for vulnerability and lack of coping capacity score (EC accessed LEARNING BRIEF APRIL 2024The sample included both UPG participants and non-participants, all of whom were affected by the floods. The research focused on a diverse group of stakeholders, including male and female participants who had either completed TVET programs or received assets, as well as men and women who were not participants in the UPG program. The study used purposive and simple random sampling to comprehensively represent the target population affected by floods in Baidoa, Somalia. 1 Purposive sampling deliberately selected individuals with diverse demographics and perspectives, including both UPG program participants and non-participants. Simple random sampling within these groups was used to aim for relatively equal representation to reduce bias and enhance the generalizability of the findings. The study used Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), creating separate groups for male and female participants to provide a comfortable space to share experiences. Discussions were recorded and subsequently transcribed. The analysis involved carefully reviewing the transcripts of the discussions, iteratively noting recurrent topics, sentiments, and narratives. Particular attention was paid to differences and similarities in the experiences of the UPG program participants and non-participants.Research question one: How did the recent flood affect the target communities in Baidoa?Primary finding 1: The floods substantially affected both UPG participants and non-participants. Households experienced large-scale displacement, the destruction of infrastructure, and loss of livelihoods.The target communities in Baidoa were severely affected by the floods in many respects. Both UPG participants and non-participants experienced food insecurity during and after the floods. The floods washed away food, leading to scarcity that was made worse due to blocked roads that restricted food supply and increased food prices. Women were particularly affected due to their role in meal provision and the compounded challenges of lack of savings and access to other financial services.The floods also caused large scale displacement, destruction of homes, and loss of household items.For example, all households shared that a majority of houses at their site were destroyed or severely damaged, leaving people homeless and forced to evacuate and seek shelter elsewhere. A male nonparticipant from Bodan IDP Camp said, \"The house I was sleeping [in] filled up with water, the roads became muddy; my home was washed away by the floods and schools closed and collapsed.\"Another major challenge was the destruction of schools' infrastructure resulting in a sudden disruption of education, affecting both government schools and madrasas (Quranic schools). Disruptions to education were also caused by parents' inability to pay fees once learning had resumed due to income losses during the flooding. A male UPG participant from Guudka explained that, \"The schools and Madaras closed, and we could not manage paying the fees during the floods.\"Mobility was also severely reduced. Almost all the study respondents reported that the flood significantly affected their movement, restricting their ability to travel within the affected areas and hindering access to basic services like food, healthcare, and markets.Predictably, livelihoods were negatively affected, also partly due to the lack of transportation. Many UPG participants and non-participants highlighted a complete disruption in employment opportunities due to the floods. Households were unable to travel to work or travel to find employment opportunities, and safety concerns for family members led many people to stay at home. One female non-UPG participant from Barariye IDP Camp noted, \"I used to go to the market for pushing wheelbarrow to work for the day, but due to the flood, I could not go to the market to work.\"Conversely, those with businesses found that demand for their products was low. Another female UPG Asset participant from ADC4 IDP Camp added, \"My plans changed because there is no business now since the flood affected my business.\"Research question Two: After the floods, how did households and communities cope with this negative event? What resources did they draw on to cope?Primary finding 2: Households relied a great deal on other community members. They helped each other financially and with food and helped to relocate. However, UPG participants had more coping strategies available to them.There was some overlap in coping strategies among UPG participants and non-participants with both groups reporting strong reliance on other community members. Study participants noted a lot of support (social and material support) from relatives and friends. One male non-participant from Madhayto IDP camp stated, \"We have handled the situation by looking help from relatives and they have supported me with some foods.\"Communities helped each other relocate and provided food assistance, as well as assisting one another with hygiene and sanitation during and after the floods to prevent disease. UPG participants were able to leverage their training and assets. Unfortunately, non-UPG participants primarily relied on community support and prayer due to the lack of external resources. Lacking in access to such resources and support systems, coping strategies were more severe, leading to greater vulnerabilities and challenges in the aftermath of the floods.Many respondents, UPG participants and non-participants, stated that their families had to move to high level ground areas for safety. They also put sacks of soil and stones around their houses to prevent flooding. However, many households, both UPG participants and non-participants, reported being homeless at some point. Households had to resort to negative coping strategies in many cases. Some limited their food consumption to two meals per day. Many borrowed money from community members and savings groups.Research question Three: What role did the UPG program play in assisting communities to cope with the flood, and recover?Primary finding 3: UPG participants were able to leverage skills and training, as well as assets that were provided by the program to cope with the negative effects of the floods. Some sold assets to maintain consumption while others used their carpentry and tie and dye skills in particular.UPG participants, with access to vocational skills and assets provided by the program, were able to employ these resources effectively to mitigate some of the impact of the floods. They employed skills such as sewing and carpentry, and assets such as livestock, to continue to generate income and support and safeguard their families. Men reported that carpentry skills were particularly useful, with almost all of male respondents describing how these skills were used for earning income through repairing and making furniture, contributing to theirs and their neighbors' recovery. Forty percent of male TVET participants highlighted that carpentry tools were helpful. A male TVET recipient from Hanaana2 said that, \"The specific support that I got from the UPG program was the carpenter tools such as the hammer, measuring tape, and hand saw. This was helpful to me as I was using them to make tables and chairs for the neighbors. I repaired the damages that made floods to our house using the tools and skills I was provided by World Vision.\"Women also noted that the training helped them. A female TVET participant from Bodan2 stated that, \"The skill of the tie and dye [skills] that I gained from UPG program was useful during the flood, I sold some clothes that I designed before the flood started to some women who are my neighbors and I used the money for my family needs.\"Female participants from Bodan 1 IDP camp also reported using saved funds to cover basic needs with some women reporting that VSLAs were very helpful during the floods. A female participant shared that, \"We were saving money before the flood through the VSLA, I borrowed money from the saving and bought food for the family during the flood.\"TVET training also helped other members of the community. UPG participants reported providing some support to members that was only made possible by the program. A male TVET participant from Hanano 3 leveraged the tools provided by the project, such as a hammer, to support multiple households. Female asset participants reported helping neighbors by sharing assets. One woman reported providing her neighbors with a goat for milking to ensure their children had enough food. In contrast, the majority of male asset participants reported losing livestock due to diseases caused by the flooding. The reason for these differences is because of the location of male and female respondents (i.e., they tended to be located in different IDP camps). One lesson here is that assets and training can be provided with a view towards skills that may be useful to respond to disasters. Carpentry is a clear example here.Households shared several areas where they wished to have more assistance. Forty percent of study participants highlighted the need for proper housing, latrines, water blockade areas, storage for food, and channels through which water can flow. In addition, they suggested educating the community about future disaster prevention techniques, for example, constructing easily accessible education and health facilities during floods.Both UPG participants and non-participants highlighted the need for early warning systems and early information dissemination. Others suggested timely assistance in relocating families from low-lying areas to higher ground and distribution of essential supplies like WASH kits to promote hygiene and sanitation to reduce the negative impacts of future shocks. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"28f01533259ce4d7ce35a6cd73e286ab","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/725b97d6-f3c0-4b6c-b7f8-ee26e7c0de9d/retrieve","id":"311406782"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cbd95d09-8c58-4e93-8c1a-694e67c1bc32","content":"We would like to thank all funders who support this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund: www.cgiar.org/funders.This report addresses the fundamental challenge of extracting key fields from natural language text in the context of natural language processing (NLP). Focusing on Spanish text, our solution, integrated into Croppie, offers an efficient and precise method for extracting essential information. Emphasizing robustness to colloquial expressions and grammatical errors, the report discusses implementation alternatives and presents the implemented solution, with the code available on our GitHub repository. This functionality is crucial for automated decision-making by enhancing the understanding of context in natural language conversations.Is a type of language model that generates output sequences one token at a time, where each token is predicted based on the preceding ones. Examples include GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) models.In natural language processing, a token is the smallest unit of a sequence, often representing a word or a subword. It is the basic building block that language models process and generate. Tokens can include words, punctuation marks, or subword units, depending on the tokenization method.REST API stands for Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface. It is a set of rules and conventions for building and interacting with web services. RESTful APIs use standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) to perform operations on resources. REST APIs are widely used for communication between different software systems over the internet, providing a scalable and stateless approach.This report tackles the challenge of extracting key fields from natural language text in Spanish within the context of natural language processing (NLP), presenting a solution integrated into Croppie. Emphasizing efficiency and precision while addressing colloquial expressions and grammatical errors, the report explores implementation alternatives with the code available on GitHub. The proposed functionality enhances automated decision-making by improving contextual understanding in natural language conversations.In a comprehensive model evaluation, GPT-3.5-turbo from OpenAI emerges as the optimal choice for extracting keywords from Spanish text. With a quality score of 5, it demonstrates exceptional language understanding and accurate responses.Although not achieving the maximum privacy score, GPT-3.5-turbo's competitive privacy measures, reinforced by OpenAI's commitment, make it the preferred choice. The model excels in scalability (score: 5) and cost efficiency (score: 4), providing quick responses and minimizing token usage for JSON-formatted outputs. Maintenance ease is emphasized (score: 5), with structured output generation improvements facilitating integration and maintenance. GPT-3.5-turbo stands out as the comprehensive tool for developing the Croppie keyword extraction solution.The extraction of key fields from natural language text is a fundamental challenge in natural language processing (NLP). In natural language conversations, the identification and extraction of relevant information are essential for understanding the context and making automated decisions. This report introduces a feature of Croppie designed to address this problem, providing an efficient and accurate way to extract key information from Spanish text that is robust to colloquial expressions and grammatical errors. The report discusses various implementation alternatives and presents the implemented solution. The code for the solution's implementation can be found in this GitHub repository.Given the conversation history in natural language, the system must extract user-relevant fields. Table 1 (page 12) illustrates the system's functional requirements.Considering the functional requirements, this is the list of fields to extract from the conversation between the user and the WhatsApp chatbot, along with the data validation criterion. Table 2 (page 14) shows a detailed list of the key fields to extract.This section evaluates the feasibility of different options to solve the problem. Different types of Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) models are explored. Mainly, the comparison is divided between public and private access models.In recent years, advances in natural language processing (NLP) have been notable, marked by the introduction of highly sophisticated models. One of the most significant milestones was the arrival of BERT, which revolutionized the field by introducing transformer architectures (Vaswani et al., 2017) capable of understanding broader contexts in text. In this part of the analysis we will make a brief description of each technique and contrast its capabilities.Transformer model architecture. The architecture is divided into 2 parts: encoder (left) and decoder (right).(Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) (Devlin et al., 2018) is a pre-trained model designed to understand the bidirectional context of words in a sentence. Its ability to capture semantic and contextual relationships allows it to excel in extractive tasks, where the goal is to identify relevant information in a text.DistillBERT (Sanh et al., 2019) is a lighter version of BERT that maintains surprisingly high performance with a fraction of the original parameters. By reducing the model's complexity, DistillBERT is more computationally efficient, making it suitable for applications with limited resources.ALBERT (Lan et al., 2019) addresses the scalability of BERT by improving efficiency and reducing the number of parameters without sacrificing performance. It achieves this by implementing a structure of shared parameters between layers, allowing for more effective training of larger models.RoBERTa (Robustly optimized BERT approach) (Liu et al., 2019) is an enhancement of BERT that modifies key aspects of the model, such as tokenization and training dynamics. By adopting a more robust approach to bidirectional representation, RoBERTa outperforms BERT in various tasks, demonstrating a greater ability to understand complex contexts and capture semantic relationships. Its optimized structure and solid results make it a valuable option in the natural language processing model landscape.Unlike extractive models based on the BERT architecture that only use the Transformer encoder part, generative models are auto-regressive, and their architecture employs a decoder to produce text. The most popular ones include:GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) (Radford, 2018) is the third iteration of the GPT series developed by OpenAI. Introduced in 2020, GPT-3 is a pre-trained generative language model with a considerable corpus and a large number of parameters (175 billion). Unlike extractive models like BERT, GPT-3 has the ability to generate complete text and is known for its impressive performance in various natural language processing (NLP) use cases. However, it is noted that, despite its impressive capability, GPT-3 and similar models may provide incorrect responses and, at times, \"hallucinate\" or invent information.GPT-3 is a pre-trained generative language model that has proven highly effective in various NLP tasks. However, as mentioned earlier, it can also produce incorrect or \"hallucinated\" responses. To address this issue, OpenAI developed a technique called Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF). RLHF uses human feedback to improve the quality of responses generated by GPT-3.GPT-4 (OpenAI, 2023) is the fourth iteration of the GPT series developed by OpenAI. It was released on March 14, 2023, and is available through the API and for ChatGPT Plus users. GPT-4 is significantly larger than GPT-3, with 175 billion parameters compared to GPT-3's 175 billion. This allows it to learn more complex patterns in data and generate more natural and coherent text.GPT-4 has also been trained on a larger dataset than GPT-3, including text from books, articles, websites, and social media. This enables it to generate more informative and relevant text for a variety of tasks. Overall, GPT-4 is a more advanced pretrained generative language model than GPT-3, capable of producing more natural, coherent, and informative text. LLaMa2 is a significant improvement over its predecessor, LLaMa, in various aspects. Firstly, LLaMa2 has a significantly larger model size, allowing it to learn more complex language patterns. Secondly, LLaMa2 uses a larger context window (4096 tokens).Claude 2.1, an enhanced version of Anthropic's natural language processing model, highlights notable improvements in handling extensive contexts and an increase of over 50% in accuracy. It supports an expanded context window of 200,000 tokens.The main difference between extractive and generative models is that extractive models can only respond with a subtext from the input, while generative models can produce text does not present in the input text. This difference is crucial for one of the criteria to consider when defining which type of model is better to implement a solution to the problem. The criteria for comparing extractive and generative models are as follows:-Quality: the model's ability to extract key fields in Spanish in the desired format.-Scalability: the responsiveness of a system concerning the number of requests it receives in a given time period.-Efficiency: the temporal complexity of input processing.-Cost: the costs associated with running model inference.For each criterion, a score will be given in the range of 1 -5, where closer to 1 is worse and closer to 5 is better. Generative models surpass extractive models because they better satisfy the needs that the solution to the problem requires:Extractive models exhibit limited robustness to varied user presentations of information. Since these models can only predict portions of the original input text, they lack the capability to modify the representation of key fields. For instance, if a numeric field ( 123) is expressed textually (one two three) in the original text, the model can only extract the information in the presented format. In contrast, generative models, trained on extensive datasets and fine-tuned through human feedback, can transform information from key fields into the desired format without additional post-processing.Deployed in highly optimized environments to handle largescale requests from cloud servers, generative models demonstrate superior scalability compared to extractive models. While extractive models are smaller in size than generative counterparts, deploying them necessitates configuring optimized servers with GPUs to ensure the specified minimum response time, leading to additional configuration efforts.Despite the larger size of generative models compared to extractive models, their algorithmic complexity concerning the text size and the number of fields to extract is lower, as explained in the next section.Generative models are consumed through APIs with variable costs based on input and output tokens (this cost scheme is elucidated later in the cost section). Consequently, they may be more expensive than deploying an extractive model that requires fewer computational resources to operate.Consider the number of input text tokens n and the number of fields to extract m. Given that extractive models can only respond with one answer at a time, they would need to process the n text tokens to extract each of the m fields. In this way, their algorithmic complexity is O(n⋅m).On the other hand, since generative models can produce an output sequence depending on the instructions they receive, they can extract all key fields by processing the n number of input tokens in a single pass. Therefore, their temporal complexity is not dependent on m and is O(n).Comparison factors:• Quality• Scalability• CostFor each criterion, a score will be assigned on a scale of 1 -5, where closer to 1 is worse, and closer to 5 is better. Given that OpenAI's models have been trained with the largest amount and highest quality of data in various languages, and considering the lack of labeled data for training processes, GPT-3 is the option that offers the best quality for the problem. Additionally, recent improvements have been announced on November 6th, substantially reducing the costs of using the API and enhancing output generation in structured formats like JSON. This significantly improves code maintainability and the quality of extracted fields (New Models and Developer Products Announced at DevDay, n.d.).The table below shows the costs (as of the current date, in December 2023) for every 1000 tokens for each language model service option and its context window. The methodology used to select the appropriate solution for extracting key information fields from natural language text is based on a comprehensive evaluation of natural language processing (NLP) models. The following outlines the methodological approach:Various publicly available and privately hosted Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) models were analyzed.A distinction was made between extractive and generative models, considering the specific characteristics and applications of each type.Models such as BERT, DistillBERT, ALBERT, and RoBERTa were evaluated, highlighting their capabilities and efficiencies in the task of extracting key information from text.Generative models like GPT-3, GPT-4, LlaMa2, and Claude 2.1 were explored, analysing their abilities to generate complete text and their performance in NLP tasks.Fundamental criteria, such as quality, scalability, efficiency, and cost, were established for comparing the models.A score from 1 to 5 was assigned for each criterion, where 5 indicates the best performance and 1 the worst.A detailed comparison was made between extractive and generative models, highlighting key differences in quality, scalability, efficiency, and cost.A study of temporal complexity was conducted for the extraction of key fields, considering the number of input tokens and the number of fields to extract.The algorithmic complexity of extractive and generative models was compared, emphasizing efficiency in extracting key information.Additional factors such as privacy and maintainability were evaluated, specifically for generative models.A detailed score from 1 to 5 was assigned for each generative model in each additional criterion.Crucial aspects like quality, scalability, efficiency, and cost were taken into account when making the final decision.Selection of GPT-3.5-turbo.GPT-3 was chosen as the preferred solution due to its quality, diverse training data in multiple languages, and recent improvements in costs and structured output generation through OpenAI Functions.A detailed analysis of the costs associated with each model was provided, considering the price of input and output tokens, as well as the context window.Costs per 1000 input tokens were compared for each language model service option, considering their respective context windows.This methodology provides a solid foundation for informed decision-making when selecting the most suitable solution for extracting key information from natural language text.As explained earlier, given the conditions for the development of this project and the lack of conversational text with the colloquial traits that the real world conversations have, training custom models is not a viable option. Instead, the usage of Large Language Models (LLMs) that have been pre-trained on large amounts of data in different languages and situations offer a much more effective solution.In addition to this, given the deployment strategy of the service, a closed-source and callable API for LLMs was also preferred, due to the cost-effectiveness gained by the scalability that these LLMs providers have.Instead of training an NLP model from scratch and deploying it in proprietary servers, the best-suited solution uses few-shot prompting techniques to instruct a Large Language Model to detect fields in conversational text.The following sequence diagram summarizes the workflow of the microservice solution:The client sends the chat history to Croppie, Croppie applies text-preprocessing techniques to the chat history. Once the text has been cleaned, Croppie forms a prompt text requesting all the required fields to extract. This prompt is send to the Large Language Model (LLM), which is accessed through a REST API.Once the LLM generates the answer in a parsable-JSON format, Croppie applies key-specific validations to make sure that the extracted fields were detected correctly, e.g., that the ID number contains 10 digits. If there are fields that do not comply with the validation criteria, Croppie forms another prompt with these fields in order to attempt to extract them correctly.Otherwise, it returns (field, value) pairs formatted as JSON to the client.Relying solely on the OpenAI service introduces a potential Single Point of Failure (SPF) in the system. If there is a dependency on a single language model provider, any service disruptions or issues with OpenAI could lead to a complete halt in the functionality of the language processing component. To mitigate this risk, especially as the number of service requests grows considerably, implementing a redundancy scheme with multiple Language Model Providers (LLMs) becomes a preferable strategy. This approach ensures system resilience by distributing the workload across multiple providers, reducing the impact of service outages or disruptions from any single provider. Redundancy not only enhances reliability but also allows for flexibility and adaptability in handling increased demand, contributing to a more robust and reliable overall system architecture.Hallucinations in generative language models pose a significant challenge as these models may generate inaccurate or fabricated information. To address this issue, mitigating strategies are crucial. The temperature sampling strategy is one such approach that influences the randomness of the generated output. By adjusting the temperature parameter to its lowest, Croppie controls the level of randomness, helping to produce more focused and reliable responses. Additionally, validating the extracted fields is another essential step. Through field-specific validation processes, the generated content can be cross-checked against predefined criteria or compared with ground truth data, ensuring that the output aligns with accurate information. These combined strategies enhance the reliability of generative language models, minimizing the occurrence of hallucinations and improving the overall accuracy of the extracted values.Utilizing OpenAI's closed-source Language Models (LLMs) may pose a limitation on privacy as the inner workings and training data of these models remain undisclosed. This lack of transparency raises concerns about whether the information processed through these models might be utilized to further train and refine them. The uncertainty regarding data usage introduces a potential privacy risk for users and organizations relying on these models. However, OpenAI acknowledges and addresses these concerns with the OpenAI Enterprise plan, offering a solution that guarantees data privacy. With OpenAI Enterprise, there is a commitment not to use the incoming data for training the models, providing a more secure and privacycentric environment for users. This assurance is pivotal for organizations and users seeking a balance between leveraging advanced language models and safeguarding the privacy of the information processed through them.Another alternative to address these limitations, is to fine-tune and deploy private models with manually collected data. This approach might be suitable for later stages of the project, because it requires more maintenance and domain-specific expertise.After a thorough comparison of generative models, considering key criteria such as quality, privacy, scalability, costs, and maintainability, it is clear that GPT-3.5-turbo from OpenAI stands out as the top choice for implementing the solution of extracting keywords from natural language text. GPT-3.5-turbo achieves the highest score in quality, with a rating of 5. Its training with large amounts of data in various languages gives it exceptional ability to understand Spanish text and generate accurate responses. While GPT-3.5-turbo does not reach the maximum score in privacy, its score of 2 remains competitive and acceptable. OpenAI has implemented optional measures to ensure that data sent to the API will not be used to train the model (Introducing ChatGPT Enterprise).GPT-3.5-turbo excels in scalability with a score of 5. Its ability to handle a context window of 16 thousand tokens allows it to effectively address longer and more complex texts. Moreover, being a smaller model than counterparts like GPT-4 and Claude 2.1, it responds more quickly.One of the most critical factors is cost, and GPT-3.5-turbo proves to be highly efficient with a score of 4. Its recent improvements in API costs and structured output generation significantly contribute to its economic appeal, minimizing the number of tokens required for instructions to generate JSONformatted responses.Maintenance ease is essential for long-term implementation, and GPT-3.5-turbo leads with a score of 5. Improvements in structured output generation facilitate code integration and maintenance efficiently. In contrast to publicly accessible alternatives, GPT-3.5 does not require specialized server configuration for model inference and does not need to be trained with Spanish texts.In summary, GPT-3.5-turbo not only excels in text generation quality but also offers a robust combination of scalability, cost efficiency, and ease of maintenance. These attributes make GPT-3.5-turbo the preferred choice and the most comprehensive tool for developing the Croppie keyword extraction solution.Functional requirementsAsk the user if they agree to the application's usage and data.Inquire about the technician or technology the user is using.Request the user's name of th producer.Ask the user for the producer's ID or identification number.Ask the user if they have a coffee ID and request the number if the answer is yes.Ask the user about their gender.Ask the user about their age range.Ask the user about the type of cell phone they have.Ask the user to select in which department the property is located.Ask the user to write the municipality where the property is located.Ask the user to write the path where the property is located.Ask the user to enter the total size of their productive areas.Ask the user to enter the total size of their coffee production areas.Ask the user for their yield estimate for the coffee on the plot.Verify and ask reasons if the estimate is less than 40 arrobas/ha.Ask the user what type of market they produce for (Volume or Quality).Ask the user about the variety of coffee crops on their plot.Ask the user if the plot is technical.Ask the user for the name of the plot.Ask the user about the area of the plot where they grow coffee.Ask the user about the age of the crop on the plot.Ask the user about the total coffee production of the previous year on the plot.Ask reasons if the previous year's production was less than 40 arrobas/ha.Offer a tutorial on how to calculate the distance between coffee trees and the spacing between rows.Ask the user the distance covered by 5 consecutive furrows.Ask the user the distance covered by 5 consecutive coffee trees.Ask the user how many coffee trees they have on the plot.Ask the user if all the trees are productive, with a yes or no option.Ask the user to estimate the percentage of productive trees if the previous answer is no.Provide a tutorial on how to carry out sampling of productive trees.Ask the user about the height of the coffee tree.Provide a best practice guide for taking photographs of coffee trees.Prompt the user to upload a full photo of tree number 1.Ask the user for the number of productive branches of tree number 1.Prompt the user to upload a photo of a productive branch of tree number 1.Ask the user for the number of productive buds on the loaded branch of tree number 1.Repeat the previous steps for at least 5 trees.Confirm the information uploaded by the user and request confirmation to perform the performance calculation.Show the user estimated performance results and request feedback.RNF01 Expose endpoints through which the service can be called to extract key information.RNF03 Provide responses in real time, with a maximum response time of 5 seconds. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"082341fa7df53e940dfc4d5fd343635f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/67de495a-83cb-48e5-84c5-8a6a9180546b/retrieve","id":"1229057265"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9ffd2d26-7117-42b7-9f7a-28c139a0c009","content":"The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO.Table 8. Percent of women having consumed none, one or the other, or both food sub-groups, coming from the disaggregation of selected food groups of the FGI-9 (without restriction), and mean MPA for each case, by study site 28 Table 9. Potential new candidate FGIs 30 Table 10. Mean (standard deviation) and range of the FGI scores, restricted or not, for all women and by study site 33 Table 11. Median intakes of energy and macronutrients, by study site and physiological status 34 Table 12. Median micronutrient intakes per day, by study site and physiological status 35 Table 13. Probability of adequacy (mean of each micronutrient) and mean probability of adequacy (MPA) across 11 micronutrients, by study site 36 Table 14. Datasets with very low, low or high probability of adequacy for each micronutrient 37 Table 15. Correlations between FGIs or FGI-Rs and total energy intake (kcal/d), by study site and physiological status 41 Table 16. Correlation between FGI-7R and estimated intakes of micronutrients, by study site [44][45]. Correlation between FGI-9R and estimated intakes of micronutrients, by study site 46-47 Table 18. Correlation between FGI-10ER and estimated intakes of micronutrients, by study site 48-49 Table 19. Correlation between FGI-12R and estimated intakes of micronutrients, by study site 50-51 Table 20. Correlation between FGIs and MPA, by study site and physiological status 52-53 Table 21. Simple linear regression on MPA: FGIs coefficients, with or without total energy in the model, by study site and physiological status 60 Table 22. Simple linear regression on MPA: adjusted R2, with or without total energy in the model, by study site and physiological status 61 Table 23. Percent (number) of women above selected MPA cutoffs values, by study site and physiological status 62 Table 24. Area under the curve (AUC) for all food group diversity indicators for NPNL women, by study site 63 Table 25. Comparisons of AUC from each FGI among NPNL women, by MPA level 65-73 Table 26. Summary results from AUCs comparisons at various MPA level, by study site 74 Table 27. Summary of combinations of MPA cutoff / FGI cutoff identified with the sensitivity analysis 77-78 Table 28. Summary of indicator characteristics for FGI-7, restricted and non-restricted, for NPNL women, across all sites 79-80 Table 29. Summary of indicator characteristics for FGI-9, restricted and non-restricted, for NPNL women, across all sites 81-82 Table 30. Summary of indicator characteristics for FGI-10E, restricted and non-restricted, for NPNL women, across all sites 83-84 Table 31. Summary of indicator characteristics for FGI-12, restricted and non-restricted, for NPNL women, across all sites 85-86 Table 32. Prevalence rate at various MPA thresholds and restricted-FGI cutoffs 89 Table 33. Spearman rank correlations of prevalence rates above restricted-FGI cutoffs and MPA thresholds 93 Table 34. Number and percentage of women reaching or not various restricted-FGI cutoffs, by study sites 94 Table 35. Mean MPA at-or-above and below various restricted-FGI cutoffs, by study sites 95 Table 36. Number and percent of women at-or-above and below the restricted-FGI cutoff having consumed at least one portion (minimum 15g) of animal-source food, by study site 98 Table 37. Number and percent of women at-or-above and below the restricted-FGI cutoff having consumed at least two portions (minimum 15g) of fruits or vegetables, by study site 100 Table 38. Number and percent of women at-or-above and below the restricted-FGI cutoff having consumed at least one portion (minimum 15g) of legumes or nuts and seeds, by study site 101Table A1 -1. Characteristics of each dataset 110 Table A2 -1. Energy and macronutrient intake goals/acceptable ranges 112 Table A3 -1. Requirements (EAR) to be used for assessing probability of adequacy 116 Table A3 -2. Probabilities of adequate iron intakes (mg/d) and associated ranges of usual intake in adolescent girls (15 -18 years) not using oral contraceptives (OC) 117 Table A3 -3. Probabilities of adequate iron intakes (mg/d) and associated ranges of usual intake in adult women not using oral contraceptives (OC)vi Table A6 -1. Summary of \"best\" cutoff identified for FGI-9R, FGI-9AR, FGI-9BR, FGI-9CR and FGI-9DR, for NPNL, across all sites Table A6 -2. Summary of \"best\" cutoff identified for FGI-9, FGI-9A, FGI-9B, FGI-9C and FGI-9D, for NPNL, across all sites Table A7 -1. Bangladesh, rural (Ban1) Table A7 -2. Bangladesh, rural (Ban2) Table A7 -3. Burkina Faso, urban (BF1) Table A7 -4. Burkina Faso, rural (BF2) Table A7 -5. Mali, urban (Mali) Table A7 -6. Mozambique, rural (Moz) Table A7 -7. Philippines, peri-urban (Phi) Table A7 -8. Uganda, rural (Ug1) Table A7 -9. Uganda, urban and rural (Ug2) Table A8 -1. Bangladesh, rural (Ban1) Table A8 -2. Bangladesh, rural (Ban2) Table A8 -3. Burkina Faso, urban (BF1) Table A8 -4. Burkina Faso, rural (BF2) Table A8 -5. Mali, urban (Mali) Table A8 -6. Mozambique, rural (Moz) Table A8 -7. Philippines, peri-urban (Phi) Table A8 -8. Uganda, rural (Ug1) Table A8 -9. Uganda, urban and rural (Ug2) Table A9 -1. Bangladesh, rural (Ban1) Table A9 -2. Bangladesh, rural (Ban2) Table A9 -3. Burkina Faso, urban (BF1) Table A9 -4. Burkina Faso, rural (BF2) Table A9 -5. Mali, urban (Mali) Table A9 -6. Mozambique, rural (Moz) Table A9 -7. Philippines, peri-urban (Phi) Table A9 -8. Uganda, rural (Ug1) Table A9 -9. Uganda, urban and rural (Ug2) Table A10 -1. Bangladesh, rural (Ban1) Table A10 -2. Bangladesh, rural (Ban2) Table A10 -3. Burkina Faso, urban (BF1) Table A10 -4. Burkina Faso, rural (BF2) Table A10 -5. Mali, urban (Mali) Table A10 -6. Mozambique, rural (Moz) Table A10 -7. Philippines, peri-urban (Phi) Table A10 -8. Uganda, rural (Ug1) Table A10 -9. Uganda, urban and rural (Ug2) Table A11 -1. Bangladesh, rural (Ban1) Table A11 -2. Bangladesh, rural (Ban2) Table A11 -3. Burkina Faso, urban (BF1) Table A11 -4. Burkina Faso, rural (BF2) Table A11 -5. Mali, urban (Mali) Table A11 -6. Mozambique, rural (Moz) Table A11 -7. Philippines, peri-urban (Phi) Table A11 -8. Uganda, rural (Ug1) Table A11 -9. Uganda, urban and rural (Ug2) Table A12 -1. Bangladesh, rural (Ban1) Table A12 -2. Bangladesh, rural (Ban2) Table A12 -3. Burkina Faso, urban (BF1) Table A12 -4. Burkina Faso, rural (BF2) Table urban (Mali)   A13 -2. Bangladesh, rural (Ban2) Table A13 -3. Burkina Faso, urban (BF1) Table A13 -4. Burkina Faso, rural (BF2) Table A13 -5. Mali, urban (Mali) Table A13 -6. Mozambique, rural (Moz) Table A13 -7. Philippines, peri-urban (Phi) Table A13 -8. Uganda, rural (Ug1) Table A13 -9. Uganda, urban and rural (Ug2) Table A14 -1. Bangladesh, rural (Ban1) Table A14 -2. Bangladesh, rural (Ban2) Table A14 -3. Burkina Faso, urban (BF1) Table A14 -4. Burkina Faso, rural (BF2) Table A14 -5. Mali, urban (Mali) Table A14 -6. Mozambique, rural (Moz) Table A14 -7. Philippines, peri-urban (Phi) Table A14 -8. Uganda, rural (Ug1) Table A14 -9. Uganda, urban and rural (Ug2)Figure 1. Percentage of all women who consumed at least 15g of selected food groups, by study site Figure 2. Estimated prevalence of adequacy for micronutrients, by study site, for NPNL 38-39 Figure 3. Total energy intake by FGI-7 levels among all women, by study site Figure 4. Total energy intake by FGI-9 levels among all women, by study site Figure 5. Total energy intake by FGI-10E levels among all women, by study site Figure 6. Total energy intake by FGI-12 levels among all women, by study site Figure 7. Correlation between FGIs-R and MPA, by study site Figure 8. Correlation between FGIs and MPA, by study site Figure 9. Relationship between FGI-7, restricted or not, and MPA, by study site Figure 10. Relationship between FGI-9, restricted or not, and MPA, by study site Figure 11. Relationship between FGI-10E, restricted or not, and MPA, by study site Figure 12. Relationship between FGI-12, restricted or not, and MPA, by study site Figure 13. AUC for restricted FGIs among NPNL women, by study site Figure 14. Average prevalence rates at various MPA thresholds and restricted-FGI cutoffs Figure 15. Prevalence above MPA > 0.50 against prevalence above \"best\" cutoff for FGI-9R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R, by study site Figure 16. Prevalence above MPA > 0.60 against prevalence above \"best\" cutoff for FGI-9R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R, by study site Figure 17. Prevalence above MPA > 0.70 against prevalence above \"best\" cutoff for FGI-9R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R, by study site Figure 18. Mean MPA at-or-above and below the \"best\" cutoff for FGI-9R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R, averaged across all study sites Figure 19. Percent of women having consumed at least one portion (minimum 15g) of animal-source food at-or-above and below the \"best\" cutoff for FGI-9R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R, averaged across all study sites Figure 20. Percent of women having consumed at least two portions (minimum 15g) of fruits or vegetables at-or-above and below the \"best\" cutoff for FGI-9R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R, averaged across all study sites Figure 21. Percent of women having consumed at least one portion (minimum 15g) of legume or nuts/seeds at-or-above and below the \"best\" cutoff for FGI-9R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R, averaged across all study sites viii Figure A6 -1. AUC for MPA > 0.50 among NPNL women, by study site, for restricted FGI-9, FGI-9A, FGI-9B, FGI-9C and FGI-9D Figure A6 -2. AUC for MPA > 0.60 among NPNL women, by study site, for restricted FGI-9, FGI-9A, FGI-9B, FGI-9C and FGI-9D Figure A6 -3. AUC for MPA > 0.70 among NPNL women, by study site, for restricted FGI-9, FGI-9A, FGI-9B, FGI-9C and FGI-9DD ietary diversity is well-recognized as an important dimension of diet quality but is difficult to achieve in resource-poor settings where monotonous diets fail to meet many micronutrient needs. This is particularly crucial among vulnerable groups which include women of reproductive age (WRA). Yet, dietary surveys using repeat 24-hours recalls that provide quantitative information on micronutrient adequacy of diets remain out of reach for most resource-poor countries. In these settings the lack of such information impedes assessment of needs, advocacy for programmatic actions and tracking of improvements. This has motivated the search for simpler population-level proxy indicators to reflect micronutrient adequacy of the diets of WRA that can be collected via large-scale surveys.In 2005-2010, the Women's Dietary Diversity Project (WDDP), coordinated by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project (FANTA), undertook a collaborative data analysis from five sites with dietary intake data from multiple 24-hour recalls to examine the relationship between food group diversity and micronutrient adequacy of the diets of WRA. The WDDP concluded that a quasicontinuous food group diversity indicator (number of food groups consumed) was consistently associated with micronutrient adequacy, but did not conclude with the selection of a dichotomous indicator for use across all contexts. Yet, many users have indicated the need for a dichotomous indicator, similar to the \"minimum dietary diversity\" indicator of four out of seven food groups now in use for infants and young children, since dichotomous indicators are particularly useful for advocacy purposes and for communication with nontechnical audiences, including policy-makers.In 2012, to help address this need the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) initiated a follow-up project (WDDP II) with the objectives of a) identifying additional data sets to analyse, following the same general protocol and syntax developed under WDDP; b) exploring if the inclusion of additional data sets in the analysis will provide stronger evidence to inform the most appropriate food group composition, both in terms of the number and types of food groups to comprise the indicator; c) investigating whether a standard cut-off can be identified to formulate a valid dichotomous women's dietary diversity indicator. These further analyses were led by the Institute of Research for Development (IRD, Montpellier, France) and are described in this document. IRD extended the work done under the WDDP to a larger number of sites (four supplementary datasets) and to complementary analyses. This is expected to provide a more robust evidence base for balancing indicator characteristics and for selecting a dichotomous indicator.The nine datasets analysed under WDDP II were collected in rural Bangladesh in 1996 (Ban1; n=412) and in 2008 (Ban2; n=422), urban Burkina Faso in 2007 (BF1; n=178), rural Burkina Faso in 2010 (BF2; n=407), urban Mali in 2007 (Mali;n=102), rural Mozambique in 2006 (Moz;n=391), peri-urban Philippines in 2005 (Phi; n=848), rural Uganda in 2007 (Ug1; n=452) and rural and urban Uganda in 2008 (Ug2; n=954).The exclusion of outliers was harmonized across datasets by applying Goldberg criteria: women with energy intakes either below 0.9 x BMR (basal metabolic rate) or above 3.0 x BMR were excluded from the analyses. The exclusion rate was of concern for the Philippines dataset (61 percent) but the distribution of energy or nutrients intakes from the remaining sample did not show any unexpected patterns.Using currently recommended approaches, we assessed the probability of adequacy (PA) for 11 micronutrients and we constructed the \"mean probability of micronutrient adequacy\" (MPA) which summarizes micronutrient adequacy across the 11 micronutrients.We reviewed and updated the estimated average requirements (EAR) used to calculate the micronutrient PAs as appropriate, according to available information newly published since WDDP.For each dataset we looked at various candidate foodgroup indicators (FGI). Among the indicators chosen for the analysis was the one currently recommended by FAO and FANTA and used in several USAID programmes, FGI-9, comprised of nine food groups: \"All starchy staples\"; \"All legumes and nuts\"; \"All dairy\"; \"Organ meat\"; \"Eggs\"; \"Flesh foods and other miscellaneous small animal protein\"; \"Vitamin A-rich dark green leafy vegetables\"; \"Other vitamin A-rich vegetables and fruits (including yellow-and orange-fleshed sweet potatoes and red palm oil) \"; and \"Other fruits and vegetables\". We also looked at the FGI-7 used to assess the \"minimum dietary diversity\" as part of the infant and young child feeding indicators, because harmonization would have advantages.We analysed the contribution of all food groups and sub-groups to the MPA and found that the relationship between FGI and MPA could be enhanced by disaggregating (relative to FGI-9) four food groups: \"All starchy staples\" into \"Grains and grain products\" plus \"All other starchy staples\"; \"All legumes and nuts\" into \"Beans and peas\" plus \"Nuts and seeds\"; \"Flesh foods\" into \"Meat\" plus \"Fish\"; and \"Other fruits and vegetables\" into \"Other fruits\" plus \"Other vegetables\". Thus, two new candidate FGIs were identified. The FGI-12 included the four disaggregations above; the FGI-10 included the disaggregation of \"All legumes and nuts\" and of \"Other fruits and vegetables\". For both of these new candidate indicators \"Organ meat\" was reaggregated with \"Meat\".For all food-group combinations, two indicators were constructed depending on whether or not a minimum consumption of 15g was imposed in order for a food group to count in the score. The indicators were called \"restricted\" (FGI-R) or \"non-restricted\" (FGI), respectively. At last, eight candidate indicators were analysed: FGI-7 and FGI-7R, FGI-9 and FGI-9R, FGI-10 and FGI-10R, FGI-12 and FGI-12R.Each site presented a different dietary pattern according to the frequency of consumption for the main food groups. The contribution of starchy staples to total energy intake was higher in rural areas (from 68 percent in Mozambique to 87 percent in the Ban2 dataset) with the exception of the Ugandan sites (54 percent and 43 percent for Ug1 and Ug2, respectively) because of the frequent consumption of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes in Uganda (OFSP, classified as vitamin A-rich vegetables). Conversely, food groups not considered for constructing dietary diversity scores because of their very poor micronutrient content (i.e. fats, oils, sweets and alcohol) contributed more to total energy intake in urban sites (from 20 percent to 26 percent) than in rural sites (from 3 percent to 9 percent).When considering the four non-restricted FGIs, the BF1 and the Mali urban sites had the highest mean FGI scores. However, when considering FGI-9R, FGI-10R and FGI-12R, those sites had the biggest decrease of the mean score while the Philippines and both Ugandan datasets showed the highest mean scores. The lowest mean scores were encountered for BF2 and Mozambique, but while the 15g restriction did not change significantly the score in Mozambique, the decrease was high in BF2. Overall, the impact of imposing the 15g minimum consumption for a food group to count varied widely by food group and across contexts.Median micronutrient intakes varied by site, but intakes were notably low relative to average requirements for a number of micronutrients in each site. Given the much higher requirements during pregnancy and lactation, PAs varied strongly according to physiological status, thus results were described separately for non-pregnant non-lactating (NPNL) and for lactating women (but not for pregnant women that were too few in most sites). Considering all micronutrients and all sites, the estimated PA was below 50 percent for half of the cases for NPNL women and for two thirds for lactating women. Among NPNL women, site by site, out of eleven micronutrients the number for which the PA was below 50 percent was three in Ug2 dataset, four in Ug1, five in BF2, Mali and Philippines, six in Mozambique and Ban2, and seven in Ban1 and BF1. Among lactating women, corresponding xiii numbers were four in the Ug2 dataset, five in Ug1, eight in BF2 and Mozambique, nine in Ban2, and ten in Ban1. There were correspondingly low levels of MPA in almost all settings, reflecting poor diets. Among sites, MPA for the 11 micronutrients ranged from 34-60 percent for NPNL women and from 23-50 percent for lactating women. MPA was highest in the two Ugandan datasets and lowest in BF1.Correlations and simple linear regressions were used to describe relationships between each candidate FGI and energy intake, PAs and MPA. The relationship between diversity and energy intake was of interest in order to understand if any observed relationship between diversity and MPA was due to higher quantity of food, higher micronutrient density (quality) of diets or both. Correlations between FGIs and energy intakes were low to moderate for both NPNL and lactating women. They tended to be higher for NPNL women than for lactating women and for FGI-12 than for FGI-10E, FGI-9 and FGI-7, in that order, but this pattern was not consistent across all datasets. Correlations with energy intake were higher for restricted FGI. The increases in mean energy intakes at successive values of the FGI scores were fairly consistent across sites. Not controlling for energy intake, correlations between FGIs and PAs were statistically significant for almost all nutrients in almost all sites. Across all sites, there were between 11 percent (FGI-12R) and 24 percent (FGI-7R) non-significant correlations among NPNL women, more frequently in the Ug1, Ban2 and Mozambique datasets, and for vitamin C, B6, B12 and iron. When energy intake was controlled for, correlations were attenuated and many more of them became non-significant. This was particularly visible for the Mozambique dataset, regardless of the physiological status and of the FGI. This may mean that higher quantities rather than higher variety of foods drove micronutrient intakes more strongly in Mozambique than in other sites. Correlations between FGIs and MPA were almost always significant but only moderately strong. Adjusted for energy intake, correlations ranged from 0.12 to 0.52 and were higher for restricted (from 0.12 to 0.52) compared to non-restricted FGIs (0.02 to 0.40) and for NPNL women (from 0.09 to 0.52) compared to lactating women (from 0.02 to 0.38).The performance of the eight candidate indicators in predicting different thresholds of MPA (0.50, 0.60 or 0.70) was assessed using receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) analysis. The area under the curve (AUC) summarizes the predictive power of each indicator across all possible FGI cutoffs. As a rule of thumb, we considered an AUC ≥ 0.70 to indicate some promise for the indicator. In 87 percent of the pairwise comparisons, higher AUCs were observed when the 15g restriction was applied. For all the FGI-Rs, across all sites, the AUC was ≥ 0.70 in 22 out of 36 cases for a MPA threshold at 0.50, in 18 out of 36 cases for a MPA threshold at 0.60, for 15 out of 32 cases for a MPA threshold at 0.70 (for the Ban2 dataset there were not enough women reaching this MPA level to calculate the AUC). Overall, comparisons of AUC values across restricted FGIs and the various thresholds of MPA were clearly at the disadvantage of FGI-7R and, but to a lesser extent, also at the disadvantage of FGI-9R. There was a tendency of higher performance for the more disaggregated FGIs (i.e. FGI-12R > FGI-10ER > FGI-9R > FGI-7R). However, few differences in AUC were statistically significant. We identified potential dichotomous indicators, according to various FGI cutoffs, by examining the sensitivity, specificity and total misclassification of those indicators associated with several thresholds of MPA. This allowed identification of a \"best cutoff\" for those FGIs that performed correctly (i.e. AUC ≥ 0.70) in a sufficient number of datasets and at different MPA levels. As a rule of thumb, the \"best\" FGI cutoff was determined for each MPA threshold by considering the following characteristics: (i) Rate of misclassification: preferably ≤ 30 percent; still considered if ≤ 40 percent; (ii) Sensitivity and specificity: preferably both ≥ 60 percent; still considered if one of the two only is ≥ 50 percent; (iii) At least ten women should have reached the MPA threshold to give some robustness to the analysis; still considered if at least one woman did so. Finally, it was possible to define the \"best\" dichotomous indicator for the following cases: (i) FGI-9R with a cutoff point of minimum five food groups; (ii) FGI-10ER also with a cutoff point of minimum five food groups; and (iii) FGI-12R with a cutoff point of minimum six food groups.We examined how well the prevalence of women ator-above the FGI cutoffs identified through the above analysis matched the prevalence of women above MPA thresholds of 0.50, 0.60, and 0.70. The best matching over all sites was found for MPA > 0.60. Graphically, as well as through use of non-parametric tests, the xiv relationships between both types of prevalence estimates (i.e. according to FGI cutoff or to MPA threshold) was stronger for FGI-12R, followed by FGI-10ER, then FGI-9R, noting that two datasets (BF2 and Mozambique) were considered as outliers for reasons described herein.We also compared some characteristics of women's diet (mean MPA, percentages of women having consumed at least 15g of several nutrient-dense food groups) between those reaching or not the various FGI cutoffs. Non-negligible differences in the mean MPA and in the frequency of consumption of nutrient-dense food groups were found for the three FGIs. For the \"best\" FGI-9R cutoff, over all sites the mean MPA was on average 0.13 points higher among women reaching the cutoff than among others. For both the \"best\" FGI-10ER and FG-12R cutoffs, over all sites the mean MPA was on average 0.16 points higher among women reaching the cutoff than among others. The nutrient-dense food groups of interest were the animal-source food groups, the fruit/ vegetable food groups, and the legumes, nuts and seeds food groups. In almost all datasets and whatever the FGI and the cutoff considered women who met or exceeded the FGI cutoff were more likely to consume nutrientdense food groups than were women below the cutoff.All the above results were carefully and extensively reviewed and also discussed against additional nontechnical criteria for evaluating indicators, related to use and communication. We considered the nutritional meaning of the dichotomous indicators, their possible use/misuse at the global or programmatic level and their practical advantages or drawbacks in terms of operationalization or communication. Considering all the above, the WDDP-II group makes the following recommendations:(i)While acknowledging moderate to poor sensitivity and specificity at the individual level results are consistent enough to recommend the use of a dichotomous food group indicator for global use in population-level assessment and advocacy.(ii) FGI cutoffs of five groups for FGI-9R, 5 groups for FGI-10ER and six groups for FGI-12R can be recommended as reasonable predictors of a MPA>0.60. However, since disaggregations required for constructing the FGI-12 entail nutritional or environmental drawbacks, only FGI-9R and FGI-10ER are proposed for further consideration.(iii) Reaching a MPA level of 0.60 is not optimal but was considered reasonable given the yardstick of a mean MPA of 0.83 estimated among a sample of German women with no food access restriction.In recognition that this MPA is not optimal, and in parallel with the infant and young child feeding (IYCF) indicator, we suggest reflecting in an indicator name such as \"minimum dietary diversity\".(iv) Neither the FGI scores nor dichotomous indicators should be used for screening or assessment of individuals. Comparisons within and across sites suggest that the FGI could be used also to track changes in dietary diversity across countries and regions, thus contributing to monitoring progress at the global level.In resource-poor settings where micronutrient deficiencies are serious public health problems, the association of food group diversity with micronutrient density and micronutrient adequacy of diets has already been explored among infants and young children, notably through the Infant and Young Child Feeding Project (Daelmans, et al., 2009;WHO, 2008) and among WRA, in particular through the Women's Dietary Diversity Project (WDDP) (Arimond, et al., 2010;Arimond, et al., 2011).For infants and young children, World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the lack of feeding and dietary indicators as a constraint to action. They responded by leading a multi-stakeholder process that resulted in the adoption of a new set of indicators for the quality of complementary feeding, including a food group diversity indicator (WHO, 2008;WHO, 2010). These indicators are now in wide use (Dibley, et al., 2010;Joshi, et al., 2012;Mariott, et al., 2012;ICF International, 2011). The first step in that process was a collaborative data analysis activity to examine the relationship between food group diversity and micronutrient density of infant diets from a range of geographic areas. The analysis activity was coordinated by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The results were presented in several stakeholder meetings and supported the adoption of the new \"minimum dietary diversity\" indicator for global use. At these meetings, other considerations were also emphasized along with indicator performance (e.g. WHO and other stakeholders strongly urged the need The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report for a positive indicator of \"good practice\" vs. a negative one).Subsequently, the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project (FANTA), with funding from USAID, chose IFPRI to coordinate a similar analysis project for WRA. The Women's Dietary Diversity Project (WDDP) undertook a series of analyses for five sites and showed consistent associations between food group diversity indicators and micronutrient adequacy for WRA. More specifically, the WDDP concluded that a quasi-continuous indicator (number of food groups) was associated with micronutrient adequacy, but did not conclude with the selection of a dichotomous indicator for use across all contexts (Arimond, et al., 2010;Arimond, et al., 2011). This was because all dichotomous indicators entailed substantial misclassification, and also because the best choice indicator varied among the five sites included in the analysis. Further, the WDDP was less \"demanddriven\" than the IYCF project as there was no end-user global agency coordinating dialogue and promoting harmonization.However, the demand for a WDDI has recently increased, in part in relation to a surge of interest in integrating agriculture and nutrition programming. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have both adopted a quasicontinuous WDDI reflecting the conclusions of the WDDP (see below), but many users have indicated the need for a dichotomous indicator, similar to the \"minimum dietary diversity\" indicator of four out of seven food groups now in use for IYC. The dichotomous indicator for IYC also entailed misclassification but was considered satisfactory enough to provide a populationlevel yardstick for global use in assessing and tracking progress. Dichotomous indicators are particularly useful for advocacy purposes and for communication with nontechnical audiences, including policy-makers.The analyses proposed in this document are meant to extend the work done under the WDDP to a larger number of sites and to complementary analyses. This is expected to provide a more robust set of evidence for balancing indicator characteristics and for selecting a dichotomous indicator to be proposed to a multistakeholder group.The WDDP looked at eight candidate food group indicators (FGI) comprised of 6, 9, 13 or 21 food groups (FGI-6, FGI-9, FGI-13, FGI-21) and with or without imposing a minimum consumption quantity of 15g of a food group in order to count in the score (respectively called \"restricted\" or \"non-restricted\" indicators -e.g. FGI-6R and FGI-6).Important WDDP results were:• Significant and moderately strong correlations between all FGI and the mean probability of adequacy (MPA) calculated over 11 micronutrients; • Low levels of MPA in all settings; • Better results for all FGI when the 15g restriction was applied (FGI-'restricted' indicators); • Best statistical performance (across all FGI) varying by sites: the three best candidate indicators were FGI-9R, FGI-13R and FGI-21R. There was a tendency towards better results when the disaggregation of food groups was higher (i.e. FGI with more food groups) but no single FGI could be identified that out-performed others across all five settings; • Moderate to high misclassification rates, confirming the food group diversity indicators should not be used at individual level; • Identification of indicators and cutoffs providing reasonable estimates of the proportion of women above selected MPA cutoffs, but which varied by study sites.• Though they represented a variety of settings there were only five datasets in the analysis -rural (2), urban (2), and urban/peri-urban (1), and of continents -African (3) and Asian (2); • Sample size was rather small for two datasets; • No dataset allowed the ability to look separately at pregnant women; • There was a large rate of exclusion (because of under-reporting) for one dataset and a medium one (because of both under and over-reporting) for two other datasets; The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report• There were statistical issues related to the possibility of correlated errors inflating measures of association, and conversely some noise in dietary data attenuating correlations, but both these statistical issues are inherent to such an analysis.Further work was done in one WDDP study to compare FGI to dietary diversity indicators derived from a simple qualitative recall (such as the ones used in large surveys) (Martin-Prevel, et al., 2010). This study showed that the risk of misreporting was higher when the disaggregation of food groups was higher; it also highlighted the challenges in operationalizing dietary diversity questionnaires, in particular to avoid counting foods consumed in negligible amounts (i.e. operationalizing the 15g minimum quantity to construct 'restricted' FGI). Therefore, the two conditions increasing the strength of the performances of FGI (15g minimum and higher disaggregation) were shown to pose problems when the indicator is built from a list-based questionnaire. These considerations related to operationalizing an FGI for use in larger scale surveys go beyond analysis of the pure statistical performance of FGI and include ease of data collection and burden on both enumerator and respondent.The FAO has produced guidelines for measuring household as well as individual-level dietary diversity. These guidelines for individual measurement are based on use of the FGI-9 examined in the WDDP; however, it is recognized that depending on the purpose of the survey, other choices can be made. In addition, several USAID programme initiatives (notably Feed the Future initiative [FTF] ), and the Title II Development Food Assistance Programs) have adopted and are using the FGI-9 as a standard indicator. There is also potential leverage to advocate with DHS to adopt this indicator.Both the FTF handbook (Feed The Future, 2012) and FAO guidelines (FAO, 2010) recommend that a more disaggregated set of food groups than the nine food groups of the indicator should be used in the questionnaire; a list of 17 or 16 food groups, respectively, is currently proposed in these documents.Whatever the number of food groups in a questionnaire, to get good results in the assessment of dietary diversity, careful work is always needed to adapt the questionnaire to the local context, to train enumerators in using the questionnaire in a standardized manner and to decide which foods need to be excluded because they are consumed in small quantities. This last topic leads to the issue of the operationalization of the 15g minimum consumption which still needs to be refined. While WDDP results consistently showed that restricted indicators increased the statistical performance of FGI when derived from 24-hour recall data, in the study that compared FGI to dietary diversity indicators derived from simple qualitative recall, the FGI-9 (non-restricted) showed the highest performance to predict an MPA > 0.60 (Martin-Prevel, et al., 2010).As stated above, while there are many advantages to using a continuous FGI -and even to look at the frequency of consumption of specific food groupsthere is a strong need for dichotomous indicators for advocacy and communication purposes.Defining a dichotomous indicator relies on two cutoffs. First, a cutoff has to be chosen for the gold standard indicator of micronutrient adequacy (here the MPA). Second, one needs to select a cutoff for the number of food groups, to examine how well it predicts the status indicated by the gold standard indicator. The above selection of cutoffs leads to choosing one in two options for the indicator: either a \"positive\" one (i.e. indicator of \"good\" dietary diversity) or a \"negative\" one (i.e. indicator of \"poor\" dietary diversity).In WDDP, because of the rather low values of the gold standard indicator of micronutrient adequacy (MPA) in all datasets, cutoffs for FGI could be looked at only for MPA levels of 0.50, 0.60 and 0.70. Even the last one can hardly be considered to define \"good micronutrient adequacy\" of the diet. However, it is very likely that a similar situation would be found in any developing country since, even in developed countries, there are gaps for some key micronutrients (Troesch, et al., 2012) (see also Section 4.4.2 in this report and Appendix 5).The best results of the WDDP in terms of performance to predict MPA were obtained with the 0.50 MPA cutoff but it is hard to say that an MPA above 0.50 indicates a good or even acceptable level of micronutrient adequacy.Regarding the benefits of \"positive\" vs \"negative\" dichotomous indicators, a positive indicator is favoured for programming because it encourages the definition of optimal targets vs minimal targets. In addition, this would be coherent with the FGI recommended and used for IYC. On the other hand, better results for a positive indicator are likely to be obtained with more disaggregated FGI. A negative indicator can still provide a population yardstick, but defines an \"undesirable\" or \"unacceptable\" dimension of the dietary quality problem and will run the risk of misuse in programme messages if those above the cut-point are defined as \"adequate\" or \"acceptable\". However, based on the low MPA found in the WDDP datasets, it is more likely that a dichotomous cutoff representing poor MPA could yield more robust and consistent results across countries.The same result was obtained in the IYCF indicators project, i.e. indicator performance was better for a negative indicator. However, the multi-stakeholder process revealed a strong necessity for a positive indicator, partly in order to include dietary diversity as one element in a composite positive indicator for IYCF practices \"minimum acceptable diet\". The \"minimum dietary diversity\" indicator was so named in order to emphasize that achievement of the four food group cutoffs is not a guarantee of micronutrient adequacy. The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report• Bangladesh, rural (Ban1)• Bangladesh, rural (Ban2)• Burkina Faso, urban (BF1)• Burkina Faso, rural (BF2)• Mali, urban (Mali)• Uganda, rural (Ug1)• Mozambique, rural (Moz)• Uganda, urban and rural (Ug2)• Philippines, peri-urban (Phi)A mong the limitations pointed out in the final WDDP-I report was the limited number of datasets included in the analysis (n=5). Consequently, we looked for additional datasets in order to carry out this phase of the project (hereafter referred to as WDDP-II). In the end, four additional datasets were identified and provided thanks to the HarvestPlus Challenge Program. All datasets are succinctly presented in this chapter and their characteristics are summarized in Table A1 -1 (Appendix 1).Several datasets came from the same country. In order to easily distinguish them, throughout this report all datasets will be referred to using the references in brackets in the above lists.As in WDDP-I, dietary data collection methods were not standardized because this is a secondary analysis project. Yet, since analysis of all datasets was centralized, conversion of units, adaptation of variable names, creation of missing variables (such as source of protein) and many other data transformations were easier to manage.Each dataset was provided as a food-level file in order to allow construction of new candidate indicators as envisaged in the second part of the analysis. Rural Bangladesh and Mozambique datasets, already used in WDDP-I, were also provided in a ready-to-analyse file (i.e. for direct running of the Stata syntax) 1 . This means that all FGIs considered in WDDP-I were already constructed and variables containing information about amount and energy intakes of each food group were already created.Food composition tables (FCTs) used for the primary analysis of each dataset were collected, except for the Philippines' peri-urban study (WDDP-I). As well as in WDDP-I, no standardization of FCTs was made due to the existence of true nutrient content variations of a same food between countries and regions.Several observations can be made from the examination of FCTs and survey reports:• Dietary data came from 24-hour recalls in all studies except the Ban2 dataset, where direct observation with weighing of food was performed; • Overall, methods reflected good standard practices; • Datasets were distributed and analysed over two rounds in all studies except the BF1 dataset, which comprised three rounds; • The minimum number of subjects and repetitions that was required for a dataset to be included in the analysis was at least 100 women with at least 40 repetitions (or 10 percent repetitions when sample size was >300). In the same way, sub-groups (non-pregnant non-lactating, lactating and pregnant women) were considered for analysis only if the sample size was at least 100; • The smallest sample was the one collected in Mali. It had 102 women in the first round with 96 repeated observations. The largest sample was collected in the The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical ReportPhilippines and had 2 191 women in the first round with repeated observations for all of them. • A separate analysis on lactating women was feasible for six datasets only: Ban1, Ban2, BF2, Mozambique, Ug1 and Ug2; • No dataset had enough pregnant women to allow a separate analysis. Results will therefore be presented for all women, non-pregnant non-lactating (NPNL) women, and lactating women when possible; • In all datasets, information was present for the intake of: energy, total protein, total carbohydrate, total fat, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium and zinc (see Chapter 4 and Appendix 2).A brief description of all datasets is given below:The entire dataset comprised a subset of women's dietary intake data from surveys undertaken by IFPRI and collaborators in 1996. The surveys were originally designed to determine both nutrition and resource allocation effects of several non-governmental organizations (NGO)-disseminated agricultural technologies in three rural areas in Bangladesh.While the three study areas varied according to a number of characteristics (e.g. landholding), they were similar to each other -and to rural Bangladesh in general -in average per capita income (approximately USD 200 per capita per year). Diets were dominated by rice, with similar rice intakes across all income strata. No fortified foods were consumed by women in the study sample. Intakes of animal-source foods, fruits and vegetables were low. Anemia prevalence was very high (50-60 percent of women, depending on study area). There was no information gathered on iron/ folate supplement consumption during pregnancy, but approximately 20 percent of the non-pregnant women reported receiving and consuming iron tablets that were routinely distributed with birth control pills, for a median duration of approximately two years. No information was available on the actual consumption of iron tablets.The study also showed that, within their household, women consumed a disproportionately low share of preferred foods, such as animal-source foods, potentially exacerbating a poor nutrition (and micronutrient) situation. Further details are available from the WDDP-I country report (Arimond, et al., 2009) and from the original study (Bouis, et al., 1998). Data from urban Burkina Faso were from the last survey in a series of qualitative and quantitative explorations of food habits and dietary intakes conducted in the study area (Becquey, 2006;Savy, et al., 2008). This survey shared the WDDP main objective, i.e. data were gathered with the aim of validating simple dietary diversity indicators as a measure of micronutrient adequacy among women of reproductive age (WRA). Secondary objectives were to explore links between nutrition knowledge, food habits and the nutritional status of women, and also to examine changes in dietary diversity over time since data from a previous (2005) survey was available for the same individuals. The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical ReportThe study was conducted in two districts of Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso, in 2006.The city is divided into districts with amenities in the town centre (the so-called \"structured districts\") and peripheral districts without amenities (the so-called \"non-structured districts\"). One \"structured\" district and one \"non-structured\" district were purposely selected for the study because of the availability of demographic and socio-economic data from an already existing monitoring system. Comparison of study sample characteristics, including level of education, size of the household, gender of the head of household, water and electricity supply, quality of housing and ownership of some assets (television, radio, bicycle, moped, car, refrigerator, telephone) showed good agreement with same indicators derived from demographic and health survey (DHS) data for Ouagadougou 3 . A more detailed description of the study is available in the WDDP-I country report (Becquey, et al., 2009).Data from rural Burkina Faso was from a food consumption and iron status multi-stage cluster survey carried out jointly by the French Institute of Research for Development (IRD), the Institute of Research in Health Sciences (IRSS) of Burkina Faso and HarvestPlus.The survey took place in two rural provinces of Burkina Faso, the Sourou and the Sanguié provinces, in 2010.The main objective of this study was to provide reliable information on micronutrient deficiencies and quantitative estimates of the intakes of sorghum and some key nutrients among women and preschool children. The two provinces were part of two regions (Northwest and West) that were selected based on a combination of health, agriculture, living conditions and demographic criteria, which included data on sorghum production, household consumption and prevalence of malnutrition. The provinces were chosen purposely based on available information on sorghum production and/or consumption and on some of the principal investigators' general knowledge of the field.Dietary data collection was performed through 24-hour recalls among children 36-59 months old and their mother, with repetition on a sub-sample (three out of 3 INSD, 2004 eight in each cluster). The survey comprised two rounds of data collection, one in the lean season and one in the post-harvest season, conducted for the same mother and child pair. For the purpose of the current project, only the second round of data was used 4 . This round was deemed to be a bit more reliable due to the experience gained during the first round by both the survey team and the surveyed women. Further details are available from the survey report (Martin-Prével, et al., 2013).Data from urban Mali was from a European Union (EU)-funded research project, Fonio 5 , which aimed at enhancing the quality and competitiveness of fonio in West Africa by improving production, technology and market systems for local and export markets. Data collection included two 24-hour recalls of food consumption among women aged 15-49 years with the objective of determining the role of fonio in dietary patterns and the contribution of fonio to iron and zinc intake as well as the iron status of women of reproductive age living in an urban area in Mali.The research was carried out in Bamako, the capital city of Mali. The study sample was selected to be representative of NPNL women of reproductive age. Women belonged to a homogenous Malian sociolinguistic group and respondents were preferably responsible for household food preparation. Please see the WDDP-I country report for further details (Kennedy, et al., 2009).Data from rural Mozambique was gathered as part of a baseline survey for an impact evaluation of a HarvestPlus Reaching End Users (REU) Project implemented in 4Other options would have been to estimate a cross-seasonal MPA using all 24-hour recalls available for each woman, regardless of the season, or to use each season as a separate dataset. The first option would have weakened the association between FGI and MPA since the FGI would have come from one round only while the MPA would have been calculated from the two rounds. The second option was discarded since it would have given too much weight to the dataset compared to the others, because same women were studied. The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report Zambezia Province. The REU project aimed at reducing vitamin A deficiency through encouraging the adoption of vitamin A-rich orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) as an agricultural crop and a household food. Infants and young children, and women of reproductive age constituted two targeted groups. The project aimed at simultaneously increasing access to planting materials and markets, and at increasing demand for OFSP. Agricultural and nutrition \"extensionists\" worked with volunteer \"promoters\" to reach large numbers of households with new knowledge and practices.The study areas in Mozambique were characterized by high levels of malnutrition, very monotonous diets and very poor resources. Few households had regular cash income and most practised subsistence agriculture, in some cases supplemented by fishing and other activities. Much of the area was drought-and/or flood-prone, although some areas of higher elevation were less so. Maize, and to a lesser extent, cassava and rice were the primary staples. Both maize and cassava were cooked as a paste and served with simple sauces, usually made of beans, dark green leaves and/or dried or fresh fish.Coconut was available in some parts of the study area. Importantly, the baseline survey was carried out during the mango season. More details are available from the WDDP-I country report (Wiesmann, et al., 2009).Data were from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (CLHNS) and included all women of reproductive age present during the 2005 round of that study. The CLHNS began in 1983 as a prospective study of infant feeding patterns, their determinants and consequences. At the inception of the CLHNS, all pregnant women in selected communities were invited to participate in the survey. Since that time, extensive data have been collected on mothers and their offspring, as well as other family members and household residents. The initial phase led to an expanded focus on pregnancy outcomes, maternal and child health, and birth spacing issues for which a prospective research design was favoured 6 . No interventions have been provided to the subjects belonging to the cohort.6 OPS, 1989.The CLHNS was a community-based survey of metropolitan Cebu which surrounded and included Cebu City, the second largest city of the Philippines.Families were surveyed face-to-face in a variety of settings, including densely-populated urban areas, urban squatter settlements, peri-urban neighbourhoods, rural areas stretching into the mountains and some small surrounding islands. Sampling consisted of two independent two-stage cluster samples, one urban and one rural. The CLHNS did not originally intend to be nationally or provincially representative of Filipino women, but only to reflect existing variations in infant feeding strategies. However, women in the CLHNS were generally similar in socio-economic status to women in the Philippine Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), as well as to women in national surveys from the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Philippines (FNRI) 7 . See the WDDP-I country report for further details (Daniels, 2009). A sample of households with a child aged 3-5 years (n=544) and their mothers or primary female caregivers (n=539) was drawn from this survey. Dietary intake was assessed through the interactive, 24-hour recall method.One day of dietary intake data was obtained for all individuals, and a second day of data was obtained on a non-consecutive day for a randomly-selected subset of individuals 8 . Data were extracted from the Uganda food consumption survey that was carried out in one urban and two rural regions of Uganda in 2008 to characterize the dietary patterns of children 24-59 months of age and of WRA (15-49 years). The study was undertaken to serve as a baseline for strengthening Uganda's National Food Fortification Program and to help in developing a food fortification strategy. The survey focused on two rural regions (in Southwest and North) and on one urban sector (Kampala) that were purposely selected.Within each region, districts and then households were randomly selected in a two-stage process that provided samples representative of that area. The study design planned to include 320 WRA in each area. The multipass 24-hour recall method was used to assess dietary intakes and repeat dietary recalls were conducted on 10 percent of the sampled subjects in each region, on a non-consecutive day. Results showed that dietary patterns varied across the three regions with the diet in the rural Southwest providing larger amounts of most nutrients than the diets of other regions, including urban Kampala. Further details are available from the survey report (Harvey, et al., 2010). The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report for each level of MPA; e. Comparison of prevalence rates at/above FGI cutoffs and above MPA cutoffs; f. Stratification of the above results according to physiological status (depending on the number of lactating women in each dataset).The second objective was to look for alternate candidate FGI which should be as -or almost as -simple as the FGI-9R to collect but could show better performance in predicting MPA and/or provide higher sensitivity and specificity when used as a dichotomous indicator. The corresponding tasks were to:a. analyse the mean contribution to the MPA of each food group among the 21 used in WDDP-I in each dataset (see Table 2); b. Based on the above, construct one to two new candidate FGIs that are both meaningful and still easy to collect; and consider also the FGI-7 which is used for IYCF since using the same indicator for both women and children would simplify data collection; c. For each promising candidate FGI perform the tasks 'c' to 'f' described for the first objective.The third objective was to provide recommendations for the choice of a food-group indicator and dichotomous cut-point valid across cultures, balancing statistical performance with practicality. The corresponding tasks were:a. Summarize the results of objectives 1 and 2; b. Make written recommendations, considering the current indicators in common use and trade-offs in statistical performance.Beyond the analytical work covered by WDDP-II (the three objectives above), the final objective is to recommend a standard operational indicator of women's dietary diversity suitable for global use. Y ears have passed since WDDP-I, new references have been published and several members of the group have gained in practical experience using food group indicators. All the above made the group reconsider some parameters of the WDDP-I analysis for the current phase. This chapter describes changes operated in WDDP-II. Appendix 2 briefly presents how and why nutrients have been selected in WDDP-I.Table A3 -1 shows the EAR and standard deviations (SD) selected for WDDP-II. Requirements are presented for both adolescents and adult women, respectively from 15 to 18 years and from 19 to 65 years. The full range of \"reproductive age\" (from 15 to 49 years) is therefore completely covered.Given the purpose of the WDDP, it was agreed that the WHO and FAO EAR would generally be the most appropriate. Nevertheless, exceptions were made in the cases of calcium, iron and zinc. Values from the Institute of Medicine of the United States of America (IOM values) were used for the first two and International Zinc Nutrition Consultative Group (IZiNCG) values for zinc.In addition, IOM values were also used when standard deviations (SD) or coefficients of variation (CV) were not available from WHO and FAO, as was the case for vitamin A and niacin.For iron and zinc, the appropriate absorption level has to be applied depending on dietary patterns observed in each country (see Appendix 3). For the purpose of WDDP-I, it was agreed that this selection could be made at the sample level rather than characterizing each individual diet in order to choose the appropriate absorption levels. For each dataset the choice was made by the principal investigator of the study, based on his/her knowledge of the usual dietary pattern in the context. Therefore, the results presented in this document intend to reflect at best the reality of the different contexts. Choices made for the five datasets within WDDP-I were applied again within WDDP-II. For the four additional datasets levels of absorption for iron and zinc were either those indicated in the survey report, when available, or determined after a quick review of literature and an overview of the dietary patterns as reflected in the dataset. When women were identified as both pregnant and lactating, the higher requirement was selected for each nutrient.Final decisions made are presented in Appendix 3.Regarding requirements for iron, the decision was made in WDDP-I to use EAR from the Institute of Medicine because it provides a separate reference table to evaluate probability of adequacy (Tables I-6 and I -7 in IOM, 2000). Indeed, as the requirement distribution for iron is strongly skewed, the corresponding probability of adequacy cannot be directly assessed since the usual method assumes a symmetric distribution of requirements in the population.However, IOM guidelines give an EAR for an absorption level of 18 percent while, according to WHO and FAO (WHO, 2004), only a very low (5 percent) or low (10 percent) iron absorption level can be assumed in developing countries. Thus, within WDDP-I the EAR was back-calculated from IOM (IOM, 2001) for these two levels of absorption for NPNL and lactating women. Only the EAR used for pregnant women remained similar The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report to the one given by IOM, i.e. 22 mg/d for an assumed bioavailability of 23 percent -which was a weighted average of the bioavailability across the three trimesters of pregnancy. Subsequently, back-calculation from Tables I-6 and I-7 of the Institute of Medicine (IOM, 2001) were used to assess the probability of adequacy for non-pregnant non-lactating women. Since IOM gives CVs for pregnant and lactating women, the usual method was used to estimate probability of adequacy for these two categories.For WDDP-II, the group carefully reviewed the issue of iron availability during pregnancy. It seems unlikely indeed that, starting from a 5 percent or 10 percent (depending on the context) iron absorption level when non-pregnant, women in developing countries would reach the iron absorption levels of 18 percent in the first trimester of pregnancy and of 25 percent in other trimesters that are assumed by IOM (even though iron absorption level would increase in the second and third trimesters). It was therefore decided to define new values for iron absorption level during pregnancy to be used in the WDDP-II analysis, based on the fact that bioavailability during the first trimester is estimated to be roughly the same as for non-pregnant women, and using the WHO and FAO guidance for the second and third trimesters (WHO, 2004). This document states that \"iron absorption is increased by about 50 percent\" 9 in the second trimester; therefore for the second trimester we applied to the bioavailability level for non-pregnant women a factor of 1.5. The same document states also that iron absorption \"may increase by up to about four times the norm\" 10 in the last trimester. Our interpretation of this was that four times is a maximum and should not be taken as an average. We arbitrarily chose to apply, for the third trimester, a factor of 2.5 to the bioavailability level used for non-pregnant women. Our method thus gives averaged absorption rates over the last two trimesters of 10 percent and 20 percent for an initial bioavailability of 5 percent and 10 percent, respectively (Table 1). These are lower than IOM values but not by much. As information about the month of pregnancy was not available in most datasets, these averaged absorption levels were used for all pregnant women.At the time of WDDP-I no reliable EAR was available for calcium. Only an adequate intake (AI) value was established (IOM, 1997) but without SD. By the time of WDDP-II, new EAR values for calcium have been released by IOM (IOM, 2011). We therefore decided to use them.The IOM report indicates an EAR value of 800 mg/d for women from 19 to 50 years and of 1 100 mg/d for women from 14 to 18 years. Whether women are pregnant or lactating does not modify the EAR. No CV is specified but recommended dietary allowance (RDA) values are defined as 200 mg above the EAR in all cases, i.e. 1 000 mg/d for adults and 1 300 mg/d for adolescents. This allowed us to back-calculate two CVs: 12.5 percent for adult women and 9 percent for adolescent women. We then applied the usual method for calculating probability of adequacy for calcium instead of the Foote et al. method used within WDDP-I (Foote, et al., 2004).Compared with WDDP-I indicators, the only changes that were decided were related to the flesh foods group. New instructions were given (FAO, 2010;WHO, 2010) and it was deemed that some specific food groups were not adequately classified. Thus, in the proposed new classification, reptiles and amphibians are considered alongside mammals, and molluscs are considered alongside fish, shellfish and seafood (   As indicated earlier in this report, results from WDDP-I clearly showed better performance of all FGI when a 15g restriction was applied (FGI-'R'; i.e. 'Restricted' indicators). However, a key remaining question is how such a restriction can be operationalized. Within WDDP-I the 15g limit was calculated over all foods eaten at all meals during the 24h. Another option under consideration would be to calculate the 15g limit over each food/dish eaten on any occasion; this would bear the advantage of being more easily operationalized. It was envisaged that analyses could be made with the WDDP-II data to explore changes that such a strategy might cause in the results. However this would have required a rather huge work on the syntax and some datasets would have had to be reorganized. In addition, it was found that many datasets are lacking a variable to indicate meals so this issue was not explored in the end.As in WDDP-I the probability approach was used to assess nutrient adequacy for groups. This approach is based on information or assumption about both the distribution of nutrient requirements in the population and the day-to-day variations (intra-individual) in nutrient intakes (Barr, et al., 2002). This is appropriate given the ultimate objective of this work, which is to develop The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report simple indicator(s) for use at population level. Using the repetition of the 24-hour recalls on a subsample of subjects, the probability of adequacy associated with \"usual intake\" was calculated for each of them and the prevalence of adequacy was estimated as the average of these probabilities. Once probability of adequacy is estimated for all nutrients, they were averaged across 11 nutrients to construct the mean probability of adequacy (MPA).The following summarizes the steps required to construct the MPA as described in the WDDP-I protocol:• Transform nutrient intakes: nutrient intakes are nearly always skewed. Thus, intake distributions need to be adjusted to approximate normal. We have used a Box-Cox transformation (a power transformation) for energy and each micronutrient; • Calculate individual and population means for intakes of each nutrient, using the transformed variables (note that some individuals have only one observation); • Calculate within-and between-person variances for the transformed intake variables; • Using these variances, calculate the best linear unbiased predictor (BLUP) of the usual intake for each nutrient, for each woman; • Using the BLUPs, calculate the probability of adequacy for iron (non-pregnant non-lactating women) from tables in Appendix 3; • With the exception of iron for NPNL women, information on the distribution of requirements (CV/ SD) is available and distributions are assumed to be approximately normal for all nutrients. By generating a random normal variable (with \"n\"=800) the requirement distribution for each nutrient is simulated, and this distribution is then transformed using the same power transformation as above. • The probability of adequacy (PA) for each nutrient (excluding iron) can now be calculated. • Finally all PA, including iron, are averaged to form MPA.As stated above, the low distribution of the MPA in all datasets only allowed choosing MPA levels of 0.50, 0.60 and 0.70 within WDDP-I. In order to support the choice of a threshold, typical MPA values encountered among women from developed countries where the population is not economically constrained and does not benefit from general fortification can serve as comparison.The report of a nationally representative dietary study carried out in Germany in 2005-06 was used for this purpose (Max Rubner Institut, 2008). The mean MPA for German women was calculated, across the same 11 micronutrients considered in WDDP, from the results tables presented in the report. The details of the analyses are presented in Appendix 5. It has to be noted that food fortification is only performed by manufacturers for a few selected food products in Germany and the authors of the study considered them in the FCT they used. The tables used to derive MPA for the purpose of our study therefore included nutrient intakes from fortified foods; however, given the small number of fortified foods the impact of food fortification on the mean MPA across the sample should be minimal. In contrast, nutrient intakes from supplements were presented in separate tables in the report and those not taken into account in the calculation of mean MPA.The German data thus demonstrated an MPA of 0.83 for women of reproductive age, showing that even in a highly favourable context the micronutrient adequacy is unlikely to be total. Even though the methods used by the German authors differed slightly from the WDDP-II approach (data collection, derivation of \"usual\" nutrient intakes, etc.) it was deemed that the magnitude is comparable. Therefore a threshold of 0.70 seemed a reasonable choice to define a positive indicator in resource-poor contexts. In contrast, there is no real clue to help defining a negative indicator. In this report, thresholds of 0.50, 0.60 and 0.70 have been considered.In some occasions a threshold of 0.80 has been also investigated, but there was only a few datasets with enough women reaching this MPA level to allow sound analyses (these results are consequently not presented in this report).1. Compute the indicators of dietary diversity (FGI-9 and FGI-9R), the probability of adequacy of each micronutrient (PA) and the mean probability of micronutrient adequacy (MPA).2. Describe the relationships between the two FGI, energy intake and MPA, using correlations and simple linear regressions on transformed or untransformed variables, according to their initial distribution 11 . When sub-sample sizes are sufficient, stratify the analyses according to physiological status (pregnant, lactating and non-pregnant non-lactating women).3. Assess the performance of each FGI in predicting MPA through receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) analysis.4. In order to support the choice of FGI cutoffs, examine the proportion of women consuming various nutrient-dense food groups (such as animalsource food) when different FGI cutoffs are selected.11 When intake distributions were skewed a Box-Cox transformation was applied.5. Perform sensitivity, specificity and misclassification analysis for various MPA thresholds and FGI cutoffs defining either a positive or a negative dichotomous indicator.6. Examine prevalence of women above the MPA thresholds and above the FGI cutoffs for the best performing combinations of these two cutoffs.7. Using the above results for each dataset, try to identify a combination of FGI cutoff and MPA thresholds performing satisfactorily enough across all datasets (or most of them) to allow suggesting a FGI cutoff for an acceptable dietary diversity and/or a minimum dietary diversity.The second objective, which was to look for an alternative food group indicator, was investigated following the ensuing steps: F or the purpose of WDDP-I, it was initially decided to use the basal metabolic rate (BMR)-based criteria to define exclusion ranges. Distributions were examined and women whose energy intakes were either below a BMR factor of 0.9 or above a factor of 3.0 12 were excluded. However, in a subsequent group meeting it was agreed that those researchers who had been more directly involved in data collection and who could review and assess raw data might make different decisions about exclusion of outliers. It was recognized that single-day intakes can, indeed, be very extreme and that caution must be used in applying BMR-based cutoffs (Black, 2000). Therefore slightly different approaches were employed in Burkina Faso, Mali and Mozambique; they are detailed in the corresponding WDDP-I country reports.The Philippines dataset presented a particular situation. Across survey rounds, the 24-hour recalls in the CLHNS generated estimated intakes that are low by comparison to other data from the Philippines and by comparison to estimated intakes in other studies from South and South East Asia. Therefore, to avoid excessive bias while eliminating the most extreme low outliers, in WDDP-I it was decided for the CLHNS data to use a 0.3 x BMR cutoff instead of the 0.9 x BMR cutoff used for the other countries.12 Goldberg, et al., (1991) provide a method for assessing the quality of dietary data through evaluating estimated energy intake. The estimated energy intake (EIrep) is compared with the person's estimated BMR (BMRest). The ratio between EIrep and BMRest is called the BMR factor. The BMR factor can be used as a lower cutoff value for identifying under-reporters. The lower cutoff value, with a 95 percent confidence interval, is based on an energy requirement of 1.55 X BMR for a person with a sedentary lifestyle, adjusted for the number of days of recall data. For a single recall day, the lower cutoff value is 0.90 X BMR. The highest energy intake that can be sustained over a longer period of time is 2.4 X BMR (FAO, 2004). An upper cutoff value of 2.4 X BMR has therefore been used by some. However, a single day's energy intake can be more extreme. For our purposes we set the upper cutoff to 3.0 X BMR to identify likely over-reporters.Within the WDDP-II, the additional datasets provided by HarvestPlus were almost in a \"raw\" state in the sense that no exclusion had been applied. Indeed, except for some obviously flawed cases, it was considered that if 24hour recalls are properly administered, the probabilities of under and over estimation are nearly equivalent so that the average of intakes among the survey population is ultimately not biased. Nevertheless, it appeared that a primary exclusion rule was applied to the Ug2 dataset. Outliers were identified according to several steps: exploration of implausible values using the SPSS Explore procedure; adjustment of the amount of food consumed by cost or by food frequency questionnaire data from the 24-hour recall (Gibson and Ferguson, 2008), analysis of mean, median, SD and scatter plot of each nutrient density per age group and region; and finally use of the inter-quartile range to define a threshold for outliers (Q3 + 3 * IQR) for each consumed food quantity and nutrient density per age group and region.Finally, to ensure consistency between all datasets it was decided to apply the same exclusion criteria to all of them before carrying out the WDDP-II analysis. The criteria used previously in WDDP-I were considered and women with energy intakes either below 0.9 x BMR or above 3.0 x BMR were excluded. Table 3 presents the percentage of exclusion arising from this.As stated above, the use of the 0.9 x BMR cutoff in the Philippines dataset implied a high rate of exclusions. The sub-sample obtained after exclusions was compared to the original sample for available women's characteristics. It turned out that women in the final sub-sample were slightly younger, more educated and had a lower body mass index (BMI) than excluded women. However, a visual inspection of the shape of the distributions of energy and micronutrient intakes, PA and FGI revealed that they remained quite unchanged. T he characteristics of each dataset considered in the WDDP-II are presented in Table 4. It provides the final sample sizes according to physiological status and, when information was available, a basic description of mean age, height, weight, BMI and level of education of the women.Total sample sizes ranged from 102 women (Mali) to 954 (Ug2). This wide range should be kept in mind when interpreting the results. Three datasets (Mali, BF1 and the Philippines) included too few or no lactating women to allow a separate analysis of this group. No dataset had enough pregnant women to allow a separate analysis.The mean age of women was approximately 30 years, ranging from 27 years (Ban2) to 32 years (Ug1). As could be expected, non-pregnant non-lactating (NPNL) women were older than lactating women in every study site (when the comparison was possible). Women were tallest in the West African samples, and heaviest in the urban West African samples (mean BMI of 23.2 kg/ m² for BF1 and 23.6 kg/m² for Mali), followed by the peri-urban Philippines dataset (22.0 kg/m²) and the rural African sites: Ug1 (22.5 kg/m²), Mozambique (21.5 kg/ m²) and BF2 (20.8 kg/m²). In contrast, the women from Bangladesh datasets had much lower mean BMI (Ban1: 18.8 kg/m²; Ban2: 19.7 kg/m²). Accordingly, the prevalence of overweight ranged from 1.7 percent (Ban1) to 36.5 percent (BF1) and the prevalence of underweight from 6.8 percent (Ug1) to 47.8 percent (Ban1).Available data on the level of education or literacy varied across studies and therefore were not directly comparable. However, it is possible to say that education and literacy levels appeared higher in the urban/periurban samples, as expected, and lower in Mozambique, as expected as well given the extreme poverty and absence of infrastructure and services in the study area.Table 5 and Figure 1 present the proportions of women who consumed the different food groups 13 . The table gives information for the nine food groups of the FGI-9, but two of the nine groups are omitted from the figure: starchy staples because they were consumed by 100 percent of women across almost all sites -with the exception of Ug1 and Ug2 datasets for which the consumption reached 99 percent and 95 percent, respectively; and organ meat because it was not consumed at all, except in the Philippines dataset.Starchy staples were consumed by almost all women in all sites, with the exception of the Ugandan datasets where some women consumed orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) instead of starchy staples. Consumption of legumes and nuts with the 15g minimum ranged from 33 percent to 38 percent of women in the Bangladesh sites to 78 percent and 85 percent in the Ugandan sites. Imposing a restriction of 15g minimum consumption had no impact for starchy staples. For legumes and nuts, this made a real difference for the urban West African study sites (24 and 33 percentage points of difference in the BF1 and Mali datasets, respectively), maybe because of the use of rather small quantities of groundnut paste in sauces. No strong differences were found in the other datasets.In general, food group patterns did not vary markedly with physiological status. Therefore, results in this section are presented for all women together and not for subgroups of lactating and NPNL women. The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report   The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical ReportAs noted, organ meat was only consumed in the Philippines dataset. Among animal-source foods that were rarely consumed eggs came next: frequency of consumption was null for BF2 and under 10 percent for the Ugandan sites, Mali, Mozambique, BF1 and Ban1. Only the Ban2 and Philippines datasets showed a noticeable frequency of egg consumption (12 percent and 32 percent, respectively, with the 15g restriction).Consumption of dairy was null in Mozambique, very small for BF2 dataset (2 percent), intermediate (11 percent to 29 percent, with the 15g restriction) in the two Bangladesh sites, BF1, Philippines and Ugandan datasets, and widely consumed in Mali (47 percent). The 15g restriction had virtually no impact on the indicator, with the exception of the Philippines where women use small amounts of milk or cream in coffee (leading to a 6 percentage points of difference).Flesh foods were the most frequently consumed animalsource foods and were widely consumed in almost all study sites. The percentages of consumption were higher in urban sites than in rural ones: with the 15g restriction, values were up to 73 percent in BF1, 95 percent in Mali and 98 percent in Philippines datasets. Only the BF2 dataset showed a relatively low percentage of consumption (only 15 percent with the 15g restriction).Besides, this restriction did not matter much in Mali, Mozambique, Philippines and Ugandan sites while it made a relatively large difference in the other sites (from 16 percentage points difference in the Ban1 dataset to 40 points difference in the BF2 dataset).Considering the 15g restriction, consumption of vitamin A-rich dark green leafy vegetables ranged from 25 percent in the Philippines to 51 percent in the urban Burkina Faso. The 15g restriction made remarkable differences in all West African sites (from 13 percentage points difference in Mali to 28 in urban Burkina Faso). This may be related to the use of dried leaves in small quantities in mixed dishes and sauces.Consumption of other vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables (such as mango, pumpkin and yellow/orange squash or yellow/orange-fleshed sweet potatoes) tended to be lower in rural than in urban areas: from 6 percent in BF2 to 23 percent in Ug1 datasets, versus 25 percent and 33 percent in Mali and BF1 datasets, respectively. The Ug2 and the Mozambique datasets showed very high level of consumption of vitamin A-rich fruit and vegetables (66 percent and 77 percent, respectively). This was due to the mango season in Mozambique and the wide consumption of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes in Uganda. The 15g restriction made rather large differences: from 7 percentage points in the Philippines to 61 percentage points in Mali, but this was not the case in Mozambique where the mango season rubbed out the difference. These differences occurred for different reasons according to the sites. In Bangladesh, this was entirely due to the use of chilies in very small quantities, and in Burkina Faso and Mali to the use of tomato paste in dishes.Other fruits and vegetables, even with the 15g restriction, were consumed by at least half of the women in all sites (except the BF2 dataset: 44 percent). The frequency of consumption was even > 80 percent in many datasets (Ban1, BF1, Mali and Ug1). The 15g restriction made no substantial difference in the BF1, Mali and Ug1 datasets. The differences in other sites ranged from 6 to 25 percentage points.In summary, with the exception of starchy staples, each site presented a different pattern of consumption for the main food groups. The impact of imposing the 15g minimum consumption for a food group to count also varied by food group and by site. However, overall it was clear that for a number of food groups and in a number of sites, imposing the 15g minimum consumption made a substantial difference in the proportion of women who were considered to have consumed the group. This was true in most sites for at least three of the nine food groups. This was less important in Mozambique, Philippines and first Uganda sites. This may reflect the fact that where diets and mixed dishes in these poor rural sites were generally very simple, the few foods/ingredients consumed tended to be consumed in substantial quantities.Two very simple indicators of diet quality are the proportion of total energy intake that is accounted The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report for by starchy staples and the proportion contributed by animal-source foods. Other micronutrient-dense foods such as fruits and vegetables are generally not expected to contribute to a substantial proportion of energy, although there are exceptions, such as mangos and orange-fleshed sweet potatoes. Table 6 shows the proportion of energy intakes accounted for by several foods groups, for all sites.The contribution of starchy staples to total energy intake was higher in rural areas (from 68 percent in Mozambique to 87 percent in the Ban2 dataset) with the exception of the Ugandan sites (54 percent and 43 percent for Ug1 and Ug2, respectively) because of the consumption of OFSP (classified as vitamin A-rich vegetables); by contrast, the contribution of starchy staples to energy intakes was lower in urban areas (46 percent and 56 percent for Mali and BF1 datasets, respectively). In Mali, the proportion of animal-source foods was noticeably higher than in other sites. Regarding the contribution of fruits and vegetables to energy intakes, Mozambique and the second Ugandan study stood out. As explained above, mangos and OFSP highly contributed to energy intakes from this group. The bottom line in Table 6 corresponds to food groups not considered for constructing diversity scores because of their very poor micronutrient content but still contributing to energy intakes (sometimes highly). These groups include fats, oils (except red palm oil which was counted along with vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables), sweets and alcohol. Frequency of consumption of these foods varied widely across sites, and more specifically depending on the urban or rural milieu. As a matter of fact, their contribution to total energy intake reached 20 percent to 26 percent in urban sites, 11 percent in urban-rural Uganda, and 3 percent to 9 percent in rural sites.The first phase of the analysis (July 2013) concerned only the FGI-9 and FGI-9R. In the second phase of the analysis, we investigated the contribution of each food group to the individual PAs and to the MPA with the aim of constructing new food group indicators that might perform better than the FGI-9(R). These results are presented first to allow the subsequent presentation of the results of analyses for new candidate FGI along with results for FGI-9, and FGI-7.The list of 21 food groups which constituted the most disaggregated FGI in WDDP-I was considered. We investigated first the contribution of each food group to the individual PAs, in each dataset and for each micronutrient. For this we calculated the aggregate of all intakes of nutrient X from the FG (summed over all women) and divided it by the aggregate of all total intakes of nutrient X (summed over all women). This resulted in the contribution of the FG in the sum of all total nutrient intakes. The percent contribution of each FG to each nutrient was then weighted with each woman's PA to obtain the mean, assuming that each FG contributed to the PA of X proportionally to its contribution to the total intake of nutrient X. Similarly, for each food group, a \"partial MPA\" was calculated based on the contribution of the food group to each of the 11 PA values to derive FG contribution to overall MPA. The aim was to highlight which food sub-groups contributed \"significantly\" to the MPA across the datasets, in order to be able to suggest alternate food groupings that maximize the odd of a good correlation, at the individual level, between the FGI and the MPA. The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical ReportTable 7 presents the percent contribution to the MPA of each food group included in the FGI-21. It should be noted that the total of these contributions did not reach 100 percent because other food groups such as \"Other fats and oils\", \"All other beverages\" and \"Spices and condiments\" contributed to the MPA but are not included in the FGI-21.The food group which contributed the most to the MPA was undoubtedly the \"Grains and grain products\" group, ranging from 10.8 percent for the Ug1 dataset to 59.2 percent for the Ban2 dataset. The contribution of \"All other starchy staples\" was also noticeable, especially in the both Ugandan datasets. The \"Vitamin A-rich DGLV\" contributed more than 5 percent for 6 out of 9 datasets, ranging from 7.0 percent in Mali to 25.1 percent for BF2. The \"Cooked dry beans and peas\" and \"Nuts and seeds\" groups contributed to the MPA from 0.3 percent (Mali) to 12.3 percent (Ug2) and from 0.1 percent (Phi) to 13.2 percent (BF2), respectively. The contributions of \"Mammals, reptiles and amphibians\" as well as \"Large fishes\" groups were particularly important in the Philippines dataset. Finally, vitamin A-rich fruits highly contributed to the MPA in the Mozambique and BF1 datasets, due to mango season.From Table 7, one can observe that some food groups which seem to contribute independently to the MPA are aggregated in the FGI-9. For example, both \"Grains and grains products\" and \"All other starchy staples\" showed good contribution to the MPA across all datasets. Yet, the FGI-9 includes only one aggregated group. In this example, however, one should be cautious since contribution to MPA is in part a function of the quantities consumed; this in turn leads to a diet dominated by starchy staples, which is not what we are aiming for when we talk about diversification. Indeed, we would rather see diversification of animal-source foods, vegetables and fruits.The fact remains, nevertheless, that the assessment of dietary diversity of women who had consumed both food groups was attenuated by aggregating them in the FGI-9, even though this does not mean that the relationship between the FGI value and the MPA would be modified if both food groups had been counted separately. To investigate this we first aimed to gauge the proportion of women who consumed simultaneously two sub-groups of an aggregated one (in the FGI-9). Table 8 shows for each pair of sub-groups of potential interest that we identified from Table 7 the proportion of women having consumed none, one or the other, or both of them (without the 15g restriction). For information, mean MPA among women presenting each combination has been computed. We can imagine that if women having consumed both sub-groups have a higher mean MPA than other women, disaggregating the original food group in a new candidate FGI might improve the relationship between the FGI value and the MPA, particularly if this relationship was robust when controlling for energy intake.Many women consumed both \"Grains and grain products\" and \"All other starchy staples\" sub-groups.When they consumed only one of them, it was generally \"Grains and grain products\". Overall, mean MPA tended to be higher for women who had consumed both sub-groups. The same pattern appeared for \"Cooked dry beans and peas\" and \"Nuts and seeds\", \"Meat\" and \"Fish\", and to a lesser extent \"Vegetables\" and \"Fruits\". For all the above, differences were of varying magnitude, depending on the dataset and on which pair of food groups was considered. Finally, for \"Mammals\" and \"Birds\", and \"Large fish\" and \"Small fish\", there was only a very limited overlap for most datasets (0 -1 percent consuming both groups), with the exception of the Philippines (18 percent consuming both).Consequently, some new candidate FGIs could be articulated around the following disaggregations:• All starchy staples è \"Grains and grain products\" (group 1 in Table 7) and \"All other starchy staples\" (group 2);• All legumes and nuts è \"Cooked dry beans and peas including soybeans and soy products\" (groups 3 + 4) and \"Nuts and seeds\" (group 5);• Flesh foods è \"Meat\" (groups 8 + 9 + 10 + 13) and \"Fish\" (groups 11 + 12);• Other fruits and vegetables è \"Other vegetables\" (groups 17 + 18) and \"Other fruits\" (groups 20 + 21). The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report     Given that \"Organ meat\" was never or very rarely consumed in all datasets, one can suggest that it be aggregated with \"Meat\". We acknowledge however that this is debatable since, thinking about future use of the indicator, particularly if programmes are to recommend consumption of organ meats (and succeed in that), it might be better to keep organ meat separate.Finally, various combinations of the above can be worked out:• The four new sub-groups at the same time: would lead to a FGI-12;• One new sub-group by one: would lead to four new FGI-9;• Two new sub-groups by two: would lead to six new FGI-10;• Three new sub-groups by three: would lead to four new FGI-11.All new candidate FGIs are presented in Table 9.We first analysed the performance of FGI-12 in predicting MPA (through correlations, regressions, AUCs, sensitivity -specificity analyses) because this new candidate indicator includes the four disaggregations identified above. Therefore, it maximizes the odds of enhancing the relationship of the indicator with MPA through those disaggregations. Corresponding results, which will be presented later in the report along with those of other candidate indicators, were good enough to merit further exploration and comparison with the original FGI-9.We then carried out a similar analysis to assess the performance of each of the four alternate 'new' FGI-9 (FGI-9A/B/C/D). These FGIs all aggregate \"Organ meat\" with \"Meat foods\" and each of them presents one of the four disaggregations presented above. The aim was to assess if the performances obtained with the FGI-12 were likely to be more supported by one or several of these four disaggregations. It appeared that FGI-9B (disaggregating \"Beans and peas\" and \"Nuts and seeds\") and FGI-9D (disaggregating \"Other vegetables\" and \"Other fruits\") performed better than the two others. These results are presented in Appendix 6 of this report. We thus carried out new analyses with the FGI-10E (which includes these two disaggregations).Finally, the continuation of the analyses presented hereafter included and compared the performances of the FGI-7(R), FGI-9(R), FGI-10E(R) and FGI-12(R).Descriptive statistics (mean and range) for the FGI-7, FGI-9, FGI-10E and FGI-12, restricted and not restricted, are presented by study sites for all women in Table 10.The highest mean scores for FGI-7, restricted or not, were observed in the two urban West African sites: BF1 (4.9 and 4.2) and Mali (5.2 and 4.4). It remained the same for FGI-9 (5.4 for BF1 and 5.5 for Mali), but for FGI-9R the score of the Phi dataset was at the same level as BF1 (4.3; Mali was 4.4). For FGI-10 and FGI-12 again BF1 and Mali came first (FGI-10: 5.8 for BF1 and 5.6 for Mali; FGI-12: 6.1 for both), but for the restricted indicators it was Ug1 (4.8 for FGI-10R and 5.5 FGI-12R), Ug2 (4.6 for FGI-10R and 5.2 for FGI-12R), then Mali, Phi, BF1.Overall, Mali and BF1 were the datasets for which the decrease of the mean score was the biggest when the 15g restriction was applied (-0.8 to -1.7 point depending on the FGI). This is consistent with the results shown in Table 5.The lowest mean scores were encountered for BF2 and Mozambique; but while the 15g restriction did not change significantly the score in Mozambique (-0.2 point for FGI-7, FGI-10 and FGI-12 and -0.1 for FGI-9) the decrease was high in BF2 (-1 point for FGI-7, -1.1 for FGI-9 and -1.2 for FGI-10 and FGI-12). The two Bangladesh sites also showed a substantial decrease of the mean score (from -0.7 to -1.1 points) while for Ugandan sites and for the Philippines site mean scores decreased from 0.3 to -0.9 depending on the site and on the FGI. Overall, the decrease from non-restricted to restricted FGIs was more important when there were more food groups in the FGI. This appears logical, because a larger number of food groups implies a smaller amount per food group on average. Food groups with smaller quantities are therefore more affected by the restriction. The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report   Table 11 provides information on energy and macronutrient intakes by study site and physiological status for a single observation day. The first observation day was used for the majority of datasets (among a maximum of two available observation days per woman); urban Burkina Faso data was from the second of three observation days.Considering the median energy intakes, the same pattern emerged regardless of the physiological status. The Ugandan sites presented the highest values (from 2 198 kcal for NPNL women in Ug2 to 2 473 kcal for lactating women in Ug1). On the contrary, the Philippines site and, to a lesser extent, the Ban2 dataset had the lowest median energy intakes (1 665 kcal in the Philippines;and from 1 902 kcal to 1 920 kcal in the Bangladesh, depending on the physiological status). The other sites presented very similar values, ranging from about 2 000 to about 2 100 kcal for NPNL women, to about 2 100 kcal for all women and to about 2 200 kcal for lactating women. In general, lactating women had higher median energy intakes than NPNL women, with the exception of Mozambique for which the difference was not substantial.The proportion of total energy provided by protein, carbohydrates and fat was examined against WHO recommendations for populations (WHO, 2003 14 ). In the urban or peri-urban sites, percentages of energy coming from protein, carbohydrates and fat intakes were within or very close to WHO recommended ranges.     WHO (2003) recommended population averages: 10-15 percent of kcal from protein; 55-75 percent of kcal from carbohydrates; 15-30 percent of kcal from fat. However, differences of 1-2 percent points from recommended ranges are not meaningful and are likely to be within range of measurement error.In rural sites the proportions tended to exceed the recommended range for carbohydrates and, in contrast, to fall behind the minimum recommended level for fats. As underscored in Table 6, urban sites had higher percentages of energy coming from fats than rural sites. For protein, intakes were within or very near the accepted range of 10 -15 percent of energy in all sites.Table 12 presents median intakes of selected micronutrients. It must be kept in mind that even differences between sites reflect differences in diet patterns, but they also reflect differences between food composition tables (FCTs). It is realistic to use different FCTs in different countries since they are often constructed using local information, however this means that different nutrient values may be used for some of the same foods, depending on the site, since nutrient values can vary by geographical area and may are affected by the biodiversity of crops. Of course, part of the differences in assigned nutrient values may also be attributable to errors and different measurement methods. All this will be reflected in micronutrient intakes. In the case of the first Philippines site, underreporting may have resulted in low estimates of intakes for some or all micronutrients.For some nutrients, median intakes were quite close to the EAR values: thiamin (from 0.6 to 1.6 mg/d depending on the study site and physiological status); riboflavin (0.       values: folate (86 to 470 μg/d); vitamin B12 (ranging from 0 to 1.3 μg/d, reflecting very low intakes of animalsource foods, with the exception of the Philippines: up to 3.7 μg/d for lactating women); calcium (from 147 to 596 mg/d). For some others nutrients, median intakes were highly variable: vitamin C (from 17 to 173 mg/d) and to a lesser extent iron (from 8.3 to 23.8 mg/d) and zinc (from 5.4 to 12.5 mg/d -largely related to the consumption of sorghum, dried leaves and dried okra).For most of the micronutrients, Ugandan sites showed the highest median intakes. One can notice that median intakes for vitamin A and C in Mozambique approximated those of the Ugandan sites. One can also notice that the first Philippines site and the second Bangladesh site were often those exhibiting the lowest median intakes.Dietary patterns and micronutrient intakes were fairly similar across physiological subgroups. However, given the much higher requirements during pregnancy and lactation, PAs varied strongly according to physiological status. Therefore, PA results are described separately for NPNL and lactating women but, as stated previously, no study site had a sufficiently large subsample of pregnant women to describe PA results separately for this group.Table 13 provides the estimated PA for each micronutrient by study site and physiological status and Figures 2 -A and B summarize the results for NPNL women.Considering all micronutrients and all sites, the estimated prevalence of adequacy was below 50 percent for half of the cases (49 of 99 cells) for NPNL women and was two thirds (44 of 66 cells) for lactating women (  Site by site, out of eleven micronutrients the number for which the PA was below 50 percent among NPNL women was four and three in Ug1 and Ug2 datasets, respectively, five in BF2, Mali and Phi, six in Mozambique and in Ban2, and seven in Ban1 and BF1. Among lactating women, who have higher requirements, corresponding numbers were four in the Ug2, five in Ug1, eight in BF2 and Mozambique, nine in Ban2 and ten in Ban1.PA estimates exceeded 75 percent in 27 instances for NPNL (12 of them being in the Ugandan sites) and in ten instances for lactating women (five of them in the Ugandan sites). Another way to summarize the magnitude and consistency of micronutrient gaps across sites is to consider the number of cells (i.e. number of sites per nutrient) with very low PA estimates, arbitrarily set below 25 percent. Estimated PA was very low for 35 out of 99 cells among NPNL women and for 29 out of 66 cells among lactating women.There were low levels of MPA in almost all settings. Among NPNL women the highest mean MPA were of 0.58 and 0.60 in the Ug2 and Ug1 datasets, respectively; the lowest MPA were of 0.34 and 0.36 in the Ban1 and BF1 datasets, respectively.As demonstrated in previous studies 15 and confirmed in WDDP-I, there were positive relationships between dietary diversity and energy intakes in all WDDP-II datasets. Even if the main objective was to characterize the relationship between food group diversity and micronutrient adequacy, the relationship between diversity and energy intake was also of interest in order to understand if any observed relationship between diversity and MPA was due to higher quantity of food, higher micronutrient density (quality) of diets or both.Table 15 shows simple correlations between the four FGIs, restricted and not, and energy intake. Most relationships were significant but differences in levels of statistical significance between sites should be interpreted cautiously as sample sizes and therefore statistical power varied largely across sites. The number 15 Ogle, Hung and Tuyet, 2001;Foote, et al,. 2004;Torheim, et al,. 2004. of significant correlations tended to increase along with the level of disaggregation of the FGI but the pattern was not so clear for the restricted indicators.Correlations were low to moderate for both NPNL and lactating women. They tended to be higher for NPNL women than for lactating women (with the exception of the Ug1 dataset). They tended also to be higher for FGI-12 than for FGI-10E, FGI-9 and FGI-7, in that order, but this pattern was not consistent across all datasets. Generally speaking, correlations with energy intake were higher for restricted FGI. The highest correlations were found for the Ug2, then Mozambique, then Ban1 datasets; the lowest correlations were found for the Phi, then Ban2, then Ug1 datasets.Figures 3 to 6 illustrate the relationship between energy intakes and FGI-7, FGI-9, FGI-10E and FGI-12, restricted and not, among all women. This relationship was positive and quite similar across sites for the eight indicators, even if in some cases it was a bit uneven. The increases in mean energy intakes at successive values of the FGI scores were fairly consistent across sites, with the exception of the Philippines for which there was a substantially lower energy intake.Table 16 to 19 show correlations between restricted FGIs and estimated usual intakes of each micronutrient, by study site and for each physiological status.Correlations for non-restricted FGIs were generally weaker and more often non-significant; they are not presented here.Raw correlations (i.e. not controlling for energy) were statistically significant for almost all nutrients in almost all sites, regardless of the women's physiological status and of the FGI. Across all sites, there were between 11 percent (FGI-12R) and 24 percent (FGI-7R) nonsignificant correlations among NPNL women. These nonsignificant correlations were more frequent in the Ug1, Ban2 and Mozambique datasets, and more frequently for vitamin C, B6, B12 and iron.When energy intake was controlled for, correlations were attenuated and many more of them became The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report    non-significant. This was particularly visible for the Mozambique dataset, regardless of the physiological status and of the FGI. This probably means that higher quantities rather than higher variety of foods, or than more micronutrient-dense foods, drove micronutrient intakes more strongly in Mozambique than in other sites. This is consistent with previous observations about the very limited number of foods in the Mozambique diet and specifically with the lack of animal-source foods. There were also quite remarkable changes for Ug2 and sometimes Ug1 datasets, even with some correlations assuming a negative sign instead of a positive one (and remaining significant) when controlling for energy. In general, West African sites presented lower correlations than other African sites or Asian sites. However, one should keep in mind that sample size matters here. The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report a Data points representing fewer than ten women are not presented on the graph. a Data points representing fewer than ten women are not presented on the graph.Tables 20 -A and B show correlations between the food group diversity indicator and the MPA by study site and physiological status for the eight FGIs (FGI-7, FGI-9, FGI-10E and FGI-12, restricted and not).Without controlling for energy, correlations between FGIs and MPA ranged from 0.10 to 0.57 among NPNL women and from 0.02 to 0.53 among lactating women. These correlations were significant in almost all sites, with the exception of some non-restricted indicators, mainly in rural Burkina Faso. Correlations were almost always higher for restricted (from 0.24 to 0.57) than for non-restricted (from 0.10 to 0.48) FGIs. On average, correlations were the highest for the first Bangladesh site, the second Ugandan site, the Mozambique and the Mali and the lowest for the rural Burkina Faso and the first Philippines site.          Moving forward on choosing a standard operational indicator of women's dietary diversity 50The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report  Moving forward on choosing a standard operational indicator of women's dietary diversity 52The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report   Moving forward on choosing a standard operational indicator of women's dietary diversity 54The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report When energy was controlled for, correlations tended to be attenuated and some of them became not significant (most often for FGI-7 and among lactating women). This attenuation was most noticeable for the Ug2 dataset. But there were quite a few exceptions where correlations increased slightly (notably for Ug1, Mali, Phi and Ban2 datasets). Correlations adjusted for energy intake ranged from 0.12 to 0.52 and were still higher for restricted (from 0.12 to 0.52) than for non-restricted FGIs (0.02 to 0.40) and for NPNL women (from 0.09 to 0.52) than for lactating women (from 0.02 to 0.38).In the BF2 dataset the difference between correlations for non-restricted FGIs (weak and non-significant) and restricted ones (strong and highly significant) was striking, whether energy was controlled for or not. This could come from the consumption of small quantities of several foods, probably put as ingredients in sauces (e.g. groundnut paste, pepper, fish, sometimes altogether but all in small quantities so that women tended to get < 15g of each). This would then lead to increased FGI scores without an increase of the MPA by the same magnitude.Correlations generally increased with the disaggregation of the FGI meaning they were higher for FGI-12 than for FGI-10E, FGI-9, then FGI-7, in that order. This pattern tended to be more visible when energy was   C and D) by study site. All figures 16 A possible explanation would be that higher correlations for more highly disaggregated FGIs are mainly driven by the association of FGIs with quantity (overall, correlations with energy are also higher for higher disaggregation), and not so much by the association of FGIs with micronutrient density; consequently, when taking the energy/ quantity component out, not so much difference would remain among correlations of MPA with FGIs of varying levels of disaggregation.show fairly consistent patterns and positive slopes. However, there were quite uneven relationships in some datasets and for some FGI, sometimes for NPNL women, sometimes for lactating women. These uneven relationships did not follow a clear pattern. It seems there is a tendency of more uneven relationships for FGI that are more disaggregated, and for some datasets (BF1, Ban1, Mozambique, principally; also Ban2, BF2, Philippines, but to a lesser extent; more rarely for Ug1, Ug2, Mali). This is probably an effect of the distribution of MPA values across different FGI levels and the fact that data points with fewer than ten observations are not shown. These uneven relationships do not appear The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report to be linked to the total sample size of the dataset nor to the strength of the correlation.Overall, the relationship was rather similar for the eight FGIs considered.Tables 21 -A and B and Tables 22 -A and B provide results from simple linear regressions on MPA for each site, from models including age, height (when available) and FGI, and both with or without energy intake in the model. When energy intake was not in the models, the coefficients for the FGIs were almost always significant (with the exception of most of the non-restricted FGIs in BF2, where coefficients were significant only for FGI-10E and FGI-12 among NPNL women). Coefficients represent the increase in MPA, or transformed MPA, associated with an increase of one point of the corresponding FGI. Those coefficients are therefore not readily comparable since depending on whether MPA was transformed (or not) it does not correspond to an increase of the same magnitude.Correlation coefficients were attenuated when total energy intake was added in the model, but almost all coefficients remained significant for NPNL women (exceptions were in    Mozambique for all FGIs, except FGI-10E, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R, and in BF2 for FGI-10E and FGI-12; Table 21).For lactating women, coefficients remained significant except for the FGI-7 in the Ban1, Ban2 and Mozambique datasets, for the FGI-10E in the Ban1 dataset, and for the FGI-12 in the Ban1 and Mozambique sites. The decrease in coefficients highlights that part of the positive relationship between diversity scores and MPA is in fact due to the increase in energy (i.e. quantity of foods consumed) 17 . 17It has to be noted that regression coefficients were attenuated without any exception when controlling for energy while there were quite a few exceptions to this for correlations (see Section 7.9). The All adjusted R² were significant except for the FGI-7 in the Mozambique site and for most of the non-restricted FGIs in BF2. For the coefficients of the FGI, R² was significant only for FGI-10E and FGI-12 among NPNL women Table 22. Generally speaking, the adjusted R² s were quite good. They were slightly higher for restricted than for non-restricted FGIs and largely higher when energy was in the model. For NPNL women, without energy in the model they ranged from 0.03 to 0.24 for fact that BLUP of energy was used for the correlation analysis, while simple day 1 energy intakes was used for the regression analysis might explain these somewhat divergent results.   non-restricted FGIs, and from 0.08 to 0.33 for restricted FGIs. When energy was accounted for, they ranged from 0.32 to 0.66 for non-restricted FGIs, and from 0.36 to 0.67 for restricted FGIs. Corresponding values for lactating women were lower: from 0.00 to 0.17 (nonrestricted FGIs) and from 0.03 to 0.28 (non-restricted FGIs) when energy was not in the model; and from 0.01 to 0.68 (non-restricted FGIs) and from 0.02 to 0.69 (nonrestricted FGIs) when energy was controlled for.FGIs can be presented as quasi-continuous or as dichotomous indicators, yielding prevalence estimates for the proportion of the population below/above a specified cutoff of the FGI. For communication and advocacy purposes, dichotomous indicators may be preferred and necessary. In order to assess the performance of dichotomous indicators, cutoffs must be selected both for MPA and FGIs. Indicators can only be assessed for MPA cutoffs that are reached by a non-  negligible proportion of women. Table 23 summarizes the proportion of women above selected cutoffs of MPA in each site.Table 24 shows the area under the receiver-operating curve (AUC) for each indicator, in each site and for each of the three MPA cutoffs for NPNL women. The AUC summarizes the predictive power of each indicator across all possible FGI cutoffs. An AUC of 0.50 represents a neutral value (no predictive power). A statistically significant AUC indicates predictive power, but AUC can be statistically significant even when predictive power is weak. As already stated, because of the various sample sizes across datasets, levels of significance should be interpreted cautiously. As a rule of thumb, we considered an AUC ≥ 0.70 to indicate some promise for the indicator.Results were consistent with those for correlations and regressions. In 87 percent of the pairwise comparisons, they showed higher AUCs when the 15g restriction was applied. Divergent cases came mainly from Ban1, BF1 and Mozambique datasets. Because this result strongly favours restricted indicators, analyses regarding AUCs will be further presented (or commented) mainly for those restricted indicator.    Chapter 7: ResultsThe \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report    Moving forward on choosing a standard operational indicator of women's dietary diversity 62The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report Figures 13 -A to C illustrates these results for the four restricted FGIs. They give a visual appreciation of the level and significance of AUCs for these restricted FGIs across all datasets and at various levels of the MPA threshold.With the MPA > 0.50 threshold, all AUCs were significant. AUCs for FGI-10ER and FGI-12R tended to be higher than those for FGI-9R followed by those for FGI-7R.With the MPA > 0.60 threshold, the AUCs were not significantly different from 0.50 for all indicators of the Ban2 dataset (noting that there was less than five women reaching this level of MPA in this particular dataset). The AUCs tended to be slightly higher for FGI-10ER than for FGI-12R, followed by FGI-9R and then by FGI-7R.With the MPA>0.70 threshold, the Ban2 dataset had no woman reaching this level. Among the eight remaining datasets, AUC was not significant for the Mozambique except for FGI-12R. Otherwise AUCs values followed approximately the pattern described above.The statistical paired-comparisons between AUCs from the different FGIs, within each country, are displayed in Tables 25 -A to I and a summary of differences that were found statistically significant is given in Tables 26 -A and B.From Table 26 -A it can be seen that, with the MPA > 0.50 threshold, AUCs for FGI-7R were significantly lower than AUCs for FGI-9R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R in 3, 2 and 3 datasets, respectively. Similarly, AUCs for FGI-9R were significantly lower than AUCs for FGI-7R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R in 1, 3 and 1 datasets, respectively. AUCs for FGI-10ER were significantly lower than AUCs for FGI-7R The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report                and FGI-9R for the Mali dataset only. The AUC for FGI-12R was significantly lower than the AUC for FGI-9R in the BF2 dataset only.With the MPA > 0.60 threshold, AUCs for FGI-7R were significantly lower than AUCs for FGI-9R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R in 4, 2 and 1 datasets, respectively. AUCs for FGI-9R were significantly lower than AUCs for FGI-10ER and FGI-12R in 2 and 1 datasets, respectively. AUCs for FGI-10ER were significantly lower than AUCs for FGI-7R, FGI-9R and FGI-12R in 1, 2 and 1 datasets, respectively. The AUCs for FGI-12R were not significantly lower than AUCs for any other dataset.With the MPA > 0.70 threshold, AUCs for FGI-7R were significantly lower than AUCs for FGI-9R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R in the Ug2 dataset only. AUCs for FGI-9R were significantly lower than AUCs for FGI-7R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R in 1, 1 and 2 datasets, respectively. The AUC for FGI-10ER was significantly lower than the AUC for FGI-12R in the Philippines dataset only and the AUC for FGI-12R was significantly lower than the AUC for FGI-10ER in the BF2 dataset only.Overall, comparisons of AUCs across restricted FGIs and the various thresholds of MPA were clearly at the disadvantage of FGI-7R and, but to a lesser extent, also at the disadvantage of FGI-9R. AUCs values were less distinguishable between FGI-10ER and FGI-12R although FGI-12R performed slightly better against FGI-7R and FGI-9R.For non-restricted FGIs (Table 26 -B) this overall picture is deeply accentuated, with FGI-10E and FGI-12 performing almost the same, clearly above FGI-9 and even more clearly above FGI-7.The performance of food group indicators can be assessed through a sensitivity -specificity analysis, examining error rates of classification across a range of FGI cutoffs and for various MPA cutoffs (Table 28). Box 1 provides an explanation of indicator characteristics, specifically as used in this context.Table 27 summarizes all combinations of MPA threshold/FGI cutoff that met the criteria used to define a \"best\" cutoff. Tables 28 to 31 show a summary of the results of the sensitivity -specificity analyses for the restricted and non-restricted indicators, respectively, among NPNL women in all countries. Appendix 7 to 14 provide details for each study site. There was a relationship between the range of FGI values observed in the datasets and their \"best\" FGI cutoff. For example, Mali, exhibiting high diversity scores, had higher \"best\" FGI cutoffs. As a rule of thumb, the \"best\" FGI cutoff was determined for each MPA threshold by considering the following characteristics:• Rate of misclassification: should be ≤ 30 percent; still considered if ≤ 40 percent; • Sensitivity and specificity: should be ≥ 60 percent; still considered if one of the two only is ≥ 50 percent; • At least ten women should have reached the MPA threshold to give some robustness to the analysis; still considered if at least one woman did so.We observed that the higher the MPA threshold, the lower the proportion of misclassification and the higher the sensitivity.Across all sites, FGI-12R and FGI-10ER were those presenting more combinations of MPA threshold/ FGI cutoff that fully met all the above criteria (i.e. misclassification ≤ 30 percent, sensitivity and specificity ≥ 60 percent, and at least ten women reaching the MPA threshold). Indeed, there were five of these combinations for FGI-12R (from 3 different datasets: Ban1, BF2, Ug2) and FGI-10ER (but from two different datasets only: Ban1, BF2) while there were only three of them for FGI-9R (from two different datasets: Ban1, Mali) and one for FGI-7R (from Mali), see Table 27.In six cases (from five different datasets) for the FGI-12R, the rate of misclassification was at or below 30 percent but either sensitivity or specificity was < 60 percent (though still ≥ 50 percent). Such combinations occurred in four cases for FGI-10ER (from three datasets), in three cases for FGI-9R (from three datasets) and in two cases for FGI-7R (two datasets). The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report Box 1.Predicting Higher Diet Quality: Indicator CharacteristicsBecause we are trying to \"predict\" higher (better) MPA (above the cutoff), indicator characteristics have different interpretations than they do when the aim is to assess risk, which is the more standard use in epidemiology.In this case, sensitivity assesses the proportion of all those who truly have better MPA who are identified by the indicator. Specificity assesses the proportion of those who truly have lower MPA who are identified by the indicator.There are always trade-offs between sensitivity and specificity; which one should be \"favoured\" depends on the intended uses of the indicator and sometimes on other factors, such as level of resources available for helping those identified as in need. For our purposes -the development of indicators to assess and compare diet quality for women and to track change across time -it is reasonable to aim for a balance between sensitivity and specificity, but to favour specificity when trade-offs must be made.This means that we prefer to be certain to identify all those with low MPA and are willing to accept that some women with better MPA are classified incorrectly. The alternative would be to accept more women with low MPA but classified as \"better.\"There are no fixed criteria for determining what absolute levels of sensitivity, specificity and misclassification may be acceptable. The costs and risks of misclassification depend on the use of the indicator. In general, yardsticks for population-level assessment may have lower requirements (i.e. more misclassification could be tolerated) than would indicators used to differentially allocate resources or to trigger action. Indicators used at the individual level (e.g., in screening) may have even higher requirements.For the purposes of the WDDP-I, and then WDDP-II, we aimed to minimize misclassification but considered levels of misclassification at or below 30 percent to be acceptable. *Arimond, et al., 2011 When assuming that the rate of misclassification could be > 30 percent but still ≤ 40 percent with both sensitivity and specificity above 60 percent, the FGI-10ER presented nine such combinations of MPA threshold/FGI cutoff (from five datasets) while the FGI-12R had six (from five datasets), the FGI-9R had three (from three datasets) and the FGI-7R had three (from three datasets).The rate of misclassification was > 30 percent but still ≤ 40 percent with either sensitivity or specificity below 60 percent but still above 50 percent for 11 combinations based on the FGI-12R (from seven datasets), for five combinations based on the FGI-10ER (from four datasets), for ten combinations based on the FGI-9R (from six datasets) and for six combinations based on the FGI-7R (from five datasets).In sum, there was no restricted FGI with a cutoff that met acceptable criteria for any MPA threshold across all The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report  Misclassification ≤ 30%; specificity ≥ 0.60 and sensitivity < 60% but still ≥ 50%. d Misclassification ≤ 30%; sensitivity ≥ 0.60 and specificity < 60% but still ≥ 50%. e Misclassification > 30% but still ≤ 40%; both sensitivity and specificity ≥ 60%. f Misclassification > 30% but still ≤ 40%; specificity ≥ 60% and sensitivity < 60% but still ≥ 50%. g Misclassification > 30% but still ≤ 40%; sensitivity ≥ 60% and specificity < 60% but still ≥ 50%.Moving forward on choosing a standard operational indicator of women's dietary diversity 78The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report   In selecting the \"best\" cutoff, we considered the balance of sensitivity and specificity, with a preference for specificity; we also considered the total rate of misclassification (which is indicated in parentheses for each site's \"best\" cutoff).bBold font indicates rate of misclassification ≤ 30%; Italic font indicates ≥ 10 women reaching the MPA level; Pink highlighting indicates both sensitivity and specificity ≥ 60%; Green highlighting indicates specificity ≥ 60% and sensitivity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; Brown highlighting indicates sensitivity ≥ 60% and specificity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; When either sensitivity or specificity was < 50% or rate of misclassification was above 40%, no \"best\" cutoff was selected.  In selecting the \"best\" cutoff, we considered the balance of sensitivity and specificity, with a preference for specificity; we also considered the total rate of misclassification (which is indicated in parentheses for each site's \"best\" cutoff).bBold font indicates rate of misclassification ≤ 30%; Italic font indicates ≥ 10 women reaching the MPA level; Pink highlighting indicates both sensitivity and specificity ≥ 60%; Green highlighting indicates specificity ≥ 60% and sensitivity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; Brown highlighting indicates sensitivity ≥ 60% and specificity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; When either sensitivity or specificity was < 50% or rate of misclassification was above 40%, no \"best\" cutoff was selected. The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report In selecting the \"best\" cutoff, we considered the balance of sensitivity and specificity, with a preference for specificity; we also considered the total rate of misclassification (which is indicated in parentheses for each site's \"best\" cutoff).bBold font indicates rate of misclassification ≤ 30%; Italic font indicates ≥ 10 women reaching the MPA level; Pink highlighting indicates both sensitivity and specificity ≥ 60%; Green highlighting indicates specificity ≥ 60% and sensitivity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; Brown highlighting indicates sensitivity ≥ 60% and specificity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; When either sensitivity or specificity was < 50% or rate of misclassification was above 40%, no \"best\" cutoff was selected. The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report In selecting the \"best\" cutoff, we considered the balance of sensitivity and specificity, with a preference for specificity; we also considered the total rate of misclassification (which is indicated in parentheses for each site's \"best\" cutoff).bBold font indicates rate of misclassification ≤ 30%; Italic font indicates ≥ 10 women reaching the MPA level; Pink highlighting indicates both sensitivity and specificity ≥ 60%; Green highlighting indicates specificity ≥ 60% and sensitivity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; Brown highlighting indicates sensitivity ≥ 60% and specificity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; When either sensitivity or specificity was < 50% or rate of misclassification was above 40%, no \"best\" cutoff was selected. The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report In selecting the \"best\" cutoff, we considered the balance of sensitivity and specificity, with a preference for specificity; we also considered the total rate of misclassification (which is indicated in parentheses for each site's \"best\" cutoff).bBold font indicates rate of misclassification ≤ 30%; Italic font indicates ≥ 10 women reaching the MPA level; Pink highlighting indicates both sensitivity and specificity ≥ 60%; Green highlighting indicates specificity ≥ 60% and sensitivity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; Brown highlighting indicates sensitivity ≥ 60% and specificity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; When either sensitivity or specificity was < 50% or rate of misclassification was above 40%, no \"best\" cutoff was selected. The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report In selecting the \"best\" cutoff, we considered the balance of sensitivity and specificity, with a preference for specificity; we also considered the total rate of misclassification (which is indicated in parentheses for each site's \"best\" cutoff).bBold font indicates rate of misclassification ≤ 30%; Italic font indicates ≥ 10 women reaching the MPA level; Pink highlighting indicates both sensitivity and specificity ≥ 60%; Green highlighting indicates specificity ≥ 60% and sensitivity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; Brown highlighting indicates sensitivity ≥ 60% and specificity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; When either sensitivity or specificity was < 50% or rate of misclassification was above 40%, no \"best\" cutoff was selected. The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report In selecting the \"best\" cutoff, we considered the balance of sensitivity and specificity, with a preference for specificity; we also considered the total rate of misclassification (which is indicated in parentheses for each site's \"best\" cutoff).bBold font indicates rate of misclassification ≤ 30%; Italic font indicates ≥ 10 women reaching the MPA level; Pink highlighting indicates both sensitivity and specificity ≥ 60%; Green highlighting indicates specificity ≥ 60% and sensitivity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; Brown highlighting indicates sensitivity ≥ 60% and specificity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; When either sensitivity or specificity was < 50% or rate of misclassification was above 40%, no \"best\" cutoff was selected. The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report  In selecting the \"best\" cutoff, we considered the balance of sensitivity and specificity, with a preference for specificity; we also considered the total rate of misclassification (which is indicated in parentheses for each site's \"best\" cutoff).bBold font indicates rate of misclassification ≤ 30%; Italic font indicates ≥ 10 women reaching the MPA level; Pink highlighting indicates both sensitivity and specificity ≥ 60%; Green highlighting indicates specificity ≥ 60% and sensitivity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; Brown highlighting indicates sensitivity ≥ 60% and specificity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; When either sensitivity or specificity was < 50% or rate of misclassification was above 40%, no \"best\" cutoff was selected. The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report sites. FGI-7R definitely performed worse than the others. For FGI-9R, a cutoff of five groups or more seemed to perform \"best\" more frequently, whatever the MPA threshold. In total, assuming original strict criteria could be relaxed (as described above), eight \"best\" cutoffs were identified for an MPA threshold > 0.50; seven for MPA > 0.60; five for MPA > 0.70. Considering FGI-10ER and FGI-12R, results seemed more consistent across datasets. A cutoff of five groups or more for the FGI-10ER and six groups or more for the FGI-12R performed \"best\" for an MPA level either > 0.60 or > 0.70. Generally speaking, the higher the MPA threshold, the less acceptable indicators were identified (whatever the MPA threshold and FGI cutoffs). Indeed, there were 10 and 12 such \"best\" cutoffs for FGI-10ER and FGI-12R at MPA > 0.50, respectively; corresponding figures were seven and ten at MPA > 0.60, and eight for both at MPA > 0.70 (see Tables 28 -A to 31 -A).Finally, it was possible to define a \"best\" dichotomous indicator for the following cases:• FGI-9R with a cutoff point of minimum five food groups: in four out of nine datasets with an MPA>0.50, five datasets with an MPA>0.60, four datasets with an MPA>0.70. • FGI-10ER with a cutoff point of minimum five food groups: in six out of nine datasets with a MPA>0.50, five datasets with an MPA>0.60, five datasets with an MPA>0.70. • FGI-12R with a cutoff point of minimum six food groups: in four out of nine datasets with a MPA>0.50, six datasets with an MPA>0.60, five datasets with an MPA>0.70.It should be noted that the above \"best cutoffs\" did not work at all for the Ban2, BF2 and Mozambique datasets, whatever the MPA threshold. For the two latter datasets, however, a cutoff point of four groups, or sometimes three groups (BF2) or five groups (Mozambique), worked for the three indicators, at various levels of MPA. For the Ban2 dataset, there was only a cutoff point of four groups that worked only with the FGI-9R for an MPA>0.50.The same analysis was performed for the non-restricted indicators (FGI-7, FGI-9, FGI-10E and FGI-12). As expected given the results of correlations and regression analyses and the AUC values, performances in terms of sensitivity -specificity analysis for the FGI-7, FGI-9, FGI-10E and FGI-12 were lower than those for FGI-7R, FGI-9R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R, respectively. The results for the non-restricted indicators are summarized in Tables 28 -B to 31 -B.In addition to the analysis of the performance of FGIs at the individual level, we looked at how well the prevalence at/above certain FGI cutoffs matched the prevalence above mean probability of adequacy (MPA) of 0.50, 0.60 and 0.70.The rationale for this analysis is that any dichotomous proxy indicator will be mainly used for deriving a prevalence rate at the population level (percentage of women consuming at least a given number of food groups), for monitoring trends and for comparing prevalence rates between regions or countries. It is very clear from the results presented above, as it was already clear from results of WDDP-I, that FGIs should not be used for screening and targeting at the individual level as this would require much better performance in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Thus, we concluded that emphasis should not be put exclusively on the ROC and sensitivity -specificity analysis for choosing the best indicator and cutoff.Correlation analysis, ROC analysis and sensitivityspecificity analysis described above identified promising FGIs (FGI-9R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R) and the \"best\" cutoff for each FGI across sites (five or more food groups for FGI-9R and FGI-10ER, and six or more for FGI-12R). Ideally, for each site, we would then like the prevalence at/above the FGI cutoff (\"FGI prevalence\") to equal the prevalence above anMPA threshold indicating acceptable micronutrient adequacy (\"MPA prevalence\").In practice, we would already be content if sites with higher FGI prevalence were also found to have higher MPA prevalence, and if low FGI prevalence corresponded to low MPA prevalence. This would be important for the intended uses of the indicator.Therefore, still for NPNL women only, we calculated \"MPA prevalence\" at the thresholds of 0.50, 0.60 and 0.70, The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report and the \"FGI prevalence\" for the three FGIs-R for their \"best\" cutoffs, and for the cutoffs right above and below the \"best\" cutoff. Results are displayed in Table 32. The average MPA prevalence at each MPA threshold was then graphically compared to the closest average FGI prevalence for each of the three indicators (Figure 14). The best matching of the average MPA prevalence and the average FGI prevalence at/above the \"best\" cutoff was found for MPA > 0.60, then for MPA > 0.70, then for MPA > 0.50.To further explore the relationships between MPA prevalence and FGI prevalence, they were plotted against each other for each FGI/cutoff combination and each MPA threshold across all sites. Direct scatter plots of prevalence rates and side-by-side histograms displaying prevalence rates for each site are presented in Figures 15 -A to 17 -C.Two sites with relatively high MPA prevalence and, in contrast, relatively low FGI prevalence clearly appeared as outliers: the Mozambique and BF2 datasets. For Mozambique, the survey was performed at the peak of the mango season when large amounts of mangoes were consumed. For rural Burkina Faso, the rather high MPA is partly explained by the consumption of large quantities of grains, mainly sorghum, quite rich in minerals (iron and zinc), and of some condiments made out of sorrel seeds. Therefore, in both cases, the MPA was driven by quantities rather than by diversity 18 .When considering the other seven sites, we found that the FGI-10ER (Figures 15 -B, 16 -B and 17 -B) and especially the FGI-12R (Figures 15 -C, 16 -C and 17 -C) aligned the sites with more complex diets and a higher mean number of food groups much better than the FGI-9R (Figures 15 -A, 16 -A and 17 -A); but there was not much difference for the two outliers and for the two Bangladesh sites with simpler diets and lower mean FGIs.The relationships between MPA prevalence and FGI prevalence were further examined through Spearman rank correlation analyses, with each site considered as one observation 19 . When all nine sites were used, no significant correlation was found. However, correlation coefficients tended to be higher for FGI-10ER and FGI-12R (Table 33 -A). When excluding the two outliers 18 These two sites were already recognized as outliers in other parts of the analysis. However, the remaining question is to what extent situations similar to these are frequently encountered -or not, in resource-poor settings, globally speaking.We must acknowledge that such an analysis on a limited number of data points raises caution about robustness. Statistical advice is being sought on whether methods such as bootstrapping can be used to put confidence intervals around the correlation coefficients.  (Moz and BF2), we observed significant correlations for FGI-10ER and FGI-12R, with coefficients ranging from 0.82 to 0.96 for the \"best\" cutoffs and MPA > 0.60 as well as MPA > 0.50, and from 0.71 to 0.93 for the \"best\" cutoffs and MPA > 0.70 (Table 33 -B).Given the intended use of the indicator, we explored in this last analysis how the quality of women's diet would be reflected by the various FGI prevalence rates.Before doing so, it is useful to recall the percentages of women reaching the various FGI cutoffs (i.e. what these FGI prevalence rates were) in each dataset (Table 34). Over all sites, there were 28 percent, 37 percent and 30 percent of women reaching the \"best\" cutoff of five groups for FGI-9R, five groups for FGI-10ER and six groups for FGI-12R, respectively. For FGI-9R this percentage varied from 1 percent to 43 percent depending on the site (from 18 percent to 43 percent without the two outliers, BF2 and Mozambique). For FGI-10ER the percentage varied from 5 percent to 58 percent depending on the site (from 23 percent to 58 percent without the outliers). For FGI-12R it varied from <1 percent to 51 percent depending on the site (from 18 percent to 51 percent without the outliers).We compared first the mean MPA among women reaching or not reaching the various FGI cutoffs, for all sites (Table 35 and Figure 18). Mean MPAs calculated over all sites were weighted according to sample sizes.For the \"best\" FGI-9R cutoff, over all sites, the mean MPA was on average 0.13 points 20 higher among women reaching the cutoff than among others. Depending on the site, this difference varied from 0.04 (BF2) to 0.15 points (Mali, Ug2). For both the \"best\" FGI-10ER and FG-12R cutoffs, over all sites, the mean MPA was on average 0.16 points higher among women reaching the cutoff than among others. Depending on The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report       Moving forward on choosing a standard operational indicator of women's dietary diversity 96The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report the site, this difference varied from 0.05 points (Ban2) to 0.20 (BF2) for FGI-10ER and from 0.01 (BF2) to 0.18 (Ug2) for FGI-12R.Then, to further gauge how the quality of women's diet would be reflected by the various FGI prevalence rates, we compared the percentages of women having consumed some nutrient-dense food groups between those reaching or not the various FGI cutoffs, for all sites.We decided to compare women having consumed at least 15g from:(i) at least one of the animal-source food groups from the list of 21 groups in Table 2 (Table 36 and Figure 19);(ii) at least two of the fruit and vegetable food groups (Table 37 and Figure 20); (iii) at least one of the legumes, nuts and seeds food groups (Table 38 and Figure 21).The mean percentages calculated over all sites were weighted according to sample sizes.As expected, in all datasets and whatever the FGI and the cutoff considered, there was a higher percentage of women having consumed the required number of all these nutrient-dense food groups among those women who reached the FGI cutoff than among those who did not. The very few exceptions to that were found for animal-source foods (ASF) in Mali for a FGI cutoff of four (both for FGI-9R and FGI-10ER) and for ASF in Mozambique for a cutoff of five or six for FGI-10ER.In those cases the difference and/or the sample size of one of the two groups were small. Another exception was that all women in the Ban2 dataset had consumed at least two of the fruits and vegetables food groups, whatever their FGI value.Over all datasets, the average percentage of women having consumed at least one ASF group was 20.9, 9.9 and 12.6 percentage points higher among women reaching the best FGI cutoff than among others, for FGI-9R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R, respectively. These differences varied considerably between datasets: from 0.2 percentage points (Philippines) to 55.3 percentage points (Ug2) for FGI-9R; from -0.3 percentage points (Mozambique) to 38.9 percentage points (Ug2) for FGI-10ER; and from 0.2 percentage points (Philippines) to 43.9 percentage points (BF2) for FGI-12R.Over all sites, the mean percent of women having consumed at least two of the fruit or vegetable food groups was 14.4, 17.4 and 15.6 percentage points higher among women reaching the best FGI cutoff than among others, for FGI-9R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R, respectively. These differences ranged from zero (Ban2) or <1 percentage point (Ban1) to 59.0, 59.8 and 55.8 percentage points (Philippines) for FGI-9R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12RFinally, over all datasets, the mean percent of women having consumed at least one of the legumes, nuts and seeds food groups was 13.8, 17.8 and 15.5 percentage points higher among women reaching the best FGI cutoff than among others, for FGI-9R, FGI-10ER and FGI-12R, respectively. These differences varied from 4.2 percentage points (Ug2) to 50.2 percentage points (Ban1) for FGI-9R; from 7.3 percentage points (BF1) to 49.1 percentage points (Ban1) for FGI-10ER; and from 2.6 percentage points (BF1) to 41.1 percentage points (Ban1) for FGI-12R.Overall, the differences were not negligible; they were more marked for ASF with the FGI-9R, and for fruits and vegetables and for legumes, nuts and seeds with the FGI-10ER. Together with the differences in mean MPA, they gave a sense of the nutritional meaning of dichotomous indicators.In terms of nutritional meaning, however, it should be noted that the FGI-12R includes the disaggregation of all starchy staples into grains and other starchy staples, which is not meaningful from a nutritional point of view. It includes also the disaggregation of flesh foods into meat and fish. However, promotion of consumption of these two food groups on the same day is not recommended because of environmental concerns. It was therefore suggested that despite slightly better results for FGI-12R in most of the analyses, only FGI-9R and FGI-10ER should be considered for recommendation at the global level.  T his report presents the results of a large set of analyses performed on nine datasets over six countries with the aim of identifying a standard operational indicator of women's dietary diversity that could be recommended for global use. The results described above are purely technical. However, any recommendation must take into account many other, more practical considerations. This chapter will give first a summary of technical results which then will be weighed against other criteria to provide some recommendations. As envisaged from the beginning of the project these recommendations will then be brought up to a wide group of stakeholders to look for a consensus on final choice and decision.The search for a standard operational indicator of women's dietary diversity presented in this report has proven to be difficult. First, the analysis could be performed for only nine out of the 11 datasets that were gathered. The main reason was that the food composition tables were incomplete for the Indian dataset and for the second dataset from the Philippines. Thus the analysis finally involved nine datasets over six countries, among which five (from five countries) were included in WDDP-I. A further concern is that a large rate of exclusion had to be consented for the first Philippines dataset since it was decided to apply Goldberg criteria to all datasets. However results from this reduced dataset did not show any unexpected pattern.The initial objective of this work was to look for a cutoff to define a standard dichotomous indicator based on the nine-group indicator currently recommended by FAO and FANTA and used in several USAID programmes.Somewhat mixed results regarding this objective triggered the search for alternate food group indicators. Through an analysis of the contribution of food groups and sub-groups to the MPA, two new food group indicators were selected as the most promising (FGI-10E and FGI-12). A seven-group indicator similar to the one currently recommended for assessing IYCF practices was also considered.Overall, key results from WDDP-I were confirmed. There were low levels of MPA in almost all settings, revealing rather poor diets. Among NPNL women the highest mean MPA were 0.58 and 0.60 in the Ug2 and Ug1 datasets, respectively; the lowest MPA were 0.34 and 0.36 in the Ban1 and BF1 datasets, respectively. Correlations between FGIs and MPA were almost always significant but only moderately strong. Better results were almost systematically observed when the 15g restriction was applied.The performance of FGI-Rs in predicting MPA, as assessed through the ROC analysis, remained modest; however an AUC value of 0.70 was reached in a non-negligible number of cases. The sensitivity -specificity analysis allowed identification of a best cutoff of the various FGIs that performed correctly in a sufficient number of datasets and at different MPA levels. There were slight differences between the candidate indicators, with a tendency of higher performance for the more disaggregated FGIs (i.e. FGI-12R > FGI-10ER > FGI-9R > FGI-7R). However, only few differences were statistically significant, with the only strong result that the FGI-7R performed significantly lower than the others. This indicator was therefore excluded from the rest of the analysis.In the end, at various MPA levels a cutoff point of five groups was defined a \"best\" dichotomous indicator The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report for FGI-9R and FGI-10ER and a cutoff point of six groups was defined a \"best\" dichotomous indicator for FGI-12R. However, these \"best cutoffs\" did not work for the Ban2, BF2 and Mozambique datasets, whatever the MPA threshold.While the above results apply at the individual level, the main intended use of any dichotomous proxy indicator of dietary diversity would be at the population level. Therefore we looked at the matching between the prevalence of women at or above FGI cutoffs and the prevalence of women above the various MPA thresholds. The best matching of the average (over all sites) MPA prevalence and the average FGI prevalence at/above the \"best\" cutoff was found for MPA > 0.60. Graphically, as well as through use of non-parametric tests, the relationships between both types of prevalence estimates was stronger for FGI-12R, followed by FGI-10ER, then FGI-9R, admitting that two datasets (BF2 and Mozambique) can be considered as outliers.Finally, non-negligible differences in the mean MPA and in the frequency of consumption of nutrient-dense food groups were found between women at-or-above the FGI best cutoff and women below that cutoff, for the three indicators. This highlights the nutritional meaning of the dichotomous food group indicators at the best cutoff we determined.All the above results were carefully and extensively reviewed and discussed against other than technical criteria, notably the nutritional meaning of the dichotomous indicators, their possible use/misuse at the global or programmatic level and their practical advantages/drawbacks in terms of operationalization or communication.Considering both technical and other considerations described above, the WDDP-II group makes the following recommendations:(v) While acknowledging somewhat mixed conclusions from the sensitivity -specificity analysis, at the individual level, results are consistent enough to recommend the use of a dichotomous food group indicator for global uses.(vi) FGI cutoffs of five groups for FGI-9R, five groups for FGI-10ER and six groups for FGI-12R can be recommended as reasonable predictors of an MPA>0.60. However, since disaggregations required for constructing the FGI-12 entail nutritional or environmental drawbacks, only FGI-9R and FGI-10ER are proposed for further consideration.(vii) Reaching an MPA level of 0.60 is not optimal but can be considered as a \"minimum dietary diversity\" (final denomination to be discussed), notably given the yardstick of a mean MPA of 0.83 estimated among a sample of German women with no food access restriction.(viii) The suggested dichotomous FGIs would work well enough to be able to track changes in dietary diversity across countries and regions, thus contributing to monitoring progress at the global level. They are on the other hand strongly not recommended for individual screening. Whether FGIs can be recommended for programmatic uses still needs to be debated and would likely depend on the scale of programmes.   Sample sizes specified here correspond to the size of the sample as considered for the analyses, i.e. after exclusions according to Goldberg method and other reasons described in the last row of this table.  T he following sections are derived from the WDDP-I protocol and present the parameters of the analysis that have not been modified for the purpose of this second project.The objective of reporting intakes of energy and macronutrients is to provide a general, qualitative description of diets. Our focus on micronutrient adequacy leaves aside questions of energy adequacy. While we do not plan to focus on energy adequacy, we propose to describe energy intakes in each dataset and compare them with requirements as a rough yardstick of adequacy, at the level of the sample (not individual women or observation days). We will use the FAO and WHO energy requirements (FAO, 2004) for this purpose. In the same way, macronutrient intakes will be presented as percent of kilocalories and compared with recommended ranges.Table A2 -1 below shows descriptive statistics that will be presented at best -depending on what is available in each dataset -and WHO recommendations that will be considered for comparison. When possible, we will present descriptive statistics for protein from animal-source foods and plant-source foods separately, as this relates both to protein quality and, probably more importantly, to bioavailability of several micronutrients. At a minimum, descriptive statistics can be report for energy, total protein, total carbohydrate, and total fat.In addition to describing energy intakes and comparing to requirements, energy intakes will be controlled for in some analyses of the relationship between diet diversity and micronutrient adequacy. This is because in many previous studies, energy intakes have been shown to increase with increases in dietary diversity (Ogle, et al., 2001;Foote, et al., 2004;Torheim, et al., 2004). We want to be able to understand to what extent any observed increases in micronutrient intakes are due to increases in quantity as compared to increases in micronutrient density.Considerations included known public health relevance, as well as availability of nutrient data both in datasets collected by the potential collaborators, and in a range of food composition tables likely to be used.In previous work with infants and young children, we used a set of \"problem\" nutrients identified in a global review (WHO and UNICEF, 1998). However, it is known that poor pregnancy outcomes can result from a wide range of micronutrient deficiencies, including deficiencies in iron, folate, B vitamins, antioxidants, vitamin D, and iodine (Allen, 2005).Similarly, low maternal intake or stores during lactation can also affect breast milk levels of B vitamins, vitamin A, and iodine. In addition, low intakes of calcium have also been documented among women of reproductive age (Bartley, et al., 2005). Consequences for child-bearing and lactation are not the only concerns; micronutrient deficiencies affect women's health from adolescence through aging. The group agreed on the following list of micronutrients:Vitamin D had been considered but was dropped both because it does not have an estimated average requirement (EAR) and because of absence from many food composition tables. Similarly, reliable data on iodine content of foods are generally not available. The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report Values for EAR are adjusted for an assumed bioavailability (WHO, 2004). Thus, EAR refers to intake of the nutrients and not the physiological need for the absorbed nutrient.c All SDs were calculated based on EAR and CV (SD=CV*EAR/100). CV is assumed to be 10% for all micronutrients except 15% for niacin (IOM, 2000), 20% for vitamin A (IOM, 2000), 12.5% for zinc (WHO, 2004), 9.4% and 30% for iron, for pregnant and lactating women respectively (IOM, 2000), 12.5% and 9% for calcium, for adults and adolescents women respectively (IOM, 2011).d One μg retinol equivalent (RE) is equal to 1 μg all-trans-retinol, 6 μg β-carotene and 12 μg α-carotene or β-cryptoxanthin (WHO, 2004). Note also the EAR for vitamin A refers to intake adequate to prevent the appearance of deficiency-related syndromes (WHO, 2004).e EAR taken from WHO and FAO (WHO, 2004).f EAR back-calculated from RNI (Recommended Nutrient Intake) (WHO, 2004).g EAR taken from IOM (2011).h Gives EAR on iron for two levels of absorption. According to WHO and FAO (WHO, 2004), either a very low (5%) or low (10%) absorption level can be assumed in a developing country setting.i EAR back-calculated from IOM (2000) on WHO and FAO guidance from a basis of 22 mg/d for an average bioavailability assumed to be 23%.  As suggested by IZiNCG (2004), two sets of requirements (one for both NPNL and pregnant women and one for lactating women) should be used depending on dietary patterns: 34%/44% for mixed diets or refined vegetarian diets; 25%/35% for unrefined cereal-based diets. The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report  2000) which gives probability of adequacy (PA) for various levels of iron intakes, using an iron bioavailability of 18%.Based on those figures, the PA for various levels of absorbed iron has been calculated, adjusted for a bioavailability of 10% and 5%.  IOM (2000) which gives probability of adequacy (PA) for various levels of iron intakes, using an iron bioavailability of 18%.Based on those figures, the PA for various levels of absorbed iron has been calculated, adjusted for a bioavailability of 10% and 5%. The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical ReportVitamin AAccording to WHO and FAO (WHO, 2004) the CV for vitamin A requirements is unknown, but IOM has used 20 percent. We use the EAR of WHO and FAO with a CV of 20 percent. For adolescents (ages 15-18), WHO and FAO give a range for the EAR of 330 -400 µg/d. We use the mid-point of this range.The WHO and FAO EAR for adolescents is lower than for adult women, and also lower compared to other recommendations. WHO and FAO also note that this EAR of 40 mg/d is \"arbitrary\". We therefore chose to use the EAR for adult women (45 mg/d) for adolescents.In 2004, IZiNCG presented revised dietary zinc requirements, including EAR 1 . It also estimated a CV for the requirement distribution of 12.5 percent, indicating a narrower requirement distribution than implied by the WHO and FAO 2 CV of 25 percent. Hotz assessed the internal validity of these new requirements and found that they predicted zinc status (Hotz, 2007). They also yielded similar estimates of prevalence of zinc deficiency as did biochemical indicators, including among pregnant and non-pregnant women. Therefore, since these requirements were adopted for the purposes of the WDDP-I, they were also used for the WDDP-II.As with the WHO and FAO requirements, researchers must choose a requirement depending on an assumption for absorption, which is based on knowledge of diet patterns and likely bioavailability. For mixed or refined vegetarian diets (with a phytate to zinc molar ratio of 4-18) an absorption level of 34 percent is suggested for both NPNL and pregnant women and an absorption level of 44 percent for lactating women. For high phytate, unrefined cereal-based diets (molar ratio greater than 18), an absorption level of 25 percent 1 IZiNCG 2004. is suggested (IZiNCG, 2004). Note that the level of absorption IZiNCG suggests for high phytate diets (25 percent) is considerably higher than the absorption level suggested by the WHO and FAO requirements document (15 percent). The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical ReportD ata source: Report on the findings of a nationally representative dietary study in Germany in 2005-2006, Part II, Annex Tables A. 34, 39-45, 48, 50, and53 on percentiles of dietary intakes of vitamin A, vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, calcium, iron, and zinc, pp.245-264 (Max Rubner-Institut, 2008). Reports from this study are only available in German, basic information in English is posted at http://www.was-esse-ich.de/index.php?id=44Fortification and supplementation: Basic staples are not fortified in Germany. Some breakfast cereals, beverages and special dietetic products are fortified, and this was taken into account by the authors of the study for the nutrient intake calculations. Twenty-eight percent of all respondents (men and women 14-80 years) took supplements (Max Rubner-Institut, 2008). However, micronutrient intakes from supplements were not considered for estimating PA and MPA from the annex tables in the report. This was not possible because micronutrient intakes from supplements were presented in separate tables, and the findings could not be aggregated with the percentiles of micronutrient intakes from foods. It can be argued that for the purpose of estimating MPA as a reference point for the WDDP-II, using data for a population that is not economically constrained and does not benefit from general fortification of basic staples, it is preferable to neglect supplementation entirely.The main survey instrument was a computerized diet history interview over four weeks, which was complemented by a weighed record for a random subsample of respondents, and two 24-hour recalls via telephone (http://www. was-esse-ich.de/index.php?id=47). Although not stated explicitly in the report, it can be assumed that this information was used to derive the long-term, \"usual\" food and nutrient intakes of individuals.Sample size: 4 876 women were in the relevant age group 14-50 years (because of the specified age groups, the age range 14-50 years had to be used instead of 15-49 years as in the WDDP). The survey covered men and women 14-80 years. Information on pregnancy and lactation status was collected, but the annex tables are not disaggregated by physiological status. The vast majority of women 14-50 years can be assumed to be non-pregnant and non-lactating in Germany.Sampling weights: A complex weighting scheme was developed and applied to calibrate the demographic groups in the sample to the findings of the national census from 2007, and avoid that the results became distorted by varying degrees of non-response (Max Rubner-Institut, 2008, p.24f).Data quality: Among women of reproductive age, median energy intakes for the age groups 14-18, 19-24, 25-34, and 35-50 years varied between 1 870 and 1 966 kcal/day, and mean energy intakes between 1 948 and 2 108 kcal/day. Recommended daily intakes ranged from 2 500 kcal/day for females aged 14 years to 2 300 kcal/day for the age groups 25-34 and 35-50 years (Max Rubner-Institut, 2008). It is likely that energy intakes are downward biased by under-reporting, yet, this is probably not a large problem.Content of report tables: The annex tables in Max Rubner-Institut (2008) indicate the 5 th , 10 th , 25 th , 50 th , 75 th , 90 th and 95 th percentiles of nutrient intakes. They also provide the recommended daily intakes (RDI) by age group for Germany, Austria and Switzerland (referred to as \"D-A-CH\" in the tables, from the acronyms of these three countries), and the percentage below the RDI. Results for the PA of micronutrient intakes are not given.To approximately estimate PA and MPA, micronutrient intakes of German women aged 14-18, 19-24, 25-34 and 35-50 years were matched with the EARs for non-pregnant non-lactating (NPNL) females 15-18 and 19-65 years used in the WDDP-II (see WDDP-I protocol addendum from October 1 2008, and EARs for calcium from IOM 2011). The percentage of women with intakes below the EAR was then estimated by applying the EAR cutpoint method to the percentiles.The calculation of the PA was simple in case the EAR coincided with one of the percentile values. For example, the EAR of thiamin for NPNL females is 0.9 mg/day, which equals the 25 th percentile of thiamin intakes of women 19-24 years in Max Rubner-Institut (2008). It was therefore assumed that 25 percent of women in this age group had thiamin intakes below their EAR. The probability of inadequacy (\"PI\") of thiamin intakes of women 19-24 years was consequently estimated at 25 percent, and the probability of adequacy (\"PA\") at 75 percent.If the EAR fell between two percentile values, the percentage of women between the percentiles was divided up. A simplified approach was used for this purpose, assuming that the number of women increased linearly with the micronutrient intake between the percentile values (in reality, increases in the number and percentage of observations between the percentile thresholds are not linear for the skewed distribution of micronutrient intakes or any normal distribution, because observations are clustered around the median). For example, for women 25-34 years, the 10 th percentile (P10) of vitamin B 12 intakes was 1.9 mg/day, and the 25 th percentile (P25) 2.7 mg/day. The EAR for NPNL women 15-65 years is 2.0 mg/day. The PI was computed as follows: PI = (EAR-P10) / (P25-P10) * 15 + 10 = (2.0-1.9) / (2.7-1.9) * 15 + 10 = 11.875The value of 15 represents the percent of women between the 10 th and 25 th percentile. A fraction of these 15 percent is calculated and added to the 10 percent of women in the 10 th percentile. The PA is then derived as: PA = 100 -PI = 88.125Aggregation: After estimating the PA for each age group, the aggregate PA for women 14-50 years was calculated, weighting the PA for each age group by the number of women in each group. Sampling weights could not be applied, because they were not provided in the report.For calcium, the above approach to determine the percent of women at certain intake thresholds was fitted to the method by Foote et al. (2004), which had been applied to the adequate intake of calcium in the WDDP-I. This was done in addition to deriving the PA from the EAR of calcium following the method described above.PA of iron: For iron, tentative estimates of PA were computed by inserting the midpoints of the skewed requirement distributions of NPNL women 15-18 and 19-50 years in place of the EARs. To take into account the skewed distribution of iron requirements and obtain a better estimate of PA, the tables in IOM ( 2001) were used, estimating the percent of women falling between the thresholds for each level of PA. The same level of iron absorption of 18 percent as given in IOM ( 2001) was assumed for Germany.MPA: MPA is computed by averaging the estimated PA across 11 micronutrients (vitamin A, vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B 6 , folate, vitamin B 12 , calcium, iron, and zinc).Unknown physiological status: Because the annex tables provide results for all women and the proportion of lactating and pregnant women is unknown and likely to be very low, the EARs for NPNL women were used. Because pregnant and lactating women have higher EARs than NPNL women, this could result in a slight overestimation of MPA for all women. The magnitude of this error is probably very small.The neglect of sampling weights when aggregating the PA for the age groups 14-18, 19-24, 25-34 and 35-50 years is one potential source of error. To assess the likely size of this error, the percentages of women below the RDI were copied from the report (Max Rubner-Institut, 2008) for all age groups, including the ages 51-64 and 65-80 years.The percentage below the RDI was then aggregated for all age groups based on the number of women in each group, corresponding to what was done for the PA. The aggregated value for percent below the RDI was compared to the percent of all women below the RDI given in the report. The differences were minimal, ranging from -0.3 to 0.3 percentage points. This suggests that the neglect of sampling weights is a very minor source of error. Simplified assumption about the distribution of intakes: Another source of error is the simplified assumption about the distribution that is used for dividing up the percent of women if the EAR falls between percentile values. To obtain an impression about the likely magnitude of this error, the above method to estimate percent below the EAR (that is, the PI) from the percentiles was applied to estimate percent below the RDI. These estimates were then compared to the actual percent below the RDI given in the report tables.At the level of the age group, the deviations between the estimated and reported values for percent below the RDI ranged from -2.3 to 4.0 percentage points. When the two sets of values were aggregated for the four age groups to obtain an estimate of the percent of women 14-50 years with intakes below the RDI, the differences narrowed down, ranging from -1.2 to 2.2 percentage points. When averaging the percent of women with intakes below the RDI across all 11 micronutrients, the value obtained from the estimation method fell 0.4 percentage points below the value calculated from reported figures. Thus, it can be concluded that the effect of the simple estimation method on MPA is unlikely to be large; the error might be in the range of 1-2 percentage points.  H ere are presented the summary results of the analyses for FGI-9A, FGI-9B, FGI-9C and FGI-9D. Table A6 1 and 2 present the \"best\" cutoffs identified from the sensitivity -specificity analysis for the restricted and non-restricted FGIs.                                                  Green highlighting indicates both sensitivity and specificity ≥ 60%; Orange highlighting indicates specificity ≥ 60% and sensitivity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; Yellow highlighting indicates sensitivity ≥ 60% and specificity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; When either sensitivity or specificity was < 50% or rate of misclassification was above 40%, no \"best\" cutoff was selected.     Green highlighting indicates both sensitivity and specificity ≥ 60%; Orange highlighting indicates specificity ≥ 60% and sensitivity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; Yellow highlighting indicates sensitivity ≥ 60% and specificity < 60% but still ≥ 50%; When either sensitivity or specificity was < 50% or rate of misclassification was above 40%, no \"best\" cutoff was selected.Moving forward on choosing a standard operational indicator of women's dietary diversity 208The \"Women's Dietary Diversity Follow-up Project\" (WDDP-II) -Technical Report "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c70b57cd37a2999eedeecb7af725c43c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4940d0d8-a58f-4076-858a-ebc23b973925/retrieve","id":"1181646665"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"aa60bb75-b7dd-4681-8c83-bc9c4f6eed63","content":"A lot of studies have been made on adoption factors for new / innovative agricultural technologies, a good number of the reports, phD theses and other papers are listed in part 1 of this report.Part 2 is looking on adoption factors for improved forages technologies in Kenya. We have chosen a very down to earth approach based on informal interviews with farmers in Western and Central Kenya. This work is not claiming any scientific standard, but can be the base for further more detailed and structured research if it is judged useful, necessary and if the funds for such a work will be available.In the moment, this serves for a better understanding of the motivation of farmers taking up or not forages technologies and help to scale in large numbers the use of improved forages.Due to trainings, information and personal experiences a growing number of farmers do understand the necessity of proper feeding of their dairy cows, meaning they have experienced that the feeding regime does directly influence the productivity of the cows. Feeding the cows with dry maize residues is not showing the main results as feeding them e.g. with high quality fresh grass or with high quality hay or silage.The arguments pro and contra for planting the improved forages, the following is listing the statements we have been faced with in interviews. For taking up a new technology it must be simple to apply, available, accessible and affordable. This can only be influenced by CIAT in a limited way, even more important it is to work with partners which can ease the way to these improved forages for the farmers."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bf10defdf1492eaa71970b117cdb04af","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8e437273-c224-4a4e-9256-4a6ba8b85ca9/retrieve","id":"116649341"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1fdba74b-034b-4550-9a24-5d3f429df388","content":"El cultivo de antera. ha sido presentado como un medio útil para la obtención de lineas homocigotas en forma rápida.El Programa de Arroz del Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) ha venido trabajando en el desarrollo de un método sencillo para produci~ un volumen grande de material genético a través del cultivo de anteras. Se e.tudiaron forma. para mejorar la siembra y el medio de cultivo. Se ob.ervó que para reducir contaminación se debe trabajar con panicula. rec!en cosechadas I la sill!mbra se efectúa \"golpeando\" la. flores cortada. en su parte basal .obre los bordes de lo. frasco.. No se detectó interacci6n entre el medio de cultivo y el genotipo..e identificó el medio de extracto de papa + 4 ppm NAA + 1 ppm Kinetina como el más eficiente en la inducciÓn de callos.Se encontró que sometiendo anteras de variedades con capacidad androgénica a temperatura. de 80C por perido. de 5 a 13 dia. .e puede aumentar la formaciÓn de callos. De lo. cuatro solidificantes estudiados, Agar Comercial, Agarosa, Gel Rite y AlgOdón, el primero mostr6 tendencia a aumentar la mortalidad de callo. y disminuir la regeneraci6n de plantas en seis variedades.El método de siembra, el medio nutritivo y las condiciones ambientales que mostraron mayor eficiencia para la producción de plantas haploides dobladas se utilizaron para producir lineas tolerantes al frio y de buena calidad para Chile, y para estudiar la incidencia del cultivo de anteras sobre algunas característica •• Al Trabajo presentado en la XVIII. Reuniao da Cultura do Arroz.Porto Alegre, Brasil. Setembro 25-29/89 b/ FitomeJorador y Agrónomo del Programa de Arroz CIAT, respectivamente. A.A. 67-13. Cali-Colombia.Se ~an obtenido lineas pro.isorias para Chile, varias de las ~uales provienen del ~ultivo de anteras y se en~uentran en la etapa final de evalua~ión.El uso .u~esivo del ~ultivo de anteras no afecta significativamente el rendimiento de la. linea. resultantes. Hasta el momento los factores limitantes para el uso extensivo de la técnica de cultivo de anteras en mejoramiento de arroz son la alta proporción de plantas albinas y la po~a respuesta del germoplasma de riego.La obtención de lineas \"haploides dobladas\" (el namero de ~romosomas ocurre espont6neamente doblamiento durante el ~ultivo in vitro de las anteras) a través del cultivo de antera. constituye una técnica que puede utilizarse de distintas formas, la utilización m4s inmediata, y tal vez la mÁs importante, consiste en la obtención de homicigosis en menos de un a~o. El objetivo principal del Laboratorio de Cultivo de Anteras del Programa de Arroz del CIAT es utilizar dicha técnica como una herramienta adicional que complemente los métodos convencionales de mejoramiento.Por muchos años se ha venido sosteniendo que el cultivo de anteras de arroz tiene muchisima importancia, sin embargo, un gran vacio existe aan entre lateoria y la prÁctica. Si bien es cierto que en el Asia se ha obtenido algan éxito a través del uso de material genético del tipo Japónico, la técnica aan no ha sido incorporada en programas de mejoramiento de arroz como una prÁctica rutinaria. Esto se explica, entre otras cosas, porque (a) muy pocos genotipos responden bien al cultivo de anteras y (b) faltan métodos adecuados para generar el alto volumen de material genético que se requiere en un programa de mejoramiento. Por otra parte, en la literatura se mencionan varios casos en los cuales se ha asociado el cultivo de anteras con la presencia de ciertos caracteres negativos en los materiales obtenidos a través de esa técnica. desarrollo de una metodología apropiada en el Laboratorio de Cultivo de Anteras del Programa de Arroz y b) discutir su utilizaciOn en el desarrollo de germoplasma tolerante a temperaturas bajas por el Programa de Arroz del CIAT. Desarrollo de una Metodologia Apropiada en el Cultivo de Anteras.Con el fin de desarrollar un método sencillo y r~pido que permita prodUCir un volumen grande de material genético se realizaron estudios sobre el almacenamiento de panículas, métodos de siembra de anteras, efectos de la temperatura y medios de cultivo para la inducciOn de callos y regeneraciOn de plantas.Es bien sabido que la inducciOn de callos es mejor cuando las microsporas se encuentran en el estado unicleado tardío o binucleado temprano; si las anteras que llegan a ese estado se pudieran cosechar y guardar bajo condiciones asépticas, se dispondría de m~s tiempo para sembrarlas. Se estudiaron varios métodos de almacenamiento de las panículas pero siempre se encontrO una contaminaciOn bacterial muy alta; la contaminaciOn fue mínima cuando las panículas cosechadas se inmediatamente o a més tardar, al dia siguiente.En el cultivo de anteras este paso es uno de los m~s laboriosos y demorados. En un principio un técnico entrenado 5010 podía sembrar aproximadamente 1.500 anteras'dia, cantidad insuficiente para generar un volumen adecuado de líneas haploides (dobladas); por esta razOn se evaluaron varios métodos de siembra: la) siembra directa de las flores cortadas en su parte basal en el medio liquido de inducciOn; eb) igual al método anterior pero utilizando un agitador para extraer las anteras de las flores cortadas y (c) extracción de las anteras de las flores cortadas mediante \"golpecitos\" en el borde de los frascos.Con los métodos a y b se sembró un mayor número de anteras pero la contaminación por bacterias fue muy alta ()507.); el uso de esterilizantes y antibióticos redujo la contaminación a niveles aceptables pero se desconoce si afectan negativamente la capacidad de respuesta de los materiales. En promedio los tres medios tuvieron en la formación de callos el efecto que se observa en el Cuadro 1. Influencia de la Temperatura sobre la Inducción de Callos El porcentaje de inducción de callos es mayor cuando las anteras de las variedades japónicas se someten a temperaturas bajas, este tratamiento puede no ser adecuado en el caso de la variedades indicas susceptibles a temperaturas bajas. Se estudió el efecto de varias temperaturas (B, ~O, ~5 y 40oC) sobre la inducción de callos en las variedades CICA B. CICA 4, Oryzica 1 y Fanny; CICA 4 Y Oryzica 1 no respondieron, en tanto que la producción de callos en CICA B se incrementó cuando las anteras se sometieron a BoC durante 15 dias; Fanny (japónica) respondió muy bien pero la respuesta fué mejor cuando se trató durante 10 dias a BoC (Cuadro 2).Exposiciones cortas a ~O. 35 o 400C afectaron negativamente la formaciOn de callos en todas las variedades.Por otra parte, la temperatura a la cual se incuba el material también es importante, puesto que temperaturas mayores de 250C reducen la formación de callos a~n en Fanny.Los datos sugieren que la temperatura baja (aoC) puede estimular la producción de callos en materiales que poseen cierta capacidad androgénica (habilidad para producir callos) pero que no va a convertir un genotipo que no produce callos en uno que si produce, como es el caso de CICA 4 Y Oryzica l. Influencia de los 50lidificantes en la RegeneraciOn de Plantas.El ambiente, tanto físico como químico que rodea la etapa de regeneración de plantas, juega un papel muy importante. Por otra parte, el efecto residual del medio de inducción parece tener m4s influencia sobre la regeneración de plantas que el mismo medio de regeneración; los callos que permanecen expuestos al medio de inducciOn por mucho tiempo raras veces producen plantas.Por consigUiente, los callos deben sacarse del medio inductivo lo m4s pronto posible, pero no antes de alcanzar un tama~o adecuado; si se transfieren muy peque~os se mueren. Por lo tanto, medias que aseguren la sobrevivencia de esas callos son muy importantes. Se han evaluado varios medios de regeneración, pero ninguno ha sido mejor que el medio sólido Murashige-SkoDg (MS) el cual contiene 1 ppm NAA y 4 ppm Kinetina.Se estudiaron varios solidificantes y se determinó su influencia sobre la mortalidad de los callos y el porcentaje de regeneración de plantas (Cuadros 3 y 4). En general el agar comercial mostró cierta tendencia para producir mayor mortalidad de los callos, mientras que los agares mAs puros (Agarosa y Gel-rite) y el algodón ocasionaron menor mortalidad de callos y ademAs, incrementaron el porcentaje de regeneración de plantas.No obstante, en el caso del algodón se tuvo mayor dificultad en la remoción de las plAntulas regeneradas.Para las cinco variedades utilizadas no se observaron diferencias muy marcadas entre los cuatro medios utilizados (Cuadro 3) con respecto a la mortalidad de callos, pero la regeneración de plantas verdes en la variedad Col. 1 x M312A .s O en agar cpmercial, algodón y gel-rite y solo alcanza 2.57. en agarosa (Cuadro 4).Efecto del Cultivo de Antera. sobre el Rendimiento La literatura materiales genéticos cita varios casos obtenidos mediante en los el cultivo cuales,los de tejidos presentan ciertas caracteristicas negativas cuando se les compara con los cultivares que les dieron origen; en el caso del tabaco el cultivo de tejidos se traduce en una reducción del vigor y crecimiento; en arroz se reportó un incremento en la expresión del centro blanco en lineas obtenidas a través del cultivo de anteras; mientras que en cebada no se encontró ningún efecto negativo.Diez y nueve líneas RZ obtenidas a través del cultivo de anteras tomadas de plantas F2 y F3 provenientes de siete cruzamientos se utilizaron para producir 59 líneas (RZ de RZ) (es decir líneas procedentes de cultivos de anteras sucesivos) con el fin de determinar como influye el cultivo de anteras sobre el rendimiento. La evaluaci6n se hizo en CIAT bajo condiciones de fangueo y trasplante utilizando un diseño de bloques al azar con tres repeticiones; las parcelas tuvieron seis surcos de 5 m de largo y se siguieron las prácticas normales de cultivo en lo referente a la fertilizaci6n y control de malezas e insectos.El análisis estadístico indic6 que no hubo diferencias significativas entre padres (Lineas R2) e hijos (Líneas R2 de R2) (Cuadro 5).En otro ensayo se compar6 el rendimiento de 11 lineas F3, 37 líneas F4 y 42 lineas haploides dobladas; las lineas F3 dieron origen a las 37 líneas F4 a través del sistema de pedigree y a los 42 haploides doblados mediante el cultivo de anteras. Todo el material provino de los mismos siete cruzamientos. El ensayo de rendimiento se realiz6 en condiciones similares al anterior.El análisis estadistico y datos de rendimiento se presentan en los cuadros Los cruzamientos se manejaron tanto por el cultivo de anteras como por el método del pedigrí (Figura 2) lo cual permiti6 realizar ciertas comparaciones entre los materiales genéticos obtenidos a partir de ambos procedimientos y evaluar la potencialidad de la técnica de cultivo de anteras antes descrita. En general. los cruzamientos se trabajaron fÁcilmente a través de la técnica del cultivo de antera. gracias a su alta androgénical el porcentaje de inducción de callos fue el 9% de los callos produjeron capacidad del 37% y planta. aproKimadamente obteniéndose 941 cruzamientos (CT lineas haploid.s dobladas (Cuadro 10). Algunos 6741, CT 6746 y CT 6749) fueron superior.s a los otros en términos del número de lineas homocigotas obtenidas y potencial de las mismas. Los cruzamientos fueron muy e.térile. y sólo se obtuvieron 234 familias F2 en el método del pedigri. Tanto el material proveniente del cultivo de anteras como el generado a partir del método convencional del pedigri fueron seleccionados por tipo de planta, precocidad y calidad de grano en CIAT-Palmira. Se identificaron 190 lineas R3 y 270 lineas F5 que presentaban las caracteristicas deseada'l porte bajO, buen tipo de planta, precocidad, grano largo, delgado y translúcido, temperatura de gelatinización intermedia y contenido de .milosa entre 21 y 25%.La diferencia principal entre los dos procedimientos (anteras y convencional) fue el tiempo empleado en cada uno. Las lineas R2 se produjeron en nueve meses mientras que las lineas F5 requirieron cuatro generaciones (16-18 meses). Luego de las evaluaciones por tolerancia a temperaturas bajas en los estados de germinación, plántula y floración, vigor y potencial de rendimiento realizadas por el Programa de Arroz del INIA en el Centro Experimental Quilamapu, en Chillán, Chile se identificaron 55 lineas como promisorias (Cuadro 11). Semilla de este material se envió al IRRI para su inclusión en el 1 RCTN (Vivero Internacional de Tolerancia al Frio) y a varios programas nacionales de arroz (Brasil, Cuba, MéKico, Perú) y al IRAT para evaluaciones en distintas condiciones.Se realizó un ensayo bajo condiciones de campo en el Centro Experimental Quimalupu para determinar la tolerancia al frió de 59 lineas en la etapa reproductiva.En el Cuadro 12 se presentan aquellas líneas que son sim1lares a los testigos tolerantes al frio (Oro, Diamante, Quella y Perla) en la etapa reproductiva. la esterilidad de la panícula en los testiQos tolerantes fluctuó entre 17 y 33%, mientras que en los testigos susceptibles fué del 75 al 91X. La prueba se considera buena ya que las temperaturas observadas en el ~rea de Chill~n. Chile en esa misma época causó esterilidad en campos comerciales.Tanto lineas derivadas mediante el cultivo de anteras como por el sistema de pedigree mostraron tolerancia al fria.El programa de arroz del IIA (Instituto de Investigación del Arroz de Cuba) realizó una evaluación de 291 lineas por su tolerancia a temperaturas bajas en los estados de plAntula y reproductivo; en el Cuadro 13 se presentan las lineas seleccionadas como tolerantes en ambos estados; la mayoria de las lineas seleccionadas pertenecen a los cruzamientos CT 6744 (Q 66304/LemontllQ 65101) y CT 6749 (Q 663Q4/LemontIIDiamante). los testigos comerciales Amistad 82 y J-I04 fueron muy afectados por el fria. Dado que la producción de arroz en Cuba es afectada por ciertos factores limitantes distintos a 105 presentes en Chile. Uruguay y el Sur de Brasil. las lineas seleccionadas se estAn utilizando como progenitores con el fin de desarrollar germoplasma mas adecuado a sus necesidades especialmente para el ciclo de invierno (Octubre-Marzo) en el cual se presentan temperaturas frias. vientos fuertes y baja luminosidad.Por otra parte, también se realizaron ensayos de campo para determinar el potencial de rendimiento de lineas haploides dobladas en varios sitios en Chile; los datos se presentan en el Cuadro 14. El El Programa de Arroz del CIAT tiene la responsabilidad regional de asistir a los programas nacionales en el mejoramietno de la producción arrocera, sin embargo, en el caso del arroz riego 5embrado en la zona subtropical y templadas su acción se ha visto afectada por la localización tropical del CIAT. Por muchos a~os se ha tratado de producir germoplasma adecuado a las necesidades de Argentina, Chile, Sur del Brazil, Paraguay y Uruguay con resultados poco 5ati5factorios; entre los defectos más comunmente observado5 en los materiales provenientes del CIAT se cuentan el ciclo largo y la susceptibilidad a las bajas temperaturas. No obstante. los datos presentados indican la existencia de germoplasma mejorado tolerante a temperaturas bajas. de buena calidad de grano y ciclo temprano, este material utilizado convenientemente en cruzamientos con otros materiales de buena adaptación local puede servir de base para la obtención de germoplasma más apropiado a las condiciones de la región. Los datos también indican que el cultivo de anteras es un instrumento valioso para acelerar la obtención de dicho germoplasma. En coordinación con los programas de arroz de Chile, Cuba y del IRGA se están programando y procesando via cultivo de anteras cruzamientos que presentan las combinaciones siguientes:1.Material chilenollineas enanas sabana//material chileno 2.Material chileno/lineas IRGA//lineas enanas sabana 3.Material chileno/lineas enanas sabana//lineas IRGA .4.Material chileno/material cubano/lmaterial chileno Se trata de aprovechar la buena respuesta al cultivo de anteras del material chileno y de las lineas enanas de sabana) además, el matRrial de sabana aporta tolerancia a piricularia y a la toxicidad de hierro y precocidad; la tolerancia al frio y buena calidad es aportada por el material chileno. Por último, los materiales del IRGA y de Cuba contribuyen con potencial de rendimiento y adaptación a las condiciones locales. 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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e1e793898baf1fe12bd004c75df6eb0b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/75a063d0-e4ad-4570-8d29-ec3350ea84e9/retrieve","id":"-1791799889"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"67cb1c21-6617-47c7-be7f-e27389601bd1","content":"This logbook is designed for farmers to observe weather, management, outputs, and impacts of a farming practice. This logbook aims to:• encourage farmers to document their observations and management; • to monitor and evaluate interventions; and • to encourage social learning. Use one logbook for each practice. The logbook has been slightly modified for use in other contexts. LOGBOOK OVERVIEW I. General information about agricultural practice 1.1. General information about crop and tree 1.2. General information about livestock II. Management of this agricultural practice 2.1. Management of crop and tree 2.2. Management of livestock III. Benefits of this agricultural practice 3.1. Household consumption and income generation 3.2. Other benefits of this agricultural practice IV. Extreme weather events during this crop season V. Other information This logbook was based on the original Vietnamese texts and was tested with upland farmers who are involved in the two CCAFS-funded projects, namely \"Using climate service to enhance the adaptive capacity of women and ethnic minorities in Southeast Asia (ACIS)\" and \"Generating evidence base for upscaling local adaptation through Climate Smart Agriculture\". ACIS is co-implemented by the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) and CARE International in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia while CSV is implemented by ICRAF in Ha Tinh province, Vietnam and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Yen Bai province, Vietnam. These projects are under the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which is carried out with support from CGIAR Fund Donors and through bilateral funding agreements. For more details please visit https://ccafs.cgiar.org/donors. The views expressed in this document cannot be taken to reflect the official opinions of these organisations.From Note: Please note your observations of the benefits of using components (crops, trees, livestocks) and techniques mentioned in section I.Example: after using compost the maize got darker green leaves and became less drought sensitive    "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ba38dce340baacd175e173ec0d038587","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/541c4a93-33ff-4bf3-a081-bd959bae0728/retrieve","id":"1026844796"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"dfb9e490-c12c-4998-9701-2da900dcbc89","content":"Learning and Action, (formerly PLA Notes and RRA Notes), is published three times a year in April, August, and December. Established in 1988, Participatory Learning and Action enables practitioners of participatory methodologies from around the world to share their field experiences, conceptual reflections, and methodological innovations. The series is informal and seeks to publish frank accounts, address issues of practical and immediate value, encourage innovation, and act as a 'voice from the field'.Back issues 1-50 in PDF format are now available to download free of charge online. To purchase back issues of Participatory Learning and Action please see the green order form at the end of this issue. All IIED publications, including Participatory Learning and Action back issues, are available through: Earthprint Limited, Orders Department, PO Box 119, Stevenage, Hertfordshire SG1 4TP, UK. Tel: +44 1438 748111 Fax: +44 1438 748844 Email: orders@earthprint.co.uk Website: www.earthprint.comWe regret that we are unable to supply, or respond to requests for, free hard copies of back issues.IIED is committed to promoting social justice and the empowerment of the poor and marginalised. It also supports democracy and full participation in decision-making and governance. We strive to reflect these values in Participatory Learning and Action.For further information about IIED and the Sustainable Agriculture, Biodiversity and Livelihoods (SABL) Programme, contact IIED, 3 Endsleigh Street, London WC1H 0DD, UK. Tel: +44 20 7388 2117 Fax: +44 20 7388 2826 Email: sustag@iied.org Website: www.iied.orgParticipatory Learning and Action (PLA) is an umbrella term for a wide range of similar approaches and methodologies, including Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA), Participatory Learning Methods (PALM), Participatory Action Research (PAR), Farming Systems Research (FSR), Méthod Active de Recherche et de Planification Participative (MARP), and many others. The common theme to all these approaches is the full participation of people in the processes of learning about their needs and opportunities, and in the action required to address them.The methods used range from visualisation, to interviewing and group work. The common theme is the promotion of interactive learning, shared knowledge, and flexible, yet structured analysis. These methods have proven valuable for understanding local perceptions of the functional value of resources, processes of agricultural intervention, and social and institutional relations.In recent years, there has been a number of shifts in the scope and focus of participation:• emphasis on sub-national, national and international decision-making, not just local decision-making; • move from projects to policy processes and institutionalisation; • greater recognition of issues of difference and power; and, • emphasis on assessing the quality and understanding the impact of participation, rather than simply promoting participation.Recent issues of Participatory Learning and Action have reflected, and will continue to reflect, these developments and shifts. We particularly recognise the importance of analysing and overcoming power differentials which work to exclude the already poor and marginalised.Communicating and networking: a challenge for the guest editors Producing this special issue has been a particular challenge. Our international guest editor team members live and work around the world, in Africa, Australia, Canada, Europe, and the USA. Over the last seven months, all have worked tirelessly in shaping this special issue, and we have used an innovative process of e-participation, communication and networking.Over 50 papers were presented at the conference, representing a wide spread of practice. Our remit was to select papers that would provide our readers with a good overview of the work of practitioners from across the globe, using different tools and approaches, and for different issues. We also wanted to include some more reflective articles, discussing issues that PGIS practitioners face today. 3  To achieve this, we used various online, free facilities to keep in regular contact and to share our thoughts and ideas with one another. After the conference, a special email group was established for the team. 4  We also used a free online filesharing facility, where we could upload and share documents online. The team participated in several online conference call meetings, to choose which articles to include. 5  And more than 20 people voted on the title for this special issue, using an online survey facility. 6  These communication and networking processes have characterised the production of this special issue, both before and after the conference. It has allowed the PLA Editorial team to explore and develop these new and innovative ways of working together, which we aim to continue using to work with authors and guest editors in the future. variety of backgrounds, with a range of expertise and experience in the field of mapping for change.Giacomo Rambaldi works for the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) in the Netherlands. Giacomo has worked in community mapping in developing countries since the late 1980s. In 2000, he launched Participatory Avenues www.iapad.org, a website dedicated to sharing knowledge on community mapping. In 2004, he launched the Open Forum for Participatory Geographic Information Management and Communication (www.PPgis.net). His expertise includes visualising indigenous spatial knowledge for improving communication, participatory spatial planning; and networking, information management and communication.Jon Corbett has worked with Indigenous peoples in Indonesia and in British Columbia on issues relating to resources and their sustainable management. He is exploring how participation and information communication technologies (ICTs) can enable local communities to document, store, manage and communicate their culture, language, history and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). He is also interested in how geographic representation of community information using ICTs can strengthen communities and increase their influence over regional decisionmaking processes.Rachel Olson is a citizen of the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation in the Yukon Territory. Her experience with community mapping began in 1997 with the Halfway River First Nation, in Northeastern British Columbia. Rachel has worked with several First Nations communities on projects relating to traditional land uses, environmental health, and oral history studies. Recently, she has worked with the Aboriginal Mapping Network, completing an evaluation and a strategic plan for the Network.Mike McCall has been involved in participatory spatial planning, especially participatory mapping and GIS, for over a decade. Since 1993, Mike has worked at the International Institute for Geo-Information Sciences and Earth Observation (ITC) in the Netherlands, where he has been involved in training, researching and project activities in participatory spatial planning and natural resource management policies and planning.Julius Muchemi is the Executive Director of Environmental Research Mapping and Information Systems in Africa (ERMIS Africa), Kenya. Since the 1990s, he has been engaged in PGIS/community mapping initiatives to develop compatible, spatial-based solutions for securing territories, cultures and commonly shared resources among indigenous people in Africa. He is currently setting grounds for a PhD in Traditional Spatial Knowledge Systems in Eastern and Central Africa.Peter Kwaku Kyem is an Associate Professor of Geography at Central Connecticut State University, USA. Peter is a Ghanaian with a GIS Professional Certificate (GISP) obtained from the GIS Institute (USA) and a PhD in Geography from Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. His research interests focus on participatory GIS applications, conflict management and PGIS applications in resource and environmental management. Peter has also authored several articles on community-based GIS applications.Daniel Weiner is Professor of Geography and Director of International Programs at West Virginia University. He received a PhD in Geography from Clark University in 1986. Dan's research focuses on the political ecology of development in the Appalachian and Southern African regions and participatory Geographic Information Systems.Robert Chambers has worked in a variety of areas, including canalA view from inside one of the main plenary session at the Mapping for Change conference Photo: Johan Minnie irrigation management, community forestry, perceptions of poverty, and creativity and pluralism in participatory methodologies. His current interests include communityled total sanitation; poverty immersions for professionals; institutional learning and change in agricultural research; and, how we know -or think we know -about things in development.Aside from the time given freely by our guest editors and authors, we are grateful for the generous support from our donors (see inside front cover for details).freelance participatory development consultant and trainer. She is involved in developing and promoting participatory approaches in project design and implementation, developing accountable and transparent public delivery systems, and participatory policy research. Previously she worked with Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, India, where she helped pioneer, with others, participatory rural appraisal methodology. Her publications include The Myth of Community: Gender Issues in Participatory Development (co-edited) and Embracing Participation in Development: Wisdom From the Field (co-edited).In addition to this special issue, the Participatory Learning and Action Mapping for Change CD-ROM is an exciting multi-lingual project that will soon be available. It will contain PDF versions of articles from this special issue and other key multimedia resources. Various organisations are already supporting this exciting project, and we are seeking additional contributions. To contribute, or for more information, please contact co-Editor Nicole Kenton, email: Nicole.Kenton@iied.orgThe Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) was established in 1983 under the Lomé Convention between the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) Group of States and the European Union Member States. Since 2000, it has operated within the framework of the ACP-EC Cotonou Agreement.CTA's tasks are to develop and provide services that improve access to information for agricultural and rural development, and to strengthen the capacity of ACP countries to produce, acquire, exchange and utilise information in this area. CTA's programmes are designed to: provide a wide range of information products and services and enhance awareness of relevant information sources; promote the integrated use of appropriate communication channels and intensify contacts and information exchange (particularly intra-ACP); and develop ACP capacity to generate and manage agricultural information and to formulate ICM strategies, including those relevant to science and technology. CTA's work incorporates new developments in methodologies and cross-cutting issues such as gender and social capital.Our next issue will be published in December 2006 (Participatory Learning and Action 55). This will be a special issue on the experiences of practitioners involved in communitybased natural resource management in southern Africa.Finally, many thanks to all the authors, guest editors and reviewers who contributed so much to this special issue. As Giacomo Rambaldi noted in his closing words at the conference:What strikes me is that we have been using the word 'learning' so frequently here, and that we want to share. Networking and communication has emerged as the leading way forward -and the platforms for sharing are there. Now it's our responsibility to make this work.We hope that this special issue helps to share the wealth of knowledge and learning that was brought to the conference.Air photographs or aerial photographs: Remote-sensing photographs taken from an airplane (source: IAPAD). Asset allocation mapping (AAM): this enables communities to make informed decisions over the allocation of their territorial assets. To do this, they need not only to arrive at their own evaluations of these assets but also to understand the multiple values assigned to their assets by others: to map the ways in which assets are perceived, evaluated, imagined by an unfamiliar and mutating array of external interests (source: Peter Poole). Attribute data: Information about a feature on a map or thematic information (source: IAPAD). Base map: A map that contains geographical reference information on which attribute data may be plotted to make thematic maps (source: IAPAD). Cartography: The art or science of making maps (source: IAPAD). Cognitive map: a term introduced in the 30s by pioneer learning researcher, Edward Tolman, to describe what rats must have in their minds to successfully navigate mazes when routes are blocked or explored from different points. Although learning is from traversing routes, mental representations appear to integrate route experience into survey or overview knowledge. The term has been extended to humans to mean a schematic mental representation of the geographic world, usually the network of paths and nodes that enable navigation. The nature, coherence, flexibility, perspective, and accuracy of these representations are continuing topics of research. Community mapping: Community maps often represent a socially or culturally distinct understanding of landscape and include information that is excluded from mainstream maps, which usually represent the views of the dominant sectors of society. This style of map can therefore pose alternatives to the languages and images of the existing power structures. Community maps often differ considerably from mainstream maps in content, appearance and methodology. Indicators used to recognise and denote community maps include the following:• Community mapping is defined by the process of production.• Community maps are planned around a consensus based goal and strategy for use and made with input from a community in an open and inclusive process.• Community mapping is defined by the content of the maps, which depict local knowledge and information and are often aimed at addressing local issues. They contain the community's place names, symbols, and priority features and represent local knowledge systems. • Community mapping is not necessarily defined by the level of compliance with formal cartographic conventions. Nor are they confined by formal media: a community map may be a part of a GIS or a drawing in the sand.are map-based multimedia information systems in which local knowledge is documented by community members using digital video, digital photos and written text, stored on computers and managed and communicated through the interface of an interactive map (source: Jon Corbett). Counter maps: Alternative maps, or 'counter-maps', greatly increase the power of people living in a mapped area to control representations of themselves and their claims to resources. Local people may exert control directly by making their own maps or entrust a representative of their choice, such as a local NGO, to perform the task. [...] Counter-maps thus have the potential for challenging the omissions of human settlements from forest maps, for contesting the homogenisation of space on political, zoning, or property maps, for altering the categories of land and forest management, and for expressing socio-spatial relationships rather than depicting abstract space in itself (Peluso, 1995). Countermapping can be used for alternative boundary-making and 'to depict strategies of resistance: where to block [...] unwise development, to identify landscapes that have been damaged, to describe alternatives to the incremental destruction of sustaining habitats' (Aberley, 1993:4) Cultural mapping can be used for making intangible heritage and local and indigenous knowledge systems easily visible and understandable. It should be demand driven, contextualised and community owned and controlled. It should create intercultural dialogue and allow communities -and especially eldersto reflect on their own knowledge and listen to each other. Respectful cultural mapping can reinforce a community's consciousness of its specific cultural traditions, resources and institutions, and also of land use practices, education, health, conflict prevention etc. It should enable communities to be better prepared to express their rights, visions and priorities -especially when confronted with development glossary interventions initiated by a third party. Digitise: To convert an image, such as a map into a form that a computer can store and manipulate through the use of special software (a computer programme). Digitising is usually done manually, with a digitising tablet, but simply scanning the image may be suitable for some purposes (source: IAPAD). Ephemeral map: A temporary map such as a ground map. Intended to be kept for a short time only. This most basic mapmaking method consists of drawing maps on the ground. Informants use raw materials like soil, pebbles, sticks and leaves, to reproduce the physical and cultural landscapes in the manner they perceive them to be. Such ephemeral maps disappear in a puff of wind. Acquired knowledge is memorised by participants and mentally recomposed when needed (source: Rambaldi et al, 2005). Ethics: (see practical ethics) Geo-referenced: Refers to a map or photo that has been geographically corrected, so that every point on it shows absolute location. For example, air photos and satellite images are geo-referenced to correct for scale distortions inherent in the process of collecting data through remote sensing (source: IAPAD). Geographic Information Systems (GIS): a computer-based system designed to collect, store, manage and analyse spatially referenced information and associated attribute data. GIT (Geographic Information Technologies): a set of computer tools (hardware and software), techniques and geographic data used to collect, store, edit, query, manage, analyse and/or display geographically referenced information in order to map phenomena, understand spatial relationships among phenomena, derive new information, and facilitate geographic problem solving. Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the Global Positioning System (GPS), and satellite/aircraft remote sensing and imaging are examples of Geographic Information Technologies used for digital mapping, spatial analysis, and other applications requiring location-based information and analysis.A system of artificial satellites and ground units that enables a user with a portable receiver to determine absolute locations with good accuracy (source: IAPAD). Knowledge can be considered as how we understand, give meaning, perceive or interpret the world around us (Leeuwis, 2004). Knowledge is what we store in our mind and what leads us to take decisions, act and react to stimuli received from the external world. Knowledge is very subjective and builds up in everybody's mind through a continuous learning process involving, among others, concrete experiences, interaction and communication with others, observations and reflections, formation of concepts and their testing. Three types of knowledge can be distinguished: • Unconscious knowledge is characterised by perceptions/motives that we are not aware of.• Tacit knowledge corresponds to knowledge that we are not immediately aware of, on which we base our day-to-day actions. This type of knowledge can be elicited through in-depth discussions and interactive exercises including the use of 3D models, or mental maps.• Explicit knowledge is the knowledge that we are aware of, have reflected upon and can easily capture in verbal, textual, physical or visual formats, and that transforms into information (source: IAPAD). Legend: The part of a map (or an additional sheet) that explains what the symbols on the map mean (source: IAPAD).Local knowledge: '…is the sum total of the knowledge and skills which people in a particular geographic area possess, and which enable them to get the most out of their natural environment. Most of this knowledge and these skills have been passed down from earlier generations, but individual men and women in each generation adapt and add to this body of knowledge in a constant adjustment to changing circumstance and environmental conditions' (source: IKDM, 1998).Local spatial knowledge (LSK) '… describes home and action space, is innate and sustained knowledge about the land, identifies issues of immediate significance, and encodes the information about the environment in a language a region's inhabitants understand' (Duerden and Kuhn, 1996). It includes:• specific technical knowledge known only (or in detail, primarily) to the local people, e.g. local knowledge of soils, plants, water sources, medicines. Similar to the concept of indigenous technical knowledge (ITK).• spatial knowledge representing different viewpoints and understandings of local actors, (different from the dominant 'official' view). These different viewpoints can be reflected in counter maps.• mental maps, which are not usually based on standard geometry.• spiritual or mystical spatial knowledge associated with cultural GLOSSARY GLOSSARY spaces, particularly with specific areas of land or resources. This may be interpreted as cosmovisions, which commonly incorporate the origin myths of indigenous, natural resource-dependent, cultures. Map: A picture of the land, a map is a graphic representation, often twodimensional, of some part (or all) of the Earth's surface. There are many different kinds of maps (source: IAPAD). Map scale: The reduction needed to display a representation of the Earth's surface on a map. A statement of a measure on the map and the equivalent measure on the Earth's surface, often expressed as a representative fraction of distance, such as 1:10,000 (one unit of distance on the map represents 10,000 of the same units of distance on the Earth) (source: IAPAD). Media: mass, interpersonal or hybrid media are basis devices that help to combine different communication channels for the 'transportation' and exchange of 'textual, visual, auditive, tactile and or olfactory signals. Hence different media can be used in the context of methods and methodologies (source: Leeuwis, 2004). Mental maps: an alternative term for cognitive map. A map that represents the perceptions and knowledge that a person has of an area (source: IAPAD). Mental maps are associated with all cultures, ages, genders, types of people, though there are big cultural differences in how significant they are as spatial representations. Methodologies are basically more or less a series of predefined steps, procedures and activities. Each step can involve the use or one or several methods. Methodologies are often known under a particular label or acronym, e.g. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) (source: Leeuwis, 2004). Methods can be seen as a particular mode of using media and media combinations within the context of a confined activity. A method can (but need not) be an element in a methodology. Examples of methods include a workshop, a discussion group, a farm visit, priority ranking etc. (an element of e.g. PRA) (source: Leeuwis, 2004). Mosaicing: Mosaicing is the process of assembling a series of images and joining them together to form a continuous seamless photographic representation of the earth's surface. These can be done manually on aerial photos or digitally with remote sensing images and scanned aerial photos or digital aerial photos (source: Silika Tuivanuavou). Orthophoto: A perspective aerial photograph contains image displacements caused by the tilting of the camera and terrain relief (topography). It does not have a uniform scale. Distances cannot be measured on a conventional aerial photograph like one can do on a map. In an orthophoto the effects of tilt and relief are removed from the aerial photograph by the rectification process. Therefore an orthophoto is a uniform-scale photograph or photographic map. Since an orthophoto has a uniform scale, it is possible to measure directly on it like other maps. An orthophoto may serve as a base map onto which other map information may be overlaid (source: U.S. Geological Survey).This method integrates indigenous spatial knowledge with data on elevation of the land and depth of the sea to produce stand-alone, scaled and geo-referenced relief models. Essentially based on indigenous spatial knowledge, land use and cover, and other features are depicted by informants on the model by the use of pushpins (points), yarns (lines) and paints (polygons). On completion, a scaled and geo-referenced grid is applied to facilitate data extraction or importation. Data depicted on the model are extracted, digitised and plotted. On completion of the exercise the model remains with the community (Rambaldi and Callosa-Tarr, 2002a) PGIS (Participatory GIS): PGIS is an emergent practice in its own right. It is a result of merger between Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) methods with Geographic Information Technologies (GIT). PGIS facilitates the representation of local people's spatial knowledge using twoor three-dimensional maps. These map products can be used to facilitate decision-making processes, as well as support communication and community advocacy.PGIS practice is geared towards community empowerment through tailored, demand-driven and userfriendly applications of these geospatial technologies. Good PGIS practice is flexible and adapts to different socio-cultural and biophysical environments. It often relies on the combination of 'expert' skills with local knowledge. Unlike traditional GIS applications, PGIS places control on access and use of culturally sensitive spatial data in the hands of those communities who generated it. PGIS spatial analysis uses the functionality and data associated with GIS technology to explore community driven questions. In the process, local spatially referenced as well as non-GLOSSARY GLOSSARY GLOSSARY 10 spatial data are integrated and analysed to support discussion and decision-making processes. The spatial analytic functionalities allow much easier and rapid analysis by the users, of e.g. time and cost functions, of separation and contiguity, and of the effects of barriers and buffers (source: Rambaldi et al, 2005). PPGIS (Public Participation GIS) has evolved in the North as an intersection of participatory planning and Geographic Information Technologies and Systems (GIT&S). It makes use of increasingly sophisticated approaches. In inner cities and indigenous communities where technical competency and cost have been barriers to GIS implementation, PPGIS applications occur within several organisational arrangements including: communityuniversity partnerships with inner city communities (Ghose 2001;Craig and Elwood;1998); grassroots social organisations (Sieber 2001); and Internet-based PPGIS (Carver et. al. 2001;Craig et al., 2002). These organisations combine GIS with a host of modern communication technologies to facilitate dialogue and data usage among local groups. Equity issues are frequently addressed, particularly the spatial implications of 'environmental justice', usually closely associated with discriminatory zoning of ethnic groups (source: Rambaldi et al, 2005). Practical ethics focuses on understanding and addressing difficult and controversial social issues arising in such fields as politics, economics, technology, healthcare, business, environmental conservation and education. Ethics more broadly investigates the meaning of the good, emphasising the role of values in raising and critically responding to questions of deep and abiding personal and common concern.Practical ethics requires resource managers who engage in mapping to follow clear protocols for explaining complex consequences of mapping to rural communities. This protocol requires outside actors to communicate clearly with each community, clarifying the purpose/objectives of collecting information, agreeing with villagers on what information can be mapped, and explaining potential consequences of recording the community's spatial information on maps that can then be copied and distributed outside the community. Most importantly, outside facilitators must communicate to villagers that they can agree to accept or reject the mapping exercise. Remote sensing: The process of gathering information about the Earth from a distance. Such data is commonly gathered by satellite or air (aerial) photography (source: IAPAD). Resolution: The smallest distance or size of object that can be seen in an image (as acquired, for instance, through remote sensing) (source: IAPAD). Scale mapping is a more sophisticated method of sketch mapping, aimed at generating geo-referenced data to facilitate discussions and allow community members to develop maps that can stand the scrutiny of adversarial parties. The method is based on effective selection of symbols and colours for depicting indigenous spatial knowledge on transparencies superimposed on a geo-coded and scaled map (source: Rambaldi et al, 2005). Sketch map: A method for mapping on paper. A drawing of a place or area, not drawn with accurate or measured scale or direction. Features are depicted by the use of natural materials or more frequently by coloured marker pens or chalk. Participants usually have a range of choices regarding what materials to use for the drawing and how to visualise desired items. Features are exaggerated in size to match the importance participants attach to them. If properly facilitated, the process is documented and records are kept in terms of the keys necessary for interpreting depicted symbols. The lack of a consistent scale and geo-referencing of the data leaves room for subjective interpretation of the final map. A scale sketch map is a sketch given scale by fitting it onto a topographic map without a field survey (source: Rambaldi et al, 2005). Spatial Information Technologies = Geographic Information Technologies Technologies consist of widespread patterns of material and conceptual practices that embody and deploy particular strategic values and meanings (Hershock 1999). Technologies are complex systems promoting and institutionalising relational patterns aimed at realizing particular ends. Technologies cannot be value neutral, and do not occur in isolation from one another but in families or lineages (Shrader-Frechette and Westra 1997;Hershock 1999). Quote from Mapping Power: 2004 Fox et al.) Tools are products of technological processes. They are used by individual persons, corporations, or nations, and are evaluated based on their taskspecific utility. If tools do not work, we exchange them, improve them, adapt them, or discard them (source: Fox et al., 2004). Tools and techniques are particular ways of operating a method.Whether something is defined a s a method or a tool is often debatable; the boundaries are not sharp. A ranking exercise, for example, can involve drawing a matrix in the sand and using pebbles or stones as counters, or be conducted on a sheet of paper using stickers or markers. Similarly a farm visit in which farmers' problems are discussed can be conducted in various modes (persuasive, participatory, counselling, etc.) (source: Leeuwis, 2004). Tenure mapping: this refers to a distinct genre of cartography that seems to have its roots in the cartographic evidence assembled in the early 1970s by Inuit and Cree in Quebec. This method was soon adopted by the Inuit throughout the Canadian Arctic and is now a mandatory element of over 50 territorial negotiations under way in British Columbia. Tenure mapping is about the past; asset allocation mapping is about the future (source: Peter Poole). Thematic map: A map that depicts specific themes or sets of information; for example, forest type, land use, historical migration, property ownership, or animal habitat (source: IAPAD). Topographic map: A contour map that shows human-made and natural physical features. A topographic map at a scale of 1:10,000 to 1:50,000 would be a good base map (source: IAPAD).Transect: Surveying in a straight line across the land, usually for the purpose of mapping or recording information along the line. Transects are often conducted for a resource inventory (source: IAPAD).Visual approximation: This is a process where map readers or map makers make an approximation of a position of an object -or important feature, or an area of the objectjust by looking at the feature on the map and plotting that feature digitally in relation to other existing features. It also refers to mapping of the new objects by mentally deducing the position and size of the object in relation to mapped features.The Mapping for Change International Conference on Participatory Spatial Information Management and Communication brought together 154 people from 45 different countries and nations with practical experience in implementing Participatory GIS (PGIS).What unites these practitioners is their belief that PGIS practice (Box 1) can have profound implications for marginalised groups in society:• it can enhance capacity in generating, managing and communicating spatial information; • it can stimulate innovation; and ultimately, • it can encourage positive social change.The tools generated and used in this practice can become interactive vehicles for networking, discussion, information exchange, analysis and decision-making.When PGIS practice first began to move from the nondigital to the digital realm in the mid 1990s, concerns arose over the feasibility of applying relatively complex PGIS tools in a participatory manner. In their paper titled 'Participatory GIS: opportunity or oxymoron? ' Abbot et al (1998) identified and debated the 'benefits and problems of a participatory GIS approach'. They asked whether Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be used by local people, 'empowering them to influence policy decisions through owning and using the data' or whether 'a \"participatory GIS\" would simply be extractive'?These fundamental questions still exist, particularly for digital tools. But practitioners have now had more than a decade to develop and apply these tools, as well as to 1 Overview: Mapping for Change -the emergence of a new practice PGIS is an emergent practice in its own right. It is a result of a merger between Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) methods with Geographic Information Technologies (GIT). PGIS facilitates the representation of local people's spatial knowledge using two-or threedimensional maps. These map products can be used to facilitate decision-making processes, as well as support communication and community advocacy. The Mapping for Change conference has allowed practitioners to share their experiences, both successes and failures, and identify lessons learnt over this period. The contents of this special issue mark how PGIS practice has matured. It has begun to develop a set of ethics and effective methodologies that are based on first-hand experience. These ethical considerations will help to guide both new and experienced practitioners alike to ensure that local communities can develop and communicate their own data -and ultimately influence larger decision-making processes.A broad range of tools and methods are available to practitioners and community representatives. These range from low-tech sketch mapping to hi-tech geo-spatial technologies and multimedia. As these tools increase in complexity, their 14 Ephemeral mapping: this most basic method involves drawing maps on the ground. Participants use raw materials like soil, pebbles, sticks and leaves to represent the physical and cultural landscape.Sketch mapping is a slightly more elaborate method. A map is drawn from observation or memory. It does not rely on exact measurements, such as having a consistent scale, or geo-referencing. It usually involves drawing symbols on large pieces of paper to represent features in the landscape.Scale mapping is a more sophisticated map-making method aimed at generating geo-referenced data. This allows community members to develop relatively accurate scaled and geo-referenced maps, which can be directly compared with other maps.3D modelling integrates spatial knowledge with elevation data in order to produce three-dimensional stand-alone, scaled and geo-referenced relief models. Geographic features relating to land use and cover are depicted on the model by the use of pushpins (points), yarns (lines) and paints (polygons). When the model is finished, a scaled and geo-referenced grid is applied to facilitate data extraction or importation. Data depicted on the model can be extracted, digitised and plotted.Photomaps are printouts of geometrically corrected and geo-referenced aerial photographs (orthophotographs). Orthophoto-maps are a source of accurate, remotely sensed data that may be used for large-scale community mapping projects. Community members can delineate land use and other significant features on transparencies that have been overlaid on the photomap. Information on the transparencies can be scanned or digitised and geo-referenced later. Remote sensing images at a suitable scale are an increasingly appropriate alternative, when they can be easily and freely (or very cheaply) downloaded from the Web (Muller et al., 2003).Global Positioning Systems (GPS) have become more affordable, and their use has spread rapidly among NGOs and community organisations. GPS is a satellite-based positioning system that can tell you your exact location on the earth using a known co-ordinate system such as latitude and longitude. The technology is often used for the demarcation of areas of land where access to and control over natural resources are in dispute. Data recorded are frequently used to add accuracy to information depicted on sketch maps, scale maps, 3D models and other less technology-rich community mapping methods.Map-linked multimedia information systems are similar to GIS technologies but simpler to understand and manage. Local knowledge is documented by community members using digital video, digital photos and written text, stored on computers and managed and communicated through the interface of an interactive, digital map. By clicking on features of the interactive map the other multimedia information can be accessed.GIS is a computer-based system designed to collect, store, manage and analyse spatially referenced information and associated attribute data. GIS technology is increasingly being used to explore community-driven questions. In the process, local spatially referenced, as well as non-spatial, data are integrated and analysed to support discussion and decision-making processes. 'Mobile GIS' has become much better adapted to participatory and local community use since the development of GIS software designed to work with hand-held computers or laptop computers in the field.Adapted from Rambaldi et al. (2005) andCorbett (2005) Box 2: Some participatory tools and methods used in the practice use often (but not always) involves the incorporation of many of the preceding tools, resulting in approaches where multiple tools are used (Box 2).The Mapping for Change conference took place over an intense three days. It included 12 plenary presentations followed by discussions, and 32 presentations delivered during parallel sessions. These were followed by working group discussions based on assigned tasks and questions. The results of the working group discussions were then presented in a plenary session, and further debated.The initial objectives of the conference organisers were to enable participants: • to share experiences and define good practice for making geographic information technologies available to marginalised groups in society; and • to set the foundation for the establishment of regional networks and resource centres in order to promote and support good practice in PGIS.The intended objectives of the conference were fully realised. From Kenya to Canada, Indigenous and First Nations participants, representative organisations and researchers alike all shared their experiences of PGIS initiatives. Working groups responding to specific tasks brought participants together to engage in collaborative learning on issues including: • Enabling and disabling environments for PGIS, focusing on policies and funding that support or weaken the chances for good practice. • Sharing experiences relating to PGIS practice. These included ways of representing local spatial knowledge, claiming land and managing resources, issues related to participatory process, and ideas on how to support the safeguarding of cultural heritage. • Building solidarity and a common vision among PGIS practitioners. This included the development of a way forward for enhancing networking and communication, drafting regional strategies for supporting the practice, and identifying key terminology for donors and international development agencies in order to encourage their support for the practice. Guidelines for good PGIS practice under different sociopolitical contexts in developing countries are discussed on the Open Forum on Participatory Geographic Information Systems and Technologies www.ppgis.net. Giacomo Rambaldi, Mike McCall, Robert Chambers and Jefferson Fox sum up these views in their article in this special issue on page 106.Good PGIS practice should be careful, user-driven/user-centred, and ethically conscious. The 'participatory' aspect means that the community takes as high as possible a degree of control over decisionmaking processes, managerial power and responsibility during all the different stages involved. A number of important themes relating to good practice emerged from conference presentations, posters, workshops and discussions. These can be summarised as the need to consider PGIS as a practice -going beyond participatory mapmaking and involving additional dimensions of networking and communication and building on the 'three Ts' -transparency, time, and trust -the first two being conditions for the last.Trust was a key term used throughout the conference. Maps are potentially such powerful tools. They have the ability to influence, for good or bad, the outcomes of decision-making processes. So trust between outsider facilitators and local people becomes a critical condition for success.The articles in this special issue of PLA are drawn from papers and posters presented at the Mapping for Change conference. The authors focus on case studies and experiences from the developing world and Canadian First Nations. They repre-sent the broad application of a number of approaches and tools in various socio-economic and geographic settings by practitioners sharing a considerable depth of experience. We hope that these papers communicate a flavour of the enthusiasm and innovation generated during the conference.This special issue is particularly timely as it also highlights and documents a significant coming-of-age in PGIS practice.It presents examples of the use and application of both old as well as cutting-edge tools applied in new contexts -as well as in innovative and fun ways. It also represents a metamorphosis from a scattering of disparate and unconnected projects, organisations and individuals that use these tools, to the creation of a networked and united community of practitioners.The articles in this special issue are divided into three broad groups:• articles that focus on providing a case study relating to the application of a specific PGIS tool in a grassroots setting; • articles that focus on the integration of multiple tools to address specific issues being faced by a community; and • articles that are more theoretical, and associated with issues including ethical considerations, potential pitfalls and other lessons learnt from experiences gained through long-term application of PGIS tools.As the practices associated with PGIS innovate and evolve, it is interesting to see examples of how specific tools are being modified and employed to address the issues faced by local communities -and to understand whether they are being useful and/or successful in helping to achieve their objectives.Jon Corbett and Peter Keller introduce a participatoryTransparency refers to the type of communication necessary for good PGIS practice. It implies clarity, accountability, the use of simple and understandable language, and transparent procedures such as open meetings. It respects the need for communities engaging in the process to be informed of all the potential drawbacks that might be associated with the application of the tools.Enough time is needed at the onset to build meaningful relationships between technology intermediaries and recipient communities. It is needed during implementation to maximise the positive impacts derived from PGIS initiatives and to enable local communities to take ownership over the tools. There needs to be a clear recognition of the need for a substantial investment of time. Tight time frames, imposed to meet outsider agendas, often serve to undermine a project. They might also disempower communities by preventing them from fully understanding the technologies or fully exploring the potential benefits from their application and use.Trust refers to the relationship between the different groups and individuals. It is a critical ingredient for undertaking PGIS. Barbara Misztal (1996) writes that trust makes life predictable, it creates a sense of community, and it makes it easier for people to work together.The need for trust appears to exert a discipline on practitioners.Without the appropriate behaviour and attitudes for developing this trust, PGIS practice is difficult indeed. map-based multimedia information system. This became known by participants in the communities as a Community Information System (CIS). In their approach, traditional knowledge is documented by community members using digital video, audio-recording, digital photos and written text, and stored on computers. It is managed and communicated through the interface of an interactive map. The authors showcase the CIS using a case study from Indonesia. Giacomo Rambaldi, Silika Tuivanuavou, Penina Namata, Paulo Vanualailai, Sukulu Rupeni, and Etika Rupeni compare the use of Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) and participatory orthophoto mapping in Fiji. They explain how P3DM was effective in supporting collaborative resource planning and the documentation of cultural heritage. As the authors demonstrate, P3DM has proved to be a user-friendly medium for generating, analysing and communicating local knowledge.Next, Peter Kyem explores the role of PGIS in mediation and how the technology can be used to promote consensus building. Using the example of Kofiase in Southern Ghana, he identifies how PGIS applications helped conflicting stakeholders find a pathway to compromise and overcome their disagreements.PGIS practice often evolves to address specific issues being faced by a community. This means that multiple tools might be used together, or in sequence to deal with those issues.Craig Candler, Rachel Olson, Steven DeRoy, and Kieran Broderick document the history of PGIS practice in the Treaty 8 area of British Columbia, Canada. The authors describe the range of different practices from community mapping through to PGIS development and application, and methodologies used. The authors identify the Treaty 8 area as a crit-ical site for learning about sustained, as well as sustainable, practice.Tsion Lemma, Richard Sliuzas and Monika Kuffer present an example from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. PGIS practice was used in multi-stakeholder decision-making relating to improving slum monitoring mechanisms. Their approach incorporates locally relevant and spatially detailed information gathered through focus group discussions, field observation with community members, and visual image interpretation using satellite images and aerial photographs. Sylvia Jardinet's paper tells us about Communitarian Cartography. She presents an example of a use for PGIS and GPS that is oriented towards the prevention and resolution of conflicts related to land and natural resource access and use. The cooperative of Gaspar Garcia Laviana in Telpaneca, Nicaragua, has produced a geo-referenced map of their community. A public file of their properties is available and can be consulted by any member of the cooperative.The inhabitants of Moikarakô, Pascale de Robert, Jean-François Faure and Anne-Elisabeth Laques share their experience related to supporting the Kayapó peoples in Brazil in making maps of their traditional land use management areas. These maps are made from satellite imagery and ground truthed using GPS. They describe how the Kayapo took the process into their own hands and redirected it, to produce and use maps as political tools to highlight the territorial and social unity that the Kayapó Peoples wish to emphasise.Julie Taylor and Carol Murphy, Simon Mayes, Elvis Mwilima, Nathaniel Nuulimba and Sandra Slater-Jones share their experiences, including the opportunities and threats, of mapping the San territories in the Caprivi Region of Namibia. They note the potential of PGIS practice to expose and address the complex and politicised issues of identity, rights and land. They further identify how these maps can have multiple Mike McCall raises important questions about the issues of certainty and precision within the practice of PGIS. The terms have become of great significance in the realm of more technical GIS application, yet Mike asks whether it is misleading to misrepresent fuzzy, ambiguous reality as precise or accurate -especially when PGIS represent data acquired using participatory methodologies, that represent local interpretations of certainty, reliability, and relevance.No papers at the conference specifically addressed ethics in PGIS practice. But ethics emerged as one of the main crosscutting concerns of the conference participants throughout. Issues raised included the costs of wasting people's time, of raising expectations that are not met, of endangering people through the information they show, of the practice being used to extract information and/or put it in the public domain which outsiders would then exploit, as well as of the practice actually creating conflicts and demanding precision where fuzziness might be more appropriate. Participants recognised the need to formulate commonly recognised practical ethics that would help guide the community of practitioners. This special issue helps to build recognition of a growing community of PGIS practice in developing countries. It also contains a wealth of practical, hands-on advice from some of the most experienced members of this maturing discipline. applications, including the strengthening of local rights and capacity to manage an environmentally important conservation area.Peter Minang and Mike McCall examine how PGIS facilitates the use of local/indigenous knowledge in community forestry planning for carbon sequestration. Accessing payments for environmental services such as carbon mitigation requires extensive and expensive technical information for baselines and monitoring, which local communities often lack. Community spatial knowledge can be a vital source of information, but the local knowledge representations need to be translated into a format appropriate for accessing Kyoto Protocol and other carbon funds. The authors explore the extent to which PGIS can enhance the use of local and indigenous knowledge in the carbon certification processes.It is too easy when sharing experiences relating to PGIS practice to focus on success stories, and for practitioners to be hesitant in engaging in critical reflection relating to their own work. This final grouping of articles addresses some important but little discussed issues relating to perennial problems with the practice. These issues include potential pitfalls that projects might face, the concerns surrounding precision, and the ethics of the practice.Mac Chapin shares a wealth of practical experience relating to problems that often arise in community mapping projects and how to avoid them. In particular he cautions the reader to invest time in the planning of projects, and notes the important role of project leaders in guiding the work to a successful outcome.Peter Poole describes two strategies for organising tenure mapping projects: partial participation -where the community learns to gather traditional knowledge using interviews and sketch mapping, but where all computerised aspects of map-making are outsourced -versus complete participation, where community members are trained in all aspects of map making. He illustrates his article using a number of case studies from around the world, before going on to raise important questions over the sustainability of such projects.Jefferson Fox, Krisnawati Suryanata, Peter Hershock and Albertus Hadi Pramono raise a number of important ethical issues related to the adoption of PGIS technologies in Asia. Despite a number of successes they note that the adoption of these tools does not always have a positive desired effect. The authors lay out a number of potential pitfalls. They urge This issue not only presents success stories, it also raises issues of where and why projects might fail, and provides advice on how to avoid potential pitfalls. It provides sage advice on the need to focus on developing trust -both by giving the process the time that it requires to build this trust, as well as by paying attention to the importance of transparency in all interaction.We feel that this special issue should be of great use to practitioners, including local and Indigenous communities, as well as other organisations and individuals wanting to practice PGIS. It is also relevant to students and researchers working in academic fields associated with the practice.The Mapping for Change conference was a wonderful opportunity to bring people together to share experiences and ideas, as well as to solidify and encourage a wider international network of communities, practitioners and researchers alike. The Guest Editors of this special issue hope that the conference -as well as this compilation of articles that have resulted from the event -will also help to bring recognition to a growing community of practice.Including indigenous peoples and their knowledge in decision-making is increasingly seen as pivotal for achieving sustainable development and the conservation of biodiversity. But indigenous communities often remain isolated from decision-making processes. Their knowledge remains an under-utilised resource despite recognition of the positive contribution that it could make (Lawrence and Warren, 1999;Bhattarya, 2004). One reason for this is the communication constraints that exist between indigenous communities and decision makers.Many indigenous communities also face the accelerating loss of their traditional knowledge. This is due to rapid economic, political and cultural changes at the global -and local -level. Not only is better communication needed with outsiders. indigenous communities see an equally important need to communicate their knowledge within the community, particularly between generations. Increasingly, they are using digital information communication technologies (ICTs) for a range of different purposes to facilitate this exchange and communication of information, for example, on land use planning, advocacy, and documentation of intangible cultural heritage.Many rural and indigenous communities have strong traditional ties with lands and resources. So the ability of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools to store, retrieve, analyse and present spatial (or land-related) information has made this genre of ICTs of particular interest. Yet GIS requires a steep learning curve, a strong commitment to keeping software and operator skills current, and a deep wallet. Also, much land related cultural information is shared in the form of stories and legends, using metaphor and sophisticated local terminology (Johnson, 1992). Much of this essential cultural context might be lost if the information is presented using two, or even three, dimensional maps -or even transcribed to written text. Can GIS succeed in expressing the unique relationship between people and place? Or does it mould indigenous peoples' knowledge into a more Western conception of space? (Harley, 1988;Rundstrom, 1995;Kyem, 2004).Using Community Information Systems to communicate traditional knowledge embedded in the landscape \"The technologies used were selected on the basis of their appropriateness for recording and communicating landrelated traditional knowledge, as well as their simplicity and low cost\" This article examines alternatives to typical GIS. Using the example of a participatory action research project in Indonesia that we were involved in, we consider how to support indigenous communities in expressing, documenting, visualising and communicating their traditional and contemporary land related knowledge using geographic ICTs. The technologies used were selected on the basis of their appropriateness for recording and communicating land-related traditional knowledge, as well as their simplicity and low cost. The final product was called a Community Information System (CIS).Our project took place in West Kutai in the province of East Kalimantan, Indonesia (see Figure 1). We collaborated with two neighbouring Benuaq Dayak villages, Benung and Tepulang, the University of Victoria in Canada, Konsorsium Sistem Hutan Kerakyatan -Kalimantan Timur (SHK-KalTim, a local non-governmental organisation), and the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). The project ran in the two participating communities for a period of 20 months. Villagers in both communities still follow a traditional way of life. Their culture, language, and traditional knowledge (adat) are very similar.Recently, significant political decision-making has been decentralised to the district level. The issues of land ownership and resource rights are at the forefront of the political agenda in Indonesia, particularly in areas where natural resources remain plentiful. For the inhabitants of Benung and Tepulang, proving their relationship to their traditional lands-and expressing this to outsiders -is now of great significance. It might impact on their rights to secure land tenure and/or harvesting rights to resources. So CIS was examined as a potential tool to express this relationship and communicate it to people outside the community.In our project, a Community Information System (CIS) is defined as a digital map-based multimedia information system. Community members document their knowledge using digital video, digital photos and written text. It is stored on a computer and managed and communicated through the interface of an interactive map. The digital hyperlinked map of the communities' traditional lands consists of points, lines and polygons that could be clicked on to link the viewer to related multimedia and textual information.Participatory processes were central to this CIS project. Community members shaped the CIS objectives and determined what information to record. Community operators were then trained in the use of the equipment for information gathering, editing and management.The role of external technology intermediaries was to introduce the project, to facilitate the early stages, to supply the necessary technologies, and to train community members in their use. They took care to foster a feeling of community ownership over their CIS, to ensure that the project was not overwhelmed by an outside agenda. All the information and tools used by the communities for this project have remained with the two communities. The flow diagram in Figure 3 outlines the steps of the participatory process used. Each step is described in more detail below.The first step was to introduce the CIS concept to the two communities. We discussed how the systems might benefit the community, and asked the community, as a whole, whether they wanted to take part in this research project. This was done using community meetings. We showed them examples of a CIS and demonstrated potential applications using drama skits and hand-drawn diagrams. We made it clear that this was a research project and that there was no certainty that it would in any way benefit the community. Both communities agreed to participate. The initial introductory meeting was followed up by a series of community gatherings facilitated by members of SHK-KalTim. Using decision-making matrices (see Table 1 for an example of the matrix developed in Benung), community members determined: • what information to collect; • who in the community would act as the source of that information; • who in the village was to be responsible for collecting that information; • when they were to collect that information; • who in the village would be trained initially in the use of the video, camera and computer equipment; • how the data would be managed and communicated; • who would have access to the information stored on the computer; and • how the equipment would be stored, maintained and used by community members.Once the initial community decision-making was completed, training began. The training was divided into two sessions. The first session was open training for anybody in the village who wanted to learn how to use the camera and video equipment. The second session taught community operators (two men and one woman in each village) to use the computer equipment. 1 These community operators were selected during the community meetings, using villagegenerated nominations and an open vote. The limitations of the equipment meant that a maximum of three people could be trained. These operators received an intensive four-week computer training programme. As they had never used the equipment before, their training began with basic computer and file management skills. They then received training in how to capture, edit and process digital video and images and link them to a digital map of their traditional lands. This map had been produced earlier in collaboration with SHK-KalTim, using participatory mapping processes, and was digitised by community members.After the initial training, less intensive training for computer operators and other people interested in the CIS continued for another ten months.Information gathering began soon after the community had determined what type of information to include in their CIS. The technology intermediaries began by briefly demonstrating the main features of the video and camera equipment, before handing them over to the community. Afterwards, the technology intermediaries continued to provide ongoing The history of how the village and the longhouse came into beingThe village potensi (a term used to describe the economic potential of the village resources).Culture, including belian healing ceremonies.The ladang process Lama (male) Djung (male) Ipuy (male) Ranaq (male) Lama (male) Djung (male) Ipuy (male) Banyak (male) Nado (male) Mino (male) Djung (male) Ramid (male) Lama (male) Lasa (male)All villagers Nado (male)Kitong (male) Djung (male)Not knownKitong (male) Djung (male)assistance with using the equipment. This training approach was referred to as 'learning by doing' and allowed for skill sharing in a practical and applied manner. This style of training proved very effective.Early information gathering overlapped with initial intensive computer training. We planned this deliberately so that the computer operators could be trained in video and photographic editing and file management whilst using relevant information that could be immediately included in the CIS. Soon after information gathering, villagers could see the information displayed and accessed through the map interface.Community members regularly gathered to view the CIS data and to discuss the quality and content of the images and video. These gatherings were informal forums, though facilitated by a technology intermediary. They allowed community members to suggest how to improve the training, the information gathering process, types of information to gather, and the editing, management, and presentation of the information. This was an important a feedback loop. It improved the quality and content of information being documented and stored within the CIS. For example, the community made recommendations for more training to improve video sound quality. They had been unable to hear a certain elder speaking clearly on video. As a result, the operators requested a special training session for this.Over 18-months, the technology intermediaries monitored the computers in Benung and Tepulang. Both communities documented, produced and stored large quantities of information. It can be broadly classified into four major categories:This includes intangible cultural heritage information, e.g. descriptions of traditional land and resource use systems, traditional dances and songs, and ceremonies that were recorded as community and family mementos.This includes information recorded at specific events in anticipation that this might be useful for communication with outsiders or as evidence in the future. Examples include recording promises made by a timber buyer to community leaders and recording evidence of illegal logging on community lands. But both documentary examples had a risk attached to them. Community members were very conscious of not widely sharing the information relating to the illegal logging for fear of the information generating unnecessary conflict.This includes statements made by people within the community to mobilise political support for a cause, and/or to create alliances with more powerful stakeholders. For example, the community made a video explaining their views on why they should be allowed to harvest timber using traditional management systems, showing what practices they would employ. This video explained the management process to outsiders, including members of the regional government.Some video information was stored and distributed on Video Compact Disc (VCD) to groups outside the village that had requested it. The operators were paid 200,000 Rupiah (approximately US$50) per VCD produced. These VCDs included the process of carving a large commemorative wooden statue and the documentation of several traditional ceremonies.People in both Benung and Tepulang varied in how they thought the CIS should be used depending on their gender, age and status in the community. Younger and middle-aged men were more focused on documenting and communicating information about boundaries and land uses, evidence of illegal incursions by other villagers, and political statements about the community's vision for ecosystem-based logging. Some of this information was instrumental in resolving disputes over illegal logging in the traditional lands of Benung. Elders and women in both communities were The main reason was because of a conflict between community members, due to one operator's monopolisation of the computer. This conflict was linked to a wider, pre-existing power struggle taking place within the community. Sustainability of the project appears less likely in Tepulang.Overall, the sustainability of CIS appeared less dependent on technology and related skills and more on:• the pre-existing conditions such as the level of community cohesion; • the maturity of the operators; • the level of leadership provided in the project by the village leaders versus outsiders; and • the commitment to applying participatory approaches that gives the whole community the ability to influence the development and use of the CIS (see Box 1).Our experiences working with the communities in Benung and Tepulang have shown that the CIS has been useful to them. The capacity existed within the communities to use the tools as well as plan, build and manage the system. But pre-existing community dynamics and political structures were very important. Without support from the leaders and elders, others would have been less likely to invest the time required to create CIS. This is an important consideration for other groups wanting to establish a similar project. There must be a functional and respected leadership and they need to be seen to be supportive of a CIS project.The participatory process and decision-making was vital. It contributed to the communities taking ownership over the CIS and wanting to continue to develop and add information to the system. In particular, it was important to include women as computer operators. The women in Benung and Tepulang gathered cultural and historical information that might not otherwise have been gathered or included in the CIS. In fact, the women's recordings of their traditional songs gained much recognition throughout West Kutai, and the songs were even played on the local concerned about the loss of traditional knowledge, particularly local history, culture and customary laws, and used the system to record these types of information for future generations.Over a 20-month period, both villages created a functional map-linked CIS. However, not all the information was managed and accessed using the interactive map interface. Community members, computer operators and outsiders positively evaluated the map interface, both as a useful organisational tool for land-related information, and as a way of enabling people to explore and learn about the communities' relationship with the land. But computer use statistics showed that the map interface was little used by community members. This is partly because it was easier to access specific multimedia information directly (and in particular video files) using the default file management software. Villagers also tended to want to access specific things -rather than take a guided tour of the CIS via the map interface. The interface might have been more important if the CIS contained more location-specific information that needed to be organised and managed spatially.To be sustainable, the participating communities must also be able to manage and maintain the equipment, and continue adding information to the CIS system after the technology intermediaries have left. Benung's overall computer usage remained high afterwards, as members continued to gather video and photographic information and store it on the computer. They also found new and innovative ways of using the CIS. For example, they began to package and sell their skills to outsiders using VCDs to generate some cash income -an additional incentive to use and maintain the CIS equipment. A strong indicator of sustainability was Benung's willingness to pay for the repair of the video camera when it was broken, as well as update computer supplies. Long-term sustainability of CIS therefore seems quite likely in Benung.In contrast, Tepulang showed a significant drop in 'I think the process has been good because it has always relied on community meetings. By including as many people as possible, the benefits are spread to many more people. It is very important to engage the community and to be as open as possible, as many projects do not do this; they only visit the village chief. By being open and honest with the village they will be more likely to support the programme.' (Ori,33,Benung).Box 1: Feedback from Benung \"Benung's overall computer usage remained high afterwards, as members continued to gather video and photographic information and store it on the computer. They also found new and innovative ways of using the CIS\"Using Community Information Systems to communicate traditional knowledge embedded in the landscape 2 27 radio station. So it is very important that these tools and technologies do not become the exclusive domain of the men in the community.Our experiences demonstrated that multimedia tools were a helpful medium to represent the relationship between the communities and their traditional lands. Whilst the map component of the CIS was less important for community members, they still felt that it was an important and worthwhile tool for managing and communicating information to outsiders. So we recommend that generating maps for the CIS should be an integral part of the process. Maps generated by outsiders or companies should not be used as the interface for the CIS.Decision makers in rural and marginalised areas of developing countries increasingly recommend policies that promote technological adoption (Davison et al. 2000). However, despite their enthusiasm it is important for policy makers to remember that the focus should remain on people, organisations and processes rather than the technologies themselves. The challenge is to introduce and use ICTs that are relevant and suit the needs of local communities -and to recognise that the technologies are only tools to facilitate a broader social process of communication for selfdetermination in development.The Fijian Government supports the involvement of local communities in the development and management of ecotourism activities. It also supports the conservation of Fiji's biodiversity, natural environment, and indigenous Fijian culture and tradition (Ministry of Planning, 2001).The Ecotourism and Village-based Tourism Policy and Strategy for Fiji (2000), addresses the need for integrated village-level planning. It notes that ecotourism involves both biodiversity and cultural heritage protection. This has implications for stakeholders' involvement, including those holding customary use rights on land and marine resources, as well as government agencies and independent organisations. 1  Regulatory, legal and cultural frameworks support native communities in taking the lead in managing and protecting these resources. But actual implementation depends on a number of factors. Available spatial data are often of poor quality, outdated or incomplete. Historic data on the occurrence, distribution and access to natural resources are orally transferred or in a manner unsuitable to detailed spatial planning, systematic monitoring and effective bottom-up communication. Some efforts have been made by government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to introduce participatory spatial planning and monitoring methods. But most village communities still rely on traditional gatherings and conversation to share recollections of space as the basis for analysis.In Fiji the use of community-based geo-spatial information technologies to support collective informed decisionmaking is still in its infancy. Local knowledge is scattered between individuals and rarely collated, geo-referenced or visualised using maps. Mapping is a fundamental way for displaying spatial human cognition and for communicating on issues related to territory. Lacking a tested practice for producing community-generated maps impacts on increasing community involvement in spatial decision-making. This is a critical entitlement when natural resources are distributed over vast areas. \"Mapping is a fundamental way for displaying spatial human cognition and for communicating on issues related to territory\" Background Beqa Island (Figure 1) has a landmass of 37 km 2 and is surrounded by a lagoon and coral reefs. It has steep slopes and a limited area suitable for agricultural production. According to the Bureau of Statistics, in 1996 the total population was 1,239 people living in eight villages.Ovalau Island (Figure 1) is a volcanic island of 109 km 2 surrounded by lagoons and coral reefs. In 1996 its population was 8,625 people living in 27 villages. The island has pristine ecosystems, lush tropical forest cover, fertile farmland, numerous freshwater sources and rich fishing grounds.In September 2004, the Ministry of Tourism, the Beqa Island Tourism Council, the University of the South Pacific (USP) and the Native Land Trust Board (NLTB) assisted the residents of the island in initiating a participatory process. This was aimed at developing a Qoliqoli Management Plan. 2 The two-day THEME SECTION 29 workshop in Rukua Village intended to produce the outline of a management plan. It relied on the use of composite orthophoto 3 and Qoliqoli maps in situ (at village level); and geographic information systems (GIS) ex situ (in the capital city, Suva). 4  The event was presented as the start of a process of sustainably managing natural resources, sharing benefits, and minimising conflict arising from shared resource uses.The preparatory phase took two months. Organising the workshop involved a series of coordinating meetings, procurement, and two on-site visits of a high-ranking government official native to the Island. Preparing the orthophoto map took a month and involved scanning, rectifying, georeferencing and making a mosaic of six aerial photos.The workshop involved 62 villagers. They depicted the distribution, use of, and access to land and coastal resources, including taboo and heritage sites. They used a 1986 1:50,000 marine map outlining customary fishing rights and a 1:11,900 scale composition of 20-year old geometrically rectified aerial images.Participants worked in seven discussion groups, formed according to existing Qoliqoli. The groups located and annotated different features on the respective portions of the map and aerial image (Figure 2).The participants were enthusiastic about the process. But there was an incomplete briefing on the fact that the aerial photos were 20 years old and a lack of adequate supplies. Facilitators failed to provide transparencies to depict differ- ent information layers. Instead data were depicted directly onto the photos using black pencils, but since the images were printed in grey-tones the pencil marks were difficult to read. Those working on the black and white marine maps found it easier, as the pencil was clearly visible. The exercise resulted in seven separate sets of annotated orthophoto and Qoliqoli maps. No comparison between the outputs occurred at the workshop. So the actual planning was deferred until after the seven sets had been compiled in a GIS.The villagers could easily relate to aerial photographs, but experienced some difficulties in respect to scaling. They would tend to oversize items depending on how important they were to them (e.g. their own farms).To brief villagers about follow-up ex-situ activities, facilitators transferred some data from one annotated photo to a GIS and showed them the resulting output. They explained that they would complete the data extraction and consolidation processes back in their offices and then return to discuss the results. At the time of writing, the data was digitised and a total of 60 legend items were identified.But those involved in data extraction said the process was difficult. It involved three people: the first person looked at the orthophoto map. The second person identified corresponding features from the legend. The third person was responsible for on-screen digitising, matching individual features sketched on the maps with landmarks identified on the digital geo-referenced orthophoto map. They had to try to accurately reproduce both the size and location of these features. Features that were found to be overlapping on different annotated orthophoto-and/or qoliqoli maps were selectively digitised. Discrepancies were noted down, ready to be raised at the follow-up workshop. This was where the verification of all captured data would have been done.But due to lack of funding, the Department of Tourism did not return to the island. No validation of the maps took place and no management plan was produced.In January 2005 a similar process involving a number of agencies began on Ovalau Island. 5 The exercise started with a three-month intense design phase, followed by a four-month period during which the organisers conducted networking and coordination activities and procured materials, including topographic and bathymetric data. 6 They prepared base maps, mobilised stakeholders during a series of 27 village consultations, organised the logistics, and outlined community entry and exit strategies, including the discussion of appropriate attitudes and behaviours, respect of rituals, and possible follow-up actions which could eventually address new emerging realities.The actual P3DM exercise took place in Levuka in April 2005. The event lasted for 11 days. During the first three days, twenty-nine students and six teachers from local high schools attended to construct the model (Rupeni et al. 2005). 6 Bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to topography. A bathymetric map gives the depth contours of the soil, rock, sand, etc. at the bottom of a body of water such as an ocean or a lake.Participatory 3D modelling (P3DM) is a communicative facilitation method. It supports collaborative processes related mainly to resource use and tenure. It aims to facilitate grassroots participation in spatial problem analysis and decision-making.P3DM integrates people's knowledge and spatial information (contour lines) to produce stand-alone scale relief models. These have proved to be user-friendly. They are relatively accurate data storage and analysis devices and at the same time excellent communication media.The difference between an ordinary contour map and a 3D relief model is the vertical dimension. This provides important cues to stimulate memory and facilitates the establishment of spatial associations (Rambaldi et al., 2002).Photo: Giacomo Rambaldi Afterwards, 82 village representatives, mainly elders, depicted their spatial knowledge in three partially overlapping shifts of 1.5 days each (Figure 3).The process was guided by a group of facilitators with backgrounds in collaborative natural resource management, cartography, GIS and community work. The P3DM exercise and follow-up activities focused on ensuring local ownership of both process and outputs. Once completed, the model displayed a wealth of spatial information with a legend containing 79 different features and a total of 83 places of cultural heritage significance.In July 2005 the facilitators brought together 135 representatives from all villages for five days to conduct a visioning and planning workshop. The objective was to develop an action plan that would address collectively perceived natural and cultural/resource-related problems and opportunities.Activities included 12 mental transect walks (Figure 4). Participants split into groups based on their geographic origin, professional background, and experience. There were three groups for each of the four districts, each assigned different tasks. The first group assessed the land habitats, the second assessed marine habitats, and the third identified potential economic, cultural, social and environmental development opportunities.Each group nominated a highly knowledgeable elder as leader, and one documenter. Using the 3D model as a visual and tactile reference, each group selected its transect itinerary. Using a wooden stick (Figure 4), leaders mimicked the walk, pointing at and naming different habitats and relevant species found there, and describing their status, opportunities and threats. The groups discussed the findings until they reached consensus. This was noted down by the documenter on the transect diagram (Figure 5). All 12 groups went through the same process. Afterwards, these assessments were consolidated, reviewed and subjected to a problem tree analysis. Here, community-based solutions were put forward to address the root causes of perceived problems.The four assessments were then presented to the community. Taking stock of these scenarios, participants concluded that the best approach was to collaborate islandwide 'as one people' and to create a Vanua ko Ovalau Resource Management and Action Plan. 7During the mapping workshop, an interesting collaboration developed amongst the older and younger generations. The youth did manual assignments (painting, writing labels, fixing yarns) while the elders advised on names, distribution of natural resources and harvesting grounds, and places of historic and cultural significance. On several occasions the elders started narrating stories and legends, generally associated with natural phenomena, features of the landscape, natural resources and people.On the mental transect walks, participants described cultural heritage sites including old villages and fortifications, hunting caves and fields, old burial grounds, and natural features associated with historic events, myths and rituals. They also mentioned less location-specific legends associated with resource management practices.In parallel to the description and assessment of the terrestrial and marine environments, cultural heritage features were added to the transect diagrams. Participants felt they deserved special recognition both at regional and national levels in After it was endorsed by the elders, the plan was presented to the Lomaiviti Provincial Council.As a follow-up to the workshop, the facilitators consolidated data from the transect diagrams and notes, as well as the visions, dreams and recommendations into a document. This was returned to the Ovalau residents for validation and endorsement. The resulting Vanua ko Ovalau Resource Management Plan now guides island-wide sustainable management of natural resources and cultural heritage, and is a reference for future development.It is hard to compare the two exercises. Both benefited from substantially different financial and technical inputs. But considering the similar objectives and participating communities, and by comparing the two processes and outcomes, some useful lessons can be learnt.The Ovalau exercise was better prepared in terms of design, procurement and financial forecast. Budgetary provisions were made from the onset to ensure that both the mapping and the visioning/planning workshops took place. But this was not the case in Beqa where financial resources were lacking at the start of the process. This example raises an important issue: when technology and development intermediaries venture into community-based initiatives, they need to be in the position of assisting participating communities until completion of the agreed processes.In the two exercises the visual aid offered to informants differed substantially.The Ovalau 3D model was constructed at 1:10,000-scale and with a 1.5 vertical exaggeration to purposely enhance the perception of slope, elevation and depth. Being able to see a relief model from different angles helped participants to acquire different perspectives and easily comprehend of the entire landscape (Box 3).Beqa Island is characterised by steep slopes. This was not perceivable from the aerial photos and so not discussed in spite of being of great importance to the islanders in terms of soil erosion and water conservation, access and economic development.Provided there is adequate facilitation, the three-dimensional nature of relief models enhances discovery learning through sensorial (visual and tactile) experiences. 8 This stimulates confrontational feedback, which in turn promotes debate and learning (Rambaldi et al, 2002) wherein elders reflect on their own knowledge and listen to each other. This makes tacit knowledge (knowledge everybody has, but is not aware of) become coherent and identifiable for the holder of that knowledge. This can be missed using other techniques. It is the link between memory, land and 3D maps that creates a particular focus (Crawhall 2006, personal communication).On Beqa Island, the photos the participants used were 20 years old. But they were not alerted to this fact. Over that period, land use and cover and eventually the coastal line could have changed, but participants' made no specific comment on changes. It is fair to assume that the visual power of the information in the images may have led to a passive acceptance of what was displayed.In Ovalau, participants started working on a blank 3D model. So they were less biased when depicting their mental maps. Participants spontaneously initiated a critical review of the landscape and identified several topographic features they could disagree with. These included e.g. a in both exercises. They noted the fun of discovery and learning while interacting with both the photomaps and the 3D model.But when relating the levels of enjoyment to the number of calls necessary for participants to stop working (e.g. for meals), the Ovalau exercise definitely ranked as the one where participants felt the most excited.In both exercises the role of intermediaries was pivotal in introducing and using community-based geo-spatial information technologies. In Ovalau, specific attention was paid to giving the villagers control over the process. In fact, during the mapmaking exercise one elder from group one introduced newcomers from group two to the task. Consequently one elder from group two did the same for group three. In the process, facilitators progressively stepped back and handed over control to locals while maintaining a critical role in ensuring consistency in the use of codes, in regularly updating the legend, and in calling participants' attention on 'drawing/painting close to scale'.While replicability at local level is welcome, it is crucial to decide on which level to focus in terms of building capacity -and for what purpose. The Ovalau exercise had a specific regional capacity building component. Both technology intermediaries from government and NGOs benefited from hands-on training in P3DM and related GIS applications. This has resulted in two major P3DM exercises being planned in Fiji and Papua New Guinea for 2006. missing peak (Figure 6), rock outcrops at sea, changes in the coastline (reclaimed areas) and insufficiently deep navigation channels.In Beqa, participants experienced difficulties in rendering natural or physical features close to scale. They tended to remarkably exaggerate these. No support to assist mental processing of areas was provided. The issue was of less of a problem in Ovalau, because a purposely-prepared quick reference scaling guide (Figure 7) was provided.When working in a participatory mode in a remote village, there is a substantial difference in looking at an aerial photo and at a relief model. Arguably, a photo is flat. It is best viewed from the top. It is of no additional advantage to look at it from a different angle. But a 3D model can be observed from different angles (bird's eye view) with enormous advantages in terms of spatial learning (Box 3).At the visioning and planning stages, a 3D model -showing physical, biological, economic and cultural landscapes of both land and sea -helped participants to consider Ovalau holistically. They no longer viewed it from a purely administrative perspective. This led to the adoption of a comprehensive island-wide development and management plan.Villagers and other stakeholders participated enthusiastically Ovalau community members were trained in dealing with the 3D model itself; using codes; updating the legend; importing and exporting data; and all actions necessary for nurturing and putting the model to work to serve the island's community.Students and teachers learnt on the job and got excited about replicating the process elsewhere. In agreement with the local council, the schools were given leftover materials to construct smaller models of the school areas.Both methods depend on quality organisation and professional facilitation. Provided communities have access to e.g. orthophotos or base maps, organised groups (e.g. community-based organisations) can master the processes. The bottleneck may lie at the end of the mapmaking process, when data from the photomaps or 3D models needs to be imported into a GIS environment. This is the phase, where external support is usually needed.A pre-requisite for good practice is to leave the outputs of any mapping exercise with those who made them: the villagers. Facilitators should make their own copies and ensure that village representatives are in a position to oversee the transfer, manipulation and further analysis of the data in the context of the recipient GIS.On Beqa Island, after a traditional farewell ceremony, facilitators left the village together with all maps, aerial photographs and the legend. This is a problem inherent to ITassisted participatory mapping. Often little is left with the community after its effort and no long-term empowerment stems from the exercise. Valuable community knowledge is carried away and the community loses control over its storage and usage.But on Ovalau Island, the 3D model, legends and unused coding means were left with the Provincial Council, the body entrusted by the traditional leaders to cater for its maintenance and updating. A comprehensive activity report was compiled soon after the workshop and distributed to representatives of all stakeholders involved, including schools.The same applied to the planning workshop, where the transect diagrams were copied and the originals left with the community.For planning purposes, annotated aerial photographs and/or transparencies are of limited use to the community until converted into thematic maps. So sometimes the community outputs need to be taken away from the village for processing. This is potentially disempowering, as local spatial knowledge is taken away by outsiders (although temporarily). A 3D model, due to its sheer size and weight, must remain where it was made and -if not hijacked by village elites -becomes integral to the local cultural and intellectual 'landscape'. It is available for local use in a variety of contexts.It appears that the Ovalau exercise benefited from careful planning and implementation in addition to the adoption of a more demanding, but ultimately more user-friendly P3DM medium, favouring visual access and spatial learning.Similar to many community mapping exercises carried out around the globe, the Beqa exercise raised a number of   (Rambaldi et al, 2006).The authors believe that participatory approaches are open ended and based on continuous innovation and change. 'Conclusions' are never 'real conclusions' -and this fact should be considered as the beauty of innovation. The conclusions are therefore kept short to give more space to the lessons learnt.The youth did manual assignments (painting, writing labels, fixing yarns) while the elders advised on names, distribution of natural resources and harvesting grounds, and places of historic and cultural significance\" Introduction Participatory Geographic Information System (PGIS) applications can equip community-based organisations with tools for structuring resource management practice to make it open and iterative. However, the support for public involvement has opened up the process to conflicts. The participatory approach makes it possible for conflicting perspectives to be integrated.As communities come together to try to pursue common goals, conflict over resources has greatly increased. This is partly because with forest-based resources, the actions of one group (e.g. farmers) can create unforeseen impacts on other groups (e.g. loggers). Resource scarcity caused by a rapid environmental change or unequal resource allocation can increase demand and so create conflicts. As PGIS applications become more widespread in rural development, the effective and peaceful management of local resources depends on the ability to identify conflicts and adopt strategies that prevent disagreements from becoming intractable disputes.But can the interests that drive resource conflicts be addressed by PGIS applications? Can Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and related spatial technologies help stakeholders resolve resource conflicts? This article describes a GIS-based strategy for managing land use conflicts using a case study from Ghana to illustrate the methodology. It includes practical ways that PGIS applications can be adopted to promote consensus building.A conflict involves at least two parties who have a mutual problem of (e.g. resource scarcity). Often in a conflict there is behaviour (or a threat of action) designed to control or gain at another party's expense (Steele, 1976). If left unresolved, the disagreement can generate disharmony and in extreme cases, cause a complete breakdown of the social organisation. But if the conflict is managed in a timely way, it can lead to long-term peace and cooperation among the disputants.In a non-violent situation, conflict can be a positive force for social change. The absence of conflict in a local organisation would probably suggest that some members are being suppressed, or subordinating their views or wishes to others.A conflict can reveal potential disagreements amongst members of a local PGIS organisation. But it can also be used to encourage amicable resolution. Conflicts have additional benefits for group cohesion. Resolving disputes can give rise to new rules of engagement and institutions that might not only help govern group behaviour, but could also be used to resolve further conflicts. Group cohesion is often strengthened when a conflict provides a safety valve to clear pent up feelings -in a less destructive manner than might otherwise by PETER A. KYEM Finding common ground in land use conflicts using PGIS: lessons from Ghana have occurred without the conflict. So conflict is not always the opposite of cooperation: a conflict can be transformed into a positive force to assist mediation efforts.The need for GIS capabilities to develop strategies for managing land use conflicts has arguably never been greater than today. Conflicts of interests threaten resource institutions throughout the developing world. But the use of maps to facilitate consensus building is not new. Community development shows a long history of using maps in negotiations and in resolving conflicts. When the making of community maps is automated as is done in a GIS, one is able to create more complex maps and also update existing maps more rapidly and consistently than before. If it is applied creatively, the GIS technology can facilitate the resolution of resource conflicts. PGIS applications can support cooperative approaches to conflict through the analysis of maps and by emphasising mutual relationships and common interests, and cultivating shared interests between parties.At times, parties take a more competitive approach to using PGIS. For example, a resource shortage can compel groups in a community to focus entirely on their own means of survival and their own self-interests and values. But in many communities, opposing groups often find it necessary to make adjustments in their values to maintain cordial relationships between them. So conflict management can be seen as an effort to manage a tension between the move to create joint values and find middle ground, and the urge to claim independent rewards. When conflict is seen in this light, communication between stakeholders becomes necessary for THEME SECTION 37 negotiating joint values. GIS applications can help to facilitate the formation of strategic alliances that could help resolve disagreements.A mediator can use GIS to help change different stakeholders' attitudes towards each other. This might pave the way for conflict resolution. A PGIS application can help break down communication barriers and minimise the psychological and emotional pressures that hinder stakeholders' free expression of their viewpoints. For example, the technology can be applied to create opportunities for stakeholders to jointly collect and analyse data, share resources, and exchange ideas about a conflict condition. PGIS applications have the added advantage of providing a record of the mediation process that can be conveniently replicated, stored and shared with all stakeholders. So, if used effectively in the mediation process, GIS technology and applications can promote discussions that may lead to a deeper understanding of the conflict situation and help prepare stakeholders for a mutual agreement.A PGIS expert might use the technology to influence stakeholders' attitudes and behaviour in different ways. For example:• an educational tool to show how the technology can help stakeholders learn about the conflict; • to motivate the parties to consider each others' demands more favourably; • undertake an institution building process intended to foster cooperation between stakeholders; and • by helping to transform stakeholders' interests into values that support the final resolution of the dispute.Explaining the educational role of GIS in decision-making, Eastman and others (1993) describe a multi-dimensional decision space. This is where two conflicting interests form opposite axes (see Figure 1). To resolve conflicting interests, the authors rank criterion scores in two suitability maps and then allocate them according to an objective scale ranging from 0-255. As the figure shows, dividing up the decision space among the two competing objectives produces four main regions. These include:• an area selected for objective one only and hence non-conflicting;• an area selected for objective two only and hence non-conflicting;• a sizeable area not selected by either objective (unsuitable choice); and • an area selected by both objectives one and hence in dispute (conflict zone). Here I describe how GIS was adopted to mediate a conflict between local groups competing for access to local forest resources in Ghana.PGIS can be used to create awareness about a conflict situation. The GIS applications can help stakeholders get past the preconceptions they bring to a mediation process, and learn to understand each other's perspectives to facilitate consensus building. This was the case in a conflict management project which I organised among groups competing for forest resources in a village in Southern Ghana (Kyem, 2003). Ghana's forests were originally preserved to meet the future demand for wood in the country. But the forest later became the main source of capital for economic development. Recently, dwindling food resources in the forest communities has increased competition for the scarce forest resources. One area is Kofiase in the Ashanti Region. When a local businessman attempted to log the timber in a local forest, some inhabitants of the community opposed him. Sustained opposition to the logging caused a rift between the town's inhabitants. Some supported the venture and some wanted to preserve the partly degraded forest to protect the resources that formed the backbone of the local economy.While working on ways to facilitate collaboration between forestry officials and the people of Kofiase to prepare them for joint rehabilitation of the local Aboma forest, I became aware of the disagreement and decided to attempt a resolution of the conflict using GIS (see Box 1 and Figure 1).After meeting representatives of the two sides to secure their consent for the project, I organised a meeting for the parties. At this meeting, representatives of the two interest groups articulated their demands and decided on conditions that would fulfil their goals in the mediation. Two competing demands were outlined: • a request to preserve the partly degraded Aboma forest reserve and its resources; and • a demand to log the timber that remained in the forest. After further discussions with the parties, we identified some criterion factors for generating maps. The factors included:• roads that led to the forest; • towns and villages near the forest; • a slope map of the forest land; • a land cover map of the forest; • a map of the timber resources; • a map of the forest showing streams; and• a map of private farms within the forest reserve.The factors were digitised from official maps of the forest and processed in the GIS to produce the criterion maps. We then analysed the criterion maps using GIS to create suit- Finding common ground in land use conflicts using PGIS: lessons from Ghana 4 39 ability maps for logging (Figure 2) and forest preservation (Figure 3). The two suitability maps represented demands to log and preserve the local forest. Borrowing from the multidimensional decision space concept explained in Figure 1, we ranked the criterion scores in the two suitability maps and then combined the two maps to create a conflict map (Figure 4).After that I used the conflict map to facilitate discussions between the stakeholders. First, we used the conflict map to identify the conflict zone as well as areas of opportunity for maximising joint gains within the forest. We visited the forest to confirm the divisions revealed in the conflict map. As shown in Figure 4, a large portion of the forest was out of the competition because it was unsuitable for the two preferred activities. The parties' interests rather overlapped at the southwestern portion where timber (as well as several nontimber forest products) was found. Often in land use conflicts, only a small portion of the land will be involved in a dispute. Yet this is rarely recognised and might hardly ever be noticed in a non-GIS environment.In further discussions using the conflict map, I was able to shift the stakeholders' attention from deadlocked positions onto specific zones in the forest where their interests overlapped. The stakeholders were also able to find out on their own the impact that their demands on the forest had on each other's interests. Finally, I took the parties through a mapping exercise that focused on different scenarios for resolving the conflict through trade offs. The trade off was done by combining the two suitability maps in different ways to create new conflict maps in which some high criterion scores in one map were substituted for some low scores in the other suitability map. This exercise presented different ways for resolving the conflict through consensus. It also opened new paths for the amicable resolution of the dispute.The right motivation can prompt stakeholders to take actions that can facilitate the resolution of a conflict. In Kofiase, I realised from the beginning that the disputed forest resources were threatened by wildfire and by chainsaw operators in the area. So I worked with the parties to create a risk map that revealed potential hazards that could strike the forest resources if they prolonged the conflict. This revelation, coupled with memories of previous wildfire damages to the forest, caused some stakeholders to reconsider their demands and to agree to work to protect the forest.Later, we used GIS to create maps that revealed the impact that each group's demand could have on the livelihood needs of the other group and on the forest resources in general. The parties also worked on the potential impacts that wildfires and the activities of chainsaw operators could have on resources being demanded by the stakeholders.Through such GIS analyses and map displays, the stakeholders were able to recognise for themselves how a prolonged conflict could jeopardise the interests of their opponents as well as their own long-term interests in the forest. It was clear from the degree of cooperation between the parties after the project that the PGIS applications had a great impact on stakeholders' understanding of the conflict situation. As such the parties agreed to compromise on some issues that divided them. Soon after the project therefore, the chief and elders of the town were able to bring the parties together for the final resolution of the conflict even though their earlier attempts failed to end the dispute.GIS-based conflict management strategies bring different groups together to collect data and process them. Joint visits to sites and group participation in PGIS exercises encourages stakeholders to develop trust, cordial relations and friendships between them. In Kofiase, I observed that the GIS applications promoted mutual trust and the open exchange of ideas. These friendships can later become the building blocks for collaboration and a foundation for building compromise solutions.The most promising -and very difficult -task I encountered in Kofiase was resolving the basic value differences that sustained the dispute. Although stakeholders retained different views about the conflict, their varied perspectives had to be reconciled before the dispute could finally be resolved. It took a long time for the disagreement between the parties in Kofiase to be resolved completely. The GIS applications were important but several other factors also contributed. For example, advice and exhortations by the local chief and heads of the various clans in the town played a very important role. Also, the town's inhabitants realised that the conflict was making it difficult for them to cooperate and work together on development projects that benefited all of them.In matters of land use conflicts, the cooperative and competitive forces that drive a conflict are present and intertwined. When we see a conflict from this perspective, GIS applications can help stakeholders explore the conflict situation, by THEME SECTION Peter A. Kyem 4 40 learning more about the conflict, building respect and cooperation between them, and preparing them for a mutual agreement.PGIS applications can be beneficial in mediation but there is a need for caution about the limitations of GIS. Far from being a perfect interventionist tool, GIS technology is subject to some restraining factors. For example, the brightly coloured GIS maps produced for group discussions can distract stakeholders' values. They can obscure, rather than illuminate, the true basis of their decisions. Unfamiliarity with computers (as we observed in Kofiase) can also restrict fair and open discussions. As a result, PGIS applications alone might not bring a conflict to a final resolution. Several factors unrelated to the PGIS applications also exert an influence on the choices stakeholders make to resolve or intensify a conflict. For example, in Kofiase, the advice and exhortations from leaders in the community played an important role in the final resolution of the conflict. As a result, if the conflict resolution is based entirely on PGIS applications, some valuable voices may be filtered out. Or alternative representations that might be crucial for a successful outcome might be excluded.But these problems with PGIS applications do not have to limit the proven capabilities of the technology in facilitating mediation efforts. Practitioners should be vigilant, resourceful and innovative in their use of GIS as a tool for intervention.As land use conflicts intensify and demands for participatory decision-making in resource management increases, many resource managers will resort to PGIS applications for solutions. Unfortunately, many of today's GIS software applications are not suitable for use in conflict management projects. In part, this is because they do not have procedures for handling the subjective preferences of stakeholders. Creating a supportive environment for managing resource conflicts does not only require funds and computer hardware enhancements. Most importantly, simple GIS procedures are needed to effectively involve all stakeholders in the decision-making process. To make such decision support tools effective and easy to use by resource managers in communities throughout the developing world, the procedures must be iterative, simple, and easy to use. Appropriate GIS procedures can be designed to support the drive to create opportunities for public participation and the management of resource conflicts in local communities.  Tenure maps are made with the intent of producing legally acceptable evidence of prior land use and occupancy, to be used in national or global negotiations. Two strategies for organising tenure mapping projects are in play. One builds local capacities in gathering traditional knowledge via interviews and sketch maps -but out-sources the computerised aspects of map-making to official cartographic agencies.The other uses the community requirement for a tenure map as a context to initiate a graduated training process aimed at competence in -and control of -the entire mapping process. Community-based teams learn to use GPS to produce geographically accurate field maps. A simple computer plus printer set-up has enabled some indigenous associations to set up their own mapping units.Official reaction varies from denial to criminalisation. But the most serious problem is sustainability. Tenure maps are one-shot affairs: they get things going but cannot keep them going. What can community mapping teams do next and who will support it? To this point, community mapping has followed the development parable about teaching fishing instead of giving fish. But what if there are no fish?This article focuses on community mapping projects, initiated and controlled by indigenous communities and their associations. The production of geographically accurate 'tenure maps' assists a graduated process of capacity buildingaiming to enable communities and associations to control the entire map-making process and to produce maps that both rival official cartography and are accepted legal tender.'Tenure mapping' is a distinct genre of community mapping. It is rooted in the cartographic evidence assembled by indigenous communities in northern Canada, initially, Inuit, Cree and Settler peoples, in preparation for negotiating the formal recognition of their ancestral territories. Tenure mapping was developed by the Inuit and Cree in Arctic Quebec, to oppose a land settlement by the impending James Bay Hydro-Electric Project (Kemp and Brooke, 1995). Indigenous peoples in Yukon and the western subarctic soon adapted it, and tenure mapping is now a mandatory component of over 50 territorial negotiations in British Columbia.The distinctive attributes of tenure maps include:• the restoration of indigenous place names; • signifying ownership;• the symbolisation of hunting and gathering 'map biographies'; • signifying land use; and • spiritual and ancient sites, as evidence of occupation 'since time immemorial'. Gathering this essential data constitutes the first phase of tenure mapping. The second phase is scaled map compilation. This includes transferring field data to a scaled base 42 map and producing a final tenure map -a process that requires a computer, printer and appropriate software.The essential data in those early Arctic examples of tenure mapping were all contributed by community members. But the final conversion of reams of sketch maps and notebooks into scaled and printed maps was out-sourced to a group of experts, mostly geographers and anthropologists, and to commercial printers. During the early 1970s, this was unavoidable. But by the 1990s, the costs and versatility of computer graphics systems and software meant that map production was a feasible proposition, if not directly to communities, then to their associations or support NGOs.Nevertheless, some mapping projects continue to outsource this phase, usually to government cartographic agencies, or universities, e.g. the Maya Atlas (Chapin and Threlkeld, 2001;TMCC, 1997).During the 1990s, an alternative approach used these technical advances to explore whether the entire mapmaking process could be localised. This methodology evolved from a series of tenure mapping projects in the Guiana Shield countries of Venezuela, Guyana, Brazil and Suriname, supported by the Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) in collaboration with community associations (see Map 1). 1 Map 1: Guiana Shield tenure 1 See www.forestpeoples.orgTo maximise community engagement, use robust manual methods instead of those requiring sophisticated equipment, climate control or a stable energy supply. For example, tracing was chosen over digitisation, and simple graphics software over geographic information systems (GIS). Since accurate tenure maps can be produced without GIS, this was not an imperative: some mapping groups used it; some didn't. With these objectives in view, a complementary two-phase mapmaking methodology evolved.This methodology is illustrated in Map 2, where FPP and Kuyujani, a Ye'kuana-Sanema NGO, collaborated to map their adjoining territories in the Caura watershed of the Venezuelan Amazon.In the first phase, project partners roughly defined the 'survey area' and selected the most useful 'topographic source maps' from the official cartography. These maps were then cut and pasted together. A major factor in choosing source maps was that the mosaic to be traced was slight less than 36 inches (90cm). This width matched both standard large format scanners and printers. The resulting field map was printed in two halves and taped together. By tracing only the rivers and contours, official names and infrastructure were effectively deleted from the source maps. This produced a 'no-name' map, ready to receive data gathered by the fieldmapping team (see Map 2, left and centre panels).In the second phase, a community-based mapping team (usually 6-12 people) is trained to do interviewing and sketchmapping with informants, map reading and log-book keeping, navigation with global positioning system (GPS) units, and how to develop an appropriate map legend. After four-to six-weeks training, the teams spend several months gathering field data and manually placing it on the no-name field map. In the final phase the legend symbols and names Is there life after tenure mapping? 5 are placed, in appropriate layers over the base map layer in the graphics file (see Map 2, right panel).As this methodology improved during the Guiana Shield mapping projects, a complementary organisational arrangement evolved. This reflected how mapping technologies and skills could be localised. Community-based mapping teams learnt to gather and map original and unique field data sets, and association-based mapping units; were able to produce field base maps for the teams and then to transfer and print final maps.In Venezuela, the Ye'kuana-Sanema tenure-mapping project led to the Kuyujani mapping unit, which has since assisted other peoples to map their territory. In Guyana, the Akawaio-Arecuna Upper Mazaruni tenure-mapping project led to a mapping unit operated by the Amerindian Peoples Association, which then went on to train community teams to complete the other Guyana mapping projects shown in Map 1, as well as the Marowijne mapping project in Suriname. In Suriname, although there are no association-based mapping units as yet, the teams trained in the Marowijne and Saramaka and tenure mapping projects continued to train other community mapping teams -in the Cottica and West Suriname projects respectively.But this method works best in the landscape where it originated. In tropical rainforests with dense drainage patterns, the mapping teams can easily track themselves on the no-name field maps. Maps of barren landscapes have few location clues. A new generation of satellite-based image-maps now offers an affordable alternative, not only for barren landscapes. Map 3 compares a NaturVue 2000 image map (www.earthsat.com) of a section of Saramaka territory (Box 1) with its field and final map versions, and compares satellite-derived visual data with that gathered by airborne cameras, to a ground resolution of 5cm.Some argue that outsourcing will prompt government officials to favour claims to territory or resource access arising from tenure maps. But this has yet to be widely demonstrated. In Suriname, for example, government cartographers collaborated on the production of two tenure maps of adjacent Trio territories (Map 1: 9 and 10) even though the government has yet to accept the principle there is anything to negotiate. In fairness, neither have any of the ten self-sufficiently produced tenure maps prompted formal negotiations over these ancestral territories. The Venezuelan projects (Map 1: 1 and 2) have come closest, as they have at least become the subject of negotiations.Outsourcing means there is no training beyond the gathering of local data through interviews and sketch maps. Although important aspects, this process stops short of transferring this data to final maps, as well as printing them. Should the communities wish to make another map, or revise their completed map, or should other communities wish to make a similar map, they would be again need assistance from official cartographic agencies and raise the funds needed.When communities depend on external map-making agencies, issues of map ownership may arise. The agency may want to restrict the circulation of the maps. The communities may claim that not all their collected data appears on the final map. In Suriname, some of the Trio informants, to Projects 9 and 10 in Map 1, claim that some of their campsites in the Central Suriname Nature Reserve did not appear on the final, printed versions (author). If these maps had been produced by an indigenous mapping unit, this could have been rectified in a few minutes.The Apalia-Tirio-Wayana-Kaxuyana map in the Brazilian sector of the Guiana Shield (Map 1:13), coordinated by the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) is an excellent tenure map. 2 But the Brazilian government retains strict control over its distribution. Printed maps can only be obtained with official permission. There are also high costs: the million dollar Apalia-Tirio-Wayana-Kaxuyana map costs more than the other 12 Guiana Shield mapping projects combined (author).Saramaka Territory in central Suriname is experiencing asset stripping from two quarters: old-fashioned loggers from the north; and newly fashioned conservationists from the west. The 20,000 Saramaka, from 63 communities along the Suriname River, recently discovered that the government had let concessions to their forests to Ji-Shen, a Chinese logging company. The Saramaka mapping project's strategy is to ensure that the government respects treaties that already guarantee tenure. Then a few weeks after the Saramaka map was published, Conservation International Suriname (CIS) announced an initiative to extend the Central Suriname Nature Reserve into the territory. While awaiting a decision from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Wanhati, the Association of Saramaka Authorities, has taken counter-measures to both threats. One is a high-resolution aerial survey of the impacts of the Ji-Shen logging. The other is the development of a conservation and management plan which challenges that produced by CIS -and will be based on the high resolution aerial images of villages and their surrounding lands shown in Map 3. For both environmental impact assessment and biodiversity conservation, image maps at both levels of detail are superior to topographical maps. This approach would address practical problems of stewardship and turn tenure maps into databases, combining traditional knowledge with direct observation -and which inform local agendas that compete with those of outside agencies. Sustainability lies not in the distant prospect of a land settlement, but in how communities can immediately capitalise on the potential which emerges during the time it takes to train community-based mapping teams. The informationgathering process also reflects an intense local curiosity: about alternative ways to generate income from traditional resources, and about the motivations and agendas of outsiders with an evident interest in their territory. Both community leaders and mappers are inspired by the realisation that they have acquired skills that could be put to work immediately.The global conservation community has convincingly demonstrated the funds various donors will give, not for specific projects but for managed programmes. Substantial sums are given to global conservation organisations. For example, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Amazon Region Protected Areas Programme (ARPA), committed to protect 12% of the Brazilian Amazon, received US$370 million over 10 years. But indigenous groups and communities receive only relatively meagre amounts allocated to 'small grant funds': such as the World Bank Indigenous Peoples Fund, with a maximum of US$30,000. However helpful, such funds are not geared for sustainability.But few indigenous peoples' organisations and support NGOs elect to compete for them. Over the last few years, some indigenous organisations and their support NGOs have embarked on a global-scale effort to change the relationship between the global conservation community, through interventions to advance 'rights-based conservation', e.g. at the Biodiversity Convention COP or the World Conservation Union (IUCN) meetings. But like tenure negotiations, this campaign is conducted in distant forums -beyond the reach of communities.Indigenous communities are clearly disadvantaged. Although regularly featured in conservation proposals, communities have not yet organised amongst themselves to generate the kinds of large-scale, long-term proposals and programmes that donors are willing to support. Such funding could give communities the prospect of real long-term sustainability. However, there are a number of comparative In fact, the costs for self-sufficient projects have gradually declined -as local mapping units assume larger responsibilities. This suggests a comparative advantage for locally based mapping groups.The capacity-building approach to tenure mapping produces more than just a tenure map. The two most tangible results are:• a traditional knowledge database of the territory; and • community-based field mapping teams qualified to maintain and expand that database. Alongside these are other important intangible results. One is the confidence that flows from being able to make maps as accurately as the official cartographers. The other is that the community and the mapping teams are the authors of the map -which in some countries is likely to aggravate the mapping establishment: surveyors and officials.Although often hostile, both official and surveying industry reactions to community mapping are a testament to its effectiveness. For example, in Malaysia, the Sarawak government criminalised community mapping after the Iban community of Rumah Nor used GPS mapping to win a case against Borneo Paper and Pulp. 3Negotiations over ancestral lands usually take place either at national government level, or in global forums. Such negotiations can last indefinitely. They also take place in distant cities and require the kind of legal and political expertise that communities rarely possess, and minimise the possibility of active community participation. Communities, once central to the tenure-mapping process, become marginalised.Self-sufficiency in community map-making does not automatically trigger sustainability. Tenure mapping can be inspirational and build capacity. But it is typically a one-off activity. And communities who want to continue developing local capacities in resource management or conservation often encounter a funding vacuum. Human rights-oriented donors that support tenure mapping are often unqualified or uncomfortable about supporting resource management projects -especially when 'too technical'. Environmental donors rarely support indigenous projects, unless embedded in 'community-based-conservation' projects managed by global conservation NGOs.One key to sustainability is to shift the focus from the advantages that communities could use as building blocks towards developing their organisational and institutional capacities.Conservation is an information-intensive activity. Its ultimate purpose is to enable communities to maximise their control over the flow of environmental information that affects their territories. These information skills qualify community mapping teams to assume a broad spectrum of responsibilities in on-the-ground conservation.Most science-based conservation focuses on biodiversity inventories, and the assessment and long-term monitoring that informs the planning and management of protected areas and endangered species. And it requires specialised analysis done by universities and zoological and botanical gardens.But gathering the data required needs different and more practical talents and capacities. This is a comparative advantage for community-based groups that have learnt to gather and map geographically accurate environmental data. It should also enable communities to capitalise on other advan-The most important lesson learned from the Nunavik experience is that the Indigenous peoples must first and foremost have control of their own information (Kemp and Brooke, 1995).In 1975, the Inuit organisation Makivik, created by the James Bay Agreement, Quebec established the Kuujuac Environmental Research Centre. It was committed to training Inuit in wildlife field research and to ensuring that traditional knowledge is combined with scientific field data in environmental management. 4 The Centre stipulated that visiting scientists must employ qualified local field assistants and consult with hunters over their intentions. Map 4 shows 20 years of hunters' observations of seasonal caribou movements, gathered by the centre.Then in the 1990s, the Grand Council of the Crees in Quebec created a GIS archive to oppose the James Bay II Hydroelectric Project (James Bay I led to the 1975 settlement). Hydro Quebec had insisted that the land to be flooded was unused. The next day, the Cree Hunter Support Programme GIS printed reams of maps and records based on the hunting records. This was evidence that the forests had been in active use for 20 years.Box 2: Lessons from Inuit and Cree Territories tages: their intimate familiarity with their territory, and knowledge of their traditional assets. This localised capacityacquired in the course of tenure mapping -is pivotal in stewardship, for protected area and species conservation and also in dealing with other external resource interests.Some indigenous groups are starting to think on larger scales, in order to match, or pre-empt, the landscape-scale conservation projects being proposed for their territories. Both the Wapisiana in Guyana and the Saramaka in Suriname (Map 1: 4 and 8) are currently motivated to contemplate such 'counter-proposals'.In the Philippines, many coastal communities have set up locally managed marine protected areas, such as the Baliangao Protected Landscape and Seascape dedicated to mangrove and coral reef recovery (Guzman, 2004). Recognising the need to coordinate actions with their neighbours, communities sharing a common coastline are joining up to become coastal conservation regimes (Christie et al, 2002).One doctrine driving global conservation is that people and biodiversity conservation are inherently incompatible. Conservationists hold the main cards: access to funds, scientific expertise, and a largely uncontested reputation as planetary saviours. But, ten years ago, the World Watch Institute estimated that the current process of territorial negotiations in America would lead to 13% of the continent falling under some measure of indigenous control -including 33% of the Amazon (Alan Therberge, pers. comm.). But what indigenous peoples elect to do with their recovered territories is of great consequence for biodiversity conservation. That is their card.These two strategies have essentially the same goal: security of tenure and control over territorial assets. Rights-base strategies seek comprehensive legal recognition of communal title to ancestral lands through state-level negotiations. Asset-based strategies are more pragmatic and incremental, extending control asset by asset.There are other differences. Asset-based strategies are locally controlled and invite all community members to engage directly. They are dynamic while rights-based strategies can be limiting -for example by halting resource development until a settlement is reached. And land rights negotiations can take a long time; it took Inuit twenty-five years to negotiate Nunavut. Asset-based strategies can be put into effect immediately. Asset-based strategies do recognise the crucial importance of secure tenure (Adamson et al, 2005). But they treat the existing asset control regime as a starting point from which to gain community control over assets. This promotes community-scale asset development, impact assessment, shareholder activism, financial leveraging, exercising intellectual property rights, limiting the extraction of resources, and securing community assets by setting up protected areas.Rights-based strategies also depend upon a readiness to negotiate by the state. For example in America, some campaigns that were initiated by tenure maps (Map 1) started over ten years ago. But governments have yet to recognise those indigenous peoples, let alone agree to negotiate over their territories. And outside America, this is the exception rather than the rule.Interestingly, in Africa, where the chances of negotiating indigenous land title are slight, community and participatory mapping is now enabling communities to respond more effectively to perceived threats to their lands, sometimes turning the instruments of global conservation to their own advantage.If there is life after tenure mapping, perhaps it is likely to be found in countries where the chances of negotiating indigenous land title are virtually zero.Participatory GIS (PGIS) has been present in Canada for the past three decades. Some trace its roots back to the work of Franz Boas, who recognised that 'the recording of locally used place-names can be used to explicate the systematic nature of Aboriginal land use' (Natcher, 2001). However, the first systematic study recognisable as a form of PGIS was the Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Project (Freeman, 1976) This long history of participatory mapping, or traditional use study (TUS) as it is more commonly called in the area, has played a major role in the development of this practice in Canada and beyond. It makes Treaty 8 BC a critical site for learning about participatory mapping and PGIS as sustained -and hopefully sustainable -practices.After thirty years, issues of aboriginal land and resource rights continue. But the dialogue between First Nations in northeastern BC and the Canadian state has shifted from one about treaties and litigation to what has become known as 'consultation' regarding resource development decisions. Within this new era of consultation the value of good quality participatory mapping is increasing in importance while the challenges of building and maintaining a quality PGIS within First Nations communities continue.In this, and every, context, it is important to remember that lines on maps have power. The creation of maps is embedded in historical, social, and political contexts that cannot be separated from the maps themselves. Recognising and turning the power of maps towards indigenous goals, the Cree, Beaver, Dene, Sekani and Saulteau communities of Treaty 8 have been making their own lines, points 52 and areas using paper, mylars, and digital geographical information systems (GIS) for more than thirty years. 1 We use the term Traditional Use Studies (TUS) as a comprehensive term to explain the processes of participatory mapping. As Tobias simply explains, 'think of it as the geography of oral tradition, or the mapping of cultural and resource geography' (Tobias, 2000).Any history of mapping in the Treaty 8 area needs to begin with an acknowledgement that Treaty 8 First Nations are not strangers to the idea of mapping and documenting the way they use and understand their territories. Given the proper contexts, and the proper respect, elders from any of the Treaty 8 communities may speak of a long tradition of spiritual map making. Long before oil companies and anthropologists introduced paper maps, local spiritual leaders were dreaming their way through sacred landscapes of trails and forests. They returned to their families and loved ones with spiritually powerful 'dream maps' recorded in drum songs and drawn on moose or elk skins (Riddington 1988;1990). These provided an indigenous record of human experience within a spiritually charged landscape, marking important places and experiences, and providing a tangible connection between this world and the next, as well as between the storied past and the always-changing future. Some of these sacred maps, and the skills to read them are still kept by elders of the Treaty 8 communities. Both the maps, and the elders who understand them, continue to provide a precious resource for those in need of guidance.But PGIS maps are a very different kind. Rather than written on skins or in the memories of elders, they use GIS software, computer memory and database programmes.Rather than being born from and integrated within indigenous structures of knowledge, they involve a set of nonindigenous priorities and technologies that are as likely to disintegrate indigenous structures of knowledge, society and power as they are to support them. But, just like dream maps, PGIS must, in some way, form a bridge between worlds by communicating between ideas of space and time.In the early 1970s, a massive oil and gas pipeline was proposed for the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. This pipeline was built to link resources in Alaska to markets in the continental United States. To support their arguments against the project, the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) and the Treaty 8 Tribal Association hired researchers led by Hugh Brody to systematically document the land use activities of local First Nations based on their knowledge and use of the land. Brody's mapping was designed to inform the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry. Members of the Treaty 8 First Nations, many of them now elders themselves, worked directly with Brody as research assistants and interpreters to interview elders and community members and map the importance of the land to local economies and livelihoods. This mapping project was the first of its kind in BC. It formed a critical part of the foundation for later TUS and PGIS related work in northeast BC and elsewhere.TUS research in northeast BC was sporadic after Brody's work. Through the 1980s and early 1990s, participatory mapping played a major role elsewhere in BC through legal cases such as Delgamuukw (Sparke, 1998). 2 But only a handful of small mapping projects took place in northeastern BC (see Walde and Candler, 1996). Brody's maps disappeared from Treaty 8 territories shortly after they were completed and the systematic, regional approach to TUS that was taken in the 1970s was replaced by smaller projects. These projects had modest budgets involving single communities mapping out their own interests in response to particular proposed resource development projects. The projects were funded by either government or industry interests in order to fulfil vague legal requirements to 'consult'. Little was left with the communities in the way of a lasting legacy.In the mid-1990s, a company proposed to harvest a large area of forest across from the reserve lands of the Halfway River First Nation, one of the more remote commu- Because the community refused to cooperate, and because Brody's work had been largely done with the Halfway River First Nation, the company commissioned a report on the community's traditional land use based on Brody's published work, without speaking with a Halfway River member. The report found no evidence in Brody's existing maps that the area of the proposed cut block was of any great significance to the traditional practices of the Halfway River people. The logging company delivered the report to both the provincial government and to the Halfway River First Nation. Based on the report, the provincial government considered 'consultation' to have taken place and approved the cut block. So the Halfway River First Nation launched a court injunction against the development. After a difficult court battle, they won the case on the grounds that 'consultation' with First Nations had not been 'meaningful'.It was within the context of new court decisions and increased oil and gas developments that the Treaty 8 Tribal Association (T8TA) made a renewed effort in the late 1990s to have local community's values recognised in resource management decisions. The organisation pushed for funds from the provincial government and received enough money to initiate the Treaty 8 Tribal Association (T8TA) TUS in 1998 (see Box 3).The initiative involved the combined efforts of four of the seven Treaty 8 First Nations. The four communities agreed to work with the T8TA to document their interests over the entire Treaty 8 BC region using a single consistent set of methods. The work involved locating archival and historical documents, including Brody's work, other TUS work, and archaeological reports, and combining them with the map biographies and traditional knowledge of Treaty 8 elders and community members within a single digital GIS. Through a detailed search of at the offices of UBCIC in Vancouver, the T8TA was able to locate a few of Brody's orig-inal paper base maps that had been made more than two decades earlier. These were repatriated back to the archives of the T8TA for safekeeping.The T8TA TUS involved extensive training of local researchers followed by more than a year of careful interviewing, mapping and documentation. Mapping interviews were held with individual elders and community members and documented on mylar map overlays at a scale of 1:50,000. Interviews were audio taped and later digitised as .mp3 files and, where necessary, transcribed. Points, lines and polygons noted on base maps were digitised at the T8TA regional office and annotated using a combination of GIS and database software. The four communities mapped more than 28,000 TUS locations. Mapping interviews were supplemented with life history interviews and elder's circles where more general traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) was recorded. All of the materials produced were duplicated While the T8TA TUS was successful in many ways, it was not able to negotiate a final information sharing and protection agreement (FIPSA) with the government of BC. Despite numerous attempts, the T8TA and the provincial government could not agree on how the information collected through the TUS should be used and maintained into the future. The T8TA sought to negotiate a relationship that would see the information used on an ongoing basis in resource management decisions. The T8TA wanted its use to be facilitated and overseen by a First Nations regional office that would sustain itself through charging fees for the services and data that it provided. In the absence of such an ongoing First Nations presence, it was feared that any data shared with the province would be misinterpreted and misrepresented against the interests of the Treaty 8 First Nations. In particular, there was concern that once the province had the data they would use it as a substitute for meaningful and consultative engagement with First Nations on projects of economic importance. In the absence of an information sharing and protection agreement, the data collected through the T8TA TUS was not shared with the province. It remained housed within the T8TA and was shared only with the four participating First Nations.The present goals and vision for the future of the Land and Resources Department of the T8TA is to create a centralised land use office that supports the First Nation offices through the use of GIS and PGIS practices. A community user needsassessment was completed in 2004, evaluating the current state of GIS in the communities. Despite all previous efforts to maintain GIS with the communities, the 2004 survey revealed a lack of technical expertise in using GIS technologies. Presently, within community land offices, where GIS and PGIS take place, there is the overwhelming task of dealing with referrals and applications for development. Using GIS and PGIS effectively and efficiently in this process becomes another challenge faced by communities.For example, the Doig River First Nation received 908 Oil and Gas applications in 2004, each with a 10-day decision turn-around. The 908 referrals do not include applications from the forestry and mining industries, BC Hydro, or many other proposals for development. In most cases, Doig River First Nation received incomplete application packages and lacked the necessary information, tools and time to make informed decisions.Recognising the importance of empowering the community land use offices to make informed decisions relating to development activities, the Treaty 8 Chiefs signed memorandum of understanding agreements with the BC Ministry of Energy and Mines. 3 As part of these agreements, the communities would gain an opportunity to harness GIS technology to help manage geographic data at the local level.Recognising community challenges, both industry and government support Treaty 8's initiative to ameliorate the consultation process, increase local capacity, and develop new decision support tools and to create a T8TA centralised data repository. In hopes of incorporating TUS data collected from numerous research projects in the past, seven out of the eight BC Treaty 8 communities received state-of-the-art mapping hardware and software from the BC Oil and Gas Commission.At the community land use offices, personnel are responsible for evaluating impacts to cultural uses and values, using TUS data as an indicator. This evaluation process requires lands' staff to review policies, overlay TUS map layers with proposed development, and field crews sent to the proposed site for assessment. When TUS sites have been identified within the area of proposed development, global positional systems (GPS) are used to gain a precise location of where TUS data may be located. However, new data presently being collected by elders and monitors is not being transferred into a digital format at this time. Many challenges arise when trying to create capacity with GIS technology at the local level. Factors that contribute to this are lack of staff, heavy workloads, limited funding, and a lack of community involvement, among others. Community effectiveness is limited by lack of access to current and relevant data. Lack of information and the capacity to analyse it constrains the ability of the communities to respond to requests from industry and government for input on proposed development.So as part of a training strategy, using PGIS, four of the communities have engaged in the development of a 40layer atlas. This atlas blends scientific and cultural knowledge for each of the community's critical use areas, or areas of significant importance to the community. The time that is set aside to develop this product is minimal, due to referral demands. In time, an atlas depicting forestry, environmental, ecological, industrial, and cultural values can be incorporated into the decision mechanisms that support or restrict development activities.The T8TA is in the process of linking each of the regional communities to a centralised land use office. This office will house a repository of spatial data, including TUS and TEK datasets. Gaps in information relating to TUS data can then be identified and strategies can be developed for further research. Using GIS technology, T8TA can then begin to incorporate these vital datasets into community planning tables and support negotiations efforts.Consideration of the past thirty years of PGIS activity in the Treaty 8 area seems to provide several lessons regarding the nature of PGIS as a sustained, and hopefully sustainable practice: • TUS often comes in waves of activity followed by periods of relative inactivity. Maintenance of a sustained and sustainable PGIS involves anticipating and preparing for the low points of PGIS activity. • Sustaining the legacy of PGIS through periods of low activity requires an institutional organisation that takes its responsibilities for maintaining and protecting valuable PGIS data and resources seriously. • It is critical that local indigenous interests remain in control of the data produced by a PGIS. • In the case of Treaty 8 BC, where individual First Nations are very small, the regional stability of the T8TA has proven instrumental for sustaining the legacy of past PGIS efforts. With this said, the T8TA also continues to be challenged with representing the diverse interests of its membership.• Building capacity at the community level is also important and valuable, even in cases where this capacity cannot be sustained over the long-term. • It is critical to understand that maps are only indicators of the living knowledge that exists in communities. While there are still elders able to speak, maps must not become the authorities. • There is a future for PGIS mapping, but is sometimes difficult to anticipate where that future will lead a community. One of the key questions that remains to be answered in the Treaty 8 is whether or not there is financial viability for PGIS beyond the occasional funding of mapping projects. • Successful PGIS must deliver high quality products through following a consistent and documented set of methods. It must be based on good quality research that leaves a clear paper trail. • It is critical that PGIS be community-initiated and participatory. But it is equally critical that it balances community involvement with quality outputs and realistic expectations.Since the first TUS in the Treaty 8 area in 1974, PGIS has proved itself as a valuable tool in communicating First Nations relationship to and interests on the land. Through the changing political, social, cultural and ecological environments, PGIS has been able to adapt and maintain an important role. Though the urgency and need for TUS and PGIS has ebbed and flowed over the years, we have shown how the legacy of TUS in Treaty 8 is strong and how these maps remain important and powerful. As First Nations people are said to 'carry maps of their homelands in their heads' (Tobias, 2000), PGIS enables First Nations to carry evidence of this knowledge, whether it be to the negotiating table or to a community gathering, and use it to strengthen their voices, now and for future generations.Mahsi cho! (Thank you!)\"Lack of information and the capacity to analyse it constrains the ability of the communities to respond to requests from industry and government for input on proposed development\"The eradication of slums is currently on the global agenda. One of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is to 'achieve significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, by 2020' (UNDP, 2003). Efforts are being made to localise the MDGs. But in many developing cities, the scarcity of relevant data -coupled with lack of both human and financial resources for data collection and analysis -is a significant constraint.The large-scale implementation of slum upgrading and improvement programmes is one of the biggest challenges that communities and municipalities in developing countries face today. Such programmes aim to overcome diverse problems such as poor housing conditions, limited access to improved water and sanitation, insecure tenure, hazard risks, and high unemployment.In this article, we describe a participatory approach that could improve slum monitoring processes. It involves various actors with local knowledge and uses Geographic Information Technology (GIT). The approach reduces resource requirements while providing locally relevant and spatially detailed information. The data can be used for both planning and monitoring the effectiveness of slum intervention projects. This low cost participatory approach has been tested in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia -a large city with a high proportion of slum households.We used rapid urban appraisal methods, supported by GIT tools to map and analyse the slums. The methods and techniques used included focus group discussions, field observation with community members and local experts, and visual image interpretation using satellite images and aerial photographs. The approach has potential for replication and up-scaling to produce a city-wide database of slums that could be used to monitor the effectiveness of ongoing upgrading projects.One important prerequisite for improving slum conditions is local intervention strategies that build on adequate and timely available information that spatially locates slum areas -but which also reflects their diversity in a local context. The use of performance targets such as the MDGs requires a workable monitoring mechanism so that the societies involved can measure its progress.Addis Ababa has estimated population of over 3 million, with ten sub-cities. Between 85% and almost 100% of its population are slum dwellers ( UN-Habitat, 2004). But the central government has only recently given urban develop-A participatory approach to monitoring slum conditions: an example from Ethiopia A participatory approach to monitoring slum conditions: an example from Ethiopia 7 ment issues any attention, as agriculture is still the dominant source of livelihoods for most Ethiopians.The neglect of urban issues has had severe consequences for the physical, social and economic development of Addis Ababa (Solomon, 2005). Recently, the national government and the local government of Addis Ababa have formulated policies to target urban poverty reduction and slum upgrading by: • providing infrastructure; • improving tenure security; • improving water supply and sanitation; • improving housing conditions; and • improving the urban environment (e.g. improving the solid waste management). (AAWSA, 2004;HDPO, 2004;MOFED, 2002).Main strategic decisions about slum intervention and budget allocation are still done at the city level. The actual THEME SECTION 59 implementation and resource mobilisation is prepared on the lowest administrative level, or kebele, and is based on community participation. There are 203 kebeles in the city. The sub-city level is not very involved in this process.The importance of the kebeles is rooted in the reform of the administrative structure in 2003. This emphasised decentralisation and public participation. But the programmes on poverty reduction and slum upgrading increase the need for detailed information on slum areas. So information is required to gain a better understanding of the complexity and diversity of such areas -and to support the more strategic allocation of scarce resources for slum upgrading.The local demand for information on slum areas goes beyond the simple classifications that characterise most parts of Addis Ababa as 'slums'. This demand reflects the views and needs of the inhabitants. It calls for 'high-resolution' as well as qualitative information (Kumar, 1987). Because fast but also reliable data collection methods are needed, we found participatory assessment to be a highly appropriate methodology for slum surveys. This approach focuses on local people's perceptions of slums and their diverse characteristics. We used participatory approaches that incorporate the use of Geographic Information Technologies (GIT) such as high resolution QuickBird satellite imagery and aerial photographs at scale 1:10,000. 1  This approach could be an alternative to overcome the lack of conventionally available data for local upgrading strategies (Sliuzas, 2004). The approach offers several advantages over conventional, more technocratic approaches such as:• its timeliness and low cost;• the increased ownership of the data collection process and the revealed problems; • the local learning that results from participation; and • a greater ease of embedding locally generated information in institutions such as city and sub-city authorities and community-based organisations (CBOs) (Turkstra and Raithelhuber, 2004).In this article, we describe the work carried out in Addis Ketema sub-city and Kebele 14. 2 This kebele was selected to demonstrate the different levels of information that can be obtained from local knowledge in combination with satellite imagery and aerial photos.Addis Ketema is part of the old city centre and is dominated by a mixture of commercial activities and deteriorating residential areas. It includes the largest market place of the nation, Merkato, and the intercity bus terminal. Kebele 14 is one of the most densely populated areas within Addis Ketema, with approximately 700 inhabitants per hectare.Acquiring comprehensive slum information for slum improvement in cities like Addis Ababa is entwined with issues of extreme resource constraints, data limitations and the heterogeneous characteristics of the city. We employed rapid appraisal techniques, integrating local knowledge with GIT using a participatory approach. This approach is preferable as it is cheap to build, easy to use, robust and flexible in its application (Sliuzas, 2004). Through focus group discussions, direct field observation, and visual image interpretation complemented by secondary data we were able to generate both spatial and non-spatial information on slums in the form of thematic layers in a GIS environment.Focus group discussions were held at city, sub-city and kebele level with different types of participants. This enabled us to observe the differences in the competencies and knowledge between professionals, technicians and residents. We held ten focus group discussions involving three to eight participants each. Similar sets of open-ended questions (checklists) were developed and used (see Box 1).It was essential to form a shared conceptual base for identification, characterisation and analysis of slums. So during the focus group discussions, slums were defined in the local context. Indicators considered relevant by each group were developed (e.g. access route condition, access to improved water and sanitation). The indicators then provided a basis for conducting slum identification. In addition, existing interventions in slums were discussed and  Organisations and administrative offices involved in the physical development of slums were selected at all administrative levels. The local authority focus group participants were experts involved in municipal works such as urban planning, urban management, land administration, housing development and water supply. Six experts in urban planning and urban infrastructure from Addis Ketema sub-city participated in the sub-city level focus group discussion. At kebele level, three representatives from the Kebele Development Committee were identified and invited to participate, as they were all key actors in slum upgrading projects. This committee has an important role in raising local funds, mobilising and organising the community, prioritising needs, and raising funds via NGOs.Each focus group was asked to discuss and agree on a set of variables that could be used to characterise slums in their area. They were then asked to identify and delineate slum areas within the city, the sub-city or the kebele based on the agreed characteristics. Each delineation was done on a piece of tracing paper overlaying a QuickBird satellite image, scale 1:15000, that included the sub-city boundary. This process involving considerable discussion and exchange of local knowledge by all group members (see Photo 2).An important characteristic of Addis Ababa is that there is a high degree of spatial mixing between slum and nonslum areas. This often makes it impossible to separate slum and non-slum areas at the working scale used for this study. The delineation of slum areas by lower level focus groups (i.e. sub-city and kebele) were more detailed than that obtained from city level groups (see Figure 1). The lower level groups were better able to discuss the prioritisation of specific areas, according to the severity of problems, with selected variables.We also used direct field observation for primary data collection within the city. This approach was used for three differ-  Image interpretation was very effective for capturing data that could not be easily captured using field observations or in focus groups. The focus group discussions revealed key visual image interpretation elements for slum identification and delineation (i.e. irregular street and building pattern and small, densely distributed houses). As Addis Ababa has been growing spontaneously without any significant guiding plan or standards for many years, irregular layout and high density are two key manifestations of poor living conditions in the built environment of the city.Based on two elements of image interpretation pattern and size, we identified groups of buildings with an irregular layout and lacking open space (see Figure 2). We also used the QuickBird image and aerial photographs when clarification was needed. This process of data capture has helped in filling the data gaps that remained after the focus groups and field observation (e.g. due to poor accessibility).Typical street after first level improvement The focus groups identified and prioritised poor sanitation, poor housing conditions and poor access routes as the main physical manifestations of slums in Addis Ababa. Water supply was not included into the first rank of slum indicators because of the widespread nature of this problem, i.e. water supply problems are also common in newly developed middle class residential areas, which the focus group members do not consider to be slums.We can't show all results in this article. But we will give an example of the data collected for two variables in Addis Ketema: poor housing conditions and poor access roads (see figure 4). Although substantial data on slums, policies, and intervention programmes is captured at city level, these examples show that the diversity of local living conditions is lost at higher spatial (administrative) levels. Even in a centrally located and relatively well established central area such as Addis Ketema, there are substantial differences between the data derived on housing and access conditions from the different levels. Clearly the level of detail increases from city to sub-city to kebele level. But we also observed inconsistencies between the different levels. Areas considered by one level to have serious problems with poor housing or access may be excluded from higher or lower level representations.There are several disconcerting features of such differences that can be illustrated by comparing the city and subcity levels. The sub-city level is mainly concerned with the implementation of various plans formulated at city level. However, these results reveal that even there, the two levels may not have a common view of the problems and their spatial extent. This could lead to miscommunication and excessive or inadequate resource allocations for plan implementation. Our focus groups revealed that with the exception of the higher management staff, sub-city staff tended to be less well-informed concerning areas of the existing policy and strategy, as well as the future plans of the government in relation to slums.At kebele level, the residents of the area have been directly involved through the neighbourhood development committee, so more detailed data could be captured. However, the neighbourhood development committee is even less knowledgeable than sub-city staff on the existing and future government plans and strategies for the specific area. There are apparently significant weaknesses in the flow of information and sharing of knowledge between administrative levels and these weaknesses are apparent in both directions (i.e. top-down and bottom-up).The identified set of slum variables was established and delineated through a combination of the three methods. Focus groups, image interpretation and field observation were all supported by available secondary data. In producing the final data products, the initial classification by the focus groups was adopted as the major source because of the richness and detail that was available from the various groups. An overview of this process is shown in Figure 3. The final product was a set of delineations of problem (slum) areas, with deficiencies related to housing condition, sanitation, access routes, tenure security and water supply.The focus group approach that we used provided an opportunity for direct learning by the study team. It allowed for an adaptive methodological approach. Minor deficiencies in the pre-set discussion guide were revealed and we made some adjustments during a group meeting while maintaining the main framework of each focus group. We then acquired information about the local views of slum definition, slum characteristics, and also existing slum interven- A participatory approach to monitoring slum conditions: an example from Ethiopia 765Clearly, more detailed data could be captured at lower administrative and community levels, enabling a deeper understanding of the multifaceted nature of specific slum areas. Such detailed information on slums is essential for local level decision-making and to form local policies through which sectoral or geographically targeted interventions can be planned and implemented. Each level has its own role in slum improvement. So the inclusion of all administrative levels and the community in data acquisition and monitoring processes should help develop a more relevant and accurate information system on slums in the city. The methodology we used seems to offer some potential for further development and implementation in Addis Ababa. It has at least pointed to weaknesses in information handling and sharing that could potentially undermine the development of effective strategies toward the elimination of slums in accordance with the MDG campaign.We acquired a richer understanding of slums and their characteristics through the combination of focus group discussion, field observation and image interpretation. This experience has shown that it could be an effective, economical and reliable method that is suitable for replication and adoption throughout the city.In particular, focus group discussions have the potential for gathering in-depth knowledge and insights in a rapid and economical way. These methods allow different actorsincluding the community -to participate and collaborate. It can create opportunities for data sharing and improved mutual understanding that is needed for collaborative slum upgrading interventions.The spatially heterogeneous character of the city often limited the ability of participants to distinguish between 'relatively poor' and 'relatively rich' areas by visual image interpre- tation. This was especially problematic for the technicians from the water and sewerage authority. There are many small areas without access to these services scattered throughout the city. So it was important to crosscheck the information derived from the focus group discussions and the field observations.The use of the satellite images with the focus groups was not entirely successful. This was due to difficulties that some participants -particularly the community representatives at the kebele level and the utility company technicians -had in interpreting the images. As such imagery has been very useful in other studies, it is quite likely that these difficulties could be overcome with increased exposure to such images, particularly if image scale is increased to make individual houses more easily visible and recognisable.Integrating methods and techniques had advantages over using any single method. The limitation in one method can be amended by the strength of the other. In particular the interactive participatory mapping done by experts -and the community representatives' spatial knowledge translated into maps -gave a rich information base for this analysis. It has the potential to create a basis for learning about the opinions, intents and needs of various technical and resident groups. This can be a first step toward a better understanding the different perceptions of the slum characteristics in various locations.The problem areas identified at the different administrative levels were not entirely contradictory. But the richness of detail obtained at kebele level cannot be matched at higher levels. The information gained at community level is of great value, especially if scarce resources for slum improvement are to be effectively targeted. The exchange of information gained from the different levels will be essential in generating a shared vision and working in a coordinated manner toward common goals. If community participation is to be used in future slum upgrading programmes in Addis Ababa and elsewhere, the further development of such participatory approaches to slum monitoring should be encouraged and adopted.In early 2004, the Gaspar Garcia Laviana cooperative, located in the community of Telpaneca in Nicaragua, requested technical assistance from Acción Contra el Hambre (ACH) for the purpose of making an inventory of local land parcels. A project was designed to seek a local alternative solution, including a low-cost methodology with a pronounced social dimension that would be easily accessible to all local organisations. This article describes how they tried out and developed a methodology called communitarian cartography. This method aims to prevent and resolve conflicts related to land and natural resources' access and use. It uses dialogue between all concerned actors and easy handling precision tools (GPS and GIS).The province of Madriz is one of the most vulnerable regions of Nicaragua. The vulnerability is not only physical and environmental (prolonged drought). It is also based on some structural elements (see Box 1).ACH wanted to help with conflict prevention and resolution over resources and to make the process of recognising producer's rights more efficient, while simultaneously placing the process within reach of the poor. So ACH designed a pilot by SYLVANIE JARDINETCapacity development and PGIS for land demarcation: innovations from NicaraguaIt relies almost completely on single-crop farming of basic grains. It depends for cash on the sale of surplus production once the basic subsistence level has been exceeded.In Madriz, approximately 9% of current properties stem from the unfinished 1980s Sandinista agrarian reform process. This left behind considerable insecurity in the land tenure system (see Box 2). Shortterm land leasing arrangements prevent adequate land management processes or investments in farming. Approximately 25% of small producers cannot prove their land is entered in the Property Register. There is no cadastre system, so existing information regarding property is often erroneous, leading to conflicts over borderlines between properties as well as between municipalities. 1 Technical and economic limitations in both civil society and among public authorities in Madriz hamper the use of innovative methods to promote and disseminate local mechanisms that might allow for proper land and natural resources management and territorial planning.1 Cadastre: a parcel-based land information system that includes a geometric description of land parcels, usually represented on a cadastral map. In some jurisdictions it is considered separate from, but linked to, the register of land rights and holders of those rights (land register), while in other jurisdictions the cadastre and land register are fully integrated. (FAO, 2002)Sylvanie Jardinet 8 project with a more integral and innovative focus.In 2002, ACH carried out a study on land tenure and the market for land in Madriz. The ACH team then developed a participatory cartography model to be used as a tool for local natural resources and land management. These activities in turn led to the onset of a process of reflection with local organisations and small farmers (producers).The study found that: • In Nicaragua, half the farmers do not own the land they work, or own only small, low quality parcels. Inappropriate land use, poor access and the lack of articulation between national land policies and local land rights practices have led to serious conflicts over land tenure. • The legalisation and registration of rural property, particularly smallholdings, is prohibitively expensive. • There is a demand from communities and cooperatives for adequate solutions to local management and physical planning of the territory. The Gaspar Garcia Laviana cooperative was established on land expropriated during the agrarian reform process, and specialises in the production of coffee and basic grains (beans, maize, sorghum). Lacking government aid, the cooperative faced problems in accessing credit. In addition, the former owners returned and claimed the land, and were later indemnified. So the members of the cooperative began to divide the land among themselves, while keeping the overall property intact under the original title. Two kinds of parcels were distributed, for coffee or basic grains production. Gardens were also 'privatised' to the families of cooperative 68 members, and to other families who lived in the community. The cooperative left some areas of coffee and forest to collective management to honour their collective debts. The leaders expressed the need to make this division of the formerly collective property 'official'.The pilot project was born from a request made by the cooperative, and the methodology was developed as the project advanced. The ACH technical team became increasingly specialised, and exchanged information with GIS experts in order to address any problems.The cooperative leaders defined the project, after they had presented it to all the cooperative members. A meeting and public assembly was held with the community (approximately 200 people). At the beginning, some had doubts. But afterwards, everybody agreed to participate. Details of the project and its origin were explained, along with development activities and expected outputs. This allowed ACH to answer questions about the process and to organise how the community would participate. Landowners interested in helping the technical team were identified in order to start the first trial geo-referenced survey.Two teams of six or eight people were created (one or two cooperative directors, the land owner, two or three people owning adjoining land, and two witnesses). These teams were trained by a technical team to use Geographic Positioning System (GPS) equipment, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and in participatory mapping and land surveying techniques. The teams were maintained through the duration of the project. Women took part in the process as owners and as neighbours. At first, they sent their sons to act as representatives on their behalf. But after a discussion with the cooperative we insisted that it was important for the women to also participate.The first survey involved geo-referencing points at rivers, roads, agricultural parcels, forested areas and homes in the community. This information allowed us to test the initial work, correcting errors, and generating some degree of critical discussion with local leaders. Valuable information was obtained for validating the way in which the methodology was being applied (groundtruthing). 2 This made it possible to calibrate the topographic map being used and obtain reference points for the community. This activity was very important at the beginning, because it allowed us to set working precedents before embarking on the measurement of the actual agricultural parcels.Nicaragua has a long history of conflicts over property. This reached a crisis point in the 1970s. After a civil war overthrew President Somoza in 1979, the revolutionary government of the Front Sandinista of National Liberation (FSLN) made agrarian reform a priority. It orientated land reform in two directions. First, by the creation of big farming governmental companies built on the base of the properties expropriated to the family Somoza and his relatives, (APP, Area Propiedad del Pueblo). Secondly, the rural sector began to organise cooperative production.But the land rights distributed by the agrarian reform programme were often incompletely formalised. Some beneficiaries even lacked deeds to their land. After the government changed in 1990 and the transition back into a market economy began, severe disputes over property rights ignited. Land distributed during the Sandinista period became hotly contested as the new government actively sought to safeguard the interests of the pre-Sandinista owners. A substantial fiscal cost was incurred to compensate former owners for lost land (Broegaard et al, 2002;Iram, 2000;Corral, 1999;Baumeister,1999). The database was jointly designed with producers, based on the needs they expressed. It collected information regarding measurements, agricultural production, and the presence of conflicts concerning the land use and natural resources. Box 3 lists the variables contained in the database.Once trial activities concluded and meetings had been held, the teams of owners, witnesses and owners of adjoining land came together to carry out geo-referenced surveys of the parcels, to create maps showing how the properties fitted together. The witnesses were important, as they were able to testify that the land belonged to the owner and to guarantee that the process of delimitation was done well.We developed three different classifications for the land parcels and data gathered:• perimeter of the cooperative; • boundary limits between communal areas, forests and protected land; and • property lines between parcels owned by producers who are cooperative members.For the first stage, we established that the cooperative consists of 890.5 hectares, with a perimeter of 26km. This took several days, and 12 producers participated. Two people held the GPS equipment and took readings, while another two cleared the underbrush in areas that were difficult to access. Several producers in charge of different zones participated in establishing the borderlines between community spaces and protected areas, which totalled 80 hectares and were sub-divided into twelve areas.Finally, to establish exact boundaries between the parcels, the owners themselves took measurements, using GPS equipment in the presence of all other neighbouring owners and two witnesses, who certified the information being registered. This aimed to ensure that these boundaries were respected and to prevent further conflict. Following that, the information about the parcel was entered into a field form.The map shows the boundaries of the cooperative, using for its background a topographic map at a scale of 1:50 000. GIS thematic maps were generated (scale 1:5000), using Map Maker Pro software (see Figure 1). Several thematic maps were generated on subjects such as land use, organic agriculture or the sub-division of parcels by size and function (see Figure 2). The process appears to have been successful in resolving conflicts over land use. The inventory of parcels revealed several conflicts existing at the cooperative (see Box 5). These were either resolved when the land was surveyed in the presence of witnesses at the moment of surveying, or during assemblies of members of the cooperative.After the land parcel surveys were done, the technical team and the leaders of Santo Domingo discussed how to organise the information collected -and afterwards, how the information would be accessible for the community. This discussion built on the earlier development of the field forms. The leaders of the community decided to order the information in a general and individual manner.An important result of the project is a map of the parcels owned by members of the community. These are represented on a geo-referenced map of the Santo Domingo community. On that map (scale 1:5000) are the 688 parcels that make up the cooperative, including eight forested areas and the important points such as rivers, roads and footpaths (see Figure 3). The type of crops being grown or soil use in each area of the cooperative can also be seen (coffee, basic grains, unused), along with land not yet incorporated to the cooperative and land for which individual titles have been granted.Along with the process of compiling data, it was important to organise legal seminars for community members and cooperative leaders (see Box 4). These explained legal issues about the collective title and individual use of land Feedback from the community was gathered during different workshops and debriefing meetings with technical staff and leaders. This has been ongoing since the project began. The ACH technical team has presented the results to the community in a general assembly and has accompanied the cooperative in the presentation of the results and their use. Once the project concludes, the Gaspar Garcia Laviana cooperative will continue to promote the prevention and protection of communal areas and has already presented its inventory of parcels to the Telpaneca mayor's office.Each owner that worked on the GPS survey received a boundary certificate, reflecting the features of his/her parcel. It is just a certificate, as the demarcation limits have not been validated by National Cadastre Institution (INETER). However, since the start of 2006, ACH has been in discussions with INETER about a forthcoming cadastre project. INETER are interested in the approach that we have piloted. This will hopefully lead to some official recognition and help to validate our community cartography approach.A printed file was made including all the information pertaining to the parcels and given to the cooperative. The file is made up of a copy of each Boundary certificate for the individual parcels. This information will be in the cooperative's 'public domain' and can be consulted by any member.The information collected during project implementation means there is now a database recording information that has been discussed, and on which the producers have reached consensus about.The experience has created a demand for education and assistance at the local level. This has come from the three mayor's offices, two municipal development associations, indigenous people living in the province of Madriz, and from the national level Land Group.The cooperative Administrative Board now has a property registry that can be updated, including the maps made and a database. Members of the community also received some legal training and an experience in conflict resolution that should allow them to deal adequately with any future ACH has organised other workshops in the community, tackling other subjects of communal interest and concerns, such as legal rights over natural resources in rural areas. Other legal issues discussed included the rights of Indigenous people, property rights, access to and land use, water, and forestry resources (fuelwood, animal life, vegetative material) that are used by different people sharing the same rural territory (owners, producers, users). The information was presented with a historical perspective, always relating rights, laws and practices. This allowed participants to exchange opinions and reflections, based on concrete examples taken from the territory and the community. Another workshop subject was the Nicaraguan law pertaining to the national cadastre, its objectives and functions, and laws relating to the combination of individual and communal rights in the management of land and local resources. The Mapmaker software that we used is free, or at least low in cost when compared to other GIS software. The purpose of involving the mayor's offices in the process was to strengthen sustainability, as they also have tools and their own safe installations at which to store information and to follow up on results.Regarding the duration of leases and security of tenure: in this case neither issue was addressed. But both have been improved by the fact that individual boundaries inside of the cooperative's common title of property have been defined and are now known by all the members -so there is more transparency. When there is no assembly to adjudicate (such as in a cooperative), the discussion could be organised in a community meeting with the leaders of the community.This activities developed in the community of Santo Domingo corresponded to a demand for an adequate, local and a low cost solution to deal with land use, the local resolution of conflicts, and also for a local mechanism for territory planning. The cost per hectare, unlike large land surveys, has been very low (approximately US$7-10 per hectare including training and participation). In Telpaneca, the cost of legalisation is around US$70 per Manzana (0.7ha). But first, the cooperative had to identify the boundaries of each of its members. This demarcation is the first step before starting any legalisation process. One cadastre specialist told me that costs for international projects are around US$100/ha. Similar experiences in Africa appear to cost around US$17.It should be added that the cooperative is well organised and its members are very much involved. These were also key factors in the success of this experience. We believe that to replicate this experience, others should focus on both community organisation and leadership. To succeed, the methodology needs the strong participation of the community throughout the process. In Santo Domingo, participation was important. But equally so was the involvement and motivation of the cooperative leaders. At the end of the project, they followed with the presentation of results to local authorities of the province of Telpaneca and they succeeded in having a municipal ordinanced that mentioned that the community was in charge of managing the forest area.This project has also the potential to be replicated, as both the context and the participatory approach can be problems regarding environmental and legal management (inheritances, buying/selling, etc.). The participation of the entire community throughout has meant it has taken of ownership of the project.One direct result is that the cooperative is now working with local authorities to manage municipal ordinance. This is to help ensure the protection of the forest area of Santo Domingo with the local authorities.This project has also had a positive impact on the organisation of the cooperative. It has helped to clarify the differences between individual areas and public areas. The cooperative has become a local reference, and other cooperatives have asked for technical assistance. The idea of local technical staff is being developed in a national programme of training of local mapping technicians and the Gaspar Garcia Laviana cooperative has a potential technician for this programme trained by ACH.Land demarcation, done in a participatory way, allows transparency. It can show how repartition between members has been done. For example, after the land demarcation process, some women approached the leaders of the cooperative. They had realised that women had received less land and that their plots were not of as good quality. Also, in the majority of the cases, conflicts were about access to resources. For example, owners wanted water sources on their plot of land, or owners, with properties near the forest area, wanted to enlarge their plot of land by deforesting. This experience was implemented as a pilot project, with a methodology that has been directly applied by ACH technical staff. The aim is that in the future, local organisations and institutions will be able to do the same thing after It also has the potential for local participatory management of natural resources. It allows for graphic reconnaissance work, and promotes participatory discussions about situations. The process also led to a spirit of positive discus-sion, an exchange of views, and broad consensus within the community about the final boundary maps. All these elements tend to strengthen the concept of social participation as an important mechanism to find lasting and sustainable solutions. Furthermore, recognising all the actors involved in decision-making could be the best way to generate positive changes -not only in the management of natural resources but also in sustainable territory planning. This article describes work with and by the Kayapó -Mebêngôkre Indians living in Moikarakô, a village of about 220 inhabitants. It is located in the middle of the Terra Indigena Kayapó (TIK), an Indian reserve in the south of Pará State in the Brazilian Amazon (Figure 1). The work was part of a collaborative Brazilian-French research programme dealing with social and spatial dynamics in the Brazilian Amazon. 1 The original objective of the study was to show the extent of deforestation around the TIK and to spatialise naturalist knowledge related to gardens and forests around one of the villages of the TIK. However, when the Kayapó realised the power of these documents, they wanted to construct another kind of map representing the whole indigenous territory, and decided to give a political orientation to their cartographic work. In order to address a specific demand from the Kayapó people that was not planned in the initial project, we brought in two geographers and an anthropologist to work with us.The power of maps: cartography with indigenous people in the Brazilian Amazon 1 The research focuses on the evolution of natural resource exploitation by indigenous communities impacted by new relationships with global society (integration in the market, sedentarisation, etc.). The two programmes 'Mondialisation, mouvements associatifs et développement durable/local en Amazonie ' (1999-2003) and 'Áreas protegidas, transformações socioeconômicas e desenvolvimento sustentável na Amazônia '(2004-2006)   Firstly, it is important to understand the context in which this project took place. To do this, we will present some basic information about the Kayapó People, whose territory is located near the so-called 'deforestation arc' -the frontline of forest destruction (by cutting and fire) in the Amazon (see Box 1). Then, we will describe how the cartographic demands occurred and evolved as the Kayapó began understanding the power of the documents they were creating using satellite imagery. Finally, we will present the cartographic results and new methodological challenges. The conclusion highlights the prospects of pursuing this study further through a comparative project between the Yanomami and Kayapó Peoples.The Kayapó call themselves Mebêngôkre, meaning the 'people of the water hole'. Most of them are living in ecosystems of dense tropical forests on both banks of the Xingu River. They practise slash and burn agriculture, hunting and fishing. The villages usually have between 100 and 1000 inhabitants and tend to be politically autonomous from one another. The population consists almost exclusively of Amerindians, with the exception of a few teachers and nurses. Mebêngôkre-Kayapó are well-known for their political activism, their knowledge of their own environment, their body-painting skills and their feather-based artwork.The Kayapó had little contact with the rest of Brazilian society until the construction of inland Amazonian roads in the 1970s. These roads cut across their traditional territory and attracted migrants and gold miners to the region. Even though the Kayapó people are not very numerous (about 7300 individuals today) they became famous in the 1980s because of their very efficient fight for their territories and rights (Turner, 1999).Their protests were reported in the international media and accelerated the process of recognition for their ITs. Nevertheless, the Terra Indigena Kayapó continues to be invaded today, especially for illegal logging of mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), one of the most valuable timber species of the world.There are many different areas in the seven ITs inhabited by Kayapó, in both Pará State and Mato Grosso State. Most of them were legally registered between 1980 and 1990. Our work is concentrated in one of the most important ITs: the Terra Indígena Kayapó (TIK), which has eight principal villages. It covers 32.840 km 2 of tropical forest, located near a very active agricultural front: the south Pará State deforestation arc.Using satellite imagery, we can easily observe the progress of deforestation around the Kayapó IT (see Figure 3 and Box 2). In the North and the East, the Kayapó IT is completely surrounded by vast grasslands belonging to big ranches, the fazendas, and smaller grassland areas planted by migrants. These migrants come from others regions of the country, longing for better living conditions in the Amazon. Conflicts over land appropriation are extremely violent to the northwest of the Kayapó reserve, and have intensified on a recent deforestation front. This is a classic scenario, and explains why the IT now resembles a forest island in a sea of grasslands.Most of the relations the Kayapó have with the regional society are concentrated in the cities bordering the TIK. Inside their territory, they also maintain spodaric relationships with loggers or miners and a continued contact with missionaries (Catholics and Protestants), NGOs and public institutions (e.g.Deforestation is continuing. Last year, between August 2003 and August 2004, an area of 26.130 km 2 was deforested in the Brazilian Amazon. The two States with the highest deforestation rates are Pará State and Mato Grosso State, also the biggest soybean producer. At present, the total amount of deforested lands in the Brazilian Amazon is up to 680.000 km 2 , representing 17% of its total forest cover.The 1988 Brazilian Constitution recognised historic rights for indigenous people in their traditional territories. Today there are 627 indigenous territories (ITs) in Brazil, covering 12% of the national territory and supporting about 370,000 individuals. The ITs cover 21% of the Amazon. Amerindian peoples have won exclusive use rights over 407 ITs, representing about a million square kilometres, mainly covered by forests.The ITs are acting as a barrier to frontline deforestation, even more so than other protected areas like National Parks (Nepstad et al., 2006). Most of the Amerindians are still living in the Amazonian forest, using traditional systems of natural resources exploitation adapted to their environment. The changes they are presently experiencing, such as increases in population and sedentarisation, are new challenges for indigenous people. Most of them also have to deal with illegal resource predation in their territories and a lack of State intervention and of basic public services.In all cases, cultural diversity constitutes a rich potential in order to develop alternatives: there are 220 different indigenous groups speaking 180 different languages in Brazil. Fundação Nacional do Índio, FUNAI). As the pressure on land grows, control and management over the land becomes more and more fundamental. It is in this particular context that our cartographic experience takes place.One more scientist in the village... When the anthropologist came to the village for the first time, the people of Moikarakô had already had some experience with scientists (biological research). So before authorising the new research to begin in 1999, they proposed a deal. They stated: 'We'll teach you our \"culture\" but we also want to learn about yours'. One way that this was done was to bring the village some books, papers and maps, and these were presented to everybody in the ngob, a collective house in the centre of the village.As there are very few and imprecise maps of the region, we used satellite imagery of the Terra Indigena Kayapó , with closeup images of their village. We used four images from Landsat 7 satellite data sets in the mapping of Indian territories.Women and men in Moikarakô reacted with great interest. They were able to recognise important places and objects on the image: river contours are very easily identified by the people of the forest, who use canoes in many travels. The Kayapó were shocked by the contrast between the forest (shown in green) and the grasslands (shown in pink) surrounding their territory. The external pressure seemed much more threatening when observed on satellite pictures.For all these reasons, we decided to work with satellite imagery and give a special importance to mapping in the research process. So the project developed directly from the interest demonstrated by the Kayapó .On a village scale, we mapped different categories of vegetation or spaces used or named by the Kayapó. We used a Global Positioning System (GPS) only to collect data on a few strategic points. Men identified, for example, different types of primary and secondary forests. Women had more to say about gardens and domestic spaces. Interactive photo-interpretation was performed with the Kayapó, using the Mebêngôkre classification system, linking colour patches and discontinuities with known vegetation or landscape types.But this research was suddenly stopped one year later when the Kayapó changed their point of view on participative cartographic work.During a traditional celebration where people from many villages came to Moikarakô, the Kayapó decided we had to stop mapping the forest. At this time, in 2000, they had many reasons to feel insecure and suspicious of non-Indian society (illegal sale of their land, a malaria epidemic, logging activities, Brazil 500th anniversary festivities...). Understanding the power of maps, they chose to give a political orientation to their geographical activity. The new map should represent all the Kayapó villages and the correct limits of the reserve -but not the botanic knowledge of the Kayapó People.As researchers, we had to change our initial project objectives and timelines. What this in fact meant, was that the Kayapó had appropriated the project for themselves. During this inter-village reunion and later, as they had various opportunities to meet with each other, Kayapó leaders (adult men) reformulated a demand for the production of a political map that could give to the Mebêngôkre people's territorial identity and recognition.At this phase of the project, in 2000, appropriation processes of mapping techniques and participation were strengthened. We were still working on transparent images that allowed people who wanted to participate to draw. This step involved the majority of adults, including elders who do not draw, but knew the history of the group better. As the mapping activities restarted, the Indians had re-appropriated the tools introduced by the scientists in order to meet their own objectives.For many people in Brazil, the Kayapó are still recognised as famous warriors, as they were in the past. Maps have become just one of the new arms they are now using to fight for their people and their territory.The Kayapo meet to discuss the mapping processes Photo: Pascale de RobertThe power of maps: cartography with indigenous people in the Brazilian Amazon 9 77The people of Moikarakô designed their first map in 2001. Their objective was to show it to the outside world, in order to support the political attempts by their leaders to reclaim indigenous rights (Figure 2). During the second stage, from 2001 to the present day, other maps were created for internal use, essentially for the younger generation, who work and walk less within the landscape than the older generation. Maps were created in order to partially track and transcribe oral history. For example • a toponymic map entitled 'To know all places of our land'; and • maps showing the separations and migrations of the Kayapó-Gorotire people. These maps always used satellite imagery as a base. To accompany the maps, the Kayapó made documents to clearly integrate and show different land uses over time, and Mebêngôkre political histories within the spatial representations of their territory. One of them gives the traditional stories of the migrations and separations of the Mebêngôkre group from the mythical site of Pukatoti to the actual village of Moikarakô.Another was called 'Walking with the ancestors' and was first drawn to respond to the gap they were observing in regional maps. The IT Kayapó appeared as empty, as a 'virgin space', which might appear as 'natural' to the rest of Brazilian society. The Kayapó understood that, on a map, a lack of place names could be interpreted as a lack of human presence. To fill their maps to show Mebêngôkre occupation, they worked together with elders. The elders were remembering the oral history of the group, while young men were in their daily activities will make it possible for them to map the main types of geographic objects they recognise.We would like to conclude by describing a project on which we are presently working. 3 The project is a comparative research initiative between two Brazilian indigenous territories that are very distant and different: the Yanomami Indigenous Territories (State of Roraima, North of Brazil) and the Kayapó IT (State of Pará). These two Indigenous Territories are very large (96.650 km 2 and 32.840 km 2 ). The two native Indian groups have a common experience of territorial and environmental conflicts, as well as of governmental and non-governmental sustainable development actions.Principally, the project gives the opportunity for a meaningful interaction between Amerindians who want to share the cartographic knowledge they have developed separately and with different methods and objectives in the last few years. The idea is for them to think together about how to use the technical resources offered by satellite imagery for their common interests, in order to: • improve their autonomy in terms of mapping techniques; • improve their territorial management capacity; • build self-made documents showing social and spatial dynamics within and between the groups; • produce new types of information for the young and future generations; and • stimulate dialogue between local populations, institutional and non-governmental actors.situating the places and writing them down on the image. The resulting map is like 'virtual trekking' for these young individuals, who now are sedentarised.Women have not participated as of yet. Usually it is the men who have a more expansive experience of the territory, because their collective hunts mean they live far away in the forest and only move to their wife's village when they marry. In the past, the men also went to tribal wars. But now they have involvement with other, non-Indian people living in the city.Time and space are not independent dimensions in indigenous representations of the world. For researchers and scientists, the challenge is to find a way to adapt cartographic language in order to better transcribe the indigenous vision of indigenous peoples' territory, space and nature. We aim to create 'moving maps', showing dynamics and integrating changes in space representations, and 'speech maps' because of the importance given to traditional speech by the Kayapó. 2Kayapó leaders brought their maps to the city of Brasilia when they met with officials of FUNAI (Fundação Nacional do Indio), a public Brazilian institution responsible for handling indigenous matters. In the village, they also used maps for their children's education. They were filled with pride when the first map they made was published in a famous French journal, the Courrier International (De Robert, Faure & Laques, 2005). Soon, the use of GPS by the KayapóIn Caprivi, a region in northeastern Namibia, which borders in the south with Botswana (Figure 1), a partnership between the Namibian NGO, Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC), the international NGO Conservation International (CI), and local communities has been developed. This has resulted in the evolution of a Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PGIS) mapping method. This is coming to be known as Participatory Orthophoto1 Mapping.This method is being used to promote community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) on communal land. It uses information obtained from village mapping workshops to produce computer-generated maps. Although participatory methods -including mapping -are not new to Namibian CBNRM, NGO facilitation and technical expertise have allowed hand drawn maps to be imported into Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in a cost effective way, with many potential uses.Participatory mapping has been used in southern African CBNRM projects to empower local people to articulate their spatial thinking, and to make decisions about managing natural resources in a sustainable way. In all participatory mapping contexts, however, the implications of such activities are social and political as well as environmental. This participatory orthophoto mapping method (Box 1) was first developed and used by IRDNC in East Caprivi.Land and natural resource mapping by San communities and NGOs: experiences from Namibia 1 An orthophoto is a uniform-scale photograph or photographic map. Since an orthophoto has a uniform scale, it is possible to measure directly on it like other maps. An orthophoto may serve as a base map onto which other map information may be overlaid (Source: U.S. Geological Survey). IRDNC is now using this method to assist local communities residing in a national park, commonly known as West Caprivi, to map out important socio-historical data and livelihood activities. West Caprivi differs from East Caprivi in that the land is state owned and regulated. It also differs in terms of the ethnicity of its residents. The majority of the residents of West Caprivi belong to a marginalised San group, the Khwe, whilst the minority are Hambukushu. Through this mapping project, which is still in its early stages, IRDNC aims to foster collaborative decision-making and communitybased conservation in West Caprivi.In the complex setting of West Caprivi uncertainty surrounds mapping activities. Whilst many Khwe people consider mapping as a means to secure their rights within the park, some government authorities perceive mapping as a means to improve regulation.This article looks at the implications of producing land and natural resource use and distribution maps in this area through a participatory process. The mapping is intended to serve a dual purpose. IRDNC aims to strengthen Khwe rights in the area by documenting socio-historical data, and also aims to assist the residents' Trust in their management of natural resources. This article also draws on comparable experiences of mapping projects facilitated by the Kuru Family of Organisations (KFO) among San Peoples in neighbouring northern Botswana.Since 1990, Namibia's CBNRM programme has grown into a 80 significant national rural development movement. It aims to return to communal area residents ownership and control of resources, and rights to share and/or receive benefits. For wildlife and tourism, the conservancy system (Box 2) has provided the necessary supportive legal framework.Within this CBNRM programme, West Caprivi presents a particularly complex case. The area's unique social, political and economic history has made the local Khwe people one of the most marginalised minority groups in Namibia. Like other San groups, Khwe people stand out because of their extreme poverty, political alienation, and a variety of social, educational and health problems. Suffering from displacement, repeated experiences of war, unrest and stigmatisation, the Khwe have struggled for recognition and autonomy from the state and other ethnic groups. Today, a significant portion of their historical territory lies within the boundaries of the West Caprivi Game Reserve, which was declared a park in 1963. Because this area is a protected area, rather than a communal land, the Khwe have been unable to form a conservancy. IRDNC has promoted CBNRM in West Caprivi, and a residents' Trust has been created, representing both the Khwe majority (80%) and the Hambukushu minority (20%). But so far, the residents have derived limited benefits from CBNRM. The Khwe in particular often feel somewhat disillusioned and marginalised by other more powerful actors. The broader backdrop to the mapping plan shows overlapping interests in land, natural resources and Khwe indigenous knowledge. Interested groups include: NGOs and government agencies involved in CBNRM and Transboundary Natural Resource Management; Khwe people concerned about their visibility and self-determination; and entities such as the Kuru Family of Organisations, which openly supports San Peoples' causes.Local activities and aspirations of Khwe people have shaped the emergence of mapping in West Caprivi. Khwe representatives have often talked about mapping their territory to record historical names and features in order to share their fast-disappearing knowledge with younger generations. By proving their historical occupation and detailed spatialA 'conservancy' in the communal land tenure areas of Namibia is a common property resource management institution. It consists of a self-defined community, within a defined geographical area, that jointly manages, conserves and uses wildlife and other resources.Mapping procedure• An orthophoto base map is prepared that shows important local features such as villages, schools, water points and place names (GPS used to locate features). • A series of mapping workshops are held in villages where local people build up a map of their area on the ground. This is then carefully recorded by a few individuals onto paper for ease of transfer onto the orthophoto base map. This is the 'participatory' aspect of the mapping. Local people decide what is important to them, not outsiders. • On the same day as each workshop, data from the particular village area is transferred on to the orthophoto base map as accurately as possible. Examples of the kind of data shown are farmland areas or veld food gathering areas. • Data from the orthophoto base map is digitised (sometime tracing overlays are used to help simplify the digitising process). • GIS maps are produced from the layers of data digitised e.g. a map to show farmland areas.knowledge of their customary territory, Khwe representatives have also sought to strengthen the position of their traditional leadership in their struggle for recognition by the State as a Traditional Authority.Recently, there has been increased use of GIS in CBNRM at the national level. To acquire regional overviews of wildlife densities and human-animal conflict, and to promote conservancies as resource management institutions, the national CBNRM programme has worked with IRDNC. The programmes collects and manages data, primarily on wildlife, but also on existing human settlements and infrastructure. Incorporated into a single national GIS, this data is accessible to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET), all service providers, and local rural representatives. It is used for management planning and collaborative decision-making. Such planning includes land-use zoning, and sharing information with potential investors such as tourism operators or trophy hunters. In Caprivi, from IRDNC's perspective, the intended primary beneficiaries and users of GIS maps are the area's residents.IRDNC developed its PGIS methodology with the strong support of the Mapping and Natural Resource Information Unit (MIU) in the Namibia Nature Foundation, an NGO based in the capital, Windhoek. This facility houses the databases, promotes the use of GIS and provides training and backup facilities for NGOs that assist emerging conservancies with land use planning. The unit maintains a system called Conservancy Information (COINFO). This allows spatial and other data to be centrally updated and used in the countries' farflung regions. The MIU provides services to collect and digitise baseline data (i.e. boundaries, roads, tracks, boreholes, and topographical features) in community conservation areas.The early stages of the PGIS mapping in West Caprivi took place as a collaborative exercise between Park residents and authorities, in so far as data were generated jointly through GPS supported fieldwork. Hand drawn maps were upgraded into a GIS through geo-referencing map data using Participatory Orthophoto Mapping.Using GPS point data to produce a specially prepared orthophoto base map, this method ensures visualisation and recording of indigenous spatial knowledge in cost and time effective ways. This ideally maximises the participation of local people in data gathering and recollection, and builds on synergies deriving from the input of GIS expertise by local NGO staff. The maps, once completed, are intended to assist local communities with a range of management decisions, as they have in East Caprivi, and to facilitate communication about land use amongst community members and between communities and outsiders. For example, locally generated maps can assist communities in interacting with private sector tourism operators and in making decisions on the allocation and maintenance of tourism sites, hunting, cropping and grazing areas.The methodology for West Caprivi builds on village mapping workshops and field data collection to collate and visualise indigenous spatial knowledge, including local names, natural resources that residents depend on for their livelihoods (e.g. grazing, farmlands and useful wild plants), distribution of wildlife, and migration routes. To ensure that During on-site mapping exercises, residents are first invited to draw a map of the local area and its natural resources on the ground. The activity is facilitated through the use of visual aids such as animal figures, which are placed on the ground map to represent wildlife distribution.Once natural resources have been spatially represented on the ground map, this information is simultaneously copied onto paper. At the end of the day, data from these maps are painstakingly transferred by community participants onto a specially prepared orthophoto base map marked with previously geo-referenced point data (e.g. village names, schools, shops or, in the case of West Caprivi, water pans) to help orientation. Standardised colour coding is used to promote accurate data visualisation.Depending on the size of the area, a series of workshops are held to compose the whole area as a mosaic on the base map. These workshops take at least one day each and have so far taken place in each of the four major settlements. Far more time-consuming has been the geo-referencing (using a GPS) of approximately 200 water pans throughout the park by IRDNC and knowledgeable community representatives. In the absence of roads, the geo-referencing of just three pans may take a whole day. Tracing paper overlays are produced from these base maps by NGO staff, and are taken away, to be later digitised on screen for the final map production. Whilst some decentralised GIS expertise has been developed at the NGO level, technical backup is still needed from the Mapping and Information Unit, and shortages of expertise at NGO level may hinder wider use of the procedure.The mapping project spans a three-year period but is very much a part-time activity. (see Table 1). The main constraint to making faster progress is lack of availability of technical GIS expertise. The long-term plan is to produce maps for all of the conservancies in Caprivi.Ideally, the mapping method will ensure optimal participation to record Khwe indigenous knowledge to a level of detail not previously achieved. For example, water pans are The complexity of the West Caprivi case resonates with experience of mapping in the NG13 and NG1 areas in northern Botswana. The Kuru Family of Organisations has recognised that maps can be powerful tools for protecting heritage, making land claims, and fostering community development.As with oral history collection, the process of mapping has brought about many intangible benefits, including inter-generational reconciliation, cultural empowerment, and psychosocial progression. The documentation of culture (dancing, healing practices, story-telling) and cultural knowledge about nature, including through mapping, is a crucial tool for development.Land and natural resource mapping by San communities and NGOs: experiences from Namibia 10 83 very important features in the Khwe landscape, and the georeferencing of 200 pans, based especially on elderly people's knowledge, is unprecedented. This information will ideally benefit both Khwe communities and Park authorities in natural resource co-management. A significant number of management activities in the Park are already carried out by community members, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET). Most prominent are the thirty Community Game Guards, most of whom are Khwe, who are active in anti-poaching, confiscation of illegal weapons, and wildlife monitoring. Participatory mapping in West Caprivi is taking place in a complex setting. What became clear in the early planning stages was that different parties with interests in West Caprivi -namely the Khwe communities, the residents' Trust, MET, and IRDNC -had different expectations from the process. Although the different groups shared some interests, e.g. seeing maps as a CBNRM tool for communication, negotiation and joint management, their expectations diverged in other respects. Khwe understandings and expectations of mapping, in the early stages of the process, appeared to be quite different from those of MET. For Khwe, mapping represents an opportunity to affirm their identity, assert ownership of land, enhance visibility and challenge inequality. On the other hand, some MET representatives expected mapping outcomes to include increased surveillance and monitoring of the Park with regard to both human and wildlife activity.This divergence of expectations was not consciously addressed in the project preparation, and may pose some challenges, for example, ensuring that Khwe expectations of the process are realistic, and ensuring clear communication among stakeholders. Furthermore, maps cannot be integrated into co-management plans until the capacity of the newly formed residents' Association has been strengthened. This in itself is a complex process. The Association Board, comprising ten village representatives, was elected in late 2003 with the aim of creating a legal body to facilitate the return of financial benefits from natural resources to local communities in the park. However, the Association was only officially recognised by MET in February 2006, and the board members still require considerable training, for example, in financial management.The history of the Khwe, together with local social and political dynamics, makes mapping an appealing prospect for this marginalised group, as revealed by interviews carried out in 2004 and as evidenced by San experiences in Botswana (Box 3). As one Khwe headman stated:Our young people will keep this [map] as history. Whenever another community wants to take the land, they can say, no, this land belongs to the Khwe community. This is where the murambas [fossil drainage lines] are, which have been named by our fathers. It will give them power.To the Khwe, maps are inherently political, revealing West Caprivi's contested power relationships over land, resources and leadership. Mapping constitutes an opportunity for the Khwe to challenge dominant power hierarchies. Indeed, this is evident in the case of Botswana's northern Kalahari, where Khwe attempts to regain control over traditional lands have been bolstered by the inclusion of 'traditional land-use maps' in land-lease applications put forward to Government.Simultaneously, the maps, drawing substantially on Khwe knowledge, may reveal new information to both the MET authorities and to the Trust about plant and animal resources and where they are harvested. To this extent, MET and the Trust's Community Game Guards may be able to pinpoint these activities and negotiate with Park residents about access to -and use of -resources, and increase anti-poaching activities. For some residents, this regulatory outcome may be perceived as negative, given the widespread poverty in Khwe communities and their reliance on the Park's natural resources for survival. For IRDNC, however, MET's support for the mapping process is noteworthy, and positive in terms of creating viable co-management structures.This paper has considered some of the implications of participatory mapping in West Caprivi, including the opportunities and threats that such mapping may present. In line with other San cases in the region, Khwe understanding of mapping recognises its potential to expose and address the PGIS must be practiced in ways that will create positive outcomes for local communities, especially the Khwe. Additional NGO and community-level GIS expertise is sorely needed. However, care must be taken as the involvement of outsider technicians may result in external manipulation of data in ways that may not suit local needs. Furthermore, government recognition of the maps and the information they contain must be encouraged. The power of participatory mapping can only be fully harnessed when an enabling regulatory environment is in place, accompanied by strong institutional support and political will to partner with communities, with the objectives of improving their livelihoods and at the same time ensuring measured and sustainable resource management. Where these conditions are not all present, as is likely, they should remain goals to work towards.The West Caprivi mapping project has to incorporate the needs and desires of stakeholders having different expectations. IRDNC faces the challenge of facilitating this convergence. A critical examination of the increasing use of GIS in CBNRM, and its potential to democratise resource management, calls for caution as well as celebration. In the case of West Caprivi, as for northern Botswana, clear strategies regarding the use of maps and sound institutional support are needed if positive social, environmental and political outcomes are to be achieved. complex and politicised issues of identity, rights and land.IRDNC believes that the West Caprivi maps can have multiple applications, including the strengthening of local rights and capacity to manage an environmentally important conservation area. On the one hand, mapping offers the prospect of increased visibility and power for the marginalised Khwe, because maps can serve to capture and operationalise resource rights, as they have done for conservancies on communal land.At the same time, Khwe expectations may at times differ from those of the residents' Trust, environmental NGOs, or government. One way forward in this respect will be IRDNC's successful facilitation of an interface between different agendas (those of government, NGO, community Association, and other community representatives) in a productive way that will both foster CBNRM goals and improve the socio-economic status of West Caprivi's residents.Greater communication between different parties will be a requisite part of this process. The existence of maps containing indigenous knowledge will not in itself ensure a positive outcome for local people, as has also been noted by the Kuru Family of Organisations in Botswana (Box 3). This has implications for both the empowerment of local communities such as the Khwe, and the transfer of natural resource management from state to civil society, which is what CBNRM promotes.This article explores how participatory GIS (PGIS) can add value to indigenous knowledge for use in carbon planning within the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. Accessing payments and benefits for environmental services such as carbon mitigation requires enormous amounts of technical information -which local communities in developing countries often lack. Local spatial knowledge and indigenous knowledge can be vital sources of information -but there is still a divide between local and scientific knowledge.In this article we try to explore the extent to which PGIS can enhance the use of local and indigenous knowledge in the CDM certification processes. We report on part of an ongoing study, working with a long-time partner, the Bimbia Bonadikombo community, located in Cameroon's Southwest Province. The study is researching possibilities for including carbon forestry as an objective in a community forest management plan. The results would be used to develop strategies relevant for CDM requirements and community forest management in general.The Kyoto Protocols set out specific targets for industrialised countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to 5% below 1990 levels by 2012 (UNFCCC, 1997). 1 There are three flexible mechanisms to help industrialised countries meet their targets, one of which is the CDM which includes the development of greenhouse gas mitigation projects in the forestry sector in developing countries. CDM also aims to contribute to sustainable development in the project host countries.To meet these objectives, there are a number of requirements that project developers (which may include commu- • calculations of how much greenhouse gas will be removed; • environmental impacts; and • stakeholder comments (Lee, 2004).Much of the relevant information in the project document needs to be represented spatially including:• the boundaries of the project area;• the status of land and resource ownership and entitlements; • evidence that the project area has not been deforested over the last fifty years (a CDM Certification requirement); • the inventory plots and comparison or control sites; • baseline evidence (current uses, physical state of forest, forest change history); and • environmental impacts of the project.These could be provided through remote sensing, GIS Local knowledge has some significant characteristics:• it is a (spatial) information system that develops from the close relationship between local people and their land and natural resources; • members of the community are expert repositories for different categories of data, according to their experience and social status, e.g. what land is used for what purposes and when; • originally, the local community 'owns' the knowledge, • it is a 'scientific' system in that it consists of classification structures and employs particular methodologies (e.g. oral histories); and, • it is holistic because it is used for decision-making in overlapping areas, such as agriculture, food, healthcare, natural resource management, etc. Some relevant weaknesses of indigenous and local knowledge include:• communities find it hard to predict what will happen when conditions are new or changed; • there are deficiencies in ways that information is stored and communicated; and, • there is little quantification of information for analysis. Box 1 gives an example of how CDM information requirements can be matched to local knowledge.In our case study, we used a framework for organising indigenous knowledge (see Figure 1) based on Harmsworth (1998) in which we considered land and resource ownership rights an important area to focus on. This was reinforced by an analysis of a carbon plantation project in Uganda (FERN 2000), which reportedly failed due to deficiencies in understanding and working with local land and resource tenure.To investigate how PGIS could employ local spatial knowledge in CDM project planning, we worked with a long-time partner, Bimbia Bonadikombo community, located in Cameroon's Southwest Province, on an interactive process (see Table 1). Our main focus was land and forest resource ownership and rights, and access to use of forestland.Bimbia Bonadikombo community is partly peri-urban in character and located on the fringes of the Limbe (Victoria) urban settlement. Limbe and the surrounding areas have a population of about 123,900 inhabitants. Bimbia Bonadikombo is a highly heterogeneous complex of many villages and plantation workers camps. The community has been managing a 3700 ha Community Forest since mid-2002. An elected community forest management council manages the forest on behalf of the community. This council reports to the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife (MINFOF) 1 based on the terms of the management agreement signed with government.In Cameroon, following the 1974 land ordinances all forest areas without statutory titles are 'communal' and therefore subject to local traditional resource rights regimes. These forest areas fall under the recognised sovereignty of community chiefs who have certain political and legal, as well as attested ritual powers over it.We asked the Bimbia Bonadikombo community to participate because of their previous experience in using PGIS methods. They were interested and willing to participate.The first step was to find out detailed information on LSK through a combination of oral history, historical timelines and   1 summarises the process in terms of the phases and the tools, actors, outputs and the degree of participation elicited. The GPS training took two days and the GPS field surveys were spread over three weeks. All GIS maps (e.g. Figure 2) in the process were produced outside the community and brought back for validation because GIS facilities were not available in the community. The process was facilitated by one of the authors, a research assistant and the community forest manager. We coordinated the planning, advised on the tools to be used, provided GPS devices and working material, and helped to ensure full participant involvement in the sessions. We worked with the forest management council to choose the participants. Each village and user group representative in the forest management council worked with their village or group to identify participants for each activity.What were the main results?Figure 2 shows land/forest use and control rights as viewed by the three key groups of forest stakeholders. The maps resulted from the PGIS process described in Table 1. It presents various interpretations of tenure rights as seen by local MINFOF staff, the community forest management council and the traditional authorities (chiefs).The community forest management regime shows two types of area. One is for conservation purposes, which is only open for usufruct rights (basic collection and gathering for subsistence purposes). The remaining areas are for access for logging, farming (not more than 1 ha per person) and agroforestry activities that can be carried out with permission from the community forest management council.MINFOF staff argue that the management council and local ministry staff should issue all forest use permits jointly. But the community forest management council believes that the Manual of Procedures and Norms for the management of community forests gives them full control and management authority over the forest.The traditional regime shows that a few farms and other forms of occupancy within the community forests are illegal. The chiefs argue that access rights to the use of forest land for either agriculture or collection must be subject to tradi-tional procedure, usually: • firstly, by virtue of first occupation for very old family lineages; • secondly, by community members by birth, marriage or cooptation following local access practice through family lineage, elders or traditional councils; and • thirdly, strangers or non-natives can pay tribute to the rulers to be granted usufruct.We can see on this basis that chiefs recognise some patches of forest areas as legally occupied. When we compare these results to the community forest regime map, we see that various uses are permitted in almost half the forest area, but this implies that hundreds of farmers currently using the forest are considered illegal as they do not have permission from the community chiefs to use the land.These results explain current conflicts experienced in community forest management as well as poor farmer adherence to agreed rules. As a result, a negotiation process for joint issuance of permits between the forest management council and community chiefs is now ongoing. A farmer education programme and a conflict management mechanism are also planned in view of the first five-year review of the community forest management plan in mid-2007.We compared three characteristics of the community data on land use, before and after the study, to investigate whether the form, content, and quality of the data were more likely to be acceptable for CDM project requirements.The main contribution of PGIS to local knowledge in this study was the transformation of local knowledge into digital map formats. Information on land use history and tenure rights was previously in unconsolidated written and oral forms. This means that the results can now be documented, and also shared more widely using digital media.Communities were able to include local place and stream names, footpaths, village boundaries and other features not previously included in official maps. For example, the evalu-\"This approach could help in terms of creating more reliable data outputs, and encouraging capacity building and learning processes\" THEME SECTION Peter A. Minang and Michael K. McCall 11 90 sequestered, or emissions avoided, by the project would be 'leaked' or lost elsewhere and would be untraceable.Another implication could be on equity. Most farmers have failed to pay a registration fee of about 2000 FCFA (US$4) to the Bimbia Bonadikombo Forest Management Council. This is because they think traditional authorities consider them 'illegal occupants' of their land and so could impose prohibitive occupancy charges once they have registered. In the case where these many farmers who are considered illegal do not receive any share of the carbon benefits there would be serious consequences for their livelihoods. This could instigate forest users to rebel against the project, leading to project failure. It is necessary to develop a benefit sharing mechanism in which all would participate in order to have everyone feel secure and motivated.Although the original project aimed to implement an effective, participatory process, the main problems found in ensuring proper participation were:• the insufficient number of women included in the process; and • it was difficult to bring together older persons in peri-urban Bimbia Bonadikombo.Despite their predominant role in forest product harvesting, women were reluctant to participate in the study partly because they were very busy at that time of year. Assembling older persons in Bimbia was difficult due to their dispersion and their varied occupations. This made some group discussions irrelevant since elderly participants are critical for discussing history of land use and tenure rights. To overcome this, more individual interviews of women and older people were done in a bid to complete and triangulate the necessary information. For similar projects, it would be important to take this factor into consideration at the start of the process.An important process benefit for communities is their acknowledgement of knowledge sharing on the history of land use and tenure rights. Many group members, especially the young, mentioned that the process had enabled them to learn from the old, meanwhile the old who could not go to the forest anymore were amazed and alarmed at the forest changes especially the extent of deforestation. The PGIS process reinforces and enhances local knowledge analysis and transfer. ation raised community concerns on the omission of local information such as caves and mangroves they thought had ecotourism potential. PGIS introduces the advantage of easy updates for omitted items.Figure 2 shows diverse tenure rights perspectives that had never been seen before. This approach shows overlaps and conflicts between these stakeholders in a new way. The information will be used to commence a conflict management process as communities can identify with the results.Though products from the study showed better or improved representation of community knowledge than any existing maps, PGIS could not completely resolve the representation of fuzzy land rights issues such as inheritance and power over resource use rights. Figure 2 does not show us how much power each stakeholder wields or how power is shared. We also found that there is confidential and sensitive information such as hereditary rights that cannot easily be captured in spatial format. So mapping alone is not sufficient for representing all the dimensions of land rights. One way of solving this would be to use linked text files to map objects such as land parcels explaining these resource rights and storing them in protected layers accessible only to designated persons or with permission, as suggested in Harmsworth (1998).We examined the relevance, equity, participation, learning and facilitation aspects of the process, to evaluate whether the project was an example of good PGIS practice.The resulting forest use rights information was found to be extremely relevant to CDM criteria, and for being able to predict the impacts on the community of implementing a CDM project. For example, the implications of duality of national vs. local forest tenure systems are serious, and the conflicts between them need to be understood. 'Communal tenure' can imply free-for-all in the minds of users who claim rights because it is national land. This has implications for leakage in carbon projects. 2 The restraining management measures that result from carbon projects like the CDM being adopted could lead to users relocating to other areas they deem 'communal'. This would mean that carbonParticipatory GIS and local knowledge enhancement for community carbon forestry planning: an example from Cameroon 11 91Our experience suggests that using PGIS with communities can add value to local knowledge in support of the Clean Development Mechanism. This approach could help in terms of creating more reliable data outputs, and encouraging capacity building and learning processes, especially in analysing critical CDM criteria such as leakage, risk of project failure, and sustainable development impacts.The study showed that the current land and forest use rights system in Bimbia Bonadikombo could hamper community participation in carbon management and forest management participation in general. Most users of the forest are considered illegal and hence would not be considered direct benefactors from Carbon credits. This may be a demotivating factor for forest users.However, we did learn that: • Participatory mapping (notably in two dimensions) would have to be used alongside other more discursive tools and techniques in order to adequately represent power and inheritance dimensions of land/forest tenure rights;• Facilitation needs to be more persistent in aspects relating to the involvement of women and the elderly in such processes to enable contribution to learning, empowerment and equity; and, • That if PGIS facilitation focuses on the who, what, why, where and when issues of participation -rather than having precise maps of land and resource rights -it is more likely to better enhance local knowledge to be used for CDM purposes and for resource management in general. More importantly, our experience showed that there is great potential in the use of PGIS for the purposes of enhancing local knowledge use. The approach is worth replicating and we hope to learn more as the body of knowledge grows with many more experiences. Mapping projects with communities, especially if they are to be genuinely 'participatory' (a word with many meanings), are far more complex, and difficult, than many of us would like them to be. Because they are complex, and because they characteristically involve a collection of people and institutions, there are areas where things can go wrong. I want to note several of these danger zones, and then briefly discuss ways you might try to avoid them.First, there is confusion over the matter of what maps are. The confusion comes from the fact that they are both 'technical' and 'political' in nature. Professional cartographers tend to see them as technical, for they are concerned with the production of maps. Drafting maps is a technical exercise that demands specialised skills, technical skills. I will return to this point later.The political nature of maps surfaces when they are put to use. This is especially the case when maps are used to claim or defend land, and to consolidate political power. In the late 19th century, the Europeans took the map of Africa and divided it into their 'possessions'. This was done with a map, and this division of the spoils took place in Europe, not Africa. The same thing has been done all over the globe for centuries and has resulted in the definition of empires and nation states. Maps are today being used by governments and multinational corporations to define concessions for timber, mining, petroleum companies -and conservationists are using them for roping off land for wildlife reserves and protected areas.In the past, maps were wielded solely by governments and elites for these purposes, and cartography was dubbed 'the science of princes.' Today, however, indigenous and traditional peoples have begun to utilise maps to protect and legalise their own homelands. This has been a true revolution in the way maps are being used. Maps also have other uses. They can be used as a basis for discussion, for negotiation, and for conflict management and resolution. They provide a visual picture of landscapes that everyone can understand -unlettered elders and even government officials -and allow everyone to participate in reasoned discussions of often-contentious issues, such as land rights and ownership of resources. In our work, we have found that both governments and indigenous and traditional peoples are in favour of this approach. It leads to quiet, reasonable talk rather than to confrontation, which usually raises suspicion and causes unnecessary difficulties. Negotiation is far more effective than confrontation. With this in mind, present mapping projects as technical exercises -the construction of maps with the use of field data -that will aid the process of discussing land use, land rights, and other issues.Second, view participatory mapping projects as socialorganisational enterprises, not as exercises in technology transfer. View them as community-based projects that just happen to have a technical component; don't conceive them as technical projects that are set in communities. The more villagers and their leaders have control over management of projects, and the more they are able to direct activities, the more participatory the projects will be. Technicians -GIS specialists and cartographers -should not be running mapping projects. Villagers and their leaders should be at the helm, for the purpose of projects of this sort is to produce maps that they can call their own. You want to establish in them a sense of ownership; without this, they will usually do nothing with the maps. Another way to conceptualise this is by seeing mapping projects as run by local people with technical assistance from cartographers. They are not projects run by cartographers and GIS specialists with local informants. Let me give an example of this. My organisation, Native Lands, has developed a methodology over the past dozen or so years that has been used in various corners of Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. The earliest projects were 94 a bit rocky, but we learnt from them, and subsequent efforts have gone smoothly. We have used the same general methodology everywhere. The technical core consists of a sequence of three workshops interspersed by two field periods stretching out over three to four months. Teams of village 'Researchers' work closely with cartographers to bring community sketch maps containing local knowledge of the landscape together with aerial photographs, satellite images, and base maps. This process is very intense, with considerable amounts of time spent gathering data in the field; checking and cross-checking existing cartographic information with village sketch maps; and constructing new maps that are full of cultural information on significant physical features and land use and at the same time geo-referenced. Lots of back and forth, back and forth. The result is a set of maps produced by the villagers and their leaders with assistance from cartographers that are both highly detailed and accurate.Whatever methodology is to be used, projects need to be carefully planned. First, the core project team must be pieced together. In Native Lands' scheme, there is a community unit, a technical (cartographic) unit, and an administrative unit. They all have their work to do and they all have to coordinate with each other. It is extremely important that the administrative unit is strong. It will handle relatively complex logistics: travel, hiring, payments and reimbursements, scheduling of activities, rental of facilities, procurement of materials and equipment, and so forth. Decisions have to be made in timely fashion, people have to be managed, and in the swirl of activity once a project is underway things often become confused -especially if there is no effective administrative unit in place. I cannot stress this point enough.Both the community unit and the technical unit must be strong, but the administrative unit is the real key to success. It can be assembled in several different ways. Whatever works best. For example, the mapping project we assisted with the Kuna in Panama was run by a small team, put together by the Kuna General Congress. It was made up of all Kuna, with the exception of one of the cartographers, who was an employee of the National Geographic Institute. In West Papua, the project was run by a Papuan NGO that had deep roots in the communities being mapped; assistance was given to them by the British agency DFID (Department for International Development). In Cameroon, the project was administered by a binational (Cameroonian-British) organisation called the Mount Cameroon Project. In the Darién region of Panama, the project was administered by a non-indigenous NGO.\"Mapping projects with communities, especially if they are to be genuinely 'participatory' (a word with many meanings), are far more complex, and difficult, than many of us would like them to be\"We all know that maps are not just neutral pieces of paper with lines drawn on them. Otherwise, why would we spend our time making them? Maps are powerful documents that are used for a variety of political purposes. This being the case, one must anticipate possible sensitivities on at least two fronts: among the communities being mapped and with government authorities. People in the communities will be suspicious of the project, since they have never done anything similar before and they are traditionally suspicious of outsiders. They don't know who will control the maps when they are finished. People in government will often, if not always, see community mapping as a potential threat, as part of a campaign for land rights and empowerment. This is all very natural, to be expected. So what can be done to dispel these suspicions?It is necessary to do careful ground preparation before the mapping itself begins. This can be time-consuming, and to be effective it should be time-consuming. Some people want to begin mapping right away, but this approach should be avoided. It is often a tendency of technical people, who just want to get things moving. But the preparatory work must be done, and although it will take some time, it will save time in the end. It will reduce tensions substantially and allow the process to run more smoothly. It should be carried out on at least three fronts.Most likely, nobody in the communities has ever done anything of this sort before. Nobody knows what is going to happen, what the methodology is, why the project is being undertaken. They have had little exposure to maps and don't know what practical purpose they serve. Yet now they are being expected to select a representative from among their ranks as the village 'Researcher.' This person will gather information from knowledgeable people in the communities and place it on a sketch map. This information -the community's information -may then be taken to a workshop outside the community and poured into new maps with the help of cartographers. Villagers need to know what all of this is. They need to have questions answered and discussed. Otherwise, they will be hesitant to participate, and it is only through ample participation that the project will function.Project leaders need to visit the communities and explain all of this to villagers, community by community, and allow time for discussion. They need to enlist community leaders in this effort. In a couple of earlier projects, when we were still forming the methodology, ground preparation in the communities was weak, and we suffered the consequences. Some communities refused to cooperate when the time came, and one community said it would participate only if it was paid money. Considerable catch-up had to be done, and this was extremely time consuming.Note that even with this kind of ground preparation, villagers will generally remain on their guard, especially in regions where they have been manhandled by outsiders (usually government or industry, or both). This was the case when we worked in West Papua, for example, where there is open conflict between the Indonesian government and local communities. With the initial ground preparation we were able to move forward with the project, but villagers were not completely trusting and forthcoming with information until late in the sequence of activities. Trust had to be built over time.It is extremely important that the government is informed as to what is going on. This is doubly true in countries with conflict and difficult relations between indigenous peoples We have solved this problem by having the project leaders, along with the cartographers and community leaders, give different ministries and agencies demonstrations of the methodology; a little 'dog-and-pony' show of how the process works, technically. This is an opportunity to talk about the utility of maps as tools for negotiation and conflict resolution, for planning for better management. All of these are preferable alternatives to violence, which often accompanies disputes over land and resources and is accentuated if there is no map, no common ground, for discussion. Then invite government representatives to visit the workshops when they are underway to observe the process in full swing. This is a key point: make sure the government observes and even participates without taking control of the project. Doing this will serve to diminish tensions and set up the project for follow-on negotiations and discussions.Give them a demonstration of the methodology and invite them to lend some of their cartographers to work on the project. In some cases this will be easier than others. But we have found that when government cartographers see what the project will be doing and have a demonstration of the methodology, they jump at an opportunity to join the project team. Few of them ever work with field data. They spend most of their time copying old maps for different purposes, not very challenging. The creation of new maps with field data and crosschecking with satellite images and aerial photo- Mapping projects: identifying obstacles, finding solutions 12 97 graphs is an attractive proposition -especially if they are being paid a little extra for participating. And remember, they will see the project as something technical rather than political.This is important for several reasons. First, in many countries the bulk of the mapping resources -base maps, air photos, and satellite images -are only accessible through government agencies. And they usually have some of the best cartographers -although this is changing with modern technology and the rise of consulting firms that deal with mapping.Second, participation on the part of the official government mapping agency lends credibility to the maps. It gives the maps an 'official' stamp -and indeed, all of the groups we have worked with seek to have the official seal of the government mapping agency on the finished maps. This of course is important when the maps are put to use for legal and political purposes. Without this collaborative relationship, government frequently rejects the maps out of hand.Another danger area resides in the space after the formal fieldwork and workshops have come to a close and the project team is looking at the task of producing the final maps. In earlier projects we operated with the assumption that at this point virtually all of the work was pretty much finished and it would be an easy matter to take the last drafts and have them converted into polished maps. This proved not to be the case, and we suffered the consequences. Several points can be made in this regard.First, make sure there is sufficient money in the budget to have the project director, several technicians, and community leaders stay on for as long as six months to shepherd the map through the final stages of design and production. Hopefully, there has been some discussion of what the map will look like -how the legend will be configured, what colours will be used, what kind of paper, whether or not photos will be on the map, size, number of maps at different scales, and so forth -during the course of the workshops. At this point, everything has to be decided upon, a designer has to be found, and plans need to be put in place for printing. This is a rela-tively complex task because it involves constructing a map that contains a wealth of information.Second, village leaders need to be fully in touch with all of these details, for they need to make decisions on them. One crucial area is the need to do thorough proofreading of the names and locations of features. People in the printing facility are unfamiliar with most of the names on the maps, for most if not all of them are in a language (or languages) they don't understand. If they are the only people who view the maps before they go into final production, the likelihood that errors will creep in is huge. So as the maps are being put together for printing, community leaders fluent in the language should be periodically brought in to review the process and make corrections.Third, the participation throughout of community researchers and leaders, along with their final approval of the details of the maps, assures their ownership of the final products.These are some of the major areas that in our estimation can cause problems in participatory mapping projects. We have seen difficulties arise, in our own projects and in the projects of others, when there is weak ground preparation and planning of activities is haphazard and faulty. There are, of course, other problem areas where breakdowns can be found, but these are the keys to success. The greater the participation of villagers in the project, the greater will be its chance of unfolding smoothly. Beyond this, careful planning and thorough ground preparation will ease tensions with communities and the government and allow the project to make it through to the end without major difficulties.The Center for the Support of Native Lands, 3503 North 13th Street, Arlington, Virginia 22201, USA. Email: sapin@comcast.net.\"The political nature of maps surfaces when they are put to use. This is especially the case when maps are used to claim or defend land, and to consolidate political power\"The recent growth in the availability of modern spatial information technology (SIT) and geographic information systems (GIS), low cost global positioning systems (GPS), and remote sensing image analysis software -as well as the growth of participatory mapping techniques -has enabled communities to make maps of their lands and resource uses, and to bolster the legitimacy of their customary claims to resources. For example, over the last several decades, participatory mapping has led to the successful demarcation of land claims that led to:• the signing of treaties (e.g. between Nisga'a people and the government of Canada); • compensations for land loss (e.g., Native Americans of the US; Maori peoples of New Zealand); and, • the formation of indigenous territory and government (e.g., Nunavut territory in northeastern Canada). Evidence of the perceived power of this technology to counterbalance the authority of government mapping agencies was vividly demonstrated in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Recently, a bill was introduced in the state legislature to regulate the activities of land surveyors and to declare community-mapping initiatives illegal.Yet, the impacts of widespread adoption of SIT at the local level are not limited to the intended objectives. Harris and Weiner (1998) argue that mapping technologies both simultaneously empower and disadvantage indigenous communities. Other researchers suggest that GIS technology privileges 'particular conceptions and forms of knowledge, knowing, and language' and engenders unequal access to information (Mark et al., n.d). Rundstrom (1995) views GIS as incompatible with indigenous knowledge systems and as separating the community that has knowledge from information. So tensions exist between new patterns of empowerment yielded throughMapping power: ironic effects of spatial information technology \"Participants also discussed the processes by which empowerment occurred -and who was empowered. Mapping enhanced tenure security in Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines. Yet it also benefited local governments by providing them with free information\" SIT and broader social, political, economic, and ethical ramifications of the technology. To date, most research on the social and ethical implications of spatial information technology has been conducted in North America.This article -and the research project on which it is based -emerged out of common and yet distinct concerns among the authors that spatial information technologies -at least in certain contexts and at certain scales -can lead to consequences that raise important ethical questions. In order to test and further refine our ideas about the socio-ethical implications of SIT deployment, we convened a workshop. We invited 23 participants, including officials from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), project staff members, and THEME SECTION 99 university researchers that have used SIT extensively in their community-based work.These people represented eight groups in seven countries (Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States). After discussing potential ethical issues associated with the use of SIT, workshop participants spent a year conducting research at their respective field sites. Participants later reassembled to write papers based on what they learnt from their research. These papers were published by Fox et al. (2005). 1 This article summarises the product of this work. To critically assess the impacts of SIT, we need to clarify the relationship between tools and technologies. Tools are products of technological processes. They are used by individuals, corporations, or nations, and are evaluated on their taskspecific utility. If tools do not work, we exchange, improve, or discard them. In contrast, technologies consist of widespread patterns of material and conceptual practices that embody and deploy particular strategic values and meanings.A hand-held GPS unit is a tool. Individuals using GPS units assess them in terms of their reliability, technical specifications, and features. By contrast, SIT as a whole consists of a complex system of material and conceptual practices. They include:• the extraction of raw materials;• their manufacture into tools like GPS units;• the storage of information in databases;• the advertising and marketing of these tools; and • a reframing of the politics of development.As a technology, SIT transforms discourses about land and resources, the meaning of geographic knowledge, the work practices of mapping and legal professionals, and, ultimately, the very meaning of space itself.There are two major implications of the tool/technology distinction. First, while we can refuse to use a tool, there are no clear exit rights from the effects of heavily deployed technologies -even if individuals choose not to use the tools produced by those technologies.Second, critical evaluation of a technology must go beyond assessing how well relevant tools perform, to examining the changes that a technology brings about within and among societal systems and values. For example, although one can choose to not own or use a personal computer, computing technology is so widely deployed that it is not Mapping power: ironic effects of spatial information technology 13 101 possible to avoid its effects. In practical terms we cannot escape from the computerised world -we have no exit rights. If viable exit rights do not exist for a technology, then we cannot evaluate the ethical implications of that technology in terms of how well the tools serve individual users. Rather, we can only evaluate the technologies in terms of how they transform the quality of relationships constituting our situation as a whole. These relationships include those we have with our environment; with one another; with our own bodies; and with our personal, cultural, and social identities. In short, technologies must be evaluated in explicitly social and ethical terms.Critical histories of technology deployment suggest that when deployment of a technology reaches a certain level of intensity and scale it effectively undermines the possibility of exercising exit rights with respect to it. It then generates problems of the type that only that technology or closely related ones can address. These distinctive patterns of ironic (or 'revenge') effects have wide-ranging, systemic ramifications well outside the technology sector (Hershock 1999;Tenner 1996).For example, automotive transportation technologies were originally adopted to make transportation faster and easier. Their widespread adoption, however, transformed both environmental and social realities in ways that eventually generated problems -for example, inhospitable urban sprawl, traffic gridlock, and massive air pollution -that could only be addressed through more and better transportation technology. At present scales of deployment and social, economic, and cultural embedding, transportation technology and the tools associated with it are no longer truly elective.Ironic effects demonstrate the fallacy in assuming that what is good for each of us will be good for all. The individual user of tools is not a suitable unit of analysis in critically assessing technologies. In addition, new technologies are practically built from 'the ground up' by bringing together knowledge and materials in novel ways. But once they are fully realised, the technology begins exerting 'downward causation' on its component systems, bringing them into functional conformity with its own systemic needs. That is, the ironic effects generated by technologies are not incidental consequences, but are rather systematically conducive to the further deployment of that technology and/or affiliated technologies.Following this argument, once spatial information technologies cross the threshold of their utility, these technologies will become practically imperative and will begin generating ironic or revenge effects that require their further develop-ment and deployment. With regard to SIT, we suspect that the widespread adoption of this technology will disadvantage small, local communities that have limited access to SIT relative to other actors and stakeholders, as well as limited (material, conceptual, and professional) resources for making use of SIT in advocacy, legislative, and regulatory settings. Increased dependence on SIT will transform the relationships between human actors and their spatial environments in ways that correlate with loss of the indigenous spatial practices that were originally to be conserved through their deployment.The case study writers agreed that spatial information is useful for a variety of purposes. Communities can better plan the management of their resources, monitor the implementation of development projects, and resolve resource conflicts within their own communities. Maps give community members more knowledge about their resources, so they can respond better to problems. For example, in the California case study, the authors found that GIS helped local people to be more aware of their resources. This has led to greater sophistication in public discussions among communities and with public and private resource management.The opening of political space following shifts -such as the new decentralisation policy in Indonesia and the recognition of indigenous rights in the Philippines -provided a context in which mapping became a critical tool for negotiation with other groups, including neighbouring communities and the state. Mapping re-inserted user communities' existences onto 'empty' state maps and thus strengthened their claims to lands and other resources. In this way, SIT is viewed as a tool of empowerment and mediation for local communities.\"…if villagers engage in mapping to increase the security of their land claims, they need to follow through with land titling. But the land titling process is controlled by outside authorities, and has significant implications for the villagers' relations to the land, their neighbours, and their community\" Mapping power: ironic effects of spatial information technology 13 103 tional ways of governing human environment interactions and seeing the world, than they do in communities where legal rights exist. For example, if villagers engage in mapping to increase the security of their land claims, they need to follow through with land titling. But the land titling process is controlled by outside authorities, and has significant implications for the villagers' relations to the land, their neighbours, and their community.Mapping efforts initiated to recognise collective rights to land resources can lead to land privatisation that is in practice exclusive rather than inclusive. One participant from Indonesia told a story of a woman who facilitated the mapping of her village and then sold the land to outsiders. Participants pointed out that mapping also disadvantaged nomadic groups that do not claim exclusive territories and therefore are generally not represented in the mapping process.Case study writers from Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand reported that customary boundaries were traditionally flexible. These boundaries responded to changing needs within the community and extended across and overlapped administrative boundaries as well as the boundaries of neighbouring communities. Participants observed that these boundaries have become less flexible today and often cause disputes where they overlap with those established by neighbours. They noted, however, that changes in the sense of place and boundary conceptions are not exclusively caused by mapping activities. They are also affected by changes in the political economic context, such as expansion of roads, markets, decentralisation policy, land tenure, and other factors.We define non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as organisations that: • work on a voluntary basis; • rely on external funding; • work with the poor and marginal members of society;• have a small staff; andParticipants also discussed the processes by which empowerment occurred -and who was empowered. Mapping enhanced tenure security in Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines. Yet it also benefited local governments by providing them with free information. In Sarawak, a community map was instrumental in the legal victory of an Iban village against a tree plantation corporation. But this rights-through-mapping legal power was quickly curbed as the 2001 Land Surveyors law was passed to regulate community mapping.Others have cautioned that it can be difficult to determine who 'owns' the maps and the information they contain. Fox (2002) argues that if local people do not have control of their maps, they may not be any better off than they were before their lands were mapped. The case study writers from Sumba noted that the NGOs and mapping facilitators that make the maps also control the SIT databasesand hence control who has access to the maps.Even if the community can control the maps, it is important to understand: • the multiple interests and actors found within communities; • the processes by which decisions are made within communities; and • the political and economic relationships between communities and other social actors.The case study writer from Sarawak provided an example in which entrusted community leaders colluded with a corporation, using community maps to support the corporation's plan to lease customary lands for an oil palm plantation. NGOs that initiate or sponsor community mapping projects play key roles in influencing which actors benefit from the adoption of SIT. For example, PPSDAK, a Kalimantan-based NGO chose to revitalise traditional customary institutions (adat), entrusting them with control of the maps, while Koppesda, a Sumba-based NGO chose to support a functional committee on forest conservation, therefore bypassing traditional leaders. The implications of these decisions can be far reaching in the restructuring of power relations and property institutions that govern resource access and utilisation.For many indigenous groups in Asia, the use of SIT in participatory mapping is intended to 're-insert' their existence onto maps -to claim rights that had not been acknowledged by the state. When resource rights have not previously been recognised, mapping activities have greater impact on tradi-\"Sketch mapping and 3D maps are easier to understand and are effective in engaging even illiterate villagers in conversations regarding natural resource management. But these maps are often considered to have limited credibility\"Jefferson Fox, Krisnawati Suryanata, Peter Hershock and Albertus Hadi Pramono 13 104• have a flexible, not-for-profit, independent, and non-partisan nature.Participants in the workshop felt that while their decisions to adopt SIT as an important component of their activities varied, reasons external to the NGOs were at least as important as those from within. Donors, and how NGOs perceive donors' priorities, have a relatively large influence on many NGOs. One case study writer describes how consultants from international organisations proved to be instrumental for NGOs in Indonesia in their choice of mapping strategies. Another writer describes how the shift from sketch mapping to GIS in Indonesia was influenced by discussions with these international actors.Success in using maps as tools for negotiating land rights in Indonesia and Malaysia has led to increased demand for mapping by neighbouring communities. Case study writers from both countries argued that this has created a shortage of technically trained people, and that it is difficult to acquire and keep trained staff. There is also a gap in expectations and work culture between staff members trained in SIT sciences and those trained in social sciences that could lead to the separation of participatory mapping activities from the broader objective of NGOs.Recognising the potential socio-ethical impacts of SIT, there was a strong consensus among workshop participants that advocates of participatory mapping need a clear protocol to follow when introducing SIT into a village. This protocol should require outside actors to communicate clearly with each community prior to the mapping project. The NGO must clarify the purpose/objectives of collecting information. They must agree with villagers on what information can be mapped, and explain potential consequences of recording the community's spatial information on maps that can then be copied and distributed outside the community. Most importantly, outside facilitators must communicate to villagers that they can agree to accept or reject the mapping exercise.Finally, participants felt that unlike in North America, the use of SIT at the community level in Asia has largely been limited to producing one-time maps and neglecting the reality that working with spatial information is a process requiring revisions and changes. So far, too little attention has been given to building local capacity to revise and re-map as circumstances change.We do not seek to discredit the use of spatial information technology in community-based management. Rather we seek to understand the social and ethical implications of this technology so that those who choose to use it to meet social objectives can do so wisely and with an understanding of the unintended consequences that may accompany its use.It is important to understand that SIT comes in a variety of forms, and its conceptual and technical accessibility to participating communities could be uneven. Sketch mapping and 3D maps are easier to understand and are effective in engaging even illiterate villagers in conversations regarding natural resource management. But these maps are often considered to have limited credibility -a perception that markedly reduces their effectiveness when negotiating territorial rights with outside interests. However, efforts to 'formalise' SIT -moving away from sketch mapping toward technical cartographic mapping and GIS -also have limitations. The case studies revealed that in remote villages in Asia, adoption of technologically complex SIT could marginalise many of the targeted communities. Participatory mapping proponents therefore must strike a balance between producing maps and spatial information that are 'credible' and remaining relevant to villagers in solving their immediate problems.Reflections by practitioners in the project case studies identified several ironic effects of mapping that could undermine the goals of community-based management. While mapping is useful for bounding and staking claims to ancestral or traditional territories, it also facilitates a shift toward exclusive property rights. It provides outsiders with a legal means to gain access to common property resources. Common property resources are managed through rules and practices that enable sustained control of knowledge about the location of valuable resources. By making knowledge accessible to all, mapping weakens existing common property management systems. Mapping generally promotes practices that shift attention and concern away from a fluid human/environment relationship to a relationship with quantifiable limits implied by boundaries/borders. So the newly acquired authority to define and exert control over the use of space has begun to compromise the customary uses and governance systems it was intended to protect.The adoption of SIT and participatory mapping in Asia has increased the capacity of indigenous groups and local communities to assert territorial rights and to promote decentralisation of resource governance and management. But the adoption of this technology has increased the need for the further adoption of SIT by other rural communities, \"…the more we map, the more likely it is that we will have no choice but to map\"Mapping power: ironic effects of spatial information technology 13 105 practically eliminating exit options.As workshop participants concluded, the more we map, the more likely it is that we will have no choice but to map. Yet, we submit that this need not be seen as a caution against mapping. Rather, it can be seen as an injunction to develop critical clarity with respect to mapping -based on a comprehensive understanding of both intended and likely unintended consequences of our actions. Resource managers who engage in mapping must do so with clear protocols for explaining these often quite complex consequences to rural communities prior to the mapping exercise. Meeting this challenge will require not only building technical skills, but also transferring skills for looking critically at context and for identifying factors needing response.In 1998, geographers in Durham convened a workshop to consider the implications of GIS in terms of power and participation. The ensuing and widely cited paper 'Participatory GIS: opportunity or oxymoron?' (Abbot et al., 1999) called for caution and exposed the risks inherent in visualising placespecific local knowledge and making it available for public consumption, without ensuring sufficient control of the process and outputs by legitimate custodians of such knowledge.Since then, spatial information technologies and data have become increasingly accessible to the wider public. Practitioners, researchers and activists in different parts of the world have tested and developed a range of integrated approaches and methodologies, which led to many innovations within what is now termed as Participatory GIS (PGIS) practice.PGIS has its roots in Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) and in Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA). It combines participatory mapping visualisations, spatial information technologies (SIT), spatial learning, communication and advocacy. The practice takes many different forms and raises and faces all the tensions, trade-offs and dilemmas of quality with spread -standardisation versus creativity, speed versus quality, lenders' and donors' enthusiasm and drives to disburse, versus participation and the empowerment of those who ought to be empowered. Fox et al (2005) concluded after a two year study of participatory mapping projects in Asia, that:SIT transforms the discourse about land and resources, the meaning of geographical knowledge, the work practices of mapping and legal professionals, and ultimately the very meaning of space itself.The paper further argues that 'Communities that do not have maps become disadvantaged as rights and power are increasingly framed in spatial terms' (Fox, 2005:7) and concludes on a critical note that mapping has become neces-Practical ethics for PGIS practitioners, facilitators, technology intermediaries and researchersPractical ethics for PGIS practitioners, facilitators, technology intermediaries and researchers 14 sary -as failing to be on a map corresponds to a lack of proof of existence, and to own land and resources. Overall, this must be framed in the need for developing 'critical clarity with respect to mapping based on a comprehensive understanding of both intended and likely unintended consequences of our actions' (Fox et al. 2005). As Alwin Warren (2004) put it 'Maps […] are inseparable from the political and cultural contexts in which they are used'.In the 90s, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) spread with alacrity and consequently suffered from massive abuseparticularly when lenders and donors began to require large scale PRA projects. Of all the visual methods that have taken off and been widely adopted, participatory mapping -with its many variants and applications -has been the most widespread, not only in natural resource management, but also in many other domains (McCall 2006). With mapping as one element, there are now signs of a new pluralism and creative mixing of different elements in participatory methodologies. The medium and means of mapping, whether ephemeral, paper or GIS, or on-line mapping, and the style and mode of THEME SECTION 107 facilitation, influence who takes part, what is included, the nature of outcomes, and power relationships. Much depends on the behaviour and attitudes of facilitators -and on who controls the process.It appears that there is a seemingly unstoppable excitement about geo-referencing our human physical, biological and socio-cultural worlds and making the information accessible in the public domain. Stunning innovations (e.g. Google Earth) are now available to all those with adequate access to the Internet or modern spatial information technologies. At the same time the recent International Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage 1 which supports the inventorying of intangible heritage, raises sharp ethical issues for those involved in geo-referencing peoples' knowledge and values.In this context, the pathway leading towards PGIS good practice, is scattered with critical stepping stones all calling attention to troubling dilemmas and overarching issues about empowerment, ownership and potential exploitation, and leading to the 'Who?' and 'Whose?' questions (see Box 1).If carefully considered by technology intermediaries, the 'Who?'/'Whose?' questions may induce appropriate attitudes and behaviours in the broader context of good practice.In a participatory context, spatial information technologies (SIT) may be used at community level by members of the community itself, technology intermediaries (facilitators, practitioners and activists) and researchers. It can be used at a community level by community workers, activists, social scientists, anthropologists, conservationists and the like who have acquired SIT skills or who may team up with people having an IT professional background. Alternatively SIT can be introduced at a community level by IT people with interest in mapping social, cultural and bio-physical territorial features and who may team up with professionals from social and environmental disciplines.Each profession and culture carries moral parameters and codes of ethics. As PGIS is understood as a multidisciplinary practice it is meant to respond to a blend of different moral rules. This guide to good practice is intended to provide nonexhaustive guidelines for making appropriate ethical choices for those practicing or wanting to practice PGIS. These guidelines are not meant to be exhaustive, as each culture and situation may have its own moral imperatives. It is the obligation of the individuals to make their best judgement to ensure good practice. In this context the following guiding principles should be taken into consideration:This applies right from the beginning, and throughout the process. Practitioners must explain clearly and in the local language(s) the strengths and limits of their ability to influence outcomes, and while the potential benefits of PGIS are explained, no claims must be made for results that are not within the power of the facilitators or their organisation to achieve.Purpose: which purpose? and whose purpose?Be certain and clear about the purpose -why do people get involved in this particular exercise? Before embarking on the process, discuss openly the objectives of the PGIS exercise and what the different parties may expect from it.As in any research with people, participation must be voluntary. In order for participation to be voluntary, the participant needs to know what kind of map is going to be made (showing them an example would be ideal), the type of information that will be on the map, and the possible implications of the maps being made public. People must agree to participate and be able to withdraw at any time without prejudice. Obtaining informed consent should be set in advance.Do your best to recognise that you are working with socially differentiated communities and that your presence will not be politically neutral PGIS is always a political process and will, therefore, most likely have unintended consequences for the communities you work with regarding the complex issues of who is empowered and who might actually be disempowered. Be aware that the internal workings of socially differentiated communities are very context dependant and unpredictable. tions outside the community then follow. Opening up the space to map local expectations and negotiate the objectives may reduce the risk of raising unrealistic expectations.The time of poor people is, contrary to some professional belief, often very precious, especially at difficult times of the year (often during the planting or weeding seasons). Rural people are often polite, hospitable and deferential to outsiders, who do not realise the sacrifices they are making. A day of weeding lost at a critical time can have high hidden costs in a smaller harvest.Accept the fact that participatory approaches need time and are generally slow, and factor the time variable in your inter-vention schedule. Take advantage of the non-negotiable clause proposed on page 112.Trust between insiders and outsiders (technology intermediaries) is the building block upon which good PGIS practice is founded.Villagers in a country in Southeast Asia working on a 3D model pointed to the hideouts of rebel groups, incurring immediate danger. Using audio-visuals, villagers in Indonesia documented their traditional logging practices. The regulatory environment changed putting them in a position of illegality.Despite the necessity for a long-range vision, the approach should remain flexible, adaptive, and recursive, without sticking rigidly to pre-determined tools and techniques, or blindly to the initial objectives of the mapping exercise (participation is two-way learning between several sets of 'experts', scientific or NGO outsiders, and community insiders).The use of GIS is not a must: it is an option. 'As technology complexity increases, community access to the technology decreases' (Fox, 2005). Ask yourself: is a GIS really necessary? Would GIS add anything that cannot better be achieved through other participatory mapping methods?Choose the appropriate spatial information technology with the objective to grant equal access to and control over it by at least some of the participants or by community-nominated intermediaries.Boundaries may be fluid, seasonal, fuzzy, overlapping, or moving (see e.g. McCall, this issue). Visualising boundaries -if not specifically requested by informants to address specific boundary-related issues -may change the sense of space and ignite latent or previously non-existing conflicts. Spatial precision is relative and only has value when very detailed data on boundaries or areas is needed. Too often the emphasis is on precise measurements rather than on seeking and checking what are the spatial phenomena the people are really talking about, e.g. better to expend effort in understanding different types of overlapping customary land tenure, than on measuring arbitrary boundaries down to metres or cm.Some (doubtless accessible) villages in Malawi are said to have been 'carpet-bombed' with PRA, and reportedly intercept visitors before they enter and negotiate with themwhile more 'remote' villages are never visited. Maps may be drawn, and taken away by outsiders, again and again.This occurs, for example with women who take part in participatory activities, and when the outsiders have left are abused or beaten by their husbands. This can apply to any 'lower'/subordinate/disadvantaged group in a community.Instances may arise where a course of action is beneficial to the needs of the associated research effort, but is significantly counter-productive in meeting the community's needs. This is a universal dilemma for all 'participatory' programmes -whether the highest priority is on the outputs, such as the needed maps, or on promoting empowerment and capacity of the community. The ethical approach is to find alternative courses of action that are suitable to the community's needs. Local people and their communities are the principals or partners, not the clients. So PGIS initiatives should emanate from them, not from the outside. Therefore, participation is essential in the process of determining the purpose.Refrain from extracting or eliciting information only for the outsiders' benefit. If research is the only purpose, be open and honest, seek permission and do your best to share benefits. This is a major issue with local knowledge of commercial value.  If applicable, do your best to ensure positive protection of TK, or the creation of positive rights in TK that empower TK holders to protect and promote their TK In some countries, sui generis legislation has been developed specifically to address the positive protection of TK. Providers and users may also enter into contractual agreements and/or use existing IP systems of protection (WIPO, 2006).Do not use the practice to support the forced displacement of people Do not ask residents of an area to map out their spatialEnsure that the original physical output of a participatory mapping exercise stays with those who generated it and specifically with a trusted entity nominated by the informants. Taking outputs away -even if for a short time -is an act of disempowerment. Making copies of community-generated outputs involves more time spent in the village, additional efforts, more inputs and financial resources. Meeting this condition of good practice increases the cost and the time, but ensures that those who generated the spatial information are not deprived of their intellectual property (IP) and effort.Ensure that multiple, full-quality copies of the maps, annotated aerial/satellite images and/or digital data sets remain with those who expressed and shared their spatial knowledge. Provided you obtain the informed consent of the knowledge holders, you -as a technology intermediarymay store selected maps and/or data sets.Be ready to deal with new realities which will emerge from the process Visualising and geo-referencing local knowledge is likely to change the way space is perceived and understood by both the informants and the wider public affected by the mapping exercise. Such changes may influence power relations and hierarchies, and induce new conflicts or inflame latent ones. Provisions have to be made to eventually deal with new conflicting realities.This increases understanding on both sides. Ask questions, probe, ask for explanations, e.g. why are there regularities and why anomalies in the results?Ensure that the outputs of the mapping process are understood by all those concernedThe legend is the vocabulary by which a map is interpreted. Ensure that a map legend is developed in close consultation by informants and technology intermediaries.Ensure defensive protection of traditional knowledge (TK) or measures that ensure that IP rights over traditional knowledge are not given to parties other than the customary TK holders knowledge if you know that such information may lead to their displacement or eviction. Frequently areas found to have conservation value are proclaimed as exclusion areas for any human settlement and activity, de facto supporting the eviction of people.If not prejudicial to the security of the informants, and with their prior consent, include the names of the contributors to the generated maps and/or data sets.The maps are never final or static. They are not 'cast in stone' -they have to be crosschecked, improved, and updated.Examine international survey guidelines such as the AAA Code of Ethics… …which reminds anthropologists that they are responsible not only for factual content of information, but also the socio-cultural and political implications. See www.aaanet.org/committees/ethics/ethcode.htmThese provide guidelines for the GIS professionals themselves. See www.gisci.org/code_of_ethics.htmIn terms of their adoption, some of the guidelines above rest with the implementers and are essentially about attitude and behaviour. Others may have implications in terms of financial and human resources and time needed. Some preconditions for good practice should be incorporated into the project design as early as the conceptualisation stage and carried forward into the terms of an eventual contract of services.Views differ on non-negotiables. One position is that there should be no non-negotiables, but that principles for action should be evolved to fit each context. Another, more widely held, is that some conditions are so common that non-negotiables are needed to strengthen the hands and will of those who are negotiating -especially when powerful interests are affected. Bearing these qualifications in mind, the following are proposed non-negotiable conditions, which technology intermediaries could put forward to lender and donor agencies when negotiating contracts for implementing projects having a PGIS component. These conditions should then be incorporated into the contract governing the initiative.• Facilitators' training will include modules on personal behaviour and attitudes, the ethics of PGIS, and trust building. • PGIS projects should not have time-bound targets for disbursements or coverage unless these are vital to protect endangered rights of vulnerable people. Proper participation takes time and provision should be made for unspent funds to be rolled over from year to year. • PGIS practice should be limited to a feasible scale and not extended at a pace or over a range that undermines or prevents genuinely participatory processes. • Research and related activities will be based on informed consent from participants.This document is the result of a debate which started in the early and mid 1990s (Turnbull 1989;Bondi & Domosh, 1992 (a feminist critique); Wood, 1992; Rundstrom, 1995;  NCGIA Varenius 2 , 1996; Dunn, 1997; Abbot, 1998). This debate has become more critical with the wider adoption of spatial information technologies in participatory learning and action contexts. The need for practical ethics and a code of good PGIS practice emerged also as a priority at the Mapping for Change Conference (IIRR, 2006). From the halls of Nairobi where the conference took place in September 2005, issues related to PGIS ethics were uploaded to cyberspace and subjected to a wider debate among practitioners via the Open Forum on Participatory Geographic Information Systems and Technologies (www.PPgis.net).Reactions and comments received were reviewed and carefully considered and the resulting guidelines reflected in this paper.The power of maps, SIT and modern communication technologies call for greater responsibility of all those involved in practicing PGIS. As the famous explorer, ecologist, filmmaker and researcher Jacques-Yves Cousteau put it:Without ethics, everything happens as if we were all passengers on a big truck without driver; and the truck is driving faster and faster, without us knowing where.How important is precision in PGIS mapping? Maps consist of different layers of spatial information -such as roads, distances between places, boundaries, physical features or land uses. But how do maps represent fuzzy and imprecise spatial information, such as seasonally variable resources? Or the real effort and drudgery of walking from one place to another? Or people's mental maps (images) of places they like, or are afraid of, or are sacred to them?This article explores some issues that are important when considering how precise -or imprecise -a map and the spatial information that it represents should be. It also asks, who is it important for, and why?Standard GIS approaches can place unnecessary and misleading emphasis on precision, often legitimising elite control (by planners or GIS experts) over both spatial knowledge and the tools used. The flashiness of GIS outputs impresses decision-makers, but it can also create a false impression and legitimise what is actually bad data (Abbot et al, 1998). The political implications of ignoring imprecision that is unrecorded in the standard maps of the 'powerful'. This is especially important when made by the relatively disadvantaged, inarticulate, or dispossessed; and is often termed as 'counter-mapping'. • P-mapping is used to discover and interpret people's 'natural geography', or mental maps, including spaces, places and things of cultural value, sacred and historical spaces and cosmovisions. 1 These are frequently, but not confined to indigenous peoples. This is the most problematic application of P-mapping because it must often handle alternative indigenous spatial concepts.Precision is seen as basic to a scientific approach, like accuracy and reliability of information; surely we cannot reject it? If inaccuracy is a distortion of reality, imprecision is seen as a failure of observation and measurement. But, we should question why precision is considered a necessity in Participatory GIS: • Spatial reality is not precise: it is always fuzzy and frequently ambiguous. • So it can be misleading to misrepresent it as being precise and accurate -this is 'false precision'. • There are developing approaches in software and hardware that increasingly allow for fuzzy representations. Spatial imprecision and ambiguity can originate from various other causes, e.g. • the technical limitations of maps; or • the (mis)interpretation of spatial reality.At complex political and ideological power levels, the ambiguity comes from the false precision, which obscures local claims and competing viewpoints.Whether a location is accurately or precisely marked on the map is related to resolution. Resolution is the 'size of the smallest feature in a data set that can be discerned' and is chosen by the map maker. Resolution and the scale of the display (map or photo) are related. Take a 1:50000 map sheet, the smallest item you can see on it with good eyesight and luck is 0.5 mm, thus 25 m. square, in practice more likely, 50 m. square, so a road may appear five times its real width.This also effects the level of map detail -what gets included and what gets left out. PGIS practitioners maintain that the quality of the information, particularly the representational accuracy, is always more significant than mere quantity of data.Are boundaries precise in reality? Boundaries are dynamic, e.g. rivers are seasonal movers, as are wetlands, vegetation cover. The same is also true for e.g. social classes or cultural groups who do not have a unique or fixed location with precise boundaries, such as women, pastoralists, students, or, the 'poorest 10%'. Official maps often fail to reflect this.'Shadows' are the external impacts, which are necessary, inseparable implications of the mapped objects, connected by real processes -such as 'downstream' and 'upstream' impacts, and ecological footprints. Buildings have shadows of light and microclimates of cold and wind; cities have resource impacts; plantations and mines create local and distant changes in land use and households; likewise with consumer shopping patterns; national economic policies have international impacts; and we find ecological footprints at all scales.Mapmakers normally ignore the shadows of the located objects, although they are inevitable and concrete spatial 'byproducts'. We need to ask, for whose benefit are these shadows ignored?Spatial precision is of course needed for certain situations e.g. processing legal land claims, or for calculating taxes owed on land owned. But often, the final map/GIS productIn ordinary usage, precision refers to the level of spatial resolution, or, to the accuracy and reliability of the geo-referencing. And in measurement terms, accuracy refers to the percentage of real (actual, named) objects, which can be correctly located on the map. Maps deal with two sorts of accuracy:• representational accuracy (which object?); and, • positional accuracy (which location?) Positional accuracy is how well we measure the location of features on a map. It depends on how reliable the data source is, the measurement device used, and how the data has been presented or changed. It is difficult to assess positional accuracy, it can only be checked against another 'better' source. Attribute or representational accuracy, on the other hand, measures the characteristics of features. It is inevitably affected by people's understanding, interpretation, and classification of the features shown on the map. Different people have different interpretations of features. So it is not only important to understand 'who chooses the map legend?' but also 'what do the choosers understand by the symbolism?' also needs to show competing alternative viewpoints of different actors. These might be about resource claims, or development visions. Mapping has always been associated with formalising and legitimising e.g. property relations, ownership, inheritance, social distribution (Wood 1998). But all too frequently they present only one viewpoint, usually that of those in power and control -'possession is 9/10ths of the law' is not just a cliché in NRM.This can often lead to (sometimes deliberate) disputes and to conflicts. Reports from many countries, e.g. Philippines, Bolivia, Mexico, give instances of violence arising when boundaries are put on maps where none existed before, or when local people lose their rights to collect medicinal plants, food and building materials, fuel, etc. from forests and 'wastelands' (e.g. Fox et al. 2005).GIS approaches are weak in representing fundamental power relations (cf. Abbott et al., 1998). Standard GIS outputs do not reflect actual political processes and the realities of social-political power. For instance, conventional mapping of land titles over-simplifies overlapping claims from different stakeholders and reduces them to a simplistic twodimensional space of 'private (household) title' which can lead to exclusion and conflicts.Competing viewpoints can be partially solved by 'counter maps', the explicit mapping of the priorities, needs, problems, claims, etc. of the disadvantaged and less articulate. Early examples were specifically for women's maps, such as of forest areas for gathering woodfuel, or women's utilisation of so-called 'wastelands' for collecting medicinal plants, but counter maps are applicable to any power-deficient groups (Peluso, 1995).Some argue strongly that GIS and local or indigenous knowledge are inherently incompatible. On the one hand, is the ultra-precision of the digitised geo-data. On the other hand, there is ambiguity, spirituality and emotion e.g. the use of stories and dance rather than documents or maps as forms of knowledge communication. depending on the time and effort involved, e.g. uphill or downhill, or, with or against the commuter traffic flow. • People certainly do not conceptualise space in only two dimensions, as do map and aerial photo images. 'Escaping this flatland is the essential task of envisioning information -for all the interesting words (physical, biological, imaginary, human) that we seek to understand are inevitably and happily multivariate in nature' (Tufte 1990).• Our consciousness can operate at several spatial scales simultaneously; people have the ability to easily jump from one scale to another, e.g. our thoughts can skip instantly from finding our car keys to a mental map of the city to drive through. This 'jumping scales' is better represented by dynamic GIS than by conventional maps. • Multi-signal, multi-sensual, multi-media. The mental maps and 'memoryscapes' inside our heads include sounds and remembered smells and tastes, as well as multiple moving and still images. • Decision-making in participatory spatial planning must deal with incomplete information, i.e. people have to make a guess at missing information using 'common sense' rules. • Understanding and interpreting spatial images (maps, photos, etc.) including the concepts of direction, distance, density, etc., is culture-specific and language-specific. (Rundstrom 1995). • Mental maps are naturally spatio-temporal, i.e. they consider factors of both space and time. They recognise the flows and rates of e.g. physical resources, information, and ideas, as well as the extent of spheres of influence, power, and control, etc.How do precision and fuzziness, or ambiguity and certitude relate to PGIS practice?The figure above shows common applications of PGIS.   -----------------------------------------------------------------------> In order to represent: Ambiguity Certitude <- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Precision for whom? Mapping ambiguity and certainty in (Participatory) GIS 15 119It is better to be roughly right than to be precisely wrong.Precision cannot always be considered a necessity in Participatory GIS, precisely because spatial reality is not precise: it is always fuzzy and frequently ambiguous, although the degree certitude varies with the purpose of the PGIS. Moreover, precision is counter-productive when it is false precision and misrepresents what is fuzzy and ambiguous reality. However, innovative GIS and visualisation are coming into play, which can handle fuzzy capabilities. Some of the tools and ideas able to respond to the needs of ISK are these:• Layering information, even in standard GIS, allows data from different groups and communities to be recorded. So comparisons between groups can be easily analysed and applied in negotiations, contributing to respect and legitimacy. • Dynamic, interactive mapping and multi-media approaches show multiple views and voices, layers of information, and layers of time. • Three-dimensional material models, like the P3DM family, give people a bird's eye view, which literally provides alternative viewpoints. • Features of dynamic animation or flash maps and new graphics software include: e.g. transparent layers, layers 'turn-on/off', shading, fuzzy symbols, blurring boundaries, etc. • Sound can be added to the display, and interactive hyperlinks can link to other material and websites including photographs, videos, texts, images. PGIS is eventually developing the potentials to elicit and create displays of ambiguous, fuzzy, non-precise -even discursive and emotional -spatial knowledge and rich pictures of a multi-textured world.Gathering and assessing information or data using participatory approaches is closely linked to local interpretations of accuracy and relevance. How can PGIS tools recognise, understand and handle 'imperfect data' in all its glorious fuzziness, non-exclusivity, ambiguity, and imprecision? Visualisation and GIS technologies which are appropriate for understanding mental maps and for handling typical information in participatory spatial planning need different capabilities than are found in standard GIS (see Box 2).Box 2: Representing ISK and mental maps using PGIS needs to:• select the map resolution appropriate to the local context -there seems to be a window of 'natural' scale most appealing to users, usually large scale, 1:5,000 -1:20,000, which makes the map display easier to read and understand, and ensures a sufficient level of detail; • gather and incorporate qualitative and emotional knowledge by using qualitative rather than quantitative methods (e.g. story-recording, sketching, video), and then transferring it into regular maps or digital geo-information; • show some areas as fuzzy or multi-layered zones, with fuzzy, blurred, boundaries, and flexible or multiple boundaries; • represent long-range visions with fuzzy margins (whether in space, in time, or as objects) to symbolise that they are not yet detailed and can be changed; • represent some objects or locations as uncertain, hidden (e.g. sacred)or restricted locations; • be linked to other information, e.g. using hyperlinks to other documents or media files; • be transparent, e.g. showing multiple land rights and entitlements; • be able to 'jump scale' enabling people to become involved at scales relevant to their daily lives or long-term interests; • present counter-maps of disadvantaged social groups and genders; • represent flows of physical resources, information, ideas, or flows of influence, power, and control; and • be dynamic, showing changes over time in resource management, in locations, boundaries, or in conflicts.This article is about the Suitcase Project, which helps refugee children to use artwork to share their stories and their feelings.Open up these suitcases, look inside and find out what refugees' lives are like.Í am going to always take this suitcase with me. I want to go to Australia and I will take this suitcase for my interview because it tells my history.This suitcase is a good memory. I want to keep it for my children so they will know what I have done and where I have been with this suitcase, my life.I remember when I left my country there were many people waiting at the bus and there was a pile of suitcases. My suitcase reminds me of that time when we were all pushing to get on the bus and we were afraid and we wanted to get away because of the war.We made these suitcases for some of the people out there. There are rich people out there who live large -they don't know how poor people, like refugees, live. They don't know -they got to know. These are the voices of children who have participated in an innovative psychosocial support project that has focused on artwork done on and inside a set of old suitcases.When I met the children in 2000, they were living in two large neighbouring apartments used as an informal 'shelter' for unaccompanied minors by the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). There were 20 of them aged between six and 18 and they came from Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, Ethiopia and Angola.I had been commissioned to do research on xenophobia for Soul Buddyz (a children's television series) and had approached the Jesuit Refugee Service, asking if they could by GLYNIS CLACHERTYThe world in a suitcase: psychosocial support using artwork with refugee children in South Africa Photo: ChildrenFIRST.help me find a group of children. The research I did with the children highlighted the many difficulties they lived with on a daily basis and their need for psychosocial support. I decided to stay in contact with the group through informal meetings once every two months.Initially the meetings were purely recreational but through this informal contact it soon became clear that many of the children had been psychologically affected by their past experiences of war and displacement. A few were withdrawn and interacted little with others. Others demanded attention by dominating discussions, often behaving inappropriately. Many of them could not work together in a group; they were unable to share art materials or food.It also became clear that most of the children's present lives were stressful. Many did not have proper identity papers and spent their lives dodging the ever-present police who sought out illegal immigrants on the streets of Hillbrow. Three of the boys had been arrested for not having papers. At least half of the children at this stage did not speak English well and struggled to communicate with the others. In addition, food at home was limited and often not enough for growing teenagers. Most of them also experienced some kind of xenophobia either at school or on the streets.The children were ambivalent about their identity as refugees. When they introduced themselves to strangers, none of them said they were refugees; none claimed their home countries. They all said, 'I am from Hillbrow' or 'I am South African'. In their attempt to integrate into South African society, the children had begun to deny their own identities; only those who were trusted and known could know they were refugees and where they came from.It soon became clear that outings and games were not enough; the children needed some form of psychosocial support.The search for an acceptable healing approachThe children were very sceptical about anything that looked like 'healing'. When the group discussed what kinds of activities they could do together they were quick to say that they did not want to tell stories about past difficult experiences. They resisted any sort of 'feeling expression' game and told stories of negative counselling experiences in the past. One girl summed up her experience of previous counselling, It didn't help me. She (the psychologist) just wanted me to cry about it. I got bored so I did and then she (the psychologist) felt better.An approach that helped children deal with the psychological effects of their past and everyday difficulties had to be found, but clearly it had to be something different from the conventional counselling model.It was clear that whatever work was done needed to allow for some emotional distance for the children. The children needed to tell their stories, but they needed an approach that would allow them gently -and over a period of time -to reclaim and integrate their memories and restore their identities.At this stage Diane Welvering, an art teacher, joined the project. She used a creative mixed media approach where the children were given many different kinds of techniques and materials and were allowed to decide how they would use them.This was when the idea of using suitcases arose. A suitcase is about a journey; all the children had taken journeys. A suitcase also has a face that is open for everyone to see and a hidden space inside that we can choose to expose or not. Would suitcases help some of the children to reclaim the memories, both difficult and happy, that they were now choosing to hide? A number of old suitcases were sourced in second-hand shops around Johannesburg. All the suitcases had been on journeys too, so perhaps the children would relate to them.By this stage, the group was meeting every Saturday morning at Barnato Park High School, which is accessible to all the children. Each week the art materials were set up in a large open space and once instructions for the day's activity had been given the children worked uninterrupted for two and sometimes even three hours, with support from Diane, the art teacher.While the group worked, some children came out, alone or in pairs or small groups, to sit under a tree with me to talk about the stories they had represented in their artwork.About once every two months, counsellors from a local mental health centre attended the group. The group then ate a simple meal together, sharing with each other and the facilitators what had happened during the week.The artwork activities that form the core of the project are described in summary in the table above, along with the time frame of the project.As the table shows, the artwork began with suitcases. Initially each child chose a suitcase. They were told that there was a suitcase just for them and they would know exactly which one it was. Without any of the usual battles over resources, each child in the group chose a suitcase.The project began by working on the outsides of the suitcases and the children's lives 'now', as this was less emotion-ally threatening for the children than telling stories about their past. The children were encouraged to treat the outside of the suitcases in a very tactile way using a wide variety of found materials. Each child was encouraged to undertake this re-invention in their own way, reinforcing the idea that the child has the power. At no stage was anyone told what to do. The art teacher and facilitator merely encouraged and led the children to a variety of media.Once the children felt their suitcases were finished on the outsides, they began work on the insides. The insides of the suitcases were about memories of their pasts. This section of the work was introduced by encouraging the children to think of windows into their pasts. They then represented these windows in different media and pasted the picturesDescription of art activity Time frame (approximate as each child worked at their own pace)The story of my life nowThe story of my life in the pastThe story of my journey to JohannesburgWhere am I going to take my suitcase? Looking to the future.Firstly, the children produced large pieces of hand-made paper and then worked on these in collage with drawn images and images from magazines to show the journeys they had made to get to Johannesburg.Tracing around each other's bodies, children made large drawings of their bodies with their suitcases in their hands and answered the question of where they were taking their suitcases through layering images on to the body maps.The tactile nature of the paper-making and collage work allowed children to spend time thinking and reflecting on what for many was the most traumatic part of their stories.This activity allowed children to move from the past to the future. Many began to make concrete plans for the next year.The children used mixed media such as drawing, printing, wax resist and painting to make images that told the story of their present lives. These images were then pasted onto the outside of the suitcase. Threedimensional materials such as beads, card, sand, shells and found objects were added to the 'story'.Children were encouraged to layer their stories.Using the same materials the children then made images to tell about the place where they had first lived and their memories of the past -both good and bad.The media chosen allowed children to tell a story in a picture; they then told the facilitator about their picture. The telling of the story was therapeutic. The work began with their present lives, as this was less threatening than telling stories about their pasts.Telling about these images was again therapeutic. Because they were inside the suitcase there was also a measure of emotional distance as each week the bad memories could be left inside the suitcase until next week. If children chose to, they told the stories of their memories.At this point, a weekend retreat was held with experienced counsellors and a psychologist. The suitcases formed the core of work done at the retreat. The retreat focused on traumatic memories. inside their suitcases. Again, the multi-dimensional layering of their stories was encouraged.Once they felt the insides and outsides were finished (and this took more than 10 weeks) they began work on a set of small journals that would go into the suitcases. Again, the children were encouraged to work in a tactile way with many different media. This journal work was ongoing and by this stage, facilitators knew the children well and were able to direct the work, encouraging children gently to work on particular issues that they knew troubled them. But at all stages, the children decided what they wanted to represent.To keep up interest, personalised, constructed objects were also made from found fragments of clay (baked and polished with boot polish), papier-mâché and wire. The choices of modes of representation and materials to be used were always the children's own. Every week the suitcases were brought to the group so children could keep thinking about their own lives, past and present. Children became very fond of their suitcases and the packing away each week in the facilitator's car was done with great care. In this way, the children also began to learn about caring for other people's work.Because the children were not working with conventional art tools that they knew, such as crayons, they were able to respond intuitively. Essentially what the children did was 'play' with the materials and explore their potential. Working in three dimensions with many, many different materials allowed them to play more freely as they did not feel scrutinised in any way, as might have been the case had they felt they should 'draw well'.In addition, the children were always in control of the process. One of the central principles was that the facilitators did not interfere with their art making. It was a private process. While they worked we did not ask questions or give advice. Sometimes the art teacher would hand a child a new material or quietly strengthen a construction without interfering.Many traditional art therapy approaches work with drawings and ask children to talk about these drawings. The approach used in this project was very different, but it was deeply therapeutic. The layering of the suitcases was a concrete expression of the idea of finding many layers to our life stories, which is central to narrative therapy.Sometimes it was clear that individual children were doing deep emotional work while they 'played' with the materials. It was noticed that the more difficult the children's past experiences had been, the less confident they were about 'playing' with the art materials. It became apparent that their 'healing' could be measured by the extent of their engagement with the materials. As they dealt with emotional issues, over time they became more confident with the materials.We soon came to realise that no piece of work was made lightly; every piece had a story for the child. For example, a boy who had survived the Rwandan genocide carefully cut out pictures of shoes and sandals for an entire workshop and The world in a suitcase: psychosocial support using artwork with refugee children in South Africa 16 125 then pasted them on to his map. When he told the story of his map he said:These shoes remind me of walking and walking, and that I survived that walking. I was only 10 years old but I survived the walking.From a narrative therapy perspective, the shoes had given an extra layer to his story that showed he was a survivor and not only a victim.The artwork was used as a focus for informal storytelling. Sometimes in small groups, sometimes alone, children would bring a piece of artwork and tell the story behind it. Children were always given the choice to do this. Children were never asked to tell more than the story they had volunteered, details were not probed and if a child chose to stop the story this was accepted. The artwork was always the focus of the storytelling and this created some measure of emotional distance.Once the facilitator became a trusted person, almost like a family member, then many more stories were told. In particular, Rwandan and Burundian children began to tell the stories of their pasts and presents only after about six months. Some took over a year before they felt able to tell their stories.The children acknowledged the value of the storytelling as a healing thing.It is a must to tell because when a problem is in your heart there is no solution and it makes you angry. But when you talk, it makes you better.For me it is like interesting doing all these things. I used to enjoy doing things like this. Memories of life, the workshop is about life stories. It is sometimes hard. Our expression when we draw. When we draw, you don't just draw. We Photo: ChildrenFIRST.In all cases the children were in control of the exhibition and newspaper articles; they could choose to do them or not. They were also involved in setting up the exhibitions. This reinforced the sense of power they had over their lives.This public face of the project was very important for the children.I think the exhibition was a cool thing to do because it will make people know about what real foreigners are doingmost people just stay in their offices saying they are helping foreigners without seeing the real lives of people.We were celebs. It made me feel like a VIP cos the time we wanted to go into the art exhibition this man chased us away, he thought we are the street kids. Diane came and said we were the ARTISTS! I liked that 'we were the ARTISTS!' I felt good that people were interested in our artwork and we were not wasting our time. Meeting new people was the best. I met a young lady and her husband and she is an artist too. We met people outside the Hillbrow world.Once the suitcases were finished, the children began work on large maps in collages on handmade paper, to tell the story of their journey to Johannesburg.The group is presently working on large body drawings, representing themselves with their suitcases, many making almost perfect replicas of their suitcases. On the body drawings they have drawn and painted and printed images that answer the question: 'Where are you taking your suitcase?'We did not have much time to talk through this work to find out how helpful the process had been but two weeks ago I was amazed when five of the children came to me independently with concrete plans for their immediate futures. These were all children who were so paralysed by their past trauma when they joined the group that they could not even commit to coming to the next group meeting, never mind thinking about planning for their futures.They now have practical ideas about next year. For example, two of the boys who are over 18 and at present in Grade 9 and Grade 10 at a local high school were concerned about the quality of education they were receiving.I know I am not going to achieve my dreams if I stay in that school; even the principal said to me I should find somewhere else.They had collected information about a local technical draw how we feel at the time. We express our feelings in the pictures.In the situation we are in here, in SA as foreigners, it is not like our country but this reminds of us of our country and helps us think back to the good things.They saw that talking does help but that it must come later, when they know the person and when they can choose the time.When we talk about our mothers who had passed away it makes us sad. We need the time to be right to talk about those things. There are certain stories to be told and some not to be told.You work fine because the secret you do is call us one by one and that makes it easier. Some problems that some of us have we don't want anyone to know. Also, you let us decide and choose to talk.It is good to give a person time and sometimes when you remember things bad, it is good to give a person chance before talking.During the project, the children's artwork was exhibited twice. Initially this was done to raise awareness of the lives of refugee children, but ultimately it also served a therapeutic purpose. The exhibitions became a way to integrate the children with outsiders and encourage them to be proud of their histories and home countries. Over time, the group became very proud of their ability to do art. At the second exhibition, they freely opened up their suitcases and shared the contents with academics at University of the Witwatersrand who attended the exhibition.The project was profiled in the Sunday Times Read Right, an educational supplement. This again allowed the children to be seen, not as refugees only, but as artists, young people who had something important to say. This built their sense of self-worth.\"Two weeks ago I was amazed when five of the children came to me independently with concrete plans for their immediate futures...\"The world in a suitcase: psychosocial support using artwork with refugee children in South Africa 16 127 college where they could receive a qualification in two years and gain entrance to a Technikon. Reducing a year of schooling is very significant given that they are both 18 already.In addition, most of the members of the group are now involved in activities within the local community. Many have joined a local youth church and are actively involved in the Kids' Week the church runs in Hillbrow.It is almost time for the initial group to move on, and some have already done so, though they all maintain some contact. A group of new children has recently been referred by the Jesuit Refugee Service and they have already begun work on their suitcases. But before the initial group disperses, they are writing a book that will include all the stories told over the last two years, as well as photographs of their suitcases. The book will be published by Double Storey books in 2005. As project design specialists, we want all stakeholdersincluding local elites -to actively participate in project design. We want the project to bring substantial benefit to the extreme poor and the most vulnerable. But there is a risk: the project could be hijacked by the local elite. So we adopt different strategies, such as encouraging the participation of the poorest and the most vulnerable from the outset, or motivating local elites to do something for the betterment of the poorest, or by ensuring the participation of local governments.Concern North Sudan designed a project using participatory approaches with a commitment to reach the extreme poor and the most vulnerable. But midway through the project implementation, many observers argued that the local elite had hijacked the project. We had to decide whether to continue or to stop. So we decided to give a critical look at this issue of hijacking. This article is an effort to document this learning in the context of Sudan.Sudan is the largest country in Africa. Approximately half the country is semi-arid or arid. Sudan is a highly multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society. The Sudanese economy depends largely on the pillars of traditional farming, livestock keeping and animal husbandry from employment, income generation and subsistence perspectives.In large parts of the Darfur, Kordofan, Red Sea, Kassala and the south, nomadic pastoralism remains the dominant livelihood system. However, planners often wrongly regard their natural resource management systems as harmful to the environment. What services exist for them are centralised and encourage settlement, although in many areas mobile pastoralism remains an environmentally sustainable and economically viable livelihood system. But it is under threat in other areas. This is due to e.g. conflict, a lack of recognition of indigenous land tenure rights, and natural disasters such as drought. Interventions such as mechanised farming and vast, government sponsored irrigation schemes exclude nomads from large tracts of pasture. This generates additional pressure on the remaining land and water resources. In many cases, this has led to increased environmental degradation and conflict (Curley 2002 andOxfam 1998).The role of local elites in development projects: an experience from Sudan \"Their key question was: why had partners selected a water project in the village, despite the fact that the area had a government-managed water source?\"The role of local elites in development projects: an experience from Sudan 17In 2001, a poverty study for the sixteen states was commissioned to explore poverty in North Sudan. In 2002, based on the findings, West Kordofan -the least developed state -was selected for a long-term development programme intervention. The Participatory Community Development Plan project (PCDP) would focus on selecting a priority problem, by analysing community needs and developing an action plan.The programme team made a number of visits to West Kordofan, to determine the poorest locality. They selected the Abyei locality in the southwestern part of the state. Abyei has a total population of nearly 160,000, of whom 35% are internally displaced people (IDP) from other states.Abyei has four administrative units: Al Meiram, Al Muglad, Dibab and Abyei. The area has three migratory routes -western, eastern and central -that cut across Meiram, Muglad and Dibab administrative units. These three units are mainly inhabited by the Missereya Humur tribe. They are mainly agro-pastoralists rearing cattle and adopting a seasonal pattern of migration. The Abyei administrative unit is mainly inhabited by the Dinka Ngok. This tribe practices subsistence farming and cattle rearing within their own tribal land.After the state authorities granted permission to workin Abyei, in mid-2003 a baseline survey was commissioned.A local office was opened and field-based project staff were recruited. Based on the study findings, we developed a project proposal, aiming to implement four micro projects in four villages in the first year, with four local partner NGOs. In January 2004, partnerships with the four NGOs were established. Next, we identified our target areas (see Table 1). Important criteria included: • access to the villages during the rainy season (most villages are totally cut off during that time for up to five months); • the location of the village on the migratory routes; • selecting villages where internally displaced people and host communities lived together; • fairly settled communities (not extreme nomads); and • previous experience of the partner working in the village.We decided that partners would implement one service delivery micro project in their respective target village. By April 2004, four micro projects had been identified: a food security project, a health project, and two water projects (see Table 1).The food security project focused on the distribution of farm inputs among the villagers, and was implemented in late 2004. The two water projects focused on the construc-   The role of local elites in development projects: an experience from Sudan 17 131 tion of 1500ft-deep boreholes and installing water pumps. At the time of project evaluation, the partners had already signed contracts with the drilling agency. The health project aimed to build one health centre and a mobile health clinic in the target village. At the time of evaluation, the partner was still working on designing it.However, recent visitors had begun to criticise the effectiveness of the micro projects in reaching the extreme poor. These included senior managers from the Concern North Sudan country office and the headquarters in Dublin. They asked whether the extreme poor were involved in identifying and designing the micro projects. The food security project had already been implemented and the health project was at the design stage, so their main concerns were for the water projects -which were midway through the implementation stage. Their key question was: why had partners selected a water project in the village, despite the fact that the area had a governmentmanaged water source? They were concerned that the locations of both new boreholes were too near the existing ones. A second borehole might lead to the existing borehole being shut down. It might also mean that the communities living furthest from the centre were still unable to easily access water.So in mid-2005, we conducted an evaluation, to examine whether the project was effectively reaching the extreme poor; and to consolidate our learning in order to develop an agreed framework for future directions.Though we believe the PCDP is a useful tool for ensuring community participation, the process suffered from a series of limitations:• The PCDP process aimed to identify community problems and prioritise them by conducting a causal analysis, and to develop an action plan. But the project team did not spend enough time analysing the top priority problem, in terms of who was the most affected by it within the community. • Every selected village had a core team of partners and community volunteers to run PCDP. The community volunteers were mainly educated, knowledgeable, and powerful people of their village. The team had training for using the tools and techniques of PCDP -but no training in facilitating the participatory process at community level. • The PCDP sessions were organised in the market places at the centre of the villages. The local elites, who lived around the village centres, easily dominated these sessions and influenced the outcome of the process. • The project staff did not have a clear understanding of who constituted the poorest people in the community, or of their livelihoods. They thought that only the internally displaced people were the most vulnerable. Despite internally displaced people attending the sessions, the PCDP methodology did not specifically capture their suggestions.In addition, the project team failed to include other extreme poor families in the PCDP. • Hiring field-based project staff and opening an office in the Abyei locality raised community expectations. Project staff were under constant pressure to begin work, even when preparations were not complete, and the local administration kept asking them to justify what they were doing. As the project development process took so long, there was also pressure from the community and the local administration to deliver 'tangible' benefits at the community level.Because of this, the PCDP process was facilitated in a supply-driven way. And the community was not adequately mobilised before conducting the actual PCDP -so the voices of the poorest had been lost. We wanted to understand why the project staff had failed to overcome these limitations in maintaining a good quality process. During discussions, they revealed that they thought too much time had been spent developing the programme. As a consequence, they felt that there had not been adequate time for understanding the local situation, or to mobilise the community effectively. They understood the different tools and techniques, but they had no substantial experiences in facilitating PCDP at the community level. They also were not fluent in local tribal languages. So they felt that they could not properly guide the partner staff and volunteers in conducting PCDP or maintain good quality facilitation. This meant that they were unable to realise the attitudes of the local elite towards the selection of micro projects.The project staff were unaware that other extreme poor families belonged to the same tribe or sub-tribes in the same villages. They were unclear about the difference between 'targeting poor communities' and 'targeting the poor or poorest within the community'. For example, during the implementation of the food security micro project, the distribution of farm inputs to the beneficiaries in the village had no definite targeting criteria. As a result, those living in the village centres were involved in the distribution process -and got the maximum benefit. The extreme poor, living in the The role of local elites in development projects: an experience from Sudan 17 133 the water points, making it easier to target them with other services such as health and education. They added that the community leadership would ensure that the new boreholes would not lead to the closure of the existing ones.Local elites agreed that targeting internally displaced people is much harder compared to the other extreme poor families living in the same area. Their situation is worse as not only have they lost all their assets during the war, but also they are unwelcome inhabitants in the villages. They have no rights to land for cultivation. They work as casual labourers and rear animals for local villagers. They are paid in kind (3kg sorghum/millet every two days) -not in cash. They are afraid of the local elite -and completely voiceless.The local elites labelled the other extreme poor as Telia, meaning they have nothing and depend on others. These families possess no cattle, sheep, or goats, and rarely own donkeys. They own land but lack the resources to cultivate it adequately. Household heads always work as casual labourers and collect firewood, honey and 'gum arabic' (wild cash food) to manage everyday meals. They live in dilapidated houses, which become worse during the rainy season. They are the hidden poor -the local elite prefers not to expose them to outsiders. However, the local elite (and other community members) do help them during a crisis. For example, a Nafir is a volunteering day, when the community gives food and provides free labour to the poorest families, even giving young men from the poorest families marriage dowries. This help is given in the hope that the next generation will help the family to move out from poverty.Our key learning can be put into the following three broad categories:• Quality facilitation: facilitation is a vital and skilled component of the participatory process. It plays a significant part most remote part of the villages, were not even aware of the farm inputs distribution. Broad community problems were also not necessarily specific to the poorest in the community. For example, the project staff asserted that people going to the Bhar Al Arab river in search of water and pasture was a major problem. In fact, this was a coping mechanism for people during the dry season that had been practiced for a long time. But the local elites, who own more animals, perceived this practice as a problem. Prioritising water issues might be important for the rich -but not necessarily important for the poorest community members.Later, after discussions with the poorest families, we discovered that they had never even heard about the PCDP. In fact, they identified food insecurity as their immediate problem, such as insufficient human and financial capital for clearing land to farm or buy the necessary agricultural inputs, resulting in low production. Water was a problem -but mainly only during two months of the dry season. As they don't own big animals, and need little water for consumption, their demand for water is much less compared to the other well-off families living in the village.It was important for us to understand how the local elites and the local government officials envisioned the local development process. So we organised a cordial meeting with the local Aamir (Sultan), the deputy Sultan, the locality manager, the national water corporation water engineer in charge, community leaders and various other community members. We found that their perception was that the community needed government support in health, education, communication and transportation, etc. Because of the nomadic way of life and the vastness of the area where people live in very scattered way, they believed it was very difficult for the government or any development agency to reach these people with a comprehensive development intervention.In North Sudan, town growth happens around water sources and points. To develop a town, local government needs multiple water sources in order to attract people. Communities prefer to live in an area where they have access to two or more water sources that can provide security for water accessibility. They would rather walk further to collect water than live closer to a single water source.The local leaders, including the government, thought that more boreholes would attract more people to settle around As the health micro project is still in the development process, we recommend that the project design be revisited. However, despite these concerns, the water projects do need to be implemented on time. The justifications for this are:• The water project implementation will not compete with the government-run boreholes -instead it will complement the government's vision of town growth, which is linked to local economic and infrastructure development. Local economic development should significantly contribute to enhancing the well-being of the extreme poor. • The successful implementation of the water projects should lead to greater harmony as it reaches all sections of the community. It will be much easier to mobilise the leadership in these villages to undertake very specific pro-extreme poor interventions, including targeting internally displaced people. The rapport with the community will also help in mobilising community leaders to strengthen their internal local support system and coping mechanisms to move out the vulnerable families from extreme poverty. • Last but not least, the water projects are a long-standing commitment to the community. Through these micro projects, a good rapport has already been created with power structures in the existing communities. Not implementing these projects would eventually lead to hostilities and mistrust among all relevant parties. It might prevent access to working with these communities again by Concern or by the partners.Our experience shows that facilitating project design using participatory tools and techniques does not always necessarily ensure the participation of all relevant stakeholders in the process. Different stakeholders represent different social/ethnic/religious groups and levels of well-being -and hold different levels of power. They participate in the process with different interests, attitudes and perceptions. This multidimensionality makes the real world of participation very complex -and we often tend to ignore this reality or pretend that we have the tools to deal with it. Trade-offs have to be made and we cannot always be perfect.One important element at the Mapping for Change conference was the use of parallel working group sessions. These followed the main plenary sessions in the mornings. Each session was devoted to a different topic relating to the morning's discussions. On each of the three conference days, participants were able to choose an afternoon session they wanted to attend.During these sessions participants focused on different aspects of the day's overall topic. The working groups responded to specific framework questions, which set the scene. On the first and second days, delegates were divided into three groups; on the third day, they were divided into four groups. Afterwards, all the working groups reconvened in a final plenary session to present the summaries of their discussions (Table 1).But with over 160 participants, the working groups were large. There were only 90 minutes in which to discuss complex issues. So a simple and effective tool was needed to facilitate the discussions.The conference organisers had chosen a single method for this, called the Snowball.Snowballing (or pyramiding) involves participants working first alone, then in pairs, then in groups of four, and then in groups of eight.The participants work on an issue by responding to particular questions, e.g. lists of keywords, or answers to a valued question, or they are asked to agree or disagree with a given phrase. The participants are also asked to give the reasons for their responses.The facilitator then asks a representative from each group to present the outcomes of their debate to the other groups, by placing their findings (one each on separate pieces of paper or cardmeta-cards) on large sheets of paper, put up on the walls.At the conference sessions, two people facilitated each session and a note-taker was chosen to write up the findings at the end, to present at the closing plenary session each day.  Time need: five to ten minutes. 3. Pairs join together into groups of four. All meta-cards are put on the floor in the middle of a circle. Cards are grouped and re-written if necessary to capture similar content. Repeat the same process as for step 2. This new group shares its thoughts and reflections and any new ideas each pair has brought to the group.Time need: five to ten minutes. 4. Groups of four may join together into group of eight, and repeat the process, or until the session has reached 'critical mass' -i.e. there are only a few main groups left. But eight people is a big group and may not be suitable for easy discussions, although at the conference groups were as big as 16 people.Time need: five to ten minutes. 5. Next, the groups sort out the cards on the floor, showing the issues they have identified. As before, the cards can be easily mixed and sorted and re-organised etc. into sets or groups of types of response. Use new cards to make main headings for each group of answers. Participants do this themselves, with help from the facilitator. This stage is not easysorting the cards into logical but distinct groups or sets with appropriate headings (names) requires organisational, conceptual and verbal skills.Time need: ten to fifteen minutes. 6. When everyone is agreed on the responses and the grouping of the responses, the facilitator asks a representative from each group to stick the cards on to the wall (with masking tape, pins, etc.), so that everyone can see them. The representative explains the group's reasons for the responses.Time need: five to ten minutes per group. At this stage, and if there is time or it is felt appropriate, the groups can collectively re-organise the cards on the wall into headings/types of response, as done in step 6.Time need: ten to fifteen minutes. 8. The note-taker then writes up the session findings, ready to present at the closing plenary session. An easy way to record the results is to take a digital photo of the cards on the wall.• This tool allows for easy comparison between the findings of each group. • If used in subsequent parallel working group sessions, the participants are already familiar with the tool.• Full involvement -everyone is involved in the first three rounds of single, pairs, and probably the foursomes.• It is more inclusive and participatory than e.g. a plenary meeting, a general discussion, or a question and answer session.• Shy participants feel more confident about giving their views in pairs or in small group because they must begin with writing down their own response. There is limited eye contact, as cards are grouped on the floor and the focus of discussion is centred on them.• It is focused on an issue and questions of interest (at least to the organisers and facilitator).• The original questions come from outside, i.e. the organisers -but the questions could have been developed in a participatory way.What the participants thought of the working group sessions….I learnt more from the parallel workshop sessions than from the plenary sessions (except of course from key-speakers). I regret the workshops were divided in four parallels tracks. I think two would have be enough with a better preselection of the communications for the plenary session.All the participants contributed very well especially in working group sessions. We learnt a lot from others, and made contacts.Needed more time dedicated to question periods and presentations. Perhaps re-thinking the workshop activities -they were too rushed... include a period for focus groups of similar backgrounds i.e. NGO groups, aboriginal groups, governments, academia, etc.... This would bring those with similar ideas together to brainstorm. It would focus the discussion during the workshop activities.The level of participation, exchange and communication among participants was very high and contributed to a learning process to many if not all participants. I did find it unfortunate on some occasions though, that I missed some interesting presentations in other working groups while participating in another one.The sessions were well planned, and the smaller workshops gave one the opportunity to debate about things with other attendees.The methods adopted for group discussions allowed for all of us to participate and share our views on issues.  The Rights Based Approach (RBA) is gaining prominence in development and is mentioned in current policies such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), without significant evidence of its implications at the grassroots level. RBA has huge potential for reversing power imbalances and reducing poverty. However institutionalising rights in development remains marginalised at the grassroots level due to inappropriate models of citizen participation. As this publication shows, this does not mean that there is a lack of understanding as RBA is used in grassroots programmes. The challenge is that they are not known to be used, due to a lack of documentation and homegrown initiatives.This publication bridges the gap between macro-and micro-level understanding and use of RBA. The case studies show how civil society actors are transforming problems and needs of communities into rights as priorities for poverty reduction and capacity building, thereby increasing ownership of poverty reduction initiatives and governance. The book proposes some guidelines that may be used not only at project level, but also at national level, to mainstream RBA in development using citizen participation. Three workshops on each of these issues brought together 40 participants, mainly from Latin America and the Caribbean, including decision makers, academics, bearers of cultural traditions and experts with responsibility for cultural heritage protection and cultural inventories. Five international resource persons shared their experiences in cultural mapping with indigenous communities in the third workshop of the meeting entitled Cultural Mapping as a Tool for Community Involvement in Shaping Future Development.This workshop assessed the lessons learnt from some case studies of cultural mapping with indigenous communities from around the world to:• identify ethical and methodological principles that could orient work in the future; • understand the impact of cultural mapping on building mutual consent among and with indigenous peoples on development issues; and • explore the possibility of applying cultural mapping in other cultural inventory processes, i.e. safeguarding and promoting intangible heritage and cultural expressions.Case studies covered a broad range of geographic and thematic diversity:• Inuit and First Nations in Canada using mapping to prove their indigenous status and build sustainable communities and livelihoods, especially by visualising land use from the past to the present; • the Khomani San community in South Africa using mapping and other techniques of cultural resource auditing, re-assemble their collective identity and salvage elements of their In a final communiqué, participants agreed that cultural mapping can be a powerful tool for making intangible heritage and local and indigenous knowledge systems visible in a medium that can be understood by both dominant and non-dominant cultures. However, cultural mapping has to be demand driven, contextualised and community owned and controlled to avoid the risks implied in 'extractive' and 'externally lead' approaches, such as the risks of 'folklorisation', disrespect of human dignity or the violation of peoples' human and cultural rights. Unethical and badly conceived mapping can expose communities, their knowledge, and the natural environment to exploitation and abuse.Cultural mapping, according to the communiqué, presents an opportunity for intercultural dialogue which allows non-dominant or marginalised cultural systems to be represented respectfully -and which creates an opportunity for intercultural dialogue with more dominant societies and stakeholders as well as between generations and gender groups. Community-controlled mapping methods, and specifically those based on 3D models, e.g. P3DM, where communities and especially the different elders reflect on their own knowledge and listen to each other, surfaces their tacit knowledge, which then becomes coherent and identifiable for the holders of that knowledge. This can be missed using other techniques. It is the link between memory, land and maps that creates a particular focus.If carried out respectfully, cultural mapping reinforces a community's consciousness for its specific cultural traditions, resources and institutions so that its members are better prepared to express their rights, visions and priorities when confronted with development interventions initiated by a third party, whether in the area of land use, education, health, conflict prevention or other.Whether community-based mapping is used as a leading aspect of an inventory process, or as one tool amongst others, the communiqué emphasises that cultural mapping should always be applied within a broader strategy of affirming cultural diversity and creating opportunities for greater intercultural understanding and dialogue. Furthermore it was considered essential that cultural mapping be officially recognised as part of processes of building mutual consent between marginalised communities and more dominant groups • GIS applications for disaster management to cover all phases of the disaster management cycle • GIS in hazard mapping and vulnerability assessment • GIS applications for law enforcement and crime analysis • GIS and its role in public safety• Data collection and data management • Procedures and protocols to manage data exchange and access across agency and regional jurisdictions • Metadata • Issues and policies in establishing an NSDI • Accessing and managing information requirements for conventions and treaties to which a country may be signatory • Online mapping policies, procedures, infrastructure and maintenance requirements • Building partnerships Land, environment, planning and natural resources• GIS for the management of stateowned lands • Land registration • GIS applications for marine and coastal environments including coral reef monitoring • Managing natural resource information for the nation • Address Ranging -tools and applications to establish national address ranging to better manage emergency services, road networks (maintenance/new corridors), house numbering, postal delivery etc. • Urban planning GIS applications for the development of land use master plans and management of the planning development process (i.e. monitoring development applications, building permits etc.)• GIS for planning national land and sea parks The PD workshop focuses on the entire project cycle from planning, needs assessment to monitoring and evaluation using PRA/PLA methods. This is an intensive six-day workshop set in the community to maximise learning, group interaction and networking. Topics include: the origins of participatory development, learning and application of PRA/PLA tools, the application of participation to project design, monitoring and evaluation,143 developing effective facilitation skills, building action plans and teambuilding. Two-day community assignments proposed by communitybased organisations in the Ottawa region will allow participants to apply tools learnt in the workshop to real-life situations. This is also a great opportunity to network with other practitioners, NGOs, donors, and action researchers from all over the world. G 17th-21th July, 2006 This new workshop introduces participants to Results-based Management, Appreciative Inquiry and Open Space Technology. It will show how to develop programme/ organisational plans, which are results-based, and design performance monitoring systems based on indicators and participatory methods. Participants will learn how to apply gender analysis to their work. They will also be introduced to Appreciative Inquiry and Open Space Technology, and how these can be applied in their organisations, programmes and projects. These approaches are increasingly being used around the world to develop new ways of working that are more resultsoriented, more appreciative, less problem-focused and more self-organised. I All workshops organised by Mosaic are sensitive to issues of gender, ethnicity, race, class and sexuality and how these can influence outcomes and how we see the world. For further information, see our website at www.mosaic-net-intl.ca or email Francoise Coupal at wkshop05@mosaic-net-intl.ca. For a full set of guidelines, visit our website www.planotes.org or contact us at the address below.• Articles: max. 2500 words plus illustrations -see below for guidelines. • Feedback: letters to the editor, or longer pieces (max. 1500 words) which respond in more detail to articles. • Tips for trainers: training exercises, tips on running workshops, reflections on behaviour and attitudes in training, etc., max. 1000 words. • In Touch: short pieces on forthcoming workshops and events, publications, and online resources. We welcome accounts of recent experiences in the field (or in workshops) and current thinking around participation, and particularly encourage contributions from practitioners in the South. Articles should be co-authored by all those engaged in the research, project, or programme.In an era in which participatory approaches have often been viewed as a panacea to development problems or where acquiring funds for projects has depended on the use of such methodologies, it is vital to pay attention to the quality of the methods and process of participation. Whilst we will continue to publish experiences of innovation in the field, we would like to emphasise the need to analyse the limitations as well as the successes of participation. Participatory Learning and Action is still a series whose focus is methodological, but it is important to give more importance to issues of power in the process and to the impact of participation, asking ourselves who sets the agenda for participatory practice. It is only with critical analysis that we can further develop our thinking around participatory learning and action.We particularly favour articles which contain one or more of the following elements:• an innovative angle to the concepts of participatory approaches or their application; • critical reflections on the lessons learnt from the author's experiences; • an attempt to develop new methods, or innovative adaptations of existing ones; • consideration of the processes now relocated to the Institute of Development Studies, UK. Practical information and support on participation in development is also available from the various members of the RCPLA Network.This initiative is a global network of resource centres for participatory learning and action, which brings together 15 organisations from Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe. The RCPLA Network is committed to information sharing and networking on participatory approaches.Each member is itself at the centre of a regional or national network. Members share information about activities in their respective countries, such as training programmes, workshops and key events, as well as providing PLA information focused on the particular fields in which they operate.More information, including regular updates on RCPLA activities, can be found in the In Touch section of Participatory Learning and Action, or by visiting www.rcpla.org, or contacting the network coordinator: Ali Mokhtar, CDS, Near East Foundation, 4 Ahmed Pasha Street, 10th Floor, Garden City, Cairo, Egypt. Tel: +20 2 795 7558; Fax: +2 2 794 7278; Email: amokhtar@nefdev.orgParticipatory approaches and methodologies are also a focus for the Participation, Power and Social Change Group at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK. This group of researchers and practitioners are involved in sharing knowledge, in strengthening capacity to support quality participatory approaches, and in deepening understanding of participatory methods, principles, and ethics. It focuses on South-South sharing, exchange visits, information exchange, action research projects, writing, and training. Services include a Participation Resource Centre (open weekdays) with an online database detailing materials held. The Group also produces a newsletter and operates an email distribution list.For further information please contact: Jane Stevens, IDS, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9RE, UK. Tel: +44 1273 678690; Fax: +44 1273 621202; Email: J.Stevens@ids.ac.uk Website: www.ids.ac.uk involved in participatory approaches; • an assessment of the impacts of a participatory process; • potentials and limitations of scaling up and institutionalising participatory approaches; and, • potentials and limitations of participatory policy-making processes.Please try to keep contributions clear and accessible. Sentences should be short and simple. Avoid jargon, theoretical terminology, and overly academic language. Explain any specialist terms that you do use and spell out acronyms in full.Please include a brief abstract with your article (circa. 150-200 words).If references are mentioned, please include details. Participatory Learning and Action is intended to be informal, rather than academic, so references should be kept to a minimum.These should have captions and the name(s) of the author(s)/photographer clearly written on the back. If you are sending electronic files, please make sure that the photos/drawings are scanned at a high enough resolution for print (300 dpi) and include a short caption and credit(s).We accept handwritten articles but please write legibly. Typed articles should be double-spaced. Please keep formatting as simple as possible. Avoid embedded codes (e.g. footnotes/ endnotes, page justification, page numbering).Contributions can be sent on paper or by email to: "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cb50c01c0bbd5418115cd2ef9f820301","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://dataverse.harvard.edu/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/DH1O3J/ANBACC","id":"1682971439"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8e6b234c-03f4-4de5-8b7b-6302368dfec8","content":"Introductory Statement and Informed Consent (to be read to the respondent): \"We are coming from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in association with the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Small-Scale Irrigation to talk to you about agricultural practices, household food consumption, and other livelihood activities. We will be asking questions about agricultural activities, livestock activities, and diet over the last 12 months of the farming year, that is, the last full Meher/Kirempt and the last full Belg/Bega. We will also ask questions about your household's diet, asset purchases, and health practices, and take basic height and weight measurements of the mother and children under 5. The survey is expected to take approximately 4-6 hours to complete. If you agree to participate, the information you provide will be used for research purposes only. Your answers will not affect any benefits or subsidies you may receive now or in the future. Your responses to these questions will be anonymous and remain strictly confidential. Your name will not appear in any data that is made publicly available. However, we would like to write down your contact information in case some issues in the questionnaire are unclear and we need to follow up with you for more information or clarification. Do you consent to provide information for this study? You may withdraw from the study at any time and if there are questions that you would prefer not to answer then we respect your right not to answer them.Section B: Land: Ask the farmer about all lands rented, owned, sharecropped, and cultivated. A parcel refers to a piece of continuous land used by a farmer, and individual plots fall within the parcel. A plot is defined as a piece of land within a given parcel that is either not continuous across the entire parcel, and thus is broken up spatially, or it is broken up due to its use by different crops Copy parcel id number from module \"land\", repeat parcel number if there are multiple plots on the parcel. For Plot number, repeat plot number if there are multiple crops on the plot. Complete Meher season details on this page, and Belg on the next. . This section is only for family members. So, please do not include hired and exchange labor, which will be filled in the next module. Make sure you multiply the number of persons from the specific labor type (adult male, female, child) by the number of days they work to arrive at the person days for the activity. \"DAYS\" Refers to person says spent on each activity per season.Parcel numbePlot numberCrop codes Base person days off of the definition of an \"X\"-hour workday as defined in the family labor module above.  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b4b04373aff443debf08e08e58d2192b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/254781e4-6c28-4de9-92c9-9a848bd4f9d8/retrieve","id":"-1948738550"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"693a6654-3564-4bc5-8429-b93e778c0e33","content":"In 2014 is een inventarisatie gemaakt van het dierlijke-mestbeleid in 34 landen in Azië, Afrika en Latijns Amerika, gevolgd door een diepgaande inventarisatie van het mestmanagement in de praktijk in Bangladesh, Viet Nam, Ethiopië, Malawi, Argentinië en Costa Rica. De inventarisaties tonen de belangrijkste drempels voor een verbetering van geïntegreerd mestmanagement en indentificeren zes kansen voor daadwerkelijke verbeteringen in beleidsontwikkeling en in de praktijk; met uiteindelijk doel de voedselzekerheid te verbeteren en gelijktijdig de methaanemissies terug te dringen.In 2014 an assessment of livestock manure policies was performed in 34 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, followed by an in-depth assessment of manure management practices in Bangladesh, Viet Nam, Ethiopia, Malawi, Argentina and Costa Rica. The assessments revealed the key barriers for improving integrated manure management and identified six opportunities for actual practice changes to improve manure related policies as well as farm practices with the overall objective of improving food security while mitigating methane emissions at the same time.This research was commissioned and funded by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC).The Livestock and Manure Management Component (LMMC) of the CCAC Agriculture Initiative to reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs) supports the adoption of integrated manure management practices across the globe by increasing knowledge and awareness, removing barriers to action and enhancing practice change.Livestock play an important role in global food production and in agricultural and rural economies in many developing regions. While the livestock sector is one of the fastest growing subsectors of agriculture, it is also an important contributor to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, in which manure and manure management account for 10% of total livestock emissions.Manure is a valuable source of nutrients, organic matter and renewable energy. However, manure management is often poor and as a consequence, nutrients and organic matter are lost, causing environmental and climate problems and threatening public health.Technologies for and knowledge of integrated manure management are available; however implementation is often challenged by (1) a lack of awareness of manure's potential; (2) a lack of knowledge and a supporting knowledge infrastructure; (3) ineffective policies; (4) dispersed expertise;(5) a lack of resources and investments.Integrated manure management encompasses all activities associated with management of dung and urine; from excretion; collection, housing, and storage; anaerobic digestion, treatment, transport to application, and includes losses and discharge at any stage along this 'manure chain'.To-date, very little is known about manure management at a global scale. A global assessment has been performed to improve insight on manure management at farm level, barriers to adoption of integrated manure management practices, and understanding of the existing policies, institutional and incentive frameworks. The assessment targeted diverse regional and national key stakeholders ranging from farmers, extension workers, researchers and policy makers.Regarding existing manure management practices, there is a wide variation. However, a common trend emerging from the survey is the difficulty in managing urine and liquid manure especially in non-mechanized situations and on smaller farms. Proper management of liquid manure requires investments in infrastructure. Labour availability was cited by several farmers as a constraint to improve their manure management.Four key barriers have been identified in the assessment.The first and most important is the limited awareness of the importance of integrated manure management in contributing towards food security and reducing SLCP emissions. The value of manure is often not recognised by farmers, local extension staff and policy-makers.Additional to this, is the level of knowledge. This is often linked to a) the level of education of many small-scale farmers, in some regions the low level of literacy is still an obstacle; and b) the lack of a knowledge infrastructure, to support farmers in improving manure management. Knowledge development is not a one-off intervention, but requires continous investment.Thirdly, the limited access to financial credit and other incentives remains an important barrier especially for small-scale farmers who lack collateral to acesss credit to undertake investments. Proper integrated manure management is associated with high investments in capital, labour and knowledge which, on the short term, increases the costs of production.Finally, ineffective manure (or related) policies and legislation often do not support sound manure management. The main drivers for manure policies are focused on energy production or problems regarding environmental or public health issues. The fertiliser and soil improving value and the food security benefits of using manure are often not drivers for policy. Improved coordination between relevant ministries (e.g. Ministries of Agriculture, Energy, Public Health and Environment) is important for the development of coherent and holistic policies. This assessment has provided an insight into the potential improvement strategies. An effective manure management improvement strategy, focussing on the added value of manure as a fertiliser, should focus on the following main barriers: the lack of awareness and knowledge, the access to credit and the development of customised solutions for simple manure storage and application equipment. In many countries, bio-digester programmes have proven to be a successful strategy. Manure policy should facilitate this strategy using a coherent approach, by balancing the potential fertiliser and energy value and the potential risks. This global assessment provided not only insights on manure management and the barriers for improvement. It also identified (a) a number of opportunities where manure management can be improved: the Opportunities for Practice Change and; (b) the need to leverage stakeholder engagement to improve awareness and create networks targeted at enhanced engagement in improved manure management.1 Introduction Manure is a valuable and largely untapped resource. Sound manure management practices enhance food security by making better use of nutrients in manure for soil fertilisation, while producing energy and reducing climate emissions. Proper integrated manure management is however not common practice in most livestock systems leading to loss of nutrients, environmental degradation, human health risks and emissions of greenhouse gases.The Livestock and Manure Management Component (LMMC) of the CCAC Agriculture Initiative supports integrated manure management practices by increasing knowledge and awareness, removing barriers to action and enhancing practice change. This Global Assessment report provides an overview of manure policies and an in-depth assessment of on-farm manure management practices in three regions: Asia, Africa and Latin America. Although limited sources have been used due to constraints in time and resources, the assessments mostly confirm many experts' opinions and views and give a good picture of the present situation in the surveyed countries.Livestock play an important role in global food production and in agricultural and rural economies in developing regions. During the last decades, global production of meat, milk and eggs has expanded rapidly in response to a rapid growth in the consumption of livestock products. This increase in demand which has been particularly strong in developing regions has largely been driven by growing populations and incomes. This growth in demand for animal protein is expected to double in 2050.Livestock is one of the fastest growing subsectors of agriculture: a doubling of demand for animalsource foods is expected for developing countries and a 70% increase for the world as a whole (Alexandratos and Bruinsma, 2012) 1. While the livestock sector makes an important contribution to global food supply and economic development, it also uses significant amounts of natural resources and impacts on the environment.In addition to being a by-product of livestock production, manure is a valuable resource and can be used for multiple purposes; as fertiliser for crop production and improved soil health, a source of energy, or as basis for construction material. While manure is a valuable source of nutrients and renewable energy, if poorly managed, it poses serious human health and environmental risks.Between 60% and 95% of the animal's nutrient intake via feed is excreted via dung and urine containing undigested carbon and nutrients. Manure may be disposed of as effluent, or collected, stored and used. Liquid manure (urine and slurry) is more difficult to collect and is often flushed into the environment. Many methods of manure storage emit large amounts of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), especially liquid manure storage. Direct discharge of animal manure into the environment emits nutrients, which can contribute to public health risks (e.g. waterborne diseases), biodiversity losses and economic losses (e.g. water treatment costs). In the absence of the implementation of adequate integrated manure management practices, these negative impacts of manure are poised to increase.Throughout the last decades, several trends have influenced developments in the livestock sector including the current manure management practices as well as the type of manure policy frameworks that have evolved (see Box 1).Technologies for integrated manure management practices are available, but implementation is a challenge due to (1) a lack of awareness of manure's potential by some farmers and policy-makers;(2) a lack of an effective enabling environment (service infrastructure, policies); (3) dispersed expertise; (4) a lack of resources to invest in effective manure management; and (5) a lack of adequate market signals to spur investment in the products of effective manure management.Several global trends can be observed which have influenced manure management practices and manure policies:(1) In recent decades, driven by population growth and urbanization, livestock production has increased rapidly. Most of the increase in production has come from industrial farms clustered around major urban centres. Particularly in developing regions, this rapid growth has been spurred by dramatic shifts in the nature and location of livestock production. Traditional mixed farming systems, in which farmers raise a few animals alongside their crops, have given way to large industrial operations. These large industrial production units import massive quantities of nutrients in the form of concentrate feed and produce far more manure than can be recycled as fertiliser and absorbed on nearby land, with negative consequences for environment and human health. Environmental and human health concerns are often key drivers for policy addressing manure issues. This also explains why manure management related policies often originate from non-agricultural ministries addressing single issues, and as a result do not always align with farm practices.(2) Synthetic fertilisers have been credited with the enormous increase in crop yields and productivity during the 20 th century. The introduction of synthetic fertilisers has also indirectly reduced the indigenous knowledge on integrated manure management in which manure is eventually used to fertilise crops. Using synthetic fertilisers provides farmers with an opportunity to easily correct any flaws in their crop production system without having to worry about the use (or misuse) of organic fertilisers. Synthetic fertilisers do not replenish the loss of soil organic matter, an important factor for healthy soils which also increases the resilience to future climatic change. A growing population with the means to improve their diet will ensure fertiliser consumption will increase. Currently some countries continue to subsidise synthetic fertiliser use, hence creating a non-stimulating environment for integrated manure management. It should be noted that the production of synthetic fertilisers consumes a lot of energy (e.g. nitrogen) and natural resources (e.g. finite stock of rock phosphate).(3) Another recent trend is the emphasis on harvesting methane from manure (and other organic residues), induced by the desire to reduce methane emissions, to develop alternatives to fossil fuels;or to create better living conditions (cooking, saving time and firewood etc.) for households using biogas. Efforts at harvesting methane from manure have solely focused on the construction and installation of anaerobic digesters, neglecting the value of the digestate. Only in exceptional cases and often initiated by NGOs, is attention paid to the use and application of the digestate. Using the digestate however, is by its definition an integral part of integrated manure management. A related issue is the malfunctioning or non-functioning of many installed anaerobic digesters, implying that many estimates of the mitigation potential, based on the number of constructed digesters may be overestimating the actual emission reductions and other benefits. • Raising awareness of short-lived climate pollutant impacts and mitigation strategies.• Enhancing and developing new national and regional actions, including by identifying and overcoming barriers, enhancing capacity, and mobilizing support.• Promoting best practices and showcasing successful efforts.• Improving scientific understanding of short-lived climate pollutant impacts and mitigation strategies.The • raising awareness of manure management options at the level of policy, private sector and farmers organisations through outreach and communication;• establishing networks to exchange manure management information, connect people, and forge partnerships;• establishing a roster of experts to provide targeted technical assistance and training; launching projects and partnerships to improve manure management by providing information, experts, knowledge exchange, and access to resources; and• establishing an internet-based information infrastructure to serve as a repository for global and regional knowledge on manure management.Given the current situation and the importance of manure as a fertiliser and a source of energy and the potential for reducing emissions, this project focuses on opportunities for practice change addressing the key barriers to improve integrated manure management. This Global AssessmentReport is the first step in identifying the current situation regarding integrated manure management and the barriers to improvement.BOX II: Integrated Manure Management Framework Integrated manure management is important to mitigate GHG emissions, but also offers important benefits such as a provider of nutrients and organic matter for agricultural soils to maintain soil quality and fertility. Sound manure management also contributes to producing renewable energy and reducing nutrient losses from livestock production systems and reducing other detrimental environmental impacts of livestock production such as air and water pollution. Although manure management accounts for only 10% of total livestock emissions (Gerber et al., 2013), it offers key opportunities for mitigation that also deliver on other economic, social and environmental objectives.Manure management encompasses all activities regarding dung and urine from excretion; collection, housing, and storage; anaerobic digestion, treatment, transport to finally application, and includes losses and discharge at any stage along this 'manure chain'. There is wide variation in livestock systems all over the world; production varies in size, intensity, land use and productivity. As a consequence, manure management shows many variations ranging from large lagoons for storage of liquid manure to small compost heaps with solid manure and other farm waste on smallholder farms. Despite the wide variation, a basic structure of the manure chain can be recognised, as depicted in the figure below.Examples of manure chains always begin at manure collection and ends with application.Manure contains nutrients and organic matter and is a prerequisite for maintaining and improving soil health and soil fertility. Hence, application of manure as a fertiliser is essential in maintaining and improving food security and livelihoods all over the world. We therefore state: 'Manure is food security'.Besides the importance for nutrient cycling in agricultural systems, manure can act as a source of energy for small and large-scale energy generation and parallel to it, reducing methane emissions from manure. Especially in small-scale application, it will highly contribute to improving public health and to providing cheap fuel for many smallholders. Additional, black carbon emissions from burning dung or fuel wood can be reduced.The assessment of manure management practices and policies was conducted in 2014. To improve insight on integrated manure management practices at farm level, barriers to adoption of integrated manure management practices, and understanding of the existing policies, institutional and incentive frameworks, this global assessment targeted diverse key stakeholders ranging from farmers, extension workers, researchers and policy makers.The assessment was performed in two phases. Phase 1 reviewed national policies and enabling environment (institutional and incentive structure) for integrated manure management in 34 countries. Phase 2 looked at current on-farm manure management practices in six countries. These indepth surveys reveal manure management practices adopted by farmers, and -more importantlythe reasons why.Due to the time frame of the project, the scoping study in Phase 2 was performed for a limited number of countries in South and Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and in Latin America. Three targeted questionnaires focusing on policy, farmers' knowledge, infrastructure, institutions and farm practices were designed. An additional in-depth questionnaire specifically targeting farmers was designed to identify existing manure management practices and understand farmer's perceptions of manure management. These in-depth questionnaires were administered in six countries where opportunities for practice change have been identified.Chapter 2 of this report presents an overview of the enabling environment for manure management in 34 countries.In Chapter 3, the results of the in-depth study of on-farm manure management practices in surveyed areas in the six countries are presented. Results of the Global Assessment are presented in Chapters 2 and 3 in a concise way. Detailed information can be found in a documentation report.Chapter 4 discusses the results presented in Chapters 2 and 3, and summarises a number of key messages.2Enabling Environment for Manure ManagementIn Phase 1 of the Global Assessment, two questionnaires were administered to representatives in Central and South America, Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia drawing on the networks of the respective Regional Centres in Costa Rica, Kenya and Thailand. The questionnaire included questions on the manure policies and the enabling environment for manure management. In the 34 countries, the questionnaire was administered to professionals and experts working in ministries, research institutes, universities, (international) NGOs and in the private sector. The main objective of the assessment was to have an overview of the current enabling environment (policy, financial and technical infrastructure and incentive framework), affecting manure management on livestock farms.Thirty out of the 34 countries in the survey have national policies related to manure management. The map in Figure 1 shows the responding countries with and without manure related policies.With the exception of Malawi, Senegal and Malaysia, where only the Ministry of Agriculture is involved, policies are often defined by the respective Ministries of Agriculture and of Environment. The involvement of the Ministries of Energy and of Public Health in defining manure policy is also not uncommon. Table 2 summarises the current situation in the 34 countries in the survey.Although soil degradation and low crop productivity are quite common in many of the surveyed countries, broader environmental goals such as achieving methane emissions reductions and meeting renewable energy targets, or lowering of energy costs at farm level were found to be key drivers of manure (or manure related) policies. Rarely do the policies promote holistic approaches to manure management, or emphasise the value of manure as a fertiliser and supplier of organic matter. In addition, several policies only target specific elements of manure management such as manure storage, application and disposal.A key observation of the respondents is the lack of coherence between the total set of rules (Figure 2).This phenomenon was found to occur especially in countries where multiple ministries were involved in the policy design regarding manure. Overall, legislation is often not complementary and sometimes even contradictive and does not always fit with common farm practices. Figure 2 shows that only Viet  Having legislation on manure management is one thing, enforcing it is a whole other issue. Generally, enforcement of manure policies is regarded as being weak (Figure 3). Particularly in situations where multiple ministries are involved, there is often a lack of coordination between the ministries and their enforcing bodies resulting in unclear procedures and penalties. Enforcement of regulation was found to vary across the surveyed countries; respondents from China, Viet Nam, Malaysia, Panama, Ecuador and Chile indicated well-coordinated law enforcement. It should be noted that the absence of manure policy does not indicate the absence of good manure management practices. For instance, despite having no manure policy, farmers in El Salvador have for several years applied manure to coffee. In addition, pig and poultry manure is used in organic crop production, and a number of the larger livestock and poultry farms with bio-digesters use the digestate in crop production.A number of services to farmers is available in most countries, ranging from extension by governmental and non-governmental organisations, vocational training, to laboratory services for analysis. Small-scale farmers reportedly take advantage of these services at least as much as medium-size and large farms, suggesting that the services are not significantly biased toward a particular farm size. Some governments however seem to place more emphasis on middle and largescale farms, notably in Viet Nam, Nepal and Philippines. In Africa, such services for smallholder farms are more often provided by NGOs rather than by national governments. Contractors, large farmequipment and laboratory facilities are often available but tend to have a higher use by large and medium-sized farms.Many countries utilise subsidies and other incentives such as soft credit or credit guarantees as incentives for farmers. Findings from the survey show that often financial incentives target the installation of anaerobic digestion. However, not all countries use the same set of incentives to stimulate best practices in manure management. In Chile, for instance, dairy farmers can earn 'environmental bonuses' if they apply proper manure management. It was observed that subsidies are prevalent in East African and less in West African countries. Incentives may also be provided by private sector enterprises, this was specifically reported in some Latin American countries. In Ethiopia, the use of synthetic fertilisers is promoted instead of the use of manure.Small-scale farmers are consistently reported to be less knowledgeable on manure management than medium-size and large-scale farmers. The knowledge level of farmers was found to increase with farm size and seems to be related to the level of education. Extension service providers and trainers tend to have higher levels of knowledge due to the higher education and of training obtained. Figures 4 and 5 give an indication of the knowledge level of small and large scale farmers and field extension staff. In addition, integrated manure management tends to be most present in school curricula at the level of agricultural universities and vocational training courses.  All farmers have access to media, including television, newspapers, farmers' magazines and social media. Although radio was not included in the questionnaire, it was cited as the primary medium for reaching farmers, especially the smallholder farmers. Social media, magazines and journals were found to be commonly used by middle and large-scale farmers.The global assessment of the policies and the enabling environment reveals global differences in the approach to manure management. Responsibilities and successive actions differ between policymakers and farmers; whereas policy addresses national issues, farmers mainly focus on the shortterm returns on investments. Higher incomes and thus improved livelihoods and food security, are main driving forces of farmers. And although reduction of SLCPs may have positive effects in the near term, this is not the primary concern of farmers. This is a force field in which both policy-makers and farmers have to be aware of each other's responsibilities.It is fair to conclude that stakeholders in the enabling environment with strong commercial objectives are mainly interested in supporting government initiatives if they are able to realise a profit. Noncommercial stakeholders are more likely to be receptive to support national policy development and implementation. Findings from Africa illustrate this point where non-commercial stakeholders (e.g.NGOs) tend to pay more attention to smallholder farmers than to middle and large-scale farmers.1. Legislation is often developed by policy-makers with no or limited knowledge of existing farm practices and driven by broader national goals. Findings show that:a. Overall legislation is often not complementary and even sometimes contradictive.b. Legislation is often not aligned with common farm practices.c. Often the legislation shows gaps (single-issue solutions).2. Manure legislation is seldom enforced due to weak coordination between ministries and their enforcing bodies.3. Unclear rules and penalties for non-compliance leave much room for personal interpretation by government officials and may lead to arbitrariness in treatment.4. Subsidies, (soft) credit and credit guarantees are strong incentives for on-farm investments. This has been proven by the bio-digester campaigns in various countries. It would be wise to extend this to the complete chain of manure management, including storage and application.5. Often farm-equipment is available, but due to the high investment and maintenance costs, only larger farms are able to invest in on-farm machinery and infrastructure. Knowledge 6. Overall knowledge levels of smallholder farmers and local extension staff on integrated manure management is low. Knowledge levels on larger farms seem higher and seem positively linked with an on average higher education.7. The knowledge gap between farm practice and the higher education institutes implies a disfunction of the extension system.8. Focusing exclusively on anaerobic digestion e.g. to mitigate SLCPs from manure, undermines the development and implementation of alternative solutions. Utilising and improving the knowledge on bio-digester infrastructure provides a good opportunity to promote integrated manure management.3Based on the preliminary results from the national level assessment presented in Chapter 2 and the regional knowledge and experience, the Regional Centres each selected two countries on which to focus further research and within these countries, survey sites with a potential opportunity for change were identified. More in-depth information from these regions should reveal the current manure management practices and barriers and provide a baseline and justification for the LMMC to financially support opportunities for practice change in the respective countries. The six identified countries are Viet Nam and Bangladesh for Asia, Ethiopia and Malawi for Africa and Argentina and Costa Rica for South and Central America.In order to examine the on-farm manure practices, information was gathered in two steps. First, the Regional Centres consulted local experts using a general questionnaire on the current farm practices and thereafter in a semi-structured interview. This led to the second step in which a minimum of 10-15 farmers were interviewed with an in-depth questionnaire. Respondent farms were selected based on the estimated contribution of the livestock system to SLCP emissions, in which the number of animals and the time the animals spent in confinement were the most important factors. Given the limited time and resources, the in-depth interviews were designed to provide a general overview.A general overview of the livestock densities, population densities and production per hectare of the selected countries are presented in Table 3.The surveyed countries in Asia both have high population densities and stocking densities and a moderate to high percentage of the population active in agriculture. In Bangladesh, cattle and poultry densities are high, while in Viet Nam, pigs have a high density, especially compared to other countries. In the selected countries in Africa, the population density is comparable to each other and much lower than in Asia. The stocking density of cattle in Ethiopia is relatively higher compared to other African countries, but still not as high as in Bangladesh. No pigs and relatively little poultry can be found in Ethiopia. In Malawi, the cattle density is much lower, but that of pigs and poultry are higher compared to Ethiopia. In both countries most of the economically active people can be found in agriculture.Population densities in the Latin American countries are much lower than in the African and Asian countries. Cattle density in Argentina is comparable to Viet Nam, but still lower than in Ethiopia and Bangladesh. Densities of pigs and poultry are low in Argentina. In Costa Rica, stocking densities are higher than in Argentina, but still much lower than in the Asian countries. The fraction of active people in agriculture is much lower than in other continents, and the participation of women in agriculture is low.The relatively high stocking densities of cattle and pigs in Asian countries indicate that manure can be a problem in those regions compared to African and Latin American countries. The high fractions of people active in agriculture indicate that most of the agriculture is practiced on small farms with low mechanisation levels and a high labour demand. In Bangladesh and Malawi, the fraction of women engaged in agriculture is much higher than the fraction of man active in agriculture; this points to an important target group for knowledge transfer. The difference in agricultural structure is clearly shown by the agricultural labour and the net productivity per hectare. In Costa Rica and Argentina, land and labour productivity are much higher compared to the African and Asian countries.Subsequent sections present the findings of the expert interviews and identified opportunities for practice change per selected countries. Although some farmers collect urine and liquid manure, virtually all is discharged. More value is given to solid manure; the experts' assessment states 70-80% of the farmers store solid manure in uncovered heaps of which roughly 50% is used as crop fertiliser and 40-50% as fuel for cooking.Although some extra value is given to solids from cattle, and which is largely used for crop fertilisation, solid manure from other animal species and urine and liquid manure in general were mostly regarded of no value.The survey identified the lack of sufficient farm labour to engage in manure management and insufficient collateral to access credit as important constraints to proper on-farm manure management. This might also explain why there has been low investment in improving manure management in the last five years. And although 80% of the farmers did receive some information during this period, it seems fair to conclude that information provided was either insufficient or inappropriate since 75% of the respondents regarded the lack of information as a key constraint to integrated manure management. About 40% of the respondents cited Illiteracy as a major constraint to the dissemination and uptake of knowledge.The inventory of policy, knowledge, incentives and manure management practices have identified an opportunity for improvement. The specific opportunity is that Bangladesh is one of the CCAC members that is working on the SNAP initiative of the CCAC: Supporting National Planning for Action on SLCPs.SNAP has the objective to support rapid and large-scale implementation of SLCP mitigation at the national level. Two of the abatement measures selected for reducing black carbon and methane emissions in the Bangladesh National Action Plan under SNAP were related to biogas production from livestock and poultry, namely 'substitution of biomass cook-stoves with stoves using clean-burning fuel (biogas)' and 'control of methane emission from livestock through anaerobic digestion of manure from cattle and poultry'. The added value of cooperation between the OPC and the SNAP initiative, therefore, will be strengthening the linkages between the different institutes and miniseries with the aim of developing a coherent policy and strategy that effectively addresses integrated manure management.In addition, the LMMC can help to inform on the best practices available on the ground and how those can feed into the national policy making; SNAP provides a mechanism for up-scaling.This can build on the current on-going efforts of the Bangladesh government to promote and support the installation of community based bio-digesters, and existing farm-level training framework which can be broadened with relevant components of integrated manure management once these components are integrated in the National Action Plan.The survey was conducted in the Mekong Delta region of Viet Nam. Within this area, mixed crop-livestock systems are predominant in which poultry are found on about three quarters of the farms, pigs on half of the farms and cattle and buffaloes on 15 % of the farms.In total, 17 in-depth interviews were conducted on landless livestock farms and mixed farms with livestock.According to the expert assessment in Viet Nam, the majority of large and medium-scale farms have digesters. Television, group meetings and bi-lateral contacts were identified as key source of information for famers, in which farmer-to-farmer exchange is a major source of information.Manure management of farmers can be optimised by raising awareness and knowledge about the effective use of manure including bio-slurry as a fertiliser, and the additional co-benefits that it brings related to increased productivity, food security and reduced environmental risks. This can be achieved In both regions urine and liquid manure is not collected. However, manure management practices were found to vary between the two areas.In Fiche, according to the experts, 50-80% of the solid manure was dried and used as fuel for cooking; meanwhile, only three of the 11 interviewed farmers in Awassa partly used manure as fuel.As a consequence in Awassa farmers used more manure for fertilisation of crops. It was noticed that farmers further away from cities had easier access to firewood and therefore the use of manure as fuel was of less importance. On the other hand, all interviewed farmers considered manure as having no or limited fertiliser value.Lack of knowledge on manure management was found to be widespread. The extension system in Ethiopia heavily relies on government extension workers and improving manure management is also not encouraged by extension workers because their performance is partly based on the amount of synthetic fertiliser they distribute. The survey also revealed inconsistencies in policies that impact manure management; while the Ministry of Energy and Water supports the installation of farm household bio-digesters and provides farm-level training on its use, the Ministry of Agriculture promotes the use of synthetic fertilisers, which therefore acts as a disincentive in promoting the use of manure and bio-slurry as fertilisers. 60 Percent of the interviewed farmers indicated that a lack of regulation was a crucial institutional constraint for optimal manure management. About 40% of the Ethiopian interviewees indicated that illiteracy proved to be a crucial constraint in accessing the available information.improvements. About half of the interviewed dairy farmers store and compost solid manure of which most is used for on-farm fertilisation. About 10% of the dairy farms have installed a bio-digester, but only 10-30% of the digestate is used as fertiliser.Diverse actors involved in pig production e.g. producers, extension agents and research centres, are aware of the problems associated with inappropriate manure management on pig farms. In total 12 in-depth interviews were conducted on landless pig farms in and around the central valley of Costa Rica.Pigs are generally kept in confinement with floor and roof cover. The common manure removal practice on surveyed pig farms is flushing the floors with water. Most farmers perform some form of manure management e.g. collecting and storing, especially when they apply the manure on their own land. Half of them use bio-digesters and a lower proportion use oxidation ponds. About 25% of the interviewed pig farmers do not have enough land to apply manure. The current market price of organic fertilisers doesn't provide incentives to farmers to pursue any additional investment in on-farm treatment.Many pig farmers have received support from the Ministry of Agriculture, but pointed out that more support in the form of access to credit and capacity development is required. Group meetings and bilateral contacts form their main source of information.The in-depth assessment in Costa Rica identified knowledge exchange and concerted action across Central America as an important step toward the inclusion of proper manure management in the policies of Central American countries. The Central American Integration System (SICA) which promotes actions aimed at improving use of natural resources as part of its charter, can provide a mechanism to facilitate this regional approach. The currently proposed revision of the regional strategy that guides agro-environment and health issues, provides a unique opportunity to include integrated manure management. The resultant revised strategy will equally provide an additional basis for building regional partnerships and capacity around integrated manure management, and to inform related national policy-making.The results of the in-depth surveys confirm the findings of the more general assessment on manure policies and the enabling environment that has been presented in Chapter 2. It also provides more indepth understanding of manure management practices. Manure, and especially liquid manure, when stored, are poorly stored and handled and relatively often discharged into the environment. Despite the wide geographic range of countries and the variation in agricultural systems, some general conclusions regarding manure management can be drawn.A key barrier in manure management is the lack of awareness of integrated manure management opportunities, which is often linked to a lack of knowledge and to a poor or incomplete provision of information.The surveys on manure management practices showed that manure policy is only considered as a barrier for improvement by the Argentinian feedlot farmers, a group of well-educated farmers actively searching for knowledge and very aware of the manure problem. In other countries, manure policy is not considered a primary barrier.Proper manure management is associated with investments in capital, labour and knowledge which increase costs of production. Limited access to credit to invest in integrated manure management is an important barrier. Subsidies for synthetic fertilisers have an adverse effect on utilisation of manure as a fertiliser, while subsidies for bio-digester are often not directed at the maintenance of the digester and the value of the digestate.Proper manure management, storage, treatment and application is labour intensive. The combination of lack of awareness/knowledge, lack of labour and the inability to handle liquid manures in a nonmechanised environment, results in a low prioritization of manure storage and application.Maintenance of bio-digesters is often reported as a problem, resulting in a loss of methane emissions and energy production. Maintenance of manure management infrastructure should be a key part of manure management policies and practices.Of the 115 interviewees 21 percent cited illiteracy as being an important constraint in accessing information on improving manure management. This emphasizes the need for visual communication materials tailored to the local circumstances. It also confirms the findings that television, radio, farm/field visits, group meetings and bi-lateral contacts are the most used and appreciated communication channels/methods. Notably the use of television and radio might be non-appropriate in places with a lack or limited availability of electricity.The majority of the interviewees who invested in improving manure management in the last five years consider improving human health, receiving (financial) incentives and complying to regulations as the most important drivers for their investment.Awareness of 'the problems and or solutions' and having the knowledge and even the resources to act accordingly, is no guarantee for practice change. It also needs to be accepted as a solution. Improving manure management with eventual use as organic fertiliser has a trade-off that manure is no longer available as a fuel for cooking or for construction. The use of dung cakes for cooking is a common tradition in many of these regions.An effective manure policy, focussing on the added value of manure, should work on four main barriers: the lack of awareness and knowledge, the development of customised solutions for simple manure storage and application equipment and the access to incentive mechanisms. The successful bio-digester programmes in many countries have proven the success of this approach. It is shown that maintenance and the required expertise and knowledge infrastructure is important to ensure continuous use of bio-digesters. Therefore, a number of OPCs will focus on the knowledge development to ensure digesters' maintenance. It is fair to extend this to manure management as a whole, this is not a one-time action, but requires constant attention in training farmers and extension workers and permanent/long term programmes for financial credits.Discussion & Key MessagesThe Theory of Change of the LMMC distinguishes two main phases. In the first phase, a regional inventory of national manure policies and enabling environment including stakeholder consultations had to identify areas for practice change. In the same phase, selected areas were approached to gather more in-depth information on the existing manure management practices in order to develop an 'Opportunity for Practice Change', to be conducted in the second phase of the LMM project.The national inventory of manure policies and the enabling environment as well as the in-depth onfarm surveys on integrated manure management practices have provided insight and information on the current status of manure policies and practices. However, we have to make a note on the quality of the gathered information. Results from the survey suggest that manure policy and integrated manure management are not always equally perceived and experienced by the respondents. It can be questioned whether respondents, fully understood the line of questioning or whether there is a clear understanding of issues related to manure e.g. whether policy makers are aware of how (and why) farmers manage manure.Regarding the regional inventory of national manure policies it was noted that, when information was submitted by more than one country respondent, the information provided was influenced by bias, individual knowledge, position and experience, leading to differences and even contradictive responses. Nevertheless, the information collected at country level, whether provided by one or by more respondents, provides an overview of people's perception of manure policies.In addition, the information gathered on on-farm practices during the in-depth interviews does not always confirm the information from experts that was gathered with the general questionnaire on integrated manure management practices and the semi-structured interviews. Again, the situational knowledge and experience of the interviewed experts may not have been accurate, perhaps also because often reliable statistics, especially regarding manure management, are not available. But also the selected farms for in-depth interviews did not always fit with the wider scope used by the experts.Despite these conflicting responses, common findings become evident in the assessment.The value of manure is often not recognised by farmers and policy-makers, especially in the case of liquid manure and urine. This is related to the training level and support of extension services. Manure policies do often not support integrated manure management: the main drivers for manure policy are focused on energy production and the need to address environmental or public health problems. Often the fertiliser value of manure is not a driver for policy. Policies related to aspects of manure were found to be contradictory.Based on these findings, the tacit knowledge and experiences of the Regional Centres and the Central Hub, the presented results are valuable for a general global overview of current status and possible barriers for improving integrated manure management in practice. It also forms a sound basis for the selection of the six areas for further investigation.The results of the assessment show that there is limited awareness of the value of integrated manure management and that the enabling environment (e.g. policy and extension) for good practice is not always optimal. It is clear that manure management policies and practices, and thus also solutions, are region and site-specific, and no one-size-fits-all strategy exists for improving integrated manure management."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"efd494a7d8b6a948ff7e9fe5a7daa9bb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1025073e-5def-4318-8488-2024efcb7bd9/retrieve","id":"-772520662"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9e0924c4-0e85-49d1-9d7b-5f1601a2bc36","content":"9Lessons for spreading successful climate-smart agriculture innovationsThis series of briefs is a collaborative effort written and collated by researchers contributing to the Increasing Food Security and Farming System Resilience in East Africa through Wide-scale Adoption of Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices project.A robust, resilient, and enabling policy environment is critical to take successful CSA technologies and interventions to scale at national, regional, or local levels. The best policies to address climate variability, socioeconomic and environmental shocks are formulated using participatory, inclusive approaches and are guided by relevant scenarios. This lesson shows how learning alliances or multi-stakeholder platforms can be leveraged to support policy dialogue at community, district, and high-level planning stages, leading to harmonized, coordinated, and gender-responsive policies for tackling CSA. Interventions must go beyond targeting women to focus on the underlying causes of gender inequality within communities. Involving men in the process of women's empowerment is critical: norms will not change in isolation, and gender must be considered at each stage of a project cycle to incorporate factors that drive the adoption of gender equity practices.Research shows that CSA can increase productivity, promote resilience and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But achieving benefits in all three areas is difficult, and gains in one area might come with concomitant gains or losses in another area. Providing information on trade-offs and synergies to decision makers improves CSA priority setting, which improves the likelihood that the CSA investment will achieve positive outcomes within a particular context while mitigating possible unintended adverse outcomes.nations -and even geographies -remains a challenge. CSA cannot be a useful tool to combat climate change and ensure food security if innovations are not adoptedwhatever the reason for their neglect.In Co-designing, testing and co-creation of interventions and practices with farmers is important for ownership and for the long-term adoption and sustainability of impacts. Biophysical, socioeconomic, and institutional elements at the implementation scale must be considered when determining the most appropriate and effective CSA scaling approaches.Ranking CSA farm practices over others is complex because stakeholders usually have different desired outcomes. For example, a farmer may opt for a fertilizer, which boosts yield and income, while government officials may be interested in practices that lower carbon emissions and improve carbon sequestration to meet climate targets. Adopting 'better fit' prioritization processes will help different stakeholders explore and rank the criteria and trade-offs needed to take successful CSA innovations to scale in a specific context. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/6306441602.json b/main/part_2/6306441602.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6ff859c15acb26b6fb9ac12ad7a1d553","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a47daa01-08e0-4d69-aa05-11e4af116c8f/retrieve","id":"794025940"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0c56a0f4-ed0c-4cab-9b28-54dbd4717aa3","content":"A participatory method which uses photography to enhance dialogue.In Li-chăn*: a participatory M&E method to collect \"stories of changes\".A five-step process:Step 1: Selecting community members.Step 2: Training on using camera and story-telling.Step 3: Coaching and selecting photos & stories.Step 4: Validating with communities.Step 5: Presenting results. Narrator: Ly A Trong, male, Hmong ethnic.\"Soya bean waste from making tofu can be fed to pigs, it will have more lean meat. Farmers should add legumes in animal feed because it is protein rich\".Narrator: Leo Thi Xien, female, Thai ethnic.\"Since the project started, I have learnt about AI. With direct mating, it is difficult to transport the boars. It costs 150,000 dong (7 US dollars) for pig mating services. It takes a lot of time to choose the breeding boar for direct mating. AI only takes 10-20 minutes, is hygienic and free from infectious diseases.\"Narrator: Quàng Thị Ly, Lèo Thị Xiền Thai ethnic.Photovoice offers a stimulating way to engage communities and helps to overcome language barriers.Generate evidence for researchers and policy makers.Enhance capacity and confidence of ethnic minority farmers.Encourages adoption of promising interventions through participation in the evaluation process.Farmers an extension workers adopt flexible combination of interventions e.g.:Improved forages, feed preservation. Planting cover crop, grass contour, composting.Farm management and biosecurity. Artificial insemination.Animal health professional diagnose animal diseases correctly more frequently."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/6312038046.json b/main/part_2/6312038046.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1e10a85c2c9a80ed445318e71fa7c0df","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/55ebfb8b-4aec-472a-a943-92bae5c004ab/retrieve","id":"-1508591854"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5216261f-3738-4987-891a-f2e0ef679cbd","content":"Key messages 1. Laboratory-and field-based research benefit from strong cross-linkages. 2. Using a value chain approach enables evaluation of the impact of the work, stimulates integration of crosscutting issues such as gender and capacity development, and facilitates collaboration with other CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs). 3. Communications strategies need to enhance and sustain the flows of information between field and laboratory researchers, and to support development actors help smallholder farmers cope with this key livestock production constraint. Research conducted under the Animal Health flagship of the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish sought to alleviate animal health and disease challenges facing smallholder farmers in low-income countries. The flagship comprised four interdependent activity clusters: 1. Animal health assessment and prioritization of the disease-related productivity constraints within each value chain, particularly infectious diseases; 2. Animal population health and food safety to develop and test solutions in the field for identified disease constraints and risks; 3. Vaccine and diagnostic assay development to support control efforts in the field; and 4. Equitable animal health services delivery to ensure that tools and improved management protocols reach the intended beneficiaries.Given the nature of the work, an immediate challenge was to align upstream research on vaccine and diagnostic development with field-oriented research taking place in the other clusters. The development of novel vaccines is a long-term endeavour of 15-20 years, often continuing long after the end of a project or a CGIAR research prograsm. On the other hand, there are obvious links between upstream and downstream research.The success of upstream research depends on effective linkages into local understanding of disease priorities and downstream findings examining access to and uptake of tools and products developed upstream. Without the downstream findings and knowledge, upstream research would make little impact.This brief examines the experiences of scientists conducting a range of field and laboratory-based research. It was facilitated through the value chain approach of the Livestock and Fish program which focused on a specific chain in each target country: Pigs in Uganda and Vietnam, small ruminants in Ethiopia, aquaculture in Bangladesh and Egypt, and dairy in Tanzania and India.It draws on a synthesis workshop in late 2016 where a group of flagship scientists organized to reflect on three issues:• The benefits of a value chain approach; • Success in bridging upstream and downstream research; and • Lessons learned from the flagship research.Further insights and lessons from this synthesis exercise are summarized in the following four briefs: Benefits of a value chain approach Clear benefits and limitations to the value chain approached were highlighted during the workshop.Scientists appreciated the inclusive nature of the approach in how it caters for participation of key stakeholders in setting research priorities at different stages of the process. It helped foster scientists' understanding of challenges along the value chain and how their particular research leads to impact.The inclusion of market considerations into the research framework facilitated the undertaking of impact evaluations. Addressing the complete value chain stimulated the integration of the cross-cutting issues, such as gender and capacity development, in the research, and facilitated collaboration with other CRPs, especially with the CRP on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health.Further, focusing the work of all the flagships on one value chain helped develop a critical mass in Tanzania, for instance with regards to Infection and Treatment Method to prevent East Coast fever, and facilitated interactions between the flagships. However, there were constraints associated with this approach. Some scientists described the lack of a standard framework and the large number of value chains as a drawback. Others felt the value chain approach was too restrictive at times, and it would have been better to focus on production systems (i.e. pastoralism) and on more than one species.Scientists in the fish value chains underlined the benefits stemming from the partnerships built among WorldFish, ILRI and others organisations which fostered new approaches and the undertaking of comparative studies, such as the review of infectious disease impact and its role in informing decisions on disease management in aquaculture systems in Bangladesh.Small group discussions concluded that bridges between upstream and downstream, even though at times wobbly, had been built. Compared to the beginning of the CRP, there was much more mutual appreciation of the importance of the different research priorities of the flagship clusters. In the fish value chains, for instance, the linking of laboratory-and field-based research led to significant advances in understanding health problems.In Egypt, studies conducted by WorldFish, ILRI and partners identified Tilapia Lake virus in Nile tilapia and other pathogens in ponds affected by the 'summer mortality' syndrome. This has helped to plan next steps to resolve a key problem. In Bangladesh, the Program' work provided evidence for the presence of diseases listed by the World Organisation for Animal Health, such as acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease in shrimp, and confirmed Streptococcus agalactiae (serotype 1b and 1a) infections as the underlying causes behind observed mortalities and associated losses of farmed tilapia in ponds and cages. Both fish value chains examples highlighted the need to collaborate with national authorities to address issues of relevance and facilitated stronger partnerships that will continue beyond the duration of the CRP.Similar experiences were highlighted in the livestock value chains in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda, where collaboration with the national authorities was essential in identifying key priorities. As in the case of the fish value chains, a strong foundation was built, enabling the undertaking of upstream research on rapid diagnostics and vaccines. However, scientists, especially in the livestock value chains, perceived some misalignment of time frames of upstream and downstream research as a serious constraint. Vaccine research was viewed as a long-term commitment, whereas field research needs quick solutions.While these differences are inherent to the different research types, scientists suggested how the different research priorities could be better linked. The development of a communications strategy designed to enhance and sustain the flow of information was recommended as key to improving mutual understanding between field and upstream researchers. This strategy should include the organization of joint meetings and participation in joint working groups, for instance, to discuss specific diseases or livestock health problems, and offer laboratory-based staff an opportunity to spend more time with field researchers to better gauge problems faced by livestock producers.The flagship theory of change is also a good way to facilitate such discussions as it outlines how upstream research outputs ultimately lead to impact and what role field-based research plays in this. In response to the question how far should flagship scientists go in the process of discovery to delivery and for how long, it was felt that this should depend on specific situations, but that this should be clearly thought through, a process in which again the flagship theory of change is an important tool.Scientists highlighted the need for increased focus on prioritization and impact assessment early on in the program, as it informs and guides the flagship research priorities. This would also promote multi-pathogen thinking, rather than a single disease approach which, given the findings of phase I in the different value chains, seems appropriate. However, it is important that resources are not spread too thinly. Getting things done requires a critical mass of resources. The flagship needs to be realistic in how much can be achieved in several value chains and resources need to be aligned to CRP outcomes.Experience from phase I also highlighted that such prioritization exercises are of little value if undertaken superficially. Capturing the complexity of production systems and reliably measuring the impact of diseases require the investment of substantial human and financial resources, and will ideally lead to the development of predictive models for change in production systems; ones which can be adjusted as new data emerges in dynamic livestock systems. Such an approach would give important pointers as to which diseases are likely to become more important in the future, thereby informing upstream research priorities.More emphasis was also recommended on the generation of short-term products which could act as proof-ofconcept of the value chain approach for technology flagships. There is a lot of scope for collaboration with other flagships, such as bundling technologies for service delivery from the three technology flagships health, genetics and feeds and forages. This has been taken up in the development of the phase II proposals of the new LIVESTOCK CGIAR Research Program, where more emphasis has been placed on undertaking research related to access to products and services. In the new Fish CRP, the health and fish feeds and aquaculture systems clusters will support the genetics cluster to produce best practice packages for genetically improved fish strains.Animal health research is not a one-way stream from laboratory to field. Feedback loops from the field to inform laboratory-based research are absolutely mandatory. Similarly, advanced molecular diagnostic tools support epidemiological research since they increase the resolution of case definitions, by replacing a yes/no diagnostic test with molecular tools that allow differentiation of various genotypes and making epidemiology surveys more precise. The way the work is conducted in vaccine and diagnostic research emphasizes the development of 'generic' research platforms within the context of research on a specific disease, so that the required expertise and equipment may be applied to other disease priorities uncovered through field-based researchAs long as there are visible benefits for those involvedscientists or livestock producers-opportunities for collaborations will be sought. While CRP scientists may have been slow to engage with a new group of researchers, this clearly has changed over the last five years. There is, however, a need to continue fostering these links to prevent them from being overlooked as scientists get caught up in their daily routines. A recent internal restructuring in ILRI brings together upstream and downstream research into one program, mirroring the research agenda of the CRP in phase II, and supports fostering of existing links.The structure of the flagship in phases I and II generates a thorough understanding of health priorities and provides tested solutions or evidence-based approaches to solve problems. This distinct strength should be better communicated to development actors to support smallholders in coping with a key livestock production constraint, particularly donors to ensure appropriate financial support in the future. Thus for phase II ways need to be sought to interact more closely with donors to highlight the relevance of the animal health research."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dd07456624e29352fc9bd28d3abdb058","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0cf4062d-9f88-48b5-afd8-519cb283d158/retrieve","id":"2036066260"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"151a3551-09b9-44a1-8d8f-cfa8f8b0858b","content":"Adaptation to climate change in the agricultural sector and allied sectors is a major current and future challenge for Nepal. The majority of the population is still dependent on highly climate-sensitive agriculture. In recent years, long drought spells during the monsoon season and increased temperatures and unseasonal heavy rains during winter have caused serious distress to agriculture-dependent communities in many locations. If the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of ending poverty, achieving food security and promoting sustainable agriculture are to be realised, climate change adaptation interventions need to be implemented in earnest. POLICY BRIEF To address these challenges, the Scaling up Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) in Nepal project, aimed to (1) identify, test and screen CSA practices and technologies suitable for various agro-ecological zones; (2) develop pathways for scaling up champion CSA options; and (3) enhance the capacity of stakeholders and generate evidence-based knowledge materials to support the dissemination of climate-sensitive agricultural technology and practices. The project was implemented in collaboration with local communities, Village and District Development Committees, District Agricultural Development Offices, and steered by a Project Advisory Committee, which comprised high-level representatives from the Ministry of Agricultural Development, Ministry of Population and Environment, Department of Hydrology and Meteorology and other departments working in agriculture and allied sectors. The project identified a shortlist (referred to as a 'pool' henceforth) of CSA technologies, practices and services relevant for the agricultural production system of Nepal. A set of CSA technologies was prioritised in consultation with key stakeholders, including farmers, and evaluated in their fields. Pathways for scaling up the selected champion CSA technologies were assessed on the basis of their nature, agro-ecological context and existing policies and programmes. The analysis showed that the pathways to scaleup follow a complex non-linear path, are dependent on agroecological context and need multi-sectoral collaboration.This paper provides an overview of the project's methodology and findings. It aims to offer a synthesis of the research, field testing and policy work done over the the project period, whichNepal's agricultural sector, which accounts for around three quarters of employment and one quarter of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), 2 is strongly affected by current climate variability, uncertainty and extreme events. Evidence indicates that the climate in Nepal is already changing and the impacts are being felt. 3,4 Rise in average temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns, increasing frequency of extreme weather events such as severe droughts and floods, and shifting agricultural seasons have been observed across the different agro-ecological zones of Nepal. In recent years, long drought spells during the monsoon and increased temperatures and unseasonal heavy rains during winter have caused serious distress to agriculture-dependent communities in many locations. A study carried out by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) revealed that the direct losses due to climate change in agriculture are equivalent to around 0.8% per year of current GDP and there will be a US$2.4 billion adaptation deficit by 2030 in three sectors including agriculture. 5 These impacts are expected to hit poor and vulnerable households hardest, and may pose a challenge to food security and poverty reduction strategies. In addition to climate, social changes such as outmigration of male youths have increased women's workload in agricultural activities. Women also face structural power inequalities and poor access to the resources and information required to cope with shocks and stresses and recover from climate-induced impacts. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify and promote technologies and practices that can increase farm productivity, farmers' adaptive CSA is an evolving science and is understood by stakeholders in various ways. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) defines CSA as \"a way forward for food security in a changing climate. CSA aims to improve food security, help communities adapt to climate change and contribute to climate change mitigation by adopting appropriate practices, developing enabling policies and institutions and mobilizing needed finances.\" 6 Although there has been good response to CSA, there has also been strong opposition. 7 The counter-argument is mainly based on the idea that CSA would promote greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation at the expense of food security and adaptation. Although the FAO definition has provided three major pillars of CSA, the relationship and priorities between the three pillars of CSA (namely food security, adaptation and mitigation) needs to be well defined. Therefore, more context specific investigation is essential. There has been a compelling appeal to prioritise the elements of CSA on the basis of local contexts and the needs of stakeholders. For example, CSA needs to focus on developing resilient food production systems that lead to food and income security under progressive climate change and variability. 8,9,10 Defining CSA in the context of Nepal is highly complex.Nepalese agriculture is diverse in terms of climatic zones, food production systems and socioeconomic conditions. CSA needs to consider multiple dimensions of the agricultural production systems in the county. Inclusion of gender, youth and socioeconomically marginalised farmers is necessary. Hence, a CSA approach is needed for improving and transforming existing agricultural systems to promote national food security while adopting sustainable adaptation measures, respecting local concerns such as gender and social inclusion, and contributing to global climate change mitigation targets.  The implementation phase started with activities to identify, test and screen CSA practices suitable for different geographic, agro-ecological and socioeconomic contexts of Nepal by involving farmers, researchers and extension agencies. Figure 1    To cover a degree of agro-ecological variation across the country, three sites were selected for detailed study and field piloting of CSAs in the Gandaki River basin in western Nepal:(1) Ghanapokhara Village Development Committee (VDC) of Lamjung District representing high-altitude farming systems 2,000 masl; (2) Majhthana VDC of Kaski District representing mid-hills farming systems from 1,000 to 1,500 masl; and(3) Agheuli VDC of Nawalparasi District representing southern plains (Terai) from 300 to 600 masl (see Figure 3). These sites were selected on the basis of multiple criteria, including agro-ecological representation, climatic vulnerability compared with other similar locations, presence of the dominant and representative farming systems of the specific agro-ecological zones, and accessibility.  The project then developed pathways to scale-up and implementation plans for 'champion' CSA practices with participation of local communities and government stakeholders. For this, the project carried out climate analogue analysis and developed extrapolation areas for CSA activities; assessed barriers to and opportunities for CSA scaling up in existing policy and institutions; and proposed a model and pathways for scaling up of the selected CSA technologies in Nepal. in raising production and income, and building the resilience of farming communities in many locations in Nepal. Figure 4 presents a list of relevant CSA technologies for different crops, cropping systems and livestock from this project.Altogether, 56, 58 and 58 potentially scalable agricultural technologies, practices, processes and methods were identified for Terai, mid-hills and high-hills regions, respectively. From that list, 28, 31 and 16 CSA options were chosen for participatory on-farm evaluation in Terai, mid-hills and high-hills regions, respectively.The meta-data and data analysis from the pilot sites were consolidated for screening the champion CSAs for high- for high-hills regions, 13 for mid-hills regions and 10 for Terai regions (Table 1). Seven CSA options from the list have high potential for application across the three agro-ecological regions. The list was shared and validated with farmers.Similarly, the final list was shared in a stakeholders workshop for validation.Champion CSA options are expected to have a greater potential for adoption and achieve higher impacts. However, up-scaling of CSA options is a complex and non-linear process that has to consider ecological diversity, socioeconomic and institutional dimensions, and climate sensitivity at various levels and scales. Scaling up can be horizontal across the geographical space in both the present and the future, and vertical integrating at policy and institutional levels. The project analysed the possibility of scaling up by identifying climate analogue sites for the present and future within districts and in the country, so that the selected champion CSA options can be scaled up; and by assessing the existing policy and institutional frameworks to integrate champion CSA options in them.A climate analogue tool was used to estimate the current and future climate similarity with pilot areas. Table 2 presents the proportion of total land area having different levels of similarity with the current climate for Nawalparasi, Kaski and Lamjung districts. At present, more than 65% of the area has 25-50% climate similarity in all three districts. Similar or different varieties of crop can be cultivated in the 25-50% similar areas. Between 13% and 21% of the area in the districts has 50-75% climate similarity. In these areas the same crop varieties can be grown.Areas with more than 75% similarity are very few (<1% to 9.5%).Table 2 also presents the area having different levels of climate similarity in the future for Nawalparasi, Kaski and Lamjung districts. The area with 25-50% similarity in all districts ranges from 62% to 84%. Similar or different varieties of crop will be able to be cultivated in these areas in the future. More than 50% similarity areas ranges from 15% to 37% of total agricultural land.In these areas, the same crop varieties will be able to be grown.  showed that there is high potential to improve crop yield, increase resilience and reduce emissions from the adoption of these technologies.A detailed review of the national policy environment was conducted to evaluate the possibility of scaling up CSA.The main objective of the review was to determine whether The review showed that policies and institutions reflect an increasing realisation of the challenges posed by climate change for agricultural and food security. There is an increasing coherence between objectives for agriculture development, strategies and policies, especially those formulated after 2000. There is also increasing availability of new technologies and practices such as energy-and water-use-efficient technologies and efforts to encourage farmers to use them to minimise agriculture production risks, promoted through subsidies. However, there is still a clear gap between policy intentions and implementation. Currently, there is limited evidence of efforts within relevant institutions to internalise policy intentions and, therefore, these intentions are seldom translated into annual plans, budgets and actions.The review also revealed an inadequate evidence base for CSA tools and practices, weak coordination among actors (within government agencies and between government and the private sector), limited coherence in priorities, and inadequate capacities across the relevant institutions in terms of human and financial resources, which pose barriers to scaling up CSA. Therefore, adaptive policies in agriculture need to be coherent across all institutions, reflected in actionable plans, and backed up with additional investments in knowledge, technologies and human capital to promote wider adoption of CSA.Efforts to scale up CSA options therefore need to take account of complex and continuously changing interactions between biophysical, social, economic, environmental, climatic and institutional factors. The complexity is compounded as these factors interact with different agricultural management levels (local to national, and geographically) over different time frames. Existing pathways to scale-up, however, do not adequately take into account these complex realities and embrace the common approach of \"find out what works (in one place) and do more of the same (elsewhere)\". 15 The literature shows that scaling-up is a non-linear, socio-cognitive process where knowledge, institutions, markets and the local environment  There is very little evidence-based knowledge available on CSA options that fits with Nepali farming systems.In addition, the conceptual clarity on complex and non- While every CSA option will operate in its own time frame, scaling up is best seen as a long-term, non-linear, multistakeholder, multidisciplinary process at various levels of programme management. The project proposed three phases of pathways, going beyond the traditional project approach, towards ensuring wider application and sustainable impact (Figure 5).Since "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1d312619d5cecec1056a81491c361445","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/312b9028-98da-4631-a0d4-eab02051092e/content","id":"1732004177"},"keywords":["本研究旨在了解我国黄淮和北部冬麦区不同施氮量和施氮模式对氮高效吸收和利用的影响, 以及中麦175和 Winter wheat","Nitrogen utilization efficiency","Dry matter","High yield","Stability"],"sieverID":"c1746573-29ea-4358-a277-7732f6c39f08","content":"京冬17产量对不同施氮处理的响应。2013-2014和2014-2015连续两年在河北吴桥和北京顺义两地种植两品种, 观 测不同施氮量和基追比处理下, 冬小麦的群体特性、产量相关性状, 以及氮素吸收效率(NUpE)和氮素利用效率 (NUtE)。在吴桥点设0、60+0、120+0、120+60、120+120、120+180 kg hm 2 (基肥+拔节肥) 6个处理, 在顺义点仅设 前5个处理。在总施氮量0~240 kg hm 2 (吴桥)和0~180 kg hm 2 (顺义)范围内, 随施氮量增加, 归一化植被指数(NDVI) 和气冠温差(CTD)提高, 群体总粒数和成熟期生物量增加, 进而产量提高; 但继续增加施氮量会导致粒重、开花前干 物质向籽粒转运量、转运率、对籽粒贡献率、收获指数、氮肥偏生产力、氮素吸收和利用效率降低。在不同施氮水 平下, 中麦175的产量和稳定性均优于京冬17, 表现出穗数多、穗粒重稳定性好、群体活力持久、生物量和收获指数 高、花前干物质积累量高和花后干物质转运能力强、氮素吸收效率高, 这可能是其高产高效的重要基础。考虑到产 量回报和经济效益, 推荐中麦175和京冬17在黄淮麦区(北片)施氮量为180~240 kg hm 2 , 在北部冬麦区施氮量为120~180 kg hm 2 。灌浆中后期, NDVI 和 CTD 与穗数、产量和生物量相关性高, 可作为快速评价品种氮肥敏感性的指标。一 [1][2] , 但大量施氮不仅增加生产成本, 而且容易导 致土壤养分失衡和环境污染 [3] 。近年来, 在华北小麦 主产区, 氮肥过量施用导致增产效益和氮素利用效 率下降的现象较为明显 [4] , 提高氮素利用效率是小 麦生产可持续发展的必然要求 [5] 。因此, 培育肥料利 用效率高、高产稳产的新品种, 并采取合理的施肥策 略在作物生产中具有重要意义, 并且节水、节肥、节 药已成为未来我国粮食作物持续发展的战略选择。 为解决我国作物生产中肥料利用效率低、损失 严重的问题, 前人对如何通过合理的栽培措施以提 高生产效率进行了大量研究, 并提出了氮肥后移、 以水控肥和以肥调水等高产优质栽培技术 [6][7] 。 但是, 由于对品种间肥料利用效率的遗传差异重视不够, 导致其遗传改良进展缓慢 [8] 。已有的研究虽然在多 方面探索了作物肥料吸收利用机制 [9][10] , 但尚不明 确作物氮肥敏感性的品种评价指标, 并缺乏大田条 件下快速检测的方法。当前大面积推广的品种多在 高肥条件下选育而成, 对土壤肥力和施肥量要求较 高 [11] 。生产中迫切需要能够适应不同肥力水平, 特 别是低肥条件下肥料利用效率高、不减产或减产少, 高肥条件下耐肥性好、茎秆坚实不倒伏、高产高效 的小麦新品种。中麦 175 通过了北部冬麦区水地和 黄淮旱肥地 2 次国家审定以及北京、山西、河北、 青海和甘肃 5 省(市)品种审定, 并已在这些地区大面 积推广, 具有广泛的适应性 [12] 。 肖永贵等 [13] 对京 411 及其 14 个衍生品种(系)在正常施肥和常年不施肥条 件下比较表明, 中麦 175 的产量皆最高。另外, 对北 部和黄淮麦区 64 份主要品种的氮和磷利用效率研 究表明, 中麦 175 在不施氮、不施磷及氮和磷皆不 施的 3 种处理中, 产量分别居参试品种的第 1、第 9 和第 1 位, 说明中麦 175 为肥料高效型品种 [14]    [15] 。 在成熟期调查穗数、穗粒数和生物量, 在收获 后测定产量、千粒重, 计算干物质转运量和氮素利 用效率。 花前干物质转运量=开花期干物质积累量(成 熟期干物质积累量籽粒产量) [16] , 花前干物质转运 率=转运量/开花期干物质积累量 [16] , 花前干物质贡 献率=干物质转运量/籽粒产量 [16] ; 收获指数=籽粒 产量/生物学产量 [16] ; 氮肥偏生产力(PFP N ) = 籽粒 产量/施氮量 [10] , 氮素吸收效率(NUpE) = 植株氮素 积累量/施氮量 [10] , 氮素利用效率(NUtE) = 籽粒产 量/植株氮素积累量 [10] 。 利用 SAS 9.    降低趋势, 这与张宏等 [17] 和 Rampino 等 [18] 的研究结 果相符, 可能与作物自身调节能力有关。在土壤养 合成酶的活性增加 [19] , 从而促进地上部生物量积累, 为籽粒灌浆提供足够的养分储备, 最终增加产量。 NDVI 反映了地表绿色植被的覆盖比例, 可用 于评价作物生物量积累速率及叶片功能期长短。肖 永贵等 [13] 发现冬小麦 NDVI 在不施氮和正常施氮处 理间存在极显著差异, 李升东等 [20] 认为不同基因型 开花后光合产物积累是籽粒产量的主要来源 [24] 。有 研究表明, 开花前的光合产物对籽粒产量的贡献占 3%~30%, 对抵御后期高温、干旱胁迫、维持产量稳 定具有重要作用 [21] ; 开花后光合产物对籽粒的贡献 率占60%~80%, 是高产的主要物质来源 [25]  高, 氮素利用效率在施氮量0~120 kg hm 2 的低氮范 围内更高。氮素吸收效率高是其总体肥料利用效率 高的关键, 这与肖永贵等 [13] 研究结果一致, 与我们 之前认为中麦175苗期具有较强耐低肥能力的结果 相佐证 [26] 。 3.3 氮高效型品种筛选指标及施肥策略 对后代品系进行多点试验及抗旱、耐热、养分 胁迫、抗病性鉴定已经成为国际玉米小麦改良中心 (CIMMYT)小麦新品种选育的重要方式 [22] 。我国大 多数育种单位还不能做到育种材料的多点鉴定和广 泛筛选, 导致缺乏抗逆性强、适应性广的高产稳产 品种。群体特性在一定程度上反映了作物对不同环 境的适应性, 已有研究把幼苗早期活性、冠层温度、 灌浆期叶片衰老等作为品种适应性和高世代育种选 择标准 [27][28][29][30]  不同地区小麦对氮肥需求量有所不同 [31] 。北方小麦 氮肥施用量一般为180~250 kg hm 2 , 淮北地区为 195~225 kg hm 2 , 晋南旱作地区为180 kg hm 2 左右, 四川丘陵旱地为135~180 kg hm 2 [31][32]  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4b31f0f136829916c9bfb31169ee2591","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/aafac7c0-3f57-41ba-8cf1-cc791c77bddd/retrieve","id":"-14838180"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ef6ab09b-5e9a-4701-94cf-330b422aa055","content":"Les documents publiés dans cette série recensent les travaux et la pensée des chercheurs de l'IWMI, ainsi que les savoirs dont la direction scientifi que de l'Institut considère qu'ils méritent d'être diffusés. Cette série veille à ce que les données scientifi ques et les autres informations réunies ou préparées dans le cadre des travaux de recherche de l'Institut soient recensées et référencées. Parmi les documents de travail peuvent fi gurer des rapports de projets, des études de cas, des comptes rendus de conférences ou d'ateliers, des documents de réfl exion ou des rapports sur l'avancement des recherches, des rapports de recherche spécifi ques pour certains pays, des monographies, etc. Les documents de travail peuvent être publiés conjointement par l'IWMI et des organisations partenaires.Bien que la plupart des rapports soient publiés par des membres du personnel de l'IWMI et leurs collaborateurs, nous accueillons avec intérêt les apports extérieurs. Chaque rapport est examiné à l'interne par le personnel de l'IWMI. Les rapports sont publiés et diffusés à la fois en version papier et électronique (www.iwmi.org) et, autant que faire se peut, toutes les données et analyses seront proposées sous forme de fi chiers distincts téléchargeables. Les rapports peuvent être copiés librement et cités à condition que l'apport de l'organisation soit reconnu.Les restrictions sur l'accès à l'eau sont la principale raison des diffi cultés qu'éprouvent des millions d'agriculteurs pauvres à faire pousser suffi samment de cultures alimentaires et commerciales pour améliorer leurs conditions de vie. La tâche est ardue pour les agriculteurs et directeurs de programmes (mettant en oeuvre des programmes visant à améliorer la vie des agriculteurs) qui cherchent à établir les disponibilités en eau et leur accessibilité, qui à leur tour déterminent si l'accès aux ressources en eau est fi nancièrement abordable, ainsi que leur viabilité, dans les endroits où il existe peu d'informations bien documentées sur les eaux de surface et les ressources en eaux souterraines. En outre, les directeurs de programmes et les agriculteurs ont souvent du mal à déterminer les technologies les plus appropriées d'accès et d'application des eaux en tenant compte des particularités de l'environnement biophysique et socio-économique et des ressources en eau disponibles.Alors qu'il est nécessaire d'améliorer l'accès des petits exploitants agricoles aux ressources en eau et leur utilisation durable de ces ressources, il existe peu de documents détaillés sur les méthodes et outils éprouvés pour évaluer la disponibilité des ressources en eau, leur accessibilité et leur viabilité et pour sélectionner les technologies appropriées d'accès et d'application de l'eau. Ce document cherche à remédier à cette lacune en éclairant les directeurs de programme qui mettent en oeuvre des projets de terrain visant à améliorer l'accès des petits exploitants agricoles aux ressources en eau tout en garantissant en même temps la viabilité environnementale du captage des eaux. Ces directives sont conçues pour intéresser les organismes du secteur public (ex.: les services gouvernementaux de vulgarisation et les départements de gestion des ressources en eau); les organisations de la société civile (ex.: les organisations d'agriculteurs et les ONG); les entreprises sociales qui catalysent les chaînes de valeur pour l'agriculture irriguée; et les bailleurs de fonds qui investissent dans l'amélioration des conditions de vie des agriculteurs et agricultrices. Il est prévu que les directeurs de programmes utiliseront ces directives en association avec d'autres méthodes et outils, telles que des analyses des chaînes de valeur agricoles, et qu'elles constitueront l'un des éléments d'une approche globale pour l'élaboration d'interventions visant à aider les petits exploitants agricoles.Ce document n'est pas un manuel technique; il est plutôt destiné à offrir aux directeurs de programmes des conseils concernant l'expertise, les ressources et les informations nécessaires pour qu'ils puissent encadrer les spécialistes techniques. Les directives décrivent un processus que les directeurs de programmes peuvent suivre pour encadrer les spécialistes techniques afi n de rassembler rapidement assez de données et d'informations pour comprendre les caractéristiques de zones étendues et défi nir progressivement des emplacements spécifi ques présentant un potentiel plus intéressant pour permettre à des petits exploitants agricoles individuels d'accéder de manière abordable et durable à des ressources en eau souterraines et de surface. Ces directives proposent aussi une méthode pour estimer les quantités d'eau disponibles et choisir des technologies d'élévation de l'eau et d'irrigation individuelles 1 adaptées aux ressources en eau disponibles. Le processus d'évaluation décrit dans ce document se divise en deux grandes étapes:Ces directives ont été élaborées dans le cadre du projet AgWater Solutions, mis en oeuvre entre 2009 et 2012 au Burkina Faso, en Ethiopie, au Ghana, en Tanzanie, en Zambie et dans deux états indiens, le Madhya Pradesh et le Bengale occidental. Le projet s'est attaché à résoudre les problèmes d'eau auxquels sont confrontés les petits exploitants agricoles. L'eau est souvent l'un des principaux facteurs qui limitent la production des petits exploitants agricoles, leurs rendements et la diversifi cation des cultures. Pour cette raison, de nombreux petits exploitants agricoles ne produisent que des cultures de base pendant la saison des pluies pour n'obtenir ainsi qu'une variété restreinte de produits, et des quantités limitées. En outre, l'accès limité à l'eau rend les agriculteurs vulnérables à la variabilité accrue des régimes pluviaux.Le projet AgWater Solutions a examiné les méthodes et technologies de GEA en vigueur, ainsi que les facteurs qui infl uencent leur adoption et leur élargissement. Les analyses entreprises par le projet ont indiqué que l'élargissement de certaines solutions de GEA à l'échelle des ménages ou des communautés pourrait augmenter la productivité agricole et les bénéfi ces nets de millions de petits exploitants agricoles. Les analyses du projet ont par exemple estimé que l'utilisation de pompes à moteur pourrait être élargie pour toucher 185 millions de ruraux en Afrique subsaharienne, et souligné que l'amélioration de l'accès à l'eau des ménages agricoles ruraux pourrait aider les familles à:• cultiver des cultures irriguées à plus forte valeur ajoutée à la saison sèche, ce qui augmenterait les revenus des ménages;• étendre les superfi cies cultivées et augmenter la quantité de cultures produites par unité de surface;• diversifi er les systèmes de culture, ce qui permettrait de réduire les risques de mauvaises récoltes et de défaillances du marché; et• appliquer un supplément d'eau pendant les périodes de faibles précipitations pour éviter les mauvaises récoltes.Non seulement le projet a permis de préciser les possibilités importantes qu'offrent l'amélioration de l'accès à l'eau et l'utilisation des solutions de GEA pour améliorer les vies des agriculteurs et agricultrices pauvres, mais il a aussi favorisé la mise au point d'analyses, cartes, recommandations et profi ls d'investissement nationaux qui guideront l'investissement dans ces solutions.Ce document complète d'autres résultats du projet AgWater Solutions en ce qu'il propose un processus éprouvé pour aider les décideurs responsables de diriger, concevoir et/ou mettre en oeuvre des projets visant à améliorer l'accès à l'eau des petits agriculteurs pour la production agricole. Parmi les utilisateurs de ces directives peuvent fi gurer des organismes du secteur public (ex: des services gouvernementaux de vulgarisation et de gestion des ressources en eau); des organisations de la société civile (ex: des organisations d'agriculteurs et des ONG); des projets; des entreprises sociales favorisant les chaînes de valeur de la production agricole irriguée; et des bailleurs de fonds investissant dans l'amélioration des vies des agriculteurs et agricultrices.L'objectif de cette méthodologie d'évaluation des ressources en eau est d'aider ces décideurs à déterminer la disponibilité, l'accessibilité physique et économique et la viabilité des ressources en eau, et à choisir les technologies individuelles les plus appropriées pour l'accès à l'eau (ex.: pompe à pédales, pompe à corde et à disque, pompe à moteur, pompe électrique, énergie solaire thermique, énergie photovoltaïque, alimentation par batteries, collecte des eaux de pluie, siphon) et son application (ex.: en surface, en goutte-à-goutte, par aspersion, in-situ), qui conviendront aux conditions particulières des milieux biophysiques et socio-économiques rencontrés et aux ressources en eau disponibles (ex.: eaux souterraines, cours d'eau ou réservoirs). Les principes directeurs qui sous-tendent cette méthodologie sont les suivants:1. une vocation à servir les intérêts des petits agriculteurs et agricultrices pauvres;2. l'optimisation des ressources en eau disponibles au bénéfi ce de l'amélioration des moyens de subsistance;3. la garantie de captages d'eau durables sur le plan de l'environnement; et 4. une volonté d'offrir un accès abordable à l'eau en mettant en évidence les zones où des exploitants individuels peuvent accéder aux ressources en eau et les appliquer pour un coût d'investissement relativement faible, fondée sur l'hypothèse que ce caractère abordable permettra à un grand nombre d'agriculteurs d'investir dans l'accès à l'eau.Les directives prennent en compte la minimisation des coûts pour les agriculteurs en favorisant l'utilisation des eaux de surface et des eaux souterraines peu profondes, qui sont accessibles aux agriculteurs pauvres pour beaucoup moins cher que les eaux souterraines plus profondes (exigeant un forage plus coûteux et des coûts de fonctionnement par pompage plus élevés). En outre, les recommandations portant sur la sélection de technologies individuelles appropriées pour le captage et l'application d'eau mettent l'accent sur les technologies les moins onéreuses.Ce document n'est pas un manuel technique mais vise à proposer des conseils d'ordre général sur l'information, l'expertise technique et les ressources nécessaires pour que les responsables puissent orienter les spécialistes techniques en ce qui touche à l'évaluation et à la conception d'un programme. L'objectif des directives étant l'application pratique des connaissances rassemblées, les méthodes décrites cherchent à équilibrer les contraintes de temps et de coûts avec la nécessité de recueillir suffi samment d'informations pour la prise de décisions. Pour ce faire, les directives décrivent les processus suivants:• un processus rapide et itératif permettant de comprendre les caractéristiques de zones étendues, ainsi que les pratiques en vigueur de captage et d'utilisation de l'eau dans la petite agriculture. Grâce à ce processus, l'équipe défi nit progressivement les endroits présentant le meilleur potentiel pour que des petits exploitants agricoles individuels puissent accéder aux eaux souterraines et de surface pour un coût abordable;• une méthode permettant d'estimer le volume des ressources en eau disponibles dans les zones défi nies comme étant «à fort potentiel»;• une méthode facilitant la sélection de technologies individuelles d'élévation de l'eau et d'application de l'irrigation qui conviennent aux ressources en eau disponibles dans les zones étudiées.Les processus et méthodes décrits dans ce document, dynamiques et opportunistes, se fondent sur une reconnaissance visuelle continue et la collecte des données et informations rassemblées à l'issue de nombreuses discussions. Les savoirs locaux et la participation des agriculteurs, acteurs des chaînes de valeur et autres intervenants travaillant avec les agriculteurs (ex: les agents de vulgarisation) sont essentiels. Les idées, aspirations et réactions des agriculteurs et agricultrices sont cruciales, tout comme les contributions des représentants des autorités nationales et locales, des chercheurs, des organisations qui travaillent dans la zone considérée, des enseignants et de toutes les autres personnes ayant de bonnes connaissances en matière d'agriculture, de ressources en eau, de marchés, et concernant les aspects sociaux infl uençant les investissements dans la GEA et les pratiques de GEA. Tout au long du processus, l'équipe de terrain interprète conjointement les informations, idées, réactions et données recueillies et précise sa réfl exion sur les opportunités d'amélioration des pratiques agricoles.Le processus décrit dans ce document peut être utilisé dans toutes les situations où le manque d'informations détaillées sur les ressources en eaux souterraines et de surface rend diffi cile la détermination de la disponibilité et de l'accessibilité physique des ressources en eau, et par suite de leur accessibilité économique.Le processus décrit dans ce document commence par une évaluation à l'échelle nationale et s'oriente progressivement sur de plus petites zones géographiques présentant un potentiel intéressant pour que les petits exploitants agricoles puissent accéder à l'eau de manière durable et à un coût abordable. Au Ghana, par exemple, l'équipe a commencé au niveau national puis restreint les possibilités et ciblé les sous-districts les plus prometteurs. Bien que la méthode décrite soit engagée au niveau national, cette approche pourrait être employée à d'autres niveaux et à diverses étapes du processus décisionnel. Par exemple, les organismes gouvernementaux de vulgarisation oeuvrant au niveau sous-national pourraient utiliser ce processus dans le cadre de leur domaine administratif pour déterminer les zones spécifi ques offrant les meilleures possibilités pour un accès durable et abordable à l'eau, et pour sélectionner les technologies appropriées d'accès à l'eau et d'application.Il est prévu que les directeurs de programmes utiliseront ces directives en association avec d'autres méthodes et outils, tels que des analyses de la chaîne de valeur agricole, et les considéreront comme un élément d'une approche plus large visant à concevoir des interventions susceptibles de bénéfi cier aux petits exploitants agricoles. Par exemple, le processus d'évaluation décrit ici peut être utilisé avec d'autres résultats du projet tels que les cartes des zones favorables, en fonction des caractéristiques physiques et des moyens de subsistance, et à l'échelle des pays et de plusieurs pays, pour certaines technologies de GEA (pour davantage d'informations, voir sur http://awm-solutions.iwmi.org). De plus, ces directives peuvent être intégrées aux analyses de la chaîne agricole afi n de déterminer les débouchés commerciaux à forte valeur ajoutée pour les petits exploitants agricoles, ainsi que les besoins de ces cultures à forte valeur ajoutée en matière d'irrigation (voir, par exemple, Webber 2007).En 2010, le projet AgWater Solutions a utilisé l'approche décrite dans le présent document pour évaluer et déterminer les zones du nord du Ghana disposant de ressources en eau accessibles (eaux souterraines peu profondes et eaux de surface) et offrant aux petits exploitants agricoles des possibilités intéressantes d'utilisation pour qu'ils puissent améliorer leurs moyens de subsistance. Ces directives proposent des exemples du processus d'évaluation entrepris au Ghana. L'évaluation au Ghana et la préparation de ce document ont bénéfi cié de l'appui fi nancier du projet AgWater Solutions; toutefois, les connaissances résumées ici sont tirées d'expériences acquises à l'occasion d'évaluations semblables menées en Ethiopie, en Zambie, au Népal, au Myanmar et en Inde.Ce document constitue un premier effort pour exposer une approche abordable de la collecte d'informations facilitant la prise de décisions. Il n'est pas exhaustif et les auteurs espèrent qu'il donnera lieu, grâce à de nombreuses applications sur le terrain, à de futurs perfectionnements, essais et mises au point.L'évaluation suit globalement le processus suivant: Ce processus en plusieurs phases vise à minimiser les montants et le temps nécessaires pour effectuer une évaluation des ressources en eau en utilisant des méthodes pratiques et peu coûteuses pour recueillir suffi samment d'informations qui permettront de progressivement centrer l'attention sur les zones les plus propices à un accès à l'eau abordable pour les petits exploitants agricoles. Des informations et données supplémentaires plus détaillées sont alors rassemblées sur les zones les plus propices pour guider encore plus précisément le processus décisionnel. Le processus évolue donc d'une échelle générale à une échelle détaillée en rassemblant des informations et données suffi samment précises pour prendre des décisions et passer à l'étape suivante. Il élimine ainsi la nécessité de recueillir des données complètes sur des zones géographiques peu propices à un accès abordable et/ou durable aux ressources en eau. La fi gure 1 illustre les phases recommandées pour l'évaluation, ainsi que la durée approximative de chaque phase et les résultats attendus. Les sections suivantes offrent davantage de détails sur chacune des étapes du processus. FIGURE 1. Schéma du processus d'évaluation rapide des ressources en eau, indiquant la durée et les résultats approximatifs de chaque phase. Il faut noter que le processus d'évaluation est l'un des éléments constitutifs de la conception du programme, qui fait appel à de nombreuses autres sources d'information. La phase 1 de l'évaluation des ressources en eau sert de première sélection pour déterminer les zones à fort potentiel pour le développement de la petite agriculture irriguée. L'objectif de cette première phase est de comprendre le contexte général (c.-à-d. l'échelle nationale) afi n de repérer et cerner les zones géographiques dans lesquelles coïncident les quatre critères clés suivants (illustrés en fi gure 2):1. La disponibilité physique et l'accessibilité de ressources sous-utilisées en eaux de surface et/ou eaux souterraines peu profondes. Ici, les eaux souterraines peu profondes sont accessibles à une profondeur maximale de 18 mètres (m) entre la surface du sol et celle de la nappe. Si l'eau est pompée manuellement à des fi ns d'irrigation sur des parcelles dépassant la taille nécessaire pour assurer la subsistance, une profondeur de 12 mètres est la limite pratique que peut atteindre une pompe manuelle ou à corde et à disque. Parmi les facteurs importants qui doivent être pris en considération lors de la réalisation de cette première sélection générale fi gurent les droits et habilitations sur la terre et sur l'eau, qui infl uencent les décisions et investissements des agriculteurs et leur perception des risques. Ces facteurs façonnent souvent les dynamiques sociales et économiques et la distribution de la pauvreté. En Inde, par exemple, le droit des agriculteurs à l'accès à l'eau a favorisé l'émergence de marchés pour les eaux souterraines, qui ont permis aux petits agriculteurs pauvres d'acheter de l'eau pour l'irrigation. Toutefois, dans certains endroits où l'eau est limitée, ce système peut permettre aux agriculteurs les plus riches de forer des puits plus profonds, d'acheter des pompes plus puissantes pour capter l'eau et/ou d'acheter les terres ou d'y accéder pour en atteindre les ressources en eau.Cette première phase de sélection rassemble les informations disponibles sur un plan général (c.-à-d. au niveau national) concernant les droits et habilitations formels et informels d'accès aux ressources en terres et en eau et d'utilisation de ces ressources. Etant donné que l'application au niveau local des lois et politiques nationales peut être infl uencée par les traditions et cultures locales, les phases ultérieures du processus d'évaluation donnent à l'équipe du projet l'occasion de comprendre comment les agriculteurs perçoivent leurs droits et habilitations. Il est important pour ce faire d'organiser des discussions avec les agricultrices afi n de bien saisir les aspects sexospécifi ques de ces droits et habilitations. Ces informations sont utiles pour concevoir un programme qui aborde de manière pragmatique les contraintes auxquelles sont confrontés les agriculteurs et agricultrices lorsqu'ils veulent accéder à des ressources en terres et en eau et les utiliser pour produire des cultures irriguées.La phase 1 se fonde sur des recherches documentaires pour recenser les études précédemment effectuées et les données et informations déjà rassemblées sur les quatre critères clés: les ressources en eau, la population, la pauvreté et les moyens de subsistance.Le tableau 1 énumère les données importantes qu'il faut collecter pour ces quatre critères. Il propose également une liste des sources contenant généralement ce type d'informations. En plus des sources indiquées, il peut être utile d'interroger les responsables des pouvoirs publics, le personnel universitaire et les organisations de développement pour rassembler des informations sur les zones présentant des ressources en eau accessibles et sous-utilisées, des densités de population élevées, de forts taux de pauvreté et des modes de subsistance dépendant de l'agriculture.L'objectif de la phase 1 étant de restreindre la portée géographique de l'évaluation en se concentrant sur les zones les plus propices aux interventions de GEA pour obtenir le plus grand impact possible, il n'est pas nécessaire de rassembler pour la phase 1 toutes les informations énumérées dans le tableau 1. Toutefois, toutes les données précisées seront éventuellement nécessaires pour terminer l'évaluation. Puisqu'il s'agit de la première phase de collecte des données, cela peut être une bonne idée d'obtenir toute l'information qui sera utilisée pour l'ensemble de l'évaluation aussi tôt que possible dans le processus. De plus, la collecte de certaines données entraîne souvent la découverte de détails supplémentaires et de sources d'informations susceptibles d'être utiles pour l'ensemble du processus. Les informations cruciales sur les ressources en eaux souterraines qui sont indispensables à l'évaluation des opportunités de GEA pour les petits exploitants agricoles sont la profondeur de la nappe phréatique et l'apport en eau relatif. Ici, les puits à faible rendement sont ceux dont le débit en continu ne suffi t pas à irriguer une superfi cie de 0,1 hectare (ha) pendant les périodes où la demande est maximale (ex.: moins d'environ 0,1 litre par seconde [litre/s]). Les puits à fort rendement sont ceux dont le débit équivaut au moins à dix fois le débit en continu (ex.: plus d'un litre par seconde et suffi sant pour irriguer une superfi cie d'au moins un hectare). D'autres paramètres importants sont: la fl uctuation saisonnière de la profondeur de la nappe phréatique, l'épaisseur saturée ou la profondeur jusqu'à la barrière rocheuse, le matériel constitutif ou les caractéristiques de l'aquifère et l'état du terrain de couverture. La fl uctuation saisonnière de la profondeur de la nappe donne des indications sur la fi abilité des eaux souterraines peu profondes et sur leur potentiel pour irriguer de petites parcelles. L'épaisseur saturée ou la profondeur jusqu'à la barrière rocheuse et le matériel constitutif ou les caractéristiques de l'aquifère (transmissivité, réserves spécifi ques, taille et classifi cation des particules, etc.) donnent une idée du rendement et de la hauteur de rabattement du puits. Les informations sur la géologie de surface ou la nature du terrain de couverture, ex.: type de sol, présence de cailloux ou pierres et existence et épaisseur de couches dures (par exemple, du régolithe) donnent des indications sur les possibilités de forage ou de creusement de puits.Il arrive souvent que ces données ne soient pas disponibles, en particulier pour les eaux souterraines peu profondes accessibles aux petits exploitants agricoles, ou qu'elles se limitent à des études dont la portée géographique ne convient pas pour une évaluation régionale. Les informations liées aux sources et programmes d'eau potable (ex.: provenant des programmes sur l'eau, l'assainissement et la santé, des systèmes municipaux et ruraux d'alimentation en eau, etc.) peuvent fournir de précieux indices et il est possible de déduire des informations pertinentes sur les eaux souterraines (ex.: caractéristiques du terrain de couverture et de l'aquifère) des cartes des sols et de la géologie de surface. Les puits municipaux sont généralement beaucoup plus profonds que les eaux souterraines peu profondes auxquelles les petits exploitants agricoles peuvent facilement accéder. Les données sur les puits municipaux peuvent toutefois fournir des informations utiles sur les eaux souterraines, ex.: les caractéristiques des terrains de couverture et des aquifères, les tendances des niveaux d'eau, etc. En Ethiopie, par exemple, une grande partie des informations disponibles sur les eaux souterraines proviennent de données relatives aux puits municipaux. Il est possible d'obtenir de bonnes estimations de la profondeur des eaux souterraines peu profondes grâce à une analyse SIG en utilisant un MAN, l'emplacement des masses d'eau pérennes et les données climatiques, comme le montre l'annexe 1. La cartographie de la profondeur des eaux souterraines résultant de ce processus peut alors servir à restreindre la portée géographique de l'évaluation aux zones propices et des informations supplémentaires sur les eaux souterraines peuvent être recueillies pendant la phase 2, soit la collecte des données sur le terrain.Idéalement, cette information est cartographiée grâce à un SIG, ce qui permet de visualiser et d'analyser le chevauchement de ces caractéristiques. Les sources d'information sont des cartes, rapports et études, ainsi que des bases de données. Puisque l'objectif est de trouver des zones géographiques où les quatre critères se chevauchent, la plupart des données doivent se présenter sous la forme de cartes ou en format SIG, ou encore sous forme de tableaux avec des attributs de position de points permettant de les cartographier avec un SIG.Tout au long du processus, l'équipe doit continuellement passer en revue les données recueillies jusqu'alors, afi n de pouvoir repérer les zones à fort potentiel pour des études approfondies et de mettre l'accent sur les quatre critères clés. Cet examen mettra aussi en évidence les lacunes dans les données.Le principal résultat de la phase 1 est une description écrite des zones sélectionnées pour être examinées plus en détail au cours de la phase 2, avec une explication des raisons pour lesquelles ces zones ont été choisies pour une collecte sur le terrain des données détaillées. D'autres résultats suggérés pourraient être:1. Une carte nationale faisant ressortir les zones à examiner en détail au cours de la phase 2, ainsi que des données/informations sur les quatre critères clés (pauvreté, population, ressources en eau et moyens de subsistance dépendant de l'agriculture) pour chaque zone sélectionnée.2. Une brève description des zones jugées prometteuses mais non sélectionnées pour la collecte des données détaillées, avec les raisons pour lesquelles ces zones n'ont pas été choisies (à garder en réserve au cas où elle pourrait être utile ultérieurement).L'encadré 1 offre un exemple d'application de la phase 1 de la méthodologie d'évaluation des ressources en eau au Ghana.Le projet AgWater Solutions a associé des données et informations secondaires et des techniques de cartographie participative par SIG au Ghana, au Burkina Faso, en Ethiopie, en Tanzanie, en Zambie et dans deux états indiens (Madhya Pradesh et Bengale occidental). Le projet a produit des cartes de domaines favorables pour des solutions de GEA spécifi ques, dont il a été estimé qu'ils présentaient de bonnes possibilités d'amélioration des vies des petits exploitants agricoles. Dans d'autres pays où ces premières étapes de cartographie et d'analyse n'ont pas encore été effectuées, il serait utile de créer des cartes générales superposant les données/informations sur les quatre critères clés, afi n de mettre en évidence les zones où ces conditions prédominent. Les zones où ces conditions coexistent seront les plus propices pour l'application de technologies productives d'accès et d'application de l'eau en vue d'améliorer la petite production agricole.L'équipe d'évaluation des ressources en eau a rassemblé des données et informations provenant de diverses sources au Ghana, dont la Commission des ressources en eau (WRC), l'Autorité de développement de l'irrigation du Ghana (GIDA), le ministère de l'alimentation et de l'agriculture (MoFA), l'Université de Legon et des organisations travaillant dans le développement agricole et la recherche sur l'eau (dont l'Institut international de gestion des ressources en eau [IWMI] et les membres de l'équipe du projet AgWater Solutions).L'équipe a examiné et analysé les informations au fur et à mesure de leur collecte, en affi nant continuellement la représentation globale du pays sous l'angle de la pauvreté (annexe 2, fi gure A2.1, fi gure A2.2), de la densité de la population (annexe 2, fi gure A2.3), des moyens de subsistance (annexe 2, fi gure A2.4) et des ressources en eau. Les régions et districts dont il a été observé qu'elles avaient des densités de population relativement élevées sont les suivants: le Grand Accra, la région Centrale, le Haut Ghana oriental, la ville de Tamale dans la région du Nord et la ville de Kumasi dans la région d'Ashanti (annexe 2, fi gure A2.5).L'équipe, à l'examen de ces zones, a décidé de ne pas axer son action sur la région Centrale parce que la pauvreté est beaucoup plus importante dans le Haut Ghana oriental: en effet, dans cette dernière région, environ 89 pour cent de la population est pauvre et approximativement 82 pour cent est extrêmement pauvre; dans la région Centrale, 48 pour cent de la population est pauvre et 32 pour cent est extrêmement pauvre (Canagarajah et Pörtner, 2003).L'équipe a également constaté que les taux de pauvreté étaient relativement faibles (38 pour cent) dans la région de la Volta. Toutefois, en discutant avec les responsables gouvernementaux et les chercheurs, l'équipe d'évaluation a appris que de nombreux agriculteurs du district de Keta dans la région de la Volta utilisent les eaux souterraines pour irriguer des cultures de légumes à forte valeur ajoutée, qu'ils vendent dans le marché d'Accra. Elle a alors décidé d'inclure ce district dans le processus d'évaluation pour en apprendre davantage sur l'agriculture irriguée dans la région.L'équipe a produit une première carte (annexe 2, fi gure A2.5) montrant les trois zones géographiques distinctes des régions sélectionnées au moyen de l'exercice initial de défi nition de la portée de l'évaluation: le Haut Ghana oriental (avec Tamale dans la région du Nord), la zone de Kumasi dans la région d'Ashanti et la zone de Keta dans la région de la Volta.L'équipe a alors rassemblé des informations supplémentaires sur ces régions pour ce qui est des ressources en eau, des sols et de l'agriculture afi n de sélectionner une zone pour la collecte des données détaillées sur le terrain (voir l'annexe 3 pour les exemples du Ghana). Les informations comparatives concernant les trois zones sont proposées ci-après: Encadré 1. Collecte des données de la phase 1 -un exemple du Ghana (suite) Dans une grande partie du nord du Ghana, 30 à 40 pour cent des enfants (âgés de 0 à 5 ans) ont faim. Dans certaines zones du Haut Ghana oriental, il y a 10 à 25 enfants souffrant d'insuffi sance pondérale (âgés de 0 à 5 ans) par kilomètre carré et un taux de mortalité infantile de 75 à 100 par 1 000 naissances vivantes. La densité globale de la population rurale dans cette région est de 100 à 250 personnes par kilomètre carré.L'équipe a alors mis en place une base de données SIG pour le nord du Ghana et commencé à cartographier le réseau des cours d'eau et la profondeur des eaux souterraines; elle s'est aussi mise à recueillir davantage d'informations détaillées en préparation de la phase 2, la collecte de données détaillées sur le terrain au nord du Ghana. FIGURE 3. Comparaison rapide des trois zones prometteuses du Ghana fondée sur les quatre critères clés de la densité de la population, de la pauvreté, des ressources en eau et des moyens de subsistance agricoles (productivité et revenus). Noter que les trois zones présentaient des possibilités intéressantes pour l'accès à l'eau et la productivité/les revenus agricoles, mais que l'équipe a conclu que le Haut Ghana oriental détenait le potentiel non réalisé le plus important, du fait de son niveau plus élevé de pauvreté et de ses ressources en eau sous-utilisées.Mention de source: Stuart TaylorAu cours de la seconde phase de l'évaluation des ressources en eau, l'équipe visite les zones géographiques repérées dans la première phase pour remplir les deux objectifs clés qui suivent:1. Vérifi er les quatre critères clés (ressources en eaux de surface et/ou eaux souterraines, densité élevée de population, taux élevés de pauvreté et moyens de subsistance dépendant de l'agriculture) et recueillir des données et informations à petite échelle qui seront incorporées au SIG pour ajouter des détails et améliorer la résolution.L'équipe doit visiter les sources d'eau susceptibles d'être accessibles qui ont été repérées durant la première phase de l'évaluation générale, afi n de confi rmer qu'elles conviennent bien pour l'utilisation des petits exploitants agricoles (ex.: zones où des eaux souterraines peu profondes sont disponibles, eaux de surface accessibles et/ Les paragraphes qui suivent proposent des recommandations à prendre en considération tout au long de l'évaluation détaillée sur le terrain.Une grande partie des informations sur les ressources en eau locales provient d'informateurs locaux, que ce soit de manière formelle ou fortuite. Un exemple de collecte fortuite d'informations est la rencontre de l'équipe des ressources en eau pour le nord du Ghana, qui roulait à environ 7 km à l'ouest de Tamale (en direction de la Volta blanche), avec un groupe de femmes puisant de l'eau dans un puits creusé et peu profond (fi gure 4). L'équipe s'est arrêtée pour parler aux femmes et prendre des mesures sur le puits, qui ont indiqué que l'eau était à un mètre en dessous de la surface du sol, avec une conductivité électrique de 65 μS/ cm (soit une salinité très faible), et que la profondeur du puits était de 3,1 m.Les femmes ont dit que le niveau d'eau était élevé à cause des pluies récentes, ce qui expliquait aussi la faible salinité. Elles estimaient que le puits serait à sec deux mois plus tard (à la fi n de janvier ou au début de février) et qu'elles devraient alors se procurer de l'eau dans un réservoir situé «à proximité» (à environ un kilomètre). Elles ont aussi précisé qu'il y avait d'autres puits comme celui-ci dans le voisinage et encore beaucoup d'autres le long de la route mais qu'ils seraient tous «fi nis» (à sec) deux mois plus tard. Ces puits ont été creusés jusqu'au niveau de la couche dure de latérite, parce qu'il est trop diffi cile de creuser plus profond et qu'il y a peu d'eau sous la couche dure. Les femmes ne connaissaient personne pratiquant l'irrigation à partir de puits.Cette rencontre a permis à l'équipe d'apprendre que cette zone présentait peu de possibilités de valorisation des eaux souterraines peu profondes, que la perméabilité des sols était très faible, qu'il ne semblait pas y avoir d'importantes couches de sol aquifères dans les 30 m en dessous de la surface du sol et qu'il était diffi cile de creuser à travers la couche de latérite. Il apparaît d'autre part que la nappe s'abaisse d'environ un mètre par mois une fois que la saison des pluies est terminée. Il est important, pendant l'étude initiale sur le terrain, d'analyser les données aussi vite que possible, de manière à ce que l'équipe puisse rapidement faire les ajustements nécessaires sur l'évaluation pendant qu'elle est encore sur le terrain. Les données de terrain recueillies dans la journée devraient être analysées et cartographiées pendant la soirée et il faudrait que l'équipe en discute et les interprète avant de poursuivre son travail de terrain le jour suivant.Par exemple, les données sur la hauteur de rabattement d'un puits collectées pendant la journée devraient être traitées le soir pour déterminer l'apport en eaux souterraines (voir la section Estimer l'apport potentiel en eau d'un puits). Si cette analyse révèle que l'apport en eaux souterraines est trop faible pour irriguer une superfi cie suffi samment grande pour être économiquement viable pour l'agriculteur, l'équipe peut choisir de modifi er l'itinéraire de sa mission de terrain pour visiter des zones qui pourraient être plus favorables à une production agricole irriguée (ex.: des sols et une géologie différents, des eaux souterraines moins profondes).L'évaluation des ressources en eau et la sélection de solutions appropriées de GEA pour les petits exploitants agricoles sont essentiellement des exercices de cartographie qui conviennent bien à l'analyse SIG. Le processus analytique global consiste à décrire et cartographier les principales typologies des ressources en eau dans la zone étudiée et ensuite à proposer des combinaisons appropriées de technologies d'élévation de l'eau (pompes) et de méthodes d'application de l'irrigation, comme indiqué dans l'annexe 5.Parce qu'elles sont presque partout présentes et relativement accessibles, les eaux souterraines peu profondes sont la source d'eau la plus courante et la plus importante pour les petits exploitants agricoles. Toutefois, ce sont aussi en général les ressources en eau sur lesquelles il existe le moins d'informations. Par conséquent, à l'étape de reconnaissance de l'évaluation, l'équipe devra utiliser des modèles d'inférence et des analyses pour extrapoler et cartographier les caractéristiques et typologies des eaux souterraines. Les paramètres clés pour défi nir les typologies des eaux souterraines sont la profondeur jusqu'à la nappe d'eau souterraine et l'apport en eau possible des puits pénétrant la nappe. Les sections qui suivent décrivent ces techniques plus en détail.L'analyse la plus importante d'une évaluation des ressources en eau est la cartographie de la profondeur des eaux souterraines (voir l'annexe 1 pour davantage de détails). Cela est important non seulement pour défi nir les typologies des eaux souterraines, mais aussi pour comprendre les typologies des eaux de surface. Par exemple, une nappe d'eaux souterraines cartographiée à moins d'un mètre de la surface du sol indique généralement qu'il s'agit de zones plates, mal drainées et saturées de façon saisonnière, de vallées intérieures et de basfonds. En superposant ces zones à haute nappe phréatique et les cartes des sols dans le SIG, il devient possible d'évaluer le potentiel d'une zone pour la GEA. Si les sols indiquent des conditions d'inondation chronique, l'agriculture irriguée se limitera vraisemblablement à la production de riz. Si les sols sont sableux, des puits simples avec des pompes à pédales uniquement aspirantes pourraient convenir pour une agriculture irriguée de saison sèche. Si les sols des zones à haute nappe phréatique sont constitués d'argile lourde, les puits ne serviront sans doute pas à grand chose, mais des pompes à moteur prélevant l'eau dans les cours d'eau pérennes associés à la nappe pour alimenter les bas-fonds fertiles pourraient être très effi caces.Une fois la profondeur des eaux souterraines cartographiée, il faut estimer l'apport potentiel en eau des puits de manière à pouvoir déterminer les technologies de pompage et d'irrigation convenant pour la ressource considérée. L'apport en eau d'un puits est le débit qui peut être pompé de manière continue sans abaisser le niveau d'eau du puits en dessous de l'entrée de la pompe. Des estimations de l'apport d'eau relatif suffi sent pour l'évaluation, ex.: apport faible (moins de ~0,1 litre/s), apport élevé (plus de ~1 litre/s) et apport moyen (entre faible et élevé). L'apport en eau d'un puits peut être approximativement déduit des données de la télédétection (ex.: analyse des pentes et de la topographie, géologie de surface et cartes et données sur les sols) mais à moins qu'il existe des données sur des puits réels installés tout près de la zone d'intérêt, les méthodes de télédétection ne produiront que des approximations grossières. Pour améliorer les estimations de l'apport en eaux souterraines, l'équipe devra tester la hauteur de rabattement de quelques puits dans la zone d'intérêt pendant la phase 2 du travail sur le terrain.Pour tester la hauteur de rabattement d'un puits, il faut pomper l'eau de ce puits à un débit donné et mesurer l'abaissement de la hauteur de la surface de l'eau pendant le pompage. Lorsque le niveau de l'eau cesse de descendre ou que toute l'eau a été pompée, le pompage est arrêté et l'élévation du niveau de la nappe est mesurée au fur et à mesure que le puits se remplit. En mesurant le diamètre du puits et l'abaissement ou l'élévation de la hauteur de la surface de l'eau, il est possible de calculer la variation de la quantité d'eau stockée dans le puits. En divisant cette variation du stockage par l'intervalle de temps entre les mesures, on calcule le taux de variation du stockage. Et en soustrayant ce taux de variation du stockage du débit de la pompe, on obtient le taux de recharge des eaux souterraines. Pendant le remplissage, le taux de variation du stockage est égal au taux de recharge des eaux souterraines. Il est alors possible de déterminer l'apport quotidien en eau à partir du taux de recharge des eaux souterraines et des dimensions du puits. Si les capacités de stockage du puits sont importantes, comme c'est le cas avec les puits creusés dont le diamètre est d'un mètre ou plus, le taux de pompage peut être beaucoup plus élevé que le taux de recharge à condition que le puits se remplisse aux intervalles entres les pompages. Lorsque les capacités de stockage des puits sont limitées, comme par exemple pour les puits forés manuellement de petit diamètre (ex.: 5 cm), le débit de la pompe se limite au taux de recharge des eaux souterraines. La durée des tests sur la hauteur de rabattement varie, mais en général il faut moins d'une demi-journée pour le niveau de précision nécessaire à une évaluation rapide. Les tests effectués sur les puits creusés de 1 à 1,5 m de diamètre prennent environ trois heures si la pompe utilisée est à faible débit (ex.: une pompe à pédales à moins de 1 litre/s) et qu'il s'agit d'un puits à faible apport d'eau. Si le puits a un apport d'eau élevé, il n'y aura pas de rabattement mesurable avec une pompe dont le débit est de 1 litre/s et on peut rapidement déterminer (après moins d'une heure de tests) que l'apport en eau du puits est égal au débit de la pompe ou plus important.Il est crucial de connaître les besoins en eau des cultures irriguées pour effectuer les bilans hydriques, déterminer les technologies d'irrigation appropriées, concevoir les systèmes d'irrigation et évaluer la faisabilité technique et la validité économique de l'agriculture irriguée pour qu'elle bénéfi cie aux petits exploitants agricoles. Les besoins en eau d'irrigation des cultures sont calculés en opérant la différence entre la consommation d'eau (évapotranspiration) des cultures et les pluies effi caces. En général, les données climatiques locales sont utilisées dans des fonctions mathématiques pour estimer l'évapotranspiration d'une culture de référence irriguée par de l'eau de puits. Les coeffi cients culturaux propres à la culture considérée, ajustés pour correspondre aux dates appropriées de plantation, de croissance et de récolte, sont alors appliqués pour relier l'utilisation d'eau de la culture de référence à la culture considérée (Allen et al., 1998 ou des études semblables). Pour l'étape de reconnaissance de l'évaluation, les besoins en eau de pointe quotidiens et les estimations mensuelles de l'évapotranspiration sont généralement suffi sants. Il existe des outils analytiques pour calculer l'évapotranspiration et les besoins en eau d'irrigation des cultures (ex.: la base de données ClimWat et l'outil d'aide à la décision CropWat de la FAO), ainsi que des ensembles de données mondiales SIG offrant des produits et paramètres climatiques maillés (ex.: l'atlas mondial de l'IWMI sur l'eau et le climat).Dans les zones où l'équipe d'évaluation confi rme la présence des quatre critères clés et l'existence d'un potentiel non réalisé de développement des ressources en eau et de la productivité agricole, il est important d'analyser les limites du captage durable d'eau pour la production agricole irriguée. La méthode du bilan hydrique estime ces limites en intégrant les données liées aux précipitations, au stockage de l'eau, aux taux de recharge et aux interactions entre eaux souterraines peu profondes et eaux de surface. Une telle analyse est cruciale pour l'aspect de protection de la ressource de l'évaluation, qu'il s'agisse d'eaux de surface ou d'eaux souterraines.Le bilan hydrique est un cadre comptable qui met en balance les apports d'eau (ex.: les précipitations) et les consommations (ex.: l'évapotranspiration) sur une durée donnée, en général une année. Si la consommation dépasse les apports, la différence est fournie par les réserves (ex.: humidité du sol et eaux souterraines). Dans des conditions naturelles, la consommation est égale ou inférieure aux apports et le solde des apports part en ruissellement. En agriculture irriguée, l'évapotranspiration saisonnière des cultures dépasse généralement les pluies effi caces, ce qui se traduit par une réduction des eaux stockées. Une situation non durable apparaît si la réduction des eaux stockées dépasse de manière continue le taux de recharge annuel. Des problèmes saisonniers peuvent aussi survenir si les prélèvements d'eau sur les eaux stockées provoquent un abaissement des niveaux d'eau en dessous des possibilités d'accès physique ou entraînent des confl its entre les usagers de l'eau, selon leur situation dans le bassin versant.Pour effectuer un bilan hydrique, il faut disposer des données suivantes:• Les mesures, pour un éventail de puits, de la profondeur entre la surface et l'eau, de la profondeur du puits, du diamètre du puits et de la capacité d'élévation de l'eau de la technologie d'irrigation particulière utilisée (ex.: nombre de litres par seau).• Les tests sur le rabattement de l'eau et les taux de recharge dans les puits sélectionnés.• Les mesures de la salinité de l'eau.• Les mesures de la taille des parcelles des agriculteurs.• Le temps qu'il faut aux agriculteurs pour arroser leurs parcelles.• La position, selon le système mondial de localisation (GPS), des puits, des différents types de technologies d'irrigation, des cours d'eau et d'autres paramètres déterminants.• La densité maximale potentielle des puits peu profonds sans interférence.• La compréhension des caractéristiques hydrologiques locales.Cette section présente quelques paramètres décisionnels déterminants visant à faciliter l'utilisation des données et informations recueillies au cours de l'évaluation sur le terrain afi n que les programmes conçus bénéfi cient aux agriculteurs et agricultrices pauvres.Grâce au processus de collecte des informations et données, l'équipe d'évaluation peut analyser en continu les opportunités qui pourraient permettre aux petits exploitants agricoles d'améliorer leur production agricole. En général, les possibilités d'évolution les plus intéressantes associent les opportunités liées aux cultures avec celles portant sur l'accès à l'eau:1. Les opportunités de tirer parti des avantages propres à la production agricole à petite échelle, par exemple en choisissant des cultures exigeant plus d'entretien et par conséquent plus diffi ciles à cultiver à grande échelle, comme les légumes irrigués.2. Les opportunités d'améliorer l'accès des petits exploitants agricoles aux ressources en eaux disponibles et leur utilisation de ces ressources, en particulier lorsque l'analyse a mis en évidence des zones présentant un important potentiel non réalisé.Pour chaque opportunité défi nie, il peut être utile d'élaborer des scénarios permettant d'évaluer les répercussions positives ou négatives anticipées sur les revenus, les ressources en eau, la dynamique des rapports entre hommes et femmes et des autres rapports sociaux, l'évolution des marchés, etc., en se fondant sur l'élargissement de l'intervention aux zones géographiques possiblement concernées selon les repérages des cartes SIG. L'élaboration de scénarios peut contribuer à garantir que la conception du programme aborde et surveille les répercussions qui pourraient être négatives.Après la première évaluation rapide et l'élaboration de scénarios décrites ci-dessus, l'équipe d'évaluation devra recueillir des données supplémentaires dans les zones défi nies à fort potentiel pour confi rmer leur sélection et fournir les détails additionnels nécessaires pour l'élaboration de scénarios et la conception du programme. Par exemple, après l'évaluation rapide, il faudra contrôler les ressources en eau à différents moments de l'année pour observer les fl uctuations saisonnières (ex.: la profondeur de l'eau dans les puits) pour confi rmer la disponibilité des ressources en eau qui doivent être utilisées par les agriculteurs. En outre, il peut être utile de recueillir des données détaillées sur les divers paramètres d'intérêt (ex.: cultures, modes de subsistance, ravageurs et maladies, répartition de la main d'oeuvre entre hommes et femmes et systèmes de cultures) pour étayer la conception du programme. Les techniciens de terrain locaux et/ou les agriculteurs qui ont participé à la première évaluation sur le terrain peuvent être formés à la collecte de ces données supplémentaires. Pour ce faire, il faut former les techniciens/ agriculteurs à l'utilisation de GPS pour mesurer la profondeur de l'eau dans les puits et de formulaires formels d'enquête pour assurer la collecte organisée des données nécessaires et il faut aussi les équiper du matériel nécessaire.Cette étape comprend la détermination des technologies d'élévation et d'application de l'eau les plus appropriées pour les petits exploitants agricoles, compte tenu des conditions propres aux sites concernés. Pour l'irrigation des petites parcelles, il est important d'adopter une «approche systémique» plutôt que de considérer les différentes technologies envisagées comme des soussystèmes non apparentés. Un système d'irrigation comprend:• une source d'eau/alimentation en eau;• un dispositif d'élévation/de pressurisation de l'eau (pompe);• un moyen d'acheminer l'eau de la source à la parcelle (transport); et • un moyen d'appliquer l'eau au sol, d'où les racines des plantes pourront l'extraire (méthode d'application de l'irrigation).Cette section classe la validité des diverses technologies d'élévation de l'eau selon la typologie des sources d'eau et la méthode d'application de l'irrigation. Le tableau 2 décrit neuf types de sources d'eau: quatre utilisant des eaux souterraines, trois des cours d'eau et deux des réservoirs. L'annexe 5 donne davantage de détails sur ces typologies. TABLEAU 2. Typologies des sources d'eau pour le classement de la validité de l'accès à l'eau et de l'irrigation pour les petits exploitants agricoles Le tableau 3 propose des scores de validité pour divers groupes de types de pompes et de méthodes d'application de l'irrigation et pour les neuf typologies de sources d'eau détaillées dans le tableau 2. Les méthodes d'application de l'irrigation citées dans le tableau 3 sont l'irrigation de surface conventionnelle, l'irrigation par sillon sous conduite/par bassin sous conduite, l'irrigation goutte-à-goutte, l'irrigation par aspersion, l'irrigation par tuyaux et seaux portés manuellement. Les scores n'ont été attribués qu'aux méthodes d'application de l'irrigation qui peuvent être associées à un type particulier de pompe et à une typologie particulière de source d'eau. Ces scores de validité vont de «3» pour une validité élevée à «1» pour une validité faible et «0» pour les combinaisons non valides ou non applicables. Par exemple, les pompes à pédales uniquement aspirantes conviennent bien pour l'irrigation par sillon/par bassin sous conduite conventionnelle utilisant des eaux souterraines très peu profondes à fort apport en eau. Toutefois, lorsqu'une pompe à pédales uniquement aspirante est employée pour pomper l'eau d'un cours d'eau, il faut généralement utiliser un long tuyau d'aspiration pour faire franchir la berge du cours d'eau à l'eau et l'amener au niveau élevé du champ. Les tuyaux d'aspiration sont coûteux (parce que chaque tuyau d'aspiration doit être rond et suffi samment rigide pour ne pas s'écraser sous l'effet de l'aspiration, ce qui veut dire qu'on ne peut pas utiliser de tuyaux plats bon marché) et diffi ciles à préserver des fuites (de petits trous dans la conduite de refoulement ne posent pas problème, mais il suffi t d'un trou d'épingle dans la conduite d'aspiration pour la rendre inutilisable). C'est pourquoi les pompes a pédales uniquement aspirantes obtiennent un score de validité de zéro (inadaptées) pour les cours d'eau pérennes et saisonniers. Toutefois, les plaines d'inondation des grands cours d'eau pérennes (typologie 7, zones saturées de façon saisonnière) peuvent convenir à l'utilisation de ces pompes à pédales. Ces scores de validité se fondent sur l'expérience et le bon sens et sont quelque peu subjectifs. Les scores du tableau 3 ne devraient donc pas être considérés comme étant universellement applicables. L'aspect le plus important du tableau 3 n'est pas les scores indiqués, mais la méthodologie utilisée pour déterminer les systèmes d'irrigation les plus valides pour les petits exploitants agricoles dans diverses situations d'approvisionnement en eau. Le principal résultat de la phase 2 est un ensemble de solutions de GEA recommandées et de considérations connexes qui seront utiles pour la conception du programme. Parmi les autres résultats de la phase 2 fi gurent:1. la vérifi cation des quatre critères clés défi nis dans la phase 1;2. une caractérisation générale des systèmes de petite agriculture employés par la population, y compris l'importance relative de l'agriculture dans ses stratégies de subsistance et la répartition des rôles entre agriculteurs et agricultrices dans la production et la commercialisation agricole; L'encadré 3 résume un exemple de la collecte des données, de l'analyse et de la conception d'une intervention pour la phase 2, axé sur les zones du nord du Ghana sélectionnées grâce à l'analyse réalisée en phase 1. Comme le montre l'encadré 3, l'équipe d'évaluation a concentré son attention sur les zones sélectionnées du Ghana pour caractériser les systèmes de petite agriculture, comprendre l'utilisation des ressources en eau et les problèmes auxquels sont confrontés les petits agriculteurs, évaluer le bilan des ressources en eau et concevoir une intervention.Une fois le nord du Ghana défi ni comme une région présentant un fort potentiel non réalisé pour la petite production agricole, l'équipe d'évaluation a visité la Région du Nord et le Haut Ghana oriental et occidental, des régions toutes situées dans le nord du pays. La reconnaissance visuelle sur le terrain a confi rmé la conviction initiale que le nord du Ghana présente des ressources accessibles en eaux souterraines et de surface, une densité de population rurale relativement élevée, des taux élevés de pauvreté et des moyens de subsistance dépendant de l'agriculture.La fi gure 5 montre le repérage GPS réalisé pour la phase 2 de l'évaluation. Parce que l'évaluation générale effectuée à la phase 1 a indiqué que le Haut Ghana oriental était la zone où la densité de population et le taux de pauvreté était les plus élevés, c'est cette région qui a reçu le plus d'attention au cours de la phase 2, comme en témoigne le repérage GPS. Néanmoins, comme le montre la fi gure 5, l'évaluation sur le terrain n'a pas pu couvrir très intensément les zones d'intérêt en raison du peu de temps disponible et de leur inaccessibilité par la route. L'équipe s'est divisée en deux groupes pour l'essentiel du travail sur le terrain afi n de couvrir une plus grande superfi cie, recueillir davantage de données détaillées sur les ressources en eau et effectuer plus d'interviews. Caractérisation des systèmes de petite agriculture dans le nord du Ghana Le travail de terrain détaillé effectué dans le nord du Ghana a révélé que la petite agriculture était largement caractérisée par la production de cultures de base pluviales (ex.: millet, sorgho) dans des sols pauvres, complétée par l'élevage de petits ruminants et de volaille et par la pêche. A plus petite échelle, l'équipe a constaté que les paramètres agricoles tels que les types de sols, la topographie, la géologie, l'accès à l'eau, etc., sont hétérogènes, ce qui a entraîné une diversité des activités de production agricole qui est une réaction d'adaptation aux conditions. En général, dans les zones où les ressources en eau sont très limitées, les agriculteurs pratiquent une agriculture uniquement pluviale et/ou limitent les superfi cies irriguées.De nombreux agriculteurs utilisent des variétés locales de semences, dont la productivité est faible mais qui leur permettent de reproduire eux-mêmes leurs semences pour les futures cultures. Les migrations au sud du Ghana pour travailler pendant la saison sèche constituent une stratégie courante pour faire face au manque de débouchés dans l'agriculture. Les questions de régimes fonciers et d'accès aux terres sont complexes et variables. La plupart des agriculteurs ont déclaré qu'ils ne possédaient pas de terres mais n'ont pas semblé préoccupés par leurs droits à utiliser la terre ni par les questions d'accès à l'eau pour irriguer leurs parcelles. Dans certaines zones, les propriétaires fonciers ne cultivent la terre que pendant la saison des pluies pour produire des cultures de base et louent leurs terres (contre une rétribution ou une partie des récoltes) à d'autres agriculteurs pendant la saison sèche.Lorsque l'eau est accessible à un prix abordable dans le nord du Ghana, un petit pourcentage d'agriculteurs cultive à la saison sèche des cultures à forte valeur ajoutée, par exemple des piments et des tomates, et en tirent un revenu supplémentaire important. Le projet AgWater Solutions a estimé qu'environ 500 000 agriculteurs ghanéens produisent des cultures irriguées, essentiellement en utilisant des seaux (70 %) et des pompes motorisées (30 %) (Giordano et al., 2012). Les femmes aussi bien que les hommes produisent ces cultures irriguées de saison sèche mais ce sont surtout les femmes qui sont responsables de la commercialisation des récoltes. Les agricultrices et agriculteurs ont déclaré qu'ils pouvaient vendre leurs produits agricoles soit dans les marchés locaux, soit à des négociants qui viennent jusqu'à l'exploitation acheter les légumes (souvent pour les revendre dans les centres urbains du sud du Ghana). Même si la profi tabilité des cultures irriguées de légumes est élevée pour les petits exploitants agricoles, la production de ces cultures présente aussi des risques importants à cause des ravageurs, maladies, risques du marché, etc. Ces agriculteurs ont indiqué n'avoir reçu que très peu de formation ou d'aide sous une autre forme du gouvernement ou d'autres institutions; la plupart ont déclaré avoir entendu parler des technologies d'irrigation, de la production des cultures à forte valeur ajoutée, de la gestion de l'agriculture, etc., par des voisins ou d'autres membres de leurs familles.Les agriculteurs qui peuvent accéder à l'eau pendant la saison sèche utilisent généralement trois types de ressources en eau: des cours d'eau, des aquifères ou des réservoirs. Les paragraphes qui suivent proposent une description de chacune de ces ressources ainsi qu'un bref descriptif des différents types de technologies d'accès à l'eau et de pratiques agricoles couramment employés avec chaque type de ressource en eau.Cours d'eau. Lorsque les agriculteurs ont accès à des cours d'eau pérennes ou lits de rivières qui conservent de l'eau pendant la saison sèche, ils en pompent l'eau pour irriguer en utilisant des pompes à moteur qui ont été louées ou fournies par le MoFA. De nombreux agriculteurs ont déclaré préférer les pompes à essence plutôt qu'au diesel pour l'usage dans les lits de rivières et cela pour deux raisons. D'abord, parce qu'ils transportent les pompes jusqu'aux rivières, ils préfèrent les pompes à essence qui sont plus petites et portables aux pompes diesel qui sont plus grosses. Ensuite, certains agriculteurs pensent que parce que les pompes diesel plus grosses peuvent extraire de grandes quantités d'eau, les pompes à essence sont mieux adaptées aux lits des cours d'eau qui ne peuvent fournir que des quantités d'eau limitées. Par contre, d'autres agriculteurs ont indiqué préférer les pompes diesel pour extraire l'eau des grands cours d'eau et réservoirs parce qu'il n'est généralement pas nécessaire d'enlever la pompe de l'eau et que les quantités restreintes d'eau ne déterminaient pas le choix de la pompe. Sur le terrain, seuls des hommes possédaient et faisaient fonctionner les pompes diesel et à essence observées. En outre, les agriculteurs ont confi rmé que l'agriculture dans les lits des cours d'eau exigeait qu'ils restent sur la parcelle tout le temps pour veiller à ce que le bétail n'empiète pas sur la parcelle cultivée. Les lits des rivières étant généralement situés à une certaine distance des habitations et les femmes souhaitant rester près de leurs foyers, ce sont essentiellement les agriculteurs qui pratiquent l'agriculture dans le lit des cours d'eau.Aquifères peu profonds. Dans les cas où les agriculteurs du nord du Ghana n'avaient pas accès à un cours d'eau, certains ont creusé manuellement un ou plusieurs puits sur leurs terres et utilisé des seaux pour élever l'eau pour leur production agricole irriguée, surtout dans les vallées intérieures. Dans les sols sableux et autres terres meubles, les agriculteurs ont indiqué que les puits creusés à la main ne duraient souvent qu'une année puis nécessitaient de nouveaux travaux d'excavation. Certains agriculteurs ont expliqué qu'ils creusaient un puits pour les cultures de saison sèche, le rebouchaient à la fi n de la saison, cultivaient leurs cultures de saison des pluies et recreusaient alors le puits à la saison sèche suivante. En général, les agriculteurs pratiquent l'échange de main d'oeuvre pour creuser les puits, ce qui limite le nombre de puits sur les parcelles cultivées par les femmes.Même si les puits creusés manuellement peuvent avoir une grande capacité de stockage de l'eau, il n'est souvent pas possible de creuser ainsi un puits assez profond pour obtenir un volume d'eau suffi sant pour irriguer pendant toute la saison sèche. De fait, de nombreux agriculteurs ont indiqué que leurs puits s'asséchaient avant la fi n de la saison sèche. Pour cette raison, certains agriculteurs ont plusieurs puits sur une seule parcelle; en plus de fournir plus d'eau, le fait d'avoir plusieurs puits diminue la main d'oeuvre requise pour irriguer une parcelle de terrain.Les agriculteurs ont exprimé une préférence pour les pompes à essence plus petites pour les puits creusés manuellement; mais aucune pompe à moteur n'a été observée dans les puits creusés manuellement pendant l'évaluation sur le terrain: les agriculteurs n'arrosaient leurs parcelles qu'avec des seaux. L'irrigation par seaux est pénible et prend beaucoup de temps; certains agriculteurs ont expliqué que leurs enfants n'allaient pas à l'école pendant la saison sèche pour pouvoir les aider avec l'irrigation.Réservoirs. Lorsque les agriculteurs vivent à proximité d'un réservoir, ils utilisent souvent des pompes à moteur ou diesel pour extraire l'eau. Dans ce cas de fi gure, il existe souvent une association d'usagers de l'eau (AUE) qui gère la ressource en eau (ex.: calcul de la durée des rejets d'eau du barrage). L'AUE perçoit aussi des droits pour l'entretien de la structure du réservoir. Les femmes comme les hommes ont accès aux terres situées à proximité des réservoirs et peuvent en utiliser l'eau. L'empiètement du bétail ne semble pas poser de problèmes autour des réservoirs parce que le grand nombre de personnes qui travaillent à proximité contrôle la pénétration du bétail sur les parcelles.De nombreux agriculteurs ont déclaré que l'empiètement du bétail sur les parcelles cultivées leur posait de gros problème. Pendant la saison sèche, lorsque les températures élevées et les forts taux d'évapotranspiration provoquent une pénurie d'aliments pour le bétail, celui-ci est souvent laissé libre pour qu'il puisse chercher de quoi se nourrir. Beaucoup d'agriculteurs qui manquent de moyens pour clôturer leurs parcelles ou qui font pousser leurs cultures dans les lits des cours d'eau sans clôtures de protection ont signalé qu'ils avaient connu des problèmes d'empiètement du bétail sur leurs parcelles.(Suite page suivante) Dans certaines zones du nord du Ghana, les eaux souterraines sont salines et ne conviennent pas pour l'agriculture, ou alors seulement pour des cultures particulières; dans ces endroits, les agriculteurs n'utilisent pas l'eau pour l'irrigation.Cartographie de la profondeur des eaux souterraines Les résultats de l'analyse et de la cartographie de la profondeur des eaux souterraines au nord du Ghana au moyen d'un modèle à 2 000 cellules de grille (un modèle basé sur 2 000 cellules de grille pour un cours d'eau pérenne sera le mieux adapté aux conditions hydrologiques et aux données sur les niveaux d'eau dans les puits peu profonds du nord du Ghana) sont présentés aux fi gures 6 et 7. La carte de la profondeur des eaux souterraines montrée à la fi gure 6 indique aussi l'emplacement des réservoirs et sert de base à la cartographie des typologies de sources d'eau décrite à l'annexe 5. L'annexe 1 donne des détails et des cartes supplémentaires du processus pour la zone en vue rapprochée. Estimation de l'apport potentiel en eau des puits Un test sur la hauteur de rabattement et le remplissage a été effectué l'après-midi du 7 décembre 2010 sur un puits creusé près de Nyangua dans le Haut Ghana oriental. Ce puits avait un diamètre moyen de 0,7 m (superfi cie de la surface de l'eau: 0,4 m). Le pompage de l'eau du puits s'est fait au moyen d'une pompe à pédales. Au début du test, le niveau d'eau dans le puits était de 7,26 m en dessous de la surface du sol. Après un pompage de 32 minutes (jusqu'à 16 h 53), le niveau de l'eau a chuté de 59 cm pour atteindre 7,85 m en dessous de la surface du sol. A ce moment la pompe était proche de sa limite d'aspiration et elle marchait mal. On a alors laissé le puits se remplir en mesurant périodiquement la profondeur de l'eau. Le niveau de l'eau est remonté de 20 cm en 42 minutes (jusqu'à 17 h 35) pour atteindre 7,65 m en dessous de la surface du sol. Ce remplissage en 42 minutes a représenté un volume of 80 litres (1,9 litres par minute, soit 2 700 litres par jour). Cela correspond à un taux de recharge lent, à peine suffi sant pour irriguer une parcelle de légumes de 300 mètres carrés (m 2 ) alors que les besoins en irrigation pour la culture dépassent 8 mm par jour. La capacité de stockage que permet un puits creusé est ce qui rend cette recharge lente utilisable, puisque les agriculteurs peuvent puiser dans l'eau stockée dans le puits pendant la journée puis laisser le puits se recharger durant la nuit. Un puits tubé sans stockage ne conviendrait pas dans de telles conditions. Bilan hydrique général Dans le nord du Ghana, l'estimation moyenne de la recharge en eau souterraine est de 7,5 pour cent des précipitations annuelles (selon la moyenne de cinq études menées dans le nord du Ghana, résumées par Anayah et Kaluarachchi, 2009). Les précipitations moyennes annuelles pour Navrongo sont de 996 mm (selon la base de données ClimWat 2.0 de la FAO pour Navrongo). La recharge des eaux souterraines est donc d'environ 75 mm/an. Les besoins en eau d'irrigation non renouvelable (l'évapotranspiration moins les pluies effi caces) pour des tomates dont la culture a commencé le 1er novembre et qui ont été récoltées le 25 mars (145 jours de période de végétation) sont de 624 mm (calculé avec la version 8.0 de CropWat de la FAO avec les données fournies par la base de données ClimWat 2.0 pour Navrongo). En divisant les besoins en eau d'irrigation non renouvelable par la recharge des eaux souterraines, on obtient une estimation du ratio entre la superfi cie irriguée avec les eaux souterraines et la superfi cie nécessaire pour recharger la source, ex.: 624/75 donne un ratio de 8,3; en d'autres termes, pour chaque 1 000 m 2 irrigués, il faudra 8 300 m 2 de superfi cie de recharge (y compris la superfi cie irriguée) pour pouvoir prélever les eaux souterraines de façon durable. Autrement dit, pour chaque kilomètre carré (100 ha) de superfi cie totale des terres, environ 12 ha peuvent être irrigués de façon durable dans le nord du Ghana (Navrongo servant de lieu indicateur). Comme la plus grande partie des eaux est prélevée à partir de puits situés dans des bas-fonds où les eaux souterraines sont à faible profondeur (zones bleues et vertes dans les fi gures 6 et 7), la surface de recharge (soit toute la zone) suffi ra généralement pour une valorisation durable des eaux souterraines peu profondes.  propres à l'endroit considéré. Par exemple, certaines zones visitées avaient une salinité élevée. Il faut donc sélectionner pour celles-ci des cultures qui peuvent être produites dans des conditions de salinité élevée. • Dans les endroits où les agriculteurs ne produisent pas pour l'instant de cultures à forte valeur ajoutée, il faut en promouvoir la production en mettant en place des parcelles de démonstration pour montrer les pratiques de gestion de l'eau et de production agricole et faire apparaître leurs avantages. 2. Eau • Un contrôle régulier de l'utilisation des eaux souterraines permet d'éviter la surexploitation des eaux souterraines et de comprendre les divers impacts de la valorisation de l'eau. • Formation à la planifi cation de l'application de l'eau pour diminuer la consommation d'eau. 3. Autres • Poser des clôtures contre le bétail pour réduire les pertes dues à l'empiètement du bétail. • Mettre en place des services privés et des chaînes d'approvisionnement effi caces pour les pièces de rechange.L'encadré 4 présente des notes d'enquête issues de l'évaluation sur le terrain de la phase 2 effectuée au Ghana. Ces notes offrent un exemple d'une partie du processus de collecte de données détaillées sur le terrain et des constatations qui sont ressorties pendant le processus.D'après le travail d'analyse effectué pendant la phase 1 au niveau national, l'une des régions désignée comme présentant un plus grand potentiel pour l'agriculture irriguée était le Haut Ghana oriental, dans le nord du pays. L'équipe s'est rendue à Bolgatanga, la capitale du Haut Ghana oriental, et a amorcé des discussions avec des responsables gouvernementaux et d'autres experts, dont un enseignant local, afi n de faire un tour d'horizon des pratiques agricoles et des ressources en eau de la région. Les experts locaux ont régulièrement désigné quelques zones qui selon eux étaient plus propices à la GEA, dont le district de Bawku Ouest.L'équipe s'est alors rendue à Zebilla, capitale du district de Bawku Ouest, et y a rencontré Charles Akwotiga, un responsable de district du ministère de l'Alimentation et de l'Agriculture (MoFA), qui a donné un aperçu des pratiques agricoles employées dans sa zone. Un résumé des notes prises au cours de cette réunion est proposé ci-dessous. Moyens de subsistance. L'agriculture est la principale occupation de nombreux habitants du district. Beaucoup de petits exploitants agricoles tirent un revenu de la production de légumes à la saison sèche en utilisant des seaux pour extraire les eaux souterraines peu profondes. La deuxième activité importante pour assurer la subsistance est l'élevage, essentiellement d'ovins, de caprins et de bovins et la troisième est la pêche.Cultures. Les agriculteurs cultivent le pepe, l'okra, les légumes feuille, l'oignon et la pastèque durant la saison sèche. Les acheteurs des marchés viennent jusqu'aux barrages pour acquérir les produits ou les agriculteurs les vendent au marché de Zebilla.Accès à l'eau.Eaux souterraines. De Garu-Tempane à Gambaga, les agriculteurs utilisent beaucoup les eaux souterraines. Ils creusent un puits à la saison sèche pour accéder aux eaux souterraines, le rebouchent à la fi n de la saison et cultivent alors du maïs. A la prochaine saison sèche, ils creusent de nouveau le puits au même endroit. Il y a des zones dans le district de Bawku Ouest où les eaux souterraines peu profondes sont abondantes mais où l'existence de couches de roche dure empêche les agriculteurs d'accéder facilement à l'eau.Cours d'eau. De nombreux agriculteurs utilisent l'eau des cours d'eau pour l'irrigation, et parfois creusent des puits dans les lits des cours d'eau où il y a souvent de l'eau disponible pendant toute la saison sèche. Ceux qui possèdent des terres utilisent souvent les terres situées près des cours d'eau pour l'agriculture pluviale; à la saison sèche, ils louent souvent ces terres à d'autres agriculteurs.Barrages. Il n'y a pas de grands réservoirs dans le district, seulement de petits barrages qui appartiennent à la communauté. Les femmes et les hommes ont un accès équitable aux terres autour de la plupart des barrages. Après la construction, les barrages sont entretenus et l'eau est gérée par les communautés par le biais d'associations d'usagers de l'eau. Les membres des communautés contribuent à empêcher le bétail d'endommager les cultures. Pendant les années de faibles précipitations, certains barrages n'ont pas suffi samment d'eau pour l'utilisation des agriculteurs pendant toute la durée de la saison sèche. Diffi cultés. L'eau est cruciale pour la production de cultures de saison sèche, mais de nombreux agriculteurs ne peuvent pas accéder à l'eau; lorsqu'il y a de l'eau disponible, beaucoup n'ont pas les moyens de se procurer une pompe. L'empiètement du bétail sur les parcelles cultivées pose aussi souvent problème. Les agriculteurs doivent rester sur les parcelles pour protéger les cultures, ce qui fait que les agricultrices ne cultivent généralement pas près des cours d'eau ou dans leurs lits parce que ces parcelles ne sont pas situées à proximité des fermes familiales.Zones de visite recommandées. Zone de Garu-Tempane: utilisation d'eau de rivière; bas-fonds de Gambaga: eaux souterraines; Sapeliga: puits peu profonds, sols pauvres; et à l'est de Garu-Tempane (par la route, au sud de Tili vers Binaba): quelques utilisations d'eaux souterraines.En se fondant sur les informations ci-dessus, l'équipe s'est rendue jusqu'aux zones dont il a été indiqué qu'elles disposaient d'eaux souterraines peu profondes et/ou d'eaux de cours d'eau accessibles. Les discussions avec environ 12 agriculteurs et agricultrices travaillant à proximité de la Volta blanche ont mis en évidence les faits suivants: environ 110 agriculteurs, dont 67 sont des femmes, cultivent une parcelle de terre d'approximativement 1/8 d'acre (1 acre = 0,404686 hectare) (500 m²) en utilisant des puits creusés manuellement. Selon les agriculteurs, la profondeur maximale de l'eau dans les puits est de 4 m et ils ont déclaré atteindre une couche de roche lorsqu'ils creusent des puits, ce qui limite la quantité d'eau qui peut être extraite et la taille de la parcelle cultivée. C'est pourquoi les agriculteurs n'étendent pas leurs cultures et ne cultivent que des oignons en raison de la petite taille des parcelles. A partir de mai, les agriculteurs cultivent du riz. Pour prélever l'eau, ils utilisent des arrosoirs, des seaux et des contenants à huile de palme.Les échantillons de données recueillis pendant les discussions sur le terrain sont résumés au tableau 4. Les compétences recommandées au sein de l'équipe d'évaluation des ressources en eau sont les suivantes:• un ingénieur spécialisé en irrigation compétent en matière de solutions de GEA pour les petits exploitants agricoles;• un hydrologue/hydrogéologue connaissant bien les conditions locales;• un spécialiste SIG;• un expert des sols et/ou un agronome/horticulteur;• un sociologue et/ou un spécialiste des questions de genre;• des compétences supplémentaires liées aux objectifs à long terme. Par exemple, un spécialiste des marchés devrait faire partie de l'équipe d'évaluation si l'objectif du programme est d'améliorer l'accès des agriculteurs aux marchés pour les cultures irriguées à forte valeur ajoutée.Il est extrêmement important que les membres de l'équipe comprennent les besoins et limites des petits exploitants agricoles et recommandent et conçoivent des interventions appropriées en conséquence. Par exemple, un ingénieur spécialisé en irrigation qui n'a d'expérience que dans les grands systèmes formels de canaux peut ne pas convenir pour concevoir des solutions appropriées de GEA censées bénéfi cier aux petits exploitants agricoles individuels. Les systèmes visant les petits agriculteurs doivent être axés sur des solutions abordables (faibles coûts d'investissement), économes sur le plan de la main d'oeuvre, disponibles localement, réalisables et individuelles. Il peut arriver que les grands systèmes partagés par de nombreux agriculteurs répondent à toutes ces exigences, mais la conception de solutions appropriées nécessite tout de même que le point de vue du petit exploitant agricole soit pris en considération. Celui-ci différera nécessairement de la perspective des concepteurs de grands périmètres d'irrigation, qui exige une analyse économique du cycle de vie du système et souvent aussi des capitaux importants.Parce que l'évaluation dépend dans une grande mesure de l'analyse SIG, il sera judicieux pour l'équipe d'inclure un spécialiste des SIG dans ses rangs. Celui-ci devrait également être compétent dans d'autres domaines utiles à l'équipe tels que les technologies d'irrigation, l'hydrologie, la géologie ou les sols.L'encadré 5 offre un exemple des compétences mises à profi t dans l'équipe d'évaluation des ressources en eau qui a oeuvré au Ghana.Des techniciens de terrain locaux parlant les langues et dialectes locaux et connaissant bien l'agriculture locale et les caractéristiques hydrographiques de la zone devraient être engagés dans la zone d'intérêt de l'évaluation. Ces techniciens peuvent continuer à recueillir des données spécifi ques après le départ du gros de l'équipe. Par exemple, ils peuvent surveiller le niveau des eaux souterraines et cartographier les caractéristiques des zones que l'équipe complète n'a pas pu visiter. Des techniciens de terrain qualifi és devraient détenir un diplôme technique ou l'équivalent en agriculture, développement rural ou hydrologie.Pour couvrir autant de terrain que possible, et pour des raisons de commodité, l'équipe d'évaluation devrait, pour les journées de travail de terrain, se diviser en plusieurs groupes et se réunir les soirées pour discuter des observations de la journée. L'équipe pourrait aussi trouver intéressant de changer de temps en temps la composition des groupes afi n que les différents spécialistes acquièrent l'expérience et saisissent le point de vue des diverses disciplines relevant d'autres membres de l'équipe.Une évaluation type exigera une équipe de cinq ou six experts pendant au moins trois semaines. Cette durée minimale de trois semaines suppose que la zone d'intérêt de l'étude a déjà été resserrée autour de quelques options, que la collecte générale des données est déjà bien avancée et que les réunions essentielles avec les responsables gouvernementaux, les SNRA, les contacts universitaires, les ONG en charge de la mise en oeuvre et les autres organisations ont été programmées à l'avance pour s'adapter au calendrier de l'équipe d'évaluation. Une période de quatre semaines pour l'équipe complète est une estimation plus réaliste du niveau minimum d'effort requis. La première semaine sera consacrée à la phase 1 de l'évaluation. La collecte générale des données peut être réalisée par quelques membres de l'équipe sur deux semaines, puis complétée par l'équipe au complet sur deux jours, pour se terminer par l'interprétation des données générales et la sélection de la zone d'étude. La visite de terrain de la phase 2 durera normalement de sept à dix jours en fonction de l'étendue de la zone d'intérêt, de son éloignement et de son accessibilité. L'analyse et l'interprétation des données sont réalisées pendant toutes les phases de l'évaluation, au fur et à mesure de la collecte des données. L'analyse fi nale des données et l'élaboration des recommandations seront réalisées pendant les derniers 10 jours. Si des techniciens de terrain locaux sont employés pour collecter des données supplémentaires essentielles pour l'élaboration des recommandations de l'évaluation, il faudra prendre en considération dans l'évaluation le temps nécessaire pour obtenir et analyser ces données additionnelles.Si au-delà de l'élaboration de recommandations l'équipe d'évaluation est chargée de la conception de l'intervention, une semaine supplémentaire sera vraisemblablement nécessaire pour travailler avec l'organisation de mise en oeuvre, ou les organisations le cas échéant, sur les détails de la conception. L'équipe d'évaluation complète n'est pas nécessairement indispensable pour cela, mais il est recommandé que l'équipe au complet participe à la défi nition des grandes lignes des recommandations qui se dégagent de l'évaluation et des aspects généraux de la conception de l'intervention.Les budgets varieront considérablement selon les coûts de transport et les distances dans chaque pays et dépendront aussi dans une large mesure des spécialistes qui seront disponibles. Le tableau 5 propose un exemple de budget pour une évaluation de ressources en eau, inspiré de l'évaluation effectuée au Ghana en 2010. Ce budget prend pour hypothèse que trois experts nationaux et trois experts internationaux seront mobilisés pour une mission de quatre semaines. Le coût total, y compris les voyages internationaux, les indemnités journalières, les véhicules de terrain et l'équipement (GPS, niveau de l'eau, qualité de l'eau, etc.), atteint approximativement 129 000 dollars EU. C'est la rémunération des experts internationaux qui représente la plus grande partie des frais. Si les coûts posent problème, le remplacement des experts internationaux par des experts nationaux réduit les coûts à 70 350 dollars EU. TABLEAU 5. Exemple de budget pour une équipe d'évaluation composée de six experts pour une mission de quatre semaines L'équipe d'évaluation des ressources en eau au nord du Ghana comportait deux spécialistes internationaux de l'irrigation, dont l'un était le chef d'équipe et l'autre un expert des marchés et chaînes de valeur pour les petits exploitants agricoles; un spécialiste international des SIG et hydrologue; un spécialiste international en sciences sociales possédant une certaine compétence en matière de questions de genre; un spécialiste international en science des sols possédant des compétences en hydrologie; et un hydrogéologue national. La modélisation avec un MAN (modèle altimétrique numérique) de la profondeur jusqu'aux eaux souterraines (présentée à l'annexe 1) donne des résultats bien adaptés à l'estimation des zones propices pour l'accès à l'eau mais pour obtenir des informations sur les autres paramètres importants (ex.: épaisseur saturée, apport en eau et caractéristiques du terrain de couverture) portant sur les eaux souterraines, il faut généralement se rendre sur place. Cette collecte prend du temps et il peut être diffi cile d'obtenir ces données avant la sélection des zones d'étude détaillée sur le terrain. De ce fait, l'évaluation peut négliger de prendre en considération des zones prometteuses présentant un potentiel intéressant d'eaux souterraines simplement parce que les données nécessaires les concernant ne sont pas rapidement accessibles.Un autre problème important que pose le processus d'évaluation est la production de résultats qui répondent aux besoins des agricultrices et agriculteurs et aux exigences des bailleurs de fonds et des organismes responsables de la mise en oeuvre des solutions de GEA. A moins que l'évaluation ne soit exécutée à la demande du principal bailleur de fonds ou responsable de la mise en oeuvre, il se peut que l'aide fi nancière pour l'intervention qui découlera de l'évaluation soit limitée. Idéalement, une évaluation rapide de la disponibilité en eau n'est que l'un des éléments contribuant à un processus plus étoffé de conception de programme, qui nécessitera du travail de terrain supplémentaire pour recueillir suffi samment d'informations sur d'autres paramètres importants du programme.Comme indiqué précédemment, il s'agit ici d'une approche d'évaluation rapide, qui vise à offrir aux concepteurs et directeurs de programmes des informations rapides et «suffi santes» pour les aider à élaborer leur stratégie et à concevoir leurs programmes. De nombreux aspects de cette approche ne font pas le poids par rapport à des études de référence plus intensives et étendues sur l'agroécologie et l'hydrogéologie d'une région donnée. Nous avons toutefois élaboré ces directives justement pour ceux qui ne disposent ni du temps ni des ressources nécessaires pour mener des études plus approfondies, afi n d'optimiser la quantité et la qualité des informations disponibles pour permettre une bonne conception de programme.Les autres points faibles de cette méthodologie d'évaluation sont son coût relativement élevé (quoiqu'elle soit bien meilleur marché qu'une étude de recherche complète, une estimation des coûts dépassant 100 000 dollars EU peut en limiter l'applicabilité dans certains cas), la diffi culté éventuelle de coordonner la disponibilité des experts avec la meilleure saison sur le terrain et l'intégration des données qui devront peut-être être collectées sur une certaine durée.Cet article décrit une approche relativement peu coûteuse à destination des directeurs de programmes du secteur public, de la société civile et du secteur privé pour qu'ils puissent orienter les spécialistes techniques chargés d'étudier et de sélectionner les zones présentant un fort potentiel pour permettre aux petits agriculteurs et agricultrices d'accéder à l'eau et de l'appliquer et de l'utiliser à un coût abordable afi n d'améliorer leurs moyens de subsistance. Ces directives ont été conçues pour être utilisées dans les endroits où il existe peu d'informations et de documentation sur les ressources en eaux souterraines et de surface. Les auteurs souhaitent qu'elles améliorent la capacité des acteurs de terrain à effectuer des évaluations utiles des ressources en eau qui amélioreront ainsi la qualité et la pertinence des interventions de GEA. Ils espèrent également que l'application de ces directives dans d'autres contextes et conditions permettront de les perfectionner et de les améliorer.La méthode à suivre pour créer un modèle tridimensionnel créé par ordinateur de la surface du niveau statique de l'eau (NSE) avec les outils et commandes disponibles dans le logiciel SIG ArcView est la suivante: La première grille a été créée en utilisant une valeur seuil de 40 000 cellules dans le MAN pour créer un cours d'eau pérenne. Cette grille est la grille supérieure dans la fi gure A1.4 et s'illustre par des cours d'eau bleus.La seconde grille a été créée en utilisant une valeur seuil de 10 000 cellules dans le MAN. Cette grille s'illustre par les cours d'eau turquoise qui coulent aussi sous les cours d'eau bleus. Il s'agit donc de tous les cours d'eau turquoise et bleus.La troisième grille a été créée en utilisant une valeur seuil de 2 000 cellules dans le MAN. Cette grille s'illustre par les cours d'eau verts qui coulent aussi sous les cours d'eau turquoise. Il s'agit donc de tous les cours d'eau verts, turquoise et bleus.La quatrième grille a été créée en utilisant une valeur seuil de 500 cellules dans le MAN. Cette grille s'illustre par les cours d'eau orange qui coulent aussi sous les cours d'eau verts, turquoise et bleus. Il s'agit donc de tous les cours d'eau orange, verts, turquoise et bleus.La cinquième grille a été créée en utilisant une valeur seuil de 100 cellules dans le MAN. Cette grille s'illustre par les cours d'eau jaunes qui coulent aussi sous tous les cours d'eau des autres couleurs. Il s'agit donc de tous les cours d'eau.    (Suite page suivante) agriculteurs et agricultrices permet à la conception des programmes de se fonder sur les services d'appui en place ou de déterminer les lacunes qu'il faut combler. Par exemple, il arrive souvent que les services de vulgarisation agricole ne donnent pas de conseils sur les cultures horticoles de saison sèche et n'engagent pas de femmes dans les programmes de formation; la conception du programme pourrait donc chercher à renforcer les compétences des agents des services de vulgarisation tout en remédiant au manque de compétences des agricultrices.Remarques: CE -Conductivité électrique; MDT -Matières dissoutes totales.* La salinité est mesurée au moyen d'un conductimètre électrique portable. Plus la CE est élevée, plus il y a de matières solides dissoutes (mesurées en parties par million équivalant aux milligrammes par litre [mg/litre]) dans l'eau et plus il est diffi cile aux plantes d'extraire l'eau du sol. Les valeurs générales sont: excellent: CE < 250 μS/cm, MDT < 175 mg/litre; bon: CE 250-750 μS/cm, MDT 175-525 mg/litre; acceptable: CE 750-2 000 μS/cm, MDT 525-1 400 mg/litre. ** Pour en apprendre davantage sur le rôle joué par les femmes et les hommes dans les systèmes de production agricole, le projet AgWater Solutions a mis au point un mappeur repérant les disparités de genre en Afrique subsaharienne (disponible sur http://gender.mappr.info/explore.php).Les eaux souterraines peu profondes sont la source la plus courante d'eau pour les petits exploitants agricoles parce qu'elles sont presque partout présentes et relativement accessibles. Les éléments à prendre en considération pour l'utilisation des eaux souterraines sont les caractéristiques de la couche de terrain qui recouvre la nappe phréatique, la profondeur jusqu'à la surface de la nappe et le taux de recharge des eaux dans différentes tailles de puits (apport en eau).Aux fi ns de la présente étude, les eaux souterraines peu profondes sont les eaux des nappes accessibles à une profondeur inférieure à 18 m (une élévation de 18 m représente la limite de pompage pratique et économique pour les petites parcelles, à l'exception de celles qui sont équipées de pompes électriques submersibles à grille qui peuvent pomper l'eau de manière économique à de plus grandes profondeurs. Plus les eaux souterraines sont profondes, plus il faut de travail [énergie] pour élever l'eau jusqu'à la surface, ce qui pose des limites pratiques à l'utilisation des pompes manuelles et des limites économiques à celle des pompes à moteur à cause du coût de l'énergie) sous la surface du sol à la fi n de la période d'irrigation de saison sèche (à la fi n de février dans le cas du nord du Ghana). Les typologies des eaux souterraines répertoriées dans le tableau 2 incluent une catégorie «très peu profond» qui signifi e des profondeurs d'eau inférieures à la limite de la hauteur d'aspiration (nous recommandons que la valeur générale par défaut pour la hauteur pratique d'aspiration la plus élevée pour l'eau froide soit de 8 m [26 pieds] lorsque la parcelle du petit agriculteur est à 500 m au-dessus du niveau de la mer ou moins. La hauteur maximale devrait être réduite d'un mètre pour chaque 1 000 m au-dessus du niveau de la mer supplémentaires); il y a d'autre part la catégorie «plus profond» qui signifi e une profondeur dépassant la limite de la hauteur d'aspiration.Les puits à faible apport d'eau étudiés ici sont ceux dont le débit soutenu ne suffi t pas pour irriguer 0,1 ha pendant la période de pointe de la demande (ex.: moins d'approximativement 0,1 litre/s). Avec les aquifères à faible apport en eau, il faut considérer avec attention les questions de durabilité, y compris la densité, pour garantir que le niveau d'eau reste dans les limites des profondeurs de pompage de la technologie et que l'apport d'eau est suffi sant pour satisfaire les besoins quotidiens de pointe de la zone irriguée. L'apport d'eau peut diminuer pendant la période de forte demande (à cause d'une réduction de l'épaisseur saturée). L'apport quotidien réel peut être augmenté grâce aux puits creusés qui permettent le stockage des eaux s'infi ltrant pendant la nuit. Ici, les puits considérés comme ayant un fort apport en eau sont ceux qui ont au moins dix fois le débit des puits à faible apport (ex.: un débit soutenu dépassant 1 litre/s), ce qui suffi t généralement pour irriguer dix fois la superfi cie (ex.: 1 ha) pendant les périodes de forte demande et sur 24 heures.La plupart des puits utilisés par les petits exploitants agricoles pour l'irrigation sont soit des puits creusés manuellement, soit des puits forés manuellement. Les puits creusés ont l'avantage d'être une technologie universellement comprise et d'offrir grâce à leur grand diamètre une capacité de stockage, ce qui est particulièrement important dans les situations où l'apport en eau des eaux souterraines est faible. Ils ont par contre le grand inconvénient de ne pas pénétrer beaucoup en dessous de la surface de la nappe. Ils sont aussi souvent dangereux. Les principaux avantages des puits forés manuellement sont leur faible coût lorsque les conditions de forage sont adéquates et qu'il est possible de les forer sous la nappe, ce qui augmente l'apport d'eau (la profondeur d'un puits dans la zone saturée sous la nappe a plus d'effet sur l'apport en eau que le diamètre du puits) et diminue le risque d'assèchement pendant la saison sèche.Les techniques de forage manuel de puits les plus courantes sont le forage simple à boue et le forage rotatif à boue. Le forage simple à boue n'est praticable qu'avec des eaux souterraines peu profondes à fort apport en eau et un minimum de roche ou de couche dure. Dans des conditions favorables, c'est une technique qui convient bien pour aménager un accès à de l'eau d'irrigation pour les petits exploitants agricoles. Il faut utiliser le forage rotatif à boue lorsqu'il y a de la roche ou une couche dure dans le substratum et que des diamètres de puits de plus de 6 cm sont nécessaires (ex.: pour l'installation d'une pompe à corde et à disque ou d'un autre type de pompe submersible). Si la couche dure ou rocheuse est importante, le forage rotatif à boue par voie manuelle sera très vraisemblablement trop coûteux pour les petits exploitants agricoles. Toutefois, pour les aquifères profonds à fort apport d'eau, sans couche rocheuse ou dure dans le substratum, le forage rotatif à boue de puits peut être économiquement viable pour les petits exploitants agricoles.Bien que les puits tubés forés mécaniquement et équipés de pompes à moteur submersibles que plusieurs petits exploitants agricoles se partagent constituent une solution techniquement réalisable pour accéder aux eaux souterraines, ils pâtissent souvent des problèmes habituels de partage des installations liés au fonctionnement et à l'entretien. Les puits forés mécaniquement ne sont pas limités par les couches rocheuses ou dures et peuvent pénétrer beaucoup plus profondément dans les aquifères et par conséquent fournir des apports d'eau beaucoup plus importants que les puits forés manuellement. Toutefois, en raison du coût élevé de l'équipement de forage et du transport de l'installation de forage jusqu'au site, les puits forés mécaniquement doivent être partagés par plusieurs petits exploitants agricoles et avoir une capacité suffi sante pour irriguer une superfi cie assez étendue pour qu'ils soient économiquement viables. L'équipe de terrain du nord du Ghana a observé un système de puits tubé foré mécaniquement et équipé d'une pompe électrique submersible dans le nord-est du Ghana, mais le système n'a jamais été terminé et le réseau électrique n'a jamais atteint le puits.Même si l'approvisionnement en eaux de surface est abondant, les petits exploitants agricoles individuels doivent généralement se limiter à travailler le long des berges des cours d'eau et rivières ou autour des étangs, lacs et réservoirs adjacents. Cela s'explique par le fait qu'ils n'ont pas les moyens d'amener l'eau très loin ou de lui faire franchir de longues pentes abruptes. Les caractéristiques importantes des approvisionnements naturels en eaux de surface sont leur fi abilité, leur proximité et leur niveau élevé par rapport aux parcelles à irriguer.Les petits réservoirs, courants dans le nord du Ghana, sont des systèmes de collecte des eaux de pluie à l'échelle des communautés. Ils peuvent être équipés ou non de dispositifs de décharge opérationnels. Même sans ces dispositifs, les petits réservoirs permettent aux petits agriculteurs d'accéder à l'eau pour l'irrigation en la pompant directement dans le réservoir, en la siphonnant par-dessus le barrage et en pompant à partir des eaux souterraines rechargées par le réservoir. Les réservoirs sont des systèmes d'approvisionnement en eau à usages multiples. C'est pourquoi il importe, lorsqu'on prévoit d'utiliser l'eau d'un réservoir pour l'irrigation, de calculer la superfi cie qui peut être irriguée avec l'eau du réservoir sans nuire aux autres utilisations déjà en place et de gérer effi cacement l'utilisation de l'eau du réservoir."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bb4c5a82f9f8e2fa4a6a45fcf39c52d9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1309d4fd-0771-431b-8038-511dd93b5455/retrieve","id":"-1438851998"},"keywords":["Ximena Reyes, CIFP","Carlos Mayan, PROINPA","Maarten van Zonneveld, Bioversity Capsicum annuum L"],"sieverID":"c9ab5f5a-a30f-4ab2-b2c6-caba5cd16879","content":"Bioversity International es una organización dedicada a la investigación para el desarrollo, que trabaja de manera colaborativa, con socios de todo el mundo, en la conservación y el uso de la biodiversidad agrícola y forestal para mejorar los medios de vida y la nutrición de los pueblos, y la sostenibilidad, productividad y resiliencia de los ecosistemas. Bioversity International trabaja en pro de un mundo en donde las comunidades agrícolas de pequeña escala en países en vía de desarrollo de África, Asia y las Américas sean prósperas y sostenibles. Bioversity se enfoca en sistemas agrícolas de secano manejados mayormente por pequeños agricultores en áreas donde la agricultura a gran escala no es una opción viable. Su investigación influencia decisiones de políticas e inversiones en investigación agrícola, desde el nivel local hasta el nivel global.Bioversity International es miembro del Consorcio CGIAR, una alianza mundial de investigación agrícola para un futuro sin hambre. Las investigaciones del CGIAR están dedicadas a reducir la pobreza rural, incrementar la seguridad alimentaria, mejorar la salud y la nutrición humana, y asegurar un manejo más sostenible de los recursos naturales. Esto es realizado por los 15 centros miembros del Consorcio CGIAR en estrecha colaboración con cientos de organizaciones socias, incluyendo institutos de investigación nacionales y regionales, organizaciones de la sociedad civil, la academia y el sector privado. www.cgiar.org La casa matriz está cerca de Roma, Italia, junto con otras agencias de alimentación de la ONU con sede en Roma como la FAO, IFAD y WFP. Bioversity International tiene oficinas regionales en Colombia, Kenia y Malasia. La organización, que fue fundada en 1974, tiene más de 300 entre personal y científicos por todo el mundo trabajando con casi 700 socios. www.bioversityinternational.orgAgradecemos a los Biólogos del CIFP Viviana Mercado, en Santa Cruz y Ariel Choque en Cochabamba por su colaboración con los ensayos; a la Bióloga Margoth Atahuachi, Herbario Martín Cárdenas y Dra. Gloria Barbosa de la Facultad de Ciencias Químicas UNC, por su ayuda en la clasificación taxonómica; al Ing. Edwin Serrano del Instituto de Tecnología de Alimentos (ITA) y a los agricultores Romelio Chinaut en Padilla y Martiniano Martínez Rejas en Monteagudo por prestar sus parcelas para la investigación. También al Dr. David E. Williams del IICA, por su orientación experta y crítica constructiva al proyecto Capsicum y a todo el equipo de colaboradores y estudiantes de la Universidad de Wuppertal. A la Ing. Ana María Flores por su ayuda en la verificación de accesiones mantenidas en el INIAF. Se agradece a todas las personas que contribuyeron de una u otra forma en la elaboración e implementación del proyecto.En los estudios para establecer el origen y domesticación del género Capsicum, Bolivia es a menudo discutido (Moscone et al, 2007). Para Eshbaugh (1993) y McLeod et al. (1982), en este territorio fueron domesticados C. baccatum L. y C. pubescens L. Actualmente encontramos una alta diversidad de ajíes silvestres, varios de los cuales son consumidos por las poblaciones humanas. Sin embargo esta diversidad todavía no está bien estudiada. El proyecto \"Rescate y promoción de ajíes nativos en su centro de origen\" ha estudiado la diversidad de los ajíes bolivianos con la finalidad de aumentar el conocimiento acerca de ellos y eventualmente incrementar su incorporación en cadenas de alto valor. El \"Catálogo de ajíes nativos (Capsicum spp.) bolivianos promisorios\", conservados en el banco de semillas de Bolivia, resume los resultados de estudios agromorfológicos y bioquímicos hechos para un grupo de 37 accesiones de las 44 accesiones promisorias identificadas en el curso de este proyecto. Las accesiones promisorias fueron identificadas por presentar características agro-morfológicas y atributos bioquímicos interesantes para el desarrollo de productos de alto valor. Esperamos que el catálogo sea de utilidad para personas interesadas en cultivar y/o comercializar ajíes nativos de Bolivia, quienes podrán solicitar semillas de materiales de su interés en el banco de germoplasma del Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agropecuaria y Forestal (INIAF). Además, esperamos que este catálogo pueda estimular más estudios sobre la rica diversidad de ajíes bolivianos. Bioversity International, La Fundación para la Promoción e Investigación de Productos Andinos (PROINPA), el Centro de Investigaciones Fitoecogenéticas de Pairumani (CIFP) de la Fundación Simón I. Patiño y la Universidad de Wuppertal de Alemania colaboraron para la realización y publicación de este trabajo. La GIZ de Alemania financió el proyecto que incluye un total de diez socios 1 .El banco de semillas de Bolivia mantiene una colección única con variedades nativas de ajíes las cuales pueden ser aprovechadas en la innovación de sistemas de producción de Capsicum y para el desarrollo de variedades mejoradas. Esta colección esta mantenida por el INIAF y cuenta actualmente con 387 accesiones provenientes de 8 regiones del país. El CIPF y PROINPA mantienen colecciones de trabajo. _______________________ 1 La Universidad de Hannover, la Universidad de Hohenheim y la Universidad de Wuppertal (Alemania); el Centro de Investigaciones Fitoecogenéticas de Pairumani, la Fundación Instituto de Tecnología de Alimentos, la Fundación PROINPA (Bolivia); el Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria, la Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina (Perú); Bioversity International y GIZ.El contenido de capsaicinoides es responsable para el grado de picor de una accesión o variedad de ají. Hay diferentes mercados para varios grados de pungencia: de ají dulce a ajíes de alto picor. Tiene un potencial para la industria farmacéutica, cosmética, de pinturas, entre otras, como ingrediente activo en diversos productos. Su potencial como quemador de grasas en la ayuda a bajar de peso (Joo et al. 2010;Luo et al. 2011).Cromatografía Líquida de Alta Eficacia (HPLC) con detección de fluorescencia Flavonoides (suma de quercetina, luteolina kaempferol y apigenina)Específicamente la quercetina, que es uno de los compuestos antioxidantes más potentes que se encuentran actualmente es muy apreciado en la industria farmacéutica (Di Carlo et al. 1999;Materska 2008).Capacidad antioxidante (TEAC) Desgrase en solución de agua y metanol, analizada como derivado sililado por cromatografía de gases con detector de ionización de llama.Del total de 387 accesiones o variedades de ajíes nativos conservados se seleccionaron 96 accesiones para la caracterización bioquímica. Estas accesiones se distinguieron por su representatividad taxonómica y distribución geográfica. La Tabla 1 resume los atributos analizados. Además de que algunos atributos analizados bioquímicamente como capsaicinoides, grasa y azúcares influyen en el sabor de los ajíes; otros atributos como flavonoides, capacidad antioxidante y vitamina E tienen un gran potencial de aplicación en los sectores farmacéutico, nutracéutico y cosmético (APEGA et al., 2009).Los análisis bioquímicos se realizaron en la Universidad de Wuppertal en Alemania a donde se enviaron las muestras secas y molidas (sin valor biológico y sin valor comercial). En Wuppertal, se aplicaron métodos analíticos de punta y adicionalmente se desarrollaron métodos novedosos no destructivos para hacer la caracterización bioquímica con muestras pequeñas (Tabla 1). ) con potencial para el desarrollo de productos de alto valor para diferentes mercados. Estas accesiones pueden ser usadas directamente para consumo fresco, en productos procesados, o como base para desarrollar variedades mejoradas. Los actores clave de la cadena de valor de los ajíes nativos tanto en Bolivia como en Perú, identificaron la falta de variedades locales certificadas o variedades promisorias ó elite como uno de los cuellos de botella de la cadena (Jäger & Amaya 2013, Polar et al., 2011).Las accesiones promisorias posteriormente fueron sembradas y caracterizadas en 4 localidades diferentes, en regiones con un alto potencial para la producción de ajíes: 2 lugares en Chuquisaca, 1 lugar en Cochabamba y 1 lugar en Santa Cruz, con la idea de estudiar su comportamiento en los diferentes ambientes. Los descriptores ambientales detallados de las 4 localidades se encuentran en Anexo 1. En términos generales los resultados de este experimento indican que el contenido de los compuestos bioquímicos varía entre ambientes y por Accesión (van Zonneveld et al., sometido). El presente catálogo muestra los valores bioquímicos promedio para las diferentes localidades según disponibilidad de datos 2 ._________________________ 2 La disponibilidad de datos no fue completa para las 44 accesiones promisorias, por tanto en este catálogo sólo se presenta información para 37 de ellas.Las características agromorfológicas claves del fruto se evaluaron según los descriptores de Capsicum incluyendo el rendimiento y el hábito de crecimiento (IPGRI et al., 1995).Las características de frutos frescos como color del fruto maduro, forma del fruto, longitud del fruto, diámetro del fruto, y peso del fruto fueron tomadas en las localidades de Padilla, Monteagudo (Chuquisaca), Santa Cruz y Cochabamba. La forma y color de los frutos son características importantes para el desarrollo de productos de alto valor (García & García-Yi, 2013& García-Yi, 2014). Para las características cuantitativas se sacaron promedios y para las cualitativas los valores con mayor frecuencia. Los datos se presentan en el catálogo según su disponibilidad en cada uno de los sitios.El 0.6 -1,027.8 6.5 -44.37 3.26 -6.24 1.77 -62.7 1.47 -59.2 14.9 -14.9 7.0 -24.1Caracterización bioquímica del fruto seco (valor y rango de referencia):Nota: Promedio de Santa Cruz (primer análisis ) y Padilla (segundo análisis) 31.8 4.5 6.9 5.3 -11.8 0.6 -1,027.8 6.5 -44.37 3.26 -6.24 1.77 -62.7 1.47 -59.2 14.9 -14.9 7.0 -24.1Caracterización bioquímica del fruto seco (valor y rango de referencia):Nota: Promedio de Santa Cruz (primer análisis ) y Padilla (segundo análisis)Características del fruto fresco:  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dd098e2b22670c4e4c98d06b9be4441a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/29e19681-6ea6-4bec-bc29-fe6963a2af14/retrieve","id":"1741214558"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a9a492d6-4b55-4064-bbfc-ddf3334f7ca4","content":"Driving the climate resilience of agri-food systems.A healthy, inclusive and resilient world through root and tuber systemsThe International Potato Center \"Potato will become one of the advantage crops in the global food security system when the yield of other cereal crops is close to the limit,\" Qu said. • low purchasing power • cook on wood/charcoal (Semi)-urban/regional export/processing "}
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"34e299d3c6726c2d0b66b5326b2882f8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4bd5ad77-7a4c-4a8d-a6a2-d37314411f8c/retrieve","id":"-1058911720"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5c6fea0c-117f-4756-99d1-9937d564fd0f","content":"Tổng quan -các lĩnh vực nghiên cứu chính • Thích ứng và giảm thiểu biến đổi khí hậu ▪ Dịch vụ khí hậu nông nghiệp dựa trên dự báo theo mùa/ thời tiết (Hà Tĩnh, ĐBSCL, DHNTB) ▪ Giải pháp bảo hiểm tiên tiến cho nông dân trồng cà phê (Tây Nguyên) ▪ Nhân rộng quy mô dịch vụ khí hậu nông nghiệp ▪ Giám sát và cảnh báo sớm cho những bệnh nhạy cảm với khí hậu ▪ Các hệ số phát thải khí nhà kính mới (MRD) và các công cụ đánh giá trong sản xuất lúa • Nông nghiệp số • Quản lý tài nguyên thiên nhiên ▪ Sức khỏe đất, Nông nghiệp sinh thái, Công nghệ sinh học vi sinh vật ▪ Dòng chảy Ni-tơ trong các hệ thống trồng trọt -chăn nuôi (Vùng Tây Bắc) ▪ Thí điểm bổ cập nước ngầm cho nông hộ nhỏ trồng cà phê (Tỉnh Đắk Lắk) ▪ Nâng cao hiệu quả sử dụng nước tại các điểm nóng khan hiếm nước ở các vùng trồng cà phê chính (Tỉnh Đắk Lắk)"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/6363540295.json b/main/part_2/6363540295.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6ae4d0fb95efbd27a5be9a5edb4956b31db9a7b5
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b11a89afb0ed452f12937ea1b7cc4b20","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/9780ad82-6d91-4e2a-935a-24ffa332dd82/content","id":"-696706187"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"980498fd-59a2-4765-b2c9-be0295acbeb5","content":"Despite enthusiasm for the potential of digital innovations to transform agricultural markets in Africa, progress made thus far has been limited to small-scale experiments that often fail to scale up. Realizing the full potential of digital innovationstools, technologies, applications, and servicesin Africa requires not just further development of these solutions at meaningful scales, but also more nuanced evidence from both successful and unsuccessful scaling efforts. This paper reviews the conceptual and empirical evidence on the transformative potential of digital innovations for African agricultural markets with an in-depth examination of solutions that have been rolled out to date in the continent. Specifically, the review addresses the following questions: (i) how can digital innovations improve the functioning of agricultural markets in Africa? (ii) what explains the apparent disconnect of most pilots to scale-ups? (iii) what is required to realize their full potential? and (iv) what are the emerging risks and opportunities associated with digital innovations for agricultural marketing? Although our review of the landscape and literature on market-focused digital innovations in Africa identifies several reasons to remain optimistic, the prevailing disconnect between pilots and scale-ups merits further evaluation. In particular, there is a need for more systematic assessments of both successes and failures at both the piloting and scaling stages.☆ We thank Amy William for providing research support. We also thank several others with whom we discussed this idea, including Fadi Abdelradi, Clemens Breisinger, Michael Keenan, Fatma Abdelaziz, Yousra Mahmoud, and participants of the technical workshop organized by IFPRI and held November 9, 2021. We are thankful to the three anonymous reviewers for their invaluable comments and suggestions.The potential of digital tools to transform agricultural markets in developing countries has attracted substantial enthusiasm in public discourse, development policy, and private enterprise and investment circles. Increasing mobile phone and internet penetration in the developing world represents an undeniably fertile landscape for the deployment of information and communication technologies (ICTs). ICTsranging from text message and interactive voice response (IVR) systems to mobile apps, satellite imaging, and remote sensinghave the capacity to be customized to varying contexts to deliver services and information in a low-cost, large-scale, and timely manner. Among their many contributions, ICTs can transform agricultural markets, including their structure, organization, and functions, with significant potential to address some of the persistent market failures and information asymmetries that often characterize agricultural markets in developing countries (e.g., Jensen, 2007;Aker, 2010;Goyal, 2010;Courtois and Subervie, 2014;Nakasone et al., 2014;Aker and Fafchamps, 2015;Aker et al., 2016;World Bank, 2016).This potential has motivated a large number of public and private sector initiatives aimed at building digital tools, platforms, and architectures to radically transform agricultural markets. Much of this effort and experimentation has focused on Africa, 1 where markets are comparatively underdeveloped, and where agricultural production is carried out primarily by smallholder farmers operating small, fragmented farms that are often distant from urban areas (Aker et al., 2016). These initiatives have led to a proliferation of digital innovations that address different and often critical pieces of the puzzle: matching buyers and sellers, supplying price information, and reducing the costs and risks of exchanges in goods and services. More formally, these innovations aim to address multiple forms and sources of both market and institutional failures that are common in agricultural markets (Dorward et al., 2004), particularly the persistence of information asymmetries between farmers and traders relating to price discovery, product quality, and transactions costs in formal and informal contracting mechanisms (Jensen 2007;Aker, 2010;Goyal, 2010;Courtois and Subervie, 2014;Aker et al., 2016). Yet systematic evidence of the favorable impact of these digital innovations remains scarce, and the few pieces of evidence available in the literature are mostly based on relatively small pilot projects. This same body of evidence provides little insight on digital innovations that can demonstrate success at scale in terms of developing or integrating markets, reducing transaction and transportation costs, improving coordination or consolidation of long and fragmented value chains, reducing production and market risk of both idiosyncratic and covariate natures, or remedying the unequal distribution of market power among agents (e.g., Goyal, 2010;Courtois and Subervie, 2014;Aker et al., 2016;Benami and Carter, 2021). Despite ambitious claims of speed, reach, and depth, purveyors of ICT tools have thus far posted only a few large-scale successes that have substantially transformed agricultural markets in Africa. In fact, only a small number of digital tools facilitating financial transactions have scaled to an impressive level in some countries, e.g., M-Pesa and M-Shwari in Kenya. However, even these tools are still not widely used by smallholder farmers and agricultural households. Parlasca et al. (2022) point out that only about 1% of Kenyan farmers use mobile financial services to obtain agricultural loans, and 15% use them for agriculture-related payments.It may simply be too early in the \"digital revolution\" to expect impacts at scale. While the growth of mobile phone connectivity has been explosive, Africa still lags behind other regions on ICT, and mobile internet connectivity rates vary greatly within the region (ITU, 2020;GSMA, 2021a;Mehrabi et al., 2021). But it may also be that too little attention is being given to the complex nature of agricultural markets in Africamarkets that involve multiple layers of formal and informal exchanges, intransigent structures and agents, and gaps in digital literacy and connectivity that together create unique and sometimes unsurmountable challenges to transformative, market-driven structural change.Addressing smallholders' market constraints adequately may require end-to-end digital solutions rather than piecemeal informational apps in an environment characterized by geographic isolation and risky transactions. Unlike the delivery of extension information or agronomic advisory services, the provision of marketing support typically requires whole-of-value-chain coordination: identifying multiple suppliers and consumers of products and services along a value chain, coordinating post-harvest, transport, processing, and warehousing activities, and facilitating services such as price information, credit provision, and payments. Few ICT-based tools targeting agricultural markets are able to fully address multiple constraints on a single platform. For example, those tools that only deliver a specific service (e.g., information) without facilitating transactions (e.g., payment systems) may simply fall short of the mark and hence may not appeal to farmers. 2  Furthermore, although the proliferation of new technology companies in many African countries is encouraging, the adoption of their products and services seems more limited than many realize. Precise numbers are difficult to come by, but beyond the hype, there are few reliable data sources on use and use-intensity, among other metrics. Moreover, efforts to promote the adoption of digital marketing tools have often required generous subsidies and incentives from governments and donors, with only a few tools (e.g., DigiFarm, iCow, M-Pesa) standing on their own as commercially viable products. Indeed, most digital tools targeting smallholder farmers in African countries remain in the pilot stages, with unknown potential for successful scaling (World Bank, 2016;Baumüller, 2018;Fabregas et al., 2019aFabregas et al., , 2019b)). This failure to achieve scale is not unique to agricultural markets in Africa: the World Bank (2016) argues that, globally, four out of five startup online commerce platforms are likely to not scale up.The objective of this paper is to identify encouraging developments and success stories that can inform us about the potential of digital innovations to transform agricultural markets in Africa. Specifically, this review aims to address the following questions: (i) how can digital tools improve the functioning of agricultural markets in Africa? (ii) what explains the apparent failure of most pilots to scale up? (iii) what does it take to realize the potential of digital solutions in African agricultural markets? (iv) what are the emerging risks and opportunities associated with the advent of new digital tools for agricultural marketing?To answer these questions, we begin with a key definition to bound the study. We define digital innovation in agricultural markets as mechanisms that rely primarily on ICTs to reduce information asymmetries and transaction costs incurred in the exchange of goods and services in (often imperfect) markets for agricultural inputs, finance, services, and products. The definition covers a variety of mechanisms, for example, digital tools and applications that match buyers and sellers where exchanges are otherwise costly or difficult to arrange, ensure full and equal access to information, build mutual trust between agents, encourage repeated transactions and durable relationships, overcome contract enforcement problems, accommodate market-and contextspecific factors and, ultimately, contribute to reductions in the uncertainty, risk, and the costs of monitoring and enforcing transactions in imperfect markets.Next, we need to contextualize the review methods employed in this study. The study specifically reviews the conceptual and empirical evidence on digital tools for agricultural market transformation in Africa. Although our study is neither a systematic review nor a meta-analysis and hence may fail to provide an exhaustive review of a rapidly expanding literature, we choose this traditional review format because it provides an opportunity to introduce novel concepts, synthesize different strands of literature, and identify knowledge gaps in a manner that other approaches may not.The review process was carried out as follows. We began with a search on Google Scholar for \"digital tools for agricultural marketing in Africa\" written within the last 10 years and sorted by relevance (as determined by Google Scholar). We then selected the first 100 articles for initial review, based on a subjective assessment of whether they met the criteria of whether they were bona fide scholarly publications (journal articles, working papers, books, book chapters, or research reports), and whether they provided sufficient conceptual and/or empirical evaluation of the functional roles, adoption and/or impacts of extension advisories with marketing tools (although not payment platforms per se), but it is too early to see how well these platforms are scaling relative to more focused tools. digital decision support tools for agricultural marketing in sub-Saharan Africa. Next, we conducted a series of discussions with experts who have conducted research on digital decision support tools in the context of smallholder agriculture in Africa, and who work in member centers of CGIAR to solicit recommendations for relevant papers. The resulting set of papers was reviewed by the authors, with the set of papers cited in the article being the result of consensus about the rigor and relevance of each.Finally, we need to explain how our inventory of market-oriented digital innovations was developed. Our first step was to compile an inventory of market-oriented digital innovations along with a characterization of their attributes and highlight how these digital tools may transform agricultural markets in Africa from the available literature, from web services, and from expert insights collected during the review process described above. This was followed by an effort to typologize the elements in our inventory, as detailed in the next section. This process allowed us to both compare and contrast performance across digital innovations, and to further explore the record of success and failure as well as the disconnect between piloting and scaling. We use this as the basis to discuss how African countries can harness digital solutions and to reflect on encouraging trends and emerging risks.It is worth noting that this is not the first review on the potential of ICTs in agriculture. Several other papers evaluate the contribution of digital tools to transforming agriculture, albeit with different foci and coverage. Aker and Mbiti (2010) and Aker et al. (2016) provide a comprehensive review of the earlier literature on the potential of ICTs to provide various types of agricultural extension and related services. Fabregas et al. (2019a) and Spielman et al. (2021) review recent literature on the effectiveness of ICTs to deliver agricultural extension and advisory services in developing countries, while Benami and Carter (2021) synthesize the potential of digital technologies to reshape rural microfinance. Nakasone et al. (2014) and Nakasone and Torero (2016) discuss the potential of ICTs to support agricultural development, including through market information systems, for which they find a paucity of empirical evidence, weak impact on prices among available studies, and the possibility for considerable heterogeneity in impacts across value chains and actors.It is also worth noting that this is not the first inventory of digital innovations in developing-country agriculture. CTA ( 2019) provides what we believe to be the most extensive inventory of agriculturefocused digital technologies in Africa, identifying 390 unique technologies in Africa. Our review is closely related to CTA's seminal landscaping exercise given that theirs is a valuable first step in improving our understanding of the rapidly growing collection of digital tools in agriculture. However, our paper differs from the CTA landscaping and the reviews cited above in several ways. First, we provide a higherresolution (and hence more focused) analysis of digital innovations that specifically address market-related issues. We analyze these innovations within a typology of market-related services, covering four distinct categories: (a) market advisory and information services; (b) agricultural e-marketing tools that facilitate market linkages; (c) efinancial services that facilitate a range of financial transactions; and (d) tools that collect agricultural market data using crowdsourcing services. We draw on a substantive list of digital tools in agriculture to populate our typology and examine each type-class more systematically. This typology distinguishes different forms of digital innovations that are often lumped together in discussions despite important functional differences.Second, our review covers more recent innovations and evaluations that emerged during the last decade, keeping pace with the rapidly evolving ICT sector that quickly renders reviews obsolete. 3 In that sense, our paper responds to emerging trends and knowledge gaps, including those related to explaining the apparent disconnect between pilots and scale-ups observed in the last decade. Finally, our review limits itself to digital innovations aimed specifically at improving agricultural markets, and we evaluate the quality of evidence with respect to impact and scale. Although these markets share many commonalities with markets in other developing regions, they are also beset by what are arguably several rather unique attributesmost notably, the considerable market fragmentation, limited spatial integration, and infrastructural constraints, all of which digital innovations seek to addressthat warrant this focused attention.Our analysis indicates that the types of digital innovations aimed at supporting agricultural markets in Africa have evolved considerably in recent years. Early on, digital solutions emerged with a focus on the provision of market information via analog channels such as radio, television, and other media. An example of the latter was the network of price \"tickers\" set up in the mid-2000s by the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) in district markets/headquarters across Ethiopia to provide farmers and traders with equal access to real-time price information. Since then, digital innovations focused on agricultural markets have expanded and diversified across multiple dimensions in Africa. We examine four classes of these innovations below, with a summary provided in Table 1 and further details in Table A1 in the Appendix.The first class typically delivers market price information and advisories with the purpose of overcoming information asymmetries between farmers and traders, thereby improving price discovery and the distribution of gains from trade between parties. Several notable market information systems launched in the early 2000s typify this class (Tollens, 2006). These include non-excludable public services that make relatively high-frequency price information on selected commodities widely available to farmers, traders, and other commercial actors in rural areas. Examples include the Sector Information System (SIF) in Cameroon, the Agricultural Market Information Center (AMIC) in Zambia, the Livestock Market Information System (LMIS) in Kenya, and the ECX in Ethiopia, among others. This was followed by the emergence of more excludable, fee-or membership-based private digital services run by commercial entities or farmers themselves, such as the Agricultural Commodity Exchange Ltd. (KACE) in Kenya, Esoko in Ghana, El-Mofeed in Egypt, and Infotrade in Uganda. These digital innovations still appear to be the most dominant type in Africa, both in terms of use and coverage (CTA, 2019).The second class of digital innovation consists of platforms that link farmers to products and services, often with the aim of reducing marketing or transaction costs incurred by farmers or traders. Many such platforms have emerged in recent years and are rapidly evolving in terms of scale and commercial viability. There is considerable heterogeneity among these platforms, ranging from services for seed, fertilizer, and pesticide supply (e.g., Kobiri in Guinea, Lersha in Ethiopia) to custom-hired mechanization services (e.g., Hello Tractor in Nigeria, TroTro Tractor in Ghana) to wholesaling and retailing services (e.g., Farmster in Tanzania, Freshfarm in Egypt, Hmizate in Morocco, Agro Market Day in Uganda) to matching farmers and other agents with transport providers (e.g., Transzam in Zambia connects truck drivers and farmers, SafeBoda in Uganda connects motorcycle drivers and customers) to time-sensitive market facilitation between sellers and buyers of highly perishable goods (e.g., AsmakNet in Egypt, which connects fish farms directly to buyers). 4 Although many of these platforms rely on commission-based revenue models, others have evolved without clear revenue-generating strategies, raising important questions about their long-term commercial viability.The third class of digital innovation is services that facilitate financial transactions between value chain actors, e.g., between farmers and traders, or between aggregators and processors. Many of these innovations aim to reduce the time, cost, and risk associated with exchanges in imperfect or incomplete markets. Examples include financial transaction platforms such as M-Pesa in Kenya, AgriMisr in Egypt, and AgroPay in Ghana, or platforms that also provide loans such as Enda Tamweel in Tunisia and Musoni in Kenya. Some digital innovations in this class also bundle or integrate their services with other functions such as market information provision, farmer-to-market platforms, or extension and advisory services. This includes platforms such as Farmcrowdy in Nigeria, SmartMoney in Tanzania, and Twiga Foods in Kenya, which connects smallholder farmers to urban vendors through a mobilebased platform that guarantees higher prices to farmers while also making use of M-Pesa to monitor and track transactions. M-Pesa is possibly the most well-known success story in this class, as a result of its money transfer services and as well as smooth integration into other services. But, as Parlasca et al. (2022) point out, financial services like M-Pesa remain under-utilized by smallholders and cannot yet be linked to transformative changes in agriculture.The fourth class of digital innovation covers those that collect agricultural market data based on crowdsourcing, remote data collection methods, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. While this class of tools is still at an early stage and offers limited functionality, there is considerable interest in their potential to revolutionize the availability and use of market data. Some tools in this class use open-source software and crowdsourcing to manage the costs of collecting and analyzing highfrequency data on commodity prices, quantities, shipments, and other data points that are useful to a range of market actors (see, e.g., Alulu et al., 2020;Steinke et al., 2021). Other tools harness satellite-based remote-sensing to collect and analyze information from both largescale production areas-key breadbaskets across Africa-as well as remote and otherwise inaccessible areas where market opportunities may be underexploited. They can complement conventional market data collection methods and have received substantial traction in fragile and remote areas (Hoogeveen and Pape, 2020). Examples include KAZNET, which crowdsources livestock market information from pastoralists in Kenya (e.g., ILRI, 2017;Alulu et al., 2020); and Orange Garbal in Mali, which collects data and information on grazing quality and availability (CTA, 2019). Interestingly, most of these tools are designed first and foremost for data extraction, with few providing feedback loops that return information to the data providers-farmers, pastoralists, and traders. The next logical step would be to use crowdsourced data and other types of \"big data\" to inform decision-making by value chain  Source: Authors' compilation.actors, for example, by farmers for rating input providers on the quality of their products and services. An example of this was piloted in Uganda with agro-input suppliers selling maize seed in a market plagued with quality and trust issues (Miehe et al., 2023), building off a similar approach in Pakistan with artificial insemination services for livestock (Hasanain et al., 2018). So far, several of these digital innovations have recorded significant success stories that are worth mentioning. For instance, M-Pesa has been shown to be associated with increases in consumption and household incomes (Suri and Jack, 2016;Kikulwe et al., 2014). These digital financial services have also been critical in protecting and cushioning households from income and health shocks through increased remittances (Jack and Suri, 2014). These impacts have been shown to be more pronounced for women and female-headed households (Suri and Jack, 2016). These digital innovations have particularly been relevant for farmers in the horticultural value chains such as those cultivating fresh fruits like bananas (Hartmann et al., 2021;Kikulwe et al., 2014). Relatedly, success stories also emerge from livestock-geared digital innovations such as iCow and KAZNET which have been shown to be relevant for livestock farmers and overall livestock development in semiarid and arid regions (Daum et al., 2022;Chelanga et al. 2022). Other tools like M-Kilimo in Tanzania and Kenya as well as WeFarm in Kenya and Uganda have a great reach and have been effectively scaled up with large implications on smallholders.As noted earlier, a relatively large literature has examined the potential of digital innovation to transform the functioning, efficiency, and equity of agricultural markets by addressing critical market and institutional failures. Yet even with a rich theoretical and empirical body of worksummarized in Table 2 and classified according to the typology set forth in the previous sectionit is still useful to explore the multiple pathways through which digital innovation affects agricultural markets, particularly in the unique African context. To that end, this section reviews the economic theories, conceptual frameworks and empirical evidence that underpin this study.First and foremost, prior studies examine digital innovation in terms of their capacity to transform agricultural markets via improvements in (1) input and output market efficiency, and (2) spatial and temporal market integration. The majority of these platforms target various forms of market failures by providing farmers and other upstream agents with market information on prices, quality requirements, and market outlets to make bargaining positions more equitable and markets more competitive (Table 2). Multiple studies document how tools overcome information asymmetry to reduce search costs, reduce price dispersions, and ultimately improve agricultural market efficiency. For example, Aker (2010) and Aker and Fafchamps (2015) show that the expansion of mobile phones reduce price dispersion in agricultural markets in Africa. 5  Belay and Ayalew (2020), Andersson et al. (2017), andHernandez et al. (2017) show that localized price information provided by the ECX in Ethiopia reduces price dispersion and hence improve market integration. Courtois and Subervie (2014) show that a mobile-based market information system (Esoko) in Ghana leads to a 10 percent increase in farmers' selling prices.Prior studies also explore how digital solutions can improve agricultural market performance and efficiency by matching supply and demand. These tools can improve input-use efficiency by coordinating transactions, thereby improving farmers' timely access to required inputs and services. For instance, several digital solutions aim to provide time-critical services that increase access to agricultural inputs, machinery and farm services (World Bank, 2012;Okello et al., 2020). Others create markets where none existed, for example, matching machinery rental and custom-hiring services with smallholders who would otherwise be difficult to reach through brick-and-mortar retailing (e.g., Daum et al., 2021).Prior studies further examine digital innovation as a means of improving the accountability, transparency, and traceability of market transactions. Typical agricultural market transactions in African agriculture are conducted as cash exchanges in spot markets or through relational contracts (e.g., Macchiavello and Morjaria, 2021), exposing agents to a wide range of risks and transactions costs. Some digital tools can reduce monitoring costs and enable greater accountability between agents by facilitating transparency, traceability and, when necessary, opportunities to pursue recourse when a transaction fails (e.g., Grossman and Tarazi, 2014;World Bank, 2016;Fabregas et al., 2019b;Aker and Cariolle, 2020;Banerjee et al., 2020). Other tools can also supply essential financial services and facilitate otherwise difficult or costly transactions, as exemplified by mobile money applications such as M-Pesa in Kenya (e.g., Suri and Jack, 2016;Suri et al., 2021). Still other tools can assist in ensuring the quality and traceability requirements for exports to Europe, as demonstrated among farmers in Botswana seeking access to European markets (World Bank, 2016).Furthermore, earlier studies also indicate that digital innovations may improve value chain aggregation and formalization, where fragmentation across a given value chain is a constraint to coordination and delivery of marketing services (CTA, 2019;Malabo Montpellier Panel, 2019). Some tools, particularly e-market platforms, can improve market coordination and efficiency by shortening supply chains in a manner that circumvents commission agents and other \"middlemen\", instead linking producers directly to consumers, especially in high-value markets, and allowing for each to enjoy a greater share of the value created in the chain (Sekabira and Qaim, 2017). For example, Iacovone and McKenzie (2019) show that digital support tools shortened the supply chain for fruits and vegetables in Colombia by reducing the amount of time and cost for purchasing products, with important impact on venders' work-life balance and end prices for consumers.Other studies also suggest that digital innovation can facilitate the efficient use of farm inputs and services, and hence improve returns to farming and the participation of smallholders in markets (World Bank, 2012;Okello et al., 2020). For example, digital tools can be designed to integrate traditional agronomic advisory services with digitalized information such as soil quality and weather patterns, and then deliver a customized or site-specific basis at the farm or plot level and on a seasonal or intra-seasonal basis. These same digital tools can also integrate farm budgeting and bookkeeping, farm management, seasonal planning, farm operations monitoring, and, in the case of larger farms, more complex supply chain management functions. That said, many of these integrated tools that operate on both the production management and commodity marketing sides of the equation are still at a nascent stage of adaptation for smallholders (CTA, 2019;Birner et al, 2021).Next, some studies examine digital innovation as a mechanism to improve the resilience of agricultural markets and to protect market actors from unanticipated shocks. For example, digital tools can potentially facilitate marketing transactions in conflict-affected regions and other contexts where in-person exchanges may not be feasible, although strong correlations between conflict and digital infrastructure may limit the potential of this pathway, as Tkach and Williams (2018) discuss in the context of Democratic Republic of the Congo. More relevant may be the use of digital tools to manage idiosyncratic shocks. For example, Suri et al. (2021) show how M-Shwari, a digital tool that facilitates digital loans, improved households' resilience to shocks in Kenya. But even in the presence of broader co-variate shocks, there is suggestive evidence 5 Other studies show similar evidence from other Asian countries (e.g., Goyal, 2010). However other studies from Africa (e.g., Molony, 2008;Burrell and Oreglia, 2015) and Asia (Fafchamps and Minten, 2012;Mitra et al., 2018) find no significant and major effects of mobile phones and associated services. These mixed findings may suggest that the impact of these services may vary across contexts.that digital tools can have impact. The most powerful illustration of this comes from the lockdowns introduced in many African countries to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although these lockdowns disrupted agricultural supply chains and markets in many countries, digital tools were used in some countries to maintain critical logistical and financial services, ultimately keeping agricultural inputs and commodities moving and markets functioning (GSMA, 2021(GSMA, , 2020;;Fernando, 2020;Chakravorti et al., 2020). 6 There is already emerging evidence to indicate that value chain actors using digital solutions in their operations prior to the pandemic were less affected by the shock (e. g., Abay et al., 2020).Finally, prior studies explore how digital innovation can improve data collection, analysis, and dissemination, especially when driven by machine learning, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, remote sensing, and the internet of things (Galaz et al., 2021;Das Nair and Landani, 2020). These tools provide functions critical to the underlying infrastructure and organization of markets as well as the policies and regulations required to ensure smooth market operations and healthy competition (e.g., Solano-Hermosilla et al., 2022;Adewopo et al. 2021;Alulu et al., 2020). Big data tools and applications, for example, can support realtime tracking of livestock, the movement and delivery of inputs, machinery, and inputs and commodities, the identification of market disruptionsroad closures or power cutsand potential remedies, or monitoring and forecasting market patterns and trends. That said, there is scant evidence of the impact of this pathway to date.In sum, our review of the conceptual and empirical literature on digital innovation in Africa's agricultural markets suggests several important points. First, the body of evidence is still growing. While there are many studies on market advisory and information services, there are relatively fewer studies on digital tools for market linkages and for financial services and transactions. Even fewer studies explore the impact of agricultural market data collection, crowdsourcing services, and big data. Second, there are multiple and intersecting impact pathways and many context-specific factors that will challenge efforts to rigorously evaluate many of the digital tools. This should not imply that rigorous evaluation is impossible, but rather that the design of these evaluations must accommodate multiple theories of change and disentangle complex impact pathways and mechanisms to explain outcomes (or the absence thereof). Third, and possibly more important than these other points, our review finds that most of the empirical evidence is built on evaluations of small-scale case studies, pilot projects, and experiments. Fourth, there are not many studies evaluating and comparing the efficacy of alternative modalities of ICT services (e.g., radio, IVR, SMS and mobile application) to support the functioning of markets (Giulivi et al., 2022). Finally, there is a surprising lack of documentation on scaling experiences in the digital innovation space. We explore this latter topic further in the next section.Digital innovation readily lends itself to rigorous evaluation: it is relatively easy to randomly assign digital treatments and compare outcomes to non-digital controls or variations in the treatment (Spielman et al., 2021). But most studies to date remain narrow, confining themselves to the evaluation of small-scale pilot interventions and very proximate outcome indicators, such as changes in farmer awareness and knowledge about agricultural technologies and practices, subsequent uptake and adoption decisions, and profit or income effects, typically over very limited temporal, and geographical scales (e.g., Abate et al., 2023;Van Campenhout et al., 2022). Few studies systematically examine market-level impacts, including impacts on input market channels, supply chain and network performance, or effects on costs, prices, and returns (Table 2). The lack of nuanced evidence and experience from both successful and unsuccessful scaling efforts impedes the types of learning that may guide future scaling efforts.This near absence of nuanced evidence and experience relates to several factors, including the possibility that it may just be too soon, as noted earlier. But given the broad interest and enthusiasm for digital innovation in African agricultural markets, it is worth pointing out that there exists a significant gap between interesting pilot projects and successful scale-ups in Africa's digital innovation space (e.g., World Bank, 2016; Fabregas et al., 2019b;CTA, 2019;Steinke et al., 2021). In fact, the persistence of small-scale pilots in the digital innovation space combined with the limited evidence of widespread use may point to a larger challenge (Table A1). It may be the case that many pilots are simply not scalable. We explore this possibility by identifying several supply-and demand-side constraints to scaling that may warrant greater attention.The first constraint to consider relates quite simply to insufficient public and private investment in digital innovation. Efforts to scale digital tools to a point where they fundamentally transform African agricultural markets require considerable public investment in infrastructure and talent-investments that often have public goods attributes and thus can only be supplied by governments. At the same time, the scale-up of these innovations requires a certain degree of public sector withdrawal from the market so that input and commodity suppliers can compete and leverage digital innovation to reduce their costs and secure competitive advantages. In many countries, a statist role in price management and value chain development tends to limit these opportunities.Meanwhile private investment in digital market-related technologies may be constrained by such factors as significant initial cost, nonappropriability of added value, and long lag times to profitability. Just as few African governments have the resources necessary to make longterm investments in soft and hard infrastructure, educational system improvements, or digital innovation incentives, few private entrepreneurs and investors have the financial capacity or risk appetite to innovate beyond a very short time-horizon. While external donorsbilateral and multilateral funding agencies, international development organizations, and charitable foundationsmay have greater capacity to incubate digital innovators and invest in soft infrastructure, their own priorities and attentions often shift too quickly to stay the course.The second constraint relates to the asynchronous pace of change.Rapid progressthe oft-cited leapfrogging effect (e.g., UNCTAD, 2019; Stephenson et al., 2021) in the digital innovation space has not been accompanied by transformations in agricultural systems in many parts of Africa. In effect, the pace at which digital innovation brings solutions to agricultural markets in Africa is not being matched by changes in the rate of agricultural transformationin productivity, capacity, or efficiencythat are needed to support and sustain these digital technologies (see, e.g., CTA, 2019). Instead, agricultural market transactions continue to be undertaken in environments characterized by isolation, limited scale, and risk (Benami and Carter, 2021). In short, the absence of sufficient surplus farm production, value addition opportunities or prospects for market arbitrage may simply not yet be available in many countries and contexts.A third constraint to scaling relates to the embeddedness of innovation. Ideally, digital tools and technologies perform best when they are embedded within a wider innovation process that integrates R&D with markets through knowledge brokers, financial investors, and risk-loving entrepreneurs, all within a conducive business environment and regulatory framework. This is the science of scaling, characterized by strategies in which innovations contribute to and become embedded in broader processes of systemic change (Wigboldus et al., 2016;Sartas et al., 2020;Schut et al., 2020). Instances of where all the required elements for scaling converge are still few and far between in many African agricultural markets. For example, many countries still lack comprehensive and dynamic digitalization policies or regulatory frameworks to support digital innovation in the agriculture sector. Indeed, some countries in Africa have policies and frameworks that stifle and discourage digital innovations, e.g., banking/mobile money regulations in Senegal and Ethiopia, which stands in stark contrast to the more supportive regulatory frameworks in Kenya and Ghana. A lack of clarity in regulatory frameworks is also limiting cross-border spillovers and the scaling of digital innovations from one African country to another (CTA, 2019).Finally, most companies investing in digital technologies to support agricultural transformation in Africa are still struggling to develop sustainable business models, partly due to the incipient stage of market development, i.e., lower demand at early stage resulting in higher unit costs of service provision. The lack of sustainable business models tends to limit the reach and scale of digital tools to support markets and marketing of agricultural products and services in Africa. Digital tools funded by donor organizations, in particular, are struggling to ensure a healthy balance between generating impact and establishing financial sustainability. For instance, AGRA (2016) attributes the failure of many agriculture-focused digital innovations and start-ups in Africa to the lack of viable and financially sustainable business models, partly because smallholders have limited ability and willingness to pay for digital services.The issue of ability and willingness to pay for digital services leads us directly to the issue of demand-side constraints. Here, our review finds that the scaling of many of the digital tools being developed in or for African agricultural markets are constrained by the absence of contextspecific analyses that are critical to understanding demand for a given product or service. Many pilots tend to be \"app-based\" solutions where the technology comes first and the context-specific demand analysis comes later, if at all. This is not uncommon in both entrepreneur-driven startups and researcher-driven experiments that aim to revolutionize or disrupt agricultural market information systems with digital tools, many of which emerge without sufficient understanding of local market constraints, pre-existing local information systems and networks, or how these systems and networks can be complemented or integrated with digital tools. In the absence of contextual understanding, new information systems can be alien to farmers and other agents, or disruptive to markets that were already efficient within the bounds of extant institutions and context. As a result, studies often show that smallholders are not willing to pay the full cost of digital tools and services. For example, Cole and Fernando (2021) show that although IVR services in India increased farmers' income and associated returns to investment, they are only willing to pay a fraction of that return. Subsequent work by Fernando (2021) find that mobile phone-based extension advice succeeded because it encouraged peer interactions and information sharing very conventional impact pathways that are often overlooked in the value propositions prepared for many digital tools.Similarly, our review finds that the scaling of many of the digital tools is constrained by a lack of clarity on inclusion, or the provision of products and services to marginalized groupssmallholder farmers, women and youth farmers, farmers in marginal agro-ecological zonesthat may represent a majority of participants in agricultural markets. Little is documented on digital inclusiveness in Africa's agricultural markets, although the working hypothesis is that digital entrepreneurs and service providers are likely to target easy-to-reach customers at the pilot stage to establish proof of concept and viability, without investing significantly in inclusion strategies at scale (see, e.g., CTA, 2019). Ironically, digital tools may actually generate greater impact among marginalized smallholders, including women, poorer and remotely located farmers, when compared to those who may already be better integrated in agricultural markets. Indeed, the digital divide in Africa's agricultural markets is a significant factor: less than 40 percent of smallholder households have access to the internet, with such access increasing with farm size (Mehrabi et al., 2021). Women farmers have even less access to the internet and mobile phones (Mehrabi et al., 2021). Given the lack of evidence, it is not immediately clear whether efforts to scale digital tool are able to address this issue or are actually constrained by it, although some studies suggest this possibility (e.g., Cole and Fernando, 2021;CTA, 2019).Next, accessibility and usability of digital tools should be considered when assessing constraints to scaling. CTA (2019) shows that while registrations of digital services are increasing, usage remains low. Digital literacy may be an important limiting factor: the CTA (2019) study finds that 28 percent of digital technology enterprises report consumerlevel digital literacy as an important barrier to adoption and use of digital tools. This suggests a disconnect between digital tool design and testing among diverse user-groups, recognizing that smallholders are quite heterogenous, varying in positionality, not only in terms of geographical location but also in socioeconomic circumstances, human capital (e.g., literacy and numeracy), and social structure (e.g., facing different social norms around access to digital technology).User confidence in digital tools is another important but understudied topic that may explain the lack of scale in digital innovation. Aker et al. (2016) highlight trust, in the sociological sense of the term, as an essential element that may determine how digital tools are accepted, received, interpreted, and acted upon. For example, Molony (2008) argues that although ICTs facilitate transmission of market information across agents in Tanzania, they could not build the trust needed between agents, which is critical for executing transactions. Smallholders are more likely to use or rely on digital tools if they believe that the information it provides comes from a trustworthy source, is timely and highquality, and is tailored to meet their needs. Perceptions about input quality has been shown to be a strong factor adoption of technologies (e. g., Michelson et al., 2021;Ashour et al., 2019), so it is entirely reasonable to assume that similar perception issues may affect user demand for information products.Ultimately, efforts to reap the full potential of digital innovation in African agricultural markets may require more than just novel apps and small-scale pilots. As argued by List (2022), to ensure widespread and transformative impact these innovations should achieve \"high voltage\", the ability to be replicated at scale. In this section, we suggest several steps to harness digital innovations at scale to make agricultural markets in Africa more vibrant, competitive, and inclusive.A first step in this direction is to address the human capital constraints that impede both the creation and utilization of digital tools (Jellason et al., 2021;Birner et al., 2021;Kim et al., 2020;Malabo Montpellier Panel, 2019). The vast majority of existing digital agricultural marketing tools in the continent offer a limited range of solutions and lack novelty. This may be partly attributable to insufficient human capital in the ICT sector in Africa. Thus, there is a clear need to cultivate an ICT workforce and develop a cadre of technical and professional workers with advanced ICT skills and entrepreneurial capabilities. Besides formally training large volumes of workers with ICT skills, governments and other stakeholder in this space can play a pivotal role by establishing innovation hubs and ICT business incubators; providing competitive grants, innovation prizes, and other incentive programs; and support local technology networks that link directly to public investments in the agricultural sector.A concurrent step is to invest in the human capital of users, especially farmers, rural entrepreneurs, and other actors who may have limited digital literacy or numeracy because of factors such as age, education, gender, or opportunity. Investment in the digital literacy of users such as rural students and young farmers is equally important given that they may be more aware and more likely to adopt digital tools if targeted appropriately. Further, it is important to keep in mind that even with large-scale digital literacy campaigns and education programs, many farmers may remain unfamiliar or uncomfortable with digital innovations. For example, there may be many instances where farmers prefer analog solutions such as talking to a market agent over the phone, even when the service they dial into may be digitalized on the back end. This calls for significant adaptation of digital innovations to ground realities such as low levels of digital literacy among end-users or preferences for simple and intuitive interfaces (Daum et al., 2021;Trendov et al., 2019). Examples include digital tools that integrate local in-person agents, voice recognition functions, or chat bots to help users complete lengthy registration processes or navigate complex menu options. Several of the digital tools reviewed earlier integrate these features, including Hello Tractor in Nigeria, which uses live booking agents and phone calls to provide services to its clients, and Lersha in Ethiopia, which uses similarly local agents to help farmers access their digital services.A second step is greater public and private investment in the complementary infrastructures, both tangible and intangible, that are required to scale digital innovation in Africa. Tangible infrastructures such as stable internet connectivity, sufficient bandwidth, wide mobile network coverage, secure server access, and electrical power are all critical to increasing the usability of the hardware and software required by these digital tools. Often, these tangible infrastructures require significant public investment because remuneration to private investors is either insufficient or results in inequitable distribution of benefits. Equally important are investments in intangible infrastructure such as agricultural data ecosystems that generate site-specific, spatially explicit crops, soil, land, weather, post/disease, and market data, and integrate these data with farmer registries, weather data, and other data streams. Similar to tangible infrastructures, these intangibles often require public investment given their significant initial costs, non-appropriability by private actors, long time lags to profitability, and other characteristics (Kim et al., 2020;CTA, 2019). That said, both tangible and intangible infrastructures can be procured through the public procurement of private services, public-private partnerships, or other mechanisms, especially where private sector expertise and experience outweighs government capacity in the digital space, as is often the case (FAO, 2019;Baumüller, 2018).A third step towards scaling digital innovation and realizing their full potential for transforming African agricultural markets requires the development of innovative and sustainable business models for private entrepreneurs in the digital space. Currently, the vast majority of digital solutions providers not only rely heavily on public-particularly donor-funding, but actively seek public funding for their projects under the auspices of development assistance, rather than seek private funding based on credible revenue-generating models. More effort is required in the development of revenue models based on the sale of subscriptions or memberships or fee-based services to farmers, which otherwise seem to be few and far between. While donor funding can be instrumental at the pilot stage, it is unsustainable at best and, at worst, can be market distorting at the scaling stage.This should not imply that digital innovation can or should be fully privatized. Public funding will remain crucial in the early stages of digital innovation, especially when a digital tool on offer has strong public goods characteristics, or its use is severely constrained by users' strong preferences for the status quo or their limited purchasing power, or where the benefits may contribute to the broader productivity or welfare of a community beyond the individual user (Hidrobo et al., 2020;Birner et al., 2021;Fabregas et al., 2019a). Thus, there may be good reasons to sustain public funding of call centers and IVR services for farmers like the 80-28 IVR Hotline in Ethiopia or NamLITS in Namibia, among other examples.But the persistence of market distortions induced by public (and donor) funding suggests a need to quickly push digital providers towards clear business models and profitability pathways, or else walk away and invest in other, more traditional market development projects. One such pathway to profitability may be the bundling of public goods and services with other profit generating complementary products or services to cover the costs of information creation and distribution. An example of this approach is xarvio Digital Farming Solutions, in which an input provider finances a sophisticated digital platform that serves both farmers and contractors. Along the same lines, DigiFarm and iCow in Kenya finance their operations through network providers who have an incentive to increase subscribers and ensure customer loyalty in addition to providing agriculture market-related services. However, many of the previous attempts to finance digital services by selling subscriptions to farmers have only reached a small fraction of the potential market (Fabregas et al., 2019a;CTA, 2019). Fabregas et al. (2019a) argue that the nonrivalry and non-excludability nature of these services/tools can limit the success and sustainability of these subscription-based models. 7  But apart from these examples and a few others, the absence of commercially viable bundled services may be attributable to the costs and complexity these arrangements may entail. Fully functional, digitally integrated services entail much more significant investments than, say, a simple app that matches buyers with sellers. Unfortunately, the digital ecosystem in much of Africa currently favors simple apps and adaptive innovation over complex commercial solutions that require novel and intense design processes, though that may be changing rapidly.A fourth step is for countries in Africa to develop complementary agricultural input and output markets and supporting services in order to make the information/services provided by digital platforms actionable. The utility of market information and marketing facilitation services may be limited in the absence of well-developed input and output marketsa characteristic which is still prevalent in many parts of the region (Ariga et al., 2019;Schut et al., 2016). Of course, digital marketing platforms themselves may also support this process through integrating functions that facilitate the matching of demand with supply in agricultural input markets. For instance, digital platforms can generate input demand data that can be shared with potential suppliers, track input availability, and notify farmers when inputs are in stock with dealers in their locality, even making it easier for farmers to check and compare prices (Fabregas et al., 2019a). But digital tools alone are unlikely to solve market gaps; broader policy attention to strengthening input market function will remain important.The fifth step is the creation of dynamic policies and smart regulations that can: spur digital innovations as well as safeguard competitive markets, ensure equitable distribution of digital dividends, address privacy concerns, and promote good data stewardship (Kira et al., 2021). Currently, countries with a dedicated policy for agricultural digitization are scarce in the continent and or fall short at the implementation stage, thus limiting the production, distribution, and uptake of digital technologies and services (Nakasone and Torero, 2016;Korovkin, 2019;Tossou et al., 2020;Ayamga et al., 2021). Moreover, policies need to embrace digital solutions beyond individual projects and create institutional space for flexible and data-driven decision-making (Steinke et al., 2021). Regularly updating digital polices to keep pace with the dynamic needs of the digital ecosystems is equally important. The digital-friendly policies and regulations in Kenya and Ghana that led to the rapid expansion of their digital ecosystems are examples that other countries can emulate or adapt (e.g., Mercy Corps et al. 2021).Last but not least, countries should deliberately facilitate the creation of strong alliances among digital actors. Existing digital initiatives which are fragmented in most countries results in under-utilization of complementarities and synergies, and could sometimes cause undue duplication of efforts. A well-coordinated partnership among digital actors (including user-group representatives) can facilitate investment, innovation, and scaling (Kim et al., 2020). Such alliances can be instrumental in the cost-effective development of shared infrastructures such as agricultural data ecosystems and standardized ontologies for data collection. The experience from Kenya is a good example, highlighting the key roles that partnerships among digital actors can play in facilitating innovations. That said, alliances should be built with care so as to preserve competition in the market and to prevent the emergence of efficiency-reducing market power and industry concentration.Already, there are encouraging trends suggesting that many of the right steps are being taken across Africa to encourage digital innovation in agricultural markets. Ecosystems of small start-up enterprises are emerging in multiple countries, and governments are easing restrictions on the movement of talent from the African diaspora and between African countries to facilitate these enterprises. In several countries, tech incubators and developer hubs appear to be thriving, for example, Kenya's Silicon Savannah, South Africa's Silicon Cape Initiative, and Nigeria's Wennovation Hub, the latter hosting an explicit program for agri-tech startups. Meanwhile, many of the necessary infrastructure investments are being made, albeit within the limits of public budgets that are stretched thin across multiple development priorities. Partly as a result of these investments, growth in Africa's digital connectivity is expected to continue increasing in coming years, giving increasing scope for economies of scale in service provision. Between 2020 and 2025 the percentage of households in sub-Saharan Africa with SIM connections is expected to rise from 77 percent to 90 percent, and smartphone adoption is expected to increase from 48 percent to 64 percent (GSMA, 2021b).However, there remain certain types of constraints that are not easy to overcome with strategic investments in human capital, infrastructure, and policy reforms. The most significant among these may not be the dispersed and fragmented nature of smallholder agriculture, but rather the persistence of non-competitive market structures and the unequal distribution of market power, a concern we alluded to earlier. Monopsony and monopoly market structures are a common historical feature in agriculture throughout much of the world: state-owned enterprises, commodity boards, colonial-era export monopolies, and other anticompetitive institutions were ubiquitous in agricultural markets 7 Some other business models involved selling advertising and partnerships with profit-oriented commercial entities. However, these type of models and profit-maximizing intentions may affect the quality and objectivity of services offered (Anagol et al., 2017;Fabregas et al., 2019a). during Africa's colonial and post-colonial eras. Traders, middlemen, plantation owners, commission agents, politicians, and administrators are often positioned to exert control and power over smallholders using a wide range of anti-competitive market mechanisms (and other, more persuasive, and coercive mechanisms) to extract resources from rural areas for the benefit of export and urban markets.Today, new forces may be sustaining or even expanding these anticompetitive forces as novel forms of political capture and rent seeking that enable anti-competitive strategic behavior across multiple value chains. It remains to be seen whether digital innovation can push markets towards greater competition by, for example, improving farmers' access to information about price trends or their outside options in lessthan-favorable obligations under formal or relational contracts. In fact, it may be the case that digital innovations have little value in instances where powerful actors can prevent their adoption, or when those same actors can simply dictate terms to farmers irrespective of the information or services offered by the digital innovation. Even disruptive innovations with the potential to shake the foundations of a captured marketsomething similar to, say, ride-sharing apps that threatened the market power of public transport regulators, taxi monopolies, and driver unions in some industrialized countriesare unlikely to survive if sufficient political force is mobilized to thwart their development.When agricultural markets are non-competitive and when powerful forces have outsized influence over both agricultural markets and digital spaces, there is also a potential threat to privacy. Farmer registriesmentioned earlier as a potentially essential part of a functional digital ecosystemmay also serve as control systems for governments. With information on a farm-household's demographic profile, landholdings, assets ownership, crop mix, and other characteristics, governments are well-positioned to dictate production and marketing decisions that may be beneficial to national food security or export promotion strategies, but unprofitable for the individual farmer. In effect, the collection and use of personal data can encourage latent tendencies of governments towards central planning that ultimately rob farmers and other value chain actors of the ability to make decisions in their own best interest. This is not a benign threat: already, some governments in Africa have made considerable strides in this direction with support from donors, the private sector, and other entities.Another point that merits some discussion is the need for digital tools to achieve a critical mass in user participation and enable their services to flourish and sustain. As an example, applications that connect buyers and sellers will not work well without a sufficient number of potential transacting partner options. If options are too thin, price signaling may be muted, and transaction characteristics (in terms of location, volume, quality standards, and so on) may be too limited to attract either buyers or sellers. This was an early challenge for the ECX in Ethiopia, which was overcame only when coffee was added to its list of traded commodities. But creating sufficient volumes may be difficult in early stages of market development, so it is not immediately clear what public support strategies may help overcome these hurdles without compromising competitive market characteristics.A great deal has been said in recent years about the potential for digital tools to transform agricultural marketing in Africa. In particular, the possibility that ICTs can overcome information asymmetries, transactions costs, coordination failures and other limitations of thin and fragmented agricultural markets has motivated considerable investments in market-oriented tool development. However, empirically grounded discussion of the performance and scaling experiences of ICTenabled agricultural marketing tools has been limited to date. In this review, we synthesized available evidence on the characteristics of ICTenabled marketing innovations and tools, their deployment, impacts, and efforts to scale.A major conclusion of our review is that, while many digital tools for agricultural marketing have been developed and deployed in recent years in Africa, the vast majority of these have been implemented at pilot stages, with limited evidence of successful scaling, let alone impacts on agricultural market performance. There is a strong need to systematically capture scaling experiencesincluding failuresin order to better understand the critical features of viable scaling strategies in different contexts. The current lack of nuanced evidence from both successful and unsuccessful scaling efforts around agriculture-focused digital tools in Africa is impeding learning which may guide future scaling efforts. Relatedly, evaluations of tool impacts will require not only measurement of changes in farmers' knowledge, technology adoption patterns, or productivity outcomesas is typically the case in program evaluation effortsbut also longer-term and broader marketlevel impacts, such as value creation and value chain efficiencies, as well as higher-order impacts related to welfare and equality. In other words, internal validity concerns should not obscure the need for studies with plausible external validity.A second major takeaway from our analysis is that the marketing and related institutional characteristics of Africa pose some important constraints for the development of agricultural marketing tools. Noncompetitive market structures and the unequal distribution of market power remain prevalent characteristics in much of the region. The rapid rollout of digital innovations has outpaced infrastructural and institutional change in most of the region. Without committed policy attention to improved business environments, digitalization policies, and regulatory frameworks, the scope for a private sector-led expansion of digital tools will likely remain limited.A third and important conclusion is that there are substantial differences in progresses across African countries in tapping the potential of digital tools, as well as substantial differences in access to and use of digital innovations across communities and households on the continent. While some African countries have made significant strides in building digital spaces for agricultural markets (e.g., Kenya and Ghana), weak internet infrastructure and regulatory frameworks in many African countries will likely continue to inhibit widespread scale up of digital innovations in the next few years. Furthermore, our synthesis shows that the differential access to internet and mobile phones across farmer types and gender dimensions may be exacerbating the digital divide. This necessitates investments and policies to ensure digital inclusion of marginalized households and communities.Our analysis can be taken as a gentle corrective to the sometimesunbridled enthusiasm that has accompanied the advent of digital agriculture in Africa. Importantly, our assessment of the current situation is still consistent with a fundamentally optimistic view of the possibilities for ICT-enabled digital tools to support transformative change in Africa's agricultural markets. The challenges we highlight are all surmountable. However, policy reforms and investments should be informed by careful analysis of what works, in turn enabled by better data collection on the innovations now in the field. This implies, at minimum, better coordination amongst national governments, donors, and project partners, to more systematically generate and pool comparable information about scaling efforts. The potential payoff to such efforts, however, may be considerable, i.e., faster, and more efficient scaling of marketing tools that can significantly improve the livelihoods of Africa's smallholder farmers.In sum, realizing the promise of digital technologies to transform African agricultural markets is likely to require much more investment and learning from successful and unsuccessful scaling-up efforts. This means overcoming the paucity of empirical evidence on what works where and under which conditions in terms of design, content, scaling strategies, financing, and enabling policy and institutional factors. More systematic and comprehensive evaluations of existing initiatives may help to shape more effective modalities and partnerships to ensure sustainable delivery of digital marketing services in agriculture. These same evaluations may also contribute to addressing institutional constraints that inhibit the mainstreaming and integration of digital tools into national agricultural marketing systems and practices."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7dc259b7a31d11af043917d4b5e9d061","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ae931f00-4185-43b5-a35d-5ad0251ce4b4/retrieve","id":"-2078189849"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"eba3b264-f1cd-4734-91e0-0fcfa0eb8ca2","content":"Fragility has become a prevailing reality in an increasing number of countries in various areas, including Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) [1]. The concept of fragility encompasses a range of dimensions, including armed conflict, migration, economic and political instability, erosion of the social fabric, and scarcity, depletion, and contamination of natural resources [2]. The World Economic Forum's recent survey data highlights the significant risks the region is least prepared to face, with water crises ranking among the top Drying water pond in Jordan, July 2020 (photo: Seersa Abaza / IWMI). Policy Brief risks, followed by profound social instability, state collapse, and interstate conflict [3]. These risks are all interconnected with situations of fragility posing existential threats to the prosperity and well-being of millions of people living in the region. The CWANA region, which spans a vast area across Central and West Asia and North Africa including all countries covered by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission forSolar panels at a farm in Chorbane, Mahdia, Tunisia, October 2021 (photo: Khaled Bedoui).Western Asia (UN ESCWA), features a wide array of human cultures and agroecological systems. What unifies this area are its relative semi-arid and arid conditions, which are anticipated to amplify due to ongoing climate change [4]. The region is expected to experience an increase in the severity and frequency of high temperatures, droughts, rainfall extremes, floods, climate variability, and compound events, which will have significant consequences for society and the environment [5][6][7]. These challenges are further exacerbated by a rapidly growing population and varying levels of economic growth [8], conflict and instability, environmental vulnerabilities, as well as the pressing issues of migration, displacement, and refugees [9]. All of these factors collectively impact the region's interconnected resource systems. The region's ageold resource scarcity challenges are being intensified by the growing demand for water, land, food, and energy, coupled with the effects of climate change, inter-sectoral competition, and urbanization [10]. The consequences of these pressures are far-reaching and deeply intertwined, impacting not only the availability of resources, but also the socio-economic fabric and political stability of the region. Amidst economic disparities between countries and inequalities within them, there is a tendency to prioritize short-term reactive strategies that often fail to address underlying causes and vulnerabilities, thereby contradicting efforts to promote long-term sustainability. Unfortunately, these strategies can often perpetuate a vicious cycle, further exacerbating pressures on natural resource systems, amplifying the risk of social and political instability, geopolitical conflict, irreparable environmental damage, and reducing food security [11]. It is evident that a new approach is required to address these complex challenges holistically and to build resilience in fragile and conflict-affected agrifood systems.Fragility highlights the compelling need for countries to prioritize inclusive investments in resilience building, given its profound social and economic ramifications [12]. Addressing fragility requires directing resources towards pre-emptive measures that mitigate and prevent fragility and promote longterm, sustainable development and adaptation. This contrasts with the considerable cost incurred through the recurrence of crises and reactive responses and recovery strategies in the past.Despite the tight interconnectedness of resource systems, current resource management and allocation practices in CWANA are predominantly conducted using a sector-based siloed approach, further exacerbating the challenges faced [13]. This fragmented approach to managing water, energy, and food security compromises the region's ability to meet its development targets and exacerbates vulnerabilities. Moreover, it leads to inequitable access to resources and undermines gender equality and the sustainability of development initiatives [14]. A systems approach is a prerequisite to addressing these complex challenges sustainably.The interconnectivity of water, energy, and food underscores the importance of minimizing negative trade-offs, exploring synergies, and promoting integration in the planning, management, and utilization of scarce and depleted resources [15][16][17].Adopting a nexus approach offers a comprehensive framework for addressing the multifaceted challenges encountered by local communities and ecosystems. This integrated approach, engaging stakeholders at various scales, empowers vulnerable segments of society with distinct needs and resources, fostering a more inclusive and effective response.To effectively implement a nexus approach, it is essential to develop enabling environments and effective institutional arrangements and mechanisms that allow for cross-sectoral coordination and planning [18]. This approach fosters the integration of policies and practices across different sectors, such as water, energy, agriculture, and environment, and ensures that decisions are based on robust evidence and synergies. By embracing a systems approach and investing in enabling environments, the CWANA region can enhance its overall resilience, improve its ability to rapidly respond to and recover from future shocks and disturbances, and create a sustainable and prosperous future for its people. This policy brief presents a conceptual framework including seven strategic action areas which constitute key elements of the enabling environment needed to improve the resilience of agrifood systems in fragile or conflict-affected contexts. The policy brief explores key barriers and proposed actions under each of these strategic action areas in the context of CWANA countries facing natural resource and conflict-induced fragility.The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) office of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in partnership with UN ESCWA organized a 2-day regional dialogue on \"Water-Energy-Food Nexus: Building Resilience in Fragile and Conflict-affected Agrifood Systems\". This regional dialogue was an activity of the CGIAR Initiative on Fragility to Resilience in Central and West Asia and North Africa (F2R-CWANA) and of ESCWA's National Agenda for the Future of Syria programme. It brought together experts from Syria, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Morocco, Egypt, and Jordan, which represent countries facing natural resource and/or conflict-induced fragility. This regional dialogue focused on identifying key challenges and opportunities for improving the resilience of agrifood systems through the adoption of a WEF nexus approach under seven action areas including: 1) data, analytics, and evaluation tools, 2) governance and policy coherence, 3) science-policy dialogue, 4) stakeholder engagement, 5) capacity building, 6) scaling up successful innovations, and 7) financing and investment. We posit that these seven action areas constitute key components for building an enabling environment for improved resilience, catalyzing a paradigm shift from reaction to anticipation, as well as enhancing preparedness and reducing risks. This policy brief highlights key barriers and proposes actions to address them, identified through discussions that took place as part of the regional dialogue event.This section provides a summary of key barriers and challenges facing the implementation of a WEF nexus approach in the CWANA region as associated with each of the seven identified strategic action areas.Contexts: Countries facing natural resource fragility, such as Morocco and Uzbekistan, encounter challenges related to the availability and analysis of data. Outdated and insufficiently analyzed data, particularly concerning water availability and agriculture, hinder effective planning and management. These countries also face difficulties in updating data to account for the impacts of climate change. Fragile and conflict-affected countries like Lebanon and Syria face data availability challenges and struggle with insufficient technological capacity for data generation. Trust issues, lack of permissions, and brain drain impede the sharing and utilization of specific types of data, hindering evidence-based decision making.Cross-sectoral Coordination Mechanisms: Countries facing either natural resource and/or conflict-induced fragility, can encounter challenges in governance and policy coherence. Conflict-affected countries often experience fragmented governance structures due to political instability, making it difficult to establish effective coordination mechanisms. This is even more complex in countries where governance and authority are constrained by movement and access limitations due to insecurity or fragmentation, as in Syria. In these contexts, coordination among institutions can be challenging, as different actors may have conflicting mandates and objectives. On the other hand, countries often face issues related to incoherence between top-down and bottom-up governance. Additionally, duplication of roles and responsibilities between different sectors can lead to inefficient resource management and policy implementation, high level of centralization in decision making, and low accountability and transparency. Encouraging open-source and crowdsourced data collection could also contribute significantly to addressing data availability issues. Moreover, investments in infrastructure and data platforms, alongside the implementation of data sharing regulations, are seen as crucial steps to ensure the availability of consistent and accessible data for informed decision-making. In addition to these measures, the critical need for risk monitoring tools to alert decision-makers to future potential risks cannot be overstated. The integration of these tools, coupled with strategic foresight and anticipatory action, aligns with the imperative to identify sources of fragility and potential resource hotspots at both national and local levels -which can then be used to inform triggers for coordinated action and response. The utilization of technology for such monitoring, driven by risk factors, social parameters, and resource availability, offers a systematic approach to proactive risk management. Employing these tools goes beyond mere reaction; it entails the creation of scenario analyses and the evaluation of trade-offs. Decision-makers are thereby equipped with the means to assess the potential impact of interventions, their associated costs, benefits, and synergies across diverse sectors. This analytical depth can empower them to make choices that not only address immediate concerns but also bolster stability, security, and resilience over the longer term.This action area aims to foster coordination and coherence between sectors by promoting bottom-up approaches in policy formulation and implementation. Empowering stakeholders and promoting digitalization and consistency in governance processes are suggested to enhance policy coherence. Strengthening accountability, problem-solving approaches, and monitoring mechanisms are also considered essential for effective governance and policy coherence. A central aspect of these proposals involves refining the alignment of strategies across different sectors. This not only enhances transparency and harmonization of a vision for collective outcomes and goals, but also fosters synergy among sectors. This approach aligns closely with the imperative to build resilience in contexts where fragility demands a concerted and cohesive response.This action area focuses on promoting applied research to inform policymakers, encouraging targeted research for evidence-based decisionmaking, and prioritizing nature-based solutions. Given the discussed challenges, it is vital to emphasize the necessity for research that is tailored to address the intricacies of resource management within fragile contexts at local scales. Moreover, science plays a pivotal role in innovative solutions, underlining the importance of strengthening its role as a bridge between government and end-users. Facilitating dialogue and collaboration among universities, research institutes, and civil society further enhances the science-policy interface, collectively aimed at bridging the gap between research and policy implementation for a more informed, evidence-based decision-making process.To ensure effective stakeholder engagement and outreach, the proposed actions include institutionalization of indigenous knowledge and promoting participatory management of natural resources, with special attention to marginalized groups, such as women and youth. Building comprehensive databases, making data available and accessible to stakeholders, facilitating data sharing among stakeholders, and fostering engagement between communities and governmental entities are seen as crucial steps to foster collaboration and inclusivity, ensuring that the voices and perspectives of women and youth are actively integrated into these processes. This policy brief posits a holistic nexus approach to address the intricate challenges of fragility in the CWANA region. By delineating the seven strategic action areas, this conceptual framework not only identifies critical barriers but also provides actionable strategies for enhancing resilience within fragile contexts through a WEF nexus approach, thereby catalyzing a paradigm shift from reaction to anticipation while concurrently improving preparedness and risk reduction.The imperative of foresight and modeling emerges as a cornerstone for informed decision-making. The integration of risk monitoring tools, coupled with proactive strategies driven by technology, presents a precise and systematic approach to mitigating fragility. This paradigm shift, from reaction to anticipation, holds potential for identifying vulnerabilities, mitigating risks, and optimizing resource allocation. Moreover, the integration of a nexus approach into development programs serves as an essential component to foster enhanced collaboration among stakeholders spanning diverse sectors. This can contribute to the breaking down of conventional silos, and the fostering of collective action that addresses the multifaceted challenges inherent to fragility. Simultaneously, the recognition of literature gaps demands robust research efforts to bolster the foundation of informed decision-making within fragile contexts. This endeavor is critical to ensuring that strategies are not only contextually relevant but also grounded in empirical evidence, guiding the region towards a resilient and sustainable future. Furthermore, the role of building capacity into systems approaches and the need for integrated planning and cross-sectoral coordination cannot be overstated. This goes hand in hand with creating the necessary mechanisms to ensure this coordination.Building on this conceptual framework, the CGIAR Initiative on Fragility to Resilience in Central and West Asia and North Africa has other sister CGIAR initiatives such as \"Fragility, Conflict and Migration\", \"National Policies and Strategies\", and \"NEXUS Gains\" that can further advance WEF nexus dialogues, research and experience beyond the CWANA region.Moving forward, the operationalization of the conceptual framework demands the development of a suite of diverse tools and instruments that are not only tailored to each of the seven strategic action areas, but which are also adaptable to the different contexts and specific challenges faced by these countries. These practical resources will play a pivotal role in catalyzing the envisioned future of resilience, through evidence-based decision-making capable of navigating the complexities of fragility."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f9b1122e10098385472a97c40c4bc562","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d345195d-ea9e-45db-b9e3-fadc038e49d3/retrieve","id":"-2110629496"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d8152876-39ee-46a7-975d-1443cb3ea30e","content":"Where do you usually buy animal source food (e.g. chicken)Increases not because of overconsumption! % growth in demand for livestock products to 2030 (versus 2005)  • Diarrhoeal diseases responsible for more than half of the global burden of foodborne diseases, with 230 000 deaths every year.• Major causes of diarrhoea: norovirus, Campylobacter, nontyphoidal Salmonella and pathogenic E. coli.• Causes and impact of FBD vary widely e.g. by region: Taenia solium, O. V., and aflatoxins.http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/ foodborne_disease/fergreport/en/ Traditional food chains -(traditional)/wet markets• It refers to traditional markets which sell mainly fresh foods such as meat, some seafood, fruits and vegetables.• Usually less regulated• Consist of different stalls with independent owners• Frequent use ice to keep food fresh and often wash products to keep them clean and fresh.Photo credit: Chea Rortana /ILRI 2020Formal versus informal retail• Formal retail: supermarkets, convenient stores, \"healthy\" food shops Will modern retail replace traditional/wet markets?Based on experiences on rapid growth of modern retail from other parts of the world (America, Europe, Australia, South America) the same was assumed for Africa and Asia.But there are crucial differences.• Modern retail in Asia and Africa does not offer offered fresh food at lower cost than traditional retail • There is also a strong preference for \"warm fresh meat\" = not chilled or frozen food in Africa and Asia.• Selection process of meat may include even check of consistence /\"touching\" of meat • Perception that modern retail uses more \"chemicals\" e.g. grow promoters & consequently different perceived meat taste and qualityShops specialising in selling \"health\" fresh food at a premium (rather small outlets)For richer customers, wet markets and modern retail may be complementary rather than competitive • people buying packaged food in supermarkets and fresh food in wet markets Take home messages ✓ Population grow and aligned higher demand for livestock may lead to increase risks ✓ Traditional retail plays an important role in Asia and Africa and will remain to do so ✓ The informal sector is not always dangerous and the formal sector is not always safe ✓ Western based mitigation approaches to cope with risks from informal sector may not be effective ✓ Results from pilot interventions at traditional slaughter and retail are promising but further consolidation required ✓ COVID-19 pandemic tends to result in better compliance of retailers"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"aeee31c5ef98f37ba2a21906c9ffe52a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/36597801-1484-4024-853a-6c281d1c0516/retrieve","id":"446738240"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e6311ec2-41b6-4482-813d-3b8675897e39","content":"The aim of this brief is to identify the main gaps in terms of participation of key policy actors to the OneCGIAR Agroecology initiative (AEi) and build on that for stronger representation of these important actors along our implementation process in 2024 and 2025.o Traditional stakeholders mapping approaches may not capture the true complexity of the agri-food system and its sustainability challenges in the transition towards agroecological systems. Thus, there is a need to adopt a more dynamic and data driven approach that recognizes a diverse array of stakeholders including policy stakeholders. For this, we applied the Kaleidoscope Model of policy analysis and stakeholder engagement tools to assess the level of policy engagement withing the agroecology initiative in 2022 and 2023.o Key findings indicate that the AEi in Tunisia achieved a measure of success in engaging a small but impactful group of \"potential policy changers\" in its second year. However, it is imperative to emphasize that more attention and strategic efforts should be directed towards engaging and mobilizing policy \"direct influencers\" as these types of stakeholders have the potential to catalyze and sustain policy changes, making them a pivotal focus for future activities of the initiative.o The AEi in Tunisia has primarily targeted stakeholders within the \"policy designer\" category. To achieve greater success in its engagement approach, inclusion of more policy actors from the policy guidance or advisory, policy lobbying, and policy implementation category is paramount. Expanding the outreach to engage actors from other categories of policy actors is essential for the Initiative's long-term success and effectiveness in influencing policy and driving sustainable change.o The Kaleidoscope Model is a relevant framework that can support policy actors mapping in the AEi.The CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology is centered on facilitating and documenting the transition to agroecological systems within seven distinct Agroecological Living Landscapes (ALL) situated across seven different countries. The overarching goals of this Initiative encompass the establishment and consolidation of these ALLs. Subsequently, it involves a collaborative codesign process of agroecological innovations in partnership with key stakeholders (Quintero & McCartney, 2021). These innovations are packaged and piloted to create and promote agroecological changes and transitions. The transformation towards a more sustainable and eco-friendly agriculture involves a diverse array of stakeholders operating at various levels, ranging from local to global.Mapping these stakeholders is a process that can differ depending on the purpose of the analysis and the expected outcome. It involves a set of steps that starts with identifying the key actors, classifying them into similar categories, understanding their potential contribution and developing engagement strategies. This approach evolved over time, and it was transitioning from a relatively simple concept to a more sophisticated, deeper, and dynamic analysis. Basic stakeholders mapping approaches may fall short in capturing the true complexity of the agri-food system and particularly its sustainability challenges (Deviney et al., 2023). These basic stakeholder mapping methods focus on creating a static representation of stakeholders and don't take into consideration sequencing of involvement and changes over time. Also, oversimplifying the mapping process may not help to overcome the complexity of the actors' configuration, especially when this kind of analysis is based on assumptions and rely on limited set of data sources, which can lead to incomplete or biased mapping (Zurek et al., 2022).To address these gaps, there is a need to adopt a more dynamic and data driven approach for stakeholders'' mapping. Such mapping method must give an importance to actors' roles rather than simply classifying them. Within this Initiative, equal emphasis is placed on both policy innovations and active policy engagement to foster changes linked to sociotechnical aspects of agroecology transition. The recognition of the central role of policy stakeholders' involvement and the mapping of these actors remains crucial to ensure the success of such complex transition process (Blesh et al., 2023).In this brief, we explore the food system actors (FSAs) of the one CGIAR initiative in Tunisia 1 , from a policy engagement lens. We particularly want to explore the level of policy influence of all food system stakeholders engaged within the initiative in 2022 and 2023. Stakeholder engagement here can be of different forms ranging from attending key consultation meetings, to trainings and capacity development, etc. We identify the distinct policy roles played by each one of these FSAs by referring to a robust methodology used to label each of these actors based on its level of policy influence (Dhehibi et al., 2023). Based on that, and by comparing annual policy engagement of the OneCGIAR agroecology initiative in Tunisia across 2022 and 2023, we identify the main gaps in terms of participation of key policy actors to our initiative and build on that for strengthen representation of these important actors along our implementation process in 2024 and 2025.Our methodology for assessing the level of policy engagement of the AEi in 2022 and 2023 is based on Dhehibi et al. (2023). It encompassed a series of steps, from data collection and scoring to integration with external records and opinion. Further elaboration of our methodological framework is as follows:We initiated this study on mapping policy actors within the AEi by collecting specific data about the level of policy influence of different actors present during an Agroecology Expert Meeting held in Tunisia. A one-page questionnaire was administered to each of the 28 experts in attendance. This questionnaire (Annex 1) requested experts to provide a policy influence score, ranging from 0 to 3, for a predetermined list of actors within the food system (with indication of administrative grade for these actors who are working at various regional and central administrations). The scoring system was defined as follows: 0 for no policy influence, 1 for indirect influence, 2 for direct influence, and 3 actors who are key for policy change.Following the data collection phase, we calculated the \"policy median score\" for each actor type based on the responses of the 28 participants. This \"policy median score\" will be used as consensus measure of policy influence for each actor within the food system.Subsequently, we integrated the data obtained from the questionnaire with the AEi records from MELIA for the years 2022 and 2023. This integration allowed us to \"label\" each of the actors engaged by the AEi in Tunisia and establish a comprehensive dataset in which each observation or Food System Actor (FSA) was characterized by its type and \"policy influence score\". As indicated before, other labels based on the Kaleidoscope Model, specifically the Stakeholder Inventory step (Dhehibi et al., 2023), were added to categorize stakeholders and assign policy labels based on their attributes and roles. This model provides a more elaborated and comprehensive description of policy actor types, including policy actors who design, guide, implement, and lobby for a policy. For our case, this additional layer of policy actors' characterization (labelling) was done based on a pairwise comparison of the studied actor to a similar stakeholder categorization that we get from literature. More details can be found in Table 1.The two sets of data, one derived from expert assessments and the other from the stakeholder inventory, were combined to create a unified dataset (an example of the first four rows and the table header is presented in Figure 1).With the comprehensive dataset in hand, we conducted an in-depth analysis to assess the annual engagement of actors within the food system between the years 2022 and 2023. This analysis allowed us to identify trends, shifts, and patterns in the policy roles and engagement levels of stakeholders over the two-year period of the Initiative implementation.   As defined by Larsen et al. (2019), \"agroecology stakeholder\" can be any individual or group of individuals (McGrath & Whitty, 2017) who can influence via policy or outreach, ecosystem service outcomes associated with agricultural land use. Referring to a set of documents and sources (ACTA 2017; Lestrelin & Jaouadi, 2022), and other MARHP 2 official portals, previous research and development projects, and different categories of stakeholders were identified as core players (Table 1) in agroecological policy establishment in Tunisia. These are related to all or some of the agroecological policy aspects as expressed through the 13 agroecology principles (HLPE, 2019) 3 .Table 1 provides a list of these actors, their major role, and whether they were involved in the AEi or not. It is important to mention that the first and the third column on \"category\" and \"policy label\" were added by the initiative team based on a similar classification in a set of documents in (e.g., Resnick et al., 2015;Resnick et al., 2016;Resnick et al., 2018;Haggblade & Babu, 2017;Mather & Ndyetabula, 2016). Investing in sustainable and agroecological practices.Aligning their strategies with agroecology goals and adopting them in their supply chains.Local Radios Social MediaPolicy lobbying Raising awareness about agroecology.Policy implementation Provide access to credit and investment.Support sustainable agricultural projects.Local authorities CDLAlign their land-use planning and zoning regulations with agroecological policies.Source: Own elaboration ( 2023)Based on Experts opinion, we generated Figure 2 which provides a presentation of the level of policy actors' engagement in the AEi over two years, 2022 and 2023. The left side of the figure illustrates the overall transformation and shifts in actor engagement between these two years, while the right side delves into more nuanced details regarding different actor groups engaged.In analyzing the data, we observed that in the second year, 2023, there was a slight increase in the involvement of actors categorized as \"policy changers,\" representing 2% of the total FSA engaged. Conversely, for the category of \"policy direct influencers,\" there was no significant change, with the percentage remaining relatively stable, decreasing marginally from 4.7% to 4.2%.Further examination of the 2% policy changers revealed that they were predominantly distributed among high level representatives of research and academic institutions and governmental agencies (The DGs of INRAT, INRGREF, IO, OEP, AVFA, INGC, etc.). This distribution reflects that these institutions played a crucial role in influencing policy changes related to one or more of the agroecology principals' relevance in Tunisia.Considering these findings, a key conclusion is that the AEi achieved a measure of success in engaging a small and yet impactful group of policy changers in its second year. However, it is imperative to emphasize that more attention and strategic efforts should be directed towards further and stronger engagement and mobilization of policy direct influencers. These stakeholders have the potential to catalyze and sustain policy changes, making them a pivotal focus for future activities. The initiative team in Tunisia need to look at these results and adjust their priority beneficiaries towards increased involvement of such category of actors to achieve better policy transformation in support to the agroecological transition pathways designed for Tunisia. Figure 3 shows the evolving landscape of actors' roles in the AEi, with a specific focus on changes between the years 2022 and 2023. These insights have been derived from the \"policy role labelling approach\", as a component of the Kaleidoscope model application, reflecting shifts in actor engagement over this period. Figure 3 shows a significant shift in the engagement of \"policy designers\" during the second year, 2023. This group saw a substantial increase in their involvement, rising from 2.1% to 5.9% of total actor engagement. In contrast, other key actor groups experienced no major changes. \"Policy guidance actors\" decreased slightly from 23.3% to 22%, \"policy lobbying actors\" saw a marginal increase from 1.3% to 1.4%, and \"policy implementation actors\" decreased from 73.3% to 70.6%.Upon closer examination, it becomes clear that the change in policy designers was largely concentrated within governmental agencies (especially public directorates of the MAHRF). While this shift within a specific actor category is significant, it's important to note that the overall composition of actors remained relatively the same of the first year. From a theoretical perspective (Haggblade & Babu, 2017), the policy designers can involve the planning administrations or task forces that can directly exchange feasible strategy to policy maker, encouraging open and collaborative discussions with these actors will directly influence their engagement and partnerships levels. Involving them in the initiative meetings and brainstorming sessions may also help to understand their insights, priorities, and ideas. Also, for the policy lobbying role, this role was only limited to civil society (Figure 3). Other actors can play a similar role, such as influential individuals, consumers associations, and online-Eco shops. This last actor is already in the market and promoting sustainable and equitable agricultural productions. Engaging these e-business companies can be considered as an opportunity for the initiative from an economic and institutional perspective. Moreover, it will strengthen the viability of the inclusive business models upgraded under WP3 activities especially with the lack of financial resources, financial assistance and cooperation, and strong financial mechanisms that can support sustainable intensification efforts in developing countries (Kang'ethe et al., 2021).From these findings, a crucial conclusion emerges: the AEi has continued to apply a consistent approach and has primarily targeted stakeholders within the policy designer category. To achieve greater success in its engagement approach, diversification is paramount. Expanding the outreach to engage actors from other categories is essential for the initiative's longterm success and effectiveness in influencing policy and driving sustainable change. In conclusion, while the AEi has made significant strides in engaging actors within the food system, our analysis reveals that there are still notable gaps in its reach. Key actor categories such as media and communication channels, financial institutions, and local authorities remain conspicuously absent from the initiative's engagement efforts. These categories play pivotal roles in shaping policy and influencing the broader food system, and their inclusion is imperative for a more comprehensive and effective approach. This can be explained by challenges faced in the participatory approach and the different interests' groups and aims.Additionally, the engagement of the private sector within the initiative remains limited. To drive sustainable change and foster innovation within the food system, involving private sector actors is essential. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that the lobbying efforts continue to be primarily led by civil society groups. A more diverse and balanced engagement approach, involving a broader spectrum of stakeholders, including the private sector and governmental bodies, could enhance the initiative's capacity to effect policy changes.Ultimately, the success of the Initiative depends on its openness and inclusiveness. Ensuring that it remains an inclusive platform that actively seeks to engage a wide range of actors across various categories is crucial. By broadening its reach and diversifying its engagement strategy, the initiative can be better positioned to have a more profound and lasting impact on the ever-evolving landscape of actors within the food system, fostering a swifter transition towards agroecology as defined by Wezel et al. (2015).In addition of the relevant processes and relationships, actors and stakeholders considered in this approach, in the next step there is need to include drivers of this change, indicators, and an assessment of this dynamic to understand the changes and ensure targeting future efforts.  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8b04b8cb440d7b971fa9a5119d85e6ca","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f3510f31-86d9-42a5-9d8e-d37105415b1d/retrieve","id":"-76260112"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6b58cc3f-19d8-4f50-9ace-9e58d78e53de","content":"Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex) in Mabamba Bay wetland system, Wakiso District.ment Department and the Uganda Bureau of Statistics to link wetlands and poverty is a fi rst-of-its-kind effort.Mapping a Better Future: How Spatial Analysis can Benefi t Wetlands and Reduce Poverty in Uganda marks the next step forward in our efforts to reconcile environment and development. It presents an innovative mapping approach to integrating efforts to reduce poverty while sustaining ecosystems, such as wetlands, which we believe offers significant potential for improving wetland management policy and pro-poor outcomes both in Uganda and beyond.We value the lessons learned from this pioneering effort, and we intend to act on them. Going forward, we will use and build on the knowledge gained through this publication and leverage them into future decision-making processes on how individual wetlands should be managed. We will further develop a more systematic and comprehensive inventory and assessment of wetlands and the economic opportunities they offer to protect wetland health while optimizing the services they offer poor communities.We hope and believe that the data and analyses presented in these pages will indeed help to \"map a better future\" for Uganda.Finally, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to our international partners in this effort, the International Livestock Research Institute and the World Resources Institute.Wetlands affect the lives of every one of Uganda's citizens. We depend on wetlands for food and clean water, for building materials and fuels, for livestock grazing and medicines, and for water fl ow regulation. They provide a powerful engine for our country's development, with wetland services and products contributing hundreds of millions of dollars a year to the national economy.The critical importance of Uganda's wetlands has already been acknowledged by the government, and Uganda is widely recognized for taking a lead in Africa on wetlands management policy. Over the past decade, $2 million has been invested in building a database unique in Africa to support efforts to protect and sustainably use wetlands. The National Wetlands Information System inventories 13 main uses of wetlands in 30 districts around the country and records their impacts on each individual site.The Ugandan government is also very committed to its poverty reduction strategy. To support poverty reduction efforts, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics has recently published detailed, high resolution poverty maps which provide information on household income at a local (subcounty) level.This publication combines and analyzes these two sets of data-on wetlands use and poverty levels-to generate information that can be used to strengthen national and local anti-poverty strategies and resource management plans. The collaboration between the Wetlands Manage- The high quality datasets and maps on which this publication is based were developed and recorded by the Ugandan government. The Wetlands Management Department of the Ministry of Water and Environment produced the comprehensive wetlands database or National Wetlands Information System, which is unique in Africa. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics, which is affi liated to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, produced the detailed and highly localized poverty maps. Both the World Resources Institute and the International Livestock Research Institute supplied technical support to derive new maps and analyses. The collaboration of a team of authors from all four institutions is the fi rst of its kind, and one on which we plan to build. This publication encapsulates an area of critical importance at the interface of people and the natural world. It builds on pioneering poverty and ecosystem mapping work undertaken in Kenya and points the way toward further work in East Africa aimed at informing national strategies and plans to reduce poverty.We hope that the poverty-wetland use linkages and the policy pathways illuminated by this publication will be effectively applied by government, and used by other audiences, both in Uganda and beyond.Mapping a Better Future: How Spatial Analysis can Benefi t Wetlands and Reduce Poverty in Uganda represents an exciting step forward in both combating poverty and protecting vital ecosystems in Uganda.The pioneering spatial analysis contained in the report provides valuable insights aimed at helping decisionmakers across government target and prioritize antipoverty efforts and wetland protection interventions. This report is the product of an ongoing partnership between national and international organizations to develop and combine maps of poverty incidence and ecosystems use. Its approach has potential application in other developing countries which share high poverty levels and an abundance of natural resources.The geographic approach inherent in the report can enable Ugandan decision-makers to literally \"see\" and \"value\" the nation's ubiquitous wetlands in a new light. We hope that decision-makers will use the maps and analytical examples to develop further analyses and apply their fi ndings to policies and interventions in the fi eld.To this end, the report's target audiences include the following: The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development; the Budget Monitoring and Accountability Unit; the Uganda Bureau of Statistics; the Wetlands Management Department; planning experts; and-to hold decision-makers accountable for wetland conservation and poverty reduction efforts-civil society representatives and nongovernmental organizations.In particular, we hope that the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development will use the wetland and poverty maps to refi ne its budgeting and planning to refl ect the importance of healthy wetlands to local livelihoods and the national economy. We also hope that all areas of government involved in wetlands management will use the data to inform sustainable use of wetlands that optimizes poverty reduction. Such efforts should include leveraging increased funding that targets needy subcounties based on their poverty and wetland use profi les.v i E x e c u t i v e S u m m a r yThe publication is aimed at high level decision-makers and has two key purposes:Q To show decision-makers responsible for Uganda's wetlands where sustainable wetland management can have the greatest impacts on reducing poverty, and how community profi les derived from poverty maps can facilitate wetland interventions which better serve the poor. Maps of poverty and wetland indicators can serve as a bridge between different government sectors as they consider opportunities for achieving multiple socioeconomic and environmental objectives.Q To show decision-makers involved in poverty reduction how maps derived from Uganda's National Wetlands Information System can help to identify wetlands with degradation risks or economic potential, and show how these areas coincide with different poverty levels. Such knowledge can improve efforts to integrate wetland issues into poverty reduction strategies.Mapping a Better Future: How Spatial Analysis Can Benefi t Wetlands and Reduce Poverty in Uganda uses an innovative approach to integrate spatial data on poverty and wetlands use. Drawing on Uganda's rich baseline of wetland data and poverty mapping, the report provides a detailed examination of the links between ecosystem services and the location of poor communities and presents practical lessons for policy-makers across government. The report covers the following issues:Background: A Brief History of Wetlands Management in Uganda gives an overview of the Ugandan government's efforts to date on wetlands management and its relation to poverty.Uganda has abundant natural wealth. Its varied wetlands, including grass swamps, mountain bogs, seasonal fl oodplains, and swamp forests, provide services and products worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year, making them a vital contributor to the national economy. Ugandans use wetlands-often called the country's \"granaries for water\"-to sustain their lives and livelihoods. They rely on them for water, construction material, and fuel, and use them for farming, fi shing, and to graze livestock. Wetlands supply direct or subsistence employment for 2.7 million people, almost 10 percent of the population. In many parts of the country, wetland products and services are the sole source for livelihoods and the main safety net for the poorest households. Sustainable management of Uganda's wetlands is thus not only sound economic policy, it is also a potent strategy for poverty reduction.Recognizing this, Uganda's Government was the fi rst to create a national wetlands policy in Africa. Over the past decade, Uganda has also instituted the National Wetlands Information System, a rich database on the use and health of Uganda's wetlands which in its coverage and detail is unique in Africa.This publication builds on those initiatives by combining information from the wetlands database with pioneering poverty location maps developed by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics. The new maps and accompanying analyses will help policy-makers classify wetlands by their main uses, conditions, and poverty profi le and identify areas with the greatest need of pro-poor wetland management interventions. The information generated can also be fed into national poverty reduction strategies and resource management plans.This is an innovative, pragmatic approach to integrating efforts to reduce poverty while sustaining ecosystems which has implications for improving policy-making in Uganda and beyond.Spatial Analysis of Wetland and Poverty Indicators demonstrates how combining spatial analyses of such indicators can improve the information and analytical basis for decision-making. These comparisons incorporate the diversity of wetland products and the impacts of wetland use.Economic Analysis illustrates how the depth and benefi ts of these analyses can be further advanced by augmenting wetland and poverty maps with fi ndings from economic valuation studies. A case study of papyrus harvesting's potential to reduce poverty is included.Moving Forward: Lessons Learned and Recommendations looks ahead, describes lessons learned, and makes recommendations for stakeholders involved in poverty reduction and the sustainable use of wetlands in Uganda and around the world.The maps and analyses in this publication are primarily illustrative, but do support the following conclusions:• Detailed mapping of previously unused data confi rms that wetlands provide multiple benefi ts in every district, and to every citizen of Uganda.• The diversity of products obtained from wetlands in specifi c locations ranges widely, from a handful to up to 24 products; levels of harmful impacts on wetlands by people also vary greatly across the country.• Spatial analyses of selected poverty-wetland indicators reveal no clear pattern at the subcounty level--despite popular belief that the poorest areas are always the most degraded.• The overlay analyses of poverty and wetland maps are most useful for identifying subcounties that share similar poverty and wetland characteristics, and thus may lend themselves to similar wetland management approaches and intervention strategies. Economic studies that quantify the value of wetland products and services can be linked to poverty and wetland maps to gauge the economic potential of specifi c wetland uses in reducing poverty.Further strengthening Uganda's supply of data and analytical capacity will provide major returns for the country's people and natural resource base by improving wetland management planning and prioritization eff orts, especially in these two areas:• Complete data entry and collection for the National Wetlands Information System, improve data consistency, and update wetland and land cover information.• Strengthen analysis, mapping, and economic valuation eff orts within the Wetlands Management Department.Improvements in lives, livelihoods, and wetland health could result directly from this supply of new maps and analyses. Specifi cally, government agencies could use the information to act on decision-making opportunities in these four areas:• Incorporate poverty information into the existing system for selecting wetlands for priority management interventions.• Consider wetland management as part of local poverty reduction eff orts, such as creating new livelihood strategies.• Promote \"win-win\" collaboration to support poverty, wetland health, and other goals between agencies responsible for health, water, sanitation, agriculture, energy, and environment.• Make poverty and wetland maps and their analyses a central component of local decision-making at district level.The economic and ecological wealth represented by Uganda's wetlands, which cover 15 percent (31,406 sq km) of its land area and are found in almost every subcounty, is well recognized by both its people and its leaders. Wetlands provide no less than 37 valuable services and products, and contribute hundreds of millions of dollars per year to the national economy (WID, 2001).Over 70 percent of all wetlands in Uganda are used for three purposes simultaneously: water collection, livestock grazing, and natural tree harvesting. In addition, they play a key role in filtering pollutants and in regulating water flows, which in turn influence groundwater recharge, flood impacts, and water availability during the dry season.Uganda's policy-makers have acknowledged the importance of wetlands in the country's Constitution (1995), which commits the government to hold them, along with other natural resources, in trust for the common good of all citizens. It also classifies each wetland use according to its level of impact on the individual grassland, swamp forest, or other wetland system. This information can then be converted into an index that classifies each wetland according to the combined impacts of all uses, thus helping to manage wetland resources more optimally.The result is a rich baseline of wetland data, which in its coverage and detail is unique in Africa. At the same time, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics has expanded its technical expertise to produce poverty maps for small administrative areas, which in turn relies on regular investments in high quality and geographically referenced censuses and household surveys.Poor people, especially those in rural areas, generally rely directly on the benefits of nature-referred to as ecosystem services-for subsistence and income-generating activities or to obtain water and medicines because of lack of affordable alternatives. Wetlands are also an important source of cash income, especially in emergencies. High dependence on ecosystem services combined with few assets and capabilities makes poor people particularly vulnerable to ecosystem degradation. Consequently, the condition of wetlands and the way they are managed can have a disproportionate impact on the well-being of poor families.Both Uganda's Poverty Eradication Action Plan and the Wetlands Sector Strategic Plan have emphasized balancing poverty reduction efforts and wetlands management interventions.However, frequent media reports of wetlands under threat from human activities such as agriculture and settlements indicate that implementing these goals, policies, and laws is far from easy. Achieving them requires strong political will, considerable human and financial resources, vigilant monitoring, and detailed knowledge of poverty and wetland issues. Too often, at present, short-term gains from wetland use are obtained at the cost of the long-term benefits to be had from keeping wetland services intact, benefits such as water purification or the regulation of water flow. Such long-term benefits are easy to overlook since they are not fully valued economically. To safeguard their wetlands patrimony, Uganda's decision-makers need information and analytical tools that capture these tradeoffs and support more evidence-based efforts to manage wetlands and reduce poverty.Today, decision-makers have access to a growing body of work about Uganda's wetlands. Some of this consists of local case studies determining the economic value of the multiple benefits they provide. These include, for example,a study of the rural wetlands in Pallisa District (Karanja et al., 2001) and another on the urban Nakivubo wetland in Kampala District (Emerton et al., 1999). However, knowledge about the intricate inter-relationships between wetlands and poverty is still limited. Only a few local case studies, such as one focusing on wetlands around Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale District (Maclean et al., 2003), have examined this relationship. Moreover, information that provides a national view of poverty levels and wetland use has been absent. Specifi cally, decision-makers have faced two key barriers: a lack of subnational data about poverty and wetlands; and a lack of analytical approaches to integrate these datasets.Over the past years, two relevant but uncoordinated efforts have begun to fi ll this data gap. The fi rst has been the production of poverty maps by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics and its collaborators. The second has been the collection of wetland data by the Wetlands Inspection Division (upgraded to the Wetlands Management Department in 2007). Since 1997, the Department has led the efforts to compile detailed data on wetlands, including their ecological attributes, main uses, human-induced threats, and land tenure regimes. Information from approximately 5,000 sample points covering most of Uganda's districts has been integrated into a single, geographically referenced database, the National Wetlands Information System. To date, these data have not been analyzed to support national and local wetland planning efforts.This publication, for the fi rst time, combines these two datasets and demonstrates how to produce maps and interpret spatial overlays of the information they contain.The goal is to motivate analysts and planners to develop their own maps to fi ll an analytical gap with new information in order to align wetland management and poverty reduction strategies. By integrating more detailed wetland and poverty data, planners can then design and target wetland management interventions so that the benefi ts reach a greater proportion of poor communities and the costs associated with land-use changes or new restrictions on wetland use do not disproportionately affect the poor.Differentiating subcounties by their poverty and wetland profi les is a fi rst step to formulate questions and hypotheses to better integrate environmental and development objectives into planning. That said, this report is not intended to explain causal relationships between poverty and specifi c wetland uses. For that, other factors need to be examined that refl ect different poverty dimensions and measure poverty not just at the subcounty level but also at other scales such as parish, village, and household levels.The geographic approach used in this publication will help Ugandan decision-makers \"see\" their wetlands in a new light, and visualize ways to manage and use them more optimally to alleviate poverty. Moreover, better and more detailed spatial analyses of poverty-wetland relationships can then be used to scrutinize existing government priorities and examine whether current policies and programs target crucial issues and localities.The maps, analytical examples, and ideas for future analyses are intended to be of value to a variety of audiences for the following purposes: Q Analysts and planning experts: to provide decisionmakers with more integrated analyses of wetland uses and poverty indicators.Q Civil society and nongovernmental organizations: to hold decision-makers accountable for wetland conservation and poverty reduction efforts.Wetlands provide a large array of ecosystem servicesdefi ned as the benefi ts people derive from nature-to Ugandans in urban and rural areas (see Table 1). They are used for farming, fi shing, and livestock grazing. They supply families with basic needs such as water, construction material, and fuel. In addition to these local uses, the system of interconnected wetlands plays a crucial role at a regional level by fi ltering pollutants and regulating water fl ows (infl uencing groundwater recharge, fl ood impacts, and water availability during the dry season). Of a total population of 28 million Ugandans, it is estimated that wetlands provide about 320,000 workers with direct employment and provide subsistence employment for over 2.4 million (MFPED, 2004).Uganda's wetlands also provide important ecological benefi ts that reach beyond the region. They are the home of globally endangered species including birds such as the Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex) and Fox's weaver (Ploceus spekeoides), and fi sh species of the Cichlidae family. Many wetlands are an important stopover for large congregations of migratory water birds. Wetlands can act as a reservoir to store carbon dioxide, mitigating climate change impacts. National and international visitors seek out wetlands as tourist attractions and educational opportunities to learn about their unique animals and plants.In Uganda, there are no recent, exact countrywide statistics on changes in wetland area-the latest national land cover map with detailed wetland information was produced in 1996 (NFA, 1996). However, local observations cited in Uganda's recent State of the Environment report indicate a reduction in wetland coverage, mostly due to conversion to cropland (for example, in Iganga District and southwestern Uganda) and the spread of urban settlements, as in Kampala (NEMA, 2007).While such conversions provide economic benefi ts from agricultural crops and real estate development, they are also associated with social costs primarily due to reduced or total loss of hydrological functions, habitat benefi ts, or other ecosystem services. One of the factors driving these conversions is that the immediate economic returns to individuals appear to outweigh the costs to the wider society associated with the loss of important ecosystem benefi ts. However, in most cases, the economic costs are  not fully accounted for because some ecosystem servicesmostly regulating services such as groundwater recharge, water purifi cation, waste treatment, or fl ood control-are not factored into conventional economic analysis. Instead they are considered as non-monetary bounties of nature that are \"free-of-charge.\" They are what economists call \"public goods,\" which have virtually no agreed value in the market place.As a result, the fi nancial incentives driving land use are often not aligned with the goal of managing and conserving these services for the broader public good. The economic benefi ts from marketed products of converted wetlands are often greater than returns from subsistence use and small-scale resource extraction in the unconverted wetlands. However, when both the marketed and nonmarketed values of ecosystem services are accounted for, the total economic value of unconverted wetlands can be greater than that of converted wetlands. For example, conservative economic valuation estimates put the direct annual productive value of wetlands at 450,000-900,000 Uganda Shillings (US$ 300-600) per hectare (MFPED, 2004).Economic valuation studies that include a broader set of non-marketed regulating services, such as water purifi cation and carbon sequestration, suggest a per hectare-value as high as 15 million Uganda Shillings (US$ 10,000) (MFPED, 2004). Unfortunately, despite their high economic value, wetlands are not yet managed as environmental capital, worthy of protection and investment.In the Nakivubo wetland, an urban wetland in Kampala, the value of water treatment and purifi cation services from a fully used and intact wetland are estimated at 2.3-4.3 million Uganda Shillings (US$ 1,500-2,900) per hectare per year (Emerton et al., 1999). However, over the past decade, the potential of the wetland to remove nutrients and pollutants has been greatly reduced by growing human settlements, industrial establishments, and drainage channels for crop production (NEMA, 2008). More than half of the wetland has been modifi ed with only the lower parts remaining in fair condition. Consequently, water quality in the discharge area of Inner Murchison Bay of Lake Victoria has steadily deteriorated leading to higher treatment costs for Kampala's drinking water pumped from this area. The environmental and social impact assessment of the planned expansion of the Kampala Sanitation Programme has proposed a two-pronged approach to improve water quality in Lake Victoria: reduce the pollutant load by expanding sewage treatment facilities in Kampala and rehabilitate Nakivubo wetland (including a substantial increase of the active wetland area) to reestablish its original treatment capabilities (NEMA, 2008).The 2005-2006 Uganda National Household Survey, which estimated the national poverty rate at 31.1 percent or 8.4 million Ugandans, provided the foundation for the poverty maps used in this publication (UBOS, 2006b).The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) used the previous Uganda National Household Survey (2002Survey ( -2003) ) to produce two versions of poverty maps-for 1999 and 2002-in order to address the lack of poverty data for small administrative areas in the country.The 1999 poverty maps (UBOS and ILRI, 2004) provided, for the fi rst time, spatially detailed poverty data for 320 counties. The 2002 poverty maps (UBOS and ILRI, 2007) increased the level of spatial resolution even further, providing data for 958 subcounties. The 2005 poverty maps provide data for all rural subcounties except for those in Kotido, Kaabang, and Abim Districts (UBOS and ILRI, 2008).The 2002 and 2005 poverty maps rely on a statistical estimation technique (small area estimation) that combines information from the 2002 population and housing census and the 2002-2003 and 2005-2006 household survey, respectively. The level of detail obtained at subcounty permits more meaningful spatial overlays of poverty met-Women and girls come to fetch water for the day, or come to wash their clothes. Approximately 5 million people in rural areas get their daily freshwater supply from wetlands. The economic value of this service alone has been estimated at US$ 25 million per year in Uganda.Source: UN-WWAP and DWD, 2005.Uganda's National Policy for the Conservation and Management of Wetland Resources (1995) defi nes wetlands as areas \"where plants and animals have become adapted to temporary or permanent fl ooding.\" It includes permanently fl ooded areas with papyrus or grass swamps, swamp forests or high-altitude mountain bogs, as well as seasonal fl oodplains and grasslands. While all wetlands are characterized by impeded drainage, the length of their fl ooding period, depth of water, soil fertility, and other environmental factors vary with diff erent wetland types. Wetlands are home to distinctive plant and animal communities that are well adapted to the presence of water and fl ooding regimes.Source: MNR, 1995.rics and wetland indicators. Such spatial comparisons can help target poverty reduction and wetland conservation efforts and provide fi rst insights into relationships between poverty, wetland status, and use of wetland resources.Map 1 (page 6) displays the 2005 poverty rates for rural subcounties. Other poverty measures such as the poverty density (number of poor per square kilometer), poverty gap, and poverty severity are also available for these subcounties, as are estimates of inequality related to household expenditures.Rural poverty rates in Uganda's subcounties range from less than 15 percent to more than 60 percent of the population, with brown areas indicating higher and green areas representing lower poverty levels. Map 1 shows a high geographic concentration of poverty in northern districts (e.g., Gulu, Amuru, Kitgum, Pader, Moroto, and Nakapiripirit Districts) and low poverty in the southwest and central part of the country (e.g., in parts of Mbarara, Bushenyi, Isingiro, Kibaale, and Wakiso Districts). The reasons for this spatial pattern are complex, and include factors such as rainfall and soil quality (which determine agricultural potential), land and labor availability, degree of economic diversifi cation, level of market integration, and issues of security and instability (the latter is especially relevant for the northern parts of Uganda).Poor people, especially in rural areas, generally rely on ecosystem services directly for subsistence and incomegenerating activities or to obtain water and medicines because of lack of affordable alternatives. Wetlands are also an important source of cash income, especially in emergencies. One of the few studies about the relationship between poverty and wetlands in Uganda showed, for example, that an overwhelming majority of papyrus harvesters in the Lake Bunyonyi wetlands sold raw papyrus or crafts made from papyrus to bridge income shortfalls for periodic high expenses such as school fees or end-of-theyear festivities (Maclean et al., 2003).High dependence on ecosystem services combined with few assets and capabilities make poor people particularly vulnerable to ecosystem degradation (MA, 2005). Consequently, the condition of wetlands and the way they are managed can have a disproportionate impact on the well-being of poor families (Maclean et al., 2003). In 1997, Uganda set up the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) to guide public action to eradicate poverty (MF-PED, 2004). This national planning framework, revised in 2000, acknowledges the role of wetlands in reducing poverty and in preventing people from falling further into poverty. Recognizing this important role, the PEAP supports priority actions in six areas related to wetland management:Q Assess the economic and environmental benefi ts of different wetland uses more comprehensively;Q Further develop and disseminate guidelines for sustainable use of wetland resources;Q Improve community skills and diversify the range of products obtained from wetlands to increase wetland revenues;In the very early morning, fi sherfolk return from their night's work. Their catch will not only be sold in the market but also feed their family. Fisherfolk know fi rsthand that they will fi nd more fi sh where a healthy wetland provides a nursery and safe haven for young fi sh. Local people are aware of the linkages among the diff erent benefi ts they derive from nature. In Lake Bunyonyi, most people interviewed (64 percent) recognized that the swamps sustain fi sheries. Consequently, fi shers rarely harvest papyrus or cultivate near to where they fi sh.Source: Maclean et al., 2003.Papyrus is a common plant in permanent wetlands. It provides a combination of provisioning services (fuelwood, furniture, construction material, and craft material), regulating services (water purifi cation, wastewater treatment, soil erosion regulation, and carbon sink through its dense network of roots), and aesthetic services (bird watching, beautiful landscapes). The overharvest of papyrus (a provisioning service) can endanger its other services in that location, for example by weakening its root network and its function as habitat for wildlife.In Nakivubo wetland, 20 minutes from downtown Kampala, farmers grow cocoyam and sugarcane. About eight percent of the residents around Nakivubo wetland, which includes a high number of urban poor, are engaged in subsistence or commercial activities related to the wetland. In addition to supporting these local activities, Nakivubo wetland functions as a natural waste treatment plant for Kampala. It fi lters industrial effl uents and domestic wastewater from 465,000 people (about 40 percent of Kampala's population), resulting in the discharge of less polluted water into Inner Murchison Bay of Lake Victoria.Source: Emerton et al., 1999.Sources: International boundaries (NIMA, 1997), district administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2006a), subcounty administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2002a), water bodies (NFA, 1996;NIMA, 1997;Brakenridge et al., 2006), and rural poverty rate (UBOS and ILRI, 2008).Q Enforce appropriate policies, laws, procedures, and regulations to curtail degradation of wetland resources;Q Assess wetland resources to determine resource availability and trends; andQ Support community initiatives that promote sustainable use of wetlands.The ten-year Wetlands Sector Strategic Plan, adopted in 2001, commits the country to implement eight key strategies to achieve sustainable wetlands management. Cognizant of the importance of wetlands to the well-being of poor people, the Wetland Sector Strategic Plan's mission states that the wise exploitation of wetlands shall contribute to economic development and poverty alleviation (WID, 2001).Human well-being has many dimensions. Suffi cient income to obtain adequate food and shelter is certainly important, but other dimensions of well-being are crucial as well. These include good health, security, social acceptance, access to opportunities, and freedom of choice. Poverty is defi ned as the lack of these dimensions of well-being (MA, 2005). The poverty indicators produced by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) are based on household consumption and cover some but not all dimensions of poverty. Consumption expenditures include both food and a range of nonfood items such as education, transport, health, and rent. Households are defi ned as poor when their total expenditures fall below Uganda's rural or urban national poverty lines. These lines equate to a basket of goods and services that meets basic monthly requirements (UBOS and ILRI, 2007).In 2005, the national poverty line (an average of the poverty lines in Uganda's four regions) was 20,789 Uganda Shillings (US$ 12) per month in rural areas and 22,175 Uganda Shillings (US$ 13) per month in urban settings. With these poverty lines, the 2005 poverty rate (percentage of the population below the poverty line) was 31.1 percent at the national level, translating to about 8.4 million Ugandans in poverty (UBOS, 2006b). Rural and urban poverty rates diff ered signifi cantly, at 34.2 percent for rural areas and 13.7 percent for urban areas.In this publication, poverty rate (percent of the population below the poverty line) was selected to portray the geographic distribution of the poor. While there are other useful poverty indicators, this indicator was chosen as a fi rst approximation to show how poor each subcounty is and where poor subcounties are spatially concentrated. With this information, decision-makers can gain fi rst insights to develop more eff ective support and services for the poor. In most cases, additional analyses using metrics that capture the number of poor per area (poverty density), the depth and severity of poverty (e.g., poverty gap and squared poverty gap), and other dimensions of wellbeing will be needed to better understand poverty patterns and examine cause-and-eff ect relationships.found in other areas such as Ssembabule, Lyantonde, and Kiruhura Districts. Large seasonal wetlands are located in various extensive fl oodplains, such as Katakwi, Nakapiripirit, and Moroto Districts (northeastern Uganda); at the southern end of Lake Albert; in Kasese District; and in Rakai District, bordering Tanzania.Permanent wetlands are mostly located near open water bodies such as lakes and rivers. The largest permanent wetlands are directly connected to Lake Kyoga and Lake Victoria. Others follow the banks of the Nile River from Lake Albert to the Sudanese border.Wetlands in Uganda are covered by a variety of vegetation types and occur in all of Uganda's main land cover classes: tropical high forest, woodland, bushland, grassland, papyrus (including other sedges, reeds, and fl oating plants), and small and large-scale farmland. As Figure 1 indicates, the most common wetlands in Uganda are seasonally wet grasslands, covering 49 percent (about 15,326 square kilometers) of Uganda's total wetland area. Seasonally wet woodlands are the second most common with 16 percent (5,136 square kilometers). Permanent wetlands consisting of papyrus and other sedges, reeds, and fl oating plants are the third most common wetland type and represent 15 percent (4,840 square kilometers) of Uganda's wetland area. A signifi cant share of seasonal wetlands is used for crops, with 7 percent (2,322 square kilometers) of Uganda's wetland area covered by small-scale farmland.The economic and subsistence uses of wetlands vary with land cover and whether they are seasonal or permanent. The type and level of use in turn determine how vulnerable each wetland is to becoming permanently degraded.Grasslands, for example, are primarily used for livestock grazing. If they have the right soils and water regime, they are also very desirable for growing crops. In the context of Uganda's heavy dependence on agriculture (UBOS, 2007) and its growing demand for agricultural land, these wetlands are often prime targets for agricultural expansion.Woodland and papyrus wetlands, on the other hand, provide raw materials, the former for construction and fuel, and the latter for crafts and mats. Both woodland and papyrus wetlands are very vulnerable to over-harvesting of these products, especially if they are close to high demand centers or located along major transport routes.Wetlands cover about 15 percent (31,406 square kilometers) of Uganda's total land area (205,212 square kilometers) and can be found in almost every subcounty. Most individual wetlands are linked to other wetlands through a complex network of permanent and seasonal streams, rivers, and lakes (Map 2), making them an essential part of the entire drainage system in Uganda (UN- WWAP and DWD, 2005).While such a dispersed geographic coverage provides wetland benefi ts to a greater number of people, it also increases the likelihood of overexploitation and degradation. Uganda's high level of political and administrative decentralization adds to this risk. Most wetland systems cross administrative boundaries, which, because of compartmentalization of decision-making at the local level, makes it more diffi cult to manage wetlands in an integrative manner.With 11 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance, Uganda is internationally recognized for leading the effort in Africa to conserve wetlands that are regionally and globally important for migratory bird species and biodiversity (Ramsar, 2006). Nonetheless, besides those wetlands that have international or national protection status, the great majority of wetlands lie outside the national protected area system (Map 2). Establishing a solid information base on wetland resources, their use, and condition is therefore essential to identifying successful wetland management approaches for the future.To describe and categorize these resources, wetland managers often begin with three basic characteristics of wetlands: the permanence and seasonality of their moisture regime, the main vegetation and land cover types, and the resource pressure from human use. The following section categorizes Uganda's wetlands by these key characteristics. About 75 percent of Uganda's wetlands are seasonal, meaning they are not fl ooded for part of the year. In many locations, this dry period extends over most of the year.As Map 2 shows, seasonal wetlands can be found in almost every corner of Uganda. The great majority of these are narrow and elongated in shape, following valley bottoms and streams. These wetlands form densely branched networks, especially around Lake Kyoga. But they are also H o w S p a t i a l A n a l y s i s C a n B e n e f i t W e t l a n d s a n d R e d u c e P o v e r t y i n U g a n d a Sources: International boundaries (NIMA, 1997), district administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2006a), water bodies (NFA, 1996;NIMA, 1997;Brakenridge et al., 2006), wetness type (NFA, 1996), and major national protected areas (NFA, 2007).Source: Authors' calculation based on NFA, 1996. Note: Percentage share of Uganda's total wetland area.While Map 2 provides a view of the national wetlands distribution and shows their location in every district, local governments and community-based resource user groups need more specifi c information. First and foremost, local decision-makers need to know what wetland resources they have and the pressure these resources are under.A simple indicator for a local decision-maker, for example, would measure wetland area per capita, which is the total wetland area of an administrative unit divided by its total population. Such an indicator assumes the following: the more numerous the population in an administrative area, the higher the potential demand on wetland resources, which can lead to a greater number of people fi shing, withdrawing water, collecting vegetation, growing crops, extracting clay, constructing houses, or releasing pollutants. Wetland area per capita can therefore be interpreted as a fi rst proxy to measure potential resource usage, and thus pressure on wetlands.Map 3 displays wetland area per capita by subcounty, represented by the height of the red bar. Wetland area per person varies broadly among the 938 subcounties with data. (The data for the 20 subcounties of Kotido, Kaabong, and Abim Districts are not shown because the census data were deemed unreliable.)Most subcounties in Uganda have less than 0.2 hectares of wetland area per person (very short red bars). This implies either that wetlands in these areas are sparse (such as in subcounties of Mbale, Arua, and Mbarara Districts) or that they have to be shared among a large number of people (such as in the subcounties of Pallisa, Iganga, and Tororo Districts).Subcounties with high wetland area per capita (long red bars) are in Kapchorwa, Katakwi, and Moroto Districts (northeastern Uganda). They are also very common in subcounties lying within the triangle formed by Masindi, Kiboga, and Nakasongola Districts, southwest of Lake Kyoga. In general, most subcounties with high wetland area per capita are distinguished by the presence of a specifi c type of wetland-seasonally wet grasslands-and lower population densities (NFA, 1996;UBOS, 2002b).Map 3 clearly indicates that the potential demand pressure on wetlands varies across the country but few areas have low pressure (long red bars). Most subcounties have potentially high demand pressure on their wetlands.A decision-maker in a subcounty with high wetland area per capita can formulate the following hypotheses based on this map: Q Pressure on these wetlands from resource demand is likely to be lower than the rest of the country.Q These wetlands should be able to make a larger per capita contribution both with marketable wetland products and non-marketable wetland ecosystem services.On the other hand, a decision-maker responsible for a subcounty with low wetland area per capita-resulting from a very large number of people sharing a relatively small wetland area-can gain the following insights from this map:Q Competition between different wetland uses has to be carefully managed.Q Special attention has to be paid so as not to undermine the capacity of the wetland to provide its products and services.Q There is a more urgent need to establish well-functioning management plans and zoning of land uses because of the potential for high demand pressure.Q These wetlands will need to be more closely monitored for their resource use.Q Economic returns from resource extraction of marketable products potentially have to be shared among a larger number of people, resulting in low average per capita values.Q While the wetland area per person may be low, these wetlands may still be of great importance locally, for example as a dry season grazing refuge, or nationally, for example to provide habitat for rare species.In subcounties with large wetlands but very low per capita wetland area-for example wetlands close to an urban center-it is especially important to evaluate a comprehensive set of ecosystem services provided by these wetlands. For such wetlands, it may make little sense to promote increased harvesting of low-return wetland products, especially if this carries the risk of undermining other ecosystem services. Such increases may not provideSources: International boundaries (NIMA, 1997), district administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2006a), subcounty administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2002a), water bodies (NFA, 1996;NIMA, 1997;Brakenridge et al., 2006), and wetland area per capita (authors' calculation based on NFA, 1996 andUBOS, 2002b).suffi cient additional income to each household to justify the heightened risk of overharvesting.Maintaining these wetlands so that they can continue to fi lter pollutants for a large number of people living in close proximity may be a more optimal use for such wetlands. This may require prohibiting extractive uses of wetland resources that undermine fi ltering functions, such as excavation of clay for bricks. Similarly, such wetlands may be most valuable for their role as a temporary reservoir for fl ood water. The total value of avoided fl ood damage to nearby establishments with high property values may be considerably greater than the economic returns from consumptive use of a few wetland products.A more advanced understanding of wetland conditions and benefi ts requires detailed information on the way people use and impact wetlands. Such information is available in geographically referenced format from the National Wetlands Information System (see Box 2).Uganda's National Wetlands Information System is tracking 13 main wetland uses. They can be ranked according to their increasing potential to undermine the capacity of a wetland to provide its ecosystem services (Table 2).The least damaging uses for a wetland imply no or very minor modifi cation of its plants, animals, or hydrology. These include tourism and beekeeping.The National Wetlands Information System, maintained by the Wetlands Management Department, contains detailed data on diff erent wetland uses, the level of use, and the impact of these uses on wetland systems. It is based on a standardized inventory of wetlands carried out for approximately 5,000 wetland sample points between 1997 and 2001. Each sample point refl ects the uses and impacts observed in the fi eld of vision at that location. Field teams inventoried 37 diff erent wetland products, which they aggregated to 13 diff erent main uses (Table 2).It is important to point out that most of the products and uses inventoried for the National Wetlands Information System focus on provisioning ecosystem services of wetlands (see Table 1). These provisioning services are easier to measure and observe, and provide useful information to understand subsistence and commercial livelihood strategies.On the other hand, the important contribution of regulating services such as erosion control, fi sh breeding, fl ood water retention, and carbon storage were not assessed comprehensively in this fi rst round of data collection. Regulating services were captured in a limited way. Wetlands' contribution to water purifi cation, for example, was counted only when the wetlands were specifi cally designated for that purpose as part of a wastewater treatment facility. Or the uses were categorized broadly, for example \"water collection and use,\" which is linked to both provisioning services (the quantity of fresh water) and regulating services (water purifi cation and timing of hydrological fl ows). The next uses listed in Table 2-water extraction and harvesting of native animals and vegetation (fi shing, hunting, livestock grazing, harvesting of natural herbaceous vegetation, and harvesting of trees)-are all activities that could potentially have greater negative wetland impacts at very high use levels. On the other hand, these uses can be sustainable if harvesting does not exceed natural regeneration rates, water withdrawals are adequately replenished, and no other changes occur such as pollution and diseases. Under such a scenario, most other ecosystem services such as water fi ltration and fl ood control can be maintained.The next two wetland uses involve replacing natural wetland vegetation with food, fi ber, or tree crops. Such conversions generally lower species composition and biodiversity levels in a wetland. The impact of these uses on regulating services such as water regulation or water purifi cation cannot be determined a priori and depends on location and specifi c circumstances. In some cases, these regulating services are only slightly impacted, and tend to stabilize after an initial disturbance phase. In other cases, they can be greatly affected.The last two uses are the most destructive to wetlands and negatively affect many ecosystem services. They include removal of soil and plants for mineral extraction (in most cases, excavating clay to produce bricks) or the complete destruction of a wetland by human settlements.As expected, the impact of these activities is also related to the magnitude of the use. Once the magnitude of use outstrips the capacity of the wetland to sustain it, any use can be destructive and permanently damaging.These 13 main wetland uses occur with differing frequency throughout Uganda's wetlands, as shown in Figure 2.Based on the 13 categories of wetland use inventoried for the National Wetlands Information System, there are very few wetlands that are not used (4 percent). Wastewater treatment and tourism have been identifi ed as uses in less than 1 percent of Uganda's wetlands. The percentage related to wastewater treatment in the National Wetlands Information System only refers to those wetlands that are part of an established human wastewater treatment facility in urban areas. However, all wetlands in Uganda can provide water purifi cation and waste treatment benefi ts by retaining, recovering, or removing excess nutrients and other pollutants.Over 70 percent of all wetlands in Uganda are locally used for three simultaneous purposes: water collection and use (80 percent), livestock grazing (72 percent), and natural tree harvesting (73 percent). The ubiquity of these uses is directly related to the wide geographic spread of wetlands and the distribution of Uganda's main vegetation types: grasslands and woodlands.Source: Authors' calculation based on WID, 1996. Note: For ranking criteria, see text, p. 12. Percentage represents share of Uganda's wetlands. * The percentage related to wastewater treatment only refers to those wetlands that are part of an established human wastewater treatment plant.Sources: International boundaries (NIMA, 1997), district administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2006a), water bodies (NFA, 1996;NIMA, 1997;Brakenridge et al., 2006), and presence or absence of use (WID, 2006).Mineral (mostly clay) excavation, with its high negative impact on other wetland functions, occurs in almost a third of Uganda's wetlands (31 percent). Destructive human settlements, even though less widespread (12 percent), usually occur close to urban agglomerations. Demand for land and high property values are typically the drivers for the conversion to human settlement. However, many of these conversions do not take into account the economic contribution that wetlands make in treating wastewater from these population centers.National maps of each use can be produced, because each sample point in the National Wetlands Information System is geographically referenced. Such maps can inform decision-makers where specifi c uses take place and help them determine where these uses should be further expanded or stopped. These maps can also be compared to those showing other economic activities (such as oil exploration) or levels of legal protection (such as a forest reserve or a national park). This could improve environmental impact assessments and land-use planning. Map 4 highlights four different uses-beekeeping, fi shing, hunting, and cultivation-which occur in less than 50 percent of Uganda's wetlands.Beekeeping (which occurs in 11 percent of all wetlands) is a localized activity. It is concentrated in Nakaseke and Luwero Districts and in parts of Apac and Lira Districts. For the past seven years, beekeeping has spread more widely than shown in this map (which summarizes data from 1997-2001), mainly because of its commercial success (WMD, 2007).Fishing (occurs in 35 percent of all wetlands) and cultivation of food and fi ber (occurs in 37 percent of all wetlands) have very similar spatial patterns. They cluster within the triangle formed by the districts of Jinja, Kayunga, and Kamuli. Both uses are extensive activities in wetlands in Bushenyi and Ntungamo Districts in southwestern Uganda and in communities northeast of Lake Kyoga.Hunting is more widespread (occurs in 42 percent of all wetlands) and spatially less concentrated than the other three uses. It occurs simultaneously with agriculture and fi shing (such as in Jinja, Kayunga, and Kamuli Districts), but is also highly concentrated in the seasonal wetlands around Lake Kyoga.wetlands. Typically, options to raise income from wetland resources are limited:Q Harvest larger quantities of the same marketable product;Q Harvest a new marketable product;Q Increase the returns from a product by adding value: for example by converting raw papyrus to a craft product; or improving the quality: for example by improving the processing of honey;Q Introduce payment for ecosystem services such as pollution removal or water regulation (hydrological fl ows).Decision-makers can use indicators that measure the diversity of wetland products to pinpoint areas where further product diversifi cation can provide new economic opportunities and where diversifi cation appears to have reached an upper limit.The number of different products that could be potentially obtained from a wetland is closely related to the type of vegetation cover and level of wetness. For example, wetlands in grasslands can supply a much broader array of products than shrublands (WID, 2006). For this reason, the following analysis comparing the diversity of wetland products to the level of poverty in the surrounding communities is focused on such grassland wetlands. They are the most common wetland type, representing more than half of all wetlands in Uganda (see Figure 1). Most of these grassland wetlands are located north and south of Lake Kyoga. A smaller number are further south clustering in Rakai, Kiruhura, and Lyantonde Districts.Analysis of the number of products obtained from grassland wetlands reveals that 25 percent of such wetlands supply up to 6 products; another quarter supply 6 to 9 products; the third quarter supply 10 or 11 products; and the last quarter supply 12 to 24 products (as calculated from the National Wetlands Information System).Map 5 displays all the sample points in grassland wetlands with the lowest product diversity (0-5 different products), with the purpose of identifying locations where boosting wetland product diversity is an option that could benefi t a large number of poor. In contrast, Map 6 (page 18) shows the sample points with the highest product diversity (12-24 different products) to indicate locations where product diversifi cation may be close to an upper limit. Both maps also display the poverty rate for each rural subcounty.In order to sustainably manage wetland resources, decision-makers need to know how they are being used and how these uses affect their capacity to provide products and services now and in the future. In addition, managing wetlands for the purposes of poverty reduction requires information on the location of wetland resources (and their use and condition) in relation to the location of people and poor communities.This section explores how maps of poverty distribution can be combined with maps of selected wetland indicators to improve the information and analytical base for such decision-making. It relies on two indicators capturing different aspects of wetland use, namely: diversity of wetland products and combined impacts of wetland uses.Even though the analysis was limited mostly to provisioning services (regulating services are not well accounted for in the National Wetlands Information System, see Box 2), the importance of spatial analysis of wetland regulating services is introduced in Box 3.Over 70 percent of all wetlands in Uganda are used for three purposes: water collection, livestock grazing, and natural tree harvesting. This and other analyses of the 13 main uses provided a fi rst broad overview of the varied benefi ts Ugandans obtain from their wetlands and highlighted national use patterns. However, more detailed wetland use data from the National Wetlands Information System can advance these analyses and contribute additional insights for wetlands management and poverty reduction. For example, harvesting of natural herbaceous vegetation, which is one of the 13 main uses, can be disaggregated into 6 products: harvesting of food, fuel, building material, craft material, mulch material, and medicines (see Table 2 for examples of products for each wetland use). The National Wetlands Information System has documented up to 24 different products in selected wetlands (out of a possible 37 products listed in the standardized wetlands inventory).The average number of products obtained from a wetland in Uganda ranges between 7 and 8 different products.Examining the number of wetland products provides an analyst with information to gauge the level of product diversifi cation from a wetland. Product diversifi cation is one way of increasing the environmental income from Sources: International boundaries (NIMA, 1997), district administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2006a), subcounty administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2002a), water bodies (NFA, 1996;NIMA, 1997;Brakenridge et al., 2006), product diversity in grassland wetlands (WID, 2006), and rural poverty rate (UBOS and ILRI, 2008).Sources: International boundaries (NIMA, 1997), district administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2006a), subcounty administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2002a), water bodies (NFA, 1996;NIMA, 1997;Brakenridge et al., 2006), product diversity in grassland wetlands (WID, 2006), and rural poverty rate (UBOS and ILRI, 2008).H o w S p a t i a l A n a l y s i s C a n B e n e f i t W e t l a n d s a n d R e d u c e P o v e r t y i n U g a n d aComparing both maps, a number of patterns emerge:Q Wetlands with low product diversity (blue points) spread across all regions where grassland wetlands have been documented in the National Wetlands Information System.Q Grassland wetlands with highest product diversity (red points), however, are almost exclusively located north and south of Lake Kyoga.Q Poverty rates in the surrounding communities for both subsets of wetlands cover the full range of values from the lowest to the highest poverty levels.Q However, those wetlands with the highest product diversity (red points) are mostly in the poorest subcounties (shaded in brown) northeast and southeast of Lake Kyoga.Figures 3 and 4 summarize the relationship between levels of poverty and product diversity from these two maps. The number of subcounties in each of the fi ve poverty rate classes varies between the low and high diversity set of wetlands. Subcounties that have wetlands with low product diversity show predominantly poverty rates between 15 and 60 percent. On the other hand, the subcounties with highest product diversity of wetland products are concentrated in the 40-60 percent poverty rate class.Decision-makers can draw the following conclusions from the overlays in Maps 5 and 6:Q Coincidence of high poverty rates (brown subcounties) with high wetland product diversity (red points, Map 6).The wetlands in a large number of the poorer subcounties northeast of Lake Kyoga appear to be close to the observed upper limits of product diversifi cation, making it a less viable option to reduce poverty. Wetlands with high product diversity need close monitoring to ensure their sustainable use. This is especially important in subcounties with very high poverty rates. If the high number of different products obtained is found to go beyond the capacity of wetlands to provide products and services, decision-makers and communities need to fi nd alternatives to overexploitation. For example, this could involve training in more sustainable resource use or facilitating efforts to provide value-added products (e.g., organizing papyrus harvesters and providing technology to produce papyrus briquettes for energy supply).Sustainable product diversifi cation could be an option for poverty reduction in the grassland wetlands further away from Lake Kyoga, most of them in northeastern Uganda in Amuria and Katakwi Districts.Boosting product diversifi cation is also an option for grassland wetlands west of Lake Kyoga, in Masindi District; and in the southern half of the country, in Kiruhura, Isingiro, and Rakai Districts. To achieve pro-poor benefi ts, however, interventions need to target poor households more precisely, since poverty rates of the surrounding subcounties are just 15-30 percent (compared to 40-60 percent in the northern wetlands).If monitoring shows that wetlands are being pushed beyond their capacity to provide products and services Source: Authors' calculation based on WID, 2006 andUBOS andILRI, 2008.Source: Authors' calculation based on WID, 2006 andUBOS andILRI, 2008.in some areas, decision-makers should study the possibility of restricting access to wetland resources and carefully managing current use in those areas. Wetland users from non-poor households may be more tolerant of such management interventions because they may have alternative and multiple livelihood options.The Uganda National Wetlands Policy commits the Government to \"the conservation of wetlands in order to sustain their ecological and socio-economic functions for the present and future well-being of the people\" (MNR, 1995). Government agencies and community-based wetland resource user groups thus need to know where existing exploitative practices undermine productivity and threaten future supplies of wetland products and services.An important contribution of wetlands to human well-being is their ability to function as a natural wastewater treatment facility. Due to a combination of substrate, plants, litter, and a variety of micro-organisms, wetlands can help treat human waste (Langergraber and Haberl, 2004). Given that in 2006-07, 41 percent of rural households in Uganda lacked adequate sanitation facilities and 37 percent of rural Ugandans did not have access to a safe water source within 1.5 kilometers (MWE, 2007), the contribution of wetlands in fi ltering pollutants is crucial to public health. For example, the consumption of contaminated water often leads to outbreaks of water-related diseases, resulting in illness and deaths. Water-related diseases accounted directly for eight percent of deaths in 2002 (WHO, 2006), and unclean water can be especially deadly for infants and young children. Diarrheal diseases are a major killer of children, and were responsible for 17 percent of all deaths of children under 5 years in Uganda (WHO, 2006). Lack of proper sanitation facilities introduces human pollutants into the vicinity of a household's living space. It increases the risk of disease, especially if contaminants are transported via hydrological fl ows to nearby households relying on open sources of drinking water such as lakes, streams, or shallow uncovered wells. If households do not have access to water treatment facilities, they have to rely exclusively on ecosystems to clean their water, either through dilution or fi ltering of pollutants.In many cases, a wetland can mitigate the risk of contamination. The capacity of a wetland to fi lter human pathogens and improve drinking water supplies depends on a number of factors, including the type of pollutant, the overall pollutant load, the hydrological fl ows, the type of wetland, and the health of the wetland. These relationships are generally examined in specifi c studies that incorporate detailed information on pollutant sources, drinking water withdrawals, and hydrological models refl ecting water fl ows and fi ltering functions of wetlands.The Ministry of Health and the Wetlands Management Department can combine their respective data to identify communities at risks of waterborne diseases because of unsafe drinking water sources and lack of proper sanitation. Together they can locate wetlands neighboring such communities and explore the contribution of these wetlands in fi ltering human pollutants. The following example showcases such data integration and analysis.The Sezibwa wetland system is one of the four proposed sites to monitor long-term ecological and socioeconomic trends in Uganda's wetlands. Map 7A shows the location and extent of this system. It is located south of Lake Kyoga and composed of two permanent wetlands (shown in orange) following the Victoria Nile River and the Sezibwa River and a multitude of smaller seasonal wetlands (shown in purple), the latter representing two-thirds of the total area of the system. The map also displays where people collect or use water from their wetland (based on data from the National Wetlands Information System). Similar to the national picture, both seasonal and permanent wetlands are used for water provision but that source of water is defi ned as unsafe (MWE, 2007).Map 7B shows the density of households without sanitation facilities (based on data from the 2002 Uganda Population and Housing Census) for each parish neighboring this wetland system. This density indicator can be interpreted as a proxy to delineate source areas of higher potential pollutant loads (bacteria, pathogens, etc.). The upper reaches of the Sezibwa system following the boundaries of Kayunga, Jinja, and Mukono Districts have the highest density of households without sanitation facilities (shades of dark green).Map 7C combines Map 7A and Map 7B. This simple overlay provides the following insights: • People relying on open water sources in the vicinity of high pollutant source areas are at higher risk of contracting water-borne diseases (blue points on dark green parishes). This risk is greatest in the southern parts of Kayunga District.• The fi ltering function of wetlands may be most valuable in areas with the highest pollutant loads and a high number of unsafe water withdrawal sources (although more detailed hydrological studies may suggest other locations and only selected wetlands).It is important to point out that wetland management alone cannot substitute for investing in adequate sanitation facilities, safe sources of drinking water, and eff orts to promote better hygiene behavior. However, closer collaboration between wetland management and environmental health interventions could help mitigate the risk of vulnerable communities: • Wetland management interventions may need to prioritize conservation of wetlands where their water treatment function is most valuable and thus support the Ministry of Health in its fi ght against water-borne diseases.• On the other hand, the water and sanitation sector may want to prioritize new sanitation infrastructure and safe drinking water sources where the pollutant load is too high for the carrying capacity of wetlands to fi lter pollutants.Sources: District administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2006a), parish administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2002b), water bodies (NFA, 1996;NIMA, 1997;Brakenridge et al., 2006), use of wetland (WID, 2006), wetness type (NFA, 1996), and density of households without sanitation facilities (authors' calculation based on UBOS, 2002b).A -Sezibwa wetland system and water collection and useThe standardized wetlands inventory for the National Wetlands Information System can provide these data because it classifi es each wetland use according to its level of impact on the wetland system. This information can be converted into an index to classify each wetland according to the combined impacts of all wetland uses (see Box 4). This index can help to manage wetland resources more optimally. Wetlands with an index refl ecting no or low impacts from their use are closer to a sustainable use pattern and more likely to continue to provide benefi ts to Ugandans, now and in the future. In contrast, wetlands classifi ed as being highly impacted by use are at greater risk of undermining their future supply of wetland products and services. Depending on the range of different wetland uses and the level of associated impacts, wetland degradation can lead to decreased water quality, depleted fuel sources, curtailed crop yields, or diminished fi sh catches.Map 8 highlights the wetlands with a combined impact from all uses of no or low impact. Almost 8 percent of the wetlands inventoried in the National Wetlands Information System show no impacts from current use and are shown as dark blue points in Map 8. These used but non-impacted wetlands are concentrated in Amuria, Katakwi, Soroti, and Kaberamaido Districts, areas with more traditional land use and lower population densities (NFA, 1996;UBOS, 2002b).In contrast, Map 9 (page 24) displays all those wetlands whose index value indicates medium to very high impacts resulting from wetland use. Lira District has the greatest number of wetlands with very high impact use (red points). A large number of these wetlands can also be found in Dokolo, Amolatar, and Jinja Districts. High wetland impacts can also be found in the districts of Ntungamo, Kisoro, Kyenjojo, Kamwenge, Tororo, Mbale, and Moyo.Comparing Map 8 and Map 9 reveals that the great majority of wetlands in the districts of Kiruhura and Mubende and the eastern parts of Kamuli District are exposed to low impacts (turquoise points, Map 8). These districts have fewer wetlands with medium to very high impacts (green and yellow points, Map 9). On the other hand, most wetlands in Luwero District are highly impacted (yellow points, Map 9) with very few no or low level impact (blue and turquoise points, Map 8). Wetlands in Kayunga and Nakasongola Districts are represented by a mix of turquoise, yellow, and green points, refl ecting low, medium, and high level impact.While these maps showing the impacts from all wetland uses can help planners to locate potential wetland resources at risk and identify those that are more sustainably used, they can also be combined with Uganda's poverty maps to illuminate the linkages between poverty and potential wetland degradation. Map 10 (page 26) is an example of this approach. Here, all the wetlands at greatest risk of degradation are selected (shown as red points in Map 9) and overlaid with the poverty level in the surrounding subcounties. It displays the location of these wetland sample points and the poverty rate for the neighboring 60 rural subcounties.The fi eld surveys for Uganda's National Wetlands Information System assigned for each of the possible 37 wetland products an impact level (defi ned as high, moderate, low, or no impact on the wetland system). This information provides the foundation for an index that measures the combined impacts of all wetland uses.To calculate this index, scores of 3, 2, 1, and 0 were assigned to the respective impact levels on the wetland system and then summed for all documented wetland products for each wetland sample point. These sample points can then be mapped to indicate which wetlands are highly impacted by use and which are less so.Index values for the 5,000 sample points range between 0 and 41. For the purpose of the analysis, these index values were grouped into fi ve classes: no impact (index value of 0), low impact (index value between 1 and 5), medium impact (index value between 6 and 10), high impact (index value between 11 and 20), and very high impact (index value between 21 and 41). For a wetland to fall in the \"no impact\" category (index value of 0), wetland inspectors had to assign the \"no impact on the wetland system\" to all documented products.Each impact category can refl ect various use patterns: For example, a community may extract fi ve diff erent products, each assigned as being \"low impact\" (associated with an impact score of 1) and resulting in an index value of 5 for the sampled wetland. Another community may extract three diff erent products, one assigned as being \"high impact\" (impact score of 3) and the other two as being \"low impact\" (each with an impact score of 1) resulting also in an index value of 5.One limitation of this index of combined impacts comes from the fact that it weighs impacts equally even though a number of wetland uses, such as mineral extraction or conversion to cropland, affect ecosystem functions very broadly and often irreversibly, undermining the supply of other ecosystem services. Future revisions of the index could apply diff erent weights to these uses to refl ect their greater impact on a wetland's capacity to provide products and services (see Table 2).A second limitation lies in the timeliness of the data, which were collected between 1997 and 2001. In urban areas such as Kampala, property values and population size-all important drivers infl uencing wetland use-have been changing rapidly, making the collected data quickly obsolete. To refl ect the current situation on the ground, data collection for the National Wetlands Information System has to be carried out more frequently, especially in peri-urban and other areas prone to rapid land-use change.Box 4Sources: International boundaries (NIMA, 1997), district administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2006a), water bodies (NFA, 1996;NIMA 1997;Brakenridge et al., 2006), and combined impacts from all wetland uses (authors' calculation based on WID, 2006).As Map 10 shows, highly impacted wetlands are spread widely across Uganda, and the proportion of the subcounty population falling below the rural poverty line includes all poverty levels. Wetlands with very high impacts from use are located in subcounties with lower poverty levels (shaded in green) mainly in the southwestern part of the country. But highly impacted wetlands are also situated within poorer subcounties, mostly north of Lake Kyoga in Lira, Amuria, Dokolo, and Amolatar Districts (shades of brown and yellow), but also in Jinja District, where farmers grow rice in wetlands.This means that based on the existing data from the National Wetlands Information System and the most recent poverty map, there is no straightforward relationship between poverty levels and potential wetland degradation. High impact from wetland use occurs in both poor and better-off subcounties.Nevertheless, Map 10 can be useful to fl ag certain subcounties where close coordination between wetlands management and poverty reduction efforts could be benefi cial for both wetlands and human well-being. For example, in subcounties with high poverty rates of 40-60 percent (shaded in light brown) and a great number of highly impacted wetlands, additional or more intensive use could threaten the future supply of benefi ts. This in turn could negatively impact poor families who depend on wetlands for their livelihoods or fall back on these resources in emergencies. Improved wetlands management that results in a more optimal combination of products and services (one that lowers the overall impact on the wetland system while maximizing the revenue) could reduce the risk of resource degradation and negative well-being impacts for poor households. Conversely, creating new economic opportunities outside of the wetland sector may permit some families to reduce dependence on resource extraction with low returns and high impacts, resulting in both improvements in well-being and lower resource pressure on wetlands.In subcounties with highly impacted wetlands but low poverty rates, the presence of alternative income-generating activities and livelihood strategies is more likely. This suggests that any strategy to change and optimize the combination of wetland uses or to restore a wetland could build on greater assets and capabilities of households in these subcounties.Map 10 represents just one example that analyzes the relationship between wetland use impacts and poverty. Other useful analyses are also possible. For example, a different map overlay could pinpoint where wetlands exposed to no or low impacts coincide with high poverty levels and could lead to further investigation of the reasons behind this pattern.Sources: International boundaries (NIMA, 1997), district administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2006a), subcounty administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2002a), water bodies (NFA, 1996;NIMA, 1997;Brakenridge et al., 2006), combined impacts from all wetland uses (authors' calculation based on WID, 2006), and rural poverty rate (UBOS and ILRI, 2008).The main purpose is to show how the spatial analysis of poverty and wetland indicators can be strengthened with information from economic valuation studies. This analysis will estimate the quantity of papyrus that could be sustainably harvested in each subcounty (based on the area and location of papyrus wetlands), calculate the potential economic value that is associated with this harvest, and compare the potential papyrus revenue to the total amount of money needed to move all poor persons in that subcounty above the poverty line (see Box 1 for the defi nition of poverty used in this publication).The theoretical total annual potential papyrus harvest for all subcounties was calculated from detailed maps of papyrus wetlands (NFA, 1996). The total papyrus area for each subcounty was multiplied by the quantity of papyrus that could be sustainably harvested per year (400 bundles per hectare of papyrus wetland based on Karanja et al., 2001). It was assumed that all papyrus stems were accessible in the subcounty and that their quality was homogeneous and high enough to be harvested and sold.Map 11 (page 28) presents the total annual revenue that could be obtained from harvesting all papyrus areas in each subcounty. The potential revenue for each subcounty was obtained by multiplying the annual harvest quantity by its average sales price. The data are based on an economic study of papyrus harvest and sales in Pallisa District (Karanja et al., 2001) which determined an average sales price of 500 Uganda Shillings for each bundle of harvested papyrus. (This translates to an annual theoretical return of 200,000 Uganda Shillings per year for each hectare of papyrus wetland, equivalent to about US$ 118 per hectare per year with 1US$ = 1,700 Uganda Shillings.)Map 11 shows 444 subcounties without any papyrus revenues (areas in white). These subcounties have no papyrus wetlands and most of them are in the northern districts. Other subcounties without papyrus revenues are in southeast Uganda (Manafwa, Sironko, and Bukwo Districts), the southwestern highlands (parts of Bundibugyo, Kanungu, and Kasese Districts), and parts of Kiruhura and Lyantonde Districts. The other 514 subcounties have papyrus wetlands and could realize revenues from papyrus harvests (subcounties shown in shades of purple). The subcounties with the largest potential total annual papyrus revenues (shaded in dark purple) are in the districts of Buliisa, Nakaseke, Luwero, Kayunga, Kamuli, Pallisa, andThe map overlays highlighted in the previous chapter represent only the fi rst step in analyzing the benefi ts wetlands provide to people in general and to poor communities more specifi cally. Additional analyses are needed to manage wetlands in a more sustainable manner, identify and plan development interventions better, and target poverty reduction efforts more precisely. Combining three types of data can greatly enhance these analyses: location of specifi c wetland uses, extent of use, and economic value of use.To manage wetlands sustainably, it is important to know not only the type and location of each use, but also to track the exact quantity of each product or service obtained from a wetland. This could include the quantity of papyrus harvested, fi sh caught, water withdrawn, wood collected, fodder obtained, or wastewater fi ltered. These data can then be compared to the capacity of a wetland to provide these products and services (e.g., regeneration rate of plants, or the total fi ltering and waste assimilation capacity) to determine a sustainable use pattern.To identify and plan development interventions better, an analysis of wetland uses needs to identify the benefi ciaries (socioeconomic profi le of wetland users) and incorporate livelihood perspectives, economic costs, and economic benefi ts of different wetland uses. Knowing the economic value of these uses enables analysts to calculate the economic returns per area or labor input and to assess their contribution to household incomes. For a wetland product with an existing market, an economist will multiply the quantity of a harvested product by its market price. For a wetland service without an existing market such as water fi ltration, economists rely on special valuation tools such as the Replacement Cost Method that estimates the amount of money that could be saved by not building a wastewater treatment facility (Ranganathan et al., 2008).To target poverty reduction efforts more precisely, decision-makers need to know whether specifi c wetland uses provide suffi cient new revenues to move a poor person above Uganda's poverty line. The analysis generally compares the economic value of a specifi c wetland product or service to the amount of shillings needed to move that person out of poverty.The following analysis integrates these different types of data and looks at one wetland use-papyrus harvesting.H o w S p a t i a l A n a l y s i s C a n B e n e f i t W e t l a n d s a n d R e d u c e P o v e r t y i n U g a n d a Soroti. All of these districts have large papyrus wetlands neighboring Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, and other smaller open water bodies.To determine what contribution papyrus wetlands can make to poverty reduction, the revenue from papyrus harvest can be compared to the amount of money needed to move all poor persons in that subcounty above the poverty line. Box 5 provides an example of how to calculate this amount.Of the 514 subcounties with papyrus wetlands, 210 could harvest and sell enough raw papyrus to theoretically close the poverty gap within their administrative unit. Map 12 (page 30) highlights these 210 subcounties and shows their corresponding rural poverty rates. The great majority of them represent better-off subcounties with poverty rates of 15-30 percent. Only a few, in the proximity of Lake Kyoga, are an exception to this pattern and have higher poverty levels of 40-60 percent.For 304 subcounties, sales of raw papyrus are insuffi cient to close the poverty gap and are shown as white areas in Map 12. These subcounties either need to increase papyrus returns by adding value to the raw material (for example, developing and selling papyrus mats, crafts, or briquettes) or obtain other wetland revenues. Almost twice as many subcounties would be able to close their poverty gap, for example, if they produced mats that sell at 3,500 Uganda Shillings a piece (calculation based on Karanja et al., 2001). The poverty reducing effects of wetlands could be even greater if communities could capture higher revenues from other marketable wetland products or from new markets that provide payment for ecosystem services.Maps 11 and 12 support the following observations:Q Papyrus harvesting, a more accessible source of income for poor families with fewer capabilities, is labor intensive and has low economic returns. It cannot provide enough income in the aggregate to close the poverty gap. The potential revenues from all papyrus wetlands in Uganda (based on a sustainable harvest rate) is close to 88 billion Uganda Shillings (US$ 51.8 million) per year, which translates to an annual average return of 10,000 Uganda Shillings (US$ 6) for each poor Ugandan.Q At the individual level, however, harvesting of papyrus can be an important source of cash for poor families.Q Because of its low returns, harvesting of papyrus should be seen as a source of income that prevents people from sliding further into poverty rather than as a means of escaping poverty.Q In 210 subcounties, the potential revenues from harvesting and selling raw papyrus are larger than the cash needed to close the poverty gap for all the poor familiesTo calculate the theoretical cash transfers needed to raise the entire poor population in a subcounty above the poverty line, economists require three metrics: number of poor in an administrative area, poverty line, and poverty gap. The following example showcases the calculation using rural data for one of Uganda's regions. Sources: International boundaries (NIMA, 1997), district administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2006a), subcounty administrative boundaries (UBOS, 2002a), water bodies (NFA, 1996;NIMA, 1997;Brakenridge et al., 2006), rural poverty rate (UBOS and ILRI, 2008), no papyrus (NFA, 1996), and subcounties where theoretical annual revenue from papyrus harvest does not close the poverty gap (authors' calculation based on NFA, 1996 andKaranja et al., 2001).of the subcounty (based on the most optimistic assumptions). All of these subcounties have large papyrus wetlands. The great majority of them have comparably low poverty rates of 15-30 percent, requiring very specifi c targeting of poor households to realize poverty reduction impacts. Only a dozen subcounties around Lake Kyoga have high poverty levels of 40-60 percent requiring less precise targeting of poor households. Further investigation at more local and household levels is needed to explore where papyrus harvest could help to reduce poverty, where it may represent a trap that keeps people in poverty, and where new efforts are needed to capture greater revenues from other wetland products and services.This preliminary analysis demonstrates that information from economic valuation studies provides analysts with an opportunity to gauge more precisely how a specifi c wetland use could contribute to poverty reduction in a specifi c location. Future studies should expand on this example and map the economic value of all major wetland usesboth those with a market (beekeeping, fi shing, livestock, etc.) and those that do not have a market yet (ecosystem services such as water fi ltration and carbon sequestration). Such maps and analyses would allow a more comprehensive economic evaluation of different wetland uses. They would provide wetland managers with stronger arguments for encouraging a specifi c wetland use or for optimizing the returns from a comprehensive bundle of wetland products and services.The primary goal of this publication has been to encourage readers to carry out their own improved examinations of poverty and wetland maps. Nevertheless, the collaboration of national and international organizations to produce this report provides some general lessons. A number of more specifi c conclusions can also be drawn from the spatial analyses of the maps presented, despite the exploratory nature of these examples.Based on the process of compiling the data, producing the maps, and analyzing map overlays, the following observations can be made:Q Analysts working with the Wetlands Management Department and the National Forest Authority can integrate land cover data from Uganda's National Biomass Study and the National Wetlands Information System in a geographic information system to produce national maps that show the location of wetlands, the array of benefi ts local communities obtain from them, and the level of impacts these uses have on larger wetland systems.Q National and local decision-makers can, for the fi rst time, access these wetlands data and produce their own maps to inform future wetlands management efforts.Q These wetland use and impact data can then be combined with maps of poverty and population density to create new wetland-poverty indicators and explore the relationships among wetland use, their condition, and levels of poverty in specifi c locations.Q Analysts can use these indicators and maps to select geographic areas with certain poverty and wetland characteristics for pro-poor targeting.Q Decision-makers can use these new indicators and maps to make more informed and transparent choices when designing and implementing wetland management plans and poverty reduction efforts.This publication is based on innovative mapping techniques and analyses with potentially far-reaching implications for sustainable wetland management and poverty reduction in Uganda and around the world.It demonstrates how poverty and wetland maps can be combined to generate new information relevant to designing and implementing poverty reduction strategies, wetland management efforts, and national development plans. These new maps and analyses can in turn help to classify wetlands by their main uses, conditions, and poverty profi le in order to identify regions or communities with greater need for pro-poor wetland management interventions.Such analyses are only possible because of the substantial and consistent investments the Uganda government has made to collect wetland and poverty data. By advancing the integration and spatial analyses of these data, Ugandan analysts can take advantage of this investment to strengthen wetland management and poverty reduction efforts. The examples presented illustrate how an examination of the spatial relationships among poverty, wetland use, and wetland conditions can provide new information to assist in more effective wetland management and poverty reduction efforts.Mapping a Better Future also highlights the need for Ugandan decision-makers to demand additional analytical returns for their data investments. Examples show that maps and spatial analyses can contribute to the understanding of poverty-wetland interactions in specifi c locations and provide the foundation for more evidence-based wetlands management and poverty reduction efforts.While the maps and analyses are primarily illustrative in nature, they support the following more specifi c conclusions:Q Maps of wetlands show that they provide multiple benefi ts throughout Uganda.Wetlands exist in every district of Uganda, and all Ugandans benefi t from the products and services they provide. Over 70 percent of all wetlands in Uganda are used for three simultaneous purposes: water collection and use, livestock grazing, and harvesting of wood (for fuel and other purposes). Some uses such as hunting, fi shing, and beekeeping are geographically more concentrated.Q The diversity of products obtained from wetlands and the levels of wetland impacts vary greatly across Uganda.Grassland wetlands where users obtain few different wetland products (low product diversity) are spread across all regions of the country. However, grassland wetlands with the highest product diversity are almost exclusively located south and north of Lake Kyoga.Wetlands with low impacts from local use are concentrated in Amuria, Katakwi, Kaberamaido, and Soroti Districts. On the other hand, Lira District has the greatest number of wetlands with very high impacts from local use. Clusters of wetlands in the Districts of Jinja, Dokolo, Amolatar, Keyenjojo, and Kamwenge also show very high impacts. Very highly impacted wetlands occur in other Districts as well, but are less concentrated.The map overlays show no clear spatial pattern for the two selected indicators (namely, the diversity of wetland products and the combined impacts of wetland uses). Both poor and better-off subcounties can be found that exhibit high diversity of wetland products; likewise, both poor and better-off subcounties can be found that exhibit low diversity of wetland products, and both poor and better-off subcounties can be found that exhibit high wetland impacts from local use. It is likely that these simple overlays only partially capture the complex relationships among the selected poverty indicator, wetland use, and wetland condition. More detailed follow-up analyses looking at specifi c regions, other poverty indicators, and additional variables such as agroclimate, land-use pattern, access to land and markets, and political economy are needed to examine these relationships more comprehensively.Q The overlay analyses of poverty and wetland maps are most useful for identifying subcounties that share similar poverty and wetland characteristics, and thus may lend themselves to similar wetland management approaches.While these examples of overlay analyses do not reveal strong spatial associations, the maps can nevertheless be used for formulating questions and hypotheses to create intervention strategies. They can help, for instance, to identify areas where boosting diversifi cation of wetland products would benefi t the poorest communities or where preventing further wetland degradation could be benefi cial to a large number of poor families. For example, they highlight locations with the following wetland and poverty profi les:• Lira District has the greatest concentration of highly impacted wetlands and communities with high poverty rates.• High diversity of grassland wetland products and high poverty coincide in Soroti, Kaberamaido, and Lira Districts.• Katakwi District includes a large cluster of wetlands with low product diversity surrounded by communities with high poverty levels.Q Economic valuation studies can be linked to poverty and wetland maps to enhance the analysis of wetland benefi ts.Information from economic valuation studies that track the quantity and value of each product or service obtained from a wetland can be linked to these maps to gauge the potential economic contribution of different wetland uses on poverty levels. The example in this publication relies on the most readily available economic data of a wetland benefi t-harvesting raw papyrus.It is an activity that is generally easily accessible to the poor but has low fi nancial returns. The example shows that selling the raw material does not provide suffi cient revenue in the aggregate to move all poor households above the poverty line for most subcounties.However, there are a number of subcounties where papyrus harvesting could make a signifi cant contribution to reduce poverty, but this will require specifi c targeting of poor households. Further investigation at local and household levels is needed to explore where papyrus harvesting could help to reduce poverty, where solely harvesting papyrus may represent a poverty trap, and where support to promote other value-added papyrus products is most promising.H o w S p a t i a l A n a l y s i s C a n B e n e f i t W e t l a n d s a n d R e d u c e P o v e r t y i n U g a n d aWhile the primary objective of this report is to highlight ideas on how wetland-poverty maps can be developed and analyzed, it also seeks to catalyze greater use of this type of information in decision-making. Central and local government agencies can increase the likelihood of this happening by intervening on the supply side of information and on the demand side for these kinds of maps and analyses.Strengthening the supply of data and analytical capacity will provide large returns to future planning and prioritization of wetland management efforts. Improvements in the following two areas are the most promising:Q Complete data entry and collection for the National Wetlands Information System, improve data consistency, and update wetland and land cover information.• Maintaining up-to-date wetland inventories is essential to ensure the policy relevance of the data and subsequent analyses. The Wetlands Management Department needs to fi nalize all data entry for the National Wetlands Information System for the Districts with completed wetland inventories. New wetland inventories need to be carried out for northern Districts that were not inventoried because of security issues. The Wetlands Management Department needs to secure funding and develop a long-term plan with regularly scheduled updates for the National Wetlands Information System.• Information on the location and extent of specifi c wetlands in the National Wetlands Information System still relies on a 1996 land cover map. The Wetlands Management Department in collaboration with other national institutions (National Forest Authority, Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, etc.) need to promote and invest in new land cover information to improve planning for wetland management, support gazetting of vital wetlands, and aid in analyzing potential pressures from land-use change.• A technical team consisting of wetland offi cers and other experts needs to reassess the consistency of methods used for wetland inventories, especially when investigators apply qualitative measures to gauge the level of use, impact, and threat.• The Wetlands Management Department, in collaboration with technical experts, needs to explore the best option to collect data on two new wetland indicators: the quantities of wetland products and services used, and the overall health of wetlands.The former indicator will help to determine more sustainable use patterns and provide the foundation for better economic valuation of wetlands. The latter indicator, although not easy to develop, could pro-vide information on a wetland and its ability to provide desired ecosystem services over the long term, such as the capacity to supply a consistent quantity of fi sh, or the ability to fi lter additional loads of pollutants. The Department should also explore how to better account for and monitor regulating services of wetlands.Q Strengthen analysis, mapping, and economic valuation efforts.• Compared to the fi nancial resources spent on data collection and entry, few resources have been earmarked to analyze and communicate the data from the National Wetlands Information System. The in-house technical and analytical capacities within the Wetlands Management Department to extract, map, interpret, and communicate these data require strengthening.• The indicators described in this publication represent only a subset of possible indicators that have planning, policy formulation, and decision-making relevance. The Wetlands Management Department can lead efforts to create other relevant indicators, for example by incorporating information such as land ownership or pressures from land-use change into future maps.• There is a clear need to apply economic valuation to all major wetland products and services (particularly their importance in fi ltering drinking water supplies and regulating hydrological fl ows). Linking the economic value of wetlands ecosystem services to a map can provide decision-makers with a more complete picture of the relative value of all ecosystem services in that location. This makes it less likely that important ecosystem services will be overlooked in management decisions (e.g., converting wetlands to another land use).Promoting the demand for such indicators and spatial analyses will require leadership from a few government agencies (discussed below). Actions in the following four areas will help in linking the supply of new maps and analyses with specifi c decision-making opportunities:Q Incorporate poverty information in wetlands management.Poverty maps can improve wetlands management. The Wetlands Management Department has developed a framework (Kampala Matrix) to classify all wetlands by their ecological and social importance and their threat status in order to prioritize wetland management interventions (such as restoring wetlands, monitoring use more strictly, or encouraging more sustainable use). Future wetland classifi cations could incorporate poverty levels into this prioritization effort. For example, the Wetlands Management Department could work withthe Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to identify all critically important wetlands that are located within the poorest subcounties. These wetlands could then become priority areas for developing management plans that refl ect the needs of poor communities. Resources from the Poverty Action Fund could support these planning efforts to ensure that the dependence of poor households on current and future wetland benefi ts is given adequate consideration.Q Consider wetland management in poverty reduction efforts.Wetland management interventions can be designed to prevent families from falling further into poverty, or to create new economic opportunities. For example, the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development could collaborate with the Wetlands Management Department to systematically evaluate the potential of wetlands to reduce poverty. Such an evaluation may include the following activities:• Identify all wetlands in the poorest communities (subcounties).• Identify all wetlands that are highly impacted by current use.• Identify all wetlands that have the potential for greater product diversifi cation.• Carry out an economic valuation of the products and services from these different wetlands.Based on this analysis, districts and local communities could work with Central Government to lobby for changes in recurrent and development budgets (both from Central Government and District Local Government). Depending on the specifi c wetland profi le, these new funds could support one or more of the following:• Boost product diversifi cation in certain wetlands.• Restore or enhance the supply of wetlands products and services.• Establish new markets for ecosystem services to capture new wetland revenues.Q Promote cross-sectoral efforts that support poverty, wetland, and sectoral goals.The short example in Box 3 (page 20) highlighted how collaboration between the health, water, sanitation, and environment sector could result in both environmental health and wetland benefi ts. The Wetlands Management Department and the Wetlands Advisory Group could explore other sectoral synergies, for example between wetlands and dry season grazing, or between general biomass supplies and fuelwood supplies in wetlands.Q Incorporate poverty and wetland maps and their analyses into local decision-making.The underlying data and maps discussed in this publication are, in most cases, at a geographic scale detailed enough to inform local decision-making. However, many local decision-makers still have diffi culty accessing these data, conducting such analyses, and incorporating the fi ndings into their planning. The Wetlands Management Department can provide technical and analytical support to a few pilot districts. The efforts would concentrate on improving District Wetland Action Plans and making these action plans an essential component of District Development Plans."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"19379156d51275ec4ea542a26090f1ea","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/a90dc13c-ee33-4c33-9a56-05989d0c4de0/content","id":"1736691758"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"bec1fd4f-c797-43e4-a022-2a0deacc8f6c","content":" Los marcadores moleculares se usan para: Entender la diversidad de plantas  Identificar, rastrear y seleccionar regiones genómicas que contribuyen a características de interés  Predecir fenotipos utilizando perfiles genómicos  Tecnologías previas limitaban la captura de gran proporción de la variabilidad genética  La rápida reducción de los costos de secuenciación NGS permitieron la evolución de nuevas plataformas de genotipificación, marcadores SNP de alta densidad, mapas genéticos, etc. Qué es la Genotipificación usando Secuenciación?Es un sistema altamente multiplexado que identifica decenas a centenas de miles de marcadores moleculares, a partir de representaciones genómicas reducidas y valiéndose de plataformas de secuenciación de última generación (NGS). "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c0b40f6e559b49fe41363cc872e02823","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/bf421601-a819-4adf-b64a-67f76bf175d3/content","id":"-1008347154"},"keywords":["Cyst nematode","identification","phylogenetic analyses","sugar beet Kist nematodu","teşhis","filogenetik analiz","şekerpancarı"],"sieverID":"ff88f54c-2cff-4cd7-a2c5-e1a2d8a30889","content":"The sugar beet nematode, Heterodera schachtii, is the major pest of sugar beet and causes serious yield losses of about 10-70%. Heterodera schachtii occurs in more than 50 countries and regions, however, there has be limited investigation of H. schachtii in Turkey. Therefore, a survey of H. schachtii in the sugar beet producing regions of Şanlıurfa was conducted in 2014 and 2015 growing seasons. Using morphological and molecular methods, 12 samples collected from three districts, Bozova, Karaköprü and Siverek, in Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey, were identified as H. schachtii. In pathogenicity test, the seedling emergence was delayed and reduced, the seedlings were stunted and necrotic, and the white females of H. schachtii were evident 25 days after inoculation. Phylogenetic analyses were also conducted. The 12 H. schachtii populations from Şanlıurfa Province clustered together with populations from Europe and Morocco at the value of 99%. Sugar beet is the second largest crop in Turkey with the annual production of more 16 Mt. To our best knowledge, this is the first report of H. schachtii in Şanlıurfa Province of Turkey.The sugar beet nematode, Heterodera schachtii Schmidt, 1871, is a major pathogen on sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L. ssp. vulgaris var. altissima), and is the most serious nematode pest recognized in sugar beet (Cooke, 1987). Heterodera schachtii is widely distributed throughout the world, especially in Europe, North America, Australia, the Middle East, Africa and South America (Evans & Rowe, 1998). Heterodera schachtii has a wide range of other host species, including over 200 plant species within 95 genera from 23 different plant families; most hosts are found in the Chenopodiaceae and Cruciferae (Steele, 1965). In Europe, the annual yield loss associated with the sugar beet nematode was estimated at 90 million EUR (Muller, 1999).Heterodera schachtii, Schmidt, 1871, Heterodera betae Wouts, Rumpenhorst &Sturhan, 2001 andHeterodera trifolii Goffart, 1932 belong to the H. schachtii sensu stricto group and can be distinguished by their morphology (Subbotin et al., 2000). Identifications based on morphological characters of cysts and J2s is difficult and needs skillful nematologists, so it can more accurate by the use of molecular techniques (Subbotin et al., 1999). During the last fifteen years, researchers have collected and characterized more than 40 species of nematodes from the genus Heterodera (Waeyenberge et al., 2009). The SCAR-PCR (sequence characterized amplified region) amplification with species-specific primers has been used for the identification of several cyst nematodes such as Heterodera avenae Wollenweber, 1924, Heterodera filipjevi Madzhidov, 1981, Heterodera latipons Franklin, 1969, Heterodera glycines Goffart, 1936 and H. schachtii without requiring the subsequent RFLP step (Yan et al., 2013). Heterodera schachtii was reported for the first time from sugar beet growing areas in Kırklareli Province in Turkey by Diker (1959). Later on, it has been increasingly reported from other areas and has become recognized as a damaging pathogen of sugar beet producing areas in Eskişehir and Adapazarı Provinces in Central Anatolian Region of Turkey (Susurluk & Ökten, 1999;Osmanoğlu, 1999). The southeast region of Turkey has been the main area for the growing of crops from the Chenopodiaceae, Cruciferae and Leguminosae (Albayrak et al., 2010;Bagdatli & Acar, 2009). However, no previous survey has been conducted to detect H. schachtii in Şanlıurfa Province of Southeast Anatolian Region of Turkey.Here we report the occurrence of the H. schachtii in Şanlıurfa Province of Southeast Anatolian Region of Turkey through morphological, molecular and phylogenetic identification. The objectives of this study were to 1) survey sugar beet growing areas in the Southeast Anatolian Region of Turkey to extend knowledge of the distribution of H. schachtii, 2) identify H. schachtii specimens to the species level using molecular and morphological tools, and 3) verify the pathogenicity of detected populations. Above all, this survey was designed to determine the current status of species distribution as a basis for developing SCN-management strategies.In 2014 and 2015, a cyst nematode survey was conducted in sugar beet fields in southeast regions of Turkey. A total of 1 kg of soil was collected from each field by sampling five random points taken along a zigzag transect. In total, 130 points were sampled in the southeast region of Turkey (Table 1). From each soil sample, 100-ml subsamples were taken for extraction of cysts by wet sieving and sucrose flotation centrifugation procedures (Riggs et al., 2000). Cysts from each sample were hand-picked with a brush under a stereomicroscope. Cysts were randomly selected from each subsample, sterilized in 0.5% NaClO for 5 min and rinsed 3 times in sterile distilled water, and transferred to 24-well culture plates at 20°C for hatching (Griffin, 1981). The hatched invasive second-stage juveniles (J2s) were collected for pathogenicity testing, morphological observation and molecular identification.Nematode genomic DNA was extracted as described by Qi et al. (2012). The cyst sample in the microtube was frozen in liquid nitrogen and melted in 37°C water bath, and this process was repeated four times. Successively, samples were frozen at -80°C for 1.5 h and then incubated at 65°C for 1.5 h followed by 10 min at 95°C in PCR thermo-cycler. Afterwards, the samples were centrifuged at 1000 revs/min at a temperature of 4°C for 1.5 min. Then the supernatant was transferred into a new microtube and stored at -20°C for later use. At least three replicates of each nematode population detected were tested. a Numbers in brackets are the total number of samples. b \"-\" negative result, \"+\" positive result.Extracted DNA (2.5 µl) was added into an Eppendorf tube containing: 12.5 µl 2×Taq PCR StarMix buffer (GenStar, Beijing, China), 1µl of 10 µM of primers and ddH 2 O was added to make a final volume of 25 µl. SCAR-PCR primers for H. schachtii (SHF6 and rDNA2) were used to PCR-amplify the specific fragments (Amiri et al., 2002). The PCR program consisted of 4 min at 94°C, 10 cycles of 30 s at 94°C, 40 s at 45°C and 1 min at 72°C for elongation; 20 cycles of 30 s at 94°C, 40 s at 55°C and 1 min at 72°C for elongation. The reaction was terminated by a final extension cycle at 72°C for 10 min. After PCR amplification, 5 µl of each PCR products was separated on a 1.5% agarose gel.For morphological observation and species identification, mature cysts containing eggs and fully developed juveniles were selected randomly. Vulva cone from mature cysts were mounted (Zhang, 1988). Slides of J2s were prepared as described by Lin (1991) and Duan & Chen (2006) with minor adaptations, fixed with 10% formalin overnight and transferred into the glass cavity block and filled with 3% glycerol (3 ml glycerol and 95 ml sterile water) and covered with a glass lid at room temperature. Three weeks later, the nematode specimens were transferred to a clean drop of anhydrous glycerol on a glass slide and the mounted specimens were covered with a cover slip and sealed using clear nail polish. These slides were viewed under a microscope (Leica DM2500) attached with a digital camera connected to a computer for processing and storing the images. The distance measurement function of the image analysis software was first calibrated using a stage micrometer for each of the objectives before taking measurements of the specimen according to the manufacturer's instructions. All measurements were recorded and for each of the samples, the data was summarized by calculating the averages, range and standard error.To prove a causal relationship between the H. schachtii and the disease, hatched J2s were collected and used to infect sugar beet (B. vulgaris KWS2320) roots, three-day-old sugar beet roots were inoculated with 200 pre-parasitic J2s. The infected plants were planted in a sterile mixture of sand and loam (1:1, v/v) and kept in a glasshouse at 24°C for observation (Griffin, 1981). Plants were grown under normal plant growing conditions with irrigation, fertilization, and disease and insect control as needed.The primers TW81 and AB28 described by Joyce et al. (1994) were used to amplify the ITS-rDNA region. PCR program consisted of an initial denaturation step at 95°C for 4 min followed by 35 cycles of 30 s at 94°C (denaturation), 45 s at 56°C, and at 72°C for 1 min for elongation. The reaction was terminated at a final extension cycle at 72°C for 10 min. ITS-PCR products of the populations were purified using the TIAN gel Midi Purification Kit (Tiangen Biotech, Beijing, China) per the manufacturer's instructions. The purified products were cloned into the pGEM ® -T Easy Vector and transformed into DH5αCompetent Cells (Tiangen Biotech). The clones of each population were isolated using blue and white selection, and subjected to PCR for confirmation.The positive clones were then sequenced. All sequences of ITS-rDNA obtained were submitted to GenBank (GenBank Accession No. KT874516 -KT874527) and a database search performed using BLAST. Twelve new sequences, along with 16 sequences of Heterodera genera as the in-group taxa and one Globodera genera as outgroup taxa were download from the NCBI, where subjected to phylogenetic analysis (Table 2). The sequences were edited and analyzed with MEGA 5.05 (Center for Evolutionary Medicine and Informatics, Biodesign Institute, Tempe, AZ, USA) (Tamura et al., 2011). To determine statistical consistency of the classification, the phylogeny reconstructions statistical method using maximum likelihood and bootstrap analysis with 1000 bootstrapped data sets was used. Gaps were treated as a missing data. A tree clustering the populations at different levels based on genetic distance was constructed from the ITS sequence alignment with MEGA 5.05 (Tamura & Nei, 1993).In this survey, cysts were detected in 62% of the 130 samples (Table 1). Four to 15 cysts were checked from every 100-ml subsample. Twelve specimens, collected from three districts Siverek, Karaköprü and Bozova of Şanlıurfa Province were identified as H. schachtii by SCAR-PCR (Table 2). The size of SCAR-PCR products was 255 bp for single juveniles from these H. schachtii populations, same to the positive control (Figure 1). The density of H. schachtii in Siverek, Karaköprü and Bozova was 11.0, 18.1 and 37.5 eggs/g soil, respectively. The results of the pathogenicity test indicated that the growth of B. vulgaris KWS2320 seedlings was delayed by the infection of with H. schachtii. Ten days after inoculation, the inoculated plants were stunted, and by 20 days, yellowing and necrosis of the foliage and white females in the roots were evident. After 35 days brown cysts had been formed. The pathogen was confirmed to be H. schachtii. The cysts were lemon shaped, and light to dark brown in color. The vulval cone was ambifenestrate with dark brown, molar-shaped bullae positioned underneath the vulval bridge (Figure 2). The key morphometrics of cysts (n = 12) were: body length (excluding neck) from 610 to 783 µm; body width from 395 to 530 µm; length/width ratio from 1.44 to 1.57 µm; underbridge from 98 to 120 µm; and vulval slit from 40.7 to 45 µm (Table 3). The J2s were cylindrical in shape, stylet moderately heavy with prominent, forward directed knobs, tail acutely conical with rounded tip and a hyaline region in the tail terminus. The key morphometrics of J2 (n = 20) were: mean body length from 426 to 510 µm; mean body width from 21 to 23 µm; mean stylet length from 24 to 25 µm, mean tail length from 55 to 62 µm; and mean length of the hyaline tail region tail from 31 to 38 µm (Table 3). Ribosomal DNA (rDNA) from the ITS regions was PCR-amplified from each confirmed population of H. schachtii and then sequenced. Twenty-eight Heterodera populations were clustered, with a Globodera rostochiensis Wollenweber, 1923, population as an outgroup. A phylogenetic tree of the Heterodera populations was constructed based on the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA sequences. All bootstrap values were larger than 60%. Species with bootstrap values of over 70% were placed in clades. The populations of the same species and same sites clustered together. All the groups formed were distinguished from each other in the Heterodera sequences, supported by a moderate to high bootstrap value. Heterodera schachtii sensu stricto clustered together as group A with a value of 100%, distinctly different from the group B, H. avenae complex populations and the outgroup Globodera rostochiensis population (Figure 3). Heterodera schachtii group included the 12 H. schachtii populations collected from Şanlıurfa, H. schachtii populations from Australia (EF611123.1), Morocco (EF611118.1), Belgium (EF611107.1), France (EF611103.1), H. trifolii from Japan (LC030417.1), and H. betae from Germany (EF611122.1). Heterodera schachtii populations from Belgium (EF611107.1) and France (EF611103.1) clustered as a sub-branch with a value of 95%. Heterodera trifolii from Japan (LC030417.1), H. betae from Germany (EF611122.1) and H. schachtii populations from Morocco (EF611118.1) clustered as subbranch with a value of 87%. Heterodera avenae complex populations included H. ripae (AF393840.1), H. ustinovi (AY148407.1), H. pratensis (AY148383.1), H. australis (AY148395.), H. mani (AY148377.1), H. arenaria (AF274396.1), H. aucklandica (AY148379.1) and the populations of H. avenae (AY148364.1), H. filipjevi (AY148398.1), H. latipons (KM199826.1) from Turkey. Heterodera avenae complex populations were clustered in one branch at a value of 99%. Yield loss in sugar beet caused by the plant parasitic nematodes is estimated to be about 10%, of which nearly 90% is associated with the cyst nematode, H. schactii (Rahmani et al., 2013). In Turkey, sugar beet is the crop with the second largest production, with the annual yield of more than 16 Mt (FAO, 2016). In Turkey, 80% of the agricultural holdings (about 500,000) that produce sugar beet are smaller than 1 ha (Albayrak et al., 2010). The fields surveyed in 2014 to 2015 were of limited size making it very to for growers to control sugar beet nematode systematically. The eggs are the survival stage and can stay viable for several years in soil. A small percentage of eggs within cysts have been reported to survive under fallow conditions for over 12 years (Hafez, 1997). Initial population (Pi) level at of 9, 18, 34 and 68 eggs and larvae per g soil resulted in deceased marketable yield of table beets of 23, 25, 42 and 54%, respectively. Marketable head weight of direct-seeded cabbage was also decreased by 21, 28, 46 and 54%, and that of transplanted cabbage by 25, 31, 34 and 42%, respectively (Abawi & Mai, 1980).The density of H. schachtii in Siverek, Karaköprü, Bozova was 11.0, 18.1 and 37.5 eggs per g soil, respectively, which are potentially damaging based on the findings of Abawi & Mai (1980). However, there have been few studies focusing on H. schachtii. These results indicate the need to monitor H. schachtii population in Turkey to prevent significant economic loss in sugar beet.Heterodera schachtii was reported for the first time from sugar beet fields in Kırklareli Province in Turkey (Diker, 1959). Later on, it was also detected many part of sugar beet areas in Kırklareli Province (Tokmakoğlu, 1974). More recently, Susurluk & Ökten (1999) and Osmanoğlu (1999) reported it from Eskişehir and Adapazarı Provinces in the Central Anatolian Region of Turkey, and it has been increasingly detected and has become recognized as a damaging pathogen of sugar beet producing areas in in those areas. The first symptom of H. schachtii is yellowing and stunting of plant growth (Polychronopoulos & Lownsbery, 1968). These symptoms are consistent with our pathogenicity test: after sugar beet seedlings were inoculated with H. schachtii J2s, the seedling emergence was delayed and reduced, plants were stunted and necrotic, and the infected roots had a whiskered appearance with more lateral roots. The differences between H. schachtii and the H. avenae group were: H. avenae had no obvious underbridge and more bullae, H. filipjevi had a slight underbridge with a few bullae, and H. latipons had a heavy underbridge with no bullae. Additionally, there was a heavy underbridge with bullae of H. schachtii. For the J2s, the main diagnostic features were the stylet and tail lengths followed by body length. Heterodera schachtii, H. betae and H. trifolii belongs to the Schachtii group, H. betae is a member of the H. trifolii species complex, and is distinguished from closely related species by a combination of morphological and morphometric characteristics. Heterodera schachtii with a terminal vulval slit about as long as vulval bridge differs from H. trifolii by a shorter average fenestral length and from H. betae by shorter average cyst body length. Heterodera schachtii J2s have the shortest average tail length and the shortest average length of the hyaline part of the tail. The data showed the morphology of the cysts and juveniles were consistent with those reports of H. schachtii (Subbotin et al., 2010). ITS-rDNA within H. schachtii is complex and heterogeneous (Amiri et al., 2002). Amiri et al. (2002) designed primers, using the available ITS-rDNA sequence information, which is specific for species of the H. schachtii sensu stricto group. This method of identification of H. schachtii is highly sensitive, with amplification obtained even when a single J2 or a single cyst was mixed with other nematode species (Amiri et al., 2002). The different levels of intraspecific variation of the ITS-rDNA sequence have an effect on the evolution and cluster analysis (Madani et al., 2007). The analyses of phylogenetic relationships of the ITS sequences showed that the H. schachtii populations from Turkey were clustered together with populations from Europe, Australia and Morocco. The 12 new H. schachtii populations clustered with populations from Australia (EF611123.1) and Morocco (EF611118.1) in one sub-branch with a bootstrap value of 79%, the H. schachtii populations from Belgium (EF611107.1) and France (EF611103.1) clustered closer to another sub-branch with a bootstrap value of 95%. Relative genera and species of H. schachtii, the H. trifolii and H. betae were clustered together in one branch as the Schachtii group, and separate from the H. avenae complex group. ITS-rDNA sequences did not group isolates according to their geographical origin or taxonomic grouping. Concerted evolution has not homogenized all rDNA variants within individual populations. When two ITS clone variants were sequenced from the same population these sequences did not clustered together in Maximum Parsimony trees (Madani et al., 2007). Mostly, Maximum likelihood and Bayesian outperformed Neighbor Joining, Maximum Parsimony and Parsimony in terms of tree reconstruction accuracy (Hall, 2005;Ogden & Rosenberg, 2006). The results presented here are consistent with the report of Madani (2007) but differ from those of Tanha Maafi (2003) for H. trifolii. Ogden & Rosenberg (2006) indicated that as the length of the branch and of the neighboring branches increase, alignment accuracy decreases, and the length of the neighboring branches is the major factor in topological accuracy. Thus, multiple-sequence alignment can be an important factor in downstream effects on topological reconstruction (Ogden & Rosenberg, 2006). Additionally, we found the H. schachtii population from Morocco (EF611118.1) was more closely related to H. trifolii from Japan (LC030417.1) and clustered as a sub-branch with a value of 87%, and H. betae from Germany (EF611122.1) clustered together with H. schachtii (EF611118.1) and H. trifolii (LC030417.1) as a subgroup with a value of 87% within the Schachtii group. Heterodera betae may have originated from interspecific hybridization of two diploid amphimictic species, with H. schachtii suggested as one of the parent species, or H. betae represents a polyploid parthenogenetic form that has evolved from autopolyploidization of diploid amphimictic H. schachtii or another very closely related species (Madani et al., 2007). This hypothesis could explain the origin and evolution relationship of H. trifolii, H. betae and other polyploid species from the Schachtii group.Heterodera schachtii has been recognized as a serious problem for sugar beet production and is an important quarantine nematodes in many countries due to its devastating damage to sugar beet (Peng et al., 2015). Sugar beet nematode has spread extensively in many regions of sugar beet cultivation, and therefore efforts have been made to reduce its effects on sugar and root yield. The most appropriate control method has been the release of resistant cultivars (Rahmani et al., 2013) with resistance genes introduced from wild Beta species (Kleine et al., 1998). The annual rate of decline of viable eggs and larvae in fields after removal of sugar beet or another host crop can vary from 40 to 50% depending on the type of soil, soil temperature, soil moisture, history of pesticide use (including herbicides), susceptibility and availability of host plants (including weeds), and the presence of predators and parasites (Hafez et al., 1997). Furthermore, their combined effects should aim to decrease and maintain H. schachtii population densities below the damage threshold."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3b14d9f0f684e3240adbe511a8e2f3ce","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/49ee999e-d03c-42f7-8305-07c7bf209611/retrieve","id":"671211361"},"keywords":["Africa","impact assessment","innovation systems","participatory research approaches"],"sieverID":"ff90f735-5559-49de-b41e-f569a6084e74","content":"Three case studies show that natural resource management (NRM) research aimed at sustainably improving the well-being of African small-holder farmers is complex, and that monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is an essential tool in coping with this complexity, supported by an 'innovation systems' view of the adoption process. In the case studies, researchers adjusted their activities and outputs on the basis of learning from M&E. Many of the insights came through identifying farmer innovations, which also proved a source of improvements to the respective technologies. Together, better understanding and iterative improvements made eventual widespread impact more likely. Farmers also learnt from M&E exercises and this learning facilitated adoption. The understanding of the early adoption process provided by M&E can provide a foundation for more plausible impact assessment.The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) system was founded in 1971 and is now made up of 16 agricultural research centres around the world with the following mission:To contribute to food security and poverty eradication in developing countries through research, partnerships, capacity building, and policy support, promoting sustainable agricultural development based on the environmentally sound management of natural resources. (http://www.cgiar.org/who/index.html)The CGIAR system has been most successful in breeding improved crop varieties that helped catalyse the Green Revolution. This research was based on a linear view of the innovation process, called Transfer of Technology (TOT), in which new technologies are developed in CGIAR centres, passed to counterparts in National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES) who might carry out some local adaptation, before being passed on to the farmer as a 'finished' product (Chambers & Jiggins, 1986;Ruthenberg, 1985). In this model farmers either adopt or reject. They do not carry out any significant local adaptation, and are not seen as sources of innovation in their own right (Rogers, 1995). The model worked delivering a technology that was simple for farmers to understand and use -improved germplasm -into relatively simple irrigated farming systems but has been less successful introducing NRM technologies into the same environments (Douthwaite et al., 2001a).It is now well accepted that simple, linear innovation models, such as TOT, are not adequate, particularly for natural resource management aimed at improving the well-being of poor farmers in developing countries (Biggs, 1989;Clark, 1995;Douthwaite, 2002). This is because the linear view of science does not model the complexity of the systems in which small-scale producers operate and the inherent complexity of most natural resource management technologies. Small-holder farming systems tend to be complex because crop production, for example, is usually only a small part of a broad livelihood portfolio that may encompass a wide variety of off-farm activities, the gathering of forest products, the raising of livestock, etc. Also, the farming systems of poor people in the tropics are subject to a multitude of exogenous influences, such as highly variable Reprinted with permission from Multilingual Matters Ltd. Originally published in International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability IJAS 1(1): 51-66, Copyright 2003. rainfall, especially in semi-arid areas, and a constantly changing economic climate with resulting swings in input costs and market prices, dynamic land use changes, and various other episodic events (Sayer & Campbell, 2001). In short, the complexity in which small-holder farmers operate means that technologies developed and promoted using the simplistic TOT view of the innovation process are unlikely to be adopted. Sayer and Campbell (2001) state that sustained improvements to the livelihoods of poor tropical farmers requires a different type of research, the objective of which is to enhance the capacity of rural people to adapt to changing conditions, rather than to deliver 'finished' technologies. They identify participatory approaches and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) as crucial to support the 'learning by doing' and other types of learning necessary for enhanced adaptive capacity. However, although CGIAR scientists have been developing participatory approaches since the early 1980s (e.g., Rhoades & Booth, 1982), they are still by no means mainstream (Probst, 2002). CGIAR research methods remain largely scientist controlled with little adaptation to farmer feedback during the course of research. Moreover, evaluation in the CGIAR system is still commonly focused on predicting outcomes (ex ante impact assessment) or measuring impacts (ex post impact assessment) (Alston et al., 1995) and little work has been done on institutionalising M&E (Ekboir, forthcoming;Horton, 1998). Indeed, impact assessment in the CGIAR remains grounded in traditional agricultural economics (Horton, 1998) that relies on establishing a linear causal relationship between the costs and benefits of research, and then attempting separately to attribute impact to the different successful components. Such approaches are often invalid for NRM research because such linear relationships generally do not exist in complex systems (Ekboir, forthcoming;Sayer & Campbell, 2001).In the rest of the paper we present three case studies of participatory NRM research carried out by three CGIAR centres. Our objective is to assess the extent to which M&E allowed the research projects to cope with complexity through bringing about learning and change. We then follow with a discussion of how inclusion of M&E can build the foundation for more plausible ex post impact assessment. In the case studies we consider M&E to include the different information gathering and sharing activities that take place during the research processes.Case studies require focus otherwise they can become too long and present irrelevant data. One device for assisting focus is to employ a 'theory of the case' (Sechrest et al., 1996). The theory of the case used in this paper is that all three case studies described in this section implicitly assume the 'learning selection' conceptual map of the technology development and adoption process (Douthwaite et al., 2002) shown in Figure 1. This conceptual map is based on the 'innovation systems' view of the innovation process (Nelson, 1993;OECD, 1999), which sees innovation being produced by networks of actors that co-evolve with the technologies they generate (Rycroft & Kash, 1999). The co-evolution occurs as a result of iterative experiential learning between the actors involved (Rosenberg, 1982) that is intrinsically random (Kaufmann, 1995). Successful innovations result from strong interactions and knowledge flows within these networks.The learning selection model recognises four phases in the innovation process:¼ Development phase: Innovators (e.g. researchers, farmers, input suppliers or other agents working together or in isolation) are permanently searching for new technological, economic, institutional or social alternatives to achieve their objectives (which may include improved livelihoods for farmers or professional recognition for researchers). Problem diagnosis with the intended target group(s) is part of this process. When an alternative is identified, the innovators develop 'best bet' integrated solutions. ¼ Start-up phase: The network of early developers take these 'best bet' options and demonstrate them to individual and/or a network of farmers, in the hope that farmers will see that at least some aspects hold out a 'plausible promise' of benefiting them, sufficient toFigure 1 The 'learning selection' conceptual map of the innovation process adopted in the case studies (adapted from Douthwaite et al., 2002) motivate at least a few to contribute their own time and land in experimenting. ¼ Adaptation phase: Experimenting farmers and other agents work together to co-evolve the 'plausible promise' into something better; something that is seen to work and make sense to the wider community. ¼ Expansion phase: Adoption levels expand as the community begins to adopt their locally constructed solution(s). This might be an integrated package and/or a single component of the 'best bet' options originally introduced. Implicit to this conceptual map is the premise that once developed, a complex technology that is widely adopted in a pilot site, will scale-out to other, similar, communities through multi-actor interactions. However, scaling-out can be accelerated by a properly designed extension approach that speeds up both the knowledge spread and the experiential learning that is necessary to construct the technology in communities elsewhere.The development phase of this project began in late 1998 when a participatory diagnosis identified soil fertility as one of the main constraints to agricultural productivity in eastern Uganda. As a result the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (TSBF-CIAT) began looking for solutions with 11 other stakeholders, comprising of Makerere University, National Agricultural Research Organisation, the International Forestry Centre (ICRAF), Appropriate Technology (Uganda), Department of Agriculture, Uganda National Farmers Association (UNFA), Food Security and Export Marketing project (FOSEM), Africa 2000 Network (A2N), Sasakawa Global 2000 (SG2000), farmers, the District Agricultural Extension and the local administration. Much research on legume cover crops has been carried out in Africa over the past 70 years, and although there had been little real adoption (Sumberg, 2002) in Africa, the stakeholders involved felt that using participatory methodology to offer farmers choices of different legumes offered the best prospects for solutions to the problem. TSBF began the start-up phase by introducing 'bestbet' legume cover crop (LCC) and shrub species into two sub-counties of Tororo District, in east-ern Uganda. In some treatments there was biomass transfer (BT) of legume material from one field to another. Several trials were established, together with 40 participating farmers, backstopped by field officers employed by the project and from the government's district extension services. The purpose of the trials was to validate and demonstrate the effectiveness of the LCCs and shrubs at improving soil fertility and controlling weeds. The legume species were: Canavalia ensiformis, Crotalaria grahamiana, Dolichos lablab, Mucuna pruriens, Tephrosia vogellii and Tithonia diversifolia.TSBF-CIAT conducted a farmer participatory evaluation of the LCC and BT species after seven seasons from December 2001 to January 2002 with 21 farmer groups, representing 234 farmers (92 male, 142 female). The farmer groups were purposively selected on the basis of having several seasons' experience with the legumes. Group discussions and key informant interviews were then held to: ¼ Establish farmers' assessment of the legume species for soil fertility improvement. ¼ Identify farmer innovations with respect to the use and management of the legumes. ¼ Identify farmers' evaluation criteria when comparing between legumes. ¼ Conduct a matrix ranking based on these criteria.One of the main findings from the M&E of this work was the high degree of knowledge that farmers already had of the legumes, which showed up when farmers were asked to identify positive and negative characteristics (Table 1). Other evidence of existing knowledge was the names some farmers gave to some of the legumes. For example, one group called Canavalia 'Yathipendi', meaning 'medicine for banana' while another group, dominated by old men, identified it as 'Akengu ka Angu' meaning 'trap for the hyena'. Tephrosia was locally known as 'Yathi fuuko' (medicine for mole rat) or 'Yathirechi' (medicine for fish).The M&E also found that farmers were attempting to find uses for the legumes beyond improving soil fertility and suppressing weeds, or attempting to reduce the cropland occupied by legumes (Table 2). Some of this innovation occurred as a result of the trial, although the M&E did not differentiate between 'old' and 'new' discovery. A significant result of the trials was to encourage farmers to place more emphasis on their existing knowledge, and build on it.Farmers were asked to make explicit the criteria they used when evaluating the legumes (Table 3). Nine criteria were listed by farmers which were categorized under three headings, inputs (labour, establishment ease), outputs (crop, soil, weed control, biomass), and other uses (intercropping and multiple uses). The overall farmer ranking, developed using a ranking analysis tool with the 21 groups, is shown in Table 4. The rank order from the most to the least preferred was Mucuna, Tithonia, Canavalia, Crotalaria, Lablab and Tephrosia.The project initiated a range of approaches to move from the adaptation to the expansion phase. These included: training extension agents on the use and management of the technology; identifying and training innovative farmers in each sub-county; and providing support to farmer-to-farmer extension. Particular attention was paid to the latter with the organisation of many study and exchange tours to enhance farmer-to-farmer learning and adoption of the technologies promoted. By the end of 2001, over 2000 farmers had established their own evaluation trials as a result of extension visits, farmer-trainer visits and exchange visits to demonstrations sites.Discussions with farmers during the group assessments and ranking exercises, as well as open and probing questions, gave insights into the constraints to farmer adoption. Fallowing the land is not possible where small land sizes or high population densities exist and where seed supply for these legume cover crops is poor. Farmers commonly cite difficulties in finding the labour required for collecting or incorporating biomass. Also, many farmers were very reluctant to use land and labour without producing a crop, even if future benefit justifies the investment. This is because most farmers' main priority is food production, and they are very risk adverse. As a participating farmer commented, 'Its better to have even one gorogoro tin of maize [from a depleted field that was planted with maize] than to be guaranteed no maize at all this season by planting a • Attempts to cook it and eat the seed in sauce • Efforts to crush seed to make animal feed • Good feed for goats, cattle and rabbits• Used to scare off hyenas in the past, and now monkeys• Boundary planting around the homesteads instead of researcher-recommended intercropping with maize or planting as one season fallow crop • Intercrop with beans to control nematodes and other bean diseases.• Seed put together with bean seed during storage to control bean storage pests• Seed and the leafy vegetation eaten in sauce• Leaves are crushed, poured into rivers and streams to catch fish • Doubt on its effectiveness in controlling the mole rat• Leaves used for treatment of stomach ailments and fevers cover crop we can't eat' (Ramisch, personal communication).The next stage in this adaptive research process involved the systematisation of information from the M&E, detection of knowledge gaps, and the identification of potential research ques-tions during follow-up community meetings attended by the farmers, extension agents, NGO and CIAT staff. During these meetings the results of the participatory evaluation were discussed and this led to the identification of new research questions that needed to be addressed. • Ease of bush clearing, uprooting, cutting stems and cutting and incorporation leaves and then incorporation into the soil For example, Lablab was identified as a very promising multi-purpose legume but the variety the community had was not producing seed. As a result new photoperiod insensitive and early flowering germplasm from Australia and Africa is now undergoing on-station evaluation.After identifying new research questions the different partners then agreed on how to address the issues. They did this by:(1) Identifying key farmers to conduct adaptive research on behalf of the community. These farmers will establish a range of experiments, and will be responsible for monitoring the experiments and reporting back to the whole community on the results. (2) Identifying applied research questions to be addressed by national agricultural research partners, through an array of methods from on-station research to on-farm research. For example, evaluation of early flowering Lablab accessions from Australia. (3) Identifying strategic research questions to be addressed by CIAT, TSBF and other partner international research institutes. For example, primary screening of new legume cover crop species. In so doing the M&E has helped catalyse a number of innovation processes similar to that shown in Figure 1. Some of these are now happening with the key farmers and extension agents, not professional researchers, comprising the R&D team shown in Figure 1.The most important outputs of M&E for the TSBF-led R&D team was the identification of the criteria used for species selection and the farmers' innovations. Both provided essential feedback on the opportunities and constraints of the production systems of the farmers and raised many new areas of research, opportunities for the evaluation of new technologies and species, and the better targeting of existing information. The M&E showed that farmers had a much more profound knowledge of some of the legume species than researchers originally imagined, and used this knowledge to use the legumes to fulfil a much wider range of production objectives than soil fertility replenishment or weed control. This helped researchers realise that single-use technologies, where that single use does not carry a very large benefit, have little chance of large-scale adoption. M&E also revealed that researcher interest can motivate farmers to innovate based on their existing knowledge. Both realisations have resulted in a major rethink by researchers and partners of the methodology and approach taken and the types of research conducted in the project.For farmers M&E played an important role in promoting farmer-to-farmer diffusion through the organisation of exchange visits and field days. The M&E skills that key farmers have learnt as part of the project will support local innovation when these farmers report the findings of their experiments back to their communities.Striga hermonthica is a parasitic weed that attaches itself to the roots of cereals (e.g. maize, sorghum, millet and rice), diverting essential nutrients and leaving the host stunted and yielding little or no grain. The weed is the severest biological constraint to cereal production in sub-Saharan Africa, infesting almost 21 million hectares of land causing millions of dollars of damage (Sauerborn, 1991). African farmers call it 'witch' weed because it does most of its damage before it emerges from the soil.The development phase for this project began when IITA started developing Striga control strategies (Berner et al., 1997), using largely traditional, researcher-controlled methods. The research showed that Striga control is only possible using an integrated approach that attacks Striga from several sides at the same time. The key 'best bet' in an integrated Striga control (ISC) approach is the use of a legume crop (e.g. soybean, cowpea, groundnut) that induces a high proportion of Striga seeds to germinate, which then die because they cannot parasitise legumes. This is called 'trap cropping' and the discovery that the high genetic diversity of Striga requires screening of legumes to find effective trap crops for different localities has been one of IITA's more important research contributions. To be effective, legume trap crops must be planted much more closely than farmers usually plant their legumes, and should be used together with other 'best bets' including Striga-resistant cereals, crop rotation, weeding of the Striga plants before they set seed, and improved soil fertility.In the late 1990s, IITA started putting much more emphasis on farmer participatory research to move 'on the shelf' technologies into farmers' fields, funded in part by the British government through the Department for International Development (DfID). The start-up phase for this project began in 1999 when IITA's Agronomy Unit (AU) began working in three villages in Northern Nigeria to develop locally adapted integrated Striga control (ISC). The villages were chosen on the basis of having severe Striga problems. Two group meetings were held, first to carry out a problem consensus to rank Striga in relation to other problems, and then to design experiments with farmers to evaluate the 'best bet' options for Striga control (Schulz, 2000). In 1999, 19 farmers volunteered to establish experimental plots. An extra village and another 41 farmers joined the work in 2000 (Schulz et al., 2003).IITA's Adoption and Impact Unit (AIU) began M&E work in 2000 using impact pathway evaluation (IPE) (Douthwaite et al., forthcoming). IPE involved the AU and the AIU agreeing a 'map' of how the project's direct outputs -farmer participatory validation and adaptation of ISC options -might lead ultimately to the project goal of improved livelihoods for the 100 million people in Africa that are affected by Striga. Doing this helped the project realise the importance of allowing for farmer modification, and the early involvement of stakeholders who could promote the project's findings. In this way developing the impact pathway helped make eventual impact more likely.The AIU used the 'follow the technology' (FTT) approach (Douthwaite et al., 2001b) to assess progress towards achieving the outcomes identified in the impact pathway. These outcomes were that: (1) farmers learn about ISC and this leads to, (2) changes in attitudes and perceptions, (3) experimentation and modification, and (4) adoption, although not necessarily in that order. Two additional outcomes were that: (5) adopting farmers enjoy higher and more stable incomes, and (6) the whole iterative learning process spreads to other villages. Other outcomes, such as: (7) adoption of ISC leading to sustained improvements to families' wellbeing, and (8) the take-up of ISC by local extension services, could only be assessed after several years and so were left to a future impact assessment.The FTT approach, as its name suggests, follows the technology to identify what has happened to it. It asks the journalistic questions of who? why? what? when? where? and how? about adoption, nonadoption, modifications made, and learning processes. From October 2001 to January 2002 a survey was carried out to identify the extent to which participating farmers had increased the use of ISC on their own farms, as well as the extent of farmer-tofarmer diffusion. The experimental and expansion plots of the 60 participating farmers were mapped using a hand-held geographic positioning system (GPS). In addition, 245 expansion farmers, using one or more ISC options, were identified by asking key informants in the respective villages. The key informants included project staff and participating farmers. A data sheet was completed to record what was planted in the fields, and modifications made to the 'best bet' ISC practised in the experimental plots. From February to June 2002 an indepth survey was then carried out of a random sample of 152 of the participating and expansion farmers. The positions of the farmers' households were also mapped. The survey established farmers' existing Striga control practices and sought explanations for farmers' adoption and modification decisions, his or her understanding of ISC, and to find out where the farmer received the technologies from, and whom he or she has passed them on to. The questionnaire specifically asked whether farmers passed on any of the agronomic recommendations, e.g. close legume spacing, in addition to distributing seed.The survey found that 90% gave weeding as their main way of controlling Striga, although few practiced it prior to the project. However, by providing farmers with an explanation of the Striga life-cycle and the need to weed it out before it flowers, the project was successful in increasing adoption to 82% (Table 5), showing that, as with the previous case study, researcher interest in local techniques can motivate farmers to use them. In contrast to weeding, although all farmers grew legumes, with soybean being the most popular, few knew that legume rotation could control Striga in cereals.Table 5 shows the adoption of the ISC technologies. It shows large differences exist between villages, reflecting differences in farmer preference resulting from differing agro-ecological and socio-economic conditions. For example, the comparatively low adoption rate of soybean in Ankwa village compared with Kaya and Rimau was largely because there was no market for the legume.The ISC 'best bet' options include the recommendation that farmers grow the legume trap crop as a mono-crop. This is because if cereals are grown with the legumes, then the Striga growing on that cereal can replace the seeds killed by the trap crop. Table 6 shows that over two-thirds of farmers rejected the mono-crop recommendation by continuing with their mixed cropping practices. This was initially a concern to the project. However, the  Another finding from the M&E was that 93% of farmers were saving at least one of the ISC seed varieties and nearly two-thirds of these farmers were giving seed, mainly soybean, on average to 2.3 other farmers. Clearly, the seed component of ISC is entering the expansion phase. Pleasingly though, of the farmers who gave seed, 85% also gave advice on how to grow the crop so as to control Striga, showing that the crop management knowledge necessary for ISC is also spreading. The mapping survey found that nonparticipating farmers were just as likely to adopt close legume spacing, indicating that knowledge as well as germplasm is spreading. In terms of Figure 1, the project has been successful in co-developing with farmers a widely adoptable integrated technology, and component technologies.Other useful feedback from the M&E is the pattern of adoption shown in Figure 2, which shows adoption generally clustered around the participating farmers' households. However, in all villages adoption has 'jumped' and new clusters have formed. These 'jumps' occurred through individuals promoting the technology to others. These individuals were usually farmers, but project staff also played an important role. The project is now building an extension approach that attempts to maximise farmerto-farmer diffusion by getting communities to nominate farmers to experiment on their behalf and hold regular field days to evaluate the findings. In 1998, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and its partners in Malawi and Zimbabwe began the participatory Mother and Baby (MB) approach to develop and test soil management technologies for resource-poor farmers, particularly women farmers (Johnston et al., 2002). A mother trial was set up in three pilot sites in each country. The mother trials contained a number of 'best bet' soil management technologies and were established to validate the technologies under local conditions, as well as demonstrate them to farmers. In each village farmers were encouraged to set up baby trials under their own management and on their own land, based on one of the mother trial treatments. In terms of our map of the early adoption process shown in Figure 1, this represents the researchers' efforts to begin an adaptation phase.During the start-up phase the project invested heavily in training research and development staff from the different partner institutions in the various concepts of the participatory research process and simulation modelling. The short duration of the project meant that the problem identification and selection of 'best bets' occurred prior to the training in September 1999, based on the 'expert' judgement of agron-omists and economists which was then validated using crop simulation modelling. The 'best bet' options chosen included a range of legume intensified systems (Chamango, 2002;Twomlow et al., 2002), moderate inorganic fertiliser used alone or in combination with extra weeding (Dimes et al., 2002), and manure (Murwira & Kudya, in press). In retrospect, 'experts' with good experience of relevant farming systems were able to select 'best bets' that were of interest to farmers, without having to first go through an identification phase with farmers.MB trials were conducted over the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 growing season in the six sites. Field days were carried out at different times in the growing season to solicit farmers' perceptions, using a range of participatory tools including matrix ranking. These field days were followed-up by a series of focus group discussions between March and May 2001 (Ncube & Twomlow, 2001; Rusike & Twomlow, unpublished field notes) in which farmers were asked to describe their cropping calendar in relation to local soil taxonomies, the labour resources used for each task, local input and output prices, the technologies they had been evaluating, and what, if anything, they had adopted or adapted beyond the experimental plots. This information was then used to construct a final adoption survey.A number of the 'best bets' gave significant yield increases compared with farmers' practice. These included the use of small quantities of fertiliser linked to weeding, legume rotations Economic acceptability ranked in terms of marginal rates of return analyses c Farmer acceptability based on seasonal matrix ranking exercises and inter-crops, and anaerobically composted manure (Dimes et al., 2002;Murwira & Kudya, in press;Twomlow et al., 2002). About half the treatments proved better than the control, and in most the returns exceeded 100%. Table 7 shows the economic, agronomic and farmers' ranking of the technologies in Malawi. The economic ranking was derived from data from focus group discussions, surveys and subsequent econometric modelling (Foti et al., 2002), while the agronomic ranking was in terms of yield performance. The differences that do exist come about for a number of reasons including resource constraints, access to input and output markets, risk and food security. The results highlighted to researchers the fact that farmers do not make decisions based on agronomic or economic considerations alone. For example, researchers initially ranked groundnut-pigeon pea and maize-Tephrosia intercrops as the best for farmers because of their high grain yields. Baby-trial farmers, however, ranked maize-pigeon pea intercrop as the best because of the grain-legume mix and the lower labour requirements. According to the babytrial farmers, the pigeon pea-groundnut rotation was attractive, but only for commercial farmers who had enough land for rotations.An important indicator of a successful adaptation phase is evidence of farmer experimentation. The adoption survey found that this was stronger where the MB methodology was more flexible and where farmers had received 'training for transformation' in parallel (Rusike et al., 2001). The simulation modelling proved useful in simulating the performance of different combinations and amounts of fertiliser and weeding under different amounts of rainfall. This helped answer some farmer questions and to choose worthwhile experiments based upon risk (Dimes et al., 2002).The adoption survey of host and nonhost farmers in neighbouring villages, showed that farmers were adopting and adapting some technologies from the trial plots to their main fields. In terms of Figure 1 some of the 'best bets' have proved to be 'plausible promises' to farmers as a result of their evaluation and have moved into the adaptation phase. In both Malawi and Zimbabwe the most popular technologies were improved germplasm with accompanying management practices (Table 8).The survey found that limited market access was often restricting the adoption of legumes to the area required to meet family consumption needs. In both countries the adoption of inorganic fertiliser 'best bets' were constrained by high fertiliser prices, even though the small doses of fertiliser (10 to 20 kg of N ha Ϫ1 ) that the project tested with farmers, appeared to be affordable and worth the risk. These rates were typically 20% to 30% of the recommended rates, illustrating that blanket fertiliser application rates based on optimal yield response can be of little value.The adoption survey and focus group discussions (Ncube & Twomlow, 2001;Rusike & Twomlow, unpublished field notes, 2002) showed that farmers' preferences and adoption of technologies depended on their access to land, labour and capital, and the gender of the household head influenced access to these resources (Tables 9 and 10). In both countries male-headed households tended to have access to labour and draft animals, but little cash, so adopted legume rotations, perceived to require more land and small doses of fertiliser. De facto female-headed households often had access to cash remittances from their husbands, but had little labour, and hence favoured new cereal varieties together with the 'best bet' fertiliser, pit-composted manure and weeding treatments. Land constraint faced by women-headed households meant they favoured intercropping compared with crop rotation favoured by their male colleagues. The poorer resourced de jure femaleheaded households could not afford fertiliser and so were less likely to adopt new cereal varieties, preferring instead technologies that required little cash or labour, such as heapcovered composted manure, reduced tillage, and dead-level contours and modified-tied ridges for in-field water harvesting. This new understanding has been aided by combining farmer participatory research with both biophysical and econometric modelling to assess the riskiness and profitability of proposed interventions. In this way the simulation The adoption survey, field days and focus group discussions helped researchers appreciate that farmers' access to resources and climatic risk affects farmers' decision-making in addition to economic and agronomic performance most commonly considered by 'expert' opinion. The work has helped show ICRISAT and its partners that future work in soil fertility management should take into account the high cost of inorganic fertiliser, the effects of climatic risk, poor market for legumes and the realisation that different types of household have different access to resources and hence favour different technology options. The work has also shown that the way field research is carried out, in terms of whether farmers can experiment on their own, numbers and types of field days held, and whether training to build the capacity of farmers as experimenters is provided, can greatly affect adoption, adaptation and eventual impact. Providing farmers training in leadership can also affect adoption.The case study has also shown the value of modelling as an aid to M&E and learning. Crop simulation modelling can help researchers further develop their understanding, and can help farmers and researchers decide on which treatments are most likely to fit local conditions and farmer preferences, thus speeding up the experimentation and leaning process.The three case studies provided evidence to confirm the innovation systems view of innovation as a complex process, characterised by interactions among agents and processes, strong feedback loops and intrinsic randomness. Indeed, a common theme through the case studies was that the M&E provided information that confounded 'experts' expectations, showed reality to be more complex than expected, and that farmers generally had a more profound understanding of that complexity than researchers imagined. The Uganda and Nigeria case studies show that farmers were actively modifying the technologies in ways that could not be predicted. Different modifications were made in different areas, reflecting differences in local conditions. In Uganda, farmers sought alternative uses for the LCC and BT technologies that would increase the return on their investment in labour and land. In Nigeria, farmers sought to find compromises between the 'best bet' agronomic practice and what fitted their own systems. In all three case studies researchers learnt from these modifications and adapted their thinking and recommendations accordingly.This experimentation and modification, and the fact that it helped improved the adoptability of the respective case study technologies, largely confirms the conceptual map of the development and adoption process shown in Figure 1. The fact that in all three case studies the 'best bets' were researcher-defined suggests that there is a role for researchers in introducing new ideas into communities, on the condition that the researchers have a good understanding of the local farming systems, and that farmers are supported in adapting the initial idea. Purely farmer-led technology development is less likely to bring new ideas into the community because researchers have a deeper knowledge and understanding of new technical options, while farmers are concerned with their current problems and have few human and financial resources to search for and adapt novel solutions. On the other hand, the Uganda and Nigeria case studies showed that researcher interest, combined with better understanding, can motivate farmers to take their existing knowledge and technologies more seriously. The case studies generally confirm findings elsewhere (e.g. Rogers, 1995) that farmers are more likely to adopt technologies that require little change to existing practice.The case studies clearly show the importance of various M&E approaches in providing feedback that leads to adaptive management based on learning from the feedback. In the Zimbabwe and Malawi case study researchers learnt that farmers select technologies based on resources available to that household and perceptions of risk, in addition to agronomic and economic factors generally used by scientists. The Zimbabwe and Malawi case study also showed that gender of the household head can affect access to resources and technology choice. This understanding has help shape ICRISAT's priorities in soil fertility research in sub-Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, M&E findings showed that many farmers were adopting legume trap crops to control Striga, but not the concept of sole cropping, preferring to continue to grow cereals with the trap crop. In response, the project will place more emphasis on encouraging farmers to weed out the Striga growing on the cereal before it sets seed.Several tools proved useful in facilitating learning and the innovation processes. These included matrix ranking of 'best bets', field days and developing a common understanding of the impact pathway. Field days proved useful not only for researcher learning but also for farmers to learn from each other. The Nigeria case study showed how this learning can lead to technologies spreading to other villages. Indeed, one conclusion from this work is that perhaps more emphasis needs to be put on encouraging farmer M&E through field days, exchange visits, etc. The Zimbabwe and Malawi work showed the value of using crop simulation modelling to develop and test understanding, as well as to speed up the learning process through developing and testing scenarios together with farmers.In each of the three case studies, the projects worked with a wide range of agents, including farmers, NGOs, extension workers and national research institutes. The technologies that enter the expansion phase, shown in Figure 1, represent a synthesis of a number of stakeholders' knowledge and innovation. The implication is that any future impact resulting from these technologies cannot be individually attributed. Rather, in accordance with the 'innovation systems' view, the innovation has been the result of the interaction of a network of actors. M&E can help the plausibility of ex post impact assessment by giving a good description of the early adoption process, and the roles of the different stakeholders involved. Such documentation would be an invaluable starting point to ex post impact assessment some years after.The case studies show that NRM research aimed at sustainably improving the well-being of small-holder farmers in Africa is complex, and that M&E is an essential tool in coping with this complexity. M&E proved useful in helping researchers gain a better understanding of the systems in which they worked, and adjusted their activities and research outputs accordingly. Much of this insight came through identifying farmer innovations, which also proved a source of improvements to the respective technologies.Together, better research understanding and iterative improvements made eventual widespread impact more likely. Farmer M&E also proved useful in facili-tating adoption and should be given equal priority to M&E aimed at furthering researcher understanding. The understanding and documentation of the early adoption process provided by M&E can provide a foundation for plausible ex post impact assessment. However, despite its uses the types of M&E described in this paper are not yet mainstream practice in international agricultural research, and will only become so by continuing demonstrations of usefulness, and by a wider acceptance by researchers of the 'innovation systems' view of the innovation process as opposed to more commonly held linear ones."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/6423660423.json b/main/part_2/6423660423.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"069577a9075cf8561c7b4713d8f0340c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/aaa30ed7-0c66-4e58-915f-4dde7b507239/retrieve","id":"-1548265419"},"keywords":["Acraea acerata","Cylas spp","farmers´perception","IPM","Ipomoea batatus","sweetpotato butterfly","sweetpotato weevil"],"sieverID":"dad4e358-cf5e-4c9e-ba65-d0d652af2ed3","content":"Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatus (L.) Lam.) is the third most important food crop in Uganda. Although it is considered a food security crop, its productivity is far below its potential. This study assessed the pest status and farmers' perception and management practices of the most economically important insect pests of sweetpotato, i.e. the sweetpotato weevils Cylas puncticollis Boheman and C. brunneus F. and the sweetpotato butterfly Acraea acerata Hew. A total of 192 rural farm households of the districts Kabale, Kasese, Gulu, Masindi, Soroti and Wakiso were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Additionally, the abundance, infestation rate and intensity of infestation of all three pests was assessed and the root yield loss caused by Cylas spp. quantified over two growing seasons in the districts of Kabale and Masindi. Over 80 % of farmers grow sweetpotato for home consumption, emphasising its importance as a food security crop. Cylas spp. and A. acerata were ranked as the first (57 % of the households) and second (37 % of the households) most damaging insects to sweetpotato. The prevalence of A. acerata larvae was generally low (8-25 %) and its larvae caused very little defoliation (1-25 %). For Cylas spp., the abundance was relatively high (40-97 %), with a consequential high yield loss (37-51 %) of marketable root weight. Farmer management practices of A. acerata included use of chemical insecticides (24 % of households), ash application (3 %) and hand picking (2 %). However, 65 % and 87 % of the households did not apply any control measure for A. acerata and Cylas spp., respectively. All pests are a big constraint to sweetpotato production in Uganda. Thus, appropriate integrated pest management (IPM) strategies must be designed, particularly for Cylas spp., if the food security and livelihoods of farmers who depend on this crop is to be improved."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6d7bb42dd5244d026acf9ccda7506c83","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/38e3d6a1-c5a0-4207-857a-25685a134594/retrieve","id":"1958882750"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9b54e03e-326e-46e3-b1a7-de0d9fefa3df","content":"Y% S ,xldfõ l¿ Th føda ‚fha f;;a ìï mßir moa O;s wdlD;s ks ¾udKh iy ;la fia re ls Íu 2023 fkdjeïn¾ udifha wdrïN lr udi 18 la mq rd Èfjk fuu jHdmD;s h\" tla i;a rdcOdks h úis ka uQ ,Huh Yla ;s h imhk wm% s ldfõ iy wdis hdfõ mdßißl ydhkh wdmiq yerùfï jevigykg (REDAA) odhl ùuls ' ;jÿrg;a fuuÕs ka fjkia jk foa Y.= Ks l iy iudc wd¾Ól ;;a ;a jhka hgf;a kd.ßl m% foa Yj, .xj;= r wju ls Ífï l% s hdud¾.j, iM,;djh ;la fia re ls Íu i|yd cmdkfha cd;Hka ;r iyfhda .S ;d ks fhda ð; wdh;kh jk T.dgd m¾fha IK wdh;kh (JICA-ORI) úis ka is ÿlrf.k hkq ,nk ld¾hhka g o odhl;a jh imhhs ' fma r,ka o jej\" l¿ Th føda Ks l,dmfha j;a ;, m% dfoa YS h f,a lï n,m% foa Yhg wh;a f;;a ìï mdol ux;S rejla \" YS % ,xldj ^PdhdrEmh( p;= rx.s úl% ur;a k/IWMI&' jHdmD;s idrdxYh miq ìu jHdmD;s N+ ñh nia kdys r m<df;a .ïmy Èia ;% s la lh ;= < (7.0215° N, 79.9625° E) ^rEm igyk 1& ms ys gd we;s w;r th wdika k jYfhka j¾. ls f,da ógr 70l m% foa Yhla wdjrKh lrhs ' fuu c, fmdA Il m% foa Y ^úYd, le<Ks .x føda Ks h ;= < ms ys á l¿ Th iy uq ÿka we, føda Ks & j;a ;,\" uyr\" le<Ks h\" ìh.u iy cd-we, hk m% dfoa YS h f,a lï n, m% foa Y 5lg wh;a .% du ks <OdÍ fldÜGdi 140la mq rd me;s Í we;' rEm igyk 1( ,xldfõ .ïmy Èia ;% s la lh ;= < l¿ Th iy uq ÿka we< føda Ks fha ms ys àu' c,fmdA Il m% foa Yj, j¾. ls f,da ógrhlg mq oa .,hka 6000 bla ujQ by< ck >k;a jhla we;s w;r\" th rfÜ idudkH ck >k;a jhg jvd úis .= Khls ka muK by<h' iS >% kd.ÍlrKfhka we;s jk bvï mßyrK fjkia ùï fya ;= fjka fuu c, fmdA Il m% foa Y folu .xj;= rg f.dÿre ùfï wjodkula mj;S ' c, fmdA Il m% foa Yfha b;s ßj we;s f;;a ìï iy jDla I,;d .xj;= frka wdrCIdùu i|yd w;HdjYH jk w;r tuÕs ka mßir moa O;s fia jd rdYs hla imhhs ^rEm igyk 2&' YS % ,xldfõ kd.ßl f;;a ìï\" .xj;= r wju ls Íu\" ;dm is is ,kh\" ldnka wjfYda IKh\" úfkda odia jdoh\" wOHdmkh\" c,fha .= Kd;a ulNdjh jeä Èhq Kq ls Íu\" lDIs l¾uh\" ëjr l¾udka ;h iy m% dfoa YS h m% cdjka f.a hymeje;a ug odhl ùu wd § m% ;s ,dN /ila imhhs ' jHdmD;s l% s hdldrlï l¿ Th iy uq ÿka we< føda Ks fha f;;a ìï uÕs ka imhkq ,nk mßir moa O;s fia jd ls ys mhl jákdlu ;la fia re ls Íu jHdmD;s fha m% Odk wruq Khs ' fï i|yd jHdmD;s h uÕs ka my; i|yka l% s hdldrlï is ÿ ls Íug wfma CId lrkq we;'• újD; m% fõY fuj,ï Ndú;fhka f;;a ìï mßir moa O;s fia jd we.hS u iy m% udKkh ls Íu' (https://www.policysupport.org).• foa YS h úfYa I{;d iy oekq u uÕs ka ,nd.;a m% ;s M, Ndú;fhka fuu mßir moa O;s j, fia jdjka ys wd¾Ól jákdlu ;la fia re ls Íu'• wkd.; bvï ixj¾Okh iy m% ;s ixia lrK$ixrla IK fhda ckd l% u iuÕ ta ldnoa Oj\" foa Y.= Ks l úm¾hdij,g wod< wjia :d ls ys mhla hgf;a n,dfmdfrd;a ;= úh yels f;;a ìï mßir moa O;s fia jdj, úp,kh úu¾Ykh ls Íu' "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/6441172659.json b/main/part_2/6441172659.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"620f96c01ae7e7006fe6519aeec02321","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H023665_TOCOA.pdf","id":"642738071"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b86caa3c-e4e9-4691-8f0e-14792e4df9d9","content":"., IClick here to download the full document"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/6451237359.json b/main/part_2/6451237359.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..da756ac209dc6afe70880b2cebc5404f1c1ea5be
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"42087f1a-2844-43e2-b171-51ad47c30b71","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/6476759405.json b/main/part_2/6476759405.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e33d7438f258b5b8820737d886fd8003ba1ddfbb
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"64f311c12e1dd44cefd9d45aad426144","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3cc22675-ebf3-446b-a833-1e88db35d916/retrieve","id":"1509489285"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0c916e7f-60c7-4629-954b-b3bd0ce481db","content":"Over the past decades, Vietnam has significantly progressed and has transformed from being a food-insecure nation to one of the world's leading exporters in food commodities, and from one of the world's poorest countries to a low-middle-income country. The agriculture sector is dominated by rice and plays a vital role in food security, employment, and foreign exchange.Vietnam submitted its updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) in 2022 based on the NDC 2020. There is a significant increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction, towards the long-term goals identified in Vietnam's National Climate Change Strategy to 2025, and efforts are being made to fulfil the commitments made at COP26.The Agriculture Sector is the second-largest contributor of GHG emissions in Vietnam, accounting for 89.75 MtCO2eq, which was about 31.6 percent of total emissions in 2014. Rice cultivation is the biggest source of emissions in the agriculture sector, accounting for 49.35% of emissions from agriculture. The total GHG removal from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) in 2014 was -37.54 MtCO2eq, of which the largest part was from the forest land sub-sector (35.61 MtCO2eq), followed by removal from croplands (7.31 MtCO2eq) (MONRE 2019).The mitigation ambitions and targets for GHG emission reduction in Vietnam's NDC 2022 have significantly increased from those in NDC 2020. In addition, Vietnam's National Climate Change Strategy (Government of Vietnam 2022b), has set the target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and the total emissions to not exceed 56 Mt. CO2eq (Government of Vietnam 2022a).The overall goal of the NDC is to reduce GHG emissions unconditionally by 15.8% compared to the Business-as-Usual (BAU) or reference scenario and by as much as 43.5% conditional on international support (Government of Vietnam 2022b). The conditional target is a cumulative one. GHG emission reduction from international support only is 28% compared to the 2030 BAU scenario.Vietnam's NDC includes agriculture and LULUCF in general. The country intends to reduce emissions from agriculture through several measures, such as applying various technologies in rice farming, integrated crop management, organic agriculture, use of waste for fertilizer, and protection. LULUCF is the net carbon sink for Vietnam, and it is planned to increase the sink through measures such as the protection and restoration of forests and the scaling of agroforestry models, among others. Further, Vietnam intends to reduce methane emissions by 30% from 2020 levels.The The BAU scenario was developed based on the assumption of economic growth on the \"medium economic development scenario\", energy demand, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) structure and growth by sectors, population growth, forest, and forest land planning, and quantity of livestock and arable land, in the absence of climate response policies. The BAU was developed for the period from 2014 to 2030 for five sectors -energy, agriculture, LULUCF, waste, and industrial processes (IP).Adequacy of the targets from the food system perspective: Vietnam intends to reduce GHG emissions by 43.5% by 2030 with cumulative conditional and unconditional support. Although the country submitted an updated NDC in 2022 with stronger targets than in the previous NDC, according to the Climate Action Tracker (CAT), the overall CAT rating remains \"critically Insufficient\", stating that the new targets will not drive further emission reductions (Climate Action Tracker 2022).Both agriculture and LULUCF sectors in Vietnam have only presented aggregate data and hence do not provide further information regarding the emissions scenario and reduction potential. In addition, the action-based contributions in both these sectors are not quantified. The qualitative assessment of the food system inclusion in Vietnam's updated NDC indicates that the NDC rates low to high across different categories. This implies that the NDC only provides generic information on actions, policies, and technology development to meet the targets of emission reduction, which makes tracking, implementation, monitoring, reporting, and verification of actions more challenging.As mentioned earlier, Vietnam's updated NDC does not comprehensively cover the different aspects of food systems. Vietnam largely focuses on the production side, and hence other aspects of food systems including processing, transportation, marketing and consumption, and food waste management are largely missing in Vietnam.Feasibility of the targets relating to the food system: The activity targets for the agriculture sector are not quantified. Moreover, the activity-wise potential for emission reduction is also not included. This makes it challenging to implement, track and monitor the activities towards reaching the targets of emission reduction for agriculture and the LULUCF sector and for other sectors as well. In addition, of the total emissions target set for agriculture, only a reduction amount of 12.4 MtCO2eq, is from unconditional support. This is only about a quarter of the total emission reduction target. The rest of the emission target is conditional on international support of US$ 13,979.4 million. This makes it challenging to meet the agriculture sector targets if the estimated international support remains unmet.Data gaps in the NDC: Vietnam's NDC does not include all aspects of food systems in an integrated manner. The BAU pathway in the updated NDC remains unchanged from the previous NDC (2020 • Include quantifiable actions and targets for food systems: Vietnam has included the application of farming technologies such as the alternate wetting and drying (AWD) method in its NDC, but lacks clear details about where and how these will be applied. Without identifying suitable regions, targeting financial investments, securing international funding, and reliable Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems, the national targets for the rice sector are unlikely to be achieved. Farmer adoption at scale and the ability to track field-level practices in rice production are still limited (Nelson et al. 2022). These could be further strengthened by having a detailed implementation strategy including target areas, cost-benefit analysis, and modeling reduction scenarios, for example for GHG emission reduction for rice production (Nelson et al. 2022).• Interventions on emission reduction from aquaculture: The aquatic food system helps contribute to GHG reduction through the process of carbon sequestration. Aquatic species, such as seaweeds, clams, and oysters, can absorb and store large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the process of growth (FAO, 2018). The NDC can be further enhanced by adopting the application of science and technology in the various stages of aquaculture including production, processing, and food waste management to reduce GHG emissions (Tu et al. 2022). Technologies include the application of solar power systems; LED light systems in fishing and aquaculture; refrigeration and freezing systems using Freon gas and NH4 in seafood processing; and using automatic feeding systems in aquaculture to reduce feed loss and waste.  (SNV 2015). Globally, integrated mangrove-shrimp cultivation has emerged as a potential solution to environmental problems. On average, mangroves store 3-4 times more carbon than tropical upland forests (Donato et al. 2011). If integrated shrimp culture rehabilitated 10% (0.15 million ha) of the deforested mangrove area globally, it could sequester 0.17-0.21 million tons of blue carbon annually, as mangroves sequester blue carbon at a rate of 1.15-1.39 tons per hectare per year (Bouillon et al. 2008).Chapter 1: Aspects of Food Included in their NDC TargetVietnam is a Southeast Asian country with an extensive coastline and tropical monsoon climate.As the territory of Vietnam stretches along many latitudes and terrains, the differences in climate between regions are significant and distinct (MONRE 2019).Vietnam's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased at an average annual rate of 6.3% from 2010−2019, while the agriculture and natural resources (ANR) sector sustained a modest average growth rate of 2.9% over the same period). The country has significantly progressed over the past decades and has transformed from a food-insecure nation to one of the world's leading exporters of food commodities and from one of the world's poorest countries to a low-middle-income country. The agriculture sector is dominated by rice and plays a vital role in food security, employment, and foreign exchange. Rice production employs two-thirds of the rural labor force and has been consistently positioned as one of the world's largest rice exporters (ADB 2022).Vietnam submitted its updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) in 2022 based on NDC 2020 and has significantly increased its GHG emission reduction targets towards the long-term goals identified in Vietnam's National Climate Change Strategy to 2025 and its efforts to fulfill the commitments made at COP26.With a coastline of 3,260 km and islands, Vietnam is regarded as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and is at high risk of sea level rise. In Vietnam, climate extremes have been recorded with higher intensity and frequency. Between 1958 and 2018, the annual average temperature of the whole country increased by about 0.89 o C, an equivalent of 0.15 o C/decade; the annual average precipitation of the whole country increased by 2.1%, with the greatest increase in the South-Central Coast area and decrease in the northern and southern parts of the Central Highlands. The number of strong typhoons grew; the number of hot days and droughts increased; the number of cold days decreased; extreme rainfall increased; and average sea levels at monitoring stations increased by 2.74 mm/year, and by 3.0 mm/year from 1993-2018.Agriculture, biodiversity, water resources, public health, residential areas, and physical infrastructure are highly vulnerable due to their high exposure and sensitivity to natural disasters and extreme weather events. Due to the impact of climate change and sea level rise, people's lives are seriously affected by flooding leading to loss of agricultural land and water for agricultural irrigation, and the contamination of water for domestic and industrial purposes with saltwater.• Under the medium scenario (RCP4.5), the annual average temperature of the whole country would increase by 1.2-1.7 o C by mid-century and by 1.6-2.4 o C by the end of the century. • Under the high scenario (RCP8.5), the annual average temperature would increase by 1.7-2.3 o C by mid-century and 3.2-4.2 o C by the end of the century. • The temperature in the north would increase more than in the south, and extreme temperatures are likely to increase.• Under the medium scenario, annual rainfall would generally increase by 10-5% by midcentury and 10-20% by the end of the century. • Under the high scenario, annual rainfall would increase by 10-15% by mid-century and 10-25% by the end of the century; some regions in the northeast might witness an increase of over 40%. • The average one-day maximum rainfall would rise across the country (by10-70%) compared to the base period (1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005).The number of strong to very strong typhoons would increase. The summer monsoon would start earlier and end later. The number of severely cold days in northern provinces would decrease.The number of hot days would increase and droughts would be harsher.Under the high scenario, by the end of the century, the average sea level along the entire coastline could increase by 73 cm. If the sea level rises by 100cm, risks of permanent flooding (% of areas) are as follows: 47.3% of the Mekong River Delta, 13.2% of the Red River Delta; 1.9% of Quang Ninh province; 1.5% of central coastal provinces; 17.2% of Ho Chi Minh City; 4.8% of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.In 2014, the total area of agricultural production in the country was about 10.23 million ha, of which the total area of paddy cultivation was about 7.8 million ha. The total cereal production in 2014, including maize production, reached nearly 50.2 million tons (MONRE 2019).The value of agriculture, forestry, and fishery exports has increased in recent years from US$ 22.8 billion in 2012 to US$ 33.8 billion in 2019. Rice dominates Vietnam's agricultural exports with over 6,300 million tons being exported in 2019. Additionally, Vietnam exports coffee, pepper, cashew nuts, and green tea. Marine-captured species together with fish and shrimp produced in manufactured ponds are an important domestic food source as well as a generator of foreign exchange on export markets (ADB 2022). The sector is seen as one of the engines of growth for the overall economy. The biggest contributors to the increase in the value of agriculture, forestry, and fishery exports are fresh and processed vegetables and fruits with their value increasing fourfold.Vietnam's rice and corn yields could decline by 8.8% and 18.7% in 2030, and by 15.     Vietnam presents its target as a relative target, setting the target for reducing emissions compared to the Business-as-Usual (BAU) level. The overall goal is to unconditionally reduce GHG emissions by 15.8% compared to the BAU or reference scenario and by as much as 43.5% conditional on international support (Government of Vietnam 2022b). The conditional target is a cumulative one. GHG emissions reduction from international support only is 28% of the 2030 BAU scenario. Table 1 below presents the GHG emissions for Vietnam under the BAU Scenario.  The NDC 2022 has identified national measures to reduce GHG emissions for the period 2021-2030 in the sectors of energy, agriculture, LULUCF, waste, and industrial processes (IP). As indicated in Vietnam's NDC 2022, the implementation of the NDC 2022 is in line with the net-zero target indicated in the National Climate Change Strategy to 2050 and the measures to implement the Action Plan on Methane Reduction by 2030, both approved in 2022.   By 2030, agricultural emissions will be reduced by 43%, and total emissions will not exceed 61 MtCO2e. Forestry and land use emissions will be reduced by 70% and increase their carbon capture by 20%, leading to the forestry sector having a total carbon capture of 95 MtCO2e. The measures to reduce emissions applied in the LULUCF sector manifest Vietnam's determination to implement the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use.  effective agriculture based on the natural advantages of each area and region • Promoting cooperation and regional linkages; developing large-scale, concentrated agricultural production in the direction of modernity; applying high technology, and scientific advances.Vietnam has laid out implementation arrangements for its updated 2022 NDC, including the development of policy and institution; the raising of communication and awareness; the development of human resources; the development of science and technology; the mobilization of financial resources; and the promotion of international cooperation.The implementation arrangements for the development and completion of institution and policy on mitigation and adaptation include the following:General Policy Priorities:• Develop and complete institutional and legislative regulations on climate change. Review, modify and supplement specialized laws, strategies, plans, and development plans at all levels in the period from 2021 to 2030, with a vision to 2050, in accordance with the targets of climate-change adaptation and GHG-emission reductions and the requirements for climate-change integration. • Review and finalize mechanisms, policies, and legal regulations; accelerate the simplification of administrative procedures; improve the business environment; and create favorable conditions for flows of funding and green finance investment in implementing projects to respond to climate change.• Develop mechanisms and policies consistent with the goal of climate-change integration and promotion of adaptation activities that deliver co-benefits of sustainable socioeconomic development; reduction of risks from natural disasters; reduction of GHG emissions, increase of integration of gender equality, promotion of women and youth's participation in activities for climate-change adaptation and GHG-emission reduction.• Develop an action plan to implement the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forest and Land Use. • Develop and promulgate policies that encourage investment in emission reduction in all sectors; promote sustainable production and consumption and prevent deforestation and forest degradation; encourage sustainable agriculture, ensuring food security and avoiding damaging the environment. • Develop mechanisms and policies to institutionalize low-carbon production and circular economic models; adopt carbon pricing tools, including an emission trading scheme and carbon credit mechanisms. • Review, amend, and supplement several tax policies, such as a natural resources tax, environmental protection tax, etc. to encourage the reuse, recycling, and treatment of waste and energy recovery from waste, reducing GHG emissions and increasing the economical and efficient exploitation and use of natural resources. • Complete regulations, procedures, and technical guidance for a GHG inventory and a measurement, reporting, and verification system (MRV) for GHG emission reduction activities.• Develop regulations, procedures, and technical guidelines on implementing carbon credit mechanisms; comply with international regulations on inventory and reporting; ensure environmental integrity; and promote sustainable development.• Develop mechanisms to promote the development of the climate-risks insurance market, initially implementing climate-risk insurance activities in some high-risk sectors such as crop production and aquaculture. • Develop and adopt tax and fee incentives and credit incentives to encourage the private sector to invest in climate-change adaptation and economic restructuring. The NDC 2022 states that Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines along with the national statistical yearbook, national socio-economic development plan, and sector activity data related to programs, plannings, and schemes on GHG emission reduction have been used to estimate GHG emissions data, as per Vietnam's NDC 2022. The revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories and the 2000 IPCC Good Practice Guidance have been used to calculate and forecast GHG emissions to 2030. The IPCC Good Practice Guidance for the LULUCF sector in 2003 has been used to calculate and forecast GHG emissions/removals to 2030 in the LULUCF sector.The BAU scenario was developed based on the assumption of economic growth on the \"medium economic development scenario\"; energy demand; GDP structure and growth by sectors; population growth; forest and forest land planning; and the quantity of livestock and arable land; in the absence of climate response policies. The BAU was developed for the period from 2014 to 2030 for five sectors including energy, agriculture, LULUCF, waste, and industrial processes.The year 2014 is considered the base/reference year for the GHG inventory for Vietnam's Third National Communication (TNC) to UNFCCC and the base year for NDC 2022. As per the TNC, the GHG emissions of the country in 2014 were 284 Mt. CO2eq (MONRE, 2019). The TNC indicates that the baseline data for the agriculture sector in 2014 used the Tier 1 method, apart from the sub-sectors on manure management and rice cultivation, which used Tier 2 as per the 1996 IPCC guidelines. For the LULUCF sector as well, the Tier 1 method was used, except for the sub-sectors on forest land and cropland that used Tier 2 according to 1996 IPCC Guidelines.  -IPCC default values.-Results from studies.Vietnam's NDC does not cover the different aspects of food systems comprehensively; Vietnam largely focuses on the production side, with generic actions not indicating policies and institutions required for actions, thus, giving a \"high\" rating for this category. Vietnam has set different measures in place for enhancing agricultural production through measures like crop management and irrigation facilities. The measures focus on enhancing rice production, which is the primary production and economic contributor for Vietnam. Measures for livestock are not well included.The NDC includes measures such as the conversion of inefficient rice land to dry cropland or shrimp-rice land, restoration of forests, and scaling up of agroforestry models to improve carbon stocks and conserve soil in the LULUCF sector.The review indicates that other aspects of food systems including processing, transportation, marketing and consumption, and food waste management are largely missing in Vietnam's updated NDC. No actions or policy interventions have been mentioned for processing and transportation, thus ranking \"low\" for this category. For marketing and consumption, the NDC has set the action of climate-risk insurance for high-risk sectors including crop production and aquaculture. However, despite the well-documented evidence on the role of diets and nutrition (FELD 2022), Vietnam's NDC does not incorporate food security and healthy diets.The NDC has not considered the whole-of-food system approach and is largely focused on the food production stage, and not the later stages. In addition, the NDC does not include specific and measurable activities for achieving GHG targets. This could pose challenges for monitoring and evaluation and make accounting for the progress of the GHG targets unclear. The NDC lists essential actions but does not include specific commitments, strategies, or funding, related to the critical transition.• There is no specific information on food processing and transportation. Vietnam's NDC provides the unconditional contribution and international support required to meet emission-reduction targets in all sectors including agriculture and the LULUCF. Further, the NDC has made efforts to elaborate on potential sources of international funding and potential areas where international funding could be mobilized. Although the NDC has included policies required to support the transitions envisioned, the policy targets relevant to the agriculture and LULUCF sector are not clearly and specifically defined.  Husbandry: Impacts of climate change on husbandry include changes in the production and quality of animal feed and an increase in disease outbreaks. Pig farming is expected to decrease by about 8.2% in terms of headcount.Forestry: Climate change and extreme weather events will increase the risk of forest fires, especially in the Northwest, North Central, and Central Highlands; affect the distribution of biodiversity in sensitive forests such as dipterocarp forests, mangroves, evergreen broadleaf forests; increase the risk of developing forest pests and diseases; affect the productivity and suitability of planted forests; change the distribution and risk of biodiversity loss, especially for species with a narrow ecological distribution.Aquaculture: Saline intrusion will significantly reduce areas of freshwater aquaculture, affecting the ecological environment and changing biodiversity.Overall Efforts rating: Medium (3) Vietnam's NDC briefly mentions the adaptation ambitions and has indicated that the country's NAP further elaborates the adaptation efforts for the medium and long term.One of the objectives of the NAP is to enhance the resilience and adaptive capacity of natural, social, and economic systems for sustainable livelihoods. Adaptation measures for agriculture and the LULUCF sector include preventing land degradation; promoting agricultural restructuring; intensive farming; intercropping; developing new varieties of plants and animals; climate-smart agriculture; organic, ecological, and environmentally friendly agriculture, among others. In addition, promoting cooperation and regional linkages for large-scale agriculture and the application of high technology is also incorporated as an adaptation target.Overall Gap rating: Low (2)The actionable gap is \"low\" for Vietnam, which indicates that Vietnam has adequate adaptation actions to enhance the resilience and adaptive capacity of natural, social, and economic systems for sustainable livelihoods. Like the mitigation actions, the adaptation actions are non-quantifiable, which would make it challenging to account for targets, implement actions, and ensure monitoring and evaluation.The feasibility of the targets set by Vietnam's NDC for the food system is assessed in terms of activities and emission reduction targets, and financial requirements.Vietnam's NDC has set activities including the application of integrated crop management solutions, application of farming technologies such as alternative wet and dry irrigation, SRI, conversion of inefficient rice land to dry cropland or shrimprice land, and composting of agricultural waste, among others. Similarly, for the LULUCF sector, activities such as protection and restoration of forest areas and scale up of agroforestry models have been proposed (See Table 3 for detailed list of activities).However, these activity targets are not quantified. Moreover, the activity-wise emission reduction potential is also not included. This makes it challenging to implement, track, and monitor the activities towards reaching the target of emission reduction by the agriculture and LULUCF sectors and by other sectors as well.Financial Requirements: Of the total emissions target set for agriculture, only a reduction amount of 12.4 MtCO2eq, is from unconditional support. This is only about a quarter of the total emission-reduction target. The rest of the emission target is conditional support of US$ 13,979.4 million. This makes it challenging to meet the targets of the agriculture sector if the estimated international support remains unmet.However, in the case of the LULUCF emissions target, an emissions removal of 32.5 MtCO2eq is from unconditional support, which is 69.74% of the total emission removal target set for this sector. The targets set for the LULUCF sector, therefore, seem somewhat viable given that the larger share of the reduction is from domestic resources.Table 9 below indicates the GHG emission-reduction targets for the agriculture and the LULUCF sectors with unconditional and international support. As discussed in earlier sections, Vietnam's NDC has been developed with a scientific basis and accounting methodologies that have considered some elements of food systems. The country's updated NDC, however, does not include all aspects of food systems in an integrated manner.The BAU pathway in the updated NDC remains unchanged from the previous 2020 NDC. The BAU scenario was developed based on \"medium economic development\" without clearly mentioning if the dip in economic activities during the pandemic was considered (Climate Action Tracker 2022). In addition, the outcomes of the BAU and future projections of mitigation scenarios in Vietnam's NDC are only detailed for 2020 and 2030 with no information for the years between.Further, GHG accounting is sector-based rather than system-based. While the country's National Inventory Reports have analyzed GHG emissions at the sub-sectoral level, the NDC lacks data on sub-sectoral emission-reduction potential. For example, in the case of the agriculture sector, Vietnam's 2014 GHG inventory has provided sub-sectoral emission scenarios from enteric fermentation, rice cultivation, agricultural soils, burning of savannas, and agricultural residues. However, NDC 2022 does not include a sub-sectoral emission reduction scenario and has only provided an aggregate reduction potential from agriculture and other sectors. In addition, the NDC does not have quantified targeted interventions and does not account for potential emissionreduction scenarios from the interventions. For example, Vietnam's updated NDC has included interventions such as mid-crop water withdrawal in rice cultivation and the application of farming technologies such as alternating wet and dry irrigation; however, it does not include quantified targets and the emission-reduction potential from such interventions. As the agriculture sector contributes nearly half of Vietnam's emissions, Vietnam must strengthen data on emissions reduction potential and projection emission reduction scenarios in sub-sectors such as rice production and enteric fermentation, among others.In terms of specific data on the sub-sectors of the food system, the NDC is weak. Vietnam has excluded food processing, transport, marketing, consumption, and food loss and waste on its mitigation garget. Vietnam's NDC has not fully accounted for emissions associated with food imports, particularly those related to deforestation and the conversion of ecosystems. Although the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement applies the \"territorial principle\" to GHG emissions -that is, only those emissions and removals that take place within national jurisdictions are to be managed and reported internationally by countries -there is scope in NDCs to put forward measures that consider the full extent of the impacts caused by food systems.One of the most critical aspects needed to improve the quality of information on emissions and removals in both agriculture and land use sectors is the lack of information. For example, in the case of Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU), information on carbon stocks and flows in different ecosystems and, consequently, emission factors, help evaluate the impact of the food system transformation on food system emissions and its impact on land use categories.Table 10 below analyses the data and information reflected in Vietnam's NDC. Vietnam followed the Decision 4/CMA.1 guidance on transparency to some extent. Most of the information is included in the NDC; however, it does not fully comply with the structure. The NDC presents the information in tabular format; however, the sub-sectors emission-reduction targets are not included for all sectors, including agriculture and the LULUCF.Vietnam's NDC has not adequately outlined the accounting modalities.The NDC uses the GWP values from the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report (AR4). Vietnam's NDC has used the 2000 IPCC Good Practice Guidance to calculate and forecast GHG emissions to 2030. Further, it states that the national statistical yearbook, national socio-economic development plan, sector activity data related to program planning, and schemes on GHG emission reduction have been used to estimate GHG emission targets.The IPCC Good Practice Guidance for the LULUCF sector in 2003 has been used to calculate and forecast GHG emissions/removals to 2030 in the LULUCF sector.The NDC has not clearly described how emissions were calculated and forecasted for other sectors. Vietnam has the potential to increase its ambitions to reduce GHG emissions with additional mitigation options. 2. Include quantifiable actions and targets for food systems: Vietnam has included the application of farming technologies such as the alternate wetting and drying (AWD) method in its NDC but lacks clear details of where and how this will be applied. Without identifying suitable regions, targeting financial investments, securing international funding, and reliable MRV systems, the national targets for the rice sector are unlikely to be achieved. Farmer adoption at scale and the ability to track field-level practices in rice production are still limited (Nelson et al. 2022). These could be strengthened further by having a detailed implementation strategy including target areas, cost-benefit analysis, and by modeling reduction scenarios, for example, for GHG emissions-reduction for rice production (Nelson et al. 2022).Vietnam could benefit by using various technologies such as alternatee wetting and drying (AWD), laser land leveling, solar-bubble dryers, machine transplanting, and water sensors in the agriculture sector to reduce emissions. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) indicates that the combined use of Laser Land Levelling (LLL), and machine transplanting with methods like AWD would further increase yields, resulting in lower emissions.• The AWD process has been proven to reduce GHG emissions in rice production by 30 to 70 percent without affecting yields (Carrijo et al. 2017). Depending on baseline conditions, this could range from 1 to 5 tCO 2eq per ha per season compared to the continuous flooding practice (Vo et al 2020). Co-benefits of AWD include lower use of water, fertilizer, and seed, and higher resistance to some pests, diseases, and lodging damage. national approach to promoting best management practices in lowland rice cultivation (Tho, et al. 2021). The 1M5R focuses on the use of good-quality seed (the 1 must-do) and the reduction of seed rates, pesticide use, fertilizer inputs, water use, and postharvest losses.5. Interventions on emissions reduction from aquaculture: Aquatic food systems help contribute to GHG reduction through a process of carbon sequestration. Aquatic species, such as seaweeds, clams, and oysters, can absorb and store large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the process of growth (FAO, 2018). Aquaculture is increasingly becoming an important food production sector for Vietnam, especially in rural and coastal areas, with increasing global demand. However, the application of more-intensive farming including feed, seed, and materials/energy for processing is contributing to GHG emissions. It is recommended to use the application of science and technology in the various stages of aquaculture, including production, processing, and food waste management, to reduce GHG emissions (Tu et al. 2022). Technologies include the application of solar power systems, LED light systems in fishing and aquaculture, refrigeration and freezing systems using Freon gas and NH4 in seafood processing, and using automatic feeding systems in aquaculture to reduce feed loss and waste.The livestock sector offers high emissions abatement potential with low or negative marginal cost when income elasticity is considered. The livestock sub-sector will be a key source of future emissions, with ruminants being the main emission source (Escobar Carbonari et al. 2019). It is estimated that the sub-sector will represent 27% of the total emissions from agriculture by 2030 (Springmann et al. 2018). The updated NDC presents limited mitigation options and targets for this sub-sector. Different interventions could help reduce the future growth of emissions from the livestock sector. Feeding dairy cows with a mixed ration has a mitigation potential of 2.63 MtCO2eq at a marginal cost of -US$ 130.73/tCO2eq; supplementing the diet of beef cattle with green fodder and concentrate has a mitigation potential of 1.67 MtCO2eq at a marginal cost of -US$ 101.9/tCO2eq, and composting pig manure has a mitigation potential of 7.3 MtCO2eq at a marginal cost of US$ 1.97/tCO2eq in the context of Vietnam (Escobar Carbonari et al. 2019).Vietnam's NDC could be further enhanced by including options like integrating mangrove ecosystems with sustainable shrimp farming and integrated rice-shrimp farming to reduce GHG emissions. Mangrove forests are the natural habitat and breeding ground of shrimp. On average, mangroves store 3-4 times more carbon than tropical upland forests (Donato et al. 2011). If integrated shrimp culture rehabilitates 10% (0.15 million ha) of the deforested mangrove area globally, it could sequester 0.17-0.21 million tons of blue carbon annually, as mangroves sequester blue carbon at a rate of 1.15-1.39 tons per hectare per year (Bouillon et al. 2008).Interventions such as protecting and supporting the recovery of agrobiodiversity, pollinators, and organisms critical for soil fertility, and sustainable land-use practices can contribute to reducing emissions. Interventions in agroforestry such as intercropping coffee with avocado and durian have mitigation potentials of 0.22 MtCO2eq and 0.13 MtCO2eq, respectively (Escobar Carbonari et al. 2019). In addition, agroforestry in coffee cultivation increases the amount of carbon sequestration per area compared to monoculture coffee. 9. Integrate actions on processing food, food loss, and waste: Interventions like modern milling systems, reducing the burning of rice straw, adequate drying facilities at the farm level, and applying cogeneration methods in sugar mills and food/foodstuffs processing plants could help to reduce food loss and waste. Modern milling systems can achieve 70 percent milling recovery, which could result in significant reductions in losses and waste in the rice system and generate GHG savings equal to about 3.15 MtCO2e of GHG emissions annually, assuming an intensity of 0.9 kg GHG emissions per kg of paddy. Investing in adequate drying facilities at the farm level could reduce the moisture content from about 27 percent to 14 percent and dried paddy (a lower weight) could be transported to the mill (World Bank 2022b).10. Integrate actions on handling and storing food: Different interventions on food handling and storing could contribute to reducing emissions. The interventions include the use of natural refrigerants; promoting infrastructure and technology investment to prevent post-harvest losses (e.g. use of simple hermetic storage); aiding agricultural research in the development of technologies to reduce post-harvest food waste; constructing and supplying low-cost storage silos for small-scale farmers to store their harvest; increasing infrastructure investment; promoting urban-rural connections and connecting farmers to markets; repurposing unused food as animal feed; and reusing organic or agricultural waste to generate energy, such as biogas.The food consumption pattern in Vietnam has largely changed over the years: meat's contribution increased from 26% of total diet GHG emissions in 1971 to 44% in 2011.Vietnam (Heller et al. 2019). The inclusion of such consumption-oriented perspectives is vital to addressing the challenges of emissions reduction. Interventions such as stricter guidance for government procurement; mandating food labels and sustainable labeling frameworks to increase consumer awareness and transparency; advancing research into alternative proteins (for example, algae); taxing animal proteins to discourage consumption; food education, including making school gardens; and promoting public procurement of food for schools to promote more sustainable and healthy diets, with a focus on plant-rich diets, could be some of the potential interventions for Vietnam.12. Include interventions that help to reduce food waste by consumers and retailers: Food loss and waste emit 4.4 Gt CO2eq of greenhouse gases (GHGs), accounting for 8% of total anthropogenic GHG emissions annually. Developing separate food waste collection systems, for example by using a pay-as-you-throw system; incentivizing food waste recycling; implementing educational programs to avoid and reduce food waste; encouraging the reuse of food waste for animal feed and organic fertilizer; promoting the conversion of food waste into biogas through composting and energy recovery; and developing waste recycling programs and improved technologies, could all help in reducing emissions.13. Include specific options for MRV systems: Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) is an important aspect of Vietnam's NDC implementation process; however, a national standardized and transparent protocol for reporting emission reductions across sectors remains weak (Nelson et al. 2022). In line with the national target, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is supporting the establishment of an MRV system for mitigation actions in the rice sector through the development of a provincial rice production statistical reporting system called RiceMo. This MRV system is specific to the Vietnamese rice context, and similar mechanisms are of relevance to other sectors and sub-sectors as well."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"66b711fc489a3787d804d8912a6595b3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/0a366441-0e0f-4373-96ba-d8cb804b7b8f/content","id":"-1394013482"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e37ed16b-3414-4531-b8fe-8a016c5fa72c","content":"CIMMYT®) (www.cimmyt.org) es un organismo internacional, sin fines de lucro, que se dedica a la investigación científica y la capacitación relacionadas con el maíz y el trigo en los países en desarrollo. Basados en la solidez de nuestra ciencia y en nuestras asociaciones colaborativas, generamos, compartimos y aplicamos conocimientos y tecnologías con el objeto de incrementar la seguridad alimentaria, mejorar la productividad y la rentabilidad de los sistemas de producción agrícola, y conservar los recursos naturales. El CIMMYT recibe fondos para su agenda de investigación de varias fuentes, entre ellas, del Grupo Consultivo para la Investigación Agrícola Internacional (CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org), gobiernos nacionales, fundaciones, bancos de desarrollo e instituciones públicas y privadas.© Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT) 2005. Derechos reservados. Las designaciones empleadas en la presentación de los materiales incluidos en esta publicación de ninguna manera expresan la opinión del CIMMYT o de sus patrocinadores respecto al estado legal de cualquier país, territorio, ciudad o zona, o de las autoridades de éstos, o respecto a la delimitación de sus fronteras. El CIMMYT autoriza el uso razonable de este material, siempre y cuando se cite la fuente.Un aspecto fundamental de los programas de fitomejoramiento -en este caso, de trigo y cebadaes la selección de germoplasma con resistencia a enfermedades. Para cumplir con sus objetivos, el programa de trigo del CIMMYT continúa, de forma sistemática y constante, con la tarea de producir epifitias artificiales para la selección de materiales resistentes a distintos patógenos. Con ese fin se trabaja intensamente en el laboratorio en desarrollar e incrementar las estructuras patogénicas que se aplicarán en campo. Al mismo tiempo, se continúa buscando y adaptando metodologías prácticas y eficientes para realizar esta tarea.Esta guía práctica puede servir de herramienta para la identificación de algunas enfermedades de trigo y cebada, y de sus agentes causales; asimismo, puede ser útil para aprender a manipular esos patógenos, tanto en el laboratorio como en el campo y el invernadero. Los autores no pretendieron elaborar una obra exhaustiva, sino que trataron de incluir los patógenos más importantes que afectan estos cereales en los países en vías de desarrollo.Cabe señalar que esta guía está orientada hacia investigadores que trabajan en el área de la fitopatología en apoyo a programas de mejoramiento genético de cereales menores que buscan generar germoplasma con resistencia a enfermedades.El objetivo principal de esta guía revisada es proveer información sobre la metodología para reconocer algunas de las principales enfermedades de trigo, cebada y triticale, y también describir protocolos prácticos de laboratorio específicamente para facilitar el incremento del inóculo que se usa en los programas de mejoramiento. La intención es que sea utilizada por técnicos, estudiantes, maestros y personal del mismo CIMMYT. Sin embargo, será también de gran utilidad para técnicos y extensionistas agrícolas quienes generalmente no cuentan con el apoyo de un fitopatólogo que identifique los problemas de enfermedades que enfrentan.Las colecciones de muestras de material enfermo son bastante útiles en el conocimiento y estudio de la sintomatología de enfermedades, así como en la formación de poblaciones representativas del patógeno. Estos aislamientos se usarán posteriormente para inocular poblaciones del hospedero, reproducir los síntomas y seleccionar germoplasma resistente.Al recolectar el material en el campo, deben tomarse en consideración varios aspectos importantes, como son el estado fenológico de la planta al momento de la recolección, la parte de la planta que se va a tomar, el desarrollo de la lesión y las condiciones ambientales en ese momento. Para cada muestra deben anotarse los datos de recolección, como localidad, fecha, rotación de cultivos y sistema de manejo del suelo (convencional, labranza mínima o cero labranza ), cultivo y variedad, junto con una descripción de los síntomas.Al recolectar muestras en el campo, éstas se pueden colocar en bolsas de papel, o de plástico, a menos que el ambiente esté muy caliente y húmedo, ya que esto estimula el desarrollo de hongos saprófitos. Tan pronto como se tenga oportunidad, las muestras deben ponerse a secar. En general, el uso de bolsas de plástico se recomienda sólo en caso de emergencia o si no se cuenta con otro tipo de material.Para el secado puede utilizarse (si se tiene) una prensa (véanse las instrucciones para su elaboración) en donde la hoja se acomoda de tal forma que los síntomas sean fácilmente visibles. Cuando se trata de hojas y hay diferencia entre haz y envés, se recomienda poner dos hojas, una con el haz hacia arriba y la otra con el envés. Si no se cuenta con una prensa, se puede utilizar papel periódico o secante, acomodando de igual forma las muestras y colocando un peso sobre ellas.Una vez seca la muestra, se transfiere y se adhiere a una hoja de diagnóstico en donde se anotan todos los datos correspondientes. Si se cuenta con un laboratorio, se procede a realizar observaciones al microscopio o aislamientos con el fin de identificar el agente causal de la enfermedad. Todo lo observado durante el proceso de identificación (síntomas, signos, morfología) debe añadirse a la hoja de diagnóstico (Figura 1; Zillinsky, 1983). De esta manera se forma un muestrario de las enfermedades más importantes de la región, con datos que ayudarán a realizar identificaciones posteriores y a entender la problemática fitosanitaria del área de trabajo.Construcción de una prensa. La prensa consta esencialmente de dos bases de un material fuerte y durable (por ejemplo, madera) (Figura 2 a, b). Se acomodan y se clavan tiras de madera de 1.5 pulgadas de ancho para formar un rectángulo de 30.5 cm (12\") x 46 cm (18\"), como se muestra en la Figura 2 b (las medidas pueden ajustarse a las necesidades). Entre estas dos bases se coloca papel periódico que servirá para el secado de las muestras. Para hacer presión y mantenerla durante el tiempo requerido, se necesita un par de correas de aproximadamente 2.54 cm (1\") de ancho, que se aprietan como se muestra en la Figura 2 b.Organismo causalSi las muestras se van a utilizar como base para iniciar una colección de la población del patógeno, es necesario secar cada muestra durante 48 horas, cuidando que esté bien identificada. Después se guardan las muestras en los sobres de papel correspondientes. Se aconseja introducir estos sobres en una bolsa de plástico que luego se sella para que no penetre la humedad del refrigerador. Conservar en refrigeración a 4 o C.Una de las actividades más importantes de la fitopatología es el trabajo en el laboratorio; ahí se realiza investigación básica, se aíslan e identifican patógenos y se produce inóculo para inducir epifitias en forma artificial en campo o invernadero, en apoyo a los programas de mejoramiento genético.Entre los aparatos indispensables y/o convenientes en un laboratorio figuran esterilizadores, autoclaves (eléctricos o de gas) y estufas, cámaras de aislamiento, incubadoras, microscopios, estereoscopios y un baño maría.Autoclave. Consiste primordialmente en una cámara de esterilización por medio de calor húmedo. El vapor en su interior alcanza una temperatura de 120 o C y una presión de 18 lb/pulgada 2 (1.4 kg/cm 2 ). El calor puede provenir de una fuente eléctrica o de un mechero de gas, como es el caso de la olla de presión. Esta puede funcionar como un autoclave grande y tiene la ventaja de ser de bajo costo. Ambos aparatos se usan preferentemente para esterilizar medios de cultivo, pero también se pueden utilizar para esterilizar tierra, arena, vermiculita o cualquier otro sustrato usado para el crecimiento de plantas o microorganismos.Figura 2 a. Partes de una prensa. b. Prensa construida.Estufa. Con ella se pueden obtener, por medio de calor seco, diferentes temperaturas que se utilizan para distintos propósitos -por ejemplo, para secar material vegetal o tierra a una temperatura constante o esterilizar materiales de vidrio a altas temperaturas.Cámaras de aislamiento. Entre éstas figuran las cámaras de flujo laminar con un mecanismo que permite que el aire fluya hacia afuera a través de filtros, a fin de crear condiciones de esterilidad y prevenir la contaminación. Si no se cuenta con este tipo de cámara, existen otras pequeñas (microvoids) que funcionan con un mecanismo similar, o bien, puede acondicionarse un cuarto pequeño sin corrientes de aire y, con la ayuda de un mechero, evitar la contaminación.Incubadoras. Estas pueden ser calibradas a diferentes rangos y combinaciones de luz y temperatura, a fin de lograr las condiciones óptimas para el crecimiento de los diferentes organismos con que se esté trabajando. Si no existen los medios para adquirir una incubadora, se puede construir una de madera, agregando tubos fluorescentes que generen luz con longitud de onda cercana al UV y controlando las horas luz/obscuridad con un reloj control (Figura 3 a y b). Estas incubadoras tienen el inconveniente de no tener control de temperatura. Por tanto, es aconsejable ubicarlas en lugares donde la temperatura fluctúe entre los 15 y 22 o C, rango en que se desarrolla una gran proporción de los patógenos de plantas. Refrigeradores. Estos son esenciales principalmente para el almacenamiento de muestras vegetales, cultivos, reactivos, etc.Baño maría. Este aparato consta de un recipiente en el que el agua se puede mantener a temperaturas constantes. El baño maría tiene varios usos. Por ejemplo, se pueden colocar en él (a una temperatura de 46 o C) matraces con medios de cultivos recién esterilizados antes de vaciarlos en las cajas Petri. El baño maría es indispensable en experimentos para medir el crecimiento de algunos organismos en medios líquidos en condiciones de temperaturas exactas, y estudios en virología y bacteriología, entre otros.Microscopios y estereoscopios. Son indispensables para la identificación y clasificación de patógenos, la observación de síntomas y diferentes tipos de daño, así como la evaluación de experimentos.En un laboratorio de fitopatología la asepsia es primordial, ya que en la mayoría de los casos se debe trabajar en ambientes lo más estériles posible. Por esta razón es importante contar con cuartos de aislamiento y/o cámaras de flujo laminar (o similares) en las que se pueda trabajar con el patógeno sin riesgos de contaminación. Los riesgos de contaminación pueden provenir de diversos factores, como los utensilios de trabajo y las mismas manos del laboratorista. Los utensilios de trabajo (pinzas, navajas, asas, etc.) deben ser esterilizados cada vez que se usan, pasándolos por alcohol y subsecuentemente flameándolos. En cuanto a las manos, es recomendable lavarlas y limpiarlas con alcohol cada vez que se vaya a trabajar en condiciones estériles.Algunos hongos que se encuentran como saprófitos en la mayoría de las muestras vegetales y en el ambiente del laboratorio, o donde se trabaje la muestra, tienen gran capacidad de crecimiento y reproducción, por lo que es muy importante tener cuidado al trabajar. Al laboratorio debe introducirse la menor cantidad de material vegetal posible (las muestras deben limitarse al mínimo) y, sobre todo, no manejarlo como inóculo dentro del laboratorio. En esta forma se evita la contaminación del área de trabajo del laboratorio, que es muy díficil de controlar una vez que ha ocurrido.La contaminación por ácaros también es común, sobre todo en cajas Petri de vidrio que se han deformado como consecuencia de la esterilización con calor seco. Los ácaros pueden invadir cajas o tubos mal sellados y contaminar los cultivos; esta contaminación es muy difícil de erradicar. Por lo tanto, es necesario desinfectar el material vegetal proveniente del campo, tomar precauciones con cultivos procedentes de otros laboratorios, sellar bien los tubos y cajas, fumigar las incubadoras, etc. Si se tiene contaminación con ácaros, se recomienda sacar todo el contenido de las incubadoras y estufas, elevar la temperatura por sobre los 50 o C durante un par de horas y repetir el procedimiento dos días después.Dado que las técnicas de aislamiento, identificación y multiplicación de inóculo, así como los estudios biológicos y fisiológicos de patógenos, requieren de cultivos puros, las condiciones estériles son esenciales. Para esterilizar materiales, aparatos y zonas de trabajo se debe eliminar o inactivar toda célula viviente (microorganismos). La esterilización se logra exponiendo los materiales a agentes físicos letales que destruyan irreversiblemente la estructura protoplasmática de los microorganismos y los eliminen. Se elige el método de esterilización según la eficiencia y seguridad que se requiera, tomando en cuenta la toxicidad, la disponibilidad y el costo, así como también el efecto del agente esterilizante sobre las propiedades del objeto que será esterilizado.Los métodos físicos más comunes para la esterilización son el calor y las radiaciones iónicas y, en el caso de algunos líquidos, la ultrafiltración. La esterilización por calor es utilizada cuando el material a esterilizar no es dañado por las temperaturas altas, que pueden obtenerse en condiciones secas o húmedas.Calor seco. Es utilizado para la esterilización de instrumentos de vidrio, metal y algunos plásticos. Este tipo de esterilización requiere de una mayor temperatura y un período más largo de exposición que aquélla con calor húmedo. Se necesitan, además, estufas y hornos de aire caliente que suministren calor en forma uniforme. Comúnmente el tiempo requerido para la esterilización es inversamente proporcional a la temperatura utilizada: 1 h a Calor húmedo. Este se logra por medio de presión de vapor de agua en un autoclave. Es el método de esterilización más conveniente para la mayoría de los materiales, por ser más rápido y tener mayor poder de penetración en un tiempo y temperatura menores que cuando se usa calor seco. Para la mayoría de los propósitos de esterilización, el tiempo y la temperatura son 20 min a 121 o C o 30 min a 115 o C. Es importante desalojar todo el aire contenido dentro de la cámara antes de cerrar la válvula; de lo contrario, la temperatura no subirá. El tiempo de esterilización debe comenzar a considerarse una vez que se ha alcanzado la temperatura y presión deseadas (18 lb/pulgada 2 ó 1.4 kg/cm 2 ). Se recomienda usar calor húmedo para materiales líquidos, plásticos (precaución: no todos lo soportan), tierra, arena y vermiculita.Luz ultravioleta. Se utiliza en la esterilización porque resulta letal para los microorganismos. Es recomendable para esterilizar material de plástico, pero no de vidrio, dado que los rayos son demasiado débiles para penetrarlo. Este sistema debe utilizarse en cámaras cerradas, teniendo cuidado de no entrar cuando esté prendido, ya que causa daño a los ojos.Ultrafiltración. Se utiliza especialmente cuando se desea preservar intactas las proteínas que sufren desnaturalización o descomposición de algunos azúcares por las temperaturas de esterilización. Los filtros que se usan en estos casos son de diferente consistencia, con dimensiones específicas para evitar el paso de microorganismos contaminantes. Se utiliza este método durante el proceso de identificación de bacterias.Cuando se desea eliminar microorganismos contaminantes de objetos que no se pueden someter a esterilización, lo más conveniente es la desinfección mediante sustancias como cloruro de mercurio, hipoclorito de sodio, alcohol o bromuro de etileno. Las sustancias de uso más común son el hipoclorito de sodio y el alcohol, a diferentes concentraciones, dependiendo del objeto que se desee desinfectar. En el aislamiento de organismos patógenos, estos compuestos son útiles para eliminar los contaminantes presentes en las muestras; por ejemplo, el hipoclorito se usa al 1% para material vegetal (hojas, raíces) y del 3 al 5% para semillas. El alcohol al 70% es muy utilizado, principalmente para desinfectar superficies e incluso material vegetal.Al identificar las enfermedades de plantas, es recomendable aislar los microorganismos que son posibles agentes patógenos. Para lograr este objetivo, los microorganismos (principalmente hongos y bacterias) se aíslan en medios de cultivo artificiales, con el fin de poder purificarlos y estimular su esporulación para la producción de inóculo. Éste se utiliza en la inoculación de plantas para reproducir síntomas, paso necesario en la identificación de patógenos (postulados de Koch). En el apéndice 2 (p. 68) se resume toda la información acerca de los medios de cultivo que se utilizan para el crecimiento y conservación de los distintos patógenos que atacan los cereales.Los medios de cultivo son combinaciones de substancias o soluciones que permiten el crecimiento de uno o más organismos. Pueden ser sólidos o líquidos; la única diferencia es que los sólidos contienen agar, se preparan en frascos, cajas Petri o tubos de cultivo, y se utilizan para aislar y mantener hongos y bacterias. Los medios líquidos se usan principalmente para incrementar las poblaciones de hongos y bacterias, y determinar sus propiedades fisiológicas, ya sea en condiciones estáticas o en agitación. Esta última permite una mayor aireación, que, a su vez, ayuda a lograr un crecimiento uniforme y mantener la patogenicidad. Los medios se pueden agrupar, según su composición, en:Carentes de nutrientes, o de nutrición muy pobre. Estos son utilizados para obtener cultivos monospóricos, aislar patógenos que se encuentran en el tejido vegetal del cual tomarán los nutrientes, y también para forzar la esporulación de algunos hongos. El más común de estos medios es el llamado agar-agua.Nutritivos. Entre éstos figuran los naturales, los semi-sintéticos y los sintéticos. Los naturales contienen únicamente tejidos vegetales (como hojas, raíces, vainas y granos), en trozo o macerados, que han sido esterilizados. Los semi-sintéticos contienen substancias naturales (extractos de animales y extractos o preparados vegetales, como harina de maíz y hojuelas de avena) y elementos sintéticos. Todo el contenido de los sintéticos está químicamente definido, y pueden ser reproducidos en forma específica cuando son requeridos.Algunos medios sintéticos y semi-sintéticos vienen en forma deshidratada y sólo se les agrega agua. Todo medio de cultivo debe elaborarse con agua destilada.Se determina el medio de cultivo que debe utilizarse dependiendo de la tarea a realizar: aislamientos, estudios biológicos y fisiológicos de un hongo (para los que hay que producir estructuras sexuales o asexuales), o bien, la producción de inóculo. El tipo de medio es de suma importancia, ya que de él depende que el organismo mantenga su patogenicidad y capacidad de producir propágulos de reproducción. Otro factor importante en los medios de cultivo es el pH que, en el caso de los hongos, debe ser de 5.8 a 6.5, según las necesidades del organismo en cuestión.Algunos factores físicos (como la aereación, luz, humedad y temperatura) afectan el crecimiento y la esporulación de los patógenos. El nivel máximo y el mínimo de estos factores, así como el punto óptimo para la esporulación y el crecimiento, varían según el organismo en estudio. La esporulación generalmente requiere de condiciones que son adversas para el crecimiento vegetativo.Durante la práctica de laboratorio de un curso básico, se recomienda elaborar dos medios de cultivo, papa dextrosa agar (PDA) y agar-agua (AA), considerados los más importantes por su uso tan frecuente. En cuanto a los demás medios, en la sección correspondiente a cada patógeno se indica cual (o cuales) medio(s) conviene usar; su proceso de elaboración aparece en el apéndice 1 (p. 63).Al preparar medios de cultivo, vale la pena tomar en cuenta algunos detalles que facilitan el trabajo. Conviene, por ejemplo, tomar la precaución de ocupar sólo la mitad de la capacidad del matraz, para evitar que el contenido, al saltar en el interior durante la esterilización, ensucie el tapón. La boca del matraz se cubre con un tapón de algodón o papel aluminio, o bien con ambos. Una vez esterilizado, el medio no debe ser destapado si no se tienen condiciones estériles o un mechero cerca; se recomienda ponerlo en baño maría a 46 o C durante 30 min. Si no se cuenta con el baño, es conveniente esperar a que el medio se enfríe un poco antes de vaciarlo en las cajas Petri. (Una forma práctica de saber en qué momento se debe vaciar es tocar con el dorso de la mano el matraz que contiene el medio; cuando la piel detecta un calor agradable es el momento de vaciar.) Con esto se evita que se forme condensación en las cajas, pues ésta puede fomentar la contaminación. El medio debe vaciarse dentro de una cámara estéril o cuarto sin corrientes de aire, utilizando un mechero como auxiliar para prevenir la contaminación. Se recomienda flamear la boca del matraz, no abrir demasiado la caja Petri y tratar de reducir al mínimo la distancia entre el matraz y la caja (Figura 4).Es conveniente vaciar el medio 24 a 48 horas antes de utilizarlo a fin de permitir que seque la condensación producida durante el proceso de vaciado. Para evitar que se forme parte de esta condensación, se recomienda apilar las cajas al irlas llenando (Figura 4).Cuando el medio se va a utilizar en tubos, matraces u otros recipientes, es posible homogeneizarlo mediante calor, como sigue: se coloca el medio en los recipientes (Figura 5 a); éstos se tapan, se esterilizan y se dejan enfriar en la posición deseada. Los tubos de cultivo generalmente se ponen en posición inclinada a fin de incrementar el área donde crecerá el organismo (Figura 5 b).Medios de cultivo que se utilizan para el aislamiento y crecimiento de hongos. A fin de identificar y estudiar los patógenos, es necesario aislar y cultivarlos. Por tanto, se recomienda practicar la preparación de algunos de los medios de cultivo más utilizados, como los dos que se describen a continuación.Agar-agua (AA). Suele utilizarse para aislar y hacer germinar esporas, obtener cultivos monospóricos y verificar la viabilidad del inóculo.Componentes: Agar 15-20 g Agua destilada 1000 ml Preparación: en el matraz, diluir el agar en agua destilada (ocupar sólo la mitad de la capacidad del matraz) y esterilizar.Papa-dextrosa-agar (PDA). Este medio es el más utilizado para el aislamiento, crecimiento y almacenamiento de hongos, pues es apropiado para numerosas especies.Papas partidas 250 g Dextrosa 10 g Agar 20 g Agua destilada 1000 ml Preparación: se hierven las papas en 500 a 750 ml de agua destilada durante 15 a 20 minutos. La suspensión se filtra y se pasa por una gasa. Este filtrado se coloca en un matraz, se le agrega la dextrosa y el agar, y luego se afora con agua destilada hasta 1000 ml. Se sella el matraz con un tapón de algodón o papel de aluminio y se esteriliza. Se deja enfriar un poco y se vacía la suspensión en cajas de Petri (llenando a la mitad). Conforme se van llenando, las cajas se apilan para evitar la condensación.En muchos países se vende en el mercado PDA deshidratado que se prepara agregando agua destilada en la proporción señalada por el fabricante y esterilizando como sigue. Pesar 9.75 g de PDA preparado y deshidratado en un matraz de 500 ml; agregar 250 ml de agua destilada. La suspensión se calienta hasta homogeneizarla; luego se colocan 4 a 5 ml de medio en cada tubo de ensayo utilizando una jeringa. Los tubos se cierran y esterilizan, y se ponen a enfriar en posición inclinada hasta que el medio se solidifica (Figura 5 b). Si no se tiene una jeringa dosificadora para llenarlos, se usa un embudo sostenido en una plataforma de metal. Ajustar un pedazo de manguera flexible en la parte terminal del embudo, controlando la salida con una pinza Mohr. La cantidad deseada de medio se mide en un tubo que se usa en forma constante como patrón de medida durante el proceso de llenado (Figura 5 a). Las cámaras húmedas son un medio rápido y directo para obtener esporulación y ayudar a identificar los agentes causales de algunas enfermedades. Son de especial utilidad con microorganismos que crecen rápidamente sobre el hospedero y compiten bien con los saprófitos dentro de la cámara húmeda.Preparación: Cortar las hojas, tallos, etc., en pedazos pequeños y, con la ayuda de cinta scotch, acomodarlos sobre un portaobjeto estéril. Esterilizar los pedazos con hipoclorito al 5% durante 30 a 60 segundos; pasar las muestras por agua estéril para eliminar el exceso de hipoclorito y secar el material vegetal sobre toalla de papel. Algunos patógenos son muy sensibles a la esterilización y, por esta razón, se dejan trozos sin tratar. Se recomienda escoger tejido que no esté demasiado dañado o con lesiones muy avanzadas para evitar la presencia de saprófitos. En una caja Petri, colocar papel filtro humedeciéndolo con agua estéril (Figura 6 a), poner el portaobjeto sobre el papel (Figura 6 b) y sellar la caja con cinta o parafilm para mantener la humedad (Figura 6 c). Incubar la caja a 18-22 o C y exponerla a luz y obscuridad en forma alterna (10 h de luz/14 h de oscuridad) (sin esta alternancia muchos hongos no desarrollan la fase reproductiva).Figura 6 a, b, c. Secuencia de la preparación de una cámara húmeda. Al completar 24, 48 y 72 horas de incubación, abrir la caja y observar en el estereoscopio las estructuras formadas en la lesión; de ser necesario, utilizar una aguja de disección para tomar un poco del crecimiento saliente de la lesión y colocarlo en un portaobjeto con una gota de agua. Cubrir con un cubreobjetos, dejándolo caer de manera que no se formen burbujas de aire (ayudarse con la aguja de disección). Observar bajo el microscopio micelio, conidióforos y conidios o cualquier otra estructura desarrollada por el hongo. Si no hay desarrollo visible, cuidar que la caja no pierda humedad y continuar observando. Dibujar toda estructura que se observe.Para el diagnóstico y estudio de enfermedades, en la mayoría de los casos es necesario aislar y cultivar el patógeno a fin de identificarlo. Una práctica muy útil es la observación del agente causal en preparaciones microscópicas tomadas directamente del material enfermo o del aislamiento del patógeno.Montaje de preparaciones. Coloque la muestra del espécimen en estudio en un portaobjetos limpio, sobre una gota de solución de montaje que debe ser, de preferencia, agua destilada estéril o un colorante para la tinción de las estructuras fungosas que se desean observar con mayor contraste. Entre los colorantes más comunes se encuentran el lactofenol, la safranina y el algodón azul.La obtención de una preparación puede realizarse de diferentes formas dependiendo del material de que se trate: Si el material vegetal presenta un aspecto algodonoso o indicios de estructuras del patógeno (signos), tomar la muestra con una aguja de disección o con la punta de una navaja, raspando ligeramente el tejido enfermo (Figura 7 a). Colocar cuidadosamente este raspado sobre el portaobjetos dentro de la gota de agua o colorante según sea el caso (Figura 7 b). Cubrir suavemente con un cubreobjetos con la ayuda de una aguja para que no queden burbujas de aire (Figura 7 c). Para lograr este objetivo, ponga la aguja debajo del cubreobjetos y retírela suavemente de tal forma que se eliminen las burbujas de aire durante el proceso. Se utiliza cinta scotch transparente para hacer preparaciones rápidas no permanentes a partir de crecimientos en medio de cultivo. Este método se recomienda para observar las estructuras en su estado y posición normales (cadenas de esporas o conidios pegados al conidióforo), lo cual generalmente es muy difícil de lograr con las preparaciones antes descritas, ya que las estructuras se separan al ser tomadas con la aguja.Tomar un pedazo de cinta scotch y, con el lado que tiene el pegamento, tocar \"ligeramente\" la muestra o el cultivo de la caja Petri o del tejido enfermo (Figura 8 a); enseguida colocarlo sobre una gota de agua estéril en un portaobjetos (Figura 8 b, c).Cuando se desea hacer observaciones más detalladas (por ejemplo, de estructuras dentro del tejido enfermo), tomar la muestra y hacer cortes finos con la ayuda de una navaja de afeitar (\"Gilette\") o un bisturí. En el caso de hojas, tallos, tubérculos, raíces, etc., la estructura puede ser colocada entre los dedos con la punta sobresaliendo un poco (Figura 9 a). Los cortes obtenidos de esta forma son tanto o más finos que los efectuados con un micrótomo, instrumento diseñado para este propósito pero que, por su alto costo, no siempre está disponible. Colocar los cortes obtenidos en la gota de la solución de montaje. Cuando se trata de tejido más suave y flexible, se puede utilizar como sostén un trozo de madera o una zanahoria partida longitudinalmente y de igual forma con la punta de la muestra saliendo hacia arriba se realizan los cortes lo más fino posible (Figura 9 b). Con esta técnica se pueden obtener cortes de estructuras fungosas (picnidios, peritecios, etc.) claras y completas, así como también una imagen más clara en tejidos obscuros por naturaleza. Una vez colocada la muestra en la gota de la solución de montaje, utilizar una aguja de disección para acomodar el espécimen como se desee. Enseguida se coloca el cubreobjetos con la ayuda de la aguja, comenzando por un extremo, dejándolo caer cuidadosamente y asegurándose que el corte esté completamente cubierto y que no queden burbujas de aire porque distorsionan la imagen. Es común que las personas de poca experiencia confundan las burbujas con estructuras morfológicas del espécimen. Si fuera necesario, presionar suavemente para eliminar el exceso de solución y luego absorberlo con papel filtro o papel secante.Para realizar preparaciones semipermanentes, se fija la muestra pasando el portaobjetos por encima de una flama por algunos segundos, hasta ver hervir la gota (para eliminar las burbujas de aire); con papel filtro, eliminar el exceso fuera del área del cubreobjetos.Para sellar la muestra, se pone esmalte de uñas transparente en las cuatro orillas del cubreobjetos y se deja secar.Una vez aislado el patógeno causante de una enfermedad, es necesario obtener aislamientos formados por varios individuos de la misma especie. Los trabajos de investigación o de aplicación práctica en los programas de mejoramiento genético requieren que se cuente con un grupo de individuos que sean representativos de la población del patógeno con que se desea trabajar. Para cumplir con el objetivo de tener aislamientos puros generados a partir de una sola espora, se deben seguir los siguientes pasos bajo condiciones asépticas: Obtenga una suspensión de baja concentración de conidios en agua estéril de la especie en estudio a partir del cultivo inicial. Tome 0.5 ml de dicha suspensión, viértala en una caja Petri con medio agaragua y dispérsela con una varilla de vidrio estéril. Observe la germinación de los conidios bajo el estereoscopio a intervalos de tiempo regulares (24, 48 y 72 horas). Cuando éstos inicien su germinación, tome una aguja previamente esterilizada a la flama, ubique los conidios que germinan en forma aislada y tome el pedacito del agar donde se encuentran éstos. Transfiera uno por uno los conidios en germinación a cajas Petri individuales. Use el medio de cultivo recomendado para el crecimiento del patógeno en estudio. Continúe vigilando el crecimiento de cada colonia obtenida. Descarte aquellas que muestren un crecimiento concéntrico doble o triple, ya que este patrón indica que fue transferida más de una espora durante el trabajo con la aguja bajo el estereoscopio. Esto es común cuando hay poca experiencia.En el presente ejemplo se explica la forma de uso de dos cámaras de conteo que pueden utilizarse para calcular la concentración de esporas: la cámara Neubauer (American Optical Co.) de 0.1 mm de profundidad y la cámara de conteo Fuchs-Rosenthal.Procedimiento para el uso de la cámara Neubauer: Raspar los cultivos del hongo en las cajas y mezclar este raspado con un volumen conocido de agua destilada. Una vez homogeneizada, la suspensión se filtra a través de una malla o gasa para eliminar el agar o restos de micelio que podrían obstruir el paso de la suspensión a través del aspersor durante la inoculación, y se lleva a un volumen conocido.Tomar una gota con una pipeta Pasteur y colocarla en el centro del hemacitómetro, o bien colocar una gota en cada extremo, según el tipo de hemacitómetro con el que se esté trabajando; enseguida colocar el cubreobjetos cuidando que no queden burbujas y que la gota no se derrame ni se salga de los campos de conteo. Esto daría un dato erróneo, ya que el excedente arrastraría las esporas.El hemacitómetro consta de dos campos de conteo, cada uno con nueve cuadros que, a su vez, están divididos en cuadros más pequeños (Figura 10). Tanto los cuadros grandes como los pequeños tienen dimensiones conocidas, de tal modo que por medio de fórmulas se puede obtener el número de esporas por ml.  En caso de hongos de esporas chicas, hacer el conteo del contenido de 1, 2, 3, 4 y 5.El campo de conteo que se debe utilizar depende del tamaño de los conidios del hongo con el que se esté trabajando. Si éstos son grandes, lo más conveniente es contar en los cuatro cuadros de las esquinas (A, B, C, D) más el cuadro del centro (E) (Figura 10). El conteo se repite por lo menos seis veces y se saca un promedio.Con los datos obtenidos, se calcula un valor de la media; éste se multiplica por una constante que depende del hemacitómetro que se utilice. De ese producto se obtendrá la concentración en conidios/ml.74 x constante = concentración en conidios/ml Esta concentración corresponde a la de la suspensión inicial. Cuando se desea calcular una dilución determinada, se aplica la fórmula siguiente:Si el volumen inicial era de 100 ml y se desea una concentración de 30,000 conidios/ml, entonces concentración calculada x 100 ml V 2 = ----------------= volumen final (ml) 30,000Con los datos que se obtengan: a) Calcular la concentración del inóculo inicial. b) Calcular la cantidad de líquido que se debe agregar a la suspensión de esporas preparada, para obtener una concentración de 30,000 esporas por ml.Procedimiento de conteo con la cámara Fuchs-Rosenthal: Agregar 10 ml de agua a cada caja de Petri con cultivo y raspar suavemente con una espátula; vaciar lo raspado a través de una gasa en un vaso de precipitado con 70 ml de agua para obtener el inóculo original (80 ml).Los conteos de conidios de la solución original se realizan con la cámara de conteo o hemacitómetro. Si es necesario se pueden hacer diluciones de la suspensión para facilitar el conteo. Hacer cuatro conteos como mínimo. Cada conteo es el resultado de la suma total de conidios.El presente ejemplo se hará con una suspensión de conidios de Bipolaris sorokiniana; se recomienda usar una concentración de 7,500 a 30,000 conidios/ml para pruebas de inoculación en invernadero. = Constante de la profundidad de la cámara de conteos Co = Concentración de esporas (conidios) de la solución original concentrada (número de conidios/ml) CF = Concentración de esporas (conidios) deseada FD = Factor de dilución VF = Cantidad de inóculo deseado V 1 = Cantidad de la suspensión original concentrada para producir la cantidad de inóculo que se deseaLa inoculación en invernadero se lleva a cabo con diferentes propósitos, como son: demostración de los postulados de Koch, incrementos de inóculo, caracterización de sintomatología, pruebas de selección para resistencia genética y estudios de epidemiología. Inocular bajo estas condiciones tiene muchas ventajas, entre ellas: mejor control en el manejo del organismo, seguridad en la evaluación de los síntomas, certeza de que no hay interferencia de otros organismos (como sucede en el campo)En el primer método se utilizan sobres de glasine con toalla de papel absorbente en su interior (Figura 11 a); engrapar juntos en la parte superior y dejar espacio suficiente para poner las semillas que se desee germinar. Los sobres con las semillas se colocan en charolas (bandejas), acomodándolos entre soportes de hilaza para sostenerlos (Figura 11 b). El agua que se agregue a las charolas será absorbida por el papel en el interior de los sobres de glasine y llegará a las semillas. Esto permite la germinación de las semillas y su abastecimiento posterior. Siempre se debe incluir un testigo resistente y uno susceptible.En el segundo método se siembran juegos similares de semillas en vasos de cartón con tierra. Al igual que en el primer método, se debe incluir un testigo resistente y uno susceptible.A partir de este punto, los dos métodos continúan como sigue. Cuando las plántulas tengan un crecimiento de 10 a 12 días, raspar el organismo cultivado en las cajas Petri. Disolver el raspado en agua destilada (si se tiene cultivo en grano se pone a agitar con agua); filtrar a través de una gasa para eliminar los pedazos de agar y obtener una suspensión de conidios lo más pura posible. Con la ayuda del hemacitómetro se hacen los conteos correspondientes y se obtiene una suspensión con una concentración de 30,000 conidios por ml; si se dispone de Tween 20, se agrega una gotita a la suspensión para evitar conglomerados de conidios y obtener una concentración más homogénea. Las plántulas se inoculan con un atomizador que permita un rociado uniforme (Figura 11 c). Separar las plántulas inoculadas con C. sativus, P. teres y P. tritici-repentis. Identificar los testigos sin inocular, los susceptibles y los resistentes.Después de inoculadas, las plántulas se incuban en una cámara húmeda durante dos horas; a continuación, alternar 15 min de humedad por 45 min de luz durante 48 horas en el caso de P. teres y P. tritici-repentis, y entre 18 y 24 horas para C. sativus. Si no se cuenta con una cámara húmeda, se pueden obtener resultados similares cubriendo las plántulas con bolsas de plástico y vigilando que siempre tengan humedad. Se riegan las plantas, las bolsas se asperjan por dentro y se sellan. El tiempo que las plantas deben mantenerse en las cámaras de humedad se estudia previamente para ajustarlo a las condiciones específicas. Un humificador accionado por electricidad es de gran utilidad, sobre todo si se puede conectar a un reloj control para dar humedad en tiempos intermitentes prefijados de acuerdo con el patógeno.A las 48 horas (o 24 horas, según el patógeno inoculado), sacar las plántulas y colocarlas en el invernadero durante 8 a 10 días. Observar los síntomas y tratar de diferenciar el tipo de lesión causada por B. sorokiniana, P. teres f. sp. maculata y P. teres f. sp. teres del causado por P. tritici-repentis. Evaluar la diferencia en susceptibilidad de las variedades utilizando las escalas que le serán proporcionadas, tomando como base los testigos susceptible y resistente (Figura 11 d).Se sugiere realizar el siguiente proyecto como práctica. Indique cómo llevar a cabo, con los medios existentes en el país donde usted trabaja, la selección de germoplasma en un invernadero o una estructura similar. Para desarrollar este proyecto se debe escoger una enfermedad fungosa de importancia económica en la región donde se trabaja; el proceso se ajusta a las condiciones que ese patógeno requiere. Muchas especies pertenecientes a la clase Basidiomycetes son patógenos importantes de plantas cultivadas, especies forestales y especies ornamentales. Algunas especies de Basidiomycetes (por ejemplo, los champiñones) se cultivan como alimento humano; otras son fuente importante de nutrientes para las plantas (micorrizas) y muchas son saprófitas.Las esporas (basidiosporas) de estos hongos son producidas en la parte externa de una estructura especializada denominada basidio, que puede ser septado (heterobasidio) o sin septas (holobasidio).Las basidiosporas son producto de la plasmogamia (fusión de dos protoplastos), la cariogamia (fusión de dos núcleos) y la meiosis.Las royas constituyen un grupo extenso de fitopatógenos económicamente importantes. La mayoría de las especies vegetales son afectadas por las royas; sin embargo, en los cereales han causado mayor interés a través de la historia del hombre debido a la gran frecuencia con que se presentan y los daños que provocan. Las royas de los cereales típicamente tienen un ciclo de vida con fases sexuales y asexuales, y hasta cinco estadíos diferentes de esporas.El trigo es atacado por roya del tallo causada por Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, roya lineal (amarilla o estriada) causada por Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici y roya de la hoja causada por Puccinia triticina (antes P. recondita f. sp. tritici). La roya del tallo es más frecuente en climas cálidos y la roya lineal lo es en áreas más frías. Un clima intermedio favorece la roya de la hoja, y ésta es la más difundida y destructiva de las tres enfermedades hoy en día.La roya del tallo produce pústulas alargadas de color café rojizo en tallos, vainas y pedúnculos. Las lesiones de roya de la hoja son más pequeñas y ovaladas, de color un poco más claro (anaranjado-café) y más evidentes en el haz de las hojas. La roya lineal es aún más clara (entre amarillo y anaranjadoamarillo) y se presenta en forma linear en el follaje y las glumas.El desarrollo de métodos eficientes de control de las royas comenzó a principios del siglo, cuando se descubrió que existía una resistencia a ellas que con frecuencia se hereda mediante un solo gene. La capacidad de un biotipo del patógeno para vencer un gene específico de resistencia en el hospedero suele estar condicionado por un solo gene también, y esta relación hospedero-parásito se denomina concepto de \"gene-por-gene\".Como consecuencia inmediata del cultivo, año tras año, de variedades resistentes en áreas extensas durante largos períodos, aparecieron biotipos del patógeno contra los que esta resistencia no fue eficaz. Los biotipos, que difieren en su habilidad (virulencia) para atacar una variedad o grupo de variedades, se denominan razas (fisiológicas). Una raza se define como un patrón de avirulencia diferente en un grupo de cultivos o aislamientos del patógeno, que se observa cuando se prueba en un grupo de variedades o líneas seleccionadas.Por ejemplo, en el trigo se han encontrado cerca de 40 genes mayores de resistencia a roya de la hoja; sin embargo, también se han encontrado aislamientos del hongo que poseen virulencia para muchos de esos genes. Dado que existen dos clases descriptivas del patógeno (avirulencia y virulencia) para cada uno de los 40 genes de resistencia conocidos, el número posible de razas (ej. combinaciones diferentes de genes de virulencia/avirulencia) es de 240, o sea, más de 34 mil millones. Esto da una idea de la enorme variabilidad que poseen estos patógenos. También se han encontrado genes únicos de resistencia y de razas en otros grupos de hongos (por ejemplo, mildiús y tizón tardío de la papa).Por las razones antes mencionadas, cuando se está mejorando para obtener resistencia a las royas, es importante monitorear las razas del patógeno, conocer su composición y probar las nuevas variedades con esas razas. De esta manera se obtendrá información acerca del posible incremento de una raza o combinación de virulencias, que se podrá utilizar para desarrollar estrategias en el uso de la resistencia (por ejemplo, la liberación de variedades).A continuación se indica la forma de realizar el monitoreo de una población de roya de la hoja y establecer la composición de sus razas. Los objetivos de esta actividad son: 1) familiarizarse con roya de la hoja del trigo, y evaluar reacciones de susceptibilidad y resistencia; 2) ilustrar la interacción de los aislamientos del hongo con diferentes líneas de trigo y demostrar la presencia de distintas razas; y 3) mostrar técnicas para realizar un monitoreo práctico de las virulencias en una población de roya de la hoja.En esta práctica, lo ideal es utilizar líneas isogénicas (o diferenciales) de trigo de primavera Thatcher.Cada una posee un gene de resistencia diferente que le ha sido transferido mediante un proceso de mejoramiento conocido como retrocruza. Hasta donde se sabe, las \"isolíneas\" son similares en toda su constitución genética, salvo en su gene específico de resistencia. El investigador puede trabajar con semilla de isolíneas para todos los genes conocidos o solamente para los que seleccione. A fin de demostrar una respuesta diferencial, se necesitan esporas de por lo menos dos aislamientos o cultivos del hongo de roya de la hoja. Cada cultivo es la progenie de una sola pústula.1. Sembrar las isolíneas en golpes (6-8 semillas en cada uno) en una bandeja, empezando por la esquina frontal izquierda (poner una marca), y proseguir hacia la derecha. Las bandejas se colocan en un invernadero a 18-24 o C, hasta que las primeras hojas de las plántulas estén completamente extendidas (más o menos una semana). Las plantas se deben mantener separadas y aisladas de cualquier planta que esté infectada con roya. Regar y fertilizar cuando sea necesario.2. Inocular cada grupo de isolíneas con los diferentes cultivos del hongo como sigue: suspender las esporas en aceite mineral o agua, y asperjarlas o frotarlas sobre la superficie de las hojas. Tener cuidado de no mezclar esporas de diferentes cultivos; lavar las manos, y si se utiliza un aspersor, lavarlo con etanol al 70% antes de inocular el segundo grupo de isolíneas con otro cultivo del hongo. Después de la inoculación, las plántulas se dejan secar durante unos 30 minutos.3. Las esporas requieren de agua libre en la superficie de la hoja para poder germinar y penetrarla. En la naturaleza, esto lo proporciona el rocío de la noche. Para dar humedad a las hojas, asperjar las plantas con partículas finas de agua e incubarlas toda la noche en una cámara húmeda cerrada. Al siguiente día, la cámara se abre parcialmente para permitir que las plantas se sequen lentamente. Después de una hora, éstas se trasladan a una mesa en el invernadero y se mantienen a 16-24 o C. El período de colonización del tejido del hospedero, comprendido entre la penetración y la esporulación, se denomina período latente. Es posible calcular la duración de este período anotando el momento en que la primera pústula rompe la epidermis y libera las uredosporas. El desarrollo de las pústulas requiere de 10 a 14 días.4. Dos semanas después, los uredios se observan con un microscopio de disección. Las royas son biótrofos, ya que son parásitos obligados (necesitan un hospedero vivo). La infección conduce a una asociación física en la que los haustorios (estructuras que permiten al hongo captar alimento) invaden células vivas para obtener nutrientes, pero sin destruirlas inmediatamente. Las infecciones generalmente son locales y el daño al hospedero se refleja en la presencia de muchas infecciones.Las plantas se debilitan debido a que los nutrientes y el agua se desvían hacia el crecimiento y reproducción del hongo. Las células invadidas permanecen vivas y activas hasta que el parásito se reproduce desarrollando esporas.5. Anotar la reacción producida por cada combinación de isolínea/patógeno. Las reacciones pueden variar desde altamente susceptible (pústulas grandes con esporulación) hasta altamente resistente (pequeñas manchas cloróticas), con niveles intermedios (Figura 12 a, b, c). Se pueden realizar evaluaciones más precisas utilizando una escala visual de 0 a 4 o de 0 a 9, en la que 0 es la reacción más resistente. Para la identificación de razas, las reacciones se dividen en dos clases: alta (hospedero susceptible/patógeno virulento) y baja (hospedero resistente/patógeno avirulento). Las reacciones intermedias pueden ser difíciles de clasificar, pero se consideran resistentes (bajas), ya que cualquier disminución en la producción de esporas, o clorosis o necrosis representa un menor desarrollo de la enfermedad, lo cual reduce la velocidad de incremento de ésta.Las razas de roya se designan en secuencia por medio de códigos numéricos utilizando una clave dicótoma, o mediante una fórmula de avirulencia/virulencia. El número de raza o código se relaciona únicamente con el juego o grupo del hospedero utilizado. Anteriormente, se utilizaba un grupo de líneas de trigo para la identificación de razas; sin embargo, esto ya ha sido descartado debido al desarrollo de isolíneas. Hasta ahora, no se ha desarrollado un estándar que sea ampliamente utilizado, más bien se están usando fórmulas de avirulencia/virulencia para caracterizar cada aislamiento del hongo. Un ejemplo podría ser Lr 1, 9, 16, 24, 26 /2a, 2c y 3, el cual indica que las isolíneas Lr 1, 9, 16, 24 y 26 son resistentes, mientras que Lr 2a, 2c y 3 son susceptibles a ese cultivo de la roya. Inversamente, el cultivo es avirulento para las isolíneas Lr 1, 9, 16, 24 y 26 y virulento para Lr 2a, 2c y 3. Esto nos permite representar una raza diferente del cultivo que corresponde a Lr 2a, 2c, 9, 24, 26/1, 3, 16.Como un ejercicio para comprender mejor la nomenclatura de razas y su interacción con el hospedante, se recomienda inocular las ocho isolíneas (Lr1, Lr2a, Lr2c, Lr3, Lr9, Lr16, Lr24 y Lr26) con los dos aislamientos (A y B) y señalar las reacciones que se producen en cada caso. Si se desea desarrollar un programa orientado a generar variedades con resistencia a royas, se recomienda utilizar las siguientes preguntas derivadas de este ejercicio de inoculación.1. ¿Cómo se diferenciaron los dos cultivos del hongo en cada una de las líneas isogénicas de trigo? 2. ¿Cómo se diferenciaron las líneas isogénicas en esta prueba? 3. Si usted tuviera que recomendar fuentes de resistencia a un mejorador, ¿cuál de estos genes recomendaría? ¿Necesitaría mayor información para poder hacer una recomendación útil? Explique. 4. ¿Sería cualquiera de estos genes, por sí solo, útil para un mejorador? 5. ¿Podría ser útil la recombinación genética de estas resistencias? 6. ¿Por qué es útil para un mejorador un monitoreo regional o nacional de razas cuando se trata de desarrollar variedades con resistencia? 7. Además de ser útil para los mejoradores, ¿qué otros usos se podría dar a la información recolectada, después de llevar a cabo un muestreo extenso de las razas de la roya?Figura 12. Escalas de evaluación de royas en plántulas bajo condiciones de invernadero. Bajo el título general de carbones se incluyen varios géneros de la clase Basidiomycetes. Los carbones son hongos patógenos obligados que pueden mantenerse latentes en el suelo durante períodos prolongados. Este grupo de hongos es conocido ampliamente por los síntomas que produce, pues son fáciles de reconocer; esporulan (producen esporas de color café o negro) principalmente en el grano, inflorescencia, hojas y tallos. Atacan a los cereales (trigo, cebada, avena, maíz, arroz, etc.) y otros cultivos de importancia económica para el hombre (papa, caña de azúcar, cebolla, etc.).Entre sus características taxonómicas importantes se incluye que las teliosporas son producidas en forma individual, en pares o en agregados (bolas). También son importantes el tamaño, el color, la ornamentación y la morfología; la presencia de células estériles y su localización; el sitio de esporulación y el hospedero.A diferencia de lo que ocurre en los uredinales (royas), la fertilización se lleva a cabo por medio de la unión (plasmogamia) de propágulos compatibles del hongo. Los carbones que afectan el trigo son: Tilletia tritici (sin. T. caries) y T. laevis (sin. T. foetida), causantes del carbón común; Tilletia controversa, causante de carbón del enanismo; Tilletia indica, causante del carbón parcial; Ustilago tritici, causante del carbón volador, y Urocystis agropyri, causante del carbón de bandera.A continuación se describe cómo realizar la prueba de germinación de teliosporas (esporas) que permite identificar estos carbones.Carbón volador. Tomar muestras de espigas infectadas y agitarlas dentro de un recipiente que contenga una solución de agua con Tween 20 o algún otro surfactante. Agregar una gota de Tween 20 por litro de agua y agitar suavemente hasta disolver. Pasar la suspensión de esporas por una malla de 60 µm o menor para retener las partículas o basuras de mayor tamaño (las teliosporas miden 5 a 9 µm de diámetro). Centrifugar a 3000 rpm para que las teliosporas se concentren en la base del tubo; desechar el sobrenadante.Preparar una solución de hipoclorito de sodio y agua (1:9, v:v). Agregar esta solución al tubo con teliosporas para esterilizar la superficie, agitar un poco, centrifugar y desechar el sobrenadante. Agregar al tubo con teliosporas agua esterilizada para remover el hipoclorito, agitar y centrifugar; desechar el sobrenadante y repetir la operación con agua esterilizada.Las teliosporas se transfieren con pipeta o jeringa esterilizada a cajas de Petri con agar al 1.5-2.0% (15 ó 20 g de agar por litro de agua). Incubar las cajas con teliosporas a temperatura de laboratorio (18-22 o C). Siete días después, comenzar a observar y tomar notas de la forma en que germinan.Carbón parcial. En el caso de Tilletia indica se toman granos infectados y se sigue el método descrito para Ustilago tritici. Para obtener una mejor germinación, las teliosporas se pueden dejar en la solución de agua y Tween 20 durante 24 horas antes de iniciar el tratamiento con hipoclorito de sodio. Es necesario utilizar una malla de 60 µm porque las teliosporas miden de 22 a 49 µm.Coloque el grano infectado con carbón parcial en un tubo de centrífuga esterilizado, que contenga 8 ml de agua con Tween 20 previamente esterilizado (1 gota de Tween 20 por 1,000 ml de agua se esteriliza en autoclave por 20 minutos a 121 o C). Agite hasta que las teliosporas presentes en el grano se desprendan. Filtre la suspensión de agua con teliosporas a través de una malla de 60 µm a un vaso de precipitado estéril. Con una pipeta igualmente estéril transfiera 2 ml de la suspensión a tubos de centrífuga.Agregue a la suspensión con teliosporas 8 ml de una solución de hipoclorito de sodio al 0.5% (prepare esta solución mezclando Cloralex comercial al 6% con agua destilada estéril con Tween 20) y agite ligeramente. Coloque los tubos en la centrífuga, uno frente al otro, para mantener el equilibrio; encienda la centrífuga y, al llegar a las 2,500 rpm, apáguela y espere a que termine el ciclo de centrifugado.Deseche el sobrenadante y agregue nuevamente 8 ml de la solución de hipoclorito con Tween 20 y vuelva a repetir el ciclo de centrifugado anteriormente descrito. Vuelva a repetir este último paso. La última suspensión contendrá las teliosporas que luego se siembran en cajas Petri con medio agar-agua.Si durante este proceso se usan materiales de plástico que no toleran la esterilización en autoclave, esterilícelos sometiéndolos a luz ultravioleta (UV) durante 24 horas; proceda de igual forma con las mallas de 60 µm.Con una jeringa o micropipeta estéril tome alícuotas de 0.5 ml de la suspensión de teliosporas, transfiéralas bajo condiciones asépticas a cajas Petri con medio agar-agua.Bajo la cámara de aislamiento o flujo laminar, coloque cada caja Petri sobre una plataforma giratoria y con una varilla de vidrio estéril extienda la suspensión depositada en cada una de ellas. Bajo las condiciones de la cámara deje secar el contenido 24 horas y séllelas con parafilm.Incube las cajas a 18-24 o C y, después de cinco días, verifique la germinación.Existen varios métodos de inoculación; sin embargo, aquí sólo se describe uno para el carbón volador y uno para el carbón parcial.Carbón volador: espolvoreo de espigas (método go-go). Se escogen espigas en estado de floración-antesis y se preparan como para emascular (cortando las aristas o barbas con parte de las glumas, lemas y paleas). Se cubren con bolsas de glasine que se abren con tijeras por la parte superior para poder espolvorear las espigas con teliosporas.Carbón parcial: inoculación por inyección. Las colonias derivadas de teliosporas que germinaron, se transfieren a un medio rico en nutrientes (como papa-dextrosa-agar) para su multiplicación. El proceso es el siguiente: revisar que no exista contaminación en las cajas de agar donde las teliosporas se encuentran germinando. Con una espátula esterilizada (mediante el flameado), cortar pequeños pedazos de agar que contengan teliosporas en germinación, transferirlos a cajas de Petri con PDA invirtiéndolos en la tapa (de manera que el hongo esporule hacia abajo) y esperar 4 a 6 días hasta que las colonias empiecen a desarrollarse (Figura 13 a, b, c). Agregar agua esterilizada y raspar las colonias con una espátula flameada; después, inocular cajas con PDA por medio de una jeringa o pipeta esterilizada y esperar de 5 a 9 días para que las cajas se cubran con las colonias del hongo.Pasado ese tiempo, se vuelve a agregar agua, se raspa la superficie y se criba utilizando una gasa (para eliminar los pedazos de agar o agregados de hifas del hongo que podrían tapar las jeringas). Cuando se hayan raspado unas 15 cajas, se calcula la concentración inicial de propágulos por mililitro con un hemacitómetro Neubauer y se agrega el agua necesaria para obtener la concentración deseada (10,000/ ml). Con una jeringa hipodérmica, se deposita 1 ml de inóculo en cada espiga de plantas que se encuentren en estado de embuche (cuando se empiezan a ver las aristas), lo que corresponde al estadio 45 de la escala de Zadoks.Las cepas de carbón parcial se conservan en tubos o en cajas Petri con medio PDA, a una temperatura de 4-5 o C. Es necesario renovarlas cada año.Fuentes-Dávila, G., Goates, B.J., Thomas, P., Nielsen, J.  Los Ascomycetes comprenden varios miles de especies que pueden ser desde estrictamente saprofíticas, hasta parásitos obligados de las plantas superiores. Entre estos últimos, existen algunos que pueden atacar y dañar severamente a los cereales de grano pequeño.El ciclo de los Ascomycetes comprende dos fases: la asexual y la sexual. Durante la primera, el hongo produce conidióforos, es decir, las estructuras generadoras de esporas asexuales o conidios. Los conidióforos pueden nacer individualmente o en grupos, y libres, o en cuerpos fructíferos denominados picnidios o acérvulos. Desde el punto de vista fitopatológico, esta fase es muy importante porque se repite durante todo el ciclo del cultivo, y los conidios pueden infectar hojas, tallos, espigas e, incluso, granos.La fusión de dos núcleos compatibles se produce en la segunda fase y, como consecuencia, la formación de cuerpos fructíferos (peritecios, cleistotecios o apotecios) capaces de resistir condiciones desfavorables de humedad y temperatura durante la ausencia del cultivo. En estos cuerpos fructíferos se producen las ascas que se activan al inicio de un nuevo ciclo del cultivo. Esta es la etapa invernante, aunque en la mayoría de los casos, las ascas y ascosporas no se forman ni maduran sino hasta el final del invierno o comienzo de la primavera. Por lo tanto, el hongo puede invernar también en forma de micelio y, en ocasiones, de conidio.El micelio de los Ascomycetes está compuesto de hifas bien desarrolladas, delgadas o gruesas, profusamente ramificadas e interrumpidas por septas simples. En este grupo de hongos existen patógenos que provocan en los cereales enfermedades importantes, como los tizones foliares causados por especies comúnmente conocidas como \"Helminthosporium\" y Septoria.Entre los tizones foliares o manchas de la hoja, el causado por C. sativus se presenta a partir del comienzo del desarrollo foliar y se incrementa principalmente en las hojas después del espigamiento. Este hongo también puede presentarse en corona, raíces, nudos, vainas, espigas y granos, por lo que se le considera una enfermedad importante, sobre todo en lugares subtropicales, donde se encuentran las condiciones óptimas para su desarrollo: altas temperaturas acompañadas de alta humedad.Al desarrollarse, B. sorokiniana forma, en el tejido foliar y otras partes de la planta, estructuras asexuales llamadas conidióforos a partir de los cuales se producen los conidios. El aislamiento de C. sativus, la fase sexual o teleomorfo, no presenta complicaciones, pues generalmente crece con facilidad en PDA o, incluso, en una cámara húmeda. Cochliobolus sativus no se encuentra con frecuencia en la naturaleza y sólo ha sido descrita bajo las condiciones agroecológicas de Zambia.Pegar la muestra en la hoja de diagnóstico y describir los síntomas observados. Preparar hipoclorito de sodio al 1% (1 ml de hipoclorito de sodio en 99 ml de agua destilada estéril o, si se cuenta con Tween 20, agregar una gotita para eliminar la tensión superficial). Colocar en cajas de Petri, por separado, el hipoclorito y el agua destilada estéril. Hacer pequeños cortes en las hojas en áreas donde la lesión esté iniciándose y colocarlas en el hipoclorito durante 1 minuto. Sumergir la punta de las pinzas en alcohol y flamear. Tomar los pedacitos y enjuagar eliminando el exceso de hipoclorito. Enseguida, secarlos en toalla o papel filtro estéril. Bajo condiciones lo más estériles posible (microvoid y/o área limpia con alcohol o hipoclorito), sembrarlos en forma ordenada en cajas con PDA, colocando de 5 a 7 pedazos por caja.En forma simultánea, preparar una cámara húmeda de la muestra. Incubar las cajas durante 3 a 7 días. Pasado este período, debe haber suficiente crecimiento del hongo. Para la cámara húmeda, asegurarse que el papel filtro siempre esté húmedo y agregar agua si fuera necesario. Describir las características de la colonia. Hacer una preparación temporal, tomando una muestra directamente del cultivo del hongo; observar al microscopio primero con el objetivo de menor aumento y, si fuera necesario, con el mayor para ver detalles. Dibujar y describir las estructuras visualizadas en el ocular: micelio, conidióforos, conidios, etc. Investigar bajo qué condiciones ambientales puede presentarse el ataque del hongo en raíces y bajo qué condiciones en las partes aéreas.Este patógeno se puede aislar con facilidad de granos que presentan punta negra, de nudos con necrosis, o de la corona, raíz primaria y raíces secundarias de las plantas de cereales menores. Ataca también a una gran cantidad de especies de gramíneas (pastos).Los medios de cultivo V8 al 30% y grano de trigo estéril (para su preparación ver el apéndice 1, p. 63) favorecen la esporulación de B. sorokiniana.Para incrementar el inóculo, basta transferir pedazos pequeños del cultivo en medio PDA o V8 al 30% y mantener las cajas Petri a temperaturas de 22 a 25 o C durante 5 a 7 días. Después de ese tiempo, inundar las cajas Petri con agua estéril y raspar la superficie para obtener una suspensión de conidios que puede ajustarse a la concentración deseada usando un hemacitómetro Fuchs-Rosenthal o Neubauer.Si se desean grandes cantidades de inóculo, se puede usar grano de trigo estéril en frascos, cuidando de mover el contenido de los frascos cada semana; es necesario mantenerlos en crecimiento durante tres a cuatro semanas en un cuarto con luz blanca. Para su uso final se puede lavar el grano y obtener una suspensión de esporas (aplicación foliar) o bien moler el grano (aplicación a raíces).Las cepas purificadas de B. sorokiniana se conservan en tubos de ensayo en medio V8 al 30%. El crecimiento se cubre con aceite mineral esterilizado tres veces en autoclave (121 o C). Se recomienda regenerar las cepas cada año.Las cepas se pueden conservar también en tejido vegetal, siguiendo el procedimiento que se describe enseguida. Se obtiene material enfermo en condiciones controladas de invernadero; una vez que genera síntomas, el material se corta, se seca en condiciones de ambiente durante 48 horas y se identifica correctamente. A continuación se envasa el material en bolsas de papel que se mantienen dentro de envases herméticos en refrigeración (4 o C) . De esta forma, el material se conserva estable por más de 12 meses.El tizón foliar (también conocido como mancha amarilla, mancha bronceada, atizonamiento de la hoja del trigo o mancha ocular) causado por P. tritici-repentis es una enfermedad que ataca al trigo, triticale y algunos pastos. Los síntomas aparecen como manchas necróticas, generalmente rodeadas por un halo clorótico, que varían en tamaño según la severidad del daño, llegando a coalescer hasta secar toda la hoja. Una característica importante es que la lesión presenta un punto más obscuro en el centro. Sin embargo, esta característica no es exclusiva de este hongo, ya que las manchas causadas por B. sorokiniana y Stagonospora nodorum también la presentan. Por esta razón, un diagnóstico final sólo se logra observando las estructuras al microscopio.Resulta difícil aislar y hacer esporular este hongo en medio de cultivo, pues en la mayoría de los casos tiende a formar rápidamente la fase sexual (pseudotecios) (Pyrenophora tritici-repentis), aunque no logra madurar. Sin embargo, se ha observado que si las colonias con 5 a 7 días de crecimiento en medio de cultivo V8 al 30% se cubren con una película de agua estéril y se raspan, esto estimula la esporulación asexual dentro de las 48 horas siguientes.La fase sexual ha sido reportada en muchos lugares del mundo y su formación parece depender, en particular, de las condiciones ambientales durante el invierno y comienzos de primavera. Se le encuentra normalmente en el rastrojo que permanece después de la cosecha.Seleccionar hojas con lesiones típicas para la hoja de diagnóstico; pegar la muestra y describir los síntomas. Cortar pequeños pedazos de hojas con lesiones incipientes; desinfectarlas durante 1 ó 2 minutos en hipoclorito al 1%. Enjuagarlos en agua estéril y ponerlos a secar en papel filtro. Sembrar cinco pedacitos en una caja de Petri con medio V-8 al 30% (este medio es muy eficaz para el aislamiento y producción de esporas de este hongo) (ver el apéndice 1 para su elaboración).Poner a incubar las cajas a una temperatura de 20-22 o C con luz fluorescente con longitud de onda cercana a la luz ultravioleta durante 5 a 7 días, alternando 10 horas de luz con 14 de obscuridad (condiciones indispensables para su esporulación). Para estimular la producción de conidios, cuando el cultivo tenga 5 a 6 días, agregar una capa de agua estéril y raspar con una espátula esterilizada. Remover el inóculo; volver a incubar la caja durante 48 horas más. Al término de este tiempo, volver a hacer preparaciones y observar al microscopio. Describir las características de la colonia. Describir y dibujar las estructuras que se observen.Para la producción de conidios. Si se quiere incrementar conidios, el medio de cultivo más eficaz es V8 agar al 30 % bajo luz cercana al ultravioleta con alternancia de luz-obscuridad. Se transfieren pedacitos de cultivos puros a cajas Petri con medio V8 al 30%. Entre el quinto y el séptimo día de crecimiento, se obtiene una suspensión de esporas después de raspar con una espátula el medio en las cajas Petri previamente cubierto con agua estéril. Se puede obtener una segunda cosecha de conidios, reincubando el medio durante 48 horas y repitiendo el proceso de raspado.Este método tiene varias desventajas: es caro y los conidios deben aplicarse de inmediato al material a seleccionar, cuando hay humedad suficiente. Por tanto, es altamente dependiente del medio ambiente. No obstante, es recomendable para trabajos de selección en estado de plántula en el invernadero, donde hay buen control de las condiciones ambientales. Se recomienda utilizar un aspersor manual para aplicar la suspensión de conidios (30,000 esporas/ml) a la que se ha agregado unas gotas de Tween 20. Después de la inoculación, se colocan las plantas en una cámara húmeda durante 48 horas. Si el inóculo se aplica en campo, debe hacerse al atardecer, después de una lluvia, con un aspersor de volumen ultra bajo. Este método, desarrollado en los laboratorios y campos experimentales del CIMMYT, ha sido utilizado con éxito desde 1983 a la fecha en el mejoramiento genético de la resistencia a enfermedades del trigo de primavera.Para la producción de propágulos formados por micelio. En este caso debemos contar con cultivos puros obtenidos en forma previa. Con un sacabocados esterilizado a la llama se obtienen círculos de cultivo con los que se inoculan matraces de 500 ml que contienen medio de cultivo líquido de sacarosa levadura (ver el apéndice 1 para su elaboración). Colocar los matraces en un agitador a 200 rpm. Después de siete días, el micelio habrá crecido lo suficiente para utilizarlo. Éste se licua varias veces hasta obtener una suspensión fina que se diluye a razón de 4 L de inóculo en 80 L de agua; agregar unas gotas de Tween 20.Este tipo de inóculo es apropiado para inocular grandes extensiones de material genético bajo presión para obtener resistencia en campo. Puede aplicarse con un aspersor normal, pero debe repetirse varias veces durante el ciclo del cultivo. Este método, desarrollado y adaptado en los laboratorios y campos experimentales del CIMMYT, se ha utilizado a partir de 1993 para mejorar la resistencia a P. tritici-repentis en trigos de primavera. Es ideal para obtener una buena infección en grandes extensiones de tierra; sin embargo, tiene el inconveniente de que debe repetirse de 4 a 6 veces para asegurar la infección.Para la producción de la fase sexual. La fase sexual (teleomorfo) se puede obtener en forma eficiente usando las estructuras de la panoja de plantas de avena. Cosechar las panojas cuando los granos estén en estado lechoso pastoso y las estructuras que los cubren, todavía verdes. Secar y guardar. Cuando se desee producir inóculo, el grano y sus estructuras se remojan en agua destilada durante 24 horas, al término de las cuales se elimina el exceso de agua. Llenar los frascos hasta tres cuartas partes con el material humedecido en agua; cerrar bien las tapas y luego regresarlas una media vuelta para permitir el intercambio de oxígeno. Esterilizar los frascos dos veces, dos horas cada vez, con un intervalo de dos días entre cada esterilización. Inocular los frascos con una suspensión de conidios obtenidos siguiendo las instrucciones incluidas en la sección \"Para la producción de conidios\"(p. 28), y cuidando de hacerlo en forma homogénea. Poner los frascos en un lugar con luz blanca cercana al ultravioleta, alternando ciclos de luz y obscuridad (12 y 12 horas), a una temperatura de entre 20 y 24 o C. Mover y agitar los frascos cada semana y observar el crecimiento de los pseudotecios. A partir de la tercera semana, sacar muestras para detectar, en observaciones al microscopio, su maduración, que es evidente por la formación de ascos y ascosporas en su interior. Una vez maduros los pseudotecios, lo cual normalmente ocurre cuatro a cinco semanas después de su inoculación con la suspensión de conidios, el material de avena está listo para ser aplicado en el centro de plantas en estado de amacollamiento.Este método, desarrollado en el CIMMYT y usado con éxito durante los ciclos 2000 y 2001, tiene varias ventajas: 1) el inóculo puede ser aplicado en forma independiente del clima, ya que el hongo se mantiene en el sustrato aportado por el grano y la paja; 2) su costo es muy bajo, y 3) es ideal para inocular áreas extensas de material segregante.Para la conservación de las cepas. Este patógeno se puede conservar a 4 o C, colocando el cultivo en tubos de ensayo con medio V8 agar al 30% y cubriéndolo con aceite mineral. Otra forma de conservarlo es en hojas inoculadas en condiciones controladas, siguiendo el mismo procedimiento que fue descrito para B. sorokiniana. Las cepas deben regenerarse cada año.La mancha reticulada de la cebada causada por Pyrenopora teres f. sp. teres es muy común en las regiones frías y húmedas donde se produce este cultivo; es una mancha obscura que al desarrollarse forma un patrón en forma de red, con bandas transversales y longitudinales. Comúnmente se presenta en la hoja, aunque en las variedades muy susceptibles puede atacar a la espiga e infectar el grano.Existe además otro tipo de mancha foliar, causada por P. teres f. sp. maculata, que provoca síntomas muy similares a la causada por B. sorokiniana, y sólo pueden diferenciarse mediante la observación de los conidios al microscopio.Las especies P. teres f. sp. teres y P. teres f. sp. maculata presentan el mismo desarrollo morfológico en cultivo artificial; sin embargo, son capaces de inducir síntomas totalmente diferentes. La fase sexual se encuentra con bastante frecuencia en el rastrojo durante el ciclo invernante.Pegar una muestra de cada una de las enfermedades en hojas de diagnóstico y describir los diferentes síntomas. Cortar pedacitos de tejido enfermo de cada muestra. Esterilizarlos en hipoclorito al 1% durante un minuto y enjuagarlos en agua estéril. Poner a secar en papel filtro y sembrar cinco pedacitos de cada muestra por caja con medio V-8 al 15%. Incubar las cajas a 20-22 o C durante 5 a 7 días alternando períodos de luz-obscuridad; P. teres no esporula si no existen estas condiciones. Hacer preparaciones y observar al microscopio. Describir la forma de crecimiento y color de las colonias en el medio. Dibujar las diferentes estructuras que se observen, diferenciando el tamaño y la forma de los conidios de cada especie aislada.Se desarrollan con antelación cultivos monospóricos del patógeno. Para incrementar el inóculo, transferir pedazos del cultivo a cajas Petri con medio V8 agar al 15%. Poner a incubar con alternancia de luz-obscuridad (12-12 horas), a una temperatura entre 20 y 22 o C. Cuando el micelio haya desarrollado conidióforos y conidios, cubrir el cultivo en las cajas con agua destilada estéril y rasparlos suavemente. Licuar el raspado durante un minuto y pasar a través de una gasa para eliminar cualquier pedazo de agar que pudo haber quedado. Ajustar el inóculo a la concentración deseada mediante la cámara de conteo Neubauer (ver procedimiento en la p. 14). Generalmente se utiliza una concentración de 30,000 esporas/ml para inocular tanto en campo como en invernadero.Para lograr establecer la infección en condiciones de invernadero, aplique humedad continua durante dos horas y, enseguida, durante 15 minutos, cada dos horas, hasta completar 48 horas. Mantener las plantas durante una semana a una temperatura de 22 o C y una humedad superior al 75% en condiciones de invernadero para obtener una infección y desarrollo de síntomas que permitan discriminar entre las reacciones de resistencia y de susceptibilidad.En condiciones de campo, aplique el inóculo con un aspersor de ultra bajo volumen sobre las plantas húmedas al atardecer. Las plantas deben estar, de preferencia, en estado de amacollamiento.Para mantener las cepas, siga las mismas recomendaciones que para P. tritici repentis y B. sorokiniana; solamente cambie el medio de cultivo a medio V8 agar al 15%.El trigo es atacado por varias especies comúnmente conocidas como septorias. Entre las más importantes están Mycosphaerella graminicola y Phaeosphaeria nodorum. La primera, el agente causal del tizón foliar, se presenta en regiones con pluviometría y humedad relativa altas, y temperaturas óptimas entre 18 y 22 o C. Esta mancha se identifica por la presencia de cuerpos asexuales (picnidios) de color negro formados por el hongo, que pueden sobresalir de la epidermis en ambos lados de la hoja, distribuidos en líneas paralelas siguiendo el patrón de los estomas, ya que se forman en la cavidad subestomática. Dentro de los picnidios se encuentran las picnidiosporas, delgadas, de forma alargada, que, ya maduras, salen del picnidio a través del ostíolo (abertura del picnidio) cuando existen condiciones de humedad favorables.Stagonospora nodorum requiere de condiciones de humedad y temperatura similares a las requeridas por S. tritici, aunque un poco más templadas. Puede atacar todas las partes aéreas de la planta de trigo y, en particular, las glumas, nudos, entrenudos y hojas. A diferencia de S. tritici, los picnidios de S. nodorum son de color negro a rosado, producidos inmersos en la epidermis del tejido y distribuidos al azar. Las picnidiosporas son más pequeñas, cilíndricas, transparentes, con 0 a 3 septas.En ambos casos, es frecuente encontrar la fase sexual al final del ciclo vegetativo del cultivo, pero su identificación es díficil, ya que la apariencia de los picnidios es muy similar a la de los peritecios. Solamente usando técnicas especiales en el laboratorio se logra su confirmación. Ambas especies se pueden aislar y cultivar en medios de cultivo específicos.Recolectar muestras con síntomas de cada una de las dos enfermedades para la hoja de diagnóstico y describir los síntomas. En un portaobjetos, pegar un pedazo de hoja con síntomas, con el lado donde se observan los picnidios hacia arriba. Colocar en una caja de Petri con papel filtro que se satura con agua estéril para formar una cámara húmeda; sellar y poner bajo la luz a unos 15 ó 20 cm de distancia. Una o dos horas después, observar la caja (tapada) al estereoscopio; debe de haber exudados saliendo de los ostíolos de los picnidios. El exudado de S. tritici es blanco grisáceo, a diferencia del de S. nodorum, que es de color rosado. Con una aguja estéril y un mechero cerca, tomar el exudado y sembrarlo en una caja que contenga el medio de cultivo específico 444 agar malta levadura. Incubar la caja durante 6 a 8 días. Describir las características de las colonias.Realizar cortes finos de los picnidios y hacer preparaciones en portaobjetos; observar al microscopio, describir y dibujar el tipo de picnidiosporas producido por cada especie.A partir de las colonias obtenidas, incrementar el inóculo siguiendo el procedimiento que a continuación se describe.Bajo condiciones asépticas, raspe con una espátula la superficie del cultivo y transfiera lo raspado a un matraz Erlenmeyer con agua destilada y esterilizada (raspar de 1 a 2 cajas por 75 ml de agua). Agite para homogeneizar la suspensión. Con una micropipeta o jeringa estéril, transfiera entre 0.5 y 1 ml de la suspensión al medio de cultivo específico para cada especie.Para S. tritici se puede utilizar medio sólido 444 agar malta levadura o medio líquido sacarosa levadura (ver su elaboración en el apéndice 1). Si usa medio sólido, distribuya el inóculo en forma homogénea sobre el medio con una varilla de vidrio en forma de L, antes esterilizada en alcohol y flameada. Si en su laboratorio cuenta con un plato giratorio, úselo para hacer más rapido y eficiente el trabajo, aunque no es indispensable. Selle las cajas con parafilm e incúbelas a una temperatura de 18 a 22 ˚C, con luz natural, o bien, en la obscuridad, durante cinco días. Las cajas Petri se cubrirán con un crecimiento levaduroide de color rosado. El inóculo puede usarse de inmediato, o bien, guardarse unos dos o tres días sin que pierda su viabilidad.Si se usó medio líquido para incrementar el inóculo, tape los matraces con algodón y agítelos en forma constante durante 5 a 6 días a una temperatura de 18 a 22 o C, en un agitador mecánico. Si el inóculo se guarda más tiempo, pierde viabilidad; por tanto, debe usarse de inmediato.Para S. nodorum se recomienda el uso de una gran variedad de medio sólidos, entre ellos agar V8 al 30%, agar extracto levadura, agar papa dextrosa y 444 malta levadura. Sin embargo, nuestra experiencia indica que debe evaluarse la eficacia de los medios en cada lugar, ya que los que funcionan en una localidad no necesariamente funcionan en otras. En el caso de México, se encontró que solo funcionan en forma efectiva V8 al 30%, agar extracto de levadura y agar frijol lima (no se había reportado que este último fuera apto para este propósito en otros lugares). Las cajas Petri con el hongo se incuban a 22 o C con luz cercana al ultravioleta, hasta que desarrollen picnidios.Para llevar a cabo las inoculaciones de S. tritici, el crecimiento del hongo en las cajas Petri se cubre con agua destilada estéril y se raspa con una espátula. La suspensión se pasa a través de una gasa para eliminar los restos de agar. La concentración se ajusta a 50,000 a 70,000 esporas/ml con el hemacitómetro (ver instrucciones en la p. 14). Agregar 2 ó 3 gotas de Tween 20 como adherente.Para realizar inoculaciones en el campo, se asperja el inóculo con un aplicador de ultra bajo volumen al atardecer, cuando haya mucha humedad libre sobre las hojas y una alta probabilidad de que estas condiciones se prolonguen durante 48 horas continuas. El estado de desarrollo de las plantas debe ser de amacollamiento a encañado.Cuando el inóculo se ha preparado en medio líquido a partir del crecimiento en los matraces, es indispensable verificar que cada matraz tenga el crecimiento correcto, ya que es frecuente la contaminación por bacterias. Los matraces contaminados deben descartarse antes de hacer la suspensión final. Se pasa la suspensión de los matraces a través de gasa para eliminar el exceso de micelio, se ajusta la concentración y se aplica como en el caso anterior.En el caso de S. nodorum, la caja con el cultivo está lista para usarse cuando los picnidios comienzan a producir cirrus y se observa claramente el exudado sobre los ostiolos. Se obtiene una suspensión de las picnidiosporas haciendo un lavado con agua destilada estéril. Para mantener cepas de cada especie, use el medio específico que se recomienda para cada una de ellas y hágalos crecer en tubos de ensayo con el medio inclinado, o bien incremente las cepas en el invernadero y consérvelas en hojas en refrigeración a 4 o C.La fusariosis o roña de la espiga de trigo ataca la planta a partir de la emisión de la espiga, aunque la floración es el estado más susceptible. En México, la especie causal que predomina es Fusarium graminearum (teleom. Gibberella zeae), pero también están presentes F. culmorum, Microdochium nivale (antes F. nivale), F. equiseti y F. avenaceum (teleom. Gibberella atenacea).La identificación de las especies de Fusarium no es fácil, dado que las diferencias entre ellas son poco evidentes. El medio de cultivo PDA se utiliza con buenos resultados en el aislamiento de estos hongos.Existen otros medios específicos para aislar este género, como agar harina de maíz, que se encuentra en el mercado ya preparado y listo para hidratarse, y el PCNB. Estos medios ayudan en la esporulación y aislamiento, y evitan problemas con saprófitos. Los criterios básicos para la identificación de las especies de Fusarium son la presencia y la forma de los microconidios, macroconidios y clamidosporas (consultar la sección \"Aislamiento e identificación de Fusarium\" en la p. 39). Las claves más utilizadas son las de Booth y de Toussoun y Nelson (citas en la sección mencionada).Cuando el patógeno ataca las espigas, éstas muestran diferentes coloraciones que van desde el blancorosado hasta el naranja. En algunas localidades, la fase sexual se desarrolla en las glumas al final de ciclo vegetativo y permanece en el rastrojo durante el invierno.Pegar una espiga en la hoja de diagnóstico; observar y describir los síntomas de la enfermedad. Desinfectar las pinzas. Separar cuidadosamente las estructuras florales y tomar con las pinzas granos de espiguillas infectadas, preferentemente de donde se observe micelio. Depositar en forma directa en cajas de Petri con medio papa dextrosa agar. Incubar las cajas durante 5 a 7 días bajo luz cercana al ultravioleta, que estimula el desarrollo de la fase asexual. Al término de este período, observar al microscopio y tratar de identificar la especie o especies presentes. Si existen contaminantes, es necesario purificar el cultivo transplantando una pequeña parte de las orillas de la colonia del hongo deseado a otra caja con PDA. Incubar durante 5 a 7 días.Si se desea obtener cultivos 100% puros, sembrar diluciones de una suspensión de conidios en agaragua y sacar con una aguja de disección conidios individuales que estén germinando, dentro de un plazo no mayor de 12 horas. Describir las características de la colonia. Dibujar y describir las estructuras vistas al microscopio.Para evaluar material genético con resistencia a fusariosis, generalmente se utilizan dos métodos: inoculación de espiga individual e inoculación en masa.Preparar el inóculo a partir del raspado de varias cajas de cultivo del hongo puro, como sigue: agregar agua destilada y raspar con una espátula o bisturí; filtrar la suspensión a través de una malla o gasa y, con el hematócimetro, calcular una suspensión de 50,000 esporas por ml. De ser posible, preparar el inóculo inmediatamente antes de la inoculación; no obstante, el inóculo permanece infectivo hasta 36 horas si se le mantiene en refrigeración a 4-5 o C.Existe un medio de cultivo líquido natural, excelente para el incremento de inóculo, que se elabora a base de una especie de frijol conocida como frijol chino (Vigna radiata) (ver su preparación en el apéndice 1). Entre sus ventajas figuran que 1) al crecer en el frijol chino, el hongo produce únicamente conidios en gran cantidad, y 2) la virulencia de los aislamientos no se ve alterada durante su multiplicación, fenómeno negativo para los propósitos de la investigación, que es muy común en las especies del género Fusarium cuando crece en medios de cultivo sintéticos.Inoculación de espiga individual (método del algodón). Este método es aconsejable cuando se selecciona para mejorar la resistencia tipo II. Seleccionar 10 espigas por línea e identificarlas con etiquetas. Las anteras deben estar comenzando a emerger de las florecillas. Cortar las barbas para facilitar el embolsado. Saturar un pedacito de algodón con la suspensión de esporas; abrir las glumas e inocular en el punto medio de la espiga, colocando una mota del algodón saturado en cada lado. Cubrir la espiga con una bolsa de papel glasine, anotando en ella la fecha de inoculación.Inoculación en masa. Se aconseja este método cuando se evalúa un gran número de líneas avanzadas o poblaciones segregantes, o bien cuando se busca seleccionar para mejorar la resistencia tipo I. Se aplica el inóculo con un aspersor a una distancia de 10 a 15 cm, hasta que se observe un empapado uniforme de las espigas. Deben realizarse inoculaciones semanales por lo menos tres veces consecutivas si las condiciones ambientales no son óptimas. La inoculación debe hacerse cuando un 5-10% de las anteras en la parcela hayan emergido.La evaluación se realiza 30 a 40 días después de haber inoculado, al final de la formación del grano, cuando las espigas están todavía verdes y hay un contraste fuerte entre el color de las espiguillas sanas (verdes) y las enfermas (amarillas). La inclusión de testigos susceptibles y resistentes es fundamental para determinar el día en que debe comenzar la evaluación, ya que esto variará de un ciclo a otro, dependiendo de las condiciones ambientales. La evaluación se puede realizar calculando porcentajes con base en el número de espiguillas enfermas respecto al número total de espiguillas.Las cepas se pueden conservar en medio natural de grano de trigo estéril (ver el apéndice para su preparación) en tubos de ensayo. Cada aislamiento se deja crecer en forma individual durante 10 días, a una temperatura de 20 a 22 o C, para luego mantenerlos a 4 o C.Otra forma de conservar las cepas es en papel filtro esterilizado en autoclave. Para este propósito se hace crecer el aislamiento en PDA o CMA; cuando se encuentra bien desarrollado se depositan sobre él, en forma aséptica, pedacitos de papel filtro estéril que se incuban hasta que el cultivo cubra los pedacitos de papel. Entonces se sacan cuidadosamente y se guardan a 4 o C en sobres de papel aluminio claramente identificados.Duveiller Existe en la naturaleza un gran número de hongos que, pese a ser de micelio septado, raras veces o nunca se reproducen sexualmente; por esto se les ha denominado Hongos Imperfectos o Deuteromycetes. La mayoría son saprófitos o parásitos débiles de las plantas, los animales y el hombre. Algunos son patógenos de otros hongos y nematodos.Los Deuteromycetes sobreviven perfectamente en la naturaleza sin necesidad de reproducirse sexualmente. Llevan a cabo la reproducción asexual a partir de un estroma que genera conidios, o conidios que se desarrollan sin hifas especiales (conidióforos), o cuerpos fructíferos como picnidios, acérvulos, esporodoquios y sinemas.La punta negra es causada principalmente por tres especies diferentes, Alternaria alternata, A. triticina y/ o Bipolaris sorokiniana (Cochliobolus sativus) que ennegrecen uno de los extremos del grano. Para saber cuál o cuáles de las tres especies está causando el daño, es necesario aislar una muestra en medio de cultivo y realizar la identificación al microscopio.Recolectar una muestra para la hoja de diagnóstico y describir los síntomas. Colocar en cajas de Petri, por separado, hipoclorito de sodio al 3% y agua estéril; esterilizar los granos en el hipoclorito durante 1 min y con pinzas esterilizadas transferirlos al agua estéril para eliminar el exceso de hipoclorito. Secar el exceso de agua sobre papel toalla para reducir el crecimiento de bacterias contaminantes. Enseguida se siembran cinco granos procedentes de cada localidad en estudio en sendas cajas de Petri con PDA.Incubar las cajas durante 5 a 7 días; realizar preparaciones y observar al microscopio. Describir el color y la forma de la colonia en cada caso. Dibujar las estructuras que observe de cada aislamiento. Describir la forma, el número de septas y otras características que se observen en los conidios de cada aislamiento.Investigar bajo qué condiciones ambientales podrían ocurrir los daños provocados por cada patógeno.La escaldadura (agente causal, Rhynchosporium secalis) es una de las enfermedades más importantes de la cebada en áreas frías y húmedas, y en tierras altas del trópico donde hay mucha precipitación y las temperaturas se mantienen bajas por la altura. Afecta principalmente las hojas, aunque puede dañartambién las glumas, aristas y granos. Los síntomas en campo son fácilmente reconocibles, pues se presentan al principio como lesiones ovaladas, alargadas o elípticas, con bordes café obscuro o rojizo y centros de color gris o café paja.El aislamiento y cultivo de este hongo presenta algunas dificultades. Dado que su desarrollo es muy lento, los primeros indicios de crecimiento aparecen sólo después de 14 días de incubación. Por tanto, se recomienda eliminar todo crecimiento que aparezca antes de ese plazo porque probablemente sea contaminación. Para una identificación rápida, basta hacer preparaciones directas para el microscopio de tejido enfermo donde se observaron conidios. Sin embargo, si se desea aislar para hacer colección de virulencias y, posteriormente, incremento de inóculo para pruebas de resistencia, se recomienda el método descrito a continuación.Recolectar muestras de hojas de cebada con síntomas de escaldadura para la hoja de diagnóstico y describir los síntomas observados.Identificación directa de tejido enfermo. Con una navaja de rasurar (una \"Gilette\") o un bisturí, raspar la superficie de una hoja con lesiones claras y hacer la preparación. Observar al microscopio, dibujar y describir las estructuras del hongo.Aislamiento en medio agar frijol lima (lima bean agar o LBA) e incremento posterior. Cortar pedacitos de tejido con lesiones jóvenes, de preferencia de color verde grisáceo sin bordes necróticos marcados.Remojar los pedacitos de tejido en alcohol etílico al 70% durante 15 a 20 segundos. Transferir los pedacitos a hipoclorito de sodio (grado comercial, 5.25% en peso) diluido en agua a 1:9. Remojar el tejido en el hipoclorito durante 90 segundos (asegurarse que los pedacitos estén bien sumergidos en el hipoclorito). El tiempo de remojo es importante; por ejemplo, si las muestras se dejan sólo 60 segundos, presentan mucha contaminación en los cultivos, pero si se remojan 2 minutos o más, se elimina el hongo. Después del remojo, transferir los trocitos de tejido a cajas con medio de cultivo.Incubar las cajas a 18-20 ˚C. Schein y Kerelo (1956) indican que se requieren de 5 a 7 días para observar crecimiento, pero, en nuestra experiencia, este plazo se prolonga de 10 a 14 días. El crecimiento del hongo en este medio no es muy rápido, pero las pequeñas colonias que resultan son totalmente puras.Para obtener un gran número de esporas por cultivo, se recomienda sembrar en zigzag en tubo o caja de Petri, como se indica a continuación.Tomar con una aguja estéril el crecimiento incipiente y diluirlo en 1 ml de agua estéril; agitarlo con fuerza para que la suspensión se homogenice. Con una pipeta Pasteur previamente flameada y enfriada, tomar una pequeña cantidad y depositarla sobre el medio de cultivo. Con la flama se dobla la punta de la pipeta Pasteur, que luego se enfría y se desliza suavemente sobre la superficie del medio de cultivo a fin de distribuir el inóculo en la forma más homogénea posible. El cultivo que se obtiene después de 8 días tiene la apariencia de levadura y una concentración de 30 millones de esporas, o más. Todos los aislamientos que crecen en este medio tienen un tono rosado que contrasta con el color negro o café que adquieren en otros medios de cultivo.No es posible conservar las cepas en medios de cultivo de un ciclo a otro, pues Rhynchosporium secalis no es capaz de sobrevivir en un medio. Por eso se recomienda mantener las cepas en hojas infectadas con lesiones incipientes que se secan y luego son guardadas en bolsas de papel dentro de un recipiente hermético a 4 o C.Si se quiere seleccionar germoplasma, el inóculo se prepara raspando el crecimiento con una espátula estéril y obteniendo una suspensión que se aplica en un ambiente muy húmedo con agua libre sobre las hojas. Para inocular áreas extensas y disminuir los costos, se recomienda incrementar la infección sobre un área o bordos compuestos de variedades susceptibles. Cuando la infección se haya desarrollado, cortar las plantas y distribuir los tallos dentro de las hileras a seleccionar. La infección pasará fácilmente al nuevo material y éste podrá ser seleccionado eficientemente.Schein, R.D. y J.W. Kerelo. 1956. Culturing Rhynchosporium secalis. Plant Disease Reporter 4(9):814-815.Los patógenos del suelo producen enfermedades asociadas con la inhibición o la destrucción, o ambas, del sistema radical de las plantas. Resulta difícil identificar todos los problemas que los fitopatógenos del suelo pueden provocar; sin embargo, es factible agrupar estos hongos en forma general, según las zonas climáticas donde predominan. Por ejemplo, Bipolaris, Fusarium y Pythium son importantes en climas templados, Sclerotium rolfsii lo es en el subtrópico y Gaeumannomyces graminis prevalece en zonas frías y lluviosas.En general, los efectos de estos patógenos en la planta son un desarrollo menor, menor número de macollos y madurez prematura (espigas blancas). Asimismo, se observa una distribución irregular de grupos de plantas enfermas en el campo.Fusarium y Bipolaris sorokiniana se presentan en muchas regiones debido a su variada gama de hospederos y amplia adaptación a temperaturas. Ambos patógenos interfieren con la etapa de establecimiento, así como la pre y post-emergencia de la raíz, especialmente si se presentan cuando la temperatura del suelo es alta (25-30 o C) en el momento de la siembra. Los suelos húmedos tienden a favorecer los daños causados por B. sorokiniana, mientras que los secos tienden a favorecer el desarrollo de Fusarium, especialmente cuando las plantas se acercan a la madurez y ésta coincide con períodos de sequía.Cuando el trigo se acerca a la madurez, se pueden observar espigas blancas esparcidas por el cultivo, ya sea en uno o muchos tallos o en grandes grupos irregulares. Si la infección es provocada por Fusarium, los entrenudos de la base de las plantas que presentan espigas blancas son de color obscuro a café claro. En climas templados, el desarrollo de espigas blancas está estrechamente relacionado con la sequía, pues cuanto más intensa sea ésta cerca de la madurez, mayor es la probabilidad de que se observe el síntoma de espigas blancas.En cuanto a B. sorokiniana, la sintomatología característica son lesiones de color café a negro en el entrenudo debajo de la corona, que tienden a intensificarse a medida que crece la planta. Durante la época de crecimiento, los cambios en la severidad de las lesiones pueden ser observados mientras las subcoronas mantengan su integridad. Bipolaris sorokiniana, al igual que Fusarium y Gaeumannomyces graminis (mal del pie), puede causar el síntoma de espigas blancas cuando las plantas se acercan a la madurez.Generalmente se usa PDA para aislar e identificar Fusarium, pero algunos estudios especiales requieren de medios selectivos. A continuación se señalan los componentes y el modo de preparar medio selectivo PCNB para Fusarium, en cantidad suficiente para 40 ó 50 cajas de Petri (15 x 100 mm).Componentes: Agua desionizada 1000 ml Agar 20 g Peptona 15 g Fosfato de potasio (monobásico KH 2 PO 4 ) 1 g Sulfato de magnesio (MgSO 4 -7H 2 O) 0.5 g Mezclar, disolver y esterilizar. El medio se enfría a 45-50 ˚C y se agregan los siguientes ingredientes: PCNB (pentacloronitrobenceno; Terraclor) 0.5 g Bacto-oxgall 1 g Sulfato de estreptomicina 0.1 g Clorotetraciclina-HCL 0.05 g El sulfato de estreptomicina se suspende en 3 a 5 ml de alcohol al 95%; los demás ingredientes se agregan secos. El medio se agita suavemente durante 2 ó 3 minutos, teniendo cuidado de no formar burbujas.Procedimiento: De las plantas recolectadas en el campo, escoger el material del cual se hará el aislamiento. Observar el tejido descolorido al estereoscopio. Algunas veces se observa en el primer entrenudo que el micelio de Fusarium crece tanto en el exterior como el interior del tejido; en ese caso, la superficie del tejido no se esteriliza.Utilizar pinzas para remover las vainas de las hojas tan asépticamente como sea posible (no tocar el tejido con los dedos). Con tijeras previamente flameadas, cortar el tejido del entrenudo en segmentos pequeños (0.5 cm o menos) y colocarlos en una caja de Petri. Se requieren 5 a 10 pedacitos de cada entrenudo para sembrarlos en una caja con medio selectivo o con PDA. Incubar las cajas y, 3 a 5 días después, observar el desarrollo de Fusarium. Este debe presentar un crecimiento micelial aéreo velloso que varía de blanco puro a rojizo con una ligera sombra amarilla. Los subcultivos se deben purificar en este momento y colocarse en el mismo medio. Examinar los subcultivos al microscopio y determinar si están puros, para identificarlos y, posteriormente, almacenarlos.Para identificar las especies de este género, es preciso trabajar con cultivos producidos por un solo conidio; sin embargo, los trabajos de resistencia deben hacerse con una mezcla de aislamientos con el fin de mantener una diversidad genética tan grande como sea posible. El trabajo de identificación se hace principalmente en laboratorio usando aislamientos purificados que provienen de una sola espora.No debe hacerse ningún tipo de evaluación de resistencia del hospedero usando sólo aislamientos procedentes de conidios individuales. Éstos deben multiplicarse individualmente y mezclarse al momento de preparar el inóculo.La mayor parte del trabajo de crecimiento y purificación de Fusarium se hace en CMA o PDA, medios apropiados para iniciar cultivos que han estado almacenados. También se pueden usar porciones de estos cultivos para infectar medio de semilla de trigo utilizado en ensayos de patogenicidad e incrementar inóculo para pruebas de campo.Para identificar las especies de Fusarium, se recomienda hacer esporular los aislamientos bajo condiciones estandarizadas y usar un solo medio de cultivo. Tousson y Nelson recomiendan usar pedazos de hoja de clavel inmersos en agar agua. Se ponen de 4 a 5 pedazos de hoja en la superficie de agar-agua al 2%, equidistantes del centro, donde se coloca una porción del aislamiento en crecimiento activo. Se repite el procedimiento en varias cajas que luego se sellan y se incuban a temperatura ambiente (25 o C) bajo luz fluorescente (con ciclo alternado de 12 h luz-12 h obscuridad).Después de 6 a 7 días, se examinan las cajas. Cuando un aislamiento ha comenzado a esporular, se toma un caja para hacer observaciones y tomar notas de la presencia de microconidios, macroconidios, clamidosporas, etc. Con base en la morfología de las estructuras observadas y utilizando las claves que se indican en las referencias, se empieza a reducir el número de especies que podrían estar presentes. Las siguientes son características importantes para utilizar correctamente cualquiera de esas claves:a) Micelio septado.b) Macroconidios: Son grandes, con más de 2 septas. Se debe observar la célula apical, célula basal (célula con pie) y el número de septas. Es muy importante la forma que tienen las células apicales y basales. La fijación del esporóforo o conidióforo puede ser una característica importante a considerar.c) Microconidios: Son pequeños, con 1 a 2 células; no todas las especies los producen. Es importante determinar si se producen o no.d) Clamidosporas: Esporas latentes, de paredes gruesas, producidas por hifas y conidios. Su presencia o ausencia es un factor importante. Generalmente se forman en cultivos de más de una semana de edad.Durante este proceso se debe tener paciencia. Seleccionar de 1 a 4 aislamientos que representen tipos diferentes (por ejemplo, colonias blancas o colonias de muchos colores). Estos se trabajan en detalle, observando los macroconidios, presencia o ausencia de microconidios, etc., de preferencia a lo largo de varios días, empleando un par de aislamientos. Una vez que se esté familiarizado con la variación y las especies con las que se trabaja, será mucho más fácil categorizar la mayoría de los aislamientos que se tengan.Cuando se desea producir inóculo e inocular el suelo para infectar las raíces, se recomienda usar grano de trigo estéril en frascos (para su preparación, ver el apéndice 1). Los frascos se inoculan con los aislamientos deseados y se mantienen en una pieza con luz blanca.Cuando el grano ha sido invadido por el hongo y éste ha esporulado en forma abundante (alrededor de un mes), el inóculo se extiende en condiciones de medio ambiente para que seque (2 días). Después se muele en un molino de café o un aparato similar. Se pesan cantidades iguales de inóculo, que se aplicarán a cada línea genética a evaluar. Se recomienda calibrar la cantidad de inóculo según el lugar donde se vaya a hacer la evaluación. Se comparan las reacciones producidas en germoplasma susceptible y en resistente antes de aplicar el inóculo a un gran número de líneas.Durante el proceso de establecimiento del germoplasma, se recomienda incluir los testigos y repetirlos cada cierto número de líneas para poder observar la variación de la infección en el material genético. Esta variación es normal cuando se trabaja con organismos que viven en el suelo y atacan las raíces. El inóculo se puede mezclar con la semilla dos días antes de la siembra, o bien, se aplica al suelo en el mismo surco donde se pondrá la semilla.El aislamiento e identificación de B. sorokiniana suele ser menos problemático que las especies del género Fusarium; en general se usa el medio PDA, aunque para trabajos específicos se pueden usar medios selectivos como el agar modificado de Czapek que a continuación se describe. 0.5 g Cloruro de potasio (KCl) 0.5 g Sulfato ferroso (FeSO 4 -7-H 2 O 0.01 g Agua destilada 1000 mlEl crecimiento de B. sorokiniana es usualmente visible como un frente de micelio blanco que avanza y que se torna obscuro detrás de ésta área. Los cultivos tienen que ser examinados microscópicamente para verificarlos porque en el medio, las especies de Alternaria muestran características de crecimiento similares, aunque los conidios son diferentes y se producen en cadena.Helminthosporium spiciferum también se puede aislar usando este método, aunque su crecimiento es muy diferente, pues es de tipo velloso y color oscuro descolorido. Esta especie produce sus conidios en verticilos en la punta de los conidióforos. Los conidios son también mucho más pequeños que los de B. sorokiniana, producidos individualmente o en pares sobre la base del conidióforo. Con algo de experiencia, estas diferencias son fáciles de distinguir al estereoscopio.Procedimiento: Para hacer un aislamiento a partir de tejido vegetal o de los entrenudos abajo de la corona, se recomienda seguir la siguiente metodología:Traer al laboratorio el material vegetal ya lavado. Cortar los entrenudos abajo de la corona, al igual que el sistema radical seminal. Desinfectar superficialmente la muestra 1 minuto y colocarla en una solución 1:1 (alcohol-hipoclorito de sodio al 5%). Lavar dos veces con agua estéril y poner a secar en papel absorbente. Los pedacitos desinfectados se siembran acomodando cinco por caja de medio y se ponen a incubar a 22 o C durante cinco días.Pueden presentarse muchas especies del género Pythium que dañan a los cereales. El daño que causa en el campo es un achaparramiento y amarillamiento de las plantas que puede ser muy obvio, aunque casi indistinguible de los síntomas causados por deficiencia de nitrógeno. Al realizar un exámen directo de las raíces, éstas se observan atrofiadas y acuosas, con lesiones de color café rojizo. Se pueden buscar directamente las oosporas en el tejido radical coloreando el tejido con lacto fuscina (0.1 g ácido fuscínico/100 ml de ácido láctico).Los síntomas de mal del pie se inhiben cuando la temperatura del suelo sobrepasa los 27 ˚C. Por eso, este patógeno puede no ser importante en zonas tropicales donde las temperaturas son altas, pero predomina en áreas donde la temperatura del suelo es relativamente baja (10-15 o C) y éste está sobresaturado por exceso de lluvia.El daño en las regiones templadas se manifiesta primordialmente en la aparición en el campo de pequeñas áreas irregulares de plantas muertas prematuramente (espigas blancas), similares a las causadas por Fusarium. Sin embargo, muy distinto a los síntomas de ese mal es el color negro brillante que se observa al examinar las raíces y entrenudos más bajos de la planta. Se forma además una red de micelio en la superficie de las raíces, que presenta una apariencia oscura al observarse al microscopio.Es común observar en las vainas del tallo los peritecios correspondientes a la fase sexual del patógeno.Rhizoctonia puede causar marchitez o amarillamiento de las plántulas y/o daños a las plantas adultas similares a los provocados por B. sorokiniana y Fusarium. En planta adulta, ocasiona una lesión llamada mancha ocular (quiebra-paja) en la base de los tallos, que puede debilitarlos y llevar subsecuentemente al acame.La técnica que se describe a continuación da buenos resultados en el aislamiento de Pythium y Gaeumannomyces del sistema radical de trigo. También ha probado ser útil para aislar Rhizoctonia de tejido de trigo.La técnica básica consiste en usar como trampa tejido de las raíces u otras partes de la planta infectada. Cuando se intenta aislar Pythium, se usan raíces de trigo recolectadas en el campo en las que se sospecha un problema relacionado con Pythium, aunque quizá no haya síntomas bien definidos. Una de las razones por las que no se definen es que otros organismos patógenos y saprófitos pueden estar presentes en la misma lesión, especialmente conforme las plantas se aproximan a la madurez. Por eso se tiene poco éxito cuando se intenta aislar Pythium y Gaeumannomyces directamente del tejido radical infectado.Para aislamientos de Pythium y Gaeumannomyces se usa agar harina de maíz. Este medio se puede preparar con 40 g de harina de maíz en un litro de agua, mantenida a 50 ˚C por una hora, filtrar, agregar 15 g de agar y esterilizarlo. Rhizoctonia crece fácilmente en PDA.Trampas. Recolectar en el campo sistemas radicales con síntomas, llevarlos al laboratorio y lavarlos cuidadosamente sobre tamices con agua corriente para remover, hasta donde sea posible, la tierra y otros desechos. Colocar este material en macetas parcialmente llenas con arena estéril; sembrar de 4 a 6 semillas de trigo sobre el material radical (Figura 14 a). Cubrir las raíces y las semillas con 2 cm de arena estéril. Regar las macetas y ponerlas a incubar en una mesa de laboratorio con iluminación complementaria (12 horas de luz). En el caso de Rhizoctonia, la temperatura debe ser de 20 a 25 ˚C, para Gaeumannomyces de 14 a 16 o C y para Pythium de 18 a 20 ˚C. Las macetas deben tener un drenaje adecuado; durante el desarrollo de la prueba se agrega agua según sea necesario.Las plántulas se extraen cuando tienen 5 a 6 días de emergidas, como sigue (Figura 14 b). Las raíces se sacan cuidadosamente del suelo y se lavan sumergiéndolas con cuidado en agua, de tal manera de recuperarlas intactas. Si Pythium está presente, las raíces infectadas están poco desarrolladas y usualmente tienen una coloración café claro. En el caso de Rhizoctonia, se observan lesiones de color café y en el de Gaeumannomyces, de color negro (Figura 14 c).Para los aislamientos pueden seguirse dos métodos:1. Todo el sistema radical puede ser suavemente extendido sobre la superficie de una caja con medio de cultivo. Este método generalmente se usa cuando hay pocos síntomas visibles, o ninguno.2. Cuando se observan síntomas severos, se cortan segmentos individuales de tejido radical infectado y se siembran en cajas con un medio indicado para las especies que se sospecha están presentes.Con este método normalmente no se esteriliza el material vegetal. Secar bien las raíces antes de pasarlas al medio de cultivo; así se evitará el exceso de contaminación por bacterias.Figura 14 a, b, c. Secuencia para construir una trampa para aislar hongos causantes de pudriciones de raíces.El usar plántulas de trigo o trampas como medio selectivo para el organismo patogénico más agresivo que pudiera estar presente en el tejido vegetal enfermo permite evitar la interferencia de otros saprófitos y patógenos débiles. En ambos casos, las cajas sembradas se incuban en posición invertida (la tapa hacia abajo). En el caso de Pythium, la revisión debe comenzar a partir de las 24 horas para no tener interferencia por contaminación. Normalmente los aislamientos de Pythium producirán una colonia de unos 50 a 60 µm de diámetro en las primeras 24 ó 48 horas. Nótese que el crecimiento de Pythium en este medio es mucho menos obvio que el de Fusarium. El crecimiento de Pythium será usualmente bastante comprimido, con poco desarrollo aéreo. El crecimiento es más evidente cuando se observa por el fondo de la caja Petri con luz refractada. Si el crecimiento de la colonia es como se describió anteriormente (24 a 48 horas posteriores a la siembra), casi invariablemente será Pythium. En este momento deben hacerse reaislamientos tomando micelio de los bordes de las colonias en desarrollo para obtener aislamientos puros; los aislamientos que aparecen después de tres días o más, usualmente corresponden a Fusarium, Gaeumannomyces, Bipolaris sorokiniana y/o Rhizoctonia.El crecimiento inicial de Gaeumannomyces, en comparación con Pythium, será mucho más lento, pues a esta temperatura su desarrollo tomará varios días. Deberán hacerse cultivos y examinarlos para eliminar contaminantes.La taxonomía de las especies del género Pythium en general se basa en unas cuantas estructuras morfológicas distintivas, relacionadas con la formación de esporangios y oosporas o conidios. La presencia o ausencia, tamaño, forma o número de estas estructuras depende grandemente del medio que se use, los regímenes de temperatura, la edad del cultivo y otras condiciones ambientales usadas para inducir su formación. Enseguida se definen y describen las estructuras en que se basa la identificación de este género.Esporangio. Estructura en forma de saco cuyo contenido protoplásmico total se convierte en un número indefinido de esporas asexuales móviles denominadas zoosporas. El tiempo requerido para la formación de esporangios en cultivo, así como la morfología y abundancia de éstos, varía ampliamente según la especie. Algunos se forman rápidamente después de pocos días en medio de agar, mientras que otros sólo se forman cuando el micelio es sumergido en agua. Hay básicamente tres tipos de esporangios producidos por Pythium: globosos, lobulados y filamentosos. Aquellas especies que generan esporangios filamentosos generalmente producen zoosporas solamente cuando se les sumerge en agua. Las zoosporas varían en tamaño, forma y la posición de los flagelos; sin embargo, debido a su tamaño tan pequeño, solamente la variación extrema de estas características se considera útil en la taxonomía.Conidios. Estas estructuras son desde esféricas o globosas hasta elipsoidales, y asemejan esporangios en la mayoría de los casos. La única diferencia es que los conidios no producen zoosporas.Oogonio. Corresponde al gametangio femenino y contiene uno o más gametos. Los oogonios son esféricos, subesféricos o elipsoidales y pueden tener espinas u otras protuberancias. Pueden ser terminales o intercalares, y la gran mayoría de las especies producen ambos tipos. La temperatura, el medio y el tiempo que los aislamientos hayan permanecido en cultivo, son factores que afectan el tamaño y la forma, así como el número de oogonios producidos.Anteridio. Es el gametangio masculino. Los anteridios son probablemente el carácter taxonómico más difícil de observar. Su número puede variar desde uno hasta más de 25 por oogonio. Según su posición, pueden ser hipóginos (abajo del oogonio) o paráginos (al lado del oogonio) y en origen pueden ser monoclinos (los anteridios brotan de cualquier hifa que no sea el tallo oogónico).Oospora. Es una espora sexual producida por la unión de dos gametangios morfológicamente diferentes (oogonio y anteridio). Bajo condiciones normales, las oosporas suelen presentarse en forma individual. La oospora puede llenar por completo la cavidad oogónica o la oosfera dentro de la cual se forma, en cuyo caso se dice que es plerótica. Si casi llena la cavidad o está libre dentro de la cavidad oogónica, se dice que es aplerótica. Desafortunadamente, existen pocas especies en las cuales se da uno de estos casos con exclusión del otro. Algunas veces las dos condiciones pueden ser observadas en la misma caja de Petri.El hongo se cultiva en agar harina de maíz durante 5 días a 15 ˚C. Porciones pequeñas de cultivo (3 a 5 mm) se transfieren a tubos de ensayo que contienen agua estéril y láminas foliares frescas (2 cm) que han sido hervidas 10 minutos en agua esterilizada y destilada. Después de la infección de las hojas (24 h), éstas son transferidas a cajas de Petri frescas e incubadas a 18 ó 20 o C. Los esporangios se producen generalmente después de 24 a 36 horas. En algunos casos, los cambios periódicos de agua estimulan la producción de zoosporas.Esta especie forma micelio grueso de color negro; al comienzo, las raícillas toman una coloración café pero, después de 10 días, se vuelven de color negro. Al mismo tiempo que el hongo invade la planta, se inicia la formación de peritecios en las raíces, corona y hojas envainantes inferiores.El micelio producido por esta especie forma ángulos rectos, muy cerca de los cuales se generan septas. Después de una semana, el medio de cultivo se cubre de esclerocios irregulares.Este organismo tiene un amplio rango de hospederos y se ha encontrado que afecta gravemente la producción de algunos cultivos, en especial en zonas tropicales. Típicamente produce un crecimiento micelial blanco sobre la superficie de las plantas y del suelo. A partir del micelio se producen esclerocios inicialmente de color blanco, que se vuelven color café obscuro, similares a semillas de mostaza, que son fácilmente visibles en las plantas que están muriendo. Para aislar este organismo, basta tomar micelio o esclerocios con una aguja estéril y transferirlos a papa dextrosa agar.Los nematodos, conocidos también como anguílulas, tienen forma alargada y son demasiado pequeños (suelen medir de 0.3 a 5 µm) para observarlos a simple vista. En el pasado, los daños que éstos provocaban a los cultivos a menudo se ignoraban o se atribuían a otras causas, como la infertilidad del suelo o deficiencia de agua. Además, no se disponía de información clara sobre su patogenia.Los nematodos fitoparasíticos están ampliamente distribuidos, y casi todas las plantas son infestadas por una o más especies. Más de 5,000 especies pertenecientes a 200 géneros son reconocidas como parásitos de plantas capaces de causar daño económico a los cultivos.Aunque los géneros tienen características morfológicas que los distinguen, todas las especies patógenas poseen una estructura del aparato bucal, conocida como estilete, que permite al nematodo penetrar las plantas para obtener los nutrientes que requiere. El estilete está ausente en los nematodos saprófitos.Los nematodos ectoparásitos como Tylenchorhynchus, Helicotylenchus y Xiphinema permanecen fuera del hospedero mientras se alimentan de sus células internas. Con el estilete penetran las células de las plantas; después de un período de alimentación breve, retraen el estilete y repiten el proceso. En contraste, los nematodos endoparásitos -incluyendo Meloidogyne y Pratylenchus-penetran la planta y migran hacia el tejido de la raíz donde se alimentan y completan su ciclo de vida. Los nematodos endoparásitos son considerados más insidiosos porque destruyen el tejido interno durante su migración y durante su alimentación están en contacto con el sistema vascular. Otra consecuencia importante del ataque de nematodos es que provocan heridas que permiten la entrada de bacterias y hongos patógenos del suelo, lo cual crea infecciones secundarias.Una característica importante que distingue a los nematodos fitoparásitos, es la presencia del estilete. Estas y otras características se observan en la Figura 15.El diagnóstico de un problema de nematodos requiere la identificación de la plaga en asociación con la planta enferma. En los esquemas que se señalan en la Figura 16, se presentan diferentes formas de muestrear suelo y tejido de plantas en áreas que padecen estos problemas.Figura 16. Esquemas de muestreo del suelo que permiten diagnosticar la presencia de nematodos.Figura 15. Clave para la identificación de algunos grupos de nematodos fitoparásitos. En el caso de Heterodera o Meloidogyne, pueden observarse directamente hembras enquistadas en las raíces o en agallas; en los géneros restantes, los nematodos deben ser extraídos del suelo o de las raíces. La técnica más conocida y sencilla para extraer nematodos del suelo es con un embudo de Baermann (Figura 17 a). Lo ideal es suspender la muestra de suelo en agua y pasarla a través de mallas; entonces los nematodos, junto con los residuos, pueden colocarse en un embudo de Baermann (Figura 17 b) o extraerse utilizando la técnica de flotación de azúcar (Figura 17 c).Figuras 17 a, b y c. Métodos para extraer nematodos de tierra o tejido vegetal: embudo de Baermann y flotación de azucar.Fuente: Tomados, con permiso, de G.N. Agrios (1978), Plant Pathology, Academic Press, Inc. Instalar dos embudos Baermann y comparar la eficiencia de extracción utilizando una muestra que se pasó a través de malla de alambre y otra en la que no se usó esta técnica. Cuando se detecta un problema de nematodos en un área determinada y se desea muestrear una superficie, se pueden usar los esquemas señalados en la Figura 17.La identificación de especies dentro del género Meloidogyne requiere de la ayuda de cortes perineales.En la Figura 18 a, b, c y d, se pueden observar los pasos más importantes de esta técnica.Los cortes perineales son necesarios en la identificación de especies de algunos géneros como Meloidogyne. Enseguida se describe el procedimiento para realizar esos cortes.Se seleccionan nódulos con hembras maduras y se colocan en una caja de Petri con un poco de agua. De preferencia, se escogen nódulos simples. Con la ayuda de pinzas y una navaja de media hoja, desprender el tejido de la raíz para sacar las hembras adultas (Figura 18 a). Romper la cutícula de la hembra cerca del cuello, apretar ligeramente y sacar los tejidos del cuerpo (Figura 18 b). A-1505 AVENA MEXICOEn una caja de Petri de plástico, poner la cutícula en una gota de ácido láctico al 45%. El ácido láctico facilita la remoción de los tejidos del cuerpo que hayan quedado adheridos a la cutícula después de haberla apretado. Reunir 10 ó 20 cutículas en una gota y dejarlas remojando en el ácido desde 30 minutos hasta varias horas. Todos los cortes se realizan en cajas de Petri de plástico para minimizar el gasto del filo de la navaja (es recomendable siempre trabajar con una navaja bien afilada).Cortar la cutícula por la mitad (ecuatorialmente), sacarla del ácido con el corte perineal y colocarla junto a la gota recortando el modelo perineal en forma de cuadro (Figura 18 c). Volver a colocar el corte perineal en el ácido. Cortar de 5 a 10 modelos por muestra. Con una aguja limpiar los modelos perineales, tratando de remover los restos.Transferir los modelos perineales a una gota de glicerina en un portaobjetos, alineados de manera que todos queden con el ano orientado hacia abajo. La superficie inferior de la cutícula debe colocarse contra la superficie del portaobjetos. Con la ayuda de una aguja de disección, presionar ligeramente el modelo perineal contra el portaobjetos. Colocar cuidadosamente el cubreobjetos sobre la gota de glicerina. El exceso de glicerina puede absorberse con papel filtro. Si la glicerina no es suficiente, poner una pequeña gota en la orilla del cubreobjetos. Sellar la muestra y etiquetarla (Figura 18 d).Se recolectan nematodos de plantas enfermas y se identifican correctamente. Se lavan con agua estéril y estreptomicina al 0.3% durante una hora y después se transfieren a cortes horizontales de zanahoria de aproximadamente 0.5 cm de grosor. Éstos se acomodan en cajas Petri estériles, de tal forma que permitan un buen cerrado de la caja.Preparación de la zanahoria: Se escogen zanahorias en muy buen estado sanitario, sin lesiones ni raspaduras visibles; se lavan bien y se pelan con utensilios correctamente esterilizados con alcohol y flameados. Una vez peladas se sumergen en alcohol durante cinco minutos, se vuelven a pelar y se cortan en rodajas.Una vez acomodadas en las cajas Petri, las rodajas de zanahoria se inoculan con los nematodos limpios. Las cajas se sellan y se mantienen en una incubadora a 25 ˚C. Las cajas deben revisarse continuamente, ya que existe la posibilidad de contaminación con bacterias. Las cajas que se contaminen deben descartarse.Si se desea inocular plantas, se licua la zanahoria en forma muy ligera, se pasa por un tamiz y el sobrenadante se aplica a las plantas que se van a inocular. La concentración que se use dependerá de la especie a inocular, del hospedero y de las condiciones ambientales del experimento.Las especies bacterianas patógenas del trigo pueden agruparse en cuatro géneros: Xanthomonas, Pseudomonas, Clavibacter y Erwinia. Los dos primeros incluyen especies de importancia que ocasionan enfermedades de consecuencias económicas considerables. Ambos géneros corresponden a bacilos aeróbicos gram negativos. Las especies de Xanthomonas no reducen el nitrato a nitrito y la mayoría de ellas producen una sustancia mucosa, polisacárida, extracelular, amarilla en medios que contienen glucosa o sucrosa. Las Pseudomonas son fluorescentes (producen fluorescín, pigmento verde amarilloso) en medio B de King. El género Clavibacter es el único que se caracteriza por bacilos gram positivos; el género Erwinia se caracteriza por bacilos gram negativos y facultativamente anaeróbicos.Casi todas las bacterias fitopatógenas son baciliformes y miden entre 0.6 y 3.5 µm de largo, y 0.5 ó 1.0 µm de diámetro. Las paredes celulares de la mayoría de estas bacterias están rodeadas por un material viscoso y pegajoso. Casi todas las especies poseen flagelos delicados; algunas tienen un solo flagelo, otras tienen un flagelo en forma de mechón en un extremo de la célula, y otras más tienen flagelos distribuidos en toda la superficie celular.Cuando una bacteria se multiplica en la superficie de un medio con agar sólido, su progenie pronto produce una masa visible denominada colonia. Las bacterias se reproducen a una velocidad sorprendente; en condiciones favorables se dividen cada 20 minutos. A esa velocidad se puede generar un millón de bacterias en 10 horas.Las enfermedades bacterianas a menudo se consideran difíciles de manejar. En algunos casos, no son fáciles de identificar, pues a simple vista pueden ser confundidas con daños fisiológicos o daños provocados por condiciones ambientales adversas. La metodología para aislar e identificar las enfermedades bacterianas es muy distinta de la utilizada para los hongos, ya que por su tamaño, las bacterias no pueden ser identificadas por medio de observaciones al microscopio.A continuación se describe el procedimiento para la identificación de una enfermedad bacteriana, tomando como ejemplos especies de los géneros Xanthomonas y Pseudomonas. En el primer ejemplo, se utiliza Xanthomonas campestris pv. undulosa (sin. X. translucens).Pegar la muestra en la hoja de diagnóstico y describir los síntomas observados. Para confirmar que la muestra ha sido infectada por una bacteria, proceder de la siguiente manera:Observación al microscopio con fondo obscuro. Cortar un pedazo de hoja (de aproximadamente 3 x 3 mm) de la zona entre tejido sano y tejido necrótico. Preparar un portaobjetos con una gota de agua estéril, colocar en él el trozo de hoja y cubrir con un cubreobjetos. Usar un campo obscuro en el microscopio; con el objetivo de baja magnificación, observar el exudado bacteriano proveniente del tejido enfermo (el exudado se observa como un flujo continuo de puntitos blancos, sobre el fondo obscuro, que sale del tejido afectado) (Figura 19).Incubar las plantas una semana en cámara húmeda (Figura 22). Si se reproducen lesiones extendidas, similares a los síntomas observados en el campo, es casi seguro que el aislamiento sea patogénico. Sin embargo, es necesario volver a aislar la bacteria que se inoculó para verificar los postulados de Koch. Usar el mismo medio de cultivo; el aspecto de la colonia re-aislada debe ser el mismo que el de la colonia inicialmente aislada y de la obtenida en cultivo puro de la muestra del campo.Figura 22. Plántula hospedera incubada cubierta con una bolsa de polietileno sostenida con un marco de alambre para evitar que la planta toque el polietileno.   Después de la prueba de patogenicidad, se deben realizar diferentes pruebas bioquímicas y fisiológicas que permiten definir el género y la especie a la que pertenece el patógeno aislado. En cereales hay dos géneros que son de importancia económica (Xanthomonas y Pseudomonas) por lo que, con fines de enseñanza, sólo se presentarán tres pruebas básicas que ayudarán a su identificación.Fluorescencia en medio B de King. Tomar una colonia individual de los dos tipos de bacteria que se le proporcionó durante la práctica y sembrarlas, en la forma ya descrita, en dos platos diferentes con medio B de King. Después de cuatro días de incubación a 27 ˚C, observar la fluorescencia presente en uno de ellos; esto permite identificar bacterias del género Pseudomonas (Figura 23).Prueba de reducción de nitratos. Esta prueba permite distinguir grupos importantes de bacterias, por ejemplo, Xanthomonas, que no son capaces de reducir nitratos. Se utiliza el medio que se señala a continuación: Medio para la prueba de reducción de nitratos Componentes: Peptona 10 g K 2 HPO 4 5 g Extracto de levadura 1 g KNO 3 1 g Agar 2 g Agua destilada 1000 ml Para esta prueba se requieren tubos de ensayo con 5 ml de medio que hayan sido esterilizados. Con un asa, inocular el medio con un cultivo puro y fresco, colocándolo hasta el fondo del tubo. Incubar los tubos durante dos días o más, hasta obtener un desarrollo adecuado. Después, agregar lo siguiente:Lugol Una gota Reactivo I (Greiss I) 0.5 ml Reactivo II (Greiss II) 0.5 ml Reactivo I (Greiss I): Solución de ácido sulfanílico al 0.8% en ácido acético 5N (este último se prepara mezclando 57 ml de ácido acético glacial y 143 ml de agua destilada).Reactivo II (Greiss II): N-(1-naftil) biclorhidrato de etilendiamina acuoso al 0.1%.Si hay nitrito, una mancha roja aparecerá en la superficie en unos momentos, y la prueba es positiva. Si no se detecta nitrito, se agrega una pequeña cantidad de polvo de zinc con la punta de una espátula. Si después de unos minutos aparece una mancha roja, esto indica la presencia de nitrato en el medio y confirma que la prueba de reducción de nitrato a nitrito es negativa (Figura 24).Prueba de KOH. Utilizar las mismas cajas que para la primera prueba. Poner unas gotas de la solución de KOH al 3% sobre un portaobjetos. Con una aguja, tomar un poco del cultivo y revolver rápidamente en forma circular. Si las cepas son Gram negativas, la suspensión se vuelve viscosa y se forma un hilillo mucoso al levantar la aguja. Las bacterias Gram positivo se dispersan en la gota y no presentan esta reacción (Figura 25).Indicar si la bacteria es Gram positiva o negativa. Con la excepción del género Corynebacterium, la mayoría de las bacterias fitopatógenas muestran una reacción negativa. Los virus que infectan a las plantas tienen la característica de que nunca abandonan al hospedero porque son incapaces de sobrevivir fuera de éste. Por esta razón, no son diseminados por el viento o el agua, como es el caso de la mayoría de hongos y bacterias, sino que son transmitidos de planta a planta mediante la propagación vegetativa, semillas, polen, insectos, ácaros, nematodos, cúscuta y hongos, o mecánicamente por medio de la savia. Los virus que atacan las plantas se diferencian de los demás fitopatógenos por su tamaño y forma, la sencillez de su constitución química (ácido nucleico y proteína) y estructura física, método de infección, propagación, translocación dentro del hospedero, diseminación y sintomatología.Por su tamaño tan pequeño (medido en nanómetros), los virus no siempre pueden observarse, ni detectarse mediante los métodos utilizados con otros patógenos. Los métodos para la detección de virus en plantas se basan principalmente en la transmisión del virus de una planta enferma a una sana por medio de la savia, injertos, plantas parásitas o insectos, hongos y ácaros. Sin embargo, la prueba definitiva de la presencia de un virus sólo se logra después de su purificación, la visualización de su imagen en un microscopio electrónico y/o pruebas de serología y ácido nucleico. Esta enfermedad es causada por un complejo de virus antiguamente llamado barley yellow dwarf virus, o BYDV, y que ahora se clasifica en dos géneros: los luteovirus, BYDV-PAV y BYDV-MAV, y los polerovirus, CYDV-RPV. Existen otras variantes, BYDV-SGV y BYDV-RMV, que aún no han sido asignadas a un grupo. Para facilitar la lectura de este manual, el complejo que causa el virus del enanismo amarillo de la cebada se denominará BYDV-CYDV.Estos virus son transmitidos por áfidos que actúan como vectores. Se han reportado hasta 25 especies de vectores en diferentes partes del mundo; las cinco más importantes son Rhopalosiphum padi, R. maidis, Sitobion avenae, Schizaphis graminum y Metopolophium dirhodum. Estos vectores, comúnmente llamados áfidos de los cereales, transmiten diferentes variantes del virus. La especificidad de la transmisión ha ido cambiando con el tiempo y con el descubrimiento de nuevos aislamientos de virus y áfidos. El cuadro más representativo de este fenómeno es el que se señala a continuación:La transmisión por medio de los áfidos vectores puede realizarse siguiendo dos métodos, uno en el campo y otro en invernadero:1. En el campo, recolectar áfidos de plantas que presenten síntomas de BYDV-CYDV y colocarlos en cajas de Petri (sellar las cajas para evitar que escapen). En el laboratorio, identificar la especie o especies que se obtuvieron; si pertenecen a los áfidos de los cereales, ponerlos en plantas sanas que hayan estado cubiertas o protegidas desde su germinación (con botes, cilindros, cajas, etc.) para tener la seguridad de que no han sido infestadas por ningún otro insecto. Procurar que el áfido quede sostenido en las hojas o tallo de la planta, y volver a cubrirla (Figura 26 a, b, c). Se recomienda inocular en variedades susceptibles de cebada, como Atlas 57, o de avena Black Hull-less. Los síntomas se examinan al mes de haber realizado la inoculación.Figura 26 a, b y c. Secuencia de la inoculación de plantas utilizando áfidos vectores.Mantener las plantas en condiciones de invernadero (20-25 o C). A las 72 horas, sacar el áfido y fumigar la planta para asegurar que no llegue otro insecto. Si se dispone de la técnica de ELISA, a los ocho días de la inoculación se analizan las hojas para determinar si el virus ha sido transmitido y de qué variante se trata. Si no se dispone de esta técnica, en un período de 10 a 12 días, las plantas mostrarán síntomas de la enfermedad (la claridad de los síntomas depende mucho de las condiciones ambientales del invernadero). En este último caso, sólo se podrá tener una idea aproximada de la variante que está presente, con base en la especificidad de la transmisión especie del áfido-vectorvariante del virus.2. El segundo método se utiliza cuando se dispone de invernaderos donde se pueden mantener colonias de áfidos sanos, libres de virus. Los áfidos se ponen en una caja de Petri con pedazos de hojas infectadas con el virus, sobre un papel filtro húmedo, o los pedazos de hojas se entierran en arena húmeda para mantener un ambiente favorable. Se sella la caja con parafilm y se deja a la temperatura ambiente durante 36 a 48 horas. Se supone que durante ese período los áfidos se han alimentado de las hojas y adquirido el virus. A continuación se saca cada áfido y se le pone en una planta sana para que le transmita el virus. En ambos casos se recomienda usar plantas provenientes de variedades muy susceptibles, como la variedad de avena Black Hull-less o la cebada Atlas 57. Las plantas deben estar a una temperatura de 20 o C con mucha luminosidad; de lo contrario, los síntomas no se expresan como es debido.La técnica ELISA (enzyme-immunosorbent assay) es un método muy confiable y poco costoso para detectar los virus y, en particular, el complejo BYDV-CYDV. Los anticuerpos específicos de las diferentes variantes del complejo se pueden comprar y son de fácil utilización. Aunque es ideal tener un espectrofotómetro para la lectura de la densidad óptica del producto de ELISA, la diferenciación de muestras negativas y positivas se puede hacer sin ese aparato. La técnica ELISA es rápida y tiene la ventaja de diferenciar entre las variantes del virus sin depender de que haya una buena expresión de los síntomas.Este virus es uno de los pocos que son transmitidos por semilla del grupo de las gramíneas. Cuando ataca la cebada, puede ser confundido con la enfermedad causada por Pyrenophora graminea, dado que los síntomas en los primeros estados de desarrollo son muy similares.El virus del BSMV ha sido observado en la cebada en la mayoría de los países del mundo; su distribución tan amplia quizás se deba al movimiento internacional de semilla. También se le ha encontrado en trigo y avena.Esta enfermedad es transmitida mediante la semilla y, mecánicamente, por medio de la savia. La transmisión mecánica es una de las pruebas de diagnóstico más usadas por eficiente, sensible y económica, y porque provee información esencial para la caracterización del virus.Los virus pueden ser transmitidos entre plantas que pertenecen a la misma especie o género, e incluso a distintos géneros. Las plantas de otras especies, denominadas \"indicadoras\", manifiestan los síntomas característicos de cada virus y son muy útiles en el diagnóstico de las enfermedades virales. Entre las dicotiledóneas que han sido infectadas artificialmente para usarse como plantas indicadoras se cuentan Chenopodium amaranticolor, Ch. album, Ch. quinoa, Beta vulgaris, Spinacea oleracea y Nicotiana tabacum var. Samsum.Este tipo de transmisión tiene la desventaja de que se requieren varias semanas para que la reacción se manifieste y esto no se logra a menos que se realice una exitosa extracción del virus. Además, al inocular hay que estar seguro de hacer las heridas necesarias para que el virus penetre.Procedimiento: Lavar las manos con agua y jabón. Seleccionar las plantas indicadoras y las hojas que se van a inocular. Colocar el material infectado en un mortero estéril; agregar 0.5-1 ml de agua destilada y macerarlo. Agregar carborundum (cantidad: la mitad del volumen de una semilla de chícharo o arveja), un abrasivo que se utiliza para provocar las heridas.Sostener la hoja en una mano y, con un dedo humedecido de la otra mano o con un aplicador de algodón, frotar la suspensión de la savia desde el pecíolo hasta la punta de la hoja. No pasar dos veces por la misma área. Repetir con cada hoja marcada. Inmediatamente después de inocular, lavar el inóculo de la planta en prueba usando agua destilada y un pulverizador. La infección es instantánea; las hojas se lavan para eliminar los compuestos que la planta genera para inhibir la infección. Poner las plantas en el invernadero y revisarlas cada día, ya que es importante saber cuando aparecen los síntomas.En los últimos años se ha reportado la presencia del virus del mosaico estriado del trigo (WSMV) en México y en otros países de América Latina. El virus causa daños importantes en algunas zonas productoras de cereales de Estados Unidos. Este virus es transmitido por el ácaro Aceria tosichela, de la familia Eriophydae.Transmisión mecánica: Se puede detectar este virus en forma mecánica, por medio de la savia (ver la sección sobre BSMV en este capítulo) obtenida por maceración con un amortiguador de fosfatos, a una dilución de 1 mg/ml. Los síntomas ocasionados por este virus consisten en estrías cloróticas que al progresar se convierten en un mosaico severo. En las especies Triticum aestivum y T. durum aparecen estrías cloróticas que posteriormente se unen hasta provocar un mosaico amarillo. En la avena, se presentan estrías más anchas y más difusas que, al progresar la infección, se tornan necróticas. En la cebada, los síntomas se manifiestan como estrías cloróticas bien marcadas que posteriormente se necrosan.Al igual que lo es para BYDV-CYDV, la técnica ELISA es eficiente y rápida para detectar la presencia del virus del WSMV.En la preservación y manejo de cultivos de hongos, conviene reducir la cantidad y frecuencia de las transferencias de aislamientos a una vez cada seis meses. Los aislamientos deben ser mantenidos en un substrato tan natural como sea posible (por ejemplo, hojas de trigo para Pythium y semilla de trigo para Fusarium y otros) para evitar cambios en la patogenicidad. Los procedimientos de preservación varían según el organismo.Grano estéril. Se utiliza una gran variedad de granos para la conservación de algunos hongos que de esta forma se mantienen estables y no pierden virulencia ni la capacidad de esporulación, como ocurre en algunos medios sintéticos. El tipo de grano que se usa depende del microorganismo con el que se esté trabajando.Preparación: El grano se pone a remojar en agua destilada durante 24 horas; después se escurre el exceso de agua y se llenan con el grano tubos de ensayo, matraces o frascos. Estos se cierran sin apretar completamente y se esterilizan en autoclave durante dos horas. Enseguida se incuban de 48 a 72 horas a temperatura ambiente (22 ˚C) para asegurar que no crezca ningún hongo o bacteria contaminante. Al término de este período, los matraces y tubos se inoculan con el cultivo puro y se incuban durante 7 a 10 días, o los que sean necesarios para obtener una buena esporulación. Durante este período, se recomienda moverlos cada dos días, golpeándolos fuertemente contra la palma de la mano para que no se forme una masa compacta y se facilite el crecimiento del hongo.Cuando se trata de mantener aislamientos, los tubos y matraces se almacenan en bolsas de plástico y se refrigeran. Si el objetivo es multiplicar el inóculo, éste se extrae en forma de una suspensión en agua destilada estéril. Una vez que han alcanzado el desarrollo deseado, los cultivos se almacenan en el refrigerador a 4-5 o C.Entre los granos que se pueden utilizar están el trigo, la cebada, la avena, el triticale y el sorgo, según la afinidad del grano como sustrato del hongo en estudio. Los medios a base de grano se usan comúnmente en especies del género Fusarium y algunas de Pyrenophora. Gaeumannomyces graminis se conserva y se multiplica bien en semillas de avena esterilizadas de la misma forma señalada anteriormente.Tierra estéril. Se esteriliza tierra cernida y húmeda durante dos horas en tubos o matraces, y se repite el proceso con un intervalo de 24 horas como mínimo. Esto permite la germinación subsecuente de estructuras de resistencia que no se afectaron en la primera fase de esterilización. Una vez finalizada la esterilización, los tubos o matraces están listos para ser inoculados con las cepas puras.Agua estéril con trozos de hojas. La preservación de cultivos en agua estéril es particularmente útil en el caso de Pythium spp. Este patógeno es almacenado en un medio de hojas de trigo y agua. Las hojas de plántulas de trigo (5 ó 6 hojas de 2 cm de largo) se secan al aire y se suspenden en 9 ml de agua destilada en tubos de ensayo. Los tubos se tapan con algodón y se esterilizan en el autoclave. Los aislamientos se transfieren asépticamente en un trocito de agar y se les deja crecer varios días a temperatura ambiente. Los tubos se sellan entonces con parafina y se almacenan a 4 ó 5 o C. Los aislamientos se pueden mantener un año o más sin necesidad de ser transferidos.Un segmento pequeño de hoja de estos cultivos colocado en medio de harina de maíz (corn meal agar, CMA) es suficiente para reiniciar el crecimiento. Se ha encontrado que no todas las especies sobreviven a períodos largos de almacenamiento de esta manera; por lo tanto, si se está trabajando con Pythium, los aislamientos deberán transferirse cada seis meses hasta que se determine la capacidad de viabilidad de las especies que estén en estudio."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"439f785c9d1a90b1e2e62da5b113081c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H032633.pdf","id":"1733398623"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"49968a61-50d3-45cb-ae08-5452e27fe561","content":"Water is an extremely complex resource. It is both a public and a private good; it has multiple uses; the hydrology requires that we examine potential productivity gains at both the farm and the basin levels; both quantity and quality are important; institutions and policies are typically flawed. For a given situation, economists often disagree on how to value water and on the best strategy for increasing water productivity. This fact notwithstanding, growing scarcity increases the need, if not the demand, for sound economic analyses.The purpose of this chapter is to lay down some of the concepts and complexities in economic analyses related to increasing water productivity, to provide some examples and to see what this implies regarding the potential for increasing water productivity. We hope that this will help set the stage for productive discussions and the identification of research needs.The chapter is divided into three main sections. The first section discusses the relationship between efficiency, productivity and sustainability, and emphasizes the confusion in definitions. The second section provides examples at plant, farm, system and basin levels, relating water productivity to both economic efficiency and sustainability. Closely related to this, in the third section we discuss the potentials for increases in water productivity and economic efficiency through incentives created by policy and institutional reforms.Failure to include the potential for recycling or reuse of water diverted for irrigation in the measurement of irrigation efficiency has led to the widely accepted view that public irrigation systems are poorly managed and that there is considerable scope for increasing water productivity. Water savings do not necessarily lead to higher water productivity and, similarly, higher water productivity does not lead to greater economic efficiency.A distinction can be made between those measures that increase water productivity by increasing crop yield for a given evapotranspiration (ET) or diversion as opposed to reducing the water-diversion requirements. Measures to increase crop yield for a given ET translate into water-productivity gains at the system and basin levels. However, the management of water to reduce water-diversion requirements is riddled with off-site effects and externalities. Thus, whether water-management practices or technologies designed to increase water productivity and economic efficiency at the farm level translate into water-productivity and economic-efficiency gains at the system or basin level needs to be determined. The basin is a hydrological unit as opposed to an administrative unit. It is only at this level that we can capture and include in our analysis the off-site effects (or, in economic jargon, internalize the externalities).The growing scarcity and rising value of water in a basin induce farmers to seek ways to increase water productivity and economic efficiency. Recycling or reuse of water is prominent among the prac-Water is an extremely complex resource. It is both a public and a private good; it has multiple uses; the hydrology and externalities require that we examine potential productivity gains at the farm, system and basin levels; both quantity and quality are important in measuring availability and scarcity; and the institutions and policies that govern the use of water are typically flawed.Given these complexities, it is small wonder that there is little agreement among scientists, practitioners and policy makers as to the most appropriate course of action to be taken to improve the management of water resources for the benefit of society. This fact notwithstanding, the growing scarcity of water increases the need and demand for sound economic analyses.The purpose of this chapter is to lay down some of the concepts and complexities in economic analyses related to increasing water productivity, to provide some examples and to see what this implies regarding the potential for increasing water productivity. We hope that this will help set the stage for productive discussions and the identification of research needs.This chapter is divided into three main sections. The first section discusses the relationship between efficiency, productivity and sustainability, emphasizing the confusion in definitions and distinguishing between engineering, biological and economic concepts.The second section provides examples -at the plant, farm, system and basin levelsrelating water productivity (WP) to economic efficiency (EE) and to sustainability. Closely related to this, in the third section we discuss the potentials for increases in WP and EE through policy and institutional reforms.In this section we begin with a discussion of definitions of water-use efficiency (WUE), irrigation-efficiency (IE) and WP. We then define EE and relate EE to IE and WP. We conclude with a brief discussion of WP, EE and sustainability.In general terms, we define IE as the ratio of water consumed to water supplied. WP is the ratio of crop output to water either diverted or consumed, the ratio being expressed in either physical or monetary terms or some combination of the two. There are four areas of confusion related to the concept of efficiency. First, WUE as used in the literature, including the economics literature (e.g. Dinar, 1993) and plant-science literature (e.g. Richards et al., 1993), most commonly refers to what we have defined above as WP: that is to say, it is defined as the ratio of crop output to water input. We believe that in these instances WP is the more appropriate term.Secondly, the conventional wisdom that irrigation systems in the developing world typically operate at a low level of efficiency 20 R. Barker et al. tices adopted to increase water productivity, and greater attention needs to be focused on managing surface water and groundwater for conjunctive use. We need a better understanding of biophysical and socio-economic changes in basins over time and improved measures of basin-level efficiencies before we can determine in a given situation the potential for increasing water productivity through policy and institutional reforms. Finally, as basins become closed, overexploitation of groundwater resources is accompanied by a serious decline in water quality and other problems of environmental degradation. Decisions on basin-level allocations among sectors cannot be based strictly on economic efficiency but they must involve value judgements as to how best to benefit society as a whole. This will include setting priorities in the management of water resources to meet objectives such as ensuring sustainability, meeting food-security needs and providing the poorer segments of society with access to water.(30-40%) is based on what Seckler et al. (Chapter 3,this volume) refer to as classical irrigation efficiency (IEc) or the water consumed divided by the water supplied. IEc is defined in terms of differences between the point of water diversion and the ultimate destination of the water in the root zone of the plant.IEc ϭ (crop ET Ϫ effective rainfall)/(vol. of water delivered Ϫ change in root-zone water storage)IEc at the project level is typically subdivided between conveyance efficiency (water distribution in the main and secondary canals) and field-application efficiency (water distribution to the fields being irrigated). The water diverted but not used for evapotranspiration (ET) includes seepage and percolation, spillover and land preparation, all of which are treated as losses. Classical efficiency decreases as one moves from the field towards the reservoir and conveyance losses are combined with field losses. A high level of IEc may not reflect good management but simply water scarcity. Some scholars prefer to use the term relative water supply (RWS), the inverse of IEc, to avoid the connotation associated with the word 'efficiency'.Much of the so-called 'losses' in IEc (seepage, percolation and spillovers) can be captured and recycled (for example, by use of tube wells) for use elsewhere in the system. Conversely, many of the so-called 'water savings' practices, such as those that reduce seepage and percolation (e.g. lining canals), are not saving water at all but simply redistributing the water -robbing Peter to pay Paul. The only real losses to the hydrological system are from bare soil and water evaporation (much of which can occur during land preparation) or from flows to the sea or to sinks.The concepts of neoclassical irrigation efficiency (IEn) or effective irrigation efficiency (Keller andKeller, 1995, 1996;Seckler et al., Chapter 3, this volume)  Taking into account return flows results in a higher estimate of IE, which leads to the conclusion that the scope for improving IE is much less than is normally assumed.Thirdly, we must distinguish between IE and WP at the farm and basin level. To understand this distinction, we need to turn to water-accounting procedures and include non-agricultural water uses (Molden and Sakthivadivel, 1999). This represents another significant step away from the concept of IEc. The operational terms used here (and there are many more) are beneficial depletion and nonbeneficial depletion. At the basin level, a potentially wide range of factors can deplete water. Beneficial depletion would include consumption (ET) by the crop being irrigated as well as, for example, beneficial consumption by trees. Non-beneficial depletion includes evaporation and flows to sinks such as the sea. A higher level of efficiency can be achieved by lowering non-beneficial depletion.Finally, a high efficiency, defined here as a large percentage of beneficial depletion, does not imply a high level of productivity or of economic return. The same degree of beneficial utilization may have substantially different values for the productivity of the water (Seckler et al.,Chapter 3,this volume). For example, the same amount of water depleted in the irrigation of cereal crops may have a much higher value in vegetables and fruits or in non-agricultural uses. Furthermore, as water flows through the basin, economists would want to know the benefits and costs associated with various alternatives for reducing diversions and for recycling water.Economic efficiency (EE) takes into account values of output, opportunity costs of inputs and externalities and is achieved when scarce resources are allocated and used such that the net value or net returns (returns minus costs) are maximized. Unlike IE, which is a ratio by definition, EE is a criterion that describes the conditions that must be satisfied to guarantee that resources are being used to generate the largest possible net benefit (Wichelns, 1999).EE is often consistent with IE. For example, as water becomes scarce and the value of water is high in semi-arid regions, a high IE (although not necessarily the result of improved irrigation management) is consistent with EE. Alternatively, when off-farm impacts can be ignored and water is abundant with low opportunity cost, EE can be achieved even at low IE.EE in a production setting involves technical and allocative components. A producer is technically efficient when producing the maximum amount of output with a given set of inputs. The producer is allocatively efficient if he/she produces at the point dictated by the prices of outputs and inputs that will maximize returns. A producer is said to be economically efficient if he/she is both technically and allocatively efficient.Of concern to many economists is the fact that the farm-level price or charge for irrigation water and power for pumping water do not typically reflect the true value of water and would appear to encourage waste. However, farmers and irrigation-system managers will make adjustments in response to water scarcity without price incentives. Furthermore, at the basin level, while analyses based on economic optimization may be useful to policy makers, allocations must take into account the fact that water is a public as well as a private good. Allocations among competing uses involve value judgements as to how to achieve the highest benefit for society as a whole.The term water productivity (WP) is also defined and used in a variety of ways. There is no single definition that suits all situations. As mentioned previously, in general terms, productivity is a ratio referring to the unit of output(s) per unit of input(s).The most encompassing measure of productivity used by economists is total factor productivity (TFP), which is defined as the value of all output divided by the value of all inputs. But the concept of partial factor productivity (PFP) is more widely used by economists and non-economists alike. Partial productivity is relatively easy to measure and is commonly used to measure the return to scarce or limited resources, such as land or labour. For example, in the early stages of economic development, agricultural labour is often in surplus and land is the scarce resource. (There are notable exceptions, including many parts of Africa.) Where land is the limiting resource, the greatest economic benefits are achieved by increasing output per unit of land. Therefore, emphasis is placed on technologies that increase yield per hectare (e.g. high-yielding varieties and fertilizer). The change in PFP measured in yield per hectare is a useful indicator of the economic performance of the agricultural sector.But, as an economy develops, the labour force in agriculture declines and more and more labour is pulled to the non-farm sector. When agricultural labour is in short supply the emphasis shifts to labour-saving technologies (e.g. tractors and mechanical threshers). PFP measured in output per worker is now a better indicator of the economic performance of the agricultural sector.Until recently, water was not considered a scarce resource. Now, with mounting water shortages and water-quality concerns, there is growing interest in measures to increase WP, which is a specific example in the general class of PFPs. WP is most commonly measured as crop output per cubic metre of water.Partial water productivity can be expressed in physical or economic terms as follows (Seckler et al.,Chapter 3,this volume):1. Pure physical productivity is defined as the quantity of the product divided by the quantity of the input. Examples include crop yield per hectare or per cubic metre of water either diverted or consumed by the plant. For example, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) sees as one of its primary objectives 'increasing the crop per drop'. 2. Productivity, combining both physical and economic properties, can be defined in terms of either the gross or the net present value of the product divided by the amount of the water diverted or consumed by the plant. 3. Economic productivity is the gross or net present value of the product divided by the value of the water either diverted or consumed by the plant, which can be defined in terms of the value or opportunity cost in the highest alternative use.Economic measures of WP (2 and 3 above) are difficult to estimate. While the net value is more satisfactory than the gross value of the product, the valuation of inputs must be treated in a uniform manner across sites. This can be difficult for land, labour and water (which are also usually the most important inputs). Valuing water is at best a difficult and unsatisfactory process, considering that the marginal value of water varies throughout the season, between seasons, by location, by type of use and by source of water.There is also the matter of scale or the area over which productivity is measured. Do measures to increase WP at the farm level translate into increases in WP at the system or basin level? Water-accounting procedures that take into account externalities resulting from a farm-level change in water-management practices can be used to measure WP at the system or basin level. Through this process we can determine whether an intervention leads to real water savings (taking into account all return flows, as in IEn). However, at this level, beneficial depletion includes benefits from water use other than for the crop being irrigated, such as water for the environment and other non-agricultural needs.A distinction can be made between those measures that increase WP by increasing crop yield for a given ET or diversion and those that reduce the water-diversion requirements. In the former case, savings at the plant and field level are realized at the system and basin level. In the latter case, whether increased WP at plant and field level translates into increased productivity at system and basin level needs to be determined. For example, although the water saved in one farming area may be reallocated to higher-value, non-agricultural uses, a reduction in seepage and percolation losses from this area may be at the expense of farmers elsewhere in the system.However, as the term 'partial' in PFP implies, it tells only part of the story. In gen-eral, functions relating output to input (e.g. water, fertilizer) are nearly always concave because the use of higher levels of input is eventually subject to diminishing returns. Under these circumstances, a high WP (or a high IE) in a system or basin may simply reflect a shortage of water rather than good management or EE. In fact, when such a function is purely concave, PFP is maximized by using as little of the input as possible, even when it results in large declines in output (because, as input use declines towards zero, productivity increases towards infinity). Thus, the appropriate goal should be to optimize WP, not maximize it.Despite the above arguments, many people view higher WP (or higher fertilizer productivity or higher yields) as an inherently good idea. But it is easy to see why measures that show an increase in PFP of water or any other input may provide a misleading result from the perspective of the farmer, as well as from that of the economy as a whole. A technology or management practice that increases water productivity may require the use of more labour and other inputs. For example, a reduction in water application in rice could increase the amount of weeding required. Also, a shift to drip irrigation saves water but also requires capital investment, which might not be cost-effective. Unfortunately, the concept of PFP gives very few guidelines regarding optimization. In fact, without considering the economic and social values of all inputs and outputs, it will be difficult to make progress on this issue. Thus, we now turn to a discussion of the concept of net returns.In this section we build on the concept of EE, distinguishing between net private returns and net social returns and relating net returns to WP. Net private returns are defined as the market value of all outputs minus the cost of all inputs, taking into account the opportunity cost of family labour, land and any other inputs that are not purchased on the market. If the net returns to a practice are positive, then it will be beneficial for farmers to adopt the practice. If net returns are negative, it will be disadvantageous for the farmer to adopt the practice and, no matter how large the increase in WP due to the practice, it is unlikely that the farmer will adopt it.Alternatives for improving net private returns can be categorized as follows (Wallace and Batchelor, 1997):• agronomic improvements (for example, improved crop husbandry, cropping strategies and crop varieties); • technical improvements (for example, improved and lower-cost technologies for extracting groundwater); • managerial improvements (for example, improvements in farm-level resource management or system operation and maintenance (O&M); • institutional improvements (for example, introduction of water pricing and improvement in water rights).The first two categories relate to innovations or new technologies that lower costs or increase output per unit of water. The third category, improved management, refers to an increase in technical efficiency or increased output per unit of input with existing levels of technology. The fourth category relates principally to allocative efficiencies encouraged by the creation of market incentives.Economic theory shows that if a new practice does not have any effects on third parties off the farm (known as technological externalities in the jargon of economics), then the adoption of this practice is advantageous for society as a whole, not just for the farmer. Unfortunately, water management is riddled with externalities, so this theory provides little guidance as to whether or not it is advantageous for society to encourage the adoption of a specific new water-management technology based only on the magnitude of net returns to farmers.In order to assess whether or not a new technology available to farmers is beneficial to society, one needs to calculate net social returns instead of net private returns. The two concepts are identical, except that net social returns value all inputs and outputs at social prices, not market prices. Social prices are identical to market prices when wellfunctioning markets exist. When well-functioning markets do not exist, as is almost always the case with water, then one must attach a social value to water, which is defined as the value of the water in the best alternative use (at the margin).While this opportunity cost is relatively easy to define, it is much harder to measure. For example, one could assign to water a societal value equal to its current value in industrial use. However, if one hypothetically begins to shift water from agriculture to industry, the marginal value of additional water in industry will eventually decline. Thus, in contemplating large transfers of water out of agriculture (as opposed to small, marginal transfers), it is not valid to assume that the per-unit value of the water transferred is equal to the current per-unit value of water in industrial uses.Furthermore, the concept of net social returns is silent on issues of equity, and most people would agree that equity is important in making decisions on the desirability of implementing policies or technologies that affect WP.Although it is difficult to measure the net social returns due to the implementation of a policy or technology, it is useful to keep this concept firmly in mind when making judgements about practices that improve WP. At a minimum, this concept reminds us of our ignorance and what specific missing information is desirable for an assessment of new technologies, institutions or policies. Although we shall use the term WP in subsequent discussions, it is always important to bear in mind how much it will cost to increase WP and that not all increases in WP are desirable.Irrigated agriculture not only competes for water but often contributes to the major degradation of water resources. Consider, for example, those regions of rapidly falling water tables due to groundwater mining or alternatively regions of rising water tables leading to waterlogging and salinity. In the latter case, the social cost may be in the form of environmental degradation or, if corrective measures are taken, the cost to some segments of society may be for appropriate disposal of drainage water. The net social benefit is the difference between returns to the farmer and the cost to society associated with drainage-water pollution (Dinar, 1993). Ultimately, we must address the issue of sustainability. Unfortunately, there are many definitions of sustainability and sustainable development, ranging from the very broad to the very narrow, which create a potential for misunderstanding (Dixon and Fallon, 1989). We define sustainability as the ability to continue extracting net positive social returns from a resource for an indefinite period of time. Notice that it is not inconsistent with some degree of environmental degradation, i.e. it is not always true for all ecosystems that the optimal rate of degradation is zero, just as it is not always true that the optimal rate of oil extraction from a particular deposit is zero.One viewpoint in the sustainability debate holds that high-industrial-input agricultural systems are inherently unsustainable (Lynam and Herdt, 1999). Proponents of this view have shifted the debate away from production and income distribution to environmental degradation and input use. The focus on ecosystems by environmentalists and on watersheds by hydrologists has carried the debate substantially above the commodity-based farm and farming-systems level to land, water and other highly valued natural and environmental resources. Lynam and Herdt (1999) argue that:sustainability of common resource systems necessarily incorporates value judgements on multiple criteria over how the community wishes to utilize resources; moreover sustainability of the system will depend more on social institutions controlling access and use than on production technologies. this volume) illustrate how various alternatives can be applied at the crop, farm, system and basin levels. At each of the first three levels, we provide an example illustrating the relationship between WP and EE. At the basin level, we emphasize the relationship between WP and sustainability.The concept of WP used by plant physiologists, molecular biologists and plant breeders refers to the crop output (either grain or biomass) per unit of transpiration by the plant.(This is typically referred to as WUE.) There has been steady improvement in grain yield per hectare through plant breeding in rainfed and, most particularly, in irrigated areas.The development of short-season varieties, reducing the growing time from 5 months to 3.5 to 4, has also been a major source of water savings (more crop per drop per day).The development of water-storage facilities and expansion of the irrigated area in the dry season have allowed these savings to be translated into increases in WP. Thus, there is no question that, over the past three decades, varietal improvement through plant breeding (aided by investments in irrigation and advances in fertilizer technology) has been the major source of increase in WP (Richards et al., 1993). However, the increase in grain productivity is in some ways deceptive (Richards et al., 1993). In almost all crops, the greater grain yield is not due to an increase in biomass but almost entirely to an improved ratio of grain to biomass (harvest index). As the potential ceiling value for the harvest index is rapidly approaching in many crops, the only way to maintain increases in yield will be to increase biomass (Richards et al., 1993). There appears to be considerable potential for increasing biomass by selecting cultivars for increased WP, defined in this case as the rate at which water lost in transpiration results in the photosynthetic assimilation of carbon in the plant. In many Middle Eastern countries, a very high level of WP has already been achieved. There is thus great hope that research in plant breeding and molecular biology will increase WP in other parts of the world. In other areas, gains in productivity may be achieved through varieties tolerant to saline soil and water conditions.One of the important features of varietal improvement is that it is relatively less sitespecific in terms of potential benefits than most management interventions. Much of the research is funded by international and national agencies. Numerous studies have emphasized the high returns to investment in varietal-improvement research in the past (Evenson et al., 1991;Alston et al., 1995) although in many instances the benefits ascribed to research may include contributions from irrigation and advances in fertilizer technology. In setting research priorities, a key issue is the size of the geographical area as well as the size of the population upon which the varietal improvement is likely to have an impact. This will determine the benefits of the research relative to its costs. As water scarcity becomes more acute, the potential benefits of this research will increase.In promoting the adoption of new technologies, researchers and extension agents often focus on the higher yield potential, ignoring the opportunity cost of family labour and the increased management requirements. This point is illustrated in a draft report on a study of the adoption of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in Madagascar (Moser and Barrett, 2003). The paragraphs below are based on this report. SRI was developed in the early 1990s in Madagascar as a seemingly ideal lowexternal-input sustainable agriculture (LEISA) technology. The method requires almost no external cash inputs, such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides and seeds. The SRI method involves seeding on dry beds, transplanting younger than 20-day-old seedlings with one seedling per hill, spacing of at least 20 cm ϫ 20 cm, frequent weedings and controlling of the water level to allow aeration of roots during the growth period of the plant. However, the technology requires approximately 50% more labour. Using this method, farmers have repeatedly obtained yields two to three times higher than the 2-3 t ha Ϫ1 obtained using traditional practices. Owing not only to higher yields but also to the watersaving irrigation practices, the gains in water productivity at the field level could be very high, although water accounting would be required to determine the basin-level impacts of farm-level water savings.The study undertaken by Moser and Barrett (2003) surveyed 317 households in five villages. Approximately one-third of the farmers adopted SRI but most practised it on only a portion of their land. The adopters tended to have higher education, belong to farmer associations and have higher wealth and income. In contrast, the non-adopters were unskilled agricultural labourers, who, lacking the financial resources to carry them through the 'hungry season', depended on the agricultural wages they received daily. Thus, they cannot afford to spend the extra time required for adopting SRI on their own farms because they are busy working on other people's farms. More importantly, many of those who adopted SRI have since abandoned the technology, often after trying SRI for only one season (Table 2.1). Apparently, the significantly higher yields were not enough to offset the substantially higher labour costs and management requirements.We have observed that water savings per se may or may not lead to increases in WP. Likewise, an increase in WP may or may not result in higher economic or social benefits. Following the general concepts in our discussion of net returns at the system level, economists assess the merits of an investment by measuring the benefits and costs (B:C) ratio or the internal rate of return (IRR). These are measures of the performance of investments or the productivity of capital. These two terms are defined mathematically as follows:B:C ratio:The IRR is the discount rate i such that:For the B:C ratio, a social discount interest rate is chosen, typically 10%. If the B:C ratio exceeds 1, then the project has a positive social benefit. If the IRR is greater than the social discount rate (often assumed to be about 10%), then the project has a positive social benefit. While an assessment of environmental costs is now frequently included in the analyses, as with farm-level analyses, this is largely a commodity-oriented approach. Benefits of a given project are typically measured in terms of higher yield and net returns to the farmer for irrigating a specific set of crops.One of the most well-studied irrigation projects in Sri Lanka is the Gal Oya Water Management Project (Uphoff, 1992;Murray-Rust et al., 1999). A deteriorated irrigation system, the Gal Oya Left Bank Irrigation System, was rehabilitated in the period 1982-1985, using a combination of physical and institutional interventions.A time-series, impact-assessment model was used to describe the trends and impacts in the system as a whole, as well as in different parts of the system (Amarasinghe et al., 1998;Murray-Rust et al., 1999). The data from 1974 to 1992 covered the period both before and after the rehabilitation. Significant gains have been made in WP for the system as a whole. The tail-end farmers, even though they were less intensively organized, showed the best overall performance in terms of water use, crop production and WP.Did benefits exceed costs? The project completion report conducted in 1985 estimated an IRR of between 15 and 30% (Project Completion Report, 1985). A subsequent study by Aluwihare and Kikuchi (1991) reported an IRR of 26%. While investment in the construction of new systems in Sri Lanka is no longer profitable, among the major rehabilitation projects conducted in recent years, Gal Oya has had the highest IRR (Table 2.2).But there are two caveats. First, some of the gains made were at the expense of other water users (D.H. Murray-Rust, personal communication). Prior to rehabilitation, water in the drains was being used by farmers outside of the Left Bank Irrigation System. With this water no longer available, many farmers simply went out of business. We do not know to what degree these 'hidden' costs would lower the IRR. However, this example of offsite effects or externalities emphasizes the need to adopt a basin perspective.Secondly, although the area irrigated by groundwater is still small, the recent IRR estimates for largely private agro-well and Madagascar, 1993-1999(from Moser and Barrett, 2003). pump investments in Sri Lanka are much higher than for public investments in rehabilitation (Kikuchi et al., 2002). But changes in the management of surface water can have a major impact on the groundwater aquifer and overexploitation of groundwater can have negative consequences for both the supply and quality of groundwater. This raises the issue of how best to coordinate the development and management of surface water and groundwater.As the competition for water increases and river basins become closed for all or part of the year, WP and EE are typically increased by shifting to higher-valued crops, where feasible, and by reallocation of water to industry and domestic uses. Also, water scarcity and the rising value of water can bring forth a response in terms of the development and adoption of new technologies and institutions that can raise water productivity. In economics, these latter changes are explained by the theory of induced innovation (Hayami and Ruttan, 1985). For example, with refer-ence to the Green Revolution, the theory implies that the development of high-yielding, fertilizer-responsive cereal-grain varieties was a response to both rising food-grain and falling fertilizer prices, which made this technology highly profitable. Applying this theory, we see that situations of water shortage and the rising value of water are inducing new techniques, improved management practices and institutional reforms that will raise the productivity of water. The profitability, the feasibility and hence the order of these changes will vary from site to site, depending on local circumstances.Recent studies of the Gediz basin in Turkey (IWMI and General Directorate of Rural Services, Turkey, 2000), the Chao Phraya basin in Thailand (Molle, Chapter 17, this volume) and the Rio Lerma basin in Mexico (Scott et al., 2001) illustrate the endogenous adjustments that have occurred at both the farm and system levels in response to water shortages.In the case of the Gediz basin, the adjustments were in response to a prolonged drought from 1989 to 1994. A change was made in the way water was allocated, shifting from a demand-or crop-based system to a supply-based system, with water rationed b Years after the names of projects stand for the years when the projects were completed.from the reservoir downward. The result was a significant increase in basin-level irrigation efficiency. To adapt to the dramatically reduced length of the irrigation season, farmers, with the assistance of the government, developed groundwater resources.The shift in cropping pattern over the past decade away from cotton to grapes and orchards is partially explained by the drought, but the entry into the European Customs Union was the overriding factor.In the Chao Phraya basin, irrigation efficiency has been gradually raised by the use of grating drains, conjunctive use of groundwater, pumped water from ponds and lowlying areas and improved management of dams. Farmers have responded to water shortage and unreliable deliveries in the dry season by sinking tube wells and diversifying crop production and through a spectacular development of inland shrimp farming. This has occurred despite the fact that there are considerable technical constraints and risks in diversification. The centralized waterallocation system has handled the issue of allocation of water to non-agricultural uses relatively well. Basin-level efficiency is high and there appears to be relatively little scope for achieving further productivity gains.In the Rio Lerma-Chapala basin, watershortage problems gained prominence with precipitous declines in Lake Chapala (the main source of water for Guadalajara) in the 1980s. IWMI studies have shown the distribution and extent of aquifer depletion (2 m year Ϫ1 ) and growth in agricultural water demand. The Lerma-Chapala Consejo de Cuenca, established in 1993, is the oldest river-basin council in Mexico. It has responsibility for water allocation among users, improving water quality and WUE and conserving the basin ecosystem. However, agricultural, industrial and domestic demand has been rising rapidly, and there is simply not enough water to meet all demand without further overdraft of the aquifer. Water for Lake Chapala and Guadalahara has priority and 240 million m 3 of water formerly used for irrigated agriculture have been reallocated to Lake Chapala. Farmers are beginning to demand that Guadalahara pay for the 240 million m 3 . In summary, in all three basins there has been a response by farmers and irrigation organizations to water shortage that has raised WP and basin-level efficiency and there appears to be relatively little scope for further gains. The non-agricultural demand for water will continue to rise and declining water quality already presents a serious problem. But each of the three basins is at a different stage with respect to basin closure and chronic water shortage. The situation in Mexico is clearly unsustainable. The reduction in irrigated area and, where possible, the shift to high-valued crops on the remaining land can help alleviate the problem. Allan (1998) has coined the term 'trade in virtual water' to show how international trade can help alleviate water scarcity and increase WP. Mexico provides an interesting example of trade in virtual water (Barker et al., 2000). Over the past 30 years, both fruit and vegetable exports and cereal-grain imports have been increasing rapidly. Figure 2.1 shows that, over the 5 years from 1991 to 1996, the value of fruit and vegetable exports exceeded the value of grain imports by US$1.0-1.5 billion. At the same time, the water saved by the import of cereal grains was about six times the water used for fruit and vegetable production.There are those who argue that water in large, publicly managed, irrigation systems is being poorly managed and that policy and institutional reforms are needed to create the environment and incentives for saving water and increasing WP. Charges for water or for power for lifting water (if they exist at all) are rarely adequate to cover O&M expenses. As a result, irrigation infrastructure is deteriorating at a rapid rate and overexploitation of groundwater resources is leading to a decline in the water table and in the quality of water.Others argue that there is much less scope for increasing WP than is commonly believed. Traditional measures of irrigation efficiency are incorrect. Water scarcity, particularly the closing of a basin, creates its own incentive for reforms, leading to changes in water-management practices at the farm, system and basin level designed to sustain production. One such example is the spread of pumps and tube wells, largely through private investment, for exploiting groundwater and recycling water from drainage ditches.There is a strong element of truth on both sides of the argument. As suggested in the previous section, we need much more accu-rate information on the dynamics of change in water basins over time, noting in particular the changes that occur as water scarcity increases and a basin becomes closed for all or a portion of the year. As competition for water increases, decisions on basin-level allocations among sectors must involve value judgements as to how best to benefit society as a whole. This will include setting priori- ties in the management of water resources to meet objectives such as ensuring sustainability, meeting food-security needs and providing the poorer segments of society with access to water. These objectives can be incorporated as assumptions or constraints in economic-cum-hydrological optimization models (McKinney et al., 1999). Faced with growing water shortages, many national policy makers, backed by international experts, have called for improved management of canal irrigation systems. The steps required include: (i) reforms in pricing and charging users for water or water services; (ii) greater participation in the O&M of systems by local user groups; and (iii) the establishment of water rights. In this section, we discuss the first of the two most widely promoted reforms, water-pricing policy and irrigation-management transfer (IMT), and one less publicized area, management for conjunctive use, which appears to offer potential for gains in economic efficiency, equity and WP. We should emphasize that the appropriate policy and institutional reforms will vary depending on the biophysical and socio-economic environment at a given site.In developed as well as developing countries, there is disagreement regarding the appropriate means by which to price water and the appropriate level of water charges. The pricing of water may involve different objectives, such as cost recovery (who has benefited from the investment in irrigation and who should pay), financing the irrigation agency or reducing wastage of water. Politics also enters heavily into water-pricing decisions. Moreover, many countries lack the tradition, experience and appropriate institutions for pricing irrigation water.The World Bank has recently undertaken a comprehensive study, 'Guidelines for Pricing Irrigation Water Based on Efficiency, Implementation, and Equity Concerns.' As a part of that study, Johansson (2000) has conducted an exhaustive literature survey on pricing irrigation water. More concise treat-ment of the issues can be found in Tsur and Dinar (1997) and in Perry (2001). The authors emphasize the fact that water (particularly water used in irrigation) is a complicated natural resource, a complicated economic resource and a complicated political resource. Moreover, while water supplied is a proper measure of service in domestic and industrial uses, water consumed is the appropriate measure in irrigation, and this is particularly difficult to measure. Tsur and Dinar (1997) discuss several different pricing methods for irrigation water and their implementation costs. These include pricing based on area irrigated, volumetric pricing according to the water used or consumed, output or input pricing, fixedand variable-rate pricing and water markets. The necessary and sufficient conditions for markets to operate, especially defined and enforceable water rights, are, in most cases, not yet in place. Variable-rate pricing is often suggested in charging for electricity for pumps. Bos and Wolters (1990) investigated irrigation agencies representing 12.2 million ha of irrigated farms worldwide. They found that water authorities charged on a per-unit area basis in more than 60% of the cases, on a volumetric basis in about 25% of the cases and a combination of area and volumetric methods in 15% of the cases.Water-pricing methods are most pronounced through their effect on cropping pattern -more so than their effect on water demand for a given crop (Tsur and Dinar, 1997). The various methods differ in terms of amount and type of information and the administrative costs needed in their implementation. The most economically efficient method will depend on physical conditions, such as conveyance structures, water facilities and institutions. If the objective is allocation and not cost recovery, rationing (i.e. assigning water to specific uses) represents an alternative mechanism for coping with water shortages where demand exceeds supply (Perry, 2001).An example of volumetric-cum-area pricing is found in the Zhanghe irrigation system (ZIS) in Hubei, China (Dong et al., 2001). The province determines the price for water for different uses and water is rationed among sectors when supplies are short. The wateruser groups or villages pay the water fee to ZIS on a volumetric basis. The fee for the total volume paid by the group is then divided by the area, and individual farmers are charged according to their irrigated area. Even though farmers pay an area fee, they are well aware that, if they use less water as a group, their fees will be reduced. The savings in water use at the farm level through improved watermanagement practices, as well as through higher crop yields, have led to an increase over time in the productivity of water for irrigation (Hong et al., 2001). There is also an incentive to save water at the system level. Over the past three decades, water has been diverted to higher-valued, non-agricultural uses, greatly increasing the productivity of ZIS water resources. However, the decrease in water seepage and runoff resulting from water-saving practices (including the lining of canals) may have reduced the water available in downstream tanks within the Zhanghe Irrigation District but outside ZIS, and the negative impact of this is not known.In the area of institutional reform, the devolution of management and financial responsibility from irrigation-system managers to local user groups has gained prominence. The popular terms for this are participatory irrigation management (PIM) and IMT. These terms are defined as follows (Groenfeldt and Svendsen, 2000):• PIM usually refers to the level, mode and intensity of user-group participation that would increase farmer responsibility in the management process. • IMT is a more specialized term that refers to the process of shifting basic irrigationmanagement functions from a public agency or state government to a local or private-sector entity.The interest in transfer of responsibility to user groups rests, in large part, on the desire of many governments to reduce expendi-tures on irrigation. Among proponents, it is also argued that handing responsibility to local user groups will result in better O&M and increased productivity. PIM/IMT has become one of the cornerstones of the World Bank water-management policy (Groenfeldt and Svendsen, 2000). Recent experience in PIM and IMT seems to suggest that there has been considerably more success in transferring management responsibilities in more advanced countries, such as Turkey and Mexico, than in the developing countries of Asia (Samad, 2001). Where implementation has been successful, government expenditures and the number of agency staff have declined and maintenance has, in some cases, improved, but there is little evidence yet that PIM/IMT has led to an increase in the productivity of irrigation water.While, under IMT, government responsibility for water management in the lowest level of the irrigation system is being reduced, at the same time water scarcity requires increased government involvement at the highest level of management (Perry, 1999). For example, China has recently centralized control over water diversions from the Yellow River because upstream users were taking so much water that the river often ran dry before reaching the sea. This centralization seems to have increased stream flows in the river. Important areas of centralized management at the basin and sector levels include water allocation among sectors, flood control, drought planning, water-quality regulation and enforcement and groundwater depletion.Historically, the development of the technology of surface-water irrigation preceded that of tube wells, based on compact diesel and electrical power. In fact, the introduction of tube wells in the Indus basin and perhaps in the North China Plain was motivated by concern over the waterlogging and salinization that occurred when canal irrigation caused the water The rate of increase in new areas irrigated by surface water has levelled off. But the irrigated area served by the ever-cheaper tubewell technology has continued to expand to the point where, in India, over half of the area irrigated is from groundwater. The massive investment in tube wells has completely transformed the use of water resources in these regions and has raised problems of resource management that are beyond the grasp of existing irrigation bureaucracies. The overexploitation of groundwater, particularly in the semi-arid areas, is leading to declines in both quantity and quality of water, affecting not only agriculture but also domestic supplies and human health. Often, in many large-scale irrigation systems, tailend farmers have to supplement surfacewater supplies with lower-quality drain water or shallow groundwater (Murray-Rust and Vander Velde, 1994).One of the greatest potentials for increasing WP lies in the management of surfacewater and groundwater resources for conjunctive use, provided this leads to better distribution of water. For example, loss of yield due to salinity could be greatly reduced with improved conjunctive management of surface-water and groundwater resources, especially by better distribution of canal water to maintain optimum levels of water table and salt balances, even in the tail reaches of canal commands (Hussain et al.,Chapter 16,this volume). This requires close monitoring of any adverse effects on soil and water quality, as has occurred in irrigation management in the People's Victory Irrigation Canal in the Yellow River basin of China. It has been suggested (M. Wopereis, personal communication, 1998) that farmers in the Senegal River valley, an area with severe soil salinization (e.g. Raes et al., 1996), be equipped to monitor salinity levels them-selves. Cheap field conductivity meters can be used for this purpose and such equipment should be within the financial reach of farmers' cooperatives.Initially, we addressed the confusion in the definitions of IE, WUE and WP. IE is measured by the ratio of water consumed to water supplied, whereas WP is a ratio of crop output to water either diverted or consumed, measured in either physical or economic terms or some combination of the two. Then we discussed the relationship between WP and EE. Just as water saving does not necessarily result in higher WP, so also higher WP does not necessarily result in higher EE (e.g. the case of SRI).Measures to increase crop yield for a given ET translate into WP gains at system and basin levels (e.g. through varietal improvements). However, the management of water to reduce water-diversion requirements is riddled with off-site effects or externalities (e.g. the case of Gal Oya). Thus, whether water-management practices or technologies designed to increase WP and EE at farm level result in higher WP and EE at system or basin level needs to be determined. The basin is a hydrological, as opposed to an administrative, unit. It is only at this level that we can capture and include in our analysis the off-site effects (or, in economic jargon, internalize the externalities).The growing scarcity and rising value of water in a basin induces both farmers and irrigation organizations to seek various ways to increase WP, EE and net returns (e.g. the basin cases in Turkey, Thailand and Mexico). Recycling or reuse of water, particularly through the exploitation of groundwater, is prominent among the practices adopted to increase WP. Greater attention needs to be focused on managing water for conjunctive use.We need a better understanding of biophysical and socio-economic changes in basins over time and improved measures of basin-level efficiencies before we can determine, in a given situation, the potential for increasing WP through policy and institutional reforms and which reforms are most suitable. Finally, as basins become closed, measures to increase water productivity and exploit groundwater resources are leading to a serious decline in water quality and other problems of environmental degradation. Decisions on basin-level allocations among sectors must involve value judgements as to how best to benefit society as a whole. This will include setting priorities in the management of water resources to meet objectives such as ensuring sustainability, meeting food-security needs and providing the poorer segments of society with access to water."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d801f030fece925ddca801f7d011fa53","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7f769cf2-0fcf-47cb-845c-f81e264c84a9/retrieve","id":"1016396527"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"df75e943-5c7c-47f9-add5-0ed6351a0b74","content":"In 1994, tbe Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) initiated tbe project \"Improving Agrirultural Sustainability and üveühoo<!s in Central Amerita hillsides.\" One of tbe primary results expected from the ínitiaJ phase of \\he project wu 4ft \"analysis oC successes and failures of dill'erent projects on soiI conservation practices in Central Amerita\" (ClAT 1993, p. 1 S). A project activity wu designed with two objectives eto provide information to natiooal and local organizations on soil conservation technologies with a bigb potential for adoption in biDsides fiuming systems in Central Ameri~and eprovide information to national and intemational research communities on research needs on agricultura! produc:tion and soil conservation in Central Amerita.There has been, in Central America, substantial local experience with agrirultural extension of improved techoologies, with soil conservation projects, and with rural development projects with agricultural or soil conservation components. The resu1ts have been mixed. There are cases wbere a rural deve10pment project, \\he introduc:tion of oew technology, or indigenous innovatíon has resulted in dynamic systems, growing incomes and improved husbandry of natural resources. In many other cases, adoption of soil conservation practices has been minimaI. Or, improved soil and crop management practices have been adopted but, despite \\he apparent benetits, failed to spread beyood \"corea communities in wbicl1 ioterventions \\Vere concentrated.Project design is only one part of tbe adoption puzzle-\\he other two parts being \\he techoology offered, and \\he charac:teristícs of \\he &rming systern ioto which oew technology is introduced These tbree components; i.e .• (1) characteristics oftbe change agent; (2) \\he technology itself; and (3) characteristics of \\he production system, provide a framework for synthesízing lbe disparate experience with soil conservation and agricultural technology in CemraI Amerita.Experíence with soil management and conservation in Central Amerita is weD documemed. 1 The pr(lCA\"Ntings of a worbbop in 1991 on opportunities for collaboration betweeo institutions working in biIlsides agrirultural systerns in Central America brougbt togetber regiona1 background material and selected country case studies (DCA 1991). Meyrat, Velasquez and ArdOD (1992) provided 10 inventory ofsoil and water conservation prac:tices in Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras Kaímowitz (1993) summarized \\he results of 18 soil conservation and forestry projects funded at more than SI00, OOO between 1970and 1992. Lutz, Pagíola and Reicbe (1994) assernbled studies that calcu1ated cost -benefit ftows over time for a soil conservation technology in ene region in each of \\he Central America countries, \\he Dominican Repubüc and Haití. Mejía (1993) and Zutter and • Tbe , ... ,,,.1111 of cxpc:ricII<:c cxtcnds ~llOd doc.OIomIaIion. Tbe au1hor beodillAOd .,..nJy &om dí5cussioos .. ;th IIIIIIY pcople \"ho haY<: ,,\"Cri<ed ,,;th a¡ricuItln 0Dd ooil ~ tn Cc:ntraI Améri<:a. 0Dd \",..., \"'ÍlliII8 lo speod time 11:> sbare Ibocír m...1cdac.proL '\" dIx: 01•19•1996 Bustamante (1995) summarized soil conservatioo activities oC private development organizations in Honduras. In addition, tbere are many in-deptb case studies oC local areu, a1tbough many oC tbese are unpublished (\" gray. literature).The empilases in the Kaimowitz (1993) and Lutz. Pagiola and Reiehe (1994) studies were ecooomie. Kaimowitz includes infurmation 00 instltutional features of the projects and incentives ofrered, but infurmation on the agricuItural systems is laeki.n¡. The ~ in Lutz, Pagiola and Reiche specify the bio-physical parameters IleCeSsary to estimate cbanges in soil productivity under altemative technologies. (Because oC data requirements, almost aD the anaIyses wece of pbysical soil cooscrvation structures.) A summary cbapter provides salient, but DOt aItogether consiste.nt, system chantderistics. The case studies also provide infonnatioo on institutioos responsible for soil cooservation policy, and on instltutional \"bornes\" ofthe projects anaIyzed Mejia (1993) and Zutter and Bustamante (1995) contain detaiJed infonnation on cbange ageots 100 incentives, and describe the techoologies prorooted, but do not incIude descriptions oC the production or cropping systems where projects wece based.Local case studies, with the exceptioo of sorne project evaluation documents, often contain detailed information on fiuming systems, although the particulan reported vary widely (Olle is tempted to say \"wildly\") from study to study. Again with the exception of project evaluations, information 00 the structure of the project (Le., the change agent) and incentives used is frequently omitted.Traditional soil conservation practices (Wilken 1987, Thurston ~ Al• 1994), local adaptatioo of soil management technologies (Calderón ~ Al 1991) and indigeoous innovatioo (Bueldes ~ Al 1994) are a valuable source of information 00 good \"fits' between fiuming systems and soil conservatioo teclmologies. Rather than exclude tbese sources of infonnation by focusing exclusively 00 technologies introduced by external projects, documented cases of indigenous adaptation and innovation were incIuded in the cstaIogue and database. In tbese cases, the cbange agents were the producers themselves.After a review of conventional and • gray• literature, a catalogue and, subsequently, a database oC cases was prepared. The database was designed to facilitate geo-referencing so that the project data could be combined with digital databases 00 agriculture being developed fur use in a geographic information system.A standard form was developed to record information 00 each case reviewed For eacb case reviewed, information was recorded on: (1) general information, including project title and dates; (2) geographíe location or coverage; (3) technologies; (4) ebaracteristics of ageots; and (5) fiuming system characteristics. These forms were collated in a catalogue (Dvorak 19968). Nmety-ooe cases liad been catalogued by JuIy 1996. These cases represen! on1y a fraction of the Iíterature available 00 soil conservation and soil management practices in Central America. The number of cases was considered sufficient to use as a test set for database development, mapping and anaIysis. Aside from an etnpbasis 00 cases from Honduras and, to lOme extent, Nicaragua. the selection of cases for entry was essentially arbitrary. The catalogue entnes can be considered neither exhaustive oor necessariIy representative of experience with soil conservation in Central America.TIte type and depth of information reported for the cases was uneveo. The roost detailed ínformation was found in individual case studies, Project overviews, because of lbeir thematie nature, lend to focus on 000 type of information to the exclusioa of others, Technical overviews tended to omi! information on change agents and incentives.Regardless ofthe source, information on geograpbic Iocation was very general; ¡e, usually giving departments 2 or 1mmicipios, and ooJy rarely com.munities (aldeas) or geograpbic coordinates, Because the spread of lecllnology from a \"COIlt4ct\" community to its neighbors wilmn a nfUmclpio was by no means assured, it would llave beeIl desirable lo know. for soiI conservation or rural devdopmeot ~ which c:ommunities bid bid ex!etlSÍon activities aod, for indigeoous tecllnological inDOvatioos, in wbich communities tbe practice had been ooserved. Because it was a rarity for a projec:t to be active in aIl communities in a tmmicipio. the geograpbic information in tbis report must be regarded as a first approximation. Project areas designated as a tmmicipio or departtnent should be taken lo mean that sorne. rather than a/I, cornmunities in tbat ImInÍcipio or departtnent were involved in a project.TIte information 00 environmental and farming systems cbaracteristics was very uneven in the cases reviewed, For tbis reason, tbe informatioo avai1able appears in tbe catalogue, but the data were not included in tbe database, A1temative methods of incorporatmg system features using secoodary data are being expIored, It was sornetimes difficult to discem ir i!l technologies offered were reported, or only those that bid proved successful, Any lecllnology mentioned in a case study was incIuded in tbe database. \"Mínimum tiIIage\" incIudes \"zero tiIIage,\" .no-tiII\" and \"mínimum tiI1age.' \"Organic malter\" includes composting, applicatíon of compost, use of animal manures, and \"organic malter management,\" but oot tnanagement of crop residues, GeneraIIy, tbe Ianer was included as \"00 bum\" or \"mínimum tillage.• In some cases, local terminology varied. No c1ear panero ofuses ofthe lenns ror ditches (acequias and zanjas) couId be discemed. Tbe two were entered in lbe database separately according lo the n.ame used in tbe case study, Information on geograpbic location, tecllnology, and agen! was coded in the catalogue (Appendix A) Information 00 technology, agenl and initíal year oftbe project was transferred lo a digital dalabase (Dvorak 199b) For Honduras, codes for department and municipio were added Where a project covered more Iban one department or nnmicipio in Honduras, mu1tiple records appear in tbe database-one for eacl! Iocation reported. Data entered in tbe catalogue and database are presented, by case, in Appendix B, Tbe identification codes for the entries consist of two parts, On tbe Ieft-band-side of tbe decimal appears tbe primary code for a project. Distinct eomponeou of ooe project, or sub-projects, are identified by sequential numbering to tbe rigbt-band-side of tbe decimal point.   197~2 1981-1 198~2 1991-2 1974--2 19n-1 1982-2 1987-8 1992-2 1975-1 1978-1 1983-2 1988-1 1994-6 1979-3 1984--3 1989-4 1995-1 1980-3 1985•) 1990-6 Soil conserntion projects and practices. Honduras Tbe cases for Honduras were coded by departmeDts and, where koown, municipios. No cases were reported for the departments of Cortes, Gracis a Dios or Islas de la Babia (T able 4) Of tlle remaining 15 departments, all had bad sorne project experience with biological conservatíon or soiJ lI'IlIlI4gement practices. A11 except Atlántida bad projects promoting physical soil conservation structures. Forestry or agroforestry projects bad been implemented in all departments except Choluteca and Valle in southem Honduras.Geographic distnoutions of project areas al !he department or municipio leve!, by technology, appear in Figures I through 9.For purposes of anaJyses., it is desirab1e to have variability in combinations of technologies, change agents, and production systerns.Many cases did oot provide infonnation about !he type of ataoo method used. Among those projects tbat did project thi5 information, there are al Ieast two cases fbr each of lile major extension categories; i.e, conventional extension servi<:e, pa.rallel atemion service, communíty development workers, farmer-promoters, and contact farmers (Table 5). Obtaining data trom tlle missing cases would probably add cases in each of these categories.There are good distributíons of cases with varying combinations of project type a.nd technology, type of extension agent and tecbno1ogy, a.nd technology offered and incentives used in a project.The catalogue data on produaion systems were DOt consisteut eoough to use in a comparative manner, but !he geograpbic distributioo in Honduras, and lM.1I'OII CeutraI America as a whole, suggest tbat variability in production systems wiD also be fiidy bigb.Different combinations of technologies. change agents and production systems are of interest in temu of selecting cases ror anaIy7ing good \"Iits\" between !he tbree components. NevertheJess, because it is DOt possible to construct a samp1ing frarne of projects, !he cases in !he database cannot be considered representative of son cooservation activities tbat llave been carried out in Central America or Honduras. Appareut correIations can not be interpreted as representative of oational or regional, spatial or temporal, trends in soiI conservatioo activities.. . . I _la ditcb \"\",,,,14 I tllI_ I banier banier 1\"''' lIIIae . . tter A.!I~'~'~'~'¡,::'::.i:,::::'t:\".:\":': :::' :::::i' ::t::::' :i.,' ::J::' i:' ::J::.::-:!' :.J::::!.::.:J.::.i . . t : : : :: : :: ' : : :: : : l \" : \" , . ~:, , : , , : : j . , , , , : , , : = ! . : . : : : . . . : :•\"t\"\"\"\"\"'I\"'\".\"., '1\"\"\"\"\"';\"\"\"\" .......... ; ......... ! . . . . . , . .\" . . \" . . ,•,,••t•' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' i' ' \", ..... + . . . \"\"\"; . , , . . . . . . .. ~J . . . . \" . ..!.\"\"\"l\"\":•:.::\"\":l::.::::::I.::::\"\"::: :::•:::' :::L::::t.:::.::::::::::t:::::::1.:,::.:::L.:,:::::::::::::1::::' .: . . ' :::::::.:1' ::::\"::\"::;::::::::::' 1' .\".,,, ... ,L,,.,, .. _.\"\"L\".\",,\" .\".\"\".I\", . . .1.\"\".,, I \"\"•\",,,,,,;,,••,,,,•,,t' \"' ,,,,•,,;,,,,,,,,,, \"\"' \"i' ' ' -' ' ' ' '  _1\"\"-\"\"(\"'// r¡-'\".;-¡:\"':~\"\", (J \",f-~j ' \"\\ \\  ~o.\"\"' o ,1 ..  . <~\\.. 'c-\"'\" <:,:,,<, \"\" \"< . . . . . \",.\"', '.' \" \", , ' , .... '\" ' .... \"~\\.'\" ':~'\" ., ' ,,, \"' -. \",', ,\",,''.,\"-: ... , \" . '\"\" \" E' J  ,~ \"'\"\"'\" ,'\" ~Y\"\"\"-, ,_,',\".' '~~_,', \" \"' . \" ',' ,\"', \" .. '.', ' -j' , .',~.-\",-~\"., ,c'. \" ' , ' . '1 \" \" ','';''>':,:' \" , . \\\"::-\"~\",, ~~<, ~ ,,<:~ ',', ,.,,~,.,:., '\" \", ' -. '''~0,,,•::->. \" . . ~ f \" ' -, ' -, ' ' ,' '., ' . \"\"\" ., \" ' ., ,-', \"'''''\" '1\" r \\ \",,::.;. .:~'0; \"-~, \" \\ ' , \" , \"\\' \" ' , \" ' , '\"\",-Y ' , \\.:, '\"l.'. ,<, , . \\ )'\\ . '\\~,' '~' .,,~, 0~:' \" '/-.l \"'\\ !   (07) FJ Paraíso ( 01) Ahuachapán (08) Francisco Morazán ( 02) Cabai\\as (09) Gracias a Dios ( 03) Cuscatlán ( 10) Intibuca ( 04) Chalatenango (11) Islas de la Bahía (OS) La Libertad ( 12) LaPu ( 06) LaPu ( 13) Lempita (07) La Unión ( 14) Oootepeque ( 08) Morazán ( 15) Ola.nchoSan Miguel ( 16) Santa Barbara (10) San Salvador ( 17) VaDe (11) San Vicente ( 18) Yoro (12) Santa Ana (M) México ( 13) Sonsonate (N) Nicaragua ( 14) Utulután ( 01) Boaco El Quiché (10) Managua ( 9) Escuintla (11) Muaya ( 10) Guatemala ( 12) Matagalpa (tI) Huehuetenango (13) Nueva Segovia ( 12) IzabeI (14) Río San luan ( 13) Jalapa ( 15) Rivas ( 14) Jutiapa ( 16) R. AA N. (15) Quezaltenango (17) RAAS. ( 16) Retalhuleu (18) Zelala s ( 17) Sacatepéquez (P) Panamá (18) San Marcos (19) Santa Rosa . _ -.... __ .... _----37 H CIA TlCAHP researchstte Atl~ritiº~-Hoñduras ._ ..    13.0 ID '110-4 110-5 ' IIG-9' PROJ TECH1' TECH2' TECH3' TECH4 ' TECH5 'TECH6, TECH71 TECH8 : 400 "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/6538753021.json b/main/part_2/6538753021.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"642e014d601758f21ef0e382da4823c7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d8da6607-fbdd-44b2-b184-3fc42204c891/retrieve","id":"-213361911"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"86b29683-a338-465f-9f4c-7f50e5046a15","content":"A maJor blotic constralnl of cassava in Tanzanla is cassava brown slreak disease (CeSO). Using sourees of field tolerance avallable, experlments were Initiated wllh the obJedives lo Sludy Ihe genetics for reslstance lo the disease and sesteh for molecular markers associated with the field toleranee. .¡~~~~~~-----------l -' ~-\"' r\"I'( ; -,'\" -:¡ . ;. ;Lé~'=-:--:_:-::, . , :-:c , .. L Ú ir :!.J rLJ. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d5e0b4f173a86a8afe1b5e1ad6c02ce7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/df7a4c2a-2dcf-498c-8f8e-e528b52cac38/retrieve","id":"1482788628"},"keywords":["CIAT Tropical Forages","Feeds and Forages Flagship in the Livestock CRP CGIAR Partners: ILRI","ICARDA Other Partners: SNV","Papalotla/Tropical Seeds","Advantage Crops","SaC","Heifer Int.","GIZ","NARIs","farmers","farmer organizations","Dairy enterprises","hay producers"],"sieverID":"5e3b6a85-1349-4ee7-bcd3-de262287a724","content":"International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)The project will apply measures to foster the uptake and use of improved forages by potentials users, a combination of well proved and working traditional approaches (e.g. demo plots, which delivered interesting insights to farmers, raised a great deal of interest and lead to first adoption of the technologies), will be combined with innovative and user centered approaches, addressing male and female farmers with a special focus to reach the rural youth. If they are familiarized with the technology from the beginning of their farming activities this will create a strong pull effect on the adoption of these technologies. We are focusing on forages for which -through interaction with private enterprises and public partners-the supply of sufficient quantities of good quality seed will not be a bottleneck as experienced in many other forage scaling efforts.In 2017 and 2018 preparatory steps and first efforts have been undertaken to build the enabling environment for the scaling case here presented.In cooperation with SNV (Dutch Development Cooperation) demo plots have been established to showcase performance of different improved forages under different conditions (soil, altitude, rainfall pattern) in the regions of Meru and Eldoret. Initial participants are private farms of different sizes, an agricultural training center, a school and 2 dairy cooperatives. The plots on the one side, familiarize a limited number of farmers (projected 2017-2018 2500 farmers, but in reality ~11000 have been reached by January 2019) with the forages and allow them to choose the best options for their needs. On the other side, CIAT will widen its evidence and data base on which the scaling case and its activities can build on for extension, scaling and complementary research.Based on these intervention, generated knowledge and lessons learned, the scaling activities of CIAT and its partners (e.g. dairy cooperatives, hay producer associations, more NGOs and NARIs) will spread out regionally to reach out to all areas in Kenya with dairy activities, as well as in the neighboring countries Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda.Field activities (e.g. establishment of demoplots, fielddays, participatory selection of best bet forages) will be accompanied by policy advocacy, financing advocacy and M&E activities. Production of radio emissions, extension videos and use of modern media (e.g. interactive Apps for information and data exchange) will additionally increase the outreach.Selected accompanying studies will be undertaken within that term to backstop the effect of the interventions and support refinement of the interventions and scaling methods.While the second year of the project CIAT's role will gradually change towards brokerage of the scaling process and we will foster the gradual uptake of the process by private sector players who have an economic interest in the development of the livestock and feed sector, dairy companies who will profit from steady milk supply, hay producers who will have a better product to sell and have an increased turnover and seed companies which profit from forage seed sales. This will make the use of the technologies sustainable and more than 100,000 farmers (> 30% youth and female) should be reached within the project period.The demand for animal sourced food (ASF) in SSA is increasing as well as the number of livestock is. In parallel, the demand for livestock feed is increasing in terms of quantity as well as quality.The feed situation in most of East African countries is characterized by scarcity resulting in a low productivity of livestock in general and dairy cows in special. Feed availability is one of the limiting factors for higher productivity and at the same time for reduced greenhouse gas emissions and natural resource use per produced unit of milk and meat.By improved availability of quality feed this central problem can be mitigated. The use of improved forages will improve the feed situation in the dairy value chain and increase the productivity and profitability. By using more drought resistant grasses the actual gap during the drought season will be shortened. The higher protein content of the grasses will increase productivity. The possibility to conserve excess production of improved forages like Brachiaria and Panicum, which is not needed for feeding while the peak production periods, as hay and silage, is offering the producers and users wider options.CIAT and partners in the mid 80s collected grass germplasm in East Africa. The material was transferred to the CIAT Gene bank located in Cali, Colombia. The material has been enhanced through breeding and selection processes which resulted in very promising lines, cultivars and hybrids of Brachiaria and Panicum. Brachiaria and Panicum based forages are now planted on about 120 million ha in Brazil alone (Jank et al,2014), while about 35% of improved grasses in Colombia or over 13 million ha in Colombia, Peru, Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica can be traced back to the efforts of CIAT and partners and revolutionized the livestock industry in Latin America. CIAT-bred Brachiaria hybrids, through partnership with the private sector, are now planted on over 800,000 ha in over 30 countries, with uptake in East Africa estimated at several thousand farmers indicating the demand for wide scale uptake.The improved forages show several improved characteristics, like a good digestibility, high crude protein content, high water stress tolerance (depending on the variety to flooding or drought tolerance), high water and nutrient use efficiency, just to name a few.CIAT, as well as other CG centers and partners, see a big chance to improve the feeding situation in East African Countries by the repatriation of these improved forages.The proposed scaling case will contribute to make these forages and its additional value for its users known and scale their use. In addition to the production of forages for direct use, trainings for its conservation will complement the offer to the users and further allow them to reduce or eliminate the time of feed scarcity.Our M&E, during the 1 st half of the project, will deliver information on the cost of installation, management and calculate the overall cost/benefit ratio of the use of the technology. This will support the decision making process of the users about the integration of forages in the farming systems. The M&E data about the effectiveness and efficiency of the scaling process will inform future scaling efforts.Livestock sector plays significant contribution to Kenya's Gross Domestic Product among other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The sector contributes at least 47% of the agricultural GDP with >17 million cattle alone, while the sector employs at least 50% of the agriculture labor force. In Kenya there are an estimated 1.8 m smallholder farmers (ILRI 2006), who produce about 80% of the marketed milk. The latest reports estimate the number of dairy cows at 4,2 Million (Feed quick scan, SNV 2019). With sustained population increase in SSA, that has currently hit a billion mark (World Bank, 2017), livestock will play a bigger role to meet the estimated doubling demand for livestock products by 2050, albeit with challenges including global warming. Currently, in Africa the livestock production efficiency is low leading to high methane production per unit livestock product (meat, milk) and is associated with the unimproved poor quality forages.In animal production, feeding alone accounts for 55-70% of the costs (Odero-Waitituh 2017). However, use of quality forages has been identified as one of the triple win solution that can contribute to improved production efficiency of animal products and enhance economic incomes while ameliorating climate change through carbon sequestration and ecosystem health. While past and current efforts have identified forages with potential to improve livestock productivity, they are not in use at scale for the benefits to be realized. For example use of Brachiaria, has contributed to profound improvement in beef industry in Latin America and the Caribbean with well over 100 million ha under Brachiaria out of 250 million ha in native and introduced pastures. Further, a profitable tropical seed production industry valued at US $600 million annually has developed in the Cerrados of Brazil to supply Brachiaria and Panicum seeds to livestock producers in Latin America and around the world (Jank et al. 2014).One of the barriers to Brachiaria's (and complementary Panicum) wide-scale spread and impact is the often uncoordinated effort by different stakeholders. However, their activities across different regions in Kenya -and other Eastern African countries -provide fertile ground for identifying bottlenecks and developing a joint strategy for addressing them. For example, already there isthough anecdotal -evidence about a growing demand for the Brachiaria seed, but this comes against under-developed forage seed system in Kenya. Therefore the current seed system depends on imported seeds mostly sourced from outside the continent, resulting in high costs, exorbitant for smallholder livestock keepers.The productivity of the dairy cows (as well as the beef cattle) are highly influenced by the feeding regime, respectively by the availability and quality of the feed. The availability and quality is highly dependent on the rainfall pattern and thus varies extremely throughout the year. The Kenyan feed market is characterized by a strong seasonality of availability of feeds and forages, which has extreme effects on the cattle's productivity. As a lot of the cattle is fed far from the optimal diet, often productivity is going down by 80% in dry season with corresponding negative effects on farmers' incomes, negative economic effects for the dairy industry which operate far below their capacities and last but not least rising prizes for milk consumers.In addition to the seasonal fluctuation of forage availability and the corresponding fluctuation in productivity of the cattle, the knowledge about quality of forage and optimal feeding rationing is generally poor. In the scarcity periods of the year (dry season), cattle is often just kept alive and not fed with an objective of productivity.The total availability of feeds and forages in the country is impossible to number, but it is relatively easy to calculate the need for feed and forages based on the daily need of fresh forage (50-60 kg) respectively 9-12 kg (average 10,5) dry matter (DM) per day and head of cattle, or differently expressed 2-2.5 % of the bodyweight. Taking the latest numbers for the dairy herd of 4,200,000, the yearly need for feed is 16.1 MMT DM / year. As the average hay bale weights 14 kg this translates to 1.15 Billion hay bales.The actual situation on the feed and fodder market is dominated by scarcity throughout the year and even more so during the dry seasons. To face the scarcity, feeds and forage production has to be intensified and offers business opportunities on different levels from small scale farmers to commercial forage producers.CIAT (Colombia) and its partners, as well as EMBRAPA (Brazil) and others at a smaller scale have bred and selected over the years a number of improved forages which are characterized by better drought tolerance, higher nutritional values (e.g. Crude protein content, metabolizable energy content, digestibility) or tolerance to water logging and shade or others. The first 3 commercial hybrids of Brachiaria (Mulato 2, Cobra, Cayman) have undergone the national licensing procedures and are commercially available in Kenya since September 2016. Papalotla's local partner Advantage Crops is undertaking efforts to promote these 3 hybrids in a few East African countries, but they are not yet widely known nor planted in big numbers. Actually the registration procedures for two other hybrids with even higher tolerance to shade respectively to drought are in process.KALRO (Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation), BeCA-ILRI, SLU and CIAT tested in the 'Climate Smart Brachiaria Project' a number of Brachiaria cultivars (mostly EMBRAPA selections) in different agro ecological zones in Kenya. A participatory assessment by local farmers identified 4 cultivars as best bet solutions for the local use (Brachiaria cv Piata, Brachiaria cv Xaraes (syn. cv. Toledo), Brachiaria cv Basilisk, Brachiaria cv MG4).All the Brachiaria named above, hybrids as well as cultivars, have promising characteristics compared to the main grasses currently in use, i.e. Napier and Rhodes Grass.Napier is planted by many farmers in Central and Western Kenya for fresh feed and the main trade product on local level for small traders and hawkers. In relatively small quantities it is also transformed into silage but due to its structure does not qualify for haying. Challenges for Napier are 1) smut and stunt diseases -partly solved by the development by KALRO of varieties which resist at least for 3 years against infections and 2) the poor management practices. As the awareness of quality is poorly developed and most producers go for pure quantity, the bulk of traded and fed Napier is of limited nutritional value, low crude protein, low metabolisable energy and high non digestible fiber content. However seeing the pure biomass production per area unit, it is unbeaten by all other grasses.In the dryer areas hay is produced by a growing number of farmers. The main grass used is Rhodes grass, here in Kenya either Boma or Elmba Rhodes grass. The productivity and quality of Rhodes grass depends a lot on the variety, soil fertility, rainfall patterns and cutting frequency. Productivity can range from 10 -25 t Dry matter/ha/year. The crude protein content depends on the nitrogen availability and very strongly on the age of the grass (based on dry matter up to 17 % for very young leaves decreasing to 3% for overaged grass after flowering stage). As for the Napier, also for hay, quality aspects play a minor role and quantity is in the focus of most producers resulting in low quality hay.In the years 2017 and 2018 CIATs Tropical Forages Team and partners like SNV, Send a Cow, KALRO and others have undertaken the first steps to bring the use of improved forages to scale.This project is building on the results of the 'Climate Smart Brachiaria Project' (KALRO, ILRI, SLU, CIAT) leading to the recommendation of 4 Brachiaria varieties and the national performance trials leading to 3 Hybrids of Brachiaria being commercialized through Advantage Crops Ltd and meanwhile a 2 nd distributer, Amiran, joint. The further spread and awareness creation has now been initialized through the establishment of 30 (the initial planning of 18 was outnumbered due to growing interest in participation of farmers, dairy cooperatives, a school and an Agricultural Training center) demonstration plots with improved forages in selected locations (different agro-ecological zones, different farm sizes) in Central Kenya and further engagement with development partners (GIZ, Send a Cow) to set up on-farm trials in a few selected counties.In 2017 CIAT's Tropical Forages and SNV's Kenya Market-led Dairy Programme (KMDP) agreed to joint efforts to make improved forages more known to farmers in Central Kenya and started to install up to 18 demonstration plots in different agro ecological zones in cooperation with farms of different sizes.The chosen varieties for these demonstration plots are Brachiaria hybrids commercially available in Kenya, Brachiaria cultivars selected by the 'Climate Smart Brachiaria Project', selected Panicum varieties and two legumes: Depending on the availability of land and the agro ecological conditions, farmers and KMDP staff have chosen the varieties and defined plot sizes. In the Meru Area, the planted area though vary between 50 sqm and 800 sqm per variety. The number of different forages planted also vary from farm to farm.In the Eldoret Area, where we are working with larger farms, the demo plots have been arranged in a way that harvesting with machines can also be tested.Contractual arrangements have been established to define the roles of the three parties (CIAT, SNV and the farmers) to create ownership on the farmers' side.Through the installation of the demonstration plots the farmers will familiarize with the improved forages, learn about their performance, planting, management and the conservation. In a first step these demonstration plots have been installed on farmers' land at the beginning of the rainy season in March 2018. For the planting of the first demo plots, farmers and staff of SNV's KMDP received an on the job training on planting the plots with the different varieties and how to manage them.The demonstration plots will not only serve the farmers to familiarize with the improved varieties but also allow them to choose the best performing varieties for planting in larger scale. Peer consulting with other farmers and field days organized by CIAT, KMDP and partners will make the forages and their performance better known and increase the uptake in the different farming communities.The demo plots will be monitored and data taken to provide a solid information base for further uptake by other farmers (M&E). The collected data will include ground coverage, height of the forages, production of organic material and general performance on site. Beside this quantitative assessment of the performance of the planted forages, samples will be taken of the harvested forages and analyzed in a laboratory for their nutritional value. The main elements of the analysis will be crude protein content, metabolisable energy content and the digestibility of the material. These data collected will increase the data base on the forages and feed into cost benefit analysis and help (at least the more commercial oriented) farmers in the choice of the right forage aligning with their needs and farm conditions. The data will also feed in the factsheets and awareness campaigns. Extension material will be developed. In a first activity 10 factsheets on the improved forages (Brachiaria and Panicum) have been developed, additionally one on Special Operation Procedures (SOP) concerning the establishment and management of forages. More factsheets are planned on other Forages, Legumes and Conservation (Hay making, silage making, etc). The awareness and information campaign will be reinforced by the production of radio emissions, extension videos and field days.In the next step we will address agricultural training centers and colleges for the establishment of demo plots and try to integrate the production of improved forages in their training curricula.In the rainy season 2018, up to end of May, 27 demo plots have been established in Meru county and 3 in Eldoret county. The majority was established on farmers' land but also 2 on land of dairy cooperatives which represent 1800 respectively 2700 farmers. 1 demo plot was planted in an Agricultural Training Center which attracts in its Farmer Field days in average 3000 farmers.Ongoing activities till the beginning of the scaling case: Partners: farmers, SNV, CIAT,Papalotla, SaC, GIZThe scaling will start from the beginning of the 3 years project period and build on the activities of the previous years and data collected within that time (decribed above), data from projects like the ' Climate smart Brachiaria Project' and experiences of farmers on the performance of the improved forages made within the years before.This scaling case will build on the improved forages, enhanced through breeding and selection by CIAT and its partners over the last years. Large scale use of the grasses in South America show the maturity of the technology for introduction in scale also for Eastern Africa. Experiences since the establishment of the demoplots are very positive, farmers show lively interest in the technology and we register a growing demand for seeds.On the supply side we can build on the in Kenya already registered Brachiaria Hybrids from our private sector partner Papalotla. After the signature of a long term contract for 20 years between Papalotla and CIAT with strong commitment to Africa, both partners have declared their willingness to develop the uptake in scale of the improved forages in the region. We will capitalize on existing (e.g. Kenya) and evolving licensee partners partners of Papalotla in the region, several of the technologies already being registered and several to be approved by local authorities (e.g. KEPHIS) in 2019, thus ready for scaling before the start of the proposed projectAs it is evident that a large scale and sustainable implementation of new technological innovation in agriculture needs partners on different levels and from different socioeconomic background. CIAT will integrate these partners from the very beginning. This will integrate state institutions like the Ministry of Agriculture, the national research institutes e.g. KALRO in Kenya and KEPHIS (Kenya Plant Health Inspection Service), but also Development partners and NGOs which have established trust and well functioning networks in the rural communities over decades . Even important is the integration of the private sector. CIAT signed in October 2018 a longterm contract with Papalotla, a Mexico based seed company and is working closely with it's local representative Advantage crops to improve seed provision in Kenya. Meanwhile a second commercial partner for seed provision has joined with ‚Amiran', a well established agricultural input supplier.On the 'user side', hay producer Associations (e.g. Rift Valley Hay growers association, Laikipia Hay Growers Association), Dairy companies (e.g. Mount Kenya Dairy company etc) , Seed companies and their networks of hay producers, dairy farmers (pure dairy farmers, mixed dairy-crop farmers), feed traders and seed customers will be addressed by information campaigns (demo plots, field days, radio emissions, new media etc.) A growing number of extensionists and trainers will be trained to achieve big outreach and uptake of the improved forages.We also will address agricultural training centres and colleges for the establishment of demo plots and try to integrate the production of improved forages in their training curricula, which will disseminate the comprehensive knowledge on forage to the generation of the upcoming agricultural professionals and rural youth. In this way we tend to reach the next generation of young farmers, female as well as male, which will know about the positive influence of planting and using forages not only on the productivity of the livestock, but also on erosion control, conservation of soil fertility, carbon sequestration and a whole range of business opportunities around forage production.For the sustainable implementation of the project we will partner with different institutions like development agencies (e.g. GIZ, SNV), NGOs (e.g. Send a Cow, Heifer International), National Agricultural Research Institutes (e.g. KALRO) and farmer organisations. All these partners will not only play an important role in the implementation but will serve as knowledge hubs.We will work on innovative and user centered approaches while still connecting these with more traditional (but working) approaches such as demonstration plots, field days etc which raise a great deal of interest and do lead to adoption Traditional approaches as demonstration plots. field days, peer consultung from farmer to farmer and participatory assessment of the forages will still play an important role role to familiarize farmers to the improved forages. As needs of farmers vary, as also the agroecological conditions of the farms, this opens opportunities to chose the forage(s) which best match with the farmers conditions and needs. Depending on the areas and countries ‚farm radio' programs and ‚farm TV emissioons' will be used to reach the rural farming community, while in other areas and countries the reach out will be more effective by ICT.These activities will gradually be scaled to all the ‚dairy areas' in Kenya from the very beginning of the project. Kenya with its well developed dairy sector will be the focus of all activities. In the 2nd half of the project they will be rolled out to Rwanda. These ‚traditional approaches' have been described under point 5.Innovative approaches (ICT) will be used for spreading information, reaching out to a huge number of potential users, to get feedback on the number of users, but also to collect data and receiving feedback.We will link up with IT start ups in Kenya (a center of this kind of approaches, e.g.'Icow') as well as with established Communication companies like Safaricom , which recently launched ‚DigiFarm'.There are already many apps ‚in the market' with agricultural content and many more will follow most likely. CIAT established first contacts with operationg companies to prospect possibilities of either establishing an ‚own' forages app or if it would be more promising to join ‚established apps' with e.g. dairy content. The coverage with smart phone in Kenya is already very high, more than 50 % of the population is meanwhile using smart phones for payments of goods and bills and seeing the dynamic in this sector, smartphone use will further increase.Social media is another ‚innovative' approach which is intensively used to interact within groups of dairy farmers, hay producers, members of cooperatives etc. Using e.g whatsapp will open new windows for scaling our technologies and create outreach which is hardly achievable with the traditional approaches.Somewhere in between innovative and traditional approches are located agricultural emissions / shows in radio and tv. These shows are very popular and reach a wide puplic not only in rural areas but also in semiurban and urban areas, as links to agriculture are still strong in the urban population. As these urbanised people building up growing wealth, they are a interesting source for funding and investment in agricultural modernisation.All these more user centered approaches will be accompanied by engagement in Policy advocacy for forages, positioning of forages as a cash crop to ease access to finances for the establishment of forages, processing and storage, capacity development, knowledge collection. One of the forums to address the policy advocacy will be the recently initiated 'Brachiaria Roundtable' and the 'National Fodder Conference' being first time organized in December 2017. Training of selected (rural) banks in agricultural literacy, especially about the aspects and chances of forage production could be a way to create access of forage producers to financial services. M&E will have a crucial role and deliver data for the accompanying studies.For the sustainable anchorage of the improved forages in the farming systems of the target countries and beyond, CIAT will change gradually its role while the progress of the project towards a broker's role• Collecting data, process them and make them available to the different stakeholders.• 'Translate the different languages' of the stakeholder to create a common understanding of roles and interests. • Moderate the exchange process between the stakeholders.• Policy advocacy • Improvement of 'agricultural literacy' in financial institutes and on potential investors side and foster the gradual uptake of the process by private sector players who have an economic interest in the development of the livestock and feed sector, dairy companies who will profit from steady milk supply, hay producers who will have a better product to sell and have an increased turnover and seed companies which profit from forage seed sales.Planned activities:• Training of farmers and development partners' staff in establishment and management of the plots. • Data collection, peer consulting to other farmers, field days, development of extension material,• check possibilities of use of new media • establishment of a 'forage homepage' with key information, links to the app(s), CIAT's Tropical Forages, facebook groups, seed sources etc • Development of a 'forages app' with key information on performance, establishment, management and conservation of improved forages or selection of established apps (e.g. on dairy) to feed in content. • 'Agricultural Literacy' sessions on forages to inform banks about business options related to forages and though ease access to finance for forage investments • Policy advocacy on national and county level, e.g. by exchange forums like the Brachiaria round table. • Activities towards improved seed availability of the selected varieties together with seed companies, NARI and regulating bodies (e.g. for Kenya KEPHIS). • Integration of other potential interested stakeholders like hay producer associations or dairy farmer associations.For the better understanding on the effectiveness and efficiency of our approach and to get a critical feedback on the scaling case we will commission 5 accompanying studies, which will deliver additional information and support steering processes within the project.Accompanying studies, proposed:• Adoption factor study(ies): why are people adopting or not, who is adopting, what has to be done in order to make people adopt (strategy development) • Studies on the effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of our proposed scaling approach (lessons learned) • Gender studies: What role do women and young people have in adoption processes?What implication does adoption have on gender roles, gender income, gender possibilities? • What other social and economic impacts does the adoption at such scale come with? • Economic analysis: provide cost-benefit analysis with the technological packages suggested.September 2017 -January 2019, objective 2500 This is the period from the establishment of the partnership between CIAT and SNV till the end of the contract of the responsible IF(UweOhmstedt). The outreach objective of 2500 persons is stated in the contract of the IF. This objective will clearly be passed. Based on the number of members of the 2 dairy enterprises participating in the demo plot activities (1800 and 2700 members) and the average number of visitors at the field days of the Agricultural Training Center (3000 visitors) plus an average of peer contacts (10 per plot, a conservative estimation), we expect to reach 7750 farmers in the first phase.The activities of the above described period will go on and build on the established partnerships and activities. This year will be used to make the forages more known, intensify existing partnerships and build new ones. As we register growing interest from user side and efforts from supply side to improve seed availability we expect to add at least 5000 new users, all depending on the availability of the necessary funds.Scaling case, January 2020 -December 2022 objective 100.000 +The start of the project will still be dominated by direct interventions. In addition to CIAT more partners will be integrated in the activities which will go along with their intensification, dissemination and the activities per se will to be scaled to other regions and neighboring countries as described aboveBy the integration of commercially interested companies, mainly dairy enterprises and seed companies it should be possible to widen the outreach and as such, scale the uptake of improved forages by 100,000+ persons. This represents about 10 % of 1,000,000 (minimum figure) persons involved in dairy production in Kenya. The people reached in the neighboring countries by the scaling case actually play the role of a security margin if opposite to expectation, the numbers would not be reached in KenyaThe need for improved forage varieties that meet climatic challenges and livelihood needs of farmers cannot be overstated. Having drought tolerant forage varieties to meet the demand in the dry season, will open up job opportunities and income generation for youths and reduce drudgery for women, who are often the ones accounting responsible for feeding of the dairy cow in small scale farms. The importance of having good quality and enough forages for increased milk production cannot be overemphasised. Scaling up the use of improved drought-tolerant forages requires a reach and benefits approach for youths and women within the two project countries.Women who are the primary producers of forages still have limited access to these improved varieties, capital and other agronomic technologies which hamper their productivity. Also, milk production of dairy cows is low as a result of near absence of forage production in the dry season.Youths and women will be integrated into demonstrations plots and chosen amongst those who have to select the best performing varieties. These will be done to create awareness and build the knowledge of women and youths in forage management to influence adoption. To successfully scale out these technologies, ongoing public and private collaborations will be strengthened to contribute to more job opportunities, capital and technologies which women and youths have limited access to meet the national, regional and international demand for forages.Women will be provided with seeds in small packs which are more affordable and accessible, to increase productivity, especially in the dry season. Thus, women will be able to generate more income from these activities, and their households will get better health and nutrition from the proceeds of the sale of forages or milk. Upscaling improved forages could also provide job opportunities for youths as seed multipliers or trainers of trainees for women multiplier, to increase seed availability and subsequent productivity at the farm level. Youths as potential Information Communications and Technology (ICT) gurus in Africa can also provide ICT based agronomy, mechanisation, post-harvest services to farmers along the forage value chains in the different countries at an affordable rate.Women and youth will have opportunities in feed processing and forage-seed production. We also need to understand how technology changes affect gender relations. Once a technology becomes more commercially oriented, gender roles may be affected, resulting in unexpected or undesirable effects. The do no harm approach has to be taken into considerations.The implementation steps are described in 6. Additionally please see the Implementation plan in the attached Gantt chartThe activities started in Kenya in the Meru and Eldoret area and will be extended in the next season to other areas. They are based on knowledge creation about the improved forages and on trust building, meaning the users of the technology can see themselves how the varieties perform and choose the best bet matching with their needs. This is not rocket science and the simple measures applied can be easy applied in other regions of Kenya and neighboring countries. The remaining challenge is to create the legal framework that builds the basis for large scale access to seeds by commercial availability in Kenya and surrounding countries. If the ongoing efforts materialize as planned actually, this challenge should be overcome till the start of the project and will not be a bottleneck any more.By documentation of the process of introduction and the performance of the forages under different conditions, as well as the lessons learnt, accompanied by information and extension material (based on generated data) it will be easy replicable and support out-scaling. All will depend on the willingness of potential scaling partners and the availability of funds to support the activities.A limiting factor is still the seed availability of all options indicates. Up to now only the Brachiaria Hybrids, Vetch and Desmodium are commercially available in Kenya. The Brachiaria cv and Panicum cv have been imported under research permission and are actually only available through research organizations as KALRO, ILRI, ICIPE and CIAT. KALRO has started the licensing process for the Brachiaria cv in a shortened procedure, as there is plenty of data available from the 'Climate smart Brachiaria project' and the licensing should be done by mid of 2019.Tropical Seeds / Advantage crops have started the licensing process for one additional Brachiaria Hybrids, as well as for Panicum cv Mombassa. The process of registration should be completed by June 2019, and seed be commercially available in the second half of 2016.The availability of seeds in Rwanda is also critical and has to be addressed.How eventual gaps till commercial availability can be bridged through research centers has to be examined."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"22ac66444795a08742246db892694335","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fce46f5a-96dd-46bc-8869-b202d21c3aec/retrieve","id":"-1527922666"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ed66b8c3-73dd-49a7-a1b6-f2c3e95ae5ec","content":"The OICR on \"Precision Land Leveling technology will lead to potential benefits of large saving in irrigation water, energy with mitigation co-benefits\" was started in January. A research proposal is also developed -which CIMMYT was leading. CIMMYT started the preliminary survey for the questionnaire preparation in January and February, it couldn't move any further due to Covid-19, lockdowns and travel restrictions."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"09ea44f17d814797723c6f4587b51014","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/992e5b3c-e15f-4ddf-9822-50ba56ce2450/retrieve","id":"-249009249"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"de641b0c-911d-4c59-9f24-33455afdff62","content":"Rural a través de Relaciones Agroempresariales\" (ACORDAR, por sus siglas en inglés).\" \"El proyecto \"Alianza para la Creación de Oportunidades de Desarrollo Rural a través de Relaciones Agroempresariales\" (ACORDAR por sus siglas en inglés) tuvo como objetivo contribuir a incrementar los ingresos, asegurar empleo permanente y fortalecer las capacidades comerciales de 7000 familias pobres del área rural de Nicaragua en 50 municipios, en alianza con los gobiernos municipales y el sector privado.ACORDAR fue financiado por la Agencia de Desarrollo Internacional del Gobierno de los Estados Unidos (USAID, por sus siglas en inglés) y ejecutado por un consorcio principal liderado por Catholic Relief Services (CRS); formaron parte socios como Lutheran World Relief (LWR), TechnoServe (TNS), Aldea Global, Latin American Financial Services (Lafise), el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) y otros socios locales en la zona de implementación.Dado el gran impacto de ACORDAR desde su inicio en el 2007, este proyecto que inicialmente había sido planeado para tres años de ejecución, fue extendido hasta el 2012 con el fin de ampliar los resultados y favorecer a un mayor número de familias y organizaciones productoras.En el caso de la cadena de Hortalizas, ACORDAR atendió a 1467 beneficiarios, el 14% del total de los productores hortícolas a nivel nacional. Los miembros del consorcio, trabajaron con asociaciones cooperativas y productores individuales con el fin de incrementar la competitividad del sector hortalizas en el Norte de Nicaragua, específicamente en los departamentos de Jinotega, Matagalpa, Estelí, Madriz y Nueva Segovia. Para lograr los resultados esperados y facilitar la intervención en las cadenas de valor, se conformaron comisiones técnicas integradas por personal experto de las organizaciones del consorcio y de sus socios locales.La comisión técnica de hortalizas estuvo conformada por TechnoServe, la Asociación Caritas Diocesana Estelí, la Asociación de Desarrollo Social de Nicaragua (Asdenic) y la Central de Cooperativas de Servicios Múltiples de Exportación e Importación del Norte (Cecoopsemein), actores relevantes que intervinieron en la cadena durante la ejecución de ACORDAR.El trabajo de esta comisión fue el de implementar, mediante la metodología transferida por el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), procesos de construcción de la cadena de valor a través de mapeos de los actores y flujos de participación, e identificar el camino lógico para la intervención y los objetivos con los que se construiría la estrategia de competitividad de la cadena. Así mismo, se sentaron las bases para la gestión y organización de la Comisión de Gobrenabilidad de Hortalizas con el apoyo de la Asociación de Productores y Exportadores de Nicaragua (APEN) y los grupos de productores hortícolas más representativos a nivel nacional.En el presente documento, se sistematiza la experiencia generada por los aportes del proyecto ACORDAR en el fortalecimiento de la Cadena de Valor de Hortalizas mediante la creación de alianzas, la adopción de tecnologías y el acceso a los mercados que tuvo lugar durante las dos fases del proyecto.con los intermediarios, la cual incidía en la dinámica de los precios de sus productos.Así mismo, las condiciones adversas de la infraestructura de acceso (caminos), eran provocadas por la poca relación existente entre productores y gobiernos municipales.Por otra parte, la producción tradicional dejaba ingresos insuficientes a las familias porque limitaba los niveles productivos, así, se obtenían hortalizas de mala calidad, se daba una comercialización deficiente y se obtenía poca rentabilidad de la cosecha; hay que tener en cuenta que este tipo de producción generalmente se caracteriza por la escasa implementación de tecnologías, la reducida diversificación productiva, el uso inadecuado del suelo y las aguas, el bajo nivel de inocuidad de los productos y el mínimo acceso a relaciones con otros actores de la cadena.Como consecuencia de lo anterior, al realizar un análisis de las actividades productivas se podía observar un deficiente manejo agronómico de los cultivos hortícolas, el cual estaba basado en la utilización tradicional de medidas de protección vegetalPara el abordaje de la situación inicial de esta experiencia se partió del analisis generado por los actores sobre el fenómeno de la baja competitividad de la cadena de valor de hortalizas. A continuación se enumeran siete causas directas de esta problemática:1. Ausencia de alianzas entre actores de los eslabones de la cadena, lo que impedía trabajar de manera conjunta en su fortalecimiento. 2. Uso de métodos de producción tradicional. 3. Desconocimiento del mercado. 4. Baja competitividad productiva. 5. Bajo nivel de desarrollo de las organizaciones de base. 6. Deficiente manejo agronómico de los cultivos hortícolas. 7. Ausencia de implementación de tecnologías.La ausencia de alianzas provocaba el incremento de los costos de producción porque los agricultores estaban desvinculados de los proveedores de servicios, no había acceso a crédito porque tampoco había relación con las organizaciones prestadoras de servicios financieros y, como si fuera poco, los agricultores tenían una relación desventajosa Los agricultores tenían escaso acceso a la información sobre precios y estándares de comercialización que los prepararan para competir en el mercado.También había un manejo inadecuado de medidas de protección de los cultivos y una baja agregación de valor a los productos para comercialización, ya que solamente se realizaba la selección de hortalizas de acuerdo a los estándares tradicionales de mercado, no se contaba con herramientas que permitieran mejorar la calidad e inocuidad de los productos.El desconocimiento del mercado era otra gran causa del problema porque los agricultores tenían escaso acceso a la información sobre precios y estándares de comercialización que los prepararan para competir en el mercado. Como consecuencia, el mercado era dominado por los intermediarios, los productores sólo vendían a precios bajos y a mercados locales, no influían en la dinámica de oferta y demanda, y por consiguiente no obtenían precios justos. Además, como los agricultores desconocían la dinámica del mercado, no planificaban sus siembras de acuerdo a la demanda y esto, tarde o temprano, desbalanceaba los precios.Por su parte, el bajo nivel de desarrollo de las organizaciones de base podía verificarse en el hecho de que los grupos de productores contaran con órganos directivos incompletos y disfuncionales; además, hacían falta como quemas, uso de sistemas de riego rudimentarios, uso excesivo e inadecuado de insumos para control de malezas, plagas insectiles y enfermedades.Estas actividades generaban dos grandes impactos: por un lado incrementaban el uso de insumos de alto costo y causaban un efecto directo sobre la rentabilidad, y por el otro, ocasionaban significativas marcas ambientales que se reflejaban en la contaminación de los suelos y aguas, la tala innecesaria de bosques y tacotales, la depredación de la fauna benéfica, la creación de desequilibrios ecológicos en la relación plagas -biocontroladores, entre otros.De otro lado, la falta de Implementación de tecnologías era evidente en la producción. Bajo este esquema se observaba que se echaban a perder los cultivos y se reducían las áreas de siembra debido a la alta vulnerabilidad de la producción ante los efectos de la sequía o los excesos de lluvia, había poca diversificación productiva en los ciclos de producción y alta incidencia de daños causados por plagas y enfermedades (como el mal del talluelo en almácigos, la presencia excesiva de plagas secundarias, la resistencia de plagas al control químico, y las pérdidas pre y pos cosecha por efecto de organismos patógenos y saprófitos).Como consecuencia, el consorcio se encontró con que en la cadena solamente existían seis actores como posibles beneficiarios: la Cooperativa Agropecuaria de Servicios Tomatoya-Chagüite Grande (Coopastochag); la Cooperativa Agropecuaria de Servicios de Hortalizas (Cooprahor); la Cooperativa de Servicios Múltiples Padre Odorico de Andrea (Coosempoda); Productores y Comercializadores de Totogalpa S.A. (Procontsa), la Central de Cooperativas de Servicios Múltiples de Exportación e Importación del Norte (Cecoopsemein) y productores individuales; además de una organización comercial para ser vinculada (Amanco) y tres instituciones dispuestas a establecerse como organizaciones de desarrollo (TechnoServe, CARITAS y PFID-Michigan State University, ésta última, en proceso de terminar sus intervenciones en el territorio). estrategias de desarrollo empresarial, no existía un liderazgo legitimado por los socios y se incumplían las normas y leyes vigentes, situación que impedía la evolución integral de las organizaciones.Finalmente, la baja participación de las mujeres en la cadena de valor de hortalizas era evidente. Su involucramiento era mínimo incluso en el único eslabón del que algunas formaban parte: el de producción, en el cual aportaban su mano de obra de manera temporal y tenían roles tradicionales como productoras.Por todas las razones mencionadas anteriormente, cuando ACORDAR inició su fase de implementación, el eslabón receptor de mayor apoyo fue el de producción porque quienes trabajaban con las comunidades, lo hacían desde el enfoque de las cadenas productivas y no desde el de las cadenas de valor 1 .El eslabón receptor de mayor apoyo fue el de producción porque quienes trabajaban con las comunidades, lo hacían desde el enfoque de las cadenas productivas y no desde el de las cadenas de valor.asesores técnicos, quienes dieron a conocer el trabajo que se realizaría y sus bondades. Con esto, se crearon las condiciones para la adopción y difusión de nuevas tecnologías, se hicieron demostraciones prácticas de cada una de ellas, se iniciaron giras de intercambio de experiencias y se llevaron a cabo procesos de capacitación.El proyecto ACORDAR también contribuyó a la construcción y progreso de la infraestructura productiva con la edificación de mejoras de los centros de acopio de Tomatoya (Jinotega), Sébaco, Miraflor (Estelí), Mozonte, El Mojón (Jinotega) y una bodega de papa ubicada en la comunidad de Boniche (Yalí).. Mediante las inversiones directas del proyecto (que fueron financiadas por USAID, los socios implementadores y los grupos de productores; y que corresponden a un total de US$ 2.480.754), también se adquirieron cuartos fríos, edificios, camiones de distribución, cajillas, entre otros equipos que permitieron a los agricultores acopiar y comercializar mejor la producción de hortalizas, de tal manera que pudieran mejorar sus volúmenes de ventas y la calidad de sus productos. Estos seCon la Inauguración del Proyecto ACORDAR en septiembre del año 2007, el consorcio dio inicio a un proceso de intervención que en un primer momento benefició a 1037 productores hortícolas y a sus familias.Entre las primeras intervenciones del proyecto, se realizó el levantamiento de la línea de base, la cual ayudó a delimitar las zonas de ejecución y la conformación de los grupos beneficiarios. Los resultados de estos estudios permitieron conocer la cantidad real de familias a beneficiar, su potencial productivo en términos de áreas, rubros, condiciones agroecológicas y la capacidad instalada y necesaria para agregar valor a la producción.Al principio los productores se encontraban resistentes al cambio, eran renuentes a la intervención debido a las experiencias negativas que habían vivido con otras iniciativas; esto generó dificultades y atrasó la implementación del proyecto. Para lograr un cambio de actitud por parte de los agricultores, fue necesaria la intervención directa de convirtieron en los primeros pasos para brindar valor agregado basado en la selección y lavado de productos hortícolas para los rubros de papa, tomate, lechuga, repollo, coliflor, chiltoma, zanahoria, remolacha, apio, berenjena y chile.Otro tipo de intervención que se destacó por su importancia, fue la introducción y adopción de tecnologías de Buenas Prácticas Agrícolas (BPA) que le apuntaban a la mejora del proceso de poscosecha, al de comercialización (cantidad y calidad de productos), a la agregación de valor, a la introducción de tecnologías, y a la incidencia con respecto al componente de agua (introducción de miniacueductos y sistemas de riego).Entre los productores también se promovieron alternativas tecnológicas como los sistemas de riego por goteo, microtúneles, invernaderos y obras de conservación de suelos y aguas para reducir la vulnerabilidad ambiental de los productos ante factores climáticos adversos, incrementar rendimientos y obtener mayores ingresos. Como consecuencia de lo anterior, las ventas totales logradas durante los cinco años del proyecto, se contabilizaron en US$42.338.583, de los cuales el 61,6% representaba ingresos netos.Una vez iniciada la segunda fase del proyecto en el 2010, se dio continuidad al proceso de intervención y se incrementaron los beneficiarios a 1467 productores hortícolas y, de manera indirecta, también a sus familias.Para este entonces, también se realizaron actividades como la creación de alianzas con proveedores de servicios financieros y no financieros, vendedores de insumos y compradores; se llevó a cabo el proceso de certificación de fincas con el Ministerio Agropecuario Forestal (Magfor) y otros esfuerzos que se encaminaron a la graduación de empresas cooperativas.Como resultados, los beneficiarios accedieron a insumos de buena calidad, a asistencia técnica, obtuvieron mayor acceso a créditos de distintas modalidades y se abrieron nuevos mercados alternativos (supermercados y proveedores especializados); además, formaron parte del proceso de desarrollo empresarial de sus grupos informales de productores, los cuales dieron un paso importante para convertirse en empresas con responsabilidad social y ambiental. Esto permitió que los grupos atendidos por ACORDAR se diferenciaran de sus pares en el territorio.se contabilizaron en US$42.338.583 de los cuales el 61,6% representaban ingresos netos.Es importante destacar que la creación de la Comisión de Gobernabilidad de la Cadena de Hortalizas permitió una mayor vinculación e influencia de los actores de la cadena, por eso estos últimos empezaron a aprovechar oportunidades de incidencia, de mejora de las condiciones para la negociación en el mercado y de las coincidencias (de precios, de estándares de mercado, de necesidades de producto y de localización de proveedores y demandantes de los productos) que proporcionaban una relación ganar-ganar entre todos los actores de los eslabones de la cadena.Durante la intervención también se llevó a cabo el proceso de certificación de fincas BPA, la difusión de tecnologías y la consolidación de alianzas. Aunque el proceso de certificación no se concluyó durante la ejecución del proyecto ACORDAR, se espera que este proceso termine para que los agricultores sean autorizados para comercializar en cualquier mercado selectivo y tengan un efecto positivo en la reproducción de su modelo. Por su parte, la difusión de tecnología sí fue implementada a cabalidad en el proyecto y fue de suma importancia para ampliar la cobertura del mismo con respecto a sus metas originales de rendimientos productivos, rentabilidad y de consolidación de las alianzas para hacer sostenibles los esfuerzos del proyecto.Se realizaron alianzas con intermediarios locales, nacionales y mercados selectos como Wal-Mart, Supermercados La Colonia y APEN (gremial). Con esta estrategia se mejoró la negociación de precios y estándares de calidad, se dio cierto nivel de aseguramiento y sostenibilidad al mercado de los productos y se creó la Comisión de Gobernabilidad de la Cadena de Hortalizas para favorecer los vínculos entre los actores y mejorar su incidencia en las políticas, actividades y proyectos que se manejan en torno al sector a nivel nacional.Cabe aclarar que estas relaciones fueron el primer paso para acercar a los intermediarios, y a los grupos y productores de la cadena.Intermediarios como Wal-Mart y Supermercados La Colonia, establecieron con los agricultores acuerdos comerciales formales que se han mantenido vigentes hasta la fecha. Con esta estrategia se obtuvo mayor acceso al mercado, mejoramiento de la calidad del producto y agregación de valor.También se ejecutaron planes de siembra (escalonamiento) y se recibieron mayores ingresos.Además, se crearon y fortalecieron relaciones con proveedores de tecnología como Amanco, Tecnoriegos, Sagsa -Disagro, Los proveedores de financiamiento también fueron parte importante de esta red de relaciones. Con ellos se hizo una negociación diferenciada de créditos para la producción. Las alianzas con el Fondo Desarrollo Local (FDL), Latin American Financial Services (Lafise), la Fundación Para el Desarrollo de Nueva Segovia (Fundenuse) y la Caja Rural Nacional (Caruna), brindaron un mayor acceso a financiamiento productivo, negociación de menores tasas de interés, plazos y articulación de fianzas solidarias.Sin embargo, grandes resultados arrojados por el proyecto se dieron gracias a las alianzas que se hicieron con los gobiernos municipales para facilitar la incidencia de los productores en las alcaldías. En este contexto, se realizaron alianzas con los Gobiernos de los municipios de Pueblo Nuevo, Condega, Totogalpa, Quilalí, Jícaro, 2. Empresa proveedora de insumos condormada por Dupont y Westrading.se dieron gracias a las alianzas que se hicieron con los gobiernos municipales para facilitar la incidencia de los productores en las alcaldías.Jinotega, Sébaco, Darío, Yalí, San Rafael del Norte y Estelí.Lo anterior, logró involucrar a los productores y grupos para darles mayor incidencia en las gestiones para el mejoramiento de la infraestructura productiva. Los Gobiernos anteriormente mencionados, participaron en actividades del proyecto y en el desarrollo de mejoras de infraestructura productiva y social (caminos, miniacueductos, centros de acopio y procesamiento), además, apoyaron procesos de capacitación para crear conciencia sobre el uso racional del agua.También otras instituciones estatales se involucraron con las actividades del proyecto ya que se realizaron gestiones ante el Magfor y el INTA para certificar las fincas, cultivos y centros de acopio y procesamiento para la comercialización. Esto influyó en la diferenciación de la producción, en la manufactura de los productos, y en su mejoramiento de calidad e inocuidad.Finalmente, es importante aclarar que el mejoramiento de relaciones con diferentes tipos de actores y el intercambio de información que se dio a través de las alianzas, permitió que se consolidaran vínculos con FDL, LAFISE, Fundenuse y Caruna, Tecnoriegos, Ramac, Agritrade, entre otras organizaciones que proporcionaron disponibilidad inmediata y adecuada de créditos para la producción, adquisición de insumos y tecnología, entre otros beneficios para los actores de la cadena.Durante la ejecución del proyecto hubo grandes esfuerzos encaminados a la implementación de obras de conservación de suelos y cultivos con coberturas e invernaderos. La estrategia partió de la capacitación práctica a los productores en el trazado y construcción de obras de conservación de suelos (barreras vivas, muertas, acequias de ladera, diques, cercas vivas, cortinas rompevientos, entre otras), y la aplicación de técnicas de plasticultura, túneles y tela Agribon.Estas actividades permitieron proteger los suelos contra los efectos de la erosión hídrica, disminuir las pérdidas por anegamiento, utilizar las áreas útiles de ladera, ampliar las áreas de siembra, aprovechar el recurso agua, e incrementar los rendimientos productivos.Otro aspecto importante para mejorar la condición de los suelos, estuvo relacionado con la selección y promoción de pesticidas permitidos (Persuap 3 ) e implementación del Manejo Integrado de Plagas (MIP) y el Manejo Integrado de Cultivo (MIC). En este caso, las fichas técnicas para seguimiento agronómico de campo, permitieron efectuar las recomendaciones de productos para el control de plagas y enfermedades con base en la Persuap. Como resultado de lo anterior, se logró la reducción de los índices de exposición a la contaminación ambiental y familiar.Además, se partió de la oportunidad de aprovechar las condiciones agroecológicas aptas para la diversificación e incremento de áreas de producción, para aumentar los espacios de siembra e introducir más cultivos que estuvieran acordes a la demanda del mercado. De esta manera, se dio un incremento de la oferta de productos con la que se logró ingresar a nuevos mercados selectivos y convencionales, e Implementar nuevas tecnologías acordes con las condiciones agroecológicas de cada zona.Es importante aclarar que muchos de estos esfuerzos estuvieron motivados por procesos de certificación en Buenas Prácticas Agrícolas (BPA) y Buenas Prácticas de Manufactura (BPM). Para alcanzar tal fin, también se realizaron Escuelas de Campo, parcelas de validación, giras de intercambio de experiencias (nacionales e internacionales), capacitaciones y demostraciones prácticas. Con esto, los productores se apropiaron de nuevas tecnologías y técnicas que les permitieron incrementar los índices de producción, aumentar la calidad e inocuidad de los productos y mejorar sus ingresos.3. Evaluación de Plaguicidas y Plan de Acción para su Uso más Seguro (Persuap, por sus siglas en inglés).Se partió de la oportunidad de aprovechar las condiciones agroecológicas aptas para la diversificación e incremento de áreas de producción. • Mayores exigencias en los estándares de calidad por parte de los actores del mercado. Esto motivó a los productores a generar cambios de actitud con respecto a la calidad de sus productos, puesto que suponían que al mejorar sus cultivos también obtendrían mejores precios.• Renuencia de los intermediarios para vincularse a la cadena. Ellos no querían ceder espacios por temor a perder parte de sus ingresos, su hegemonía en el mercado les permitía abusar de su poder en la compra y venta de los productos.la importancia de este aspecto motivó la gestión de otro tipo de iniciativas como la organización de la Comisión de Gobernabilidad de la Cadena de Valor de Hortalizas. Esta se conformó con diferentes actores de la cadena de valor y con el fin de mejorar su incidencia y participación en actividades que generaran mayor competitividad integral a la cadena. Para ello, se realizaron procesos de capacitación, concertación, diálogo, y se elaboró un plan de competitividad que ayudara a identificar las necesidades de mejora del sector. Con esta comisión se buscó incidir en la unión de los actores en actividades sinérgicas que permitieran mayor influencia a nivel nacional.No obstante, es importante aclarar que no todos los resultados y hallazgos de ACORDAR respondieron enteramente a las actividades del proyecto, pues como se mencionó antes, existieron una serie de factores en el entorno que de una u otra manera influyeron. En el caso específico de la cadena de valor de hortalizas estos fueron:1. Factores de mercado• Existía la oportunidad de abastecer el mercado nacional, que actualmente estaba siendo suplido con productos hortícolas importados.Existía la oportunidad de abastecer el mercado nacional, que actualmente estaba siendo suplido con productos hortícolas importados.• Las condiciones agroecológicas adecuadas para la producción de hortalizas incidieron en el incremento de las áreas de producción y el escalonamiento de siembras. Este potencial fue aprovechado de una mejor manera debido al uso de tecnologías y de los planes de siembra que optimizaron los recursos agua y suelo.• Debido al exceso de lluvias en época de cosecha, hubo pérdidas parciales y totales de la producción de hortalizas, las cuales afectaron el desempeño del proyecto. Este efecto también se hizo extensivo a los otros eslabones de la cadena donde los acopiadores y procesadores se vieron obligados a incumplir con sus contratos, mientras que los compradores tuvieron que importar los productos en déficit.• Durante la intervención se dio una mayor disponibilidad de crédito para los productores, con lo cual podrían incrementar sus áreas de siembra y dar valor agregado a su producción. Esto fue posible bajo la creación de alianzas Esta situación dificultó la vinculación de actores a la cadena y limitó la obtención de mejores resultados en ventas.• La presencia de proveedores de tecnología influyó en la canalización de sistemas de riego por goteo, microtúneles, invernaderos, fertilización soluble, biocontroladores, insumos efectivos y de bajo impacto ambiental que permitieron incrementar los índices de producción y mejorar los procesos de valor agregado.Además, por la disponibilidad de sistemas de riego, también se redujo la vulnerabilidad con respecto a la ausencia de lluvia.• Baja disponibilidad de controladores biológicos para sustituir a los pesticidas tradicionales; debido a la ausencia de proveedores, esto limitaba la adopción de nuevas tecnologías alternativas de manejo fitosanitario de las hortalizas. También representó una gran limitación porque los controladores biológicos son una alternativa más viable y barata para el control de plagas y enfermedades porque sus características no afectan el medio ambiente y la inocuidad de los alimentos.estratégicas a manera de modalidades como la fianza solidaria, avales de las organizaciones y la canalización de créditos con fondos rotatorios 6 a través de las cooperativas.Sin embargo, en la actualidad los productores se han visto afectados por el surgimiento del Movimiento \"No Pago\", ya que este redujo drásticamente el acceso al crédito, principalmente porque esta situación, además de provocar cambios significativos en las políticas de crédito las instituciones financieras, se generó en la zona norte de Nicaragua, donde estaban concentrados los mayores esfuerzos del proyecto.• Aunque algunas municipalidades se resistieron, en general se dio una apertura de estos organismos para permitir la incidencia de los actores de la cadena.Las necesidades de los productores fueron escuchadas y esto facilitó la gestión y ejecución de obras que contribuyeron a la mejora de infraestructura productiva en las comunidades, principalmente construcción y arreglo de caminos, mini acueductos, pilas receptoras, entre otros.• Complicaciones de las instituciones gubernamentales para apoyar procesos en todos los eslabones de la cadena.Las normativas establecidas por estos organismos estatales no facilitaban la agilidad en los procesos de certificación de fincas con BPA en el eslabón de producción, y de procesos de BPM en el eslabón poscosecha.6. Un fondo rotatorio (llamado también 'fondo revolvente' por una traducción no castiza del concepto en inglés 'revolving fund'), es un fondo o una cuenta con ingresos que sigue estando disponible para financiar sus operaciones continuas sin ningún tipo de limitación por ejercicio fiscal..Aunque ya finalizó la intervención del proyecto ACORDAR, los actores de la cadena continúan vinculados a casas comerciales y proveedores de tecnologías que en el caso de la alianza han sido 17 empresas: Formunica, Agrológico, Duwest, Ramac, Abrasa, Agritrade, Sagsa-Disagro, Agro-Éxito, Agroquímicos \"La Siembra\", Agro Mayo, Bejo de Nicaragua, Agroalfa, Biotor-Labs, Agroservicio \"Esquipulas\", Amanco, Tecnoriegos y Agrocom. Así, gracias a las alianzas, las entidades continúan facilitando el acceso a crédito alternativo para 960 productores que representan el 70% de los beneficiarios del proyecto en la cadena de hortalizas.Así mismo, muchos agricultores aún reciben asistencia técnica para la implementación de nuevas tecnologías y promueven las compras en bloque para disminuir los costos de producción al menos en tres cooperativas (Coopastochag, Cooprahor y Coosempros). Como resultado, se ha incrementado el potencial productivo de los productores, productoras y sus organizaciones.También prevalecen los vínculos con proveedores de servicios financieros, actualmente se tiene acceso a crédito Gracias a las alianzas, las entidades continúan el acceso a crédito alternativo para el 70% de los beneficiarios del Proyecto ACORDAR en la cadena de hortalizas.con tres casas financieras como Lafise-Bancentro, FDL y Banpro. En cuanto a las alianzas con organismos no-gubernamentales y universidades, se cuenta con actores como Caritas, Proyect Concern International (PCI), Universidad Católica Agopecuaria del Trópico Seco (Ucatse) y Funica, que permitieron el acceso a créditos alternativos y transferencia de tecnologías.Las alianzas establecidas con actores de los mercados selectos, han permitido mantener los contactos de ventas con empresas como Industrias Cárnicas Integradas de Nicaragua S.A. (ICI), la cual pertenece a la cadena centroamericana Wal-Mart y supermercados La Colonia. Estas relaciones facilitan la permanencia de un sinnúmero de productores en el mercado selectivo a través de la siembra escalonada de diferentes cultivos como tomate, chile Nataly, pepino, lechuga, repollo, remolacha, brócoli, zanahoria, coliflor, chiltoma de relleno, pipián, apio, papa, chiltoma de cocina, entre otros.Además de los clientes para los anteriores productos, también existe contacto directo con compradores en los mercados de la capital del país, vínculos que fueron establecidos por algunos productores de repollo, tomate y papa.Actualmente la producción tradicional ha cambiado, del 90% de los productores y productoras que implementaron nuevas tecnologías con la intervención de ACORDAR, aproximadamente el 80% las adoptó realmente y aún las usa.Dentro de las principales tecnologías se encuentran: el sistema de riego (goteo y micro-aspersión), el fertirriego, el plástico mulch, los invernaderos para producción de plántulas, la tela antivirus, las zanjas de fertilidad, los reservorios para cosechas de agua, las pilas para riego, la introducción de nuevas semillas de hortalizas, los plásticos ultravioleta para semilleros, los análisis de suelos y de agua, entre otras.Además, tras el cierre del proyecto los productores y productoras han empezado a aumentar sus áreas de producción con sistemas de riego instalados por ellos mismos y han llevado este sistema a áreas productivas que antes regaban por inundación, han adoptado algunas buenas prácticas agrícolas y han empezado a utilizar centros de acopio para dar valor agregado a sus productos.Por otra parte, como el proyecto ACORDAR ayudó a disminuir el desconocimiento del mercado, ahora existe mayor conocimiento de la demanda en los mercados formales tradicionales y selectivos (Wal-Mart, Supermercados La Colonia); esto ha permitido que los grupos de productores logren establecer planes de siembra de acuerdo a la demanda, en alianza con otros actores de la cadena, de esta forma, garantizan un mercado sostenible a mejores precios.La Comisión de Gobernabilidad de Hortalizas, que tiene gran representatividad de los actores beneficiarios de ACORDAR, por haberse creado con el apoyo de APEN en el contexto del proyecto, mantiene representatividad e incidencia a nivel nacional y permite a los productores y a sus organizaciones hacer parte de la toma de decisiones para incidir en la definición de políticas, regulaciones y normativas necesarias para el desarrollo del sector. Los actores que conforman esta comisión en la actualidad son: el Ministerio de Fomento, Industria y Comercio (Mific), el Magfor, APEN, Aldea Global, la Comisión Nacional de la Papa (Conapapa), entre otros.El conocimiento obtenido por los grupos de productores y productoras de las cooperativas de base a través de talleres, capacitaciones, intercambios de experiencias, días de campo y ruedas de negocios, permitieron el acercamiento con los mercados selectivos. Incluso aún se mantiene el intercambio interno de información entre los actores en los eslabones de producción y mercadeo, por eso, los productores y productoras hoy tienen más conocimiento de los precios y la demanda.Por otra parte, la baja competitividad productiva fue uno de los factores que se logró mitigar y que actualmente contribuye a la sostenibilidad debido a que se ofrecen productos de mayor calidad en los diferentes mercados, también se ha mantenido un incremento de los rendimientos mayor al 35,4% porque siempre se reducen los riegos de perdida y los volúmenes de productos que deben ser obtenidos mediante importación en los mercados nacionales.En cuanto a las prácticas productivas, es más eficiente el manejo agronómico de los cultivos hortícolas. Gracias al establecimiento de obras para BPA en fincas de productores y productoras, se ha logrado mantener el mejoramiento de la calidad e inocuidad de los productos. Además, con la adopción de estas prácticas y con la aplicación de las Se ha mantenido un incremento de los rendimientos mayor al 35.4%.Hoy las organizaciones cuentan con planes estratégicos, planes de negocios y de desarrollo que les permiten abrirse espacio ante nuevas oportunidades.nacional para la comercialización de hortalizas, que ha permitido que la producción actual no sufra las fluctuaciones de precios del mercado internacional que desmotivaban a los productores y productoras. El mercado sostenible ayuda a que las familias en todos los eslabones de la cadena reciban beneficios por la oportunidad sistemática y constante de producir y comercializar.Asociado a esto, el incremento de exigencias en los estándares de calidad por parte de los actores del mercado, ha concientizado a los productores y acopiadores de la lógica de que, a mayor calidad ofertada, mayor oportunidad de vender a precios más competitivos. Este se ha convertido en un estímulo para producir y acopiar con calidad.recomendaciones del documento Persuap y su lista de plaguicidas autorizados por la Agencia de Protección Ambiental de los Estados Unidos (EPA, por sus siglas en inglés), los productos que se entregan a los clientes siguen siendo fortalecidos, generan calidad y confianza para el comprador y rentabilidad para el agricultor o agricultora.En lo que respecta al desarrollo organizativo y empresarial, luego de que en la intervención se realizara un autodiagnóstico institucional con la metodología de la Alianza de Aprendizaje (AdA), se conocieron las debilidades de las organizaciones y se facilitó la toma de decisiones.Hoy las organizaciones cuentan con planes estratégicos, planes de negocios y de desarrollo que les permiten abrirse espacio ante nuevas oportunidades. Hay liderazgo en cada uno de los grupos apoyados (Coopastochag y cooprahor) y los órganos de dirección asumen sus obligaciones; adicionalmente, los productores y productoras han tomado mayores compromisos con sus empresas para la búsqueda de nuevas oportunidades.Además de ello, se dieron algunos aspectos en el entorno que facilitaron el desarrollo de la experencia, tal es el caso del mercado En el caso de las municipalidades, éstas siguen permitiendo la incidencia de los actores de la cadena. Esto facilita la gestión y ejecución de obras de infraestructura productiva en las comunidades donde se concentraron los esfuerzos del proyecto ACORDAR. Sin embargo, las instituciones gubernamentales ahora también apoyan acciones en todos los eslabones de la cadena, especialmente en lo referido a los procesos de certificación de fincas con BPA en el eslabón de producción y a los procesos de BPM en el eslabón de poscosecha.Adicionalmente, ahora existe mayor disposición de los intermediarios para vincularse a la cadena debido a que existe una mayor oferta de productos, tanto en el mercado nacional convencional como en el selectivo; también algunos grupos de productores procesan y venden directamente sus productos. Como consecuencia, los intermediarios han cedido mayores espacios en el mercado, su hegemonía es compartida con los productores y acopiadores porque el poder en la compra y venta de los productos se ha diversificado.Ya para esta etapa, se ha empezado a dar un incremento en la disponibilidad de Además, se generaron expresiones de gobernabilidad de la cadena y se construyó la Comisión Nacional de la Cadena de Valor de Hortalizas, lo cual ha permitido que los actores cuenten con organizaciones capaces de apoyar la gestión y los acuerdos que le apunten al desarrollo del sector a nivel nacional.A través de este organismo se han logrado estandarizar los pesos y medidas de algunos productos, con recursos como la Norma Técnica Obligatoria Nicaragüense (NTON) de papa y la estandarización de la caja de tomate. También se logró que el Gobierno central regulara el flujo de hortalizas importadas, lo cual consolidó el mercado nacional para productores y productoras locales quienes obtuvieron mayores oportunidades de sostenibilidad productiva y financiera.De otro lado, las condiciones óptimas del clima y los recursos en los territorios de intervención del proyecto ACORDAR continúan proporcionando un escenario idóneo para la producción sostenible de hortalizas.Se logró que el Gobierno regulara el flujo de hortalizas importadas, esto consolidó el mercado nacional para productores y productoras locales.Los compradores no pagan por productos diferenciados, no se prima la producción ambientalmente amigable.controladores biológicos para sustituir a los pesticidas tradicionales. Sin embargo, uno de los fenómenos que aún causa preocupación es la amenaza por el exceso de lluvias en época de cosecha; todavía es imposible controlar sus efectos sobre la producción, así que los agricultores siguen perdiendo sus inversiones y, aunque algunas acciones han permitido reducir la vulnerabilidad ambiental mediante la implementación de cultivos bajo cobertura, microtúneles, invernaderos, entre otros, aún no se han podido mitigar por completo las consecuencias de estos factores climáticos.También el movimiento \"No pago\" sigue dejando sus efectos sobre los productores y productoras que no pueden acceder al crédito. La confiabilidad crediticia de los productores ha disminuido, por eso, se han complicado los trámites y el acceso al crédito de distinto tipo.Finalmente, aun con todos los esfuerzos que realizó ACORDAR y que actualmente están en manos de los productores, todavía no existen políticas de incentivos para la producción. Se están realizando algunos trabajos encaminados a la implementación de prácticas MIP, MIC, BPA y BPM, y otros a los procesos de certificación que han incidido en la calidad, pero estos de ninguna manera están siendo estimulados por los compradores, quienes no pagan por productos diferenciados porque la cultura de consumo nacional no prima a los productos cuya obtención implica prácticas ambientalmente amigables.• Fue importante establecer alianzas estratégicas con diferentes tipos de intermediarios y actores en los mercados selectos, ya que la que la vinculación con ellos favorece el flujo de información, la sinergia entre los actores en el mercado, y extender los beneficiós (económicos, sociales, estructurales, materiales, y de espacios) de las alianzas.• Deben promoverse las BPA y BPM ya que estas inciden en el mejoramiento cuantitativo y cualitativo de la producción.• La realización de alianzas estratégicas con proveedores de tecnologías para la producción, acopio y procesamiento de productos, contribuyen a incrementar los rendimientos productivos, la calidad de los productos y la protección del medio ambiente.• El establecimiento de alianzas estratégicas con proveedores de financiamiento y la negociación diferenciada de créditos para la producción, permite un acceso crediticio más fácil, rápido y ventajoso para los productores.• El aprovechamiento de condiciones agroecológicas para la diversificación y el incremento de áreas de producción, es clave para la competitividad productiva (mayor producción, ingresos, calidad y mercados) y el uso adecuado y racional de los recursos naturales.• El desarrollo de alianzas con gobiernos municipales produce una mayor influencia de los actores en las alcaldías. Para próximos procesos se debe definir una estrategia más integradora que• La selección y promoción de pesticidas permitidos (Persuap) y la implementación de MIP y MIC, representan menos impacto ambiental, menores costos de producción y mayores ingresos. No obstante, en el futuro se debe simplificar la metodología para la publicación y difusión del menú de opciones de los productos registrados en el documento Persuap, por cultivo.Este cambio facilitaría la comprensión, utilización y difusión de las recomendaciones y exigencias del documento para mejorar la transferencia de conocimiento hasta las personas que conforman el eslabón productivo.• Un resultado relevante fue la creación de la Comisión de Gobernabilidad de la Cadena de Hortalizas. En próximos procesos se deberán organizar desde el principio las comisiones de gobernabilidad para facilitar el acercamiento de todos los actores de la cadena y fortalecer estas relaciones a medida que se desarrolle el proyecto.ayude a establecer espacios de incidencia de los actores de la cadena en los gobiernos municipales.• Facilitar las relaciones y el intercambio de información con las instituciones de apoyo financieras y no financieras, permite establecer coordinaciones para lograr mayor efectividad en las estrategias de desarrollo productivo y comercial para todos los actores de la cadena (financiamiento, tecnologías, insumos, materiales, etc.).• El involucramiento de instituciones del estado (Magfor, INTA, Minsa, Marena, Mific, entre otras), es determinante por el rol facilitador del estado para la implementación de distintas actividades del proyecto (investigación, registros de variedades, permisos, autorizaciones, certificaciones, entre otros).• La implementación de obras de conservación de suelos, cultivos con coberturas e invernaderos, ayuda a reducir la vulnerabilidad ambiental (erosión hídrica, perdida de fertilidad, lixiviación, exceso de humedad).• Con el ánimo de hacer perdurar las relaciones positivas entre los actores, se debe continuar el ejercicio de compartir nuevos contactos y gestiones que faciliten el acceso a los servicios financieros y no financieros bajo condiciones idóneas para los todos los miembros de la cadena.• Es necesario facilitar las relaciones y el intercambio interinstitucional dentro de un nuevo consorcio que ayude a mejorar la vinculación y los procesos de desarrollo rural en los territorios. Al terminar el proyecto, debe existir un consorcio natural que implique mayor sostenibilidad; en otras palabras, las organizaciones deben mantener vínculos que las favorezcan una vez terminado el proyecto.• Generar estructuras de base territorial en las iniciativas de desarrollo rural, que ayuden a conservar los vínculos entre los productores, sus organizaciones y demás actores dentro de la cadena para facilitar la búsqueda sistemática y constante de alternativas para la sostenibilidad.en otras palabras, las organizaciones deben mantener vínculos que las favorezcan una vez terminado el proyecto.Enseño a otros productores las tecnologías que aprendí porque me dieron resultado y ahora me siento muy bien con respecto a mi economía \" \" \"Gota a gota he mejorado mi producción y la calidad del tomate\", afirma don Lucio Arsenio Acuña González, quien ha dedicado una parte de su vida a la producción de ese cultivo. Habitante de la comunidad Palo Verde, ubicada en el municipio Pueblo Nuevo, del departamento de Estelí, Nicaragua, este hombre comparte con tranquilidad los recuerdos de una época que está seguro permanecerán así… como recuerdos.Al mismo tiempo que ve las imágenes atravesando su mente, don Lucio relata aquellos momentos en los que tenía menos tierra, cuando sembraba 0,5 manzanas de tomate variedad Peto 98, o cuando utilizaba riego por gravedad, el cual dañaba el suelo porque arrastraba la tierra, y gastaba más agua. Sus palabras también dan cuenta de las plántulas que producía en semilleros tradicionales de mala calidad, del uso de bueyes o azadón para fertilizar, y de los bajos rendimientos de su producción que le significaban mínimas ganancias.Asociación de Desarrollo Social de Nicaragua (Asdenic)De pronto, su narración cambia de tono y algunas expresiones de agrado salen a flote cuando don Lucio menciona que fue en el año 2009, a través de una invitación que le hizo Asdenic 7 , que pudo ingresar al proyecto ACORDAR.Sin duda alguna sus recuerdos se llenan de color cuando este productor de tomate repasa con sus palabras todos los beneficios que ha recibido a lo largo de este tiempo en el proyecto: un pozo, una bodega, sistemas de riego, plántulas de hortalizas, árboles frutales para reforestar, agua potable a través de miniacueductos, capacitaciones… beneficios que hoy se ven representados en un monto de US$ 2.435.Pero esto no es todo. Como si se tratara de una tormenta de recuerdos imposible de detener, don Lucio relata que gracias a la asistencia técnica brindada por Asdenic, cambió la variedad de tomate Peto 98 por Shanty; ahora implementa riego por goteo, hace uso de fertilizantes hidrosolubles que llegan al suelo a través de este mismo sistema de riego, utiliza plántulas que compra en el invernadero proporcionado por el proyecto, y ha aumentado las áreas de siembra y sus rendimientos productivos, lo que le ha permitido obtener mejores ganancias.\"Hasta el día de hoy continúo trabajando con las tecnologías que conocí por medio del proyecto, y no pienso cambiarlas porque me han dado muy buenos resultados; es más, quisiera conocer más tecnologías como estas que me ayudan a aumentar la producción\", expresa don Lucio. \"Mi recomendación a otros pequeños productores es que usen estas tecnologías porque los llevarán a tener éxitos en sus cultivos; si siguen trabajando tradicionalmente, acabarán con sus pedacitos de tierra\", remata el productor.Hoy solo le basta a don Lucio Arsenio Acuña González mirar hacia atrás para comparar las 600 cajas en 0,5 manzanas que obtenía hace unos años, con las casi 4000 cajas en 2,11 manzanas que siembra en la actualidad, lo que le ha significado US$ 97.929 de ingresos netos anuales a través de la venta de su producción en el mercado local.Los recuerdos se detienen y el pasado queda tranquilo. Ahora sus palabras se enfocan en su presente, en lo que él considera fue el cambio más significativo de su experiencia: \"ahora enseño a otros productores las tecnologías que aprendí porque me siento muy bien con respecto a mi economía. Con el uso de las tecnologías reducimos la mano de obra para el riego, aumentamos los rendimientos y las ganancias, mejoramos las condiciones de vida de la familia, compré ganado y un vehículo para trabajar. Actualmente, trabajo con otros socios y no tengo necesidad de solicitar crédito; además, doy empleos permanentes a seis trabajadores de mi comunidad. Me siento muy bien con mi situación económica\".Aunque tiene nombre de actor de cine, la vida de este hombre está lejos de la ficción. Douglas Flores no ha encarnado otros personajes salvo el suyo propio, en una historia en la que no cuenta con dobles de riesgo, escenarios controlados ni libretos predefinidos. Sin embargo, no deja de ser una historia, y como toda historia, tiene un comienzo y un escenario.Habitante de la comunidad Las Delicias, del municipio Ciudad Darío, departamento Matagalpa, Nicaragua, este hombre vive con su esposa y sus dos hijos; y como cualquier otro pequeño productor sin experiencia y sin alguna clase de asistencia técnica, pero con ganas de superarse y de salir adelante, Douglas hacía las cosas por instinto.Aplicaba plaguicidas sin equipo de protección, el riego que utilizaba era por gravedad, usaba semilla no tolerante a virus, el almácigo lo hacía en la tierra y en ocasiones no obtenía cosecha por afectaciones de plagas, como la mosca blanca. Además, vendía sus Dejé de trabajar como mozo y ahora mi familia vive mejor \" \" Historia contada por Douglas Flores Cooperativa Agropecuaria de Servicios de Hortalizas de Responsabilidad Limitada (Cooprahor R.L.) productos al mercado informal, a precios bajos, y por eso sus ingresos no eran suficientes para ofrecerle a su familia la calidad de vida que anhelaba.Ya la historia está planteada y cuenta con un personaje principal movido por el bienestar de su familia a quien, día a día, las deudas la tenían más acosada. Esta era la razón por la que Douglas Flores trabajaba al día en una finca ganadera. Pero a pesar del esfuerzo y el sudor, el dinero no le alcanzaba ni para comprarle una muda de ropa a su esposa y a sus hijos; incluso, en ocasiones, los ingresos no eran suficientes ni para comprar la comida. Otra opción explorada por este pequeño productor fue la de la agricultura en áreas pequeñas (0,25 manzanas) sembrando lo que es más fácil: pipián y pepino, pero los vendía sin hacer selección de productos.Para este momento Douglas y su familia necesitaban con urgencia un giro en el desarrollo de esta historia. Fue así cuando en el año 2009 don Douglas se asoció a la cooperativa Cooprahor 8 , y en ese mismo año se integró al Proyecto ACORDAR, hechos que sin duda alguna marcaron un importante punto de giro en la situación de Flores y su familia.Así comenzó una nueva forma de trabajo; Douglas dejó de ser mozo y se dedicó a lo propio, razón por la cual se asoció con otro productor para aumentar las áreas de siembra. \"En estos 3 años que tengo de estar organizado en la cooperativa Cooprahor, y con la ayuda del proyecto ACORDAR, se han generado grandes cambios: ese mismo año fui beneficiado por inversiones encaminadas a las buenas prácticas agrícolas, inversiones que comprendían el área de mezcla, letrina, bodega y un área de empaque valorada en US$435\", afirma un Douglas más confiado por la experiencia adquirida y por el apoyo recibido. Después de estas palabras, solo queda repasar los hechos que impulsaron el desarrollo de esta historia. Hechos como 8. Cooperativa Agropecuaria de Servicios de Hortalizas de Responsabilidad Limitada, Cooprahor R.L la oportunidad de conocer tecnologías como sistemas de riego, plásticos mulch, semillas certificadas y túneles; o como la asistencia técnica recibida, clave para dejar de usar productos químicos de etiqueta roja, aprender sobre la metodología de escuelas de campo y empezar a comercializar con el mercado formal, como es el caso del supermercado La Colonia.Como en toda buena historia, el camino que han tenido que recorrer este pequeño productor y su familia ha venido de menos a más, del comercio informal al formal, de sembrar pequeñas áreas de tierra (0,25 manzanas) a 2,5 manzanas de hortalizas que logró cultivar de forma individual, aumentando la calidad del producto. Además, Douglas Flores comenzó a acopiar tomate, chiltoma y pepino para darles valor agregado en el centro de acopio de la comunidad de Carreta Quebrada, Sébaco, sin importar los 31 kilómetros que se interponían entre su comunidad y este centro de acopio.Sin embargo, esos 31 kilómetros de travesía no ocuparían mucho lugar en esta historia, pues gracias al apoyo del proyecto ACORDAR, don Douglas empezó a realizar el proceso de acopio y valor agregado en su propia comunidad, Las Delicias. Ahora cuenta con un centro de acopio valorado en US$ 3.383 y un túnel para la producción de plántulas de hortalizas que representó una inversión de US$ 700.Con un inicio desalentador y un punto de giro que lo cambió todo, ahora esta historia aguarda por un final. Por ahora se seguirá leyendo que don Douglas ha obtenido ingresos netos promedio de US$ 8.306 anuales; y ha logrado que un 76,8% de sus ventas sean al supermercado La Colonia y el 23,2% restante al mercado local de Sébaco. Y se seguirá escuchando en palabras del propio Douglas Flores que \"el cambio más significativo de mi vida, a través del proyecto ACORDAR, es que dejé de trabajar como mozo y ahora mi familia vive mejor. Mis ingresos mejoraron, hice mi casa con una cocina, compré muebles y un solar junto a mi casa; la alimentación de mi familia ha mejorado y mis chavalos están estudiando\".La publicación de este trabajo del Proyecto ACORDAR es posible gracias al generoso apoyo del Pueblo de los Estados Unidos, a través de la Agencia de los Estados Unidos para el Desarrollo Internacional (USAID). Su contenido es responsabilidad del Proyecto ACORDAR y no refleja necesariamente las opiniones de USAID o del Gobierno de Estados Unidos."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ec3bfd38b515e231dd398680ad47600d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/ee8bc3e8-657f-4b7e-961b-d0873178ebe3/content","id":"1586179075"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ecb87a35-7c33-49d1-931d-87eee35865ec","content":"HEMISFERIO OCCIDENT Al* Sanjaya Rajaram y Armando Campos Vela** ABSTRACTO A principios del siglo actual, las devastadoras epifitias de roya del trigo registradas en las Grandes Planicies de Norteamerica (Norte de Mexico, Planicies de las Estados Unidos de America y las Provincias de las Praderas de Canada) propiciaron el estudio de la especializaci6n fisiol6gica de las royas del tallo y de la hoja, el desarrollo de variedades resistentes y la investigacion sabre su epidemiologia y aereobiologia. No existe ninguna otra region en el mundo que haya sido estudiada tan minuciosamente; durante 50 afios se hon publicado en forma sistematica dates sabre la aereobiologia y la epidemiologia de las royas del trigo en esta extensa zona.En el presente trabajo, se aporta evidencia adicional que apoya la hip6tesis de que dicha region forma una solo zona epidemiologica para estas dos enfermedades del trigo.Se delimitan otras cinco :zenas geograficas epidemiologicas en el Hemisferio Occidental: tres en Norteamerica y dos en Sudamerica. la evidencia de su existencia se basa en dates sabre las patrones de virulencia de tres especies viz Puccinia gramis tritici, Puccinia recondita y Puccinia striiformis, solos o en conjunto.Se proporciona informacion de apoyo indicative de las agrupamientos regionales, segun dates de epifitias, muestreos sabre virulencia y patrones de virulencia sabre variedades incluidas en cinco ensayos internacionales de rendimiento de trigos de primavera yen dos afios de ensayos internacionales sabre roya lineal.Con base en la evidencia actual, existen las siguientes zones epidemiologicas para royas: l. las Grandes Planicies de Norteamerica.2. El Pacifico Noroeste de las Estados Unidos (California, Oregon, Washington).Alleghanys de los Estados Unidos y de la Barrera laurentino de Canada).4. Sur de Mexico y Guatemala.5. Zona Andina de Colombia, Ecuador, Peril y Chile (hay evidencio de sub-zonos epidemiol6gicos en esta region).6. Sur de Brasil, Argentina, Paraguay y Uruguay.Aun cuando las correlaciones son altos para los tipos de virulencia dentro de estos areas, hoy indicios de intercambio ocasional de tipos de virulencio entre las zonas. Es probable que esto suceda donde las zonas son adyocentes o pr6ximos, donde hay brechas en las barreras montai'iosas o en lugares donde las barreras deserticas son angostos.ABSTRACT Shortly after the turn of the century, devastating wheat rust epidemics in the Great Plains of North America (Northern Mexico, the Plains of the U.S.A. and the Prairie Provinces of Canada), prompted the study of physiologic specialization in stem and leaf rust, the breeding of resistant varieties, and the epidemiology and aerobiology of these rust diseases. No comparable area of the world has been studied so precisely and 50 years data have been systematically presented for the aerobiology and epidemiology of these organisms in this region.In the present paper, additional evidence is provided to support the hypothesis that this region forms a single epidemiological zone for these two diseases.Five other major geographical epidemiological zones are delineated in the Western Hemisphere: three in North America and two in South America. Evidence for their existence is based on data available for virulence patterns of the three species viz Puccinia graminis tritici, Puccinia recondita and Puccinia striiformis, either of one or a combination of species.Epidemics, virulence surveys, virulence patterns on varieties in Five International Spring Wheat Yield Nurseries and two years of the International Stripe Rust Nursery, hove been used to provide supporting data indicative of regiona• groupings.On the basis of available evidence it appears that the following epidemiological zones for rust exist: l . The Great Plains of North America. 4. Southern Mexico and Guatemala.5. The Andean Countries of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile (there is evidence of sub-epidemiotogical zones in this region).6. Southern Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.While corretotions are high for virulence patterns within these areas, there ore indications of occ:oSionol interchange of virulence types between the zones. This is likely to occur where the zones come into close proximity, there are gaps in mountain ranges or a narrowing of desert barriers occurs.Au debut du siecle actuel, les ltpiphyties dltvastatrices de la rouille du ble enregistrees dons les Grandes Plaines de L'Amerique du Nord {Nord du Mexique, Plaines des Etats-Unis d'Amerique, et les Provinces des Prairies du Canada) ont rendu favorable l'lttude de la spltcialisation physiologique de la rouille de la tige et de la feuille, le dltveloppement de varilttlts resistantes et la recherche sur l'ltpidemiologie et l'altrobiologie. II n'existe aucune autre region dons le monde qui oit ete etudilte avec tant de minutie; du rant cinquante ans ii a ete publilt systltmatiquement des donnees sur l'altrobiologie et l'epidltmiologie des rouilles du bllt dons cette zone etendue. Dons ce travail. on apporte !'evidence additionnelle qui appuie l'hypothese que cette region forme une seule zone epidemiologique pour ces deux maladies du ble.On a delimit& cinq autres zones geographiques epidemiologiques dons !'Hemisphere Occidental: trois en Amltrique du Nord et deux en Amerique . du Sud. L'evidence de leur existence s'appuie sur des donnees des modes de virulence de trois especes viz Pucclnla graminls trlticl, Pucclnla recondlta et Puccinia strliformis, pour chacune d'elle ou ensemble.On s'est procure une information d'appui indicative des groupements regionaux, d'apres les donnees des epiphyties, des epreuves sur la virulence et modes de virulence de varietes incluses dons cinq pepinieres internationaux de rendement de bles de printemps et deux ans de pepiniere internationaux de rouiJle joune.Comme base, dons I' evidence octuelle ii existe Jes zones epidemiologiques suivantes pour les rouilles:1. Les Grandes Plaines de l'Amerique du NOrd.  ( 1972), se pueden consideror descendientes lineal es de las reuniones americanas. Un acontecimiento importante en Europa fue la resoluci6n aprobada en el IV Congreso Internacional de Protecci6n Vegetal llevado a cabo en Hamburgo en 1957, en el cual se exhort6 a una mayor cooperaci6n europea para el estudio de la roya del tallo del trigo. Esto propici6 la colaboraci6n efectiva, especialmente en el campo de la epidemiologia, entre los investigadores de los poises europeos. Por otra parte, en los ultimos 15 afios se hon celebrado ocho reuniones norteamericanas de trabajo sobre roya de la hoja, Puccinia recondite, que hon dado como resultado un mayor conocimiento de los problemas relacionados con la identificaci6n de razes fisiol6gicas (sondeos de virulencia), de la epidemiologia y resistencia varietal.Un hecho basico importante con respecto a la distribuci6n y epidemiologia de las royas de los cereales, es su plasticidad (18). Las royas se adaptan. La mayoria de las autoridades en este campo presumen aue mucho antes de que los cereoles existiesen ya habia royas en los pestos ancestros de los cereoles, y que las royas se adaptaron a los cerales cuando estos aparecieron. Leppik (24) hace esta suposici6n para la roya del tallo y Hassebrouk (12) opoyo lo sugerencio de Humphrey y colaborodores (15) en el sentido de que .la royo lineal Puccinia striiformis emigr6 de su complejo genico asiotico hacia Norteamerica, donde se estableci6 en pastos; mas tarde, cuando lias cereales comenzaron a cultivarse en el Nuevo Mundo, la royo se adapt6 a ellos.Oliviera y Samborsky (31) suponen que la especializaci6n del estado sexual de la roya de la hoja (Puccinia recondita Rob. ex Desm. f. sp. tritici) sigui6 dos tendencias principales de evoluci6n: una de adaptaci6n a hospederos de las Ranuncul6ceas y otra a especies de las Boragin6ceas. Dentro de coda grupo ha habido una mayor diferenciaci6n y actualmente se registran diversas combinaciones de hospederos gametofiticos y esporoffticos en forma natural.Esto se ilustra por la presencia en trigo, en Portugal. de dos linajes de P. recondite, uno adaptado a Thalictrum spp. y el otro a Anchusa• italica Rtz.En Siberia prevalece otro linaje adaptado a lsopyrum fumarioides. Tai vez la introducci6n relativamente tardia de la roya de la hoja al Continente Americana -a partir de su hogar euroasi6tico__.:. pudiera contribuir a su inadaptaci6n a las especies americanas de Tha/ictrum, aunque el informe de Young, Saari y Curtis (5) sugiere la posibilidad de que la roya pudiera adquirir gradualmente la capacidad de infecter algunas de estas epecies americanas.la plasticidad de las royas es m6s evidente en sus relaciones hospedero-pat6geno que en s11s respuestas ambientales. Cada roya tiene su adaptaci6n clim6tica particular y existe poca evidencia de cambios en ese respecto (18). La incursi6n de la roya lineal a las grandes planicies de los Estados Unidos en 1957 y 1958 (50,34,36,37,38,8,7,14,9) fue probablemente m6s una respuesta a las condiciones climaticas propicias para la roya que, como se temi6 primero, a un cambio en sus requerimientos climaticos. Los requerimientos clim6ticos y, por tanto, la distribuci6n de las tres royas del trigo, se fijaron probablemente mucho antes de que se desarrollaran los cultivos cerealicolas: la roya lineal predominaba, como ahora, en los climas frios de las regiones litorales yen las altos elevaciones; la roya del tallo en las zonas continentales m6s bajas y calidas, y la roya de la hoja, con su adaptaci6n a temperatures intermedias, se difundi6 en cierto grado en ambos tipos de climas (18).Que las corrientes de aire diseminan las esporas de hongos se sabe casi desde que se conoci6 la existencia de esporas. En 1729, Micheli (29) public6 los resultados de investigaciones que hicieron epoca sobre la reproducci6n de hongos mediante esporas, y mostr6 que se podian liberar nubes de esporas al aire. Prevost, en 1807 (40), no s61o mostr6 que el carb6n del trigo era causado por un hongo sino que tambien sugiri6 que algunas veces el viento diseminaba las esporas en la epoca de la trilla.Despues de que, en 1853, DeBary aport6 evidencias generalmente acepfodas en el sentido que Jos hongos pueden causar erHermedades de las plantas, se advirti6 que el wiento diseminaba muchos fitopat6genos fungosos, por lo menos localm~nte. Aun asi, se carecia de evidencia concluyente sobre Ja diseminaci6n a gran distancia, aunque Klebahn (21) y otros sei'ialaron que asi sucedia, en vista de la ocurrenda de epifitias de ciertas royas en regiones ubicadas a gran distanci(Jlt<de •las• fuentes de in6culo conocidas. Uno de los casos mas ampliamente estudiados y. documentados acerca de la diseminaci6n aerea de un fitopat6geno sobre una distancia de 4,000 km que abarcaba las regiones del Noroeste de Mexico, las grandes planicies de los Estados Unidos y las Provincias de las Praderas de Canada, fue el desplazamiento de la roya del tallo de Sur a Norte y viceversa (4,5,42,43,44). Ninguna region del mundo se ha estudiado con tanto detalle en relaci6n a la aerobiologia y epidemiologla de la roya del tallo como las grandes planicies de Norteamerica. En esta revision e interpretaci6n se presentan algunos casos seleccionados de epifitias de roya del trigo conocidas en Norteamerica. Ademas se compilan estudios sobre especializaci6n fisiol6gica y sondeos de virulencia, a fin de allegar conclusiones al agrupar las varias zonas epidemiol6gicas y subepidemiol6gicas tanto en Norteamerica como en Sudamerica. De la experiencia de los autores y de interpretaciones semejantes hechas en otros lugares (comunicaciones personales de E. Saari) (48). se hon configurado patrones geneticos de virulencia similares en un pat6geno particular en diferent.es areas adyacentes que se considerarlan como una zona epidemiol6gica, independientemente de los poises que la constituyan.Desde el punto de vista ilustrativo, se discuten seis areas geograficas principales -cuatro en Norte y Centroamerica y dos en Sudamerica-en relaci6n con las royas del trigo (Puccinia graminis tritici, Puccinia recondita y Puccinia striiformis). A fin de substanciar la hip6tesis que se propone, se presentan datos hist6ricos sobre epifitias e informaci6n sobre sondeos de virulencia. Se presentan tambien datos para ilustrar la posibilidad de zonas subepidemiol6gicas dentro del area. Abajo se ennumeran seis zonas: l) Las Grandes Planicies de Norteamerica, constituidas por el Norte de Mexico, la Cuenca del Rio Mississippi de los Estados Unidos y las Provincias de las Praderas de Canada (Manitoba, Saskatchewan y Alberta).2) El area del Pacifico-Noroeste de los Estados Unidos (Estados de California, Oregon y Washington), o sea el area general situada al Oeste de las Montaiias Rocallosas. La roya lineal es la roya principal y existe la posibilidad de que existan zonas subepidemiol6gicas dentro de dicha region.3) Este de los Estados Unidos y Canada (las regiones ubicadas al Este de los Montes Alleghanys en los Estados Unidos y de la Barrera Laurenti no en Canada). 4) Sur de Mexico y Guatemala. 5) J..os poises ond\"IOOS: Colombia, Ea..lor. Per6 y Chile. Se 1rota del area situado all Oes1e de los Andes.. Tambien pudiero haiber :mnas subepidemiol6gi dentro de eso area genewal.6) Areas q.a»e rnmpreiiden el Sm-de Brasil. Harle de Argentina, Uruguay y Para9Jllllff\",. donde las royas 1ile1 w.lo y de lo hOja son 'las ~ e&Ralilfli!4LMies del mgo. Craigie (((6)} 'l!!Slul!f i6 en el Oeste:deCainmalillimmehm:imenme IDB\"liM!nms iactores q.ue iiril~ 8911 el imu:meHii!idtJu a llm '1'8fll y !l:m '[llll'fjjil&d de mlDJ\"il jpresente C.CJmJ'IJTIO .:cft111Jllr.rte J!il IJDl!\"iilmlm de r926 0 19JJ9. \"lilgglm 'f.m:toT !l\"Or Si 'S'Olo se camiDlim61lmtllDnesponsable princjpahide:la.vibundancia o escasez de roya. Sin euthu1p, IJ!ll'ftl!e los 'foctores estuili:llitos, Cra~ie encontr6 que la presencia tempn:ma .de abun~ante imDI:uto •de roy.Q, obundante humedod -purticularmeme ai:bmmte el mes a!le ';olio-y la 9iembrn tordia esbibmn asociadas con Clffims :de fuertes .egri6ttims l1!le mo.¥1J. hr wa parte, las <altos temperaturas en l:!I •~no se llllBlllriilmam rmemos estroB.Chamente 'llDn el desarroHosevero de l:os royas. Cllligie CDncl..u¥0 qi.reel mimula>1inicialcmimsiste en gran porte; si noes que•cofllPh!rtamente,.de esporas'llCOT'Teadns!l'lDf\"el viento procedentes ;de luprres 3iitlul!rdms fuera de las Provincias cCie las Praderas de Canndii. Localmente tmy ausencia wirtual de fuentes de infecci6n. La enfe11111etlod aparece primero en forma regular en el Sur de Manitoba --con 111JW.0r frecuenciaen el Red River V.Ulley-'V posteriomnente mas al Norte y al imeste. La epoim Ille aparioiibn e111Manitoba es a fines de junio o prim:ipios&,iulio, en tanto~en Al:mrta~ce por lo menos un mes mas tarde. En+t:ui:los lascrlistritos si.empre se hon encontrado esp.oTOs en el aire antes que infecciones en el ,aumpo.Peturson, 1958 (39}. indic6 los siguientes factores que deterrriinan el curso del desorrollo de la >1t0ya:1} La cant id ad y epoct:i del tmiibo <:de inD.culo arrostrado por .el viento que inicia la roya coda primavera ml el Oeste de Canada; 2) el rgl!Ddo de resistencia a la roya de fos variedades sembradas; 3) la cantidnd y la distribuci6n de la lluvia y:m intensidad del rocio durante el ciclo ch:il cultivo (de abril a agosto inclusive}; 4} la temperatura durantetel ciclo dekultivo, y 5) la epoca de siembra del cultivo. Dicho invesfigador concluy6 que todos estos factores deben presentar:se y algunos \"por lo menos deben ser operatives en el curso del ciclo de cultivo y deben registrarse sobe vostos superficies de las grandes planicies de Norteamerica en ai'ios en que ocurren fuertes epifitias de roya en el Oeste de Canada.Green ( l 0) seiiala que el desarroUo de la roya del tallo se inicia en el Oeste de Canada coda primavera via el in6culo procedente del Sur ocorreado por el viento. Las condiciones climoticas y las variedades que se siembran en° los Estados Unidos ayudan a determinar ta close y la cantidad de in6culo primorio. De manera semejante, el desarrollo de roya en Canada influye sobre las razas que se presentan durante los meses de invierno y principios de primovera en el Sur de los Estados Unidos. De aqui retorna a Canada in6culo de las razas que predominaron alla en el ai'io anterior. Por consiguiente, las razas~encontradas en el sondeo canadiense de razas son indicativas de cuales pueden sobrevivir en las variedades hospederas y condiciones climoticas desfavorables durante su emigraci6n anual. Por ello, es probable que sean las componentes principales de la poblaci6n de royas de Norteamerica.B. Caso hist6rico: Aerobiologla y epifitias sobre el area que abarca el Norte de Mexico, la Cuenca del Mississippi de los Estados Unidos y las Provincias de las Praderas de Canada En su libro Principles of Plant Pathology*, Stakman y Horror (45) presentan clara y sistemoticamente todos los estudios aerobiol6gicos y las epifitias registradas en las grandes planicies de Norteamerica durante un periodo de 50 aiios. En otra publicaci6n de Hamilton y Stakman (11). se presenta con mas detalle una historia semejante. Se hon publicado ademas muchos otros informes'ae epifitias importantes de royas d.el tollo y de la hoja registrodas en diversas regiones de la extensa Cuenca del Mississippi yen las cuales se detallan datos aerobiol6gicos, meteorol6gicos y epidemiol6gicos (l, 19,38,3,28,27,20,32,33,35,36,2). Lambert (22), en una voluminosa publicaci6n detall6 la relaci6n del clima con el desarrollo de la roya del tallo en el Valle del Mississippi.Los parrafos siguientes aluden brevement~ ci'~iertas histories de caso basadas en los estudios de epifitias que redujeron catastr6ficamerite la producci6n de trigo. Mencionan tambien los datos a,erobiol6gicos compilados despues, datos que se esperaban constituyesen la base para lograr medias de control eficaces.Mexico, la Cuenca del Mississippi de los Estados Unidos y las Provincias de las Praderas de Canada conforme una area excepcionalmente adecuada para estudiar la diseminaci6n de esporas de roya. El trigo se siembra desde el Centro-Sur de Mexico hasta las Provincias de las Praderas de Canada, una distancia de 4,000 kil6metros aproximadament~. Dentro de esta area ton extensa y con marcadas diferencias de latitud y altitud, durante, todo el aiio pueden encontrarse plantas de trigo, cebada o pastos silvestres susceptibles. No existen barreras topograficas efjcaces entre el Norte y el Sur. El viento, por tanto, tiene un amplio campo para r;noverse libremente. Hay movimientos de masas de aire de Sur a Norte y de Norte a Sur, y a menudo acarrean a miles de kilometros y en unos cuantos dias un gran numero de esporas y otras partfculas minusculas.Durante la primera mitad del presente siglo, la roya del tallo ataco con tanta frecuencia y destructividad el 6rea de trigo de primavera del Norte de los Estados Unidos y las Provincias de las Praderas de Canad6, que se hizo imperativo localizar la fuente de roya a fin de establecer medidas de control. Se iniciaron estudios poco despues de la destructiva epifitia de 1904, y en Minnesota, en 1909, comenzaron a efectuarse observaciones y experimentos mas detallados. El alcance de este estudio se amplio luego, de manera que se lograron m6s adelantos antes de la epifitia de 1916.lnmediatamente despues de este desastre economico, en la primavera de 1917 se iniciaron investigaciones epidemiologicas sobre una amplia base regional; desde entonces se hon efectuado contfnuos estudios por parte del Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos en cooperacion con la Estacion Experimental de Minnesota y otros centros de investigacion agrfcola. Las investigaciones cooperativas con la Secretarfa de Agricultura de Mexico y los estudios similares realizados por investigadores canadienses hon aclarado los rasgos generales del desarrollo de la roya en Norteamerica y comprobado que el viento es el responsable de la amplia y r6pida diseminacion del inocufo.Las amplias diseminaciones de roya del tallo de 1923, 1925 y 1935. En 1923 la roya se desplaz6 del.Norte de Mexico y del Sur de Texas hacia Canada en cinco oleadas sulesivas en tan solo dos meses. Esto resulto evidente con la captura sistematica de esporas en 38 estaciones, de observaciones directas sobre la secuela del desarrollo de las royas y sobre la distribucion de las razas fisiol6gicas 11. 17 y 21 a troves del 6rea.Debido a las temperaturas frlas, el desplazamiento de la roya del tallo hacia el Norte fue mas lento en 1923 que en 1924. La roya tardo tres meses para llegar, en siete oleadas sucesivas, desde el Norte de Texas hasta el Canada. Empero, en ocasiones la roya se desplaza mas rapidamente que en 1923 y 1924, y tal fue el caso en 1925.El rasgo esencial del desarrollo de la roya en 1925 fue el hecho de que las esporas se diseminaran en pocos dias desde una region \"royosa\" a una region libre de roya de m6s de 650 mil kilometros cuadrados. Una densa nube de esporas se desplazo casi 1,000 kilometros hacia el Norte sobre una frente de mas de 600 kil6metros. En 1925, la roya escribio su propia historia aerobiologica con extraordinaria lucidez y claridad. En esta area se hon registrado desplazamientos y ataques de roya mas catastroficos, pero pocos fueron tan claramente definidos como los de 1925. De hecho, la superficie triguera ubicada al Norte de Kansas fue en ese afio como un gran plato de agar en el cual el numero de colonias de hongos decrecia conforme aumentaba la distancia a partir de una fuente determinada de esporas. Desde el punto de vista aerobiologico, la epifitia de roya del tallo registrada en 1935 en los Estados Unidos y Canada es especialmente Fig . 3 Estaciones de exposici6n de portaobjetos que habla en 1955 en los Estados Unidos para determ inar el des plazami ento ae reo de las es poras (Foto : USDA) importante porque el trabajo de zapa en la superficie , o el trabajo aereo, se realizo en el otono de 1934, cuando las esporas fueron acarreadas hacia el Sur desde el Norte de los Estados Uni dos el 10 de octubre y otra vez del 1 o . al 12 de noviembre . Estos desplazamientos de Norte a Sur fueron seguidos por lluvias, de manera que se infecto el 64 % de los campos de trigo de invierno de Oklahoma , En Texas , el estado uredial sobrevivio el invierno solamente en la cebada , de modo que habfa poca roya hacia principios de la primavera. Mas tarde, con las lluvias superabundantes registradas en mayo en el Norte de Texas y con una maduracion excepcionalmente tardfa del trigo , se produjo un extraordinario desarrollo de la roya . Las condiciones climaticas tambien favorecieron el desarrollo de la roya en las regiones de trigo de primavera , y una de las peores epifitias que se hayan registrado d e stru yo ca si cinco m il lones de t oneladas de trigo en Minnesota , Dakota del Sur y Dakota del N o rte , pese a l hecho de que la hasta entonces variedad res istente Ceres•habi a reemplazado en gran parte a la variedad susceptible Marq ui s. en esa regio n. El principal patogeno involucrado fue la raza 56 .Deb ido a la nece si dad obvia de conocer si las razas de roya encontradas en un po is o r egion pueden llegar a establecerse en otro, son esenciales estudios sistem6ticos y contrnuos sobre la diseminaci6n de Rockefeller y al CIMMYT con respecto a la necesidod de sostener compai'ias intensas e integrales contra plagos y pot6genos de las plantos cultivadas. cit6 dos casos hist6ricos para ilustror el origen y lo amplia diseminacion de nuevas razas en Norteamerico: la razo 56. responsable de la epifitia de roya del tallo registrada en 1935 en los Estados Unidos, el Norte de Mexico y el Sur de Canada, y la raza 158, responsable de las epifitios que osoloron las grandes planicies de Norteamerica en 1950 y 1954.En el siguiente p6rrafo se ilustra la historio de la raza 158 en relaci6n con la epifitia de 1950. En su rtteomendaci6n, el Dr. Stakman indico que la raza 158 de lo roya del tallo del trigo constituy6 la explosion subita, inesperado, simult6nea y cotastr6fica de uno razo fisiol6gico virulenta que afecto al trigo. En los Estados Unidos, esto roza se colect6 por primera vez de agracejos Berberis vu/gore infectados, en Iowa, en 1939. Despues se encontr6 ocasionalmente, en especial cerco de o en agracejos en la regi6n Nororiental de los Estados Unidos. Empero, antes de 1950, nunca se estableci6 fuera del area de agracejos y, en efecto, parecia que carecia de una buena capacidad de supervivencia. Pero en 1950 prob6 tenerla. Por dos anos suce~ivos previos a 1950, la raza 158 se habia encontrado solamente en areas de agrocejos a miles de kil6metros de donde•oporeci6 en Texas en la pr.imavera de 1950.La evidencia circunstancial destac6 que la fuente de lo roya aporecido en Texas era el area de agracejos del Este de los Estodos Unidos. Luego la roya de desplaz6 claramente de Texas hacia el Norte a troves de m6s de 2,000 kil6metros, antes de que terminaro el ciclo de cultivo en el Norte. En el Norte de los Estados Unidos y en el Sur de Canad6 la roya caus6 fuertes danos a las siembras tardies de variedades de trigo que habian sido .casi inmunes-a la roya por una decada o mas. Las masos de aire otonal acarrearon luego nubes de esporas hacia el Sur para infecter el trigo sembrado en el otono en el Sur de los Estados Unidos y en Mexico, regiones donde la roya sobrevivi6 en el estado uredial durante el invierno de 1950-51. Enseguida se desplaz6 de nuevo hacia el Norte por mas de 2,500 kil6metros en la primavera y el verano de 1951, y constituy6 el 40% de los Fig . 4. Mmlimiento hacia el Norte de las esp.oras de roya del trigo en los Estados Unidos (Foto: USDA).. l ,000 oislamientos de roya del tallo identificados en los Estados Unidos en ese aiio.Por tanto, entre la primavera y el verano, la raza 158 viaj6 por lo menos 6,000 kil6metros : primero unos l ,700 kil6metros desde el area de agracejo del Noroeste hasta Texas, y luego mas de 2,000 kil6metros hacia el Norte, a troves de los Estados Unidos y el Sur de Canada, y finalmente unos 3,000 kil6metros hacia el Sur y Suroeste, desde Canada y el Norte de los Estados Unidos hasta el Sur de los Estados Unidos y Mexico. Hacia el Norte, la roya se desplaz6 a una distancia equivalente a la que existe entre Estambul y Helsinki, y hacia el Sur a una distancia semejante a la de Finlandia a Chi pre. la superficie que infect6 la raza 158 en 1950 fue de unos 5 millones de kil6metros cuadrados.Stakman y Rodenhiser (46) sefialan que la raza 158 de la roya del tallo del trigo ha llegado a ser notoria para todos los que se interesan en el mejoramiento de trigo en Norteamerica. En' 1950 esta raza extendi6 su cobertura geografica de subito y sin aviso a la mayor parte de Norteomerico, su prevolencio oument6 obrupto y olormontemente, otoc6 a voriedodes de trigos horineros y cristolinos antes resistentes, demostr6 ser de composici6n complejo, y. desde entonces es uno de los principoles obstaculos para lo obtenci6n de voriedodes resistentes de trigo. Oue lo rozo 158 se llegoro a estoblecer finolmente en uno vosto superficie no es sorprendente en si; lo sorprendente es que se incrementoro y se diseminoro ton subitomente y de monero ton espectoculor en un solo ciclo de cultivo, despues de que se lo hobio observodo con cuidodo duronte lo decodo previo, sin que hubiero mostrodo tendencio olguno a incrementor su prevolencio o a extenderse geograficomente.LAS MONT ANAS ROCALLOSAS.Lo royo lineal (Puccinia striiformis) es lo principal enfermedod en el Pacifico Noroeste de los Estodos Unidos (California, Oregon, Washington). De ocuerdo con lo opinion oceptodo, este hongo es copoz de resistir extensos periodos de temperoturos bojo cero, pero no tolero periodos prolongodos de temperoturos altos. Lo tendencio del hongo a decrecer y de hecho a desoporecer duronte los meses calidos, plonteo lo interrogonte de d6nde, c6mo y bojo cuales circunstoncios sobrevive al verono. Cuidodosos investigociones de esto fose de lo biologio de Puccinia striiformis reolizodos en el Hemisferio Oriental, hon revelodo los diversos modos de c6mo el hongo sobrevive en el verono. 51 lo Indio yen olgunos poises de Africa, esto lo logro en elevociones altos (25, 26 y 23).En el Pacifico Noroeste el periodo de julio a septiembre es critico en el ciclo vital de lo royo lineal. Bojo lo influencio del climo calido y seco que prevolece en lo epoco en que el trigo llego a lo modurez, los postos tipicomente se tornon de color cofe y muy pocos plontos de trigo se encuentron sobreviviendo en gron porte de lo superficie triguero de lo cuenco del Rio Columbia. De monero concomitonte, lo royo lineal virtuolmente desoporece en las elevociones bojos.En 1923, Hungerford (16) investig6 lo supervivencio en verono de lo royo lineal en Corvallis, Oregon. Observ6 condiciones similores a las descritos antes y report6 que el periodo desde el 20 de julio hosto el perfodo otoi'iol de lluvios se corocterizobo por poco o ninguno infecci6n de royo.Hendrix y coloborodores ( 13) observoron olgunos cosos roros en que lo royo lineal \"veroneobo\" en trigo de invierno sembrodo en lo primovero y empleodo como cultivo de coberturo en lo porte central del Estodo de Washington.Tollenoor y Houston (49) encontroron que lo royo lineal \"veroneoba\" en lo Sierra Nevada a altitudes de 2,000 metros sobre el nivel del mar o moyores, en pestos silvestres como Elymus spp., Hordeum spp. y Sitanion spp. Lo semejonzo de los tipos de infecci6n de los oislomientos de royo lineal de varies localidades y hospederos sobre una serie diferencial de cultivares de trigo sugieren que en California prevalece solo una raze de Puccinia striiformis. Una temperature media de 22.3°C o una temperature media maxima de 32.4°C medidas sobre un periodo total de 10 dies es letal para la roya lineal, y por tanto contribuye a la ausencia de este hongo durante el verano en todas las regiones de California, excepto en la Sierra Nevada y en el area costera. En las postrimerias del otoiio, se inicia la recurrencia de la roya en las areas trigueras cuando los vientos del Este acarrean urediosporas de la Sierra Nevada hacia la parte central del Valle de Sacramento-San Joaquin, e infectan plantas de trigo remanentes y trigo de siembras tempranas.Shaner y Powelson (4) investigaron los posibles reservorios veraniegos de inoculo que se encuentran en Oregon: 1) trigo verde residual, 2) pestos perennes. Se encontro roya durante el verano en trigo verde residual, aunque no en abundancia. En los pestos, la roya aparecio a fines de la primavera y desaparecio en el verano tan pronto ---o antes-de que lo roya desapareciera en el trigo. Los pestos de elevaciones altas se hon sugerido como hospederos de verano de Puccinia striiformis (13, 49}; sin embargo, en el Norte de Oregon se encontro roya menos frecuente en pestos de altos elevaciones que en pestos de terrenos trigueros. Por tanto, Shaner y Powelson piensan que los pastas de las montaiias no son importantes en la epidemiologia de esta enfermedad en el trigo, en contraste con lo que otros investigadores han concluido ( 13, 49}. Los pestos de las zonas trigueras pudieran ser tambien de poco importancia en la epidemiologio de la roya lineal en el trigo. Si los pestos que rodean los campos de trigo hubiesen sido la fuente primaria de inoculo en el otofio, se hubieran podido observer las primeras infecciones cerca de Is limites de los campos. Sin embargo, las infecciones iniciales estaban disperses por todo el terreno.El estudio historico de lo oerobiologio, tal como el realizado con la roya del tallo en las grandes planicies de Norteamerica, es relativamente limitado en el caso de lo roya lineal del tallo. Esto resulta del hecho que las trampas mecanicas para capturer esporas son de poca utilidad para estudiar los desplazamientos aereos de las urediosporas, puesto que estas no se distinguen visuolmente de las urediosporas de otras royos. Sin embargo, el Ensayo Internacional de Roya lineal, coordinado por R. W. Stubbs, de Holanda; -esencialmente en viveros trampa-ha dado buena informacion sobre los patrones de virulencia de poblaciones de roya lineal en areas geograficas especificas.Zadoks (52), al utilizer los resultados del Ensayo Internacional de Roya Amarillo y las identificaciones subsecuentes de razas de roya hechas en Graunschweig, mostro que una raze de roya lineal (Tupe Heines VII) se disemino sobre amplias zones del Norte de Europa, cubriendo distoncias haste de 800 kilometros para dor lugar a la epifitia de 1956. No se dispone de datos sobre tal diseminacion aereo para reforzar la hipotesis de que toda la region del Pacifico Noroeste de Norteamerica se puede considerer como una zone epidemiologica. Sin embargo, algunos datos del analisis de virulencio demwa lineal, basodo en 50 voriedades,, lo1111odos del s 0 • emsoyo Internacional de Rendimiento de Trigos de Primavera indican uno mrrelaciOn muy alto de Virulencio entre las razes de royo en California y Washington.. De 50 variedades • .CO rnostraron uno reocci6n de oompo identico enombos localidodes. Debido a esta semei«mzodevirulencia sobre las variedades indice, es probable que la mismo o las mismas rozos fisiol6gicas operen en ornbos areas. Se ha sugerido que la roya lineal sobrevive en el verano en las altos elevaciones de la Sierra Nevada (California}. Montanas Azules (Washington y N0roeste de Oregon), Montaiios de las Cascados {codenos de montanos que se extiende hacia el Sur a•troves de la region central del Estado de Washington, desde Canada hasta Oregon). y el Bosque Nocional de Nez Perce(ldaho). El in6culo de roya prevolente en estos locolidades infecta el trigo en los valles, y luego retrocede hocia las montaiias cuando llega eL verono.Sobre la base de que las esporos de lo royo lineal no pueden desplazorse a grandes distoncios y permanecer viobles, se ho postulado que pudieran existir muchas zonos epidemiol6gicas en el Paciifico Noroeste, coda una ubicoda cerca del centro de los sitios de \"veraneo\" de la roya.Al estudiar razas de roya tie la hoja en el periodo de 1931 a 1955, Johnson ( 17) concluy6 queen Canada hay tres zones epidemiol6gicas: 1) La Provincia de Columbia Britanica; 2) Las Provincias de los Praderas, y 3) El Este de Canada. Las razes I y II de roya de la hoja, predominantes en Columbia Britcmica, se encontraron raramente en las regiones orientales de las Provincias de las Praderas, pero en ciertos anos acurrieron con frecuencia en el Sur de Alberta. Puesto que el area en que se encuentran estas razes es una extension de lo faja de trigo de invierno que penetra hacia Canada, no esta claro si la presencia de estas razes se debe a esporas aerodesplazadas a troves de las montanas, o es solo el resultado de una diseminaci6n hacia el Norte de la flora \"royosa\" congenial con las variedades de trigo que se siembran en areas juntamente ubicadas al este de las Montanas Rocallosas. Los Grandes Lagos y al area boscosa contigua formon sin duda una borrera eficaz contra la distribuci6n de razas entre las Praderas y el Este del Canada. Esta extensa zona sin cultivos es probablemente una de las rezones de la escasez de las razas 58 y 76 en el Oeste de Canada, las cuales hon sido por largo tiempo las razes caracteristicas del Este del Canada y de las regiones adyacentes de las Estados Unidos.Segun las analisis de genes de virulencia para la roya lineal y roya del tallo, el Valle de Toluca, en Mexico, y el Valle de Xelaju, en Guatemala, '° cUAE>~a 1. ~@ §ultados de clfit:::a ~nsd)'ft § ltH@rnaelofltil@ § €1@ Meftdlml@flt6 quo muo1trnn la Folacion a\"'domlolO;lca entre regiones trigueros con respecto 6 /jutcinid §friilotitt/ § y a l31J~t1/fl/o gFflffliftls IF/lie/, Mexico,Gl:ltit@ffiti la  4o. l §WVN fJ6 vaFl@dntfos M@s. SU §€@pts.IJ fjo, lsWVN /H) Vtlfi@Ofld@ § M@s. Su §e@pt.:u 3 lj~ ., mostraron una alto correlaci6n. Los datos se presentan eri el Cuadro l. Respectivamente, 40, 33 y 40 entradas de las 50 variedades del Tercero, Cuarto y Quinto Ensayos lnternacionates de Rendimient9 d~ Trigos de Primavera (ISWYN), mostraron reacciones paralelas. Es evidente que muchos genes de virulencia son comunes en la poblaci6n de roya lineal presente en ambos valles. Se obtuvieron resultados ~mejantes para la poblaci6n de Puccinia graminis tritici. Venticuatro variedades de las 25 incluidas en el l er ISWYN, 36 de las 50 de Tercer ISWYN, y 38 de las 50 del 5°. ISWYN, tuvieron reacciones similares con respecto a roya del tallo en ambas regiones (CulJdro l ). Sugerimos nuevamente -aun carec1endo de datos aerobiol6gicos y climatol6gicos-que el Sur de Mexico y el altiplano de Guatemala comparten razas de roya comunes.La roya lineal es prevalente en todos los valles altos de la zona andina de Sudamerica. A menores altitudes prevalece la roya del tallo. No se hon efectuado estudios aerobiol6gico.s con objeto de correlacionar los datos meteorol6gicos y epidemiol6gicos de la roya del trigo en esta zona.Hemos compilado datos de virulencia tanto para la roya lineal como para la roya del tallo a efecto d~fundamentar nuestra hip6tesis de que las regiones de Ecuador y Colombia son contiguas en lo que se refiere al in6culo de roya lineal y roya del tallo. Se dispone de datos de virulencia de cinco Ensayos lnternacionales de Rendimiento de Trigos de Primavera que consistieron de 25 variedades en los dos primeros aiios y de 50 veriedades en los ultimos tres aiios. En el Cuadro 2 se presentan los datos de las reacciones a Puccinia striiformis West. Es interesante observar que existe una alto correlaci6n entre los genes de virulencia de razas de roya lineal registradas en Colombia y Ecuador. De las 25 variedades incluidas en el pimero y segundo ISWYN's, 16 y 19 variedades, respectivamente, mostraron una reacci6n paralela en ambos poises. En el tercero, cuarto y quinto ISWYN's, donde se analizaron 50 variedades, 35, 38 y 35 entradas, respectivamente, tuvieron reacciones similares. Las bases geneticas de resistencia en estas variedades son muy diversas, puesto que representan variedades procedentes de regiones de los seis continentes donde el trigo es un cultivo importante.Con esta evidencia, sugerimos que -aun careciendo de datos aerobiol6gicos-, todas las probabilidades parecen indicar que el espectro de virulencia genetica es semejante para las razas de Puccinia striiformis West, comprendidas en el area geogrofica de Ecuador a Colombia. El \"veraneo\" de la roya lineal sucede probablemente en los sitios mos altos de las montaiias que constituirian una fuente comun de in6culo que se disemina a los campos de trigo de ambos poises. (comunicaci6n personal de E. C. Stakman). El Dr .. J. W. Gibler (comunicaci6n personal). escribi6 queen       Cada afio se encuentra roya lineal en areas frlas de Argentina como Bols6n, cerca de Bariloche. En afios frlos, la roya lineal se extiende cil Norte, y cuando en Argentina se registran epifitias fuertes, la roya del tallo es muy prevalente en Brasil.Hemos analizado la reacci6n varietal a la roya de la hoja del trigo en 50 entradas del 3°., 4°. y 5°. ISWYN (Cuadro 4). para apoyar nuestro hip6tesis de que las areas del Sur de Brasil, Argentina (y por inferencia Paraguay y Uruguay) constituyen una solo zona epidemiol6gica. En el Cuadro 4, se muestra que 34 y 35 variedades de 50 del 3°. y 4°. ISWYN, respectivamente, tuvieron reacciones seplejantes en Argentina y Brasil."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"be81ee2fd17a0feccc89583364321fc9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3d7a8966-afd0-4384-8023-2d20941248a7/retrieve","id":"1402731500"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4b68ebe1-d695-412c-a2a2-8a2239eca9e2","content":"This document presents a working Theory of Change (TOC) co-created as part of CGIAR's Generating Evidence and New Directions for Equitable Results (GENDER) Platform's ongoing process to develop a Learning Agenda (LA) focused on Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) and gender equality.The LA is intended to define priority learning questions jointly developed by key stakeholders, and identify potential learning activities, capacity needs and communication products. The goal is to activate stakeholders across the CGIAR and its partners to learn collectively with a focus on identified and prioritized knowledge gaps in research for development (R4D) on CSA and gender.The purpose of a TOC in a LA development process is to support the generation of insights useful for informing the LA 2 by providing a structure for the development and prioritization of learning questions and activities. 3 The TOC also helps surface assumptions and knowledge insights that can be useful for programmatic and strategic decision making. 4   As organizational learning documents, LAs typically respond to existing TOCs and/or organizational/programmatic strategies. The stakeholders who took part in the process cocreated a working TOC, for use specially during LA development, which draws on existing and relevant TOCs on CSA and gender transformative change (CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems, 2012;World Bank, FAO and IFAD, 2015;Nelson & Huyer, 2016;Huyer, et al., 2019;Huyer, et al., 2021).Global Knowledge Initiative (GKI) initiated the development of the LA, including development of the working TOC. Core features of GKI's emergent approach to facilitating a LA process are principles of stakeholder-led co-creation and human-centered design. Insights from any given activity or phase inform the design of future work. It is also, by definition, participatory. Content is generated by participants, as experts in their own field of experience, with GKI prompting targeted discussions based on an analysis of inputs from stakeholders in the previous steps.In line with this approach, a foundational activity was bringing together LA \"Champions,\" GENDER Platform members who committed to high levels of engagement throughout the process. In addition, GKI and the Evidence Module conducted outreach to gain insights and participation from external partners. 5 Champions, along with some external partners, participated in a series of three workshops in September and October 2021:To begin co-creation of the TOC, during the first workshop, participants created an initial \"Social Network Map,\" identifying key institutions through which research influences development outcomes related to CSA and gender. Following a thorough analysis of workshop outputs, an initial TOC was developed. During the second and third workshops, Champions responded to the TOC, based on their expertise, engagement and experience. Champions also brainstormed potential LA learning questions in response to possible assumptions underlying CGIAR's work on CSA and gender.Further analysis of workshop outputs resulted in additional iterations of the TOC reflected in the current draft. In addition, six major knowledge gaps and indicative primary learning questions related to further testing the TOC and strategy emerged. These are described in the following sections under the narrative related to each part of the TOC; and will continue to be refined, prioritized, and sequenced during the remaining work on the LA.The TOC discussions aimed to unpack how the One CGIAR and its partners intend to contribute to food systems that are both climate smart and gender transformative. This is an evolving theory building on an ongoing co-creative process involving CGIAR and beyond described above and is a tool for discussion and refinement of learning questions. It is intentionally a global TOC given CGIAR's global work; TOCs focused on specific localities or subtopics are likely to differ depending on the local context and strategy.The TOC captures how the One CGIAR and its partners can contribute to food systems that are climate smart and gender transformative. By itself, the graphic representation (Fig 1) is most easily understood from the bottom up, starting with R4D activities and working up towards the \"Guiding Star\". The latter represents the end-state to which One CGIAR and its partners intend to contribute with R4D related to CSA and gender. Explanatory notes along the left-hand side of the visual provide further guidance. Text following the graphic provides a more detailed description of each part of the TOC, starting with the Guiding Star and working downwards.CSA is an approach for transforming and reorienting agricultural production systems and food value chains so that they support sustainable development and can ensure food security under climate change. Climate-smart agriculture has three main objectives: sustainably increase agricultural productivity and incomes; adapt and build resilience to climate change and; reduce and/or remove greenhouse gas emissions, where possible. The climate-smart agriculture approach seeks to reduce trade-offs and promote synergies by taking these objectives into consideration when agricultural producers, policy makers and researchers make decisions at the local, subnational, national and global levels about short-and long-term strategies to address climate change. Climate-smart agriculture is not a set of practices that can be universally applied, but rather an approach that involves different elements that are embedded in specific contexts and tailored to meet local needs (FAO, 2017).A term adopted from systems change methodologies, a Guiding Star is not directly or independently an attainable goal; rather, coordination and collaboration among actors within a system is necessary to achieve it. After several iterations during the co-creation discussions, the current guiding star of the working TOC is: \"Food systems that are climate smart and gender transformative -each mutually reinforcing the other.\" To achieve this, systems actors must simultaneously advance gender transformation, agency and empowerment, and access to resources, information, etc of diverse genders as well as advance the CSA pillars of productivity, adaptation, and mitigation, in addition to fostering interactions among these (CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems, 2012;McDougall, et al., 2021;Nelson & Huyer, 2016;Huyer, et al., 2019).The various elements that influence the CSA and Gender transformative change in the guiding star are described briefly:Climate Smart Agriculture:• (Improved) Productivity-An important driver of agricultural growth is higher returns to farm production; to increase those returns, producers must adopt agricultural practices that increase productivity and use resources such as land and water more efficiently and in an environmentally sustainable manner. Strategies to enhance productivity in a CSA approach take into account specific contexts and capacities, as well as prevailing economic, environmental, and social situations, including gender relations (World Bank, FAO and IFAD, 2015). At the same time, an awareness of the importance of gender equality in improving productivity in the agricultural sector is needed (Nelson & Huyer, 2016) • (Better) Adaptation-Addressing gender inequalities in the context of adaptation and resilience means developing an understanding of the different ways in which distinct socio-economic groups are affected by and are responding to climatic changes. Then, as resilience-enhancing practices and approaches are developed, it is critical that information is made available and accessible to men and women, boys and girls, and that any potential increase in workload is minimized (Nelson & Huyer, 2016). It is also critical that women farmers' indigenous knowledge informs agricultural practices under CSA (FAO, 2017). • (Effective) Mitigation-Another important factor to address in order to make food systems sustainable and gender-equal is to enhance abilities to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and are also genderinclusive. Proposed mitigation actions therefore should harness the experiences, expertise, and realities of women and men alike. (Nelson & Huyer, 2016) Gender transformative change:• (Enhanced) Agency-Women's agency in relation to climate resilience is the ability to access and act on (make choices based on) information and to participate in decisions that affect their lives (Huyer, et al., 2021;Kabeer, 1999) • (Increased) Access-Women's access to natural resources, assets, finances, CSA technology and information, social, political, and physical spaces to be able to adapt to climate-smart or climate-resilient practices and mitigate risks (Huyer, et al.,  Emerging learning gap: One potential learning gap for the LA that emerged related to the interaction between CSA and gender transformative change reflected in the Guiding Star. The discussions highlighted the need for collating and synthesizing evidence on the underlying assumption that climate smart food systems transformation and gender equality can be mutually reinforcing and, the tradeoffs and synergies associated with the various dimensions/outcomes. We would also need to look at existing theoretical and conceptual models as in Huyer et al (2019). How climate change affects the entire food system and not just production and, which interventions promote the resilience and sustainability of the system and the people involved while being gender-transformative should be explored. This process highlighted the need to build understanding and shared goals amongst the diverse key stakeholders. This could be incorporated into LA implementation and/or broader efforts to establish the strategy to address the area of work.To achieve the guiding star means identifying and pursuing change in food systems and in the \"enabling environments\" which affect them. These are represented as a series of concentric and overlapping ovals; this is a commonly used framework when discussing systems change and gender given the need to understand and influence dynamics at a personal, household, community, and broader social and political levels.Women and men (in diverse food systems) are represented as key end users in the system that would benefit from the changes in policies and programs as a result of the research for development activities conducted by CGIAR, its partners and other actors. Co-creation discussions emphasized the importance of intersectionality in understanding the needs and interests of people in food systems. People of all genders and identities may directly use the knowledge and technologies developed to promote climate smart agriculture or may be impacted by changes in their environment -the households, collectives, and communities of which they are a part; the broader food value chains; and the policy environment, informal rules and norms; and other social forces.Change pathways, or the ways in which actors and forces represented in the TOC impact others, are represented by arrows in the TOC visualization. Solid arrows indicate pathways which were felt to be highly plausible, and the dotted arrows indicate possible connections.There is not one simple path by which agricultural R4D reaches or impacts women and men in diverse food systems; rather a TOC describing work related to complex systems --like CSA and gender --should capture multiple pathways, all of which are important. There is a recognition that women and men in diverse food systems impact their environment, and not just the reverse. It is acknowledged that all the possible change pathways might not have been reflected in the current version of the TOC. We expect the TOC to evolve as evidence and experiences emerge and can serve as a basis for monitoring and regular reflection and learning activities.Emerging learning gaps: Several potential gaps in the technical knowledge base emerged during co-creation discussions that related to the interactions among end users, food systems, and their enabling environments. However, sequencing of LA learning activities will be important for narrowing in on the gaps in the technical evidence base that the LA should prioritize from a strategic perspective. For example, addressing certain learning gaps related to the immediate users and R4D activities (see below) will be important as a step towards prioritizing learning questions related to the technical knowledge base. It was also suggested that a) the process \"zoom in\" to specific parts and b) technical themes/topics be mapped against this part of the TOC in order to better identify the technical evidence gaps that might be strategic to address. It was also recognised that we might have been focused highly on the production part of the food systems and that it is important to take a holistic perspective and focus on other parts of the food system and a wider set of stakeholders to shed light on key learning gaps related to end users, food systems, and their enabling environments.Number of key types of immediate users of knowledge, technologies and evidence related to CSA and Gender who would use these to inform their respective priorities, policies, programs and investments were identified. Number of direct and indirect connections were identified between various end users listed below: It is to be noted that not all the possible change pathways are reflected in the current version of the TOC, and these could be added as the TOC evolves.Emerging learning gaps: Two key learning gaps emerged that are relevant to the immediate users' aspect of the TOC. One is around the most strategic influencing pathways and practices that CGIAR and its partners might take to advance gender-transformative CSA. The other is how CGIAR, its partners and other agencies might catalyze multi-sectoral coordination around CSA and gender, given how critically important coordination will be to achieve gendertransformative CSA. Addressing the former may be one key to identifying which learning gaps in the technical evidence are the most strategic to address during LA implementation.With the aim of influencing immediate users' priorities, policies, programs and investments, the One CGIAR and its partners produce research on gender and CSA spanning technical, social, institutional and policy dimensions, using gender transformative or feminist research approaches. Based on the evidence, communications products, including media articles and policy briefs are produced and disseminated. Policy engagement and capacity development are other key activities.Emerging learning gaps: Three potential learning gaps related to One CGIAR and Partners activities emerged during co-creation discussions:• Fostering gender transformative research and understanding the opportunities and constraints to include gender transformative approaches in R4D design related to CSA. • Understanding and prioritizing research areas related to CSA and gender that could maximize impact."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7f00d87724d545e362c10743cd0fc24f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/51b381f0-c979-4425-a62c-06bd002b1ebf/retrieve","id":"1957824122"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"95f46080-ea28-4db7-80ec-c09bad9e0dfe","content":"The biomedical domain has shown that in silico analyses over vast data pools enhances the speed and scale of scientific innovation. This can hold true in agricultural research and guide similar multi-stakeholder action in service of global food security as well (Streich et al.The COVID-19 pandemic has caused great human loss and economic suffering worldwide, but it may prove to be a ground-breaking model for agile collaborative science. This is exemplified by rapid and powerful approaches to data sharing, including the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset (Semantic Scholar, 2020) and mature biomedical ontologies (Bodenreider, 2005;Robinson & Haendel, 2020). The COVID-19 Open Research Dataset by the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence in collaboration with several research institutes gave researchers free and open tools and data to develop new insights about the novel coronavirus. The shared standards and data coupled with the collaborative application of massive computing power enabled research efforts worldwide to model and identify over 70 promising compounds for treatment in just under 2 days-a result that would otherwise have likely taken years (Quitzau, 2020). This is a shining example of in silico analyses over vast data pools enhancing the speed and scale of scientific innovation that may also be applied towards agricultural research and guide similar multi-stakeholder action in service of global food security (Streich et al., 2020).Responding agilely and hyper-locally to challenges in the agricultural sector necessitates building on prior research. While much of the conversation in the agricultural research for development sector focuses on the need to appropriately scale promising solutions, these solutions must also be agile in responding to changing local conditions, be they weather, markets, or others. This, in turn, requires decision support tools that mine problem-relevant open pools of data, and data products that not only meet the Findability and Accessibility (\"Open Access\") criteria of the FAIR Data Principles but are also interpretable and reusable by humans as well as machines (Thessen & Patterson, 2011;Wilkinson et al., 2016). The biomedical sector began coalescing around the need for open, interoperable and machine-readable data by the mid-1980s to early 1990s with the creation of powerful open databases, standards and toolkits under the aegis of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (Smith, 2013). NCBI paved the way for rapid datadriven, transparent development of therapies and medical innovation.In comparison, the agricultural sector has lagged in making data assets open and interoperable, with the possible exception of precision agriculture and work involving genetic and \"omics\", and technologies such as those related to developing plant germplasm or insect pest detection. Agriculture has moved in this direction only in the last few years (Smalley, 2018) partly because data assets still too often exist on individual laptops. Even when data is accessible on public repositories, it has traditionally been summary tables or metadata, rather than the raw and welldescribed data needed for analyses and further innovation. Further, where such data has gradually become available over the last 5-7 years, it tends to be opaquely annotatedif at alland not interoperable or easily reusable as data variables are not described using standards, but typically by individual choice. Private sector has been increasingly amassing and mining location-specific agricultural data since the early to mid-2000s through Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, AI, Blockchain and allied technologies in the service of precision agriculture and smart farming solutions (Rijmenam, 2013;Noyes, 2014;Pham & Stack, 2018). However, much of this data remains proprietary, and responsive only toat bestcompany-specific standards and bespoke tools, making governance (including ownership) and linking of relevant but disparate data difficult (Rosenbaum, 2010).It is only recently that agricultural public sector entities and researchersand more importantly, their fundersare beginning to acknowledge the importance of data standards, and to specify open licenses and FAIR requirements (European Commission Expert Group on FAIR Data, 2018;Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2021) There are several ongoing efforts to build knowledge bases and open data portals, including by CGIAR (the GARDIAN data ecosystem), the European Union (-European Data Portal), the United States Department of Agriculture (Ag Data Commons), and similar databases of compilations maintained by a number of research, academic, and funding entities in the agricultural space. These three exemplars explicitly pursue FAIRness, through alignment with established metadata schemas and semantic standards such as controlled vocabularies and ontologies to describe data variables. Such approaches enable mining and linking of data (e.g., as Linked Open Data), but adherence to standards remains challenging and is still elusive for a variety of reasons.With the exception of bioinformaticians in fields like crop breeding or germplasm diversity studies, researchers encounter several hurdles to the adoption of data standards, and these are particularly entrenched in \"non-digital natives\". The challenges include limited awareness on how to mine and derive value from standardscompliant, interoperable data pools; limited data science capacity for in silico analyses, with a related emphasis on the collection, rather than reuse of existing data; and limited fund and time allocation towards data management and the collaborative development of standards. Other, more community-based issues relate to the collective development and governance of standards, and to coalescing \"critical mass\" around consistent adoption. Thus, while FAIR data assets are foundational needs for an evidence-driven, agile, and collaborative approach to enhancing the impact of research and development in the agricultural domain, the discipline is in its infancy in realizing the potential of consistent application of the FAIR Principles. Throughout an institution or set of entities in a disciplinary domain, the consistent adoption of the FAIR Principles and associated data standards and approaches relies on good governance (Koers et al., 2020).But what exactly does \"good governance\" mean? It may be useful to first frame how we view this idea in the context of data, in line with Stedman and Vaughan's recent writing (2020), that defines data governance to be a cross-cutting concern to assure success across the data life cycle. Thus, the availability, usability, security, and trustworthiness of data are all dependent on its governance, which also includes development and oversight of data standards, policies, and compliance with these. This paper discusses governance challenges and possible solutions to enabling interoperability of agricultural data assets as a critical requirement in catalyzing a move from prescriptive, \"one size fits all\" recommendations, to more site-specific options that are agilely developed in response to local constraints and scenarios.Effective operationalization of the FAIR Principles towards agricultural research data assets that support easier interpretation and linking requires as a foundational paradigm that researchers accept that their responsibilities do not end with data collection and manuscript publishing, as was the norm in a pre-digital age. As stated by Wilkinson et al. (2016), data-intensive science increasingly means \". . .assisting both humans and their computational agents in the discovery of, access to, and integration and analysis of task-appropriate scientific data and other scholarly digital objects.\" The reach of research therefore extends not just to data collection for personal analysis and publishing, but to stewarding or resourcing the stewardship of data assets to ensure long-term preservation, wide access and reuse. The development and adoption of common standards embodied by metadata schemas, ontologies and controlled vocabularies are critical to good data stewardship and reuse but developing and maintaining these efforts in agricultural research has been difficult. Despite data sharing and reuse being more accepted in other domains including the environmental and biomedical, the consistent use of standards is spotty even in these domains. For instance, in a survey of 100 ecological and evolutionary research datasets over half of the databases had issues including missing metadata; 64% were archived in a way that rendered reuse partially or entirely impossible due to poor or missing metadata, and/or non-machine-readable formatting (Roche et al., 2015).The more traditional view of science is a prediction-based, hypothesis-driven approach as articulated by Karl Popper in 1963 (Brockman, 2015). Although this view is no longer central to some scientific domains, it remains quite relevant in agriculture. A consequence is that data is considered as more a by-product than a driver of research, and its governance, defined by Leonelli (2019) to be \"...the strategies and tools employed to identify, manage, and disseminate data. . .\" is typically not sufficiently valued or resourced. Leonelli challenges the traditional view of data as fixed and context-independent, and the notions of data quality and reliability as universal rather than influenced by context and purpose. The author's relational view of data (Fig. 1) argues instead that the presentation, selection, and use of data based on purpose and context is critical to knowledge creation. Thus, this relational view posits that data are often altered through production, dissemination, Fig. 1 Scientific inquiry according to the relational view of data (Leonelli, 2019). This mutually reinforcing view includes interactions of scientific subjects with the world, which produce objects that are documented as data. These data are managed and visualized to produce models that represent particular phenomena, leading to the creation of knowledge that can in turn inform future inquiry. (Reproduced without modification from Leonelli (2019), under CC-BY 4.0 licence) and reuse for different purposes, imbuing their handling and management with more importance. Such a relational view is very relevant to the modern reality of digital technologies and capabilities, and particularly true for agricultural researchwhich necessitates context-based re-purposing of data.Agricultural research culture is also influenced by the fact that it is traditionally field-based, involving time-consuming data gathering from experiments that typically run over several seasons/years and are generally conducted along the lines of Popper's falsification-based hypothesis testing. Among the few exceptions to this, though relatively recent, are climate science, precision technologies, and disciplines like genomics in, say, germplasm development. Until recently, agricultural research rewarded those with strong field know-how and ability to employ the Popperian method over more quantitative or digital smarts, resulting in a culture of \"my research, my data\". Our experience at CGIAR suggests that except for a few (e.g., geneticists, bioinformaticians, and the rare agronomist), the notion and use of in silico analysis involving secondary data is relatively new for agricultural scientists. In keeping with this, Denk (2017) suggests that researchers' reluctance to use open data hinges on one or more of the following reasons: Insufficient knowledge to mine data effectively, a lack of awareness about the capabilities and power of big data analytics, and concern about data quality and reliability. Data is therefore seen as peripheral to research, and the notion of \"data-centrism\" espoused by Leonelli (2019) and other philosophers of science is the exception rather than the rule in agricultural research. Data governance, particularly around open and FAIR research data with its goal of widening access, mining, and reuse therefore remains relatively unimportant in the domain, with direct implications for the development and maintenance of widely accepted standards. Ongoing efforts towards data governance and linking through the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) represent an exception, as described in this volume by Manzella et al. Appropriate responses in the agricultural domain require that we acknowledge and address these challenges, learning from efforts such as the PGRFA.Solutions to data governance issues are manifold and involve many actors and approaches. Some are highlighted here, based on experience across the CGIAR system:• Data science is an active part of many life sciences areas but has come to the agricultural domain relatively late. Machine learning and big data analytics approaches that depend on FAIR agricultural data must be fostered through capacity building and continued institutional support and hiring/retention practices that make clear the link between standards-compliant data pools and the ability to derive insights from them. Fields such as bioinformatics that have been successfully deployed and accepted in key agricultural disciplines may be a model to follow, and indeed, the notion of \"ag informatics\" now exists. • The adoption of best practices throughout the data life cycle including the use of standards that enable data aggregation should be an expected part of agricultural research, with high value assigned to contributions toward strong data outcomes.Clarity around open and FAIR, and associated data schemas and standards must be part of contractual language for new hires. KPIs that explicitly acknowledge FAIR data and data-driven science and innovation should form part of researcher annual evaluations. As efforts around standards development, maintenance, and use require funding, allocation of budget towards best practices in data management that includes these aspects should be required, not recommended practice (10-25% is suggested by many project funders, including the EU). Together with these, data stewards must be valued and empowered for success. • Data sharing requirements that specify repository, data, and allied standards must be implemented, ideally via data sharing templates and checklists that facilitate consistency across research units and institutionsand their partnerseasing governance considerations. Addressing ownership issues by democratizing data authorship and upload to standards-compliant repositories is likely to be a foundational aspect of buy-in to these. It is important to note that a key reinforcer of open and FAIR data sharing is the \"reexamination\" of data, either for quality and/or reuse in new analyses. Without such benefits, the carrots and sticks outlined above may only result in partial success. This idea and several of those above are summarized in Fig. 2, from a 2020 manuscript by Sielemann et al.Technical challenges to governance towards greater openness and interoperability of data (which standards confer) are generally easier to address than those that are cultural, or subject to the legal frameworks of countries or rights of stakeholders (Sara & Devare, 2020). The latter may include intellectual property rights, confidentiality and/or privacy, farmers' rights, sensitivity (e.g., sensitive information relating to, say, harvesting forest species), farmers' rights and privacy (see also Leonelli and Williamson, this volume; Zampati, this volume).Research data scenarios most likely to require robust governance frameworks include those that: • Concern vulnerable peoples (including indigenous communities); • Contain personally identifiable information that could be used to identify individuals or communities; • Include anonymized data in which re-identification could result in significant harm; • Concern genetic resources (including Digital Sequence Information) and any associated traditional knowledge; • Include sensitive political data (including weather or health-related data, which in in some countries is subject to formal or informal reporting restrictions).Governance arrangements in the above scenarios require due diligence in how the data is described and managed, acknowledging and addressing restrictions that may arise due to the need for:Prior Informed Consent Human subject data is typically subject to ethical standards requiring approval of an oversight body (such as an Internal Review Board), and prior informed consent from research participants which is purpose-specific.Prior informed consent also features prominently in the context of restricted use of data, privacy protection, and ABS compliance (see below).Restricted Use of Data Including Commercialization and/or Commercial Use of Data Use of data in a manner inconsistent with the informed consent or contractual obligations under which it was obtained can have legal as well as reputational repercussions. Accordingly, it must be proactively handled subject to appropriate data protection measures.Proprietary, Commercially Sensitive and or Confidential Data Public disclosure of data that is proprietary, commercially sensitive or confidential in nature can have legal as well as reputational repercussions, and must be subject to robust data protection measures.IP and Contractual Rights Over the Data and Results or Innovations Generated Using the Data Access and use of data may be subject to intellectual property and contractual rights governing the use of data as well as derivatives of the data (e.g., CC-BY-SA and other licenses requiring share-alike terms) and downstream products developed using the data.Privacy Protection and Human Subject Rights Personal data (i.e., directly identifying data) or data that could potentially be used to identify an individual (i.e., indirectly identifying data such as GPS coordinates on their own or in combination with other data) can be subject to requirements complicated by a fragmented regulatory landscape governing data protection, privacy and the rights of data subjects (e.g., the EU's 2018 General Data Protection Directive).Accessing biological resources and associated information (such as genomic information and traditional knowledge) can be subject to best-practice or regulatory requirements concerning prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms governing access to, and the sharing of benefits (monetary and non-monetary) resulting from, research and development concerning the biological resources or associated information (e.g., as addressed by the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing).Agricultural Data Codes of Conduct These are tools to facilitate better data governance frameworks, particularly as agricultural data are increasingly collected through digital sensors often embedding Artificial Intelligence-based analytics. Few countries have a code of conduct for farm data; an exception is the European Union Code of Conduct for Data Sharing by Contractual Agreement developed in 2018 (Wiseman et al., 2019) Such codes encompass many of the above points, in attempting to provide principles about rights and responsibilities supporting a transparent data governance that engages farmers in decision-making, guaranteeing their full access to data collected from them. To address the lack of global guidelines, GODAN has recently published a generic toolkit (https://www.godan.info/codes) to guide scientists or collectors of agricultural data to create a customized code that can be validated with the national authorities of the countries where data will be collected (Zampati, this volume). Implementation of such a code of conduct by public and private institutions may help plug the data governance gap particularly visible in the public sector.As a case in point, agricultural research for development institutions in the CGIAR System have been attempting to tackle governance needs relating to the above while addressing cultural aspects in an ad-hoc way. With a new, more centralized CGIAR model envisioned, it is expected that governance frameworks will also be more uniformly applicable and backed by accountability. A nascent model is proposed for this new modality by a Data Assets Management Task Team operationalized in 2021 to address concerns around research data, with governance key among these (Fig. 3).This data asset governance model recognizes that good governance goes beyond technical solutions, depending also on the ability of appropriately organized and empowered bodies with clear roles and responsibilities to create and assure a culture of best data practices, and compliance with legal structures. The proposed structure is briefly described here, and envisages 3 primary cascading areas of intervention, at the: (1) strategic, pan-CGIAR research portfolio plane; (2) tactical, research initiative level (with several initiatives forming the portfolio); and (3) operational, research team level within initiatives.In this scenario, a strategic level Data Governance Committee (DGC) includes data scientists, domain experts (researchers), IT and legal personnel, and data stewards (with data asset management and standards expertise) and provides oversight across all three levels while primarily interfacing with tactical level teams. It is solely responsible for strategic governance that determines organizational recommendations and decisions concerning all aspects of data governance, including policy implementation, repository management, standards governance and implementation, data asset management (e.g., concerning sensitive data, metadata), analytics needs etc.Tactical level teams operate at the research initiative level and ensure that each initiative's data asset management and analysis approaches are aligned with the strategy and best practices suggested by the DGC. These teams are empowered to implement data governance principles, procedures and practices (including those around standards) as set out by the DGC, and involve data scientists, domain experts (researchers), and data asset managers (with standards expertise), with IT and legal expertise called on as needed. They provide oversight for operational level teams working on their research initiative's data asset management. Operational level teams include data asset managers and domain experts (researchers), working as part of or with research teams within an initiative to help them manage and share well-annotated, standardized data assets aligned with best practices as suggested by the DGT via tactical teams.Considering effective use of standards in data management more specifically, governance relating to the creation, maintenance, and effective use of standards continues to be a hurdle in almost all scientific realms (McCourt et al., 2007;Zu & Wu, 2010), in no small part due to proliferation and overlap of the standards themselves. For example, there are a number of agricultural data standards, from metadata schemas aligned with industry standards such as Dublin Core (e.g. the CG Core Metadata Schema used by CGIAR Centers; https://github.com/ AgriculturalSemantics/cg-core) to ontologies such as the Crop Ontology (CO; Shrestha et al., 2010;Cooper et al., 2018;Arnaud et al., 2020; https://www. cropontology.org/). The CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture also supports a beta version of the Agronomy Ontology (Devare et al., 2016; https://bigdata.cgiar. org/resources/agronomy-ontology/) and an early prototype socioeconomic ontology, with work just begun on small scale fisheries and aquaculture and livestock-related ontologieswith some overlap almost certain across these growing resources. As noted already, there are also several well-established standards used by researchers working in the crop genetics or genomics domains. The literature reflects the authors' experience across CGIAR and its stakeholders, that despite existing standards and growing awareness of their importance to enable linking across heterogeneous agricultural data, their development, maintenance, and adoption remains challenging (Wolfert et al., 2017;Bahlo et al., 2019;Drury et al., 2019).Governance around standards in the public sector has been especially difficult, but efforts are ongoing even as new needs arise for interoperability standards around such concepts as Digital Sequence Information (DSI). As argued by Manzella et al. (this volume), interoperability across data systems is critical to enable legal solutions addressing access and benefit sharing (ABS) associated with the plant genetic material covered by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). The authors cite the need for an ontology to model the ways DSI is defined by scientists and policy makers, as it will enable mediation • across these two communities in arriving at common understanding of what DSI entails. While reaching consensus across these communities on DSI and a DOI-like standard applied to digital sequences (Digital Genomic Object identifier, or DGO) is not elementary, it will support traceability of data not only for scientific use, but also for ABS, by enabling provenance of genetic material. This work is likely to also spawn a new governance model for other use cases, that addresses interoperability for access and the needs of academic and non-academic communities. We envisage potentially similar ABS implications at the nexus of agricultural research (academic) and development (non-academic actors and beneficiaries) as machine learning, AI, and IoT applications are driven by multi-disciplinary and multi-instrument data streams.A governance framework for the Crop Ontology project referenced above was solidified and could form a model for governance across the organization and the sector itself (Fig. 4). Governance around the ICASA variables developed by the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) based at the University of Florida to help crop modelers harmonize crop simulation data is another noteworthy effort (White et al., 2013).In sum, there are several reasons for such governance-related issues around data and data standards; here we have drawn on our experience across public and private sectors (i.e., CGIAR and Bayer CropScience) to illustrate a few, providing models and suggestions to overcome them where possible.\"Invisible\" data governance. While data governance may be embedded to various degrees in private sector organizations dealing with R&D data, it is not as common in the public sector, and in either case, is often not recognized as a critical function. Data governance efforts therefore tend to be ad-hoc, invisibly keeping alive data systems, platforms and processes in spite of a lack of proper assignment and recognition of roles and responsibilities. Data stewardship, which usually ensures data accuracy, quality, and completion, is a role absorbed by data scientists or data enthusiasts. These persons must devote time to perform those data maintenance tasks on top of their core duties because a data governance strategy is absent. Another common problem when data governance strategies exist concerns their scoping of activities. Ideally all data should have a form of governance, ranging from a light setup with a few data stewards, for example, to a complex setup with several stewards, data owners and an overarching data council. In practical implementations only certain data areas are typically governed due to priorities, funding availability and staff resources. One model trialing at a couple of CGIAR Centers is the formation of institutional, multistakeholder governance teams, as suggested by Stedman and Vaughan (2020). Such a team might be composed of a leadership representative, research program leads and scientists, data scientists, IT professionals, data managers, and possibly, someone with IP or legal expertise. Data architects may be part of it, along with a Chief Data Officer or their equivalent. Growers are not part of these teams, but institutions including CGIAR are increasingly tweaking data consent statements towards dynamic consent models that empower farmers in voicing how data about their farms might be shared or used. This model, with some changes, is presented above (Fig. 3) and is gaining traction as one that could be widely implemented across the CGIAR System. • Strategy. A data governance strategy should be driven by data practitioners' needs and not by IT tools or technical requirements (e.g., development of a data mapping tool) as is often the case. Governance bodies should devise a plan based on the relevant R&D data requirements, potentially resulting in IT tools or systems only if well-considered requirements dictate. In the agricultural research domain this is more often done the other way around, where platforms, tools, and systems dictate roles and responsibilities. An effective strategy must recognize that governance is primarily about people and not directly about tools or technologies. These latter are important but are far from the sole determinants of process and organizational efforts. Typically, R&D organizations and digitalization efforts start by implementing standards (e.g., controlled vocabularies, ontologies) across their data systems. They then move into the organizational aspects (that is, governance) as the data standards get used by more platforms and users, which demand better checkpoints and data maintenance for sustainable and reusable data and data products. Standardizing data is a very good initial step towards reusability and sustainability, but its success and the continuity of activities depends on a governance strategy and planning. • Leadership support, governance teams and valuing data management. As already mentioned, the policy environment around the use and governance of data and standards is often poor. At CGIAR, the 2013 Open Access and Data Management Policy emphasized \"open\" but only tangentially referenced data standards and semantic interoperability, and accountability is missing. Recognizing the importance of data interoperability, CGIAR leadership supported a revision of this policy in 2021 to address FAIR data standards and their governanceincluding implementation, oversight, and compliancewithout which loopholes bloom and adoption can wane. As noted above, many agricultural research and education entities lack policy frameworks, high-level support, and governance teams with formalized roles. This needs to change for governance around open and FAIR data to become less challenging. • Governance plan deployment. A grassroots data governance initiative without high-level management support is condemned to fade or fail altogether. Another cause of failure is the relatively long-term deployment of a governance plan, for which it is important to define clear and concrete deliverables (e.g., appointment of data stewards, definition of data shareability policies, integration of data standards). The benefit of a governance setup is typically not only invisible to high-level management but also to end users who could further influence the investment of resources towards governance activities. Different tactics could be employed to mitigate these situations: proof of concept implementation on small data sets and limited to a few systems, including key players as part of decision bodies; implementing adequate data stewardship recognition mechanisms; a non-disruptive governance model, ensuring a balanced distribution of data standardization efforts; avoiding over-engineered governance plans that slow processes; and partitioning the data asset ecosystem into manageable but relevant pieces (e.g. governing data on traits and related assets as events).• Developing and maintaining standards to enable linking data is time and effortintensive, and funder support elusive. Ontologies can help standardize the heterogeneous data that the agricultural sector deals with, thereby enabling humans and machines to more easily mine and link such cross-disciplinary data. Best practices are typically followed in developing these ontologies, including technical considerations and the involvement of domain experts working with ontologists to build and validate content (Rudnicki et al., 2016;Garijo & Poveda-Villalón, 2020). However, such consultative processes often present difficult governance issues, in that they involve compromise on preferred individual approaches in favor of standard terminology that works more generally. Some of these issues can be mitigated by inherent properties of ontologies (as compared with controlled vocabularies), one of which allows for the addition of synonyms with their contexts and definitions. However, the process of arriving at a consensus choice of concepts that accurately and sufficiently cover a particular domain can be fraught and involve huge amounts of time and discussion. Lastly, funders and institution leadership typically balk at supporting what is often seen as the tedious underpinnings of data management, making such efforts difficult to sustain. Some of these challenges were articulated by respondents to a survey conducted by Geller et al. (2018) to determine why ontologies typically tend to be sparsely updated (Table 1). These situations can be improved if (1) a more progressive data culture and explicit policy and accountability environment as referenced above is in place;(2) data is routinely re-examined and reused to generate new value, in turn demonstrating the value of standardization; and critically, (3) there is wide-ranging support to allocate budget for these efforts. for particular types of data, how to build critical mass around adoption? While a governance team may have a critical role to play in these concerns, the development and maintenance of data standards are thorny issues that require broader collaboration. An example may be where the boundaries are drawn around a particular domain standard; for instance, ontology concepts to be added to the Agronomy Ontology vs. the Environmental Ontology. Successful governance and maintenance of these ontologies involves working not just with ontology and subject experts within an organization like the CGIAR system, or even within any given domain, but forging strong relationships across domain ontologies to suggest new terms in the right domain ontology and reduce concept proliferation. For a multi-center entity like CGIAR, the governance of repository-level metadata also requires agreement from data and information managers around a common, widely responsive but industry-aligned standard, in this case, the  GiSC). Some data cooperatives (like ADC) offer secure data repository solutions that enable farmers to store their data and decide with which platforms, agencies or research entities to share it. Others like GiSC, offer a repository and also perform analytics to give farmers greater insight into their production practices and can negotiate opportunities to monetize data on their behalf. There are subscription-based approaches like the Farmer Business Network (FBN) which offer data platforms and analytics over the data pool to offer the farmer farm-specific management and profitability insights such as yield by soil type or fertilizer, and input price comparisons. Similar approaches are also emerging in developing countries, for example, Digital Green is building FarmStack, a data exchange platform for farmers in India, with features similar to ADC (https://farmstack.digitalgreen.org/). Yara and IBM have also launched a joint effort to enable farmers to securely share data and retain determination around who uses it and how, benefiting monetarily in the process (Yara International, 2020). Central to these newer models is the placement and valuing of the data owner in the mix of stakeholders that determine how data gets managed and used.Good data governance practices are the beating heart of innovation and impact, particularly through their impact on data interoperability and reusability by humans and machines. Data governance ensures that data assets remain widely available and interoperable, but are also secure, trustworthy and not misused (Stedman & Vaughan, 2020). As the digital landscape and data capabilities become more sophisticated, these latter concerns are especially important to assure that governance efforts address the gamut, from policy through standards, to ethics, to assure that sensitive data, rules for data use, data sharing agreements and allied efforts are considered in the light of managing both institutional and individual risk. We have attempted to address legal, technical and cultural challenges to data and standards governance, outlining some models for successful governance to enable data linking that cover a range of aspects, from administrative and financial enablers to the human and technical considerations. In doing so we have briefly addressed considerations such as policy environment and governance teams and data cooperativesboth within and across organizational structures; funding support; capacity and awareness of the human actors in the data ecosystem; and technical infrastructure that allow data owners to have a higher level of self-determination over their information.All interventions aiming for impactful data governance must recognize the human experiences involved before improved practices can be recommended or required. Thus, we have touched upon the epistemology of scientific research in general, and agricultural research in particular as largely being hypothesis-driven rather than inductive and empirical as fields embracing data science and big data technologies tend to be. As might be expected, the business of how research is viewed and conducted is likely to be a key determinant of how the data it produces is handled, as appears to be borne out by our experiences with CGIAR researchers for whom the notion of in silico analysis involving secondary data is relatively new.There are many unaddressed questions and gaps that remain regarding data governance as it relates to interoperability and enabling data linkages. Blockchain is being increasingly explored as a data provenance solution, a way to enable data security, traceability, and accountability (Liang et al., 2017;Ramachandran & Kantarcioglou, 2017;Devan, 2018;Shabani, 2019;Kochupillai, this volume). The Food Trust Blockchain has already been launched by IBM as a food traceability platform and adopted by large retailers, fruit and meat wholesalers, and multinationals in the food products sector (Stanley, 2018). Closer to the research world, Blockchain has been proposed as a solution to handling electronic medical records (EMRs) to give patients access to their medical records across providers and treatment sites via an immutable record. As envisioned by Azaria et al. (2016), the application of Blockchain to EMRs via a decentralized records management system called MedRec allows researchers and other medical stakeholders to mine aggregated, anonymized data. In return, these actors sustain and secure the network via a \"Proof of Work\" algorithm that is tamper-proof, involving individual nodes competing to solve computational \"puzzles\" before another block of content can be added to the chain. The work required of \"miners\" to append blocks assures that it is difficult to rewrite history on the Blockchain. Azaria et al. therefore propose empowering researchers through big data pools, while involving patients and care providers in choices around the release of their (meta)data.Such models that include farm data and the farmer as the determinant of how her data is used, and by whom, are beginning to gain traction through the notion of data cooperatives. While Blockchain is still in its infancy as an enabler in these ecosystems, it is likely to gain prominence in the near-term, as data economies grow across sectors. How data standards mesh with and augment Blockchain capabilities is not clear but requires consideration in the near-term. What seems clearer, in fact, is the potential of Blockchain technology to provide accountability and traceability in the standards development process, even if privacy is not generally a concern. That data standards are critical for enabling interoperability is generally accepted; as this paper attempts to make clear, there remain some unexplored considerations around their governance, along with questions of what constellations of actors ought to be involved in standards development and maintenance."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ee67abd8201799e0191a8e3a0548b6ff","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c840db84-2e0f-4dc3-bc53-5e573545cd4c/retrieve","id":"879039735"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c7a6f0d8-33f6-4552-8531-466354f87da3","content":"Modes .of partieipation Level 01 participation byfarmers Witcombe (1996) Consulta!ive Rasearcher con su lIs farmers lo assess needs, sel breeding 90a1s, and choose lesling sites, but researcher retains key decision making CollaboraUve Expert larmers grow early, variable generations and seleet best planls on !helr own fields McGuire, Maoiead, Farmer-Ied PPB External agents support larmers' own system 01 crop and Sperling (1999) development Forrnal-Ied PPB Farmers joio in lonmally initialed process 01 crop developmenters were next given an orientation on seed selection and gennplasm improvement. Finally, an agreement was made to follow a pure-line selection process in which fanners' participation in Ihe process was assured. Ihis process was designed to help impart a selection of skills to fanners and improve their cop varieties through pure-line selection if they wished. Ihey would also feel empowered through their own participation in the process. This process rnay be proven to be a holistic, less time-consuming, and more cost-effectíve approach to ímprove the quality of landraces, thus making them competitive with improved varieties and, eventually, invigorating in situ conservation on-farm.The role of farmers in crop improvement and managing agrobiodiversity can best be explained by the traditional seed-supply system (figure 3). Approximately, 60% of global agrieulture ís perfonned by subsistence fanners using traditional methods-providing between 15% to 20% ofthe world'g food (Francís 1986;Sthapit and Joshi 1998). Diffusion in most parts ofNepal happens through the infonnal seed-supply system; the contrihution ofthe fonnal seed sector is less than 5% in major staple crops (Baniya et al. 2000). The traditional seed-flow system ineludes variety selection and adoption. seed seleetion, seed exchange, processing, and storage (Shrestha 1998), and al! of these processes are responsible for local crop improvement and creating agrobiodiversity. A review of ease studies from Bángladesh (Mazhar 1997), Indonesia (Winarto 1997), Nepal (Joshi el al. 1997;Sthapit et al. 1998), and Ethiopia (Worede 1992) shows a wide range of examples in different eountries where farmers-either independent1y or in collaboration with fonnal or infonnal institutions-have played an important role in erop improvement through seed production and russemination (see also figure 1).From time immemorial, farmers have been observing and selecting their crops and crop varieties, saving and maintaining the seeds for next season, and experimenting with new seeds exchanged with neighbors and relatives (Shrestha 1998). It is noteworthy tba! farmers have med to seleet the best available portion of the harvest for growing the subsequent year and also to meet the requirements offood and tradition. Fanners introduce new varieties in their localities to suit the different needs of 80il fertility, moisture, family, and society, and to spread labor and reduce risk. Hardon (1995) and Joshi et al. (1997) reported tha! farmers pos ses s the ability and knowledge to selee! crops and species that suit their environment and meet quality and other consumer requirements.    This process has created a diversity of crops and crop species, and thus, present-day landraces are no doubt the outcome of farmers' knowledge about and activities in crop improvement. Formal breeders in the narne of \"PPB\" have lately consolidated the role of farmers in crop improvement through regular seed seJection and exchange.There is a wide range of information about the particípatory methods practiced by scientists and breeders in severa! countries. Informal research and development (IRD), a type of particípatory varietal selection (PVS) is reported to be 43% more cost effective compared to the formal system (Joshi et aL 1996 andJoshi et aL 1997).Tbe sources and directions of seed flow are vital to creating the diversity ofboth landraces and improved varieties. Al! the means through which seeds flow from one farmer to another contribute to diversity in totality. Seed flow inc1udes purchasing, exchanging, giving as a free gift, borrowing, and stealing. Sources of new seeds might be markets, neighbors, relatives, agriculture extensíon, and research stations (see figure 1). In these ways, plant genetic materials drift from one place to another, creating new diversity in each community. This creates opportunities for farmers to meet different needs, which they could not do with a single variety (Joshi et al. 1997). In one ofthe studies in Begnas, Kaski, Baniya et al. (1999) reported that rich farmers generally initiate variety introduction. Most farmers (85%) change seed lots or cultivars regularly, and about 49% follow this practice every one or two years. Ex situ conservation in gene banks being unaffordable, the fate of crop diversity in many mountain areas is largely govemed by the fate ofthe traditional seed-supply systern that exists within local comrnunities (Shrestha 1998).For generations, farrners have been involved in seed selection, testing crop varieties to address single or multiple household needs such as food security, economic benefits, and religious and cultural requirements, as well as finding varieties that suit their land type depending upon the access or availability ofplanting material s (see figure 2).The choices or preferences for varieties of a crop may, however, differ with differences in socioeconomic status. Religious and cultural considerations, level of education, and gender dimension are equally important in influencing the choices and preferences for different crops and varieties. . Source: Chaudhary andJoshi (1999).! airtight conditions, and sorne are spread on me floor. Baniya et al. (1999) reported on me different seed-storage practices followed by farroers in Begnas, Kaski, where there is a wide range of crop diversity even today. If farroers did not save seeds under proper storage condition, we would not have me diversity in both crops and crop species that we have today.In the cornmercial world, there may be a lack of interest in participatory memods because resource-poor farroers might not appreciate irnmediate benefits from participation in research.They have a restricted time for contribution and limited resources to support research. On the omer hand, resource-rich farroers, especially in a high production-potential system (HPPS) are likely to migrate to urban areas, thereby discontinuíng active participation after ayear or more. Urbanization and cornmercialízation rnight have a negative ímpact on me partieipation sinee absentee landlords may have less time to thínk about aU mese participatory approaches, their being capable of supporting land for research purposes. Moreover, without compensation, long-term participation of farroers can not be assured, since the time for research activities can cause conflicts with fiumers' field activities,Confining farroers to trsditional cultivation systems has made mem focus on traditional selection practíces; they are less aware of advances in agricultura! science for seed selection and varietal selection based on agroecology. Searching and procuring seeds becomes cumbersome and time conswning for individual farmer. Traditional ways of procuring seeds without adequate information about new varieties rnight in sorne cases adversely mect me farroers' yield, Lacking adequate kuowledge about seed selection, farroers keep mixtures in their selections to ensure adequate yields, but this also creates high diversíty. Furthermore, in most of the participatory approaches to crop improvement, gathering postharvest information trom rich people does not provide useful insights-they are not actually the end users, since they are likely sell a large portion oftheir produce in the market (Witcombe 1999).Several areas ofknow!edge are associated with landraces, and with the elimination oflandraces, we not only lose genetic resources from our farming system or community but also the knowledge associated with them. With the ever-increasing dependence of farmers on modem technologies, accompanied by lhe use of chemical fertilizers and hazardous pesticides, farmers are being handicapped in severa! ways, inc1uding the area of indigenous knowledge. Farmers are, therefore, not only losing benefits from plant genetic resources, but more important, theyare losing the right to save, exchange, and improve their seeds (Mazhar 1997).Despite several efforts, it has becn observed that no \"steady state\" is possib1e in populations of primitive cultivars because of technological changes in the farming systems that once produced them (Frankel 1970;Brush 1995). It is, therefore, certain that genetic erosion ls pervasive and may accelerate if no proper action is taken on time to check it. It is also true that gradually the habitats of the landraces will be changed, the strength ofthe planting material s will be weakened, development and revolutionary options for various species may be shut off in lhe process, diversity will be skewed, and farmers' decision-making and indigenous knowledge systems will be diluted. The hardest hit by this will be small and marginal farmers, whose situations will be further worsened by concomitant increases in uníformit;t and eJ(pensive market seeds, fertilizers, insecticides, and pesticides, irrespective of their quality. As a result, food deficiency will become more widespread and the [ives of people will be threatened. Thus, there is an urgent need to look for a solution that helps cope wilh food deficiency through lhe management of agrobiodiversity.The threat to farmers' knowledge, as well as to agrobiodiversity, can be addressed through the following strategies.• Research should emphasize the process of responding to farmers' needs rather than designing fixed options in stándardized trials. Research-maoaged on-station and on-farm trials need to be combined with trials designed and run by farmers. Researchers therefore need to expand their focus and learn abou! the complex adaptations made by farmers.• Agricultural research needs to reflect farmers' own diverse conditions. It needs lo be adapted to different settings (e.g., both dry-field and wetland agriculture), lo different fieldconditions (e.g., a variety of soil types), and to different cropping patteros (e.g., multiple and intercropping pattems), rather than focusing on standardized, uníform tria! plots, so that the processes of local adaptation and the technology developed are understood and can be supported.• Farmers can be successfully empowered through training in the process of germplasm enhancement through pure-line and mass selection of their traditional varieties (Chaudhary and Joshi 1999), enhancing in situ conservation on-farm.• The seed-supply system can be strengthened for self-reliance and cost effectiveness through the use offarmers' networks ofinformation and seed exchange, involving grass-roots institurions (Joshi et aL 1997).F anners' knowledge (skills) and routine involvement in the crop-improvement process is crucial to the management of agrobiodiversity on-fann, Fanners are key players, bringing a wild species through generations, creating diversity to suít to their different agroecologies and traditions, However, fanners' knowledge is being eroded and plant genetic materials are beíng lost forever, Our current need is to document agrobiodiversity and the knowledge associated with it to use in crop improvement in the future. It is essential to have an adequate scientific explanation of fanners' knowledge in order to better and or improve this knowledge for efficient and sustainable agriculture. This can be achieved through different strategies such as diversity fairs, community bíodiversity registers, poetry journeys (Rijal, et aL 2000), censuses, and field observations 01' transect walks. lt requires the cornmitrnent of fanners and strong Iinkages with fonnal scíence institutes to enhance tbe maintenance ofbiologicaI diversity, agricultural sustainability, and food security at the fann, regional, and globalleveL This paper basically deals with two issues: the first is the issue of advocacy and the need for advocaey in participatory crop improvement (per) and plant genetic resource enhancement (pGRE). It also analyzes the trend of global mechanisms to develop erops and or varieties wíthout the partícípation of real stakeholders and the threat to developing countries. The second part highlights the major processes of seed production and saving rice in the mid-hills ofNepaL The cases elaborate these processes along wíth gender dímensíons and the exclusíon of farmers from breedíng processes. Further to this, it bighlights sorne of the advocacy and operational work of the development organization taking place in the Jajarkot area. The cases we bighlíght are from Khotang, in the easternhills ofNepal for farmer-managed seed ptoduction, and Jajarkot, in the western bills ofNepaL Yamuna Ghale is foad right campaign co-ordinator with AcríonAid Nepal. Thi. paper was prepared with the assísrance ofKhadga Regmi, J.jarlcor Pennaculture Program (lPP); Dil Bahadur Rai; Jana Sewa Sarnaj; Min Bahadur Rokaya, fanner, laJarkot; and Pra!eemm Raí, farme<, Khotang.•The need for advocacy in peI and PGREAdvocacy is public action directed towards wider social change. It is about changing the policies, practices, attitudes, positions, or programs of goveming institutions within the Pllblíc and prívate sectors that have a negative impact. The co-director of the Advocacy Institute says, \"To be meaningful, advocacy must be value based. It must be social, economic and políticaljustíce orientcd.\" In most cases, government is still resisting the advocacy role being assumed by civil society.Advocacy is not just another fad of development discourse; ir is, rather, importan! to the sustainability of development work as well as policies. Forthe basic reason that for development organizations to have an effect, there needs to be a bettcr undcrstanding of the policies and practices of powerful development actors and how these ean be changed in ways that benefit the large groups of poor farmers in their working areas. It is very important to reeognize the importance of ehallenging deep-rooted and sustained inequality and injustíce. In the age of globalization, polícies are increasingly influenced by mllltinational and transnational eorporations (MNCsrrNCs), which are not bound by rights-related laws and regulations. To have an influence at the poliey level, linkages between operational work and advoeacy should be developed, strengthening civil groups and alliances; lobbying decision makers directly; campaigning, promoting, and fucilitating participation in research; building coalitions; and :ngaging the media.Soeiety is the cornmon element that supports advocacy, with advocacy holding goveming institutions to account on the behalf of citizens. There must be mechanisms to support nonrestrictive and robust debate on policy issues, procedures to resist harassment from authorities, and transparency in government. Civil organizations are increasingly expanding their activities beyond the provision of traditional services to include advocacy. Clear objeetives, targets, methods or taeties, and allies are very basic eIements of advocacy.In the eontext of participatory plant breeding (PPB) and PGRE, advoeacy can support cornmunities in demanding their rights in germplasm conservation, in having an input when government is formulating policies, in making the voice of the powerless heard when plant-breeding programs/plans are developed, and in bringing the promises to tbe ground.ActionAid Nepal' s definition of advocaey is a process, a deliberate, systematic ami organised way 01 influencing publíc policy, pub/k attitudes and polícy practíce in order to either change, maintain, implement or lonnulate new or altemative polícíes in lavour 01 the poorest and most disadvantaged people.It is a set of eoherent actions designed to introduce, influence, and change policies, practiees, attitudes, and decisions for a just and equitable world. With this basic principIe, ActionAid launehed the International Food Rights Campaign to safeguard the right ofpoor people to food. The campaign aims to ensure that international agricultural trade benefits the poor and protects farmer' s rights to seed and plant resources.As biodivefSity i5 owned by the community, there i5 an urgent need to include farmers in erop improvement and genetie resonree enhancement. The issue ofbiodiversity conservation is rooted at the grass-roots level, which needs program linkage to be developed betwecn operational work and advocacy. Therefore, ActionAid Nepal believes in strengthening the capacity of local organizalions working al the grass rools to develop macro-micro linkages and, hence, to tackle the root causes of poverty, and it works lO achieve this end.The TRIPs agreement provides eomprehensi ve rules and standards for the protection of intellectual property. Under this agreement, Artiele 27.3 (b) Patenting on Life Forms is a major tbreat for participatory plant breeding. It allows MNCs/TNCs to extend their control over the resourees required to produce food ín the South, as well as providing means to gaín rights over many traditional plants growing in the South. This completely ignores rights of indigenous farmefS to control and maintain the germplasm that fits in their lifestyles. There is a belief that TRIPs will have severe conse-quence5 for farmefS in the South, tha! they will no longer be able to research, use, or exchange seeds and may lose ownership over traditional varieties of plants as well. Therefore, there i8 an urgent need to work on advocacy forparticipatory plant breeding, which preserves the rights ofthe indigenous farming cornmunity.Where do es the word participation fit in growing genetic engineering technology?In the global trend oftechnology development, genetic engineeringplays a crucial role in erop and or variety development. Ibis kind of sophisticated technology is promoted by profit-oriented MNCsrrNCs and is Iimited to the laboratory. Therefore, the participation offarmers in this process is only a dream, and will remain so. Ifwe are advocating participatory plant breeding, we must eonsider how we can play our role.The general Kiranti (Tibeto-Burman group) myth about the paddy erop invention in Khotang is lhat the ancestor, Khokehilipu, ･ ｾ ｯ ｹ ･ ､ ＠ a pot ofrice cooked by his elder sistefS, Nana Toma and Nana Khema, the cotton weavers, and he unfortunately trod on the fire-stick while dancing in the jolly mood and overturned the pot of rice. Another myth from Dhumi Rai is the story of an irritable king who had the habit of eating one pathí (approximately 4 kg) of rice, which had to be dehusked by nails. Ifthis was not done properly, the cook was severely punished. These myths cJearly show that the people ofKhotang have grown a paddy erop sinee time irnmemorial.In the case of Jajarkot, it is known that riee has been grown for about 110 years, and was brought from neighboring districts by the people of Jajarkot when they mígrated. Patle, mehel, kaumaro, and dotelo are the main local varietíes grown in the arca.Rice is grown as major crop in both Jajarkot and Khotang, especially in the less steep irrigated lowlands. It i8 strongly related to the eating habits of the local people.3, chhomrong and badagaunle. In addítion, sorne ofthe new varieties such as the radha series and mansuli, have been introduced from district agriculture development. The lPP is working on advocaey in the promotion of indígenous seeds and technologies, and as a result, sorne of groups boycott the introduction ofhybrid seed; they are more curíous and alert about the value oflocal seeds and germplasm.In the Rai culture, rice must be offered to the departed ancestors. The local faith healers offer rice to chicks before sacrificíng them as part of heáling ceremonies. This shows the relationship between the culture and rice growing in the area.In Jajarkot, the farmers celebrate Hare/o on the third and fourth Sundays of Shrawan (August). During this festival, they spray cow urine by the twigs of tilepati (Artemisia vulgaris) and worshíp the Harelo god with bhojpatra and pieces of red and whíte cloth.Another interesting activity is a visit to a Jhan temple by pilgrims every five years during night of the full moon of Paush (lan!Feb). There is a big trench below the ground where the pílgrims keep the rice grains they offered to the godo The grains replaced every five years to coincide with this celebration, so every five years there are new ones. When there is a famine and alI the seeds stored in the house have been used for consumption, this store is opened and the stored grain is used for seed.The first harvest is generally taken when there is sait (a good moment). The day offirst consumption is considered a special day, when relatives gather and eat delicious foods.• At the star! of lhat occasion, the harvest is first offered to the god, and this offering is later used for seed if needed.IPP has introduced a permaculture philosophy: making the earth live and grow on its own, with all bío-organisms surviving their full cycle. IPP has also encouraged farmers to use indigenous methods of farming and caring for nature. They have provided information on using green manure, on the use of skin-fermented water to control blast, and on patteros of crop rotation. JIP organized a farmers' level workshop on \"Impact of Genetic Engineering on Indigenous Knowledge and Seeds\" to raise awareness about the issues ofbiodíversity conservation. Now sorne ofthe women farmers' groups have dropped out ofthe cornmercíal vegetable production group, which advocates the use of external inputs for agricultural production. The farmers have also boycotted the introduction of hybrid seeds in two of the village development cornmittees. This means that farmers are able to make well-informed decisions if they have access to the right information. This will create a self-sustaining process among the farmers themselves, as well as helping to promote local biodiversity, in which they have the expertise of generations. Now lana Sewa Samaj, a nongovemmental organization working in the Khotang district is trying lo replicate the IPP model in the eastern hills of Nepal.The case studies reveal that the indigenous communíty continues to manage plant breeding and tha! PGRE is most cornmon in both case-study areas. Neither distinct formal-led nor farmer-led plant-breeding practices are cornmon. Samoa is a small independent Pacific Island country with two main islands (Upolu and Savaii) and five other small islands (figure 1).11 has a population of about 160,000 largely involved in agriculture. Most agricultura! househoJds grow a variety of crops, including taro, bananas, breadfruit, cocoa, and coconuts. Prior to 1993, taro (Colocasia esculenta) was the most important export of the country, with 96% of agricultural holdings cultivating the crop. 1t is estimated that the area under taro at that time was 14,600 ha, ofwruch 76% was grown as a monocrop. A single cultivar, taro Niue, dominated the cropping area because of domestic and export demando The appearance oftaro leafblight (TLB), caused by Phytophthora colocasíae, in 1993 demonstrated how vulnerable the íntensive production of taro had become, and production virtually ceased ovemighí. Since then the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Forests and Meteorology (MAFFM) has explored various approaches to overcoming the problem, incJuding plant breedíng. More recently, research staff at the University of the South Pacific (USP) have also become involved in breeding taro for resistance to the disease. There are clear signs that farmers in Samoa are slowly returning to taro again.Taro, an edible aroid that originated in the Indo-Malayan regíon, is grown as a staple or subsistence crop throughout the humid tropics but is of greatest importance in the Pacific Islands, where it accounts for about 20% ofthe root crop area. The corms are baked, roasted, or boiled and the leaves are eaten as palusami. Taro spread eastwards into the Pacific, probably reaching the Polynesian islands 2,000 years ago. There is now evidence to suggest that most cuJtivars found throughout the Pacific were no! brought by the frrst settlers from the Indo-MaJayan regíon but were domesticated from wild sources existing in the Melanesian regíon (Lebot 1992). There are now thought ro be "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6c572892819e4cb8bf66c195bc0f27c9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/fc4a4749-39c3-43cd-881d-2690b8ee6ff1/content","id":"-704158698"},"keywords":["climate-smart agricultural practices","resilience index","stress","structural equation model"],"sieverID":"0a72a07e-7620-4bc8-b285-8160ec18fa69","content":"Climate variability threatens farmers' livelihoods. Efforts to address climate stress recognise climate-smart agriculture (CSA) as a promising approach to minimising the damage caused by increasing weather variability. However, the effect of CSA practices on the resilience of maize farmers in the face of climate variability is not well understood. This study assesses the effects of CSA practices on the resilience of maize farmers. Using primary data from 250 randomly sampled maize farmers in Kenya, a resilience index was generated and then analysed using a structural equation model. The results show that CSA practices increase the resilience of farmers, suggesting enhanced resilience to climate variability. CSA practices improve farmers' food security and welfare, and their adoption should be promoted.Africa remains particularly sensitive to the effects of climate change and climatic variability because of its low adaptive capacity (Carter et al. 2005). Africa's agriculture is being affected negatively by climate change, as evidenced by continuing low crop yields (Oloo 2013). Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is experiencing a rise in average temperatures in both water and land areas, extremes of heat in many populated regions, and the likelihood of floods and droughts in many regions (IPCC 2018). Climate change is expected to have a damaging effect on crop production in SSA, greatly affecting the way of life of small-scale farmers (Lobell et al. 2011).Food insecurity has remained high in SSA since 2000, when the United Nations (UN) published its Millennium Development Goals, followed later by the modified version, the Sustainable Development Goals (Herman & Lal 2008). In SSA, per capita maize production has not kept up with population growth over the last 40 years (Smale & Jayne 2003). In the last few decades, maize production has been affected by inconsistent rainfall and changing temperatures. The droughts of the 1990s and 2000s significantly decreased maize production, leading to famine in various parts of SSA (Msowoya et al. 2016). Meeting the food demand in SSA, which relies mostly on rain-fed smallholder agriculture (Nata et al. 2014), will likely remain a dream unless major efforts are implemented to reverse the current unfavourable trends in productivity.Approaches are needed that reduce the variability in yield due to climate change. The use of climatesmart agricultural practices has been found to mitigate the negative effects of climate change by increasing crop yields and incomes and making production systems more adaptive and resilient (Palombi & Sessa 2013). Some agricultural practices and technologies contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon in agricultural biomass and soils (McCarthy et al. 2011). Climate-smart agriculture facilitates a transition to agriculture and food systems that are more sustainable, productive and climate-friendly (Siminyu et al. 2020). Maize-legume intercropping and the application of organic manure have been identified as potential approaches for dealing with the effects of climate change on maize production. A study by Berre et al. (2016) found that maizelegume intercropping is the most suitable climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices for the maizeproducing regions of Kenya and that it helps to increase crop diversification, while at the same time providing a cover crop to prevent soil erosion. Crop yields depend largely on the availability of nitrogen at the critical stages of plant growth, and legumes form nodules on their roots that house nitrogen-fixing symbioses with rhizobial bacteria that fix nitrogen from the air for use by the plant (Giller 2001). Organic fertilisers such as manure and compost are essential for increasing soil carbon content, improving soil fertility, accelerating the build-up of fertility, and maintaining soil moisture (Liu & Zhou 2017). Therefore, using organic fertilisers is a climate-smart agricultural practice for sustainable food production (Chauhan et al. 2012). CSA practices make maize production more sustainable and make farmers more resilient to shocks (Palombi & Sessa 2013). According to Arslan et al. (2017), the influence of organic fertiliser and maize-legume intercropping on maize productivity simultaneously helps to regulate weather shocks. Farmers in regions where precipitation in the cropping season is highly variable and temperatures unpredictably high had significantly low maize yields (Arslan et al. 2017).Resilience has emerged as a lens for examining how a socioecological system (SES) responds to shocks and stresses or perturbations, such as those linked to climate change (Choptiany et al. 2015). Resilience is the capacity of a structure to absorb shocks and to restructure towards a more stable state (The Resilience Alliance 2010). Shocks and stresses cannot be avoided, so attention has to be paid to enhancing the resilience of the affected (Mosel & Levine, 2014). Resilience research through different disciplines shows that, historically, individuals and systems have the ability to manage and overcome encounters of hostile events efficiently (Choptiany et al. 2015). Development organisations are developing and promoting approaches for households to manage hostile events in agriculture. However, in many scenarios, their investments often focus on reducing short-term risks but avoid building long-term adaptation strategies (Muricho et al. 2019). Climate-smart agricultural practices increase sustainability and make farmers more resilient to reduced and more irregular crop yields caused by climate variability (Palombi & Sessa 2013).According to d 'Errico and Di Giuseppe (2018), resilience is a dynamic concept. The capacity to absorb shocks and restructure should be captured to better analyse the long-term effect of shocks and the related coping strategies. Reducing short-term consumption is one short-term coping strategy. In measuring resilience, all possible pathways should be captured in the face of shocks. Faced with a shock, a number of coping strategies need to be applied, including the adoption of new livelihood strategies and the smoothing of assets and consumption. A dynamic analytical framework that covers both negative and positive shocks is crucial for gaining a better understanding of the livelihood strategies of a household affected by shocks. The study of d 'Errico and Di Giuseppe (2018) analysed the empirical evidence of what drives changes in the resilience capacity of a system. According to their study, the resilience capacity of a system includes the possible measures that can be taken to deal with stresses or shocks. Their paper applied econometric methods to estimate households' resilience, and they adopted a change matrix to estimate how resilience varies over time. They also provided an evidence-based analysis of the main drivers of resilience. Their study recommends that policies to enhance resilience should connect development and humanitarian involvements by demonstrating how long-term viewpoints can lead to an increase in capacity for resilience. In the long term, the strategies could lead to a decrease or increase in output. Any change in output affects resilience capacity, which may influence the future capacity to react to shocks.Climatic variability and low soil fertility stand out as the main causes of low maize yields in Kenya, including in Bungoma County, our study area (Wabwoba 2017). According to Mumo et al. (2018), maize yields in the county are reducing significantly, at a rate of 0.07 tons/ha/decade, with a high inter-annual variation. The drop is attributed to a significant reduction in seasonal precipitation and rising temperatures (Mumo et al. 2018). To tackle such challenges, Black et al. (2011) recommend using investments, innovations and deliberate efforts to empower the world's most vulnerable populations by constructing a global food system that adapts to climate change and ensures food security, thus reducing poverty while minimising greenhouse gas emissions and sustaining the natural resource base.Efforts to address climate-related stress in agriculture recognise CSA as a promising approach. However, the effect of CSA practices on the resilience of farmers so that they can continue to produce maize with yields that are driven by climate variability is not known. This study analyses the effect of the CSA practices of maize-legume intercropping, the use of organic fertiliser, and the planting of high-yielding certified maize varieties on the resilience of farmers. The study tests the hypothesis that CSA practices enhance the resilience of maize farmers to the yield variability brought about by climate change. It contributes to knowledge by analysing how yield variability could decrease, suggesting enhanced resilience to climate variability. It generates a maize farmer resilience index and uses a structural equation model to analyse the factors, including CSA practices, that affect the resilience of maize-farming households.This study used the structural equation model (SEM) to analyse farmers' increased resilience to climate change as a result of using CSA practices. There are three main advantages to using the SEM (Alan 2013). Firstly, the SEM makes it possible to identify direct and indirect effects. Direct effects refer to the direct relationship between the dependent (latent) variable and the independent variables related to it. The indirect effect takes place when one variable has an influence on another variable through a third dependent or independent variable. An indirect effect indicates, for example, that the age of a household head could have an indirect effect on the resilience capacity index (RCI). The second advantage is the possibility of having multiple indicators that explain the latent variable. It is possible to evaluate the effect of single indicators on the dependent variable, taking into account other indicators. The third advantage is that measurement errors can be included in the model, which is the main difference compared with using path analysis. Path analysis includes an error term in the prediction, but unfortunately does not control for measurement error during the process. The SEM analysis, in accounting for measurement errors, provides a better understanding of how well the model predicts the actual outcome, minimising the discrepancy between the covariance matrix of the observed variables and the theoretical covariance matrix predicted by the model structure (Bollen et al. 2010). The SEM allows for model calibration until a satisfactory level of goodness of fit is achieved.Siminyu et al.129Measuring the resilience capacity of a household needs a multidimensional tactic. The main question is which components to include in the model, and this was determined by examining the major household strategies for building resilience. All major methods to measure resilience recognise the significance of two broad groups of indicators: a natural base, and an enabling capacity for transformation and adaptation.Some of the fundamental pillars of resilience are the following: income and food access (IFA); adaptive capacity (AC); productive assets (AST); access to basic services (ABS); and social safety nets (SSN) (d 'Errico & Di Giuseppe 2018).Income and food access are important aspects of household livelihood, as they can determine disparities in income and, consequently, in food security. IFA is denoted by the following: daily income of those employed; the average number of meals consumed per day; the amount spent on buying food items per week; and the extent of food insecurity during the months of inadequate food supply (d 'Errico & Di Giuseppe 2018).Adaptive capacity is the ability of a household to adapt to a new situation and develop new sources of livelihood. In this study, the adaptive capacity took the dimension of the following variables: working on-farm and off-farm; level of education of the household head; using CSA practices in maize production; membership of savings or credit institutions; and sources of income for the household.Productive assets are those that enable households to produce consumable or tradable goods. This was represented by (i) a household's total land area under maize production in the long rainy season of the year 2017, and (ii) the number of 90 kg bags of maize produced. Access to basic services, such as schools, health centres, water and electricity, and nearby markets, is a fundamental aspect of resilience.Social safety nets include both formal and informal transfers; access to transfers, whether cash or in kind, represents a major source of poverty alleviation in many developing countries. The social safety nets are represented in our model by two variables: provision of farm labour and borrowing from neighbours.Farmers in Bungoma County are experiencing the effects of climate change on agriculture through changes in temperature and precipitation. These changes directly affect crop production and the distribution of agroecological zones, runoff and water availability, which influence crop production (Oloo 2013). Crop yields for smallholder farmers become smaller each season (Oloo 2013). Agricultural stakeholders should support and promote sustainable practices for increased productivity that help farmers adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change (County Government of Bungoma 2018). Through the Kenya Agricultural Carbon Project (KACP), the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Vi Agroforestry trains farmers in Bungoma County in different CSA practices, including agroforestry, the use of cover crops, mulching, and the use of green manure to increase the organic content of the soil (Coe et al. 2014).Data was collected in Bungoma County, Kenya using multistage sampling. In the first stage, Bungoma County was purposively selected because of the popularity of maize farming and the active intervention by Vi Agroforestry in promoting CSA practices. In the second stage, a list of villages in the county was generated, and ten villages were selected proportionate to size: villages with the June 2021 Siminyu et al. 130 highest number of maize farmers were selected. The third stage involved listing maize farmers within each of the selected villages, followed by randomly sampling of 25 farmers in each village. The selected farmers were visited in April 2018 by trained enumerators for computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI) using a pretested, semi-structured questionnaire programmed in open data kit (ODK). Data was collected on household characteristics, maize production and sales, postharvest losses, amount of money spent on food, type of safety nets used, causes of inadequate food supply and related coping strategies, practices applied to cushion against future maize losses, expenditure on food, kinds of shock due to climate change in maize production, and what was done to manage the shocks.The Resilience Index Measurement and Analysis (RIMA) approach is focused on two related analyses of resilience: capacity and structure. The aim of the analysis of the Resilience Structure Matrix (RSM) is to identify the causes of resilience. It first assesses the observed variable weights, then identifies their comparative input in determining the pillars, and finally assesses the weights of the pillars in their contribution to determining the Resilience Capacity Index. The analysis of the RCI compares the resilience index across different households (male-headed vs. female-headed; urban vs. rural; or regional-level differences). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization ([FAO] 2013), this is probably to understand which profiles show a higher or lower capacity of coping with stressors and shocks.As discussed above, resilience is considered an unobservable index that is calculated as a function of five pillars: income and food access (IFA); adaptive capacity (AC); assets (AST); access to basic services (ABS); and social safety nets (SSN):\uD835\uDC45 \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61 = f(\uD835\uDC3C\uD835\uDC39\uD835\uDC34 \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61 , \uD835\uDC34\uD835\uDC36 \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61, \uD835\uDC34\uD835\uDC46\uD835\uDC47 \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61, \uD835\uDC34\uD835\uDC35\uD835\uDC46 \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61, \uD835\uDC46\uD835\uDC46\uD835\uDC41 \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61, ) + έ \uD835\uDC56,\uD835\uDC61The resilience index of the i th household depends on the levels of IFA, ABS, AST, SSN and AC at time t, plus the error term.A two-step estimation is involved in the procedure. In the first step, an estimation is made of the factor analysis of the resilience pillars, which is subsequently employed in the estimation of household resilience capacity. During factor extraction, the shared variance of the variables is separated from their unique variance and error variance to reveal the underlying factor structure; only shared variance appears in the solution. A sufficient number of factors are considered to make sure that they account for at least 95% of the explained variance (Preacher et al. 2013).Despite a large number of latent variable models, Resilience Index Measurement and Analysis adopts a structural equation model that includes the correlation between residual errors and several formal statistical tests and fit indices.The maize resilience index that was generated in this study is a weighted sum of the factors. Table 1 shows the variables used to generate the maize resilience index. As the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) values are close to zero, it means that there are numerous partial correlations compared to the sum of correlations. There are widespread correlations, which are a big problem for factor analysis. KMO values between 0.7 and 1 indicate that the sampling is adequate (Muricho et al. 2019). Chi-square = 1 447.2; degrees of freedom = 153, P-value = 0.000; H0variables are not intercorrelated Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy = 0.72; extraction method: principal component analysis Source: Survey data According to Latif et al. (2018), the main objective of principal component analysis (PCA) is to transform variables into smaller sets of linear combinations. It consists of the following steps: data matrix construction; creation of standardised variables; correlation matrix calculation and determination of eigenvectors; panel component (PC) selection; and presentation of the results (Latif et al. 2018). This study generated a maize farmer resilience index (MFRI), which is a weighted index of all the fifteen maize farmer indicators in the PCA. The index provides a relative weighted index that contains the variables used in the study. Table 2 shows the PCA analysis for the MFRI. The maximum eigenvalues of the observed matrix are 3.325 for the first factor, 2.383 for the second factor, and 1.487 for the third factor, with a decreasing trend up to 0.051 for the fifteenth factor, which is the lowest (Table 2). The proportional variation for the first factor is 22.2% and for the second factor it is 15.9%. In Table 3, this study presents the eigenvectors indicating the first six principal component factor loadings. All the principal component factor loadings have negative values with considerable lowest values, except for Component 1. To test the contribution of climate-smart agricultural practices to the resilience of farmers statistically, and in particular the contribution of maize-legume intercropping and using manure as fertiliser, a structural equation modelling (SEM) with a latent (unobserved) variable was estimated. The study first identified the latent variable structuring the model and its constituent indicators. Then the model was validated by the construction of the latent variable using factor analysis and, finally, an SEM was built and tested by assigning the relevant relationships between the latent variables. The structural equation model was built and tested in Stata 13 by assigning the relevant interaction among the unobserved variables.With one latent variable at a probability level of 0.05, the recommended minimum sample size is 200 (Wolf et al. 2013); a minimum sample size of 200 will develop the model structure, and a minimum sample size of 87 will detect the effect of the model (MacCallum & Austin 2000). This study identified and extracted the food security (FS) latent variable expressing the resilience of farmers who were intercropping maize with legumes and using manure fertiliser.The food security (FS) latent variable was measured by the following three indicators: the average number of meals consumed in a day when the household was food secure (FS1); the average number of meals the household consumed in a day when it was food insecure (FS2); and the amount spent on food per week when the household did not have any mature crops on the farm (FS3). Variables FS1 and FS2 took values from one to four: one showed that the household had no meals in a day, implying that it was food insecure; four meant that the household had four meals in a day, implying that it was food secure (Clover 2003). Climate change and related variabilities such as droughts and floods tend to reduce food production and increase shortages in households, leading to a reduction in the number of meals taken per day to two instead of three or four, as was common 10 years ago (Saronga et al. 2016). FS3 is a continuous variable. When nearly all the household income is being spent on food, a household is prone to severe food insecurity (Chinnakali et al. 2014).As a test of the validity of the latent variable, this study undertook factor analysis with varimax rotation. Each set of variables was loaded onto a separate factor, and only one factor was retained and taken to represent the food security latent variable. The individual factor analyses extracted a single factor, with all variable loadings above 0.7, which is above the 0.5 recommended value threshold (Toma et al. 2008), generating a maize farmer resilience index. This established that the choice of observed variables was reliable by their empirical significance.A structural equation model (SEM) was used to analyse farmers' resilience, with the resilience index generated used as the dependent variable. The relationships between behaviours and attitudes are well understood using the SEM, which is used in investigating the linkages among variables (Toma et al. 2008).This study built and tested the SEM by assigning the relevant relationships in the latent variable. The basic structural equation model has two parts: the measurement model, identifying the interactions among the latent variables and their constituent pointers, and the SEM, designating the causal interactions among the latent variables (Toma et al 2008).The model is defined in matrix terms by the three equations below:• the SEM:• the model that measures y: y = Λyη + ε, and(2) • the model that measures x: x = Λxξ + δ, where: η is an mx1 random vector of endogenous latent variables; ξ is an nx1 random vector of exogenous latent variables; B is an mxm matrix of coefficients of the η variables in the structural model; Г is an mxn matrix of coefficients of the ξ variables in the structural model; ζ is an mx1 vector of equation errors (random disturbances) in the structural model; y is a px1 vector of endogenous variables; x is a qx1 vector of predictors or exogenous variables; yΛ is a pxm matrix of coefficients of the regression of y on η; xΛ is a qxn matrix of coefficients of the regression of x on ξ; ε is a px1 vector of measurement errors in y; and δ is a qx1 vector of measurement errors in x.The structural equation model takes into account the direct and indirect causal relationships among constructs, meaning that one causal relationship may be strengthened or offset by another.The participating household heads had an average of 10 years of schooling. There was a positive correlation between the MFRI and the education of the household heads (see Table 4). According to Paltasingh and Goyari (2018), education is an important factor in the adoption of technology and significantly increases the adoption of farm technologies, and hence productivity levels. Among the households, 84% intercropped maize with legumes and 31% applied manure to the maize crop. Intercropping maize with legumes increases the accumulation of nitrogen in the soil and crop residues, leading to sustainable crop production (Punyalue et al. 2018). Using animal manure as fertiliser helps to maintain crop productivity, decreases environmental degradation, and keeps the soil healthy (Chauhan et al. 2012). The adoption of CSA practices and improved maize varieties improves the welfare and enhances the crop productivity of the farming community (Wossen et al. 2017).The sampled farmers experienced the following types of shock: crop pests and diseases (72%); drought (16%); and soil erosion (12%). Constraints in crop production that increased the shocks to farmers included pest resistance, water depletion, soil nutrient depletion, soil and water contamination, and the emergence of new pests and diseases (Reynolds et al. 2015). In Africa, the effects of climate change will cause the pervasiveness of crop pests and diseases to vary, hence agricultural production will be at risk (Smith 2015). All the farmers had noticed reduced rainfall and prolonged drought in the region.This study generated a household resilience index related to maize. The resilience index was rescaled to lie between 0 and 1. When a household had a rescaled resilience index nearing 1, the household was said to be resilient. Farmers used climate-smart agricultural practices because of their potential to enhance food security and the resilience of the farming system (Khatri-Chhetri et al. 2017). The resilience indices calculated were distributed as shown in the kernel density estimation (Figure 1). Most households had a resilience index distribution of between 0.34 and 0.66, showing a medium resilience capacity, with the remaining farmers having a resilience index of between 0 and 0.33, and only a few farmers had a resilience index between 0.67 and 1. Bartlett's score of sphericity had a p-value of 0.000, which is highly significant at 1%. Hence the study rejected the null hypothesis, as the variables were intercorrelated. With a 0.72 KMO measure of sampling adequacy above the recommended 0.5 minimum, unbiased inferences can be drawn from the indices constructed with the variables.An SEM model was used to analyse the maize resilience index generated. The optimal estimated model includes one exogenous latent variable, namely food security (FS), predicted by the average number of meals consumed in a day when the household was food secure (FS1), the average number of meals the household had in a day when it was food insecure (FS2), and the amount spent per week on food when the household did not have any mature crops on the farm (FS3) (see Figure 2). The model has an adequate fit according to the measures of absolute, incremental and parsimonious fit (Toma et al. 2008). A combination of technological, policy and institutional solutions will help in managing the climate-related risks of vulnerable farming communities (Shiferaw et al. 2014).The study analysed the SEM in a two-step proceduremeasurement model and structural model. The results of the measurement model showed that the set loadings of indicators for the latent variable were statistically significant. The coefficients of FS1, FS2 and FS3 were above the recommended minimum value of 0.20, and therefore supported the theoretical basis for the assignment of indicators to the construct (Toma et al. 2008).The goodness of fit of the SEM for this study was tested by the overall model fit (Worthington & Whittaker 2006), which confirmed whether the model fitted the experimental data (MacCallum & Austin 2000). The dimensions of the variables were correlated with the food security latent variable, and the factor loadings or correlation score, as shown above the arrows in Figure 2   With a Chi-square value of 0.16 and a very high p-value of 0.9843 for the test, it holds that there is no significant difference in the covariance matrices of the observed and the estimated models, therefore indicating excellent fit. The root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) was 0.07, the comparative fit index (CFI) was 0.97, and the Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) was 0.91, all indicating a good model fit for the data (Pituch & Stevens 2016;Stegmann 2017) (Table 5). The overall SEM was significant, with a low log likelihood of -2 267 and a Chi-square value of 5.7 (MacMallum & Austin 2000). This study therefore rejects the null hypothesis and concludes that both maize-legume intercropping and the use of manure as fertiliser enhance the resilience of farmers. Environmentally friendly practices in crop production cushion food security from the increasing weather shocks, as observed elsewhere (Arslan et al. 2017).This paper presents the findings of a study on the contribution of CSA practices to the resilience of maize farmers. The study generated a resilience index from the household data collected to identify where the farmers fell on a resilience score between 0 and 1 after using CSA practices. With a 0.72 KMO measure of sampling adequacy above the recommended 0.6 minimum, the study concluded that maize farmers affected by climate variability were more resilient when they used CSA practices.To analyse the maize household resilience index, the study used a structural equation model (SEM), which was significant. The results indicate that both maize-legume intercropping and the use of manure as fertiliser reduce the variance in maize yields, suggesting that they enhance the resilience of maize farmers. In conclusion, these findings call for stakeholders in the agricultural sector to train and encourage farmers to use climate-smart agricultural practices in their crop production. This will help farmers to sustain their livelihoods in an environment of variable yields.These findings imply that CSA practices are welfare-enhancing and underscore the need to promote their wide-scale adoption among farmers.There are very few studies that focus on how farmers become resilient when they use climate-smart agricultural practices in crop production. This study assessed the effects of CSA practices on the resilience of maize farmers in the face of climate variability.More research needs to be done on how farmers become resilient when they use climate-smart agricultural practices when producing different crops on the farm."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"12df4cd4124ed0cbcfb8c7ea4adebf9d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/fbac4015-c8e7-4039-a3f8-5e394ff0ad3b/content","id":"1872391610"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a802dcab-4750-4f94-bb4a-9d78ec798f46","content":"Con el fi n de identifi car las gluteninas de alto peso molecular y relacionarlas con la calidad panadera, así como caracterizar la calidad panadera del grupo de genotipos de trigos harineros (Triticum aestivum L.), se sembraron 130 genotipos bajo condiciones de temporal en Santa Lucia de Prías, Estado de México, 2001. En el análisis de calidad de las propiedades físicas y químicas se consideraron características de calidad: peso hectolítrico (kg hL -1 ), dureza de grano (%), proteína en grano y harina (%), y volumen de sedimentación (mL). En el análisis reológico se incluyeron las variables tiempo de mezclado (min), mixograma-altura (cm), tolerancia al sobremezclado (mm), mixograma-estabilidad (min), alveograma-W (10 -4 J), alveograma-P/L con escala de 0.1 a 6 y alveograma-P/G (escala de 1.5 a 14). En el análisis de panifi cación se consideró volumen de pan (mL) y textura de la miga (escala de 1-6). La identifi cación de gluteninas de alto peso molecular se realizó por electroforesis en gel SDS-Poliacrilamida (SDS-PAGE). Los alelos 2* y 1 del genoma A, 17+18 y 7+8 del genoma B y 5+10 del genoma D, mostraron un efecto positivo sobre la calidad de panifi cación, el alelo 7+9 del genoma B mostró un efecto intermedio y los alelos, nulo (0) del genoma A y 2+12 del genoma D mostraron un efecto negativo, siendo todos estos alelos los de mayor frecuencia en los genotipos. Las combinaciones con mayor frecuencia fueron 2*-7+9-5+10, 2*-17+18-5+10 y 1-17+18-5+10, con 28.6%, 22.7% y 12.6% respectivamente, siendo estas dos últimas las que presentaron los mayores volúmenes de pan 867 y 883 mL, respectivamente.Palabras clave: Calidad de panifi cación, gluteninas de alto peso molecular, trigo harinero.In order to identify the high molecular weight glutenins subunits and its relationship with the bread-making quality, as well as to characterize the bread quality of the group of genotypes of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), 130 genotypes were seeded under rainfed conditions at Santa Lucia de Prias, Estado de Mexico in 2001. In the analysis of physical and chemical quality the traits considered were test weight (kg hL -1 ), grain hardness (%), grain and fl our protein (%) and sedimentation volume (mL). The rheological analysis was based on the basis of mixed time (min), mixogram-height (cm), Overmixing tolerance (mm), mixogram-stability (min), alveogram-W (10 -4 J), alveogram-P/L with scale from 0.1 to 6 and alveogram-P/G (scale from 1.5 to 14). In the bread-making analysis bread loaf volume (mL) and bread crumb texture (1-6 scale) were considered.The identifi cation of high molecular weight glutenins was made by electrophoresis in SDS-Polyacrylamida (SDS-PAGE) gel. The alleles 2* and 1 of the genome A, 17+18 and 7+8 of genome B and 5+10 of genome D, showed a positive effect on the bread-making quality, allele 7+9 of genome B showed an intermediate effect and the alleles, null (0) of the genome A and 2+12 of genome D showed a negative effect, all these alleles showed the highest frequency in genotypes. The combinations most frequently found were 2*-7+9-5+10, 2*-17+18-5+10 and 1-17+18-5+10, with 28.6%, 22.7% and 12.6% respectively; the last two combinations presented the best bread volume with 867 and 883 mL, respectively.Keys words: Bread-making quality, high molecular weight glutenins, bread wheat.El trigo harinero (Triticum aestivum L.) es el más difundido y apto para la elaboración de productos panifi cables. Dentro de esta especie existe una amplia gama de variedades que difi eren en cuanto a la calidad panadera, ya sea por dureza del grano, contenido de proteína o características de gluten (Hoseney, 1991). La calidad de grano es importante para que los productores siembren trigo con las características que demanda el mercado. Por estas razones, la calidad adquiere mayor importancia en los programas de mejoramiento de trigo. Sobre todo en estos tiempos, en que México ha adoptado una economía de libre mercado, existe una demanda real de variedades de trigo que ofrecen los tipos de calidad requerida por la industria de alimentos elaborados a partir de este cereal.Incrementar el potencial de rendimiento sin afectar la calidad de procesamiento es difícil, particularmente por el hecho de que los aumentos en rendimiento de grano van acompañados generalmente por una disminución de contenido de proteína y, consecuentemente, por una reducción de calidad de panifi cación (Peña et al., 2007). Por esta razón, es necesario que los programas de fi tomejoramiento den a los aspectos de calidad la misma importancia que se otorga al rendimiento de grano y a la resistencia a enfermedades (Peña et al., 2002).El mejoramiento genético permitirá la obtención de nuevas variedades que además de ser resistentes a enfermedades y tolerantes a factores ambiéntales y de alto rendimiento de grano deberán ser de mayor calidad molinera y panadera dado que los parámetros de calidad se encuentran bajo control genético (Branlard et al., 2003;Shan et al., 2007). En los últimos años se ha incrementado la importación de trigo de Canadá y de Estados Unidos de América y se ha reducido el consumo de trigo nacional, esto se debe principalmente a que la industria molinera puede adquirir en el mercado internacional lotes de trigo con mayor contenido de proteína, características de calidad específi ca y, sobre todo, con mayor uniformidad de calidad entre lote y lote que lo que ofrece el mercado nacional (Peña, 2002;Peña et al., 2007).Entre las proteínas de trigo que forman el gluten (gluteninas y gliadinas), y que determinan la calidad de panifi cación, las gluteninas de alto peso molecular son las de mayor importancia, ya que son las que alta infl uencia ejercen sobre la fuerza de gluten (Weegels et al., 1996). Las gluteninas se separan en dos grupos; las subunidades de bajo peso molecular y las de alto peso molecular. Las subunidades de gluteninas de alto peso molecular son codifi cadas por genes en tres loci genéticamente diferentes, Glu-A1, Glu-B1 y Glu-D1, los cuales se localizan en los cromosomas 1A, 1B y 1D, respectivamente. Cada locus exhibe variación alélica, la cual determina las propiedades de fuerza del gluten (Branlard et al., 2001).Algunas combinaciones alélicas son más favorables para producir un gluten con gran fuerza, mientras que lo contrario se obtiene con otras combinaciones alélicas (Payne y Lawrence, 1983;He et al., 2005;Liu et al., 2005). Entre las gluteninas que tienen un efecto conocido sobre las características de la fuerza de gluten se encuentran las subunidades 1, 2* , 7+8 , 7+9, 13+16, 17+18 y 5+10, con efecto positivo; las subunidades 7+9 y 2+12, con efecto intermedio; y las subunidades 0, 7, 20, 13+19, 3+12 y 4+12, con efecto negativo (Payne y Lawrence, 1983;Pogna et al., 1992;Peña et al., 2002;Ram, 2003;Peña et al., 2004).En un programa de mejoramiento genético una premisa importante es conocer el germoplasma utilizado en los cruzamientos para generar variabilidad. El presente trabajo tuvo como principal objetivo, identifi car las gluteninas de alto peso molecular y relacionarlas con la calidad panadera, así como caracterizar la calidad panadera del grupo de genotipos de trigos harineros mexicanos (Triticum aestivum L.), utilizados como progenitores en el programa nacional de trigo de temporal, del Campo Experimental Valle de México.El material vegetal utilizado consistió en un grupo de 130 progenitores de la especie Triticum aestivum L., cultivados en ciclo primavera-verano de 2001, en Santa Lucía de Prías, Estado de México, del Campo Experimental Valle de México, bajo condiciones de temporal utilizando un diseño experimental de bloques completos al azar con dos repeticiones. La unidad experimental consistió en cuatro surcos de 3 m de Longitud con una separación de 30 cm entre ellos.Los análisis de calidad fueron efectuados en el laboratorio de calidad de trigo del Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT), empleando los métodos establecidos por la American Association of Cereal Chemists (AACC, 1995). Estas variables se agruparon en análisis físico, químico, reológico y panifi cación. En el análisis físico y químico se consideraron características de calidad como peso hectolítrico, dureza de grano, proteína en grano y harina, y volumen de sedimentación. En el análisis reológico se incluyeron las variables consideradas en un mixograma (tiempo de mezclado, mixograma-altura, tolerancia al sobremezclado y mixograma-estabilidad) y en un alveograma (alveograma-W, alveograma-P/L y alveograma-P/G). En el análisis de panificación se consideraron las características volumen-pan y textura de miga.El peso hectolítrico (kg hL -1 ) se determinó en una muestra de 500 mL en una balanza volumétrica (Seedburo Equipment CO., Chicago, IL.). El índice de dureza (%) fue determinada con un analizador por refl ectancia en el espectro infrarrojo cercano (NIR, por sus siglas en inglés) infralyzer 300 (Technicon, N. Y.) calibrado (método 39-70 A; AACC, 1995) con base en el índice de tamaño de partícula (método 55-30; AACC, 1995), en el cual una mayor proporción (%) de partículas fi nas presentes en una muestra de harina integral indica mayor suavidad de grano.La harina refinada se obtuvo de muestras de grano acondicionado a 14% de humedad, con reposo de 24 a 36 h previo a la molienda, la cual fue efectuada en un molino Brabender Quadrumat Sr. (Brabender, Alemania).El contenido de proteína en grano y harina (%) se midió con el analizador NIR infralyzer 300 (método 39-10; AACC, 1995). El volumen de sedimentación (mL) se determinó por el método de Dick y Quick modifi cado por Peña et al. (1990) en una muestra de 1 g de harina mediante dodecil sulfato de sodio, que indica la capacidad de hidratación y expansión de proteína de gluten en un medio ligeramente ácido y mide la fuerza general de masa; a mayor volumen mayor fuerza. El tiempo de mezclado (min), mixograma-altura, tolerancia al sobremezclado (mm) y mixograma-estabilidad (min), fueron determinadas en un mixógrafo (Nacional Manufacturing Co., Lincoln, NE), en 35 g de harina (a 14% de humedad), que utilizan la absorción de agua de acuerdo con el contenido de proteína (Método 54-40;AACC, 1995). A mayor tiempo de amasado mayor fuerza de gluten y viceversa.Los alveogramas se realizaron en un alveógrafo de Chopin (Trippette & Renaud, París, Francia) en una muestra de 50 g de harina, de acuerdo con el método 54-30 de la AACC (AACC, 1995). La variable alveograma-W es una medida de la fuerza de la masa (10 -4 J); a mayores valores mayor fuerza: valores menores a 200 caracterizan a trigos de gluten débil, valores entre 200 y 300 corresponden a trigos de gluten medio fuerte, y valores mayores a 300 caracterizan a trigos de gluten fuerte. El alveograma-P/L, que es la relación entre la altura y longitud del alveograma, se determinó mediante una escala adimensional de 0.1 a 6, donde la mayor extensibilidad corresponde a valores menores. La variable alveograma-P/G es una relación entre altura e índice de expansión con valores de 1.5 a 14. (tenacidad/extensibilidad), se midió sobre la base de la escala adimensional de 1.5 a 14, donde la mayor extensibilidad corresponde a valores menores.La variable volumen de pan (cm 3 ) se realizó mediante el método de masa directa (método 10-09, AACC, 1995) evaluándose criterios de absorción de agua y tiempo de amasado, bajo condiciones estrictas de temperatura y humedad relativa, la cual se determinó en una hogaza obtenida a partir de 100 g de harina (14% de humedad). El volumen se determinó por desplazamiento de semilla de colza (Brassica sp.), la textura de miga se evaluó mediante una escala de 1= muy pobre, 2= pobre, 3= regular, 4= buena, 5= muy buena y 6= excelente (Peña, 2002).Los alelos que codifi can las gluteninas de alto peso molecular, locus Glu-A1 (Genoma A), Glu-B1 (genoma B) y Glu-D1 (Genoma D), se identifi caron con base a la nomenclatura propuesta por Payne y Lawrence (1983). Se molieron 40 g de grano para obtener harina integral en un molino Cyclotec Tecator Mod. 1093. La separación de las subunidades de proteína se obtuvo a partir de 40 mg de harina integral, usando geles al 14% de acrilamida a un pH 8.5 en presencia del agente reductor dodecil sulfato de sodio (SDS, por sus siglas en inglés). La separación electroforética se realizó aplicando 9 mA por gel durante 17 h (utilizando equipos de BIO-RAD equipment. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Richmond, California). El procedimiento se basó en el protocolo de electroforesis usado por el laboratorio de química y calidad industrial de trigo del CIMMYT (Peña, 2002).Se realizó el análisis de varianza general en cada clase de dureza para las variables estudiadas mediante el procedimiento GLM del SAS (SAS, 1994). La fuente de variación genotipos se agrupó y se realizó el análisis de varianza general, además se agruparon para obtener los cuadrados medios respectivos para combinaciones, es decir, el locus Glu-A1 (Genoma A), Glu-B1 (genoma B) y Glu-D1 (Genoma D), así como por cada locus, genoma A, B y D. Previo al análisis de varianza de dureza, proteína en grano y harina se realizó una transformación logarítmica de los datos porcentuales. Se efectuó la comparación de medias, utilizando la prueba de Tukey a una probabilidad de 0.05.La identifi cación y nomenclatura de las variantes alélicas de los 130 progenitores para cada uno de los loci, se muestran en la Figura 1. Los diferentes alelos, señalados por fl echas, del locus Glu-A1 se muestran en a) Glu-B1 en, b) y Glu-D1 en c). Se encontraron doce alelos que codifi can para gluteninas de alto peso molecular. En el locus Glu-A1 se encontraron los alelos 1, 2* y nulo (0), este último se caracteriza por ausencia de banda. En el locus Glu-D1 se caracterizaron tres alelos, 5+10, 1.5+10 y 2+12. Mientras que el locus Glu-B1 fue el de mayor diversidad identifi cándose seis alelos 6+8, 13+19, 7+8, 7+9, 20 y 17+18.En el Cuadro 1 se presentan los cuadrados medios del análisis de varianza por genotipos y descomposición en combinación, genoma A, B y D respectivamente. Puede observase que para genotipos y combinaciones se encontraron diferencias altamente signifi cativas para todas las variables estudiadas. Lo cual indica que los genotipos y las diferentes combinaciones de gluteninas presentan un comportamiento diferencial en todas las variables de calidad. Cuando se consideraron los tres alelos (0, 1 y 2*) del genoma A, se encontraron diferencias altamente signifi cativas para proteína en grano, volumen de sedimentación, tiempo de amasado, mixogramaestabilidad, alveograma W, alveograma P/L y volumen de pan; lo cual signifi ca que los alelos de este genoma expresan un efecto diferente sobre estas variables. Para el genoma B se encontraron diferencias altamente signifi cativas para peso hectolítrico, dureza, volumen de sedimentación, mixograma-tiempo de amasado, mixograma-estabilidad, alveograma-W, alveograma-P/L, alveograma P/G, volumen de pan y textura de miga. Esto indica que los seis alelos (20, 13+19, 17+18, 6+8, 7+8 y 7+9) del genoma B tienen un efecto diferencial sobre estas variables. En el genoma D se encontraron diferencias altamente signifi cativas para proteína en grano, proteína en harina, volumen de sedimentación, mixograma-tiempo de amasado, mixograma-altura, mixograma-tolerancia al sobreamasado, mixograma-estabilidad, alveograma-W, alveograma-P/G, volumen de pan y textura de miga; esto signifi ca que el efecto que ejercen cada uno de los alelos (1.5+10, 2+12, 5+10) del genoma D es diferente.El Cuadro 2 muestra las combinaciones con mayor frecuencia, locus Glu-A1, Glu-B1 y Glu-D1 correspondientes al genoma A, B y D, respectivamente, del germoplasma evaluado. Las combinaciones 2*-7+9-510, 2*-17+18-5+10 y 1-17+18-5+10 fueron las más frecuentes con el 28.6%, 22.7% y 12.6%, respectivamente, del total de genotipos estudiados. Las combinaciones 1-17+18-5+10, 1-7+9-5+10, y 2*-7+9-5+10 estuvieron presentes en el 4. 1.7 1.9 2.0 1.6 2.1 2.5 3.0 2.6 1.9 2.6 1.4 2.1 1.9 2.9 2.1 1.7 3.1 1.8 2.5 1.2 MIXAL (cm) 5.6 5.4 6.3 5.7 5.4 6.1 5.8 5.8 6.6 5.9 5.9 5.9 6.0 5.8 6.2 6.6 5.8 6.1 5.7 1.0 TOLSMZ (mm) 13.59 Esto se confi rma con la combinación 2*-7+9-5+10 que presentó menor valor de alveograma-W y consecuentemente menor volumen de pan, esto se debe a la presencia de la subunidad 7+9 del genoma B que se asocia a un efecto intermedio sobre la fuerza del gluten, lo cual concuerda con lo reportado por Pogna et al. (1992), Johansson y Svensson (1995), Nagamine et al. (2000), Peña et al. (2004), Liu et al. (2005) y Martínez et al. (2007). Genotipos característicos de esta combinación son los cultivares Batán F96 y Juchi F2000. Genotipos típicos de la combinación 2*-17+18-5+10 son Náhuatl F2000, Pavón F76 y Temporalera M87. Mientras que, las variedades Gálvez M87, Zacatecas VT74, Romoga F96, Rebeca F2000 y Tlaxcala F2000 son típicas de la combinación 1-17+18 -5+10, conocidos por su mayor calidad intrínseca.Las combinaciones 2*-7+8-2+12, 1-7+8-5+10 y 1-7+9-5+10 fueron menos frecuentes; de éstas las dos últimas presentaron altos valores de volumen de pan y calidad de miga; presentan también valores altos de alveograma y valores aceptables de tiempo de amasado, el cultivar Culiacán F90 representa la última combinación; en relación a la primera combinación presentó valores bajos de volumen de pan, baja calidad de miga, así como valores bajos de alveograma-W y tiempos de amasado.El alelo 2+12 del genoma D es al más frecuente en el grupo de calidad 3. Según Peña (2002), Peña et al. (2004)  superan en fuerza y volumen de pan a aquellas que contienen la subunidad 2+12. Genotipos con este último alelo son utilizados primordialmente en la industria galletera. Dentro de las combinaciones de baja frecuencia se encuentra 2*-7+8-1.5+10 de alto contenido de proteína, 2*-7+8-5+10 con alto volumen de pan, alta calidad de miga y fuerza alveograma-W; 2*-13+19-2+12 y 0-20-5+10, ambas combinaciones con volumen de pan bajo y textura de miga muy pobre, Payne y Lawrence (1983), Pogna et al. (1992) y Peña (2002), donde líneas que presentan las subunidades 13+19, 2+12, 0 y 20 afectan negativamente la fuerza de gluten y volumen de pan.Las medias de los genotipos que contienen cada uno de los alelos del genoma A (locus Glu-A1). El alelo 1 se caracteriza por alto volumen de pan, buena textura de miga, alto alveograma-W y alveograma P/L menor a la unidad. El alelo 2* se caracteriza por valores intermedios de volumen de pan, buena textura de miga y fuerza intermedia. El alelo nulo (0) se caracteriza por valores bajos de volumen de pan, textura de miga regular, alveograma-P/L mayor a la unidad y alto contenido de proteína. En el caso de los alelos del genoma A se puede concluir que el alelo 1 tiene un efecto positivo en la calidad de panifi cación, el alelo 2* un efecto intermedio y el alelo 0 (nulo) tiene un efecto negativo; de acuerdo a los resultados del germoplasma evaluado, Payne et al. (1987), Pogna et al. (1992), Peña et al. (2002), Peña et al. (2004)  Como se observa en el Cuadro 6 se presentan las medias de las variables de los genotipos que poseen los diferentes alelos. Los alelos más comunes en el germoplasma avaluado fueron 7+9 y 17+18; seguidos por el alelo 7+8 y los alelos poco frecuentes (únicos) 20, 6+8 y 13+19. De los alelos más frecuentes 17+18 presentó un alto volumen de pan y buena textura de miga; así mismo este alelo esta ligado a altos valores de alveograma -W y alveograma P/L menor a la unidad. El alelo 7+9 mostró valores medios de volúmenes de pan, buena textura de miga, valores medios de alveograma -W; al parecer existe un cierto efecto negativo de este alelo en la calidad de panifi cación (Payne et al., 1987;Pogna et al., 1992;Peña et al., 2002;Martínez et al., 2007).El alelo 7+8 presentó valor alto de volumen de pan, muy buena textura de miga, alta fuerza de alveograma-W, de acuerdo con lo anterior se puede decir que tiene un efecto positivo en la calidad de panifi cación. De los alelos poco frecuentes 20 y 13+19 presentaron en general un efecto negativo en la calidad de panifi cación; en relación al alelo único 6+8 el efecto fue positivo, Payne et al . (1987) y Pogna et al. (1992).Las medias de las variables de calidad para genotipos que contienen el genoma D. El alelo de mayor frecuencia fue 5+10, el cual se caracterizó por conferir alto volumen de pan, buena textura de miga, valores altos de alveograma-W y alveograma-P/L menor a la unidad; por lo que se puede decir, que este alelo tiene un efecto positivo sobre la calidad panadera. En relación al alelo 2+12 estuvo asociado a volumen de pan bajo, textura de miga regular, valores intermedios de alveograma-W y tiempos de amasado corto, por lo que se infi ere que el efecto sobre la calidad panadera es negativo (Payne et al., 1987;Pogna et al., 1992;Peña et al., 2002;Peña et al., 2004;He et al., 2005;De la O et al., 2006), (Cuadro 7). El alelo único 1.5+10 confi rió alto contenido de proteína, valores de volumen de pan, alveograma-W y tiempos de amasado fueron bajos por lo que se puede decir que el efecto fue negativo.En general las variedades que se han liberado para siembras en temporal presentan alta calidad per se (Cuadro 8), se puede ver que éstas presentan los alelos 1 y 2* indistintamente; en el genoma A, ningún genotipo ofrece presenta el alelo nulo asociado a un efecto negativo sobre la calidad, el progenitor Bow \"s\" es un ejemplo de esto. En el genoma B domina el alelo 17+18, asociado a un efecto positivo en calidad y en menor frecuencia se tiene el alelo 7+9, el cual está asociado a un efecto intermedio. En el genoma D invariablemente el alelo presente en las variedades para panifi cación fue 5+10, cuando el alelo 2+12 está presente como en Coridón se pierde mucha fuerza de la masa y consecuentemente volumen de pan. Por consiguiente en el mejoramiento genético para la obtención de variedades de alta calidad panadera se deberá seleccionar líneas con subunidades de gluteninas de alto peso molecular que tengan un efecto positivo y se deberán evitar los alelos asociados a efectos negativos (0, 13+19, 2+12, 0 y 20, 7+9, 20, ); en el genoma A se deberán tener los alelos 1 y 2*, en el genoma B se deberán buscar los alelos 17+18, 7+8 y 7+6, mientras que en el genoma D invariablemente se deberá buscar el alelo 5+10, que es uno de los que mayor efecto positivo tienen sobre la calidad panadera. Las combinaciones 2*-7+9-5+10, 2*-17+18-5+10 y 1-17+18+5+10 fueron las de mayor frecuencia en los 130 genotipos evaluados. En el genoma A los alelos 2* y 1 fueron los de mayor frecuencia, ambos asociados a un efecto positivo en la calidad panadera. El alelo nulo (0) fue el de menor presencia y asociado a un efecto negativo en la calidad panadera. En el genoma B los alelos 7+9 y 17+18 fueron los que presentaron alta frecuencia, y el alelo 7+8 estuvo presente en sólo en 8% de los genotipos. Los alelos 17+18 y 7+8 están asociados a un efecto positivo, 7+9 a un efecto intermedio, y la presencia de los alelos 20 y 13+19 están asociados a un efecto negativo en la calidad panadera. En el genoma D el alelo 5+10 fue el de superior frecuencia, el cual está asociado con un efecto positivo sobre la calidad panadera, mientras que los alelos 2+12 y 1.5+10 fueron los menos presentes y estuvieron asociados a un efecto negativo. Las combinaciones 2*-17+18-5+10 y 1-17+18+5+10 son las que mostraron mejor calidad panadera.Los autores agradecen al CONACYT (Proyecto 067698) el fi nanciamiento parcial otorgado para la realización de la presente investigación.American Association of Cereal Chemist (AACC). 1995. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"53ec4cd0e9c257a52973cefb4697dfc8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ab4734bb-eaee-42c4-9a3b-c158be0920e3/retrieve","id":"-1674399787"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"00616b4d-4adb-46ea-a84a-73df28f3ac12","content":"After 8 years of existence, and thanks to continuous improvement efforts, the CCAFS Climate portal (http://www.ccafs-climate.org) has continuously been providing free and open access to downscaled climate data, primarily for use in understanding the effects of climate change on agriculture. The portal is timely in delivering high resolution climate change datasets to users, both scientists and non-scientists, all over the world.Given the importance of this portal for supporting impact and adaptation analyses a new query API was developed in 2016-17, which allows to provide stakeholders with climate change information as well as some agro-climatic indices at real-time data. We calculated a set of indices of crop responses to climate including indicators of drought and heat stress, as well as complementary indicators such as flash-floods (extreme precipitation events) and reductions in crop cycle duration, and overall growing season indicators -i.e. total seasonal precipitation and seasonal mean temperatures.We also did advances in the integration of CCAFS-Climate with the Climate Wizard tool (available at http://climatewizard.ciat.cgiar.org/). This is a climate data analysis, visualization and dissemination application both for current and future gridded climate data. It provides a wide range of users with synthesized, summarized and packaged climate change information tailored to specific places of interest globally. With the integration, users can do analysis, visualization and dissemination application both for current and future gridded climate data.In 2017, more than 22.964 people visited the CCAFS-Climate data portal, and more than 50 publications have cited the use of the portal data, bringing the total sum of citations since its creation to almost 520.A REST API for WOCAT (World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies) with GeoJSON feature was developed and works online. The REST API provides a programmatic interface to the Climate Wizard portal (http://climatewizard.ciat.cgiar.org/). This is designed for querying real-time data to provide stakeholders with climate change information as well as some agro-climatic indices. At the grid-cell (i.e. 0.05 deg ~ 25 km resolution) scale, we calculated a set of indices of crop responses to climate including indicators of drought and heat stress, as well as complementary indicators such as flashfloods (extreme precipitation events) and reductions in crop cycle duration, and overall growing season indicators -i.e. total seasonal precipitation and seasonal mean temperatures. A total of 34 climate indices are provided (see Table 1).The input data is currently stored at CIAT (in total 80 GB of GeoTiff raster files) but is available upon request and soon will be available through the CCAFS-Climate portal (http://ccafs-climate.org/). The global database used as input in the API comes from GCMs from the CMIP5, for a historical period and two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs): RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. Projections of a total of 16 individual GCMs as well as for the multi-model ensemble mean are provided. The API is developed in the Python language, and has been configured to work through Apache in both Linux and Windows operating systems. This has been tested in Ubuntu and CentOS 7 Linux distributions, though it has been designed to work in any Linux distribution.REST API documentation available in https://github.com/CIAT-DAPA/climate_wizard_api    Most of the downloaded data is being used by scientific researchers, and its use includes a number of impact studies which generated greater understanding of:  Theses & Reports"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/6713434472.json b/main/part_2/6713434472.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e53316684ba28b98bd72a128fda1243c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/36f6d87d-ca6c-4bfb-b718-f676ce52ace1/retrieve","id":"-1574294740"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"50c37755-ce6e-4657-a48a-4333da0233b3","content":"Feedback at the initial stages  "}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"76b9e221-7f57-4251-a9b8-4ca6dac0dd6b","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/6740568166.json b/main/part_2/6740568166.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e66bc17088519be83bf5a35c44cfd000","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/7947b607-f82a-4853-a133-eee326bec54c/content","id":"-164655000"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b6330a67-554c-49e7-88aa-cf7daee6d42c","content":"The original version of this article was revised because it should have been published with open access which it is at present."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/6770851470.json b/main/part_2/6770851470.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c6f94ccf4c7d770f1816264919138e46ddecb351
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"587124b884f9f69bcc484d4d7c7509af","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ea98c9b4-dc7b-4eda-95ab-7558274c1bb4/retrieve","id":"2024340157"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"47557bf8-78b3-4fb4-ac0f-e069046e23a9","content":"Throughout the tropics small-scale farming communities struggle to deal with the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS.Mitigating the effects of HIV/AIDs in small-scale farming is a handbook for agricultural extension officers and those who support them in government, NGOs and international organizations. Much of what is contained in this Agrodok has been dealt with in much greater detail in the many HIV/AIDS related publications available in print and online. Unlike more specialized literature Mitigating the effects of HIV/AIDS provides a brief, straightforward account of how HIV/AIDS undermines community welfare and the productive capacity of farmers. It suggests some ways in which farming practices can be adapted to mitigate these effects.The tools and approaches described in this Agrodok will be familiar to many readers. They have been tried and tested in small-scale farming communities throughout the world. Many of the insights and experiences referred to here come from Sub Saharan Africa. They can be used and adapted to encourage community members -irrespective of age, sex, material status or ethnic and religious identity -to work together to define their problems and find solutions using their own local resources.HIV/AIDS is not like other chronic diseases. It carries a heavy social stigma. Sufferers -many of whom are in the prime of life -find themselves excluded from community life and families living with HIV/AIDS find it increasingly difficult to keep their farms and gardens productive. Extension workers trying to manage the effects of the disease in small-scale farming communities find their work complicated by negative attitudes to and ignorance about the pandemic.Those living with or supporting family members afflicted by HIV/AIDS need urgent help. They need to know how to make the best use of the human and physical resources they have left. And they have to do this in an extremely difficult emotional environment. Struggling to deal with the personal dimensions of the tragedy, they find they have lost essential livelihoods resources. There is less able-bodied labour, reciprocity between neighbours and relatives has weakened or broken down completely and agricultural officers and research staffoverwhelmed by the demands being placed on their limited resources -are unable to give them the support they need.Extension officers working with those living with HIV/AIDS are also under professional and emotional strain. Many agricultural research and extension workers see years of work going to waste as a result of the pandemic. Agricultural officers themselves become sick and are unable to carry out planned activities. Programmes and project plans break down when extension officers die and the farmers who depended on their services are left stranded. This can be clearly seen in a report published recently by the Ghanaian Ministry of Food and Agriculture and FAO on the impact of HIV/AIDS on the work of extension officers in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. HIV/AIDS disrupts research and experimentation and valuable sources of knowledge are lost when contact farmers and farmers managing demonstration plots fall ill and cannot carry on. And at the financial level, HIV/AIDS threatens group savings and credit schemes because -when members become sick -they cannot work to repay their loans.There is no simple blue-print solution to the ravages of HIV/AIDS. Re-building the capacity of families and communities in the tropics to farm, garden and preserve their livestock is a complex and difficult task. It means taking careful account of a changing resource base and identifying how land, water and agricultural inputs can best be used to maintain health and ensure a livelihood for those living with the disease. Full community participation is needed to adapt agricultural practices to meet the challenge of HIV/AIDS. It is in everyone's interest to try and change the attitudes, customs and legislation that hinder cooperation and make it difficult for women, the elderly and young people to establish new working relationships, take on new tasks and effectively influence decision making. This is where this Agrodok fits in. It is designed for extension workers who have the rural networks, knowledge of local conditions and links to farmers' organizations that enable them to get the information, trust and community support needed to mitigate the effects of HIV/AIDS in small-scale farming communities.The Agrodok begins by providing examples of participatory tools that can be used to document community members' needs and identify local resources and skills. It discusses the difficulties extension officers can expect to encounter in getting communities to cooperate and work together. It goes on to focus attention on some of the innovations, research and farmers' experimentation that can enable rural communities to react strongly and effectively to the challenge of HIV/AIDS. More detailed information on the topics raised in this Agrodok can be found in the \"Further Readings\".Agriculture can be adapted to the specific needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. Changes can be made to the way farms are managed and local resources used. Establishing links and working with colleagues from other sectors is an important first step for agricultural extension staff. Developing comprehensive and lasting solutions depends on the extent to which those working in the fields of health, forestry, education, agriculture and natural resource management are able to exchange experiences and learn from each other. Cooperation also reduces the risk of farmers receiving conflicting messages from different sources and makes it easier to develop integrated measures that can meet the needs of the community concerned.Partnerships with health and community workers are particularly important because agricultural extension workers are not HIV/AIDS specialists. They have not been trained to deal with the social and psychological impacts of the disease. In addition -as the pandemic deepensthey find themselves working with women, the elderly and children, a new and largely unfamiliar client group. To do this effectively they often need help from community extension workers to enable them to assess the strengths and vulnerabilities of these groups.Most agricultural extension officers have seen with their own eyes the far-reaching effects HIV/AIDS can have on farm households. In many HIV/AIDS affected households, for example, market-orientated agriculture often becomes impossible. This means that extension officers must identify other ways of ensuring food and nutrition security and generating cash incomes.Table 1 provides a brief overview of how HIV/AIDS affects agricultural productivity and community welfare. These problem areas will be taken up later and discussed with reference to possible solutions.  Households living with HIV/AIDS develop their own survival strategies. In many cases the social isolation of families living with the disease means they get little help from relatives or other farmers. As a result they are forced to find short-term solutions. Smaller areas are cultivated; fewer crops are grown and tasks like repairing farm implements, maintaining terraces, weeding and pruning are either skipped or delayed. In the long run this leads to food and nutrition insecurity and a decrease in income and productive capacity.At the same time the physical and material costs of caring for those affected by HIV/AIDS rises steadily as the illness progresses. Extra money is needed for medical treatment and as a result farm assetslivestock, tools or seed reserves -are put up for sale.Women are generally heavily involved in the cultivation of food crops.When illness or the need to care for the sick prevents them from working in their fields and gardens there is less food available for their families.A woman's right to land is frequently derived from her husband. If the household is no longer headed by a man, women risk being denied access not only to land but to credit and other resources and services as well. This means they no longer have the assets they need to provide food for themselves and their children. The absence of formal property rights can lead to relatives grabbing property further undermining the economic security of those left behind. Extension officers should be aware that women are often excluded from decision making. This means that plans are made without their needs and workloads being taken into account.The elderly are also a vulnerable group. Many of them are raising orphaned grandchildren at a time when they no longer have the physical strength to carry out productive tasks.The lives of children also change radically in households affected by HIV/AIDS. Heavy workloads, loss of education and the responsibility of caring for ailing parents or orphaned siblings are amongst the problems that have to be dealt with when devising projects to mitigate the effects of the disease on young people.Health determines an individual's ability to work. The health of those affected by HIV/AIDS is not constant. In the early stages of infection -which can last from six to eight years -those affected with the virus can be healthy, strong and productive especially if nutrition is good. Later, however, chronic fatigue and the regular occurrence of opportunistic diseases including tuberculosis, pneumonia and viral and fun-gal infections set in indicating that the disease has progressed to a more serious stage. Now, household resources will be increasingly devoted to buying medicine and caring for the sick. A HIV/AIDS related death often signals the fact that a partner may also be infected. This will place a further strain on weakened household resources. Social isolation and poverty gradually cut off households living with HIV/AIDS from the information they need to help them innovate and improve their decision making capacity. In addition, when a family member dies an untimely death, his or her knowledge and experience is often lost. This is particularly common in societies where there is a strict division of labour between men and women. In crises situations lack of knowledge and experience amongst surviving household members makes it extremely difficult for them to adapt to rapidly changing situations. Those living with HIV/AIDS are less able to perform heavy work, to work for long periods or follow a strict work schedule. Making plans to integrate income generating activities into strategies to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS should take the following factors into consideration. The work involved should require minimal physical effort and periods of concentrated effort, such as those required at the beginning of the growing season, should be carefully planned. Efforts should be made to create opportunities that could lead to a steady source of income. In this there are advantages to be gained by using local resources and skills that require low or no external input.Cooperation and support between stakeholders is needed to make HIV/AIDS mitigation strategies work. Participation and trust are essential to halting the erosion of rural livelihoods. Creating conditions that establish new relationships and motivate households to work together is an important first step. Communities can become more effective in identifying and implementing strategies to counter the effects of HIV/AIDS if they work together in an enabling environment.Information plays a key role in creating an enabling environment. Workshops, meetings and informal gatherings can be used by extension workers to stimulate discussion about the close relationship between ill health and food and nutrition insecurity. Through guided and open exchanges stakeholders become aware that they do not face these problems alone.Specific participatory tools can be used to help community members identify the way in which ill health -and more specifically HIV/AIDS -impacts on productivity and rural welfare. They also enable communities to rationally assess the resources and opportunities available to halt this process.Extension officers must gain the trust and confidence of communities and households. Members of farmers' organizations and agricultural producers' associations are important partners in this process. They have a respected and trusted status in their community and their support can facilitate the process of adapting and changing agricultural practices.Many farmers' organizations already have HIV/AIDS mitigation programmes. Extension officers can build on these initiatives and experi-ences. Using the structure and activities of farmers' organizationsincluding meetings, training sessions and field visits with farmers' leaders -they can meet farmers, listen to their difficulties and share experiences of how other communities are dealing with the problems created by HIV/AIDS.Agricultural extension officers can also try and link with organizations that have information about those living with HIV/AIDS. Many communities have set up small HIV/AIDS associations and these are being run by women and other community members.Extension officers can also use the outreach facilities of agricultural organizations to increase farmers' understanding of the causes of-HIV/AIDS, the way the disease develops and how good food and nutrition can strengthen the body's immune system. When farmers return to their villages they should be helped to put new information and ideas into practice. Tools and money are needed to support this process. Local and national extension services need to plan information generating activities into their budgets. It is essential that extension officers create the social conditions that enable them to access information from community members. This will enable them to build up a clear picture of the way individual families and households have been affected by the pandemic.Figure 5: Income generating activities are essential but farm families need information about the opportunities available.This process can be strengthened if extension officers and agricultural information services work closely with the public media. Community radio is a growing and especially important source of information for rural households. Targeted agricultural programmes such as question and answer sessions combined with listener group activities can have a significant impact on the way farmers think about and organize farm activities. Regular columns in farmers' magazines, NGO publications and local and national newspapers can also be used to keep farmers and those who work with them up to date and well-informed.When different media work together to disseminate key messages the impact can be very powerful. Many agricultural information services already run HIV/AIDS related campaigns involving print, radio, tele-vision and -in some cases -video and cell phones as well. These media can all be used to disseminate practical information -often in local languages -to those living with the disease. Extension staff should plan ways of ensuring that farm households who cannot access newspapers or radio are also kept informed.The Ugandan NGO Straight Talk Foundation uses the media -radio and print -as well as face to face workshops to reach young people and adolescents. Its aim is to raise their awareness about HIV/AIDS and other sexual and reproductive health issues. In the late 1990's it started the teen newspaper Straight Talk which now reaches an estimate four million adolescents and two million parents and teachers in Uganda every month.Straight Talk also has seven other newsletters two of which -Farm Talk and Tree Talk -address environmental issues and include information about how to start school gardens and school woodlots so young people have a source of nutritious food. The Straight Talk Foundation has an innovative distribution strategy. Its newslettersprinted in several languages -are inserted into Uganda's main daily newspaper and sent to schools, health units, churches and mosques.Information is needed to enable households living with HIV/AIDS to adjust their agricultural or off-farm activities to meet their basic needs. These include maintaining a regular, adequate and nutritious diet and ensuring there is enough cash to meet medical and other household expenses.The need to develop internal strengths and reduce dependence on external resources in achieving these goals is emphasized throughout this Agrodok. This means collecting information about the way farm activities and community tasks are currently being managed and using this information to assess the agricultural resources, human capacities, skills and financial assets available for agricultural use in the future.It is essential that this information is collected in an open and participatory way. Group discussions, workshops and other gatherings involving as many community members as possible can generate valuable information. Sometimes it will be necessary to access information held by a specific group or to get information on particularly sensitive issues. In such cases extension officers will have to approach their target group with care. They should show they understand the delicate balance of relationships and traditions within the community involved but they should also stress the importance of community members providing them with accurate information. Successful adaptation and mitigation strategies depend on a realistic assessment of community resources, opportunities and constraints.HIV/AIDS victims often find it very difficult to take part in these types of participative group activity. They fear discrimination and stigmatization if their status is revealed. Extension officers must take this into account when planning information gathering activities. Their aim should be to get those living with the disease to explain how their livelihoods have been affected by their ill health so the community as a whole can get a better understanding of the magnitude of the problem. Whenever possi-  riers that isolate them within their community. They get to know where they can find helpful information and they benefit from sharing experiences, ideas and innovations. As community understanding of their problems increases and efforts to adapt agricultural practices to secure food and nutrition security progress, those living with HIV/AIDS gradually recover the self confidence they need to undertake carefully tailored activities that can help them improve their diets and -if possible earn a little cash.This process can be difficult to initiate. The stigma of HIV/AIDS runs deep and the burden of care in HIV/AIDS affected households often makes it difficult for family members -especially women -to take part in community activities. Extension officers may also find that community members are reluctant to pass on knowledge to those who are not members of the same group or sex.There are several participatory methods that can be used to collect and classify agricultural information in HIV/AIDS affected communities. The ones discussed in this Agrodok are Activity Profiles; Access and Control Profiles; Livelihood Mapping in combination with 4-Square/window analysis; and Seasonal Calendars. Field work carried out with young people using the Farmer Field School approach is also discussed and the experience of Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools in Mozambique is described as an example of the way rural youth can be introduced to agricultural practices that can contribute to selfsufficiency.Background information is essential. Extension officers must prepare themselves for participatory documentation exercises by gathering as much information as possible about the communities concerned and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the area. Local government agencies, NGOs and local community organizations usually have considerable knowledge about the conditions in which vulnerable groups live. This basic orientation will help extension officers identify their target group and decide on the participatory approach most suited to the local situa-tion. It will also enable them to facilitate discussion between community members some of whom may be reluctant, hostile, fearful or too self interested to become involved in information gathering activities.The fear of stigmatization and the lack of HIV/AIDS testing facilities mean that it is often difficult to identify those affected by the virus. Documentation activities and farm adaptation projects should, therefore, focus on vulnerable groups rather than on targeting those households directly affected by the virus. Those households living with the consequences of HIV/AIDS -orphan-headed families, the elderly raising grandchildren alone or households headed by widows must be included in mitigation strategies. Vulnerability should be the criteria for intervening to improve food security and reduce the poverty that threatens material, physical and emotional well being.Once the conditions have been created to enable different stakeholders -including extension officers, government staff, teachers, local leaders, farmers and members of other community groups -to share information and experiences, alternative ways of adapting agricultural practices to mitigate the effects of HIV/AIDS can be explored.Successfully adapting livelihood practices to meet the needs of rural stakeholders living with HIV/AIDS requires careful planning. Community resources, activities and customs must be understood before interventions are made. A workshop is one way of gaining access to this type of information. Workshops can also help stimulate community members to work together.The Livelihood Mapping workshop described below can be used by extension officers to identify the vulnerable, define the factors that threaten farm livelihoods and stimulate discussions about the types of activity that make households and communities more resilient to the effects of HIV/AIDS. In addition to the systematic gathering of information the Livelihood Mapping Workshop also aims to strengthen the decision making capacity of the community members involved.The composition of the target group will depend on where the workshop is held, the livelihood systems involved and -perhaps most important of all -the customs and traditions that determine economic roles and social status in the community concerned. Agricultural officers sometimes find that it is difficult for those living with HIV/AIDS to take part in workshops and meetings. Their health may not allow them to participate fully and they may need help in travelling to and staying at the workshop location. They may also need to be compensated for the time they spend away from their farms. These are factors that have to be taken into consideration when planning and budgeting workshops of this kind.Both men and women need to be targeted for inclusion in workshop activities. This is particularly important in communities where there is a strict division of labour because it makes it possible to highlight different abilities and constraints. A carefully structured workshop can help establish communication between community members who might otherwise not interact with each other. However, where women or other social groups such as children, the elderly and those with a particular ethnic identity find it difficult to speak in the presence of others, care must be taken to create separate groups so they feel it is safe to speak freely.Clear objectives are essential. The time allocated for workshop activities will depend on the objectives of the workshop and the status, needs and strength of the target group. A workshop using the Livelihood Mapping approach described below in combination with a 4-Square/Window analysis can generate valuable information. Much can also be learned from the informal discussion that takes place before, during and after workshop events.General objectives can be proposed by the extension officer. Later these can be refined by the target group to reflect the conditions prevalent in their community. The following questions, however, should be answered: ? What has been the impact of HIV/AIDS on local agriculture? ? What do farmers and households affected by HIV/AIDS need? ? Where can information about useful agricultural technologies be found? ? How can experiences about techniques to help alleviate falling output and labour constraints be shared and implemented? ? How can community support systems be strengthened and revitalized?These two methods can be used to assess the impact of HIV/AIDS on farming activities and to establish the amount of labour, internal resources and external inputs -including cash -needed to maintain key farming activities. The information generated during group activities are discussed by all workshop participants and the conclusions used to identify possible mitigating strategies.Participants draw a farm and map their crops and activities. To do this they combine the characteristics of their own farms into one single farm. This prevents farmers going into too much detail. Once this has been done participants are then asked to rank the activities they have identified in order of importance. First, they rank those that were important in the pre-HIV/AIDS situation and then -using a different colour -they rank the ones that have become more important with the arrival of HIV/AIDS.Table 2 shows four boxes. Participants are asked to use the criteria of input and yield to decide in which of these boxes their crops and other activities belong. Input refers here to the amount of labour and money required to carry out the activity. Yield is the return farmers expect to get. The workshop Livelihood Mapping and 4 Square analysis aims to gather information, stimulate discussion and encourage cooperation between participants. There are five steps in this process:?Step One Participants introduce themselves and the purpose and objectives of the workshop are explained.?Step Two Participants list all their livelihood and farming activities. The list is written on a flip chart and presented to the group as a whole. Where possible, the activities are grouped into clusters. The crop growing cluster might, for example, include growing leafy vegetables, root and tuber crops, firewood species, fodder, fruit trees and medicinal plants.?Step Three Participants are divided into groups of five persons and the composition of these groups should be sensitive to the fact that men, women and children of different social status will have different priorities. Therefore, it is important that those with similar priorities are put into one group. Each group will complete a Livelihood Map or a 4-Square Analysis/farmer window. The principals behind these documentation techniques and how they work should be carefully explained.?Step Four One participant from each group presents the results of the exercise to all the other participants and the whole group discusses these findings.The facilitator guides discussion and helps participants evaluate results in a way that makes it possible to answer the questions raised at the beginning of the workshop. Participants could be asked, for example, to demonstrate how their household priorities have changed as they try to response to the impact of HIV/AIDS. This helps the group put into words the actions that farmers are already taking to mitigate the effects of the disease. The 4-Square Analyses can help farmers gain an insight into the options available and the resources they re-quire. Health, family situation and resources may be such that high input options are no longer possible. Shifting to other options may mean they are able to maintain an acceptable level of productionthus mitigating the effects of HIV/AIDS -while using less labour and external inputs.?Step Five Participants describe the support structures in their community. They work out ways that would enable the wider community to share knowledge about different mitigating strategies. This might include, for example, the exchange of local varieties of plant material and practical information about cultivation and harvesting. The facilitator's role is to guide discussion away from easy solutions. Abandoning a high input crop or going into rabbit breeding or bee keeping alone will not make much difference to the livelihoods of those living with HIV/AIDS.Experience also shows that small-scale farmers find it difficult to adapt to sudden major change. It is important that households understand why the selected interventions will improve their access to food, labour, nutrition and medicine. The most positive effects are achieved when many small changes are introduced in a systematic way over a longer period of time. Small-scale interventions using diversity as a risk management strategy can have considerable impact. Household members have time to adjust to new tasks and routines and new activities are not introduced until earlier interventions have been satisfactorily implemented. Farmers must feel they are in control of their farming system and not be overwhelmed by having to deal with too many changes at once.Household composition, division of labour and the capacities and constraints of household members must be taken into consideration when planning mitigating strategies. The way tasks are distributed between men and women in families headed by married couples will be very different to the division of labour in households where widows, single women, grandparents or older orphan children are responsible for family affairs.Many extension officers are men and this means that they must make a conscious effort to talk to women. Often women have to be targeted explicitly to help them effectively. This is particularly the case in societies where customs restrict the economic and social role women play in the community. In societies where women are not supposed to speak in public, for example, extension officers may have to ask female leaders who are allowed to speak freely in front of others, to express the problems faced by women living with HIV/AIDS. If this is not feasible separate meetings might have to be organized for women. A Gender Study Analysis can be used in a restricted group situation such as an all-women group. It can also be very effective in workshops and gatherings that target a cross-section of community members. A Gender Study Analysis provides extension officers with an insight into the way tasks are divided between men, women and children.The exercise also ensures that men and women of different age groups and marital status have the opportunity to provide detailed information about their household tasks and livelihood activities. These insights can then be used to select adaptations that enable the sharing or redistribution of workloads in households and communities affected by HIV/AIDS.Women are not the only focus of Gender Study Analysis. The method can be used to help the target group understand the needs and capabilities of other social groups as well. Class, ethnicity and age, for example, play a role in determining access to resources, decision making and the allocation of tasks. Gender analysis asks why these differences exist, explores where they come from and tries to identify ways in which optimal use can be made of the human resources and individual knowledge available.The Gender Analysis exercise sets out to gather information about the following aspects of community life: ? Activities and tasks: who does what in the community and household? ? Resources: who has what? ? Decision making: who decides what and how are decisions reached? ? Effects of decision making: who gains from the results of these decisions and who loses out?The answers to these questions are used to classify the information generated into a more useable form. Two profiles are developed: an Activity Profile and an Access and Control Profile.Participants fill in a chart with the information generated during the Gender Analysis. They itemize the activities of different members of the community, when these activities take place -daily, weekly or during a particular season -and how long it takes to complete each activity. The place where the activity is performed -whether it takes place in the home or in fields that belong to the men, the women or the community -is also noted. Table 3 below provides an example of an Activity Profile matrix. Making an Activity Profile involves a lot of work. However, once the activities have been written down it is relatively easy to fill in the matrix. A complete matrix gives an insight into the workload of all members of the household and helps participants come to terms with the time constraints they face. The Activity Profile also shows the additional workloads carried by those caring for or who have taken over the tasks of relatives or friends suffering from HIV/AIDS. The Activity Profile can be repeated after HIV/AIDS mitigating strategies have been running for some time to evaluate whether there has been any change in the activities carried out or the amount of time household members spend on them.The Access and Control Profile itemizes the resources people use to carry out the activities listed in the Activity Profile. A distinction is made between \"access\" and \"control\". Access to a resource means that the individual or household has the right to use the resource. However, it does not mean that they control it. For example, a married woman may work in a field which means she has access to the land but it does not mean that she is in a position to decide what should be grown there or whether the land could be used to raise credit. Control over a resource means the power to decide who has access to the resource and how it should be used. Table 4 provides an example of an Access and Control Profile.  The information acquired from the Gender Study Analysis and the conclusions drawn from the Activity Profile and the Access and Control exercise can be used to determine the constraints faced by and opportunities available to community members. These include the effect that social hierarchies, community values, demographic factors and institutional structures have on the livelihood choices available to community members. These factors interact with indigenous and national laws and the political and economic environment that determines access to education, training and health facilities. Some factors will be classified as constraints because they make it difficult to mobilize human resources. Others, including the presence of self-help groups, could become the basis for interventions to help mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS. Table 5 presents a matrix of \"Influencing factors\" that still have to be classified into opportunities or constraints. Classifying influences in this way makes it possible for extension officers to demonstrate the constraints and opportunities that determine the livelihood options available to both men and women. It also makes it clear how control and decision making power within the family is reflected in the policies and decisions taken at national level.The information gained using these participatory processes provides a basis for planning interventions that will enable communities to adapt their farming practices and off-farm activities to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS. For example, in patrilineal communities a woman often loses her right to land when her husband dies. This means that community law stands in the way of a woman being able to provide for her family. Recognizing this fact can lead to the community deciding to ensure that women have the right to access and control land irrespective of their marital status. As a result land title deeds for women or communal plots for women may be introduced.Single interventions like those mentioned above, however, are seldom sufficient. Without the time, skill and money to buy the necessary inputs, access to land will not improve household welfare. Discussing the impact of changing the customs governing land access with community members, for example, may reveal that additional measures are needed to ensure the success of efforts to strengthen livelihood opportunities.Activity profiles can also be used to develop cropping calendars. These help identify the labour, agricultural resources and the amount of time involved in crop and vegetable production, animal husbandry and other income generating tasks. They can also be used to help determine the best way to adapt and plan agricultural activities to fit the capacities and needs of those living with HIV/AIDS.addressing the needs of the young This learning by doing approach is a methodology inspired by the positive results achieved through Farmer Field Schools.The emphasis is on practical learning and the importance of enabling participants to observe, analyze and make decisions using the information and insights they acquire by taking part in the Farmer Field School.The following example -drawn from experiences in Mozambique -shows how Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools can contribute to re-establishing productive agriculture in communities affected by HIV/AIDS.These Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools were initially supported by the FAO and the World Food Programme and run by primary schools and communitybased organizations in cooperation with the Ministries of Agriculture, Education, and Social Welfare. These agencies supplied them with seeds, agricultural implements and school materials.In the Mozambique programme, a group of 30 children aged between 12 and 17 attended extra classes near their rural school every week. They started the week with an exercise in observing the crops that had been selected for cultivation in the learning field. They noted how the plants were growing, whether there were insects around the plants and whether these were pests or beneficial species. The children also attended other classes in which they were stimulated to discuss life issues.The Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools aimed to improve the children's chances of future self-sufficiency. They learned to save seed, propagate local food and medicinal plants, establish improved granaries and build chicken coops and kraals from local materials. They also learned how to keep livestock and process agricultural products for sale.When the older generation dies without passing on its knowledge and experience to the young, communities lose their capacity to make productive use of their resources. Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools can help extension officers overcome the problem of lost agricultural knowledge by making sure that the community's youth have the information and practical experience to carry out agricultural activities.Health care is essential for those living with HIV/AIDS. Adequate supplies of nutritious food are important for those affected by the virus and for those who must be strong enough to care for them. Planning strategies to address the impact of HIV/AIDS on small-scale farming communities means ensuring access to nutritious food as well as medical care.Sufficient food of good nutritional quality is fundamental to remaining healthy and resisting illness. A regular and well-balanced diet is particularly important for those suffering from HIV/AIDS. When the daily diet is well balanced and nutritious, overall vulnerability decreases, physical strength increases and the quality of life of those living with HIV/AIDS will improve. Medicine alone is not enough. Balanced diets and good nutrition practices are essential.Staple foods like maize, sweet potato, cassava, plantain, groundnut, sorghum and rice form the bulk of rural diets. These staple foods should, however, be supplemented by foods rich in vitamins, minerals and proteins. Extra vegetables, nuts, fruits, pulses and -if possibleanimal products are needed to ensure a nutritious diet. Extension workers can play an important role in making sure households have access to food of sufficient quality and quantity by providing information on how to prepare locally available nutrient rich foods in an effective way. Access to nutritious food can strengthen the immune system but the opportunistic diseases that afflict those suffering from HIV/AIDS require medical attention and interventions in the form of appropriate drugs and therapy. Anti-retroviral drugs can enable people to work again and make a living. In the short term this means that HIV/AIDS is not lethal and that communities can maintain themselves socially and economically.Although anti-retroviral medicines combined with a well-balanced diet can help prolong the lives of those infected by the HIV/AIDS virus, the cost of such treatment is often so high that it is beyond the reach of those who need it most. The drugs used in anti-retroviral therapy can cause severe reactions.To be effective they must be taken on a full stomach. Malnutrition and under-nutrition is wide spread in Sub Saharan Africa. As a result, even when anti-retroviral drugs can be obtained, the physical condition of patients is often so weak that they have little effect. This is why it is important to ensure that medical interventions are integrated into an overall HIV/AIDS mitigation strategy based on carefully planned and well-adapted farming practices.The World Health Organization estimates that 80% of the population in developing countries use medicines derived from medicinal plants.These \"local medicines\" are often the only medicine available.Traditional knowledge about the medicinal properties of plants is an important resource for impoverished communities struggling to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS. Traditional practitioners are important because the community accepts them, they are accessible, affordable and -because they live in the community -they know and understand the diseases most frequently found there.Medicinal plants can help support the health of those living with HIV/AIDS. They can be used to: ? Treat opportunistic infections; ? Strengthen the immune system so the progress of infection slows down; ? Reduce malnutrition by means of tonics, food supplements and appetizers; ? Serve as anti-depressants and enable patients to cope better with their situation.Households usually have a number of medicinal plants growing on their farms. These may have been deliberately planted for medicinal purposes or they may be a by-product of other species such as multipurpose trees. Often medicinal plants grow uncontrolled in hedges or may even be classified as weeds.Encouraging local experts to share their knowledge of medicinal plants with community members will enable households living with HIV/AIDS to identify the plants that can help them alleviate the symptoms of the disease and the infections that go with it. Participatory approaches such as those used during a community workshop in Meru, Kenya, can produce significant results. Table 6 shows the list of medicinal plants identified by participants at the Meru workshop. Plans to adapt farm systems to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS should include the establishment of medical gardens. These can be centrally located in gardens maintained by traditional practitioners or located in the vicinity of NGOs, health centres and schools engaged in HIV/AIDS mitigation. Some medicinal plants do not thrive well in gardens and these will have to be nurtured in their natural habitat.Other species may require special attention or -for spiritual reasonsrituals may have to be performed to ensure their medicinal properties.Traditional medical practitioners can help those living with HIV/AIDS because they have the knowledge that enables them to identify species, isolate their medicinal properties and prescribe the combinations and dosages required when symptoms appear. However, they may not always be willing to share their knowledge with other community members and there may be secret traditions that prohibit them from growing particular species in their gardens. The transfer and application of traditional knowledge may also be affected by regulations that prohibit the cultivation of some plant species.A community's knowledge of the value of medicinal plants will increase when as many household members as possible are involved in planning the location and composition of the medicinal garden. Easy access to the remedies needed to improve the health and strength of those living with HIV/AIDS means that farm households need the seed of specific species and the knowledge of how to harvest, prepare and use the plants when they are sufficiently mature.Medicinal gardens and individual plots can only be maintained if there is enough household labour available to cultivate them and harvest and prepare the plants they produce. In some cases establishing a communal medicinal garden managed by the community as a whole may be a better option.More than half of the plant species known to have medical properties are trees. If medicinal gardens are established they should include shrubs and trees that have medical properties. Although some species such as Prunus Africana, for example, which is used to purify the blood, only become productive after many years, others such as Warburgia ugandensis -whose leaves are used for lowering fever and treating rheumatism -mature much more quickly.Small-scale farming systems depend on a diverse resource base of crops, wild plants, trees and livestock. Local knowledge about how to use and care for these resources is often site and gender specific. Rural communities depend on local agro-biodiversity and traditional or indigenous knowledge to adapt to external shocks and internal pressures.Wild and cultivated species of plants as well as perennial shrubs and trees are used for food, fodder, medicine and firewood. Farmers depend on their plant and animal resources for many services. They provide animal traction, offer shade, protect the soil against erosion and provide a habitat for beneficial insect pollinators. When sold as raw materials or processed into marketable commodities these resources can also provide farm families with a cash income.A rich, well-maintained and productive agro-biodiversity provides a strong and stable basis for farm activities. Diversity is an important risk management strategy and enables farmers to respond more effectively to the threat of plant and animal pests and diseases. Therefore, if improved crop varieties, animal breeds and chemical inputs are used in small-scale farming systems, they should be integrated in a way that gives high priority to maintaining strong levels of agro-biodiversity.Maintaining diversity means nurturing wild food -including weeds and the parts of plants which -although they are not normally eatenmay have important nutritional qualities. Key farmers and food specialists have the knowledge and technical skill to transform these \"famine foods\" into important and nutritious dietary supplements. This information should be made available to farm households so they are able to create a diverse biological safety net from the edible insects, honey and other products not normally considered as farm products. These can provide extra nutrition and they can be a valuable source of nutrition during times of crises. Extension officers can combine local information with knowledge derived from national and international research on wild foods to provide farmers with appropriate advice on how to make the best use of local agro-biodiversity.HIV/AIDS robs rural households of agricultural knowledge, labour and income. Households find themselves unable to buy the external inputs they need to cultivate cash crops. Local resources that are cheap and accessible can provide a basis for other types of farming. Agroforestry projects, for example, make full use of local plant genetic diversity. They can help compensate for the break down of kinship and community support systems -one of the most damaging effects of HIV/AIDS -by introducing practices that add market value to local plant resources and reduce the amount of labour required for farm activities.There are many tree crops and shrubs that can be used to increase the security and quality of community life. In adapting farm practices to mitigate the effects of HIV/AIDS, farm families need interventions that help them meet their most urgent requirements and enable them to establish a basis for a secure future livelihood.Trees provide fodder and fuel. When they are planted close to the homestead the task of collecting fuel and fodder becomes less of a burden. Women in particular can benefit from agroforestry practices.? Woody perennials such as trees, shrubs and lianas provide fruits, nuts and vegetables for foods; ? Tree crops can be harvested year after year whereas annual crops need annual planting; ? More than 50% of known medicinal species are tree species;? Some species have the capacity to create favourable microclimates.Especially valuable are nitrogen-fixing trees, plants that protect the soil from erosion and trees and shrubs that provide shade as well as good composting materials; ? Shady tree-rich areas help diminish evaporation and protect water catchments; ? Products such as fruit, nuts, beverages and timber can be sold for cash; ? Trees provide a habitat for wild game, insect pollinators and honey bees; ? Some tree species can be productive in a relatively short space of time; ? Trees are multi-purpose and -with relatively little labour -they can provide farm households with a reliable source of income; ? Perennial crops -including certain tree crops -can be grown alongside annual crops to increase household security.Tree planting is a long-term investment. Before plans can be made extension officers must be certain that farmers either own or have the right to use the land designated for agroforestry activities. Sometimes land can be claimed by planting trees but this is not always the case.The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) has much useful information and advice in their brochures and on their website www.icraf.orgChoosing the right crop or wild plant species is an important first step in ensuring sustainable agro-biodiversity. Extension officers together with members of the local community should make an inventory of species and plants that can provide the products and services they need. This will enable them to decide which species should be cultivated or maintained. Extension officers should ensure that women are well represented in the development and planning of these activities.Their knowledge -including their extensive knowledge of food producing plants -is an important input when planning agro-biodiversity based adaptation strategies. The second step in agro-biodiversity based projects is to identify the most suitable sites for the plants selected. Growing conditions on a farm vary. The soil, water and microclimate must be suitable and the way the selected plants interact with other species and their capacity to resist pests and diseases must also be taken into account.There may also be national and customary laws that restrict the planting of certain species. For example, some crop species are gender specific; tree planting is sometimes prohibited in river areas and it may be illegal to harvest rare or threatened species. Sacred medicinal species are often protected by customary laws.It is also important to think beyond annual crops. Animals, trees and perennial (semi) wild plant species have a particular value to families living with HIV/AIDS. Small livestock, for example, multiply and reproduce quickly and provide security. They are a tangible asset and unlike crops can be sold and exchanged when emergencies arise.High yielding hybrids and species that require farmers to buy fertilizer, pesticides and other external inputs should be avoided. Species should be selected in a way that ensures a variety of products become available at different times of the year. Account should also be taken of the amount of labour available for agroforestry activities. Households living with HIV/AIDS cannot meet sudden heavy demands for labour. The cultivation of several species or varieties can reduce the risk of crop failure. Species and varieties with a high harvest security that provide products for market as well as for home consumption are especially valuable.Conservation tillage yields long-term benefits. Tillage has always been important in dry-land farming. Conservation tillage is a recent adaptation of this practice and aims to make more efficient use of the water entering the farm, improve yield stability and increase soil fertility especially in drought prone regions. Conservation tillage through reduced tillage, intercropping and crop rotations minimizes soil disturbance and ensures permanent soil cover. Initially, the shift towards conservation tillage requires extra amounts of labour and this can be a problem. The technique should be well understood and communities must be sufficiently well informed about and have access to suitable species. However, once established, conservation tillage means that less labour is required for land preparation and weeding, and women in particular have to spend less time in the field.Adapting farming practices to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS means making sure farmers have access to seed, labour and cash. In this section, activities that enable farmers to access these inputs are discussed and the emphasis is placed on strengthening the social capital of communities living with HIV/AIDS. Social capital refers to the relationships and reciprocities that exist between relatives and households and form the basis of community life.In many small-scale farming communities traditional forms of cooperation have broken down under the impact of HIV/AIDS. Exchanging knowledge about these forms of cooperation and strengthening and developing them further can be particularly useful in situations where farmers have resorted to subsistence agriculture.Seed Fairs, labour sharing, and credit and saving initiatives are also examples of community cooperation that can help farm households adapt to the impact of HIV/AIDS. Seed fairs facilitate the exchange of planting materials; labour sharing can help families who have lost working members to HIV/AIDS, and community saving and credit schemes make it possible for farm families to build up their cash reserves. Community gardens and animal sharing agreements are also effective forms of cooperation that contribute to food and nutrition security and family welfare.Seed Fairs are an example of farmer to farmer exchange. They enable farmers to access seed as well as other germplasm such as cuttings and tree seedlings. When these are exchanged between communities, knowledge about propagation, cultivation and use is often passed on as well. One of the first steps that extension officers take when organizing a Seed Fair is to inventarise what seeds are available and whether they are suitable for local conditions. The location chosen for the Seed Fair is important. It should be within easy reach of the target group and accessible to as many women seed sellers as possible.Experience has shown that when Seed Fairs are based on a voucher system, farmers tend to think more carefully about the exchanges they make. They work out more carefully the type of seed they want and how they intend to use it. Organizing a voucher system is not difficult. Farmers receive a number of vouchers that can be exchanged for seed. At the end of the fair seed sellers receive payment from the organizers for the vouchers they have received. A voucher system helps prevent seed sellers from manipulating farmers with less bargaining power.If care is taken to ensure that only vouchers are used during the Seed Fair, it becomes possible to monitor how seeds have been exchanged.Extension officers can use the information derived from the vouchers to evaluate the circulation of seed and later to assess whether better access to seed has encouraged farmers to take up lost and/or new varieties.Using the information gained during participatory exercises, community members and extension staff can begin planning community gardens. Improved management of agro-biodiversity using local knowledge, inputs from extension officers, the results of research and the experience of other communities all contribute to developing gardens that can provide community members with regular supplies of nutritious food.Maize, sweet potato, cassava, plantain, groundnuts, sorghum and rice are the most common carbohydrates eaten by rural households. These must be supplemented by crops that are suitable for garden cultivation and rich in vitamins and minerals such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and pulses. If conditions are favourable community and home gardens can be designed to include aquaculture and small livestock so farm families have a reliable supply of fish and animal protein.Agrodok 9 -The home garden in the tropics -provides detailed information about how to develop a home garden. When discussing and planning a home or community garden the following must be taken into consideration: ? Type of garden: proportion of nutritional and medicinal plants; ? How much time will gardening activities take; ? Can field crops be planned in such a way that labour is released for garden work; ? Who will maintain the garden -family, community members or hired labour; ? Where will the garden be developed: community land or next to a mosque, church or school; ? Who will decide what is to be produced;? Designing the garden: drainage, water, soil and slopes must be taken into consideration when planning where to site seed beds, vegetable plots, trees and shrubs; ? Tasks and problems including cultivation, soil fertility and pest and disease management must be dealt with; ? Water issues: how much water will be needed and where will it come from; who is responsible for safeguarding an adequate supply; ? Choice of crops and crop rotation: the Seasonal Calendar and 4-Square Analysis can be used in making these decisions (see section 4.3); ? Fish, small livestock and trees might be included to ensure a year round supply of nutritious food; ? Security: fencing and other measures to keep animals out and prevent theft; ? Harvesting: how will produce and any profits be distributed amongst the different participants?Care should also be taken to link plans to develop home and community gardens to other aspects of rural life. They should also be integrated into wider agricultural activities to ensure that vegetable and seed materials are exchanged, manure is available and there are shrubs and branches to provide suitable shade. The community can decide to use some of the cash raised from cultivating field crops to invest in garden activities.Attention should also be given to how value can be added to garden produce. Community members can be introduced to different ways of preparing and drying vegetables. They can also store garden products so households can benefit later from off-season prices. Seed and rooting materials can be propagated and sold together with fresh fruit and vegetables. Community gardens provide a social service and encourage the exchange of knowledge and experience. Households may decide to use what they have learned in the community garden to begin their own gardens. The Seasonal Calendar shows food availability. This means that those participating in the community garden project must make a list of when local food crops are planted and harvested. Wild plants used as food are also included in this exercise. Extension officers should note the workload of each family member. The Calendars produced by different households in the community can be discussed to see if there are ways of sharing workloads.A Seasonal Calendar enables communities to identify periods when households are vulnerable to food scarcity and need help from outside. Ways of increasing food and nutrition security can then be discussed.? Has there been a change in the level of health of household members? ? How many new or different species are being cultivated in the garden? ? Has there been a change in household income as a result of the garden? ? Does the household feel its food supply is now more secure? ? Has there been an increase in the number of contacts and sharing activities between households?Cooperating in sharing and exchanging labour is particularly important in households living with HIV/AIDS. Labour sharing can enable communities to adopt new practices without over-burdening the available workforce. Labour sharing involves sharing workloads between several people and also spreading workloads over a longer period of time. Besides allowing for greater stability in carrying out tasks, labour sharing is a good way for community members to acquire self confidence, knowledge and experience. Labour sharing can range from assisting a neighbour, to deciding to share work in more efficient ways within a household.Community gardens provide a good example of labour sharing. Members help each other with weeding and watering. When someone be-comes ill, has to attend a funeral or fulfill other social obligations there are group members available to take over the work. This type of labour exchange can be extended to a wide variety of agricultural activities. Organization is required, however, to ensure that obligations are fulfilled and arrangements are flexible enough to deal with the problems and emergencies that may make it impossible for a participant to reciprocate the help he or she has received immediately.Labour exchange and sharing are an option in many different types of adaptation plans. Extension officers can help communities assess and timetable their labour needs and help facilitate the flexible organizations of such arrangements. The following example -provided by Gaynor Paradza of the Africa Women Leaders Agriculture and Environment programme at Wageningen University and Research Centre and taken from a small community in Zimbabwe -shows how labour sharing works.The village consisted of 19 homesteads and most inhabitants were related to each other. This resulted in strong social cohesion. Families had access to arable fields and individual gardens situated about 3-5 kilometers from the homestead. The distance from the homestead and reduced labour availability due to HIV/AIDS made it difficult for people to adequately guard their plots from theft, wild animals and free roaming livestock. Forest resources had been depleted so it was hard to find materials for fencing.In the 1980s, the community established a community garden on one acre of land situated near the village. Women in the village had collectively negotiated for the land. Their attempts were successful and the village head granted them the land they needed. All the women in the village were free to join. A well wisher sank two boreholes. A NGO lent the women some money which they used to purchase fencing material.Initially the women worked together in a cooperative and grew vegetables for market. With the proceeds they paid off the fencing loan and realized a modest income. The cooperative also benefited from the advice of other NGOs working in the area. In turn these NGOs were happy to have an efficient way of disseminating information and innovative techniques.After some time the members decided to subdivide the communal garden into individual plots. These consisted of six \"beds\" measuring 1x4 meters each. All members were able to collect water from the boreholes for their individual beds. They continued to be jointly responsible for maintaining the garden fence. During the dry season the women take turns in watering their beds to ensure there is enough water for everyone. Members also help each other with weeding and watering. This is important as HIV/AIDS places a heavy and increasing demand on women who live in affected households. Membership in the garden is relatively secure. Members who have to step out at some point because of illness or mobility problems can return later and claim a plot. During their absence, other women, like those recently married into the village, divorcees or widows, can use the fallow land.The tenure arrangement does not discriminate against women on the basis of their marital status. This increases women's security of tenure in customary land tenure areas. The proximity of the community garden to the homesteads, continued access to inputs, information and advice, the assistance provided by others and the possibility of -temporarily -leaving the garden without losing future access rights, addresses some of the challenges that women -and also men -face when confronted by HIV/AIDS. Equally important, the community garden has given women the opportunity to pool their resources, exchange information and get advice that would have been difficult to access on an individual -or household -basis.Most farm adaptation strategies require an initial investment in the form of time, money or labour. The lack of cash to buy farm equipment, seeds and hire labour is often a serious problem. Money dries up when key male household members become ill and are unable to work on the farm or engage in paid employment. A combination of traditional and modern financial mechanisms can enable households to access the cash they need to purchase agricultural inputs and deal with medical and social emergencies.Strategies based on traditional approaches to saving are already familiar to many rural families. Interventions such as the Internal Savings and Lending (IS&L) activity described below can be tailored to meet the capacities of communities and households affected by HIV/AIDS. The advantages of IS&L are as follows:? Provides rural communities with a means of raising capital quickly. It has minimal overhead costs and these can be recovered with interest; ? Encourages cooperation at community level by strengthening community support networks: it is operated in and managed by the community; ? Assists members in meeting their consumption and social needs;? Reduces the dependence of households on external assistance; ? Gives members an alternative to risky behaviour.Communities or groups of households affected by HIV/AIDS are mobilized and trained by extension officers in a number of skills including group fund development and record keeping. After they have been trained communities organize IS&L groups. These have a minimum of five members. At their monthly meetings, members save an agreed amount of money. This can be lent out to selected individuals in the group. Members must repay the loan -together with an agreed amount of interest -at the next meeting. If repayments are delayed or they miss meetings specified fines for non-payments are imposed. This savings and lending cycle is practiced until the group has reached a targeted amount. This amount is then shared amongst members and the group is ready to embark on a new cycle.Alfred Hamadziripi of the Southern Africa Poverty Network has been running a successful IS&L scheme to support the income needs of HIV/AIDS affected households in Kupfuma Ishungu, Zimbabwe. Groups established when the project began in 2000 are still in operation and they are now working to set up new groups in their area. Other countries with experience of IS&L include Kenya and South Africa.Livestock is an important long-term resource for rural farmers. Adapting livestock practices to mitigate the effects of HIV/AIDS is as important as improving and securing access to plant-based foods. Livestock -including sheep, cattle, goats, donkeys, camels as well as pigs and poultry -are a capital asset and safety net for farm households. Their products have a cash value and the animals themselves can be sold in times of hardship and family crisis.Livestock provide quality foods such as meat, dairy products and eggs. They are a source of draught power and transport and their manure is used as fuel, fertilizer and to build and plaster houses. Many traditional customs and social relationships depend on the exchange of animals. In households living with HIV/AIDS livestock resources diminish quickly. Families slaughter or sell their animals to raise funds to buy medicine and meet other household expenses. As a result they lose a major financial asset as well as food and non-food services. When those responsible for managing livestock fall ill or die, management skills and specific knowledge about herds and flocks are lost. There is not enough time or labour to care for them properly and orphans and widows have difficulty in accessing extension services. Women and children may also lose their rights to animals in societies where inheritance favours men.How livestock can be used to mitigate the impact of HIV/Aids will depend on local circumstances. Extension officers working with communities to adapt animal husbandry practices to local skills and capacities should: ? Select species and breeds that mature early, are adapted to local climate and environmental conditions, are disease resistant and do not require many inputs; ? Select animals that can be kept close to home so as those living with HIV/AIDS can care for them; ? When necessary advise households to raise smaller livestock that require little labour, can forage for themselves, require little food and can provide food security and a cash income; ? Encourage community members to share larger draught animals used for ploughing and transport; ? When households are unable to cultivate crops, provide them with the information they need to keep the type of livestock most appropriate to their situation; ? Together with the community consider labour saving interventions to minimize the work involved in animal husbandry. For example, establishing water points close to homesteads and planting fodder trees to reduce the time and effort involved in collecting fodder; ? Provide information on how to preserve and store animal products; ? Help identify niche markets for animal products and services as part of adaptation and mitigation planning; ? Ensure customary and legal support to widows and orphans to avoid the grabbing of livestock.Poultry -chickens, ducks, guinea fowl and turkeys -also play an important role in strategies to increase the food security and cash income of farm families. They also have an important socio-cultural role. They can be reared by poor families as they are easy to keep and require few inputs. Free or semi-free range poultry are particularly successful in crop-livestock systems.  Farm families need cash to meet domestic obligations and pay for a wide range of services. Adding value to farm products and community resources increases the amount of cash households have available to invest in other productive activities. The amount of time and energy individual family members have available to engage in income generating activities, however, will vary from household to household.An Activity Profile can be used to gather information from community members about the amount of time they spend on regular farm and household tasks. This can be used to assess whether potential income earning activities will overburden family members and create difficulties. Adapting farming practices in ways that lighten the workloads of community members makes it easier to launch money earning activities.Those living with HIV/AIDS are less able to perform heavy work, to work for long periods or follow strict work schedules. Making plans to integrate income generation activities into strategies to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS should take the following factors into consideration: ? Labour: minimal labour demand with no concentration of effort such as that required at the beginning of the growing season; ? Income should be stable throughout the year; ? Income should be based on the use of local resource and skills with low or no external input needed; ? Market potential of income earning options should be carefully calculated; ? Activities should not have to be carried out at fixed times.The type of farm, the resources available within the community, and market demand will determine the money earning opportunities available. The extent to which communities can take advantage of these opportunities will depend on the skills and time available. To maintain an adequate production level a shift to varieties and species that demand less labour input and physical strength may be necessary.The introduction of tools that need less physical strength such as lighter ploughs, seeders and pumps as well as more efficient utensils such as fuel efficient stoves can also help farm families redistribute work and reduce the amount of time spent on regular tasks like cooking and gathering fuel wood. The time and labour saved by these types of interventions can be invested in developing income earning opportunities. In communities where agricultural production has been adapted to include agroforestry activities products like timber, fruits and fodder gradually become available for sale. Agroforestry interventions often reduce women's workload making it possible for them to engage in food processing, drying and selling vegetables and making handicrafts -all products that have a higher market value than the raw materials themselves.Local agro-biodiversity can in some cases also be commercialized. Many wild trees and plant and animal products can be transformed into commercially viable products. Timber, poles, spices, fruit, honey, fat, meat, thatching materials, tannins, gums and insecticide all have a market value. Households can also use local resources to produce furniture, beehives, mortars, tools and tool handles, plant supports, fermented beverages, animal traps and crafts as well as drinks, sauces and other foods.Other income generating activities that do not make heavy demands on time and labour are root and tuber cultivation, free range poultry or honey production and the propagation of fruit and nut trees. Rabbit keeping is also relatively simple and children can help with the daily work of feeding and keeping them clean.On-farm income generating activities must be tailored to the capacity of the target household and community if they are to be sustainable and successful. In some cases this may mean that activities will yield relatively low incomes. The aim, however, is to secure a stable income.As community members become engaged in business activities they may find it valuable to establish a Self Help Group. Should one member of the group become ill or leave because of a family emergency, the other members of the group will be able to maintain the supply of community products and markets and cash earnings will not be lost. Non-agricultural livelihood activities including off-farm jobs, the provision of services and various forms of trading can also be important to farm households. If circumstances allow, women should be encouraged to engage in off-farm activities. Experience has shown that women's earnings increase the overall economic well-being of a household as well as strengthening women's decision making power within the family. Opportunities for off-farm employment vary greatly.Extension officers can play a valuable role in encouraging community members to assess the impact that off-farm activities have on household food security and community welfare. This can be done using the same methods as those used to assess the impact of adapting agricultural practices discussed earlier.In their efforts to mitigate the way HIV/AIDS affects small-scale farming communities, extension officers often find themselves dealing with new target groups. These groups are extremely vulnerable, not necessarily homogeneous and often stigmatized and difficult to reach. They are those with HIV/AIDS and the women, the elderly and children who live in households and community affected by the disease. Agriculture can play an important role in mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS but this requires a multi-sectoral approach. All those involved with supporting the rural livelihoods and the welfare of those living with HIV/AIDS need to ensure that the activities they initiate are as complementary as possible. They also need to look beyond agriculture to other possible interventions. Effective mitigation means ensuring that planned activities are compatible with the local livelihood strategies of the target group. This Agrodok set out to show the importance of assessing the way in which HIV/AIDS impacts on the social and economic life of rural communities. From this perspective, it stressed the importance of collaboration. Exchanging experiences and learning from colleagues working in other sectors including health, forestry, education and natural resource management is an essential part of developing comprehensive and lasting solutions.Small-scale farming systems depend on a diverse resource base of crops, wild plants, trees and livestock. Knowledge about local agrobiodiversity and how to use and care for these resources is often site and gender specific. Rural communities have to adapt to changes in their environment and they use their traditional or indigenous knowl-edge to deal with external shocks and internal pressures. HIV/AIDS mitigation strategies can build on these survival strategies.The HIV/AIDS mitigation strategies discussed here give priority to those that enable extension officers to support local communities in their effort to secure adequate supplies of nutritious food. Sufficient quantities of good quality food will not only help prolong and improve the quality of life of those living with HIV/AIDS, it also gives those who care for them the mental and physical strength to carry out their difficult task. Access and Control Profile Methodology for itemizing the resources communities use and identifying the community members who have access to and decision making power over these resources.Can be used to gain a deeper insight into activities of community members.Drugs used in the treatment of HIV/AIDS that slow down the development of the virus within the human body.Gardens owned and managed by the community or groups within the community such as women.Crops are grown with minimal cultivation of the soil. Stubble or plant residues remain on top of the soil rather than being ploughed in. An effective and proven labour saving agricultural technique.A method for collecting and analyzing data in a participative way.Method for documenting the status, role and activities of women in a communityInternal Savings & Lending Scheme. One of the several ways in which communities can build up their financial resources."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0a0ee7fce42e9515c2b916c4d104f57f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1f30fd2f-57aa-48fd-9701-75be746e7642/retrieve","id":"-1222703600"},"keywords":["1","Models","2","Small enterprises","3","Small scale farming","4","Trade","5","Markets","6","Agricultural sector","7","Sustainable livelihoods","8","Stakeholders","9","Farmers","10","Participatory research","11","Innovation adoption","12","Networks","13","Developing countries"],"sieverID":"37e4d53c-f551-43d7-ad45-ac18d1579b5e","content":"A pa rti cip ato ry gu ide to bu sin ess mo de ls tha t lin k sm all ho lde rs to ma rke ts.The first edition of the LINK Methodology toolkit is the combined work of Mark Lundy, Gertjan Becx, Nancy Zamierowski and Alexandra Amrein, with thanks to enormous editing support and commentary from Don Seville of the Sustainable Food Lab, Shaun Ferris of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Abbi Buxton and Bill Vorley of the International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED) and Will Crosse of the Rainforest Alliance.LINK Methodology was conceived as a part of the New Business Models for Sustainable Trading Relationships project, directed by the Sustainable Food Lab in collaboration with CRS, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), IIED and the Rainforest Alliance. This project received support from a generous grant provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This second edition is the result of the methodology's validation and improvements achieved over two years of fieldwork implementation, during which CIAT's Alexandra Amrein, Jhon Jairo Hurtado and Fernando Rodríguez applied and adjusted LINK's tools in varying contexts. Especially, we want to highlight the following:Eleven cases implemented LINK Methodology in a Central American learning cycle. Participants included CRS, VECO (Vredeseilanden) Andino and Mesoamérica, and the Swiss Foundation for Technical Cooperation (Swisscontact). This initiative developed within the Learning Alliance framework (a platform that links development programs with research) and was financed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).In Colombia, the Productive Alliances Support Project (Proyecto Apoyo a Alianzas Productivas, or PAAP) implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR for its Spanish acronym) with support from the World Bank analyzes the levels of inclusiveness of ten alliances in various parts of the country. Within PAAP, a separate research project identifies significant changes and lessons learned. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as well as the Ford Foundation fund this initiative.The present guide is based on: Experiences of research projects in various Latin American countries (Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Honduras and Peru) and Africa. Successful results from more than 40 business model cases demonstrating functionality for small-scale producers.Agriculture is a source of livelihood for an estimated 86% of the rural population (2.5 billion people) and provides employment to 1.3 billion smallholders and landless workers.A more dynamic and inclusive agricultural sector could dramatically reduce rural poverty, helping countries meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty and hunger by 2015. Crosscountry econometric estimates show that overall GDP growth originating in agriculture is, on average, at least twice as effective in benefiting the poorest half of a country's population as growth generated in nonagricultural sectors.Beyond its direct contribution to growth, linking smallholder farmers to dynamic markets provides an opportunity to reduce poverty more quickly, as well as ensuring the generation of commercially viable products, all of which will help smallholders to take on board the structural challenges of their environment.Decades of underinvestment mean that small-scale producers in low-and middle-income countries often operate under supremely difficult conditions, including inadequate infrastructure (roads, power, irrigation and wholesale markets), little opportunity to develop skills, lack of access to services (training, credit, supplies) and high dependence on favourable weather conditions. Given these challenges, and the high procurement costs associated with collecting, grading and bulking products from dispersed suppliers, buyers have preferred to opt for the structural strength of large-scale agricultural providers.Building bridges between two disparate worlds: the rural sector and emerging markets However, markets are shifting from being buyer-driven to being supply-constrained. In an era of tightening global supplies and natural resource limitations, the authors of this guide believe that inclusive business is simply good business.On the one hand, sustainable development is increasingly being integrated into business practices to improve the quality and security of raw material supply and to contribute to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). On the other hand, making business more inclusive for small-scale suppliers is a way of enhancing corporate reputations, gaining legitimacy in local markets and creating \"ethical\" products.Connecting the two disparate worlds of smallholder farmers and emerging markets requires creative solutions so that both sides gain. Farmers need to gain access to markets, knowledge, technology and income, while buyers will need to adapt to a supply-constrained market where they are better able to source key raw materials to their specifications at a competitive cost and even access higher quality products.Faced with this great challenge, LINK's methodology builds bridges between the two. This guide is mainly aimed at facilitators who mediate the processes previously mentioned between sellers and buyers. LINK can help your organisation facilitate a systematic learning process between actors from a selected value chain, and discover new opportunities for innovation, based on the application of a participatory toolkit, with four main tools:1. The value chain map (used to understand the macro context of markets and the businesses which link rural producers with buyers).2. The business model canvas (used to understand in more detail each business which links rural producers with buyers).3. The New Business Model principles (used to determine whether each business which links rural producers with buyers is truly inclusive).4. The prototype cycle (used to continuously improve the inclusivity of every business which links rural producers with buyers).By the end of the process you will have understood the relationship between specific business models (buyer and seller) and the overall value chain; identified critical areas for improvement; designed, implemented, evaluated and improved on the innovation prototype for the business model you selected; and evaluated the effects of these changes on smallholder farmers and on the business itself.Model*Company or Organisation *The commercial relationship between someone who sells and someone who buys.One company or organisation can have several businesses.\"Engage the poor as employees, suppliers, distributors or consumers and expand their economic opportunities in a wide variety of ways. \"*That which includes or is designed to include someone or something.\"Inclusive business models include the poor on the demand side as clients and customers, and on the supply side as employees, producers and business owners at various points in the value chain. \" (UNDP 2008)\"A profitable core business activity that also tangibly expands opportunities for the poor and disadvantaged in developing countries. \" (BIF 2011)\"A profitable core business activity that also tangibly expands opportunities for the poor and disadvantaged in developing countries. \" (WBCSD, SNV 2011)Inclusive*What is LINK Each of the proposed tools focuses on improving the inclusion of small-scale farmers.In order to get the most out of the toolkit, \"users\" should select, use and combine these tools in accordance with their own context, needs, budget and variable starting points in the process.A toolkit to build inclusive commercial relationships which link rural producers with modern markets.These four tools comprise a basic toolkit which can be used to implement innovation from the very beginning to the desired end: a recurring action cycle which contributes to better development of and benefit to small producers. Who doesAs previously mentioned, this guide is aimed at potential facilitators who will apply LINK Methodology. These facilitators could be representatives of an NGO which works with producers, representatives of a group of producers or buyers.Three types of actors: three perspectives \"My mission is to support smallholder farmers through service provision and the coordination of sales with buyers. \"A producer can be included in businesses as provider or seller, as employee or buyer.LINK Methodology focuses on the producer being included as a seller.\"I'm looking for new customers for my products. \"\"I want to expand my supply chain to include smallholder farmers. \"\" \" \" \" \" \" \" \" \"M M M My mission is to support smallholder farmers through service provision and the coordination of sales with buyers. \"\" \" \" \" \" \" \"I'm looking for new customers for my products. \"\"I want to expand my supply chain to include smallholder farmers. \"I am an NGO I am a seller I am a buyerThese actors, for whom LINK will be useful, belong in turn to three dimensions which intersect and are essential for the success of an inclusive business model: (1) farmers with the ability, capacity and organisation necessary to maintain the consistent supply required by a formal market;(2) buyers who are willing to adapt their policies to favour small-scale producers; and (3) an enabling environment with favourable public policy and donors, where these types of business relationships can flourish.Three essential dimensions for successwith skills, capacity and organisation with favourable public policy and donors with adapted private sector policiesOf course, all actors hope that revising a business model will improve performance and, indeed, improved performance is necessary in order to build long-lasting trade relationships. However, the focus of this guide is on inclusivity rather than general performance. We are not trying to improve the performance of each actor, but to build inclusive business models which contribute to increased interdependence within the value chains.Our goal is NOT to link the poorest farmers to the most demanding markets, but to invest in moving farmers up and making markets more accessible.This methodology assumes that the areas of common interest between diverse actors involved in the business model are not obvious. It is important, therefore, to ensure that all key actors are included in the process of defining objectives and common strategies, which in turn will generate coordinated efforts between all parties.This method is a prototype based on our best understanding of how to facilitate inclusive and durable trading relationships between smallholder farmers and their commercial partners. Users should apply their own best judgement to build on, adapt and improve these tools, according to their own context, aims and needs.In order to move forward, it is necessary to take a step. If you spend too long wondering whether this is the correct step to take, you will never get started on your journey. Although it is always risky to try out something new and there is always a risk of failure, learning takes place as we move towards our goals. In the same way, you should not imagine that simply applying this tool will guarantee success -rather, think of it as a process which allows you to \"fail\" as you move forward.General instructions (rules of the game)and space they have invested in analysis and reflection around the methodological tool. The discussion and agreements reached are generally more important than the final tangible results of the method.The use of participatory methods in this guide encourages members to air their views and you should aim to hear many voices speaking about a single market chain or business model. These points of view will be quite different -what a rural producer thinks is very different from what a city buyer thinks -but all viewpoints contain important information regarding the reality of the market chain or business model. In order to understand the market chain and the individual business models, their strengths and weaknesses, and the design of a shared strategy to build stable, durable and profitable trading relationships, it is necessary to listen to all voices equally.The role of the facilitator in this process is to systematise and document the information and present it back to the participants.In this way, it can be used to make more informed decisions on how they can work together to improve their economic activity.The use of participatory methods, known for their flexibility, should not be an excuse for poor preparation of the workshops. At the end of each session, the participants should feel not only that they have gained a deeper understanding of the value chain and its business model, but also that they are able to communicate this understanding to their peers and others.The facilitating organisation should have working relationships with all key informants or private sector actors, including companies, local supermarkets, external dealers, those who offer development services to businesses, etc.If the process is facilitated by a private company, it could be useful to involve (relevant) local development actors and groups of producers. This can sometimes be complicated, given limitations to developing good relationships and trust; however, it is essential to involve these actors, as they are the ones with knowledge of and information concerning market systems, rural development, business models, market opportunities and possibilities for innovation and improvement of the value chains.This guide is based on participatory methods adapted from the school of Participatory Learning and Action (PLA). These methods, which include focus groups, mapping, visualizations and other forms of facilitated reflection, seek to prioritise not only documented results but also the application process. Although a concrete result is generated at each stage in the process, that is, a map, a matrix, a table, etc., these products are not the central purpose of the exercise.Of equal importance and benefit to the participants are the timeThe value chain mapKEY TOOL 1The Value Chain MapDefine relationships and interconnections between the value chain actors.Understand the flow of products, services, information and payment. Enhance communication between different actors. Identify entry points or key leverage points to improve the value chain.What are the core processes in the value chain? How is the chain organised? Who are the key actors? How do products, payments, services and information flow through the chain? Who are the key partners? What external influences affect the performance of the chain?Visualise the diverse roles and connections between participating actors in the chain and identify sources of innovation and improvement.Provide information from a macro perspective about situation and context; provide a systemic overview and identify the context.Provide a detailed review of the inner workings of participating organisations.Function to its full potential without the active participation of key actors.Generate organisation-specific innovation processes.Trace product and information flows.Support a visual-and actor-oriented learning process.Identify blockages, bottlenecks and disruptions in the market system.  I represent a buyer... \"We are sourcing from smallholder producers already and want to improve our trading relationships.\" \"We don't really know the people who are behind the products that we buy.\" \"We want to start sourcing from smallholder producers.\" \"We want to find out if it is possible to source from smallholder farmers.\"I represent an NGO or development agency... \"We are looking for a participatory tool that enables us to visualise the entire chain, from input supply to end consumer.\" \"We want to initiate an innovation process with the aim of enhancing smallholder inclusiveness.\" \"We hope to identify critical entry points to improve the position of smallholder producers in the market system.\" \"We don't have any relevant information available to begin an inclusion process, so we are starting from scratch.\" \"We are looking for a tool that can be used both by producer organisations and by companies.\"The concept …from theory to practice A value chain is a connected series of organisations, resources and knowledge streams involved in the creation and delivery of value to the end consumer. Concept 1. Traditionally, the term \"institution\" is held to be synonymous with \"organisation.\"However, this is a mistake; institution can be defined as \"the norms and rules which define how different members of a society interact and relate to one another\" (North, 1995). It refers to patterns or models of behaviour, regulated by social actors. These patterns of behaviour are a result of a society's current norms and rules which give structure to human and social interaction (Guide to the Sustainable Livelihood Approach, CATIE, IDR, 2012).Institutions can be formal (such as legislation or laws) or informal (such as cultural practices) and operate on a range of scales. Thus, socioeconomic and institutional systems can facilitate, limit or have neutral effects on the development of a value chain. It is particularly important to assess how formal and informal institutions affect the participation of the poor, women, ethnic minorities and other, often marginalised, groups.The value chain map helps us to understand how different businesses interconnect to form one system. It is particularly useful when participants do not have the same level of information about the value chain and its context. The value chain map is a potential starting point for the inclusion of smallholder producers.The value chain has three dimensions: Direct actorsDirect actors are those directly involved in productive processes, postharvest handling, processing and commercialisation. These actors take direct possession of and are owners of the product in one or more links in the chain; they therefore run direct risks (Gottret, 2011).Indirect actors are those who offer operational services and/or support services to the direct actors at various points in the chain. Even though the product may well pass through their hands at some link in the chain, they do not assume possession of it at any time, and therefore do not run any direct risks. Indirect actors include suppliers, operational service providers, support service providers and regulatory bodies (Gottret, 2011).External influences refer to the fact that value chains do not exist in a vacuum; rather, they are part of a larger socioeconomic and institutional 1 system within a country. There are therefore numerous external forces (economic, legal/political, environmental, cultural) which can produce effects on value chains and are beyond the control of the direct actors. Some examples of these are the passing of a new pesticide law; the value of the dollar; the price of products, such as coffee, on the stock exchange; protected environmental resources available in a given territory; a cultural activity which significantly increases demand for a specific product; etc.The Value Chain MapThe common links in the chain for small-scale producers include those of preproduction, production, postharvest, processing, sales and retail sales, each of which can be subdivided further if necessary.What does the value chain map enable us to visualise? Map of actors and connections Map of commercial figures Map of environmentThe advantage of using cards for writing ideas is that they can be moved around during the debate as and when required. The group may find, as a result of its discussions, that it will want to move a card from where someone originally placed it. Write only one idea on each card (maximum 3 lines); make sure the writing is large enough to be read from a distance. Establish and use different-coloured cards to represent, for example, specific links in the chain. Make sure the group knows which colour corresponds to what.It is more than likely that participants will not know very much about the links that are further towards the end consumer. If this is the case, we recommend collecting the missing information through a market survey. You can find more information on how to do this in Section 6 of the following document: Self-evaluation made easy for the management of rural business associations available (in Spanish) at http://bitly.com/19hP3fd.Make sure you are very clear about all the concepts relating to the value chain and about the mapping exercise itself, so that you can quickly resolve any questions or doubts the participants may have. You will find a brief and simple explanation of each of the links in the chain in the following guide (p. 9-14): http://bit.ly/1ptm3Ju.Below is a suggestion for an awareness-raising activity you may want to try with your participants: Write the name of each link in the chain on a separate card. (Make sure to write large enough for it to be visible from a distance.) Ask for volunteers to represent each link in the chain. They should stick the cards on their chests. Position the volunteers so that the correct order of the chain is visible to all participants. They should join hands to represent the links of the chain.This exercise can also be useful to demonstrate how innovation works in the chain, when there is competition. Write the word \"Innovation\" on a card and place the card some distance in front of your (human) chain. As the chain is linked (with joined hands), in order to reach the \"Innovation, \" all the volunteers will have to move forward together. Explain that only when all the links of the chain move forward together (while information flows in both directions between them) will it be possible to attain permanent competitiveness.To visualise the links in the chain, key actors and their functions, and product and information flows from production to the end consumer.x y z M a t e r i a l sPhase 1: Mapping the actors and their relationships a) The direct actors and their roles Make sure to include informal support as well as formal support in your visualisation. This is sometimes the most effective type of support there is.The first thing to do is to get the links of the chain down on paper, either by drawing them or using cards to represent the links (e.g., production, processing, commercialisation). Use the questions below to stimulate group discussion, and ensure the answers are jotted down onto cards and placed in the relevant position on the chain (see Recommendations for working with cards).There are several reasons why it is important to save and document the results of this exercise. You will need these for: subsequent exercises and future analysis and work on the chain to compare later on with new mappings which will enable your participants to see how much they have progressed and where they have made changes.Here are some ideas on how to go about documenting the exercise and its results: Take a good (high-resolution, well-lit, well-focused) photograph of the final map. At the beginning of the activity, assign a secretary to take notes on any conclusions reached which are not written on the map, as well as the key points of the discussion. Take some decent photos of the group as members are in the process of discussing and constructing the map. These will stand you in good stead if you wish to share or disseminate the experience at a later date.The Value Chain Map Who are the actors involved in each link? Where are they (geographically) located? What do they do within the chain? What are their characteristics (e.g., gender, age, education) Draw up a separate chain for the direct actors. This will ensure that participants do not get bogged down with the amount of information, and will help them to visualise the commercial figures. Having done this, the facilitator should lead a discussion with the group, based on the questions below. Finally, the group should write up the main results of the discussion on a card and paste them on the relevant links in the chain map.What is the sale price at each link in the chain? At which points or seasons in the year does the price increase or fall? How do the buyers of the product pay (cash, cheque, electronic transfer, etc.)? How often do the buyers pay (e.g., up front, weekly, monthly, etc.)?What volume of the product (e.g., kilos, tonnes, units) is sold to each buyer? How frequently is the product sold to each buyer (daily, monthly, per harvest, etc.)? During which period(s) is the product scarcer and/or more abundant?How much does it cost to produce each unit (e.g., kilo, litre, etc.)? At what price is the product sold? What is the sales margin? If the product is transformed, what are the conversion ratios (e.g., 1 kg of fruit to obtain 1 kg of pulp)?Phase 2: 2 hours Ideally, this phase should be carried out immediately after Phase 1.You can use different types of lines to illustrate the connections between actors. You also need to think about connections that are not sequential, for example, from producer to retailer. Who does each actor sell his/her product to? What type of information flows between the actors? Who provides whom with information? How do the different actors communicate? What modes of communication do they use? d) Relationships between key actors Phase 3: Mapping external influences For this map, it is better to start with a newly drawn chain which includes only the basic structure (direct and indirect actors, product flow, information flow and interconnections), rather than try to use the maps drawn up in the previous two phases. The facilitator should then outline the five external forces, based on the questions below. The group should decide which areas are the most relevant in the context of its specific value chain, and the key information should be noted down on cards and pasted onto the relevant part of the chain (previously prepared).Which macroeconomic forces affect the performance of the value chain (e.g., global market conditions, exchange rates, etc.)? Which microeconomic forces affect the performance of the value chain (e.g., access to infrastructure, credit accessibility, land tenure)? What socioeconomic forces affect the performance of the value chain (e.g., income, land tenure, housing, healthcare, quality of life, etc.)? 2. Political/legal forces How do laws, regulations, standards or taxes influence the value chain and the selected market? How do private sector standards and business practices influence the value chain and the selected market? How do other policies influence the value chain (pricing policies, consumer policies, etc.)?What are the cultural, religious, demographic, educational and ethnic factors of the value chain's actors and partners? How do values, beliefs, attitudes and lifestyle influence consumer preferences, business practices and producer organisations?How does the chain relate to key environmental functions (e.g., water access, soil health) and how do these support or inhibit the development of the chain?As with Phase 2, it may be necessary to compile some secondary information through market surveys. You can find more information on how to do this in Section 6 of the following document:Self-evaluation made easy for the management of rural business associations available (in Spanish) at http://bitly.com/19hP3fd.The facilitator should have a thorough command of, and be able to explain, the concepts relating to these five external forces. Keep the guide glossary at hand and, if necessary, revise these concepts beforehand. Creation of the Nicaraguan Institute for Cooperative Development (Infocoop, in Spanish) which helped to speed up promotion processes, strengthen administrative procedures (such as updating institutional articles of association and governing rules) and accounting procedures (such as tax payments and updating accounting categories and registries).The law pertaining to coffee still does not function as it should.There is no efficient legislation that regulates the informal market in Nicaragua and promotes the production of coffee through incentives to coffee-growers and the offer of long-term credit for the renewal and re-population of coffee plantations.The Value Chain MapThe business model canvasThe business model canvasAssess how a key business in the value chain functions.Develop a shared language to describe and assess a business model.Create a baseline for the development of innovations in the business model. The direct actors' business models form the value chain, as a value chain is quite simply a linking of several business models.With this in mind, it is worth noting that the distinction between business models and value chains is often indistinct.The global view generated by the value chain mapping helps us to understand where to focus intervention efforts in terms of choosing a business model in which to intervene. Given that the emphasis of this guide is on inclusion, we need to identify which trade relationship is most likely to offer leverage to the other links. This means looking for the relationship between seller and buyer which would be most susceptible to the principles of an inclusive business model.However, the methodology for constructing a business model can be applied to any link in the value chain and to any trading relationship.Criteria for deciding which trade relationship in the chain to intervene in: Identify a trade relationship which has the potential to generate positive change over several links further back in the chain.of the actors involved in the trade relationship towards innovation and change.who will potentially benefit from a positive change.of the trade relationship.Value chain mapping is a way of looking at a system from a global perspective.Zooming in on one link of the chain unveils the actors' distinct business models. The business model canvas allows us to zoom in on a specific link in the chain, using a 3600 perspective.From value chain to business model How does each business model adapt to the needs of its neighbouring links?In a value chain, each actor is both seller and buyer to their neighbouring links. A solid value chain needs strongly connected links in order to face internal and external stress factors. Understanding how to strengthen these links is crucial to the quality of the business relationships. Additional questions (to be documented)Where is each customer (geographically)? What is the volume and sales frequency for each customer (e.g., kg, litres, tonnes, etc.; daily, weekly, monthly, etc.) The value proposition is the reason customers choose your product or service over another. To identify the value proposition for each customer or customer segment, consider the problem or need that your product or service satisfies. In most cases, the value proposition has a tangible component which includes all characteristics that can be perceived with the five senses, such as the size of the product, nutritional composition, colour, taste and smell. Intangible characteristics cannot be directly perceived and include properties such as health or characteristics to do with the origins of the product or the processing of the product, such as organic agriculture or Fair Commerce.Channels refer to how the product or service reaches and interfaces with its customers. In the case of agricultural products, the sales channel is often the same as supply chain logistics, which transfer the product from the producer to the end consumer.Block #3: Channels Key questions (to be answered visually)What form of transport is used to deliver the product to the customer?Additional questions (to be documented)Who bears the transport costs? How long does transport take? What delivery terms are there (pick-up from the farm, delivery to the customer, etc.)? How is the product stored?A business model must also describe the type of relationship it wants to establish with each customer segment in order to deliver the product or value proposition. Relationships can range from personal to automated. Consider the following aspects:The consistency of communication.The cost of maintaining communication.The potential to make your company stand out by offering a distinct customer relationship or customer service.Key questions (to be answered visually) Additional questions (to be documented) Key questions (to be answered visually)Who are your key direct partners (producers, input suppliers, transporters)? Who are your key indirect partners (financial institutions, research centres, universities, NGOs, public sector agencies, etc.)?Additional questions (to be documented)Block #9: Cost structure Key questions (to be answered visually)Which costs associated with the business model are the most important (e.g., staff, rent, public services, maintenance, supply, raw materials, certification, credit-related costs, etc.)?Additional questions (to be documented)Which costs are fixed? Which are variable? What percentage of your costs is covered by third parties (e.g., corporations, projects, subsidies, etc.)?The business model's cost structure describes the costs incurred for the creation and delivery of a value proposition, maintaining customer relationships and generating income. Those costs are easy to determine once the key resources and key activities are identified.A major challenge in applying a business model approach to smallholder agriculture is the general lack of cost data, specifically at the farm level. This gap can be addressed in many ways. In our experience, one of the most effective ways to generate reasonable cost data is through the use of focus groups with farmers.A facilitator can help them to develop a crop cycle timeline from planting to harvest and on-farm postharvest activities. For each activity identified, farmers are asked for the cost either in time (e.g., hours) or in money. At the end of the exercise, all activities are converted to a monetary value and added up to arrive at a clear estimate of costs. A focus group approach is the most appropriate for this type of exercise, using, as it does, social control for real-time data checking between peers and also controlling against atypical information. Furthermore, it enables discussion about the activities implemented and can help highlight potential areas for efficiency gains or cost savings. To be effective, this exercise should be conducted with more than one farmer focus group and the results compared.The difficulties of obtaining business data from buyers:Often, buyers are not willing to share business data about their relationships with smallholder producers. If this is the case, try to build the data using secondary information or estimates. When you come to processing the information, bear in mind that, as you are not dealing with primary data, there will always be a degree of uncertainty about the results. This is an important concept for buyers wishing to include smallholder producers in their supply chain. In inclusive business models, it is important to look at the value proposition from at least two perspectives: (1) from the producer's point of view and (2) from the customer's perspective.Inclusive business models should be sensitive to the realities of smallholder production as well as to market demands. For modern agri-food chains, almost all value propositions for buyers are built on high standards for food quality and safety, year-round availability and, sometimes, lower prices, communicated to consumers through brands. (See Case Example: Cuatro Pinos, Guatemala or Case Example: ALSUR, Colombia.)When buyers value their business relations with their providers (i.e., further backwards in the chain), and wish to revise these with a view to improving them, the Key Partners block ends up acting like the Customer block: buyers need to consider the needs of their providers and how they are meeting these needs.What are the needs of small-scale producers?Objective: Analyse how the business currently functions and discover opportunities for improvementExercise 2: Build the Business Model Canvas The value chain mapping (optional) Key data about the organisation being analysedThe current business modelQuestions to be answered visually vs. questions to be documentedThe questions to be answered visually are designed to help participants build the canvas and should be captured graphically on paper. Their main purpose is to tell the central story behind the business model.The additional questions to be documented complement the business model canvas textually. However, it is quite likely that the workshop participants will not have the necessary details to be able to answer many of these questions. In this case, these answers can be documented after the workshop, perhaps through interviews with key personnel who have access to this type of information (e.g., director or president of the producer organisation).During the analysis, the facilitator should keep discussion focused on the current state of the business model. Bear in mind that participants frequently try to describe an ideal state of affairs rather than the reality of the business model. During group discussions, the facilitator should try to ensure that participants' contributions are not biased.The facilitator needs to ensure that conclusions and the key points raised in discussions are properly documented (via notes, photographs, recordings, video), particularly those related to the questions to be documented (whether these are answered in plenary or in later interviews). Ideally, a brief document that summarises conclusions reached during this exercise should be attached to the business model canvas.Some people find it difficult to grasp abstract terms, such as \"model. \"The facilitator can help with this by, for example, comparing a business model to a house. Ask several participants what colour their house is, and how many windows and rooms it has. It is highly likely that participants will give different answers. The facilitator can then point out that, just as houses are all different, a model can also assume many forms. The canvas needs to be large enough to be seen by everyone and to contain the information that is generated by the discussions. Make sure that you know how you will achieve this beforehand. Some ideas follow: Project it onto a wall (this would require a plan B, in case there is no power). Use masking tape to \"draw\" the outline on the floor or on a wall. Print it out onto giant paper (this option is the most expensive). This exercise can be carried out with both sellers (producers) and buyers. For producers, it will help improve the performance of their productive activity and increase efficiency and functionality. For buyers, it will help to evaluate the inclusivity of small-scale producers in their business model. How is your business/farm working at the moment? STEP 1: Introduce the concept Introduce the general framework of the business model canvas by briefly describing the nine blocks of the business model.Go through each of the blocks in order, using the suggested key questions to facilitate a group discussion. Keep the discussion focused on the current state of the business model, as participants tend to talk about what they would like to see in the future, rather than what is really happening in the present. This information should be written/drawn on cards that can be pasted onto the relevant block of the business model canvas. What form of transport is used to deliver the product to the customer?When building the business model, you should always begin with the Customers block. This is to highlight that it is the customers who acquire the value proposal, and that, without them, there would be no business, and therefore no income.How frequently do you communicate with each customer? What method of communication is used with each customer?Block 5 -Revenue streams (RS) What key resources are necessary to develop and sustain the value proposition in terms of human resources, physical resources, natural resources, financial resources, social resources and intellectual property? Fixed costs These have to paid whether sales are made or not. Fixed costs do not vary according to the volume of sales or production (e.g., rent, salaries, accounting, the majority of marketing costs).These vary depending on the volume of sales or production. (e.g., raw material, transport).Objective: Review of the overall performance of a producer's business model.x y zThe current business modelDifferent-coloured cards Sheets of paper Different-coloured markers Tape Key actors in the organisation being analysedAsk one or two participants to sum up the business model canvas (constructed in Exercise 2) in their own words.The simplest way to obtain an idea about the health of the business model is to review the balance between revenue streams and cost structure: Do revenue streams exceed costs? Is sufficient profit generated for your business to be considered \"attractive\"? If so, is it enough to be able to invest in innovation? If your business is running at a loss, why is this happening?A closer look at some key figures will tell you in more detail how the business model is performing in terms of profitability and efficiency: Gross profit margin: How profitable is the business model?What is the ratio between profit and \"sunk\" costs (= cost efficiency)?What is the ratio of profit to revenue?How many products have to be sold to make a profit (= break-even point)?Brainstorm strengths and weaknesses of the business model. For this exercise, you can either look at the business model as a whole or at each of the nine business model blocks individually. Highlight strengths and weaknesses by using plus and minus signs, different-coloured cards or other symbols which can be easily recognised as referring to positives and negatives. Discuss the results in plenary and note the results of the discussion.The gross profit margin is an indicator for the financial health of a business and shows how much of each dollar of sales the business retains. This means the higher the percentage, the more money is left of expenses or profit.Break-even point is the number of produced units at which income and expenses are exactly equal, thus where an organization neither profits nor loses money. The break-even analysis will tell you when you begin to make a profit.Break-even for point units Case examplesThe business model canvasThe innovative business proposal of the social intermediary Alianza Hortofrutícola ALSUR aims to connect producer organisations with a portfolio of 25 fresh fruit and vegetable products to supermarkets in Cali. ALSUR's objective is to develop stable and lucrative business processes and specialised channels that contribute to an improved quality of life. In order to respond better to both stakeholder groups, Alianza Hortofrutícola ALSUR developed a specific value proposition for suppliers and for customers, taking into account their individual needs.Case example: Alianza Hortofrutícola ALSUR, Colombia Case example: Cuatro Pinos, GuatemalaTwo perspectives -the double-facing value proposition 1. Value proposition for producersCuatro Pinos manages its purchasing from smallholders through formal contracts, specifying quantity, quality and a production schedule, as well as providing a fixed price for the product. This fixed-price contract has been shown to consistently return 7-10% above the spot-price market. Additionally, Cuatro Pinos provides in-kind credit for seeds and materials, technical assistance, insurance and marketing services. Recently, the cooperative has been able to access government-supported crop insurance to help cover weather-related risks.2sReliable supply and qualityTo ensure supply, scalability and product quality, Cuatro Pinos identifies existing farmer groups in favourable environmental niches, works with them to test production schemes and then contracts those that show an ability to meet quantity and quality targets. The cooperative is the only farmer organisation in Guatemala that has received both farmand processing-level global GAP certification. It also has as an on-site pesticide waste lab.The business model canvas 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7Case example: Chiyangua, ColombiaChiyangua was founded in 1994 in Guapi, a small village on the Pacific coast of Colombia, and is the result of the efforts of a group of local men and women who wanted to conserve traditions from their Afro-Colombian culture. Chiyangua puts female farmers at the centre of its activities.Aromatic plants and condiments have always been a traditional part of Afro-Colombian culture, but alongside the modernisation of rural lifestyles, the people of Chiyangua observed that traditional plants, such as long-leafed coriander, were slowly disappearing from rural dishes and being replaced with artificial flavour enhancers brought from the cities.This worrying development was the beginning of a countermovement to promote the use and consumption of traditional herbs and spices in food and beverages. Supported by both public and private national and international donors, Chiyangua introduced an innovative production system specially adapted for the floodafflicted region. Women in the Guapi region started the production of aromatic plants using elevated wooden beds (2 × 10 m). This production system requires an initial outlay of US$100 but is able to generate a monthly income of up to US$200, with the added advantage that aromatic plants are relatively low-maintenance, allowing the women to carry out other income-generating activities.Chiyangua is now well known locally and highly respected in the region. It currently provides resources (seeds and know-how) and technical assistance to 84 women farmers. The association buys the finely selected national variety of cocoa from its members in the form of a gummy pulp (called \"baba\") which is then fermented, dried and graded on-site according to high quality standards which meet customer expectations. The traditional production procedures (on-farm and postharvest) guarantee chemical-free, high-quality cocoa.APROCA's work aims to strengthen the cocoa chain and affiliated cocoa farmers by promoting communal work, gender equality and the use of traditional Afro-Ecuadorian knowledge and practices. APROCA and its four sister associations offer a gourmet cacao that is certified by FAIR TRADE and the USDA Organic Label.The association manages to pay its affiliated farmers higher prices than the regional market prices, as well as providing integrated technical assistance and continued quality improvement processes.APROCA has a yearly sales volume of about 900 quintals of dried cocoa, of which 40% is exported. The business model canvas of APROCA, EcuadorEvaluate to what extent a business relationship with a formal buyer is inclusive of small-scale producers.Define concrete actions to improve inclusivity for smallholder farmers.How inclusive is your business model? What options exist for better inclusion of smallholder farmers? Where in the business model should you concentrate innovation efforts?Focus the business model analysis on areas that are critical to the sustained inclusion of smallholder farmers.Assess the performance of the business model in areas that are critical to the sustained inclusion of smallholder farmers. Help identify possible areas of innovation and improvement in the selected business model. Provide input for the design of an improved business model such that smallholder farmers are able to connect to markets.The New Business Model principles are not a magic wand which will automatically achieve smallholder inclusion. These principles should not be used as a check-list but rather as guides to assess and improve business models. The principles will not give you a specific answer, but they will help you to evaluate and think through relevant solutions for your business model. analysis on areas that are farmers.Profile I represent a producer association... \"I would like my buyers to better understand my situation as a small farmer.\" \"I am willing to collaborate with other chain actors but need to make sure that the results are favourable for all of us.\" \"How can we ensure that this is good business for all participants?\" \"How can the needs of small farmers be taken into account as part of a business model?\" \"We would like to become a competitive business partner. \"I represent a buyer...\"We want to enhance our chance of success in sourcing from small-scale producers.\" \"What market considerations, skills and business connections do we need in order to achieve smallholder farmer commitment and performance?\" \"What is our responsibility, what is the farmer's responsibility and what are our shared responsibilities?\" \"How can we achieve sustained sourcing, strict quality standards and measurable development impact from smallholder farmers?\" \"How can we make working with small-scale farmers good business?\"I represent an NGO or development agency...\"How can we ensure that small-scale farmers, women, day labourers and other members of the rural poor get a fair deal from this business model?\" \"On which critical aspects of the business model do we need to focus our attention to guarantee a social return?\"\"What is our role as an NGO in designing, testing and supporting more inclusive business approaches? What are our entry points and our exit strategies?\" \"How can we assess the inclusiveness of an existing business model and promote improvements that are beneficial to the marginalised rural poor, especially women?\" \"Where should we focus our resources to develop a sustained commercial relationship that helps the rural poor move out of poverty?\"Small-scale producers face a number of limiting factors which make them less attractive to work with in a modern agri-food system. These include low and inconsistent production volume, limited planning skills and opportunities, dispersed production, incipient business organisation, limited capacity to upgrade and meet formal market requirements, poor access to information, technology and finance, and high transaction costs.New Business Model principles have a two-fold purpose: to help both buyers and sellers evaluate their current business relationship using the criteria of inclusivity. The results that emerge on the score sheet (to be introduced later in this module) can be used as a starting point to improve inclusivity for small-scale producers. The principles highlight critical success factors for improving inclusivity, fairness, durability and financial stability in business relations between small-scale producers and formal buyers (who may be processors, exporters, wholesalers, retailers, etc.).These principles are emergent in the sense that they are drawn from a range of case studies of successfully implemented inclusive business models in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The studies did not examine failed attempts at connections, nor did they seek to develop a series of normative check-lists that must be achieved in order to develop an inclusive business model. Rather, these principles should be considered signposts that indicate issues and/or topics on which care should be exercised when constructing an inclusive business model which links smallholder farmers with modern markets. Not all principles will be present in all cases and quite often one or several will be of critical importance while others may be of lesser importance or missing entirely. We suggest that these ideas be applied as design principles accompanied with a large dose of common sense, innovation and adaptation to make them useful to local conditions.To what extent is your business model inclusive?Work out who is the seller and who is the buyer.In the value chain, most of the actors are both sellers and buyers, depending on the perspective one chooses. In order to evaluate a business relationship, it is essential to be clear about the perspective beforehand. A producer organisation is a seller if we are looking forward in the value chain. In this case, the buyer may be a processor, a wholesaler, a retailer or an exporter.However, a producer organisation can also be a buyer if we are looking backward in the value chain. In this case, the sellers would be the affiliated partner producers.The New Business Model principles have been designed with the first scenario in mind. However, they are still valid and can be equally applied in the second scenario.Source: Vorley B. 2009. Linking Worlds: New Business Models for Sustainable Trading Relations between Smallholders and Formalized Markets.The New Business Model principlesThe resolution of problems, in both commercial and social aspects of the New Business Model, means that all, or most, of the actors in the chain need to establish shared goals for collaboration.The development of a systemic view of the chain recognises and values the interdependence of the actors. Reaching and implementing agreements often involves identifying one or more \"champions\" along the chain who will lead the process.One of the special challenges faced by small-scale producers is gaining access to services such as finance, market information and best agronomic practices that could improve quality, yield, food safety and environmental practices.Successful solutions enable smallholders to access credit, knowledge and technology and develop incentives that encourage producers to invest in their own production based on market needs.New Business Models promote innovation in products, services and the processes that underpin both by multiple actors along the chain.Innovations should be developed with smallholder farmers, rather than for them. Inclusive innovation development provides the means to remain competitive in dynamic markets, to improve the commercial value of goods and services, and for innovation gains to be shared among partners, all of which build business durability.A business axiom states that you cannot manage what you do not measure. Our sixth principle is to incorporate tailored indicators and monitoring plans to assess the health of the ongoing trading relationship, both as a for-profit business and in its effectiveness as a vehicle for community development.Constant monitoring of the health of the trading relationship reduces the risk that minor problems will destroy the business.Farmers and their organisations need to be linked to a stable market that not only provides them with access to key services but also has clear signposting in terms of quality standards, volume and price (Principle 4). These linkages should contribute to improved livelihoods for the producers.For buyers, the linkage must provide a consistent supply of safe, quality products at competitive prices.In practice, achieving both producer and buyer goals entails creating and delivering social and commercial value along the entire length of the chain.Fair and transparent governance refers to the establishment and implementation of clear and consistent quality standards, clear commitments to buy and sell certain volumes of certain grade products at certain times, and equitable processes of risk management.Mutually recognised interdependency between chain actors is a key criterion. Shared commercial risk and insurance against failure are frequently cited as the cement of successful relationships.Do actors share the same goals? Do actors exchange information regularly? Are there structures in place to motivate collaboration or shared problem solving? Is there one or more \"champions\" who will lead the process of co-innovation? Do all actors understand and acknowledge the interdependence of the trading relationship? Are innovation processes carried out collaboratively? Who participates and why? If innovation is evident, who gains from the results? Are there profit-sharing mechanisms in place? Are small-scale producers encouraged to participate in inclusive innovation?Have indicators been established that will measure the success of the business relationship? Are the results of the business relationship measured frequently? Are there feedback loops in place to guarantee effective chain-wide management and decision-making?Are trading relations stable? Are trading relations profitable? Do actors take advantage of market opportunities? Do actors respond quickly enough to the changing needs of clients?Are sale/purchase volumes and prices communicated clearly? Are quality standards clear and consistent across the chain? Are risks understood and shared proportionately along the chain? Are trading relationships based on formal contracts or clear informal agreements?Are sellers and buyers pulling in the same direction?Principle #1: Chain-wide collaboration A collaborative partner network is vital for perishable commodities such as fresh vegetables, dairy and meat which require traceability and have higher food safety risk profiles. But collaboration is also key to upgrading a commodity chain in terms of quality, sustainability or smallholder inclusion. This is visible in the increase in information exchange frequency, the alignment of common objectives and acknowledgement of the interdependence between actors.Who is leading the process of collaboration?We cannot ignore the fact that chain stakeholders may not have an interest in increasing transparency and collaboration, or that the interests of smallholders differ from those of intermediaries and lead firms. Reaching and implementing agreement often involves identifying one or more champions to lead the process. These champions may come from the buyer, the seller or from a facilitating NGO, and might be single individuals or a group of people. Effective facilitation often requires building a group of champions drawn from different interest groups along the chain.Do actors share the same goals? Do actors exchange information regularly? Are there structures in place to motivate collaboration or shared problem solving? Is there one or more champions who will lead the process of co-innovation? Do all actors understand and acknowledge the interdependence of the trading relationship?The New Business Model principles Principle #2: Effective market linkages Farmers and their organisations need to be linked to a stable and profitable market which provides clear quality, volume and price signals (Principle 3), as well as access to key production support services (Principle 4). For buyers, this linking must provide a consistent supply of safe, quality products at a competitive price and with low transaction costs.At its simplest, chain linkage can achieve direct trade between the end customer and primary producer, but the high level of transaction costs in direct market linkages can be justified only for the most exclusive \"boutique\" products and brands.When direct collaboration is not feasible or scalable, adapted business models are called for. From the producer side, group organisation increases incentives for farmers to cooperate and compete as one single supplier. This type of collective action works through mutual control and serves to reduce opportunistic behaviour of individuals, and saves on quality and quantity verification and testing costs.To ensure effective market linkages, business models may include the creation of a \"double-facing value proposition\" which combines a clear business objective with an integrated social development mission. They may even become \"franchisable\" social trader models. Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar (see case example in Principle 4) is an example of this type of organisation.Are trading relations stable? Are trading relations profitable? Do actors take advantage of market opportunities? Do actors respond quickly enough to the changing needs of clients?Case example: NorminVeggies, market facilitator, Philippines Farmers of the Northern Mindanao Vegetable Producers' Association, NorminVeggies, are able to successfully participate in dynamic value chains of vegetable supply primarily because of the organisational structure they chose in order to respond to market challenges. Although it was founded as a non-profit-making association, NorminVeggies functions more as a social trader business, acting in total empathy with its smallholder farmers.The association formed marketing clusters, based on a farmer's capability, interest and capitalisation. Members follow a quality assurance plan for each product, have training for good agricultural practices and designate lead farmers to act as quality managers and coaches.New farmers are clustered with more experienced farmers who help jumpstart quality production. Benefits and accountability for quality are shared between all the cluster members. Products are traceable to the farm and farmer who supplied each pack or crate of produce. Farmers maintain ownership of their own products up to the institutional market and therefore have a greater participation in the chain.NorminVeggies supplies multiple market outlets -exports, supermarkets, hotels, wholesale and local markets -spreading risks (commercial, productive and meteorological) and ensuring an outlet for all products. For these services, NorminVeggies earns a market facilitation fee based on the value of the sale and uses the income to cover the marketing management overhead.The New Business Model principles Principle #3: Fair and transparent governance Transparent and consistent rules Does everyone understand the rules of the game?Governance refers to the setting, monitoring and enforcement of formal and informal rules along the chain. Specifically, fair and transparent governance refers to the establishment and enforcement of clear and consistent grades and standards, clear commitments to buy and sell certain volumes of certain grade products at certain times and equitable processes of risk management. Rules pertain to terms of trade, including price setting, payment terms, grades and standards, and regularity of delivery, often referred to as buying conditions.Shared commercial risk and insurance against failure are frequently cited as the cement of successful relationships. This can be achieved formally or informally, but the guarantees must be transparent in ways that enable the chain to be regularly monitored and rules enforced through an agreed facilitator, chain self-regulation or other mechanisms up and down the chain.Accountability can be achieved through mechanisms such as co-development, management and consistent application of standards, use of contracts to enhance predictability and transparency for producers, improved forecasting and planning, clear, consistent and known guidelines for pricing, and quality grades, among others.New Business Models also seek to make incentives transparent and to ensure that targeted beneficiaries are able to acquire these incentives. Examples from different models include incentives for meeting or exceeding quality and quantity goals, and contracts that leverage access to credit, access to reasonably priced inputs, etc. The key issue here is to align incentives with outcomes.Although it is not constructive to overregulate chain activities and/or governance, it is important to have a minimum level of common understanding on which to base decision-making.Are sale/purchase volumes and prices communicated clearly? Are quality standards clear and consistent across the chain? Are risks understood and shared proportionately along the chain? Are trading relationships based on formal contracts or clear informal agreements?The business of exporting vegetables is inherently risky. Losses because of damaged products from shipping or other factors are commonplace and often the result of difficulties beyond the control of chain members. In recognition of this, the exporter (Cuatro Pinos cooperative) and wholesaler (LA Salad) for a smallholder French bean chain developed a novel way to manage this risk.Through an informal agreement, 10% of the value of each box of French beans sold is placed in a settlement account. This account is jointly managed by the cooperative and the wholesaler in the U.S. Funds in this account are used to write off damaged product, invest in technical assistance on food safety and new product development, and for unforeseen circumstances.Both parties have agreed that first use of these funds is to guarantee payment to farmers, with other expenses taking secondary consideration. In the 2005-2006 production season, nearly US$230,000 were used to write off loans issued to farmers who lost their crops in Hurricane Stan. This fund is a novel way to plan for and respond to risks inherent in the export of fresh produce and is a good example of shared risk management.  Access to services is a key ingredient in sustaining smallholder participation in an evolving market place. Services such as finance, market information and best practices can improve quality, yield, food safety and Principle #4: Equitable access to services environmental performance and are especially critical for smallholder farmers.The value proposition arises out of a need to unite the conventional commercial value offered to customers with the social value offered to small-scale producers. The value proposition must meet the rigorous food safety demands of formal buyers as well as the service needs of farmers, such as technical assistance, financial services or market information.The buyer can offer these services to his providers directly or can facilitate access to services offered by third parties. An example of indirect service provision (through an indirect actor) could be when the buyer, through contracts with his providers, offers intangible guarantees which enable smallholders to access specialised bank credit for small businesses. The same service could be provided directly by the buyer through direct credit or advances.Because of the combination of commercial and social goals, New Business Models which seek sustainable development frequently require additional inputs from nonchain actors such as NGOs. To support the position of less well-endowed chain actors, the NGO often plays a catalytic or convening role, identifying opportunities for smallholders and investing in bringing chain actors together to discuss and agree on common commercial and social goals. Normally, this role is temporary and should be designed with clear exit strategies to avoid shocks to the system when development funding ends.Do producers have access to technical support services provided by the buyer or an indirect actor? Do producers have timely access to market information provided by the buyer or an indirect actor? Do producers have access to financial services provided by the buyer or an indirect actor?Case example: commercial intermediary, Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar, India A new generation of commercial intermediary in India is demonstrating that service provision can itself be a profitable part of a business model focused on inclusive growth. The rural retailer, Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar, which is part of the DSCL conglomerate, sells agri-inputs and consumer goods through its chain of centres which also serve as a common platform for providers of financial services, health services, etc.The Hariyali centres are procurement hubs for farm outputs, providing buyback and warehousing, and thus creating multiple revenue streams based on transparent and effective participation in input as well as output value chains. Each Hariyali store has a catchment radius of 20 to 25 km, comprising 15,000 to 20,000 farming families.They aim to provide producers with \"urban amenities in rural areas, \" easy availability of quality products at fair prices (\"similar to those in the city\") and, through IT, commodity prices and commodity futures as well as ATM access and weather forecasts.On the procurement side, they create linkages between producers and processors, exporters and retailers. The New Business Model principlesHow can we increase the value of goods and services from the chain? New Business Models promote collaborative innovation by multiple actors along the chain in products and services. Important innovations in supply chains can range from the development of new products, best practices or standards to the development of new supply chain organisational structures which facilitate entering new markets or servicing existing clients more efficiently. Too many development interventions are carried out \"on behalf of \"rather than \"with\" smallholder farmers, with a resulting failure to consult and incorporate the perspectives and needs of different actors along the chain. By way of example, one of the enduring ironies of sustainable development is that compliance with some certification schemes introduced in the name of \"market sustainability\" work out much more costly for smallholders, thus magnifying existing inequalities in the rural economy. Innovation is important because it is directly connected to differentiation in the marketplace which, in turn, is a prime driver for securing or maintaining a competitive position. Traditionally, product and process innovation occurs in-house with a lead firm dominating the process and reaping the rewards. However, by involving small-scale producers in the development of the innovation, far better results can be obtained than by one lone actor driving the innovation process. This is especially critical when the innovation goals include complex demands such as triple bottom line (People-Planet-Profit) gains or are based on product life-cycle analysis.A systemic approach to innovation allows greater understanding of the interdependencies between actors as well as shared access to the potential returns on coordination and joint activities. The end result is an improvement in the competitive position of the chain as a whole, rather than the accrual of additional value to one member or subset of members in the chain. A chain that can increase the value of the goods and services it provides is more able to enter into constructive discussion about how to share this increased value appropriately among participants than one whose goods and services are static or declining. Effective business models fully engage all actors in the system to improve performance, and are willing to share gains proportionately.Are innovation processes carried out collaboratively? Who participates and why? If innovation is evident, who gains from the results? Are there profit-sharing mechanisms in place? Are small-scale producers encouraged to participate in inclusive innovation?In Colombia, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) has worked to develop chain-wide innovation methods that work with all the distinct actors belonging to a chain.The process titled GIAR (Gestores de Innovación en Agroindustria Rural; in English: Leaders in Rural Agro-Industrial Innovation) is a toolbox designed to build a team of partners who focus on unmet market opportunities in a specific chain. They then work to identify and provide solutions to critical bottlenecks in the market chain, in order to take advantage of the identified opportunities.The team is responsible for providing innovation and solutions that market chain partners can use to upgrade their position in the market. Success in this area is critical where market forces tend to look for procurement from those who show they can innovate.Unilever has been developing a commercial supply chain for seeds from the Allanblackia tree in West Africa since 2001. One of the major limitations to scaling up the supply base had been the time needed for seed germination. As the Financial Times reported in September 2008, a surprising source of innovation helped resolve this problem.Scientists from Ghana's Forestry Research Institute had been working to find a faster method of germination for the seeds of the Allanblackia tree. But it was not until the team met a farmer who was using plastic bags for seed germination that part of the solution emerged. Meanwhile, another farmer had found that removing the husks of the seeds also hastened germination.\"We combined the two and, within three weeks, the roots were growing, \" says Samuel Henneh, operations manager at Novel Development, which is developing the new oil supply chain. \"That success story was caused by two farmers. So now we don't joke with the farmers -we behave as if we know nothing and we ask them to tell us their stories. \"The source of this breakthrough reveals the importance of learning from all partners.Case example: the GIAR toolbox, Colombia What should be measured, by whom, and for whom?Incorporating tailored indicators and monitoring plans helps to assess (1) the health of the trading relationship as a for-profit business and (2) its impact as a vehicle for community development.Principle #6 proposes ongoing measurement of the effectiveness of a business model, for all actors involved. This need not be complex -regular communication, meetings and visits are valid mechanisms -but should clearly focus on identifying and responding early to issues and problems before they threaten the trading relationship. At the same time, these tools can help to identify and take advantage of emerging opportunities either in chain upgrading, new product development or new market engagement. The inclusive process of measurement involving all chain actors can itself become a driver of much closer collaboration (Principle 1) and a chain-wide learning experience. Examples of inclusive processes include regular joint reviews of market trends and strategy development to maintain or improve market position, and joint development of plans to upgrade product quality and quantities based on market conditions.Measurement can be carried out in different ways: (1) Feedback refers to a formative process whereby activities carried out are examined for lessons learned, changes in context and new opportunities that may arise because of the activity. ( 2) Measurement, when used to talk about evaluation of outcomes, refers rather to a summative process which implies an evaluation or summary of the outcomes of an activity when the activity has been completed. For example, you could \"measure\" the impact of a business relationship on smallholder livelihoods or even on community development.The business model canvas, together with the Scorecard for New Business Model principles, provides a framework to capture the state of the business relationship at a given moment in time. Through repetition at different moments, you can build a sequential view of how the business models have changed over time. A simple cost-benefit analysis will show whether participation in the chain is profitable for all, including smallholders, but measurement of \"sustainable trading relationships\" would most effectively probe a step further. Improvements in producer income from specialisation for high-value markets may be obtained at the expense of the resilience of the household economy, long-term food security, the position of women in the household, or environmental resilience. So, measures of food security, gender relations and environmental aspects are additional dimensions for measurement in areas where these are important issues. This type of information, especially well-documented evidence that shows developmental impact, has a market value for buyers as it can contribute to the perceived CSR of a brand.It is insufficient, however, to only measure what is happening in the chain. Rather, a New Business Model requires both measurement and action on what is found by those measurements. Actions may be positive -e.g., scaling up good experiences -or more focused on Principle #6: Measurement of outcomesThe New Business Model principles problem solving -e.g., how to improve practices -but the critical factor is that the effects of the chain are measured, the results shared openly with chain actors and decisions on how to improve made cooperatively.Have indicators been established that will measure the success of the business relationship? Are the results of the business relationship measured frequently? Does feedback inform decision-making? Are there feedback loops in place to guarantee effective chain-wide management and decision-making?The brewery company SABMiller has made a commitment to support local farming communities in a number of countries where it operates: South Africa, India, Uganda, Zambia and Tanzania, using in-sourcing and outsourcing models and hybrid \"partnership\" models. A hybrid partnership is defined as specific activities outsourced to suppliers under close control and supervision.SABMiller also appreciated the need to evaluate the socioeconomic benefits of its smallholder programmes, if scaling up were to be successful.Through external reviews, it was able to measure the income benefits to farmers and measure the number of farming families and dependents. Participating farmers reported more stable prices and a more stable, long-term market compared to other local crops.The external evaluation also highlighted areas where SABMiller could improve its performance: for example, ensuring more timely payments to farmers; identifying that mismatches in supply and demand were leading to stockpiling and to vast disparities in orders from year to year (especially where lack of irrigation led to wide variation in harvests); and pointing out where the outsourcing company was reverting to supply from large commercial farms.Source: Business Linkages: Lessons, Opportunities, and Challenges. IFC.Case example: Cuatro Pinos, GuatemalaBeyond specific decisions made to date regarding the French bean chain in Guatemala, the process of working with supply chain actors to assess the sustainability of their systems shows promise on several fronts.First, one positive outcome has been the increased visibility to all actors of their interdependence and need for collective action. Greater knowledge of the reach of each actor's decisions, while not in itself a guarantee of better decision-making, helps generate more informed dialogue about options and highlights the trade-offs between short-term pressures and long-term business sustainability.Second, increased access to shared information supports more creative problem solving. Again, while not a cure for all ills, this information permits actors to better understand the causes of difficulties and work together to identify solutions. Finally, a process through which actors are shown their own system but not provided with ready-made solutions -of which few existseems effective in promoting generative learning at the individual and collective level. This not only generates better solutions but also better relationships and, eventually, a stronger supply chain.\"Going into this project, I didn't really know what to expect. As a buyer, we are usually just concerned with finding high-quality products that we can sell at a profit. By working with everyone, I have come to appreciate that, with our increased volume in beans, many people in Guatemala are finding ways to improve their lives. Today, I see a bag of French beans as more than just French beans in a bag -it's quality of life we are offering. \" Dale Hollingsworth -buyer, Fresh Foods.Source: Lundy M. 2007. Sustainable Food Lab Innovations for Healthy Value Chains.The New Business Model principlesThe Scorecard is separated according to the six New Business Model principles, each of which contains a number of criteria. You should grade each criterion based on your own perception of yourself and other chain actors with whom you interact (i.e., buyers, suppliers, support services, etc.).The grading to be used is a six-point scale ranging from \"strongly agree\" to \"strongly disagree.\" Please note that there is no neutral score available, which means that you will always have to decide whether your answer is more inclined towards the positive or the negative.You may find that some criteria do not apply to your particular context, in which case you would choose the N/A (not applicable) field. A criterion is only considered not applicable when, because of the context of the value chain or business model, it cannot reasonably be applied.After every criterion has been allocated a score, it is time to add up the scores and average them. The aim is to come up with a final average score for each principle. This is done by adding up the scores allocated to each criteria and dividing the total by the number of criterion ranked (usually between 7 and 15). Any criteria which do not apply (marked N/A on the scorecard) can be excluded from the sum. We frequently exchange information formally* with our customer.We frequently exchange information informally* with our customer.We are aware of the effects our decisions have on our customer.Our commercial goals* are aligned with those of our customer.Our social goals* are aligned with those of our customer.Our environmental goals are aligned with those of our customer.We work closely with our customer to resolve problems.We are able to respond quickly to problems that may occur with customer relations. We recognise and value the interdependence* between ourselves and our customer.Our activities and roles complement those of our customer.Incentives* (financial and nonfinancial) exist to enhance collaborative behaviour with our customer. Champions have been identified to lead the collaboration process with our customer.We use information and communication technology (ICT)* to enhance collaboration with our customer.Words marked with an * are explained in the Glossary (pages 112 and 113). Total points = Average score = Total points ÷ (9 -Number of criteria marked N/A) = Our product offer is stable for our customer.Our trading relationship with our customer is profitable.Our customer provides social value.* Our customer helps us to conserve environmental resources.We have capacity to identify market opportunities and trends.We frequently review with the customer our position in the market for opportunities that might arise.We generate a stable income from the sale of our products to our customer.We react rapidly to changes in our customer's needs.Our customer is familiar with our production system.The New Business Model principles Our buyer helps us (directly or indirectly) to access appropriate technical assistance for the production process. Our buyer helps us (directly or indirectly) to access appropriate production technology.Our buyer helps us (directly or indirectly) to access appropriate postharvest technology.Our buyer helps us (directly or indirectly) to access adequate transport services.Our buyer helps us (directly or indirectly) to access the inputs necessary for production and postharvest.Our buyer helps us (directly or indirectly) to access appropriate financial services.*The financial services provided are affordable.Our buyer helps us (directly or indirectly) to access up-to-date market information. Our buyer helps us (directly or indirectly) to access appropriate training services. The services that are provided (directly or indirectly) by our customer satisfy our needs.Our buyer helps us (directly or indirectly) to access appropriate production risk insurance. Our buyer helps us (directly or indirectly) to access appropriate market risk insurance.(If you respond with a score greater than \"0,\" proceed with #7; if you respond with \"0,\" for #7 select N/A and proceed with #8.) We frequently exchange information formally* with our provider.We frequently exchange information informally* with our provider.We are aware of the effects our decisions have on our provider.Our commercial goals* are aligned with those of our provider.Our social goals * are aligned with those of our provider.Our environmental goals are aligned with those of our provider.We work closely with our provider to resolve problems.We are able to respond quickly to problems that may occur with our provider.We recognise and value the interdependence* between ourselves and our provider.Our activities and roles complement well those of our provider.Incentives* (financial and nonfinancial) exist to enhance collaborative behaviour with our provider. Champions have been identified to lead the collaboration process with our provider.We use information and communication technology (ICT)* to enhance collaboration with our provider.Formal communication (normally planned or scheduled), e.g., presentations, meetings, letters, emails, notice boards, newsletters, scheduled phone calls, etc.All spontaneous communication. For example, spontaneous or casual conversations, spontaneous or casual phone calls, etc.Those objectives that are solely to do with profit, e.g., turnover, market share, sales margin, development of new products, etc.Are aimed at meeting social needs (caused by poverty, conflict, catastrophes and other factors). They also aim to conserve social assets and to promote favourable social change, e.g., communications, relations, support services, fair prices, purchase of regional goods, environmentally-friendly products, etc.Financial incentives: bonuses, discounts. Nonfinancial incentives: public recognition, awards, training.Interdependent actors rely on each other (economically, socially, environmentally) and share responsibilities.Incentives (financial and nonfinancial)The extent to which social goals are met.[see \"Social goals\"]Agreements between buyer and seller on price, product quality standards, payment periods, shipment method, delivery times and costs, packaging, payment terms (the length of time the buyer is permitted to pay for the delivered product).Weather events (droughts, floods, hurricanes, cyclones, sudden drops or increases in temperature, frost, etc.), pest and disease outbreaks, bush fires, etc., are major risks that lead to unstable production and livestock morbidity.The New Business Model principlesAlso referred to as commercial risk.Includes risks such as volatile commodity and input product pricing, volatile exchange rates and interest rates, etc.In this context, \"measurement\" refers to two concepts: Evaluation refers to a summative process used to evaluate to what extent objectives have been met. The purpose of evaluation is to summarise the results of an activity at a given moment. Feedback refers to a formative process used to tackle deficiencies and improve. Feedback is carried out more frequently than evaluation.The ability to follow or trace a product from farm to end consumer by means of product documentation history. Is traceability a capacity or a set of procedures? See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TraceabilityFinancial services Services such as credit, loans, savings accounts, money transfers and insurance. Usually provided by banks, microfinance institutions, government institutions or cooperatives.In contrast to \"tangible guarantees\" (that you can touch or perceive precisely) such as land and goods, intangible guarantees work like alternative guarantees and include contracts with buyers, certifications, relationships based on confidence between actors or commitments by a group of actors to pay back a loan (solidarity guarantees).Information and communication technology (ICT)Includes Internet, mobile phones, wireless networks and other means of communication.An innovation takes place when you create something new or reorganise something that already exists in a new way. There are different types of innovation: A product innovation is the introduction of a new product or service, or an existing product or service is significantly improved in terms of its characteristics or the use to which it is put. A process innovation is the introduction of a new or significantly improved process of production or distribution. This implies significant changes in methods, materials and/or computer programmes.A marketing innovation is the application of a new method of commercialisation which implies significant changes in the design or packaging of a product, and/ or its positioning, promotion or pricing. An organisational innovation is the introduction of a new organisational method in the company's practices, workplace or external relations.Objective: See how an existing business model performs under the criteria of inclusivity and identification of areas for innovation.Exercise 4: Principles for inclusive business modelsx y z As a sensitising exercise, and in order to help the different participants (seller, producer associations, buyer) keep clearly in mind the perspective they should be assuming, it may be helpful to use figures such as the one at the beginning of Tool #3 (see page 86).It is important that everyone understands the purpose of the activity: to strengthen the inclusivity of the trading relationship between two actors, rather than to improve each separate organisation.Nevertheless, if you wish to examine (at some other time) the overall performance of a producer association, the following guide may be a useful source of information: http://bitly.com/19hP3fd. This exercise can be carried out in different ways, depending on the characteristics of the group. For this reason, it is important to know the group well (e.g., power structures, relationships, education levels, homogeneity, etc.). On the next page, you will find three different scenarios that can be used with different types of groups, but you should bear in mind that these are merely suggestions -feel free to experiment with different activities!The facilitator should go through the terms defined in the glossary, given that not all the participants may be familiar with them or they may be interpreted differently by different people.It is very important to clearly define from whose perspective each principle is to be evaluated. Given that this tool aims to evaluate inclusivity in trading relationships between a smallholder seller and a formal buyer, you need to ensure that producer associations do not follow their natural tendency to assume the role of buyers towards a producer association; rather, for this exercise, producer associations should take on the role of sellers towards clients further along in the chain.When you are working with formal buyers, their focus should not be on their clients, but rather on their suppliers who will appear in their business model under the block of key partners (as was explained in the double-facing value proposition in Key Tool #2).Apart from the actual scores allocated to each criterion, key information arises from the discussion of results and critical reflection on why a certain score was allocated. The facilitator therefore needs to encourage the participants to complement their answers by using the empty spaces provided on the scorecard and/or participating verbally in the facilitatorled discussions.Additionally, the facilitator should ensure that the discussions generated about the principles are well documented. These discussions could be vital for future improvement. Why did we score this principle in this way? What does this result tell us about our trading relationship with our provider/buyer?Based on the discussion of the results, the group should prioritise areas for immediate action. The number of areas selected for improvement should be realistic, depending on funding and time available.If it is not possible to arrive at an agreement in plenary or through voting, you can use a decision-making matrix which includes criteria such as implementation, cost, dependence on external actors to implement, etc.When selecting action areas for the business model, bear in mind: Time and funding constraints be realistic about what can be accomplished within given time/budget limits.Power relationships are a key challenge for New Business Models. It may be easier to start with a relatively small innovation in order to promote trust before attempting more transformative change.Ensure coherence around key, agreed goals. On the flip side, a common threat can also promote collaboration.Even when collaborative, trading relationships will always contain an aspect of tension. It is from this tension that innovation is born.More important than designing a perfect solution is to start moving forward and learning on the way.The New Business Model principles -Supply chain coordination is based principally on sales projections and actual sales data, flows from buyers back to the Cooperative and from there to diverse farmer organisations. In the U.S., the wholesaler LA Salad also plays a role. Based on projected sales, Cuatro Pinos develops production plans with partner organisations.This system functions in a relatively informal manner with market information relayed to Cuatro Pinos either via email or fax but often via phone calls (with LA Salad for example). From there, Cuatro Pinos formalises the process with the development of production plans and contracts with associated producers and producer associations.Cuatro Pinos is the aggregating and contracting agent with the international buyers. It provides key systemic services both to buyers (i.e., quality and consistency guarantees) and to farmer organisations.An effective mechanism to recruit additional growers (clear value proposition) combined with willingness to work with a broad range of farmer organisations has enabled them to provide market access for a large number of farmers.Chain governance from Cuatro Pinos back to producer organisations and individual producers is clear, based on production plans and backed with formal contracts. Recently, these contracts have included weatherinsurance coverage partially subsidised by the Guatemalan state.Arguments regarding product quality are still relatively common (suggesting clarity is still an issue).Full transition to GlobalGAP is driven through the provision of price incentives to farmers who gain and maintain certification.A shared risk fund (between Cuatro Pinos and LA Salad) allows the Cooperative to guarantee payment to farmers even when product is not sold because of problems at the port of entry or logistics. Measurement of outcomes occurs within Cuatro Pinos following the cooperative model (yearly meetings, internal accounting and collective decision-making). The system works well for cooperative members and is complemented with informal feedback activities -basically ongoing visits and phone calls -with noncooperative member organisations.Recent household nutrition surveys show troubling rates of malnourishment in 20% of cooperative member families who are relatively better off than nonmember suppliers, so clearly market linkages (including credit) are not enough to solve poverty on their own. 40% are small-scale farmersCoffee roasting company with own coffee shops in three cities Transparency contract & quality pricing premiumCase example: Intelligentsia Coffee, USAThe principal mechanism used is face-to-face strategy meetings with Intelligentsia staff two or three months before the harvest in order to outline business goals with all partners. Besides the preharvest strategy meetings, Intelligentsia staff also attempt to visit farms during the harvest to monitor quality, and during postharvest to review, evaluate and celebrate success.A new mechanism being implemented is the annual \"Extraordinary Coffee Workshop\" in which Intelligentsia brings together different coffee farmers to discuss issues related to quality, market trends and other relevant topics.Intelligentsia provides direct links to the final customer and directly identifies high-quality producers. The quality-based business model requires considerable up-front investment from Intelligentsia so that it can identify marketable products.Consumer integration is an important part of Intelligentsia's quality-based business model's success, so consumer education about coffee production, sourcing processes and quality is of high priority for the firm.Fair and transparent governance is ensured through the following mechanisms:A transparency contract that defines and documents pricing, responsibilities, costs and profit across the chain of custody. All trade participants must agree to transparent disclosure of payments back to the individual farmers.Long-term contracts: Contracts in the first and second year of the business relationship are for one year. In the third year, given measurable success and tangible confidence, multiple-year contracts (up to three years) are designed.Pricing premium and clear pricing structure: The verifiable price in the Direct Trade Model to the grower or the local cooperative (not only the exporter) must be at least 25% above the Fairtrade price. The Intelligentsia tiered pricing system establishes a sustainable base pricePrinciple # 1: Chain-wide collaboration Principle # 2: Effective market linkages Principle # 3: Fair and transparent governanceThe New Business Model principles and ensures there is a clear, tangible link between cup quality and coffee value.Payment is made in full at the time of export.Quality is measured through cupping. Cupping results are communicated to and discussed with farmers during the postharvest field visits. Producers are often able to double their income within a few harvests. A number of real-life examples show base prices that have grown threefold.Information management: Intelligentsia has created a system that allows producers access to the same information as millers and exporters (see www.cropster.org).Principle # 4: Equitable access to services Principle # 5: Inclusive innovationAccess to expert taste testing and access to results database.Support for obtaining preharvest financing (through root capital).Intelligentsia has noted that its tiered pricing system with its incentive structures seems to trigger innovation, as growers realise that they can influence quality to obtain better prices. Most innovations tend to come out of medium-sized farms.Intelligentsia actively engages farmers in discussions about how they might improve cup quality. In some cases, experiments in fermentation or drying are conducted with growers to assess their effects on cup quality. When successful, Intelligentsia may offer the coffee as a micro-lot and share the additional profits with the farmer or cooperative involved.Intelligentsia has implemented an interesting way of ensuring that the premiums paid are actually reaching producers. Individual growers use a peer control system: the preharvest meetings are used to clarify what individual farmers will receive; then, communication channels between Intelligentsia and individual farmers are set up. Producers use these channels if they feel that their cooperative or an intermediary is not disbursing premiums as agreed upon in the contract.In some cases when cooperatives are much larger, Intelligentsia also makes use of certification schemes such as Rainforest Alliance and UTZ to track payments. Interestingly, these certifications are not communicated to the final clients.Principle # 6: Measurement of outcomes 2 0 1 3Effective market linkagesEquitable access to servicesPrinciple # 1: Chain-wide collaboration Principle # 2: Effective market linkages Principle # 3: Fair and transparent governance Problems are voiced mainly through farmers' visits to the outlets and their communications with agronomists. The IT system logs farmers' enquiries, so that problems are stored and can be fed back to the centre. Rajesh Gupta, president of Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar, explains, \"We always try to understand problems from the farmer's side -through our agronomists and the questions farmers themselves ask in our retail stores. \" HKB has a buy-back scheme that serves as a link between small-scale farmers and markets. HKB also procures grains and basic crops from smallscale farmers in order to \"move them up the value chain. \" Farmers produce seeds for HKB which HKB then sells at its outlets -it processes the seeds and sells them under its own label.HKB aggregates the produce for the farmers. At the farm level, produce is collected directly, or at the village level, from approximately 500 metres away from farmers' fields.Pricing, information about pricing and timely payment are all vital for establishing trust. If farmers are offered lower buy-back, they will go elsewhere. Information is provided to farmers at a number of outlets. Mobile phones are also used to announce bonuses and premiums to farmers for good-quality seed, for example, preseason. Farmers are also made aware of the support price, which allows them to plan ahead and make decisions more effectively. Written agreements are in place for farmers, but \"contracts are not enforceable. \" A mutual understanding or agreement is far more powerful.Inputs/retailing/household goods Technical advice available at hub and through targeted group seminars (not one on one in field)Credit or facilitation of credit (through partner bank)Insurance: crop insurance and life insurance (need to probe more about crop insurance)Market linkages through seed production (which has now expanded significantly), dairy, and grainFuelling stations with transparent pricing (cooking gas) are also available at the outlets, as are demonstration plots for training purposes.HKB prides itself on its high-quality seed production. There is a degree of collaboration in order to ensure that this high quality is met. Farmers, for example, are given foundation seed to maximise quality and HKB has control of the input material they give to farmers to ensure that genetic purity is maintained. Because of this, rejection rates of seeds sold to HKB by farmers are very low. Gupta believes that approximately 90-95% of seeds are bought back from the farmers. For seed, HKB offers tech services to farmers to help them meet quality standards and has a continuous engagement and dialogue with farmers.Principle # 4: Equitable access to services Principle # 5: Inclusive innovationThe New Business Model principles 2 0 1 3Effective market linkagesEquitable access to servicesIn general, Gupta and Chhabra (head of retail operations) evaluated an outlet's success based on the percentage of total agri-input market that HKB was able to capture in each outlet's catchment area.Case example: Sustainable Harvest, USA Let's Talk Coffee is an annual event organised by Sustainable Harvest and its partners along the value chain that brings together hundreds of coffee roasters and growers for direct conversations in an innovative and transparent forum.In an industry where it is often difficult for partners to meet face to face, Let's Talk Coffee provides a unique platform for business partners to create and maintain open lines of communication, humanising their business relationships and bringing the Relationship Coffee Model to life. Participants gather to gain an understanding of collective, practical actions that can be taken to ensure a future of specialty coffee. This year's program focused on price risk management, quality calibration and farmer income diversification.Sustainable Harvest is a specialty coffee importer that uses the \"Relationship Coffee Model\" to bring partners together in a sustainable supply chain that benefits everyone involved, from the farmer to the end consumer. This approach builds direct, transparent market linkages for coffee growers while investing in training and management systems to improve their ability to produce high-quality coffee.. In 2012, the event hosted 379 participants, including producer organisations, coffee roasters, nonprofit organisations and financial institutions from 22 countries. A direct result and benefit of the Let's Talk Coffee forum were 11 million pounds of coffee sales that were negotiated during meetings at the event.actors, provides access to critical information that matters especially to small coffee growers and encourages chain actors to take mutual action. www.sustainableharvest.com/relationship-coffee/let/ KEY TOOL 3 The New Business Model principles I represent a producer organisation... \"How can we improve communication with our buyers so that they better understand both our service needs and potential to help them grow their businesses?\" \"Our farmers are constantly experimenting but none of these experiments are done in collaboration with our buyers. How can we learn together?\" I represent a buyer \"How can we meet the recent sustainability targets set by our corporate headquarters while at the same time engaging and expanding our smallholder sourcing program?\" \"How can we develop novel products and stories that will help us differentiate ourselves in an increasingly competitive marketplace?\" \"Supplies are tight for our quality specifications for this product; smallholder farmers might be a good option to diversify our supply base. What can we do to make our company attractive as a preferred buyer for smallholder farmers?\"\"How can we move beyond mere analysis of the value chain and business model to really achieve change that benefits smallholder farmers and their buyers in our target region?\" \"Now we have an idea what needs to change, but how do we go about facilitating this in a practical way that leads to lasting change?\" \"Both the farmers and the buyers know that the business model needs to be improved but aren't clear on how to do this. We would like to facilitate this process but don't know how.\"The process for arriving at a prototype*The prototype is the business model you want to attain, an improved form of your current business model.Through prior application of tools, such as mapping the value chain, the business model canvas, and the principles for New Business Models, you have identified various problems and opportunities. These now become important inputs with which you can feed the design of your prototype.where proto means first and typus means shape or pattern. Where you want to be (THE PROTOTYPE)The prototype cycle is a doing-and-learning cyclical process.The inputs to be used in its construction come from the previous exercises, especially from the simple evaluation of a business model (Exercise #3) and the inclusivity evaluation using the NBM principles (Exercise #4).The aim of the prototype cycle is to resolve those problems which impede progress, rotating between the following stages:Plan -Test (do) -Check (measure outcomes) -Adapt or AdoptInnovation inevitably includes the risk of failure -but it is better to fail and adjust what didn't work than to do nothing, waiting for a perfect solution. The emphasis of the prototype is on action.The prototype cycle can take from 3 to 6 months to apply (obviously, smaller innovations would take less time). The first rotation of the cycle ends with the first measurement of outcomes.Based on the results of this process, you will decide whether to take action and/or redirect the focus if necessary. There are no hard and fast rules regarding how soon to undertake the first measurement of outcomes; you will need to find a balance between practicality and control -to adjust what did not work and adopt what did. From there, the second rotation of the cycle begins, and so on -until you reach a satisfactory and adequate conclusion. This could take several rotations of the cycle.Adjust what doesn´t workThe Prototype CyclePerformance vs. inclusivityWhen it is time to implement the prototype cycle, you need to synthesize the results of the previous exercises, especially the problems and opportunities that emerged from each exercise.When examining the diagnoses, you should be able to identify two dimensions:Those problems and opportunities which require interventions aimed at improving the inclusivity of a business relationship, which is the main thrust of LINK Methodology.Those problems and opportunities identified during the previous exercises, with solutions that result in improving the overall performance of an organisation.Why is this distinction important?It is generally assumed that inclusivity and overall performance are mutually strengthened through positive feedback loops. This means that greater inclusivity contributes to better overall performance, and better performance, in general, contributes to greater inclusivity.This mutual strengthening is the result of a bilateral phenomenon: for the actor who wishes to be included, a strong overall performance is more commercially attractive, which in turn increases the possibility of him being included in a business relationship.Conversely, for the actor who implements inclusion, strong performance results in greater ability to include.However, in order to develop an action plan and determine respective roles, responsibilities and financing for an innovation, it is important to be aware of the distinction between the two terms. Given that inclusion is a bilateral action which involves both parties assuming responsibilities, interventions to improveIt is a bilateral process It is a means, not an endInclusion is a bilateral activity. It involves the actor who includes as well as the actor who wishes to be included.inclusivity automatically involve both actors in the trading relationship. In contrast, interventions to improve the overall performance of an organisation can usually be carried out more independently of the client/provider (although they may well involve indirect partners and stakeholders such as NGOs, consultants, state actors).The prototype design consists of one or more interventions, with each intervention relating to a thematic line of improvement, for example, collaboration between actors, governance, inclusive innovation, etc. Each intervention consists of several activities which are related to the different business model blocks. Together, the interventions outline a precise vision of where you want to take the current business model, that is, the prototype.In order to achieve this vision, and bearing in mind that each intervention aims to work on a different thematic area, you need to work out a logical order or pathway not only for the interventions but also for the sequence of activities within each intervention. At this stage in the process, the diagnosis and planning are complete and the groups need to take the plunge into their new business ventures. As with all planning, implementation often leads to unexpected challenges that need to be addressed by the group and the facilitator as they arise. Success at this stage will depend on the leadership of the group and the commitment of the team to take on these new challenges and deal with them pragmatically.It is infinitely preferable to just take a step than to do nothing while you try to determine what the \"right\" first step is.The first step taken is the beginning of the learning process -once you are on your way, you will be able to see more clearly what needs doing.The trick is to keep improving processes step by step until you reach the desired outcome. In the latter case (when you adopt something that has worked well), monitoring doesn't just stop. It becomes part of an iterative measurement process of successful elements, which may still need adjusting at some point in the future, for example, when the business model environment changes.The cycle of Plan -Test (do) -Check -Adjust/Adopt enables the action plan to evolve, to develop and to improve.The M&E process includes different levels or dimensions, each with its own specific success indicators. The activities within each thematic intervention should achieve results at the following levels:Results at the level of the indicators defined for each specific activity.Results at the level of the business model and business relationship.Results at the level of the value chain.Results at the level of small-scale producers' quality of life.Changes in the business modelChanges in the livelihoods of small-scale producers Evolution of gross or net profit along the value chain. Is profit stable, increasing or decreasing?How does the distribution of the final product or products along the value chain and among diverse actors evolve over time? Who retains the most value, and how does this distribution change over time?Evolution of production costs in the different links of the chain. Are costs stable, increasing or decreasing?Evolution of harvests or productivity per unit, investment or employment in the value chain. For example, production per hectare planted or quantity of cheese produced per litre of milk.Evolution of the end product's commercial value (adjusting for currency). Is the product value stable, increasing or decreasing?KEY TOOL 4The Prototype CycleIndicators for the value chain level 2The value chain is the next level, after the business model, where you can expect to see change. This measurement can include the sale of products, employment or reduction in purchases as a result of the strategy to increase competitiveness. Although income gains are positive, it is critical to avoid overdependence on any one activity or business model.This highly simplified list should always be applied bearing in mind gender differentiation to account for diverse impacts on women and men. In some cases, it may also make sense to differentiate by ethnicity or age. Many far more formal and robust evaluation approaches exist. If resources are available to implement and make use of data from such approaches, this initial list can be greatly expanded. See, for example, http://thecosa.org/. In some cases, the above list might be complemented or even replaced by tools such as the Pathway Out of Poverty Index TM (PPI TM ) developed by the Grameen Foundation (http://progressoutofpoverty.org/).Indicators for the level of small-scale producers' livelihoods HERRAMIENTA 4 El ciclo del prototipo Objective: Synthesize the distinct problems and opportunities that came out of the previous exercises, and identify their causes and effects.Exercise 5: Build the problem tree For this exercise, you will need not only the concrete results from previous exercises (such as the identification of positives and negatives in the business model or the spidergram that resulted from the evaluation of NBM principles) but also the documentation of the informal discussion that arose during the exercises. It is here that all your careful prior documentation will bear fruit.In this exercise, it is important to be able to distinguish between problems with inclusivity between seller and buyer (which is the main focus of this methodology) and problems with individual performance of each of the actors in the business relationship which will inevitably become visible during the implementation of this methodology. Although inclusivity and performance are closely related (see pages 17 and 124), it is important to prioritise those problems which, if resolved, would enable the included actor to become more commercially viable, and the including actor to increase his or her capacity for inclusion. In this way, you will ensure that the resulting action plan is of equal interest to both parties.As long as the problem tree is constructed carefully -maintaining logical relationships between the different levels: problem, cause, subcause, direct effect and secondary effect -the following exercise should be relatively simple.It is essential that you keep the problem trees which are drawn up during this exercise in order to carry out the next. One way of doing this is to take a good-quality photograph (high resolution, with good lighting and focus) of each problem tree.The facilitator will definitely need help with this exercise: appoint one secretary who will help manage cards and the visual construction of the trees and another to take notes on conclusions.A problem tree is a useful tool for analysing complex issues. You can find more information about this tool in the following documents: http://bit.ly/1vAGbiV (in English) http://bit.ly/1vd2c51 (English/Spanish) http://bit.ly/1tki6rT (in Spanish).One or several members of the group should summarise the results from Exercise 3 (Simple evaluation of the business model) and from Exercise 4 (New Business Model principles).Each problem identified should be written on a separate card. Use two distinct colours to separate (1) problems which came out of the Simple evaluation, bearing in mind that this refers much more to the internal performance of the organisation; and (2) problems which came out of the Scorecard for New Business Model principles, bearing in mind that this relates directly to inclusivity.If any other problems have been identified (perhaps as a result of informal discussions during activities or when mapping the value chain), you will need to decide which category they belong to (will their solutions contribute to internal performance or inclusivity?) and colour-code them accordingly. (See pages 28 and 152 for more explanation.)Gather together individual problem cards which relate to the same topic.Once problems have been identified, the group needs to order them in terms of importance, feasibility, potential impact and/or resources required. This is often easier said than done, as every problem seems to be of equal importance. The group should decide together on the criteria for prioritising the problems:If the criterion chosen is the importance of the problem, feasibility of change or potential impact, a double-entry matrix tool can help you to compare each problem one by one and to identify the most urgent.If the prioritisation criterion is resources required (availability, cost), a simple two-column table should suffice: use Column 1 to note down an area for improvement and Column 2 to detail the respective key resources. Using this method, it is easy to see whether the necessary resources to solve each problem (or area for improvement) are available.We recommend selecting a maximum of three problems dealing with performance and three problems dealing with inclusivity. Each problem identified will generate its own problem tree.Place the problem card on the trunk of the tree or in the middle of your work space. (Depending on the problem you have chosen to analyse, you may find it necessary to define a more specific problem that derives from the core issue.)The \"Double-entry Matrix Tool\" is a simple tool to apply, taking 30 to 45 minutes. For more information on how to use this tool, see pages 60 and 61 in the following document: http://bit.ly/1tkip64 Through this exercise, you will define the activities needed to build your future business model, that is the prototype: a more inclusive business model. It is vitally important, therefore, to bear in mind that inclusivity is the focus of this exercise. The exercise should be relatively easy to carry out provided the problem trees constructed in Exercise 5 were built carefully, ensuring that the logical relationships among problems, causes and effects were analysed sensibly.Given that this exercise will lead to activities to improve the business model, it is absolutely vital to document not only the results but also the discussions that will take place around the construction of the solution tree and the logical pathway. This will be particularly useful when it comes to monitoring and evaluating results because it will enable you to compare \"before\" and \"after. \" It will also feed into the following prototype cycles, in which you will need to define whether the problems were solved or not and why.As in the previous exercise, designating a secretary who will help the facilitator with registering conclusions is indispensable.1. Recap the problem tree(s)One or several members of the group should recap the problem tree (or trees) in their own words. Make sure that the problem tree is displayed on a wall or on the floor, leaving free work space to its right. By changing the core problem into positive wording, you will generate your main objective for this intervention area of the prototype cycle. For example: Problem: \"weak feedback from the buyer to the seller on his new commercial needs\" Solution: \"strong feedback from the buyer to the seller on his new commercial needs\"At the end of the exercise, one or several members of the group should recap the solution tree in their own words, and verify the logic of both trees.When you build the solution tree, it is easier to start with the core problem and continue downward, that is, transform causes into specific objectives or activities. Then move upward to transform effects to performance indicators and final results. Once you have identified your objectives through the use of the solution tree, organise them into a logical order. Bear in mind that some objectives can be worked on simultaneously, while for others you will need to achieve certain objectives first before being able to progress.This ordering of objectives constitutes a logical pathway for interventions, so that you can move from addressing a problem in a specific area of the current business model to improving that area in the future model or prototype.When you have organised the objectives logically, finish building the logical pathway by adding the previously determined activities and products/performance indicators for each objective. Thus, the logical pathway ends up becoming a planning tool for the implementation of the prototype cycle.At the end of the exercise, one or several members of the group should recap the logical pathway in their own words and verify the logic of the exercise.The importance of the logical pathway is to have an illustrated navigation map that is understood by all the participants who are designing the interventions for the prototype cycle.Exercise 7: Build the future business model Exercise 7: Build the future business modelObjective: Articulate the proposed changes to the business model .Different-coloured cards Sheets of paper Different-coloured markers Tape 3 hours Key actors in the business modelThe current business model The problem tree(s)The solution tree(s)The future business modelThis exercise follows the same logic as in Exercise 2 (Build the business model canvas). The only difference is that the questions now focus on a desired future model.You can carry out the exercise on the same business model canvas constructed previously, simply using different-coloured cards so that the elements that are to change will be highlighted.If the current business model canvas is too crowded for the above to be an option, you can undertake the future model on a separate canvas, but make sure you keep the current model visible at all times in the room where you are working.To capture the value of this exerciseThe facilitator should ensure that the main points and conclusions from discussions are recorded (using notes, photographs, audio or video recording); pay particular attention to participants' expectations of the future business model and the changes they hope to see in each block of the current model. You will find that many valuable ideas and conclusions come up that will feed into the next exercise: Build the action plan and the monitoring and evaluation plan.Ideally, when you are finished, your future business model canvas will be accompanied by a brief document summarising the main conclusions obtained during the exercise.This projection of the business model into the future can also help visualise different scenarios, using the question What if …? This would enable you to carry out a hypothetical rehearsal of what the business model would look like if one of the intervention ideas were to take place in practice.We strongly recommend keeping the current business model visible while undertaking the construction of the future business model. This will facilitate constant comparison between the model of today and the model of tomorrow, and visualisation of which blocks will change the most.x y zObjective: Design a plan that will move you from theory to practice, with progress indicators for each of the different levels where change is expected. The action plan must be based on realistic projections of the time and resources available to those responsible for implementing the plan. It is better to start off with a less ambitious plan which is achievable than to construct an overly complex plan which is unrealistic. But rest assured, each time you go through the prototype cycle, you will be able to increase the complexity of the activities to be implemented.The monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plan should be useful and practical, not an extra bureaucratic burden for those involved. The aim of the M&E plan is to provide timely information regarding how the planned activities are being carried out.The M&E plan includes measuring change beyond a specific intervention. That is, it also reflects changes in the business model, value chain and livelihoods of small-scale producers. With each dimension, it looks further into the future: changes to intervention indicators will be visible in the short term, while a change in the livelihoods of smallholder farmers will usually be visible only in the long term.To visualize the sequence of activities in the action plan, it may be useful to render the action plan into a Gantt chart, which is a timeline of tasks. Free tools are available which enable you to coordinate project implementation within a team, and also offer the option of developing the Gantt chart tools, for example, https://redbooth.com/.Both the action plan and the previous exercises should be carried out by the same key players who will be responsible for implementing the plan, and who have participated in all the diagnostic exercises. In order for the plan to be carried out practically, it is crucial that those involved have understood the importance of the changes that they will face.a t e r i a l sHIVOS is a Dutch development organisation guided by humanist values and its mission is to contribute to a fair, free and sustainable world. HIVOS has more than 20 years' experience in the coffee sector, and invests more than €2 million (euros) a year to improve sustainability.Together with the Kenyan nonprofit organization SMS Limited (Sustainable Management Services), HIVOS developed the Leverage Quality Improvement (LQI) model. It is a bottom-up approach which strongly relies on farmers improving their own situation by empowering them to do so. A few smallholder farmers manage to produce significantly more and to have higher-grade crops, and these farmers serve as an example for others.Farmers are organised into groups of 50. They select a male and a female \"promoter farmer\" on criteria such as being an opinion leader, being a native farmer, being available for training and being able to read and write in English. The promoter farmers are trained on agricultural practices and record-keeping and are then supported to train their group in turn.This train-the-trainer element makes the model highly effective and cost efficient, as only limited resources for training and support are needed, while it is possible to scale-up the project to tens of thousands of smallholder farmers.The promoter farmers are integrated into a continuous improvement process with actors in the value chain. Based on the ISO quality approach, actors go through a plan-do-check-act cycle with regular meetings, reporting and price assurance with independent auditing. This process ensures that realistic, attainable goals are set that lift the chain up to a higher quality level in every cycle. Farmers witness benefits in the short term and stay committed to the process over time.The LQI model benefits all actors in the value chain. The most direct benefits are seen by the farmers. These benefits include:The application of farming best practices leads to an increase in yield starting directly after implementation.The application of best practices and information gathering and feedback from actors in the value chain lead to increases in crop grades.Farmers' income increases as a result of higher sales volume and higher prices for higher grades. Higher sales volumes make farmers less vulnerable to price drops.Results of the first pilot SMS Ltd. and HIVOS started the first pilot in the Nyeri region in Kenya in 2006. Total investment was approximately €295,000 (or about €45 per farmer including investment in cash and in kind). HIVOS provided 75% of the financing, and knowledge and expertise through consulting work. SMS provided technology, training and local project management.Starting with 11,768 farmers in four cooperatives, the project reached a total of 58,435 farmer family members and the results were convincing. After three years, average yield per tree had more than tripled from 1 kg to 3.5 kg, and the average share of premium grades increased by 26% to 85%, resulting in increased income of 69%.Other results were an increased level of trust, information and efficiency in the value chain, as well as additional income for promoter farmers, creation of stable farmer groups, autonomous problem-solving and improvement in the value chain through the plan-do-check-act cycle.The Prototype Cycle"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a33ca088d2da89aad56ac093de871869","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/65ad405d-5d02-4b38-acde-d62a00f8aa76/retrieve","id":"2039471553"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"921609a5-0b37-494f-9f88-b3fd1bd0e6cd","content":"During 1981 the Economics Section concentrated its efforts on:Economics of the use of alternative fertilizer sources for improved pastures in the Llanos Orientales of Colombia. Comparative advantages of alternative. forms and uses of improved pastures in the Llanos Orientales. Continuation of the economic analysis of cattle farms, particularly in Brazil and Colombia (ETES Project). Initiation of a monitoring study of six dual-purpose (beef and milk) farms in the Central Provinces of Panama.A linear programming model was developed to minimize per-hectare costs of complying with nutrient requirements determined by the Soils and Plant Nutrition Section (Table 2). All nutrient sources used (Table 1) were assumed to have the same agronomic efficiency. Activities considered in the model include the purchase of different nutrient sources at Bogota and transportation to the Carimagua location in the Llanos Orientales. Cost of on-farm storage and distribution are not considered due to very small differences among possible alternatives.In this analysis, average fertilizer requirements per-hectare for establishment are used (22 kg P, 33.20 kg K, 100 kg Ca, 20 kg Mg and 20 kg S). Main results indicate that: l.A combination of basic slag and rock phosphate provides the most economic phosphorus supply (Table 3).At present prices, magnesium subcarbonate is the most efficient magnesium source, followed very closely by Sulpomag and both forms of magnesium oxide.Rising transportation costs do not have a substantial impact on the optimal combination of fertilizer sources. At levels 100% above the present ones, basic slag use is reduced to 1/3 of the original level and rock phosphate use is expanded accordingly. Magnesium subcarbonate is then substituted by a more concentrated source, magnesium oxide. ---------------------% ----------------------  Given the acidity of the soils in the area, the use of more expensive soluble phosphorus sources such as triple superphosphate is not economic. If short-term solubility of rack phosphates were considered too low for a given crop or pasture, the use of basic slag would be expanded.Basic slag is expected to be scarce in Colombia in coming years. Rock phosphates will then substitute for basic slag causing only a minor cost increase. Rock phosphates will substitute basic slag completely if its price rises by 31% or more.Partial acidulation increases the water and citrate solubility of rock phosphates. On very acid soils partial rock acidulation is not economically worthwhile for the establishment of pastures. lf certain levels of short-term phosphate solubility are required, they couid be achieved more economically by increasing the use of basic slag. The attractiveness of partial rock acidulation is probably higher for crops requiring higher levels of solubility, particularly on less acid soils and if the price of basic slag increases substantially.The potential value of cement dust (a presently unused by-product of the cement industry) as a source of potassium and calcium was evaluated. Available data suggested a content of 6.4% potassium oxide and 31% of calcium. Under these conditions cement dust would only be competitive if basic slag is unavailable and if supplied CIF Bogotá at a price below Col$0.90 per kg. Cement dust supplying calcium and potassium displaces potassium chloride and basic slag in the formula due to the calcium content of the latter. The required phosphorus is in this case supplied by rock phosphates. Due to the low potassium concentration of cement dust, its competitiveness is very sensitive to transport cost changes. Availability of cement dust with a higher potassium oxide concentration (24%) is reported in the literature. This cement dust would be competitive at prices up to Col$5.32 per kg. If basic slag were unavailable, this type of cement dust would be included in optimal fertilizer mixtures up to a price of Col$5.84 per kg CIF Bogotá.The high shadow price of the magnesium and potassium restrictions (Table 3) indicates that the fertilizer cost per hectare is very sensitive to the required level of these nutrients. Therefore, better knowledge of the response surface to magnesium and potassium would be very valuable to assess profitable usage levels.These conclusions suggest the need to evaluate fertilizer response functions. Classical response surface studies for perennial pastures are very expensive and difficult to undertake. Nevertheless, sorne more poinÍ:s of the surface, selected as \"best bets\", particularly with lower levels of these expensive nutrients should be evaluated in the near future.Fertilizers being such a crucial element of the technological package involving improved pastures, further Fesearch is needed on the supply-demand situation on Latín American markets. FAO data (Table 4) show a substantial regional deficit, particularly for potash fertilizers. The limited number of domestic fertilizer suppliers in most Latin American countries suggests that research on market structure and pricing policY may be rewarding as market prices probably differ from those maximizing national welfare. Research in this area is being planned in collaboration with the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC).As the program is promoting materials to Categories IV and V of the germplasm selection strategy, a number of these become candidates for eventual release by the national institutions (!CA in Colombia). This release has to be accompanied by information to potential adopters of the merits and drawbacks of each material. Among other information, the appropriate use of specific material in production systems must be assessed. Economics play a major role in this context.Using the linear programming technique, a first attempt was made at comparing bread groups of improved pasture alternatives of varying degrees of intensity, as well as alternative uses of forage under the conditions of the Llanos Orientales of Colombia.Table 5 presents the pasture establishment costs and Table 6 gives the technical parameters assumed to be achieved. Data are based on CIAT experimental results, information obtained through the ETES Project and educated guesses. Results therefore have to be considered preliminary and subject to substantial changes as additional information is generated by the program and the model is further disaggregated. Table 7a presents the beef production levels achieved, 7b the gross margins per hectare, animal unit, and kg of beef produced for the cow-calf + fattening alternative. Table 8 shows the inv~stment and profitability of alternative systems. The most outstanding features of this comparison are: the differences in ranking of forage alternatives when compared on the basis of hectares or animal units indicate that optimal strategies will depend on the relative scarcity of these factors; the similarity of per-animal unit investment of all alternatives; the rather low profitability of production alternatives based on the exclusive use of improved pa~tures under the conditions prevailing in the Llanos Orientales ;1 Specialized fattening oeprations were not included as the model was expected to reflect the potential of the region, which cannot be thought of as net importer of feeders, due to the higher fattening potential of the other regions.  1 In this context marginal refers to the investment and profitability of buying an additional hectare and using it in one of the systems described,given an already existing farm with its fixed costs. A land price of 2 Col$1000/ha is assumed.3 As share of total investment.Productive life of pasture: 10 years; Stocking rate: 2.0 AU/ha.Productive life of pasture: 6 years; Stocking rate: 1.28 AU/ha.Used for early weaning of calves and fattening of cull-cows and steers.in spite of the adverse economic frame, the strategic use of improved pastures to supplement rather than replace low-cost native pastures to solve specific bottlenecks such as weaning of calves, fattening of cull-cows or steers is an economic proposition;feeding improved pastures to milking cows of local breeds is an attractive option even though very low production levels are assumed.Table 9 presents the linear programming solution for a farm with Col$20 million-own capital. Traditionally used native pastures are the most efficient way to produce calves. Only as land becomes more scarce (more than Col$2000/ha) does fattening of on-farm produced store cattle on improved pastures become profitable. This preliminary analysis neglects the changes in relative prices and technical coefficients generally concommitant with the rise in land prices, but it does point towards the tendency to be expected.Pasture persistence has a substantial influence on the profitability of improved pastures (Figure 1), particularly when investment is higher (legume and grass/legume mixtures). Furthermore, Figure 1 depicts the changes in competitiveness of alternative pasture improvement techniques due to changing land prices (all other coefficients constant).A similar analysis was performed to evaluate the potential of producing milk with cows fed improved pastures within dual-purpose systems (Figure 2). Milking leads toa substantial increase in profitability of all types of improved pastures.Total substitution of native pasture with improved pasture is not economic at the present price structure. Strategic use of improved pastures to solve specific bottlenecks may be very worthwhile, but further research is necessary to improve the efficiency of its use, if adoption in extensive cow-calf operations of the Llanos Orientales is aimed at.On the short run the use of larger areas of improved pastures will mainly occur at locations closer to the market, and this forage will in most cases be fed to fattening steers.Dual-purpose (beef and milk) systems seem to be another promising option, particularly for smaller farms. Similar production systems operate under commercial conditions at a great distance from the market in the Paraguayan and Bolivian Chaco. More in-depth research is needed to evaluate their potential in the Llanos Orientales of Colombia. ~ Technical coefficients of Tables 5 and 6.Steers reared on native pastures till the age of 2 years, finished on grass/legume pastures.An economic assessment of the marginal profitability of feeding mineral supplements in traditional beef production systems in the Llanos Orientales region was undertaken. The main resulta were: 4-8 years of negative marginal cashflow and interna! rates of return between 8% and 20% p.a. to the phosphorus source used.The field phase of the monitoring project (ETES) in Brazil has been completed. In Venezuela the last surveys are being undertaken. The comparative study of all three ETES sites (Colombia, Brazil, and Venezuela) is expected to be completed in 1982.     A report is expected to be completed by October 1982.In cooperation with FAO, a study on the potential to increase beef production in Latin America and its constraints, with particular emphasis on pasture improvement technology for the tropical lowlands, is well under way.It can be concluded that, due to the increasing availability of detailed biotechnical research and monitoring information, the research approach of the Economics Section is gradually shifting from an emphasis on ex-ante simulation of the potential impact of pastures based on assumed values for these parameters, to an increasingly ex-post analysis of actual performance of grasses and legumes and whole production systems. At the same time research is expanding into production systems of different levels of intensity of resource use to help the program exploit the whole potential of the germplasm being developed."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"894a910826901087d045fe6832692c28","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0de8a6cd-ca00-4f8a-99be-65c0357a9e04/retrieve","id":"1895096672"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c49d785e-848f-4f88-b1cb-3e1986a240e7","content":"A sample of 416 households was randomly selected from Mai Son, North West Vietnam. Criteria of selection were women of reproductive age with a child aged between 12-24 months.Questionnaires were administered to:• heads of household on the family's agrobiodiversity production in commercial and homegarden systems (including wild foods)• women of reproductive age on nutrition (including a repeated quantitative 24 hour diet recall for mothers and young children, and nutrition related knowledge and attitudes).A market survey was also conducted from formal and informal retail outlets within the research site to document:• available diversity • accessability (cost) of diverse and nutritious foodsThe critical role of biodiversity as a component of sustainable food systems that contributes to healthier diets is a concept that is steadily gaining attention on the global research and development agenda (Bereuter and Glickman, 2015). The regions of the world with the richest biodiversity are found in developing countries where most of the world's poor and malnourished reside.The development of the global agriculture and food system has also been accompanied by a decline in the diversity of foods produced (Khoury et al., 2014), with farming practices shifting away from small scale diverse systems, towards more large scale, monoculture systems (IPES-Food, 2016).The observed trends in poor diet quality pave the road for future solutions and systems that are more sustainable, resilient and equitable.Innovative approaches are required that can simultaneously improve human nutrition, landscape health and ecosystem services within a landscape. Promoting and mainstreaming the use of biodiversity in food systems has the potential to be one of these solutions. . These data suggest a positive correlation between species richness of food groups (the number of different species within a single food group) in local production and market systems and their subsequent consumption.Approaches that promote the availability of nutritious and agrobiodiverse foods from under consumed food groups, particularly local species of fruits, dark green leafy vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds, may increase the percent of women and children who reach MDD.Local agrobiodiversity can contribute to diverse and healthy diets. However, increasing the availability of nutritious and diverse foods is often alone insufficient to increase their consumption.Complementary implementation of nutrition capacity building aimed at improving attitudes towards the importance of diverse diets is also needed.Further research is recommended to understand how these combined efforts can impact landscape agrobiodiversity and MDD.In total, 398 different species were documented as produced on-farm or collected from the wild (292 plants, 106 animals).Whilst there was wide production diversity at landscape level evidenced from the high species richness, this production diversity was not evenly distributed across the different food groups used to categories a diverse diet.The diet recall showed only 59% of women met Minimum Diet Diversity (MDD).Food groups with low consumption (defined as food groups that were consumed by less than 26% of women or children) were legumes, nuts and seeds, dairy, dark green leafy vegetables and vitamin A-rich vegetables and fruit.Species from these food groups also represented a low percent of total production (13%) and market (8%) diversity, calculated for each food group by summating the number of species produced or available in the market from each of these food groups divided by the total number of species produced, or available in the market.Food groups with high consumption (food groups consumed by more than >40% of women or children) were meat, fish, and other fruits and vegetables. Subsequently these groups represented a higher percent of production (67%) and market (45%) diversity.Women and children who reached MDD were up to 44% more likely to have consumed legumes, nuts and seeds, dairy, dark green leafy vegetables and vitamin A-rich vegetables and fruit compared to those who did not reach MDD.Analysis of the data from the nutrition knowledge and attitudes questionnaire identified that only 18% of women felt that diet diversity was important to prevent undernutrition. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9e909ea6a73d06450fb0d4e46a6cb024","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/49fe280c-7476-45b8-8bad-1de21b53d517/retrieve","id":"-2135084178"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d7f4a5c2-3a5a-4c56-a9fe-4e9b53f7082a","content":"By the Chair of the CIAT Board of Trustees All too often, strategic plans go on the shelf within months after they are completed. In contrast, CIAT's strategy for 2014-2020 went on the road over the last year. We shared it widely with donors and partners, and engaged them in planning novel initiatives that flow from the strategy. This audience included many distinguished visitors to CIAT, among them Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, and a group of science and industry leaders associated with the Latin America Conservation Council (LACC), which works in partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC). LACC held its fourth annual meeting at our headquarters in November.One strategic undertaking to which we are giving special attention involves the creation of a new plant genetic resources hub at Center headquarters in Colombia. For nearly four decades, CIAT's genebank has resided at the heart of our efforts to make tropical agriculture more productive and resilient. By creating a new state-of-the-art genebank, we will be able to provide not only valuable seed but also digital genetic information that helps researchers harness the seed's development power. CIAT's host country, Colombia -considered the second most biodiverse country in the world, after Brazil -stands to gain significantly from the new genebank and is actively involved in its planning. The novel facility will conserve biodiversity and play a critical role in making Colombia's agriculture more competitive, sustainable, and climate smart -key aims of our collaboration with the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) and Colombian Corporation of Agricultural Research (Corpoica).The German government recently provided funding for infrastructure that facilitates genebank functions, and this augurs well for our campaign to build further support. We believe the new hub will closely complement the efforts of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, whose executive director, Marie Haga, honored us with a visit this year.Center scientists are pursuing several other avenues opened up by the strategy, including these three forward-looking initiatives: LivestockPlus -Fast-tracking tropical forages for twin-win agricultural systems  Ecosystem Action -Renewing rural landscapes for improved food security and livelihoods  FoodLens -Sharpening the focus of research on sustainable food systemsThe initiatives now have well-defined research agendas and are rapidly gaining buy-in through new partnerships. A widely publicized study on changes in global food supplies over the last 50 years -which appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS) -stimulated global interest in our perspectives on food systems. Sizable grants have already been approved for LivestockPlus and Ecosystem Action, one of which (from Germany's environmental ministry) supports development of sustainable land-use options for climate change adaptation and mitigation in the Colombian and Peruvian Amazon.Recent developments on another major front -climate-smart agriculture (CSA) -have cleared the way for rapid progress toward CIAT's strategic objectives. Last October, Center experts presented profiles on CSA for seven countries across Latin America and the Caribbean to a standing-room-only audience at World Bank headquarters. The products prompted support for a similarly ambitious effort with African countries, to be conducted through the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS or CRP7), which CIAT leads.In another climate coup, CIAT scientists were named one of two winners of the Big Data Climate Challenge, which the United Nations awarded at its high-level Climate Summit, held last September in New York City. The award recognized our collaborative work with MADR and Colombia's National Rice Growers Association (Fedearroz) to help blunt the impacts of climate change in rice production through practical applications of big data tools. The other award winner was the Global Forest Watch system of the World Resources Institute (WRI), which has recently adopted CIAT's Terra-i tool for near real-time monitoring of land-use change. We worked with WRI to showcase this joint effort at the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) 2014, a major event held in December at Lima, Peru, alongside the 20 th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP20.During GLF, CIAT also joined WRI and other partners in the high-level launch of Initiative 20x20, which aims to get the restoration of 20 million hectares of degraded land on track in Latin America by 2020.Attended by a half dozen agricultural and environmental ministers and an equal number of CEOs from private investment funds, the launch marked an auspicious beginning for this exciting effort. In relation to Initiative 20x20 and other partnerships, CIAT will work to heighten the profile of soil and ecosystem health throughout 2015, which the United Nations General Assembly has declared the International Year of Soils.CIAT also stood on solid ground financially in 2014. Total revenues reached US$133 million, compared to $114 million in 2013. The Center is now fully recovering all indirect as well as research and technical support costs. If additional and unbudgeted projects are executed, recovery is positive and allows further reduction of the indirect cost rate in the following year. Implementation of projects has advanced faster than anticipated, increasing daily expenditures to over $220,000 and thus affecting reserve days negatively, despite a surplus of $3.8 million. CIAT generates $2.2 million through sound financial management. In addition, the Center is making good progress toward full compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards.Chair, CIAT Board of Trustees 16 March 2015The Center's Board of Trustees, primarily through its Audit and Risk Committee (ARC), has responsibility for overseeing the effectiveness of the risk management system that management has put in place to identify, manage, and monitor significant risks to the achievement of CIAT's business objectives, and to ensure alignment with CGIAR principles and guidelines that have been adopted by all CGIAR Centers.These risks are operational, financial and reputational in nature and are inherent to the modus operandi and geographic spread of CIAT's activities -including its duties and responsibilities as Lead Center for CCAFS (the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security) operations.Taken together, the risks are as dynamic as the environment in which CIAT operates. Some of the risks could result in loss. Other risks, if carefully and thoughtfully exploited could be used to CIAT's advantage.Management has therefore drafted a risk management policy (for Board approval shortly) and has already put in place risk mitigation practices that have been communicated to all staff. These include a risk framework by which management identifies, evaluates and prioritizes risks and opportunities across the organization; assigns risk owners; develops risk mitigation strategies (including internal controls) which balance benefits with costs; monitors the implementation of these strategies; and periodically reports to the Board on its effectiveness.The ARC routinely receives an update on risk management and progress against agreed targets that will improve its efforts overall.Taken together, the ARC is satisfied with the attention paid by management to risk in CIAT's own activities -as well as those related to CCAFS-CRP7. Thus assured, the ARC communicates to the Board on its views on the effectiveness and efficiency of CIAT's management of risk.With regard to CIAT's 2014 Annual Financial Statements and the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting, the ARC reviewed management's assertions in its 2014 Management Letter of Representation (provided to the external auditors) and Management's Statement of Responsibility for Financial Reporting included as part of the annual Financial Statement and its assertions that internal control is adequate. Management's assertion is complemented by the Internal Audit Unit's (IAU) recent risk management audit that concludes that CIAT's overall risk management system is Satisfactory.J. Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT)For the years ended as of December 31, 2014 and 2013 (expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars)See accompanying notes to the financial statements. Under an agreement with the Colombian Government, signed on May 5, 1987, and ratified by Law 29 of March 18, 1988, CIAT is recognized as a not-for-profit international organization and is granted certain prerogatives, including exemption from Colombian taxes.Center Financial Statements are prepared in compliance with the CGIAR Financial Guidelines. These policies were established for Centers to fully adopt and comply with all relevant International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), except as established in the Financial Guidelines.Main accounting policies followed by CIAT are summarized below:The Center prepares its financial statements, except for cash flow information, under the accrual basis of accounting.Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT)For the years ended as of December 31, 2014 and 2013 (expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars)To reduce hunger and poverty, and improve human nutrition in the tropics through research aimed at increasing the ecoefficiency of agriculture.CIAT develops technologies, methods, and knowledge that better enable farmers, mainly smallholders, to enhance ecoefficiency in agriculture. This means we make production more competitive and profitable as well as sustainable and resilient through economically and ecologically sound use of natural resources and purchased inputs.CIAT has global responsibility for the improvement of two staple foods, cassava and common bean, together with tropical forages for livestock. In Latin America and the Caribbean, we also conduct research on rice. Representing diverse food groups and a key component of the world's agricultural biodiversity, those crops are vital for global food and nutrition security.In its work on agrobiodiversity, the Center employs advanced biotechnology to accelerate crop improvement. Progress in our crop research also depends on unique collections of genetic resources -65,000 crop samples in all -which we hold in trust for humanity.Alongside its research on agrobiodiversity, CIAT works in two other areas -soils and decision and policy analysis -which cut across all tropical crops and production environments.Center soil scientists conduct research across scales -from fields and farms to production systems and landscapes -to create new tools and knowledge that help reduce hunger through sustainable intensification of agricultural production, while restoring degraded land and supporting decision making for climate-smart agriculture.CIAT's work on decision and policy analysis harnesses the power of information to influence decisions about issues, such as climate change, linking farmers to markets, research impact assessment, and gender equity.\"Accounts receivable -Donors\" are classified as follows:Property, plant, and equipment acquired through non-monetary grants are recognized at fair value at the date of the grant. Such grants are presented in the Statement of Financial Position as Deferred Revenue and are taken into account as revenue on a systematic and rational basis over the lifespan of the asset.The in-trust contract signed with the Colombian Government for the land on which CIAT has its headquarters was extended until July 2015. The new contract will be renewed for another 5 years, and thereafter it may be extended by mutual consent. If CIAT terminates the contract, CIAT is to return the land with its improvements, buildings, and installations, free of any kind of judicial actions or embargoes and without receiving any compensation. This land is not considered a contribution to \"property, plant, and equipment.\"Unrestricted grants: Receivables from unrestricted grants are recognized in full in the period specified by the donor.Restricted grants: Receivables from restricted grants are recognized in accordance with the terms of the underlying contract. Restricted grants include restricted projects, intercenter activities, Challenge Programs, and CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs).Property, plant, and equipment acquired through the use of restricted grants are recorded as assets and fully (100%) depreciated, and the depreciation expense is charged directly to the appropriate restricted project in the same year of acquisition.Inventories held at the end of the financial period are stated at cost or net realization value, whichever is lower.These are claims held against donors for the future receipt of money, goods, or services. Receivables due from donors can arise from: unrestricted grants that are due as a receivable by the Center and amounts due from restricted grants that have been negotiated between a donor and the Center.As of 2013, acquisitions of property, plant, and equipment with a purchase price of $3 or less are expensed (see Note 2q).CIAT's financial statements are provided in U.S. dollars. Those assets and liabilities (excluding supplies, spare parts, property, and plant and equipment) denominated in other currencies are converted at the exchange rate in effect at the end of each financial period. Grants received in currencies other than U.S. dollars are recorded at market exchange rates in effect at the time the grant is received or, if outstanding as of 31 December, at the market exchange rate in effect at the year end.Incomes and expenses in currencies other than U.S. dollars, as well as those related to properties, spare parts and plants and equipment, are initially recorded at the official exchange rate on the dates of the transactions. Profits and losses arising from exchange rate fluctuations are included in the operational results .Under the accrual basis of accounting, transactions and events are recognized when they occur (and not when cash or its cash equivalent is received or paid) and these are recorded in the accounting books and reported in the financial statements during the periods to which they relate. Expenses are recognized in the Statement of Activities on the basis of a direct association between the costs incurred and the earnings of specific items of revenue.Cash comprises cash on hand, petty cash funds, currencies to be deposited, and local or foreign currency deposits in banks, which can be added to or withdrawn without limitation and are immediately available for use in the current operations.Cash equivalents are short-term, highly liquid investments that are both: i) readily convertible to known amounts of cash; and ii) less than 3 months to their maturity date, hence the risk of changes in value due to changes in interest rates are insignificant.The CIAT Investment Policy is regularly reviewed and approved by the Management Team and the CIAT Board of Trustees. For additional information see Note 4.Sugar cane inventory is valued according to the real cost invested and the average realizable value of each cultivated hectare.Inventories are stated at cost, using the moving average price method. Cost represents the purchase price of supplies, plus freight and handling charges. Materials in transit are stated at invoice cost.  Depreciation of assets owned by the Center is computed by the straight-line method over the estimated lifespan of the asset, except assets acquired with restricted grants. The basis for computing depreciation is the asset acquisition cost, less its estimated salvage value.The following table indicates the lifespan and estimated salvage percentages of the Center fixed assets:Estimated lifespan in years and salvage value for Headquarter vehicles, buses, and trucks are based on the Colombian market conditions. As from 2014, and based on the average market conditions in the regions where CIAT has operations, the salvage value for regional vehicles changed from 0% to 25%.These include: 1) Grants received from donors for which conditions are not yet met and 2) amounts payable to donors of any unexpended funds received in advance for restricted grants.\"Accounts payable -Donors\" are classified as follows:All new facilities provided by host countries to the Center or built for the use of the Center, which will revert to the host country in the event the Center is asked to cease its operation, are recognized as assets.Headquarter vehiclesSubsequent expenditures relating to property, plant and equipment that have already been recognized are added to the carrying amount of the asset, only if the expenditure improves the condition of the asset beyond its originally assessed standard of performance. All other subsequent expenditures are recognized as expenses of the period where incurred.Unrestricted grants: Are those received from the unconditional transfer of cash or other assets to the Center.Restricted grants: Are those received from a transfer of resources to the Center in return for future compliance relating to the operating activities of the Center. Restricted Grants include Intercenter Activities, Challenge Programs, and CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs).The liability is recognized based on the results of the actuarial report prepared by an external entity. Actuarial calculations are based on various assumptions, which in the future may differ from the actual circumstances. Net assets comprise the residual interest in the entity's assets after liabilities are deducted. They are classified as either undesignated or designated and temporary: Undesignated net assets: Their use is not designated by CIAT Management for specific purposes. Designated net assets: Those that have been restricted by CIAT as reserve for replacing property and equipment, retirement of national staff, and other activities or purposes.Temporary net assets -Other comprehensive income: Includes the temporary valuation of the hedging operations accrued, but not realized. It also includes the actuarial gain/(loss) resulting from the valuation of the defined benefit plan for Colombian employees. Institutional costs are recovered based on the Activity Base Costing (ABC) principles and the Financial Guideline No. 5 issued by CGIAR. According to the CIAT policy, direct costs are recovered on the basis of cost drivers and indirect cost or overhead is recovered on the basis of the rate calculated annually or as agreed in the grant agreements. Using the ABC methodology, institutional costs are also charged to unrestricted grants.CIAT may utilize derivative financial instruments in its management of exposures to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. CIAT does not enter into derivative financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes. For transactions where hedge accounting is applied, CIAT formally documents relationships between hedging instruments and hedged items, as well as its risk management objective and strategy for undertaking various hedge transactions. This process includes linking all derivatives to specific assets and liabilities on the balance sheet or to specific firm commitments or forecasted transactions. CIAT also formally assesses, both at inception and on an ongoing basis, whether the derivatives that are used in hedging transactions are highly effective in offsetting changes in fair values or cash flows of hedged items. Gains and losses on contracts that constitute effective cash flow hedges to the extent of the effective portion are deferred in net assets and recognized in the Statement of Activity when the related transactions occur. The ineffective portion of a hedge is recognized in the Statement of Activities in the period it occurs.Any realized gains or losses are recognized in net income as realized gains or losses on derivative contracts in the period they occur. For transactions where hedge accounting is not applied, CIAT accounts for such instruments using the fair value method by initially recording an asset or liability, and recognizing changes in the fair value of the instruments in the Statement of Activities as unrealized gains or losses on derivative contracts.The Statement of Activities as of December 31, 2013, and relevant notes have been reclassified to conform to the 2014 Consortium reporting requirements. These reclassifications do not have any impact on the result and working capital of the Center.Preparing CIAT´s financial statements requires Management to make judgments, estimates, and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of revenues, expenses, assets, and liabilities, and the disclosure of contingent liabilities, at the end of the reporting period. However, uncertainty about these assumptions and estimates could result in outcomes that require a material adjustment to the carrying amount of the asset or liability in future periods.Unrestricted grants in currencies other than U.S. dollars are recorded at exchange rates in effect at the time of receipt or, if outstanding as of December 31, at the exchange rate in effect at the year's end.Restricted grants in currencies other than U.S. dollars, with specific request to be paid in that currency as partner funds, are recorded as income and expenses at the exchange rate in effect at the time of payment.Challenge Programs are the means for the CGIAR system as a whole to take on global challenges in cooperation with a wide range of research partners.Grants are recognized as revenue to the extent of expenses incurred. Funds for research partners of the HarvestPlus Challenge Program (which is now integrated into CRP 4 -Agriculture for Improved Nutrition and Health) are managed as funds in trust. Starting in 2014 Harvest Plus funds executed by participant partners are also reported as CIAT revenue.According to the Advisory Notes provided by the Consortium, the Lead Center of a CRP is required to recognize all funds as revenues, including funds executed by CGIAR Centers and Collaborators. Under CIAT's policy, all payments to partners are initially recorded as advances, and expensed once funds are legalized, previous submission of the periodical technical and financial reports. Amounts transferred to partners amounting to less than US$25 are expensed once the payments are disbursed.Partner centers are required to include expenses incurred under each CRP, including the corresponding revenue in their Statement of Activity.Restricted grants are those received from a transfer of resources to the Center in return for past or future compliance to the operating activities of the Center.Unrestricted grants are those received from unconditional transfers of cash or other assets to the Center.The grants, whether restricted or unrestricted, are not recognized until there is reasonable assurance that the Center has complied with the conditions attached to the grant.r.Cash and cash equivalents as of 31 December consist of: From January 2014, HarvestPlus Challenge Program operations are reported as CIAT revenue and expenses. Previously, this was accounted for and reported as Funds in Trust. This is a reporting, rather than an accounting policy change and aligns with the accounting treatment by the HarvestPlus co-leader.Cash in banks -Current accounts Short-term investments -Certificates of deposit with maturity less than 3 monthsInvestment guidelines summary: Responsible financial stewardship means making investment decisions that seek preservation of capital ahead of optimizing investment returns. In line with the aforementioned statement, the following shall be observed: a) A diversified investment portfolio shall be maintained. b) No more than 15% of the medium-and long-term portfolio shall be invested in securities of any one issuer or 25% in any entity with the exception of obligations and government-backed securities. Exceptions require Management approval. c) Prenotification to the Audit & Risk Committee Chair for changes in investment that exceed 10% of CIAT reserves as per the previous year's financial statement.Credit ratings provided by independent institutions shall be used in choosing investment vehicles. Minimum credit rating for International Financial Institutions rating \"A\" of Standard and Poor's or Moody's or equivalent ratings provided by other reputable and generally accepted companies and minimum local rating of \"AA\" for Colombian Financial Institutions. Quality of Asset, Liquidity, and historical performance shall be taken into consideration.Funds and reserves shall be allocated as follows: a) Liquid Funds: minimum required to cover one month of operation. b) Short term (investments with a maturity of less than 12 months): minimum 10%. c) Mid term (investments with a maturity of less than 3 years): maximum 70% of CIAT own funds. d) Long term (investments with a maturity of maximum 10 years): maximum 60% of CIAT own funds. e) Combined mid-and long-term: maximum 100% of CIAT funds that do not have contractual obligations with donors.Prohibited investments that include but are not limited to: commercial paper in form of stocks, speculative derivatives, floating-rate notes with any kind of maturity, structured notes, including collateralized mortgage operations, swaps, short selling and uncovered calls and puts, private placements, commodities, illiquid securities, securities of companies that filed for bankruptcy, factoring, property, real state, art, antiques, gems, borrowing, and leverage.Investments are initially recorded at their acquisition cost (including brokerage and other transaction costs) if they were purchased, and at fair value if they were received as a grant. Investments in equity securities with readily determinable fair values and all investments in debt securities shall be measured at fair value as of the date of the Statement of Financial Position. Investments received as grants from donors are to be recorded at their fair market value.Cash on hand -HQ Cash on hand -Regional offices Following the FG-5 recommendations, in February 2014, the Board of Trustees approved two changes in the Fixed Assets Policy. 1) Backdated as of 2013, the minimum costs of a fixed asset are increased from $1 ($0.5 for IT costs) to $3; consequently, all fixed assets with a value equal or below $3 are expensed. The impact of this change is reported in Note 21. 2) To increase the residual value of vehicles located in the regions where CIAT operates from 0% to 25% in line with the average market conditions.CIAT will be transitioning from current Financial Guidelines to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). In 2014, CIAT prepares its financial reports in both reporting standards (as per current Financial Guidelines and IFRS). However, External Auditors opinion for 2014 Financial Statements is based on the current Financial Guidelines. CIAT plans to fully comply with IFRS in 2015 as required by the Colombian government, agreed with the Consortium, and endorsed by the Board. During the year 2013, a comprehensive review of CGIAR Financial Guideline No. 2 was initiated and is pending for approval by the CGIAR Fund.Investments acquired with the purpose of keeping them for more than one year from their acquisition date are to be classified as long-term investments.Interests, dividends, losses, and gains relating to financial instruments are reported in the Statement of Activities as expense or revenue.Investments acquired with the purpose of disposing of them within one year or less after their acquisition date are classified as current investments. Furthermore, investments classified as current, as distinguished from cash equivalents, are those that are acquired with original maturities of more than 3 months but not exceeding one year. Long-term investments with maturities of more than 1 year Given that U.S. dollar is the currency used by the Center in its records, no foreign currency investments different from U.S. dollar or Colombian Peso should generally be made. However, funds that are received in another currency may be invested in that currency as long as expected expenses in that currency justify such an investment. U.S. dollar shall not be converted into foreign currency for investment purposes. Investments in Colombian pesos are permissible to cover short-term operational requirements if the conversion rate and rates of return are favorable and subject to the other investment criteria related to capital preservation. If U.S. dollars are converted into Colombian pesos for investment purposes, a natural hedge between assets and liabilities shall be targeted. Currency forwards shall protect the value in U.S. dollars of the investment in Colombian currency if a natural hedge is not guaranteed. Holding of currencies (local and U.S. dollars) in regional offices accounts (checking or savings accounts) shall be limited to funds for operational purposes and should not exceed estimated 2 months worth of requirements.Short-term investments with maturities of more than 3 months but less than 1 year (2)Starting 2014, the funds to support HarvestPlus partners are reported as CIAT revenue in the Statement of Activities.Corresponding to the estimated costs of repatriating members of the senior staff and their families to their home countries, as specified in their appointment letters. Provision to cover bonuses for retirement corresponds to a defined benefit to be paid to CIAT employees at Headquarters upon the employees retirement from CIAT. According to the CIAT Benefits Policy, the retirement bonus for each employee ranges from 1 to 1.4 months of the base salary for each 3 continuous years of service depending on the type of contract and the time worked at CIAT. This benefit applies only to employees hired before December 31, 2012.As indicated in the Financial Statement 2011, CIAT decided to change its pension provision from a 12-month forwardlooking calculation to an actuarial calculation. As a result, an additional provision in the amount of $2,800 was required over the short-to mid-term. After 3 years of increased partial provisions, CIAT has decided to fully provide for this amount, which resulted in an expense at the end of 2013 in the amount of $684 as mentioned in Note 21. Provisions for performance and other benefits write-offs (1) 25-Nov-14 25-Nov-14(1) Corresponds to performance appraisal and other benefits for CIAT staff accrued in excess in the last 2 years.The amount of US$559 corresponds to the temporary variance resulting from the valuation of the forward operations. This temporary variation is accrued but not realized as of December 31, 2014, and according to the 95% effectiveness of the contracts the result is reported in Net Assets under Other comprehensive income.The forward foreign exchange rate contracts for 2015 valuated at the end of 2014 are detailed as follows:28-Nov-14 28-Nov-14 28-Nov-14 5-Dec-14 23-Dec-14 30-Dec-14Note 24: Contingent assetsBased on the requirement of the Colombian Government, in 2010, CIAT signed a Sponsorship Contract with the CIAT Employee Fund -CRECIAT, authorizing CRECIAT to manage and account for the resources from the CIAT Social Welfare Fund. Under this Sponsorship Contract, CRECIAT assumed the responsibility to manage the resources of the Social Welfare Fund while CIAT continues to manage the social welfare activities, which are supported by surpluses generated from the financial management of these resources. CRECIAT also assumed the responsibility of settlement of any balances due to or from employees with regard to the Sponsorship Contract on termination of employment with CIAT.The funds transferred to CRECIAT include the principal and earned interests of the participants as well as the reserves generated from loan interests to the CIAT employees and other operations, since the inception of the Social Welfare Fund in 1975. According to the Sponsorship Contract, these reserves and any earned interests are to be used for social activities in benefit of CIAT employees. In the event that CRECIAT ceases to exist or in the event that CIAT decides to cancel the Sponsorship Contract and such reserves might be left over at that time, they will be returned to CIAT for distribution as agreed in the constitution of the previous Social Welfare Fund and as reconfirmed in the Sponsorship Contract.The accumulated balance of the reserves as of December 31, 2014 is $2,632 (2013 $3,147). As the probability of CRECIAT ceasing its operation is remote, requiring that leftover reserves would need to be returned to CIAT, no accounting for this contingent asset has been recorded in the financial statements of CIAT. The reduction of the balance is due to the accelerated devaluation of the Colombian Peso occurred during the last quarter of 2014. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c0711fc8f409229ff1902c50757e7835","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/11d3550c-ca6e-467e-bec4-2af8d7221c40/retrieve","id":"608580204"},"keywords":["Gender","Agriculture","& Assets Project"],"sieverID":"8a0c2e62-b3cd-4010-add4-497ecbc918bd","content":"The goal of the HarvestPlus reaching end users (REU) orange sweet potato (OSP) project is to increase vitamin A intake and improve vitamin A status among vulnerable populations (women and children) in rural Uganda by introducing beta--carotene--rich OSP, as well as related messages concerning agronomy, nutrition, and marketing. Most households obtain planting material for these crops through interaction with other households. This raises a number of important questions about the roles of social interaction, intrahousehold division of labor, and gender in determining the rates at which these biofortified crops are adopted and spread. As part of the Gender, Agriculture, and Assets Project (GAAP), this study examines the effect of women's bargaining power, as revealed in gender--based patterns of ownership and control of land and assets, on adoption of OSP and vitamin A intake among children.• The relationship between female bargaining power and control over household assets and the OSP biofortification program's impact on adoption and diffusion as well as dietary intakes of vitamin A was complex. The probability of OSP adoption was highest for parcels over which there was joint control, but where women took the lead in deciding which crops were grown, and lowest for parcels exclusively controlled by men. Although crop choice decisions were correlated across parcels, the evi-dence indicated that women played an important, and often leading, role in the decision to adopt OSP, but that this decision was often jointly made with their husbands. • Households in which women had a lower share of nonland assets were more likely to grow OSP on joint plots with women in primary control. Where women had a higher share of nonland assets, decisionmaking on joint plots appeared more egalitarian, but OSP adoption was significantly less likely on plots under exclusive male control. • The share of nonland assets exclusively controlled by women had a large, significant effect on child dietary intake of vitamin A.On average, the more nonland assets women controlled, the higher their children's vitamin A consumption tended to be. This effect was independent of the REU project's impact on vitamin A consumption, though. Women with relatively higher control of nonland assets did not necessarily have an advantage in using their bargaining power to increase the REU project's impact on child vitamin A consumption. Instead, the project was able to increase children's vitamin A consumption regardless of the mother's share of nonland assets. • Although the project had a large impact on vitamin A consumption, our other research on this project showed that this impact did not apparently derive from lessons learned during the project's nutrition training. These studies found no signs that the REU had an impact on fathers' knowledge of child feeding practices in Uganda, while nutrition messages received by women appear to have had a relatively small effect on OSP adoption and dietary intakes of vitamin A (de Brauw et al. 2010Brauw et al. , 2012)).1. What are the unique gender--asset questions and indicators you collected in your survey instrument that were par-ticularly valuable or reflective of methodologies you would like to see replicated in future work and why?o We asked two plot level questions regarding land ownership and decision--making in which we collected data on up to two household members. Besides providing a rich understanding regarding which household members owned and managed land, this allows us to see specialization occurring within the household and the associated efficiencies that come from that. We also collected a detailed agricultural decision making module that attempted to get at different levels of asset ownership and use, including not only who owns an asset, but who makes decisions about the type and quantity of crop to grow, the sale of crops and so on.2. What are the unique gender--asset questions/indicators you either collected in your survey instrument that you would have implemented differently or you were not able to collect, but which you would have liked to collect and why?• We ended up collecting data retrospectively regarding joint/male/female asset ownership. During the endline survey, we first asked respondents who owned the asset at present and also asked respondents to think retrospectively to two years prior (the time of the baseline) about who owned each asset. • It would have been great to ask more detailed questions about land ownership dynamics, however this was not the focus of this project.3. Asset--gender dynamics are heterogeneous, complex and rooted in social, economic and institutional factors-are there any background factors that relate strongly to gender--asset dynamics that you either collected or wish you had collected?• This may be easier said than done, but it is so important to be thoughtful beforehand in designing a questionnaire that provides gender perspective. As mentioned, we didn't initially collect sex disaggregated data on asset owner-ship, and while we later collected it retrospectively, it would have been ideal to have collected it during the baseline.Another aspect which we could have explored a bit more, is additional decision--making questions and measures of control regarding various household activities. On a related note, we could have done some additional experimenta-tion on behavior change. We had one behavior change targeted exclusively at women. However, involving men or having additional behavior change programs would have been an interesting experiment.4. Are there any particularities about the region or country of implementation which you think are important to rec-ognize in relation to the gender--asset indicators you collected which are important for other researchers to be aware of? Did any of these context--or country--specific factors influence your survey implementation methodolo-gy, and how?• Initially we thought of interviewing either the primary male or female of a household through random assignment. However, our field partner pushed back against this approach indicating that it would cause tension within the household if a woman was selected to be interviewed instead of the husband and asked questions about asset own-ership. Ultimately we ended up asking whoever was best suited in the household (self--identified) to answer the ques-tions pertaining to a given module. While it may have been advantageous to interview both the primary male and primary female within a household, our budget didn't support two surveys per household. Regarding the qualitative work, we found that it was important to do male and female focus group discussion surveys separately.5. What do you see as the largest methodological challenges in collecting gender--asset data in general and how can we as a research community work towards filling this gap?• Related to the previous question, I think finding a method by which you can collected gender--asset data using one enumerator, either male or female, would be ideal. Conducting two surveys per household (for the primary male and female) is more costly and oftentimes not affordable. Additionally, using all male or female enumerators is often-times impractical so strategies to be able to use either sex regardless of the sex of the respondent are helpful for field logistics.6. Did everything go smoothly? Were there any unexpected challenges that came up?• During the fieldwork interviewers encountered a number of difficulties. For example, in some areas, the popularity of OFSP meant that it was difficult to get nonmembers of farmers groups who had not been to at least a few OFSP train-ings. Nonetheless, the interviewers strived to ensure that those people who attended the non--farmers group focus group discussions had truly not been to OFSP trainings or farmers group meetings before. In addition, due to the fact that many more women than men were members of farmers groups, focus group discussions with men tended to be smaller than those held with women. Another difficulty encountered by the field team was that interviewers some-times had trouble getting focus group discussion participants to conceptually understand questions that involved ranking of OFSP traits. A final difficulty was the fact that in some cases there did not appear to be major differences in adoption rates between the areas designated as \"high adopters\" and those designated as \"low adopters\" by the ex-tension agents who were involved in sample selection.7. What qualitative tools worked well for getting at gender and asset dynamics? What qualitative tools did not work well?• It was important for us not to make assumptions about how things currently worked and to instead get at these re-sponses inductively. For example, first by probing about how households access land, and then following up by asking if men and women farm plots together or separately and what factors men and women consider when deciding what to grow on a given plot. This gave us a detailed picture about the gender dynamics of farming that built upon the re-spondents own answers to questions about how things worked in their communities."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/6860324238.json b/main/part_2/6860324238.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fcc86fcd30d1ea8c4bf6a4ca89447ce8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/61f7d929-5b4b-4593-9575-54eb64846674/retrieve","id":"304469950"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"76b3fdc0-27ef-4951-af63-497d8c44433f","content":"miCas, en termInos de carga antma , rendImIento de carne por hectarea y ganancIa de peso por ammal/dla, praderas de gramíneas puras y/o , / 'en aSOCiaCIOnes de gramlneas legumInosas, mantenlendose una estrecha relaCIón suelo-planta-ammal para observar pOSIbles defICIenCIas nutrlctonales de las especIes y apltcar fertthzantes correctores de estas deflclenctas cuando fuese necesarIo El peso de ammales a Intervalos regulares estlmattvos de dlspombthdad de forraje por un método moderno para hacer ajuste de carga ammal, mIdIendo la compOSlctÓn botámca de la pradera tamblen fueron parámetros de Interés EvaluaCiones del establectmlento de praderas de gramíneas y asocla-ClOnes de gramíneas/leguminOsas preparación del terreno (mecamzado), stembra, denstdad de SIembra, fertthzactón, tnoculactón y peletlzaClón de semIllas de legumInosas, tnlCIO del prtmer pastoreo, construccI6n de cerca de alambre de púa, según moaelo australIano Todas estas actIVIdades se han reahzado en las hacIendas El Congo, La Real, El Limonar, Machín y la Argentma, ubIcadas en Santander de QUlhchao y LOboguerrero, -teméndose como obJetlvos los SIgUIentes 1 DIagnostIcar hmltaclones en el uso de pastos mejorados a nivel de fIncas 2 Enseñar metodologías de investIgaCIón para SolUCIón de problemas de prodUCCIón de forrajes 3. CuantifIcar parámetros de prodUCCIón animal usados en evaluaCIones ; economlcas 4 CrIterlOS usados para seleCCIOnar fmcas modelos para evaluaCión de tecnOlogías nuevas y en conjunto los ammales comprados y los nac¡dos en la fInca hacenGanado de ceba 69\"/0 (mcluye lactantes hasta adultos) De los machos de ceba el 18% son naCIdos en la finca y el 82% son ammales destetos que se compran en las f¡ncas vecInas Los ammales na• cldos en la fInca tienen pesos de 180 ktlos al destete (7-8 meses) y los ammales comprados (10-12 meses), llegan con un peso promedIO de 153 ktlosEl proceso re ceba es como sIgue los ammales destetos van a los potreros No 28 y 30 de ~ gayanus permanecIendo hasta los 14-15 meses de edad, en pastoreo alterno (15 y 20 d(as de pastoreo, 4 3 ammales/ha), luego son llevados a los potreros de 8rachtarta decumbens , 5. ( pastoreo rotaCIOnal en 5 potreros de 8 hectáreas cada uno con período de pastoreo de 10 días y 40 días de descanso y 3 cabezas/ha. de carga ammal. En estos potreros se forman lotes homogéneos de 20 ammales y son trasladados a 6 potreros de 8_ decumbens (potreros 6, 11, 12, 13, 15 Y 16) donde termman lá ceba en pastoreo contmuo, a los 2 años con 450 kIlos de peso VIVO los ammales nacldos en la fmca y a los 2 5 años  Alambre de púa recubIerto con cabuyaSaladeros constru(do de ladrIllo, cemento, techo de teja, las canoas de cemento con capacIdad de 2 bultos (100 kg) de sal mmeral, pero afIrmado Este tlpo de saladero brmda condlclones adecuadas en cuanto a conservac16n de la sal y facIlmente acceslble al ammal a.PROBLEMAS Y ALTERNATIVAS 1. La fmca puede mejorar más su efICIenCia Comparando la ceba de ammales procedentes de la fmca con los ammales comprados de otras fincas,' se observa que los prImeros reducen en 6 meses el perrodo de ceba por entrar con mayores pesos mlclales (a la mlsma edad), lotes más homogeneos y de mejores condlCIones AlternatiVa Establecer pastos mejorados en el área donde hay pasto natural con lo cual se obtlenen una mayor capaCIdad de carga, dando cavldad a 70 U G G (vlentres aptos para crla), con lo que Incrementamos el número de terneros producldos por la fmca y esto conlleva a -más movImlento econ6mIco -más rendImIento de carne por hectárea/año -se reduce el volumen de coníferas -SI hay exceso de produccl6n de hembras Jovenes se puede camblar por machos Jovenes de otras fmcas para cebarlos -da la posIbIhdad de hacer una mayor pres16n de seleccI6n en hembras lo que puede generar incrementos en los parametros produc-tIVOS 2 La finca no cuenta con regIstros de produccl6n y dada las condICIones favorables es recomendable llevar dIChos hbros EspeCialmente el de ceba para detectar los ammales de baja convers1.ón y reeMplazarlos por otros (ganacla promedIO dIarIa)   --------~-----------~--~----------------------------------========-----~~~ A\"IDROPOGON CE_~TROSEMJ\\ (A2) \"\"'P\"\"'U\"'N\"'T\"\"o\"\"S----;;C::;E:::;H\"\"T;;;R\"\"O\"\"S;:E\"\"M\"'li\\--.;;.;;.;;;;;.;;:..;¡'-A1;;.,;:~\"'D;-;:RS:O;-;:P;;'O;;'G;;:O;;;-NF\";;\";;;---;C\"E\",~\\i'r;;-;R=O :¡'-A::.fDPOPOGO:i  ------------------------_._------------  , ++ ~J~tiJ 1, ']1' ,.. ptltL-¡!H. 1 1 , ¡j, 1, ' --' ' ' -' ' ' ' -' __ , 1------' ¡-+--t l ¡' , \"1 I ' ' \" ' J ,,11'\"1--. ,,---' : \",-1 I. r 1 l' l' ' 1 J ' f:¡:¡::: ,,•i¡•¡;;'¡'•!1 \", hl¡l'l'fi ~f\" \"J '   k'\" , .. \"', -' r\"\" t ,~t '~l\"-'F--.1• .ü\" \" \" j ' , '~¡--4\"Lp¡\"\" 'r ,-\" \",,1-,.-~ .. h-f-I ---,~r+• .' l' 1 1--+ t \" -\" r.r,rIi' ,-:.;.\"\" 11' J\" , 1I f:'T'1', I! l' \" T1 l ', ' 1 '.x• l~ltl!l¡\"'¡\" \"',' r.~ j: . ,lJI;l(I¡;¡!; t!1 r I j:¡;! ,1 r:w 11 ¡ ,,'jl)-1 I ,. . . . . : -Jt _' I 1 1_ \\ 1 ¡ . ! j i ¡: . :. r \\ I 1 I i 1+i ' Ir\" Ji 1 fij, I1   "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/6861070681.json b/main/part_2/6861070681.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b4cea102b82f025f14f43f0a83acfe41e36c5cd7
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0b5f9e0e005874824bd79c2d0c2e0aec","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1024c6f7-88e3-42fb-ab58-80ebac795dce/retrieve","id":"1980930248"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"184b45ea-b2fe-4cce-a9fc-e2b085f4621b","content":"Mali experienced modest annual economic growth of 4.4 percent between 2009 and 2019 (INSTAT 2020;World Bank 2023a). With annual population growth of 3.0 percent during that period, the living standards of Malian people improved only modestly. In 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant slowdown in economic growth, while an increase in armed insurgencies by domestic terrorist groups also had an adverse effect on the economy. Mali's GDP growth is projected to reach 4.0 percent in 2023 and 2024 (World Bank 2023b), suggesting the economy is inching back toward its prepandemic growth trajectory. Agriculture remains an important sector, accounting for 40 percent of GDP and more than 60 percent of employment in Mali. In this brief, we unpack the historical and projected economic growth trajectory further to better understand the role of agriculture as well as the broader agrifood system (AFS) in the performance and transformation of the economy of Mali.The AFS is a complex network of actors who are connected by their roles in supplying, consuming, and governing agrifood products and jobs. Just as an economy undergoes transformations as a country develops, agrifood systems are also expected to evolve (Diao, Hazell, and Thurlow 2010;Timmer 1988). Subsistence farming typically dominates agriculture during the earliest stages of development; as agricultural productivity rises, however, farmers start to supply surplus production to markets, thus creating job opportunities for workers in the nonfarm economy both within and outside the agrifood sectors (Haggblade, Hazell, and Dorosh 2007). Rising rural incomes generate demand for more diverse products; this leads to more nonfarm activities such as processing, packaging, transporting, and trading. In the early stages of transformation, the agriculture sector serves as an engine of rural-and even national-economic growth. Eventually, urbanization, the nonfarm economy, and nonagricultural incomes play more dominant roles in propelling agrifood system development, with urban and rural nonfarm consumers creating most of the demand for agricultural outputs via value chains that connect rural areas to towns and cities (Dorosh and Thurlow 2013). The exact nature of this transformation process varies across countries because of the diverse structure of their economies and the unique growth trajectories of their various agrifood and nonfood subsectors.This brief describes the current and changing structure of Mali's AFS and evaluates the potential contribution of different value chains to the acceleration of agricultural transformation and inclusiveness. We start by offering a simple conceptual framework of the AFS and then compare Mali's AFS with that of other countries at different stages of development. We go on to disaggregate Mali's AFS across agricultural value chains, taking into consideration their different market structures and historical contribution to economic growth and transformation. Finally, we use a forward-looking economywide model to assess the diverse contributions that specific value chains can make to each of a set of broad development outcomes. We conclude by summarizing our main findings.A country's AFS is a complex network of actors who are connected by their differing roles in supplying, using, and governing agrifood products (see Fanzo et al. 2020 for a detailed conceptual description of the AFS). In this brief, rather than examining all components of Mali's AFS, we employ a narrower focus. We first measure the size, structure, and historical contribution of the AFS to economic growth and transformation through a data-driven exercise; second, we use the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Rural Investment and Policy Analysis (RIAPA) model (IFPRI 2023a) to assess the effectiveness of AFS growth (led by productivity gains in different agricultural value chains) in promoting multiple development outcomes in Mali. Our measurement of the AFS is done from a supply-side perspective; that is, we use national accounts and employment statistics to either track or simulate growth and employment changes over time. By disaggregating the AFS into several value chain groups, this analysis offers a unique and useful perspective on the drivers of AFS growth and transformation. Figure 1 provides a simple conceptual framework of the AFS made up of five components, A to E (see Thurlow et al. 2023). Primary agriculture (A) comprises the supply and demand of all agricultural products including crops, livestock, fisheries, and forestry products. Agroprocessing (B) is part of the manufacturing sector and includes those subsectors that process agriculture-related food or nonfood products. Trade and transport services (C) includes those services associated with the transporting, wholesaling, and retailing of agrifood products between farms, firms, and final points of sale. Food services (D) includes services such as meals prepared at restaurants, food stalls, or hotels. Finally, input supply (E) is the portion of domestically produced intermediate inputs that is used directly in agricultural and agroprocessing production, such as fertilizers and financial services.Using this conceptual framework, it is possible to measure the size and structure of Mali's AFS from a supply-side perspective. Following the definitions of Thurlow et al. (2023), AFS GDP (or AgGDP+) is the sum of the GDP contributions of the five components (A to E), while AFS employment (or AgEMP+) is the total number of jobs across those components. As the economy grows and transforms over time, there will be changes in the relative contributions of the various on-farm and off-farm components of the AFS to total AgGDP+ or AgEMP+. A transforming economy, for example, will typically be characterized by more rapid growth in the off-farm components of the AFS; there will thus be an increased contribution by off-farm components to AgGDP+ and AgEMP+ and a relative decline in the contribution of primary agriculture. By disaggregating AgGDP+ and AgEMP+ by specific agricultural value chains, we can further assess the contribution of each of those value chains to AFS growth and transformation.  (IFPRI 2023b). National estimates are broken down into estimates for the AFS (that is, AgGDP+ and AgEMP+) and the rest of the economy. The AFS is further broken down into its on-farm (primary agriculture) and off-farm components. The estimates for manufacturing and services (including the trade and transport services subsector) at the bottom of the table include activities in both the AFS and non-AFS sectors; they thus provide a perspective on the relative size of the off-farm AFS components within the overall manufacturing and services sectors.As shown in Table 1, the AFS accounted for 50.8 percent of Mali's national GDP and 70.8 percent of employment in 2019. Primary agriculture alone contributed 40 percent of GDP and nearly two-thirds of employment, while the four off-farm components of the AFS contributed 10.8 percent to GDP and 8.4 percent to employment. The off-farm components of the AFS therefore accounted for roughly one-fifth of AgGDP+ and 12 percent of AgEMP+. The comparison of on-and off-farm GDP and employment shares shows that labor productivity in the off-farm components of the AFS is significantly higher than on-farm. The movement of farm workers into these off-farm components-a natural process of agricultural transformation-may thus be beneficial to household incomes. Source: Authors' calculation based on the 2019 Social Accounting Matrix for Mali (IFPRI 2023b).A to E correspond to the five agrifood system (AFS) components from Figure 1.The structure and economic contribution of a country's AFS varies at different stages of a its development. Evidence of this is provided in Figure 2, which compares the 2019 AFS structures of low-income (LIC), lower-middle-income (LMIC), upper-middle-income (UMIC), and high-income countries (HIC).Mali is an LIC. Thehe on-farm component of Mali's AFS and its contribution to national GDP are higher than that of its peer countries, but the off-farm component is lower (Panel A). Within the four off-farm components of the AFS, Mali's agroprocessing and trade and transport are relatively larger than in other LICs, while the food services and input supply components are relatively smaller (Panel B). In Figure 3, the structure of Mali's AFS from the supply side, as measured by AgGDP+ (Panel A), is compared to the structure of the AFS from the demand side, as measured by household consumption of agrifood products (Panel B). While 78.8 percent of AgGDP+ is from primary agriculture, primary agricultural commodities account for only 51.9 percent of household demand. In contrast, household demand for processed agrifood products accounts for 45.5 percent of total agrifood demand, even though the associated sector accounts for only 8.8 percent of AgGDP+. The bias toward processed agrifood products is mirrored in the large share of agrifood imports accounted for by processed products, that is, almost all agrifood commodity exports are primary agricultural commodities (Panel C), but 81.4 percent of imports are processed goods (Panel D). Mali has a deficit in its total agrifood commodity trade driven by a large value of processed agrifood imports-all agrifood exports are primary products, while more than 80 percent of agrifood imports are processed products. For a more detailed assessment of structural and historical growth patterns within the AFS, we group Mali's agrifood system into 13 value chain groups (see Table A1 in the Appendix for details on how individual value chains or subsectors are mapped to value chain groups). The 13 value chain groups are further categorized into three subgroups on the basis of their trade orientation. Exportable and importable value chains are defined, respectively, as those value chains with export-output and import-consumption ratios above the national average. Trade in both primary and processed agrifood products is considered in the calculation of these trade ratios. The remaining value chains are classified as lesstraded value chains.Table 2 shows the 13 value chain groups, categorized into exportable, importable, and less-traded value chains. The table also reports the contribution of each value chain group to AgGDP+, primary agricultural GDP, and GDP in off-farm components of the AFS. Consistent with Figure 3, Table 2 shows that Mali has a deficit in agrifood trade, with an import-consumption ratio of 5.5 percent, which is higher than the export-output ratio of 3.6 percent. Four of the 13 value chains are classified as exportable value chains because their export-output ratios exceed the national average for AFS value chains. Since Mali exports only primary agricultural products, these exportable sectors have a disproportionately small off-farm AFS GDP share of 29.5 percent, far smaller than their primary agricultural GDP share of 39.4 percent. Interestingly, oilseeds, an exportable value chain, also has a high import-consumption ratio. This may reflect an increased demand for processed agrifood products, many of which are imported. In this case, exports from the oilseed value chain are in the form of primary agricultural products (oilseeds), while imports into that value chain are processed products (such as cooking oils). Two value chains are classified as importable with high import-consumption ratios, and 7 of the 13 value chains fall into the less-traded group of value chains. Importable value chains account for 15.8 percent of AgGDP+, and less-traded value chains account for 46.0 percent of AgGDP+. The two importable value chains have large off-farm components, while many of the less-traded value chains have relatively small off-farm components. The importable value chains thus contribute a disproportionately larger share to off-farm AFS GDP (37.9 percent) compared to their primary agricultural GDP contribution (10.4 percent), while the 7 less-traded value chains contribute a disproportionately larger share to primary agricultural GDP (50.1 percent) compared to their off-farm AFS GDP (32.5 percent).The previous sections have provided a snapshot of the current structure of Mali's AFS, the disaggregation of the AFS across the 13 value chain groups, and the trade orientation of those value chains. We have demonstrated that Mali has a deficit in agrifood trade caused by imports of processed agrifood products. The two importable value chains are large in terms of their contribution to off-farm AFS GDP, while the seven less-traded value chains are dominant in terms of their contribution to AgGDP+ and primary agriculture. Less-traded value chains also are generally less oriented toward value addition in the off-farm components of the AFS (that is, their contribution to off-farm AFS components is small relative to their contribution to primary agriculture, especially when compared to importable value chains). Prioritizing growth in importable value chains could therefore be an effective strategy for expanding off-farm value addition and jobs, which would contribute positively to AFS transformation.In this section, we assess the performance and structural transformation of Mali's AFS in recent years.Labor productivity is typically lowest in primary agriculture, and higher in off-farm activities, such as in agrifood processing, food services, or in sectors outside of the AFS. Economic growth and urbanization are associated with relatively faster growth in these nonagricultural sectors, which can help create higher-paying jobs for both rural and urban households. As such, even smallholder farm households with family members who obtain off-farm employment may benefit from structural transformation.   Table 3 evaluates the growth performance across AFS value chains over the 2009 to 2019 period. As before, value chains are grouped according to their trade status, that is, exportable, importable, and less traded. Overall, Mali's AFS grew modestly, with an average annual AgGDP+ growth rate of 4.1 percent, slightly higher than the 3 percent population growth rate. The off-farm component of the AFS grew slightly slower (4.0 percent) than primary agriculture (4.2 percent), with agrifood processing, a subcomponent of the off-farm component of the AFS, growing particularly slowly at 3.8 percent per year. Source: Authors' analysis using the 2009 and 2019 Social Accounting Matrixes for Mali (IFPRI 2023b). Note: Value chains that experienced above-average AgGDP+ growth over the period 2009-2019 (that is, higher than 4.1 percent) are marked with an asterisk (*).Among the 13 value chains, 9 achieved above-average growth during the 2009 to 2019 period, that is, more than 4.1 percent per year (these are marked with an asterisk in Table 3). Among the 4 exportable value chains, 3 of them-oilseeds, cotton, and cattle and dairy-grew faster than the AFS average. Five of the 7 less-traded value chains also achieved above-average growth. Rice, the importable value chain, also falls into this category. Among these 9 value chains, 5 of them-oilseeds, rice, maize, pulses, and root crops-had growth rates at or above 5 percent per year. In these rapidly growing value chains, growth in the on-farm components of AFS was higher than growth in the off-farm components.Rice and maize are two large value chains, and they are also important food staples for many Malian households. Their rapid growth could help improve the country's food security situation.Figure 5 summarizes the key growth trends from Table 3. On average, less-traded value chains (3.7 percent) grew more slowly than national AgGDP+ (4.1 percent), while exportable (4.4 percent) and importable (4.8 percent) value chains grew faster than the national average (Panel A). Since less-traded value chains make up a large share of the AFS (48.4 percent), however, they contributed the most to growth (42.9 percent), followed by exportable value chains (39.3 percent) (Panel B). IFPRI's Rural Investment and Policy Analysis (RIAPA) model is a tool for conducting forward-looking, economywide country-level analysis (IFPRI 2023a). RIAPA has been used in a wide variety of contexts to simulate the impacts of policies, investments, and economic shocks. Here we employ RIAPA to assess the effectiveness of productivity-led growth in Mali's agricultural value chain groups for promoting multiple development outcomes. The analysis was carried out for 12 value chain groups, which were selected from the original list of 13; forestry was excluded. We considered five development outcomes: A poverty-growth elasticity that measures the percentage-point change in the poverty headcount rate per unit of agricultural GDP growth generated within the targeted value chain;  A growth multiplier that measures the change in GDP per unit of increase in agricultural GDP in the targeted value chain;  An employment multiplier that measures the change in the number of jobs created per unit of increase in agricultural GDP in the targeted value chain;  A diet-quality indicator that measures the percentage change in a diet quality index per unit of agricultural GDP growth generated within the targeted value chain; and  A hunger-growth elasticity that measures the percentage-point change in the rate of undernourishment per unit of agricultural GDP growth generated within the targeted value chain. The simulations entail increasing on-farm productivity separately in each targeted value chain and comparing development outcomes across the value chains. While this exogenous productivity shock is imposed only in the primary agriculture component of each value chain, there are spillover effects into that value chain's off-farm components as well as into other agricultural value chains or sectors outside the AFS. These spillovers are captured by the economywide model and provide an indication of the transformation effect that agricultural productivity growth in the value chain has within the AFS and in the broader economy. There are also structural differences across value chains; for example, value chains have unique links to other sectors as suppliers or users of intermediate inputs, or they have unique links to rural or urban households in different income groups because of the types of workers they employ or the consumption preferences of households for the agrifood products produced by those value chains.As such, each value chain growth scenario is expected to have a unique impact on the development outcomes; moreover, not all value chains will be equally effective at improving outcomes. In some cases, there may even be trade-offs due to competition for resources across value chains. With the aid of the RIAPA model, these complex effects can be unpacked, thus providing information to governments or development partners that can be used to prioritize across different value chains; this is subject, of course, to the development outcomes they value most highly.Figure 6 shows the scores each value chain achieves across the five development outcome indicators. We arbitrarily rank the value chains by their poverty score. Value chains clearly differ significantly in terms of their effectiveness in improving different development outcomes. The root crops value chain, for example, has strong poverty effects and is more effective than others at reducing hunger, but it is much less effective in improving diet quality or increasing jobs. In fact, productivity growth in root crops causes total jobs to fall. In contrast, the cattle and dairy value chain has a growth multiplier of 1.68 (the second highest of all the value chains), which means that for every US$1.00 increase in GDP in the cattle and dairy value chain driven by rising productivity, an additional US$1.68 is generated in total GDP; that means US$0.68 is generated either in the off-farm components of the cattle and dairy value chain or in other value chains or sectors of the economy. The cattle and dairy value chain also scores high on job creation but ranks much lower on the poverty outcome. It even has a negative poverty effect, in that the national poverty rate would not fall with growth in value added in the cattle and dairy value chain.These results highlight the possible trade-offs that may emerge when prioritizing individual value chains, as there is no single value chain that is the most effective at achieving every development objective. Promoting a few value chains jointly will not only diversify agricultural growth but can also help to simultaneously achieve multiple development objectives.Source: RIAPA model results. Note: Panel A shows the percentage point changes in poverty rate that are associated with a 1 percent increase in agricultural GDP; Panel B shows the percentage point changes in hunger rate that are associated with a 1 percent increase in agricultural GDP; Panel C shows the changes in total GDP (in US$ millions) that are associated with a US$1.0 million increase in agricultural GDP from the targeted value chain; Panel D is the change in total economywide employment (in thousand persons) that is associated with a US$1.0 million increase in agricultural GDP from the targeted value chain; and Panel E is the percentage improvement in diet quality that is associated with a 1 percent increase in agricultural GDP. The figure is ordered by the poverty rate outcome.- A composite score across different outcome indicators is created to narrow down the number of value chains that might be prioritized. Because of a high correlation between poverty and hunger impacts across value chains, the hunger score is omitted from the composite score. Also, since the different outcome indicators have different underlying units, the individual outcomes are normalized so that they are comparable while still retaining their ranking within the outcome category. Normalization entails assigning a score of 1 to the value chain that is most effective within an outcome category, and a score of 0 to while the least effective value chain. All value chains with adverse effects on an outcome are also assigned a score of 0. This includes value chains with a growth multiplier of less than one (cotton and other livestock) or those with negative employment effects (root crops and other crops). The remaining value chains receive a score between 1 and 0 that is proportionate to their original score relative to the highest-ranked value chain. The individual normalized scores for the outcomes are then combined into a composite score for each value chain.The default approach assumes that each of the four outcome indicators is equally important, so an equal weight is assigned to each score; however, if policymakers consider a particular development outcome to be more or less important than the other outcomes, the weights assigned to each particular outcome score can be adjusted accordingly.Figure 7 presents the composite scores using equal weights across the four development outcome indicators (that is, excluding hunger). Each component in the bars shows the relative contribution of a particular outcome indicator to the final score. The oilseeds, pulses, sorghum, and cattle and dairy value chains are ranked highest. For the three top-ranking value chains-oilseeds, pulses, and sorghumeach of the four outcome components makes some contribution to their composite scores.By contrast, while cattle and dairy stands out as the fourth-ranked value chain, its growth would not contribute to poverty reduction and its contribution to diet quality improvement is also minimal, even though it could have important impacts on the other development outcome areas. While a ranking of their impacts on multiple development outcomes on the basis of composite scores allows us to identify and prioritize value chains, trade-offs clearly exist as to which outcomes are most significantly affected by productivity-led growth in each value chain. In the decade prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mali experienced modest growth both in the total economy and in the AFS. Annual growth rates of 4.4 percent for the total economy and 4.1 percent the AFS, were only slightly higher than the 3 percent population growth rate in the same period. The slow growth could not lead to a significant structural change within Mali's AFS. Growth rates for the on-and off-farm components of the AFS were similar-4.2 and 4.0 percent, respectively-and the off-farm share of the AFS barely changed over the 2009 to 2019 period. Both the agricultural GDP and agricultural employment shares declined over this period, but only modestly, and agriculture remains a large sector in Mali.The growth in Mali's AFS between 2009 and 2019 was mainly contributed by less-traded value chains (42.9 percent), followed by the export-oriented value chains (39.2 percent). The large contribution from the group of less-traded value chains is explained by its large initial size, while its growth rate was slightly below the average growth in the AFS. On the other hand, growth in the group of export-oriented value chains was above-average, and this is also a relatively large value chain group, which explains its significant contribution to overall AFS growth.The RIAPA model-based comparison of future sources of growth shows that there is no single value chain group that is the most effective in achieving all desired development outcomes, that is, declining poverty, declining hunger, economic growth, job growth, and improved diets. The oilseeds, pulses, sorghum, and cattle and dairy value chains rank highly in their composite outcome scores for poverty, GDP, jobs, and diets. Some of these value chains already displayed above-average growth rates in the preceding decade. Promoting these value chains together offers an effective and broad-based way to achieve these development outcomes. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"618613adb7e16a38ffec3dade2755dd9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2cc7987c-6d96-41f5-9b8a-a380c534ab94/retrieve","id":"2009294311"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"bca525e5-b8c7-4f1f-94e4-d70bad70d5dc","content":"The challenge is …• … to increase food production  in the face of climate change  whilst reducing the carbon cost of farming  but not simply by farming at lower intensity and taking more land (because there isn't enough)• Prior conclusions confirmed (like crops): more evidence, higher confidence• Only limited, semi-robust evidence (unlike crops) for impacts on livestock systems already: livestock disease, disease vectors• For future impacts, widespread negative impacts on forage quality at both high and low latitudes  impacts on livestock productivity, production, incomes, food security   • Greatest impacts will be felt in grazing systems in arid/semi-arid areas Livestock: some big numbers What's on the other side of the balance?• Livestock are a significant global asset: value >$1.4 trillion (excluding infrastructure that supports livestock industries) (Thornton and Herrero 2008)• Livestock industries organised in long market chains that provide incomes and/or employ at least 1.3 billion people (LID 1999)• Livestock GDP: 30-40% of agricultural GDP (Nigeria 7%, Tanzania 26%, Ethiopia 25%). In developing countries, most livestock production is from ruminants (Nigeria 73%, Eth 93%, TZ 90%)• Livestock important as a risk management tool, especially for the poor: ~430 million poor livestock keepers (Thornton in FAO/ILRI 2011)• Livestock are key for nutritional security: 17% of the global kilocalories and 33% of protein (FAOSTAT 2008); Africa, 8% of calories Livestock's socio-economic benefits Climate-induced livelihood transitions out of crops into livestock? Steering a path between the devil and the deep blue sea: can we sustainably balance livestock's goods and bads?1 Increasing productivity (managing the supply side)• Sustainably intensify production, e.g. improve ruminant diets, shifts in which livestock products are produced and where• Decrease GHG emissions intensity of livestock products in developing countries  reduce livestock numbers• Carbon sequestration in degraded grasslands: enhances land productivity, can improve lives of poor livestock farmers/pastoralists, requires carbon payments and institutional innovationYes, in several (often additive) ways, including:"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b65005f605f22a95690f47054e24d70b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/232fb54c-ee67-45c0-87a9-5c992a05f58f/retrieve","id":"73950835"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"953e34c7-7c8b-4733-943f-e7d83afcf5b5","content":"A s a regular reader of the COMPRO-II newsletter, no doubt that you will be interested in anoverview of our key achievements for the participatory demonstration trials in the six project countries i.e. Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. Therefore, the project team has decided to put together this special issue on dissemination.In this issue, you will learn more about the progress of the dissemination activities in each the project countries and the country-specific major outcomes. For instance, farmer testimonies in Ghana and Kenya demonstrated the satisfaction of farmers with the improved crop productivity as a result of the COMPRO-II interventions. In addition to improved food production (food security), farmers have also improved nutrition by formulation of nutritious recipes including legume crops such as soybean as found in Western Kenya (nutrition security). On average, farmers have found that applying rhizobium inoculants to legume crops, particularly soybean, was profitable. Consequently, selected farmers have started adopting improved legume technologies on their own farm at scale, not only to improve food and nutrition security, but also generate additional incomes as crops like soybean are also considered cash crops. For instance, there are many cases of farmers going beyond demonstration in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda. To ensure sustainability and scalability, the project has also engaged key stakeholders at the grassroots in the dissemination activities including district administrators (policy makers), agro-dealers, extension agents, farmer organizations, and product proponents (private sector) among others as shown in Tanzania. I invite you to read the various articles in this issue for more details. In the previous issue, you have read more about the project success in terms of improving the regulatory framework for the technologies of interest to ensure that farmers are less exposed to poor quality agricultural inputs through a customer-paid quality control mechanism. In the next issue, we will inform you more about the quality control process including quality standards, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and efficacy testing for agricultural inputs of importance in integrated soil fertility management (e.g. bio-fertilizers) and integrated pest management (e.g. biopesticides). It is worth mentioning that the positive project achievements are mainly a result of effective partnership. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the project partners in the six project countries for their invaluable contribution to the project success. For this specific issue, allow me to thank Getahun Mitiku of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Robert Abaidoo of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, Paul Seward of Farm Input Promotions -Africa in Kenya, Innocent Okuku of Notore Chemical Industries in Nigeria, MbetteMshindoMsollaof African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership in Tanzania, and Christopher Kyeswa of Africa 2000 Network -Uganda. They have effectively facilitated the implementation of the dissemination activities in the respective project countries. We also thank you as a regular reader of the COMPRO-II newsletter and we hope to get your feedback or inquiry about the various project aspects interesting to you. Finally, as of January 2016 COMPRO-II will reduce its direct contribution to the participatory demonstration trials, but will continue to engage the private sector for improved availability of the agricultural inputs of interest in the project mandate areas and awareness creation to trigger an increase in the technology adoption for food security and livelihood.Continued from page 2.... W ithin the framework of the COMPRO II project, Farm Input Promitions -Africa (FIPS-Africa) has been disseminating the Biofix rhizobium inoculant on improved soybean varieties (SB3, SB19) through its networks of Village-based Advisors (VBAs) in Siaya, Busia, Bungoma, Kakamega, Vihiga and Kisii Counties in the western region of Kenya. Figure 1 shows the location of the VBAs. Biofix helps soybean plants to fix Nitrogen and improve crop growth and yields. Measurement of yields from the Mother demonstrations from the second season of 2013 showed that Biofix inoculant increased soybean yields by on average 75%. Yield increases of greater than 30% were observed for all the counties except Kakamega (Figure 2).Use of Biofix was found to be economically attractive, with value cost ratios greater than 2 in Bungoma, Busia, Butere-Mumias, Kisii and Vihiga counties. Biofix is promoted using FIPS-Africa's small pack methodology whereby all farmers in a Village are given the opportunity to experiment with a 100 g pack of soybean seed inoculated with Biofix on small plots on their own farms in a low risk way. FIPS-Africa's 170 VBAs have disseminated small seed (inoculated with Biofix) packs to more than 53,769 farmers since the start of the Kenya: Simultaneous promotion of soybean alongside key food crops helps farmers to achieve food and nutrition security in Western Kenya.Continued from page 4.... project. The approach is catalysing the adoption of soybean cultivation. Farmers are saving the seeds from their small plot harvests to grow the crop over large areas (Figure 3).In Khuyala village in Siaya County (Figure 3B), Zainabu Avangi is now growing soybean over half an acre. She initially received 100 g of seed from her VBA in 2012. She expects to harvest at least 6 bags (i.e. 90 kg) of soybeans. She is planning to sell 5 bags and keep 1 bag for food and seed for the next season.However, soybean is still a new crop in the region, and is still regarded as a cash, rather than a food, crop. For this reason, in addition to soybean, VBAs simultaneously promote improved varieties of a range of food crops like cassava, maize, and finger millet among others (Figure 4) to achieve food security.Farmers are taking mixtures of dried grains and tubers to the 'posho' mill to produce a flour for making a nutritious 'Uji' -Porridge (Figure 5). They are making it from a wide range of ingredients including maize, finger millet, soybean, and cassava. As a result, they have started to use increasing amounts of soybean to improve nutrition.  Before each dissemination campaign of bio-fertilizer products, theoretical and practical trainings have been provided to model farmers, developmental agents and agricultural experts on the use and application of bio-fertilizers. The trainings were organized at Jima, Pawe and Assosa for soybean bio-fertilizers and Arsi and Shewa zones for faba bean bio-fertilizers. In total 581 participants were trained, with the mission to train others later on. In general, participatory demonstration trials included (i) farmer practice, (ii) bio-fertilizer alone, (iii) Ethiopia: Building local capacity for smallholder farmers' access to legume inoculants Ethiopia Ethiopia bio-fertilizer used in conjunction with phosphorus (P) fertilizer, and P fertilizer alone, to optimize the learning potential of the farmers from the trials. The demonstration trials were also superimposed on adaptation trials of selected faba bean varieties i.e. Gebelcho, Gora, Achalu, Dosha, Moti, Tumsa, Welkie and Dagaga at major faba bean growing areas in the country. In addition to participatory demonstration sites, selected farmers in the project areas have purchased bio-fertilizers from Menagesha Biotech Industry PLC and National Soil Testing Center and they have started utilizing the technology on their own, going beyond demonstration. Continuous capacity building of the farmer organizations and the public private partnership for the development of legume inoculants may improve farmer adoption of legume technologies to increase crop productivity.  During field days, farmers requested more information on the availability and access to biofertilizers and markets for additional crops. This demonstrated the importance of engaging the private sector (e.g. agro-dealers and product proponents) and extension agents. These key stakeholders were invited by AFAP to facilitate the interaction with farmers during training sessions and field days. Representatives of agricultural research institutes (ARI) such as ARI Uyole were also involved in the field days to clarify issues related to soil fertility and legume technologies. To ensure common understanding of improved legume technologies and integrated soil fertility management (ISFM), stakeholders were trained including regional, district, and village agricultural officers, hub and rural agro-dealers, village based advisors, as well as farmers and output buyers in the four project regions. This was mainly meant to ensure sustainability in the long run, particularly the engagement of district administration (Figure 4).The network mentioned above was developed in less than a year. There is a need to sustain it through further group trainings to upgrade the skills as new knowledge is generated, but also for continuous teambuilding. To ensure that the achievements of the project could be improved and scaled up, COMPRO-II will collaborate with a similar initiative funded by the   1). One farmer in Namaingofor instance has started growing soybean at large scale, not only for food security, but also for income generation (Figure 2).  In the project effort to build the capacity of university students for the succession plan, sustainability and scalability, selected students from Makerere University have been trained at trial and farm sites for the field practical course. This exercise not only improved their understanding of improved legume technologies, but also allowed them to interact with farmers (Figure 3). Such interaction strengthens their ability to contribute to the extension services in the future.Continued from page 10  I n Nigeria, the participatory demonstration trials started at the beginning of COMPRO-II in 2012, under the collaborative work between Notore Chemical Industries (Notore) and Farm Inputs Promotions-Africa (FIPS-Africa). Since 2013, Notore started independently conducting the participatory demonstration trials and awareness creation. Notore is a private sector company involved in facilitating farmers' access to improved agricultural technologies including seeds and fertilizers. The company has shown significant interest in legume inoculants such as legumefix and nodumax; they are analyzing the market and participating in awareness creation before they can start commercializing the products at large scale not only in Nigeria, but also in other West Africa countries such as Ghana.Figure 1 shows the locations of the main participatory demonstration trials conducted from 2012 -2014 in Benue, Kaduna, Kano, and Niger States. Farmers' trials using the inputs tested at the demonstration trials following onsite training and awareness creation (video campaigns) are not included in the map. Results obtained during this period have not only shown significant yield increases, but also huge spatial variability (Figure 2). In 2015, the project started testing various interventions of Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) including interaction of organic manure, phosphorus (P) fertilizer, and rhizobium inoculant to try to reduce the yield gap across regions and sites. The results will be published in the next issues of the project newsletter.   S imilar to Ethiopia, participatory demonstration trials in Ghana were initiated since 2014 in Northern and Upper West regions (Figure 1). In Figure 1 the data points are limited to the main demonstration sites; they don't include comparative trials set up by farmers themselves after receiving trainings at the demonstration trials. Results of 2014 showed significant yield increase, although there was a spatial variability of crop responses (Figure 2). In 2014, the test crops were soybean and maize using various inputs. In both cases the common farmer practice was compared to the project recommendation. Although for both crops significant yield increases were observed, the technologies used in maize production were less profitable than the ones used for soybean (data not shown; submitted elsewhere for publication in a book chapter that will come out in 2016). In 2015, the project opted to focus mainly on soybean using inoculant formulation (i.e. nodumax) in conjunction with triple superphosphate (TSP), and at a less extent to groundnut. Nodumax is manufactured in West Africa (IITA-Ibadan, Nigeria), which ensures timely delivery of the inoculants for the target legume crops.  in Upper west. However, in Northern region both soybean and groundnut were tested. The demonstration sites have also been used for training of interested smallholder farmers to increase understanding of the inoculant technology and its benefits compared to current common practices in the two regions. Early July, over 1650 farmers have already been registered for the training (i.e. 1320 male and 330 female). Farmers field day (Figure 4) and technology evaluation (Figure 5) were organized where participating farmers were asked to appraise the project recommendation and their practices. Majority of the farmers rated the inoculant technology in conjunction with triple superphosphate as the best technology in terms of plant growth, pod formation, number of pods, grain yield and quality of seeds.  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4318c38673d113272cf05d2d3576ce67","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cd0c5a73-93f4-4159-aaed-358a172f8639/retrieve","id":"-569552672"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ed6c2932-4ee0-4489-8550-099810e6a898","content":"Table 1: Household immigration patterns in the MCA .........................................................        Kenya's policies on land use are normally well intended, but their limitations to narrowly defined sectors of the economy has often led to undesirable ecological and socio-economic implications for biodiversity conservation and livestock production in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs). For instance, in an effort to address rapid increase in human population and the attainment of selfsufficiency in food production, the Kenya government has sought to increase the productivity of ASALs through dry land agriculture and intensified livestock production (ROK, 1994;Southgate & Hulme, 1996). This policy has provided agricultural communities occupying high potential agro-ecological zones with a perfect opportunity to seek alternative land for settlement and crop cultivation in the country's rangelands. Thus, over the past few decades, Kenya's Meru Conservation Area (MCA) has witnessed a steady immigration of agricultural households from nearby high potential agro-ecological zones into its buffer zones. The situation has subjected natural habitats that formerly served as communal grazing lands and wildlife dispersal areas to sustained fragmentation and alteration, as these migrant households take up land for settlement and crop cultivation. The most affected zones are the wetter margins of the western and southern buffer zones, which are also critical for livestock and wildlife, particularly in the dry season. The situation has led to a reduction in the livestock grazing range, a decline in the livestock/wildlife resource base, and increased resource competition among wildlife, livestock and agriculturalists. Consequently, the MCA has increasingly witnessed complex interactions between conservation and socio-economic needs and pursuits of households occupying its buffer zones. Some of the indicators of these interactions include land use related land cover changes and disputes arising from conflicts of interest among agriculturalist, pastoralists and conservationists with wildlife as the common ground of contention, particularly on the western, southern and northern boundaries of Meru National Park.The MCA is therefore a classical case of Kenya's protected areas that are currently degenerating into 'island' national parks and reserves surrounded by increasingly reducing-hence largely degraded-pastoral grazing lands, and fast expanding smallholder farmlands (UNEP & KWFT, 1988). Since 65-80% of Kenya's wildlife occupy areas outside the formal boundaries of protected areas at any given time (Matiko, 2000), while pastoral livestock depend on the wetter margins of rangelands as dry season grazing reserves (Herlocker, 1999;Ekaya, 2001;Serneels, 2001), the situation in the MCA poses serious ecological and socio-economic implications for biodiversity conservation and livestock production in the Greater Meru Ecosystem. It is on this basis that this working paper seeks to review the link between Kenya's present policies on land use in ASALs, wildlife conservation and utilization, and human population growth and distribution; as they affect land use in rangelands. Finally, as a case study, the paper presents an in-depth analysis of the effects of wildlife-livestock-human interactions on habitat in the MCA as a consequence of the above policies; and the implications for biodiversity conservation and livestock production in the region.In Kenya, like other East African countries, arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs)-also referred to as rangelands- (Herlocker, 1999), are characterised by low, erratic and unreliable rainfall, high temperatures, low humidity, low soil fertility and poor drainage (Southgate and Hulme, 1996;Ekaya, 2001). They have marginal agricultural productivity with livestock production and wildlife management as the principal land use types. Kenya's ASALs are therefore largely uncultivated areas that support grazing and browsing animals, with vegetation and water as the most critical natural resources (Pratt and Gwynne, 1977;Herlocker 1999;Serneels, 2001) ASALs make up 87% of Kenya's total land area (Pratt and Gwynne, 1977). These areas support over 25% of the country's total human population, 52% of the total livestock population and 90% of the country's wildlife resources (Maalim, 2001). With not less than 4 million Kenyans engaged in full-time pastoralism and several more millions deriving the bulk of their sustenance from livestock production, ASALs are important in supporting both rural and urban livelihoods (Wekesa, 2001). For instance, it is currently estimated that the total value of livestock in Kenya's ASALs is more than Kshs 70 billion, which accounts for about 90% of the pastoral economy and 10% of the Gross Domestic Product (Wekesa, 2001;HPI, 2002). ASALs are also important for the country's tourism industry, through which Kenya earns about Kshs 50 billion annually, based largely on viewing of wildlife in protected areas (UNEP and KWFT, 1988;Herlocker, 1999).In the pre-colonial era, Kenya's ASALs supported nomadic pastoral communities and large wildlife populations (Southgate and Hulme, 1996). The pastoral livestock production system was a largely subsistence economy based mainly on milk production, although other products, such as meat, blood, hides and skins were also important (Williamson and Payne, 1978). Livestock played a very important role in the pastoral culture: they not only provided social status, but were also used as reserves of family wealth; they also were a form of social capital and an insurance against disaster (Williamson and Payne, 1978;Bekure et al., 1991). To ensure survival in the face of frequent and often extreme environmental fluctuations, the pastoral livestock production system was characterised by such coping mechanisms as high mobility and flexibility, a milk-based diet, herd splitting, use of dry season grazing reserves, stocking herds with a high proportion of breeding females and use of a social security system of stock loans and redistribution. This system was labour intensive, and valued large and often diverse herds (Herlocker, 1999;Ekaya, 2001).A striking feature of the pastoral livestock production system was its success for thousands of years. Pastoralists and their livestock were in dynamic equilibrium with the range environment. Rangeland degradation seldom occurred because the growth of human and livestock populations was constrained by such factors as disease, raiding between tribes and limited supplies of water. Thus, except during drought, the availability of forage was seldom a problem (Thurow et al., 1989).Though pastoralists still apply these coping mechanisms, so much has changed. In an effort to address rapid increase in human population and the desire for self-sufficiency in food production, Kenya's post independence governments have formulated profit oriented and ill-informed technocratic land use policies in ASALs that tend to promote intensified livestock production, dry land agriculture and wildlife-based tourism (Southgate and Hulme, 1996). These policies have tended to ignore the perceptions and notions of indigenous pastoral groups on ASAL resource management-which have been shaped by their experience and familiarity with the constraints of the rangeland environment over several years. Notable effects of these policies include the gradual overshadowing of pastoral community governing councils by the influence of a central government, the continued spread of agricultural communities into rangelands from high potential agro-ecological zones, and the subsequent introduction of a market economy into ASALs which has necessitated the need for physical and macro-economic infrastructure (roads, markets, administrative facilities etc.), which are still largely lacking in Kenyan rangelands (Coppock, 1994;Herlocker, 1999).The situation has not only introduced land use change in Kenya's ASALs, but also resource competition to the pastoral livestock production system. This has raised fears of a collapse of pastoral livestock production in rangelands, a situation that would render the 4 million Kenyan pastoralists jobless and deny the country about 10% of it Gross Domestic Product (Lado, 1992;Southgate and Hulme, 1996;Wekesa, 2001;HPI, 2002).Historically, Kenya's ASALs have received low priority in the allocation of development resources. This was for a long time justified on economic grounds and the need to maximise the productivity of areas with known and proven economic potential (GOK, 1992). For instance, since the British colonised Kenya in 1895, policy for development of ASALs has been to expand agriculture, resulting in the social and economic marginalization of pastoral groups (The Swynnerton Plan, 1953;Wamicha & Mwanje, 2000). The situation has not been made any better by post independence governments, which have also tended to promote land use policies that undermine traditional ASAL land use practices, a situation which has brought agriculturalists, wildlife and pastoralists into conflict (Southgate and Hulme, 1996).Land use policy in ASALs has revealed a mismatch between the indigenous pastoral groups' perception of resource management and the market economy approach adopted by the government (Southgate and Hulme, 1996). ROK (1994) reported that both the colonial and post-colonial authorities believed in addressing rapid increase in human population and the attainment of selfsufficiency in food production by increasing the productivity of ASALs through intensified livestock production and agriculture. The report states that with only 8.6 million hectares of Kenya's 44.6 million hectares regarded as having medium or high potential for rain-fed agriculture, irrigated cultivation in the more arid areas is regarded as an important means of increasing food production. According to the report, about 10% of the 540,000 hectares of ASALs regarded as potentially irrigable is currently under irrigation, while an additional 2,500 hectares is to be brought under irrigation each year under the current Development Plan (Resource Mobilization for Sustainable Development). Government policy, under this development plan, has been to favour small-holder irrigation by virtue of its low implementation and operational costs, and its relatively successful record when compared to centrally-managed large scale irrigation schemes. Concerns have, however, been expressed with regard to irrigable land in ASALs. The proximity of such land to water is in most cases quite close, which makes their value to both wildlife and pastoral populations critical both as water points and dry season grazing reserves (Southgate and Hulme, 1996;Herlocker, 1999;Serneels, 2001).Thus, the absence of a land use policy that recognises the role of pastoral livestock production as an ideal land use type in Kenyan rangelands has contributed to the spread of agriculture into high potential areas of ASALs, making these areas to increasingly become the locus of resource competition in rangelands (Southgate and Hulme, 1996;Lorot, 2002). Some of the reasons attributed to the failure to comprehensively incorporate the pastoral livestock production system into Kenya's ASAL land use policy include the following arguments:(i) The colonial attitude and perception of nomadic pastoralism may still be influencing the policy of post-independence Kenyan governments. The extracts below illustrate the perceptions of Sir Charles Eliot, Kenya's second Governor: \"I cannot admit that wandering tribes have a right to keep other and superior races out of large tracts merely because they have acquired the habit of straggling over far more land than they can utilize……......! \"The only hope for the Maasai is that under intelligent guidance, they may gradually settle down and adopt a certain measure of civilization. Any plan of leaving them to themselves with their old military and social organization untouched seems to me fraught with grave danger for the prosperity of the tribe as well as for the public peace\" (Eliot 1905, quoted in Southgate andHulme, 1996);(ii) That pastoralists were among the last groups to embrace formal education thus the current crop of policy makers are not informed on the pastoral thinking and their way of life. Proponents of this school of thought argue that these policy makers have tended to think that irrigation in rangelands would be a good way of making the largely uncultivated lands more productive and in the process make pastoral communities more productive members of the society by settling down (Lorot, 2002); and(iii) Pastoral livestock production has for a long time been placed under the Ministry of Agriculture where, as a legacy of colonial attitudes towards indigenous populations and their land use practices, land use policy in ASALs has been formulated along the following three principal objectives: to promote and maintain stable agricultural practices; to provide for the conservation of the soil and its fertility; and to stimulate the development of agricultural land. Thus, the ministry's land use policy has over the years tended to promote agricultural expansion at the expense of other competing sectors in Kenya's ASALs (Southgate and Hulme, 1996).Going by the arguments of Darkoh (1990); Said et al. (1997) and Ekaya (2001), land use change in Kenyan rangelands has introduced resource competition among pastoralists, agriculturalists and wildlife, thereby weakening pastoral traditional responses to hazards, the effects of which would be severe consequences for Kenya's ASALs with regard to habitat degradation, biodiversity losses and increased poverty. The situation has been attributed to the absence of a coherent and comprehensive policy on the environmental and the institutional capacity to support the same (Southgate and Hulme, 1996); lack of land zoning in areas of conservation concern (Serneels, 2001) and agriculturally-induced land tenure reform programmes in areas where livestock production and wildlife management remain the principal land use types (Smucker, 2002). Efforts should therefore be made towards formulating a comprehensive policy on land use and land tenure in Kenya's ASALs if the country's ASALs are to be spared of habitat degradation, loss of biodiversity and increased poverty among pastoral communities (UNEP and KWFT, 1988;Said et al., 1997;Herlocker, 1999;Ekaya, 2001). It is hoped that the recent establishment of NEMA is expected to bring together comprehensive legislative and institutional environmental policy framework to replace the present limitations of narrowly defined sectors in dealing with the total environment (Bragdon, 1992;Southgate and Hulme, 1996).According to Nyeki (1992), formal conservation began with a group of explorers at a historic campfire in Yellowstone, USA in 1870. Two years later, the US government passed a bill authorising the setting apart of certain areas as conservation areas, and the words \"National Park\" came into official use. Many other countries followed this example: Canada established formal protection for the mining springs at Banff in 1885, which later became the Banff National Park; Britain founded the National Trust of Great Britain in 1895; and Sweden established the Laponia National Reserve in1909. The first protected area on the African continent was the Sabi Game Reserve founded by President Kruger of South Africa in 1892, which later became the world famous Kruger National Park. In 1900 the East African Game Regulations were developed, and this lead to the creation of the Kenya Game Department in 1907.In 1937 an Ordinance was passed in Kenya strengthening the laws relating to the protection of game animals and birds (Nyeki, 1992). Consequently, the government appointed the Game Policy Committee in 1938 to study and recommend where and how to establish a system of national parks. Thus, Ordinance No. 9 of 1945, referred to as the National Parks Ordinance, was developed and a Board of Trustees appointed to administer areas of land to be designated as national parks and reserves. This led to the establishment of Nairobi National Park in 1946 and Tsavo National Park in 1948 (Nyeki, 1992). The Ordinance later became the Royal National Parks of Kenya Ordinance, which was changed further to the National Parks of Kenya Act. It is under this Act that most of the existing 56 protected areas (26 national parks and 30 reserves) were established (KWS, 1994), including Meru National Park in 1966(KWS, 1998), bringing the total protected conservation area to 44, 720 km2-which is 7.7 % of Kenya's total land area (Nyeki, 1992). Nyeki (1992) reported that after the 1945 changes in Ordinance, two government institutions were established to administer wildlife policies, namely: the Kenya National Parks Organization; and the Game Department. The Kenya National Parks Organization was charged with the protection and administration of national parks and national reserves. This included developing them as tourist resorts for the benefit and enjoyment of the general public.On the other hand, the Game Department administered and controlled all wild animals outside the authority of national parks, including those on private land. The department advised and assisted local county councils to establish game reserves where hunting of wild animals was forbidden. Consequently, the various game reserves under county councils were officially declared hunting blocks where only licensed hunting was allowed under the control of the department.To encourage local people to understand and appreciate the need for wildlife conservation, and develop good relations between the department and the local people, the Game Department often gave financial assistance to local authorities. These grants were for the construction and development of public utilities such as primary schools, dispensaries and cattle dips. The councils were also expected to use these grants to pay compensation for loss of property caused by wildlife.In 1976, an Act of Parliament (The Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, 1977) merged the two wildlife institutions into one government department, the Wildlife Conservation and Management Department, under the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife. The new department brought together all matters concerning wildlife conservation in the country and became the only overall wildlife authority on state land, trust land and private land. It was responsible for conserving and managing all wildlife resources in the country and ensuring that the resource gave back the best possible returns to individuals and the nation in terms of cultural, aesthetic and economic gains. Such utilization was intended to be carried out in a way that was not harmful to conservation principles.Licensed hunting, however, was not well coordinated, and poaching continued to destroy wildlife on a large scale. This situation forced the government to ban all hunting of wild animals and handling and/or trading in game trophies in 1977and 1978(Legal Notice No. 120 of May, 1977;Legal Notice No. 181 of August, 1979). Though the ban led to the closure of professional hunting companies and curio shops dealing in game trophies, it did not solve the poaching problem. Poaching continued to reduce the population of certain animal species, especially the elephant and rhino. For instance, the elephant and rhino populations declined by 85 % and 97 % respectively between 1976 and 1990. Thus, in the late 1980s, change of conservation and management policy had become essential if Kenya was to save her remaining stock of wild animals. Consequently, the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act was amended to create the Kenya Wildlife Service in 1989 (The Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, 1977;Nyeki, 1992). KWS (1990) in its publication on Conservation Policy Framework and Development Programme in Kenya reported that the Kenya Wildlife Service was established by Act of Parliament in 1989 as a self-governing state corporation. Its mandate was to conserve Kenya's natural environment and its fauna and flora, for the benefit of the present and future generations both in Kenya and in the world. Its responsibilities included sustainable utilization of Kenya's wildlife resources for the country's economic development and for the benefit of the people living in wildlife areas. The organization was also charged with protecting the people and their property from damage by wildlife.According to KWS (1990) and Nyeki (1992), the Parliamentary Act, which created KWS, empowered the Minister responsible for wildlife conservation and management to appoint a Board of Trustees to run KWS. The trustees, under the leadership of the Chairman of the Board, were delegated the duty to make policies and regulations for the protection and management of wildlife in Kenya. These policies would then be approved and published in the Kenya Gazette by the Minister before they became law. In addition to this, the Board has the powers to declare, establish, de-gazette or close national parks/reserves and game sanctuaries. It can also change park / reserve boundaries, as it deems necessary. The KWS Director, who is the Secretary and Executive Officer of the Board, has general control of all wildlife affairs in the country. The Director also issues utilization licenses and consults with local authorities and communities about the conservation and management of wildlife in their areas.The realization that 65-80% of Kenya's wildlife may be found outside the protected areas at any given time (Matiko, 2000), and hence the obvious limitations of the protected areas approach to conservation (Inamdar et al., 1999), led KWS to found the Community Wildlife Service 1992 and the Parks beyond Parks programme in 1996 as community-based conservation (CBC) initiatives (Rutten, 1992;Southgate and Hulme, 1996). The CBC was intended to involve rural communities, particularly those sharing habitats with wildlife, as an integral part of its wildlife conservation policy. The CBC has three objectives: the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of natural resources, and the equitable sharing of benefits arising from activities related to conservation (Hackel, 1998).The CBC approach has been quite popular as it is perceived to be an effective mechanism for addressing problems of social injustice. However, its success on the ground has been limited due to several complex factors, such as its requirement of huge financial investment, highly skilled staff, a realistic long-term period, and full involvement of local communities in the formulation and implementation of policies (Serneels and Lambin, 2001). Thus, to succeed it requires longterm commitment to funding, strong local participatory links, clear, precise and achievable objectives, and careful evaluation of the cost and benefits of project components at the household level, which have been lacking in CBC (Stocking and Perkin, 1992).In addition to this, changing land use in areas surrounding protected areas has also made it difficult for CBC to succeed. These areas are experiencing the expansion of small-holder cultivation in wildlife dispersal areas. The situation has been reported to reduce animal home ranges, leading to increased human-wildlife interaction, which may degenerate into humanwildlife conflicts (Little, 1994;KWS, 1994;Said et al., 1997;Serneels, 2001). KWS (1994) defined human-wildlife conflicts as \"any and all disagreements or contentions relating to destruction, loss of life or property and interference with rights of individuals or groups that are attributable directly or indirectly to wild animals\". This definition also recognises those conflicts that arise from clashes of interest between competing or polarised parties with wildlife being the common ground of contention. KWS (1994) reported that the basic premise is that in recent years wildlife-human conflicts have escalated because of (a) changes in land use especially the expansion and intensification of arable farming and sedentarization of pastoralists in rangelands, (b) inadequate wildlife control, (c) ban on hunting and capture of wildlife, and (d) natural increase in animal numbers.Conflicts related to wildlife conservation policies and laws include the liberalization of wildlife management and utilization outside protected areas, which tends to operate on vague, contradictory and outdated policies on land use, hunting, game farming, trade, compensation, stakeholder rights, responsibilities and participation (KWS, 1994). For instance, it is contradictory to proceed with consumptive utilization of wildlife resources at the commercial scale for the benefit of landowners under the present conditions of prohibitive legislation. Some of the prohibitive legislation include the Presidential Directive prohibiting all hunting and animal capture of 1984; the ban on hunting (Legal Notice No. 120 of May, 1977); and the ban on trade in wildlife and wildlife products (Legal Notice No. 181 of August, 1979).Conflicts related to KWS' operational strategies are largely management challenges. These range from poor law enforcement to ineffective community mobilization mechanisms, poor animal control and revenue sharing strategies (KWS, 1994).Conflicts related to socio-economic issues include increase in human population in ASALs, land use change, the demand for land reform programmes which has led to increased demand for resources, particularly among livestock keepers and wildlife. The situation has led to increased wildlife-human interactions and degenerated into human-wildlife conflicts, such as loss of human life and destruction of property by wildlife (KWS, 1994).Kenya has a population policy concerned with the growth rate and distribution of human population. Some of these policies have had a positive effect on land use in ASAL environments, while some have contributed indirectly to land use change in ASALs (UNEP and KWFT, 1988). For instance, the primary goal of Kenya's National Population Policy for Sustainable Development contained in Sessional Paper No. 1 of 1997 is the implementation of appropriate policies, strategies and programmes, which take into account the relationship between human population and availability of natural resources (ROK, 1999). Some of the programmes undergoing implementation under this policy include the transformation of family planning programmes into reproductive health care policies, the promotion of education and training of women and the girl-child on their role in achieving the desired decline in fertility rates, and the promotion of policies regulating the distribution of human population, particularly rural to urban migration (ROK, 1999).The promotion of family planning to limit family size through education and reproductive healthcare policies have lowered Kenya's fertility rate from an estimated 8.1 lives births per woman in 1978 to 4.7 live births in 1998. This has reduced Kenya's annual population growth rate from 3.8% in 1979 to an estimated 2.5% in 1998 (ROK, 1999), thereby indirectly lowering the number of people migrating to ASALs from high potential agro-ecological zones. On the other hand, the policy discouraging rural to urban migration has a direct effect in influencing the increase in human population density in high potential agro-ecological zones, which eventually leads to their migration to ASALs as a response to human pressure on land and the need for alternative land for settlement and crop cultivation (UNEP and KWFT, 1988).Thus, indirectly population policy can influence how the public interacts with wildlife and other natural resources. The public can contribute to conservation through influencing the birth rate and migration into wildlife areas. For instance, families can limit family size, taking into account the growth of population and the resources available. In addition, reports on population growth and land use trends in specific wildlife areas can be the basis for education which can be used to raise individual and community consciousness about the impact of population on the environment (UNEP and KWFT, 1988). However, the difficulty of communicating the wisdom of family planning in wildlife areas must be appreciated, given traditional values, the labour-intensive pastoral lifestyle and the social insecurity associated with most subsistence livelihoods (UNEP and KWFT, 1988;Ekaya, 2001).The MCA comprises Meru National Park, Kora National Park, Bisanadi National Reserve, Mwingi National Reserve and the adjoining community land. The conservation area is the second largest protected area in Kenya after Tsavo National Park. It is approximately 370 km North West of Nairobi and lies on the equator between 0 o 20' and 0 o 10' South, 38 o 00' and 38 0 25' East (Munyugi, Ruhiu and Warutere, 1996). Figures 1 and 2 below show the MCA and the study site respectively.Source: prepared from topographic sheets The area is semi-arid eco-climatic zone (Pratt and Gwynne, 1977). It has a bimodal rainfall pattern, which ranges from 380mm to 1000mm per year. The long rains come in the months of March through June, while the short rains come in October through December. Day temperatures are consistently above 30 o C and do not fall much below 20 o C at night, especially in the dry season (Pratt and Gwynne, 1977;Jaetzold and Schmidt, 1983). Pratt and Gwynne (1977) described three main vegetation types in this eco-climatic zone, namely: open Acacia wooded grassland, Acacia-Commiphora bushland and Combretum/Cordia/Grewia shrubland vegetation.The MCA is a gazetted protected area with wildlife management as the principal conservation activity. Owing to a marginal potential for rain-fed agriculture the adjoining community land has traditionally been under agro and pure pastoralism, although the continued immigration of agricultural communities in the area is increasingly putting the wetter margins exclusively under crop cultivation. Commonly cultivated crops include legumes, maize, millet and sorghum, but the area has also a potential for cotton, particularly in the western buffer zones and southern Tharaka area. Commonly kept livestock types include cattle on the western Meru National Park boundary; cattle, goats and donkeys in the southern Tharaka area; and cattle, goats, sheep and camels in the northern pastoral lands. Figure 2   A household questionnaire survey was conducted in the buffer zones of Meru National Park and Bisanadi National Reserve (0-10km from the protected area boundary) in January 2003. The questionnaire was pre-tested among a section of the target population in October 2002. The actual survey, conducted through stratified random access method (Campbell et al., 2003), interviewed 42 agro-pastoralists, 30 agriculturalists and 8 pure-pastoralists to form a total of 80 households out of 5,291 households-distributed in the western, southern, and northern buffer zones of the study site. The questionnaires were distributed in each of these zones on the basis of proportional number of households.The survey was intended to gather the following information: i). Changes in human population within households in the MCA's buffer zones between 1980 and 2000, ii). Residential status of households with regard to the duration of stay in the MCA's buffer zones, and the distance of the homestead from the protected area, iii). Factors contributing to immigration to the MCA's buffer zones, particularly for households which migrated to the area between 1980 and 2000, iv). Land use types and patterns of land use change in the MCA between 1980 and2000, v). Potential indicators of increased interactions between conservation and socio-economic needs and pursuits of communities neighbouring the MCA, such as wildlife-livestock-human conflicts and habitat changes, vi). Wildlife-livestock-human conflict types in the MCA, vii). Causes of the above conflicts, viii). Wildlife-livestock-human conflict zones of the MCA, and ix). Methods of mitigating wildlife-livestock-human conflicts.Using the t-test for paired proportions (Sokhal and Rolf, 1981), the sample data was tested for the significance of change in human population in the MCA's buffer zones between 1980 and 2000.i.e.Where: The study obtained demographic data from the Central Bureau of Statistics to determine changes in human population density and the spatial distribution of human population in the MCA between 1980 and 2000. This was done using ARCVIEW 3.2 GIS package (Eastman, 1999) to develop GIS maps showing human population densities and distribution in the western, southern and northern buffer zones of the MCA in 1979 and 1999 respectively.The questionnaire survey characterised land use types in the buffer zones of the MCA, the relative popularity of each land use type among households, and the geographical distribution of various land use types within the MCA with regard to households. The survey determined possible land use changes in the various geographical localities between 1980 and 2000. The survey also reviewed land ownership among households with regard to possible land tenure reforms between the pre-independence era and 2000, particularly in the southern and western buffer zones of Meru National Park. The essence of this was to determine the implications of possible land use-land cover changes for pastoral livestock production and wildlife management.Using the Chi-square test for the goodness of fit (Sokhal and Rolf, 1981), the study determined the significance of the difference between expected and observed cases of wildlife-livestock-human conflicts in the MCA.Where: χ 2 df = Chi-square at a given degree of freedom O = observed frequencies E = expected frequenciesA reconnaissance trip was made to the study site in October 2002 to develop a general understanding of the vegetation types in Meru National Park and Bisanadi National Reserve. Ament's (1975) preliminary description of vegetation in Meru Nation Park was useful for the reconnaissance trip. Actual vegetation description began in January 2003 and the aim was to collect descriptive details, organize the vegetation data for statistical analysis and come up with physiognomic classes.The vegetation description was hierarchical and it employed both physiognomic and floristic classification methods (Kent and Coker, 1992). The first step was to divide the whole vegetation into distinct physiognomic classes on the basis of recommendations by the East African Range Classification Committee (Pratt and Gwynne, 1977). The following physiognomic features were used to describe and classify the vegetation: i). Plant life form: This involved describing whether the vegetation was made up of trees, shrubs or herbs/grass, ii). Stratification: The height in metres of each life-form class was recorded, using a clinometer, and iii). Basal and canopy: Cover estimation was done through the point-intercept method (Kent and Coker, 1992). In each physiognomic category, sampling plots measuring 20 × 50m were delineated using a measuring tape and string. The cover type was recorded as closed, open or sparse vegetation community. Using a measuring tape and a string, five transects, spaced 10m apart, were laid perpendicular to the baseline, along which point frames were placed for cover estimation. Four point frames, spaced at a 5-metre interval, were placed along each transect. Cover was estimated by recording 'hits' by cover category (life form class) and plant species on a cover data form. The percent cover of each species per transect was determined by summing up the hits for that species, dividing the hits by the total number of points along the transect, and multiplying by 100 (Kent and Coker, 1992;NPS, 2003).i.e. Percent cover sp = Hits sp × 100 Points Where: Percent cover sp = percent cover of a species in a transect Hits sp = number of points on which a species occurs Points = total number of points on a transectThe total percent cover for the species in the physiognomic category was determined by adding together all the transect cover values for the species and dividing by the number of transects (NPS, 2003).The total vegetation cover in the physiognomic category was calculated by adding the cover percentages for all plant species. This was followed by the determination of the relative cover with regard to life form classes. This involved dividing the total percent cover for each life-form class with the total vegetation cover for the physiognomic category, multiplied by 100 (NPS, 2003).i.e.Relative cover life-form = Percent cover life-form × 100 Percent cover totalWhere: Relative cover life-form = relative cover of a life-form class within a physiognomic category Percent cover life-form = total percent cover of life-form class within a physiognomic category Percent cover total = total percent cover of all species in a physiognomic category With the various physiognomic categories described with regard to life-form and relative cover, but the dominant species in each category being different, all species in a physiognomic category were listed for constancy. Constancy refers to the level of occurrence of a plant species in a vegetation community relative to other species (Kent and Coker, 1992). Species were ranked downwards from high to low constancy on the basis of their commonness or rarity in a physiognomic category. This involved determining the sum occurrence of a plant species in all transects divided by the total number of transects in a physiognomic category, multiplied by 100.Constancy sp = Occurrence sp × 100 Transects totalWhere: Constancy sp = the constancy value of a plant species in a physiognomic category Occurrence sp = the sum of all occurrences of a plant species in all transects in a physiognomic category Transects total = the total number of transects in a physiognomic category These constancy values were used to determine the dominant species in each physiognomic category leading to the description of species composition in each category.A GIS map was then developed using ARCVIEW 3.2 (Eastman, 1999) to illustrate the location and distribution of the various vegetation communities described in the Meru National Park and Bisanadi National Reserve.The study was originally intended to determine habitat changes in the MCA by analysing 1980 and 2001 Landsat Thematic Mapper images. However, there were no cloud-free satellite images captured in the wet season between 1980 and 1986. The study therefore used 1987 and 2001 satellite images. The analysis involved three remote sensing processes:The MCA's Landsat Thematic Mapper images for 1987 and 2001 (1:100,000) were obtained and processed using ARCVIEW-GIS Version 3.2 (Eastman, 1999). This involved correcting the images for errors generated by satellite sensors, atmospheric scattering, and geometric distortions associated with satellite movements, earth's curvature and rotation (Wilkie and Finn, 1996). Geometric correction involved image co-registration in order to overlay known landscape features (from scanned topographic sheets) to corresponding satellite image pixels, using the ground control points (GCP) method (Eastman, 1999).Supervised classification was then carried out, by converting the spectral data contained within the satellite images directly into thematic land-cover information. This involved identifying homogeneous regions within the image that represented unique known landscapes, also referred to as training sets. Training sets were identified on the basis of spectral characteristics, the researchers' knowledge of the landscape features captured within the image, field visits and topographic maps of the area. With each training set representing a characteristic spectral response, digital classification was done to match the spectral signatures of each pixel in the image to a given training set signature (Wilkie and Finn, 1996).Ground truthing involved visiting sites that represented the land cover classes (training sets) identified in the image. It was done through stratified random access method with emphasis being placed on identifying spectral characteristics associated with each land cover class (Rush et al., 1985). Ground truthing was intended to identify the size, shape and distribution of features in each land cover class as well as the variations represented between classes in the spectral image (Wilkie and Finn, 1996).Each geographical site was located using a global positioning device (GPS) (Michener et al., 1992) and topographic maps of the study area, in order to ensure a level of precision appropriate to the imagery pixel size on the ground (Wilkie and Finn, 1996). The land cover features recorded in each spectral class included the geographical location of each sample plot in Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) co-ordinates using a GPS; percent landscape cover by each life-form class, including bare ground and areas under cultivation, using a modified Braun-Blanquet method (Kent and Coker, 1992); dominant plant species within each life form class; and the approximate maximum height for each life-form category, measured using a clinometer. The topographic features at each site, such as slope, rivers (seasonal and permanent), swamps, hills, and roads, were recorded. The land use type at each site was also recorded.Vegetation data that was collected during ground truthing was done concurrently with vegetation description discussed above. In addition to these, photographs of the sample plots were taken to validate the data.Using both the normalised difference vegetation index's (NDVI) subtraction method (Wilkie and Finn, 1996) and visual interpretation (Campbell et al., 2003), image analysis was done on the 1987 and 2001 satellite images to determine specific habitat changes. This involved viewing the remote sensing data as single-band and colour composite images in order to differentiate the spatial and spectral details available within specific land cover classes in the 1987 and 2001 satellite images (Wilkie and Finn, 1996), using the GIS package, IDRISI Version 32 (Eastman, 1999).The observed differences were tested for significance using the t-test of one sample (Sokhal and Rolf, 1981).i.e.Where: t df = t-test at a given degree of freedom X = sample mean Ц = expected meanThe results were analysed alongside the human population density maps to determine the relationship between habitat changes and changes in human population densities and land use between 1987 and 2001.According to the questionnaire survey, 70% of the households occupying the buffer zones surrounding the MCA were migrant communities who came to the area after 1980. Majority of these were agricultural communities from nearby high potential agro-ecological districts, such as Meru Central, Nyeri, Murang'a and Kiambu in Central Province. However, there were also groups, which migrated to the MCA from relatively drier districts, such as Kitui, Garissa and Marsabit.Majority of the immigrations by agricultural households into the MCA's western and southern buffer zones led to permanent human settlements. Some of the factors that made the western and southern buffer zones particularly popular with agriculturalists included their high rainfall gradient (Jaetzold & Schmidt, 1983), and the fact that they were still largely open areas that served as wildlife dispersal areas and pastoral communal grazing lands in the 1980s (KWS, 1998).In addition to these, the conclusion of land tenure reforms in the southern Tharaka Area and parts of the western buffer zones in the 1990s, which culminated in land adjudication, effectively replaced the authority of clan elders on land issues with that of the central government (Smucker, 2002). Thus, individual landowners became increasingly empowered to sell off their land to migrant agricultural households without any requirements for clan approval.  The study observed a significant increase in human population density in areas bordering the MCA between 1979 and 1999, particularly in localities with higher agricultural potential. Human population density in the southern buffer zones increased from an average of 2-50 people per km 2 to 51-125 people per km 2 , and an average of 126-500 people km 2 to over 500 people per km 2 in the western buffer zones. This is illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 below using GIS maps prepared from human population data obtained from the Central Bureau of Statistics (1979 and1999 Household Census).  shown below, with decreasing level of importance. These factors were identified to act independently but simultaneously, while some operated synergistically. i). High human population pressure on land in high potential agricultural zones and the subsequent need of alternative land for human settlement and crop cultivation, ii). Limiting pasture and water resources in the drier parts of northern Kenya hence immigration in search of pasture and water, particularly during periods of drought, iii). Prevailing security in the MCA's buffer zones relative to the northern bandit-prone areas, which makes areas bordering the conservation area more secure for pastoralists, iv). Informal employment opportunities in the conservation area, which attracts potential employees to the MCA before they eventually find themselves settling in the conservation area's buffer zones, and v). The presence of social amenities such as schools and dispensaries in the buffer zones of the MCA, which attracts households that may be living not very far way from the conservation area.The study identified three principal land use types in the MCA, namely: agriculture, agropastoralism and pure-pastoralism. Table 3 below illustrates the principal land types in the MCA and their geographical distribution in the areas bordering the conservation area.The survey indicated that 35% of the households interviewed in the buffer zones of the MCA practiced agriculture. Majority of these households occupied the relatively wetter (1000mm of rainfall year -1 ) western buffer zones of the conservation area. Cultivation was mainly subsistent and commonly cultivated crops included sorghum, maize and peas, but the area has also a potential for cotton cultivation (Jaetzold and Schmidt, 1983). Agro-pastoralism was practised by 55% of the households interviewed. These households mainly occupied the southern Tharaka area of the MCA, but a few agro-pastoral households were also encountered in the northern pastoral lands and the western agricultural zones. An inverse relationship was observed between the number of livestock kept among agro-pastoralists and the rainfall gradient with regard to crop cultivation. For instance, agro-pastoralists in relatively wetter areas such as the western buffer zones (850-1000mm of rainfall year -1 ), kept fewer livestock than those in relatively drier areas (400-600mm of rainfall year -1 ) such as the Tharaka and Kinaa areas in the southern and northern buffer zones respectively. The survey recorded a livestock population of 2,214 among 42 agro-pastoral households, which on average translated into 52 livestock heads for every household. However, agro-pastoral households occupying the western and southern buffer zones kept hardly 15 and 35 heads of livestock respectively, while those found in the northern pastoral zones kept well over 200 heads of livestock. The type of livestock kept by agropastoralists also varied with geographical location. For instance, those occupying the western buffer zones kept cattle mainly, but in the southern areas cattle, goats and donkeys were all kept. Agro-pastoral groups in the northern zones kept cattle, goats, sheep and camels.About 10% of the households interviewed practised pure-pastoralism. These households, which consisted mainly of the Borana pastoral community of the MCA's Northern Dispersal Area, occupied the northern pastoral lands, but owing to lack of formal boundaries in their grazing patterns, they could be spotted in the communal grazing lands and wildlife dispersal areas of the western Meru National Park boundary towards the southern Tharaka areas particularly in the dry season. A livestock population of 4,653 was recorded among 8 pure-pastoral households, translating into an average of 582 heads of livestock for every pure-pastoral household. Their livestock types included cattle, goats, sheep and camels.According to the survey, the agro-pastoral households interviewed experienced a combined 12.7% reduction in the livestock population, while pure-pastoral households witnessed a combined livestock population increase of 97.7% between 1980 and 2000. This led to an increase of about 41.6% in the total livestock population in the MCA. Table 4 below illustrates the survey data on the livestock population dynamics in the MCA, between 1980 and 2000.The study could not establish the reason for a very high increase in livestock population among pure-pastoral households, while the decline in livestock population among agro-pastoral households was attributed to several factors. Some of these factors included livestock deaths from diseases, livestock attacks by wildlife, and livestock thefts. Livestock diseases were the principal factor affecting livestock production, particularly in the western and southern buffer zones of Meru National Park. The survey found rinderpest and trypanosomiasis to be most important diseases, but foot-and-mouth disease and East Coast fever were also occasionally reported. Two arguments featured to explain the reason agro-pastoralists appeared to be more vulnerable to these diseases than pure-pastoralists: during the long period of interaction between purepastoralists and their environment, they have learnt to manage livestock diseases through ethnobotanical skills (Herlocker, 1999); and pastoralists tended to avoid habitats within the MCA that were frequented by buffaloes and other species that were considered potential carriers of trypanosomiasis.The survey observed the existence of communal grazing lands and wildlife dispersal areas in the MCA's buffer zones. Their sizes were, however, found to be on a general decline, particularly in areas currently experiencing expanding crop cultivation in the western and southern buffer zones of Meru National Park. The reduction in their sizes was attributed mainly to the continued encroachment of human settlements and the fragmentation of land into smallholder cultivation units. The newly arriving communities in the western buffer zones were mainly agriculturalists, majority of who were migrating from nearby higher potential agro-ecological zones. Thus, they tended to target areas of the MCA with relatively better soil and water conditions, such as Murera, Kanjoo and Nguyuyu on the western buffer zones.The study categorized wildlife-livestock-human conflicts in the MCA into conflicts affecting communities bordering the MCA, and conflicts affecting wildlife.The destruction of crops by wildlife was one the most common conflict types in the MCA. This conflict type was season dependent, and was commonly reported in the wet season when wildlife, such as elephants, buffaloes and baboons dispersed from the protected areas into the neighbouring community land. Cases of crop destruction were most prevalent in the western and southern buffer zones of Meru National Park. The most affected crops included maize, and legumes-mainly peas, which these communities cultivated in the wet season mainly for subsistence. Farms that were commonly invaded by wildlife were in most cases quite close to the park boundary, in some instances as close as 10 metres. The farm shown in Figure 8 below was situated 200m away from the western boundary of Meru National Park. It belonged to one of the agricultural households that were experiencing frequent cases of crop destruction by wildlife in the MCA's western buffer ones.In the northern buffer zones, occupied by pastoral communities, livestock attacks by wildlife was the most frequently reported conflict type. Cattle were the livestock species most affected by this conflict type, though goats were also occasionally attacked. This conflict type was prevalent in Kinna, Rapsu and Kubresa. Animals that commonly attacked livestock were mainly the larger herbivores, such as elephants and buffaloes, but a few cases of carnivores such as lions and leopards were also reported. Human attacks by wildlife was also a common conflict type, particularly in the western zones of Murera and Kindani, and the northern pastoral areas of Kinna and Rapsu. In most cases wildlife attacks resulted in human deaths. For instance, 5 people were killed by lions in 1997 in Murera alone, while in January 2003 alone two cases of human deaths were reported in the Kinna and Rapsu. Incidents of human and livestock attacks by wildlife were more prevalent in the northern pastoral lands because the larger herbivores of the area were endemic species of this buffer zone, thus they live in the area with pastoralists. The picture shown in Figure 9 below was taken at the Kinna Ranger's Post after a crisis meeting of pastoral community leaders and Kenya Wildlife Service rangers. The meeting followed a near park invasion by the pastoralists when an elephant killed a local villager as he walked along the road in the nearby Kinna area at 6.30am. Forage and water resources were common causes of conflict in the MCA. Forage was particularly limiting in the northern pastoral lands in the dry seasons, thereby compelling pastoralists to encroach into the protected area for the same. Given the large number of livestock kept by purepastoral households, any single incidence of encroachment often led to marked change in the herbaceous cover of the vegetation within the protected area, while and a season-long encroachment would lead to significant changes in the vegetation pattern within a community. Thus, pastoralists and conservationists were in constant conflict in the dry seasons over forage utilization. This situation was exacerbated by the fact that entry into the protected area remains illegal, but pastoralist never appeared to respect this law.Conflicts over water were observed mainly in the southern Tharaka zone, particularly between wildlife and agro-pastoralists. There were often claims and counter-claims of water utilization rights by KWS and the communities living along rivers that formed common boundaries. The local communities depended on the water for both domestic use and irrigation of farms, while KWS regarded these rivers as the protected area boundary whose water they needed for utilization by wildlife. Other conflicts related to water utilization were observed in the western buffer zones, where agriculturalists dammed water upstream for irrigation, thereby interfering with water flow to the protected area downstream.Disease transmission from wildlife to livestock was another common wildlife-livestock conflict reported by pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the MCA. The most affected areas were the western, southern and northern buffer zones of the MCA. However, there was a lack of agreement between livestock keepers and KWS staff on whether it was wildlife transmitting diseases to livestock or vice versa. The most prevalent diseases included rinderpest and trypanosomiasis, but east-coast fever and foot-and-mouth disease were also occasionally reported. The lady in blue in Figure 10   In order to establish the level of significance of each conflict type, the survey ranked wildlifelivestock-human conflicts affecting communities bordering the protected area on the basis of percentage frequency values. This is illustrated in Table 5 below.It was observed that all respondents had at some point been exposed to wildlife-livestock-human conflicts, but the level of exposure was found to differ among different households. This depended on factors such as distance of homestead or land use activity from the protected area boundary, the type of conflict with regard to geographical location, land use type, and strategies used by different households to mitigate conflicts. Table 6 below illustrates the level of exposure of various households to wildlife-livestock-human conflicts in the MCA.From the data contained in Table 6 below, the Chi-square test for the goodness of fit indicated a significant difference (χ 2 2 ; P< 0.05) between expected and observed levels of household exposure to wildlife-livestock-human conflicts among communities bordering the MCA. Three main conflict types were observed to affect wildlife in the MCA, namely: the encroachment of pastoral livestock into the protected area for forage and water in the dry season, the fragmentation of areas surrounding the protected area into human settlements and farmlands, and poaching of wildlife.Pastoralists encroached into the protected area mainly for forage and water in the dry season. This occurred when areas available to them in the northern zone were depleted of forage and a solution had to be sought to prevent the death of livestock from drought. Water was also limiting during this period because most permanent rivers in the MCA flow in the western and southern buffer zones before joining the Tana River further east. Thus, pastoralists had to move south in order to secure water resources.The continued immigration of agricultural communities into the western and southern buffer zones of the MCA, has led to the sustained fragmentation and alteration of wildlife dispersal areas and communal livestock grazing land, thereby rendering them unavailable for utilization by wildlife.According to KWS, poaching was prevalent in the Northern Dispersal Area of the MCA in the late 1970s and early 1990s, but incidents of this conflict has gone down in recent times and this was attributed to improved security prevailing in the conservation area since the late 1990s. Figure 11 below illustrates changes in the total elephant, buffalo and giraffe population in the MCA between 1977 and 2002.Wildlife-livestock-human conflicts in the MCA were attributed to three main causes, namely: causes related to land use change and Kenya's ASAL land use policy; causes attributable to wildlife conservation and utilization policy; and those associated with KWS' ineffectiveness in wildlife management. According to the questionnaire survey, agricultural communities who migrated to between 1980 and 2000 cited human pressure on land and the subsequent demand for alternat land for settlement and crop cultivation in their former homes in high potential agro-ecological zones as the major factor underlying their migration to the MCA. They targeted the MCA becau it was largely uninhabited at the time of their immigration.M was under pastoral grazing and wildlife conservation at the time they purchased the parcels of land they were occupying. Over time, more arrivals of agriculturalists were witnessed as the natural habitat underwent fragmentation, the grazing range and wildlife dispersal areas gradu reduced, and the livestock / wildlife resource base diminished. Thus, wildlife-livestock-human interactions increased as agriculturalists, agro-pastoralists and pure-pastoralists sought access to limiting resources, a situation which led to wildlife-livestock-human conflicts in the MCA's buffer zones. For instance, chances of wildlife finding themselves in homesteads and farmlan rose significantly, and led to an increase in incidents of crop destruction and human attacks by wildlife especially in the wet season. Pastoralists, on the other hand, increasingly found it diffic to keep to the northern buffer zones left to them, thus they ended up encroaching into the protected area whenever their zones were depleted of forage, particularly in dry season.T cropping and the subsequent competition for resources among wildlife, livestock and agriculturalists, had a strong bearing on ASAL land use policy in Kenya. The study fo existing ASAL land use policy to promote dry land agriculture at the expense of pastoral livest production and wildlife management, a situation that has contributed to the on-going conversion of wetter margins of rangelands to farmlands (ROK, 1994;Southgate and Hulme, 1996;Lorot, 2002).According to the survey, most respondents found it difficult to engage i wildlife conservation, as a conflict mitigation strategy, when the existing legislation bans all of utilization of wildlife resources. Some of the prohibitive legislation which they cited include the Presidential Directive of 1984 prohibiting all forms of hunting and capture of wildlife; the ba on hunting (Legal Notice No. 120 of May, 1977); and the ban on trade in wildlife and wildlife products (Legal Notice No. 181 of August, 1979). Other issues that were identified to be contentious under the present wildlife conservation and utilization policy were lack of compensation for damage to property by wildlife, low level of compensation (Kshs 30,0 human deaths arising from wildlife attacks and the long duration for compensation to be effected 00) for . The study found the population of wildlife occupying the buffer zones of t appreciably high, particularly on northern Meru National Park boundary. Thus, there were frequent cases of wildlife attacks on human beings and livestock, which often led to deaths injuries. However, KWS' conflict mitigation strategies were rather unpopular with the local communities. For instance, community-based wildlife conservation, which was frequently mentioned by KWS staff, existed more as a tool for raising awareness on conflict managem rather than a programme with tangible socio-economic benefits for the community. Schools and dispensaries, which were a common feature of community-based wildlife conservation in the MCA, are basic amenities that can be located in every part of Kenya according to the country' policy on tackling poverty, illiteracy and health related challenges. Thus in the absence of consumptive forms of wildlife utilization, these communities perceived wildlife not only as killer and destroyer, but also as a competitor for resources, such as land, forage and water. It situation that often made local communities view wildlife as the property of KWS and the government. For instance, when these communities killed an animal as a response to wildli menace, KWS would come in full military gear to deal with the culprits. The same was noted when KWS came in to kill a \"culprit\" elephant for having killed a human being. This managem style was noted to revolve around law enforcement as opposed to consensus building. Thus, the relationship between KWS and local communities in the MCA appeared to have strained over the years largely due to KWS' management of human-wildlife contentions.The survey noted measures by both KWS and local communities to p livestock-human conflicts in the MCA. These measures ranged from fencing, to guarding of property, practising 'convenient' forms of resource utilization, and community-based wildlife conservation.Both KWS and the MCA. KWS erected an electrified fence round Meru National Park and Bisanadi National Reserve, which was intended to provide a barrier that stops wildlife from dispersing into the buffer zones that were being taken up by communities for human settlements and crop cultivat Electrified fencing was also intended to keep pastoral livestock from encroaching into the protected area. Local communities, particularly agriculturalists and agro-pastoralists, used nonelectrified barriers such as live fences and barbed wire fences to keep away wildlife, and occasionally livestock, from intruding into their homesteads.Guarding farmlands and livestock from des method of preventing wildlife-livestock-human conflicts in the MCA. Guarding involved using both weapons and deterrents, such as drum beating, fires, shouting and scarecrows to scare away wildlife. This method was, however, found to be labour-intensive and time-consuming. For instance, guarding was done both during the day and at night, particularly in the wet season. some households, it compelled school-going children to participate depending on the size of farmland and/or livestock herd.The use of a resource such as water was observed to be largely the same resource to flow down stream for utilization by wildlife in the protected area. Thus, in order to reach a win-win situation, KWS had to let these communities use the resource while the community had to resort to cropping practices that utilize the least amount of water.The arrangement under community-based conservation in the MCA was meant to recognise local vation. This was intended to ensure the safety of communities as an integral part of wildlife conser wildlife in areas outside the protected area boundary, where they interact with these communities. However, the survey failed to observe any revenue-sharing arrangements from which local communities could benefit for the inconvenience suffered in hosting wildlife on their land.    The riverine vegetation community varied across Meru National Park with the rainfall gradient (Ament, 1975). The palms Phoenix reclinata, Hyphaene coriacea and Raphia farinifera were dominant with a copy cover of 50% and a height of about 10 metres, more so on the western zone where there were relatively more rivers. Other species included Sporobolus pyramidalis, Schoenefeldia transiens, Pupalia lappacea and Ficus sycomorus. These are areas of Meru National Park, which were experiencing either permanent or seasonal flooding and supporting various plant life-forms, such as reeds, sedges, trees or shrubs. Hyphaene coriacea, Phoenix reclinata were the most representative woody species with a height of about 12 metres, while Chloris virgata was dominant with a basal cover of 80%. Combretum hereroense, Combretum aculeatum, Acacia tortilis, Harrisonia abyssinica, Eragrostis superba, Sehima nervosum, Sporobolus iclados, Stripomoea laniflora and Cenchrus ciliaris were also common.  This refers to vegetation communities found on the rocky summits in Meru National Park (Ament, 1975), such as Mughwango Rocky Summit, the rocky projections of Leopard Rock and the Shifta Rocks. They were generally represented as bushes of Xerophyta spekei, Euphorbia nyikae and candelabrum. Albizia tanganyicensis and Sterculia af E. ricana were also common, with shrubs pical of Acacia/Commiphora bushland. Figure 19 below illustrates the location and distribution      It was observed that wildlife-livestock-human interactions seemed to have increasingly enhanced in the MCA between 1980 and 2000. The most notable indicators of these interactions included wildlife-livestock-human conflicts (Table 5) and land cover changes in the western, southern and northern buffer zones of Meru National Park and Bisanadi National Reserve (Figures 21-26).This study was the first of its kind to determine the effects of wildlife-livestock-human nteractions on habitat in the MCA. The study focused on how land use/land cover changes t i th These conflicts, as demonstrated by KWS (1994), were common disputes relating to resource access, with wildlife as the common ground of contention. Land cover changes, on the other hand, involved the fragmentation and/or alteration of natural habitats in the MCA's buffer zones, which led to identifiable changes in the vegetation pattern (Figures 19 and 20).According to the survey, factors that were likely to drive the observed wildlife-livestock-human interactions in the MCA included an increase in wildlife population, an increase in livestock population, and the expansion of land under human settlement and crop cultivation in the MCA's buffer zones. It was observed, however, that the MCA experienced a breakdown in law and order between the 1970s and 1990s (KWS, 2002), which led to a marked decline in the wildlife population (Figure 11). Thus, change in large wildlife numbers was a very unlikely factor driving increased wildlife-livestock-human interactions in the conservation area between 1980 and 2000.On the other hand, the increase in livestock population between 1980 and 2000, though found to be significant (Table 4), may only have been a minor factor driving wildlife-livestock-human interactions in the conservation area. This is depicted from the fact that conflicts involving when forage is expected to be miting, while crop destruction by livestock, which would have been expected as a conflict It appeared that the main factor driving increased wildlife-livestock-human interactions in the MCA was the expansion of the area under crop cultivation and human settlement in the western and southern buffer zones of Meru National Park (Figures 19,20,21 and 22), which subsequently led to the fragmentation and alteration of natural habitats that formerly served as communal grazing lands and wildlife dispersal areas. This argument tends to explain the observed reduction in the size of communal grazing lands and wildlife dispersal areas in the western and southern buffer zones of Meru National Park (Figures 19 & 20).The expansion of land under human settlement and cropping agriculture in the MCA's buffer zones was traced to the immigration of agricultural households into the conservation area from nearby high potential agro-ecological zones (Table 1). As demonstrated elsewhere in Kenya (Said et al., 1997), areas most targeted for cultivation in the conservation area were the MCA's wetter margins, such as the western and southern buffer zones, which were also critical for wildlife and livestock, particularly in the dry season (Herlocker, 1999). Indeed, these were also the conservation area's zones that witnessed some of highest cases of wildlife-livestock-human se competition between the ewly introduced cropping agriculture and traditional land use types, namely: livestock production nd wild management (Serneel, 2001)  (Kamugisha & Stahl, 1993).A in parts of the southern Tharaka zone bordering Meru National Park (Figure 23) to sparse bushland thickets in 2001 (Figure 24) only in areas outside the protected area, which was also attributed to increased anthropogenic influence, particularly the introduction of shifting cultivation. This argument was supported by the observed increase in human population densit the southern buffer zones from 50 people per km 2 in 1979 (Figure 6) to about 500 people per k in 1999 (Figure 7). nflicts related to land use change in the MCA included able 5): te lly in the MCA's north western and northern pastoral reas. These attacks were attributed to increased interaction between livestock and wildlife as a wever, r s 25 and 26). Two possibilities emerged to explain the vegetation changes in th lands: the fragmentation and alteration of natural habitats in the western and southern buffer zone through settlements and crop cultivation may have greatly reduced the pastoral grazing range led to an increase in the pastoral livestock density in the northern buffer zones, which led to increased forage utilization (Kamugisha & Stahl, 1993); and that pastoralists were observed not to practice periodic burning of vegetation, thereby giving shrubs and woody species a compet advantage over the herbaceous layer (Hoag & Clements, 1993). This argument is supported by the fact that the vegetation patterns inside the protected area, where periodic burning of was practiced, re National Reserve, which were often encroached by pastoral livestock. The two possibilities partly explain the observation that pastoral livestock were finding it increasingly difficult to survive periods of drought without encroaching into the protected area for forage and water.Thus, as Figures 19 and 20 indicate, most of the natural habitats that traditionally served as communal grazing lands and wildlife dispersal areas in the MCA's b c of agricultural households into the conservation area (Table 1) remains a potential threat to wh may be left as patches of natural vegetation, in the wetter margins of the protected area (Serneels 2001).The study grouped wildlife-livestock-human conflicts in the MCA into three categories, based on conflict causes. These categories include conflicts related c associated with KWS' wildlife management systems in the MCA.Like in a number of protected areas in Kenya (Said et al., 1997;Serneels et al., 2001), the introduction of cropping agriculture in the wetter margins of the MCA, such as the western and southern buffer zones, led to the fragmentation and alteration of habitats that once served exclusively as communal grazing lands and wildlife dispersal areas. The situation cause in the wildlife/livestock resource base, which led to increased resource competition, enhance wildlife-livestock-human interactions, and degenerated into conflicts related to resource acces Some of the wildlife-livestock-human co (T i). Crop destruction by wildlife especially in former wildlife dispersal areas, which are currently experiencing the encroachment of small-holder cultivation, such as the western and southern buffer zones of Meru National Park (Figures 21 and 22). This conflict type was commonly mainly during the wet season when wildlife migrated from the protected area to the community land bordering the MCA, a time when these communities also took advantage of the rains to cultiva crops, ii). Livestock attacks by wildlife especia a result a reduction in the pastoral grazing range in the western and southern buffer zones, which led to increased livestock density in the northern pastoral lands. Some of these attacks were, ho reported in the protected area, particularly in the dry season when it is encroached by livestock fo forage and water, iii). Human attacks by wildlife in parts of the MCA's buffer zones, which witnessed human immigration and the expansion of settlements and farmlands between 1980 and 2000. Some of the ttacks occurred in the northern pastoral lands, particular around the pastoral settlements of Kinna e the s i). Livestock-wildlife competition for forage and water, particularly in the dry season. This ife sponse to the depletion of forage and water in the northern pastoral lands, western and southern buffer zones. This to the above conflicts types, nd use change comes up as the major factor contributing to their occurrence i.e. these conflicts ave 4).ommunities bordering conservation areas to participate in community-based wildlife hich can be found outside the formal boundaries of protected areas at any given time atiko, 2000). This policy has, however, been unpopular on the basis of its inability to address ting st nditions, it has become increasingly difficult to commit local communities to communityased wildlife conservation, when the only way in which they seem to benefit is through viewing of constructing schools and dispensaries as a form of benefit to communities ving with wildlife (KWS, 1994). It should, however, be understood that such social amenities are a and Rapsu into which wildlife often dispersed in the wet season. Most human attacks by wildlif often led to human deaths, iv). The Encroachment of pastoral livestock into the protected area for forage and water in the dry season, particularly in the northern parts of Meru National Park and Bisanadi National Reserve. Depending on the duration of encroachment, which was determined by the period of drought, situation often led to marked changes in the vegetation pattern, v). Exchange of diseases between wildlife and livestock, transmitted either when livestock encroached into the protected area or when wild animals dispersed into the buffer zones. Discussions on disease transmission were, however, controversial with claims and counter-claim between pastoralists and conservationists on whether it was wildlife transmitting diseases to livestock or vice versa, v conflict type arose mainly from loss of pastoral grazing reserves (Herlocker, 1999) and wildl dispersal areas (Serneels, 2001) as a result of habitat fragmentation and alteration in the MCA's western and southern buffer zones. Thus, a reduced wildlife/livestock resource base enhanced chances of wildlife and livestock competing for common resources such as forage and water. This competition often occurred in the protected area in the dry season when livestock encroached into it as a re vii). Human-wildlife competition for water in the MCA's occurred particularly in the wet season when agricultural communities dammed water upstream for irrigation, a resource that wildlife depended upon in the protected area downstream. Thus, considering the causes and nature of the interactions that led la appeared to have arisen from increased competition for resource access, which seemed to h been caused by a diminishing wildlife/livestock resource base.Conflicts attributable to Kenya's wildlife conservation and utilization policy include those conflicts that arise from local community perceptions and attitudes towards wildlife (KWS, 199 Kenya's wildlife conservation policy documents produced after 1992 have encouraged c conservation (Rutten, 2002) as a way of protecting about 65-80% of the country's wildlife resources, w (M clear revenue-sharing guidelines between KWS and local communities (Serneel, 2001;Rutten, 2002), while the wildlife utilization policy remains prohibitive (KWS, 1994). Some of the exis prohibitive legislation include the ban on hunting (Legal Notice No. 120 of May 1977), the ban on trade in wildlife and wildlife products (Act No. 5 of 1978, Legal Notice No. 181 of August 21 1979), and the Presidential Directive prohibiting all hunting and animal capture (1984). Under these co b of wildlife on their land (UNEP & KWFT, 1988;Southgate and Hulme, 1996). Thus, local communities not only consider wildlife as a competitor for resources, but also as government property that is superior to ordinary citizens of Kenya (KWS, 1994(KWS, , 1998)).As part of the wildlife conservation and utilization policy, KWS has over the years promoted a misconceived policy li the government's responsibility to all Kenyan taxpayers including those bordering conservati area. Thus, it amounts to blackmail for KWS to consider such social amenities a wildlife-related benefit to these communities. If the wildlife conservation and utilization policy is upheld in its present form without an alternative source of livelihood for these communities, they are only likely to engage in land use prac on tices that put them in conflict with wildlife.easure even when they are on the rong. This arises from the feeling that wildlife belongs to the government, which is elected into d be s the he resources.hat 1), one of e principal problems with direct mitigation methods such as disturbance and guarding is that , 2001). nd ere the r, g the cost of living ith wildlife are intended to benefit (Rutten, 2002). In the MCA, like most other conservation Conflicts associated with KWS' management include conflicts that arise from the failure of KWS to seek consensus with local communities on contentious issues relating to human-wildlife conflicts (KWS, 1994). For instance, it was observed in the MCA that local communities do not consider law enforcement as an appropriate conflict resolution m w office to care for the common good of the people; hence wildlife remains a resource that shoul utilized to address the socio-economic well being of local communities (KWS, 1998). It i failure by KWS to implement this feeling and hence lack of consensus building with local communities in resolving wildlife-livestock-human conflicts that has led to conflicts related to t management of wildlifeThe reactive approach of KWS to wildlife-livestock-human conflicts in the MCA has been demonstrated by KWS (1994) as a problem common to the human-wildlife conflict in most protected areas in Kenya. The situation has been attributed to KWS' being both ill-equipped and under-staffed to effectively address human-wildlife conflicts (KWS, 1994). Perhaps, it is time t KWS became more proactive in addressing human-wildlife conflicts, particularly by promoting schemes intended to improve community perception of wildlife. Such schemes, however, would require land use-related benefits to these communities.No single or combination of mitigation methods was found to be fully effective against wildlifelivestock-human conflicts in the MCA. As illustrated by Ngure (1995) and Walpole (200 th wildlife often habituate to deterrents such as drum beating, fires, shouting and using statues such as scarecrows. Another problem that was observed with some of the conflict mitigation methods is the requirement for close proximity with wildlife in order to effectively scare them away, but this in most cases entails considerable danger to the public (Walpole Non-electrified fencing by communities bordering the MCA, though expensive to construct a maintain, was also observed to be of little effect in preventing wildlife from encroaching into farmlands and homesteads, particularly large herbivores such as elephants. Live fences w least effective, while wire and pole fences had some level of protection.Electrified fencing by KWS around Meru National Park and Bisanadi National Reserve was fairly effective in stopping wildlife from leaving the protected area for neighbouring community land, and keeping pastoral livestock way from the protected area. Fencing the protected area, howeve encouraged human encroachment into wildlife dispersal areas in the buffer zones because it created a sense of security from wildlife attacks (Ngure, 1992). On the other hand, fencing off a relatively small protected area like Meru National Park and Bisanadi National Reserve was observed to hold severe consequences for biodiversity conservation with regard to a possible increase in wildlife population in the absence of external interference, and the likelihood for subsequent resource competition, habitat degradation and a collapse of biodiversity conservation. KWS came up with the Community Wildlife Service in 1992 in order to promote communitybased wildlife conservation programmes, through which communities bearin w areas in Kenya, community-based wildlife conservation has had little success, mainly because it generates some unrealistic expectations without clear revenue-sharing guidelines (Shackly, 1996;Rutten, 2002). Some of the problems observed with community-based conservation in the MCA included the current legislation that prohibits the utilization of wildlife resources by local communities; lack of compensation for property damaged by wildlife; low level of compensation (Kshs 30,000 currently) for human deaths arising from wildlife attacks; and the long duration th it takes for payment to be effected (UNEP & KWFT, 1988) Whereas the survey indicated the immediate cause of wildlife-livestock-human conflicts in the MCA to be primarily land use change, which led to the reduction in the livestock grazing range and loss of wildlife dispersal areas through their fragme s policy, regulations governing land ownership, and wildlife conservati (KWS, 1994;Southgate & Hulme, 1996;Seneels, 2001). As illustrated by Southgate & Hulme (1996), present ASAL land use policy in Kenya has revealed a mismatch between the indigenous pastoral perceptions of resource management in rangelands and the market economy approach advocated by the government. For instance, since 1994, the Kenya government's strategy in addressing rapid increase in human population and the attainment of self-sufficiency in food production has been to increase the productivity of ASALs through the expansion of dry land agriculture and intensified livestock production (ROK, 1996).Given that most of Kenya's high potential agro-ecological zones are currently experiencing a rise in human pressure on land (UNEP & KWFT, 1988), this ASAL land use policy has provided the much needed opportunity to seek alternative land for settlement and crop cultivation in rangelands. Thus, the wetter margins of Kenya's rangelands, such as the s from nearby high potential agro-ecological zones (Serneels, 2001). The 70% immigration rate observed in the MCA between 1980 and 2000 (Table 1) supports this argument, particularly the fact that majority of these households were agriculturalists from the nearby high potential Mt. Kenya region.As demonstrated elsewhere in Kenya (Serneels, 2001), the MCA is a good example of the K government's failure to enforce regulations governing land ownership and land use rights in a bordering protected areas. For instance, land tenure reforms that were recently concluded in t MCA's southern Tharaka zone and parts of the western buffer zones (Smucker, 2002) have e government, thereby changing ownership from communal to individualised holdings, which individual households are free to sell without prior consultation with clan elders. This has made i relatively easier for migrant agricultural households to acquire land from native owners, a situation that has introduced cropping agriculture in areas that were largely under livestock rearin about two decades ago (Smucker, 2002). Thus, the MCA, like most other conservation areas in Kenyan rangelands, is increasingly degenerating into an 'island' protected area surrounded by fas reducing communal grazing lands and increasingly expanding smallholder farmlands (UNE KWFT, 1988).Habitat changes and wildlife-livestock-human conflicts in the P &MCA have been exacerbated by enya's wildlife conservation and management policy. There exists some policy support for fe managed and conserved so as to yield to the nation in general and to individual areas in ay .3 Implications for biodiversity conservation and pastoral livestock production bitats in the wetter margins of the MCA-the e s, ld h would destabilise their coping echanisms in the dry season and increase their vulnerability to drought (Ekaya, 2001). It was be e likely to increase and lead to severe resource competition and habitat egradation. Under these conditions, wildlife population may crash leading to loss of biodiversity y K public participation in wildlife management and utilization in Kenya's key wildlife policy documents (The Wildlife Act, 1977), but the existing prohibitive legislation has prevented communities bordering conservation areas from utilizing wildlife resources. The Wildlife Act (1977) states that \"the prime objectives of wildlife conservation should be to ensure that wildli is particular optimum returns in terms of natural, aesthetic and scientific gains as well as such economic gains as are incidental to proper wildlife management and conservation, and which m be secured without prejudice to such proper management and conservation.\" However, since the Presidential Directive prohibiting all hunting and animal capture in 1984; the ban on hunting (Legal Notice No. 120 of May 1977), and the ban on trade in wildlife and wildlife products (Legal Notice No. 181 of August 1979), the public has only been able to benefit from wildlife through viewing and photography (UNEP & KWFT, 1988). Thus, committing local communities to wildlife conservation under these conditions has tended to be unpopular.The fragmentation and alteration of natural ha western and southern buffer zones-has not only led to the loss of dry season grazing reserves, but also a reduction of the animal range. The situation has led to increased livestock density in th northern pastoral lands, which has subjected these areas to heavy forage utilization. Thu pastoralists have increasingly found it unavoidable to encroach into the protected area for forage and water, particularly in the dry season when areas available to them are depleted of forage. The situation has led to increased interaction between livestock and wildlife. One of the notable impacts of these interactions has been disease transmission from wildlife to livestock, which has often led to great losses for livestock keepers in the MCA.The on-going efforts to fence off the protected area are likely to reduce livestock-wildlife interactions, thereby significantly controlling disease transmission. However, the situation wou lead to pastoralists losing their access to the protected area, whic m also noted that fencing off the protected area has tended to create a sense of security among communities bordering the MCA, thereby attracting more households to the conservation area's buffer zones. This has contributed to further fragmentation and alteration of what would remaining as communal livestock grazing land and wildlife dispersal areas in the wetter margins of the MCA (UNEP & KWFT, 1988;Serneels, 2001).In addition, as a mitigation method intended to reduce human-wildlife conflicts, fencing remains ecologically questionable. In the absence of external factors limiting wildlife population growth, their numbers ar d and a possible collapse of the conservation area.It is currently estimated that 4 million Kenyans are engaged in full-time pastoral livestock production in ASALs, while several more millions derive their livelihoods from the livestock sector ( Wekesa, 2001). On the other hand, about 90% of Kenya's wildlife resources occup ASALs, of which 65-80% can be located in community land neighbouring protected areas (Matiko, 2000;Wekesa, 2001). Thus, a collapse of pastoral livestock production would not only make the 4 million pastoral population lose their source of livelihood, but also generate the demand for their absorption into alternative sectors of the economy (Wekesa, 2001). A collapse of wildlife conservation in Kenya's conservation areas would not only lead to loss of an annual earning of Kshs 50 billion for the country, but also loss of world heritage sites (Herlocker, 1999).The MCA is a classical case of protected areas in Kenyan rangelands that are currently xperiencing increased wildlife-livestock-human interactions due to a diminishing resource base d d to agron, areas delineated xclusively as wildlife dispersal areas and communal grazing fields, from which human nefits? ife e mmunity-based wildlife conservation rogrammes. This way, these communities are likely to recognise the value of wildlife on their ing the , from n in Kenyan rangelands. Since the wisdom f communicating family planning has not had much success among communities occupying oduction ntial of ASALs and seek to protect the same. e induced by land use change, particularly in localities with more favourable conditions of soil an water. This situation, which arises from the introduction of crop cultivation in areas where the principal land use remains livestock production and wildlife management, is generally characterised by intense resource competition and wildlife-livestock-human conflicts relate resource access.Though the situation has been attributed mainly to human pressure on land in high potential ecological zones and the subsequent demand for alternative land for settlement and cultivatio this study noted that it is to a larger extent influenced by existing ASAL land use and land tenure, conservation and population policies. Present ASAL land use policy has been demonstrated to favour cropping agriculture over livestock production. The situation is exacerbated by land ownership under cropping agriculture, which tends to promote individualised tenure as opposed to the communal pastoral tenure, a case that has increasingly made the wetter areas of rangelands loci for resource competition. Thus, policy support is necessary to uphold wildlife/livestock habitats as communal habitats, and the buffer zones surrounding protected e settlements and cropping agriculture are prohibited.On the other hand, making conservation policies more proactive to local community interests would lessen the burden of wildlife conservation, which currently lies fully with the government and donor agencies. To succeed, however, the question: who conserves wildlife and who be Must be addressed. Given that 65-80% of Kenya's wild animals are roaming outside the formal protected area boundaries at any given time, local communities should not continue to bear the cost of wildlife migrations under the existing legislation, which prohibits all aspects of wildl utilization except viewing and photography. Proper revenue-sharing arrangements should be mad between KWS and local communities under the existing co p land and take the responsibility for conserving wildlife and wildlife habitats, thereby reduc burden of conservation on the government and donor agencies.Finally, the Kenya government's efforts at controlling human population growth rate through family planning and reproductive health programmes has considerably reduced the birth rate 3.8% in 1979 to 2.5% in 1998. However, its policy on the distribution of human population, particularly its strategies to discourage rural to urban migration, has indirectly influenced the number of people migrating to ASALs from high potential agro-ecological zones, thereby contributing to land use change and resource competitio o rangelands given their labour-intensive land use systems, traditional values and the general insecurity of subsistence livelihoods, efforts must be made to limit the continued spread of agricultural communities into ASALs in order to avert a collapse of pastoral livestock pr and wildlife conservation in Kenyan rangelands. This may involve formulating policies that recognize the ecological and socio-economic pote"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"61f7cc35c1d4b8e683abc2bbd4ee155e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a5e0745c-0940-4551-a19d-5a46df502dba/retrieve","id":"-1052356"},"keywords":["Greenhouse","water requirement","reference crop evapotranspiration","simulation"],"sieverID":"60c24831-12e7-4c11-8752-972ae1f03acc","content":"With larger planting areas being used in greenhouses, evaluating crop evapotranspiration in a greenhouse has garnered greater attention. Currently, calculating the reference crop evapotranspiration for a greenhouse crop through using the Penman-Monteith formula recommended by FAO is difficult because the wind speed in a greenhouse is approximate zero. In order to calculate reference crop evapotranspiration in a greenhouse by the Penman-Monteith modified formula, a simplified model for calculating reference crop evapotranspiration in a greenhouse was proposed based on the energy balance equation, which was the correlative function between reference crop evapotranspiration and radiation and temperature. The model's parameters were obtained through meteorological data taken from the inside of a greenhouse in 2011. Then, the model was validated by using meteorological data within the greenhouse in 2012, and the fitted value of the model agreed with the calculated value of the formulas with a determination coefficient (R 2 ) of 0.9554. This model is an easy means of calculating the reference crop evapotranspiration in a greenhouse because less meteorological factors are needed. Furthermore, the model provides a theoretical basis for crop irrigation in greenhouses.As a kind of inverse season cultivation, vegetables that are planted in greenhouses are capable of making full use of light, temperature, and other meteorological elements for plant growth; therefore, greenhouses not only benefits farmers, but they also solve the shortage of slack season vegetables. Furthermore, with the promotion of greenhouse crop cultivated area, the crop water requirement in a greenhouse has become an important focus area for research. Greenhouses have a special environment that supports the growth of crops, unlike in fields where the water requirement varies greatly.Extensive research into this area of study has been conducted both at home and abroad. For example, Wu et al. (2005) summarized the study progress of soil water and heat transport in greenhouses. Katsoulas et al. (2001) investigated the effect of greenhouse moisture on canopy conductance of crop evapotranspiration. In addition, Li et al. (2001) reported the effects of electrolysis and transpiration on the yield of greenhouse tomato under saline irrigation. Cecilia Stanghellini et al. (2011), Medrano et al. (2005), and Rouphael et al. (2005) analyzed the radiation effects on transpiration of greenhouse crops. Moreover, Boulard et al. (2004) and Kichah et al. (2012) simulated crop evapotranspiration in a greenhouse based on the mechanism model of leaf stomatal conductance and the computational fluid dynamics model, respectively. The aforementioned research work primarily estimated the evapotranspiration of greenhouse crops from its physiological mechanism. However, there is a need to measure the physiological parameters of greenhouse crops, but this method for estimating the evapotranspiration of greenhouse crop is not easily or widely used.Crop water requirements are generally calculated via the water balance method (test methods) and the reference crop method (theory of empirical formula). In using the reference crop method to calculate the crop water requirements, the first step is to calculate the reference crop evapotranspiration and crop coefficients. The reference crop evapotranspiration is calculated using a modified Penman-Monteith formula that is recommended by FAO in 1998 (Allen et al., 1998) and is mainly suitable for weather information in the field. With the development of protected agriculture as well as an increase in greenhouse planting area, studies conducted on the water consumption, yield, and quality of greenhouse crops are becoming major issues for investigation. The Penman-Monteith formula for calculating the reference crop evapotranspiration in a greenhouse as recommended by FAO is as ETo -reference evapotranspiration, mm d -1 ; Rnnet radiation at the crop surface, MJ m -2 d -1 ; G -soil heat flux density, MJ m -2 d -1 ; T -mean daily air temperature at 2 m height, °C; u2 -wind speed at 2 m height, m.s -1 ; es -saturation vapor pressure, kPa; eaactual vapor pressure, kPa; es-ea -saturation vapor pressure deficit, kPa; △ -slope of vapor pressure curve, kPa°C -1 ; r-psychrometric constant, kPa °C-1 .However, because greenhouses have a high temperature, a highly wet environment, and little wind effects, using the latest Penman-Monteith formula recommended by to the reference crop is difficult. In calculating air dynamics impedance, Wang et al. (2006) and Chen et al. (2007 a, b) proposed that the air boundary layer within a daylight greenhouse belongs to a non-neutral stable stratification. They adopted the formula of calculating air dynamics impedance (ra) from Thom and Oliver (1977) to replace the impedance formula amended by Allen et al. (1994) in the Penman-Monteith formula, which was adapted to consider the air boundary layer as belonging to a neutral stable stratification. Furthermore, the ET0 correction formula, which is suitable for greenhouse crops, was proposed and then subsequently validated using both the pan evaporation method and the water balance method. However, this corrected formula requires more meteorological factors, and therefore, calculating the formula can be cumbersome. Thus, the formula cannot be used in a solar greenhouse with incomplete meteorological data. Based on the above reasons, it is important to seek a simple approach of calculating the reference crop evapotranspiration in a greenhouse. Accordingly, an amended formula was proposed by Wang Jian and is as follows:The meaning of the symbols and units in formula (2) are the same as above. The formula is explained as follows:The corrected Penman-Monteith formula primarily consists of two parts. The first part is the radiation item, and the second is the aerodynamics item. In a greenhouse, the wind speed is close to 0, and by substituting U2=0 into formula (1), the aerodynamics item of the reference crop evapotranspiration is 0. Therefore, this does not clearly match the physical meaning of formula (1), and as such, formula (1) cannot be used for a direct calculation of the reference crop evapotranspiration in a greenhouse. Wang et al.(2006) and Chen et al. (2007 a, b) cited the formula for calculating the aerodynamic resistance proposed by Thom and Oliver and avoided the situation at which the wind speed is close to 0 and the aerodynamic resistance is infinity. The corrected formula for calculating the reference crop evapotranspiration in a greenhouse is more reasonable through experimental verification. The model described above also requires weather information and crop physiological indices, which are difficult to apply. Based on the energy balance, the equation for estimating the reference crop evapotranspiration in a greenhouse with less meteorological data were derived.Process of deriving model: The heat balance equation for evapotranspiration is as follows:(3) Where:Q -the total solar radiation, k.cm -2 d -1 ; rreflectivity (dimensionless); F -effectivelongwave radiation, k.cm -2 d -1 ; G -the soil heat storageor soil heat loss, k.cm -2 d -1 ; L -the latent heat of evaporation, which is 590k.g -1 ; E -evapotranspiration rate, mm.d -1 ; Hthe heat exchange of near-surface vertical turbulent, k.cm -2 d -1 .By dividing both sides of the above equation by Q , it becomes:  The water requirement of tomatoes in a solar greenhouse was studied at the crop water requirement observation site at the Farmland Irrigation Research Institute of CAAS (North latitude 35.19°, longitude 113.53°, altitude 72.7m), from April to September 2011. The greenhouse was 40m long and 8.5m wide with a 273m 2 planting area. Moreover, it had sandy loam soil that was covered with a drip-free polyethylene film, while the outer cover was a thermal keeping quilt. Each day, it was opened at 8:00 am and closed at 18:30 pm. Additionally, the greenhouse had no heating devices. It consisted of a 3.6m-high roof ridge, a 2.88m-high back wall, and a 0.42m-thick wall, with ventilation holes (24cm × 24cm) that were 1.2m above the ground with a horizontal spacing of 3m. Its wall structure consisted of 12cm of red brick, a 6cm thermal insulation layer, and 24cmof red brick in thickness. Moreover, the wall foundation was a brick-concrete structure that was 76cm below ground, and the roofing skeleton was pre-galvanized steel pipes with Φ 1.0 inchformed arch beams with 1.0m spacing. The front end of the arch beam had foam heat insulation panels that were 30cm deep and 6cm thick, and below the panels, there was a 10cm lime-soil cushion layer. Weather data was obtained by automatic weather station located within the greenhouse.By adopting the equation of calculating the reference crop evapotranspiration in a greenhouse that was proposed by Wang et al.(2006), combining the global solar radiation Q and mean temperature T in the greenhouse, the coefficients of k and c were estimated according to formula (7): K=1.2 c= -0.8 Calculating the reference crop evapotranspiration in a greenhouse was then simplified to the following:The simplified formula (8) above and formula (2) that was presented by Wang et al.(2006) were validated as follows:The meteorological data collected while growing tomatoes in a greenhouse from March 14 to July 6, 2012, were used to validate the above formula. Figure 1 shows a scatter chart of the simulated values and actual calculated values of the reference crop evapotranspiration for a greenhouse crop. The simulated values represent the calculated values of formula (8), and actual values were the calculated values of formula (2). As can be seen from Figure 1, there is a linear correlation between the simulated values and the actual calculated values ( X Y 1.0702 ), with a correlation coefficient of R 2 =0.9661 (n=155). Through statistical analysis, it was determined that t=9.94, t0.05 (114), =1.99, and t0.01 (114) = 2.64.Thus, the correlation was very significant both at the level of  = 0.05 and  = 0.01. Table 1 reveals that the model had a mean deviation (MD) of 0.18, a mean prediction error (MPE) of 0.20, a mean prediction square deviation (MSPE) of 0.07, a root-mean-square deviation (RMSE) of 0.27, and a skewness of 7.02.  In March, April, and May, the heat generated by the total solar radiation was small, and the temperature changes in the greenhouse were not obvious. However, unique meteorological conditions appeared in the greenhouse in June, July, and August as there was both high humidity and high temperatures present. Additionally, the total radiation items increased greatly in the greenhouse due to the radiation reflected from the ground and plastic cover, which then raised the temperature in the greenhouse, and the greenhouse effect was obvious. This led to greater simulated values. In addition, the high temperature and high humidity caused the gradient of aerodynamic items to be reduced, which also resulted in great deviation in the simulated values.Furthermore, the simulation results of the reference crop evapotranspiration in a greenhouse that were obtained by different researchers (Möller et al., 2004;Tanny et al., 2006;Dicken et al., 2013;Pirkner et al., 2013) were different, but these differences were caused by differences in methods, climate, and planting crops.Through simulating the reference crop evapotranspiration of a greenhouse crop based on energy balance, the simplified equation was proposed with fewer data and high simulation accuracy, which results in a simple, easy, and accurate simulation of the reference crop evapotranspiration of greenhouse crops.At present, there is not a common international standard for simulating the reference crop evapotranspiration in greenhouse water requirements, and it was validated using different standards. Therefore, in future research, a generic model will be established to improve the simulation precision like the Penman-Moteith equation proposed by FAO in 1998. After establishing a generic model, the crop coefficients in a greenhouse can be further calculated, which will play an important role in developing the irrigation scheduling of greenhouse crops."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f8baea43388c153d939b2cc1c4c234c2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://data.cimmyt.org/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=hdl:11529/10548753/2","id":"299739392"},"keywords":["global warming potential","C-sequestration","climate change mitigation","eco-efficiency","no-tillage and residue management"],"sieverID":"5f0d786c-34d7-48ad-bf4b-cda9c7bf5944","content":"Conventional rice-wheat (RW) rotation in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of South Asia is tillage, water, energy, and capital intensive. Coupled with these, crop residue burning contributes significantly to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and environmental pollution. So, to evaluate the GHG mitigation potential of various climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAPs), an on-farm research trial was conducted during 2014-2017 in Karnal, India. Six management scenarios (portfolios of practices), namely, Sc1-business as usual (BAU)/conventional tillage (CT) without residue, Sc2-CT with residue, Sc3-reduced tillage (RT) with residue + recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), Sc4-RT/zero tillage (ZT) with residue + RDF, Sc5-ZT with residue + RDF + GreenSeeker + Tensiometer, and Sc6-Sc5 + nutrient-expert tool, were included. The global warming potential (GWP) of the RW system under CSAPs (Sc4, Sc5, and Sc6) and the improved BAU (Sc2 and Sc3) were 33-40% and 4-26% lower than BAU (7653 kg CO 2 eq./ha/year), respectively. This reflects that CSAPs have the potential to mitigate GWP by ~38 7 metric tons (Mt) CO 2 eq./year from the 13.5 Mha RW system of South Asia. Lower GWP under CSAPs resulted in 36-44% lower emission intensity (383 kg CO 2 eq./Mg/year) compared to BAU (642 kg CO 2 eq./Mg/year). Meanwhile, the N-factor productivity and eco-efficiency of the RW system under CSAPs were 32-57% and 70-105% higher than BAU, respectively, which reflects that CSAPs are more economically and environmentally sustainable than BAU. The wheat yield obtained under various CSAPs was 0.62 Mg/ha and 0.84 Mg/ha higher than BAU during normal and bad years (extreme weather events), respectively. Thus, it is evident that CSAPs can cope better with climatic extremes than BAU. Therefore, a portfolio of CSAPs should be promoted in RW belts for more adaptation and climate change mitigation.In the era of climate change, traditional rice farming has been criticized for the elevated level of GHG emissions. Intensive tillage, in situ burning of crop residue, faulty irrigation management, and indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers are the main sources of anthropogenic GHG emissions in the RW production system and are accountable for ill effects of climate change [1][2][3][4]. Methane from enteric fermentation and rice cultivation [5] and nitrous oxide emissions from soil and from applied fertilizers [1,6] are major contributors to agricultural GHG emissions. A recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlighted that the current level of GHG emissions needs to be reduced considerably to limit the temperature rise to below 2 • C (UNFCCC 2015). Although the contribution from the agriculture sector to global emissions is lower than industrial, energy, and other sectors [7], appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies can further reduce the carbon footprints of agriculture [8]. Rice-wheat rotation in South Asia is the key source of livelihood, employment, and income for millions of people and spreads over an area of 13.5 Mha [9]. However, it is also being criticized for higher GHG emissions in many forums. Farmers' current production practices (business as usual) of rice-wheat rotation are conventional tillage (generally performed by 5-6 passes of harrow, cultivator, and rotavator for seedbed preparation and sowing), inappropriate use of irrigation (higher than the required) and inorganic fertilizers (imbalanced), crop residue burning, and other faulty management practices that are inefficient in resource use and carbon intensive [4,[10][11][12]. Intensive uses of N fertilizers are the largest source of N 2 O emission in the RW system of IGP. From its production in the factory to losses from the field, the application of excessive N fertilizer (urea) @ > 185 kg N per hectare against the recommended dose of 150 kg to rice and wheat crops increases the carbon footprint. Almost 50% of the applied N in RW rotation is lost to the environment and results in the wasting of resources and environmental pollution problems [12,13].Although the productivity of RW rotation in IGP increased after the Green Revolution, the rate of increase has been reduced significantly nowadays [8,10]. On the other hand, projections show that rice and wheat production would have to increase by nearly 1.10% and 1.70% per year, respectively, over the next four decades to meet the food requirement [8,14]. Given the limited scope for horizontal expansion, the increase in production has to come through system intensification. If appropriate measures are not taken, the farmers' as-usual practices will lead to an increased C-footprint from agriculture in the future [15]. Hence, higher production from system intensification has to come through sustainable and resilient management practices and policy portfolio.The sustainability of a crop production system depends on cropping system-based management optimization for crop productivity, profitability, and environmental impacts. Certain crop management practices are climate resilient, as they favor C-sequestration while minimizing GHG emissions [4,15]. There are numerous mitigation opportunities from several climate-smart agriculture practices (CSAPs), which are more productive, profitable, and eco-friendly [8]. A systematic analysis of the C-footprint of RW rotation in IGP is required for targeting the practices/technologies that help mitigate GHG emissions while adapting to the climatic risks [1,12,13]. In addition to soil, production inputs, crop residue burning, and consumption of fossil fuel in various on-farm activities significantly contribute to total GHG emissions from the RW rotation. Therefore, it is very essential to estimate an overall C-footprint of production technologies to identify resource-efficient and resilient practices/technologies. Most of the earlier research has reported the C-footprint of production practices from research station-based studies in IGP. However, information on village-and farmer-level (from a climate-smart village) C-foot print analysis of CSAPs in IGP is rare. We therefore undertook an on-farm multi-location participatory study in climate-smart villages of Haryana (India) for three years. The basic objectives of the study were to (i) assess the potential large-scale benefits of the portfolio of CSAPs for adaptation and GHG mitigation in an RW rotation of IGP, (ii) estimate GHG (CO 2 , N 2 O, CH 4 ) emissions, global warming potential (GWP), and eco-efficiency from a different portfolio of practices/technologies in both rice and wheat crops to find low-carbon-emission options for RW rotation of the IGP, and (iii) estimate the area-and yield-scaled mitigation potential of the productive and resilient portfolio of CSAPs for RW rotation of IGP.A participatory on-farm research trial was carried out during the 2014-2015, 2015-2016, and 2016-2017 rice-wheat seasons in three climate-smart villages (CSVs; https://ccafs. cgiar.org/publications/climate-smart-villages-haryana-india, accessed on 16 April 2017) at Anjanthali, Birnarayana, and Chandsamand of Haryana, India (Figure 1). The experimental sites were under a continuous rice-wheat-fallow rotation for 30 years before the commencement of the experiment. The climate of Karnal district is sub-tropical, characterized by dry and hot summers and cold winters, with 700 mm of annual rainfall (nearly 80% of which is received during the months of mid-June to mid-September).Agriculture 2021, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 3 of 20A participatory on-farm research trial was carried out during the 2014-2015, 2015-2016, and 2016-2017 rice-wheat seasons in three climate-smart villages (CSVs; https://ccafs.cgiar.org/publications/climate-smart-villages-haryana-india, accessed on 16 April 2017) at Anjanthali, Birnarayana, and Chandsamand of Haryana, India (Figure 1). The experimental sites were under a continuous rice-wheat-fallow rotation for 30 years before the commencement of the experiment. The climate of Karnal district is sub-tropical, characterized by dry and hot summers and cold winters, with 700 mm of annual rainfall (nearly 80% of which is received during the months of mid-June to mid-September). A participatory on-farm study was initiated during the rainy season of 2014, with six treatments referred to as scenarios. The term \"scenario\" can be described as a portfolio of practices with more than two agronomic interventions in each treatment. Six scenarios with the layering of various climate-smart technologies are Sc1 (Business as usual)-conventional tillage (CT) without residue, Sc2-CT with residue, Sc3-reduced tillage (RT) with residue + recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), Sc4-RT/zero tillage (ZT) with residue + RDF, Sc5-ZT with residue + RDF + GreenSeeker + Tensiometer, and Sc6-ZT with residue + nutrient expert + GreenSeeker + Tensiometer. Sc1 and Sc2 are related to intensive tillage operation, whereas Sc3 is related to minimum tillage operation with a traditional agronomic package and practices. Sc5 and Sc6 are related to no tillage with a modern agronomic package and practices. The detailed description of the scenarios together with the common management practices are given in Table 1. The various interventions involved in the six scenarios included tillage, crop establishment, precision land-levelling, cultivars, crop residue management, nutrient management, water management, ICTs (information and communication tools), and index-based crop insurance. Each scenario was evaluated in 1000 m 2 plots and repeated in three locations for each of the three years. A participatory on-farm study was initiated during the rainy season of 2014, with six treatments referred to as scenarios. The term \"scenario\" can be described as a portfolio of practices with more than two agronomic interventions in each treatment. Six scenarios with the layering of various climate-smart technologies are Sc1 (Business as usual)-conventional tillage (CT) without residue, Sc2-CT with residue, Sc3-reduced tillage (RT) with residue + recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), Sc4-RT/zero tillage (ZT) with residue + RDF, Sc5-ZT with residue + RDF + GreenSeeker + Tensiometer, and Sc6-ZT with residue + nutrient expert + GreenSeeker + Tensiometer. Sc1 and Sc2 are related to intensive tillage operation, whereas Sc3 is related to minimum tillage operation with a traditional agronomic package and practices. Sc5 and Sc6 are related to no tillage with a modern agronomic package and practices. The detailed description of the scenarios together with the common management practices are given in Table 1. The various interventions involved in the six scenarios included tillage, crop establishment, precision land-levelling, cultivars, crop residue management, nutrient management, water management, ICTs (information and communication tools), and index-based crop insurance. Each scenario was evaluated in 1000 m 2 plots and repeated in three locations for each of the three years. a Seed treatment was done with Bavistin + Streptocycline @ 10 + 1 g per 10 kg seed-Raxil ® Tebuconazole 2DS (2% w/w) at 0.2 g a.i. kg −1 se.Details of the crop management are given in Table 1. To compare the productivity of different crops and total system productivity of the different scenarios, the yield of non-rice crops (wheat) was converted into rice equivalent yield (REY) (Mg/ha) and calculated as follows:Rice equivalent yield = Grain yield of non rice crop (Mg/ha) × MSP of non rice crop (INR/Mg) MSP of rice (INR/Mg)where MSP is the minimum support price and INR is the India national rupee. Rice and wheat residue were managed (incorporated or retained) as per the scenario explanation given in Table 1. The harvesting was done with a combine machine in all the scenarios and the height of the anchored stubble was 30-40 cm in rice and 10-15 cm in wheat, except in business as usual (Sc1), where in Sc1, the harvesting of rice and wheat was done with the combine harvester machine from the surface of the ground and the entire aboveground residues of rice and wheat were burned or removed. Scenarios Sc2, Sc3, Sc4, Sc5, and Sc6 received a total of 33.8, 34.03, 35.10, 35.38, and 36.15 t/ha crop residues, respectively, in the three years of the study. In Sc2, 9.5 to 9.9 t/ha of anchored rice stubble and 1.4 to 1.7 t/ha anchored wheat stubble were incorporated over the years at the time of wheat and rice sowing/transplanting, respectively. In Sc3, 9.2 to 10.2 t/ha of rice and 1.5 to 1.7 t/ha of wheat residues were incorporated into soil during field preparation for the sowing of wheat and rice, respectively. In Sc4, Sc5 and Sc6, full rice (9.2 to 11.0 t/ha) and anchored wheat stubble (1.6 to 1.9 t/ha) was retained on the soil surface over the years.Scenario descriptions and irrigation management practices are given in Table 1. In transplanted rice, the field was regularly submerged with 5 ± 2 cm of water for ~40 days after transplanting, followed by irrigation of water when small hairline cracks appeared in the field. In direct-seeded rice (DSR) plots, the field was kept wet until complete germination of seeds and then further irrigation was applied on the appearance of small hairline cracks. In wheat, irrigation was applied based on a certain time interval (20-25 days). In Sc5 and Sc6, irrigation water was applied according to the threshold of the soil matric potential (SMP) using an irrometer/tensiometer installed in the plots.Protocols related to nutrient management in each scenario are presented in Table 1. All the amount of P 2 O 5 , K 2 O, and ZnSO 4 was applied at the seeding/transplanting time through di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), potassium chloride/muriate of potash (MOP), and zinc sulphate, respectively. A small quantity of nitrogen (23.5 kg/ha) was also applied at the sowing time (as basal) and the remaining N was applied through urea in three equal splits in both the crops, except in Sc5 and Sc6, where the nitrogen amount for the third split was determined by GreenSeeker (GreenSeeker protocol as described by Singh et al. [6]. Two equal N splits were applied manually by broadcasting urea at 20-25 and 45-50 days after seeding (DAS)/transplanting in rice and at 20-21 and 40-45 DAS in wheat. A third N dose was given at 60-70 and 50-60 days after sowing in rice and wheat, respectively. In the Sc1 and Sc2 scenarios, basal fertilizer was broadcasted in both the crops, whereas in the other scenarios it was drilled at the time of sowing.The estimation of GHG emissions was computed by using the CCAFS Mitigation Option Tool (CCAFS-MOT) [16]. In this tool, many empirical models are combined to estimate the GHG emissions in any production system. The tool considers specific factors, namely, climatic conditions, soil characteristics, crop production inputs, and other management activities that influence emissions. The background-and fertilizer-induced emissions were estimated using the multivariate empirical model (MEM) of Bouwman et al. [17] for nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and nitric oxide (NO) emissions, and the FAO/IFA [18] model for ammonia (NH 4 ) emissions. Emissions driven by crop residue management were computed through IPCC N 2 O Tier-1 emission factors. The ecoinvent database was used to estimate the emissions from crop production and fertilizer transportation [19].Fertilizer-induced field emission of N 2 O (which constitutes a significant portion) was estimated using Bouman's model. In this model, emissions are estimated by taking into account fertilizer type and quantity together with soil and climatic condition using the following formula.Ei = effective value for factors i (soil organic carbon, pH, soil texture, climate, crop type); Ef = factor for N input (0.0038 for N 2 O and 0.0061 for NO).Alterations in SOC due to tillage operations, farmyard manure, and residue retention/incorporation were based on the IPCC methodology, as described by Smith et al. [20] and Ogle et al. [21]. Further the CO 2 emissions from the soil resulting from urea or liming were predicted by the IPCC methodology [22]. The GWP of the production systems was based on the GWP (over 100 years) of 298 for N 2 O and 34 for CH 4 (IPCC, [23]; Equation (1)). GHG intensity is the ratio of total GWP to the grain yield (Equation ( 3)). The net GWP of the RW rotation was estimated by using all the sources and sinks of greenhouse gases such as emissions due to the production and transportation of fertilizers, field operations (tillage, seeding, irrigation), retention/incorporation of crop residues, land-use management, burning of crop residue, C-sequestration, and soil flux of GHGs. GWP (kg CO 2 eq./ha) = CO 2 (kg/ha) + N 2 O (kg/ha) × 298 + CH 4 (kg/ha) × 34 (1) Total GWP = ∆soil C GWP + soil CH 4 emission + soil N 2 O emission + operation GHG emission + Input GHG emission (2) GHG Intensity (GWP per unit of grain yield) = Total GWP/the grain yield (3)Partial factor productivity (PFP) is an index to measure resource use efficiency. It brings an integrative equation that measures total economic gain compared to the utilization of all resources in the system related to nutrients [24]. N-factor productivity was calculated using the equation given below [24].Grain yield kg/ha Applied fertilizer N kg/haEco-efficiency is an index aimed at de-coupling resource use and pollutant release from economic activity, and the indicator eco-efficiency is defined as a ratio between economic value added and ecological destruction that has occurred [25]. The environmental footprints can be measured in terms of the amount of GHG emitted (kg. CO 2 eq.) by farming practices. In this paper, eco-efficiency was calculated using the following formula: Eco − efficiency (USD/kg CO 2 eq .) =Economic Return (USD/ha) Global warming potential (kg CO 2 eq ./ha)The analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique was used to analyze the experimental data [26]. Data analysis was done with the SAS 9.1 software [27]. Tukey's honestly significant difference (HSD) procedure was used for comparing treatment means at a 5% level of significance. Principal component analysis (PCA) was done with JMP 14.1 software. The results were submitted to PCA in order to determine the common relationships between parameters.Estimates of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions 3.1.1. Methane (CH 4 ) Emissions Estimated CH 4 emissions (kg CO 2 eq./ha) from rice field were the highest in Sc2 and Sc1 as compared to other scenarios in all the years of experimentation. Sc2 had 15% higher CH 4 emissions (kg CO 2 eq./ha) compared to BAU (Table 2). In general, puddled scenarios (3-4 wet tillage) where crop residues were incorporated had higher CH 4 emissions than when crop residues were removed from the field (Table 2). On an average, the direct seeded rice scenarios, Sc4, Sc5, and Sc6 (mean values are presented), emitted 42 and 50% lower CH 4 (kg CO 2 eq./ha) compared to BAU (2607 kg CO 2 eq./ha) and Sc2 (3001 kg CO 2 eq./ha), respectively (Table 2). The linear contrast showed a greater influence of CH 4 emissions by various management practices. The results of the contrast also showed lower CH 4 under CSAPs compared to BAU and I-BAU (Table 3).The GWP associated with N 2 O emissions varied from 10.3 to 963.1 kg CO 2 eq./ha during the rice cropping period. Maximum N 2 O emissions (950.7 kg CO 2 eq./ha) were estimated under the Sc5 scenario and the lowest under Sc1 (10.4kg CO 2 eq.//ha) during all years (three years' mean). CSAPs produced nine times higher N 2 O emissions compared to BAU during the three years (Table 2).The N 2 O emission from wheat cultivation ranged from 1000 to 1439 kg CO 2 eq./ha in all the years (Table 2). The three-year average N 2 O emissions decreased by 16% under CSAPs compared to Sc2 (Table 2). The CSAPs had about 14% higher N 2 O emissions compared to BAU in wheat cultivation during the three years (mean of 3 yrs). The GWP in terms of N 2 O emissions from the RW system was almost double in CSAPs compared to BAU (Table 2). The contrast effect (FFF vs. PNM) was significant for N 2 O in both the crops (Table 3).The estimate of GHG emissions due to the production and transportation of fertilizers was highest under BAU in both the crops and in the RW system and lowest under CSAPs (average of Sc4, Sc5, and Sc6) (Table 2 and Figure 2). The interaction and contrast effect were significant for the GHG emissions associated with fertilizers (Table 3). It was higher by 23%, 14%, and 18% in rice, wheat, and system, respectively, under farmer fertilizer practice (Sc1) compared to precision nutrient management (PAN) scenarios (mean of Sc5 and Sc6).GHG emissions due to energy consumption varied from 1241 to 2053 and from 219 to 550 kg CO 2 eq./ha in rice and wheat, respectively (Table 2 and Figure 2). Estimated GHG emissions due to energy consumption in CSAPs were 27 and 32% lower under rice and wheat than BAU, respectively (Table 2). On the system basis, Sc6, Sc5, and Sc4 recorded lower energy-related GHG emissions by 31, 31, and 24%, respectively, relative to BAU (2354 kg CO 2 eq./ha). The linear contrast effects were significant for GHG emissions associated with energy consumption (diesel and electricity) (Table 3). Scenario × crop interaction effect showed that rice emitted more GHGs due to energy consumption (diesel and electricity) compared to wheat (Table 3).  GHG emissions due to energy consumption varied from 1241 to 2053 and from 219 to 550 kg CO2 eq./ha in rice and wheat, respectively (Table 2 and Figure 2). Estimated GHG emissions due to energy consumption in CSAPs were 27 and 32% lower under rice and wheat than BAU, respectively (Table 2). On the system basis, Sc6, Sc5, and Sc4 recorded lower energy-related GHG emissions by 31, 31, and 24%, respectively, relative to BAU (2354 kg CO2eq./ha). The linear contrast effects were significant for GHG emissions associated with energy consumption (diesel and electricity) (Table 3). Scenario × crop interaction effect showed that rice emitted more GHGs due to energy consumption (diesel and electricity) compared to wheat (Table 3).Estimated C-sequestration varied from 66 to 498 kg CO2 eq./ha/yr in rice and from 0 to 1703 kg CO2 eq./ha/yr in wheat (Table 2). Overall, C-sequestration was the highest under CSAPs in both the crops and in RW system and the lowest under BAU. C-sequestration in the RW system was 26.0 and 20.7 times higher in CSAPs and Sc3, respectively, compared to BAU (74 kg CO2 eq./ha/yr) (Table 2). The Sc2 and Sc3 (improved BAU) also sequestered 17 times higher carbon sequestration than BAU. The linear contrast effect showed business as usual, improved BAU, and climate-smart agricultural practices significantly influenced carbon sequestration.Global warming potential (GWP) per hectare and greenhouse gas intensity (emission per unit of crop yield) varied with crop management practice portfolios. On an average, the GWP of BAU activities was 5304 kg CO2 eq./ha and the GHG intensity was 791 kg CO2 eq./Mg of rice, whereas CSAPs emitted only 4016 kg CO2 eq./ha and 599 kg CO2eq./Mg rice (mean of 3 yrs) (Table 2). Among the six scenarios of rice, Sc2 recorded the highest GWP during the three years compared to BAU. CSAPs (mean of Sc4, Sc5, and Sc6) had a 24% lower GWP compared to BAU (average of 3 yrs) (Table 2). The contrast effect (BAU CH4 emission kg (kg CO2 eq./ha) N2O (kg CO2 eq./ha) GHG emission due to production and transportation of fertilizers (kg CO2 eq./ha) GHG emission due to energy consumption (Diesel and electricity) (kg CO2 eq./ha) Figure 2. Share of different components in the total global warming potential under the rice-wheat system (Mean of 3 years). Sc1-business as usual, conventional tillage (CT) without residue; Sc2-CT with residue; Sc3-reduced tillage (RT) with residue + recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF); Sc4-RT/zero tillage (ZT) with residue + RDF; Sc5-ZT with residue + RDF + GreenSeeker + Tensiometer; Sc6-Sc5 + nutrient expert.Estimated C-sequestration varied from 66 to 498 kg CO 2 eq./ha/yr in rice and from 0 to 1703 kg CO 2 eq./ha/yr in wheat (Table 2). Overall, C-sequestration was the highest under CSAPs in both the crops and in RW system and the lowest under BAU. C-sequestration in the RW system was 26.0 and 20.7 times higher in CSAPs and Sc3, respectively, compared to BAU (74 kg CO 2 eq./ha/yr) (Table 2). The Sc2 and Sc3 (improved BAU) also sequestered 17 times higher carbon sequestration than BAU. The linear contrast effect showed business as usual, improved BAU, and climate-smart agricultural practices significantly influenced carbon sequestration.Global warming potential (GWP) per hectare and greenhouse gas intensity (emission per unit of crop yield) varied with crop management practice portfolios. On an average, the GWP of BAU activities was 5304 kg CO 2 eq./ha and the GHG intensity was 791 kg CO 2 eq./Mg of rice, whereas CSAPs emitted only 4016 kg CO 2 eq./ha and 599 kg CO 2 eq./Mg rice (mean of 3 yrs) (Table 2). Among the six scenarios of rice, Sc2 recorded the highest GWP during the three years compared to BAU. CSAPs (mean of Sc4, Sc5, and Sc6) had a 24% lower GWP compared to BAU (average of 3 yrs) (Table 2). The contrast effect (BAU vs. CSA, BAU vs. I-BAU, and FFF vs. PNM) was significant for GWP (Table 3). It was higher by 8-25% in rice under CSAPs, I-BAU, and PNM compared to BAU/FFP.Convergence/layering of varied agronomic management practices influenced the total GWP (CO 2 eq./ha) in wheat during the study years (Table 2). On average, BAU emitted 2348 kg CO 2 eq./ha and 466kg CO 2 eq./Mg wheat, whereas CSAPs emitted only 828 kg CO 2 eq./ha and 145 kg CO 2 eq./Mg wheat. Sc6 recorded the lowest GWP amongst all the scenarios and was 71% lower (3 years' mean) than BAU in wheat. On the system basis, Sc6, Sc5, Sc4, and Sc3 noted a lower GWP by 40, 37, 33, and 26%, respectively, than BAU (7653 kg CO 2 eq./ha) (Figure 2). The contrast effect (BAU vs. CSA, BAU vs. I-BAU, and FFF vs. PNM) was significant for GWP in both the crops (Table 3). It was higher by 32-68% in wheat under CSAPs, I-BAU, and PNM compared to BAU/FFP.The contribution of rice and wheat crops towards estimated GWP under different scenarios is presented in Figure 3. In the RW system, rice contributed 69-85% of the total GWP and wheat contributed 15-31% of it. Rice emitted 3.38 times higher GHGs than wheat. The GHG intensity from rice cultivation (674 kg CO 2 /Mg − rice grain) was higher than wheat cultivation (252 kg CO 2 /Mg wheat grain). Thus, rice is a GHG-intensive crop in the rice-wheat cropping system. The interaction effects of scenarios × crops on GWP were significant. (Table 3) vs. CSA, BAU vs. I-BAU, and FFF vs. PNM) was significant for GWP (Table 3). It was higher by 8-25% in rice under CSAPs, I-BAU, and PNM compared to BAU/FFP.Convergence/layering of varied agronomic management practices influenced the total GWP (CO2 eq./ha) in wheat during the study years (Table 2). On average, BAU emitted 2348 kg CO2 eq./ha and 466kg CO2 eq./Mg wheat, whereas CSAPs emitted only 828 kg CO2 eq./ha and 145 kg CO2 eq./Mg wheat. Sc6 recorded the lowest GWP amongst all the scenarios and was 71% lower (3 years' mean) than BAU in wheat. On the system basis, Sc6, Sc5, Sc4, and Sc3 noted a lower GWP by 40, 37, 33, and 26%, respectively, than BAU (7653 kg CO2 eq./ha) (Figure 2). The contrast effect (BAU vs. CSA, BAU vs. I-BAU, and FFF vs. PNM) was significant for GWP in both the crops (Table 3). It was higher by 32-68% in wheat under CSAPs, I-BAU, and PNM compared to BAU/FFP.The contribution of rice and wheat crops towards estimated GWP under different scenarios is presented in Figure 3. In the RW system, rice contributed 69-85% of the total GWP and wheat contributed 15-31% of it. Rice emitted 3.38 times higher GHGs than wheat. The GHG intensity from rice cultivation (674 kg CO2/Mgrice grain) was higher than wheat cultivation (252 kg CO2/Mg wheat grain). Thus, rice is a GHG-intensive crop in the rice-wheat cropping system. The interaction effects of scenarios × crops on GWP were significant. (Table 3) Figure 3. Share of rice and wheat in the total global warming potential of the rice-wheat system (mean of 3 years). Sc1business as usual, conventional tillage (CT) without residue; Sc2-CT with residue; Sc3-reduced tillage (RT) with residue + recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF); Sc4-RT/zero tillage (ZT) with residue + RDF; Sc5-ZT with residue + RDF + GreenSeeker + Tensiometer; Sc6-Sc5 + nutrient expert.The average contribution from individual operations to estimated GHG emissions and GWP (CH4, N2O, and CO2) are presented in Figure 2. The share from various field operations in the total GWP of the RW system varied among the studied scenarios. In general, CO2 emissions from fertilizer (production and transportation) and energy consumption contributed about 50% of total GWP across all the scenarios. The contribution of CH4 to total GWP was about ~34% in BAU  The average contribution from individual operations to estimated GHG emissions and GWP (CH 4 , N 2 O, and CO 2 ) are presented in Figure 2. The share from various field operations in the total GWP of the RW system varied among the studied scenarios. In general, CO 2 emissions from fertilizer (production and transportation) and energy consumption contributed about 50% of total GWP across all the scenarios. The contribution of CH 4 to total GWP was about ~34% in BAU and about 22% in rest of the scenarios. The contribution from N 2 O was about 15% to total GWP in the RW system under BAU and slightly over 20% in other scenarios. The contrast effect (BAU vs. CSA, BAU vs. I-BAU, and FFF vs. PNM) was significant for GWP (Table 3).N-factor productivity was directly associated with the grain yield and applied N fertilizer under different CSAPs, and it varied from 34.5 to 49.0 in rice and from 27.7 to 48.2 (kg grain/kg N) in wheat crop (Table 2). Sc6 recorded 42 and 74% higher FPn in rice and wheat crops than BAU, respectively (3 years' mean). On the system basis, Sc6, Sc5, Sc4, and Sc3 recorded 57, 43, and 32% higher FPn compared to BAU (31.5 kg grain/kg N), respectively (3 years' mean). The linear contrast showed a large influence of nutrient management on N-factor productivity (Table 3).During all three years, the rice yield was not significantly influenced by different crop management practices (Tables 2 and 4). The linear interaction effect was not significant on the grain yield of rice. However, in wheat, CSAP (mean of Sc4, Sc5, and Sc6) produced 18, 12, and 12% higher yield during the first, second, and third years, respectively, compared to BAU (year-wise data are not presented). On average, wheat yield was 12% higher in the CSAP than BAU in the normal years (mean of 2015-2016 and 2016-2017), whereas the yield advantages of CSAP over BAU was much higher (18%) during a bad year (2014-2015) (year-wise data are not presented). These results are the first of their kind, providing clear evidence of the benefits of CSAPs in conferring resilience to climatic extremes. Another important finding is that the yield loss in the bad year (compared to the normal year) was less in CSAPs (5.8%; 0.32 Mg/ha) compared to BAU (11.6%; 0.55 Mg/ha), indicating a greater yield penalty of the latter under climatic extremes (Table 4). Higher system productivity of 8, 6, and 4% (mean of 3 yrs) was observed in Sc6, Sc5, and Sc4, respectively, relative to BAU (11.97 Mg/ha) (Table 2). BAU vs. CSAPs and FFP vs. PNM significantly influenced the grain yield of wheat (Table 3).CSAPs increased the net returns from the rice, wheat, and RW system by 15, 21, and 18% (3 yrs' mean), respectively, compared to BAU. Compared to business as usual (BAU), Sc6 increased the net income by 21, 24, and 23% (3 yrs' mean) in the rice, wheat, and RW system, respectively (Figure 4A). The eco-efficiency is expressed in terms of economic gain per unit GHG emissions for a unit area (USD/kg CO 2 eq.). The three-year results showed that eco-efficiency varied from USD 0.16 to 0.26/kg CO 2 eq. in rice and USD 0.43 to 1.84/kg CO 2 eq. in wheat (Figure 4B). Overall, the eco-efficiency was highest under CSAPs in both the crops and the lowest under BAU. On the basis of the three-years' mean, CSAPs recorded higher eco-efficiency by 52, 254, and 88% in the rice, wheat, and RW system, respectively, relative to BAU. Sc6 was the most eco-efficient crop management practice among the six scenarios (Figure 4). BAU vs. CSAPs significantly influenced net return (Table 3). However, BAU vs. I-BAU contrast effect was not significant on net return.In the PCA of 11 variables, three PCs were extracted with eigenvalues > 0.9 and explained 99.2% of the variance (Figure 5). The relationships between GHG emission indicators (CH 4 , N 2 O, GHG emissions due to fertilizer; GHG emissions due to energy consumption; and GWP) and sustainability indicators (C-sequestration, grain yield, GHG intensity, net return, NUE, and eco-efficiency) were examined using principal component analysis (PCA) (Figure 5). PCA indicated that axis 1 accounted for 88.3% and axis 2 accounted for 6.6% of the variation. Sustainability indicators like GHG intensity, Csequestration, N-factor productivity, grain yield, net return, and eco-efficiency were the most highly weighted variables in PC1 (88.3% of total variance), except N 2 O. Specifically, the angles between the GHGs and sustainability indicators were significantly different (stenosis and width).These results show that the area scaled/GWP were correlated (positively or negatively) with C-sequestration, N-factor productivity, grain yield, net return, and eco-efficiency (Table 5). In particular, total GWP was significantly positively correlated with yield scaled (r = 99, p < 0.001), whereas it was significantly negatively correlated with N-factor productivity (r = 0.98, p < 0.01), yield (r = 0.88, p < 0.05), net return (r = 0.94, p < 0.01), and eco-efficiency (r = 0.98, p < 0.001). N-factor productivity was strongly positively correlated with N 2 O (r = 0.94, p < 0.05) and negatively correlated with GHGs due to fertilizer production and consumption (r = 0.85, p < 0.05) (Table 5). However, crop residue (incorporation or retention) was strongly positively correlated with C-sequestration (r = 0.91, p < 0.05).  system, respectively (Figure 4A). The eco-efficiency is expressed in terms of economic gain per unit GHG emissions for a unit area (USD/kg CO2 eq.). The three-year results showed that eco-efficiency varied from USD 0.16 to 0.26/kg CO2 eq. in rice and USD 0.43 to 1.84/kg CO2 eq. in wheat (Figure 4B). Overall, the eco-efficiency was highest under CSAPs in both the crops and the lowest under BAU. On the basis of the three-years' mean, CSAPs recorded higher eco-efficiency by 52, 254, and 88% in the rice, wheat, and RW system, respectively, relative to BAU. Sc6 was the most eco-efficient crop management practice among the six scenarios (Figure 4). BAU vs. CSAPs significantly influenced net return (Table 3). However, BAU vs. I-BAU contrast effect was not significant on net return. In the PCA of 11 variables, three PCs were extracted with eigenvalues > 0.9 and explained 99.2% of the variance (Figure 5). The relationships between GHG emission indicators (CH4, N2O, GHG emissions due to fertilizer; GHG emissions due to energy consumption; and GWP) and sustainability indicators (C-sequestration, grain yield, GHG intensity, net return, NUE, and eco-efficiency) were examined using principal component analysis (PCA) (Figure 5). PCA indicated that axis 1 accounted for 88.3% and axis 2 accounted for 6.6% of the variation. Sustainability indicators like GHG intensity, C-   These results show that the area scaled/GWP were correlated (positively or negatively) with C-sequestration, N-factor productivity, grain yield, net return, and eco-efficiency (Table 5). In particular, total GWP was significantly positively correlated with yield scaled (r = 99, p < 0.001), whereas it was significantly negatively correlated with N-factor productivity (r = 0.98, p < 0.01), yield (r = 0.88, p < 0.05), net return (r = 0.94, p < 0.01), and  Climate-smart agricultural practices (mean of Sc4, Sc5, and Sc6) estimated lower CH 4 emissions compared to BAU, which may be due to avoidance of puddling and less frequent irrigation. Methane emissions were higher under Sc2 (Table 2), where residues were incorporated, than under business as usual (BAU), where residues were taken off the field. This was probably because of residue incorporation in the system provided carbon sources for methanogenic bacteria. Furthermore, residue-retaining scenarios emitted less CH 4 than the scenario of residue incorporation, probably due to the less anaerobic environment under these scenarios because of the avoidance of puddling and frequent irrigation. The linear contrast effect (BAU vs. CSAPs, BAU vs. I-BAU, and I-BAU vs. CSAPs) was significant for CH4 emissions (Table 3). These results are in accordance with Wang et al. [28], who also stated that crop residue significantly increased CH 4 production (37.3 mg/m 2 ) relative to the control (8.34 mg/m 2 ). In Sc2, incorporation of loose rice residue enhanced sites for soil microbe attacks and may have led to enhanced decomposition and CH 4 emissions. Aerobic conditions during the wheat crop cycle led to negligible or zero net emission of CH 4 , and this is in agreement with the results from other researchers from the IGP region [1].In the three-year study, seasonal N 2 O emissions varied from 10 to 963 kg CO 2 eq./ha, with a mean value of 487 kg CO 2 eq./ha (Table 2), which was within the reported range under similar water levels in rice fields of western IGP [29,30]. Frequent wetting and drying of soil in Sc3 and CSAPs may have led to the more emissions of N 2 O from the nitrification and denitrification process of soil microorganisms. Puddled transplanted scenarios (BAU and Sc2) emitted less N 2 O compared to the other scenarios. Continuous submergence might have resulted in more denitrification (conversion of N 2 O to N 2 ) because of a favorable range of O 2 in the soil. The contrast effect showed that estimated N 2 O emissions were significantly influenced by various agronomic management practices in rice (Table 3). Gupta et al. [5] also reported that after the application of urea, the peak of the N 2 O flux was less with puddled TPR relative to DSR, probably might be due to fast conversion rate of NO 3 − to N 2 through complete denitrification without forming N 2 O as an intermediate product. When anaerobic conditions prevail, the denitrification process dominates over the nitrification process and in turn increases the probability of the reduction of N 2 O into N 2 [5]. Sc6 emitted 3.4% less N 2 O compared to Sc3 (941 kg CO 2 eq./ha) (Table 2). The linear contrast effect (FFP vs. PNM) was significant for N 2 O emissions. This may be due to the precision management of N fertilizers with SSNM techniques and neem-coated urea (NCU) under the Sc6 scenario. Neem-coated urea (NCU) might have released N slowly, and in turn, enhanced the N-use efficiency because of its nitrification inhibition properties. Reduced N 2 O emissions due to SSNM was also confirmed by Sapkota et al. [12] and Gupta et al. [5].In wheat, the highest N 2 O emissions were recorded with Sc2, whereas the lowest were recorded under BAU and Sc6 (1000 and 1098 kg CO 2 eq./ha) in the three years (Table 2). The linear contrast effect (BAU vs. CSAPs, BAU vs. I-BAU, I-BAU vs. CSAPs, and FFP vs. PNM) was significant in N 2 O emissions (Table 3). This may have been due to the denitrification losses of N under aerobic soil environments. The higher emissions of N 2 O in CSAPs can be attributed to the higher soil moisture content, which reduces the rate of O 2 diffusion into the soil, which favors N 2 O production [5,30]. For example, Bhatia et al. [30] observed nearly 12% more N 2 O emissions in without/no-tilled wheat over conventionaltillage wheat (CTW). Sapkota et al. [1] also observed more N 2 O emissions under no-tilled wheat over CTW from northwestern IGP.A significant off-site source of carbon dioxide emissions is the production of CO 2 during the manufacturing and transportation of fertilizers. The emission of CO 2 due to the production and transportation of fertilizer was lower by 22%, 10%, and 16% in the rice, wheat, and RW rotation, respectively, under CSAP relative to BAU (Table 4). The linear contrast effect (BAU vs. CSAPs, BAU vs. I-BAU, I-BAU vs. CSAPs, and FFP vs. PNM) was significant for CO 2 emissions due to the production and transportation of fertilizer (Table 3). The higher nitrogen (N) fertilizer application in business as usual (N rate in BAU was 25% higher than in CSAPs) led to higher fertilizer-related emissions. Sapkota et al. [13] reported that sources and quantities of nitrogenous fertilizer had significant effects on global warming potential.GHG emissions due to the consumption of electricity and diesel energy were significantly influenced by tillage methods and nutrient management strategies. Intensive tillage and irrigation in BAU and Sc2 led to higher energy-related emissions compared to other scenarios. Zero tillage in CSAPs lowers fuel (diesel) consumption, decreases the working period, and slows down the depreciation of equipment, which all lead to lower GHG emissions from various farm operations for crop production and from machinery manufacturing processes as well [3,31]. Only by adopting ZT practice in RW rotation, IGP farmers could save about 36 L of diesel per hectare [32], which is the equivalent of 93 kg CO 2 emission/ha/yr. CSAPs can also mitigate GHGs by saving irrigation water by using water-saving technologies. Often, in eastern IGP diesel energy is used, whereas in northwestern IGP, electric energy is used for pumping irrigation water, both of which contribute to CO 2 emissions [1]. Therefore, agricultural emissions can be reduced by adopting energy-efficient technologies like zero-tillage and precision nutrient/water management.More carbon sequestration under CSAPs than under BAU might have been due to less soil disturbance, soil surface cover with crop residue, greater biomass input, and a lower rate of decomposition [21,33]. SOC loss through the disruptive effect of intensive tillage operations under conventional tillage-based systems is well known [33]. This is may be due to the disruption of soil macro-and micro-aggregates during intensive tillage operations, which expose SOC to more microbial decomposition relative to the ZT-based system [34]. Sapkota et al. [33] also reported higher C-sequestration in the ZT-than CT-based RW system through seven years of experimentation in eastern IGP.In the three-year study, the GWP per hectare as well as the per-Mg rice-wheat yield was significantly lower under Sc3, Sc4, Sc5, and Sc6 relative to BAU (Table 2). The lower GWP in CSAPs (mean of Sc4, Sc5, and Sc6) may have been due to layering the best crop management practices in optimal combinations, which helps mitigate GHG emissions. Business as usual (BAU) had a larger GWP than CSAPs, showing the importance of sitespecific input management not only to reduce GWP but also to increase system productivity. Similar results of reduced GWP by 44-47% were also highlighted in the studies by Sapkota et al. [1] and Gupta et al. [5] in CA-based RW rotation without a significant penalty to the system yield. Puddled transplantation of rice followed by continuous flooding in the TPR system enhanced CH 4 emissions, which was further increased with the incorporation of crop residues in the soil [5]. The higher share of rice to total GWP compared to wheat was chiefly due to higher CH 4 emissions in rice and also higher energy consumption in rice for tillage and irrigation compared to wheat.In the three-year study, CSA practices increased the FPn by 33, 56, and 44% without yield penalty in the rice, wheat, and RW system, respectively, compared to BAU (Table 2). This might have been due to the site-specific nutrient management approach (layering of nutrient expert + GreenSeeker + neem-coated urea) that helped improve the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and mitigate GHG emissions, especially nitrous oxide (N 2 O). Qiao et al. [35] reported that 15% higher NUE can be achieved with a proper N application rate at the same yield level, and a reduction of N load in the environment. Systems sustainability improved N use efficiency and precise and efficient N fertilizer use can reduce the N application rates by 30-60% while retaining the crop yields with markedly reduced nitrogen losses to the atmosphere [36].Averaged over three years, CSAPs provided almost similar rice grain yield compared to BAU. Our results contradict the findings of Gathala et al. [37] and Kakraliya et al. [11], who observed that DSR with best management practices (BMP) gave equal or more yield compared to puddled transplanted rice, but are in conformity with Jat et al. [38], who also revealed that rice grain yield under DSR was not higher than TPR for the initial four years. On average, wheat yield was increased by 12-18% and 2-7% under CSAPs (Sc4, Sc5, and Sc6) and improved BAU (average of Sc2 and Sc3), respectively, compared to BAU in all the years (Tables 2 and 4). The linear interaction effect was significant for the grain yield of wheat. The continuous high and unusual rains at the grain-filling stage of wheat during the first year led to lower yield losses with a varied degree of adaptation measures in different scenarios, with the maximum being under BAU and the lowest under Sc6 layered with climate-smart agricultural practices. Compared to BAU, the additional wheat yield obtained under CSAP was 0.62 Mg/ha in a normal year and 0.84 Mg/ha in a bad year (Table 4). This means that a farmer can benefit from an additional amount of USD 131/ha in a normal year and USD 177/ha in a bad year if CSAP is adopted. Therefore, CSAP has both climate-adapted and economic benefits (in terms of yield gain and total cost reduction), implying a win-win situation.Higher wheat yield under CSAPs might be due to precise land levelling, best-bet management practices, suitable cultivars, proper crop establishment, efficient water management, effective weed control, and efficient nutrient management. Better performance of wheat followed by DSR with residue retention might have created better soil physical and biological conditions [11,37] and also improved SOC [3], which might have helped in deeper crop root penetration and thus improved water and nutrient uptake, all leading to improved wheat yields.Higher net returns were associated with CSAPs due to the lower cost of cultivation incurred in tillage, crop establishment, irrigation costs, and higher crop yields (Figure 4A). Gathala et al. [10] observed that only adoption of ZTDSR reduced tillage and establishment cost by 79-85% compared to conventional tillage. The eco-efficiency of the RW system was 88% higher under CSA scenarios (Sc4, Sc5, and Sc6) compared to BAU (0.24 USD/kg CO 2 eq.) (Figure 4B). This was mainly due to lower GHG emissions and higher net return in these scenarios compared to BAU. Our results suggest that the eco-efficiency of the RW system can be enhanced by the practice of CSAP, which reduces negative environmental impacts while at the same time maintaining or increasing the net farm income [25]. Therefore, the CSAPs of RW systems with higher eco-efficiency are reflected as more economically and environmentally sustainable. The results of this study also suggest that an enormous potential exists for increasing the eco-efficiency of RW production in IGP.Scatter plot of scenarios on PCA coordinates showed that climate-smart agriculturebased scenarios are distinctly located on PCA coordinates (Figure 5). Improved BAU and CSAP scenarios (Sc3, Sc4, Sc5, and Sc6) are positioned in the right-hand-side coordinates with a higher weightage of PC1 (88.3% of total variance). A close association between sustainability parameters like C-sequestration, grain yield, GHG intensity, net return, NUE, and eco-efficiency is also apparent from PCA graph. The estimated global warming potential (GWP) of various greenhouse gases were more under business as usual (BAU) due to higher emissions associated with higher energy use for tillage, irrigation, fertilizer use, and the burning of crop residues in comparison to CSAPs. However, the GWP of various greenhouse gases were at the minimum in CSAPs (mean of Sc4, Sc5, and Sc6), followed by Sc3, and at the maximum in Sc1 and Sc2. This might have been due to precise input management, proper crop establishment, efficient water management, and efficient nutrient management. The layering of climate-smart agriculture practices significantly improves crop productivity and economics [11]. The present study results show that the area scaled/GWP were correlated (positively or negatively) with C-sequestration, N-factor productivity, grain yield, net return, and eco-efficiency. Astonishingly high Pearson's correlation coefficients were detected for crop residues (incorporation or retention) and C-sequestration (r = 0.91, p < 0.05). This strong correlation may be due to the benefits of residue retention/incorporation in soil being significant and improving C-sequestration and soil health [24,34].The conventional RW rotation in IGP is a major contributor to the food basket of South Asia, but intensive input usage increases its GWP largely. To tackle this, several CSAPs have been developed, involving various resource conservation technologies for the RW system. In our study, we evaluated these CSAPs for potential GHG emissions and GWP and found them to be feasible, viable, and scalable alternatives to conventional management practices and have tremendous potential for adaptation-led mitigation co-benefits with potential economic gains for the farmers. CSAPs had 24% and 65% less GWP than BAU in rice and wheat crops, respectively, and rice was the major contributor to total GWP in the RW system (having threefold higher GWP than wheat). In addition, CSAP practices had higher wheat and system productivity tan BAU. As a co-benefit, CSAPs have judicious N management and increased factor productivity and higher economic efficiency. The synthesis of the three-year study showed that layering (portfolio) of CSAPs in the ricewheat rotation of IGP can significantly contribute to reducing agriculture's environmental footprint while improving productivity and profitability (ensuring food security), resource use efficiency, and sustaining natural resources under the emerging threat of climate change.Based on the present study, the different adaptation and mitigation practices (climate-smart agricultural practices) should be implemented by smallholder farmers to help them adapt to climate change and to suffer less in terms of yield penalty during a climate-extreme year. Additional research is needed on climate-smart agriculture to validate at farming system level and to provide information to policymakers about the expected impacts of climate change and the effectiveness of adaptation strategies."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d5379ba631301344eff2f6af158fd1c0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/dd5ea5ca-24b2-4e24-b89a-f9b95e0c48cb/retrieve","id":"437752330"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b0210def-fa5a-410c-8d0f-c1638c17f0da","content":"Since the beginning of 2020, the world has been facing one of the most serious public health crises in the century, caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The first consequence of this pandemic has been the reduction in mobility between countries, as part of a global restriction order with border restrictions, travel bans, closure of various amenities and services. Although these measures have contributed to slow down the spread of the virus, they have led to an increase in disruption of the global food system and logistics with the increase of transportation costs across the globe.In 2021, when travel restrictions were lifted, many people resumed traveling with sudden start of international exchanges. This has resulted in high demand of transport logistic and increase costs for transporting goods around the world. In addition, fertilizer supply decreased due to high production costs induced by soaring prices of natural gas required for fertilizer production.These factors affected the price of fertilizers in 2021, which rapidly increased throughout the year (Figure 1). These were coupled with the already existing challenges of how to ensure that smallholder farmers in the Global South have access affordable fertilizers for the planting seasons of 2022. Unfortunately, the new crisis, born out of the war between Ukraine and Russia, has increased the uncertainty of agricultural production especially in developing countries, since it is putting new pressure on the price of fertilizer and staple food such as wheat and rice. Russia and Ukraine are in effect net exporters of agricultural products and both countries play leading roles in supplying global markets with foodstuffs and fertilizers (FAO, 2022) 1 . In 2021, Russia and Ukraine ranked amongst the top three global exporters of wheat and maize, while Russia also stood out as the world's top exporter of nitrogen fertilizers and the second leading supplier of both potassic and phosphorous fertilizers.Although countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) use less fertilizers, they have an important import dependency from Russia and Ukraine. Russia is the second-largest supplier of fertilizers to countries in ECOWAS, occupying 12% of the market share. In addition, Russia provided more than 80% of potash imports to Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. In 2020, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Mozambique imported approximately 20% of their fertilizer from Russia. Tanzania imported a total 24% of their fertilizer from Russia and Ukraine, while South Africa, the largest importer of fertilizers in the region, imported approximately 11% of its fertilizers from Russia.In terms of food crop dependency, 44% of total African wheat imports were from the two countries (32% from the Russian Federation and 12% from Ukraine) during the last two years. As many as 25 African countries, import more than one third of their wheat from the two countries, and 15 of them import over half. Thus, the crisis in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia expose African food markets to heightened risks of tighter availabilities, unmet import demand and increase in the prices of foodstuffs and fertilizers.This situation threatens a global food crisis in many countries and especially the poorest ones. In Africa, wheat is the second most consumed cereal after maize, and followed by rice. In addition, smallholder farmers are already facing the negative effects of high international food and fertilizer prices uncertainty.Challenges linked to access to fertilizers to produce staple food crops such as rice and the reduction of food supply from main exporters such as Ukraine and Russia, are highly likely to be a source of food insecurity in Africa.The potential shortage in the supply of major food items such as wheat, combined with rising fertilizer prices, will likely push back millions of people, especially in Africa, into deep food insecurity and poverty.To avoid a repeat of the 2007-2008 food crisis and that of the past two years, necessary and urgent policy measures for sustained agricultural growth, especially for staple food crops such as rice, need to be taken.Rice is the fastest growing staple food in Africa, especially for West Africa, where it is the main source of calories compared to other cereals. The combination of COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis between Ukraine and Russia are expected to lead to considerable increases in global and domestic fertilizers and other input prices. This will lead to a sharp drop in the accessibility and affordability of fertilizers, which will result in lower yields and potential reduction in acreage and consequently declining production of crops such as rice in the coming cropping seasons of 2022 and 2023.The recent escalation of conflict between Russia and Ukraine, both playing lead supply roles is putting uncertainty on the global markets of foodstuffs and fertilizers. Indeed, there is uncertainty whether Ukraine will be able to plant and harvest its crops during the next seasons. In addition, Russia will face challenges in exporting fertilizers and wheat in the future, given sales difficulties that may arise because of economic sanctions currently imposed on the country.Moreover, fertilizer prices, which were already high before the conflict, have now reached record levels in the context of a sharp drop in Russian supply to world market. At the same time, more-expensive natural gas, another Russian export product and a crucial ingredient in fertilizer-making, has led European fertilizer factories to scale back production. This clearly indicates that such disruption, instability, and uncertainty in supply from major exporting countries, could lead to serious price spikes of fertilizers and foodstuffs akin to those witnessed in the 2007-2008 global food crisis, which will certainly affect the poorest and the most vulnerable people in Africa.Reaction of smallholder farmers to spike of fertilizer prices is likely to result in low use of inputs and low supply of domestic rice production. In many countries that are heavily dependent on fertilizer imports from Russia and Ukraine, particularly SSA countries, farmers may find themselves in a situation of scarcity in the face of the skyrocketing of fertilizer prices. This can lead to a decrease in local rice production and uncertainty on food security.In addition, if farmers are unable to apply the necessary quantities of fertilizers, there is a risk of having negative effects on the total land coverage. Moreover, there may be similar reaction from rice producers in exporter countries with a drop in productivity and therefore a decrease in production. This means that the supply of rice may decrease both in importer and exporter countries. It is imperative, therefore, to take emergency measures to increase the local production to fill the potential reduction from the rice exporter countries.Rice represents, after maize and wheat, the third cereal consumed in SSA. As a staple food crop, evidence shows that the consumption of rice is likely not to decrease due to price increase. With high price and scarcity of wheat, however, rice could be a substitute for wheat in household consumption, especially in urban area, leading to increase in rice demand. In addition, it is likely that bakers will substitute wheat by alternative flours. Indeed, as cassava flour is already being used in bread production in many countries, it is likely that cassava will be of first choice and might result in increased propositions of cassava flour in bread. Rice flour could also be used as a substitute. It is likely, therefore, that this crisis may increase the demand for rice.The rice sector could play an important role in attenuating the negative potential effects of the crisis on the rice market and also on food security, if the following measures are applied:Short-term measures 1. Subsidize and control the price of fertilizers and seed inputs 2. Release fertilizer stocks in countries where they exist 3. Promote the efficient use of fertilizers through site-and personalized recommendations using digital tools such RiceAdvice 4. Promote good agricultural practices for improving nutrient use 5. Spread out to its fullest capacity the use of the recently installed fertilizer manufacturing plant in Nigeria 6. Increase the accessibility of smallholder farmers to fertilizers through improving communication on their availability and encouraging the release of local fertilizer stocks 7. Support smallholder farmers by facilitating their access to financial institutions Medium-and long-term measures 1. Encourage the development of regional fertilizer manufacturing plants to reduce dependency on imports 2. Shorten the global food chain through investment in local production and processing. 3. Consolidate regional and national reserve stocks of fertilizers for use in time of shocks. 4. Build strategic stock of staple food crops 5. Diversify food basket with perennial crops 6. Reduce postharvest losses of staple food crops 7. Invest in the improvement of agricultural infrastructure including irrigation to improve productivity 8. Develop the use of organic fertilizers inputs as a complement where possible 9. Build systems and capacities for large-scale use of organic inputs 10. Develop sustainable food security policies and investment plans 11. Increase investment in research for development.Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, SSA is again likely to be affected by the current crisis resulting from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Indeed, in the context where fertilizer prices were already high, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine that are two major exporters of fertilizers and foodstuffs, is likely to cause fertilizer price spikes and reduce the yield and production of staple foods such as rice, in both importer and exporter countries. The urgent reaction of policy makers indeed resulted in attenuating the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. This brief again calls for their timely action of suggestions to increase the resilience and coping strategies of rice-based agri-food system actors for food and nutrition security."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"82e1fab9fc8e743a0319ddf871f2aa72","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4ce83afe-a5d6-42a2-a44d-408ae13e5cb8/retrieve","id":"1292475843"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"707ebe1b-d7c1-44f9-bf00-7ded4237881b","content":"Las deficiencias nutricionales de Fe y Zn son consideradas importantes problemas de salud pública. La biofortificación de cultivos como el fríjol (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) es propuesta como alternativa para combatir estas deficiencias nutricionales. Las líneas avanzadas de fríjol NUA (nutrición Andina) han sido desarrolladas para mejorar los contenidos de Fe y Zn en variedades de color rojo moteado del tipo comercial \"Calima\" en Colombia. Estas líneas vienen siendo evaluadas en pruebas agronómicas desde el 2003 y actualmente están siendo consideradas para su posible liberación. Durante el proceso se ha encontrado variabilidad e interacción genotipo-ambiente (GxE) en la acumulación de estos nutrientes.Por lo que este proyecto, revisa los resultados de la experimentación para identificar líneas con caracteres estables y para determinar cuáles variables de suelos y clima están asociadas con la GxE. Un objetivo adicional del trabajo fue predecir zonas geográficas para continuar con la experimentación y potencial liberación de las NUA. NUA35 fue el genotipo de mayor estabilidad y promedios de Fe y Zn a través de todos los ambientes en los que fue evaluada. Un análisis de componentes principales con las variables de suelos, clima y rendimiento de las líneas en los sitios de ensayo permitió identificar dos agrupaciones de variables, la primera relacionada con el pH y composición del complejo de cambio, la segunda con la materia orgánica, precipitación y contenido de Fe en el suelo. Los mayores contenidos de Fe en la semilla se encontraron en localidades con mayores contenidos de Fe en el suelo y mayores pH dentro de los suelos ácidos analizados, se proponen estudios específicos para definir rangos de pH, niveles críticos de Fe y otros nutrientes que permitan la adecuada expresión fenotípica de las NUA biofortificadas. Finalmente haciendo uso de Homologue™ y otras herramientas de análisis espacial se identificaron zonas de producción potenciales para continuar con la experimentación y liberación de estos genotipos.Palabras clave: biofortificación, fríjol, fitomejoramiento, interacción genotipo por ambiente (GxE), análisis de componentes principales (ACP), análisis espacialNutritional deficiencies of Fe and Zn are considered important public health issues.Biofortification of crops such as bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is proposed as an alternative to address these nutrient deficiencies. NUA (Andean Nutrition) advanced lines of common bean have been developed in order to improve Fe and Zn content for commercial Andean red-mottled \"Calima\" types in Colombia. These lines have been in agronomic trials since 2003 and are currently being considered for release. During the testing process, genotypeenvironment (GxE) interaction has been found to be an important factor in the accumulation of these nutrients. This project, therefore, reviews the experimental results obtained to date in order to identify those lines with higer stability and to determine which soil or climatic variables are associated with the GxE. An additional objective of the thesis has been to predict the geographic regions in which to continue with testing of NUA lines and to target potential release of these genotypes. NUA35 was found to be the genotype with the highest stability and average content of Fe and Zn in all environments. A principal component analysis (PCA) with soil, climate and yield variables of all trial sites allowed the identification of two different variable associations, the first one related with the pH value and exchange complex composition and the second, with organic matter content, precipitation and soil Fe content. High Fe contents in seed were found in places with highest Fe content in soil and higher pH value among acid soils. Specific studies are proposed to define pH ranges, critical soil Fe or other nutrient levels that would allow a suitable phenotypic expression of the Fe accumulation potential of the biofortified NUA lines. Finally, using Homologue™ and other spatial analysis tools, it was possible to identify potential production zones to continue with experimentation and release of these genotypes.Key Words: biofortification, bean, plant breeding, genotype-environment (GxE) interaction, principal component analysis (PCA), spatial analysisLas deficiencias de micronutrientes son un problema de salud pública a nivel mundial afectando a un tercio de la población principalmente de los países en vías de desarrollo (WHO, 2006), así en América Latina las deficiencias tienden involucrar la calidad de en la dieta, en contraste con África donde la falta de alimento es el problema más común (Victora, 1992). Dentro de las deficiencias nutricionales más importantes y consideradas problemas de salud pública se encuentran las de micronutrientes como el hierro (Fe), zinc (Zn) y vitamina A (Hotz, 2007). Este tipo de deficiencias están asociadas con un bajo desarrollo cognitivo, retrasos en el crecimiento, respuestas negativas en el sistema inmune, entre otras (Latham, 1997).Actualmente una de las alternativas planteadas para combatir las deficiencias por micronutrientes es la biofortificación de cultivos básicos. Esta alternativa plantea el aumento en el contenido de nutrientes en los cultivos mediante técnicas de Uno de los cultivos en proceso de biofortificación es el fríjol (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), para el que se están intentando mejorar sus contenidos de Fe y Zn. Existen varias razones para la biofortificación de este cultivo, la primera es que es la leguminosa de mayor consumo directo en el mundo y considerada una buena fuente de minerales y proteína (Pennington & Young, 1990), siendo importante fuente vegetal de Fe y Zn (Graham et al, 1999).La colección núcleo de fríjol común de CIAT fue analizada para determinar contenidos de Fe y Zn en el grano, encontrando que existe suficiente variabilidad genética tanto dentro de los frijoles cultivados como en los silvestres para incrementar los contenidos de estos minerales al doble o más (Amirul-Islam et al, 2004) , sugiriendo además que el contenido de minerales ha sido neutro con respecto a la aceptabilidad del grano por parte de los consumidores en el proceso de domesticación del fríjol (Beebe, 1996).Actualmente en Colombia se encuentra en fase de evaluación en campo para su posible liberación, líneas avanzadas de fríjol derivadas de mejoramiento, perteneciendo al acervo genético andino y con hábito de crecimiento determinado y con color de grano rojo moteado tipo \"Calima\", las líneas NUA (Nutrición Andina) son producto de este proceso.El objetivo de desarrollar las líneas NUA fue mejorar el contenido de Fe y Zn en granos comerciales para las zonas urbanas y rurales de Colombia y otras zonas de África y Latinoamérica donde se consume fríjol rojo moteado.Un total de 100 líneas NUA han sido desarrolladas, dentro de las cuales se han destacado 8 evaluadas en diferentes localidades de Colombia en los departamentos de Nariño, Cauca yValle del Cauca, en Bolivia en el departamento de Santacruz, en Guatemala en los departamentos de Chinantenango y Jutiapa, en México en el Estado de Celaya y en Costa Rica en el departamento de Puriscal, y en África en Kenia, Malawi y Uganda, entre otros, encontrando aceptación por parte de agricultores.Este estudio se centra en 5 genotipos NUA30, 35, 45, 56 y uno de sus progenitores la línea mejorada CAL96. Durante el proceso de evaluación en campo de los genotipos NUA y de otros genotipos para la biofortificación, se ha encontrado gran variabilidad en los resultados en términos de la acumulación de minerales. Además, en ensayos realizados en diferentes En este estudio se buscó determinar las líneas con caracteres más estables a lo largo de la experimentación realizada, identificando variables asociadas a la interacción genotipoambiente, haciendo un análisis integral de la evidencia recolectada para tener un panorama global de los resultados obtenidos, que permitan tener criterios para identificar zonas en donde se puedan liberar o continuar con el proceso de experimentación con las líneas NUA bioforticadas.El proceso de analizar las líneas NUA fue llevado a cabo mediante la recolección y organización de la información de los experimentos de campo, seguido de los análisis estadísticos que permitieron identificar las líneas con mayor estabilidad y las variables asociadas en la acumulación de minerales. Finalmente mediante el uso de herramientas de análisis espacial y como parte de la determinación del posible impacto se realizó la identificación de lugares de producción de fríjol de tipo arbustivo en donde las líneas NUA de tipo comercial \"Calima\" puedan ser liberadas.1 Materiales y métodosLíneas arbustivas de fríjol (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) en proceso de biofortificación, color rojo moteado, tipo comercial \"Calima\", denominadas NUA (Nutrición Andina), las cuales son 100 y con énfasis en 4 genotipos promisorios (NUA30, NUA35, NUA45 y NUA56), junto a su progenitor CAL96.Las líneas NUA resultaron de dos retrocruzas, CAL96 x (CAL96 x G14519) y CAL143 x (CAL143 x G14519), con 60 líneas de la primera retrocruza y 40 de la segunda, para un total de 100. Los padres recurrentes fueron CAL96 y CAL143 variedades comerciales de origen andino, hábito arbustivo y color rojo moteado, el primero liberado en Kenia, el segundo en Malawi. El padre con alto contenido de minerales fue G14519, variedad criolla de origen mesoamericano de hábito trepador y color café. Las 100 líneas fueron evaluadas en Colombia (Darién, Valle del Cauca, semestre 2003B), mientras que un total de 71 materiales fueron enviadas para su evaluación en Bolivia. De las 100 líneas originales, 7 provenientes de la primera retrocruza fueron evaluadas más ampliamente en diferentes localidades de Colombia y Centroamérica, 4 por altos contenidos de Fe (NUA35, NUA45, NUA50, NUA56) y 3 por bajo contenido (NUA4, NUA30, NUA43).Contenidos de Hierro (Fe), Zinc (Zn), rendimiento de ensayos y evaluaciones de campo de cada genotipo en estudio; 8 variables de suelos y 2 climáticas del espacio-tiempo en que fueron evaluadas las líneas; información geográfica en formato digital, las características de la información manejada se muestra en el Anexo1.La información sobre las variedades, la localización y fechas de ensayos fue obtenida del programa de mejoramiento genético de Fríjol del CIAT (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical), FIDAR (Fundación para la Investigación y Desarrollo Agrícola) en Colombia y de la UAGRM (Universidad Autonoma \"Gabriel Rene Moreno\") en Bolivia y correspondió a ensayos, pruebas con agricultores y multiplicaciones de semilla realizadas Las determinaciones de Fe, Zn y análisis de suelos fueron realizadas en el laboratorio de servicios analíticos del CIAT. La información climática en la fecha de los ensayos fue obtenida con base en las coordenadas geográficas del ensayo y la fecha de siembra, la temperatura promedio a nivel mensual fue extraída del modelo climático WorldClim 1.2 (Himans et al, 2005). La precipitación estimada entre la siembra y la cosecha fue extraída del producto TRMM 3B42 (NASA, 2007). La información geográfica utilizada como referencia se obtuvo del laboratorio de sistemas de información geográfica de CIAT (CIAT, 2003).Se recolectaron datos de experimentación de 17 localidades; 10 en Colombia, 2 en Bolivia, 2 en Guatemala, 1 en Honduras, 1 en México y 3 en Costa Rica. Compuesta por tres etapas, en la primera se generó la base de datos para el análisis del proceso de líneas. En la segunda se realizaron los análisis estadísticos para identificar las líneas con caracteres estables y deseables en la biofortificación e identificar variables y procesos asociados a la acumulación de Fe y Zn en semilla. En la tercera se utilizaron herramientas de análisis espacial para identificar zonas geográficas en Colombia en donde se puedan liberar las variedades biofortificadas. En la Figura 1 se muestra un esquema metodológico del proceso.Figura 1 -Esquema metodológico del proceso de análisis de biofortificación de fríjol (P. vulgaris)Se recolectó y organizó información de determinaciones de Fe, Zn y rendimiento de las líneas NUA y el testigo CAL96, junto a las determinaciones químicas del suelo y climáticas de cada ensayo. La información obtenida fue el insumo para la realización de un análisis de estabilidad de los genotipos. Este tipo de análisis retrospectivo es utilizado en diversas disciplinas entre ellos los relacionados con la investigación agrícola (Treseder, 2004; Etapa 3 especial edáficas que han sido de mayor importancia en la acumulación de Fe y Zn en la semilla.Existen más de 100 formas diferentes de calcular parámetros de estabilidad (Hussein et al, 2000), en este estudio se calcularon los parámetros de estabilidad del contenido de Fe, Zn y rendimiento, mediante dos metodologías. Se consideró que un genotipo es estable para un carácter cuando su coeficiente de variación a través de los ambientes en los que fue evaluado es bajo (Francis & Kannenberg, 1978) y cuando su respuesta en la regresión lineal entre el desempeño de la variedad y el índice ambiental sea paralela a la respuesta promedio de todos los genotipos con relación al mismo índice. El índice ambiental es la diferencia entre el promedio del desempeño de todos los genotipos en un ambiente y el promedio general de todos los genotipos en todos los ambientes (Finlay & Wilkinson, 1963).Fue realizado en dos partes. La primera fue la búsqueda de correlaciones lineales entre variables, que se calcularon entre contenidos de Fe, Zn con rendimiento, en forma global y parcial con respecto a las variables ambientales incluidas en el estudio. El segundo paso fue un análisis multivariado mediante el esquema de análisis de componentes principales (ACP), el cual fue hecho para cada genotipo con las variables de clima, suelo y rendimiento de cada ensayo, la primera variable incluida fue el rendimiento como indicador combinado de la sanidad, manejo y potencial productivo de cada material en cada sitio de ensayo, además de 8 variables químicas del suelo y 2 climáticas del espacio-tiempo del ensayo, las cuales son descritas en el Anexo 1.El análisis de componentes principales (ACP), tiene la propiedad de reducir la dimensionalidad en análisis multivariados redefiniendo las variables originales por vectores que son combinaciones lineales de ellas, denominados vectores propios, los cuales resultan ser ortogonales, lo que permite hacer interpretaciones en un ambiente libre de correlaciones. La dirección de cada vector propio es definida por el grupo de variables que tenga mayor variabilidad, de esta forma estas variables tendrán mayor participación dentro del vector por lo que tendrán una mayor correlación con el. La magnitud de cada vector se denomina valor propio el cual disminuye con el número de vectores definidos y es una medida de la importancia de cada vector en la explicación de la variabilidad total de los datos originales. En la redefinición de la variabilidad mediante vectores propios deben ser incluidos los que tengan valores propios mayores a uno y que en conjunto representen la mayor cantidad posible de variabilidad explicada, es decir con una variación acumulada cercana a 1(Peña, 2002).La finalidad de la realización del ACP fue determinar grupos de variables asociadas, y procesos edáficos que las involucren, las cuales explicaron la mayor variabilidad en los datos. Las variables asociadas fueron las más correlacionadas con un vector, es decir, tuvieron la mayor variación a lo largo del mismo, la relación entre las variables dentro del vector pudo ser directa o inversa, dependiendo del signo que tuvieran. En función de la composición de los vectores propios de todas las variedades se identificaron los procesos edafo-climáticos en los que normalmente intervienen las variables en el suelo. En función de las componentes fueron realizadas agrupaciones de observaciones en base al ACP y se verificó si existía coherencia geográfica y/o temporal en los ambientes en los que fueron evaluadas las diferentes líneas.Hasta este punto en el esquema se identificaron las variables asociadas en cada componente y los procesos edafo-climáticos en los que intervinieron las variables, adicionalmente se agruparon las observaciones para cada línea y se compararon para verificar la coherencia en las agrupaciones, lo que permitió unificar un criterio de comparación entre los ambientes en que fueron evaluadas las líneas y los resultados en términos de la acumulación de minerales. Luego se involucra en el análisis las variables de acumulación de minerales.Mediante la representación en espacios tridimensionales constituidos por las dos primeras componentes principales y el contenido de Fe en NUA35 y CAL96 como modelo, se analizaron las posiciones de las observaciones a lo largo de cada vector principal y en función de dicha posición se generaron hipótesis sobre el proceso de acumulación de Fe en las semillas. En localidades en donde el análisis de la posición resultó compleja, se siguió un proceso alternativo para entender dicha posición en el plano constituido por los dos vectores del ACP y relacionarlo con el contenido de Fe en las semillas, en estas localidades se construyó un gráfico en coordenadas paralelas (Inselberg & Dimsdale, 1990), de los valores de las variables que definen cada vector propio, con la finalidad de entender la posición de las observaciones en el plano y para la generación y validación de hipótesis sobre el proceso de acumulación de minerales en estas localidades.Un gráfico de coordenadas paralelas (Inselberg & Dimsdale, 1990) fue usado para la visualización de datos de un espacio multidimensional en un espacio bi-dimensional. En esta visualización cada dimensión fue representada por un eje vertical equidistante y se organizaron en forma paralela, el valor de cada dato en las diferentes dimensiones estuvo unido por una línea, los valores en cada dimensión fueron reescalados entre 0 y 1, de está forma el menor valor coincidió con 0 y el mayor con 1, así se facilitó la observación de tendencias en los datos, el orden de los valores en cada dimensión y la distancia entre ellos.Primero se identifican los ambientes similares a los sitios de ensayo con una resolución espacial de 10 minutos de arco. En segundo lugar se realiza la estimación de un mapa de la distribución de la producción de fríjol arbustivo en Colombia como primer paso para delimitar las zonas a donde se pueda recomendar la liberación de las líneas NUA, el mapa tiene una resolución espacial de 5 minutos de arco. En tercer lugar se realizó una zonificación para la posible liberación de variedades NUA en Colombia, comparando los resultados de la zonificación con resultados de ensayos realizados en algunas localidades diferentes a las 8 incluidas inicialmente, la resolución espacial del análisis es de 10 minutos de arco. Finalmente se realiza una discusión sobre el potencial impacto que tendría la liberación de las NUA en las zonas identificadas para su liberación en Colombia. A continuación se describe cada una de las etapas del proceso de análisis espacial.En Homologue™ (Jones et al, 2005) se construyó una superficie de probabilidad por cada localidad de ensayo. Cada superficie muestra la probabilidad de encontrar condiciones de clima y suelos similares a las de los sitios de ensayo en donde fueron evaluadas las líneas NUA y CAL96. En el estudio se construyeron las superficies de probabilidad con base en la información climática manejada por Homologue™ y dos de las variables de suelos incluidas en su modelo para identificar ambientes similares, estas variables son el pH y la materia orgánica, las cuales fueron escogidas debido a que participan significativamente en la definición de la variabilidad existente en los sitios de ensayo, de acuerdo al ACP realizado en pasos anteriores.A nivel climático Homologue™ trabaja con 36 superficies climáticas con resolución de 10 minutos de arco que muestran las interpolaciones de los promedios mensuales de precipitación, temperatura máxima y mínima (12 superficies, cada variable). En cada píxel de las superficies climáticas se encuentra el promedio mensual de cada variable basado en las observaciones de las 5 estaciones meteorológicas más cercanas a cada uno, el algoritmo para la generación de las superficies utiliza el cuadrado inverso de la distancia al píxel de cada una de las estaciones como parámetro de interpolación (Jones & Gladkov, 1999).Homologue™ construye internamente el diagrama climático anual para el píxel en el que se encuentra localizado cada sitio de ensayo, para lo cual utiliza los valores mensuales de las 36 superficies climáticas descritas anteriormente, y los compara con los diagramas climáticos de los pixeles a nivel mundial, teniendo en cuenta la realización de la rotación de los diagramas climáticos de los pixeles localizados al norte y sur del Ecuador (Jones & Gladkov, 1999). Finalmente calcula la integral de probabilidad en cada píxel de encontrar condiciones similares a nivel climático y muestra el resultado en una superficie de probabilidad.Luego la superficie de probabilidad a nivel climático puede ser combinada con características de suelos, el aplicativo calcula integrales de probabilidad conjunta para las variables de suelos escogidas por el usuario en cada pixel y la combina con el cálculo de la probabilidad climática. El usuario puede escoger entre 7 variables de suelos manejadas por Homologue™ y definir los rangos en cada una de las variables. Las variables de suelos incluidas en el aplicativo son la profundidad hasta el horizonte C (Centímetros); contenido total de carbono del suelo (%); nitrógeno total del suelo (%); Ph medido en agua, en cloruro de potasio o en cloruro de calcio; capacidad de intercambio catiónico (cmol/ Kg); las fracciones texturales del suelo (arenas (%), limos (%), arcillas (%)); profundidad radical (Centimetros). El aplicativo utiliza dos fuentes de información que son uniformes y compatibles a nivel mundial, la primera es el \"World Inventory of Soils Emission Potencials Databases (WISE, 1994(WISE, ,1995))\" y la segunda es el \"FAO Soils Map of the world 1:5'000,000 (1995)\", el modelo obtiene de la primera fuente la información cuantitativa de más de 3000 perfiles dentro de las unidades de suelos de la segunda fuente de información.Finalmente en el Anexo 3 se muestran los parámetros utilizados para la construcción de las diferentes superficies de probabilidad, la definición de los rangos de pH y materia orgánica se realizaron de acuerdo a los análisis de suelos en las diferentes localidades (Anexo 4). En el caso de la materia orgánica se realizó la transformación del contenido de la misma al porcentaje de carbono orgánico y luego este fue transformado a su logaritmo natural debido a la forma como el aplicativo maneja esta variable.Con la finalidad de determinar el área potencial a donde se puedan llevar las líneas NUA en caso de ser liberadas, como primera aproximación se realizó la estimación del mapa de producción de fríjol arbustivo en Colombia, para lo que se utilizaron rangos altitudinales como criterio de delimitación de la producción según su hábito de crecimiento, luego en la siguiente etapa del estudio con base en información cualitativa se delimitan posibles zonas de producción de fríjol tipo \"Calima\" en Colombia.La clasificación de la producción por rangos altitudinales fue una propuesta como criterio para la delimitación de zonas de producción teniendo en cuenta que esto es un estimativo.Mientras las variedades volubles están sembradas principalmente en zonas de clima frío, y frío moderado (principalmente en zonas arriba de los 1800 msnm), las arbustivas están cultivadas principalmente en climas templados a calidos (principalmente en zonas debajo de los 1800 msnm) (Rios & Quirós, 2002).En la Tabla 1 se resume la clasificación propuesta para la delimitación de la producción de fríjol según su hábito de crecimiento en Colombia, por cada rango altitudinal se asumió el porcentaje de producción de variedades arbustivas y volubles según se muestra en la misma tabla. Colombia fue realizado con base en reportes municipales de producción centralizados a través de las secretarias de agricultura departamental y luego por el ministerio de agricultura. En este trabajo se asumió que la cantidad de hectáreas producidas al interior de cada píxel fue homogénea. Con base en el modelo digital de elevación del terreno (DEM) de 1 Km, se calculó el porcentaje de hectáreas dentro de cada píxel que pertenecieran a cada rango altitudinal, y luego se tuvieron en cuenta los porcentajes definidos en la Tabla 1 para determinar la producción de frijoles arbustivos y volubles por cada pixel.Se realizaron estadísticas departamentales y en Antioquia se comparó el mapa generado con información de la secretaria de agricultura, ambos para determinar si la aproximación realizada estaba ajustada al conocimiento sobre la distribución de la producción de fríjol según el hábito de crecimiento.De acuerdo al análisis de la experimentación en los sitios de ensayo, al ejercicio realizado en Homologue™ y a la estimación de las zonas de producción de frijoles arbustivos, se realizó la propuesta de zonificación para identificar zonas potenciales para la liberación y experimentación con las líneas NUA. Se utilizaron tres parámetros para la delimitación de cada zona, el primero fue la similaridad de las zonas de producción de frijoles arbustivos con el conjunto de localidades de ensayo. El segundo fue el encontrarse en departamentos con zonas de producción de arbustivos tipo \"Calima\". El tercero fue la similaridad con una o varias de las localidades de ensayo y el cuarto el valor de probabilidad de las grillas construidas en Homologue™.Cada una de las zonas generadas mediante estos parámetros recibió una interpretación. Para las zonas de producción de arbustivos sin similaridad al conjunto de localidades de ensayo se generaron tres zonas, las dos primeras dentro de los departamentos con producción de variedades tipo \"Calima\" y la tercera en los restantes. Dentro de los departamentos con reporte de producción de arbustivos mediante la comparación del mapa de producción con el de suelos de Colombia escala 1: 1´500,000 (IGAC, 2003) se dividieron las zonas en dos y se identificaron algunas características de especial interés en esas zonas por las cuales se planteó la experimentación en ellas.Para las zonas de producción de arbustivos similares a una o varias de las localidades de ensayo se realizó un proceso basado en la combinación de las grillas de probabilidad construidas en Homologue™. Se combinaron las grillas de probabilidad construidas en Homologue™ y se definieron las zonas con probabilidades mayores al 50% como de alta similaridad, mientras las de probabilidades menores al 50% como de baja similaridad.En las diferentes zonas delimitadas se recomienda la liberación de las líneas más estables de acuerdo al análisis de estabilidad, las zonas con baja similaridad se proponen como zonas de liberación y experimentación, mientras las zonas de alta similaridad se proponen como zonas prioritarias para la liberación, igualmente la zonificación es complementada con observaciones sobre características asociadas a cada localidad de ensayo entre ellas la clasificación de los niveles de acumulación de Fe y Zn en la respectiva localidad.Cuando un genotipo tiene alta estabilidad para un carácter se asume que su desempeño será similar en condiciones ambientales similares (Eberhard & Russel, 1973;Mathews, 2002), razón por la que en zonas con alta similaridad a una localidad se espera que los desempeños puedan ser extrapolados con mayor confianza. Igualmente la confianza para la extrapolación aumentará si en las zonas de producción se presentan los procesos edafoclimáticos identificados en cada localidad de ensayo. Por esta razón las líneas a ser priorizadas para su liberación y los procesos edafo-climáticos para la identificación de terrenos específicos dentro de cada zona estarán en función del análisis realizado en cada una de las localidades de ensayo.La base de datos contiene información de las líneas en estudio. La distribución de los padres recurrentes y las líneas NUA como posibles variedades en países de América Latina y África se muestra en la Figura 2. CAL96 una de las líneas recurrentes es adaptada en países ecuatoriales mientras que CAL143 la otra línea recurrente y una línea hermana (CAL144) son mejor adaptadas en zonas subtropicales por ejemplo en Malawi y Bolivia respectivamente.Además de Colombia los fríjoles rojo moteado son importantes en Bolivia, Ecuador, Kenia, Ruanda, Uganda, Tanzania y Malawi, encontrando aceptación por parte de agricultores. Por su parte NUA30 es de hábito determinado pero con ramificación abierta, a su vez NUA45 presenta una segregación de hábitos determinado e indeterminado.La recopilación de información buscaba principalmente obtener información de las variedades en estudio, sin embargo en el proceso se incorporó información de sitios de experimentación y líneas adicionales, la mayoría de ellos descartados en la primera evaluación. En el Anexo 1 se realizó un resumen de la información recolectada de los materiales en estudio y las razones por las cuales varios de los ensayos fueron excluidos. La principal característica de la base de datos fue la falta de coherencia entre localidades, semestres de siembra y materiales incluidos en cada ensayo, lo que limitó la realización de estadísticas normalmente utilizadas en el análisis de datos de ensayos multiambientales y/o multitemporales. Las principales razones de la exclusión de varias pruebas fue la falta de información de rendimiento y/o de suelos, esto se presentó debido a que muchas de las pruebas fueron realizadas con fines de adaptación agronómica o evaluación participativa con agricultores las cuales tienen objetivos diferentes a este estudio.La información incluida en los análisis de correlaciones y componentes principales fue extraída de los registros de la base de datos que correspondió aquellas observaciones que tuvieron información completa. Se incluyeron 39 datos en CAL96, 22 en NUA30,40 en NUA35, 22 en NUA45, 37 en NUA56, observaciones realizadas en las 8 localidades incluidas en diferentes semestres de siembra desde el semestre 2004A al semestre 2007A.En la sección de análisis espacial se discute la representatividad de cada una de las localidades de ensayo incluidas, sin embargo, a excepción de Palmira se experimentó en suelos ácidos debido a las características de los ambientes objetivo de producción de fríjol en la región andina colombiana.La información contenida en la base de datos del estudio fue al mismo tiempo su fortaleza y debilidad. Fortaleza por que se constituyó en una referencia para los mejoradores interesados en la biofortificación, para los nutricionistas y demás interesados, debido a que permitó explorar el potencial genético y la naturaleza de la interacción genotipo por ambiente (GxE) para este tipo de carácter. Debilidad debido a que obligó a llevar a cabo esquemas de análisis estadísticos poco convencionales por la cantidad de datos faltantes.Permitió además la identificación de puntos críticos en el proceso de investigación como el manejo, conservación y documentación de los datos obtenidos en el proceso investigativo, por ende la necesidad de manejar protocolos unificados para la gestión y administración de la información (Yan & Tinker, 2007). Promedio Zn (ppm) CV Zn en semilla B CNUA 30 fue el genotipo con menor varianza ambiental en la acumulación de minerales y de mayor varianza en rendimiento, en la acumulación de Fe solamente supera a CAL96, mientras en la acumulación de Zn y rendimiento ocupa la posición intermedia.NUA35 fue el segundo con menor varianza ambiental en todos los caracteres, el mejor desempeño en la acumulación de minerales y solamente superó a NUA56 en rendimiento, el único de hábito indeterminado.NUA45 tuvo la mayor varianza ambiental en la acumulación de minerales y la menor en términos del rendimiento, su desempeño en la acumulación de Fe se encuentra en una posición intermedia entre los genotipos, supera solamente a CAL96 en la acumulación de Zn y es superado solamente por este genotipo en el rendimiento, la cual tiene una mezcla de hábitos de crecimiento I y II.CAL96 tuvo una varianza ambiental intermedia en la acumulación de minerales y alta en rendimiento y su desempeño fue el más bajo en la acumulación de minerales y el más alto en términos del rendimiento. En principio es confirmado el mejor desempeño en términos de la acumulación de minerales de los NUA con respecto a CAL96 su progenitor, este último con mayor rendimiento pero con baja estabilidad, situación que en principio podría justificar la baja estabilidad en los NUA en términos de rendimiento.En este cálculo el parámetro a interpretar fue el valor de la pendiente de las regresiones (bi), el cual fue comparado con la media de desempeño de cada variedad en todos los ambientes. Los genotipos más estables fueron aquellos con pendientes cercanas a uno. Los valores por encima de la unidad pertenecen genotipos adaptados o con mejor respuesta en cada carácter en ambientes favorables y los valores por debajo de la unidad pertenecieron a genotipos adaptados o con mejor respuesta en cada carácter en ambientes desfavorables (Finlay y Wilkinson, 1963). En cada una de las Figuras se pueden observar las regresiones realizadas para cada carácter con relación al índice ambiental (Figuras 4A, 5A, 6A) y la relación entre el desempeño promedio con la pendiente de la regresión (bi) (Figuras 4B, 5B, 6B).En la Figura 4 se observa que en términos de la acumulación de Fe, NUA35 tuvo la pendiente más cercana a 1 (b=1.05, Figura 4B), siendo más estable en todos los ambientes, con comportamiento superado solo por la tendencia lineal de NUA56 en las localidades con índice ambiental positivo (Figura 4A). La pendiente en CAL96 y NUA30 (Figura 4B) estuvo por debajo de la unidad (0.78 y 0.81, respectivamente), lo que implica que sus contenidos de Fe se dejan influenciar en menor proporción por las condiciones ambientales de las localidades con índice ambiental negativo (Figura 4A). NUA45 y 56 tuvieron buen comportamiento en localidades con índice ambiental positivo (Figura 4A). En función de la acumulación de Fe, se confirmó la prioridad de incluir NUA35 en el estudio y en la etapa de liberación de las líneas, mientras que NUA56 podría ser incluida en localidades con mejor desempeño al obtenido por NUA35. Aunque los contenidos de Fe en NUA30 se dejaron influenciar en menor proporción por el ambiente en localidades poco favorables, existieron genotipos con mejor respuesta en las mismas localidades, aunque podría incluirse en futuras liberaciones porque en general se obtendría una acumulación mayor de Fe que en CAL96 (Figura 4A). B. Contenido promedio de Fe (ppm) en la semilla a través de los ambientes de ensayo contra la pendiente de la regresión (bi) B A En la Figura 5, se observa que en términos de la acumulación de Zn, NUA30 tuvo la pendiente más cercana a 1 (b = 0.91, Figura 5B), siendo más estable en todos los ambientes, sin embargo la tendencia en su respuesta sigue siendo menor a NUA35 y 56, aunque la tendencia de este último se ve afectada de forma importante en ambientes con índice ambiental negativo (b=1.29, Figura 3B). Los genotipos NUA45 y 56 tuvieron pendientes superiores a la unidad. En función de la acumulación de Zn, NUA30 es el genotipo más estable, sin embargo NUA35 sigue siendo superior en todas las localidades a NUA30 en la acumulación de Zn. La tendencia en las acumulaciones de Zn de NUA 56 y NUA30, siguen siendo similares a las encontradas en las acumulaciones de Fe. B. Contenido promedio de Zn (ppm) en la semilla a través de los ambientes de ensayo contra la pendiente de la regresión (bi)En la Figura 6, se observa que el genotipo más estable en términos del rendimiento fue NUA30 (b=0.92), seguido por NUA35(b=0.90) con tendencia a tener mejor comportamiento en las localidades con índice ambiental negativo y CAL96 con tendencia a comportarse mejor en localidades con índice ambiental positivo (b=1.15, Figura 6A). Las tendencias se invirtieron con relación a la acumulación de minerales (Figuras 4A y 5A).NUA30 debe comenzar a ser considerado como opcionado para su inclusión en la fase de liberación, debido a su estabilidad en el conjunto de caracteres. NUA30 por su parte es un genotipo estable en términos de la acumulación de minerales calculada mediante ambos métodos (Figuras 2A,2B, 4, 5), aunque su promedio de desempeño a través de todos los ambientes en la acumulación de minerales este debajo de NUA 30 y NUA56, además su rendimiento estuvo siempre arriba de las NUA35 y 56 siendo más estable en este carácter según el parámetro de Finlay & Wilkinson (1963), y siendo el más estable (b= 0.92) se dejó afectar en menor medida por condiciones ambientales adversas (b<1), este material ha tenido aceptación por agricultores en evaluaciones participativas con agricultores, por lo que se podría incluir en localidades con índice ambiental negativo en donde se obtendría una acumulación de minerales por encima de CAL96.NUA56 tuvo importante desempeño en términos de la acumulación de Fe y Zn, sin embargo tuvo el menor rendimiento, además fue muy inestable en cuanto a todos sus caracteres pero podría incluirse en un plan de liberación y evaluación si existe una localidad en la que se tenga un buen desempeño en los tres parámetros estudiados.NUA45 fue muy inestable en todos los caracteres según en parámetro de Finlay & Wilkinson (1963) aunque su nivel de rendimiento fue mayor y en general tuvo mejor contenido de minerales que CAL96, sin embargo no se debería tener en cuenta por el momento por su inestabilidad y debido a las desventajas en términos de su mezcla de hábitos de crecimiento.En SAS 9.1® se calcularon las correlaciones lineales entre las variables de Fe, Zn y Rendimiento, correspondientes a 165 combinaciones GxE que involucran a las NUA CAL96 y otras líneas de la base de datos para las que se obtuvo información. Se encontró una correlación positiva y significativa entre los contenidos de Fe y Zn (0.547, p= <0.0001, n= 728), y correlaciones negativas entre los contenidos de Fe y rendimiento (-0.344, p=<0.0001,n=544) y entre los contenidos de Zn y rendimiento (-0.224, p=<0.0001).La mayoría de las combinaciones GxE fueron descartadas luego de su primera evaluación.Este resultado por una parte es muestra del intenso esfuerzo de prueba y error para identificar genotipos potenciales para liberar y dan una idea del rango en el que se pueden  Cada correlación parcial debe interpretarse por su relación con la global correspondiente.Cuando la correlación parcial es mayor a la global indica que la correlación lineal entre dos variables se encuentra enmascarada o subestimada por la correlación con otras variables cuyos efectos fueron aislados, en el caso en que la correlación parcial sea menor a la global indica que la correlación entre dos variables esta siendo sobreestimada por la correlación con variables de las cuales se aisló el efecto, es decir, parte de la correlación entre dos variables es debida a la correlación con otras que hacen que el valor de la correlación aumente (Baba et al, 2004).En la Tabla 2, para CAL96 se observa que la correlación parcial entre el Fe y el Zn fue positiva y mayor con respecto a la global, manteniendo el nivel de significancia, mientras en las NUAs la correlación parcial fue menor a la global, incluso en NUA30 y NUA45 la correlación se hace no significativa, y mantiene algún nivel de significancia en NUA35 y NUA56. Se observó entonces que existió un comportamiento diferente en CAL96 con respecto a las NUAs, mientras en CAL96 la correlación con variables ambientales estaban subestimando la correlación entre Fe y Zn en la semilla, en las NUAs las estaban haciendo que esta la correlación entre la acumulación de Fe y Zn en el grano fuera mayor.Esto sugiere una diferencia entre NUAs con respecto a CAL96, su constitución genética puede estar incrementando la eficiencia en la acumulación de alguno o de ambos minerales en forma diferencial, lo que podría explicar la perdida de correlación entre la acumulación de estos minerales en el grano. Es decir en este caso esto sugiere que los genotipos NUA y CAL aprovechan de forma diferencial las condiciones ambientales para acumular Fe y/o Zn en el grano.En la misma Tabla 2 se puede observar como la correlación parcial entre la acumulación de Fe y el rendimiento con respecto a la correlación global fue menor y del mismo signo en CAL96 con una significancia del 10%, en todas las NUAs la correlación parcial se hace no significativa. La correlación negativa entre el Fe y el rendimiento puede ser debida a la correlación con variables ambientales, especialmente en las NUAs en donde la correlación pierde su significancia. Aunque no es la finalidad del estudio estudiar la eco-fisiología del proceso, se podría pensar que dentro de las variables ambientales existe una o varias que afecten de manera negativa el rendimiento y la planta en estas condiciones haya removilizado la cantidad de Fe absorbido a menor cantidad de granos producidos.En la Tabla 2 se observa como las correlaciones parciales con respecto a las globales entre la acumulación de Zn y el rendimiento tienen una tendencia a incrementar su valor. Sin embargo solo en CAL96 y NUA45 sus correlaciones parciales son significativas al 5 y 10% respectivamente, sugiriendo que en estas variedades existieron variables ambientales que hicieron que la correlación negativa se enmascare, es decir subestiman esta relación. No podría afirmarse con certeza algo con respecto a las correlaciones entre la acumulación de Zn y el rendimiento en las demás variedades debido a la no significancia de la prueba.Finalmente se realizaron las correlaciones lineales entre los contenidos de Fe y Zn en las semillas con respecto a las variables climáticas de cada ensayo. En el Anexo 5 se muestra el cuadro con el resumen de las correlaciones realizadas, en está sección solo se presentarán algunos casos en los cuales existieron correlaciones significativas en más de una variedad con respecto a cada mineral.Existieron correlaciones lineales positivas y significativas entre el contenido de Fe en la semilla con el contenido de Fe en el suelo para CAL96, NUA30, 35 y 56 (0.31, n=39, p=0.06; 0.47, n=22, p=0.03; 0.27, n=40, p=0.09; 0.37, n=37, p=0.03; respectivamente) en NUA45 la correlación fue no significativa. Entre el mismo contenido con relación a la temperatura promedio del ensayo fue negativa y significativa para NUA30, NUA35, NUA45 (-0.46, n=22, p=0.03; -0.31, n=40, p=0.06; -0.49, n=22, p=0.02).Existieron correlaciones lineales negativas y significativas para el contenido de Zn con respecto a la capacidad de intercambio catiónico efectiva (CICE) en CAL96, NUA30 y NUA45 (-0.43, n= 39, p <0.01; -0.55, n=22, p<0.01; -0.40, n=22, p=0.07; respectivamente).Positivas con respecto al contenido de Fe en el suelo para CAL96, NUA30, NUA35, NUA56 (0.42 , n=39, p< 0.01; 0.50, n=22, p=0.02; 0.50, n=40, p<0.01; 0.38, n=37, p=0.02; respectivamente), al igual que pasaba para el contenido de Fe en la semilla. Por otra parte la variable de contenido de K en el suelo no esta relacionada linealmente con el contenido de Fe ni de Zn en ninguna variedad. Las demás variables involucradas (pH, Materia Orgánica, Fósforo, Zinc en el suelo, Manganeso, precipitación durante el ensayo) tuvieron correlaciones lineales únicamente con los contenidos de Fe ó Zn para un genotipo diferente en cada caso.Afirmar de forma concluyente que la acumulación de minerales esta relacionada única y principalmente con el contenido de Fe en el suelo y la temperatura promedio en la mayoría de las variedades puede ser una conclusión errada, debido a que de presentarse un tipo de relación no lineal la correlación es incapaz de detectarla. Por otra parte las variables químicas del suelo, junto a la precipitación y la temperatura están relacionadas de forma compleja en un suelo (Fassbender, 1975). De esta forma se confirmó un resultado esperado en términos de la complejidad de las posibles relaciones entre las variables de suelos y clima con la acumulación de minerales. En la siguiente sección se muestran los resultados de un esquema de análisis multivariado seguido para tratar de identificar los grupos de variables asociados con la acumulación de Fe y Zn en las semillas y una discusión en la que se incluyen los procesos que involucran las variables correlacionadas en esta sección.En la Tabla 3, observamos que el número de vectores propios con valores superiores a uno en todos los genotipos fue 4 a excepción de NUA30 en donde fueron 3, sin embargo con 3 vectores su variación acumulada es menor al 80%, por lo que se decidió incluir 4 vectores en todos los genotipos. En la Tabla 4, observamos la composición de los vectores propios en cada variedad (Tabla 4, Columnas 1), junto a las correlaciones al cuadrado de cada variable con el respectivo vector propio (Tabla 4, columnas 2) y finalmente el porcentaje de la variabilidad explicada de las variables originales por los 4 componentes incluidos en el análisis (Tabla 4, columna 3).  Se encontró coherencia dentro de las variables que tuvieron mayor participación en la composición de los cuatro vectores propios en el ACP de cada genotipo. En la Tabla 4, se puede observar como dentro de las 4 variables de mayor participación, es decir de mayor correlación al cuadrado con el vector, en el primer vector de participaron el fósforo (P), capacidad de intercambio catiónico efectivo (CICE), el pH y el Manganeso (Mn).Por su parte, en el segundo vector participaron la materia orgánica (MO), contenido de hierro en el suelo (Fe_suelo), precipitación (ppt). En el tercer componente principal participó de forma independiente el potasio (K) en CAL96, NUA35 y NUA56, mientras el rendimiento lo hizo en NUA30 y NUA45. En el cuarto componente principal igualmente participó de forma independiente el potasio (K) en NUA35 y NUA56 y el rendimiento en CAL96, NUA35 y NUA 56.Se identificaron procesos en los que intervinieron las variables asociadas en los dos primeros vectores propios. El primer vector tuvo relación con la composición del complejo de cambio, es decir se relaciona con el intercambio catiónico y aniónico de los suelos, debido a la participación del pH, el cual determina las características de las cargas (positivas o negativas) presentes en este complejo, y a que participan cationes (CICE constituida por Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , Na 2+ , K + y el Mn 2+ ) y aniones como el fósforo (H2PO4 -, H2PO4 2-) (Fassbender, 1975). En este vector las variables significativas que lo constituyen varían en el mismo sentido, es decir tienen el mismo signo, situación lógica debido a que al aumentar el pH se presentan las condiciones apropiadas para que dentro del enjambre iónico entren los cationes y aniones determinados en este estudio.El segundo vector estuvo relacionado con el proceso de mineralización de la materia orgánica y los contenidos de hierro en el suelo. Se relaciona con la mineralización de la materia orgánica en donde las variables climáticas juegan un papel fundamental, así en ambientes con alta temperatura y en presencia de humedad la mineralización es alta y como consecuencia los suelos tienen menor cantidad de materia orgánica, igualmente las zonas con mayor precipitación del grupo son zonas más frías en donde la acumulación de la materia orgánica es mayor (Zapata, 2005), igualmente en este caso las mayores tasas de acumulación de la materia orgánica se están dando en zonas más frías y con mayor precipitación. En la composición del vector el proceso se ve reflejado mediante un balance representado por los signos diferentes del contenido de materia orgánica y la precipitación (positivos) y la temperatura promedio (negativo) (Tabla 4), aunque esta última variable no se encuentra dentro de las más relacionadas en el vector, es importante su signo en el mismo para explicar el proceso. (3 Porcentaje de la variabilidad explicada de la variable con los componentes incluidos Igualmente en el segundo vector hubo un balance entre los signos de los contenidos de Fe en el suelo (negativo) y el contenido de materia orgánica (positivo) (Tabla 4, Vector 2, Columna1), esta situación se puede deber a múltiples y complejas razones. La principal es que los contenidos de Fe cuantificados mediante la extracción con DTPA en los análisis de suelos hacen referencia a los contenidos solubles en dicho extractante, y no a los contenidos totales de Fe en el suelo.Los niveles totales de micronutrientes en un suelo pueden estar asociados con la composición de la fase de cambio, con los contenidos de materia orgánica y sus procesos de oxido reducción, pueden estar fijados o absorbidos por arcillas, adsorbidos o ocluidos en minerales oxidados o carbonatos, o ser constituyentes de minerales primarios (White & Zasoski, 1999)..Los micronutrientes como el Fe en cada una de estas fases pueden tener diferentes estados de energía dependiendo de relaciones igualmente complejas con el pH y la dinámica de la materia orgánica, situaciones por las cuales no es sorpresivo que el contenido de micronutrientes total no este relacionado con el disponible para las plantas y/o soluble en el extractante DTPA (White & Zasoski, 1999). Por lo cual, se sugiere la investigación para determinar contenidos de Fe disponibles en el suelo para las líneas en procesos de bioforticación, como por ejemplo mediante calibración de curvas de extracción del Fe utilizando plantas y/o otros extractantes.En este estudio existieron dos extremos en las condiciones que podrían aclarar la tendencia del segundo vector: Por una parte Popayán con suelos de altos contenidos de materia orgánica pero con bajas tasas de descomposición de la misma y posiblemente con influencias de cenizas volcánicas, tuvo los menores contenidos de Fe en el suelo cuantificado con DTPA. Por otra parte en Vallecito el contenido alto de Fe cuantificado con DTPA en el suelo y bajo contenido de materia orgánica, puede deberse al aporte de un material parental alto en Fe, por ejemplo el olivino o la magnetita (Zapata, 2005), finalmente en casos intermedios sobre el vector las posiciones de las observaciones en las diferentes localidades obedecen a un balance entre las diferentes variables que componen el vector. Razón por la cual la posición de las observaciones sobre el vector debe analizarse mediante el proceso de mineralización de la materia orgánica y el contenido de Fe soluble con DTPA, este último como indicador de la cantidad de Fe disponible en el suelo para las plantas (White & Zasoski, 1999).Fue realizada la agrupación de las observaciones incluidas en el ACP en función de los 4 vectores propios definidos en el análisis, resultando agrupados por localidades y en algunos casos en semestres dentro de cada localidad. Los dendogramas y estadística del proceso de agrupación se pueden ver en los Anexos 6 y 14 respectivamente.En todas las líneas las agrupaciones obedecieron al criterio geográfico en primer orden y luego al temporal, es decir dentro de las agrupaciones resultaron observaciones pertenecientes a cada localidad, sin embargo las agrupaciones dentro de las localidades en Palmira, Popayán y Quilichao se dividieron temporalmente en los semestres de siembra.Únicamente las observaciones de Consacá y Yacuanquer las dos en Nariño pertenecieron a la misma agrupación en todos los genotipos. Los resultados del proceso de agrupación muestran que los ambientes de ensayos se pueden diferenciar con base en el ACP a nivel geográfico, sugiriendo además que la experimentación ha sido llevada a cabo en condiciones contrastantes.Luego fue realizado el análisis de la acumulación de minerales en función de los procesos edafo-climáticos identificados en cada vector. En el proceso se reconstruyó los escenarios de la experimentación mediante la construcción de la base de datos y la búsqueda de tendencias, se identificaron procesos pensando en la acumulación de minerales y ahora con base en los pasos anteriores se plantearon hipótesis sobre la acumulación de minerales. Sin embargo la prueba de las hipótesis debió ser abordada en estudios posteriores, además relacionando los promedios en cada agrupación como indicador del cambio en la acumulación de minerales, sin probar si los promedios fueron significativamente diferentes, es decir apenas se buscó identificar tendencias.En la Figura 7 podemos observar una representación en un espacio 3D constituido por los dos primeros vectores propios del ACP y el contenido de Fe en CAL96 (azul) y NUA35 (rojo). Este ejemplo sirvió como modelo para el planteamiento de las hipótesis sobre la acumulación de Fe y Zn en la semilla, en el Anexo 7 se muestran los gráficos realizados para la acumulación tanto de Fe como de Zn en las restantes NUA y en todos los casos se incluyó CAL96 como testigo. Igualmente en el Anexo 8 se graficaron los promedios de Fe y Zn por cada localidad de ensayo, mientras en el Anexo 4 se pueden observar las condiciones de suelos y clima específicos del espacio-tiempo de los ensayos, datos que fueron incluidos en el ACP. Palmira es diferente del resto de localidades debido fundamentalmente a la naturaleza neutra a básica de sus suelos (Fluventic Hapludoll) con pH de 6.5 a 7.5 y con los mayores valores de CICE y fósforo en el suelo del grupo, por lo que su puntuación en este componente fue la mayor. La posición del resto de las localidades se ve en menor grado influenciada por la variación en el vector, gracias a que la experimentación se ha centrado en suelos de naturaleza acida, debido a los ambientes objetivos para los que se busca desarrollar las variedades \"Calima\" biofortificadas en Colombia. Para interpretar la acumulación de minerales se realizó un análisis por localidad teniendo en cuenta la posición relativa de sus observaciones y luego se hizo una interpretación general, comenzando por Vallecito y subiendo a lo largo de las puntuaciones del segundo vector propio hasta Popayán, finalmente se interpreta la acumulación de Fe en Palmira.Vallecito (Tréboles) tuvo la menor puntuación en el segundo vector propio, esto se debe a su alto contenido de Fe en el suelo y baja materia orgánica, el contenido de hierro en las semillas tanto de CAL96 como de NUA35 solo fue superado por Yacuanquer (Tréboles), lo que podría explicarse fundamentalmente al alto contenido del mineral en el suelo, posiblemente asociado con altos contenidos nativos y alta tasa de mineralización de la materia orgánica, por otra parte su posición en el primer vector fue intermedia con relación a los demás ambientes ácidos, lo que implicó que los altos contenidos de Fe en el suelo estuvieron acompañados de contenidos relativamente altos de otros minerales, dentro de los cuales estuvo aportando de mayor manera a la posición de las observaciones en el primer vector el contenido de manganeso.Esta situación podría ser contradictoria debido a que las plantas generalmente toman el hierro y manganeso como iones divalentes y podrían actuar en forma competitiva, sin embargo, en ensayos hechos en solución nutritiva con frijoles arbustivos Wallace (1984) encontró que cuando dos o más metales traza están en exceso simultáneamente, usualmente tienen un efecto aditivo y sinérgico comparado con la presencia en exceso solamente de un elemento, este sinergismo se ve influenciado positivamente por el contenido de fósforo disponible en el suelo.Por otra parte Kohno & Foy (1983) en ensayos realizados en solución nutritiva con frijoles arbustivos encontró que con relaciones Fe/Mn menores a 10 y concentraciones bajas de Fe se generaron toxicidades debidas al exceso de Mn. Así aunque en Vallecito la relación Fe/Mn es de 4.1, debido a las cantidades de Fe presentes en el suelo de ambos minerales, en especial la cantidad de Fe, estos pueden actuar de forma sinérgica. Sugiriendo que los niveles de Fe y Mn disponibles en el suelo en Vallecito representan una condición de exceso de los mismos, y al debido a que el desbalance entre ellos no generó toxicidades por manganeso el desbalance con respecto al Fe no fue problemático, por el contrario en este caso pudo tener el efecto sinérgico reportado por Wallace (1984). Por otra parte debido a que el pH se encuentra en un rango donde el fósforo esta disponible para las plantas, estas lo pueden absorber e incorporar a los procesos fisiológicos de la misma con facilidad.En Quilichao (Cuadros) se presentan dos agrupaciones de observaciones las cuales tienen las siguientes menores puntuaciones en el segundo vector. La agrupación con menores puntuaciones tiene menores valores de acumulación de Fe en las semillas que la agrupación con puntuaciones más altas, en la segunda agrupación las puntuaciones tanto en el primer vector como en el segundo vector son superiores a la primera, sugiriendo que las condiciones dentro de la estación experimental presentan alta variabilidad y/o que sus suelos (Plinthic Kandiudox) pueden ser modificables con relativa facilidad en sus condiciones de pH, mejorando la disponibilidad de otros nutrientes en el suelo.La mayor concentración de Fe en las semillas en condiciones de menor acidez sugiere que los mayores contenidos de otros minerales disponibles en el suelo luego de la corrección del pH de 4.7 a 6.2, tienen un efecto sinérgico en términos de acumulación de Fe en las semillas. Moraghan et al (2002) encontraron en ensayos en invernadero que al encalar un suelo ácido se incrementó el pH de 6 a 7.3, sin embargo está corrección no tuvo efectos sobre la acumulación de Fe en las semillas de tres genotipos mesoamericanos de fríjol.Estas diferencias sugieren que al encalar un suelo de naturaleza acida existe un rango de pH en el cual la composición del complejo de cambio tiene contenidos de minerales y Fe suficientes para que exista un efecto sinérgico en la acumulación de Fe en la semilla.Avanzando en el segundo vector se encuentran las observaciones de cinco agrupaciones de datos que pertenecieron a cuatro localidades, dos de Darien (Diamantes) y las agrupaciones de Consacá (Círculos), Sandoná (Corazones), Yacuanquer (Tréboles). Analizar el cambio en la posición de las observaciones de cada localidad a lo largo de los dos vectores y relacionarlo con las acumulaciones de Fe en NUA35 fue complejo, debido a la menor distancia entre agrupaciones de las diferentes localidades. En estas cuatro localidades se siguió un proceso alternativo, se construyó un gráfico de coordenadas paralelas (Figura 8). Al analizar la posición de Darien y Consacá (Figura 7) con respecto a Sandoná y Yacuanquer, según el ACP se espera un mayor pH y saturación del complejo de cambio de las dos últimas localidades. Al visualizar los valores de las variables de mayor intervención en el primer vector en el gráfico de coordenadas paralelas de Sandoná, esta tiene el menor pH y el segundo menor contenido de fósforo del grupo (Figura 8, derecha, línea verde claro), sin embargo debe su posición en el primer vector del ACP a su mayor contenido de manganeso en el suelo, el cual tuvo una diferencia superior al 50% de su contenido con respecto a la segunda localidad con mayores contenidos del mineral que es Yacuanquer (Figura 8, derecha, línea café).En cuanto a la acumulación de Fe en las semillas de Darien en cada uno de sus grupos, el mayor promedio se consigue cuando la diferencia entre las CICE de cada grupo de observaciones estuvo arriba del 30% (comparación líneas azul y verde oscuro, Figura 8). La diferencia entre las agrupaciones de la localidad de Darien y la de Consacá podrían ser explicadas por la mayor cantidad de fósforo, CICE y Fe en el suelo de Consacá.Para resumir los comportamientos observados en estas localidades, comparando los contenidos de Fe en las semillas se encontró de menor a mayor los contenidos de las dos agrupaciones de Darien, Sandoná, Consacá y Yacuanquer, lo que nos permite aclarar una tendencia en cuanto a los contenidos de Fe en las semillas, es decir, los mayores contenidos de Fe en las semillas se relacionan con mayores contenidos de Fe en el suelo, siempre y cuando existieron las condiciones de pH que permitieron que en el complejo de cambio estuvieron presentes otros minerales que tengan efecto sinérgico con el Fe. Los resultados en la acumulación de Fe en las localidades de Popayán y Palmira confirman las afirmaciones realizadas.En Popayán (Dystrudepts con altos contenidos de materia orgánica e influencia de cenizas volcánicas) se tuvieron los mayores contenidos de materia orgánica, sin embargo los contenidos de Fe disponible en el suelo solo superaron a los de Palmira, por lo que tuvo las mayores puntuaciones en el segundo vector principal. En cuanto a su posición en el primer vector se esperaría una mayor puntuación en el mismo, debido a que el pH en Popayán ha sido corregido y sus valores están entre 5.8 a 6.2 e igualmente tiene valores de CICE y fósforo por fertilización superiores a los de Darién y Consacá, sin embargo la influencia marcada de la materia orgánica que en el primer vector tuvo signo negativo y una correlación con el vector arriba del 30% para CAL96 y NUA35 (Tabla 4, Columnas 1 y 2 del Vector 1) hace que la posición de las observaciones en el primer vector estén atrás de otras localidades con menor pH y saturación del complejo de cambio. Finalmente los menores contenidos de Fe en el suelo generan menores contenidos de Fe en la semilla.Finalmente Palmira (Estrellas), debe su posición sobre el segundo vector fundamentalmente a su menor contenido de Fe en el suelo y no a los mayores contenidos de materia orgánica, su posición diferencial en el primer vector ya fue discutida. Al analizar los contenidos de Fe en la semilla permitió en parte confirmar las afirmaciones hechas e igualmente abrir la discusión sobre las mismas, por una parte los contenidos de Fe con un pH de 7.6 solo superan a los de Quilichao en condición de mayor acidez y a los de Darien en la condición con menores cantidades de Fe en el suelo.Sin embargo el promedio de los contenidos de Fe en semilla cuando el pH es de 7. Finalmente se debe destacar que no existe un único factor para explicar la acumulación de Fe en las semillas, sin embargo en función de los procesos que involucran las variables de contenido de Fe en el suelo y saturación del complejo de cambio se puede comenzar a identificar condiciones favorables apara la acumulación de minerales en la semilla.Los resultados obtenidos en esta sección del estudio por una parte son insumo fundamental para la realización de la siguiente etapa, igualmente plantean limitaciones en cuanto al alcance y validez del método empleado para la determinación de ambientes similares a los sitios de ensayo en donde se puedan obtener resultados similares, en la siguiente sección se analizan las ventajas y desventajas de la utilización del procedimiento seguido.En el Anexo 9 se muestra la distribución espacial del conjunto de grillas construidas en Homologue™ para detectar sitios apropiados para las líneas biofortificadas a nivel mundial (anexo 9a) y un acercamiento de las grillas en Colombia (Anexo 9b). Con una resolución espacial de la grilla de 10 minutos de arco (aprox. 18 Km en el Ecuador), en cada píxel el valor asociado indicó la probabilidad de encontrar condiciones climáticas, pH y materia orgánica similares a las de cada sitio de ensayo. La probabilidad en cada píxel representa la proporción de terreno similar a algún sitio de ensayo (Jones et al, 2005). En el siguiente paso del análisis espacial se muestra la forma en que se utilizaron todas las grillas de probabilidad para la generación de la zonificación propuesta.Al analizar la distribución espacial a nivel mundial de la adaptación de las líneas biofortificadas mediante el conjunto de grillas construidas se puede observar en la región tropical una mayor concentración en los Andes colombianos y en la región ecuatorial africana. Especialmente llama la atención la distribución diversa y poblada alrededor en la zona de los grandes lagos en Kenia y Uganda en donde existen variedades comerciales de tipo \"Calima\" actualmente.A nivel subtropical llama la atención la distribución de zonas aptas en mayor medida en la Amazonía boliviana y en la parte sur de Brasil y Paraguay. Igualmente, se debe señalar la presencia de sitios similares en regiones subtropicales africanas especialmente en Malawi y Mozambique, países en los cuales también existen variedades tipo \"Calima\". Esto sugiere que los ambientes en los cuales han sido evaluadas las líneas NUA y CAL96 en principio son representativos de varias zonas de producción de fríjol a nivel mundial, en donde existen siembras de variedades tipo \"Calima\".Sin embargo, al realizar una inspección visual de la superposición de la grilla de producción y la grilla producida por Homologue™ se puede observar que existen aún varios sitios de producción no representados, por lo tanto este conjunto de ambientes debe ser complementado. En Colombia (Anexo 9b), la distribución espacial del conjunto de grillas probables estuvo principalmente distribuida a lo largo de los Andes, sobre las cordilleras y los valles interandinos, el análisis de la distribución de los sitios homólogos en Colombia se revisará en mayor detalle cuando se comparen el conjunto de grillas de lugares similares y las grillas de producción.Las características de la distribución espacial encontrada en las grillas construidas en Homologue™ permitieron plantear varias reflexiones sobre las fortalezas y debilidades de su utilización para la finalidad de esté estudio. Por una parte al iniciar con la utilización del clima promedio mensual, se tuvo en cuenta un patrón climático actual para la interpretación de los procesos edáficos que intervinieron en la acumulación de Fe y Zn en las semillas, lo cual es una fortaleza del aplicativo.Otra de las fortalezas es contar con información cuantitativa estandarizada sobre condiciones de suelos que permiten hacer comparaciones rápidamente, sin embargo esta fortaleza se puede convertir en una debilidad, debido a la escala de la información cuantitativa manejada (1:5 millones), esto se podría superar mediante la incorporación de información más detallada, no obstante este aspecto esta por fuera del alcance de este estudio.Homologue™ utiliza variables adicionales a las tenidas en cuenta que podrían ser representativas para identificar ambientes, por ejemplo la textura del suelo. Sin embargo, estas variables no se tuvieron en cuenta en los análisis de suelos del proceso de experimentación.Por otra parte la identificación realizada en Homologue™ podría ser complementada con otras fuentes de información, por ejemplo la clasificación taxonómica del suelo, la cual puede servir como herramienta para determinar la génesis del suelo y otros procesos edafológicos que permitan identificar zonas con altos contenidos de Fe en el suelo.En conclusión la utilidad de las grillas construidas en Homologue™ fue orientar la identificación específica de los ambientes de producción dentro de los que el resultado en la acumulación de minerales pueda ser similar, esto con la finalidad de verificar las afirmaciones realizadas sobre los procesos involucrados en la acumulación de Fe y Zn. Sin embargo por lo complejo de las relaciones entre las variables del suelo, se debe complementar esta identificación con fuentes de información de mayor detalle.En el anexo 10 se muestra el mapa de la distribución de la producción de fríjol en Colombia según You & Wood (2006), en el Anexo 11 el mapa de la estimación de la producción de fríjol arbustivo y en el Anexo 12 el de los volubles en según los rangos altitudinales y zonas productoras. Teniendo en cuenta el criterio de delimitación planteado en la sección metodológica en la Tabla 5 se muestran los porcentajes de producción en los dos tipos de hábito. El mapa de producción estima el área anual promedio cosechada en Colombia en 112.6 mil Ha, al comparar esta cifra con las estadísticas nacionales se observa una subestimación del área cosechada en alrededor de 14 mil hectáreas. En Colombia la superficie anual cosechada de fríjol entre los años de 1994 a 2002, decreció desde las 144 mil hectáreas en 1994 hasta las 108 mil en el 2002, luego se recuperó llegando en el 2005 a las 122 mil hectáreas (Minagricultura, 2006), durante el periodo de 1994 a 2005 su promedio fue de 126 mil hectáreas. Por otra parte al comparar la distribución espacial de la producción del mapa manejado, las principales zonas productores concuerdan con las reportadas por las estadísticas nacionales, siendo las zonas de mayor producción las localizadas en la región andina y en menor medida en la zona caribe, en promedio el 65% de la producción anual de fríjol proviene de las variedades volubles y el 35% de arbustivas (Rios & Quirós, 2002).Al comparar la distribución espacial de la producción según su rango de altura se puede observar en el Anexo 11 como la distribución de la producción de variedades arbustivas es más dispersa y fundamentalmente tiende a ser mayor hacia los valles interandinos, mientras que la producción de variedades volubles (Anexo12) se hace hacia las partes altas de las dos cordilleras. La estimación de la distribución de la producción mediante este criterio sirve en principio para orientarnos sobre las zonas en donde se podría estar produciendo cada tipo de fríjol, sin embargo no es una clasificación de la aptitud de los terrenos o una clasificación agro-ecológica para la producción de fríjol en Colombia. Más bien, el objetivo fue poder contar con un mapa que al compararlo con el ejercicio hecho en Homologue para identificar ambientes similares nos pudiera comenzar a orientar hacia los posibles lugares a donde se podría comenzar a llevar las líneas biofortificadas NUA.Para verificar la lógica en la distribución espacial de los resultados de fríjoles arbustivos y volubles en la estimación se compararon estadísticas a nivel municipal en Antioquia (gobernación de Antioquia, 2006), las cuales discriminan la producción según el habito de crecimiento, encontrando coherencia a nivel espacial (Anexo 13). De esta forma en la estimación mediante rangos altitudinales de la producción de fríjol según su hábito de producción, resultó estar ajustada en Antioquia, sin embargo este criterio en departamentos como Nariño de gran interés para este proyecto resultó no estar tan ajustado, debido fundamentalmente a que en estas zonas las personas por costumbre cultivan variedades arbustivas en rangos de alturas mayores a los 1800 msnm, por lo que se propone este criterio como primer paso para la delimitación de la producción según el hábito y se sugiere profundizar en este esquema. Esto con dos finalidades, la primera de construir una clasificación agro-ecológica para la producción de fríjol en Colombia y la segunda de combinar esta clasificación con otras estadísticas adicionales para delimitar las zonas de producción de fríjol arbustivo en Colombia. Para cumplir con los objetivos del estudio se utilizó la estimación realizada como indicador de la distribución espacial de las zonas de producción según su hábito.El producto final de esta sección del análisis es la zonificación que permite delimitar grandes zonas para la liberación de las líneas de mayor estabilidad y contenido de minerales, es decir para NUA35, NUA56 y NUA30, de acuerdo al análisis de estabilidad, además se plantean zonas para la realización de experimentación, se incluyen varias observaciones sobre aspectos a ser tenidos en cuenta, sin embargo la utilización de la zonificación se debe complementar con los productos parciales que permiten generarla.Comenzando con la delimitación de las zonas en la Figura 9 se muestra la estimación de la producción de frijoles arbustivos que coincide con una o varias grillas de Homologue™ (Figura 9, colores amarillo-café) y las zonas de producción que no coinciden con alguna de las grillas de Homologue™ (Figura 9, color violeta), igualmente los departamentos en los que dentro de la producción de frijoles arbustivos se tiene reporte de la producción de variedades tipo \"Calima\" (Figura 9, departamentos con limite rojo) y en los que dentro de la producción de variedades arbustivas las variedades de tipo \"Calima\" tienen una baja participación o la tradición de producción es baja (figura 9, departamentos con limite negro).Las variedades de fríjol tipo \"Calima\" se cultivan principalmente en la región suroccidental del país en los departamentos de Nariño, Cauca y Valle del Cauca, igualmente se reporta producción de variedades tipo \"Calima\" en la zona cafetera, en los departamentos de Caldas, Quindío y Risaralda, en el valle del Magdalena en algunas zonas de los departamentos de Tolima y Huila. Aunque existen reportes de cultivos en Cundinamarca, Boyacá y Santander, la producción de variedades arbustivas es mayoritariamente de otros tipos de variedades a las \"Calima\". Finalmente en Antioquia dentro de las variedades sembradas y consumidas se encuentran las de tipo Cargamanto y Radical (Chacón et al, 1996).Dentro de las zonas de producción de frijoles arbustivos en los departamentos de la región cafetera se determinó una zona de prioridad de experimentación, buscando tener una visión más completa de la expresión fenotípica de las NUA. La razón fundamental para la priorización de experimentación en estas zonas son las características de suelos y clima en la zona, debido a que en general se tienen suelos inceptisoles y/o andisoles con influencia de cenizas volcánicas como los encontrados en Popayán, pero las condiciones climáticas permiten una mayor mineralización de la materia orgánica, por lo que sería importante la realización de pruebas en estas zonas de producción de fríjol \"Calima\". Otras zonas no identificadas por Homologue de producción de arbustivos se dividieron en dos, las que pertenecen a los departamentos con producción de variedades tipo \"Calima\" y las encontradas en otros departamentos.Para las zonas de producción de frijoles arbustivos en donde homologue™ identificó algún nivel de similaridad se realizó una zonificación de acuerdo a las grillas construidas en el aplicativo. En la Figura 10 se muestra la distribución espacial de las zonas con más y menos del 50% de sus terrenos similares a alguna localidad de ensayo. Dentro de los departamentos con producción de fríjol arbustivo tipo \"Calima\" se deben destacar varios aspectos importantes.En los departamentos de Nariño y Cauca se encuentran zonas con niveles de similaridad menor al 50% de seis localidades, sin incluir a Palmira y Vallecito, en algunos casos se encuentran zonas con similaridad mayor al 50% solo con respecto a Quilichao, esto se debe fundamentalmente a la variabilidad en las condiciones del terreno debido a la predominancia de paisajes de montaña propios de las zonas productoras de fríjol en estos departamentos, generándose una mayor variabilidad en las condiciones de clima y suelos a la encontrada en zonas más planas como en los valles.En el departamento de Nariño la distribución de las localidades homologas tiene una distribución mas diversa mientras en el cauca existe una predominancia de las características de la localidad de Popayán. Por esta razón se debe recomendar además la realización de pruebas en las localidades con probabilidades menores al 50% en donde pueden existir diversos ambientes al interior de cada zona.En el departamento del Valle del Cauca se puede observar una predominancia en más del 50% a Palmira, esto se debe a la homogeneidad de las condiciones en el Valle, mientras al comenzar a alejarse de este en zonas con terrenos más quebrados la similaridad disminuye y comienzan a aparecer zonas similares a Darien al oriente del valle geográfico y a Quilichao en la parte sur del departamento, aunque en el departamento aparecen zonas similares a Sandoná y Yacuanquer en algunas zonas al norte del departamento.En los departamentos de Huila y Tolima especialmente en las zonas más bajas de producción de variedades arbustivas y más cálidas se destaca la presencia de zonas con similaridad a Vallecito, en estas zonas cuando se identifiquen ambientes con altos contenidos de Fe en el suelo se pueden de encontrar contenidos de Fe en la semilla altos.Para realizar la interpretación al interior de cada zona sobre la acumulación de minerales se debe tener en cuenta el resumen de la Tabla 6, en la cual se muestra el resumen de las líneas sugeridas a ser liberadas de acuerdo a las diferentes localidades de ensayo, junto a cada línea se colocan algunas observaciones y características edafo-climáticas que pueden ayudar a delimitar con mayor exactitud cada una de las zonas en las cuales se piensan liberar las líneas. Los mayores contenidos de Fe en las semillas se relacionan con mayores contenidos de Fe en el suelo, siempre y cuando existan las condiciones de pH que permitan que en el complejo de cambio puedan estar presentes otros minerales que tengan efecto sinérgico en la absorción del Fe del suelo Yacuanquer *** NUA35Aumento de pH y la disponibilidad de minerales como el fósforo hacen que la toma de Fe del suelo sea mayor a otras localidades en donde el fósforo es la limitante Palmira NUA35En suelos con pH neutros a básicos la acumulación de Fe puede ser mayor cuando el pH permite la disponibilidad de Fe en el suelo, en pH alcalino es menor la acumulación de Fe que en suelos neutrosAltos contenidos de Fe disponible en el suelo favorecen una alta acumulación de Fe en las semillas * Decisión tomada con base en el análisis de estabilidad ** Hipótesis planteadas a partir del análisis de componentes principales (ACP) *** Rendimiento promedio de todos los genotipos < 900 Kg / Ha Finalmente se muestra en la Figura 11 el mapa con la zonificación propuesta para la liberación y futura experimentación con las líneas NUA, el cual es un resumen del análisis espacial realizado. En el mapa de la Figura 11 se muestra como las localidades de ensayo tienen representatividad con relación a las zonas de producción de frijoles arbustivos tipo \"Calima\", sin embargo plantea la necesidad de complementar la experimentación con otras localidades. En cada una de las zonas identificadas se propone la liberación de las líneas de acuerdo a la Tabla 6, igualmente se propone la experimentación teniendo espacial énfasis en zonas con menos del 50% de similaridad a cada una de las localidades de estudio.Figura 11 -Zonificación propuesta para la liberación y futura experimentación con las líneas NUA 3 ConclusionesLa recolección y organización de información permitió el análisis del proceso de biofortificación de las líneas de fríjol arbustivas de color rojo moteado tipo \"Calima\" denominadas NUA (Nutrición Andina), especialmente en las líneas NUA30, NUA35, NUA45, NUA56 y uno de sus progenitores la línea mejorada CAL96.La base de datos recolectada fue la fortaleza y debilidad del proceso de análisis. Fortaleza ya que permitió explorar la naturaleza de la interacción genotipo por ambiente y su relación con las variables de suelos y clima, además se convirtió en referencia para los mejoradores y otros interesados en biofortificación de fríjol (P. vulgaris L.). Debilidad en cuanto al impedimento de realizar análisis estadísticos normalmente utilizados para este tipo de estudios, también la creación de la base de datos permitió identificar puntos críticos en el manejo, documentación y conservación de la información en el proceso de investigación.Se encontró que NUA35 es el genotipo con caracteres de mayor estabilidad y acumulación de minerales (Fe y Zn) a través de todos los ambientes evaluados, por lo tanto es la línea candidata para el posible programa de liberación en los sitios identificados para Colombia.Por otra parte, NUA56 tuvo altos promedios de Fe y Zn a través de todos los ambientes, sin embargo sus caracteres fueron los de menor estabilidad al igual que su rendimiento. Esta línea puede ser liberada en algunas localidades en donde el rendimiento no sea una limitante y/o incluirse en programas de mejoramiento para aprovechar su habilidad en la absorción de minerales.NUA30 es un genotipo con caracteres estables pero menor acumulación de Fe y Zn dentro de las NUA, debido a esto su liberación presenta menor prioridad dentro del programa y puede restringirse a aquellas zonas en donde ha sido aceptada por los productores, recibiendo beneficio nutricional adicional en comparación de la siembra de variedades \"Calima\" no biofortificadas.Se encontraron correlaciones lineales positivas entre las acumulaciones de Fe y Zn de 165 combinaciones diferentes GxE, confirmando que al aumentar el contenido de Fe se aumenta el contenido de Zn en el grano, posiblemente por genes comunes involucrados en el proceso y que co-segregan (Beebe et al., 2000).Correlaciones lineales negativas entre el contenido de Fe y el rendimiento, el contenido de Zn y el rendimiento en el juego total de datos, incluyendo las 100 NUA, CAL96 y otras líneas; confirman la necesidad de romper ligamientos entre genes comunes que pueden estar implicados en la expresión de varios caracteres (Beebe, 1997), esto mismo refleja la dificultad en el proceso de identificación de las líneas a liberar.El cálculo de correlaciones globales y parciales entre los contenidos de Fe y Zn de CAL96 y las NUAs evidenció una diferencia en el comportamiento de estas, sugiriendo que la constitución genética puede estar incrementando la eficiencia en la acumulación de alguno o de ambos minerales en forma diferencial. Sugiriendo que los genotipos NUA y CAL aprovechan de forma diferencial las condiciones ambientales para acumular Fe y/o Zn en el grano.Igualmente, el cálculo de correlaciones globales y parciales entre el contenido de Fe y rendimiento, evidenció un comportamiento diferente entre las NUAs y CAL96, con una tendencia hacia la pérdida de correlación principalmente en las NUAs, sugiriendo que se presentaron variables ambientales que afectaron negativamente el rendimiento. En cuanto a la comparación entre contenido de Zn y rendimiento, no fue posible llegar a una conclusión gracias a la no significancia en las correlaciones.El contenido de Fe disponible en el suelo tuvo correlaciones lineales significativas y positivas con los contenidos de Fe y Zn en las semillas de CAL96, NUA30, NUA35 y NUA56, otras variables no tuvieron correlaciones lineales en todas las variedades para los contenidos de Fe y Zn. Esto no implica la no existencia de otro tipo de relaciones entre las variables ambientales y los contenidos de Fe y Zn en las semillas, debido a esto fue necesario hacer un análisis de componentes principales.Al realizar un análisis de componentes principales (ACP) de las condiciones ambientales y el rendimiento en las evaluaciones realizadas para cada línea, se encontró coherencia en la composición de los vectores propios, igualmente se pudieron agrupar las observaciones con base en los vectores propios resultando coherentes las agrupaciones a nivel geográfico y temporal dentro de algunas localidades, por lo que el análisis en términos geográficos es igualmente recomendado.En los dos vectores de mayor variabilidad se asoció un proceso edafo-climático, el primer vector fue asociado a la composición del complejo de cambio debido a que participaron en el mismo sentido el pH, la CICE, el manganeso y el fósforo. En el segundo vector resultó asociado el contenido de Fe en el suelo y la temperatura promedio en contra del contenido de materia orgánica y la precipitación. La interpretación de la composición de los vectores permitió entender la variabilidad en los ambientes de ensayo.La variación en el primer vector marcó la diferencia entre la localidad de Palmira y el resto de localidades debido a la naturaleza neutra a básica de sus suelos y su saturación. La variación en el segundo vector permitió diferenciar las localidades con suelos de característica ácida, en donde se centró la experimentación en función de las características ambientales para los cuales se buscan liberar las líneas. Esto sugiere que las localidades utilizadas en la experimentación fueron representativas de los ambientes de producción de frijol para los cuales se pretende liberar las líneas NUAs.Analizando la posición de las localidades a lo largo del segundo vector en un extremo se encontró a Vallecito con baja materia orgánica y altos contenidos de Fe disponible en el suelo, en el otro extremo se encontró a Popayán con altos contenidos de materia orgánica y bajos de Fe disponible en el suelo, en las posiciones intermedias se encontraron las localidades de Quilichao, Darién, Consacá, Sandoná y Yacuanquer en las cuales la determinación de las diferencias fue más compleja y obedeció a balances presentados entre múltiples variables.Al comparar las posiciones en cada uno de los vectores de las condiciones de suelos y clima de las localidades de evaluación y compararlas con el contenido de Fe en la semilla de NUA35 se pudieron generar hipótesis sobre el proceso de acumulación de Fe en las semillas que permitieron complementar al contenido de Fe disponible en el suelo como variable asociada con los contenidos de Fe en las semillas de NUA35. Para los contenidos de Zn se extendió el análisis debido a las correlaciones encontradas con anterioridad.De esta forma se planteó que en las condiciones de suelos y clima de las localidades de ensayo para obtener mayores contenidos de Fe en las semillas: el mayor contenido de Fe en el suelo debe ser complementado con los valores de pH que permitan la presencia de otros minerales esenciales en la nutrición de la planta y que puedan actuar de forma sinérgica con la absorción y acumulación del mineral. Por lo que se plantea la necesidad de encontrar los rangos de pH y de Fe disponible en el suelo para una adecuada expresión fenotípica de la acumulación del Fe en las semillas.Igualmente el ACP permitió identificar variables asociadas con los contenidos de Fe disponibles en el suelo en diferentes localidades. En Vallecito los mayores niveles de Fe en el suelo dentro del grupo de localidades coincidieron con las menores cantidades de materia orgánica y mayores temperaturas, mientras en Popayán los contenidos de Fe en el suelo fueron menores en un ambiente con alto contenido de materia orgánica y condiciones propicias para una baja tasa de mineralización de la misma.Por su parte en Palmira los menores contenidos de Fe en el suelo se pudieron atribuir al pH neutro a básico de sus suelos, en otras localidades las tendencias no fueron tan claras debido posiblemente a que el contenido de Fe extraído mediante DTPA tiene relación con múltiples factores. Debido a la importancia de los contenidos de Fe disponibles en el suelo se propuso el estudio de métodos específicos de determinación de sus contenidos en el suelo, teniendo en cuenta suelos de diferentes ambientes en donde estos contenidos pueden depender de diversos factores y procesos.La utilización de herramientas de análisis espacial permitió la identificación de posibles zonas de producción de frijoles arbustivos similares a las localidades de experimentación en donde las NUA estables puedan ser liberadas y otras en donde deba continuar la experimentación para obtener una visión más completa de la expresión fenotípica.Colombia permitió obtener una distribución espacial útil para los fines del estudio, sin embargo otros criterios como la tradición de producción de los diferentes tipos de variedades y otros criterios agroecológicos y fuentes adicionales de información podrían complementar el ejercicio. La estimación tuvo resultados interesantes en el departamento de Antioquia, confirmando que en principio puede ser buen criterio, en otros departamentos se debe profundizar más en el análisis.Mediante la utilización de Homologue™ y la superposición espacial de la grillas de probabilidad con las grillas de producción en un ambiente de sistemas de información geográfica (SIG), permitieron identificar zonas de producción similares a lo largo de la región andina.La utilización de Homologue™ para las finalidades del estudio tuvo la potencialidad de contar con bases de datos estandarizadas a nivel mundial en el trópico de las condiciones climáticas mensuales promedio y varias condiciones de suelos, permitiendo identificar ambientes similares en donde los procesos edafo-climáticos se presenten de forma similar.Los rangos de pH y materia orgánica en suelos y precipitación, temperatura promedio, rango de temperatura, utilizados por el aplicativo fueron una primera aproximación para identificar ambientes similares de producción, se propone la utilización de otras fuentes de información para complementar el ejercicio.La utilización de Homologue igualmente presenta limitaciones entre las que se encuentra su resolución espacial de 10 minutos de arco, además de la resolución temporal por hacer referencia a un año promedio e igualmente no poder contar con estimaciones especificas de las condiciones en que puedan ser sembradas las líneas.Al analizar la distribución espacial de las zonas de producción estimadas y las grillas de probabilidad construidas se encontró que el grupo de localidades fue representativo de varias zonas de producción de frijoles arbustivos, en especial en los departamentos con producción de variedades tipo \"Calima\".Dentro de las localidades identificadas para la experimentación con las NUA y sin ninguna probabilidad de similaridad estimada por Homologue™, se encontró la región cafetera colombiana, en donde las condiciones climáticas resultan interesantes para complementar la visión sobre las NUA y permitirían comenzar a validar algunas de las hipótesis planteadas sobre el propósito de acumulación de minerales.Dentro de las zonas con niveles de similaridad menores al 50% se propuso un proceso de liberación y experimentación, especialmente en departamentos como Nariño y Cauca debido a las condiciones diversas que generaron valores de probabilidad bajos para encontrar sitios similares. Dentro de las zonas con niveles de similaridad mayor al 50% se propone principalmente la liberación, siempre que las condiciones ambientales resulten similares a las de la respectiva localidad de ensayo.Finalmente en las zonas de producción de frijoles arbustivos en los departamentos con tradición de producción y consumo se propuso la liberación de NUA35, esperando mejores resultados en la acumulación en las zonas similares a las localidades que resultaron con contenidos de Fe en el suelo y procesos edafo-climáticos que favorecieron la acumulación de minerales.• Alston, J. Anuario estadístico del sector agropecuario y pesquero 2005, Bogotá, 297p. • Moraghan, J.T., Padilla, J., Etchevers, J.D., Grafton, K., Acosta-Gallegos, J. A. 2002. Iron  Anexo 5 -Resumen correlaciones lineales realizadas entre los contenidos de Fe, Zn, y rendimiento con respecto a las variables ambientales en CAL96, NUA30,35,45 y 56 Anexo 6 -Dendogramas: Historia de formación de agrupaciones de las observaciones de cada línea a partir de la composición de los vectores propios en el análisis de componentes principales (ACP).• La línea vertical en cada uno de los dendogramas indica la distancia promedio significativa para la formación de grupos (Estadística en Anexo 14) • Las observaciones agrupadas a la derecha de la distancia promedio representan las agrupaciones de acuerdo al análisis de componentes principales.    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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"129d80984073e764149ff7a2622263cc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9999d33e-969e-4114-a270-e4086ed4f963/retrieve","id":"1588939947"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ad222aff-a7dd-4819-a5c1-1d4f92758ac4","content":"The cocoa industry recognizes climate change and weather volatility as direct threats to their businesses, and many are acting to incorporate climate smart practices into their farmer programs. This case study shares lessons from industry engagement with the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)-led Consortium's research on climate smart cocoa in Ghana, in connection with the USAID Feed the Future Climate Smart Cocoa Program, led by the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF). While a large cross section of the industry has been engaged in the effort, this document focuses on a subset of the companies engaged. Included are company-specific case studies which describe how Touton, Ecom and The Hershey Company (Hershey), have leveraged the decision-support tools produced by CCAFS, namely climate suitability maps, the science underpinning the Climate Smart Cocoa Manual with recommendations by impact zone, and various climate-smart agriculture (CSA) Apps. We share also companies' constructive feedback on remaining gaps and opportunities, and conclude with potential future directions for CCAFS and USAID for effective partnership with industry. The case was developed by the Sustainable Food Lab, in collaboration with IITA, in July-September 2018 and draws from extended qualitative interviews with four cocoa companies and several project participants. GHANA This case focuses on collaboration between the Climate Smart Cocoa initiative and the Climate Smart Learning CommunityCCAFS is the Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security Program, a global research program of the CGIAR research network. CCAFS has led a coalition in Ghana known as Mainstreaming Climate Smart Value Chains, which includes CIAT, IITA, Rainforest Alliance, Root Capital, and the Sustainable Food Lab (SFL) -referred to in this paper as the 'CCAFS Consortium'; and leads the linked initiative known as the USAID Learning Community for Supply Chain Resilience. In Ghana, the CCAFS Consortium closely collaborated with the WCF-led USAID Feed the Future Climate Smart Cocoa Program.The goals of the CCAFS Consortium are to identify pro-poor climate smart practices, technologies, and policies, and, through cross-sector collaboration, to develop and facilitate site-specific adaptation activities for cocoa farmers in zones that are differentially affected by climate change. At its launch in 2015, the main pathways of this consortium's efforts were through: (1) certification training and curricula and (2) impact investment products (separate case studies by Rainforest Alliance, and IITA and Root Capital describe the outcomes of these pathways, respectively). In 2017, CCAFS, Root Capital and the Sustainable Food Lab received funding from the USAID Feed the Future Initiative to incorporate a third impact pathway: (3) private sector engagement. This third pathway is the subject of this case.The private sector engagement workstream, named the USAID Learning Community for Resilient Supply Chains, was added to encourage concerted investment by the private sector to accelerate the adoption of CSA practices by cocoa farmers. The idea was to work directly with cocoa companies -where they would be active participants, rather than passive recipients of information -and together, acting on the basis of climate science, to identify strategies that were consistent with private sector sustainability plans and to incentivize their investments in climate-smart agriculture. The Learning Community was explicitly meant to contribute science and learning into the USAID Climate Smart Cocoa initiative, led by the World Cocoa Foundation. This program focused on the development of a CSC strategy for the private sector, and the pre-competitive piloting of CSC innovations.Meetings with cocoa and chocolate companies (including Barry Callebaut, Cargill, Ecom, Guittard, The Hershey Company, Lindt & Sprüngli, Mars, Mondelez, Nestlé, Olam, Touton and TransRoyal) solidified the types of support that would be most beneficial for industry. In 2016, the consortium finetuned its primary goal to be the translation of climate science into actionable recommendations for companies. Specifically, CCAFS prioritized the creation and dissemination of two key decision-making tools for companies to target investments in CSC: (1) climate suitability maps, and (2) geographically specific recommendations of climate smart practices. Rainforest Alliance and the World Cocoa Foundation then agreed to adapt these tools into a training manual on climate smart cocoa.The first tool, climate suitability maps, were created by CIAT with IITA's support in order to help governments and other value chain stakeholders visualize in granular detail the vulnerability of different cocoa growing zones. Drawing on the expertise of the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG), and using GPS data from companies, these maps characterized zones as Cope (lowest vulnerability -minor adaptation necessary), Adjust (moderate vulnerability -significant adaptation necessary), and Transform (high vulnerability -need to transition to other crops). Although companies had already been aware of existing climate change risk, they also had lacked clarity on the localization and projected impacts of climate change. This made it difficult to respond appropriately and invest strategically in adaptation. The climate suitability maps answered this call, using advanced 'machine learning' models to translate data on historical climate conditions, soil conditions, and cocoa suitability, to predict cocoa suitability in expected future climate conditions.As an important offshoot of this work, CIAT also completed research on the \"cost of inaction,\" i.e., the projected economic costs of not helping farmers to adapt to climate change -and found a staggering cost by the 2050s of $410 million per year or 1% of Ghana's GDP, a tremendous potential loss for Ghanaian smallholder farmers.To create geographically specific practice recommendations, Rainforest Alliance and IITA led field work with cocoa farmers in each of the climate exposure zones that captured the practices being used, as well as possible innovations to adapt to specific climactic threats such as extended dry periods or heavier rainfall. RA and IITA then consulted experts in civil society, government and private sector organizations for validation of these practices.Using the climate suitability maps and practice recommendations as a point of departure, World Cocoa Foundation and Rainforest Alliance created a Climate Smart Cocoa (CSC) Manual, which adapted the science into user-friendly training materials to be used with farmers in different locations and with different profiles. The customization of practices by impact zone distinguished this manual from the standardized training materials that cocoa companies and public entities had been using previously. Most strategies proposed in the CSC Manual were not new per se, but rather sets of practices that many companies were already promoting, now factoring in the specific climate-related risks in each zone. This guidance promoted more targeted and efficient investments.Recommendations notably also differed by farmer, following IITA's 'stepwise investment pathway' approach, such that farmers were encouraged to adopt a minimum basket of practices depending on their impact zone location, and could then, as their resources and abilities allowed, take on further \"bronze\", \"silver\", or \"gold\" investments to improve their farms' productivity and resilience to climate change risks.In 2016, the Sustainable Food Lab and CIAT conducted interviews with cocoa companies and learned that, across the board, companies are aware of and worried about climate change and climate variability. In West Africa, companies had already borne witness to the negative effects on cocoa quantity and quality due to drought and excess high intensity rainfall. They recognized both the risk for their supply and for farmers' livelihoods. In response, all cocoa companies turned their attention to figuring out how to help farmers adapt and sustainably increase productivity while maintaining cocoa quality, with many companies formally beginning to focus on CSC in 2016. Even before that, companies were already supporting farmers in implementing Good Agricultural Practices to increase pro-Climate Smart Cocoa Manual ductivity, including providing training, inputs, and credit.More recently, companies also began to explore how to simultaneously promote adaptation activities, including considering whether they need to provide more extensive support with costly interventions such as irrigation, tree ownership and diversification. Many companies, however, lack in-house expertise for these adaptation activities and appreciate guidance. To assist companies, the consortium produced a Tree Registration Guide in response to an industry wide challenge of helping farmers register their ownership of newly planted shade trees, a critical climate adaptation practice In this context of strong interest in climate change adaptation, and limited knowledge, companies were keen to partner with and learn from the CCAFS consortium. Specifically, they were very interested to receive detailed region-specific information about projected impacts of climate change in their sourcing areas; an assessment of which practices they support that are already climate smart; and ideas for what they should do differently today and in the future to succeed in helping farmers adapt and thrive.The other key driver for companies' engagement was the alignment between climate smart cocoa and their broad strategic goals, including improving farmer livelihoods, increasing productivity, and as of the last few years, their commitment to end cocoa-related deforestation as part of the Cocoa and Forests Initiative (CFI) -committed to at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP23). Under this partnership, led by WCF, IDH, and the International Sustainability Unit of Prince of Wales' Trust, the national governments of Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire and leading chocolate and cocoa companies have released Action Plans detailing how they will sustainably intensify cocoa production on existing land, while incentivizing preservation and restoration of forests, or in other words, \"growing more cocoa on less land\", while also safeguarding against any potential social and environmental impacts. The governments of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana have developed their National Implementation Plans, with a strong focus on CSC and cocoa agroforestry solutions. Each company is now identifying the actions it will take to achieve its aims, including for example providing improved planting materials and scaling their agronomic training programs. CSC is high on their priority list as an area of focus, as a package of activities that can increase yields, resilience, and incomes, and discourage encroachment on new land.Companies consider climate change to be a serious supply risk. Climate science and tools help them to implement their commitments to climate smart cocoa, ending deforestation and promoting sustainable livelihoods.Initial interviews revealed that the cocoa industry was primarily investing in the Sustainable Productivity Pillar of climate-smart agriculture, through their investments in Cocoa Action. Some investment was also happening in small farmer livelihoods through efforts like the Cocoa Livelihood Program and companies' own sustainability programs. Mitigation of GHG Emissions has only become a core focus of the industry with the recent commitments made to the Cocoa & Forests Initiative, with pledges to preserve standing forests and implement climate smart cocoa on existing farms. The CCAFS consortium focused on the third pillar, enabling more investment and action on the Adaptation for Resilience Pillar of CSA.The initial engagement process with companies involved a deliberate set of setorwide workshops. Companies also attended other meetings of the CCAFS consortium, where they were not the primary audience. Companies found these convenings moderately helpful, with interviews highlighting two key perceived benefits:Fostering a shared definition and understanding of climate smart cocoa. Prior to these meetings, there had been varied levels of understanding among company sustainability teams of climate smart cocoa. There was some confusion about how the recommended practices differed from business-as-usual with agronomic teams already focusing on increasing productivity, conserving forests, and improving livelihoods. These meetings helped to clarify the distinction, namely the call to take into account varied vulnerability in different zones, and correspondingly different recommendations for adaptation practices or transformation practices. Based on this shared understanding, companies could act on their new knowledge and customize recommendations by vulnerability zone. Company sustainability teams are stretched thin, often dealing with information overload from all the reports that cross their inboxes. The climate smart cocoa meetings were helpful forums for highlighting the key takeaways of the research and exposing companies to key outputs of the CCAFS work, i.e., the climate suitability maps of the different vulnerability zones and the CSC Manual. At the meetings, the organizations who created these tools walked company representatives through the materials, and companies discussed with the World Cocoa Foundation how they could make use of these materials within the WCF-led CSC initiative, and how it fit with their commitments as part of the Cocoa and Forest Initiative. Companies also found particularly useful the three-day training of trainers, hosted by WCF, on the CSC Manual, as the first step to cascading climate smart cocoa recommendations to farmers.Company representatives qualified that these meetings would not have been useful on their own. Their usefulness hinged on the concrete materials that the CCAFS consortium delivered to companies, as part of and alongside these convenings. It was then incumbent on each company to take the tools and adapt to their farmer outreach programs. The application of these tools took different forms in distinct companies, with several cases presented below.The CSC Manual, created by WCF and RA, was distributed to companies in early January 2018, with follow-up training to leaders of company sustainability teams in March 2018 delivered by IITA, WCF, and RA. The manual leveraged the climate exposure mapping, and provided clear recommendations by impact zone as well as by the ability of the farmer to invest in his or her farm, aligned with the 'stepwise investment pathways' approach. Training topics include climate-smart agriculture, the establishment phase, pest and disease management, crop management, shade tree management, soil management, water management, and increasing resilience.The companies report finding the CSC Manual useful and actionable, and the training helped to clarify how they could use the manual in their work with farmers. Companies reported that the training and manual were also helpful insofar as they were consistent with their already existing training approaches and manuals, particularly the framework of Setup-Delivery-Follow-up.In the months following the training, most of the companies interviewed made progress in integrating recommendations of the CSC Manual into their training programs with farmers. Below, we profile several companies' specific programs, with ECOM and Touton employing the manual for their farmer training, and Hershey adapting the curriculum for their digital agronomic extension application called CocoaLink. The ECOM team is also in the process of validating the recommendations by conducting demos of zone-specific recommendations (i.e., with respect to the number of shade trees), on 125 farmer plots they are rehabilitating. The idea of the demos, as a complement to the trainings, is to corroborate efficacy and build the case for CSC recommendations, such that farmers see in person the benefits of these practices and are incentivized to scale them to other plots.The CCAFS Consortium research and CSC Manual are also informing ECOM's strategic decision-making. For example, in considering how to allocate sustainability resources, they are taking into account the different suitability of cocoa in different zones. As their regional sustainability lead, Olga Gormalova, explains, \"Let's say there's a drought. If it is in a Transform Zone then, [we are now thinking], maybe let's not do rehabilitation here, since it just might not work. Maybe in these areas we should propose planting something else. We are now starting to review and to increasingly think this way.\"Touton Group is a global trader of responsibly sourced cocoa, coffee, and vanilla and other natural products, with an active climate smart cocoa program under its initiative, Professionalization Within a Sustainable Landscape. The senior leaders of Touton's Ghana sustainability team participated in the CSC training and are translating the learnings to their training program targeting 7,000 farmers. Touton is also intending to pilot the recommended practices on its demo plots and emulate the methodologies applied at IITA demo sites.Touton has found most useful 1) receiving detailed information about the impacts of climate change in different cocoa zones, and 2) the adaptation strategies captured in the CSC Manual that directly respond to the vulnerabilities and challenges of these different zones.Touton acted quickly in light of receiving training, and has already integrated relevant components of the CSC Manual into their training material. As their Ghana director of sustainability, Ernest Dwamena explains, \"Touton already had our manual that included all certification and climate smart cocoa modules. When the new manual became available, we opted to go through and make sure it fully aligns, to make sure we aren't missing any piece. So we didn't translate everything verbatim, but adapted, pulling from the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) manual for certain pieces, the CCAFS manual for other pieces and integrated these into our Trainers Facilitators Guide. The CSC Manual is distinct because it focuses specifically on climate smart adaptation.\"Touton is committed to moving forward with disseminating the CSC strategies to farmers, as part of their ongoing farm-level support work, and they are in the process of operationalizing the CSC Manual, and identifying strategies for following up and monitoring adoption.The Hershey Company is a chocolate and snacking manufacturer focused on sustainable cocoa sourcing under their Cocoa For Good (CFG) Program, which includes prospering communities and the development of tools such as CocoaLink to lower barriers to information and extension services for farmers. Two of their sustainability team members in Ghana participated in the CSC Manual training.Inspired by the CSC Manual recommendations, Hershey, like other interviewed companies, is improving its curricula and transitioning from standardized to zone-specific recommendations. They are looking to incorporate this specificity into their Cocoa-Link digital platform as well, so that farmers in Adjust Zones, for instance, will receive CocoaLink is an interactive knowledge platform consisting of a voice messaging service and a mobile application built by FarmerLine and funded by Hershey that is used to share extension information on good agronomic practices. The voice messaging service delivers weekly messaging to over 2,000 farmers in Hershey's supply chain. The mobile app was launched in May 2018 and currently has more than 700 users. In its Phase I (from 2011-2014 with Ghana Cocoa Board and WCF), the application used SMS and voice messaging and focused on agronomic fundamentals. Now, in Phase II, Hershey is expanding content and enhancing delivery mediums, so they can bring in more audiovisual content, and incorporate climate smart cocoa modules, among others. Hershey's vision is to significantly scale this offering throughout its sourcing areas, and envisions this as a key tool to be used by field officers, current farmers, and future farmers, especially young tech-savvy farmers.WHAT IS COCOALINK? distinct recommendations from farmers in Cope and Transform Zones. To this end, with complementary funding secured through WCF under the Climate Smart Cocoa Program, the materials of the manual were adapted to CocoaLink's mobile app, including condensing and simplifying the content, reducing text, and distilling to the most important pieces. Additionally, the CocoaLink mobile application is being upgraded to send location-specific recommendations, i.e., based on a farmer's GPS coordinates.The CCAFS kickoff workshop included a breakout session focused on private sector challenges to scaling climate adaptation. A representative from Olam shared the experience of their collaboration with Rainforest Alliance in the Juabeso region to rejuvenate the landscape and plant more shade trees. They described that farmers had been resistant to plant shade trees due to their enduring perception, derived from older laws, that they had no secure ownership of these trees. Even worse, logging companies had previously been able to cut trees within cocoa orchards, without compensation to the cocoa farmers. In this context, cocoa farmers had minimal incentive to invest in shade tree planting. These barriers were echoed by several other companies in the workshop.In response to this challenge, WCF and the Sustainable Food Lab agreed to support a pilot test of an efficient and secure digital tree registration process with Ghana NGO AgroEco. The pilot sought to address one of the private sector's key perceived barriers and demystify the steps involved in securing ownership over planted trees, and therefore to incentivize more shade tree planting on the part of farmers, supported by farm organizations and companies. The idea of the pilot was to complete tree registration digitally with a sample of farmers, showing that it would be accepted by the Forestry Commission, and in the process create a manual documenting each step, and associated costs, to motivate companies to undertake similar investments in their sourcing regions AgroEco, with the Sustainable Food Lab and WCF's support, completed the pilot between June and October 2017. The pilot resulted in the successful registration of 150 farmers' trees and a draft tree registration guide. By early 2018, the Forestry Commission officially signed off on the forms and returned them to the hands of farmers.In accompanying farmers, and developing the guide, the team showed that tree registration was feasible, but that success is contingent on diligent and focused follow-up. Using the latest digital technologies made the process more efficient, though paper-based registration also appears do-able, individually or in groups of farmers.Since the completion of the pilot, a policy lobby led by WCF has achieved more clarity Tree Registration Guide on how to perform tree registration at scale. A Forestry Commission approved version of the guide, including a definitive procedure, is available online here. The Forestry Commission will use this guide as a basis to developing an official Manual of Operations.Since the pilot's completion, Ecom, Cargill and Mondelez have expressed interest in using the guide to more efficiently register farmers' shade trees. Because trees can only be registered one year after planting, Cargill is first investing in community awareness and tree planting. Meanwhile, Ecom has contracted a consultant to identify how to integrate tree registration into their operations. Lastly, Mondelez, working with UNDP under the Ghana Forest Investment Program, has developed an App for tree registration.Going forward, any program that supports tree tenure will need to be closely linked with efforts by the Forestry Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, preferably as part of work under the CFI Implementation Plan and aligned with the COCOBOD, CSC strategy and the Ghana Cocoa Forests REDD+ Program (GCFRP).Several companies expressed confusion navigating the CCAFS consortium; it was not always clear who was responsible for what, and therefore with whom to engage on questions. As one sustainability representative shared, at times it felt like a \"monster consortium\", with various people reaching out for different reasons. \"At the end of the day, we just wanted the consortium to give us something to work with -if it's a curriculum, we'll adapt it; if investment pathways, we'll work with it. We are quite a lean team, we are always in the field, it's hard to do face time, and we want real products instead.\" This same representative was ultimately pleased with the outputs received, but would have preferred fewer stakeholders to engage with, and/or more clarity around roles.Most of the companies have multiple sustainability programs on different topics and prefer to work through their industry platform, the World Cocoa Foundation, to interpret the recommendations. They referenced that it was extremely helpful to work with the WCF staff to get concrete about their CSC strategies and link these to their CFI work.The CCAFS Consortium sees this is a key learning, and willCompanies preferred working through an industry organization (World Cocoa Foundation) to interactions with multiple CCAFS consortium members continue working with WCF, as an intermediary to companies in disseminating information, receiving feedback, and operationalizing recommendations.Companies' Recommended Next Steps for CCAFS Private Sector Engagement Specifically, companies are eager to receive insights beyond the climate-zone specific agronomic recommendations, and to learn more about the costs and benefits of particular practices, which will aid in farmers' decision-making to invest on their farms. As Olga Gormalova from Ecom shared, \"We need to understand, what is this type of investment that's required for farmers and whether it pays off. Would it pay off to farmers for example to irrigate their .5 hectare farm? Is the cost worth the benefit? We're struggling, and maybe need more analysis, to know the best option for the farmer. Is he really going to produce so much cocoa that it will pay off the investment? What if returns only start in years 8, 9, and 10? Or should he forget cocoa and plant something else? This would be a hard message. We need data on the benefits and costs.\"This detailing of costs and benefits of different practices could be linked to the farmer segmentation and stepwise investment work, such that farmers with different abilities to invest could start with \"cheaper\" (high benefit to cost) investments first. Indeed, WCF is seeking collaboration on this line of investigation with the USAID-funded Climate Economic Analysis for Development, Investment and Resilience activity (CEADIR) Program, which is looking into this question and aiming to conclude work by January 2019. Gaining this specificity on the costs and benefits of practices is a pressing priority for the industry.More generally, while there has been substantial dialogue between companies and researchers during the CCAFS collaboration, companies noted that there is an opportunity for further communication and to align on the most helpful research to companies -both in terms of content and format.The CSC Manual, while considered by companies to be a well-done and practical guide for agronomic extensionists, is not currently in a format that is user-friendly for farmers with lower education levels and limited time. The sustainability rep-Companies see strong need for further CCAFS Consortium research to reinforce the CSC recommendations and make the business case to farmers to apply adaptation practices resentative of one company suggested creating an accompanying manual for farmers that would be more akin to a rules of thumb fundamentals guide. This manual would be simplified, tailored to the farmer's particular zone, and highly visual (so that farmers with limited literacy could use it too), and would be something that agronomists could leave behind for farmers to refer to. He described, for instance, an annotated calendar with visual reminders of which practices to apply when.It is possible too that this \"manual\" would be delivered in a non-traditional format. In fact, IITA and Olam are already exploring a farmer-directed communication campaign, potentially through radio, TV, and farmer exchange visits, rather than a written manual. This is an idea that the CCAFS consortium could explore further with additional funding.There is opportunity to increase effectiveness by deepening collaboration with national government, alongside private sector companies COCOBOD has been involved in various parts of the initiative, but more could be done to fully integrate the tools and findings into government operations. Ten specialists from the agency reviewed the CSC Manual, and COCOBOD procured internal funding to create an official Climate Smart Cocoa standard. CCAFS could achieve further alignment by also collaborating with the Forest Investment Program, which is similarly prioritizing the development of training material for Climate Smart Cocoa. Enhanced collaboration, led by WCF, could also result in the government allocating funding for complementary uses such as the creation of accompanying farmer manuals and visuals or additional trainings of trainers.Beyond gaining buy-in and consensus, the companies see value in aligning more closely with the Ghanaian government because they have a strong and distinct role to play in promoting Climate Smart Cocoa. As Tawiah Agyarko-Kwarteng, a sustainability lead from Hershey, explains, \"We can't forget the government's role. Ghana's government is working on CSC standards. How farmers will get access to what they need will depend on the government's standard requirements, and also on the policy, for example around input delivery. The government's role isOne company suggested adapting the CSC Manual for direct use by farmers important at the policy level and in Industry is working closely with government already, with RA, WCF, and Touton holding seats on the government's CSC standards committee, but further deepening of collaboration would be beneficial.Tree tenure continues to be a barrier to farmers increasing shade cover, and an issue that is ripe for improved public-private collaboration. The CCAFS consortium completed a pilot, described above, to identify the steps needed to register planted trees with the Forestry Commission and to incentivize tree replanting. The process for newly planted trees is now clearer and accessible for farmers. However, the policy and process for naturally occurring trees -trees already on the farm -stands to benefit from further clarification. In addition, the government is taking initial steps towards legislative changes that would allow farmers to receive benefits for trees directly, rather than those benefits flowing through customary leadership. The private sector can continue to play a supporting role, as the government works to generally improve the tree tenure system for farmers.Most importantly, companies and WCF emphasized that any future private investments will need to be consistent with the Cocoa and Forests Initiative and landscape approaches. Indeed, CFI is the main framework governing current public and private commitments to end cocoa-related deforestation and support cocoa farmer livelihoods.As Ernest Dwamena of Touton explains, \"We need a pragmatic way to end deforestation, to identify the services that need to be provided to farmers, to have a better monitoring system for identifying illegal farms [that are deforesting], to know which farmers to buy from and which not to, and how to help farmers adapt. USAID can support governments in providing better services and to collaborate with companies to stop deforestation.\" Sander Muilerman, World Cocoa Foundation's Climate Smart Cocoa Program Manager has hope for the industry explaining that, \"The Climate Smart Cocoa work has informed the broad collaboration of governments, industry and farmers under the Cocoa & Forests Initiative. Several companies are including CSC activities in their company action plans. The process of consultation with scientists and researchers has spawned other lines of collaboration with our corporate members and government authorities which builds on and incorporates the CSA research and CSC training manual.\" Companies shared that farmers lack financing options to implement many of the CSC Several companies expressed the need for expanded financing options for cocoa farmers to be able to implement climate smart recommendations such as tree renovation and rehabilitation, as well as general farm maintenance. Companies themselves lack the expertise and structures to provide this type of financing on a large scale.Indeed, a recent report by Rainforest Alliance and Rabo Partnerships finds that lending to Ghanaian cocoa farmers for CSA investments is very limited and farmers are under-financed to undertake climate smart practices. This dearth of smallholder financing can be explained by the complexity of structuring these loans, and the real and perceived risks of agricultural lending. Tree replanting in particular requires large investments upfront that farmers need to repay over the long-term, and farmers need to have savings or other funds available to survive lower income while the young trees mature for three to four years.According to the report, helping farmers to take this necessary step towards resilience requires blended finance, likely through aggregators such as farmer cooperatives, and specifically through a combination of lending and subsidy to weather negative cash flows. In this context, there is opportunity for USAID to collaborate with COCOBOD and other Ghanaian government players to address the significant financing gap.In addition, once benefit sharing under the ERP/GCFRP is put in place, farmers could qualify for results-based payments (i.e., from the Green Climate Fund), which would serve as an alternative incentive for undertaking CSC practices including renovation. Similarly, the creation of a market for premium coffee from CSC landscapes could increase prices and incentivize farmers' resilience investments.The impact zones designated as Transform Zones will likely not be suitable for cocoa in the medium term. Given this knowledge, companies either are already or over time will be transitioning away from supporting farmers in these areas and focusing their sustainability programming in their (new) sourcing regions. The recommendation for these zones -to help farmers diversify income streams and transition to new crops -requires significant additional research, investment, and training, and without companies leading the charge here, there is a risk, without near-term prioritization by public entities, that these communities fall through the cracks and slide deeper into poverty.Additionally, there is an opportunity to partner with companies that trade multiple commodities -those currently trading in cocoa and those that do not -to move into transformation zones to source new crops, and benefit from earlier farmer investments (i.e., trainings in Good Agronomic Practices)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3291529eeda22f6db31e627304909f08","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b941082f-cdaf-4029-a137-f04f0e84e25d/retrieve","id":"-630518083"},"keywords":["indigenous parasitoids","invasive pests","emergency actions","conservative and augmentative biological control"],"sieverID":"443b298c-4b78-4f5a-8a06-edd7b6991b33","content":"Fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, was reported in Cameroon for the first time in 2017 and by the end of 2018; the pest was found all over the country. Cameroon is among the first countries in Africa where the southern armyworm (SAW), Spodoptera eridania, another economical important armyworm was reported. The African governments adopted emergency actions around chemical insecticides despite the range of economic and health risks associated with chemical control. This work aims at identifying parasitoids (natural enemies) of armyworms and test their acceptability, suitability, and host range on Spodoptera spp., that can play a significant role in the sustainable management of these spodopterans. Field surveys conducted lead to the identification of two egg and four larval parasitoids. The fall armyworm was the predominant spodopteran. Laboratory studies were conducted to assess the performance of parasitoids associated with both pests in Cameroon. T. remus showed significantly higher parasitism on FAW than SAW, with significantly shorter development time on FAW, while inducing significant non-reproductive mortality on FAW. Laboratory performance of larval parasitoid was not compared between the two spodopterans identified but the developmental parameters showed that C. icipe has a shorter development time compared to other larval parasitoids.Spodoptera Guenée (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a genus that comprises 31 species [1,2]. Species from this genus are commonly known as armyworms among which eight have been reported in Africa since the 1970s [3]. This includes Spodoptera exempta (Walker), S. exigua (Hübner), S. triturata (Walker), S. mauritia (Boisduval), S. cilium (Guenée), S. apertura (Walker), S. littoralis (Boisduval), and S. malagasy (Viette) [4]. Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) was reported later from Africa in Ghana on okra [5]. Fall armyworm (FAW) S. frugiperda (J.E. Smith) and southern armyworm (SAW) S. eridania (Stoll), have recently invaded Africa and causing havoc since 2016 [6,7]. Among these armyworms, only S. frugiperda is reported to feed on both monocots and dicots [8], with a host range of about 353 recorded plant species in 76 families [9]. FAW has become the major threat to maize production in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) since its first report in Africa. Significant damages to maize in farmers' fields have been recorded with yield losses estimated around 8.3-20.5 mil tons, equivalent to some US$2.5-6.2 billion from 12 countries in Africa [10]. FAW was reported in Cameroon for the first time in 2017 [11]. The distribution, population genetics, and damage of FAW assessed through a country-wide survey in 2017 revealed its presence in all regions, the existence of two haplotypes in four of its five agro-ecological zones, and damage levels spread equally across these locations [12]. Less is known and reported on the fact that at the same time FAW was being detected in various African countries, the other closely related species, SAW, also of high economic importance, was reported in the continent [6]. SAW distribution, population genetics, and damage in the country and the continent, in general, has not been assessed, although it occurs throughout the Americas, and has been reported on 202 host plant species from 58 families [13].To tackle FAW and in an initial belief of its eradication on the continent, governments and regional bodies across Africa quickly adopted emergency actions predominantly built around the use of synthetic insecticides, with no consideration for potential associations from indigenous natural enemies existing in the system. But their efforts were futile because little success has been registered in the reduction of infestation and damage on maize, yet leading to higher cost of production and development of resistance to pesticides [10,12,14,15]. Four years following the first report of the pest on the continent, it has now been noted that the pest established populations in all the countries where it was reported, denoting that eradication programs and emergencies actions should be replaced by sustainable interventions since the pest is here to stay [16]. While spraying chemical pesticides indiscriminately, limited to no efforts were made in most African countries to assess the beneficial complex, particularly parasitoids, that could adapt and re-associate with the invasive pests on the continent. Yet it is common knowledge that other Spodoptera species have been kept under control throughout the continent. Furthermore, considering the polyphagous nature of the pests, we hypothesize that interventions limited to farm level are likely not enough to ensure the sustainable management of the pest. Natural enemies, parasitoids, entomopathogenic fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, as well as predators constitute an immense resource that could offer additional value outside farmed areas by following the pests even in the wild. They are central to the development of integrated pest management (IPM) systems [17]. Indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides could lead to the decimation of the beneficial and lead to an outbreak of pests that were kept under control in the systems over decades. However, to protect these beneficials non-target effect of most pesticides are required but a pre-requisite for this is to know the potential indigenous natural enemies in the system, as well as assess their potential ecosystem services provided against existing potential spodopteran pests, but most importantly their potential association with the newly invasive S. frugiperda in Africa.Among the natural enemies, parasitoids have been reported as the most common natural enemies used with biological control of spodopterans being well documented for the Americas, especially in Central America [18] and in the southern part where 86 of the 150 species parasitizing FAW were reported [19][20][21]. Among these parasitoids, Telenomus remus Nixon (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) and Trichogramma spp. (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) are the main egg parasitoids of FAW in North and South America, where they are already used in augmentative biological control [22][23][24]. Around the America, larval parasitoids such as the Braconidae: Meteorus autographae Muesebeck, Meteorus laphygmae Viereck, Chelonus texanus Cresson, Cotesia marginiventris (Cresson, 1865), Aleiodes laphygmae have been reported on S. eridania, while Aleiodes vaughani (Muesebeck) share both S. cosmioides (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and S. eridania [25]. The Ichneumonidae: Campoletis flavicincta (Ashmead) and Campoletis sonorensis (Cameron), Ophion spp, and Eiphosoma dentator (Fabricius) were reported on S. eridania in Central and South America and the Caribbean [26,27]. The most recent effort to identify parasitoids of spodopterans is the report by Freitas [27] about the first record of Cotesia scotti (Valerio and Whitfield) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) as a parasitoid of the black armyworm S. cosmioides and the Southern armyworm S. eridania in Brazil. Similar efforts on the identification of parasitoids of lepidopterans are needed worldwide where the armyworm invaded.Little is known about the natural enemies of fall armyworm in Africa since it is a recent pest. Reports about parasitism of other spodopterans including the SAW are scarce with most of them being highly polyphagous or associated with FAW also. T. remus, an egg parasitoid initially considered for introduction into Africa, has been recently reported to be present in Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Niger, and South Africa [15]. This species is among the 150 parasitoids recorded in the Americas but was introduced from Malaysia to parts of Africa, precisely Cape Verde as well as to America, Asia, and Europe against S. exempta, S. exigua, and S. littoralis [15]. In Ethiopia, three larval parasitoids namely Cotesia icipe Fernandez-Triana & Fiaboe (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), Palexorista zonata Curran (Diptera: Tachinidae), Coccygidium luteum Brullé (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) have been identified [28]. In Kenya, four larval endoparasitoids Charops ater Szépligeti (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), C. icipe, P. zonata, C. luteum and two egg parasitoids Chelonus curvimaculatus Cameron (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and Trichogramma sp. (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) were reported from FAW [28]. In Tanzania, two species C. ater and C. luteum were reported [28]. In maize and sorghum fields in Niger three egg parasitoids, Trichogrammatoidea sp. (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae), Trichogramma sp., and Telenomus sp.; one egg-larval parasitoid Chelonus sp.; four larval parasitoids, Cotesia sp., Charops sp., and unidentified ichneumonid and tachinid fly are reported on FAW [29]. Although there are no reports of isolated entomopathogens, the efficacy of Metarhizium anisopliae and Beauveria bassiana, have been shown against eggs and second-instar larvae of FAW in the laboratory [30]. In Cameroon, studies conducted to assess FAW presence, geographic distribution, and levels of infestation and damage, noted the presence of potential natural enemies like spiders, predatory wasps, earwigs, larval, and eggs endoparasitoids [12]. However, these were only preliminary results with their identification limited to family level with confirmation needed.This study, led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), is an effort to identify the diversity and roles of indigenous parasitoids species associated with armyworms on various host plant species and under different agro-ecological zones in Cameroon. The specific objectives are to: (i) Identify the natural enemies associated with armyworms and their parasitism rates; (ii) determine the geographic distribution and host range of indigenous natural enemies; and (iii) assess the biological performance of the parasitoids on their respective spodopteran hosts. This information is critical in developing and achieving efficient and sustainable management of the invasive armyworm pests by integrating conservative and augmentative biological control into an IPM package that not only controls the pest in cultivated areas but also in the wild.Seven rounds of field surveys were conducted in Cameroon, three in 2017 as the exploratory phase, three in 2019, and one in 2020 to assess parasitism rates. The first phase was conducted to establish the diversity and distribution of parasitoids and took place between February to March, May to June, and October to November 2017 representing peak maize production periods. Surveyed fields fall within four of the five agro-ecological zones namely the Guinea savannah (Adamawa region) as Zone II, the Western Highlands with savannah vegetation and mono-modal rainfall (West and North-West regions) as Zone III, the humid forest with mono-modal rainfall (Littoral and South-West regions) as Zone IV and warm and humid forest with bi-modal rainfall (Center, South, and East regions) as Zone V (Figure 1). The Soudano-sahelian Zone with erratic rainfall (North and Far North regions) as Zone I was excluded because of security reasons. During the exploratory survey, 420 fields were surveyed in 261 villages grouped in 61 locations (Table 1). After the exploratory phase, four surveys were conducted for the second phase with three in 2019 from May to June, July to August, September to October 2019, and one from January to April 2020. These second and third phases were to determine the rates of field parasitism of armyworm immature stages by various parasitoid species and targeted locations in a radius of 200 km from Yaoundé to cover two agro-ecological zones; the humid forest with monomodal rainfall (Littoral and South-West regions) which is Zone IV and the humid forest with bi-modal rainfall (Center, South and East regions) which is Zone V (Figure 1). The locations involved were Pouma and Edea in Zone IV and Monatele, Bafia, Ntui, Yaoundé and Mbalmayo in Zone V. However, Bafia and Ntui with savannah vegetation type and almost mono-modal rainfall pattern represent a transition Zone between Zone III and Zone V. However, the rates of parasitism from exploratory phase have been included in this study. During the study to determine field parasitism, 176 fields were surveyed in 72 villages across the six locations or districts (Table 1). For the three years, a minimum of three districts were surveyed per round in each agro-ecological zone visited. In each district at least three fields, one per village were sampled. During the dry season, maize is cultivated mainly in areas with irrigation systems or in valleys and riverbanks with sufficient soil moisture.  The surveys were carried out on farmers' crop fields with their permission. At least two districts were visited per region and three per agro-ecological Zone and at least three villages visited per district or location. The number of fields sampled in each location was based on the availability at the time of sampling, presence of armyworm symptoms, and only unsprayed fields were considered. For all surveys, to avoid sampling fields that were close to each other, one field was sampled per village unless constrained by the unavailability of fields then more than one field could be sampled per village. In each field, geographic coordinates (using handheld Garmin GPS) were collected. Before sampling in any field, the owner's consent was sought and obtained, and the farmer was requested to provide information on the planting date and whether the field was sprayed with pesticides or not. Provided information was treated anonymously.Maize or other known host plants around maize fields were inspected, and all larvae and egg batches found were collected from the whole field with field sizes ranging from 50 m 2 to 0.25 ha. Where fields were bigger, a subplot of 0.25 ha was selected and sampled for larvae collection. Each sampled field was divided into four equal plots and in each plot, scouting was done by inspecting 20 plants, moving along a W-shape design. The middle of the field was also sampled, making 100 plants surveyed per field. Distance between the two consecutive plants was a function of field size and shape but was representative of the plot area [31]. The number of larvae (from neonates to instar 4) and egg batches collected was recorded. Larvae were placed in ventilated plastic transparent 1 L jars (about 15 cm high and 10 cm diameter) with leaves of respective host plants as diet while egg batches were placed individually in vials (7 cm height and 2.5 cm diameter) aerated with plastic lids, for incubation, labeled and taken to the insectary at IITA station in Yaoundé (03 • 51.791 N; 011 • 27.706 E, 747 masl). Parasitoid cocoons found in the field were collected individually in the same type of vials used for egg batches. The same types of vials were used for the collection of already parasitized egg batches. Parasitized egg batches had eggs that were completely dark (not black-head-stage). All specimens were maintained under laboratory conditions with a photoperiod of 12 L:12D at room temperature of 25 • C and 80% RH.To ensure proper identification of stage and host insect from which each parasitoid species was collected, the different lepidopteran larvae were separated according to species before rearing and spodopterans that pupated already in the field and found in the leaf funnels, leaf axis, ears, or closed tassels were recorded as unknown species, then placed individually in the same type of vials used for eggs, and identity confirmed at lepidopteran adult emergence. Similarly, egg batches were separated according to species based on the collection site and isolated per batch. The cocoon of parasitoids emerging from respective lepidopteran larvae or pupae in the laboratory were placed individually in vials (7 cm height and 2.5 cm diameter) till parasitoid adult emergence. Some adults from parasitized eggs, larvae, or pupa were labeled according to location, stage, and species of Lepidoptera from which they emerged and preserved in 96% ethanol for identification purposes. Specimens of adult parasitoids were sent to the Natural History Museum in London, United Kingdom where the identification was done by Dr. Andrew Polaszek for Scelionidae and Trichogrammatidae and Dr Gavin Broad for Braconidae and Ichneumonidae. The remaining live adults in the laboratory were used to establish their respective colonies for biological tests for their acceptability and suitability on Spodoptera species respective stages.Approximately 200 larvae of various instars for each of the two spodopteran species viz. S. frugiperda and S. eridania were collected from maize and other crop fields such as tomatoes, Amaranthus, grasses, and weeds around the IITA Cameroon station (3.86353 • N, 11.4630 • E and 764 m a.s.l). Attempts were made to rear and maintain colonies of both species on maize and amaranthus leaves. The larvae were placed individually to avoid cannibalism into ventilated plastic jars (used for rearing field-collected larvae) in the laboratory and fed with leaves from respective host plants. The pupae of each spodopteran species were collected and placed in a moistened Petri dish (9-cm diameter) in oviposition cages of size 80 cm × 50 cm × 70 cm. Sterile cotton soaked in tap water was placed in a Petri dish of 5.5-cm diameter inside each oviposition cage while honey was provided as droplets at the upper side of the cage as a food source for the emerging adults. Each oviposition cage was provided with ten surrogate stems each prepared by wounding wax papers in a spiral form as an oviposition substrate. A photoperiod of 12 L: 12D at room temperature of 25 • C and 80% RH was maintained in the rearing and oviposition room. After approximately two to three days, black-head-stage egg batches were collected from the oviposition cages and placed in the same type of vials used for field-collected egg batches with a plastic aerated lid. Eggs were monitored daily for hatching; as soon as the first instars emerged, they were transferred using a camel-hair brush onto soft and fresh leaves of the host plant in the jars described previously for the rearing of larvae. Laboratory colony of each Spodoptera species was maintained for about five generations before these experiments; it was infused at least once every three months with wild individuals emerging from field samples. The diet was changed as need be by transferring the larvae onto new leaves in clean jars until pupation. Petri dishes, cages, and plastic jars were labeled according to species and dates.All the cocoons emerging from respective spodopteran larvae or pupae originating from field collection were placed in ventilated Petri-dishes of 9-cm diameter. These parasitoids were monitored for adult emergence. Adult parasitoids obtained were isolated in a Plexiglas cage (15 cm × 15 cm × 15 cm) ventilated on two opposite sides with fine mesh and provided with water and honey. A light source was provided for mating for 24 h before starting the exposition of armyworm immature stages. To establish colonies of parasitoids, for each parasitoid species, an adult female was provided with about 15 larvae (5-9 days-old) of each armyworm, with leaves of the host plant as a diet for larvae; larvae were renewed daily until the death of the female parasitoid. After exposure, larvae were placed in the same type of plastic jars used for rearing larvae, with host-plant leaf diet and monitored for parasitoid cocoon emergence. Diet was changed every two days until pupation of un-parasitized larvae. In each Plexiglas cage, the adult parasitoids were fed with honey droplets provided on the upper surface of the cage, and cotton soaked with distilled water was provided. The procedure was continuous to increase the population of parasitoids under the same room condition as for armyworm. All Petri dishes, cages, and jars were labeled according to host insect, parasitoid species, and dates.All parasitoids emerging from respective armyworm species egg-batches brought back from the field were fed in the same container in which they were incubated by providing thin droplets of honey at the upper surface of the type of vials used for field-collected egg batches. A 1-mm probe was used to make holes on the lid for aeration and a fine mesh was used to fasten the lid to prevent the escape of the tinny adults. Newly laid individual egg batches found on surrogate stems from oviposition cage were removed with part of the surrogate stem and introduced into each vial (7 cm height and 2.5 cm diameter) containing live adults of egg parasitoids. The batch exposed in the vial was allowed to be parasitized for 24 h. After the exposition, each egg batch was removed and transferred into a new vial. All the vials were maintained at room conditions similar to those for rearing armyworms and monitored till adult emergence. All vials were labeled with dates, host insect, and parasitoid species name.Colonies of parasitoid species were successfully established only for Charops sp., C. icipe, and C. luteum hence only their performance as parasitoids was tested. The two sexes were often not obtained at the same time during studies on S. eridania, hence the biological parameters of Charops sp., C. icipe, and C. luteum were studied only on S. frugiperda the most important maize spodopteran pest. For host suitability test, second to third-instar (10 days old) host larvae were introduced with small pieces of young maize leaf tissue with leaf funnels (2.5 cm by 10 cm) into a 15 cm × 15 cm × 15 cm Perspex cage containing each larval parasitoid species. Leaf funnels were fixed vertically to the bottom of the containers with a small piece of masking tape. Host densities were 15 to 60 larvae per cage for two to five cohorts of mated naïve females of each larval parasitoid species and labeled according to parasitoid species and date of introduction. Five containers (replicates) were kept at larval rearing conditions for 24 h to be parasitized. The parasitoids were fed in a similar way as during colony rearing and a light source provided stimulate mating before exposure to larvae and during the experimental period. Larvae were then removed and reared in the same type of plastic jars used during rearing spodopteran larvae and fed with a natural diet until the emergence of parasitoids or pupation of the host. A new set of larvae and fresh diet was introduced every 24 h for parasitism repeatedly for five times. The pupa or cocoon and development time to adult emergence and adult longevity were recorded. The number of adult emerging from each replicate were noted and was used to compute the parasitism rates. The set-up was arranged in a completely randomized design and vial, cages, jars labeled according to host insect, parasitoid name, date of experiments, and by replicate. Fifty larvae were set aside for control mortality (10 per replicate in five replications) and not exposed to the parasitoid to assess the natural mortality of the hosts under the same rearing conditions. The larvae were reared individually till pupation and the number of dead larvae were counted and divided by the total number of larvae per replicate and multiplied by 100 to get percent natural mortality.During this study, only the biological performance of T. remus whose colony was successfully established was evaluated. For egg parasitism, the procedure for studying its biological performance was like the procedure described for the colony production. The experiment was replicated five times with 50 to 100 egg batches exposed per replicate. Since un-parasitized eggs hatch (at black-head-stage) within three days, neonates hatching from them were removed to prevent cannibalism of parasitized eggs by neonates of the same batch and counted to determine egg parasitism. After removing the neonates, the remaining eggs and those of other batches were monitored daily until all eggs of a batch were completely dark (not black-head-stage) indicating that they were parasitized. The rate of egg parasitism was calculated by dividing the number of parasitized eggs by the total number of eggs for every batch multiplied by 100 and taking the average rate of egg parasitism of all batches. The number of parasitized eggs and parasitoids adults obtained per batch were used to estimate the emergence rate by dividing the number of adult parasitoids by the number of parasitized eggs multiplied by 100. Egg batches that did not have their eggs parasitized were noted to determine batch parasitism by dividing the total number of parasitized batches by the total number of batches collected multiplied by 100. Eggs within the same batch that hatched to neonates and added to the number of adult parasitoids from the same batch were used to determine egg viability rate by dividing this number by the total number of eggs of the batch multiplied by 100. The other egg batches were set aside for control mortality and not exposed to the parasitoid to assess the natural mortality of the hosts under the same rearing conditions. The number of unhatched eggs were counted and divided by the total number of eggs per batch and multiplied by 100 to get percent natural mortality. Parasitoid development time (from exposure to adult emergence) was evaluated by recording the date of exposure and date of adult emergence, while the date the adults died were recorded to estimate adult longevity. Based on the length of antennae (shorter for female), the sex ratio was estimated and recorded as the percentage of females in the total number (female and males) of adult parasitoids. The experimental design and set up and labeling were the same as that of larval parasitoids.For acceptability studies, 100 females were isolated from a cage after mating for 2 h and placed individually in the same type of vials used for exposure of egg batches to adult T. remus. To each adult, a newly laid egg batch was offered for oviposition and observed for 2 h. After 2 h the proportion of adult females that accepted to parasitized and attack the egg mass offered to them for oviposition was noted.Data collected for the field survey were summarized by descriptive statistics (counts and percentages). Percent parasitism was calculated by dividing the number of parasitoids that emerged by the total number of larvae collected for field samples or by dividing the number of parasitoids that emerged during laboratory exposure by the total number of larvae incubated after exposure to parasitoids and multiplied by 100 [32]. The relative abundance of parasitoids was calculated by dividing the number of each parasitoid species by the total number of parasitoids collected according to categories (egg or larval parasitoids) and multiplied by 100 and non-parametric test applied to compare the relative abundance among the species. Percent parasitism for each districts were subjected to a non-parametric analysis (because of variability in field parameters) to compare parasitism between seasons using Chi-square test. Where significant differences were found the Dunn test was used to separate the means.For data on biological parameters of the larval parasitoids in the laboratory, the normality was tested and all except parasitism rate showed a normal distribution. For the normally distributed data, analysis of variance (ANOVA) between the performance of the various parasitoid species was performed including non-reproductive mortality and the Tukey test applied for post-hoc means separation. The t-test was performed between the non-reproductive mortality and natural mortality. Due to their non-normal distribution, the Kruskal Wallis non-parametric test was used for data on parasitism rates, and Dunn Test was conducted for mean separation after multiple comparisons.Similarly, the Kruskal Wallis non-parametric test was conducted for comparison between FAW and SAW for the performance of T. remus in egg count, egg viability, development time, parasitism rate, adult emergence rate, sex ratio, adult longevity, and significance of non-reproductive mortality. The non-reproductive egg mortality was assessed in the best-performing parasitoid, T. remus, using Abbot's formula [33]. The significance of the non-reproductive mortality was also analyzed by comparing the natural egg mortalities recorded in control with mortalities recorded in presence of the egg parasitoid using Kruskal Wallis. All analyses were performed in R software version 4.0.2.Six species of parasitoids were found from the field study; two egg parasitoids and four larval parasitoids (Figure 2). The egg parasitoids were T. remus and Trichogramma chilonis (Ishi) and the larval parasitoids were Charops sp., C. luteum, C. sesamiae, and C. icipe. All these species were identified to species level by NHM except for C. sesamiae which is already reported [34] and Charops which is likely a new species. The specimens from Cameroon were compared with all world species except Charops flavipes (Brullé) whose holotype could not be obtained by the museum during the time of this work. The Cameroonian species was different from all the world Charops species obtained. Between the two egg parasitoids, T. remus was the most abundant with a relative abundance of 93.1% (11,140 individuals; χ 2 1,40) = 12.77.; p = 0.0004). It is extremely tinny (only 0.5 mm in length) and invisible to naked eyes in the field as well as in the laboratory, but is also the most widely distributed. The second egg parasitoid T. chilonis comes from a group of species that, however, are similar to each other and are also very small in body size (about 0.5 mm) with 101 individuals (7.7%). The most abundant larval parasitoid was C. icipe with 133 individuals (65%) followed by Charops. sp. with 48 (24.8%), C. sesamiae with 20 (7.3% and lastly C. luteum was 3 (2.9%) (χ 2  3,80) = 24.82; p < 0.0001; Figure 2). The distribution and combination of two or more parasitoids per location are presented in Figure 3  Two species of Spodoptera were collected, namely, S. frugiperda and S. eridania (Table 2) with 5521 and 2638 larvae collected respectively. The FAW was found in all locations on maize (99.96%) but also on amaranthus (0.04%) in Pouma and Edea all in the Littoral region within Zone IV (humid forest with mono-modal rainfall). SAW was found mostly in Edea on amaranthus, groundnuts, and maize, in Pouma on maize and amaranthus all in the Littoral region. It was also found in Yaounde, Center region (humid forest with bi-modal rainfall) on tomato, amaranthus, and tropical chickweed (TCW) Drymaria cordata. SAW was the most distributed among the host plants (Table 2); however, 100% plant damage was observed in Edea and 50% in a tomato nursery when not treated in Yaoundé. Telenomus remus was found in three agro-ecological zones during all three years of the surveys and in all ten locations except Pouma and Monatele from FAW all on maize. From SAW, it was found only in Zone IV (Edea) with forest and mono-modal rainfall and only on Amaranthus. Trichogramma chilonis was recorded only during the last survey in 2020 from FAW on maize in Mbalmayo in Zone V, while C. sesamiae was only found during the first survey in 2017 from FAW on maize in Zone IV (Kumba); C. icipe was also collected on FAW from only two zones (IV and V with respectively) and seven locations except in Kumba (Zone IV), Kumbo and Foumbot (Zone III) on maize, but on SAW it was found only on amaranthus in Zone IV (Edea and Pouma) and V (Yaounde), and on plantain in Zone V (Yaounde). Charops sp. was recorded in two zones, Zone IV (Kumba) and Zone V in five locations (Bafia, Mbalmayo, Monatélé, Ntui, Yaounde) out of seven locations from FAW on maize. On SAW, it was collected from tropical chickweed at Yaoundé (Zone V). C. luteum was found only in one location (Ntui) in Zone V (Table 3). During this study a hyperparasitoid Elasmus flaviceps Ferrière (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) was recovered from C. icipe's cocoons on SAW infesting amaranthus in Yaoundé in Zone V.The highest parasitism rate was obtained from egg parasitism of FAW by T. remus ranging in all seven locations from 52.6% in Ntui to 100% in Mbalmayo and Kumba on maize with more than 90% parasitism in the other four districts where eggs were collected (Table 4). In Mbalmayo, T. chilonis was also collected with 100% parasitism rates. The single egg batch of SAW obtained in Edea from amaranthus was parasitized while out of 36 egg batches of SAW obtained in Yaoundé from Amaranthus, 32 (88.9%) were parasitized and egg parasitism was 98.3% (Table 4).   Among the larval parasitoids, parasitism by C. icipe ranged from 0.1 to 4.1% on FAW on maize and from 0.3 to 40.0% on SAW on amaranthus with the highest values recorded in the same Zone IV from Pouma and Edea respectively (Table 5). Both pests had the same parasitism rate of 4.1% on maize. Parasitism by Charops sp. ranged from 0.3 to 3.5% with the highest recorded in Yaoundé (Nkolbisson) followed by Bafia with 3.4% from maize on FAW. The only location from which parasitism of SAW by Charops sp. occurred was Nkolbisson from Tropical chickweed (2.3%) and amaranthus (0.9%). In the sole location Ntui in Zone V where C. luteum was found, the parasitism rate was 0.3% on FAW on maize. For C. sesamiae 0.5% parasitism was recorded on FAW on maize, from Zone IV (Kumba) (Table 5). Cotesia icipe and Charops sp. were the larval parasitoid recorded from the two spodopteran pests, while C. luteum and C. sesamiae were recorded only on FAW. Trichogramma chilonis was collected only once hence the results are presented only for T. remus. In the mono-modal highland savannah (Zone III), egg parasitism has been reported only for the dry season for both districts (Foumbot and Kumbo) visited since egg of FAW were found only in the dry season (Table 6). No SAW eggs were collected in this zone. No larval parasitoid was collected in this zone III and no SAW larvae were collected as well (Table 6). \"-\" (no collection); dry (dry season from November to February); rainy (Rainy season from March to October).On the contrary, in Zone IV (mono-modal warm humid forest) although eggs were collected in both seasons in the district of Edea (Littoral region), parasitism was observed only in the rainy season (Table 6). However, in the dry season one egg batch of SAW was collected in Zone IV still from Edea with all eggs parasitize by Telenomus remus (Table 6). There was a significant variation in the number of larvae collected between the seasons with more individual recorded during the rainy season (X 2 = 3.8; p = 0.04). However, parasitism was not statistically different between the seasons for C. icipe (χ 2  1,2) = 0.05; p = 0.62) while Charops sp. and C. sesamiae were recorded only in the dry season (Table 6). For SAW, only C. icipe was collected and in the dry season with no significant effect of season on the number of SAW larva collected (Table 6).Zone V (bi-modal warm humid forest) has two dry and two rainy seasons but parasitism was observed in all season with rate in the rainy ranging from 0 to 84.7 ± 10.3% for egg parasitism and from 0 to 78.8 ± 9.3 for egg batch parasitism; while rates in the dry season from 0 to 37.5 ± 26.5% for egg batch and 0 to 49.7 ± 35.1% for egg parasitism (Table 7). For SAW, eggs were collected in the rainy season only in Mbalmayo and in the dry season only in Yaounde but only the those in Yaounde were parasitized at rates of 98.3% and 88.9% for egg and batch parasitism respectively (Table 7). No significant differences were found among seasons in egg parasitism (p ≥ 0.05). For larval parasitoids, parasitism ranged from 0 to 1.9 ± 0.5% in the rainy season and from 0 to 51.3 ± 48.7% in the dry season but with no significant difference among seasons (Table 7). For SAW, larval parasitism was obtained only for Charops sp. and C. icipe in dry season 2 and only for Charops sp. in rainy season 1 but no significant differences among seasons was obtained (Table 7). In the laboratory, the three larval parasitoids Charops sp., C. icipe, and C. luteum tested successfully parasitized and developed on S. frugiperda. When FAW larvae were exposed to adult parasitoids, the non-reproductive mortality for Charops sp was 12.2 ± 1.5%, that of C. icipe was 6.4 ± 2.6% and C. luteum was 3.8 ± 2.3% (F 2,12 = 3.94; p = 0.048; Table 8). The natural mortality of FAW larvae was 0% for all three larval parasitoids and nonreproductive mortality was significant only for Charops sp. (t = 7.98; p = 0.001), but not for C. luteum (t = 1.63; p = 0.179) and C. icipe (t = 2.45; p = 0.07). C. icipe showed the highest parasitism rate of 55.9 ± 12.6% statistically different from Charops sp. (χ 2 2,12 = 6.26; p = 0.044; Table 8). C. icipe also had significantly the shortest development time from egg to pupa (11.3 ± 1.6 days; F 2,12 = 6.90; p = 0.010). There was no significant difference between parasitoid species in pupa to adult and egg to adult durations and the duration of the biological cycle (p > 0.05; Table 8). The adult longevity for Charops sp. was 13.0 ± 3.1 days; C. icipe, 16.1 ± 1.3 days and for C. luteum, 7.5 ± 0.9 days (F 2,12 = 5.35; p = 0.029; Table 8).The initial host submission of egg batches to T. remus for acceptability resulted in 93.0 ± 1.74% and 91.6 ± 2.06% of egg batches of the FAW and SAW respectively, successfully attacked by the egg parasitoid, with no significant difference between hosts (χ 2 1,45 = 2.155; p = 0.142). For the egg parasitoid T. remus successfully parasitized S. eridania and S. frugiperda (Table 9). The average number of eggs per batch were 154.6 ± 5.4 and 145.7 ± 9.2 eggs (χ 2  1,439 = 5.6; p = 0.018) for S. frugiperda and S. eridania respectively. Egg viabilities of 64.3 ± 2.0% and 50.6 ± 2.8% (χ 2  1,439 = 10.0; p = 0.002) were recorded for S. frugiperda and S. eridania respectively (Table 9). The natural mortality of FAW eggs was 8.70 ± 5.8 and statistically lower than the mortality in presence of the egg parasitoid, 23.1 ± 2.2 (χ 2  1,439 = 4.39; p = 0.036). The significant non-reproductive mortality obtained was 9.99% on this pest. For SAW, the natural mortality of eggs was 50.0 ± 11.0 and statistically similar to the mortality in presence of the egg parasitoid where 52.7 ± 3.7 was obtained (χ 2  1,110 = 0.0003; p = 0.987). There were also significant differences in parasitism rates, higher on FAW (χ 2  1,432 = 24.0; p < 0.001), development time, longer on SAW (χ 2  1,386 = 88.6; p < 0.001), but had similar adult emergence rate (χ 2 1,310 = 1.1; p = 0.300). The sex ratio of emerged adults was higher on SAW (χ 2  1,303 = 73.5; p < 0.001) and they lived longer on FAW (χ 2  1,240 = 17.9; p < 0.001; Table 9). Similarly, to most countries across the African continent, Cameroon agricultural authorities approved emergency actions against FAW built around chemical pesticides without initially assessing the complex of Spodopteran pests in the country nor the complex of natural enemies associated with it. This is the first work in the country to document both the complex of armyworms and their natural enemies.This study reveals that the composition of armyworms in Cameroon is dominated by the fall armyworm on maize and southern armyworm on amaranthus, both in terms of abundance and distribution. However, among the two Spodoptera species recorded, S. eridania had the highest host plant range. A report by Montezano et al. (2018) indicated that fall armyworm is a polyphagous pest with a host range of about 353 recorded plant species in 76 families, whereas S. eridania was reported on 202 host plants species from 58 families [2]. In this study, FAW was found only on maize and amaranthus in Cameroon, with maize being by far the main host plant, with 99.96% of its larvae collected on this plant alone. On the other hand, in Cameroon SAW was obtained from amaranthus, groundnuts, maize, tropical chickweed, and tomato in this study, with amaranthus and tomato being the main hosts having 75% and 12% of its larvae respectively. The latter species was reported for the first time in Cameroon on tomato in 2017 [6]. Two years later, during the current study, it was found causing significant damage on amaranthus with some farmers experiencing 100% plant damage in Edea and 50% of a tomato nursery damage when not treated with insecticides in Yaoundé. This is also the first report of S. eridania on amaranthus in Cameroon and second in Africa after Benin [6]. Its presence tropical chickweed D. cordata and groundnuts is also the first report in Cameroon, Africa, and the world. While S. exempta, S. littoralis, and S. triturata had already been previously reported in Cameroon [3,35], they were not found in the present study suggesting that more intensive prospection is still needed. The presence of other Spodopteran species in the system opens the avenue of potential natural enemies dueling with them and that could be recruited for the natural control of the invasive Spodopteran species. More extensive and intensive prospection studies are however warranted in the country and region for more exhaustive cataloging on spodopteran species complex.Six parasitoids species, composed of two egg parasitoids and four larval parasitoids, were found during this study. While conducting similar work in three different countries in East Africa, four species were found [36]. Except for the egg parasitoids T. remus and T. chilonis, as well as the gregarious larval parasitoid C. sesamiae, they found the other three larval endoparasitoids recorded in the current study, in addition to Palexorista zonata (Curran) (Diptera: Tachinidae) and one egg parasitoid C. curvimaculatus which was not found in our study. However, in Niger alone, eight parasitoids were recorded including three egg parasitoids Trichogrammatoidea sp., Trichogramma sp., and Telenomus sp.; one egg-larval parasitoid Chelonus sp.; four larval parasitoids, Cotesia sp., Charops sp., and unidentified ichneumonid and tachinid [29]. The presence of T. chilonis in Cameroon is the second report in Africa on fall armyworm after Kenya [35]. However, 18 species of Trichogramma were already recorded long ago, with eight Trichogrammatoidea and 11 Telenomus species from eggs of borer pests [37,38]. The egg parasitoids T. remus is also the main egg parasitoids of FAW in North and South America [22][23][24]. The current study is therefore significant for the development of biological control of spodopterans. However, such efforts will be guided by ecological factors such as climate, host plant, and host insect because the present study showed differences in distribution and abundance of the various parasitoid species in the study locations, agro-ecological zones, host plants, and host insects. Similar studies are therefore required not only countrywide in Cameroon but through all major maize production areas in Africa where FAW is a potential or real threat to maize production.The egg parasitoid T. remus was found in all three agro-ecological zones and from eight out of eleven locations while C. icipe occurred in seven locations covering two zones and Charops sp. from six locations covering the same two zones as C. icipe. Coccygidium luteum was only in one Zone and one location like C. sesamia and T. chilonis. Within Niger, T. remus was reported from four different locations [29]. These parasitoids appear to be the most distributed parasitoid of armyworms in Africa as they were reported in five different countries [15,28]. The current study is the first report of the gregarious C. sesamiae on S. frugiperda. More extensive and intensive surveys are warranted to associate natural enemies' diversity and abundance with agro-ecological zones and particularly the potential contribution of the humid forest in the current diversity reported versus savannah and arid agro-ecological zones that were not covered in the present study.Telenomus remus and C. icipe shared the two pests on maize and amaranthus. Similarly, many studies have also reported that the egg parasitoid T. remus is a potential biological control agent for three spodopteran, S. frugiperda, S. cosmioides and S. eridania [39][40][41]. Apart from spodopterans, T. remus has recently been reported on the African stalk borer Busseola fusca (Fuller) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on maize [42]. On the other hand, C. icipe was reported on S. exigua and S. littoralis on amaranthus in Kenya [33,43,44]. It also shared the same host insects S. eridania and S. frugiperda like the other larval parasitoid Charops sp.where they also shared the same host plant (maize and amaranthus). Such overlapping of host plants, as well as host insects between and among egg and larval parasitoids, could represent an asset for natural control of FAW in the system as we hypothesize that this could build on synergetic contributions of each parasitoid species in the reduction of the pest population.Field parasitism by egg parasitoids in this study was considerably high (50 to 100%) and similar to those (20 to 70%) in Kenya [37] recently and much higher than those reported in Niger [29] with rates of 0.06 to 33.39%. This suggests that these egg parasitoids should be considered excellent candidates among the biological control agents of FAW for augmentative release [36], but more preferable, measures should be taken to obtain effective conservation biological control. For larval parasitoids, field parasitism by C. icipe was higher on SAW than FAW. Charops sp. recorded similar parasitism on FAW and SAW while C. sesamiae and C. luteum recorded very low parasitism rates. Contrary to egg parasitoids, these results are far below the recent levels reported from other African countries [28,37] apart from C. icipe in Ethiopia that had rates of 45.3% parasitism, close to 40% recorded from SAW on amaranthus in Edea. Lower rates than ours were recorded in Niger [29], while in the eastern region of Ghana higher rates than our case were recorded for C. luteum and Chelonus bifoveolatus Szépligeti (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) [45]. More robust studies are required to assess the potential effect of agro-ecological zones, seasons, and farmer practices on these differences found across countries. However, across all these countries, we hypothesize that if proper measures are taken to prevent harmful pesticide use and promoting environmentally friendly practices, parasitism rates in the systems invaded by FAW will considerably increase. Indeed, the parasitoids reported here are indigenous parasitoids probably thriving on local Spodoptera species before the invasion. New associations being observed may therefore be at their beginning stage and can improve, provided efforts are made to boost natural control of the invasive FAW and SAW in Africa.Parasitism by T. remus ranged from 55.4 to 72.9% in the laboratory. Parasitism rates around this range have also been reported in previous studies [46][47][48] ranging from 58.0% to 80.7% on S. frugiperda. In Brazil, the parasitism of T. remus on S. frugiperda collected from maize and fed on an artificial diet for 36 generations under laboratory conditions varied from 80 to 100% [49]. The release of 5 to 8 thousand T. remus per hectare resulted in 90% parasitism in S. frugiperda eggs in Latin America [22,23] and Venezuela [24]. Such efforts in augmentative biological control should be promoted in Africa to boost natural control.In the highland savannah with monomodal rainfall, and the warm humid coastal forest also with mono-modal rainfall all with one rainfed cropping season, the number of egg batches collected in the dry season were relatively small, the hence effect of season on parasitism is inconclusive in these zones. Sufficient egg batches were collected in the bimodal warm and humid forest with two rainfed cropping season and two dry seasons only for FAW for the four seasons. The rates of egg parasitism was above 75% in both seasons but relatively higher during the rainy season. Studies in Brazil in January 2020 reported a seasonal occurrence of parasitoids with no Trichogrammatoidea sp. emerging from parasitized eggs in dry season [48]. Similarly relatively higher rates of larval parasitism were obtained in the rainy season although the low number of samples for the dry season does not strengthen the observation that the differences were not significant. Trends with relatively higher larval parasitism rates in the rainy season than in the dry have been reported in Mozambique [50] especially for Charops sp and C. luteum on S. frugiperda. More effort should be made to determine the factors responsible for this relative difference between seasons as reports [50] showed higher mortality of C. luteum emerging from dry larvae collected in the dry season. Between the two rainy season of the current study, higher parasitism rate were observed for both C. icipe and Charops sp during the major rainy season from March to June suggesting a seasonal occurrence of the parasitoid [48]. Contrary to our finding, higher parasitism rate was found in the minor rainy season than the major one in Ghana [51]. This contrary result could be due to the fact that the parasitism in the two season were not evaluated from the same locations.Telenomus remus further induced significant non-reproductive mortality in FAW where an additional 9.99% mortality was recorded in the pest in presence of T. remus compared to the natural mortality of the pest. Similarly, significant non-reproductive mortality rates were reported in egg parasitoids, with 17.8% for Telenomus podisi Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) on the stink bug Halyomorpha halys and 81% for Trichogramma pretiosum (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) on Pieris rapae (L.) (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) [52]. On S. frugiperda, similar rates were also reported from larval parasitoids Cotesia flavipes Cameron (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) with 10.0 to 11.5% on FAW pupae but higher on FAW larvae (23 to 36%) and C. sesamiae with 8 to 38% FAW larvae, 3.9 to 20.6% FAW pupae in Kenya [53]. This significant non-reproductive mortality may be associated with injuries caused by (1) multiple visits by parasitoids, implying repeated host stinging (destructive probing) with or without oviposition [54], (2) the introduction of toxic substances [55], or 3) venom arrestment factor injection; and feeding by the parasitoid larva before host-death (destructive host feeding) [56]. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the mechanism through which T. remus induces non-reproductive mortalities in FAW eggs. Moreover, the mechanisms involved in non-reproductive mortality are also influenced by temperatures, parasitoid age, host density, host age, parasitoid species, and parasitoid host [57]. In contrast, no significant non-reproductive mortality was recorded with SAW eggs, probably due to the instability of the colony of this pest in the laboratory. Indeed, while only 8.7% natural mortality was recorded in FAW in the laboratory conditions in the present study, high natural mortality of 50.0% was recorded in SAW under laboratory conditions. Non-reproductive host mortality is an important component of biological control. In Kenya for instance, new association between C. flavipes and C. sesamiae, two indigenous stemborer parasitoids known for ages in the system, and the invasive FAW did not result in successful offspring [53], however high non-reproductive host-mortalities were recorded. Parasitoids' induced host egg abortion is rarely explicitly accounted for, leading to the underestimation of the ecosystem services provided by biological control agents [52]. With the recent invasion of FAW in Africa and Asia, we hypothesize indigenous parasitoids associating with this invasive pest will at the beginning have a high component of non-reproductive mortality while they evolve with the pest to improve parasitism efficiency. We recommended therefore that non-reproductive mortalities be recorded for all measure indigenous parasitoids across agro-ecological zones invaded by FAW.In the laboratory, we found the highest parasitism rate by C. icipe with 55.9 ± 12.6%, close to the parasitism rate of 59.5% on S. exigua [44]. However, a higher rate of 85.59% was obtained on S. littoralis [33]. On fall armyworm other reports indicate up to 65.0% parasitism by C. icipe [58]. These rates demonstrate the high potential of this larval parasitoid which is gradually being reported also from various countries in Africa. This potential of these parasitoids was further increased by the non-reproductive mortality especially for Charops sp with a significant rate of 12.2 ± 1.5% not significantly higher than 6.4 ± 2.6% for C. icipe. On S. frugiperda, varying rates were reported from larval parasitoids C. sesamiae with 8 to 38% FAW larvae in Kenya [53]. Similar rate were obtained for C. icipe for single females [44] against S. exigua, but higher rate were obtained for cohorts of five female against S. exigua [44] and against S. littoralis [33]. This differences could be associated with differences in host pest, suggesting that the effect of host species and host stage should be investigated. The significance of mortality in the presence of parasitoid is evidence that it should also be considered in the evaluation of the performance of larval parasitoids in an integrated management approach for S. frugiperda. The development time of C. icipe from egg to pupa was 11.3 ± 1.6 days and close to the 14.6 ± 0.1 days and 13.3 ± 0.08 days reported on S. littoralis and S. exigua respectively in Kenya [33,44]. Several studies had reported similar egg to pupa durations such as C. marginiventris (12-13 days) [27], C. plutellae (12.6 days) [59] on the diamondback moth, C. chilonis (Munakata) (12.5 days) [60], C. rubecula (13.48 days) [61] and C. ruficrus (Haliday) (13.2 days) [19]. Having a parasitoid with shorter development is profitable in mass rearing and for the rapid buildup of populations in the field.Second instar larvae were also used in the current study for C. luteum resulting in 30.3 ± 17% parasitism. Although studies on the suitability of this parasitoid are limited, higher rates up to 90% have been reported [62] with 1-day-old L1 (4-days-old neonates) when S. frugiperda was used. The difference in the result could be explained by differences in host larval stages used, as 2nd to 3rd instars (10-days-old) were used in the current study. More investigations are needed to identify the best host stage for this parasitoid. The development time of C. luteum was longest (27.7 ± 1.7 days); taking 18.9 days from egg to pupa stage and 9.6 days from pupa to adult emergence. A very short development time of 9 days from egg to pupa stage has been reported [62], but the adults emerged after 9.6 ± 0.8 days similar to what was observed during the present study. The difference in the egg to larval development time could be due to the use of different larval stages and diet and further studies are warranted to elucidate this.The parasitism by Charops sp. of 8.7 ± 3.2% was the lowest compared to the other two larval parasitoids studied using exposed 2nd to 3rd instar S. frugiperda larvae. This rate was low compared to the 50% recorded for an unknown species of Charops found emerging on the African tussock moth Orgyia mixta Snell in Kenya. (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) from 3rd instars [50]. Further studies are warranted to confirm whether the Cameroonian species of Charops is a new species and how the host developmental stage could affect its performance under laboratory conditions. The development time of Charops sp. was 27.0 ± 3.5 day with the egg to pupal period of 14.0 ± 0.5 days and the pupa to adult emergence time of 12.6 ± 3.4 days, but adult longevity was 13.0 ± 3.1 days. The result obtained in the current study on S. frugiperda is similar to those reported for the unknown species of Charops with 34 days on O. mixta in Kenya [50].The present result demonstrates the ecosystem service capabilities that unknown natural enemies could play in various systems. In the present case, we discovered for the first time in Cameroon various parasitoids associated with the new invasive spodopteran pests under various agro-ecological zones. Telenomus remus particularly should be considered an excellent candidate due to its high parasitism rates coupled with significant non-reproductive mortality in the laboratory and under field conditions, its wide geographic and multiple host range. The larval parasitoids C. icipe, C. luteum, and Charops sp. while having so far relatively low parasitism rates under field conditions also hold high potential to boost natural control on the invasive pests where farming systems are conducive for their establishment and growth. Further studies on preferred host stages parasitized, host range, as well as the effect of temperature, are warranted to unravel their full potential. The presence of these invisible friends against armyworms in general and fall armyworm in particular needs to be conserved. This requires a strategic change of policymakers from emergency actions based on the use of chemical pesticides to sustainable actions based on integrated pest management, with emphasis on promoting natural control, biopesticides, botanicals, and local innovations that are environmentally friendly."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3c841240a2e934cecb05c06b139fa9a4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/758d59a2-356d-4b76-a505-c7212b30ca21/retrieve","id":"-1907395585"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"90f53e9f-b037-4b36-8504-aa6c4ae3635b","content":"The summer school aims to strengthen professional capacities of participants to adopt a water-energy-food-environment (WEFE) nexus approach to meet multiple sustainable development goals and support inclusive development in Central Asia and beyond . The training will focus on sharing advanced methods for conducting sustainability assessment of the WEFE nexus, integrating the notions of ecosystem services, resource use efficiency, long-term soil quality maintenance, human health and economic viability using empirical examples from Central Asia (CA) .Target Participants: The summer school brings together talented early-career scientists (PhDs and Post-docs) conducting research on natural or social sciences in CA to stimulate intraregional research cooperation . Interested candidates from universities and research institutions in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, as well as in Germany are encouraged to apply . The maximum number of participants is 25 . The course language is English .Rationale: Agriculture remains an important sector in the economy of CA (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) . The sustainable use of agricultural land is therefore essential to economic growth, human well-being, social equity, and ecosystem services (Hamidov et al . 2016) . However, salinization, erosion, and desertification cause severe land degradation which, in turn, endanger human health and ecosystem services . Elevated water tables, associated with decades of heavy irrigation, combined with insufficient drainage have led to secondary salinization of croplands and watercourses (Toderich et al . 2002;Varis 2014) . Soil salinization now affects over 47% of the irrigated lands of CA and is a major threat that is leading to declining crop production and deteriorating environmental services (Bucknall et al . 2003;Kushiev et al . 2005) . Moreover, population growth along with emerging climate change problems (e .g . increased temperatures) have resulted in rising water demand for both, energy and irrigated agriculture . The conflicting interests between water for energy (numerous power plants are newly built or planned in the area) and water for irrigation have been complicating water resource management there, including efforts to meet the increasing food demands of a rapidly growing population (Djumaboev 2015) . For instance, in May 2017, the government of Uzbekistan issued a decree to construct 42 small hydroelectric power plants for energy purposes between 2017 and 2021 . This may have implications for water availability for irrigation in terms of quantity, quality, reliability and timing of water delivery, which are decisive parameters for irrigated agriculture . These issues have resulted in a decline in the production of agricultural crops in the region . Meanwhile, construction of power plants for energy may have environmental impacts, as there is a recent discussion on increased ← Contents 5 carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) emissions (Deemer et al . 2016) . Because of the strong correlation between soil salinization and yield decline, consideration of soil quality maintenance in the water-energy-food concept can be taken as a means for assuring long-term food security and long-term maintenance of ecosystem services . Proper irrigation management at the technical level as well as proper water management at the WEFE governance level is key to bringing them into the decision process, and ex-ante impact assessment is a means of doing so (Helming et al . 2011) .Introduced by the United Nations in 2015, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are globally applicable and will need to be implemented by all national governments in the coming years . Central Asian countries also agreed to fulfill the SDGs by 2030 to ensure the protection and sustainable use of its natural resources . In this vein, WEFE nexus study aims to support facilitating a number of SDG achievements . In particular, nexus-relevant SDGs include SDGs 2 (food security and sustainable agriculture), 6 (sustainable management of water), 7 (modern energy), 13 (climate action), and 15 (terrestrial ecosystems) .The main aim is to train early-career scientists on advanced research methods for studying agricultural land use systems under irrigation . The specific objective is to apply interdisciplinary approaches for advancing scientific knowledge in the areas of water, energy, and food in CA . It seeks to undertake sustainability assessment of the WEFE nexus, taking into consideration soil quality, ecosystem service maintenance and long-term food production (Fig . 1) . Last but not least, it plans to provide its participants with a comprehensive look into theories and methods (e .g . Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), systematic reviews (Web of Science and Scopus analysis, as well as Endnote), participatory impact assessment (PIA), driverpressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR), and text analysis using Atlas .ti qualitative data analysis tool for addressing empirical problems . The students will be engaged in discussions and group work on the key issues . The study field visit will be organized to the areas that are affected by salinization and the dilemma between water for energy use and water for agriculture . In addition, soil degradation and crop production under environmentally stressed areas will be monitored . A field trip will provide participants the opportunity to interact with local stakeholders to discuss their experience with WEFE challenges . This kind of interdisciplinary teaching approach usually does not appear in regular courses at universities in CA and is also not mainstreamed yet in German universities . Thus, students will be introduced to research ideas that open cutting-edge research to address sustainability problems in their study area .Participants will be expected to contribute to the course in the following way: ȇ active participation in all phases of the course, this includes reading the relevant literature in advance of the course and discussions; ȇ carrying out a group project that applies one of the methods discussed in the class to a self-selected case study; ȇ participating in study field visits and collecting empirical data using different methods; ȇ presenting and discussing the group assignments .Figure 1 provides a schematic overview of the interpretation of the WEFE nexus for the proposed summer school, where water is utilized for energy purposes as well Expected Results: After completing the course, participants will be able to: ȇ understand and analyze empirical problems of the WEFE nexus in irrigated agriculture from scientific and practical perspectives; ȇ apply theoretical and methodological tools to address research problems in relation to sustainable development; ȇ work more effectively in collaboration with other disciplines for investigating trade-offs and interconnectedness of the three sectors water, energy, and food; ȇ prepare a joint draft paper about the sustainability impact assessment of waterenergy-food-environment nexus for irrigated agriculture in CA . Selection of Participants: In order to get early-career scientists aware of the summer school, the call will be developed and circulated among the network of colleagues at agricultural faculties in Germany (e .g . Application: Interested researchers should send their application documents in English language by e-mail (1 single pdf-file, max . 3 MB) to Dr . Shavkat Kenjabaev at S .Kenjabaev@cgiar .org . The participants are selected via group evaluation . The criteria considered are: ȇ short statement about motivation for interdisciplinary agricultural research and expectations from attending the summer school (1 page max); ȇ abstract of an own nexus-relevant research project (400 words); ȇ background in scientific fields related to water, energy, environment and agricultural sciences; ȇ interdisciplinary balance of the participants; ȇ geographical balance of the participants; ȇ gender balance; ȇ proficiency in English language (IELTS 5 .0 score or higher) .As a rule, PhD students should provide a letter from their organizations to prove their status . For Post-docs, the requirement is to have completed their PhD degree less than five years ago .Application Deadline is June 20, 2023 . Successful applicants will be offered fellowships covering travel, visa fees (if required), food and accommodation .Lecturers: A list of preliminary participating lecturers and their profiles are provided below .Prof . Katharina Helming is professor for sustainability assessment at the University for Sustainable Development (University of Applied Sciences) in Eberswalde, Germany . She is co-chair of the Research Area 3 \"Landscape Research Systems\" as well as the head of the Impact Assessment of Land Use Changes working group at ZALF . She has conducted sustainability impact assessment of agricultural land use in Central Asia, China and Europe . She uses scenarios and participatory methods to integrate knowledge systems for sustainable land use and soil management .Prof . Abdulkhakim Salokhiddinov is Vice-Rector for International Affairs at \"TIIAME\" NRU in Uzbekistan . He also serves as Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair on Water Diplomacy, Water Resources Management and Environmental Protection at the \"TIIAME\" NRU . His areas of expertise are multipurpose water resource planning/ management strategies/policies, hydrology of surface and groundwater resources, environmental protection, integrated basin management, and regional sustainable development .Prof . Yarash Pulatov is professor and the head of the Department of Innovative Technologies of the Institute of Water Problems, Hydro Energy and Ecology of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan . His main research interests are sustainable water and energy management, irrigation and water law, and water, energy, food and ecosystem nexus . He is a member of the Regional Council of the Global Water Partnership in Central Asia and Caucasus, a member of Tajikistan society of soil scientists, and the chairman of the National Water Partnership in Tajikistan .Dr . Ahmad Hamidov is post-doc researcher at ZALF and coordinator of SusWEF project . He is a lecturer at Humboldt University of Berlin for Master students on Advanced Empirical Methodology for Social-Ecological Systems Analysis course . He has vast experience in conducting research related to natural resource management (e .g . water, land, and pasture) in CA . His research work involves understanding the interconnectedness and the trade-offs of the three sectors water, energy, and food in small-scale river basins in Uzbekistan .Dr . Mohsin Hafeez is Country Representative for Pakistan and Regional Representative for Central Asia at IWMI . He has expertise in climate change, hydrology and hydrological modelling (field, irrigation, basin and continental), integrated water resources management, remote sensing, water accounting and productivity ← Contents assessment, water-energy-food nexus and water policy . He is an Adjunct Professor (Water Resources) with two Chinese universities .Mr . Kakhramon Djumaboev is a water management researcher at IWMI CA Office . He has more than 20 years of experience in conducting research related to natural resource management (e .g . water, land, and energy) in CA and beyond . His research interests include sustainability of land and water resources management, assessment of institutions and governance structures in shared river basins, water-energy-food nexus, community-based natural resource management, irrigation governance, institutions, climate change and adaptation .Dr . Bunyod Holmatov is a Researcher in Data Analysis and Innovation in Water Management at IWMI's Sri Lanka office . He has a broad research background related to the water-energy-food nexus, water and climate change, and transboundary water cooperation . Dr . Holmatov holds a professional master of environmental management degree from the Yale School of the Environment where he focused on environmental management and policy before pursuing a PhD at the University of Twente, where he modelled tradeoffs and synergies (nexus) between water, land, and emissions across different renewable energy systems .Dr . Shavkat M . Kenjabaev is a National Researcher at IWMI CA Office . He has about 20 years of experience in land reclamation and irrigation water management . Throughout his career, he has studied the specifics of the soil and groundwater regime under drip and surface irrigation practices, assessed capacity needs of institutions responsible for training provision in water sector, analyzed natural regularities of faults in irrigation and collector drainage network, and has a unique blend of research and practical experience .Dr . Santosh Nepal is water resources and climate change researcher at IWMI, Nepal . He has more than 16 years of professional experience in hydrological assessment, climate change and water resources management at different scales in river basins .Dr . Shilp Verma is a Senior Researcher on water-energy-food policies at IWMI, India . He has expertise in water resources management, water-energy-food nexus, groundwater governance, rural livelihoods, water economics, and policies and institutions .Bucknall L, Klytchnikova I, Lampietti J, Lundell M, Scatasta M, Thurman M (2003) Irrigation in Central Asia: Social, economic and environmental considerations. World  There are many different footprints Integrating multiple environmental footprints (\"footprint family\") can provide better idea about our pressure stemming from a certain activity Using footprints assessments to navigate WEF Nexus Complexity Karshi Steppe: @175 m3/sec 7 pump stations ← Contents• The aim is to assess water and energy use intensity in lift-irrigated agricultural area in Uzbekistan.• Methods:• Major crops grown in the area were first identified• crop water requirements were calculated for baseline & improved irrigation scenario (using CROPWAT) Changing to a 100% scenario is not possible because the land footprint will exceed global arable land while the water footprint will exceed global water footprint of humanity (~9K km3/y). Even meeting the 9.8% of global demand will require at least 11.4% of global arable land and 17.6% of global water use.Thank You! Contact info: b.holmatov@cgiar.org• Food security and climate change • Gender equality for a sustainable tomorrow • What are women's challenges?• What can we do to get girls into Science?The five megatrends pose difficulties that must be addressed if the globe is to continue to be a safe haven for people and other animals• Solution for air pollution Renewable energy, reforestation by reducing agricultural emissions • Solution for deforestation Conserve what's left of natural forests, replant damaged regions with native tree species • Solution for species extinction Protecting and restoring habitats, preventing poaching and animal trading • Soil Degradation No-till agriculture, crop rotation, organic fertilizers By the year 2050, the world population will be close to 10 billion, and global food production will need to increase by about 50%   Implement the best optionSeite 6• Forming working groups and planning Activity:• Each student presents his/her research project (3 min. max) Milestone:• Students get familiarized with each other's research worksSeite 8Activity:• Install working groups (5-6 students per group) based on preferences and discuss research ideas• Identify one common reseach topic per group (e.g. one of the participant's research topics)Milestone:• An initial sketch (e.g. drawing/chart) to specify the topic Activity:• Describe problem statement and formulate research objective• Define impact assessment parameters and indicators Milestone:• Relevance, knowledge gaps and specific objectives• Procedure for systematic review analysis (key words)• 6 parameters and 6 indicators Activity:• Develop three potential scenarios, which can be solutions to the research problem• Give criteria to specify the scenarios Milestone:• 3 scenarios are developed Activity:• Conduct participatory impact assessment• Critical reflection on the assessment (exercise) Milestone:• An assessment net (spider) is produced• Final consultation with senior lecturers • Individual group presentation (15 min ppt + 15 min discussion)• Final remarks about the Summer School Milestone:• Comments/feedback from lecturers and peers Seite 5• The notion of a water-energy-food (WEF) nexus have increased in recent years, following the release of a World Economic Forum report in January 2011• The 2011 Bonn Conference presenters promoted the WEF nexus as a novel and presented evidence for how a nexus approach can enhance water, energy, and food security www.zalf.de Seite 6• The WEF nexus has become an important concept to indicate the interconnectedness of the three sectors and to improve crosssectoral coordination in support of sustainable development• It has been operationalized to explore the linkages between different sectors as well as tradeoffs across temporal and spatial scales• Some authors have suggested that a nexus approach should be followed when describing efforts to achieve the SDGs Economic goodNotes: INRM suffers from the lack of a common and agreed theoretical basis, relegating the notion to the realm of practice, rather than serving as a guiding principle . IWRM -water allocation in water-scarce areas is primarily a political decision, and IWRM is not well suited to address political issues, particularly in countries where the institutional responsibility for allocating and managing water resources is not well developed .www.zalf.de Seite 8• Water and energy use in agriculture or competition for water and energy involving agriculture were addressed in many studies• Global financial crisis of 2008-2009 and the increasing awareness of the impacts of biofuel production on food prices stimulated public concern regarding tradeoffs involving energy and food• Competition for land and water involving crop production for biofuels and food likely generated interest in the water node of the nexus Energy and food tradeoff Seite 10 Some scholars have been critical of the WEF nexus:• it is not yet a clearly defined concept or tested framework• few empirical evidence exist• lacks broader involvement of stakeholders to work collaboratively towards sustainable development• existing descriptions are largely silent on issues such as soils, crops, nutrients, farm chemicals, and land tenure• social scientists have to engage in the nexus debates critically, rather than accepting it as a \"matter of fact\" www.zalf.deSeite 11• The perfect storm of competition and trade-offs between WEF as they interact with the environment and climate is illustrated by the catastrophic drying of the Aral Sea basin Seite 121) The extent to which sustainability impact assessment (SIA) is a suitable learning tool to adopt a systemic, interdisciplinary approach to WEF nexus problems, 2) The concept received much attention during the 2011 Bonn Conference titled \"The water, energy and food security nexus solutions for the green economy,\" at which distinguished speakers presented evidence for how a nexus approach can enhance water, energy and food security by increasing resource-use efficiency, building synergies (mutually beneficial outcomes), minimizing trade-offs (which may potentially include non-optimal outcomes) and improving governance across sectors www.zalf.deSeite 14 ← Contents www.zalf.deSeite 15• Ex-post evaluation of SIA protocol was used for self-reflection on a research processEvaluation of emerging risks and societal consequences emerging from dynamic and complex interactions that increase uncertainty in any form of inference Ethics Ethical, moral and value related questions affecting the society induced by research results, methodological designs and the determination of the value of science itself Integrative approach Consideration of all relevant elements, and interrelations in complex and multifaceted processes of modern societal development that are addressed by the research questions thereby integrating different dimensions (e.g., themes, time, space and knowledge systems) Interdisciplinarity Integration of mindsets and methods from different scientific disciplines to develop new methodological approaches and research resultsAssessment of the benefits and risks of research outcomes and innovations for the society and for sustainable development (e.g. intended/unintended, positive/negative, ex-ante/post) Transdisciplinarity Integration of knowledge via engaging non-scientific actors in specific scientific discourses and research questions, e.g. through participatory methodsClear and user-oriented communication about funding, legitimation, research design, methods and their limits and impacts on research results in all stages of the research process User orientation Target-group-oriented knowledge sharing through inclusion of all the relevant users of research results to increase usability and integration in science and society www.zalf.deSeite 16• All of the five empirical cases addressed the challenge of water resource use for food and/or energy production, although they differed in geographic scope• From the perspective of WEF constellation, the five cases fall into two groups:• the first group includes Cases 1 and 2, in which land management for water saving and water storage purposes was the key component of the WEF nexus Step 1Hydropower dam maintenance: upstream land management to avoid dam siltationStep 2Improve   • Some groups played the role of different country policy makers• Participants struggled with identifying relevant actors to represent during the impact assessment exercise• The SIA protocol proved to be insufficiently instructive for the design of the cooperation with actors and stakeholders in the WEF research• SIA protocols need further development to include instructions for stakeholder co-operation www.zalf.deSeite 22• WEF nexus concept was operationalized for five case studies in CA through SIA protocol• The SIA protocol is instructive for the conception and construction of WEF nexus research• It is less instructive for the design of the cooperation with actors and stakeholders• The use of the protocol facilitates comparative meta-analyses of case studies for synthesis and upscaling• Applying the SIA protocol for the design of the WEF nexus research helped workshop participants to understand the complexity of the problem and to establish the interdisciplinary cooperation   Notes: Average forecasts assume that in 2050, around 9 .7 billion people will be living on earth . In addition, the average income will increase . An increased demand for resource-intensive products and rising greenhouse gas emissions per capita are the result .Photo: nrd / Unsplash Global trends and challenges: Food security • What is the current situation?• Economic perspective?• Environmental perspective?• Social perspective?• Who is affected by the problem? Where, when, how?• Source(s) of the problem?• Driving forces and future development? Globally, water, energy, food and ecosystems are increasingly stressed with negative impacts for people . These systems are inextricably linked, yet most efforts to deal with contemporary societal challenges consider single issues and neglect the complexity, often exacerbating rather than solving underlying problems . The NEXUS Gains Initiative promotes systems thinking to better understand the interlinkages and to promote interventions to boost sustainable water resource management, protect biodiversity and provide clean and inclusive access to energy for our agrifood systems . The initiative analyzes alternative, practical interventions at different scales -from farms to watersheds to river basins -to enhance water, energy and food security and environmental sustainability . It seeks to improve understanding of WEFE interdependencies and trade-offs, engaging vulnerable groups such as women, youth and other marginalized communities that bear the brunt of poorly managed WEFE systems and have little say in decisions that affect them . NEXUS Gains is using integrated biophysical and socio-economic tools to support policy design, investment planning and improved governance . • Price spikes came on the heal of low GDP growth in LMICs• Food inflation levels increased in the last few months over levels earlier in the year• Prices remain above levels prior to COVID19• New export bans (f.ex. India for rice)• The war has not ended, more adverse food impacts well possible • Continued high fuel & fertilizer prices dampen agricultural productivity and production, suggesting lasting impacts• Countries relying on groundwater (GW) irrigation also have to deal with high diesel prices (f.ex. Bangladesh/ Pakistan)• In GW depending areas, household water security is also negatively affected Source: UNOCHA Oct 4, 2022.• 33 million people affected, mostly in the poorer provinces• 1,717 people died, including 639 children, and an additional 12,867 were injured   • Occupying nearly one-fifth of the world's cropland, irrigated agriculture provides more than 40% of the global food production• Irrigation is at the heart of the WEF nexus, due to strong competition between water used for energy or for food production in water-scarce areas of the world• Role of irrigation is increasing in response to food demand, an increase in the world's population www.zalf.deSeite 3• In particular, improving irrigation efficiency is a major constraints for sustainable agriculture in drought prone regions• Construction of power plants for energy may have environmental impacts, as there is a recent discussion on increased carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and methane (CH 4 ) emissions• Food security is a further challenge with the decrease of water resources and increasing threats from climate change• Soil salinization is another key drawback of irrigation in regions with a negative climatic water balance www.zalf.deSeite 4• At ZALF, we conducted a systematic review on the WEF nexus for the case of irrigated agriculture• We only selected international journal articles• The study period ranged from 2011 to 2019 Seite 5• Primary objective was to analyze current international literature on WEF nexus for irrigated agriculture and its relevance to sustainable development goals (SDGs)• It explored the state of knowledge with regard to the use of WEF nexus for the sustainability assessment of irrigated agriculture• The study synthesized existing knowledge and identified existing knowledge gaps and the need for future research on sustainable WEF nexus for irrigated agriculture www.zalf.deSeite 6Seite 7• We used the following search terms in the database: \"waterenergy-food nexus\" AND agriculture or irrigation or soil• The WEF nexus terms were used in derivation• Downloaded documents were transferred to an open EndNote library• Types of scientific methods employed in the papers, the geographic scope of the studies and SDGs were analyzed• Finally, we carried out a detailed content analysis of the papers to understand the thematic focus of each paper www.zalf.deSeite 8 www.zalf.deSeite 12• The SDG classifications were used to analyze the thematic perspectives of the papers www.zalf.deSeite 17• Inclusion of grey literature is suggested and would help to increase the validity of the study and overcome the potential problems of publication bias• Substantial synthesis work on the WEF nexus, also in the field of irrigated agriculture, done by international organizations like the United Nations or FAO, as well as UNU Flores• Adding \"ecosystems\", \"biodiversity\", \"climate\" and other relevant terms in the database search could further provide a comprehensive overview of WEF nexus studies relevant to irrigated agriculture  Marlène Elias, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIATNotes: Welcome to the learning module on gender equality and social inclusion in the water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus .The module provides frameworks and tools for moving from resource-centric to people-centric nexus approaches .  Now, what if that water resource becomes scarce? How will it be managed?Imagine a hydropower plant, an industrial farm and a small agricultural community relying on the same water resource.Who will decide what's most important?Will representatives from each stakeholder group sit down to create a fair use agreement?Will the needs of vulnerable community members be represented?Will the stakeholders with the most economic and political influence leverage their power?Notes: It is easy to see how politics and underlying power structures will play a major role in the management of the water-energyfood-ecosystems nexus, and how the most marginalised stakeholders risk losing out on the key resources that sustain their livelihoods .The most marginalised stakeholders risk losing out on critical resources.Past examples show how competition over resources within this nexus has played out, with stakeholders with less power losing out . For e .g, in the Mekong Delta of Viet Nam, hydropower dams benefit distant communities in China but are producing harmful effects on local fisheries and livelihoods . Addressing these challenges in an integrated way to meet multiple stakeholders' needs will require moving away from a narrow, technical resource focus to consider aspects of gender equality and social inclusion . Notes: Nexus thinking has traditionally been resource-focused and has overlooked the social, economic, political and cultural dynamics that shape resource use .Around the world, we see persistent gender inequalities in access to resources and decisions over how to use and manage these.Too often, women are left out of development and environmental initiatives, since they are not seen as legitimate stakeholders.Many categories of men also experience marginalisation.Notes: But once we start looking at the people, we see the vast diversity that must be considered in nexus approaches because it shapes resource management . Rural women and men particularly rely on land and other natural resources for their livelihoods . But often, only men are recognised as the authorities, providers, farmers and resource managers of their households and communities -even though women, too, are responsible on a daily basis for providing and managing food, water, fuel, cash and other resources .In general, patriarchal norms give more status, influence and rights to men than women .1,2 Too often, women are left out of development and environmental initiatives, since they are not seen as legitimate stakeholders .3 In reality, in their communities, women have unique knowledge of and priorities for the management of resources . They also face different and often unequal risks and rewards than men when it comes to accessing and controlling, governing, using and managing these resources .There are many gender-or inclusion-specific barriers that make it difficult for women to access and progress in decision-making spaces, from underlying societal norms to practical constraints such as time availability and mobility outside of the home . Professionally (i .e ., in the workplace), the water, energy and food sectors as they are considered very technical and, thus, due to societal norms, typically associated with men . Importantly, women (and men) are heterogeneous groups and may have vastly different experiences based on other social factors . For example, poor women in rural areas have different needs and realities with respect to energy or water use than better-off women in cities . Age, marital status, and in some areas, caste or ethnicity, among other factors, will influence their access to resources and how they use and prioritise these . Overall, however, women, in all their diversity, have limited control over management decisions at all levels compared to men . Many categories of men also experience marginalisation . Men in disadvantaged groups (such as ethnic minorities, lower castes or landless men) may struggle to have their voices heard in their communities and in higher-level governance spaces that shape their local opportunities and resource access in significant ways . Notes: This web shows many different aspects of a person's identity that, together, can lead to their exclusion or inclusion in decision-making and benefit-sharing related to water, energy, food and ecosystems . Advancing gender equality and social inclusion in the WEFE nexus requires recognising who is excluded and on what basis, to challenge that discrimination . By addressing these inequalities across sectors in policy and practice, nexus approaches can enable more equitable access to resource decisions, services and benefits for all .Notes: Framework draws attention to the who, the how and why to achieve equitable outcomes in nexus initiatives . A social equity framework features three pillars: • Recognition, or the right of those who are affected by, in this case, the WEFE nexus, to be recognised as legitimate and dignified stakeholders, and to have the value of their knowledge, voices and priorities recognised • Representation, or the right to equally participate in and influence decision-making processes • Redistribution, or more equal rights to the resources and benefits from, in this case, the WEFE nexus .Recognition refers to when people or social groups have equal opportunities to be seen and valued as legitimate, respected and dignified participants in society.Notes: The recognition a person or social group receives is influenced by the (often hidden) attitudes that society holds towards gender and other social categories, such as age, ethnicity, caste or occupation . For example, many rural women do as much or more farm work than their spouses but are not recognised as farmers in their own right, and their knowledge and skills are undervalued . Among stakeholder groups, there are highly unequal power relations. This means that the knowledge and priorities of some may be perceived as having more legitimacy than those of others. Importantly, from the perspective of social equity, the needs, rights, knowledge systems and priorities of different groups-particularly those most marginalised -must be recognised and legitimised. Notes: These stakeholders, who come from many levels -from local to national and international -are not all usually present in the same water, energy, food and ecosystem decision-making spaces . Typically, stakeholders with less social and financial capital are the ones who are left out . For example, a decision made in a capital city about rural resources may not include any spokespeople from the impacted rural area . If interventions do not intentionally seek to recognize all stakeholders genuinely, they risk stripping specific communities of their resources to benefit other, more powerful groups . From a rights-based perspective, those who live near the resources in question and whose livelihoods are directly linked to them deserve particular recognition and protection . In this sense, it is important to make the distinction between two categories . First are rights-holders: those with customary and historical rights to determine the use and access to natural resources in ways that are fundamental to their human rights, such as Indigenous peoples and marginalised groups in local communities . Second are other stakeholders: individuals or groups claiming a stake in a decision-making process, such as political elites or private companies interested in using the resources . A 'do-no-harm' principle means that initiatives must ensure, at a minimum, that they do not pose undue risks to local people and marginalised community members (that is, rights-holders) and do not jeopardise their livelihoods and well-being . Nexus initiatives will also have to be accountable to these rights-holders .To make sure that all relevant groups are included in WEFE nexus decisionmaking, intervention planning should begin with a stakeholder analysis.Recognitionstakeholder analysis Their access to other resources that they could use to support or oppose change, and power to effect change as a combination of all these factors . It is often difficult to define and identify 'legitimate' stakeholders . Consequently, many projects avoid clearly defining stakeholders . The researchers in the Kenyan study assumed this position: that the legitimacy of a group's claim as a stakeholder was less important than their ability to affect change in the system . 5 The study found that farmers who were not affiliated with farmer groups were particularly marginalised . They had little interaction with extension officers and researchers, who were important stakeholders in the system, through whom marginalised farmers could have accessed information on improved agricultural practices . Other agricultural development projects prefer to work with existing farmer groups to capitalise on the existing trust and cooperation among group members -but this may result in further marginalisation of farmers who do not belong to groups . The study also underlined that village chiefs in Kenya are powerful stakeholders who can call local meetings and make announcements to advance different issues around agricultural development . However, other stakeholders lamented that the chiefs' interest in engaging in community development varied widely . This affected which communities agricultural extension officers chose to work with . Communities with disinterested chiefs were losing out on access to innovation projects and related human, social and financial capital .Notes: Measures are needed to ensure that the diverse stakeholders we were just discussing -and particularly communities and their members whose livelihoods depend directly on WEFE resources -are adequately represented across all phases of a nexus initiative: from planning to implementation and monitoring .A GESI approach should ensure that marginalised groups can have influence in decision-making at different levels.Those with the most to gain or lose from WEFE nexus interventions often have the most limited influence.Notes: A gender equality and social inclusion approach should ensure that women and marginalised social groups can have a voice and influence in the processes shaping resource access and use at the household, community and higher decision-making levels .1 Unfortunately, the stakeholders with the most to gain or lose from nexus interventions often have the least influence in intervention planning . Notes: This table 1 shows that not all participation in decision-making is equal in nature . There are many forms or levels of participation . Some participation can be quite nominal -for example, when someone is part of a group or project, but they do not actually engage actively or influence decisions . In contrast, in the most interactive or empowering form of participation, everyone is able to interact as peers and to express views with equal weight . This is also called 'participatory parity' . Achieving such interactive or empowering participation requires ongoing negotiation and management of unequal power relations and conflicting interests . This is a challenging process, particularly as there are often limited resources, skills and trust among different participants . Notes: Resource access and control shape and are shaped by gender, class structures and other social differences and inequalities that empower some people and groups while marginalising others . Recognition and representation are goals in and of themselves, as they are essential to fairness and human dignity . They are also important to ensure that the costs, benefits and risks of nexus initiatives are equitably distributed -which generally implies a need for redistribution . Notes: In addition to asking these questions at the planning stage of an intervention, to shape intervention design, these questions should also be asked throughout the intervention . What participatory monitoring approaches can support adaptive learning toward more equitable outcomes?Notes: Systematic monitoring is needed to reduce risks of harm to women or vulnerable social groups that may arise from an intervention .Notes: This case study demonstrates collaborative process approaches that can be used to strengthen resource users' capacities and empower them to identify and implement their own solutions for sustainable resource management . These approaches place local people living closest to WEFE nexus resources at the heart of decision-making, in collaboration with other key stakeholders . They contribute to a sense of ownership among participants, which is crucial for sustainability after project support ends .It relies on the active participation -in this case, that of local forest users -including those who are marginalised from decisionmaking, as well as other stakeholders.Notes: This learning cycle engages all three pillars of the social equity framework -recognition, representation and redistributionto achieve sustainable and equitable nexus solutions . ← ContentsIn three Indonesian communities, stakeholder analysis was included in an early step in the learning process to support multiple users to co-manage forest resources through ACM. The analysis asked, among other questions: Recognition 25 ▪ Who are the stakeholders in forest management in this area? ▪ Who should be involved in the process?• Nomadic Orang Rimba (women and men)• Original community (women and men)• Settler community (women and men)• Farmer groups (women and men)• Youth (women and men)• Forest workers (all men)• Elderly (all men)• Village elite (formal government officials and customary leaders)Notes: ACM was used to empower multiple users to co-manage forest resources in three communities in Indonesia . This table illustrates key actors identified through the stakeholder analysis activities conducted in each community . The facilitation team spent months visiting each community to get to know the local contexts and to build trust with the many different segments of each community .These key stakeholders were then involved throughout the intervention, and their knowledge systems, experiences and priorities were considered as equally valid and important throughout the planning and reflection process .Shared learning strengthened capacity and confidence to: ▪ Manage new information ▪ Negotiate ▪ Organise and gain institutional competence ▪ Problem-solve Notes: In this case study, tools used to support inclusive decision-making included participatory boundary or social mapping exercises, and small-group meetings among different sets of stakeholders to undertake shared visioning and priority-setting exercises that addressed livelihood needs or resource scarcities . Over time, as more and more was shared, participants developed a collective understanding of the issues . These included current socio-ecological processes (for example land degradation), as well as interactions and power struggles related to natural resource management (for example land claims, pressures from the palm oil industry, and settler groups' differing needs and interests) . The processes of shared learning, including about different authority systems, strengthened the capacity and confidence of marginalised groups . Among other changes observed, village women were represented in local resource management decision-making for the first time . Villagers (both women and men) also observed greater trust and ability to communicate and network with other communities and with representatives of logging companies and the government .Notes: The process was designed to monitor changes in the social, human, natural, financial and physical capital in the three ACM intervention communities . The most evident benefits included: • Human and social capital (including in participants' leadership skills) • Technical knowledge (including mapping skills and recording and analysing data) • Communication and negotiation abilities . Stakeholders of different social status developed the motivation and confidence to improve their relationships with each other . ACM's bottom-up agenda-setting and shared learning approach also inspired changes in other types of capital by supporting livelihood strategies that not only improved incomes but also reduced vulnerability, increased community members' well-being, improved food security and led to more sustainable use of natural resources . Outcomes across capitals should be assessed for different stakeholders, including those most marginalised, to support their equitable distribution . For more socially equitable and resilient nexus solutions.Notes: The social equity framework's principles of recognition, redistribution and representation, together with its overarching concern for participatory parity, can offer entry points to identify and address these gender and inclusion considerations . Recognition is the starting point for enabling participation, accountability and inclusion processes . Stakeholder analysis is a useful tool to identify relevant stakeholders, including those most marginalised, so that they can be engaged in the identification and implementation of solutions . Marginalised and other actors should be represented as equals in the governance and management of WEFE resources, allowing all to express their needs and priorities for resource management . This calls for reflection throughout the implementation of interventions on whose voices shape the agenda and ensuring that there are sufficient resources to enable cycles of reflection, action and learning in favour of more marginalised groups . Finally, the potential benefits, costs and risks of interventions for different stakeholder groups must be assessed . The Sustainable Livelihood Framework offers a multidimensional perspective on assets to illuminate these potential or actual outcomes . Outcomes will vary for different stakeholders and must be examined for each group to support their equitable distribution . Gender equality and social inclusion approaches should include systematic monitoring to reduce risks of harm to women or vulnerable social groups that may arise from an intervention .At present, an estimated 3.6 billion people live in areas that are potentially water-scarce at least one month per year. This population could increase to some 4.8 to 5.7 billion by 2050• Rising water demandNotes: The global demand for water has been increasing at a rate of about 1% per year over the past decades as a function of population growth, economic development and changing consumption patterns, among other factors, and it will continue to grow significantly over the foreseeable future . Industrial and domestic demand for water will increase much faster than agricultural demand, although agriculture will remain the largest user overall . The vast majority of the growth in demand for water will occur in countries with developing or emerging economies .Groundwater also increasingly over abstracted -often for irrigation .Notes: Similarly, this pictorial maps also shows that the river basin already have land degradation issues . Therefore, the Business as usual is not possible and we need to develop new integrated water system solutions to address these complex challenges .Source: Veolia/IFPRI (2015)Notes: Water pollution has worsened worldwide since the 1990s, particularly in (the majority of) rivers in Latin America, Africa and Asia . The deterioration of water quality is expected to further escalate over the next decades . Globally, the most prevalent sources of water quality challenges are nutrient loadings from agriculture and nutrient and pathogen loadings from untreated domestic wastewater . Hundreds of water-born chemicals, mainly from industry, are also impacting on water quality . Extreme weather events increasing in intensity and frequency . Intensification of disasters is the new \"normal\" . ← Contents Climate Change -increasing frequency of extreme events (floods and drought)Disaster events in Asia-Pacific Region -average per decade IPCC AR6: South Asia regional findings:• Heatwaves and humid heat stress will be more intense and frequent during the 21st century• Both annual and summer monsoon precipitation will increase during the 21st century, with enhanced interannual variability.Climate change will exacerbate floods and droughts in South Asia, severely stressing an already stressed waterscape.  • The overall results show that the emissions of diesel pumps are higher than the electric pump, hence replacing more diesel pumps with solar will reduce more carbon emissions.• GHG emissions from agriculture and livestock sectors accounted for about 38.2% of Pakistan's total GHG emissions in 2015• These emissions are essentially all Methane (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (N 2 O) , i.e. 79%, and 21% respectively (MoCC,2018).• Diesel powered tube wells contribute 5.025 million metric tons of CO 2 emissions annually Groundwater Vulnerability Assessment in Punjab     IWRM is mainly about the distribution of water between competing users, while Nexus aims to find the best solution and trade-offs among the three sectors;  IWRM does not address broader aspects such as security; -IWRM is limited to a basin and thus has narrower boundaries;  Nexus coverage is not limited by location or scale;  IWRM often leads to a financial burden on ministries and agencies that are directly involved in water use and distribution, while Nexus reduces the burden on the budget of any single line ministry due to the distribution of investment costs among other involved stakeholders;  Nexus helps to increase the economic return on a certain investment due to the possibility of obtaining multidimensional benefits. T Th he e l le ev ve el l o of f e en ne er rg gy y a an nd d w wa at te er r c co on ns su um mp pt ti io on n i is s r ra at th he er r h hi ig gh h i in n g gr ro ow wi in ng g c co ot tt to on n a an nd d g gr ra ai in n c cr ro op ps s. . 8 8 b bi il ll li io on n k ki il lo ow wa at tt t--h ho ou ur rs s o of f p po ow we er r a an nd d U US SD D 2 22 28 8 M Ml ln n b bu ud dg ge et ta ar ry y f fu un nd ds s a ar re e s sp pe en nt t a an nn nu ua al ll ly y t to o e en ns su ur re e t th he e o op pe er ra at ti io on n o of f m mo or re e t th ha an n 5 5 t th ho ou us sa an nd d p pu um mp ps s f fo or r i ir rr ri ig ga at ti io on n o of f 2 2. . 5   ✓ In addition, basin wide water productivity will be improved, return flow and CO2 emissions will be reduced and hence, the environment is protected;✓ There is a need to introduce platforms to discuss the WEF nexus related issues in order to improve inter-sectoral cooperation, existing policies, strategies on transboundary water management in the Aral Sea Basin.   • The policy of rational use of water resources as the main water strategy should be adopted by all countries at the national and regional levels in order to overcome the impending water deficit (2035-2040) in the region. • As the Central Asian countries develop and their sovereignties are strengthened, a number of positions are revealed that require the improvement of existing Agreements and the adoption of new ones. The international legal status of interstate water bodies is not defined. The adoption of a general procedure for the distribution of water resources in Central Asia has not yet progressed. • On water and energy issues, it is necessary to develop a new agreement, taking into account compensation mechanisms for water storage services, the operation and maintenance of the reservoir, as well as the conditions for the exchange of electricity during the scarce winter period. • The cardinal resolution of the conflict between irrigation and hydropower is not to limit the activity of one of these areas or subjugate one of the other, but to develop a new use scheme that takes into account the satisfaction of the needs of all water users. For hydropower, this is an increase in the production of cheap and environmentally friendly energy. For irrigation, this is an increase in the depth of long-term flow regulation and the availability of already developed lands, as well as the possibility of developing new ones.• The main principle of IWRM: equal rights of all water users (E, I, E, P, RH, Kommunal.V). Priority -human needs for drinking and sanitation. • To optimize the WRM system, it is necessary to: switch to the basin method; accelerating the creation of WUAs; water demand management; tariff differentiation; develop various forms of private, collective and joint-stock water use on the basis of market water management activities. • Interstate water relations are based so far on the water distribution between the CARs that took place during the Soviet period on the basis of the feasibility studies inherent in that time. In the current conditions, it is necessary to revise the issues of CIWRA, conclude new agreements, especially on IP, improve the structure of IFAS and its institutions; • Develop a draft Strategy for capacity building in the water sector in the Syrdarya River Basin; • Introduction and application of efficient irrigation methods and modern water-saving technologies, review existing irrigation regimes and water consumption rates; • Rehabilitation of water management infrastructures and strengthening of the material and technical base of the water sector; • It is necessary to develop a direct action law on payment for water, similar to the law on payment for land, which will have a positive impact on increasing the level of collection of fees for water resources and water supply services to consumers.\"If you have an apple and I have an apple, and we exchange these apples, then you and I will have an apple each. And if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each will have two ideas.\" Bernard ShawResearch problem and knowledge gap  • Аtmospheric drought is exacerbated by observed global and regional climate changes, manifested in a positive trend in air temperature, increased evaporation, periodically leading to dryness.• Atmospheric drought refers to dangerous meteorological phenomena, insufficiently explored, the consequence of which is significant damage to ecosystems, affecting water resources, agricultural production, the environment and the economy.• Acquisition of new skills and exchange of experience• We use methods of mathematical statistics, methods of spectral analysis, expansion of the empirical in terms of a set of significant orthogonal functions (EOF) : correlation, regression, spectral, wavelet and causal analysis of functions.• Remote sensing and GIS methods. ← Contents • There is a lack of knowledge about the most effective irrigation scheduling methods for the Bukhara region. The climate is changing, and the water requirements of crops are also changing. Therefore, it is important to develop new irrigation scheduling methods that are adapted to the changing climate.• Expectations from the summer school:  • Exiting knowledge gap -Despite the significance of understanding the of green economy concept, there is still limited applied knowledge.• Expectation from the Summer School -, I am enthusiastic about acquiring insights into the current challenges in WEFCA in irrigated agriculture and utilizing practical tools to tackle these issues, particularly concerning sustainable water management.Aigerim Karibay water resources specialist •Research Problemthe lack of understanding how NEXUS works is also defined in CA, since such an approach is especially important in the face of growing global problems, such as climate change, population growth and lack of resources, which require a more integrated and sustainable development.•Existing knowledge gapdespite the importance of understanding and implementing NEXUS as key relevant in the context of sustainable development, as it aims to balance the needs of human societies with the ecological needs of the natural systems on which they rely but in CA case NEXUS remains and only in the discussed circles.• Expectations from the Summer Schoolgain knowledge and learn relevant methodologies for gathering scientific data and information concerning on the topic.• Our research objective is two-fold:• using SperSal biological compound in irrigation of cotton to conserve water, to improve a watersaving technology for leaching of saline soils in vegetation period and obtain high yield from irrigated farming fields; • carrying out Biosolvent compound in soil salinity leaching process to improve leaching technology with creating optimal water-salt balance in Agricultural fields.• Field experiments and laboratory analysis• Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), systematic reviews (Web of Science and Scopus analysis, as well as Endnote), text analysis using Atlas.ti qualitative data analysis tool• Our research aims to fill the knowledge gap on mountain food production system, identify major constraints and develop policy recommendations• Our research methodology includes collecting available ancillary data, application of remote sensing and GIS technologies to assess past and present status of NRs and trends besides, field observations, surveys, focus group discussions.• We have team of professionals with diverse tech backgrounds (NRs mgt; Hydrologists, Environmentalists, Social Scientists, GIS & RS Specialists). • Satellite-based yield estimation is crucial for spotting potential deficits in crop at an early stage.• No standard methods for estimating cotton yields using satellite technologies due to low biomass-yield ratio.• Improving knowledge the Water-energyfood nexus Picture placeholder Exploration and exploitation of mineral deposits are currently underway in more than 70 countries worldwide, with industrial use mastered in 60 countries. The effectiveness of mineral water utilization is also evidenced by the level of investment in this industry by leading nations. For instance, over a span of 20 years, 30 countries each invested $20 million in geothermal energy development. Additionally, 12 countries allocated more than $200 million each, and 5 countries spent over $1 billion each (USA -$7.5 billion; Japan -$5.3 billion; Italy -$2.4 billion; Iceland -$1.2 billion; Philippines -$1.1 billion). Moreover, financing from private sources increased by 160%, while public sources showed a 43% increase. This trend underlines the cost-effectiveness of utilizing thermal mineral waters.-Limited financing for hydrogeological works to replenish the resource base of mineral waters.-Absence of investment proposals for organizing mineral groundwater extraction. Expectations from the Summer School: I anticipate gaining insights into alternative methods and approaches for utilizing mineral groundwater, as well as discovering novel strategies for locating mineral groundwater deposits.• What is your research aim (or your research question): My research aim is to enhance the drought tolerance of soft wheat varieties through the identification and incorporation of key genetic traits. This involves understanding the genetic mechanisms underlying drought tolerance and applying this knowledge to develop wheat varieties that can thrive in water-limited environments, ultimately contributing to more resilient and sustainable agricultural practices.• What are the methods you apply in your research: I employ a combination of phenotyping and genotyping techniques in my research. Phenotyping involves assessing various physiological and morphological traits of wheat plants under drought conditions, helping to identify stressresponsive characteristics. Genotyping involves the use of molecular markers to analyze the genetic makeup of wheat lines, aiding in the identification of genes associated with drought tolerance. These methods allow me to comprehensively understand the genetic basis of drought tolerance in wheat and contribute to the development of stress-resilient crop varieties.•What additional methods you are familiar with: In addition to phenotyping and genotyping techniques, I am also familiar with statistical analysis and data interpretation. This proficiency enables me to effectively analyze the large datasets generated by phenotyping and genotyping experiments, helping to uncover meaningful patterns and relationships. Furthermore, I have experience with bioinformatics tools, which aid in the identification of candidate genes and pathways related to drought tolerance. Additionally, I possess knowledge in various agronomical traits relevant to crop performance and stress response, providing a holistic approach to my research.Drought tolerance is a plant's ability to survive and produce reasonable yields under limited water availability • The purpose of the research:-to calculate the optimal option of the water standard in drip irrigation; -to achieve maximum productivity.• Complete soil analysis, irrigation , moisture monitoring, phenological observations and yield control. • Expectations from the Summer School-getting more knowledge and its application in scientific activities"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"75ae16b17453ee8cfe24e2d69b9de957","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e2175f0e-efa3-4baf-b3c9-a2237830a1fa/retrieve","id":"-953273646"},"keywords":["mycorrhizal inoculant","rhizobial inoculant","arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi","phosphorus","soil health"],"sieverID":"e4560f2e-4911-46d4-916f-18f0d9db668b","content":"The aim of this study was to assess the potential of commercial mycorrhizal inoculants and a rhizobial inoculant to improve soybean yield in Kenya. A promiscuous soybean variety was grown in a greenhouse pot study with two representative soils amended with either water-soluble mineral P or rock P to assess product performance. The performance of selected mycorrhizal inoculants combined with a rhizobial inoculant (Legumefix) was then assessed with farmer groups in three agroecological zones using a small-plot, randomized complete block design to assess soybean root colonization by mycorrhiza, nodulation, and plant biomass production in comparison to rhizobial inoculant alone or with water-soluble mineral P. Greenhouse results showed highly significant root colonization by commercial mycorrhizal inoculant alone (p < 0.001) and in interaction with soil type (p < 0.0001) and P source (p < 0.0001). However, no significant effect was shown in plant P uptake, biomass production, or leaf chlorophyll index. In field conditions, the effects of mycorrhizal and rhizobial inoculants in combination or alone were highly context-specific and may induce either a significant increase or decrease in root mycorrhizal colonization and nodule formation. Mycorrhizal and rhizobial inoculants in combination or alone had limited effect on plant P uptake, biomass production, leaf chlorophyll index, and grain yield. Though some mycorrhizal inoculants induced significant root colonization by mycorrhizal inoculants, this did not lead to higher soybean yield, even in soils with limited P content. Our results are further evidence that inoculant type, soil type, and P source are critical factors to evaluate commercial inoculants on a context-specific basis. However, our results highlight the need for the identification of additional targeting criteria, as inoculantSoybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is a rich source of plant protein (411 g kg −1 ) and vegetable oil (209 g kg −1 ). It is also used in a wide range of industrial products, from hand lotions to biofuel [1,2]. Soybean is a popular crop globally and its production and use in Kenya is gaining importance. However, compared to countries like Brazil (4 t ha −1 ) [3], soybean yield in Kenya is relatively low (< 0.5 t ha −1 ). The main reasons for low crop yields include poor soil fertility associated with poor organic content as a consequence of little or no nutrient inputs (both organic and inorganic) and P-deficient soils [4,5]. East African soils are highly deficient in P [6]. A recent comprehensive analysis [7,8] to understand the major limitations and opportunities to enhance soil fertility in sub-Saharan Africa, including Kenya, found that financially constrained farmers have limited incentive to use inorganic fertilizer alone or improved varieties without some improvement to soil health. Additionally, soybean is poised to dominate crop production across Africa both in terms of the expansion of harvest area and yield increases [9]. Thus, systems approaches that integrate in situ soil fertility enhancing technologies are of upmost prioritization to improve the productivity of crops. As such, soil microbials that enhance nutrient pools and uptake efficiency are likely technologies that can be valuable.Soil microorganisms are comprised of a large pool of genetic diversity that plays a key role in soil processes, including nutrient cycling and acquisition [10]. Biological Nitrogen Fixation (BNF) with legumes is an important component of cropping systems in Africa. Efficient BNF requires the presence of efficient and compatible rhizobial strains in the soil (i.e., native or inoculated). This process can deposit large amounts of N into soils, thereby increasing plant yield [11,12]. Legume-rhizobia symbiosis has led to important economic benefits in terms of N-fertilizer savings of over USD $2.5 billion year −1 [13] in Brazil and yields of above 2 t ha −1 in Zimbabwe [14]. In Kenya, the inoculation of a promiscuous soybean variety (TGx1740-2F) with commercial rhizobial inoculants (e.g., Legumefix) significantly enhanced N fixation and contributed to plant N nutrition under greenhouse conditions [15]. However, without enough P in the soil, BNF is limited [16].Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are a group of soil microorganisms that establish symbioses with most plant species. It has been widely reported [17,18] that AMF can play an important role in improving plant P nutrition and the nutrient status of other poorly mobile nutrients. This is primarily driven by AMF's extensive hyphal networks in soil [19,20] and the capacity of AMF to release organic acid to solubilize less soluble phosphate (i.e., rock phosphate) or other minerals fixed by soil components. AMF can acidify the soil through releasing H + or HCO 3 ions that facilitate the transformation of HPO 4 2into H 2 PO 4 -, which is easily assimilated by plants [17]. Mycorrhiza are expected to play a key role in overcoming the exhausting of non-renewable P resources [21,22]. The efficient use of AMF could, in the near future, replace or reduce the quantitative use of chemical fertilizers, particularly phosphorus [23]. Inoculation with AMF can significantly increase the concentration of various macro and micro-nutrients, thus resulting in an increase in photosynthate production and therefore an increased accumulation of biomass [24,25]. Most commercial mycorrhizal inoculants contain both endo-and ectomycorrhiza species, which are occasionally mixed with beneficial bacteria and other ingredients. In addition, the quality of commercial AMF inoculants is sensitive to subtle changes in processing and transportation. Faye et al. (2013) tested twelve commercial mycorrhizal inoculants available on international markets and found that only three were able to significantly improve root colonization levels compared to non-inoculated plants [26]. As suggested by Faye et al. (2013), commercial mycorrhizal inoculants should be pre-evaluated on selected crops and regional soils before launching large-scale field use to ensure the best fit of inoculants with conditions [26]. Currently, the potential of AMF to enhance plant growth and yield in field conditions is controversial. Numerous studies describe how AMF improved crop growth in greenhouse conditions [26][27][28]; however, none of these studies showed consistent effects in field conditions. Smith and Smith (2011) outlined factors that can explain the absence of improved crop productivity in the field due to AMF [29]. One such essential factor is the use of plant material from breeding programs (e.g., promiscuous soybean varieties). A meta-analysis was conducted (i.e., 1981 to 2010, 39 publications working on 320 different crop plant genotypes) about mycorrhizal responsiveness trends in annual crops and their wild relatives [30]. Their conclusion was that new cultivars were more mycorrhiza-responsive and possibly dependent compared to ancestral genotypes. In addition, in cases of a large presence of adapted native AMF, field inoculations with exotic commercial mycorrhizal inoculants were not successful.There are several examples that highlight the benefits of dual inoculation with both AMF and rhizobia by enhancing plant growth [31][32][33]. However, to the best of our knowledge, such a dual inoculant in a single product is not commercially available and the performance of such a product would likely be dependent on product composition and environmental conditions, making it difficult to generalize. The aim of this study was to assess the potential of commercial mycorrhizal inoculants and a rhizobial inoculant to improve soybean yield in Kenya. We hypothesize that the performance of commercially available inoculants will either increase or decrease as a consequence of P and N source and soil type, and that a dual inoculation of mycorrhiza-rhizobia will enhance plant tissue P and N status (i.e., as indicated by leaf chlorophyll index), and consequent biomass and grain yield, in each site.A pot experiment was conducted in a greenhouse at the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility (TSBF) institute of the Centre International d'Agriculture Tropicale (CIAT), Nairobi, Kenya using two representative soils from central and coastal provinces of Kenya. The soils were classified as Humic Nitisols and Rhodic Ferralsols, respectively, according to the World Reference Base for soil resources [34]. Soils selected are responsive to both N and P fertilizer and contained a low to moderate level of organic carbon with an acidic pH near to neutral. At the time of soil collection both fields were cultivated with maize without the previous application of fertilizer or organic inputs, and had never been cultivated with soybean. Soils were collected from the 0-20 cm soil layer, shade-dried, sieved to pass through 4-mm holes, homogenized, and analyzed. The key characteristics of the soil are presented in Table 1.The number of indigenous mycorrhizal spores were quantified for both soils. AMF spores were extracted from a 100 g sample by wet sieving and sucrose gradation [35]. An Asian soybean genotype, bred for promiscuous nodulation from International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria [36] was used in this research. This soybean variety is described as widely adapted and resistant to major diseases in Kenya [15]. Pots were filled with 2.3 kg of the central province soil and 2.4 kg of the coastal province soil due to differences in bulk density and arranged according to a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates. Prior to planting, seeds were surface-sterilized using 3.3% Ca(OCl) 2 for five minutes and rinsed five times with sterile distilled water. To avoid nutrient deficiency, which could affect crop growth, all nutrients except for P were applied at optimal rates as follows: KNO 3 (0.562 g kg −1 of dry soil), MgSO 4 (0.133 g kg −1 ), CaCl 2 (0.287 g kg −1 ), and MgCl 2 (0.290 g kg −1 ). These calculations were based on optimal foliar concentrations and an expected maximal biomass yield of 60 g dry matter (DM) plant −1 . Nutrient solutions were prepared and thoroughly mixed with the soil, prior to planting. P was provided as water-soluble mineral P (KH 2 PO 4 ) at 1/5 phosphate sorption indices (i.e., 2.7 mg P kg −1 of soil for the central province soil and 63 mg P kg −1 of soil for the coastal province soil both targeting a P concentration of 0.2 mg P L −1 in solution [37]) or as Minjungu Rock Phosphate (Minjungu PR) (25% of P 2 O 5 ) at 60 kg ha −1 . Pots were rotated daily and soil moisture content was brought to 18% and 27% (w/w) for the coastal and central province soils, respectively (i.e., approximately 90% of soil field capacity) by weighing and adding distilled water. The commercial rhizobial inoculant Legumefix was obtained from Legume Technology (UK), as it performed well with the promiscuous soybean variety TGx1740-2F under controlled conditions [15]. The twelve commercial mycorrhizal inoculants were obtained from Agrauxine (France), IFTECH (France), Mycorrhizal Applications Inc. (USA), Dudutech Ltd. (Kenya), Nutri-Tech Solutions (Australia) and Zander Middle East (Emirate). Endorhize standard, Endorhize premium, Mycor, and Vam-Tech declared to have a single strain of AMF, whereas, Myco Apply Endo and Rhizatech declared to contain multiple strains of AMF. Myco Apply Maxx, Myco Apply Endo plus, Myco Apply Soluble Endo, Myco Apply Root Dip Gel, and Myco Apply Soluble Soluble Maxx declared to contain endomycorrhiza (Glomus, Gigaspora), ectomycorrhiza (Pisolithus), and several kinds of other fungi and bacteria such as Trichoderma or Bacillus (Table 2). For Zander Mycorrhiza, the manufacturer did not provide species information about the content of the inoculants. These inoculants were selected using scientific judgement to cover a diversity of species including mycorrhiza. Many of the products were commercially available but not necessarily available in Kenya. Thus, the tested inoculants represented a fairly exhaustive list of commercially available products. All commercial inoculants were applied according to the manufacturer's protocol (i.e., as seed coating, blending into potting soil, drench or soil application, or dipping root into product) and were used before the expiration date. Average minimum and maximum temperatures in the greenhouse during plant growth were 18 • C and 38 • C, respectively. For the six-week growing period, plant shoot heights were measured twice a week. Chlorophyll index was determined in the three youngest fully developed leaves at four and six weeks after planting using a chlorophyll meter (SPAD 502; Konica Minolta Sensitive, Inc; 101 Williams Drive Ramsey, NJ, USA). At 42 days after planting, plants were harvested by cutting the stem one cm above the soil surface. Pot contents were washed over a two-millimeter sieve to isolate roots and nodules, which were counted, weighed, and stored in glycerol at −20 • C. Shoot biomass samples were oven dried for 72 hours at 65 • C and dry biomass was recorded before grinding and quantifying P tissue content at the TSBF CIAT labs. Roots were kept in ethanol (70%) at 4 • C for further mycorrhizal root colonization assessment in each pot treatment by staining with Trypan blue [38] and the percent root colonization was determined using the magnified intersections method [39]. This is an objective scale of measurement, involving the inspection of arbuscules intersecting the vertical crosshair at a magnification ×200. Treatment effects and interactions (i.e., P uptake, plant above ground biomass, chlorophyll index, fresh nodule biomass, and root colonization) were assessed using the PROC mixed procedure of the SAS program [40] and significance was evaluated at p ≤ 0.05 according to Tukey's test.Experimental Sites, Design, and Management The best-performing Mycorrhizal inoculants from the greenhouse study were selected for inclusion in the field trial in combination with the rhizobial inoculant Legumefix alone or with two P sources in a multi-location trial during the rainy season of August-December 2010 in three different agroecological zones (AEZ) of Kenya (Figure 1). Sites were selected to cover a gradient of rainfall, altitude, and temperature. In each AEZ, three farmers from seven representative farmers' groups were selected (i.e., 3 × 7 = 21 farms and considered each as a replicate) based on a homogeneous cropping history and previous field responsiveness to N and P fertilizers. Poor, unused or extremely fertile sites and sites on steep slopes were avoided. Soils were sampled and characterized before trial initiation (Table 3). Peat-based inoculants were applied to the seeds at triple the rate of the on-field recommended dose and converted using the optimal planting density (i.e., 270,000 plants ha −1 ) to ensure enough propagules. Within each farm, plots of 22.5 m 2 were separated by 1 m alleys and were laid out according to an RCBD. Soybean plants were spaced with 0.75 m between rows and 0.05 m within rows. The selected mycorrhizal inoculants from the greenhouse study (i.e., Endorize premium, Myco Apply Maxx and Rhizatech) were applied in combination with a rhizobial inoculant (i.e., Legumefix) and compared to a reference treatment (i.e., Legumefix alone and Legumefix + diammonium phosphate (DAP) at recommended rate (50 kg ha −1 )). Treatment effects on soybean biomass production, the nodule fresh weight (FW) of the plant −1 , and root colonization by mycorrhiza were assessed at four weeks after planting on five randomly selected plants at the 50% podding stage (i.e., R4) [41] along a 1-m transect within each plot. Root colonization by mycorrhiza and percent root colonization were measured using the same method as conducted in the greenhouse study [38,39]. Grain yield was evaluated at harvest from 50 soybean plants in each plot and yield (t ha −1 ) was extrapolated according to the following formula:Sub-Sample Pod Dry Weight (SSPDW); Sub-Sample Pod Fresh Weight (SSPFW); Total Pod Fresh Weight (TOTPFW); Harvest Net Plot (HNP), and ×10 conversion factor from kg/m 2 to t/ha.Considering each farm as a replicate, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to determine the effects of inoculants across the three sites using a mixed linear model [40]. By computing least square means and standard errors of difference, the effects of the different treatments were compared. A mean comparison was performed using Fisher's protected least significant difference (LSD) test at p ≤ 0.05 significance level.Plant root colonization by mycorrhiza was affected by inoculants (p < 0.001) as well as inoculant interactions with soil type and P source (p < 0.0001) (Table 4). Myco Apply Endo plus (In. 4) (51.2%), followed by Endorize premium (In. 2) (48.2%), and Rhizatech (In. 10) (40.3%) had significantly higher percent root colonization compared to control (Table 5). The nodule FW of the plant −1 was not affected by inoculant application or soil type. However, inoculants and P source significantly (p = 0.0357) improved plant nodulation (Table 4). There was no relationship between the application of AMF inoculants alone or their interaction with soil type on soybean plant nodulation (Table 5). When water-soluble mineral P was applied, two inoculants (i.e., Myco Apply Soluble Maxx (In. 8) and Zander Mycorrhiza (In. 12)) reduced the number of nodules plant −1 compared to the control (i.e., 0.80 g plant −1 and 0.98 g plant −1 , respectively). Commercial mycorrhizal inoculant interactions with soil type resulted in highly significant effects on soybean plant root colonization by AMF (p < 0.0001). For the control treatments without mycorrhizal inoculants, soybean root colonization was higher in the clay soil compared to the sandy soil (31.8% and 13%, respectively). In the sandy soil (i.e., coastal province), inoculants Myco Apply Root Dip Gel (In. 7) (13.8%) and Myco Apply Soluble Endo (In. 6) (18.5%) had similar effect on plant root colonization to the control (13.0%). In contrast, inoculants Endorize premium (In. 2) (40.5%), Zander Mycorrhiza (In. 12) (37.8%), Endorize standard (In. 1) (33.3%), Vam-Tech (In. 11) (32.5%), Myco Apply Maxx (In. 5) (31.8%), Mycor/Iftech (In. 9) (28.5%), Myco Apply Soluble Maxx (In. 8) (28.0%), Rhizatech (In. 10) (27.0%), and Myco Apply Endo (In. 3) (20.0%) significantly increased root colonization compared to non-inoculated plants. In the clay soil (i.e., central province), all inoculants increased plant root colonization by AMF inoculation. Myco Apply Endo plus (In. 4) (65.5%), Endorize premium (In. 2) (55.8%), and Rhizatech (In. 10) (53.7%) significantly increased root colonization compared to the control (31.8%).In the presence of Minjungu PR, Myco Apply Endo plus (In. 4) (61.1%), Endorize premium (In. 2) (48.7%), Vam-Tech (In. 11) (38.5%), Zander Mycorrhiza (In. 12) (38.0%), and Rhizatech (In. 10) (33.7%) had a significant higher percent root colonization compared to the control (15.5%). All other inoculants did not statistically improve percent root colonization in the presence of Minjungu PR. When water-soluble mineral P was applied, the percentage root colonization by AMF was found to be similar to control plants (29.3%) except for Myco Apply Endo (In. 3), which had significantly lower (19.0%) root colonization. Endorize premium (In. 2), Rhizatech (In. 10), Mycor/Iftech (In. 9), Myco Apply Root Dip Gel (In. 7), and Myco Apply Endo plus (In. 4) had the highest percentage of root colonization by AMF (47.7%, 47%, 42.7%, 42.5%, and 40.8%, respectively), though this was not significantly different from the control.In contrast, inoculants alone, when interacting with soil type or interacting with P source, did not significantly improve plant P uptake, biomass production, or chlorophyll index (p ≤ 0.05) (Table 4). In the greenhouse, Rhizatech (In. 10), Endorize Premium (In. 2), and Myco Apply Maxx (In. 5) all performed well and were thus selected for inclusion in the field trials. Additionally, P source had significant effect on root colonization and nodule formation with water-soluble mineral P performing better than Minjungu RP, thus, a water-soluble mineral P treatment in combination with Legumefix was included in the field trial. The results of the single or dual field inoculations with selected commercial inoculants on soybean plant nodulation and root colonization by AMF are summarized in Table 6. When Legumefix was inoculated alone, nodule biomass was 7.6 g plant −1 in Bondo and was poor compared to 18.4 g plant −1 and 28.9 g plant −1 in Bungoma and Chuka, respectively. In Chuka, the combination of Legumefix with the mycorrhizal inoculant Rhizatech was the only treatment to induce significantly higher nodule FW plant −1 (49.3 g plant −1 ) across all combinations of P and mycorrhizal inoculants compared to Legumefix alone. However, this combination significantly decreased nodule plant −1 FW in Bungoma and Bondo. In general, besides the combination of Legumefix with the mycorrhizal inoculant Rhizatech in Chuka, the combination of Legumefix with DAP or any other commercial mycorrhizal inoculants significantly decreased nodule FW plant −1 across all sites (Table 6). Reduction in nodule FW was as severe as 5.4-fold decrease in Bondo. Table 6. Field assessment of soybean root arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) colonization and nodulation levels after the application of select commercial inoculants (Legumefix-rhizobia; Endorhize-AMF; Rhizatech-AMF; Myco Apply Maxx-microbial mixture) with or without diammonium phosphate (DAP) in the three agroecological zones. Values are means with a minimum of four replicates. Mean comparisons were performed by the Fisher's protected LSD test. Values followed by the same letter in the same column are not significantly different at p ≤ 0.05. Not assessed (NA). Fresh weight (FW) (g).Legumefix with the mycorrhizal inoculant Rhizatech significantly increased mycorrhizal colonization percentages in Bungoma and Bondo (i.e., ~2X) but had no effect in Chuka, unlike in the case of nodule FW (Table 6). Endorize Premium and Myco Apply Maxx in combination with Legumefix increased mycorrhizal colonization percentage in Bondo only. Legumefix in combination with DAP significantly reduced the mycorrhizal colonization percentage in Bungoma and had no effect in Bondo and Chuka. The other mycorrhizal inoculants in combination with Legumefix either had no significant effect on mycorrhizal colonization percentage or induced a significant decrease in mycorrhizal colonization percentage. Treatment effects varied significantly across locations for both nodule FW and mycorrhizal colonization percentage.Despite higher root AMF colonization percentages and fresh nodule biomasses induced by several dual inoculations with both mycorrhizal and rhizobial inoculants in specific locations (Table 6), soybean yield was not statistically enhanced regardless of location (Table 7). There were also no differences in yield between treatments. Soybean grain yields ha −1 were on average higher in Bondo, followed by Chuka and Bungoma (p ≤ 0.05) but were relatively low with a maximum average yield of 0.75 t ha −1 in Bondo. The control (Legumefix alone) ranged from 0.71 t ha −1 in Chuka to 0.46 t ha −1 in Bungoma.DAP applications combined with Legumefix did not significantly increase soybean grain yield (0.62 t ha −1 , 0.82 ha −1 , and 0.57 t ha −1 in Bungoma, Bondo, and Chuka, respectively). Inoculant type, soil type, and P source are critical factors to evaluate commercial inoculants on a context-specific basis [42][43][44]. The best plant root colonization responses appeared in the presence of water-soluble mineral P for nine of the twelve inoculants (Table 5), which can be explained by the quick availability of this form as opposed to Minjungu RP, which needs more time to solubilize. Nodule formation is a P-demanding process [43,44] and the faster solubilizing mineral P source likely accounts for this observation, while improved P uptake due to AMF begins with the colonization of plant roots [17,45], which should have increased P uptake with increased mycorrhizal colonization; however, this was not observed. Enhanced P uptake is generally regarded as one of the most important benefits that AMF provides to host plant [20,46]. In both the greenhouse and the field, none of the products significantly improved plant P uptake. Though this study does not shed light on the effect of commercial inoculants on the uptake of other essential nutrients, it is worth noting that AMF can deliver nutrients other than P such as Zn, Ca, Cu, K, S and N [16]. Additionally, since a complete nutrient package was applied in the greenhouse but not in the field conditions, it may be theorized that the total soil nutrient balance is important for the success of mycorrhizal inoculation. The difference in results from the greenhouse to the field could also be related to niche and nutrient competition with indigenous strains, as reported in other studies [44,47].In general, Rhizatech, which is a local, Kenyan-sourced inoculant, performed best in terms of inducing root mycorrhizal colonization and nodule formation, though not consistently across locations. This result contradicts others that have shown that the inoculation of maize by exotic AMF strains favored higher root colonization than that by the native AMF strains [48]. These authors also believe that, except for the case of strains like Gigaspora margarita, the use of colonization stimulants may be necessary to increase the mycorrhizal colonization of the roots. However, even though Rhizatech induced high root infection, this did not translate into improved plant growth efficiency. Myco Apply Maxx mitigated root colonization in some AEZ (Chuka) and significantly improved promiscuous soybean plant nodulation in other AEZ (Bungoma) highlighting the highly variable response of some inoculants. Others have suggested that mixing inoculants may exploit their synergetic effects [49,50]; however, Myco Apply Max had very inconsistent results even though it is reported to contain nine AMF species, 15 bacterial species, 11 Ectomycorrhiza strains, two Trichoderma strains, and NPK (4-1-2). Microbial components compete for establishment and food and thus the multiple species competing in the inoculant mix may have contributed to its lack of effect [51]. Inhibitory effects between inoculant ingredients, soil microorganisms, and soil components may determine the success of mycorrhizal field inoculation and should be further investigated. Plant root colonization by mycorrhiza is also determined by various factors including the presence and quality of indigenous populations. Foreign strain inoculants often fail to form mycorrhizal associations [28,52] and this likely accounts for our results showing that three inoculants significantly increased soybean root mycorrhizal colonization, whereas nine other inoculants were not significantly different (Table 4).We also observed a competition for colonization between the native strains of AMF and the exotic strains contained in the inoculants. Plant roots were shown to be colonized simultaneously by more than one AMF strain in both natural and agricultural ecosystems, which is consistent with other studies [17,53]. The number of AMF spores found in the soils used at the greenhouse and in the field indicated that the populations of native AMF were not negligible (around 1135 spores per 100 g of dry soil and 770 spores per 100 g of dry soil, respectively). Molecular techniques would be needed to distinguish between native and inoculated mycorrhiza strains [53], which was not conducted for this study. Moreover, others have shown that despite a high number of nodules occupied by the inoculated rhizobial strain of Legumefix on the promiscuous soybean variety TGx1740-2F, this did not lead to an increase in grain yield [54]. According to these authors, soil factors (e.g., pH, P, C, N) seemed to affect which strain would occupy the nodule. Accordingly, the same assumption could be made regarding the efficiency of the root mycorrhizal symbiosis induced by AMF. Additionally, in the greenhouse, percent root colonization by mycorrhiza was higher with or without commercial inoculants on clay soil. In the field conditions, however, clay content did not appear to be the primary factor determining increased root colonization by mycorrhiza as Bungoma had the lowest clay content but had significantly higher percent root colonization by mycorrhiza compared to the locations with greater clay content than the greenhouse clay soil. Independent to soil type or P source, most of the tested commercial mycorrhizal inoculants from this study improved promiscuous soybean root colonization by mycorrhiza, which is further evidence that new plant genotypes have maintained susceptibility to mycorrhizal inoculation [30]. Using many of the same commercial inoculants, our results also seem to suggest that soybean response to these inoculants is better than with maize [26].Regardless of whether they were tested in greenhouse or field conditions, the effects of mycorrhizal and rhizobial inoculants in combination or alone are highly context-specific and may induce either a significant increase or decrease in root mycorrhizal colonization and nodule formation. Mycorrhizal and rhizobial inoculants in combination or alone had limited effect on plant P uptake, biomass production, leaf chlorophyll index, and grain yield. Additionally, though some inoculants induced significant root colonization by AMF, this did not lead to higher soybean yield, even in soils with limited P content, as in the case of Kilifi and Chuka. Location-and management-related factors such as soil type and P application source had significant treatment effects in both the greenhouse and field conditions. For the Chuka soil, percent root colonization by mycorrhiza was greater in the greenhouse than in field conditions across all inoculants. Our results are further evidence that inoculant type, soil type, and P source are critical factors to evaluate commercial inoculants on a context-specific basis. However, our results highlight the need for the identification of additional targeting criteria, as these three factors alone were not enough to be predictive of a response. Without the identification of predictive criteria for improved targeting, the economic use of such inoculants will remain elusive.are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government or the any of the funding agencies."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d8550e158021463b05ad42be7d4e30a1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cefd58ab-21ca-414c-8849-af0111111dac/retrieve","id":"532079286"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"282bd7bf-fcbc-48d4-b4b8-8a8021ebaa50","content":"Los datos del vivero son para uso de los programas nacionales en la seleccibn de lineas para ensayos avanzados.Como conclusibn se destaca la importancia de basar seleccibn entre lineas uniformes sobre el conocimiento de las lineas:tienen mejor potencial de rendimiento,son resistentes a los factores limitantes mas importantes, cuales tienen las mejores caracterfsticas agronómicas y para consumo.Para tener la posibilidad de conocer las lineas, los viveros y ensayos deben ser sembrados y manejados para asegurar un buen ambiente de selecci bn para la identificacibn de las caracteristicas buscadas.cotv>l.EMENTACIDIIII POR: RDDOLFO ARAYA.Logran captar los materiales promisorios de los proyectos específicos, nacional.seleccionados como prioritarios por el programa Esto evita que los investigadores <patologo -mejorador entomólogo) trabajen en forma individual durante el proceso de seleccibn de un material para uso comercial.Se pretende que en las primeras etapas de selección intervengan diversos criterios y ambientes, con esto se logra que el metodo de evaluacibn y estrategias de manejo experimental sea recibido por diversos especialistas que aseguren una mejor selección de los materiales, los cuales en primera instancia "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fe5ee458402f27b8b3610d4283458956","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/86864d98-9c69-44bf-b3b0-c6278577a7f1/retrieve","id":"-111468154"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7d637a3e-c1ac-46da-af90-9dc40312cd23","content":"The agricultural sector plays a central role in the Ethiopian economy and lies at the heart of government initiatives to accelerate nationwide economic growth. Even though rural HIV prevalence rates are lower than urban rates (1.8% and 10.1% respectively in 2005), the potential scale of the rural epidemic requires an urgent response (Box 1).There are about 1.3 million Ethiopians infected with HIV. • An additional 350 people become infected every day.A similar number of people die every day from AIDS-related illnesses. • AIDS accounts for 35% of young adult deaths (15-49 years old).Around 280,000 people require anti-retroviral treatment but only 35,000 were receiving • antiretroviral treatment in mid-2006. Women are at least at 1.2 times greater risk of infection than men. • At the household level, the impact of the disease diverts attention and resources from productive activities to caring for the sick and surviving the aftermath of the death of key household members. If left unchecked, the disease changes the composition of rural communities and the priorities of farming households, thereby making many of the traditional production-oriented extension messages irrelevant. One significant aspect of the rural epidemic is the extent to which it may undermine efforts to improve agricultural productivity and to achieve market-led development.The epidemic is already established in the rural areas of Ethiopia and although the HIV prevalence rate is relatively low at present, it is expected to continue to rise, at least in short term. Consequently, even if agriculturally-related development projects choose to do nothing about HIV/AIDS, the disease will inevitably have an impact on rural communities and their ability to participate in such initiatives. AIDS-affected households typically experience a loss of labour and skills, a reduction in the household asset base, and changes in household priorities to meet short term food needs rather than engage in potentially risky medium term investments. Government and partner institutions may also suffer if attrition rates rise among their workforce, thereby undermining investments in capacity building and institutional strengthening.Moreover, if development efforts are successful in increasing productivity and farmers' engagement with the market, and thereby raising farm incomes, these actions may actually hasten the spread of the disease (since increases in mobility and increases in income, which may arise from improved marketing, are often cited as driving factors of the epidemic). Similarly, capacity building initiatives, such as training, study tours and farmer exchange programmes, may also increase the risk of exposure, if they involve overnight stays away from home. Hence it is essential that development agencies identify any likely increases in the risk of HIV infection associated with its activities and introduce remedial measures as necessary, as well as look for opportunities to contribute to addressing HIV/AIDS in the rural economy.This toolkit presents a range of tools that may be used for collecting and analysing field data to facilitate HIV/AIDS action planning in agricultural development projects. The reasons for conducting HIV risk and AIDS vulnerability assessment are fivefold:to increase the understanding of the sources of risk of HIV infection in the woreda; • to increase the understanding of the impacts of AIDS to date and potential future sources of • vulnerability; to identify possible inter-relationships between HIV/AIDS and the proposed activities; • to identify opportunities in the project for promoting prevention, care and mitigation activities, • as appropriate; and to contribute to the knowledge base about HIV/AIDS in the agricultural sector. •The materials have been prepared for, and field tested by, the CIDA-funded Improving Productivity and Market Successes Ethiopian Farmers Project based at ILRI, Addis Ababa.The toolkit will be of use to organisations promoting rural development. The primary target groups will comprise woreda staff from the extension services of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development such as the extension supervisors, woreda experts and development agents; health extension workers; staff from Women's Affairs and HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office (HAPCO); and teaching staff from the Agriculture TVET colleges and universities. The toolkit may also be of interest to NGOs and civil society organisations operating in rural areas.The key concepts associated with analysing HIV/AIDS from a social development perspective are presented in section 2. The tools for data collection and analysis, with guidance notes on their use, are presented in section 3. The final section discusses how to interpret the findings and notes opportunities for HIV/AIDS mainstreaming through market-led development initiatives.This section describes some of the key concepts associated with analysing the HIV/AIDS epidemic from a social development perspective.An individual passes through three stages between HIV infection and death and this process may spread over a period of between 8 and 10 years if anti-retroviral therapy is not available. The stages are described below:After a person becomes infected with HIV, he or she can spend a number of years looking and feeling healthy and strong. This stage is very risky for the spread of the disease because an infected person can pass on the virus to others without knowing they are doing so, through unprotected sex or sharing unsterilised skin piercing instruments. Good nutrition and medical treatment can slow down the rate at which HIV weakens the immune system. This stage, without any symptoms, may last between six and eight years.The infected person starts becoming sick with opportunistic infections, such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, viral and fungal infections, which take advantage of the body's weakened immune system. As these illnesses become more frequent and persistent, the patient suffers from chronic fatigue. Medical treatments can prevent or cure some of the illnesses associated with AIDS. Household resources are diverted into patient care, involving not only the time of other household members to tend to the sick but also financial resources for medical treatment. The ability of someone suffering from AIDS-related illnesses to carry on with their normal lives depends on the extent to which physical strength and visual appearance is important. Once the person has full-blown AIDS, life expectancy without recourse to antiretroviral therapy is two to three years.Immediately following the death of an infected person, many households observe funeral and mourning rites. This can be a time-consuming and expensive process, further draining a household's limited resource base. If the deceased had a spouse, it is very likely that the spouse is also infected and it is only a matter of time before he or she becomes sick. A household may remain in a state of being infected and affected for several years. Many households struggle to survive the death of key household members, particularly in communities where the property inheritance system is weak or characterised by property grabbing by relatives of the deceased.There are three main modes of behaviour which may result in individuals engaging in activities • which expose them to the HIV virus;HIV-risky behaviour by choice, usually for pleasure: for example, multiple sexual partners, high • alcohol or narcotic consumption which may lead to unprotected sex, and injecting drug use;HIV-risky behaviour by convention, culture, peer pressure or coercion: sexual norms, physically • damaging sexual practices, widow inheritance, polygamy, rape, abduction, child sexual abuse and incest, early sexual debut, early marriage, inability to negotiate for safe sex due to unbalanced power relations, harmful traditional practices using unsterilised instruments (such as circumcision, female genital mutilation, milk tooth extraction, tonsillectomy) and a reluctance to abandon breast-feeding by HIV-positive mothers;HIV-risky behaviour by necessity: exchanging sexual favours for food, cash or preferential access • to limited resources (such as male labour or food items for processing) and caring for the AIDS sick without due caution.Some lifestyles place people at risk by presenting them with opportunities for unprotected sex with non-regular partners (Box 2). These activities usually take place away from home, often in urban areas where prevalence rates are usually higher than rural areas. The lack of social cohesion in this setting may encourage people to do things which they would not do if they were at home. Several of these lifestyle activities are associated with the generation of cash which increases the opportunity for new sexual liaisons.These people often act as bridging populations, engaging in HIV-risky behaviour in high-risk environments away from home and then carrying the virus back into their homes and the community. The potential source of infection varies by age (Box 3) and sex of the household member. Women and girls are among the high-risk group, often due to events beyond their control. For each sexual encounter, they are more biologically vulnerable to infection than men. They are also more socially vulnerable due to discriminatory social and cultural practices. In many communities women have lower rates of literacy than men, leave school earlier than boys, have limited access to sources of information, and have little opportunity to participate in decision making.Due their weak social position and the dominance of men, women are either unaware or unable to insist on condom use and negotiate for safe sex.Gender inequalities also affect the ability of women to disclose their HIV status and utilise treatment and care services. They are also disadvantaged with regard to using and controlling economic resources in the household, and their lack of economic independence makes them more likely to engage in survival sex.Communities may pass through various stages of the epidemic, as the presence of the disease becomes evident. Identifying the stage of the epidemic at community level is complicated by the fact that, at any one time, different households in a community are at different stages of the epidemic.The six stages outlined below may span several years if not decades.AIDS-initiating: HIV/AIDS is almost non-existent with very low prevalence rates but any • community is always potentially at risk from infection, especially if members of the community interact with high risk environments and, once infected, act as bridging populations to the home community; AIDS-impending: people are infected with HIV but are not showing any symptoms of AIDS-• related illnesses; hence the presence of the disease is largely unknown; AIDS-impacted but ignorant: people are ill with AIDS-related illnesses but their illness is • misdiagnosed due to a lack of knowledge about the disease; AIDS-impacted but denied: people are dying from AIDS-related illnesses but the community • denies its presence and try to ignore it; AIDS-impacted and acknowledged: infected and affected households are present in the • community and the disease is acknowledged as the cause of their plight; AIDS-recovering: HIV prevalence rates are declining but the community remains heavily AIDS-• impacted due to the time lag between infection, illness and death; The scale of the epidemic presents a serious challenge to extension work even if prevalence rates are relatively low (Diagram 1). Once AIDS-impacted households in a community start experiencing AIDSrelated deaths (A) and illnesses (B), this is only the tip of the problem. It is likely that a much larger group is already infected with HIV but is not yet showing any symptoms (C). Many other households are also affected by the diversion of household resources to care for the sick or by fostering orphans (D). Ultimately the whole community is at risk of infection (E).Diagram 1: HIV/AIDS PyramidTools for HIV/AIDS AnalysisTen tools are described below which can be used to gather data about the dynamics of HIV/ AIDS at the woreda level. They are presented in three stages: first, to assess the HIV risk environment in the woreda; second, to assess the impacts of AIDS to date in the woreda; and third, to draw out the implications for project design and implementation (Diagram 2).Tools 1 and 2 are used with key informants who know the woreda well, such as the HAPCO facilitator, staff from the Rural Development Department and health workers. They are also used with representatives from selected communities within the woreda. Tools 3 through to 7 are also used at the community level. It may be appropriate to meet with women and men separately in order to discuss some of the issues associated with HIV/AIDS. Tools 8, 9 and 10 are used by the project staff to reflect on the findings and their implications for proposed activities.The fieldwork should be conducted in a participatory manner, asking open-ended questions when appropriate and recording the answers as fully as possible. The tools are used as checklists; it is essential that they are adapted to be relevant to the local context, and to reflect the interest and priorities of the organisation undertaking the study. Meeting women, men and youth in separate groups often generates the broadest range of views and opinions. If possible, at least one or two women should be included in the study team, such as the home agents, women development agents or staff from Women's Affairs Desk in the Office of Agriculture and Rural Development (OoARD) or Women's Affairs Offices in order to enable women members of the community to feel more at ease and to express themselves more freely.Although many people are familiar with mobilising communities and their representatives to participate in meetings, the topic of HIV/AIDS is very sensitive and may require different approaches, depending on the stage of the disease in the community and how the community has responded to date. Stigma and discrimination often surrounds HIV/AIDS due to misunderstandings and misconceptions about the sources of infection, in particular its association with immoral behaviour.It is easier to discuss HIV/AIDS in communities which already acknowledge the full reality of AIDS and are actively trying to cope with its impacts, than in communities which are in a state of denial and discriminate against people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and their families. Stigma also makes it difficult to reach the more vulnerable groups since targeting may draw more attention to their plight. Infected people often try and hide their status for fear of discrimination and, once the symptoms become apparent, many isolate themselves and withdraw from public space. Efforts should be made to minimise stigma and discrimination during the fieldwork (Box 4). The 10 tools are described on the following pages, outlining the purpose of the tool, the composition of the interview group and a list of key questions, which may be adapted as necessary.A template is included for each tool to record the key information. At this stage it is important to record information in as much detail as possible; if it is summarised too quickly, its loses the richness of capturing the voices and perspectives from the field.Purpose of tool: to identify the potential sources of risk of HIV of infection in the context of the woreda.Interview group: This tool is used, together with tool 2, with two separate groups. The first group comprises key informants at woreda level including the HAPCO facilitator, staff from the Agricultural and Rural Development Department, Health Department, Women's Affairs Department and health workers. The second group comprises representatives from different groups in the community, such as farmers' groups, women's associations, youth associations and religious groups. In both groups, ensure a balance of women and men, and different age groups.Ask the group to answer the following questions with reference to the map:1. Draw a sketch map setting out the major towns, market places, health centres, hospitals, schools, trading centres, administration, water points, forests, places of work etc which are visited by the community.Identify areas that are considered be hotspots for exposure to risk of HIV infection.Examine the reasons why these areas are particularly HIV-risky environments: is it due to data on HIV prevalence rates from VCT centres etc; observed behaviour which is potentially risky; high rates of illness and death among adults showing AIDS-related symptoms?Template 1: Understanding the external environment Note what activities are currently taking place to reduce the risk of infection in the woreda.Identify what other actions are required to reduce the risk of infection from the external environment. Group: women men Tool 3: Understanding the Internal EnvironmentPurpose of tool: to identify the potential sources of risk of HIV of infection within the community.Interview group: representatives from different groups in the community, such as farmers' groups, women's associations, youth associations, and religious groups. Ensure a balance of women and men, and different age groups.Ask the group to answer the following questions with reference to the map:1.On a sketch map of the community identify the main places in the community where people meet (market place, bars, hotels, fishing beach, homes, school, water points, woods, neighbours etc).who visits these different locations? (women, men, youth, elderly, children) What vision do the youth have for their future?Purpose of tool: to identify the distribution of households in the community between the main household types, and changes in the distribution during the last 10 years (with special reference to potentially vulnerable households), as well as changes in household size.Interview group: representatives from different groups in the community, such as farmers' groups, women's associations, youth associations, and religious groups. Ensure a balance of women and men, and different age groups. Note the total number of households in the community (approximately). Define a household to be the unit in which people eat together in the evening.Use proportional piling to determine the distribution of total households across the household types. Take a large number of seeds (100 or 200) and explain that this represents the total number of households in the community. Ask for a volunteer to distribute the seeds between the different household types. Give other people a chance to adjust the distribution until all are happy. Add up the number of seeds in each group and divide by the total number of seeds in order to calculate the present percentage distribution. 4.Repeat the exercise in order to determine the distribution five years ago and ten years ago.Movement between groups: Have there been any movements between the household types? Purpose of tool: to identify changes in farm and non-farm livelihood activities and their outcomes at household level during the last five years.Interview group: representatives from different groups in the community, such as farmers' groups, women's associations, youth associations, and religious groups. Ensure a balance of women and men, and different age groups. Interview group: representatives from different groups in the community, such as farmers' groups, women's associations, youth associations, and religious groups. Ensure a balance of women and men, and different age groups.Are there any activities taking place in the community to raise awareness about HIV/ 1.AIDS. If so, what activities, who is undertaking them and who is supporting them (by providing trainers, materials etc)?Are there any activities taking place in the community to reduce the risk of HIV 2.infection? If so, what activities, who is undertaking them and who is supporting them (by providing trainers, materials etc)?Are any activities taking place at 3.woreda level to reduce the risk of HIV infection? If so, what activities, who is undertaking them and who is supporting them (by providing trainers, materials etc)?Has the community noted any changes in high risk behaviour among certain groups 4.in the community?How does the community help people living with HIV/AIDS? 5.What are the traditional practices for treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS, if any? 6.Are there any activities taking place in the community to help households cope with 7.the impacts of AIDS during sickness? If so, what activities, who is undertaking them and who is supporting them?Are there any activities taking place in the community to help households cope with 8.the impacts of AIDS following death? If so, what activities, who is undertaking them and who is supporting them?What happens to AIDS orphans living in the community? 9.What other community responses could assist in reducing the risk of HIV infection? 10.What other community responses could assist in reducing vulnerability to the impact 11.of AIDS? Other community responses to reduce vulnerability to impact of AIDS?Location: Group: women men Tool 7: Indicators of Community's Possible Vulnerability to Impacts of AIDS Purpose of tool: in communities where the impact of AIDS to date has been low, to identify the potential vulnerability to the impact of AIDS, as a result of the way in which households deal with labour shortages, food shortages, illness and death.Interview group: representatives from different groups in the community, such as farmers' groups, women's associations, youth associations, and religious groups. Ensure a balance of women and men, and different age groups.Discuss the following questions with reference to different types of household:How do households cope when an adult member (husband or wife) is ill for a long time or 1.dies? How do these responses vary depending on whether it is a man or a woman who is ill or dies?If an adult member of a household is ill for a long time or dies, how do households raise 2.cash, if required?What happens to the household assets (including access to land) when a man dies? 3.What happens to the household assets (including access to land) when both parents die? 4.What happens to the surviving household members after the death of a key adult? 5.How do households generally cope with shortages of labour and farm power? 6.How do households generally cope with food shortages? 7.How do neighbours or the community help households cope with any long term sickness, 8.death and post death?   The stage of HIV/AIDS epidemic in community influences the principal thrust of activities. In communities where few members of the community are infected, most of the emphasis is on increasing awareness and understanding about the disease with a view to reducing the risk of infection (Table 1). In communities where a significant proportion of the population are already infected but not yet sick with the disease (AIDS-impending), priority is given to preparing households to reduce the impacts of AIDS. Finally, in AIDS-impacted communities, attention is focused on providing care and support to PLWHA and their families and adjusting to the impacts of the disease. However, in any community, it is likely that all stages of the disease are present in different households, so all activities are relevant, to a lesser or greater extent. Identify opportunities to reduce the stigma associated with the disease. Bring the input supply and marketing chain closer to farmers in order to reduce the need  to travel and spend nights away from home (eg bulk purchasing, forward contracts, market information).Improve the modes of transport.Reduce delays at processing plants and distribution points by improving capacity/throughput of  plant and improving the efficiency of handling procedures. Educate farmers and seasonal labourers to manage their earnings for the benefits of the family  by saving, broadening their horizons and investing in their future. Strengthen women's position through economic empowerment.  Make the marketing chain more women-friendly and secure.Reduce the wish to migrate from rural areas by increasing livelihood options, particularly for the  youth.Minimise the risk associated with capacity building (reduce the number and duration of training  courses held away from home, train couples (husband and wife), reduce overnight stays away). Improve living conditions in rural areas and minimise the need for development agents to live  away from their families.Review the labour requirements of priority commodities and the likely future labour availability  in AIDS-impacted communities. Ensure the proposed enterprise mix is sustainable even with depleted household resources.Identify income generating activities suitable for people living with HIV/AIDS.  Promote income generating activities with modest capital and labour requirements for  impacted households (target FHHs, single MHHs, orphans) with capability to participate in new non-farm livelihood opportunities. Overcome barriers to production and marketing faced by AIDS-infected and affected  households (eg overcome labour constraints, reduce the labour burden of rural living, form groups to assist in transporting produce to market or processing, form marketing groups among petty traders). Develop market opportunities for crops and livestock suited to the resource base of infected and  affected households (including the need to be near home to care for the sick). Use farmers' associations as an entry point for AIDS care and support for members (eg social  fund for orphans).Promote crops and livestock contributing to balanced diets for people living with HIV/AIDS,  especially those receiving anti-retrovirals with special nutritional requirements. Develop the farming skills of a wide group of farming households and labourers.Involve share cropping partners in market development initiatives.Work with microfinance institutions to provide access to emergency loans, promote voluntary  savings and loans groups.There are many organisations active in the HIV/AIDS response. It is important that these efforts are not duplicated and that opportunities are created for encouraging potential partners to co-plan, to work together, and to share materials and other resources.Agriculture: development agents, farmer training centres, OoARD  Health: extension workers, health centres, VCT centres  HAPCO: staff  Others: Women's Affairs, associations (PLWHA, anti-AIDS clubs, mahibers, ekub, idirs),  cooperatives, assistance for orphans and vulnerable children and PLWHAs, religious leadersThe HIV/AIDS planning matrix overleaf identifies potential activities suitable for communities at different stages of the epidemic. The activities are set in context of their target groups and linked to potential implementing partners."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5b3864b33686340bb615047405792248","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/5c4200ae-5151-4130-ba8d-61a8e8e6266b/content","id":"-1112672754"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b61e6597-548f-4b98-a4e3-cdf563529a59","content":"Crop production systems need to expand their outputs sustainably to feed a burgeoning human population. Advances in genome sequencing technologies combined with efficient trait mapping procedures accelerate the availability of beneficial alleles for breeding and research. Enhanced interoperability between different omics and phenotyping platforms, leveraged by evolving machine learning tools, will help provide mechanistic explanations for complex plant traits. Targeted and rapid assembly of beneficial alleles using optimized breeding strategies and precise genome editing techniques could deliver ideal crops for the future. Realizing desired productivity gains in the field is imperative for securing an adequate future food supply for 10 billion people.Safeguarding a person's right to adequate and nutritious food requires intensive research efforts and innovative solutions to breed nutritious crops with improved productivity and resilience [1]. However, a major challenge is the uneven distribution of resources, resulting in a huge gap in supply and demand for food. Crop productivity and harvest are improved by access to modern infrastructure and technologies, including breeding for improved varieties, agronomic practices, and machinery for farm preparation, harvest, processing, and marketing.Regions with high populations and low crop production should be studied to address these uneven distribution challenges and provide equitable opportunities. Lessons learned from the pandemic highlight the need for self-sustainability, with less dependence on imports, especially for agriculture. For instance, a vast portion of the entire global population resides in low-income food deficit countries (32.23%), least developed countries (12%), and net food-importing developing countries (20.15%) i,ii . Therefore, enhancing crop productivity and addressing the worldwide zero hunger and nutrition food security challenges through modern breeding technologies, infrastructure, agronomic practices, and soil improvement remains essential.A high-quality reference genome (see Glossary) is a prerequisite for genomics studies in a given crop to attain accurate and precise results on crop performance [2]. High-confidence variant calling facilitated by the availability of a high-quality reference genome, is crucial for genetic studies such as gene discovery and manipulation. 'Democratization' of sequencing technologies in concert with advanced informatics tools has improved the contiguity and completeness of existing and genome assemblies. Since a single reference genome cannot capture all genomic variations of a species, an increased number of gold-or platinum-standard reference genomes have become available for several crops. Long-read or linked-read sequencing platforms, such as PacBio, 10X Chromium, and Oxford Nanopore, supplemented by short reads from next-generation sequencing (NGS), allow the assembly of long contigs with high base-to-base precisionThe rapid advances in plant genome sequencing and phenotyping have enhanced trait mapping and gene discovery in crops.Increasing adoption of machine learning algorithms is crucial to derive meaningful inferences from complex multidimensional phenotyping data.Emerging breeding approaches like optimal contribution selection, alone or in combination with genomic selection, will enhance the genetic base of breeding programs while accelerating genetic gain.Integrating speed breeding with newage genomic breeding technologies holds promise to relieve the long-standing bottleneck of lengthy crop breeding cycles.Haplotype-based breeding, genomic prediction, and genome editing will hasten targeted assembly of superior alleles in future cultivars for sustainable agricultural development and long-term food security.(Figure 1). Hi-C sequencing [3] and Bionano Genomics Optical Mapping [4] have facilitated genome assemblies with greater contiguity by dramatically improving haplotype phasing and haplotype scaffolding, especially in polyploid genomes [5].Due to the reduction in sequencing costs, high-density genotyping is now affordable for assaying large samples with high precision [6]. A large suite of genotyping platforms (e.g., Affymetrix Axiom, Affymetrix GeneChip, and Illumina Infinium BeadChip) with varying single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are now available for most crop species [7]. Several genome-wide genotyping approaches integrating deep sequencing with reduced representation methods, such as genotyping-by-sequencing, restriction site associated DNA sequencing, double-digest RAD, and restriction fragment sequencing, have led to major innovations in marker discovery in various plant species (Figure 1). Compared with array-based or NGS methods, whole genome resequencing can simultaneously detect known and uncatalogued SNPs and large structural variations (SVs), such as presence/absence variations (PAVs) and copy number variations (CNVs).Concurrent advances in plant phenotyping driven mainly by innovations in image and sensor technologies, with cost-and time-efficient acquisition of massive spatial and temporal data, have leveraged the field of predictive phenomics [8]. Automated platforms equipped with plant-to-sensor and sensor-to-plant modes can monitor the dynamic response of plant at the organ, whole plant, and field scales (Figure 1). For instance, 3D structural imaging applications, such as X-ray computed tomography, allow in situ phenotyping of root system architecture, alleviating underground phenotyping bottlenecks. The growing need to nondestructively monitor plant performance in the real world has led to fully automated field-based phenotyping facilities. In contrast, aerial platforms include unmanned aerial vehicles, manned aerial vehicles, and satellites with varying levels of payload capacity and image resolution (Figure 1) [9]. Fewer than 20% of mechanized phenotyping platforms established worldwide are field-based infrastructures [10]. In African countries, instead of such specialized facilities, setting up field stations and surveying local pathogens with a regional, as opposed to an international foundation, needs to be considered.Fast-tracking mining of beneficial alleles in plant genetic resources (PGRs), such as wild relatives and landraces conserved in genebanks, is crucial for ensuring future food supplies. Current crops have accumulated a suite of traits suitable for modern agriculture and human consumption through human-mediated domestication and improvement of wild species. For trait dissection, a range of genetic populations, including biparental and multiple parental populations such as multi-parent advanced generation inter-cross (MAGIC) populations and nested association mapping populations, have been developed for many crops [6,11]. With the availability of new sequencing/genotyping technologies, PGRs and genetic populations can be assayed with sequencing and genotyping technologies and evaluated for agronomic and nutrition traits in Figure 1. Accelerating the discovery of beneficial alleles from plant genetic resources. Plant genetic resources, including accessions archived in genebanks and experimental populations, serve as valuable sources of new genetic variation. Long-read sequencing platforms generate high-quality reference genomes and facilitate pangenomic analyses. High-density genotyping approaches generate genome-wide marker information on these panels. Parallel developments in image and sensor technologies allow acquisition of precise phenotyping data. New genes/haplotypes discovered from analyzing sequence information and phenotyping data will pave the way for enhanced crop improvement. Abbreviations: CT, computed tomography; GBS, genotyping-by-sequencing; MAGIC, multi-parent advanced generation inter-cross; NAM, nested association mapping; RAD-seq, restriction site associated DNA sequencing; REST-seq, restriction fragment sequencing.Artificial neural network: a machine learning algorithm inspired by the human nervous system that includes multiple processing elements, which receive inputs and deliver outputs on the basis of their predefined activation functions.; a simplified form of the quantitative genetics concept to describe change of rate of genetic gain (ΔG) in a given plant breeding population relying on the parameters like heritability (h 2 ), phenotypic variation within the population (σ p ), selection intensity (i), and length of the breeding cycle (L). Convolutional neural network: a class of artificial neural networks for processing data containing a grid pattern (e.g., images), which is designed to automatically and adaptively learn spatial hierarchies of features ranging from lowto high-level patterns.Copy number variation (CNV): sequences that are present in different number of copies between individuals belonging to the same species and encompass duplications, insertions, and deletions. CRISPR activation: a genome editing method exploiting modified versions of CRISPR effectors devoid of endonuclease activity, with additional transcriptional activators on catalytically inactive Cas9 (dCas9) or single guide RNA (sgRNA). CRISPR interference: a genome editing method utilizing catalytically inactive Cas9 (dCas9) and single guide RNA (sgRNA) to repress sequence-specific genes without the need of gene knockout. Deep learning: a subfield of machine learning that deals with algorithms inspired by the structure and function of brain known as artificial neural networks. Doubled haploid technology: a breeding technique that allows production of completely homozygous lines by chromosome doubling within a short time and thus dramatically reduces the time to establish new cultivars. Findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR): a concise and measurable set of data principles for helping data producers and publishers to maximize the added-value gained by contemporary, formal scholarly digital publishing. Genomic selection (GS): a genomicsassisted breeding approach that utilizes genome-wide marker data to predictOPEN ACCESS multiple environments and seasons [2]. Superior genes/alleles for traits of interest can be identified through pangenomics (Box 1) or genome-wide association studies (GWAS) (Table S1 in the supplemental information online, Figure 1). Concerning modernizing agriculture in developing countries, local needs should be addressed to identify and conserve the germplasm of local crops and wild relatives and undertake genomic breeding programs for accelerating crop improvement.Resolving complex quantitative trait loci (QTLs) at the gene level using multi-omics approaches Transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and epigenomics provide windows into molecular variation in breeding lines beyond the actual or interpretable genetic variation they contain [12,13]. These windows are closer to phenotype, narrow the genome to phenome divide, and provide independent sets of markers to complement genetic markers as breeding tools (Figure 2).Associative transcriptomics examines correlations of phenotypic variation with variations in both DNA sequence and transcript abundance [14]. In maize, cis expression QTLs (eQTLs) contribute to phenotypic diversity for several traits, including domestication and adaptation [15]. Expression read depth GWAS and transcriptome-wide association studies test associations of mRNA expression with phenotypic diversity [16,17]. Unlike genetic variants, the transcript levels are independent of linkage disequilibrium across the genome; these methods provide deep insights into the regulatory mechanisms of complex traits and enable better prioritization of causal candidate genes [17]. Proteomics approaches can also be used in multiple ways for refining the QTLs underlying complex traits (Box 2).Alterations in gene expression can be attributed to heritable epigenetic changes that do not involve DNA sequences, including DNA methylation, histone modification, and noncoding RNAs Box 1. Pangenomics to bring genes back from the past Sequencing of multiple plant genomes has popularized the 'pangenome' or set of genes present within a species, including the core genes present in all individuals and dispensable genes absent from at least one individual. The growing literature on multiple genome sequencing and pangenomics has provided strong evidence for the contribution of large SVs, to evolutionary processes that have shaped adaptive diversity in plants. In plants, PAVs within a species range from 7.8% in rice [80] to up to 40% in wheat [81], with many diploid plants having ~30-50% variable genes [82]. De novo genome sequencing of wild species accessions has enabled the development of pangenome of different species, called 'superpangenome' [83].Gene PAVs are associated with environmental adaptation, domestication, and breeding [84], and annotations for variable genes in many pangenomes are often enriched for agronomic traits, such as biotic and abiotic stress. Many variable genes have been lost during domestication and breeding bottlenecks; identifying and characterizing these genes can support their targeted reintroduction into breeding programs. Calling PAVs across wild and domesticated lines helps to retrace the impact of domestication and breeding on the pangenome; genes with negative effects can decrease in frequency during selection, while those with agronomic benefits increase (Figure 1). Due to low effective population size in many plant breeding programs and ineffective recombination, many PAVs between wild and cultivated lines may have been lost through genetic drift during breeding bottlenecks.Knowledge of pangenomes enables us to fine-tune breeding outcomes by constructing the optimal gene content for a crop variety. This requires building species-wide or even genus-wide super-pangenomes representing all genes and allelic variants for breeding the next generation of crops. Pangenomes teach us which haplotypes to combine to produce superior haplotype and gene combinations, enabling plant breeders to shift from useful individuals to useful haplotypes and useful genes when planning breeding programs. Several important agronomic traits have been associated with PAVs and the selective reintroduction of these genes into elite germplasm has led to improved varieties. This knowledge enables breeders to quickly breed cultivars with novel phenotypic attributes by simply backcrossing major genes into elite varieties. Alternatively, GE systems now provide precise molecular tools to modify key genes that have been drivers of crop domestication; for instance, de novo domestication of wild rice Oryza alta (CCDD) was achieved through gene editing of six agronomically important genes [85].the genetic worth of an unobserved candidate in a breeding population via estimating the effects of all genetic markers. Genome-wide association study (GWAS): an approach used in genetics research to detect associations between genetic variants and traits of interest in natural population. Genomics-assisted breeding: a strategy that integrates genomic tools with high-throughput phenotyping to support breeding practices via molecular markers and to enable prediction of phenotype from genotype. Haplotypes: a group of alleles within an organism that are inherited together from a single parent. Haplotype-based breeding: a genomic breeding approach for developing tailored crop varieties, which includes identification of superior haplotypes and their deployment in breeding programs. Haplotype phasing: the process of reconstruction of haplotype sequences from the genome data. Haplotype scaffolding: a technique to link together a noncontiguous series of haplotype sequences into a scaffold, which consists of sequences, separated by gaps of known length. Machine learning (ML): the method of data analysis that provides computers the capability to learn without being explicitly programmed. Multi-parent advanced generation inter-cross (MAGIC) population: a multi-parent population design in plants includes intercrossing of several founder lines over multiple generations before selfing to develop inbred lines. Unlike biparental populations, MAGIC populations incorporate multiple alleles and provide enhanced recombination and mapping resolution. Nested association mapping population: an integrated multi-parent population approach that creates a series of interconnected families by crossing multiple founders with a common parent. Like MAGIC, this strategy combines the benefits of linkage mapping and association mapping for highresolution mapping of complex traits. Optimal contributions selection (OCS): a selection method that is effective at increasing genetic gain, controlling the rate of inbreeding and enabling maintenance of genetic diversity. Pangenome: a comprehensive representation of the genetic variation present in the entire species or population as opposed to a single individual. It consists of a core genome, comprising ofOPEN ACCESS [18]. Recent advances in NGS-based protocols, including methylated DNA immunoprecipitation and bisulfite sequencing, have facilitated large-scale analysis of methylation levels, the most common form of epigenetic polymorphisms. In plants, there is evidence for the role of epigenetic modifications on gene expression regulation. High-throughput analysis can screen many lines during breeding cycles, and proteomics and metabolomics have reached a technical standard for application in these studies. Specific metabolomic technologies, such as gas chromatography or liquid chromatography, coupled with mass spectrometry, allow a more cost-effective analysis than NGS techniques [12]. Metabolites are not only important traits in GWAS but are causally involved in stress resistance and thus could serve as important biomarkers that can be rapidly measured and implemented in breeding cycles [19].Machine learning (ML) uses statistical techniques so that computer systems can 'learn' from current data and make predictions on new data [20]. ML tools allow systematic integration of information flowing across the multiple omics layers to provide a comprehensive view of biological mechanisms involving causative genes and regulatory networks (Figure 2). In this context, datadriven network analysis such as multiplex network and the interconnected network would help to elucidate the genes and their complex functional relationships at the systems level [21]. To relieve the 'big-data' challenge while dealing with high-throughput phenotyping data, advanced 'computational ecosystems' backed by deep ML tools allowing storage, processing, and analysis of the data will remain pivotal to derive meaningful inferences from the multidimensional datasets [22]. This is exemplified by the recent use of artificial neural network/convolutional neural network and support vector machine for the identification and prediction of pests and diseases in plants from high-throughput image/hyperspectral data (Table 1). High-throughput image recognition has fueled the recent advancements in ML [23]. Besides its role in genotype-phenotype associations, the performance of ML tools has been assessed for genomewide predictions [24], and 'deepGS' has outperformed the traditional genomic selection (GS) models in cases where nonadditive variances had significant influence [25]. An array of ML applications in plant science and breeding include its use in defining genomic regions and genome function, regulatory network inference, and understanding the complexity in plant response to stresses [23]. However, the current lack of high-quality labeled data on large populations presents the major challenge in adopting ML for accelerating crop breeding [26]. Auto ML approaches and synthetic data generation may help to alleviate this bottleneck.Making the most of these multiscale experiments calls for the development of cross-scale meta-analyses [27]. Equally important is enhanced accessibility to highly valued molecular-to field-scale datasets that strictly follow agreed standards, such as findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) norms [28]. Realizing the enormous potential of fast-forward breeding needs effective communication and collaboration among the diversity of disciplines involving end-users, biologists, engineers, data scientists, and manufacturers. Improved understanding of the genomic basis of plant traits of agronomic relevance is crucial for accelerating breeding, along with implementing cutting edge 'black box' approaches, such as GS and ML. For instance, novel insights into global translational reprogramming during growth-to-defense switch in plants [29] paved the way for researchers to use 'TBF1 cassette' to obtain immune-boosted rice with no associated penalty in agronomic performance [30]. Previous research on engineering rice with the NPR1 gene could enhance disease resistance; the engineered rice had significant fitness costs associated with the resistance.Once superior haplotypes/alleles and causal genes for agronomic, climate resilience, and nutrition traits are identified by pangenomics, GWAS, and systems biology approaches, the following breeding approaches can be used to accelerate the development of superior varieties (Figure 3). sequences present in all individuals of the species, and the dispensable genome that is shared by only some individuals.Pangenomics: the study of all genes and genetic variation within a species. Plant-to-sensor: a phenotyping technique practiced at high-throughput phenotyping platforms where the imaging station occupies a fixed position during the measurement routine and the plants are transported to the imaging setup. Plant genetic resources (PGRs): the most valuable and crucial basic plant genetic materials required to meet the current and future needs of crop improvement programs. Presence/absence variation (PAV): a class of genome structure variation that is used to describe sequences that are present in one genome but entirely missing in the other genome. Reference genome: a high-quality genome sequence that is characterized by its completeness (less number of gaps), low error rate, and relatively high proportion of sequence assembled into chromosomes.Sensor-to-plant: a phenotyping technique practiced at high-throughput phenotyping platforms where plants occupy a permanent position during a measurement routine and an imaging setup moves to each of these locations. Shuttle breeding: a breeding strategy that uses diverse ecological environments to develop improved crop varieties with higher adaptability. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP): genetic variation of a single base pair at a specific position in the genome. Single seed descent (SSD): a breeding method used with segregating populations of self-pollinated species in which plants are advanced by single seeds from one generation to the next generation. Speed breeding: a breeding technology that involves growing plant populations under controlled conditions to accelerate generation advancement and shorten the crop breeding cycle. Structural variations: large-scale structural differences in the genomic DNA, which are inherited and polymorphic in a particular species. Super-pangenome: an approach of developing a pangenome of the pangenomes of diverse species for a given genus. It offers a comprehensive genomic variation repertoire of a genus and provides exceptional opportunities for crop improvement.Haplotype-based breeding While genomics-assisted breeding has successfully developed superior cultivars through marker-assisted selection (MAS) and backcrossing [31], most of these studies have identified trait-associated DNA markers using biparental populations. In recent years, whole genome sequence combined with extensive phenotypic records can identify the diversity and structures of key haplotypes associated with breeding decisions and validate their phenotypic effects [32]. The corresponding haplotypes with well-known phenotypic effects are then assembled precisely using the genetic variants that define them. Haplotype-based breeding has shown potential for trait improvement in several crops (e.g., rice [33], wheat [34], and pigeonpea [35]). Targeted assembly of haplotypes can reduce the trade-offs of conventional introgression methods to incorporate 'compound' loci into different genetic backgrounds.Advances in sequencing technologies have augmented the speed, throughput, and cost-effectiveness of genotyping. In many cases, it is now cheaper to genotype a breeding line at high density than to evaluate its performance in the field. Access to improved sequencing and genotyping technologies at lower cost has developed ways to leverage genotypic information in breeding programs. The use of new cost-effective genome-wide sequencing combined with precise phenotype data allows calculating genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) that help the breeder to identify offspring that can serve as parents for the next generation (improvement cycle). The Support vector machine: a supervised machine learning algorithm that provides analysis of data for classification and regression analysis.Figure 2. Multi-omics platforms and machine learning tools to develop a systems-level understanding of complex plant phenotypes. Recent advances in high-throughput technologies covering various layers of 'central dogma', including genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, facilitate analysis of global genetic diversity (variomes). Modern machine learning tools and artificial intelligence approaches systematically integrate the deluge of information flowing through these multiomics layers. Thus, system-level understanding will help elucidate functional variations and regulatory networks underlying complex phenotypes of agricultural importance. Abbreviations: eQTL, expression qualitative trait locus; EWAS, epigenome-wide association study; mGWAS, metabolite genome-wide association study; PWAS, proteome-wide analysis of SNPs.OPEN ACCESS use of GEBVs in the context of genome-wide prediction promises to help accelerate the rate of genetic gain in breeding [36]. Heffner et al. [37] showed that genomic prediction accuracy of 0.5 in maize and wheat increases genetic gains per year in two-to three-fold compared with MAS and traditional selection methods (phenotypic and pedigree based).The development of sequencing technologies delivered a large amount of marker data, posing challenges when incorporating these into prediction models. GS calculates the GEBV of lines using genome-wide marker profiling and allows the selection of lines prior to field-phenotyping, thereby shortening the breeding cycle. GS techniques are already used in commercial crop breeding programs [38] and are currently being established in many public programs [39]. One of the main advantages of GS is the time saved by selecting parents earlier in the variety development pipeline by predicting the genetic merit of untested individuals or lines. One challenge that GS has already been shown to be well-suited for is the prediction of GEBVs across multiple environments [40]. To accurately make such predictions, GS models are typically augmented with additional terms to account for variability attributable to environments and their interaction with the genotype. The breeder's equation indicates that response to selection is dependent on interactions between selection intensity, the accuracy of prediction, genetic variation, and duration of cycles [36]. Response to selection may be accelerated in the short-term by increasing selection intensity, but linear increases in selection intensity are accompanied by exponential increases in population inbreeding and loss in genetic diversity [41], which compromises long-term genetic gain. GS is very efficient at detecting high-performing crossing candidates, but these tend to be closely related, especially when selection is based on the truncation of GEBVs [42]. In summary, fast-forward breeding for grain yield and abiotic stress tolerance will require some form of assisted ML, based on the evolutionary algorithm (EA) or deep learning, to ensure that breeding goals are achieved in the long term. Box 2. Proteomics to refine QTLs for complex traits Proteomics, based on mass spectrometry identification of peptides and matching them to translated gene sequences, can be used for resolving QTLs for complex traits in various ways:1. Reference crop proteomes can be compared with actual or predicted proteomes of crops to evaluate species or genotype-specific protein differences via their orthology [86,87] and identify INDELS (missing or additional proteins) that are translated in genotypes. 2. Quantitative proteomics approaches can be used in the same way as gene expression studies in breeding for single or multiple gene discoveries associated with specific traits [88]. Proteomics can identify genes of interest that have not been identified through other means because variation in protein abundance can be difficult to detect from gene structure or gene expression studies due to post-transcriptional modification processes [89]. 3. Major proteomics-based resources such as protein-protein interaction maps and protein coexpression maps can link gene products as functional units or responses [90]. This can help reduce the solution space to resolve single mechanisms that underlie multiple QTL associations with a trait that may fail to reach statistical significance on its own [91]. 4. Specific traits that are traditionally poorly accessible to QTL analysis (e.g., postharvest physiology and seed germination traits) can be sought using proteomics because the accumulated proteome of plant tissues is critical for the timing of traits [92]. 5. Traits involving post-translational processes, such as cascades of activation/deactivation by kinases/phosphatases or protein degradation studies, are usually resolved by gene loci studies alone, needing direct analysis of phosphopeptides [93] or protein turnover [94]. Such analyses can provide insight into potential solutions for maintaining target levels (e.g., stabilizing target protein, overexpression of target protein) or altering signaling (phosphomimic alterations), which are important for gene editing in plant breeding. 6. Proteomics now offers data-independent acquisition modes that allow targeted analysis of protein abundance in breeding populations of hundreds to thousands of lines [e.g., sequential window acquisition of all theoretical fragment ion spectra (SWATH) and multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM)] to directly assess protein markers in line selection during breeding cycles (e.g., Jacoby et al. [95]).Crop improvement programs continue to remain interested in enriching the genetic base with exotic alleles through prebreeding. However, the genetic exchange between exotic and elite pools is hampered by various factors, including linkage drag associated with positive alleles, unanticipated outcomes resulting from exotic loci interaction with elite background, and loss of target locus due to drift in small prebreeding populations [43]. The migration of exotic alleles to the elite pool can be accelerated using efficient approaches, such as optimal contributions selection (OCS), that strike a balance between genetic gain and genetic relatedness in exotic × elite populations. Based on different types of assisted ML, several OCS methods can optimize OPEN ACCESS contributions from individuals over multiple breeding cycles [44]. An important area of application for assisted ML is the genetic algorithm from which the EA was derived. EA-based search strategies can be integrated with several ML and DL techniques to assist optimization. EA has been adapted for the complex problem of mate selection in animal and plant breeding; one such development uses differential evolution (DE) in the optimization engine [45]. DE-based OCS was used in the simulated genetic improvement of complex traits in self-pollinating grain crops with pedigree and genomic information [42,43]. The same approach was used to model genetic improvement in heat-stress tolerance of wheat, together with grain yield, disease resistance, and other complex traits, to protect wheat yields for the next 60 years of global warming [46]. Simulated stacking of beneficial wheat haplotypes showed the value of genetic algorithms in crossing designs for long-term genetic gain [47].ML can be used to optimize mating designs with non-inbred lines, reduce cycle time, and accelerate breeding [48]. Typically, non-inbred lines have lower prediction accuracy than pure lines but may improve with pedigree or genomic information as in animal breeding [49]. Cowling et al. [43] used pedigree information and Gorjanc et al. [42] used genomic information, combined with OCS, to model long-term genetic progress in selfing crops based on S 0 (F 1 ) recurrent selection.The time taken to double the economic index (including yield, disease resistance, and other economic traits) was similar in S 0 -and S 3 -derived recurrent selection combined with OCS when accounting for an additional year per cycle selfing the S 3 [43]. These studies confirm that non-inbred Trends Trends in in Genetics Genetics Figure 3. Fast-forward breeding to develop cultivars for future food supply. Rapid, precise, and targeted manipulation of important plant traits is crucial for delivering new cultivars. Haplotype-based breeding and genomic editing approaches rely on a set of significant genes, whereas breeding methods such as genomic selection use genome-wide marker information rather than a priori gene-trait associations. Genomic selection is likely to reduce the genetic diversity of a breeding program in the long-term. Hence, maintaining genetic diversity in breeding programs will be crucial for sustaining genetic gains from breeding innovations. Integrating optimal selection contributions with these approaches may help retain genetic diversity while improving genetic gains. Abbreviations: GEBV, genomic estimated breeding value.selection is valuable for 'fast-forward breeding' for grain yield and abiotic stress tolerance combined with OCS.Genome editing (GE), based on CRISPR-Cas9, is a revolutionary tool for editing the plant genome directly. Continuous technological breakthroughs in the GE toolkit have expanded the scope of this technique in crops. For instance, cytosine and adenine base editors are being used to generate point mutations in important field-grown crops [50,51]. Conventional CRISPR-Cas9-mediated delivery technologies, mainly based on DNA, are associated with obnoxious genetic changes [52]. Hence, DNA-free GE holds great potential for developing edited crops with a reduced risk of obnoxious off-target effects. DNA-mediated or DNA-free GE is being applied in crops using delivery systems such as particle bombardment [53], nanoparticles [54], and plant viruses [55] (Figure 3). While the type II CRISPR-Cas9 system is straightforward and efficient, it is limited to target sites upstream of 5′-NGG-3′ protospacer adjacent motifs (PAMs). To this end, type V CRISPR-Cas12a (formerly Cpf1) [56] and Cas12b (formerly C2c1) [57] systems can target T-rich PAMs and create cohesive ends for plant GE.The efficient application of GE in crops requires detailed knowledge of genetic content to minimize off-target effects and optimize phenotypic outcomes. An exciting update to the CRISPR-Cas9 protocol called 'prime editing' has enabled search-and-replace-editing instead of single base substitutions [58], allowing for small insertions, deletions, point mutations, and combination edits. This mechanism has so far been used in human cells but is expected to work in plants. This has brought us one step closer to the complete fine-grained control of gene content in crops.Pangenomes can teach us about the required prime editing changes. It is feasible to use prime editing to transform one resistance gene into a different allelic version, as identified from the pangenome, than cross-breed that resistance gene into elite lines, since cross-breeding takes and can lead to random changes in the resulting cultivars. Furthermore, GE plays a key role in regulating gene expression in crops. For example, CRISPR activation and CRISPR interference systems have been used to activate or repress transcription of plant genes with Cas9 [59], Cas12a [56], and Cas12b [57]. With the advances being made at a breathtaking pace, GE holds enormous potential in expediting design-based crop improvement and in meeting future food security.While any of the above-mentioned genomic breeding approaches can be used for trait improvement, it is important to reduce generation cycle time to enhance the rate of genetic gain [60]. In the last half of the 20th century, doubled haploid technology revolutionized the time required to achieve genome fixation for many crop species. Unfortunately, most key crops in developing countries remain largely recalcitrant to doubled haploid techniques [61]. Further, in species responsive to doubled haploidy, the linkage of genes, need for further recombination, or lack of specialized tissue culture facilities demands an alternative approach to gene fixation. In such situations, modified pedigree breeding methods, such as single seed descent (SSD), facilitated faster generation cycling and, combined with shuttle breeding between complementary environments, were a key component of genetic improvements that led to crop productivity gains during the Green Revolution. Accelerated SSD can be achieved in some plant species by rapidly completing the full plant cycle in vitro. Difficulties with in vitro genotype dependence, the requirement for specialized facilities, and the need to reduce costs per plant for large-scale breeding have driven the development of alternative platforms, such as fast generation cycling system [62] and speed breeding [60]. Species important within global agricultural systems from the Poaceae, Fabaceae, and Brassicaceae families are amenable to rapid generation turnover insoil under controlled environment conditions. These 'speed breeding' conditions can be rudimentary and within reach of all genetic improvement programs (e.g., day length extension improving generation turnover by one or two generations per year).More complex SSD platforms have recently arisen that use high-quality controlled environments [62] or a combination of temperature and photoperiod control with light quality manipulation to exploit ancient plant light responses, such as shade avoidance, to achieve rapid, synchronized flowering across varied phenotypes [63,64]. The optimal conditions for rapid elicitation of flowering time vary with species; however, there are opportunities within related species to create broadly applicable growth conditions. The accelerated SSD strategy is particularly beneficial in situations where simultaneous selection is required for several characteristics with different heritability and is more efficient than conventional in-season generation turnover.'Speed breeding' or other 'SSD platforms' can be combined with proposed breeding approaches such as OCS, HHB, GS, and GE. For instance, simulation studies suggest that combining GS with rapid gene fixation techniques can reduce the length of the breeding cycle and maximize genetic gain per unit time [47,65]. This represents a powerful new integrative approach to plant improvement, particularly in neglected species such as food legumes, and represents the next step-change in genetic improvement.Extracting novel genetic variation from wide germplasm for plant breeding applications has now become a reality, owing to the recent breakthroughs in sequencing and phenotyping. In this context, learning-based approaches allow understanding and integration of large-scale datasets to find meaningful patterns for guiding future breeding strategies. Also, GE in combination with pangenomics and systems biology provides an alternative route to engineer designer crops. As the paradigm shifts from individual DNA marker to haplotypes, future cultivar development will be driven by the breeding strategies that expeditiously create and incorporate superior haplotypes in breeding populations. The efficient crop breeding programs with an enhanced genetic base will accelerate the progress of forward breeding. By rapid production of climate-resilient crop varieties, the above-mentioned approaches offer huge opportunities to improve breeder's response to growing challenges that crop improvement faces. While private sector and several public sector breeding programs are already deploying these approaches in crop improvement programs, public breeding programs, especially in developing countries, need to accelerate adoption of these approaches. However, there are still some outstanding questions on the utilization of these approaches for molecular dissection of complex traits and development of climate resilient varieties in the face of a rapidly changing world (see Outstanding questions). Furthermore, it is important to note that sustainable food security requires more than development of superior varieties. For example, a robust seed system for delivering improved varieties to replace old cultivars, appropriate agronomy practices, and mechanization is required for harvesting higher produce [66]. Similarly, farmers' access to better markets, value addition, and food processing will generate more income to farmers and deliver better products to consumers. Notwithstanding this, the approaches mentioned here and their integration will fast-forward breeding for accelerated crop improvement to contribute to a food-secure world.Outstanding questions To what extent can present and future genetic gain in crop productivity be fully realized by optimizing the length of breeding cycles via speed breeding and its integration with modern genomic breeding technologies? How can we ensure that modern genomic breeding technologies will actually reach the resource poor via favorable technology transfer processes?"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d4e417d29ee67524b01a6885b71c843a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/057cf5f5-72ae-4e62-99ed-79975bfc286e/retrieve","id":"-727495518"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"08c066b9-c39a-431e-bf67-0570ac569172","content":"The evidence about the conflicts we have seen around the world since the turn of the century points to a simple conclusion: Conflicts between communities, armed groups, and even military forces are increasingly being affected by food insecurity, environmental degradation, climate variability extremes and the struggle to access and control a finite pool of natural resourcesBecause of a changing climate, the way governments and communities manage land, water, and food systems is now more than ever a pivotal factor in whether societies can endure peace.In the words of the UNSecretary-General, 'The fallout of the assault on our planet is impeding our efforts to eliminate poverty and imperilling food security'.Without peace, there is no end to hunger. That has been true for so long. Without food security, peace cannot last. And without climate-sensitive actions for peace and security, none of these efforts will succeed.The global community rightly invests in much-needed peace and security operations worldwide. But the climatefood-peace paradigm shift that has happened in the real world has yet to be adequately reflected in the global policy agenda.CGIAR aims to address gaps in knowledge about climate change and food security for peace and security policies and operations through a unique multidisciplinary approach.Our main objective is to align evidence from the realms of climate, land, and food systems science with peacebuilding efforts already underway that address socio-political security, stability and peace through evidencebased environmental, political, and socio-economic solutions.  Building on the four research areas above in partnership with our extensive network, we have designed our 2021 flagship initiatives, which, if grouped together, make up our roadmap for the year ahead.We will identify drivers and mechanism of multiple climate security nexuses (flagships: 1,2,3 and 4), develop indicators and means of qualifying and quantifying them (flagship 5) to helping policy makers, donors and international organisations in making scientifically sound, informed decisions (flagship 6).Geographically in 2021, we will focus on developing the Africa crisis observatory and tackle climate security in the dry corridor in Latin America (flagships: 7 and 8). We are also extremely excited to have launched a PHD Programme (flagship 9), which represents first generation all-women candidates from the global South and North, focusing on climate security in the Sahel, and the Asian deltas (Mekong and Ganges).  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b2176f0d30a7a88351266d3b6c29928a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4938e76c-d957-4a79-935e-100098478bb8/retrieve","id":"-1960982457"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f44926b9-db70-44e8-b3b2-8bb6500e40b8","content":"Highlights d Relevance and leverage help prioritizing trade relations for sustainability action d Relevance identifies how to reduce the magnitude of the EU's global impact d Leverage identifies producing countries with a strong EU influenceAssessing telecoupled effects of the EU's trade relations in developing countries in terms of relevance and leverage helps to prioritize policy responses. High relevance values identify countries and products with strong contribution to the EU's crop imports. High leverage values identify where large shares of domestic production is dedicated to exports into the EU. These values and product portfolios allow the identification of groups of key partner countries for improving the sustainability of global cropland production.Meeting the global sustainability agenda requires a transformation of agri-food systems to provide food security, sustainable livelihoods, and sustain healthy ecosystems for future generations. 1 Strategies for simultaneously generating economic development opportunities and mitigating environmental impacts need to take into account the ''telecoupled'' interdependence of production and consumption systems, linking causes and effects for sustainability in geographically distant regions. 2 With the normative principle referred to as ''Policy Coherence for Development'' (PCD), the European Union (EU) has committed to review its policies and external relations to coherently support developing countries in their endeavor to meet United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 3 PCD addresses the transfer of resources, and hence of wealth, from developing to developed countries (as defined by the United Nations [UN] 4 ), and is therefore fundamentally linked to questions of equity and justice. 5 The EU's Green Deal and its Farm to Fork Strategy intend to support a global transition toward sustainable agri-food systems, 6 and their implementation will require an integration of different policy fields including trade policy 7 and land-use policies. 8 We argue that achieving these targets and supporting global sustainability in line with PCD needs to be guided by a better understanding of the telecoupled interdependencies between the EU's consumption, and environmental and socio-economic impacts in developing countries.So far, scientific literature attests only a low level of PCD implementation in the EU, 9 highlighting the need for major institutional adjustments across several policy fields. Most prominently, the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), with an annual budget of almost 60 billion Euros in 2019 (38% of the EU's budget), has been criticized for decades for distorting markets and limiting the economic potentials of developing economies. 10 Similarly, EU trade policies have been criticized for offshoring their environmental effects on developing countries. 11,12 For example, tropical deforestation driven by agricultural expansion and intensification has been linked to consumption of agricultural commodities in the developed world in general, and the EU in particular, 13 threatening the world's biodiversity hotspots and carbon sinks. 14 Similarly, policies supporting the use of biofuels are tightly connected to tropical deforestation either directly (e.g., clearance of primary forests for palm oil and timber plantations) or indirectly by driving land-use changes. 15 The telecoupling lens provides an analytical framework to link land-use dynamics, such as those derived from international trade, with interdependent governance structures in telecoupled systems. 16 These telecoupled effects show that coherent responses to sustainability require the EU to not only think about policies to support sustainability initiatives in developing countries, but also about the governance systems that have induced telecoupled impacts in the first place or that coordinate their persistence. 17 Thus, effective governance requires coordinated and coherent responses across sector policies and value chains guided by information on external, telecoupled effects.Here, we argue that the EU can identify and prioritize suitable policy options for implementing PCD by assessing [telecoupled]  impacts in telecoupled agri-food systems based on two factors: relevance and leverage (Figure 1). Relevance is here assessed by identifying products and developing countries that supply a high share of the EU's overall import values, thus having the strongest influence on the EU's overall PCD performance in terms of economic and ecological impacts; leverage is the share of production in a country of origin or a specific product that is dedicated for export to the EU. The higher the leverage value, the higher is the potential of the EU to improve the sustainability of the particular telecoupled system. We used trade data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to assess the monetary imports values of the EU's imports and calculated the equivalent cropland area harvested 18 and the resulting deforestation in the pro-ducing countries induced by EU imports for average annual values for the period from 2009 to 2013. 13 The definition of developing countries has been adopted from the UN. In the following, we identify the products (i.e., soybeans, palm oil, coffee, and cocoa) and corresponding groups of producing countries (e.g., the MERCOSUR countries and palm oil and rubber specialists in East Asia) with the highest relevance and high leverage values. Finally, we discuss the specific telecoupled nature of these trade relations and point to specific implications for current EU policies to mitigate negative EU environmental and social influences. We find that policy implications to effectively govern telecoupled effects go beyond trade regulations and standards and instead require policy packages for foreign and domestic policies targeted to the nature of trade relations.The highest values for relevance, and significantly aboveaverage values for leverage in all dimensions, were found for soybeans, palm oil, coffee, and cocoa (Figures 2 and 3, see Table S1 for detailed results). A second product group with high relevance and above median leverage values were raw sugar, rubber, bananas, grapes, and tobacco. Lower relevance and leverage values for deforestation can be found for oranges, rice, maize, sunflower seed, rapeseed, and wheat.A group of products with very low relevance but very high leverage values in monetary terms and cropland footprint are vanilla, blueberries, castor oil seed, linseed, and cranberries. For these products, the cropland footprint concentrates on a few individual countries, as apparent for vanilla (97% of cropland footprint in Madagascar), blueberries (71% Morocco), castor oil seed (98% India), or mustard seed (76% Ukraine), meaning that individual trade relations have a strong effect on land-use changes in the producing countries. Low relevance and high leverage values in monetary terms were found for hazelnut, mustard seed, Brazil nut, currant, and flax fiber. The above-median leverage values indicate a strong focus of the products on the EU market and a comparatively strong influence of EU consumption and trading conditions.The three countries with the highest relevance values for monetary imports, cropland footprint, and imported deforestation (Brazil, Argentina, Indonesia) also show above median leverage values (Figure 4, see Table S2 for detailed results). All other analyzed countries show diverging patterns. Thus, for each of the three analyzed dimensions, we selected countries with highest values for relevance and leverage and clustered them into eight groups according to their exported product portfolio (Figure 5) and mapped their geographical distribution (Figure 6).The MERCOSUR countries, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, show very high relevance values in all three dimensions, mainly driven by exports of soybean products. These countries also show significantly above-average leverage values, highlighting the strong connection of EU consumption with land-use changes and deforestation in Latin America.The palm oil and rubber specialists include Indonesia, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea, which account for 90% of cropland Source: own presentation. A-H represent hypothetical products or developing countries trading with the European Union. Figure 2 shows the results with actual data for products, Figure 4 for trading partners.Relevance and leverage of products from developing countries destined for the EU market in (A) economic import value (in USD), (B) cropland footprint (in ha), and (C) imported deforestation (in ha). Relevance (y axis) indicates the share of a product in relation to the overall EU imports. Leverage indicates the share of the product in the producing country destined for the EU market. Source: own calculations; See supplemental material for the detailed data and Figure 1 for conceptual background. Note that staple crops include cereals and legumes and spices include tea and mate.footprints, and 99% of imported deforestation linked to EU palm oil imports. They further provide 89% of EU imports of palm oil in monetary terms. These countries additionally export rubber, coffee, and cocoa and show above median leverage values.The coffee and cocoa specialists are characterized by high relevance values and above-median leverage values in cropland and deforestation footprints, and tend to additionally export rubber and fruits. Countries with these characteristics include: Uganda, Co ˆte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon, Congo, Togo, and Nigeria in Africa; Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Honduras in Latin-America; and Vietnam in Asia.The group of ACP-small sugar exporters are part of the African-Caribbean-Pacific producers (ACP). These countries include Mauritius, Fiji, Barbados, Guyana, Esuatini (formerly Swaziland), and Bahamas, whose exports represent more than 80% of total EU sugar imports, both in monetary values and cropland footprint. The EU has low relevance, but very high leverage values in these countries, both for cropland footprint and monetary imports.The group of East European and Central Asian grain exporters include Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Belarus, and Serbia. About 69% of the cropland footprint imported into the EU from these countries are used for the production of cereals (wheat, maize, barley) or oil seeds (sunflower, rapeseed, linseed). The EU has a strong leverage in these countries. Sunflower is particularly relevant for the land-use associated with EU imports, representing 38% of the total cropland area harvested in Ukraine and Russia being dedicated to EU exports.A group of large generalist countries have a monetary relevance value of at least 2% and provide a high variety of products with no single product category dominating. These countries are China, India, Thailand, Chile, and South Africa. Russia and Brazil could also fit into this group, but have been allocated to other groups based on their product portfolio. These large generalist countries have below-median leverage values in all dimensions, with the exception of Chile. Source: own calculations. Imports from developed countries are not included. Relevance indicates the share of a specific product indicates the share of a product in relation to the overall EU imports. The figure highlights and accumulates relevance values for the four major product categories, soybeans, oil palm fruit, coffee, and cocoa, to emphasize their dominant effect, particularly for imported deforestation.A group of Mediterranean fruits and vegetable producers (Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey) have a relevance in monetary imports of 6.5%, cropland footprint of 2.5%, and very low (<0.2%) imported deforestation. Turkey provides 84% of the cropland needed for the EU's hazelnut imports. About 99% of the cropland footprint imported to the EU for olive consumption is located in Tunisia, Morocco, and Turkey.Finally, a group of individual specialists are countries with a particularly high leverage value in either cropland footprint or monetary import value (>10%) and a strong specialization by dedicating at least 67% of the area for exports into the EU to one single product. Examples are the Seychelles (99% of exported cropland footprint is from cinnamon production), Saint Lucia (89% bananas), French Polynesia (96% coconuts), and Suriname (74% rice). Examples of specialist countries with high leverage values in monetary terms are Namibia (92% grapes) and Comoros (67% cloves). These countries are not included in Figure 4 because of low relevance values.The remaining analyzed countries present neither high values for relevance nor leverage. These countries only have an accumulated relevance for EU imports of 13% in monetary terms, 13% for cropland footprint, and 9% for deforestation.Putting PCD into practice Our results identify different clusters of EU trade relations with producing countries of high relevance and leverage values with key sustainability implications as indicated by monetary imports, cropland footprint, and imported deforestation. The nature of these telecoupled links and feedbacks points to several EU policy implications and options for improving its PCD performance and contributing to global sustainability goals.Tackling trade relations with the highest ''relevance'' for PCD Our concept of relevance pinpoints key countries and products that dominate the EU's global monetary imports, cropland footprint, and imported deforestation Soybeans and palm oil alone contribute to 33.2% of the EU's imported footprint and 66.1% of the EU's contribution to Relevance and leverage of developing countries trading with the EU are assessed in (A) economic import value (in USD), (B) cropland footprint, and (C) imported deforestation. Source: own calculations. See supplemental material A for detailed results and Figure 1 for conceptual background. Relevance (y axis) indicates the share from a specific developing country in relation to the overall EU cropland product imports. Leverage indicates the share of cropland production from a respective developing country destined for the EU market. Note that: Coffee/Cocoa and Palm oil/Rubber refer to specialist countries; Fruit/Veg refers to Mediterranean Fruit and Vegetable Producers; Grain refers to Eastern European and Central Asian grain exporters; Sugar refers to ACP Small Sugar Exporters. global deforestation. Projections predict that developing countries will not reduce their ecological footprint alongside growing economic development, but will instead be locked into their role of biocapacity providers for the growing consumption in the Global North, including the EU. 19 The EU can reduce the magnitude of such impacts by reducing its demand for products with highest ecological (external) costs, for instance, by addressing this in a policy for Sustainable Food Systems or other food consumption policies. 10 In the EU, imports of soybeans and their derivatives are particularly important for livestock production. 20 Healthy diets that remain within our planetary boundaries 2 entail a shift away from meat, dairy, and sugar, and toward vegetables, fruits, unrefined grains, legumes, and nuts, producing ''win-wins'' between healthy diets and sustainable production, 21 in line with SDGs 3 (health and wellbeing) and 12 (sustainable production and consumption). This example highlights how croplandrelated land-use changes in producing countries are telecoupled to support for unsustainable consumption and production systems. A key policy lever for the EU is phasing out the support for intensive animal production, which produces increased feed import demands. A specific example is coupled payments within the EU's CAP that currently function as a harmful subsidy 22 ; while extensive, sustainable grazing systems are lacking support. 23 Several EU policies need to be refined to generate an integrated solution for the external effects of European imports The EU Commission has currently presented a due diligence regulation to address sustainability issues caused by European importers. 24 In contrast to human rights aspects, environmental considerations in this regulation remain vague and fall short on specifying explicit targets and responsibilities for involved actors. 25 Another powerful regulatory approach is a broader carbon tax to internalize not only costs for carbon emissions, but also for reducing carbon sinks and biodiversity through degradation and deforestation. Current discussions on both carbon Source: own calculation. The groups were selected based on similarity of production and on regional criteria. Relevance indicates the share from a specific developing country in relation to the overall EU cropland product imports. border adjustments and value chain regulation reveal questions regarding its potential effectiveness and political feasibility. 25,26 The EU can make significant improvements by setting up a coherent food policy as part of the Green Deal, such as the proposed Sustainable Food System framework, and align trade agreements and international tax regulations to address challenges along the entire value chain, including production, processing, retail, and consumption. 27 Improved standards and border regulations are needed to address negative sustainability trajectories and trade-offs between sustainability dimensions Cocoa, for instance, is contributing to 28.4% of the EU's imported deforestation. However, if managed in shaded agroforestry systems, it can contribute to ecosystem services such as carbon storage, carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, and water regulation, 28 which provide benefits to land users and help farmers to diversify income sources and farm resilience, 29 a potential that could be harnessed by EU policies through targeted support of these value chains. Similarly, palm oil can provide local sustainable economic potentials, but only if complemented by appropriate regulatory structures such as farming contracts, land tenure, and nature protection safeguards. 30,31 Hence, the EU standards and trade need to be more specific on their requirements for imports to minimize trade-offs and harness synergies. This requires coherent and consistent policy packages, to generate an integrative solution that is sensitive to contextual elements of value chains and national regulatory frameworks.Taking responsibility in countries and value chains with high EU ''leverage'' Our concept of leverage identifies countries and products with high shares of production destined for EU consumption, giving the EU a strong potential-and responsibility-for establishing sustainability standards The EU has not managed to fully capitalize from its high leverage in producing economies, such as in the soybean-producing MERCOSUR countries or the ''palm oil-rubber specialist'' countries. So far, initiatives to lower EU demand for soybeans and meat have had little impact on prices and global production, while generating a possible telecoupled risk of relocating problems to other countries. 32 Similarly, EU regulations for palm oil and biofuel blending 33 have neither stopped deforestation nor Source: own calculations according to the values presented in Figures 2-5. The developing countries with the highest values for relevance and leverage have been grouped according to their product portfolio.established sustainability safeguards; instead they encouraged South Asian governments to expand palm oil exports to other countries. 34 Decoupling development opportunities from environmental degradation and deforestation requires addressing the needs of production systems and local smallholders beyond market demands. 30 Market-based initiatives and development partnerships between consuming and producing countries (e.g., for sustainable biofuel production) can create governance structures capable of assuring transparent tenure systems, decent working conditions, and nature protection regulation. 35 Governing market access to large trade destinations, such as the EU, has a strong effect on generating winners and losers both among and within developing countries This is illustrated by the particularly high leverage in monetary import value of the ''ACP small sugar exporter'' countries, who are former colonies from the EU-countries France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, which used to have a preferential market access (zero tariffs) to the EU's common market in the 1970s and 1980s. While political price interventions and import tariffs in the EU have substantially been reduced, ACP countries enjoy preferential access for sugar into the EU. A further progressive liberalization of the EU's sugar trade regime would lead to a reduction in the benefits arising from market access with preferential conditions, referred to as ''preference erosion.'' 36 While some argue that 30% of the trade-flows to the EU would not exist without granted trade preferences, 37 others criticize the instrument of preferential trade agreements 38 for generating a strong dependence of the producing country on one commodity, risking their technological lock-in. Hence, instead of supporting developing countries with preferential trade agreements in liberalizing commodity markets, the EU could provide targeted cooperation supporting sustainable and diversified agriculture beyond monopolization of single value chains.Trade relations in telecoupled systems need to consider the general geopolitical international relations between involved countries An important example can be found when looking at the group of ''East European and Central Asian grain exporters'' and its strong imports of grains, crops, and sunflowers (monetary relevance value of 6.9% and footprint of 15.6%, Figure 4). Some countries have high leverage values (Ukraine, Serbia, Moldova) indicating a strong orientation toward the EU market. Beyond the EU markets, the grain and oilseed-exporters Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan take large shares of the world market with large trade relations to import-dependent developing countries. Yet, the Russian military invasion of the Ukraine had important impacts on the world commodity markets putting global food security at risk. 39 Current trade engagement with these countries conflicts with PCD and the sustainability agenda, which calls for peaceful and inclusive societies and accountable institutions (SDG 16). The economic sanctions on agricultural products from Russia lead to trade losses on both sides 40 and dominate these trade relations. In political reality, geopolitical conflicts dominate PCD performance, thereby marginalizing (other) sustainability objectives, and are likely to produce spill-over effects in other geographical regions. The recent wars and escalating conflicts show the links between global security and trade and highlight the need for anticipatory and adaptive governance, which prepares trade relations for external shocks. Sustainability agendas need a legal backbone to achieve results despite dynamic security-driven agendas.Sustainability of telecoupled agri-food systems requires complementary policies in both producing and consuming countries Experiences show that telecoupled environmental impacts of EU consumption cannot be mitigated by environmental policies alone For instance, soybean imports from MERCOSUR countries account for 28% of the EU's imported cropland footprint (see Figure 3). Even though a large share of the produced meat is then exported to countries such as China, environmental ''spillover'' effects remain in the EU. 2 An example is the nitrification of soils and water bodies due to high levels of manure in pork production areas in Northern Germany. 41 Despite associated threats to biodiversity and climate, soy imports have been supported by zero tariffs on oilseeds and feed-substitutes of the EU since the 1960s, 42 and by coupled payments for animal production after 1992. 43 At the same time, Argentina has been expanding its soybean production since the 1990s, 44 driven by support from a coalition of the World Bank, international agricultural interests, and private landowners. 45 The EU has initiated certification initiatives linking soy production to anti-deforestation measures. 46 These initiatives have, however, resulted in ''leakage'' effects by driving deforestation in other places, since interventions were not coordinated with other land-use policies and value chain initiatives. 47 Accordingly, curbing deforestation trends requires complementary policies in producing countries and international development support. Trade negotiations especially with the MERCOSUR countries could include minimum statutory requirements or sustainability standards for nature protection, including deforestation and pesticide application. 48 Private market initiatives, particularly on high-value products such as coffee, can be a promising tool for mobilizing consumers' willingness to pay Our results on coffee indicate both a high relevance value for imported deforestation (38.4%) and a strong EU leverage value (37.9% monetary imports, 29.2% cropland footprint, 38.4% deforestation), indicating a strong potential for the EU to work toward more sustainable forms of production. Certification schemes are powerful instruments adding brand value, enabling traceability, and providing strong economic opportunities for farmers and communities. 49 However, there are still valid doubts regarding the extent to which labeling initiatives can actually increase landowners' incomes, 50 assure workers' rights, 51 ensure equitable and reliable income, 49 prevent deforestation, or safeguard biodiversity 52 and cultural heritage. 53 In fact, some farmers could be excluded from market access if not successfully complying with sustainability criteria. 49 By contrast, currently dominating regulatory and financial incentives in agroforestry systems tend to prioritize intensified practices. 54 To avoid rebound effects of sustainability initiatives, private initiatives (e.g., fair trade or sustainability standards) need ties to regulatory frameworks and institutional arrangements. 55 The drafted Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence 56 and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive 57 could become important instruments in this regard; they will, however, need to be implemented in collaboration with producing countries to be aligned with the context-specific regulatory frameworks, domestic standards, and monitoring baselines.The presented concepts' relevance and leverage present an opportunity to assess the telecoupled effects of consumption that are important and often neglected elements of national sustainability agendas. The different dimensions of monetary import values, cropland footprint, and imported deforestation are, however, dealt with as parallel indicators and are not interrelated to facilitate possible trade-off decisions. Simple indices of ratios of the three indicators would potentially lead to misleading interpretations as they depend on the nature of a production system, the transparency and complexity of a value chain, and the question of balancing winners and losers among the value chain actors. Some value chains, such as for coffee or cocoa, might have very direct relations between producers and consumers, whereas other products such as soy or palm oil are often used as feed or ingredient for more composite end products. Furthermore, the telecoupling concept challenges the rather monodirectional perspective of the impacts caused by EU imports, and requires additionally to consider bidirectional flows and feedbacks connecting sending and receiving systems. In light of these interdependencies, effective policy options depend on the particularities of value chains including the socio-economic and ecological contexts, existing regulatory frameworks, and bi-and multi-lateral trade relations between trading countries.In light of the complexity of such analysis, we argue that only case studies with a focus on specific products and trading countries can shed light on the nature of trade-offs, context-specific interactions, and telecoupled feedbacks. Data-based or transdisciplinary scenario analyses could further help investigating the potential impacts of policy sectors, tools, or intervention packages. Each trade relationship is unique in its distribution of costs and benefits and it will require case studies and comparative analyses to expand our insights on options for governing telecoupled agri-food systems.From a global perspective, a business-as-usual scenario for agrifood systems poses an overwhelming challenge in a system that currently exceeds multiple planetary boundaries. For example, including raising demands for bioenergy and industrial uses of crops requires an increase of cropland production of 60% by 2050 (relative to 2002 levels). 58 Through unsustainable production systems and telecoupled consumption-driven trade relations, high-income countries exhibit substantial influence on land-use and deforestation in developing countries. The EU's Green Deal and Farm to Fork Strategy signal a high awareness of these interlinkages, but still fail to translate these objectives into action and policy change. Hence, implementing these strategies will require governments and private actors to think beyond only responding to telecoupled problems 17 and instead to start adjusting the agricultural, food, biodiversity, and trade policies that induce unsustainable telecoupled effects of the EU's imports.The concepts of relevance and leverage, as demonstrated in our analyses, can help prioritizing policy decisions by exposing central telecoupled challenges for the sustainability of global agri-food systems. Explicitly targeting these telecoupled effects as part of domestic policies acknowledges the responsibility for external impacts of bilateral relations as required by the PCD principle.The concept of relevance points to the magnitude of environmental and economic impacts and thereby helps to identify key trade relations with the largest potential for the EU to contribute to global sustainability. The EU can then target these trade relations, for instance, by regulating the demand for related agrifood products (e.g., on healthy diets, support for animal husbandry, adjusting EU market access, due diligence, 56 or the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism taxes 59 ). The concept of leverage identifies products and regions with high market shares providing a potential for the EU to establish and support sustainable forms of production. To reduce trade-offs and foster synergies, telecoupled governance needs to assure coherent incentives for sustainability agendas, particularly in ensuring environmental aspects such as nature protection and restoration are better included in trade and international relations. As interventions have shown to produce diverging effects for different stakeholder groups, PCD requires a policy design that is more sensitive in particular to the needs of vulnerable producers (e.g., smallholders).While geopolitical conflicts remain an important and often neglected factor in trade and bilateral partnerships, the strong EU leverage still provides ample opportunities to contribute to global sustainability. High leverage with selected small countries and specific products, even if relevance values are low, can significantly support individual trading partners in moving toward sustainable and more equitable and just agri-food systems. Transformative EU policies in telecoupled systems will further require complementary efforts in producing countries (e.g., for assuring tenure rights, consistent land-use policies, and data baselines), which can be aligned in bi-and multilateral agreements and partnerships.In sum, the EU is currently exceeding its biocapacity, thereby externalizing the costs of its production and consumption patterns to other regions. At the same time, any shift in trade, land-use patterns, and access to ecosystem services and resources in a telecoupled world can exacerbate inequalities and produce spill-over effects in other countries. Therefore, value creation and global social adjustment needs to be part of an integrative strategy within PCD. If the EU is committed to implement PCD and enable countries with the lowest GDPs to emancipate themselves from the role of biocapacity providers, it will need to support these countries in developing their economies beyond agriculture to value-adding sustainable industries and services.The trade data from FAOSTAT, 60 and the land-use and deforestation data, 13 are publicly available and open access. Further requests for information should be directed to and will be fulfilled by the lead author, Yves Zinngrebe (yves.zinngrebe@ufz.de).The analytical dimensions relevance and leverage We evaluated the trade relations with developing countries and imported cropland products based on their relevance and leverage. When using the term ''developing countries,'' we refer to all developing and transition countries as identified by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. 61 We defined relevance as the share of EU imports from a specific country (or of a specific cropland product) as a percentage of total EU imports of cropland products. We also refer to this as the import share (values range from 0 to 100). Countries (or products) have a high relevance if imports of the respective country (or product) account for a high share of total EU imports. In that sense, the respective country (or product) has a high relevance for any PCD strategy from a European perspective. To identify the relevance of the countries (i.e., trading partners of the EU) or of the imported products, we analyzed import shares in three dimensions.(1) Monetary import value: the share of the EU's imports (expressed in USD) as a percentage of total EU imports. (2) Cropland footprint: the share of cropland (expressed in hectares of cropland area harvested) as a percentage of the total cropland imported for EU consumption. (3) Imported deforestation: the share of deforestation (expressed as hectares of deforested area) as a percentage of the total deforestation induced by EU consumption of cropland products.We defined leverage as the share of EU imports from a specific country (or of a specific cropland product) as a percentage of the total production value, area harvested, or deforestation within the country (or for the specific product among developing countries). The leverage determines the importance of trade with the EU for the developing countries, both at the country and at the product level. As previously defined for relevance, we also distinguish between the economic leverage for three dimensions.(1) Monetary import value: the share of global market value of a product or cropland area in a country that is imported into the EU (expressed in USD). (2) Cropland footprint: the share of the total cropland area harvested for a product, or in an individual producing country that is exported into the EU (expressed in hectares of cropland area harvested). (3) Imported deforestation: the share of deforestation caused by cropland products in developing countries that is exported to the EU (in hectares deforested).The figures are based on annual production and trade data from FAOSTAT 60 as well as land-use and deforestation data based on Pendrill et al. 13 The available datasets overlap for the period from 2009 to 2013 and arithmetic means of the respective values were used to calculate the relevance and leverage. We derived the indicators for all cropland products P (indexed by k) and for all developing and transition countries D (indexed by d), which is a subgroup from all countries in the world W (indexed by i). To ensure comparability with respect to the products, the products (cropland-based products) in all datasets were aggregated to primary products, as explained below. We derive economic relevance from the sum of imports from a country to the EU. The relevance is described by the share of imports from a country of a product divided by the total EU imports. The relevance of a trading partner (y axis) is high if the import share is high in the EU, meaning the exporting country is relevant for the EU. Similarly, the leverage of the EU imports (x axis) is high if the quantity exported to the EU takes a high share in the country of origin in monetary terms, cropland footprint, or deforestation. If a country or product has a high share of the total EU imports (relevance) and the values also represent a high share in the country of origin (leverage), this country should be far from the origin. We marked this region as ''high PCD-relevance.'' The bubble-size represents the size effect in a country representing the absolute values for imports in monetary terms, cropland footprint, or deforestation. Countries with high relevance values have a high share, but the imports do not necessarily have influence in the country of origin. Therefore, these countries have intensive trade relations with the EU and we typically observe here land-rich countries like Indonesia, Brazil, and Ukraine.On the other hand, for some countries the EU imports can have large domestic effects, i.e., share of the total production (economic leverage), the total area harvested, or the deforestation (ecological leverage). The leverage for PCD arises from the assumption that any measures implemented by the EU have the potential to affect the production in that country. Overall, both types of countries (high relevance, high leverage) matter for evaluating the PCD performance and strategy of the EU.Starting from the FAOSTAT 60 trade matrix, which gives the quantities and values of bilateral trade (reported imports and exports for each country), we extracted the EU imports in monetary terms and subtracted intra-EU trade. Then, we calculated relevance and leverage for all developing and transition countries D and all cropland products P.To determine the economic leverage, we calculated the production values at export prices using unit values. To this end, we used export data from the trade matrix to calculate the unit value of exports by dividing the value of exports for each country and each product by the corresponding exported quantity. The unit value was then multiplied by the average production quantities from FAOSTAT 60 to obtain the production value at export prices. This is subject to some inaccuracy, as unit values do not consider differences in qualities (and thus different values of products), or at least assume an equal distribution of these qualitative differences, which would ultimately lead to them canceling each other out. Another shortcoming is that the production value for products with an exported quantity of zero cannot be calculated. For these cases, the production value based on unit values was replaced by the production value at farm gate level from FAOSTAT, 60 if available. Using the production value at farm gate level does, however, not include value added within the country from farm to exporter and is more sensitive to domestic policies. Regardless of this, we assume that, while these biases could lead to some inaccuracy in the interpretation of the exact level of leverage across different countries, the exact level is of minor importance for the interpretation of the figures while the position relative to other countries is still comparable/meaningful.(1) Relevance (developing country D) Formally, we calculated the economic relevance R Imports of imports from country D to the EU, using the sum of the imports X of all products P = {1,2, .,k} coming from a developing country D, divided by the sum of imports X from all countries W and all products P:(2) Relevance (cropland product P)The same procedure has been done for the economic relevance R Imports of product P, following form Equation 2, summing up the imports X of a product P from all countries D = {1,2,.d}, divided (again) by the sum of imports X from all countries W and all products P:(3) Leverage (developing country D)The economic Leverage L Imports of the EU with regard to country D is calculated by the sum of imports X of all products P = {1,2, .,k} of a country D, divided by the total production value Y of each product P in a country D:The leverage L Imports of the EU with regard to product P is calculated by summing up all imports X from the countries D = {1,2, .,d} of a product P, divided by the total production value Y a product P in all countries D:(Equation 4)To derive the ecological indicators with respect to footprint, we rely on a method developed in Pendrill et al. 13 This method is based on physical bilateral trade data from the trade matrix (available for about 350 primary and processed agricultural products) as well as on production data (available for around 130 crop products), both available at FAOSTAT. 60 In a first step, the processed products were converted into primary equivalents based on their dry matter content. The resulting data were used, along with production data of the respective crop, to establish clear links between the countries where a primary crop is produced and where the products processed from it are consumed in their physical form (either as food or for industrial purposes). This calculation relies on matrix algebra and the assumption that a country's consumption is met proportionally by its domestic production and imports for a given primary product. The resulting accounts indicate, at the level of individual countries, where the primary crops required for the (apparent) consumption in a given country were cultivated. The quantities were then translated into the corresponding cropland area harvested using crop-and country-specific yield data from FAOSTAT. 60 We finally aggregated the data for the EU, subtracting intra-EU trade.The formal calculations of ecological relevance R Footprint and leverage L Footprint follow the same method as described above for the economic relevance and leverage in the above-described forms (1) to (4). For the ecological relevance R Footprint , we sum up the footprints X all products P of a country D or otherwise all countries D of a product P, divided in both cases by the total footprint X of all countries W and all products P. In the same vein, the ecological leverage L Footprint is calculated by the sum of the footprint X either of all countries D or of all products P, in both cases divided by the sum of the harvested area Y of all countries D or of all products P.Relevance and leverage with regard to deforestation were calculated based on data from Pendrill et al. 13 The authors developed a model that connects satellite data on tropical deforestation with data on the extent of individual land uses and crop species, and with global trade and consumption data for crop products from FAOSTAT 60 (see above). In the resulting dataset, deforestation is attributed to individual agricultural and forestry products and subsequently to the countries that consume these products. In line with the focus of this study, we restricted the data to only cropland products, excluding deforestation for pasture expansion and forest plantation expansion (for the period included, the expansion attributed to cropland products accounts for 87% of the total deforestation attributed in the dataset from ( 9). Again, we aggregated the data across the EU.The formal calculations of ecological relevance R Deforest and leverage L Deforest follow again the method described above for the economic relevance and leverage in the above-described forms (1) to (4). The ecological relevance R Deforest is using deforestation data. We sum up deforestation by the EU X by all products P in a country D or otherwise all countries D of a product P, divided in both cases by the total footprint X of all countries W and all products P. In the same vein, the ecological leverage L Deforest is calculated by the sum of the footprint X either of all products P or of all countries D, in both cases divided by the sum of the harvested area Y either of all products P or of all countries D.For the depictions of the figures with the products, we have excluded all product categories that are marked as \"nes\" (''not elsewhere specified'') in the FAO dataset, since these product categories usually include multiple products and they play a minor role in international trade. It is therefore not exactly clear what each country is measuring within these categories. However, the numbers are included in all calculations.In all figures, we have omitted outliers with a leverage greater than one (100%), since a leverage above one does not make sense (by design) and is likely due to errors in the dataset. This is mainly related to developing countries with a comparatively small cropland area. To keep the figures clear, only countries and products represented in the 95% quantile of leverage and relevance are labeled.Clustering countries as ''sending systems'' We have taken the following steps for clustering the countries as listed in Figure 5.(1) We have ranked the countries producing a list, which includes the countries with the ten highest values for relevance in monetary value, cropland footprint, and deforestation. We also produced a second list ranking the countries with the highest values for leverage in all three dimensions. The resulting list of countries compiled by the ten countries with the highest values from all lists was then used further to inductively produce clusters. (2) We used qualitative content analysis 58 to cluster the countries according to their dominant products accounting for the relevance and leverage values for products destined for the EU. (3) We complemented the groups of countries with single countries with geographical proximity and similar product compositions and trade relations with the EU (e.g., including Uruguay in the MERCOSUR group with Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil; or including Kazakhstan and Belarus in the group of Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Serbia).As methodological limitations of this study, we have to acknowledge that, to reduce complexity, we have downplayed the effects for countries with lower values for relevance and leverage, but PCD still applies to these countries. Aside from these main contributors to the relevance value of EU imports, other specific trade relations with high leverage values bear a strong potential for improving the EU's PCD performance. Specialized value chains, such as cinnamon with Seychelles, olives with Morocco and Tunisia, or vanilla with Madagascar bear strong potential for using these value chains as key levers for sustainable transformation. The final leverage the EU has in countries depends very much on the contextual specificities of both value chains and bilateral relations of sending and receiving systems, which we were not able to give more attention to in this global study."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4ad1d3fb1b64947bbc6f7969abfcd496","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c95f4169-9395-4586-b096-106ad4402eff/retrieve","id":"1992396945"},"keywords":["age","anaemia","generalized linear mixed models","parasitaemia","season","tsetse density"],"sieverID":"50c73202-5cb1-4c76-ad67-ca747752bdd2","content":"The objective of this study was to determine factors associated with occurrence of trypanosomosis in the first generation (F1) crossbreds between trypanotolerant Orma Boran and trypanosusceptible Teso zebu cattle in a trypanosomosis endemic area in Teso District, western Kenya. The offspring were screened for trypanosomosis and other haemoparasites using parasitological methods. Packed cell volume (PCV), body weights and tsetse density (FTD) were also determined. Factors considered in the analysis included sex, age, body weight and season of the year. Generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) were used for multivariable analysis to account for clustering of observations at the animal level and estimate outcome variance parameters.The overall trypanosomosis prevalence was 2.3% (n=477) probably corresponding to low FTD in the area (<1fly/trap/day). The risk of trypanosomosis infection was higher in dry than wet season (OR = 5.4) and in older than younger offspring (OR = 1.1). The variance parameters obtained indicated that variation of trypanosomosis prevalence lay only at the animal level. Intercurrent haemoparasites detected included Anaplasma marginale, Theileria and Babesia species.Overall, the results suggested that when the tsetse density is very low, control of trypanosomosis in the OrmaTeso zebu offspring in western Kenya require targeting of individual affected animals in the dry seasons.Tsetsetransmitted trypanosomosis is considered to be one of the major constraints to improved livestock production in subSaharan Africa (SSA) (Kristjanson et al 1999). The major control options for this disease include chemoprophylaxis and chemotherapy (Peregrine 1994), management of the vector (Bauer et al 1992) and exploitation of genetic resistance exhibited by certain livestock breeds (d'Ieteren et al 1998). However, difficulties in development of an antiinfection vaccine and of sustaining tsetse control, and the increasingly reported trypanocidal drug resistance imply that greater hope in animal trypanosomosis control lies in the exploitation of trypanosomosis resistant breeds of livestock (d'Ieteren et al 1998). The latter instance involves situations where certain breeds of cattle have been found to remain relatively healthy and productive in areas where trypanosomosis occur and these include the humpless longhorn N'Dama, the Baoulé and the shorthorn Muturu in West Africa (Murray et al 1982) and the Orma Boran in East Africa (Dolan 1998). This phenomenon, referred to as trypanotolerance, is defined as the capacity of an animal to control parasitaemia and anaemia in a trypanosomosis infection without the aid of trypanocidal drugs (Murray et al 1982). In addition, disease resistance in the trypanotolerant N'Dama cattle extends to tickborne diseases (TBDs) (Knopf et al 2002), helminthosis (Zinsstag et al 2000) and dermatophilosis (d'Ieteren et al 1998). Similarly, susceptibility to tick infestation was reported to be lower in the trypanotolerant Orma Boran cattle relative to certain cattle breeds in Kenya (Mwangi et al 1998a). These findings suggest that potential utilization of trypanotolerant cattle could be feasible even in the occurrence of other economically important livestock diseases in trypanosomosis endemic areas.Exploitation of the trypanotolerant Orma cattle breed was implemented by the Kenya Government through the former Kenya Trypanosomiasis Research Institute (KETRI) (now called Kenya Agricultural Research InstituteTrypanosomiasis Research Centre (KARITRC)) by means of regional dissemination of trypanotolerant Orma Boran sires to farmers. The purpose of the programme was to plan and implement a longterm strategy for conservation, utilization and dissemination of the Orma Boran cattle breed and evaluation of the possibility of conferring trypanotolerance to susceptible cattle through crossbreeding with the ultimate goal of controlling the impact of trypanosomosis. Two pilot trypanosomosis endemic regions identified in the project included Nguruman in Kajiado District in south west Kenya (Maichomo et al 2005) and Teso District in western Kenya.Preliminary data in Kenya comparing OrmaMaasai crossbreds and pure Maasai zebu cattle reported higher trypanosomosis incidence (61% vs 39%) but superior body mass (164kg vs 123kg at 18 months of age), faster growth rate (72kg vs 64kg at 8 months) and better control of packed cell volume (PCV) (29.4% vs 28.4%) and this was noted particularly during the rainy season (Maichomo et al 2005). There are no other studies investigating factors that would affect prevalence of trypanosomosis in trypanotolerant cattle in East Africa. The aim of the current study was to determine the factors that affect the occurrence of trypanosomosis in Orma Boran/Teso zebu F1 crossbred calves (herein referred to as OrmaTeso zebu offspring) under natural field conditions in Teso District in western Kenya.Teso District is located in Western province of Kenya and is bordered by the Republic of Uganda to the west. The district lies between latitude 0 o 29´ and 0 o 32´ North and longitudes 34 o 01´ and 34 o 07´ East. The district's altitude ranges from 1,300m to 1500m above sea level. Most parts of the district receive between 1,270mm and 2000mm of annual rainfall whose distribution is bimodal. Temperatures for the whole district are more or less homogenous with annual mean maximum temperature ranging between 26 o C and 30 o C while the mean minimum temperature ranges between 14 o C and 22 o C (Jaetzold and Schmidt 1983). The administrative divisions (herein after referred to as villages) in the district where the offspring were reared were Chakol, Amagoro and Amukura.Initially, nine Orma Boran sires selected on the basis of trypanotolerance were disseminated to nine farmers in Teso District in November 2001. The sires were managed comparably with the local Teso zebu cattle. The research team conducted an intensive awareness campaign in the local community on the presence and availability of the Orma Boran sires for crossbreeding with the local Teso zebu cattle. However, natural breeding of Teso zebu cattle was not financially charged. The service date was recorded by Orma Boran sire's owner while calving was reported to the nearby former KETRI subcenter by the dam's owner for recruitment of the OrmaTeso zebu offspring into the study. The calves were then eartagged for identification and subjected to monthly surveillance of health and productivity parameters. Management of the offspring was similar to that of the other stock.The observations used in this study belonged to 86 OrmaTeso zebu offspring born between January 2003 and June 2005 in all the villages. The observations contributed by an offspring to the study base thus varied depending on the length of time each offspring was under surveillance. Incomplete records were, however, omitted from the database leaving 584 records for all infections used in the analysis. All the OrmaTeso zebu offspring were managed by the owners without any influence from the research staff.The OrmaTeso zebu offspring were screened monthly for trypanosomosis using buffy coat technique (BCT) (Murray et al 1977). Approximately 70µl of blood was collected by ear vein venipuncture into two heparinised microhaematocrit capillary tubes. The degree of anaemia was estimated by measuring the PCV using Hawksley microhaematocrit reader (Hawksley, Lancing, United Kingdom). Determination of trypanosome species was carried out using their motility characteristics. Offspring that were found to be positive on BCT were treated with a single dose of diminazene aceturate (Veriben®, Sanofi Kenya Ltd) at 7.0 mg/kg administered intramuscularly when their PCV values had dropped to 20% or lower (Trail et al 1991).Giemsastained thin blood smears from each offspring were used for examination of tickborne infections (TBDs) (Karanja 2005). Detection of specific haemoparasites in the blood smears was confirmatory for Anaplasma and Babesia species. Any other type of piroplasm detected (apart from Babesia piroplasms) was classified as theilerial piroplasm as speciation of theilerial piroplasms is difficult in an area where multiple species of Theileria have been recognized in cattle (Norval et al 1992). Although the OrmaTeso zebu offspring found infected were only treated when they manifested overt clinical signs and a low PCV of less than 20%, animal welfare standards and owners' perceptions were taken into consideration when applying this protocol.During farm visits, 5 to 10 biconical traps were deployed in each village where the offspring were reared to determine the apparent tsetse density (Bauer et al 1992). The traps were baited with 250 ml of acetone and emptied 48 hours after deployment. Flies were identified, counted, species identified and sexed. Apparent tsetse density was then expressed as the number of flies per trap per day (FTD). Age determination of tsetse flies was based on the wing fray method (Jackson 1946). Trypanosome infection rates were determined by dissection (Lloyd and Johnson 1924).All data were managed in Microsoft Access® database (Microsoft Corporation, USA). Statistical analyses were carried out using STATA version 9 (StataCorp 2005). The level of significance was set at 5% (2sided).Morbidity status due to trypanosomosis, anaplasmosis and piroplasmosis (combined Babesia and theilerial piroplasms) were the outcome variables of interest. A trypanosome infection included Trypanosoma congolense, Trypanosoma vivax, Trypanosoma brucei or mixed infection by these parasites. Explanatory variables included sex and age of the OrmaTeso zebu offspring, season of the year, village and herd. The classification of months into season depended on the number of days that received rainfall in each month: > 15 days was coded wet and < 15 days was coded dry. All calves in a particular village were sired by one bull; thus the variable 'village' and 'sire' were expected to be perfectly matched hence these variables were not included in the model simultaneously. Herd and village were offered into the model as explanatory random variables.Descriptive analysis and testing association between PCV and both explanatory and response variables were initially conducted. These were followed by estimation of crude odds ratios (ORs) by univariable analyses. Univariable analyses considered one explanatory variable at a time against each response variable. Ordinary multivariable logistic regression models were then fitted to the data and both backward and forward variable selection process was used to build the models based on the Wald's test statistics. The data were deemed to cluster at least three levels: (i) animallevel because of repeated measures in time, (ii) herd level because of shared farmlevel management system and (iii) village level because of shared ecological exposures and breeding sires. To account for this hierarchical clustering, generalized linear mixed (GLMM) models using a logit link were fitted to the data. The latter models were used to estimate the values of the parameters of the random variables (animal, herd and village) considered in the analysis.In this study, records obtained were treated as though repeated surveys were conducted rather than those expected from a longitudinal study. A total of 89 infections comprising 11 cases of trypanosomosis, 73 of anaplasmosis and 5 of piroplasmosis (combined babesial and theilerial piroplasms) were recorded. Their respective prevalences were 2.3% (n=477), 15.3% (n=477) and 1.05% (n=474). The total number of T. vivax (Tv) and T. congolense (Tc) infections was 8 and 3 respectively giving a Tv:Tc ratio of 2.7:1.Two tsetse fly species namely Glossina pallidipes and Glossina fuscipes were caught in the study areas in the course of the surveillance. The overall mean FTD within the three villages was less than 1/trap/day. Generally, Glossina fuscipes was more abundant than Glossina pallidipes during the wet season of April and May 2005 with FTDs of 1.3, 1.4 and 1.8 in Amukura, Amagoro and Chakol villages respectively. This observation arose possibly because majority of the traps were deployed near the streams and rivers where Glossina fuscipes species is often found. FTDs for Glossina pallidipes remained <1 throughout the course of the surveillance.The mean PCV for all offspring throughout the study period was 30.1% (SD 5.74). The difference in the mean PCV values by sex and village were significant (P<0.001) but that by season was not significant (P=0.71) (Table 1). The difference in PCV% between trypanosome parasitaemic and aparasitaemic offspring was not significant (P=0.11), while that between anaplasmosis parasitaemic and aparasitaemic offspring was significant (P<0.001) (Table 1). The difference in PCV% between positive and negative piroplasmosis cases was not significant (P=0.28) (Table 1).The crude ORs from univariable logistic regression models for all response variables are shown in Tables 2 and 3 respectively. Season was the only variable that was significantly associated with the occurrence of trypanosomosis (p=0.03) (Table 2) and anaplasmosis (p=0.02) (Table 3). Respectively, the prevalences of trypanosomosis and anaplasmosis were 5.5 and 2 times higher in the dry than the wet season (Tables 2 and 3). None of the variables were significantly associated with piroplasmosis cases (data not shown).All variables obtained through univariable analysis, despite their levels of significance, were used to build multivariable models so as to compare the outputs from univariate and multivariable models.In the ordinary multivariable models, the prevalence of trypanosomosis was significantly associated with season (p=0.04) and age (p=0.03) (Table 4). The prevalence of anaplasmosis on the other hand was significantly associated with season (p=0.03) and village (Table 4). Dry season (OR=5.2) and offspring being older (OR=1.1) were associated with higher prevalence of trypanosomosis than wet season and being young. Only season was significantly associated with piroplasmosis (data not shown). OrmaTeso zebu offspring in Kwangamor village were 2.5 times more likely to get infected by all of the parasites studied compared to those from Otimong village (Table 4).Upon accounting for clustering by use of GLMMs, the outputs obtained were similar to those from ordinary multivariable logistic regression models. When all infections were combined under GLMMs, season and village were significant, with offspring having increased the odds of experiencing all of the infections studied during the dry season (OR=1.9) than the wet season (Table 5). .4 (1.1, 25.9) 1.9 (1.1, 3.6) 1.9 (1.1, 3.2) Age 1.1 (1.0, 1.3) 0.04 1.0 (0.9, 1.1) 0.62 1.0 (0.9, 1.1) 0.33 BWT c 0.9 (0.9, 1.0) 0.15 0.9 (0.9, 1.0) 0.79 0.9 (0.9, 1.0) Generalized linear mixed models gave variance estimates at the animal, herd and village levels. There was higher variance in the prevalence of all the infections at the animallevel (Table 5).The low trypanosomosis prevalence in the OrmaTeso zebu offspring reported in this study (2.3%) is comparable to that reported in the OrmaMaasai zebu crosses (3%) though the latter were maintained in a pastoral production system (Maichomo et al 2005). However, this prevalence was relatively lower than that reported for Teso zebu counterparts (2 to 10%) in the same study area and period (Matete 2002, KETRI unpublished data; Gachohi 2005, KARITRC unpublished data). In the neighbouring Busia District, the overall trypanosome prevalence in zebu cattle was reported to be 4.7% (Karanja 2005). The low prevalence in the OrmaTeso zebu offspring could most likely be attributed to the low tsetse density in the area (<1fly/trap/day), confinement of the calves around homesteads leading to lower tsetse challenge, or low disease risk due to massive vector control efforts by a regional European Unionled project, \"Farming in Tsetse Controlled Areas, FITCA\" (Karanja 2005) prior to the study period. This could also have resulted from management of disease by the farmers as trypanocides were readily accessible in this area. Although there is evidence of less susceptibility of Orma Boran to trypanosomosis than other zebu ecotypes as judged by the significantly lower incidence of infection among other factors (Mwangi et al 1998b), this is a subject of ongoing research.Development of anaemia is a common consequence of trypanosomosis (Naessens et al 2003), yet there was no significant difference in PCV values between trypanosomal parasitaemic and non parasitaemic OrmaTeso zebu offspring in this study. This appeared to confirm observations that there is no strong association between control of parasitaemia and anaemia in trypanotolerant animals (Paling et al 1991; Naessens et al 2002). In addition, this lack of difference in PCV values could have been due to better control of anaemia by the infected OrmaTeso zebu offspring. Control of anaemia is known to be a strong indicator of trypanotolerance (Naessens et al 2002). Indeed, the repeated monthly measurements of PCV over time confirmed the capability of the offspring to maintain their PCV values despite their infection status. Previous field studies have indicated that control of anaemia (but not parasitaemia) has a significant degree of heritability (Trail et al 1991). It would be interesting to find out heritability estimates of control of anaemia in crosses between trypanotolerant and trypanosusceptible cattle in wellstructured genetic studies.Season in this study was a significant predictor with dry season being associated with higher trypanosomosis prevalence. Comparison with other studies reveals that this factor primarily depends on the characteristics of the production system applied. In western Kenya, the dominant farming system is traditional mixed croplivestock system whereby during the wet season, cattle are mostly corralled and/or grazed near the homesteads away from the crops. In the dry season, cattle are allowed to roam freely further in the fields for grazing particularly along streams, rivers, marshy swamps and other watering points often entering the riverine tsetseinfested areas common in this region (Ford and Katondo 1977). Similar higher prevalence was reported during the dry season than wet season for trypanotolerant cattle in a sedentary farming system in Nigeria (Ogunsanmi et al 2000, unpublished data) and Ghana (Mahama et al 2004). In semiarid areas of Kenya where absolute extensive grazing is applied, the force of trypanosomosis infection was reported to increase during the wet season in trypanotolerant cattle and their crosses probably because of unrestricted grazing patterns during the wet season (Bett et al 2004; Maichomo et al 2005). This factor underpins the importance of farming systems in influencing the challenge to which livestock are subjected and this is central to the epidemiology and planning of the trypanosomosis control particularly in regions and production systems where dissemination and breeding of trypanotolerant breeds of cattle are earmarked.Increasing age in this study was associated with increased trypanosomosis prevalence. Young Orma Boran calves generally appear to be more resistant to trypanosomosis than older animals (Dolan 1998). Similar patterns, though based on serology, have been observed in earlier studies in Burkina Faso (Desquesnes et al 1999) and Ghana (Mahama et al 2004) involving trypanotolerant cattle. As differences in trypanosomosis prevalence across ages appear to be influenced by livestock management systems (Bett et al 2004), further research is required on interaction between age and the different livestock management systems where trypanotolerant cattle breeding programmes are targeted.To take the clustered structure of the data into account, this study applied multilevel modeling techniques. Multilevel models are useful in estimating the contribution of the various levels of cattle population organization to the total variance of an outcome. In this manner, levels which account for a large amount of variability (highrisk levels) can be identified and targeted with the expectation that interventions at that level will have the greatest impact on outcome (Dohoo et al 2003). In this study, it was clear from the analysis that most of the variation in trypanosomosis and TBDs prevalence lay at the animallevel which could have arisen from nonadditive genetic effects and/or nongenetic effects (Evans et al 1999) particularly the maternal effect variance as almost the entire OrmaTeso zebu offspring were from different dams. The large animallevel variability would indicate that interventions targeted at the individual animal would be expected to have the greatest impact on prevalence. Lack of variation both at the herd and villagelevel in trypanosomosis prevalence could have been influenced by the massive vector control efforts by the FITCA project (Karanja 2005) prior to the study period. This was supported by the low density of tsetse flies in all the villages where the Ormazebu offspring were located and further suggested that at very low tsetse density, trypanosomosis incidence varied from animal to animal. On the other hand, there was small proportion of variation detected at the village level both in the 'anaplasmosis model' (TBD) (21%) and 'all response variables combined model' (mixed trypanosomosis and TBDs) (25%). The latter finding most likely reflected the widely recognized ecological differences in which the climatic suitability for tick vectors varies over small geographic areas (Norval et al 1992).Risk of trypanosomosis was higher in individual animals during dry seasons under very low tsetse density for the OrmaTeso Zebu offspring in the western Kenya region Presence of other infections which may lead to concurrent infections need to be integrated in breeding programmes for trypanosomosis resistance not only to sustain trypanotolerance stability but also to consider ecological distribution of other important pathogens prevailing in an area.Genetic and nongenetic factors that may have an impact on crossbreeding programmes involving trypanotolerant and trypanosusceptible cattle breeds need to be investigated by use of a quantitative approach in wellstructured longitudinal and productionsystem studies in which the necessary identification and quantification of environmental and genetic effects are possible."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"656b95da62f5c414a987796049ad5b97","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bd31fdc9-117a-4f4e-b6b2-86173259d1dd/retrieve","id":"-1332127966"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a0d20662-54de-4673-a68b-8ef714646e40","content":"L e soja (Glycine max) est une légumineuse annuelle cultivée au Kenya. Introduite à partir de l'Ouganda dès 1904 et largement promue par diverses organisations nationales et internationales, elle n'en demeure pas moins une culture marginale dans les systèmes agricoles du pays. La présente initiative, récemment lancée par le TSBF-CIAT, vise à familiariser les ménages ruraux au soja de manière à leur permettre de participer au développement de cette culture dans l'ouest du kenya. Il s'agissait en fait de répondre au besoin pressant de mettre en place une culture à forte valeur commerciale, qui pourrait être cultivée et commercialisée par un grand nombre de petits agriculteurs et qui, en outre, orienterait leurs investissements vers une fertilité améliorée des sols. Participent à ce projet l'Institut de recherche agronomique du Kenya (Kenya Agricultural Research Institute), l'Université Kenyatta, l'Autorité de développement du bassin du Lac Victoria (Lake Basin Development Authority), l'Institut de recherche forestière du Kenya (Kenya Forestry Research Institute), le Centre international d'amélioration du maïs et du blé (CIMMYT), et l'Institut international d'agriculture tropicale (IITA). Cette nouvelle initiative a pour but : i) de capter et de préserver l'intérêt des agriculteurs pour le soja à travers une campagne d'information (visant à dissiper les mythes infondés et mettre l'accent sur les avantages issus de la culture du soja), et ii) de faire naître chez les agriculteurs le désir de transformer et de consommer le soja de multiples façons, par une formation aux techniques de transformation. La nécessité de promouvoir la durabilité de l'industrie du soja dans la région, d'intensifier les liens avec les compagnies semencières privées et de dispenser une formation en matière d'entreposage et de commercialisation des semences sont autant de facteurs qui ont conduit au développement de cette approche.Les idées reçues à propos du soja sont nombreuses et consistent à dire, entre autres que : i) le soja n'a pas de goût, ii) les aliments à base de soja devraient se limiter à la nutrition des enfants 1 , iii) le soja n'est pas facile à cuisiner, iv) les méthodes de transformation du soja sont complexes, et v) il est peu probable que le soja devienne un produit commercialisable en gros sur le marché dans un avenir proche. Faute de dissiper ces perceptions erronées par des preuves scientifiques et des expérimentations pratiques menées au niveau de la communauté et des exploitations familiales, elles risquent fort de remettre en cause les efforts déployés en vue de stimuler l'adoption du soja dans cette région, comme dans les autres régions d'Afrique de l'Est.La sensibilisation, étape clé du développement commercial du soja dans l'ouest du Kenya, poursuit deux objectifs principaux. Elle permettra tout d'abord de dissiper les mythes infondés qui ont contribué à marginaliser la culture du soja dans les systèmes agricoles de l'ouest du Kenya, en dépit du fort potentiel qu'il représente et des efforts déployés dans le passé en vue de promouvoir sa culture. Elle permettra ensuite d'attirer l'attention des agriculteurs sur certaines propriétés importantes du soja, récemment découvertes, les incitant ainsi à investir dans cette culture. aucun cas être prises au sérieux. Des expériences conduites par les agriculteurs des villages de Chitsva et de Matope au Zimbabwe indiquent qu'il est possible de transformer le soja en 18 produits différents (tels que le maputi, le pain de soja, le lait de soja, et le soja brouillé). Il a également été démontré que les propriétés nutritionnelles du soja sont bénéfiques pour tous les consommateurs (pas seulement les enfants) puisqu'il ne contient ni cholestérol, ni gras saturés, mais nombre de protéines, vitamines, minéraux et fibres de grande qualité et de faible coût. 2Le soja contient un composé aux caractéristiques uniques, la génistéine, qui, selon de nombreuses études, possède des qualités remarquables de prévention et de guérison des maladies. La consommation quotidienne d'une petite quantité de soja permet de prévenir ou de diminuer les risques de maladies du coeur 2 , ainsi que de cancer du sein, du colon et de la prostate. Le soja présente en outre un intérêt pour les personnes souffrant d'intolérance au lactose et est réputé pour atténuer les symptômes de la ménopause. Les aliments à base de soja auraient enfin un effet positif chez les personnes souffrant de problèmes digestifs et de diabète.Une formation appropriée permet aux agriculteurs de tirer parti des bénéfices de la culture et de la transformation du soja. Les ménages ruraux sont ainsi formés à diverses méthodes de transformation aboutissant à des produits finaux différents. Ce faisant, ils ont à leur disposition toute une gamme d'options de transformation, choisissant celle qui correspond au produit final qui leur convient le mieux.Le soja présente les qualités requises pour contribuer à la diminution de la pauvreté, améliorer la nutrition des ménages et renforcer la durabilité des exploitations agricoles, qu'elles soient de petite ou de grande taille.Par l'apport de nitrogène, le soja améliore la fertilité des sols. Au cours de l'évaluation de 12 variétés de soja menée sur 5 sites, les agriculteurs et les agricultrices ont démontré un vif intérêt pour cette culture. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/7075507689.json b/main/part_2/7075507689.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..157fb2ea4b13a913e9edbc58268bd3881782c947
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"71e9d8ce6e1186057388f016d8dc5f4a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/130d328c-f4f1-4998-a40c-26ab7e3c0cbb/retrieve","id":"-1023074140"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"bd9422ae-9553-409b-a077-193bc301bc38","content":"The germplasm produced by FLAR has successfully developed into varieties in tropical countries, but has not been well adapted to areas of temperate South America where low temperatures are frequent.Rice Breeding for Temperate Latin AmericaCharacterization of parents for cold environments.An average of 300 triple crosses per year.Evaluation and selection of parents and segregants for cold tolerance under controlled conditions. Supply of segregating populations and lines to member countries.Evaluation during different stages of development under controlled conditionsProduction of segregating populations from F to F 1 3The program has provided its partners with genetically diverse materials: 571 potential progenitors, 446 fixed lines and 4242 segregating populations in a continuous annual flow.The materials produced are tolerant to cold under controlled conditions and have long and slender grain with high amylose content."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/7097455329.json b/main/part_2/7097455329.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0c2583036b1892b2857d49c9ccccf1f0b6fb3124
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/7097455329.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"53857e61ed320549d3f9ec85326bcdfd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/eb7ca309-482d-4419-b484-dcec8afa5a04/retrieve","id":"-1202685722"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1712c2f3-671f-48ac-9cdd-c9abef373c03","content":"SWI for multiple purposes holds great promise for the rural population in the basin by offering viable ways and means to access and manage scarce water resources. The definition for water infrastructure can be approached from two related perspectives which are scale or size and use. In the context of this project, by definition, water infrastructure means any physical (or technical) hardware that is available and used by rural farmers or communities in capturing, collecting, controlling, using, managing and disposing of water. SWIs form a base upon which farmers rely in handling or managing water in rural areas.International Forum on Water and Food SWI has therefore been defined as any technical hardware that is used by farmers in the Limpopo basin in managing water resources for both domestic and agricultural use, and is operated on a smallscale as well as by smallholder farmers. Typical examples of SWI found in the basin include small reservoirs, small weirs, sand dams, boreholes, shallow wells, small scale irrigation schemes, food security gardens, family drip kits, treadle pumps and rainwater harvesting practices. Proper design, operation and management of SWI for multiple uses offer a pathway to improve the livelihoods of the bulk of the smallholder farmers and rural population in the Limpopo basin.The adoption rates of RWH technologies are low and many people do not have the knowledge of different RWH systems, their implementation, maintenance and management. Therefore, the central problem is to seek options that will enhance productivity, adoption and environmental compatibility.The paper has attempted to categorize these SWI and compare them with those in the Volta and Nile to determine their usage and technical aspects. Maintenance and operations aspects have also been highlighted as important factors for sustainability of these SWIs."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/7102087514.json b/main/part_2/7102087514.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c3c9793f6690b53f7434ffec7252e3b225728001
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/7102087514.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d41cb16a2d3a4893c74a7c766b86fdd1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.resakss.org/sites/default/files/2021%20CAADP%20Biennial%20Review%20Brief-Africa-wide.pdf","id":"589659997"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"db1208ab-1aa1-4a5a-bee7-35ff986c328f","content":"This brief was prepared by the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS). , G., et al, 2022.  Policy and Programmatic Changes resulting from the Biennial Reviews and Agriculture Joint Sector Reviews under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). 2021 CAADP Third Biennial Review Brief: Africa-Wide. Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS). AKADEMIYA2063.Mutual accountability refers to the process by which two or more parties hold each other accountable for the commitments they have voluntarily made to one another. This is a core principle of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). A framework to guide mutual accountability processes under CAADP was developed in 2011 in which agriculture Joint Sector Reviews (JSR) were identified as a tool for operationalizing the framework. The JSR process creates a platform to: (1) assess the performance of the agriculture sector; (2) assist governments in setting sector policy and priorities; and (3) assess how well state and non-state actors have implemented their pledges and commitments laid out in National Agricultural Investment Plans (NAIP) and other agreements centered on agricultural development. In line with this mutual accountability framework, countries introduced JSR processes to track the implementation of their NAIPs.Further, the 2014 Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods (AUC 2014) outlines Africa's vision for accelerating agricultural growth and transformation on the African continent through seven broad commitments to be implemented from 2015 to 2025: The two processes, the BRs and the agricultural JSRs, aim to enhance mutual accountability among stakeholders for the actions they take and the results they achieve in the implementation of the CAADP and Malabo agendas. It is expected that where these mutual accountability processes exist, the relevant governments will make policy and programmatic changes for the betterment of the agricultural sector in response to the findings and recommendations arising from the BRs and the JSRs.Documenting the effects of these processes on the performance of the agricultural sector is ongoing. This brief highlights selected policy and programmatic changes reported by countries across Africa resulting from the BRs and the agricultural JSRs. It is based on data and other information collected using an online questionnaire from the Directors of Agricultural Planning, or their representatives, from 14 countries-Angola, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Zambia-and from representatives of two regional economic communities, the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community. In addition, a review was conducted of the BR briefs produced by countries following the first BR of 2017 (AUC 2018) and the second of 2019 (AUC 2020) for several of these countries. The BR data reported by the countries was also analyzed.The BR and JSR processes are considered to be effective if they elevate attention and suitably prioritize the policy and programmatic areas that countries need to focus on to achieve the Malabo targets in the countries involved. These evidence-based prioritization processes, if they involve the participation of a broad set of agricultural stakeholders, should lead to useful policy changes and program reforms that result in increased investments and better designed actions to accelerate development in the agricultural sector, both nationally and across Africa.In the national reports they submitted to the African Union under the biennial BR process, most countries highlighted the actions they undertook to increase agricultural investments and the targeting of those investments. These countries specifically reported making policy or program reforms to support achievement of the second Malabo Declaration commitment on enhancing investment finance in agriculture.Among the reforms made and actions taken by national governments to increase agricultural investment were implementing programs that provided increased farmland to farmers, subsidizing farm inputs, strengthening specific agricultural value chains, or providing incentives to private sector firms to increase their investments in the agricultural sector. Examples of the changes made include:• The first two BR cycles showed that Ghana's performance with respect to investment in the agriculture sector was low. Partly in response to this realization, Ghana increased public investment in the agriculture sector through several flagship programs, including Planting for Food and Jobs (crops-focused), Rearing for Food and Jobs (livestock-focused), Planting for Export and Rural Development, Movement for Freedom and Justice, and Greenhouse Villages. Ghana's development partners supported parallel programs to increase investment in agriculture, including the Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana Program, the Savannah Zone Agricultural Productivity Improvement Project, the Savannah Investment Program, the Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project, and the Outgrower and Value Chain Fund. These investments spurred increased private sector investment in the sector. Furthermore, the vigorous promotion of fertilizer and seed usage through the input subsidy program under Planting for Food and Jobs, together with dedicated extension services, sharply increased farmers' access to and use of fertilizer and seed.• In response to the low investments in the agriculture sector identified in first two BR cycles, the government of Uganda mounted a strong campaign both within parliament and at cabinet level for increasing the share of the public budget directed to the agriculture sector. Government also intensified lobbying for support to the sector from its development partners through the Agriculture Sector Working Group.• Similarly, the Lesotho government, in response to the slow increase in budget allocation to its agriculture sector shown in the 2019 BR, pledged to increase the operational budget to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security by 34 percent for the fiscal year 2020/21.• In Mozambique, the BR process served to sensitize civil society and other agricultural stakeholders to low levels of public agricultural spending-averaging 4.8 percent of total public spending since 2011. Stakeholders lobbied government to raise public investment in the sector. As a result of these efforts, government re-committed to allocate 10 percent of total spending annually to the agriculture sector over the following five years (Government of Mozambique 2019).• In Cote d'Ivoire, the first BR results led to the inclusion of the Ministry of Environment in NAIP processes. This was done to ensure that resilience and climate variability considerations are part of the Investment Plan. The BR also prompted the formulation and adoption in 2018 of an investment code that provides tax incentives to all private investments in the agriculture sector. Efforts were also made by government aimed at promoting improved farmer access to credit and the creation of a rural land agency to facilitate access to land by smallholder farmers. In parallel, the Millennium Challenge Cooperation has provided funding to the government of Cote d'Ivoire to track the BR indicator on access to land (Government of Cote d'Ivoire 2019).• As the initial BR results showed Niger to be off-track in meeting its targets for improving investment finance in agriculture, a decree was adopted in September 2018 that created the Nigerian Agency for the Promotion of Private Investments and Strategic Projects. This action was accompanied by the formulation and adoption in the same year of an inclusive law to govern the formation and operations of public-private partnerships (Government of Niger 2019).• In Angola, owing to poor past performance on the agricultural investment indicator, government increased enforcement of good practices and elevated citizen involvement in public finance management, leading to less pilferage.• In Benin, the government raised the share of the national public budget allocated to agriculture beyond the 10 percent target-the share dedicated to the sector rose to 12.4 percent in 2019, up from the 10.7 percent in 2018.• To accelerate use of the funds, in Burundi, the government changed the personnel responsible for disbursement of a funding program for agriculture. A related policy for enhancing private investment in the agricultural sector was put in place as part of the steps taken towards increasing such investments.• As part of the reforms taken by Cabo Verde to improve agricultural sector performance after the initial BR process showed relatively poor performance, in 2020 the country signed an agreement with Hungary for a line of credit of 35 million Euros for agricultural development. These funds are targeted at increasing irrigation through wastewater treatment and desalination. Cabo Verde also created in 2019 tax incentives for investments in agricultural equipment-exemptions from import duties and value added tax are in place for imports of machinery, other farm equipment, and spare part. All types of equipment intended for water desalination systems for agriculture are also exempted.• Between 2018 and 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture of Eritrea has organized trainings and awareness-raising campaigns on compost preparation and use for both farmers and experts. Horticulture producers are now producing compost. In addition, to ensure safe food and to minimize environmental impact, the ministry has initiated a policy to replace where possible chemical fertilizers and pesticides with bio-fertilizer and other bio-chemicals. A technical committee of staff from the Ministries of Agriculture and Marine Resources has established research trails at regional (zoba) level on profitably using such bio-chemicals.• The government of Guinea created in 2017 l'Agence Nationale de Financement des Collectivités Locales (National Local Government Financing Agency) with a budget allocation of 517 billion Guinean franc. This funding has since been used to launch almost 800 projects across the republic.• In Eswatini, the first BR revealed weaknesses in agricultural financing. In part due to this finding, the country embarked in 2019 on a program to promote private sector investment in agriculture. A Country Agribusiness Partnership Framework was launched the same year. These efforts have led to increased contract farming o staple foods, including maize, bean, and vegetables, and resulted in government allocating more than 5,000 ha of cropland to private producers to increase agricultural production.All these findings are in line with the findings by Ulimwengu et al. (2020), which showed that mutual accountability processes led to increases in investments in the agriculture sector.There is evidence that BRs and JSRs also influence the targeting of resources within the agricultural sector. Through a separate questionnaire directed to Departments of Agricultural Planning in Ministries of Agriculture, government officials were asked to state whether BRs and JSRs were leading to improvements in targeting of resources in agriculture, particularly by directing resources to areas of weakness in the sector. The results in Table 2 confirm that both BRs, especially, but also JSRs, lead to better targeting of resources. For example, of the 14 countries that responded to the questions on the targeting effects of BRs, only one reported no impact, two reported a small effect, whereas eleven reported either a noticeable or a significant impact on targeting. This underscores the importance of BRs for understanding where to invest resources. These results also show that BRs are not being taken as mere performance scores, but as tools for prioritizing investments. Similarly, of the seven countries which responded to questions on the targeting effects of JSRs, only tw0 stated that they had only a small impact, whereas the other five countries reported that JSRs had a noticeable or significant effect on resource targeting.Of the 50 countries that participated in the first BR cycle, Table 3 shows that 29 reported subsequently to have taken specific policy or programmatic actions to accelerate progress towards achieving the Malabo commitments for which progress was deemed insufficient and problematic in earlier BRs. These countries specifically reported making policy or program reforms to support achievement of the first Malabo Declaration commitment of upholding the principles and values of CAADP.Many of these countries reported changes in form of new policies being enacted, new structures being created within the agricultural sector to enhance coordination, and, in some cases, policies that had remained uncompleted received renewed focus. This suggests that policy, procedural, and programmatic changes result from or are influenced by the evidence generated through the BR processes on the progress countries are making in accelerating national agricultural growth and transformation.Furthermore, analysis of the data received in response to a questionnaire administered to staff at the Departments of Planning at Ministries of Agriculture provides evidence that JSRs generally are considered useful for triggering policy change. Of the 13 countries that responded to the questionnaire, nine reported having JSRs entrenched in their Malabo-focused mutual accountability processes. On the question of whether the JSRs for these countries had an effect on policy changes in the agricultural sector, the responses are summarized in Table 4. All nine of the countries reported that JSRs had either noticeable (three countries) or a significant (six) effect on policy changes in the sector. Just as with the BR process, there is a high probability of influencing policy change by utilizing JSR platforms. Among the programmatic or policy changes made by national governments to accelerate national agricultural growth and transformation are:• In Togo, the results for the country reported in the BR process motivated the Ministry of Agriculture to introduce several new projects aimed at improving nutrition and promoting organic farming across the country. * The Ministry also reviewed and modified its national data collection systems, incorporating several BR indicators into national surveys to ensure that the indicators are regularly tracked and reported (Government of Togo 2019).• In Malawi, the initial BR of 2017 pointed to the need for improved agricultural data coverage and quality. To address this, the Ministry of Agriculture organized data clusters around the seven Malabo commitments. As a result, in the second BR Malawi provided more data indicators, parameters, and sources relative to the first (Benin et al. 2020). At policy level, the BR process has led to increased policy dialogue between the public and private sectors in Malawi. This engagement has resulted in a strategic review of fertilizer policy, a new fertilizer bill, a new seed bill, and an agricultural extension and advisory strategy. These policy reforms are expected to improve access to agricultural inputs and advisory services and ultimately increase agricultural productivity (Government of Malawi 2019, 6).• In Mozambique, the BR results motivated the establishment of the Agricultural Sector Coordination Committee (CCSA), which, in turn, aided the country with the coordination of the BR and agricultural JSR processes and made the five-year National Agricultural Plan compliant with the Malabo commitments. In addition, to ensure the engagement of all agricultural stakeholders, agricultural planning focal points were appointed at national and provincial levels. The Ministry of Agriculture (MADER) implemented in several provinces the Flagship Programme for Youth and Women Empowerment in Agriculture. In addition, the government developed a gender strategy for the agriculture sector to increase women's participation in the sector.To facilitate trade, tourism, and private sector investment, in 2018 Mozambique and Kenya mutually agreed do away with the requirement for visa upon arrival for nationals of the two countries. This agreement was formulated partly in response to revelations in the first BR that Mozambique's visa policy was restrictive for certain African nationals (Vilissa et al. 2021).MADER also established a Climate Change Unit to guide the agricultural sector in Mozambique on building resilience to climate change and to mobilize resource for climate change adaptation. To improve the data that Mozambique provides the BR process, in March 2020 MADER incorporated BR indicators related to finance, climate change, and post-harvest losses into its agriculture survey. The Ministry also has secured funds to set up a sector-wide monitoring and evaluation system (Government of Mozambique 2019, 59).• In response to weak performance of Botswana on its commitment to CAADP revealed in the initial BRs, the government developed a NAIP, integrating it into the national agriculture policy review and sector strategy development process (Government of Botswana 2021).• For similar reasons, the Kenyan government worked towards the completion of a new agricultural policy, the Agriculture Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy, 2019-29, and corresponding NAIP, 2019-23, for its implementation. The Kenya Integrated Agriculture Management Information System has been set up to improve data systems for the agriculture sector (Government of Kenya 2021). The Ministry of Agriculture also has begun the process of strengthening the monitoring and evaluation framework for the sector.• To improve Nigeria's performance on its commitment to CAADP, the federal government embarked on the development of a National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Plan. Through agricultural JSR meetings and other forums, the government has worked to increase the awareness of Nigerian agricultural sector stakeholders of the Malabo declaration and the seven Malabo commitments (Federal Government of Nigeria 2021).The BR and agricultural JSR processes also have positive influences on the participation and inclusivity of agricultural stakeholders in mutual accountability process in the sector. Analysis of the data received in response to a questionnaire administered to staff at the Departments of Planning at Ministries of Agriculture provides evidence of this, as summarized in Table 2.Of the 15 countries that responded to this question on inclusivity and stakeholder participation, all participate in the BR processes and nine conduct JSRs. Only two countries reported that they had not yet made any changes towards inclusivity and participation, despite the BR process providing them with incentive to do so. A third country reported that the BR process had only a small effect on improving broad stakeholder participation in agricultural policy and planning dialogues. In contrast, the remaining 12 countries participating in the survey reported that the BS process contributed in a noticeable or significant fashion to the country deciding to make programmatic changes in the area of stakeholder inclusivity and participation in the agriculture sector.Similarly, of the nine countries surveyed that carry out JSRs, four reported that the agricultural JSR process has noticeably contributed to positive changes in the level of inclusivity and participation of stakeholders in agricultural review processes, whereas the remaining five countries reported that JSRs significantly affected these changes-an even higher level of impact. These results indicate unequivocally that the BR and the agricultural JSR processes have led to positive changes with regard to stakeholder inclusivity and participation in the agricultural sector. The results from the nine countries implementing agricultural JSRs also show that this process is yielding actionable recommendations, unlike in the past where often recommendations that emerged from the JSRs were never followed (Nhemachena, Matchaya, and Nhlengethwa 2017).The mutual accountability processes for the Malabo commitments that include the BR and agricultural JSR are important for triggering useful changes that can advance agricultural development at national level and across Africa. The positive effects reported in this brief in the areas of public, private, and development partner investment; investment targeting; policy change; and expanded stakeholder inclusion and participation signify that these processes can be leveraged to accelerate development of agricultural sector in African countries. However, it is also clear that the Agricultural JSRs, in particular, are still not widely adopted as part of national mutual accountability processes in the agricultural sector. Moreover, the potential of BRs to trigger investments has not been fully realized.Continued concerted efforts towards popularizing agricultural JSRs, in particular, across the continent are needed. Greater attention should be paid to using the results of the BRs and JSRs to motivate increased investments in agricultural and to better target those investments. In addition, the quality of the analyses used in these processes should be improved-many of the countries that responded to the survey reported on in this brief indicated that they need more technical capacity building for improved policy monitoring and evaluation.To increase the utilization of the results of BRs and agricultural JSRs for impact on agricultural policy change and accelerated development, it is recommended that mechanisms be put in place to increase the participation of high-level political and sectoral leaders in dissemination of national BR and JSR results. The recommendations that emerge from these accountability processes should affect the make-up of the agricultural sectoral budget and the share of the national budget devoted to agriculture. In parallel, the full participation of key agricultural stakeholders is required to promote increased public and private sector investment in agricultural, including the involvement of members of the national legislature, as they are responsible for approving all public funds directed to the agriculture sector.Finally, the recommendations around key agricultural investments made in both the BR and the agricultural JSR should be succinct and targeted. This will make it much easier for each country to act on them. Where only murky guidance is provided, taking action to accelerate agricultural development becomes unlikely."}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"4fa57465-4a3a-4eea-824f-a60b5d904015","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bd9dcf07c5d7963d221d785417433924","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/17da7929-7467-49d5-956e-0e3a036bb5b2/retrieve","id":"763117105"},"keywords":["genetic","environment","proximate composition","season","maize varieties"],"sieverID":"a7d65ba7-f1e1-444a-8f04-d956bc0c1ba9","content":"This study investigated the effects of genotype, location, and planting season on the proximate composition and metabolizable energy of advanced maize hybrids. Twenty-five hybrid maize and a local variety as control were harvested from five locations 100 days after planting for two seasons. The maize samples were sorted, cleaned, and pulverized using a laboratory mill and were analyzed for nutritional composition and metabolizable energy (ME) using standard laboratory methods. Moisture content, ash, fat, and protein had mean ± SD of 8.97 ± 0.40%, 1.48 ± 0.05%, 4.31 ± 0.19, and 8.88 ± 0.18%, respectively. ME had a mean ± SD of 379.77 ± 2.17 kJ, and total carbohydrates had values ranging from 74.68 and 77.20%, with an average of 76.68%. Results showed that most of the variations expressed in the proximate compositions of the maize hybrids were not significantly (p > 0.05) dependent on the genotypes. In contrast, locations significantly affected the maize hybrids' proximate composition and metabolizable energy (p < 0.001). In addition, there was no significant effect (p > 0.05) of location by genotype interaction on the proximate composition and ME of the maize samples. The planting season also exhibited a significant (p < 0.001) difference for all the proximate parameters. Fourteen out of the twenty-five maize hybrids were similar to the local variety in terms of proximate composition and metabolizable energy. Therefore, they could be recommended for advancement in the breeding stages for release for household and industrial uses.The most widely cultivated crops globally are cereals because they are the primary sources of energy and protein in the diet of the populace [1]. Maize (Zea mays L.) is a staple crop, as it is widely consumed across the globe. It has a world production of about 967 million metric tons yearly [2,3], and, due to its taste and availability, maize is regarded as Mexico's most popular cereal crop [4]. It is also referred to as the nutritional backbone in central, southern, and eastern Zambia [5]. In Nigeria, the estimated annual production of maize is approximately 5.6 million metric tons and takes second position behind sorghum [1]. The utilization of maize as human food and livestock feed has given the cereal crop worldwide significance. Maize is one of the most nutritious non-legume green fodders [6] and the primary cereal used for poultry feed in the United States of America and most Asian countries [7]. In developing countries, such as Nigeria, maize is a multipurpose crop of immense nutritional value. It has found application not just as food for humans and livestock but also as raw materials for manufacturing the industrial product. Amongst other cereals, such as rice, wheat, and sorghum, maize also serves as a significant dietary energy source [1,3,5,8,9].Many beneficial nutrients have been found in maize, ranging from carbohydrates, protein, macro elements, minerals, and vitamins to phytochemicals [2]. The cultivation of maize in different environments with highly variable weather conditions, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, affects its nutritional characteristics and agronomic performance, such as grain yield [10]. Nigeria is divided into five agroecological zones characterized by different rainfall patterns, temperatures, and soil types. For instance, Ibadan is considered a Forest savanna area with an annual rainfall of 1312 mm, a temperature range of 20.3-33.8 • C, and Ferric Luvisols soil type. Ubiaja is a Subhumid Forest area with an annual rainfall of 1186 mm with temperatures ranging from 19.9 to 32.6 • C and Dystric Nitosols soil type. Mokwa, a Southern Guinea savanna area, has an annual rainfall of 1149 mm and a temperature range of 18.1-37.3 • C. Zaria is a Northern Guinea savanna area with an annual rainfall of 1076 mm and a temperature range of 13.9-35.5 • C. The soil type in Zaria is Ferric Luvisol [11].Several studies have been carried out to examine the effect of genotype and environment on the nutritional content of grain crops [11][12][13]. Previous authors [14,15] have reported that the environment affected the nutritional composition of rice and sorghum. It has also been established that genotypes × environmental interaction resulted in differential nutritional values of sorghum grains [14]. Genetic variability is an essential factor contributing to the biochemical and nutritional variations in maize samples [2,7]. In addition, genotype and environment interaction significantly affect the proximate content of maize grain samples in different parts of the world [9,[16][17][18]. However, there is a lack of information on the effects of genotype, location, and planting season on the nutritional composition of maize hybrids grown across different agroecological zones in Nigeria. Most significantly, the effects of these factors on the advanced maize hybrids selected for release to farmers is lacking. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the effect of genotype, environment, and planting season on the nutritional composition of twenty-five advanced maize hybrids grown across different agroecological zones in Nigeria with distinct and varying environmental conditions. The effects of genotype by environment, genotype by planting season, and environment by planting season on the proximate composition of these maize hybrids were also evaluated. The findings of this experiment will provide the breeders with information about the nutritional profile of the maize hybrids and how these nutritional components are affected by the investigated factors. Each entry was planted in a one-row plot, 5 m long, with an inter-row spacing of 0.75 m and an intra-row spacing of 0.50 m. Three seeds were planted per hill and later thinned to two plants/hill to give a plant population of 50,000 plants/ha. NPK 15:15:15 fertilizer was applied at 60 kg N, 60 kg P, and 60 kg K per hectare at the time of planting at each location. An additional 30 kg N in the form of urea was applied as top dressing four weeks later. Hybrid varieties were used for border rows in each trial. Gramazone and atrazine were applied as pre-emergence herbicides at 5 L ha −1 for each trial. Subsequently, manual weeding was done to keep the plots weed free. Five plants from each plot were self-pollinated, and ears harvested from self-pollinated plants were taken to the laboratory for nutritional analyses.A total of 520 maize samples (26 hybrids × 2 reps × 5 locations × 2 seasons) were harvested 100 days (at maturity stage) after planting, dried with the cob on the field, and then shelled. The maize grain samples were sorted and pulverized using a Laboratory mill (Perten Lab Mill 3100, Upplands Väsby, Sweden) to a particle size of less than 1 µm and then transferred into a Whirl Park for further analysis.The moisture content of the maize flour samples was determined using the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) approved method 925.09. However, the samples' crude fat and ash contents were determined using the Association of Official Analytical Chemists' Approved methods 920.87 and 920.39, respectively. The total carbohydrate was determined by subtracting the other proximate parameters from 100 (i.e., by the difference method) [19]. Crude protein was determined by the Kjeldahl method using Kjeltec™ model 2300, as described in the FOSS Manual (FOSS, 2003) [20]. The metabolizable energy (ME) was estimated using the Codex Alimentarius formula (Codex 1991) [21]. ME indicates the estimate of energy value that can be available for body use and is calculated from the protein, fat, and carbohydrates content using the following equation:The results of the analysis of the maize samples were subjected to statistical analyses using the XLSTAT (Addinsoft, New York, NY, USA) tools. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to calculate the least squares means to estimate the differences among the means of the proximate composition and metabolizable energy for maize variety at 5% of the probability level. The mean, SD, and coefficient of variation (CV) were also computed.Table 1 shows the mean proximate composition of twenty-six maize samples used in the study. The mean ± SD of the moisture, ash, fat, and protein content are 8.97 ± 0.40 g/100 g, 1.48 ± 0.05 g/100 g, 4.31 ± 0.19 g/100 g, and 8.88 ± 0.18 g/100 g, respectively. Metabolizable energy had a mean ± SD of 379.77 ± 2.17 kJ, and total carbohydrate values ranged from 74.68 to 77.20 g/100 g. The mean values of the metabolizable energy for all the samples were not significantly different (p > 0.05) except for hybrids A1736-12, LY1501-6, LY1001-18, LY1501-8, and LY1501-3, whose mean values were significantly (p < 0.001) different. Total carbohydrate mean values for A1702-49, A1736-6, LY1501-9, LY1501-7, IFE HYBRID-4, and LY1501-3 were significantly different from the mean values of other maize genotypes.Table 2 shows the analysis of variance result of the effect of genotype, location, and season on the nutrition profile of maize hybrids. Genotype showed a highly significant (p < 0.001) effect on protein, metabolizable energy, and carbohydrate but no significant effect (p > 0.05) on the ash and fat content. However, both planting environment and season had a highly significant effect (p ≤ 0.001) on the maize hybrids' proximate composition and ME. The interactive effect of location by season was also significant (p ≤ 0.001) on metabolizable energy and proximate components, except for carbohydrate content, for which there was no significant effect (p > 0.05). Genotype showed a significant (p > 0.001) effect on the maize's protein, metabolizable energy, and carbohydrate content. There were no significant effects of hybrid by location, hybrid by season, and hybrid by location by season interactions on the maize samples' proximate content and metabolizable energy.Table 3 further describes the significant effects (p < 0.001) of location and planting season on the evaluated traits of the maize. In Ibadan and Zaria, there was no significant difference in fat and carbohydrate content, and moisture content and ME were also not significantly affected across Saminaka, Ikenne, Ibadan, and Mokwa. Location significantly affected the ash and protein content of the maize hybrids. Planting season also showed a significant effect (p < 0.001) on all the analyzed parameters.  The principal component analysis conducted on the dataset indicated the contribution of the six variables, with PC 1 and 2 explaining, respectively, 37.87% and 32.77% of the total variance (Figure 1). In PC1, ash and moisture content are the dominant parameters that showed the highest positive value, whereas PC2 was constituted mainly of protein, fat, and metabolizable energy. In PC2, metabolizable energy had the most positive score, followed by fat content. These two traits explained the classification of the maize genotypes such as IFE HYBRID4, A1706-2, and LY1501-6, respectively. Total carbohydrate being the dominant parameter in the positive side of PC1 influenced the grouping of A1736-12, LY501-7, A1702-28, LY501-8, LY501-1, and LY312-12, respectively. The eigenvalues of protein (0.08) and carbohydrates (0.16) were close to zero in principal component 2, which showed minimal effects in the variation of the classification of the maize genotypes in PC2 (Table 4). Cluster analysis based on the PCA loadings showed the percent similarities in the maize hybrids (Figure 2). The dendrogram showed the similarity between maize hybrids forming two major clusters. Cluster I was further divided into two subgroups, where the first subgroup included IFE HYBRID-3, A173-6, LOCAL VARIETY, LY1302-9, and A17025-2. The second subgroup of the first cluster had LY1501-1, LY1501-7, LY1501-9, LY1501-8, LY1001-23, LY1312-4, A1702-2B, and LY1312-12. The second cluster also had two subgroups, where the first group had most of the maize hybrids clustered together, namely, LY1501-3, LY1501-5, LY1312-11, M1124-31, A1736-13 and LY1409-21. The maize hybrids in the same cluster group show high similarities in their proximate composition. Cluster analysis based on the PCA loadings showed the percent similarities in the maize hybrids (Figure 2). The dendrogram showed the similarity between maize hybrids forming two major clusters. Cluster I was further divided into two subgroups, where the first subgroup included IFE HYBRID-3, A173-6, LOCAL VARIETY, LY1302-9, and A17025-2. The second subgroup of the first cluster had LY1501-1, LY1501-7, LY1501-9, LY1501-8, LY1001-23, LY1312-4, A1702-2B, and LY1312-12. The second cluster also had two subgroups, where the first group had most of the maize hybrids clustered together, namely, LY1501-3, LY1501-5, LY1312-11, M1124-31, A1736-13 and LY1409-21. The maize hybrids in the same cluster group show high similarities in their proximate composition. The proximate composition of the maize hybrid provides information on the essential nutrients required for human or animal growth and development [22]. Moisture content, for instance, determines the stability and quality of maize food products. High moisture content subjects food products to rapid deterioration from microbial growth and insect damage [17,23]. The average moisture content of 8.97 ± 0.40 g/100 g observed for the flour samples from the hybrids was appropriate to delay microbial deterioration. The values obtained in this study were lower when compared with the range of 11.10 ± 0.01 to 13.96 ± 0.00% reported by [2], but consistent with the average of 7.16% reported by [1]. Crude fat also plays a significant role in human health, as it is a vehicle for fat-soluble vitamins [24]. The crude fat obtained in this study had a mean ± SD of 4.31 ± 0.19%, which was higher than 4.07 ± 0.02% reported by [25]. The percent ash content ranged from 1.36 to 1.54%, slightly lower than the average value of 2.19% reported by [1]. Ash content is the non-organic residual component of a foodstuff after incineration, and it gives an idea of its total mineral content. Protein provides amino acids that build and maintain the body system. They produce nitrogen-containing substances such as enzymes and antibodies essential for average body physiological functions. Protein content in the present study ranged from 8.30 to 10.66%. Maize is one of the cereals that contributes a good source of protein. The present value is lower than the previously reported range of 9.92 to 15.75% [25]. Protein has been reported as a sensitive environmental trait [16,26], consistent with this study's findings that the planting environment significantly influenced protein content variability.Maize generally has high carbohydrates and is a source of calories [27]; hence the analyzed hybrids in this study can be a good source of calories and good quality because the quality of grains is determined by their carbohydrate, protein, and oil content [9]. The proximate composition of the maize hybrids analyzed in this experiment agreed with previous authors [1,2,4,6,8,[28][29][30][31]. Maize quality traits such as carbohydrates, protein, and fat are more affected by the environment than the genotype [9]. This report is consistent with our study's findings in that the variations observed in the samples were more prominent with environmental effects than genotypic effects. The planting environment had a strong significant effect (p < 0.001) on all the quality traits. The location of planting with a The proximate composition of the maize hybrid provides information on the essential nutrients required for human or animal growth and development [22]. Moisture content, for instance, determines the stability and quality of maize food products. High moisture content subjects food products to rapid deterioration from microbial growth and insect damage [17,23]. The average moisture content of 8.97 ± 0.40 g/100 g observed for the flour samples from the hybrids was appropriate to delay microbial deterioration. The values obtained in this study were lower when compared with the range of 11.10 ± 0.01 to 13.96 ± 0.00% reported by [2], but consistent with the average of 7.16% reported by [1]. Crude fat also plays a significant role in human health, as it is a vehicle for fat-soluble vitamins [24]. The crude fat obtained in this study had a mean ± SD of 4.31 ± 0.19%, which was higher than 4.07 ± 0.02% reported by [25]. The percent ash content ranged from 1.36 to 1.54%, slightly lower than the average value of 2.19% reported by [1]. Ash content is the non-organic residual component of a foodstuff after incineration, and it gives an idea of its total mineral content. Protein provides amino acids that build and maintain the body system. They produce nitrogen-containing substances such as enzymes and antibodies essential for average body physiological functions. Protein content in the present study ranged from 8.30 to 10.66%. Maize is one of the cereals that contributes a good source of protein. The present value is lower than the previously reported range of 9.92 to 15.75% [25]. Protein has been reported as a sensitive environmental trait [16,26], consistent with this study's findings that the planting environment significantly influenced protein content variability.Maize generally has high carbohydrates and is a source of calories [27]; hence the analyzed hybrids in this study can be a good source of calories and good quality because the quality of grains is determined by their carbohydrate, protein, and oil content [9]. The proximate composition of the maize hybrids analyzed in this experiment agreed with previous authors [1,2,4,6,8,[28][29][30][31]. Maize quality traits such as carbohydrates, protein, and fat are more affected by the environment than the genotype [9]. This report is consistent with our study's findings in that the variations observed in the samples were more prominent with environmental effects than genotypic effects. The planting environment had a strong significant effect (p < 0.001) on all the quality traits. The location of planting with a different climatic pattern of rainfall and temperature tends to influence the nutritional composition of most crops. Locations and crop management have been reported to affect maize kernels' protein and starch content [13]. However, the similar soil type (Ferric Luvisols) at Ibadan and Zaria could be responsible for the non-significant effect observed for fat and total carbohydrate content in these locations.In contrast, moisture content and ME were not significantly different in locations such as Saminaka, Ikenne, Ibadan, and Mokwa. This could be an indication that the variability of these traits is not influenced by differences in environmental conditions. Planting season significantly affected all the quality traits of the maize hybrids analyzed. This results from the disparity in the two seasons' climatic conditions, which imposed different production environments on the maize hybrids during growth [32,33].The present study has shown that genotype, planting environment, and season significantly affect hybrid maize samples' proximate composition and ME. Also, fourteen out of the twenty-five maize genotypes have similarities with the local variety considering their proximate composition. This informs the breeders about the characteristics of the hybrid maize samples across different locations and highlights hybrids that farmers and processors can adopt for product development. Maize hybrids LY1501, LY100-18, and LY1501 seem to have the highest protein, metabolizable energy, and total carbohydrates among the hybrids, which makes them potential candidates to be selected to produce consumer-preferred maize-based food products."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0e9120ede28ae00c7837e41dc912ffe5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d3ac4f27-735b-4d15-9da2-a43e0a3735bd/retrieve","id":"91238986"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d7014b9f-ff6b-4a39-9796-1fa54d4b73df","content":"Este trabajo fue realizado como parte del Proyecto Oportunidades Rurales, implementado por Swisscontact y auspiciado por Global Affairs Canada (GAC), más el apoyo del Programa de Investigación sobre Ganadería del CGIAR, el cual cuenta con el financiamiento de los contribuyentes al Trust Fund del CGIAR. Agradecemos a los participantes de los espacios de trabajo, entrevistas semiestructuradas y encuestas, quienes hicieron posible este estudio. Descargo de responsabilidad Los reportes de la Alianza de Bioversity y CIAT no son necesariamente revisados por pares. Las opiniones expresadas aquí pertenecen a los autores y no necesariamente reflejan las de la Alianza, el CGIAR, Swisscontact o donantes.1. Introducción 2. Contexto de la cadena de valor de frutas 3. Brechas de género en la cadena de valor de frutas 4. Objetivos, audiencia y uso de la estrategia 5. Líneas estratégicas 5.1 Línea estratégica 1: Incremento de la participación de las mujeres en grupos y el fortalecimiento de sus habilidades de liderazgo 5.2 Línea estratégica 2: Reconocimiento del trabajo de las mujeres 5.3 Línea estratégica 3: Incremento del acceso y control sobre bienes y recursos por parte de las mujeresLa necesidad de implementar proyectos de desarrollo que apunten a reducir las desigualdades de género en el sector agrícola, ha llevado a desarrollar estrategias de intervención que aseguren que los roles, las oportunidades, las necesidades y los obstáculos que tanto hombres como mujeres enfrentan para tener una mayor inclusión en determinada cadena de valor, progresar y mejorar sus condiciones de vida, sean tenidos en cuenta.Es así como este documento se concibe como el marco orientador para la integración de la perspectiva de género e inclusión social en las acciones llevadas a cabo con mujeres y hombres que participan en los eslabones de producción y procesamiento de frutas en la región del Golfo de Fonseca. La implementación de esta estrategia contribuye a la sostenibilidad de la cadena de valor, pues apunta no solo a empoderar a las mujeres y mejorar las condiciones de vida de mujeres y hombres productores y procesadores de frutas, sino que también busca transformar las normas sociales de género que tienden a exacerbar las desigualdades entre estos.El desarrollo de esta estrategia está enmarcado en el en proyecto \"Oportunidades de Mercados Rurales en la región Golfo de Fonseca, auspiciado por Global Affairs Canada (GAC) e implementado por Swisscontact\", el cual tiene como objetivo contribuir a mejorar el bienestar económico de los pequeños empresarios y productores, especialmente las mujeres, los jóvenes y las personas marginadas que viven en la pobreza 1 . 1 Estrategias para la cadena de valor de marañón y para la cadena de valor de lácteos en la región Golfo de Fonseca también fueron desarrolladas usando la misma metodología.La estrategia se sustenta en los seis indicadores de empoderamiento identificados como prioritarios en la construcción del Índice Abreviado de Empoderamiento de las Mujeres en Agricultura (A-WEAI): 1) participación en decisiones sobre producción, 2) propiedad de activos, 3) acceso y decisiones sobre crédito, 4) control sobre el uso del ingreso, 5) pertenencia a grupos y 6) carga de trabajo (Malapit, et al., 2015).El documento está organizado de la siguiente manera. Primero se presenta el contexto de la cadena de valor de frutas; luego un breve resumen de las brechas de género en los eslabones de producción y procesamiento de frutas a partir de los cuales se diseña la estrategia, cuyos objetivos y uso se presentan en el siguiente apartado. Finalmente se exponen las líneas estratégicas y el conjunto de actividades propuestas.Honduras cuenta actualmente con 101,000 hectáreas de cultivo de frutas, en los últimos años ha experimentado un aumento en la demanda de pulpa y frutas secas, esta es una oportunidad de largo plazo para la cadena de valor que cuenta con frutas de excelentes cualidades nutricionales. Sin embargo, Honduras es un pequeño productor en el mercado global y no reúne todos los requerimientos del mercado, debido a la baja confiabilidad y la estacionalidad en el suministro de esta cadena (Swisscontact, 2018).En términos de procesamiento, hay una industria con potencial significativo, a pesar de que la materia prima es lo que más se exporta. En Honduras existen grandes plantas procesadoras, plantas semiindustriales y artesanales (Swisscontact, 2018). Las plantas grandes tienen el procesamiento tecnificado y con buenas condiciones de salubridad, en su mayoría exportan la pulpa, especialmente hacia los Estados Unidos. Las plantas semi-industriales tienen pequeñas instalaciones con el equipamiento básico para vender a supermercados, hoteles, y restaurantes. Mientras que las plantas artesanales cuentan con una mínima tecnificación y venden sus productos a pequeños establecimientos minoristas como las pulperías y vendedores ambulantes.El impulso de la cadena de valor de frutas en la región Golfo de Fonseca, se ha visto favorecido por el aumento de la demanda nacional en la zona. La siembra de frutales también es concebida como una oportunidad para la reforestación; especialmente, mediante el cultivo de tamarindo, marañón, guanábana, mango y jocote, que son frutas resistentes a sequías. Las productoras y productores de frutas han aprovechado esta ventaja para especializarse en la producción de frutas frescas (Swisscontact, 2018). Por ejemplo, mediante la creación de la Asociación de Productores Agroindustriales de Pespire (APRAL), mujeres y hombres productores de frutas han podido organizarse y encontrar espacios para vender los excedentes de su producción a precios justos y accesibles para quienes consumen o procesan frutas.Otra de las ventajas que han tenido las personas dedicadas a la producción y al procesamiento de frutas, es la creación de bodegas de almacenamiento. En estas bodegas, los productores, incluyendo algunos grupos de mujeres, comercializan de forma exclusiva con las plantas procesadoras los excedentes de frutas que no cumplen con la totalidad de los requisitos para ser vendidas como fruta fresca (Swisscontact, 2018). Así, no solo se logra una fuerte vinculación entre quienes participan en ambos eslabones de la cadena sino también una relación ganar -ganar entre estos.En el eslabón de producción, anualmente cada finca recibe un ingreso promedio de USD 417 que en su mayoría es utilizado para alimentación y salud. Las fincas contratan entre 2 y 3 trabajadores, del total de personas contratadas, el 46% son jóvenes menores de 30 años y el 11% son mujeres quienes participan mayormente en las actividades de cosecha, riego y fertilización. (Swisscontact, 2018).Por otra parte, los comercializadores en la cadena de frutas en la región Golfo de Fonseca, se encargan tanto de la fruta fresca recolectada en el eslabón primario como de la pulpa obtenida en el eslabón de procesamiento. Los comercializadores tratan de suplir la demanda de las plantas procesadoras de frutas y vincularlas con hoteles y restaurantes, sin embargo, tienen cierto rechazo a vender a los supermercados por las condiciones de pago que demoran entre 60 y 90 días y las muchas restricciones por las limitadas instalaciones de la cadena de frio (Swisscontact, 2018).La cadena de valor de frutas en la región se enfrenta principalmente a problemas relacionados con el mal manejo de los cultivos, especialmente por la falta de planificación. Ante la elevada demanda y el aumento de los precios de las frutas, se disminuye la competitividad de las plantas procesadoras por los elevados costos. Otro de los problemas de esta cadena reside en las pérdidas postcosecha debido a las dificultades de desplazamiento, las condiciones de las carreteras y las grandes distancias que deben recorrer especialmente los productores y productoras para acceder a los mercados. Por último, hay una gran deficiencia en las tecnologías y las prácticas que tienen las plantas procesadoras en su proceso productivo (Swisscontact, 2018).El siguiente diagrama presenta un resumen del contexto de la cadena de valor de frutas, en la región Golfo de Fonseca.  La identificación de las brechas de género se basó en los seis indicadores de empoderamiento identificados como prioritarios en la construcción del Índice Abreviado de Empoderamiento de las Mujeres en Agricultura (A-WEAI), desarrollado en el año 2015 por el Instituto Internacional de Investigación sobre Políticas Alimentarias (IFPRI), para medir el rol y grado de participación de las mujeres y hombres en el sector agrícola. Los seis indicadores son: 1) participación en decisiones sobre producción, 2) propiedad de activos, 3) acceso y decisiones sobre crédito, 4) control sobre el uso del ingreso, 5) pertenencia a grupos y 6) carga de trabajo (Malapit, et al., 2015). El A-WEAI se mide en una escala de 0 a 1, donde 0 significa totalmente desempoderada y 1 significa empoderada.Antes de presentar las brechas de género en los diferentes eslabones de la cadena de valor de frutas en la región Golfo de Fonseca, es importante entender y reconocer que la participación de hombres y mujeres, ya sea en la producción o el procesamiento, varía entre hogares. Por ejemplo, hay hogares donde tanto el hombre como la mujer participan en las actividades relacionadas con la producción, también encontramos hogares en los que solo un miembro de la pareja principal 2 participa en las actividades relacionados con el procesamiento de frutas.Según el Diagnóstico de Brechas de Género en la Cadena de Valor de Frutas en la Región Golfo de Fonseca, Honduras (Muriel, et al. 2020) realizado en el marco del Proyecto Oportunidades Rurales a través de la Alianza de Bioversity y el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) en el año 2020, algunas de las brechas de género se manifiestan de la siguiente manera:• Al desagregar la participación de hombres y mujeres en la producción de frutas y la percepción que tienen acerca de sus labores y las de su pareja, se puede apreciar que en la mayoría de las actividades son los hombres los que tienen un mayor porcentaje de participación. Sin embargo, en las actividades de cosecha, recolección y clasificación las mujeres tienen una participación significativa. • En el eslabón de procesamiento, las mujeres participan más activamente en las tareas que van desde el recibimiento de las frutas hasta el almacenamiento y congelado. Mientras que los hombres, suelen estar más involucrados con las actividades de venta. • Las mujeres productoras están menos empoderadas que los hombres productores. Ellas tienen un índice de desempoderamiento de 0.11 y mientras que para los productores el valor del índice es 0.03. • El índice de desempoderamiento de las mujeres productoras está compuesto por los siguientes indicadores: ◊ El indicador \"pertenencia a grupos\" que aporta el 40.7% al nivel total desempoderamiento ◊ El indicador \"carga de trabajo\" con una contribución del 33.3%. ◊ El indicador \"propiedad de activos\" con un aporte del 16.5%. ◊ Los indicadores de \"acceso y decisiones sobre crédito\", \"participación en decisiones\" y \"control sobre el uso del ingreso\" con contribuciones de 4.5%, 2.5% y 2.5%, respectivamente. • Los indicadores de \"pertenencia a grupos\", \"carga de trabajo\" y \"propiedad de activos\" son los que presentan las mayores brechas entre hombres y mujeres productoras de frutas. ◊ El 45% de las mujeres y el 23% de los hombres productores no participan en ningún grupo de su comunidad. ◊ Las mujeres dedican en promedio 12 horas diarias a trabajos productivos y reproductivos. Los hombres lo hacen 8 horas en promedio. ◊ Activos productivos como tierra agrícola, equipo agrícola, casa y medios de transporte son típicamente propiedad de hombres. En los bienes del hogar, las mujeres tienden a reportar que únicamente ellas son las dueñas, mientras los hombres dicen que la propiedad es conjunta entre ellos y sus esposas. • En el eslabón de procesamiento, las mujeres tienden a conocer más grupos que los hombres, pero ellas participan menos que ellos. En cuanto a la propiedad de activos, el derecho de propiedad de las mujeres procesadoras es principalmente reconocido como compartido mientras que los hombres tienen derechos de propiedad, uso y decisión individuales.• El análisis cualitativo reveló que en tanto las mujeres y hombres que participan en los eslabones de producción y procesamiento tienen muchas estructuras aprendidas respecto a los ideales de hombres y mujeres, íntimamente relacionados con las concepciones tradicionales de la mujer como ama de casa y el hombre como trabajador que limitan el desarrollo de las capacidades de las mujeres como productoras o procesadoras de frutas, afectando su nivel de empoderamiento. ◊ Por ejemplo, los hombres plantearon la distancia entre la parcela de trabajo y la casa como un impedimento para que la mujer pueda trabajar, porque la lejanía impide que ella pueda ir ya que tiene que hacerse cargo de las actividades en el hogar. Ellos también argumentaron que las mujeres no participan en todas las actividades porque en la región hace mucho calor y hay mucho sol para trabajar.La estrategia de género e inclusión social identifica actividades e intervenciones para reducir o evitar el aumento de algunas brechas de género en la cadena de valor de frutas en la región Golfo de Fonseca. Los lineamientos estratégicos contenidos en el presente documento tienen como referente la identificación de las desigualdades de género en la cadena de valor de frutas que resultan de la medición del Índice de Empoderamiento de las Mujeres en la Agricultura (A-WEAI por sus siglas en inglés).Mejorar el nivel de empoderamiento de las mujeres productoras y procesadoras de frutas en la región Golfo de Fonseca en los diferentes ámbitos en los cuales interactúan.La audiencia principal de esta estrategia son las personas encargadas del diseño, financiamiento, e implementación de actividades con los diferentes actores de la cadena de valor de frutas. La estrategia sirve a su vez como guía para la toma de decisiones, especialmente para aquellas personas o proyectos que estén trabajando en crear cadenas de valor inclusivas. La estrategia debe ser usada para desarrollar proyectos, intervenciones, programas y planes de trabajo con enfoque de género, de tal manera que se tengan en consideración las brechas ya existentes en la cadena y se pongan en práctica las recomendaciones e intervenciones sugeridas para reducir dichas brechas en los eslabones de producción y procesamiento de frutas.Objetivo específico 1Incrementar la participación en grupos y fortalecer las habilidades de liderazgo de las mujeres que participan activamente en la cadena de valor de frutas.Promover el reconocimiento de las mujeres como actoras importantes de la cadena de valor de frutas.Fortalecer en la mujer las capacidades de acceso y control sobre recursos y bienes.A través del análisis de diagnóstico realizado, utilizando el Índice Abreviado de Empoderamiento de las Mujeres en Agricultura (A-WEAI) en la región Golfo de Fonseca, se identificaron tres líneas estratégicas, que corresponden con los indicadores que más contribuyen al desempoderamiento de las mujeres de la cadena de valor de frutas. La primera de estas líneas está relacionada con el incremento de la participación de las mujeres en grupos y el fortalecimiento de sus habilidades de liderazgo; la segunda línea con el balance en las cargas laborales entre hombres y mujeres y el reconocimiento del trabajo de las mujeres; y la última con el acceso y control sobre recursos y bienes por parte de las mujeres. El siguiente diagrama presenta las relaciones entre las líneas estratégicas y el objetivo general.A continuación, se presenta la descripción de cada una de las líneas estratégicas identificadas y el conjunto de actividades que se proponen para contribuir a la igualdad de género y el empoderamiento de las mujeres en la cadena de valor de frutas.Teniendo en cuenta que el indicador de pertenencia a grupos, el cual mide el nivel de liderazgo de las mujeres productoras y procesadoras, es uno de los que más contribuye al desempoderamiento de ellas en ambos eslabones, se identifica como línea estratégica de acción el incremento de la participación de mujeres en grupos y el fortalecimiento de sus capacidades y habilidades de liderazgo.A continuación, se proponen algunas actividades específicas que se podrían ejecutar en el corto y mediano plazo para apuntar a esta línea estratégica y en consecuencia tener un impacto positivo sobre el empoderamiento de las mujeres en la cadena de valor de frutas.Capacitación y asesoramiento a. Asesorar a las productoras y procesadoras de frutas en temas organizativos y legales para incentivar la creación de asociaciones u otro tipo de grupos consolidados legalmente. b. Desarrollar espacios de reflexión conjunta sobre temas de empoderamiento, derechos humanos, liderazgo y dinámicas de grupo. Estos talleres deben estar acompañados por profesionales especialistas en temas de género. c. Desarrollar cursos de liderazgo entre las mujeres para ayudarlas a tomar roles de lideresas en organizaciones ya existentes, o para crear organizaciones. d. Capacitar a las productoras y procesadoras en temas de desarrollo personal y profesional, relaciones interpersonales, habilidades para la vida y autoestima para mejorar su autoconfianza y habilidades organizativas.Fomento de la participación e. Generar conciencia en la población sobre la importancia de las oportunidades que se abren cuando las mujeres participan en grupos y asociaciones para que las mujeres puedan participar sin miedo a ser rechazadas. f. Establecer cuotas de participación de mujeres en todos los entrenamientos, capacitaciones, días/escuelas de campo u otras actividades realizadas. Esto implica que las convocatorias a los eventos deben indicar explícitamente que las mujeres son bienvenidas en estos espacios (ej. haciendo invitaciones a la pareja, promoviendo que los hombres lleguen con sus esposas). Es importante promover la participación activa de las mujeres, sin empujarlas a hacer cosas que ellas no quieren. g. Crear mecanismos de apoyo para el cuidado de niños para los hijos e hijas de las mujeres que participen en los talleres, reuniones y demás eventos (por ejemplo, centros de cuidado infantil y contratación de personal de apoyo).h. Trabajar con los hombres y las mujeres productoras de la cadena de valor de frutas en temas de normas de género, dando especial énfasis al tema de la movilidad de las mujeres. i. Promover imágenes de mujeres lideresas en las redes sociales y otros canales de comunicación para visibilizar y motivar a las demás mujeres productoras en la región en el tema de liderazgo. j. Hacer acompañamiento periódico a una proporción de mujeres inscritas en las escuelas de campo, para asegurar que su participación sea activa y vaya más allá del registro como participantes. Es decir, monitorear que ellas están implementando las prácticas y herramientas aprendidas en las escuelas de campo.k. Realizar un mapeo por zona de las organizaciones y empresas que ofrecen servicios de desarrollo empresarial que pueden apoyar a las mujeres y generar un documento, que se pueda compartir con toda la comunidad, con la lista de estas organizaciones, los servicios que prestan (con sus precios) y las formas de acceder a ellos. Dentro del mapeo se deben incluir organizaciones que apoyen el desarrollo rural a través de la actividad agropecuaria, pero también instituciones que trabajen temas de violencia o presten servicios en asuntos legales (por ejemplo: divorcios, separación de bienes y emprendimientos). Una vez identificadas estas organizaciones, el proyecto puede servir de puente para el establecimiento de relaciones entre las productoras y esas organizaciones, por ejemplo, a través de la planeación de encuentros y provisión de espacios para el intercambio. l. Realizar encuentros de mujeres procesadoras de frutas para que ellas intercambien sus experiencias y conocimientos sobre la transformación de la fruta fresca. m. Crear un espacio donde las mujeres lideresas de la cadena puedan reunirse con mujeres no lideresas. El objetivo de este espacio es que las lideresas compartan sus experiencias y actúen como ejemplos y mentoras para mujeres más jóvenes. n. Vincular los negocios liderados por mujeres a los mercados, con especial énfasis en los pequeños y medianos negocios a través de la implementación de la metodología LINK con enfoque de género.Basado en el hecho de que la carga de trabajo es uno de los indicadores que más contribuye al desempoderamiento de las mujeres productoras y procesadoras, se identifica esta línea estratégica para reconocer y valorar el importante rol que las mujeres desempeñan en la producción y procesamiento de frutas en la región Golfo de Fonseca. A pesar de que las mujeres tienen una participación significativa, ellas muchas veces no se auto-reconocen como productoras o procesadoras, ni su trabajo es reconocido por sus contrapartes masculinas o en general por otros actores de la cadena -incluyendo proyectos de desarrollo, proveedores de servicios financieros, proveedores de asistencia técnica e insumos, proveedores de servicios legales, academia, intermediarios, mercado y en general todas las instituciones-.Esta línea estratégica busca que las mujeres sean valoradas y reconocidas como agricultoras y procesadoras y, por lo tanto, sus oportunidades como lideresas en el sector sean mayores. Para lograr este reconocimiento, se proponen las siguientes actividades específicas que se podrían ejecutar en el corto y mediano plazo, y que generarán un impacto positivo sobre el empoderamiento de las mujeres en la cadena de valor de frutas.Capacitación y asesoramiento a. Entrenar y certificar a las mujeres en las actividades que ellas regularmente hacen (u otras actividades de los ciclos de producción y procesamiento en las que ellas estén interesadas) con el fin de darle mayor visibilidad a la participación de ellas en la cadena. Para las mujeres, al estar certificadas, resultará más fácil buscar oportunidades de empleo, lo que puede incrementar sus niveles de ingreso y las capacidades para desarrollar su autonomía (agencia). b. Realizar talleres para romper con estereotipos como \"las mujeres son más débiles\", \"los hombres son más fuertes\" y \"las mujeres son más delicadas\". Afirmaciones sobre las cuales se siguen fomentando discriminaciones y dan lugar a que se amplíen las brechas de género. Una actividad que se puede hacer es un juego de roles en los que las mujeres tengan papeles de hombres y los hombres tengan papeles de mujeres. La experiencia de interpretar personajes de distinto sexo permitirá reforzar los sentimientos de empatía, al poder ponerse en los zapatos \"del otro\", así como también servirá para generar identidad con las labores realizadas por la pareja. Lo que se traduce en un reconocimiento y valoración del trabajo de las mujeres. c. Capacitar a los hombres en temas de desarrollo personal, relaciones interpersonales y responsabilidades compartidas en las actividades del cuidado del hogar. Este trabajo con hombres es indispensable para lograr cargas de trabajo más igualitarias entre ellos y las mujeres y, en consecuencia, un mayor nivel de empoderamiento. d. Promover modelos de producción y desarrollo basados en valores. Por ejemplo, la filosofía de Finca Humana, la cual permite el fortalecimiento de la participación de todos los miembros de la familia y el trabajo colectivo.e. Realizar talleres de sensibilización con el personal técnico del proyecto partiendo del principio de auto-reflexión. Es decir, cada persona que forma parte del equipo técnico de campo debe pensar y evaluar si la forma en que está realizando su trabajo tiene algunas implicaciones de género (por ejemplo, a qué horas está yendo a hacer visitas técnicas, hay diferencias entre quién los atiende dependiendo de la hora que se hace la visita, cómo entabla relaciones con las mujeres, cómo con los hombres, etc.). En un segundo momento del taller, comparten su reflexión con el resto del equipo e identifican formas más incluyentes para hacer su trabajo y comprometiéndose a implementarlas en campo. f. Apoyar la elaboración de planes de negocio o de mejora e inversión con enfoque de género para el procesamiento de frutas. Estos planes pueden hacerse con la implementación de la metodología LINK y se sugiere que incorporen estándares sociales (por ejemplo, número de mujeres contratadas, flexibilidades durante época de lactancia, apoyo con cuidado de niños y niñas y seguridad en el trabajo) que permitan algunas certificaciones adicionales sobre el producto y por lo tanto oportunidades de mejores precios.Fomento del reconocimiento g. Establecer un equipo de mujeres técnicas que lideren las capacitaciones, ofrezcan servicios de extensión agrícola y visiten las fincas de los productores y productoras de frutas. Esto promueve el reconocimiento de las mujeres como mentoras, poseedoras de conocimiento técnico-agrícola, y líderes en la cadena de valor de frutas. h. Validar que los diseños de los protocolos para el mejoramiento de la producción, la cosecha y el manejo de postcosecha tengan en cuenta las limitaciones que las mujeres tienen en términos de acceso y control sobre recursos, y por lo tanto eso no se vuelva un obstáculo para la implementación de dichos protocolos. i. Mitigar las responsabilidades que las mujeres tienen en el hogar y otros obstáculos de movilidad, que les impiden participar activamente de capacitaciones y entrenamientos. Algunas formas de mitigar estos factores son:• Impartir los entrenamientos en lugares de fácil acceso para las mujeres.• Disponer de transporte seguro para llevar a las mujeres al lugar donde se darán las capacitaciones. • Crear o apoyar mecanismos para el cuidado de niños y niñas mientras las mujeres están recibiendo las capacitaciones. • Escoger horarios para llevar a cabo los entrenamientos en los que sea más probable la asistencia de las mujeres (por ejemplo, durante la jornada escolar, pues mientras los menores están en la escuela, las mujeres tienen más facilidad para salir de sus casas). j. Fomentar la colaboración de los hombres en el trabajo reproductivo a través de la sensibilización, para propiciar un cambio en la actitud de los hombres hacia las mujeres, dejando de normalizar o invisibilizar el trabajo que ellas hacen, e inducir a la práctica de la corresponsabilidad. Para hacer esta sensibilización una idea es organizar talleres con parejas en los que se haga el ejercicio de distribución del tiempo entre diferentes actividades, de tal manera que tanto hombre como mujer puedan tener una visualización de la cantidad de horas que cada uno está invirtiendo en trabajo productivo y reproductivo, pero también en descanso y ocio. Este tipo de actividad facilitará que cada persona reconozca el aporte realizado por su pareja, así como también a que cada persona reconozca y valore sus propios esfuerzos. Sólo reconociendo cada aporte se puede garantizar que todas las actividades (domésticas y productivas) sean valoradas como trabajo indispensable y de igual importancia para el bienestar de las familias. Además, esto ayudará a que los esfuerzos realizados por las mujeres dejen de ser categorizados de \"ayuda o apoyo\" y comiencen a ser valorados como trabajos. k. Incluir imágenes y testimonios de mujeres productoras y procesadoras de frutas en el diseño de denominaciones de origen o marcas comerciales y de identidad. l. Realizar una competencia para otorgar premios o reconocimiento público (durante ferias o eventos agropecuarios) de algunas mujeres para mostrar ante todos los actores de la cadena que ellas son productoras y son valoradas. m. Fomentar entre los clientes de los productores y productoras de frutas (por ejemplo, APRAL) políticas que direccionen acciones en pro de las mujeres.Por ejemplo, dar incentivos a las mujeres productoras si son ellas mismas quienes venden a la Asociación o Cooperativa. Esto se puede hacer a través de Alianzas y guiado por la implementación de la metodología LINK con enfoque de género.Tecnología y productividad n. Identificar y consolidar un portafolio de prácticas sostenibles adaptadas al clima y amigables con el medio ambiente que puedan ser implementadas por las mujeres productoras de frutas en la región. o. Implementar parcelas demostrativas manejadas por mujeres en las que se apliquen buenas prácticas agrícolas que sirvan de modelo para otros productores de la región. p. Entrenar sobre el uso y el mantenimiento de la maquinaria y las tecnologías usadas para la producción y cosecha de frutas en grupos desagregados por sexo. Es decir, grupos separados de mujeres y hombres recibiendo el mismo tipo de entrenamiento.Teniendo en cuenta que las mujeres productoras y procesadoras de frutas tienen un bajo nivel de empoderamiento en el indicador de \"propiedad de activos\", se identifica esta línea estratégica, la cual permitirá que las mujeres de la cadena de valor de frutas mejoren su empoderamiento mediante el incremento del acceso a bienes y recursos necesarios para producir o procesar frutas y la comprensión de la importancia de ser propietarias y tener derechos de uso y decisión sobre dichos bienes y recursos.El incremento de bienes y recursos que sean propiedad de las mujeres ayuda a garantizar que ellas puedan controlarlos y tomar decisiones sobre los mismos, al tiempo que les permite tener mayor poder de negociación y autonomía en el desarrollo de actividades que mejoren su empoderamiento. Para incrementar el acceso y control sobre los bienes y recursos de parte de las mujeres productoras y procesadoras, se deben usar mecanismos de transferencia directa, así como también acompañamiento y sensibilización sobre la importancia de la propiedad conjunta e información sobre los derechos relacionados con la propiedad de bienes.A continuación, se proponen algunas actividades específicas que se podrían ejecutar en la región Golfo de Fonseca en el corto y mediano plazo para apuntar a esta línea estratégica, y en consecuencia tener un impacto positivo sobre el empoderamiento de las mujeres en la cadena de valor de frutas.Tecnología y productividad a. Priorizar a las mujeres como receptoras de los recursos y servicios otorgados por los proyectos. Estos pueden ser tangibles como inversiones para compra de equipo e insumos, equipo para manejo de tejidos, sistemas de riego eco-eficientes, análisis de suelos, entre otros, o intangibles como capacitaciones, entrenamientos y certificaciones. Priorizar a las mujeres implica que ellas sean capacitadas en el uso y mantenimiento de los equipos. b. Coordinar con instituciones gubernamentales que trabajan en la legalización de la tierra para la remisión de mujeres de la cadena de valor de frutas que necesitan este tipo de apoyo.Capacitación y asesoramiento c. Capacitar al personal técnico de campo en regímenes maritales de propiedad de bienes, para que implementen estrategias de entrega de bienes que sean inclusivas.Por ejemplo, entregar los recursos cuando los miembros de la pareja estén presentes. d. Capacitar a las mujeres en temas administrativos de las fincas, incluyendo procesos de venta y negociación.e. Ofrecer asesoramiento a mujeres (y hombres) sobre derechos de propiedad y los marcos legales que los rigen. Este asesoramiento debe enfocarse en temas de activos y derechos de propiedad, regímenes matrimoniales y herencias. El entendimiento y apropiación de estos conceptos, derechos y deberes legales, permitirá a las mujeres tener mayor empoderamiento en la medida que pueden tomar decisiones más informadas y también generará que haya un mayor reconocimiento de parte de los hombres de los derechos de las mujeres. f. Coordinar con las entidades municipales correspondientes para que efectúen una adecuada orientación y atención a mujeres que se abocan para la inscripción de bienes que constituyen patrimonio familiar. Capacitar a las Coordinadoras de las Oficinas Municipales de la Mujer para el monitoreo respectivo.g. Propiciar el acceso de mujeres a la información sobre diferentes instrumentos de política como el marco legal y políticas públicas que sustentan el ejercicio del derecho a la propiedad. h. Proveer información sobre los servicios o programas a los que las productoras (y productores) de frutas pueden tener acceso (por ejemplo, programas de formalización de tierra liderados por el gobierno, otras iniciativas de los gobiernos locales u organizaciones no gubernamentales; el mapeo sugerido en la línea estratégica 1 servirá para identificar algunas de estas iniciativas). Esta información se puede transmitir a través de ferias donde las mujeres (y hombres) puedan reunirse con representantes de organizaciones o instituciones que proveen los servicios en la región, de tal manera que ellas reciban información sobre cómo pueden acceder a dichos servicios. i. Asegurar que las mujeres tengan acceso a la información sobre su derecho a la tierra en caso de abandono, divorcio y enviudes. En esta tarea se puede explorar el apoyo de consultorios jurídicos populares u ONG de la región que ejercen tareas de asesoría gratuita."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/7133006068.json b/main/part_2/7133006068.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3b2abd95bfb13d33d651a50532f2902ec49bca78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/7133006068.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b8d8de218ed90c4194a91a3c058a6423","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3edb0f83-fd4e-43f4-b369-386de1faa276/retrieve","id":"-813565046"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"674b5143-f4b5-4805-b79e-9a25b3c98a5d","content":"The CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food is an innovative research for development program that aims for resilient social and ecological systems through better water management for food production. It brings together a broad range of scientists, development specialists, policy makers, and communities to address priority development challenges in six major river basins. Each basin research program is a coherent set of research for development (R4D) projects that work along integrated outcome pathways. To help successfully meet the basin program goal, a theory of change is specified that makes explicit the cause and effect logic by which research is expected to achieve developmental outcomes. The CPWF makes the project and program theory of change explicit by specifying outcome pathways that depict the changes in knowledge, attitude, skills (KAS), and practice (P) by an actor group.In Phase 2, the CPWF expresses theory of change using outcome pathways in a two-dimensional logic model, with institutional scale as the second dimension. The two-dimensional outcome pathway model consists of interdependent outcome pathways on at least three institutional scale levels: farm, community, and the enabling environment. The model describes how project research will influence behavior of actors at the three scale levels and how these pathways support each other. The pathways are interdependent and they support each other to achieve an outcome. Typically, the first pathway is at the farm level, in which the actual beneficiaries of the project adopt the technology; the second pathway is at the community level, in which changes in resource management (e.g., improving access to water) are made; and the third pathway is an enabling environment to promote the change (e.g., policy)."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/7157406203.json b/main/part_2/7157406203.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..732cfa38d495d2d0cc4848dbf670f96079c06ec3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/7157406203.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5c968a8f4a5fd5991a5d7c1d9092bb72","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8ff1d509-fb54-4778-88a8-c680348d9936/retrieve","id":"-220772929"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8d226780-9490-4156-8943-de2f7e11291c","content":"A informação contida neste guia pode ser livremente reproduzida para fi ns não-comerciais sob condição que se mencione a fonte. Caso a reprodução se destine a fi ns comerciais, é necessária uma autorização prévia do CTA.1 Recolha da água da chuva visando o aumento da produção de pasto O que é a recolha da água da chuva? É a captação e a concentração da água de escoamento à superfície do solo antes que escoe para um ribeiro ou para um rio. A água da chuva recolhida desta maneira serve para a agricultura, para as necessidades domésticas e outras.Nas regiões áridas, a precipitação é baixa e irregularmente distribuída.•A precipitação disponível não é sufi ciente para assegurar o • crescimento de muitas das culturas agrícolas e de pastos de boa qualidade.A maior parte da água da chuva perde-se como água de • escoamento devido à falta de cobertura de vegetal. O escoamento pode causar erosão e perda de • solo.Existem métodos simples para reduzir o escoamento, prevenir a erosão e permitir que haja uma sufi ciente infi ltração da água da chuva no solo e que possa ser utilizada para as culturas agrícolas e para os pastos. Este processo é denominado como recolha da água da chuva (ou água de escoamento).Este folheto descreve um método de recolha da água da chuva utilizando arcos semicirculares ou \"meias-luas\". Este método é particularmente apropriado para a produção de pastos nas regiões áridas.São estruturas (diques) elevadas de terra, de forma semi-circular, erigidas num terreno ligeiramente inclinado. São feitas de modo a que as extremidades dos diques ou \"meias-luas\" estejam orientadas para o 2 declive do terreno e se encontrem no mesmo nível da linha de contorno ou curva de nível. Estas \"meias-luas\" captam a água da chuva que escorre pela inclinação, permitindo que se infi ltre no solo. A água excedentária que escoa em redor das extremidades, é capturada noutras \"meiasluas\", mais abaixo, no declive.O tamanho das \"meias-luas\" pode variar entre 2 a 60 m de largura, duma extremidade à outra. As \"meias-luas\" mais pequenas podem ser usadas para melhorar a produção de culturas agrícolas, de arbustos e de árvores. As maiores podem ser utilizadas para melhorar a produção de gramíneas ou de forragem e também ajudam a reabilitar as terras naturais de pastagem.Existem vários métodos de recolha da água da chuva, adequados a usos diversos. Por exemplo, pode-se recolher água para fi ns domésticos nos telhados, usando caleiras e que é armazenada em reservatórios subterrâneos (cisternas) ou elevados (tanques). A água destinada à rega pode ser recolhida por meio de canais e armazenada em poços, tanques ou barragens/represas. Mas a água para as culturas de sequeiro ou para a produção de pasto pode ser simplesmente recolhida e armazenada no solo para ser utilizada pela cultura -quer dizer usando as \"meias-luas\". Devido à sua simplicidade e baixo custo, o método das as \"meias-luas\" é o método de recolha de água da chuva que é recomendado para a produção forrageira nas regiões áridas.As \"meias-luas\" são apropriadas para as regiões áridas nas quais a precipitação muito baixa não garante um bom crescimento de culturas ou pastos de boa qualidade, mas mesmo assim podem causar erosão. O escoamento e a erosão podem ocorrer mesmo nas regiões em que a precipitação é baixa. Para que as \"meias-luas\" sejam efi cazes, o terreno em que são erigidas tem que ter uma ligeira inclinação (o melhor seria um declive de 3 %), mas também podem ser eregidas num terreno com uma inclinação mais acentuada, caso sejam construídas mais próximas umas das outras. Podem ser construídas na maior parte dos tipos de solos, à excepção dos solos argilosos que estalam. A inclinação pode ser calculada com a ajuda dum esquadro de agrimensor (armação em forma de A) e o agente extensionista local pode ajudá-lo, caso necessário.A recolha da água de escoamento através do uso de \"meias-luas\" comporta muitas vantagens, a saber :aumento da produção de pastos Pode-se chegar a um posicionamento aproximado do local para construir a meia-lua simplesmente através dum golpe de vista, da mesma maneira que se pode identifi car o posicionamento correcto de socalcos. No caso de ter difi culdade em fazê-lo, consulte o agente extensionista local.Utilizando uma enxada, comece a construção da meia-lua a partir da curva de nível. Cave o solo à superfície em semi-círculo e deite a terra para o lado mais baixo (para o fundo da descida/inclinação). A meialua deverá ter cerca de 30 cm de altura no meio e diminuir gradualmente de altura, de modo a que as suas extremidades fi quem rentes ao solo.Construa uma série de \"meias-luas\", desta maneira, ao longo da curva de nível de modo a formar uma fi la. A distância entre duas \"meias-luas\" sucessivas, na mesma fi la, deverá ser ligeiramente inferior à largura duma meia-lua.Construa uma outra fi la de \"meias-luas\" de 4,5 m, abaixo da primeira fi la. A segunda fi la de \"meias-luas\" é colocada alinhada nos intervalos da primeira fi la (ver desenho).Continue a construir \"meias-luas\" desta maneira, até que o terreno esteja todo coberto.Semeie sementes de gramíneas e de leguminosas recomendadas pelo seu agente extensionista. As gramíneas devem ser semeadas no interior da meia-lua, e as leguminosas, caso do feijão-nhemba, devem ser semeadas no interior e em cima da meia-lua. O feijão-nhemba pode ser colhido logo durante a primeira campanha agrícola.Antes de pôr os animais a pastar ou de fazer feno, deixe que as gramíneas cresçam durante duas estações das chuvas ou até que o pasto esteja bem instalado (uma cobertura uniforme e contínua de erva com uma altura de 30 cm ou mais). O gado ou animais selvagens destroem/ danifi cam as \"meias-luas\"Faça vedações para manter os animais afastados Repare as \"meias-luas\" antes da estação das chuvas seguinte (durante a estação seca)As tempestades arrastam as \"meias-luas\" Reconstrua ou repare as \"meias-luas\" antes da próxima estação das chuvas O gado errante ou os animais selvagens comem a erva cultivada Faça vedações para manter os animais afastados Pode não haver mão-de-obra disponível para cobrir a área pretendida Construa \"meias-luas\" com a mão-de-obra sazonal disponível até que cubra toda a área de terreno. Graças a este aumento da produção de pasto, conseguiram aumentar o seu rebanho de 6 para 12 zébus de raça local e a sua produção leiteira diária duplicou (2 litros por vaca). Com o aumento de rendimentos obtidos, puderam ecomomizar e comprar um outro terreno com 9 ha.Neste momento eles plantaram 11 ha de gramíneas melhoradas. Colhem anualmente uma média de 120 fardos de feno por hectare. Utilizam um sistema simples de mangedoura e guardam os fardos de feno à sombra. Com este feno alimentam os seus animais e também vendem o excedente aos agricultores vizinhos, a 2,85 US $ por fardo. Para além disso, alugam as terras de pastagem a outros agricultores e colhem anualmente mais de 100 kg de sementes de gramíneas forrageiras que vendem a 4,30 US $ o quilo.A família Ngaya está a prosperar. A procura pelo seu feno e sementes excede a sua produção. Eles têm o plano de construir mais \"meias-luas\" e plantar o resto da sua terra com novas espécies de gramíneas forrageiras."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/7162601459.json b/main/part_2/7162601459.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..45cb87d8044d7a83442c79f73dc0c1429f5a22d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/7162601459.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4adefba5aa4efd5defa355b44a5b5600","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2fe7a611-09c5-40d0-ae3c-1b3c539e82f1/retrieve","id":"761759515"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e74692e9-0a5b-429e-a15e-224b9a727832","content":"Collaboration between HarvestPlus, CGIAR breeding centers, and National Agricultural Research Systems resulted in the release of 21 new varieties of 7 biofortified crops in 8 countries, in 2021. Evidence links point to the biofortification crops map and an internal HarvestPlus database (password required). Breeding reports are available upon request."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/7165925999.json b/main/part_2/7165925999.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f64402b6bd251a573ba68cbc544f4b3ab20a84dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/7165925999.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8c8aec02201bd0f44d343e02069a2e14","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/eb8ea177-21ff-43f0-b35f-517baece1719/retrieve","id":"-2065947422"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a74e2bad-6f1d-48c3-913d-12e154ede244","content":"AccuWeather is a widely recognized weather forecasting app that offers hourly and daily forecasts, as well as radar maps and weather news. It provides location-based weather information for different parts of India. India Weather: AccuWeather: This is a localized version of the AccuWeather app, customized for Indian users. It provides weather forecasts, alerts, and information relevant to different regions of India. WeatherBug: WeatherBug offers real-time weather forecasts, radar maps, and weather alerts. It provides comprehensive weather information for users across India. Weather Forecasting Mausam: Launched by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Mausam provides official weather forecasts for various regions of India. Meghdoot: It is an initiative by the IMD. The app is designed to cater specifically to the needs of farmers by providing weather forecasts, advisories, and agricultural information to aid in farming decisions. Weather Forecasting Livestock management Livestock farming involves the rearing of animals such as cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry, and more. It plays a significant role in providing meat, milk, eggs, wool, and other products to meet the nutritional and economic needs of the population Livestock management A. Balkrishna, J. Sharma; 2020 Supply chain Management • Supply chain management (SCM) in agriculture involves the planning, implementation, and monitoring of various processes that contribute to the efficient movement of agricultural products from farm to consumer. • It encompasses a range of activities including production, processing, distribution, and retail.AgriChain: AgriChain is a supply chain management platform that helps farmers, processors, distributors, and retailers manage their operations more efficiently. It provides tools for order management, inventory tracking, quality control, and traceability.Why is farm management recognized as a highly challenging task?• The complex environment (dealing with biological systems, uncertain weather conditions, market-related risks, financial risks, etc.);  Farm ManagementTypical two-tier Website architecture of an (Farm Management System) FMS systemThe first layer, also called the presentation layer, embodies the user interface with the Web services.The second layer embodies both the business logic layer, also known as the application layer, and the data service layerSoftware Tools for Agricultural Applications• In mature markets such as the Americas and Europe, the adoption rate of FMS is considerably higher as compared to emerging markets like Asia-Pacific (APAC) and the rest of world (RoW).• This is due to the increasing awareness among agriculturists regarding advanced farming solutions and the presence of technology-supporting infrastructure.(MarketsAndMarkets, 2016) • QGIS: Open-source GIS software that is widely used for various agricultural applications. It provides tools for mapping, spatial analysis, and data visualization, making it useful for tasks like land use planning, crop monitoring, and resource management.• ArcGIS: Developed by Esri, ArcGIS is a comprehensive GIS software suite that offers advanced capabilities for spatial analysis, mapping, and data management. It is used in various industries, including agriculture, for tasks such as precision farming, watershed management, and crop modeling.• SuperMap: SuperMap is a GIS software that offers a range of geospatial solutions, including those tailored for agriculture. It provides tools for spatial data analysis, remote sensing integration, and agricultural planning.• MapInfo Professional: It is a desktop GIS software that enables users to create and analyze maps and spatial data. It can be utilized for tasks such as land parcel mapping, soil analysis, and yield estimation in agriculture.• GeoAgro GIS: Designed for agriculture and natural resource management. It offers tools for precision agriculture, field mapping, and data collection, helping farmers and agronomists make informed decisions. Weather Underground: Weather Underground provides real-time weather data and forecasts. It allows users to access hyper-local weather information, which can be beneficial for farmers who need accurate weather insights for specific locations."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/7180224568.json b/main/part_2/7180224568.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0fc4f36ce8c997842f2e00539ee369105e8b2e9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/7180224568.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f3ac858ed76ba410e60a2a0f3eefb65d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/be77e4cf-72ba-4eec-9379-fca9f128d064/content","id":"1822509311"},"keywords":["Objectives: -Reducing breeding time -Improving selecting efficiency -Phenotype under diverse environment Traits: -Yield -Phenology -Disease resistance RS parameters/information: NDVI","Canopy temperature","RGB Wheat physiological pre-breeding Traits: -Yield -Phenology -Biomass -Photosynthesis (RUE","light interception) -WUE -Plant height RS parameters/information: NDVI","Canopy temperature","RGB","Water index","3D structure","Surface model","PRI","Fluorescence","SRI","full spectrum analyzes"],"sieverID":"cf5be87c-e4b2-474d-a790-d1c1fd0d9771","content":"Modelling & performance prediction   "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/7193719449.json b/main/part_2/7193719449.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2d987e011617f8bcb912f15b40b609bda8d7bace
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/7193719449.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"05eddf0a63e2da1ea2ff17d2ebb3dce4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bb7f757c-a925-41c3-99e3-7986ed3c0dd7/retrieve","id":"-808674004"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fff6d65d-84d3-4661-9f82-ee886bbbdd13","content":"Thierfelder (CIMMYT), Geoff Heinrich (CRS), Dale Lewis (COMACO), Mulundu Mwila (ZARI) and Mateete Bekunda (IITA)Farmers in eastern Zambia face production constraints due to declining soil fertility, degradation and the negative effects of climate variability and change. To sustainably increase productivity, a range of intercropping options were tested in maize-based conservation agriculture systems including grain legumes, green manures and agroforestry species. These were tested both on-farm and on-station in replicated trials across farms in Chipata and Lundazi and at the Msekera Research Station in Eastern Zambia.Yield results across farms (n=264) with Gliricidia intercropping systems of different age (e.g. two and four years) on two contrasting soil types showed yield benefits of 66% between unfertilized Gliricidia-maize intercropping and an unfertilized control with sole maize (Figure 1, Picture 1). However, yield benefits were much greater between fertilized maize and the unfertilized control.Maize-lablab intercropping under no fertilization showed greater yield benefits than intercropping with pigeonpea (Figure 2). However this was only significant if the lablab planting was delayed by 3 weeks. Under fertilization there was no difference between treatments (Figure 2)Intercropping may provide cash constrained farmers an option to increase soil fertility without depending on mineral fertilizer only. In conservation agriculture systems, intercropping provides additional benefits (i.e. ground cover, weed control, additional income from intercrops, erosion control, increased nutrition amongst others).Both COMACO and CRS have targeted large numbers of smallholder farmers with different intercropping strategies (>150,000 farmers) and the data generated by Africa RISING will provide the necessary evidence and support these attempts.  "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/7202057376.json b/main/part_2/7202057376.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..dedae7fdccf92c7a7fa1443c3f85d0333a9d4fc5
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+++ b/main/part_2/7202057376.json
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"6c59dc66-da4b-415b-8093-0aedffa5be82","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/7214759447.json b/main/part_2/7214759447.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3f0f2d80909e72bbb89b01de7c9065f4e1d1d778
--- /dev/null
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"022ed464447f861f8351bb9422ab7aa0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/080b98dd-8d14-4149-a8d1-c12bdb21d65c/content","id":"1392287204"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d7bdedec-ed69-46ca-af7c-4491f8e5823a","content":"Other CIMMYT Staff spent an additional 126 days consulting with Central _American and Caribbean governments during the same period.Fourteen countries cooperate in. the regional maize program sponsored by the Swiss government. In 1978. the interest and growth of activities in the area of maize production research on farmers' fie!ds has increased.Success shown by programs following the on-farm approach advocated by CIMMYT has led governments to expand programs to a national scale;The PROMYF-PROMYFSA program in Honduras is an excellent example •.Consultation by CIMMYT Scientist • CIMMYT' s two maize scientists. and one economist. also assigned to the Central America region. made the following visits during 1978.These visits included visits to Ministers _of Agriculture to inform on current progress attained in the maize breeding and production progr of the region and to call attention to constraints observed that are r( the development of national programs.Visits to directors of national research institutions have pro-' to be of tremendous value in encouraging decisive actions in support c national maize pr.ograms. Seed Production• The system and procedures used in the region •for seed increase. vary from country to country. El Salvador and Guatemala have well organized programs. In most of the other countries, seed production programs are not as well developed. The maize regional program will place more emphasis on encouraging more dynamic seed prodµction programs over the next few years.In There has been an increased interest in Central America and the Caribbean in reorienting production research in such a way that it is more consistent with the needs of the farmers. Governments •are aware of the urgent need to increase production and productivity to satisfy the demands of their rapidly• growing populations for basic food crops. As an example .. population projections for the year 2000 for El Salvador estimate that the population will be about 8. 5 million., compared to 4. 3 million people in 1977.(World Population Data Sheet of the Population Reference Bureau.. Inc.). To satisfy maize market demand in the year 2000 1 assuming present yields of 1. 7 tons/ha., El Salvador would have to plant all of its arable land to maize.Another alternative would be to double the production per hectare.. to 3. 4 tons.We believe this alternative is more appropriate.In past years, the production teclmology generated at experiment stations in the region often was not accepted by farmers because:   "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"222dbbe387d4740f1d113c5e2868ccaa","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/44657e8b-9823-47d5-aac3-52cdd13dd855/retrieve","id":"-603148524"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6aa0502f-ba24-4d31-9942-7fe5e031371b","content":"• Thermophilic Campylobacter is one of the most important pathogens causing food borne illness in the world• In Tanzania, the risks of campylobacteriosis had not been studied and the risks especially from informally marketed foods had not been assessedCont'd… • Beef was their favourite meat (78%)• Beef consumption at household 3/wk (75%)• Quantity purchased 1 kg (70%)• Had not received training on food hygiene (75%)• Not aware of campylobacteriosis (100%)• 68% graded beef by looking at fat content and colour onlywww.tfda.or.tz• Considered good hygiene was a criterion for food safety assurance (70%)• Serve food within 30 min after cooking (60%)• Purchase meat before noon (49%)"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f854f5d1fecbc0f337672a05bedc2ac7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/45c57c08-10d5-420f-bea8-5dffee5d5bee/retrieve","id":"-2042459677"},"keywords":["Edmundo Barrios","Soil Scientist Rupert Best","Postproduction Specialist and Project Manager","Rural Agroenterprise Development Myles Fisher","Ecophysiologist (Consultant) Federico Holmann","Livestock Specialist Juan Jiménez","Soil Biologist (Postdoctoral Fellow) Mark Lundy","Agroenterprise Specialist (Research Fellow) Richard Thomas","Soil Microbiologist and Project Manager","Overcoming Soil Degradation* Brazil Michael Thung","Agronomist (Consultant)"],"sieverID":"aaae82bf-904e-4330-8581-c6101bdaab94","content":"amily farms are the backbone of most developing country economies. For billions of people, agriculture represents daily survival and the best hope for a better tomorrow. Food production remains the most important use of the worlds natural resources. But a billion people, mostly farmers in tropical countries, live in extreme poverty.Global forces are at work that will have far-reaching effects on their livelihoods. In some cases global change will offer farm families new opportunities to escape poverty, while in others it could tighten povertys grip on their lives. CIATs vision for the futurethe heart of its strategic plan for the next decadeis that these men, women, and children will turn deprivation into sustainable rural livelihoods. As our annual report for 2000-2001 illustrates, Center scientists can speed this transformation through research that contributes to competitive agriculture, healthy agroecosystems, and rural innovation.Joined by his children, a farmer at San Dionisio in Nicaraguas Matagalpa Department shows visitors a bean and maize variety trial, established by the local agricultural research committee to which he belongs.Director General's Message ver the past year or so, we at CIAT have crafted a new strategy to pursue our goal of fighting poverty in the tropics while protecting natural resources. At the core of this strategy is a vision of sustainable rural livelihoods, grounded in competitive small-scale agriculture, healthy tropical agroecosystems, and community-based innovation.Our strategic vision emerged from an analysis not only of what CIAT has achieved during more than 30 years of research but also of the rapid changes sweeping our world. It recognizes that globalization presents an uncertain mix of opportunities and threats. It takes the view that high-quality science is a powerful tool for bringing globalizations benefits to the rural poor of the tropics, while minimizing the risks.The emerging vocabulary of globalization includes terms like biodiversity and biopiracy, food security and water scarcity, global warming and disaster mitigation, free trade and cultural diversity, genetically modified organisms and biosafety. CIATs R&D efforts are clearly relevant to these and other international public concerns. And we intend to keep it that way.The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which backs CIAT and 15 other Future Harvest centers, is now well advanced in a detailed reassessment of how the centers can work together more effectively in the future. Its particularly intent on addressing issues of global reach, like those framed in conventions on biodiversity, desertification, and climate change.Part of the CGIAR plan, approved in May 2001 at Durban, South Africa, is to harmonize research programming across centers and to streamline management structures. This will allow the Future Harvest centers to function as a more integrated global systemto run a tighter ship, so to speak. As CIATs director general, Im committed to ensuring the Center contributes fully and positively to the CGIARs reform plan. Our long-term capacity to conduct socially and environmentally progressive research for development depends on the health and unity of all of the Future Harvest centers.Within several years, a sizable share of CGIAR funding is expected to go to a small number of global challenge programs. These will link Future Harvest centers with each other, and with other sources of expertise, in research on world-scale problems. Proposed topics include the impact of climate change on small-scale agriculture and the critical role of water resources in food and environmental security.As CGIAR Chairman Ian Johnson recently said, its time to elevate the game. This means increasing the impact and visibility of CGIAR research by connecting it with the highest levels of international dialog, policy, and action. The shift of emphasis will involve major tradeoffs among research priorities as well as new ways of doing businessamong scientists, center managers, and national partners.The exact trajectory of CGIAR changes will not be known for some time. Nevertheless, I believe CIATs new strategic plan for 2001-2010 is consistent with the CGIARs commitment to efficiency and global relevance. The quest for sustainable rural livelihoods takes research beyond the goal of merely increasing the volume of agricultural production and monetary income to include the development of social capital, enhancement of human well-being, and protection of the planets natural resources.CIAT recently launched a formal challenge to a 1999 US patent that grants a businessman from Colorado intellectual property rights over a variety of common bean with yellow seeds. Our decision to challenge the patent underscores our concern over the continuing vulnerability of the livelihoods of rural people in developing countries and the need to protect traditional agricultural knowledge and biological heritage.The patented material, designated Enola, was produced from seed obtained in Mexico. The patent, granted to the owner of Pod-ners L.L.C., claims Enola is a new field bean variety that produces distinctly colored yellow seed which remains relatively unchanged by season. CIATs counterclaim, backed by rigorous documentation, is that the material in question is based on traditional cultivars adapted over many centuries by Andean and Mexican farmers. It is believed that the gene controlling the color of the seed is of Peruvian origin.Patent number 5,894,079 grants the owner of Pod-ners a monopoly within the USA over common beans exhibiting the shade of yellow noted in the patent application. It thus denies Mexican producers the right to freely market one of their most valuable and hard-won renewable resourcestraditional crop cultivars that also serve as food staples. The patent also seriously limits work carried out by US plant breeders with all classes of yellow beans.The Enola patent issue was pushed into the international limelight in 2000 largely through the efforts of the Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (ETC Group), until recently known the Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI).In its challenge to the Enola patent, CIAT argues that the protected bean variety is substantially identical to at least six yellow bean samples found in the Centers seed bank. Under an agreement with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the contents of this collection are considered international public goods and may not be patented by anyone.Recently, the case became more complex when the patent holder filed additional claims based on information contained in his original application. The US Patent Office will now conduct a joint review of CIATs challenge and the patent holders additional claims. If the patent is upheld, then the issue could end up being appealed to a US court. Such a legal battle would be costly and best handled as a joint effort of the Future Harvest centers, according to Voss. But well cross that bridge when we come to it.We hope our move, the first-ever challenge of a plant patent by a Future Harvest center, will set a global precedent. Concerted action is needed to protect the rights and livelihoods of developing country farmers. At the same time, we need to maintain the ability of research centers like CIAT to freely produce and distribute public goods for the benefit of all.Director General, CIAT One step CIAT recently took in an effort to elevate the game was to formally challenge a US patent granted on a new variety of bean that was claimed to have a distinctive yellow color (see box). The plant material covered by the patent is nothing other than a popular type of bean grown and eaten for centuries by Latin Americans. The patent application, I believe, was legally, morally, and scientifically unfounded.Peruvian landrace of common bean. conomic development over the past century, driven largely by science and technology, has significantly cut the proportion of the global population that is poor. Nevertheless, one-fifth of the worlds people are still absolutely poor, living on one US dollar a day or less. Among the most destructive effects of this persistent poverty is hunger, suffered by some 800 million people, mostly women and children.The worlds hot spots of poverty are and will continue to be tropical countries, especially in Africa and Asia. Rural communities that depend on small-scale agriculture and food processing for survival are the most disadvantaged. They are also the people most vulnerable to the ill effects of environmental degradation. And for lack of political and economic power, they risk further marginalization by the growing forces of globalization.CIAT believes that improving the livelihoods of small farmers through high-quality science is an effective and direct way to address the needs of the tropical worlds rural people, while supplying cheaper food for the urban poor. The notion of sustainable rural livelihoods is at the core of CIATs strategic vision for 2001-2010.As a research center specializing in peoplecentered solutions for tropical agriculture, CIAT will use partnership-based research to help its rural clients get to three intermediate destinations along their path to sustainable rural livelihoods:(1) competitive agriculture, (2) agroecosystem health, and (3) collective rural innovation based on the accumulation of social capital.To promote these conditions, CIAT will integrate its past research experience with recent scientific advances in genomics, agroecology, and informatics. Scientific competence will be cultivated in five core areas: Agrobiodiversity and genetics Ecology and management of pests and diseases Soil ecology and improvement Spatial analysis Socioeconomic analysis Together, these areas of research will form an enduring institutional framework, conducive to transdisciplinary research on agricultural productivity, environmental protection, and community capacity to plan, execute, and monitor innovations. At the same time, this mix of competencies will give CIAT sufficient scientific flexibility to respond to an evolving research agenda, including issues of global reach, such as climate change.CIAT will implement its 10-year strategy through medium-term plans. Each will cover a 3-year period and respond to emerging trends, problems, and opportunities. Several policies and principles will guide the setting of our research agendas:Research priorities for each region should be harmonized with those of partner groups, such as national research programs, farmer associations, and community development organizations.Center scientists should maintain close contact with advanced institutes to identify and acquire relevant new scientific tools, methods, and knowledge.Proposed research topics should be directly relevant to the Centers vision of sustainable rural livelihoods and its overall mission of alleviating poverty and hunger and protecting natural resources.When activities fall outside the Centers core scientific competencies, research partnerships should be formed to secure the necessary expertise.Stakeholders commitment to invest in research or otherwise contribute resources should serve as a key indicator of the feasibility of proposed work.Regional coordinators will help ensure that global and regional research agendas are harmonized and that scientific outputs complement regional development efforts. The actual research will be carried out by project-based multidisciplinary teams. CIAT will make specialefforts to obtain funding from nontraditional sources and to actively disseminate Center products, such as technology and information, to potential users and investors.CIATs research program fits into a global context, namely, the work of the Future Harvest centers supported by the CGIAR. Some of CIATs outputs, such as conserved agrobiodiversity, are essentially global public goods. Work in this and other areas, however, will continue to be planned in such a way that it complements regional research agendas.Several research topics are highly relevant to sustainable rural livelihoods in all three regions in which CIAT works, namely, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. These include the genetic conservation and improvement of cassava and tropical forages, as well as natural resource management, farmer participatory research methods, and agroenterprise development.In the case of natural resource research, soil management and enhancement methods, such as the use of green manures, will receive special attention. In addition, CIAT will continue to participate in global efforts to combat whiteflies and to develop geographic information systems for land management and planning at various physical scales.Research will also continue on common beans, an important source of daily protein for millions of small farmers in Latin America and Africa. Emphasis will be put on development of highly productive climbing beans, improved drought tolerance, and higher iron content for improved human health. CIATs strategy for rice research will, as in the past, focus exclusively on Latin America. It will aim to make producers more competitive, improve rices disease resistance, and broaden the rice gene pool.Hillside agroecosystems, particularly in Latin America but also in the uplands of Asia and the midaltitude areas of eastern, central, and southern Africa, will receive special attention. This work will build on the orientation of CIATs previous strategic plan.In Latin America, some emphasis will also be given to research on tropical fruits and on crops, natural resource management, and land use in the Amazon and savanna agroecosystems.Delivering cassava roots to a drying plant in Thailands eastern Sra Kaew Province.On the way home after cassava harvest near Mitú, Vaupés Department, in the Colombian Amazon.Trying out an improved farm implement at Worka village in Ethiopias Oromo Region.uture Harvest is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising public awareness of the close links between agriculture and other global issues like peace, economic growth, environmental renewal, human health, and the size of the world population. Its sponsored by the 16 food and environmental centers, including CIAT, that are funded through the CGIAR.Future Harvest sees itself as a wake-up call to a brewing global crisis. Military conflict, water and land shortages, loss of biodiversity and soil fertility, the spread of human disease, climate change, poverty, and stagnating crop yields already threaten the worlds ability to adequately and equitably feed itself. Moreover, during the next half century, the global population is expected to grow by some 73 million people annually. This addition of more than 3.6 billion people will intensify pressure on already stressed food-producing ecosystems and on social and political structures, especially in developing countries.Future Harvest believes agriculture itself, based on good science, holds solutions to some of these compelling problems of global reach. International R&D provide technology and information vital to helping poor farmers boost food production, while protecting the natural resource base. In turn, these improvements lead to better human health and nutrition, alleviate poverty, enhance the environment, and stimulate rural economic progress. Equally important, they create a social and political milieu conducive to peace and therefore to further improvements in the quality of life.The organization draws on respected experts, many of them high-profile, to serve as public advocates for the massive international research effort needed to ensure the world can feed itself sustainably in the future. Its ambassadors include Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, former Costa Rican president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias, Queen Noor of Jordan, and former US president Jimmy Carter. In connection with its public awareness, educational, and advocacy roles, Future Harvest commissions studies that explore the relationship between agriculture and key global issues. Since the organization was set up in 1998, such studies have examined the role of agricultural research in reducing conflict, protecting biodiversity, and mitigating the effects of natural disasters. Similar studies are planned on the topics of human health and child welfare in the context of agriculture.Future Harvest promotes a hopeful vision of the futurea green and prosperous earth that provides abundance, health, and peace to its peoples. It cautions, however, that this can only be realized if we devote attention and resources to scientific research for food, the environment, and the worlds poor. lobal forces of change, whether of deliberate human design or merely the unexpected effects of past behavior, present difficult challenges. Both the emerging global economy and atmospheric warming, for example, will have a penetrating impact on world agriculture. We need to meet these threats and opportunities with visionary interventions, both technological and policy-based, that enable rural people to get the better of global change.In the following pages, CIAT in Perspective presents three areas of research that respond to global challenges. The first centers on a model for predicting the effects of climate change on agriculture later this century. The second involves a global campaign to fight another growing threat to world agriculture and agroecosystem healththe spread of whiteflies. Finally, we profile the commercial germination of a hybrid pasture grass bred by CIAT and now being marketed to small meat-and-dairy farmers. The hybrid is expected to make tropical producers more competitive in todays global economy, while slowing the buildup of greenhouse gases.Farmers adopting new hybrid Brachiaria grass in Mexicos Veracruz State have seen dramatic improvement in milk production.cientists at CIAT and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) have devised a new method for predicting how global climate change will affect tropical farming 50 years or more from now. Preliminary analysis of a large study area in southeastern Africa suggests a general reduction of maize yields and pasture production by 2055. It also predicts higher risk for farmers, many of whom are poor people cultivating small plots of marginal land. Certain small areas, however, may actually benefit from climate change.A key advantage of this innovation in agricultural analysis, which combines three types of computer modeling, is that future crop growth and production risk can be simulated for any site in tropical Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The minimum geographical data needed to run the composite model, for a specific cropping scenario, is the locations latitude and longitude. The method helps bridge an enormous gap between two geographical levels of inquiry: the landscape scale at which meteorologists predict climate change and the farm scale at which agronomists and crop physiologists examine plant behavior.The study has achieved, perhaps for the first time, an integration from process-level plant-growth models to global climate models: the full gamut of the scaling problem, write authors Peter Jones of CIAT and Philip Thornton of ILRI in a recent scientific paper.Growing crops is never a sure bet for any farmer. But global warming will make production risks even harder to assess and respond to in future. As our atmosphere warms due to high levels of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane, farmers as well as researchers and public officials will be faced with tough choices. The new CIAT-ILRI composite modeling technique gives these agricultural decision makers a rational basis for designing measures to cope with complex changes in farming environments. traits should plant breeders start building into food crops to address future changes in the quantity and variability of rainfall? And what about the prospect of large numbers of rural people migrating to better growing areas or to cities? Governments and development agencies need reliable information on the likely impact of climate change, not only at the farm level but also across regions. Otherwise, they will not be able to prevent social disruption and conflict due to growing competition for scarce productive land.People have been asking me for 10 years whether we can estimate the effects of climate change on agriculture, says Jones, an agricultural geographer who specializes in analyzing and manipulating climate data to make it more useful to scientists. Global warming is going to change farming a lot. If we let it creep up on us, it will be too late for anyone to do anything about it. So we have to know certain impacts well in advance. Plant scientists, for instance, need to decide whether its more important to breed crops for tolerance to water stress, for heat tolerance, or for shorter growing seasons. There may even be areas where certain crops will no longer grow.Jones and Thornton have been working together on climate data applications for many years. With the help of other colleagues, they designed and recently packaged a computer tool, MarkSim, which generates the site-specific daily weather data needed to run computerized crop models. Comprehensive testing of MarkSim for diverse sites has shown it to be very reliable.Crop models simulate how specific varieties of plants will grow under different soil, weather, and farm management conditions. They provide todays farmers and researchers with critical information about the yields they can expect and the level of weather-related production risk in a given growing environment. But a serious hurdle to applying crop models has been the scarcity of relevant and detailed weather data for the precise locations researchers want to analyze. MarkSim, now available on CD-ROM from CIAT, goes a long way to solving that problem. And because MarkSim meets a common international data standard known as DSSAT-ICASA, its weather files can be used to feed a wide range of crop models.But Jones and Thornton also have something bigger in mind. They recently hit on an elegantly simple but potent tactic for broadening the application of MarkSim. With global climate change models finally starting to agree with each other, they reckoned, it might be feasible to predict the effects of global warming on future crop production.The researchers selected a relatively new general circulation model of global climate called HadCM2, developed by the Hadley Centre in the UK. This allowed them to generate monthly temperature and rainfall values for an area of southeastern Africa for the period 2040-2070. Each geographic unit, or cell, in the HadCM2 grid represents an area of roughly 116,000 square kilometers, depending on how close the cell is to the equator. Jones and Thornton then adjusted (interpolated) the HadCM2 results to fit the geographic grid used by MarkSim, which has a much higher resolution.Next, the interpolated HadCM2 results were fed into MarkSim, which generated 30 years worth of daily weather files for more than 1,000 locations. In turn, these files, along with soil and crop data, were plugged into two crop models. The researchers were thus able to simulate future crop production at specific sites in the African study area and compare the results with simulated data for 1960-1990. In effect, MarkSim served as a data link between different physical scales of analysisglobal for climate change and local for crop modelingas well as a bridge between two distinct time frames, the late-20th century and the mid-21st century.We were startled by the results, recalls Jones, referring to their initial work that demonstrated the modeling systems could actually be meshed. Their preliminary crop study focused on maize and n international team is systematically piecing together a complex biological puzzle that affects the entire tropical world: outbreaks of whiteflies and the role these tiny insects play in spreading devastating crop diseases. The whitefly problem has intensified over the past 12 years, directly threatening the livelihoods of millions of small producers and in some cases their very lives.The sheer number of viruses and host crops involved in disease transmission illustrates why this menace is so daunting. Worldwide, at least 12 of the more than 1,200 known species of whitefly cause economically important damage. The most destructive is the sweet potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci. Found across the tropics, this species transmits at least 90 disease-causing viruses. And it reproduces on more than 500 kinds of plants. Commercially valuable crops affected by whiteflies include cassava, sweet potatoes, beans, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, eggplant, squash, and melons. In some instances whiteflies destroy the entire crop.pastures. The overall study window included all of Zimbabwe and Malawi; much of Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia; and parts of Botswana and the Republic of Congo. HadCM2 conservatively estimates that average temperatures in this tropical zone will rise 2.5 to 3 degrees Centigrade over the next 50 years or so, with slight increases in rainfall.The maize modeled in the study is a popular Kenyan variety, Katumani Composite B, developed about 25 years ago. For simulating future production of the variety, the researchers used a well-known crop model called CERES-Maize, developed by a scientist at Texas A&M University. For pastures they drew on a water model, WATBAL, which estimates potential growing days for a pasture.The study findings indicate that some marginal lowland areas may become even less suitable for maize production, while highland areas might benefit due to higher night temperatures and rainfall. Overall, though, a comparison of simulations for 1960-1990 and for 2040-2070 suggests a reduction in mean yields. Predicted declines in both maize and pasture productivity relate in part to the fact that future increases in rainfall will probably be offset by greater moisture evaporation brought on by higher temperatures.The potential impact on rural communities, says Jones, was not lost on three African research directors with whom he and his colleagues shared the results. One of them said to me, theres going to be a lot of people moving around.With improvements now being made to MarkSim, it will be soon be possible to do futuristic analysis of all the staple crops on which the Future Harvest centers conduct research. The challenge now is for decision makers to begin incorporating such information into their agricultural R&D planning so that farmers can cope with the harsher weather on the distant horizon.Everyone knew something needed to be done, but the complexity of these problems has been overwhelming, says CIAT entomologist Pamela Anderson, who coordinates the global Whitefly Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Project under the Systemwide IPM Programme of the CGIAR. We were A Nymphs and adults of the whitefly species Bemisia tabaci. isolated, and communication was poor. Different research groups were duplicating efforts. And each group was using its own methodologies, which meant we couldnt compare results.But the Whitefly IPM Project, launched in 1997, has changed all that. It pulls together experts from national programs in 30 countries; advanced research laboratories in Australia, Germany, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA; and five international research centers: CIAT, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the International Potato Center (CIP), the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC), and the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE). Their aim is to reduce pesticide use while improving food security and farmers incomes in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. At the projects outset, the focus was on building an international whitefly research network and a common knowledge pool. But, as Anderson says, researchers discovered early on that the team had an incredible capacity for rapid response to emergencies. That field-level capacity was clearly demonstrated in East Africas Lake Victoria region.Around 1990 a new and highly virulent form of cassava mosaic disease (CMD), transmitted by whiteflies, began to wipe out cassava crops in Uganda. CMD has been known in this region of Africa for almost a century, but crop losses from it were historically low. Scientists now know that the new CMD resulted from two geminiviruses combining into a potent strain.When we started growing cassava in 1988, the incidence of mosaic was low, says Ugandan farmer Harriet Lubwama. On half a hectare, we would get about 10 to 20 infected plants. But the following year, 1989, the number increased, until 1990 it became so terrible that virtually all the plants were infected.From a high of 3.5 million tons in 1989, the countrys cassava production plummeted to 2.25 million tons in 1996. In Kenya, the next country to be hit by the scourge, production in Western Province was cut by more than two-thirds between 1995 and 1998. Though reliable data are scarce, Ugandas losses from CMD have been estimated at US$60 million a year between 1992 and 1997. Similar losses are now being suffered in neighboring countries.But the crisis was much more than an economic blow. When other crops failed in periods of rain shortage or floods, farmers were not able to offset caloric losses with their traditional food bank crop cassava, states a May 2000 communiqué from the US embassy in Kampala. As a result, general nutrition was suffered and people died.Ugandas National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) quickly realized the need for help in tackling the problem. First on the scene was a DFID-funded project, which enabled NARO and UK-based scientists to determine how the epidemic A researcher monitors whiteflies on cassava. In the background varieties resistant to the whitefly-transmitted cassava mosaic disease are being multiplied in Tanzania's Mwanza Region for massive distribution to farmers.was spreading. To offer farmers a solution, researchers identified and distributed CMDresistant cassava varieties in affected regions, with support primarily from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, USAID, and the Ugandan government. These varieties had been developed through years of painstaking research by cassava breeders at IITA in Nigeria.The Whitefly Project team soon saw the need to develop a regional strategy for tackling the epidemic. By 1998 it was spreading southwards, in a pincer-like advance, down both the eastern (Kenyan) and western (Tanzanian) shores of Lake Victoria. In an emergency program led by IITA and funded by USAID, scientists tracked the epidemic and identified newly affected and immediately threatened zones. Both in affected zones and at strategic sites ahead of the epidemic front, they rapidly multiplied CMD-resistant varieties.Two partners in the Whitefly IPM projectthe Lake Zone Agricultural Research and Development Institute of Tanzania and the Kenya Agricultural Research Instituteeach spearheaded efforts to solve the problem in their respective countries. They also joined forces with IITA, NARO, and others working on cassava to establish a regional network that could monitor progress and plan future strategies to control the CMD pandemic and thus strengthen regional food security.In Uganda the results were spectacular. Between a quarter and a half of the countrys total cassava area is now planted with new CMD-resistant varieties, and national cassava production has been restored. An IITA impact study estimated the internal rate of return on USAIDs investment in cassava R&D for Uganda to be an impressive 167 percent.The multipartner Whitefly IPM team is now repeating these achievements in neighboring Kenya and Tanzania. With thousands of hectares already planted to new cassava, success seems to be assured.Whitefly Project teams have organized themselves to examine three critical ways in which whiteflies threaten tropical agriculture: as virus carriers in mixed cropping systems, as virus carriers and direct pests in cassava-growing areas, and as direct pests in tropical highland farming.Results from this work are already being used to design environmentally friendly pest control methods. For example, researchers have identified possible tactics for managing the whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum on highland bean and tomato crops in South America. Options include manipulating cropping dates, replacing broad-spectrum insecticides with more selective ones, and recruiting a natural insect enemy of the whitefly, the parasitoid Amitus. Researchers will test these and other techniques with the help of farmers and extensionists.Project teams have also made good headway in determining the distribution and importance of various whitefly species. The results to date contain several surprises. It was previously thought, for example, that Bemisia whiteflies occurred only at elevations below 1,000 meters and Trialeurodes only above that level. But CIAT, Colombian, and Ecuadorian researchers recently proved there are mixed populations of these two groups at midaltitudes. This is critical information for designing IPM packages for farmers, says Anderson.One promising line of investigation is the natural resistance to whiteflies that CIAT, in earlier groundbreaking work, has identified in certain lines of cassava. Scientists are now using molecular markers to tag the genes responsible for this unique source of resistance as an aid to cassava breeders. The goal is to combine, or pyramid, whitefly resistance with viral resistancein both African and South American cassava. outheastern Mexico is in the midst of a rural revolution, and CIAT is helping supply the ammunition. But the upheaval isnt about politics. And it doesnt involve masked militants marching on Mexico City. Rather, its foot soldiers are traveling agricultural technicians, often seen wearing white baseball caps emblazoned with a green butterfly and armed with nothing more than a few bags of grass seed. Their campaign is nevertheless aimed at empowering poor rural communitiesand making a reasonable profit in the process. This quiet revolution is about environmentally and economically sound production of milk and meat, based on highly productive tropical forages. The latest addition to this genetic arsenal is the worlds first commercial hybrid of Brachiaria grass, CIAT 36061. The hybrid is now being marketed under the varietal name Mulato by a dynamic young Mexican company called Papalotla, which means butterfly in the indigenous language Nahuatl.Based on three species of African origin, Mulato and other new Brachiaria hybrids resulted from more than a decade of plant breeding by CIAT scientists, whose work on tropical forages is supported principally by the Colombian and Japanese governments. Mulato was first released in 2000 by Papalotla for demonstration purposes, but the firm is now moving ahead with full-scale seed production and marketing in Mexico. Distribution is also expected to start soon in other countries. Under an agreement with CIAT, Papalotla has exclusive world rights to produce and sell Mulato seed. CIAT will receive funds to support Brachiaria breeding plus a small royalty on sales.Papalotla is just one player in a network of research, production, and marketing. It works with Nestlé Mexico, a major buyer and processor of fresh milk, and is in regular contact with researchers at CIAT and Mexicos National Institute for Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research (INIFAP). Papalotla supplies farmers with forage seed and technical advice throughout the pasture and cattle production cycle. For its part Nestlé buys the milk from participating farmer groups and provides credit to cover the costs of cooling tanks installed at rural collection points around the country. Papalotla makes its profit from 20 seed payments by each farmer, deducted from milk revenues.The multipartner arrangement thus completes the research-to-development cycle. In addition, the financial risk to farmers is low, since credit repayment schedules are directly linked to milk production.Of the 100 or so species of Brachiaria grass found in the tropics, about two-thirds are from Africa. Several species are thought to have made their way to Latin America via the hay bedding used on slave ships. Once in the New World, Brachiaria grass adapted, thrived, and spread quickly. Its amazing how Brachiaria has been naturalized in tropical America despite the acid soils, says CIAT forage breeder John Miles, whose work gave rise to Mulato. A perennial that grows vigorously, Mulato outyields other Brachiaria cultivars by about 25 percent. Compared with many other forage grasses, it has a strong tendency to send out runners, or stolons, whose buds grow into new plants that quickly cover and protect the soil. Major benefits for cattle are its high protein content (12 to 16 percent) and digestibility (55 to 62 percent). And, as seen in the aggressive browsing behavior of cattle presented with Mulato, the animals love the taste.CIAT experiments showed that cows fed Mulato produced about 2 liters more milk per day than those grazing commercial nonhybrid varieties of Brachiaria. In southeastern Mexico farmers have also observed the positive effects in their herds.One of those farmers is 63-year-old Miguel Cruz. For more than 45 years, he has worked the land in the State of Veracruzinitially as a young, landless sugarcane cutter, with ambitions of one day owning his own farm. Under Mexicos land reform program, he was eventually able to fulfill that dream. After several years of growing beans, chilies, and maize, he tried cattle production.Nine years ago Cruz began reseeding his land with high-quality forages, including a popular nonhybrid Brachiaria variety called Basilisk (Brachiaria decumbens). Recently, he went a step further and planted a hectare of Mulato, using demonstration seed provided by Papalotla. His experience reveals a dramatic trend of increased milk production. On the old native grass pastures he used to get only 3 liters of milk per cow per day. In his recent tests with Mulato, average production leapt to just over 5.6 liters a day.In the old days, says Cruz, the rare cow that gave 5 liters of milk was considered a champion. Now most, if not all, of his milk cows are champions. Little by little I´ll be adding Mulato Brachiaria, says the farmer. I need to produce more milk to increase our income. On Papalotlas advice, hes planning to reseed several hectares of older pasture with the new hybrid.The income of thousands of Mexican farmers like Cruz is increasingly affected by the economics of international trade. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, for example, many Mexican growers of maize, a traditional staple, can no longer compete against their counterparts in the highly efficient US Corn Belt. And recently, pineapple prices have fallen dramatically as cheap imports pour in from Thailand. This has dealt a severe blow to production in southeastern Mexico, and many farmers are converting land to pasture.Theres a huge internal market for milk, points out CIAT livestock specialist Federico Holmann. Mexico is the biggest importer of milk powder in the world. Switching to milk and meat production is thus an attractive alternative. But given the current low world price for milk, in part due to hefty subsidies for European Union farmers, production needs to be more efficient.Thats where productive new hybrids like Mulato can help, says Holmann. They offer small livestock producers, in Mexico and elsewhere in the tropics, a chance to not only survive but also thrive in todays highly competitive, global marketplace.Although rice, wheat, and maize are the worlds premier food crops for people, that distinction belies the pervasiveness of cattle and other livestock in the landscape. Livestock occupy 3.4 billion hectares of grazing land, and animal feed is produced on about one-quarter of crop land. All told, more than twothirds of our planets agricultural land area is devoted to animal production. First, the growth habits of these African grasses, adapted over centuries to the presence of large grazing mammals, make for thick vegetative cover. The plants resist trampling and heavy grazing, suppress weeds, and help retain soil moisture and fertility. In contrast, pasture lands covered by native grasses, which still account for 60 to 70 percent of Latin American cattle production, evolved without heavy grazing pressure. In many areas, especially Brazil, they have become severely degraded due to attacks by spittlebug, a major pasture pest.The new grasses provide a powerful biological tool for pasture rehabilitation, says Carlos Lascano, manager of CIATs project on tropical forages, especially when combined with fertilityenhancing legumes.A second factor is the potential for improved Brachiaria grasses to slow global warmingan environmental service of benefit to all people. The robust root systems of these grasses allow for significant buildup of organic matter deep in the soil, compared with native Latin American grasses. This effect is enhanced by the addition of legumes, such as Arachis pintoi, a wild member of the peanut family. In effect, Brachiaria grasses, including the new hybrids, are powerful carbon sinks. They capture and sequester vast amounts of carbon dioxide that otherwise would be recycled to the atmosphere.Third, and perhaps most important, the higher yields of these forage grasses, along with resistance to spittlebug, tolerance to acid soils, and good protein content and digestibility, allow for agricultural intensification, even on lands of low fertility. The resulting increases in production and production efficiency by both small and large farmers should translate into lower consumer prices for milk and meat products. At the same time, they should free up more favorable growing environments for food crops and reduce current pressures to extend production into adjacent forest.With improved forages, says Papalotlas Eduardo Stern, You need less land to produce more. So the pressure on the jungle is alleviated. These alternatives will eventually let people produce sustainably in an open world economy and competitively with industrialized countries.mpact assessment helps institutions like CIAT see where theyve been, where theyre going, and whats happening in the surrounding environment. Agricultural research often covers long time frames and uncharted scientific territory. Cultivating 360-degree vision is therefore essential to good planning. This section gives an update on selected efforts to evaluate the actual and potential impact of our research.A recent study of the impact of CIATs crop improvement research, covering the past three decades, estimates the cumulative global benefits of Center-related varieties at just under US$8.7 billion (1990 dollars).Pachico examined the Centers four mandated crops: rice, beans, cassava, and tropical forages. For their analysis they defined CIAT-related varieties as genetic material from the Centers germplasm bank, crosses made by CIAT, and crosses made by national research programs using CIAT parents or grandparents. Theirs was one of a series of studies being conducted on commodity research impacts by the Future Harvest centers.The retrospective study notes that CIAT has contributed to the development and release of over 700 improved varieties of these crops. About 50 countries have benefited from the germplasm. Globally, the largest benefits came from increased rice production ($5.5 billion), followed by forages ($1.4 billion), beans ($1.3 billion), and cassava ($514 million).The land area sown to CIAT-related varieties also tells much of this research success story. In Thailand, for example, more than half the cassavagrowing area was planted to CIAT-related varieties as of 1997. And in Latin America, CIAT-related bean varieties accounted for 49 percent of the area planted to beans in 1998. Brazil had nearly 1.7 million hectares in 1997, making up 50 percent of its total bean area.CIAT-related rice varieties are also a major feature of Latin Americas rural landscape. In 1997 they occupied 94 percent of Brazils rice fields, or a little more than 1.4 million hectares. The figures for Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuelaalso big rice producerswere likewise high, in each case more than 70 percent of the planted area.The proportion of pasture land covered by CIATrelated forages is still rather small. This is partly because elite materials were distributed and adopted somewhat later than improved rice, beans, and cassava. Nonetheless, the absolute area of improved pastures in Latin America is impressive. In Brazil alone over 5 million hectares are estimated to be sown to CIAT-related forage cultivars.A second CIAT study during 2000 looked ahead, projecting the potential economic benefits of disseminating agropastoral technology in the South American savannas.In recent years farmers have become concerned about the need to counteract widespread pasture degradation and declining rice yields. One set of solutions promoted by CIAT is to integrate cropping with cattle production based on better forage grasses and fertility-boosting legumes. In fact, a trend in this direction is already under way in this vast ecosystem, which covers 243 million hectares in Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, and Bolivia. The CIAT cost-benefit analysis concludes that a rotational system of rice production and improved pastures would generate substantially greater economic benefits than rice monocropping or straight cattle production on either improved or native pastures. According to CIAT economist Albert Gierend, who conducted the study, such an agropastoral system would, over 30 years, provide total estimated benefits of just under $40 billion to the four savanna countries. At the same time, soil structure and fertility will improve, thus providing an important environmental bonus to this final frontier of agricultural expansion in South America.Developing countries increasingly are demanding compensation for providing much of the raw genetic material used in modern plant breeding: farmerbred crop varieties and their wild relatives. The Rio Convention on Biodiversity is one international mechanism that recognizes the legitimacy of such claims by declaring that plant genetic resources are the property of the country of origin.A recent CIAT study projected the financial costs and benefits of introducing a global system of royalty payments on sales of crop seed. Common beans were used as the example in this modeling exercise. The income and payments were calculated so as to permit comparisons between regions of the world and between selected Latin American countriesto see who would win and who would lose.The study, by economist Douglas Pachico who leads CIATs Impact Assessment Unit, makes two key assumptions. First, the royalty is set at a liberal 10 percent of the seed price. Second, royalties are divided among countries according to the genetic contribution each country makes to the global bean gene pool from which commercial varieties are bred and then marketed as seed.The projections show, as expected, that the royalty scheme would favor poorer southern countries as a whole. The block of richer northern countries would have net payments to make. Based on current levels of global bean production, developing countries would pay out about $49 million in royalties and take in about $53 million, for a net gain of $4 million. Europe and North America (excluding Mexico) would take in less than $2 million and pay royalties of close to $6 million, for a net loss of about $4 million.But the study also shows that among individual countries and regions, there would be large imbalances. For example, Peru and Mexico, which possess many bean landraces and wild ancestors, would each have an annual net income of over $13 million from the scheme. In contrast, Brazil, a major bean-growing country but not a source of bean genetic diversity, would have a net annual bill of $17.5 million. Sub-Saharan Africa, also a major bean producing region, would have net payments of $12 million, more than Europe and North America combined. Asia and the Caribbean would also be net payers for bean germplasm.The study concludes that, despite national and regional disparities, a royalty system based on germplasm ownership could be in the common interest if it serves to provide improved incentives for the conservation of genetic diversity. And insofar as such a system might also encourage further exchange, development, and use of germplasm, it would have the benefit of boosting bean productivity. Pachico estimates the financial windfall from additional production to be between 6 and 27 times greater than the anticipated royalty payments. It would, in principle, be worthwhile for gene-poor, low-income countries to pay for access to genes. But most developing countries have far more to gain from increasing bean productivity than from a royalty system for bean germplasm. n a novel application of a CIAT computer tool called FloraMap, researchers have mapped out how future climate change will likely affect the distribution of wild peanuts in their region of greatest genetic diversity, South America. The resulting scenarios paint a precarious future for most of the 18 species analyzed.The findings have major implications for efforts to protect wild peanuts in natural habitats and, by extension, for the future availability of wild genes for breeding programs. Wild peanuts possess significant disease resistance and other useful traits that breeders could transfer to their more susceptible cultivated cousins.When it comes to migration to new ecological niches, wild peanuts (comprising 68 known species in the genus Arachis) are exceedingly slow. In contrast with plants whose seeds are scattered by wind, rain, and birds, the propagation of wild peanuts takes them no more than about 1 meter per year. The main reason is that their fruit grows underground. This rather sedentary reproductive behavior makes them highly vulnerable to climate change. If they cannot adapt by moving, then they face extinction.The research team, composed of scientists from CIAT and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), obtained temperature and rainfall information for South America, generated by a climate change model called HADGCM. These dataestimates for the period 1961-1990 and predictions for 2041-2070were mapped onto the smaller-scale grid used by FloraMap. The geographic coordinates of the sites where specimens of the 18 wild species have been previously collected were then input into FloraMap. This allowed the projected distributions for the two time periods, past and future, to be mapped and compared.A key pattern the team was looking for was distribution overlaps, climatic zones where wild peanut species potentially grew in the late 20th century and would likely continue to survive in the mid-21st century. For three of the 18 species, overlaps were significant, suggesting their chances of survival are high. In four cases the model predicted significant reductions in andFruit of the cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea) with that of the wild peanut species A. williamsii. Both samples are from Bolivia, where the peanut is believed to have its center of origin.fragmentation of distribution. The really disturbing finding was that for each of the remaining 11 species, there was no overlap. Without human intervention these species are likely to die out.Apart from climate change, wild peanut habitats are also threatened by human encroachment and industrial development. For example, in southeastern Bolivia, thought to be the center of origin of the cultivated peanut, construction of a gas pipeline through a wilderness area will probably be accompanied by an influx of pioneer farmers and livestock. Cattle in particular pose a major risk, since they have a strong preference for wild peanuts and tend to eradicate them through grazing.When David Williams, a wild peanut expert with IPGRI, learned of the pipeline project, he and colleagues began planning a rescue expedition to collect wild species with Bolivian scientists. Finding the wild species that originally parented the domesticated peanut, A. hypogaea, would be a major breakthrough for crop improvement, says Williams. The wild progenitors could serve as genetic bridges for transferring disease resistance from other wild species to the domesticated A. hypogaea by means of conventional breeding. This would enable peanut farmers to cut costs, increase yields, and better protect the environment by reducing pesticide applications, he notes.But unfortunately, a complex controversy recently erupted in Bolivia over compensation for environmental damage due to pipeline construction. Local groups, hearing news of the planned peanut collection mission, perceived it to be yet another assault on the environment rather than the protective measure it was conceived to be. In the hot political atmosphere, the international team has been unable to obtain a collecting permit.Even so, a Bolivian NGO, Fundación Amigos de la Naturaleza (Friends of Nature Foundation), is using the modeling results to plan conservation of the wild relatives of peanut as well as of other crops. In addition, these results should provide Bolivian decision makers with compelling new evidence of the importance of conserving globally important plant genetic resources.After several decades of success in boosting crop yields, plant breeders around the world are now targeting their skills on a major and growing international health threat: micronutrient deficiencies in the human diet. At CIAT researchers are investigating the iron and zinc content of common beans and beta-carotene (the precursor of vitamin A) in cassava. Fortifying these two crops with essential micronutrients through breeding is seen as a powerful way to improve the health of vast numbers of poor people at low cost.The work at CIAT is part of a collaborative study, funded by Danish International Development Assistance (Danida) and involving four Future Harvest centers, that examines the potential for plant breeding to overcome micronutrient deficiencies. Based on the promising results so far, researchers are planning an expanded initiative that will include another four centers. The new CIAT and IPGRI scientists predict that global climate change will dramatically reduce the species richness of wild peanuts in South America, their region of greatest genetic diversity.project will bring together specialists in plant breeding, genomics, human nutrition, and food policy to develop new varieties that help combat micronutrient deficiencies among the poorest people in the tropics. CIAT will coordinate the plant breeding across seven centers, while the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) will coordinate work on nutrition and policy.Nutrient deficiencies drain the health, stamina, intelligence, and productive capacities of poor people, says CIAT bean breeder Steve Beebe. For example, iron-deficiency anemia affects nearly 2 billion people worldwide. In young children it impairs physical and cognitive development and immune response to disease. And in pregnant women, its linked to higher risk of illness and death as well as to major health threats to their fetuses and newborns.Beebe and colleagues have analyzed CIATs core bean collectionmore than 1,000 samples covering various classes of common beans. The aim is to get a better idea of the genetic basis and variability of micronutrient content. Findings show the quantity of iron differs markedly within and among bean types, with an average of 55 parts per million (ppm). Zinc follows a similar pattern, averaging 35 ppm.Results of preliminary experiments reveal several patterns and characteristics that favor success for a bean breeding strategy and point researchers in the right direction:It appears that concentrations of iron, zinc, and other minerals in beans are genetically correlated. So, selecting for high iron content, for example, would automatically provide the added benefit of bean seeds with more zinc.Beans selected for high mineral micronutrient content can be expected to retain that trait across different growing environments. This bodes well for new fortified varieties having geographically wide impact.Mineral content is unlikely to conflict with consumer preference traits like grain size and color. Since micronutrient fortification would be invisible, bean eaters would not have an obvious reason to shun new varieties.The bottom line, says Beebe, is that there appears to be enough genetic variability in common beans to allow breeders to improve their iron content by up to 80 percent and their zinc by up to 40 percent. The challenge now is to incorporate the necessary genes into the bean types that interest farmers without losing valuable traits like high yield and drought tolerance. To this end CIAT bean scientists are now identifying molecular markers linked to the half dozen or so genes responsible for high mineral content. Molecular marker technology will also help speed up selection of superior plants.Worldwide, between 140 million and 250 million children under 5 suffer from vitamin A deficiency. Like iron deficiency, this tends to weaken the immune system. And in severe cases it causes irreversible blindness.Sorting bean seed at a market in Kampala, Uganda.The roots of cassava with high content of beta-carotene (the precursor of vitamin A) have a yellowy orange hue.The leaves and, to a lesser extent, the roots of some cassava varieties contain significant concentrations of beta-carotene (vitamin A) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Recent CIAT studies suggest that high beta-carotene concentrations also slow the deterioration of roots after harvest. This means better storability and greater food security.The double benefit of root beta-carotene, combined with the fact that root processing before consumption tends to make its vitamin C unstable, has led CIAT to concentrate on enhancing root betacarotene. A major consumer-related problem to resolve, though, is that carotene-rich roots tend to be yellow or yellowy orange. While in some parts of Africa people like this hue of cassava, the general preference in most countries is for white roots.Hernán Ceballos, manager of CIATs cassava project, notes that several strategies are being pursued simultaneously to enhance the vitamin A content of cassava for regions where the crop is important and vitamin A deficiency is severe.First, yellow cassava varieties from Latin America are being crossed with African varieties resistant to cassava mosaic disease, a major threat in Africa. The resulting germplasm can then be distributed in areas where yellow roots are preferred. The research is being done jointly with the Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).Second, researchers are trying to break the genetic linkage between root yellowness and high beta-carotene content. This involves crossing white and yellow cassava varieties and then selecting progeny that are less yellow but have good betacarotene content.The third and longer term strategy involves genetic transformationcut and paste, as Ceballos calls it. CIAT scientists will use molecular markers to pinpoint the few genes that act together to produce good root beta-carotene. These genes will then be cloned, biologically packaged, and transferred to current varieties that appeal to farmers and consumers. With this strategy, notes Ceballos, well improve the nutritive value of already successful varieties, thus bypassing many of the steps involved in lengthy conventional breeding.As the operator of a major agricultural biotechnology program, CIAT observes the highest standards of biosafety. Strict enforcement prevents experimental genetically modified organisms (GMOs) from accidentally entering the natural environment of Colombia, our host country.Today, there is much public debateand confusionover GMOs, namely organisms that have had foreign genes inserted into their DNA through genetic engineering. A key concern is that genetically modified plants may interbreed with the same or similar species or wild relatives a process known as geneflowthereby transferring foreign genes and disrupting the ecosystem. Geneflow, a naturally occurring process, has been an important part of crop evolution. So, the concern is not about geneflow itself but about the possible consequences of introducing genes that are not present in the genome of a given species.CIAT has been experimenting with transgenic methods since the early 1990s. It sees the technology as one way to overcome inherent difficulties in conventional breeding of crops grown by poor farmers. We look for the most practical and safe method to improve crops, says Aart van Schoonhoven, CIATs director of genetic resources research. Transgenics, he says, is just one of several options for accelerating the diffusion of high-quality germplasm to farmers.CIATs Biosafety Committee has been operating since 1991 in close collaboration with the Colombian government. On the one hand, Testing of lines resistant to the rice hoja blanca virus in biosecure plots at CIAT headquarters in Colombia.representatives of two public Colombian scientific agencies are members of the committee, thus ensuring national perspectives in our biosafety work. On the other hand, CIAT has provided advice to the government on the formulation of national biosafety regulations for GMOs. And it recently organized biosafety training for Colombian and Latin American researchers and seminars for journalists.The Center also conducts research on biosafety issues. In 2000, Germanys Federal Ministry of Cooperation and Economic Development (BMZ) approved a collaborative project to evaluate potential geneflow in two crops, beans and rice.Gene-transfer work at CIAT has moved ahead steadily over the past decade, with research on rice being the most advanced. In many ways transgenic rice serves as a model for the Centers biosafety work, not only in the area of enforcement, but also in biosafety research, training, and information.The most advanced experimental transgenic rice was developed with Rockefeller Foundation support in the late 1990s. Its resistant to the highly destructive rice hoja blanca virus (RHBV), a major problem in Latin American rice fields. The foreign gene comes from the virus itself. Developing durable resistance to this disease has been a key aim of the research.Once the transgenic rice was developed under safe laboratory conditions and, more recently, tested in controlled glasshouses, the next step was to conduct outdoor field trials. In 2000, CIAT received approval from Colombias National Biosafety Commission to do so. Formal registration with the agency now also allows us to generate and import transgenic plants for further germplasm development. The transgenic rice has since graduated from the confines of the glasshouse to a biosecure outdoor plot at our main experiment station. Precautions in the field trial are numerous and mutually reinforcing, thus minimizing the risk of geneflow.A low-cost system for growing disease-free cassava planting material in rural areas promises to boost production of this important crop in Latin America and beyond. Besides putting more money in the pockets of small-scale farmers, the technology offers rural communities a chance to launch a new type of lucrative and beneficial rural agroenterprise.The technologys centerpiece is a farmeroperated tissue culture laboratory in which inexpensive local equipment and materials substitute for high-cost components typically found in a conventional biotechnology laboratory. Preliminary results show that the cost of setting up such a rural laboratory is about 5 percent that for a conventional facility.The main idea is to stop the cycle of disease transmission in cassava production while increasing farmers income, says CIAT biologist/ biochemist Roosevelt Escobar. The technology was designed and initially tested by Escobar and colleagues with a group of nine women farmers in Colombias Cauca Department. A national NGO, the Agricultural Research and Development Foundation (FIDAR), also plays a central role in the project, coordinating farmer participation and providing business management training.Start-up funding for farmer involvement in the micropropagation research was provided by the Participatory Research and Gender Analysis (PRGA) Program. Coordinated by CIAT, this is a global, multi-institutional initiative of the CGIAR.The laboratory procedure begins with diseasefree cassavain vitro plantletssupplied by CIAT. Transforming the plantlets into stem cuttings, called stakes, for sale to local farmers comprises several steps involving rigorous attention to cleanliness. For example, tissues are prepared in a sterile enclosure whose cost is about one-tenth that of a high-quality flow chamber used by professional agricultural laboratories.The cuttings are cultured in sterilized glass bottles with a growth medium prepared with off-theshelf products from local shops. These are much cheaper than the custom chemical products used in a scientific laboratory. For example, baby food jars substitute for laboratory test tubes and spring water for bottled water. This do-it-yourself method of preparing culture medium costs about onequarter as much as conventional medium. And, surprisingly, it results in plant propagation rates similar to or better than those in CIATs laboratory.At first we were afraid we wouldnt be able carry out the laboratory work, says farmer Doris Castillo. The equipment seemed sophisticated. But now it comes as naturally to us as sowing seed.After 4 to 6 weeks of in vitro growth in a simple bambooframed greenhouse covered in plastic, the new cassava plantlets are ready to be redissected and cultured in another round of micropropagation. Once a large enough quantity of plantlets has been generated from the original CIAT germplasm, theyre grown in pots with soil to promote root growth. Eventually theyre transferred to an outdoor nursery where they grow into full-sized plants, ready for cutting into disease-free stakes that farmers can plant in their fields.Escobar is hopeful that this still-evolving tissue culture technology can also be successfully applied to other crops like plantain, blackberries, and orchids. this highly variable organism can result in cassava root losses ranging from 20 to 100 percent. Given the importance of cassava as a staple food and income earner in Latin America and Africa, the disease poses a serious threat to food security.Cassava stem cuttings called stakes, planted each cropping season by farmers, are the main repository of CBB. If infected, they allow the disease to persist from year to year and to spread between fields. And transport of contaminated stakes between growing regions spreads the disease even further afield. Latin America, the center of origin of cassava, is also the region with the greatest diversity of Xam strains. CBB is also a problem in Africa now, having been accidentally introduced there in the 1970s from Latin America. The results have allowed the CIAT-based team to design a set of laboratory and field methods for detecting the disease in cassava stems and seeds. This is a major step in preventing its spread. Diagnostic techniques, including visual inspection procedures, have been compiled into a manual for national and other users, available in Spanish and English.Laboratory methods are based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as well as two older techniques, dot-blot hybridization and ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). As key tools for certifying that cassava stakes and seed are disease-free, they promote safer exchange of germplasm within and between countries and help prevent the spread of Xam strains to uninfected areas.Id like to see all the products we developed made available to national research programs and farmer groups, says Valérie Verdier, an IRD plant pathologist and coauthor of the manual, which also includes disease-prevention advice for growers. She expects high demand in cassava-producing countries.Just as important as their role in disease control, the recent advances in CBB characterization and diagnostics aid selection and breeding of CBB-resistant germplasm. Now we have a better picture of the resistance of the cassava material available in CIATs core collection, says Verdier. Scientists are also using the Centers molecular genetic map of cassava to identify regions of the cassava genome responsible for CBB resistance. To date theyve identified 19 molecular markers, paving the way for marker-assisted selection and breeding of resistant materials. Indigenous women in the Colombian Amazon have teamed up with CIAT researchers to combat a grave impediment to cassava production: root rots. These fungal diseases turn otherwise edible cassava roots into foul-smelling mush. Every year they destroy 20 percent of the worlds cassava crop and, in badly infested areas, the figure can be as high as 70 percent.Enhancing host plant resistance is widely seen as the best way to manage root rots. This requires intensive germplasm selection to identify cassava lines that resist the fungus and have other desirable traits. The fact that the disease-causing fungus Phytophthora is a highly diverse organism, consisting of many species and many strains within those species, complicates the work. We wanted to know the farmers preferences for growing cassava, so we could give them exactly what they wanted, says CIAT plant pathologist Elizabeth Alvarez. The women are so happy and proud to be selecting varieties themselves.Based on long experience cultivating cassava in the forest, the farmers laid out their own criteria for good crop growth as well as preferred traits at harvest time. The participants then cultivated a mix of traditional and improved materials on four plots in different communities and compared their performance.The women shared results among themselves and with other farmers in the region, with help from local development agencies. An important outcome of this work is a handbook on diagnosing cassava production problems and evaluating options, especially germplasm. It makes extensive use of drawings, since farmers in the region speak different dialects of the local language, Tukano, and many cannot read or write. In addition, a collection of indigenous cassava varieties has been assembled and conserved locally. This will help maintain the biodiversity needed for good crop health and food security.While building farmers capacity to evaluate and select suitable resistant varieties is important, better soil management is also needed, says CIAT agronomist Germán Llano. Population growth around isolated towns in the Amazon is intensifying pressure on the forest. Under shifting cultivation fallow periods and crop rotation have been reduced in recent years. The resulting declines in soil fertility, combined with high soil humidity, provide a perfect environment for proliferation of root rot fungi. CIAT scientists recently continued their participatory experiments, this time to evaluate the effects of soil enhancement on the yield of local cassava varieties.Cassava harvest near Mitú, Vaupés Department, in the Colombian Amazon.The temperate zones will forever envy the tropical world its treasure house of plant diversityexotic fruits, aromatic herbs, medicinal plants, delicate flowers, and food staples like cassava and arrowroot, also used for industrial purposes.Despite the biological wealth at their doorsteps, tropical farmers have all too often encountered failure in publicly sponsored attempts to add value to existing crops or launch new ones. The architects of these projects were sometimes far too concerned with the production side of the equation. Scant attention was paid to the real needs of industrial and individual consumers and to the support services vital to sustaining small businesses.CIATs agroenterprise specialistswith support from the UKs Department for International Development (DFID) and Canadas International Development Research Centre (IDRC)have designed a new participatory method for creating viable business opportunities for small tropical producers. Its based on analysis of strengths and weaknesses in the overall marketing chain, followed by design and execution of integrated agroenterprise projects. Under preparation as a CIAT training manual, the method stresses competitiveness, job creation, higher value added, and the involvement of many contributors to the marketing chain. It has been tested in hillside communities of Honduras and Colombia and in the forest margins of Peru.In Pucallpa, Peru, the Center is working with a local consortium of development agencies and community groupsthe Consortium for Sustainable Development of the Ucayali Region (CODESU)to promote production and marketing of cocona (Solanum sessiliflorum), a tropical fruit. This forest species has enormous market appeal as fresh produce, juice, jam, and ice cream flavoring, as well as an ingredient in liquor and spicy sauces.In designing an integrated agroenterprise project for cocona, local participants examined production, processing, and marketing factors. As the fruit is still a minor commodity, there are many bottlenecks to deal with. For example, lack of investment capital and weak organization at all stages of the marketing chain were seen as major impediments.Nevertheless, market analysis indicates that, if various bottlenecks can be eliminated, a bonanza awaits local farmers. Consumer demand for cocona is expected to explode in the coming years. If the projections are right, production will need to reach 3,125 tons a year, more than six times its current level.The participatory modegetting the actors together to exchange ideas and informationis a strong motivator, says Rupert Best, manager of CIATs Agroenterprise Development Project. Over the past year, CODESU has been promoting its agroenterprise project among potential service providers and participants. An association of cocona producers is on the drawing board, and its promoters have interested local investors in building a pilot processing plant.In Colombias Cauca Department, similar agroenterprise development activities are taking placefor dairy products, medicinal plants, and cassava starch. And in two Honduran communities, local farmers and other participants in the food marketing chain are concentrating on coffee and maize. Lessons from these pilot projects have allowed CIAT to solidify its methodology for developing integrated agroenterprise projects. Now the Center is broadening dissemination of the methodology through a training course for eastern and southern Africa.Results of farmer participatory analysis of the coffee market chain in Yoro Department, Honduras. This kind of analysis yields information that can help farmers become more competitive.CIAT and three partner organizations have developed a new decision-support tool, in the form of a training guide, for identifying local indicators of soil quality in eastern Africa. Based on earlier work in Latin America, the guide is helping farmer groups and researchers develop a common language for jointly combating one of the gravest threats to food security in the African highlands: soil degradation.The traits that tropical farmers typically look for when evaluating soil are quite different from those that researchers examine. Farmers have a long tradition of relying on indicators like soil color and smell, native plants, and surface salt crusts. Soil scientists, in contrast, measure factors such as biological activity, organic matter content, plantavailable nutrients, and pH. While both groups are searching for essentially the same insights into soil quality, differences in their methods, vocabulary, and training are a major obstacle to communication and joint problem solving.The new English-language guide for eastern Africatogether with its Spanish counterpart, which has been used in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, and Venezuelaprovides a solution. The guide explains how to elicit, organize, and rank farmer perspectives and integrate them with those of soil scientists so that both groups benefit.Farmers and technicians can use the resulting indicators to monitor and evaluate the impact of technologies designed to improve the soil, says CIAT soil scientist Edmundo Barrios. As a result, researchers gain valuable farmer feedback on the performance of new technologies, expressed in language that everyone understands. In recent years CIAT and collaborating agencies have jointly designed nine decision-support tools, in the form of training guides, to help tropical hillside farmers manage their natural resources collectively and sustainably. The soil-indicators guide described in the preceding section is one such tool. But its one thing to train small groups of people and quite another to ensure that the acquired skills are applied to real problems and that the results are fed back into the overall learning process.Training is not the end goal, says CIAT trainer Vicente Zapata. The experience has to be incorporated into the bloodstream of participating institutions. We encourage them to adapt our decision tools to their daily work and needs. Action plans, designed and monitored by the organizations whose personnel receive training in the use of CIAT tools, are the key to success, according to Zapata. They provide a direct link between training and development outcomes in rural communities.There are many tasks in natural resource management (NRM) that small farming communities may wish to take on. These include agroenterprise development, protection of forests and watercourses, and the prevention of soil erosion. But before communities can begin specific projects, there is much groundwork to do. Once basic food security has been strengthened, they may then wish to set up organizational partnerships and build a common knowledge base about local geography, land uses, and social needs. The CIAT tools cover all these steps and more.In developing and testing its NRM tools and training guides, CIAT has worked at various reference sites, organized around well-defined watersheds, explains José Ignacio Sanz, who manages the CIAT project Community Management of Hillside Resources. The reference sites are located in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Colombia, and CIATs work there has been strongly supported by the Canadian, Danish, and Swiss governments.Training courses, however, have been held for groups in other countries as well. So far, 15 courses on various tools have been offered to about 400 people in seven countries of Latin America and eastern Africa. In another village, Aguas Lindas, the same CIAT tool helped residents document illegal tree cutting. Once the issue had been raised publicly, the community rallied. The forest damage was videotaped and shown to government authorities. The logging immediately stopped. As Madrid notes, the very act of getting local people directly involved in mapping the surrounding landscape, triggered joint action to solve a problem hitherto ignored. From the standpoint of human health and wealth, the Peruvian Amazon is something of an enigma. This vast landscape of lush tropical forests, rivers, and valleys possesses a huge share of the Neotropics biodiversity and other natural resources. Yet, its inhabitants, many of them new arrivals engaged in shifting agriculture, are extremely poor and afflicted by chronic or seasonal illnesses.An international, transdisciplinary team of researchers and development agents led by CIAT is working to pinpoint the reasons for this apparent contradiction. Its aim is to ensure that future interventions to improve human well-being take into account factors so far played down by both research and public policy. These include sociocultural differences, local biodiversity, natural seasonal rhythms affecting food availability, peoples livelihood strategies, and their own perceptions of problems and goals. In short, the team takes a holistic ecosystem approach to human health and development.Eight rural communities in the Ucayali Region of central-eastern Peru participate in the project, which is funded by IDRC. Other contributors include Peruvian health and fisheries ministries; indigenous and womens groups; research groups from Peru, Canada, and the UK; and PATH-Canada, a nongovernment health organization. Through household and community surveys, the scientists have compiled a large database on the health of local women, men, and children. This information is being correlated with local resource-use patterns, ecosystem characteristics, and other information.Recent health surveys reveal disturbing levels of anemia and parasitic infections. For example, the incidence of moderate anemia among children ranged from 69 to 88 percent of those tested. In one community all 146 children examined were moderately to severely anemic. Vitamin A deficiency is also widespread, and malaria, dengue fever, and persistent diarrhea are on the rise.Seasonal flooding, during which rivers may rise by as much as 10 meters, has been recognized as a powerful influence on health. It physically isolates communities, periodically making transport to health services and markets extremely difficult. It also undermines drinking water quality and affects cropping patterns, human migration, and seasonal distribution of fish, game, and wild edible plants.The project team is now working with the study communities to design local action plans. These center on practical measures like nutrition education, testing for diseases, water purification, small-scale food production, and better hygiene and sanitation.The researchers have also noted the motivational power of participatory methods. The impact of having mothers, fathers, and children view their own parasites through a microscope far surpassed the information value of stool and sample analysis, says a recent IDRC project brief. Parasites were no longer an abstract concept discussed only by Ministry of Health professionals; they became real aspects of villagers daily experience with poor water quality and diarrhea. In each community villagers were immediately mobilized and sought solutions to reduce water contamination and parasite transmission.Working with womens focus groups to gain a better understanding of local diets in the Peruvian Amazon.Less than 3 years after Hurricane Mitch devastated agriculture in Honduras and Nicaragua, rural people in both countries are again living the nightmare of food and seed scarcity. This time, though, the threat comes from a severe and widespread drought. The Honduran Secretariat of Agriculture and Livestock recently reported that in 57 municipalities more than 75 percent of the bean, maize, and rice harvests had been lost.Mitch prompted a deluge of emergency aid, including a successful seed relief effort organized by four Future Harvest centers, under CIAT coordination, and funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). But the new crisis has elicited a different response. Now, the Honduran government and the Red Cross are seeking help in applying measures that can reduce agricultures vulnerability to natural disasters.In responding to this call, explains CIAT soil scientist Miguel Ayarza, who coordinates the Centers work in Central America, well draw on a growing repertory of participatory approaches. These tools offer one of our best hopes for making hillside land and communities more resilient in the face of periodic crises. Some of the evidence supporting this claim has come from CIATs experience with disaster relief after Mitch. For example, in areas of Honduras and Nicaragua where local agricultural research committees, or CIALs, had been established with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, these farmer groups proved highly effective in targeting seed relief. Some CIALs have evolved into small agroenterprises that specialize in producing and marketing high-quality crop seed. According to seed specialist Guillermo Giraldo, who coordinated the Future Harvest centers emergency seed relief effort after Mitch, networks of small farmer-run enterprises could provide the foundation for a national, community-based seed system that guarantees adequate seed supplies in good times and bad.Another participatory approach that rose to the challenge of Hurricane Mitch is a community watershed management association called Campos Verdes (Green Fields). Consisting of representatives from the 16 communities that make up the municipality of San Dionisio in Nicaragua, explains CIAT scientist Jorge Alonso Beltrán, Campos Verdes expresses farmers needs, conveys feedback to research and development organizations, and mounts projects in response to local demand.In the months following Mitch, explains Paulina Aguilar, a member of the associations governing board, Campos Verdes organized two projects to deal with the hurricanes impacts on our community. One involved multiplication and distribution of improved seed, while the other was designed to give the community a good overall grasp of the state of the local environment and to identify areas that are particularly vulnerable to continued degradation.Under particularly trying circumstances, the CIALs, Campos Verdes, and other participatory tools have proven their worth as engines of grass roots rural innovation. If applied more widely, they could enable thousands of vulnerable people in vulnerable places to cope better with natural disasters as well as more subtle changes in the local landscape and economy. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2f059070663db381250a6f5c5e877c52","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/8b8db91d-fca4-44e7-9df5-c928130f5df8/content","id":"-1791858210"},"keywords":["drought adaptation","climate change","maize races","genetic resources"],"sieverID":"fc1de0b9-7a99-4f41-bb31-c7e1b8aad0ed","content":"Se trabajó con una base de datos de accesiones recientes de 54 razas de maíz de México, cuyos datos pasaporte se extrajeron de la Unidad de Recursos Genéticos del Banco de Germoplasma del INIFAP. A partir de las coordenadas geográficas de las accesiones, se hizo una caracterización por sitios de accesión, de las condiciones de disponibilidad de humedad del período mayo-octubre para el desarrollo del maíz, con base en el sistema de información ambiental del INIFAP y el sistema IDRISI Andes. Con estos datos se realizó un análisis estadístico que incluyó análisis de varianza y un análisis de taxonomía numérica (análisis cluster) con la opción de correlación de momento producto entre razas. Adicionalmente se realizó un análisis de accesiones por raza para identificar las accesiones que desarrollan bajo ambientes con deficiencia de humedad. Se seleccionaron las accesiones con adaptación a un ambiente con índice de humedad (IH) (precipitación/evapotranspiración potencial) mayo-octubre inferior a 0.5. Los resultados mostraron la identificación de cinco grupos raciales, de los cuales uno de ellos se destacó por su adaptación a un IH entre 0.39 y 0.53. Este grupo incluyó las razas Chapalote, Dulcillode Ocho y Gordo. El análisis de accesiones reportó la presencia de maíz en un total de 677 sitios con condiciones de semiaridez en la temporada mayo-octubre. Las 677 accesiones representan a 24 razas. Éstos resultados permiten concluir que en México existen recursos genéticos, relacionados con las razas de maíz, los cuales podrían ser de utilidad en los programas de mejoramiento genético de maíz enfocados a la adaptación a estrés por sequía.Palabras clave: adaptación a sequía, cambio climático, razas de maíz, recursos genéticos.La presencia del cambio climático se ha manifestado de forma más evidente desde la última década del Siglo XX (Zarazúa, 2011), período durante el cual comenzaron a intensificarse fenómenos meteorológicos adversos para la agricultura, tales como la sequía. Esta situación ha incrementado la vulnerabilidad de los cultivos en México, entre ellos el maíz, el cual es el de mayor importancia económica (SIAP, 2010). En México, para la década de 2051-2060, se espera que la temperatura media mayo-octubre se incremente en promedio 1.9, 1.9, 2.0, 1.9 y 1.8 °C en las zonas maiceras tropicales, subtropicales, transicionales de altura, valles altos y valles muy altos, respectivamente, lo cual incrementará la evapotranspiración potencial (ETP) 5.5, 5.9, 6.1, 6.8, y 7.5%. Paralelamente se espera que la precipitación en estas regiones disminuya en promedio 4. 4, 3.8, 4.1, 4.5 y 4.4%.Éstos valores se traducirán en un balance hídrico menos favorable para el cultivo del maíz, en las diferentes regiones productoras (Ruiz et al., 2011a). En la actualidad, la escasez de agua para cultivos constituye una de las principales preocupaciones y retos para los tomadores de decisiones del sector productivo; el problema es complejo y requiere abordarse desde diferentes ángulos. Una de las alternativas que podrían coadyuvar para lograr sistemas agrícolas sostenibles bajo este contexto hídrico adverso, es la utilización de genotipos de plantas adaptables a condiciones de humedad deficiente (Márquez et al., 2009). De acuerdo con diversas investigaciones, se sabe que con frecuencia las razas de maíz poseen una mejor adaptación específica a ciertas condiciones locales que las variedades mejoradas (Smith et al., 2001). Estas diferencias se acentúan en ambientes desfavorables, por lo que es de esperarse que las razas de maíz (Ruiz et al., 2008) así como sus parientesThe presence of climate change has manifested itself more clearly in the last decade of the twentieth century (Zarazúa, 2011), period in which began to intensify adverse weather conditions for agriculture, such as drought. This situation has increased the vulnerability of crops in Mexico, including maize, which is the most economically important (SIAP, 2010). In Mexico, for the decade of 2051-2060, is expected that the average temperature from May to October is going to increase on average 1.9, 1.9, 2.0, 1.9 and 1.8 °C in the tropical, subtropical, transitional high, high valleys and very high valleys, maize growing areas respectively, which will increase the potential evapotranspiration (ETP) 5.5, 5.9, 6.1, 6.8, and 7.5%. Also on these regions precipitation is expected to decrease on average 4.4, 3.8, 4.1, 4.5 and 4.4%. These values will result in a less favorable water balance for maize cultivation in different regions (Ruiz et al., 2011a). At present, crop water scarcity is one of the key concerns and challenges for decision makers in the manufacturing sector; the problem is complex and is necessary to approach it from different angles. One alternative that could contribute to achieve sustainable agricultural systems under this adverse water context is the use of plant genotypes adapted to low moisture conditions (Marquez et al., 2009). According to several studies, often known maize races posses a better specific adaptation to certain local conditions than improved varieties (Smith et al., 2001). These differences are accentuated in unfavorable environments, so it is expected that the maize races maize (Ruiz et al., 2008) and their wild relatives (Sánchez et al., 2011) provide genetic diversity related to adaptation to environmental conditions, including drought (Ruiz et al., 2011b). Especially in centers of origin and crop diversity, as silvestres (Sánchez et al., 2011) aporten diversidad genética relacionada con adaptación a condiciones de estrés ambiental, incluyendo condiciones de sequía (Ruiz et al., 2011b). Especialmente en centros de origen y diversidad de los cultivos, como lo es México para el maíz, se cree que las razas conservadas in situ son más rústicas y tolerarán y se adaptarán mejor al cambio climático (Mercer y Perales, 2010).El maíz se ha expandido geográficamente, cultivándose bajo un amplio rango de condiciones agroclimáticas (Ruiz et al., 2008) y sometiéndose a un proceso de selección natural. Debido a una estructura genómica única y al proceso de selección humana continua, el maíz es una de las especies más plásticas en términos de su adaptación ambiental, capaz de desarrollarse a altas y bajas altitudes, y en climas tropicales, subtropicales y templados (Hayano et al., 2009). La variabilidad genética del maíz ha sido explotada para producir cultivares de maíz tolerantes a sequía para el trópico seco de Indonesia, Kenya, México y Colombia (Pingali et al., 2001). De acuerdo con lo anterior, el objetivo de la presente investigación fue identificar razas y accesiones mexicanas de maíz con adaptación a condiciones deficientes de humedad, mediante un análisis de datos biogeográficos.Se utilizaron los datos de pasaporte de 6 600 accesiones colectadas entre 2007 y 2009 y reportadas en la base de datos generada por los proyectos CONABIO-INIFAP FZ001, FZ002, FZ003, FZ016 y FZ023 (INIFAP, 2011); dichas accesiones están clasificadas en 54 razas mexicanas de maíz. La razón de utilizar esta base de datos es debido a que las accesiones referidas representan a las variedades de maíz sembradas en la actualidad por los productores de México y a que se dispone de semilla en el Banco de Germoplasma del Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP). Para cada accesión se recuperó la información de coordenadas geográficas y altitud del sitio de colecta, además de la base de datos completa incluida en el Banco de Germoplasma de Maíz del INIFAP. En el Cuadro 1 se muestra el total de accesiones por raza consideradas en el presente estudio.is Mexico for maize, it is believed that the races preserved in situ are more rustic that tolerate and will adapt better to climate change (Mercer and Perales, 2010).Maize has expanded geographically, being cultivated under a wide range of agro climatic conditions (Ruiz et al., 2008) and undergoing a process of natural selection. Due to a unique genomic structure and to continuous human selection process, maize is one of the most plastic species in terms of environmental adaptation, able to grow at high and low altitudes, in tropical, subtropical and temperate climates (Hayano et al., 2009). Genetic variability of maize has been exploited to produce cultivars of maize tolerant to drought for the dry tropics of Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico and Colombia (Pingali et al., 2001). Accordingly, the objective of this study was to identify races and Mexican corn accessions with adaptation to moisture deficient conditions by analyzing biogeographical data.Data passport from 6 600 accessions collected between 2007 and 2009 and reported in the database generated by the projects CONABIO-INIFAPFZ001, FZ002, FZ003, FZ016 and FZ023 (INIFAP, 2011) was used; these accessions are classified into 54 Mexican maize races. The reason for using this database is because the accessions referred represent corn varieties currently planted by the producers of Mexico and that there is availability of it at the Germplasm Bank from the National Institute of Research for Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock (INIFAP). For each accession was recovered the information from geographic coordinates and altitude of the collection site, in addition to the complete database included in the Maize Germplasm Bank from INIFAP. Table 1 shows the total number of accessions by race considered in this study.From the geographical coordinates of the collection sites was generated a vector and a raster file, through which and making use of the GIS module from the IDRISI Andes system (Eastman, 2006), was extracted timelyA partir de las coordenadas geográficas de los sitios de colecta se generó un archivo vectorial y un archivo raster, mediante los cuales y haciendo uso del módulo GIS analysis del sistema IDRISI Andes (Eastman, 2006), se extrajo información puntual por accesión, relacionada con las siguientes variables: precipitación anual (Pa), precipitación estacional (Pe), considerando para ello el período mayo-octubre, precipitación del mes de julio (P7), precipitación del mes de agosto (P8), precipitación del mes de septiembre (P9), evapotranspiración potencial anual (ETPa), evapotranspiración potencial estacional (ETPe), evapotranspiración potencial de julio (ETP7), evapotranspiración potencial de agosto (ETP8), evapotranspiración potencial de septiembre (ETP9), índice de humedad anual (IHa)= Pa/ETPa, índice de humedad estacional (IHe)= Pe/ETPe, índice humedad de julio (IH7)= P7/ETP7, índice de humedad de agosto (IH8)= P8/ETP8, e índice de humedad de septiembre (IH9)= P9/ETP9. Para extraer la información de todas estas variables se utilizó el sistema de información ambiental (SIA) del INIFAP, el cual contiene información de todos estos parámetros en formato raster. La información que integra el SIA proviene de datos climáticos diarios de la serie 1961-2003, correspondiente a la Red de Estaciones Meteorológicas de la Comisión Nacional del Agua (CONAGUA).information by accession related to the following variables: annual precipitation (Pa), seasonal rainfall (Pe), taking into consideration the period from May to October, July precipitation (P7), August precipitation (P8), September precipitation (P9 ), annual potential evapotranspiration (ETPa), seasonal potential evapotranspiration (ETPe), July evapotranspiration (ETP7) August evapotranspiration (ETP8) September evapotranspiration (ETP9) annual humidity index (IH)= Pa/ETPa, seasonal humidity index (IHe)= Pe/ETPe, July humidity index (IH7)= P7/ ETP7, August humidity index (IH8)= P8/ETP8, and September humidity index (IH9)= P9/ETP9. To extract the information of all these variables was used the environmental information system (SIA) from INIFAP; this contains information of all these parameters in raster format. The information that SIA integrates comes from daily weather data series from 1961-2003, corresponding to the network of meteorological stations of the National Water Commission (CONAGUA).It was considered as unit of analysis the races. Analyses of variance were conducted to estimate the importance of variation between races and within races for environmental variables, since, if the variation between races is Se consideró como unidad de análisis a las razas. Se realizaron análisis de varianza para estimar la importancia de la variación entre razas y la variación dentro de razas para las variables ambientales; ya que si la variación entre razas es considerablemente mayor que la variación dentro de razas, entonces es posible llevar a cabo análisis de taxonomía numérica tomando como unidad los promedios de razas, para ello se utilizó el módulo SAS proc GLM del sistema estadístico SAS (SAS Institute, 1999).Para determinar las relaciones entre razas a partir de 10 variables derivadas de la caracterización agroclimática de los sitios de colecta, se calculó la distancia euclidiana con datos estandarizados a media cero y varianza uno y el agrupamiento se hizo con el método promedio de grupo. Para estimar el número óptimo de grupos, se usó el método de validación de Wishart (2006) contenido en el programa Clustan Graphics V8, utilizando 1 000 repeticiones. El método compara el agrupamiento obtenido con los datos originales, con los agrupamientos generados por permutación aleatoria de dichos datos; la distribución e intervalos de confianza obtenidos por permutación se comparan con el dendrograma generado con los datos de interés bajo la hipótesis de que dichos datos se distribuyen aleatoriamente, en otras palabras, no tienen estructura.Adicionalmente se realizó un análisis de accesiones por raza para identificar las accesiones que desarrollan bajo ambientes con deficiencia de humedad. En primer término se realizó una selección de accesiones que se cultivan bajo condiciones de temporal, eliminando las accesiones que reciben riego de auxilio o que se cultivan con humedad residual; la información se obtuvo de la Unidad de Recursos Genéticos del Banco de Germoplasma de INIFAP, ubicado en el Campo Experimental Valle de México del INIFAP. Una vez depurada la base de datos, se obtuvieron las accesiones que desarrollan bajo un índice de humedad mayo-octubre menor que 0.5 (considerado como el límite superior de la condición semiárida por la UNEP; UNEP, 1992), identificándolas por raza y entidad federativa. Con el sistema ArcGis (ESRI, 2006) se elaboró un mapa nacional de distribución de accesiones. Por último, con el sistema Excel de Microsoft se calcularon los valores mínimos de lluvia e índice de humedad mayo-octubre promedios bajo los cuales desarrolla cada raza de maíz.considerably greater than the variation within races, then it is possible to perform an analysis of numerical taxonomy, taking as unit the averages of races, for it was used the SAS proc GLM module from the SAS statistical system (SAS Institute, 1999).To determine the relationships between races from 10 variables derived from agro climatic characterization of the collection sites, was calculated the Euclidean distance with standardized data to zero mean and unit variance and clustering was made with the group average method.To estimate the optimal number of groups, we used the validation method of Wishart (2006) contained in the Graphics Clustan V8 program, using 1 000 replications.The method compares the obtained clustering with the original data, with the clusters generated by random permutation of the data, the distribution and confidence intervals obtained by permutation are compared with the dendrogram generated with the data of interest under the hypothesis that these data are randomly distributed, in other words, have no structure.Additionally was performed an accessions analysis by race to identify accessions that developed under moisturedeficient environments. First there was a selection of accessions that are planted under rainfed conditions, eliminating the accessions receiving supplemental irrigation or planted with residual moisture; the information was obtained from the Genetic Resources Unit of the Germplasm Bank from INIFAP, located in the experimental site Valley of Mexico from INIFAP. Once treated the database, were obtained the accessions that developed under a humidity index less than 0.5 from May to October (considered the upper limit of the semi-arid conditions by UNEP, UNEP, 1992), identifying them by race and state. With the ArcGIS system (ESRI, 2006) wwas developed a national distribution map of accessions. Finally, with the Microsoft Excel system were calculated the minimum values of precipitation and humidity index averages from May to October under which each maize race grows.A characterization of precipitation and humidity index of racial groups was made, obtained from cluster analysis. From this racial characterization, groups were typified by moisture availability conditions, using semiarid, subSe hizo una caracterización de precipitación e índice de humedad de los grupos raciales obtenidos del análisis de agrupamiento. A partir de esta caracterización se tipificaron los grupos raciales por condiciones de humedad disponible para el maíz, utilizando las designaciones semiárido, subhúmedo-seco y subúmedo-húmedo, cuando de acuerdo con la UNEP (1992) el valor promedio grupal de IH mayooctubre se ubicó entre 0.21 y 0.50, 0.5 y 0.65, y entre 0.65 y 1.0, respectivamente. Además se describieron como ambientes húmedo, húmedo-muy húmedo y muy húmedo, cuando el valor promedio de IH estacional fue de 1.0 a 1.25, 1.25 a 1.5 y >1.5, respectivamente.Los resultados obtenidos del análisis de variación entre razas se describen en el Cuadro 2. Ahí se puede ver que el valor de la prueba de F es altamente significativo para todas las variables analizadas, lo cual señala que existen diferencias reales entre los ambientes hídricos en que desarrollan las razas de maíz; por tanto, al diferir las razas en condiciones de humedad es muy posible difieran también en cuanto a los genes relacionados con adaptación ambiental (Linhart y Grant, 1996).En la Figura 1 se puede ver el resultado del análisis de agrupamiento realizado para las 54 razas bajo estudio. El procedimiento de validación de Clustan Graphics (Wishart, humid-dry and sub humid-wet designations, according to UNEP (1992) the average value of HI from May to October was between 0.21 and 0.50, 0.5 and 0.65, and between 0.65 and 1, respectively. Also described as humid environments, wet-very wet and very wet, when the seasonal average value of HI was 1.0 to 1.25, 1.25 to 1.5 and> 1.5, respectively.The results obtained from the analysis of variation between races are described in Table 2. It shows that the value of F test is highly significant for all the variables analyzed, which indicates that there are real differences between the water environments in which maize races grow, therefore, when races differ in moisture conditions is likely to differ also in terms of the genes related to environmental adaptation (Linhart and Grant, 1996).In Figure 1 can be seen the result of the cluster analysis performed for the 54 races under study. The validation procedure from Clustan Graphics (Wishart, 2006), was based on 1 000 random replications of the original data, found the optimal number of groups and divided the races of maize into five groups, which could be identified with the features that are described below, according to agro climatic average values from May to October of the races that compose each division ( 2006), se basó en 1 000 repeticiones aleatorias de los datos originales, encontró el número óptimo de grupos y dividió las razas de maíz en cinco grupos, los cuales podrían ser identificados con las características que se describen a continuación, de acuerdo con los valores agroclimáticos promedio mayo-octubre de las razas que componen cada división (Cuadro 3).El IH mayo-octubre de las razas que componen este grupo es alrededor de 1, señalando que desarrollan en un ambiente favorable en condiciones de humedad. Sin embargo, en algunas razas se puede apreciar (Cuadro 3) que el IH estacional es inferior a 1, aun cuando los valor de IH de julio a septiembre esté por arriba o cercano a este valor, lo que señala la presencia de déficit de humedad muy probablemente al inicio o al finalizar el ciclo de producción, pero sobre todo al término de éste. Se advierte la formación de diversos subgrupos, pero más evidentemente la presenciaFor the average value of HIe (between 1.25 and 1.50) the races of this group are classified as adaptation to wetvery wet conditions. It is composed of races Comiteco Olotillo, Tuxpeño Vandeño, Zapalote, Chico and Palomero Toluqueño that are grown under a range of precipitation of 913-1 214 mm. The July-September quarter shows abundant rainfall, so there is no moisture deficit during the maturation cycle of maize (Table 3).The HI from May to October of the races that compose this group is about 1, indicating that develop in a favorable environment in humid conditions. However, in some breeds can be seen (Table 3) that the seasonal HI is less than 1, even if the value of HI from July to September is above or close to this value, which indicates the presence of moisture deficit  Desarrollan bajo condiciones de estrés por sequía en algún período del ciclo de producción (valores de IHe menores que 1), con excepción de las razas Cacahuacintle y Nal-Tel de Altura, las cuales se adaptan a ambientes con un IHe por arriba de 1. Se aprecian cinco subgrupos, uno integrado por estas dos razas, con Pe entre 777 y 793 mm, pero que es suficiente para mantener un IH por arriba de 1 durante el trimestre julio-septiembre, debido a que estas razas están adaptadas a ambientes de altura, donde la demanda evapotranspirativa es menor. Otro subgrupo lo integran las razas Bolita, Chalqueño, Elotes Cónicos, Cónico y Ratón, con una Pe de 650 a 761 mm y un IHe de 0.71 a 0.97, sin problemas por déficit de humedad (IH>1) en el trimestre julio-septiembre, con excepción de la raza Ratón con déficit en julio.Un tercer subgrupo lo forman las razas Dzit Bacal y Nal-Tel, con una Pe de 940 a 959 mm, pero con un IH de julio y un IHe inferiores a 1, debido a altos valores de temperatura y evapotranspiración en las regiones en que desarrollan (Ruiz et al., 2011b). Un cuarto subgrupo lo integran Celaya, Onaveño y Maíz Dulce, con una Pe de 617 a 666 mm y un IHe de 0.66 a 0.76, señalando que se adaptan a un déficit hídrico al final del ciclo de madurez, ya que los niveles de IH en el trimestre julio-septiembre se mantienen cercanos o superiores a 1.Por último un quinto subgrupo lo componen las razas Apachito, Azul y Cristalino de Chihuahua, con una Pe más baja que la del resto de los subgrupos, esto es 486 a 542 mm, que combinada con las condiciones de temperatura y evapotranspiración de los sitios de accesión de estas razas, se traduce en un IHe de 0.56 a 0.64; del trimestre julioseptiembre, el mes de septiembre es el que más manifiesta la presencia de déficit de humedad, con un IH por debajo de 0.81, lo cual señala que estas razas presentan los mayores problemas de sequía al final del ciclo de madurez. Del grupo 3, se puede concluir que las razas que manifiestan más claramente una adaptación a déficit hídrico son Apachito, Azul, Cristalino de Chihuahua y Ratón.Este grupo lo integran las razas Chapalote, Dulcillo del Noroeste, Gordo, Tablilla de Ocho, Cónico Norteño y Tuxpeño Norteño, que se adaptan a los ambientes con el are appreciated, one composed by these two races, with a Pe between 777 and 793 mm, but it is sufficient to maintain an IH above 1 during the July-September quarter, because these races are adapted to environments of height, where evapotranspiration demand is lower. Another subgroup is composed races Bolita, Chalqueño, Elotes Conicos, Conicos and Raton, with a Pe of 650-761 mm and an IHe from 0.71 to 0.97 without problems of moisture deficit (IH> 1) in the July-September quarter, except for the Raton race with deficit in July.A third subgroup is composed by races Dzit Bacal and Nal-Tel, with a Pe of 940-959 mm, but with a July IH and IHe below 1, due to high temperature and evapotranspiration in regions which develop (Ruiz et al., 2011b). A fourth subgroup is composed by Celaya, Onaveño and Maíz Dulce with a Pe of 617-666 mm and an IHe from 0.66 to 0.76, indicating that adapt to water deficit at the end of the cycle of maturity, since the levels of IH in the July-September quarter remain close to or above 1.Finally a fifth subgroup is compose by races Apachito, Azul and Cristalino from Chihuahua with a lower Pe than the rest of the subgroups, that is 486-542 mm, which combined with the conditions of temperature and evapotranspiration from the sites of accession, resulting in an IHe from 0.56 to, 0.64; from July-September quarter, the month of September is the one that manifest the presence of moisture deficit with an IH below 0.81, indicating that these races present higher problems of drought at the end of the maturity cycle. From group 3, concludes that the races that clearly manifested an adaptation to water deficit are Apachito Azul, Cristalino from Chihuahua and Raton.This group is composed by races Chapalote, Dulcillo from Noroeste, Gordo, Tablilla of Eight, Conico Norteño and Tuxpeño Norteño, that adapt to environments with higher moisture deficit. This is a precipitation cycle from 409 to 496 mm, which translates to an IHe less than 0.5 in five of six races. During the July-September quarter is not completely cover the water demand, which indicates that corn develops under drought problems. Water deficit is greater in July and September, which surely has an impact on the yield of these races (Table 3). Therefore, all races of this group could provide genes for resistance or tolerance to drought (Linhart and Grant, 1996).mayor déficit de humedad. Esto es una precipitación del ciclo de 409 a 496 mm, lo que se traduce en un IHe menor que 0.5 en cinco de seis razas. Durante el trimestre julioseptiembre no se cubre por completo la demanda hídrica, lo cual señala que el maíz desarrolla bajo problemas de sequía. El déficit hídrico es mayor en julio y septiembre, lo cual seguramente tiene un impacto sobre el rendimiento de estas razas (Cuadro 3). Por lo anterior, todas las razas de este grupo podrían aportar genes de resistencia o tolerancia a sequía (Linhart y Grant, 1996).Está integrado por las razas Arrocillo, Coscomatepec, Complejo Cónico, Cubano Amarillo, Olotón, Tepecintle, Zapalote Grande, Chiquito y Tehua. Los ambientes en que desarrollan estas razas se caracterizan por no presentar estrés hídrico, con precipitación promedio mayo-octubre de 1 200 a 1 500 mm. El IH estacional se ubica por arriba o alrededor de 1.5. Durante el mes de julio el IH se mantiene por arriba de 1.3, y en agosto y septiembre por arriba de 2. La raza Purépecha no se clasificó en ninguno de estos cinco grupos, lo cual pudo deberse a las particularidades de los ambientes hídricos en que se desarrolla esta raza, las cuales en todo caso no están relacionadas con adaptación a déficit hídrico (Cuadro 3). En la Figura 1 se aprecia que Purépecha se ubicó entre los grupos 2 y 3.En la Figura 2 se muestra la distribución espacial de las accesiones con una adaptación a un índice de humedad mayo-octubre inferior a 0.5. En dicha figura se aprecia que las accesiones se distribuyen fundamentalmente en la mitad norte del país, lo cual está en correspondencia con la predominancia de áreas agrícolas con climas semiáridos y áridos en esa región (Medina et al., 1998;Ruiz et al., 2011a). En total están representadas 24 razas con al menos una accesión con adaptación a ambientes semiáridos (UNEP, 1992). Ésta es ventaja, ya que significa que se tienen maíces con adaptación a sequía y diversidad morfológica e isoenzimática (Sánchez et al., 2000).En la Figura 3 se muestra el valor más extremo de IH mayo-octubre en el que desarrolla cada una de las 54 razas estudiadas. En este último filtro, se puede deducir cual sería el nivel máximo de rusticidad o resistencia a condiciones de deficiencia de humedad por parte de cada raza. De ésta forma se puede deducir que las razas de temporal muy húmedoIs composed by races Arrocillo, Coscomatepec, Complejo Cónico, Amarillo Cubano, Oloton, Tepecintle, Zapalote Grande, Chiquito and Tehua. The environments in which these maize races develop are characterized by not presenting water stress, with an average rainfall from May to October of 1 200 to 1 500 mm. The seasonal IH is located above or around 1.5. During July, the IH is maintained above 1.3 and in August and September over 2. The Purepecha race does not classify in any of these five groups, which could be due to the peculiarities of water environments in which it develops this race, which in any case are not related to adaptation to water deficit (Table 3). Figure 1 shows that Purepecha was among groups 2 and 3.Figure 2 shows the spatial distribution of the accessions with an adaptation to a humidity index from May to October lower to 0.5. This figure points out that the accessions are distributed mainly in the northern half of the country, which corresponds with the predominance of agricultural areas with semi-arid and arid climates in that region (Medina et al., 1998, Ruiz et al., 2011a). A total of 24 races are represented with at least one accession with adaptation to semi arid environments (UNEP, 1992). This is an advantage, since it means that there is maize with drought adaptation and morphological diversity and isozyme (Sánchez et al., 2000).Figura 2. Accesiones de maíz con adaptación a IH mayooctubre inferior a 0.5. Figure 2October less than 0.5.como Arrocillo y Zapalote Grande llegan a adaptarse a un ciclo de temporal con IH incluso entre 0.6 y 0.8, esto es que actualmente aún las razas de ambiente húmedo y muy húmedo ya están siendo sometidas a estrés hídrico, lo que podría ser de utilidad para escenarios climáticos con déficit hídrico que está generando el cambio climático aún en zonas que se consideran de temporal eficiente (Zarazúa, 2011;Ruiz et al., 2011a).La gran diversidad climática y formas de cultivo de las regiones agrícolas, la selección por muchos grupos humanos durante varios milenios, el flujo genético y la deriva genética han creado muchos patrones en la distribución de las razas de maíz que existen en la actualidad en México. Los resultados de este trabajo indican que la heterogeneidad ambiental y los procesos de selección por parte de los grupos indígenas durante milenios, son los factores de mayor importancia que han moldeado los patrones de diversidad observados en las razas de maíz de México. Los grupos humanos han creado ambientes más propicios para el maíz con base en manejo de suelos, la eliminación de todo tipo de malezas, fertilización, control de insectos y control de humedad, dando lugar a una expansión considerable en el rango de adaptación de las diferentes razas y variedades; en varios casos en condiciones consideradas no aptas para el crecimiento del maíz.Con base en la diversidad ambiental, de grupos humanos y en las evidencias arqueológicas, es claro que México representa un centro muy importante de diversidad genética de maíz. Los aspectos anteriores pueden explicar la importancia de algunas razas mexicanas y algunas variedades de maíz sobresalientes en los programas de mejoramiento en todo el mundo durante las últimas décadas, con buenos resultados en la mejora de la calidad del grano, arquitectura de la planta, la adaptabilidad y el rendimiento y su estabilidad (Timothy et al., 1988;Ruiz et al., 2002).La clasificación de las razas mexicanas de maíz mediante taxonomía numérica aplicada con variables descriptivas de las condiciones de humedad de los sitios de colecta de maíces nativos, revela que existen grupos diferenciados de razas con relación a adaptación a déficit hídrico durante el ciclo de temporal. Un grupo integrado por las razas Chapalote, Dulcillo del Noroeste, Tuxpeño Norteño, Cónico Norteño, Tablilla de Ocho y Gordo se identificó como el de mayorFigure 3 shows the most extreme value of IH from May to October in which develops each of the 54 races studied.In the latter filter, it can be figured out which would be the maximum level of hardiness or resistance to moisture deficiency conditions by each race. In this way it can be deduced that the wet races like Arrocillo and Zapalote Grande become to adapt a cycle with an IH between 0.6 and 0.8, this is because currently Wet and Very Wet races are being subjected to water stress, which could be useful for climate scenarios with water deficit that is generating climate change even in areas that are considered efficient (Zarazúa, 2011, Ruiz et al., 2011a).The wide diversity of climates and cultivation forms from the agricultural regions, the selection for many human groups over several millennia, gene flow and genetic drift have created many patterns in the distribution of maize races that exist today in Mexico. The results of  adaptación a un temporal más seco, incluso con condiciones de semiaridez (IHe entre 0.21 y 0.5). Sin embargo, en total se identificaron 678 accesiones con adaptación a un ambiente semiárido durante el período primavera-verano. Éstas accesiones corresponden a 24 razas, por lo que además de adaptación a déficit hídrico, estas razas aportan diversidad genética en la integración de posibles poblaciones para mejoramiento genético. Aun cuando es conveniente complementar los resultados obtenidos, con investigaciones adicionales que incluyan accesiones de las razas que no fueron incluidas en este trabajo, se puede concluir que en nuestro país existen recursos genéticos de maíz adaptadas a condiciones de sequía y que pueden contribuir a la generación de variedades adaptables a condiciones hídricas menos favorables por la presencia del cambio climático.this study indicate that environmental heterogeneity and selection processes by indigenous groups for millennia, are the major factors that have shaped diversity patterns observed in the races of maize in Mexico. Human groups have created environments more appropriate for maize based on soil management, eliminating all types of weeds, fertilization, insect control and humidity control, leading to a significant expansion in the range of adaptation of the different races and varieties and in many cases in conditions considered unsuitable for the growth of maize.Based on the environmental diversity of human groups and on archaeological evidence, it is clear that Mexico represents a very important center of genetic diversity of maize. The above aspects can explain the importance of some Mexican races and some outstanding varieties of maize in the breeding programs worldwide during the last decades, with good results in improving grain quality, plant architecture, adaptability, yield and stability (Timothy et al., 1988, Ruiz et al., 2002).Classifying Mexican maize races by numerical taxonomy with descriptive variables of moisture conditions of collection sites of landraces, reveals that there are distinct groups of races in relation to adaptation, to water deficit during the cycle. A group composed of Chapalote, Dulcillo Noroeste, Tuxpeño Norteño, Conico Norteño, Tablilla of Eight and Gordo were identified with the higher adaptation to drier, even with semi-arid conditions (IHe between 0.21 and 0.5). However, in total we identified 678 accessions with adaptation to a semi-arid environment during the spring-summer period. These accessions correspond to 24 races, so well adapted to water deficit; these races provide genetic diversity in the integration of possible breeding populations. While it is desirable to complement the results obtained, with additional research involving races accessions that were not included in this study, we can conclude that in our country there are genetic resources adapted to drought conditions that may contribute to the generation of varieties adaptable to water conditions less favorable for the presence of climate change."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1f774abdaeae5c9283daecf29cc1d349","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1ac8316e-0623-4865-a9f4-73d9163e1225/retrieve","id":"935688811"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"db81af65-b7e8-45df-bc09-1e46254e9777","content":"Gráfico 24. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde debidos a la implementación de la alternativa 1 \"BPA\" .\"Descripción de tecnologías priorizadas, marco institucional e impacto en los indicadores de crecimiento verde a nivel nacional y regional para los sistemas de café, cacao y ganadería de leche y doble propósito\"Este documento constituye el tercer informe del estudio de \"Productividad de la tierra y rendimiento del sector agropecuario medido a través de los indicadores de crecimiento verde en el marco de la misión de crecimiento verde en Colombia\" realizado por el CIAT y CRECE a través de la orientación y financiamiento del GGGI Colombia y el Departamento Nacional de Planeación (DNP) del gobierno de Colombia.El documento incluye la descripción de las tecnologías priorizadas para los sistemas de café, cacao y ganadería de leche y doble propósito, un análisis del marco institucional nacional y regional a la luz de dichos sistemas productivos y el análisis de los impactos de las tecnologías sobre los indicadores de crecimiento verde considerando metas intermedias y objetivo a 2030. Los análisis para los sistemas de ganadería de carne, papa y aguacate hass serán incluidos en el siguiente informe, una vez las consultas regionales se hayan llevado a cabo y la información haya sido procesada.El documento contiene en la primera parte la descripción de las tecnologías priorizadas, en la segunda y tercera parte se presenta el marco institucional nacional y regional con las metodologías y resultados obtenidos de las entrevistas con expertos nacionales y talleres regionales. Finalmente, la cuarta parte presenta la metodología, las metas intermedias y los resultados del impacto de las tecnologías en los indicadores de crecimiento verde a nivel nacional y regional.Esta sección incluye la descripción de las tecnologías priorizadas para los sistemas de café, ganadería y cacao, dicha priorización incluyen el análisis del comportamiento en los indicadores de crecimiento verde, así como la discusión con expertos en cada sistema.Adecuada renovación de cafetales (por zoca o por siembra) considerando la edad y el momento oportuno, en siembra se tiene en cuenta la variedad adecuada y la densidad y análisis de suelo.La renovación de cafetales es una práctica que se enmarca en varios de los indicadores de crecimiento verde. En primer lugar, es una de las variables determinantes en la productividad del sector cafetero, al conducir al mantenimiento de una estructura productiva con edades y densidad de siembra adecuadas y a la estabilización de la producción. Contribuye al uso eficiente de los recursos pues permite que, sin aumentar el parque productivo ni expandir la frontera agrícola, se eleve la productividad y, por lo tanto, la producción nacional. Esto evita posibles conflictos con el uso del suelo pues no genera la necesidad de expandir la frontera cafetera en zonas probablemente no aptas para el cultivo.La duración del ciclo de producción o número de años que un cafetal puede permanecer sin renovación se determina según el número anual de cosechas en las cuales se consigue el máximo promedio de producción anual. A medida que los árboles incrementan su altura, el manejo del cultivo se hace más difícil, la producción disminuye y se desplaza hacia el extremo de las ramas y hacia la parte superior del tallo. Otro aspecto importante es que los cultivos envejecidos pueden ser afectados por problemas fitosanitarios que comprometen el desarrollo de las cosechas futuras, lo que hace necesario efectuar un plan de renovación para recuperar la capacidad productiva (Arcila et al. 2007).Una correcta planificación de la renovación de cafetales está determinada por el momento en que termina la cosecha (Ramírez y Moreno, 2013). Para regiones con cosecha principal en el primer semestre del año, las renovaciones se hacen en el segundo semestre, para regiones con cosecha principal en el segundo semestre, las renovaciones se hacen en el primero y en zonas donde la cosecha se distribuye igual en los dos semestres, se recomienda renovar por zoca o poda en el semestre con menor intensidad de lluvias. Realizar la labor de renovación al finalizar la cosecha disminuye las pérdidas en la producción, debido a que existe una menor cantidad de frutos, se reducen los costos en el control sanitario y se facilita el manejo de la broca (Rendón, 2016).La necesidad de implementar sistemas de renovación de cafetales debe ser analizada en función de la edad, la variedad, la densidad de plantas, el número de sitios perdidos y el estado fitosanitario del cultivo (Matiello, García y Almeida, 2007).La aparición de sitios perdidos se da porque la densidad de siembra de café disminuye a través del tiempo por enfermedades radicales y de tallo y ramas, mal de rayo, por labores mal realizadas y volcamientos, entre otras. El aumento progresivo del número de sitios perdidos en un lote o en la finca, puede tener consecuencias como la reducción de la producción de café y el establecimiento de arvenses agresivos que compiten con las plantas de café. Estos arvenses se pueden dispersar al resto del lote o de la finca, y en esas mismas zonas en función de la pendiente, las inadecuadas o inexistentes prácticas de conservación de suelo y desyerbas drásticas predisponen a la erosión por el impacto de la lluvia. Cuando el número de plantas perdidas supera el 10 %, se afecta la producción de café y se debe resembrar (Moreno, 2010).En los sistemas de renovación de cafetales, la siembra es una alternativa viable cuando se pretende hacer cambio de variedad o se tienen lotes con un alto número de sitios perdidos. La variedad Castillo ® es la variedad recomendada por la Federación Nacional de Cafeteros dentro del Plan de Choque contra la Roya, que busca sustituir las áreas cafeteras que actualmente se encuentran en variedades susceptibles, especialmente en Caturra, por variedades resistentes. Por el contrario, si los lotes a renovar presentan condiciones aptas para el zoqueo, con esta alternativa se reducen los costos en cerca del 50 % (Duque, 2004).Entre los principales criterios técnicos para la renovación de cafetales se tienen los siguientes:• Planificación de la duración del ciclo y el cambio de variedad: la diferencia de edad a la cual puede renovarse el cafetal le permite al caficultor planificar en el corto y el mediano plazo el cambio de variedad de café, a través de siembra, cuando sea atractiva o necesaria la adopción de una nueva variedad (Arcila, et al. 2007).• Estabilización de la producción: con una oportuna programación de la renovación puede estabilizarse la producción de la finca al disponer de lotes de productividad similar en diferentes edades, esto garantiza que solo una quinta parte de la finca se encuentra improductiva.• Selección del tipo de poda o zoca: las condiciones del cafetal en cuanto a densidad, altura de la plantación, estado de ramas bajeras y condición fitosanitaria (nivel de daño por plagas y enfermedades), así como la función que cumple cada sistema de renovación, deben ser definidos inicialmente (Ramírez, 1997).• Época oportuna de la labor: los diferentes sistemas de renovación ofrecen ventajas y desventajas; sin embargo, para cualquiera de las opciones el momento oportuno de efectuar la labor es justo después de finalizar la cosecha, las renovaciones que se hacen en épocas no recomendadas, comprometen la producción de los ciclos.• Manejo integrado de broca; independiente del tipo de poda o zoca, la adopción del manejo integrado de broca tiene como punto de partida una correcta cosecha sanitaria antes de hacer la labor de desrame.Por último, entre las buenas prácticas para la renovación de cafetales, se encuentra la fertilización. Esta debe realizarse tres meses después de haber realizado la renovación, cuando se han formado los nuevos brotes. Una adecuada fertilización, incluye el análisis de suelos el cual consiste en determinar en un laboratorio las condiciones químicas del suelo, qué cantidad posee de nutrimentos que favorecen el rendimiento de los cultivos y cómo se mejora la fertilidad aplicando fertilizantes o abonos (Cenicafé, 2011).Con un análisis de suelos podemos saber: 1. Cuáles nutrimentos se deben aplicar en un cafetal, según su edad y sistema de cultivo. 2. Qué problemas tiene el suelo y cómo solucionarlos aplicando correctivos llamados \"enmiendas\". 3. Cómo hacer más eficientes las aplicaciones de fertilizantes, ahorrando así dinero. 4. Cómo explotar mejor el terreno (Cenicafé, 2011). Como se sabe, el uso generalizado de fertilizantes está vinculado a la eutrofización de las masas de agua, la acidificación del suelo, y la contaminación potencial del suministro de agua con nitratos (UN, 2001). La adopción y uso del análisis de suelos, permite realizar una fertilización química con uso más eficiente de este insumo, contribuyendo de esta manera al desarrollo de una práctica fundamental para el cultivo pero bajo condiciones ambientales adecuadas.1.2 Sistema productivo de ganadería 1. Sistemas silvopastoriles de mediana y alta intensidad (Ganadería de doble propósito)De acuerdo con Montagnini, (en Murgueitio, et. al, 2013), los sistemas silvopastoriles hacen parte de los sistemas agroforestales pecuarios, donde interactún los animales con plantas leñosas perennes como árboles y arbustos, con tras herbáseas como los pastos, las leguminosas herbáceas y arvenses.• Sistema Silvopastoril Intensivo (SSPi):Es un arreglo agroforestal en el que se combinan en una misma área, varios estratos de plantas, como son los pastos tropicales asociados a árboles y arbustos forrajeros de alta densidad (mayor a 10.000 por hectárea) destinado al ramoneo directo del ganado (Murgueitio, et al. 2015).Estos sistemas representan beneficios para los productores en términos financieros, ya que permiten una mayor capacidad de carga por unidad de área, que puede ser hasta cuatro veces superior que en la ganadería extensiva, con un incremento en la producción de carne y leche 1 . Por otra parte, los beneficios ambientales también son significativos, toda vez que se emplean procesos agroecológicos como \"la conversión de energía solar en biomasa a través de una vegetación estratificada, una alta fijación de nitrógeno atmosférico, la protección y uso sustentable del agua, la rehabilitación de suelos degradados, el reciclaje de nutrientes, la oferta de hábitat para organismos controladores biológicos, y la conservación y uso de la biodiversidad\" (Murgueitio et al. 2015, pág. 59).Los autores señalan, a partir de una revisión de literatura, que está demostrado que en el trópico los forrajes ofrecidos al ganado no reúnen las características nutricionales que estos requieren y además la vegetación se ve afectada por las características de los suelos, deficientes en fósforo y nitrógeno. De allí que, las investigaciones hayan buscado mejorar la oferta de proteína, energía y minerales a través de especies forrajeras. Las especies con las que más se ha trabajado y que a su vez están mejor documentadas, son la Leucaena leucocephala y la Tithonia diversifolia; en esta última se destaca el botón de oro, mirasol o girasol de monte. Adicionalmente, como árbol multipropósito sobresale el Guazuma ulmifolia (guácimo o caulote), al proporcionar forraje, frutos comestibles y sombrío para el ganado.Características de los sistemas silvopastoriles intensivos (Murgueitio et al. 2015, pág. 63):• Los animales se benefician de abundante oferta de forraje en un ambiente de bajo estrés calórico.• Se manejan con cercas y cintas eléctricas mediante pastoreo rotacional, con altas cargas (entre 800 a 2000 kg de peso vivo por hectárea) por periodos muy cortos, de 12 a 36 horas, y largos intervalos de descanso, entre 35 hasta 50 días o más, según situaciones específicas de clima (Xóchitl y Solorio-Sánchez 2012, Murgueitio et al. 2013), citado por Murgueitio et al. (2015).• Se cuida el abasteciminto permanente de agua de buena calidad, buscando llevarla donde se encuentra el ganado, para respetar las fuentes de agua naturales.• Se cumplen cuatro criterios de las prácticas agroforestales, basadas en investigación científica (Jose 2012), citado por Murgueitio et al. (2015):o Intencionalidad: La combinación de pastos, árboles, cultivos y animales no es resultado del azar, sino que es planificada intencionadamente.o Intensividad: Se utiliza la rotación de potreros con el menor tiempo posible (y el mayor tiempo de descanso.o Integralidad: Se relacionan entre sí los componentes ambiental, forestal y zootécnico, para ponerse en función de la economía del productor y el entorno.o Interactividad: Las personas, el suelo, las plantas, el agua y la diversidad biológica interactúan en forma permanente.\"Los SSPi son rentables al generar ingresos netos y tasas de retorno superiores a otras opciones para el uso de tierras en ganadería . Los indicadores financieros son mejores cuando se incluye el negocio forestal en la misma área. Las evaluaciones económicas y financieras de los SSPi dan un soporte estratégico para la toma de decisiones de los productores de todos los tamaños, de la misma forma que permiten identificar las situaciones que requieren intervenciones públicas, en especial para diseñar estrategias de escalamiento con incentivos, mejoras en las cadenas de comercialización y asistencia técnica especializada\" (Murgueitio et al., 2015, pág. 93).• Sistema silvopastoril de mediana intensidad:Entre los sistemas silvopastoriles de mediana intensidad se destaca el que busca la regeneración natural de los árboles dispersos en potreros, como una estrategia sencilla y de bajo costo para introducir árboles en las fincas ganaderas. De esta forma, se permite el desarrollo controlado de especies arbóreas o arbustivas que aparecen en los potreros, sin ser sembradas por el ser humano, alcanzando hasta 200 árboles por hectárea (Uribe, et al., 2011a).Los árboles y arbustos que se seleccionan pueden tener diferentes usos: madera, frutos, alimentación animal o humana, sombrío etc. Además de su utilidad, se tiene en cuenta su distribución espacial en los potreros.Dentro del manejo se tienen en cuenta los siguientes criterios (Uribe, et al., 2011a):• Eliminación de árboles o arbustos no deseados.• Protección de los árboles jóvenes para evitar que se los coma el ganado.• Realización de podas de formación a los árboles para estimular su crecimiento vertical y favorecer la entrada de luz solar para los pastos. Las ramas y hojas se dejan descomponer en el suelo.• Control de arvenses de forma selectiva para proteger las especies que se busca conservar.• Control del sobrepastoreo.En Colombia el modelo de ganadería frente al uso del suelo ha sido fundamentalmente extractivo, lo que va en detrimento del capital natural. Por ende, en el marco de las Buenas Prácticas Ganaderas (BPG), un elemento importante es el manejo integral del suelo y de la pradera, con el fin de disminuir el impacto de la actividad ganadera sobre el medio ambiente y propender por una mayor productividad.Algunas de las estrategias, herramienta y prácticas en este sentido son: \"la introducción del componente arbóreo, rotación de potreros, labranza mínima, asociación de pastos, arvenses y leguminosas rastreras, utilización del nivel A o curvas a nivel para la siembra de árboles en suelos con altas pendientes, incorporación de abonos verdes y cultivos de cobertura, entre otras alternativas, con el propósito de conservar la fertilidad y capacidad de producción de los suelos\" (Uribe et al. 2011b, pág. 36). Estas son descritas así por el autor:• Sistemas de producción multiestrato Los sistemas silvopastoriles y agroforestales permiten en el trópico maximizar la producción de biomasa para el consumo del ganado, gracias a la incorporación de diferentes tipos de plantas: pastos, arbustos y árboles.Tradicionalmente los ganaderos consideran como ideal contar con potreros con monocultivos de pasto, desconociendo con ello que no se logran coberturas sino del 50 % al 80 % del área del potrero, con lo que se propicia la aparición de arvenses no deseadas. De allí que un buen uso del suelo consiste en asociar dos o más plantas de crecimiento erecto y rastrero (gramíneas y leguminosas) para mejorar la productividad de las praderas. \"La opción técnica recomendada es mezclar gramíneas mejoradas, naturales o naturalizadas con algún tipo de leguminosa rastrera como kudzú Pueraria phaseoloides, maní forrajero Arachis pintoi, Pega pega Desmodium spp., o Centro Centrosema sp. En el caso de trópico alto asociarla con especies como Trébol blanco o rojo Trifolium repens y T. pratense\" (Uribe et al. 2011b, pág. 36).Por otra parte, la fijación biológica de nitrógeno en leguminosas dentro de los potreros permite mejorar la fertilidad de los pastos con los que se encuentran asociadas, con lo que se incrementa el contenido proteico en la dieta del ganado.En cuanto al uso de plantas forrajeras, afirman Uribe et al. (2011b) que tiene efectos positivos en la diversidad biológica, en la protección del suelo, en el reciclaje de nutrientes de las capas profundas del suelo por la absorción de las raíces y la protección del agua. Así se mitiga la compactación del suelo y se disminuye el uso de fertilizantes sintéticos, a la vez que se favorece la ampliación de la fauna del suelo (macro y micro), necesaria para la descomposición de la materia orgánica.La rotación de potreros consiste en subdividir en lotes los potreros para permitir el movimiento de los animales entre estos, logrando un tiempo de descanso suficiente entre los pastoreos de un mismo lote, de tal forma que pasto se logre recuperar y tenga un nivel óptimo nutricional. La rotación de potreros disminuye el pisoteo del pasto y la compactación del suelo. Así mismo, favorece el crecimiento de las raíces y un rebrote más vigoroso de las gramíneas, leguminosa y arbustos, con lo que se reduce el riesgo de erosión del suelo y la rápida escorrentía del agua lluvia (Uribe et al. 2011b).\"Como regla general, un grupo de animales debe permanecer máximo dos o tres días en cada potrero.El tiempo de ocupación ideal de cada potrero es de 12 a 24 horas. Según Voisin (1962), el tiempo de ocupación de una parcela debe ser lo suficientemente corto para que el pasto cortado por el animal no sea cortado dos veces en el mismo periodo\" (Uribe et al. 2011b, pág. 39).El nivel \"A\" se utiliza para trazar curvas a nivel para el establecimiento de barreras vivas, zanjas, canales, terrazas, etc. De esta forma se previene la erosión del suelo por la actividad agropecuaria o por la velocidad del agua que arrastra el suelo con la lluvia.El manejo del suelo en sistemas ganaderos implica también el manejo de las fuentes de agua. Con frecuencia los nacimientos de agua, los humedales y los cauces de ríos y quebradas se encuentran desprotegidos y son utilizados por el ganado para beber en ellos. De allí que sea importante aislarlos mediante cercos y disponer de bebederos sustitos para proporcionar agua fresca al ganado.En el caso de las quebradas, el pisoteo del ganado destruye las orillas y el consumo del material vegetal dificulta la regeneración natural de los árboles y arbustos, con lo que empiezan a predominar los pastos.Una forma de reducir el impacto de la ganadería sobre las fuentes de agua es el establecimiento de corredores ribereños, que son \"franjas de vegetación natural que se dejan crecer a ambos lados de las quebradas complementándolos con bebederos sustitutos que se abastecerán con el agua proveniente de la fuente de agua, pero localizándose por fuera de esta\" (Uribe et al. 2011b, pag 41). Con esta práctica se busca restaurar el ecosistema acuático que generalmente tiene una flora diferente a la que se encuentra alrededor en la parte seca.Según la Unidad de Planificación Rural Agropecuaria -UPRA (2013), se entiende como zonificación un proceso dinámico mediante el cual se identifican y delimitan áreas relativamente homogéneas, ambientalmente sostenibles, económicamente viables y socialmente justas, a partir del análisis y síntesis integral de criterios físicos, sociecosistémicos y socioeconómicos.Lo anterior implica una Evaluación de Tierras, definida por la UPRA (2013) como el proceso mediante el cual se establece el desempeño de la tierra para un uso específico, es decir, la aptitud de cada una de las clases de tierra existentes en una zona para determinados usos. El objetivo de la evaluación es proponer sistemas de uso que sean biofísicamente apropiados, socialmente aceptables, económicamente viables y que no ocasionen impactos negativos en el medio ambiente, es decir que sean sostenibles a largo plazo.En escala predial se utilizan herramientas de diagnóstico y planificación que permitan al productor, en este caso al ganadero, contar con información detallada sobre el estado en que se encuentra el predio con respecto a indicadores ambientales, socioeconómicos y productivos, de forma tal que pueda tomar decisiones con respecto a las acciones requeridas para el adecuado manejo del sistema ganadero.Un ejemplo de estas herramientas es la \"Planificación Predial Participativa para la Conservación\" desarrollada por The Nature Conservancy y Cipav, adaptada para la elaboración de Planes de Manejo y Planes Operativos de las fincas ganaderas de cría en el paisaje de sabana inundable 2 , que no obstante, como guía, es también útil para ganadería de carne. En este instrumento se contemplan como indicadores ambientales los siguientes:-Zonificación de uso del suelo.-Protección de fuentes hídricas.-Manejo del suelo.-Manejo del bosque y palmares.-Manejo de sabanas naturales.-Arboles y/o palmas dispersos.-Barreras rompe vientos.-Uso de abonos químicos, agrotóxicos (herbicidas, pesticidas y fungicidas) y desparaciticidas.De otro lado, ejercicios de planificación predial para la reconversión ganadera, como los realizados por la Universidad de Caldas en 16 municipios del departamento con 320 productores, ponen de manifiesto que una adecuada definición del uso del suelo y de los recursos de la finca, genera beneficios en términos productivos, económicos, medioambientales y sociales. Fue así como, en el proyecto Asistencia Técnica en Caldas, se utilizaron indicadores para medir y evaluar aspectos centrales de la producción ganadera y de la conservación de recursos naturales, a la vez que facilitan la definición de metas a las que el productor puede llegar. Estos indicadores son (Zapata et al, 2015):• Protección de las fuentes de agua. Tiene relación con el aislamiento y conservación de nacimientos, quebradas, ríos, lagunas y humedales, de tal forma que no se permita el ingreso de ganado ni la contaminación por aguas servidas. Igualmente proteger las fuentes de agua de procesos de erosión y garantizar la cobertura con vegetación protectora que impide la contaminación por elementos orgánicos o químicos que sean vertidos en zonas aledañas. Estos corredores ribereños son a su vez corredores biológicos que contribuyen a la conservación de la biodiversidad. • Manejo del suelo. Esta referido a mantener la cobertura vegetal durante todo el año, evitando el suelo desnudo y la formación del \"terraceo\" o \"pata de vaca\", como procesos de degradación del terreno. • Manejo del bosque y cercas vivas. Contempla tanto la siembra y la conservación de árboles en los potreros, como la conservación de áreas de bosque sin intervención humana o con intervención controlada. Así mismo las cercas vivas para la división entre potreros. Con ello se busca, no sólo la conservación de la biodiversidad, sino también la regulación del ciclo hidrológico, favorecer la polinización y la protección del suelo. • Oferta de pastos en los potreros. Contar con pastos abundantes y de buena calidad nutricional, permite una carga animal óptima en los potreros, evitando el sobrepastoreo y la producción de arvenses. Contempla también la fertilización cuando es requerida. • Tamaño y rotación de potreros. La división de potreros y el pastoreo rotacional permiten un mejor aprovechamiento del suelo óptimo para pastos, facilitando así la protección de zonas ambientalmente importantes dentro del predio. El ideal es que cada potrero tenga un período de ocupación corto, idealmente entre uno y cinco días. De esta forma se evita que el ganado consuma los rebrotes y quede suficiente hoja para la fotosíntesis y recuperación del follaje. • Cobertura de bebederos. Dentro de la planificación predial es indispensable que se contemplen redes para el suministro de agua a cada potrero, con bebederos portátiles. De esta forma se evita la contaminación de las fuentes de agua y se garantiza el acceso a agua fresca y limpia para un mejor bienestar animal. • Árboles en potreros. Un elemento central de la reconversión ganadera es la siembra y conservación de árboles en los potreros, que no solo proporcionan sombra para los animales, sino que también mejoran la fertilidad del suelo, evitan la erosión, facilitan la retención de agua en el suelo y disminuyen la incidencia de plagas en los pastos. • Utilización de agroquímicos. Se busca que el ganadero analice la utilización de agroquímicos o la posibilidad de utilizar otros productos sustitutos, para intensificar la producción y controlar las plagas. • Uso de registros. Una buena planificación del predio ganadero implica un registro riguroso de aspectos productivos, reproductivos, ambientales y contables. Ello permite la toma de decisiones con información oportuna. • Seguridad alimentaria. Es importante destinar una zona de la finca ganadera para la producción de alimentos de autoconsumo. En especial los productores de pequeña escala reducen el riesgo económico y producen excedentes para la comercialización, diversificando las fuentes de ingresos.Estos son indicadores con relevancia para el crecimiento verde, aunque existen otro conjunto de indicadores dentro de la planificación predial, orientados a los factores productivos y socioeconómicos, que aquí no se incluyen.Según la Federación Nacional de Cacaoteros (s.f), las Buenas Prácticas Agrícolas, BPA son el conjunto de principios, normas y recomendaciones técnicas aplicables a la producción, procesamiento y transporte de alimentos orientadas a asegurar la protección de la higiene, la salud humana y el medio ambiente, mediante métodos ecológicamente seguros, higiénicamente aceptable y económicamente factibles.Se debe tener en cuenta que las buenas prácticas agrícolas BPA, requieren del manejo holístico de todas las partes que intervienen, la Federación Nacional de Cacaoteros (s.f) hace referencia a los siguientes puntos importantes:• Lugar de almacenamiento de insumos para el cultivoEl espacio donde se almacenan los insumos debe ser seguro, alejado de viviendas y protegido de materiales inflamables, dentro del mismo debe existir un lugar específico para mezclar los insumos y para guardar las herramientas a utilizar. En cuanto a los demás espacios de la finca, estos deben estar limpio y organizados, es importante contar con lugares especiales para almacenar, lavar, empacar y clasificar los granos, además de esto la finca debe tener zonas determinadas para el bienestar de los trabajadores, como lo son, baños aseados, zona de alimentación y lugar para sus objetos personales.• Uso del aguaEs necesario que exista agua diferenciada para aseo y para consumo, su lugar de almacenamiento debe estar protegido del ingreso de animales y alejada de elementos contaminantes, así mismo, es muy importantes que el uso del agua debe ser moderada y no se debe malgastar. Para el caso de agua para riego, esta debe ser limpia.• Prevención de plagas y enfermedadesSe debe prevenir, manejar y controlar las plagas y enfermedades del cultivo, por esto se debe desarrollar un programa de manejo integrado para su control cultural, mecánico, biológico y como último recurso, control químico. En caso de tener que utilizar plaguicidas, se debe tener presente la toxicidad, dosificación y manejo que se recomienda. En cuanto a los residuos vegetales, sólidos y peligrosos se especifica el tratamiento especial que deben tener.• Cuidados en cosecha y postcosecha La verificación en el cuidado e higiene en el transporte que se va a utilizar, así como la organización de lo que se necesita después de la cosecha y la persona responsable del manejo de los productos, son temas importantes a considerar.La auditoría y certificación de las BPA requieren un desarrollo de protocolos, y conocimiento de reglas y normas, dentro de los que se encuentran registros de producción, compras, ventas e inventarios, también se debe tener la descripción de actividades realizadas por las personas y las fichas técnicas de los insumos utilizados.Para la Compañía Nacional de Chocolates (s.f.) los registros deben permitir la trazabilidad para identificar la procedencia de un producto y favorecen el análisis de las reclamaciones que se presenten por inconformidades en la calidad del producto vendido.Los trabajadores requieren condiciones que les permitan mantener una salud física y emocional adecuada, por esto se hace necesario realizar exámenes de salud continuamente, brindarles capacitaciones en temas como seguridad en el trabajo, manejo de productos, insumos y equipo, así como proporcionales los elementos de protección necesarios y verificar su afiliación al sistema de seguridad social, atención en salud, riesgos profesionales y aportes a pensiones.Con el fin de conservar los recursos naturales se debe plantear un plan para el manejo ambiental y realizar acciones como cuidar el agua y el suelo, hacer un buen manejo de elementos tóxicos y proteger los bosques, animales, plantas, fuentes de agua y en general los seres vivos.Adicional a los anteriores puntos importantes, la Compañía Nacional de Chocolates (s.f) describe algunos aspectos complementarios referentes al tema:• Selección del terreno y del material de propagaciónEl lote debe reunir las condiciones óptimas para el cultivo en temas de temperatura, precipitación, profundidad del suelo, altura sobre el nivel del mar. Se debe utilizar semillas, yemas o plántulas certificadas, de variedades recomendadas para la zona, de acuerdo con su adaptación, productividad, manejo, calidad del grano y tolerancia a plagas y enfermedades. El cultivo se debe establecer con base en un diseño de compatibilidad sexual de los clones que garantice una polinización adecuada.• Manejo del suelo, riego y nutrición del cultivoSe debe evitar la erosión del suelo y pérdida de nutrientes, a través de cobertura vegetal, barreras vivas, drenajes, entre otras. Para el riego se deben respetar las concesiones de agua y utilizar sistemas de bajo consumo (microaspersión o goteo). Para la nutrición del cultivo se debe hacer análisis de suelo para establecer un programa de fertilización y registrar el uso de fertilizantes y mantener su inventario actualizado.Las podas permiten al árbol expresar su capacidad productiva, a través de la regulación de su estructura, facilidad en el manejo agronómico e incidencia en la fisiología del árbol, se deben hacer cuando el árbol tiene pocos frutos pequeños, al final de los picos de cosecha, y al final de períodos secos e inicio de las lluvias, haciendo uso de herramientas adecuadas, cortes limpios y cicatrizaciones cuando sea necesario.Adopción de prácticas de conservación en el cultivo de papa que contribuyan al crecimiento verde (manejo eficiente de fertilización, reciclaje materia orgánica, manejo integrado de plagas)El impulso a la producción de papa utilizando prácticas de conservación tiene antecedentes significativos en Colombia en el Proyecto de Conservación de Agua y Suelo en la Zona Andina (PROCAS) -Proyecto Checua, que fue impulsado por la Corporación Autónoma Regional de Cundinamarca -CARcon el apoyo de la cooperación alemana a través de la GTZ. Durante dos décadas (años 80 y 90) el proyecto adelantó acciones para estabilizar zonas degradas y evitar el avance de la erosión de las tierras cultivadas con papa. Fundamentalmente se enfocaron en capacitación para el manejo y conservación de los suelos y las aguas, la construcción de obras biomecánicas que aumentaran la capacidad de retención de agua en la cuenca y de la cobertura natural en los suelos (CAR, 2006).Posteriormente, en 2004 el Ministerio de Ambiente elaboró una \"Guía ambiental para el cultivo de la papa\", bajo un enfoque de buenas prácticas y el manejo sostenible de los recursos naturales. Esto con el fin de impulsar el desarrollo económico sostenible desde la autogestión ambiental en los sectores productivos. Allí se retomó el programa de labranza de conservación del proyecto Checua, que de acuerdo con el MAVDT (2004) se fundamenta en tres principios: 1) movimiento mínimo de suelo con surcada, desyerba-aporque y cosecha, reduciendo así de siete a tres movimientos de tierra, 2) rotación con abonos verdes (con especies como centeno, avena, lupino, nabo forrajero, girasol, canola o mostaza) y 3) cobertura permanente con material seco o fresco para la protección del suelo y mantenimiento de la humedad.Los efectos de estas tecnologías aplicadas no sólo son sobre la prevención de la erosión del suelo, sino también \"sobre el ciclo del agua, la biodiversidad, la acumulación de carbono en el suelo, aportan a la conservación del páramo, previenen los procesos de desertificación, contribuyen a la producción más limpia, mantienen y mejoran la fertilidad del suelo, contribuyen a la seguridad alimentaria, aumentan los ingresos y la estabilidad de las familias rurales todos temas relevantes para un desarrollo sostenible\" (CAR, 2006, pág 7).Las buenas prácticas para el cultivo de la papa, en aras de una producción más limpia, el manejo sostenible de los recursos y la conservación de los páramos, contemplan acciones en sus diferentes procesos: 1) antes de la siembra, 2) producción y acondicionamiento de la semilla, 3) preparación de lotes para la siembra, 4) labores culturales, 5) fertilización del cultivo, 6) manejo de plagas, enfermedades y arvenses, 7) manejo postcosecha, 8) rotación de cultivos y otras explotaciones alternas (MAVDT, 2004).De acuerdo con el MAVDT (2004), el manejo integrado del cultivo debe hacerse desde el momento mismo en que se planea la producción, eligiendo adecuadamente los lotes en zonas aptas para el cultivo y respetando los ecosistemas de conservación. Por otra parte, las buenas prácticas enfocadas en conservación implican generar un impacto menor sobre los ecosistemas y la biodiversidad, en especial sobre el agua y el suelo. Para ello, se recomienda hacer una mínima remoción de suelo en las labores de desyerba, aporque y cosecha, para disminuir el efecto erosivo del agua y el aire la disminución de la diversidad biológica edáfica.La siguiente tabla presenta una síntesis de las principales propuestas de buenas prácticas para un manejo sostenible del proceso productivo de la papa:Tabla 1 : Propuestas para el manejo sostenible de cultivos de papaAntes de la siembra.Establecer cultivos en zonas aptas, fuera de las áreas protegidas y de conservación.Respetar las rondas o franjas de protección de las fuentes hídricas, con siembra de especies nativas. Producción o adquisición de semilla.Producción o compra de semilla certificada sin restricciones fitosanitarias y producida en zonas sin restricciones ambientales.Mejoramiento del sistema de selección en cuanto a daños, enfermedades o presencia de insectos en el tubérculo. Tratamiento de semilla.Utilizar plaguicidas de baja toxicidad alejados de fuentes de agua. Almacenamiento de semilla.Almacenamiento en bodegas aisladas y en canastillas plásticas que permitan verdeamiento. Disminuir el tamaño de los sacos a 50 kilos para evitar pérdidas por manipulación.Preparación de lotes: arada.Reemplazar el arado de disco por cincel fijo o vibratorio. Otra alternativa es el arado de chuzo halado por bueyes. En zonas que requieran arado de disco realizar máximo un pase de arado.Preparación de lotes: pulida.Realizar máximo un pase de rotovator y eliminar su uso en el mediano plazo. Utilizar rastrillos a media traba que no desmenucen el suelo. Aplicar materia orgánica como mejorador de la estructura del suelo y de drenaje. Preparación de lotes: surcada.En terrenos con pendiente utilizar curvas a nivel con zanjas de drenaje o por lo menos realizar el surcado en contra de la pendiente.Labores culturales: siembra, desyerba y aporque.Rotación del cultivo de papa con otras especies que no requieran remoción. Aumento del período de descanso de lotes cultivados en papa, realizando máximo dos siembras consecutivas de papa y aumentando el tiempo de rotación con otros cultivos.Consulta previa con autoridades ambientales antes de establecer sistemas de riego. Definir frecuencias, tiempos de riego y equipos que eviten pérdida del agua. No realizar riego en terrenos inclinados donde se arrastre el suelo. Uso de fertilizantes, abonos y correctores del suelo.Prácticas de fertilización balanceada basadas en análisis de suelos. Uso de abonos orgánicos y acondicionadores del suelo debidamente registrados ante el ICA, que permitan suplementar nutrientes y mejorar las condiciones físicas del suelo. Elaboración de abonos orgánicos en fincas.Control químico de enfermedades, plagas y arvenses.Manejo integrado de plagas, malezas y enfermedades usando como medida complementaria el control químico. Manejo de organismos fitopatógenos de acuerdo con las recomendaciones técnicas. Aplicación de plaguicidas dirigidos a follaje y suelo.Utilizar plaguicidas bajo umbrales de aplicación referidos a población o nivel de daño, una vez se hayan aplicado otras medidas de manejo y control dentro de la estrategia de manejo integrados de plagas y enfermedades. Desmonte gradual del uso de plaguicidas con nivel de toxicidad I y II. Manejo de empaques y envases de plaguicidas.Práctica de triple lavado de envases y empaques de plaguicidas con disposición temporal en sitios adecuados hasta entregarlos en los sitios que indiquen para tal fin las autoridades competentes. Manejo postcosecha: limpieza del tubérculo.Realizar procesos mínimos de limpieza del tubérculo. Eliminar la \"bocadera\" o adición de residuos orgánicos antes de cerrar cada bulto. Al realizar lavado en finca hacerlo lejos de las fuentes de agua.Fuente: MAVDT (2004) Manejo integrado de plagas en aguacate Hass La variedad Hass \"fue patentada en 1935 por Rudolph Hass, en Habra Heights (California), en virtud de la calidad de sus frutos, alto rendimiento en producción y maduración tardía, comparado con otras variedades importantes para la época (Whiley et ál., 2002). Pertenece a la raza guatemalteca Persea nubigena var. guatemalensis y se adapta a condiciones subtropicales, temperaturas de 5 a 19 °C y alturas entre los 1.800 y 2.000 msnm\" (ICA, 2012, pág. 6).El aguacate Hass, por ser un cultivo predominantemente de exportación en Colombia, resulta de particular importancia el manejo de plagas y enfermedades. En 2016 el Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario -ICA -mediante la Resolución No. 1507 declaró las plagas de control oficial en el cultivo de aguacate Persea Americana Miller y estableció las medidas para su manejo y control. Dichas plagas son: 1) Barrenador de la semilla Heilipus lauri Boheman (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) 2) Barrenador de la semilla Heilipus trifasciatus (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) 3) Barrenador del fruto, semilla y ramas Stenoma catenifer Walsingham (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae) (ICA Resolución 1507 del 22/02/2016, Artículo 4).En el artículo 5 de la misma resolución establece el ICA las medidas fitosanitarias que se deben implementar. El monitoreo debe realizarse cada dos semanas y en caso de identificar presencia de plagas o los daños asociados deber reportarse al ICA. Los predios registrados como exportadores deben presentar los reportes fitosanitarios como lo establece la Resolución ICA 00448 de 2016. De otro lado, establece el ICA que se debe realizar actividades de manejo integrado y control de las plagas reglamentadas, así:• \"Establecer cultivos con material de siembra sano, producido y comercializado por un vivero registrado ante el ICA.• Realizar podas de formación, sanitarias, de mantenimiento y/o renovación según requerimiento del cultivo. Las ramas infestadas deben disponerlas en una fosa para que los insectos no completen su ciclo de vida.• Implementar prácticas tales como riego, fertilización y manejo de malezas, según requerimiento del cultivo.• Cosechar frutos maduros y sobre maduros en la planta, así como aquellos que se encuentran en el suelo. Los frutos infestados deben disponerse en una fosa para que los insectos no completen su ciclo de vida.• Realizar el control de focos de plagas reglamentadas mediante la aplicación de plaguicidas con registro ICA, bajo la supervisión de un Ingeniero Agrónomo.\" (ICA Resolución 1507 del 22/02/2016, Artículo 5).De acuerdo con la Cartilla del ICA (2012) para el Manejo fitosanitario del cultivo de aguacate Hass, el MIP implica considerar tres aspectos fundamentales: 1) el agente causal, es decir, el blanco biológico, 2) las condiciones climáticas en las que la plaga se disemina con mayor facilidad, y 3) las épocas en las que la planta es más susceptible al ataque de la plaga.El MIP comprende una serie de evaluaciones y decisiones para el manejo y control de las plagas, que se dan en cuatro grandes fases (ICA, 2012):• Determinar umbrales de acción. Establecer el nivel en el cual las plagas se convierten en una amenaza económica, es decir, avistar una única plaga no significa necesariamente control, aunque si un monitoreo.• Monitorear e identificar plagas. Se trata de hacer un seguimiento a las plagas para tomar decisiones de acción de acuerdo con las necesidades de control y los mecanismos adecuados para hacerlo.• Prevención. Los programas de MIP buscan evitar que las plagas se conviertan en una amenaza. Para ello se pueden utilizar métodos de control efectivos y de riesgo para las personas y para el medio ambiente. Algunos de esto métodos son la rotación de cultivos, la selección de variedades resistentes a las plagas, la siembra de material sano, la ubicación de puntos de desinfección de calzado y vehículos, etc.• Control. Cuando el monitoreo y los umbrales de acción indican que se requiere un control porque los métodos preventivos ya no son efectivos o no son posibles, se evalúa el método de control más indicado por eficacia y riesgo.En el caso del aguacate Hass, el MIP debe enfocarse principalmente en el siguiente conjunto de enfermedades y plagas que son las que tienen mayor incidencia sobre el cultivo:Principales enfermedades en aguacate Hass El marco metodológico desarrollado para esta fase (Figura 1) vincula los procesos de adopción de tecnología que tiene los criterios de crecimiento verde con las características del entorno institucional. Este marco permite identificar los cambios institucionales necesarios para el fomento del crecimiento verde en el sector agropecuario (entendido como el fomento de la adopción por los agricultores de tecnologías/prácticas promisorias). Este marco se basó en tres supuestos:Supuesto 1: Adoptar nuevas tecnologías implica:• Conocer las tecnologías (tener acceso a información).• Tener la voluntad de implementar las tecnologías (tomar la decisión).• Tener la capacidad de implementar las tecnologías (medio/condiciones socioeconómicas y biofísicas).• La adopción de nuevas tecnologías/prácticas supone tener las 3 condiciones mencionadas anteriormente.• Pueden presentarse barreras para la adopción de nuevas tecnologías/prácticas a nivel de los productores que resultan de problemas estructurales (aquellos difíciles de cambiar) o funcionales (aquellos con los que se pueden esperar resultados a corto/mediano plazo) vinculados al sistema productivo.• El entorno institucional (entendido como el conjunto de \"reglas del juego\" (North, 1994)), afecta el comportamiento de los productores. Este entorno institucional (luego llamado marco institucional) puede afectar de manera directa (vía implementación de herramientas de políticas reglamentarias, normativas, o incitativas), o indirecta (vía la modificación de condiciones socioeconómicas y biofísicas de los productores o de sus accesos a mercado) las decisiones de los productores, y por ende la adopción de tecnologías/prácticas.• Dentro de este entorno institucional, se presentan herramientas de políticas ya existentes pero que pueden tener problemas de diseño o implementación y necesitan ajustes. También se presentan \"vacíos institucionales\" (ausencia de herramientas) para alcanzar nuevas metas. En este sentido, se necesitaría formular e implementar nuevas herramientas de forma adaptada a los retos y situaciones de los productores.Así, en la Figura 1 , se presentan los elementos que influyen en el proceso de toma de decisiones de un agricultor. Estos elementos son del entorno institucional (políticas nacionales e instrumentos de políticas implementadas a nivel local), y están vinculados con las condiciones socio-económicas y biofísicas del productor (acceso a capitales y capacidades), con las condiciones de mercado.Condiciones que también son afectadas por las políticas).De esta forma, el entendimiento del entorno institucional, la identificación de barreras de adopción a tecnologías para el crecimiento verde y de acciones para superar estas barreras; y el costeo de dichas acciones, permiten tener una estrategia clara para la facilitar la adopción de tecnologías del crecimiento verde.Figura 1. Relaciones entre el entorno institucional y la toma de decisiones de los productores en cuanto a las prácticas/tecnologías priorizadas para el crecimiento verde Fuente. CIAT/CCAFS -CRECE.Siguiendo en este marco metodológico, se realizó un balance del marco institucional actual a escala nacional 3 (punto 1, del marco Figura 1). Este balance se realizó para entender las fortalezas (oportunidades) y debilidades (limitantes) del marco institucional actual para la adopción de tecnologías afines con el crecimiento verde. Para este balance, se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas en la ciudad de Bogotá, a expertos en los cinco sistemas priorizados (Ver en el Anexo 1: lista de las personas entrevistadas). En estas entrevistas se preguntó sobre las fortalezas y debilidades del marco institucional para alcanzar el objetivo de aumentar la productividad de cada subsector (ganadería/aguacate/café/cacao/papa) con una visión de crecimiento verde. Este balance sobre el marco institucional tuvo en cuenta tres criterios (Ver en el Anexo 2: Guía de entrevista para evaluación del marco institucional para alcanzar los objetivos del Crecimiento verde): 1) Las políticas e instrumentos de políticas existentes; 2) La disponibilidad de financiamiento; 3) La capacidad institucional.En paralelo, se realizó una revisión de documentos (artículos académicos, documentos de política: CONPES 4 , programas, informes, etc.) para respaldar la información compartida durante las entrevistas (Ver en Referencias, lista de documentos utilizados).Luego, se identificaron las barreras a la adopción de prácticas y tecnologías para el crecimiento verde por parte de los productores (punto 2 de la Figura 1). En la segunda etapa, realizada a escala regional, se identificaron las barreras para la adopción a escala de las prácticas/tecnologías priorizadas (1 práctica por sistema productivo) desde la perspectiva de los productores (y sus organizaciones), y desde las instituciones a escala departamental. Esta etapa se realizó mediante 7 talleres departamentales (para más detalle sobre la metodología de esta fase, ver la Parte 3: Marco institucional regional).Durante los talleres, se llevó a cabo la etapa de la metodología (Punto 3 de la Figura 1), la cual consiste en identificar las medidas para solventar las barreras identificadas desde los puntos de vista de los actores locales (ver metodología y resultados de los talleres en la parte 3 del presente informe). Los resultados de estos talleres fueron puestos en perspectiva con la información recogida de la etapa 1 para comprobar la pertinencia. Adicionalmente, se realizó un taller de discusión con el equipo de GGGI-DNP (Taller de discusión equipos GGGI-DNP y CIAT/CCAFS -CRECE, 17 de Marzo de 2018 en Cali) para sintetizar y consolidar la información referente a las medidas identificadas en los talleres, lo cual era clave para identificar y completar las acciones estratégicas para el crecimiento verde (ver CIAT/CRECE. Informe 4).Luego, se realizó un costeo y análisis de factibilidad de las acciones estratégicas (medidas prioritarias para la adopción de las practicas/tecnologías priorizadas). Este costeo (punto 4 de la Figura 1) se realizó por cada acción estratégica, que fue priorizada durante un taller nacional realizado el 2 de Abril de 2018 en Bogotá (ver CIAT/CRECE. Informe 4).Esta sección presenta un balance del marco institucional y de política nacional. Se considera primero el marco institucional nacional y luego el marco institucional específico por cada subsector, identificando sus principales fortalezas y debilidades que permitan contribuir a lograr el aumento de la productividad con una perspectiva de crecimiento verde.• Fortalezas en el marco institucional Marco de política: El crecimiento verde es una iniciativa estratégica articulada con los planes de desarrollo del país.Primero es importante mencionar que la misión de crecimiento verde surge, entre otros, de la voluntad del gobierno de pertenecer a la OCDE (Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico).En efecto, el 25 de octubre de 2013, el secretario general de la OCDE (Ángel Gurría) inició formalmente el proceso de adhesión de Colombia con el presidente colombiano, Juan Manuel Santos 5 . En este contexto, Colombia asumió el reto de mejorar sus prácticas en varios temas, entre ellas, las relacionadas con sostenibilidad ambiental y de los recursos naturales. El acuerdo final para la terminación del conflicto y la construcción de una paz estable y duradera 7Constituye igualmente una oportunidad para ayudar a alcanzar un crecimiento verde del sector agropecuario [CIAT, DNP 2]. En efecto, el punto \"Hacia un Nuevo Campo Colombiano: Reforma Rural Integral\" menciona como unos de sus principios orientadores: \"Desarrollo sostenible: es decir, es ambiental y socialmente sostenible y requiere de la protección y promoción del acceso al agua, dentro de una concepción ordenada del territorio\" y \"democratización del acceso y uso adecuado de la tierra: mecanismos y garantías que permitan que el mayor número posible de hombres y mujeres habitantes del campo sin tierra o con tierra insuficiente puedan acceder a ella y que incentiven el uso adecuado de la tierra con criterios de sostenibilidad ambiental, de vocación del suelo, de ordenamiento territorial y de participación de las comunidades (…)\" [DNP 2].Por ejemplo, el decreto de ley 893 crea los Programas de Desarrollo con Enfoque Territorial (PDET) 8 : \"En el marco del Acuerdo Final, la Reforma Rural Integral (en adelante RRI) busca sentar las bases para la transformación estructural del campo, crear condiciones de bienestar para la población rural y de esa manera, contribuir a la construcción de una paz estable y duradera. En ese sentido, la RRI es de aplicación universal y su ejecución prioriza los territorios más afectados por el conflicto, la miseria y el abandono, a través de Programas de Desarrollo con Enfoque Territorial (en adelante PDET), como instrumentos de reconciliación en el que todos sus actores trabajan en la construcción del bien supremo de la paz, derecho y deber de obligatorio cumplimiento\" [DNP 2].Los entrevistados mencionaron también las sinergias que existen entre la iniciativa de crecimiento verde con entrevistado [MADR, DNP 1]. La primera tiene por objetivo estructurar el portafolio de políticas públicas para el campo colombiano, cuyos resultados deben ser la carta de navegación para el sector durante los próximos 20 años. La Misión se estructuró en cinco ejes temáticos; (1) el rol de lo rural en el desarrollo del país, (2) desarrollo rural para el cierre de brechas sociales, (3) provisión de bienes púbicos para el campo, (4) desarrollo agropecuario sostenible y competitivo e (5) institucionalidad moderna y eficiente. 9 Por su parte, la Misión para la Transformación del Campo es una iniciativa del Gobierno Nacional liderada por el Departamento de Planeación Nacional (DNP) para definir los lineamientos a través de 6 estrategias propuestas (derechos sociales, inclusión productiva, competitividad, sostenibilidad ambiental, desarrollo territorial y ajuste institucional) y su costo para el desarrollo rural y agropecuario para los próximos 20 años (DNP, 2015a). En efecto, la consideración de aspectos de productividad en articulación con aspectos sociales y ambientales de las dos iniciativas va de acuerdo con la misión de Crecimiento Verde. En este sentido, existe un alineamiento oportuno entre la visión de los documentos que puede facilitar y acelerar el alcance de los objetivos del Crecimiento Verde.En el Plan Nacional de Desarrollo 2014-2018 (DNP, 2015b), el capítulo X está dedicado al crecimiento verde en cuyo diagnóstico sobre el sector agropecuario menciona: \"El sector agropecuario tiene un alto consumo de suelo y agua; cerca de 35.000.000 de hectárea están ocupadas por pastos y herbazales para ganadería de las cuales solo 15.000.000 ha son aptas para dicho fin (IGAC, 2012), generando conflictos por el uso del suelo\". Los objetivos fijados en este documento son: \"Objetivo 1: avanzar hacia un crecimiento sostenible y bajo en carbono; Objetivo 2: proteger y asegurar el uso sostenible del capital natural y mejorar la calidad y gobernanza ambiental; Objetivo 3: lograr un crecimiento resiliente y reducir la vulnerabilidad frente a los riesgos de desastres y al cambio climático\" (DNP, 2015b).La política nacional de producción más limpia 10 adoptada en 1997 apoya la generación de productos más respetosos con el medio ambiente, con la inclusión en cada etapa de producción de mejores prácticas ambientales. La política considera aspectos de cambio climático (emisiones de CO2), uso de pesticidas y fertilizantes, usos del agua (contaminación hídrica), entre otros, los cuales son muy afines con los objetivos de Crecimiento Verde.Existen herramientas de planeación que pueden apoyar la implementación de acciones para el crecimiento verde, de las cuales vale la pena mencionar cuatro que representan oportunidades para crear condiciones para el crecimiento verde. Estas herramientas de planeación tienen alcances territoriales, orientaciones y propósitos distintos. Los Planes de Ordenamiento y Manejo de Cuencas Hidrográficas-POMCA 11 -permiten realizar la planeación del uso del suelo, del recurso hídrico, de la flora y fauna, así como el manejo de la cuenca frente a los desafíos de deterioro ambiental. Estos planes son liderados por las Corporaciones Autónomas Regionales (CAR), siguiendo las directrices del Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible. Los planes de ordenamiento territorial departamental fueron impulsados conforme a la Ley Orgánica de Ordenamiento Territorial (LOOT) 12 (Ley 1454 de 2011) y la Política General de Ordenamiento Territorial (PGOT). Estos planes buscan armonizar los procesos de desarrollo en relación con los usos y la ocupación del territorio y son concebidos como instrumento para articular políticas, directrices y estrategias de ordenamiento físico-territorial con los planes, programas, proyectos y actuaciones sobre los departamentos. En el marco de estos planes, se busca que los departamentos lleguen a acuerdos para el desarrollo territorial, establezcan las líneas estratégicas de trabajo conjunto con los municipios, promuevan procesos de desarrollo territorial articulados, orienten los procesos de ordenamiento territorial supramunicipal, promuevan acciones de interés departamental o supramunicipal y gestionen proyectos de impacto regional que beneficien a más de un municipio de su jurisdicción. Los Planes de Desarrollo Territorial (PDT) son instrumentos de planificación que orientan las acciones de las administraciones departamentales, distritales y municipales durante un período de gobierno. En éste se determina la visión, los programas, proyectos y metas de desarrollo asociados a los recursos públicos. Los PDT se componen de un diagnóstico, un parte estratégico y un plan de inversión. Los planes integrales de cambio climático (PICC) previstos en el marco del plan nacional de adaptación al cambio climático (PNACC) tienen un alcance departamental y buscan planificar acciones para reducir la vulnerabilidad climática e integran elementos de planificación territorial, así como, elementos de tecnología y de fortalecimiento de capacidades, los cuales pueden converger con objetivos de crecimiento verde.Un entrevistado [MADR] menciona el programa impulsado por el MADR \"Colombia Siembra\" (2015-2018) tiene como objetivos: (1) aumentar la oferta agropecuaria para garantizar la seguridad alimentaria en el país;(2) incrementar el área y los rendimientos destinados a la producción y el fomento de las exportaciones agropecuarias y agroindustriales;(3) impulsar el desarrollo de los negocios agropecuarios para mejorar los ingresos de los productores; y (4) fortalecer el desarrollo tecnológico y los servicios en el sector agropecuario 13 . Para esto, el programa propone cinco apuestas que son: (1) el desarrollo de mapa de zonificación, la implementación de programas de (2) extensión rural y asistencia técnica y de (3) administración de riesgos agropecuarios, ( 4) mejorar el acceso al crédito y (5) el desarrollo de escuelas de emprendimiento rural. El entrevistado confirmó que los programas están orientados hacia el aumento de áreas sino también al aumento de productividad y menciona que se han incorporado criterios de cambio climático. Los sistemas productivos priorizados en este programa se basan en dos criterios: (1) potencial para la exportación (cacao, aguacate, palma africana, ganadería y café en renovación de cafetales) o (2) contribuyen a la seguridad alimentaria (arroz y maíz).A través FINAGRO (sociedad de economía mixta entre MADR, Banco Agrario de Colombia, BBVA y Davivienda), se busca favorecer la inclusión financiera a pequeños productores 14 . FINAGRO interviene a través varias líneas de acciones (Tabla 2 ).Tabla 2 : Financiamiento por líneas de acciones de FINAGRO (fuente Finagro 2015-2017)* Cifras en miles de millones La principal línea de acción de FINAGRO es el financiamiento bajo un esquema de banco de segundo piso (de redescuento) permitiendo y fomentando a los bancos de primer piso de prestar a los  productores. En 2017, las inversiones a través de FINAGRO representaron un total 14.775.406 millones de pesos de lo cual 3.124.386 millones fueron dedicados a apoyos transversales, y 11.651.020 millones a apoyos por cadenas productivos (Tabla 3). En estas cadenas, cabe la importancia de ciertos cultivos objeto de nuestro análisis, como café y ganadería carne, los cuales se ubican dentro de los 5 mayores rumbos de inversión por FINAGRO (junto con arroz, caña de azúcar y avicultura).Tabla 3 : Colocaciones FINAGRO en 2017 por actividad en pesos (fuente Finagro)Fuente: FINAGROEn cuanto a mecanismos de apoyo a la inversión, el principal instrumento manejado por FINAGRO es \"Incentivo a la capitalización rural\" (ICR) que es una prima de éxito para algunos sectores/tipo de productores después de realizar una inversión. Por lo general, está asociado a cultivos de mediano y alto rendimiento, a maquinaria o a equipos. Estos fondos se abonan directamente al crédito después de verificar que el productor realizó la inversión [FINAGRO].En 2017 se otorgaron 86 mil millones de pesos a título del ICR. Aproximadamente, la mitad del ICR se ha otorgado a proyectos relacionados con cultivos. Desde 1994, un total de COP$2.366.934 millones que fueron otorgados a través del ICR, de los cuales COP$1.292.824 millones se asignaron para plantaciones de cultivos. Si bien este instrumento representa una oportunidad para los productores colombianos, todavía el acceso es un reto para muchos productores. De hecho, el acceso al ICR requiere que (1) los proyectos deben financiarse con operaciones de crédito redescontadas en FINAGRO, (2) sólo se puede aplicar una vez al año, (3) el solicitante no se debe haber tenido un proyecto anterior negado al momento de pagar, ( 4) la culminación de las inversiones debe ser posterior a la fecha del redescuento del crédito; y (5) todas las inversiones deben contar con soportes válidos de gasto.Algunas limitantes a este instrumento hacen referencia a que por lo general el monto total anual del ICR no abastece la demanda total de los productores. Esto esa sido más evidente durante los dos últimos años con la reducción del presupuesto del ICR (Tabla 1). Por lo tanto, muchos proyectos no logran acceder al ICR. Además, en algunos casos los recursos del ICR no llegan oportunamente atendiendo a las necesidades según el calendario agrícola. Finalmente, existen dificultades en el acceso al incentivo por parte de pequeños productores pues no alcanzan a cumplir los requisitos mencionados, y no poseen la capacidad de inversión suficiente necesaria para la formulación e inicio de los proyectos.Existe también un ICR territorial que consiste en abonar un dinero al crédito que, con recursos FINAGRO, hayan solicitado los productores. El abono se realiza con recursos presupuestales asignados por la Entidad Territorial (Guajira, Ibagué, Cundinamarca and Casanare) 15 .FINAGRO tiene otro incentivo denominado la \"Línea Especial de Crédito\" (LEC), el cual es un subsidio a la tasa de interés de los créditos. La LEC son líneas de crédito transitorias que ofrecen recursos con tasas de interés subsidiadas mediante aportes del Gobierno Nacional con plazos favorables. Dichas líneas, son dirigidas a un determinado segmento de productores o de actividades agropecuarias que requieren atención especial, cuando por razones excepcionales se determina que los productores requieren un apoyo especial del Gobierno Nacional 16 .FINAGRO también ha establecido una línea de crédito denominada \"A toda máquina\" con el propósito de promover la modernización del campo colombiano. Esta línea de crédito contempla un subsidio a la tasa de interés con recursos del gobierno, de FINAGRO, e incluso en ocasiones, de los mismos bancos, orientado hacia la financiación y adquisición de maquinaria nueva (ej. tractor, cosechadora, infraestructura de riego).Existe también un programa del Gobierno llamado la \"Banca de las oportunidades\" 17 (2006-2018) el cual fue mencionado por uno de los entrevistados [DNP 1]. Este programa busca promover la inclusión financiera. Sin embargo, como lo comentó el entrevistado: \"Se trabajó mucho el tema de micro finanzas, el cual ha crecido ostensiblemente pero más en el sector urbano\".A través de una iniciativa de gobierno, FINAGRO maneja el Fondo Agropecuario de Garantías (FAG).El FAG tiene como objetivo facilitar el acceso a crédito por parte de productores pequeños [FINAGRO]. Así, este fondo permite respaldar hasta el 80% del capital para productores pequeños, y 60 % o 50% respectivamente los medianos o grandes productores (Tabla 4). En 2017, sobre un valor total de COP$2.102.169 millones de garantía, el 88 % fueron otorgados a pequeños productores (Tabla 4). De los sectores productivos contemplados en este estudio, se puede rescatar que en 2017 la ganadería doble propósito y el café representaron respectivamente 22% y 17 % del valor de las garantías expedidas por el FAG. El FAG otorga garantía en menor medida a los subsectores de leche, cacao, aguacate y papa.Tabla 4 : Cubertura de garantía (FAG) por tipo de productores y subsectores en 2017Con relación a los riesgos de producción, los productores cuentan con dos herramientas principales. La primera es un incentivo al seguro agropecuario. Este incentivo consiste en un subsidio que maneja FINAGRO con recursos del gobierno para que los productores puedan pagar las primas y el costo de los seguros agropecuarios que protegen sus inversiones, cultivos o actividades agropecuarias frente a riesgos de la naturaleza, clima y sanitarios. El subsidio alcanza hasta el 80% del valor de la prima. La segunda, se refiere a los Programas de Reactivación Económica (PRAN) 18 que son manejados por FINAGRO. Estos programas se implementan cuando hay un grupo de productores que se ven afectados por una inundación, una caída de precios o plagas, esto es cualquier situación que les impide el pago del crédito. Así pues, el gobierno destina recursos para comprar estos créditos, aliviar a los bancos y dar más plazos a los productores. Existe distintas clases de PRAN: (1) PRAN agropecuario destinado para productores pequeños y medianos; (2) PRAN cafetero destinado a para productores pequeños y medianos a través de la Federación Nacional de Cafeteros; (3) PRAN Alivio a la deuda cafetera destinado a la compra de deuda; y PRAN arrocero destinado para la comercialización de cosechas de arroz de los departamentos del Meta y Casanare del segundo semestre del 2004.En el sector forestal existen dos herramientas de financiamiento. La primara es un incentivo creado en 1994 para estimular la reforestación, denominado \"Certificado Incentivo Forestal\" (CIF) 19 . Este incentivo es una prima de éxito, es decir es un pago por resultados vinculado a acciones de reforestación. Si bien, se han previsto incentivos para reforestación comercial y de conservación, solo el de reforestación comercial, manejado por el MADR, está actualmente activo [FINAGRO 2]. Este incentivo destina recursos financieros para el primer año de establecimiento, y para los primeros cuatro años de mantenimiento de las plantaciones forestales. El monto otorgado es definido por decreto cada año por el MADR. Este monto toma en cuenta los diferenciales de costos totales netos de establecimiento de plantaciones según el tipo de especies (autóctonas o introducidas) y las regiones.Según la ley, el CIF podría ser financiado por diferentes fuentes de financiación, pero en la práctica solo el MADR lo financia. Los recursos totales otorgados por el MADR desde el inicio del programa han representado aproximadamente COP$500 mil millones, pero cabe anotar que la dotación se ha reducido de COP$100 mil millones de COP (en 2013) a COP$32 mil millones actualmente, por falta de proyectos. Según Finagro [Finagro 3], 300 000 has han sido apoyadas a través de esta herramienta desde 1994, que hacen parte del total reforestado actual de 600 000 has según lo estimado por la UPRA 20 . El área mínima apoyada por este instrumento es de 1ha (sin tope máximo). Su principal limitación es el hecho de que el reforestador debe invertir primero para recibir con el CIF después de su inversión. En promedio, los reforestadores reciben 1.7 millones de pesos/has para la instalación de plantaciones y 650 mil pesos/has para los cuatros primeros años de mantenimiento de las plantaciones. En zonas de post conflicto la retribución es más importante. En este momento, Finagro tiene 750 contratos vigentes que cubren un total de 61.000 has.En este sentido, se puede decir que el CIF tiene poca cubertura. El incentivo está siendo principalmente utilizado por los productores relativamente pequeños, pues el 80% de los contratos incluye áreas inferiores a 50 has., Sin embargo, las áreas relativamente pequeñas de los lotes de reforestación no se caracterizan por su eficiencia para garantizar una producción rentable de madera. Frente a esta situación se está discutiendo replantear el CIF para plantaciones forestales [Finagro 2]. Por otra parte, se está perfilando una segunda herramienta dedicada a la conservación de bosque. En el contexto de postconflicto, el Decreto 870 ha sido creado para el establecimiento de esquemas de pago por servicios ambientales y otros incentivos para la conservación en 2017 21 : \"Es el incentivo económico en dinero o en especie que reconoce las acciones de preservación y restauración en áreas y ecosistemas estratégicos realizadas por interesados en los servicios ambientales (ej. Propietarios, poseedores u ocupantes de buena fe), mediante la celebración de acuerdos voluntarios entre los interesados y beneficiarios de los servicios ambientales\".La creación por Ley 1876 del Sistema Nacional de Innovación Agropecuaria (SNIA), el 29 de diciembre del 2017 22 , constituye otra oportunidad para promover el crecimiento verde en Colombia [CIAT, DNP 1]. Esta ley: \"crea nuevas funciones, competencias y mecanismos de articulación de las entidades y organismos de coordinación del orden nacional y territorial que componen el SNIA, y crea el servicio público de extensión agropecuaria y normas para su prestación. Todo lo anterior, como herramientas fundamentales para lograr que las acciones de investigación, desarrollo tecnológico, transferencia de tecnología, gestión del conocimiento, formación, capacitación y extensión soporten efectivamente los procesos de innovación requeridos para mejorar la productividad, competitividad y sostenibilidad del sector agropecuario colombiano\". La mención de la productividad y sostenibilidad del sector es pertinente para los objetivos del crecimiento verde. Así lo explicó un entrevistado: \"Según la ley se debe crear una tarifa en los departamentos para que se recojan recursos para prestar servicio de asistencia técnica, porque es muy difícil prestar asistencia técnica si no hay recursos\" [DNP 1].El tema de productividad y competitividad se maneja a nivel de las direcciones de cadenas bajo el MADR (Dirección de cadenas agrícolas y forestales y Dirección de cadenas pecuaria, pesquera y acuícola) 23 . En los sistemas productivos existe una instancia que se encarga de la cadena productiva.En el marco de las cadenas productivas existen la instancia de concejos de cadena donde está representado el sector público y el sector privado. En estos concejos se debería abordar todo el tema de crecimiento verde, según un entrevistado [MADR]. La estructura nació en 2003 con la ley 811, a partir de la cual se crean las organizaciones de cadena 24 . Como lo explica el entrevistado: \"Los productores, comercializadores, transformadores y el gobierno se unen para hacer frente común a la productividad y competitividad de esta actividad productiva\". Dentro de los aspectos que consideran las organizaciones de cadena ya está incluido el \"manejo de recursos naturales y medio ambiente\" (punto 7 del artículo 101 de la ley 811).Los gremios también representan a los productores con el gobierno y la Sociedad de Agricultores de Colombia 25 (SAC) (dentro de la Comisión Nacional de Crédito Agropecuario -CNCA) según entrevistados [DNP 1, FINAGRO]. De igual forma, juegan un papel en la asistencia técnica que prestan a sus agremiados.La UPRA tiene como misión orientar la formulación, ejecución, seguimiento y evaluación de la política de gestión del territorio para usos agropecuarios, a través de la planificación del ordenamiento productivo y social de la propiedad, y la definición de lineamientos, criterios e instrumentos, que promuevan el uso eficiente del suelo para el desarrollo rural con enfoque territorial, también constituye una institución clave y una oportunidad para el alcance de los objetivos de Crecimiento Verde. Los objetivos específicos de la UPRA son: (1) Planificar el ordenamiento productivo en función de la productividad y competitividad del sector agropecuario; (2) Planificar el ordenamiento social de la propiedad rural para fomentar la distribución equitativa y la seguridad jurídica en el acceso a la tierra, (3) Promover el uso eficiente del suelo rural agropecuario para la gestión del territorio a través de lineamientos, criterios e instrumentos; (4) Realizar seguimiento y evaluación de las políticas públicas para determinar su impacto en el ordenamiento productivo y de la propiedad rural, que permita la toma de decisiones; (5) Implementar la gestión de información y conocimiento para la planificación rural agropecuaria, soportado en el plan estratégico de tecnología y de comunicación; (6) Difundir la gestión, productos y servicios institucionales, con criterios de transparencia para la participación y servicio al ciudadano; (7) Fortalecer la gestión institucional, para la eficiencia administrativa y financiera de la UPRA y (8) Consolidar la gestión del talento humano que permita generar una cultura organizacional de alto nivel técnico y científico 26 .La Agencia de Desarrollo Rural (ADR) 27 tiene como misión la promoción, estructuración, cofinanciación y ejecución de planes y proyectos integrales de desarrollo agropecuario y rural, y generar capacidades para mejorar la gestión del desarrollo rural integral con enfoque territorial para contribuir a la transformación del campo colombiano 28 . La ADR está adscrita al Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural.Los mercados verdes son una denominación para caracterizar a empresas y modelos de negocios que ofertan productos, bienes y servicios, basados en la innovación y que buscan la generación de impacto ambiental, social y económico. De esa forma, contribuyen a la conservación de la biodiversidad y la naturaleza 29 .Por otra parte, los negocios verdes y sostenibles se clasifican en 3 categorías y en 8 sectores (ver Figura 2) 30 . Según el programa regional de negocio verde para la región central, los negocios verde se definen como \"las actividades económicas en las que se ofrecen bienes o servicios que generan impactos ambientales positivos y que, además, incorporan buenas prácticas ambientales, sociales y económicas, con enfoque de ciclo de vida, contribuyendo a la conservación del ambiente como capital natural que soporta el desarrollo del territorio\" (Minambiente, 2014, p.13).Fuente: MinAmbiente, 2014. Programa regional de negocios verdes para la región central Un estudio realizado sobre los mercados de productos agrícolas ecológicos en Colombia publicado en el 2017 31 establece que el mercado de productos orgánicos o ecológicos es aún incipiente a nivel de producción, exportación y mercadeo en el país, y concluye que existe un potencial de encontrar mayor demanda por parte de los consumidores tanto a nivel internacional como a nivel nacional. Por otra parte, en la segunda Gran Encuesta Nacional Ambiental, en la cual 2.580 hogares fueron entrevistados, representando a 13,5 millones de personas de las principales 12 ciudades de Colombia, respondieron temas sobre conocimiento y actitudes frente a los asuntos ambientales, y compartieron sus percepciones sobre la situación ambiental y la gestión de las autoridades en la materia 37 . En relación con agricultura, cabe anotar que el 33% de los encuestados dijeron haber comprado un producto amigable con el medioambiente durante el último mes. Ciertas ciudades como Bucaramanga (57,2%), Bogotá (38,1%) y Armenia (35,5%) se destacan en estas prácticas. Los principales productos 'verdes' con mayor demanda en estas urbes son los de aseo y limpieza (con características biodegradables) y los alimentos con el sello de orgánicos\". Al final, el DANE a través de dicha encuesta concluye que \"en la Colombia de hoy existen prácticas sociales que si bien aún no son mayoritarias, sí son significativas y permiten visualizar mercados verdes reales y potenciales. Se podría afirmar que cerca de cuatro millones de personas en las principales doce grandes ciudades del país son sensibles a este tipo de productos o servicios\".El desarrollo de mercados de \"productos verdes\" en Colombia es apoyado a través del \"Plan de Negocios Verdes\" del Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible, que traza varios enfoques como:(1) los mecanismos de desarrollo limpio (para reducir gases de efecto invernadero), el aprovechamiento sostenible de los recursos naturales, (2) los eco-productos industriales (productos 32 http://repiica.iica.int/docs/B0041e/B0041e.pdf 33 Sin embargo, la superficie de producción orgánica representa un porcentaje muy limitada del área agrícola total (0.24%) muy inferior al de Argentina, líder en líder en porcentaje de superficie de agricultura orgánica con 1.89%). 34 http://repiica.iica.int/docs/B0041e/B0041e.pdf 35 https://ac.els-cdn.com/S2215910X1730023X/1-s2.0-S2215910X1730023X-main.pdf?_tid=b44ea1b9-c8d4-4e27-809e-82f5f347091f&acdnat=1525106393_faf14e0c76b3fd0c1b82cb654d5f5d49 36 https://www.laopinion.com.co/economia/abc-de-los-mercados-verdes-en-colombia-116181#OP 37 http://www.portafolio.co/opinion/cesar-caballero/mercados-verdes-31102 menos contaminantes a partir de tecnologías limpias) y (3) los servicios ambientales (los que proveen la naturaleza al hombre, por ejemplo el turismo ambiental) 38 .Por su parte, los programas regionales de negocios verdes tienen como objetivo principal definir los lineamientos y proporcionar herramientas para la planificación y toma de decisiones que permitan el desarrollo y fomento de los negocios verdes y sostenibles, de acuerdo a las potencialidades y ventajas competitivas regionales, generando crecimiento económico, social y la conservación de los recursos naturales 39 . Las Corporaciones Autónomas Regionales (CAR), según la Ley 768 de 2002, están a cargo de dichos programas regionales del país (Caribe, Central, Amazonas, Orinoquía y Pacífico) en articulación con la Política de Producción y Consumo Sostenible -PPyCS \"Hacia una cultura de consumo sostenible y transformación productiva\". Por ejemplo, el \"programa regional de negocios verdes\" 40 de la región central (Cundinamarca, Boyacá, Santander, Tolima, Risaralda, Antioquia, Quindío, Caldas y Huila) tiene como objetivo de definir los lineamientos y proporcionar herramientas para la planificación y la toma de decisiones que permitan el desarrollo y el fomento de los Negocios Verdes y sostenibles, de acuerdo con las potencialidades y ventajas competitivas regionales, generando crecimiento económico y social y promoviendo la conservación de los recursos naturales o La certificación de producción orgánica que se verifica por organismos acreditados y autorizados por el MADR.  Municipal). A esto se suman, los planes de desarrollo productivo y social desarrollados por UPRA y los planes de manejo de explotación minera.También, existen problemas para \"bajar\" las políticas a nivel de territorio, aunque el programa de desarrollo con enfoque territorial (PDET) debería resolver este problema, es decir para aterrizar la implementación de las políticas en las escalas subnacionales.También existen tensiones entre ministerios sobre las orientaciones y prioridades en términos de desarrollo, como por ejemplo entre el MADR, Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible (MinAmbiente) y Ministerio de Minas y Energía.Además del problema de coherencia de los planes, se resalta la falta de claridad sobre los modelos de desarrollo a promover en la perspectiva de crecimiento verde. En particular, se puede identificar una disyuntiva entre fomentar el crecimiento verde vía un crecimiento de los rendimientos (reduciendo brecha de productividad) y la extensión de áreas productivas (donde se tiene riesgos de extensión en zona no aptas o al detrimento de zonas de interés en termino de capital natural). Esta disyuntiva está en la mayoría de los sistemas productivos considerados en el estudio, como por ejemplo papa (con relación a la posible extensión al detrimento de paramos) o cacao, café y ganadería (con relación a la posible extensión en detrimento de bosques).Otra barrera que fue mencionada durante las entrevistas y asociada a la anterior es la falta de Asistencia Técnica (AT) y su enfoque hacia un desarrollo productivo clásico (sin mucha consideración por lo ambiental) [DNP 1 y 2]. En efecto, el análisis realizado dentro de este estudio muestra que el acceso general a la asistencia técnica es deficitario (ver Gráfico 1). Otro aspecto mencionado por nuestros entrevistados fue la falta general de representación de los productores. En efecto, a pesar del gran interés de quienes están alrededor del sector (ej. ONG, centros de investigación, ministerios, la Mesa de Ganadería Sostenible) la representatividad es poca.Por ejemplo, un entrevistado [CIAT] presentó el caso de la ganadería (que puede aplicar a los otros sistemas productivos) en donde: \"Ni los gremios, ni las ONG representan a todos los ganaderos, ministerios y centros de investigación que hacen ganadería, es decir, todos ellos están desplegando una cantidad muy importante de esfuerzos y recursos en pro de la sostenibilidad de la ganadería, pero la realidad es que esa ganadería, sus cifras y su forma de llevarse a cabo se ha mantenido intacta por décadas, por lo que en términos de capacidad, la del sector es poca\".Un entrevistado comenta acerca de las organizaciones de cadena: \"No han servido en 20 años\" [FEDEGAN 1]. Otro cuestiona el papel de los gremios, tomando el caso de un gremio fortalecido como el café: \"¿Cuál es el papel gremial? ¿Por qué con un gremio tan fuerte los rendimientos siguen siendo los mismos de hace 20 años?\" [DNP]. Sin embargo, los entrevistados consideran que el papel de los gremios es clave en el alcance de los objetivos del crecimiento verde [DNP1 y FINAGRO]: \"Los gremios tienen una interlocución importante con el gobierno\".La falta de participación de los comercializadores ha sido considerada como una debilidad importante en las representaciones nacionales de los sectores productivos. Según un entrevistado, el sector privado puede jugar un papel clave incentivando prácticas que apuntan al crecimiento verde [DNP 1]. El sector privado puede asegurar las compras de productos verdes, hacer la promoción de estos productos en los mercados nacionales e internacionales y otorgar condiciones para el establecimiento de alianzas productivas y esquemas de co-inversión. En la medida que los comercializadores valoren e impulsen el posicionamiento de productos que contribuyen al crecimiento verde tienen el potencial de influenciar desde la demanda, la producción sostenible de alimentos que responda también a los retos del cambio climático.A nivel del gobierno, en general y del MADR en particular, se mencionó que \"hay muchas responsabilidades y poca gente\" [MADR]. En esta situación no se da prioridad a temas nuevos (como el crecimiento verde). Además, el mismo entrevistado reconoce que \"se requiere fortalecimiento institucional para tener equipos específicos que se encarguen de promover a nivel de todas las direcciones\", así como una mejor articulación entre las diferentes dependencias involucradas (Dir. de cadenas agrícolas y forestales, Dir. de cadenas pecuarias y pesqueras, Dir. de financiamiento, Dir. de innovación, Dir. capacidad productiva y generación de ingresos). Sobre este último punto, el entrevistado comenta que anteriormente existía una dirección de política sectorial que se encargada de articular las diferentes direcciones.A pesar de que existe una variedad de herramientas financieras disponibles, se observa una gran falta de acceso y uso de dichas herramientas. La entidad clave en relación con este tema es FINAGRO que justamente nació para corregir las fallas que había en el financiamiento para el sector agropecuario, especialmente con los pequeños productores que no tenían las mejores condiciones para acceder al crédito: no tenían solvencia, no tenían experiencia, no tenían garantías, no tenían formación [FINAGRO].La falta de acceso y uso de herramientas financieras puede ser explicado por diferentes factores. Primero, se puede mencionar el riesgo que representa para los bancos el financiamiento del sector agropecuario (a los pequeños, medianos y grandes productores). Como lo comenta un entrevistado: \"Además de los problemas de la naturaleza, clima, sanitarios, precios, comercialización, semillas, de contrabando, de infraestructura, la topografía colombiana es compleja y los desafíos de clima son grandes. Pero también tuvimos durante mucho tiempo un problema de orden público: la guerrilla, el narcotráfico, la delincuencia común. Todos estos factores afectan a los productores (pequeños, medianos y grandes) y consecuencia, se generan unos niveles de riesgo para el crédito. Por esa razón, se estimuló a los intermediarios financieros (banco de primer piso) con la asignación de recursos para crédito en condiciones atractivas para los pequeños, medianos y grandes productores\" [FINAGRO].Aun así, el crédito agropecuario tiene un costo muy alto para los intermediarios financieros, lo cual restringe la oferta, según un entrevistado [FINAGRO]. En una perspectiva de crecimiento verde, se deben diseñar herramientas financieras que tengan beneficios económicos y financieros (además de los beneficios ambientales), según el mismo entrevistado.Los bancos privados de primer piso deben destinar unos recursos de acuerdo a su captación de fondos para invertir en la agricultura por ley, explica otro entrevistado [DNP1]. Lo hacen mediante la compra de Títulos de Desarrollo Agropecuario colocados por Finagro. Existen dos tipos de títulos: tipo A para pequeños productores y tipo B para productores medianos y grandes. Al Finagro hacer esta colocación de recursos se genera una tasa mayor para los bancos, de manera que presten a los productores con una tasa de redescuento. Los bancos privados pueden decidir no comprar estos títulos, la cual puede alcanzar un máximo del 25 % del monto de la inversión y destinar los fondos para prestarlos directamente a los agricultores (cartera sustitutiva). Con el tiempo, los montos generados con los títulos de desarrollo agropecuario han venido disminuyendo. Entonces, Finagro tiene cada vez menos presupuesto para prestarle a los pequeños productores, ya que los bancos prefieren destinar invertir directamente, y lo hacen preferencialmente hacia grandes productores.Por su parte, para el caso del ICR, los fondos dependen de los recursos que el gobierno destine. El entrevistado de FINAGRO comenta al respecto: \"En 2017 tuvimos un recorte importante y en el 2018 mucho mayor. Entonces actualmente no se usa mucho el ICR ni líneas especiales de crédito ni seguro, por los recortes presupuestales\" [FINAGRO]. A la pregunta sobre la causa de estos recortes, el entrevistado mencionó: \"Ajustes del presupuesto de la nación, déficit fiscal por la caída de la renta petrolera, las inversiones en post-conflicto, infraestructura vial 4G, salud, educación, defensa...\". Un entrevistado comenta que a través de garantías se puede incentivar los bancos de primer piso para prestarles a los pequeños productores (DNP 1).La poca inclusión financiera se puede explicar por el bajo acceso a la propiedad privada por parte de los pequeños agricultores [DNP 1 y FINAGRO]. Sólo el 40% de los productores tienen tierra titulada, lo que limita el acceso a crédito, según lo explicado por un entrevistado [DNP 1]. El acceso a crédito puede ser limitado también por falta de historia crediticia y otras garantías. Sin embargo, los entrevistados concuerdan en que se está trabajando el tema de inclusión financiera. En efecto, \"la ley 1676 de 2013, reglamentada a través del Decreto 1835 de 2015, modernizó el sistema de garantías mobiliarias, ampliando la cantidad y diversidad de bienes que pueden ser constituidos como garantía (que pueden ser valorados de forma pecuniaria) y creando un registro centralizado y público de la información de las garantías y mecanismos más eficientes de ejecución\". En el documento \"Reporte Inclusión financiera 2016\", se presentan los efectos positivos de esta ley: \"Los resultados de esta regulación han sido positivos. Antes de la expedición de la Ley, existía un total de 812.622 registros de garantías mobiliarias. Incluyendo los registros vigentes antes de 2014, el número total de registros al 31 de marzo de 2017 fue de 1.499.148, de los cuales 84,6% (1.267.743) corresponden a garantías sobre vehículos. El porcentaje restante se distribuye en garantías sobre maquinaria, equipo, licencias, permisos, participaciones en capital, cuentas por cobrar, productos agrícolas, inventarios y otros\". En este sentido, el entrevistado [DNP 1] comenta: \"Pero la precariedad es tan grande que el crecimiento (en inclusión financiera) puede ser significativo, pero igual el impacto sigue siendo muy poco\".El poco acceso y uso de las herramientas financieras disponibles se explica también por la falta de viabilidad financiera de los proyectos presentados por los productores [FINAGRO]. En este caso, falta más capacitación o asesoría para construir proyectos viables. Relacionado con este último punto, se comentó que muchos productores han tenido dificultades para pagar sus créditos y quedaron, por lo tanto, reportados en su historial crediticio (en Data Crédito) [FINAGRO].Además, no existen herramientas de financiamiento a nivel nacional especializada en temas de crecimiento verde [MADR y DNP 2]. Sólo en la Amazonia y Orinoquia existen incentivos para el sector agropecuario dirigidos a la sostenibilidad ambiental. Por ejemplo, dentro del Plan Regional de Cambio Climático para la Orinoquia, se menciona un pago por servicios ambientales: \"Actualmente Corporinoquia tiene firmado un convenio con Cornare y el mismo le da la posibilidad a la Corporación de acceder al proyecto y de acceder a la plataforma, la cual es el sistema operativo que facilita el pago por servicios ambientales que beneficiaría a los agricultores que se acojan a BanCO2\" 43 (ver también el reporte Análisis de los pagos por servicios ambientales como una herramienta para el fortalecimiento de la gestión ambiental en la Amazonia colombiana. El caso del Parque Nacional Natural Cahuinarí 44 ). El entrevistado de FINAGRO explica que dentro del concepto del desarrollo del sector agropecuario en Colombia, tanto el MADR como FINAGRO han considerado la importancia de financiar actividades agropecuarias que sean eficientes, competitivas, que tengan alto nivel de productividad en donde se maneje la inocuidad de los productos. Durante mucho tiempo, uno de los criterios más complejos es la viabilidad de los proyectos desde el punto de vista financiero, económico y ambiental. Pero la pregunta es: \"¿Qué es la viabilidad ambiental?\". Es un concepto difícil de medir.Esta situación puede ser explicada por el hecho que el MinAmbiente tiene poca capacidad financiera [DNP 2] y baja capacidad de incidencia en tema financiero.43 https://www.corporinoquia.gov.co/files/plan_regional_Noviembre.pdf 44 http://www.bdigital.unal.edu.co/57741/3/OlgaAlbarracin.2017.pdfEl contexto político y socioeconómico nacional afecta la posibilidad de reducir las brechas de productividad de la tierra y fomentar políticas para el crecimiento verde. Dentro de estos elementos de contexto, la pobreza rural estructural es una limitante fuerte para lograr el crecimiento verde en el sector agropecuario. Un entrevistado resume la situación así: \"yo no puedo vivir ambientalmente bien cuando socialmente estoy mal\" [DNP]. Unas de las causas mencionadas por los entrevistados son: 1) el problema de distribución desigual de la tierra [DNP 2] y 2) la falta de presencia pública en zonas de conflictos [DNP2].• Resumen de las fuerzas y debilidades del marco institucional nacional para crecimiento verde en el sector agropecuarioA continuación (Tabla 5) se presenta un resumen de las fuerzas y debilidades del marco institucional nacional a considerar para el alcance del crecimiento verde en Colombia en el sector agropecuario. Existen herramientas financieras para el sector agropecuario (FAG, ICR, LEC, CIF, seguro agropecuario) y opciones para enfocarlas en una perspectiva de crecimiento verde.No hay herramientas específicas que apuntan al crecimiento verde Hay poco acceso y uso de las herramientas financieras existentes.Existen entidades a cargo del desarrollo de las cadenas productivas (organizaciones de cadena, gremios) Falta de Asistencia Técnica y representatividad efectiva de los productores Poca capacidad humana y financiera a nivel del gobierno. Falta de articulación entre las direcciones del gobierno. Falta de participación de las empresas comercializadoras en la discusión sobre como promover un crecimiento más verde (la demanda mueve la oferta)Situación socioeconómica general: Pobreza estructural del campo que limitan la adopción de cambios para un crecimiento más verde Mercado : Demanda creciente por mercados verdes para exportación y para el consumo nacional Mercado : falta más integrar alianza publica/privada en inversión para desarrollo de mercado verdeA nivel institucional, se identificaron actores cuyo papel es clave en los procesos de diseño e implementación de acciones para el alcance de los objetivos del crecimiento verde: Departamento Nacional de Planeación (DNP): Lidera la Misión de Crecimiento Verde 45 con el objetivo de: \"definir los insumos y lineamientos de política pública para orientar el desarrollo económico del país hacia el crecimiento verde en el 2030, de manera comprensiva y acertada\". En este marco, \"La Misión producirá las bases técnicas para la formulación de la Política de Crecimiento Verde de Largo Plazo, meta del actual Plan Nacional de Desarrollo 2014-2018 \"Todos por un Nuevo País\".El Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural (MADR): es un actor clave para la implementación de acciones que apuntan al crecimiento verde en la reducción de brechas de productividad en el sector agropecuario. En efecto, su misión es: \"Formular, Coordinar y Evaluar las políticas que promuevan el desarrollo competitivo, equitativo y sostenible de los procesos agropecuarios forestales, pesqueros y de desarrollo rural, con criterios de descentralización, concertación y participación, que contribuyan a mejorar el nivel y la calidad de vida de la población colombiana 46 \". El MADR está compuesto por direcciones enfocadas a temas de desarrollo rural y otras enfocadas en asuntos agropecuarios (ver Gráfico 2).Gráfico 2 : Organigrama del MADR Fuente: página del MADR El Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible (MinAmbiente): otro actor clave por su misión: \"Ser la entidad pública encargada de definir la política Nacional Ambiental y promover la recuperación, conservación, 45 https://www.dnp.gov.co/Crecimiento-Verde/Paginas/Misi%C3%B3n-de-crecimiento-verde.aspx 46 https://www.minagricultura.gov.co/ministerio/quienes-somos/Paginas/Quienes-somos.aspx protección, ordenamiento, manejo, uso y aprovechamiento de los recursos naturales renovables, a fin de asegurar el desarrollo sostenible y garantizar el derecho de todos los ciudadanos a gozar y heredar un ambiente sano\". Y su visión: \"A 2020 el Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible fomentará el desarrollo sostenible del país, a través de la consolidación de un marco de política y gobernabilidad para el ordenamiento integral del territorio, cambio climático, la conservación y uso sostenible del capital natural, marino y continental y el mejoramiento de la calidad ambiental a partir del fortalecimiento del desempeño ambiental de los sectores productivos, y será líder de la educación ambiental y articulador entre el sector productivo y los diferentes actores para la implementación y seguimiento a las políticas y lineamientos ambientales\" (ver Gráfico 3). Las características de la producción de café presentadas por los Entrevistados son: 1) primero un uso de sombrío en 40% de las fincas (en las demás no se necesita porque tiene balances hídricos positivos y 2) la división de la caficultura en cuatro regiones \"por orden latitudinal\" en donde los sistemas de producción varían. Adicionalmente, se cuenta con 1.500 fincas certificadas como orgánicas.Por otra parte, los Entrevistados [FNC] afirman que se está utilizando en el país una tercera o cuarta parte del fertilizante que se requiere para alcanzar rendimiento potencial, por su parte, Cenicafé (2010) establece que la adecuada nutrición de los cafetales constituye una de las claves más importantes para obtener buenas producciones según las condiciones climáticas 48 . Esta situación está relacionada con la falta de registros de los productores.A nivel de extensión, la Federación Nacional de Cafeteros (FNC) implementa un programa que incluye Fortalezas:• A nivel de instrumentos de política Cabe mencionar que como parte de la Estrategia Colombiana de Desarrollo Bajo en Carbono (ECDBC) 52 , que promueve la formulación e implementación de acciones de mitigación en todos los sectores del país, Cenicafé junto con el Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD) diseñaron la Acción de Mitigación Nacionalmente Apropiada (NAMA) para el sector cafetero como una oportunidad para iniciar la implementación masiva de acciones sostenibles en la producción agropecuaria del país.Por otro lado, se está implementando con apoyo del gobierno, un programa de Reactivación de la Caficultura. Su fin es apoyar a los caficultores que vieron afectados sus cultivos y sus ingresos por el fenómeno de El Niño de 2016, con un incentivo económico de COP$220 por cada sitio de café renovado por siembra o COP$200 por zoca (sin tener en cuenta el número de ejes o chupones en cada sitio) destinado a la compra de fertilizante. En el caso del departamento de Risaralda, por ejemplo, el programa contó con recursos por un valor de $2.752 millones de pesos, provenientes del Fondo Nacional del Café y el Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural 53 . El Programa de Reactivación de la Caficultura tiene una vigencia para la asignación del apoyo desde el 1 de enero de 2016 hasta el 11 de noviembre de 2016. Entre 2015 y 2016 se ha adelantado una inversión cercana a los $54.205 millones, destinados a las 950 mil hectáreas en donde se concentra la siembra de cafetales y por supuesto el ingreso de las más de 500 mil familias caficultoras.En el Congreso Nacional de Cafeteros No. 85 se aprobaron recursos por COP$45 mil millones destinados a la renovación de cafetales para el 2018. El Fondo Nacional del Café (FoNC) asignará COP$18 mil millones de sus excedentes y los COP$27 mil restantes del presupuesto nacional, vía las líneas de Incentivo a la Capitalización Rural (ICR) y Línea Especial de Crédito (LEC). Con esto se continuarán renovando los cafetales y se espera llegar a la meta de las 100 mil hectáreas renovadas el próximo año, ya que en lo corrido de 2017 se llegó a las 70 mil hectáreas.También, la FNC por medio de la Gerencia Técnica y el Centro Nacional de Investigaciones de Café (Cenicafé), está implementando el programa \"Más agronomía, más productividad\", que promueve mediante las labores educativas del Servicio de Extensión, la implementación de prácticas agronómicas apropiadas para cada lote o cultivo de café, teniendo en cuenta sus condiciones particulares de temperatura, agua, luminosidad o suelos, entre otros (FNC, 2017). El programa contempla ocho prácticas fundamentales para tener sistemas de producción efectivos y adecuados:• Sembrar variedades mejoradas con resistencia durable a la roya.• Utilizar colinos de café de origen conocido.• Sembrar o renovar los cultivos en las épocas correctas.• Establecer la densidad de siembra óptima.• Definir ciclos de renovación para mantener el cultivo joven.• Adecuar la luminosidad del cultivo.• Mantener la acidez del suelo ajustada para el cultivo de café.• Nutrir apropiadamente la planta.En los últimos años ha habido una gran transformación de la estructura productiva gracias a los esfuerzos de renovación por parte de los caficultores con ayuda del servicio de extensión y los aportes del FoNC y el gobierno nacional. Entre 2010 y septiembre de 2017, la edad promedio de los cafetales se redujo en un 32% hasta llegar a cerca de 7,1 años y la densidad de siembra aumentó más del 8% llegando a 5.534 árboles/ha y alcanzar una productividad de 18,7 sacos/ha. (FNC, 2017).Además de la dimensión productiva, existen iniciativas que apuntan a metas ambientales relacionadas con la conservación de la biodiversidad y los recursos naturales con manejo de residuos, educación ambiental, cuidado de las quebradas, protección de humedales, protección de bosques, entre otros asuntos.❖ En este campo se puede rescatar el trabajo de la FNC en conjunto con organizaciones y empresas internacionales desde hace varios años. Un ejemplo a destacar es la alianza entre la FNC y Nestlé para que los caficultores colombianos sean más competitivos y a su vez sostenibles. Esta alianza se desarrolla a través de los programas Nespresso AAA y Nescafé Plan Colombia. ❖ El programa Nespresso brinda apoyo integral a la implementación de Buenas Prácticas Agrícolas (BPA) en las fincas que pertenecen al Programa AAA, dirigidas a mejorar la productividad, sostenibilidad, calidad de vida y obtención de un café con las características requeridas por Nespresso. ❖ El Nescafé Plan Colombia es un programa que fue creado en 2010 para fortalecer la competitividad económica de los productores de Valle del Cauca y Risaralda mediante la renovación con variedades resistentes, mejorando la calidad del café según los lineamientos de las Buenas Prácticas Agrícolas. ❖ También, existe el programa Gestión Inteligente del Agua (GIA) el cual está diseñado para hacer frente a los riesgos del cambio climático y al manejo del agua en el país (FNC, 2017). El programa utiliza nuevas tecnologías para reducir las pérdidas de producción debidas a factores climáticos y mitigar el impacto de la producción de café en el medio ambiente, busca integrar las variables clave que inciden en la protección y conservación de los recursos hídricos en los departamentos de Antioquia, Caldas, Cauca, Nariño y Valle del Cauca, y así contribuir al desarrollo sostenible mediante cuatro componentes: Agua responsabilidad de todos, Agua para una caficultura sostenible, Ecosistemas hídricos estratégicos, y Decisiones responsables frente al agua.La sólida estructura gremial que convoca el relacionamiento entre los productores, sus representantes y la estructura administrativa de la FNC constituye una fortaleza institucional. Se caracteriza por contar con mecanismos de participación en los niveles nacional, regional y local enfocados en la búsqueda de consensos alrededor del desarrollo social y productivo de la familia cafetera 54 .El énfasis de la asistencia técnica del gremio es la sostenibilidad del cultivo, en el que uno de sus ejes es la sostenibilidad ambiental.El servicio de extensión de la FNC es uno de los principales gestores de conocimiento para los caficultores colombianos, utiliza diversas metodologías de educación (individuales y grupales) para estar en contacto directo con ellos y brindarles asesoría en prácticas adecuadas para producir café de excelente calidad, en forma rentable y sostenible, respetando el medio ambiente (FNC, 2017).• A nivel de comercializaciónEl café es un buen ejemplo en el cual la \"demanda marca la tendencia\" en temas de certificación ambiental como la experiencia mencionada anteriormente sobre Nestlé, según uno de los entrevistado [DNP 1]. Este aspecto muestra el papel clave que tiene el sector privado en el alcance de los objetivos de crecimiento verde. Otro ejemplo claro, es el enfoque que se está dando a la producción y comercialización del café colombiano alrededor de los cafés especiales, particularmente en la categoría de Estándares Voluntarios de Sostenibilidad. En 2017, participaron 236 mil fincas, con más de 370 mil hectáreas cultivadas en café, lo que equivale a 39% del área cultivada en café en Colombia (FNC, 2017). Entre otros segmentos en consolidación, se encuentran la agregación de valor a través de la industrialización, como es el caso de los extractos y liofilizados y la exportación en microlotes, segmento que una gran oportunidad a los pequeños productores de participar en el mercado internacional.• A nivel de instrumentos de políticaA pesar de la existencia del programa de renovación permanente que cuenta con el apoyo del gobierno, los recursos para esto son insuficientes [FNC]. Es muy importante considerar ajustes a la nueva normatividad ambiental, intensificar el proceso de reconversión de beneficio convencional a beneficio ecológico y fortalecer la protección de bosques y cuencas hídricas al gestionar los recursos ambientales para un sistema productivo de café sostenible.A pesar de ser un cultivo estratégico en acciones de postconflicto, algunos entrevistados consideran que existen riesgos en la implementación de dichos cultivos, principalmente en siembras en zona inadecuada. La FNC no está sistemáticamente tenida en cuenta para estas acciones, lo que podría constituir un riesgo, por ejemplo con la siembra de variedades no adecuadas o en zonas no óptimas.• A nivel de herramientas financieras La debilidad es la falta de recursos globales, sumado a las necesidades de inversión en el sub-sector, así como la falta de acceso a crédito por parte de los pequeños productores. En este punto, varios datos existen. De acuerdo con estadísticas del CRECE, alrededor del 50% de los caficultores tiene acceso al crédito. . Este porcentaje, sin embargo, caficultores de menos de 1 hectárea tienen un acceso a crédito de solo 39%. Mientras que, cuando el tamaño del área en café es mayor a una hectárea, llega al 68% en el caso de los caficultores empresariales. Por el contrario, de acuerdo con Estrada y Sandoval (2014), el crédito se ha dirigido principalmente hacia los pequeños productores. En promedio durante el periodo 2002 a 2013, el 96.7% de los créditos se otorgó a pequeños productores, quienes recibieron el 81.2% del monto total asignado a los créditos.• A nivel de capacidad institucionalEn cuanto a la capacidad institucional, existe una falta de capacidad por parte del ICA para hacer seguimiento a los viveros existentes, según algunos entrevistados [FNC]. Por su parte, en temas de sanidad su activa participación es fundamental.Además, según los entrevistados existe una baja adopción de prácticas para una adecuada fertilización, ya que según datos de Cenicafé apenas el 5% de los productores realizan análisis de suelos (FNC, 2017).Por otra parte, el uso de fertilizantes orgánicos en la caficultura es bajo porque las mismas fincas no son capaces de generar la totalidad de fertilizante requerido y en el mercado no se consigue (FNC, 2017).La precaria sostenibilidad económica de las explotaciones cafeteras es una de las principales debilidades encontradas. Según la FNC (2017), el 10% de las fincas cafeteras tienen menos de media hectárea (0,28 ha. en promedio), otro 15% tiene predios entre 0,5 y 1 ha. (0,66 ha en promedio), y el 39% predios entre 1y 3 ha. (1,65 ha. en promedio). En pocas palabras, el 64% de las fincas cafeteras no cuentan con una escala de producción que les permita vivir decentemente de la actividad cafetera y con baja posibilidad de llevar a cabo las inversiones necesarias para adoptar tecnologías verdes.Tabla 6 : Resumen de las fortalezas y debilidades para caféCultivo estratégico (ECDBC, NAMA, renovación, post conflicto)Falta de normatividad ambiental FNC no siempre tomado en cuenta para promover las siembras nuevasExiste ICR No especifico a café Bajo acceso a crédito (anualmente entre el 8% y el 16% de los cafeteros) (colocaciones de crédito a pequeños son bajasmenos del 30% de participación en el # de operaciones).Gremio fuerte con sistema de extensión Investigación (Cenicafé) Implementación de programas (GIA, Más agronomía, más productividad)No uso de análisis de suelo, baja adopción en general Falta de capacidad del ICA en temas sanitarios Falta de disponibilidad de abonos orgánicosAlianzas con sector privado exitoso (Nestlé)La mayoría de los cacaoteros son pequeños productores y muchos de ellos están ubicados en zonas de conflicto con baja presencia institucional, por lo tanto, con acceso limitado a la asistencia técnica, según los entrevistados [Fedecacao].Además, en una reunión del comité consultivo sobre cacao, los participantes mencionaron que existen diferencias de manejo del cultivo en el país, es decir hay zonas donde la producción es extractiva con un manejo limpio (ej. la zona pacífica), existen también zonas con potencial de intensificación, zonas de producción intensiva que pueden mejorar el manejo ambiental y zonas de promoción de nuevas siembras (cf. Acuerdo de paz). En este contexto, se deberían diseñar estrategias diferenciadas considerando las diferentes zonas abordando aspectos de certificación orgánica, aumento de productividad, manejo más ambiental, entre otros. La diversidad de perfiles de productores de cacao representa riesgos potenciales que pueden ir asociados a la generación de incentivos a la deforestación al promover nuevas siembras o la intensificación en la zona pacífica podría fomentar uso de agroquímicos en una zona todavía preservada como el piedemonte amazónico.• A nivel de instrumentos de políticas existentesEl cacao es uno de los cultivos priorizados para temas de post-conflicto [DNP]. Por lo tanto, las políticas del post conflicto pueden aportar recursos en el desarrollo del cultivo, por ejemplo, con iniciativas como \"cacao para la paz\" 58 .Según lo mencionado en el marco institucional nacional y reafirmado por algunos entrevistados [Fedecacao], existen instrumentos financieros para el acceso al crédito como el ICR con tasas de interés diferenciales según el perfil del productor (pequeño, mediano o grande). Estas herramientas financieras pueden apoyar el establecimiento, el sostenimiento, la rehabilitación o renovación, infraestructura productiva y riego.En cuanto a seguro agropecuario, hay un proyecto con la Embajada de Canadá en el que se ha trabajado desde hace dos años en gestión del riesgo ante el cambio climático. Este proyecto contempla el diseño de seguro para la plantación y a los ingresos agropecuarios. Algunos entrevistados [Fedecacao] comentan que Mapfre es la única aseguradora en el país con seguro agropecuario, pero sigue en construcción.Además, en el contexto de post-conflicto, el fondo colombiano sostenible manejado por la alta consejería para el post-conflicto y DNP ha priorizado el cultivo de cacao para establecer pagos por servicios ambientales [DNP].Existe un esfuerzo institucional que promueve acciones para apoyar a los cacaoteros, Corpoica, ICA, MADR y FEDECACAO son actores clave en la implementación de proyectos y/o programas, según entrevistados de [Fedecacao]. De igual forma, hay dos programas pilotos liderados por Fedecacao que apuntan a temas ambientales promoviendo Buenas Prácticas Agrícolas (BPA) y pago por servicios ambientales (PSA) dirigido a dos líneas (1) biodiversidad en Santander, y (2) captura de carbono en Arauca.• A nivel de mercadoExiste un potencial de certificación en producción orgánica para responder a la demanda internacional principalmente para los productores extractivos de cacao ubicados en la región pacífica, 58 https://www.unodc.org/colombia/es/press/2016/junio/cacao-para-la-paz--una-iniciativa-conjunta.html según el comité consultivo para el sistema productivo del cacao 59 . Adicionalmente, el MADR está trabajando en la promoción del cacao especial para generar un mejor precio para los agricultores, informó uno de los entrevistados [MADR]. En efecto, el cultivo de cacao ha sido priorizado en el programa \"Colombia Siembra\" como uno de los productos con mayor potencial para exportación.• A nivel de instrumentos de políticas existentesHay gran potencial para mejorar el conocimiento sobre el cultivo del cacao por parte de instituciones como MinAmbiente, según algunos entrevistados [Fedecacao]. Por ejemplo, según los entrevistados, MinAmbiente no reconoce el cacao como un cultivo que puede contribuir a la conservación y desconoce su potencial en cuanto a la captura de carbono, además de su potencial contribución en el componente social, ya que muchos productores de cacao son pequeños y en algunos casos es sembrado como alternativa al cultivo de coca.La inclusión financiera para este cultivo es baja (14 547 créditos por un valor de COP$280.796.447.779 COP en 2017, lo que representa 2,4 % del monto total de las colocaciones por cadena de FINAGROdatos FINAGRO) [Fedecacao y Comité consultivo]. Uno de los problemas identificados por los entrevistados es la desviación de los créditos solicitados para propósitos diferentes al fomento del cultivo de cacao. Por otra parte, en términos de la producción, los niveles de fertilización suelen ser bajos, aunque la producción de cacao se presta por fertilización orgánica principalmente en asocio con especies arbóreas.A pesar de que existen instrumentos financieros para los productores, no existen líneas de crédito especial para el cultivo del cacao, según los entrevistados [Fedecacao] 60 , ni tampoco que aborden la perspectiva ambiental. Existe entonces la necesidad de diseñar una línea de crédito especial para cacao reconociendo su potencial contribución del cultivo al medio ambiente como sistema agroforestal, según algunos entrevistados [Fedecacao]. Por otro lado, la falta de registro por parte de los productores constituye una barrera importante para acceder a los seguros agropecuarios.La desarticulación entre programas es uno de los principales problemas identificados por los entrevistados [Fedecacao], aunque reconocen el interés existente para trabajar con productores de cacao.Además, en temas de crecimiento verde, los entrevistados reconocen que hay mucho trabajo por delante ya que consideran que están: \"aprendiendo a caminar\". En este sentido, hay necesidad de fortalecer las capacidades en estos temas y así incentivar el interés para llevar acciones relacionadas 59 A pesar de no haber sido mencionado por los entrevistados, vale la pena rescatar que otros sellos de diferenciación tal como Rainforest Alliance, Comercio justo, entre otros, pueden representar un potencial significativo para este cultivo, pero estas opciones requieren un análisis más detallado. 60 Sin embargo, cabe mencionar que existen financiamiento por FINAGRO en Cacao (ver tabla 2), los cuales representa solo 2,4% de las colocaciones totales por apoyo a cadenas en 2017.a cabo. La poca cobertura de las instituciones representa un desafío adicional para lograr cambios a grande escala.Los entrevistados identificaron otra barrera más estructural, relacionada con el problema de la legalidad de la tierra, la cual consideran clave en particular para acceder a crédito para invertir en las plantaciones. Adicionalmente, los cacaoteros colombianos tienen un perfil de pequeño productor con bajos niveles de productividad, usualmente considerados productores en situación de \"supervivencia\", según los entrevistados. Esta situación constituye un reto para lograr cambios hacia crecimiento verde.Tabla 7: Resumen de las fortalezas y debilidades para cacaoCultivo estratégico en el contexto actual (potencial ambiental, acuerdo de paz) Falta de conocimiento del gobierno sobre el cultivo y sus potencialidades para el crecimiento verdeExisten instrumentos financieros para que el cacaotero pueda acceder a créditos.Inclusión financiera muy baja Falta de líneas específicas para cacao y/o para temas ambientales Falta de toma de registro de los cacaoteros para acceder a seguros agrícolas Existe un proyecto para fomentar el uso de seguro agropecuario por parte de los productoresEsfuerzo de instituciones para apoyar el desarrollo de la producción de cacao (Corpoica, ICA, MADR y FEDECACAO) a través de programa/proyectos. Problemas de desarticulación entre proyectos/programas Falta de capacidad de las instituciones (cobertura AT y conocimiento en temas de crecimiento verde)Problema de legalidad de la tierra Problemas de pobreza estructural del pequeño productor de cacaoPotencial de certificación orgánica para exportación (demanda internacional).En resumen, bajo la perspectiva de crecimiento verde es clave integrar el componente social a los componentes productivos y ambientales para alcanzar los cambios deseados. Es clave diseñar estrategias diferenciadas según regiones considerando sus particularidades, principalmente en términos del potencial que existe en la producción de cacaos especiales para potencializar el comercio internacional. Tales iniciativas, según los entrevistados deben acompañarse, también, de un fuerte componente de asistencia técnica e instrumentos financieros que faciliten alcanzar los criterios para obtener certificaciones o sellos de los cacaos especiales ambientalmente sostenibles (ver Tabla 7).Actualmente, existe un debate relacionado con el efecto de la ganadería en los problemas ambientales, principalmente en cuanto a la emisión de gases efecto invernadero y la deforestación. Por lo anterior, el sector ganadero es objeto de crítica. No obstante, la conciencia en cuanto a los retos ambientales ha aumentado mientras se busca la mejora en productividad [FEDEGAN 2]. En efecto, otros entrevistados [CIAT y DNP 2] mencionaron que el problema de \"potrerización\" tiende a implicar la apropiación de terrenos baldíos por medio del ganado (las llamadas \"vacas colonizadoras\"). Esta \"potrerización\" se vincula con procesos de especulación fundaría o a la valorización de la tierra, donde la rentabilidad ganadera no es importante per se, sino lo es la especulación sobre el valor de la tierra, ya que la ganadería se considera como una actividad muy atractiva para la inversión. De igual forma, vale la pena rescatar que \"un gran porcentaje no ve la ganadería como un negocio o actividad económica, sino como un hobby que provee dinero y hasta estatus social\" (los llamados 'dueños de ganados'). Y, por otro lado, existen 'tenedores de ganado' que ven la ganadería como un \"negocio fácil\" que no requiere de mayores inversiones de recursos y tiempo [CIAT].El sector está organizado a través de dos gremios FEDEGAN y la Nueva Federación Ganadera. Para uno de los entrevistados [CIAT], esto constituye una crisis en la representatividad del sector: \"Sin un gremio fuerte y amplio es muy complicado seguir un norte\". Si bien esto puede generar complicaciones, cabe rescatar el esfuerzo de coordinación que representa la Mesa de Ganadería Sostenible, espacio multiactor para apoyar la formulación de políticas para el sector incluyendo el reto ambiental [FEDEGAN 2].• A nivel de instrumentos de políticas existentes A nivel político, existe un gran interés en pro de una ganadería sostenible que contribuya a los pilares del Crecimiento Verde del sector, según uno de los entrevistados [CIAT]. También manifestó que es de resaltar la colaboración cercana entre los ministerios de ambiente y agricultura y entre ministerios y actores privados en el marco de la Mesa Ganadería Sostenible.En efecto, en el documento llamado Mesa Ganadería Sostenible Colombia (MGS-COL): Plan de acción 2017 61 , se presenta información sobre la creación de la mesa. Luego del \"Taller Internacional: Hacia una política Nacional de Ganadería Agroclimáticamente Sostenible\" realizado en 2013, se creó un órgano consultor sobre el tema, resultando en la formación de la mesa en 2014.El proceso de formulación de la ley para fomentar una ganadería más sostenible en el marco del trabajo de la Mesa de Ganadería Sostenible es un esfuerzo para resaltar, el cual ha sido realizado entre varios actores incluyendo DNP, GGGI, TNC, WWF, MinAmbiente, MADR, Fedegan, CIAT, entre otros, mencionaron algunos entrevistados [FEDEGAN 2 y CIAT]. Se espera que la ley incluya temas relacionados con la contribución a los pilares del Crecimiento Verde.De igual forma, la ley SNIA que podría contribuir a los objetivos del Crecimiento Verde ampliando la cobertura de la AT en el país según los entrevistados [CIAT y FEDEGAN1]. Por otra parte, la NAMA está en formulación 62 , lo que permitiría guiar la implementación de acciones concretas de reducción de emisiones 63 .• A nivel de implementación de accionesEn este momento, la implementación de mayor escala se hace a través del Proyecto Ganadería Colombiana Sostenible. Existen otros proyectos de menos alcance como: Pactos por el crecimiento verde del Meta (financiado por TNC); Pacto Caquetá por la cero deforestación y la reconciliación ganadera (financiado por TNC); Mosaicos de Conservación (financiado por TNC); Herederos del Campo (financiado por TNC) y Paisajes Conectados (financiado por el Fondo Acción). Si bien estos proyectos son in impulso inicial significativo con relación al posicionamiento de lo ambiental en la actividad ganadera, estos proyectos cobijan menos del 1% del área total de los productores ganaderos.El objetivo es usar los aprendizajes del proyecto de Ganadería Sostenible, como insumo para la formulación de la política o como instrumento de política para la ganadería sostenible. También, se espera que contribuya a la estructuración de un programa en el que se involucre la experticia de los miembros de la mesa con recursos de la Declaración Conjunta de Intención. De esta forma, se está aprovechando la experiencia que este tipo de proyecto puede proveer para incrementar la coherencia entre lo existente y lo que se busca en el marco de iniciativas como la política de crecimiento verde.Existen instrumentos financieros tales como el ICR, CIF y más recientemente las iniciativas de pago por servicios ambientales, según los entrevistados [FEDEGAN 2, CIAT y DNP 2]. Sin embargo, el acceso a dichos instrumentos requiere cumplir con criterios de tenencia de tierra y son más usados por grandes productores o asociaciones, según el entrevistado [FEDEGAN 1].Adicionalmente, hay otros incentivos que son más orientados a pequeños productores tales como el préstamo \"condonable\" que es un microcrédito al productor manejado por el MADR, la donación \"alianza productiva\" y \"negocio verde\" por manejo forestal, menciona el entrevistado [DNP 2]. • A nivel de instrumentos de políticas existentes La falta de implementación de leyes, normas y CONPES a través de programas adecuados fue uno de los cuellos de botella identificados por uno de los entrevistados [FEDEGAN 1]. De igual forma, manifiesta que la falta de implementación revela un problema de desarticulación y de priorización de acciones a nivel del gobierno. También, cuestionó la falta de continuidad en las acciones del gobierno y la corta duración de los programas, la falta de seguimiento y sostenibilidad de los mismos no permiten alcanzar impacto.Los entrevistados concuerdan en la existencia de herramientas financieras, pero el acceso a ellas es muy bajo, especialmente para los pequeños ganaderos [CIAT, FEDEGAN) 1 y 2]. Adicionalmente, en algunos casos, el propósito del crédito agropecuario es usado para fines no relacionados con el sistema productivo.En cuanto a la experiencia con pagos por servicios ambientales (PSA), se resaltó que existían barreras relacionadas con el monto limitado de los PSA para los pequeños productores porque estaba definido como el pago por hectárea o la rentabilidad a mediano plazo de las inversiones, lo que no necesariamente se toma en cuenta en las propuestas de financiamiento [FEDEGAN 2].La fragmentación gremial genera problemas de legitimidad \"dificultando los procesos y debilitando desde el inicio a cualquier iniciativa que quiera tener un impacto a gran escala donde se requiera la ayuda y soporte del gremio\" [CIAT, FEDEGAN 1 y 2].El contexto actual de FEDEGAN, sin el fondo de recursos, ha reducido su capacidad de hacer asistencia técnica a nivel local, ya que no recibe más la tasa parafiscal [FEDEGAN 1 y 2]. La falta de acceso a asistencia técnica ha sido mencionada como una barrera clave para alcanzar los cambios deseados y cambiar mentalidades. La forma como se realiza extensión ha sido criticada también: \"La extensión desde los 80's es muy vertical. Es necesario cambiar este enfoque, tomar en cuenta el conocimiento tácito y explicito, necesidad de intercambio, de creación de redes\" La falta de asociatividad ha sido identificada como otra barrera: \"Hay alrededor de 500 mil productores, 420 mil pequeños con menos de 50 animales dispersos en todo el país. No hay interrelación entre ellos, no hay entes que les defienda. Sin organización es difícil de avanzar en cualquier iniciativa\". Así, frente a la situación actual gremial, la asociatividad podría constituir una alternativa.Finalmente, se mencionó frenos de otros órdenes como la falta de maquinaria disponible para la mecanización del suelo [FEDEGAN 1].Una barrera estructural hace referencia al conflicto en el uso de la tierra que incluye sub-uso de la tierra agrícola por un lado, y por el otro una sobre utilización de las tierras en ganadería [DNP 2]. Según uno de los entrevistados, es necesario fijar la frontera agrícola (ver resolución en preparación por la UPRA y MinAmbiente). Sin embargo, no hay claridad sobre si la resolución será aplicada.Tabla 8 : Resumen de las fortalezas y debilidades para ganaderíaMesa de Ganadería sostenible trabaja en el proyecto de ley de ganadería sostenible (relacionado con los pilares el Crecimiento verde) Implementación del proyecto: Ganadería Colombiana Sostenible, lo cual genera lecciones aprendidas alimentan discusiones para la elaboración de la ley y de programas de mayor alcance y escala La ley SNIA considera opciones para ampliar la AT en ColombiaExisten instrumentos financieros. Bajo acceso a créditos por parte de pequeños ganaderos (tenencia de la tierra, capacidad de hipoteca, proyectos viables) Uso de los créditos para financiar actividades diferentes al sistema productivo No hay instrumentos financieros para la reconversión sostenible de la ganadería Experiencia locales de proyecto de PSA en ganadería (en el marco de programa de ganadería sostenible) y marco legal nacional para el desarrollo de PSA Experiencia financiando por proyectos a escala local, con fondos no públicos Montos limitados de los PSA que no toma en cuenta de la rentabilidad a mediano plazoGremios fragmentados, problema de legitimidad Disminución de la (poca) asistencia técnica prestada por FEDEGAN Falta de representación de los ganaderos por situación gremial y falta de asociatividad Problema general de asistencia técnica con poca cobertura, con esquema \"top-down\" sin articulación entre entidades (mensajes contradictorios), sin articulación con la investigación (para enfrentar nuevos retos) La mesa de ganadería sostenible recoge alrededor de 40 entidades legítimas y con experiencia.Baja capacidad de implementación operacional de la mesa de ganadería sostenible. Mayor claridad en reglas de juego para la implementación de las políticas existentes.Mala imagen de la cadena por problemas ambientales del sistema productivo (emisiones, deforestación, potrerización) Poco interés en mejorar sostenibilidad/productividad por parte de los 'dueños de ganados' y 'tenedores de ganado' (estatus, hobby, negocio fácil, especulación sobre la tierra)Falta de disponibilidad de maquinaria para la conversión hacia ganadería sostenible No hay regulación clara sobre el uso de la tierraEn la Tabla 8 se consolidaron las debilidades y fortalezas identificadas para el sector ganadero. En el marco del logro de los objetivos del crecimiento verde en ganadería, es importante diseñar un paquete con una visión integral que incluye capacitación/asistencia técnica en el marco de la extensión rural haciendo énfasis en la planificación a escala de paisaje y la planificación integral de fincas ganaderas.De igual forma, los temas de inversión, promoción de la asociatividad, herramientas financieras con acompañamiento técnico de los ganaderos deben ser abordadas en el enfoque integral. Estas propuestas deben realizarse en zonas priorizadas con un enfoque territorial y determinar tiempos adecuados de apoyo a las transiciones hacia modelos más intensivos de ganadería para alcanzar el impacto deseado. Es necesario tomar acciones en contra de la especulación fundaría o especulación sobre la tierra con ganadería improductiva. Por eso, opciones legales relacionadas con la titulación de tierras o tributarias relacionadas con tasas de impuestos de tierra más alta por tener sistemas ganaderos de baja productividad podrían modificar el interés económico de los procesos especulativos. Sin embargo, estos tipos de acciones son muy controversiales y necesitan estudios complementarios para fortalecer el abordaje con criterios robustos. Además, es crucial considerar aspectos como el precio de los productos ganaderos y el acceso a mercados, los cuales constituyen una barrera para la implementación de cambios hacia una ganadería más verde.El crecimiento verde está considerado a través de los lineamientos ambientales que maneja el gremio según los entrevistados [Fedepapa]. Por ejemplo, en extensión rural se revisa que no estén en zonas de influencia de páramos, que implementen BPA, manejo eficiente de insumos, etc.La producción promedio es de 20 Ton/ha con un alto rango de variabilidad (según los participantes del taller regional el potencial podría llegar a 45ton/ha), según los entrevistados del gremio. Un pequeño productor tiene hasta 1,5 ha, el mediano productor va de 1,5 ha a 5 ha y el grande de 5 ha en adelante. Siguen siendo los pequeños, aquellos con mayor volumen de producción, pero son los grandes los que llegan a la industria.Es importante tomar en cuenta que el precio afecta directamente las áreas sembradas (Comité consultivo para papa). Otro aspecto general sobre el cultivo de la papa es que no se puede promover aumento de producción de la papa si no hay mercado internacional para no generar problemas de sobre producción (Comité consultivo para papa). En este marco, se recomienda enfocar esfuerzos de crecimiento verde hacia mejorar prácticas ambientales (Comité consultivo para papa). Sin embargo, representantes de gremio consideran que sí se puede aumentar productividad más no las áreas sembradas, con respecto a esto último no hay consenso entre los actores del sistema productivo de la papa.El Gremio comenta que el consumo de papa en Colombia es de 41 kg/persona/año y Europa está más o menos en 90 kg y Perú está cerca al 80 kg. Hace 10 años era aproximadamente 80 kg en Colombia.• A nivel de instrumentos de políticasA nivel de instrumentos de políticas, los entrevistados del gremio explican que existen decretos para la delimitación de paramos 64 donde se prohíbe las siembras.• A nivel de implementación de accionesEn el marco del Proyecto de Extensión Rural, se está promoviendo el uso de registros para \"tener poder de negociación con el mercado\" [Fedepapa]. Se impulsa también la asociatividad para generar relaciones estables con el mercado. Actualmente, el principal incentivo para la asociatividad es el acceso a los beneficios del Estado.Además, y como lo explican los entrevistados de Fedepapa: \"Se tiene el proyecto de sistemas de información de precios, noticias del sector y también consumo. Se busca que se valore el producto cuando viene directamente del productor. Sin embargo, existe un reto de lograr reducir costos de producción con un buen manejo del cultivo, para garantizar el mínimo efecto negativo en el medio ambiente\".Por otra parte, el gremio está trabajando con 15 organizaciones (promedio de 100 productores) con la metodología Link del CIAT. Un caso exitoso es el Olivo, una asociación de papas nativas que se ubica en Cómbita y le venden directamente a hoteles y restaurantes. Es una de las organizaciones más reconocidas.Otro caso exitoso es el proyecto, que inició en 1995 y operó durante 2 décadas, el proyecto Checua (actualmente programa de Conservación de Aguas y Suelos -PROCAS) 65 . Este proyecto de la Corporación Autónoma Regional de Cundinamarca (CAR) fue realizado con el apoyo del Ministerio Alemán de Cooperación, la agencia alemana de cooperación y el banco alemán para la reconstrucción. El proyecto abordó temas de agricultura de conservación 66 con sistemas de labranza mínima basada en tres principios (mínima preparación del suelo, suelo cubierto durante el cultivo y rotación de cultivos con abonos verdes) para solucionar problemas de erosión en la cuenca Checua. El proyecto ha cubierto 157 municipios.• A nivel de capacidad institucional Los entrevistados de Fedepapa comentan que el gremio se ha ido consolidando, así como el Fondo Nacional de la Papa. Diversas estrategias de colaboración interinstitucional se han generado como el trabajo entre la UPRA y la industria, con Universidades como la Universidad Piloto de Colombia, la Universidad Nacional (en nutrición) y el programa de trabajo en BPA con la Gobernación de Cundinamarca. Actualmente, el área técnica de Fedepapa cuenta con 27 personas. Fedepapa ha desarrollado una cartilla ambiental sobre protección del productor y BPA.• A nivel estructural Los productores de papa no suelen asociarse. Como lo comentan los entrevistados del gremio: \"Cuando son contratos de gran volumen, se asocian los productores y generalmente lo hacen con la industria. De lo contrario no ocurre mucho, salvo para acceder a beneficios del Estado\".Otro tema importante es la tenencia a la tierra. Muchos de los pequeños productores de papa no son propietarios de su finca. Esta situación no incentiva realizar acciones para mejorar el suelo y/o implementar prácticas más amigables con el medio ambiente [Comité consultivo para la papa, Fedepapa]. La rotación de cultivos se da por cuestiones fitosanitarias, lo cual debe ser considerado a la hora de impulsar programas de protección ambiental. En 2018, se realizará un piloto para levantar la información para determinar la proporción de terrenos que son arrendados, los resultados saldrán en abril o mayo.• A nivel de herramientas de políticasSi bien existen decretos para la delimitación de páramos, la delimitación no se ha hecho para la mayor parte de los páramos. Además, en aquellos páramos que han sido delimitados, el cultivo de la papa tiende a extenderse a pisos término más altos pasando límites y afectando los páramos. La razón de la extensión es la búsqueda de nuevos suelos, en mejores condiciones nutricionales de suelo para reducir el costo en fertilizantes en los primeros ciclos de producción, y con menor incidencia de plagas.Dar un precio diferencial en Colombia de acuerdo con el manejo del cultivo de la papa, sería conveniente. Por ejemplo, en hortalizas sí se tienen sellos orgánicos, pero en papa no se ha desarrollado a gran escala la producción orgánica. Eso se da por la falta de promoción del consumo de papas con sellos, la dificultad de producir según los criterios orgánicos y la poca atención del consumidor para comprar papa orgánica.Además, la informalidad del sector genera evasión del pago de parafiscales que limita las acciones del gremio, según el entrevistado de Fedepapa \"Generalmente quien compra al productor es el camionero, pasa al intermediario\", quien además comenta que la informalidad se estima en un 90% del sector.El entrevistado del gremio considera que hay necesidad de incentivar el consumo y aumentar la productividad, más no las áreas sembradas. En este sentido, el programa \"Colombia Siembra\" no es coherente con esta visión.No existen líneas específicas de créditos para papa, según lo manifestado por los entrevistados.Los productores no acceden a herramientas financieras como los seguros agropecuarios [Fedepapa].Otra exigencia es el uso de semillas certificadas, lo que constituye una barrera ya que los productores suelen hacer un proceso de autoselección en su finca (no reconocido).• A nivel de capacidad institucionalA nivel institucional notan el problema de poca cobertura de la asistencia técnica. El comité consultivo para la papa explica que la mayoría de la asistencia técnica viene de casas comerciales más enfocadas en vender productos que dar recomendaciones neutras. Además, algunos entrevistados fuera del gremio comentan que no existe centro de investigación particular para papa, como si existe en Perú (Centro Internacional de la Papa -CIP).Tabla 9 : Resumen de las fortalezas y debilidades para papaExisten decretos que delimitan paramos No todos los páramos están delimitados.No se respeta límites de paramo. Está en implementación un proyecto de extensión rural que promueve uso de registro (contribuye a eficiencia en uso de insumos), asociatividad. Proyecto de sistemas de información de precios, consumo y prácticas ambientales, proyecto se vinculación a mercado No hay incentivos (precio diferencial, sellos específicos, incentivos) por buen manejo del cultivoProductores no acceden a herramientas financieras por no poder cumplir con requisitosGremio y fondo parafiscales fortalecidos Informalidad del sector genera evasión del pago de parafiscales Desarrollo de cartilla sobre temas ambientales Poca cobertura de asistencia técnica y/o asistencia técnica por casas comerciales No hay investigación en papaProductores de papa no suelen asociarse Tenencia de la tierra (alquiler de la tierra) no incentiva prácticas ambientales Problema de sobre producción: no se puede promover aumento de área/productividad si no se tiene mercados extranjeros o una regulación de las importaciones que evita caída de los precios. Mejorar el conocimiento (investigación y extensión) sobre manejo orgánico o agroecológicos de producción de papa Fomentar cadenas de venta de productos de papa más directa entre productores y consumidor, incentivando el consumo de papa producidas según manejo orgánico o agroecológicoSiendo un cultivo de desarrollo relativamente reciente, el comité consultivo sobre aguacate Hass, manifestó que no existe un modelo productivo para este cultivo a nivel de Colombia sino que se ha importado la tecnología de México.Los entrevistados del gremio [Asohofrucol] presentan el gremio explicando que este se enfoca en frutas y hortalizas y que se financia con el fondo parafiscal. Con este fondo, el gremio implementa actividades a nivel del territorio para el desarrollo de los sistemas productivos (incluyendo aguacate Hass). Las acciones del gremio se implementan en coherencia con el plan de fomento hortofrutícola (cobertura nacional) e incluyen la transferencia de tecnología, AT a pequeños y medianos productores son la población meta del gremio. El gremio promueve la adopción de BPA.El manejo del cultivo está afectado por la escasa disponibilidad de mano de obra, problemas de sanidad (clave para exportación) y de competencia con Venezuela (entrada de material).Cabe mencionar que el desarrollo de aguacate Hass ha sido priorizado como cultivo potencial del programa \"Colombia Siembra\" [MADR]. Los entrevistados del gremio mencionan la posibilidad de desarrollar un NAMA para frutales en 2018.El gremio implementa desde 2015 un programa de adaptación al cambio climático con ( 22) parcelas de evaluación en departamentos como Quindío y Tolima (2 por departamento). Este programa tiene como enfoque el manejo del recurso hídrico. El proyecto busca formular recomendaciones en términos de optimización de riego y uso de paneles solares para sistema de irrigación.• A nivel de capacidad institucional En el marco del plan nacional hortofrutícola, Asohofrucol atiende a 11.000 productores, con 150 técnicos (126 agrónomos, 49 orientado hacia el fortalecimiento empresarial, comercialización y mercado) de los cuales 33 son especializados en frutales (2 por departamento).Cada técnico identifica 100 productores y prioriza 50 a quienes les da asistencia técnica con enfoque de BPA y globalGap. También brinda apoyo en temas de certificación (BPA y globalGAP) y gestión (apoyo para crédito en exportación).Asohofrucol se encarga de la admisibilidad de aguacate hass en EEUU, caracterización de predio definido por ICA y definición de área buffer para control de plagas cuarentenarias manteniendo 1 km alrededor de predio, así como la caracterización de la línea base.Como se mencionó anteriormente, el gremio se financia a través del fondo parafiscal. El gremio ha logrado establecer convenios territoriales con 23 departamentos del país para asegurar apoyos a los productores. En unos casos hay buenas relaciones (Cundinamarca centro, Magdalena) y en otros casos las relaciones son más difíciles (Cauca, Nariño, Córdoba, Antioquia, Costa). Los convenios tienen especificidades según departamento (ej. asistencia técnica, compra de insumos, infraestructura, etc.).Los entrevistados de gremio comparten que existe experiencia exitosa en adopción por parte de los productores de reservorios de agua a bajo costo, la cual es una práctica de interés para el crecimiento verde.A pesar de ser una prioridad dentro del PND, todavía es necesario alinear acciones para lograr objetivos para el cultivo de aguacate Hass. Los ciclos electorales a nivel de gobernación (cada 4 años) constituyen una barrera en cuanto al seguimiento de las acciones en curso y generan procesos como la renegociación de los convenios territoriales.-A nivel de capacidad institucional Los entrevistados del gremio notan un problema de confianza del productor hacia la asistencia técnica, lo que genera procesos de adopción más lentos. De igual forma, reconocen que no se toma en cuenta la visión de los productores para la formulación de mensajes, por ejemplo, sobre el tema de la poda.La cobertura de la asistencia técnica permanece se reduce por falta de recursos. Los entrevistados del gremio reconocen también que existen problemas de dispersión/coherencia entre entes que ofrecen asistencia técnica como gremios, empresas privadas, empresas de negocios de insumos; y en algunos casos, hay falta de calidad del servicio prestado por parte de las empresas privadas de asesoría técnica.-A nivel de comercialización Los entrevistados explican que para poder exportar, es necesario cumplir con temas de inocuidad muy estrictos [DNP], lo cual se hace bajo los lineamientos del Estado (ICA, Invima). Existe línea de financiación por parte de FINAGRONo permite de apoyar a todos los productoresGremio activo (AT, investigación, apoyo para exportación) Falta de confianza en los mensajes compartidos por asistencia técnica. Cobertura de la asistencia técnica limitada Poca coherencia entre entes que prestan asistencia técnica y falta de calidad en el servicio de asistencia técnica Fondo parafiscal para operar, convenios con departamentos Implementación de un programa de adaptación al CC Otro Falta de investigación en aguacate Hass (investigación nacional) para la identificación y promoción de un modelo productivo adecuado.Esta sección buscaba identificar las fortalezas y debilidades institucionales que facilitan o limitan la acciones que contribuyan al crecimiento verde en los cincos sistemas productivos priorizados. El ejercicio se hizo a nivel general y por sistema productivo priorizado. Los siguientes son los principales hallazgos:A nivel de políticas, el tema de crecimiento verde constituye un tema transversal estratégico, pero no existe una política articulada sobre el tema (este es el objeto del CONPES en preparación al cual este estudio contribuye). De momento, el tema está contemplado en políticas nacionales (ej. PND) e iniciativas (ej. integración al OCDE), y luego en varias políticas vigentes que pueden contribuir al objetivo de crecimiento verde en el sector agropecuario. Dentro de estas políticas, se encuentran las políticas y leyes vinculadas a los temas de cambio climático (ej. iNDC, ECDBC, NAMAs, PICC, etc.), de conservación de recursos naturales (ej. decretos sobre paramos y pagos por servicios ambientales, protección de ecosistemas estratégicos como humedales, política de suelo, POMCA), de desarrollo rural (ej. acuerdo de paz y RRI; y Misión para la Transformación del Campo). Existen también en cada sub-sector analizado, iniciativas en marcha afines con la visión de crecimiento verde. En particular, se presentan proyectos de NAMA en formulación para café y ganadería o planeadas como la NAMA de frutales y un proyecto de ley de ganadería sostenible en preparación. en café, el programa de gestión inteligente del agua o el programa Más agronomía más productividad, el programa de adaptación al cambio climático en aguacate hass) con recursos de fondos parafiscales o de donantes externos. En algunos casos, existe investigación para los sistemas productivos directamente manejado por gremios (caso de café y frutales). Sin embargo, la cobertura de la asistencia técnica sigue muy baja por falta de recursos humanos y financieros. También, existen problemas de articulación entre entidades a nivel nacional y local y entre programas. El enfoque de arriba hacia abajo (top-down) de la asistencia técnica y extensión agropecuaria constituye también una barrera tanto con la presencia de asistencia técnica prestada por casas comerciales que no son neutras. Esta situación se refleja en la baja productividad de los sectores, y en la baja adopción de recomendaciones prácticas y tecnologías por la falta de confianza. En el caso de la ganadería, la fragmentación gremial constituye una debilidad fuerte pues esto no facilita la asistencia técnica y hay problemas de legitimidad. También, se puede mencionar como barrera, la falta del involucramiento del sector privado para lograr un crecimiento verde visto desde el punto de vista de la demanda y la falta de más conocimientos en los sistemas productivos, así como su potencial para el crecimiento verde principalmente en lo relacionado con la investigación. La investigación y la apropiación de conocimiento por parte de los diversos actores del sector agropecuario sobre crecimiento verde son fundamentales para generar los cambios esperados tanto del lado de la oferta como de la demanda. Es importante realizar énfasis en generar programas que fortalezcan procesos de investigación y extensión agropecuaria orientada al crecimiento verde.A otros niveles, existen condiciones estructurales que afectan el potencial de lograr los objetivos del crecimiento verde en Colombia. La pobreza del campo limita la adopción de cambios hacia un crecimiento más verde lo que se refleja en la baja productividad. La tenencia de la tierra constituye otro freno para la adopción de nuevas prácticas y/o el acceso a herramientas financieras. Algunos tipos de manejo productivo pueden ser opuestos a los objetivos del crecimiento verde incentivando la deforestación como la potrerización para extender la ganadería y así generar poco interés en la intensificación ganadera. Además, la falta de disponibilidad y acceso a insumos (ej. variedades certificadas), a medios e infraestructura de producción (maquinaría, sistemas de riego) no facilita la adopción de nuevas prácticas que pueden cerrar la brecha de productividad. La falta de asociatividad en el campo también constituye una barrera al cambio.Parte 3: Marco institucional regionalEl marco institucional regional se realiza con el propósito de analizar las barreras para la implementación a escala de tecnologías promisorias para el crecimiento verde 67 al nivel regional (una por sistema productivo) y definir opciones de medidas que pueden ayudar a superar dichas barreras. El marco institucional regional se realiza tomando como base las tecnologías promisorias para el crecimiento verde que fueron priorizadas para cada sistema productivo, las cuales fueron presentadas en detalle en el Informe 2 del presente estudio. De igual forma, se toma en cuenta el marco institucional a nivel nacional descrito en la sección anterior de este documento.Con base en el análisis de los indicadores de crecimiento verde a nivel regional y la consulta con los miembros de los comités de los diferentes comités consultivos para cada sistema productivo se determinó la región estratégica para realizar la identificación de las barreras y medidas para promover la implementación a escala de una de las tecnologías priorizadas.La metodología usada fue a través de talleres con actores clave de cada sistema productivo en las regiones priorizadas. Los participantes invitados incluían instituciones de gobierno, sector privado, academia, gremios y productores. Todo el proceso de la realización de los talleres fue acompañado y retroalimentado por el equipo de GGGI-DNP.A continuación se presenta la programación de los talleres realizados para cada sistema productivo incluyendo la tecnología promisoria para el crecimiento verde, la región donde se realizó, el número de participantes y la fecha (Tabla 11). Los objetivos de los talleres regionales consistían en:• Presentar de manera sucinta los resultados de la línea de base nacional, el proceso de priorización de las tecnologías promisorias para el crecimiento verde que involucró la discusión con los comités consultivos a nivel nacional por cada sistema productivo, así como el resultado de dicha priorización 68 ;• Identificar las barreras que limitan la implementación a escala de la tecnología promisoria para el crecimiento verde por sistema productivo; e• Identificar las medidas que pueden contribuir a superar las barreras identificadas con el propósito de fomentar la adopción de la tecnología priorizada con alto potencial de contribución al crecimiento verde en cada sistema productivo.Los talleres seguían un mismo formato para garantizar la coherencia en los diferentes procesos participativos de discusión. La agenda de cada taller se presenta a continuación en la Tabla 12, de igual forma en el Anexo 1: Protocolo -Talleres regionales para identificación de barreras y medidas para fomentar la adopción de tecnológicas con potencial de aporte al crecimiento verde se presenta el protocolo describiendo el paso a paso de los talleres.Tabla 12 : Agenda general de los talleres de identificación y priorización de barreras y medidas para la adopción de tecnologías promisorias para el crecimiento verde Hora Actividades 8:30 -9:00 Registro de los participantes. 9:00 -9:10 Introducción y presentación de los objetivos de la reunión 9:10 -9:30 Presentación del sistema productivo en relación con los objetivos del crecimiento verde y la tecnología que fue priorizada al nivel nacional por su potencial de aportar al crecimiento verde 9:30 -10:00 Caracterización de la situación de referencia y de la situación deseada (de la tecnología) 10:00 -11:30 Identificación de barreras para la adopción de la tecnología priorizada y plenaria 11:30 -12:00Costeo y beneficios del paso de la situación inicial y a la situación deseada 12:00 -1:30 Almuerzo 1:30 -1:45 Presentación de marcos institucionales e instrumentos existentes 1:45 -3:00 Identificación de medidas para solventar las barreras identificadas para la adopción de prácticas priorizadas y Plenaria 3:00 -3:15Conclusiones, compromisos y cierre la reunión.Durante el taller regional de cada sistema productivo, los participantes discutieron y validaron las tecnologías promisorias para el crecimiento verde que habían sido priorizadas a nivel nacional. Luego, seleccionaron la tecnología promisoria para el crecimiento verde más relevante para el nivel regional buscando la mayor especificidad posible. La identificación y priorización, tanto de las barreras para la implementación a escala de las prácticas/tecnologías priorizadas como de las medidas para superarlas se hizo considerando el contexto regional.En el caso de ganadería doble propósito y de cacao, las tecnologías priorizadas al nivel nacional coincidieron con la selección realizada a nivel regional, es decir \"Sistema silvo-pastoril de mediana y alta intensidad\" para la ganadería doble propósito y \"buenas prácticas agrícolas\" para cacao. Para el caso de ganadería leche \"Manejo integral del suelo y de la pradera en sistemas ganaderos\" fue seleccionada en lugar de \"Manejo genético enfocado a la producción de leche\" que había sido priorizada a nivel nacional. En el caso del sistema productivo de café, se seleccionó \"Adecuada renovación de cafetales (por zoca o por siembra) considerando la edad y el momento oportuno. En siembra tener en cuenta la variedad adecuada y la densidad y análisis de suelo\" en lugar de \"Adecuada fertilización del cultivo de acuerdo con el análisis de suelo y el ciclo productivo\".Priorización de barreras para la adopción a escala de la tecnología promisoria para el crecimiento verde: una vez los participantes se organizaron en grupos por tipo de actor (productores e instituciones), hicieron el ejercicio de lluvia de ideas sobre las posibles barreras que limitan la adopción de la tecnología promisoria para el crecimiento verde. La lluvia de ideas de barreras se organizó en una lista y luego las categorizaron en una matriz según los siguientes criterios (ver Gráfico 4Gráfico 4):Criterios:-En el eje X, de la menos a más importante; -En el eje Y, de la más difícil a la más fácil de superar. -Barreras prioritarias porque son consideradas más importantes y más fáciles de resolver: a solucionar en prioridad (corto plazo-más accionables); -Barreras Estructurales porque son más importantes pero más difíciles de resolver: a solucionar en un segundo tiempo (largo plazo); -Barreras Secundarias porque son consideradas por los participantes como menos importantes pero más fáciles de resolver; -Barreras Opcionales porque son consideradas por los participantes como menos importantes y más difíciles de resolver.De manera similar, las medidas han sido ubicadas (definidas) en 8 categorías (Gráfico 7): Adicionalmente, las medidas fueron categorizadas en 4 tipos según la valoración dada por los participantes:-Medidas Prioritarias porque son consideradas más eficientes y más factible de implementar: a implementar en prioridad (corto plazo-más accionables); -Medidas Estructurales porque son más eficientes pero más factible de implementar: a implementar en un segundo tiempo (largo plazo); -Medidas Secundarias porque son consideradas por los participantes como menos eficientes pero más factible de implementar; -Medidas Opcionales porque son consideradas por los participantes como menos eficientes y más factible de implementar.Los resultados descritos a continuación están diferenciados por colores con el propósito de diferenciar aspectos clave del análisis. El texto en color azul se refiere a las barreras identificadas por representantes de instituciones y el texto en color verde se refiere a las barreras identificadas por los agricultores. Las barreras más estratégicas (prioritarias y/o estructurales) están resaltadas en Negrilla, éstas fueron usadas para el siguiente paso de identificación de medidas para superar dichas barreras.El taller regional para identificación de barreras para la adopción a escala de tecnologías promisorias para el crecimiento verde para el sistema productivo de café se realizó en Neiva (Huila), el 20 de febrero del 2018. En el taller participaron 15 personas (2 productores y 13 representantes de instituciones). Durante la presentación del proceso de priorización de la tecnología realizado con el comité de expertos, los participantes mencionaron que la tecnología: \"Adecuada fertilización del cultivo de acuerdo con el análisis de suelo y el ciclo productivo\" no era la más relevante para elcontexto del Huila. Por lo tanto, seleccionaron la tecnología: \"Adecuada renovación de cafetales (por zoca o por siembra) considerando la edad, tiempo oportuno, variedad y densidad apropiadas, así como información de análisis de suelo\" ya que consideraron que era más pertinente para el contexto del departamento.Una vez acordado, la tecnología sobre la cual iba a ser enfocado el taller, los participantes caracterizaron el estado de los caficultores del Huila, en términos de la implementación de la renovación de cafetales considerando la edad, tiempo oportuno, variedad y densidad apropiadas, así como información de análisis de suelo. El ejercicio también consideró la reflexión sobre hasta dónde se quería y/o se podía llegar en el Huila con la implementación de dicha tecnología.En la Tabla 13, se resumen la caracterización de la situación actual y deseada producto del ejercicio realizado por los participantes del taller:Tabla 13 : Situación actual y deseada con respecto a Adecuada renovación de cafetales (por zoca o por siembra) considerando la edad, tiempo oportuno, variedad y densidad apropiadas, así como información de análisis de sueloSituación deseada -66% de los caficultores usan variedades resistentes a roya (Colombia, Castillos, Tambo, Tabi) versus 34% siembran caturra y típica; -La densidad de siembra es en promedio de 5.250 árboles/ha; -La edad promedio es de 5,5 años (1.600 ha de café tienen 9 años, hay 34.000 ha cafetales viejos); -Hay un total de 82.900 productores de café en el departamento, se estima que se realizaron 5.000 análisis de suelo entre 2016 y 2017, siendo esto muy bajo; -Proyectos pequeños (ej. SENA) promueven el uso de análisis de suelo, sin embargo, llega solo 200 productores; -El SENA tiene planeado en el corto plazo abrir un laboratorio que permita hacer análisis de suelo; -Los 82.900 productores cafeteros siembran en total 140.000 ha. De estos, 8.000 tienen cafetales de menos de 0.5ha, 20.000 tienen cafetales de menos de 1 ha. y 27.000 tienen cafetales entre 1 y 2 ha.-Meta del Comité: renovación de 50.000 ha de café en 5 años; lo que corresponde a 10.000 ha al año. De estos 10.000 ha, 70% tienen variedades resistentes y 30% necesita lograr cambio de variedades; -Objetivo de densidad: 6.500 árboles/ha con una rotación de 5-6 años (cambio gradual de los lotes); -Análisis de suelo por lote (1 ha) cada 2 años.La transición de la situación actual a la situación deseada constituye un reto significativo, el cual incluye la transición a variedades resistentes de 30% de los productores, el cambio a una densidad de siembra promedio de 5.250 árboles/ha a 6.500 árboles/ha, la rotación del cultivo de 5 a 6 años para más de 30.000 ha y la realización de análisis de suelo cada 2 años. Este proceso de transición le corresponde principalmente a los pequeños productores con cafetales entre menos de 0,5 ha a 2 ha.Una vez caracterizada la situación actual y la situación deseada, los participantes reflexionaron sobre cuáles eran las barreras que impedían pasar de la situación actual a la situación deseada. Los participantes se organizaron en 3 grupos, uno compuesto por agricultores y los otros dos por representantes de instituciones. En la Tabla 14 se presenta el resumen de las barreras identificadas y priorizadas.Tabla 14 : Resumen de la identificación y priorización de barreras para la adopción de adecuada renovación de cafetales (por zona o por siembra) considerando la edad y el momento oportuno, y tomando en cuenta, en siembra, el uso de variedad adecuada y de densidad y de análisis de suelo Las barreras identificadas por los productores y los representantes de instituciones fueron financieras, relacionadas con AT, la oferta de servicios (análisis de suelo), de conocimiento pero también estructurales y de mercado.Existen similitudes entre las barreras identificadas por los tres grupos tales como los problemas de confiabilidad de los análisis de suelo, el microfundismo, temas de costos y acceso a crédito, falta de incentivo para usar variedades mejoradas (costo de compra de semillas, control de viveros y disponibilidad de material, falta de información sobre beneficios de variedades recomendadas, compra a mejor precio de variedades no recomendadas). También, se mencionan problemas de cobertura de Asistencia Técnica y confianza hacia los mensajes técnicos.Las barreras seleccionadas, por los representantes de instituciones, para el siguiente paso fueron:-Falta de acreditación de laboratorios (afecta calidad de resultados); -Disponibilidad de material y semilla (para lograr metas de renovación gran necesidad de material disponible); -Resistencia al cambio (manejo de densidad diferente, compra a mejor precio de variedad no recomendada); -Falta de acceso a crédito; -Falta de costumbre de comprar semillas certificadas.Las barreras seleccionadas, por los agricultores, para el siguiente paso fueron:-Sostenibilidad económica (por tamaño de finca, renovar implica trabajar como jornal un tiempo-falta de motivación); -Miedo al cambio (cambiar densidad, variedad).A partir de las principales barreras identificadas por cada grupo, los grupos reflexionaron sobre las medidas o acciones necesarias para superar dichas barreras. Para esta actividad los dos grupos de instituciones se juntaron. En la Tabla 15, se presenta el resumen de las medidas identificadas y priorizadas para superar las barreras priorizadas.Tabla 15 : Resumen de la identificación y priorización de medidas para superar las principales barreras que limitan la adopción de \"Adecuada renovación de cafetales (por zoca o por siembra) considerando la edad, tiempo oportuno, variedad y densidad apropiadas, así como información de análisis de suelo\" en Huila. La mayoría de las medidas identificadas para superar las barreras que limitan la adopción de tecnologías promisorias para el crecimiento verde están relacionadas con asistencia técnica, aspectos de financiamiento y de regulación, aunque en menor medida. La asistencia técnica es considerada útil por los agricultores y los representantes de instituciones, para facilitar la adopción de nuevas tecnologías que apunte a incrementar la sostenibilidad económica (ej. diversificación de cultivo) de los pequeños productores. Adicionalmente, la asistencia técnica también puede proveer los medios para alcanzar el cambio esperado mediante la demostración de los potenciales resultados, por ejemplo, cambios de la variedad y/o de aumentar la densidad de siembra.Por su parte, los representantes de las instituciones consideran fundamental la mejora en términos de regulación con el propósito de mejorar el acceso y la cobertura al crédito y también para procesos eventuales de formalización de tierra. Adicionalmente, los participantes consideraron pertinente implementar mecanismos que vayan orientadas a mejorar el financiamiento con el fin de fortalecer la sostenibilidad económica de los productores, por ejemplo en lo relacionado con la compra de insumos y protección o aseguramiento frente a riesgos naturales (ej. seguros agropecuarios).Uno de los aspectos clave identificado por los productores fue la promoción y facilitación de la asociatividad, pues consideran que puede ser un mecanismo efectivo para mitigar la resistencia al cambio por parte de la mayoría de agricultores, especialmente los pequeños.Los productores priorizaron incentivar la siembra de cultivos asociados al café para tener fuentes adicionales de ingresos como medida para superar la barrera de sostenibilidad económica referente a los pequeños productores. Frente a las barreras asociadas a la asistencia técnica los productores priorizaron como medida el fomento del uso de métodos de asistencia técnica que dé garantías y demuestre los resultados de las prácticas y/o tecnologías propuestas.En cuanto a la barrera de acceso a crédito, los representantes de las instituciones priorizaron una medida relacionada con la elaboración o mejoramiento de los instrumentos de política de crédito por parte del Estado para el fomento agropecuario donde se pueda garantizar el acceso a la gran mayoría de productores.Los representantes de las instituciones priorizaron el establecimiento de programas de capacitación sobre procesos de germinación a los productores como una opción para generación de ingresos adicionales y así superar la falta de costumbre de comprar semillas certificadas. Los programas de asistencia técnica utilizarían métodos grupales como fincas piloto-vitrina-demostrativas. Adicionalmente, la elaboración de un inventario de la cantidad de semilla necesaria anualmente para tener suficiente disponibilidad en época de siembra complementa las medidas anteriores garantizando la disponibilidad de material.El establecimiento de un convenio entre el SENA (construyendo un laboratorio) y el Comité de Cafeteros para garantizar volumen de muestras se identificó como la medida principal para superar la barrera relacionada con la falta de acreditación de laboratorios.El taller regional para identificación de barreras para la adopción a escala de tecnologías promisorias para el crecimiento verde para el sistema productivo de cacao se realizó en Rionegro (Santander), el 22 de febrero del 2018. En el taller participaron 39 personas (12 productores y 27 representantes de instituciones). En el ejercicio del taller se consideró \"Buenas Prácticas Agrícolas (BPA)\" como el conjunto de tecnologías promisorias para el crecimiento verde, el cual se validó con los participantes.Caracterización de la situación de referencia y de la situación deseadaLos participantes caracterizaron el estado de los cacaoteros de Santander, en términos de la implementación de Buenas Prácticas Agrícolas (BPA). El ejercicio también consideró la reflexión sobre hasta dónde se quería y/o se podía llegar en Santander con la implementación de dicho conjunto de prácticas.Actualmente, muy pocos productores están implementando BPA, según Fedecacao sólo 42 productores certificados en la región. Existen muchos productores que desconocen las BPA. Y no todos los productores que están interesados en adoptar las BPA, tienen la capacidad económica para hacer el acondicionamiento que se requiere. Además, existe una interpretación errónea de los criterios y de los requisitos a cumplir para certificarse en BPA. Muchos productores piensan que para cumplir los requisitos de BPA, el ICA exige el uso de materiales diferentes a los que tiene la finca, pero no es necesariamente el caso.La situación deseada es masificar la implementación de BPA por parte de los cacaoteros de Santander. Esto, se podría logar mediante un acompañamiento más intenso durante el proceso de adopción de las BPA, que involucre procesos de preparación para la auditoria y certificación realizados por el ICA.Una vez caracterizada la situación actual y la situación deseada, los participantes reflexionaron sobre cuáles eran las barreras que impedían pasar de la situación actual a la situación deseada. Los participantes se organizaron en 3 grupos, dos compuestos por agricultores y uno por representantes de instituciones. En la Tabla 16 se presenta el resumen de las barreras identificadas y priorizadas. Las barreras identificadas por los productores y los representantes de las instituciones fueron de varios ámbitos. En efecto, los participantes identificaron barreras financieras, institucionales, de asistencia técnica, algunas relacionadas con cambios de actitud del productor, disponibilidad de tiempo del agricultor y también barreras de mercado.Existen similitudes entre las barreras identificadas por los tres grupos en cuanto al financiamiento ya que todos plantearon la falta de recursos de los productores para implementar las BPA y falta de incentivos para facilitar su adopción. Por otro lado, aspectos relacionados con las costumbres en el manejo del cultivo y la actitud frente al cambio han sido mencionados tanto por los productores y como por los representantes de instituciones.La implementación de BPA implica muchos cambios en las prácticas que realizan los productores como por ejemplo el manejo de químicos, tecnificación, toma de registro, etc., las cuales son fundamentales para una adecuada adopción de BPA y los productores mismos consideran fáciles de superar. La falta de un precio diferencial para productores que implementan BPA puede explicar en parte, esta situación, la cual fue una barrera mencionada por representantes de las instituciones.A nivel más técnico, el tiempo y la inversión para implementar BPA (ej. la construcción de pozos sépticos o de sistema de riego) constituyen otro tipo de barreras identificadas por los participantes. Finalmente, otra barrera identificada para facilitar la adopción de BPA por parte de los cacaoteros, es el volumen de tramites (ej. ambientales, acceso a agua) necesarios para certificar la implementación de BPA, que desincentiva al requerir una alta dedicación de tiempo.Las barreras seleccionadas, por los representantes de instituciones, para el siguiente paso fueron:-Sensibilización a los productores; -Inestabilidad de precios; -Demoras en trámites.Las barreras seleccionadas, por los agricultores, para el siguiente paso fueron:-Falta de recursos económicos; -Indisciplina de los productores; -Dificultades para cumplir las exigencias de BPA frente al orden, el aseo y la disciplina; -Malos hábitos que requieren cambios culturales, por ejemplo, frente al manejo de los químicos; -Falta de motivación.A partir de las principales barreras identificadas por cada grupo, los grupos reflexionaron sobre las medidas o acciones necesarias para superar dichas barreras. En la Tabla 17, se presenta el resumen de las medidas identificadas y priorizadas para superar las barreras priorizadas. La mayoría de las medidas identificadas por los participantes son relacionadas con asistencia técnica, aspectos financieros, regulaciones y arreglos institucionales y capital social y humano.El tema de regulaciones fue mencionado principalmente por los representantes de instituciones para superar problemas de los trámites (formatos únicos, retirar requisitos innecesarios, regular tiempos de respuesta) y de inestabilidad de precio (elevar consumo, posicionar el cacao). También, se ve el papel de las instituciones (en su arreglo) para superar problemas de falta de infraestructura.Las medidas relacionadas con asistencia técnica consideradas por agricultores y representantes de instituciones están orientadas a sensibilizar a los agricultores con respecto a los beneficios de la adopción de BPA e incrementar su conocimiento técnico sobre el proceso de implementación de BPA. Adicionalmente, consideran que es necesario crear programas de incentivos dirigidos a personas que implementen BPA en cultivos de cacao, para lograr mayor adopción.Los productores y representantes de instituciones consideran fundamental el capital humano y social para lograr un cambio de actitud hacia la adopción de BPA. Por ejemplo, la asociatividad está considerada con una medida esencial para cambiar la perspectiva que se tiene sobre BPA, compartiendo éxitos entre miembros.Las medidas priorizadas por los productores, para superar la barrera de indisciplina: orden, contabilidad, planeación, responsabilidad se relacionaron con capacitación y educación (sobre beneficios BPA), Promoción internacional del cacao y Asociatividad.En cuanto a la barrera sobre factores económicos: pozos sépticos, reservorios de agua, infraestructura de secado, los productores priorizaron como medida la promoción de la integración entre los productores, las asociaciones y Fedecacao, para facilitar el acceso a apoyos al productor. También priorizaron la elaboración de política de incentivos (impuestos, créditos, acceso a ICR y certificación), así como la articulación entre las Secretarías de Salud, las Alcaldías y la Gobernación para adelantar las obras de infraestructura requeridas (pozos, reservorios) y socializar con los productores en qué consiste la cuota de fomento.La barrera asociada a la falta de motivación por la falta de incentivos para implementar BPA podría ser superada con la generación de precios diferenciales, es decir más altos para el cacao certificado con BPA, según lo discutido por los productores. De igual forma, consideraron muy importante sensibilizar a la población acerca de las BPA para incentivar el consumo de cacao con ese tipo de manejo.Las barreras relacionadas con la cultura, el cambio de hábitos, orden y aseo pueden ser superadas con acciones que incrementen la disciplina, y ayuden a valorar lo implementado y a trabajar con base en el ejemplo, también orientar hacia una visión de negocio -autogestión y autoestima. Finalmente, los productores priorizaron la creación de programas de incentivos dirigidos a personas que apliquen BPA en cultivos de cacao para superar la barrera relacionada con los factores económicos.Las medidas priorizadas por los representantes de las instituciones, para superar la barrera de sensibilización a los productores, hacen referencia a la desmitificación de las BPA a través de experiencias y visitas de campo, ferias u otras actividades que muestren experiencias exitosas, mecanismos de voz a voz, es decir aquellos productores que han implementado BPA pueden incentivar a replicar a otros productores y por su parte, Fedecacao puede continuar con sus esfuerzos de capacitación sobre BPA.En cuanto a la barrera sobre inestabilidad de precios, los representantes de las instituciones sugirieron elevar el consumo doméstico para generar mayor presión desde la demanda, posicionar el cacao colombiano a nivel internacional y crear nichos de mercado a través de Procolombia y mayor rigurosidad en la verificación de calidad y normas sanitarias por parte del Invima y la Secretaría de Salud.Finalmente, con respecto a las demoras en los trámites que se constituye en una barrera, los representantes de las instituciones propusieron la creación de formatos únicos nacionales, la cual es una acción en manos de los ministerios, así como la eliminación de requisitos innecesarios.El sistema productivo ganadería se abordó en tres sub-sistemas: doble propósito, carne y leche.➢ Sistema de ganadería doble propósito El taller regional para identificación de barreras para la adopción a escala de tecnologías promisorias para el crecimiento verde para el sistema productivo de ganadería doble propósito se realizó en Montería (Córdoba), el 16 de febrero del 2018. En el taller participaron 29 personas (16 productores y 13 representantes de instituciones). En línea con la priorización realizada por el comité consultivo a nivel nacional para este sistema productivo, los participantes se acordaron enfocar el taller regional en la adopción de sistemas silvopastoriles de mediana y alta intensidad (SSP).Los participantes caracterizaron el estado de los ganaderos en Córdoba, en términos de la implementación de sistemas silvopastoriles de mediana y alta intensidad (SSP). El ejercicio también consideró la reflexión sobre hasta dónde se quería y/o se podía llegar en Santander con la implementación de dicho conjunto de prácticas.En la Tabla 18, se resumen la caracterización de la situación actual y deseada producto del ejercicio realizado por los participantes del taller:Tabla 18 : Situación actual y deseada de la ganadería doble propósito con respecto a la adopción de sistemas silvopastoriles de mediana y alta intensidad en CórdobaSituación deseada -Sistemas sin árboles, sin cobertura bajo la concepción: \"pasto y cielo\" -Menos de 1 animal/ha -Tierras muy degradadas (73%) con sobre pastoreo -Ganadería extractiva -Proyectos pequeños de SSP con poca difusión (200 personas), y poca inclusión de los jóvenes. -Zonas no aptas para SSP (muy húmedas) -Falta de conocimiento del SSP -Alta producción de biomasa.-Uso de árboles nativos.-Uso de gramíneas que toleran sombra (según suelo). -Uso de especies nativas adatadas a veranos fuertes. -Elegir árboles según vocación: madera/frutales/forrajeros -2,2 a 4 animal/haSituación deseada -Alto uso de herbicidas -Falta de recursos -Pequeños y medianos no hacen trabajo del suelo, no manejan un sistema de alimentación balanceada. -Conflicto en el uso del suelo: zonas no aptas, zona plana versus zona ondulada/alta requieren SSP diferentes.La situación actual se caracteriza por la predominancia de sistemas \"convencionales\" bajo el concepto de \"pasto y cielo\", es decir pastos sin árboles ni cubertura, y manejo del ganado en sistemas extensivos (menos de 1 animal / ha). Esta forma de ganadería conlleva a conflictos de uso de suelo, principalmente por realizar la actividad en zonas no aptas. Además, este sistema dominante conlleva a un alto porcentaje de tierras muy degradas y procesos de sobre pastoreo, uso intensivo de herbicidas y un desbalance en el sistema de alimentación. Sin embargo, cabe rescatar que ya existen experiencias locales en la región de desarrollo de SSP a pequeña y mediana escala, lo cual representa unas 200 personas.El reto para la ganadería doble propósito en la región es alcanzar la implementación de SSP con alta producción de biomasa, usando árboles nativos asociados con pastos, incluyendo gramíneas que toleran la sombra. La adopción de estos sistemas permite alcanzar cargas de animales de mayor rango (2,2 a 4 animales / ha). Por eso, se debe abordar la falta de conocimiento sobre estos sistemas, barreras culturales y económicas. Además, se deben realizar esfuerzos para adaptar los SSP a las distintas condiciones agro-ecológicas, diferenciando las prácticas en zonas planas, onduladas y altas.Una vez caracterizada la situación actual y la situación deseada, los participantes reflexionaron sobre cuáles eran las barreras que impedían pasar de la situación actual a la situación deseada. Los participantes se organizaron en 3 grupos, dos compuestos por agricultores y uno por representantes de instituciones. En la Tabla 19 se presenta el resumen de las barreras identificadas y priorizadas.Tabla 19 : Resumen de la identificación y priorización de barreras para la adopción de sistemas silvopastoriles de mediana y alta intensidad (SSP) en ganadería doble propósito en Córdoba.Práctica priorizada y región Adopción de sistemas silvopastoriles de mediana y alta intensidad (SSP) en Córdoba Tipo de barreras \"Prioritarias\" (más importantes y más fáciles de resolver) \"Estructurales\" (más importantes y más difíciles de resolver) \"Secundarias\" (menos importantes y más fáciles de resolver)\"Opcionales\" (menos importantes y más difíciles de resolver)Financiera Tiempo de implementación (costo de oportunidad de no producir igual durante la transición hacia SSP)* Costo de implementación de SSP El costo de implementación* Dejar de producir (costo de oportunidad de no producir durante la transición hacia SSP); inversión inicial y costo de mantenimiento (Factor económico)Falta de acceso a crédito (suele beneficiar solo a los grandes ganaderos, mal usocompra de maquinaria).Apoyo oficial (apoyo técnico para la implementación de SSP) Desconocimiento: falta de información sobre las ventajas del SSP Divulgación*: se refiere a la falta de divulgación de información sobre la tecnología para mejorar conocimiento sobre los beneficios y forma de implementar SSP; Apoyo*: se refiere al acceso a proyectos, programas del gobierno para facilitar la implementación de SSP Falta de acceso a AT (a pesar de existencia de una ley y de instituciones encargadas, falta coherencia)Asistencia técnica (AT)*: la falta de AT es reconocida como un problema. Sin embargo, la falta de neutralidad de los asistente técnicos hace poco relevante el apoyo que brindan Servicio de análisis de laboratorioActitud* (percepción del mismo ganadero de poder implementar SSP) Paradigma establecido* (creencias que el pasto no crece debajo de la sombra, que sistema cielo y pasto representa más riqueza del ganadero) Transmisión de conocimiento generacional*: necesidad de transmitir conocimientos a las generaciones más jóvenes) Falta de voluntad de introducir un cambio.(Factor cultural) Mentalidad (creencia que se prefiere invertir en ganado que en un SSP)Aptitud*: se refiere a la capacidad de un ganadero de implementar un SSP (¿Soy capaz de hacerlo?)No asociatividad (individualismo que impide acceder a asistencia técnica, recursos y conocimiento)* Práctica priorizada y región Adopción de sistemas silvopastoriles de mediana y alta intensidad (SSP) en Córdoba Tipo de barreras \"Prioritarias\" (más importantes y más fáciles de resolver) \"Estructurales\" (más importantes y más difíciles de resolver) \"Secundarias\" (menos importantes y más fáciles de resolver)\"Opcionales\" (menos importantes y más difíciles de resolver) Infraestructura Equipos Maquinaria (disponibilidad y costo)* Insumos Mano de obra/tiempo Acceso a tierra Tenencia de la tierra (no ser dueño de su tierra limita participación en proyectos) Acceso a aguaAgua*: se refiere a los excesos de agua en zona plana y falta de agua en zona alta/ondulada que constituyen una barreras para la implementación de un SSP Adecuación de los tipos de SSP según el contexto (tierras altas versus planas).Nota : En azul están presentadas las barreras identificadas por representantes de instituciones y en verde las barreras identificadas por agricultores. Los asteriscos (*) corresponden al grupo de productores quienes han adoptado SSP. En Negrilla se resaltaron las barreras más estratégicas (prioritarias y/o estructurales) que se usaron para el siguiente paso de identificación de medidas para superar barreras.Las barreras identificadas por los productores y los representantes de las instituciones estuvieron relacionadas con los aspectos de financiamiento, asistencia técnica, conocimiento y cultura, maquinaria, falta de asociatividad (capital social) y de adaptación a condiciones agroecólogicas.Existen similitudes y discrepancias entre las barreras identificadas por los tres grupos. Tres barreras son comunes a los 3 grupos. La barrera financiera es rescatada por todos los grupos y se refiere al costo de inversión inicial de la transición, es decir, el costo de oportunidad ligado al dejar de producir durante la transición y el costo de manteniendo del SSP. La falta de asistencia técnica también es común a los 3 grupos, pero la califican en término de importancia y/o facilidad de manera distinta. Las instituciones y los productores que no han adoptado todavía SSP consideran esta barrera como prioritaria (importante, y relativamente fácil de resolver) mientras que los que ya adoptaron SSP la consideran como una barrera estructural, principalmente en términos de la falta de difusión de información y rescatan el hecho que la asistencia técnica actual no es relevante para la promoción de SSP.La cultura y creencias arraigadas en los ganaderos fue categorizada como una barrera estructural (difícil de cambiar) para la adopción de SSP por todos los grupos. Ciertas barreras son mencionadas de manera más específica por ciertos grupos. La falta de acceso a maquinaria (disponibilidad y costo) y la falta de asociatividad entre ganaderos son vistas como una barrera prioritaria para los ganaderos que ya adoptaron SSP. La tenencia de la tierra es considerada como una barrera para los que no la tienen todavía (aunque piensan que no es una barrera muy importante). Finalmente, la adecuación de los SSP a las diferencias de condiciones agro-ecológicas (tipo de terreno, humedad) es considerada como una barrera por las instituciones y los productores que ya adoptaron SSP. En efecto, faltan protocolos a nivel de productores de cómo implementar SSP en diferentes contextos.Con el propósito de identificar medidas para solventar las barreras identificadas, se priorizaron aquellas barreras más relevantes. Los representantes de las instituciones seleccionaron las siguientes barreras:-Desconocimiento: falta de información sobre las ventajas del SSP -Inversión inicial y costo de mantenimiento (Factor económico) El grupo de ganaderos que ya tienen SSP eligió las siguientes barreras:-Tiempo de implementación (costo de oportunidad de no producir durante la transición hacia SSP) -Falta de disponibilidad y costo alto de maquinaria -Falta de asociatividad (individualismo que impide acceder a asistencia técnica, recursos y conocimiento) El grupo de ganaderos que todavía no han adoptado SSP eligió las siguientes barreras: -Costo de implementación de SSP -Apoyo oficial (apoyo técnico para la implementación de SSP)A partir de las principales barreras identificadas por cada grupo, los grupos reflexionaron sobre las medidas o acciones necesarias para superar dichas barreras. En la Tabla 20, se presenta el resumen de las medidas identificadas y priorizadas para superar las barreras priorizadas.Tabla 20 : Resumen de la identificación y priorización de medidas para superar las barreras para la adopción de sistemas silvopastoriles de mediana y alta intensidad (SSP) en ganadería doble propósito en Córdoba. Nota: En azul están presentadas las medidas identificadas por representantes de instituciones y en verde las medidas identificadas por agricultores. En Negrilla se resaltaron las medidas más estratégicas (prioritarias y/o estructurales). 1: por costo de oportunidad, se entiende el costo de no poder producir pasto durante la renovación de pasto (corresponde al costo de compras de alimento para compensar esta reducción de producción de alimentos en la finca), eso afecta a los productores pequeños aun si hacen una transición por etapas. Este costo se suma al costo de la inversión (siembra pastos, arboles, cercas,…).La mayoría de las medidas priorizadas apuntan a aspectos de financiamiento, regulaciones, asistencia técnica y capital social. Con respecto al financiamiento, los participantes identificaron la necesidad de ampliar la cobertura de las líneas de crédito de manera adecuada a través de las políticas. Los participantes también mencionan que a través de la asociatividad (capital social) se puede acceder más fácilmente al apoyo financiero. Cabe anotar que dentro de las medidas prioritarias en la Tabla 20, el número indica el grado de prioridad (1 siendo más prioritario, 2 menos prioritario, etc.)La asistencia técnica es otro pilar clave para lograr la adopción de SSP. Para esto, es necesario desarrollar proyectos de asistencia técnica que capaciten en temas técnicos de los SSP para (1) dar soluciones al problema de costo de oportunidad 69 de la implementación de un SSP (banco de proteínas, cortes de gramíneas etc.) y (2) formar líderes locales capaces de compartir casos exitosos de implementación en la comunidad. De nuevo, la asociatividad (capital social) constituye un mecanismo interesante para compartir experiencias, formular proyectos y captar recursos.La medida priorizada por los representantes de las instituciones para superar la barrera relacionada con el desconocimiento: falta de información sobre las ventajas del SSP hace referencia a desarrollar proyectos de implementación de SSP, es decir proyectos que apoyen la implementación y seguimiento de SSP por más de un año. Haciendo especial énfasis en la duración de los proyectos que deben cubrir el tiempo de la fase de transición y el monitoreo durante después de la transición.Los representantes de las instituciones propusieron como medida para superar la barrera de inversión inicial y costo de mantenimiento (Factor económico), el desarrollo de políticas que incentiven la implementación de SPP.Con respecto a la barrera de tiempo de implementación (costo de oportunidad de la transición hacia SSP)*, los productores adoptantes propusieron como medida priorizada la promoción de prácticas como: 1) Bancos de proteína; 2) Cortes de gramíneas; 2) Cultivo transitorio; y 3) División de potreros (en orden de importancia).Frente a la falta de disponibilidad y costo alto de maquinaria*, los productores adoptantes priorizaron la asociatividad como la medida propuesta para superar dicha barrera. Haciendo referencia a promover la unión entre vecinos/amigos, de manera formal o no, para prestarse o comprar en grupo maquinarias.En este sentido, con respecto a la barrera de falta de asociatividad*, la medida propuesta es implementar programa de gobierno para fortalecer la educación familiar con el fin de fomentar la asociatividad vía la educación de los padres y en la escuela promoviendo valores, con apoyo del gobierno diseñando programas sobre este tema.Las medidas priorizadas por productores para superar la barrera relacionada con el costo de implementación de SSP son en orden de importancia:1-Asociatividad: permite disminuir costos entre ganaderos y así facilitar la implementación de SSP; 2-Alianza con el sector privado: asegurar producción a una empresa puede ser una forma de facilitar ganancias y la implementación de un SSP; 3-Disminuir gastos: tratar de ver desde la finca donde se puede reducir gastos; y 4-Captar recursos: desde la asociación se puede organizar eventos para recaudar dinero (rifas).En cuanto a la barrera relacionada con el apoyo oficial-técnico para la implementación de SSP, los productores propusieron como medidas priorizadas las siguientes en orden de importancia:1-La asociatividad puede facilitar el acceso a proyectos que apoyan la implementación de SSP; 2-Conocer la propuestas de programas permite acceder a proyectos que promueven SSP; y 3-Elaboración de proyectos permite acceder a apoyos a través de la asociación.Cabe anotar que las dos medidas: Ampliación de la cobertura de herramienta financiera: se refiere al acceso a estas herramientas a pequeños y medianos ganaderos pero priorizada a los que han tenido experiencia en SSP y Difusión a través de vacunación: por las vacunaciones que se realizan dos veces al año, se puede difundir información sobre el SSP han sido consideradas como opcionales (menos importante y menos factible). Sin embargo, constituyen opciones interesantes que deberían ser consideradas.El taller regional para identificación de barreras para la adopción a escala de tecnologías promisorias para el crecimiento verde para el sistema productivo de ganadería de leche se realizó en San Pedro de los Milagros (Antioquia), el 19 de febrero del 2018. En el taller participaron 13 personas (13 representantes de instituciones). Durante la presentación del proceso de priorización de la tecnología realizado con el comité de expertos, los participantes mencionaron que la tecnología: \"\"Manejo genético enfocado a la producción de leche\" no era la más relevante para el contexto de Antioquia. Por lo tanto, seleccionaron la tecnología: \"Manejo integral del suelo y de la pradera en sistemas ganaderos\" ya que consideraron que era más pertinente para el contexto del departamento. En efecto, esta tecnología fue considerada más urgente en términos de productividad.Una vez caracterizada la situación actual y la situación deseada, los participantes reflexionaron sobre cuáles eran las barreras que impedían la adopción de un manejo integral del suelo y de la pradera en sistemas ganaderos. Por cuestiones de logísticas, se trabajó en un solo grupo y no se pudo priorizar las barreras. En la Tabla 21 se presenta el resumen de las barreras identificadas y priorizadas.Tabla 21 : Resumen de la identificación y priorización de barreras para la adopción de Manejo del suelo y de la pradera en sistemas ganaderos de lecheManejo integral del suelo y de la pradera en sistemas ganaderos en Antioquia Tipo de barreras \"Prioritarias\" (más importantes y más fáciles de resolver) \"Estructurales\" (más importantes y más difíciles de resolver) \"Secundarias\" (menos importantes y más fáciles de resolver) \"Opcionales\" (menos importantes y más difíciles de resolver)Canales de comunicación ineficientes para las oportunidades de crédito Desconocimiento de las estructuras de costos en la producción que no permite inversiones (manejo integral del suelo y de la pradera)Los requisitos solicitados para los créditos limitan el acceso a pequeños y medianos productores (productores no bancarizados) Altos costos de los insumos Esquema tributario perjudicial para los pequeños y medianos productores Arreglo institucional Asistencia Técnica Falta entender la realidad del productor para brindar una asistencia técnica eficiente Asistencia técnica descontextualizada y poco práctica Conceptos desactualizados respecto a los suelos y praderas; técnicos sin actualización en el tema Formación de asistentes técnicos sin componente social Baja cobertura de la AT institucional Política de asistencia técnica ineficiente para los asistentes y los productoresCultura/conocimiento Concepción tradicional del suelo como recurso inagotable de nutrientes Desconocimiento de la propia rentabilidad del negocio lácteo (falta de visión empresarial) Poca credibilidad en la asistencia técnica y en la institucionalidad por parte de los productoresRequerimiento de mano de obra inicial en la fase de implementación Acceso a la tierra Acceso a aguaLas barreras identificadas por el grupo de participantes se relacionaron a cuatro aspectos: financiamiento, asistencia técnica, mano de obra y aspectos culturales.Las barreras financieras están relacionadas con la falta de acceso a información sobre los créditos. También existe la limitante que los productores carecen de información sobre su finca y usualmente no cumplen con los requisitos.En cuanto a asistencia técnica, los representantes de las instituciones identificaron que en términos de cobertura de la asistencia técnica y de la calidad del servicio es necesario entender mejor la realidad del productor, ya que la asistencia técnica es poco práctica y desactualizada. Hay necesidad de formar asistentes técnicos y mejorar la eficiencia de la política de asistencia técnica.Finalmente, los participantes identificaron barreras en relación con la falta de conocimiento de los productores en cuanto a suelo, rentabilidad, planeación, etc., y también falta de confianza hacia las instituciones. A nivel más técnico, hay necesidad de mano de obra para implementar la tecnología priorizada.-Canales de comunicación ineficientes para las oportunidades de crédito; -Desconocimiento de las estructuras de costos en la producción que no permite inversiones (manejo integral del suelo y de la pradera); -Falta entender la realidad del productor para brindar una asistencia técnica eficiente; -Asistencia técnica descontextualizada y poco práctica; -Conceptos desactualizados respecto a los suelos y praderas; técnicos sin actualización en el tema; -Concepción tradicional del suelo como recurso inagotable de nutrientes.A partir de las principales barreras identificadas por cada grupo, el grupo reflexionó sobre las medidas o acciones necesarias para superar dichas barreras. En la Tabla 22, se presenta el resumen de las medidas identificadas y priorizadas para superar las barreras priorizadas. Formación de profesionales con capacidad de entender la realidad del productor \"Estructurales\"x Ampliar la cobertura de los programas de AT \"Secundarias\"x Productores capacitados capaces de replicar prácticas \"Prioritarias\"Zonificación de asistencia técnica de acuerdo al área productiva \"Segundaria\"x Co-responsabilidad en la asistencia al sistema productivo entre el productor y el asistente técnico \"opcionales\"x xEducación financiera para inversiones programadas en la finca \"Prioritarias\"Comunicación efectiva de oportunidades de financiación \"Opcionales\"x Líneas de créditos especiales (renovación de pasturas y educación) \"Prioritarias\"Co-responsabilidad en la inversión al sistema productivo entre el productor y el asistente técnico \"Estructurales\"x x Creación de incentivos para la bancarización con esquemas especiales tributarios \"Secundarias\"x Sociales Estrategias para reconocer la dignidad campesina \"Prioritarias\"Planes de manejo progresivos para el suelo y para las pasturas acordes con la realidad del territorio y con avances en investigación \"Prioritarias\"x Potencialización las metodologías de aprendizaje de productor a productor, redes sociales de productores con condiciones socioeconómicas similares \"Secundarias\"x Replicar la metodología de enseñanza SENA hacia las entidades que brindan servicios de extensión \"Prioritarias\"Implementar canales remotos comunicación (TIC's) \"Estructurales\"x Las medidas propuestas por el grupo se refieren principalmente a las barreras sobre capital humano, asistencia técnica y aspectos de financiamiento. Los participantes plantearon que hay la necesidad de capacitar productores en relación al crédito como información sobre líneas de crédito vigentes, también consideran clave la capacitación en prácticas de manejo integral del suelo y de la pradera en sistemas ganaderos. De igual manera, la formación de asistentes técnicos para ofrecer servicio más adecuado tomando en cuenta las condiciones específicas de los productores.En cuanto a los aspectos de financiamiento, los participantes propusieron el establecimiento de líneas de crédito especiales para manejo integral del suelo y de la pradera en sistemas ganaderos.La medida prioritaria para superar barrera de asistencia técnica aborda la capacitación de forma efectiva de los productores para replicar prácticas para manejo integral del suelo y de la pradera en sistemas ganaderos. Esta última se relaciona con una medida propuesta más hacia el componente social en relación a integrar las condiciones y dignidad del campesino.El taller regional para la identificación de barreras para la adopción a escala de tecnologías promisorias para el crecimiento verde para el sistema productivo de ganadería de carne se realizó en Yopal (Casanare), el 13 de marzo del 2018. En el taller participaron 22 personas (5 de ellas productores). Durante el proceso de priorización de la tecnología realizado con el comité de expertos se mencionó que la tecnología de \"uso racional de agroquímicos, productos de uso veterinario y control de arvenses\" no era la más relevante para el contexto de Casanare. Consideraron que la tecnología \"Planificación y zonificación predial de acuerdo con la oferta ambiental\" era la más pertinente para el contexto del departamento, ya que los participantes argumentaron que se necesita planificar las fincas ganaderas según si su ubicación corresponde a sabanas nativas (70 % de los productores) o praderas introducidas (30 % de los productores) debido a que el manejo es distinto en los dos casos. También, se comentó que es importante identificar las zonas sin vocación ganadera.Para caracterizar la situación actual y la situación deseada, se preguntó a los participantes en plenaria sobre el estado actual de los productores de carne del Casanare en cuanto a la implementación de planificación y zonificación predial de acuerdo con la oferta ambiental. También, se preguntó hasta dónde se quería/se podía llegar en la implementación de dicha opción en el departamento. En la Tabla 23 se resumen los aspectos de la situación actual y deseada:Tabla 23 : Situación actual y deseada en cuanto a la planificación y zonificación predial de acuerdo con la oferta ambiental.Hay planificación a nivel nacional (IGAC/UPRA). -No hay planificación a nivel predial. -Dificultades de entendimiento de la oferta ambiental de los que si optan por planificar.-Sectorización adecuada del suelo para ganadería (peso vivo/leche) a nivel del departamento que surja como resultado de la investigación. -Plataforma de información sobre ganadería que se autoactualiza: proceso de implementación/investigación con Seguidamente, se preguntó a los participantes cuáles eran las barreras que impedían la adopción de una planificación y zonificación predial de acuerdo con la oferta ambiental. Para esto se formaron dos grupos, uno conformado por productores y uno por representantes de instituciones. En la Tabla 24 se presenta el resumen de las barreras identificadas y priorizadas.Tabla 24 : Resumen de la identificación y priorización de barreras para la adopción de planificación y zonificación predial de acuerdo con la oferta ambiental en sistemas ganaderos de carnePráctica priorizada y región Planificación y zonificación predial de acuerdo con la oferta ambiental en Casanare Tipo de barreras \"Prioritarias\" (más importantes y más fáciles de resolver)(más importantes y más difíciles de resolver) \"Secundarias\" (menos importantes y más fáciles de resolver) \"Opcionales\" (menos importantes y más difíciles de resolver)Pocos incentivos gubernamentales para la promoción de sistemas de ganadería sostenible: no hay incentivos de producción de carne 'verde'.Existen incentivos de producción limpia pero solo para exportación (no es la prioridad de los productores).Criterios para acceder a crédito: bajo acceso a crédito.Estándares de producción: no existen estándares Centralización del ordenamiento y políticas del territorio: no se toma en cuenta ni el contexto no el conocimiento local.Poca articulación entre instituciones y organizaciones: entre instituciones que presta AT no hay coherencia entre los mensajes (unos enfocados en exportación otros en mercado local). Desarticulación de planes de desarrollo a nivel regional y municipal acorde a un crecimiento sostenible: causado por los ciclos electorales.Representatividad del gremio ganadero: crisis gremial en la ganadería que en este contexto no representa los productores a nivel gubernamental.Deficiencia en la asesoría técnica acorde a las necesidades: el enfoque de la Asistencia Técnica (AT) no es el adecuado. El contenido de la AT está mal.Poca inclusión de las necesidades de las sabanas inundables dentro de las políticas públicas: esta barrera se relaciona con la falta de conocimiento de las dinámicas de las sabanas inundables. Transferencia de información: hay necesidad de articular las innovaciones propuestas con el conocimiento local. Mecanismo de asesoría: Hay un problema en las innovaciones propuestas (no adecuadas) y que no toman en cuenta el conocimiento empírico de los productores.Planificación y zonificación predial de acuerdo con la oferta ambiental en Casanare Tipo de barreras \"Prioritarias\" (más importantes y más fáciles de resolver) \"Estructurales\" (más importantes y más difíciles de resolver) \"Secundarias\" (menos importantes y más fáciles de resolver) \"Opcionales\" (menos importantes y más difíciles de resolver)Cultura/conocimiento Poco conocimiento científico de la dinámica de los ecosistemas y su recopilación para documentar: existe conocimiento a nivel de productores, pero necesita recopilarse por la investigación y necesita precisarse. Falta de reconocimiento e inclusión del saber ancestral para la toma de decisiones: no hay confianza hacia la Asistencia Técnica (calidad y contenido), no se toma en cuenta los conocimientos de los productores, no hay enfoque participativo. Falta de conocimiento de las dinámicas del paisaje de sabana inundable desde la externalidad (organizaciones, instituciones, academia): existe conocimiento a nivel de productores, pero necesita recopilarse por la investigación y necesita precisarse.Ausencia de investigación: se necesita más investigación en manejo adecuado según oferta ambiental.Cultura: los sistemas ganaderos del departamento se manejan de forma extensiva y con poca tecnificación lo que genera un miedo al cambio (hacia un manejo más tecnificado).Infraestructural vial: su mala calidad constituye un desincentivo de producir. EquiposDebilidad en control sanitario: problema de contrabando con Venezuela. Mano de obra/ tiempo Acceso a la tierra Acceso a agua Cond. agroecológicasMercado: no hay precio diferenciado por producción de carne verde Las barreras identificadas por el grupo de participantes corresponden a: financiamiento, arreglos institucionales, asistencia técnica, cultura/conocimiento e infraestructura y de mercado.Las similitudes entre las barreras identificadas por los dos grupos son a nivel de incentivos en cuanto a que no existen incentivos verdes y hay bajo acceso a los incentivos existentes. En asistencia técnica coinciden en que no se articula con las necesidades y conocimientos locales. Además, se identificó una escaza investigación que incorpore conocimiento ancestral sobre las dinámicas de las sabanas inundables. Otra barrera fue la desarticulación entre los planes de ordenamiento territorial y la actividad ganadera local.Por otra parte, se mencionaron problemas a nivel de arreglo institucional. En efecto, los participantes subrayaron problemas gremiales (falta de representación en contexto de crisis), así como la ausencia de estándares de producción verde para la ganadería y de precio diferenciado a nivel de mercado por productos verdes.Las barreras identificadas (por nuestro equipo) como prioritarias son:-Poco conocimiento científico de la dinámica de los ecosistemas y dificultades para su recopilación.-Escaso de reconocimiento e inclusión del saber ancestral para la toma de decisiones.-Poco conocimiento de las dinámicas del paisaje de sabana inundable.-Bajos incentivos gubernamentales para la promoción de sistemas de ganadería sostenible.Las barreras seleccionadas, por los agricultores, para el siguiente paso fueron:-Mercado.-Estándares de producción: no existen estándares.-Centralización del ordenamiento y políticas del territorio.A partir de las principales barreras identificadas por cada grupo, se reflexionó sobre las medidas o acciones necesarias para superar dichas barreras. En la Tabla 25 se presenta el resumen de las medidas identificadas y priorizadas para superar las barreras priorizadas.Tabla 25 : Resumen de la identificación y priorización de medidas para superar las barreras (priorizadas) para la adopción de planificación y zonificación predial de acuerdo con la oferta ambiental en sistemas de ganadería de carne, en Casanare. La mayoría de las medidas priorizadas se relacionan con regulaciones, arreglos institucionales, asistencia técnica e investigación. En las medidas relacionadas con regulaciones y arreglos institucionales se identificó la necesidad de implementar un componente verde en las instituciones públicas y gremiales, y a nivel de planificación. En asistencia técnica, se consideró necesario incluir temas relevantes a nivel de los productores a través de un dialogo de doble vía.Las medidas priorizadas por las instituciones para superar la barrera de escaso de conocimiento son: la priorización de temas para la investigación con organizaciones locales, el mayor compromiso de la institucionalidad y organizaciones (POT y presupuesto), y la realización de propuestas integrales que incluyan los diferentes componentes del ecosistema.Las medidas priorizadas por representantes de las instituciones para superar la barrera de inclusión son: la divulgación de resultados de investigación a los actores locales y la generación de una estrategia de comunicación reciproca comunidad/instituciones/ciencia.Las medidas priorizadas por los productores adoptantes para superar la barrera de incentivos son: esfuerzos gremiales y de ONG para la inclusión de políticas de ganadería sostenible a nivel regional, departamental y municipal.La medida priorizada por productores para superar la barrera de mercado es de crear incentivos a la producción.La medida priorizada por productores para superar la barrera de falta de estándares de producción es de implementar estándares enfocados al crecimiento verde.La medida priorizada por productores adoptantes para superar la barrera de centralización del ordenamiento y políticas del territorio es una restructuración del sector ganadero gremial.Cabe anotar que las medidas identificadas por los productores se relacionan más con aspectos de asistencia técnica, mientras que las instituciones mencionaron medidas más relacionadas con regulaciones.Finalmente, los participantes quisieron resaltar también el capital humano del Casanare. Es importante involucrar más a los casanareños en la implementación de acciones relativas al crecimiento verde y tener un doliente del proceso y generar confianza.El taller para la identificación de barreras para la adopción a escala de tecnologías promisorias para el crecimiento verde para el sistema productivo de aguacate Hass se realizó en Bogotá (Cundinamarca), el 21 de marzo del 2018. En el taller participaron dos representantes de instituciones. Durante el proceso de priorización de la tecnología realizado con el comité de expertos se mencionó que la tecnología de \"uso eficiente del agua a través de cálculos de balance hídrico (riego existente)\" no era la más relevante para el cultivo de aguacate Hass. Consideraron que la tecnología: \"manejo integrado de las principales plagas\" era más pertinente para el contexto nacional, debido al posible exceso de uso de plaguicidas (en productos y dosis) por mal manejo de las plagas. La falta de manejo integrado de plagas puede limitar la movilización de material entre regiones.Una vez acordada la tecnología de manejo integrado de las principales plagas, se preguntó a los participantes sobre el estado actual de los fruticultores del país en cuanto a su implementación y hasta dónde se quería/se podía llegar en la implementación de dicha opción. En la Tabla 26 se resumen los aspectos de la situación actual y deseada:Tabla 26: Situación actual y deseada en cuanto al manejo integrado de las principales plagas para el cultivo de aguacate Hass. -Tener un diagnóstico completo de plagas y enfermedades. -Tener paquetes tecnológicos de manejo de estas plagas y enfermedades. -Control químico: disponer de moléculas que tengan registro ICA para aplicación (certificación global gap menciona registro en el país. Son embargo, toma tempo y es costoso para una empresa). -Fortalecer estudios de biología de plagas y enfermedades (hábitos de comportamiento permiten mejorar manejo y de forma eficiente). -Asistentes técnicos y productores capacitados.-Aspectos ambientales: residualidad, registro de químicos (conocer mejor plagas me permite conocer el producto adecuado, la dosis adecuada).Una vez caracterizada la situación actual y la deseada, se preguntó a los participantes cuáles eran las barreras que impedían la adopción de un manejo integrado de las principales plagas en cultivos de aguacate Hass. En la Tabla 27 se presenta el resumen de las barreras identificadas y priorizadas.Práctica priorizada y región Manejo integrado de las principales plagas Tipo de barreras \"Prioritarias\" (más importantes y más fáciles de resolver) \"Estructurales\" (más importantes y más difíciles de resolver)\"Secundarias\" (menos importantes y más fáciles de resolver)\"Opcionales\" (menos importantes y más difíciles de resolver) Financiera Arreglo institucionalPoca cobertura en área y personal y en calidad del servicio.Escaza investigación en residualidad y moléculas: hay necesidad de saber más sobre el impacto para saber si constituye un riesgo (para exportación entre otros). Algunos productores no saben reconocer/monitorear plagas.Falta de información precisa por departamento: cuales son las plagas más críticas por zonas y cómo manejarlas. Las barreras identificadas corresponden a los componentes de: falta conocimiento científico y la falta de asistencia técnica adecuada para compartir información con los productores.-Falta de investigación (residualidad, moléculas, hábitos y manejo).-Problemas de asistencia técnica en cobertura en área/en personal y calidad del servicio.-Productores no saben monitorear plagas para tomar decisión.A partir de las principales barreras identificadas se reflexionó sobre las medidas o acciones necesarias para superar dichas barreras. En la Tabla 28 se presentan las medidas identificadas y priorizadas para superar las barreras priorizadas.Tabla 28 : Resumen de la identificación y priorización de medidas para superar las barreras (priorizadas) para la adopción de manejo integrado de las principales plagas en sistemas de aguacate Hass.  La mayoría de las medidas priorizadas apuntan a aspectos de arreglos institucionales, asistencia técnica e investigación. Respecto a los arreglos institucionales, se consideró que la alianza publico privado es necesaria para buscar soluciones al tema de moléculas para el manejo de plagas, pero también para financiar investigación y para la implementación efectiva de una asistencia técnica relevante y articulada.Vinculado con lo anterior, la asistencia técnica es vista como clave para lograr cambios en el manejo de plagas por parte de los productores de aguacate Hass. En efecto, la asistencia técnica que ser pensada en programas integrales incluyendo capacitación y aspectos legales que articulen los actores locales que acompañan a los productores. Para esto, se considera es necesario formar capacitadores en nuevos temas (técnicos, ambientales, sociales, legales etc.) y como estrategia complementaria, compartir conocimientos con productores. Este plan se debe articular con el SNIA.El tema de investigación está directamente vinculado a lo anterior. En efecto, se necesita conocimiento relacionado con plagas a nivel territorial (impacto de plagas según zonas manejos particulares). La producción de este nuevo conocimiento debe llegar vía asistencia técnica y compartirse con los productores.Las medidas priorizadas por las instituciones para superar la barrera relacionada con investigación son: la identificación de brechas tecnológicas que necesitan ser financiada y la formulación de proyectos de regalías enfocados en conocimiento y manejo de plagas. Las medidas priorizadas por representantes de instituciones para superar la barrera de asistencia técnica son: el desarrollo de competencias en como transmitir los conocimientos por parte del asistente y el desarrollo de competencias en asistentes técnicos en temas de plagas, aspectos ambientales y BPA.El taller para la identificación de barreras para la adopción a escala de tecnologías promisorias para el crecimiento verde para el sistema productivo de papa se realizó en Tunja (Boyacá), el 15 de marzo de 2018. En el taller participaron 25 personas (9 productores, 9 técnicos de organización de productores, y 7 representantes de instituciones de apoyo). Los participantes discutieron las prácticas priorizadas y se propuso unir las prácticas de \"aprovechamiento de residuos orgánicos\" y \"Uso eficiente de fertilizante con énfasis en la actualización de estudios de requerimientos nutricional de variedades\". También, un grupo de participantes consideró \"el problema de manejo integrado de plagas con énfasis en el uso adecuado de plaguicidas\" y otro grupo prefirió el agua como tema crítico, aunque pocos afirmaron usar riego.Para la priorización de las prácticas se basó en que los participantes convergieron en la idea del crecimiento verde en papa debe ser visto desde un manejo integral de \"agua, suelo, planta\". Así, se consideró como práctica priorizada para el taller un conjunto de prácticas denominadas bajo el término genérico de \"agricultura de conservación\" 70 lo cual incluye: \"aprovechamiento de residuos orgánicos\", \"uso eficiente de fertilizante con énfasis en la actualización de estudios de requerimientos nutricional de variedades\", \"manejo integrado de plagas (MIP)\", \"agua\".Caracterización de la situación de referencia y de la situación deseadaEn la situación inicial, se considera que solo el 3-10 % de los productores adoptan prácticas \"de agricultura de conservación\" en Tunja. Existe una variedad en el nivel de productividad según las variedades de papa (entre 14-15 t/ha hasta 40 t/ha) 71 . En la situación actual, se identificó lo siguiente:-Falta mano de obra para la producción de papa, ya que los jóvenes no quieren trabajar en el campo.-Existen problemas de acceso a insumos, en particular de insumos orgánicos, por disponibilidad y precio, y por dificultades por los mismos productores de producir estos insumos. -La asistencia técnica depende mucho de las casas comerciales, que son imparciales y no fomentan el uso racional de agroquímicos (promueven un uso masivo), ni de insumos orgánicos. Finalmente, falta asistencia técnica personalizada y neutral para la producción de papa. -Pocos productores cuentan con riego y existen poca experiencia de irrigación por goteo.-Existe un movimiento hacia agricultura de conservación (para suelo), sin embargo, el grado de adopción de los pequeños productores en agricultura de conservación es limitada. -Hay un problema de plagas que difiere según el tipo de plaga. Los productores saben mitigar algunas (usando, a veces, productos dañinos y/o prohibidos), pero otras plagas no pueden manejarse. -Hay un problema de trazabilidad que vienen de los productores que tienen un manejo responsable.Los intermediarios/comerciantes de la cadena mezclan las papas que no fueron producidas bajo concepto de producción sostenible con las que lo son. -Existe un problema de variabilidad fuerte de los precios de venta al nivel del productor de papa.En la situación deseada, se esperaría trabajar integralmente los componentes de agua y planta, desde una \"agricultura con conciencia\", y la adopción de prácticas de \"agricultura de conservación en la producción\" de papa (entendido como el conjunto de prácticas incluyendo: \"aprovechamiento de residuos orgánicos\", \"uso eficiente de fertilizantes con énfasis en la actualización de estudios de requerimientos nutricional de variedades\", \"MIP\" y \"agua\"). Así, se alcanzaría el 30 % de los productores en 2030.Una vez caracterizada la situación actual y la deseada, se preguntó a los participantes cuáles eran las barreras que impedían la adopción prácticas de \"agricultura de conservación\". Para esto, se formaron tres grupos, productores (líderes de asociaciones), técnicos de asociaciones, y representantes de los entes de apoyo e instituciones. En la Tabla 29 se presenta el resumen de las barreras identificadas y priorizadas.Tabla 29 : Resumen de la identificación y priorización de barreras para la adopción de \"agricultura de conservación\" en Papa.\"Agricultura de conservación\" entendido como el conjunto de prácticas incluyendo: \"Aprovechamiento de residuos orgánicos\", \"Uso eficiente de fertilizante con énfasis en la actualización de estudios de requerimientos nutricional de variedades\", \"MIP\", \"Agua\") en Boyacá Tipo de barreras \"Prioritarias\" (más importantes y más fáciles de resolver)\"Estructurales\" (más importantes y más difíciles de resolver)\"Secundarias\" (menos importantes y más fáciles de resolver)\"Opcionales\" (menos importantes y más difíciles de resolver)Financiera \"Agricultura de conservación\" entendido como el conjunto de prácticas incluyendo: \"Aprovechamiento de residuos orgánicos\", \"Uso eficiente de fertilizante con énfasis en la actualización de estudios de requerimientos nutricional de variedades\", \"MIP\", \"Agua\") en Boyacá Tipo de barreras \"Prioritarias\" (más importantes y más fáciles de resolver)\"Estructurales\" (más importantes y más difíciles de resolver)\"Secundarias\" (menos importantes y más fáciles de resolver)\"Opcionales\" (menos importantes y más difíciles de resolver) Equipos Insumos Mano de obra/ tiempo Acceso a la tierra Acceso a agua Condiciones agroecologicas Mercado Regulaciones de importación (Instabilidad de precios, falta planificación siembra y volumen) falta de mercados especializados (+ precios de sustentación) * Falta de valoración por el consumidor de la producción limpia Desconocimiento por parte de los productores y de los consumidores de las prácticas, y de las implicaciones de no usar la en la cualidad (inocuidad) del producto Nota: En azul están presentadas las barreras identificadas por representantes de instituciones y en verde las barreras identificadas por agricultores y técnicos de organizaciones de productores. Con asterisco (*): técnicos de organizaciones de productores*. En Negrilla se resaltaron las barreras prioritarias y/o estructurales que se usaron para el siguiente paso de identificación de medidas para superar las barreras.Las barreras identificadas por productores, técnicos de las organizaciones de productores y las entidades de apoyo a la agricultura fueron principalmente en tres ámbitos: barreras financieras, de asistencia técnica y de mercado. Existen similitudes entre los participantes de las barreras identificadas. Sin embargo, los tres grupos dan un peso y contenido diferente a cada una.Los productores subrayan la barrera económica y la falta de asistencia técnica que apoyan las prácticas de conservación, pero consideran que hay impedimentos culturales para su adopción. También, mencionan que las barreras de mercado afectan vía la baja aceptación de los consumidores por los productos de papas que son producidas según buenas prácticas agrícolas.Por parte de los técnicos, se menciona la falta de seguimiento en la asistencia técnica (y también los problemas de capacitación de los asistentes técnicos y de compromisos de las universidades en la formación). Además, la falta de arreglos institucionales como políticas enfocadas en estos temas, y también la planificación de cultivos (en termino de área y tiempo de siembra).Por parte de las barreras financieras, los entes de apoyo a la agricultura consideran de importancia el problema de regulación de las importaciones las cuales perjudican el desarrollo de la producción nacional de papa.Acorde con la priorización realizada por cada grupo, las barreras seleccionadas para la búsqueda de medidas fueron distintas según los grupos.El grupo de productores se concentró en las siguientes barreras:-Perdida de cultura tradicional en la agricultura.-Falta de recursos económicos por parte de los productores.-Falta de política enfocada al tema de conservación: paquete técnico + asistencia técnica.El grupo de los técnicos de organizaciones de productores se concentró en las siguientes barreras:-Falta de continuidad en AT*.-Falta de herramientas económicos e infraestructura para implementar practicas*.-Faltas de políticas claras y ajustadas (MIPA-BPA; MIFE; conservación de suelo, complimiento de normas actuales) *.El grupo de los representantes de entes de apoyo analizó los siguientes temas:-Regulaciones de importaciones (inestabilidad de precios, falta planificación siembra y volumen).-Falta de compromiso del Estado en montaje de proyectos e infraestructura (falta de subsidio en agricultura /a poyo gubernamental).A partir de las principales barreras identificadas, se reflexionó sobre las medidas o acciones necesarias para superar dichas barreras. En la Tabla 30 se presentan las medidas identificadas y priorizadas para superar las barreras priorizadas.Tabla 30 : Resumen de la identificación y priorización de medidas para superar las barreras (priorizadas) para la adopción de prácticas de conservación en Papa. Asegurar recursos \"Prioritarias\" XX Identificación de áreas potenciales \"Prioritarias\" XX Nota: En azul están presentadas las medidas identificadas por representantes de instituciones y en verde las medidas identificadas por agricultores y los técnicos de organizaciones (con asterisco*). En Negrilla se resaltaron las medidas más prioritarias y/o estructurales.La mayoría de las medidas identificadas por los participantes son en temas financieros, regulaciones y arreglos institucionales, asistencia técnica, y capital social y humano.Las medidas financieras fueron mencionadas por los productores corresponden a: reducción de impuestos, acceso a crédito y mejor tasa de interés, subsidios directos, y reconocimiento por adopción de buenas prácticas.Las medidas de regulaciones comprenden el cumplimiento de la ley de extensión agrícola, de regulaciones de las importaciones. En el componente institucional, las medidas mencionadas por los productores y los técnicos de sus organizaciones, se refieren a la necesidad de encontrar formas de dialogo con las instituciones que permiten una mejor representación de sus intereses e inclusión de sus demandas y necesidades en las políticas.Las medidas referentes a la asistencia técnica mencionadas por los productores y los técnicos tienen que ver con el reconocimiento que la asistencia técnica es un bien público, así como la creación de programas de asistencia técnica orientada al crecimiento verde en papa.Las medidas de capital humano y social fueron mencionadas por los productores hacia un llamado a la cultura tradicional, la movilización de los productores ejemplares en sus prácticas para incentivar otros productores, y la creación de interés en la agricultura por las nuevas generaciones.Por último, las medidas de mercado son bastante amplias, incluyen la difusión de información sobre las decisiones de importación y la renegociación de estas, el establecimiento de planificación de siembra para regular los precios y la decisión de establecer un precio de sustentación.Las barreras y medidas fueron analizadas mediante la participación de actores de los sistemas productivos de café, cacao, aguacate hass, papa, ganadería de doble propósito, ganadería de carne y de leche, los cual permitió priorizar las siguientes tecnologías: i) para café en el Huila una adecuada renovación de cafetales (por zoca o por siembra) según la edad y el momento oportuno, teniendo en cuenta la variedad adecuada, la densidad y análisis de suelo; ii) buenas prácticas agrícolas para cacao en Santander; iii) para aguacate hass, manejo integrado de las principales plagas; iv) agricultura de conservación para papa en Boyacá; v) sistema silvopastoril para ganadería de doble propósito en Córdoba; vi) manejo integral del suelo y de la pradera en sistemas ganaderos de leche en Antioquia; y vii) planificación y zonificación predial de acuerdo con la oferta ambiental para ganadería de carne en Casanare.A nivel de barreras se identificaron diferentes categorías según el sistema productivo considerado. Esto puede ser explicado por la naturaleza de la tecnología priorizada y también por el contexto específico de los subsectores en las regiones. Las barreras identificadas para ganadería dependen del subsector. Para ganadería de doble propósito se mencionaron barreras relacionadas con capital social promueve. En la ganadería de carne y cacao no hay precio diferencial para productores certificados en buenas prácticas agropecuarias, así como incertidumbre en cuanto al precio. Estas barreras tienen que ser tomadas en cuenta al momento de promover las tecnologías.Tres barreras fueron mencionadas en todos los talleres: aquellas relacionadas con aspectos financieros, asistencia técnica, conocimiento y cultura. La barrera financiera fue mencionada por productores y representantes de entes de apoyo, la cual comprende la falta de acceso a crédito (caso de café) y/o incentivos (como BPA para cacao y producción verde en ganadería de carne); además, la no adecuación de las líneas de crédito a las especificidades de la tecnología priorizada en el tiempo de implementación (en la ganadería doble propósito). Finalmente, se destaca que los productores no cuentan con los requisitos necesarios para acceder a las líneas de créditos (tenencia de la tierra, registros de costos de producción).Las barreras en asistencia técnica son en cobertura (café, cacao, aguacate Hass, papa, doble propósito y leche), calidad y confianza que genera, y también sobre la tecnología que se quiere promover en cuanto al \"miedo al cambio\" por parte de los productores. Esta barrera de conocimiento o cultural fue mencionada por productores y representantes de instituciones en todos los talleres.La adopción de tecnologías en general, y de las tecnologías que apuntan al crecimiento verde, en particular, es un proceso que adiciona complejidad a los retos actuales del sector agropecuario en Colombia, porque también implica la articulación de diversos factores y en muchos casos el cambio a estructuras existentes muy bien definidas. Este trabajo de identificación de barreras permitió conocer el nivel de interés y conocimiento por los problemas y retos ambientales por parte de productores, técnicos e instituciones, lo cual contribuye a dar un primer paso en el abordaje de dicha complejidad.De igual forma, en muchos casos e interés por la adopción y la adopción misma de una tecnología es una cuestión de percepción. En efecto, si todos los participantes identificaron barreras similares, su priorización ha sido diferente según el grupo estaba compuesto por productores adoptantes, no adoptante o por representantes de instituciones. Por ejemplo, en el taller de café, productores identificaron la barrera del costo del análisis de suelo como prioritaria, mientras que para las instituciones era un problema menos importante y menos difícil de resolver. De la misma forma, representantes de instituciones identificaron barreras que no mencionaron los productores (problema del microfundismo).A nivel de medidas, las propuestas son amplias y dependen de los sectores y de las tecnologías priorizadas objeto de los talleres. Así por ejemplo, la infraestructura aplica solo en el caso de cacao y fue considerada como medida muy importante, pero con menos factibilidad de ser implementada. De la misma manera, en café y ganadería de doble propósito, las medidas identificadas fueron en relación con insumos (inventario del número de semilla que se necesita al año para tener disponibilidad en época de siembra y alianza con el ICA para certificar viveros con semilla para café comprada al Comité y desarrollar banco de maquinaria para ganadería de doble propósito). Estas medidas se vinculan con la implementación técnica de las tecnologías priorizadas. El tema de falta de investigación o de investigación relevante ha sido mencionado solo en los talleres de ganadería de carne y aguacate Hass.Por otro lado, medidas relacionadas con las mismas categorías fueron identificadas para los siete subsectores. Primero, con relación a los aspectos financieros productores y representantes de instituciones identificaron medidas relacionadas con incentivos específicos para los sistemas productivos y/o para las tecnologías orientadas a pequeños productores (caso de café, cacao, ganadería de doble propósito y leche). Además, se propusieron instrumentos tales como seguros de cosecha (caso de café), subsidios para compra de insumos (caso de café) a través de políticas que aumenten la cobertura del número de productores (caso de cacao, aguacate Hass, ganadería de doble propósito y de carne). También, se requiere más información sobre las líneas existentes (en ganadería de doble propósito) para permitir a asociación o particular a acceder a dichas herramientas.En cuanto a regulaciones, además de la políticas para fomentar el acceso a herramientas financieras, se mencionó las políticas en temas de asistencia técnica para aumentar cobertura y/o capacitar específicamente en la tecnología priorizada (en casos de aguacate Hass, ganadería de doble propósito, de carne y leche, ), para fomentar la asociatividad (en ganadería de doble propósito), para la implementación de tecnologías (BPA en cacao), para simplificar los trámites de certificación en BPA (en cacao), o para superar los problemas de tenencia de la tierra (en café). En el caso de ganadería de carme y aguacate hass, la investigación necesita conectarse mejor con la asistencia técnica y con los productores y así lograr un mejor acompañamiento a los productores. También se han mencionado regulaciones en cacao como para la inestabilidad del precio).Como recomendaciones para los siete subsectores se propone:Fomentar arreglos institucionales (convenio FNC con el SENA que contribuya a la falta de capacidad institucional para proveer análisis de suelo). Para la construcción de infraestructura, aunar esfuerzos entre alcaldías y gobernaciones para la construcción de pozos y reservorios en cacao. Para divulgar información sobre tecnología priorizada se propone una alianza con el ICA que visita ganaderos para vacunación en ganadería de doble propósito, con co-responsabilidad entre el asistente técnico.Para facilitar la adopción de tecnología priorizada se recomienda alianzas con sector privado en ganadería de doble propósito. En asistencia técnica se recomienda aumentar la cobertura de capacitación relacionada con la tecnología priorizada en los casos de aguacate Hass, leche, ganadería de doble propósito y carne con enfoque en la fase implementación, cacao, en proceso de germinadores en café para diversificación de ingreso y una mejora en la calidad del servicio al tomar en cuenta el contexto del productor y uso de metodologías apropiadas a cada sistema productivo , con una duración que permita su adopción (programas de más de un año para ganadería de doble propósito) y en gestión y temas legales para exportación (cacao, café, aguacate Hass).Finalmente, en los temas de capital humano y capital social, las propuestas van hacia un fortalecimiento de la asociatividad local. Para lograr esto, se propusieron procesos desde las mismas comunidades a través de auto-organización y de movilización colectiva, pero también a través de políticas y herramientas para fomentar la asociatividad (ej. facilitación de acceso a crédito común, capacitación en liderazgo, entre otras). Finalmente, se propone favorecer el empoderamiento de las comunidades y el reconocimiento del conocimiento local ancestral, lo cual se necesitaría movilizar más para integrar y facilitar la adaptación y adopción de nuevas tecnologías.Cabe mencionar que los productores identificaron medidas más a nivel de finca (operacional y técnica) mientras que los representantes de instituciones se enfocaban más a nivel institucional. También, los productores de todos los subsectores mencionaron más medidas relacionadas con la asociatividad como un medio para superar diferentes tipos de barreras.Gráfico 8. Barreras a la implementación de prácticas para el crecimiento verdeEl conocimiento y la cultura es la barrera la más citada y recurrente durante los talleres, sin embargo, corresponde una categoría muy amplia. Tiene que ver con la dificultad de cambiar los hábitos de los productores, la resistencia al cambio, la persistencia de una visión tradicional de los productores, de su profesión, entre otros. Se refiere a una barrera cognitiva comunes cuando se trata de adopción de nuevas tecnologías. Estas barreras son difíciles de cambiar, pero dependen también de las otras barreras que limitan la voluntad y capacidades de cambiar. Esta barrera incluye también los conocimientos, las capacidades de usar conocimiento tradicional y de adquirir nuevos conocimientos en procesos de aprendizajes incluyentes que combinan varias formas de saber, que dependen también de otras barreras como la asistencia técnica.La asistencia técnica es la segunda barrera que sobresale en todos los subsectores. Los productores y las instituciones locales rescatan varias dimensiones de esta barrera: la falta de cobertura de la asistencia técnica actual en términos de productores atendidos (acceso), el problema de formación/capacitación de los mismos profesionales que proveen la asistencia técnica, la falta de seguimiento en los procesos de asesoría técnica. Además, en ciertos casos, se quejan de la baja calidad de los servicios de asistencia técnica, la falta de consejos personalizados, y la inadaptación de los métodos de extensión como la precisión y adaptación de los consejos a las condiciones específicas de los productores. Se rescata también que la asistencia técnica pública y neutral y poca presente y accesible, mientras que la asistencia realizada por las casas comerciales domina, pero es orientada a la promoción de la venta de productos, lo que no promueve un uso racional y limitado de agroquímicos. La falta de calidad y de neutralidad de la asistencia técnica genera también problemas de desconfianza hacia los profesionales que brindan este servicio.La falta de calidad de la asistencia técnica se junta también de la falta de investigaciones que permiten de tener referenciales técnicos y consejos más precisos y adaptados a condiciones de productores y condiciones específicas de sitios. Es particularmente fuerte para tecnologías o cultivos nuevos (ej. Aguacate Hass).El financiamiento constituye la tercera barrera la más citada y la segunda más importante de manera transversal a los subsectores. Esta barrera agrupa diferentes tipos de limitantes. La falta de conocimiento de las condiciones y oportunidades es una. Pero en muchos casos, se rescatan los problemas de acceso a las fuentes existentes por falta de capacidad a cumplir los requisitos para acceder a financiamiento. En este sentido se menciona en casi todos los casos los problemas de tenencia de la tierra (titulación). En ciertos casos, la falta de conocimiento de la estructura de costos o de viabilidad de los proyectos son mencionados. Los volúmenes de financiamiento, los plazos de reembolso y las tasas de interés constituyen otra dimensión de esta barrera. Finalmente, la incertidumbre de acceder al financiamiento y la obtención tardía del financiamiento constituyen otras vertientes de esta barrera.Los arreglos institucionales constituyen una de las barreras más mencionada por los participantes. Esta barrera tiene que ver con el funcionamiento institucional y cubren una variedad de temas específicos más o menos mencionados según los subsectores. En general, se trata de la percepción de los participantes hacia la falta de políticas y de atención por parte de las instituciones públicas nacionales hacia los productores (ej. falta de inversiones, de normas, etc.). Esto se podría vincular con la falta de información sobre los marcos de políticas, y de la visibilidad de la acción pública. También se rescata la falta de adaptación de las políticas (visto a través los herramientas en general y específica como asistencia técnica, financiamiento) de las necesidades de los productores. Pues esto revela una brecha entre los objetos de la política (los productores) y las que la diseñan y la implementan (administración pública). Se mencionó también la falta de cumplimiento de las políticas y normas cuando existen (y son conocidas), lo que tiene que ver con la falta de control y los procesos de aplicación parcial de las normativas que generan un sentimiento de injusticia o impunidad. Otra dimensión de esta barrera es la falta de coordinación percibida entre los entes que implementan las políticas, y la falta de coherencia a veces entre las políticas percibida desde la base.El mercado es unas de las barreras la más importantes mencionadas por los participantes. Sin embargo, la naturaleza y la amplitud de esta barrera varían según los subsectores. En ciertos subsectores el tema es muy fuerte como la papa, donde los precios son muy variables (y la rentabilidad no garantizada), el hecho de tener prácticas de producción más limpia no está reconocida por los mercados en términos de precio, y la demanda por productos limpios no está muy desarrollada. En otros sectores, el volumen de la demanda y los precios no son problemáticos (caso de aguacate Hass) pero la barrera viene del cumplimento de normas internacionales sanitarias (global gap). En Cacao, la barrera no es el nivel o la volatilidad de los precios, pero más bien la falta de reconocimiento por el mercado de la producción bajo el enfoque de BPA (no hay precios diferenciados). En el sector de la ganadería, el tema mercado no es muy mencionado, salvo la idea de valorar la producción de forma limpia para la carne (no hay precios diferenciados). En café, el tema de mercado no fue tan enfatizado, probablemente debido a la tecnología en la cual se focalizó la atención (renovación de cafetales), sin embargo, se rescató la falta de incentivos de mercado para la adopción de las variedades mejoradas, las cuales se venden a precios semejantes a los de variedades no recomendadas. La ausencia de alineamiento de la señales de mercado a través de la demanda o de los precios diferenciados con la adopción de prácticas de crecimiento verde constituyen una barrera.Parte 4: Impactos en los indicadoresLa metodología sigue el siguiente proceso. En primera instancia, se construye la línea base que permita tener unos valores de referencia para los indicadores proyectados al año 2030 considerado como el escenario BAU (siglas en inglés de Business As Usual). Posteriormente, se estima cual es el potencial que cada tecnología o medida tiene para cambiar los valores de esa línea base, y para esto, es necesario identificar en qué zonas y/o para qué productores es viable o recomendable la tecnología o medida propuesta, lo cual se realiza a través usando el método de dominios de recomendación 73 . Luego, una vez se cuenta con la información de los dominios de recomendación, es decir, superficie a intervenir y/o número de productores susceptibles de adoptar la medida y/o la tecnología, se calcula el potencial que tiene dicha tecnología o medida sobre los valores de línea base de los indicadores y, así es posible estimar su potencial impacto sobre el crecimiento verde.Para todos los cultivos se tomaron los indicadores construidos para el año 2014 y se proyectaron con valores constantes (sin variaciones) al año 2030 74 .Para los dominios de recomendación, se realizó un primer corte con las áreas de aptitudes altas y medias de los mapas de ordenamiento productivo desarrollados por UPRA (Aguacate hass, cacao y papa), en cuanto a ganadería se empleó la información de vocación de uso del suelo de IDEAM. Y para café se trabajó con toda la superficie sembrada en café 75 .Los dominios de recomendación se definieron en función de la intersección de la información que se presenta en las tablas 31-37 por sistema productivo:Tabla 31 : Alternativas priorizadas y cruces de información para aguacate hassNuevas siembras en zonas categorizadas con alta o media aptitud para el cultivo y considerando escalonar la producción Exportaciones proyectadas 2015 -2030 (PTP) y áreas con alta aptitud para aguacate hass (UPRA)Uso eficiente del agua a través de cálculos de balance hídrico (Riego existente)UPAs con riego (CNA) ubicadas en áreas aptas para aguacate has (UPRA)Fertilización (análisis de suelo): que incluya fertilización foliar con micronutrientes UPAs que no fertilizan (C N A) pero que están ubicadas en áreas aptas para aguacate hass (UPRA) M4 Manejo integrado de las principales plagas UPAs que no reciben asistencia técnica (C N A) pero que están ubicadas en áreas aptas para aguacate hass (UPRA)73 Un dominio de recomendación es un grupo de fincas o agricultores que poseen condiciones biofísicas y/o socioeconómicas similares y a quienes se puede formular una misma recomendación tecnológica (Harrington and Tripp, 1984). 74 Se está discutiendo la forma de proyectar los valores de los indicadores a 2030 ya el estudio de la Universidad de los Andes del cual se iba a extraer la línea base, no está desagregado a nivel de cultivo, y la opción alternativa de usar como línea base el estudio desarrollado por De Pinto et al. ( 2014). Tampoco es válida en la medida que los valores de superficie sembrada proyectadas en este último estudio ya fueron superados por lo valores reportados en el censo. 75 No se ha tenido acceso al mapa de ecotopos en el formato requerido. Uso eficiente de fertilización mineral y orgánica con énfasis en fertilización orgánica y enmiendas a partir de análisis de suelosUPAs ganaderas leche (C N A) y conflicto uso del suelo (IDEAM)Tabla 37 : Alternativas priorizadas y cruces de información para ganadería de carneM1 Uso racional de agroquímicos, productos de uso veterinario y para el control de arvenses UPAs ganaderas carne (C N A) y conflicto uso del suelo (IDEAM)Evitar las quemas de residuos vegetales y de potreros UPAs ganaderas carne (C N A)Pastoreo racional (div de potreros, renovación y manejo) UPAs ganaderas carne (C N A) y conflicto uso del suelo (IDEAM) M4 Manejo racional del agua (cosecha y riego) UPAs ganaderas carne (C N A) , conflicto uso del suelo (IDEAM), Requerimiento hídrico (CIAT)Uso eficiente de fertilización mineral y orgánica con énfasis en fertilización orgánica y enmiendas a partir de análisis de suelosUPAs ganaderas carne (C N A) y conflicto uso del suelo (IDEAM)• Impacto de las alternativas sobre la línea base El período de implementación de las alternativas se planteó de forma lineal, iniciando la implementación en el año 2019 y finalizando en el año 2030. Sin embargo, algunas alternativas no inciden inmediatamente en el rendimiento, y requieren varios años para que se exprese su efecto, en estos casos, la implementación de las alternativas se planteó considerando que el rendimiento sea impactado al menos en un año 76 .Para cada alternativa, se identificaron los indicadores impactados en cada uno de los cultivos analizados, a continuación, se presenta un cuadro resumen de los impactos, pero para mayor detalle ver Anexos Parte 4: Impactos sobre indicadores.Tabla 38 : Alternativas priorizadas e indicadores de crecimiento verde impactados para aguacate hassNuevas siembras en zonas categorizadas con alta o media aptitud para el cultivo y considerando escalonar la producción Rendimiento, BPA certificadas, BPA, Riego, Eficiencia de riego, Fertilización, Fertilización orgánica, Fertilización química, enmiendas, quemas, asistencia agropecuaria, AT manejo ambiental, AT manejo de suelos, solicitud de crédito, aprobación de crédito, conflicto por uso del suelo.Uso eficiente del agua a través de Cálculos de balance hídrico (Riego existente) M1 Renovación de cafetales Rendimiento y Emisiones GEI por unidad de productoRendimiento, Fertilización, Fertilización orgánica, Fertilización química, quemas, Asistencia agropecuaria, Emisiones de GEI por unidad de área y Emisiones GEI por unidad de producto M3 Utilización de sistemas agroforestales (Sombra)Rendimiento, Asistencia agropecuaria, AT manejo ambiental, manejo de suelos, erosión, Emisiones de GEI por unidad de área y Emisiones GEI por unidad de productoPromover un manejo diferenciado por lote de acuerdo con las características del suelo (AEPS)Rendimiento, BPA, Fertilización, Fertilización orgánica, Fertilización química, Asistencia agropecuaria, y Emisiones GEI por unidad de producto M5 Manejo integrado de arvenses (MIA) Asistencia agropecuaria, AT manejo de suelos, manejo de suelos, erosión, y Emisiones GEI por unidad de producto Tabla 41 : Alternativas priorizadas e indicadores de crecimiento verde impactados para papaM1 Aprovechamiento de residuos orgánicos Fertilización orgánica, Asistencia agropecuaria, AT manejo ambiental, AT manejo de suelos, manejo de suelos M2 Manejo integrado de plagas con énfasis en el uso adecuado de plaguicidas por zonas Rendimiento, BPA, Asistencia agropecuaria y Emisiones GEI por unidad de productoImpulsar un programa de uso eficiente de fertilizante con énfasis en la actualización de estudios de requerimientos nutricional de variedades Asistencia agropecuaria, Emisiones de GEI por unidad de área y Emisiones GEI por unidad de producto M4 Uso eficiente de agua Asistencia agropecuaria y Eficiencia riego M5 Labranza de conservación Rendimiento, BPA certificadas, BPA, Fertilización, Fertilización orgánica, Fertilización química, Enmiendas, Quemas, Asistencia agropecuaria, AT manejo de suelos, Manejo de suelos, Erosión, Emisiones de GEI por unidad de área y Emisiones GEI por unidad de producto Rendimiento, Quemas, Asistencia agropecuaria, Manejo de agua, Manejo suelo, Solicitud de crédito, Aprobación de crédito, Erosión, Emisiones de GEI por unidad de área y Emisiones GEI por unidad de producto M4 Protección de rondas de ríos, quebradas, nacederos , reservorios Asistencia agropecuaria, AT manejo ambiental, Manejo de agua y Erosión M5 Uso eficiente de fertilización mineral y orgánica con énfasis en fertilización orgánica y enmiendas a partir de análisis de suelos Rendimiento, Fertilización estiércol, Quemas, Asistencia agropecuaria, AT manejo suelo, Emisiones de GEI por unidad de área y Emisiones GEI por unidad de producto Tabla 44 : Alternativas priorizadas e indicadores de crecimiento verde impactados para ganadería de carneUso racional de agroquímicos, productos de uso veterinario y para el control de arvenses Rendimiento, Asistencia agropecuaria, AT manejo ambiental M2 Evitar las quemas de residuos vegetales y de potreros Quema, Asistencia agropecuaria, AT manejo ambiental, AT manejo de suelo, Emisiones de GEI por unidad de área y Emisiones GEI por unidad de producto M3 Pastoreo racional (división de potreros, renovación y manejo)Rendimiento, Quemas, Asistencia agropecuaria, Solicitud de crédito, Aprobación de crédito, erosión, Emisiones de GEI por unidad de área y Emisiones GEI por unidad de producto Indicadores de crecimiento verde impactados M4 Manejo racional del agua (cosecha y riego) Rendimiento, Riego, Asistencia agropecuaria, AT manejo ambiental, Solicitud de crédito, Aprobación de crédito M5 Uso eficiente de fertilización mineral y orgánica con énfasis en fertilización orgánica y enmiendas a partir de análisis de suelos Rendimiento, Fertilización estiércol, Quemas, Asistencia agropecuaria, AT manejo suelo, Emisiones de GEI por unidad de área y Emisiones GEI por unidad de productoCon el propósito de definir el impacto de rendimiento para cada alternativa, se comparó los promedios en el rendimiento de los productores con y sin tecnología a partir de los datos registrados en el Censo Nacional Agropecuario. En caso que el dato de rendimiento no estuviera disponible en los datos del Censo, entonces se recurrió a un dato de información secundaria basados en estudios:Tabla 45 : Fuentes de información secundaria según alternativa del sistema productivoUso eficiente del agua a través de cálculos de balance hídrico en aguacate hass Grajales (2017) Renovación de cafetales Estimación realizada a partir de las estadísticas de la Federación Nacional de Cafeteros Arreglos agroforestales en café Estimación realizada a partir de Farfán (2007) Labranza de conservación en papa, y sistemas silvopastoriles en ganadería doble propósito y leche Quintero et al. (2015) Manejo racional del agua (cosecha y riego) Estimación de aumento en la producción total de carne, realizada asumiendo que la medida compensa las pérdidas en ganancia de peso ocasionadas por la reducción en épocas de verano de hasta 70% en la oferta de forraje. Sistema pastoreo racional (incluye cerca) en ganadería doble propósito Estimación realizada a partir de Herrero (2013) Manejo integral del suelo y de la pradera en sistemas ganaderos en lechería Estimación realizada a partir de Herrero (2013) Mejoramiento genético en ganadería de leche Campos et al. (2015) Mejoramiento genético en ganadería doble propósito Casas y Valderrama (2015) Con respecto a los indicadores: BPA certificadas, BPA, riego, fertilización, fertilización orgánica, fertilización química, enmiendas, quemas, asistencia agropecuaria, AT manejo ambiental, AT manejo de suelos, solicitud de crédito y aprobación de crédito, en primer lugar, se identifican cuáles de estos indicadores serán afectados o impactados por cada una de las tecnologías y/o medidas (Ver Anexos Parte 4: Impactos sobre indicadores). Posteriormente, se cuantifica el impacto estableciendo el número de UPA que serán intervenidas (las que pertenezcan al dominio de recomendación) pero diferenciando entre las UPA que están o no contabilizadas en los valores de línea base establecidos para cada indicador. A manera de ejemplo, lo anterior quiere decir que, si la implementación de una tecnología o medida trae consigo la provisión de asistencia técnica, entonces estas UPA que van a ser intervenidas van a mejorar el indicador de asistencia técnica pero contabilizando únicamente las UPA que no recibían asistencia técnica. En este caso, no se contabilizan las UPA del dominio de recomendación que ya recibían asistencia técnica, dado que estas UPA ya estaban contabilizadas en el valor del indicador de línea base de asistencia técnica.En cuanto a la eficiencia en el riego, este indicador se afectará en dos casos: i) UPA sin riego que instalan sistemas de riego o ii) UPA con riego que hacen cambios por sistemas más eficientes. En el caso de conflicto por uso del suelo, las nuevas áreas sembradas en zonas aptas cambiarán las proporciones de área en conflicto 78 . En cuanto a erosión, este indicador cambia en la medida que alguna alternativa mejore las condiciones del suelo y permita que el grado de erosión cambie de categoría, para lo cual se debe tener en cuenta el estado actual del suelo y la alternativa implementada. Un ejemplo de lo anterior, es el Manejo Integrado de Arvenses que puede ayudar a mejorar las condiciones del suelo que estén con niveles de erosión entre moderadas y muy severas. Con respecto al indicador de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero los cambios por unidad de área ocurrirán en la medida que una alternativa aumente la captura de carbono (ej. sombra) o incremente las emisiones (ej. aplicación de fertilizante químico), mientras que las emisiones por unidad de producto también pueden variar por cambios en el rendimiento.Los dominios de recomendación para cada una de las alternativas priorizadas en aguacate hass se presentan en la Tabla 46. El impacto de cada una de las tecnologías sobre los cambios en el rendimiento al año 2030 se puede observar en el Gráfico 9. En la mayoría de los casos, el efecto de las medidas sobre el rendimiento es bajo, ya que el rendimiento incrementaría alrededor de 1%, a excepción de la alternativa de balance hídrico que muestra un incremento de rendimiento de 8%. Sin embargo, se debe tener en cuenta que la alternativa de balance hídrico fue la única medida que se trabajó con datos experimentales de acuerdo con Grajales (2017).En el caso de la medida de nuevas siembras, se espera que el rendimiento sea 3% mayor al promedio nacional actual. Sin embargo, el área nueva sembrada corresponde sólo al 8% del área sembrada actual, por tal razón, el incremento en el rendimiento a escala nacional sólo alcanza el 1.2%, pasando de 6.50 a 6.58 ton/ha-año. En cuanto a la medida de riego eficiente, el incremento esperado en rendimiento al pasar de un sistema con riego ineficiente a un sistema de riego eficiente es de 23%. Sin embargo, el dominio de recomendación representa sólo el 34.7% de todas las UPA, por esta razón, el impacto total sobre el rendimiento a escala nacional es de 8%. En cuanto a fertilización, el impacto sobre el rendimiento en una UPA que emplea fertilizante a otra que no lo hace incrementa el 2.5% en la primera, no obstante, el número de UPA a intervenir en esta medida (dominios de recomendación) es tan sólo un 27%, ya que muchas de las UPA que no fertilizan se encuentran en áreas clasificadas por la UPRA como no aptas para este cultivo. Por su parte, para el caso del Manejo integrado de plagas y enfermedades (MIP), el impacto sobre rendimiento en esta medida se estima en 4%, pero el dominio de recomendación es sólo 17% del área total, por esta razón, su impacto sobre el rendimiento a nivel nacional es sólo de un 0.8%. En el caso de la última medida implementación de sistemas de riego y drenaje, el incremento esperado en el rendimiento es de 9% pero el dominio de recomendación es de 12%, por lo que el impacto esperado sobre el rendimiento a nivel nacional es de 1.1%.En cuanto el indicador de erosión, no se espera ningún cambio a partir de la implementación de las medidas propuestas ( Gráfico 10), ya ninguna de estas medidas apunta a restauración de suelos degradados. En el indicador de crecimiento verde sobre conflicto por uso del suelo sólo se espera un cambio a partir de la implementación de la medida \"nuevas áreas sembradas\" ya que con esta medida se espera que el valor del indicador pase de 64.4 a 41.8% (Gráfico 11). Esta disminución se espera dado que las nuevas áreas a sembrar se harán en zonas óptimas de acuerdo a la clasificación de la UPRA.Gráfico 10. Efecto de las medidas sobre el grado de erosión Gráfico 11. Efecto de las medidas en el conflicto por el uso del sueloEn el caso del indicador de emisiones de GEI, la medida que tiene un efecto sobre el balance de carbono es la fertilización, ya que en la medida que se aumente la aplicación de fertilizante nitrogenado aumentarán las emisiones de GEI y por ende el balance de carbono. En esta medida, para la medida de fertilización, el balance de carbono puede pasar de -1.55 a -1.35 79 ton CO2e/ha-año ( En el caso del indicador de eficiencia en el riego, la medida de nuevas siembras e implementación de sistemas de riego eficientes tendrían impactos sobre este indicador, llegando a valores de 0.75 en ambos casos (Gráfico 13). En el primer caso, se plantea que las nuevas áreas sembradas cuenten con sistemas de riego por goteo, por esta razón, aumenta la eficiencia en los sistemas de riego. En el segundo caso, se plantea una sustitución de los sistemas de riego actuales por sistemas de riego por goteo, por lo tanto, se espera aumente la eficiencia. Por su parte, la medida de sistemas de riego eficientes no está afectando el indicador de eficiencia en el riego, ya que la medida propone que los productores que tengan riego regulen las cantidades aplicadas según las necesidades del cultivo, y el alcance del indicador sólo considera los tipos de riego y no las cantidades de agua empleada 80 .Gráfico 13. Efecto de las medidas en la eficiencia en el riegoEn cuanto a los demás indicadores de crecimiento verde, adicional a los cinco indicadores ya analizados (rendimiento, erosión, conflicto por uso del suelo, emisiones de GEI y eficiencia en el riego), los efectos de cada alternativa son muy variables. En el caso de la alternativa 1 \"nuevas siembras\" se espera que esta alternativa impacte positivamente en 11 de los indicadores de crecimiento verde (Gráfico 14). Estos cambios se explican debido a que se espera que estas nuevas áreas cuenten con todo el acompañamiento técnico requerido, considerando la premisa que estas nuevas siembras se realicen con las condiciones técnicas necesarias para un buen manejo del cultivo. Por ejemplo, se espera que estas nuevas áreas cuenten con asistencia agropecuaria en temas productivos, manejo ambiental, manejo del suelo y BPA, pero además que cuente con sistemas de riego eficientes y hagan un uso eficiente de fertilizantes químicos y orgánicos.Gráfico 14. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde debidos a la implementación de la medida 1 \"nuevas siembras\"En el caso de la medida 2 \"uso de balance hídrico\", el indicador de la asistencia técnica se vería afectado por esta medida, ya que podría pasar de un 17% a más del 30% (Gráfico 15), ya que esta medida implica que los productores con riego recibirán asistencia técnica para un buen uso del balance hídrico.Gráfico 15. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde debidos a la implementación de la medida 2 \"Uso de balance hídrico\"La medida 3 \"Fertilización\" tiene un efecto sobre cuatro de los indicadores de crecimiento verde. Se espera llegar a tener una cobertura del 50% de las UPA con esta práctica ( Gráfico 18). En el caso del indicador de cobertura de riego se espera un incremento de 34.7 a 40.5% mientras que en el indicador de asistencia agropecuaria se espera que pase de 17.0 a 33.5%.Gráfico 18. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde debidos a la implementación de la alternativa 5 \"Riego eficiente\"Los dominios de recomendación para cada una de las alternativas priorizadas en cacao se presentan en la Tabla 47. La alternativa 5 \"mejoramiento genético\" es la que presenta mayor potencial con un incremento en el rendimiento de 30% (Gráfico 19). Se espera que la medida de asistencia agropecuaria en BPA tenga un efecto positivo en el rendimiento promedio nacional de 1.5%, mientras que el efecto de la medida de riego y drenaje sea de 0.5%. Se debe tener en cuenta que, si bien el número de UPA a intervenir en la medida 1 y 2 son similares, la superficie del dominio de recomendación para asesoría en BPA es 13.3% mayor. Las UPA con asistencia en BPA presentan un incremento en el rendimiento de 3.8% en comparación con el rendimiento de las UPA que no tienen este tipo de asistencia. En el caso de las UPA con riego, el rendimiento es 1.9% mayor a las UPA que no lo tienen. Gráfico 20). Ninguna de estas medidas priorizadas tendría un efecto en el conflicto por uso del suelo (Gráfico 21), mientras que las medidas de asistencia en BPA, riego y drenaje y material genético tendrían un efecto indirecto en el nivel de emisiones de GEI por unidad de producto. Esto último debido a que las tres medidas están afectando el rendimiento (Gráfico 19) y por ende, afectan el indicador de emisiones de GEI por unidad de producto (Gráfico 22).Las medidas de instalación de riego y drenaje y uso de material genético provocan un cambio en el indicador de eficiencia en el riego. La medida riego y drenaje busca lograr una mayor cobertura de UPA con estos sistemas, y esta medida está considerando que se instalen sistemas de riego por goteo para lograr una mayor eficiencia en el uso del agua. Por su parte, la medida de mejoramiento genético busca la renovación de plantaciones, las cuales se espera que cuenten con sistemas de riego por goteo.El indicador de eficiencia en el riego alcanzaría un valor de 0.79 con la medida de riego y drenaje mientras que con la renovación de plantaciones con material genético adecuado alcanzaría un valor de 0.71, teniendo en cuenta que el valor de línea base es de 0.57 ( El Gráfico 24 muestra que la medida 1 \"BPA\" tendría un efecto sobre cinco indicadores de crecimiento verde, todos asociados con temas de asistencia técnica. En el caso de asistencia agropecuaria, se espera pasar de una cobertura de 10.2 a 28.7% 81 .Gráfico 24. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde debidos a la implementación de la alternativa 1 \"BPA\"Los indicadores en los cuales la medida 2 \"Riego y drenaje\" tendría un efecto se muestra en el 81 La descripción de los resultados se hará en función de comparar los cambios de línea base con los valores finales de los indicadores al año 2030 como resultado de implementación de las medidas. Dado que las proyecciones son lineales, se obvia la descripción de los valores en los períodos intermedios. Gráfico 25, para el caso de riego se espera que con su implementación se pase de una cobertura de 9.2 a 27.7%, mientras que en asistencia agropecuaria se espera incrementar de 10.3 a 28.7%.Gráfico 25. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde debidos a la implementación de la medida 2 \"Riego y drenaje\"El Gráfico 26 muestra el efecto de la medida 3 \"No raspado del suelo\", con su implementación se espera que haya un efecto positivo sobre el indicador de asistencia agropecuaria y sobre asesoría en manejo de suelo (AT manejo de suelo), en consecuencia también el manejo del suelo. En cuanto a asistencia agropecuaria se espera que la cobertura pase de 10.3 a 37.8% y en AT manejo de suelo se espera alcanzar un 28.75 de cobertura. En el caso de medidas para manejo del suelo se espera alcanzar 12.7% de la UPA con este tipo de acciones.Gráfico 26. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde debidos a la implementación de la medida 3 \"No raspado del suelo\"La implementación de la medida 4 \"Reforestación ronda hídrica\" tendría un efecto positivo en los indicadores de asistencia agropecuaria y asistencia en manejo ambiental. El efecto incrementaría la cobertura de la asistencia agropecuaria de 10.3 a 18.8%, mientras que la cobertura de AT en manejo ambiental alcanzaría un 10.1%. Por su parte, la implementación de medidas de manejo de agua podría alcanzar un efecto positivo del 3% (Gráfico 27). A partir de la implementación de la medida 5 \"Material genético\" se espera tener un impacto positivo en seis indicadores de crecimiento verde (Gráfico 28). Dos de los indicadores impactados tienen que ver con asistencia técnica, uno con el mejoramiento de uso del agua según el sistema de riego empleado y los demás con cambios tecnológicos. Con la implementación de esta medida, se espera que el 25% de las UPA realicen fertilización del cultivo, considerando el valor de línea base de 10.3%. Se espera que la fertilización orgánica pase de 9.4 a 17.0% y la fertilización química de 10.1 a 17.7%. En cuanto a riego, se espera alcanzar el 13.7% de cobertura, teniendo en cuenta que el valor de línea base es de 9.2%. Por su parte, se espera que el indicador de asistencia agropecuaria incremente de 10.3 a 17.9%.Gráfico 28. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde debidos a la implementación de la alternativa 5 \"Material genético\"Los dominios de recomendación para cada una de las alternativas priorizadas en café se presentan en la Tabla 48. La alternativa que tendría mayor impacto en cuanto a rendimiento es la promoción de un manejo diferenciado por lote de acuerdo con las características del suelo (AEPS), ya que se estima que su implementación incrementaría casi en 14.6% el rendimiento promedio nacional al pasar de 1.03 a 1.18 (Gráfico 29). No obstante, es importante tener en cuenta que, esta medida tiene un dominio de recomendación muy amplio, ya que corresponde a 57.7% del área total. La medida de fertilización, que hace referencia a la fertilización orgánica, provocaría un incremento potencial del 1% en el rendimiento a escala nacional. En este caso, es necesario tener en cuenta que el dominio de recomendación sólo cubre 8.7% del área total.La renovación de cafetales podría incrementar el rendimiento en 2.8%, no obstante, se debe tener en cuenta dos aspectos que hacen que este rendimiento no sea mayor. El primero, es que el dominio de recomendación es tan sólo 9.7% del área total, y el segundo, es que del área a renovar, 93% corresponde a renovación de café tecnificado nuevo (hasta 9 años de edad), lo que es necesario para mantener el nivel de rendimiento de línea base. Por lo tanto, el área a renovar de cafetales viejos que conduce a incrementar el rendimiento de línea base sólo corresponde a 0.7% del área total sembrada en café, pero 46% del área de cafetales tecnificados envejecidos. Por su parte, se espera que el sombrío disminuya en 9,2% con respecto al rendimiento de línea base.Gráfico 29. Cambio en el rendimiento debido a la implementación de las alternativas priorizadas para el cultivo de café En cuanto al indicador de erosión, dos medidas tienen impactos sobre este indicador. La primera es la implementación de arreglos agroforestales, la cual se espera que genere una disminución de 0.360 a 0.358, y la segunda es la medida de manejo integral de arvenses con enfoque en el uso de coberturas nobles, la cual se espera que provoque una disminución en el indicador a 0.346 (Gráfico 30).La implementación de la medida 1 \"renovación de cafetales\" provocaría un efecto positivo en cuatro indicadores de crecimiento verde, a saber fertilización, fertilización orgánica, fertilización química y asistencia agropecuaria (Gráfico 31). La implementación de la medida puede potencialmente incrementar la cobertura a 57.7%, considerando el valor de línea base que es 49.1%. En fertilización orgánica el incremento sería de 16.4 a 25.0%, mientras que en fertilización química se sería de 41.2 a 49.9%. La asistencia agropecuaria incrementaría de 42.1 a 50.7%.Gráfico 31. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde debidos a la implementación de la alternativa 2 \"Fertilización\"La implementación de la medida 3 \"sombra\" tiene el potencial de generar un efecto positivo en los indicadores de asistencia agropecuaria y asistencia en manejo ambiental, y la implementación de arreglos agroforestales provocaría un efecto positivo en el indicador de manejo del suelo (Gráfico 32). La asistencia agropecuaria aumentaría de 42.1 a 67.2% en términos de cobertura, mientras que el indicador de AT en manejo ambiental alcanzaría una cobertura de 27%. El cambio esperado con la implementación de medidas para el manejo del suelo sería de 7.4 a 12.4%.Gráfico 32. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde debidos a la implementación de la medida 3 \"Sombra\"La medida 4 \"Promover un manejo diferenciado por lote de acuerdo con las características del suelo (AEPS)\" tiene un efecto positivo sobre cinco indicadores de crecimiento verde (BPA, fertilización, fertilización orgánica y química y asistencia agropecuaria). El indicador de fertilización orgánica tiene el potencial de incrementar de 16 a 65% (Gráfico 33) con la implementación de la medida. Por su parte, la asistencia técnica incrementaría de 42.1 a 67.0%. Esto ocurre debido a que el dominio de recomendación es amplio, ya que tanto en UPA como en superficie es más del 50% de las UPA y superficie total.Gráfico 33. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde debidos a la implementación de la alternativa 4 \"AEPS\"La implementación de la medida 5 \"Manejo Integrado de Arvenses (MIA)\" tendría un efecto positivo en los indicadores relacionados con el buen manejo y estado del suelo (Gráfico 34), sin embargo, el impacto esperado es bajo debido a que el indicador relacionado con la implementación de medidas de manejo del suelo pasaría de 7.4 a 8.5%, teniendo en cuenta que el dominio de recomendación sólo es el 5% del área sembrada total. El indicador de asistencia agropecuaria tendría un aumento del 42.1 al 47.7%. A pesar de que en este cultivo existe todavía un gran rezago en materia de rendimiento, las mayores preocupaciones giran en torno a temas de Buenas Prácticas Agropecuarias, buscando un uso más eficiente de los recursos y mayor conciencia de la necesidad de disminuir los impactos ambientales que tiene este cultivo. Las dos primeras medidas (M1, M2) de la Tabla 49 tienen que ver con temas fitosanitarios, las cuales buscan reducir el uso de agroquímicos en el control de plagas y enfermedades. Las medidas tres (M3), cuatro (M4) y cinco (M5) se enfocan al uso eficiente de los recursos, con el propósito de alcanzar un menor uso de fertilizantes y agua; la quinta medida además, refleja la preocupación por el buen manejo del suelo, ya que este cultivo por sus características demanda una alta intervención de este recurso.El indicador de rendimiento sólo tendría un efecto positivo con la implementación de la medida 2 \"MIP\", el cambio esperado en el rendimiento promedio nacional sería de 15.94 a 16.15 ton/ha-año (Gráfico 35). En el caso de la medida MIP, su impacto no es mayor en el rendimiento dado que el dominio de recomendación es tan sólo 15% del área total, y en parte se debe a que una proporción significativa del área en papa que no tiene asistencia técnica para el MIP se encuentra en áreas en conflicto por uso del suelo.En el caso del indicador de erosión (Gráfico 36), la implementación de la medida labranza de conservación reduciría en 15% el valor de este indicador, ya que esta medida tiene el potencial de reducir considerablemente la intensidad de las labores que se realizan en el suelo permitiendo la recuperación de este factor de producción. Con respecto al indicador de gases de efecto invernadero, las medidas labranza de conservación y uso eficiente de fertilización provocarían una reducción del indicador del 33 y 17% respectivamente ( Gráfico 37). Por su parte, el indicador de eficiencia en el riego aumentaría en 8% con la medida uso eficiente del agua pero teniendo en cuenta que el dominio de recomendación corresponde tan sólo a 2.8% de los productores de papa (Gráfico 38). Los resultados del análisis no arrojaron efectos de las cinco medidas priorizadas en este cultivo sobre el indicador de conflicto por uso del suelo. ambiental ya que la cobertura podría alcanzar el 45.7%. Con la implementación de esta medida, el indicador de fertilización orgánica podría alcanzar incrementar la cobertura de 29.4 a 55.0%. El aumento en el indicador relacionado con medidas para el manejo del suelo sería de 7.59 a 16.51%.Gráfico 39. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde debidos a la implementación de la medida 1 \"Aprovechamiento de residuos\"La medida 2 \"MIP\" tendría efectos en los indicadores de BPA y asistencia agropecuaria según se muestra en el Gráfico 40. La implementación de la medida incrementaría la cobertura para el indicador de asistencia agropecuaria hasta el 46.6%, aumento que sería significativo teniendo en cuenta que la cobertura actual es sólo de 9.0%. Por su parte, al implementar la medida 3 \"Uso eficiente de fertilizante\" el indicador de asistencia agropecuaria indicador llegaría al 32.3% de cobertura (Gráfico 41) y al implementar la medida 4 \"Uso eficiente de agua\" alcanzaría sólo a 18.9% (Gráfico 42). Esto se debe a que los dominios de recomendación de estas últimas dos medidas son menores (Tabla 49). Gráfico 43). En el caso de los indicadores sobre asistencia en BPA y certificaciones en BPA habría un incremento en la cobertura de 51.5 y 44.6% respectivamente. Por su parte, el indicador de fertilización aumentaría de 49.6 a 61.6%, en este caso es importante considerar que la medida busca aumentar el uso de fertilización orgánica pasando de 29.4 a 55.0% y reducir el uso de fertilización química de 38.5 a 13.2%. En cuanto a asistencia agropecuaria, la implementación de la medida generaría un aumento en la cobertura al 46.8%.Gráfico 43. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde debidos a la implementación de la alternativa 5 \"Labranza de conservación\"Los dominios de recomendación para cada una de las alternativas priorizadas en ganadería de doble propósito se presentan en la Tabla 50. En términos generales, la implementación de las medidas pastoreo racional y mejoramiento genético incrementarían el indicador de rendimiento 82 en 7.2 y 6.6% respectivamente. En el caso de la medida SSPi habría un efecto negativo en el indicador de rendimiento con una reducción de 6.7%, sin embargo, se debe aclarar que esta medida potencialmente aumentaría la producción de leche por hectárea ya que uno de los propósitos de esta medida es incrementar la carga animal 83 . Las medidas de protección y restauración de ecosistemas no tienen efecto en rendimiento (Gráfico 44).La medida de pastoreo racional tendría un efecto de 8% en la reducción en el indicador de erosión de 0.298 a 0.274 ( 83 Número de animales por hectárea Gráfico 45). Las medidas de restauración y conservación y protección de rondas tienen un efecto mínimo, ya que las áreas a intervenir dejarían de estar en la cobertura pastos y esto no afecta el indicador de erosión en pastos; el cambio mínimo que ocurre (1 y 2% en restauración y conservación y protección de rondas respectivamente) se da más por los niveles de erosión que correspondían a esas áreas a intervenir. La medida restauración y conservación también tiene un efecto mínimo en el indicador de conflicto por uso del suelo (Gráfico 46). Esto último se debe a que el área a intervenir es muy poca respecto al área total que hay en conflicto en ganadería, sin embargo, se debe tener en cuenta que se está proponiendo intervenir un área similar al área que actualmente se interviene a nivel nacional en restauración de bosques. La implementación de la medida 1 \"Restauración de ecosistemas naturales y conservación de bosque\" en el sistema ganadero doble propósito tendría un efecto leve sobre ocho de los indicadores, siendo fertilización con estiércol y asistencia agropecuaria los de mayor efecto al aumentar de 21.5 a 20.9% y de 16.5 a 16.2% respectivamente (Gráfico 48).Gráfico 48. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde atribuido a la implementación de la medida 1 \"Restauración de ecosistemas naturales y conservación de bosque\" en la orientación ganadera doble propósitoPor su parte, como se ilustra en el Gráfico 49, la implementación de la medida 2 \"Sistemas silvopastoriles\" en el sistema ganadero doble propósito, incidiría en los indicadores de crecimiento verde de asistencia agropecuaria, solicitud y aprobación de crédito. La incidencia sobre estos indicadores es significativo teniendo en cuenta el cambio proyectado posterior al año de implementación de la medida. Si bien en el indicador relacionado con la práctica de las quemas tendrá un efecto leve, la medida tendrá beneficios en múltiples indicadores.Gráfico 49. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde atribuido a la implementación de la Alternativa 2 \"Sistemas silvopastoriles\" en la orientación ganadera doble propósitoComo se ilustra en el Gráfico 50, la medida 3 propuesta para el sistema ganadero de doble propósito, referente al manejo de las rondas en las riberas de los ríos, afecta directamente tres indicadores de crecimiento verde: asistencia agropecuaria, AT manejo ambiental y manejo del recurso agua con respecto a sus líneas base. El impacto de esta medida describe un comportamiento gradual y sostenido desde los primeros años posteriores a su implementación hasta el año 2030. En cuanto a la asistencia agropecuaria habría un incremento de 16.5 a 17.2% en cobertura.Gráfico 50. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde atribuido a la implementación de la Alternativa 3 \"Protección de rondas\" en la orientación ganadera doble propósito La medida número 4 para el sistema ganadero doble propósito, relacionada con pastoreo racional, tendría influencia sobre tres indicadores de crecimiento verde: asistencia agropecuaria, solicitudes de crédito y aprobación de crédito (Gráfico 51). Esta alternativa requiere un acompañamiento en asistencia técnica, pero también demanda recursos económicos en el proceso de su implementación.Estas dos características hacen que la implementación de esta alternativa genere un incremento de los indicadores de cobertura en asistencia agropecuaria y en los indicadores relacionados con cobertura en el financiamiento (solicitud créditos y aprobación de créditos). A pesar de esto, el crecimiento proyectado para el año 2030 de los indicadores impactados, no supera el 5% entre los periodos establecidos, esto debido a que la mayoría de fincas que están dentro del dominio de recomendación tienen grandes extensiones (promedio 521 ha) y por lo tanto, a pesar que se propone intervenir una gran extensión de tierra (Tabla 50), las UPA dentro del dominio son muy pocas (4% del total de las UPA totales). Gráfico 52). El mejoramiento leve proyectado al año 2030, tendría como razón el bajo valor aditivo del material genético ante condiciones inhabilitantes de la expresión fenotípica de los animales objeto de la medida. Sería necesario, entonces, revisar la viabilidad de esta medida y las condiciones que deben ser fortalecidas antes de pensar en la introducción de material genético al hato de ganadería doble propósito.Gráfico 52. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde atribuido a la implementación de la Alternativa 5 \"Mejoramiento genético\" en la orientación ganadera doble propósitoLos dominios de recomendación para cada una de las alternativas priorizadas en ganadería de Leche se presentan en la Tabla 51. En cuanto al indicador de rendimiento, se espera que la medida \"Fertilización\" incremente el rendimiento promedio nacional en 7.7% con respecto al valor de línea base, por lo tanto, se espera que este valor pase de 7.35 a 7.91 litros/vaca-día. Por su parte, las medidas de mejoramiento genético y manejo de praderas aumentarían la productividad en 3.8 y 1.6% respectivamente (Gráfico 53). Se debe tener en cuenta que a nivel individual, el efecto de la medida 1 es mayor que la medida 2, es decir 3.4 y 2.5% respectivamente, no obstante según los resultados los dominios de recomendación el número de vacas en ordeño es dos veces superior en la medida 2 comparada con la medida 1, por tal razón el impacto agregado a nivel nacional es mayor en la medida 2. Otro aspecto a considerar es que el dominio de recomendación de la medida 1 comprende fincas más extensivas mientras que el dominio de la medida 2 se trata de fincas más intensivas. La alternativa de protección de rondas fue una de las medidas priorizadas a pesar de no generar un impacto directo sobre el rendimiento de los productores, lo cual indica que las variables relacionadas con crecimiento verde son prioridad para el sector, y existe una conciencia de la presión que ejercen las explotaciones ganaderas sobre el medio ambiente, especialmente sobre la protección de las fuentes de agua. La implementación de la medida SSPi afectaría el indicador de rendimiento con una reducción de 2%, sin embargo es necesario aclarar que esta medida aumentará la producción de leche por hectárea ya que apunta a aumentar la carga animal 84 . Gráfico 54). Por su parte, la medida 1 (Manejo integral del suelo y de la pradera en sistemas ganaderos) producirá el efecto contrario, aumentando las emisiones en 14% alcanzando un valor de 2.51 toneladas de CO2e por hectárea por año. En cuanto a erosión, sólo la medida 1 tendría un cambio muy leve (Gráfico 55). Ninguna de las medidas tiene un impacto en la reducción del conflicto por uso del suelo, a excepción de aproximadamente 1.000 hectáreas a reforestar en áreas de protección de quebradas ( La medida 1 (Manejo integral del suelo y de la pradera en sistemas ganaderos) tendría efecto en siete indicadores de crecimiento verde (Gráfico 57). No obstante, el efecto es muy leve siendo el cambio máximo el 0.2% de cobertura adicional en estos indicadores. Por ejemplo, la cobertura en asistencia agropecuaria incrementaría de 17.7 a 17.9%. Lo anterior ocurre porque aunque el dominio de recomendación en superficie es el 12% de la superficie total en pastos, el número de UPA es sólo el 1% de las UPA totales, y el 90% de estas UPA del dominio ya cuentan con asistencia técnica. En este sentido, es muy importante considerar este aspecto a la hora de promover esta tecnología.Gráfico 57. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde atribuido a la implementación de la Alternativa 1 \"Manejo de praderas\" en la orientación ganadera de leche La medida 2 consistente en el mejoramiento genético de animales dedicados a la lechería especializada, además de incidir directamente sobre el rendimiento de leche en esta orientación, mejoraría la cobertura de asistencia agropecuaria en ganadería bovina en 2.7% pasando del 17.7 a 20.4% (Gráfico 58). Así mismo, el indicador \"Solicitud de crédito\", aumentaría desde el mismo año de la implementación de la medida, por tratarse de una alternativa que requiere de insumos especializados en reproducción. En consecuencia, el indicador de aprobación de créditos, aumentaría de manera proporcional, específicamente entre los sistemas productivos objeto de la medida.Gráfico 58. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde atribuido a la implementación de la Alternativa 2 \"Mejoramiento genético\" en la orientación ganadera de lecheBajo la orientación lechera en sistemas productivos bovinos, al implementar la alternativa número 3 (consistente en sistemas silvopastoriles) tendría incidencia sobre seis indicadores de crecimiento verde (Gráfico 59), sin embargo con efectos muy leves. Los indicadores asistencia agropecuaria, AT manejo ambiental, AT manejo del suelo, solicitud y aprobación de crédito serían los impactados con esta medida. Es destacable que, así como en otras prácticas relacionadas con el manejo de las praderas en sistemas silvopastoriles, se evidencia el mayor número de indicadores afectados de manera positiva. Como se ilustra en el Gráfico 60, la medida 4, referente al manejo de las rondas en las riberas de los ríos, afecta directamente tres indicadores de crecimiento verde: asistencia agropecuaria, AT manejo ambiental y manejo del recurso agua con respecto a sus líneas base. El impacto de esta medida describe un comportamiento gradual y sostenido con mayor énfasis desde los primeros años posteriores a su implementación hasta el año 2030. En el caso del indicador de cobertura de asistencia agropecuaria habría un incremento de 17.7 a 32.6%. Con la implementación de medidas de manejo del agua el indicador de asistencia agropecuaria alcanzaría 18.1% de cobertura.Gráfico 60. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde atribuido a la implementación de la Alternativa 4 \"Protección de rondas\" en la orientación ganadera de leche La fertilización en la orientación ganadera de leche tiene incidencia sobre los indicadores de crecimiento verde de quema, asistencia agropecuaria y manejo de suelo. La reducción en quemas es leve, mientras que en asistencia agropecuaria y AT de manejo de suelos presentan incrementos significativos de mejora respecto con sus líneas base (Gráfico 61). Con esta medida se espera alcanzar una cobertura en asistencia agropecuaria del 45.7% y en temas relacionados con el manejo del suelo del 33.9%. Se debe tener en cuenta que este dominio de recomendación agrupa más de 30% de las UPA totales, de las cuales el 87% de las UPA no cuenta con asistencia técnica.  La medida número 1 \"buenas prácticas pecuarias\", identificada como prioritaria para la ganadería con orientación cárnica tendría incidencia sobre cuatro indicadores de crecimiento verde. Las certificaciones en BPP, la asistencia en BPP, la asistencia agropecuaria y el manejo ambiental aumentarían su proporción gradualmente y de manera importante, desde el año de implementación hasta el 2030. El indicador de asistencia agropecuaria con esta medida aumentaría su cobertura de 15.3 a 56.4%. En este caso, el impacto es alto ya que las UPA de este dominio representan 45% de las UPA totales, de las cuales 89% no tienen asistencia agropecuaria (Gráfico 64). Las quemas evitadas, como segunda alternativa propuesta para la orientación cárnica de la actividad ganadera (Gráfico 65), tendría impacto sobre los indicadores de crecimiento verde principalmente con énfasis ambiental. Tal es el caso del indicador del uso del suelo como práctica para el manejo del suelo en ganadería cárnica. En segunda instancia, la asistencia agropecuaria aumentaría progresivamente hasta el año 2030, así como toda asistencia relacionada con el manejo ambiental y manejo del suelo. Toda vez que la práctica de quemas en pradera sea reducida, estos indicadores tendrían un crecimiento positivo hacia los intereses de la misión crecimiento verde. No obstante, los valores en los cambios son leves.Gráfico 65. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde atribuido a la implementación de la Alternativa 2 \"Quemas evitadas\" en la orientación ganadera de carneComo demostró serlo en las anteriores orientaciones de la actividad ganadera, la medida número 3, pastoreo racional para el sistema ganadero cárnico, tendría un impacto positivo sobre dos de los indicadores de crecimiento verde: asistencia agropecuaria y manejo ambiental (Gráfico 66). Este fenómeno responde al estado actual de la ganadería cárnica colombiana, principalmente correspondiente a sistemas extensivos de baja densidad de animales por unidad de área. En un panorama prospectivo, el pastoreo racional representaría el punto de partida para la generación de mejoras en los sistemas de praderas, lo que, sin incrementar directamente los indicadores de crecimiento verde, si podría generar condiciones habilitantes para medidas que de manera directa, incidan sobre indicadores de crecimiento verde. Gráfico 66. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde atribuido a la implementación de la medida 3 \"Pastoreo racional\" en la orientación ganadera de carne La implementación de la medida número 4 (Riego eficiente) elegida como prioritaria para la ganadería cárnica, provocaría un efecto positivo sobre indicadores de crecimiento verde como el aumento en la asistencia agropecuaria y en la cobertura de riego (Gráfico 67). El impacto positivo sobre estos indicadores es el reflejo de una necesidad subyacente por el manejo eficiente del recurso hídrico por parte de los productores ganaderos. La ganadería cárnica colombiana posee un carácter principalmente extensivo, lo que a su vez, concomita con conflictos en el ordenamiento y concesión de aguas. En este orden de ideas, el uso racional de los recursos escasos, como el agua, resulta ser de importancia ambiental y generador de condiciones habilitantes para la mejora en otro tipo de indicadores. En el caso del indicador de cobertura asistencia agropecuaria se espera pasar de 15.3 a 16.6%, mientras que en cobertura de riego se espera pasar de 1.4 a 2.7%. En este caso, los cambios son leves en la medida que el dominio de recomendación es sólo el 1.3% de las UPA totales.Gráfico 67. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde atribuido a la implementación de la Alternativa 4 \"Riego eficiente\" en la orientación ganadera de carne La quinta alternativa propuesta y elegida para implementar en la orientación ganadera de carne, es la fertilización con estiércol. Esta alternativa, de ser implementada en los dominios, tendría un impacto positivo sobre los indicadores de crecimiento verde de \"Asistencia agropecuaria\" y \"Manejo del suelo\". Adicionalmente, el impacto sobre la utilización de quemas como práctica de manejo de suelo, reduciría progresivamente hasta el año 2030. Esta situación responde a que, por medio de la utilización de abonos orgánicos, se mejoraría la calidad del suelo, y el manejo sobre las especies arvenses requeriría de un control más focalizado sin recurrir a acciones drásticas como la quema de sabanas. Evidentemente, el mayor impacto de esta medida estaría en el aumento de productores que emplean estiércol para fertilización pasando de 19.5 a 57.1%. La asistencia agropecuaria de espera alcance una cobertura de 48.9% (Gráfico 68).Gráfico 68. Cambio en los indicadores de crecimiento verde atribuido a la implementación de la Alternativa 5 \"Fertilización con estiércol\" en la orientación ganadera de carne Entre los principales departamentos productores, Tolima sería más favorecido en rendimiento con esta medida con un incremento de 5.8% de su rendimiento promedio actual, al pasar de 7.44 a 7.87 ton/haaño. Por su parte, el departamento del Valle del Cauca sería el menos impactado con un incremento de 1.96% al pasar de 6.82 a 6.96%. Este se debe a que el dominio de recomendación para la aplicación de esta medida es 3.5 veces mayor en el departamento del Tolima. En los departamentos de Nariño y Santander, aunque hay mejora en el rendimiento los valores continuarían siendo muy bajos (4.16 y 3.80 ton/ha-año respectivamente) aunque esta medida se implemente.Con respecto al indicador de BPA, en el Tolima se observa menor impacto, incluso comparado con Nariño que tiene un dominio de recomendación tres veces menor. Esto se debe a que a pesar de que el dominio de recomendación de Nariño es bajo (203 UPA) comparado con el dominio de recomendación del departamento de Tolima (599 UPA), el número de UPA a intervenir representa un porcentaje muy alto del número total de UPA del departamento de Nariño (79.3%), mientras que las UPA a intervenir en el departamento de Tolima (599 UPA) representa sólo un 26.8% de las UPA totales. De esta manera, al implementar esta medida la mayor cobertura en asistencia en BPA se lograría en el departamento de Nariño con un 87.5% (Gráfico 70).Gráfico 70. Impacto de la alternativa MIP sobre el indicador de cobertura en asistencia técnica en BPA.En el caso del indicador sobre asistencia técnica, los resultados tienen un comportamiento similar a los resultados sobre BPA, pero en este caso el departamento que mayor cobertura alcanzaría sería Quindío con 90.8% ( Gráfico 71), esto debido a que este departamento tiene actualmente una mayor cobertura en asistencia técnica y el dominio de recomendación a intervenir (83 UPA) representa el 58.9% de las UPA totales.El indicador sobre emisiones de GEI, no tendría cambios en el balance de carbono a nivel de superficie, pero si a nivel de unidad de producto (Gráfico 72), esto debido a los cambios en el rendimiento.Gráfico 72. Impacto de la alternativa MIP sobre el indicador de cobertura en asistencia técnica en BPA. En el caso de esta alternativa, se destacan los impactos sobre tres indicadores de crecimiento verde: rendimiento, asistencia técnica en BPA y emisiones de GEI. En cuanto a rendimiento, en el Gráfico 73 se puede observar el impacto a nivel departamental que tendría la implementación de esta medida.En Huila se presentaría el mayor incremento porcentual (15.4%) al pasar de 0.40 a 0.46, pero es el departamento con el más bajo nivel de rendimiento actual. En Arauca el incremento en rendimiento sería sólo de 2% pero es necesario considerar que es el departamento con mayor nivel de rendimiento.Gráfico 73. Impacto de la alternativa asistencia técnica en BPA sobre el indicador de rendimientoEl efecto en el indicador sobre cobertura en asistencia técnica en BPA, es significativo en la medida que la alternativa considera alcanzar todo el dominio de recomendación con cobertura en asistencia técnica en BPA. En Nariño, el impacto es leve dado que para este departamento el área considerada en el dominio de recomendación es muy poca debido a que las áreas sembradas no se encuentran en zonas aptas según la clasificación de la UPRA (Gráfico 74).Gráfico 74. Impacto de la alternativa asistencia técnica en BPA sobre la cobertura en asistencia técnica en BPA. El impacto sobre el indicador de emisiones de GEI por unidad de producto se da debido a los cambios en el rendimiento, ya que en la medida que cambia el rendimiento la cantidad de GEI por unidad de producto también cambia 85 . El mayor cambio en el valor del indicador de emisiones de GEI por unidad de producto se observa en el Huila donde se observa el mayor cambio en rendimiento (Gráfico 75).Gráfico 75. Impacto de la alternativa asistencia técnica en BPA sobre el indicador de emisiones de GEIEn el caso del cultivo de café, la renovación debe darse en dos vías, una primera vía es la renovación del parque cafetero tecnificado /3 86 con el fin de mantener los niveles actuales de rendimiento promedio nacional, y la renovación de cafetales tecnificado envejecido /2 87 que permitirá un aumento del rendimiento promedio nacional. En este sentido, para aumentar el rendimiento de café a escala nacional entonces se deben dar ambas vías de renovación. En los departamentos del sur de Colombia, existe una gran oportunidad para la segunda vía por las áreas de café tecnificado envejecido existentes, especialmente en Huila, Tolima y Cauca que concentran el 40% del café tecnificado envejecido.El impacto de esta alternativa sobre los rendimientos a nivel departamental se presenta en el Gráfico 76. Esta alternativa también tiene un impacto en las emisiones de GEI 88 . A pesar de que los incrementos en el rendimiento en los promedios departamentales están alrededor del 7%, el aumento del promedio nacional sólo alcanza un 2.5%. El dominio de recomendación de esta medida se concentra principalmente en mantener el rendimiento actual (95%) y sólo un 5% en incrementar las áreas renovadas con un aumento en el rendimiento promedio nacional. A nivel departamental se esperan los siguientes cambios en el rendimiento: Cauca de 1.09 a 1.16, Huila 0.94 a 1.00, Nariño 1.07 a 1.13 y Tolima 0.91 a 0.97. Durante el desarrollo del taller regional, los participantes optaron por una asistencia técnica en Buenas Prácticas Agropecuarias que abarque las medidas sobre aprovechamiento de residuos, MIP, uso eficiente de fertilizantes y uso eficiente del agua. Los indicadores que serán impactados con esta medida son: BPA, certificación BPA, asistencia agropecuaria, AT manejo del suelo, medidas manejo del suelo y emisiones de GEI por unidad de producto. La implementación de esta medida tendría efecto positivo en los rendimientos (Gráfico 77). Los dominios de recomendación son muy amplios para la mayoría de los departamentos, Nariño supera las 5 mil UPA, Cundinamarca más de 4 mil y Boyacá más de 3 mil UPA. Antioquia sólo tiene un dominio de 447 UPA. Las UPA de este dominio de recomendación alcanzan 40% de las UPA totales. Entre los departamentos productores se espera un mayor rendimiento en Nariño y Boyacá, con incrementos en rendimiento mayores al 2%, pasando de 13.9 a 14.26 y de 15.48 a 15.84 respectivamente. Gráfico 80) y asistencia agropecuaria en manejo del suelo (Gráfico 81). En todos los casos, habría un aumento considerable en la cobertura, ya que en todos los casos la cobertura de asistencia técnica es muy leve, Antioquia tendría el cambio más alto en la cobertura en asistencia agropecuaria con el 11%. En Nariño se espera con esta medida alcanzar el 60% de cobertura. En cuanto a certificaciones en BPA se espera alcanzar la mitad de las UPA con certificaciones como efecto de la implementación de esta medida. En cuanto a asistencia agropecuaria se espera llegar a 63% de cobertura en Nariño, pero en Antioquia la cobertura el cambio apenas sería un poco más del 15% debido a que el dominio de recomendación es reducido para este departamento (447 UPA). En cuanto a la alternativa SSP intensivos y semi-intensivos en ganadería doble propósito, existen diferentes posibilidades para su implementación desde el punto de vista biofísico en la mayoría de los departamentos, pero Córdoba concentra una quinta parte del territorio con aptitud alta para esta alternativa, seguido de Santander con una décima parte. En cuanto a número de UPA, el departamento que mayor potencial tiene es Sucre con casi una quinta parte de las UPA ubicadas en condiciones aptas para esta alternativa. Es importante mencionar, que el promedio de área en pastos de las UPA en condiciones aptas es de 45 hectáreas. En cuanto a rendimiento en la producción de leche, con la medida se espera que el valor de este indicador se reduzca hasta en un 17% dependiendo del departamento. Las reducciones más altas ocurrirían en Cesar, Casanare, Arauca, La Guajira y Córdoba con rangos entre 11 y 17% ( La alternativa de manejo integral del suelo y de la pradera en sistemas ganaderos de leche representa un impacto en el indicador de rendimiento hasta en 7.2% en Cesar, en el cual pasaría de 4.98 a 5.34 litros por vaca por día ( Gráfico 87). En términos generales, el impacto está muy limitado por el área del dominio de recomendación, ya que las UPA que cumplen con las condiciones necesarias son apenas 633 UPA que corresponden al 1% del total de UPA lecheras y que abarca 12% del área en pastos en lechería (67 mil de 542 mil hectáreas en pastos en lechería). Como primera medida, se trata de las UPA que se encuentran en áreas de no conflicto por uso del suelo, pero además con una carga animal baja, ya que este es un muy buen indicador del estado de las pasturas.La mitad de los productores con esas condiciones se encuentran en Boyacá y Cundinamarca, pero en cuanto a área, el departamento de Bolívar concentra casi una quinta parte. Gráfico 87, se presenta el impacto sobre emisiones de GEI. Con la implementación de esta alternativa se puede esperar un incremento en este indicador, ya que esta medida se basa en el aumento en la carga animal y por ende, en el aumento de las emisiones por hectárea. El mayor incremento se espera en Bolívar con un 20.6% al pasar de 2.27 a 2.74. En el caso del taller sobre ganadería de carne realizado en Yopal, los asistentes optaron por que la asistencia técnica sea integral, y por lo tanto, además de considerar los aspectos productivos también se consideraron los aspectos de ordenamiento predial. En este sentido, la medida evaluada a nivel departamental considera que la medida de asistencia técnica que fue priorizada integre los aspectos relacionados con producción, BPP y ordenamiento predial.La información sobre rendimiento en carne es muy escasa 90 , y no se tiene un referente de cambios en rendimiento con y sin asistencia técnica. Por esta razón, no se presenta un valor de impacto de esta medida sobre el rendimiento.Para los indicadores de BPP (Gráfico 89), Certificación en BPP (Gráfico 90) y asistencia técnica (Gráfico 91), tanto AT manejo ambiental (Gráfico 92) y AT manejo de suelos (Gráfico 93) se espera un efecto directo. En el caso del indicador de asistencia técnica, la implementación de esta medida permitiría que la cobertura de asistencia agropecuaria en BPP supere una cobertura mayor al 20% en todos los principales departamentos productores de ganadería de carne. En Quindío, se podrá alcanzar un 27.1% de cobertura partiendo de una línea base de 9.38% (Gráfico 91). El mayor incremento en el indicador de asistencia agropecuaria general sería en Risaralda alcanzando una cobertura de 64.8% partiendo de una línea base de 46.0% (Gráfico 91). Los impactos de las medidas sobre los indicadores de crecimiento verde son muy variados. En términos de productividad, la principal atención está en los tres cultivos permanentes y en ganadería, ya que las medidas priorizadas muestran un efecto sobre este indicador. La eficiencia en el uso de los recursos naturales y el balance en el flujo de nutrientes son relevantes en todos los cultivos, en este sentido, se observa que los indicadores relacionados con estos componentes son los que mayores impactos tienen como resultado de la implementación de las medidas priorizadas. En el caso sobre la incidencia en el capital natural, el mayor impacto se daría por las medidas priorizadas en el cultivo de aguacate hass, puesto que en los demás cultivos los impactos son muy leves a pesar de que los indicadores de línea base para esos otros cultivos son muy bajos, especialmente para ganadería y papa. En este punto es muy importante considerar medidas de definición e implementación de acciones de ordenamiento productivo, ya que gran parte de este problema se deriva de los conflictos por uso del suelo, lo cual no recae directamente en una solución tecnológica.En el caso de los indicadores relacionados con oportunidades de crecimiento verde, se observa que las medidas apuntan a tener un impacto importante en todos los cultivos exceptuando café, principalmente debido a que café tiene el valor de línea base más alto en este componente y, a pesar que no tiene todavía valores altamente deseados, seguramente por eso no es una prioridad a la hora de definir la medidas. Gran parte de la implementación de las medidas priorizadas requiere acompañamiento técnico y por esta razón, el indicador de asistencia agropecuaria y en algunos casos los demás relacionados con acompañamiento técnico (BPA, BPP, AT manejo ambiental AT manejo del suelo) tienen un efecto como resultado de la implementación de las medidas.Los dominios de recomendación ayudan a identificar los usuarios potenciales de las tecnologías o medidas, y este procedimiento permite entender cuántos productores y/o cuanta área podría ser intervenida debido a que reúnen una serie de condiciones biofísicas y socioeconómicas necesarias para una adecuada implementación de la tecnología. En este sentido, un aspecto que ha resultado muy restrictivo a la hora de definir los dominios son los conflictos por el uso del suelo, puesto que las áreas que no están en zonas definidas como aptas (por la UPRA) son excluidas de los dominios de recomendación con el fin de no promover desarrollo tecnológico de cultivos que estén siendo producidos en zonas con condiciones para un uso diferente al agropecuario, o dentro de este, pero con fuertes restricciones biofísicas.Aumentar el rendimiento promedio nacional es una tarea que constituye un reto ambicioso. En primera instancia, las medidas en sí mismas deberían generar cambios significativos en el rendimiento implementadas bajo diferentes contextos biofísicos, socioeconómicos y culturales, sin embargo, la información estadística, comparando grandes volúmenes de datos, muestra que las diferencias en rendimiento son porcentualmente menores que los cambios que exhiben dichas tecnologías a nivel experimental. Lo anterior ocurre porque una vez la tecnología es liberada, entran en juego una lista larga de variables que hacen que la medida no exprese su potencial como si lo hace bajo condiciones controladas. En este sentido, es necesario tener este aspecto en mente para entender que los cambios en rendimiento son procesos largos y lentos. Adicionalmente, no basta con tener medidas o tecnologías que tengan un gran impacto en rendimiento, también se debe poder implementar en un gran porcentaje de la superficie sembrada, con el fin de tener un efecto en el promedio nacional. En este sentido, es necesario considerar los límites que imponen los dominios de recomendación, ya que en muchos casos la cobertura que estos tienen es baja.Siguiendo con lo anterior, la cobertura de los dominios de recomendación son muy variables entre medidas, por ejemplo en el caso del aguacate hass, los dominios abarcan entre 13 y 55% de la superficie total sembrada, mientras que para cacao, el mayor dominio de recomendación alcanza tan sólo un 18% del área total y la mínima 7%. Por su parte, en café los dominios oscilan entre 5 y 60%. En ganadería se presentan los casos de los dominios más pequeños con valores de 0.6, 1.0 y 2.5% para ganadería de leche, doble propósito y carne respectivamente. La superficie en pasto para ganadería es muy extensa y por eso, los dominios de recomendación son bajos porcentualmente salvo aquellos dominios de medidas relacionadas con asistencia agropecuaria.Algunas alternativas priorizadas como el balance hídrico en aguacate hass, el mejoramiento genético en cacao y el manejo técnico diferenciado en los lotes de café, pueden generar incrementos potenciales en los rendimientos de 8%, 20% y 15% respectivamente. En el caso de aquellas medidas que no impactan directamente en el rendimiento, como por ejemplo la mayoría de las propuestas en el cultivo de la papa, la transferencia de tecnologías debe ir muy fuertemente acompañada de capacitaciones en temas ambientales donde los co-beneficios de la conservación y las prácticas amigables con el ambiente se resalten y se traduzcan en beneficios potenciales para los productores, asociados principalmente a la disponibilidad de recurso hídrico y conservación de sus suelos.En cuanto a los análisis a nivel departamental, la implementación de buenas prácticas agrícolas en el cultivo del cacao no presentó diferencias relevantes con respecto a los rendimientos actuales en ninguno de los departamentos. No obstante, en Huila, el potencial de reducción de emisiones es mayor, así como el aumento potencial en la implementación de buenas prácticas agrícolas, esto permite inferir que podría ser uno de los primeros departamentos sobre los cuales implementar dicha medida.La renovación de cafetales es una medida fundamental para mantener el nivel de productividad actual. Actualmente, se deben renovar al menos 80 mil hectáreas anualmente para evitar que caigan los niveles de rendimiento existente, lo cual ya es un reto enorme para el sector. Para aumentar el rendimiento actual, además de renovar las 80 mil hectáreas también habría que renovar otras áreas de cafetales tecnificados envejecidos que se concentran especialmente en los departamentos de Huila y Tolima.Las medidas aplicadas a la actividad ganadera demuestran que podrían llegar a tener impactos sobre varios indicadores de crecimiento verde, razón por la cual generan condiciones habilitantes para su implementación. Por ejemplo, los sistemas silvopastoriles apuntan al incremento en las variables de naturaleza ambiental y de manera simultánea, a la productividad. En términos de productividad, el mejoramiento genético no se perfila como una medida que aporte una diferencia significativa. A pesar de que en las orientaciones ganaderas de leche y doble propósito, aportaría un aumento en productividad, sus valores porcentuales solo alcanzarían 3 y 6,4% respectivamente sobre la media nacional. Los dominios de recomendación son bajos para estas medidas, ya que muy pocos productores han resuelto el problema de oferta de comida para los animales y así poder abordar este tipo de medidas que apuntan a hatos ganaderos más avanzados en manejo de pasturas. No obstante, otra de las medidas priorizadas fue el manejo de praderas, la cual cuenta con amplios dominios de recomendación. Es necesario tener en cuenta que, hay una gran diversidad de grados de tecnificación en los hatos ganaderos en Colombia, y existe una gran proporción de área con muy mal manejo de las praderas, el cual es el primer paso de mejoramiento en el hato, que permite que los productores cuenten con una muy buena oferta forrajera.Una vez se cuente con un buen manejo de las praderas, un segundo asunto es mejorar la fertilización, el cual se puede hacer aprovechando el estiércol de los animales. Esta es otra medida que también ha sido priorizada, al igual que los sistemas silvopastoriles intensivos y semintensivos que también son considerados en una etapa más avanzada de un hato ganadero. Por esta razón, lo importante es entender que cada medida ha sido pensada en diferentes grados de intensificación de fincas ganaderas, y por esto, la gran variabilidad en los dominios de recomendación. Por ejemplo, las medidas de primer nivel de intensificación de las fincas, las cuales están relacionadas con manejo de praderas son las que tienen los mayores dominios de recomendación, mientras que las medidas más avanzadas, que están más direccionadas a fincas con niveles tecnológicos más avanzados, como el mejoramiento genético de los animales, tienen dominios de recomendación muy bajos, lo que es un reflejo de las proporciones de ganadería extensiva e intensiva que tiene Colombia. Por esta razón, las medidas asociadas al alimento animal evidencian un impacto alto. A pesar de que muchas de estas medidas son pensadas con un propósito, (ej. incrementar rendimiento), la verdad es que muchas afectan otros indicadores, como por ejemplo: la medida de pastoreo racional aumenta la asistencia técnica y también el uso de fertilizantes orgánicos, asistencia técnica en manejo del suelo y la implementación de medidas de manejo del suelo.Partiendo de los resultados del presente análisis, se recomienda implementar de manera paulatina aquellas medidas que por el impacto proyectado abarcarían una mayor cantidad de indicadores. De la misma manera, aquellas que con su implementación potenciarían el impacto de otras medidas, de una manera inmediata.  CRECE y el CIAT/CCAFS están realizando un estudio con el fin de identificar debilidades / barreras institucionales y opciones para superarlas, para la adopción de prácticas relevantes para el aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde. Este estudio está financiado por GGGI y tiene por objetivo final la formulación de recomendaciones técnicas y de políticas para fomentar el aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde.Este estudio se realiza para 5 sistemas productivos en el país que son: ganadería (leche y carne), aguacate, cacao, café y papa. En este contexto, quisiéramos obtener su visión sobre el marco institucional del sub-sector en cuestión en relación con aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde.Preguntas:• Generales/ marco global -Ha escuchado hablar del concepto de Crecimiento Verde? -¿Cuál es su percepción sobre la capacidad del sector de aumentar la productividad de la tierra y desempeño del sector agropecuario en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde? -¿En qué medida integra, en su organización, elementos que apuntan al Crecimiento Verde?• Balance sobre el marco institucional • Políticas/ instrumentos de políticas existentes:¿A nivel de políticas/instrumentos de políticas cuales son las fortalezas y debilidades para alcanzar objetivo de aumentar la productividad del sector (ganadería/aguacate/café/cacao) en un contexto de Crecimiento Verde? Hacer la pregunta de forma abierta y luego desglosar las respuestas tomando en cuenta los criterios siguientes: Si/no Fortalezas Si/no Debilidades Existencia: 1. Si sí, cual(es)? (listar las herramientas existentes según el entrevistado) 2. ¿Y en qué la política/instrumentos de políticas existentes constituyen una fortaleza para el aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde 3. ¿Para qué sectores/cadenas aplica esta política?No existencia: 4. si constituye una debilidad es porque no existe política/ instrumentos de políticas existentes para el aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde? (para los productores? Para la cadena?)Si/no Fortalezas Si/no Debilidades Aplicación/implementación: 5. Si sí, a través de qué proyecto/programa? 6. Y en qué la aplicación de la política/ instrumentos de políticas existentes constituyen una fortaleza para el aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde?,No aplicación/implementación: 7. si constituye una debilidad es porque no hay aplicación de la política/ instrumento de política existente para el aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde para el sector? Porque no hay implementación? Coherencia con otras políticas/estrategias/programas: Si, si con que otras políticas/estrategias/programas hay coherencia y sinergias?Tensiones y falta de coordinación con otras políticas/estrategias/programas: hay un problema de coherencia entre las políticas/ instrumentos de políticas existentes que limitan la productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde para el sector? Entre cuáles? En qué hay problema de coherencia? Relevancia: 8. Las políticas/ instrumentos de políticas existentes son pertinentes para lograr el aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde? 9. En qué medida la política responde a los objetivos/pilares del aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde? (productividad, eficiencia ambiental (carbono, energía, agua),balance y flujo de nutrientes, incidencia en el capital natural (ecosistemas y biodiversidad), empoderamiento de los productores)Falta de relevancia: si constituye una debilidad es porque la política/ instrumento de política existente no es relevante/no responde a las necesidades de los productores y por ende limitan la productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde para el sector? En qué no es relevante?Eficiencia/eficacia: 10. Las políticas/herramientas existentes son eficaces/eficientes para lograr el aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde? 11. Si si, en qué medida consideran que las políticas/herramientas existentes son eficientes/eficaces?• Financiamiento:¿A nivel de Financiamientos cuales son las fortalezas y debilidades para alcanzar objetivo de aumentar la productividad del sector (ganadería/aguacate/café/cacao) en un contexto de Crecimiento Verde?Hacer la pregunta de forma abierta y luego desglosar las respuestas tomando en cuenta los criterios siguientes:Si/no Fortalezas Si/no Debilidades Existencia:1. si, si que tipos o mecanismos de financiamiento existen para el aumento de productividad para el Crecimiento Verde? 2.Para qué sectores/cadenas/actores aplica este financiamiento? Qué tipo de financiación ofrece?No existencia: Si constituye una debilidad es porque no existen herramientas de financiamiento para lograr los objetivos del aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde para los productores? Para la cadena?Si, si en qué medida/cómo las herramientas de financiación están puesta a disposición?No disponibilidad: Si constituye una debilidad es porque las herramientas de financiamiento que existen para lograr los objetivos del aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde no están disponible (para los productores? Para la cadena?) Porque no hay disponibilidad?En qué medida las herramientas de financiación responden a los objetivos/pilares del aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde?Falta de relevancia: si constituye una debilidad es porque las herramientas de financiamiento que existen no son relevantes/adaptadas a las necesidades de los productores y por ende limitan la productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde? Porque?• Capacidad institucional:¿A nivel de Capacidad institucional cuales son las fortalezas y debilidades para alcanzar objetivo de aumentar la productividad del sector (ganadería/aguacate/café/cacao) en un contexto de Crecimiento Verde?Hacer la pregunta de forma abierta y luego desglosar las respuestas tomando en cuenta los criterios siguientes:Si/no Fortalezas Si/no Debilidades Capacidad: Qué capacidad humana/técnica existe para la implementación de políticas para el aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde? Quienes son los actores? Falta de capacidad: Si constituye una debilidad es porque faltan capacidades (humana/ técnica/organizacional/liderazgo) para la implementación de acciones que apuntan al aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde? ¿Por qué no hay capacidad? Claridad en la misión/responsabilidad: En qué medida los actores identificados para la implementación de acciones para el aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde tienen claridad sobre su misión/responsabilidad (objetivos/pilares del aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde?) Falta de claridad en la misión: Si constituye una debilidad es porque no hay claridad sobre la misión y distribución de las responsabilidades de los actores involucrados en la implementación de acciones que apuntan al aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde? ¿Por qué no hay claridad? Legitimidad de los actores: ¿En qué medida los actores encargados de implementar acciones para el aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde tienen legitimidad consolidada por parte de los demás actores del sector? Problema de legitimidad: Si constituye una debilidad es porque la legitimidad está cuestionada por los actores del sector.• De todas las fortalezas que usted identificó, ¿cuáles son las principales?Ordenar de la más importante para lograr el aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde a la menos importante.• De todas las debilidades que usted identificó, ¿cuáles son las principales?o ¿Qué bloquean más el alcance de los objetivos para el aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde? Ordenar de la que obstaculiza más para lograr el aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde a la que menos obstaculiza. o ¿Qué se pueden resolver de forma más fácil para lograr el alcance de los objetivos para el aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde? Ordenar de la que se puede resolver más fácil para lograr el aumento de productividad en una perspectiva de Crecimiento Verde a la que es más complicada. o A qué pilar/objetivo apuntan las debilidades identificadas (que bloquean más y que se pueden resolver más fácil)?Llenar las tablas abajo. • Presentar los resultados del estudios , y proceso de priorización de la tecnología priorizada para fomentar crecimiento verde en Colombia;• Identificar las barreras y medidas para fomentar la adopción de tecnologías con potencial de aporte al crecimiento verde en cada sistema productivo priorizado.-2 grupos de productores o sus representantes (productores, gremios,…) : Grupos ya adoptaron la tecnología priorizada (9), Grupo que no adoptaron todavía la tecnología priorizada (9), tomando en cuenta una diversidad de situaciones (grandes / pequeños productores) -Grupo de actores locales involucrados en el apoyo a productores ( 9  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8402bd611ca359c543e1f1930b062cd5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/18020675-5d0d-4e4c-9676-9f788d60bfc2/retrieve","id":"-632185750"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c83d2de9-a33a-4066-b12d-1d059b381ff5","content":"We thank Dr. Thomas Hargrove who reviewed and edited the document to improve its presentation and contento We also thank Dr. Alvaro Ramírez ofthe Rice Program for providing the impact data assessment.CIAT recently bred two resistant rice cultivars suitable lor both irrigated and favored upland conditions in a \"hot spot\" environment for blast. These cultivars have been grown experimentally and commercially for 5 years without breakdown. Resistance remains stable because several resistance sources are combined in the Unes, which were selected through a long and complex breeding scheme.An integrated strategy involving classical pathotyping and molecular fingerprinting has provided a novel mechanism to classify more than 50 Colombia n pathotypes 01 blast disease into six distinct genetic lineages or \"families.\" Combined with the use 01 molecular markers, scientists will now be able to identify and use genes resistant to specific lineages rather than to randomly breed for individual pathotypes.The proposed integrated breeding strategy, whose living proof is the durability of two cultivars that were independently bred by traditional methodologies, will permit rapid identification 01 desirable resistance sources and the breeding of stable blast-resistant cultivars for different environments and cropping systems. Lasting resistance will reduce fungícíde use and lower plant breeding cosls. which will translate into profits for rice farmers and a cleaner environmenl. Over a 15-year period, including years with both above-and below-average blast epidemics. the net present value 01 the benefits is estimated at US$1.6 billion Irom increased crop yield. and in reduced expenditures lor rice imports and use 01 fungicides in latin America alone. Worldwide, this environment-Iriendly scientific breakthrough helps resolve one 01 humanity's mos! devastaling plan! diseases.Rice is the world's mosl important crop, and the major tood lor a third 01 humanity.Rice blasl disease is the mosl widespread and damaging disease 01 cultivated rice in both tropical and more temperale latitudes. The disease is caused by the ascomycete fungus, Pyricularia grisea Sacc. (teleomorph: Magnaporthe grisea Barr). The tungus reproduces asexually and is noted lor expressing a large number 01 virulent torms or pathotypes, especially in rainted or upland areas, where the environment lavors epidemics.Mosl rice-growing areas in Asia, Africa and lalin America rely upon regular introduction 01 new blast-resistant rice cultivars as well as fungicide use.Many years 01 genetíc breeding and research have shown Ihat genetic resislance to blast in these regions is short-Iíved, rarely being ellective for more Ihan 2 lo 3 years. Several major nationwide resislance breakdowns have been documented in countries as diversa as Egypl, Soulh Korea and Ihe Philippines. One 01 the mosl recenl breakdown occurred in Texas in 1991. Whelher the lack 01 durable blasl resistance reflects signilican! shifts in the trequency 01 existing pathotypes or trequen! occurrence 01 new palhotypes by mutatíon and/or immígration is nol fully known. The key to resolving Ihese issues líes in delining the population genetic structure thal underlies patholype variation and in determining how and at what rate pathotypes evolve.The other control melhod used by rice larmers, Le., when resistanl varieties are not available, depends heavily on lungicide treatments, usually applied on a calendar basis. Fungicide use may not always be effective or economicaly sound, imd is never environmentally desirable. This situation 1 argues in lavor 01 adopling a broader disease management slrategy Ihat would allow development 01 durable resistance and a reduction in lungicide use worldwide.Ihe concept 01 integrated crop management, which combines breeding lor durable disease resistance with rice cultural praclices Ihal include disease management concepts. This approach aims lo maintain current production levels in regions where yields are already high, and to increase yield where Ihe lull varietal genetic potential is lar Irom being realized. Production costs must be lowered il rice production is lo remain efficient.Managemenl 01 plan! disease pathogens, varielies, cultural practices and fungicides, which all loo often are treated separately by researchers and extensíon agents, are considered logether in this summary 01 íntegrated research. Bringing a range 01 lools together to guarantee a healthy crop will nol only contribute to higher and more stable yields, bul should also prolong Ihe lifespan 01 resistant varieties which are so painstakingly developed. The chal/enge is then lo exploit these integrated management tools so that farmers can maintaín high yíelds at economical1y attractive production levels with the lowest possible use of external inputs.Cultural methods or agronomic practices have been shown to clearly play an important role in developing blast pathogen populations. Using genelic resistance alone in rice may nol be an adequate control tactic, particularly in coping with pathogens that exhibil great variation, as in the case 01 rice blast.Fertilizatíon, planting and water management practices play an important role in the rapid breakdown 01 rasistance by ancouraging high pathogen population levels. We have accumulated a larga sel 01 dala al diffaranl sites in a tropical blast-prone area in Colombia and can thus assemble and use Ihe available tools properly, keeping in mind farmers' objective 01 a productive and profi!able rice crop.We have repeatedly demonslrated tha! higher rice yields are obtained through a combination 01 lower nitrogen and seeding rates as opposed to Ihe high rates used by rice growers in the study area. Together with optimal water management, total returns may be increased by the equivalenl 01 up lo 1 tonlMa 01 paddy compared with conventional practices.Rice growers have developed management practicas thal oltan incorporate inappropriate land preparation andlor suboptimal chemical control 01 weeds. Under these circumstances, cultural practices may lose efficiency if resistance levels are nol high enough to counleract environmental effecls that favor pathogen proliferation and mutation.CIAT and its collaborators in NARS have generated data that will provide opportunilies lo weighing management alternatives for rice blast. As an example, one key queslion is \"Ooes resistanee deserve a higher priorily within the concepl 01 inlegraled disease managemenl?\" Answers to Ihis question need further analysis using Ihe history 01 rice varietal development in Colombia since 1960. Incorporating genelie resistance into commercial varietíes has elearly been the prelerred mean s tor prolecling rice from disease. Breakdown 01 this resistance is eommon in mos! riee-growing areas and otten oceurs shortly alter varietal release.Generating highly resistant and durable varíeties for riee-blasl-prone areas will have three major eeonomíe impaets: (a) eliminate curren! yield losses beca use 01 uncontrolled blast disease in farmers' fields: (b) bring savings lrom fewer or zero sprayings 01 fungicides; and (e) minimize environmental hazards from using ehemieals on humans, wildlife and Ihe environment in general.From experimental data, it has been estimated thal average yield losses amount lo 5-10% in irrigaled systems and are more than 20% in minfed systems in existing production systems using current varieties. According to farm surveys earried out by C1AT and its eollaborators, farmers' expenditures on proteetive fungicides range from 6% to 50% 01 total crop protection eosts. By introducing new, more !oleran! and stable rice germplasm lo the blast disease, il can be expeeled Ihal not only will future rice yields slabilize al higher levels but also Iha! unit produelion eosts will decline.Rice blasl disease management, partieularly in developing eountries, must, lor eeonomie reasons alone, rely on effeelive resistance breeding and gene deployment strategies. This approaeh is also consisten! with overall goals 01 sustainable agriculture and redueed dependence on ehemieal-based teehnologias. Sueh approaches have been hampered by !he diversity and virulenee 01 the fungal pathogen and Ihe inabilily lo combine adequate resistance genes. This summary describes a novel and íntegrated strategy developed by an interdisciplinary and interinstitutional team from CIAT's Rice Program and Bioteehnology Research Uníl cooperating with two scíenlisls al Purdue University. The strategy components that follow combine all Ihe lools 01 elassíeal pathology, breeding, and molecular biology lo address this key eonstraint on global rice production.The sole epidemiological tool for studying the rice blast fungus has been a palhogenicity assay, which sorts isolales inlo palholypes (\"races') by their range 01 infection on a set 01 differentially resistant rice cultivars. Assay results can be strongly influenced by host age and condition, inoculum quality and variation in en'llimnmental conditions during the assay. Furthermore, isolates may produce a variety 01 intermediate ¡nfection responses (Iesion types) on one or more of the differentials, making assay scoring both difficult and subjective. Although an intemational set of eighl differential cultivars has been established lo standardize assays, it has beco me elear that this set cannot decipher Ihe pathotype diversity that occurs in most rice-growing regions.Many pathogenic races have been identified in P. grisea, and this variabilíty has been cited as the cause of resistance breakdown. Controversies over the origins 01 this diversity are well documented. For example, great pathogenic variation has been reported from single-spore isolales originating trom single les ion s and monoconidial subcultures, while other studies have shown isolates lo be palhogenically stable. In the context of the palhogenic diversity of P. grisea, it is recommended Iha! breeding strategies should minimize the probability 01 escapes. Strategies should also include líne evaluation and selection in sites highly lavorable tor the palhogen, where populations remain high Ihroughout the season and palhogenic diversity is high. These sites are commonly denominated 'ho! spols\" and developing durable resistance is more likely lo be successful under such conditions. We haya collected evidence over more than eight growing seasons thal shows that resistance selected al a \"hot spot' site in Colombia is stable over both time and space. A crilical evaluation 01 pathogenic diversity to explain the durability of Ihis resistance has been carried out using both conventional palhotyping and molecular lools such as DNA-fingarprinting.Characterizing variability in virulence, a highly necessary slep lor developing durable resistance, has been conducted in the last tour years.1I has focused on race composilion, compatibilíty with known resistance genes, frequency 01 occurrence 01 virulence factors and variability as reflecled by pathogenicity in diverse rice cullivars (Table 1).Studies have also been conducled lo determine il the sexual stage 01 the fungus is playing any role in !he origin 01 this variability. This has not been lound lo be the case. Pathogen variability has been shown lo be lar beyond the intemational designation using differenlials because several races could be lurther differenliated into differenl pathotypes when local commercial varieties were used as dilferentials. Compatibilíly was presen! in the population lor at least 13 known resistance genes and resistance sources tested (Table 1). Virulence frequencies ranged from O to 0.86, with no cultivar susceplible to all pathogen isolates. and resistance lo all isolates being present only in advanced lines developed at this hol spot site (Table 2). It was very important to lind that the lowest virulence frequencies were associated with combinations of resistance genes.Ánalysis of the frequency 01 compatibilily 01 ;sofates recovered lrom commercial rice cultivars revealed a marked specializalion lor the cultivar 01 origino This is a very important linding given Ihe pathogenic diversity lound. Rare compatibílities with particular cultivars sugg6sted Ihal combinations 01 certain virulence may be assoc!ated with poor fitness or with deleterious effects tor the palhogen. Further studies on genetic diversily using DNA-fingerprinting indicated that this combination 01 virulence genes is nol present in the pathogen population due to the genetic diversity among the pathogen population Ihal would need the sexual stage lor recombination.These results have allowed CIAT lo use a precise stralegy lo develop disease resistance since combinations of resislance genes can now be direcled toward resistance to Ihe combination of virulence genes with low chances 01 occurrence in the palhogen population.Random combinations 01 resistance genes may be proven to be useless since unnecessary virulence genes are maintained in the pathogen population. This has been observed despite high cultivar specificity .Stralegies to incorporate and accumulate resistance genes that may present barriers to pathogen compatibífity are being implemented by characterizing genetic diversity via lurther pathotyping and DNA-fingerprinting analysis.Aecently, 3 DNA probes were developed by Dr. J. Hamer, and they refiably and specifically idenlify the genetic backgrounds of the full spectrum of rice blast fungus pathotypes. One of these probes conslsts 01 cloned fragments 01 repeated DNA obtained from the rice blast fungus genome and are called MGR586 (previously referred to as pCB586). The probe hybridizes to approximately 50 EcoRI fragments, ranging in size from 1.5 lo 20.0 kb, in the genome of all P. grisea isolates that intect rice, but to only one or a few fragments in P. grisea isolates limited to other grass hosts. Worldwide conservation of MGR586 sequences in rice blast pathogens indicates that they descend from a common ancestral source, genetically isolated from other host-limited forms of P. grisea. Genetic mapping, using MGR, shows that sequences are randomly dispersed on all chromosomes 01 the pathogens and segregate as genetic loci. Consequently, the MGR586 restriction fragment protiles observed in the natural clones of the pathogen define multilocus haplotypes, which we have referred to as MGR-DNA fingerprints. These can identify both genetic diversity and relaledness among field isolates.An extensive study of Colombian rice blast diversity was conducted by first analyzing the population structure in a Colombian blast disease \"hot spot' where local pathotype di\\lersity is five times greater than in the entire USA. The study site at Santa Rosa Slatlon is a 30-hectare resistance breeding farm located in the savannas of eastem Colombia. An ideal climate and continuous plantings of a wide variety of susceptible cu/tivars support chronic usage disease le\\lels throughout the 270-day growing season, and the blast population contains more than 50 pathotypes.A total 01 151 field isolates were obtained from 15 different cultivars during 1987 and 1990. The iso/ates expressed a total of 56 pathotypes which cOllectively included virulence and a\\lirulence on all intemalional differentials over a broad continuum of 5 combinations. Thirty-one iso lates (20% of the sample) had uncharacterized pathogenicity, i.e., pathotype 11-1, being avirulent on all differenlials. Based on this spectrum of pathotypes and associated inferences of resistancegene frequencies among the differentials, we concluded that few of the known resistance genes or gene combinations would be useful or effecti\\le for blast resistance at Santa Rosa.A total of 115 different MGR-DNA fingerprints (with 42•52 EcoRI fragments per fingerprint) were observed in our sampling. However, all isolate diversity was subsumed in only six distinct MGR-defined lineages (Figure 1). Isolates within each líneage had a 92% or greater average fingerprint similarity, with no significant subclustering among lineage members (nol shown). In contrast, the maximum consensus símílarity between lineages was 85%, the mínimum was 37%, and the average was 49%. Alllineages were significantly different (p= 0.001) from each other tor genetic distance (Figure 2  2).Studies conducted over the past live years on these two cultivars compared with other commercial varieties clearly demonstrated that specilic combinations 01 resistance genes or sets 01 genes, rather than random combinations 01 genes, are the most efficient way to develop durable resistance. The breeding effort to incorporate su eh combinations was slow and laborious due to the inability, at that lime, to identily the various genes in a segregating population.Recent developments described aboye using molecular tools have provided new horizons lor breeders in managing highly variable diseases su eh as rice bias!. Molecular markers offer an efficienl way lo locale and monitor disease resistance gene transler in rice breeding programs. RAPDs (random amplified polymorphic DNA), are short oligonucleotide primers and were recenlly demonstraled lo be eftectlve In gene tagging in tomato and lettuce. RAPDs ofter an inexpensive and efficlent way lo idenlify and characterize genomic components. Both markers provide new opportunities to develop or identify breeding lines with specific resistance genes. Using these markers, linkage with genes resistanl lo isolates belonging to one lineage (SRL-l) has been oblained as a lirsl step in localizing a series 01 genes resistant to the various lineages lound in Colombia.These exciting results allow a fundamental redirection 01 rice breeding schemes. They imply that we should focus on genes resistant to lineages, rather than on genes resistant lo specific isolates as inferred lrom pathotype analysis (Table 3).As an example, Oryzica Llanos 5 presents combinations 01 resistance genes lo the six genelic lineages found in the palhogen. Not even the most virulent isolates 01 the btast palhogen studied exhibited virutenee lo the susceptible cultivar Cica 9. one of the parents 01 Oryziea Llanos 5. Compatible ¡solates with Cica 9 belong to the genetie lineage SRL-l or SRL-2. and do nol present virulence genes lor resistance genes associated with the genetic lineages SRL-3, SRL-4, SRL-5 and SRL-5. Achieving sueh levels 01 resistance requires an intensive crossing and seleetion scheme. The new strategy combining pathotyping, MGRfingerprinling and molecular marker-assisted gene tagging provides a way lo define the genetic organization and distribution 01 rice blasl pathogen diversity and to incorporate appropriate resistance genes.Such a strategy lo attack a lormerly intraclable 7 problem will provide the most efficíent ~eans available for ímproved blast dlsease management and could serve as a model system lo tackle similar lungal diseases such as potato blight, wheat rust or downey mildew in sorghum and millet.---------~-_ ................. -TableS. Reaction of commercial rice varieties to six genetic lineages of blasl pathogen in Colombia.The polential impaet of developing durable resistanee for rice in Latin America has been eSlimated al more than US$400 million per year in years of high disease pressure. This is equivalen! to 7.4% of the lolal value 01 rice production in the region.The benefits amount to approximately US$200 million and US$80 million in years of normal and low disease pressure. respeclively.For a l5-year production series, the net present value of !hese benefils is estimated al US$1.6 billion, assuming a probability a priori 01 33% lor years of low. normal and high disease pressure, respectively. This also means that, on average, the region would save about US$2l0 million Ihrough reduced imports 01 rice and lower cost 01 lungicides, with very positive ímplicatíons lor its lood balance and sustainabilily 01 rice produclion.We hesitate lo magnify Ihese estimates lo a global scale and will leave this lo olhers. We who make up this multidisciplinary team are proud te have worked together to solve this difficult problem. We are confident Ihat the results willlead lo major benefits tor mankind in rice and that Ihe methodologies, once applied to other crops and variable pathogens, will provide even further prool Ihat good science, wisely managed, is an excellenl investment.The interdisciplinary and interinstitutional leam is composed 01 the lollowing scientists, listed in alphabetical order: "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"edbe6f24c9bfdd9aad4a3d34174fd0ea","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/81e24f86-392b-417e-9da4-ca56ffb8b87c/content","id":"1055995077"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"26ccaa65-dd56-4c34-a4e3-2a4fcb901e7b","content":"In 1989, CIMMYT's Wheat Program estimated that 42.7% of developing spring wheat production, representing 36.1 million ha, was being produced in mega-environment (ME) 1. The desirable level of resource allocation for this ME was calculated to be 45% according to CIMMYT's strategic plan criteria. The past large yield increases in farmers' fields in this ME have paral~eled increases in yield potential (YP), meaning yield in the absence of abiotic and biotic stresses and under optimal management. Thus, increasing YP of bread wheat in MEl is not only a continuing challenge for breeders, agronomists, and physiologists, but it is of worldwide importance and of high potential returns to CIMMYT's investment. There is a positive correlation between increases in yP in CIANO, and MEl, and increases in farmers' yields. Furthermore, higher yP lines are more efficient and more responsive to agronomic management and tend to yield better even in environments with moderate abiotic stress. The rate of increase in YP of bread wheat has had a tendency to decrease in the last 10 years at CIMMYT, even though the long-term trend (20-30 years) is still in the order of 1%/year. The progress achieved so far has been essentially through intensive crossing, direct empirical selection for plant type, and extensive testing for yield. But as YP increases, such a program becomes more difficult and it is possible that, among other alternatives, the use of indirect selection traits will improve efficiency. This wheat special report provides a physiological framework geared to improving bread wheat YP for ME 1. Hopefully, it pro:vides some approaches to understanding this complex issue thereby facilitating further progress.Yield potential (YP) is defined as the \"yield of a cultivar grown in environments to which it is adapted when nutrients and water are nonlimiting, and when pests, diseases, weeds, lodging, and other stresses are effectively controlled\" (Evans 1987). Rajaram and Fischer (1989) described seven world wheat mega-environments (MEs). They are distinct niches of the developi ng world with an area that, by definition, is greater than 1 million hectares. After weighting wheat production within an ME according to per capita income, likely breeding progress and strength of the National Agricultural Research System, Fischer and Rajaram (1990) gave a priority assessment for CIMMYT wheat research (Table 1). MEl (irrigated) had the highest percentage of developing world wheat production and it also had the highest priority for research.It has been found that varieties with high yield potential in MEl usually yield more in other MEs, even at moderate levels of stress. The past yield increases in MEl have paralleled increases in YP for this ME.CIMMYT has the responsibility of maintaining and increasing YP in a framework of a world mandate, therefore understanding and researching YP is a priority task. There are several aspects of YP that merit our attention:• How is it determined?• What morphological and physiological characters and in what combinations is expression maximized?• What is the genetic variability in YP and traits related to it?• How are these characters transmitted from one generation to the next?• How can high yP genotypes be selected as early as possible in the improvement process and in an efficient and cost effective way?In what follows, we provide a physiological research framework geared to bread wheat YP improvement for MEl.Retrospective analysis shows the progress made by breeders and the trends in characters associated with yield improvement. Waddington et at. (1986) studied the genetic yP of bread wheat cultivars released in northwestern Mexico over the 1950-82 period. They observed an average increase for the period of 59 kg/ha per year or about 1.1%/yr. Prior to 1970, Fischer and Wall (1976) had estimated a 2% increase per year. A comparison to pre-1970 cultivars indicated that increases in YP were associated to increases in grain number per unit area, mostly due to increased grain number per spike, 1000-grain weight being reduced slightly in the modern cultivars. Interestingly, the modern (post-1970) genotypes had, on average, 16% greater above-ground biomass. Forty three percent of the variation in grain yield was attributable to biomass, but grain yield and HI were not correlated. High grain number per m 2 was strongly, positively associated with higher biomass and hence to an improved grain sink size as well as strongly related to longer duration of the genotypes. HI in the most modern wheats in Waddington's study was low (30-44%), indicating the scope for increasing this value.Recent data obtained at CIMMYT (K. Sayre, unpubl.) studying bread wheat genotypes released between 1962 and 1988 show a significant positive correlation (r ;: 0.44) between grain yield and days to heading. The pre-heading period has increased with time while the grain filling period has decreased and it is negatively related to grain yield (r = -.23). These findings support the idea that increasing the spike growth period may produce a better sink for assimilate (Evans 1987) and indirectly induce a higher photosynthetic rate during grain filling. The net result has been an increase in crop duration with time accompanied by an increase in radiation use efficiency (kg/ha per day), primarily in the post-heading period. The grains per m 2 have increased significantly explaining a large proportion of grain yield variation (r = 0.75), while the number of spikes per m 2 and thousand grain weight have low (r = 0.17 and -0.10, respectively) correlations with grain yield. The total above-ground biomass has increased in the period studied..In a similar study, Austin et al. (1989) showed a higher yield in modem English winter wheat cultivars, associated with shorter stature, earlier flowering, and longer grain filling period, but similar total above-ground biomass. Modern cultivars tended to have more ears and grains per m 2 than their predecessors. Winter wheat improvement in the UK has led to different physiological changes than spring wheat improvement at CIMMYT.It is of interest to analyze durum wheat improvement at CIMMYT. While most bread wheat selection has been done by selecting for grain yield per se, in the case of durum wheat, breeding for high yield occurred, in part, by selecting for grain yield, but also by adopting the ideotype approach, that is by selecting for morphological characters considered to contribute to high grain yield (Waddington et at. 1987). The characters included reduced plant height, more erect leaf posture, and larger grain sink size resulting in a higher number of grains/spikelet. At the same time, above-ground biomass and HI increased during the period under study. Grain yield was correlated with biomass; harvest index; duration of the grain filling period; and number of spikes/m 2 , grains/m 2 , and grains/spike. The growing cycle was 4 to 5 days longer in the recent genotypes but most importantly, the period from emergence to anthesis was 8-13 days longer. An increased rate of biomass production was highly associated with grain yields as well as associated number of grains/m 2 coming from an increased number of grains per spikelet and spike.Slow spike development (where a large spike is produced with many florets of similar size) and the ability of the spike to compete successfully for assimilates (primarily with the stem during the period of rapid spike growth prior to anthesis) are considered keys to a high spike growth rate, a high number of grains, and, therefore, a high grain yield (Evans 1981). The more erect leaves in durum wheat presumably increase the assimilate supply to the plant during the period of rapid spike growth to anthesis. Fischer et at. (1981) provided evidence that spikes with a large number of grains are associated with higher leaf photosynthetic rates and more rapid accumulation of dry matter after anthesis in bread wheat in northwestern Mexico. Selections for a higher ratio of spike dry weight to above-ground dry weight around anthesis may help to identify genotypes with higher sink (maybe a longer period from emergence to anthesis while maintaining the spike growth rate). Selection for specific physiological traits appears to be associated with higher yields in durum wheat. A more erect canopy structure and a high number of grains per spikelet, in addition to selection of grain yield per se, need more definitive studies to prove that improved grain yields are a result.The ideotype approach Donald (1962) was probably the first to recognize the limitations and difficulties of yield component analysis due to the compensations between components. He proposed a dry matter-based approach, i.e., mainly only increases in total biomass and the harvest index (HI) would result in an increase in seed yield.Later, Donald (1968) proposed the concept of an ideotype as a general plant model that performs in a predictable manner in a given environment and as an aid to early generation selection. The ideotype identifies characters that have direct meaning for plant breeders as selection criteria, and are also susceptible to physiological analysis. DonalQ (1981) proposed a crop or communal ideotype that was an erect, sparsely tillered plant with small erect leaves, able to survive and produce in a competitive situation surrounded by plants of the same form. By definition, this ideotype performed very poorly in a wide spacing situation. The crop ideotype would have minimal resources invested in structure, and hence a higher HI. The ideotype plant was a weak competitor and it would take a minimum demand on resources per unit of dry matter produced, Le., maximum efficiency in resource use. The low competitive ability with like neighbors would then be associated in a crop stand to a high efficiency of conversion of resources (light, nutrients, carbon, and water) to dry matter and yield. Of interest, studies in an historical series of CIMMYT bread wheat genotypes appear to show that, when grown under optimum conditions, the higher yielding ones respond less to reduction in the level of competition for light and soil resources than the earlier, lower yielding ones (Reynolds, unpubl.). This may imply that bread wheat improvement is developing genotypes that are less exploitative of space but more efficient resource users.The attributes, suggested by the work of Donald and co-workers that would provide a high biological yield and high harvest index associated to low competitive ability, were summarized by Sedgley (1991) as:• Tolerance of similar plant forms in high density sowings.• Economy in the use of resources, Le., optimum HI with minimal investment in morphological structure.• Sensitivity to cultural practices (row spacing, weed control, other).• As many florets as are necessary to ensure that the ear has sufficient capacity to accept all photosynthates.• In many respects, this is a plant form that may be overlooked in the process of visual selection.The suggested characters for a weak competitor are: short, strong stems, single culm, erect leaves, few small leaves, large ear, erect ear, and presence of awns.Inherent in this approach is the aim to reduce the amount of empiricism in plant breeding by using more analysis (Sedgley 1991). In breeding practice, however, early generation selections are often done in plants planted widely spaced (Frspaced plants) and also in competition environments (F3 bulks) for the crop. As indicated, under these conditions the crop ideotype would perform very poorly because the preferred plants should be weak and poor competitors. Selections would be difficult in early generations (Marshall 1991) and those for vigor and biomass production may be counterproductive (Evans 1981, Donald 1981).The relationship between yield performance of cultivars (as crops) at high density versus that at low density or mixed culture is likely to be reversed; and as mentioned, the genotypes are exposed to low density and mixed culture during early selection stages to be grown later in dense pure cultures. Donald (1968) concluded that the actual development of crop ideotypes would have to depend initially on recognizing their morphology and their harvest index and not their success in competing with other genotypes. Early generation selections should be oriented to higher harvest index and for proven characters which are controlled by relatively few genes (Rasmusson 1987).Based on his experience with ideotype breeding in barley, Rasmusson (1991) suggested that, since plant breeders have selected and will continue to select for ideotype traits (maturity, height, kernel number and weight, head number, leaf area, angle, and duration), they might benefit from going a step further and specifying the desired goal or phenotype for each trait. He has found that pleiotropy, trait compensations, and inferior donor germplasm have slowed progress in ideotype breeding, but that good progress has been achieved for several traits (short stature, kernel number, kernel weight, and erect leaf angle) in his program. A major challenge is to identify traits worthy of an ideotype breeding effort. Ideotype traits should be tried in many gene combinations and incorporated into good genetic background; once freed of deleterious linkages, they should be valuable to a large number of researchers (Rasmusson 1991).Evans (1984,1987,1991), in a forward looking perspective, has analyzed opportunities for increasing the YP of wheat. He argues that \"there is no sign yet of an approaching yield plateau in either the UK or USA, and the gains from hybrid wheat and other advances have yet to be exploited.\" He cautions, however, that th~ increase in YP of wheat has been achieved without any increase in the rates of growth or photosynthesis hence without much change in aerial biomass, i.e., with weaker plants with a reduced investment in stems, leaves, roots, and reserves. He analyzed 5 areas of opportunity (Evans 1987) for increasing the YP of wheat: 1) growth and photosynthesis, 2) the timing of the reproductive cycle, 3) shift in biomass allocation, 4) regulatory processes, and 5) environmental responses.Evans recognized that each characteristic interacts not only with the environment, but also with the rest of the genome (e.g., with the Rht genes). He came to the conclusion that, for wheats with longer growing periods, the following are promising avenues to explore in future YP improvement:• Increased activity of RUBISCO (if variation is found);• Selection for local adaptation in the timing of the reproduction cycle such that there is an optimum balance between the main stages of the life cycle;• Further shifts in biomass allocation allowed by continued agronomic support to the crop such that HI may reach up to 60%; and• Selection for higher grain number (indirectly for faster or more prolonged photosynthesis during grain growth).The transformation of solar energy into harvestable plant parts can be logically and conveniently divided into three major processes:• Interception of incident solar radiation by the leaf canopy;• Conversion of the intercepted radiant energy to chemical potential energy (plant dry matter); and• Partitioning of the dry matter produced between the harvested parts and the rest of the plant.A wheat crop whh high YP needs to carry out these three processes efficiently and in a balanced way. A simple equation illustrates these processes (Hay and Walker, 1989):where: Y is the harvestable plant partes) or yield, Q is the total quantity of solar radiation received by t~e crop over the growing period, I is the fraction of Q intercepted by the crop canopy, E is the overall photosynthetic efficiency (total dry matter produced per unit of intercepted radiant energy), and H is the HI or the fraction of the total dry matter harvested as yield.Wheat is physiologically and genetically capable of much higher productivity and photosynthetic efficiency than has been recorded in field environments. Loomis and Williams (1963) calculated the maximum potential productivity for a single leaf to be about 1.78 g/molofphotosynthetic photons (PAR) or 8.20 g/MJ (assuming the average energy content of photosynthetic photons to be about 217 KJ/mol). Monteith (1981) estimated a conservative photosynthetic efficiency of 1.28 g/mol of PAR or 5.89 g/MJ with a quantum requirement of 20 mol of photons per mol of C02 fixed. Ehleringer and Pearcy (1983), however, obtained a quantum requirement of 13.7 at 16 0 C in normal CO 2 conditions and their data suggested that a quantum requirement of 13 might be achievable in C3 plants at about 13 o C. Bugbee and Salisbury (1988), by assuming a quantum requirement of 13, an absorption of the incident PAR of 95%, a respiratory carbon use efficiency of 75%, and 40% carbon in that plant mass, calculated a maximum crop growth rate of 1.64 g/mol of PAR (7.55 g/MJ PAR). This growth rate would be possible only with low-lipid plants in which the respiratory carbon use efficiency can be high. They grew wheat in a growth cabinet at 1200 ppm CO 2 and reached the calculated growth rate.Assuming a PAR of 43.2 mollm 2 per day (500 cal/cm 2 per day), the potential crop growth rate at 1.64 g/mol would be about 71 g/m 2 per day. Monteith (1978) reportedly obtained maximum short-term crop growth rates of 34 to 39 g/m 2 per day for C3 crops and 51 to 54 g/m 2 per day for C 4 crops. For the period from heading to maturity, values of 22.2 g/m 2 per day are obtained in well managed wheat plots in Cd. Obregon in northwestern Mexico (K. Sayre, unpub.), about 65% of the maximum short-term values reported by Monteith (1978).From equation 1, it can be seen that there are at least two major ways in which the rate in crop photosynthesis might be increased. One possibility is to increase the interception (I) of PAR by the canopy through the growing season by a faster approach to full cover. The other way is to increase the efficiency of conversion of PAR into dry mauer, perhaps by improving the distribution of PAR among the various leaves by modifying the canopy structure.Radiation interception by the canopy--For cereals and other crop species, there is a linear relationship between total dry matter and intercepted solar radiation (Monteith 1977).The extent to which the canopy intercepts the available radiation depends largely on leaf area index and to some extent on characteristics such as leaf angle and the arrangement of leaves in space.The optimum canopy architecture for maximum radiation interception and high rates of canopy photosynthesis and crop growth is necessarily different at various stages of the growth of a crop stand and at different levels of irradiance. In the early stages of growth, horizontal leaves would be an advantage in a row crop like wheat. There may be an advantage in switching to erect upper leaves after stem extension, but keeping the horizontal posture of the early lower leaves, particularly at high leaf area indices. This architecture is common in cereals and small advantages in canopy net photosynthesis have been found for erect leaf posture (Austin et al. 1976).The second major element of radiation interception on accumulated dry matter is the duration of the crop, with longer duration of crops intercepting more radiation.Photosynthetic efficiency--Quantum yield (the slope of the line of photosynthesis on radiation at low radiation) and the rate of photosynthesis at light saturation (Pmax) define the light response of photosynthesis at the leaf level. It appears that little genetic variation exists in quantum yield (Charles-Edwards 1978) being around 5 g C0:z/MJ PAR (Ehleringer and Pearcy 1983).The relation between biomass accumulation and photosynthetic rates is complex. It includes variation in photosynthetic rates among individual leaves, light distribution within the leaf canopy, and respiratory activity. The relationship between photosynthetic efficiency or radiation use efficiency and Pmax (Sinclair and Hoire 1989) predicts that, in C 3 _plants, increases in ligh-saturated CER above 1.3 mg C0 2 /m 2 /s will not have large effects on canopy photosynthetic efficiency and consequently on crop biomass accumulation. Decreased values of light saturated photosynthesis, however, have important effects on photosynthetic efficiency. This conclusion indicates that it would be difficult to derive crop yield responses to !enetic selection for high Pmax. On the contrary, at a Pmax below 1.2 mg COvm Is, CER has an important effect on photosynthetic efficiency.Other reasons for the little increase in yield with increased Pmax are pleiotropic effects on leaf area (reductions in leaf area and duration) and possible sink limitations. Significant increases in maximum photosynthesis per unit leaf area have been observed in wild diploid wheat ancestors (Evans and Dunstone 1970) and genes of these species can be transferred to wheat. The higher photosynthetic rate of the diploids appears to be related to smaller leaves with a higher mesophyll area to leaf area ratio. Notwithstanding Sinclair and Horie's conclusions, recently it has been reported that amphiploids derived from T. durum x T. urartu have shown significantly higher biomass. (Austin 1990).Photorespiration accounts for 25 to 50% of the C02 fixed by a number of C 3 species (Zelitch 1980). However, genotypes with low CO~ compensation points have not been found in wheat. Furthermore, there appears to be little scope to modify RUBISCO to decrease the oxigenase activity relative to the carboxylase activity (Austin 1989). However, by selecting for genotypes that do not have the cyanide resistant or alternative pathway of respiration, there is some hope that close to 45% of dark respired photosynthates may be reduced (Lambers 1985, Amthor 1989, Hay and Walker 1989). Selection for plants with lower mature leaf respiration per unit dry weight may result in higher yields (Wilson 1975, Day et al. 1985). The alternative respiration pathway (Lamber 1985) may be wasteful.Harvest index--Increases in HI have been considered the major cause for wheat yield increases during this century (Austin et al. 1980). Even though European winter wheats are getting close to a calculated maximum of around 60% (R.B. Austin, pers. comm.), the spring wheats produced at CIMMYT have an HI of around 45%, which still allows ample room for improvement. This route of improvement appears to be particularly interesting considering that most modem varieties at CIMMYT appear to have increased biomass and even lower HI (I<. Sayre, unpub.). As mentioned before, spike growth and development during the pre-anthesis period (which may be source-limited) appear to be one of the keys to increase potential yields in spring wheat (Fischer 1983). Source limitation during ear development and the early part becomes the dominant sink.It appears that the basic concept of Donald for improving selection efficiency for early generation is still valid. His proposed ideotype may be right in some aspects, but 20 years after his proposal, it is still controversial (Sedgley and Belford 1991). It seems that a challenge we still face today is the identification of traits and trait combination(s) that are worthy of an ideotype breeding effort for YP.From the retrospective analysis, it appears that a slow spike development rate accompanied by a higher number of grains per spike has an important effect on grains per , unit area, grain yield, and photosynthetic efficiency for post-anthesis growth. The low, but consistently negative correlations between grain yield and kernel weight appear to indicate that, in recent spring bread wheat cultivars, the sink limitation to grain yield is being relaxed and we could expect that, in time, a source limitation may become dominant. Ways to continue to increase the spike sink size should be explored, together with increased source intensity and duration. The literature appears to indicate that there is still room to improve radiation interception, I (early ground cover, longer crop duration), the photosynthetic efficiency, E (appropriate phenology, canopy architecture), and the harvest index, H, for spring bread wheat. Present field yields are within 30 to 40% of theoretically attainable yields, hence, there appears to be scope for YP improvement in MEl.The relationships between crop and plant physiology work at CIMMYT and the bread wheat breeding program are close. Efforts have been almost continuous in:• Suggesting crop manageme~t practices for specific environments;• Improving the basic understanding of achievements in breeding; and• Providing a better understanding of the effects of soil and environment on plants.Now, we are proposing to intensify the efforts by:• Testing the efficiency of using indirect selection traits in early generations;• Helping to identify parental material for high YP in breeding; and• Helping to understand the potential for crop improvement under particular environments.To cope with developing world needs, CIMMYTs wheat breeding strategies are designed for various agroecological zones or MEs. Wide adaptation is a predominant aim for the material sent to a given ME. Selections to address the needs of specific agroecological niches within an ME are the responsibility of the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARSs). The primary goal is, therefore, the development of broadly adapted diseaseresistant, high yielding, and stable germplasm within the context of each ME. Shuttle breeding within Mexico and international multilocation testing allow combining wide adaptation with a high YP.The breeding objectives for MEl are high YP, lodging resistance including maintenance of Rhtl and/or Rht2 dwarfing genes, improved industrial quality, and durable resistance to the rusts. Salinity and high temperature resistance and resistance to aphids and powdery mildew are additional targets for this ME.The parents used for crosses of material intended for MEl are generally varieties released in different countries, elite CIMMYT germplasm identified from international and CIMMYT testing, or advanced lines exhibiting good expression of a specific trait or traits. Specifically, the genotypic constitution of the MEl optimum environment germplasm is the following:• High yielding varieties and advanced lines (CIMMYT widely adapted varieties and CIMMYT high yielding lines);• Subcontinent varieties (India, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan);• Leaf rust resistant lines;• Good industrial quality (bread type and cookie type); and• High yielding under heat.With 1000 to 1200 crosses made each season, the selection program involves: In the selection methodology, individual plants selected from the F6 are bulked in the F7 to form PCs (small plots). These PCS are also sown as PYTs (unreplicated preliminary yield trials) during the Obregon winter cycle, providing information on YP, agronomic type (on a large-plot basis), and disease resistance (from PC inoculation). In the PYTs, the bottom end of the yield distribution is eliminated. Plots are 5 m x 8 rows, which give an effective harvest are of 5 m 2 .. Yield trials (YT) have three replications and are conducted in Obregon. The best lines are distributed in International Screening Nurseries (lBWSN) and International Yield Trials (ESWY1). Early generation selection for YP may improve the efficiency of selecting high yielding material from the F2 through F5 generations.PosslblUtles for Improving selection efficiency Grain yield being the target of selection, the logical parameter to select for is yield itself. It is known, however, that yield-based selections are only possible in the more advanced generations because it needs to be done in plots, therefore, some high yielding individuals present in the early generations (F 2 s, F.3s) may escape recognition, thus decreasing the efficiency of the selection process. It also appears that most plant breeders have a conceptual model of the plant type that they consider to be ideal and much discussion continues to evolve around the ideotype concept (Sedgley and Belford 1991). Indeed, selections based solely on yield appear to be rare, morphological traits usually being incorporated, though yield is always the dominant selection criterion. The incorporation of analytical traits other than yield appears to be generally a product of experience more than the result of any systematic research effort.Other than the difficulty in selecting for yield in early generations, a factor decreasing efficiency in breeding programs is their increase in size as yield improves and progress becomes more difficult. Under these circumstances, it appears appropriate to examine whether the efficiency of selection can be increased by using morphophysiological characters in a systematic way and their associated genetic parameters. The problem reduces to two major topics:• Identification, assessment, and verification of characters for indirect selection; and• Their.possible use in early generation selection.Trait identification and testing--Indirect selections are better based on traits chosen at the appropriate level of integration due to the complexities associated with plant growth and development (Acevedo and Ceccarelli 1989). It is usually possible to link two neighboring hierarchical levels of plant organization that are close to each other, but it is a more difficult task to relate yield to distant processes such as intermediate products of metabolism (e.g., Pearson et ai. 1987). Other than the distance in organizational level associated with the hierarchical plant order, there is a time and space consideration to take into account. Short-term responses are unlikely to be directly related to yield. Metabolic responses take minutes and occur at microscopic distances, while the formation of yield takes months and occurs in the field. But choosing traits at the proper level of integration, say plant organs such as spikes, leaves, and tillering is not enough. The combined effect of various traits is unlikely to be the result of a their linear combination. Classical examples are the number of established plants and tillering of cereals, and compensation among yield components (ears per plant, grains per ear, and grain size).Indirect selection for yield is necessary in the early stages of a breeding program. Selection criteria are required if the selection is to be better than taking a random subset of individuals (Wall 1978). The traits used in indirect selection must, additionally, satisfy a number of criteria:• The character should be easier to assess than yield.• There should be genetic variation for the trait in the population to be screened.The heritability of the trait should be high.• The trait should be causally related to yield, its correlation with yield being strong.• It should be assessed rapidly and inexpensively.Many traits have been proposed for indirect selections for yield (Clarke 1987, Wall 1978, Quail et a1. 1989) although very few of them have been shown to comply with the required criteria and hence be of use in breeding programs. The number of traits that have been verified, alone or in combination, is even lower. Acevedo and Ceccarelli (1989) suggested a procedure later expanded on by Ceccarelli et a1. (1991) to identify, assess, and verify single traits or a combination of traits to assist in yield selection. It involved the development of an ideotype by assembling a nursery of genotypes with enough diversity in the postulated traits to assess their worth for indirect selection for yield. Finally, verification of the traits was to be done through selection experiments using the experimental genotypes.They suggested conducting a selection experiment for different combinations of traits with the objective to develop all possible recombinants between the opposite expressions of the traits under investigation. In their barley example, four putative characters were chosen on the basis of their relationships with a stress resistance index (Acevedo and-Ceccarelli 1989), namely growth habit (GH), prostrate vs. erect; growth vigor (GV), poor vs. good; leaf color (LC), dark vs. pale; and days to heading (OH), early vs. late. Crosses were suggested between genotypes with highly contrasting expressions of all four characters, for example: Two additional groups--one selected for low yield and one for high yield--are needed to measure relative efficiency of selection. One unselected (random) group is needed to obtain estimates of response to selection free of bias due to genetic drift. The comparison between about 10 FJ families for each of the 19 groups will provide contrasts to measure the efficiency of different selection criteria on grain yield. For example, the contrast (where the numbers refer to the phenotypes listed above):[1,2,3,4,5,6,7.8] vs. [9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16] will give unbiased estimates of the effect of contrasting expressions of growth habit on grain yield at all combinations of the other three characters. Similarly, the contrasts:[ 1,2,3,4,13,14,15,16] vs. [5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12] [1,2,5,6,11,12,14,16] vs. [3,4,7,8,9,10,13,14] [1,3,5,7,10,12,14,16] vs. [2,4,6,8,9,11,13,15] will measure the efficiency of contrasting expressions of leaf color, growth vigor, and days to heading, respectively.The genetic structure of the F3 families makes it possible to measure the effect of combinations of two and three characters. For example the contrast:[1,2,3,4] vs. [9,10,11,12] will measure the combined effect on grain yield of prostrate growth habit and pale green leaves as opposed to erect habit and dark green leaves. Again, the contrast is independent of both growth vigor and days to heading.Many other contrasts including trait interaction can easily be built to test a number of alternative architectures.The efficiency of each selection criterion (single traits as well as combinations of traits) is measured by the ratio between the difference in grain yield (Oy) associated with a given contrast and the yield difference between the two groups selected for low (OY[LY1) and high (OY[HY1) grain yield. For example:(OY[1-8] -OY[9-16 1)/(GY[HY] -OY[LY]) measures the efficiency of using growth habit as a selection criterion relative to grain yield. The value of this ratio as an alternative selection criterion to grain yield will depend on the nature of the selection criterion itself. A weighting factor has to be introduced to take into account the substantial differences that may exist in the cost associated with different selection criteria.Such an experiment would also generate the genetic information associated with a selection experiment, the most relevant being realized heritability of the individual traits measured as:where: R (response to selection) is measured against the random group and S is the selection differential.The comparison of the genotypes generated by such a selection experiment would need to be validated across years and locations.Other methods can be used for trait validation. Near isogenic lines has been used successfully to test the effect of single traits (e.g., Quarrie 1981). Many isogenic pairs in different genetic backgrounds would be required to fully validate a trait and it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to test a combination of traits.Another method is work with random lines. To test if a selection made for a trait in an early generation (F:z) will relate to yield in an advanced generation, Wall (1978) reported on work done with 150 plants randomly selected out of 10 bread wheat populations. He measured 26 potential traits in the F 2 plants and observed their correlation with F4 plot yields. He observed that F2leafpermeability 3 weeks after anthesis, plant height, HI, leaf fire, kernel weight, leafwiC:Jth, and kernels per main spike had a significant correlation with F4 yields. In a similar but more comprehensive work, Quail et a1. (1989) tested 220 F3 lines taken at random from a multiple convergent cross among 16 parents representing elite CIMMYT germplasm. Yield was measured in theF g . The best correlation between F 3 traits, and grain yield i,n Fa were plant height, kernel weight, HI, leaf angle and spike number.CMP project underway--Research project MPBW9101 (Appendix 1) in the Crop Management and Physiology Subprogram commenced in November 1991. We believe it is a concrete attempt to study this indirect selection concept to increase the efficiency of selection for yP in MEL exceptions, we are at the beginning of our understanding of the effects of single morphophysiological traits on YP. A continued concerted effort is required in this area if CIMMYT is to continue to break barriers in YP improvement having an appropriate understanding of what are the underlying causes. In addition, the application of RFLP technology to yield improvement will likely depend on such an understanding.Objectives:To determine whether there are morphophysiological traits which, when assessed in early generation in populations derived from crosses between elite high yielding parents, are useful indirect selection criteria for yield potential in spring bread wheat. To assess usefulness in terms of progress per unit cost as compared to traditional methods, and in terms of consistency of success across a range of elite germplasm and MEl situations.A base nursery will be assembled with approximately 100 bread wheat genotypes. These genotypes represent a wide range of morphological, developmental, and presumably other physiological characters. The genotypes include an historical series of bread wheats released in the Yaqui Valley of northwestern Mexico--the best lines derived from the bread wheat programs at CIMMYT and ICARDA, bread wheat lines studied in a line source sprinkler at CIANOlMexico for yield potential and drought resistance and the best and lowest yielding lines of the 1990/91 yield trials at CIANO. Morphophysiological traits related to yield potential will be identified in this nursery by growing entries in optimally managed plot experiment in CIANO, commencing 1991•92.An assessment of the morphophysiological traits presently being used by the bread wheat program will be done through a divergent selection experiment using the F2.populations grown in BV91 of two crosses (GPOIIPR6Nee 6 and PFAU//HAHNX2/PRL). The parents of these crosses differ in the traits under consideration.After initial trait observations at CIANO, the possibility of identifying ideotraits or building and ideotype for MEl will be studied based on the trait correlations with grain yield, as in Craufurd et a1. (1991). The traits will be assessed individually by the strength of their correlation with grain yield following a methodology similar to the one described by Acevedo et a1. (1991). The verification of the traits will be done by crossing diverse parents and using divergent selection experiments as proposed by Acevedo and Ceccarelli (1989) and expanded by Ceccarelli et al (1991). In these selection experiments, individual as well as the most important combinations of traits will be tested.Literature cited: "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4ff54579a5d238185efc3ee447ff5b5c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d6bd228a-4707-4312-a4ba-8cb9727664d4/retrieve","id":"454851284"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5873c4bc-9955-4022-8928-d61563015741","content":"El sistema de túneles para la producción de material de siembra• Facilita la implementación de Sistemas de semillas en sitios rurales.• Integra a productores, a NARs, ONGs, a Universidades• Permite la distribución de material de siembra de clones con uso definido• Permite implementar emprendimientos locales comunitarios (de semilla y de transformación/uso)• Apoya programas de alimentación y seguridad alimentaria.• Refresca el material de siembra en las localidades (por ejemplo, para responder a problemas por Cuero de sapo) "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1bfc40360f27bce03d86d0cad73ce834","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7cb3ee31-56cb-43dd-9de5-680f8f9ec382/retrieve","id":"1625244964"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5ca9b31a-3b0b-4d5a-a619-e6404d5a93bf","content":"of shoppers buy unhealthy foodsof shoppers buy food items from haatsof shoppers prefer haats because of distance and convenienceof shoppers perceive healthy foods to be unsafe to eat Data Note 24 December 2023TAFSSA's district agrifood systems assessment aimed to interview three members from each household: an adult female (aged 20+ years), an adult male (aged 20+ years), and an adolescent (aged 10-19 years). Details on the household and respondent sampling strategy are provided at the end of this data note.This data note begins by presenting the background characteristics of households, focusing on the female and male adults responsible for purchasing food for their households. It then examines the frequency of food purchases of seven common food items (dal, eggs, fish, green leafy vegetables, bananas, biscuits, and deep-fried foods) in the past 12 months and the cost of the most recent purchase. Furthermore, the data note provides insights into the top three sources of food acquisition, the distance to these sources, and the reasons for preferring them.Finally, this data note delves into what drives respondents' purchasing decisions and their aspirations regarding food purchases. Definitions of different market types discussed in the data note and a list of the figures and tables are provided below.Haat: A market where food products are sold in bulk directly by manufacturers, farmers, or artisans at a fair price, usually in a permanent or semi-permanent structure.A multi-vendor market held on a specific day of the week, without a permanent infrastructure, where traders set up shops on the market day.Any retail shop without a fixed location, selling product(s) (single or multiple) using a pushcart or motor vehicle.Any type of single vendor shops at a fixed location selling groceries, vegetables, fruits, or animal-source foods such as meat, fish, and dairy.   WHAT FOOD IS BEING PURCHASED, AND HOW OFTEN?Figure 3. Frequency of purchase of food items in the last 12 months FINDINGS ✓ More male than female shoppers purchased fish and eggs at least once a week. ✓ Frequency of purchase of dal varied between male and female shoppers.• More male shoppers purchased dal at least once a week whereas more female shoppers purchased it once a month.✓ 95% shoppers purchased biscuits.✓ More female (82%) than male shoppers (74%) purchased deep fried foods.  Figure 5. Sources of most recent food purchases*✓ Shoppers traveled the farthest to get to weekly outdoor markets. ✓ >70% male shoppers purchased most food items from haats. ✓ Female shoppers purchased food items from varied sources. >50% purchased dal, fish, green leafy vegetables, and bananas from haats, and >45% purchased eggs and biscuits from retail outlets. ✓ 41% female and 38% male shoppers cited time and distance as a reason for preferring haats for food purchase.✓ 50% female shoppers cited convenience in shopping and quality as a reason for preferring weekly outdoor markets.. ✓ Majority of shoppers preferred purchasing from mobile vendors and retail outlets because of time and distance. ✓ Most male shoppers knew of the shops selling food items. ✓ Most shoppers felt most of the foods were easy to acquire. ✓ Most shoppers perceived deep fried foods to be unsafe to eat. ✓ Most shoppers perceived both healthy and unhealthy food items to be affordable, except for fish.✓ Most shoppers perceived their families to be enjoying both healthy and unhealthy foods. We selected 25 villages in the district with a probability proportional to the number of households that reside in each village. Within each village, we conducted a household listing to identify eligible households, that is those with adolescents (10-19 years old). From the households with adolescents, we randomly invited 20 households to participate in the survey. If a household refused, we replaced that household with another randomly selected eligible household, to retain a total of 1,000 households in the district. Thus, the findings reported in this data note are representative of rural households from this district that include an adolescent.Within households, one adult female aged 20+ years, one adult male aged 20+ years, and one adolescent aged 10-19 years were selected as the respondents for the survey. When multiple adolescents were living in a household, the oldest adolescent was selected. In some households, an adult male was not available (often due to migration for work). In such households, the female was the only adult respondent (See Table 1 for respondent sample sizes). At the beginning of the interview, the adult in the household primarily involved in agriculture (either male or female) and the adult primarily responsible for food purchasing (either male or female) were identified as the primary respondents. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"05f31a4304de96618107c97c9a478a12","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/345bc654-6ed8-413f-9bd6-b13e0f109148/retrieve","id":"-1655751333"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0e4feb46-4a9d-4652-acf4-f20b9902c384","content":"The SLP meeting is over. We've got the chance to look at what we have achieved, what are we busy with and what still need to be done.The SLP meeting 2010 (Addis Ababa, 9-10th December) is over. We were 12 participants representing the four different regions gathered in Addis Ababa to discuss the progress of the project \"Optimizing livelihood and environmental benefits from crop residues in smallholder crop-livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia: regional case studies.\" For programme and content details visit http://slp-cgiar.wikispaces.com.Send your comments or suggestions to d.valbuena@cgiar.orgIn the first session, Bruno Gerard and Diego Valbuena (ILRI-SLP-Ethiopia) gave an overview of the project and a small comparison between some of the sites based on the village survey conducted earlier by the regional teams. Then, a region representative gave a short presentation of to understand better the different regions and the diversity of mixed farming systems: Kindu Mekonnen (ILRI-Ethiopia) for East Africa; Sabine Homann (ICRISAT-Zimbabwe) for Southern Africa; Tahirou Abdoulaye (IITA-Nigeria) for West Africa; and Braja Swain (ILRI-India) for South Asia. Finally, Peter Ballantyne (ILRI-Ethiopia) guided us through a group session to identify the lessons learnt and project gaps in terms of the content, process and tools.In the second session, a discussion on the role of such models in the project took place. After that and thanks to WebEx (a video conf tool facilitated by IT group,www.webex.com), we could interact with Lieven Claessens (CIP-Kenya) and with Mark van Wijk (Wageningen University-The Netherlands). They both gave us a general introduction of their models and how they see the combination of scenarios and modelling. Then, Niels Teufel (ILRI-India) took us back to the objectives of the project to reassess our research priorities.Teamwork led by AlanThe morning of 10th Dec, we tried to refine the socio-economic indicators on which we need to focus to better analyze crop residue trade-offs, including past trends of residue management, storage of residues, farmers' decision-making and coping strategies. Then, Alan Duncan (ILRI-Ethiopia) started an exercise that helped us to identify the most important and uncertain drivers of the system in each region in the next 20 years (e.g. urbanization and development of export markets in West Africa). After putting more caffeine in our veins, we jumped to the sampling strategy of the household survey to be carried out early 2011. This was followed by a revision of the missing indicators in the questionnaire.In the fourth session, we concentrated efforts to draft a work plan for 2011. We defined also some milestones in the next coming months (http://slpcgiar.wikispaces.com/Workingplan). Household questionnaire and survey; analysis and reports of the different surveys, and modelling and debriefing meetings among other activities were defined. Project information and knowledge sharing was also discussed. Then Peter became too active taking control over the whole meeting and enlightened us with the different web-tools we can use to improve the communication among people inside and outside the project, including Yammer, Wiki and Google.Saturday early in the morning, we headed towards Guinchi to get a feeling of mixed farming systems in Ethiopia (Kees Swaans ILRI-Ethiopia also joined). We met with Kassahun Bekele (Field Researcher, Holeta Agriculture Research Centre-Ethiopia), who introduced us with some farmers of the area. This was a good way to get to understand better the challenges they face, including market access and feed availability. This fieldtrip also gave us the opportunity to test part of the household questionnaire. That was the last part of a fruitful meeting that helped us to update the project and focus on the next steps. It was also a great opportunity to work with a bunch of nice people.Testing the hh questionnaire in the field Field trip to Guinchi (ET) Eucalyptus, alternative feed?"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c293b4d11c960e724521ad6876d7bba7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f5177f78-55d8-450b-bbb4-f1dba9324b0d/retrieve","id":"1606259915"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f220b294-b054-4f27-b666-01523b82c674","content":"La agricultura en el futuro se enfrentará a grandes retos como un cambio atmosférico global que implicará un nuevo régimen climático y a tendencias demográ cas que exigirán una gestión audaz de las tierras dedicadas a la agricultura. El cultivo de palma de aceite, ante este escenario, tiene oportunidades para aprovechar tan grandes como lo son las amenazas a las que se debe enfrentar, y pese a que existen riesgos altos debido al cambio climático en las zonas tropicales, es cierto también que generar prácticas agrícolas climáticamente inteligentes en el cultivo de palma de aceite es factible y puede desencadenar bene cios para Colombia y esta agroindustria. : cambio climático, palma de aceite, mitigación, adaptación, aptitud climática, riesgos agroclimáticos. * Artículo de investigación e innovación científica y tecnológica. Revista Palmas. Bogotá (Colombia) vol. ( ) -, octubre-diciembre .Los retos actuales a los que se enfrenta el sector agropecuario mundial y el muy posible recrudecimiento de estos en el futuro, hacen que la pregunta de cómo prepararnos para enfrentarlos sea profundamente controversial. La agricultura se desenvolverá en un contexto inédito que puede afectar estructuralmente contamos con las herramientas su cientes para poder hacer frente a estos problemas complejos. Dos elementos sobresalen en el contexto actual y futuro del sector agropecuario: los cambios demográ cos globales y las distorsiones atmosféricas globales producidas por el efecto invernadero.Las tendencias poblacionales mundiales proyectan para 2050, bajo un escenario de fertilidad medio, unos 9.600 millones de seres humanos en el planeta ( , 2013). Pese a que es muy conocido el siguiente dato, y sin agenda oculta maltusiana, es impresionante recordar que la cantidad de humanos no superó los mil millones hasta el siglo XIX: el crecimiento exponencial demográ cas, siendo la aglomeración urbana la principal, la cual será cercana al 70 % en 2050 ( , 2012), lo que ha repercutido y repercutirá profundamente en los estilos de vida y, por ende, en la dieta humana, como se puede ver en la Figura 1.Estos factores generan la necesidad de aumentar en 70 % la producción de alimentos ( , 2010) en medio de recursos naturales escasos y una mayor demanda por otros productos agrícolas no alimenticios. Cabe mencionar dentro de este aspecto que la tierra arable con potencial agrícola es poca y se requiere conservar los usos naturales del suelo para que la agricultura siga bene ciándose de los diferentes servicios ecosistémicos que brinda la naturaleza prístina.Las tendencias cambiantes de las dietas también han mostrado un creciente aumento en la participación de los grandes cultivos de oleaginosas como fuente de calorías, esto en detrimento de alimentos básicos 2014). Bajo este marco, el crecimiento del área mundial cultivada en palma de aceite se ha triplicado en dos décadas alcanzando las 17 millones de hectáreas ( , 2013), mientras los precios han mantenido una tendencia creciente (Martinez, 2013). Situación similar presenta, en cuanto a precios y expansión, el cultivo de soya. En Colombia, la palma de aceite ocupa cerca de 476.000 hectáreas, lo que lo ha hecho el cuarto productor mundial (Fedepalma, 2013).Estos cambios en las cantidades y productos demandados del sector agrícola se desarrollarán en un contexto de un clima cambiante, producto de la interferencia antrópica en la composición química de la atmósfera. Las diferentes emisiones producto de las actividades humanas como la combustión de hidrocarburos, la fertilización nitrogenada, la degradación de desechos orgánicos y la fermentación entérica de la actividad pecuaria, han aumentado la presencia de dióxido de carbono, óxido nitroso, gas metano, entre otros (Figura 2). Tanto las concentraciones como la tasa de crecimiento de estos son inéditas para el tiempo del que se tienen datos ( , 2009).  La presencia de estos gases ha impactado el clima, trastornando lo regímenes de precipitación, el nivel del mar y la temperatura en el planeta (Figura 3). Entre más brusco y grande sea el cambio sicoquímico de la atmósfera, más fuertes serán las consecuencias (Banco Mundial, 2012). Dichos cambios en el comportamiento climático al que nos tiene acostumbrados el holoceno, tienen un impacto en la aptitud y productividad de la agricultura, poniendo en peligro una de las más importantes bases de la sociedad.En lo que respecta al rendimiento de los cultivos más representativos, el aumento de temperatura impactará negativamente, teniendo reducciones importantes en las zonas templadas, pero aún más pronunciadas Costa-Roberts, 2011). Es decir, el coletazo se sentirá más fuerte en donde menor responsabilidad existe,  el clima no parece conocer de nimiedades humanas como la justicia. Estos impactos en rendimientos pueden provocar retroalimentaciones negativas como impacto en la pobreza vía aumento de precios, reducción de la seguridad alimentaria a través de la escasez, convulsiones sociales, entre otros. Otras transformaciones como los cambios de aptitud en ciertas plagas, impacto de los aumentos de la concentración de CO 2 en la eciencia fotosintética en plantas C3 y C4, y aumento de los eventos extremos son más complejos de cuanti car ( , 2014), sin embargo, son claves para entender el impacto del cambio climático en la agricultura.En materia de seguridad alimentaria existe evidencia robusta que muestra que los precios de los alimentos son profundamente sensibles a eventos climáticos atípicos. No obstante, otros componentes como el precio del petróleo son muy importantes para la evolución de dichos valores ( , 2014).Por otro lado, es necesario tener en cuenta que el calentamiento no tiene que ser extremo para generar impactos importantes. Inclusive cumpliendo con la meta establecida en los acuerdos de Copenhague de mantener el calentamiento por debajo de los 2 grados sobre la media histórica, la producción agrícola puede ser afectada más intensamente en zonas intertropicales ( , 2014). Dicho objetivo internacional parece estar lejano si se toma en cuenta que entre el nivel de emisiones necesario para no sobrepasar la meta 1 y la situación resultado de los compromisos actuales (sin ser cumplidos rigurosamente) existe una brecha de 8-12 gigatoneladas de dióxido de carbono ( , 2013).Esta brecha representa, en términos proporcionales, unas 60 veces las emisiones de toda Colombia, de acuerdo con los valores expuestos en la Segunda Comunicación Nacional. El reto de reducción de emisiones para disminuir el riesgo de la interferencia antrópica en el sistema climático es preocupantemente alto. La agricultura se encuentra en una problemática profunda, con un contexto futuro cuando menos inquietante, donde es víctima del cambio climático, pero también culpable. Cerca del 24 % de las emisiones anuales se deben al sector que conglomera la agricultura, las actividades pecuarias, forestales y otros usos del suelo ( , 2014).Esto se mani esta de manera clara en la siguiente grá ca, la cual agrupa la evolución de las emisiones del sector (Agricultura, Silvicultura y Otros Usos del Suelo), dividiéndolo por subsectores (Figura 4).En Colombia la participación del sector es aun mayor, la agricultura por su cuenta genera el 38 % de emisiones anuales totales ( , 2009). A su vez, la producción agrícola se ha visto afectada por el clima en múltiples ocasiones. Los eventos extremos 1 Un nivel de probabilidades de 66 % para el Figura 4. Evolución de las emisiones del sector por subsectores.Fuente: IPCC (2014). 1970-1979 1990-1999 1980-1989 2000-2009 Residuos (con los que ha convivido desde siempre el territorio colombiano) han demostrado la poca capacidad de respuesta y la alta sensibilidad del sector frente a los fenómenos climáticos en múltiples dimensiones En la ola invernal de 2010-2011, el sector agrícola perdió 693.448 millones de pesos, tanto por áreas perdidas por inundación como por menores rendimientos asociados (Cepal, 2012). El sector palmicultor perdió 4.671 millones por imposibilidad de cosechar y 5.427 por disminución de rendimientos, lo que se traduce en una pérdida general de 10.118 millones (Cepal, 2012). Cabe mencionar que si bien la pérdida no es tan signicativa, de darse fenómenos extremos en zonas inten-La variabilidad climática es un concepto diferenciado del cambio climático, pues el primero se centra en los cambios, potencialmente extremos, del tiempo meteorológico y, el segundo se re ere a los cambios de patrones en niveles generales. Es, sin embargo, impactos en los eventos extremos, haciéndolos posiblemente más comunes y fuertes.En los estudios sobre el impacto de los cambios de patrones generales del clima, la agricultura en Colombia resalta por ser una actividad profundamente sensible. Esto implica que los riesgos que supone el cambio climático para el sector agrícola son muy altos y que los impactos pueden traducirse en elevados costos económicos.De acuerdo con análisis de impacto hechos particularmente en Colombia, se espera que en general, para cultivos determinados como estratégicos para el Departamento Nacional de Planeación, los rendimientos en las regiones productoras decrezcan ( -, 2014) (Figura 5). sultora , se ha dado un primer gran paso para transformar al clima de impredecible enemigo a aliado productivo. Dicho acuerdo relaciona a diferentes actores del sector, potenciando sus sinergias dentro de sus roles particulares. En este marco dicho esfuerzo tiene cuatro objetivos principales que mani estan lo ambicioso y relevante del acuerdo.En primera medida se están probando y validando opciones tecnológicas, con el n de que sean medidas de adaptación tanto al cambio climático global como a la variabilidad meteorológica local. También se ha brindado apoyo al sector mediante modelos de cultivo y pronósticos agroclimáticos para la gestión del riesgo. Por otro lado, se ha contribuido al cierre de brechas productivas mediante la aplicación de técnicas de agricultura especí ca por sitio.Por último, se han evaluado sistemas productivos y analizado potenciales oportunidades para establecer sistemas de pagos por servicios ambientales, con la intención de incentivar la sostenibilidad del sector.Mencionando cifras actualizadas, el convenio ha trabajado en más de 50 municipios, con más de 800 parcelas experimentales en 16 localidades, 200 sitios de trabajo en ncas, 120 eventos y talleres con más de 2.000 participantes de 70 organizaciones diferentes. Con innovación cientí ca, trabajo de campo, retroalimentación constante con productores y gremios se ha avanzado en el manejo de sitio y clima especí cos. Lo anterior mediante el estudio tanto de los factores no controlables (condiciones edá cas y climáticas) como los controlables (fenotipo y manejo agronómico).Lo anterior ha hecho surgir la necesidad de recabar la historia de cómo ha sido el comportamiento de los diferentes cultivos ante las diferentes situaciones climatológicas. Esto ha sido construido a partir de los esfuerzos previos por recabar esta importante información.Con base en datos ya existentes y otros nuevos, se han generado pronósticos agroclimáticos y probado prácticas agronómicas. A su vez, mediante la evaluación de diferentes variedades de cultivo y el desarrollo de modelaciones siológicas y fenológicas, la agricultura colombiana ha dado un paso importante en aumentar su resiliencia climática. Esto ha permitido casos de éxito importantes, siendo los más recien-Norte de Santander mediante la aplicación de técni-El contexto anteriormente descrito hace necesario que productores, gremios, tomadores de decisión, academia, organizaciones no gubernamentales y demás actores se tomen muy en serio el, valga la tautología, problema más serio al que el sector se ha enfrentado.La sensibilidad mostrada por la agricultura colombiana frente al clima, la relevancia de la práctica en la generación de empleo y la salud de la población, además de las ventajas comparativas que tiene el sector por sus condiciones biofísicas, hacen necesarias políticas públicas nacionales y regionales ambiciosas.La respuesta debe ser alguna que entienda el reto que implica ser más e ciente en el uso de recursos naturales y enfrentarse a un clima riesgoso. Todo lo anterior mientras se aprovechan las oportunidades de alimentar a una población creciente 2 y condiciones ecológicas inmejorables.Un nuevo enfoque basado en una agricultura climáticamente inteligente, que incremente sosteniblemente la producción, apoye el reto global de mitigar el cambio climático y responda ante los riesgos que este supone.Desde 2010 el Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural y el Centro de Investigación en Agricultura Tropical ( ) han venido realizando un trabajo conjunto con el objetivo de aumentar la resiliencia de la agricultura colombiana frente a los retos climáticos y productivos, actuales y futuros.Con el apoyo de gremios como Fedearroz, Fenalce, instituciones asociadas a organizaciones de productores como Fedepalma, fundaciones como Fundesot y Biofuturo, centros de investigación como y Cenipalma, Biotec, la corporación Clayuca y la con-2 De acuerdo con un informe de la en conjunto con la citado por Mary Stokes en el artículo para El País: Al producir alimentos, ¿nos estamos comiendo el planeta?, Asía y América Latina serán las responsables del 75 % de la producción agrícola durante la próxima década. cas de Big Data para pronósticos agroclimáticos. Esto permitió salvaguardar 1.800 hectáreas mediante un cambio de fechas de siembra que optimizó el comportamiento del cultivo frente a la radiación solar. La iniciativa previamente mencionada fue merecedora de un galardón en el marco del reto Big Data y Cambio Climático realizado por la Cumbre Mundial sobre el Clima de 2014.Actualmente el convenio está trabajando en palma de aceite, colaborando especí camente en la medición de la evapotranspiración y el impacto de las condiciones hídricas en el desarrollo y la producción del cultivo. Por otro lado, se están realizando los análisis correspondientes para la generación de un balance de emisiones y jaciones de dióxido de carbono equivalente en palma de aceite, en conjunto con Cenipalma.Pese a los actuales esfuerzos del y Cenipalma es necesario continuar con los estudios para aumentar la base de conocimientos que permitan volver a la palma de aceite un ejemplo de agricultura climáticamente inteligente. ¿Cómo reaccionará este importante sector ante los cambios particulares del clima en Colombia?, ¿Cómo puede contribuir a paliar los efectos del cambio climático?, estas son preguntas claves para las cuales todavía no se cuenta con la información necesaria, empero vale la pena analizar lo existente.Impacto del cambio climático en la palma de aceite La gran pregunta sobre el futuro del sector es aquella relacionada con las nuevas condiciones de producción que serán determinadas por los cambios en el sistema climático global. Esto teniendo en cuenta que en un sistema interrelacionado como la biósfera, un cambio en las condiciones atmosféricas generará cambios en otros elementos del sistema que aún no logramos dilucidar del todo. Como todas las potenciales transformaciones afectarán la producción de palma, es ciertamente un ejercicio que se desarrolla en alta incertidumbre, sobre todo por la multitud de variables y las interrelaciones entre estas.Tomando en cuenta las variables principales de temperatura y precipitación bajo un escenario de ca-lentamiento intermedio (A2a 3 ) en el marco de un modelo climático de circulación global, las proyecciones de aptitud para palma de aceite decrecen mundial-El contexto meteorológico futuro, en la zona actual del cultivo de palma que es la tropical de baja altitud, tendrá como principal característica el aumento de temperatura, causada por el aumento de la radiación solar de onda larga en la troposfera. Bajo estas condiciones se puede esperar una migración de la aptitud hacia zonas subtropicales, dado que estas áreas se volverán más calientes, esto hace parte del fe-Pese a que existen pocos análisis de evolución de la aptitud de la palma de aceite frente al cambio clide la temperatura se puede traducir en una disminución de la e ciencia fotosintética después de que se sobrepasa cierto umbral. Lo anterior debido a la condición de la ruta metabólica C3 característica de la palma de aceite, la cual es afectada por la temperatura incremental del aire propia de un escenario de cambio climático.En la Tabla 1, generada en el estudio, algo entra-Innovación y Tecnología, se puede observar que un aumento de temperatura en conjunto con un decrecimiento del agua, puede generar un efecto negativo en los rendimientos del cultivo.Lo anterior teniendo en cuenta, incluso, el aumento potencial debido al enriquecimiento en C0 2 del aire. Cabe mencionar que todavía los estudios con aire enriquecido con dióxido de carbono son escasos y poco concluyentes. Ahora bien, son signi cativamente preponderantes en la literatura cientí ca aquellos realizados en el Sudeste Asiático, debido al peso relativo de dichos países en la producción. Pero no es 3 Elemento intermedio de la familia de escenarios del AR4 del Panel Internacional en Cambio Climático creados a partir de escenarios proyectados de concentración y emisiones de Gases de Efecto Invernadero, dependientes de narrativas socio-económicas futuras.Convenio -: La adaptación al cambio climático, una necesidad para el sector et al.adecuado extrapolar los mismos resultados a Colombia, ya que no toman en cuenta las particularidades propias del país.Sin embargo, dichas conclusiones sirven para tener guías que pueden generar conclusiones preliminares. Teniendo en cuenta las proyecciones para los trópicos sudamericanos de aumento de temperatura y reducción de la humedad de los suelos ( , 2014) puede preverse pérdidas de aptitud y rendimientos.En un ejercicio con un modelo ligero de aptitud agroclimático bajo un escenario A2a para 2050 realizado para cuatro municipios representativos en la producción de palma africana en Colombia, se puede ver que tomando en cuenta solo variables de temperatura y precipitación, existirá a futuro una pérdida de aptitud (Figuras 6 a-b).Como se puede notar, la aptitud a niveles generales se ve disminuida por el efecto de las nuevas con-1. Cifras estimadas sobre el cambio climático 2020-2060. Fuente: (MOSTI, 2001). ( ) -, octubre-diciembre diciones climáticas. Ahora bien, como se mencionó anteriormente, los impactos dependerán de muchos otros factores que van a ser afectados por el cambio climático global, pero todas sus interrelaciones y retroalimentaciones no son lo su cientemente conocidas. Los eventos extremos, los cambios en los suelos, el enriquecimiento del aire en dióxido de carbono, el ozono troposférico y el cambio en la distribución de plagas son algunos de los elementos que se deben tener en cuenta para proyectar los impactos en un cultivo con alta certidumbre.Algunos trabajos se han realizado para determinar el impacto del cambio climático en las enfermedades que afectan la palma de aceite, sin embargo, son para condiciones del Sudeste Asiático. En este sentido frente a enfermedades como Fusarium, Ganoderma y otras relacionadas con hongos pueden aumentarse el rango, la distribución y la cantidad de vectores (Paterestrés hídrico y aumento de temperatura, con disponibilidad arti cial de aguas, pueden potenciar distin-Saber el comportamiento futuro de plagas locales como la Phytophthora palmivora en presencia del nuevo régimen climático es necesario para la salud ante los nuevos regímenes de temperatura, humedad y condiciones ecológicas sigue siendo un misterio.El cambio climático supone riesgos para la palma africana, particularmente altos para las zonas inter-tropicales. Las nuevas condiciones pueden provocar distorsiones de las zonas aptas afectando fuertemente a los países productores actuales y favoreciendo a zonas subtropicales. Es entonces una necesidad imperante continuar con los estudios y aumentar la resiliencia del sector ante el clima.Es también importante indagar en la otra cara de la moneda: el efecto que el cultivo tiene en el potenciamiento o en la mitigación del cambio climático. Donde la primera problemática asociada a la palma de aceite es la aptitud que presenta en zonas donde hay bosques tropicales. Esta es la razón por la cual en el Sudeste Asiático la actividad palmicultora ha tenido una importante participación en la deforestación de selvas húmedas (Figura 7).Dicha situación puede hacer que la huella de carbono del sector aumente exponencialmente puesto que los ecosistemas que reemplaza se caracterizan por un alto stock de carbono, llegando a liberarse, en una hectárea deforestada, 850 toneladas de dióxido de carbono equivalente (Sheil et al., 2009).Esta relación supone un riesgo no solo al generar tensiones sociopolíticas sino al exacerbar el fenómeno que afecta la sostenibilidad del cultivo a largo plazo. Sin embargo, como se ha demostrado, la palma de aceite puede darse en concordancia con los ecosistemas húmedos tropicales y potenciar el desa- rrollo mediante la intensi cación sostenible (Rival Por lo pronto, la palma de aceite en Colombia se ha establecido en lugares donde no existían selvas húmedas tropicales, y su potencial de expansión en zonas con baja biomasa inicial es alto (Henson, Ruiz, potencialidad de recuperar tierras degradadas y aumentar exponencialmente su productividad, lo que se puede traducir en una absorción importante de dió-Singleton, 2011). Lo anterior parte del hecho que, de acuerdo con análisis preliminares, en una plantación madura de palma de aceite pueden haber capturadas hasta 300 toneladas de dióxido de carbono equivalente (Tomich et al., 2002).Los análisis que en este momento están siendo realizados en el marco del Convenio -permitirán tener datos obtenidos a partir de información sobre las particularidades del sector en Colombia.El cambio climático global será el contexto en el que se desarrollará la agricultura en las siguientes décadas, incluido el cultivo de palma. El nivel de riesgo que esto suponga para la vida de nuestra especie depende de aquello que estemos dispuestos a hacer. Más que nunca una agricultura que entienda su contexto biofísico y social mediante la investigación es una necesidad para que el siglo XXI, sea uno de posibilidades y no uno de escasez. Enfrentarnos a este reto requiere imaginación y audacia, virtudes que nos hemos dado el lujo de olvidar en el campo colombiano durante muchas décadas. Las oportunidades están sobre el campo colombiano, es factible pensar en décadas mejores. La palma de aceite puede ser parte de la solución pero se requieren esfuerzos importantes para encontrar las sinergias entre mitigación, adaptación, cuidado del medio ambiente y mejora de la rentabilidad. El está dispuesto a hacer su parte."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"933de602a42a9ca9d6dc819ec3c6b51f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0161b41a-d549-437b-80aa-a8c200ce3852/retrieve","id":"-707556901"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"91fa9edb-001f-4f4f-b3ab-3a3e254e8a35","content":"No effect based on herd management type (p=0.1) and herd isolation (p=0.6)"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"79bd29cffdd04d6a27122b73d87527e7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/697e6c0a-9226-48f7-a18d-872262f48aea/retrieve","id":"-1644937850"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b4aa5df7-45db-4e0c-a35d-9ebf48de220a","content":"This brief provides a summary of the workshop and the outcomes of the consultation, and demonstrates the first steps towards adaptive, sustainable and nutrition-sensitive transformation of aquatic food systems.The long-term vision of the National Health Sector Nutrition Strategic Plan 2022-2026 is to ensure that all Timorese population groups are free from all forms of malnutrition (Ministry of Health 2022). The fisheries sector plays a significant role in this strategic plan as aquatic foods are a source of high-quality protein, essential fatty acids and micronutrients.However, the average fish consumption in Timor-Leste was estimated at 6.1 kg/person/year in 2011, much lower than among neighboring nations (Farmery et al. 2020). Increasing fish consumption could improve the country's nutritional situation (López-Angarita et al. 2019). While women are more frequently reported as catchers of freshwater foods, men lead hunting and vessel-based sea fishing (Bonis-Profumo et al. 2022). At least 50% of womenWorkshop report from Viqueque Municipality, Timor-Leste Photo credit: Gianna Bonis Profumo/WorldFish in coastal areas are involved in gleaning as a frequent, yet unrecognized, fishing activity (Tilley et al. 2021). Thus, as a basis for fish production and management of marine resources, not only livelihoods but also nutrition and inclusion should be primary considerations.Climate change is one of the major threats to island nations (Roscher et al. 2020). As such, adaptive approaches, enhanced resilience and biodiversity conservation are essential to develop thriving and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture sectors. Despite the Indigenous approach of tara bandu (customary protection mechanisms) being recognized in law as a legitimate means of responsible use of coastal, marine and other resources, the integration of this approach into co-management and participation in management decision-making remain a vital challenge in the fisheries sector.Global agendas continue to focus on food systems transformation. In Timor-Leste, many foods are produced in villages, so rural people, organizations and practices have a foundational role in defining a nutritious food future. Aquatic foods are often sourced from rural coastal areas of supply to places of demand or need. Localizing what global agendas mean in practice for municipal aquatic food systems in Timor-Leste can help enable practical action for positive change. In Viqueque Municipality, many stakeholders are active in areas of nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food and nutrition security. They have a central role in defining what a positive aquatic food systems future looks like and how aquatic foods can be included in the food and nutrition security agenda.On 4 July 2022, WorldFish conducted a workshop in Viqueque Vila to consult with partners and stakeholders and validate action research activities to a multi-level audience. The activities share a focus on strengthening aquatic food systems, including sustainable fish production and farming, equitable and safe fish access, and consumption of nutritious aquatic foods to diversify diets in the context of a changing climate. The workshop aimed to consult with national and district stakeholders from communities, community groups, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and government.In total, 49 participants attended: 14 women to 35 men. They included national and municipal representatives from the DG-FAMR and other directorates of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF), municipal and local authorities, health officers and community membersranging from fishers and gleaners to fish traders and sellers -as well as other stakeholders such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), ADRA and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), local NGOs such as Cruz Vermelha Timor-Leste (CVTL, Red Cross of Timor-Leste) and Grupo Horticultura Viqueque, and members of women's groups.The workshop had the following objectives:• raise awareness about WorldFish activities in Viqueque Municipality and our partnership with the DG-FAMR • understand the priorities of municipality-level partners and how WorldFish activities align • strengthen partnerships in Viqueque and explore new ones • identify stakeholders' views on fisheries sectors characteristics, such as fish-aggregating devices (FADs) and gleaning.The day's proceedings comprised the following structure:• The workshop was opened by the President of the Viqueque Municipal Authority, Mr Januario Soares, and a representative of the Director General of the DG-FAMR, Mr Joni Freitas. • WorldFish introduced its work in Timor-Leste and the new projects and planned activities in this municipality (Box 1). These focus on inclusive nutrition security and climate adaptation on the fisheries sector that foster women's empowerment and reduce gender barriers in food systems.Figure 1. Diagrams of the \"aquatic food systems\" approach implemented by WorldFish.• The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), a partner on the nutrition-sensitive fisheries management (NSFM) project, gave a presentation on the nutritional value of fish for health and balanced diets, particularly for pregnant and lactating women and young children, followed by discussion and reflections by workshop participants. • Workshop participants worked in groups to characterize fisheries sectors, boats/FADs and gleaning, and understand recent climatic changes and their impacts. • Closing remarks were given by Mr Carlos Pinto, the Director of Agriculture in Viqueque.The workshop introduced a localized concept of aquatic food systems that WorldFish applies throughout its activities and projects, and which covers the whole system when considered at the country level (Figure 1). For instance, WorldFish work supports fisheries and aquaculture production, promotes community-led governance models, strengthens distribution practices and supports livelihoods based on aquatic resources, while improving nutrition and promoting traditional knowledge on fisheries.Workshop participants were divided into five groups by topic, whose discussions are summarized below. The aim was to gain information from participants on the structure of fisheries sectors, boats/FADs and gleaning, marine and coastal resources, and recent climatic changes in Viqueque.While the NSFM project (Box 1) focuses on Adarai community, learning from the experiences and knowledge from other communities in this municipality is very useful for the Ikan Adapt project.Tenure systems regulate how individuals and groups gain access to land and other natural resources and determine the rights and duties associated with land use and ownership. Marine and coastal resources have significant potential to support livelihoods and household nutrition in communities and can be managed by applying the principles of sustainable development while ensuring marine conservation efforts. The state of the coastal and marine environments and their capacity to support nutrition outcomes are strongly interwoven in the fisheries sectors. The main output of the group discussion was:Marine and coastal resources are accessible to everyone, but to exploit such resources like fish, people must be recognized as fishers or community members. Everyone can take sand as a building material, for example, but there are specific bans for species such as turtles, dolphins and whales. In addition, using poison for fishing, cast nets and seines is not allowed.Three communities -Fatudere, Uma Wain Leten and Maluru-have formed a Fisheries Center in Adarai. The fishers who belong to the center can access the marine resources. Some in the group stated that fishers from other communities cannot fish in those waters, while others thought that marine resources were a public good. In the past, fishers in Adarai established a tara bandu regulation to manage the catch of long toms and limit the time of day when fishing was allowed. However, this does not exist anymore. This mechanism, the group mentioned, can be effective in protecting marine species at the local level and ensuring that vital components of ecosystems are protected for biodiversity conservation. Some group members discussed that Adarai used to have FADs but they were cut after several years and never reinstalled, despite helping to increase catches.To ensure the sustainability of marine and coastal resources, the group stated that the national government must have a strong policy. While the government has established some policies and regulations for biodiversity conservation, tara bandu can also be a conduit for the protection of resources.In Luca community, local authorities, including the Xefe Suku (Village Chief), Lia-nain (culture custodian) and youth, agreed to set tara bandu for catching fish and shrimp in the Bee Ain lake. Community members catch fish and shrimp once a year after a ceremony of thanksgiving for the harvest.The group discussion concluded that the governance systems for marine resource management are developed in the Constitution of Timor-Leste, decree-laws and ministerial diplomas. MAF in the municipality has conferred with community leaders about joint management plans (such as a ban on killing wild animals, tara bandu to access the river or lake, and banning the use of poison to catch fish).Overall, both men and women participate in fishing and gleaning activities, especially those aged 12-60 years. They usually fish using nets and boats, and through gleaning.Most of these activities provide income across the different seasons and primarily deliver fresh fish, dried fish and dried octopus to the market, while some also sell grilled fish and the traditional ikan saboko (fish baked in palm leaves). Some process fish and make bakso ikan (fish ball soup) and ikan abon (shredded fish). Fish and seafood are also used for home consumption. Some species are only available during particular months. For example, people typically look for octopus in the wet season. Fishing activities on the south coast of Timor-Leste, which includes Viqueque, differ from the north coast due to weather patterns such as larger waves and strong winds at certain times of the year. As a result, there is no spearfishing in Viqueque. According to the group, women's participation in fisheries and gleaning is likely lower than for women on the north coast, due to the rough sea.Gleaning is the most frequent fishing activity among women and children on the south coast. They catch species beyond \"fish\", such as crabs, shells, octopus and sea urchins, which are very important for food security and nutrition. windy season becomes a barrier for those who live in coastal areas to go out to sea to fish. Moreover, people living in the mountains are challenged to fish and glean because of the distance to the coast and lack of transportation. There are also very limited boats for fishing, including a lack of fishing nets. The group summarized that barriers to fishing and gleaning are lack of knowledge, limited funding and equipment, distance to the coast, elderly age, physical health and the impacts of climate change.The weather is different than in the past. During Indonesian times, the normal rainy season was about four months, while today the rains have increased to six months. All agreed that there has been an increase in temperatures that has reduced access to clean water in the dry season, while the rains are heavier. Some group members believed that the winds are now stronger than before. In addition, some mentioned that current fish and seafood catches are not as large as in the past.Climate change is thought to have increased the frequency of natural disasters that destroy community assets and wealth, directly impacting the economy of families that depend on agriculture and fishing activities. Such events, such as heavy rain causing flooding and landslides, also affect the mobility of those who live in the mountains, as well as food availability. For example, recent floods have resulted in rivers overflowing and causing substantial damage to rice fields and vegetable gardens. Strong rains cause high waves too, which make fishing more difficult. This can result in coastal communities not consuming fresh fish for a month during the rough season.Workshop participants were divided into five groups by topic, whose discussions are summarized below. The aim was to gain information from participants on the structure of fisheries sectors, boats/FADsWhile we have access to the sea, it is difficult for people in Timor-Leste to consume fish often and have good nutrition. With WorldFish's presence we hope to advance these issues. This is a good opportunity for our municipality and to modernize the fisheries sector.I am happy that several fisherwomen also participate here, as often only men talk during discussions on fisheries. It is important for communities to manage their marine resources well.The development of aquaculture in the mountains is very important because I think the nutrition that fish provide should not only be accessible to coastal communities, but also for upland communities.I appreciate that we discuss about fish and its nutrition, as in Timor-Leste, often when women are lactating [they] do not consume fish.As a gleaner, we are using very traditional methods and equipment for gleaning. We need research findings to increase our knowledge as well as training.Faustina da Costa, gleaner, Fatudere (Adarai)Francisco Amaral, Village Chief, Maluro (Beaçu)What will the programs implement? We have been asking for a FAD for a long time as the last one was cut after its installation. We need training to know what foods from the sea are nutritious for pregnant women and children.In Adarai and Beaçu, we consume seashells often but do not know their nutritional value, do they have beneficial vitamins? We would really like to know that.When we had a FAD, fishermen could find enough fish quickly, but since it was lost, fishing has been more difficult. Also, my observation is that in the coast there is lots of fish but access to fruits and vegetables is low due to difficulties to grow them.To be healthy we need to eat a balanced diet.\"Paulo Soares Filipe, Village Chief, Fatudere (Adarai)During 2023-24, WorldFish will build on outcomes from this workshop to implement action research and activities that seek to integrate nutrition-sensitive approaches to fisheries management and develop contextualized adaptive solutions to climate change. A key feature of NFSM is working with the selected communities to identify nutrition issues and co-develop solutions, as well as explore governance models on natural resources and characterize boat/FADs and gleaning fisheries sectors. Ikan Adapt activities will focus on the municipality level to develop adaptive, resilient and inclusive aquatic food systems. Partnerships are being strengthened with municipal government officers and other stakeholders to support these activities and research program to work towards food and nutrition security."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"49d39d2491e2742149ba03a1abfe5d64","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4d5f6997-608c-4bd6-b2e6-2a858b3e92c1/retrieve","id":"-1899073068"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8ecf70d2-90ce-4a60-ab7c-b301da1e3c24","content":"The human environment interaction influences the natural resource management. It needs to be clarified and understood by concerned stakeholders to ensure practical development. In lower northeast Thailand, the interaction between water dynamic of rainfed lowland rice ecosystem and labour migration plays a crucial role in shaping this agricultural community. Farmers' decision-making processes with regard to on-farm activities are generally determined by water and labour availability. The Royal Thai Government has been trying to alleviate the climatic risk by building small-scale water retentions but the impact is still limited. In this research, an innovative approach, Companion Modelling (ComMod), is used to build collective comprehension regarding such interaction via an associated key tools, Role-Playing Game (RPG) and Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) model with stakeholders throughout the research process. A comprehensive knowledge of interactions and representation of system components would help to design more adapted investments. Therefore, this research aims at understanding and modelling the interactions between water dynamics, land use, and labour migration. The hydrological model was built to represent the water balance, soil properties, and land-use types. Based on the initial conceptual model, rulebased social agents are implemented to represent the decision-making processes of heterogeneous stakeholders regarding farm and off-farm employment. The paper shows how a MAS model is used for collective discussion and scenario exploration with the stakeholders. The results of the game sessions and their use for improving the model are also presented. Finally the results of the simulation of a baseline scenario are discussed.\"It is a gamble on the monsoon\" a famous statement was posted by Lord Curzon in 1905. It was applied to agricultural practices under the vagaries of monsoon (Swaminathan 2005). This statement has been challenged to prove wrong for years. Sadly, his statement, even a century later, seems to hold good. Moreover, such the gamble becomes more complex because it causes various emergent phenomena and inventions rooted on our attempt to alleviate harsh environment interacting with our social and economic dynamics. For the decades, the pressure of rapid growth of population induces many environmental changes since we have to rival each other in order to achieve our own goal on the basis of limited natural resources. The outcome of our action is, in fact, influenced by interaction between ecological and socioeconomic dynamics. A key to win \"the gamble\" is to better understand how humans interact with each other and their natural environment. However, research on such interaction is complex, because of multiple scales of interaction and response; a high frequency of nonlinearity, uncertainty, and time lags; and diverse stakeholders (Costanza et al. 2002). An appropriate approach must be able to identify and implement decision-making processes, evolve as collective learning with stakeholders, develop tools that represent the real circumstance in scope of problem domain, encourage the shared representations of various stakeholders, and motivate behavioural changes. The aim of this communication is to present to you:• State of the art of an innovative approach, Companion Modelling (ComMod) for knowledge integration and stakeholders' empowerment, • Construction of Role-Playing Game (RPG) and a family of Multi-Agent Systems The Kingdom of Thailand is known as the \"Golden Land\", in recognition of the high productivity of its farmlands and forests that benefit from the southeast monsoon. An evolution of this fertile country is based on the agricultural and technological development, by commerce and the slow infusion and mixing of diverse ethnics and cultures. The interplay between the cultural history, and technology and the country's natural resources has shaped today's Thailand, with all its economic potential and indubitable social and renewable resource problems. In the Northeast Thailand, these problems are more serious since 80% of farmland in this region is dominated by the highest water and labour demanded production, rainfed lowland rice (RLR). With the harsh environment especially water scarcity, the rice yield is very low about 1.8 t ha -1 (Somrith 1997). Even if the higher farm gate price rice variety \"Jasmine aromatic rice\" is largely produced in this region, it cannot compensate the low productivity that causes relatively low economic return. With regard to low household income of its people (252 US dollars per month), the region is known to be the poorest region in the country. According to 2002 census, the Northeast was the largest populated region, with 20.7 million inhabitants and a population density of 122.9 persons per km 2 . In the middle and late 1980s, a remarkable economic growth in Thailand made the urban-rural relationship more direct in term of people's migration and circulation of information and money (Konchan et al. 1996). Comparing to other regions, the flow of labour in the Northeast Thailand is highest. The main season of migration is to search for higher profitable employment and the career change from farmers to wage-earners. The wage has been increasingly dominated other sources of income that used to mainly rely upon the agricultural products.  Migration is considered a strategy to alleviate poverty, which is a result of the interaction between unfavourable agro-ecological conditions and the lack of local economic opportunity (Skeldon 2002). The migration rate is very high in this community causing farm labour at household level becomes inadequate. Due to inevitable flow of capitalism and the state agencies intervention to reduce climatic risks, the changes of traditional labour system (mutual help) and land/water utilization of local farmers are emerged to cope with household labour shortage. Hired labour has been a major source of farm labour replacing the family labour that migrates to cities. The diverging means of production including water accessibility invested by state agencies play an indispensable role in supporting the diversified cropping calendars, which are important for the existence of local labour market. In addition, a social problem regarding fragmented families is increasingly important to be taken into account as a result of migration.The ComMod approach stems from adaptive management approach for collective ecosystem management. The approach aims to empower local stakeholders by increasing their adaptive capacity with regard to their renewable resources management (Bousquet et al. 2005). It also aims at building a family of simulation models integrating various stakeholders' perceptions to develop a shared representation of the systems to be managed and of the problem to be examined, and to use them in an interactive process within the context of platforms for collective learning. The objective is to understand the interaction between ecological and socioeconomic dynamics and to support learning process leading to collective agreement. The MAS model is based on the idea that it is possible to represent the behaviour of entities in computerized form, which are active in the world, and that it is possible to represent a phenomenon as the outcome of the interactions among an assembly of agents with their own operational autonomy (Ferber 1999). However the structure and rules of the RPG and MAS model is not completely the same because the RPG needs simpler to be organized and easier to be understood by the players.Most of the ComMod projects deal with the complex situations in reality. Therefore, the important information regarding stakeholder decision-making processes, often embedded in mutual recognition, need to be acquired but the difficulty arises because the stakeholders need to be stimulated by interacting with real situation. The RPG seems appropriate to favour the involvement of the stakeholders to express their actions through the game designed to represent their real circumstance. At the same time, participants gain an idea of what the model is and they are then capable to following simulation and helping researchers to validate the MAS model (Bousquet 2002).The new knowledge from RPG is used to enrich the conceptual model and build a MAS model. The model, then, will be used in participatory simulations to facilitate the mediation process to derive and share common representation toward situation under study, and to enhance decision-making process by simulating alternatives scenario collectively suggested by stakeholders.Knowledge synthesis and conceptual model formalization A farm survey was carried out in the central part of the Lam Dome Yai watershed to identify the different main types of household-based agricultural production systems and to understand the determining factors of labour migrations among these different categories of farming households (Naivinit et al. 2004). The findings of this field survey integrating with interdisciplinary scientists' point of views were used to formalize the initial conceptual model as a series of class, activity, and sequence diagrams in the Unified Modelling Language (UML). These UML diagrams are an important base for model implementation. They represent 1) structure and relationship of components in system under study (Fig. 4), and 2) farmers' decision-making processes regarding land, water, and labour management (Fig. 5).  Role-Playing Games (RPGs) were constructed to be used for participatory modelling workshops with concerned stakeholders. In this research, according to the objectives of RPG which focused on acquiring mutual recognition regarding rice production and labour migration of different farm types when dealing with different climatic situations and the water infrastructure improvement, some components such as forest, human settlement were not included. Generally, in this community, migration is considered as a collective decisionmaking process within a family. As a result, 11 households with two family members per a household were invited to join in the participatory workshops. All decisions were recorded and analyzed during individual interviews and plenary discussions after the game sessions to clarify the players' decision-making processes and actions during the games. The results were used to enrich the initial conceptual model and then construct a MAS model.Unlike RPG, the level of complexity of MAS model varies depending on the purpose of application. As a science-driven model, it characterizes more randomness and details dealing with scientific theories and stakeholders' perception for scientific explanation regarding the ecological and social processes. Nonetheless, it is more appropriate to implement a stakeholder-driven model regardless of randomness and scientific theories for knowledge sharing and facilitation of collective discussion. The science-driven MAS model consists of two integrated elements. The biophysical element was constructed to represent spatial data based on a GIS map (5 land use types, 12 soil series, and toposequence ranging from 120-210 meter). The prototype of hydrological processes was originally built at field level by a hydrologist (Lacombe et al. 2005). More variables regarding the spatial configuration and climatic variability were added to represent biophysical settings of the Lam Dome Yai watershed. The total simulated area is 1,680 km 2 with 0.16 km 2 cell-grid size (Fig. 6). The rule-based agents representing decision-makers (farmers) were implemented in this biophysical model as land/water users, and source of labour. As a result, the phenomenon regarding the change of land use and migratory patterns can be emerged from such virtual human-environment interaction. The model is built in CORMAS (Common-Pool Resources Multi-Agent System) platform, which is a programming environment dedicated to the creation of Multi-Agent systems, with a focus on the domain of natural resources management. CORMAS is being developed at CIRAD in Montpellier, France, and is based on the object-oriented language Smalltalk. The science-driven MAS model was not tested during the participatory workshop because it was not simple enough to reflect the proposed RPG and could be difficult for players to understand and for moderators to explain at this stage of the process. The objective of using the MAS model during this workshop was to make the players be able to conceive the relationship between the RPG and the simulation and to facilitate the collective discussion among them. To serve such purpose, a stakeholder-driven MAS model based on the same conceptual model as the science-driven MAS model was implemented to represent exactly the same rules and sequence as the RPG.The result shows that communication among stakeholders was significantly improved during the presentation of the stakeholder-driven MAS model (compared to the RPG played the previous day). The follow-up interviews with individual participants elucidate the relationship between the RPG and the MAS model that the RPG mainly helps the stakeholders to understand the rules and sequence of MAS simulation. Whereas the MAS model \"playing the game\" helps the stakeholders to better understand their situation. Without the RPG, it is not possible for stakeholders to understand the MAS simulations. Furthermore, all players agreed that the game represented their current situation regarding land/water use and labour migration.The pattern of agricultural productions that closely interlink with labour migration is mainly determined by the distribution of rainfall. However, additional water resources such as farm ponds provide more flexible to farmers to start their rice production earlier so that the farmers can finish harvesting sooner and sell rice when its price is highest. For small holders, they generally do not have access to water resources and have to wait for the rain. Furthermore, it is necessary for them to be helped by returned migrant when producing rice. They become the important source of labour supply in the village. The migrants are considered as seasonal migrants who move to search off-farm employment when there is no local employment. For medium and large holders, the migratory pattern is more repeated migrants. The migrants do not return to help family during rice production but remit money to their families. Since the land-labour ratio for the medium and large holders is very high, they need to hire more labours during the utmost labour demand. The result of RPG shows that the diversity of farming systems mainly determined by water availability plays a major role in supporting local labour market because different farm types have different cropping calendar especially the calendar for rice production at the beginning of the rice cropping season. With this existing local labour market, the labour shortage at household level can be alleviated by hiring the neighbours whose paddy field is in waiting period. A scenario of irrigation was introduced into the RPG. The result shows that small holders were more adaptive to take advantage of this water accessibility while it had little impact on medium and large holders. The small holders grew more cash crops in dry season and there were fewer migrants in this type of farm (Fig 7). The medium and large holders who normally rely on hired labour cannot plant dry-season crops because small holders who are the main source of labour supply are not available. This indicated that the improvement of water infrastructure only would not help all farmers to intensify their farm production because it could induce the labour scarcity which is also important to determine the capability of agricultural production in this community.Follow-up individual interviews were carried out to clarify the decisions-making of players during the game sessions. The social processes regarding decision-making process on rice production and labour migration were validated. The conceptual model dealing with stakeholders' decision-making process at stage of land preparation for rice production was modified by adding new rules to rule-based agents; examine rice for family consumption of previous year and estimate need of rice for family consumption for current year in case of drought. The simulation of a baseline scenario was discussed among the players during the presentation of MAS simulation and baseline histograms in the participatory modelling workshop in April 2006. The result shows that an irrigated canal, which was introduced in the game, effectively provoked the farm intensification of small holders but not other types. However, the participants suggested that other types of water improvement such as individual farm ponds and artesian wells could be better solutions. These new knowledge regarding water improvement will be used to enrich the conceptual model and build a MAS model. The further discussion with stakeholders is needed to identify practical development in this community.Water availability is an important determinant for the farmers to decide whether to produce agricultural goods or migrate for off-farm employment. The erratic rainfall distribution and long dry season causing the poverty force this community to possess the high rate of migration leading to more fragmented families. Nevertheless, the alleviation of climatic risk such as an irrigated canal would not effectively motivate all farmers to intensify their farm production and change their migratory behaviours. In contrast, it would cause the labour shortage at community level to be more serious. The use of associated key tools, RPG and MAS model, in iterative way with high level of stakeholders' participation throughout the research process would help the farmers to build common understanding of the defined problems. Moreover, it is possible to use a MAS simulation for collective discussion among stakeholders. Thus, the MAS simulation based on the enriched conceptual model will be used with concerned stakeholders in series of participatory simulations for scenario exploration targeting at the collective agreement on desired development in this community."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"489f15f42063d2cf78ea8825acfa7d87","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/34f64236-3444-4cc5-880b-4e8223a62a01/retrieve","id":"-835806866"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3dc6ac0d-e5b5-4f3b-93a0-921bc07afcbe","content":"innovadoras para que la papa y el camote alcancen su pleno potencial para ayudar a satisfacer las apremiantes necesidades mundiales de seguridad alimentaria y nutrición.La investigación para el desarrollo de soluciones innovadoras incluye los recientes descubrimientos en genética, bioinformática, interacciones plantas-patógenos, control de enfermedades, biología celular y del desarrollo, y otros avances científicos en evolución. El CIP es un líder en mejoramiento convencional y de cultivos, sin embargo la complejidad genética de la papa y el camote retarda el ritmo de las ganancias científicas. Para acelerar el proceso, el CIP ha recurrido al premejoramiento, la genómica, la captura de alelos y otras biotecnologías. Los científicos del Centro están usando tecnologías de vanguardia para el mejoramiento de cultivos, vigilancia y diagnóstico de plagas, control de enfermedades, teledetección y microbiología de suelos. Estamos trabajando para abordar las prioridades a mediano y largo plazo -una papa libre de enfermedades y un camote resistente a las plagas-que ofrezcan productividad esencial, sanidad y ganancias económicas mediante el uso de múltiples genes de especies distantes.Este programa científico aborda los diversos temas de vulnerabilidad alimentaria que afrontan las comunidades marginales en las regiones aptas para la siembra de papa y camote, y es un desarrollo natural de la exhaustiva investigación biofísica y social del CIP en los sistemas agrícolas y alimentarios. Esta iniciativa incluye complejos sistemas científicos en áreas como los contextos agrícolas y recursos naturales, las interacciones clima-agricultura, el modelamiento predictivo, los sistemas participativos de información geográfica, la evaluación de cultivos biofortificados y soluciones alimentarias para la nutrición, y la conservación in situ y el uso de los recursos genéticos de los cultivos.Inicialmente centrado en América Latina y Asia, en los próximos años se podrán añadir sitios de investigación de sistemas en África. A medida que las herramientas y métodos del programa del sistema de alimentos resilientes se vayan refinando, contribuirán a establecer una agenda de investigación mejor enfocada en la seguridad alimentaria y la perspectiva de género de otros programas del CIP. Este programa también edifica un trabajo sólido de modelamiento de los factores agroecológicos necesarios para entender los futuros escenarios de la papa y el camote y un plan de adaptación de estrategias.La conservación in situ y ex situ de la diversidad genética es crítica para conservar y monitorear los cambios en los recursos fitogenéticos mundiales de la agricultura y la alimentación. La pérdida de la diversidad genética -especialmente de los parientes silvestres de los cultivos-tiende a limitar la capacidad de los fitomejoradores, investigadores y agricultores para mejorar la nutrición, la generación de ingresos y la sostenibilidad. Aumentar la eficiencia en la conservación y uso de los recursos genéticos contribuirá al desarrollo de variedades de papa y camote que puedan garantizar la productividad global de alimentos saludables.El CIP trabaja para conservar la diversidad genética mundial de la papa y el camote con el fin de asegurar su disponibilidad para el mejoramiento y otros usos. El banco de germoplasma del CIP sirve como un modelo por su investigación avanzada, diseños de bases de datos públicas y uso genómico interactivo de las colecciones, al tiempo que trabaja en esfuerzos fitosanitarios con otros bancos genéticos para garantizar que el material limpio tenga un respaldo, para prevenir las pérdidas de diversidad. Cumple un papel fundamental en la facilitación de la liberación de nuevas tecnologías y productos, especialmente de variedades adaptadas para los agricultores y consumidores. El banco de germoplasma también alberga la única colección global segura de raíces y tubérculos andinos, cuyos atributos genéticos, fisiológicos y bioquímicos están comenzando a ser explorados por la comunidad científica. El banco de germoplasma está obteniendo la huella dactilar genómica de sus colecciones para clarificar la diversidad de sus accesiones. Su constante descubrimiento y la recopilación de información asociada a sus características serán de gran ayuda para los afanes de los científicos de fortalecer la seguridad alimentaria y la nutrición en las próximas décadas.• Sembrada en aproximadamente 130 países, la papa es el tercer cultivo alimenticio más importante del mundo después del arroz y el trigo (1 ha de papa puede producir entre dos a cuatro veces el valor alimenticio de los cultivos de granos). • China es el mayor productor del mundo: cosecha más de 73 millones de toneladas anuales.• Más de mil millones de personas en todo el mundo consumen papa.Papa Camote• El camote es una raíz de almacenamiento, no un tubérculo como la papa. • El camote puede sembrarse desde el nivel del mar hasta los 2500 metros de altura y tiene variedad de colores que van desde el blanco y amarillo hasta el anaranjado y morado.• A nivel mundial, el camote es el sexto cultivo alimenticio más importante después del arroz, trigo, papa, maíz y yuca, pero en los países en desarrollo se ubica en el quinto lugar.• Anualmente se producen más de 105 millones de toneladas en el mundo; el 95% en los países en desarrollo.• El camote también es un alimento sano y barato para los animales. Los estudios sugieren que el ganado alimentado con lianas de camote produce menos metano, lo que potencialmente podría mitigar el calentamiento global.• Tan solo 125 gramos de camote fresco de pulpa anaranjada contiene suficiente betacaroteno para proveer la provitamina A que un preescolar necesita diariamente. El cultivo también es una fuente valiosa de vitaminas B, C y E.• Hay alrededor de 5,000 variedades diferentes de papa, la mayoría de ellas se encuentran solo en los Andes.• Las papas pueden crecer en casi cualquier clima, desde el nivel del mar hasta los 4700 metros de altura.• Las papas producen más comida por unidad de agua que cualquier otro cultivo importante.• Sancochada, una papa de tamaño mediano contiene aproximadamente la mitad de los requerimientos diarios de vitamina C de un adulto y cantidades significativas de vitamina B, hierro, potasio y zinc. En términos de consumo humano, la papa es el tercer cultivo alimenticio más importante del planeta después del arroz y el trigo. Más de mil millones de personas consumen papa en todo el mundo, y su producción total sobrepasa los 300 millones de toneladas métricas a nivel mundial. En algunas partes del África, la papa cubre los meses cuando se produce la \"brecha del hambre\" y a la vez que garantiza la seguridad alimentaria, es un cultivo comercial. Y cada vez más es visto como un cultivo nutritivo. Sancochada, una papa de tamaño mediano contiene casi la mitad de los requerimientos diarios de vitamina C de un adulto, además de cantidades significativas de vitamina B, hierro, potasio y zinc.El camote, especialmente el de pulpa anaranjada, es un cultivo cada vez más estratégico en la lucha contra los perniciosos problemas de nutrición en los países en desarrollo. El camote produce más energía comestible por hectárea por día que el trigo, el arroz o la yuca. Y es una buena fuente de carbohidratos, fibra y micronutrientes. Tan solo 125 gramos de camote de pulpa anaranjada contienen suficiente betacaroteno para proporcionar los requerimientos diarios de vitamina A de un infante en edad preescolar.El CIP es un actor clave para la investigación y el desarrollo de ambos cultivos. Tenemos 45 años de investigación y desarrollo en las cadenas de valor a nivel mundial, con alianzas y socios establecidos a lo largo de esta cadena. Por lo tanto, para los próximos diez años contamos con una estrategia para aumentar y proporcionar un impacto a una escala significativa en los hogares del mundo en desarrollo.El Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) fue fundado en 1971. Es una institución de investigación y desarrollo (I+D) agrícola especializada en raíces y tubérculos para proporcionar soluciones sostenibles a los problemas mundiales de hambre, pobreza y degradación de los recursos naturales. El CIP tiene su sedeVitales para la Seguridad Alimentaria y la Nutrición plagas y enfermedades, producir mejores rendimientos y obtener mejores cualidades nutritivas y culinarias.Nuestros científicos sociales brindan esa misma dedicación para ayudar a los agricultores rurales y comunidades a entender, adoptar y beneficiarse de las últimas tecnologías y prácticas del cultivo de raíces y tubérculos adaptadas a diferentes agroecologías, sistemas de producción y cadenas de valor.En su informe de 2014 \"Estado de la Inseguridad Alimentaria en el Mundo\", la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y Alimentación (FAO) estima que más de 800 millones de personas alrededor del mundo sufren desnutrición crónica. Muchos agricultores de las regiones más pobres del mundo están acosados por prácticas agronómicas deficientes, la sobre dependencia de los monocultivos y las barreras para acceder a los mercados. En consecuencia, los rendimientos de cultivos alimenticios abundantes y nutritivos se ven seriamente reducidos y su disponibilidad para las poblaciones rurales y urbanas es limitada. El crecimiento demográfico se sumará a la urgencia de abordar estos problemas: se prevé que aproximadamente 9 mil millones de personas poblarán el planeta para 2050, y otros dos mil millones para 2100.El cambio climático acrecentará aún más el reto de alimentar a toda esa población. Las tierras agrícolas de las zonas costeras bajas que son cruciales para la producción de granos -situadas mayormente en Asia-están amenazadas por las inundaciones inducidas por el cambio climático. Se espera que el aumento de las temperaturas incremente la incidencia e intensidad de las plagas y enfermedades de los cultivos, mientras que amplias franjas del planeta experimentarán sequías severas. El CIP afronta estos temas mediante asociaciones alrededor del mundo para desarrollar tecnologías y estrategias que ayuden a los agricultores a adaptarse y prosperar.En respuesta a los desafíos del desarrollo agrícola del siglo XXI, el CIP ha organizado su misión y actividades alrededor de seis objetivos programáticos. Tres programas están enfocados en esfuerzos de I+D para reforzar la capacidad del camote y la papa de mejorar los cultivos, la nutrición y las economías de los pequeños agricultores en las diferentes agroecologías del mundo.Con el fin de orientar nuestro trabajo y medir su valor, hemos establecido objetivos agresivos a 10 años con una línea de tiempo que garantizará a los usuarios beneficiarse más rápido, a medida que los esfuerzos de escalamiento lleguen a un mayor número de personas que aprovecharán el impacto de nuestros programas.Dos programas adicionales trasladan los resultados científicos del CIP a áreas fundamentales de la biotecnología, la ciencia de avanzada y la investigación de sistemas para ayudar a los problemas de seguridad nutricional y alimentaria que están indisolublemente ligados a dos retos que definen nuestro siglo: el cambio climático y el crecimiento demográfico. Finalmente, el banco de germoplasma de papa, camote y raíces y tubérculos andinos del CIP funciona como \"el alma y el corazón\" de las operaciones de I+D del Centro y de las iniciativas orientadas a resultados.Las papas de maduración precoz mejorarán los sistemas de productividad y los ingresos agrícolas de por lo menos 7 millones de hogares en China, Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Pakistán, Nepal, y centro de Asia.Para mejorar la seguridad alimentaria y los ingresos en Asia, los mejoradores de papa del CIP están desarrollando variedades de papa \"ágil\", de maduración precoz, que puedan resistir los estreses bióticos y abióticos pero con características deseadas por los consumidores y procesadores industriales. Pueden crecer durante periodos de barbecho de los diversos sistemas de cereales, ofreciendo un complemento rentable y nutritivo para los bajos ingresos provenientes de los cereales en las regiones subtropicales del Asia. Adaptables a un amplio rango de sistemas de cultivo en ambientes subtropicales, templados y de tierras altas, las papas ágiles proporcionan flexibilidad en tiempos de siembra y pueden aliviar la presión donde los recursos hídricos y la tierra son escasos. Mejoran los ingresos agrícolas y las actividades de valor añadido, y amortiguan el impacto de la inflación de los precios de los cereales entre los consumidores de bajosEl CIP está respondiendo a las demandas nacionales y regionales para tener papas más saludables y robustas. Pero las semillas de buena calidad para las variedades resilientes son escasas en Asia, lo que limita en gran medida la producción de papa en esa región. Para superar este severo cuello de botella, trabajamos con socios locales, regionales y nacionales en el mejoramiento de variedades candidatas de papa de élite adaptadas, y en tecnologías de sistemas de cultivo. Esos socios están usando nuestros productos de investigación para ampliar la entrega de semillas mejoradas de variedades adecuadas, diversificar la cadena de valor y las prácticas de manejo ecológico.Las semillas de alta calidad de variedades de papa robustas, preferidas por el mercado y biofortificadas mejorarán las condiciones de vida de por lo menos 600,000 hogares de pequeños agricultores en las regiones productoras de papa de África, cuyos agricultores aumentarán sus rendimientos de papa hasta en 15 t/ha y sus ingresos en, por lo menos, US$800 por ha por estación. A través de los efectos multiplicadores, 3 millones adicionales de familias se beneficiarán con este programa.Los agricultores de las tierras altas de África tienden a sembrar papas en periodos muy cercanos de rotación o bajo constante monocultivo. Esto permite que las enfermedades se acumulen en los tubérculos semilla y los rendimientos declinen, lo que deja a los agricultores con menos productos para vender. Las semillas de papa de los mercados locales o de los campos de agricultores a menudo están infectadas con virus y bacterias que se acumulan y propagan en las reservas de semillas almacenadas por ellos y en los sistemas de semillas en general.Pocos agricultores saben cómo seleccionar semillas de calidad de sus propias cosechas, mientras que una cadena de valor debilitada limita el acceso de los agricultores a semillas de calidad provenientes de variedades de papa adaptadas y biofortificadas.La respuesta del CIP ha sido mejorar variedades de papa adaptadas y resistentes a las enfermedades y usar técnicas de multiplicación rápida de semillas que reducen de cinco a tres el número de generaciones necesarias (3G) para la reproducción. De esta manera se acelera la producción de semillas de alta calidad destinadas a los pequeños agricultores de papa de África, donde miles están adoptando ya las semillas de calidad 3G y mejores prácticas agronómicas, obteniendo mejores rendimientos y precios de mercado. El CIP también trabaja con socios agrícolas locales de I+D para realizar investigación adaptativa de tecnologías para el manejo de semillas de calidad en finca, manejo integrado de cultivos y almacenamiento poscosecha para los productores de papa semilla y para consumo.Las presiones que el crecimiento demográfico y el cambio climático pondrán en la productividad agrícola implican la necesidad de acelerar la ganancia genética para alimentar al mundo. La investigación de vanguardia, la ciencia y la tecnología serán fundamentales para producir soluciones central en el Perú y oficinas en más de 20 países del mundo.La ciencia bien fundamentada conduce a mejorar los medios de vida. Los pequeños agricultores consiguen rendimientos más altos, en los hogares madres e hijos tienen una mejor salud nutricional y en los mercados los agricultores están logrando mejores precios. En el mundo en desarrollo, el trabajo del CIP con raíces y tubérculos fortalece la seguridad alimentaria y nutricional y promueve mejores rendimientos, productos climáticamente inteligentes y mejores manejos poscosecha, cimientos del crecimiento económico y la prosperidad.Los programas de I+D de papa y camote del CIP, junto con la entrega de productos de la ciencia de los cultivos y de las mejores prácticas, pone en millones de manos de agricultores y familias de las comunidades de todo el mundo herramientas para mejorar las cosechas, los ingresos y la salud. Los científicos de plantas y los mejoradores del CIP trabajan con una serie de socios y agricultores para mejorar las de por sí excepcionales raíces y tubérculos y hacerlas más resistentes a las severidades del clima,"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8958f85e1e9e441135f374884fa874a5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/549a3912-fb2d-496b-8644-1eb8239fad27/retrieve","id":"1144319148"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"980b0d6c-8e77-4b99-a0fb-0df2ef1631d6","content":"Five early-career researchers recently had the chance to pitch new gender research ideas, receive feedback from colleagues and win a prize to take their idea to the next step.It can be hard when you are starting out in international agricultural research. Nobody knows who you are, and you are not sure if your keenly loved ideas have merit. Added to that, it is hard to convince people that your ideas should be a priority when allocating scarce nancial resources.To tackle these challenges, we invited ve early-career researchers to put themselves forward for \"GenderVision! The idea contest\" at the CGIAR GENDER Science Exchange, organized by the CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform last month. Inspired by the song contest, Eurovision!, contestants pitched their research ideas in order to win USD 10,000 to take their dream project forward.A pitch for a context-specific understanding of 'empowerment'The contest started out with each contestant delivering brief, twominute pitches in front of a large audience. Then they moved to separate booths where their peers, including more experienced researchers, challenged them with tough questions, while also offering constructive feedback, contacts and resources. Elias added that researchers tend to gain their skills-for example to be able to communicate ideas effectively and to speak to the issue of gender in food systems research-over time and by navigating the system that enables their research and their access to resources.The GENDER Impact Platform addresses many of the professional development needs of early-career gender researchers, including by supporting them to be and remain at the cutting-edge of concepts, theories, and methodologies in gender in food systems research. \"We often have very little time to pique the interest of our peers, decision-makers and funders -thus the importance of having a well-tuned 'elevator speech' when such opportunities arise.\"\"Most senior researchers have gotten there over the years through some amount of trial and error, often with limited guidance, but some of that can be taught to ease the way for early-career researchers and give them a little push in those areas, to have more wind in their sails,\" Elias said.\"We believe that supporting early-career researchers to gain these professional and leadership skills will allow them to gain in uence in the system to bring gender equality and social inclusion to the center of the food systems agenda,\" Elias said.Contestants displaying their certi cates. From left: Fred Shimali, Irina Tefy, Esther Achandi, Francois Iradukunda and Faridul Haque (Photo by N. Ronoh/GENDER Impact Platform).Four more gender research pitches Irina Tefy, AfricaRice, pitched a research idea to use visual elements involving video scenarios to better understand the complexity of decision-making at the level of a woman herself.Fred Shimali, Makerere University (GREAT), pitched a holistic approach to empowerment with emphasis on having empowerment centered around research, having the right research teams in terms of knowledge, skills and gender composition, and working with both men and women as co-creators of projects. His advice to other earlycareer researchers:Francois Iradukunda, Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, pitched a tool for a rapid, participatory, stepwise diagnosis procedure to inform a best-t gender approach.Faridul Haque, WorldFish, pitched a scoping study to investigate current gender dynamics and how these shape the barriers and opportunities for men to engage with nutrition programs. His advice to other early-career researchers:See all pitches in the GenderVision! slide deck.\"Discussion with other gender researchers enriched my ideas so much and enlightened me on points I had not really thought about; and most importantly, I was able to get in touch with other researchers who are already using videos as a method of survey.\"\"Early-career researchers ought to know that the solution to the current challenges lies within their hands and that every idea In these ways, the GenderVision! contest helped further the professional development of early-career gender researchers, while also building connections and a sense of community.\"We want to support the creation of social capital and networks to allow researchers to nd each other, collaborate, mentor and support each other -all of which is important for the collective impact of our research,\" concluded Elias. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"77a456f3454afcaafeefe119e581603e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c375f7d8-8794-476a-9abd-6ee79507213d/retrieve","id":"-1338526610"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7bfe64e9-c87f-4753-9119-a117abb65b40","content":"national average is 1.7 tJha, clearly indicating that a threefold yield increase-compared to experiment-station yields-and a twofold increase-compared to fanners' field trials-is possible,To achieve this, new technological advances are to be made in the area of crop improvement through participatory plant breedíng and partícipatory varietal selection. This will facilitate fue rapid adoption of newly released varieties, along with a faster seed-replacement rate. And ultimately, fanners will get varieties wifu fueir preferred traits. This will further help in the identification and release oflocation-specific wheat varieties for different agroecological niches.  Figure 2 illustrates the presen! and past wheat varietal development process of tbe wheat variety release system. Farmers' informal participation starts from tbe initial evaluation trial onwards, where farmer-visitor groups are allowed to evaluate wheat genotypes planted at different research ,tations. Coordinated farmers' field trials are carried out in tbe farmers' fields in multilocational test sites. The genotypes in on-farm trials are evaluated jointly by farmers and researchers. As in farmers' acceptance tests, small seed kits of pre-released and released varieties are distributed to a number of farm families tbroughout tbe country, along with a questionnaire to be retumed by them. The questionnaire used in evaluating coordinated farmers' field trials and tbe farmers' acceptance test are given in annex l. Frontline, on-farm research is a triangular activity where farmers, extension personne1, and research scientists are involved right from síte selection to variety evaluation.In frontline research, a complete technology package is introduced, along with an improved variety, in a large area where many farmers are allowed to join in. In the district seed self-sufficiency program, tbe multiplication of seed from recently released varieties is carried out jointly by farrners groups, extension personnel, and research scientists. The seed produced is procured and marketed by tbe farmers groups tbems<;lves. A part of tbis wheat-research program is continuously supplying genetic materials to several NGOs and actively participating in variety-evaluation work.Thus, with tbe involvement of farmers and various developmental agencies, tbe participatory crop-improvement program could help in (1) the ídentificatíon and release of farmers' preferred varieties, (2) the release of location-specific varieties for diverse agroclimatic ruches, (3) faster A participatory assessment to determine the preferenee eriteria that farmers employ in selecting wheat genotypes was carried out at Bankatti village in the Rupandehi distriet. Twenty male and female farroers were invited, divided into two groups by gender, and asked te list the traits tha! they preferred in selecting wheat genotypes. After Iisting their preference eriteria, individual members were alIowed to rank the preference eriteria. Based on their preference eriteria, 12 wheat varieties with two replieations were planted in farroers' fields in Bankatti vilIage. These differed in maturity, height, tillering, grain size, disease response, grain yield, and other traits. At physiologieal rnaturity, women and men farroers were allowed to seleet wheat genotypes based on the preference traits listed and ranked previously. A format-containing list of 12 wheat genotypes and preference traies listed by the two groups was distributed to both the groups, and they were asked to rank the genotypes from one te 12, Afier harvesting the crop, farmers were asked to rank the grain size and color for their preference. Grain-yield samples frOID the harvest were weighed, adjusted to 12% moisture, and analyzed statistically.The preference eriteria ser by the two groups is presented in table 2. The women's group listed 12 traits, while men listed only níne traits. There were eight traits that were common to both groups. If we compare the eriteria set by tbe two gender groups for selecting wheat genotypes and tbose set by the National Wheat Research Program, we can see many similarities, except in sorne traits related to quality, drought, and sterility. This is because Bankatti is an irrigated and sterility-free area and farmers have never experienced drought and sterility. Table 3 reveals the preference eriteria set by the two gender groups afler ranking in order. It clearly shows the differential ranking of traits by gender. Men gave top prioríty to tolerance to late heat stress, followed by large, white graillS and tolerance to shattering, while women ranked resistance to diseases first, followed by high tillering and high yield. Tables 4 and 5 show the preference ranking of wheat genotypes by women and men farmers, respectively. Both lhe groups selected BL 14 73--a recently released variety-as lhe number one choice, followed by Nepal 297. The differential ranking appeared when selecting lhe lhird genotype, where women group ranked NL 731 as third and lhe men group selected Bhrikuti (table 6). Table 7 represents the genotypes evaluated, along with lheÍr main characteristícs. It can be seen that the farmers' number one choice is not grain yield but other important traits like bold grain, earliness, and disease resistance.Tahle4 "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6f60a8912f56e51c0cc3703688cd7b70","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b10dc17a-846f-4e85-b61e-a98364ea3352/retrieve","id":"1842045408"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cd22aa78-c631-4b04-b205-23ff345d4ef8","content":"Links to the Strategic Results Framework: Sub-IDOs:• Increased livelihood opportunities ). Successful sustainable intensification of wheat-based systems depends on greater CA adoption and clustering and tailoring of solutions, such as affordable and versatile no-till seeders and integrated crop management practices. Effective strategies for upscaling CA in MENA need to take into consideration the unique features of the region (e.g. 25% of arable land degraded, risk of food production decrease). Scientists are confident that CA faces a brighter future, as rising energy prices and wage rates, a growing number of younger and more educated farmers with increased awareness of land and water resources degradation -and changes in dietary preferences increase the attractiveness of CA in MENA.Geographic scope:• Regional"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/7452188417.json b/main/part_2/7452188417.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1ec89c78f34f0a5beb8eb39f1e130e4d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c39d620d-3aa0-40b0-8ec2-ac6edbe8580c/retrieve","id":"1092050891"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5086f487-d723-4042-9aad-dbb8ec0ba71d","content":"The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) brings together the world's best researchers in agricultural science, development research, climate science and Earth System science, to identify and address the most important interactions, synergies and tradeoffs between climate change, agriculture and food security.The climate change discourse is one that is disruptive of existing development sector categorisations. It has been recognised as a problem that is particularly complex, uncertain, ever-evolving, and complicated by a multiplicity of stakeholders and perspectives. This kind of disruption has been seen before with other crosscutting discourses such as gender, transparency and governance. As they evolve these discourses interact with knowledge in established sectors, creating new collaborations and conjunctions of knowledge. Examples from climate change and development include climate diplomacy, climate-smart agriculture, and disaster preparedness in a changing climate. Responding to the challenges of climate change as a cross-cutting and disruptive discourse in development requires similarly fresh combinations or conjunctions of learning and knowledgesharing practice.The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) 1  One of the outcomes of the workshop was the establishment of a Sandbox as a mechanism to sustain work on the ideas and activities around Climate Change Social Learning (CCSL) that had surfaced during the workshop. 3 Another outcome was the initiation of a series of working papers, journal articles and briefs that continue to capture the new thinking coming out of the CCSL initiative: https:// cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/32729The Sandbox opened in September 2012 and was designed for the use of CCAFS and partners to enthuse and catalyse interaction, innovation and concrete collaboration using social learning to inform decision making. The vision was that the Sandbox could evolve into a selfgoverning community of practice and be a genuine reflection of how social learning may work in practice.The Sandbox currently consists of: In its first 20 months of operation, through facilitation, convening, research, synthesis, documentation, editing onboarding and advice, the CCSL Sandbox has supported:• The CCSL Framework and Toolkit • The whiteboard video 'Transformative partnerships for a food-secure world'.Growth in the number of people in the CCSL Yammer group has intentionally been kept at a slow pace to allow time for familiarity and trust to grow. All participants from the first CCSL workshop were invited to join. Each new member was asked to suggest further people to invite and invitations have also been sent to participants at subsequent CCAFS events. Periodically members are requested to confirm their wish to remain in the group. In the first round 90 per cent reconfirmed their membership.In July 2013 twelve members of the CCSL group offered feedback on the Sandbox's activities and their future needs in response to a survey. Feedback suggested that:• • More time is needed to generate concrete benefits from membership of the Sandbox, given it is relatively new and the time constraints users face with this kind of collaborative knowledge sharing.In response the Sandbox facilitators have been prioritising membership invitations to practitioners, connecting members with shared interests and focusing on content and discussions that reflect on practice. Peer assist problem solving sessions are also being trialled online.The approach to running the Sandbox reflects its goal to sustain, enthuse and catalyse action and the practice of social learning itself. There is little top down management of content, with most effort focused on holding open a space for members collaboration. In terms of process, a facilitation approach is taken that aims to help the Sandbox group as a whole to:• make sense of the diverse conversations and resources that members share• convene and document face-to-face events • access knowledge resources held in diverse locations that can support action• welcome new members and help them make the most of the Sandbox.In terms of output, a capacity development approach is taken that aims to support individuals in the Sandbox looking to deepen their understanding of and comfort with key aspects of social learning that help in linking research to action. These include plurality, equity, reflexivity, transparency, co-creation and transformation.Most of the members of the Sandbox are highly skilled and bring years of practical experience with participation, innovation, communication and uptake in scientific research. So in seeking to bring these elements together under social learning, the Sandbox's potential lies in its members coming to see themselves as peers with a shared learning agenda who critically reflect on their values and assumptions. Because of this ambition and the opportunity for the Sandbox to over time become a self-governing community of practice, light touch facilitation and capacity development is called for. Not all groups become communities of practice in this sense and the Sandbox might not either, but a sure way to cut off that chance would be to force the pace of collaboration and growth.Just over a year isn't a long enough time to draw very certain lessons from the Sandbox. A summary of experience so far is worth sharing with the hope of inviting further feedback and promoting our own social learning as facilitators of the Sandbox.Online participation in the Sandbox so far is pretty typical for an emerging peer group. The majority of members, though not posting content or commenting, say when directly asked that they gain value from reading and observing interactions ('lurking') and wish to remain in the Sandbox group. The minority, engaged in commenting and sharing resources, have had several face to face meetings as a subset of the larger group and have wider professional roles in bridging, brokering, communicating and shaping knowledge and relationships.The choice and management of technology for the Sandbox has been driven by higher level commitments at the host CGIAR centre. This enabled the Sandbox to build on experience and ongoing technical support for Yammer and Wikispaces with benefits for rapid deployment and stability of the technology. This is likely to mean though that future adjustments of the technology will be outside the control of the Sandbox. It also means that some of features of the platforms, such as usage statistics and enhanced profiles in Yammer, are not available as the current corporate licence is for the free version.We have argued elsewhere 5 that climate change as a knowledge domain within international development is both atypical and complex and put forward the seven capacities this requires of networks, organisations and initiatives aiming to manage knowledge successfully in this context (see Table 1  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3b825c26b139ef9dc80df42bb1d92e14","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/12b901f4-c142-4bd6-b250-ad31cac2fa26/retrieve","id":"-1203184798"},"keywords":["tropics","wild species","grasses","legumes","germplasm","collection","utilization","genebank"],"sieverID":"1239d82d-4b56-4df8-923e-40f6a00f8446","content":"A report on the tropical forage germplasm collection conserved in the CIAT genebank is presented. Emphasis is firstly on the assembling of the collection during 1972−1993 through about 70 major and minor collecting missions in tropical America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Along with introductions from existing collections, currently some 1,600 accessions of 134 grass species and 21,000 accessions of 637 legume species are being maintained. Secondly, information on the utilization of the collection, with emphasis on cultivar development based on selection of accessions from the CIAT collection, is presented. Worldwide, a total of 44 grass and 34 legume cultivars derived from germplasm maintained at CIAT are reported. Information on germplasm distribution and knowledge sharing during the last four decades is also presented as well as a brief discussion on future needs.Research related to forage genetic resources at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Cali, Colombia, has been a continuing activity since the inception of the center in 1969. CIAT was the third of the international agricultural research centers established within the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), one of its missions being the development of beef cattle production in the lowlands of tropical America (Lynam and Byerlee, 2017). When looking at the development of the CIAT forages collection and its achievements, two phases can be distinguished: the first phase focused on assembling the collection and some initial, however intensive, characterization and utilization of the collected materials (1972−1993); and the second phase consisted of continuing utilization of germplasm, diversity studies and routine germplasm management and its optimization (1993−2020).This paper summarizes the assembling of the collection during the first phase as well as its utilization and germplasm distribution. Furthermore, research on forage diversity and knowledge sharing, including training, are addressed. Data presented were compiled mainly from information accessible via the CIAT website (https://ciat.cgiar.org/), CIAT annual reports (accessible at https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/ 35699), unpublished reports on germplasm collecting missions, research bulletins of CIAT´s national partner institutions and the like.It should be noted that in the past years there have been changes in plant nomenclature for numerous taxa of particular interest, even at the genus level (Cook and Schultze-Kraft, 2015). In this paper we are still referring to the earlier used names. Supplemental Table 1 lists new names of species mentioned in this report, following the taxonomy of GRIN, the database of the USDA Genetic Resources Information Network (https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/ taxon/taxonomysearch).At the beginning of research at CIAT in the early 1970s, a focus of the then Beef Production Systems Program was forage-based livestock production on acid, low-fertility soils in humid and sub-humid lowlands of tropical America, particularly savanna areas. The lack of edaphic adaptation of available, mainly Australian commercial pasture grass and legume cultivars, was soon identified as the main constraint to their use in Neotropical savannas. In the case of legumes, diseases, such as anthracnose in the promising genus Stylosanthes, were an additional restriction. It was consequently recognized that available species and genotype pools of grasses and legumes needed to be broadened for screening for adaptation to abiotic (mainly soil) and biotic (pests and diseases) constraints.Missions were thus initiated in 1972/73 to collect germplasm of wild species with forage potential throughout tropical America. The objective was to create a diverse germplasm pool that can be tapped for cultivar development, either by identifying suitable accessions for direct use or through genetic improvement. These collecting missions ranged from short excursions, particularly within the Center´s host country, Colombia, to field expeditions over several weeks. Another source of germplasm material was through opportunistic collecting undertaken by CIAT scientists during field visits. The missions were largely funded by CIAT, at the beginning of the collecting phase, also with support from the former International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR; later International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), now part of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT). There was a focus on acid-soil regions and plant genera of known value. Emphasis was on legumes, in many cases including associated rhizobia, taking into account that the Neotropics are the main center of diversification of the Fabaceae (Leguminosae) family. The particular value of legumes lies in their ability of symbiotic fixation of atmospheric nitrogen and the subsequent provision of protein-rich forage to livestock.From 1979 onwards, collecting missions within the new Tropical Pastures Program expanded to Southeast Asia, a minor yet important center of legume diversification (e.g. the genera Pueraria and Desmodium), and in 1984/85 and 1989 also to Africa, with focus on grasses (particularly the genus Brachiaria). The latter took into account that Sub-Saharan Africa is the main center of diversification of those genera with forage potential in the Poaceae family.All missions were organized as joint ventures in association with national research institutions. Table 1 provides an overview of the countries where the collecting efforts were undertaken; the main genera collected are summarized in Table 2. The germplasm collectors who participated in the missions are acknowledged in Supplemental Table 2.Alongside the collecting activities, the introduction of germplasm in the form of donations from existing collections held by national and international research and development (R&D) institutions around the globe has been an ongoing activity since the inception of the CIAT forages collection. It became the sole source of additions to the collection, when germplasm collecting with the involvement of CIAT scientists came to an end in the 1990s. A total of more than 9,000 accessions were received as donations; among them, in 2006, a significant part of the former Australian Tropical Forages Collection of CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) (Table 3).Two factors contributed to the cessation of collecting missions: (1) a sustained decline in funding for tropicalforages research and (2) the fact that hardly any tropical-forage species are included in Annex 1 of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA; FAO, 2001), which streamlines germplasm distribution through the use of a Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA). Instead, most tropical forage species are regulated by legal frameworks that require case-by-case negotiations of individual material transfer agreements, which would create unmanageable legal overheads given the frequent germplasm exchange in agricultural research.With more than 22,000 accessions from a total of 75 countries of origin, the CIAT collection is the largest tropical forages germplasm collection worldwide. Its particular value lies in its focus on: (1) plants adapted to acid, low-fertility soils; (2) legumes; and (3) the large and diverse collection of Brachiaria. This grass genus comprises currently the economically most important tropical forage species worldwide. The CIAT Brachiaria collection stems mainly from the Center´s collecting activities in the 1980s in East Africa and has become an important source of germplasm for selection and breeding programs throughout the tropics.It is recognized that there are still important gaps in terms of countries and regions where germplasm has been collected. The collection is likely far from being representative of the geographic diversity of tropical Poaceae and Fabaceae (Leguminosae).Table 4 provides a summary of the current tropical forages collection conserved at the CIAT genebank. Differences of numbers in Table 4 in comparison with Tables 2 and 3 are due to initial misidentifications and losses of accessions due to a range of reasons, including a limited number (or low viability) of collected seeds, lack of seed setting in the environments available for regeneration, and insufficient funds for regenerating large numbers of accessions between the 1990s and the launch of the CGIAR Research Program on Genebanks in the 2010s.   As a result of the germplasm evaluation and selection research conducted by CIAT and its partners, a number of grass and legume accessions that had been provided by the CIAT forages collection were developed into cultivars by national R&D institutions worldwide, in a few cases after incorporating them in national breeding programs (Table 5). Several issues should be pointed out:• In relation to cultivars selected from genebank accessions, formal release and/or registration has been and is the exclusive responsibility of national institutions. In the case of bred lines developed at CIAT (not included in  In the early 1990s, CIAT gradually changed its germplasm utilization research priority from development of grass/legume pastures for acid soils to selection of multipurpose plants for smallholders. This adjustment took into account the need for forage plants to maintain and restore soil fertility, including in mixed (crop-livestock) production systems, and to contribute to increased small-farmer livelihoods. Since 2006/07 the research focus of the CIAT Tropical Forages Program was further refined and includes the adaptation of forages to climate change and their potential contribution to ecosystem services, including the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. Within these new developments, species selection is benefiting from the broad diversity represented in the CIAT forages collection.   The basis for effective and efficient utilization of CIAT's forage germplasm has been, and still is, the production and distribution of germplasm samples for plant introduction work by the Center´s GRU/GRP. Since 1980 a total of 93,222 germplasm samples, representing 14,695 accessions, were distributed to 110 countries. Approximately 41% of these samples went to CIAT's TPP/TFP. The remainder was distributed to users in Colombia (33%), Brazil (9%), Peru, China, Venezuela (4% each), Australia, Mexico, USA (3% each), and 102 other countries. Approximately 47% of all externally distributed samples went to national agricultural research institutes, 23% to universities, 16% to farmers, with the remainder going to CGIAR centers, NGOs, companies, regional organizations, and other genebanks worldwide (Figure 1). Seed samples were predominantly used for agronomic evaluations (64%), but also for basic research (13%), capacity building (12%) and other purposes such as applied research, genetic improvement and conservation, in alignment with the ITPGRFA and the SMTA. The list of accessions included in each seed shipment is linked to available passport data and more recently to accession-specific Digital Object Identifiers (DOI).For evaluation trials and on-farm experimentation with accessions that were considered as highly promising by CIAT, its network partners and/or development agencies, seed in larger amounts has been/is being provided by the Tropical Forages Program (Tropical Pastures Program until 1992). Between 1982 and 2014, the TPP/TFP produced and distributed almost 64 tons of grass and legume seeds, either free of charge for research purposes or at cost price for larger quantities, representing a total of 27,325 samples, to 88 countries worldwide.A strong multidisciplinary research program (TPP/TFP) at CIAT and its alliance with national partners and international networks was instrumental for effective and efficient utilization of the collection. This includes the capacity to supply sufficiently large seed samples for research beyond small-plot level and eventually for onfarm testing.The PPP arrangements between CIAT and the seed industry are proving to be conducive to increased adoption of improved-forage technology based on breeding lines.The number of legume species (15), of which cultivars were released (33), contrasts with the number of grass species (9) and released cultivars (44). We suggest that this reflects, on the one hand, the particular focus of CIAT and its research partners on legumes in the past; on the other hand it reflects, to some extent, that the user community of tropical forages seems to be more receptive to grasses as they are easier to manage and have a better developed commercialization pathway.Basic plant descriptors have been used during both the germplasm multiplication phase by the GRU/GRP and the primary evaluation phase by the TPP/TFP to provide information on phenotypic diversity within a species and subsequent reduction of accession numbers for evaluation (e.g. the formation of core collections). In addition, molecular marker studies have been used to assess the genetic (= intraspecific) diversity and to elucidate species relationships for species of particular interest. On species that are little-known but of interest, basic floral-biology studies have been performed with the objective of optimizing germplasm management and enabling breeding. The main publications resulting from such research are listed below (section Publications).The need for basic botanical and genetic studies to expand our knowledge about genera and species of forage interest must be stressed. Any future diversity research is recommended to focus on relevance for:(1) enhanced germplasm management and utilization (e.g. identification of duplicates, establishment of core collections); (2) relationships between traits and geographic origin of populations; and (3) identification of genes responsible for particularly important plant traits.During the period 1978−1990, the CIAT Tropical Pastures Program, within its coordinating role in the RIEPT network, held a yearly course 'Programa de Capacitación Científica en Investigación para la Producción de Pastos Tropicales'. The course, aimed at researchers from Latin America and the Caribbean, consisted of an intensive multi-disciplinary phase in which all participants were provided with lectures and practical training in all disciplines represented in the TPP (thus including the field of genetic resources of forage plants and germplasm handling) and a specialization phase. With an average of 20 participants per course, a total of around 250 researchers were trained during the 13-year period, with about 10 specializing in genetic resources. In addition, several dozen students from both Colombian and foreign universities conducted research for their theses (BSc, MSc and PhD) with focus on genetic diversity of forages under the supervision of TPP/TFP scientists.From 1990 onwards, training activities in forage germplasm management were essentially taken over by CIAT's GRU/GRP, mainly in the area of germplasm management and in the form of field days for Colombian university students and technicians, with demonstrations on field, greenhouse and laboratory activities. Several hundred students, technicians and researchers participated in this scheme.The following list comprises a selection of publications that, with regard to research topics and regions, we consider representative of the CIAT forage germplasm work during the past four decades:Having safeguarded the germplasm is a major achievement in view of increasing world-wide genetic erosion due to habitat destruction and land use changes. The very availability of conserved germplasm represents an option value whose potential impact cannot be calculated and should not be underestimated. Given that the CIAT tropical forages collection is an in-trust collection, held by CIAT on behalf of the countries of origin of the accessions, another incalculable option value is that all accessions stored in the genebank are available to users under an SMTA at any time. In this context, an important potential benefit to the 75 countries of origin of the germplasm conserved at CIAT's genebank is that it is available for repatriation.The present report has to content itself with showing the number of released cultivars developed from CIAT's forages collection. An estimation of the total economic benefits derived from the collection is beyond the possibilities of genebank managers or scientists engaged in developing varieties. For this, field studies are suggested to be necessary, which have to involve resource economists for the assessment of acreages planted to the new cultivars, resulting livestock production increases, benefits to the environment (e.g. soil conservation and improvement) and estimates of increased livelihoods of end users.Although this report is concerned with both past and present, a couple of thoughts related to the future seem to be appropriate. Funding for tropical-forage research and deployment has declined considerably over the last decades. Ex situ conservation of forages is substantially more expensive on a per-accession basis than conservation of other crops such as grains and pulses because cross-pollinating, wild and/or weedy accessions with long, asynchronous life cycles are substantially more expensive to regenerate thaninbred crops with short, synchronous life cycles (Koo et al, 2003), yet funding for tropical-forage research and deployment has declined considerably over the last decades. Accordingly, to ensure the long-term conservation and availability of critically important tropical-forage genetic resources, genebanks need to focus on the species with the greatest forage potential. A panel of well-known tropical-forage experts has grouped the species conserved at the CIAT and ILRI collections into priority categories based on the species' proven or suspected forage potential (Pengelly, 2015). Lowpriority accessions of both collections will be archived to focus conservation efforts on more promising species, with a view towards multiplying selected groups of 'bestbet' accessions so that larger quantities of starter seeds can be provided for research projects to shorten the path between the genebank and germplasm use in the field.Compared with tropical-forage collections at ILRI in Ethiopia (17K accessions), USDA in the US (15K accessions), KARI (Kenya Agricultural Research Institute) in Kenya (15K accessions), the Australian Pastures Genebank (APG) in Australia (13K accessions), EMBRAPA in Brazil (9K accessions), INTA in Argentina, and IGFRI (Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute) in India, CIAT's collection is particularly rich in legumes adapted to infertile, acid soils. A full list of accessions, including passport data, photos of plants, flowers and seeds and images of herbarium specimens, can be accessed on the Genesys web portal by filtering for 'COL003' for CIAT and 'forages' as a crop (https:// www.genesys-pgr.org).In 2021, the CIAT genebank will achieve all the CGIAR Genebank Platform's 'performance targets' for its forage collection (Crop Trust, 2016). One of these targets is making more than 90% of all accessions available for immediate distribution, which means the genebank holds sufficient numbers of seeds that have been tested and found to be free of more than 40 different pathogens of quarantine importance. The collection, therefore, will qualify for long-term funding from the Endowment Fund of the Global Crop Diversity Trust to ensure its in-perpetuity conservation.Although increasing germplasm collections by further collecting is currently difficult to justify, the policy framework may change over time, for example through an expansion of the ITGPRFA's scope to include all plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. Efforts to identify the most important collection gaps, therefore, are indicated to prepare for future collections. As suggested above, the forage germplasm collections currently conserved at the aforementioned genebanks, in addition to those at the CGIAR centers ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas) and World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) cannot be considered adequately representative of the geographic and taxonomic/ genetic diversity of the tropical and subtropical Poaceae and Fabaceae (Leguminosae), neither at the level of the individualcollections nor at that of their consolidated total. It is suggested that such gap analyses:• Consider both neglected areas/regions and genera/species of particular interest with emphasis on potential as forage and for environmental services. • Be based on ecogeographical surveys paying particular attention to regions where biodiversity loss (including danger of genetic erosion) has been identified and/or is likely to occur. • Consider the need for germplasm with focus on adaptation to the particular environmental challenges of the future in terms of the effects of climate change, such as increasing soil salinity, rising water table (including flooding), drought, temperature extremes etc. Collecting is suggested in areas of currently similar conditions under the assumption that germplasm occurring there has genetic adaptation to the respective limiting factors.Such gap analyses can be the basis for future internationally coordinated collecting actions -when they become feasible -but independently may also stimulate immediate plans of action at national levels."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c3b878473a27108519ec53c85331fe91","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/76e89023-8733-4bef-80a4-b68170f18a49/retrieve","id":"-967271791"},"keywords":["Agriculture","Climate-Smart Agriculture","Adaptation","Technology","Indigenous Knowledge","Ghana"],"sieverID":"853822ad-c923-40d8-9dce-ca364e57a926","content":"which is beside the pot is a creeping plant that serves as a CSA cover crop to protect the surface of the soil and to enhance water conservation and microbial activities.(Cucurbitae sp.) The local name in Dagaare is Yoggvaar.There is an increasing wave of human migration from north to south with corresponding anthropogenic effects on the ecology. For example, the Fulani herder groups are driving their cattle into Ghana more now than previously. The Savannah-Forest Transition and Forest zones have become habitable for cattle production due to opening up of vegetation and the eradication of the tsetse fly, which is the vector of African trypanosomiasis.Increasing population is resulting in new settlements and expansion of old ones. These come along with increased level of socio-economic activities including crop farming and charcoal production which all increasing pressure on the already fragile ecology of the savannah zones.  Ghana's population distribution varies across the 10 administrative regions and ecological zones of the country. Currently a majority of50.1 percent of Ghana's population lives in urban areas with populations of 5,000 and above. A minority of 49.1 percent of the population lives in the rural communities (GSS, 2012). The urbanized nature of the population of Ghana has implications for value agricultural chain activities.Generally, human population growth is a key driving force for increased agricultural production to feed the growing population. Ghana's population by 2010 almost quadrupled from 6.653 million in 1960 to 24.26 million (GSS, 2012).Agriculture contributes 22 percent of Ghana's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with GDP growth of 5.7 percent (ISSER, 2015). It accounts for over 40 percent of export earnings while at the same time providing over 90 percent of the food needs of the country. Ghana's agriculture is predominantly smallholder, traditional and rain-fed.About 50.6 percent of the labour force is engaged in agriculture. It is estimated that women constitute about 52 percent of the total labour force in agriculture and produce about 70 percent of the food crops (Duncan, 2004).Domestic food production available for human consumption is 15,842,000Mt while the estimated national consumption is 9,518,000Mt leaving a surplus of 6,325,000Mt (SRID, 2007). It seems to suggest that there is a fairly reasonable level of food sufficiency.However, the increase in the food imports indicates the decrease in food sufficiency in the subsequent years. For example, in 2007 only 596 Mt of maize was imported into Ghana. However, in 2012 a total of 113,343 Mt of maize was imported into the country (SRID, 2013). The situation with livestock production and consumption even more exposes the vulnerability of the country of food and nutrition security. In 2007, a total of the total livestock and poultry products imported was 111,248.9 Mt as against a total domestic production of 96,740Mt. However, in 2012, the total livestock and poultry products imported were 122,447.0 Mt as against a total production of 127,038Mt (SRID, 2012). From the data, there appears to be an increasing demand for livestock and poultry products. On the whole, there is the fundamental challenge of achieving food and nutrition security, which against the backdrop of the climate change impacts has become more complex.Agriculture remains a major contributor to the economy although with a reducing rate over the years. For example, from about 39% in the 1990s contribution slides to about 22% in 2015 and with the services sector of the economy contributing almost 49.6% and industry 28.4% (ISSER, 2015;NDPC, 2014). In terms of employment, the sector is the most important; employing about 65% of the population, it has great impact on the key development goal of poverty reduction. Given its importance, every effort needs to be made to enhance productivity to ensure sustainability in the sector. as the best case scenario in terms of population growth whilst the higher variant depicts the worst case scenario. In all cases, the growth rates could be viewed as issues of concern. Even in the best case scenario, Ghana's population is depicted as doubling within a 40 year period. The implications of such a population growth rate for overall national development could be huge (Nutsukpo, et al 2013).   1.2b these crops were ranked higher (2 nd and 3 rd ) because of the value of their production. Cocoa which ranked first in terms of the area harvested, is ranked 4 th in terms of value of production. Cassava maintains its position of importance ranking 1 st in terms of value of production. Cassava continued to maintain its 1 st position on Table 1.2c in terms of quantity consumed (4,537,000 tonnes), followed by yams(2,433,000 tonnes) and plantain (2,250,000 tonnes) in the 2 nd and 3 rd positions respectively. The three crops were followed by a combination of other root and tuber crops. Maize features 5 th on Table 3c with a total 899,000 tonnes and followed by rice with 513 thousand tones. The classification of food commodities based on quantities consumed is an indication of the importance of the food commodities in diets of Ghanaians. Using the information presented by the three tables, cassava, yam, plantain, maize, and rice come up as the five most important crops produced and consumed in Ghana. In terms of the individual crop's contribution to medium to long term food security, maize and rice comes top because of their storability potential. In summary, the analysis of the growth in population as against the trends in food production and consumption point to the need for more scientific and technological approach to addressing food and nutrition security tied to more strategic policy initiatives especially under climate uncertainties. An important element in this is to ensure climate smartness in agricultural practices.Climate variability and change effects are in most cases site specific. Technologies and practices to address climate variability and change must therefore aim to address site specificities and not one size fits all. The farming systems in a given agro-ecology therefore become important. The objective of this study was first, to create awareness, identify existing \"climate smart\" technologies and practices in the guinea savannah and forest zones of Ghana and rank them for ease of reference by extension workers reaching out to farmers and also to guide policy decision makers in agricultural investment decisions at local and national levels in response to detailed actions in the National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) under the Agriculture and Food Security Focus Area. In general, the output will contribute to CSA as an approach to developing the technical, policy and investment conditions to achieve sustainable agricultural development for food security under climate change in Ghana.The document is composed of five main chapters of which the first two provide the introduction and methodology used in assembling the data for analysis. Chapters 3 and 4 cover the existing knowledge, technologies and practices on CSA in the Guinea Savannah and Forest zones respectively and a general discussion of the findings. Chapter 5 presents the conclusions and some recommendations.Various literature sources were consulted to gain a broader understanding of the CSA concept. For example, the FAO Sourcebook, 2011 was found useful. Materials from the 3 rd Global Conference on Agriculture Food Security and climate change held in Johannesburg, 2013 (African Alliance for CSA, 2013) and the Climate smart agriculture orientation and scaling up workshop in Nairobi, 2014 provided some insight in the design of the tools for this study.A multi-disciplinary team of 4 members composed of animal scientist, range ecologist, agribusiness and monitoring and evaluation experts from the core team of the Climate change, agriculture and food security platform of Ghana was tasked to develop a participatory profiling tool for the purpose. This was preceded by a presentation made to  Sustainability regarding technology application 2.3 Regional Zonal WorkshopsTwo separate one-day workshops were held in the Wa (guinea Savannah) and Kumasi (Forest) regional capitals of the Upper West and Ashanti respectively. The workshop participants were selected from stakeholders of different backgrounds. They cut acrossPolicy and Decision makers, Traditional Authorities, Academia, Research Institutions, Civil Society including; NGOs, Farmer-Based Organisations, and Farmer Groups, and Individual Farmers whose activities are directly related to agriculture and the climate.From the districts 2 male and 2 female farmers, the District/Municipal/Metropolitan Directors of Agriculture and the District Chief Executives were specifically invited to participate. The Traditional Authorities who participated included the male chiefs and female chiefs (Pognaa-mine 1 ) in order to address gender inclusiveness. Over 140 participants attended the two workshops.Resource The technical presentations were followed by group breakout sessions to identify and profile both indigenous and scientific CSA technologies and practices employing the tools that were developed and described in section 2.2 above.1 Dagaare word for female cheifsFour groups were formed to reflect the diversity of actors within agricultural value chains in the zones and present at the workshop. Generally, the participants were grouped in the following categories: The same task assignment was given to each of the groups in order to elicit diversity in outputs and provide space for comparative analysis across groups. This design further helped to bring out the technical, policy and institutional constraints pertinent to CSA in these functional groupings in the system. Each group was also tasked to list constraints and challenges associated with the application of the CSA technologies and practices identified and propose actions/solutions to address them. The group sessions were followed by plenary sessions during which results were shared, triangulated by groups and validated based on consensus building.The CSA identification and matrix ranking tools provided the needed data for both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Data on practices listed were first cleaned from double counting to arrive at the real number of practices enumerated by the various categories of stakeholders per zone in the study. There was analysis of the data to determine the proportions of the sources and users of the CSA practices. Simple arithmetic average values scored for the various CSA technologies and practices were used in the ranking to determine the order of most preferred visualized in tabular forms.Agriculture in developing countries must undergo significant transformation if it is to meet the growing and interconnected challenges of food insecurity and climate change (FAO, 2010). Global population however is expected to increase from 7 billion to more than 9 billion people in 2050 according to UNESCO, 2012. As a result, food production needs to be increased by at least 60% to ensure food security for everyone. In order to feed the continent's 900 million people, Africa needs its own food security and this can only be achieved through a uniquely African Green Revolution that recognizes that smallholder farmers are the key to increasing production, promotes change across the entire agricultural system, and puts fairness and the environment at its heart\" (Kofi. A.Annan, 2010).Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) is defined as \"agriculture that sustainably increases The World population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050 and majority of the increases is expected to come from least and developing countries especially sub-Saharan Africa.There is the need to increase food production by 70 per cent above current levels and this cannot achieved through business as usual. Vulnerability of agriculture and food systems is most intense in countries where higher population increases are expected and the impacts of climate change are expected to further reduce productivity and lead to greater instability in the agricultural and food sectors in vulnerable countries. Climate change is exerting increasing pressure on natural resources resulting in environmental degradation hence the need for steps to cope with these conditions.The agriculture sector is directly responsible for 14 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions (23 per cent in Ghana) and a key driver of deforestation and land degradation (EPA, 2015). Sustainability of agriculture and food systems therefore require actions that will help cope with threats whilst limiting contributions to future climatic effects. The sector therefore has the potential of being an important part of the needed solutions.Capturing synergies that exist among technologies will ensure robust food systems and resilient production base.The Concept of CSA seeks to increase sustainably productivity, strengthen farmers' resilience, reduce agriculture's greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration and also strengthens food security and delivers environmental benefits.CSA ii. The concept recognizes that these options will be shaped by specific country contexts and capacities as well as socio-economic and environmental situations.iii       To avoid solving a problem while exacerbating another, policy leaders should take an integrated approach to food security, poverty reduction and climate change.Climate-smart agriculture is not a new agricultural system, nor a set of practices. It is a new approach, a way to guide the needed changes of agricultural systems, given the necessity to jointly address food security and climate change. CSA therefore brings together practices, policies and institutions that are not necessarily new but are used in the context of climatic changes. It addresses multiple challenges faced by agriculture and food systems simultaneously and holistically and helps avoid counterproductive policies, legislation or financing.In the global context while climate change has become one of the defining contemporary international development issues, far less attention has been given to food security and climate change at the international level. Yet, these challenges are increasingly seen as being interdependent, shaped by a confluence of different pressures that converge within the agriculture sector such as population size and commensurate food demand are increasing, competition for food, land, water, energy, as well as carbon storage, is intensifying, degradation of natural resources is expanding. This makes solutions for climate change to become more urgent. At the UNFCCC COP16 in December 2010, the draft text on agriculture was not incorporated into the Cancun Agreements. Agriculture, however, already figured prominently in National Adaptation Programmes of Action  The effect of these climatic variables on key sectors is summarized in Table 3.2.2. The vision of the NCCP is to ensure a climateresilient and climatecompatible  The NCCP policy has a number of specific programmes for addressing the critical sector policy actions necessary to achieve the desired objectives. These policy objectives can be achieved through the development of specific strategies and actions. The MDAs are expected to develop detailed time bound and budgeted implementation plans that would be linked to their operating strategies and work plans. As a strategy for the Agriculture and Food Security, sectoral policy objectives could be achieved through the development of specific strategies and actions that aim at mainstreaming climate change adaptation into sectoral policy planning and budgeting processes. There is the need as a country to develop and promote Climate Resilient Cropping Systems with the objective to enhance sustainable production and reduce climate related disasters. This is necessary on grounds that the sector is responsible for over 70% of the food needs of Ghana but our agriculture and food systems are rudimentary in nature, and climate dependent. In addition, in recent years, extreme climate events and climate variability have resulted in yield loses at farm and community level.There is therefore the need to adapt to future climatic effects, define new cropping systems, new farming systems and improvement of existing ones etc. Proposed actions of for consideration as a nation include:     Projection of future climate in Ghana reveals that mean annual temperatures could increase by 1.0 to 3.0°C by the 2060, and 1.5 to 5.2°C by the 2090. The projected rate of warming is expected to be most rapid in the northern regions (interior savannah zones) of Ghana than the coastal regions. Projections of mean annual rainfall averaged over the country from different models (in the ensemble) project a wide range of changes in precipitation for Ghana. There is however no unanimity among the projections as to the direction (decrease or increase) of the expected changes. About half of the models project increases and half project decreases. Sea-levels in the coastal regions of Ghana is projected by climate models to rise by 0.13 to 0.43m under SRES B1, 0.16 to 0.53m under SRES A1B and 0.18 to 0.56m under SRES A2 by the 2090s, relative to 1980-1999 sea-level.Productivity of major staple crops including maize, cassava and cocoyam are projected to decrease under future climatic change impacts. Yields of maize and other cereals are projected to reduce by 2.4% in 2020 and by 7% by 2050 whilst cassava production will decrease by 43% by 2080. Cocoyam production will decrease from 65.2% to 52.8% in 2080 (Mensah Bonsu, 2003). Table 3.3.1 shows some agriculture and non-agriculture climate-change impacts. Severe warming, floods, and drought may reduce Crop yields and can harm crops -Yield losses ii.Livestock may be at risk, both directly from heat stress and indirectly from reduced quality of their food supply. iii.Fisheries will be affected by changes in water temperature that shift species ranges, make waters more hospitable to invasive species, and change lifecycle timing. iv.Moderate warming and more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may help plants to grow faster v.Climate change is already affecting diversity and productivity of forests and trees on farms through its impact on growing seasons, pest and disease outbreaks and tree population size & distribution.i.A warmer climate is expected to increase both the risk of heat-related illnesses and death and worsen conditions for air quality. ii.Climate change will likely increase the frequency and strength of extreme events (such as floods, droughts, and storms) that threaten human safety and health. iii.Climate changes may allow some diseases to spread more easily and emergence of diseases and vectors. iv.Increased water stress will impact land areas twice the size of those areas that will experience decreased water stress.vi.Weeds, pests and fungi thrive under warmer temperatures, wetter climates, and increased CO2 levels. vii.Crop yields are expected to decline due to long-term changes in temperature and rainfall and increased climate variability. viii.The outcome may be higher food prices, along with chronic poverty and under-nutrition for farming households already battered by climate extremes such as drought and flood.Northern Several institutions in Ghana have for the past 54 years creditably discharged their mandate by generating research findings and technologies of relevance to climate change.CSIR-CRI in focus.The following are list of some selected CSA technologies developed by CSIR-CRI:i. Development and promotion of high yielding, good quality crop varieties and traits (Micronutrients -e.g., Vitamin A, Iron, Zinc, Phosphorous).ii  iii. Fertilizer management technologies -Type, required amounts of fertilizer, time of application iv. Zero-tillage, Conservation tillage -Zero tillage is an agriculture technique which encourages planting in mulch instead of \"slash and burn\" and increases the amount of water and organic matter (nutrients) in the soil and decreases erosion v. Sprinkler and drip irrigation vi.Methane mitigation (Rice) using reduced tillage.Climate smart technologies for ensuring the achievement of food security and the Millennium Development goals for poverty reduction include:i. Development of the seed industry (e.g., QPM -Obatampa, cowpea, rice, etc.) has provided increased job opportunities and incomes for millions of farmers, seed growers, seed distributors, and grain sellers ii. Enhancement of the nutritional status of farm households and the general public, particularly children, through the utilization of high and stable yielding, nutritionally superior and consumer-preferred varieties.iii. Promotion of community-based seed production that allows farmers to borrow and pay back seeds to a common seed pool at affordable prices.iv. Cowpea with high Zinc, Iron and Calcium.v. Orange flesh sweet potato high in vitamin A.vi. Bio-fortification of maize, rice and sweet potato with high lysine and tryptophan.The adoption rate of some of the improved varieties by farmers not significant for some crops.Climate change impact is increasingly becoming severe. Long-term projections indicate that crop yields could fall by up to 50% by 2020. Net revenues from crops could drop by as much as 90% by 2100. It is envisaged that small-scale farmers will be mostly affected.There is therefore the need to develop more CSA technologies to increase productivity, adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure national food security.Though faced with challenges like funding, poor research-policy linkages among others, there is the need to continue to sustain agricultural production by employing science and innovation to boost productivity, reduce poverty and address climate change in Ghana by developing climate-smart agriculture technologies. There is the need for integrated efforts to ensure achievement of goals. Strong policy instruments to empower research and development are also key.Relating to Livestock ProductionIt has been estimated that World food requirement by the year 2050 will be double that of 2010. A significant part of this requirement will emanate from the developing countries, on account of increased human populations, disposable incomes and urbanization. Meat consumption is also expected to increase by 26kg and 32kg in 2030 and 2050 respectively. A marked gap will continue to exist between developed and developing countries. Global production levels will more than double 580 -1043 Million tonnes (FAO, 2006). Livestock make a necessary and important contribution to global calorie and protein supplies. These however need to be managed carefully to maximise this contribution. Livestock are valued and will continue be consumed in increasing amounts. Meat, milk and eggs are valuable sources of easily digestible protein and essential micronutrients. The choice of production systems and good management practices are important for optimizing the protein output from livestock. Buffer against economic shocks and natural disasters are equally important.The impacts of climate change on livestock are difficult to quantify due to the sector's uncertain and complex interactions between agriculture, climate, the surrounding environment and the economy. Increased temperatures, shifts in rainfall distribution and increased frequency of extreme weather events are expected to adversely affect livestock production and productivity around the world. Adverse impacts are reflected in Table 3.4.1. The table shows the direct result of increased heat stress and reduced water availability on livestock. Indirect impacts on livestock include reduced quality and availability of feed and fodder, the emergence of livestock disease and greater competition for resources with other sectors. CSA strategies for dominant livestock production systems CSA strategies for dominant livestock production systems can be classified as land based systems, mixed systems and landless systems.The main mitigation options could be reduction in enteric CH4 emissions and CO2 removals through soil carbon sequestration and manure management options. Figure 3.4.1 shows the schematic presentation on the production of methane.Grazing management and benefits could be optimized by balancing and adapting grazing pressures on land, increasing grassland productivity and delivering adaptation and mitigation benefits. The influence of optimal grazing is variable and is highly dependent on baseline grazing practices, plant species soils and climatic conditions (smith et al., 2008). Carbon sequestration stemming from reduced grazing pressure according to Conant and Paustian, 2002 stops land degradation and rehabilitates degraded lands. The intensities of enteric emissions are also lowered and give wider choice of forage for animals to select more nutritious forages. This will lead to more rapid rates of live weight gains, restored degraded grassland, improved soil health, better water retention, increased resilience of the grazing system to climate variability and reduced pressure stemming from reduced number of animals.As a strategy for grazing management, rotational grazing can be practiced. This can be adjusted to the frequency and timing of livestock grazing needs and better matches needs with availability of pasture resources. It allows for maintenance of forages at a relatively earlier growth stage, enhances the quality and digestibility and improves productivity of the system. It also reduces CH4 emissions per LWG (Eagle et al 2012). It is more suited to manage pasture systems but investments are required for fencing, watering points and it is also labour intensive. Typically, there is the replacement of native grasses with higher yielding and more digestible forages, including perennial fodders, pastures and legumes. It leads to carbon sequestration, improves farm productivity and reduces enteric emissions. As benefits and tradeoffs, fertilization, cutting regimes and irrigation practices may enhance productivity, improve soil carbon, pasture quality and animal performance. Fertilization may involve trade-offs between lower CH4 and higher N2O emissions (Bannink et al 2010). Net effect of GHG emissions here may be negative on grazing lands (Eagle et al. 2012). Forage quality may be improved by chemical and/or mechanical treatments and ensiling. With increasing variability of climatic conditions there may be increase in periods where forage quality falls short of animal demand; supplementary feeding becomes essential.Breeding to select more productive animals, enhances productivity and lower CH4 emissions intensities. There is evidence that cross-breeding programmes can deliver simultaneous, adaptation, food security and mitigation benefits. Cross Breeds developed with local breeds can be tolerant to heat stress, adapted to poor nutrition, disease & parasite resistance. Adaptation to climate change may involve switching livestock species. Making use of locally adapted breeds and crossing them with more productive breeds, while selecting desired traits is one of the breeding strategies.In all livestock production systems, there are number of animal and herd management options that can enhance productivity, improve feed conversion efficiency and reduce enteric emissions intensities. Better nutrition, improved animal husbandry, the regular maintenance of animal health and the responsible use of antibiotics can improve reproduction rates, reduce mortality and reduce the slaughter age. These measures would therefore have an effect on output produced for a given level of emission. Management of disease risks is important in the era of climate change, as there may be an increase in the emergence of gastrointestinal parasites due to climate change (Wall & Morgan, 2009). Breeding more disease resilient animals is one approach to addressing this issue.Even for low-input extensive systems with little human intervention, vaccines for methanogens (microorganisms that produce methane as a metabolic by-product in lowoxygen conditions) in the rumen are a potentially useful mitigation option for ruminants in land-based grazing systems. More research and development is however needed in this area before it can be ready for wide spread adoption.Increasing the organic content of the soil through conservation tillage, the soil's water holding capacity increases, and make yields more sustainable and reduces erosion.-Minimum or zero tillage;-Erosion control;-The use of crop residues (mulching) to conserve soil moisture; and improved soil cover through cover crops By increasing water infiltration, reducing evaporation and increasing storage of rainwater in soils, many crop management practices (e.g. mulching, green manures, conservation tillage and conservation agriculture) will help land users in areas projected to receive lower levels of precipitation adapt to climate change.Promoting the capture of carbon in the soil also mitigates climate change. Soil management practices that limit soil compaction, reduce tillage and retain crop residues, lower the potential for N2O losses, and increase soil carbon. In addition, managing pests including weeds, and diseases using technologies such as the 'pull-and-push technology' can contribute to improving the availability of food and improve animal feed in croplivestock systems (Lenné and Thomas, 2005).In coming decades, water management will be a critical component for of adapting to climate change as well as socio-economic changes. Practices that increase the productivity of water use (crop output per unit water) may have significant climate change adaptation potential for all land production systems Some adaptation techniques and approaches proposed by FAO, 2011 include cultivation of crop varieties with increased resistance to extreme conditions; irrigation techniques that maximize water use; adoption of supplementary irrigation in rain-fed systems and water-efficient technologies to harvest water; and the modification of cropping calendars (timing or location). Strategies for improving livestock-water productivity in mixed Crop-Livestock systems include feed management (e.g. improving feed quality, increasing feed-water productivity, enhancing feed selection, strengthening grazing management); water management; and animal management (e.g. increasing animal productivity and health).Carbon sequestration in soils has the potential to mitigate climate change and bolster climate change adaptation (Pascal and Socolow, 2004). As a climate-smart strategy it involves creating a positive carbon budget in soils and ecosystems by using residues as mulch in combination with no-till farming and integrated nutrient management (i.e. the appropriate application of both synthetic and organic fertilizer). Soil carbon sequestration delivers numerous ancillary benefits by improving soil quality and other ecosystem services. These benefits include:• Restoration of degraded soils, through increases in soil organic carbon pools,Improves productivity which helps foster food security and improves nutrition,Improves efficiency in the use of nitrogen and potassium, • Improves water quality through a greater control of non-point source pollution (Lal, 2009).Crop residues can represent up to 50% of ruminant diets in mixed farming systems (Herrero et al., 2008). These are inexpensive feed sources but have low digestibility, deficient in crude protein, minerals and vitamins. They limit productivity and increase CH4 emissions. Increasing digestibility of rations (improving quality, or supplementing with concentrates) reduce emissions.This involves the use of improved grass species and forage legumes. Animal productivity can be improved by using a multidimensional approach for improving the quality and thereby the utilization of food-feed crops. This can also lead to a reduction in animal numbers, lower feed requirements and reduced GHG emissions (Blümmel et al., 2009).The better we feed cow the less methane per kg of milk they produce.The diversification of sensitive production systems can enhance adaptation to the shortand medium-term impacts from climate change. In parts of southern Africa, reductions in length of growing period and increased rainfall variability are leading to conversions from mixed crop-livestock systems to rangeland-based systems, as farmers find growing crops too risky in marginal environments (Thornton et al., 2009). Changing the mix of farm products (e.g. Proportion of crops to pastures) is an example of a farm-level adaptation option. Farmers may reassess the crops and varieties they grow, and shift from growing crops to raising livestock, which can serve as marketable insurance in times of drought. They may also introduce heat-tolerant breeds that are more resistant to drought.In most cases, these practices in mixed farming systems deliver multiple benefits.However, before long-term benefits can be reaped, there are some trade-offs that need to be made in the short term with respect to emissions, productivity and food security.Despite the long-term benefits, poor subsistence farmers may not be willing or able to accept the short-term losses associated with some of these practices.  Energy-saving practices have also been demonstrated to be effective in reducing the dependence of intensive systems on fossil fuels.Carbon dioxide emissions associated with feed production, especially soybean, are significant (FAO, 2006). Improved feed conversion ratios have already greatly reduced the amount of feed required per unit of animal product. However, there is significant variation between production units and countries. Further progress is expected to be made in this area through improvements in feed management and livestock breeding. Reducing the amount of feed required per unit of output (e.g. beef, milk) has the potential to both reduce GHG emissions and increase farm profits.Increased feed efficiency can be achieved by developing breeds that grow faster, more hardy, gain weight more quickly, or produce more milk, and improved herd health. Better veterinary services, preventive health programmes and improved water quality can also increase feed efficiency.Shifting to feed resources with a low-carbon footprint is another way to reduce emissions, especially for concentrated pig and poultry production systems. Examples include feed crops that have been produced through conservation agriculture practices or feed grown in cropping areas that have not been recently extended into forested land or natural pastures. The use of AIBPs as feed is also important. Resilience can be achieved either by allowing chains to overcome the crisis or by creating the conditions for quick recovery after the crisis. There is little experience developed in this area however, greater coordination among the different stakeholders involved in the supply chain, insurance schemes, buffers and stocks may contribute to a greater resilience of supply chains that rely on landless livestock systems.Livestock can make a large contribution to climate-smart food supply systems. The sector offers substantial potential for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Mitigation options are available along the entire supply chain and are mostly associated with feed production, enteric fermentation and manure management. Mitigation strategies in the fishponds; 2,500 fish cages and 76 pens. The challenges are that fish stocks are under intensive pressure and are rapidly declining. According FAO, about 84 % of world's fisheries are over-exploited, fully exploited, or depleted and this presents a major concern for all stakeholders. In Ghana, our weak wild fish cannot meet demand and therefore aquaculture is the hope to bridge the gap. Trending the fisheries sub-sector's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), its contribution between 2008 and 2013 were 2.7%, 2.5%, 2.3%, 1.7%, 1.6% and 1.5% respectively. The clear indication therefore is that the subsector has been experiencing a progressive decline in its contribution to agricultural GDP over the past six years. The decline could be attributed to low value fish catch by fishermen, consistent unfavorable climatic conditions (such as higher sea-surface temperature, lower salinity and lower upwelling index), human factors (such as light fishing, use of unapproved fishing gears, use of dynamite in fishing etc.). Table 3.5.1shows some of the important indicators and performance of the sub-sector. The impacts of the accumulation of Green House Gas (GHG) in the atmosphere and water relate to a number of physical phenomena. Gradual changes in water temperature, acidification of water bodies, changes in ocean currents, rising sea levels are some physical changes that affect ecological functions within aquatic systems/ecologies.Changes in rainfall causes a spectrum of changes in water availability ranging from droughts and shortages, floods, reduce water quality, saline water further upstream in rivers, rising sea level threatens inland freshwater and aquaculture. Changing rainfall patterns and water scarcity impact on river and lake fisheries and aquaculture production.   Ensure that fisheries' interests, including the need for conservation of resources, are taken into account in the multiple uses of coastal zones and are integrated into coastal area management, planning and development. Conduct climate change risk assessments for native fisheries to identify species and populations that are at risk, and include potential economic losses and the costs of adaptation measures. Ensure that land and water resource managers at the state and local levels integrate adaptation options into planning, programs and practices.Reducing the impact of invasive species is one of the options. There is the need to promote the health of native populations, which gives them a better chance to compete successfully. Strengthening rules for cleaning and transporting boats and fishing gears to reduce invasive species outbreaks, increase research into new techniques for controlling/managing invasive species and increase monitoring and control of invasive plant and aquatic species are important options for consideration. There is also the need to develop regulations aimed at preventing future incursions of exotic and invasive species.The construction of floating cages is important since it can adapt to changing water resource opportunities.The introduction of saline or shock tolerant fish species and the use of quality fingerling and brood stock are important. The use of indigenous species, short duration and fast growing species that can combat seasonal variations in livelihood returns is important.The use of efficient feed conversion species is also important.Enhancing the adaptive capacity in terms of productive livelihood (new income opportunity) option for fish farmers, women and poor households, will lead to better nutrition (livelihood diversification). There is the need to also to implement insurance scheme in this sub-sector.   shows an example of trees and crop integration approaches in Ghana.  Modernization is the application of Technology (Hard or processes) in Agriculture for higher production or productivity. Modernized agriculture can be defined as maximizing production from a minimum input of resources. In crop production, the resources are land, labour, plant material and post-harvest management of produce. Livestock is also linked to breeds, feed, health and post-harvest management of livestock products. The major and common denominator of the above systems of production is engineering and for that matter mechanization. This is supported by the fact that Countries that are said to be modernized have a great input of engineering.Agricultural Mechanization in any Country is assessed with the number of tractors employed in production or technology used in the entire production line of commodities in that country. The intended objectives of agricultural mechanization here, are thus not confined to land and labour productivity alone, but include its consequent impact on poverty reduction and human development.It is on record (MOFA-FASDEP -2002) that Ghana has a total land area of approximately 24 million hectares of which 57% (13.7 million hectares) is suitable for agriculture and 8 million hectares convenient for mechanical powered machines. Less than 20 % of this area is cultivated. The Ghanaian agricultural sector consists of food crops, livestock and fisheries. Without significant improvement in agriculture's performance, the long-term goal of the country cannot be achieved as projected in national Vision documents. To achieve this target on a sustainable basis, the additional growth in agriculture has to be derived from rapid increases in production and productivity of farm labour through the interplay of all the agricultural technologies such as Agricultural Mechanization activities.The climatic conditions such as temperature, pressure, humidity and many others have great influence on the effectiveness of the performance of the internal combustion engine of a tractor. Some researchers (Kuznesov 1987) have come out with some ranges on the temperature and pressure influence on power development as stated in Table 3.8.1. This means any specification output power of a diesel engine will reduce by 2.2% if there is a temperature change at every 10 ºC. Pressure changes accounts for some similar changes in output power of engines. Dust in the air affects the work of automobiles and others with internal combustion system for different purposes due to wear of machine aggregates and machine parts.Dusty conditions depend on so many factors like the season, type of road or soil, weather, wind direction, movement intensity, etc. Dusty air is characterized by the weight of dust in a cubic meter of air. Generally, air with less than 1mg/m 3 is accepted technically as clean air. European roads have reduced soil dust to about 0.00025 -0.001 g/m 3 . On rough roads the condition of dust in the air ranges 0.4 -0.45 g/m 3 but when crawlers are moving in a convoy the soil dust ranges 1.25 -2.0 g/m 3 (Kuznesov 1987). Research have proven that where dust ranges 0.8 -1.2 g/m 3 then clarity is lost. Averagely for different conditions of automobiles exploitation it should not exceed 1.4 and for crawlers it should not be more than 2g/m 3 . In the big cities dust should not exceed 0.00025 -0.0084 g/m 3 .As seen from the references above it is very important to avoid using or working under dusty condition. But one cannot avoid dusty conditions at work, it is necessary to take the following recommendation as a corrective measure in maintenance schedule. The servicing here is mainly referred to as change of oil. Smart servicing is recommended in  It is the process of the working of the soil loose to provide favourable conditions for agricultural purposes. Tillage is further classified into two main groups namely: Primary and Secondary Tillage. There are certain groups of implement that fall in the various tillage classes but it can be found out that sometimes some of the secondary tillage equipment is used for primary tillage purpose.The Mouldboard plough and the Disc plough are among the implements mostly used for tillage. The disc plough does the same activity as the mouldboard but they are different in construction. The disc plough mostly three concave disc that work the soil whiles the mouldboard plough has its main parts as the mouldboard component for handling the soil and the share for cutting the soil.Whiles the disc plough can work so well on virgin fields full of stumps and rocks, the mouldboard plough cannot work well under such conditions. But it has the advantage of wider options of depth of cut for ploughing, optional ploughing objectives and does not dilute the top soil. Studies conducted by Mahama (1997) on the tubular fixed bottom disc plough shows it can leave unploughed land when used (Figure 3.8.1).Table 3.8.3 shows the various depths of cuts and the percentage of profile left unploughed.Maximum depth of cut for disc diameters of 66 cm and 55 are calculated as 22cm and 18cm respectively. The more a disc will be worn, the greater the unploughed land. Ahn (1977) reported that the average topsoil depth of West Africa sub-region is around 15 cm. This suggests that the disc plough works beyond the top soil hence burying the productive topsoil after ploughing.  mm was said to be erosive power with a load of 24.18 J /m 2 . Highly erosive rain of this vegetation. It is reported that about 70% of available vegetation can be eaten by livestock when grazing on the field in a free range system. Continuous effect of free range is loss of vegetation which in-turn affects the climate.Another important but ignored component is soil compaction on the fields with free range systems. It is estimated (Mahama, 1994) that the average pressure under the feet of a cow is 6 -13 t/m 2 . This will create serious compaction issues for wet soils when livestock is allowed to graze on such a field. To put this in perspective, the average pressure under the tracks of a pick-up truck is about 35 t/m 2 whiles the acceptable compaction pressure is about 2.8 t/m 2 (Daum, 2015). As such the provision of adequate housing for large ruminants will seriously help conserve the environment.Watering has been very vital in livestock production for poultry and ruminants. However, the most critical is that of the ruminants. The practice in Ghana is mainly free range of feeding which normally starts in the morning to evening. Water source have not been located to the convenience of the herdsmen and therefore the greater part of the fodder eaten by the ruminants is expended in the search for water or to water sources. This could have been directed to the growth and maintenance of the ruminants. Another smart watering system is the use of wind pumps for lifting water from boreholes on farms or grazing fields and for livestock watering systems. This provides regular water supply and a renewable energy source. Use of Solar Inverter power for lighting in poultry houses and ruminants  Taking advantage of solar energy for dryingLight in the pens of birds will increase feeding time and will influence greatly the growth rate of the birds and prepare them for market early. This is evident with the broiler production. Here, the Agricultural electrical engineers have their role to play in promotion of production.Solar drying technology will offer an alternative source of energy for processing agricultural produce (root and tubers, fruits and vegetables) in clean, hygienic and sanitary conditions to national and international standards at very low cost. It saves energy, time and occupies less area, improves product quality, makes processing more efficient and protects the environment. Solar drying technology can be used in small-scale food processing industries to produce hygienic, good quality food products. At the same time, this can be used to promote renewable energy sources as an incomegenerating option. Further, this solar technology will ideally be suited for women since they can place the load in the dryer and then get on with their other numerous household tasks (Seidu et al, 2008). Solar drying which takes place in an enclosed ventilated area is able to do away with all the problems associated with the traditional open sun drying and bring about sustainable income and food security. The matrix shown in Fig. 3.8.3illustrates the policy being implemented through a category of farmers with access to the appropriate power sources in mechanization systems, institutions and other infrastructure to achieve the appropriate results. Improving or building up the systems, institutions and infrastructure will have to filter through the conservative practices and economics to get results that will be sustainable with growth. It is clear from the estimates that Ghana is still far from modernising Agriculture. Climate change involves issues related to temperature, humidity, pressure, rainfall, solar, wind, dust, etc. To be smart about the changes of these in any geographical area is to adapt and avoid making such factors of climate change further affect negatively.Agricultural Mechanization has been one of the main pillars of any accelerated agricultural growth and has a direct correlation with the kind of energy used in agriculture. The analyses showed that Ghana is still far from modernized agricultural production. Measures of climate change that need to be taken to ensure that farmers also have access to a level of mechanization technology appropriate to their circumstances for agricultural production are also discussed for policy makers and professionals. For Smart Agricultural Modernization to take its rightful place in the development of agriculture in The use of CSA technologies and practices in the guinea savannah area was found to be largely 86.6% smallholder farm types compared to medium and or large (Table 4.1.3).However, DT Maize was patronised by all the farm type enterprises. Gill netting practice was found to be practised by men. It was revealed by the stakeholder categories in the study that all the CSA technologies and practices were patronised by both men and women in the zone.   Bulleted below are some of the constraints enumerated to be associated with the climate smart technologies and practices: It is composed of three main pillars namely: Sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes; Adapting and building resilience to climate change; Reducing and/or removing greenhouse gases emissions, where possible.However, the fundamentals are in the way the technical/technology, Institutions and Policy are blended creating the congenial environment for the practice to deliver the desired outcomes.Policies and laws need strengthening to deal appropriately with climate change issues e.g. Bush fires, migrant herders and other conflicts. Strengthening of CCA platforms at all levels (local assembly, regional and national) for science-policy dialogue could prove rewarding from the institutional innovation end point. Indeed, this calls for concerted action by actors and stakeholders including; producers, marketers, and input dealers/service providers, associations and other influential individuals along a given value chain. The need for partnerships and (north-south and south-south) Alliances for CSA to bridge knowledge gaps and mobilize resources to improve the financial investments for climate-smart agriculture research and development without which our producers may remain at high risk of being uncompetitive cannot be over-emphasized. Support private sector participation in the delivery and funding of climate smart agriculture extension services to farmers ensuring inclusiveness of smallholder men and women farmers.  Develop framework for CSA research prioritization, co-ordination, networking, monitoring, evaluation and learning. Over haul the research-extension-farmer-input dealers' linkage systems for greater delivery of extension on CSA technologies and practices. Formulate policy on regionalization of climate smart agriculture technologies and practices by ecological zones in the country  Conduct more in-depth case studies of the identified and prioritized technologies, integrated systems practices for scaling up and out. Policy environment creating needed incentives for business investments in CSA, enhancing markets and trade across borders (south-south and north-south). Institutions creating awareness; aligning CSA technologies and practices in agricultural sector action plans to respond appropriately to the national climate change policy (NCCP) document.The following recommendations were made in connection with the promotion of CSA in Ghana: Current efforts by Forestry sector to replant degraded forest reserves should include Farmer managed natural regeneration of trees enhancing natural biodiversity capacities of identified protected areas towards increasing their ecotourism potentials. Weather/climate information is important in enabling farmers adapt to current weather events; the food and agriculture sector operators should consider forging closer relations with the Meteorological Agency to make weather information more relevant and useful (timeliness and scale of forecast) to farmers. The scaling up of CSA practices on landscape is recommended for the studied zones.The transfer of some practices such as cover cropping, conservation agriculture across zones could be direct. However, others may require test validation to adapt. Formal and informal institutions may need to go into alliances to promote climate smart agriculture. Unfavorable policies observed by stakeholders limiting CSA practices should be addressed to promote adoption and adequate investments  More profiling activities of CSA will be needed to cover the country to unearth indigenous knowledge for scientific fine tuning by research. Targeting agricultural mechanization for CSA is required."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"122b72599e64a74ea591294e6f34d702","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/94e2cd16-e082-4695-8a13-2c168a64caf8/retrieve","id":"996577814"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b4feac6e-2574-4f53-a695-39439100873e","content":"The program uses a mobile phone application to send one-minute audio messages to farmers and agricultural experts in four regions of Ethiopia: Amhara/Debre Birhan, Oromia/Bale, SNNPR/Hadiya, and Addis Ababa. • Ethiopian farmers are gaining access to valuable information on climate-smart livestock feed and forage innovations through weekly voice messages.• These messages are helping to raise awareness of important technologies that can improve livestock productivity and profitability.• The initiative is contributing to the sustainable intensification of mixed farming systems in Ethiopia.The Weekly Voice Messages for Farmers program is a valuable tool for communicating with farmers and agricultural experts in Ethiopia.The messages are short and easy to understand, and they can Be accessed by farmers in rural areas who may not have access to the Internet. The messages are also a cost-effective way to scale up climate-smart feed and forage technologies in Ethiopia.The program has become successful in raising awareness of important livestock feed and forage innovations. The program has also supported to improvement of the productivity and profitability of livestock production in Ethiopia.The program targeted to reach over 48,834 beneficiaries. The messages have been wellreceived by 25,730 recipients. Many of the recipients have indicated that they have found the messages informative and helpful. The following tables show targeted sites, beneficiary groups and results from the audio message program.A The Weekly Voice Messages for Farmers program is a successful initiative that is helping to improve the livestock sector in Ethiopia. The program is a valuable tool for communicating with farmers and agricultural experts, and it is helping to raise awareness of important livestock feed and forage technologies. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a9db37784ce8a4fb0e88ae7d00c7dc97","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/a560b1c4-d5ea-4c2c-854b-72dc18e15650/content","id":"1593191520"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7b74287a-c707-40fc-ae13-ebdfcf738ecd","content":"This Guidance Note is designed for researchers working in maize-based smallholder farming systems. It is useful to interventions planning community and household level action research with women and men farmers. This includes initiatives exploring the use of Gender-Transformative Approaches (GTAs) to improve farmer decisionmaking, strengthen women's and men's empowerment, and to ensure development gains are more equitably distributed. This Guidance Note will be of value to maize value chain actors (input suppliers, farmers, processors,Smallholder farming systems are non-linear, interactive systems with many components. It is useful to think of them as decision-making systems. Intra-household decisionmaking processes are one site where systemic factors -social norms, the ways in which value chain actors and facilitators operate, the overall legislative and policy environment, and other sources of change such as migration and the climate crisiscome together to influence how women and men smallholders decide what to do on their farms (Figure 1). The components themselves are subject to change, and interact with each other in hard-to-predict ways. Social norms, for example, are never static.In reality, men farmers are not the only ones making decisions, nor are they responsible for everything that happens on the farm. Men can be more powerful than women, however, in determining priorities on the farm: which plot gets the most attention, which crops are grown where and by whom, who works on which plots/crops, who sells in the market, and how money is spent or saved. Of course, women work hard to achieve positive outcomes from their work, and many men desire to secure benefits for the whole family. Studies show the benefits of collaboration. These can include increased adoption of new technologies, better mobilisation of assets, improved equity in the distribution of benefits between household members, an increase in women's standing and decision-making power at community level, among others 6 . It should be noted that not all of these effects are present in any one site, for example, adoption rates may be similar but the distribution of benefits may not. Nonetheless, there is strong evidence that despite the potential benefits of collaboration, many farms are not managed as a holistic and coordinated system aiming to produce benefits for everyone in the family, but rather serve to maximise gains for certain members over others. Widely observed uncooperative outcomes such as low yields, gender gaps in maize productivity, sub-optimal adoption of technologies, and weak ability to adapt to climate change can be the consequence.Adoption of improved maize varieties (IMVs) is often lower for women. In Malawi adoption of IMVs is 12% lower for wives in male-headed households, and 11% lower for female household heads than for male farmers 7 .Women can find it difficult to interact with buyers or get maize to market themselves. In Ghana, for example, this is due to lower average production volumes, weak links to other value chain actors, mobility constraints, and insufficient working and investment capital 8 .Women in male-headed households (MHH) faced several barriers to adopting and utilizing quality protein maize (QPM), including less access to agricultural extension, lower awareness of QPM, and less input into decisions around key aspects of adoption, production, and marketing. Women in MHH reported lower rates of adoption (2%) of QPM than their spouses (6%) suggesting that they did not know they were farming QPM 9 . In Mozambique, a study examined fertilizer application rates on plots managed individually by men, women, and jointly in dual adult households. Men managed the majority of plots: 62% of maize plots, 56% of fruit and vegetable plots, and 71% of non-staple cash crops plots. Twice as much inorganic fertilizer was applied to maize plots managed by men than by women. Men applied considerably more fertilizer to their other crops than do women. However, fertilizer use was highest on collaboratively-managed maize, fruit, and vegetable plots. Jointly-managed plots exhibited higher incidences of soil and water conservation structures and were more likely to have maize-legume intercropping, use manure, and to demonstrate improved agroecological practices 11 .A Kenyan study showed that women plot managers are less likely to adopt minimum tillage and utilise animal manure for increasing soil fertility. Men and women are equally likely to adopt improved seed varieties, maize-legume rotations, maizelegume intercropping, soil and water conservation, and inorganic fertiliser. However, compared to male-managed plots, jointlymanaged plots are more likely to adopt maize-legume intercropping, maize-legume rotations and improved seeds 12 . How do men and women farmers in Nigeria benefit from improved maize varieties (IMVs)? In what ways do gender norms affect the equity of benefit distribution? Despite many cultural, agro-ecological, market and other differences across the country, a study conducted in two communities in the North and two in the Southwest produced similar findings. Women find IMVs help to strengthen their income and household food security. Early ripening means that income flows start earlier, helping women to meet household expenditures on time. Women process maize into snack food products, which are sold in local markets. However, improved income does not mean that women are able to better express their agency, for example, by investing in other businesses or selling unprocessed maize at scale. Most men support their wives' selling maize in local markets provided women's income is allocated to household needs and is perceived within the household and by other people important to the family as secondary to men's income. In comparison, men benefit substantially and directly from IMVs. They take advantage of their greater mobility to sell large quantities of unprocessed improved maize in lucrative markets and tend to spend the income earned on their personal priorities. This stated, in the North securing sufficient maize for household food security is a key male responsibility and a reason for men to appreciate IMVs. No male respondents in the South mention maize in relation to food security. Tanzanian legislation for women's rights is a product of decades of indigenous women's struggles and is considered amongst the most progressive in Africa. However, policy implementation is difficult to achieve. A study in four maize-growing communities in different regions of Tanzania showed that many women and men agree with the principle of gender equality. Men strongly associate equality with higher production and productivity, and improved income generation. However, men want to remain lead decision-makers in the home and to retain control over women's income. Women have rights to land under national law, yet in practice almost all women in the study risked losing their rights to land and other assets -that they had helped build, sometimes over many yearsupon separation or death of their husband. This is because implementation of the law is devolved to local institutions which often demonstrate strong gender biases. Furthermore, men find it hard to express a different kind of masculinity, for example, through doing housework. Even if they want to, community members are likely to condemn their efforts. The study finds that women are heavily burdened earning off-farm income, working in the fields, and doing housework, but receive limited benefits and have a restricted Considerable effort has been devoted to empowering women in maize. This includes identifying varietal traits preferred by women, for example, cookability, taste and low N requirements, and breeding for them 13 .Other work includes opening up seed markets to women through identifying and reducing obstacles to women's participation, and as part of this, working closely with private sector players to help them see women as a viable market segment 14 . Analysing women's barriers to accessing farm power is another example 15 . A large and global research effort is dedicated to identifying barriers to women's participation in innovation around maize and outlining ways to strengthen women's involvement 16 ..'Men are the gatekeepers of current gender orders and are potential resistors of change. If we do not effectively reach men and boys, many of our efforts will be either thwarted or simply ignored' 17 .Sometimes, when efforts are made to empower women, men may feel ignored or slighted. The wider community may judge men with empowered wives as ineffective household heads who have lost control. This may lead, in some cases, to increased violence in the home, the marginalization of men in community meetings, or men simply leaving an increasing number of household expenses to their wives to pay. Men may perceive women's empowerment as a zero sum game. When women get empowered some men worry they will get disempowered 18 .By virtue of their power and privilege, many men are in a prime position to tackle gender inequalities, for example, in their own homes, on the farm, and in agricultural extension. Men can be key to ensuring that the challenges facing women -and men -in maize are successfully overcome. They are essential partners to women in ensuring the farm system functions for everyone. It is vital to continue working with women to support them in their own pathways to empowerment, and it is also important to get men on board as supporters of women, and in their own right.specific opportunities for men to critically reflect and act on harmful masculinities that perpetuate poverty and negatively impact on their own lives as men as well as harm women and girls 20 . It is important for such methodologies to highlight gender equality as a 'win-win' for men as well as women -rather than as a 'zero sum game'. They need to motivate men to promote gender equality in and outside their homes, encourage positive thinking about sharing responsibilities in the home, and being more open to joint decision-making processes. GTA programmes that explicitly include opportunities for discussions about harmful masculinities and the means to transform these into more positive norms of manhood are more effective than programmes that simply recognize or mention gender norms and roles 21 .Participants in men's discussion group, Zambia. Photo: Cathy FarnworthScarce resources made available to engage men need to be utilized efficiently and effectively and they must not diminish ongoing work to empower women and girls 22 . A good understanding is needed of when it is best to work with only men, or only women, or with both together. A further consideration is on how to scale initiatives that engage men as few programmes go beyond the pilot phase and tend to be short in duration 23 . Ensuring that smallholder participation is genuine is key. Empowerment happens when individuals and groups imagine the world differently, stand on their own feet and take their destiny into their own hands. With a vision for the future, they challenge and change the power relations which keep them in poverty. An equal voice in decision-making mobilizes people to collectively improve their situation. The purpose of GTAs is to promote better decisionmaking and to facilitate a wider range of choices for individual women and men. They aim to catalyse change in the capacities, attitudes, agency, and actions of individuals. GTAs also seek to transform the expectations that define organisational norms -the rules and practiceswithin institutions. Taken together these actions are expected to expand the potential of people to contribute to, and benefit from, development efforts 19 .Whilst GTAs involve working with both women and men, some GTAs make special efforts to engage men as an integral part of their methodology. They are unique in that they create It is important to move beyond interventions that focus on men's individual responsibility. It is essential to ensure that men do not feel blamed, or negatively targeted. Men are embedded in wider structures that condition their behaviour. They need to be supported as they begin to confront and question norms at home, in the community, at work, and those presented through media and advertising. All of these help shape men's psychological and social identities: what it means to be a man in that particular community. Women are likewise embedded in normative structures -when men change, women's expectations of men (and of themselves) are likely to change too.Focus on boys in schools, in sport, in clubs to help them develop alternative models of what being a boy and a man can mean.Take time to engage with men. It takes time to win their trust and to develop their confidence to do things differently. Trust is the basis for changing behaviour and men's attitudes for the good of their families and communities. Be patientchange doesn't happen overnight. Work towards slow but sure change.Go to where men are Find men where they work and socialize rather than expect them to come to you. Enter and build positively upon male spaces. Use existing community structures to conduct training sessions in open spaces, schools, religious institutions, maize markets or taxi ranks. Locate men through farmer groups as well.Encourage men and women, young women and men, and children in the home, to plan their farm and work together. Stimulate discussions on how maize fits into their plans for a better life. Gender equality is about cooperating with each other to share the burdens and the benefits.Understand that women, as well as men, will changeGetting men on board requires changed behaviours from everyone. Men as well as women will change: prioritizing ways to help women and men, and other family members, including the extended family, cooperate and support change processes together are vital.Make sure the benefits of change are seen quicklyIf action research or development projects are to succeed, the benefits of change must be recognized relatively quickly by men during implementation. Identify behavioural change indicators together with men and women to see what is changing, and report quickly on progress towards achievements. Encourage the development of short-and longer-term goals and associated indicators to track.Encourage men to think positively and with pride about their responsibilities to improve the lives of everyone in the home. This may include better and more nutritious food, and making sure there is enough money from sales to spend on necessities like school fees and medical fees as well as to invest in more secure livelihoods.Work on involving men is more effective when backed up with changes throughout partner institutions. This is not just about securing technical changes butcritically -about demonstrating through everyday interactions that partners and particularly men in those organizations -take gender equality seriously, are serious about supporting men in change processes, and that they themselves are personally walking the talk.It is critical to be inclusive of women's movements and to get their guidance and support. Remember the saying \"Nothing about us (women) without us\".Examples of organizations and researchers engaging men 1. The Global MenEngage Alliance 24The MenEngage Alliance envisions a world where all people are equal and free from discrimination -a world in which gender justice and human rights are promoted and protected. This means:• Men and boys must act. In order to achieve gender justice for all, men and boys need to be part of the solution as allies to women's rights and other social justice movements. Equality is only possible if everyoneworks together. • Taking a feminist informed approach. Advocating for approaches that are grounded firmly in feminist, human rights-based principles, and build on the work of women's rights organizations and movements. rights. ADSOCK is a membership organization and currently has 122 member organizations as well as a large pool of trainers and facilitators. Over time, ADSOCK has developed a powerful toolkit of effective methods for working with farmer organizations on promoting positive masculinities and empowering women. ADSOCK's theory of change is based on its experience of influencing policy and practice and its participation in advocacy networks. ADSCOCK understands there are multiple, contextually specific pathways to change. Efforts to identify and disrupt, adapt or dismantle policies, structures and systems that reinforce negative norms and stereotypes is necesary to achieve equality and the realization of equal human rights.The Zambia National Men's Network for Gender and Development (Men's Network) is a non-profit organisation. Its mission is to engage men as allies in gender equality and socio-economic empowerment of women in Zambia and sub-Saharan Africa. The Men's Network vision is \"A global village where men and women are equal partners in social, cultural and economic activities of their lives and are active participants of environmental stewardship to benefit future generations.\" The Men's Network works closely with traditional and religious leaders because they are very influential in communities. Getting them to speak out against negative cultural norms and to advocate for change helps to change harmful practices rapidly. The Men's Networkworks to help men see how they lose from negative practices, and helps them to develop positive practices from a men's perspective. Increasingly, the Men's Network is working with boys in schools and in their communities to help them to develop positive masculinities from a young age. Boys Network Clubs in schools and communities enable boys to become role models and to reach out to others with positive messages. The Men's Network has developed a range of participatory low cost methodologies, such as \"Campfire\", where men in villages gather and discuss gender issues. The Men's Network works closely with the Zambian women's movement as well as stakeholders such as the Zambia Police Service and the Ministry of Gender."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ffc9d8a2633055f1f3b004f96e749455","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/836c0629-a365-43e5-a024-5521b44a6440/retrieve","id":"1191176517"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e8429e27-0ae3-4c47-b65e-8f3cc050a167","content":"FTA recommendations shape the design and implementation of global policy processes. The program's gender research has influenced the design of policy documents produced in the negotiation processes in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and FTA recommendations on gender indicators for SDG13 on climate change were incorporated in the \"Equal Measures 2030\" global reportThe achieved outcome builds on important investments in strategic partnerships starting around 2018 when the CGIAR Research Programme on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) partnered with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) to develop a background paper and organize an expert workshop on addressing gender under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). In 2019 FTA continued the engagement with UN Women and the CBD secretariat and was invited to a technical workshop with representatives from country national governments, civil society organizations and movements, United Nations (UN) agencies and other international organizations to build consensus around the key elements for a gender-responsive post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. FTA's contributions were included in the Forestry section of the REPORT OF THE EXPERT WORKSHOP TO DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POSSIBLE GENDER ELEMENTS IN THE POST-2020 GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY FRAMEWORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 11-12 APRIL 2019 (1). FTA was later invited by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat to present its work at an in-session workshop at the 48th sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and was invited to participate in the For All Coalition aiming to inform gender integration under UN conventions. The coalition brings together members of the Rio Convention secretariats, key gender non-governmental organizations (NGOs), parties to the conventions, and FTA, which is the only member representing research. As a result of this strategic engagement FTA recommendations on gender indicators for SDG13 on climate change were incorporated in the Equal Measures 2030? global report (2). The report referenced FTA?s submission to the UNFCC SBI and several FTA studies; and included an indicator on ?women?s inclusion in national decision making on climate policies?, which FTA recommended.The active interactions with the CBD secretariat and expert group resulted in joint submissions with other participating organizations to inform the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, including a submission during the Regional Consultation meeting of the Group of Latin America and the Caribbean in Montevideo (3). Furthermore, FTA and UN Women co-hosted an expert workshop to formulate key messages for the First Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (1). The meeting resulted in recommendations to the OEWG for gender-responsive goals, indicators and targets; an accountability framework; and enabling conditions, including capacity-building and finance, for the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. Language from these recommendations was included in the zero draft Framework, which is currently under revision.Part II: CGIAR system level reportingThe achieved outcome builds on important investments in strategic partnerships starting around 2018 when the CGIAR Research Programme on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) partnered with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) to develop a background paper and organize an expert workshop on addressing gender under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). In 2019 FTA continued the engagement with UN Women and the CBD secretariat and was invited to a technical workshop with representatives from country national governments, civil society organizations and movements, United Nations (UN) agencies and other international organizations to build consensus around the key elements for a gender-responsive post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. FTA?s contributions were included in the Forestry section of the ?REPORT OF THE EXPERT WORKSHOP TO DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POSSIBLE GENDER ELEMENTS IN THE POST-2020 GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY FRAMEWORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 11-12 APRIL 2019? FTA was later invited by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat to present its work at an in-session workshop at the 48th sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and was invited to participate in the For All Coalition aiming to inform gender integration under UN conventions. The coalition brings together members of the Rio Convention secretariats, key gender non-governmental organizations (NGOs), parties to the conventions, and FTA, which is the only member representing research. As a result of this strategic engagement FTA recommendations on gender indicators for SDG13 on climate change were incorporated in the ?Equal Measures 2030? global report. The report referenced FTA?s submission to the UNFCC SBI and several FTA studies; and included an indicator on ?women?s inclusion in national decision making on climate policies?, which FTA recommended.The active interactions with the CBD secretariat and expert group resulted in joint submissions with other participating organizations to inform the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, including a submission during the Regional Consultation meeting GRULAC in Montevideo. Furthermore, FTA and UN Women co-hosted an expert workshop to formulate key messages for the First Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. The meeting resulted in recommendations to the OEWG for gender-responsive goals, indicators and targets; an accountability framework; and enabling conditions, including capacity-building and finance, for the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. Language from these recommendations was included in the zero draft Framework, which is currently under revision."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"27eccbc8849a2d50ed5ea15fa64987ad","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a9de32d9-7152-48c0-b064-d3990526d006/retrieve","id":"-1532917510"},"keywords":["Innovation","scaling","impact","digital","Africa","assessment","investment"],"sieverID":"27d19392-81db-4f69-9ea5-c9550b5f8a10","content":"This research was conducted as part of the CGIAR Initiative in Excellence in Agronomy and Diversification in East and Southern Africa, supported by contributors to the CGIAR Trust Fund. CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. Its science is carried out by 15 Research Centers in close collaboration with hundreds of global partners. www.cgiar.org CIP and IITA are grateful to all donors and organizations globally supporting their work through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund and ILRI.The Smart Nkunganire System (SNS) in Rwanda is a groundbreaking digital platform that has revolutionized the delivery of agricultural inputs to farmers, significantly impacting the nation's agricultural landscape. By leveraging mobile technology and a centralized database, the SNS has streamlined the Rwandan government's subsidy allocation process, enabling over 1.9 million farmers to access essential inputs like fertilizers and seeds. The system's real-time data tracking, farmer empowerment tools, and market development initiatives have fostered transparency, efficiency, and inclusivity in the agricultural sector. Despite its successes, the SNS faces challenges in areas such as digital supply chain management, financial processes, and user experience. These challenges highlight the need for continuous improvement and adaptation to ensure the system's long-term sustainability and effectiveness.The \"Synchronized Scaling of Digital Fertilizer Advisory for Six Crops through Rwanda's Smart Nkunganire System\" project under the CGIAR Research Initiative Diversification for Resilient Agrifood Systems in East and Southern Africa (Ukama Ustawi) and Excellence in Agronomy (EiA) both supported by CGIAR led by International Potato Center (CIP) and other partners, aimed to address these challenges and explore optimal delivery/business models for the next phase of the SNS's development.The assessment of various delivery/business models revealed that the SNS currently aligns most strongly with the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and Mobile-First approaches. The PPP model has been instrumental in the system's successful implementation, while the mobile-first design has enhanced its accessibility and reach. However, there is potential for the SNS to evolve further by incorporating elements of other models, such as tiered services and data monetization, to create a more personalized and impactful experience for farmers.The future of the SNS is promising. By addressing existing challenges, leveraging its data-driven insights, and exploring innovative business models, the SNS can continue to empower farmers, drive agricultural transformation, and contribute to Rwanda's food security and economic growth. The key lies in fostering collaboration, investing in capacity building, and maintaining a steadfast commitment to user-centric design. The SNS stands as a testament to the transformative power of digital technology in agriculture and serves as a model for other countries seeking to enhance their agricultural sectors.Rwanda's agricultural sector is undergoing a digital transformation to address challenges and improve productivity. Rwanda has made significant progress in identifying soil types and developing sustainable fertility management options (Rushemuka et al., 2014). However, the adoption of these technologies remains insufficient due to inadequate tailoring to specific soil conditions. In the complex soilscape of Rwanda, failure to provide site-specific soil fertility management and fertilizer recommendation technologies to specific environs is a major stumbling block to their adoption. To address this, Rwanda has implemented reforms to create a conducive environment for smallholder agriculture intensification leading to the emergence of multiple innovations across the sector (Musabanganji et al., 2016).Recent innovations, for instance, a machine learning-based crop and fertilizer recommendation system, which achieved 97% accuracy in predicting optimal crops and fertilizer use have evolved aimed at improving the agriculture practice and providing near-real-time decision-making tools (Musanase et al., 2023). Despite these advancements, obstacles are limiting the growth and benefit of the innovation at scale that require collaborative efforts between governments, private sector, and development partners (Mhlanga David and Dzingirai, 2023).The Smart Nkunganire System (SNS) is a complex digital ecosystem that streamlines the delivery of agricultural inputs to farmers across Rwanda (SNS, 2024). It leverages mobile technology and a centralized database to facilitate farmer registration, agriculture inputs subsidy allocation, and digital transactions at authorized agro-dealer shops. The system boasts features like real-time data tracking, farmer empowerment, and market development, representing a paradigm shift in Rwanda's agricultural landscape. Its quantitative impact includes over 1.9 million registered farmers (SNS, 2024), 90% distribution of subsidized fertilizers, reduced input delivery times, and increased farmer satisfaction.To further enhance the contribution of the system to advancing the Rwandan agricultural sector and economy, a team of scientists, innovators and experts from CGIAR, Rwandan Ministry of Agriculture (MinAgri), Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Board (RAB), BKTechouse and One Acre Fund have embarked on a scaling project with the support from CGIAR Excellence in Agronomy (EiA) and Initiative on diversification in East and Southern Africa: Ukama Ustawi Initiatives (UU). The scaling project aimed at developing an all-inclusive and gender-sensitive (Ning et al., 2024) scaling strategy, including understanding the best-fit delivery/business models for the next frontier of the system that can guide further investments on the system that maximizes benefit and impact at scale.Building on the multistakeholder sectoral Innovation Packages and Scaling Readiness workshop (Mudereri et al., 2024), professional social media consultations and a blog (Sartas et al., 2024), this report presents a systematic assessment of the proven delivery/ business models used for creating high-performing digital solutions in the impact sectors that respond to the effective demand from impact stakeholders and identifies which of these models can supercharge the contribution of the system to Rwanda and beyond (Sartas et al., 2024).There is little knowledge of methodologies that can be utilized for identifying high-performance delivery/business models that are simple and actionable to use in the complex agrifood sectors within low and middle-income countries (Abate et al., 2023). Therefore, we use a custom framework that postulates that high-performing delivery/business models ensure that the digital solutions using the models achieve effective demand from the stakeholders in the impact sectors. In other words, the models enable the digital solutions i) to be interesting enough for high influencers 1 in the sector to promote the solutions, ii) to attract large-ticket investment commitments and iii) to fit into existing delivery models (Figure 1). Delivery and business models should be designed to do more than just bring a solution to the market. They must actively ensure that the solution attracts key influencers and investors, while also integrating seamlessly into existing delivery systems.Attracting Influencers and Investors: A robust delivery or business model should include strategies to engage influencers-individuals or organizations that have the power to shape opinions and drive adoption within the target market. By aligning the solution with the interests and values of these influencers, the model increases the likelihood of endorsements, which can significantly boost the solution's visibility and credibility. Simultaneously, the model should be structured to appeal to investors by demonstrating clear value propositions, scalability potential, and a well-defined path to profitability. This involves outlining how the solution addresses a critical need, its competitive advantages, and the expected return on investment.Integration into Existing Delivery Systems: For a solution to be effective and widely adopted, it must fit within the existing infrastructure and delivery mechanisms of the target market (Sartas et al., 2020) in our case, Rwanda. The model should account for the current systems in place-whether they are technological, logistical, or organizational-and ensure that the solution can be implemented without causing major disruptions. This could involve adapting the solution to complement or enhance existing processes, thereby making it easier for stakeholders to adopt and utilize the solution (Mudereri et al., 2024). A well-integrated model reduces friction, enhances user experience, and accelerates the adoption rate 1Influencers are the people who can change the decisions of stakeholders and the solutions being scaled in a specific context. They can be politicians, input suppliers, religious leaders, YouTube celebrities etc. Influencers change based on the solutions to be scaled and the context they are being scaled.In Section 3, the report delves into the development and application of a custom framework designed to identify and select highperforming delivery and business models. This framework is built on the premise that such models are crucial for ensuring that the digital solutions developed are not only effective but also meet the specific demands of stakeholders across various impact sectors. The framework guides the selection process by evaluating the potential of different models to drive stakeholder engagement and achieve desired outcomes. The results of this evaluation are then summarized in Table 1, which highlights the context-specific models that are most suitable for the intended digital solution in Rwanda.The Hybrid Subscription-Freemium Model is a business strategy that combines free basic services with premium paid features. This model aims to attract a large user base by offering essential services at no cost, while generating revenue through the sale of additional, enhanced features. The freemium aspect draws users in, allowing them to experience the core functionalities of a product or service without any initial financial commitment. As users become more engaged and see the value in the service, they are encouraged to upgrade to a subscription plan that offers advanced capabilities, exclusive content, or enhanced support. This approach not only helps in building a broad user base but also creates a sustainable revenue stream by converting a portion of free users into paying customers.An example of the hybrid subscription-freemium model within the agricultural sector is the platform TaniHub in Indonesia, which operates as a digital marketplace for agricultural products (TaniHub, 2024). TaniHub connects farmers directly with consumers, businesses, and other stakeholders, offering a basic service for free while providing premium features for a fee. This model allows TaniHub to attract a broad user base by offering essential services at no cost, while generating revenue through premium offerings For instance, TaniHub offers farmers the ability to list their products on the platform for free, enabling them to reach a wider market. However, premium services such as advanced analytics, marketing support, and logistics optimization are available for a fee, providing added benefits to those willing to invest in these enhancements. This approach initially helped TaniHub to maintain a sustainable business model by balancing free access with monetized premium features, thereby increasing both user engagement and revenue potential.While TaniHub is a concrete example from the agricultural sector, it's important to note that the freemium model is widely used in other sectors as well. Companies like Spotify, Dropbox, and Slack have successfully implemented this model by offering basic services for free and charging for premium features, which has allowed them to scale rapidly and sustain their operations. that enhance user experience and provide additional value.Typical investors in the Hybrid Subscription-Freemium Model are often venture capitalists, private equity firms, and angel investors who are attracted to the scalability and potential for high returns associated with this model. These investors are typically interested in companies that can demonstrate a large user base, even if the majority are non-paying users, because the freemium model allows for significant market penetration and brand recognition. The potential for converting a portion of these users into paying customers and the ability to generate additional revenue through ads or data monetization are key factors that appeal to investors. Furthermore, investors look for companies that have a clear path to profitability and a strong value proposition that can differentiate them from competitors in the marketplace.In the case of TaniHub, a leading digital marketplace for agricultural products in Indonesia, key investors include prominent venture capital firms and strategic investors who see the potential in the agricultural technology sector. TaniHub has attracted investment from firms such as Openspace Ventures and Intudo Ventures, which are known for investing in technology-driven startups with strong growth potential in Southeast Asia. These investors are drawn to TaniHub's ability to connect farmers directly with consumers and businesses, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing costs in the agricultural supply chain. The company's innovative approach to integrating technology with traditional agriculture, combined with its scalable business model, makes it an attractive investment opportunity in the rapidly growing agri-tech sector.Typical influencers and promoters of the Hybrid Subscription-Freemium Model include industry experts, tech bloggers, and social media influencers who have a strong online presence and credibility within the target market. These individuals play a crucial role in generating buzz and awareness about the product by sharing their experiences and reviews with their followers. They often highlight the benefits of the freemium model, such as the low barrier to entry and the opportunity to try out basic features for free, which can attract a large user base. Additionally, these 'influencers' can help build trust and credibility for the brand by providing authentic and relatable content that resonates with potential users. Their endorsements can significantly impact the perceived value of the premium features, encouraging users to upgrade.TaniHub's key influencers and promoters in Indonesia include government figures, celebrities, and strategic partnerships with large organizations. One notable endorsement came from President Joko Widodo, who mentioned TaniHub during the 2019 presidential debate as an example of Indonesia's Industry 4.0 future. This high-profile mention significantly boosted TaniHub's visibility and credibility, helping it become a household name in the agritech space. Additionally, TaniHub has utilized celebrity endorsements to increase its reach and influence. Celebrities can effectively leverage their large followings to promote TaniHub's services, thereby enhancing its brand image and attracting more users to the platform (Mirfazli et al., 2022).Moreover, TaniHub has formed strategic partnerships with organizations such as the World Bank Group and Microsoft, which have played a crucial role in promoting the platform and expanding its reach. These partnerships not only provide TaniHub with additional resources and expertise but also lend credibility to its operations by associating with well-respected global entities. Such collaborations help TaniHub to tap into broader networks and access new markets, further establishing its presence in the agricultural sector in IndonesiaThe Model Fit into Existing Delivery/Business Landscape Despite early successes in investments and promotion, TaniHub could not find a business model that fits into the existing delivery landscape over the longer term. TaniHub is facing significant financial difficulties and is effectively bankrupt. The company has experienced a series of challenges that have led to its downfall. TaniHub initially gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic by capitalizing on the disruption of traditional supply chains, but it struggled to maintain its market position once normalcy returned. The company faced high operational costs, especially in logistics and marketing, which led to the closure of its B2C services in March 2022. Despite efforts to focus on its B2B segment, TaniHub could not overcome its financial burdens. Legal troubles, including loan defaults through its TaniFund unit, further compounded its issues, leading to the revocation of TaniFund's business license by the Financial Services Authority of Indonesia (OJK) in May 2024.The situation for TaniHub deteriorated as it faced allegations of potential fraud and was unable to meet the financial management requirements set by the OJK. The company was entangled in payment issues with numerous investors, resulting in significant financial losses for many. TaniHub's ambitious expansion plans, which included investments in logistics and warehousing, ultimately led to unsustainable operational costs. As of the latest reports, the main TaniHub website remains online, but the business is described as being in a state of collapse, with its future highly uncertain.The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Model in agriculture involves collaboration between government entities and private-sector companies to enhance agricultural productivity, infrastructure, and services. This model leverages the strengths of both sectors to drive innovation, improve efficiency, and deliver sustainable agricultural solutions. In the context of agriculture, PPPs can facilitate access to technology, finance, and markets, thereby addressing critical challenges such as food security and rural development. By sharing resources, risks, and expertise, PPPs can implement projects that neither the public nor private sector could achieve independently, ultimately fostering economic growth and improving livelihoods in rural communities.e-Granary is a digital platform developed by the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF) in partnership with various private sector players and government support. The platform serves as a virtual aggregation system that connects smallholder farmers to markets, financial services, and agricultural inputs through mobile technology. e-Granary allows farmers to register their produce, access real-time market information, and receive payments via mobile money. This initiative is supported by partnerships with financial institutions, mobile network operators, and agricultural input suppliers, creating a comprehensive ecosystem that enhances the efficiency and productivity of smallholder farmers in Kenya.Typical investors in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Model for digital solutions in agriculture include government agencies, international development organizations, and private sector companies. These investors are drawn to PPPs because they offer a structured way to leverage public funds and private expertise to achieve shared goals, such as enhancing agricultural productivity and sustainability. Government agencies often provide initial funding and policy support, creating a conducive environment for private investment. International organizations contribute by offering financial resources and technical expertise to ensure the project's success and alignment with broader development goals. Private companies, on the other hand, are attracted to PPPs because they provide opportunities to enter new markets, reduce risks through shared responsibilities, and access cutting-edge technologies and research methods. By combining these diverse sources of investment, PPPs can effectively address complex challenges in the agricultural sector, such as improving market access, technology transfer, and infrastructure development.In the e-Granary PPP, key investors include international development organizations like IFAD and International Finance Cooperation (IFC), private technology firms Export Trading Group (ETF), and financial institutions such as VisionFund Kenya. These investors are attracted to PPPs due to their potential to deliver social and economic benefits while ensuring a return on investment through improved agricultural outputs. The platform has received support from organizations such as the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and other international donors, which provide funding and technological expertise to ensure the project's success and sustainability.Key influencers and promoters of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) digital solutions in agriculture typically include government officials, international development agencies, and industry leaders who advocate for collaborative approaches to agricultural development. These stakeholders play a crucial role in shaping the policy environment and creating awareness about the benefits of PPPs. Government officials provide regulatory support and create incentives for private sector participation, ensuring that PPPs align with national development goals. International organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Bank, promote PPPs by offering technical assistance, funding, and facilitating knowledge exchange between countries. Industry leaders, including agribusiness companies and technology firms, actively promote PPPs by demonstrating successful case studies and showcasing the potential for innovation and efficiency gains. Together, these influencers help build trust among stakeholders, encourage investment, and drive the adoption of digital solutions in the agricultural sector. e-Granary influencers and promoters include government officials, international development agencies, and industry leaders who advocate for collaborative approaches to agricultural development. The Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF), a constituency of the World Farmers' Organization plays a significant role in promoting the initiative by facilitating collaboration between stakeholders and ensuring that the digital solutions are effectively integrated into existing agricultural systems. Additionally, partnerships with mobile network operators and financial institutions help promote the platform's benefits to a wider audience.Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in digital solutions fit well into existing delivery and business landscapes when there is a clear alignment of goals between the public and private sectors, and when both parties have complementary strengths to contribute. These partnerships are particularly effective in environments where there is a need for rapid technological advancement and complex service delivery, such as in healthcare, education, and agriculture. In such contexts, PPPs can leverage private sector efficiency, technical expertise, and investment to fill gaps in public sector capabilities, thereby accelerating the deployment of digital infrastructure and services. However, PPPs may not fit well in landscapes where there is a lack of trust or misalignment of objectives between the partners, or where regulatory and bureaucratic hurdles impede collaboration. Additionally, if the public sector lacks the capacity to effectively manage and oversee the partnership, or if the private sector is primarily driven by profit motives that do not align with public interest, the partnership may struggle to achieve its intended outcomes. For PPPs to be successful, there must be a strong framework for sharing risks and responsibilities, clear communication, and a commitment to achieving shared economic and social goals, such as improving digital literacy, fostering innovation, and promoting sustainable development.e-Granary fits well into the existing delivery landscape when there is a strong alignment between the public and private sectors, with both parties committed to enhancing agricultural productivity and market access for smallholder farmers. The platform effectively combines digital tools with traditional agricultural practices, addressing key challenges such as market access, financial inclusion, and access to quality inputs. By leveraging partnerships with organizations like the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF) and financial institutions such as Vision Fund Kenya, e-Granary can provide comprehensive services, including credit, insurance, and market linkages, which are crucial for smallholder farmers.However, e-Granary may face challenges in fitting into the delivery landscape when there are misalignments in objectives or when regulatory and infrastructural barriers impede collaboration. For instance, the platform has encountered difficulties in maintaining partnerships for financial services and insurance due to external factors like weather variability and market fluctuations (AGRA, 2024). Additionally, the complexity of integrating diverse services and stakeholders can create operational challenges, particularly when there is a lack of capacity to manage and oversee the partnership effectively.The Youth-Centric Engagement Model in agriculture focuses on actively involving young people in the development and implementation of digital solutions. This model leverages the unique perspectives and digital fluency of youth, who are often considered \"digital natives,\" to drive innovation and ensure that digital products and services meet their needs and preferences. By engaging youth in co-design and co-creation processes, organizations can develop more relevant and effective solutions that resonate with young users. This approach not only empowers young people by giving them a voice in shaping the technologies they use but also fosters a sense of ownership and commitment to the solutions developed. The model is particularly effective in sectors like agriculture, where youth engagement can lead to more impactful and sustainable outcomes.A notable example of the Youth-Centric Engagement Model in agriculture is the digital marketing platform developed for cocoa farmers in West Sulawesi, Indonesia. Initiated by Rikolto Indonesia, this project aims to attract young people to agriculture by integrating digital technology into farming practices. The platform allows young cocoa farmers to market their products to a wider audience, thereby increasing their visibility and market reach. Youth volunteers from the eMpowering Youths Across ASEAN program were actively involved in the development of the platform, ensuring that it met the needs and preferences of young farmers. This initiative demonstrates how youth engagement can drive innovation and create new opportunities in the agricultural sector.Investors in youth-centric digital solutions typically include international development agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private sector companies focused on social impact. These investors recognize the potential of engaging young people to drive innovation and create solutions that address pressing social issues. They are drawn to projects that empower youth, enhance digital literacy, and promote sustainable development. By investing in youth-centric models, these organizations aim to foster economic growth and social change by equipping young people with the tools and opportunities they need to succeed.In the case of the digital marketing platform for cocoa farmers, key investors include organizations like Rikolto and the ASEAN Foundation, which support initiatives aimed at empowering young people and promoting sustainable agricultural practices. These investors provide funding and technical support to ensure the successful implementation and scalability of youth-centric digital solutions. Their involvement not only brings financial resources but also lends credibility and expertise to the project, helping to drive its success and impact.For the digital marketing platform in Indonesia, partnerships with local youth organizations and international NGOs were instrumental in promoting the initiative and encouraging young people to participate in its development and use. These collaborations helped build trust and credibility among the target audience, enhancing the platform's reach and impact. By working closely with these influencers and promoters, the project was able to effectively engage young farmers and create a solution that met their needs and aspirations.The Youth-Centric Engagement Model fits well into existing delivery and business landscapes when there is a supportive environment that facilitates youth involvement in agricultural activities. This model thrives under conditions where there is access to resources such as land, finance, and technology, as well as supportive policies that encourage youth participation in agriculture (Ninson & Brobbey, 2023). It is particularly effective when there are efforts to make agriculture more attractive to young people by integrating modern technology and innovative practices, which can lead to increased productivity and long-term growth. Additionally, the model benefits from strong networks and mentorship programs that provide young people with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the agricultural sector (Ofunya Afande et al., 2015).However, the model may not fit well in landscapes where there are significant barriers to youth engagement, such as limited access to land and finance, inadequate training and education, and negative perceptions of agriculture as a viable career path (Boye et al., 2024). In such cases, the lack of infrastructure and support systems can hinder the effectiveness of youth-centric initiatives. Furthermore, if there is insufficient collaboration between stakeholders, including government agencies, educational institutions, and private sector partners, the model may struggle to achieve its intended outcomes. To ensure the success of the Youth-Centric Engagement Model, it is crucial to address these barriers and create an enabling environment that supports youth involvement in agriculture.In the case of the digital marketing platform in West Sulawesi, the initiative successfully engaged youth by integrating digital tools that resonate with their technological skills and providing them with market access that traditional methods may not offer. The platform's ability to connect young farmers with broader markets and provide them with real-time data on market trends and pricing has empowered them to make informed decisions and improve their livelihoods. However, risks exist due to insufficient infrastructure to support digital connectivity or if cultural perceptions discourage youth from pursuing careers in agriculture.The Data Monetization and Insights Model involves leveraging data as a strategic asset to generate revenue and drive business insights. This model is particularly relevant in the agricultural sector, where data can be used to enhance productivity, optimize supply chains, and improve decision-making processes. By collecting and analyzing data from various sources, organizations can create valuable insights that benefit farmers, agribusinesses, and other stakeholders. In low and middle-income countries, this model can empower smallholder farmers by providing them with access to information that can improve their yields and market access. Additionally, it can attract investment by demonstrating the potential for data-driven innovation and efficiency gains.A notable example of the Data Monetization and Insights Model in agriculture is Smattcom, a digital platform operating in Mexico. Smattcom connects small-scale farmers with domestic and international buyers through an e-commerce platform, facilitating the sale of agricultural products. The platform collects data on market trends, pricing, and buyer preferences, which is then analyzed to provide farmers with actionable insights that can help them optimize their production and marketing strategies. By monetizing this data through partnerships with agribusinesses and financial institutions, Smattcom generates revenue that supports its sustainability and expansion. This approach not only benefits farmers by providing them with valuable market insights but also creates new opportunities for businesses to engage with the agricultural sector.Investors in data monetization models typically include international development agencies, technology companies, and financial institutions. These investors are drawn to the potential for data-driven innovation and the opportunity to create social and economic impact. They recognize that data can be a powerful tool for improving agricultural productivity and sustainability, and they are willing to invest in initiatives that harness this potential. By supporting data monetization projects, these investors aim to drive growth and development in the agricultural sector while achieving a return on their investment (FAO & ITU, 2019).In the case of Smattcom, key investors include international organizations like the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and private sector partners who provide funding and technical support to develop and implement the digital platform (Loukos et al., 2021). Their involvement is crucial for ensuring the project's success and scalability, as they bring not only financial resources but also expertise in data management and agricultural development. These investors help to build the infrastructure needed to collect, analyze, and monetize agricultural data, thereby enhancing the project's impact and sustainability For Smattcom, partnerships with local agricultural organizations and government agencies have been instrumental in promoting the project and encouraging farmer participation. These collaborations help to build trust and credibility among farmers, ensuring that they are willing to share their data and engage with the platform. By working closely with these influencers and promoters, the initiative has been able to effectively reach its target audience and demonstrate the value of data-driven insights in agricultureThe Data Monetization and Insights Model fits well into existing delivery and business landscapes when there is a robust infrastructure for data collection, integration, and analysis. This model thrives in environments where there is a clear strategy for leveraging data as a strategic asset, supported by advanced analytics and data governance frameworks. It is particularly effective when there is a culture of data-driven decision-making within organizations, enabling them to extract actionable insights that enhance productivity and sustainability. Additionally, the model benefits from regulatory environments that support data privacy and sharing, allowing for the creation of new revenue streams through data products and services.However, the model may not fit well in landscapes where there are significant challenges related to data quality, integration, and privacy. If there is a lack of technical expertise or infrastructure to manage and analyze large datasets, organizations may struggle to derive value from their data assets. Furthermore, if there is resistance to change or a lack of understanding of the potential benefits of data monetization, the model may face difficulties in gaining traction. Regulatory hurdles and concerns over data ownership and privacy can also impede the successful implementation of data monetization strategies. To ensure the model's success, it is crucial to address these barriers and foster a culture that values data as a key driver of innovation and growth.Smattcom fits well into the existing delivery landscape in Mexico by leveraging robust data infrastructure and analytics to provide valuable market insights to smallholder farmers. The platform aligns with broader trends towards digital transformation and datadriven decision-making by offering real-time data on market trends, pricing, and buyer preferences. This enables farmers to make informed decisions, optimize their production and marketing strategies, and improve their profitability. The regulatory environment in Mexico, which supports digital innovation and data sharing, further enhances Smattcom's ability to monetize data effectively. Additionally, the platform's integration with existing agricultural systems and its ability to offer personalized insights tailored to the needs of farmers contribute to its success.However, Smattcom may encounter challenges if there are issues related to data quality, integration, and privacy. If the platform struggles with maintaining high-quality data or faces difficulties in integrating diverse data sources, it may not be able to provide accurate and actionable insights. Furthermore, resistance to adopting data-driven practices among farmers or a lack of understanding of the benefits of data monetization could hinder the platform's effectiveness. Regulatory hurdles, such as concerns over data ownership and privacy, could also pose challenges to Smattcom's operations. To overcome these barriers, Smattcom needs to ensure robust data management practices, foster a culture of data-driven decision-making among its users, and navigate regulatory landscapes effectively.The Integration with Existing Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Systems Model involves the seamless incorporation of digital solutions into both agricultural and non-agricultural systems to enhance efficiency, productivity, and sustainability. This model leverages the interconnectedness of agriculture with various sectors, such as energy, transportation, and finance, to provide holistic solutions that address the multifaceted challenges faced by the agricultural sector. By integrating digital technologies with existing systems, this model can optimize resource use, reduce operational costs, and improve service delivery. In low and middle-income countries, this approach is particularly beneficial as it enables smallholder farmers to access a broader range of services and support, ultimately contributing to rural development and economic growth.A notable example of the Integration with Existing Systems Model in agriculture is Hello Tractor, a digital platform operating in Nigeria. Hello Tractor connects smallholder farmers with tractor owners through a mobile application, facilitating access to mechanization services. The platform integrates with existing agricultural systems by providing real-time data on tractor availability, location, and usage, enabling efficient resource allocation and reducing downtime. Additionally, Hello Tractor collaborates with financial institutions to offer flexible payment options, making mechanization more accessible to farmers. By integrating with both agricultural and financial systems, Hello Tractor enhances productivity and supports the sustainable development of Nigeria's agricultural sector.Investors in integration models typically include international development agencies, technology firms, and financial institutions. These investors are attracted to the potential for creating synergies across sectors and the opportunity to drive innovation and economic growth. They recognize that integrating digital solutions with existing systems can unlock new value and improve service delivery, making it an attractive investment opportunity. By supporting integration projects, these investors aim to foster sustainable development and improve livelihoods in low and middle-income countries.In the case of Hello Tractor, key investors include organizations like the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and private sector partners who provide funding and technical support to develop and scale the platform. Their involvement is crucial for ensuring the project's success and sustainability, as they bring not only financial resources but also expertise in technology and agricultural development. These investors help to build the infrastructure needed to integrate digital solutions with existing systems, thereby enhancing the project's impact and reach. Hello Tractor has also used an innovative finance system to generate private returns for business.Key influencers and promoters of integration models include government agencies, industry associations, and technology providers. These stakeholders play a vital role in advocating for integrated approaches and building support among farmers and other stakeholders. By promoting the benefits of integration, they help to create an environment where digital solutions are seen as valuable tools for enhancing efficiency and productivity.For Hello Tractor, partnerships with local agricultural organizations and government agencies have been instrumental in promoting the platform and encouraging farmer participation. These collaborations help to build trust and credibility among farmers, ensuring that they are willing to adopt the technology and integrate it into their operations. By working closely with these influencers and promoters, Hello Tractor has been able to effectively reach its target audience and demonstrate the value of integrated solutions in agriculture, creating big support from large influencers like UN.The Integration with Existing Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Systems Model fits well into existing delivery and business landscapes when there is a strong infrastructure that supports digital connectivity and interoperability between different sectors. This model thrives in environments where there is a commitment to cross-sector collaboration, allowing for seamless integration of agricultural systems with sectors such as finance, transportation, and energy. It is particularly effective when there is a shared vision among stakeholders to leverage digital technologies to enhance productivity, sustainability, and service delivery. Additionally, supportive regulatory frameworks that facilitate data sharing and collaboration across sectors can significantly enhance the model's effectiveness.However, the model may not fit well in landscapes where there are significant barriers to integration, such as siloed operations, lack of interoperability, or resistance to change among stakeholders. If there is insufficient infrastructure to support digital connectivity or if regulatory restrictions impede data sharing, the model may struggle to achieve its intended outcomes. Furthermore, if there is a lack of alignment or trust among stakeholders from different sectors, the integration efforts may face challenges in gaining traction. To ensure the model's success, it is crucial to address these barriers by fostering collaboration, building robust infrastructure, and creating an enabling environment that supports cross-sector integration.In the case of Hello Tractor, the integration approach has been successfully implemented in Nigeria, providing farmers with access to mechanization services that enhance productivity and reduce labor costs. By demonstrating the potential for integration, Hello Tractor has attracted interest from various stakeholders, creating new opportunities for collaboration and growth. This model sets a precedent for similar initiatives in other regions, showcasing how integration can drive positive change in the agricultural sector.Hello Tractor fits well into the existing delivery landscape by effectively integrating agricultural systems with non-agricultural sectors such as finance and technology. The platform leverages digital connectivity and Internet of Things (IoT) technology to connect tractor owners with smallholder farmers, facilitating access to mechanization services that were previously out of reach for many farmers. By collaborating with financial institutions, Hello Tractor offers innovative financing models like pay-as-you-go (PAYG), enabling farmers to afford tractor services and even become tractor owners themselves. This cross-sector collaboration enhances productivity and sustainability by providing farmers with access to essential resources and services. Additionally, the platform's ability to collect and analyze data on tractor usage and maintenance supports efficient resource management and decision-making.However, Hello Tractor faces challenges in landscapes where there are barriers to integration, such as limited digital infrastructure or regulatory restrictions on data sharing. If there is insufficient infrastructure to support digital connectivity, the platform's ability to provide real-time data and insights may be hindered. Moreover, if there is resistance to adopting new technologies or a lack of alignment among stakeholders, the integration efforts may struggle to gain traction. Addressing these barriers is crucial for Hello Tractor to achieve its full potential and contribute to sustainable agricultural development. Ensuring robust infrastructure, fostering collaboration, and navigating regulatory landscapes effectively are key to the platform's successThe Tiered Service Model for Different Farm Sizes is a strategic approach that tailors digital solutions and services to meet the specific needs of farms of varying sizes. This model recognizes that smallholder, medium, and large-scale farms have different operational challenges and resource requirements. By offering tiered services, digital solution providers can better address the unique needs of each farm category, enhancing efficiency, productivity, and sustainability. In low and middle-income countries, this model is particularly beneficial as it allows for more inclusive access to technology, ensuring that even the smallest farms can benefit from digital advancements. This approach not only improves farm-level outcomes but also fosters broader agricultural development by promoting technology adoption across diverse farming communities.A notable example of the Tiered Service Model in agriculture is TROTRO Tractor, a digital platform operating in Ghana. TROTRO Tractor provides access to mechanization services through a mobile platform that connects farmers with tractor owners. The service is tiered to cater to different farm sizes, offering customized packages that include varying levels of mechanization support, from basic ploughing services for smallholders to comprehensive mechanization solutions for larger farms. By tailoring services to the specific needs of different farm sizes, TROTRO Tractor enhances agricultural productivity and supports sustainable farming practices. This model not only improves access to mechanization for smallholder farmers but also optimizes resource use for larger farms, demonstrating the effectiveness of tiered services in agriculture.Investors in tiered service models typically include international development agencies, agribusiness companies, and financial institutions. These investors are attracted to the potential for scalable impact and the opportunity to drive inclusive growth in the agricultural sector. They recognize that tiered services can enhance technology adoption and improve farm productivity, making it an attractive investment opportunity. By supporting tiered service projects, these investors aim to foster sustainable development and improve livelihoods in low and middle-income countries.In the case of TROTRO Tractor, key investors include organizations like the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), GIZ and private sector partners who provide funding and technical support to develop and scale the platform such as AgroAfrica and KOSMOS Energy as well as an innovation center. Their involvement is crucial for ensuring the project's success and sustainability, as they bring not only financial resources but also expertise in agricultural development and technology deployment. These investors help to build the infrastructure needed to deliver tiered services effectively, thereby enhancing the project's impact and reach.Key influencers and promoters of tiered service models include government agencies, agricultural extension services, and farmer cooperatives. These stakeholders play a vital role in advocating for tailored solutions and building support among farmers and other stakeholders. By promoting the benefits of tiered services, they help to create an environment where digital solutions are seen as valuable tools for enhancing efficiency and productivity.For TROTRO Tractor, partnerships with local agricultural organizations and government agencies have been instrumental in promoting the platform and encouraging farmer participation. These collaborations help to build trust and credibility among farmers, ensuring that they are willing to adopt the technology and integrate it into their operations. TROTRO was also studied as an example internationally, which enhanced the promotion activities. By working closely with these influencers and promoters, TROTRO Tractor has been able to effectively reach its target audience and demonstrate the value of tiered services in agriculture.The Tiered Service Model for Different Farm Sizes fits well into existing delivery and business landscapes when there is a diverse agricultural sector with varying needs based on farm size. This model thrives in environments where there is a demand for customized solutions that cater to the specific requirements of smallholder, medium, and large-scale farms. It is particularly effective when there is an infrastructure that supports the delivery of differentiated services, such as access to technology, financial services, and market information tailored to different farm sizes (Asian Development Bank, 2018). Additionally, the model benefits from a regulatory environment that encourages innovation and flexibility in service provision, allowing for the development of tailored packages that enhance productivity and sustainability (Yazdani et al., 2022).However, the model may not fit well in landscapes where there is a lack of infrastructure to support differentiated service delivery or where there is resistance to adopting customized approaches. If there is insufficient capacity to assess and address the unique needs of different farm sizes, organizations may struggle to implement effective tiered services(The Common Wealth, n.d.). Furthermore, if there is a lack of alignment or collaboration among stakeholders, such as service providers, government agencies, and farmers, the model may face challenges in gaining traction. To ensure the model's success, it is crucial to build the necessary infrastructure, foster collaboration among stakeholders, and create an enabling environment that supports the delivery of tailored services to farms of all sizes.TROTRO Tractor fits well into the existing delivery landscape by providing tailored mechanization services that cater to the diverse needs of smallholder, medium, and large-scale farms. The platform's \"Uber for tractors\" model allows farmers to access mechanization services on demand, which is particularly beneficial in regions where purchasing tractors is cost-prohibitive for many farmers. By offering services for widespread activities such as ploughing, harrowing, and planting, TROTRO Tractor enhances productivity and efficiency across different farm sizes. The platform's use of digital tools, such as mobile apps and USSD codes, ensures accessibility even in areas with limited internet connectivity, thereby supporting a wide range of users.However, TROTRO Tractor have occasional challenges in landscapes where there is insufficient infrastructure to support digital service delivery or where there is resistance to adopting mechanization. Connectivity issues in rural areas can impede the platform's ability to deliver timely services, although TROTRO Tractor has addressed this by developing USSD codes that work without internet access. Additionally, if there is a lack of alignment or collaboration among stakeholders, such as service providers, government agencies, and farmers, the model may struggle to gain traction. Ensuring robust infrastructure, fostering collaboration, and creating an enabling environment that supports the delivery of tailored services are crucial for the model's success.The Value-Added Services (VAS) Model in agriculture involves providing additional services that enhance the core offerings of a digital platform, thereby increasing its value proposition to users. This model leverages digital technologies to offer services such as market information, financial services, and advisory support, which go beyond basic agricultural inputs and outputs. By bundling these services, platforms can address multiple needs of farmers, improving their productivity, market access, and overall livelihoods. In low and middle-income countries, this model is particularly beneficial as it provides smallholder farmers with access to a range of services that are often difficult to obtain independently. This approach not only improves farm-level outcomes but also fosters broader agricultural development by promoting technology adoption and integration across the value chain.A notable example of the Value-Added Services Model in agriculture is DigiFarm, a digital platform developed by Safaricom in Kenya. DigiFarm offers a suite of services to smallholder farmers, including access to credit, insurance, and market information, all accessible via a mobile phone. The platform also provides advisory services and input financing, enabling farmers to make informed decisions and improve their productivity. By bundling these value-added services, DigiFarm enhances the overall value proposition for farmers, helping them to overcome barriers such as lack of access to credit and market information. This model not only supports individual farmers but also contributes to the broader agricultural ecosystem by facilitating access to essential services and resources.Investors in value-added service models typically include mobile network operators, financial institutions, and international development organizations. These investors are attracted to the potential for scalable impact and the opportunity to drive inclusive growth in the agricultural sector. They recognize that value-added services can enhance technology adoption and improve farm productivity, making it an attractive investment opportunity. By supporting value-added service projects, these investors aim to foster sustainable development and improve livelihoods in low and middle-income countries.In the case of DigiFarm, key investors include Safaricom, which provides the technological infrastructure and platform development, and financial partners like the Commercial Bank of Africa, which offers credit and insurance services through the platform. Difgifarm is also supported by GIZ, FamilyBank, Bayer Foundation and FSD Kenya and Mastercard Foundation via Mercy Cops. Their involvement is crucial for ensuring the project's success and sustainability, as they bring not only financial resources but also expertise in technology and financial services. These investors help to build the infrastructure needed to deliver value-added services effectively, thereby For DigiFarm, partnerships with local agricultural organizations such as Kenya Livestock Producers Association (KLPA) and government agencies have been instrumental in promoting the platform and encouraging farmer participation. DigiFarm also was mainstreamed by international influencers such as Reuters. These collaborations help to build trust and credibility among farmers, ensuring that they are willing to adopt the technology and integrate it into their operations. By working closely with these influencers and promoters, DigiFarm has been able to effectively reach its target audience and demonstrate the value of comprehensive service offerings in agriculture.The Value-Added Services Model fits well into existing delivery and business landscapes when there is a demand for comprehensive solutions that enhance the core offerings of agricultural platforms. This model thrives in environments where there is a strong infrastructure to support the integration of additional services, such as financial products, market information, and advisory support, which can significantly enhance the value proposition for farmers. It is particularly effective when there is a collaborative ecosystem involving various stakeholders, including technology providers, financial institutions, and agricultural experts, working together to deliver a suite of services that improve productivity and sustainability. Additionally, a regulatory environment that supports innovation and flexibility in service provision can further enhance the model's effectiveness.However, the model may not fit well in landscapes where there is a lack of infrastructure or stakeholder collaboration to support the delivery of value-added services. If there is insufficient capacity to integrate diverse services or if there is resistance to adopting new solutions, organizations may struggle to implement effective value-added offerings. Furthermore, if there is a lack of alignment or trust among stakeholders, such as service providers, government agencies, and farmers, the model may face challenges in gaining traction. To ensure the model's success, it is crucial to build the necessary infrastructure, foster collaboration among stakeholders, and create an enabling environment that supports the delivery of comprehensive services to farmers DigiFarm fits well into the existing delivery landscape by leveraging a comprehensive suite of services that address the diverse needs of smallholder farmers in Kenya. The platform offers a one-stop-shop for farmers, providing access to financial services, quality inputs, market linkages, and agricultural advice, all through a mobile platform. This aligns with broader trends towards integrated solutions and user-centered innovation, allowing DigiFarm to enhance service delivery by providing targeted support that improves productivity and sustainability. The collaboration with partners like Safaricom and iProcure ensures that DigiFarm can deliver these value-added services effectively, supported by a robust infrastructure that facilitates digital transactions and information dissemination. Additionally, the regulatory environment in Kenya, which supports mobile money transactions through platforms like M-Pesa, further enhances DigiFarm's ability to integrate these services seamlessly.However, DigiFarm may encounter challenges in landscapes where there is a lack of infrastructure or stakeholder collaboration to support the delivery of value-added services. If there are connectivity issues or resistance to adopting digital solutions among farmers, the platform's effectiveness may be hindered. Moreover, if there is insufficient capacity to integrate diverse services or if there is a lack of alignment among stakeholders, such as service providers, government agencies, and farmers, the model may face challenges in gaining traction. To ensure the model's success, DigiFarm must continue to build the necessary infrastructure, foster collaboration among stakeholders, and create an enabling environment that supports the delivery of comprehensive services to farmers.The Mobile-First Approach in agriculture involves prioritizing mobile technology as the primary means of delivering digital solutions to farmers. This model leverages the widespread availability and accessibility of mobile phones to provide farmers with essential services such as market information, financial services, and agricultural advice. By focusing on mobile platforms, agricultural solutions can reach a broader audience, including smallholder farmers in remote areas who may not have access to traditional agricultural extension services. In low and middle-income countries, the mobile-first approach is particularly beneficial as it enables farmers to access timely and relevant information that can improve their productivity and livelihoods. This approach not only enhances individual farm outcomes but also contributes to the broader agricultural ecosystem by promoting technology adoption and integration across the value chain.A notable example of the Mobile-First Approach in agriculture is the mAgri program in Tanzania. Developed by the GSMA in partnership with local mobile operators and agricultural organizations, mAgri provides smallholder farmers with access to a range of services through their mobile phones. These services include weather forecasts, market prices, agronomic advice, and financial services. By leveraging mobile technology, mAgri ensures that farmers receive timely and actionable information that can help them make informed decisions and improve their productivity. This model not only supports individual farmers but also strengthens the overall agricultural value chain by facilitating access to essential services and resources.Investors in mobile-first models typically include mobile network operators, international development organizations, and technology companies. These investors are attracted to the potential for scalable impact and the opportunity to drive inclusive growth in the agricultural sector. They recognize that mobile technology can enhance information dissemination and improve farm productivity, making it an attractive investment opportunity. By supporting mobile-first projects, these investors aim to foster sustainable development and improve livelihoods in low and middle-income countries.In the case of mAgri, key investors include the GSMA, which provides the technological infrastructure and platform development, and local mobile operators like Vodacom Tanzania, which offer connectivity and distribution support (Day, 2018). Their involvement is crucial for ensuring the project's success and sustainability, as they bring not only financial resources but also expertise in mobile technology and agricultural services. mAgri was also supported by USAID and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation These investors help to build the infrastructure needed to deliver mobile-first services effectively, thereby enhancing the project's impact and reachKey influencers and promoters of the mobile-first approach include government agencies, agricultural extension services, and farmer cooperatives. These stakeholders play a vital role in advocating for mobile solutions and building support among farmers and other stakeholders. By promoting the benefits of mobile technology, they help to create an environment where digital solutions are seen as valuable tools for enhancing efficiency and productivity.For mAgri, partnerships with local agricultural organizations and government agencies have been instrumental in promoting the platform and encouraging farmer participation (Ujakpa et al., 2021). These collaborations help to build trust and credibility among farmers, ensuring that they are willing to adopt the technology and integrate it into their operations. By working closely with these influencers and promoters, mAgri has been able to effectively reach its target audience and demonstrate the value of mobile-first solutions in agricultureThe Mobile-First Approach fits well into existing delivery and business landscapes when there is a significant mobile user base and robust mobile infrastructure. This model thrives in environments where mobile devices are the primary means of accessing digital content, allowing organizations to prioritize mobile platforms in their service delivery. It is particularly effective when there is a demand for user-centered innovation, as mobile-first design emphasizes streamlined, intuitive interfaces that enhance usability and engagement. The model benefits from a regulatory environment that supports mobile connectivity and digital transformation, enabling organizations to reach a broader audience and improve service delivery through mobile channels.However, the model may not fit well in landscapes where there is limited mobile infrastructure or where users predominantly access services through desktop platforms. If there is insufficient capacity to optimize content and services for mobile devices, organizations may struggle to implement effective mobile-first solutions. Furthermore, if there is resistance to adopting mobile technologies or if the target audience lacks access to mobile devices, the model may face challenges in gaining traction. To ensure the model's success, it is crucial to build the necessary infrastructure, foster collaboration among stakeholders, and create an enabling environment that supports the delivery of mobile-first services.In the case of mAgri, the mobile-first approach has been successfully implemented in Tanzania, providing farmers with access to a range of services that enhance productivity and reduce barriers to market access. By demonstrating the potential for mobile-first solutions, mAgri has attracted interest from various stakeholders, creating new opportunities for collaboration and growth. This model sets a precedent for similar initiatives in other regions, showcasing how mobile technology can drive positive change in the agricultural sector.The Collaborative Community Model in agriculture involves the collective efforts of farmers, agribusinesses, and other stakeholders to work together towards common goals. This model leverages the power of collaboration to enhance productivity, sustainability, and innovation in the agricultural sector. By fostering a sense of community and shared purpose, collaborative initiatives can address complex challenges such as resource management, market access, and technological adoption. In low and middle-income countries, this model is particularly beneficial as it empowers smallholder farmers by providing them with access to shared resources, knowledge, and networks. This approach not only improves individual farm outcomes but also strengthens the overall agricultural ecosystem by promoting cooperation and collective action.A notable example of the Collaborative Community Model in agriculture is WeFarm, a digital platform operating in Kenya. WeFarm connects farmers through a peer-to-peer network, allowing them to share knowledge, ask questions, and provide advice to one another. The platform leverages SMS technology to facilitate communication among farmers, even in areas with limited internet access. By fostering a collaborative community, WeFarm enables farmers to access valuable insights and solutions to agricultural challenges, enhancing their productivity and resilience. This model not only supports individual farmers but also strengthens the overall agricultural value chain by promoting knowledge exchange and collective problem-solving.Investors in collaborative community models typically include international development organizations, technology companies, and social impact investors. These investors are attracted to the potential for scalable impact and the opportunity to drive inclusive growth in the agricultural sector. They recognize that collaboration can enhance technology adoption and improve farm productivity, making it an attractive investment opportunity. By supporting collaborative community projects, these investors aim to foster sustainable development and improve livelihoods in low and middle-income countries.In the case of WeFarm, key investors include organizations like True Ventures and LocalGlobe, which provide funding and technical support to develop and scale the platform and early inventors like LocalGlobE, ADV and Norrsken Foundation. Their involvement was crucial for ensuring the project's success and sustainability, as they bring not only financial resources but also expertise in technology and community development. These investors help to build the infrastructure needed to facilitate collaboration effectively, thereby enhancing the project's impact and reachKey influencers and promoters of collaborative community models include government agencies, agricultural extension services, and farmer cooperatives. These stakeholders play a vital role in advocating for collaborative solutions and building support among farmers and other stakeholders. By promoting the benefits of collaboration, they help to create an environment where digital solutions are seen as valuable tools for enhancing efficiency and productivity.For WeFarm, partnerships with local agricultural organizations and government agencies have been instrumental in promoting the platform and encouraging farmer participation. These collaborations help to build trust and credibility among farmers, ensuring that they are willing to adopt the technology and integrate it into their operations. WeFarm was also promoted by multiple international sector platforms due to its collaborative model and reached to global media outlets such as BBC. By working closely with these influencers and promoters, WeFarm has been able to effectively reach its target audience and demonstrate the value of collaborative solutions in agriculture.The Collaborative Community Model fits well into the existing delivery landscape by aligning with broader trends towards participatory design and user-centered innovation. By fostering a sense of community and shared purpose, organizations can create more efficient and effective agricultural solutions that meet the needs of farmers and other stakeholders. This model enhances service delivery by providing targeted support that improves productivity and sustainability.In the case of WeFarm, the collaborative community approach has been successfully implemented in Kenya, providing farmers with access to a network of peers who can offer support and advice. By demonstrating the potential for collaboration, WeFarm has attracted interest from various stakeholders, creating new opportunities for collaboration and growth. This model sets a precedent for similar initiatives in other regions, showcasing how collective action can drive positive change in the agricultural sector. However, a sustainable delivery model could not be found and the operations of WeFarm had to be downgraded significantly.The Localized Content and Language Support Model in agriculture involves tailoring digital solutions to meet the linguistic and cultural needs of local communities. This model emphasizes the importance of providing content in local languages, styles and adapting digital platforms to align with regional practices and preferences. By doing so, it enhances user engagement, eases technology adoption, and improves the overall effectiveness of agricultural solutions. In low and middle-income countries, this approach is particularly beneficial as it ensures that smallholder farmers can access and utilize digital tools effectively, regardless of language barriers. This model not only improves individual farm outcomes but also strengthens the agricultural ecosystem by promoting inclusivity and accessibility.A notable example of the Localized Content and Language Support Model in agriculture is Esoko, a digital platform operating in Ghana. Esoko provides market information, weather forecasts, and agricultural advice to farmers via SMS in local languages and local styles, ensuring that the content is accessible and relevant to its users. By localizing its services, Esoko helps farmers make informed decisions, improve productivity, and access better market opportunities. This model not only supports individual farmers but also enhances the overall agricultural value chain by facilitating communication and information exchange in a culturally relevant manner.Investors in localized content models typically include international development organizations, technology companies, and social impact investors. These investors are attracted to the potential for scalable impact and the opportunity to drive inclusive growth in the agricultural sector. They recognize that localized content can enhance technology adoption and improve farm productivity, making it an attractive investment opportunity. By supporting localized content projects, these investors aim to foster sustainable development and improve livelihoods in low and middle-income countries.In the case of Esoko, key investors include organizations like the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Soros Economic Development Fund, which provide funding and technical support to develop and scale the platform. Their involvement is crucial for ensuring the project's success and sustainability, as they bring not only financial resources but also expertise in technology and community development. These investors help to build the infrastructure needed to deliver localized content effectively, thereby enhancing the project's impact and reach.Key influencers and promoters of localized content models include government agencies, agricultural extension services, and farmer cooperatives. These stakeholders play a vital role in advocating for culturally relevant solutions and building support among farmers and other stakeholders. By promoting the benefits of localized content, they help to create an environment where digital solutions are seen as valuable tools for enhancing efficiency and productivity.For Esoko, partnerships with local agricultural organizations and government agencies have been instrumental in promoting the platform and encouraging farmer participation. Esoko had also significant continental and international spotlight. These collaborations help to build trust and credibility among farmers, ensuring that they are willing to adopt the technology and integrate it into their operations. By working closely with these influencers and promoters, Esoko has been able to effectively reach its target audience and demonstrate the value of localized solutions in agriculture.The Localized Content and Language Support Model fits well into the existing delivery landscape under conditions where there is a strong emphasis on user-centered design and cultural sensitivity. By offering services in local languages and adapting content to regional contexts, organizations can create more efficient and effective solutions that meet the diverse needs of stakeholders. This model enhances service delivery by providing targeted support that improves productivity and sustainability, particularly when there is a deep understanding of local cultural nuances and linguistic differences. However, it may not fit in situations where there is a lack of cultural awareness and understanding of local needs, leading to potential miscommunication and inefficiency. For instance, businesses often fail in global expansion due to a lack of cultural awareness and adaptation to local markets. Therefore, it is crucial to integrate cultural awareness and local adaptation strategies to ensure the success of localized content and language support models.In the case of Esoko, the localized content approach has been successfully implemented in Ghana, providing farmers with access to relevant information that enhances productivity and reduces barriers to market access. By demonstrating the potential for localized solutions, Esoko has attracted interest from various stakeholders, creating new opportunities for collaboration and growth. This model sets a precedent for similar initiatives in other regions, showcasing how culturally relevant content can drive positive change in the agricultural sector.The E-commerce Integration Model in agriculture involves leveraging digital platforms to connect farmers directly with consumers, bypassing traditional intermediaries. This model enhances market access, increases transparency, and improves the efficiency of agricultural value chains. By integrating e-commerce solutions, farmers can sell their produce directly to buyers, thereby maximizing their profits and reducing post-harvest losses. In low and middle-income countries, this approach is particularly beneficial as it empowers smallholder farmers by providing them with broader market access and competitive pricing. This model not only improves individual farm outcomes but also strengthens the agricultural ecosystem by promoting fair trade practices and reducing inefficiencies.A notable example of the E-commerce Integration Model in agriculture is Twiga Foods, a digital platform operating in Kenya. Twiga Foods connects smallholder farmers with vendors and retailers through a mobile-based platform, facilitating the efficient distribution of fresh produce. By leveraging technology, Twiga Foods streamlines the supply chain, reducing the number of intermediaries and ensuring that farmers receive fair compensation for their products. This model not only supports individual farmers but also enhances the overall agricultural value chain by improving logistics and reducing food wastageInvestors in e-commerce integration models typically include venture capital firms, technology companies, and international development organizations. These investors are attracted to the potential for scalable impact and the opportunity to drive inclusive growth in the agricultural sector. They recognize that e-commerce can enhance market access and improve farm productivity, making it an attractive investment opportunity. By supporting e-commerce integration projects, these investors aim to foster sustainable development and improve livelihoods in low and middle-income countries.In the case of Twiga Foods, key investors include Goldman Sachs, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and TLcom Capital and one of the richest families of France which provide funding and technical support to develop and scale the platform. Their involvement is crucial for ensuring the project's success and sustainability, as they bring not only financial resources but also expertise in technology and market development. These investors help to build the infrastructure needed to deliver e-commerce solutions effectively, thereby enhancing the project's impact and reach.Key influencers and promoters of e-commerce integration models include government agencies, industry associations, and agricultural cooperatives. These stakeholders play a vital role in advocating for digital solutions and building support among farmers and other stakeholders. By promoting the benefits of e-commerce, they help to create an environment where digital platforms are seen as valuable tools for enhancing efficiency and productivity.For Twiga Foods, partnerships with local agricultural organizations and government agencies have been instrumental in promoting the platform and encouraging farmer participation. These collaborations help to build trust and credibility among farmers, ensuring that they are willing to adopt the technology and integrate it into their operations. Because of its early success in performance, Twiga had been promoted by largest international business intelligence platforms. By working closely with these influencers and promoters, Twiga Foods has been able to effectively reach its target audience and demonstrate the value of e-commerce solutions in agriculture.The E-commerce Integration Model fits well into the existing delivery landscape by aligning with broader trends towards digital transformation and direct-to-consumer sales. By offering a platform that connects farmers directly with buyers, organizations can create more efficient and effective agricultural solutions that meet the needs of farmers and other stakeholders. This model enhances service delivery by providing targeted support that improves productivity and sustainability.In the case of Twiga Foods, the e-commerce integration approach has been successfully implemented in Kenya, providing farmers with access to a range of markets that enhance productivity and reduce barriers to market access. By demonstrating the potential for e-commerce solutions, Twiga Foods has attracted interest from various stakeholders, creating new opportunities for collaboration and growth. This model sets a precedent for similar initiatives in other regions, showcasing how digital platforms can drive positive change in the agricultural sector.The Blended Digital-Physical Support Model in agriculture combines digital tools with traditional, in-person support to provide comprehensive services to farmers. This model leverages the strengths of both digital platforms and physical interactions to enhance agricultural productivity, sustainability, and resilience. By integrating digital solutions with face-to-face support, farmers can access real-time data and expert advice while maintaining the personal touch that is often crucial in agricultural communities. In low and middle-income countries, this approach is particularly beneficial as it bridges the digital divide, ensuring that farmers who may not have full access to digital technologies can still benefit from modern agricultural practices. This model not only improves individual farm outcomes but also strengthens the agricultural ecosystem by promoting technology adoption and knowledge sharing.A notable example of the Blended Digital-Physical Support Model in agriculture is Shamba Shape Up, a multimedia agricultural extension service in Kenya. Shamba Shape Up combines a popular television show with digital platforms and on-the-ground extension services to provide farmers with practical advice and information. The TV show features real-life farm makeovers, offering viewers insights into best practices and innovative farming techniques. This is complemented by digital resources, such as a mobile app and SMS services, which provide additional information and support. By blending digital and physical elements, Shamba Shape Up effectively reaches a wide audience, providing farmers with the knowledge and tools they need to improve their productivity and livelihoods.Investors in blended support models can include a big range of organizations depending on the blended capabilities. It can include media companies, international development organizations, and agricultural extension services. These investors are attracted to the potential for scalable impact and the opportunity to drive inclusive growth in the agricultural sector. They recognize that combining digital and physical support can enhance technology adoption and improve farm productivity, making it an attractive investment opportunity. By supporting blended support projects, these investors aim to foster sustainable development and improve livelihoods in low and middle-income countries.In the case of Shamba Shape Up, key investors include international organizations like GIZ, CGIAR, the Syngenta Foundation, several companies, Hello Tractor, CKL Africa Limited, KenChic Olivado and media partners who provide funding and technical support to develop and scale the platform(Shamba shape up, 2024). Their involvement is crucial for ensuring the project's success and sustainability, as they bring not only financial resources but also expertise in media production and agricultural development. These investors help to build the infrastructure needed to deliver blended support services effectively, thereby enhancing the project's impact and reach.Key influencers and promoters of blended support models include government agencies, agricultural extension services, and media organizations. These stakeholders play a vital role in advocating for comprehensive solutions and building support among farmers and other stakeholders. By promoting the benefits of blended support, they help to create an environment where digital and physical solutions are seen as valuable tools for enhancing efficiency and productivity.For Shamba Shape Up, the influencer and promotor situation was unique as it is a media platform with TV shows. However, partnerships with local agricultural organizations and government agencies have been instrumental in promoting the platform and encouraging farmer participation. These collaborations help to build trust and credibility among farmers, ensuring that they are willing to adopt the technology and integrate it into their operations. By working closely with these influencers and promoters, Shamba Shape Up has been able to effectively reach its target audience and demonstrate the value of blended support solutions in agriculture.The Blended Digital-Physical Support Model fits well into the existing delivery landscape by aligning with broader trends towards integrated solutions and user-centred innovation. By offering a combination of digital and physical support, organizations can create more efficient and effective agricultural solutions that meet the needs of farmers and other stakeholders. This model enhances service delivery by providing targeted support that improves productivity and sustainability.The Blended Digital-Physical Support Model fits well into the existing delivery landscape in agricultural sectors under conditions where there is a strong emphasis on integrated solutions and user-centered innovation. By offering a combination of digital and physical support, organizations can create more efficient and effective agricultural solutions that meet the diverse needs of farmers and other stakeholders. This model enhances service delivery by providing targeted support that improves productivity and sustainability, particularly when there is a deep understanding of local agricultural practices and technological capabilities. For instance, digital technologies can enhance the flexibility and responsiveness of farm operations, improve resource utilization, and ensure product safety (Abiri et al., 2023). Additionally, digital twins can simulate and model physical systems to optimize agricultural processes (Peladarinos et al., 2023).However, this model may not fit in situations where there is a lack of technological infrastructure, digital literacy, or cultural awareness, leading to potential miscommunication and inefficiency. For example, the adoption of digital technologies in agriculture requires careful consideration of the challenges and obstacles involved, including the need for user-friendly interfaces and the active involvement of stakeholders (Charatsari et al., 2023). Therefore, it is crucial to integrate cultural awareness, technological adaptation, and local understanding to ensure the success of blended digital-physical support models in agricultural sectors.In the case of Shamba Shape Up, the blended support approach has been successfully implemented in Kenya, providing farmers with access to a range of services that enhance productivity and reduce barriers to market access. By demonstrating the potential for blended support solutions, Shamba Shape Up has attracted interest from various stakeholders, creating new opportunities for collaboration and growth. This model sets a precedent for similar initiatives in other regions, showcasing how integrated solutions can drive positive changes in the agricultural sector.Table 1 provides a comprehensive overview of various digital business models that can be employed in the agricultural sector, particularly in low-and middle-income countries. The table outlines the typical key investors, promoters or influencers, and the landscape features that are conducive or detrimental to the success of each model. Additionally, the table includes real-world examples of each model, showcasing their practical applications and potential impact. The information presented in this table can serve as a valuable resource for stakeholders involved in agricultural development, including investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and development practitioners.By understanding the characteristics and requirements of different digital business models, these stakeholders can make informed decisions about which models are most suitable for their specific contexts and objectives. The table also highlights the importance of considering the broader ecosystem and landscape features when implementing digital solutions in agriculture, as these factors can significantly influence the success and sustainability of such initiatives. The examples provided offer insights into how these models have been implemented in real-world scenarios, demonstrating their potential to address challenges and create opportunities in the agricultural sector.Furthermore, the table underscores the dynamic nature of the digital landscape and the need for adaptability and innovation in agricultural development. As technology continues to evolve and new challenges emerge, it is essential for stakeholders to remain informed about the latest trends and explore new business models that can effectively leverage digital solutions to promote sustainable and inclusive growth in the agricultural sector. The table serves as a starting point for such exploration, providing a framework for understanding the key elements and considerations involved in implementing digital solutions in agriculture.At its core, the SNS is a sophisticated digital ecosystem designed to streamline and optimize the delivery of crucial agricultural inputs like fertilizers and seeds to farmers across the nation. It leverages the power of mobile technology and a robust, centralized database to create a seamless, user-friendly experience for farmers, even in the most remote corners of the country. The system's operation begins with farmer registration. Through a simple mobile interface, farmers provide essential details such as their land size, crop choices, and geographical location. This information feeds into the system's intelligent algorithms, which calculate the precise subsidy amount each farmer is eligible for, based on predefined criteria and policies. Once the subsidy is determined, the system generates a unique electronic voucher (e-voucher) linked to the farmer's mobile number. This e-voucher acts as a digital currency, redeemable at any of the network's authorized agro-dealer shops across the country. Farmers simply present their mobile phone at the point of purchase, and the e-voucher is instantly validated, allowing them to access the subsidized inputs. This eliminates the need for physical coupons or cumbersome paperwork, drastically reducing the potential for fraud and ensuring the timely delivery of essential agricultural resources.Beyond its core functionality, the SNS boasts an array of features designed to enhance its effectiveness and impact. These include:The system continuously collects and analyzes data on input distribution, providing valuable insights into program performance, farmer behavior, and market trends. This empowers the government to monitor the program's effectiveness, identify potential bottlenecks, and make data-driven decisions to optimize resource allocation and improve service delivery.Farmer Empowerment: By providing transparent and accessible information on subsidy entitlements and input availability, the SNS empowers farmers to make informed decisions about their agricultural practices. It also promotes financial inclusion by enabling digital transactions and reducing reliance on cash.Market Development: The system's digital infrastructure fosters greater connectivity between farmers, agro-dealers, and other stakeholders in the agricultural value chain. This promotes market efficiency, encourages competition, and facilitates the development of a more vibrant and inclusive agricultural ecosystem. The SNS's impact extends far beyond its technological prowess. It represents a paradigm shift in Rwanda's agricultural landscape, fostering a culture of data-driven decision-making, transparency, and accountability.• Over 1.9 million farmers registered on the platform, representing a significant portion of the country's agricultural workforce.• Over 90% of subsidized fertilizers are distributed through the system, highlighting its widespread adoption and effectiveness in reaching its target beneficiaries.• Significant reduction in input delivery time from weeks to days, enabling farmers to access critical inputs at the optimal time for planting and maximizing their productivity.• Increased farmer satisfaction with the subsidy program, as evidenced by surveys and feedback mechanisms built into the system.The development and implementation of Rwanda's SNS was made possible through the collaborative efforts and investments of various key stakeholders.• The Government of Rwanda: The Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) has spearheaded the initiative, providing the essential financial and policy framework for the system's realization. This demonstrates the government's commitment to leveraging technology for agricultural transformation.• The World Bank: As a long-standing development partner, the World Bank has played a crucial role by providing technical and financial assistance through projects such as the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Project (RWARDP). This support has been instrumental in building the system's infrastructure and capacity.• The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA): AGRA's contribution has focused on developing the digital platform itself and building the capacity of various stakeholders involved in its implementation. This has ensured the system's technical robustness and sustainability.• Private Sector Partners: Recognizing the potential of the SNS, several private sector entities, including telecom operators and agro-input suppliers, have actively collaborated in its implementation. This public-private partnership model has been key to the system's widespread reach and impact.The successful implementation and widespread adoption of the SNS can be attributed to the tireless efforts of various key promoters and influencers who have championed its cause and facilitated its integration into Rwanda's agricultural landscape.As the lead implementing agency, the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) has been at the forefront of promoting the system and advocating for its adoption among farmers and other stakeholders. Their efforts have been crucial in building trust and ensuring the system's legitimacy.Local Government Officials: District and sector agronomists, acting as intermediaries between the government and farmers, have played a vital role in sensitizing farmers about the system's benefits and facilitating their registration on the platform. Their grassroots-level engagement has been instrumental in driving adoption, particularly in remote areas.Farmer Organizations: Cooperatives and farmer associations have acted as powerful advocates, mobilizing their members and encouraging them to embrace the SNS. Their collective voice has amplified the system's reach and impact.Development Partners: Organizations such as the World Bank and AGRA have actively promoted the system's benefits on national and international platforms, advocating for its replication in other countries facing similar agricultural challenges. Their endorsement has enhanced the system's credibility and attracted further investment and support.The SNS has undoubtedly made a significant impact on Rwanda's agricultural input delivery landscape, but its integration has been both transformational and challenging.On the one hand, SNS has streamlined the subsidy program, a traditionally cumbersome and opaque process, into a transparent and efficient digital platform. This has led to faster input delivery, reduced leakages, and empowered farmers with greater control over their input choices. The system's data-driven approach has also enabled the government to make informed decisions about resource allocation, improving the overall effectiveness of the subsidy program. Furthermore, SNS has stimulated private sector participation by creating a level playing field for agro-dealers and encouraging healthy competition, leading to improved service delivery for farmers.However, the transition to a digital platform has not been without its challenges. The following challenges remainWhile the SNS shows promise, it faces hurdles in digital supply chain management, financial processes, and user experience. Recent audits have uncovered discrepancies between digital and physical stock balances, potentially caused by internet connectivity issues and complexities in international fertilizer trade. Accurate inventory management is critical for the SNS to operate effectively. Addressing these discrepancies will require robust data management systems and improved internet infrastructure to maintain realtime updates and accuracy.The incomplete and delayed payment of subsidies poses a significant challenge. These delays may arise from incomplete information and transaction processing issues. Subsidies are essential for making fertilizers affordable to smallholder farmers, and any disruption can impact food security and the solvency of input suppliers. Implementing clear timelines and accountability mechanisms for subsidy payments can help prevent delays and ensure farmers receive the support they need.The Innovation Packaging and Scaling Readiness (IPSR) workshop conducted by the scaling team on the 30th of April 2024 emphasized the need for a more user-friendly SNS interface, aligning with design-for-experience approaches. A complex or unintuitive system can deter users, particularly those who may not be tech-savvy. Enhancing the user experience is crucial for encouraging the wider adoption of digital agricultural tools.While farmers know that the SNS provides guidance, support and is a means to obtaining subsidized inputs, they need more exposure to its details and the capacity to use it independently. There is overreliance on third parties such as agro-dealers, cooperative leaders, farmer facilitators or other third parties to access the system on their behalf. Therefore, there is a great need for providing comprehensive training and support that empowers farmers to utilize the system effectively, maximizing its benefits.There are multiple opportunities in Rwanda that have a big potential to address the system's performance.Despite challenges, the SNS is poised for nationwide expansion, supported by substantial resources and expertise from CGIAR partners and donors. This support provides financial backing, technical expertise, and global best practices that can be adapted to the Rwandan context.Progress has been made in developing customized fertilizer advice for six key crops (potato, rice, maize, wheat, cassava and beans), boosting efficiency and yield. Tailored recommendations ensure that farmers apply the right type and amount of fertilizer for their specific crops and soil conditions to maximize efficiency and attainable yield.Strengthening collaboration between BKTechouse, Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB), OneAcre Fund, CGIAR, and other partners showcases the power of joint innovation. These partnerships are crucial for pooling resources, expertise, and networks to drive agricultural development.Recent scaling projects have mobilized highly experienced design thinkers to improve the SNS interface. This initiative aims to make the system more accessible and user-friendly, encouraging broader adoption among farmers.The SNS's current configuration aligns with several delivery/business models outlined in the reference document, each with varying degrees of fit. The dominant models and their alignment are discussed below:The SNS in Rwanda is a prime example of a successful Public-Private Partnership (PPP). The Rwandan government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), sets the policy direction and provides the necessary funding. The private sector, including telecom companies and agro-input suppliers, brings technological expertise and distribution networks to the table. This collaboration leverages the strengths of both sectors, resulting in the efficient and widespread implementation of the system. The impressive numbers-over 1.5 million registered farmers and over 90% of subsidized fertilizers distributed through the systemspeak to the effectiveness of this PPP model. However, the system isn't without its challenges. Delays in subsidy payments and the need for improved internet connectivity highlight potential areas of friction within the PPP framework. These issues underscore the importance of ongoing communication and collaboration between the public and private sectors. Addressing these challenges will require a concerted effort to streamline bureaucratic processes, improve infrastructure, and ensure all stakeholders are aligned in their commitment to the system's success. The SNS's future hinges on the ability of the public and private sectors to continue working together to overcome these hurdles and further refine this innovative approach to agricultural input delivery.The SNS's mobile-first design is a strategic advantage in Rwanda, where mobile phone usage is widespread. The system's reliance on mobile technology for key functions like farmer registration, e-voucher distribution, and transaction validation aligns seamlessly with the country's digital landscape. This accessibility has been instrumental in extending the program's reach to farmers in even the most remote areas, promoting financial inclusion by enabling digital transactions.However, the challenges of inconsistent internet connectivity and the need for a more user-friendly interface highlight the limitations of a solely mobile-centric approach. The system's effectiveness could be significantly enhanced by incorporating additional channels that cater to users with varying levels of technological access and literacy. For instance, integrating USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) functionality would allow farmers with basic feature phones to interact with the system, even in areas with limited or no internet access. Additionally, establishing physical support centers in regions with poor connectivity could provide hands-on assistance and training, ensuring that all farmers, regardless of their location or technological capabilities, can benefit from the program. The SNS's success hinges on its ability to adapt and evolve, incorporating diverse channels to ensure inclusivity and maximize its impact on Rwanda's agricultural sector.The SNS, while not explicitly designed as a Tiered Service Model, possesses the potential to evolve into one, given its robust data collection and analytics capabilities. The system's ability to track farmer behavior and input usage in real-time provides a wealth of information that could be leveraged to create customized service packages and recommendations, catering to the diverse needs of farmers with varying farm sizes and technological literacy.Imagine a scenario where the system, based on its data insights, identifies a group of smallholder farmers struggling with low yields due to inefficient fertilizer application. The system could then offer them a tailored package that includes not only subsidized fertilizers but also training on optimal application techniques and access to agronomic advice. Similarly, for larger, more tech-savvy farmers, the system could offer premium services such as precision farming tools or market price information.However, transitioning to a fully-fledged Tiered Service Model would require significant investments. The system's data analytics capabilities would need to be enhanced to enable sophisticated farmer profiling and segmentation. Additionally, differentiated service delivery mechanisms would need to be established, ensuring that each farmer receives the appropriate level of support and guidance. The challenge of insufficient self-use skills among farmers also needs to be addressed through comprehensive training and capacity-building programs. Finally, the user experience would need to be further refined to ensure that farmers of all technological capabilities can easily navigate and benefit from the system's offerings.In essence, the SNS has the potential to evolve into a more personalized and impactful tool for Rwanda's farmers. By leveraging its data-driven insights and adopting a Tiered Service Model, the system could cater to the unique needs of each farmer, empowering them to increase their productivity, profitability, and overall well-being. The journey towards this vision will require continued investment, innovation, and a steadfast commitment to user-centric design.The SNS's comprehensive data collection and analytics capabilities offer a promising avenue for data monetization and insights generation, potentially transforming it into a valuable asset for Rwanda's agricultural sector. The wealth of information gathered on farmer behavior, input usage, and market trends could prove invaluable for a range of stakeholders, including researchers seeking to understand agricultural practices, policymakers formulating evidence-based policies, and private sector entities looking to tailor their products and services to the needs of farmers.However, harnessing the full potential of this data-driven model requires addressing several critical challenges. Ensuring data quality and seamless integration across various platforms is paramount. The system must also establish clear and transparent data-sharing protocols that respect farmer privacy and build trust. It's essential to demonstrate that the data collected is used ethically and responsibly, solely for the benefit of the agricultural sector and the farmers themselves.By overcoming these challenges, the SNS can evolve into a powerful tool for data-driven decision-making, fostering innovation, and promoting sustainable agricultural practices. The insights gleaned from the system could inform the development of targeted interventions, improve market efficiency, and ultimately contribute to increased productivity and food security in Rwanda. The key lies in striking the right balance between data utilization and data protection, ensuring that farmers remain at the center of this data-driven transformation.Hybrid Subscription-Freemium Model:While the system currently provides subsidized inputs, it could potentially explore a freemium model where basic services are free, and premium features or additional services are offered on a subscription basis. However, this would require careful consideration of affordability and potential impacts on farmer access.Integrating additional services, such as weather information, market prices, or financial products, could enhance the system's value proposition. However, this would necessitate collaboration with other service providers and careful consideration of the user experience and technological infrastructure."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"347053a3e836086d7c1b43ddc3fcb2e3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/26f37601-9230-474e-87ec-fcd31728aa2e/retrieve","id":"1387362754"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"50cd905b-4972-4bab-ab00-125fa7281353","content":"the anaemia associated with trypanosome infections of cattle.Several other cytokines have recently been found to influence haemopoiesis positively. They include IL1, IL4, IL6, IL7 and stem cell factor. The latter has been shown to be an important regulator of early haemopoietic cell development. Stem cell factor has a profound effect on the erythroid lineage in costimulation assays with erythropoietin. Cloning and production of soluble stem cell factor at ILRAD is being approached in a manner similar to that used to produce TNF and IL3. Recombinant bovine stem cell factor will be a valuable tool for use in in vitro cultivation systems of bovine bone marrow as well as in making assessments of the effects of trypanosome infection on development of bovine blood cells. To evaluate TNF alpha, TGF beta and IFN gamma, which have all been described as suppressors of red blood cell production, ILRAD scientists have produced specific sets of primers. These are being used in reversetranscription PCR amplification reactions to analyse cytokine RNA expression and to localize activation of lymphocytes or bovine stem cells critical for protective or compensatory responses to disease. Recent research results from laboratories in Europe suggest that trypanosomes may respond directly to cytokines such as IFN gamma or may require these chemical messengers as growth factors. Cytokines may thus not only be critically important to immune and pathological processes of the host, but also be fundamental elements of host parasite interactions.This article is based on reports written by Bea Mertens and Maarten Sileghem, which were consolidated by Peter Gardiner.Experiments with twin calves offer evidence that cytotoxic T cells can clear T. parva infections DISEASES CAUSED by apicomplexan blood parasites are a significant factor in the progress of human and agricultural development in the Third World. Probably the most devastating of these diseases are the human malarias and the theilerioses of cattle. Caused by parasites of the genera Plasmodium and Theileria, respectively, these diseases have many features in common. In each case infection is initiated by the bite of an arthropod vector and characterized by invasion of host cells by the parasite. Expansion of the parasite within infected cells is accompanied by its differentiation to a stage infective for red blood cells. Invasion of erythrocytes following lysis of the infected cell allows the completion of the parasites' life cycle through the infection of another arthropod.The most important form of theileriosis in subSaharan Africa is East Coast fever, caused by Theileria parva. This disease threatens over 25 million cattle in eastern, central and southern Africa and is a major hindrance to agricultural development in the region. A major difference between East Coast fever and malaria is the stage of the parasite that gives rise to clinical disease. In malaria, sporozoites inoculated by an infected mosquito invade a small number of liver cells and differentiate to schizonts with no adverse effects on the host. The parasite undergoes a preliminary expansion within the infected hepatocyte before being released as merozoites. These invade red blood cells and undergo further expansion; it is this event that is associated with clinical disease. In contrast, sporozoites of T. parva invade a subset of white blood cells known as lymphocytes but their differentiation to schizonts is associated with uncontrolled proliferation of the infected cell. Severe clinical disease is therefore present before significant invasion of erythrocytes by the merozoite stage of the parasite.Cattle that recover from East Coast fever, either naturally or as the result of treatment, are solidly immune to challenge with the same isolate of the parasite. It has been established for some time that this immunity is directed at the schizontinfected cell and that it is mediated by immune cells rather than antibodies. In a series of experiments conducted on immune cattle at ILRAD, the dominant bovine cellular immune response to T. parva has been determined to be parasitespecific cytotoxic T lymphocytes. These killer cells are, like those seen in viral diseases of mouse and man, restricted in function to infected cells bearing self antigens of the major histocompatibility complex. Cytotoxic T cells are found in the blood of immune cattle under challenge about the time that the parasite is cleared, and the capacity of an immune animal to resist challenge with a different isolate of the parasite depends on whether its cytotoxic T cells can recognize that isolate. In spite of these observations, until recently scientists have been unable to provide direct evidence that cytotoxic T cells can actually clear an established infection with T. parva.QUESTIONS OF THIS NATURE have been answered in several murine disease model systems by inoculation of immune cells into naive animals and establishment by subsequent challenge that immunity is conferred on the recipients. Such experiments have been impractical in cattle due to the large numbers of cells that are required for transfer in this species. Recently, lymphatic cannulation techniques have been applied in the study of bovine immune responses to T. parva.In general, immune responses occur in the lymph node that drains the site of challenge. Lymphatic cannulation allows collection of the cells leaving a responding node over long periods of time, so that the precise kinetics of the immune response can be determined. These studies revealed that during the peak of the nodal response to T. parva, as many as 1 in 32 of the cells leaving the node can be a parasitespecific cytotoxic T cell. Since up to 10 11 (one hundred billion) cells leave the node during a 24hour period, this clearly allowed the collection of enormous numbers of parasitespecific cytotoxic T cells and raised the possibility that transfer experiments might be conducted in cattle.To achieve this, a method was developed at ILRAD to prepare large numbers of cytotoxic T cells by killing noncytotoxic Tcell populations in overnight collections of lymph fluid by complement mediated lysis. This method involves the use of a panel of monoclonal antibodies generated at ILRAD that defines subpopulations of lymphocytes, in conjunction with factors present in rabbit serum that give rise to lysis of cells coated with antibody. This technique allowed the preparation of cytotoxic Tcell fractions to levels of purity as high as 85%.To avoid problems with graft rejection, adoptive transfer experiments require identical donor and recipient animals. Identical twin calves were therefore generated at ILRAD using embryo splitting techniques. Three sets of these calves were used to determine whether parasite specific cytotoxic T cells could clear naive calves of established T. parva infections. The calves were infected with a lethal dose of the parasite such that the peak of the immune response of the donor twin would coincide with emergence of parasitosis in the naive recipient. In two experiments of this kind, as many as 10 10 purified T. parvaspecific cytotoxic T cells were transferred to lethally infected calves over a fourday period. In both cases, the recipient calves resisted challenge, while untreated control calves developed severe clinical signs that required treatment. In a third experiment, in which cytotoxic T cells were depleted from the inoculum by complement mediated lysis before transfer, no protection was observed in the recipient.These experiments provide the first direct evidence that cytotoxic T cells can clear T. parva infections in cattle. In addition, because of the similarities between malaria and Theileria infections, they provide support for the belief that parasitespecific cytotoxic T cells may play a role in the control of human malaria. Current efforts are focused on the identification of T. parva components that provoke cytotoxic T cell responses so that they can be incorporated in an improved subunit vaccine for East Coast fever.This article was written by ILRAD scientist Declan McKeever.Two genes encode an important trypanosome protein (PH.D.Thesis)AFRICAN TRYPANOSOMES are protozoan parasites that cause trypanosomiasis in people and their domestic animals. A promising approach to developing new therapeutic agents for this disease is to identify and characterize cellular processes and structures that occur in trypanosomes but not in cells of the parasite's host animal. Interventions targeted against these processes or structures would interfere little with host cells.The paraflagellar rod, which makes up a major part of the trypanosome's flagellum, is one such unique structure. The function of this rod is still unknown; it is a complex lattice of"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/7548187293.json b/main/part_2/7548187293.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d607bef1362650c36b580b676bbdfb3a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c0ff2276-bc44-499a-afd6-b6227a5821c3/retrieve","id":"-575577490"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"213b9c77-41bf-4102-87ea-4ab789d90288","content":"A successful Maha Season 2019-2020 means paddy production is estimated to be sufficient to meet domestic demand until September 2020. Floods, mainly along the East and North coast, caused an estimated production loss of 57,065 Mt. This however, should not have an impact on short-to medium-term food security. Limitation of vegetables and onions were observed in early 2020. Sustained dry conditions over the past two months has led to magnify human induced wildfires in Central and Uva Province. So far, more than 120 cases have been reported. Most cases have required the support of airborne waterbombers to manage the conditions. Seasonal weather forecasts for the next three months indicate that there will be below-average rainfall and above-average temperature. Low rainfall during January & February in some parts of the country, coupled with this forecast, will increase water stress and limited supply for consumption, agriculture and domestic use. First inter-monsoon rains expected in early April may bring some relief to this context. Substantial rainfall, particularly in the Central, North and East saw dramatic rises in major/minor water reservoirs. Currently water levels are above at 80% of total capacity, substantially higher than this time last year (66%). Nevertheless, drier conditions has shown a slight decline in the water level the past month affecting some sectors, especially drinking water in few areas & hydropower. Overall, the rainfall during Maha season 2019/20 has been above average through Sept-Dec 2019. The majority of the rain occurred from October to December with an average of 304 mm each month. As seen in Figure 01 there are distinct spikes in rainfall during this time, specifically in the third dekad of both October and November.  The rainfall in all months, excluding January, was concentrated predominantly in paddy cultivating areas (Figure 02) and came at the right timeduring the cultivation period of the Maha season. This has resulted in favourable conditions for paddy production due to high vegetation health (seen in Figure 04)  Below-average rainfall conditions in January has experienced in Trincomalee, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa Matale, Kandy, Badulla, Monaragala, Batticaloa and Ampara districts; and in other parts of the island. In February, above-average rainfall conditions has experienced by some parts of Mannar district however, below-average rainfall were experienced in the rest of the island.  The dry weather condition has led to wildfires spreading through the country, especially through the Central and Uva Provinces.These are being managed by airborne waterbombers and are under constant monitoring, by DMC.  Some rainfall has received in the 3 rd week of March especially in southern/south-western parts of the country, however, the country is yet to receive the 1 st Inter-monsoon, which might commence in early April. These rains have supported to reduce high salinity in drinking water in Kalutara area. Below chart (Figure 01) shows the rainfall observations/pattern over the past three years during March to July, which is most important for Yala cropping season. The same pattern might continue in the three agro-ecological zones with some variabilities, but no major shift is expected in 2020. The chart depicts the inter-monsoon rains starting in early April and enhancing during the onset of the South-West monsoon at late May. However, extremes may occur due to the climatological phenomenon, creating adverse impacts.From the above summary and the evidence shown in the bulletin, there are a series of important interventions and adaptation measures that could be taken in the main agro-ecological areas to support food security:  Cropping advisories to farmers through agriculture extension services could be institutionalised for the three main agriculture zones.  Major reservoirs are showing very good water levels (Figure-03) especially in Kurunegala, Ampara, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Vavuniya and other agriculture related districts. However, water controls and community mechanisms such as \"Bethma, cab be activated (Bethma method is conservation of tank water using agreed rules by farmers for sharing water in scarce situations\".  Food accessibility and purchasing power should be monitor through price and labour market data to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and potential consequences.  Integrated Drought Severity Index (IDSI) analyses the agricultural drought conditions. Figure 04 shows that due to the heavy rains received through Sept to Dec 2019, in many areas of the country, overall health of agricultural land has moved to normal.  In some areas it shows dry now as the paddy harvesting has started around the country, indicating negative health in fields.  According to Department of Agriculture, given the high rice production in the both the Maha and Yala seasons, it is predicted that rice stocks will be sufficient for the next nine months. Total rice production for this season is 2.97 million Mt (Figure 05).  Paddy production in Batticaloa, Mannar and Ampara didtricts sustained the most damage in this period. While this was a substantial loss for a number of local communities, it should not have an adverse impact on overall rice production and the surplus prediction.  Dry conditions in January and February have prevailed across most of the major rice producing areas. This has meant favourable conditions for paddy harvesting and drying activities.  Food inflation increased substantially to a 25-month high of 11.7 percent in January 2020 from 6.3 percent in December 2019, while Non-food inflation stood at 2.9 percent. Crop production progress and prices  Other field crops -Cultivation progress is 118,567 ha, 68% from the target.  Vegetables -Up country vegetable cultivation progress is 7,374 ha, 50% from the target, low country vegetable cultivation progress is 20,886 ha, 59% from the target.  The average price of most rice varieties remains considerably lower than during the same period last year. This can be attributed to surplus stocks being produced over the Maha seasons of 2019-2020, as well as the G v 's paddy purchasing program.  The price of grade-I Samba and grade-I Nadu rice has remained constant at Rs.98/kg as a result of government price control. According to Disaster Management Centre data, there are currently over 90,000 families who are being affected by water stress across 11 Districts.  As of early March a total of 71,349 households across 6 districts are being supplied drinking water -33 DS divisions due to the dry spell over 2 and a half months despite good capacity of irrigation tank water in the country.  For water distribution, a major intervention is ongoing in Kalutara and Beruwala DS Divisions in the Kalutara District which is over 80% of the water distribution.  Figure 07 shows relationship between Standard rainfall index and water distribution in some areas; Mannar, Puttalam, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Ratnapura, and Kegalle where less number of minor tanks are functioning.  A good carry-over of water capacity remains for Yala cropping season (usually 50% of total water capacity). This is likely to result in good harvesting at the end of season, adding to the Maha production.  Early engagement to initiate Yala season cultivation at the onset of the 1 st inter-monsoon is likely to be a better option for farmers. Agriculture authorities may further support with adequate local level information to produce better yield and possibly increase income. As of 12 March, the capacity of water of all major water reservoirs was 84% (Figure 04), significantly higher than 66% at the same time last year.  There is a notable sharp increase in water levels between November and December. Between these months there were sustained high amounts of rainfall, predominantly over the districts that rely heavily on water from irrigation tank for most of the year.Other Food Market Monitoring  Prices of most vegetables at the beginning of 2020 are higher than last year values. High vegetable prices might have a negative impact on the nutritional value and quality of the diet of poorest population groups, although overall the country may not be facing an immediate threat of food insecurity.  The possible economic impact of COVID-19 on food prices in wholesale and retail markets in the country has so far been contained through government interventions. Effective 18 March, the Consumer Affairs Authority has stipulated maximum retail prices for a few commodities: Lentils (dhal) -Rs.65 per kg, Big onions -Rs. 150 per kg, and Canned fish -Rs. 100 per 425g tin.  The government price controls may be extended to other staples considering the evolving situation, hence potential price fluctuations could be expected in the coming weeks.  No restrictions on import of food items have been announced. The wholesale markets currently have food stocks of different commodities, estimated to be adequate for 3-6 months.  Prices of most vegetable varieties decreased further in the Dambulla Economic Centre (wholesale market) compared to the past few days, due to a favourable supply from major producing areas, in addition to low trading activities. However, the present conditions of quarantine and shut down of services across the country has affected local distribution (transportation) in some areas. Due to the current high demand and quick turnover of food items, and the limitations in transport, some disruption is expected in delivery of fruits and vegetables from production areas or economic centres. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fff5a41fad3938f989eadd1618826a60","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/13f22492-7476-4989-b8a2-63c46a8ce224/retrieve","id":"-2054497440"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"977a83e6-bfb2-44c7-aa7a-7514aa168fee","content":", the East African Community (EAC) member states signed the protocol for the establishment of the East African Community Customs Union, which commits them, among others, to eliminate non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to increase intraregional trade. However, several NTBs are still applied by member states, raising concerns among policy makers and the business community. There is, however, no information about the magnitude of the impact of these NTBs. This study identifies the existing NTBs on maize and beef trade in East Africa and quantifies their impact on trade and the welfare of EAC citizens using a Spatial Equilibrium Model (SEM). Data on NTBs were collected from traders and transporters of maize and beef cattle in East Africa. In addition, the study found that the main types of NTBs within the three founding members of the EAC (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) are similar. They include administrative requirements (mainly licenses, municipal and council permits), taxes/duties (mainly excise and cess duty), roadblocks, customs barriers, weighbridges, licensing, corruption (e.g., through bribes) and transiting.The results of the welfare analysis vary across the three countries, but the net monetary gains are positive in all cases. A complete abolishment or a reduction of the existing NTBs in maize and beef trade increases intra-EAC maize and beef trade flows, with Kenya importing more maize from both Uganda and Tanzania, while Uganda's beef exports to Kenya and Tanzania increase. As a result, positive net welfare gains are attained for the entire EAC maize and beef sub-sectors. In all cases, those who gain from the proposed reductions in NTBs can potentially compensate the losers, leading to potential improvements in welfare. These findings give compelling evidence in support of the elimination of NTBs within the EAC customs union.The study recommends taking a regional approach to eliminating the existing NTBs since they are similar across the member countries and across commodities so as to exploit economies of scale. Other policy recommendations include streamlining of administrative procedures at border points to improve efficiency, and speeding up the implementation of procedures at point of origin and at the border points. Finally, the study recommends the need to design and implement monitoring systems to provide feedback to the relevant authorities on the implementation of measures to remove unnecessary barriers to trade within the EAC region.The East African Community (EAC) 7 , which is one of the four major regional trading blocks within eastern and southern Africa, aims at widening and deepening cooperation among its partner states in, among others, political, economic and social fields for their mutual benefit. To this extent the EAC countries established a Customs Union (East African Community Secretariat, 2004) and started applying a common external tariff (CET) in January 2005 to all non-EAC imports. Under the customs union, intra-EAC tariffs were abolished. However, Kenya -the region's largest exporter -will continue to pay duties on its goods entering the other four countries until 2010.The creation of the EAC customs union is expected to facilitate increased trade and investment flows between member states, and at the same time create a large market for the East African people. The EAC customs union commits member states to removing barriers and obstacles to trade within East Africa.These obstacles include both tariff and non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to trade, whose removal reduces the cost of doing business within a region and ultimately improves welfare. In the EAC protocol, NTBs means \"laws, regulations, administrative and technical requirements other than tariffs imposed by a partner state whose effect is to impede trade\" (EAC Secretariat, 2004).As a customs union, the EAC has succeeded in abolishing intra-EAC tariffs and adopting a CET towards imports from non-EAC sources. However, trade between the EAC partner states is still being hampered by the existence of NTBs. Governments have continued to selectively apply various types of NTBs to protect some strategic sectors. While the EAC protocol calls for the elimination of NTBs, in practice several NTBs are still applied variously by the member states.Trade between the three countries is carried out both through formal (regulated and recorded) and informal sectors accounting for over 95% of trade in livestock and up to 60% of trade in staple grains (Ackello-Ogutu and Echessah, 1997;Little, 2007).Policy makers and the business community have raised serious concerns about these NTBs. It is generally accepted that NTBs lead to trade distortion with concomitant losses in welfare.However, in the EAC case, the cost of these NTBs, their impacts on regional trade and their welfare impacts are not well understood.This study examines the trade and welfare impacts of NTBs on maize and beef cattle trade within the founding EAC member states of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, with a view to suggesting interventions that can enhance regional trade and improve the welfare of the EAC citizens. The objectives of the study were: i) to identify the various types of NTBs applied by countries within the EAC; ii) to evaluate the cost of various types of NTBs within the EAC partner states; and iii) to quantify the trade and welfare impacts of the identified NTBs. The knowledge generated will be of interest to EAC maize and beef cattle traders, policy makers and development agencies.Economists generally agree that NTBs are detrimental to regional trade. NTBs diminish the potential benefits that could be derived from the trade preferences offered through regional trading arrangements. These trade preference benefits include better access to partner country markets, increased export volumes and prices, improved economic welfare, more jobs, and more rapid economic growth. Moreover, NTBs are a serious impediment to the growth of intra-regional trade and the associated benefits.In a recent study, the East African Business Council (EABC) sought to identify the nature and extent of NTBs applied within the EAC.The study found out that NTBs indeed existed in the general areas of business registration and licensing, customs procedures, police road checks, road axle regulations and control, and standards and certification requirements. In decreasing order of severity, respondents from both the private and public sector ranked the major NTBs as: i) administration of duties/taxes, ii) corruption, iii) customs administration, iv) transiting checks, v) police checks, vi) immigration procedures, and vii) licensing procedures (EABC, 2005). While the EABC study highlighted the main NTBs to EAC trade, it did not quantify the trade and welfare impacts of the NTBs. This study extends the EABC study by quantifying the effects of the NTBs on regional trade for beef cattle and maize. Maize is the main staple food in Kenya and Tanzania and second to bananas in Uganda. It constitutes 14% of the agricultural exports from East Africa to the rest of the continent. Beef cattle are the main livestock tradable commodity across the EAC region.Other studies analyzed EAC (particularly Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania) trade with other COMESA countries over the period 2001 to 2005 (Ihiga, 2007;Tumuhimbise and Ihiga, 2007;Mmasi and Ihiga, 2007). This included a detailed analysis of exports and There are three main approaches used to analyze the effects of trade policies on regional trade: Computable general equilibrium (CGE) models; partial equilibrium models; and multi-market models. CGE models are multi-sector, economy-wide models that can be used to study effects of policies on income, employment and welfare. The models can be built to study dynamic economywide interactions and to assess the strength of linkages or impact of policies over time. CGE models provide considerable scope for understanding how changes in policy on NTBs might affect trade and investment in various market settings. However, their measures of specific NTBs are heavily aggregated and cannot capture the complexities of regulations at the sectoral level.Partial equilibrium models provide a framework for analyzing tariff-rate equivalents of policy change on NTBs, such as standards and technical regulations and associated welfare changes. Welfare change is estimated by investigating impacts on domestic consumer and producer surplus caused by an increase in costs to comply with standards. Demand and supply elasticities are often calibrated from existing studies. At the sacrifice of generality, the partial equilibrium approach has the advantage of transparency and comprehensiveness in analyzing changes in various welfare components and in incorporating standards and regulations.A multi-market model is a partial equilibrium model that does not explicitly model the macro side of the economy, such as the relationship between savings and investments or foreign exchange markets (Sadoulet and de Janvry, 1995). Multi-market models are policy tools that can be used to analyze a wide range of sectoral issues. To build a multi-market model, sectoral data must be compiled. This includes obtaining figures for prices (inputs, outputs), production (area, yield), production technology (conversion rates, losses, seed rates), trade volumes, taxes, transportation costs and market margins. Supply and demand parameters are then obtained through econometric estimations or from \"guesstimates\" based on data in literature.Supply and demand equations in the input and output markets are set up as well as the specification of income and foreign trade. These equations can be set up to examine the spatial multi-market relationships as well. Unlike partial equilibrium models, which typically focus on the dynamics in a single sector, multi-market models measure the interactions between different markets in an economy as specified by the analyst (Goletti and Rich, 1998). Multi-market models are useful in analyzing the impact of changes in public policy at the sectoral level.These policy changes can be traced to examine their effects on production, demand, household incomes, government revenues, international trade and welfare (Rich and Lundeberg, 2002;Devadoss et al., 2005).The Spatial Equilibrium Model (SEM) -which is a type of a multi-market model -was popularized by Takayama and Judge (1971) following the seminal work of Samuelson (1952). The SEM consists of n regions (or countries), and these regions are separated by distance, thus the name spatial equilibrium model.Trade policies and transportation costs are treated as exogenous in the model (Devadoss et al., 2005). The SEM is frequently used to determine the effects of trade policy changes on quantities, prices and welfare, and was found suitable for the current study, which analyzes the impact of NTBs on regional trade for two tradable commodities, maize and beef cattle.This study adopts the SEM used in Devadoss et al. (2005) and adjusts it to estimate the impacts of NTBs on maize and beef cross-border trade within the EAC since intra-EAC import tariffs have been abolished. The SEM provides quantitative measures of the welfare impacts of reducing NTBs, which helps to weight the benefits and costs of preferential trade liberalization. It is calibrated to the price and quantity values for the 2006 data based on elasticity estimates adopted from earlier studies undertaken in the region. Following Devadoss et al. (2005), the inverted supply and demand functions for maize and beef in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania can be represented as follows:The SEM employs a non-linear optimization technique to maximize the net social monetary gains function (equation 3), subject to a set of linear constraints (equations 4 to 9). The net social monetary gain function is used as the objective function instead of net social welfare function since NTBs are modeled.The net social monetary gain is the sum of all the countries' total revenues, minus total production costs, minus transportation costs, minus net societal loss arising from NTBs. Equation ( 4) states that the total quantity of maize/beef transported from country 'i' must be lower or equal to national production in that country. Equation ( 5) states that the total quantity transported into a country must be greater than or equal to quantity demanded in the destination country. Equation (6) shows that the regional EAC supply price must be greater than or equal to the specific country supply price. Equation ( 7) is similar to equation ( 6) but relates to demand; it implies that regional and national demand prices must be equal if national demand is positive. If the regional demand price is lower than the national demand price, then national demand ought to be zero. Equation ( 8) is a market clearing condition showing that market supply price in i plus transportation cost adjusted for NTBs must be greater than or equal to market demand price in j.The last constraint shows that demand, supply and transported quantities are non-negative.The underlying assumption related to equations ( 6), ( 7) and ( 8) is that the price difference between any two countries is explained by transportation costs, comparative advantage, and NTBs. In this analysis, tariff barriers are not considered since intra-EAC tariffs were zero-rated in 2005 with the formation of the EAC customs union. However, various other forces affect market prices in the EAC, but might not be captured in the SEM presented above. For example, due to poor communication networks, traders in Tanzania or Uganda might generally be uncertain of what the price of maize/beef might be in Kenya such that the prices at which they are expecting to sell their products in Kenya might differ from that defined in the model.Similarly, some traders in Uganda, Kenya or Tanzania might sellwhere a, b, c and d are coefficients, and , , and are regional demand and supply prices and regional quantities demanded and supplied in ith region. The supply and demand functions are used in the calibration of SEM, which provides the welfare objective function and the market clearing conditions mathematically as follows:Subject to:their maize/beef cattle at prices below or above that defined in the model because they have a lower/higher negotiating power compared to their buyers. In addition, it might be true that roads work better between Kenya and Tanzania compared to between Kenya and Uganda such that the true transportation cost per kilometer between Kenya and Tanzania might be lower than that between Kenya and Uganda.This study evaluates the impact of NTBs on maize and beef trade in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and the implications for welfare.As noted earlier, these are important agricultural commodities in East Africa and form an important source of livelihood in terms of food security, employment and government revenue.Although there are several methods in the trade literature that can be used to quantify the cost of NTBs, each has its own suitability and limitation. Thus, a single analytical method may not be adequate to quantify the cost of the entire spectrum of NTBs (Deardorff and Stern, 1997). One approach, the price differential approach (price-wedge method), computes the cost of NTBs as the differential between the import price and the domestic price of each commodity, less the tariff rate on the commodity. This approach provides a direct measure of the price impact of NTBs. It allows for an easy computation of the implicit tariffs or implicit rates of protection. The result is treated as a non-tariff barrier. The main advantages of this method are that it is easy to estimate and it enables a quick understanding of the situation. However, the price-wedge method has several limitations. First, although the method enables the analyst to quantify the effect of a set of NTBs present in the market, it seldom makes it possible to identify what those NTBs are precisely. Second, formulas that measure the NTBs in an implicit way, as a percentage price wedge between imports and domestic prices, are valid only under the assumption that imported goods are perfect substitutes. For large-scale studies, available data are often too aggregated to reflect differences in the quality of imported goods (Beghin and Bureau, 2001).Inventory-based approaches can be used from both a quantitative and a qualitative perspective to assess the importance of domestic regulations as trade barriers. This approach can be useful for directing attention to the frequency of occurrence and the trade or production coverage of various types of NTBs. The major limitations of this method are: i) it does not provide a quantification of the effect of regulations on trade per se; ii) data availability is a major problem; and iii) standards vary in importance across sectors and products. This method uses surveys conducted among practitioners (e.g., exporters) to find the various types of NTBs faced during their activities. In the absence of information from other sources, survey-based methods are useful. With this method, it is possible to identify and gain perspectives about trade impediments that may be difficult for economists to measure (for example, administrative procedures) (Beghin and Bureau, 2001). However, this approach is costly and resource-intensive. Some of the data from surveys can also be used in quantitative methods.Given the non-availability of data on NTBs in the EAC, the survey approach was employed in this study. Primary data were obtained through a detailed field survey of maize and beef cattle traders and transporters along the trade routes across the three countries. Beef cattle and maize traders and transporters were interviewed to obtain data on the transfer costs and the various NTBs that they face while trading in maize and beef cattle in EAC countries. A cluster sampling method was used to identify 357 and 450 beef cattle and maize traders and transporters, respectively, who were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. In the first stage of the cluster sampling, the major markets located along the main trade routes and the major border points in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania were selected. The second stage of the cluster sampling selected a total of 807 beef cattle and maize traders and transporters in the selected markets along the major trade routes. In addition, secondary data sources were used to provide data used for the other variables required by the SEM analysis outlined above.Although primary data were collected on beef cattle, these were converted to beef in kilograms for the purpose of the SEM analysis.Within the maize sector, traders and transporters in the three EAC countries mainly engage in local purchase and sale and this constitutes more than 80% of their trade volumes. In contrast, maize imports and exports in EAC account for less than 10% of total volumes handled by traders and transporters. Regional trade is therefore much lower relative to domestic trade in maize. A similar trade pattern is observed in the beef cattle subsector where local trade accounts for over 80% of all trade while regional trade accounts for less than 5% of total beef cattle trade. The low trade volumes in these key food commodities, coupled with simultaneous existence of food deficits and surpluses in the region, undermine food security in EAC (Karugia et al., 2008). Domestic food prices are to a large extent determined by local and regional demand and supply conditions.Maize is a strategic food crop in the EA region and there is need to promote intra-regional trade for increased food security.Similar results have been reported for the COMESA region where total trade in maize was worth US$ 1.35 billion in 2002 and US$ 0.8 billion in 2003. However, less than 10% of this trade has been intra-regional. These findings should be interpreted with caution since the region also experiences high informal trade in both maize and beef cattle (RATES, 2003). Typically, maize crosses the EAC borders informally in small quantities that are transported by bicycles and by trekking. On the other hand, informal beef cattle trade is made possible by the possibility of moving cattle on foot across EAC border points.Over 70% of maize and beef cattle traders in the three EAC countries used vehicles to transport their merchandise.Use of lorries, trailers or trucks was the preferred mode of transportation for maize and beef cattle within the EAC. Among the motorized transportation methods, the lorry was the most preferred means of transport across the EAC countries. The other means of transport, such as bicycle, cart and ship, were used infrequently. However, another common mode of transport used by the beef cattle traders was trekking to the market place.All traders and transporters of beef cattle and maize traveled on average over 150 km per trip within the EAC region from origin to destination. It is important to note that both origin and destination points were within the three EAC countries.On average, the amount of time taken per trip across the three countries was up to two days. The greatest distances per trip were reported in Tanzania, where maize and beef cattle traders and transporters covered an average of 278 and 341 kilometers, respectively. This is expected since Tanzania is a vast country relative to Kenya and Uganda. Tanzania's vastness offers a high potential trade base and the highly dispersed markets in the country are an avenue that traders should seek to exploit. In addition, traders and transporters of beef cattle and maize in Tanzania transported the highest quantities among all three countries in the EAC region in both inter-and intra-regional trade. Tanzania traders and transporters on average transported 34 beef cattle and 21 tons of maize per trip. In Kenya, the corresponding figures were 17 beef cattle and 13 tons of maize per trip, and Uganda traders and transporters transported on average 20 beef cattle and 16 tons of maize per trip.Transfer cost of maize and beef cattle per kilometer was estimated by the summation of all costs incurred as the traders and transporters moved from trade point of origin to destination. These costs were further split into two groups: non-NTB transfer costs (costs that are not considered NTBs, such as vehicle hire and maintenance, loading and off-loading and transporters' allowances) and NTB transfer costs (weighbridges, security, transiting, custom clearance, road toll stations, branding of cattle, standards and certification, and bribes). A variable was classified as an NTB cost if it acted as an impediment to trade in terms of increasing transfer costs and/or increased the time required for trade over the normal amount of time needed. This extra cost was reflected through bribes and extra time through queues experienced by traders as they acquired various trade services. Table 1 shows transfer costs and the various trade routes using main towns in the region.The main NTBs are similar in the three EAC countries covered in the study. They include administrative requirements (mainly licenses, municipal and council permits), taxes/duties (mainly excise and cess duty), roadblocks, customs barriers, weighbridges, licensing, corruption (e.g., through bribes) and transiting. In addition, security constitutes a main administrative requirement in Tanzania. Various licenses are also required.These include a business license, road transport license and a livestock clearance certificate. Roughly a third of the respondents in the three countries indicated that business licenses were a mandatory administrative requirement for trade in both maize and beef cattle.Roadblocks were identified as a barrier to trade in the region.Kenya has the highest total number of roadblocks impeding free trade in the EAC (Table 2). Kimenyi (2008) reported that, on average, there were 47 roadblocks on the road from Mombasa to Busia (a distance of 1,050 km). The Kenyan government has indicated that it intends to reduce the roadblocks from 47 to 15 (a reduction of 68%) to encourage inter-regional trade.Roadblocks were reported to be time wasting, too many in number, staffed by unfriendly police officers and were an avenue for corruption (bribery). Bribes are paid by traders at various levels of the trade transactions in the EA region. Table 3 shows that over half of traders and transporters gave bribes in order to overcome various trade barriers.The number of weighbridges that traders and transporters were subjected to in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania was low (5 in Uganda for both beef cattle and maize traders, 3 in Tanzania for both traders of beef cattle and maize while 2 for maize traders The inspection process at customs points required unnecessary unloading of commodities.Nearly 35% of total maize transfer cost is contributed by various NTBs in Kenya from origin to destination (Table 4). In Uganda, the cost rises to over 50% and only 12% of total maize transfer cost in Tanzania was taken up by NTBs. In beef cattle trade, Kenya and Uganda reported that NTBs constitute over 25% of total transfer cost while Tanzania reported approximately 19% of total transfer cost. Reduction or elimination of NTBs will reduce the high transfer cost in the region. Table 4 illustrates the scenario.The impacts of NTBs on cross-border trade and welfare were computed using a static SEM. The General Algebraic Modeling Systems (GAMS) package was used to solve the equations in the model. Estimates were compiled for the quantities of maize and beef supplied and consumed in the three EAC countries, their corresponding prices and their supply and demand elasticities. In addition, data were collected on the cost of NTBs and transport costs. The own-price elasticities of supply for maize in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania were set at 2.17, 0.8 and 1.96, respectively.These supply responses were adopted from earlier studies 8 .On the other hand, supply response for beef in the three EAC countries was set at 0.35 9 .On the consumption side, aggregate demand for maize and beef depends on own prices and income. The own-price elasticity of demand for maize was set at -0.80, -0.77 and -0.9for Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, respectively 10 . On the other hand, the own-price elasticities for beef in Kenya, Uganda andTanzania were set at -1.68, -1.01 and -1.18, respectively. These parameters were used to calibrate the SEM to reproduce the 2006 base scenario when NTBs were the major barriers to trade in the EAC.Three policy scenarios are simulated to quantify the impacts of NTBs within the EAC. These comprise a 50% reduction in all NTBs, a complete abolishment of all NTBs, and the elimination of specific types of NTB, such as roadblocks. To solve the model, estimates were compiled for the quantities of maize and beef supplied and consumed in the three EAC countries, their corresponding prices and their price elasticities. In addition, the cost of NTBs and transport costs were used in the SEM.The variables of interest in the quantification of the impacts of NTBs on cross-border trade are maize and beef prices, demand, supply, trade flows and welfare changes (consumer and producer surplus). The base scenario replicates the existing trade patterns where the three EAC countries trade in both maize and beef.Since maize retail prices are higher in Kenya than in Uganda and Tanzania, Kenya formally imports maize from both Uganda and Tanzania to the tune of 134,000 and 86,000 tons, respectively.Uganda exports beef to both Kenya and Tanzania since beef retail prices are lower in Uganda than in both the other countries.The base scenario produces positive welfare impacts for the maize and beef subsectors in the three countries. Overall, the combined social surplus for the maize and beef subsectors in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania amounted to US$ 2.3 billion, US$ 0.8 billion and US$ 1.8 billion, respectively.When NTBs within the EAC are completely abolished, various changes relative to the base scenario are observed. Maize producer and consumer prices in Kenya fall by about 9% and 3%, respectively, but increase by 20% and 24%, respectively, in Uganda (Table 5). In Tanzania producer and consumer prices fall by 35% and 5%, respectively. The declining maize prices in Kenya result in a 4% rise in maize consumption, but cause a 6% decline in maize production. Maize consumption declines in Uganda by 2%, while production increases by 3%. In Tanzania, maize production declines by 5% while consumption increases by about 2%. The changes in prices and quantities occasion changes in intra-EAC maize trade. Consequently, Uganda's exports to Kenya rise by about 99% relative to the base scenario, while Tanzania's maize exports to Kenya increase by 33%. While percentage changes in intra-EAC maize exports appear substantial, the changes in export volumes are quite small since the model only takes note of the formal maize trade.In particular, the elasticity of supply for maize in Kenya is adopted from Nzuma (2007), while those for Uganda and Tanzania are derived from Delgado et al. (2003) and Wood and You (2001). 9The beef supply response used in this study was adopted from the IMPACT study by IFPRI.10The demand elasticities for maize and beef in Kenya are adopted from Musyoka (2008), while those for Tanzania are derived from Weliwita et al. (2003) and the Ugandan estimates are derived from IFPRI. It should be noted that the estimation of all the demand elasticities satisfy the demand theory restrictions.The welfare changes emanating from a complete abolishment of NTBs in the maize trade within EAC vary across the three countries. In Kenya, consumer surplus increases by 7%, while producer surplus falls by 3% (Table 5). In contrast, consumer surplus in Uganda falls by 5%, while producer surplus increases by 12%. In Tanzania, producer surplus falls by 0.6% while consumer surplus increases marginally 0.6%. The net welfare effect within the maize subsectors in Kenya and Uganda is an increase in social surplus by 5% and 8%, respectively, while the social surplus in Tanzania declines by a percentage point (Table 5). Within the maize subsector, the greatest gainers from a complete abolishment of NTBs would be maize producers in Uganda while the greatest losers from this policy change would be maize producers in Kenya. Ugandan maize producers benefit from the increasing domestic maize prices and expand their exports to Kenya. In contrast, Kenya's maize producers are hurt by declining maize prices and as a result cut back on production.However, maize consumers in Kenya and Tanzania benefit from a complete abolishment of NTBs, while their counterparts in Uganda are hurt by this policy change. Overall, the gainers from a complete elimination of NTBs within the EAC maize subsector can potentially compensate the losers and thus, the policy can be recommended based on the compensation principle.Within the beef subsector, a complete elimination of NTBs yields a 15% decline in beef producer prices in both Kenya and Tanzania but leads to a 35% increase in Ugandan beef producer prices relative to the base scenario (Table 5). Similarly, beef retail prices in both Kenya and Tanzania decline by more than 15%, but increase by 39% in Uganda. Subsequently, beef consumption in Kenya and Tanzania increases by 19% and 15%, respectively, while it falls by 35% in Uganda (Table 5). In contrast, beef production in Kenya and Tanzania falls by 20% and 17%, respectively, while beef production increases by 13% in Uganda.As a result, Uganda expands its beef exports to Kenya and Tanzania by 10% and 19%, respectively, while Tanzanian beef exports to Kenya rise by about 2%.The changes in beef prices and volumes occasion changes in welfare measures. As a result, consumer surplus in both Kenya and Tanzania increase by 2% and falls by 3% in Uganda (Table 5).However, producer surplus within the beef subsectors in Kenya and Tanzania fall by less than 1%, while in Uganda producer surplus for beef producers increases by 6% relative to the base scenario. The net welfare gain within the beef subsectors of the three countries is a 3% increase in social surplus in Uganda and 1% increases in social surplus in both Kenya and Tanzania. Thus, social surplus in the three countries increases by an aggregate 4%. Once again, beef producers in Uganda would gain most from a complete removal of NTBs within the EAC while beef producers in Tanzania would be the greatest losers from this policy change.As observed in the maize subsector, the gainers from a complete removal of NTBs within the EAC beef subsector can potentially compensate the losers. Thus, a complete elimination of beeftrade NTBs leads to a potential improvement in welfare and should be advocated as an appropriate policy.The impacts of a 50% Within the beef subsector, the reduction of NTBs by half results in a 5% and 8% fall in beef producer prices in Kenya and Tanzania, respectively, but leads to a 20% increase in beef prices in Uganda (Table 6). The increased beef prices in Uganda lead to an 8% (43,000 tons) rise in beef production in Uganda, while production in Kenya and Tanzania declines by 9% (121,000 tons) and 6% (79,000 tons), respectively, from the base scenario. On the other hand, beef retail prices fall in Kenya and Tanzania by 7% and 10%, respectively, while they increase by 20% in Uganda.As a result, beef consumption in Kenya and Tanzania increases by 10% (295,000 tons) and 6% (154,000 tons), respectively, while Uganda's beef consumption declines by 17% (45,000 tons). In addition, Uganda's beef exports to Kenya and Tanzania increase by 4% (1,000 tons) and 8% (2,000 tons), respectively.The effect of this is that the consumer surplus for beef in both Kenya and Tanzania increases by about 0.2% and 0.8%, respectively, from the base scenario, while consumer surplus falls by about 2% in Uganda (Table 6). In contrast, beef producer surplus falls by about 0.1% and 0.5% from the base scenario in Kenya and Tanzania, respectively, while it increases by about 4% in Uganda. Thus, beef producers in Uganda would gain the most from a 50% reduction in beef NTBs within the EAC while beef consumers in Uganda would be the greatest losers from this policy change.In The main purpose of this study was to assess the impact of NTBs on maize and beef cattle cross-border trade in the East AfricanCommunity with a view to suggesting areas of reform in order to enhance regional trade. The main NTBs are corruption through"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"510f2e2f7e9c95de7eb1174ef79758fe","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/36dca3d7-5f02-4961-a962-4b10838a2417/retrieve","id":"-6497178"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cd666ed2-25de-4e6c-a2cb-0fad71956101","content":"Amazonia holds the largest continuous area of tropical forests with intense land use change dynamics inducing water, carbon and energy feedbacks with regional and global impacts.Much of our knowledge of land-use change in Amazonia comes from studies of the Brazilian Amazon, which accounts for two thirds of the region. Amazonia outside of Brazil has received less attention because of the difficulty of acquiring consistent data across countries.We present here an agricultural statistics database of the entire Amazonia region, with a harmonized description of crops and pastures in geospatial format, based on administrative boundary data at the municipality level. The spatial coverage includes countries within Amazonia and spans censuses and surveys from 1950 to 2012. Harmonized crop and pasture types are explored by grouping annual and perennial cropping systems, C3 and C4 photosynthetic pathways, planted and natural pastures, and main crops. Our analysis examined the spatial pattern of ratios between classes of the groups and their correlation with the agricultural extent of crops and pastures within administrative units of the Amazon, by country and census/survey dates. Significant correlations were found between all ratios and the fraction of agricultural lands of each administrative unit, with the exception of planted to natural pastures ratio and pasture lands extent. Brazil and Peru in most cases have significant correlations for all ratios analyzed even for specific census and survey dates. Results suggested improvements and potential applications of the database for carbon, water, climate and land use change studies are discussed. The database presented here provides an Amazonwide improved data set on agricultural dynamics with expanded temporal and spatial coverage.The Amazon basin holds around 8 million km 2 of forests comprising the largest continuous area of tropical forests and an important global carbon reservoir. Recent rates of forest loss make this region one of the deforestation hotspots at the global scale [Baccini et al., 2012].Land cover change in Amazonia can induce feedbacks on global [Cox et al., 2000[Cox et al., , 2004] ] and regional [Makarieva and Gorshkov, 2007;Loarie et al., 2010] climate by inducing reduction of evapotranspiration and increasing vegetation albedo where short vegetation replaces tropical forest with generally a feedback to decreased regional precipitation [Bonan, 2008] and CO 2 emissions to the atmosphere. The type of vegetation replacing forests, for example crops or pastures, plays an important role in these climate feedbacks [Loarie et al., 2011].Although deforestation during the last century in Amazonia has been largely attributed to pasture expansion [Houghton, 2010], recent research suggests complex dynamics of land use change where crops and pastures play direct and indirect roles in deforestation, for example, by replacing forests or pushing other land uses into forest areas respectively [Morton et al., 2006;Barona et al., 2010;Lapola et al., 2010;Macedo et al., 2012]. Furthermore, understanding drivers of land use change can help improve the development of future land use change scenarios for the Amazon region [Soares-Filho et al., 2006;Lapola et al., 2010; Le Page et al., 2010;Arima et al., 2011] by accounting not only for deforested areas but also for type of vegetation and land uses that replace forests.The objective of this study is to develop a spatial dataset of the historical distribution of crops and pastures across Amazonia using agricultural census and survey data that cover all Amazonian countries. We expect this work to be used as a source of data to improve studies on vegetation-climate feedbacks, carbon dynamics and to set the basis for refinement of future land use change scenarios.We systematized historical crops and pastures data from agricultural census for countries within Amazonia. The study area corresponds to boundaries defined by other important Amazon modeling initiatives [Soares-Filho et al., 2006], except for Guyana and French Guiana, whose share of agricultural lands within the basin is less than 1.5% of total nonforest lands (for 2008, Table 1). For each available census or survey we collected total area for each crop, pastures, fallow and abandoned lands, forest areas (within the productive units), livestock and number of farms. Only main crops types were available from Brazil, although we could not find the definition used by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) to select those on each census. Scientific names of crops were systematized from common names reported by data providers. They were then classified by C3/C4 photosynthetic pathways as well as by annual or perennial cropping systems. Historical changes of the administrative unit areas and boundaries were, in some cases, reconstructed to match census data with administrative boundaries and spatial location for the corresponding dates.Most census and survey data began to be widely available in the second half of the last century, starting in 1950 and obtainable up until the present day (Peru has an earlier census in 1929 that was not available). Specific dates of available agricultural census and surveys for each country are shown in Table 2. Agricultural census for Brazil (1960), Ecuador (1974) and Peru (1961Peru ( , 1972) ) were digitized from original source documents available from national statistics institutes. The rest were available from online sources (Table 3). Maps of administrative units were usually available in vector format for the more recent dates.Data has been matched with maps at the second administrative unit level in most cases (i.e. municipality level or similar), except for Colombia, Suriname and Ecuador where only the first level data on administrative boundaries was available (departmental). Because administrative units are divided into smaller ones forward in time, the development of the administrative unit maps that match each census date was often based on aggregating municipalities into larger original units. We started with the most recent existing official map in digital format and reconstructed the past administrative maps backwards in time for each census date based on scanned political maps. The adjustments account for a reconstruction of municipality boundaries, for example, based on historical political maps or relational keys depicting boundary evolution as municipalities become sub-divided into smaller sized units (details on methods and data sources in Table 3). The 1995 data set for Colombia has aggregated data for all Amazonian departments from agricultural surveys and department values were derived proportional to the area of each administrative unit.For Brazil data from 1995, 2000 and 2006, this study is based on the work of Barona et al., [2010] which relied on systematized surveys, censuses and databases from the Brazilian Institute of Statistics and Geography [IBGE-SIDRA, 2006]. In order to obtain consistent data, they aggregated units to match boundaries of the coarsest unit across these three dates. For the 1960 and 1975 census dates in Brazil, we used a municipality relational key that indicates the aggregation/disaggregation of municipalities through time [Reis et al., 2011;Barretto et al., 2013]. Administrative unit reconstruction for Peru (1961,1972) and Bolivia (1950) was done by using scanned political maps from dates as close as possible to census dates. In a few cases where we lacked information about boundary changes across time, spatial units and census/surveys data were further aggregated into known coarser units. We lacked data for some census-date combinations: in Brazil 1960(1 municipality) and 1975(3), Bolivia 1984(11), and Peru 1961(15), 1972(7), 1994 (1) and 2012 (1). These gaps represent 13% of the country area within our study area in Bolivia for the 1984 census and 6% of the country area in Peru for the 1961 census. Boundary data for administrative unit AMC6097006, in Brazil 1960, was missing and values assigned to nearby municipalities and it is a known source of error.Censuses do not always report the same variables and gaps in variables exist across countries and dates. For example, fallow lands are only reported in Peru (all censuses), Venezuela 2008, Ecuador 2000 and Bolivia 1984 (Table 1 in supplementary material).Census data collected information for a total of 407 crop types for which we identified 216 here with their scientific names and family in order to harmonize all censuses data. We did not identify in the literature 191 crops from Peru 2012 and1994 (172 and19 crops, respectively). All crops not identified were aggregated to the \"others\" census category which covers <6.8% of any of the country's total agricultural areas. Peru 2012 reports 2334 associated crops that were not identified by scientific name representing 8% of total croplands. Bolivia reports 13.4% of total cropland areas with crop associations whose crop types are not described in the census.Crops across countries and census dates were aggregated into three groups (details in supplementary material, Table 2). The first group aims at distinguishing annual and perennial crop types. Perennial crops refer to long-term cultivation systems that do not require replanting after harvest, such as coffee, and cocoa. Annual crops require replanting after harvest with yearly cycles. Sugarcane was the only crop with inconsistent classification across censuses, being classified as perennial in Colombia and annual elsewhere. The second group separates crops by C3 and C4 photosynthetic pathways. Finally, the third group is related to the physiognomic component of importance for consumption or industrialization (cereals, fibers, flowers, fruits, herbs, industrials, legumes, nuts, tubers, vegetables and other).A detailed description of this grouping is excluded in the following sections but available with the dataset. Finally, scientific names were collected for each crop type from several online sources. The number of cattle units and fallow lands in each administrative unit was also collected and presented in Figure 1 and 2 of the supplementary material.Each one of these groups, except for the physiognomic one, and its evolution in time is presented here by municipality, country and for the whole Amazonia in terms of their fractional coverage. Crop fractional coverage is presented as the ratio of cropland to pasture area (CPR), perennial to annual crops area (PAR), and C4 to C3 photosynthetic pathways for agricultural areas (C4C3R) not including pastures. We also present the planted to natural pastures ratio (PNP). Natural pastures are defined in censuses as pastures that were not planted by farmers and therefore can include both native grasslands and those that have been degraded and are now covered, for example, with invasive species. We present municipality ratios and their spatial correlation with the fraction of total agricultural lands per municipality as a preliminary exploration of the dataset. Agricultural lands account here for both pastures and croplands. We also present main crops maps, where \"main\" indicates for those crops whose total aggregated area accounts altogether for at least 70% of the total cropland area of Amazonia.Available agricultural censuses for the Amazon basin cover the second half of the 20 th century from 1950 (in Bolivia) until 2012 (Peru). Brazil has the most systematic record with censuses every decade (6 in total, see Table 2) during this period, followed by Peru with 4 censuses (Table 2). Other countries have only one or two dates of census available (Table 2).Ecuador has the older latest census in 2000. For Brazil, Peru and Bolivia a few departments had no data on specific census dates, leaving a few areas with a lower census count than the rest of the country.All countries tend to increase the number of administrative units with time and therefore the mean size of an administrative unit decreases with time (Table 4). Brazil, after 1995, has constant administrative units since [Barona, 2009] standardized maps for all the dates after 1995. Bolivia and Peru tend to have small changes in the size of administrative units.Ecuador has the smallest number of units and the largest mean size (except for Brazil in 1960).Across all censuses and surveys we identified 216 crops from 84 families. The most important families were Leguminosae (16 crop species), Graminae (7 species), Rosaceae (11 species), Solanaceae (11 species), and Rutaceae (9 species). We grouped these crops into 137 annual and 79 perennials crops (Table 2 in supplementary material). In the case of Brazil only the most important crops (as selected by IBGE) are accounted for, leaving country level comparisons biased, since usually crops total area are highly uneven. The number of unidentified crops is larger than the 19 aggregated here since the \"other crops\" category already exists in censuses. The total area within this category covers a relatively small fraction of the Amazon basin, less than 1.2% or less than 6.8% of total agricultural or crop lands respectively across all the countries.The distribution of agricultural land across all the municipalities within each country is presented in Figure 1. The increase of agricultural land fraction over time suggests poles of deforestation from: (i) the Andean Cordillera to Amazonian lowlands, a North-South axis over the western side of the region along Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, (ii) from the South and East of Brazil to central Amazonia, (iii) from the North to South in Venezuela and, (iv) from the Atlantic coast along the Amazon River (Fig. 1).Brazil shows the largest variation of agricultural area across its municipalities (followed by Peru) with a larger range of values compared to other countries (Fig. 3 in the supplementary material). The distribution of agricultural land for Colombia and Ecuador is calculated from a small total number of administrative units (Table 3) and are thus difficult to compare with the one of other countries. Bolivia and Peru show a decrease of the variation of agricultural land for more recent times, suggesting some convergence among municipalities. Fallow land areas are relatively smaller compared to agricultural lands (we currently do not include fallow lands as part of agricultural lands, see Fig. 2 in supplementary material).The cropland to pastureland ratio (CPR) and total agricultural land, including both natural and planted pasture according to censuses, of each country are shown in Figure 2. As expected all countries increased their agricultural lands with time, except for Colombia that shows a 30% reduction between 1995 and 2008 (Fig. 2). All countries across the whole period have an area of pastures (including natural and planted productive pastures) at least four times larger than croplands (CPR ratios <0.25, Fig. 2), except for Venezuela (2008) where CPR is 1.6. Colombia has the lowest CPR (0.04-0.05) and Peru and Venezuela have the highest (0.19-0.25 and 1.6 respectively). Peru has a decreasing trend of CPR during 1960-1970, followed by an increase in the later censuses of 1994 and 2012. Brazil shows an increasing trend of CPR, except for a drop in 1980, resulting into a near doubling of CPR from 0.1 to 0.19 between 1960 and 2006 (Fig. 2). Colombia (1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008) shows decreasing CPR with time. Bolivia shows no trend (1950-1984; see Table 3 Although Brazil has the largest fraction of agricultural lands within the basin across the whole period, Bolivia and Peru (which together have a share of only 1.47% of the whole basin agricultural lands) combined aggregated a similar amount of agricultural lands than Brazil (2.08%) during the period 1950-60's (Fig. 2). Between 1960 and 1975 Brazil's agricultural lands sharply increased to cover 4.12% of the country, further increasing to 9.06% in 2006. The contribution of Ecuador to agricultural land fraction always remained relatively small (<0.05%). Bolivia, Colombia and Peru have a similar share of agricultural lands in more recent times (since the 1980's) ranging between 0.72 and 1.23%.Although country level CPR always show a larger area of pastures relative to croplands, there are large variations within each country. In each country, several municipalities show high CPR values, as seen from the distribution of CPR among municipalities in Figure 4 of the supplementary material. Particularly in Brazil (1960), Peru (1961), Bolivia (1984) and Colombia (2008). For example, the maximum CPR found was for Casiquiare in Venezuela 2008 (CPR=4537), which resulted from 0.05 ha of pastures and 227 ha of cropland areas.Still, all countries have municipalities with larger crops than pastures area, except for Colombia 1995 (Fig. 4, supplementary material).We found significant a (p<0.0001) negative correlation (Spearman ranked correlation coefficient) of -0.43 between CPR and the fraction of agricultural land of the municipalities, using data for all countries and years in the regression (Fig. 3, Table 5). Country-specific correlations between CPR and the fraction of agricultural land (all years, p>0.0001) for Brazil (-0.42) are close to the average of all Amazonian countries (Fig. 3). The correlations obtained from Brazilian municipalities across years have values similar than when using the full dataset, suggesting that Brazil probably drives the Amazonian average correlation value, since it has the largest number of municipalities. Correlations for Peru are more negative than the average (-0.73) of Amazonia. In Peru, these correlations increased with time from -0.70 to -0.77, except in 1972 (Fig. 3, Table 5). Other countries have non-significant correlations, probably due to their smaller number of observations. This result suggests that, as the agricultural frontier advances in each municipality, the extent of pastures increases relative to crops. Importantly, an opposite relationship is found in the southern part of the Mato Grosso state in Brazil (a northwest to southeast axis between Sorriso and Alto Taquari municipalities) where CPR increased with increasing fraction of agricultural land (Fig. 3).Census data distinguishes between planted and natural pastures in most cases, except Bolivia 1950. Barona et al., [2010] used aggregated data for both pasture types for Brazil in 2000.Natural pastures usually dominate the total pasture land areas. For example, Peru and Bolivia have over 94% of it pasture lands with natural pastures across all censuses. Suriname 2009 and Venezuela 2008 have 68 and 73% of its pastures lands with natural cover. Brazil shows a strong decrease in the fraction of natural pastures from 95% in 1960 to 20% in 2006 with the largest changes in southern municipalities of our study area (Fig. 4) (see Table 3  A significant negative correlation of -0.31 was found between PAR and the fraction of agricultural lands of the municipalities of Amazonia. This indicates that as the fraction of agricultural lands increases in each municipality, the ratio of perennial to annual crops tends to decrease (Fig. 5). The spatial pattern of PAR is relatively stable over time (Fig. 5), with a larger ratio of perennial to annual crop areas mostly over Peruvian lowlands where municipalities seem to increase annual crops fraction over time. Country level correlations between PAR and agricultural land fractions are only significant (<0.0001) for Brazil and Peru (-0.37 and -0.64, respectively). These correlations are also stable between decades, ranging between -0.38 and -0.77 in both countries. Brazil 1960 was found without significant correlation.The Amazonia mean C4 crop type to C3 crop type ratio (C4C3R) is 0.64±3.54. The fraction of C3 crops is thus on average larger than that of C4 crops, and stable values of the C4C3R ratios are found across countries and decades, ranging between 0.2±0.09 and 1.0±7.07 for Venezuela 2008 and Brazil 2006, respectively. The distribution of the C4C3R ratio across individual municipalities also shows a large range (Fig. 7, supplementary material). A weak positive correlation (0.20, p<0.0001) was found between C4C3R and the fraction of agricultural lands across all municipalities of the dataset (Table 5 and Fig. 6). Statistically significant correlation values are also found at country scale in Peru (0.25) and Brazil (0.20) that have enough municipalities to calculate a correlation. The correlation between C4C3R and agricultural land fraction does not seem to change much over time, with values ranging between 0.35 to 0.18. Only Brazil has significant correlations and 1980 shows a contrast with C4C3R of -0.26 (Table 5).Cassava, potato, cotton, rice, corn, wheat, and soybean where found to be the main crops of Amazonia. Main crops are defined as those crops whose total aggregated area over a twodecade period account for at least 70% of the total cropland area of Amazonia. Their spatial distribution is shown in Figures 7 and 8 (and Fig. 8-12 of the supplementary material). We found that the number of main crops tends to diminish from 6 during the 1950-60s to 3 in the 2000s when soybean, corn and rice, in the same order of importance, account for 78% of Amazonian croplands.Cassava is an important crop (in terms of area relative to croplands) in municipalities with lower fraction of agricultural lands (Fig. 8, supplementary material). Cassava is clearly important for subsistence and shifting cultivation farmers in forest frontier municipalities [Simon et al., 2005]. Potato belongs mainly to highlands of Peru and Bolivia and is almost non-existent elsewhere, probably due to cold climate requirements (Fig. 7). Cotton seems important in mid-altitude Peruvian municipalities but mostly in southern Mato Grosso state in Brazil since 1990, and Southeast Maranhão state in 1950-60s (Fig. 9, supplementary material). Rice is restricted to lowlands, due to crop climate requirements, and is found mostly in municipalities with larger fraction of agricultural lands (Fig. 10, supplementary material). The fraction of rice cultivated areas shows a peak in 1970-80s and declined afterwards, although with widespread distribution, in more recent times. Wheat belongs mostly to high-lands of Peru and Bolivia, with a declining relative importance since the 1990s compared to the 1950-1980 period in those areas (Fig. 11, supplementary material).Corn has a widespread distribution in municipalities with both high and low fraction of agricultural lands (Fig. 12, supplementary material). Soybean shows a sharp increase over southeastern Brazil since the 1990s, and more recently also in the northern Brazilian state of Roraima (Fig. 8).We compiled and harmonized a new agricultural land use dataset that characterizes crops and pastures in Amazonia according to cropping system (annual or perennial), photosynthetic pathway, and crop physiognomy based on successive agricultural censuses and surveys in countries of the Amazon basin since 1950. Our dataset incorporates seven countries within Amazonia, providing a new information resource that treats the entire region. The legal Amazon in Brazil has been the main focus in most of the literature, even though it only covers around two thirds of the region. Although similar studies have covered larger spatial domains (i.e. [Ramankutty et al., 2008]), specific dates (i.e [Morton et al., 2006;Macedo et al., 2012], or disaggregated spatial distribution of census data using land cover maps from remote sensing [Cardille and Foley, 2003], we present here a unique dataset in terms of its temporal and spatial coverage. We have harmonized data from all existing censuses and surveys and reconstructed (in most cases) the boundaries of corresponding administrative units (to their 2 nd level or municipalities). We have also systematized scientific names for all reported crops across countries to facilitate further use of the dataset.The lack of data quality assessments on the used sources limits an uncertainty quantification, since census validation efforts were not reported. Comparison with previous census or other data sources (i.e. surveys) has been used to identify systematic errors [Wunder, 1999]. Brazil census data quality on crops and pastures (both planted and natural) is expected to be reliable, in particular for recent times (since 1995) as increased funding augmented the number of units directly sampled [Cardille and Foley, 2003]. According to Cardille et al., [2002] census officials report that crop planted area is reliable for the census date, particularly for farmers having access to formal financial aid, although inter-annual variability of crop areas can be high compared to pasture areas which are more stable. Identifying uncertainties on data collected for intercropped systems presents varying degrees of difficulty, for example, some census (Bolivia 1950, 1984, Peru 1994, 2012, Ecuador 2000) identified associated crops separately (from annual or perennial only areas) although not always identifying the specific crops species associated (we only included total areas for associated crops). Peru 1961 does not report crop associations. Crop planted areas (as provided in this dataset) usually refer to the area at the time of the census and does not account for crops or pastures that might replace or share the same land at other times (i.e. of the same year) [Ramankutty et al., 2008] which potentially induces to double counting issues for other census variables (i.e. harvested area) where the same area is accounted for more than one crop (A. Simões, personal communication with IBGE, 2015) [Monfreda et al., 2008]. Bolivia (any date) and Colombia 2008, for example, do not distinguish between planted and harvested area. For Brazil (any date) and Ecuador 1974 when permanent crops (with cropping cycles longer than one year) were intercropped with annual crops in a specific farm, only the permanent crop type and its area was reported (personal communication) reducing the potential effects of double-counting issues in our dataset. For other dates this is not clarified (Peru 1961or Suriname 2009).Approaches to correct for double-counting have been attempted, for example, by assessing the potential for multiple cropping systems based on agro-climatic variables [Monfreda et al., 2008]. Data collection/reporting issues [Monfreda et al., 2008] should be further explored, for example unrealistically high livestock number per unit of area in municipalities with relatively small agricultural land fractions in central Amazonia, which should be treated accordingly as spurious in the dataset. The area of a census establishment (i.e. farm) is assigned to the municipality where the headquarters of the farm is administratively located, or where most of the farm area is located if there is no administrative address (personal communication). This could explain fractions of agricultural lands larger than the municipality (Fig. 1) in our dataset.Similar datasets types have been used in combination with land cover data to understand deforestation drivers in Amazonia, for example, between 1980-1995 for Legal Amazonia (smaller region than the one studied here) where net increases in agricultural lands were attributed to crop expansion, increase in planted pastures (through deforestation) and decrease in natural pastures (abandoned grasslands and savannah) [Cardille and Foley, 2003]. These approaches used municipality level census data to estimate land use proportions (similar to the data presented here) that are then assumed to be equally distributed across the agricultural matrix from remote sensing [de Espindola et al., 2012] while others developed more complex models to assign land use classes across remotely sensed land use types [Cardille and Foley, 2003;Leff et al., 2004;Monfreda et al., 2008].Other studies have performed analysis using some of the sources presented here with a focus on finding deforestation drivers, with findings similar to those presented here. For example, an increasing CPR over Mato Grosso concurred with an increased share of soybean farms on agricultural lands for 2006 [Macedo et al., 2012] and potential pastures displacements into Pará [Barona et al., 2010], Rondonia and Amazonas [Arima et al., 2011] where we found a decrease in CPR. Our data shows that nearby areas in southern Tocantins and Maranhao also show a sharp increase in soybean areas while keeping constant CPR values, potentially indicating different dynamics. The decrease in CRP for Brazil 1980 census (Fig. 2) results from a general wider distribution of croplands across every state, something that was reversed in the following years [Leite et al., 2012].Negative correlations found in Peru between PNP and the fraction of pasturelands of the municipalities could indicate that increased areas of productive pasture lands occur over natural pastures (over highlands) that are not accounted in censuses when not under productive systems. Natural pastures were the dominant land use since 1940 in Brazil, with expanding areas and intensity until 1970 when planted pastures appeared and began replacing natural pastures in 1980 [Leite et al., 2012]. This shifting trend can explain the change in correlation sign between PNP and the municipality fraction of pasturelands.Effects of historical land cover change on climate have been studied at the global [Cowling et al., 2007], regional [Beltrán-Przekurat et al., 2012] and local scales [Arvor et al., 2012;Dubreuil et al., 2012], where the replacement of forests by crops and pastures in Amazonia and its climate feedbacks could trigger a future savannization trend in the region [Pires and Costa, 2013]. Furthermore, the fraction of crops and pastures and their parameterization in land surface models has been identified as an important source of uncertainty in attribution studies of global land use change on regional climate [Pitman et al., 2009]. The temporal and spatial CPR trends presented here extends for the first time to the whole basin, instead of Brazilian Amazonia where most of the literature focuses. The data has high potential for further analysis, in particular before 1980, when the extent of agricultural land within the Amazon basin was shared by several countries in relatively similar magnitudes, while for later dates Brazil dominates. C4C3R data could also support studies on land use change feedbacks on Amazonian climate.Previous research found a decrease in surface temperature when crops replace C3 grasslands and an increase when crops replace woody vegetation or C4 grasslands, due to higher LAI in C4 grasslands compared to C3 type crops. These results are related to a change in the Bowen ratio resulting from increased latent heat. Effects on precipitation were relatively smaller [Beltrán-Przekurat et al., 2012] although other authors found regional effects on precipitation due to C4-vegetation presence [Cowling et al., 2007].The distribution of C3 and C4 vegetation types also determine differences in the exchanges of CO 2 , water and energy between land and surface. Amazonia mean (across all periods) C4C3R 0.64±3.53 shows a larger fraction of C4 agriculture than the global C4C3R ratio of 0.19, according to Still et al., 2003, with only Venezuela 2008 approaching the global average. Our municipal scale data could help improve carbon studies that have so far used the coarser level C4 crop fractions on their analysis [Still et al., 2003;Gibbs et al., 2008;Monfreda et al., 2008;Meiyappan and Jain, 2012] losing detail on the spatial patterns and across time at least for Amazonia. Errors due to lack of data on natural C3/C4 mixed grasslands is expected to be non-significant since they mostly belong to extra-tropical areas, except for a narrow strip over the Andes in our study region [Sterling and Ducharne, 2008].©2015 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.Further disaggregation of the pasture class by photosynthetic pathway could be based on temperature gridded data [Monfreda et al., 2008].It is worth noting that changes in the area of forests, crops and pastures patterns can only be explained by a combination of policy, accessibility, biophysical and socio-economic drivers framed in historical pathways of change [Soler et al., 2009] therefore the temporal coverage of census data presented here could prove valuable. Our longer temporal and spatial approach could serve the purpose of understanding trends in less recently deforested lands where most of the forest was lost a few decades back. More research in needed to understand land change dynamics within non-forest frontier municipalities. This can help understand indirect causes of deforestation as well as dynamics between crops and/or pastures over heavily intensified municipalities.CPR analysis can also help understand land use change dynamics. For example, in Mato Grosso pastures remain the dominant land use after deforestation, although an increased rate of conversion of forest to croplands (combined with pastures to crop transitions) was found in the early 2000s, probably driven by high soybean prices, that resulted in increased CPR values over Mato Grosso for 2006 [Macedo et al., 2012;Fig. 3]. Furthermore, during the first half of the 2000s the absolute increase in croplands in Mato Grosso was mainly from replacing pastures (76%) than by replacing forests (26%). This was the case especially in later years (2006 onwards) when 91% of the expansion occurred on previously cleared lands due to a decline in commodity prices and policy measures to decrease deforestation rates [Macedo et al., 2012]. However, the data presented here cannot capture gross gains or losses in areas between crops, planted/natural pasture lands needed to explain deforestation drivers and further refinement using remote sensing data is required. Accounting for fallow lands could be also helpful in this sense and is a potential improvement of the database presented here.©2015 American Geophysical Union. All rights reserved.Crops type data has been also useful to understand land use change drivers, for example, the increase in soybean, cotton and corn fraction in Mato Grosso (Fig. 8, and Fig. 9 and 12 in the supplementary material) resulted from an increase in agricultural intensification where areas with double cropping systems (soybean-corn or soybean-cotton on each year) increased from 6 to 30% between 2000and 2007[Arvor et al., 2012]]. Productivity data (not presented here) is also needed since it has been the driver for increased soybean production (i.e. record production in 2009/10) instead of deforestation, in Mato Grosso and Rondonia [Rudorff et al., 2011]. Verburg et al. [2011] discussed land use/cover data issues for global change studies highlighting temporal, spatial, and thematic/definition consistency issues. Temporal issues to address in future uses of our dataset relate to the lack of systematic dates where long periods without data between two census dates could potentially hide changes in land use dynamics.Changes in the census field implementation (not always documented) also induce a temporal bias. For example, the level of resources and effort allocated to the production of each census or differences in the date/season represented by the census which may produce land use bias in areas of multiple cropping [Wunder, 1999]. Studies aimed at analyzing finer scale or temporal evolution of land use in Amazonia might need to develop spatially consistent units of analysis based on the data presented here in order to reduce bias from differences across time and between countries in municipality (Table 4) and agricultural areas (Fig. 1). This can be achieved by either aggregating municipalities forward in time to keep common administrative boundaries of comparable areas (i.e. [Barona et al., 2010]) or disaggregating census data based on land cover data from remote sensing sources [Leite et al., 2012]. et al., [2015] compared several existing approaches to downscale census (or similar) data sources to improve the spatial representation of the data and found discrepancies mainly due to methodological issues and choices of sources, such as remote sensing data, to define cropland extent. Furthermore, many of these studies focused on understanding the drivers of deforestation and land use change dynamics within agricultural lands, requiring consistent definitions of natural versus planted pastures or rangelands which are difficult to distinguish from sparse forest areas [Ramankutty et al., 2008;Verburg et al., 2011] and whose definitions are not always detailed. Although, these categories are present in the database, there were not discussed here. ConclusionsWe presented a harmonized database of agricultural censuses and surveys for Amazonia covering countries within Amazonia since 1950 at the municipality level. We described the spatial patterns of agricultural lands, crops and pastures distribution, annual to perennial cropping systems, planted to natural pastures, and main crop types. Significant correlations were found between these patterns and the fraction of crops and pasture lands. Our database should encourage improved studies on land use change dynamics, water and carbon cycles at regional and global scales.         "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d9808ff80e02e3e97fd1cbf0603b2048","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H_10043i.pdf","id":"-1870507480"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"29feb5b0-af36-43fd-b749-55f4d053d20d","content":"IlMl was asked in 1989 by the Secretaries of Irrigation & Power and Agriculture of the Government of Punjab to commence work in the FordwahlEastern Sadiqia area, given the fact that a number of development projects would be initiated in the area. The objective of IIMl's research is to develop and pilot test in collaboration with national research and line agencies alterriafive irrigation management practices to optimize agricultural production and mitigate problems of salinityhodicity. The research is carried out at various levels of the irrigation system, from main system operations to field level irrigation application.The main system component of the research is carried out in collaboration with the Punjab Irrigation & Power Department and aims to develop tools to assist irrigation managers to take better founded decisions on operations and maintenance. Within the framework of this programme, a field calibration training course was organized in the Fordwah Canal Division on the request of the Secretary Irrigation & Power Department, Punjab.The training course had four main components:Classroom and field site lectures on hydraulic principles of rating of structures and the use of the current meter .2.Rating of distributary head regulators by current meter (wading method)Inflow-outflow test to determine seepage losses (suspension method, boat)The participants of the training coui'se calibrated all hydraulic structures of the Chishtian sub-division (Fordwah Branch RD 199-371). Upon completion of the rating of structures (component 2), an inflow-outflow lest was conducted to estimate the seepage losses in Fordwah Branch (RD 199-371). Finally, component 4 was entrusted to the International Sedimentation Research Institute, Pakistan (ISRIP). The training course was organized from 28 May to 6 June in Bahawalnagar.To develop the rating of hydraullc structures, measurements have to be taken with a range of discharges (e.g. 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, 100% and 120% of the full supply discharge). Thus, the training course was organized during a period in which supplies were not at their maximum. During this ten-day period, 1-2 measurements were taken for each structure. Although this will give a good idea of the rating of these structures, more measurements will be required to develop full rating curves.Fordwah canal off-takes from t hem left abutment of Suleimanki Headworks on the Sutlej river and conveys water to MacLeod Ganj and Fordwah Branch canals at its tail at RD 44850 (see map). Fordwah Branch canal runs for about 75 miles (tail RD is 371650) and has a full supply discharge! of 2603 cusecs. The head of the system is nonperennial and receives supplies from 15 April to 15 October only. At RD 129 of Fordwah Branch, the Sadiq-Ford feeder supplies water to Fordwah Branch from 15 October to 15 April in order to feed the perennial canals of the Fordwah system. The Fordwah Division is divided into three sub-divisions, Minchinabad (from the head of Fordwah canal to RD 77 of Fordwah Branch), Bahawalnagar (from RD 77 to RD 199 of the Fordwah Branch) and Chkhtian (from RD 199 to 371 of Fordwah Branch). See the index plan on the next page.1 foot/second 1 (cubic) footlsecond (cusec)During the training course the participants were trained to convert easily from the metric system to the imperial system and back. Although the metric system has been officially adopted in Pakistan, imperial units are very much in use in Pakistan's irrigation system. It is for this reason that while the units in the more generic cheapter 2 on methodology are kept in the metric system, units in the results chapter are presented in the imperial system. Conversions are given in the table below for an easy reference of the reader. .A simple open-channel constriction is shown in Figure 1. The flow through such constrictions is most often in the tranquil range, and produces gradually varied flow far upstream and a short distance downstream, although rapidly varied flow occurs at the constriction (Barrett and Skogerboe 1973). The effect of the constriction on the water surface profile, both upstream and downstream, is conveniently measured with respect to the normal water surface profile, which is the water surface in the absence of the constriction under uniform flow ccinditions. Upstream of the constriction, an \"MI\" or \" M Y backwater profile occurs. The maximum backwater effect, denoted by y* in Figure 1, occurs a relatively short distance upstream. The backwater effect may extend for a considerable distance in the upstream direction, particularly for irrigation channels with flat longitudinal gradients. lnimediately downstream of the constriction, the flow expansion process begins and coiitinues until the normal regime of flow has been reestablished in the channel.The two most significant flovi regimes under which any open channel constriction may operate are free-flow and submerged-flow. Other terms for free-flow are criticaldepth flow and modular flow, while other terms for submerged-flow are drowned flow and non-modular flow. The distinguishing difference between the two flow conditions is the occurrence of critical velocity in the vicinity of the constriction (usually a very short distance upstream of the narrowest portion of the constriction). When this critical flow control occurs, the discharge is uniquely related to the depth of \"head\" upstream of the critical section. Thus, measurement of a flow depth at some specified location upstream, h, , from the point of the critical conditions is all that is necessary to obtain the free-flow discharge, Qp Consequently, Q, can be expressed as a function of h, :When the flow conditions are such that the downstream flow depth is raised to the extent that the flow velocity a': every point through the constriction becomes less than the critical value, then the constriction is operating under submerged-flow conditions. With this flow regime, an increase in tailwater flow depth, Ah,, will increase the head upstream of the constri':tion by Ah, (bh, will be less than Ah,). Both the upstream depth, h, , and the downstream depth, h,, must be measured to determine the discharge through a calibrated constriction operating under submerged-flow conditions. The definition given to submergfmce, S, is:The submergence may also be represented in percent. The submerged-flow discharge, Q,, is a function of h, and h, and the governing relationship is generally written in terms of discharge, head lass (h,hd), and submergence: ~ Ofttimes, constrictions designed initially to operate under free-flow conditions become submerged as a result of unusual operating conditions, or the accumulation of moss and vegetation in the o p m channel. Care should always be taken to note the operating condition of the constriction in order to determine which rating should be used. The value of submergenct: marking the change from free-flow to submergedflow, or vice versa, is referred to as the transition submergence, S,. At this condition, the discharge given by the free-flow equation is exactly the same as that given by the submerged-flow equation. Hence, if discharge equations are known for both free-flow and submerged-flow conditions, ii definite value of the transition submergence can be obtained by setting the equations equal to one another and solving for S,. It should be noted that this derived value of S, is highly sensitive to slight errors in the coefficients or exponents of either equation (,\"sogerboe, Hyatt and Eggleston 1967).The difference between free-flow, the transition state, and submerged-flow water surface profiles is illustrated for a simple channel constriction in Figure 2  The general form of the f,ee-flow equation is:I where the subscript f denotes free flow, so that Q, is the free-flow discharge, C, is the free-flow coefficient, and n, is the free-flow exponent. The value of C, increases as the size of the constriction increases, but the relationship is usually not linear. The value of n, is primarily dependent upon the geometry of the constriction with the theoretical values being 312 for a rectangular constriction and 512 for a triangular constriction. A trapezoidal constriction would h w e a free-flow exponent of 312 at extremely shallow flow depths and 512 for extremely deep flow depths; thus, n, increases with depth at a trapezoidal constriction. The ttleoretical values of n, are modified by the approach velocity, so that n, increases :is the approach velocity increases. However, the measured values correspond very well with the theoretical values for very low approach velocitiesA hypothetical example of developing the field discharge rating for a rectangular open-channel constriction is illustrated in Figure 3, and the field data is listed in Table 1. The discharge rate in the constriction was determined by taking current meter readings at a location upstream, and again at another location downstream. This is a good practice because the flow depths upstream and downstream are often significantly different, so that the variation in the measured discharge between the two locations is indicative of the accuracy of the current meter equipment and the methodology used by the field staff.A logarithmic plot of the free-flow data (see Table 2) is shown in Figure 4 for the stilling well flow depths, (hJSw. Note that n, is the slope of the straight line and C, is the value of Q, for (hJSw = 1.0, since (?' = CX1.0)\"' = c, The slope, n,, must be determined using a scale as illustrated. The resulting free-flow equation is: Free-flow discharge rating using the example data.A comparison of the free-flaw ratings for the stilling well flow depths (Equation 6) and the flow depths along the tleadwall measured from the benchmark are shown in Figure 5. The free-flow equation for the flow depths measured below the benchmark is:If a regression analysis is done with the free-flow data using the theoretical value on n, = 3/2, A comparison of Equations 6 and 8 and Equations 7 and 9 are shown in Table 3. The discharge error resulting from using n, = 3/2 varies from -1.91 percent to +2.87 percent.The general form of the submerged-flow equation is:Where the subscript s denotes submerged flow, so that Q, is the submerged-flow discharge, C, is the submerged-flow coefficient, and n, is the submerged-flow exponent.Note that the free-flow exponent, n,, is used with the term h,h, . Consequently, n, is determined from the free-flow rating, while C, and n, is between 1.0 and 1.5 (Skogerboe and Hyatt 1967).   A logarithmic plot of the submerged-flow data is shown in Figure 6. Each data point in Figure 12 can have a line drawn at a slope on n, = 1.55, which can be extended to where it intercepts the! abscissa at h,h, = 1.0; then, the corresponding value of discharge can be read on the ordinate, which is listed as Q&,,= , ! in Table 5.The value of QAh = , , , can also be solved analytically because a straight line on logarithmic paper is a power function having the simple form: or where Q, =, , , has a different value for each value of the submergence, S.Using the term Qdh = , , , , implies that h,h, = 1.0 by definition, so that Equation 10 reduces to:. . Again, this is a power function where Q, , , can be plotted against (-logs) on logarithmic paper to yield a straight line relationship. The submerged-flow data in Table 5 is plotted in Figure 7. Note that the straight line has a negative slope (-nJ and that C, is the value of Qnh? when (-logs) is equal to 1.0. For this particular data, the submerged-flow equation is:0.367(huhd)1.55By setting the free-flow discharge equation equal to the submerged-flow discharge equation (Equations 7 and 14), the transition submergence, S,, can be determined: and,The value of S in this relationship is S , provided the coefficients and exponents have been accurately determined. Aslain, small errors will dramatically affect the determination of S,. 0.74(-/0gS;)'.~~ = 0.367(1 -SJ1.55 (17) Equation 17 is solved by trial-and-error to determine S,, which in this case is 0.82. Thus, free flow exists when S < 0.82 and submerged flow exists when the submergence is greater than 82 percent.A final free-flow and submerged-flow discharge rating is plotted on logarithmic paper in Figure 8. Also, Table 6 is a typical free-flow rating based on Equation 7for the example open-channel constriction. The submerged-flow discharge can be calculated using the reduction factors in Table 7 to multiply by the free-flow rating corresponding to the measured value of h, .This reduction factor is obtained by calculating the ration QJQ,:   Which is also equal to .For example, if h, and h, ai'e measured and found to be 1.430 and 1.337, the first step would be to compute the submergence, S, Finally, it should be noted that all of the preceding graphical solutions to the calibration of open-channel constrictions can also be obtained numerically through logarithmic transformations and linear regression. The graphical solutions have the advantage of being more didactic; however, for experienced persons, the numerical solution is usually more convenient. It is always useful to plot the results, either by hand or using computer software, to reduce the possibility of errors or inclusion of erroneous data values. Obvious errors tend to be more apparent in plots than in numerical calibration results.Any type of opening in whic:h the upstream water level is higher than the top of the opening is referred to as an orifice. In this case, if the jet of water emanating from the orifice discharges freely into the air or downstream channel without backwater or tailwater effect, then the orifice is operating under free-flow conditions. If the upstream water level is below the top of the opening, then the opening is hydraulically performing as a weir structure. For free-flow conditions through an orifice, the discharge equation is:where C, is the dimensionless discharge coefficient, C, is the dimensionless velocity head coefficient, A is the cross-sectional area of the orifice opening, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and h,, is measured from the centroid of the orifice to the upstream water level as shown in Figure 9a.The upstream depth, h, , can also be measured from the bottom of the orifice opening if the downstream depth IS taken to be about 0.61 1 times the vertical orifice opening, which takes into account the theoretical flow contraction just downstream of the orifice. Otherwise, the inferred assumption is that the downstream depth is equal to one-half the opening, and h, is effectively measured from the area centroid of the opening. Either of these two assiimptions may be adequate in rating the orifice for free-flow conditions, and in defining1 the governing equation, but it should be noted that the choice will affect the value of the discharge coefficient.If the downstream water level is also above the top of the orifice (see Figure 9b), then submerged conditions exist and the discharge equation becomes:Where h,h, is the difference in water surface elevations upstream and downstream of the submerged orifice.The velocity head coefficieni, C,,, approaches unity as the approach velocity to the orifice decreases to zero. In irrigation systems, C, can usually be assumed to be unity since most irrigation channels have very flat gradients and the flow velocities are low (usually much less than 1 mls). An orifice can be used as a hi!ghly accurate flow measuring device in an irrigation system. If the orifice structure has not been previously rated in the laboratory, then it can easily be rated in the field. The' hydraulic head term, h, , or (h,h, ), can be relied upon to have the exponent 112, which means that a single field rating measurement, if accurately made, will provide im accurate determination of the coefficient of discharge, C, .However, the use of a single rating measurement implies the assumption of a constant C, value, which is not the case in general. Adjustments to the basic orifice equations for free-and submerged-flow are often made to more accurately represent the structure rating as a function of flow depths and gate openings. The following sections present some alternative equation forms for taking into account the variability in the discharge coefficient under different operating conditions. Orifices usually have C, values of about 0.60 to 0.80, depending on the geometry and installation of the structure, but values ranging from about 0.3 to 0.9 have been measured in the field.~! :A definition sketch for a rectangular gate structure having free orifice flow is shown in Figure 10. For a rectangular gate having a gate opening, Go, and a gate width, W, the free-flow discharge equation can be obtained from Equation 22, assuming that the dimensionless velocity head coefficient is unity.where Go is the vertical gate opening, W is the gate width, and GoW is the area, A, of the orifice opening.The upstream flow depth, h, , can be measured anywhere upstream of the gate, including the upstream face of the gate. The value of h, will vary a small amount depending on the location chosen for measuring h, . Consequently, the value of the coefficient of discharge, C,, will also vary according to the location selected for measuring h, .One of the most difficult tasks in calibrating a gate structure is obtaining a highly accurate measurement of the gate opening, Go. For gates having a threaded rod that rises as the gate opening is increased, the gate opening is read from the top of the handwheel to the top of the rod with the gate closed, and then set at some opening, Go. This very likely represents a meiasurement of gate opening from where the gate is totally seated, rather than a measurement from the gate sill; therefore, the measured value of Go from the threadrod will usiially be greater than the true gate opening, unless special precautions (described below) are taken to calibrate the threadrod. . .Likewise, when the gate lip i : ; set at the same elevation as the gate sill, there will undoubtedly be some flow or leakage through the gate. This implies that the datum for measuring the gate opening is below the gate sill. In fact, there is often leakage from a gate even when it is totally seatecl (closed) because of inadequate maintenance. An example problem will be used to illustrate the procedure for determining an appropriate zero datum for the gate opening.For the rectangular gate stru1:ture shown in Figure 10, the calibration data listed in Table 8 was collected. The data reduction is listed in Table 9 where the coefficient of discharge, C, , was calculated from Equation 24.A rectangular coordinate plot of C, versus the gate opening, Go, listed in Table 9 is shown graphically in Figure 11. The value of C, continues to decrease with larger gate openings. To determine if a constant value of C, can be derived, Equation 24 can be rewritten in the following format:Where AGO is a measure of the zeio datum level below the gate sill, which is shown in Figure 12. An appropriate value of AGO will be determined by trial-and error for the example problem. Assliming values of AGO equal to 1 mm, 2 mm, 3 mm, etc., the computations for determining C, can be made using Equation 25. The results for AGO equal to 1 mm, 2 mm, 3 mtn, 4 mm, 5 mm, 6 mm, 7 mm, 8 mm and 12 mm (gate seated) are listed in Table 10. The best results are obtained from AGO of 3 mm; this result is plotted in Figure 13, wtlich shows that C, varies from 0.582 to 0.593 with the average value of C, being 0.587. For this particular gate structure, the discharge normally varies between 200 and 300 Ips, and the gate opening is normally operated between 40-60 mm, so that a constant value of C, = 0.587 can be used when the zero datum for Go and h, is taken as 3 mrn below the gate sill (another alternative would be to use a constant value of C, = 0.57'5 for AGO = 4 mm and Go greater than 30 mm).   Submerged-flow gate structiires are the most common constrictions employed in irrigation networks. The gates are used to regulate the water levels upstream and the discharge downstream For this reason, they are very important structures that need to be field calibrated. Fortunately, they are one of the easiest structures to field calibrate for discharge measuremeiit.A definition sketch for a rectangular gate structure having submerged orifice flow is shown in Figure 14. Assuming ihat the dimensionless velocity head coefficient in Equation 23 is unity, the submerged-flow discharge equation for a rectangular gate having an opening Go, and a width W, becomes:where G, W is the area, A, of the or.ifice.The upstream flow depth, h, , can be measured anywhere upstream of the gate, including the upstream face of the slate. Likewise, the downstream flow depth, h, , can gate. Many times, h, and h, will be measured at the gate because only one reference benchmark is needed on top of the gate structure in order to make tape measurements down to the water surface. This is satisfactory if the water surfaces on the gate are smooth. smooth, not turbulent and fluctuating.be measured anywhere downstream of the gate, including the downstream face of the If not, h, and h, should be measured at locations where the water surface is All of the information in the previous section regarding the measurement of gate opening, Go , applies equally well for submerged gates.For the rectangular gate structure shown in Figure 14, the field calibration data is listed in Table 11. Note that for this type of slide gate, the gate opening was measured both on the left side (Go)l., and the right side, (Go)R, because the gate lip is not always horizontal. The data reduction is listed in Table 12 where the coefficient of discharge, C, , was calculated from Eiquation 27. The variation in C, with gate opening, Go, is plotted in Figure 15.As in the case of the free-flow orifice calibration in the previous section, a trialand-error approach can be used to letermine a more precise zero datum for the gate opening (see Figure 12). In this case, Equation 27 would be rewritten as:   The authors have successfully calibrated large gate structures in irrigation canals for free and submerged orifice flow. The basic hydraulic principles described above for orifice flow apply equally well to largi? structures. However, there are some significant differences in the field calibration methods and rating equations.. Current metering can be usecl in large canals to determine discharge, and both conventional (propeller) or magnetic meters can give good results. Magnetic current meters have the advantage that the job can be finished relatively fast, and with very good accuracy. However, conventional current meters can be more useful when the flow velocities fluctuate due to turbulence. Under these conditions, the conventional current meters tend to do a better job of integrating the velocity over a period of one or two minutes; however, this advantage has lessened as improved models of the magnetic current meters are introdwed. Discharge may be the most difficult rating parameter to measure in large canals because it cannot be measured directly, as is the case for flow depths and gate dimensions. Discharge measurements may also present a significant element of personal danger during current metering when the work is being done on the upstream side of a culvert or siphon.Current metering on the upstroam side of a gate structure can give better results because the flow is much less turbul'int than on the downstream side. Turbulence on the downstream side tends to continue for a significant distance downstream of the gate, yet it is preferable to measure Ihe discharge near the gate to avoid errors due to leakage and seepage along the canal. Thus, the discharge some dist.ance downstream or upstream of the gate may be sigriificantly different than the discharge through the gate. Nevertheless, as with smaller gate structures, it is desirable to measure discharge on both the upstream and downstream sides of the gate (when possible) for the purpose of comparison and double-checking the work.Upstream and downstream flow depths may be measured adjacent to the gate, or further upstream and downstream of the gate. For free-flow, the downstream depth need not be measured, but for submerged flow only the difference in upstream and downstream water elevations is required. For submerged-flow ratings, the upstream and downstream depths may be measured independently from a common datum, which may be using staff gauges that have been referenced to the same elevation (e.g. mean sea level). Greater accuracy can be obtained by using an engineers' level and taking elevation measurements of the upstream and downstream water surfaces. Nevertheless, subsequent field application of the structure rating will require the use of staff gauges or stilling wells; otherwise, use of the structure as a flow measurement device will be less convenient. It is important to base the depth measurements during rating on the same depth measurements that will be used to later determine discharge.. A different form of the subrnerged-flow rating equation has been used with excellent results on many differeiit orifice-type structures in large canals. The differences in the equation involve consideration of the gate opening and the downstream depth as influential factors in the determination of the discharge coefficient. Thus, the discharge coefficient is not constant, but rather depends upon the gate opening and downstream depth. The equation is as follows: and,where h, is the downstream depth referenced to the bottom of the gate opening, alpha and beta are empirically-fitted parameters, and all other terms are as described in the previous sections of this manual. The value of the exponent beta is usually very close to unity, and in fact, for beta equal to unity the equation reverts to that of a constant value of C, = alpha (the h, term caricels). Table 14 shows some example field calibration data for a large canal gate, and the results of the regression and calibration are plotted in Figure 17. The solution to the example calibration is: alpha = 13.796, and beta = 1.031. This particular data set indicates an excellent fit to Equation 30, and it is typical of other large gate structures operating under submerged-flow conditions.A similar equation can be used for free-flow through a large gate structure, with the upstream depth, h, , replacing ti-e term h,, and with (h, -G012) replacing (h,hd). The free-flow equation can also be calibrated using (h, -0.611 Go) instead of (h, -G0/2).. TABLE 14. Field data for submerged-flow calibration of a large gate. I 1 Note: the data is for two identical gates in parallel, both having] the same opening for each data set, with a combined opening width of 2.20 rn. There are many countries that manlJfacture good quality current meters. One of the more recent innovations is the electro-magnetic current meter that displays the velocity measurement. The electronic types of current meters will be used much more in the future.Current meters with a rotating unit that is sensing the water velocity are either vertical-shaft or horizontal-shaft types. The vertical-axis current meter has a rotating cup with a bearing system that is simpler in design, more rugged, and easier to service and maintain than horizontal-shaft (axis) current meters. Because of the bearing system, the vertical-shaft meters will operate at lower velocities than horizontal-axis current meters. The bearings are well protected from silty water, the bearing adjustment is usually less sensitive, and the calibration at lower velocities where friction plays an important role is more stable (Hagan, 1989).Two of the commonly used vertical-axis current meters are the Price Type A Current Meter and the Price Pygmy Current Meter, which is used for shallow flow depths and low velocities. A diagrarn for the Price Type A Current Meter is shown in Figure 1. In addition, there are some rugged, high quality horizontal-axis current meters that give excellent results.The horizontal-shaft current meters use a propeller. These horizontal-axis rotors disturb the flow less than the vertice,I-axis cup rotors because of axial symmetry with the flow direction. Also, the horizorital-shaft current meters are less sensitive to the vertical velocity components. BecaLise of its shape, the horizontal-axis current meter is less susceptible to becoming fouled by small debris and vegetative material moving with the water (Hagan, 1989). Some common horizontal-axis current meters are the Ott (German), the Neyrpic (France) and the Hoff (U.S.A.). Some recent models have proven to be both accurate and durable when used in irrigation channels. Electronic (electro-magnetic) current meters are now available that contain a sensor with the point velocity being digitally displayed. Some of the earlier models had considerable electronic noise under turbulent flow conditions. Fortunately, present models yield more stable velocity readings and have been used in irrigation channels. Undoubtedly, these instruments will be further improved in the near future.  Accuracy in velocity measurements can only be expected when the equipment is properly assembled, adjusted, ant1 maintained. The current meter should be treated as a delicate instrument that need!; meticulous care and protective custody, both when being used and when being transported. The required treatment of a current meter is analogous to a surveyors careful attention with a transit or level.The current meter necessarily receives a certain amount of hard usage that may result in damage, such as a broken pivot, chipped bearing, or bent shaft that will result in the current meter giving velocity readings that are lower than actual velocities. Observations of velocities near bridge piers and abutments, water depth readings taken at cross-sections having irregular bed profiles with the current meter attached to the measuring line, and the periodic occurrence of floating debris represent the greatest hazards to the equipment (Corbett and others, 1943).Damage to current meter equipment during transportation is generally due to careless packing or negligence i i protection. A standard case is provided by all manufacturers of current meter equipment, which should always be employed before and after taking a discharge measurement. In particular, the equipment case should always be used when transportirtg the current meter, even when the distance is relatively short. Transportation of assembled equipment from one location to another is one of the most common sources of damage (Corbett and others, 1943).In some countries, it is common to see current meter equipment without a case. Also, during transport, this equipmlsnt will be placed on the floor of the vehicle. In one case, there was a 30 percent varia:ion in velocity measurements among seven current meters as a result of improper care and protection.Usually, a current meter is calibrated in a towing tank. The current meter is attached to a carriage that travels on rails ({racks) placed on the top of the towing tank. Then, a series of trials are conducted wherein the current meter is towed at different constant velocities. For each trial, the constant velocity of the carriage is recorded, as well as the revolutions per second (rev/:,) of the current meter. This data is plotted on rectangular coordinate graph papei' to verify that a straight-line relation exists; then, the equation is determined by regression analysis. Table 1 is an example of a velocity rating based on the rating equation for one particular current meter: Velocity (m/s) = 0.66!5 (revls) + 0.009 2.6. Methods of Employing Current MetersThe wading method involves having the hydrographer stand in the water holding a wading rod with the current meter attached to the rod. The wading rod is graduated so that the water depth can be measured. The rod has a metal foot pad which sets on the channel bed. The current meter can be placed at any height on the wading rod and is readily adjusted to another height by the hydrographer while standing in the water.A tag line is stretched from one bank to the other, which can be a cloth or metal tape. This tag line is placed perpendicular to the flow direction. The zero length on the tag line does not have to correspond with the edge of the water on one of the banks. This tag line is used to define the location of the wading rod each time that a current meter measurement is made.The wading rod is held at the tag line. The hydrographer stands sideways to the flow direction and is thus facing towards one of the banks. The hydrographer stands 5-10 cm downstream from the tag line and approximately 50 cm aside from the wading rod. During the measurement, th's rod needs to be held in a vertical position and the current meter must be parallel with the flow direction. Usually, the notekeeper can signal to the hydrographer whether or not the rod is vertical in relation to the flow direction.. If the flow velocity at the bank is not zero, then this velocity should be estimated as a percentage of the velocity at the nearest measuring point (vertical). Thus, the nearest measuring point should be as close to the bank as possible in order to minimize the error in the calculaied discharge for the section adjacent to the bank (Corbett and others, 1943).Many of the larger irrigation chsnnels have bridges at various locations, such as headworks and check structures (cross regulators), but they may not be located at an appropriate section for current meler measurements. However, culverts often prove to be very good locations, with the current meter measurements usually being made on the downstream end of the culvert where parallel streamlines are more likely to occur. In some cases, wooden foot bridges have been placed by nearby inhabitants in order to cross the canal. Bridges often have piers, which tend to collect debris on the upstream face, that should be removed prior to undertaking current meter measurements.. Either a hand line or a reel assembly may be used from a bridge. In either case, a weight is placed at the bottom of the line, which sets on the channel bed in order that the line does not move as a result of the water flow. The current rneter is then placed at whatever location is required foi. each measurement.For a hand line assembly, the weight is lowered from the bridge to the channel bed and the reading on the graduated hand line is recorded; then, the weight is lifted until it is setting on the water surface and the difference in the two readings on the hand line is recorded as the water depth. Afterwards, the current meter is placed at the appropriate location on the hand line in order to make the current meter measurement.If a weight heavier than 10-15 kg is required in order to have a stable, nearly vertical, cable line, then a crane-and-reel assembly is used. The reel is mounted on a crane designed to clear the hanclrail of the bridge and to guide the meter cable line beyond any interference with bridcie members. The crane is attached to a movable base for convenience in transferring the equipment from one measuring point (vertical) to another (Corbett and others, 1943).For very wide canals, or rivers, with water depths exceeding 150 cm, a cable is placed above the water with vertical supports on each bank that are heavily anchored for stability. The cable supports a car (box) that travels underneath the cable using pulleys. This car carries the hydrographer and the current meter equipment. The cable has markers so that the location across the channel is known. A hand line or a cable reel assembly is used depending on the size of the weight that must be used.For some extremely wide channels, such as encountered in the Indian Subcontinent, the installation of a cableway is a significant expense, so that a boat is commonly employed instead. Either a hand line or a cable reel assembly is used.The most complete method for establishing the mean velocity at a vertical is to take a series of current meter velocity measurements at various depths in the vertical. Often, the current meter is placed below the water surface at one-tenth of the water depth and a velocity measurement is made, then the current meter is placed at two-tenths of the water depth; this procedure is continued until the velocity has finally been measured at nine-tenths below the water surface. Of particular importance are the velocity measurements at relative water depths of 0.2, 0.6 and 0.8 because they are used in the simpler methods (see sketch cin next page).. In irrigation canals, this method is commonly used at the first vertical from each bank, while the Two Points Method is used at all of the other verticals in the crosssection. Frequently, the first verti8:al from each bank has a low velocity so that the discharge in each section adjacent to the left and right (looking downstream) banks represents a very small portion of the total discharge in the cross-section. In situations where shallow flow depths exist across most of the cross-section, and the Six-Tenths Depth Method must be used because of the type of current meter that is available, then it can be expected that there will likely be considerable error, say more than ten percent.Vertical walls are frequently encountered in irrigation systems. Usually, this occurs in rectangular channels lined with concrete or brick-and-mortar. Even earthen canals will likely have some structures with a rectangular cross-section. In some cases, there may be a vertical retaining wall along only one side of the canal to stabilize the embankment. In such cases, visuiil observation will usually disclose that the velocity at the vertical wall is significantly greater than zero.Hagan (1989) reports some laboratory data that is useful in estimating the mean velocity at a smooth vertical wall. This data is plotted in Figure 2. For example, if the water depth at the vertical wall is denoted by D, and current meter measurements are made in a vertical located at a distance D from the wall, then the mean velocity at the wall will be the ratio 0.65 multiplied Iby the mean velocity measured in the vertical at the distance D from the wall.The accuracy of the estimated mean velocity at the wall will be enhanced by measuring the mean velocity in a vertical located as close to the vertical wall as the current meter equipment will allow Thus, if a current meter measurement could be made at a distance D14 from the wall, then the estimated mean velocity at the vertical wall would be the mean velocity measured at D/4 from the wall multiplied by the ratio 0.65/0.90, which is obtained from Figure 2.The most commonly used criterion in selecting a channel cross-section for current meter measurements is that it be located in a straight reach where parallel streamlines exist. In addition, cross-sections having large eddies and excessive turbulence would be avoided. Also, a cross-section having stagnant water near one of the banks would be avoided, if possible. Other important criteria are avoiding cross-sections where the flow depths are shallow (except w a r the banks) and the flow velocities are too low. Rantz (1982) recommends that the flow depths should exceed 15 cm and the flow velocities should exceed 15 cmlsec:. A cross-section is needed that has no aquatic growth that can foull the current meter. Finally, a cross-section is preferred where the channel bed is not highly irregular so that the area of the cross-section can be accurately determined; also, an irregular bed will affect the velocity profiles.  The current meter is used to meawre the mean velocity of each vertical in the crosssection. In addition, the spacing of the verticals is used in determining the crosssectional area of each section, where a section is defined as the cross-sectional area of flow between two verticals.The measuring cross-section should be subdivided into twenty or more verticals for a relatively smooth channel b e l l For an irregular channel bed, more verticals are needed, not only to better define the cross-sectional area of flow, but also because an irregular bed causes more variation in the velocity distribution. At the same time, verticals do not need to be spaced closer than 0.3 m (Corbett and others, 1943).An example earthen canal cross-section is illustrated in Figure 3. The most important verticals for defining the cross-sectional area of flow are shown.The water depth must be known at each vertical in order to calculate the crosssectional area of flow for two sections, one on each side of the vertical. Accurately determining the flow areas is just ils important as accurate velocity measurements.The greatest sources of error in measuring the depth of water are: (1) an irregular channel bed; and (2) a channel bed that is soft so that a weight or a wading rod sinks into the soft material thei*eby indicating a water depth greater than actually exists. Another source of error can occur when reading a wading rod because water piles up on the upstream edge and is much lower on the downstream edge, thereby requiring the hydrographer to sight across the rod, looking both upstream and downstream, in order to obtain an appropriate reading.Hagan (1989) discusses the viirious formats for the recording of data and computational procedures. A highly preferred format is illustrated in Figure 4. This format is used for calculating the discharge rate in the cross-sectional area of flow between two verticals. The canals in Pakistan normally operate under unsteady flow conditions. At any cross-section, the discharge is continually changing, with fluctuations of 10-20 percent occurring in a single day. Sometiines, the daily fluctuations are even greater. The literature on current meter discharge measurements pertains to steady-state flow conditions. Thus, there is a need to modify the usual procedures in order to accommodate unsteady flow conditions.Usually, current meter measurements in an irrigation channel are undertaken in order to calibrate flow control structures. The first step in developing a procedure for unsteady flow is to identify the type, of flow condition passing through the flow control structure, such as listed in Table 2. If free flow conditions exist, then the upstream flow depth, h, , needs to be monitored periodically (say every 15-20 minutes) during the current meter measurement, whereas both h, and the downstream flow depth, h, , needs to be monitored for submergEd flow conditions. The ratio o i the hydraulic head (h, or h,hd) at the beginning of the test to the hydraulic head at any later time, t, can be used to adjust the current meter velocity measurement at time t to conform with the discharge at the beginning of the test.The downstream flow depth, h, , should always be monitored, even under free flow conditions, in order to adjust the flow depth readings obtained during the current meter measurements if taken downstream from the structure being calibrated. If the current meter measurements are telken upstream from the flow control structure, then the monitored values of h, would be used to adjust the flow depths measured while conducting the current meter discharge measurement.The computational procedure for a (current meter discharge measurement is illustrated in Table 3. Figure 3 was used iii this example, with the major verticals being at readings of 0.82, 1.23, 2.22, 3.70 and 4.50 meters along the tag line. Intermediate verticals were selected as listed in Table 3. L Note in Figure 3 that the w,ater surface is contained between 0.27 and 4.77 meters along the tag line. The first cross-section is contained between 0.27 and 0.82 meter along the tag line. In Table 3, the velocity at the bank is roughly estimated to be 10 percent of the mean velocity in the vertical at 0.82 meter along the tag line; oflen, the velocity at the bank is listed as zero. Because of the shallow water depth at 0.82 meter, the Six-Tenths Depth Method was used in making the current meter measurement, which resulted in a velocity of 0.208 mls that was obtained from Table 1. Since this first section has a triangular section, the appropriate velocity occurs at the centroid, which in this case is 2(0.02+0.208)/3. The discharge in this cross-section is less than 0.6 percent of the total discharge. i c \" For the last cross-section, which contains a vertical wall, a set of current meter measurements were made at 4.50 ineters along the tag line, with the mean velocity in the vertical being 0.553 m/s. The distance, L, from the vertical wall is 0.27 meter (4.77-4.50). The depth of water, D, at lhe vertical wall is 0.92 meter. Thus, LID is 0.27 m10.92 m = 0.29. From Figure 2, the relative mean velocity in the vertical is 0.91, whereas the relative mean velocity at the wall is 0.65. The equation used for calculating the mean velocity at the vertical wall is shown at the bottom of Table 3.The monitoring data for the flow depths upstream and downstream from the flow structure are listed in Table 2. The last two colums contain the calculated head ratios and h, corrections, respectively. this head ratio has been plotted against clock time in Figure 5.The current meter measurement was taken 126 meters downstream from the flow control structure. After completing the current meter measurements, the average velocity can be calculated using the actual point velocity measurements in Table 3, which is 0.486 mls. Thus, the lag time between the flow control structure and the cross-section where the current meter measurements were taken becomes: To obtain the appropriate head ratio requires that the time lag be subtracted from the recorded clock time, then this adjusted clock time for each current meter measurement is used in Figure 22 to obtain the appropriate head ratio, which is recorded in Table 17. Finally, the actual point velocity measured by the current meter is multiplied by the head ratio to obtain the corrected point velocity in Table 17.The mean depth is recorded in Table 17 under the third column from the right. This mean depth takes into account the h, correction in Table 16. Again, the recorded clock time in Table 17 minus the lag time is used to obtain the appropriate h, correction in Table 16.In this particular example, the difference between assuming steady-state versus unsteady flow conditions amounts to 2.7 percent of the discharge, which is not so significant, but still important. Oflen, the variation will be much greater.  The 14 distributary head slructures in the Chishtian sub-division are a mixture of gated orifices (9) and broad-crested weirs (5). There are 5 cross-regulators, which are all gated orifices. In addition lo that, 2 broad-crested weirs are present. In Figure 23, a schematic view of the irrigation system of the Chishtian sub-division is given.All structures in the Chishtim sub-division have been provided with benchmarks (so-called white marks) to measur? h, , h, (both with reference to the crest) and Go, see Figure 24. The reference levels of these white marks (WM) with respect to the crest are presented in table 18. The spindle zero indicates the tape measurement reading when the gate is closed.  The ISRIP team took measurements of the main structures and cross-regulators of the Fordwah system as well as the inlet structure of Eastern Sadiqia during the same time period as the field calibration training. The results are presented in table 19. Open channel flowfree flow :Open channel flowsubmerged flow: Q, =Orificefree flow: formula Orificesubmerged flow: formulaStructure dimensions and bemhrnark levels are not available with us at the time of publishing for the inlet structures of Fordvrah and Eastern Sadiqia canals and the weirs at RD 0 and 77 of Fordwah Branch. During the training coui-se, discharge measurements were taken for 13 out of 14 distributary head structures. Shahr Farid distributary was closed during this period and could, therefore, not be included. The results of the measurements are presented in table 20. To determine the Cd, the formulas, described on page 67 were applied. In order to establish a full rating curve, more measurements will be needed at different discharge rates. This applies particularly to the orifices, as the Cd changes with the gate opening (see Chapter 2). Some specimen of the discharge measurements executed in the field are given in Annex-4.Table 20.Results of discharge measurements of distributary head structures. Actual crest was taken to be the top of the stoplogs. However, leakage has occurred through the stoplogs.-do-The gate of Khem Garh has X e n damaged 67 ' There are a total of 19 direct outlets in Fordwah Branch. All but one of them are pipe outlets with diameters ranginGI from 3 to 12 inches'. Discharge measurements were taken for these pipe outlets during two days of the training course. The Cd coefficient was determined using the formula:The results of the discharge measurements as well as the discharge rating are presented in table 21.Table 21.Results of discharge measurements for direct outlets in the Chishtian Sub-division.  dia: 5\" dia: 6\" dia: 6.7\" dia: 9\" dia: 8\" dia: 4.7\" dia: 5\" dia: 5 . 5 ? dia: 8 . 5 dia: 7 . 5 dia: 5.5\" dia: 12\" dia: 9\" dia: 7.5\" dia: 6 . 5 b=.28 y=.8? dia: 3\"? dia: 12\" dia: 5 . 8  Traditionally structures are provided with rating tables, based on a Q-h, relationship. The formula used is Q = K * D5\", in which K is a constant and D is the water depth (water level with reference to bed level) in feet. In fact this is a simplified version of Mannings' equation. The downstream gauge (whose 0 level is at the design bed level) is read by the gauge reader and the corresponding discharge can be obtained from the rating table. Since irrigation canals in Pakistan carry a substantial sediment load and siltinglscouring are usual phenomena, the actual bed level of a canal can differ substantially from the original bed level. The relation between the downstream gauge reading and the discharge has to be corrected for this difference.One way of doing this is by takiiig soundings to establish the difference between actual and design bed level This value then has to be added/deducted from the reading obtained from the downstream gauge. Regular soundings will be required to guarantee accuracy of conversion of water levels into discharges. Periodically, the discharge ratings of structures need to be checked by taking discharge observations. It is advocated here that the results of the structure calibrations, which are less subject to change than the calibration based on the downstream gauge, are used for this periodic recalibration. The main advantage of the Q-h, relationship, i.e. its ease in use for the gauge reader and other irrigaiion staff, can be kept, while being able to update the formula in a straightforward manner.The results obtained by the ISRIP team on the main structure were used to calculate the constant K for the KD5\" formulas of the structures, see table 22. D was established by taking the average water depth at the location were the discharge measurements were carried out, which was always within 1000 feet of the downstream gauge. -The results that were obtained from the discharge measurements on the distributary head structures were also used to calculate the coefficient K in the formula Q = K*D5\".The water depth D was obi.ained from the cross-section that was taken while undertaking discharge measurements. The results are given in table 23.' At D316 the cross-section is sandy and highly irregular, possibly explaining the significant difference in the correction fixtor between the two readings that were taken at this location.  Discharge measurements wem undertaken in the field prior to the inflow-oufflow test, to determine the discharge coefficient C, for the different hydraulic structures. The measurement error will be within 5 YO of the discharge. Also, measurement errors in reading the water levels during the inflow-outflow test can occur. An overall error limit of 5 % of the inflow is assumeld for a test that is undertaken during an SFP. For tests that are undertaken during unsteady state, results are likely to contain a larger error.  Pakistan is an agricultural country having the largest canal irrigation system on the world globe. To irrigate our sweat and fertile land, the Provincial Irrigation Department are responsible for the operation and maintenance of canals. In the land of five rivers Punjab, there is a huge canal notwork system irrigating 20 million acres per year. But, unfortunately due to economical or other reasons, this system is going to be deteriorated day by day.Training in any field plays a vital1 role in improving the existing system and opens the door for new thoughts Keeping in view the present situation of canals the International Irrigation Management Institute, Pakistan conducted an excellent training program of 10 days for Irrigation Engineers and relevant field engineers, officers and officials at Bhawalnagar from May 28 to June 6, 1995. The participating engineers and officers were from Government Engineering Academy Punjab, Lahore. I&P Department, Punjab and WAPDA.The course was conducted in highly appreciable manner including lectures, field observations and calibration of iexisting canal gauges. Group discussions in the field and exchanging the experience!: and views were very informative and will be helpful in the professional life of every participant.. Observations It has been observed during the discharge observations, the canal gaugeslgates structures etc. are not well maintained. Some distributries were taking (drawing) more discharge (water) than the recorded one. It has been felt that I&P Department has no adequate calibrating gauges for the proper operation of the system. .In order to improve the deficiencies the following suggestions are presented: At that site the full lecture was delivered on the current meters, its types, shape and working etc. All the participants took a great interest in understanding and working with the current meter and then calculated the discharge of Mohar Distry with this apparatus in the group of two.Similarly from 31 -5-95 onward the participants measured the discharges of various channels in the form of groups with the current meters with a keen learning attitude because most of the participants had no practical knowledge to measure with the current meter.Also the Head correction taken into account due to fluctuation of water levels upstream and downstream of the canals for best accuracy. IlMl also arranged to visit Sulmanki Head Works at river Sutluj from where three main canals Sadiqia. Fordwah on the left side and one Pakpattan canal offtakes from the right side of the river.Participants also learned a lot from this tour as the barrage was constructed during 1924. Mostly the material used is of steel instead of concrete and RCC. Fish ladders were a new thing for some of the participants.The Prof. Skogerboe invented himself and introduced a throatless meter flume by which the discharge of our outlet can1 be observed properly and the flume can be transported easilyIn short this short training course taught much to the participants. No doubt that the participants took a great interest and worked wholeheartedly. But this training will be of no use if the Irrigation Department does not provide the current meters and other accessories to apply this in the field. Also it is suggested that this type of short training courses may be carried out at other places of Punjab and Sindh, minimum at Zonal levels, so that most of the other untrained person may get advantage of it for the improvement of the irrigation system as well as for the persons. God says in the Holy Quran:\"Indeed we lead the water to the barren land and therewith bring forth crops where of they and their cattle (eat\"So we can say that the art of applying water to the land dates back to the beginning of human civilization. Pakistan's perennial Irrigation system is the world's third largest irrigation source. About 70% to 80% of population depends upon agriculture directly linked with water. With the world \"population explosion\" and the demand for additional food, the science of irrigation is likely to become the science of survival. Fordwah system which was selected for study, is a mix of perennial and non perennial canals. It off-takes from Suleinanki head works with authorized discharge of 3447 cusecs and has its tail at RD 371+000. It irrigates vast land of strip in Bhawalnagar and Bhawalpur districts. It was very astonishing for us as explained by SDOBhawalnagar that canal at the present stage is taking almost 500 cusces less discharge from head due to siltation problem in head reach. Being professional Irrigation Engineers, we think that if the information delivered to us was correct, thorough study to this aspect must be carried lout by I&P Department.Basic purpose of the training WiIS as explained to carry out study of hydraulic structure with modern and new techniques. During visit to various structures it has been noticed that the gauges fixed by I & I ' department D/S head regulators were not working properly. Practice was being noticed that discharge table under use were not up to date. They were based on equation Q = V D 513, in this system, zero of gauge is fixed with reference to design bedlexisting bed of canals, which required cross check for its accuracy especially for canals having silting problems, otherwise with passage of time gauge reader, might be facing problems to report correct discharge. He will always report the discharge with respect to his own gauge without giving any care to silt deposition to gauge structure. That's why study was introduced by Mr. Skogerboe that whether using the gauge of cblannel from bed, structure its itself be calibrated with respect to crest level and it will !be more reliable to calculate discharge chance of error will be minimum. For example during study our group visited Daulat Disty off-taking from RD 245 OF FDW Branch with authorized discharge of 209 cs. on arriving at that structure, we asked the gauge reader about discharge. He told that as per DlS gauge, the present discharge in channel is 19Ocs. But when we measured the discharge with precise AA Current Meter, it comes out 158 cs. There was a difference of 32 cs. The same was the case at tail FDW Discharge reported by I&P gauge reader was 158 cs. where as we measured 199cs. The same situation being observed at the other structures also with new methods and techniques all the participants has been trained to measure discharge and other related matters. A detailed lecture on types & use of current meter was delivered by Mr. Barkat who is from ISRIP (International Sedimentation Research Institul:e, Pakistan) Two booklets was also delivered to each trainee by Mr. Skogerboe for reference. We also worked with pygmy current meter and cut throat flume teams for the discharge of outlets. It was also told that cut throat was designed by Mr. Skogerboe in 1960 era and its working was found very much effective for taking low discharge. Here, we would like to congratulate Mr. Skogerboe for his excellent creation in this field.As told to us that IlMl is working since 1993 in FDW Division but I think that I&P lncharge Engineer, especially SDO's could not be in a position to spare sometime, to work with IlMl staff for the set righting of daily matters of regulation, that's why in the field control over regulation was found disturbed. Now with this training, the three young engineer's SDO MBD, SDO BWN and SO0 CTN with their 6 trained SBEs will left no way out to set right their system. Here, we would also like to request my seniors that at least one perennial system should also be studied on the same lines especially system facing tail storage.One thing more, which we wouid like to highlight in this report was that the manner, methods, techniques, attitude \\with which this training conducted was remarkable. Although we left So many things still left untouched. However, we learned much and get polished ourselves in the related subject. I suggest, that in future, this type of training must be arranged in I & P at least on zonal level but with 4-5 week duration.In the end, we feel morally bound to express deep gratitude to worthy S.E. Bhawalnagar who suggested our names for said training and to Mr. Skogerboe, Mr. Marcel Kuper, Mr. Mushtaq Khan with their experienced staff who trained us with patience, personal attention and polishing us in the related field with remarkable behavior and attitude with full facilities and best of their efforts. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6391d5f92549c763914b6cfd133f0e0c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/dcd51b58-1d52-49d4-8ada-b21298865397/retrieve","id":"1220778802"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"492e8273-ea5d-4cf0-8357-dba0f4b28ca8","content":"Centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale (CTA) est une institution internationale conjointe des États du Groupe ACP (Afrique, Caraïbes, Pacifique) et de l'Union européenne (UE). Il intervient dans les pays ACP pour améliorer la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle, accroître la prospérité dans les zones rurales et garantir une bonne gestion des ressources naturelles. Il facilite l'accès à l'information et aux connaissances, favorise l'élaboration des politiques agricoles dans la concertation et renforce les capacités des institutions et communautés concernées. Le CTA opère dans le cadre de l'Accord de Cotonou et est financé par l'UE. Pour plus d'informations sur le CTA, visitez www.cta.int.La technologie mobile, des applications pour les smartphones à l'utilisation des SMS, est de plus en plus omniprésente dans les pays en développement et offre un grand potentiel pour des domaines tels que l'agriculture, contribuant ainsi positivement au développement durable. Les agriculteurs de la République démocratique du Congo sont actuellement affectés par deux défis majeurs : l'accès aux marchés et l'accès à l'information agricole. Une application mobile, présentée dans cet article, illustre une adoption des TIC pour l'agriculture et la solution à ces deux défis en fournissant des informations sur les marchés, ainsi que l'information nécessaire à l'agriculture et aux agriculteurs. Il s'agit d'une application Web et SMS qui aide les agriculteurs à décider quand et comment planter des cultures, et comment sélectionner les meilleures semences pour un endroit donné, en utilisant des données climatiques et météorologiques. Elle permet aussi de relier les agriculteurs aux marchés disponibles.Les technologies des communications mobiles sont rapidement devenues plus courantes dans la transmission de la voix, de données et de services dans les pays en développement. Compte tenu de ce changement radical, les applications mobiles (M-apps) 1 pour l'agriculture détiennent un potentiel important en matière de promotion du développement. Elles pourraient fournir à des millions d'agriculteurs les accès les plus abordables à l'information et à des marchés précédemment inaccessibles.M-apps sont des logiciels conçus pour tirer parti de la technologie mobile. Ces téléphones mobiles présentent de nombreux avantages clés : un prix réduit, une vaste couverture, des communications vocales, et la prestation de services instantanés et pratiques. D'où l'explosion du nombre de M-apps, facilitée par l'évolution rapide des réseaux mobiles, les fonctions croissantes et la baisse des prix des téléphones mobiles. Les M-apps 2 sont nettement différentes dans les pays en développement, car elles fonctionnent généralement sur les réseaux de deuxième génération (2G) plutôt que sur les smartphones que l'on retrouve plus fréquemment dans les pays développés.Près de 80 pour cent des Congolais vivent en milieu rural. L'agriculture est le principal secteur de l'économie et contribue pour 56 pour cent au PIB 3 . En effet, les guerres en inaccessible à ces agriculteurs car ils disposent d'une quantité limitée de produits ne pouvant être vendue sur les marchés locaux ou à des courtiers qui l'achètent à des prix très réduits, et cela environ 10 jours après qu'ils aient leurs produits et cherchent de potentiels clients.Nous avons donc pensé trouver une solution en créant une application mobile visant à résoudre tous les problèmes énoncés plus haut. C'est ainsi que nous avons lancé en 2011 Mobile Agribiz.Mobile Agribiz est une application Web et SMS qui aide les agriculteurs à décider quand et comment planter des cultures, et de quelle façon sélectionner les meilleures récoltes pour un endroit donné en utilisant des données climatiques et météorologiques, et qui les relie aux marchés disponibles. Elle permet de connecter les agriculteurs aux acheteurs et les aide à obtenir les informations nécessaires (telles que les conditions météorologiques, le prix des cultures) provenant de différentes sources, et leur fournit des compétences (par exemple, comment planter des cultures, de quelle manière utiliser les engrais). Les agriculteurs peuvent facilement se connecter avec les clients en envoyant un SMS avec leur numéro de téléphone, l'information relative aux marchandises, les prix et les quantités qu'ils vendent, leur localisation. Cette information est ensuite enregistrée dans nos serveurs. Lorsqu'un client veut un produit, il envoie un SMS à un numéro, comme par exemple 2334-2 (2 pour les tomates). Cette opération génère les informations contenues dans nos serveurs sur les tomates disponibles sur les marchés et les contacts des agriculteurs vendant les tomates. Les clients peuvent donc directement appeler les agriculteurs et partir acheter ces produits. Les petits agriculteurs en République démocratique du Congo sont les principaux bénéficiaires de notre technologie. À ce jour, environ 800 personnes utilisent notre application, dont 600 agriculteurs et 200 clients. La majorité des agriculteurs qui utilisent notre application gagne environ 100 à 200 dollars américains de revenus par mois de leurs activités d'agriculteurs.Mobile Agribiz relie les agriculteurs, représentant 80 pour cent de la population rurale du Congo, à des informations vitales via le téléphone mobile qui leur permet de cultiver correctement et de se connecter sur les marchés. En Juillet 2013, environ 600 agriculteurs étaient des utilisateurs actifs de notre application et ont effectivement augmenté leurs revenus de 40 pour cent par rapport à leurs revenus avant le lancement de notre application en Août 2011. De plus, Mobile Agribiz a permis d'accroître la compétitivité parmi les agriculteurs car ceux utilisant notre application vendent plus facilement leurs produits que les autres. Sur les 600 utilisateurs, 65 pour cent vendent leurs produits le jour même de la production, et 25 pour cent entre 2 et 4 jours après, alors qu'auparavant 85 pour cent des agriculteurs vendaient leurs produits entre 8 et 10 jours après la production. Par conséquent, leurs produits étaient de mauvaise qualité sur les marchés, et étaient donc vendus à des prix plus bas. Les agriculteurs perdaient par conséquent de l'argent. Notre application a donc fait passer le temps d'accès aux marchés de 10 jours à environ 1 jour. De plus, notre application permet de distribuer l'information sur le climat à environ 600 agriculteurs, à raison de 3 à 6 SMS par mois. En revanche, un SMS individuel est envoyé à tout agriculteur ayant posé une question spécifique, sur son numéro de mobile. La majorité des clients qui achètent les produits des agriculteurs sont des consommateurs privés. En juillet 2013, ils constituent environ 80 pour cent des clients dans notre système. Ces clients dépensent en moyenne USD 60 chaque mois pour les produits des agriculteurs. On compte également 15 pour cent de vendeurs sur les marchés, et 5 pour cent de restaurants. La moyenne des achats des vendeurs sur les marchés et des restaurants varie en fonction de la période et des produits disponibles chez les agriculteurs. On note par exemple durant les périodes de fêtes en République démocratique du Congo, telles que les fêtes de Pâques et les fêtes de fin d'année, une augmentation des besoins en produits agricoles chez ces acheteurs spécifiques qui cherchent à acquérir plus de produits chez les agriculteurs, permettant ainsi à ces derniers de vendre facilement leur production et d'accroître leurs revenus. L'accroissement des revenus des agriculteurs leur permet de disposer de beaucoup d'argent qu'ils peuvent investir dans l'éducation de leurs enfants (achat du matériel scolaire : livres, cahiers, crayons), les soins de santé (achat de médicaments en cas de maladie, consultation de médecins), ou encore une bonne source d'énergie non polluante (achat de panneaux solaires). Ils peuvent de cette manière recharger également leurs téléphones mobiles, rester en contact avec les clients potentiels et être informés sur le prix des produits, communiquer avec leur famille, être au courant de la situation du pays. Cette source d'énergie leur permet aussi de réduire l'utilisation des lampes à pétrole, avec toutes les conséquences que l'on connaît sur la santé, ou de limiter l'utilisation du charbon de bois dans la préparation de la nourriture (réduction des maladies pulmonaires ou des maladies cardio-vasculaires, déboisement moindre des forêts), ou enfin de se procurer de meilleures installations sanitaires (réduction des maladies telles que les gastro-entérites). Tout ceci aura comme effet de conduire à un développement durable dans les régions rurales.La plupart des utilisateurs de Mobile Agribiz sont des petits agriculteurs dont les revenus mensuels varient entre 100 et 200 USD. L'objectif est d'atteindre 5 000 utilisateurs dans le courant de l'année 2014, et d'étendre l'utilisation de l'application à toutes les régions de la République démocratique du Congo. Une évaluation complète de l'impact de l'application de 2011 à 2013 sera disponible dès décembre 2013. Les résultats définitifs, disponibles en français et des réseaux sociaux tels que Facebook, Twitter et Youtube.Une campagne agressive sur les réseaux sociaux a été mise en oeuvre dans le but d'accroître la visibilité de l'application auprès des agriculteurs, des consommateurs, des coopératives agricoles et des entreprises agricoles d'import/export qui utilisent l'application pour l'agriculture. Parallèlement, la participation à des activités communautaires a été encouragée dans le but d'accroître davantage notre visibilité (conférences, événements et campagnes publiques).Mobile Agribiz a reçu plusieurs prix et a été présentée sur plusieurs salons, forums et conférences à travers le monde. La version bêta de l'application mobile Agribiz a été lancée depuis août 2011, et la plate-forme Web est en cours d'amélioration. Au cours de la période de recherche et développement et de la période de test, 500 agriculteurs se sont inscrits pour la tester. Aujourd'hui, 100 pour cent de ces agriculteurs sont encore des utilisateurs et 100 agriculteurs supplémentaires se sont rajoutés, soit 600 utilisateurs à ce jour pour nous.Mobile Agribiz a été désignée comme l'une des « 50 meilleures start-ups » par Global Entrepreneurship Week (USA), et sélectionnée par le Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA) pour leur ShareFair 2011 en Italie. Elle a également été choisie pour être présentée lors de l'Union internationale des télécommunications à Genève, en Suisse (2011), ainsi qu'aux ICT4Ag à Kigali, au Rwanda (du 4 au 8 novembre 2013), sur l'invitation du CTA. 4Les agriculteurs achètent une carte de SMS qui coûte 900 Franc Congolais (soit 1 USD) qui contient 30 SMS à utiliser au cours des 2 semaines qui suivent. Ceci donne aux agriculteurs la possibilité d'envoyer leurs informations sur les marchés à un tarif vraiment réduit. Les SMS que nous envoyons aux agriculteurs comportant des informations sur le climat et l'utilisation des engrais sont financés par les donateurs et des organisations telles qu'INFOGROUP INTERNATIONAL, etc.La mise en oeuvre de notre solution a permis d'identifier d'autres problèmes qui affectent les agriculteurs en République démocratique du Congo. En effet, nombreux sont ceux qui ne savent ni lire, ni écrire, ce qui les handicape pour utiliser correctement notre application. Pour cette catégorie d'agriculteurs illettrés, nous avons pensé qu'un télécentre permettant aux agriculteurs d'appeler directement avec leur téléphone mobile et de recevoir les informations sur les marchés, des connaissances d'agricultures et autres serait une solution adéquate.Les analyses menées sur 15 mois d'activités nous permettent de tirer des leçons nécessaires sur le rôle positif des applications mobiles telles que la nôtre. Mobile Agribiz a permis de confirmer les analyses et les statistiques quant à l'impact des applications mobiles sur l'agriculture. Grâce à notre application, les agriculteurs qui l'utilisent ont augmenté de 40 pour cent leurs revenus, ce qui leur a permis de réaliser des bénéfices directs conséquents, réduire considérablement le temps d'accès aux marchés (passé de 10 jours avant le lancement de notre application à 1 jour actuellement), et enfin, acquérir de nouvelles connaissances en matière d'agriculture durable (manière d'utiliser les engrais chimiques, protection des cultures contre les insectes, utilisation des insecticides) et de climats (comment et à quel moment planter les cultures, les endroits propices aux plantations par rapport aux climats, etc).Une autre leçon très importante à tirer est celle relative au marketing de notre produit. Notre stratégie a consisté à conduire des campagnes marketing agressives dans le but d'accroître le nombre d'utilisateurs de notre solution. À travers les campagnes marketing, nous avons remarqué un succès immédiat quant à l'adoption de notre solution chez les agriculteurs comme chez les clients. Nous organisons en effet des campagnes avec des volontaires, des agriculteurs et des clients. Ils sont nos ambassadeurs et sensibilisent d'autres agriculteurs et clients quant à l'importance de notre application dans l'agriculture et à la façon dont cette technologie aide d'autres agriculteurs à vendre facilement ou acquérir des connaissances nécessaires sur l'agriculture durable. De même, les clients apprennent eux aussi de quelle manière acheter les produits agricoles de meilleure qualité, directement auprès des agriculteurs, et à de meilleurs prix. Les campagnes sont donc régulières et génèrent de nouvelles souscriptions. Pour nos campagnes, nous avons aussi recours aux media locaux tels que la radio et la télévision. Nous utilisons également, bien entendu, les réseaux sociaux (Facebook, Youtube, Twitter), et nous participons aussi à des conférences locales, nationales et internationales afin de rendre notre technologie visible et faire la promotion de l'usage des nouvelles technologies de l'information et de la communication, particulièrement les technologies mobiles et les applications mobiles, dans l'agriculture.Enfin, la dernière leçon à tirer revient à l'aspect financier. Dès la phase de recherche et développement de notre technologie, nous avions reçu un financement d'environ USD 20 000, grâce à la contribution d'amis et de sponsors. Il s'agissait d'étudier l'impact des applications mobiles sur l'agriculture, et d'évaluer la manière selon laquelle les applications mobiles peuvent améliorer la vie des petits agriculteurs en République démocratique du Congo. À l'issue de ces recherches, nous avons décidé de lancer une application mobile pour les agriculteurs. Nous avons par conséquent alloué une partie de cette somme (environ USD 13 000) au développement de notre application mobile.À cette somme de départ s'est ajoutée la somme de USD 5 000, provenant d'un Business Angel américain, au cours de notre période d'incubation dans le Colorado, aux États-Unis, en juin 2012, auprès de l'Unreasonable Institute. Pour assurer la durabilité de notre technologie, nous avons besoin d'accroître le nombre de nos utilisateurs, agriculteurs comme clients. Avec à ce jour 600 agriculteurs et 200 clients, le taux de trafic dans notre système est encore trop bas pour espérer commencer à générer des bénéfices et devenir viable financièrement. D'après nos prévisions, nous avons besoin d'environ 2 800 agriculteurs dans notre système et d'environ 600 clients pour pouvoir atteindre le point à partir duquel nous pouvons commencer à faire de bénéfice (seuil de rentabilité). Cela prendra environ 7 mois pour atteindre ce seuil, si nous nous basons sur la moyenne quotidienne actuelle de 10 à 13 agriculteurs supplémentaires qui acceptent d'utiliser notre application.Cependant des obstacles majeurs persistent encore pour que ce projet soit viable. Parmi ces obstacles, l'on peut citer la technologie, l'aspect social et culturel, et enfin l'aspect financier. Plus le nombre d'utilisateurs augmente, plus nous avons besoin d'améliorer notre technologie afin de mieux servir les agriculteurs et les clients, ce qui requière l'acquisition de nouveaux matériels et systèmes, soit un accroissement des coûts pour acquérir ces technologies. Un autre handicap majeur : le paiement entre clients et agriculteurs s'effectue en dehors de notre système, car notre technologie ne permet pas encore d'inclure cette procédure, ce qui correspond à un manque à gagner de notre côté. L'aspect financier représente aussi un challenge. En effet, la République démocratique du Congo étant un pays en conflit, il est très difficile de lever des fonds auprès d'investisseurs étrangers. Ceci limite notre développement, et il est difficile de trouver des financements à l'intérieur même du pays pour soutenir ce genre de projet. De plus, durant les périodes de crises et de conflits politiques, nous sommes souvent obligés de stopper nos activités, mettre nos matériaux à l'abris, et attendre que la situation redevienne calme afin de reprendre notre travail. Cela représente un obstacle énorme dans nos activités. Enfin, l'aspect social et culturel : certains agriculteurs refusent tout simplement de vendre leurs produits à des clients inconnus qui les contactent directement par téléphone. Ils préfèrent, pour vendre leurs produits, attendre plusieurs jours, ou simplement collaborer avec des intermédiaires qu'ils connaissent très bien. Ce groupe d'agriculteurs vend encore ses produits avec un très grand retard par rapport aux autres qui utilisent l'application Mobile Agribiz. Ils vendent souvent leurs produits à un prix très réduit puisque la qualité est moindre. Ils gagnent de fait encore moins d'argent, contrairement aux agriculteurs qui utilisent l'application et qui peuvent vendre leurs produits directement 1 ou 2 jours après la production à un prix plus élevé, et gagner encore plus d'argent.Mobile Agribiz a établi un partenariat avec des opérateurs des télécommunications, les départements de recherches agricoles, des agences locales du marché, un centre de météo, et les coopératives agricoles. Ces partenariats nous aident à fournir aux agriculteurs des informations en temps réel sur la situation des marchés, le climat, les aspects scientifiques, etc. Mobile Agribiz a été développée sous la licence open source, elle est donc facile à reproduire et à modifier. L'application peut aussi être facilement déployée dans différentes régions du monde.Les applications mobiles ont un grand potentiel dans le cadre du développement de l'agriculture, particulièrement dans les pays en développement comme la République démocratique du Congo en Afrique. Ces applications permettent notamment de faciliter l'accès aux marchés pour les agriculteurs, de leur fournir des informations sur le climat, la gestion des stocks, la formation à distance quant aux méthodes propres à une agriculture durable, et les informations nécessaires pour une meilleure production. Notre solution Mobile Agribiz a démontré que les applications mobiles contribuent à réduire le temps d'accès aux marchés pour les agriculteurs, de 10 jours à 1 jour, ce qui leur permet de gagner plus d'argent puisque le prix de leurs produits dépend de leur qualité sur les marchés. En gagnant plus d'argent, les agriculteurs peuvent donc investir davantage dans l'éducation de leur enfants, avoir accès à de meilleures sources d'énergies, de meilleurs systèmes sanitaires, et accéder aux soins de santé. Tout ceci contribuant au développement durable.Les tendances futures pour les applications mobiles pour l'agriculture en Afrique vont intégrer de plus en plus de cartographies (maps), de plus en plus d'applications basées sur la voix, et des applications incluant des vidéos."}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"21b2f1a3-af25-4e9c-a465-d3ce36f677a7","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6e594320e6120e019e95de8fccb0dd70","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e18a627a-746f-4721-9a7c-cfe4fdca7b44/retrieve","id":"-922167702"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0acfc401-1a5f-4f07-bc5c-496b4b4f45fe","content":"Objectives. This guide is intended to enable you to:• explain topographic maps, • determine slopes, • plan land use, • interpret land capability maps, • plan farms .• Topographic maps .• Land capability maps.• interprete different types of maps .• Determine slopes and land form from map readings. • Practice planning of land use.• Practice farm planning: draw farm plans based on topographic and soil maps.IITA RllllIrCh GuIdI 71 Topograpbic maps 2 DeterminatiOD of slopes 3 Planning land use 4 Land capability maps 5 Land planning exercise 6 Bibliography 7 SuggestioDB for trainers Abstract. Topographic maps is the main type of maps used by farm managers. In agriculture, surveying is required to prepare topographical maps that indicate variations in the level of the land's surface. Topographical maps are the basis for farm planning. They can be used for determining slopes and land form . In combination with information on soil types, they can be used for farm planning.Many types of maps can be used for different purposes, such as an easy to recognize map (Figure 1) for the soccer player, road maps for the traveller (Figu re 2), and pictorial maps for illustrative purposes (Figure 3).A true map is a drawing of an area which shows all items and distances in proportion to each other, that is, they are drawn to a set scale. Symbols may be used on a map to indicate different features such as buildings, marshes, rocks, trees, roads, railways etc. A map may also be oriented to surrounding areas by indicating its relation to North. A true map must therefore include an indication of scale, an \"Arrow \" for \"true\" or \"magnetic\" North, and normally a legend.  The main type of map which is used by farm managers is called a topographic map, or \"topo-map\" (Figure 4) .A topo-map shows variations in land level as indicated by contour lines . A contour line connects up all points of a given height above sea level, or above another set level, on the map. Each contour line represents a height . The height is always written on t he contour line .1 : 10 000Contour lines are lines drawn on a map joining points with equal elevation above (or below) sea level. The difference in height between two consecutive contour lines is known as the contour interval.Slopes can be determined by measuring the distance between contour lines on a topo-map. Map distance is converted into real distance by multiplying by the scale factor.This real distance is then compared to the difference in height of the two contour lines bounding the slope to be determined (not necessarily two consecutive contour lines), and expressed as a percentage. See example 1.It is probably safe. r and more accurate to measure the distance over several contour lines. See Example 2.In most areas of tropical Mrica, it is inadvisable to cultivate slopes in excess of 7 %. With an accurate topomap, one can determine which areas are safe or unsafe for cropping.Areas which are too steep for cropping may be used for trees, pasture, or left under natural cover. Desigoa te areas considered topographically suitable for cropping, as agricultural blocks, for example, block A, block B, etc. Examine the topography of each block to plan its development.Example 1 (Figure 5):Map distance between two contour lines 2.5 cm Scale . ,Determine the land form of each block from the topomap to identifY natural drainage ways. Use these natural drainage ways as waterways when preparing a soil conservation plan (Figure 7).Between two natural drainage ways, two slopes usually rise to form a crest. Consider siting access roads along these crests and afterwards, fit the soil conservation measures into the block as previously descrihed . Make full use of topa-maps when planning land use. Topo-maps can be used to:• identify high areas. Use high areas as locations for water storage tanks or for building sites. Visualize the view from a given point on a topo-map to decide its suitability for housing.For example, does a house have a pleasant view?• decide on suitable sites for dams. Examine contour lines of valleys. Where a valley obviously narrows and has steep slopes is a suitable site for a dam (Figure 8).• calculate the size of a lake. The area and volume of the lake resulting from the dam can also be calculated from the contour lineR. • estimate earth fill for r oad s. Calculate the length and volume of earth fill for road-carrying e mba nkments from the map . This data is useful in estimating ma ch inery needs or in preparing tender documents .• de termine drainage of proposed• building s ites . Before planning building s , ca lculate the amount of cut and fill required on steeply sloping land as this can be a considerable cost.• plan irrigation schemes. Estimate the amount of cut and fill needed for land leve lling, and the height of water lift r equired to kn ow the correct pump sizes and pipe diameters.Land capability maps contain information about soil types as well as topography. Soil and topography determine how land may be utilized.Soil scientists classify soils in different ways. Soil classification maps need to be interpreted for use by agriculturalists. Always insist that the soil surveyor presents soils information in a manner which is understandable to a non-soil scientist.Soils may be classified into positional features such as (Figure 9):• Plateau land . Level land, generally useful for agriculture .• Sloping land . Useful for agricultural purposes if slope is not too severe.• Valley bottom land. Permanent swamp (hydromorphic ), flooded during the rains, alluvial soil, or small stream or f !Ver in basement complex soil.Alternatively, soils may be ranked into 3 or more classes, with sub-classes as required:• Very good agricultural land (Class I):• deep loamy soil and level land (suitable for cereals and root crops); • more shallow sandy soil and level land (suitable for legumes, soya, groundnuts, etc).• Marginally good agricult.ural land (Class 2):• good soil but steep slopes (suitable for tree crops); • shallow soils and steep s lopes (suitable for pasture); • poorer soils but level land <suitable for pasture). • poorly drained hydromorphic soil (may be suitable for rice); • steep slopes and poor soil (leave under natural cover); • lateritic or r ock outcrops (use for building and r oad fim; • poor soil, levellhigh areas (use as building sites).Other maps use soil classifications common in a given area. For example, the lITA Ibadan farm map carries 14 different soil senes with local Nigerian names such as \"Iwo\", \"Apomu'\\ \"Gambari\" etc. Most agricultur• alists in Nigeria have some idea of the agricultural capability of these different soil types .The most suitable soil classification for agriculturalists is probably the Soil fertility and capability classification (SFCC) (Table 1).   • Distribute handouts (includin g this Research Guide) to trainees one or several days before your presentation, or distribute them at the end of the presentation.• Do not distribute handouts at the beginning of a presentation , otherwise trainees will r ead instead of listen to you .• Ask train ees not to take notes , but to pay full attention to the trai ning activity. Ass ure them that your handouts (and thi s Res earch Guid e) conta in all releva nt inform ati on .• Keep your tra ining activities practical. Reduce theory to the minimum that is necessary t o understa nd the practica l exercises .• Use the questi ons on page 4 (or a selection of questions) for exa minations (quizzes, periodical tests, et c.). All ow cons ultati on of h a ndouts and book s during exa mina ti ons .• Promote in teraction of train ees . Allow qu estions , but do not deviate from the subject.• Respect the time allot ted."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c198b00f11289e3f42bdde703460b441","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2f72f6bb-6175-427c-9f79-638493f19c6d/retrieve","id":"1633558280"},"keywords":["gender gap","energy technology","adoption","sustained use","rural areas"],"sieverID":"4914a7e6-7dbc-41c9-bffd-cfe96dfe54bb","content":"in 1975, provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition. IFPRI's strategic research aims to foster a climate-resilient and sustainable food supply; promote healthy diets and nutrition for all; build inclusive and efficient markets, trade systems, and food industries; transform agricultural and rural economies; and strengthen institutions and governance. Gender is integrated in all the Institute's work. Partnerships, communications, capacity strengthening, and data and knowledge management are essential components to translate IFPRI's research from action to impact. The Institute's regional and country programs play a critical role in responding to demand for food policy research and in delivering holistic support for country-led development. IFPRI collaborates with partners around the world.Affordable and dependable clean energy sources can increase agricultural productivity and support rural economic development, by powering agriculture, supporting rural industrial development, including agro-processing, and by increasing the wellbeing of households. However, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is critically affected by energy poverty (Mohammed et al., 2013;Dagnachew et al., 2017;Nhamo et al., 2020): more than 600 million people, mostly in rural areas, lack access to even basic electricity (IEA, 2022). As a result, Africa accounts for only 6% of global energy demand and just over 3% of global electricity demand. Bioenergy is the largest energy source in Africa, accounting for more than half of final energy use; this has devastating impacts on the continent's health, environmental sustainability, and economy (IEA, 2019). Underinvestment in rural energy infrastructure has stymied the development of manufacturing and has also limited the absorption of labor from rural areas (Mueller and Thurlow 2019). It has also limited the development of irrigation infrastructure, rural agro-processing centers, and cold storage. As of 2021, electricity access 1 was 23% in rural areas of SSA; with adverse impacts from the resulting exposure to household air pollution (IEA et al., 2023;IEA, 2019).Ethiopia is no exception. Only 42% of the rural population has access to electricity (World Bank, 2023), largely through the national grid, while 55 million people had no access (IEA et al., 2023).Much of the rural electricity can only be used for lighting due to low voltage. Moreover, even in an electrified village, not all households are connected to electricity, thus, village-level electricity access does not guarantee household-level access. As a result, use of many technologies that require electricity, in both the domestic and agricultural domains, remains limited in rural areas.And while rural communities have started to bridge the gap in access to clean energy by using offgrid solar technologies and LPG, others remain wholly reliant on biomass energy. A relatively 1 Electricity access is defined as having a source of electricity that can provide for basic lighting and charge a phone or power a radio for four hours per day.small share of agricultural households also uses costly polluting energy sources such as diesel for powering irrigation pumps or small-scale processing activities.As with other technologies, energy technology decisions and uses are highly gendered (Das et al. 2023). Domestic energy technologies, such as improved cookstoves and appliances, can improve women's time management, freeing up time for productive engagement, such as in agriculture, for childcare or for leisure (IEG, 2008;Kumar and Rauniyar, 2018). Using electricity or other energy sources can also support water extraction from domestic wells, reducing children's and women's drudgery with domestic water supply (Allouhi et al., 2019). Owning or making decisions over energy appliances can also improve women's access to information and agency, with potential spillover effects for family wellbeing (Annan et al., 2021).In the agricultural sphere, improved energy access directly supports agricultural intensification, for example, switching from manual irrigation practices to motorized irrigation technologies, such as diesel or solar-fueled irrigation pumps, increasing profitability of irrigation investment and reducing drudgery of women who are often responsible for watering. As such, energizing agricultural water management can enhance farmers' management of limited labor resources by reducing time spent watering plots, and thereby enhancing labor productivity and advancing gender equality (Dyer and Shapiro, 2023).However, gendered heterogeneities in terms of information on, access to, and adoption and use of improved energy technologies for both agricultural and domestic purposes in rural areas remain under-studied. Many studies focus on initial technology adoption decisions (for example, Foster and Rosenzweig, 2010;Guta, 2018), but fail to consider gendered constraints, or overlook the complex dynamics of sustained use of modern energy technologies, which tend to require substantial maintenance and upkeep. Studies that have examined the gendered energy access and use divide, have identified a gendered lack of information manifested by fewer opportunities for training and education (Pueyo & Maestre, 2019;Guta, 2020), a gender gap in decision-making at intrahousehold and community levels (Winther et al., 2018;Wiese, 2020), and gendered differences in access to productive resources (Van der Kroon et al., 2013). Prior studies have also typically treated domestic (such as Gebregziabher et al., 2012;Beyene and Koch, 2013;Guta, 2018) and productive energy technologies (Getacher et al., 2013;Namara et al, 2013;Gebregziabher et al., 2014) independently, neglecting the fact that domestic and agricultural uses of energy are often deeply intertwined. A separate analysis of these two sides of rural household energy security fails to consider the interrelations between domestic and productive energy technologies, which are particularly important to understanding gendered aspects of energy poverty.Our research contributes three novel insights to the increasing body of knowledge on rural energy access and use. First, we provide an integrated, in-depth analysis of domestic and agricultural energy uses at the intra-household level for several locations in Ethiopia. Second, we assess gendered energy poverty across key steps of the adoption process, including awareness, adoption and continued use (Theis et al., 2018). Third, we identify measures to increase inclusivity in both productive and household energy technologies.The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. Section 2 provides the energy access context for Ethiopia. Section 3 describes the analytical framework of the study. Section 4 discusses sampling, data, and methods. Section 5 discusses the results, and Section 6 concludes.Ethiopia, located in the Horn of Africa, has a large renewable energy potential, with the ability to generate around 60,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity from hydropower, solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass sources. Less than 5% of this potential is being used, with 90% coming from hydroelectricity, 8% from wind, and 2% from geothermal sources 2 . The current installed electricity generating capacity is 4500 MW, reaching 95% of the urban and 42% of the rural population. The rural population is still largely disconnected from the electricity grid (ITA, 2023;World Bank, 2023).To address the low per capita energy production and consumption in the country (Yalew, 2022), the National Electrification Program (NEP) was initiated in 2017 and revised in 2019 with the goal of providing national universal electricity access by 2025. The NEP aims to connect 65% of the country's population with grid electricity and 35% through decentralized energy production. The NEP also notes that access to electricity supports women's 1) access to labor-saving mechanized community services; 2) engagement in productive activities; and 3) income from the production, distribution, retail, and maintenance of solar technologies (FDRE, 2017). The NEP aims to support both domestic energy end uses (lighting, cooking, and heating) and productive uses by powering agricultural and non-agricultural businesses.Without clean energy access, households rely heavily on fuelwood, livestock dung, and crop residues to meet their domestic needs, especially related to cooking. Fuelwood is the major energy source for cooking, whereas kerosene, electricity, pico-solar, and biogas are commonly used for lighting (Wassie et al., 2021). Wassie and Adaramola (2021) and Gebreselassie (2022) note increased adoption of solar technologies for household uses. For example, Gebreselassie (2022) finds that nearly 2% of households in Tigray have home solar systems and 10.5% of households adopted solar lanterns for lighting. However, such technologies are limited to lighting and powering low-voltage appliances such as radios and mobile phones.In Ethiopia, energy demand for cooking is bifurcated. It includes smaller cooking activities, such as coffee making and cooking stews that can be accomplished with small appliances and lower energy needs; but also, injera (flatbread, an important staple food) and bread baking, which account for about 60% of residential fuel demand (Eshete et al., 2006). Injera is traditionally baked on an open-fire tripod using a 20-30 mm thick clay griddle (called a mitad). Most efforts on clean cooking have aimed to replace the open-fire tripod stove. Despite some attempts to develop solar cookstoves suitable for the Ethiopian setting (Tesfay et al., 2014;Tucho and Nonhebel, 2017;Mekonnen et al., 2020), suitable technologies have not yet reached rural households.Energy use in agriculture, on the other hand, mostly relates to motorized irrigation pumping. Most pumps run on petrol or diesel fuel, and these technologies are playing an important role in agricultural intensification and resilience against climate variability and change (Eshete et al., 2020). Given the high cost of pumps, high and variable fuel prices as well as maintenance challenges, farmers are increasingly interested in switching to solar technologies. However, the cost of solar pumps remains out of reach for most farmers. At the same time, the government of Ethiopia is seeking to greening the rural economy. A clear sign of this was the outright ban of new petrol or diesel pumps for irrigation in May of 2023 (Addis Standard May 9, 2023). Little is known about how irrigation technologies can reach, benefit, and empower women farmers, but it is clear that, a priori, solar irrigation technologies might well increase the gap in resources, agency and achievements between women and men farmers (Lefore et al., 2019).Although energy technology use and adoption have been widely studied, frameworks that incorporate gender and focus at the micro level are lacking (Das et al., 2023). Existing frameworks focus on actors and benefit streams that a clean energy transition could generate (WEF, 2018;IEA, 2020;Sarno and Siano, 2022). For example, WEF (2018) proposes two interlinked frameworks focusing on systems performance and transition readiness, respectively. Systems performance, in turn, relates to secured energy access, economic development, and environmental sustainability, while transition readiness encompasses structural, human, and physical capital, regulatory, and infrastructural requirements.This study analyzes the potential for closing the gendered rural energy technology gap using the awareness, adoption and continued use framework (Theis et al., 2018). Women face particular constraints regarding the awareness of energy technologies, their adoption, and in benefiting equally from these technologies once they are in use (ibid). While awareness is typically necessary for initial adoption (phase 1), and initial adoption is necessary for continued use (phase 2), reaching the first of these does not necessarily lead to the second phase. Many energy technologies that have been piloted might never be used or abandoned following initial adoption, as has been widely documented in the improved cookstove sector, for example (Ruiz-Mercado et al., 2011;Pine et al., 2011;Pillarisetti et al., 2014).Moreover, women might face particular problems in all phases of technology adoption and use.Dissemination of new technologies, such as solar irrigation pumps, might unintentionally exclude women, or energy promotion efforts may only focus on specific services (e.g., productive uses in agriculture), disregarding the interlinked effects on other important aspects of life (e.g., the use of irrigation pumps for collecting domestic water). In terms of initial adoption, women may be aware of technology solutions, but feel that they do not fit their needs, or, if they do, that they lack the financial resources or other means to acquire such solutions. In terms of continued use, intrahousehold relations or social norms and traditions may limit women's agency over technology use, and thereby prevent women from fully benefiting from technology, leading to dis-adoption or an increase in the gender gap of resources and achievements.This study applies the awareness, adoption and continued use framework to the study of rural energy technologies in Ethiopia and uses the framework to identify solutions toward increased social inclusion in energy access and use, focusing on gender dimensions.The primary data sources for this study are qualitative data collected in Ethiopia from June to July 2023 as part of the CGIAR Initiative on NEXUS Gains. The data protocol was designed to examine rural energy portfolios, develop insights on gendered constraints to energy access and use, and identify entry points for reducing the gendered gap in energy technologies in the domestic and productive spheres. Data were collected from a purposeful sample of households in three regions, six districts, and 10 kebeles 3 of Ethiopia that had been identified as control and intervention areas for the evaluation of a decentralized rural energy program that the government of Ethiopia is pursuing. The regions and woredas included Amhara (Dera and Fogera), Sidama (Shebedino) and SNNPR (Arba Minch Zuria). We oversampled kebeles in the Tana Beles sub-basin of the Blue Nile Basin that form part of the NEXUS Gains basin focal region: six of the 10 study kebeles are in the Tana-Beles region (Appendix Table A1). A total of 199 women and men farmers participated in the study as well as 47 key informants.Qualitative data were collected through Focus Group Discussions (FGD), semi-structured interviews and Key Informant Interviews (KII). We organized separate group discussions for women and men farmers in the 10 kebeles for a total of 20 FGDs. Each FGD included around 9-10 participants. FGD participants were purposefully selected to include farmers with experience in irrigation and in alternative uses of domestic energy technologies, in addition to ordinary farmers. All women FGDs included women-headed households. Champion farmers and rich farmers were excluded from the FGDs. Among participants of each FGD, two participants with were asked to participate in follow-on semi-structured interviews. Key informants in each kebele included the head of the development agency, a health extension agent, a youth entrepreneur/representative and an irrigation expert, all with at least one year of experience in their posts. A total of 39 KIIs were completed at kebele level. Moreover, in each woreda, interviews were done with a solar or an improved stove expert in the respective Offices of Water and Energy (OWE). In total, 4 interviews were done at the woreda level. At regional and federal level, 4 interviews were conducted with irrigation experts from the Bureau of Agriculture (BoA), and solar/improved stove experts at the Bureau of Water and Energy (BoWE). An interview was also conducted with the irrigation promotion expert at Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).FGDs discussed livelihoods, main sources of energy for domestic and productive purposes, labor division, particularly for fuel collection and irrigation, information and material access, adoption decisions, challenges, and opportunities, among others. KIIs gathered information on energy technology targeting, dissemination, and context. The discussions were recorded, transcribed, and translated into English. In total, 108 transcripts were used for qualitative data synthesis. Any participant identifiers have been anonymized to maintain confidentiality. Data analysis was carried out manually following the identification of key themes.The FGDs collected quantitative information regarding key demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of participants to help inform data analysis. This included the respondent's age, family size, land size, types of cookstoves used, lighting sources, irrigation practices and irrigation pump access, and decision-making. We also asked about livestock, land, and mobile phone ownership.Based on the basic quantitative data collection, we found a modest difference in average cattle and land ownership between men and women FGD participants. On the other hand, there were substantial differences in mobile phone ownership with 87% of men participants owning mobile phones compared to 39% of women participants (Table A2). The following sections describe rural energy portfolios for domestic and productive uses. They first assess gendered differences in household energy awareness, adoption and continued use, followed by productive use awareness, adoption and continued use. The discussion and concluding sections identify linkages between these two areas.In the domestic arena, Ethiopia's two main energy uses in rural areas are lighting and cooking.Grid-based electricity and solar are the only clean and modern energy sources available in parts of rural Ethiopia; and their use is generally limited to lighting. A male FGD participant from Geladiwos kebele in Amhara mentioned: \"We use electricity for lighting and charging mobile devices for domestic use. We are enabled [with electricity] to engage in businesses such as ironing and sewing, haircutting, and mills.Electricity is rarely used for cooking but is often used for television and radio. Refrigerators are not used for domestic use, but for business. We prefer electricity [over other energy sources]. For example, a cooking stove works with fuelwood, but electricity reduces the workload.\"Six out of the 10 kebeles in the study were connected to the national grid. Moreover, access to the grid does not guarantee that electricity is available. On the other hand, pico-solar and solar kits (for lighting and small radio/charge) were common sources of electricity for a large number of households. The adoption and use of standalone solar systems (stand-alone solar PV systems such as solar home systems (SHSs) and pico-solar systems) is steadily growing in the study sites, particularly in areas with better market access. Households in this study used SHS technology primarily for lighting and mobile phone charging. Productive uses were seldom mentioned.Participants also noted that solar technologies provide the most convenient, safe, and high-quality lighting. The primary cooking fuels in the study area were firewood, crop residues, and dung. Charcoal was seldom used. In rural Ethiopia, crop residues and dung are alternatively used as fertilizers and there are tradeoffs between domestic and agricultural uses (Mekonnen et al., 2017). Women and children, mainly girls, were generally responsible for biomass fuel supply. Women were also responsible for collection of water and childcare, in addition to their contribution to agricultural labor whereas men tended to allocate productive time to income-generating activities, including farm work. Participants noted a series of gendered and intersectional differences in time use. For example, women with young children often traveled long distances to collect firewood and that distance and collection time heavily influenced the time they had for other activities. Firewood was often collected from communally managed forests; and trading of fuelwood and dung cakes was limited.Eucalyptus and endogenous trees were sometimes planted for cash income, particularly to provide construction materials, rather than as a source of fuel. Biogas is another source of cooking fuel and lighting that was known but was generally not in use. Several participants noted the use of multiple fuels to cope with seasonal fuel shortages. For instance, firewood and crop residues were the main fuels used in the dry season whereas firewood and cow dung were the more common combination found in the wet season. Fuel sources for the rainy season were often stored during the dry season.While little variation was mentioned in the limited use of charcoal, its use was preferred during the wet season. Seasonal differences were explained by a woman participant from Mitsile Wagra kebele:\"We often collect firewood and leaves for cooking during the dry season. However, in the rainy season, we use cow dung which is prepared during the dry season. In the dry season, it is sunny and everything is dry and very easy and quick to light. During the rainy season, in addition to the difficulty we face to spark a fire, after the fire starts the smoke is worse since the firewood and cow dung become wet.\"To cope with wet-season weather, women also reported using kerosene to start a fire for cooking, due to the fact that fuel types like kerosene have a low ignition temperature, facilitating the lighting of fires and helping wood or dung to reach their required ignition temperatures.Electricity access was also reported to vary seasonally. Both women and men participants noted that during the rainy season, small rainfall events can trigger power outages that can last hours or days. Participants noted that a lack of reliable electricity access and frequent power cuts made it difficult to start a business. Finally, participants noted that solar lighting, which is replacing kerosene, is less bright during the rainy season, likely due to less effective charging.The vast majority of the literature on rural technology adoption has treated the household as a homogeneous entity, neglecting gendered differences (Magnan et al., 2015;Zhang et al., 2022;Das et al., 2023). However, intra-household dynamics affect overall benefit streams from energy access and use. Regarding awareness, several studies show that women's reduced access to information and formal training can affect energy technology adoption and use. In Ethiopia, cooking falls in a woman's sphere and represents a considerable component of their domestic workload. According to Mekonnen et al. (2022), women spend more than three hours per day on cooking-related activities, including fuelwood collection, and cooking itself. Thus, access, adoption, and use of improved fuel and appliances can substantially impact women's time use, productive engagement, and health. All FGD participants reported using biomass for their daily cooking needs. Only 43% and 29% of the respondents used improved biomass cooking stoves and injera mitad, respectively (Table 1). Since women are responsible for collecting firewood in the majority of study sites, improved cookstoves could theoretically affect both their domestic and productive time use. Respondents noted that women were expected to identify better technologies for cooking on their own, however.The woreda 5 women's forum and health extension workers were their main sources of information on new technologies. Religious gatherings, Tsebel (religious festivals), and coffee ceremonies also played an important role for women in accessing information. Women were less likely to obtain information through formal channels and training. Such trainings tended to target women leaders (or models) who were then expected to share information with neighbors and friends.We also observed gender differences regarding awareness of domestic solar technology. Men become familiar with these systems through participating in social gatherings and formal trainings.Women are not able to do either and therefore were less likely to adopt solar system devices. Men were highly aware of pico-solar devices. As stated by men FGD participants at Dera-Gibtsawit kebele:5 Woredas (districts) are the third level of administrative divisions of Ethiopia.In male-headed households, it is mostly men who move freely and communicate with each other. Then, they can tell their wife when there is a new technology [….] Of course, if they are directly invited by women's affairs or training providers, they may get the chance. \"In principle, women have the same right to attend trainings that are provided at the woreda and kebele level as men, but in reality, very few people, and mostly men, are selected by trainers.Women at Mitsile Wagra kebele explained it as:\"Around 10 (male-headed) households from this kebele received training provided by kebele experts. The opportunity was not given to female-headed households […]. The training focused on household hygiene, childcare, and solar. But these trainees have not passed the information on to others.\"Our results show that women are the most relevant decision-makers for adoption of improved stoves, linked to their primary responsibility for cooking and other domestic chores. Usually, women obtain advanced cookstoves directly from stove producers. Typically, these producers contact kebele health/agricultural extension worker(s) and women to encourage them to register to obtain such appliances. Women FGD participants with such devices noted that improved cookstoves had allowed them to save time, effort, and fuel. For instance, FGD participants in Dera woreda highlighted that:\"We [women] have a lot of burden in the house. We prepare food like baking injera, cooking stew, making coffee, washing dishes, and caring for children. We even make injera, and cook stew at the same time. We cook and serve breakfast, then we proceed to cooking lunch. We also cook and give snacks for the children in the afternoon. Then, we cook dinner. We have a lot of burdens. Improved stoves help us do all these tasks well.\"Women FGD, Geregera Gebstawit kebele.Men noted that they often purchased domestic solar technologies in exchange for selling livestock or crops. Guta (2020) suggests that men's literacy level is a key factor for their increased adoption of solar technologies compared to women. Other than a few men respondents from Gelaediwos kebele (Amhara region) who reported that they had obtained Pico solar credit from a local microcredit institute, most technologies had to be purchased directly, even though many would have preferred using credit. Women, on the other hand, typically did not have the necessary resources for direct purchases of even small solar technologies. They also lacked decision-making power and mobility to go out and access these solutions.The right to continued use refers to the autonomy of rural women and men to decide who uses energy technology, and this varies by energy technology. Women generally have autonomy for continued use of improved cookstoves, which reduces their energy and time poverty.In contrast, use rights for solar appliances are generally jointly held and all family members benefit from the technology. Following the return from school, boys tend to support their parents in herding cattle and other agricultural activities while girls help their mothers with fuel collection, food preparation and fetching water. Children from households in this study generally did not have time to study during the daytime. Solar lighting thus allowed children to study at night. Women and men also used solar lights during nighttime. As explained by a woman from Mitsile Wagra kebele:\"…When we work on farm fields along with husbands till the sun sets and come back at night, we use the pico solar to do our domestic activities easily and efficiently because solar has more power than lamba 6 or kuraz...\"However, in some places, women noted that their husbands were the ones who would decide on where solar devices would be located within the household, and that they therefore generally kept these devices near to them. Since the kitchen is often separated from the main house, and because men might go out at night, this meant that women had more limited access to lighting. Women would then have to cook or do other household chores using alternative sources of light.\"In female-headed households, the woman can make the decisions alone. However, in maleheaded households, men dominate decisions, especially when it comes to the utilization of resources. At nighttime, when they return from work and want to rest or sleep, they may not want to be disturbed from their sleep and may turn off the light.\" Men FGD, Ganta Kanchamo kebele.Furthermore, respondents reported that even if all household members had equal rights to use solar for charging mobile phones or the radio, men were the ones more likely to own mobile phones or to have the spare time to listen to radio programs.Regarding management rights, men were commonly responsible for decisions on the utilization of most assets and equipment owned by the household. However, in the case of pico-solar and cookstoves, due to the nature of the appliances, in most study areas, women had some management rights. At the adoption stage, both men and women reported that their households would come to joint decisions after discussion and exchange of ideas, but men would usually have the final say.This suggests that there exists some degree of interhousehold bargaining prior to the adoption of domestic energy technologies. This is reflected by a male FGD in Morocho Negasha kebele, Sidama:\"A decision will be taken following the discussion by family members, but the final decision will be taken by the household heads (men). In male-headed households, men are the decision-makers.However, in female-headed households, women take charge of all aspects, from planning to decision-making. Women become the center of their households, […] when their husbands pass away, taking on numerous responsibilities in addition to household responsibilities and caring for the children. She is the sole decision maker.\"Fructus rights relate to knowledge of household income and subsequent bargaining power over use of earnings. Our findings indicate that household members have different levels of fructus rights depending on the type of improved domestic energy technology. These rights are determined by who ( 1) decides what to produce and sell and (2) receives the revenue from those sales. In every FGD, both men and women across the study area noted that they use improved domestic technologies for non-agricultural businesses. For instance, women sometimes used the improved stove for preparing local drinks, baking injera, bread and making pastry for sale. However, women generally could not make decisions on how to use the income they generated from the improved energy technology on their own. Instead, they had to get permission from their husbands concerning how to spend their savings. As described by a woman interviewee from Mitsile Wagra kebele who wanted to buy a cookstove:\"The money belongs to the household […]. If the husband is not willing and does not understand her problems, she must justify her reason in front of the community elders to convince her husband and to get permission.\"Concerning alienation rights, since the technologies have only been introduced recently in the study communities, we could not obtain robust insights on the right to transfer energy technologies by sale, lease, gift, or inheritance. However, in the above discussions and patterns of alienation rights over other assets owned by households, men were likely to dominate alienation rights.Productive energy technologies are key to increasing farm productivity and overall rural wellbeing (Cabraal et al., 2005;Kaygusuz, 2011). The main productive energy technology in rural Ethiopia are motor pumps for lifting water for irrigation. Overall, and partly owing to the sampling design and focus on locations where irrigation is practiced, 63% of FGD participants reported irrigating one or more of their plots; this included 74% of men and 52% of women participants. About 49% of irrigators used motorized pumps for lifting water; however, only 20% of women used pumps to lift irrigation water, compared to 65% of men, highlighting a substantial gender gap in access to productive use energy technologies. Furthermore, irrigation practices and pump use showed substantial regional variation with a wider gender gap seen in the north compared to the south (e.g., comparing Amhara to Sidama and SNNP). This apparently wider gap is largely driven by the fact that fewer farmers irrigate in the SNNP and Sidama areas, however, and therefore should not be perceived to indicate greater gender equality in the south (Figure 2). Across the study sites, FGD participants noted that diesel pumps were preferred across all pump types due to their greater capacity to irrigate large areas, the availability and affordability of diesel, their manageable fuel consumption, the availability of spare parts in the market, and their relative safety. This preference is likely due to the fact that farmers who purchase solar pumps can generally only afford under-sized pumps that irrigated smaller areas. However, gasoline pumps were noted to have preferred characteristics of lighter weight and lower maintenance costs compared to diesel pumps.Pump ownership included both (i) private ownership by households and (ii) group ownership by groups of 3-5 farmers who jointly purchased a motor pump. Pumps were either directly purchased with existing funds or by taking loans from financial institutions. When pumps were owned by several farmers, they took turns using them.\"We purchased the motor pump by selling our produce, mainly rice. We usually harvest rice during December. To purchase a motor pump, sometimes farmers sell their crops at a low price.We The gendered context of agricultural energy technology can be better understood by following the framework of technology adoption.Uptake, adoption, operation, and management of irrigation equipment require substantial knowledge and skill training. Our results suggest a gender gap in all of these areas. In addition to gendered institutional, information, and knowledge-related constraints, women reported facing additional constraints in terms of access to information and formal training as a result of gender norms and traditions. The contact of married women with extension workers or their attendance at farming meetings is deemed unnecessary. This limits their awareness of energy technologies in the productive use space. Some men indicated that women could participate in any meetings and that they could be as successful as men with irrigation. For example, a man from Gelawdewos kebele noted that \"we saw women in different meetings. If they get the chance, they can participate in different meetings.\"In male-headed households, however, women were generally not involved in the purchase of productive use energy technologies, a space that is controlled by men, who were also the ones typically able to obtain credit. Women also lacked sufficient time to seek and access information on how to obtain clean energy technologies for agricultural production.In terms of deciding to try out the energy technology, in all the discussions, both men and women respondents reported that both the wife and the husband would usually consult and make a joint decision. Upon further probing, however, respondents of both genders explained that final decisions were typically made by men, even if there were prior discussions. Furthermore, men had the agency to make adoption decisions without consulting women when women were not around, whereas the opposite was not true... \"…she must not purchase without his agreement, it may result in a divorce. Though women may have a better know how, the final decision should be made by men.\" (man farmer, Gelawdiwos kebele). Women's agency over agricultural technology uptake appears stronger when they are household heads, though such women also tend to face significant land, labor and financial constraints.One of the main problems leading to the low uptake of improved agricultural technologies is lack of finance. Men and women FGDs described a lack of access to credit for purchasing motor pumps.Financial institutions play a role in motor pump investments. To facilitate credit, the woreda agricultural office sometimes provided support letters to farmers. Even then, the credit facility was not equally accessible to all irrigating farmers, and some farmers had to sell livestock to purchase motor pumps. For instance, FGD participants in Dera woreda emphasized that they bought motor pumps either by selling cattle or from what they had produced in the previous year using smallscale irrigation.By law, female-and male-headed households have equal rights to use irrigation water with whatever lift and application technology they choose. However, women in male-headed households are considered as secondary labor providers in agriculture. Their labor is needed even more in irrigating households due to the increased volume of agricultural activities linked to irrigation. Arrangements for access to and control over labor and the product of labor are crucial structuring principles in the intra-household organization of agricultural production. FGDs provided a series of reasons of why women were not operating motor pumps. These ranged from them not possessing the required skills; to the physical requirement to move and operate the pump;and the high cost of fuel to run the pump.\"Of course, it is not easy for a woman to do anything like men. Most women do not have even the capacity to buy a motor pump by themselves, they would ask for help from their male neighbors or relatives [...] They are not strong enough like men to carry the motor.\" Men FGD, MitselleManagement rights are directly related to the perception that men are the head of the household, and that they have every right to take decisions on agricultural inputs, including on the irrigation technology. Women are largely dependent on men for access to farmland. Women participating in the study considered themselves as secondary labor providers on the farm, and as the main role players in the domestic sphere. While use decisions reflected the gender distribution of labor in the household between domestic and productive responsibilities, the right to manage irrigation corresponded to the gendered division of agricultural labor.overcome these challenges and to assure that both women and men benefit equally from energy technologies, it is important to engage with both women and men on the benefits and challenges associated with changes in energy technologies. Highlighting the role of improving women's agency over energy technologies in generating benefits can help strengthen the case for such gendered interventions.The study described challenges around gendered energy awareness, adoption and continued use in three regions of rural Ethiopia. While adoption of improved stoves was found to be dominated by women, adoption of motor pumps for irrigation was dominated by men. But men were often involved in taking final decisions over energy technologies even in the domestic sphere and decided over the use of income from domestic energy technologies. Awareness, adoption and continued use of energy technology are thus highly gendered, in both the domestic and productive use domains. While men obtain information through formal channels and can access training opportunities on energy technologies, women farmers are more likely to obtain information through informal cultural or religious gatherings. Furthermore, norms and traditions limit women's agency and achievements in the energy technology space. Given women's dominance over cooking, they can often access improved cookstoves once these become available within a community. However, women are not fully able to make decisions over income generated using improved cookstoves.These gender differences notwithstanding, it was striking to find that neither women nor men farmers participating in the study expressed much agency over the design, promotion and dissemination of alternative energy technologies in their communities. This is perhaps due to a lack of communication between developers of energy technologies and clients and is reflective of the high degree of energy poverty found in rural Ethiopia. Communication is similarly lacking between technology promoters and financial institutions and between financial institutions and farmers. Multistakeholder partnerships across these value chain actors could help increase access to clean energy technologies.Indeed, the use of energy in rural areas remains limited, despite the fact that the number of irrigators is rising in some regions (and particularly high in our study sample). We identified significant differences between women and men farmers in terms of pump ownership in these locations. When households engage in irrigation, women spend substantial time supporting agricultural production, including planting, weeding, cultivation, sowing, irrigating, applying fertilizer, harvesting and marketing.Despite the substantial engagement of women in both the domestic and agricultural spheres, women are typically less likely to benefit from modern energy technologies adopted by households outside of the domestic cooking domain. The findings imply that inclusive approaches are needed for enhancing gender equality and women's empowerment in rural energy use. Emphasis should be given to the inclusiveness of decision-making processes in rural energy use by bringing women to the forefront of decision-making processes in the design, promotion, dissemination, and use of alternative energy technologies. Putting in place inclusive processes for alternative energy technologies will not only contribute to gender-responsive designs but also improve the continued adoption of the technologies by rural communities. Moreover, dissemination of information should take a variety of approaches, such as reaching out to women through informal institutions and local meetings in addition to formal channels."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d24b45df53823c21fae881ef9779803d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8fdf07ee-555d-4f4c-8d34-414287143f77/retrieve","id":"-1200487853"},"keywords":["Potato","late blight resistance","R genes","genetic engineering"],"sieverID":"67488349-6a06-4314-826d-ba0d3294cfbd","content":"The cultivated potato, Solanum tuberosum is affected by a variety of diseases with late blight (LB) caused by Phytophthora infestans being the most severe. The disease is mostly controlled by the application of large quantities of fungicides, which represent a financial burden on farmers in developing countries and pose risks to both human health and the environment. A more effective and environmentally friendly strategy to prevent damages caused by P. infestans is to use resistant potato cultivars. In the early days of breeding for LB resistance, a small number of resistance (R) genes from the wild Mexican species, Solanum demissum, were introgressed into modern potato varieties. These genes conferred race-specific resistance, which was rapidly overcome by new isolates of the pathogen. Recently, a number of new R genes have been identified and cloned from several wild potato species .Taking advantage of genetic engineering, our strategy is to use three of these new R genes (RB, Rpi-blb2 and Rpi-vnt1.1) in a triple gene construct, p CIP 99, based on the hypothesis that simultaneous mutation for pathogenicity against all three genes is unlikely, and therefore the resistance conferred by the construct should be durable. We plan to deploy the three stacked R genes into the potato variety \"Victoria\" (known in Kenya and Uganda as \"Asante\"). To date, we have produced more than 100 transgenic events which are currently being characterized. The pathogen population will be characterized concurrently to assess the expected durability of this resistance."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"eb99630fb73141b216f8f013b3be76e1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c008eb4f-3556-4b7c-a4eb-e77ecf31c50e/retrieve","id":"-646915444"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3fd67626-c9c2-4009-84db-9d2e7c6fdf9d","content":"Given the extent and importance of the challenges facing dryland regions of the world, the ISPC accepts the premise that research on major dryland crops and systems will be critical to achieving the SRF. However, the current CRP pre-proposal on Dryland Cereals and Legumes Agri-food Systems (DCLAS) fails to provide a useful framework that convincingly links dryland cereals and global legumes. With its overarching orientation towards improving agricultural systems in dryland areas (pp 4-5 and especially Tables 1 & 2), the case is very weak for having a coordinated effort on key legume crops of both dryland and humid-tropic geographies under a single umbrella. The ISPC has a number of additional concerns on the structure and content of the overall CRP and also of several flagships.The ISPC accepts that there is a very strong justification for including within the CGIAR portfolio a proposal which addresses such a geographically, demographically and ecologically important environment as that targeted by the DCLAS pre-proposal. Proponents of three different Phase I CRPs, i.e., Dryland Cereals (DC), Grain Legumes (GL) and Dryland Systems (DS) have brought together their resources and collective expertise in developing the DCLAS CRP for delivery of impact at scale. This is a daunting taskespecially considering the short time frame the proponents had for this, and the complexity of the issues and systems to be tackled by the new CRP. The initial effort is to be commended as it represents an advance on the three previous Phase 1 CRPs offering, potentially, a useful systems perspective to help contextualize this extremely broad and complex agenda. DCLAS has also thought carefully about the relevance of particular partners for specific activities.While the pre-proposal articulates a convincing case for a dedicated program of CGIAR research in the dryland regions, considerably more remains to be done before this preproposal should go forward. At this stage, the proposal is still quite generic, lacking the level of specificity that would allow a proper assessment of its potential value. The proposed structure and sequence of flagships (FPs) and clusters of activity (CoA) also has deficiencies. There are fundamental questions to answer regarding the advantages of trying to combine a mix of 12 cereal and leguminous crops into one CRPand especially concerning the inclusion of several crops that are of lesser relative importance in the drylands. There are also questions about the comparative advantage of this CRP to take on a leadership role of some topics included in this pre-proposal, e.g., seed systems. Above all, there is an urgent need for the partner centres to undertake a comprehensive priority assessment exercise, to define the thrust and focus of the CRP.In successive reviews of the Phase 1 and Extension proposals of DC and GL, the ISPC consistently emphasized the need to undertake relevant sets of supply and demand analyses as a basis for setting priorities. If this was done, it is not clear in the pre-proposal which appears to have compounded the problem of prioritization even further, by combining the specific challenges of commodity-based agri-food systems with the wider issues and inherent complexities of the dryland agroecosystems. The rigor and credibility of the whole DCLAS CRP would be improved through prioritization and focus.The ISPC considers that this pre-proposal will need to address significant issues before moving to the full proposal stage. The major concerns that should be addressed in a re-submission of the pre-proposal include: Clarify and consistently present throughout the narrative the target domain of this CRPwhether primarily defined as an ecosystem based program targeting specific crops (and why those), or a commodity-based program that targets dryland areas. In either case, the justification for including humid-tropics legumes must be convincingly made on the basis of scientific opportunities; and the rationale for (i.e., added value of) combining the 12 crops together clearly explained. As currently presented, the ISPC is not persuaded that all legume crops belong in this CRP.  A related point is that this proposal must fulfil its commitment to establishing priorities and focusing the 12-crop/dryland system research agendadefining a timeline and sequence of activities that will be undertaken over the course of the first year (or more) of the Phase II CRP to arrive at a narrower set of crop, trait, and region-specific priorities for this CRP;  Develop a sequencing and feedback strategy for FP2 and FP3, such that evidence and information emerging from FP1, FP5 and FP6 can inform other FP priorities;  Identify and justify a set of essential activities under FP2 and FP3 (trait discovery and breeding) that must be maintained until such time as there is sufficient information to identify clear and well-justified priority targets for pre-breeding and breeding. , That is, large expenditures on pre-breeding and breeding activities should wait until the CRP can complete a comprehensive foresight and priority setting exercise. The key activities that can (and must) be carried out to retain critical functionality and personnel within the CRP should be justified based on past studies and lessons learnt, as well as on the need to maintain human and physical capacity.  Merge FP4 with FP3 or consolidate with other CRP FPs dealing with seed systems. The pre-proposal claims that this CRP follows an integrated systems approach that builds on primary value chains of dryland cereals, legumes and livestock, pursues a sustainable intensification of agriculture, and seeks economic opportunity options for the poorest segment of rural society living in drylands, particularly in SSA and South Asia. However, the DCLAS CRP, as proposed, fails to present a truly integrative CRP that offers more value than the sum of its FPs. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the pre-proposal does not elaborate on how it follows an agri-food system based methodology. Indeed, there is an unsettled tension between a primary systems focus (drylands) and a commodity focus, e.g., legumes globally. This needs resolution.Secondly, a truly integrated approach to advancing productivity, sustainability and resilience would not split the FPs in what amounts to nearly disciplinary divisions. At present, FP2 and FP3 appear to be largely devoted to biological science, while FP1, FP5, and FP6 are largely social science. There also appears to be a disconnect between the FPs that are essentially exploratory in nature (FP1, FP5, FP6) and those that have a more defined research agenda (FP2, FP3, FP4). FP1 on priority setting spells out a set of important questions about where and how research can make a difference within dryland agri-food systems. Yet, other parts of the pre-proposal, e.g. FP2, FP3, and FP4, sketch out agendas for ambitious and costly research activities that would clearly be better informed by having answers to the questions in FP1. The teams writing each of these FPs do not appear to have had sufficient engagement with one another, an impression reinforced by the lists of the team members involved in preparation of each FP.It is disappointing to see the lack of priority identification considering the strong recommendations made in earlier ISPC commentaries about the need to gather key data and undertake relevant demand and constraint analyses to help set priorities and focus the agenda. DCLAS proposes to work on 12 crops: barley, chickpea, common bean, faba bean, finger millet, groundnut, lentil, pearl millet, pigeon pea, sorghum and soybean. Are there no results from Phase 1 activities to guide priorities at this stage? Statements in the document such as \"agriculture is a priority for livelihoods in these areas\" need to be underpinned by serious analysis. Are these really the most important commodities? Is it realistic to think about irrigating dryland cereals and grain legumes? Missing is any reference to financial and economic feasibility studies to support the claims on irrigation, mechanization, and breeding priorities. Where are the social and environmental impact studies on these issues? Importantly, there is no explicit discussion of the added value from integrating three previous CRPs. Does the new CRP offer more value that the sum of its parts? Key questions that need to be addressed include \"How will DCLAS operate as an integrated programat the programmatic, strategy, inter-center and management levels?\"; \"How will the implementation of DCLAS realize synergies and complementarities from Centers working more closely together\"; and \"Will integration improve DCLAS prospects of achieving its objectives and contributing more effectively towards the program's IDOs?\" Lessons learned from previous research are not referenced to any extent in the pre-proposal, nor does the document address many issues raised by previous ISPC reviews of DC, GL and DS. In addition to prioritization of research and lack of clarity in targeting specific crops in specific geographical areas as already mentioned, these include: integration of research across different crops through cross-cutting CoAs and the need for fewer crop x trait targets (in GL there were 61 -in DCLAS there are hundreds). DCLAS, like its predecessor CRPs, has not taken these key issues seriously, and merging the three CRPs has compounded them further. The RTB experience with priority setting (and taking tough decisions) may be relevant here and would be a good model for DCLAS to consider, as it is the only other multi-crop CRP.The target countries for DCLAS are presented in Annexes 2 and 3 with separate identification of countries for site integration efforts and of countries for DCLAS FP activities. Selection of countries for Phase II is purportedly based on six criteria that appear to be highly relevant, but the connection between the criteria used and the final selection of crop x country x research focus combination is not at all apparent. In particular, the justificationfrom a strategic point of viewfor selecting sites in Central America (Nicaragua), North Africa (Morocco) and Central Asia (Uzbekistan) is not clear.With respect to addressing the grand challenges, this CRP focuses on some of the world's poorest and most disadvantaged people and those who will be most affected by climate change. The expected cumulative impacts in 2022 are 8m families exiting poverty (SLO1), 21m families escaping malnutrition (SLO2) and 27m ha of land saved from degradation. The performance indicator matrix aligns with relevant SRF IDOs and sub-IDOs, while Annex 13 relates them to output target indicators for each flagship in the three priority countries, namely Ethiopia, India and Nigeria. These are extraordinarily ambitious targets for such a short timeline. The justification for the targets should be made more explicit in the full proposal.There is a very good discussion of collaborative potential and overlaps with other CRPs, and Annex 7 details the proposed linkages between DCLAS and other CRPs under each FP and CoA. These include extensive activities with CCAFS through learning platforms as well as PIM, A4NH and WLE (as IWMI). DCLAS also plans to work with Livestock and FTA. It would be useful to identify which of these linkages were active under the previous CRPs and which will be new. Plans for integration with other CRPs are in place but further thought is needed on the priority activities after DCLAS completes a priority assessment exercise.The rigor and credibility of the scientific arguments underpinning the rationale for the preproposal are difficult to assess at the CRP level. The scientific arguments for the research proposed are dealt with under each FP, and some appear to be quite strong, e.g., for breeding and pre-breeding. It also comes through in the thoughtful discussions of priority setting and management of land and water resources.Annex 4 provides a diagram of the overall ToC and impact pathway. It shows consistency with the SRF and identifies IDOs to which FPs and CoAs will contribute; hence, it is aligned with the SRF IDOs. The associated table provides information on assumptions, risks, behavioral and capacity change for each FP as well as links with other CRPs. A great deal of information has been summarized in these two pages. However, without more detail, the ToC and the impact pathway remain at a very generic level. Many of the ToCs and impact pathways for the individual FPs do not satisfy the criteria. They simply show how the various FPs and CoAs link or contribute to each other. They do not relate to either sub-IDOs or IDOs (although there is mention of these in the summary). Hence it is not easy to relate the overall CRP ToC and impact pathways to the FP ToCs and impact pathways. This reduces the ability to realistically assess plausibility and feasibility. In addition, there is an absence of real testable hypotheses on implementation. Uncritical underlying assumptions are incapable of guiding R4D research toward an adaptive learning process that will improve prospects both for large scale impact on SLOs and for IPGs.The gender strategy is mainstreamed throughout the FPs but is housed within FP1 for housekeeping and to facilitate strategic gender research related to improved livelihoods based on accumulated gender-disaggregated data. The youth strategy is linked to Digital Agriculture to encourage youth to pursue a technology-driven agriculture. Capacity building includes courses, distance learning and fellowships.One area where the proposal is particularly weak is with respect to the consideration of the enabling environment for the seed systems FP (discussed below).Annex 14 presents details of DCLAS's plans for capacity development showing that the CapDev Framework will be adopted. DCLAS adopts a comprehensive definition here that goes beyond the traditional one of trainings and workshops to include communications and media, mentoring, coaching, internships, degree and non-degree research, policy and process development, governance restructuring, partnership mediation, strategy development, fund raising, project management cycle and monitoring and evaluation. Conceptually, this is sound, but the challenge is to operationalize it within the context of clear priorities and assessments of tradeoffs.The budget is based on the approved total 2016 budget for the extension phase of the component CRPs, DC, DS and GL. Whether it has been able to \"capture all possible synergies and efficiencies in management, R4D operations, partnerships, gender, youth and capacity development\" as claimed is impossible to assess. The overall synthesis of the budget and the details of arriving at the current combined annual budget of $137 m from the proposed 3-CRP total annual budget of $145 m are presented in Annex 12. After accounting for some of the DS CRP budget being allocated to WHEAT, the combined budget of DCLAS is more or less the sum of the relevant budgets of the three CRPs that make up DCLAS. Hence there has been limited success in seeking savings through integration.As submitted the budget seems to be high for some FPs, e.g. > US$ 300 million on genetic enhancement FPs; i.e., about US$ 4 million per year for each commodity included, or about 8 SSY if using an average of US$ 0.5 million. This appears to be on the high side in the early years, when there are important unanswered questions about the breeding targets. It might make sense to proceed more slowly in breeding until there is more clarity on the priority problems to be addressed through plant science and the resources and approaches that will be brought to bear. Funding across FPs varies without indicating if this results from priority setting within the CRP (unlikely) or just from aggregating activity-based budgets. Priority setting should be driving the resource allocation. The proposed new CRP governance and management structure, following IEA guidelines, is presented in Annex 9. Partnerships are key for this CRP, hence, DCLAS involves partners on R & D undertakings and in the management and oversight of this program. This CRP will also seek public-private partnerships for up-scaling accessing novel cutting-edge technology. The membership of a donor in the governance and management of the CRP has the potential to lead to conflicts of interest. Leaders are not yet in place for DCLAS but the pre-proposal provides sound terms of reference for recruiting leaders of FPs and CoAs.Although no partnership strategy document was included, the section on strategic fit of partners clearly indicates that DCLAS has put a lot of thought into the relevance of particular partners for specific activities. For example, for pre-breeding, research links with ARIs are strong, while for seed systems research the importance of the private sector as a partner is highlighted. The section on stakeholder commitment shows that partners are engaged and committed. Ongoing national-level discussions are strengthened by historical partnerships of participating centres, and newer partnerships are being established across public and private multinational organizations. New partners are also being sought. Each FP has a sub-section on the kinds of partners that will be involved in research activities. For the full proposal it would be helpful to see partner lists refined so that they are showing the most important collaborators, as opposed to a fairly exhaustive list of which other groups are involved.This FP asks all the right questions that this CRP needs to address but it is surprising that these questionsor at least some of themhave not previously been addressed by the three Phase 1 CRPs (for their respective domains). Still, this work needs to be done. An important question is whether it makes sense to proceed with other FPsand if so, at what level of engagement and investmentbefore some key questions posed here have been answered.Despite the importance of this priority setting work, the pre-proposal is somewhat vague as to how these important questions will be answered. The list of questions is better than the discussion of methods and approaches. Some references to modelling work raise more questions than they answer. Also, links of expected outputs with national and regional priorities and initiatives are not given. The feasibility of the impact pathways are hard to judge based on the text and supporting graphs.The FP leadership team has not yet been identified, but short briefings of those involved in drafting the pre-proposal are provided. Publications are listed but without reference to the CRP research. The lessons learned are unclear since there was no reference on how things have changed or even been dropped on the basis of past CRP learning.Generic statements about comparative advantage are given based on having 'critical mass' rather than showing professional expertise and profile available and noting areas in which skills will be sought through new partnerships. There would certainly be some advantages to working with IFPRI/PIM on this work, as well as with some external teams. But ultimately it is not clear that anyone else will do this work. The CoA in FP1 on climate change impact analysis proposes that DCLAS will work intensively with CCAFS, but this is not given the same level of prominence in the CCAFS proposal where DCLAS is listed as a collaborator on one topic only.Issues of gender are dealt with very well here (CoAs deal with gender & youth issues and enabling environment), and there is some good discussion of how priorities should reflect the difficulties in the enabling environment. However, capacity building is not really emphasized.The budget seems reasonable; and perhaps could be increased relative to the other FPs. The resources sought are about 10% of the CRP total budget for six expected outcomes related to priority setting, value chains, climate change, innovation systems, drivers of adoption, and M&E, which may be on the low side within the CRP allocation. Arguably this is money well spent, as it will help with the whole targeting of the CRP.FP 2: Pre-Breeding and Trait Discovery [Score: B] This FP proposes strategic investments on genomic-led breeding for 4 dryland cereals and 8 food legumes. Unfortunately the text and graph in the annex do not elaborate further on how the research translates into impacts. The argument is made effectively that genetic resources in these crops have been underexploited and are not well characterized, and there are clear claims for the strategic relevance of this research and the ways it will feed into a range of genetic improvements that will lead to IDO and SLO outcomes. A matrix indicating the priority traits that align to demand in target agro-eco-zones could be very useful to have, particularly if showing ex ante impacts, which may be further used for resource allocation across crops, traits and target population of environments.The problem, however, is that if FP1 arguments are correct (i.e., that priority region-specific traits are not yet known), then this FP2 work appears unfocused. It is possible that there is still some work for this FP that would make sense to carry out even in the absence of a coherent set of priorities, but these should be identified and justified in the proposal, leaving much of the rest of the work to wait until after FP1 has identified clear avenues of priority.This FP builds on advances in genomics and phenotyping. In addition, it aims to capitalize on comparative biology within crop clusters: dryland cereals and legumes. The scientific quality of this FP is high. The members of the writing team have their skills and track record for engaging in this CRP, as noted in their CVs and publication lists. The lessons learnt are noted clearly in the text and how, based on them, this FP was built. Although it provides a partner list, it does not indicate their value regarding contributions that lead to impacts. It only divides them into those delivering knowledge and expertise for the deployment of genetic resources in breeding (namely ARIs as per examples given) or those assisting in development and delivery of outputs to useful outcome (selected NARS).There are some statements referring to breeding of traits relevant to women in dryland systems but, generally little or no emphasis has been given to other cross cutting issues such as enabling environments and capacity development. This is important work, but it would not be prudent to spend the $22m per year budgeted on pre-breeding and trait discovery without a more focused understanding of which traits are desired. One possibility, then, is that the revised pre-proposal should make the case that the targets are indeed already well understood (in contrast to FP1). Alternatively, the proponents should come back with a pre-proposal showing how the research outputs of FP1 will inform a sequenced build-up of FP2. In this latter case, the FP2 budget in initial years would remain relatively small, with work focused on upstream science and on developing capacity. Then in subsequent years, activities would expand, focused on the newly identified priorities.The pre-proposal includes a generic impact pathway for plant breeding contributing to improved productivity that leads to lower prices and, in turn, to higher per capita consumption and nutritional benefits among the poor. It does not elaborate, however, on the links of expected outputs with national or regional priorities. The same issues noted above for FP2 apply here, perhaps more so. It would seem pointless to develop varieties and hybrids without a richer understanding of the targets. If the traits desired by farmers and consumers are not yet well specified, the benefit of pursuing this FP at this stage is not clear.The proposers of this FP claim that the anchor crops of this CRP are \"orphan crops\" without providing evidence. Soybean (widely viewed as a model legume species and with significant investments by the private seed sector) can surely not be viewed in this light. For that matter, neither barley nor sorghum can be regarded in this category. As a side note, it would be interesting to know why barley is included in this CRP rather than grouped with wheat, given that both belong to the Triticeae and share to a large extent the breeding approach and methods.There are real issues around comparative advantage here, particularly since the FP envisions a move wholly into hybrids. In this sphere, there are other providers, including private sector and public sector entities. Although the FP does speak to potential partnerships, there areA partner list is given in pre-proposal as well as the strategy to select them.Gender integration is elaborated in the FP text, which also includes some scattered statements on the importance of the enabling environment. Capacity development is based on scientific training, both on genomics and phenotyping, but indicators or country targets are not given. Not too much thought has been given to cross-cutting issues generally. This FP aims for 16.7% of the proposed budget, which seems appropriate if this is pursued at full scale. But, as per the case of FP2, it may make sense to pursue a smaller and more narrowly targeted program of breeding and development of hybrid varieties, until such time as the CRP's breeding objectives can be more fully articulated and various development hypotheses tested.The pre-proposal makes a reasonable case that seed systems need to be changed as part of the overall pathway to impact for this CRP. It is not clear, however, that the CGIAR has any real ability to influence the design or functioning of seed systems at the national level. To the extent that this can be done, it will also not be done solely within this CRP, but through collaboration with other crop CRPs. So even if one is convinced of the ToC as presented, it is not altogether clear that this is a sensible area for this CRP to be spending its own resources on. Furthermore, the ToC needs to be questioned. The argument is (a) varieties are not being adopted, so (b) we need to improve seed delivery. But there are many reasons why varieties are not adopted. Perhaps they are not suited to farmers needs. Maybe farmers make more money doing other things than growing those crops. Have these possibilities been sufficiently examined? Here again, FP1 activity is a necessary precursor to this FP.There do not appear to be any issues of scientific quality here, although there are some questions to be explored about how best to deliver high-quality seed in the environments under consideration. This FP includes two research question clusters, but it does not elaborate on the novelty of the approach or how it builds on lessons learnt. This CRP has no obvious comparative advantage in addressing the problems of seed system development, management, or regulation. They can identify this as a constraint, but either they need to get around the problem by developing hybrid platforms that are sufficiently interesting that the private sector will get engaged in a big way (as has happened in some countries), or they need to work on OPVs that do not rely so much on effective seed systems. There are lots of strategic questions here, but the notion that this CRP is going to deliver research findings to governments that will convince them to develop high-functioning seed systems is not realistic. This FP accounts for almost 12% of the proposed budget, which translates into an average of 23 SSY. Spending US$13 million per year on this FP is, in the ISPC judgement, a poor use of resources. It would be more strategic to undertake this work as an integrative activity across commodities, rather than to repeat it commodity by commodity. The answers might be similar across different commodities, but the contrasts would help sharpen the conclusions while extending the scope of relevance of the findings (i.e., produce IPGs). For this and other issues cited above, the ISPC believes that this work should be merged with other CRP FPs dealing with seed systems. This might result in a single FP, possibly within PIM.FP 5: Integrated Land, Water and Crop Management [Score: B] This FP shows a feasible impact pathway in a diagram with supporting text indicating its alignment with sub-IDOs and expected outcomes. Its clusters address grand challenges such as adopting climate-resilient agricultural practices, reducing risk, improving food security and combating land degradation. This FP seems to be the real intellectual nexus of the CRP. How can land, water, trees, and crops (and livestockthe omission of which from this FP is puzzling) be integrated into effective dryland systems? The FP offers well posed questions (p. 57) that seem central to the work of the CRP. As with FP1, however, it is somewhat odd that this work is seen as distinct from FP2 and FP3. The systems work should be driving the targets for those FPs. At the moment, that does not come through in the CRP proposal or in any of the respective FP sections. While the ToC for this FP is not yet convincing, this is strategically important for this CRP;FP1 and FP5 (and FP 6) are logical precursors to FP2 and FP3. FP5 is a huge program of research and prioritization, and focus is needed.The questions are well articulated here. What is less clear is how the questions are to be answered, and what has been learned from the past. The systems questions are difficult and complex. How will the FP make progress in understanding which interventions are crucial for altering dryland systems? Will this be trial and error? How much will it depend on modelling? Are there any innovative approaches that can be or have been used to guide the process of altering the system? The writing team for this flagship shows appropriate technical competency as per CVs and publications but does not mention what they achieved in previous CRPs. Its text does not indicate what the lessons learnt from previous work on CRPs was for developing further this pre-proposal.It is difficult to see who else could possibly do this work and thus this CRP has a clear comparative advantage. However, partners are named in generic terms without indicating how they add value either through scientific contribution or by enhancing the probability of impact. Excellent attention is given to issues of gender and youth. Capacity building is a little further down the list.The resources sought are about 23% of the DCLAS budget, which translates to 50 SSY, though there is no indication of where they will be working or what they will be doing. The largest and smallest budget allocations were given to expected outcomes related to integrated pest management and land/water conservation, respectively, while the other four expected outcomes share about the same funding. It remains unclear whether this partial uneven budgeting per expected output emerged from a sound priority setting. Consideration should be given to prioritizing this FP in the early years. This work is surely the basis on which the future work of the CRP will rest.FP 6: Improved Rural Livelihood Systems [Score: B] The strategic relevance of this section is excellent, although it is not entirely clear why it is distinct from FP5 or FP7. It would make good sense to combine some or all of these. The key here is thinking about the income-generating side of dryland grain and legume production as well as the increased direct consumption. The questions (p. 66) are well posed although, as with FP5, it is not clear how they will be answered. Assuming they can be, these broader livelihoods questions can and must be used as an input to priority setting for the breeding programs. The FP shows a plausible ToC showing links between its outcomesensuing from research output deliveryto the sub-IDOs. FP6 is well-constructed and no doubt benefits from the intensive and comprehensive exercise carried out by the DS CRP during 2014-2015 in terms of developing a systems approach and prioritization.The scientific capacity of the team seems strong and the quality of the questions posed is high. As with FP5, there is concern about the approaches that will be used to answer these questions, which are difficult and methodologically challenging. With respect to comparative advantage, it is not clear who else would realistically carry out this work. Gender is well discussed here, whereas capacity building is not very well handled, and the enabling environment does not get too much attention. Attention is given to data management/big data.FP6 might be another candidate for prioritizing early on in Phase 2 of this CRP, before shifting resources heavily to the breeding side. There might be budgetary synergies in combining this work with FP1, FP5, and FP7. While integrating FPs 1, 5 and 6 and front loading those efforts makes sense, an important qualifier is the likely mismatch with current human resources: breeders are unlikely to have the inclinations and professional expertise to undertake the required socio/economic/policy/political research needed. The ToC of this FP aligns various sub-IDOs and IDOs, links them to results of outcomes, and indicates target countries and key assumptions. The diagram included in the annex for this FP shows feasible impact pathways. However, this needs to be considered within the context of livelihoods overall. Otherwise there is a risk of creating a lot more dead end projects. This also is an opportunity to consider building relationships with some very unconventional, very exciting partners in the private sector, and among serious NGOs and academics.This FP brings back timely postharvest research to the CGIAR using multidisciplinary and inter-institutional approaches, involving broad strategic partnerships. The writing team members show professional expertise on researching postharvest related issues, and benefit from lessons learnt on on-going CRPs (A4NH, DC and GL) that provide platforms and learning experiences for linking agriculture to improved nutrition. It also builds on exploratory research on product development and diversification in the two commodity CRPs noted above. Here again, it is not clear how the questions will be answered. It would be nice to see something other than a trial and error process in which different interventions are tried and then evaluated. Perhaps this links to FP1? FP7 needs to be set in a value chain context to give it focus and may be more effectively done by responding to the interests of entrepreneurs and private firms (and perhaps also NGOs) as opposed to trying to drive the process from the supply end (i.e., from a research establishment). Priorities are needed. The cluster on business incubation for entrepreneurship is relevant as a CRP level activity rather than confined to this cluster. Gender and enabling environments are dealt with effectively; this is less true of capacity building. This is the smallest FP budget by a considerable margin, and as noted above, it might make sense to merge this into FP6 and FP1 in some fashion in the revised pre-proposal. Is this FP of sufficient size and scale to be effective?"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8781421d7c1686e756b289a71b7a5f50","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/af5612c7-1979-455f-8390-f255f82a3ada/retrieve","id":"992008758"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d7216de8-9894-4d1b-9f84-00c37cbfa2cd","content":"Social protection programs (SPPs) are designed to help individuals and households cope with chronic poverty, destitution, and vulnerability (World Bank, 2018). In the context of food systems, SPPs can help tackle the challenge of affordability of healthy diets. Nutritionsensitive SPPs include conditions or additional interventions that enhance impacts on nutrition (Ruel and Alderman, 2013). This research note organizes SPPs in South Asia using an existing framework, describes their characteristics (scale, entitled benefits, and eligibility) and provides examples of features that can be added to SPPs to make them more nutrition-sensitive. December 2023 Research Note 11Existing social protection programs can be made more nutrition-sensitive by incorporating design features such as:• Targeting households with pregnant women and/or young children (under 2 years old).• Using targeting mechanisms to reach the poorest, most food insecure households with limited access to nutritious foods.• Including a nutrition behavior change communication (BCC) component.• Linking the program to health services and ensuring that beneficiaries have access to -and use -preventive/curative health services/• Including interventions to empower women.• Providing or ensuring access to foods (or food vouchers) with a high nutritional value.• Including other measures to promote healthy diets and improve nutrition outcomes.Source: World Bank Atlas of Social Protection: Indicators of Resilience and Equity (ASPIRE) project (World Bank, 2018).What makes an SPP nutrition-sensitive? There is no standard formal definition of nutrition-sensitive, but in this note, we offer a working definition and provide examples of how SPPs can be made more nutrition-sensitive.While all transfers, whether cash or food, can increase food consumption, nutrition-sensitive SPPs enhance their nutritional impact through design features such as targeting, behavior change communication (BCC), linkage to health services, empowering women, or other measures to improve nutrition outcomes.Cash may or may not be nutrition-sensitive, depending on the nature and objectives of the transfer (Manley et al., 2022). Any cash that a household receives is an additional resource to purchase food, and poor households typically spend more than half of their income on food (Lipton, 1983). However, to be nutrition-sensitive, the transfer should be linked with nutrition goals and objectives. For example, a cash transfer that includes BCC on healthy food purchasing behaviors would be more nutrition-sensitive than a cash transfer without such BCC.Food transfers may or may not be nutrition-sensitive, depending on the type of food provided and the nature of the nutrition problem in the population targeted. For example, a cooking oil subsidy in a population with high rates of overweight/obesity and micronutrient (MN) deficiencies would not be expected to lead to improvements in MN status and could worsen overweight/obesity.The contribution of food transfers to nutrition relative to cash transfers can be enhanced by judicious choice of foods and by the inclusion of (bio)fortified foods, especially in areas where MN deficiencies are prevalent. As with cash, a full assessment of the nutrition sensitivity of food or other in-kind transfers includes the role of design features beyond the budgetary support from the transfer.Programs that empower women or that are linked to a nutrition intervention such as BCC are likely to increase the nutrition sensitivity of the SPP; and there is evidence that they indeed have greater impact on nutritional outcomes when incorporated into the SPPs (Manley et al., 2022).Similarly, programs can be made more nutrition-sensitive by targeting households with members in the \"1,000 days\" period from pregnancy to the child's second birthday, a critical window for improving nutrition.It should not be forgotten that coordination across multiple agencies responsible for planning or delivering different intervention components is critical for achieving nutrition impacts through SPPs. Some of the best opportunities for improving nutrition may lie at the intersection of agriculture, food system, education, and health sectors. For example, a school meal program may be enhanced through tie-ups with local farmer organizations and healthcare workers to introduce fresh vegetables to meals and educate students about healthy diets. Without proper interministerial coordination, however, such a program would likely have limited success.The following features can be considered in the design of new SPPs or as add-ons to existing SPPs to make them more nutrition-sensitive:• Targeting households with pregnant women and/or young children (under 2 years old).• Using targeting mechanisms to reach the poorest, most food insecure households with limited access to nutritious foods.• Including a nutrition BCC component.• Linking the program to health services and ensuring that beneficiaries have access to -and use -preventive/curative health services/• Including interventions to empower women.• Providing or ensuring access to foods (or food vouchers) with a high nutritional value.• Including other measures to promote healthy diets and improve nutrition outcomes.There is evidence that including several of these features may lead to greater nutrition impacts. For example, in Bangladesh, a randomized controlled trial found that including both agriculture and nutrition trainings led to larger impacts on dietary diversity than either training alone (Ahmed et al. 2023).In Table 1 on the following pages, we list different types of SPPs and indicate potential opportunities to make them more nutrition-sensitive. We note that not all SPPs were designed with nutrition in mind or have obvious entry points for adding nutrition-sensitive components, hence we judge that some types of SPPs have limited scope for enhancing nutrition sensitivity. However, the examples provided for increasing nutrition sensitivity are illustrative, and each program team should discuss the best ways to make their program more nutrition-sensitive based on available resources, beneficiary needs, and the context.  We used information from socialprotection.org, supplemented with web searches and discussions with in-country partners, to identify the number of SPPs that currently exist in each country (Table 2). To limit the scope of this note, we only included programs under the initiative of the national governments. Most of the programs included are large-scale programs covering most of the respective country.Bangladesh had the most SPPs ( 27) and Pakistan had the least (6). Tables 3, 4, 5, and 6 provide additional details on program scale, entitlements, and eligibility requirements in each country.      Photo credit: Samuel Scott"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"09269879606d87e2e2f7a97a8e7e37a3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4af3dc74-cb93-451d-9ff8-59e8167d0129/retrieve","id":"1781021276"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0fd71b63-72e4-4184-ba45-fce513de7865","content":"Le Centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale (CTA) est une institution internationale conjointe des États du Groupe ACP (Afrique, Caraïbes, Pacifique) et de l'Union européenne (UE). Il intervient dans les pays ACP pour améliorer la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle, accroître la prospérité dans les zones rurales et garantir une bonne gestion des ressources naturelles. Il facilite l'accès à l'information et aux connaissances, favorise l'élaboration des politiques agricoles dans la concertation et renforce les capacités des institutions et communautés concernées. Le CTA opère dans le cadre de l'Accord de Cotonou et est financé par l'UE. Pour plus d'informations sur le CTA, visitez www.cta.intLes appellations employées dans ce produit d'information et la présentation des données qui y figurent n'impliquent de la part du CTA ou de l'Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture (FAO) aucune prise de position quant au statut juridique ou au stade de développement des pays, territoires, villes ou zones ou de leurs autorités, ni quant au tracé de leurs frontières ou limites. La mention de sociétés déterminées ou de produits de fabricants, qu'ils soient ou non brevetés, n'entraîne, de la part du CTA ou de la FAO, aucune approbation ou recommandation desdits produits de préférence à d'autres de nature analogue qui ne sont pas cités. Les opinions exprimées dans ce produit d'information sont celles du/des auteur(s) et ne reflètent pas nécessairement les vues ou les politiques du CTA ou de la FAO.Le CTA et la FAO encouragent l'utilisation, la reproduction et la diffusion des informations figurant dans ce produit d'information. Sauf indication contraire, le contenu peut être copié, téléchargé et imprimé aux fins d'étude privée, de recherches ou d'enseignement, ainsi que pour utilisation dans des produits ou services non commerciaux, sous réserve que le CTA et la FAO soient correctement mentionnés comme sources et comme titulaires du droit d'auteur et à condition qu'il ne soit sous-entendu en aucune manière que le CTA et la FAO approuveraient les opinions, produits ou services des utilisateurs.Toute demande relative aux droits de traduction ou d'adaptation, à la revente ou à d'autres droits d'utilisation commerciale doit être adressée par courriel àEn 2012, le CTA et la FAO ont réalisé des études de cas sur dix-huit chaînes de valeur dans onze pays d'Afrique de l'Est, centrale et de l'Ouest, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique. Ces études avaient pour vocation d'identifier les facteurs dont dépend le développement de chaînes de valeur commerciales dans les pays ACP ; elles s'intéressaient notamment à la maximisation de l'inclusion des petits producteurs, aux différentes façons de rendre la chaîne de valeur plus écologique et enfin, aux problématiques liées au développement durable.La présente publication résume les conclusions des études de cas et tire des enseignements quant aux facteurs propices à la réussite et aux contraintes qui pèsent sur les initiatives entrepreneuriales et la viabilité commerciale.Nous sommes convaincus qu'elle s'avérera utile aux gouvernements, mais aussi aux entreprises privées ainsi qu'aux parties prenantes du développement des chaînes de valeur, comme les bailleurs de fonds et les ONG. Dans tous les pays ACP, il est essentiel d'identifier les stratégies et les priorités du secteur public en termes de développement des chaînes de valeur. Dans ces pays, le secteur agroalimentaire représente une importante source de revenus pour les populations les plus pauvres, qui peuvent tirer parti des chaînes de valeur inclusives pour améliorer considérablement leurs moyens de subsistance. L'inclusivité ne doit toutefois pas être obtenue à tout prix : les chaînes de valeur doivent être aussi efficaces que durables. Par conséquent, la présente publication met en avant certaines initiatives écologiques de premier plan mises en oeuvre par les chaînes de valeur à l'étude.La FAO et le CTA partagent un même objectif : prendre la mesure des approches de développement de chaînes de valeur durables, mais aussi viables d'un point de vue économique. Nous sommes ravis d'avoir eu la possibilité de travailler de concert sur cette publication, qui s'inscrit dans la lignée des nombreuses années de collaboration fructueuse entre nos deux organisations. xet Grenada Chocolate Company, à l'origine de la production sur le territoire national et de l'exportation de produits chocolatés biologiques.Piments/Jamaïque -Piments cultivés par des petits et moyens producteurs, puis transformés et exportés par le Grace Kennedy Group. Axe d'étude : création d'un réseau d'agriculture contractuelle pour approvisionner un nouveau site de transformation pour produire de la purée de piments.OEufs/Jamaïque -Oeufs produits par les membres de la Jamaica Egg Farmers Association et transformés en oeufs liquides destinés principalement au secteur hôtelier intérieur. Axe d'étude : valeur ajoutée stimulée par les producteurs, destinée à augmenter les ventes nationales en substitution aux importations.mangues/Haïti -Mangues fraîches et morceaux de mangues surgelés exportés par JMB SA. Axe d'étude : rôle de l'Association des producteurs et vendeurs de fruits du Sud ainsi que la valeur ajoutée et le traitement de quarantaine de la JMB.taro/Fidji -Taro frais destiné à l'exportation produit sur l'île fidjienne de Taveuni. Axe d'étude : déclenchement de la croissance rapide de la production suite à une mauvaise récolte à Samoa, réparation des dégâts écologiques provoqués par sa culture sur l'île de Taveuni, et mesures protectionnistes de l'Australie vis-à-vis de ses producteurs de taro.Papaye/Fidji -Papaye cultivée à Fidji et destinée à l'exportation sous sa forme fraîche. Axe d'étude : moyens par lesquels Fidji a recréé un marché d'exportation en créant la Nature's Way Cooperative afin de gérer un site de traitement de quarantaine, et l'impact de cette décision sur le développement et la structure de la chaîne de valeur.vanille/vanuatu -Exportation de la vanille. Axe d'étude : rôle joué par Venui Vanilla, unique exportateur du pays, et par son partenariat avec une ONG, dans la création d'une chaîne de valeur viable pour une matière première à haute valeur ajoutée produite et transformée par des producteurs isolés.Les études de cas témoignent de la grande diversité des chaînes de valeur agricoles dans les pays ACP, qui présentent des différences notables en termes de longévité, de structure et de pratiques. Malgré ces différences, de nombreuses thématiques fortes émergent de l'ensemble des études :• Les chaînes de valeur agricoles créées par une initiative privée se développent avant tout dans l'optique d'exploiter des opportunités commerciales et non de tirer parti de simples augmentations de la production.• Les mesures de libéralisation des marchés agricoles prises par les gouvernements nationaux des pays ACP ont eu des répercussions fondamentales sur le développement et la structure des chaînes de valeur actuelles, notamment en Afrique.• Les incitations fiscales sont un moyen efficace d'encourager la croissance des chaînes de valeur agricoles, bien qu'ils risquent d'en fausser le jeu.• L'évolution des technologies et de l'environnement extérieur sont fréquemment des facteurs déterminants pour la mise en place et la structure des chaînes de valeur agricoles.• L'intégration des producteurs aux chaînes de valeur peut avoir des avantages tant pour les producteurs eux-mêmes que pour les autres participants. En effet, les chaînes de valeur agricoles fonctionnent souvent de manière plus efficace lorsque les petits exploitants agricoles ont établi des partenariats avec les fournisseurs d'intrants et de services et avec les entités qui commercialisent et transforment leur production.• Selon les caractéristiques de la chaîne, l'agriculture contractuelle, l'intégration verticale ou un mélange des deux peut s'avérer efficace pour favoriser l'inclusion des petits producteurs.• À condition d'arriver à contrôler les phénomènes de vente parallèle, l'agriculture contractuelle est l'option qui sera la plus profitable aux paysans quand l'entreprise contractante qui achète la production des exploitants est mise en concurrence avec d'autres acheteurs.• L'intégration verticale en aval des petits exploitants agricoles sera la plus efficace si elle porte sur des activités qui ne présentent pas de difficultés sur le plan technique et qui peuvent être facilement gérées.• L'adoption de nombreuses activités dites « vertes », y compris de mesures non polluantes pour améliorer le rendement par hectare, est motivée par les forces du marché plutôt que par des efforts explicites pour se montrer écologique : il est dans l'intérêt des paysans de préserver les ressources naturelles productives. Quand elles sont certifiées comme telles, les mesures « vertes » peuvent également hausser les prix de vente du produit brut et des produits dérivés. Les nombreuses méthodes visant à augmenter la rentabilité de la production, de la transformation et du transport participent également, même de manière fortuite, à la préservation des ressources naturelles.• Aujourd'hui, les transformateurs de produits agricoles dans les mains de grandes entreprises adoptent systématiquement des mesures visant à minimiser et/ou à atténuer les impacts environnementaux négatifs, tant pour respecter la législation environnementale en vigueur que pour établir une image de marque écologique.• Les archipels ACP des Caraïbes et du Pacifique sont capables d'exporter des matières premières agricoles malgré les coûts de production élevés engendrés par l'absence d'économies d'échelle. Ceci est principalement dû à leurs caractéristiques agro-climatiques, physiques et culturelles uniques.En 2012, le CTA a commandé plusieurs études distinctes sur les chaînes de valeur agricoles en Afrique de l'Est et centrale, en Afrique de l'Ouest et dans les Caraïbes et le Pacifique. 1 Ces études, qui ont été financées par la FAO, portaient sur des questions liées aux chaînes de valeur « vertes », inclusives et durables qui ont été mises en place grâce à des initiatives privées.Au début de l'année 2013, un rapport a été établi pour chacune de ces régions. Le présent rapport résume et intègre les conclusions des quatre rapports régionaux et se concentre sur le caractère inclusif et « vert » de ces chaînes, ainsi que sur les aspects novateurs et intéressants au niveau de leur structure et de leur développement.La production d'un produit agricole et sa transformation en un ou en plusieurs produits livré(s) aux marchés finaux impliquent une succession d'activités. L'analyse des chaînes de valeur se concentre sur les entreprises impliquées dans ces activités et sur les relations commerciales qu'elles entretiennent les unes avec les autres. Généralement, ce type d'analyse couvre l'ensemble des activités, depuis la fourniture d'intrants et de services aux exploitants jusqu'à la vente aux utilisateurs finaux.Les « chaînes de valeur » auxquelles s'intéressent les études de cas ACP font essentiellement référence à une partie de l'ensemble du réseau national de canaux d'écoulement d'un seul pays pour un seul produit agricole. Les études de cas se concentrent donc soit sur la partie de la production qui est 1 1 Introduction exportée, soit sur la partie de la production qui transite par un sous-ensemble d'un ou de plusieurs transformateur(s) ou exportateur(s). Pour chaque étude de cas, le terme « chaîne de valeur » est employé pour faire référence au réseau de canaux sur lequel l'étude s'est axée.Le rapport pour la région constituée par l'Afrique de l'Ouest et l'Afrique centrale couvre cinq chaînes de valeur dans trois pays : trois chaînes en Afrique de l'Ouest et deux en Afrique centrale. Ces cinq chaînes ont été choisies par l'auteur du rapport pour (a) couvrir des chaînes présentant différents degrés de participation des petits exploitants, (b) inclure un pays politiquement stable (le Ghana) et un pays qui se relève d'une guerre civile (le Libéria) et (c) inclure des chaînes d'Afrique de l'Ouest et d'Afrique centrale. Pour cette dernière, c'est le Cameroun qui a été choisi car il est de loin la plus grande économie au sein de la Communauté économique et monétaire d'Afrique centrale (CEMAC). Quatre des chaînes de valeur portent sur des produits agricoles qui sont essentiellement exportés. La cinquième s'intéresse au maïs qui est utilisé sur le marché intérieur.Le rapport pour l'Afrique de l'Est examine les chaînes de valeur pour dix produits agricoles, c'est-à-dire le double du nombre de produits couverts par les autres études régionales. Le présent rapport s'est intéressé aux cinq chaînes qui présentent les caractéristiques les plus significatives. Il s'agit de trois cultures en Ouganda et de deux produits agricoles au Kenya (le thé et le lait). Les cultures ougandaises se substituent toutes aux importations. Au Kenya, on cultive le thé principalement pour l'exportation. En revanche, la quasitotalité de la production nationale kenyane de lait est consommée sur place.Le rapport sur les pays des Caraïbes couvre les chaînes de valeur pour quatre cultures et un produit d'élevage (les oeufs produits à la Jamaïque).Elles ont été choisies dans une première liste de dix chaînes, afin de couvrir des chaînes présentant des structures différentes et des configurations technologiques, de produits et de marché diverses. Les produits dérivés de trois des quatre cultures choisies sont essentiellement exportés. À la Grenade, les produits fabriqués à base de cacao sont principalement vendus sur le marché local. À la Jamaïque, les oeufs qui entrent dans la chaîne sont vendus sur le marché local, frais ou sous forme de produit transformé.Le rapport pour la région des îles du Pacifique se fonde sur l'analyse des chaînes de valeur pour trois cultures qui sont toute principalement exportées.8On trouvera des descripteurs des 18 études de cas au Tableau 1.Les différentes chaînes de valeur choisies pour l'étude offrent une grande diversité. Cela découle en partie des différences marquées qui caractérisent ces pays ACP en termes de superficie, de population et de densité de En plus des différences au niveau de la structure actuelle des chaînes, on observe des différences marquées par rapport à la nature du développement apporté à la chaîne :• Quelques études portent sur le développement récent de chaînes de valeur bien établies, notamment des chaînes pour le cacao au Cameroun, le caoutchouc au Cameroun et au Libéria, l'ananas au Ghana, le sucre en Ouganda, le thé au Kenya, les agrumes au Belize et les mangues en Haïti. Ce développement a impliqué toute une série de changements, comme l'amélioration de l'efficacité et de l'impact environnemental de la production et des activités post-récolte à la ferme, la forte extension de la capacité de traitement de l'entreprise cible, l'amélioration de la coopération entre les entités à différentes étapes de la chaîne, les ajouts aux variétés qui sont transformées ou encore l'élargissement de la gamme des produits de l'entreprise cible. Dans chacune de ces chaînes, les niveaux d'activité auxquels opèrent l'entreprise cible ont peu évolué récemment.• Une des études, celle portant sur les piments à la Jamaïque, s'attache à une entreprise bien installée qui s'est déplacée en amont, vers une agriculture sous contrat et la transformation primaire et en aval, dans le sens de produits manufacturés destinés à un important marché étranger.• Deux des études, celles portant sur le sorgho et l'orge en Ouganda, s'intéressent à des entreprises préexistantes qui se sont investies relativement récemment dans un produit qui était déjà cultivé dans le pays à d'autres fins. 2• D'autres études encore portent sur des entreprises établies relativement récemment dans le but de concurrencer les importations ou des entreprises existantes opérant en aval de l'exploitation. Les oeufs à la Jamaïque, le lait au Kenya et le cacao à la Grenade appartiennent à cette catégorie.• Dans le cas du maïs au Ghana, un fournisseur d'intrants opère à présent en aval, dans le soutien à de petits producteurs de maïs et il s'est investi dans l'acquisition et la commercialisation de leur production.• Deux des entreprises ciblées du Pacifique (le taro et la papaye aux îles Fidji) se sont développées pour rencontrer de nouveaux marchés ; ce développement est survenu à l'improviste et assez rapidement, en raison d'événements imprévus.• Enfin, une étude de cas, la vanille au Vanuatu, porte sur une culture qui n'existait pas précédemment dans le pays et qui a été introduite il y a environ 20 ans à l'initiative d'une seule personne.Dans la pratique, il existe des recoupements entre ces catégories au niveau 2 On utilisait déjà le sorgho pour la bière traditionnelle. Les UBL ont initié le brassage industriel. Avant d'être utilisé en brasserie, l'orge était cultivée en Ouganda, mais en très petites quantités.10 12 de chacune des chaînes de valeur et de son développement 2 2Cette section décrit brièvement la chaîne de valeur traitée par chacune des études de cas.Les études de cas pour cette région couvrent toutes des chaînes de valeur qui sont caractérisées par un produit qui transite par une seule grande entreprise. 16 Les études de cas pour cette région couvrent toutes des chaînes de valeur qui sont caractérisées par un produit qui transite par une seule grande entreprise. Chaque étude accorde une attention toute particulière aux groupes, associations et coopératives de petits exploitants. On estime que la production laitière représente 14 % du PIB agricole du Kenya. Bien que de vastes zones semi-arides soient consacrées au pastoralisme, la plus grande partie du lait du pays est produite sur les hauts plateaux à fort potentiel kenyans, principalement par environ 1,5 million de petits exploitants qui fournissent plus de 70 % de la production commercialisée. Un petit exploitant typique est propriétaire d'1 ou 2 ha de terres et de 2 à 5 têtes de bétail produisant environ 5 litres de lait par vache quotidiennement, dont une moyenne de 45 % est habituellement consommée par les membres du ménage et les jeunes veaux. 15 Environ 20 % de la production et un peu plus de 40 % de la production commercialisée sont traités par des coopératives et des groupements d'exploitants. Le lait national est encore souvent consommé à l'état cru, même dans les zones urbaines. Toutefois, il existe à présent un marché très concurrentiel pour le lait et les produits laitiers transformés qui sont consommés principalement par les familles à revenu moyen ou supérieur. 16 En 2012, on estimait la consommation de lait dans le secteur formel à 495 millions de litres. 17La commercialisation du lait a été libéralisée en 1992 avec la mise en oeuvre d'un ensemble de réformes, parmi lesquelles l'abolition du monopole des Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC) pour le traitement formel du lait, la libéralisation du prix du lait et la légalisation de la vente de lait cru dans les zones urbaines. Ces mesures ont ouvert la voie à une transformation radicale de la mise en marché des produits laitiers. (« Brookside ») qui se partage à présent le secteur formel du traitement du lait avec les nouvelles KCC (qui ont désormais été intégrées dans la New Kenya Cooperative Creameries Limited). 19 L'étude de cas de la production laitière au Kenya se concentre sur la chaîne de valeur pour le lait de la Brookside.L'entreprise a été fondée en 1993, c'est-à-dire peu après la libéralisation du marché du lait. Ses opérations de traitement couvrent actuellement le Kenya, la Tanzanie et l'Ouganda. Au Kenya, elle se fournit en lait auprès de 145 000 éleveurs sous-traitants dispersés sur six provinces qui lui fournissent quotidiennement une moyenne de plus de 600 000 litres de lait cru. 95 % des paysans sous contrat de la Brookside appartiennent à la catégorie des petits exploitants et 5 %, à la catégorie des exploitants commerciaux. Les paysans livrent leur production (directement ou par l'entremise de coopératives ou de groupes de paysans) à l'une des 30 stations de refroidissement et de groupage du lait appartenant à la BDL. L'entreprise produit une large gamme de produits laitiers qui sont principalement vendus au Kenya. Elle exporte également ses produits vers le Marché commun de l'Afrique australe et orientale (COMESA) et même vers le Moyen-Orient.La Brookside a appliqué une stratégie consistant à établir des liens forts avec les producteurs dans le but de faire progresser ses approvisionnements et d'améliorer l'efficacité avec laquelle sa principale matière première est produite et assemblée. La BDL semble actuellement jouer un rôle dominant dans la fixation des prix, puisque l'utilisation agressive qu'elle fait de son prix d'achat lui sert de moyen supplémentaire pour élargir ses parts du marché. 20Le Kenya est le troisième producteur mondial de thé après la Chine et l'Inde et sa production représente 10 % environ de la production mondiale.Les exportations mondiales sont dominées par le Kenya, la Chine, l'Inde et le Sri Lanka : chacun de ces pays représente 18 % environ du volume des exportations mondiales. 21Le secteur des plantations et le secteur plus important des petits exploitants se partagent l'industrie du thé au Kenya. Ce dernier regroupe 560 000 petits exploitants qui cultivent plus de 100 000 ha de thé. Toute la production nationale de feuilles fraîches est transformée en thé noir dans des usines de traitement à grande échelle.Depuis l'indépendance nationale de 1962, le développement du secteur kenyan des petits exploitants de thé a été piloté par la Kenya Tea Development Authority (l'autorité pour le développement du thé kenyan). Elle a coordonné les nouvelles plantations et la construction d'usines ; elle a également fourni des services aux paysans, a transformé et commercialisé leur thé et leur a restitué les ventes nettes réalisées par le biais d'un système à deux paiements. En 2000, cet organisme a été privatisé et la propriété de ses usines a été transférée à des sociétés créées par de petits cultivateurs.Le soutien au développement et les fonctions de gestion ont été confiés à la nouvelle Kenya Tea Development Agency Ltd (KTDA), une entreprise publique immatriculée au titre de la loi sur les sociétés (Cap 486). Dans le cadre des contrats avec chaque usine, la KTDA fournit des intrants et des services aux cultivateurs, collecte les feuilles fraîches, gère la fabrication du thé noir, commercialise ce thé et assure au secteur des petites exploitations un ensemble de services financiers et de développement. Aujourd'hui, il existe 66 usines de transformation des feuilles fraîches en thé noir qui sont la propriété de petits exploitants par l'entremise de 58 entreprises. 22 En 2012/13, la production totale de ces usines était de 258 000 tonnes de thé noir, ce qui correspond à 6 % environ de la production mondiale de thé noir et vert. 75 % environ des thés de la KTDA sont vendus sous la forme d'enchères à Mombasa, 15 % sont vendus directement pour la consommation intérieure ou l'export, 7 % sont vendus à la Kenya Tea Packers Ltd et 3 % sont vendus à des prix « sortie de l'usine ».La plupart des plantations de thé au Kenya sont la propriété de multinationales et chacune a mis en oeuvre un programme de durabilité pour obtenir une certification internationale. La plus importante multinationale est Unilever Tea Kenya Ltd (UTK), une filiale d'Unilever, le conglomérat anglohollandais qui a racheté les plantations de la Brooke Bond Kenya Ltd, en 2004. Elle possède à présent 20 plantations de thé kenyanes et huit usines de thé avec une production globale d'environ 32 000 tonnes de thé noir par an. Unilever est également le principal acheteur du thé produit par les petits exploitants kenyans.En 1999, l'UTK a lancé un programme d'agriculture durable pour sa production et, en 2007, elle a obtenu la certification de ces plantations par la Rainforest Alliance (RA). La stratégie d'Unilever consiste à convertir ses petits exploitants au thé certifié RA. Un premier objectif a été fixé en 2007 ; il consiste à faire en sorte qu'en 2015, tout le thé utilisé mondialement pour les mélanges de sa marque Lipton devra provenir de sources certifiées RA.L'étude de cas s'est concentrée sur les initiatives visant à former les petits planteurs aux pratiques durables par le biais d'un partenariat entre la KTDA, Unilever et la Rainforest Alliance (RA), avec l'appui de l'Initiative pour le commerce durable (IDH) 23 et du ministère britannique du Développement international (DFID). 24Quatre des cinq études de cas pour les Caraïbes se concentrent sur des chaînes de valeur pour des denrées alimentaires. Chaque chaîne présente des caractéristiques nettement différentes en termes de capacité de traitement, de date de constitution, du degré d'implication des petits exploitants et du degré de gestion de la chaîne. Plus récemment, la CPBL a investi dans des installations qui font un usage productif des sous-produits de la transformation, ce qui permet de générer des revenus supplémentaires pour l'entreprise, de réduire ses coûts unitaires de production et de réduire la pollution de l'environnement.La Grenade est l'île la plus méridionale des îles du Vent ; elle est située à 140 km environ au nord du Venezuela et à 2 500 km au sud-est de la Floride. Sa superficie n'est que de 344 km 2 et sa population, de 104 000 habitants.Le PIB par habitant de l'île, qui se situe autour de 8 000 de $ US, est le plus élevé de tous les pays sur lesquels les études de cas se sont penchées. Alors qu'elle était jadis une culture importante, la production de cacao a chuté, en partie à cause du fait que la capacité de production ne s'est pas encore tout à fait remise des dégâts causés par les ouragans de 2004 et 2005. Actuellement, la culture du cacao se fait principalement au sein de petites et moyennes exploitations.Cette étude de cas s'intéresse à la chaîne de valeur pour le cacao biologique produit par la Grenada Organic Cocoa Farmers Cooperative Society (OCFCS), dont les fèves sont fermentées et séchées dans une seule installation et sont transformées en produits de chocolat à forte valeur ajoutée par la Grenada Chocolate Company (GCC). La chaîne de valeur est très courte, avec une capacité de traitement dépendant d'un seul domaine et de 12 à 13 petites exploitations. Au total, elle fait intervenir environ 60 acteurs grenadiens.La GCC fut fondée il y une quinzaine d'années par Mott Green, un expatrié à présent décédé qui a été le véritable moteur de la réussite du lancement, de la mise en place et de la consolidation de la chaîne de valeur. Fort de ses encouragements, un groupe de petits exploitants a formé l'OCFCS.Ces paysans ont livré leurs premières fèves de cacao à la GCC en 2004. Le Belmont Estate, établi de longue date et qui cultive le cacao et d'autres denrées, a ensuite rejoint la coopérative et réserve aujourd'hui 100 acres de ses plantations de cacao à la production biologique. Toutes les premières étapes de transformation des fèves biologiques ont à présent lieu dans l'installation de fermentation du Belmont Estate. L'île ne compte que trois installations de ce type.La GCC utilise du matériel remis à neuf ou construit sur mesure qui est bien adapté à la fabrication du cacao à la Grenade. Son usine fonctionne en partie à l'énergie solaire et emploie des processus à haute intensité de maind'oeuvre qui sont fondés sur des méthodes traditionnelles. Tous les membres de l'OCFCS détiennent des actifs dans la GCC et tous les travailleurs de l'usine perçoivent le même salaire. La GCC produit 22 tonnes environ de produits à base de cacao par an, dont toute une gamme de barres chocolatées, de confiseries au chocolat et de cacao biologiques.La compagnie vend la plus grande part de sa production aux touristes sur le marché intérieur, y compris dans un point de vente du Belmont estate.Les produits de la GCC sont également exportés vers les négociants à New York ou à Londres qui sont spécialisés dans le chocolat noir et vendent 32des produits gastronomiques en ligne. La grande qualité du chocolat produit par la GCC et la promotion habile qu'on fait de ses particularités et de son origine exotique permettent de le vendre au détail à des prix exceptionnellement élevés qui compensent amplement les frais importants de la fabrication artisanale.La Jamaïque se situe dans les Caraïbes occidentales, au sud de Cuba. Sa superficie est de 10 831 km 2 et sa population, de 2,7 millions d'habitants. L'émigration de grande ampleur, surtout au cours de la deuxième moitié du siècle dernier, a donné naissance à une diaspora jamaïcaine importante. On estime qu'elle s'élève à plus de 2 millions de personnes, principalement au Royaume-Uni, aux États-Unis et au Canada.La sauce aux piments forts et les autres produits contenant des piments sont omniprésents dans la cuisine jamaïcaine. Pour les préparer, on prend des piments frais qu'on pile, sale et fermente dans du vinaigre de canne, afin d'obtenir une bouillie de piments. On ajoute ensuite d'autres ingrédients pour donner au produit final sa saveur unique.Cette étude de cas s'intéresse aux piments qui sont cultivés par des petits et moyens exploitants jamaïcains et vendus à la Grace Agro Processors Division (GAPD), une succursale de la GK Foods and Services Ltd qui est elle-même une filiale en propriété exclusive de la division alimentaire du groupe d'entreprises Grace Kennedy Group (GK). Le GK est un conglomérat alimentaire et financier international dont le siège est à la Jamaïque. Il regroupe des entreprises établies à la Jamaïque, dans d'autres pays des Caraïbes, en Amérique du Nord et en Europe. La chaîne de valeur va de la fourniture d'intrants aux paysans jusqu'à la vente de produits transformés estampillés « Grace » à la Jamaïque et sur les marchés étrangers.La chaîne de valeur dont il est question ici a été mise en place en 2009, quand la GAPD a établi des contrats avec une quinzaine de paysans jamaïcains, afin qu'ils cultivent des piments qui seront ensuite traités dans ses installations nouvellement construites à la Jamaïque. Les parcelles de piments de ces cultivateurs font en moyenne 2 acres. En 2013, 56 paysans cultivaient des piments pour l'entreprise. Chaque paysan s'engage à fournir à la GAPD des piments qui rencontrent les normes de maturité, de qualité et de teneur maximale en résidus de pesticides. Les livraisons sont effectuées conformément à un calendrier convenu. La GAPD, quant à elle, s'engage à payer aux fermiers un prix prédéterminé et à leur fournir, à prix réduit, des semences et autres intrants provenant des succursales « fournitures agricoles » et « matériel de jardinage » du GK, ainsi qu'une assistance technique en partenariat avec la National Rural Agricultural Development Authority (autorité nationale pour le développement rural et agricole). Pour l'année 2013, la GAPD prévoit que la production de piments de ses paysans sous contrat sera suffisante pour permettre à ses installations de traitement de fonctionner à 40 % environ de sa capacité nominale.En 2007, le GK a racheté Enco Products Ltd, une société britannique qui se spécialise dans les produits ethniques destinés à la diaspora caribéenne vivant au Royaume-Uni. Le GK exporte à présent une partie de sa production de bouillie de piments vers la société Enco pour la fabrication de produits à base de piments forts au Royaume-Uni. À la Jamaïque, des entreprises qui n'appartiennent pas au groupe GK fabriquent des produits aux piments à partir de cette bouillie conformément aux spécifications établies par le groupe. Elles les mettent ensuite en bouteille ou dans des contenants portant la marque « Grace ». Le GK les vend ensuite au détail sur le marché intérieur par l'entremise de grossistes et dans les rayons de ses propres supermarchés à la Jamaïque.Les incidences de la chaîne de valeur du GK sont exceptionnellement importantes, puisqu'elles couvrent l'ensemble de la chaîne, depuis la fourniture d'intrants aux paysans jusqu'à la vente au détail dans ses propres points de vente à la Jamaïque et la fabrication de produits de la marque « Grace » au Royaume-Uni. 34 36Cette étude de cas s'intéresse aux mangues qui sont exportées fraîches ou transformées par une seule société, la JMB S.A (JMB). Cette société est l'une des plus importantes sociétés haïtiennes exportatrices de fruits et de légumes tropicaux vers les États-Unis ; elle représente un cinquième environ des exportations nationales de mangues. Elle s'approvisionne en mangues auprès de petits domaines, de petits exploitants via des négociants et des Associations of Fruit Producers and Sellers from the South (ASPVEFS, associations de producteurs et de vendeurs de fruits du sud). L'ASPVEFS est un regroupement d'associations de petits exploitants qui, au total, compte 250 membres environ. Le rôle principal de l'ASPVEFS est d'organiser et de mener toutes les activités, depuis la récolte des fruits sur l'arbre jusqu'à la vente aux exportateurs et aux petits acheteurs locaux.La JMB possède une vaste installation de traitement phytosanitaire et de conditionnement à Port-au-Prince qui emploie 50 travailleurs à temps plein et 100 travailleurs à temps partiel. En 2010, avec l'aide d'un investissement sous forme de prêts et de prises de participation à hauteur de 2,3 millions de $ US accordé par le George Soros Fund, elle a investi dans une installation de congélation rapide de portions de mangues.La JMB conditionne les mangues sous sa propre marque, mais aussi sous l'étiquetage de tiers. Sa collaboration étroite avec l'USDA/APHIS, la chaîne de supermarchés alimentaires américaine, et des programmes appuyés par des ONG en Haïti lui a permis de s'ancrer habilement dans un créneau commercial aux États-Unis et de positionner sa marque dans le secteur des produits naturels, biologiques et équitables. Ses exportations vers les États-Unis englobent des produits certifiés par l'USDA/APHIS et l'organisme BCS Öko-Garantie GmbH.Deux des études de cas consacrées aux îles du Pacifique s'intéressent à des cultures périssables (le taro et la papaye) qui sont exportées sous la forme de produits frais n'ayant subi aucune transformation. La troisième traite de la vanille, une culture à forte valeur qui nécessite un traitement intensif après la récolte avant de pouvoir être exportée, entière ou après transformation. 40 Depuis plus de 20 ans, Bianchessi est le moteur du développement de la chaîne de valeur, en étroite collaboration avec l'ONG de Vanuatu, la Farmers Support Association (FSA, association d'aide aux paysans). Cette entente productive repose sur la division du travail en vertu de laquelle la Venui Vanilla approvisionne le marché et la FSA fournit des services dans les zones reculées et assure le contrôle interne du processus de certification biologique.En 2011, les gousses de grande qualité représentaient environ la moitié de la valeur totale des ventes de la Venui Vanilla, l'essence de vanille, 45 % et la poudre, 6 %. Le principal marché d'exportation de la compagnie en termes de valeur sont trois compagnies de production de crème glacée néo-zélandaises. En 2011, elles représentaient 43 % de la valeur totale des exportations de gousses de vanille et produits à base de vanille de la Venui Vanilla. La même année, les exportations de gousses vers le Japon constituaient le deuxième marché en importance pour les exportations de la compagnie, tandis que l'Australie se plaçait en troisième position. Les ventes sur le marché intérieur représentaient à peine un cinquième de la valeur de toutes les ventes.42 48être répercutées, du moins en partie, sur les producteurs, sous forme d'une augmentation des prix à la production.Tous les pays à l'étude sont membres de partenariats économiques régionaux qui appliquent des accords commerciaux. 34 Comme l'on pourrait s'y attendre, les accords commerciaux régionaux ont tendance à profiter aux chaînes de valeur qui exportent les matières premières vers des pays signataires de l'accord, mais font obstacle au développement de celles où les matières premières sont en concurrence avec les importations de ces pays. Exemple de la première situation : CBL, dont les exportations de jus de fruits du Belize (a) reçoivent une protection contre la concurrence extérieure au sein de la CARICOM puisqu'ils sont couverts par son tarif extérieur commun (CET) et (b) sont exonérés des taxes d'exportation vers les pays de l'UE dans le cadre de l'Accord de Partenariat Economique UE-CARIFORUM.En Ouganda, à l'inverse, l'expansion de la KSL et d'autres producteurs de sucre devrait ralentir une fois les mesures protectionnistes de transition liées au commerce du sucre au sein du COMESA arrivées à échéance. Les producteurs ougandais devront alors faire face à la concurrence serrée en provenance du Swaziland et d'autres pays producteurs de sucre à bas coût membres du COMESA.Dans bon nombre d'études de cas, les changements apportés au marché comptent parmi les principaux moteurs du développement et/ou de l'orientation des chaînes de valeur. Parmi ces changements, certains sont extérieurs au pays en question, qui n'a pas d'emprise sur eux.Dans les présentations des chaînes de valeur de la section 2.4, nous décrivons de quelle façon, sur les trois chaînes de valeur des pays des îles du Pacifique, deux ont vu le jour suite à un changement soudain de la demande. À Fidji, un nouveau marché d'exportation a émergé suite à l'effondrement de la production de taro aux Samoa, crise qui a entraîné la croissance rapide d'une chaîne de valeur pour la production du taro sur l'île de Taveuni. C'est un événement extérieur relativement différent qui a fait naître l'entreprise 34 À noter : le Kenya, la Tanzanie et l'Ouganda sont membres de la Communauté d'Afrique de l'Est et du COMESA (Marché commun de l'Afrique orientale et australe).qui fut le fer de lance de la chaîne de valeur de la papaye à l'exportation aux îles Fidji : la découverte du caractère cancérogène de l'EDB utilisé pour éliminer les mouches des fruits.Dans le cas de la chaîne de valeur de l'ananas produit par Blue Skies au Ghana, l'étude analyse en quoi un changement rapide de la demande sur le marché européen, en faveur d'une variété difficile à produire à petite échelle au Ghana, a joué un rôle essentiel dans le développement de la chaîne de valeur de Blue Skies et le soutien qu'elle apporte à la production à petite échelle (voir la sous-section 2.1.4).La deuxième chaîne de valeur étudiée au Ghana a également été entraînée en partie par une opportunité de commercialisation. 35 Dans ce cas, bien que la chaîne de valeur concerne le maïs, cette opportunité a permis à un fournisseur d'intrants, Wienco, d'étendre et de renforcer le marché pour ses intrants. Pour cela, cette entreprise a mis en place un réseau de petits groupes de producteurs selon le principe de l'agriculture contractuelle, créé une association de ces groupes, et s'est diversifiée en commercialisant leur production de maïs.Enfin, la décision de la Jamaica Egg Farmers Association (JEFA) de se lancer dans la transformation et l'emballage d'oeufs a, de fait, été déclenchée par un non-événement commercial, à savoir la stagnation du marché intérieur des oeufs.L'accessibilité et l'adoption de nouvelles technologies de production, de transformation et/ou de commercialisation ont joué un rôle primordial dans le développement de la plupart des chaînes de valeur à l'étude. Par exemple, l'expansion rapide de la production nationale de lait au Kenya a été déterminante dans le développement de la Brookside. 36 La création de cette entreprise, quant à elle, reposait sur l'importation de races de bovins améliorées et sur le recours à l'insémination artificielle.Dans trois chaînes (celles du sorgho en Ouganda, de la mangue en Haïti et de la papaye aux îles Fidji), l'utilisation de nouvelles technologies était une condition au développement de la chaîne de valeur. En Ouganda, le fait que 35 Ce fut probablement le facteur déterminant au sein d'un ensemble de facteurs ayant poussé Wienco à créer cette chaîne de valeur (voir la sous-section 3.6, ci-après). 36 Voir Ngigi et al, op cit, p232-233.   50les NBL aient eu accès à une technologie de brassage d'une bière claire à partir du sorgho était un prérequis essentiel au développement de sa chaîne de production de cette céréale.En Haïti, la réussite de la JMB tient à une technologie récente. Développé dans les années 1970, le traitement des mangues à l'eau chaude afin d'éliminer les mouches des fruits avant exportation résulte de la collaboration entre un consortium d'exportateurs de mangues, le ministère haïtien de l'agriculture et des spécialistes du ministère américain de l'agriculture (USDA). Ce traitement a été approuvé par les États-Unis en 1984, soit une année après la création de l'exportateur haïtien de mangues JMB et deux ans avant la création de son site de traitement à l'eau chaude. Le site de la JMB fut le premier de ce type dans l'hémisphère nord. À l'heure actuelle, en Haïti, dix sites de ce type sont approuvés par le service d'inspection sanitaire des végétaux et animaux du ministère américain de l'agriculture. Le traitement à l'eau chaude est désormais la norme dans tous les grands pays exportateurs de mangues.Le traitement par air pulsé à haute température (HTFA) a été développé en 1989, juste avant que les îles Fidji perdent leur marché d'exportation de la papaye suite à l'interdiction du traitement de quarantaine par EDB. 37 Utilisé à l'origine pour le traitement des papayes d'exportation entre Hawaï et le continent américain, l'accès à cette méthode était indispensable pour créer l'actuelle chaîne de valeur d'exportation aux îles Fidji, comme le décrit la sous-section 3.2 ci-dessus. Toujours à Fidji, la mise en oeuvre d'un service de roulier dans l'archipel a joué un rôle capital dans le développement des exportations de taro frais depuis Taveuni.des petits producteurs qu'il a initié à cette culture, avec le soutien d'une ONG. À la Grenade, c'est l'ingénieur Mott Green qui a lancé la production intérieure d'une matière première, le cacao, cultivée dans le pays depuis de nombreuses années mais jusqu'alors toujours exportée sous forme de fèves.Ces deux initiatives semblent avoir vu le jour sans déclencheur particulier lié aux cultures ou à leurs produits. Dans ces deux cas, ces entrepreneurs ont tout simplement identifié et exploité des opportunités existantes. La clé de la réussite de ces chaînes tient au fait qu'ils ont décelé le potentiel des marchés naissants des produits à base de vanille et de cacao haut de gamme et biologique. Dans le cas du cacao à la Grenade et de la mangue en Haïti, les deux entreprises de transformation ont progressivement élargi leur gamme de produits. À la Grenade, la gamme de produits de la GCC compte désormais six barres chocolatées biologiques, du cacao biologique et plus de dix bouchées au chocolat fourrées aux fruits exotiques. En Haïti, la JMB se contentait auparavant d'exporter des mangues fraîches. Après avoir créé un site de traitement de quarantaine des mangues fraîches dans son entrepôt de Port-au-Prince, cette entreprise a créé un site de surgélation IQF grâce auquel elle peut exporter des mangues surgelées en morceaux. Désormais, elle exporte également une partie de la production d'un site qui produit des mangues séchées en coopération avec une ONG. La GCC et la JMB ont augmenté la valeur ajoutée, tiré l'emploi vers le haut et amélioré la balance commerciale de leur pays. Avec l'augmentation de la production de la GCC, l'élargissement de sa gamme de produits lui a permis d'atteindre de nouveaux marchés de niche et de continuer à vendre l'intégralité de sa production à des prix très élevés. L'expansion de la gamme de produits de la JMB a très probablement été synonyme d'une augmentation des revenus de ses sous-traitants producteurs de mangues, puisque ses morceaux de mangues surgelés sont à haute valeur ajoutée tout en étant produits à partir de fruits qui, pour des raisons de qualité, ne seraient commercialisables que sur le marché intérieur et à bas prix.Dans sept études de cas, la chaîne actuelle est le résultat de développements et de changements au fil du temps, ou la conséquence d'une association de facteurs qui, ensemble, rendent l'investissement envers la chaîne viable d'un point de vue commercial.Dans le cas de la chaîne du maïs de Wienco/Masara N'Arziki Farmers Association au Ghana, il semblerait que Wienco ait pris la décision de développer la chaîne en réponse à un ensemble de facteurs propices, notamment l'accès des producteurs à des engrais subventionnés par le gouvernement, ainsi qu'un renforcement de la demande intérieure en faveur de maïs à usage alimentaire, pour la brasserie et la production de fructose. 54 Dans le cas des mangues exportées d'Haïti par JMB SA, la chaîne de valeur a évolué depuis la création de l'entreprise en 1983. Si le développement de la chaîne ne peut être imputé à aucun facteur extérieur précis, deux événements l'ont toutefois fortement influencé. Il s'agit du développement, voilà 30 ans, du traitement des mangues à l'eau chaude avec l'aide du ministère américain de l'agriculture, et de l'interdiction de l'exportation des mangues haïtiennes vers les États-Unis en 2007, directive qui a entraîné l'adoption de mesures intérieures afin de détecter et contrôler les infestations par mouches des fruits.Les études de cas ont été choisies dans l'optique d'analyser les chaînes créées d'après une initiative privée. Néanmoins, comme l'évoque ce rapport, pour bon nombre de chaînes, les gouvernements nationaux et les bailleurs de fonds ont joué un rôle de premier plan.Parmi les chaînes à l'étude, seules deux ont été créées suite à une impulsion gouvernementale et/ou des bailleurs de fonds, à savoir celles des agrumes au Belize, créées grâce à un décret gouvernemental et le soutien du CFC envers la consolidation du secteur de la transformation. Par ailleurs, le CFC a également joué un rôle de premier plan en aidant le gouvernement kenyan à créer et soutenir l'autorité nationale essentielle au développement des petites exploitations de thé depuis plus de 30 ans. Depuis qu'en 2002, cette autorité est devenue la KTDA au titre de la loi sur les entreprises, ses activités sont pilotées par le gouvernement par le biais du comité kenyan sur le thé, et bénéficie d'un soutien massif de la part de bailleurs de fonds.À la Jamaïque, la chaîne de valeur de Grace Agro Processors pour la sauce piquante s'est développée progressivement sur plus de 90 ans. Toutefois, ce n'est qu'en 2011 que le groupe GK a créé un site de transformation de la purée de piment et mis en place un réseau intérieur de sous-traitance de la culture du piment. Cette initiative semble avoir été en partie motivée par une décision du gouvernement : celle de louer à l'entreprise un entrepôt abandonné, dans lequel elle a pu établir le site de transformation. Le secteur doit relever un défi : augmenter et améliorer le niveau et la stabilité des revenus nets des petits producteurs, notamment en :• les incluant davantage aux chaînes de valeur, tout en • assurant que les chaînes de valeur dont ils dépendent restent efficaces, compétitives et par conséquent, durables.Amélioration de la coordination et des liensEn milieu rural, les ménages peuvent tirer leurs revenus agricoles de deux façons : en produisant des matières premières sur leurs propres terres et/ ou en travaillant contre rémunération pour des entreprises de production, de transformation ou de commercialisation de matières premières agricoles. L'analyse de l'inclusivité des chaînes de valeur tend à s'intéresser principalement aux activités et au bien-être des petits producteurs indépendants, sans réellement tenir compte du travail rémunéré au sein des chaînes. 44 Les petits exploitations agricoles étant soumises à des niveaux de production et des risques de prix plus élevés, les revenus financiers et matériels générés par une petite exploitation peuvent être inférieurs et/ou plus précaires que ceux générés par un emploi régulier sur une plantation ou dans une entreprise de transformation ou de commercialisation.Sur les études de cas, cinq renvoient à des matières premières dont la production se déroule à petite et grande échelle dans le pays concerné, et où les producteurs à grande échelle possèdent leurs propres sites de transformation :• La majorité du caoutchouc au Cameroun et au Libéria est transformée sur des sites qui appartiennent à des grands exploitants, dont la plupart cherchent à maximiser leur rendement à la fois en augmentant la production de leur plantation et en achetant des godets à des petites plantations et des petits producteurs. Ces godets proviennent d'accords de sous-traitance entre des grandes exploitations et des producteurs, mais aussi d'achats effectués sur le marché libre par des agents.• Au Kenya, on distingue deux voies logistiques distinctes pour le thé. Les grandes exploitations possèdent leurs propres fabriques, dont certaines transforment également une petite quantité de feuilles vertes livrées par des petites exploitations et des petits producteurs indépendants voisins. La majorité des feuilles vertes des petites exploitations est transformée dans des fabriques coopératives qui appartiennent à des petits producteurs des environs.• En Ouganda, la sucrerie étudiée possède sa propre plantation centrale 44 C'est le cas pour les études des pays ACP, exception faite de celles sur le caoutchouc en Afrique de l'Ouest qui font référence aux emplois à temps plein et occasionnels dans les entreprises à l'étude.58et un ensemble de sous-traitants qui lui fournissent la majorité de sa canne à sucre. La plupart de la canne produite en Afrique de l'Est est cultivée dans des conditions analogues. 45 Les activités des soustraitants sont majoritairement soutenues, gérées et coordonnées par l'entreprise propriétaire de la sucrerie, dans l'optique de lui assurer un approvisionnement stable en cannes.• Dans les Caraïbes, la majorité des agrumes au Belize est cultivée sur de grandes plantations et transformée sur deux sites qui appartiennent à une entreprise dont la coopérative nationale des producteurs d'agrumes est majoritairement propriétaire. Des producteurs à petite et grande échelle approvisionnent également ces deux sites, et bénéficient par la même occasion de leurs technologies avancées et des économies d'échelle propres à un rendement élevé. Les producteurs bénéficient aussi de prix à la production fondés sur la qualité, négociés entre la coopérative et l'entreprise propriétaire de l'usine.• À la Jamaïque, la chaîne de valeur des oeufs à l'étude porte sur les infrastructures de calibrage, de stockage et de transformation créées par un petit groupe de producteurs d'oeufs à grande échelle. Dans ces infrastructures, priorité est donnée aux oeufs de ce groupe de producteurs.Les petits producteurs profitent principalement des retombées indirectes de la transformation des oeufs sur la demande globale envers les oeufs produits à la Jamaïque.L'inclusion des petits producteurs aux chaînes de valeur des matières premières agricoles ne doit pas être une fin en soi. Cette démarche devrait avoir pour raison d'être d'aider les foyers ruraux qui possèdent une petite exploitation agricole et/ou les entreprises qui interviennent à d'autres étapes de la chaîne. Par ailleurs, elle peut également profiter aux consommateurs et aux utilisateurs finaux industriels en menant à la commercialisation de produits meilleur marché et de meilleure qualité. Grâce à une meilleure inclusion, il est également possible de redistribuer le revenu net total généré par toutes les activités de la chaîne de valeur en faveur des petits producteurs. Dans les sections ci-dessous, les chaînes de valeur à l'étude permettent d'analyser comment atteindre une meilleure inclusion, et montrent en quoi cette situation a affecté les entreprises de la chaîne de valeur, et notamment les petits producteurs.Grâce à une meilleure inclusion, les petits producteurs peuvent obtenir des revenus nets plus élevés et plus stables, grâce à un ou plusieurs facteurs suivants :A. Bénéfices nets plus élevés• diminution des prix des intrants et des services • amélioration de la qualité des intrants et des services • augmentation de la capacité du ménage à acquérir des intrants et des services grâce à : ■ leur disponibilité accrue sur des sites accessibles ■ amélioration de la capacité financière du ménage, grâce à un meilleur accès au crédit ou au prêt en nature d'intrants et de services• amélioration des techniques de production, de récoltes et post-récolte sur le site de production qui, pour tout ensemble donné d'intrants et de services, augmentent le rendement et/ou améliorent la qualité de la matière première• augmentation du prix payé pour chaque niveau de qualité de la matière première• augmentation des sources de revenus par l'intégration en aval au stockage, au transport et à la transformation• amélioration du caractère opportun de la disponibilité physique des intrants et des services sur les sites accessibles • amélioration du caractère opportun de la disponibilité du crédit afin d'acquérir des intrants 60• amélioration de la production, des récoltes et des techniques post-récolte sur le site de production, qui diminuent la probabilité et l'ampleur de (a) la perte totale ou partielle des récoltes et (b) les pertes qualitatives et quantitatives pendant la récolte et le stockage sur le site de production• stabilité accrue des prix inter-et intra-saisonniers à la production La nature de l'agriculture contractuelle varie considérablement d'une chaîne de valeur à l'autre, notamment en ce qui concerne le degré de formalité des contrats et les étapes de production couvertes, par exemple l'acquisition d'intrants, la culture, la récolte et la commercialisation. Cette situation s'explique en partie par l'ampleur de la chaîne : si la chaîne de valeur des piments à la Jamaïque ne compte qu'une poignée de producteurs, plus de 560 000 petits producteurs fournissent du thé aux fabriques gérées par la KTDA. Elle s'explique également par la durée d'existence de la chaîne, le degré de coopération des producteurs, l'existence d'acheteurs concurrents, la saisonnalité de la production, les caractéristiques physiques de la matière première, et enfin, les activités de la chaîne de valeur auxquelles les producteurs sont verticalement intégrés.62Sur les onze chaînes de valeur qui comportent une composante d'agriculture contractuelle, dix impliquent un transformateur qui achète aux petits producteurs : du caoutchouc au Libéria, des ananas au Ghana, de l'orge, du sorgho et du sucre en Ouganda, du lait et du thé au Kenya, des piments à la Jamaïque, du cacao à la Grenade, et de la vanille au Vanuatu. 48 Les transformateurs cherchent à établir des liens contractuels avec les producteurs pour différentes raisons :• pour augmenter et prévoir l'approvisionnement de leur matière première dans l'optique de maximiser l'utilisation de leur capacité de production • pour assurer que leurs matières premières répondent à des normes de qualité qui les rendent conformes (a) aux techniques de transformation utilisées et (b) à la confection de produits qui répondent aux besoins des consommateurs • pour assurer que les méthodes et les pratiques professionnelles culturelles mises en oeuvre, mais aussi la traçabilité des produits, répondent aux exigences des agences de certification biologique et équitable, entre autres • pour traiter équitablement avec les producteurs afin de répondre aux aspirations altruistes des propriétaires de l'entreprise de transformation et/ ou dans le cadre du positionnement du produit.Parmi les transformateurs, deux produisent également leur matière première. En Ouganda, le transformateur du sucre possède sa propre plantation centrale et fait appel à quelque 8 500 sous-traitants. Au Libéria, le transformateur s'efforce actuellement d'établir une production de caoutchouc en sous-traitance sur des parcelles inutilisées de sa plantation, avec pour objectif d'augmenter son rendement à long terme.Trois études de cas ne comprennent pas d'agriculture contractuelle avec des petits producteurs.Dans le cas des oeufs à la Jamaïque, la production commerciale est dominée par des producteurs à grande échelle qui ne laissent que peu de place aux petits producteurs. Ceux-ci achètent principalement leurs intrants en espèces et procèdent à de la vente informelle.Dans le Pacifique, les exportateurs du taro cultivé sur l'île fidjienne de Taveuni avaient pour habitude de financer les producteurs pendant les premières années après la création d'un marché d'exportation. Les pertes subies par les exportateurs du fait des ventes parallèles entre les producteurs et des acheteurs non créanciers ont toutefois mis un terme à cette pratique. Les relations formelles entre les entités de la chaîne de valeur se limitent principalement aux deux organisations de producteurs de l'île de Taveuni (Teitei Taveuni et Marist Tutu Rural Training Centre) qui sont le fer de lance des actions de relance de la productivité grâce à des pratiques agricoles durables.Les petits producteurs de papayes destinées à l'exportation aux îles Fidji ne participent pas non plus à l'agriculture contractuelle. En règle générale, ils achètent leurs intrants en espèces et vendent leur production à des prix négociés au moment de la vente. Le meilleur exemple d'une acquisition à grande échelle de ce type est la chaîne de valeur du thé cultivé par les petits producteurs au Kenya. La KTDA importe chaque année près de 65 000 tonnes d'engrais spécialisé pour répondre aux besoins en nutriments de plus de la moitié des arbustes de thé dans ce pays. La KTDA finance cette importation par un prêt auprès d'une banque commerciale et vend l'engrais aux producteurs à un prix fixe qui couvre ses frais (notamment les frais financiers), sans marge. En comparaison à un achat auprès de négociants locaux, les producteurs peuvent réaliser des économies considérables, qui pouvaient atteindre 28 % ces dernières années, selon la KTDA. 49 Toujours au Kenya, la Brookside aide ses producteurs laitiers autant sur le versant des investissements de développement que de la gestion efficace de leurs activités. Pour cela, elle leur fournit une assistance technique, des formations et aide les producteurs individuels ainsi que les coopératives et associations agricoles à accéder au crédit. À cette fin, elle (a) aide les associations à obtenir un statut juridique, ce qui leur permet de contracter des crédits auprès des institutions financières, (b) soutient le développement de la collecte et du refroidissement locaux du lait en aidant plusieurs coopératives agricoles à accéder aux financements nécessaires, (c) a négocié des conventions de prêt avec la Kenya Commercial Bank pour les producteurs qui souhaitent étoffer leurs activités laitières et (d) achète en gros des aliments pour animaux à bas prix, qu'elle vend ensuite aux producteurs aux points de collecte du lait. Ainsi, les producteurs peuvent acheter ces aliments de qualité aux points de collecte, après avoir livré leur lait, sans trajets supplémentaires.À la Jamaïque, la GAPD, filiale du groupe GK, fournit notamment des semis à ses sous-traitants, qui les achètent auprès de la ferme locale du groupe GK et des succursales d'enseignes de jardinage à des tarifs préférentiels et selon des paiements différés. La GAPD, la KTDA et la Brookside récupèrent toutes les coûts des intrants grâce aux remboursements des producteurs. Le transformateur peut retirer deux avantages de la fourniture d'intrants aux producteurs sous forme de prêt en nature. Premièrement, cette démarche donne une image positive de l'agriculture contractuelle aux yeux des producteurs, ce qui les incite à s'engager dans ce type d'agriculture et à faire affaires avec le transformateur en question. Deuxièmement, en assurant que ses sous-traitants sont en mesure d'acheter des quantités optimales d'intrants de qualité, l'acheteur augmente leur probabilité d'obtenir un rendement suffisant pour honorer leurs obligations dans le cadre de la sous-traitance.Dans l'une des chaînes de valeur au Ghana, l'agriculture contractuelle permet à de petits groupes de producteurs d'acheter des intrants et de vendre du maïs (par le biais d'une association agricole créée à cet effet) à une entreprise, Wienco, spécialisée dans l'importation et la distribution d'intrants de protection des récoltes et de graines de maïs hybrides. Grâce à cet accord, Wienco a créé une demande pour son activité de fourniture d'intrants tout en diversifiant ses activités vers le négoce de maïs produit sur le territoire national. Les producteurs auraient bénéficié d'une augmentation considérable du rendement du maïs par hectare et d'un débouché facile pour leurs surplus commercialisés.Dans bon nombre de chaînes de valeur, le transformateur vise non seulement à fournir des intrants et des services dans l'optique d'augmenter le rendement de la plantation ou du bétail de ses sous-traitants, mais aussi à les aider à développer leurs activités par des investissements à moyen et long terme. Au Libéria, La MARCO a pour ambition de faire appel à des groupes de sous-traitants pour planter des hévéas et leur acheter du caoutchouc. Au Kenya, la Brookside fournit à ses producteurs laitiers soustraitants des équipements d'insémination artificielle (IA) pour remplacer le recours fréquent à des taureaux reproducteurs ou des services d'IA de qualité médiocre. Cette démarche a pour vocation d'améliorer la qualité des vaches laitières, et devrait également augmenter le cheptel. La Brookside se porte également garant des prêts bancaires contractés par les producteurs auprès d'Equity Bank, Kenya Commercial Bank et Cooperative Bank dans l'optique d'augmenter leurs capacité de production. Toujours au Kenya, la KTDA a épaulé des gérants de fabriques dans la création de pépinières qui fourniront des boutures à haut rendement aux petits producteurs de thé. 50 À la Jamaïque, la GAPD, qui s'approvisionne en piment auprès de soustraitants, a aidé un producteur à créer une pépinière commerciale de graines de piments en lui apportant son soutien agronomique et des intrants avec paiement différé.Un meilleur accès aux intrants et aux services grâce à l'agriculture contractuelle augmente tant le rendement que la qualité. Par ailleurs, dans toutes les chaînes de valeur étudiées qui fonctionnent selon le principe de l'agriculture contractuelle, cette dernière implique des accords selon lesquels l'entreprise acheteuse assure un certain degré d'assistance technique et/ou des formations aux producteurs, dans une optique d'augmentation du rendement et de la qualité. Ces accords sont souvent conclus en partenariat avec les équipes des services nationaux de développement commercial. Par exemple, les deux brasseries ougandaises ont conclu des partenariats avec le service national de développement commercial, grâce auquel elles assurent conjointement une assistance technique aux producteurs.Au Kenya, la Brookside Dairies possède son propre service de développement commercial, qui propose des formations pour les producteurs laitiers, des journées sur le terrain et des séminaires sur des thèmes comme la sélection des races, la reproduction, l'alimentation, la santé du bétail, le contrôle des maladies et la gestion de l'exploitation.À la Jamaïque, la GAPD assure une assistance technique à ses sous-traitants producteurs de piments, en partenariat avec l'Autorité nationale de développement agricole rural.Comme évoqué plus haut, inclure davantage les petits producteurs à la chaîne de valeur, notamment par le biais de l'agriculture contractuelle, peut faire baisser le coût unitaire pour les transformateurs et d'autres acheteurs et d'augmenter leur prix de vente unitaire. En résumé, cette situation est possible car les transformateurs sont capables d'acheter à leurs soustraitants des matières premières qui (a) sont de meilleure qualité, (b) sont de qualité plus uniforme, (c) possèdent des caractéristiques qui permettent une transformation conforme aux demandes du marché, et (d) sont livrées par les producteurs en quantité et selon des calendriers pensés pour maximiser l'utilisation de leur capacité de transformation. Par ailleurs, l'agriculture contractuelle favorise la traçabilité du produit jusqu'à la source, ce qui lui permet de recevoir, par exemple, une certification biologique, équitable ou écologique. En règle générale, cette certification est également synonyme de ventes potentielles au meilleur prix. Par ailleurs, pour les transformateurs, l'agriculture contractuelle peut servir de tremplin pour conclure des accords avec des supermarchés et d'autres acheteurs afin de livrer des quantités précises, de qualité précise, à des moments précis. Pour ce type de service, les acheteurs sont prêts à payer plus cher.Les études de cas n'analysent pas systématiquement l'augmentation des prix de vente au détail, la diminution des coûts de transformation ainsi que le degré de répercussion sur les sous-traitants via des prix à la production plus élevés. Elles présentent toutefois des informations connexes intéressantes. Par exemple, au Vanuatu, il est à noter que (a) la certification équitable n'est pas possible car Venui Vanilla ne peut pas payer le prix « juste » nécessaire à ses producteurs, (b) la certification biologique de la vanille n'est pas synonyme d'une augmentation considérable des prix sur les principaux marchés, à savoir la Nouvelle-Zélande et l'Australie, et (c) malgré tout, la certification biologique peut contribuer à obtenir des marchés, puisque la capacité à fournir des produits biologiques renforce les attentes des acheteurs, qui en déduisent que le fournisseur est un partenaire commercial équitable. Ces informations sont particulièrement importantes pour les petites entreprises exportatrices, comme Venui Vanilla, situées dans de petits pays isolés.L'absence globale de vente parallèle de la part des producteurs signalée dans les études de cas porte à penser que l'agriculture contractuelle est effectivement à même de fixer des prix comparables ou supérieurs à ceux du marché libre. Il n'est toutefois pas à exclure que la faible incidence de la vente parallèle s'explique par la volonté des producteurs de conserver de bonnes relations avec le transformateur afin d'accéder à des prêts en nature, ou par l'absence de possibilités de vente à d'autres acheteurs. Dans ces études de cas, en Ouganda, la plupart des producteurs de canne à sucre sous-traitants de la KSL n'ont d'autre choix que d'approvisionner la sucrerie voisine tant les cannes sont lourdes et perdent rapidement leur sucrose une fois coupées. Pour les feuilles vertes cueillies par la plupart des petits producteurs kenyans, il n'existe pas non plus d'alternative : le seul débouché potentiellement rémunérateur pour leur production rapidement périssable est la fabrique voisine, qui appartient à la KTDA. De même, les producteurs de vanille au Vanuatu possèdent un seul débouché rémunérateur. La vente parallèle semble cependant dépendre des 68possibilités de commercialisation alternatives dont peuvent bénéficier les petits producteurs. Dans le cas du maïs au Ghana, Wienco connaît une vente parallèle considérable.Dans certains cas exceptionnels, les prix à la production plus élevés obtenus dans le cadre de l'agriculture contractuelle peuvent ne pas avantager les petits producteurs. Ce pourrait bien être le cas pour les petits producteurs de thé au Kenya. Cette situation s'explique car le seul moyen dont dispose la KTDA pour assurer la qualité des feuilles est d'accepter uniquement des feuilles vertes contenant une tige, un bourgeon, et deux feuilles adjacentes au maximum. On peut en confectionner un thé noir de qualité constante mais selon un rendement plus faible que sur les plantations, qui modifient leur cueillette selon les conditions du marché des thés noirs confectionnés. 51 Cette méthode a été adoptée par les plantations qui souhaitent augmenter leurs bénéfices : il est probable que si la KTDA pouvait recourir à des cueillettes flexibles, cette approche lui permettrait d'augmenter le revenu net des petits producteurs.Au cours des décennies après l'indépendance de leur pays, de nombreux gouvernements africains ont instauré des comités nationaux pour acheter les récoltes annuelles à des prix annoncés en amont de la saison de plantation. Dans des pays comme le Kenya, cette pratique a été ancrée dans la législation, qui imposait que pour des récoltes planifiées, le ministre de l'agriculture annonce les prix à la production sur l'ensemble du territoire, payables par les comités nationaux. Alors que le prix était fixé plusieurs mois avant la principale récolte et en l'absence de flexibilité ultérieure qui aurait permis de répondre à l'offre et à la demande, il n'était pas rare que les comités nationaux accumulent de vastes stocks, qui devaient alors être stockés à long terme à grands frais, ou exportés à perte. Par ailleurs, faute de fonds, d'entrepôts suffisamment couverts et de gestion satisfaisante, les comités se voyaient souvent dans l'incapacité d'honorer leurs engagements concernant l'achat de toutes les livraisons aux prix annoncés, situation vectrice de vastes marchés résiduels instables.Contrairement aux comités nationaux, sans contribuables pour les renflouer, les acheteurs de matières premières du secteur privé engagés dans l'agriculture contractuelle insufflent souvent de la flexibilité aux prix conclus en sous-traitance, afin d'assurer qu'ils achètent les matières premières aux petits producteurs à des prix proches de ceux proposés par d'autres négociants. Cette démarche est essentielle, à la fois pour décourager la vente parallèle lorsque les prix du marché sont à la hausse, et pour obtenir des prix compétitifs pour leurs produits transformés lorsque le marché est à la baisse. Les prix flexibles sont également préférables pour les sous-traitants : lorsque la production de la majorité ou la totalité des producteurs de la matière première est affectée d'une même manière par les conditions météorologiques ou tout autre facteur extérieur, ils peuvent obtenir un revenu stable puisque production et prix sont inversement proportionnels.Les études de cas n'analysent pas systématiquement la définition des prix à la production au sein des chaînes de valeur. Cependant, la majorité des études fournit quelques informations connexes.Dans quatre études, les prix payés pour des achats convenus auprès de sous-traitants varient selon les conditions du marché. Au Kenya, la production de lait varie selon la qualité des pâturages et la disponibilité de foin en cas de zéro-pâturage. Aussi, il est essentiel que le contrat de sous-traitance comporte un certain degré de flexibilité. C'est pourquoi la Brookside Dairies définit des prix saisonniers, qu'elle modifie ensuite en cours de saison pour refléter les variations imprévisibles de l'offre. En Ouganda, jusqu'en 2010, le gouvernement publiait une formule de conversion du prix du sucre sur le marché intérieur en prix payé en sous-traitance par les entreprises sucrières pour les cannes à sucre. Selon la politique sur le sucre édictée en 2010 par le gouvernement ougandais, « la formule de paiement des cannes doit être négociée et convenue entre les meuniers, les associations de producteurs sous-traitants et le gouvernement selon le mécanisme réglementaire lié au sucre ». Les producteurs déplorent que cette mesure n'ait pas été appliquée, ce qui les laisse impuissants quant à la définition du prix des cannes. À la Jamaïque, le prix des piments est défini périodiquement par la GAPD, globalement selon les prix du marché intérieur. Au Ghana, la nature informelle des relations de Blue Skies avec les producteurs permet de négocier les prix en tenant compte du marché libre.Dans trois autres études de cas, les prix sont négociés et définis par avance ou au début de la saison. Au Ghana, Wienco s'engage, au début de la saison, à acheter des quantités précises de maïs à ses sous-traitants à un prix qui dépend des prix du marché de l'année précédente. Les surplus sont achetés à un prix négocié si les prix du marché sont alors significativement différents de ceux conclus à l'origine. Ainsi, une fois que Wienco a acheté 70la quantité contractuelle à un sous-traitant, il se comporte de fait comme un négociant traditionnel, et achète à des prix qui reflètent ceux de la concurrence. En Ouganda, les UBL paient un prix garanti pré-négocié pour l'orge qu'il achète à des fins de maltage et brassage. Les NBL procèderaient de la même façon. 52 Une seule étude de cas porte sur une chaîne de valeur où les variations du prix à la production dépendent officiellement des prix du marché mondial. Au Belize, la CPBL rémunère ses sous-traitants producteurs d'oranges et de pamplemousses selon des critères de qualité, à des prix négociés entre CPL et la BCGA au début de la saison de cueillette, en fonction de l'évolution du prix prévue par le Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) pour le jus concentré surgelé. Ces prix sont renégociés au cours de la saison si l'évolution du prix du CBOT dépasse un pourcentage d'augmentation prédéfini. Les sous-traitants reçoivent un acompte de 65 % sur la livraison, et les paiements ultérieurs permettent d'arriver à un solde équivalent au prix négocié.Au Kenya, pour les feuilles vertes, le gouvernement conserve le système tarifaire alors en vigueur lorsque la KTDA est passé du statut d'autorité à celui d'agence. Tout au long de la saison, les producteurs reçoivent un paiement mensuel à un taux au kilo prédéfini pour toute l'année. À la fin de la saison, ils reçoivent une deuxième « prime ». Le taux au kilo de ce deuxième paiement varie d'une fabrique à l'autre et reflète ses recettes d'après les ventes de thé noir, auxquelles sont soustraites le montant du premier paiement et les coûts totaux engagés par l'entreprise propriétaire de la fabrique, notamment les frais d'agence de la KTDA. Pendant de nombreuses années, le premier paiement au titre de l'ancienne KTDA était bien plus élevé que le deuxième : les petits producteurs recevaient la majorité de leurs revenus de façon mensuelle. Ils bénéficiaient donc d'un solide flux de revenus tout au long de l'année. Avec le temps, le ratio entre le premier et le deuxième paiement a diminué : les sous-traitants reçoivent désormais la majorité de leurs revenus sous forme d'une prime annuelle. Ils déplorent que le calcul du taux au kilo de cette prime manque de transparence, car ils ne sont pas en mesure de vérifier les déductions effectuées pour couvrir les frais de gestion de la KTDA. En pratique, dans les deux pays, les producteurs ne sont pas en mesure de contrôler totalement les entreprises qu'ils possèdent en théorie. Cette situation est notamment évidente pour la définition des prix à la production. Au Kenya, les petits producteurs considèrent que la définition du taux de leur prime de fin d'année manque de transparence : ils n'ont pas la possibilité de vérifier la légitimité des frais de gestion de la KTDA, déduits de la valeur des recettes brutes de leur thé confectionné. Au Belize, la BCGA négocie les prix à la production avec la CPBL, entreprise qu'elle possède pourtant. En pratique, la structure de propriété idéale, qui permettrait aux producteurs de contrôler pleinement, efficacement et fructueusement la gestion de l'entreprise de transformation, n'existe probablement pas.Pour les petits producteurs, l'alternative à la possession d'un transformateur en situation de monopole est à chercher du côté des entreprises indépendantes privées. Dans cette situation, aucun marché ne détermine le prix à la production. Seul impératif tarifaire : l'entreprise doit payer aux producteurs un prix suffisant afin qu'ils livrent environ la quantité de matière première nécessaire. En ce qui concerne les récoltes pluriannuelles, cette situation peut léser les producteurs : pour les encourager à continuer à produire et à livrer leur production, le transformateur peut se contenter de payer un prix qui couvre leurs coûts variables. Producteurs et transformateur 74 La majorité des études de cas présentent des exemples d'initiatives à visée écologique mises en oeuvre par des participants à ces chaînes. Elles portent sur la production, la transformation et le transport. Le développement de la chaîne de valeur n'a sérieusement affecté l'environnement local et imposé des mesures de redressement immédiates que dans le cas de la culture du taro aux îles Fidji. Dans tous les autres cas, le développement de la chaîne n'a pas eu d'impact négatif évident sur l'environnement, ou des mesures ont été prises ou prévues pour mettre en oeuvre des méthodes plus écologiques afin de réduire, éliminer ou inverser ces impacts.Les entreprises des chaînes de valeur, notamment les exploitations agricoles, peuvent tirer des avantages directs de l'adoption de pratiques écologiques. En effet, cette démarche peut réduire les coûts unitaires de production, 5 5Aspects écologiques du développement d'une chaîne de valeur transformation et commercialisation et/ou augmenter les prix des produits au point de vente final. Pour obtenir une telle augmentation des prix, une coopération entre les entreprises intervenant aux différents niveaux de la chaîne est évidemment de mise. Pour que les producteurs en bénéficient également, une partie de l'augmentation du prix de vente au détail doit leur être répercutée sous forme de prix plus élevés à la production.La quasi-totalité des pratiques écologiques adoptées par les producteurs et les entreprises des chaînes de valeur à l'étude leur permettent d'obtenir des retours sur investissement. Cinq mécanismes conceptuels différents existent à cet effet :• Les pratiques respectueuses de l'environnement peuvent augmenter la production de l'exploitation et la production totale des transformateurs. Dans le cas de la production agricole, on obtient ce résultat principalement grâce à l'impact sur la quantité et la qualité des ressources auxquelles les producteurs ont accès, notamment leurs sols. Dans le cas de la transformation, la production totale peut être augmentée en valorisant les déchets.• Les pratiques respectueuses de l'environnement peuvent faire baisser les coûts unitaires aux étapes de la culture, la post-récolte, la transformation et le transport au sein de la chaîne de valeur.• La certification biologique ou écologique d'un ou plusieurs produits finaux d'une chaîne de valeur peut contribuer à augmenter le prix de vente des produits dérivés de la matière première sur les marchés finaux.• Même si cette certification ne conduit qu'à peu ou pas d'augmentation du prix au détail, elle peut améliorer l'accès au marché en montrant aux acheteurs que le fournisseur est fiable et susceptible d'être un partenaire commercial à long terme, ou car il s'agit d'une condition sine qua non pour accéder au marché.• Les pratiques écologiques peuvent améliorer l'environnement sociopolitique dans lequel intervient la chaîne de valeur, par exemple en profitant aux entreprises grâce à l'amélioration des relations au travail, l'allègement des restrictions en matière de planification, et l'augmentation de la probabilité de traitements fiscaux favorables.Dans certains cas, une seule pratique ou un simple programme peut avoir des retombées positives grâce à certains de ces mécanismes. Par 78 Une vaste littérature traite des avantages et des inconvénients de la production biologique ; les nombreuses questions abordées vont de la 58 À noter : ce bénéfice est partiellement ou entièrement occulté par l'impact environnemental négatif de la fabrication et du transport de l'engrais.80 Avant le premier achat intérieur de fèves biologiques en 2004, l'intégralité du cacao de la Grenade était exporté sous forme de fèves traditionnelles. La chaîne de valeur biologique du pays pour les produits issus du cacao est la seule chaîne, parmi les études de cas, qui a été créée délibérément sous forme de chaîne écologique. La création de la chaîne reposait sur un groupe de producteurs qui ont remplacé les engrais par des paillis biologiques dérivés des sous-produits de la production et de la fermentation du cacao (cosses et cabosses) et de lisier composté de bétail et de porc. La GCC a utilisé la nature biologique de la production, ainsi qu'un ensemble de caractéristiques écologiques et inclusives en aval, pour accéder à des marchés de niche intérieurs et à l'export, mais aussi pour négocier des prix bien supérieurs à ceux obtenus pour les produits classiques issus de la fève de cacao. désormais certifiés par Soil Association, GlobalGap, Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF), l'Organic Food Federation et la Fairtrade Foundation. et post-récolte : le remplissage de petites parcelles, la reforestation, la greffe d'espèces moins utiles à des variétés adaptées à l'exportation, et l'amélioration des techniques post-récolte afin de minimiser les pertes.• À la Jamaïque, la JEFA livre des déchets issus de l'élevage de volailles à des maraîchers afin qu'ils les utilisent comme engrais.• Dans ce même pays, la GAPD a favorisé des mesures destinées à améliorer la façon dont ses sous-traitants producteurs de piments utilisent l'eau et les parcelles.Dans les pays en voie de développement, les entreprises de transformation agricole et de négoce à grande échelle sont désormais presque toutes conscientes du caractère potentiellement néfaste de leurs activités sur l'environnement et du fait que des actions médiatisées pour empêcher ou réduire ces dommages sont essentielles à la création d'une image de marque écologique. 70 Cette situation, associée au durcissement des législations nationales sur l'environnement et aux prix élevés souvent entraînés par une certification « écologique », signifie que la quasi-totalité des entreprises de transformation à grande échelle investissent désormais dans des technologies écologiques et s'efforcent de mettre en oeuvre des pratiques qui vont dans cette direction.Les études de cas présentent de nombreux exemples de mesures écologiques mises en oeuvre par la principale entreprise de transformation de la chaîne de valeur. Celles-ci répondent à au moins l'un des objectifs écologiques suivants : La transformation sur le territoire national des récoltes destinées à l'exportation qui conduit à une perte de poids et/ou de volume est, en ellemême, une activité « écologique », car elle diminue le transport polluant imposé par l'expédition vers les marchés étrangers. Seule réserve : si le produit transformé est emballé sur le territoire national, et notamment s'il est mis en bouteille, il gagne en poids et en volume, ce qui compense, voire annule l'avantage écologique de la transformation près de la source de production.Pour toutes les chaînes de valeur couvertes par les études de cas aux Caraïbes et en Afrique, la matière première est transformée sur le territoire national, à l'exception d'une partie des mangues qui composent la chaîne de valeur de la JMB en Haïti. Dans les études africaines, les seules matières premières transportées sur des distances significatives sous leur forme initiale sont les céréales au Ghana et en Ouganda. Celles-ci peuvent être stockées et perdent peu de poids pendant le processus de transformation. En effet, dans le cas des céréales utilisées pour brasser de la bière en Ouganda, les produits finaux sont des liquides mis en bouteille, dont le poids est bien supérieur à celui des céréales de base.Sur quatre chaînes de valeur à l'exportation analysées par les études de cas aux Caraïbes, trois présentent une transformation partielle ou totale de la récolte avant exportation. À la Grenade, l'ensemble du chocolat qui intègre la chaîne de valeur de BSOCA est transformé en une gamme de produits sur le territoire national. Au Belize, toutes les exportations d'agrumes de la CPBL sont réalisées sous forme de jus concentré. À la Jamaïque, en créant son propre site de transformation des piments en purée, le GK a fait reculer la dépendance des transformateurs jamaïcains envers la purée de piment d'Amérique centrale, et ainsi, réduit les coûts de transport. Il les encore réduit en confectionnant et en emballant une partie de ses produits à base de purée de piments au Royaume-Uni : ainsi, seule la purée de piments doit être expédiée vers ce pays, sans les flacons et autres emballages dans lesquels sont vendus ces produits au détail. En Haïti, la JMB exporte uniquement des fruits de qualité sous leur forme fraîche. Cette entreprise transforme les fruits de moindre qualité en morceaux surgelés, plus légers que les fruits frais entiers, et bien moins périssables du fait de la surgélation.Parmi les matières premières des études de cas dans les pays des îles du Pacifique, seule une partie de la vanille exportée de Vanuatu est transformée sur le territoire national avant exportation. 71 Les deux études de cas aux îles Fidji concernent des matières premières (le taro et la papaye) exportées sans transformation, signe que les consommateurs des pays importateurs préfèrent nettement le fruit frais à ses dérivés transformés.Outre l'emplacement « écologique » des sites de transformation, les efforts de bon nombre des entreprises analysées portent sur la réduction de l'empreinte écologique du transport. Par exemple, au Kenya, la Brookside 71 La totalité de la vanille est préparée sur l'exploitation. La vanille de meilleure qualité a un ratio poids/valeur élevé et est exportée sous forme de fèves préparées entières. Les fèves préparées de moindre qualité sont transformées en extrait et en pâte par Venui Vanilla.C H A î N E S D E V A L E U R D A N S L E S P A Y S A C P encourage la collecte du lait frais à petite échelle en vélo. Dans tout le pays, des « coursiers » relient les exploitations laitières pour collecter du lait cru et le livrer aux points de collecte ; ainsi, l'entreprise peut sous-traiter efficacement son lait à une vaste base de fournisseurs variés. Cette situation illustre bien la convergence des intérêts commerciaux, des préoccupations environnementales et des objectifs d'emploi : en plus d'être non polluant, ce réseau de livraison fait baisser les coûts d'assemblement de la Brookside et crée de l'emploi en milieu rural. Dans les Caraïbes, la CPBL a amélioré la logistique de la collecte des agrumes depuis les exploitations et leur transport post-transformation, afin de réduire tant les coûts d'expédition que les émissions totales de carbone de l'entreprise. À la Grenade, la GCC a récemment exporté un lot de ses produits à base de cacao vers l'Europe à l'aide d'un voilier : cette démarche lui a permis de présenter ses produits comme étant complètement « neutres en carbone ». Dans les pays des îles du Pacifique, des efforts visent à remplacer le fret aérien par le transport maritime. L'étude de cas du taro aux îles Fidji montre en quoi cette démarche est entravée à destination de l'Australie, car le gouvernement australien impose la dévitalisation des rhizomes aux îles Fidji avant expédition. Cette procédure les rend plus périssables et nécessite un transport aérien.Parmi les études de cas, l'ensemble de mesures écologiques les plus complètes liées à la transformation sont celles de la CPBL pour la transformation des agrumes sur ses sites au Belize. En plus des avantages écologiques qui découlent de l'exportation du jus d'agrumes concentré surgelé et non des oranges entières ou du pur jus, la CPBL :• minimise les pertes pendant la transformation en (a) testant la maturité des fruits avant cueillette et en planifiant de façon systématique la livraison des fruits en conséquence, et (b) en investissant dans des équipements de transformation de pointe • valorise les sous-produits solides de façon productive pour en extraire des huiles d'agrumes, produire des engrais biologiques et des aliments pour animaux, ou encore du combustible pour la production d'électricité • nettoie de façon biologique les eaux usées à l'aide de bassins de traitement des effluents, et transforme les résidus solides en sous-produits • a diminué ses émissions de carbone issues de la transformation en passant du diesel et du mazout au pétrole brut léger.Les études de cas présentent d'autres exemples d'initiatives écologiques dans le domaine de la transformation. Au Cameroun, la SAFACAM a construit une centrale de traitement des effluents sur son site de transformation du caoutchouc. L'entreprise vise également la certification ISO 140001 pour ses normes de gestion environnementale. Au Libéria, la MARCO posséderait un système d'élimination des déchets sur son site de transformation du caoutchouc. Au Ghana, Blue Skies convertit les déchets de son processus de transformation des ananas en engrais, qu'elle recycle auprès des exploitants. Elle prélève également régulièrement des échantillons des effluents de sa division de transformation des ananas, qui sont analysés pour assurer qu'ils répondent aux exigences minimales de la législation nationale sur l'environnement. Elle a également créé récemment une usine de biogaz qui met à profit les déchets du site de production et de la collectivité.En Afrique de l'Est, la bagasse produite en grande quantité par la sucrière de la KSL en Ouganda est utilisée pour produire de l'électricité. Celle-ci est utilisée pour alimenter en électricité la sucrière même ; le surplus est injecté dans le réseau national. 72 Toujours en Ouganda, en 2005, les UBL ont installé un site de traitement des effluents de sa première brasserie afin de ne pas polluer le lac Victoria. Sa deuxième brasserie dans l'Ouest de l'Ouganda comprend un site de traitement de pointe des eaux usées et des effluents.Au Kenya, toutes les fabriques de la KTDA utilisent le bois pour combustible. Celles-ci possèdent actuellement quelque 4 000 acres d'arbres plantés à cet effet. La KTDA a mis en place un programme ambitieux dont l'objectif est de faire passer cette surface à 33 000 acres dans un futur proche. La KTDA soutient également les producteurs de thé qui souhaiteraient planter des arbres en leur fournissant des jeunes plants à des tarifs subventionnés. 73 Dans les Caraïbes, la GCC produit de l'énergie solaire, qui est utilisée dans la transformation de ses produits à base de chocolat. À la Jamaïque, la CEP transforme les déchets des coquilles d'oeufs en engrais biologique. En Haïti, grâce au site de traitement à l'eau chaude mis en place par la JMB pour éliminer les mouches des fruits destinés à l'exportation, les mangues haïtiennes peuvent être exportées sans recours à des produits agrochimiques plus agressifs.72 La bagasse est le résidu fibreux de la canne à sucre une fois celle-ci pressée pour en extraire le jus. La KSL utilise la bagasse non seulement pour des motifs écologiques, mais aussi pour augmenter ses recettes et se conformer à la politique ougandaise sur le sucre édictée en 2010, selon laquelle le gouvernement « encourage » les sucrières à utiliser la bagasse pour produire de l'électricité et ainsi, contribuer à gommer la pénurie d'électricité qui menace actuellement le pays. 73 Voir : http://www.ktdateas.com/pdfdocuments/ktda%20trees.pdf pour une publicité récente de la KTDA sur ses projets de plantations d'arbres.90Les études de cas montrent la grande diversité des chaînes de valeur agricoles dans les pays ACP, qui restent néanmoins différentes en termes de longévité, de structure et de pratiques. Par exemple, elles varient grandement en termes de :• nombres d'années depuis leur création • caractéristiques physiques de la matière première et des produits qui en sont dérivés • nombre de producteurs et nombre d'utilisateurs finaux • stabilité de la production d'une saison à l'autre • nombre d'activités séquentielles, depuis la fourniture d'intrants et de services aux producteurs jusqu'au point de vente final de la matière première et de ses produits dérivés • ampleur de la couverture spatiale de chaque activité de la chaîne • valeur de la production annuelle • ampleur de l'intégration verticale • ampleur de la transformation • poids et volume du produit principal par rapport à la matière première • nombre de produits issus de la transformation, et de valeur de chaque produit secondaire par rapport au produit principal • moyens de définition des prix à chaque changement de responsabilité Malgré ces différences, de nombreuses thématiques fortes émergent de l'ensemble des études.1. Les chaînes de valeur agricoles créées par une initiative privée se développent avant tout dans l'optique d'exploiter des opportunités commerciales et non de tirer parti de simples augmentations de la production. De même, la structure des chaînes qui ont vu le jour sous une impulsion privée évolue généralement en réponse à des changements de la demande et non à des changements autonomes de la production. Malgré tout, la capacité des producteurs agricoles 6 6 Principales conclusions à élargir leur production en réponse à une augmentation de la demande influence fortement le rythme auquel une chaîne de valeur se développe.2. Dans la période qui va de la moitié des années 1980 au début du XXIe siècle, les mesures de libéralisation des marchés agricoles prises par les gouvernements nationaux ont eu des répercussions fondamentales sur le développement et la structure des chaînes de valeur actuelles, notamment en Afrique.3. Les mesures d'incitation fiscales sont fréquentes pour encourager les investissements en faveur d'activités au sein des chaînes de valeur agricoles, notamment pour la transformation. Si elles sont efficaces pour encourager la croissance de chaînes données, elles peuvent également répartir inefficacement les ressources entre les matières premières. Lorsqu'elles ciblent les importations d'équipements, elles peuvent encourager une production à forte intensité de capital au détriment de la main-d'oeuvre.4. Les événements naturels et les décisions prises par les gouvernements à l'étranger, sur lesquels le pays concerné n'a pas d'emprise, peuvent jouer un rôle critique en déclenchant le développement de chaînes de valeur et en influençant leur structure.5. L'adoption de nouvelles technologies peut être un facteur clé dans le développement de la chaîne de valeur et, dans certaines circonstances, en est une condition préalable. L'adoption de nouvelles technologies dans les chaînes à l'étude a : a. conduit à une augmentation rapide de la production de la matière première et de l'ampleur de la chaîne de valeur b. permis la transformation de produits en remplacement des importations et augmenté les ventes sur le marché intérieur c. permis de recréer des marchés d'exportations perdus d. permis la confection viable de produits à haute valeur ajoutée à petite échelle et e. rendu possible la valorisation des déchets. des relations avec les fournisseurs des intrants et services, et avec les entités qui commercialisent et transforment leur production. L'intégration des producteurs aux chaînes de valeur peut avoir des avantages tant pour les producteurs eux-mêmes que pour les autres participants. Les producteurs souhaitent livrer un produit qui répond aux exigences des transformateurs et des utilisateurs finaux, en termes de caractéristiques physiques, mais aussi de fiabilité et de caractère opportun de la livraison. Les transformateurs, les négociants et les autres participants à la chaîne de valeur peuvent en retour fournir des informations, des formations, des intrants et des financements aux producteurs.7. Selon les caractéristiques de la chaîne, l'agriculture contractuelle, l'intégration verticale ou un mélange des deux peut s'avérer efficace pour favoriser l'inclusion des petits producteurs.8. L'agriculture contractuelle s'avère extrêmement utile pour améliorer l'efficacité de la production de la matière première et des activités en aval. Grâce à elle, on peut améliorer le bien-être de nombreux ménages en milieu rural, augmenter l'efficacité des entreprises de transformation et de commercialisation, et en faire profiter les consommateurs des matières premières agricoles et de leurs produits dérivés. 9. Dès lors que la vente parallèle peut être contrôlée, l'agriculture contractuelle est la plus efficace lorsque l'entreprise qui achète la matière première à des sous-traitants le fait dans un contexte de concurrence.10. Lorsqu'une entreprise qui sous-traite est un acheteur de récoltes pluriannuelles en situation de monopole, il est souhaitable que ses interactions avec les producteurs soient régies par des lois et des réglementations adaptées, afin qu'elle ne réalise pas de bénéfices excessifs au détriment des petits producteurs. Néanmoins, en pratique, ces arrangements sont difficiles à mettre en oeuvre.11. Pour intégrer verticalement les petits producteurs aux activités en aval, il est souvent indispensable qu'ils soient propriétaires de ces entreprises, et impliqués dans ces activités. Cette intégration a plus de chances de réussir lorsque l'activité comporte de faibles coûts d'investissements et une gestion simple. L'entreprise acheteuse est susceptible de l'appuyer financièrement et matériellement si cette démarche conduit à une livraison de matières premières plus fiable sur un plan qualitatif et de disponibilité.12. Il est courant que l'adoption d'investissements et de pratiques écologiques soient le fait des forces des marchés, et non d'une sensibilisation à des activités explicitement écologiques. Cette situation s'explique ainsi : a. L'augmentation du rendement par hectare générée par les forces du marché est écologique dans la mesure où elle permet de répondre à la demande en faveur de matières premières agricoles sur une plus petite surface, ce qui protège ainsi les forêts et les autres zones naturelles. Seule exception : lorsque les activités qui permettent d'augmenter le rendement comportent des effets néfastes pour l'environnement b. Les ressources naturelles sur l'exploitation sont un facteur essentiel pour la production : la viabilité à long terme de la production dépend donc de leur protection c. De nombreux moyens d'augmentation de la rentabilité peuvent protéger les ressources naturelles par la même occasion d. Les pratiques de transformation et de transport écologiques peuvent être utilisées comme des outils de marketing pour favoriser les ventes et augmenter les prix à l'exportation.13. Ces dernières années, des bonnes pratiques explicitement écologiques se sont répandues, notamment dans les chaînes de valeur qui impliquent de grandes entreprises soucieuses d'améliorer leur image de marque dans une direction écologique. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"31f55e03669b6f2e4cffd8398942d89c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/23eab960-19c5-409d-b1b6-6c5464691e75/retrieve","id":"-131648536"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3487f6b6-12ca-4232-949d-ab19233edef8","content":"• Global data from the first reference panel is compiled and a new reference panel is deployed at the HTP sites• 34 -Enhanced capacity to deal with climatic risks and extremes (Mitigation and adaptation achieved)Contributing Centers/PPA partners:• CIAT (Alliance) -Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT -Regional Hub (Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical)• https://sites.google.com/a/irri.org/demo-fp4-gra/home 1 This report was generated on 2022-08-19 at 08:43 (GMT+0)"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b8db62e5d9b7bd85e50bc83a74b47ff2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/31277494-fe0d-475a-9d23-e2575ad6a3ee/retrieve","id":"-1072881003"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0eb4f48a-1ebb-4715-aec3-d231a81fe897","content":"Ce document a été développé dans le cadre du renforcement des capacités des acteurs du Projet « Promotion de l' Agriculture Intelligente face au Climat en Afrique de l'Ouest (AIC) » au Benin,Projet régional de promotion de l' Agriculture Intelligente face au Climat (AIC) en Afrique de l'Ouest        `la thématique abordée lors des ateliers et la satisfaction des attentes des participants ;`la compréhension des objectifs de la formation par les participants ;`la compréhension des exercices pratiques par les participants ;`la gestion du temps lors des ateliers et la compréhension des travaux pratiques ;`les méthodes de formation et compréhension des contenus de la formation ;`la présentation et l' explication des illustrations lors de la formation ;`l'appréciation de la formation par les participants ;`l'utilisation future des nouvelles connaissances par les participants et leurs compétences acquises ; et, `les doléances et commentaires des participants.D'une manière générale, les attentes de la grande majorité des participants ont été satisfaites par les sujets abordés (en moyenne 99,3%) dans tous les pays (Figure 2). Des tendances similaires sont observées pour la facilitation de la compréhension du contenu de la formation (en moyenne 100%           "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"45eb847bd4611149b1184a61af327618","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f6a763e1-d445-4848-a955-0d4ebf4d6efa/retrieve","id":"-879961842"},"keywords":["Stein, M.","Hunter, D.","Swensson, L.","Schneider, S.","Tartanac,"],"sieverID":"7fc6c7cc-d965-4a1b-a071-c11094c324a9","content":"Public food procurement policies and initiatives designed to use government purchasing power and regular demand for food have gained much global attention in the last decade [1,2]. Public food procurement policies can be used to promote healthy diets, based on sustainable food systems, in workplaces, schools, universities, hospitals, aged care facilities, and other venues at which public meals are provided. A key characteristic of public food procurement is that it offers the opportunity to determine the way food is procured in addition to what type of food is purchased (local, diverse, nutritious, healthy, culturally appropriate, etc.), from whom (smallholder farmers, small and medium food enterprises, women, youth, and/or other vulnerable groups), and from which type of production (from agroecology or organic or other modes of agricultural production that ensure environmental sustainability as well as biodiversity). In this Special Issue, we solicited a range of articles from academics, researchers, and practitioners exploring innovative approaches and methods in the field of sustainable public food procurement practice and policy, with a particular focus on the use of public food procurement policies as an instrument to promote environmental sustainability and possible means by which to measure its impacts, areas in which research is currently lacking. This Special Issue comprises two academic literature reviews and three case studiesfrom Italy, Kenya, and South Africa.Elvira Molin, Michael Martin, and Anna Björklund (Swedish Environmental Research Institute/KTH Royal Institute of Technology) report on a systematic literature review of sustainability within public procurement of food, examining 103 articles published between 2000 and 2020. In this review, they analysed what aspects of sustainability were emphasised and what practices were identified as sustainable. In many of the reviewed studies, procuring local food was assumed to be environmentally beneficial due to reduced food miles. However, certain studies have shown that food miles may not be a good proxy for environmental sustainability. Some procuring authorities were reluctant to buy from local producers because more established companies were perceived to be better suppliers. Several articles supported purchasing organic foods, which were promoted to address all three pillars of sustainability, although the motivations primarily focused on the environmental sustainability related to reduced environmental impacts. There were conflicting views in the literature as to whether increased usage of organic foods will reduce GHG emissions. Organic food was also sometimes promoted as healthier. Only a few of the reviewed articles suggested a reduction in meat usage as a sustainable food procurement approach. The review concludes that few articles assess the sustainability or outcomes of procurement processes through quantitative or qualitative methods or how actors in the procurement process can improve procurement toward more sustainable foods. The authors declare that there is a need for further case studies and guidelines to measure the development, progress, and performance of public food procurement.Goiuri Alberdi and Mirene Begiristain-Zubillaga of the University of the Basque Country report on a scoping review of sustainable food procurement strategy in healthcare systems. Online databases were used to identify scientific and grey literature published in English from 2000 to 2019. An analytical-synthetic approach was used for charting the data. In total, 26 studies were included, 65% of which were published in the last five years. These included research articles (n 11), an opinion article (n 1), policy handbooks and guides (n 2), project reports (n 4), technical reports (n 3), policy forums (n 1), factsheet documents (n 3), and legislative directives (n 1). The outcomes framework highlighted multilevel governance, a sustainable food supply system, and healthy and sustainable food services as the main action areas for a sustainable food procurement strategy, along with six transversal features: long-term commitment, investment, evaluation, communication, gender, and a holistic approach.Elena Pagliarino, Elena Santanera, and Greta Falavigna of the Italian Research Institute on Sustainable Economic Growth discuss a case study of an Italian school where researchers examined the extent to which parents were willing to participate in food procurement decisions, as well as their ability to predict what foods children would pick at school lunch and their willingness to support sustainable food choices made by the school. Their research is based on a questionnaire survey of 500 parents, and an in-depth study of 138 child-parent pairs. The study comprised (i) presentation of an innovative recipe in the weekly menu of the school canteen, (ii) meal observations of children's intake at school lunch during the week of the menu modification, and (iii) collection of the reports of both parents and children on their choices of dishes from the modified weekly menu. The study assesses the impact of two recent changes in Italian school canteen policy-the opening of school canteens to lunches brought from home and measures adopted to contain the COVID pandemic. It concludes that these changes have had a detrimental effect on the quality of food eaten in Italian school canteens.Clement Mensah and Abdulrazak Karriem of the Institute for Social Development at the University of the Western Cape made a qualitative assessment of the contribution to sustainable rural livelihoods made by the South African National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP). Using in-depth interviews, they explored the contributions and challenges of using local farmers as suppliers, within the Eastern Cape, the country's poorest province. The study found that participating schools in rural areas benefit from local sourcing of fresh vegetables for school meals. This was facilitated by the utilisation of a decentralised catering model. There was some evidence of farmers earning additional income and expanding vegetable production. However, while schools were encouraged to buy vegetables grown locally, they retained discretion to buy from other suppliers. Their study concluded that there was scope for a greater effort to source school food ingredients from local farmers. This could use NSNP as a tool to make the South African food system more inclusive, drive down rural poverty and realise sustainable rural development.Julian Xie, Kathrin Demmler, Ann Trevenen-Jones, and Kelly Brownell are four researchers based in the USA and Switzerland who have studied urban public food provision in the Kiambu and Machakos counties of Kenya, examining an early childhood education centre and primary school feeding, hospital food provision, and COVID-19 responses. Their research revealed that actionable data and public-private partnerships were enabling factors. Multistakeholder involvement and governance increased coordination. However, budget constraints threatened programme stability. Procurement criteria focused on nutrition, food quality, and community development but did not explicitly include environmental sustainability. The paper concluded that, by developing public food procurement, urban governments in low-and middle-income countries can reach the most vulnerable whilst improving farmer livelihoods and addressing environmental concerns.The various articles amassed in this Special Issue show the multiple potentials and multi-faceted nature of public food procurement policies and initiatives. In line with in-creasing international recognition, including by the recent United Nations Food Systems Summit, these case studies from African and European countries highlight how public food procurement is a transversal policy instrument with the potential to be used in very different country contexts to achieve various development objectives, including environmental sustainability.In addition to providing evidence on the potential benefits of PFP, the articles presented in this Special Issues also show the complexity of these initiatives and provide insights on the issues arising and possible areas of interventions needed for proper implementation.All of the contributions are unanimous in highlighting the need for further research and case studies. We hope that this Special Issue contributes to filling this gap and promoting further research in this area."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"af2060342f436b4234cd6c5c204fbde0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/dc54158a-03f4-40f6-9e52-184637cd2400/retrieve","id":"1842523090"},"keywords":["mint","peppermint","spearmint","verticillium wilt","monoterpene"],"sieverID":"10645455-a118-40c9-a69d-a9a0cd4859ea","content":"Mentha is a strongly scented herb of the Lamiaceae (formerly Labiatae) and includes about 30 species and hybrid species that are distributed or introduced throughout the globe. These fragrant plants have been selected throughout millennia for use by humans as herbs, spices, and pharmaceutical needs. The distilling of essential oils from mint began in Japan and England but has become a significant industrial product for the US, China, India, and other countries. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service, National Clonal Germplasm Repository (NCGR) maintains a mint genebank in Corvallis, Oregon. This facility preserves and distributes about 450 clones representing 34 taxa, hybrid species, advanced breeder selections, and F 1 hybrids. Mint crop wild relatives are included in this unique resource. The majority of mint accessions and hybrids in this collection were initially donated in the 1970s by the A.M. Todd Company, located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Other representatives of diverse mint taxa and crop wild relatives have since been obtained from collaborators in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and Vietnam. These mints have been evaluated for cytology, oil components, verticillium wilt resistance, and key morphological characters. Pressed voucher specimens have been prepared for morphological identity verification. An initial set of microsatellite markers has been developed to determine clonal identity and assess genetic diversity. Plant breeders at private and public institutions are using molecular analysis to determine identity and diversity of the USDA mint collection. Evaluation and characterization includes essential oil content, disease resistance, male sterility, and other traits for potential breeding use. These accessions can be a source for parental genes for enhancement efforts to produce hybrids, or for breeding new cultivars for agricultural production. Propagules of Mentha are available for distribution to international researchers as stem cuttings, rhizome cuttings, or seed, which can be requested through the GRIN-Global database of the US National Plant Germplasm System, subject to international treaty and quarantine regulations.The millennia of human effort involved in the domestication of economically important agricultural and horticultural crops is documented and broadly discussed among plant evolutionary biologists (Darwin, 1859;Darlington, 1963;Zohary, 1969;Zohary, 1984;Zohary, 2004). Plant domestication, the genetic modification of a wild form to create an altered plant to meet human needs, has produced many plants incapable of existing in the wild (Doebley et al., 2006). This \"domestication syndrome\" (Hammer, 1984) involves a combination of traits that are different from those of the wild progenitors. These domesticated plants may have larger fruit or grains, robust growth habits, loss of sexual fertility, loss of bitterness, or synchronous flowering. These plants may not compete successfully in the natural world.As Zohary (2004) points out, seed propagated agronomic crops, many of which display domestication syndrome, have undergone stabilizing selection to protect fertility. Grain crops have rigid protection for sexual reproduction with streamlined development of flowers, fruits, and seed. Chromosomes behave normally at meiosis and deviants do not survive to reproduce. Chromosomes are balanced with little pollen or seed sterility. In contrast, clonally propagated fruit crops, which also display domestication syndrome, not only tolerate but also promote the reduction of pollen and seed fertility and lower chromosome stability. Parthenocarpy, unequal ploidy levels, aneuploids, and other innovative mass production solutions reduce seed set without reducing fruit production.At the next level, crops maintained by clonal propagation and grown for their non-reproductive organs have the most drastic disruptions to their flowering and fruiting systems. This group, according to Zohary (2004), demonstrates bizarre chromosomal segregation and unusual ploidy levels. Mint species are an exemplar of this category.Multiple species of mint have been used for medicinal purposes by humanity from prehistory. From savory herbs produced in monasteries to single-family needs of the kitchen garden, commercial peppermint production for menthol, and essential oil extraction from other mint species, mints represent a significant global economic commodity.The objectives of this manuscript are to describe the domestication of mint and its uses to humanity. Trait and genotype examples and a summary of the preservation of Mentha genetic resources and global genebank operations will be presented. Present breeding improvements and future possibilities considering future genetic analysis will be projected.Mentha is a strongly scented herb genus of the Lamiaceae (formerly Labiatae) and includes 18 species, 31 subspecies or botanical varieties, and 11 recognized hybrid species (Tucker and Naczi, 2007;GRIN-Global, 2020). The mint family includes diverse additional aromatic genera, such as mountain mint (Pycnanthemum L.), lavender (Lavendula L.), sage (Salvia L.), rosemary (Rosmarinus L.), and oregano (Origanum L.), which are grown commercially for essential oils that are distilled from leaves and stems. Mint shoots and leaves are used for medicinal and aromatic purposes, such as dried organic extracts, distillates, condiments, and food flavorings. Likewise, Mentha includes many commercially valuable species, including peppermint (Mentha ×piperita), Scotch spearmint (M. ×gracilis), native spearmint (M. spicata), American wild mint (M. canadensis), and corn mint (M. arvensis), which are cultivated in different parts of the world for their culinary and medicinal properties. Plants in this genus are herbaceous, rhizomatous, perennial, and aromatic, with smooth, wide-spreading underground stems, which are square in cross-section. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, and the white, pink, or purple flowers are produced in clusters.The name Mentha is derived from Classical Greek mythology, from Minthe, (Minthê), who was a beautiful Cocythian (river nymph) beloved by Hades (Pluto) god of the underworld. Minthe was metamorphosed into dust by Hades's wife, Demeter (Persephone) (Rosengarten, 1969), but Hades caused the fragrant mint plant to grow from the dust. The etymology of \"mint\" is from the old English minte (= mint plant), which is derived from Proto-Germanic, through Latin from the Ancient Greek, and is akin to old Norse.At the base of Mt. Minthe, there was a temple dedicated to Hades and a grove for Demeter (Ovid Met. 10) Near Pylos, Greece, Mt. Minthe is thought to be a location of the origin of triploid sterile spearmint (2n = 3x = 36), which likely arose from the introgression of the conspecific endemic ancient amphidiploid Mentha spicata (2n = 4x = 48) and the diploid M. longifolia (2n = 2x = 24) (Kokkini, 1991;Lawrence, 1991).Since the time of Linneaus, more than 3,000 specific epithets have been reported for Mentha (Tucker and Naczi, 2007). As a measure of mint species taxonomic diversity, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) network includes more than 740,000 locality data points from 454 Mentha taxa with occurrences throughout the world (GBIF, 2020). The plethora of names and occurrences of hybrid and naturalized mints have created confusion in the literature. Wild species of mint hybridize readily, and over evolutionary time, native hybrid-species swarms developed in conspecific regions. Subsequently, minor variances have achieved species rank.The Plants of the World database (http://www.plantsofthe worldonline.org/) (Kew Science, 2020) describes 39 taxa including, 24 species and 15 hybrid species (Figure 1). Tucker and Naczi (2007) prepared a more conservative list of the number of mints, synonymizing many to recognize 18 species, 31 subspecies or botanical varieties, 11 hybrid species, and one excluded species. They chose to consider Mentha cunninghamii (Benth.) Benth., as Micromeria cunninghamii Benth. GRIN-Global (2020) taking a moderate course, includes 20 Mentha species.For this manuscript, we applied the determination by Tucker and others (Tucker and Chambers, 2002;Tucker and Naczi, 2007) for 18 recognized species, with one exception: For this review, we considered Mentha repens (J.D. Hook.) Briq. as M. pulegium L. subsp. repens.Mentha L. has a cosmopolitan native range (Kew Science, 2020). The Mentha distribution map (Kew Science) included 163 countries, provinces, and regions for native distribution and 43 regions of introduction (Figure 1). Considering the tendency for species hybridization within this genus and the successful expansion strategies of mint around the globe, we used a conservative estimation to develop global richness maps. We considered only the taxa accepted by Tucker and Naczi (2007). We prepared global richness maps searching GBIF data for the 17 mint species (Figures 2 and 3).We separately examined world occurrences of point data within GBIF data for each of the 17 species. We filtered out the introduced, naturalized, and cultivated locality data, keeping only natural endemic occurrences. We used climatic and topographic predictors to model likely occurrence for the 17 individual species maps. The data for the separate species maps were merged to produce the global species richness maps (Figures 2 and 3). These maps can be used for applied research or conservation planning and investigating the processes that have shaped these patterns.While the highest diversity of present day species occurs in Western Europe (Figure 2), significant endemic mint species occur in Eastern and Western North America, Asia, Southern Australia, and Tasmania (Figure 3). In addition to this natural species diversity, hundreds of thousands of data points of introduced, naturalized, and cultivated mint occur throughout five continents (GBIF, 2020). The multitude of global mint occurrences (Figure 1) speak to the global success of this genus, starting from Centers of Diversity in Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia and spreading throughout the globe.The ease of propagation by seeds and clonal propagules, such as rhizomes and cuttings, and the survivability of the plants during harsh and undesirable climactic conditions, allow for spread and diversification. The utilitarian application of mint for human pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic needs encouraged domestication and cultivation throughout the world and across multiple cultures.Throughout human history, medicinal and aromatic plants have been used for flavor enrichment in culinary and medicinal purpose in folk medicine (Sonmezdag et al., 2017). Mentha has been of great importance considering its unique aroma and nutritional value (Naghibi et al., 2010). Archeological excavations showed that the usage of lavenders, sage, and mints occurred in prehistoric times, harvested locally from the wild (Nuńez and De Castro, 1992). In western traditions, mints have been cultivated in the dry, mild, and cold districts of Asia, Europe, and North Africa since antiquity (Jamzad et al., 2003). Native peoples in America have documented traditions of uses of mints as cold remedies (Chehalis, Cowlitz), treatments for gastrointestinal ailments (Kiowa), food (Kiowa, chewing leaves), and ceremonial medicine (Navaho) (Vestal and Schultes, 1939;Elmore, 1944;Gunther, 1973).Multiple mint species are referenced (Bostok, 1885) throughout Greek and Roman herbals (Aeschylus, Hippocrates, Krataeus, Dioscorides, and Galen; Romans: Cato, Ovid, and Pliny the Elder); Asian medicinal traditions, traditional Chinese medicine, and the Ayurvedic tradition of India.The earliest published mint species images in existence can be found on gr. III fol. 129r and 132r of the Juliana Anicia Codex or Vindobonensis Codex (Janick and Hummer, 2012). The Juliana Anicia Codex is a magnificently illustrated manuscript with written information based on the Peri Ylis Iatrikis (De Materia Medica in Latin; Of Medical Matters of Dioscorides). This codex, one of the earliest books, was presented to the imperial Princess Juliana Anicia in Constantinople 512 CE (Collins, 2000). In the 15th century, it was purchased by the Emperor Maximilian for the Imperial Library and was moved to Vienna, where it now resides. The translation of the uses for mints as described in Byzantine Greek written in the background of the images was prepared by Lily Beck (Beck, 2005) and is presented (Table 1). These uses described in the Juliana Anicia Codex were reiterated, revised, and interpreted in many recensions of Dioscorides works and in subsequent herbals for the next several millennia (Collins, 2000; Figures 4 and 5).Dioscorides mentions about 500 plants (Singer, 1927). About 130 of these were referenced in the Hippocratic collection. Thus, many of these treatments, including peppermint, were utilized in the Greek world for more than four centuries before Dioscorides writings and have survived throughout the times to medicinal applications in the present day.Mint is mentioned in the bible: Mathew 23:23, \"For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others\" and Luke 11:42, \"Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.\" Parry (1925) suggests that these quotations refer to Mentha longifolia, long leafed mint, native to North Africa. Robert Gunther (1934) prepared a translation of John Goodyear's 1655 version of Eduosmos agrios in Dioscorides as: \"But ye wilde mint, which ye Romans call Mentastrum, is round in the leaves and altogether greater than Sisymbrium, but poisonous in smell, and lesse fitting for use in health.\"Mentha in the traditional Galenic medicine in the Islamic period (Table 2) can be traced to the writings of Dioscorides and other Greek authors.The Ebers Papyrus dating to 1550 BCE and purchased by Georg Ebers in Luxor in 1874, is one of the earliest surviving Egyptian medical papyri. It is kept in the library at the University of Lipzig, Germany. This 110-page scroll is about 20 m long, and the text is scribed in hieratic Egyptian, likely copied from earlier manuscripts. One treatment suggests that peppermint be mixed with flour, incense, wood of the waneb plant, a stag's horn, sycamore seeds, mason's plaster, seeds of zart, and water to create a curative paste for headaches supporting later Anglo-Saxon and Greek prescriptions for headache and migraine pain relief (Aboelsoud, 2010;Elansary and Ashmawy, 2013).In the Hearst Papyrus, dated to approximately 2000 BCE, peppermint is recommended as a treatment for rhinitis, where a plaster is applied directly to the nose. In prescription 171, peppermint is mixed with wine and is used to treat what might be edema of the legs. After the mint and wine mixture is consumed, some sort of bloodletting is required, though the physician doesn't provide much in terms of specificity. Mint is still used to treat edema today, though most modern references  (Beck, 2005). , 31 [ϒlήcwn (blήcwn), M. pulegium L. Pennyroyal] The pennyroyal: it is a familiar herb, warming, thinning and promoting digestion. When drunk, it draws the menses, afterbirth, and embryos/fetuses. It brings up from the long phlegm when drunk with salt and honey and it helps people with spasms, and with sour wine mixed with water it relieves nausea and gnawing pains of the stomach. With wine, it drives down the bowel dark matter and helps those bitten by wild animals and when applied to the nostrils with vinegar, it revives those who fainted. Ground up dry and burned, it also strengths the gums; plastered on with barley groats, it soothes all inflammations; it is suitable to use all by itself on the gouty until the skin surfaces becomes irritated and when used with a cerate, it checks facial eruptions; it also helps patients with spleen disease when plastered on with salt. Its decoction used as a wash stops itching and is suitable in a sitz bath for uterine inflations, indurations, and twistings. Some people call it blechon because sheep that taste it when in bloom bleat continuously.[ύбύοsmοn Mentha sp. L. Green mint] The green mint, but some call it minthe: it is a well-known little herb having warming, astringent and drying properties; it is for this reason that its juice, when drunk with vinegar, staunches blood, destroys the round intestinal worm, rouses sexual desire, and when two or three little sprays are drunk with the juice of sour pomegranate, stops hiccups, vomiting, and cholera. Applied as a plaster with barley groats, it dissipates abscesses, placed on the forehead, it assuages headaches, and it abates distension and swelling of the breasts. With salt, it is a plaster for people bitten by dogs, and its juice with hydromel is suitable for earaches. Used by women as a pessary before sexual intercourse, it causes barrenness, and if rubbed on a rough tongue, it smothes it; it keeps milk from curdling when little sprays are stirred about in it, and it is through and through wholesome and spicy. There is also a wild green mint which has thicker leaves, all told it is larger than bergamot mint which has thicker leaves, all told it is larger than bergamont mint, rather foul smelling, and less useful for health purposes.  1).deal with topical creams for livestock, particularly cattle (Aboelsoud, 2010).The majority of Medieval and Renaissance herbals elaborated the traditions described by ancient Greek and Roman text (Hummer and Janick, 2007). Mint species played a prominent role in many treatments. Adams et al. (2011) compared malaria treatments in Fuchs (1543) and Brunfels (1532), both of whom suggested the use of mints against this disease. Fuchs (1543) also recommended taking pennyroyal (M. pulegium) in vinegar against epilepsy. Essential oil extracted from pennyroyal was amongst the pro-convulsive essential oils discussed by Duke (1985), Burkhard et al. (1999), and Riddle and Estes (1992). Nicholas Culpeper's work, the Complete Herbal (Culpeper, 1652) documents the use of several mint species. Unlike the Egyptian papyri, or Anglo-Saxon Leech books, Culpeper's work provides in-depth descriptions and growth habits of the plant entries. Culpeper discusses spearmint, which he refers to alternatively as \"heartmint.\" The plant is labeled an \"herb of Venus,\" which directly refers to Dioscorides' De Materia Medica, inferring that mint possesses healing, binding, and drying qualities. Much of the entry borrows directly from this text but has some additions. Culpeper includes treatments using mint for a sore and itchy scalp, pain of the ears, venomous bites, headache, indigestion, and flatulence. He also includes prescriptions for the resolution of bad breath and soreness of the gums and palate. Horse or wild mint are then referenced. Due to menthol's innate analgesic qualities, mint is described to be used against headaches, migraines, and general pain and swelling. Mint is also recommended as a digestive aid. Mint relaxes stomach muscles, allowing food and flatulence to pass more easily.Mint was employed topically to treat dry, itchy skin, and insect and animal bites and lessen the appearance of scars, bruises and scabs, particularly on the scalp and face. Due to its antimicrobial and antifungal properties, mint was used for millennia to treat fungal infections, such as ringworm, and to treat parasites, such as roundworm. Mint is also a diuretic and, as such, can be used to stimulate urination and possibly even treat hypertension.Mint was significant to humans from early history, being collected from the wild and brought to the convents, monasteries, and kitchen gardens for direct use. Japan preceded western countries in the cultivation of mint and extraction of menthol from M. arvensis, begun before 0 CE (Flueckiger, 1891;Hayden, 1929). Tamba Yasudori (984 CE), in the oldest surviving Japanese medical text, stated that menthol was used in preparation of an aqueous eye medication. Japan began exporting menthol in 1873 (Gildemeister and Hoffman, 1913). In Japan, this oil was extracted from corn mint (Mentha arvensis L.).Production of peppermint for menthol in large areas in the western world did not occur until 1750 in England (Parry, 1925). By 1796, about 40.5 ha (100 acres) of peppermint (M. ×piperita) were grown near Mitcham, England. The plant material was harvested, bundled, and sent to London for distilling. This early production of peppermint oil yielded 900-1360 kg (2,000-3,000 lb) (Parry, 1925). Over the next 20 years, the production area expanded to 10  townships surrounding Mitcham. By 1940, peppermint cultivation in the original Mitcham area ceased (Parry, 1925). Peppermint plants were imported from England to the United States with early settlers. By 1812, peppermint was raised commercially near Ashfield, Massachusetts (Lawrence, 1991). Enterprising farmers and distillers, such as Archibald Burnett and Hiram G. Hotchkiss, brought mint westward to New York. By 1830, mint production was sufficient for nine distilleries. These stills also processed spearmint, tansy, wintergreen, spruce, and hemlock oils (Lawrence, 1991). Mint production began to move further west in the US. Both spearmint and peppermint were introduced in New York, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. In the western states, mint from Oregon and Washington spread into Idaho, Montana, California, Nevada, and Utah. Lawrence (1991) provides details of early mint production in the US.In 1853, Albert M. Todd imported 'Black Mitcham' roots from England and began production in St. Joseph County, Michigan. 'White Mitcham,' the original introduction, had become known as 'American peppermint.' Todd found 'Black Mitcham' to be superior to 'White Mitcham' for production in Michigan. Todd's production and distillery in Kalamazoo became a major mint producer. By 1915, Todd began several hundred acres of Scotch spearmint (M. x gracilis Sole), because of its productivity over the native spearmint (M. spicata).The main mint crops produced in the US are peppermint and spearmint, the latter including Scotch and native spearmints. 'Black Mitcham' peppermint has been the most widely grown peppermint cultivar since at least the mid-20 th century (Lawrence, 1991).The US does not report peppermint production to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAOSTAT, 2018). In 2018, the countries reporting the largest peppermint production included Morocco, Argentina, Mexico, Bulgaria, and Spain. Oil distilled in China, India, and Japan is M. arvensis var piperescens and is not counted in the FAO peppermint database. In 2018, the FAO reported world mint oil production at 106,728 MT.The annual farm gate value of peppermint production in the US has been between $100 and $150 million, while that of spearmint has ranged between $45 to $50 million during the past decade (NASS, 2020).Recent US mint oil production was highest in 2011, at about 7 million pounds (3,175 MT) of peppermint oil and 2.2 million pounds (998 MT) of spearmint oil. Since then, US production has dropped to under 6 million pounds (2,721 MT), as production of (-)-menthol from oils of M. arvensis has been increasing in China and India. The demand for mint oil by Southeast Asian countries has been driving the expansion of the market in recent years (Liu and Lawrence, 2006).The FAO manages a list of world genebanks or botanical gardens and the crops that they preserve. This information is publically available in two global databases: Genesys PGR2 and CATIE. We queried both of these databases on 14 April 2020 and totaled entries for Mentha and combined results. This query determined that 65 genebanks in 42 countries as preserving Mentha genetic resources. The largest mint collections are held in the US, Ukraine, Germany, Japan, Portugal, and the United Kingdom (Supplemental Table 1).The Mentha collection of the USDA, NCGR in Corvallis, Oregon, includes representatives of approximately 450 accessions of 13 species and 10 hybrid species plus cultivated types (Table 3). This working genebank maintains the primary collections as plants in containers in greenhouse or lath house environments (Hummer et al., 2020). Most of these plants represent diverse wild species collections from 57 countries.Most mints in this collection were originally donated to the USDA from Dr. Merrit J. Murray, breeder at A.M. Todd Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan, dating back to the 1970s. At that time, the Todd Company decided to discontinue their mint breeding program and donated the collection to Dr. Chester Ellsworth Horner, USDA researcher in Corvallis, Oregon. Dr. Al Haunold assumed responsibility upon Dr. Horner's retirement and subsequently donated the collection to the NCGR in the mid-1980s.At present, 216 mint accessions at the NCGR are species or advanced breeder selections originally donated from M. J. Murray. Other representatives of diverse mint taxa including wild accessions have since been obtained from breeders and taxonomic collaborators in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and Vietnam.Besides maintaining diverse species representatives, the NCGR collection includes advanced breeder lines, cultivar and germplasm releases, and what are referred to as \"donor-named selections,\" where the NCGR has kept the names provided by donors. In addition, virologists have donated 16 pathogen-positive mints for virus identification studies and certification programs.The NCGR was dedicated in 1981. Since that time, the NCGR has distributed > 9,700 mints as plants, cuttings, rhizomes, tissue cultures, or seed lots for 1,277 orders. About 31% of the orders were sent to US researchers (including government agencies, universities, and non-profit organizations), 33% to US individuals and private companies, and 36% were shipped to foreign requestors. Additional plant and tissue culture shipments were made for secure remote backup of the collection at the USDA National Laboratory for Genetic Resource Preservation in Ft. Collins, Colorado, the designated base germplasm collection within the US National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS).Some  4).Many researchers noted that their purpose for requesting the germplasm was to seek diverse essential oil profiles or to perform genetic analyses. Many universities and companies requested propagules from the entire mint collection for this use. Private company results are unpublished and not publically available. Other scientists were interested in the taxonomy of specific accessions and systematic determinations (Tucker and Chambers, 2002). Others requested germplasm to seek disease resistance (Vining et al., 2005).The policy of the US NPGS is to distribute plant genetic resources freely for crop improvement. The quarantine importation regulations on international shipment of Mentha are relatively minor compared to those for shipment of fruit, nut, and other more restricted horticultural crops. Fewer importation requirements facilitate the ease of transfer of germplasm for foreign requests.The primary objectives of a plant genebank includes the acquisition, maintenance, distribution, evaluation, and characterization of the assigned genetic resources (Chambers and Hummer, 1992). During the past 35 years, staff at the NCGR, working in collaboration with scientists at other institutions, have examined the cytology, essential oil content, disease resistance, and the development and use of molecular markers for identity confirmation and diversity determination. Data from these studies have been added as descriptors to the GRIN-Global database. 18; M. pulegium with diploid (2n = 2x = 20), triploid (2n = 3x = 30), and tetraploid (2n = 4x = 40); and M. japonica with 2n = 2x = 50. This survey included chromosome counts for M. australis (two accessions), M. japonica, M. diemenica, and M. cunninghamii. For the majority of mint species with x = 12, diploid, triploid, tetraploid, hexaploid, octoploid, and decaploid members were observed (Chambers and Hummer, 1994). Vining et al. (2019) recently reported several unusual ploidy counts, finding diploid and triploid clones in M. suaveolens and octoploid and enneaploid clones of M. aquatica in the NCGR mint collection.The Lamiaceae, and particularly Mentha, produce aromatic \"essential\" oils. These lipophilic substances, predominantly terpenes, are produced by capitate or peltate glandular trichomes that occur on the leaf and stem surfaces (Amelunxen, 1964). They can be simply extracted by crushing the leaves and stems or more completely through distillation. The volatile composition is affected by short chain terpenes that constitute the main fraction especially C10 mono-and C15 sesquiterpenes, which overwhelmingly affect the flavor and taste of these species.Mints with unique essential oil profiles are valued by the herb, nursery, and pharmaceutical trades. More than 275 accessions of the mint collection of the NCGR were screened by gas chromatography for 37 separate essential oil profiles (Bergstein, 1983). The signature component of native spearmint oil is the C6-oxygenated pmenthane monoterpene (-)-carvone (Figure 6). The oil distilled from 'Black Mitcham' peppermint contains predominantly C3oxygenated monoterpenes, with (-)-menthone and (-)-menthol being the most prominent metabolites. Essential oil analyses indicated that about half of the NCGR accessions labeled as M. aquatica accumulate (+)-menthofuran as the most abundant monoterpene (with occasionally high levels of (-)-limonene and/ or 1,8-cineole as well), while the remainder had variable oil profiles and need to be further investigated (Vining et al., 2019). Oils from M. suaveolens accessions are high in either (-)-carvone, piperitenone oxide, or trans-piperitone oxide (Vining et al., 2019). The oil types of M. longifolia accessions are quite diverse, with different C6-or C3-oxygenated monoterpenes dominating the profile (Vining et al., 2005).While the oil composition varies significantly depending on growing location, regional weather, harvest dates, and processing technology (Lawrence, 2006), recent assessments of NCGR accessions and cultivars were performed under controlled conditions to ensure comparability. These data sets can be searched online as descriptors through GRIN-Global (https:// npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/method.aspx?id=496325).Verticillium wilt disease perpetually plagues the mint industry, and therefore breeding for durable wilt resistance is a longstanding goal. Verticillium wilt is a vascular wilt disease caused by the soil-borne fungus Verticillium dahliae. 'Black Mitcham' peppermint is highly wilt susceptible. However, the cultivar is also a sterile hexaploid, which hinders traditional breeding techniques. Other genetic mutation and recombination techniques have been performed over the years.An irradiation program, working in collaboration with nuclear facilities in the 1960s, resulted in the release of two new peppermint cultivars with relatively higher wilt resistance: 'Todd's Mitcham' (Todd et al., 1977) and 'Murray Mitcham' (Murray and Todd, 1972). In the 1990s-2000s, the Mint Industry Research Council initiated a genetic engineering project with the objective of genetically transforming peppermint cultivars to confer verticillium wilt resistance. However, despite remarkable technical successes in improving oil yield and composition (but not verticillium resistance) (Lange et al., 2011;Lange, 2015), this research was discontinued due to concerns about market acceptance of genetically modified organisms.Multi-locus dominant markers such as amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), and intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers have been used with a small number of mint accessions for assessment of genetic diversity and relationships (Khanuja et al., 2000;Gobert et al., 2002;Shasany et al., 2002;Shiran et al., 2004;Vining et al., 2005;Sabboura et al., 2016;Jedrzejczyk and Rewers, 2018;Choupani et al., 2019) and for cultivar identification (Fenwick and Ward, 2001). Species-specific start codon targeted (SCoT) markers were also developed and used to assess genetic diversity in 12 accessions from four mint species (Khanm et al., 2017). Few co-dominant simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers are available for mint (Kumar et al., 2015;Vining et al., 2019). Kumar et al. (2015) identified 54 SSRs from publicly available expressed sequence tag (EST-SSR) sequences of M. ×piperita that generated clear amplicons in 13 accessions from this species. Three SSRs with long core repeats amplified in representative samples from four species including M. arvensis, M. citrata, M. longifolia, and M. spicata, indicating transferability among species.We recently screened these three SSRs in addition to 48 other primer pairs designed from a draft genome assembly of M. longifolia CMEN 585, from South Africa (Vining et al., 2017) in an eight-member testing panel (three accessions each of M. suaveolens and M. aquatica and two accessions of M. longifolia) (Vining et al., 2019). Screening the eight-member testing panel with these 51 SSRs identified nine new primer pairs that were polymorphic and appeared easy to score (Figure 7). These nine SSRs were thus used in two multiplexes to genotype 49 accessions propagated from the NCGR collection that included 24 accessions of M. aquatica, 23 accessions of M. suaveolens, and the two M. longifolia plants in the testing panel. The nine SSRs developed in this study separated the accessions mostly according to species and identified each accession as unique. Three sets of accessions of M. aquatica were closely related and were distinguished by a single allele each: CMEN 116,CMEN 117;CMEN 110,CMEN 111;and CMEN 121,CMEN 122. The consecutive local numbers of each pair of closely related accessions indicate they are in neighboring pots and may suggest plant contamination and will be investigated further.Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers have not yet been reported in Mentha, and the number of SSRs remains low. More SSRs and new SNPs need to be identified and evaluated across Mentha species and are now possible due to the availability of a genome sequence (M. longifolia) (Vining et al., 2017), and the low cost of re-sequencing.From the mint industry viewpoint, improved oil quality and verticillium wilt disease resistance are two priority traits for new cultivar development. Both traits are multigenic with complex mechanisms. Mentha germplasm evaluations have therefore focused on those traits and efforts are ongoing to understand the underlying genetics. Vining et al. (2019) also reported species accessions with undeveloped anthers, resulting in apparent male sterility. This trait could be useful for developing male-sterile cultivars. The USDA NCGR Mentha collection is valuable as a source of genetic diversity for mint breeding toward these goals. Several private companies have had, or currently have, mint breeding programs that have requested accessions from the Mentha collection. While information about these programs is strictly proprietary, patent documents show cultivar releases for M. spicata: (https://patents.google.com/patent/USPP8645P/en; https://patents.google.com/patent/US20120204283A1/en; https://patents.google.com/patent/US20050044600), M. arvensis (https://patents.justia.com/patent/PP10935), and an interspecies hybrid: (https://patents.google.com/patent/USPP12030). Besides patents, future cultivars could be released under Plant Variety Protection (PVP), or as germplasm releases through the USDA.The origin of 'Black Mitcham' peppermint, the most widely grown American cultivar in the US and Europe, is unknown, because it resulted from natural hybridization events. However, phylogenetic studies (Tucker et al., 1980;Tucker and Naczi, 2007) suggest that genotypes of M. longifolia and M. suaveolens are the diploid ancestors of M. spicata, which then further hybridized with M. aquatica to give rise to M. ×piperita. Therefore, efforts over the past 50 years have focused on evaluation and crossing of USDA NCGR accessions of M. longifolia, M. suaveolens, and M. aquatica. M. longifolia showed the most obvious phenotypic diversity, with variation in growth habit, leaf morphology, and oil type (Vining et al., 2005). M. suaveolens and M. aquatica showed relatively lower morphological and oil type diversity (Vining et al., 2019).In V. dahliae inoculation tests, both M. longifolia and M. aquatica showed a range of wilt disease resistance to susceptibility, with a few accessions showing high susceptibility, a few showing high resistance, and most displaying mild to moderate susceptibility levels (Vining et al., 2005;Vining et al., 2019). M. suaveolens accessions, in contrast, were highly resistant, with the exception of one moderately susceptible accession (Vining et al., 2019). The contrast in overall wilt disease resistance between M. suaveolens and the other two species led to speculation that verticillium wilt disease resistance was genetically linked to a spearmint oil type. However, one carvone-type M. longifolia accession, CMEN 584, was among the most highly wilt-susceptible accessions of that species. Segregating F 1 and F 2 populations derived from crossing CMEN 584 with wilt-resistant M. longifolia accession CMEN 585 also showed a range of wilt resistance to susceptibility, with wilt susceptibility not associated with any particular oil phenotype (Hummer, pers. comm.). It is possible that the higher wilt resistance in M. suaveolens results from homozygosity at particular loci or even a different genetic resistance from the other two species.Transgressive segregation, a phenomenon in which progeny traits differ from those of either parent, is well documented in oil types resulting from Mentha crosses (Tucker, 2012). Since both monoterpene profile and verticillium wilt resistance are polygenic traits, transgressive segregation can be expected for verticillium wilt resistance as well. With the advent of the M. longifolia reference genome, the genetic underpinnings of these traits are now actively being studied. The complex regulatory mechanisms governing both and verticillium wilt resistance will be a challenge to breedingIn conclusion, mint has a long history of human use and influence and relatively recent (within the past century) increasing attention by mostly private breeding programs. With the advent of genome sequencing, efforts are underway to develop molecular markers for alleles of monoterpene biosynthesis genes and for verticillium wilt disease resistance genes. Going forward, marker assisted selection will increase in importance to mint breeding programs."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"574717dad936703fa2c36569498cce8d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d94483fc-ebc6-48a0-87d1-495100a1b8f6/retrieve","id":"-954445596"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"60b73d7e-1d48-44e1-9786-9ecd32a3d42f","content":"Background and introduction Methodology and activities Preplanning Training Field work Sampling Key challenges of fieldwork Data processing Presentations Key conclusions of the methodology Findings of fieldwork and data analysis CONSUMER SURVEY by location Locations covered and key informants interviewed Targeted SME consumers interviewed Market profiles Key demand side constraints and opportunities Business development services that address those constraints and opportunities Specific policy constraints that are affecting MSE product markets SUPPLIER DIAGNOSTIC by location Existing providers/ services and their locations A workable data base of the BDS actors BDS suppliers interviewed Types of services and price of services, how providers cover costs, profitability, existing contractual arrangements and promotional/marketing strategies Capacity gaps of interviewed suppliers Priority supply side constraints, market failures, and market opportunities Comparison of interviewed suppliers The enabling environment for BDS Conclusions Characteristics of the market for BDS in each specific region in relation to existing supply, demand and transactionsIn a bid to improve life through poverty reduction, a consortium of organisations comprising of Heifer International as lead, TechnoServe Inc, ILRI, ABS-TCM and ICRAF launched a 4 year program dubbed EADD (East Africa Dairy Development) funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The programme aims to move smallholder farmers out of poverty by delivering farmer-focused, value-chain activities that are implemented simultaneously to stimulate dairy farm production, dairy-sector services, business development and dairy market pull. The vision of success for the EADD is that the lives of 179,000 families-or approximately one million people-are transformed by doubling household dairy income by 2018 through integrated interventions in dairy production, market-access and knowledge application.The consortium deemed it important to carry out a market assessment to understand the characteristics of the BDS markets in relation to existing supply, demand and transactions in the dairy sectors in some key sites in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. The information would:• Provide an insight into the potential of each market • Clarify opportunities for interventions• Define broad strategic approaches FIT Resources Kenya (FIT) in collaboration with Research International East Africa Ltd (RIEAL) were contracted to coordinate the market diagnostic in key locations in Kenya.The findings and recommendations of this consultancy will contribute to the market focused, sub sector approach of the EADD aimed at improving the functioning of BDS markets. The final scope of work is attached to this report (Annexes/Final Revised SOW).FIT Resources act as the lead agency and contract holder, to provide strategic leadership in devising and conducting the business development service consumer research and supplier diagnostic. Research International conduct the field work as a sub contractor, to collect primary and secondary qualitative and quantitative information, analyse, process and present the data.To achieve the above results the following activities were agreed on:• Preplanning (planning meetings, research boundaries on the basis of project resources, existing sub sector information, market assessment goal/ objectives/research hypothesis, developing and testing the tools, screening interviewers, target locations in each country, preliminary key informants, other current or proposed interventions) • Training (training of EADD staff, field research teams and BDS training workshop)• Field work (target groups, sample size, areas covered, team structure, consumer survey and supplier diagnostic) • Data processing (developing the data base of BDS actors, profiling the markets, choose priority constraints, identifying and scoping out sustainable solutions, defining 'illustrative' market based interventions and strategies, suggest appropriate BDS providers, establishing comparative information, identifying BDS performance measurements) • Presentations (stakeholder workshops and final presentation)Relevant background information was sourced via a series of planning meeting with Technoserve and EADD consortium members. Meeting presentations and minutes are attached to this report (Annexes/Process meetings). These meetings also included setting the research boundaries on the basis of project resources, preliminary selection of target locations and the agreed definition of 'small holder farmer'.The market assessment goal, objectives and research hypothesis were agreed as follows:The market assessment goal is: To understand the characteristics of the BDS markets in relation to existing supply, demand and transactions in key sites in Rwanda.The market assessment objectives are:• To provide an insight into the potential of each marketThe research hypothesis is: If current BDS market dynamics are better understood then strategic approaches and interventions can be devised to develop BDS markets in a sustainable manner and benefit SMEs.It was agreed that the FIT/RI team would build capacity of the project staff to undertake future market assessments during the life of the project. Due to budget constraints a targeted number of sites were discussed that affords the best opportunities to kick-off the project and generate some 'quick wins'. A training itinerary was also agreed upon to capacitate EADD project staff in BDS and research skills. No secondary information was used as the project is building on a baseline survey and existing value chain assessments in each country. The comprehensive examination of targeted BDS markets and value chains will assist EADD in designing systemic solutions to key market problems. The two subsystems-BDS markets and value chains-are complementary components of the larger market system into which MSEs must integrate. Supplier diagnostic -Based on the identified priority services, relevant suppliers were identified and a supplier survey implemented with service providers from the support markets to determine who is supplying BDS and how. Constraints, market failures and opportunities were then determined from the supply side. A comparison of suppliers was also undertaken and the level of market distortion anticipated. Stakeholders from the business environment such as local authorities, regulators/policy makers were contacted as required to provide an overview of the business environment.The BDS Market Assessment Survey took place in Rwanda from 14 th -25 th November, 2008. The area of coverage of the survey research was Nyagatare and Gatsibo Districts covering the following sectors and sampling points:New sites not included will be covered by Technoserve staff beyond the life of this consultancy.The sample included 316 interviews spread across the 3 sites. 302 farmers were interviewed.As per the briefing instructions, the teams covered a 20KM radius from the location of the chilling plant. Depending on the number of locations located within the 20 KM radius, an equal number of sampling points were picked in each location to ensure spread of interviews.For each location, the team leader picked the starting point randomly, and using the random route method, farmers who fitted the set criteria were interviewed: Selection criteria included:• Dairy farmer • Have mature milking cows Interviews were conducted on farmers who possessed up to 20 cows either being milked or dry currently. There was a shift from the earlier limit of 5 cows due to the widespread ownership of traditional cows in the region. Again it was also realized that even when farmers owned vast herds here, their milk production remained low as they keep indigenous cows that produce an average of between 1 and 4 liters each per day. The team traveled as one and on reaching the research site (village) members were dispatched in different directions. The left hand rule applied in selecting the dairy farmer to interview starting from a given landmark. This meant that once an interview took place, the interviewer moved 3 households keeping on the left hand side then interviewed the 4th household. However, the above rule was only applied where the population was dense and where farms were relatively big (over 10 acres), the skipping was limited to 1 household. At the household, the interviewers first spoke to the adult member of the family, mainly the husband or wife though at some instances, some other family members who were directly responsible for dairy farming gave information.In Rwanda, farmers are allocated grazing land by Government in accordance with the size of cattle herd one has. A centralized area is then set aside where people are allowed to build their homes and the farms are located at a considerable distance away from their homes. This state of affairs meant that our interviewers in most cases could not physically see the cows to ascertain some claims by farmers. As for suppliers (14 were interviewed), the team picked supplier names from the farmers, other suppliers and also those they came across in the trading centres. From the list, a score was given to each and every supplier based on set criteria (capacity to deliver services, closeness to SMEs e.g. in terms of understanding their culture and geography, commercial focus e.g. level of profitability, focus on services, SMEs or BDS, organizational independence-especially from donor funds, legally registered and willingness/interest/ability to partner). This set of requirements not withstanding, and because of their scarcity, all suppliers listed were sought for interview, although a few could not be found.• Late start in Rwanda due to technical hitches and strict protocols e.g. Government requirement of research license • Accessibility of some sectors o Transport -lack of efficient public transport. Tabagwe Sector is approximately 20 kilometers away from Nyagatare Township and the only available mode of public transport was motorbikes. o Rains -the timing of the study coincided with rainy season and this affected the movement. • Special events -the arrest of a senior Rwanda Government official in Germany and the visit to Gatsibo district by Kenya's President Kibaki coincided and interrupted fieldwork as farmers were called on to participate in the demonstrations and rallies that were organized by the Government countrywide. • Few/ uncooperative BDS suppliers. Some of the BDS suppliers were either uncooperative or hard to find. There were very few BDS suppliers of dairy products and services and as such farmers have limited choices. • Research fatigue -a good number of farmers complained of having participated in other recent agricultural and other types of surveys whose results and benefits they had no idea of. • Questionnaire duration. Some respondents complained it was taking too long to go through a questionnaire. This was particularly so during the first few days when most of the interviewers took over one and a half hours (90 minutes).Research International processed all the data collected on an ongoing basis. Research International personnel have developed a database of actors (BDS providers in each of the areas under study are listed, categorized by service provision and their location recorded). A further database defines specific provider gaps and capacities including a score against agreed selection criteria for determining target partner providers. A database of the small and micro enterprises (SMEs) interviewed has also been developed. The full data set is attached to this report (Annexes/Databases).To understand the markets, RI examined three key issues -demand, supply and transactions (the interaction between demand and supply) during the market assessment.The outcome of analyzing this information forms a picture of each BDS market showing how it works, where the opportunities for growth are, and where significant problems lie. Data analysis was undertaken to profile the markets, establish comparative information on the in-country sites and the 3 markets and draw conclusions from the data.A round table meeting was held in early December 08 with stakeholders to overview the methodology and process of data processing and analysis and reach consensus on the priority constraints/opportunities and identify possible solutions. The meeting presentation is attached to this report (Annexes/ Process meetings). Sustainable solutions that address priority supply side and demand side constraints were discussed. Illustrative market based interventions were also developed with a focus on potentially sustainable/profitable services that are replicable in the private sector. Strategies which ensure effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability were also discussed alongside suggested BDS performance measurements. The data processing plan was then circulated for stakeholder feedback during the analysis process and the data plan is attached to this report (Annexes/Process meetings). Comparative information on the incountry sites and 3 BDS markets was also produced.FIT Resources and Research International personnel collaboratively implemented a presentation and action planning at a stakeholder workshops in Rwanda with staff, consortium members and key informants on 9 th January 09. This workshop included a short training presentation on the basic principles and practices of BDS and the Market Development Paradigm. All the research findings were presented and proposed illustrative solutions and performance measurements discussed. Feedback was recorded and an action plan developed.FIT Resources then prepared this final draft report and will present the final report to Technoserve with support from Research International in Nairobi, Kenya by FIT Resources and Research International on January 30th 2009.• Outsourcing the MA to a research company ensured a more effective and efficient MA process. • A combination of outsourcing and internal capacity building ensured the best possible results. The likelihood of useful research results was ensured as EADD stayed close to the MA process. • The ability of EADD staff to remain consistent to the process was questionable.Staff members were not always available for the trainings and meetings as required plus EADD field staff were not available to partner on the field work in some locations drawing into question the long term ability of field staff to implement further diagnostics in new locations. • Determining a clear hypotheses and outlined MA goal and objectives ensured a more effective delivery of analysed data from Research International. • The MA focused on a holistic picture of the market and incorporated both sides of the market equation-demand and supply.Nyagatare BMN Bushoga TabagweThe consumer survey in Rwanda covered 302 respondents. The respondents qualified to be interviewed if they were small scale milk producers and specifically for Rwanda if they had less than 20 traditional cows. For every site covered, a minimum of 100 farmers were interviewed.Of the 302 respondents interviewed, 80 percent (243) were males while 20 percent (59) were females. A majority of the male respondents (26%) were aged between 36 -45 years while for the females the majorities (32%) were aged 46 -55 years. Only few respondents (4%) were aged between 18 -25 years and above 64 years.Most of the farmers practiced mixed farming -crop growing and cattle keeping. Expectedly and as per the recruitment procedure all respondents were dairy farmers. This was followed by food crop farming at 81%. Cash crop farming in the region is insignificant as only 3% of the respondents reported growing cash crop.As per the recruitment procedure all the respondents interviewed were the key decision makers on dairy farming activities. Currently, a majority (88%) of the farmers milk between 1 -5 cows despite most of them having more than 5 cows. In terms of herds kept, Majority of the farmers in Nyagatare claimed to own more than 5 cows while in Gatsibo the proportion of those who have more than five was small.Farmers in the three sites were found to be keeping mixed breeds. However, a majority of them (84%) keep indigenous breeds. About half of the farmers interviewed also keep cross breeds 46% while those who keep pure breeds are less than 10%.The findings also indicated that Nyagatare-BMN had more pure breeds (14%) compared to Gatsibo and Nyagatare-Mbare where farmers claimed to own 8% and 4% of pure breeds. On average, farmers with pure breeds reported to produce 17 liters of milk per day while cross breeds produced 8.5 litres per day. Expectedly, the productivity for traditional breeds was reported to be the lowest. In terms of regions, Nyagatare BMN and Mbare farmers produce more milk per day with an average of about 10 litres per day compared to Gatsibo where daily production average was reported to be around 6.6 liters.Expectedly, the amount of milk sold per day on average within the three sites is less than the amount produced as some milk is spared for domestic use. The Across the three sites covered in the research, most of the farms were between 1 -5 acres in size.When respondents were asked the dairy inputs/ services they are aware of, AI, mineral supplements, vet treatment services and veterinary vaccination were mentioned by more than 90% of the farmers. Other inputs that were mentioned by more than 60% of the respondents include insecticide and tick sprays and supplementary feeds. However, despite AI ranking as the service majority of the farmers were aware of (98%), complete familiarity of its benefit was rated below average. Across all services/ inputs in totality, farmers were least aware of chaff cutters and hay balers. Expectedly, almost all farmers were not familiar with the benefit of the two farm equipments.In terms of affordability, of the 7 top most inputs/ services that farmer were aware of, supplementary feeds, veterinary vaccination and AI were rated as highly unaffordable to farmers. The table below summarises some key inputs/ services that farmers are aware of in regard to familiarity with the benefits, availability, affordability and most important overall.On enquiring from the farmers the services/ inputs they have purchased or received in the past for their dairy animals, supplementary feeds and disinfectants were ranked lowest among the 7 top services farmers were aware of as shown in the figure below.However, farmers expressed concerns on the adequacy of most inputs/ services that they have received in the past 12 months.In terms of services/ inputs that were being used nowadays, only three performed averagely and above. These were mineral supplements 77%, insecticide and tick sprays 66% and veterinary treatment services 52%. Services/inputs ever purchased or received Generally, the 3 markets do not indicate any significant differentials in the demand for services and inputs purchased or received. However, some slight differences were noted in Nyagatare (BMN & Mbare) where almost all farmers claimed to have vaccinated their animals and in Nyagatare Mbare where AI services were claimed to have been used by over 80% of the farmers. This may mean that the drive to transform herds from indigenous to cross breeds is at a higher level in Nyagatare which conforms to the breeds kept. Although some farmers observed that through savings, they could purchase some of the services or inputs, milk coolers, supplementary feeds and veterinary vaccination were perceived to be out of reach by a majority. Those who said services/ inputs were not For the services/ inputs that farmers have received in the past, a majority of the farmers reported having paid something the last time to access certain services/ products. The fees paid ranged depending on the type of service, distance from where the service provider was coming from, among other things.The There were more farmers reporting milk bulking and collection centers as places where they could sell their milk. This was reported by 75% of the farmers. It was followed byhawkers/ brokers at 57%, and neighbors/ relatives and cooperatives/farmer groups tying at 47%, milk bars 26%, institutions 25%. However on being asked where they are selling milk currently a majority of them reported selling to brokers/ hawkers (52%) followed by neighbours/ family members, milk bulking/ cooling centers or to farmers associations. Interestingly, hawkers are not a popular buyer in Gatsibo district, while selling to neighbours and family members seem to be the most preferred here. Of the services received, some farmers claimed to have paid for them while some were either not sure or did not pay anything. The main mode of payments for these services was the check-off system with only 28% claiming to pay in cash. Farmers who deliver milk to the formal market were asked how they deliver milk to the market. ¾ of the respondents claimed to deliver milk on their own to the market. However, in terms of the preferred mode, over ¾ of the farmers would prefer their milk to be picked up at farm gate. This pattern was similar in all the 3 markets: Overall, among the farmers whose milk is collected by the buyer, slightly less than half felt it was either reliable or very reliable. However, in Gatsibo (though the base was small) the majority of the farmers rated the transport to be unreliable. Almost all respondents were aware of a cooling plant near them. Some of the cooling plants mentioned include:A majority of the farmers (90%) also claimed that the cooling plants were owned by farmers' cooperative groups in the region. Farmers stated they would expect to get the following services from the cooling plants: Credit facility, animal health services -treatment and prevention and information on market prices emerged as the key services farmers need, although most of the other services and inputs are also needed at varying levels which reflects a very high demand.Asked if they would be happy with check-off as mode of payment for their milk, nearly all farmers (93%) said that they would be very happy. Whether ever received any useful information Farmers were asked whether they had ever received any useful information about dairy farming. About 69% reported not to have received any. The same trend was recorded from the three regions. Those reporting having received useful information were then asked to indicate what services they had received. The advice/ information were mainly stated to be from government extension workers and to some extent, the NGO's. The following To achieve the above desired changes farmers mentioned the following measures as drivers they are definitely likely to adopt:• Grouping together with other farmers or joining co-operative to benefit from economies of scale -e.g. cheap farm inputs • Use of AI services • Growing of more and quality feed • Enlarging size of herd • Adopting zero grazing methodsOverall, only a small number of farmers reported keeping records which were mainly on milk production and sales.Despite not having any farm records, a majority of the farmers claimed to know the profitability of their dairy farm. About two thirds of the farmers indicated knowing the level of profitability of their dairy farms. Males (68%) were more likely to know the profitability of their dairy farming business than their female counterparts (56%). Farmers in Gatsibo 70%, followed by those in Nyagatare Mbare (69%) seem more knowledgeable about the profitability of their farms than their counterparts in Nyagatare BMN (57%). Given that Gatsibo has more of zero grazing practices than the other two markets, it may be easier to monitor levels of expenditure viz avis incomes and thus keep a tab on profitability. Only a few farmers were aware of an organisation that looks after their needs apart from Gatsibo where 45% claimed to be aware: Low and fluctuating milk prices coupled with delayed payments, inadequate and low quality foliage for feeding cattle -e.g. grass and Napier grass, irregularity and unaffordability of AI services and unaffordable/ unreliable animal treatment services were some of the key challenges farmers highlighted as major constraints to their dairy farming.Low milk prices combined with fluctuating milk prices and delayed milk payments accounted for the highest single challenge at 67%.In terms of gender, there were no significant variations although the findings seem to indicate that male farmers were significantly (74%) more likely to complain about low / fluctuating milk prices/ delayed payments compared to their female counterparts (37%), while female farmers were significantly (82%) more inclined to complain about inadequate/ low quality animal foliage than their male colleagues (58%). The same trend was noticed for irregular/ unaffordable AI services.Age wise, there were no significant differentials across except that farmers aged less than 35 years were significantly less likely to complaint about the adequacy/ quality of foliage than their counterparts in higher age groups.As per the markets, Gatsibo records the lowest complaint about low milk prices (51%) as compared to the 2 Nyagatare Sectors -BMN 82%, and Mbare 68%. Perhaps this can be explained by the fact that Gatsibo reports the lowest milk output, (and thus higher prices) and less dependence on milk brokers unlike the other two. However, Gatsibo reports the highest complaint (72%) regarding adequacy/ quality of foliage available in the regionreflecting its bigger dependency on zero grazing for its dairy farming. BMN records the lowest at 55% mirroring its larger grazing fields.Other challenges mentioned are as per the The following are the constraints and potential opportunities.Opportunity Inadequate foliage and grass to feed animals due to poor climatic conditions -draught.• Provide seed to grow fodder to selected farmers who have larger farms. They can thus sell to others at competitive prices The following table outlines the BDS that address these constraints and opportunities:Opportunity BDS that address those constraints & opportunities Inadequate foliage and grass to feed animals due to poor climatic conditions -draught. The following are some of the policy constraints that are affecting the MSE product markets:The Government of Rwanda has introduced a land development and resettlement policy in this region where farmers are settled in centralised areas while the grazing farms are allocated a considerable distance away. Managing the farm becomes tricky and there are added costs of travelling and a worker to keep watch and graze the animals. Milking may also not be properly done and accounted for in the absence of the farm owner and there could be cases of cheating about the milk output.The strict enforcement of minimum regulatory standards for suppliers particularly milk handling/ collection, may be responsible for keeping very few suppliers engaged in this business. As a result, farmers cannot access certain services easily and affordably as the supply competition is limited.In order for the BDS market to be stimulated for faster growth, the strict legal/ health requirements may need to be relaxed a bit until such a time suppliers have grown and the need for strict enforcement is really needed.Government policy of providing subsidised AI and veterinary treatment and Specific policy constraints that are affecting MSE product markets vaccinations, though positive in its intentions can only serve to establish the sector from infancy. However, sustained growth can only be achieved where market forces of supply and demand are left free to operate.The government should reduce its involvement to regulating and creating an enabling environment. Its continued presence and active participation in service provision only serves to discourage and choke private sector competition.This situation where effective competition is lacking, has led to poor services being dispensed judging by some of the complaints received during fieldwork. For instance there were reports of poor quality semen which led to farmers getting poorer grade calves in contrast to what was promised during insemination. The tragedy of this is that farmers only discover the problem after nine months when birth takes place. Again farmers reported waiting for days before a veterinary doctor arrives in their village to treat their cattle.The following breakdown shows how suppliers were distributed across this region. A total of seven suppliers were identified in Nyagatare/ Tabagwe sectors. However, only six were found/ interviewed. In Karangazi sector, six suppliers were listed but only five were found/ interviewed. In Kiramuruzi sector four suppliers were identified but only three were found and interviewed.A workable data base of these BDS providers is attached to this report (Annexes/Databases).List of suppliers interviewed as attached above.The common services/ inputs provided in this area include veterinary treatment and vaccination services, mineral supplements, insecticide and tick sprays, and disinfectants for cleaning and sterilizing, and supplementary feeds. Others are information/ training in animal husbandry and artificial insemination (AI). Across the two districts, it appears that the services provided are similar although Nyagatare District could be defined as more of a cattle keeping district while Gatsibo would qualify more as an area of mixed farming practices with less land for cattle rearing. Grazing fields are therefore bigger in Nyagatare than in Gatsibo. One of the AI providers told of cases where they are sometimes forced to forego payments when they come across needy farmers who are unable to pay for services. Such costs are absorbed through government subsidiaries like ERAGIC -an institution that promotes modern dairy development through easy access to AI services.Across the 3 sites, suppliers interviewed indicated that they do not charge their customers for any information they dispense concerning dairy farming. They make their money and profits by selling/ charging for the conventional products and services provided like selling drugs, AI provision or treatment of cows. When pricing services and inputs suppliers considered several factors to arrive at a given price, as follows:• Wholesale price of input from source• Big suppliers like Agrotech Nyagatare who is associated with Agrotech chain of animal drug shops, explained that they do not determine prices, but that the prices are dictated from the head office in Kigali. • For instance, some AI providers reported buying semen to fertilize one cow at 500 fr from the Government agents only to sell this at 1500 fr to the dairy farmer.Besides, the farmer pays transport cost separately. Usually, this will be the cost of hiring a motor bike by the AI provider.The commonest form of payment for services/ inputs rendered was cash after service, across all types of service providers. When the service provider is a Cooperative or an Association of farmers, members enjoy the check-off system facility which allows them to pay later through deductions from their weekly/ monthly payment for milk deliveries. Other forms of payment options are delayed/ staggered payment and payment by cheque. Staggered payment is normally allowed for instance where a cow is either dry or sick until it heals and resumes being milked. Should it die, then the charges are written off -if it is only one. The following table shows the common modes of payments for services and the associated challenges. However, suppliers reported that they face some challenges using the check-off system. Some suppliers complained that there were occasions when farmers called them for treatment emergencies on their cows only to be informed after the treatment that there was no money for payment until later. The biggest complaints with the various forms of payments were associated with cheques due to dishonesty and staggered/ delayed payments as it was both time consuming and expensive to make a follow-up on the farmer.Suppliers prefer to deal in cash with their customers as it is easy and efficient. Check-off is preferred only where members of associations or cooperatives are involved.In terms of contractual arrangements for supply of goods and services, a good number of the suppliers had ever entered into such arrangements. Of the 14 suppliers interviewed, 7 reported being in some form of contractual arrangements with Nyagatare Sector having 5 and Gatsibo 2. In Nyagatare BMN one supplier reported having entered into contractual arrangements with 10 groups of farmers and another with 300 individuals. In Nyagatare Mbare, a supplier had entered into a contractual arrangement with one group of farmers, while another had entered with 4 individual farmers while yet another had entered with both a group of farmers and individual farmers. In Gastibo, 2 suppliers reported having entered into contractual arrangements with individual farmers.One of these agreements was for the supply of semen/ hormones to fertilize cows.Another one was simply an Agrotech branch in Nyagatare getting supplies from Agrotech head office in Kigali. The contracts were both written and verbal and were entered mostly with farmer groups and individuals as well.In terms of Contractual arrangements we can say that Nyagatare BMN is more advanced than the other two markets.The following table provides an outline of the suppliers and the various aspects of contractual arrangements: The commonest marketing strategies in the 3 sites include public meetings, use of satisfied customers (word of mouth) signboards and posters. In Gatsibo and BMN suppliers said they ensure their shops are located in strategic points for maximum visibility and access. In Nyagatare BMN, radio adverts, outreach services and use of regional representatives are also used in addition. The key capacity gaps identified among BDS suppliers include the following• Lack of capital to improve and expand business. This is particularly acute in the transport of milk to the market centers both locally and outside the region.• Lack of training on how to do conduct certain services like AI. This means some suppliers have to depend on others to do things they would have done -with some training. • Lack of proper/ sufficient equipment and facilities. For instance some suppliers need basic lab equipment in order to diagnose animal diseases with some accuracy and thereby provide the correct drugs. • Identifying/ accessing the skilled experienced Vet Technicians to support the suppliers is a major challenge. • Lack of well trained staff to handle milk as required in accordance with public health. • Ignorance and lack of knowledge is also common among some suppliers. Suppliers need to be knowledgeable enough in particular with the BDS sector they are dealing in. • Keeping to the required regulatory/ sectoral standards has become difficult for some like premises, official documents, and mandatory training etc.Priority supply side constraints, market failures, and market opportunities Key supply side constraints/ market failures • Long distances and bad roads that farmers have to cover to reach suppliers and vice versa. • Lack of an efficient public means of transport.• Limited demand of dairy services and products owing to a depressed farmer income due to low milk sales/ price. • Lack of stock of highly demanded products services.• Farmers lack efficient communication tools like mobile phones that can ease communication between them and their suppliers. • Few qualified technical staff hence sometimes delayed response to farmers' requests.• Government and NGO interference in service/ input provision at subsidized rates hence creating an artificial market environment. The price levels existing are not sustainable if subsidies are removed. • Some of the AI providers have not been trustworthy and on many occasions they have promised farmers certain type of crossbreed/ pure breed and charged them accordingly, only for the farmers to get poor quality calves. In other words, what AI providers promise is not what farmers always receive. • Lack of access to affordable capital was also mentioned by many suppliers as a key constraint. This became an issue when they wanted to expand their businesses. The situation is made worse by local banks who demand security for any credit advanced. • Limited laboratory services that can boost accuracy in diagnosis of animal diseases and proper drug administration. • Meeting the mandatory minimum legal requirements is sometimes a big challenge for suppliers to set up or expand their businesses. • Lack of adequate back-up power/ maintenance skills to assure good milk even when there was power failure. Sometimes power goes off and the back-up generators fail to work due to poor maintenance practices. When this happens, all milk collected goes to waste. Farmers cannot also sell their next days milk until the problem is sorted out.In view of the foregoing discussion, the following were found to be potential market opportunities:• Need to enhance milk collection/ bulking: The survey established that in each of the three markets there existed one or two cooling plants/ milk collection points. None of these cooling plants had the capacity to collect all the milk coming in from farmers in their catchment areas. As a result, some milk is returned to farmers when the tanks get filled up to capacity. This, coupled with the national campaign to transform cows to higher milk producing grades among farmers, means that the need for more storage and transport facilities is very urgent. More cooling plants will need to be established to cater for the increased milk in a site far away from the current cooling plant. This would reduce distances traveled to access the milk collection centers by dairy farmers.Reduced distances may also encourage farmers to deliver their milk instead of relying on middlemen and thereby increase their earnings. • There is need for improved milk transportation from farms to the collection centers in additional to milk tankers being added to assist in efficient transporting of milk to the markets in Kigali and other parts of Rwanda. This may call upon local investors to introduce pick-up trucks to transport the milk efficiently and thus do away with the numerous exploitative milk middlemen. • Efficient supply of affordable supplementary feeds, foliage and mineral supplements:This is an area that has the potential to grow very fast in the next few years. This is particularly so given the government drive to have farmers adopt modern dairy farming techniques. As farmers discard the traditional cows in favour of the higher grade cows, there will be a commensurate demand for appropriate feeds/ fodder and mineral supplements. This is also strengthened by the fact that land for grazing is getting smaller and zero grazing is being seen as the solution for the future. • Improved AI services: With the shift to modern dairy farming in top gear in the region, there is need to enhance the provision of reliable AI services to assist in the transformation of local herds. • Under the same assumption, another potential opportunity is the provision of seed to grow fodder. This would provide feed to the higher grade cows with zero grazing being encouraged.The following Interviewers/ moderators were asked to rate their perceptions of services rendered by the suppliers whom they had just interviewed, using a rating of 1-5 where 1 was lowest and 5 the highest. From this scale it has emerged that most suppliers were rated highly in various aspects of service provision.The following points illustrate this.• Suppliers scored a total of 373 out of an overall score of 455. This is a high score.• Most of the aspects of business measurement scored impressivelybetween 49 and 56 marks out of a possible 65 points. • Individually, most providers scored a mean of 3.97 (BMN), 4.17 (Mbare) and 4.23 for Gatsibo out of a possible 5 points. • Gatsibo based suppliers seem to be doing slightly better than their counterparts in the other markets according to these ratings. • NB: these ratings are subjective and likely to change if done by a different interviewer.An enabling environment for BDS will require the support of all stakeholders in each market in Rwanda. This will be in terms of policy framework that fit the scenarios existing in the local markets. The following will need to be done in order to create an enabling environment for BDS development in the three markets.• There is need to improve on the market for milk. This would act as the stimulus for other BDS services to grow. • Improve on roads to create efficiency in milk transportation.• Train BDS staff/ farmers in dairy farming service provision/ client service.• Remove on a gradual basis government participation and visibility and facilitate for private sector competition. • Reduce government/ stakeholder financial support to sector to create real market driven forces for long term sustainability. • Establish systems by which affordable credit is accessible to farmers who need it.• The mandatory minimum requirements for setting up BDS businesses for dairy farming need to be relaxed particularly during the infancy stages of BDS development. Such requirements can be re-evaluated later for reintroduction when the time is ripe.Although there are no set criteria for plotting a location on the matrix, a form of benchmarking has been used that compares the quality (productivity and practices) of one BDS market against another within the country and between locations across the 3 countries. Supply and demand have been evaluated as a one off event during the assessment process in relation to best practice which forms the basis of this informal comparison exercise. The exercise was undertaken during a group discussion between the team leaders of the research teams for each country. • Some few farmers also use delayed /staggered payments when unable to make cash payments, but with good reasons like a dry / sick cow.• Generally there is poor access to credit facilities among farmers and cooperatives. This has tended to limit the transactions they can execute to benefit them.• Local breeds (84%) are predominant across all the locations however farmers (85%) specifically want to improve breeds to enlarge herd size via adopting zero grazing methods, growing feed, AI services and grouping together to benefit from economies of scale.• Key problems for farmers include low milk prices and irregularity of AI services.• The services farmers are most aware of are basic veterinary treatment services, vaccination and products such as mineral supplements, sprays and disinfectants. Generally the demand for services is low. • Although farmers are aware of many services and do acquire some services they are not clear as to the benefits they should expect from the services. • Consumers shy away from purchasing services due to the expense involved and the poor quality/unreliability of many products. • Farmers sell predominantly to homes, hawkers and cooling plant. Sales to cooling plants are preferred. • Information on dairy markets is considered to be 'just enough' across all sites.• Buyers currently provide few required services to farmers yet the opportunity for such embedded services is apparent. • Farmers currently deliver milk but would prefer it to be collected (more than once a day) however milk collection is unreliable.• Farmers are aware of the local cooling plants and would like to receive such services as health services, market prices and credit via a check off payment system. Cooling plants have limited capacity to store milk so milk is turned away. • Dairying skills are inadequate especially in regards to disease identification, treatment and prevention plus improvements in milk production. • Information and training on dairy farming is currently non existent for most farmers with extension workers and NGOs being a key source of assistance. • Farmers keep few records and cannot determine the true profitability of their business activities despite claims to do so. • Most farmers have access to a mobile phone and are willing to pay for important information via SMS such as disease alerts and milk prices. • Farmers struggle to self fund their operations and few acquire loans or other financial services (despite a desire to do) so due to inaccessible or unaffordable loans.• Few farmers are aware of organisations that can support them and few belong to formal groups, cooperatives and associations. • There is very little knowledge among farmers regarding policy issues and the legal and regulatory authorities and standards/regulations that concern their operations. • Nyagatare District is more of a cattle keeping district and grazing fields are bigger requiring a slightly different range of services.• Poor roads and lack of public transport hinder service delivery.• General services such as basic health treatment services and products (disinfectants and supplements) are on offer but more specialised services are scarce. Services offered across all locations are similar. Demand appears generally low.• Fee based stand alone services are the norm and limited embedded services are apparent. Cash payments are the norm but check off systems exist for those engaged with coops and associations. Defaults are high and payment recovery is often staggered. • A few Government subsidies exist in the market undermining existing provider's ability to deliver services profitably. • The business acumen of existing service providers is relatively but with some entering into contractual arrangements. Few are formalized or understand the process. Few are implementing clear pricing strategies or focused marketing strategies.• Capital is very limited for business development. Stock levels remain constantly low.Access to affordable finance is limited. • Lack of technical knowledge and abilities to delivery more specialised services.Limited access to appropriate equipment (lab equipment). • Lack of knowledge relating to public health issues, regulations and standards.• All evident services are focused on production support and non on market support.As the drive to transform herds here is in high gear, the demand and supply for BDS will definitely pick up and grow. Farmers are learning the advantages of keeping higher grade cows and as more farmers appreciate this a variety of BDS services will be needed to support this transformation. Thus the potential for growth here is very high. This applies to all 3 markets. Road/ infrastructural development: Feeder roads connecting farmers to the trading centres are in bad shape. When it rains, it becomes almost impossible to transport milk to the cooling plants. Even transport to take farmers to the trading centres become scarce and expensive. Thus, this situation limits the consumption of the dairy services and inputs. Although the Government of Rwanda has done a commendable job in creating good roads, there are still more roads to be improved and made all weather away from the main highways.Given that Nyagatare BMN is the most potential of all in terms of milk production and with Nyagatare Township located here, a local dairy processing plant would probably be best suited if located in this township. The Board to run the plant should draw membership from all stakeholders within the three markets in order to ensure the interests of all farmers are catered for. Such a facility would encourage more farmers to increase their milk output to take advantage of the new market channel. With more income farmers are likely to want to improve the care, health and nutrition of their animals leading to high demand of the BDS services/ inputs. While policies to promote dairy farming in the 3 markets are being developed/ enhanced, it is important to consider the local market dynamics. For instance, while BMN and Mbare could easily expand their dairy farming by extensive farming processes due to their larger farms, Gatsibo has to contend with intensive farming techniques like zero grazing and would thus demand more of supplementary feeds, etc than farmers in the other two regions -who may need more of seeds to grow fodder. This is because Gatsibo is more densely populated and farmers have smaller grazing land.Given the scarcity of BDS suppliers in Gatsibo and even in the other two markets, it would appear that more private providers are needed here. Demand should be demonstrated to potential suppliers and technical assistance provided for start ups. Once established, they should conduct promotional campaigns among the farmers in the villages so that the services/ inputs they are offering are popularised. The providers should then strive to provide quality services and inputs for them to remain competitive.The survey found that an overall dairy farmer union has been established in Nyagatare Township to oversee existing dairy cooperatives. It is felt that this union should encompass all local dairy cooperatives in the 3 markets and play the pivotal role of regulating quality among member cooperatives. It should also be involved in seeking bigger markets and lobbying for policies to stimulate and enhance dairy development and growth. This would ensure that milk produced is readily marketed with the balance going to the dairy processing plant, which is an initiative of the union. This is likely to enhance the capacity of each market to produce more milk.Government and other stakeholders have been providing support in the form of subsidized services/ inputs in order to grow the dairy sector from infancy and encompass all farmers including the very poor. This has succeeded and it is now time for the sector to grow in a sustainable manner.To grow in a sustainable manner, the government role and other stakeholders would have to be reduced to a facilitative one. Government presence is currently felt in the provision of extension services for vaccination and treatment and AI services.The government needs to wean itself out of this and leave the private sector and cooperative movements to do the job. It should instead focus on creating conducive policies and an environment for BDS development and growth. It should address issues of infrastructure, policy formulation and strengthening institutions to coordinate all efforts in dairy development.The survey established that some farmers depend on the government to access certain services as it is common knowledge here that the government provides subsidies on certain essential services. Even when they can afford, some farmers claim they cannot so as to benefit from the subsidized services. This undermines any private providers ability to compete.Due to the high demand for government sponsored services, some farmers wait for so long to access a government vet technician that they sometimes expose their cows to the danger of dying if they are sick as they await free services.Nyagatare BMN, according to the findings, is leading in size and number of dairy farmers who belong to groups. The cooling plant in Nyagatare BMN covers a bigger catchment area which includes Nyagatare Mbare, and some parts of Gatsibo and Kayonza districts.All three sites suffer from similar problems and challenges, particularly regarding milk transportation, collection, and marketing. Although Nyagatare Township is located in Nyagatare BMN, this market is the most remote, with bigger grazing farms and has bigger herds of the indigenous cows than the other two markets.Given that Gatsibo District is more densely populated than the other two markets; it has fewer cows for milking (1-5) while the rest have more. Gatsibo also has less milk spared for domestic consumption about one litre while Nyagatare BMN/Mbare have the most milk kept for domestic consumption (about 3 liters) each.All the three sites are actually on the main Nyagatare -Kigali highway, with Nyagatare BMN being the farthest (about 150 km) while Gatsibo is closest to Kigali (about 90 Km). Nyagatare Mbare occupies a central position in this linear arrangement. A dairy farmers union for Nyagatare district as a whole is at an advanced stage of setting up a processor to take advantage of the plentiful milk produced. By so doing, farmers will be able to sell all their milk locally plus the dairy products to be manufactured would fetch the farmers more income.In terms of credit/banking facilities, Nyagatare BMN farmers are at an advantage as they enjoy these facilities nearby at Nyagatare Township, (largest/ upcoming town in the region) while other farmers in the other sites do not have such easy access and have to travel longer distances.However, in comparison to Uganda and Rwanda, the dairy market in the surveyed sites was relatively developed in Kenya. The table below shows some comparison between the three markets.It is very important to coordinate INGO/donor efforts. It is very difficult, and not at all effective, for one INGO donor funded project to pursue a market development approach if others continue to subsidize transactions and offer publicly-funded services in the same market. Suppliers will almost always choose to work with a donor who will subsidize transactions rather than one advocating market development. Free services also dampen SME willingness to pay. Even if all donors pursue a market development approach, coordination across projects and programmes is critical. In markets with relatively few suppliers, these suppliers can be overloaded or lose their commercial focus if they receive significant financial resources from several donors. EADD must be aware of the other projects supporting the sector and liaise with the facilitators to ensure that efforts are appropriately coordinated.The project must ensure that all interventions have a market focus (private sector domination with numerous competitive BDS suppliers selling commercially to large numbers and types of SMEs). It is possible to ensure impact and outreach of BDS if the interventions focus on profitable services, focus on services that are replicable in the private sector and build on what is already being offered by the private sector. Always ask: \"What problems do businesses have and why isn't the market environment providing solutions to these?\" The end result of a market focused programme is numerous SME's buying BDS of their choice from a wide selection of products offered from unsubsidized private sector suppliers in a competitive and evolving market. Remember that the provision of subsidies to particular suppliers may crowd out other, private sector suppliers who do not receive subsidies. Supplier costs must ultimately be appropriate for the SME market and not skewed by donor funding. It is important to promote as many suppliers as the market will bear. That is not to say that subsidies are a bad thing. Subsidies can be used to stimulate demand and supply for a finite period of time with an explicit reason and exit strategy.The project should group services as per the following recognised categories:MARKET ACCESS -These services identify/ establish new markets for SME products. They facilitate the creation of links between all the actors in the market and enable buyers to expand their outreach to, and purchases from, SMEs. They also enable SMEs to develop new products and produce them to buyer specifications. Key dairy sector examples include:• Linkages to processors and informal markets hardware shops; transport and village banks POLICY/ADVOCACY -These services carry out sub-sector analyses and research to identify policy constraints and opportunities for SMEs. They also facilitate the organization of coalitions, trade organizations, or associations of business people, donors, government officials, academics, etc. to effect policies that promote the interests of SMEs. Key dairy sector examples include:• Awareness creation on environmental degradation and traceability It is important to focus first on services that will contribute to high-impact, are in highdemand and are the most feasible to deliver. The EADD should combine the prioritization of services that offer SMEs the greatest potential for stabilization or growth with those that appear to have the greatest unmet demand from SMEs. This involves incorporating both impact-driven ideas with demand-driven ideas:• Impact driven ideas incorporate the ideas of field staff and other informants -without an overview of the business systems in which they operate, SMEs, especially those that are marginalized, do not know which services are most likely to benefit them. Demand for services may need to be stimulated, or services can simply be embedded in market chains. • Demand driven ideas starts with the consumer research to identify the services or business benefits SMEs want as they often know best what assistance they want from others.Service products lack the benefits and features consumers want • Assist suppliers in developing and commercializing new products The programme must focus on facilitative activities such as market research, provision of information for consumers, new product development, supplier training, monitoring and evaluation. These activities are aimed at \"facilitating\" market improvement by increasing demand and/or improving supply. The main activity of the programme must not be direct service provision.Market constraints Opportunities Market distortion due to too much government/ stakeholder involvement in service provision.Government/ NGO presence and visibility as critical service providers will need to be minimized to reduce market distortion. Their role should be left at the level of facilitators and policy makers. This would ensure that forces of supply and demand are operating in a perfect market.The government will also have to ensure that infrastructure particularly roads are addressed conclusively in order to facilitate dairy sector growth within the dairy farming communities. Support or instigation of lobbying and advocacy initiatives to address these issues is required. Over reliance of farmers on milk brokers/ hawkers to transport and market their milk exposes farmers to cheating and reduced income.Given the adverse publicity associated with milk hawkers /brokers and their exploitative operations, it is recommended that farmers be encouraged to join cooperatives and farmer associations in order to avoid over reliance on the brokers. Incentives should be developed in the short and long run to attract such reluctant farmers. The government/ stakeholders should be responsible for this. Lack of capacity by farmer groups/ associations/ cooperatives due to the Cooperatives and other farmer producer groups or associations should be strengthened and the limited size of membership and lack of resources.small ones encouraged joining forces with others in order to enjoy economies of large scale operations. Such outfits should be encouraged to seek credit so that they can invest in milk transport vehicles and equipment. They should then take over milk transportation from the brokers at a small fee.Earlier interventions seem to have been generalized to solve problems affecting the region as a whole rather than targeting specific markets.While Nyagatare has larger farms for grazing, Gatsibo's options for expanding dairy farming lies on increased uptake of zero grazing. Thus future supplies of BDS should strongly be hinged on prevailing market specific scenarios.Everything considered, all 3 markets in this region are still in their infancy and therefore are seen more as low supply against low demand situations.Both farmers and suppliers will need educating on the usefulness of BDS for dairy development. Education should thus be the lead intervention by stakeholders. Little value /erratic transactions which reflect the nature of incomes existing in the area.Strengthen farmer groups/ associations and cooperatives particularly in order to improve in the marketing of farmers milk, and diversify the milk market. Prevalent shortages of highly demanded services & inputs/ productsThe government needs to wean itself from service provision, while at the same time encouraging private sector providers to join the market. If possible market research could be conducted -facilitated by stakeholders, to highlight the areas with high demand. This information would then be shared with potential providers in a workshop situation. Poor quality services sometimes and lack of integrity among some suppliers With the government role reduced to regulation, it would be easy to control quality, which would promote mutual satisfaction for all parties involved. Insufficient milk collection/ cooling infrastructure which limits growth and depresses price of milkThe government needs to facilitate the erection of more cooling plants through local investors or outsource them from outside the region.Opportunities Long distances and bad roads that farmers have to cover to reach suppliers/ Lack of an efficient public means of transport The government of Rwanda is called upon to improve on the rural feeder roads in the 3 markets to make them all weather and thus encourage BDS growth, among others. Limited demand of dairy services and products owing to a depressed farmer income due to low milk sales /price.There is need to establish a local dairy processing plant in the region to mop up excess milk, stimulate more production and thus improve on farmer income Lack of sufficient stock of the highly Conduct a market research survey to establish demanded products/services what is needed where when so that supply is equal to demand. The government/ stakeholders should facilitate the survey and share findings. Some farmers lack efficient communication tools like mobile phones that can ease communication between them and their suppliers.Through training farmers can be encouraged to buy simple phones or talk to their closest neighbours through whom they may access their mobile phones. This need can also be taken up as a BDS and some farmers encouraged setting up their telephone bureau services that can serve those without mobile phones. Few qualified technical staff hence sometimes delayed response to farmers' requests.Government/ Stakeholders need to ensure there is sufficient trained technical staff to attend to the needs of all farmers without delay. Government and NGO interference in service / input provision at subsidized rates hence creating an artificial market environment. The price levels existing are not sustainable if subsidies are removed.Service provision should be left to private sector for sustainability, while government/ stakeholders facilitate and set conducive policies for sector to grow. Some of the government AI providers have not been trustworthy and on many occasions they have promised farmers certain type of crossbreed/ pure breed and charged them accordingly, only for the farmers to get poor quality calves. In other words, what AI providers promise is not what farmers always receive Quality control should be made a priority issue and the government should step in to ensure there is some integrity in the sector.Lack of access to affordable capital was also mentioned by many suppliers as a key constraint. This became an issue when they wanted to expand their businesses. The situation is made worse by local banks who demand security for any credit advanced.Providers need to be facilitated with access to affordable credit. Again there is need for the development of appropriate financial products.Limited laboratory services that can boost accuracy in diagnosis of animal diseases and proper drug administration.Need to establish locally available laboratory facilities to boost the treatment of cattle in the region. The GOR/ stakeholders need to facilitate this. Meeting the mandatory minimum legal requirements is sometimes a big challenge for suppliers to set up or expand their businessesThe GoR needs to relax these requirements until such a time the sector has grown enough to be regulated to ensure quality.Lack of adequate back-up power / maintenance skills to assure good milk even when there was power failure. Sometimes power goes off and the backup generators fail to work due to poor maintenance practices.Power interruptions need to be checked and controlled. Alternatively, milk cooling plants need to have an in-house engineer who can attend to generator repairs urgently when the need arises.happens, all milk collected goes to waste. Farmers cannot also sell their next days milk until the problem is sorted out.There is a shortage of BDS suppliers in the 3 markets.It is recommended that more private providers be encouraged to enter into the market as the government reduces its role as a provider of services. Once established, they should conduct promotional campaigns among the farmers in the villages.• Support all existing service providers to better source and offer quality, affordable and consistent seeds and feed products.• Support new providers to enter the market competitively with products/services based on market demand (with a focus on currently unavailable specialist services such as AI). Support can include the identification of, development of, testing of, rolling out of, marketing of and monitoring of the new services/products. Use market research to highlight business opportunities. Support as many as the market will bear. Cost share where possible.• Support existing service providers to source and offer quality, affordable and consistent (transparent) breeding services and animal health products with a view to increasing the herd sizes and milk production. Support existing providers to improve outreach of their services via new outlets and sales teams. Support service demonstrations.• Promote quality stable services via bulking centres, cooling plans and processing facilities. Help build the reputation of such facilities to offer reputable and transparent fee-based services. • Support advocacy efforts to improve roads and electricity supply and support regulation and outreach of veterinary support services. • Partner with the private sector to facilitate establishment of sustainable infrastructures such as cooling plants, testing facilities and storage/processing facilities in underserved locations. • Facilitate expansion of existing infrastructures such as cooling plants and transport services.• Improve access to broader veterinary services by facilitating new and existing veterinary input suppliers to better respond to consumer demand and reach under served customers. Support suppliers to offer advice in the appropriate use of products as an embedded service. • Offer support to service providers to increase their own technical ability via training, counseling and mentoring programmes. Organise study tours between service providers. • Identify and introduce new appropriate technologies and link providers to suppliers.• Increase knowledge among service providers regarding policy issues and the legal and regulatory issues that concern their operations such as public health issues. This may include research to identify policy constraints and opportunities or support to effect policies. • Increase awareness or loan acquisition and use for service providers. Assist them to identify and access funds through formal and alternative channels.• Support service providers to develop their capacity to better plan and manage their businesses. Assistance is required in strategic/business planning, pricing and marketing. Offer support to service providers to implement appropriate marketing activities to create awareness of their products and services. Facilitate this via the private sector where possible. • Assist providers to legalise and formalize their operations.• Facilitate training providers to develop and offer fee-based technical assistance in order to develop farmer's ability to better plan and manage their operations and promote 'farming as a business'. • Promote 'farming as a business' via social media campaigns, radio programmes, field days, brochures and exchange visits. • Facilitate private sector providers such as value add companies who handle closed user groups for SMS services to Interactive Voice Response (IVR) companies who can establish and run call-up voice services. Demand led information such as disease alerts and milk prices can be delivered via mobile phones on a sponsored or user pays basis. Information on quack products and providers may also be useful. This may have to be supported with basic knowledge on phone use. Demand side constraints Opportunities Inadequate foliage and grass to feed animals due to poor climatic conditionsdraught.Provide seed to grow fodder to selected farmers who have larger farms. They can thus sell to others at competitive prices. Also providers be encouraged / empowered to sell supplementary feeds at affordable prices Irregular and unaffordable AI services More AI providers needed at main trading centres and village level. Also encourage scheduled visits by AI providers to all villages. It would also be necessary train farmers on basic procedures of conducting AI Inaccessible/ unaffordable loans to promote dairy farming.Provide easily accessible/ affordable financial products that are developed/ tailored to meet farmer needs Low and fluctuating milk prices hindering farmers from planning their future Establish more strategic milk collection/ cooling centres and improve on roads to facilitate easy/ cheaper milk transport. Consider also establishing a local dairy processing plant Poor/ unreliable animal treatment and vaccination services Additional veterinary doctors needed at village level and further training for skill upgrading for vet technicians Unaffordable supplementary feeds beyond the reach of many small scale farmers Unreliable source of supplementary feeds More suppliers needed in order to meet demand and lower prices. It would also be important to consider exploring using locally available raw materials to make them affordable. More farmers should be trained on how to prepare them Disease outbreaks Modern lab testing facility established in the region and vaccination of cattle strengthened• Promote existing embedded and fee based services via milk buyers and input suppliers such as health services, milk collection, advances on payments and information on animal husbandry. • Bring farmers together to access training via local providers on dairy farming and business management issues. This can be subsidized in the short term. Some key areas of concern for farmers are disease identification, milk production, drug administration and business planning and management. Training and technical assistance should include information relating to the expected benefits of BDS services -this will also help increase demand for services. Increase opportunities for farmer to farmer forums/exchanges and study tours. • Increase farmer's strength to actively participate in and influence the dairy chain.Bring farmers together to bulk purchase and access other services such as training and finance. Promote the concept of formal groups, cooperatives and associations. • Facilitate access for farmers to input suppliers in order to improve of breeds through cross breeding and artificial insemination. • Facilitate access to markets by linking actors in the chain especially new buyers to small scale farmers. Also support farmers to produce to different buyer specifications.• Facilitate access to sustainable infrastructures for increased sales such as cooling plants and storage/processing facilities.• Increase access to information for farmers via print, radio and TV. Improve awareness of Internet access and telecommunication opportunities. • Increase awareness or loan acquisition and use for farmers, buyers and input suppliers. Assist them to better identify and access funds through formal and alternative channels such as credit unions and banks. • Increase knowledge among farmers regarding policy issues and the legal and regulatory authorities and environment that concern their operations. This may include research to identify policy constraints and opportunities or support to effect policies and regulations. • Promote existing services that support business such as communication centers, courier services and money transfer services.The survey has revealed that certain policies may impact negatively on farmer operations including:• Policy on location of farm from household -leads to poor management by owner and possible cheating by workers • Strict regulatory requirements may also discourage entry into the business by those without enough capital to meet all requirements. • Government continued involvement in service provision leads to market distortion and creates an artificial environment.Since this is a young sector, the government/ other stakeholders are called upon to create an enabling environment for growth. This would include relaxing some of these regulations such that more providers are encouraged to join the business. Once interest has been created and sufficient numbers of providers' established, minimum regulations can be reintroduced on a gradual basis. The providers would also require to be trained on how to maintain quality services and customer care and thereby help in sustaining the BDS growth. Besides, government policy of providing subsidised AI and veterinary treatment and vaccinations, though positive in its intentions, can only serve to establish the sector from infancy. However, sustained growth can only be achieved where market forces of supply and demand are left free to operate 'Illustrative' market based interventions to develop the market for key identified services that are in demand or offer the greatest potential for stabilization or growthInterventions must \"fit\" the market and be designed to improve a particular market problem or take advantage of a market opportunity. A key principle for choosing and designing interventions is that the intervention should not be any more intensive than required to address the market issue. Interventions have the capacity to both distort and develop the market. By targeting a specific problem and intervening only to address that problem, programmes run the least risk of distorting the market. Providers take care of on-going service delivery the costs of which should be covered by the markets. The provider is an integral part of the system.The facilitator performs the temporary function of developing markets (these activities are considered appropriate to subsidize). The facilitator is external to the market system.Interventions must promote competition and efficiency in the market and work toward a clear picture of a sustainable market. As defined by best practice it is important that the interventions: Engage the private sector in devising and developing viable businesses and market models that are likely to be copied and to take off in the wider market.Involve little financial support to market players and lots of cost sharing opportunities. The project should develop a transactional relationship with suppliers. Are flexible, responsive and multi faceted. The project must tread lightly in markets.Employ an overarching strategy of 'crowding in' or 'getting others to do things'.A variety of interventions have been used by other BDS programmes and each aims to address one or several weaknesses in a BDS market such as:• Voucher programmes address SMEs lack of information about services and reluctance to try a service. It expands demand by providing information and temporary subsidies to SMEs that do not commonly use BDS, and link them with BDS suppliers who do not normally serve SMEs. This increases awareness and demand among SMEs which stimulates suppliers to develop and improve services. However vouchers may distort a market more than necessary by fostering SMEs dependence on subsidies.• Information to consumers addresses SMEs lack of information about services and suppliers. The aim is to expand demand for BDS by making SMEs aware of available services and their potential benefits. Some programmes have commercialized the information dissemination role, which increases the potential for sustainability.• Collective action through clusters, networks and associations addresses SMEs inability to pay for services and supplier unwillingness (or inability) to sell services in small enough quantities. The aim is to help SMEs overcome dis-economies of scale by enabling them to purchase services in groups. A major challenge of this approach is how labor-intensive it is to form groups and identify services common to everyone in the group. In general, SMEs do not perceive \"group organizing\" as a service and are not willing to pay for it.• Business linkages and promoting embedded services address SME isolation and inability to pay for services up front. Business linkages also address suppliers' lack of knowledge about SMEs. • Technical assistance (TA) to suppliers addresses suppliers' lack of technical or managerial skills. The aim is to address a range of supply-side constraints and build the capacity of new or existing BDS suppliers to profitably serve SMEs. TA lessens supplier risk in diversifying by absorbing the costs of innovation. Suppliers also need help to learn how to profitably meet demand. A key advantage of TA is that it allows facilitators to target specific problems in supply. A disadvantage is it may be difficult for a facilitator to offer equal access to assistance to many providers. Providing TA to only a few may give them an unfair advantage however, the market could be developed if other suppliers copy those business strategies. It is also wise to develop the capacity of the private sector itself to provide technical assistance to suppliers.• Social enterprise addresses a lack of supply in the market. The aim is to increase the supply of services by helping new suppliers to enter the market. Developing business service markets when \"there is no market,\" is a challenge. The BDS market development approach encourages not-for-profit institutions to understand and build on the capacity of the existing private sector market. There is some evidence that social enterprises have the potential to contribute to the development of a competitive, vibrant BDS market but key market development principles must apply.• Product Development and commercialization addresses a lack of appropriate service products for SMEs in the market and supplier reluctance to target new consumer segments. Suppliers may not be skilled innovators, lacking the knowledge and experience to develop new service products. The aim is to commercialize new products through existing suppliers by assisting with product development, market testing, and initial marketing. New product commercialization can also be undertaken by promoting franchising of appropriate products. But product development costs can be high and sustainability is a key challenge (some programmes have found that they must also provide on-going support services, such as advertising and branding, quality control, remedial service support, and upgrades).• Offer matching grants to private sector players for strategic technical assistance to associations, lead firms, service providers, or for pilot programmes to develop new ways of doing business.• Support BDS policy and advocacy such as developing appropriate SME policies, ensuring a supportive business environment, and helping SMEs engage in advocacy activities can be an important part of both economic and democratic development.Try building the capacity of advocacy groups, developing mechanisms for publicprivate dialogue, building the capacity of local governments and developing business environment (BE) reform support functions.• Promote access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs): physically and economically isolated SMEs are gaining better access to information and to communication technologies that put them in touch with markets. SMEs use ICTs to communicate with suppliers, customers, workers, transporters, membership associations, BDS suppliers, and policy makers. However it is challenging to find viable ICT business models that target SMEs. Often the information seems like a public good and commercialization can be problematic. Some charge SMEs for services, others embed the information into existing transactions between SMEs and buyers or suppliers, while some information suppliers generate revenue from advertising or sponsorship deals.Many of these above strategies are effective ways to stimulate markets or launch a systemic process, but without a strategy for sustainability and market replication, they tend to end with the project. The EADD is not designed as a systemic market project but should be aware of the challenges involved with implementing non systemic interventions such as the ones described above:• Beware of matching grants to selected private-sector firms, with no clear link to employment creation or backward linkages to small-scale farmers or other povertyreducing mechanisms. • Beware of \"challenge\" grants to individual lead firms that do create jobs and/or link to small-scale farmers, but that are one-off investments, not replicable to other firms and not generating or stimulating other economic development.• Beware of grants to service providers on a short-term, subsidized, and small-scale basis, rather than stimulating purchasing power of SMEs through vouchers. • Beware of facilitating business linkages between individual firms and buyers, firms and service providers, firms and suppliers without an over-arching industry competitiveness strategy or a sustainability strategy for the linkage service. • Beware of direct value chain development: directly enhancing value chain competitiveness by training value-chain businesses and directly facilitating linkages, rather than stimulating associations, business support markets and other learning systems to strengthen multiple businesses in the value chain on a sustainable basis. • Beware of targeting all assistance directly to SMEs, ignoring the power of larger firms to generate growth that benefits SMEs and the poor.EADD should focus on the market system not individual enterprises and view the BDS market from an external and objective position with the goal of benefiting as many SMEs as possible. As a market facilitator the project should plan for a viable and independent market structure that continues to exist after EADD have exited. This includes visualizing the functions of a sustainable market (offering more benefits to SMEs) and the various types of players who do or might perform those functions. The facilitator should promote competition among suppliers in the market. Business-like relationship between the facilitator and suppliers are more effective in developing markets plus this business-like approach has a number of advantages:• Requiring investment from private sector suppliers means that the financial scale of the initiative will generally fit the capacity of the market.• Business-like relationships foster business-like incentives, behavior and attitudes BDS best practice defines the facilitator's role in the following ways:• NOT playing a direct role in the market system • Capture lessons learnt with analysis of the market system and developed models.• Measure systems change and broader market response.• Undertake impact assessment and examination of causal chain.• Replicate successful interventions.• Implement strategies to promote market-driven replication and scale up.• Be aware of the entire BDS market using both the value chain and BDS survey results: In a market system, service markets are complementary subsystems to value chains. Researching BDS markets provides information that is not readily available through value chain analysis alone. Although a BDS market can exist completely within a value chain a service provider may also be outside the value chain making a case for cross-cutting services. • Develop a clear offer: a description of what EADD is bringing to the situation will support the development of a sustainable system. • Define an exit strategy upfront: the BDS markets and transactions must be sustainable when facilitation activities end and certain facilitation activities may need to continue on a commercial basis. EADD can prepare for this by training BDS providers to conduct these activities themselves.• Manage expectations and establish credibility: communicating the vision for the BDS market and the part the EADD will play in achieving it is critical. Managing expectations will help EADD establish its credibility.It is strongly recommended that the project pilot interventions early. Some aspects of markets can be understood only after piloting starts and commencing interventions highlights information gaps. An effective programme pilot is an iterative process in which a facilitator tries an intervention on a small scale, learns from the intervention, gathers more information, and adjusts the intervention.The EADD has adopted a sub sector BDS strategy to support the provision of BDS services to SME players in the dairy sub-sector chains to help them take advantage of market opportunities and earn more profits within the sub-sector. However it is important to recognise that the programme will also promote some \"cross-sector\" business services.Accounting, computer services, basic legal services, technical training, marketing, and telecommunications services are \"cross-sector\" services that help firms increase productivity, reduce costs, and access markets. When assessing the performance of the project it will be important to acknowledge how facilitating these services may have impacted on other sub sectors also.It is recommended that the BDS component of the EADD combine all the following key effectiveness strategies. However as the Rwanda locations have been plotted in the low supply and demand quadrant, the strategy of 'EDUCATING' should lead: • Promote farming as a business via radio programs, field days, brochures and exchange visits • Promote model farmers/consumers and success stories • Implement and disseminate market studies • Social media campaigns e.g. dramas and road shows for awareness creation \"Facilitating\" (strong demand and strong supply) is advised in the markets that have large numbers of small-to medium-sized firms and some active suppliers. BDS programmes operating here conform best to the ideal BDS market development approach of facilitating BDS markets with lighter interventions, helping service providers:• Where there are some BDS suppliers, there may be a fairly large gap between the services the supplier offers and SME understanding of their own need for them. In the BDS markets with very low demand, such as those in rural areas, the EADD should aim at \"informing\" SMEs about the potential benefits of particular BDS by: o Devising a social marketing campaign o Improving supplier marketing capabilities o Assisting suppliers to develop a customer referral system o Conducting service demonstrations and product trials for target enterprisesexplain the benefits of services and illustrate to \"first-time users\" their need for the services and encourage them to purchase the service at full cost in the future o Provide direct stimulation -use free samples and vouchers as a direct stimulation strategy o Improve the level of interaction between SMEs and BDS providers -this can encourage SMEs to purchase BDS. Facilitate fairs, trade shows, exhibitions, meetings, and technical clinics plus initiate advertising in print and mass media. o Introduce links between BDS providers and potential users -providers who are unfamiliar to SME communities have difficulty promoting their services. These links can also assist providers with increasing their outreach or penetrating new markets This demand stimulation should be coupled with the capacity building of service providers to help them respond better to SME wants and needs.It is recommended that after the existing and potential commercial providers are agreed in each location, EADD must firstly persuade them that a market opportunity exists to serve dairy business customers. It is important to share market assessment findings with targeted providers and show providers the demand in the market. Market assessment data can show that SMEs purchase services and are willing and able to pay for services that benefit them. EADD can highlight the percentage of potential customers who expressed interest in the service, provide an estimation of potential revenues, and describe the various features customers expect from the service, including modes of payments for services and delivery mechanisms.Maybe in the future the project can involve BDS providers in the market assessment process by having them perform their own market assessments under supervision -this strategy encourages BDS providers to be committed to entering the market. EADD must also educate the providers on the benefits of commercialized BDS, for example, embedded service providers may not realize that they offer services. They may not have consciously thought about improving their services or offering them on a larger scale. The project must be cogniscent of the fact that providers will not enter a new market unless they are reasonably confident that they will make money. Market information can provide much of the data needed to analyze the viability of a new business model or serving a new consumer segment. Market information is useful, and in many cases essential, to assist providers in developing viable business models and a business plan. When considering which business models might work for the delivery of a particular service, the project needs to think broadly and build on existing businesses, business models, or business relationships. The following examples of business models might be viable:• Independent small service providers It is recommended that the following key sustainability strategies be considered within the business models adopted:Fee for services -suppliers offer services that are low-cost and often have a short-term payback period. Costs are reduced by dividing activities -the facilitator performs much of the service development and testing, and suppliers provide standard services on a regular basis. Suppliers become expert at serving SMEs and the facilitator specializes in negotiating and managing funds and developing supplier capacity. Market research costs may be subsidized by the facilitator who helps with technical assistance or conducts research for many suppliers such as in this BDS market assessment. BDS marketing costs may be subsidized by the facilitator who promotes awareness of services. Suppliers are primarily private sector businesses -donor funding is not used to subsidize direct transactions and the presence of donor funding is not publicized, thus minimizing SME expectations of subsidies. Full prices are charged when service design is complete. Many suppliers may use the following promotional, packaging, and payment mechanisms to reach low-income markets:• Lower costs by delivering services through other SMEs.• Package services in small pieces or \"sachets\".• Offer introductory services with immediate value-added for a small fee.• Offer gradual payment mechanisms such as installment payments.• Offer financing to allow the poor to pay for services.• Collect payments \"on commission\" if services help the business make a profit.• Help SMEs purchase as a group and receive a discount. Cross-subsidies -in cases where services are demand-driven and valuable, but not financially viable, some providers choose to cross-subsidize them with other revenue generating activities. Such as supplying BDS to larger businesses that can pay profitable rates and then using profits to supply smaller businesses with services; or operating a completely unrelated business and using those profits to subsidize BDS activities; or using income from a viable BDS to cover the cost of a non-viable BDS.Third party payment -another strategy is to identify and deliver services that are mutually beneficial to both small and large firms, and charge only the large firms. Another example would be harnessing advertising or sponsorship revenue to provide a service which is seen as a public good such as information delivered by radio, print or mobile telephony.Piggy-backing on microfinance and disseminating a BDS through a microfinance institution -successful programmes use credit meetings to disseminate information about a BDS, but offer it as a separate, non-required, fee-based activity. Usually, loan officers and BDS staff are separate as well. The advantages of this approach is that promotional costs are minimal because there is a captive audience in credit meetings, clients have access to finance to pay the fee for a BDS and training costs can be kept to a minimum and overheads minimized. The disadvantages of this approach are that clients may feel compelled to purchase the service for fear of not receiving a loan, primary clients may not be the same as microfinance clients, staff may have too many activities and skills could be diluted. Plus there is a danger of cross-subsidizing low-demand services with lucrative microfinance services, thus compromising institutional profitability.The following strategies are recommended and focus on the preferences and limitations of SMEs:• Use installments (or hire purchase, renting, leasing) so clients pay a predetermined fee every week/ month or facilitate bulk purchasing. • Facilitate a guaranteed payment system (a revolving fund or a check off system via a service hub). • Collect a commission on products sold by the client to recover costs.• Embed the cost of the services into fees for services or products that clients are known to value. • Educate BDS providers on cost analysis to promote fair and consistent pricing.• Keep the price of the service within the affordability limits of the clients.• Clearly link the services to increased profits for SMEs.• Offer the service over the same time period as the payments.• Determine the installments by assessing the client's capacity to pay.• Ensure high-quality demand driven services based on market awareness resulting in concrete benefits for the client. • Ensure continuous improvement of services.• Develop a trusting relationship. Full cost recovery can also depend on the strength of the existing relationship between the provider and the client. When a trusting relationship exists, greater flexibility in the payment schedule may be possible. • Develop unique selling features of a commercial service by understanding the clients' needs and the gaps in the subsidized services. • Assist providers with customizing services.• Enable BDS providers to address SMEs' problems that are not addressed by existing subsidized services.• Teach commercial providers how to promote their services.It is recommended that on the demand side, the facilitator may need to realize the following objectives: lessen SMEs' distrust of middlemen and service providers, increase SMEs' understanding of how services add value to products, and promote a culture of payment for intangible services.It is recommended that on the supply side, the facilitator may need to realize the following objectives: increase BDS providers' capacities to price services logically, fairly, and consistently; explain to SMEs how services are priced to increase trust; and develop payment options with input from client SMEs. For SMEs to be comfortable paying for services, some transparency on how those services are priced must exist. Value chain workshops can assist with developing this transparency.Always ask \"who would/ should perform this role if the project was not there? The vision is that functions performed by facilitators will either not be needed in sustainably growing markets, or they will be commercialized.The EADD should ideally work with private sector providers who are business like and willing to invest. This may not be possible in all locations and the project may partner with some of the following types of suppliers: private BDS businesses and individual consultants, informal networks, companies offering other products, farmers' associations and Coops, religious institutions, employers or business associations, Chambers of Commerce, NGOs, CBOs, research institutions, educational institutions, financial institutions, media houses, publicly funded enterprise development agencies and Government institutions and departments. The project may also partner with members of the supply chain such as input providers who provide embedded services that can be promoted and replicated. The important questions to ask include:o Who can deliver BDS sustainably and how can the services be paid for? o Which kinds of institutions make highly sustainable providers and how can services be paid for through commercial channels over the long run and still reach the poor? o What is the capacity of existing suppliers to expand and/or improve service delivery and potential providers to transform into viable private sector providers?If the target population is isolated, low-income SMEs, informal sector business may be more appropriate options. In some situations, the dearth of suppliers may require the facilitator to work with community-based entrepreneurs and groups to launch new supplier businesses. But be aware of national level NGOs struggling to define their role. Some NGOs who support the BDS market development approach choose to remain BDS providers, but register as a private company or social enterprise. Others opt to become facilitators. The facilitator may have to support these organisations to define their role clearly.In order to assist EADD staff in selecting appropriate providers for future interventions a set of criteria has been developed as follows:• Capacity to deliver services -e.g. existing contracts, marketing strategy & accounting and management systems During the supplier diagnostic interviews each supplier was given a rating against these criteria to enable staff to select partners with the best ability to develop and deliver appropriate services. A workable data base of these BDS providers is attached to this report (Annexes/Databases).It is recommended that the causal chain is firstly made implicit: What does the project expect to happen, and how can the project show that each effect is causally linked back to the original inputs?This describes the overall SME development strategy -the causality between programme inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes, and ultimate impacts. A recommended clear causal link is defined below:It is further recommended that the EADD adopts the Performance Measurement Framework (PMF). PMF is a common system for measuring the performance of BDS programmes or components of programmes. The goal of PMF is to help improve performance in the BDS field by helping identify best practices and programmes improve their performance. The PMF focuses on assessing changes in supply and demand for Strengthening the demand for, and supply of, services leads to a vibrant, competitive BDS market BDS market development leads to large numbers of SMES using and applying business services to improve their business Better business practices contribute to SME growth and profitability and, eventually, increased employment and income services, the development of BDS markets, and how SMEs use services to change business practices. It proposes to monitor results in 3 categories:1. Household level (measuring impact on SMEs 2 ) 2. BDS market level (measuring the development of vibrant competitive markets for BDS) 3. Programme level (measuring programme performance and costs effectiveness)It is designed to be used in conjunction with occasional impact assessment and more frequent tracking of efficiency indictors by suppliers.Remember a performance evaluation is not the same as an impact assessment.• Inputs are used to undertake project activities • Project activities produce outputs • Outputs can be evaluated to see if a project achieved its immediate purpose (performance evaluation) • Outputs lead to outcomes. Outcomes are the final results to show that the project has contributed towards its overall objective • Outcomes lead to impacts • Impact assessment measures the final results of a project once it has had time to produce an impactThe PMF is structured to measure common objectives: impact-changes in SMEs, outreach-market development, sustainability and cost effectiveness. The framework proposes objectives that the BDS component of the programme might be trying to achieve: o Impact on SME BDS customers and the wider economic/social environment -to increase consumer acquisition of BDS, increase customer application of BDS in the business and increase business benefits from BDS o Outreach, meaning both the number of SMEs reached (scale) and the effort to provide services to people not served by existing markets (access) -to expand the market for BDS, develop a high quality, diverse, competitive market and increase access to BDS by under-served groups o Sustainability of business service delivery and supplier institutions -to promote sustainable access to services o Cost-effectiveness of programme activities -to maximize programme cost effectiveness • Much of the information required can be sourced for partner suppliers. However the partners must be clear from the outset as to the information to be collected and at what time intervals. • Data from consumers must be collected via sample surveys. Depending on the budget available quantitative information should be collected during face to face interviews using a questionnaire plus qualitative case studies and testimonies via client interviews. To reduce costs it is recommended that the project also run a number of tele research panels using the phone numbers in the databases compiled during the market assessment. This would involve developing a short questionnaire to collect targeted information over the telephone from a sample of consumers and suppliers.• Internal quantitative sample surveys using questionnairesThe project should aim to:• "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"614d459da8b988fc7266ae4b04c8af70","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a30784b0-2279-4368-bec8-a1b328a16f6a/retrieve","id":"-1033279645"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a2cb1f2e-02a4-42c2-8e58-6a24cf46b006","content":"Photo: Farmers preparing the crowdsourcing trials. The pole holding the iButton ® is well visible in the picture.In order to speed up farmers' evaluation of the varieties while collecting scientific data on how they adapt to climate change, we used a crowdsourcing approach. Varieties were distributed in two areas, involving 200 farmers in 12 villages. The total area covers 350 km 2 with different climatic conditions.With the crowdsourcing approach, we moved from having two plots in the research station with 400 samples of varieties evaluated by farmers and scientists (where the first selection process happened), to a much more decentralized system that involves more farmers testing the varieties in their own fields using their own farming practices. This way we can better capture their needs and preferences, and at the same time test the varieties under more diverse growing conditions.Farmers were given three varieties to blind test (out of a larger selection) and one control -an improved variety called Assasa that is widely used in both areas. To understand the different climatic conditions in the 12 villages, we used iButtons ® , sensors that register temperature and humidity eight times a day throughout the growing season (Fig. 1). At the end of our study, the village leader and a small team, composed of scientists and extension agents, collected agronomic and morphological information for each variety, such as plant height, number of effective tillers (extra shoots generating from one seed), spike length, seeds per spike and grain yield. Farmers also provided quality scores for each sample they received (see Factsheet 1). This work has several implications:• Landrace performance needs to be tested against different climatic conditions to fully appreciate their potential and to better understand whether they meet farmers' needs.• To upscale the initiative and make it more sustainable, we need to strengthen local seed systems. The seeds we have tested with farmers cannot be found commercially, so there is a need to make them widely available to communities.• By engaging with current and new strategic partners, the approach could become a standard for releasing climate-smart technologies (e.g. more crops/landraces, more farmers, other types of technologies) to farmers in a quick and effective way. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5e8914669c0382be77f78bcc3313cd32","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/290f5eec-3b05-4c87-b23d-a41290c57b6f/retrieve","id":"1693405891"},"keywords":["Direct-dry seeding rice","irrigation","climate-smart agriculture"],"sieverID":"e936caa3-6d14-4657-9597-de0d26343eaa","content":"With support from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security in Southeast Asia (CCAFS SEA), a joint study trip was organized for Vietnamese rice researchers, extension workers, as well as local decision makers, to visit Thailand in April 2018. The goal of the study trip was to observe and learn the experience of Thai farmers on the large-scale adoption process of dry-direct seeding rice (DDSR), a viable alternative to address regional scarcity of fresh water in irrigation caused by drought and salinity intrusion in the Mekong River Delta.In this trip, the provincial rice research departments and its centers in Thailand gave the Vietnamese team updates on their progress on the implementation and adoption of DDRS throughout the country. The policy mechanisms and finance support from stakeholders (i.e., government, private sector) who favor the application of DDSR were also shared and discussed. During the visits to farmer field sites, the team was introduced to existing techniques and equipment of DDRS being applied by Thai farmers and local organizations.The following main conclusions were noted: 1) the major drivers of the shift from puddled transplanting or wet sowing to DDSR are the rising scarcity of water and labor. DDSR can be a valuable rice culture to address the emerging water and labor crises for not only irrigated rice areas but also rainfed rice; 2) the precise land leveling, suitable cultivars, good crop establishment, precise water management, and effective and efficient weed and nutrient management are key prerequisites for the success of DDSR; and 3) anticipatory research and development strategies need to be developed for areas where DDSR is likely to be adopted. This is to sustain DDSR on a long-term basis.Vietnam is considered one of the severely affected countries by climate change. This is most evident in the country's Mekong River Delta (MRD), which produces about 50% of the total amount of food in Vietnam and ensures food security and livelihoods for approximately 70% of the region's population. As impacts of the recent El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), severe drought and salinity intrusion have been occurring in the MRD and have caused varying degrees of damages to agriculture and to the livelihoods of people in the region.In relation to this crisis, on 15 March 2016, the Vietnamese government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organized a meeting with donors, international organizations, and other partners to discuss the joint efforts for drought response and recovery. Another meeting, which was presided by Minister Cao Duc Phat of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the UN Resident Coordinator, on 30 March 2016, was held to report the recent rapid assessments of current natural hazards. During this meeting, MARD recognized that this crisis and its subsequent effects will recur in the future; hence, there is a need to prepare and plan for the necessary measures. To realize this goal, the different stakeholders called for short-, medium-and long-term support from the international community.As a response to this urgent call, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security in Southeast Asia (CCAFS SEA), in collaboration with the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS) and Cuu Long Delta Rice Research Institute (CLRRI), organized a joint study trip in Thailand to observe and learn about the dry-direct seeding rice (DDSR) process.The DDSR is being studied as a viable alternative to address freshwater scarcity in irrigation caused by drought and salinity intrusion currently transpiring in the region. The recommendations from the study trip may support the short-, medium-, and long-term planning in response to the impacts of climate change in MRD.The study trip aimed to achieve the following objectives:1. Conduct a first-hand observation and assessment of the degree and extent of adoption of DDSR in Thailand;2. Gather the lessons learned from the location-specific and regional DDSR adoption in Thailand and forward them to the relevant agencies in MRD of Vietnam to help the region, especially the drought-and saline-affected areas, improve their preparedness and coping capacity during the dry crop season; and 3. Identify potential and appropriate machines or equipment for DDSR in MRD of Vietnam.Rice is one of most important food crops in Thailand (IRRI 2018). The total area planted with rice is estimated to be about 11 million hectares (ha), equivalent to almost 40% of the total crop land area (Kupkanchanakul 2000;IRRI 2018). There are two annual rice-growing periods in Thailand, the wet season and the dry season. In terms of area covered and share in the production, the wet-season rice accounts for 88% of the annual rice area and 80% of the production. Dry-season rice accounts for 12% of the area and 20% of production (IRRI 2018). Since 2007, the rice land during the wet season has averaged about 8.8 million ha and is heavily dependent on monsoonal weather systems.In this regard, 70% of the crop is rainfed. The remaining 30% lies primarily in the river basin of the western Chao Phraya and is irrigated via water stored in mountain reservoirs (USDA 2017).Rice lands can be classified as irrigated, rainfed lowland, deepwater, and upland ecosystems (IRRI 2018). More than 80% of the rice-growing areas in Thailand are under rainfed conditions (Kupkanchanakul 2000). Rice is usually grown only once a year in the wet season, when the monsoon rain is the only water source for rice cultivation. The remaining 20% of the areas are under irrigated conditions wherein water supply is always available. Because of the availability of water, rice can be grown in both wet and dry seasons in irrigated areas (IRRI 2018).In term of land classification, rainfed lowlands are the major contributor. About 75% of the total wet-season rice area is in rainfed lowlands, accounting for 68% in the production. Deepwater lands only cover 1.92% of the total wet-season rice area, leading to a 1.17% share in the production. The production share coming from the uplands is even smaller -0.32% of the production harvested from farmlands that constitute only 0.58% of the total wet-season rice area (Kupkanchanakul 2000).The total dry-season rice area, which averages 2.0 million ha, is about 80% irrigated, and accounts for roughly 30% of the total annual rice production (USDA 2017). Rice cultivation during the dryseason is heavily focused on irrigated paddylands in the Lower North and Central Plains region where are intensively cultivated alluvial area (Molle and Srijantr 2003). During the rainy season, rice covers the major part of the Central Plain region, which accounts for about one-fifth of the total cultivated rice land of the country in the wet season (IRRI 2018). These areas are essentially the country's major rice bowls in Thailand because of fertile soil with good irrigation infrastructures and agricultural mechanization (USDA 2017).The country's annual exportable rice surplus is also produced in those areas and usually comes from the dry-season harvest. The Bhumipol and Sirikit reservoirs, which are located in the northern headwaters of the Chao Phraya River Basin, are two major sources of irrigation. Together, they provide 80% to 90% of the irrigation supply dedicated for cultivating rice (USDA 2017).Thailand is divided into four regions:1. Northeastern region. Almost one-third of the land area-about half of which is rice land-is located in this region. However, the average size of rice farms is smaller compared to other regions. Irrigation potential in this region is limited due to undulating topography. The area under direct-dry seeding is the largest with 6.3 million ha of rice. In this region where rainfed rice cultivation is commonly practiced, direct-dry seeding is replacing transplanting to achieve more successful plantings and save more labor cost (Cosslett and Cosslett 2018).2. Central region. This is an intensively cultivated alluvial area. The average farm size is large, and a major portion of rice land has access to irrigation facilities, allowing many farmers to grow two rice crops during the year. Almost 75% of the dry-season rice grown under irrigated conditions is in this region. The main rice surplus comes from this region as well (Cosslett and Cosslett 2018).3. Northern region. The northern region contains almost one-third of the land area of Thailand.On one hand, upland rice is grown in the lower altitudes of high hills and in upland areas. On the other hand, lowland rice is grown mainly in lower valleys and on some terraced fields where water is available (Cosslett and Cosslett 2018).4. Southern region. It only accounts for 6% of the total rice land. As a result, there is always a shortage of rice for local consumption (Cosslett and Cosslett 2018).The general policy for rice production in Thailand is to produce rice for self-sufficiency and surplus for export to earn foreign exchange (Kupkanchanakul 2000). Currently, it aims to produce about 22-23 million tons of paddy annually, wherein 13-14 million tons will be dedicated for domestic consumption while the remaining 8-9 million tons, 5.5 million tons of which is milled rice, is reserved for export (USDA 2017, IRRI 2018). Major production comes from the wet-season rice crops and is being supplemented by crops harvested during the dry season.MRD is an agro-ecological region covering 13 provinces in the southern part of Vietnam. It has a total area of about 4 million ha, wherein 2.6 million ha is agriculture land, contributing some 48% of national food production, more than 85% of annual rice exports, 57% of national aquaculture production, and 41% of Vietnam's fishery catch (GSO 2018). This makes MRD of Vietnam the largest agriculture and aquaculture production region in the country (CCAFS-SEA 2016).In particular, the region is critical to Vietnam's national agricultural production. MRD-based agricultural products not only help in ensuring food security and providing livelihoods to about 70% of the region's population, but also serve as exports that will be distributed to the international market.The primary livelihood in Mekong Delta is rice cultivation, employing 60% of its inhabitants. More than 2 million ha of agricultural land is dedicated to rice production. Agricultural land in the MRD can be further segmented into sub-regions with distinct characteristics: 1) the eastern part (from the Tien River towards Ho Chi Minh City), which has low agriculture potential due to acid sulfate in the soils; 2) the central part (between the Tien River and the Hau River), which is the horticultural production area; and 3) the western part, which is the area for rice and aquaculture production.Unfortunately, the western sub-region is also often affected by salinity intrusion (CCAFS-SEA 2016).With the help of flood and salinity control projects, the irrigated areas in MRD saw a major expansion-from 52% in 1990 to 91% of croplands in 2002. These irrigated areas are conducive for more agricultural production, as farmers can grow two to three rice crops per year, even in the coastal regions (Tran 2006, Kajisa 2006). This has led to remarkable increases in areas devoted to rice, as well as in rice production and yield.The rice-planted area did not change from 1976 to 1986 but expanded in a rapid rate from 2.3 million ha in 1987 to 3.9 million ha in 2000. In 2011, the recorded rice-planted areas further expanded to 4.1 million ha. The analysis of MODIS remote sensing images from 2000 to 2013 shows that the area for single rice crops and double rice crops tend to decrease while that of triple rice crops and shrimp-rice tend to increase (ACIAR 2014). In this regard, 90% of Vietnam's exported rice comes from the MRD, helping the country become the one of largest rice exporter in the world (Nguyen and Liu 2019). Similarly, rice production had grown 3.6 times, from 6.4 million tons in 1987 to 23.2 million tons in 2011 (GSO 2012). In 2016, rice production in the region was recorded at 25 million tons (55% of national value) already. The provinces with the largest rice areas are An Giang, Kien Giang, and Dong Thap. Altogether, these provinces yield almost 50% of the MRD rice production (CCAFS SEA 2016).The rice cropping calendars vary on these areas. For instance, those that are affected by salinity intrusion and flooding are marked differently. Generally, the difference between cultivation periods of a crop in a certain area is from two to four weeks (CCAFS SEA 2016).The impacts of climate change are evident in MRD. Specifically, sea level rise in low lying areas at the mouth of the Delta, increased rainfall, increased number of extreme weather events, rising average temperatures, and increased salinity intrusion plague the region (ICEM 2012).The sea level around MRD has already risen by 20 cm since 1901. This rise must be alarming, given Aside from its adverse impacts on the water resources, salinity intrusion, as well as drought, is affecting rice production in vast land areas. In fact, the impacts of salinity intrusion and drought together can already be observed during the reproductive stage of rice and remain usually until its late vegetative stage (February and March). This rendered salinity-tolerant varieties ineffective as their tolerance to salinity is only during the seedling or vegetative stage (Nguyen 2015, CCAFS SEA 2016).Farmers who irrigated their fields with saline water suffered \"burnt\" fields and those who did not suffered from drought. In some cases, farmers had to delay the planting for the next rice crop season because fresh water is either scarce or could not be used due to salinity intrusion or because the start of the rainy season no longer coincides with the puddling and crop establishment (CE) stages. Such impacts are devastating especially to the side of the farmers: yields were cut in half; there were even cases of total loss (CCAFS SEA 2016).As a response, DDSR was introduced in MRD 15 years ago. It was believed to have an immense potential as an alternative to the conventional practice of puddled transplanting or sowing, which would then help in overcoming emergent resource constraints, especially freshwater scarcity in the context of climate change. DDSR, as perceived since then, would also address the increasing cost of cultivation in Vietnam. However, DDSR has yet to reach its full potential in the country primarily because of the unavailability of a complete DDSR production technology. It is therefore important to learn from Thailand where DDSR is now widely practiced throughout rainfed lowland areas.The team The team only visited the locations identified prior to the visit and mainly based on key informant discussions and on knowledge about the region of the participating experts. The team did not conduct a detailed collection of data that can be used for in-depth analysis. Furthermore, the recommendations focus on the possible DDSR practices and technologies that could be suitable and feasible in MRD.The key observations of the team listed below served as the bases for the subsequent recommendations. For a deeper understanding of these key observations, please refer to the detailed daily highlights of the field assessment in the Appendix.Water scarcity is prevailing, which leads to a diminishing water supply for agriculture. DirectSeeding Rice (DSR) provides some opportunities for saving water. Both Dry-DSR and Wet-DSR are more water-efficient and own an advantage over conventional transplanting or sowing. Similar in MRD of Vietnam, Wet-DSR is widely adopted in Thailand.In fact, more than 95% of irrigated rice areas in the Central Plains of Thailand are applying Wet-DSR. However, with increasing shortage of water during the dry season, DDSR with zero or minimal tillage with corresponding potential savings on both labor and water is spreading rapidly in the northeast region of Thailand and believed to have higher potential in the country's Central Plains as well.In Thailand, the labor force involved in agriculture is declining annually at a rate of 0.25-0.40%.Specifically, the agricultural labor force already dropped from 40% in the 1960s to 30-35% today.One major factor is the labor-intensive nature of the conventional transplanting or sowing. Both land preparation (puddling) and crop establishment methods (transplanting or sowing) require a large amount of labor.Because of the high labor demand at the time of transplanting, worsening labor scarcity, and rising wage rates (250-300 THB per person per day), farmers are opting for direct seeding, which only needs about 5-10 working days per hectare. This is more economical than transplanting, which requires 25-45 working days per hectare.Economic incentives through the integration of an additional crop (i.e., crop intensification) are another reason for the rapid spread or adoption of DDSR. For instance, in the northeastern part of Thailand, DDSR facilitated double cropping instead of single cropping of transplanted rice.Early establishment and short-duration varieties (95-105 days) also allowed early harvesting of DDSR, leaving enough time and rainfall to grow the next rainfed crop. DDSR is now covering almost 100% of the northeast region of Thailand. It must be noted that the availability of highyielding short-duration varieties and new herbicides for weed control largely made this shift technically viable.Declining or stagnating crop productivity and a deteriorating resource base in cereal systems led to the promotion of conservation tillage-based agriculture. It involves zero or minimal tillage followed by row seeding using a drill.Conservation tillage, when it utilizes crop residue as mulch with improved crop and resource management practices, is termed integrated crop management (ICM). However, zero tillage is only practiced in small areas in the Central Plains, the main \"rice bowl\" of Thailand. Paddy rice in the country is still widely grown under conventional intensive tillage (puddling) and crop establishment (transplanting).DDSR is characterized by the following: 1) the soil may have undergone dry land preparation before dry seeding. This is done either through conventional tillage or through zero tillage. It must be noted that dry preparation is typically practiced for upland rice but can also be done for lowland field; 2) dry seeds are sown in dry soil; and 3) seeds are sown either by broadcast or in rows. Seeding in rows can be accomplished by hand or use of seeding machines.In Thailand, DDSR is established using several different methods, including:1. Broadcasting (sowing seed by scattering it) of dry seeds on non-puddled soil after either zero tillage (ZT dry-BCR) or conventional tillage (CT-dry-BCR). About 60−80 kg of seeds is broadcasted uniformly by hand. In rainfed rice ecosystems, farmers often sow onto a dry soil surface, after which, they will incorporate the seed either by ploughing or harrowing. Germination occurs following rains or floods.2. Drilling of seeds in rows after conventional tillage (CT-DDSR), reduced tillage using a power tiller-operated seeder (PTOS) [RT (PTOS)-dry-DSR] or zero tillage (ZT-DDSR).• Precision equipment, such as the Turbo Happy Seeder, can be used to drill seeds. One can drill 80−100 kg of seeds per ha with this equipment. Seeds will be placed in the dry soil by the machine and will be irrigated afterwards. In this technique, fertilizers can be applied at the same time as the seed. Manual weeding is also easier in machine-drilled crops than in broadcasted crops.• For CT-DDSR and ZT-DDSR, a seed-cum-fertilizer drill is used, which, after land preparation or in zero-till conditions, places the fertilizer and drills the seeds. The PTOS is a tiller with an attached seeder and a soil-firming roller. It tills the soil at shallow depth (4-5 cm), sows the seeds in rows at adjustable row spacing, and covers them with soil. The soil is lightly pressed for better seed-to-soil contact in a single pass. Drill seeding is preferred over broadcasting in irrigated or favorable rainfed areas in both developed and developing countries as it allows line sowing and facilitates weed control between rows, saves seeds and time, and provides better (CE).3. Dibbling method in a well-prepared field: Dibbling or hill planting is usually practiced along mountain slopes or where plowing and harrowing are difficult to perform. In this method, there will be a long wood or bamboo pole with a metal scoop attached at the end for digging holes. The seeds will be then dropped into the holes and will be covered with soil. In general, DDSR avoids nursery puddling operations, raising, seedling uprooting, and transplanting, and thus further saves labor use. Since land preparation in Thailand is mostly mechanized, there are more savings in machine labor than in human labor in this operation (Farmers and local staff reported 30-40% savings in machine labor requirement in ZT-DDSR compared with conventional practice on transplanted rice).In addition to labor savings, the demand for labor is spread out over a longer period in DDSR than in transplanted rice. Conventional practice requires much labor only in the critical operation of transplanting, which often results in a shortage of labor in other phases of rice cultivations. The spread-out labor approach helps in utilizing family labor and having less dependence on hired labor.DDSR has the potential to provide several advantages to farmers and their environment over conventional practices of puddling and transplanting.• It requires less labor: labor savings averagedwith an average of 29% in DDSR as compared to conventional practices;• It reduces use of water for land preparation: water savings ranged from 15% to 35%;• It reduces loss of irrigation water and prevents percolation because of fewer soil cracks.• It reduces cost of cultivation: the largest reductions in cost occurred in practices in which minimal or zero tillage was combined with DDSR. Under DDSR, these reductions were largely (5% to 35%) due to drops in either labor cost or tillage cost or both; and• It utilizes early rainfall and harvest seasons: DDSR allows timely planting of subsequent crop due to early harvest of DDSR crop by 7-14 days.• More competition from weeds as compared to wet direct seeding or transplanting due to the absence of standing water;• Increases dependence on herbicides;• Good land preparation, leveling, and water management are needed for a uniform crop establishment;• Rats and birds can severely damage seeds if they are not well-covered with soil after seeding; and• Sudden heavy rain immediately after seeding can adversely affect crop establishment.Weeds are a major constraint to the success of DDSR in Thailand. They are specifically more problematic in DSR than in puddled transplanting because: 1) emerging DSR seedlings are less tolerant against concurrently emerging weeds; and 2) in DDSR, the initial flush of weeds is not controlled by flooding or standing water. Weedy rice is highly competitive and causes severe rice yield losses. It could also become a major threat to rice production where DDSR replaces conventional practices.The most important prerequisites for successful dry-direct drill seeded rice are: 1) precise land leveling, 2) good CE, 3) precise water management, and 4) effective and efficient weed management. These are described in detail below:Precise land leveling:• Good land leveling is an important entry point because it: 1) facilitates stable CE; 2) allows precise water control and good drainage; 3) reduces the amount of irrigation water needed; 4) increases cultivation area because of fewer bunds; 5) improves efficiency of input use (water, nutrients, and agrochemicals); and 6) increases crop productivity.• Good land leveling is best achieved using laser-assisted leveling. Well-maintained fields require laser leveling once every 3−4 years. Aside from laser leveling operations, the field can be leveled using a drag bucket. A levelled field allows planters or drills to place seeds more precisely and allows a more uniform irrigation. A levelled field also reduces weed pressure and helps control water.• It takes approximately eight hours to level one hectare of land using the bucket leveler. After land leveling, the soil must be lightly tilled by 1−3 cm to make it less compacted.• Uniform crop development with optimal plant density is crucial to achieve good yields for any system, including dry-drill seeded rice. Good CE depends on several factors, including land preparation, planting date, seed rate and seed preparation, types of planting machinery used, and depth of seeding.• Planting time: Rice in Thailand is mainly grown during the wet season. To utilize monsoon rain, the optimal time for planting wet-season rice is about 10-15 days prior to the start of the monsoon-determined by forecast or historical weather data. Specifically, land preparation must be finished before the start of monsoon and seeds must be sown before the start of the wet season to take advantage of pre-monsoon rainfall and eventually promote early crop growth.The DDSR method is traditionally practiced in the rainfed uplands of Thailand. However, recently, this method is now being recognized in some irrigated areas such as those in the Central Plains where water is becoming scarce during dry season.• Priming of seeds and seed treatment: Priming of seeds has shown positive effects on the emergence, yield, and quality of DDSR. In dry-drill seeding, good CE is hampered by hot temperatures resulting in dried soil subsurface. Hence, priming of seeds (pre-hydration) allows early and improved emergence and early vigor.Priming is accomplished by soaking seeds in water for 10-12 hours and then drying them in shade prior to seeding. This process allows the seeds to flow freely during seeding operations.However, seeds should be sown shortly after priming to avoid deterioration. Emergence of primed seeds will be affected if seeds encounter moisture stress initially.• Planting machinery such as drills or planters: For accurate and precise seeding, the crop should be drilled using a multi-crop planter with a precise seed-metering system (e.g., with inclined plate, cupping system, or vertical plates). With these precise seed-metering planters, rice can be established with a lower seed rate. More precise plant-to-plant spacing can be maintained as well. Normal fluted roller-type seed-cum-fertilizer drills are less suitable for drill seeding of rice as the seeds fall continuously.This makes maintaining the seed rate difficult and the plant-to-plant spacing as accurate and precise as compared with inclined-or cupping-or vertical-plate seed-metering systems. Some of the machines that can be used for seeding rice include turbo seeder, PCR planter, doubledisc coulters, and rotary-disc drill, among others.• Precise water management, particularly during the CE phase (first 7-15 days after sowing), is crucial for dry-drill seeded rice. In this regard, the soil must be kept moist but not saturated to avoid seed rotting. After sowing in dry soil, a flush irrigation must be applied to wet the soil, especially if it is unlikely to rain before saturating the field at the three-leaf stage. This practice will not only ensure good rooting and seedling establishment but also enhance the germination of weed seeds. Therefore, early weed control with an effective pre-emergence herbicide is crucial to check weed emergence and growth.• Precise leveling is also important for an equal allocation of water resources as well as for an easy drainage, which is needed during the CE phase of DDSR. After CE, the following broad water management options are available: 1) continuous flooding; 2) frequent irrigation with DDSR complemented with safe alternate wetting and drying (AWD), which involves flooding the field with shallow depth (5 cm) and re-irrigating a few days after the water disappears; 3) frequent irrigation where water scarcity for irrigation limits rice yields; and 4) no irrigation under rainfed conditions. Given the aim of achieving high yields of DDSR with less water, option 2 is preferred although this will still depend on the availability of irrigation water.Land preparation, including tillage and precise land leveling before crop planting, plays a key role in controlling weeds in dry-drill seeded rice. Precise land leveling controls weed because it allows a sound water control and improved herbicide efficiency. This has been shown to be effective in reducing the weed population by up to 40%, the labor requirement for weeding by 75%, and weeding cost by 40%.Scaling-out the mechanized direct dry seeded rice (mechanized DDSR) in ThailandSeveral projects supported by organizations and the Thai government have now introduced thousands of seed drills to small-and large-scale farmers in rainfed lowland rice areas in the northeastern part of Thailand. Their target is to reduce production cost and increase rice productivity.The Thai government, through its rice department-the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives in particular-has launched a large-scale farming model aiming to reduce production cost. In the recent years, approximately 50,000 farmers in more than 124,800 ha of rice-growing areas have adopted the large-scale farming model where they share a plot of land within their group and grow their crops. Thousands of seed drills for those mounted on the two-wheel and four-wheel tractors have been introduced to the farmers in the project.The mechanized DDSR is now widely adopted throughout rainfed lowland areas in northeast Thailand. However, there are still limitations involving the technologies. Early rainfall in the wet season limits the use of the seed drill. Problems in field condition, as well as identifying and calculating the rate of fertilizer application, are still difficult for farmers to perform. Therefore, further researches are needed to solve such problems and improve the efficiency of using mechanized DDSR. Moreover, modern technologies and studies on the appropriate timing of mechanized DDSR, weed and pest management, and easier protocol for fertilizer application are required to support farmers in both small-and large-scale rice farming.In Thailand, conventional puddled transplanting or sowing is the most widespread practice in rice production. Because of the water-, labor-, and energy-intensive nature of this system, and rising interest in ICM, DDSR with zero or reduced tillage (ZT-RT) has emerged as a viable alternative.During the trip, the team tried to answer several questions pertaining to DDSR and discussed an integrated package of technologies, specifically for ZT/RT-dry-DSR, to deal with the fast-emerging water and labor crises.Here are some conclusions based on observations and discussions from the assessment trip:• The distinct types of DDSR. Crop establishment can vary from broadcasting manually or mechanically using a drill or a drum seeder, to applying the manual dibble method on nonpuddled soil. In the Central Plains of Thailand, water is relatively more available. Thai farmers apply Wet-DSR without making a change in tillage. However, in areas such as northeast Thailand where both labor and water are emerging as major constraints, farmers are interested in DDSR with zero or reduced tillage.• The major drivers of the shift from puddled transplanting or wet sowing to DDSR. The rising scarcity of water and labor are the major drivers for this shift. Puddled transplanting or wet sowing mainly uses freshwater and requires enormous amounts of labor. Primarily because of labor shortages, direct seeding (mostly wet seeding) is widely adopted in Thailand.Furthermore, high labor demand during the critical operation of transplanting leads to shortages and increasing labor costs. Water for agriculture is also becoming a scarce resource in many rice production areas in northeast Thailand. These factors have pushed many Thai farmers to shift to some forms of DDSR, which require less water and labor.• Experiences in Thailand have shown a compelling evidence in terms of savings-about 12-35% of irrigation water under DDSR systems. The irrigation water productivity of DDSR methods was higher than in conventional practice. Labor savings of up to 35-45% in DDSR compared with conventional practice have been reported, with the level of savings depending on tillage, CE method, and level of mechanization. Zero tillage-DDSR saves more labor than Wet-DSR because of additional savings in land preparation.• Generally, rice varieties bred for puddled transplanting or wet-sowing are used in direct seeding (Wet-DSR and DDSR) in Thailand. The lack of suitable varieties could be a major constraint in achieving maximum potential of direct seeding.• Realizations that optimal plant architecture could be critical to the success of DSR (Wet-DSR and DDSR) in Thailand. This has led to the development of management practices that enhance stand establishment, including land leveling, seeding (depth, density, distance) with residue, irrigation, and weed control.Seeding at an optimal depth and distance not only reduced the seed rate but also helped in overcoming spikelet sterility and lodging problems. Both agronomic management and a suitable variety with appropriate traits are needed to achieve maximum potential under DSR, especially DDSR.• The lessons we have learned from Thailand where direct seeding (especially DDSR) is widely adopted: In Thailand, more than 90% of the irrigated rice is applying Wet-DSR for the past few decades already. DDSR is mainly applied in rainfed rice areas in the northeastern part of Thailand. The experiences in Thailand have shown that precise land leveling, suitable cultivars, good crop establishment, precise water management, and effective and efficient weed and nutrient management are the key prerequisites for the success of DDSR.Establishing a strong herbicide industry that yields affordable and appropriate herbicides also plays a crucial role. Therefore, anticipatory research and development strategies need to be developed for areas where direct seeding is likely to be adopted. This is important for DDSR to be sustainable on a long-term basis.Projections and trends seem to suggest that DDSR will likely be a good rice culture to address the fast-emerging water and labor crises for not only irrigated rice areas but rainfed rice areas as well. In general, this is an important lesson for Vietnam, a country that can shift to DDSR.These are the recommendations that can be applied in the MRD of Vietnam for the future wide-scale adoption of DDSR:1. As one single practice cannot make a successful DDSR performance or application, a full technical package of DDSR cultivation should be developed and proposed to the farmers.• Development/breeding/selection of new rice varieties for dry-direct seeding along with proper management practices can help in wide adoption of DDSR. The selection of suitable cultivars with characteristics such early crop vigor, short statured cultivars, short duration, and tolerance to drought and/or saline intrusion can further increase water-use efficiency.• Selecting appropriate soil types, as well as applying precise land leveling and proper water management, is recommended to enhance water-use efficiency and productivity.• Seed priming technology, proper sowing time, and optimum seed rate should be practiced to address the poor establishment of rice in dry conditions.• Proper systematic weed monitoring program in relation to integrated weed management strategies on sustainable basis should be developed to tackle the weeds associated with switching to DDSR.• The appropriate machine types (e.g., power tiller-operated seeder) should be selected not only to improve establishment efficiency of rice, but also to save labor use.• Biotechnology should also be applied to resolve minor issues such as lodging, nematode infestation, and diseases, among others."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a49920cac41a01d21ec93576fabf426e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H031800.pdf","id":"1676937634"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1586730f-d0b3-4ad7-9bd1-e7b28c39774f","content":"inefficiencies in power and water use in groundwater irrigation. Flat tariff reduces the marginal cost (MC) of groundwater extraction to near zero which creates strong perverse incentives for farmers to indulge in proflig ate and wasteful use of energy and water. Moreover power consumption in agriculture remains unmeasured. This allows energy utilities to mask their inefficiencies and show them as agricultural consumption leading to siphoning off of power subsidies by unintended beneficiaries. It is also believed that the flat rate system favors large farmers and areas with rich aquifers.For these reasons, both power and groundwater sector experts aggressively advocate a return to universal metering of agricultural power consumption. There is a strong belief that metering alone can reverse the fortunes of the power sector and can effectively stem the rapid depletion of groundwater. With metering there will be a marginal cost of groundwater extraction and that will check unproductive use of power and water. Besides, metering will help in better targeting of subsidies and make energy audit more accurate and transparent which is an essential first step to the reduction of inefficiencies in the power sector. Metering will also provide positive incentives for water and energy saving efforts and ensure greater equity between farmers and among different regions. This paper counters the common belief that flat tariff system encourages inefficiency in use of energy and water. It hypothesizes that in areas where vibrant water markets exist, there will not be any significant difference between pumping behavior and water use efficiency of a pump owner paying for power at a flat rate and one paying at unit rate. In such areas, pump owners have an opportunity cost (OC) of pumping which is equal to the rate at which they can sell water in the market. Normally this opportunity cost is much higher than the marginal cost imposed by the unit rate and hence becomes the deciding criterion for the amount of irrigation to be provided in own field and the total annual pumpage. The argument can be graphically illustrated as in Figure 1.In order to test this hypothesis, a field survey was conducted in Anand district of Gujarat; an area well known for its vibrant water markets. Anand has a large number of pumpsets of both flat and metered type. Data were collected from 51 pump owners with metered connections and 32 pump owners with flat rate connections.We found that, contrary to general expectations, the average annual pumpage was marginally higher for pump owners paying unit rates. Moreover, for similar cropping patterns and gross productivity values, hours of irrigation provided per unit gross irrigated area were also higher for metered pump owners. We calculated the total energy used to irrigate each unit of gross irrigated area by both categories of pumpsets. These calculations show that a farmer with a metered pumpset uses greater amount of energy for irrigating each hectare of gross irrigated area compared to a far mer with flat rate based pumpset (Table 1).The average annual pumpage was also found to be marginally higher for pumpsets with metered  Tatkaal (instant) connections are special connections acquired after paying speed charge to the electricity board. These connections are metered and have to pay a higher unit rate than a regular connection.he will earn Rs. 20-25 per hour by selling water. He will keep using the pumpset to irrigate his own crops until his perceived incremental returns from an additional hour of pumping are higher than the rate at which he can sell water in the market. This is the point Q in OC Figure 2 which is around 300-600 hours for a typical pump owner in the study area. Beyond this point, he will run the pumpset to cater to the water market. Since the market rate of water is much higher than the energy cost under the current tariff regime, he will keep pumping as long as there is demand in the market and power is available to meet the demand. In most of the situations, power availability becomes the factor as power supply to agriculture is restricted to eight hours a day in Gujarat. In situations where the groundwater supply far exceeds the irrigation demand because of high pump density and unrestricted power supply, demand will become a limiting factor very soon as there would be very few buyers. In such cases the opportunity cost of pumping will be insignificant and the marginal cost of pumping will become the opportunity cost. If there is a flat rate regime this opportunity cost will be almost zero and this will lead to overuse and inefficiencies in both energy and water use.It is for these reasons that high tariff rates and effective rationing are essential for a functional flat rate regime. High flat rate raises the fixed cost, dissuading overinvestment in pump capital. With effective rationing it ensures that pump capacity remains a scarce resource in the water market to be allocated to its most productive use. The flat rate system in Gujarat scores poorly on both counts. The tariff is extremely low and has not been revised for more than a decade. In fact, in real terms it has gone down from the time when it was fixed last even while the cost of energy supply has gone up manifolds. Our study shows that, at the current pumpage levels in Anand, the effective unit cost of energy is as low as Re. 0.39 for a pump owner while the utility's cost of energy supply to agriculture is around Rs. 2.50 per unit (Table 3).  Hrs/Day3 /4 -1 0 /4 1 1 /4 -4 /5 5 /5 -3 0 /5 3 1 /5 -2 9 /6 3 0 /6 -2 9 /7 2 /8 -2 5 /8 2 6 /8 -8 /9 9 /9 -1 6 /9 1 7 /9 -2 3 /9 2 4 /9 -3 /1 0 4 /1 0 -8 /1 0 9 /1 0 -2 6 /1 0 2 7 /1 0 -1 5 /1 1 Time Periods Any flat rate regime can be viable only if the delivery of goods or services is rationed to a level which the tariff can purchase. The Gujarat Electricity Board (GEB) has a policy of supplying power to agriculture for eight hours a day. However, data collected from daily records of pump owners show that GEB has not been able to enforce rationing strictly. Farmers frequently use phase splitting capacitors to run their pumpsets even beyond scheduled hours, especially during peak agricultural seasons (Figure 3).There is an urgent need to transform the present dysfunctional power supply and pricing system to ensure a viable power industry and sustainable irrigated agriculture. The transfor mation should focus on rationalizing the power tariff rate and developing and enforcing a smart power supply schedule which takes the seasonal nature of agricultural demand in consideration.The logic for metering is undeniable but implementing universal metering is a difficult and costly task in itself. Moreover, our study clearly shows that creating marginal cost in itself does not bring efficiency in water use in irrigation especially if the unit rates are as low as Re. 0.50 0.70.-At these rates there may be a slight increase in the revenue earned by energy utilities like the Gujarat Electricity Board (GEB) but even this increase will be largely offset by increase in costs incurred in reading meters, disbursing and collecting bills, and monitoring pilferage. Also, if marginal cost were the real driving force for efficiency measures, all diesel pumpsets would have been highly efficient as they incur a very high marginal cost. However, studies done in eastern India suggest that diesel pumpsets are even more inefficient than the 3 electric pumpsets (Dom et al, 2001) . This indicates that marginal cost, even if high is not enough in itself to bring energy efficiency in groundwater irrigation. The policy program's website promotes the exchange of knowledge on water-resources management, within the research community and between researchers and policy makers in India.HEADQUARTERS iwmi@cgiar.orgiwmi-asia@cgiar.org CHINA j.wang@cgiar.org NEPAL d.pant@cgiar.orgiwmi-africa@cgiar.org KENYA f.gichuki@cgiar.org GHANA iwmi-ghana@cgiar.orgiwmi-india@cgiar.orgiwmi-pak@cgiar.org UZBEKISTAN v.hornikova@cgiar.org  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4a56948f4ab46c1cbaae17d658197b53","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ebbdeb06-ca2e-41b6-9492-819e7fc08513/retrieve","id":"2084651857"},"keywords":["Indigenous knowledge","adaptation","weather forecast","climate risks","resilience","food security","underutilised crops","livestock","mitigation","preservation","indigenous communities","natural resources","indigenous farming","agro-pastoralism"],"sieverID":"43dac553-4e5c-4a6d-bd38-979632584f14","content":"The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU). Its mission is to advance food security, resilience and inclusive economic growth in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific through innovations in sustainable agriculture.CTA operates under the framework of the Cotonou Agreement and is funded by the EU.Professor of Geography and Environmental Management in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ilorin, Nigeria.He holds a B.Sc. Degree in Geography and M.Sc Degree in Land Resources (Development) from Bayero University, Kano Nigeria; Ph.D. in Geography from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; and Advanced Certificate in Geographical Information Systems from Federal School of Survey, Oyo, Nigeria. Professor Ajibade has more than 25 years' experience in academics. He has to his credit over 80 publications in reputable local, national and international journals as well as books. He attended several training workshops and conferences within and outside Nigeria. He is a member of Association of Nigerian Geographers (ANG) and Association of American Geographers (AAG). His research interests are Biogeography (Climate Change inclusive), Land Resource/Environmental Management, Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and Geographical Information System (GIS). Professor Ajibade has successfully supervised over 80 students at master's level and has produced many doctoral students. He is currently the Director of Ilorin Business School,Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography, Faculty of Science at the Bindura University of Science Education. He holds a PhD in Environmental Geography from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa. He also currently serves as a Director in the Environment Management Board under the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate in Zimbabwe. Dr Chanza's research contributions are largely on indigenous knowledge (IK) applications in climate science, in particular, use of IK in climate change impact assessment and indigenousbased adaptation and mitigation strategies that are used by local communities. His current research interests are in participatory climate risk assessment and community-based adaptation. He also actively participates in national and international training and capacity building on mainstreaming climate change in development programmes and disaster management programming. Email: nchanza@gmail.comDr Mekbib is an Applied Microbiologist, currently working in the Department of Biology at the National University of Lesotho (NUL), Southern Africa. He has over 15 years of experience in research and University sectors at Alemaya University, Ethiopia and National University of Lesotho (NUL) in several areas of expertise: pre -and postharvest fruit diseases, biological control, rhizosphere soil microbial dynamics, biological nitrogen fixation, microbial waste treatment, water quality assessment and food safety. His full-time teaching and research duties are complemented by a consulting affiliation with several organizations. He has published a book on Postharvest Biological Control of citrus disease using plant extracts and microbial antagonists from Ethiopia and several other articles in this and related fields. He led a research team on Indigenous and Emerging Technologies for Climate Change Adaptation in Africa as principal investigator (PI) and has produced several publications including the policy document for Lesotho. He won two other research grants: one on aid food aflatoxin research with colleagues from the Faculty of Science and Technology, National University of Lesotho, and the other one from GEF-SGP Lesotho on sewage water microalgae for the production of biogas. Besides teaching Microbiology, Growth and Death of Microorganisms, Microbial Ecology and Evolutionary Biology courses at NUL, Dr Mekbib serves as an external examiner of postgraduate thesis for Limpopo University, South Africa. He holds a PhD in Information Studies from the University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, MA in Library and Information Studies from Loughborough University and a BA (Hons) in Librarianship from Leeds Metropolitan University both in the UK. Dr. Kilemba has more than 30 years' experience in teaching and library and information studies, distance learning education challenges and indigenous knowledge systems for food security, and poverty alleviation by rural communities. He has also conducted field surveys working with rural communities on the preservation of Traditional Leafy Vegetables (TLVs), Meat and Fish using indigenous knowledge for food security and income generation. His current research interests include information needs and information seeking behavior(s) for distance learners with particular focus on standards and quality assurance in institutions of higher learning, and investigating preservation and documentation of indigenous knowledge systems for food security and income generation for rural communities among others. He has published several research papers on various issues on the role of academic libraries in supporting distance education, distance learning challenges and the management and preservation of indigenous knowledge systems for food security and poverty alleviation for rural communities. Email: lkilemba@yahoo.com His current research activities are in the application of chemical principles and water quality assessments to understand how changes in climate, hydro-biogeochemical and anthropogenic pressures influence ground-and surface water resources. He applies a combination of field-and laboratory studies, statistics as well as geochemical models to study these processes. He was awarded the 2014 African Union-The World Academy of Sciences (AU-TWAS) Young Scientists National Award in the Earth and Life Sciences category.Crop entomologist from Uganda, works with the International Potato Center (CIP) in Kampala.Joshua obtained his MSc in Tropical Agriculture at the University of Goettingen, Germany in 2009. His research focuses on understanding the impact of pest crop losses on farmers' livelihoods in the face of climate change and the use of IPM strategies for sustainable development. Joshua is also an enthusiast of open access publishing. Email: j.okonya@cgiar.orgClimate change presents a profound challenge to food security and sustainable development in Africa. Its negative impacts are likely to be greatest in the African region, which is already food insecure. In the face of global climate change and its emerging challenges and unknowns, it is essential that decision makers base policies on the best available knowledge. In recent years, the knowledge of local and indigenous people, often referred to as indigenous knowledge (IK) has been increasingly recognised as an important source of climate knowledge and adaptation strategies.Over the millennia, local communities have relied heavily upon their IK to conserve their environment and deal with natural disasters. The communities, particularly those in hazard-prone areas, have developed a good understanding and knowledge of disaster prevention and mitigation, early warning, preparedness and response, and post disaster recovery. This knowledge is based on facts that are known or learnt from experience or acquired through observation and practice, and is handed down from generation to generation. Communities identify easily with IK systems, which are imbedded in their culture to enable them to live in harmony with the environment. These systems are important resources for adaption to climate change.IK is still important among local communities in many parts of Africa and the global scientific community acknowledges its value, but it is not well documented and is in danger of being lost as its custodian pass away. This is one of the reasons why CTA and its partners decided to publish this book. It is essential that policy makers and development practitioners endeavor to understand IK and the practices of the communities in which they are working. At present, many are either relatively familiar with the notion of IK or at least understand its worth.With good understanding of IK, policy planners and climate specialists would be better able to integrate IK with scientific knowledge and in doing so, would instigate development initiatives that are both environmentally and socially appropriate and hence, more sustainable. This is the conclusion the reader inevitably reaches after digesting this volume. Any development initiative aiming to improve and enrich the lives of smallholder farmers in Africa should incorporate IK and involve local peoples' 'participation at all stages of intervention'.The book is an addition to previous efforts by CTA to document and share proven practices, tools or policies that promote resilience and help farmers to address the challenges posed by climate change. The efforts have helped to identify specific climate solutions that work for smallholder farmers in the ACP region. CTA has been working with a consortium of partners to scale up these climate solutions to the benefit of smallholder farmers.The present book represents CTA's commitment to highlighting the contribution of IK to building climate resilience. It should be considered an essential read for all those who wish to pursue further studies in this exciting field. I congratulate the editors and all the contributors of this book.The terms indigenous, traditional and/or local knowledge make reference to knowledge and know-how that is accumulated over generations and guides human societies in their innumerable interactions with their surrounding environment. Berkes (2012) defines such traditional, ecological knowledge as \"a cumulative body of knowledge, practice and belief, evolving by adaptation processes and handed down CHAPTER 1 -Indigenous knowledge and climate change: Overview and basic propositions P.L. Mafongoya and O.C. Ajayi through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with their environment.\" An abundance of labels for IK co-exist in the literature. Common names include, but are not limited to: indigenous knowledge, traditional knowledge, traditional ecological knowledge, local knowledge, farmers' knowledge, ethnoscience, folk knowledge and indigenous science or ethnoscience (see Box 1 on page 30). Although these terms have different connotations, they share sufficiently consistent meanings that are utilised interchangeably throughout this book.Valuable local knowledge of relevance to climate change assessment and adaptation is held by rural societies (Jiri, 2015). These knowledge systems are transmitted and renewed by each succeeding generation, ensuring the wellbeing of people by providing food security, environmental conservation, and early warning systems for disaster risk management. IK is considered as social capital for the poor and is relied upon for food production and to ensure survival. However, IK is gradually disappearing due to the invasion of development concepts, which promise development goals or solutions, but are not sustainable. The tragedy of the disappearance of this knowledge is obvious to the local indigenous communities, and the implications for others can be detrimental when local skills, teachings and expertise are lost.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an international scientific body mandated to provide the world with a clear understanding of climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts, publishes assessment reports relevant to the implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The reports are based primarily on published and peer reviewed scientific literature and are among the most widely cited sources in debates related to climate change. IPCC's fourth assessment report noted that \"indigenous knowledge is an invaluable basis for developing adaptation and natural resource management strategies in respect to environment and other forms of change.\" (Parry et al., 2007).This recognition was reaffirmed at the 32 nd Session of the IPCC in 2010, where it was stated that, \"Indigenous and traditional knowledge may prove useful for understanding the potential for certain adaptation strategies that are cost-effective, participatory and sustainable\" (IPCC, 2010). The indigenous observations and interpretations of meteorological phenomena have guided seasonal and inter-annual activities of local communities for millennia. This knowledge contributes to climate science by offering observations and interpretation at a much smaller spatial scale with considerable temporal depth, and by highlighting aspects that may not be considered by climate scientists.The Cancun Adaptation Framework (CAF) adopted at the 2010 UNFCCC conference, the Cancun Climate Change Conference, has a guiding principle -the need for adaptation to be based on and guided by the best available science and, as appropriate, IK. Up until this conference, observations and assessments by indigenous peoples and local communities had remained outside the IPCC process, in part due to exclusive focus on scientific documentation and peer reviewed publications. In accordance with CAF principles, an assessment report published in 2014 included a chapter on human security, which discussed the benefits of local knowledge and IK.In recent years, climate change, local communities and IK have become a rapidly expanding area of investigation, and the collaborative research bringing together indigenous peoples, and natural and social scientists has led to a growing volume of published papers and materials on IK. Roncoli et al. (2009) lists 192 published papers in a recent review on epistemological and methodological approaches to climate in cultural anthropology. Crate • The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization technology for agriculture platform, available at http://teca. fao.org, provides an online platform for practical information on agricultural technologies and practices to help smallholders in the field.• The Local Coping Strategies Database of the UNFCCC, available at http://maindb.unfccc.int/public/ adaptation/, provides examples of knowledge related to coping with weather hazards, including shifting seasons, drought, erratic rainfall, floods, sea level rise, storms, and extreme heat and cold.• Climate Frontlines of UNESCO, available at www.cliamtefrontlines.org, is an interagency platform for IK and climate change and provides a repository of indigenous observations and knowledge on climate change, including discussions on early impacts, coping with change, rituals and spirituality, and impacts of climate mitigation action.• Advance Guard, available at www.ias.unu.edu/resource_centre/UNU_Advance_Guard_ Compendium_2010_final_web.pdf, is a publication by the UNU Traditional Knowledge initiative that provides a compendium of case studies on climate change adaptation, mitigation and indigenous peoples.• Weathering Uncertainty: Traditional Knowledge for Climate Change Assessment and Adaptation, available at www.ipmpcc.org, is a publication by UNESCO and UNU that reviews scientific and grey literature on traditional knowledge and analyses key issues and emerging trends in IK.(2011) references 136 sources on climate change and culture in an article for the Annual Review of Anthropology. Roncoli (2006) surveyed 154 references that examined indigenous communities' responses to climate predictions. The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nation University (UNU) (Nakashima et al., 2012) cited over 300 references in the 2012 report Weathering Uncertainty: Traditional Knowledge for Climate Change Assessment and Adaptation, which provides an overview of key issues and areas of research on IK. UNFCCC (2011) recognises the importance of IK conservation as key to the benefits of an ecosystems-based approach to climate adaptation. The expanding volume of scientific and grey literature around IK, primarily documents the system as community-based observations of climate change impacts, whose traditional practices and mechanisms may provide a robust basis for effective responses to climate change. Box 1 provides a list of UN knowledge platforms and resources where IK relevant to climate change impact assessment and adaption can be found.Documentation and research is uncovering the early efforts of indigenous communities to respond to climate change impacts. Nyong et al. (2007) found that in the Sahel region, pastoralists integrate mobility with the active management of their herds to survive droughts. Their responses to disasters, hazards and other extreme events may also be of relevance to climate change adaptation techniques. Ongoing research relates to the action local communities are taking on their own initiative. The challenge for governments, organisations and institutions, therefore, is to identify policy decisions and action that might support those communities in their efforts to enhance climate change assessment and adaptation through mobilisation of their IK.IK therefore contributes to the co-creation of farmer-led knowledge on climate change adaptation. For centuries farmers and communities have been transmitting this body of knowledge from generation to generation. However, these knowledge systems are threatened because, in most cases, the disseminated information is not properly appraised or documented, leading to a potential loss of knowledge.The examination of support for climate change adaptation provides interesting insights into increasing trends, such as the erosion of IK, but it is important to note there has been effort to show evidence of the use of IK in adaptation action. The global research policy agenda is only just starting to investigate the role of IK in adaptation, as evidenced by the introduction of a section on IK for the first time in the IPCC fifth assessment report (2015). The practices and tools proposed for the incorporation of IK into adaptation are often the same tools that seek to build community development or participation into decision-making. Such practices and tools are embedded in participatory development work. The review of practices and tools to implement the use of IK in climate adaptation, assess IK mobilisation within each of the following steps of adaptation: observation of climate change and its impacts; assessment of impacts of vulnerability and adaptation to climate change; adaptation response, planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation.In understanding how IK for adaptation can be fostered, it is equally important to highlight policy decisions that facilitate the fullest expression of indigenous adaptive capacity (Ford et al., 2010). Such policies may include those that maintain the integrity of and access to traditional societies, reinforce local practices for sustaining crop or herd diversity, and enhance transmission of IK values, attitudes and worldviews. Good policy decision processes should be coupled with local capacity building, strengthening of local institutions, the inclusion of IK holders as key partners in the development of climate change research and adaptation plans, and promoting the continued transmission of IK.While global and regional systematic observation systems do not incorporate IK when forecasting weather and climate patterns, the integration of science and IK to improve forecasting is of interest to agricultural scientists. In West Africa, an initiative bringing together the forecasting knowledge of M'bororo pastoralists with scientific long-term and seasonal weather information, is being piloted by the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad, the Indigenous Peoples of Africa coordinating committee, and UNESCO. The initiative builds upon a series of dialogue and exchanges between indigenous people and scientists with the support of IK experts. Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA) supported eight projects in 2009 to investigate how seasonal climate forecasting, developed by the national meteorological services, might be better integrated into agricultural and pastoral decisionmaking to strengthen livelihoods and food security (Ziervogel and Opere, 2010). While such projects demonstrated potential in bringing together seasonal climate forecasters with indigenous forecasters, the CCAA programme recommended more exploration to improve forecasting, including the use of local predictors. This should be explored in relation to climate change in order to help IK practitioners determine whether such indicators are altered by climate change. Meteorological services could start integrating IK systems (IKS), such as phenological data, into their advisories to provide users with more broadly-based information.With appropriate design and planning, geographic information systems and mapping tools can facilitate the inclusion of specific sets of IK, such as the distribution of specific trees used for tree phenology indicators, in climate observation schemes. Such information and communication technology (ICT) based projects are typically designed to include a specific factor of IK. The information gathered can then be applied to understand the options in relation to that specific factor or variable. In addition to being used to combine data from science and IK for climate observation, ICT tools can be harnessed to document and promote the transmission of IK for adaptation.There is a growing awareness that IK has significant contributions to make within climate change adaptation processes, from observation and assessment to planning and implementation. Since climate change adaptation itself is a rich and rapidly developing field of theories and practices, this entire area of work is new, and because the articulation of IK and adaptation was only initiated some 10 or so years ago, work in this area has only begun in earnest in the last 5 years. The domain of IK and climate change adaptation holds great promise, but as yet, requires considerable investigation, experimentation and negotiation.On to the emerging nature of the work, major gaps persist and need to be addressed in order to benefit from the added value of bringing IK into climate change adaptation processes in an appropriate and mutually agreed upon manner. The initial development of guidelines on mobilisation of IK across all components of adaptation, could provide decision makers and practitioners with modalities and tools for linking IK with scientific knowledge and using IK in adaptation decision-making. These will recognise the role of relevant international policies and best practices. Such guidelines could also include development based indicators that contribute to measuring the progress made towards adaptation goals, including those of the UNFCCC. The guidelines could be developed through an ad hoc transdisciplinary process that includes the knowledge of indigenous peoples and local communities.There are three introductory chapters. Chapter one introduces the scope of the book and the main objectives of publishing a book. It also defines IKS. Chapter two looks at the history of IK, its role in development and natural resource management. The characteristics of IK are discussed and the critical issues involved in conducting research on IK are explored. The differences between IK and western science are also explored and the importance of integrating IK with scientific knowledge is elaborated. The use of IK in management of biodiversity, environmental conservation, climate risks and disasters in terms of early warning and preparedness is also discussed.Chapter three gives an overview of the use of IK for seasonal prediction and managing climate risks across Africa. This chapter acts as a basis for the chapters which deal with the use of IK indicators for seasonal prediction and IK practices for climate change adaptation. Issues of IK transmission, dissemination and conservation are discussed. IK indicators based on tree phenology, animal behaviour and astronomical observations are drawn from west, east and southern Africa. This chapter clearly shows that certain indicators are commonly used across the continent and can be scaled up.A number of chapters concentrate on the use of IK indicators in Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. These chapters clearly show that in all these countries, tree phenology, animal behaviour and astronomical observation are the basis of seasonal forecasting. Some of the indicators are specific to a particular country or location. However, there are some indicators which are commonly used across the countries, hence this can be scaled up across the continent. Most of the chapters also show that IK indicators are not as reliable as they used to be due to changing climate. Hence, these chapters emphasise the need to integrate IK forecasts and scientific seasonal forecasts. In many African countries, between 60%-70% of farmers still rely on IK indicators for seasonal forecasting and are anxious to integrate scientific forecasts for better decision-making.A number of chapters discuss various IK practices for climate change adaptation and mitigation. A prominent chapter raises the issue of under-utilised and neglected crop and livestock species for climate change adaptation. These crops/animals are adapted to cope better with high temperatures, heat stress, low rainfall and diseases, and provide farmers with food and nutritional security during droughts and climatic shocks. Indigenous fruits and edible insects play a major role in terms of nutrition and livelihood provision for farmers during climate shocks. The use of indigenous social capital, such as the Zunde Ramambo programme in Zimbabwe, for example -where the traditional chief collectively stores food crops ready to distribute to community members during periods of drought -underscores the importance of social capital and traditional practices for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Other IK practices by agro-pastoralists in East Africa show that IK practices are underpinned by ecological principles in rangeland management.There are two concluding chapters at the end of the book; the first discusses the challenges of documentation, dissemination and conservation of IK. This chapter clearly shows that IK is at high risk of being lost and hence the need to document and conserve it. Various means of documenting IK are discussed in terms of databases, archives and libraries, and the establishment of national and regional resource centres of IK. Inclusion of IK in the curriculum of schools and tertiary education is also discussed. The issues of access to IK by farmers when it is conserved ex-situ is highlighted; and the use of ICT to blend modern science with IK is also suggested. More research on IK is recommended if increased funding is made available from the national government and international donors. Governments are also encouraged to have a national IK policy as demonstrated by, among others across the continent, the governments of Kenya and South Africa.The final concluding chapter starts by emphasising co-knowledge production with various biophysical scientists, social scientists and IK information holders in communities. The challenges brought by global climate change are beyond the level of experience of all knowledge holders whether scientific or indigenous. Effective adaptation planning requires access to the best knowledge available, hence the importance of core knowledge production. IK is in danger of being lost and should be documented and conserved both in-situ and ex-situ. There must be mechanisms to guarantee access to IK by communities when it is conserved ex-situ. The major recommendations are that IK should be documented and databases should be established for this, it should be incorporated in national policies and integrated with western science. IK should also be part of school and university curriculums and popularised amongst various stakeholders and the general public.One important question that readers may ask is: Why the book? What has it got to do with climate smart agriculture? How will it help farmers cope with the problems that they face on a daily basis with climate change?Below is some useful information taken from the terms of reference of the book to outline the practical value of the publication.Climate change is a crucial topic with critical implications in the agricultural sector of ACP countries, which are already greatly exposed to climate variability and extremes. Due to these emerging challenges, it is essential that decision makers base their policies and actions on the best available knowledge.CTA is helping to promote the upscaling of climate resilient solutions that work for family farming in ACP regions. An achievable option is the inclusion of IKS in addition to scientific knowledge. In the context of this activity, IKS are defined as a collection of knowledge, beliefs, skills, innovations, experiences and insights of individuals and communities concerning the management of their natural and cultural environments.Family farmers and local communities have gone through a series of bad weather situations in the past; they have acquired some experiences and developed home grown methods to address these challenges. Over time, they have accumulated a wealth of traditional knowledge on a wide variety of agro-ecological solutions to prevent food crises, on fostering their resilience to climatic shocks and on capacities to adapt to natural emergencies.There is an increasing acknowledgement by various stakeholders, including scientists and researchers, that knowledge, lessons learned and best practices acquired by farmers can be useful in planning climate adaptation and resilience strategies. Furthermore, they contribute to the much needed solutions to contemporary challenges, if properly harnessed. IKS therefore contribute to the promotion of farmer-led knowledge in the cocreation of adaptation policies and practices to address climate change. Farmers and communities have been transmitting this body of knowledge from generation to generation. However, these knowledge systems are threatened as, in most cases, IK methods are not properly appraised and documented; leading to a potential loss of knowledge and a reduced number of available options for addressing climate change.CTA is collaborating with partners in ACP regions on this topic, to establish a thorough understanding of the role of IKS in the agricultural sector within the context of the growing challenges linked to climate change.Through a team of authors that have been assembled to prepare manuscripts that focus on different aspects of IKS, the overall objective is to produce a book that provides the following insights:Identify the different IKS initiatives practiced by smallholder farmers and any existing scientific support for their use.Assess the trend over time of the extent to which IKS are being used by farmers including an explanation of the trend.Determine the extent to which IKS actions are still relevant in contemporary situations taking into account population growth and climate change.Identify the threats to the use of IKS and policies and actions to conserve them.Evaluate potential synergies for IKS with existing scientific climate approaches and identify options for adapting IKS to current efforts to address the climatic challenges facing smallholder farmers.In the face of global climate change and its emerging challenges, unknowns and uncertainties, it is essential that decision-making for policies and actions be based on the best available knowledge. The biophysical and social sciences contribute significantly to the collective understanding of earth systems, social systems and their interactions in what is commonly known as socio-ecological systems. In recent years, there has been a growing awareness that formal scientific knowledge alone is inadequate in solving CHAPTER 2 -Indigenous knowledge systems: Their history, development over time and role in sustainable development and climate change management the climate crisis (Finuccare, 2009). The knowledge of local and indigenous people, often referred to as local, indigenous or traditional knowledge, is increasingly recognised as an important source of climate knowledge and adaptation strategies. Indigenous knowledge (IK) is already seen as pivotal in fields such as sustainable development, agroforestry, traditional medicine, biodiversity conservation, soil science, ethnoveterinary science, applied anthropology and natural resource management. Many are expecting this knowledge to play a primary role in climate science and in facilitating adaptation to climate change and variability.Traditional knowledge refers to the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities around the world. Developed from experience gained over centuries and adapted to local culture and environment, traditional knowledge is transmitted orally from generation to generation. It tends to be collectively owned and takes the form of stories, songs, folklore, proverbs, cultural values, beliefs, rituals, community laws, local language and agricultural practices, including the development of plant species and animal breeds. Sometimes it is referred to as an oral tradition for it is practiced, sung, danced, painted, carved, chanted and performed down though millennia. Traditional knowledge is mainly of a practical nature, particularly in such fields as agriculture, fisheries, health, horticulture, forestry and environmental management.United Nations, Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization Local and IKS refer to the understandings, skills and philosophies developed by societies with long histories of interaction with their natural surroundings. For rural and indigenous peoples, local knowledge informs decision-making about fundamental aspects of day-to-day life. This knowledge is integral to a cultural complex that also encompasses language, systems of classification, resource use practices, social interactions, rituals and spirituality. These unique ways of knowing are important facets of the world's cultural diversity and provide a foundation for locally-appropriate sustainable development.Traditional knowledge is the knowledge, know-how, skills, innovations or practices that are passed between generations in a traditional context and that form part of the traditional lifestyle of indigenous and local communities who act as their guardian or custodian.Indigenous and local knowledge refers to the multi-faceted arrays of knowledge, know-how, practices and representations that guide societies in their innumerable interactions with their natural surroundings. This interplay between people and place has given rise to a diversity of knowledge systems that are at once empirical and symbolic, pragmatic and intellectual, traditional and adaptive.These knowledge systems are transmitted and renewed by each succeeding generation, and ensure the wellbeing of people by providing food security, environmental conservation and management and early warning systems for disaster risk management.Traditional knowledge is as ancient as humankind, and the origins of science is rooted in traditional knowledge. With European expansion in the 17 th and 18 th centuries, the newly established scientific disciplines of ethnobotany and ethnozoology threw an influx of new knowledge from traditional knowledge holders across the globe. However, the primary concern of European settlers was not to understand other knowledge systems per se, but rather to glean from this knowledge information for the development of colonial science. Their major efforts focused on compiling a list of useful plants and animals unknown to European science. During the colonial period, European scientists did not limit their reliance on local experts to the simple identification of species of interest, they also adopted from local people entire classification systems that interpreted ecological systems according to indigenous logic. IK was hence transferred to western taxonomic knowledge and practices. Throughout the colonial©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti period, western scientific understanding expanded the appropriation of traditional ecological knowledge, with little acknowledgement of the intellectual origins of their borrowed discoveries.A shift in attitudes of western scientists towards IKS began in the mid-20 th century. This was triggered by iconoclastic worker, Conklin, whilst working in the Philippines in 1954. He observed that in the Hamunoo society, the understanding of characteristics which differentiate plant types and often indicate significant features of medicinal and nutritional value, were the topic of everyday conservation (Conklin, 1954, box 2).The work of Conklin dissects indigenous ways of understanding and surviving the world. This challenged and raised questions about the supposedly superior intellect and training of scientists by demonstrating the complexity, detail and accuracy of IK and its value to the scientific community (Schultes, 1994;Zent, 2009).In his widely cited work The Savage Mind, Claude Levi- Strauss (1962) argued that IK is first and foremost an intellectual pursuit, debunking prevailing stereotypes of traditional knowledge merely suiting a practical purpose.The contemporary study of IK and its interface with science dates back many decades. Scientists' efforts to conform climate observations by indigenous people have not all been met with success. However, reports from Africa in this volume show convergence of IK system forecasts with scientific forecasts, climate change and seasonal predictions. However, parameters observed by scientists are different in meaning to those observed by traditional sources (Mafongoya et al., this volume).Faced with the climate challenges ahead, efforts to create a constructive dialogue between indigenous peoples and scientists constitute an important step towards decision-making based on the best available knowledge. In this, efforts to compare indigenous and scientific knowledge of a phenomenon should not amount to comparing apples and oranges.IK is considered as social capital for the poor, relied upon for food production and livelihood security. The use and abundance of western scientific knowledge and teachings in pushing the development agenda Source: Conklin (1954).has eroded the use of IKS. This could be disastrous for proponents and users of IKS, particularly in the absence of certainty in scientific climate change prediction models.Some scientists have expressed concerns that the promotion of IK is tantamount to promoting pseudoscience and anti-science. Even in Africa, one of the strongholds of IK, it has until recently been regarded as being backward, static and a hindrance to modernisation Pseudoscience constitutes an attempt to be perceived as scientific, whilst anti-science constitutes an opposition to science. IK is neither of those. It is developed with a different intent and context to pseudoscience and anti-science in that it is neither attempting to masquerade as science, nor sees itself in opposition to science.Western science and IKS are presented as two competing knowledge systems, characterised by a binary divide. This divide has arguably evolved out of the epistemological foundation of the two knowledge systems. Hence, they may be treated as discreet entities separable from each other in space, which precludes dialogue and learning between them (Mohan and Stokke, 2000). Western science is seen to be open, systematic, objective and very much dependent on a detached centre of rationality and intelligence. IK is seen to be closed, parochial, unintellectual, primitive and emotional (Ellen and Harris, 2000). Consequently, western knowledge systems are part of the whole notion of modernity, whilst IKS are perceived as part of a residual, traditional and backward way of life.However, IKS have become central to sustainable development. This is because of the way in which IK has evidently allowed people to live in harmony with nature for generations. The privileging of IKS in development is welcomed because it also presents a shift away from the preoccupation with centralised, technically oriented solutions, which have failed to alter the life prospects for the majority of peasants and smallholder farmers worldwide (Agrawal, 1955).Ellen and Harris (1990) provided characteristics of IK as follows: IK is local; it is rooted to a particular place and a set of experiences; and is generated by people living in those places. The result of such factors is that transferring IK from one place to another runs the risk of dislocating it.• IK is orally transmitted or transmitted through intrinsic dramatisation.As a consequence, writing it down changes some of its fundamental properties, but also makes it more portable and permanent. • IK is a consequence of practical engagement in everyday life, and is constantly refined by experience, trial and error. This experience is a product of many generations of intelligent reasoning and its failure has undesirable consequences for the lives of its practitioners. Its success is very often a good measure of a combination of factors. It is tested in the rigorous laboratory of survival. • IK is imperial rather than theoretical knowledge. To some extent, its oral character hinders the kind of agonisation necessary for the development of theoretical knowledge. • Repetition is an essential characteristic of tradition, even when new knowledge is added. Repetition aids retention and reinforces ideas. • IK is constantly changing, being produced as well as reproduced, discovered and lost, though it is often portrayed as being static. • IK is characteristically much further ahead than other forms of knowledge. Therefore, it is called the people's science. However, its distribution is still segregated and socially clustered. It is usually asymmetrically distributed within a population by gender and age and is preserved through the memories of individuals.A farmer measuring growth rates of a rice crop while his colleague records the data as part of an exercise at a Farmer Field School• IK may be focused on particular individuals and may achieve a degree of coherence in rituals and other symbolic occurrences, however its distribution is always fragmented. It does not exist in totality at any one point or within any one individual. • IK is characteristically solicited within oral cultural traditions and therefore, separation of the technical from the non-technical and the rational from the non-rational, is problematic.Modern scientific knowledge is centralised and associated with the machinery of state, and those who are its bearers believe in its superiority.In contrast, IK is scattered and associated with low prestige rural life and even those who are its bearers may believe it to be inferior to scientific knowledge. IK differs from western scientific knowledge on the following grounds (Table 1)• Substantive grounds -there are differences in subject matter between IK and western knowledge. • Methodological and epistemological grounds -the forms of knowledge employ different methods to investigate reality. • Contextual grounds -IK is more deeply rooted in its environment (Agrawal, 1995).IK is essential to development and it is often suggested in the literature that such knowledge must be gathered and advanced in a coherent and systematic fashion. As more studies of IK become available, its relevant to development will be self-explanatory. Such studies should be archived in national and international centres in the form of data bases, and the information should be systematically classified. The collection and storage of IK should be supported with adequate dissemination and exchange among interested parties using newsletters, journals and other media.Researching IKS from the perspective of the demands of formal science throws up a number of challenging issues. Firstly, IK is difficult to categorise since it is holistic in nature and not disciplinary like conventional science. It is specific in relation to a place, having evolved in response to local conditions, yet it is diverse in content, with concepts that may combine agroecology with social relations of production (Faihead, 1991).Secondly, IKS have mostly been studied by anthropologists who have utilised them in order to comprehend the knowledge and values of those societies (Conklin, 1954). The universal IK approach is arguably nonscientific having no predominant structure or theory. It can reduce the collection of large amounts of field data that is difficult to assess. Anthropologists who are experts in their field of study, can often have difficulty in communicating their knowledge to others in a non-technical and comprehensible manner (Chambers, 1983). This is to the detriment of rural development, since the insights and weather knowledge gained through their experiences remain inaccessible and offer little practical guidance without appropriate explanation. Such knowledge must be made more accessible to rural development policy makers (Selltoe, 1998).Thirdly, there is a danger that local knowledge may be interpreted in terms of formal scientific concepts regarding agriculture and economics. This is grossly disturbing and what anthropologists call 'ethnocompression'. This results in some researchers portraying local practices in terms of their own external perspective and technical expertise without having a contextual understanding of the cultural conditions that have informed the evaluation of the idea.Further, informants from local communities may find it hard to provide formal access to their traditional knowledge and uses of it. The process of a researcher questioning an informant or 'knowledge provider' can  interfere with his or her perception of what is being discussed. In modern science, understanding is generally constrained to written or spoken word, but indigenous peoples are not necessarily familiar with expressing everything they know in words. Much traditional knowledge is learnt and communicated between generations through practical experience. IK is transferred via informal and practical demonstrations as opposed to articulation. In this sense, it is a skill as much as it is a concept.Knowledge that is learnt through experience may applied without conscious awareness of the detail, and even conscious knowledge may not always be expressed in terms of rules and procedures. This has implications not only for the elicitation process but also for subsequent representation of the knowledge for use by others. Moreover, the knowledge provider may be unwilling to impart information because he/ she recognises that holding on to this knowledge provides power or status. Problems of communication are central to IK research. The familiarity and skill with which words are used to express concepts and procedures will affect the quality of the knowledge elicited through interview. Although people identified for interviews may be experts, it is unlikely that they have previously been required to describe their knowledge and decision-making procedures. They are not familiar with communicating them in this way.Finally, the status assumed by the researcher when studying the community will influence the data collection process. Attempts to reduce social and intellectual barriers and improve understanding will enhance cooperation and knowledge elicitation. If a researcher assumes the role of a learner, informants are more likely to be responsive than if he or she presents themselves as a scientist, policy maker or planner.Most development practitioners have now recognised the value of participatory approaches in decision-making for sustainable development.IK provides the basis for decision-making. IKS for ecological zones, agriculture, aquaculture, forests, grassland and game management, to mention a few areas, are far more complicated than previously assumed (Posey, 1995). Furthermore, this knowledge offers new models for development that are both ecologically and socially sound. Hence, it is a well-known fact that development projects that work with, and through IK, have advantages over projects that operate outside them.One classic example is that of reverting back to 'non-scientific' polyculture (mixed cropping, intercropping, and multiple cropping) from the 'scientific' monoculture. With the introduction of the green revolution, the characteristics of traditional polycultures that make them desirable were ignored by researchers in developing agricultural models. Polyculture has many sustainable characteristics such as diet diversification, diversified income generation, production stability, minimisation of risk, low pest and disease prevalence, efficient use of labour and resources, and intensification of production with reduced natural resource degradation. Local people have learnt these lessons over millennia and their accumulated experiences and survival techniques are invaluable in designing modern development plans. Therefore, greater attention should be paid to IKS are their uses at the policy level of the development process.The critical strength of IK is its ability to see the interrelations of disciplines, and integrate them meaningfully. This holistic perspective and the resultant synergies show higher levels of developmental impact, adaptability and sustainability than western, modern knowledge. IK is a very good source of readily available practices that are useful for identifying appropriate policies to respond to climate change.The value of IK is not only limited to agriculture, environment and biodiversity, it also has an immense value in education, medicine, soil science and other natural resource disciplines.Biological diversity is now threatened by extinction. Biological diversity and cultural diversity are two sides of the same coin. Living diversity in nature corresponds to a living cultural diversity. With cultural and environmental change, both biodiversity and IK vital to sustainability, are lost at an incredible rate (Haverkant and Miller, 1994). Poverty is one of the main reasons for loss of biodiversity and IKS. Poverty increases the pressure on natural resources and directs people away from complex IKS to more simple and easy technologies, such as chemical agriculture. This has led to a tremendous loss of landraces and their wild relatives of food crops, which are used in plant breeding for various abiotic and biotic stresses caused by climate change and variability (see Jiri et al., this volume).The concept of biodiversity as a form of biological capital has been highlighted by several authors (Ajayi, 2005;Ajayi, 2000;Hueth and Regey, 1974). Altieri (1993, p 257) describes biodiversity as a \"salient feature of traditional farming systems in developing countries and (it) performs a variety of renewal processes and ecological services in agro-ecosystems\". The introduction of modern commercial agricultural technology from western disciplines, or even elements of the local indigenous practices, in favour of modern practices such as monocropping, has caused the subsequent loss of many plant and animal species. This has also led to the degradation of natural resources, poor nutrition and a loss of informal chemicals used by communities (Larson, 1998).Many IK approaches to environmental conservation include such technologies and practices as shifting cultivation, mixed cropping, intercropping, and minimum tillage and agroforestry systems. These technologies and practices are used in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in combination with various other farm practices to promote higher yields, while at the same time conserve the environment. Intercropping or mixed cropping of maize with legumes and other crops promotes the efficient use of labour and environmental resources such as water, light, nutrients and land, whilst reducing the risk of complete crop failure, soil erosion and susceptibility to pests and diseases.Many communities in SSA face natural hazards, the major ones being droughts and floods. Case studies in this volume show that communities are well aware of these disasters and that a well conserved environment helps them reduce associated problems with natural disasters. These disasters invariably cause famine, food insecurity and poverty. However, communities have developed a variety of measures that have helped them to survive climate changes with little or no help from the outside, such as growing drought tolerant and early maturing indigenous crops, gathering wild fruits and vegetables, cultivating wetlands, and diversifying and selling livestock.Most communities have an array of early warning indicators and well developed structures to which wisdom of the community is applied to interpret and deal with disasters quickly and efficiently. In Swaziland, where droughts and floods are common disasters, communities take precautions following indications of disaster. They look at the nest heights of emahloko birds (Ploceus spp.) in trees to predict floods. When floods are likely to occur, the nests of the birds are high on the trees next to the river and when floods are unlikely to occur, nests are lower down.Other indigenous indicators used by the Swazis to predict natural hazards include wind direction, the shape of the crescent moon and the behaviour of certain animals.Poverty in communities translates to food insecurity. Therefore the question is how to use IK to improve food security. The use and application of appropriate IK can promote environmental conservation (land, grasslands, forests, wetlands and biodiversity) and management of disasters in terms of prevention, mitigation, recovery, prediction or early warning, preparedness, response and rehabilitation. IK can promote poverty alleviation through traditional food production and preservation, and healing through traditional medicinal practices.Maasai pastoralists in Kenya rely on a system of land use and management that has assured them a stable livelihood for generations, enabling them to optimise their utilisation of rangeland resources for maximum meat and milk production.IK is increasingly recognised as an underutilised resource in rural development. Scholars have pointed out that many technological solutions to problems in rural communities have failed because they did not take into account local knowledge and practices. The chapters in this volume will show several case studies that demonstrate how understanding the IK of a given group could greatly enhance participatory and sustainable approaches to developing appropriate strategies on climate change in particular, and rural development in general. Whilst this does not imply that IK is superior to formal scientific knowledge, it is important to know that understanding IK can help to determine whether or not external scientific alternatives are appropriate or how can they be adapted or integrated with IK for greater impact. It will be by comparing and integrating scientific knowledge and IKS that the most appropriate solutions will be found for developmental problems.All academics, policy makers and practitioners should pay greater attention to this invaluable treasure of knowledge threatened by extinction. If we are to move away from the conventional technology transfer approach to an interactive technology development, we will need to learn from 'village level experts', who are the custodians of IK.Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is considered highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This is due to its dependence on rain-fed agriculture and natural resources which are climate sensitive; the warmer baseline climate; highly variable precipitation; and limited adaptive capacity (Thornton et al., 2008;Hassan and Nhemachena, 2008). This vulnerability is also due to the fact that current climate is already severe, climate information is poor and technological advance is less evolved in SSA. The impacts of climate change on agriculture could severely worsen livelihood conditions of the rural poor and increase food insecurity in the region.Extreme climate events such as droughts and floods, as well as changes in the mean climate temperature, have direct effects on crops and livestock and thus, peoples' livelihoods. Food security is at risk, particularly in SSA where agricultural production is mostly rain-fed.  , 2007).Reducing the impact of climate variability and change on food production and livelihoods can be achieved. This is in part by using available climate information to anticipate and manage the impacts related to climate risks (Washington et al., 2006). Climate information is available from two main sources: meteorological forecasts and indigenous knowledge (IK). This information can help farmers to manage their crops and livestock to reduce risk during unfavorable seasons and maximise opportunities during favourable conditions. There is scope in Africa to substantially increase the use of climate information and services in planning to reduce the threat of climate variability and change and achieve development goals. More effective use of climate information and services by both vulnerable groups and institutions charged with managing impacts of changing climate, will enable the climate-sensitive sectors of African societies to cope better with the natural variability of the climate system. This will allow better adaptation to the impacts of climate change. In southern Africa, approaches to harness the potential of climate information for increased food production and community resilience are common, and minimise the impacts of climate change.The effectiveness of meteorological seasonal forecasts as a supportive decision-makingtool for small scale African farmers remains open to debate. This is so given the fact that scientific forecasts are still not easily available to farmers in a timely manner. The challenge, therefore, is for researchers to respond to the needs expressed by farmers, relating to forecasts, with scientific tools, IK-based forecasts or a combination of the two approaches.The concept of IK has become increasingly topical and embraced by academics and development practitioners as integral to addressingOn the way back to lilongwe from M'njolo Junior Farmer Field Life School multiple livelihood challenges faced by rural communities in developing countries, and as a basis for locally driven adaptation strategies that transcend the planning stage and can begin to be implemented (Mapfumo et al., 2015;Moonga and Chitambo, 2010;Saitabau, 2014). In Botswana, more recent studies have shown that resilience building for smallholder farmers is a process that starts with the ability to anticipate change and adjust farming practices accordingly -this creates the basis for sound food security, particularly in the context of climate variability and change (Kolawole et al., 2014).Interest in IK systems (IKS) started decades ago (Posey, 1986). This interest has since expanded to the areas of agricultural development and natural resource management (Chambers, 1994;Alston, 2006;Thompson and Scoones, 1994). There are also studies which document the effectiveness of IKS in land management (Vermulen et al., 2006).The term 'IK system' is well established in literature. Other terms such as local, traditional, vernacular or folk knowledge are also used (Ellen and Harris, 2000). The term indigenous, traditional or local knowledge is associated with knowledge and knowhow accumulated across generations. This knowledge guides societies in the incredible interactions with their surrounding environment (Berkes, 2012). An abundance of information exists in literature on IKS. Other names for IKS include farmers' knowledge, traditional ecological knowledge, local knowledge, folk knowledge and indigenous science, to mention a few. This paper will use IKS. IKS encompass empirical understanding and dedicated thought, community know-how, practices and technology, social organisations and institutions, and spiritual rituals. IKS are often community generated (Berkes, 2012). Men and women help disseminate knowledge and have differing and complimentary roles in society. In this chapter, we use IKS to refer to 'a cumulative body of knowledge, practice and belief, working by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationships of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment' (Berkes, 2012).IK should not be seen as static, rigid, or repetitive of traditions that are unable to incorporate innovations (Guchteneire et al., 2010). It is a flexible entity due to its diverse and experimental nature and can easily integrate skills and insights from other knowledge systems. There has been a great deal of research on IKS in agriculture, forestry, biodiversity, soils, land and water management. However, little knowledge from IKS has been applied to climate change adaptation strategies (Vermeulen et al., 2008). This could be due to the fact that climate organisations operate at national, regional and international levels, making it difficult to incorporate IKS. Orlove et al. (2000 and2002) look at the indicators used to forecast weather or season variables, whilst Roncoli (2006) looks at the integration of these indicators with agricultural practices. These studies have shown the potential of drawing on IKS for program ordered forecast dissemination (Rancoli et al., 2002(Rancoli et al., , 2009)).Climate forecast predictions relate to seasonal precipitation and other aspects of seasonal climate such as the level of rainfall, temperature changes and extreme weather events. Climate prediction is one of many sources of information that can be used by decision makers to reduce risk and optimise gains. The agricultural sector stands specifically to benefit from climate information because of the link between climatic patterns and production outcomes. This potential has generated hope that seasonal rainfall forecasts may boost food security for highly vulnerable groups in SSA. Forecast interpretation depends on the way people think about climate variability and productivity; how they assess their vulnerability to climate risk; the options and trade-offs they face, and the potential consequences of their decisions.Seasonal climate forecasts have the potential to significantly bolster climate risk management capabilities in agriculture. This is of particular importance for environments where high climate variability at seasonal and inter-annual scales depresses crop productivity. Prospects of further incorporating probability forecasting over the next decades are good given recent advances in crop and climate models, and improvement in remote sensing technologies and access to spatial environmental databases. However, despite both realised and potential progress in seasonal climate forecasting skills, significant uncertainties remain in relation to intra-seasonal rainfall variability.Regional climate outlook forums (COFs) are an important means through which seasonal climate forecasting is developed in Africa. COFs are held on an annual or biannual basis and in advance of the rainy season, with the forecast developed for a 90-day climate window at national or regional scales. The forecasts are expressed in terms of probability, reflecting the likelihood of below-normal, normal or above-normal rainfall. The Southern Africa Regional COF held in 1997-98 was the first regional COF. There were 12 participating countries. Subsequent COFs have been developed for other regions in Africa.The timely dissemination of accurate climate forecasts has the potential to improve climate risk management on a seasonal basis through mitigating risk during unfavorable seasons, and generating benefits during optimal seasons. Seasonal climate forecasts contribute to foundations for adaptation through:• Coordination of formal and informal institutions around a central task The capacity of end-users such as agricultural extension workers, farmers, non-governmental organisations and policy makers to understand and respond to seasonal climate forecasts is low. However, work in Zimbabwe (Patt et al., 2005), Mali (Hellmuth et al., 2007), Nigeria (Isaac et al., 2009) and Burkina Faso (Roncoli et al., 2008) has shown that efforts to translate and localise the information can influence farmers' decision-making processes. However, results from a paper by Luseno et al. (2003), in Ethiopia and Kenya show the contrary. COFs as vehicles for seasonal forecast dissemination to smallholder farmers are inadequate. The main reasons for this are:• Forecasts are not specific enough to the needs of end users. This includes issues of poor spatial resolution and response to local scale agricultural decision-making needs, and a lack of information on intraseasonal rainfall distribution (Archer et al., 2007). • Poor interpretation and communication of forecasts, which leads to misunderstanding and low dissemination rates. • Farmers' inability to respond to forecasts due to their lack of access to seed, implements, fertiliser, labour and credit, which would allow them to make adjustments in relation to the expected seasonal climate.One way to enhance access to climate information is through the use of participatory farmer workshops designed to help farmers better understand and use seasonal forecasts. These workshops can improve trust and credibility of forecasts among local people and provide an opportunity for farmers to experience repeated exposure to, and familiarity with, the concepts behind probability forecasting. This will allow better comprehension of what forecasts can and cannot do. Further, farmers can use their indigenous forecasting methods to compliment scientific forecasts.Indigenous or local predictions provide clues about aspects of climate that are most salient for farmers, and about the kinds of climate information farmers seek to mitigate agricultural risk. At the same time, they can help enhance the relevance of scientific forecasts by integrating them with locally specific observations. Ethnographic and participatory methods have been deployed to identify local sources and indicators of climate prediction used by farmers.Farmers' seasonal forecasts offer an alternative to scientific forecasts. Environmental indicators that farmers use to predict the coming season become available for observation at different times of the year, beginning immediately after harvest and continuing into the new season. The indicators farmers mostly rely on include fruit production of certain trees, temperature during the dry season, intensity and distribution of winds, and behaviour of birds and insects throughout the year.Farmers' forecasts diverge from scientific ones in important ways, especially in regards to the parameters and scales they address. Local forecasts focus on rainfall characteristics relevant to farmers such as the time of onset, duration and distribution (Roncoli et al., 2003). Farmers' forecasts concentrate on number, type and timing of rainfall rather than total quantity, which is key in scientific forecasting. Currently, scientific forecasting is unable to predict duration, amount or distribution of rainfall. Hence, integration of scientific knowledge with local knowledge might allow some inferences in this regard. Farmer forecasts address local rather than regional scale crop-climate interactions; and local farmers recognise that rainfall patterns have different impacts on each crop depending on when and how they occur. Therefore, combining the knowledge of local resource-dependent people with evidence provided by formal climatology analysis, holds the potential to reduce uncertainty and increase the relevance of future assessments of vulnerability and climate change adaptation.However, IKS face some risks. As the world warms, traditional weather indicators may become less and less valuable. Individual species will adapt to local climatic impacts in idiosyncratic and unpredictable ways. Animals may change their behaviour or their range, while plants may begin flowering at different times. These changes will make traditional knowledge less reliable. Whether this is already happening, and in what direction, needs to be documented.Indigenous and traditional peoples develop adaptation measures based on their own observations and interpretation of climate variability and change. Their own observations and weather forecasting systems in future may become less meaningful, affecting their decisions. This is due to more rapid and complex global change. Facilitating access to scientific knowledge and technologies such as early warning systems may help decrease indigenous peoples' vulnerability to change.Given the significant gaps in scientific knowledge, ethno-meteorological knowledge plays a key role in farmers' ability to devise climate variability and update adaptation measures. There is evidence to show that farmers have a natural inclination towards reliance on indigenous forecasts as opposed to scientific forecasts, because they value their own experiences above scientific data (Kolawole et al., 2014;Roudier et al., 2012). Farmers rely on historical patterns, weather observations and signs to formulate their own expectations on weather and climate (Orlove et al., 2010).The diversified nature of rural livelihoods, farmers' knowledge sources, and their needs, are likely to encompass a mix of parameters which may be significant for different types of producers and production systems. Field research targeting African farmers shows that they do not generally use a single forecasting indicator, rather, they consider signs, indicators and chaos that arise at various times and in multiple settings (Roncoli, 2002;Luseno et al., 2003). The significance of forecast indicators also varies for different crop activities.Early warning systems have proved to be indispensable in preparing for climate events such as the onset of rainfall, floods, cyclones and droughts. In West Africa, Tall et al. (2008) and Braman et al. (2013) demonstrate how seasonal rainfall forecast information is used to reduce the loss of lives, property and infrastructure caused by floods.The knowledge of indigenous peoples should be included when designing climate change adaptation strategies in SSA. Local communities and farmers have developed a new knowledge base for predicting climatic and weather events based on observations of animals, plants and oceanic bodies (Roncoli et al., 2003). Understanding how local communities perceive and predict rainfall variability is key to communicating scientific weather forecasts. To predict the future, indigenous people rely on traditional divines and prophesies using Christian and Islamic scriptures as well as spiritual rituals for rainmaking.Indicators used by farmers to predict the quality of the rainy season are available throughout the year (Roncoli et al. 2009). Just like scientific forecasts, indigenous forecasts rely on observation and interpretation of specific phenomena. The indicators farmers mostly rely on include fruit production and tree phenology, animal behaviour, wind and atmospheric phenomena, and spiritual manifestations in the form of divinations, visions and dreams. Elderly male farmers generally have more knowledge than younger male and female farmers. However, indicators are usually gender specific, with men relying more on certain indicators than women, and vice versa.Most local trees that farmers use to forecast rainfall begin flowering before the onset of the rainy season. The phenology of these trees signals good rainfall or drought (Table 1). The variation of fruit or flower production also influences farmers' expectations. The abundance of fruits on one side of a tree, for example, may indicate in which area the rains will come first. Trees which are located near houses or fields and are observed over a long period are normally used to predict rainfall.There is a strong relationship between astronomy and rainfall (Table 2). The visible phases of the moon are associated with rainfall, drought or a dry spell. The full moon is expected to indicate dry weather. Star constellations and the time of their appearance indicate rainfall patterns and hence, when farmers should plant their crops. Changes in the appearances of stars and the moon provide a framework of sequences for expected rain events and mark key points in relation to cropping calendars.During the year and within seasons, farmers expect natural phenomena such as temperature, winds, clouds and rain to conform to certain patterns that they define as the norm (Roncoli et al., 2009). The beginning of the cold season and its end follow certain rainfall patterns. Increasing hot temperatures indicate a good rainy season (Isaac et al., 2009), whilst violent winds during the dry season may predict a bad rainy season. The direction of winds is also associated with particular rainfall patterns (Table 2).The behaviour of animals such as livestock, birds, insects and amphibians is also used by farmers to predict the onset of the rainy season. The songs and movements of different birds to signal the onset of rains has been reported in Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, among other countries in SSA (Table 3). Farmers predict the amount of rainfall depending on whether the bird is singing with happiness or not.When the bird sings with a clear, sharp voice it means the bird is happy and indicates to farmers that a lot of rain that will fall, and vice versa (Luseno et al., 2003). Beginning of rainy season Kolawole et al., 2014;Risiro et al., 2012;Mapfumo et al., 2015;Zuma-Netshiukhwi et al., 2013;Kangalawe et al., 2011;Elia et al., 2014;Kiptot, 2007; Flowering coffee, delonix  Rain is at hand and farmers should prepare for above normal rains Kangalawe et al., 2011;Orlove et al., 2010;Elia et al., 2014;Okonya et al., 2013;Muguti and Maposa, 2012;Risiro et al., 2012;Roncoli et al., 2003;Roudier, 2012;Kolawole et al., 2014; Termite appearance (Ancistrotermes spp)  Indicates coming of heavy rains Kangalawe et al., 2011;Elia et al., 2014;Risiro et al., 2012;Mapfumo et al., 2015;Roncoli et al., 2002; Butterfly movement from west to east Tanzania Burkina FasoRainfall is approaching Kangalawe et al., 2011;Elia et al., 2014; Armyworms (Spodoptera exempta)  The challenges caused by global climate change and extreme weather events are beyond the local experiences of knowledge holders, whether scientific or indigenous (Huntington et al., 2005). Effective adaptation to climate change requires the best knowledge, regardless of the source.Given the high risks of climate change and the associated impacts, there is urgent need for policies and actions that foster the co-production of new knowledge. Such knowledge is based on collaborative research and regards community knowledge holders, natural and social scientists. Armitage et al. (2011) define knowledge co-production as \"the collaborative process of bringing a plurality of knowledge sources and types together to address a defined problem and build an integrated or systems oriented understanding of the problem.\"The previous section on indigenous and scientific seasonal forecasts emphasised both the potential value and the pitfalls of both IK forecasting and scientific forecasting methods. There is the potential for scientific and indigenous forecasts to play complementary roles in improving seasonal forecast use and decision-making (Table 5).These cross-scale and cross-cultural methodologies provide impartiality for adaptation to climate change on the ground (Berkes, 2012). In the Arctic, remote sensing and other scientific methods such as meteorology andScience collects dynamic data in a time series over a large area e.g. the use of COFs in Africa. IKS focus on diachronic data and long term series' in small areas e.g. the use of indigenous indicators of forecasting in African villages or districts.Focus on averages vs extremes Science is based on the numerical data analysis of averages. IKS observe extreme weather events and unusual patterns, which is critical in climate change adaptation.Science demands quantitative data. IKS demand qualitative understanding of the system. Understanding complex systems like climate change requires both. Qualitative measures are rapid and inexpensive but they lack precision.Hypothesis vs mechanisms IKS rely on hypotheses for problem solving. Science has powerful tools to explain the reasons for mechanisms. The use of both IKS and science takes advantage of their relative strengths.Science is objective and excludes people's feelings. IKS include people's feelings, relationships and sacredness. The combination of both methods produces science with a heart. modeling are being used with IK of Sanic and Nerdic reindeer herders to co-produce data series for improved decision making, herd management and adaptation strategies (Maynard et al., 2005). In Africa, rainmakers in the Nganyi communities of western Kenya (Ogallo, 2010) and farmers in the Messa village of southern Malawi (Kalanda- Joshua et al., 2011), collaborate with meteorological scientists to produce integrated forecasts that are being disseminated by both indigenous and conventional methods to enhance community resilience. In Tanzania, to predict whether a season will have good rainfall or early rains, farmers use a combination of local indicators such as the flowering of peaches and plums, and the appearance of swarms of butterflies, frogs, ants and grasshoppers. Meteorological forecasts were similar to indigenous forecasts for the 2012 season.These studies suggest that farmers' trust and willingness to pay for scientific forecasts is increased when local, traditional methods of forecasting are combined with modern scientific methods. As such, scientific forecasting may be able to compliment indigenous forecasting to help mitigate the loss of traditional weather and climate indicators. These results, which point to the beneficial association of indigenous and scientific observation systems, may provide insights for climate change effects.The emergence of adaptive management or ecosystem-based management to climate change impacts through learning-by-doing methods of understanding ecosystems, may be considered an indirect acknowledgement of the similarities between IKS management and scientific management. However, there are incidences where indigenous forecasts have contradicted meteorological assertions. Marin (2010) concluded that the indigenous observations of nomadic pastoralists in Mongolia were divergent and contradictory of meteorological records and predictions. Similar observations were made by Gearheard et al. (2011) in the Arctic. These studies offer interesting insights into the value of both indigenous and scientific knowledge. Even when indigenous people and scientists observe the same phenomenon in the same environment, the nature of their observations may differ quite profoundly (Nicholas et al., 2010; Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4).The conclusions of indigenous observations are based on multiple environmental and social factors that they consider in an integrated manner e.g. rainfall patterns, wind speed, wind direction and the variability of temperature (Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4). In contrast, scientists may use a range of parameters e.g. temperature, wind speed or rainfall, but base their conclusions on the extrapolation of data from a narrow data set (Gearheard et al., 2010). In this sense, comparing indigenous and scientific knowledge of a phenomenon may amount to comparing mangoes and pawpaw.These studies also illustrate the inherent difficulties of corroborating the observations of indigenous people with scientists. Faced with the challenges of climate change and numerous unknowns ahead, efforts to create a constructive dialogue between indigenous people and scientists constitutes an important step towards decision-making based on the best knowledge available. The integration of scientific knowledge with IKS methods of seasonal forecasting is needed to increase the utility of knowledge in managing climate change adaptation. IKS alone cannot solve all the problems of climate change. The problems of ecological scale and consequent difficulties in sampling and experimentation limit the predicting power of science, and there is growing evidence that conventional scientific approaches may be insufficient in the face of climate change complexity. Problems of complex adaptive capacity involving people cannot be separated from issues of value, equality and social justice -they require participatory approaches where scientists and local people work together (Participatory Extension Approaches, 2010).The reduction of experimentation complexities to a few simple rules of thumb can produce remarkably robust outcomes (Gadgil et al., 1993).Complex problems, such as those occasioned by climate change, can be addressed to some extent by a few simple and often intuitive decisionmaking rules (Mackinson, 2001).The role of the chief and other traditional stakeholders in indigenous forecasting remains important for smallholder farmers. Farmers have confidence in and act upon advice provided by the chief as it is believed that the chief and the elders of the community, including ritual specialists, have connections with spiritual beings who give instructions in line with the approaching season (Kolawole et al., 2014;Roncoli et al., 2005;Roudier et al., 2014). The advice that the chief gives can include the specific crops and crop varieties to be grown within a season. But there is evidence to show that the major predictions of community elders mainly concern the onset of rains, with their estimations ranging from days to weeks (Roudier et al., 2014). Orlove et al. (2010) highlight that there is in fact a strong connection between a belief in God and spirits and a reliance on IK. Smallholder farmers take indigenous forecasting into account because they believe that rain has a cultural and religious significance; scant rainfall therefore symbolises that God and the spirits are displeased with the community and the inverse is true for abundant rains.Whilst individuals from the elderly generation still believe IKS represent a good source of climatic information for adaptation and disaster preparedness, challenges emanate from the inter-generational gap with the youth. For example, regarding indicators like birds, the youth question the symbolic relationship between birds' songs and the coming of rains. Their doubts are driven by a number of factors. Birds like dendera (Bucorvus leadbeateri, southern ground hornbill) and kohwera (Cuculus canorus, rain bird) are rarely heard making any sounds, even just prior to rainfall. The youth argue that perhaps these birds have already adapted to the severe climate variability (IPCC, 2007). There are also times when the birds are heard making calls when there is no sign of rainfall. This, therefore, strengthens the argument of youths IKS greatly contribute to climate science by providing observations from a much lower spatial scale than scientific methods, with higher temporal depth.Recognition of the significance of IKS for climate change adaptation, at the international level, has only emerged in the last few years. The fourth assessment of the IPCC (2007) triggered an enhanced focus on climate change adaptation, which was accompanied by increased attention on impacts and responses at the national, subnational and local levels, and on the contribution of IKS.It is important to note that in the IPCC reports (2001 and 2007), the main emphasis has predominantly been on the theories of indigenous communities from developed countries (Australia, Europe, New Zealand, North America and the Polar regions). However, the majority of indigenous farmers who live in developing countries got little or no such consideration, even from their own governments. Until 2010, observations and assessments by indigenous people and local communities have remained outside the IPCC process due to strict requirements regarding the types of documentation that will be considered.This chapter has shown considerable potential for IKS to contribute to climate change adaptation strategies in SSA. However, it must be noted that IKS in SSA are rapidly eroding and being lost. This is mainly attributed to the interruption of intergenerational knowledge transmission. The factors that contribute to this are the absence of IKS in formal school curricula, globalisation (integration of SSA within the global economy), internal and external migration to urban cities, and relatively easy access to imported food and popular culture (Adger et al., 2011). Bridges and McClatchey (2009) attribute the erosion of IKS to the widespread abandonment of oral record keeping in the forms of dance and song, which are able to codify complex pieces of information and successfully transfer them across multiple generations. This breach in intergenerational traditional knowledge transmission needs immediate attention.Other factors contributing to the gradual loss of IKS in SSA include the dominant uptake of the English language; the dissent of youths towards traditional ecological knowledge; and the replacement of many traditional agricultural production strategies and food culture with western processed foods.Children can learn traditional knowledge at a very young age and from this, they are able to develop the skills of indigenous people in weather forecasting, food preservation and risk reduction strategies. Blending IKS with modern science will allow development of hybrid skills. An education system that rejects traditional knowledge is one that produces a generation ignorant to their historical roots.In many countries formal education contributes to the erosion of IK. Schooling removes children from the family and community setting, and presents children with external values that may clash with or undermine traditional teachings. This loss of IKS and IK language reduces the social capital of younger generations. Policies that promote 'brothering' education and nurturing IKS and IK language alongside mainstream education, will provide generations with sources of innovation to strengthen community resilience in the face of change.Indigenous people and rural communities are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and have low adaptive capacity. They depend almost exclusively on the climate-sensitive resources of their environment for their livelihoods. By engaging with their natural environment on a dayto-day basis, indigenous communities have accumulated bodies of knowledge regarding its variability. This knowledge can be of societal benefit, providing important insights into the process of climate variability adaptation.These communities have developed a wide variety of technical, social and economic responses that constitute the basis of their resilience in the face of climate change. A strong case can be made for revamping indigenous resilience as a basis for indigenous adaptation.Government policies and activities need to be formulated on the basis of multidisciplinary action research that brings together IK holders and scientists (both natural and social), to build a mutual understanding and reinforce the need for change. Recent work on IKS provides new knowledge on responses to climate change challenges. The co-knowledge of IKS and scientific knowledge might be the way forward in countering impacts of climate change.Facets of IKS such as their social nature, practicability and dynamism, provide scores of information at spatial and temporal scales that could provide scientists and meteorologists with useful information to support the production and dissemination of reliable forecasts. Scientists can produce meta-predictions at a large scale, whilst IKS specialise in locationspecific prediction. The boundaries of science in climate change are increasingly being perforated to incorporate indigenous ways of understanding the phenomenon and responding to climatic events. This paradigm is stemming from the acknowledgement of both the growing threats of climate change and the value that indigenous science has for impact identification, mitigation and adaptation. Critical in this development is the understanding that climate change effects -noticeable in extreme weather and climatic events, such as violent storms, floods and droughts -pose serious risks, particularly to poor indigenous communities. The paradox of these phenomena in Africa is that the communities most vulnerable to climatic events have a very minimal contribution to the anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs), largely blamed for destabilising the global climate system. Of particular note, is the fact that indigenous people are trapped as innocent victims of climate change, since their contribution to the anthropogenic causes behind global climate disturbances is very insignificant.  typically decades or longer. Scientific evidence projects that the effects of climate change, particularly on developing countries, will worsen (World Bank, 2013;IPCC, 2014a;FAO, 2016).Alongside this acknowledgement, IK is now an increasingly sought after concept, both to enhance understanding of climate change and for developing mitigation and adaptation strategies that are pragmatic for indigenous people. Chanza (2014) coined a climate-based definition of IK as the collection of knowledge, skills, technologies and practices of local indigenous populations, which they have developed from observing and experiencing changes in climatic phenomena. He argues that this concept creates some space for the recognition of IK at the front of climate science, against a backdrop of the common dismissal of this knowledge form as archaic, rudimentary, primitive and unscientific. Arguments for the incorporation of IK in climate change discourses also stem from the realisation that indigenous communities tend to be vulnerable victims of extreme climatic events (Boko et al., 2007;Nyong et al., 2007), yet they have a minimal contribution to climatic destabilisation (IUCN, 2008). Accordingly, Chanza and de Wit (2016) advocate that climate governance as a concept, to embrace inclusivity in designing mitigation and adaptation strategies by all climate stakeholders, should include indigenous communities that are affected by climate change. Other scholars, like King et al. (2008), Peloquin and Berkes (2009), Turner and Clifton (2009) and Green et al. (2010), are of the view that communities that have long-existed by relying on climate-sensitive and ecosystem-based livelihoods are highly attentive to environmental change and variability.This chapter is justified in reflecting on the Zimbabwean situation using an empirical analysis of the knowledge that should inform the upscaling of climate resilient solutions, particularly among indigenous farmers whose livelihoods are highly sensitive to climatic vagaries. The primary reasons for this focus relate both to the country's risk and vulnerability to climate change and the value given to IK in Zimbabwe.Zimbabwe is one of the countries highly vulnerable to climate change (IPCC, 2014b;GoZ, 2015), the depletion in the volume of water in major reservoirs and the increased desiccation of wetlands, are largely blamed on climate change (Unganai and Murwira, 2010;GoZ, 2015).In the 2015/16 agricultural season, the country experienced devastating El Niño induced drought, which had disastrous consequences that left over 33% of the population lacking food security. The hardest hit victims of the drought were the rural communities, constituting 67% of the country's population (ZIMSTAT, 2013) and largely consisting of subsistence farmers relying on rain-fed agriculture.The effects of climate change are also noticeable in other sectors, such as energy (e.g., low water volumes in Kariba Dam, which is a major source of hydro-electrical energy), health (owing to the increased geographic spread of vectors and pathogens) and human settlements (where an increased frequency of floods pose a serious risk to low lying communities). Essentially, in this discussion, it is important to understand the paucity of knowledge in impact identification and climate policy responses. Adaptation gaps in the country's response system are raised by Chanza et al. (2015). Against this background, most researchers and policymakers are developing an interest in tapping into the experiences of local people, their knowledge and practices, to frame climatic activities and strategies. However, it is disturbing to learn that IK practices in Zimbabwe, and indeed in many parts of the African continent, have largely remained as undocumented paraphernalia. The implications of this development have been raised by Odora-Hoppers (2002) and Chanza and de Wit (2013), as leading to a natural erosion of IK systems (IKS), with serious insinuations for the capacity of African communities to cope with climate change (Chanza, 2015). In this section, an attempt is made to show how the concept of IK has been treated in climate science. Notwithstanding the phenomenal interest in IK in climate change debate and literature, there are continuity challenges faced by the concept that are also discussed here. Evidently, the wave of interest in climate change and IK has gathered momentum. Although the chapter is a collection of evidence of IK's utility from the Zimbabwean experience, cases are also drawn from many other places, both within and outside of Africa, to show the universal application of IK practices.Definitions and terminologies of IK are heterogeneous. Among the commonly used terms for IK are: local knowledge, IKS, traditional knowledge, traditional ecological knowledge, local people's knowledge, farmer's knowledge etc. Chanza and de Wit (2015) prefer the term indigenous climate knowledge to define this knowledge form as it relates to climate change. This chapter adopts fluidity in the use of these terms. Despite this variety in treatment, scholars agree that this knowledge is developed by local people through studying environmental phenomena and by experimenting with appropriate ideas, practices and strategies for survival (Nyong et al., 2007;Mapara, 2009;Berkes, 2009;Turner and Clifton, 2009;Orlove et al., 2010;Nakashima et al., 2012;Mawere, 2013). Conceptual linkages between IKS and climate change have been given significant attention in studies conducted widely in many countries. Berkes and Jolly (2001) study the adaptive capacity to climate change of the Inuvialuit in the Canadian western Arctic community. Nyong et al. (2007) focus on the value of IK in climate change mitigation and adaptation in the African Sahel. Gearheard et al. (2009) investigate knowledge and meteorological data to understand changing wind patterns of the Inuit Nunavat in Canada. Thorough examinations of the topics are also carried out by Lefale (2009), whose studies focus on traditional ecological knowledge of weather and climate of the Samoa, a Polynesian community in the South Pacific; Peloquin and Berkes (2009), in dealing with the ecological complexity of hunters in James Bay, Subarctic Canada; and Green et al. (2010), through investigating the IK of weather and climate of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Western Australia. In Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa, Jlyane and Ngulube (2012) explored IK applications in weather forecasting. In Zimbabwe, attention to the topic of IK has largely been on its deployment in agriculture and disaster management (for example, Patt and Gwata, 2002;Gwimbi, 2009;Mubaya, 2010), with insignificant attention to IK applications in climate studies. However, attempts to focus IK in climate change science are made by Chanza (2014). This chapter broadly aims to understand the range of IKS applications in climate change, which local farmers have accumulated as solutions to manage food security and for building resilience to climatic shocks.Evidence of the utility of IK in climate change has been significantly advanced. Nyong et al. (2007) show that local knowledge is capable of giving practical solutions for mitigating against and adapting to global change.According to Duerden (2004) this is likely made easier by the fact that the knowledge is well understood by the local people. Berkes (2009) notes that IK builds ecological resilience at the community level, while Bollig and Schulte (1999) point out that oral accounts by the elders can be useful for unearthing evidence of changes in the climate and associated disasters as they are understood by the locals. In a similar view, Salick and Byg (2007) indicate that local people can devise appropriate adaptive mechanisms for coping with climate irregularities since they are keen observers of their changing environment. Chanza (2014) argues that indigenous communities tend to develop more confidence and faith in their own local knowledge practices given the irregularities and inaccessibility of mainstream climate information services in many remote areas of Zimbabwe. Similarly, Patt and Gwata (2002) point out that the situation is worsened by limitations in official climate assessments and the poor dissemination of scientific seasonal forecast information among local farmers.Despite growing enthusiasm for IKS in climate studies there is still a void in terms of the documentation of empirical evidence of IK's utility.Consequently, the vulnerability of this knowledge form is indisputable. Threats to the continuation of IK practices largely emanate from the fact that this knowledge system is stored in people's minds and orally transferred. Other factors contributing to the loss in IK are related to population migration and displacement, technology and modernisation (Mapara, 2009;Mawere, 2013), and the failure of mainstream science to treat IK as scientifically legitimate (Chanza and de Wit, 2013). Although the IK-science debate remains highly volatile (Mawere, 2013) Given their direct interaction with the environment, and their natural resource-based livelihoods, communities in many parts of rural Zimbabwe are keen observers of changes in their environment. Chanza (2014) documents various indicators that are useful for enhancing the proper understanding of climate change impacts at local levels. These include different elements of the climate system, notably, rainfall, temperature, wind, cloud, thunderstorms and lightning. In this section, we show that the use of environmental indicators by locals can serve as evidence of the direction and severity of change in the climate system.Many rural communities also use local languages to understand changes happening in their environment. For instance, attention to seasonal changes is crucial in defining the agricultural livelihoods of farming communities. In Muzarabani, an agro-based rural community in the far north bordering Mozambique, Chanza (2014) documents evidence of a gradual shift towards shorter seasons that is indicated by the crop varieties adopted by the peasant farmers. Before the noted seasonal changes, farmers would grow long season crop varieties that would take up to 6 months to mature. For example, there was a sorghum variety called Mudyandararama, whose growth would take 6 full months under rain-fed conditions. Another late season maize variety they planted was called Machingamvura. These local Shona names have a deeper meaning that can shed more light on the climatic conditions under which the crops were grown. Mudyandararama, when loosely translated relates to the longer time required before the farmer can harvest the crop. Machingamvura denotes a crop that should be planted late in February, but is guaranteed to complete its life cycle and give the farmer good yields, provided it receives quality rainfall throughout the season. A normal rainfall season in Zimbabwe is usually experienced from mid-October to April. But in recent year, there is a progressive reduction in the length of growing season, which is punctuated by several dry spells (GoZ, 2015). Many local farmers use rainfall names to understand their climate system and seasons (see Table 1).The local names used to describe the types of rainfall received and the months that they were expected are good indicators for understanding changes in the volume of rainfall and its distribution throughout the seasons. The first rain, usually received in October, called bumharutsva, is meant to clear the ash from the dry season fires. It is also referred to as bvumiramutondo, meaning that tree species, such as Julbernardia globiflora, start shooting their leaves. Gukurahundi was commonly received in mid-October. The name means that this rainfall type is capable of clearing away chaff from previous harvests, farmers use these rains to start land preparation. Nhuruka, usually received in November, used to signal the onset of the proper rainfall season and informed farmers that it was time to plant their crops. Gumbura would come later, around February, and was blamed for causing crop damage as most plants have matured by then. In April, the communities also received light showers called tupfunhambuya.In the local language, these showers are said to fall onto grannies while they are scouting the fields for some last produce to give to their grandchildren. Between February and April, locals also isolate mubvumbi, which describes rains lasting for several days and significantly filling streams, rivers and dams. In some places, mubvumbi would cause floods.The last rain to be received in some places is called mavhurachando. This would fall in May or early June, marking the start of the winter season. Through these descriptive names, it is clear that the local farmers relate rainfall to the seasonal calendar, both to forecast and manage the growing season. However, most elderly farmers in rural areas agree that the setting of the rains has changed drastically. For example, bumharutsva and gukurahundi are no longer definite and distinctive, and the duration of mubvumbi is increasingly being shortened, from an average of 10 days to just 3 days in some places. From the villagers account, nhuruka may still be seen, but mavhurachando is no more (Chanza, 2014).An assessment of hydrological features, such as rivers, pools, ponds and vleis also serve as a good pointer of climate change in many rural places in Zimbabwe. These changes are variously noted through the desiccation of ponds, wells and vleis, intermittent river and stream flows, alterations in flow regularity and output over time, deeper water tables and diversions in river courses caused by channel flooding and silt deposition. The locals' knowledge about the location of these hydrological features, coupled with their constant study of the features' behaviours in response to aridity and temperature changes, can be useful in understanding how these features are impacted by changes in the climate system. A trend towards the desiccation of these water sources has been noted in some places. There are also changes in hydrological flow regularity. Rivers that used to be perennial have become intermittent. For example, through participatory interactions with respondents in Muzarabani, Chanza (2014) identifies big rivers, such as Musengezi, Hoya and Utete, which have become seasonal.In Musengezi alone, water is now confined to the pools during the dry season. Other rivers, like the Boore, which used to have permanent annual discharges, are now characterised by the disappearance and re-emergence of water along the course of their channels. The desiccation of vleis also affect river and stream flow. This is because the spongy-like nature of wetlands is known to hold water during the rainy season and slowly release it to continuously replenish rivers and streams, even during dry spells.Given the existing voids in a comprehensive analysis of climate impacts in Zimbabwe, Chanza (2014)   Patt and Gwata (2002).In studies carried out in the Chimanimani, Mberengwa and Muzarabani districts by Risiro et al. (2012), Shoko (2012) and Chanza (2014), the authors noted a variety of biotic indicators used to predict weather changes. Certain plant species, such as msasa (Brachystegia spiciforms) and mnondo (Julbernardia globiflora), change their morphology with the season by shedding their leaves in the dry season and developing new leaves just before the setting of the rainy season. An abundance of fruit from certain trees, such as mazhanje (Uapaca kirkiana), hacha (Parinari curatellifolia) and mango (Mangifera indica), is associated with an impending drought. However, the physiological explanation behind this observation varies between communities. In many places, locals have observed that the windy conditions normally experienced prior to the rainfall period shake off flowers and young fruits. For example, elders in Muzarabani explained that these winds have a tendency of dispersing rainy clouds, preventing any rainfall being received. They refer to the winds coming from the east as chisero chinopepeta mvura, the meaning of which suggests that the winds dissipate the rain clouds. If the rain is accompanied by these winds it is always associated with violent thunderstorms and lightning (Chanza, 2014). Thus, it can be understood that an abundance of flowers is an adaptation feature to ensure that the trees remain with some fruits after excessive winds, and are better able to withstand the drier season. In Mberengwa district, Shoko (2012) ranked different species according to their significance as indicators in seasonal predictions. The highly ranked species were the ground hornbill, rain cuckoo, termites, cicadas and frogs.Small animals, such as millipedes and frogs, are mostly seen at the beginning of the rainy season. Through their life long experiences of nature's movements in their community, the locals can predict the average onset dates for rainfall, and a delay in the onset of natural cycles, for them, is indicative of a drier season.Other widely relied upon indicators are the timing, intensity and duration of periods of low temperatures and wind. Through studying wind patterns, local people in many parts of Zimbabwe have developed useful knowledge of environmental changes related to the frequency, pattern, and duration of wind. In Manicaland Province, the locals associate the start of the rainy season with a cool wind blowing from the eastern Mozambican side. If the wind is continuously blowing, they know that more rains will come (Risiro et al., 2012). In Masvingo Province, Muguti and Maposa (2012) observe that people can predict rainfall patterns from the southern blowing winds. Table 2 reveals four types of winds identified by the locals in Muzarabani, which are useful in understanding the weather system. In many places the northerly flows, for example, are associated with significant rainfall. In the local Shona language, the northern direction is called maodzanyemba. Literally this term translates as a direction associated with heavy rains that can damage or spoil crops.Aside from recording weather, plant and animal behaviour, locals in Zimbabwe also use indigenous astronomy to correlate movements and patterns of stars and planets with changes in weather. The science of weather prediction through studying the stars is well documented (Speranza et al., 2010;Risiro et al., 2012). People can predict weather by observing the visible spectrum, commonly referred to as the halo phenomenon around the sun or moon. If the spectrum around the sun has a greater diameter than that around the moon, rain is predicted to fall in a few days' time. Speranza et al. (2010) report that astrological constellations, such as the position of the sun and moon, are also interpreted as indicators for the upcoming season by agropastoralists. The appearance of certain stars in the sky is also used to predict seasons. For instance, the Milky Way changes its position in accordance with the seasons (Risiro et al., 2012;Alvera, 2013). It is also important to report that indigenous people do not limit their knowledge application to understanding the changes happening in their environment. As explained in the next sections, they have devised various methods for promoting food security, mitigating against climate risks and adapting to climatic phenomena.The greatest climate change threat, particularly in Africa, is to food security systems (World Bank, 2013;FAO 2016). FAO (2016) states that by 2030 up to 122 million people, mainly in Africa and South Asia, could fall into extreme poverty owing to climate change. The report also states that farming is both a driver of climate change, responsible for about 21% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) production and a victim, with crops adversely affected by drought and floods. This makes agriculture a key sector in climate assessments. Local knowledge is part of a collection of time-tested survival strategies for food security, which consider the exploitation of locally available resources, indigenous skills and technologies over many years of exposure to different climatic conditions. Chanza (2014) identifies a range of strategies and practices used by rural communities to enhance their food security system. Strategies include: Zunde raMambo, nhimbe and rain petitioning ceremonies (see Table 3).In Mararike's (2001) description, Zunde raMambo aims to ensure that a particular community has adequate food reserves to be used in times of a food shortage. A chief designates a piece of land for cultivation by his subjects. The yield from this land is stored in granaries (Zunde raMambo) at the chief's compound. According to local views gathered by Chanza (2014), the practice ensures that the community's food security is guaranteed at all times. It resonates well with conventional ideas of food security as relying on a strategic food reserve, which is readily available whenever required. A comprehensive definition given by the 1996 FAO World Food SummitEasterly flows Dry violent winds from the east, mainly experienced from August to December.Often violent winds experienced during the rainy season. If they build in March, they become highly devastating leading to crop damage. They are often blamed for bringing diseases around the same period.Relatively calm and moist winds that are mainly associated with good rainfall.Triggered predominantly by the giant Mavhuradonha range, these winds can be highly destructive to villages situated along the foot of the mountain.(Source: Chanza, 2014) states that, food security is met when \"all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life\" (FAO, 1996). The indigenous philosophy of Zunde raMambo relies on the chief as critical to ensuring that all people in his village(s) have access to food at all times. Indeed, the strategy gives a sense of food governance through the collective action of community members, as a home-grown mechanism with merits in disaster risk reduction. Its significance in this regard deserves emphasis against the backdrop of climatic risks and the weakening of national social security schemes, attributed to resource constraints, erratic food relief supply chains and allegations of the politicisation of food aid reported by Mapfumo et al. (2010).An interrogation of indigenous agricultural management systems for food security in traditional Zimbabwean society by Chirimuuta and Mapolisa (2011), reveals that local farmers are conscious of the acute problems of drought and rainfall scarcity and variability, and have developed comprehensive systems to counteract these threats. There are modes of cultivation and pastoralism from the farmers' management of micro-climates, which are designed to ensure food security. They identify the diversification of food security sources as critical to ensuring the adequate availability of food at a household level. Local farmers grow a mix of large (maize) and small grains (sorghum and millet), which are complemented by tuber crops (sweet potatoes, cassava and yams) and other crops (e.g., groundnuts, cowpeas, beans, pumpkins, watermelons and sweet reeds). Chanza (2014) identifies an assortment of drought adaptation crops, such as sorghum, bulrush millet, grain millet andZunde raMambo A rural project for enhancing social networks of disadvantaged members of a community, involving setting aside farming land under the supervision of a chief.These are meant to enlist the intercession of mhondoro to bring rainfall, especially used before the onset of the rainfall season or during mid-season dry spells. Various names, such as Huruwa, Mukwerera and Makoto, are given to these ceremonies in rural Zimbabwe.A term from the Shona people of Zimbabwe, meaning a collective community effort where people pull their resources together for field work or any other community task.  , 2011). This gender bias is inarguably linked to ensuring household food security, since women are directly involved in food preparation in families. Mixed farming is also necessary for conserving soil moisture, promoting soil fertility, and for pest and disease control (Snapp et al., 1998;Giller et al., 2009).Through the architectural designs of granaries used for storing grain, Chanza (2014) notes that local communities in Zimbabwe have strategies for keeping their grain and food stocks. The granaries are positioned about one metre above the ground so that the food is not spoiled by any dirt or water from the ground. They are neatly stacked on top of huge rocks or indigenous strong wood, which act as pillars, keeping the granaries away from the ground moisture or any other threats. The space beneath the store-house can also be used for ensuring an extension of the shelf-life of some food items: this space allows free air circulation, creating a naturally cold room where crops, such as sweet potatoes, pumpkins and watermelons, can be kept for some months beyond their expected seasonal lifespan. In some cases, fires are made beneath the stacks because the heat and smoke prevents pests and fungi from attacking the stored grain. In some places, Chirimuuta and Mapolisa (2011) discovered that the granaries are first cleaned and smeared with a cow-dung lining, before being filled with grain; cow-dung is then used to completely seal the granaries. The communities rely on local wisdom of the life cycles of pests and pest control systems. For example, sealing the granary ensures that pests already inside the granary are deprived of the oxygen necessary for respiration and reproduction, and soon suffocate to death. Therefore, reducing the risk of losing stored grain to pests and disease. Some families also keep a separate granary for the father of the family. This granary is more strategic and only used when the ordinary one is depleted.Chirimuuta and Mapolisa (2011) also gathered that ashes collected from fire places are used to deter termites, weevils and other pests from attacking stored food. Numerous other indigenous skills are used for keeping food products longer. For instance, sweet potatoes can be kept fresh for a very long time in a pit away from moisture, or a jute sack filled with ordinary smooth ash. Weevils are prevented from attacking all kinds of grain by putting gum tree leaves, or other herbs, between layers of grain in the sacks or granary. Local communities continue enjoying the taste of fresh foods by boiling fresh mealies and groundnuts before drying them in the sun. These are then re-boiled in winter, summer or spring to meet the people's nutritional and dietary requirements. In addition, the practice of drying food, such as vegetables and fruits, is well known among the communities in Zimbabwe. For example, vegetables are boiled and dried so that they can be consumed during times when the products are out of season, or when there is no more water for irrigation.It has been illuminated here that, through their IK, local communities in Zimbabwe have developed long-term tried and tested strategies and practices for ensuring food security. There are evidently modes of agricultural practice that can meet the nutritional requirements of local families in a cost-effective manner. Crop diversification ensures food security within the communities through the strategic promotion of different foods to diversify food sources. There are various ways in which mixed cropping can enhance food security at a community level, e.g. the different crops mature at different times during the growing season thus minimising the risk of total crop failure. Several other strategies outlined above, are used to preserve food so that it does not spoil and is protected from pests and diseases. Related to these practices are a variety of methods deployed to withstand climatic risks and disasters, which are detailed in the next section.A comprehensive definition of disaster risk management (DRM) related to climate risks is given by the IPCC (2012:558) as, \"processes for designing, implementing, and evaluating strategies, policies, and measures to improve the understanding of disaster risk, foster disaster risk reduction and transfer, and promote continuous improvement in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery practices, with the explicit purpose of increasing human security, well-being, quality of life, and sustainable development.\"The intention, as explained by Wilbanks et al. (2007), is to keep climate change impacts as low as possible. In this conceptualisation therefore, the role of IK in DRM is explored. Through their IK, the local communities in many parts of Zimbabwe have devised a range of mitigation strategies against drought, violent storms and floods.In a study to understand indigenous coping strategies against climate risks in Muzarabani, Chanza (2014) agrees with Gwimbi (2009) that local communities do not seriously consider conventional early warning alerts given by outsiders, especially if previous warnings are understood to be less serious or inaccurate. Instead, they seem undeterred by the frequent occurrence of floods as their main worry is food security, which they realise through farming in floodplains. They rely on local knowledge to exploit the attractiveness of the fertile and moist floodplains that have been supporting a dual cropping season for many years. In addition, the locals use their knowledge in the design of structures that can withstand violent storms and floods. Chanza (2014) reports that indigenous architecture is seen in the design of structures like houses, granaries and fodder racks. These are raised to a height of at least one metre above ground as a defence mechanism against floods. The tiers are made up of very strong wood, or supported by a combination of hard wood and large rocks, to enhance the durability of the structure. All household valuables like food, clothes and blankets are kept in this house, which they locally refer to as hozi.It can be understood here that DRM entails a toolbox of interventions to enhance human security against disastrous events. Some of the indigenous drought risk management strategies are already stated in this report, including Zunde raMambo, nhimbe and rain-petitioning ceremonies. For example, when faced by a drought associated with delays in the start of the rains or dry spells during the growing season, a special group of elderly community members enlist the favour of the ancestral spirits whom they believe, if appeased, can influence the rains. This practice is linked to a sharp contrast behind understandings of the cause of drought between African indigenous communities and mainstream scientists reported by Chanza and de Wit (2015). The scholars learnt that indigenous communities understand the realities of climate change and the risks that its impacts pose to their survival. However, the understanding held by the local communities is that drought or climate change is inflicted by angry ancestors. Interestingly, their reasoning is that this punishment comes as a result of failing to prudently take care of the environment. This latter view resonates with scientific evidence that climatic risks are both caused and worsened by environmental ills.Early warning systems (EWS) used by the indigenous people consist of indigenous seasonal forecasts, spiritual consultations, and information, education and communication strategies. It is important to note that EWS are also supported by early action involving seasonal migration and rescue operation plans. For example, Muzarabani ethnic group reported studying the behaviour of migratory birds (locally referred to as Mashuramurove) and certain tree species, such as Hwakwa, to predict events like floods (Chanza 2014). One respondent explained:\"If we see Mashuramurove hovering in the atmosphere around November/ December, or if there are many of the Hwakwa fruits that season, we can tell that there will be much rain with the potential of causing floods. So people are then warned to leave flood-prone areas as soon as we start to receive torrential rains\".In some places, information on EWS is also passed on to the villagers after consulting the spirits. There is a strong belief among the people that the mhondoro (spirit lions) have accurate forecasts on the occurrence of floods, droughts, or any other events like hailstorms and severe thunderstorms and lightning, they are seen as more reliable than conventional meteorologists. As such, special elders, including the madunzvi (spirit medium lead) and the masvikiro (spirit medium), routinely visit the holy shrines for advice before asking the villagers to take some appropriate action. In the event of anticipated flooding for example, early action would involve human migration to safer areas, shifting livestock grazing to less vulnerable places and stocking food coupled with the safekeeping of other assets (Chanza, 2014). Of particular mention in this analysis is that the strategies presented here exhibit a clear practical application of EWS and early action. The purpose of an EWS, from the viewpoint of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Society (IFRCRCS) (2014), is to put in place systems for action before the occurrence of the disastrous event. In this regard, the utility of the indigenous-based EWS presented here deserves emphasis against a backdrop of challenges in early warning communication and early action by responsible authorities in Zimbabwe, as reported by Gwimbi (2009).Critical to the indigenous strategies for reducing disaster risks that are discussed in this chapter is the fact that they embrace the significance of community networking, participation, collective responsibility, response and continuous improvement, elements that commonly feature in disaster management scholarship (Gwimbi, 2009;IPCC, 2012;Lavell et al., 2012;IFRCRCS, 2014). For instance, community networking through sharing experiences, knowledge and problem solving skills is an important aspect of the indigenous-based DRM strategies discussed here. These strategies have been treated by other scholars as social capital (Castle, 2002;Sekine et al., 2009). Sekine et al. (2009) argue that social capital itself tends to influence the success of climate interventions targeting local communities.Similarly, the IFRCRCS (2014) advises on the need to consider cultural issues like religion and local beliefs as an entry point for disaster risk reduction.In this discussion, two distinct definitions of mitigation are accommodated in order to adequately understand the scope of IK in climate interventions.One category, which relates to indigenous-based practices for minimising climatic risks has already been dealt with in the preceding section. Lavell et al. (2012) also view mitigation as a substantive action that can be used in different contexts where the reduction of damage in existing, specified conditions is required. This section concentrates on mitigation activities related both to reducing GHG emissions and enhancing GHG sinks from an IKS perspective. Nyong et al. (2007) indicate that employing mitigation strategies through indigenous natural resource conservation is an unstructured measure serving dual objectives: reducing GHG emissions from anthropogenic sources and enhancing carbon assimilation.A discussion of environmental management in rural Zimbabwe can adequately be understood in terms of the customary governance system.Within this traditional institutional arrangement, local people have a strong belief in their spiritual connection to the environment. They see it as a moral obligation to conserve environmental resources. The responsibility for ensuring compliance with local rules and customs rests with the chief. With support from advisors (dare) and immediate subordinates (headmen), the chief can monitor adherence to rules and enforce local sanctions when necessary. Guidance in decision-making can also be sought from the spirit mediums (masvikiro). In some instances, the chiefs also consult their wives before community meetings, reflecting gender sensitiveness in this governance system (Mohamed-Katerere, 2002;Mararike, 2011). Although the application of customary laws in natural resource management, in the view of Mohamed-Katerere ( 2002), is highly influenced by such factors as migration, western education, and the dependence of the locals on market economies, there are many places in Zimbabwe where locals are still regarding their environmental assets as sacred. Chanza and de Wit (2015) argue that the principle of sacredness is critical in forest resource management. In an examination of the role of traditional religious beliefs and traditional leaders in nature conservation in different communities in Zimbabwe, Byers et al. (2001) discovered that traditional spiritual norms have greatly influenced human behaviour in the protection of forests. They also found limited forest disturbance or damage in areas where traditional leaders remain empowered to exert their influences on nature conservation, as opposed to high rates of forestry loss in areas associated with the postindependence, relative disempowerment of the traditional political system. Chanza (2014) argues further that an interaction between ecology and traditional religion explains the existence of forests in Muzarabani. Accordingly, a conservation strategy, consisting of linkages between nature and culture shaped by traditional beliefs, values and institutions enshrined in the local customary governance system, has led to the existence of unique strands of forests in the area. In recognition of the sacredness of such places, thickets of unique dry forests that have been protected under traditional knowledge systems could be particularly useful in understanding the impact of long-term climate change on ecosystems. Box 1 gives a description of traditional knowledge systems relevant in environmental management, which have been in existence for numerous years in Zimbabwe.In climate theory and practice adaptation involves taking measures in response to climatic stimuli. IPCC (2014b:1758) refers to it as \"adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities.\" The 2012 IPCC report makes a distinction between adaptation in human systems and natural systems. In human systems adaptation is defined as \"the process of adjustment to the actual or expected climate and its effects, in order to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities\", while in natural systems it refers to \"the process of adjustment to the actual climate and its effects,… [and only] human intervention may facilitate adjustment to [the] expected climate\" (IPCC, 2012:36). To be indigenous-based, adaptation practices need to be developed locally by the communities observing climatic phenomena. This happens when the local people acknowledge the irregularities in elements of the climate system like rainfall, temperature, wind or clouds.It is clear from the preceding discussion that local communities are aware of the changes and variability in climate events. Given the threats posed by climate change, the locals in Zimbabwe have devised a toolbox of response mechanisms to save lives and livelihoods. Chapter 15 of the IPCC's FifthTraditionally, societies in Zimbabwe have practiced and enforced wildlife conservation through the timely hunting of animals and birds, avoiding indiscriminate killing and fostering selectivity. Societies believe that wanton killing is punishable by the spirits and, as a result, control mechanisms can be identified in traditional taboos, totems and customs. In some tribes, the customs or totems forbid people from eating certain animals, e.g., scavengers such as vultures and hyenas. Taboos forbid the killing of young animals and females during gestation. Hunting in scared places is also prohibited. The killing of rare species, such as the python and pangolin, is only allowed with permission from the chief. Trees are also protected through traditional taboos and customs. Certain trees are not cut because of their cultural importance, e.g., the Parinari spp. (Mutowo) under which ceremonies are held.Chiefs play an important role in safeguarding their peoples' access and rights to resources. All land is held in communal tenure, and the headman or sub-chief is responsible for allocating each family grazing and arable land. Even though resources are held in common, there is a commitment to their protection because communities have real rights to manage the resources and benefit from them. However, with the intrinsic value of scarce resources, people overexploited resources for survival and individual gain. As colonialism entrenched itself, communities also lost their most important fundamental right -freedom. With that gone, the people lost all other rights and access to resources.Assessment Report notes a marked transition from a phase of awareness to the construction of actual strategies and plans (IPCC, 2014a). This is also true in many rural areas of Zimbabwe, where the motivation behind designing responsive actions to climate change is largely driven by the knowledge that the local environment has been characterised by uncertainties and irregularities in recent years, which has compelled rural communities to adopt appropriate coping and adaptive strategies.From an indigenous-based standpoint, Chanza (2015) observes that local responses to climatic stimuli fall into anticipatory and spontaneous categories. According to the IPCC (2014b), anticipatory adaptation is proactive in the sense that people take action before the stimulus is experienced, while spontaneous adaptation is passive as it does not constitute a conscious response. In the Zimbabwean case, empirical evidence shows that IK-based adaptation is a graduation from proactive to reactive actions. For example, Chanza (2014) gathers a portfolio of short-term coping practices (spontaneous adaptation), medium-term adaptive strategies (planned adaptation), and fairly long-term response strategies (proactive adaptation). Chanza (2015) later distinguishes these strategies according to the climate events experienced. As explained here, there are strategies used to cope with drought, floods, violent storms and lightning, and high temperatures, as well as responses to address food insecurity risks in the event of such climate problems. The latter has already been dealt with in the section on IK and food security.The present discussion therefore focuses on the use of drought tolerant crops, shifts towards livestock production and practices supporting it, the exploitation of ecosystem services (the value and benefits of ecosystems), barter trading, conservation farming and dry planting.Local farmers in Zimbabwe have a set of responses that enable them to cope with drought or famine. Several scholars have written about farmers' preference of traditional crop varieties, such as sorghum, millet, beans, cowpeas, bambara groundnuts and other crops, as a drought adaptation practice (e.g., Mapara, 2009;Mubaya, 2010;Chanza, 2014). These varieties are known to be drought tolerant. It is essential to note here that many local farmers primarily choose local varieties of crop because modern crop seeds are not accessible. Indigenous strategies to manage famine in rural Zimbabwe abound. Depending on locality, communities' options include dual-season cropping, barter-trading, Zunde raMambo and nhimbe. Plans for barter-trading livestock with grain from other communities are put in place as soon as the villagers realise the impending threat to crop production posed by climatic events. The practice of barter-trading, apart from being a drought aversion measure, also serves to mitigate food security crises following crop failure. The locals use their networks to identify other places where they can exchange their livestock for grain. In some cases villagers also sell their cattle in order to raise money to buy food. The challenge with this practice is that it further disposes local people to poverty as they end up losing their most vital livelihood assetlivestock. On closer analysis, however, the benefit of this practice is that reducing the cattle herd to a sizeable number makes it easier to manage, given the lack of forage and drinking water caused by drought. The villagers do not just randomly cut down cattle numbers, but use their knowledge to selectively take out the weak, sick, thin or less productive animals. This practice is commonly referred to as 'culling'.Knowledge of wild fruits and the procedure of processing them also serves as a coping mechanism in the event of drought or famine. Chanza ( 2014) records a range of tree species utilised by locals, which include: maungu (Landolphia buchananii fruits), shumha (Diospyros mespiliformis fruits), masau (Ziziphus spp. fruits) and mauyu (Adansonia digitata fruits) which are regarded as important food sources in drought situations. Knowledge about how to process these fruits for food is of higher importance than the fruits themselves, as this enables the people to realise more food value.©FAO/Roberto Faidutti Some detailed descriptions of indigenous-based food processing techniques are given in Box 2. The major constraint, however, is the increasing pressure exerted on the availability of these fruits by both humans and wild animals. For example, masau fruits are increasingly harvested commercially to sell to people in the cities, depriving the locals who manage and conserve the fruits. The crisis is worsened by elephants and baboons competing with people over the berries. These challenges tend to weaken the local people's coping capacity.Water scarcity caused by drought also demands that the locals devise appropriate coping mechanisms by planning cattle drinking schedules, for example. Farmers often take the herds to places where water is usually available during dry spells. Villagers also devise seasonal migration schedules where livestock are temporarily taken to suitable places for easily accessing drinking water. Thus, through their IK, farmers devise destocking arrangements in various ways. For example, if they have relatives such as in-laws in other, more hospitable places, they might relocate their cattle to such areas, perceived to have better climatic conditions (Chanza, 2014).With regard to livestock production, many farmers are increasingly shifting much of their attention to this practice in the face of frequent droughts and crop failures. Animals like cattle, donkeys, goats and sheep are commonly domesticated. Rural Zimbabweans are confident that livestock rearing is a better option than crop farming, as it is more capable of withstanding the threats of drought. However, the threat of frequent or extended droughts to communities' adaptive capacity cannot be ruled out, since drought leads to the loss of grazing pastures and desiccation of water points. Nonetheless, most indigenous farmers have learnt mechanisms to preserve their livestock during times of drought, notably through devising cattle grazing and drinking schedules as explained earlier. The villagers prepare cattle fodder banks, which they use to feed the animals during the dry spell. This practice has a long history in the rural landscape and is being seriously considered as an additional adaptation strategy. The fodder is usually collected from crop residues soon after each harvest and given to the animals during critical times when pastures dry up (ibid.).Conservation farming, known as timbaugute in the local language, is understood as a traditional practice used to cope with a drier climate. This practice, which entails digging planting holes with minimum soil disturbance, is associated with three main advantages: the conservation ofMasau fruits are harvested between June and September. These can naturally be dried in the sun and carefully stored in granaries. In the event of famine or food scarcity, the fruits are pounded to prepare masau maheu, a liquid which is instantly made by mixing the pounded materials with water.Unlike the common maheu -a liquid made from fermented small grain (sorghum or millet) malt that is usually prepared overnight and drunk the following day -what is amazing about the masau maheu is its instant preparation. This makes the drink unique and a strategic food source that the locals can rely on in the event of famine.Another fruit, mauyu, is used to make porridge. The white powder from the pounded fruits is briefly immersed in water to make it soft before being sieved. The collected powder is then mixed with water and heated to make porridge. Magoma fruits are also used to make porridge using a similar method of preparation to that used in the preparation of mauyu porridge.soil against erosion and loss of nutrients; the retention of soil moisture; and the limited labour and time requirements. Mainstream agronomists also state that this strategy, alternatively referred to as minimum tillage or zero tillage, leverages natural ecological processes to conserve moisture, enhance soil fertility and improve soil structure (FAO, online). Local farmers also practice dry planting, locally known as kuparira. This practice is becoming increasingly popular with many small-scale farmers to suit the progressively dry climate. To locals, this practice holds several merits extending beyond drought cover to other benefits like early crop maturity, minimised labour challenges and reduced threats from pests. Under this method, farmers start sowing their seeds before the onset of rainfall so that by the time the rainy season starts, the seeds can fully utilise all the available moisture for fast germination and plant growth (Chanza, 2014;2015).An examination of the IK practices reported in this chapter illuminates that through their interaction with the surrounding environment for many years, the locals have developed a wealth of environmental knowledge that is useful for adapting to climate change. IKS involve practices that evolved through trial and experimentation, and such skills and experiences have proven to be flexible enough to cope with change.Collectively, this knowledge falls into the following categories: IK useful in weather and seasonal predictions; strategies critical in promoting food security; practices useful in managing extreme climatic events such as drought, dry spells, violent storms and floods; strategies useful for cutting carbon emissions and enhancing GHG reduction; and practices that help communities to adapt to environmental changes. Local knowledge is also expressed through the naming and classification of weather and climate phenomena in local languages, oral recordings of weather and climate-based events and trends, and the forecasting of weather and climate events using different environmental indicators. Various IK indicators of climate change and variability; namely animal, bird, insect and flora behaviour and signs, local weather conditions and signs, rainfall volumes and patterns, astrological constellations, and signs from the local environment are reported. These indicators are used to make seasonal climate projections and to understand changes in the local climate system. This makes indigenous communities key stakeholders in the design of climatic responses. For climate change mitigation, IK is potentially useful in the implementation of policies enhancing the management of GHGs in agriculture, ecosystems and other forestry management projects. The challenge, however, could be the limited scale at which such projects can be implemented to cause a significant reduction in the volume of atmospheric GHGs. In DRM practices IK can be harnessed to reduce community vulnerability to the hazards posed by extreme climatic events, such as drought, floods and thunderstorms. This knowledge is useful for making decisions about earning livelihoods from ecosystem services, as communities adapt to climate variability and change. The rural communities use their rich traditional knowledge for weather forecasting, vulnerability assessments and the implementation of adaptation measures. Essentially, current climate practice and policy can build on the local and traditional knowledge of farmers to create solutions based on farmers' needs.  as a key component of an agricultural system and the view that scientific knowledge must enhance local knowledge, rather than displace it. This chapter uses secondary studies to compile important insights from Zimbabwe regarding indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) and historical, current and seasonal climate predictions. Findings point towards the understanding that, despite the shift towards recognition of IKS in climate change adaptation in agriculture systems, there is evidence to show that increased rainfall variability and temperatures have reduced smallholder farmers' confidence in IK, hence reducing farmers' adaptive capacity and increasing their vulnerability to climate change. In addition, skewed use of scientific knowledge and weather and climate predictions has proved to be a major constraint for farm level decision-making as they do not incorporate IK, which farmers already live with. In the same context, it is emerging that farmers are more willing to use scientific seasonal climate forecasts when these forecasts are presented with -and compared to -the local indigenous climate forecasts. In light of this background, this chapter concurs with studies that propose a framework of integration of IK forecasting with scientific forecasting for improved seasonal forecasts to in order to reduce climate risks and vulnerability.In Africa, agriculture is a complex and challenging operation due to a number of factors, including low soil fertility, changing social and political situations, an unfavourable economic environment and a variable climate (Osbahr and Allan, 2003). Farmers in semi-arid areas depend solely on rainfall, yet this is typically variable, both spatially and temporally. There is evidence to show linkages between droughts and development (or lack of it), given that rain-fed agriculture, which is very sensitive to weather, accounts for 70% of food production across Africa (UNISDR et al., 2008;Hellmuth et al., 2007). This ushers in the need for effective early warning systems that contribute to addressing the cycle of droughts and subsequently, reduce their negative impacts (Masinde, 2015). Literature highlights efforts by farmers to address these challenges and their use of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) as a key component in this context. One of the key uses of IKS includes using various forms of traditional indicators to predict weather and climate and also to respond to climate risks (Joshua et al., 2011). There is evidence to show that, as a result, farmers have developed and relied on traditional systems to adapt to variable rainfall. These traditional systems worked for centuries as they relate to local lifestyles, institutional patterns and social systems (Mbilinyi et al., 2005).There is wide consensus that IKS are key components of climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector, particularly in the development of locally relevant and sustainable adaptation strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Scientific knowledge has, over recent decades, increasingly taken priority over local knowledge and practice in agricultural systems' research and development (Walker et al., 1999).In the process, modern science has threatened the sustenance of local knowledge systems and transformed the nature of these systems, in some cases displacing local systems. Early warning systems on disasters and climate-related shocks were traditionally channelled through religious and cultural methods, such as oral literature, poems and songs, which had unfortunately lost recognition and utilisation in the context of climate change adaptation in the same period. However, in recent years, particularly in the past decade, there has been an emerging and dominant view that places emphasis on local knowledge as a key component of an agricultural system and the view that scientific knowledge must enhance local knowledge, rather than displace it (Jain, 2014;Joshua et al., 2011;Maconachie, 2012;Osbahr and Allan, 2003;Walker et al., 1999).However, little attention has been paid to the connection between indigenous perspectives and observations to potential climate response or adaptation strategies (Andes and UNU-AIS, 2008). It is also disturbing that national adaptation plans in Africa, which act as frameworks for implementing adaptation programmes, place limited significance on IKS as shown by studies conducted across the continent (Nkomwa et al., 2014). To date, little is known about specific details of farmers' physical and biological knowledge and how this knowledge is used to make farm management decisions (Osbahr and Allan, 2003). This chapter uses secondary studies to compile important insights from Zimbabwe regarding IKS and historical, current and seasonal climate predictions.The chapter specifically focuses on the; rationale for consideration of use of IKS for seasonal forecasts; characterisation of IKS indicators for weather and climate in the country; threats to existing IKS within the forecasting context; and, finally, a framework for consideration in ensuring improved seasonal forecasting in the country. This chapter is critical for the understanding of how, and the extent to which, smallholder farmers use forecasts.One key point that emerges in the thinking around seasonal forecasting for smallholder agriculture is that of decision-making. In order for smallholder farmers to make various decisions for adaptation, they need climate information, regardless of the source (Gukurume, 2014). This is particularly important in the context of increasing variability and unpredictability of the rains, given that these farmers rely on rain-fed agriculture. There are already indications of sub-optimal uptake of scientific seasonal forecasts by farmers in southern Africa (Vogel andO'Brien, 2006 cited in Mberego andSanga-Ngoie, 2014). This is of concern given that any form of response farming requires localised rainfall records in adequate time for sufficient levels of decision-making to optimise yields (Mberego and Sanga-Ngoie 2014;Stigter, 2010). The localised rainfall records have a critical role to play for smallholder farming system resilience and can be obtained from seasonal forecasts, which are either IKS or meteorologically based, or both. There is already empirical evidence of effective weather forecast data utilisation leading to reduced vulnerability to climate change (Jiri et al., 2016;Mittal, 2012;Speranza, 2010). This evidence provides further testimony that a farmer with access to updated quality information, which they are able to use, is more able to deal with climate risks. Ziervogel (2004) makes the same assertion in an empirical study conducted in Lesotho, which claims that an increase in forecast accuracy to 60-70% or above is likely to guarantee positive impacts from using forecasts.In Zimbabwe, more than 90% of smallholder farmers depend on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihoods, making seasonal forecasts critical in a context where only 37% of Zimbabwe receives adequate rainfall for agriculture (FAO, 2005). The dry conditions are compounded by droughts to form the highest source of production risk, driving the need for concrete and explicit steps in increasing smallholder farmers' use of forecasts (Unganai et al., 2013). There is evidence of climate information contributing to the improvement of agricultural production and ultimately, dealing with food insecurity in Africa (Patt et al., 2005;Roncoli et al., 2009).The term IKS is specifically used to refer to 'place-based' knowledge systems developed by communities as opposed to the scientific knowledge that generally refers to 'modern knowledge' (Ajibade, 2003;Mapfumo et al., 2015;Orlove et al., 2009). This is the definition that we apply to this chapter. In the context of seasonal forecasts, literature tends to focus on forecasts in the context of rainfall patterns as a basis, with interpretations of plants, animals, insects and bird behaviour mainly affirming rainy season indicators. This local knowledge is unique to a given culture and has the potential to form the basis of decision-making. The characteristics and types of IKS are also determined by the culture of the society and may, in most cases, vary from society to society and are likely to benefit locally-based adaptation plans (Nkomwa et al., 2014;Rao, 2006). A study conducted in Zimbabwe indicates that IKS can be transferred and adapted by other communities, encourage participation and empowerment of farmers, improve interventions at the local level and are, to a large extent, close to reality given that they are beyond formal education (Mavhura et. al., 2013). This flexibility of IKS over cultures suggests an opportunity for tailored forecasts and corresponding adaptation strategies by smallholder farmers towards climate variability.IKS have the potential to advance 'precision farming', and to use it to understand livelihood diversity and change over a period of time. High regard of IKS by farmers has the potential to improve the quality of farmers' lives through utilisation of their IKS (Soh and Omar, 2012). It is also important to take account of, and learn from, what local people already know and do, and to build on this. The role of women is important in the use of IKS as adaptation measures to climate change given that women have been shown to possess IK to maintain household food security in times of shocks, such as drought and famines, through reliance on drought tolerant plants (Easton and Roland, 2000;Eriksen, 2005;Ramphele, 2004). IKS have increasingly become topical and embraced by academics and practitioners alike, in part as a way to address a multiplicity of livelihood challenges that confront rural communities and as a basis for local level coping and adaptation mechanisms beyond the planning stage (Mapfumo et al., 2015;Moonga and Chitambo, 2010;Saitabau, 2014). This conceptualisation appears to place emphasis on concerted efforts towards implementation of locally driven adaptation strategies at the lowest level.For this chapter, we broaden this conceptualisation in an attempt to gather what literature highlights regarding the role of IK forecasting vis-a-vis modern scientific forecasting in Zimbabwe. In the next section, we present a possible basis for the consideration of IKS as an entry point to seasonal forecasting in the country.A number of issues we raise in this section lend weight to the rationale for IKS considerations in seasonal forecasting, among them, existing agro-meteorology which appears to be ignorant about climate issues, farmers' limited access to climate information, inaccurate rainfall predictions, low uptake of climate information, the scale constraint, and limited alignment of climatic information with critical livelihood components. Further issues with dissemination channels and in some cases, political interference, also appear to limit meaningful uptake and engagement with climatic information for farmers.Over the past two decades, the state of African, in general, and Zimbabwean agro-meteorology, in particular, appears to have been oblivious to the dynamics of changing local farming systems in the context of climate change (Olufayo et al., 1998), yet the situation appears not to have changed much over the years. Farmers still have limited access to agro-meteorological information, inevitably making them rely on their memories of past climatic experiences and narratives for agricultural decisions. This problem raises an issue of: to what extent can these memories be sustained over time? Farmers have in the past two decades complained about misleading forecasts, a challenge which persists today. During this period, there is evidence of an increase in mismatches between seasonal rainfall patterns and maize yields, similarly leading to loss of confidence in scientific forecasts and subsequently relatively low yields, despite the abundant rains of 1999, 2003 and 2004, with political interference also contributing to the levels of inaccurate forecasts (Fontein, 2015;Manatsa et al., 2012).Low uptake of scientifically-derived climatic information appears to be another challenge that may warrant serious consideration for IK forecasting in Zimbabwe. For instance, in Chiredzi, there is evidence of a very low rate (17%) of utilisation of received information among local smallholder farmers, possibly emanating from incorrect, unintelligible, probabilistic and ill-timed earlier predictions that reportedly misguided farmers in their operations, resulting in losses (Manatsa et al., 2012;Mapfumo et al., 2015;Unganai et al., 2013). It is common knowledge that uptake tends to be associated with perceptions regarding relevance and importance. In a study in southern Zimbabwe, 75% of farmers reported receiving seasonal forecasts and, of these, 57% reported changing planning and cultivar selection in response (Patt et al., 2005). IKS come directly from the farmers themselves and information gathered in other ways that do not take these farmers into account, remain 'questionable' (Davis, 2005).In Zimbabwe, the issue of the scale at which climate information is forecasted challenges scientific forecasting and lends credence to farmers' IK forecasting, especially in cases where climatic information covers a wide geographic area (Patt and Gwata, 2002). Climatic information of this nature is questionable given that response farming and rainfall parameters (onset dates, end of season) normally vary across districts and require precision for effective guidance in decision-making (Mberego and Sanga-Ngoie, 2014). This challenge is complicated by the limited integration of climate forecasts with farmers' agricultural operations, even with information originating from the southern African regional climate outlook forum process (Manatsa et al., 2012). Smallholder farmers' livelihoods in Zimbabwe are agriculture based andFarmers prepare to take their produce to market ©FAO/Believe Nyakudjara any effort towards seasonal forecasting need to ensure alignment with agriculture-related operations for effective and timely risk management, or otherwise render the forecasting efforts less meaningful for these farmers.Dissemination channels (radio, TV and newspapers) used for forecasting weather in Zimbabwe tend to be less effective than initially intended, as they are not easily accessible for poor farmers. Elite members among poor farmers tend to have access to these dissemination channels (which in most cases are not in vernacular), and therefore tend to use meteorological forecasts (Mapfumo et al., 2015;Mugabe et al., 2010). This issue brings to the fore social injustices and inequities that tend to pervade rural communities in Zimbabwe and calls for efforts towards levelling the playing field for farmers regardless of wealth, gender or any other criterion.Capacity and skills in applied mechanisms in meteorology also limit the effectiveness of disseminated climatic information. For instance, while extension officers and workers in one district in the country had up to university and college level of agricultural education respectively, they lacked adequate capacity and skills in meteorological and climate change education to effectively organise and supervise farmers in relevant activities (Mberego and Sanga-Ngoie, 2014), yet extension remains the major enabler for adaptation decision-making (Mapfumo et al., 2015).The issues that we raise regarding seasonal climate forecasting generally, as a consequence, make farmers rely more on their IK and information from local social networks for decision-making on their farms. There is empirical evidence that, in Zimbabwe, adaptation is still situated within local experiential learning from previous climatic stresses in the form of 'strategic' (medium to long-term), 'tactical' (seasonal) and 'operational' (within season) decisions (Mapfumo et al., 2015). For this reason, farmers in the country use less meteorological information than IK in their seasonal forecasting. A case in point is in a study where less than 25% of the farmers reported using the former, which in essence became complementary to the latter (Mapfumo et al., 2015).While the IK forecasting methods and indicators have their own limitations and are currently facing threats (see Section 6), IKS remain an entry point into understanding and strengthening seasonal climate forecasts for smallholder farmers (Jiri et al., 2016;Mapfumo et al., 2015). Advantages of IKS in this regard include their flexibility and acceptability by local communities, including a strong practical emphasis towards both planning and implementation and incorporation of new elements.This section outlines and profiles the nature of IK forecasting in Zimbabwe based on selected studies conducted across the country (Mapfumo et al., 2015 in Manicaland;Mberego and Sanga-Ngoie, 2014 in Mashonaland West;Mugabe et al., 2010 in Midlands and Matebeleland North; and a desk study by Jiri et al., 2016). These studies provide a crosssection of geographic location that is somewhat representative of the country. For us to analyse the relevance and merit of IK forecasting, including suggesting a framework of operation for improved seasonal forecasts in the country, it is critical to build an understanding around the nature of IK forecasting in Zimbawe. More importantly, we need to further build an understanding of how these IK-based forecasts are used by smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe in the context of climate change.A range of traditional forecasting indicators from across the country have been categorised in literature under tree phenology, biological (plant/ animal behaviour), atmospheric and other indicators not falling under any of these three sets of indicators (see Table 1). The main phenologybased indicator for the onset of the rainy season is the flowering of a type of tree, and for season quality it is the behaviour of plants during a drought or good season. Studies indicate that, traditionally, these indicators triggered the start of farming-related activities depending on the significance of the indicator (Mapfumo et al., 2015). However, we suggest caution when considering these indicators given that these phenology-based indicators are themselves in a state of flux, with tree behaviour and flowering patterns also changing due to various factors (Curran et al., 1999;Mugabe et al., 2010).In terms of animal behaviour, movement of migratory birds and sounds from insects signal a number of factors such as the start of a season or the abundance of rains for that season. These indicators traditionally contributed to the preservation of the animals concerned in Masvingo province (Jiri et al., 2016), although some of these species are now endangered and may no longer provide good forecasting as was the case in the past. The changing seasons themselves are also shown to signify both the onset and quality of a coming season in Zimbabwe. Temperature changes and shifts in wind direction fall under this category. Farmers also use trend analyses of these changing seasons to come up with a pattern of forecasting indicators, potentially establishing the extent to which these indicators are reliable (Mapfumo et al., 2015). In a similar fashion to phenology and animal behaviour, the atmospheric indicators have also shifted to an extent that they may also mislead farmers to erroneous decision-making and subsequently, affect livelihoods (Jiri et al., 2016). Similarly, naturally-based indicators remain important for traditional forecasting, among them the nature and flow of rivers and streams in Zimbabwe, yet their unpredictability in terms of flow now makes it difficult to use them as reliable forecasting indicators (Kolawole et al., 2014).Traditional forecasting indicators in the country indicate changing seasonal patterns in various ways, with noticeable impacts on farmers' livelihoods. In a study conducted by Mapfumo et al. (2015) in the eastern parts of the country (see Following the IK forecasting indicators highlighted in preceding paragraphs, we have compiled the various agricultural adaptations that farmers from the study areas use for decision-making on their farms.Among these adaptations are the shifting of planting dates and cultivars to suit the specific weather event, such as delays in the onset or impending onset of rains, among others. For instance, in Makonde, the changing of the maize crop to more drought resistant crops, such as sorghum and millet, is inevitable in situations where the rains are not promising to be  Jiri et al., 2016Mugabe et al., 2010 ;Risiro et al., 2012;Mapfumo et al., 2015 ;Shoko and Shoko, 2013 ;Vijfhuizen, 1997  good. However, this kind of decision is not only made in relation to the forecast but also in relation to the availability of markets and good prices (Mberego and Sanga-Ngoie, 2014). This suggests that our thinking around decision-making is not entirely based on seasonal forecast, but rather, an intrinsic system that takes into account other factors that may not necessarily be tied to forecasts. Nevertheless, the shifting of planting dates and cultivars remains a major decision-making element based on forecasts (Mano and Nhemachena, 2007).In eastern Zimbabwe, Mapfumo et al. (2015) highlight some of the decisions made following forecasts including allocation of land resources and investments, management of livestock and food stocks, and participation in trade, among others. Replanting, pest and disease control, and marketing of grain are also some of the strategies that were implemented following well thought out decision-making processes. However, Mapfumo et al. caution that some households in this community lacked capacity to make use of forecasts to respond to climatic risks.Despite the rationale for IK forecasting and the arguably very rich profile of indigenous forecasting indicators, there remains a host of threats confronting the sustainability of IKS within this context. The threats that we outline in this section highlight the limitations of IKS in meeting new forms of challenges and adaptation to climate change and variability. There is an alarm bell that IK is slowly disappearing and being eroded, ultimately raising the question of how much longer the system can sustain itself. This is considered to be due to the waning source of knowledge as the elderly are replaced by the middle-aged and the youth, who appear to be more concerned with modernisation than taking up this knowledge (Mapfumo et al., 2015;Shava et al., 2009). Given this background, we suggest that there is immediate need for the institutionalisation of IKS into seasonal forecasting systems at national level. In addition, the documentation of existing IK forecasting indicators is required in the near future if these indicators are to be preserved as a basis for decision-making (Mapfumo et al., 2015).Other factors such as the unreliability of IK as the sole forecasting mechanism for smallholder farmers, human limitations due to short memories and the ambiguity of terminologies (in some cases 'abundant rainfall' may have more than one meaning) used in IK, all make IK forecasting difficult to sustain in the long term (Masinde, 2015;Mberego and Sanga-Ngoie, 2014). There is also evidence to show that increased rainfall variability and temperatures have reduced smallholder farmers' confidence in IK, hence reducing farmers' adaptive capacity and increasing their vulnerability to climate change (Mugabe et al., 2010). Jiri et al. (2016) cite potential threats to IKS including negative perceptions that tend to view IK as backward; disruption by modernisation; and disruption of traditional indicators by changes in weather and climate, including the natural resource base upon which it is based. The school of thought that views IK as backward tends to extol scientific knowledge for climate forecasting as a superior form of knowledge. In addition, while the important role of IKS in climate risk reduction is now acknowledged (Jain, 2014), IKS have yet to be commonly used by communities, scientists, practitioners and policymakers (Hiwasaki et al., 2014).At this point, we hasten to say that our intention is not to entirely problematise scientific forecasting and romanticise IK forecasting. Rather, we demonstrate that scientific seasonal forecasts on their own have made little progress in terms of equitably empowering smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe (see sections 2, 3 and 4 of this chapter). In this section, we therefore address the question of whether this highlighted gap calls for farmers' total reliance on IK forecasting, which has been the traditional practice (see section 5). We explore literature on this question and concur with various studies suggesting a context for integrating scientific and IK seasonal forecasting for improved agricultural production, as opposed to sole use of each forecasting method independently.The first justification for an integrated framework of seasonal forecasting methods is the skewed use of scientific knowledge and weather and climate predictions for farmers' decision-making that fails to incorporate IK indicators that farmers already live with. This is especially considering the evidence that these farmers are more willing to use scientific forecasts when they are presented and compared with local forecasts (Jiri et al., 2016;Mugabe et al., 2010). This assertion appears to back Osbahr and Allan (2003), who highlight the critical role that local perceptions play in decision-making implying that, unavoidably, external knowledge systems need to complement rather than displace IKS in order to get recognition and reach an optimal operational level by farmers. This framework emphasises reconsideration of decision-making mechanisms that are based solely on 'expert' knowledge that ignores IKS. This context provides an opportunity for a legacy of a society that protects its IKS. We find that this integration framework has started to take root with science and society beginning to blend and bond, providing potential to further mainstream IKS in adaptation systems (Jain, 2013).Second, literature highlights that there are complementarities between scientific and IK forecasts (Mafongoya et al., in Mugabe et al., 2010;Ziervogel and Opere, 2010;Dondeyne et al., 2003;Agrawal, 1995), Although IK forecasting lacks regulations and regimentation and encompasses spirituality, unlike scientific forecasts, both forms of forecasting are produced through observation, experimentation and validation (Kolawole et al., 2014). A participatory approach has the potential to build the capacity of farmers and farmer groups to be able to measure daily rainfall on their own, recording these measurements and then using this information, with the guidance of scientist and extension, to make decisions for their day-to-day farm operations. This effort will address the limited availability of weather stations in districts around the country, leading to improved decision-making regarding pest outbreaks, crop diseases, droughts, and floods (Mberego and Sanga-Ngoie 2014). Similar efforts, which Zimbabwe can learn from, have been implemented in countries such as Mali and set up by the National Meteorological and Hydrological Service in Mali (Stigter, 2010).Third, farmers are generally receptive to external information if it is provided in the right form and content and can integrate new information into their traditional forecasting methods (Orlove et al.,A farmer collects eggs from her chicken run, Dangarendove, Zimbabwe 2010). This openness provides an opportunity for scientists to engage these farmers and design forecasts that are congruent with farmers' expectations and practices. The onus remains on scientists to step out of their disciplinary confines and meet farmers in a 'third space' and codesign methods that improve on forecasts. Within this context, participatory learning and outreach programmes become key (Glantz, 2003(Glantz, , 2005;;Goddard et al., 2010;Mberego and Sanga-Ngoie, 2014).Elsewhere on the continent, tripartite arrangements with climate scientists, farmers and policymakers have begun to register success in terms of reaching a common ground and culturally relevant climate forecasts (Kolawole et al., 2014;Ogallo, 2010;Phillips and Orlove, 2004), a model that has also started to be documented in Zimbabwe, albeit in its infancy (Mapfumo et al., 2015;Mugabe et al., 2010). One case in point in Zimbabwe is a study conducted in Chiredzi, where a participatory process led to the development of a tailored model for seasonal climate forecasts that meet the needs of the smallholder farmers concerned. In this case, the model embraced the fact that these farmers prefer 'binary' (which just tell them whether there will be a drought or not) to 'tercile' forecasts, which give no information regarding droughts (the most prevalent climate risk in the district) (Unganai et al., 2013).Among the methods suggested in the cited studies for the tripartite engagements are workshops, innovation platforms, public lectures, farmer field schools and media engagement. A suitable platform is therefore required for this process to take form in Zimbabwe and provide an opportunity for the improvement of climate forecasts in the country. In addition, it is important to bring on board extension in this process to allow for capacity building activities that empower extension, which has highlighted a gap in education efforts in particular. In this process, not only will scientists make recommendations to policymakers for improvement of forecasts as is normally the case, but rather, farmers and extension officers will also have an opportunity to suggest alternative ways of improving the quality of inclusive forecasts. This means that institutional strengthening is critical by ensuring that the participatory process is institutionalised within the national meteorological services and agricultural extension system.This chapter has outlined the importance of seasonal climate forecasts for smallholder farmers, who depend on rain-fed agriculture and the rationale for use of IK forecasting in decision-making for farm operations.A salient issue emanating from this exposition is that scientific forecasts, while helpful for smallholder farmers, are fraught with limitations that make it difficult for these farmers to access and use the forecasts for planning and implementing of farm activities, including a serious gap of inclusivity by these scientific forecasts. This underscores the need for IK forecasting, which has existed among farming communities in Zimbabwe for generations to play a more visible and formal role in climate risk management than is currently the case, given that this form of knowledge is more equitably distributed and seriously acknowledges existing strategies towards climate change adaptation.However, this chapter also admits that IK forecasting is not without its limitations, and in light of this, concurs with studies that propose a framework for the integration of IK forecasting with scientific forecasting for improved seasonal predictions in order to reduce climate risks. This framework further underscores a platform of participatory learning in which farmers, multi-disciplinary scientists, extension workers and policymakers convene for concerted efforts towards instituting more robust seasonal forecasting systems.The The genetic resources of indigenous livestock have traits of value for climate change adaptation, such as smaller body frames and lower feed requirements, the ability to utilise low quality feed, high fecundity and good mothering ability, tolerance to thermal and hydric stress, and disease and parasite tolerance and resistance.Human consumption of edible insects could boost protein intake and increase resilience to climate risks, particularly in climate affected communities, through the diversification of food sources. The promotion and use of underutilised crops, livestock and insect resources provides adaptation opportunities, but generally these are not well quantified. There are clear opportunities for increasing productivity of such resources for enhanced climate change resilience through crop diversification and genetic variation.In this chapter, we explore the potential for underutilised crops, livestock and edible insect resources to improve food and nutrition security, increase agricultural diversification and minimise the impacts of climate risks. We conclude that a key adaptation strategy will be through the research and development of underutilised crops, livestock and edible insect resources, which have proven their potential to cope with the adverse effects of climate change.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) argue that about 30% of world biota is likely at very high risk of extinction as temperatures rise 2 degrees above that of the pre-industrial era (IPCC, 2013). Biodiversity loss will affect food and agriculture by causing losses of genetic diversity within species that are important to agriculture. Genetic resources are the living materials that local communities and scientists use to cope and adapt to changing socio-economic needs and ecological challenges (Kilroy, 2015). Utilisation of a wide basket of genetic diversity at a time of climate change will be an essential insurance policy for the food and agriculture sectors. With climate change, the value of underutilised genetic resources for food and agriculture will increase in the near future. Many of these underutilised resources will become more threatened as global climate change will erode genetic diversity and significantly destabilise food systems. Genetic diversity that is currently underutilised may become more attractive to farmers as a result of climate change.The Fourth Assessment of the IPCC provides an overview of recent scientific understanding on climate change (Klein et al., 2014)  , 2007). More critically for agriculture in southern Africa, water availability will decrease with the region receiving less and more erratic rains, therefore, the frequency of droughts will increase (Ericksen et al., 2011). As temperature rises, the suitability of grains for production will decrease more rapidly in areas with sandy soils than in areas with heavier soils (Webb et al., 2012). Furthermore, the frequency of extreme weather events such as cyclones, floods and prolonged droughts in southern Africa are likely to increase due to climate change and climate variability.The implications of climate change in agriculture are still vague as such expectations are based upon modeling and predictions. Lobell et al. (2008) carried out an analysis of climate risks for crops in 12 food insecure regions to identify adaptation priorities based upon statistical crop models and climate projections for 2030 from the GCMs. The results indicated that southern Africa is one of the regions that, without sufficient adaptation measures, would suffer with negative impacts on several crops and animal species that are key to farmers. Southern Africa will be particularly hard hit by climate change as crop productivity of almost all crops is predicted to greatly decline (IPCC, 2007). Increased temperatures are expected to reduce yields of major crops whilst encouraging weed and pest proliferation (Speranza, 2010). These anticipated negative impacts of climate change threaten the food security of the region.Climate change in southern Africa will also have an adverse effect on species biodiversity (Rao et al., 2011). This will include changes to distribution patterns, reproduction timings, the duration of growing seasons, plant composition, and ecosystems. These factors would result in significant changes to farming practices and to genetic resources currently used. Coping and adapting to such developments would involve the innovative use of agricultural biodiversity to provide adaptability and resilience in the face of climate change and variability.The role of conservation, farm management of agricultural biodiversity, and the use of underutilised crop and animal species is neglected in climate change debates. Various climate change predictions of the GMCs have made it clear that the southern African region will be adversely affected by climate change. It is therefore important to consider how climate change could affect the on-farm management of cultivated landraces and their wild relatives.In a climate envelope species distribution model, Ramirez-Villegas et al.(2011) used current and projected climate data for the future, up to 2055, to predict the impact of climate change on the wild relatives of groundnut (Arachis hypogea), potato (Solanum tuberosum) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). They reported that wild groundnuts were the most affected group, with 24-31 species out of 51 projected to go extinct, and their distribution area expected to be reduced by 85-94%, (both factors dependent on migration scenario). In terms of species extinction, cowpea appeared to be the least affected by the climate projections although according to other studies, almost half of the natural distribution area of wild Vigna spp. is expected to be lost by the middle of this century due to climate change. These results suggest that there is an urgent need to identify and effectively conserve crop wild relatives that are at risk of extension due to climate change. There are many reports indicating that new strains of pathogens and pests are emerging, and landraces and wild relatives are needed as sources of resistant genes (Adamson, 2010). It is difficult to predict new pests that will develop due to climate change. To address the threat of new pests, access to a diversity of local crops is necessary for farming communities. Hence, on-farm conservation of genetic resources can play a critical role in solving the emerging problems of climate change.Underutilised genetic resources may become more attractive to farmers as a result of climate change. Many neglected and underutilised species currently maintained through in situ conservation could be important crops for the future. Their adaptability, plasticity and resilience to stresses may provide farmers with a much needed coping strategy in the face of climate change. To increase adaptive capacity to changes in rainfall and temperature patterns, community based management of a wide portfolio of plant and animal genetic diversity is required. The suitability of current crop genotypes to local conditions will change in both positive and negative ways depending upon the crop and/or livestock species, but will undoubtedly affect future diversity. On-farm management processes of agricultural biodiversity carried out by smallholder farmers, have led to increased genetic diversity that helps to diversify incomes and livelihoods. The genetic diversity created through such practices has traditionally allowed farmers to cope and adapt to adverse climatic conditions, and this process will continue to serve that function in future.Climate variability and risks have always been a part of agriculture, and farmers have developed many ways of managing these risks. From a farmer's perspective, climate change is not seen in terms of major disasters such as floods or droughts, but rather as increased uncertainty, for example, a shift in the onset of rain at planting time or at the end of the rainy season. Some years bring excessive rainfall while others are very dry, with a greater irregularity within and between rainy seasons. Such weather uncertainty directly affects crop production and farmer income.The use of a wide diversity of crops and livestock is key to livelihoods and survival strategies of smallholder farming communities throughout the world. However, the speed of climate change is reported to be much higher than that required for underutilised species and landraces to evolve and adapt to changing climatic environments. Nicoglou (2011) defines phenotypic plasticity as a \"property of a genotype to produce different phenotypes\" in response to different environments. Scientists generally agree that phenotypic plasticity can be a useful framework to understand the interactions of genetics, development, ecology and evolution.In order to understand the role of on-farm conservation of agricultural biodiversity in the presence of climate change, it is also important to understand how communities have been using diverse plant and animal species in integrated production systems to adapt and cope with climate change shocks.Indigenous farming communities in southern Africa maintain portfolios of neglected and underutilised plant species and animal breeds, and farm trees as risk aversion strategies (Kalanda- Joshua et al., 2011)  (Mapira and Mazambara, 2013). Although policy makers and the media highlight the impact of extreme events such as floods and droughts, farmers are more worried about irregular rainfall and the divergence of temperatures from their typical ranges.Despite the general notion that underutilised crops are neglected by indigenous farming communities for specific socioeconomic reasons, the role of these species becomes extremely important to reduce risks and adapt to shocks caused by climate changes. The use of such underutilised crop genetics will be vital for sustainable agriculture (IAC, 2004).Traditionally, neglected species contribute significantly to the well-being and livelihoods of rural households. Many of these species are well adapted to the stressful conditions of extreme environments and hence, are necessary in the adaptation of farming systems. Underutilised species©FAO/Pius Ekpei occupy important niches, are adapted to risky and fragile conditions of rural communities, and have a comparative advantage in marginal lands as they can withstand stress. They also contribute to the diversity and stability of agro-ecosystems, often playing a strategic role in fragile ecosystems such as those of arid and semi-arid lands. In addition, most of these crops do not require high inputs and can be successfully grown in marginal and degraded areas. They can also contribute to increased agricultural production and have the potential to provide useful genes for crop breeding to develop varieties capable of tolerating climate shocks (Pye-Smith, 2011).However, the genetic resources of many of these important species are being lost through the rapid destruction of their natural habitats, especially in the tropics. Jat et al. (2012) depicted a very worrying situation with regard to conservation and the use of agricultural biodiversity, highlighting that few efforts are on track to curb the genetic and cultural erosion that is taking place on-farm and severely affecting the sustenance of local crops and varieties. Hence, more concerted efforts are needed to support on-farm conservation and the sustainable use of neglected and underutilised species.Agricultural biodiversity is an important part of the climate change management strategies being developed by indigenous people and rural communities. However, it is not adequately recognised and the knowledge of how, when and what agricultural biodiversity has been used in the past to cope with climate change is scattered and not well documented (Mapara, 2009). Most rural areas have always experienced climate variability, and farmers have always had to cope with a degree of uncertainty in relation to the local weather. Their production systems are integrated with crops, animals, fisheries, perennial fruits and trees around the homestead or in the vicinity of rivers and forests, and consist of portfolios of a variety of staple crops for managing risks. Farming systems incorporating perennial fruit trees such as mango, not only provide options for household food supply, but household nutritional diversity as well. Interdependence is incorporated within such systems, designed to spread risks and vulnerability in the face of unpredictable climatic events.In the past, production systems with greater diversity or with successfully integrated livestock, were often less vulnerable to sudden changes and demonstrated higher levels of resilience. Livestock were never really mentioned in the climate change debate until 2007 when the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that livestock produce 14.5% of all greenhouse gases (FAO, 2012). If livestock are effectively integrated into ecological farming by smallholder farmers, they have the potential to mitigate some of the adverse effects of climate change, and represent adaptation strategies for farmers.Agrobiodiversity exists at two main levels -in the combination of species that make up an ecosystem, and in the number of different gene combinations within a species. The more diverse farming systems are, the more resilient they are in overcoming biotic and abiotic stresses and delivering food and nutrition security. Diet diversity is achieved from the consumption of a range of crops which deliver nutrition and health benefits. Agrobiodiversity will be essential to cope with the predicted impacts of climate change such as the prevalence of pests and diseases.An important source of resilience for indigenous people is their ability to nurture and manage domestic and agrobiodiversity. Recognising that crops are subject to variable and unpredictable weather events and the occurrence of pests, indigenous communities have traditionally favoured the cultivation of diverse crop varieties/landraces. Traditional farmers have domesticated, improved and conserved thousands of crop species and varieties over time (Kalanda-Joshua et al., 2011). There is abundant evidence that communities and smallholder farmers using indigenous knowledge (IK) are already involved in selecting new varieties/landraces and adopting new crops. In Botswana and Zambia, the level of intra-crop diversity of traditional varieties of pearl millet and sorghum have remained broadly similar throughout the dry periods for the last 30 years (Rohrbach and Mutiro, 1997). This suggests that these materials show sufficient adaptability to enable farmers to cope with periods of significant rainfall shortage (Pye-Smith, 2011). In both countries, there was a loss of pearl millet and sorghum landraces demonstrating slow maturing characteristics, and a preference for early maturing varieties.The increasing importance of traditional crops is shown, for example, in northern India where there is dependence on finger millet. For the past 4 years, rainfall has been decreasing from around 550 mm to 300 mm and the finger millet varieties grown and conserved by farmers possess excellent drought resistance traits (Varadan and Kumar, 2014).Maize farmers in Zimbabwe have fostered a diversity of crops in order to guarantee a harvest and also to fulfill social and cultural means (Mapfumo et al., 2013). Such crops include early maturity maize varieties such as mukadzi usaende or mukadzi dzoka (these words literally translate as 'wife don't go' or 'wife come back'), and are suitable for short rain seasons with dry spells. The conservation of landraces also applies to sorghum, pearl millet, cowpea and bambara nut. The cultivation of different varieties or landraces of the same crop is reported by local farmers to better guarantee a harvest, regardless of seasonal variability, and to ensure dietary diversity with better nutrition (Rurinda et al., 2014). These studies show the interlinkages between IK and genetic resource conservation, and their roles in adaptation to climate change and climate variability. Such findings illustrate the need to support initiatives that conserve and promote local landrace production, seed fairs, community seed banks and community based conservation and adaptation strategies.The demands and expectations of modern supply chains lead farmers to concentrate on fewer and fewer crops. The result is the steady loss of agrobiodiversity and will lead to the disappearance of strategic underutilised crop resources necessary for the wellbeing of millions of people. The loss rate of 'new' and underutilised crops through extinction and genetic erosion is accelerating as a result of droughts, pests and diseases, over exploitation, overgrazing, land clearance and deforestation. Together with species loss, there is an accompanying and equally alarming wide spread erosion of local traditions and knowledge, which in turn contributes to reduced biodiversity, worldwide.Although many cereal crops are grown in southern Africa, maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the staple foods. Maize ancestry comes from outside of Africa, however as a result of hundreds of years of farming the crop and natural selection, it has become 'indigenised'. Smallholder farmers in most rural areas in southern African farming systems continue to cultivate maize landraces, which they have kept from generation to generation (Jones and Thornton, 2003). It has been reported that maize landraces are drought tolerant during the establishment stage and are well suited to low input agricultural systems. Awareness of these desirable characteristics exists in the IK of the communities that still cultivate them.Other cereals such as millets are examples of indigenous cereals grown in the dry parts of southern Africa (Rohrbach and Mutiro, 1997) Different types of legumes are grown and consumed in tropical regions of the world. Some legumes are commonly used as food crops -such as cowpea in West Africa -while some are lesser known, neglected or underutilised outside of their indigenous areas. Table 1 shows some of the legumes grown in Africa. Underutilisation can be due to the hard-tocook phenomenon of legumes and lack of information on potential food uses. Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), African yam bean (Stenostylis stenocarpa), lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus) and bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranean) are neglected or underutilised crops in many parts of Africa, including southern Africa.Food legumes represent a major crop group in the southern African region because of their role in human and animal nutrition, nitrogen fixation, adaptation to stress conditions and general suitability to various cropping and agricultural systems (Chivenge et al., 2015). However, it is usually easier for countries to attain food sufficiency using staple cereal crop production and hence, the production and availability of legumes remains low in southern Africa (Rurinda et al., 2014). Looking at the total area cultivated, legumes such as soyabean, groundnut and common bean can be considered major legume crops in southern Africa (Gowda et al., 2007). However, despite offering diversification and resilience in the face of climate extremes, such crops among other legumes, remain largely underutilised by farmers in the region.A good example is that of bambara groundnut, a nutritious legume originating from West Africa and cultivated throughout southern Africa (Legwaila and Karikari, 2013). This legume, known for its drought tolerance, is found growing in harsh climates and marginal soils; but in spite of these traits the crop still suffers a status of neglect because of its unpredictability in yields, its long cooking time, and negative social image (Massawe et al., 2015). Indigenous leafy vegetables may be defined as plant species that are either native to a particular region, or that were introduced to a region so long ago they have evolved through natural processes or farmer selection. The well-known Pedi proverb, 'Meat is a visitor but morogo is a daily food', captures the important role leafy vegetables have played and continue to play in the food systems of southern Africa. Urbanisation and the influence of urban life style on the rural African population resulting from urbanrural linkages, are altering the species composition of indigenous vegetables in favour of western vegetable species (Yang and Keding, 2009).In rural areas, indigenous leafy vegetables growing in the wild as weeds, or cultivated in cropped fields, are still extensively used by households.At community and household level, knowledge associated with these vegetables is essentially passed on from one generation to the next. In many parts of rural Africa, there is a risk that this knowledge will be lost.Considering their potential nutritional value, indigenous leafy vegetables could contribute in a major way to the food security and balanced diets of rural households and potentially for urban households (Yang and Keding, 2009). Researchers have asked questions about the bio-availability of the nutrients they contain and answers are required urgently. Further research on aspects of African leafy vegetable species, such as their ecology, use, cultivation and nutritional value needs is therefore warranted. In southern Africa, trees are often known by individual names, called after members of the community or some important characteristic. The existence of these names illustrates the extent and value of IK. One of the purposes of promoting participatory domestication of indigenous fruits with local communities is to ensure that the benefits of developing cultivars remain within the community (Sanchez and Leakey, 2004).Forests and homesteads are important sources of non-timber products. These products include indigenous/wild fruits which are consumed by communities and sold on the road-side and at urban markets to generate income. Wild fruits are essential for food security, nutrition and health, and for the social and economic welfare of rural communities. The miombo ecosystem of southern Africa is home to 200 species of fruit -167 of which are edible (Akinnifesi et al., 2006;Zuma-Netshiukhwi et al., 2013). Fruits and products made from indigenous fruits constitute a cheap and yet rich source of carbohydrates, proteins, mineral elements and vitamins (Table 2). Indigenous fruits and their products are important during the hunger periods. The nutritious food resource helps rural women secure food for their families and generate income for various household needs. Miombo indigenous fruits such as sugar plum (Uapaca kirkiana), marula (Sclerocarya birrea), monkey orange (Strychnos cocculoides), baobab (Adansonia digitate) and bambara (Parinari curatellifolia) are rich in sugars, essential vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates and oils, essential for human nutrition.The domestication and commercialisation of indigenous fruits to improve the nutritional status and incomes of rural households, partly depend on the IKS of rural farmers. Studies in Zimbabwe on indigenous fruits show that their location, seasonal availability and preparation or use, is widely distributed amongst ordinary people in rural areas (Savious, 2011). However, IK of these fruits varies according to tribe, between men and women and between generations. In general, the Ndebele ethnic group, are mainly cattle people, and have limited knowledge of leafy vegetables and fruits compared to more sedentary tribes like the Shona and Tonga. In urban areas, knowledge on indigenous fruits and vegetables is limited, especially amongst the youth.The dissemination and application of local community IK for indigenous fruits and vegetables, such as their nutritional value, will enhance their use and value among the general populace.Climate change is becoming a major threat to livestock production in southern Africa. The livestock sector is likely to be affected by climate changes through the following:1. Rainfall amount in southern Africa will generally decline, reducing the amount of water available for livestock systems. In most places, rainfall is likely to become erratic with more sudden and destructive heavy downpours, resulting in flash floods and restricting livestock movement; 2. Temperature will increase and this will amplify heat stress on animals; 3. Catastrophic events such as droughts, floods and periodic storms will increase. Hail storms have been known to cause dramatic overnight loss of livestock; 4. Feed/fodder production will decrease; 5. Water availability for livestock will or decrease according to location and seasons; Minerals and vitamins (mg/100 g); nd = not determined. Source: (Akinnifesi et al., 2006) 6. Disease prevalence and distribution will change, dependant on location, hosts and vectors of major diseases. Most diseases prefer warm and humid environments, but the distribution of vector-borne diseases will be determined by complex interactions between the environment, vectors and the hosts. Heat and water stresses will generally increase susceptibility to disease.Rural smallholder livestock producers have only survived as such due to their adaptive capacity in the face of adversity. In some cases, livestock keeping is defined by adaptability, as is the case with East African pastoral systems, which have elaborate systems for managing livestock in dryland environments (Thornton et al., 2007). Livestock production is itself an adaptation strategy, adopted as a means of diversifying livelihoods, preserving assets and harnessing marginal resources.The majority of livestock in southern Africa are locally bred species kept by small-scale livestock producers. Local breeds are less productive than the high-yielding 'exotic' breeds, however, they are better adapted to their environment and can survive the harsh conditions where introduced breeds cannot. Indigenous breeds are more disease resistant and drought tolerant than exotic breeds and with the absence of such resilient local livestock, smallholder farmers could not manage against diverse climate shocks.Most southern African livestock systems consist of a diversity of livestock species that include a combination of goats, sheep, cattle and donkeys. Maintaining a diverse herd has a number of advantages and it represents a critical adaptation strategy. A diverse herd is an adaptation to a diverse ecology where vegetation can be highly varied in both space and time. One area might be dominated by grasses whilst a neighbouring area is dominated by shrubs. Cattle and sheep are better suited to grazing pasture whilst goats thrive on shrubland. In addition to ecological motives, farmers often change their stock type according to market forces, with cattle and sheep often highly saleable. Various species also have different production attributes and uses, with goats providing rapid rates of postdrought herd recovery, sheep providing seasonal income opportunities, and cattle providing prestige and social status in some communities.Non-livestock farmers have often been observed to take up livestock keeping as an adaptation strategy to climate variability, usually starting with small stock. Selected livestock type depends on the availability of fodder, the capacity to thrive on crop residues, and disease resistance.A more common animal production system is poultry, which has been advocated as a key survival strategy for many southern Africa farmers (IAC, 2004). Poultry production is a well-known and proven livelihood option in most sub-Saharan countries. It is based on low cost feeds and using locally adapted chicken species which require low veterinary care.Poultry play an important role in the national economies of most developing countries and an equally important role in improving the nutritional status and incomes of many smallholder farmers and landless communities (IAC, 2004). Studies have shown that adoption of poultry production increases food security in southern Africa (Thornton et al., 2007) by providing readily harvestable animal protein to rural households, and eggs and meat that cook faster than pulses and red meat, therefore requiring less wood as fuel. Poultry are particularly important to women because of their relative ease of handling compared with larger livestock such as cattle and the fact that they can be reared on minimal space and using household waste as feed.The use of underutilised crops and animal species in managing climate change risksDespite the exceptional adaptation of livestock to local conditions, livestock experts have invested a lot of money trying to replace them with higher yielding foreign breeds that are costly to maintain, due to their low adaptation, and which are often rendered unproductive by environmental challenges. As a result, there is a risk of losing some of the adapted local breeds that could play a significant role in future adaptation to climate change. FAO estimates that up to 11% of mammalian breeds and 2% of avian breeds have become extinct in recent years with a further 210 cattle breeds and 179 sheep breeds classified as 'critical' or 'endangered' (Niggol Seo et al., 2008).Maintaining local breeds requires a multi-pronged approach, starting with respect for the rights of local custodians of these breeds, and support for their production systems. Adding value may provide a means of raising the returns on indigenous breeds, and the identification of niche markets -an example can be seen in the marketing of desert lamb in South Africa (Borron, 2006).Agriculture faces multiple challenges and expectations including the need to expand and yield 70% more compared to current output to feed the growing population. Annual cereal and meat production is expected to rise to about 3 billion and 200 million t respectively in order to meet the growing population (FAO, 2012). The higher output demand can only be met by the development of new agricultural technologies. However, agriculture is already facing pressure from scarce resources and is expected to compete for land and water with expanding urban settlements. Agriculture is also expected to serve other major fronts such as adapting to and contributing to the mitigation of climate change, and maintaining bio-diversity (FAO, 2012). While there are opportunities to meet these food, feed and energy demands through improved agricultural technologies and increased land area under production, another global avenue that has been proposed and initiated by FAO is the use of insects as food (FAO/ WUR, 2012).Insects satisfy three important requirements that make them genuine alternative food sources: they are an important source of protein and other nutrients; their use as food has ecological advantages over conventional meat and, in the long run, economic benefits for mass production as animal feed and human food through improved nutritional and health security. In addition, they are also a rich source of drugs for modern medicine, assisting in health security. Edible insects have been identified as key in complementing efforts to feed the increasing global population, and most regions of the world are already consuming them as part of their cultural and traditional values (Chavhunduka, 1975;DeFoliart, 1995;Igwe et al., 2011;FAO, 2012;FAO/WUR, 2012;Van Huis et al., 2013;Kelemu et al., 2015). Kelemu et al. (2015) have reported the existence of 470 insect species that are consumed in Africa.Van Huis et al. (2013), among other entomologists, outline the general characteristics that make insects successful living organisms in the face of varied climatic and environmental conditions. The qualities that enable insects to overcome the vagaries brought about by climate change include: high reproductive capacity; ability to fly; ability to diapause and hibernate in order to survive catastrophes; and their small size and high feed conversion efficiency, which allows them to complete their life cycle on minimal food resources. The sexual reproductive behaviour of most edible insect species promotes the exchange of genetic material among populations, thus facilitating the rise of new strains with adaptable genetic makeup. In the face of climate change, insects are therefore expected to rapidly evolve and become more adaptable. Edible insects are ready sources of food compared to crop plants and livestock that require several years of adaptive breeding in order to obtain suitable varieties under changing climatic conditions.Most edible insects have reproductive and growth patterns that are similar to most non-edible insect groups. Reproductive patterns are often characterised by adults laying many eggs, for example, an adult female of the edible chaffer beetles Eulopida mashona Arrow (Scarabaeidae spp.) consumed in Zimbabwe (Musundire et al., 2014a), lays more than 300 eggs in her lifetime. The large investment in egg production compensates for egg mortality during unforeseen disasters that may be brought about by unfavourable environmental conditions. If insects are to be used as food or animal feed, this quality is advantageous as it ensures that enough populations can emerge to satisfy food requirements.Eggs often hatch in response to environmental or climatic signals such as moisture, frequent temperature changes, or the presence of hosts.The nature and reliability of these signals is likely to change with the varying climate and subsequently, some eggs may fail to hatch, disrupting the natural life cycles of some species. While this seems a possibility, several insect species have demonstrated egg and larval diapauses, which help them synchronise their life cycles with suitable environmental and climatic conditions. Most edible insect are thus expected to rapidly adapt to the changing climate for their survival.Forecasts for climatic change in southern Africa indicate a possibility for high temperatures and in some instances, frequent droughts with consequent potential changes in the structure and function of both natural and agro-ecosystems (Lobell et al., 2008). These changes are likely to impact positively and negatively on the life processes of most edible insects. In the positive sense, high rainfall and temperature is likely to favour more insect abundance as life cycles will be shorted due to positive responses to temperature and abundant food resources.Increased water stress to some plant species will again work in the favour of some insect species, with a consequent boom in population growth as plant sap, which insects feed on, becomes more concentrated with requisite nutrients. Conversely, high rainfall and temperatures may increase the prevalence of insect diseases in natural environments and thus, negatively impact population growth. Additionally, reduced food availability in the form of plant and animal resources as a consequence of climate change, will negatively impact on insect abundance, diversity and growth.There is an urgent need to analyse the nutritional components of a variety of insects consumed in southern Africa, and postulate their roles as replacements for farmed animal and crop products in light of climate change. Most edible insect species studied in southern Africa have proximate constituents (protein, fat and energy) at higher levels than those found in the grains, grain products, vegetables and seeds consumed as a major part of the diet in many rural areas (Chitsiku, 1989;Musundire et al., 2014b). Table 3 outlines some of the proximate nutritional compositions for some edible insect species studied in Zimbabwe. Edible insects are therefore a potential good source of nutrients needed for human physiological needs and can be used to supplement diets, especially in the case of anticipated crop failure under climate change.Entomophagy or insect consumption has been widely viewed as a practice for the less hardworking persons, and the poor and marginal communities. Such associations hinder the widespread adoption of insects as food for hunger alleviation. However, with the increasingly erratic rainfall impacting the harvests of more and more crop farmers, there are fewer available grain food reserves to sustain the notion that entomophagy is for the poor. Edible insects are indeed part of the solution to addressing human food security challenges in the changing climate. These species can also be utilised as livestock feed and thus, provide a sustainable and alternative solution to crop-based fodder under the effects of climate change. To sustain insect consumption and to increase the utilisation of insects as animal feed, there is a need to develop value chains for edible species. This requires active participation by all value chain players, from the communities and traders involved in entomophagy, and the scientists and researchers involved in product development, to government agencies and potential consumers. The development of structured value chains will improve the livelihoods of participating communities, and allow for the sustainable utilisation of edible insects and the conservation of their habitats.Communication of the positive benefits associated with insect consumption is likely to increase and become more widespread in areas experiencing crop failure to help address food security challenges. This is because the inherent characteristics of edible insects allow them to grow rapidly and complete their life cycles using minimal food and space resources. Therefore, although such species will be negatively impacted by the effects of climate change through reduced food resources due to drought and flood conditions, rearing insects represents a climate change adaption strategy for farmers because they require less space, water and feed compared to cultivating crops and rearing animals. Their characteristics provide the opportunity for mass rearing/production for human consumption and/or for livestock feed.©FAO/Annie MonnardIn the face of climate change and variability, the untapped potential of new and underutilised crops and livestock resources could play a crucial role for future food and nutrition security. An evaluation of locally available, underutilised crops and livestock species for climate resilience and adaptation using modeling techniques, is necessary for the rapid analysis of production scenarios. Well-calibrated and validated models could be useful tools in the selection of drought tolerant underutilised crop and animal resources. The ability of smallholder farmers to generate adaptive diversity, select advantageous traits and exchange selected materials with friends and relatives, will be key to climate change adaptation strategies.While the international community is responding to the threats of climate change and variability by lending increased support to mitigation strategies, very little is being done to support the evolutionary breeding process -on-farm agrobiodiversity conservation -where the largest amount of the world's local crop and animal diversity is maintained for immediate use. Therefore, it is extremely important to understand the agrobiodiversity of underutilised crop and livestock resources, map out species' distributions and their threats, document who maintains/ exchanges both diversity and associated IK, and how these materials and knowledge flow from farmer to farmer. All this information will be important to guide local institutions and governments to develop suitable strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation.The importance and value of indigenous knowledge (IK) in the management of natural resources has been ignored and not adequately integrated with modern science or formal education systems. This is despite the fact that over the years it has been the main process on which rural communities have relied upon for food security and income generation. Literature shows that there is a real threat to IK due to the advent of modern religions and western education systems. IK has often been regarded as primitive, pagan and unchristian. It has also been labelled as inferior, inadequate and generally looked down upon. Policy makers and planners have ignored it and, as a consequence, not much has been done in terms of recording and documenting it in any form, or disseminating it. The presence of IK is scanty and it is generally passed on orally. However, several studies have established that IK has been used successfully by rural communities and pastoralists over the years, not only as a food security measure, but also as an income generation activity and in the management of arid and semi-arid landscapes for natural resources.Its importance has been emphasised by several studies and government and global initiatives. Since IK is passed on orally to selected community members or by families from one generation to another, there is a real possibility that it will become extinct.Due to the importance of IK however, there is an urgent need to devise modern sustainable methods of documentation and preservation of IK to avoid its disappearance. IK should also be integrated in school, college and university curriculums so that it can be mainstreamed and experience, informal experiments and intimate understanding of the environment in a given culture. In its most practical sense, IK is a traditional knowledge unique to every culture or society that can influence decision-making processes on the fundamental aspects of day-to-day activities like hunting, fishing, gathering and climate change management. Among rural communities and pastoralists, IK is regarded as a day-to-day matter of survival and regarded as a problem solving mechanism, which is not only necessary for their daily lives but also crucial for personal economic development and financial empowerment, culture preservation, income generation and poverty alleviation.IK has also been used in food production and preservation, water conservation and soil erosion, health products for diseases and supplements; and adaptation to environmental or social change. IK is a complete body of knowledge, know-how and practices maintained and developed (usually) by rural communities and pastoralists who have long interacted with their natural environment. These sets of interpretations and understandings have been part of a cultural complex that includes language, naming and classification practices for resource use, rituals and spirituality, among others. IK is mainly transferred orally from generation to generation and is rarely documented and preserved for either its continued usage, or as a knowledge bank for use by future generations. Therefore, if current knowledge is not transferred to an identified or preferred heir, as per cultural customs, it could be lost forever.Another current challenge is the marginalisation or exclusion of IK by modern society. It appears that over the years, insufficient attention has been paid to IK, contributing to its lack of development and integration within modern society. Instead, IK has been labelled as primitive by modern society and considered inferior to western-based knowledge. This has resulted in the ostracism and under-appreciation of IK, and the marginalisation of anyone practising IK to resolve medical challenges. Such individuals are regarded as primitive, looked down upon and often marginalised.Whilst the benefits of IK -including poverty eradication and food insecurity -have often been maligned and ignored, IK is now emerging as a global concern and gaining in importance because of its acceptance as a problem solving mechanism for rural communities and pastoralists. It is effective in assisting rural communities' access and share information which, more often than not, is the only source of information they have or are familiar with. Rural communities and pastoralists have limited information sources, except for IK, which they use in day-to-day activities and for problem solving. These communities own IK, share it amongst themselves orally and more or less depend upon it for their very own survival. Therefore, there is need not only to document and preserve it, but also to initiate processes that require IK to be included in school curriculums so that it can be inculcated and valued by the youth.Recent studies reveal that in the last two decades, there has been growing interest in IK. Research data shows that IK contributes to sustainable development and that social and economic development is no longer seen as the exclusive domain of western science and technology (Boven and Mohorash, 2002). IK also plays a substantial role in enhancing food security and improving agricultural productivity (Ponge, 2013). According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), food security means food is available at all times, is accessible by all persons, and is nutritionally adequate in terms of quantity, quality and variety in a given culture (Ponge, 2013). In other words, food security activities underscore food production and improved access to food in a given locality; effectively applied IK plays a crucial role in this process.Each person needs access to enough quality and safe food at all times. It is, therefore, the responsibility of each individual to find a way to contribute to food security. As mentioned already, IK has a crucial role in this process and, therefore, needs to be well documented, preserved and managed for continuity purposes, transfer and transmission. IK can also be regarded as a scientific process because it is obtained through many years of practice and, therefore, provides scientific solutions to problems that communities are facing. IK is shared communally to help solve people's problems and those who possess the knowledge, use or possess it on behalf of the community to benefits all the people within that community. This sharing of information and easy access to it, provides relevant solutions in terms of its future, proper management, documentation and preservation to avoid the threat of extinction.There are pertinent issues with regard to IK management not only in Africa but worldwide. Recent literature has increasingly recognised the importance of IK and recommended the documentation and recording of this knowledge. However, debates seem to regard IK as a preserve intended only for the survival of the poor, although some cases have been documented in developed countries like Canada and the USA. Most cases however exist in Asia, the Americas and mostly in Africa.A study by Dixit and Goyal (2011) stated that in view of IK's potential for sustainable development, it is necessary to preserve it for the benefit of future generations. The tradition of rural communities has been that IK is stored in the minds of people through various cultural forms such as folk stories, songs and drama, legends and proverbs. However, available literature has recommended that in order to conserve such a valuable resource, documentation and presentation of IK is required (Caldwell, 2007;Cetinkaya, 2009;Lwoga, 2009, Ghosh andSahoo, 2011;Kiplang'at and Rotich, 2012). As early as the seventies, the importance of IK has been denoted in literature. For example Rodney (1972), comments that African achievements of the pre-European era stand as contributions to man's heritage of beautiful creation. While this may not be conclusive, perhaps it could be interpreted to mean that prior to colonialism, Africans had their own set of knowledge known as indigenous, traditional or local knowledge. The drawback of such a knowledge system is its transferral through word of mouth, and its preservation only through peoples' minds, meaning it can easily be lost through the passing of knowledge holders. While Rodney's (1972) statement was somewhat appropriate, it remains questionable. In the meantime regardless of whether the government is (was) colonial or not, there is need for proper strategies of accessing, managing and preserving IK for future use. It is also vital to document and preserve IK for it to be understood and acquired by the future generations for their own understanding. Some global organisations such as the World Bank and the Netherlands Organisations for International Co-operation in Higher Education tend to associate IK with the poor (Ochola, 2007), which has added more fuel to the marginalisation debate. As observed by Ochola (2007) in the aforementioned studies, it was intimated that IK tends to be associated with traditional communities or the poor, and often refer to IK as primitive or archaic, reducing the value of IK and contributing to the stigmatisation of such systems. These developments brought into play the notion that in order for an individual or community to be admitted to civilisation or modern society, it had to abandon practising IK (Ochola, 2007). This stereotyping of the IK systems (IKS) has resulted in studies focusing on the poor globally. In Australia studies have focused on the Aborigines, in New Zealand -on the Maoris, in Canada the Saskatchewan, in the US the American Indians and in Kenya, the Maasai. This situation, however, is somewhat changing as the world and 'modern society' come to terms with IK as an instrument for social and economic development, poverty alleviation and food security. Indeed the World Bank (1998) has observed that an investment in the exchange of IK and its integration into the development process can help reduce poverty and hence, acknowledges the need for its preservation, management and transmission.Countries that have recognised the usefulness of IK and made attempts to document it, include China, Cuba, India, Japan and the Philippines. These countries have experienced an increase in the use of traditional and IK in their day-to-day lives, prompting Posey (2000) to observe the growing interest by the international community in the use of traditional knowledge regarding the identification of flora and fauna, and also in the genetic resources such as the agricultural and medicinal plants.Indigenous people, together with their languages, cultures and knowledge systems, are increasingly becoming the focus of international attention. South Africa is one of the leading countries to recommend documentation of IK for both historic and contemporary uses (Kaawar et al., 2000;Gericke, 1996).In a study by Thandeka et al. (2011), the role of traditional leafy vegetables (TLVs) for food security provision in the households of rural KwaZulu Natal, was investigated. The study aimed at identifying and assessing rural households' levels of awareness, consumption and attitudes towards TLVs.The survey results revealed that red-rooted pigweed, blackjack and pumpkin leaves were found to be the most popular for food security because they supplied leaves, seed and fruit (Thandeka et al., 2011).While the study showed that there was a general positive attitude towards TLVs among household members and that consumption was significant to their nutrition status, it was also found that the use of TLVs was declining with time -possibly due to changes in customs and land use.The study concluded that due to a variety of reasons, the availability of TLVs has been declining over the years, and indicated the need for preservation because of their demonstrated importance to household food security. The study recommended appropriate nutritional education and communication strategies to help change attitudes and behaviour towards the consumption of traditional foods among the youth. Other strategies like the production, processing, preparation and marketing of such foods to address the food culture in relation to IK were also recommended.In Tanzania, Msuya (2007) investigated the challenges and opportunities in the protection and preservation of IK in Africa. Specific examples were taken from the Maasai pastoralists and the Sambaa and Zigua traditional medicine men of north-eastern Tanzania. The study argued that there is a threat of IK extinction due to the lack of documentation and preservation; there is also a problem of protecting the knowledge from those who tend to use it for their own purposes without acknowledging the source and/ or even patenting it as their own. Ethical issues in IKS were also discussed with emphasis on returning IK benefits to the owners of the knowledge, as well as involving more people in IK research. One of the major findings of the study among the Maasai pastoralists is their knowledge and experience of supplementing their animals' diet with minerals, which not only provides resistance to disease, but also enhances their appetite, growth, fertility and milk production. This is a typical example of true IK that belongs to the community and is useful for poverty alleviation and food security, but which requires a platform where it can be captured,©FAO/Giulio Napolitano stored and disseminated. The study recommended adaptation of appropriate IK policies, establishment of IK databases and resource centres, the involvement of government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in IKS, and the formation of collaborative teams with other developing countries (Msuya, 2007).In the coastal part of Kenya, the Taita people -locally known as Wadawida -consider TLVs as not only a delicacy but as an important source of dietary nutrients, containing compounds that have immune strengthening properties and vitamins. Both wild and domesticated TLVs contain high levels of essential elements such as calcium, iron, zinc and other minerals, making them complimentary to cereal crops that are staple foods for many households in Taita and other parts of Africa (Thandeka et al., 2011). The Taita people regard TLVs as a cheap and sustainable food resource crucial for their food security and nutritional wellbeing and have been using them since time immemorial. The Taita peoples' IK has been associated with the preservation and storage of food for later use and is orally passed on -especially to younger girls in the households.The author of this chapter has attempted to search for any efforts on the documentation and preservation of IK among the Taitas. The search did not yield much but some attempts have been made, for instance by Mwadime (1996), who did a study on changes in environmental conditions and their indicators for monitoring household food security. There is also a Taita Research Station in Taita, set up by the University of Helsinki. While this is a locally based centre, it is run by foreigners without any native person on the management board to provide local input. Indeed it is this state of affairs that prompted this author to undertake a study to address such knowledge gaps as revealed by the two examples mentioned above.This research hopes to encourage the establishment of IK resource centres in the county governments in Kenya, as well as a national IK resource centre. In addition, the research hopes to encourage the integration of IK within school curriculums to equip youths with the skills to take on active roles in the use of IK, as well as documenting, preserving and transferring IK for future generations, not only for the Taitas but the whole of Kenya as well.It would appear the Government of Kenya (GoK) has joined her neighbours (Tanzania and Uganda) in their attempts to document, preserve and protect IK. An e-search by the author of this chapter yielded two relevant documents, namely, the National Policy on Traditional Knowledge, Genetic Resources andTraditional Cultural Expressions, 2009 (GoK, 2009), and a 'concept note' concerning IK from the then Ministry of Higher Education Science and Technology (MoHEST) on mapping and documenting IK in science, technology and innovation in Kenya (GoK, 2010). The first document was a submission by GoK to the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore in Geneva. According to this policy document, it was developed in response to a growing need compounded by the realisation that IK is being created every day, and is evolving as a response of individuals and communities to the challenges of their social development. Additionally, the policy aims to develop a system that does more than merely document and preserve traditional knowledge created in the past, which may be on the brink of disappearance (GoK, 2009). In other words, GoK is concerned with the promotion and dissemination of the creative and innovative practices of IK, and preserving them for the continuation of national development.It is hoped that the preservation of IK will encourage and foster creativity and innovation; as well as avoid plagiarism of the goods and services developed through IK by commercial prospectors and scientific bodies. This way, genetic resources -often dubbed the green gold by the corporate sector -of developed countries will also be protected. It is estimated that the market value of products produced by drug companies based on genetic resources (partially biological) are in excess of e6.7 billion today, comparable only to the market in computers and the accessories thereof. This comparison confirms that IK has huge potential for poverty alleviation and food security, and needs to be protected against exploitation through patenting as well as through the saving, documenting and storing of it through various databases and other forms of information technology. Subsequently, relevant stakeholders and organisations like central government, research organisations and universities, especially in the developing countries, need to be more involved in these activities using information technology.The concept note or proposed research is an attempt by GoK to address IK among various communities, cultures and tribes of Kenya to find out the quantity of IK available in the country, the identification and documentation processes, and the implications of this knowledge for the economy and development within the framework of Kenya's 2030 vision (GoK, 2010). Towards this end, GoK has offered a clear concept of IK and its values, benefits, forms of communication and organisation; its importance in decision-making processes; its preservation, and the processes that will be used as a working tool and guideline in its mapping and documentation for all government departments and relevant stakeholders in the country. This effort is aimed at benefitting indigenous or local populations by improving food production and, among others, resources such as TLVs and edible fish oils; preserving agroforests and seed and tree species; and enhancing the cultivation, harvesting and storage of household foods for future consumption.Such efforts clearly demonstrate GoK's appreciation of IK and the contributions of IKS to complement our understanding of fields including medicine, animal husbandry, resource management, agriculture and educational practices (GoK 2010). It therefore follows that with these efforts, GoK has recognised and taken measures to safeguard its traditional knowledge systems that have been transferred only through oral communication. Given that studies have shown the underutilisation of some IK methods and practices, GoK has also recommended the need to study, identify and integrate the useful ones with contemporary research agendas in order to enable users to respond to global opportunities and challenges (GoK, 2010). GoK has also indicated the need to support efforts in local technologies and systems of knowledge, since compared with many modern technologies, traditional techniques have proven to be effective, inexpensive, locally available and culturally appropriate. Indeed in some cases, IK is a matter of survival to the people who generated these systems. IK is also cumulative, representing generations of experiences, careful observations and sometimes trial and error experiments. It is regretful that as it is now, when an old IK holder passes on, a whole library disappears.While the issue of protecting and preserving IK has been debated and highlighted in various forums, there are few discussions on the promotion, publicity and awareness of IK. A review of recent studies reveals the extensive efforts that have been directed towards the protection and preservation of IK in Africa. Inevitably, this has brought into play a debate on the promotion, development and protection of existing IK, and the question of which of the two should be given priority. While no effort is being spared on strategies for documenting and preserving IK, the same zeal should be applied in terms of promoting IK awareness to a wider audience.It is only through strategic and sustainable promotional campaigns that relevant stakeholders, including policy makers and planners, the youth and academics, will come to know and appreciate the usefulness and importance of IK in terms of income generation and food security. While protection and preservation is important, IK awareness should be increased for relevant stakeholders and the general public to ensure it remains pertinent in forums, curriculum developments, and plans and policy development discussions, culminating in the inclusion of IK in strategic plans going forward.There are various strategies for promotion, publicity and increasing awareness depending on the targeted audience. While it has been generally accepted that IK can reduce poverty, hunger and generate income for pastoralists and rural communities, there is need to develop new tools that can help focus debates and initiatives. A whole new range of modern promotional information and communication technologies (ICTs) should be developed to include webpages on policy briefs, conference papers and presentations, and journal articles dedicated to IK and targeting national and local governments, donors, national academia and other relevant stakeholders. This strategy would encourage a shared understanding of how IK can contribute to reducing poverty; and of where investment in research is most needed.Since IK is mostly transmitted orally -leading to its marginalisationthere is need to involve and invest in raising the awareness, appreciation and understanding of IK among the new generation who spend most of their time in formal western based education systems. School curriculums expose youths to modern ICT learning skills, but with little or zero appreciation of IK and its existence, thus marginalising IK further. There is therefore a need to establish IK databases in libraries and information centres, make use of modern ICT tools to disseminate IK, and include IK teaching within school curriculums. Indeed teaching and disseminating IK using ICT tools including PowerPoint presentations rather than outdated teaching methodologies often still used in some parts of Africa, should rouse and sustain not only their interest but motivate the young generation to appreciate and accept the benefits of IK given their appetite for web-based learning and social media. Indeed, this is one area that should be exploited to the maximum thus ensuring IK is integrated into the global knowledge system to ensure its transfer and continued survival.The lack of ICT infrastructure in most developing countries, is proving to a big challenge and the main task at hand is to convince governments and other stakeholders to invest heavily in ICT infrastructure. On the other hand, although ICTs are being touted as the best thing for the documentation, preservation and promotion of IK, care must be taken to avoid the degradation of indigenous culture and the intellectual rights of indigenous people. Therefore, while governments are investing in ICT infrastructure and other resources, appropriate policies and guidelines should be formulated to safeguard indigenous peoples' intellectual property rights by ensuring best knowledge management practises and ethical considerations.Given the increased recognition of IK's importance, it follows that appropriate arrangements need to be done for in-country recording, storing, application and transfer of local IK within and between national and international communities (Grenier, 1998). Attempts to document IK must be considered, along with significant efforts to document, preserve, store and disseminate IK to make it more accessible not only for the future generations, but also to scholars and researchers. These kinds of projects need huge financial support since they are expensive and most likely long term. They will need huge collaborative efforts from individuals and governments as well as NGOs and relevant international organisations.In the developed world, IK has been given the priority it requires and countries such as Zimbabwe have set up national IK depository centres as well as local IK resource centres (Made, 2000). However, this has not happened in most developing counties and this must change.Although the need for IK has received increased recognition in many countries, this knowledge is still passed on through oral tradition and documented only in people's minds -particularly by community eldersand when they pass on, their knowledge is lost. However, as mentioned previously, Dexit and Goyal (2011) affirm that it is necessary to preserve IK for the benefit of future generations.  , 2013). From the reviewed literature it is obvious that IK has not been paid the attention it deserves, contributing to its disappearance. Such studies re-affirm the need for attempts to conserve IK to be undertaken sooner rather than later, and to compliment government efforts in preserving, managing and transferring IK to youths for its future use.As already mentioned, IK has never been put down in writing but is passed on orally from one generation to another. This presents challenges regarding the documentation, management and preservation of IK. Boikhutso (2012) suggests that addressing these challenges could help build partnerships between relevant stakeholders like research organisations, universities and government departments for joint problem solving and appreciation of IK.According to Boikhutso (2012), the lack of coordination in research activities involving IK makes it difficult for institutions to cope with IK preservation demands. It has therefore been suggested that a comprehensive research coordination framework is necessary for IK monitoring and to help different parties share practices and lessons on IK. In most countries of the developing world, IK is not coordinated at all, particularly in libraries and universities, or by NGOs and information centres, and neither do they collaborate on research and dissemination of the same. There is a need for national policies and guidelines to ensure related institutions and stakeholders involved in IK network regarding its documentation and dissemination. Further, those countries without national indigenous centres should set up the same immediately due to their crucial role in IK protection.IK is usually preserved in peoples' minds and cultural practices which are often eroded by failing memories and death. In addition, IK is shared, transferred and communicated orally through traditions and cultures which is not consistent and is often fragmentary. Since IK is crucial for agricultural development, it is essential that it is managed and preserved in a systematic way using best knowledge management practices. IK is disappearing fast due to barriers that affect its transmission between community leaders, as well as between generations. There is therefore a need to determine a model for managing agricultural IK before most of it is completely lost. Haumba (2015) gives an example of the indigenous people in Kaliro District, Uganda, who have forgotten how to manage traditional food plants, previously a common practice in their culture.Such an example confirms that when older generations die before passing on their IK, valuable knowledge important for sustainable agriculture and food security is lost with them.While the idea of integrating IK within schools and college curriculums is acceptable as a knowledge transfer mechanism, Msuya (2007) has also posited a caution in that not much research has been conducted in regards to IK. Hence, there is difficulty in obtaining knowledge and incorporating it within the educational curriculum for transmission from one generation to another. While knowledge generated by research institutions and universities is considered a valuable resource that can be used for development, and is well organised and disseminated to a wider community or audience, this is not the case with IK. IK drawn from a wide range of sustainable agricultural practices, environmental conservation, medical techniques, and health practices among others, is still frowned upon and herein lies the problem. Whereas modern scientific research processes are highly appreciated, in many respects IK is not or is still questioned.This chapter has established that IK is crucial and still relevant to pastoralists and rural communities and is beginning to gain global attention in terms of its documentation, preservation and use for natural resource management. It has also briefly explained the various forms of IK contributing to pests and disease management, food security and income generation. Concern for the documentation, preservation and dissemination of IK is gaining momentum but as established through various studies and initiatives, processes are not moving fast enough.Since IK is transferred orally, drastic measures need to be taken sooner rather than later to ensure that IK is not lost altogether.IK is used in several fields including sustainable agricultural practices, environmental conservation and medical advancement, all of which contribute to the socio-economic development of a people and by extension, the country. If preservation of IK is not fully addressed, access to this knowledge will be limited, especially given the fast rate of socioeconomic advancement, lack of coordinated research and the lack of research dissemination. Although IK is seemingly readily available to the general public, it would seem only the educated few know about its existence through research, conferences or seminars and workshops. It can be argued that IK is available in libraries, museums and to some extent in laboratories, but at present it seems these institutions play a protective rather than an open access role. Most libraries are also founded on the western model and offer their services to educated users -hardly a conducive atmosphere for a pastoralist or rural farmer. Even university©FAO/Caroline Thomas students can struggle to use the readily available e-resources. A study by Nwezeh (2010) confirmed that some students went through their entire university programmes without using the library. It is in view of this that despite the intellectual property rights, it is crucial for government officials and policy makers to craft guidelines that will assist in meeting the needs of both the marginalised and the non-marginalised communities for their information needs in regard to the use of IK. It is also important that the awareness and use of IK is given the attention it deserves. It is, therefore, vital for policies and guidelines to address the challenges involving IK protection and preservation and initiate appropriate mechanisms for its implementation.Some of the challenges of documenting and disseminating IK relate to its crucial and unique characteristics (e.g. done by oral transmission) which can be culture specific. Other challenge is that IKs does not have a universal scope and meaning that applies to all communities. A study by Haumba (2015) concluded that due to cultural and geographical diversity, each IK practice is culturally distinct from another, making it unique. IK custodians therefore try as much as possible to safeguard their own IK practices from other indigenous communities. One case cites the traditional healers of Kaliro District in Uganda who refused to reveal their healing secrets to their daughters, fearing they would share these secretes with the families they would marry into.Further to the above conclusions, the following recommendations are put forward with a view of improving the documentation and conservation of IK for natural resource management.Relevant awareness programmes should be developed to increase the recognition of the value of IK for food security, poverty alleviation and income generation among IK custodians to promote its preservation. At the same time, it is also prudent that pastoralists and rural communities share such knowledge with the younger generation so it is not lost. There is also need to disseminate this knowledge more widely to avoid the risk of IK becoming extinct; this should be achieved through its incorporation within formal education systems. Open access to IK should also be encouraged by libraries, museums and information centres.Both local (regional) and national governments should immediately begin to establish IK resource centres not only as a matter of policy but as a national importance. The need for regional centres is important because each region or county has its own distinct culture, traditional values and by extension, IK. The functions of these centres would include:• Jointly with the relevant ministry or arm of the national government and all stakeholders, to systematically document, preserve and disseminate all IK information for use by relevant stakeholders. Modern scientific methods using ICTs should be used including the creation of databases and e-resources on IK to make it more attractive for use, especially by the younger generation. The use of social media should be fully exploited since it is the current trend amongst the youth. Libraries, information centres and research organisations including universities should conduct joint research activities on IK, and network/collaborate to encourage online dissemination of their research findings. All stakeholders should be encouraged and enabled to share or exchange information freely online.It is not possible to recommend all or most of the positive developments that could be undertaken within this chapter. However, there is need to deliberate, consult and share widely in terms of the challenges of documentation and conservation of IK going forward. Suffice to say, there is urgent need for all stakeholders to come together and chart the way forward in regards to further research and collaboration. Donors and national governments should allocate more funding to support future research in the key areas of IK documentation and dissemination forIndigenous knowledge (IK) is increasingly recognised as important in developing mitigation and adaptation strategies for climate change. In this context, the chapter presents Lesotho's experience with the Machobane Farming System (MFS), an IK system to facilitate the sustainable production of crops, and its use for tackling the challenges of climate change. Lesotho is a landlocked country within South Africa, it has a population of less than 2 million and is highly vulnerable to climatic change. Agriculture remains a major source of income for more than 80% of the rural population. The arable land is only about 9% of the total land area of 30,355 km2 and the current crops (maize, sorghum, wheat, beans and peas) yield less than 2 t/ha, which is about half the level achieved in the late 1970s. Despite its contribution to Lesotho's development, the rural economy has been languishing due to poor land management and farming practices. Among other difficulties, the overall decline has been attributed to poor weather, declining soil fertility and poor management of water resources. Communities living on marginal lands (i.e. land with poor soil characteristics), whose livelihoods are highly dependent on degraded natural resources, are among the most vulnerable to climate change. The MFS is a farming practice, which is highly adaptable and resilient to climate change, enabling farmers to harvest a variety of crops throughout the year. In this study, as well as using a questionnaire survey documenting the historical implications, current status and future prospects of the MFS and its adaptability to climate change, the physicochemical and microbial characteristics of MFS soil were assessed and compared with soil from non-MFS practicing fields.The MFS soils exhibited a slightly acidic to slightly alkaline pH with high levels of organic carbon, available phosphorus, base cations (K, Ca, Mg and Na) and a diverse group of fertility indicator microorganisms, including Bacillus and nitrogen-fixing bacteria (NfB). Overall, fields in which farmers were practicing the MFS remained green throughout the year in comparison to non-MFS fields. Although there are discernible challenges for the widespread application of the MFS, it is a climatefriendly farming system that has potential to be easily disseminated, combining IK and technology to produce sustainably high yields of a variety of crops throughout the year.The Kingdom of Lesotho is a country located in the southern part of Africa, situated within the Southern African plateau with a land area of 30,355 km2, at an elevation between 1,500 m and 3,482 m above sea level (Flannery, 1977). It is divided into four agro-ecological zones (Table 1) based on climate and elevation: lowlands (17%), Senqu River valley (9%), foothills (15%) and mountains (59%) (Cauley, 1986). Currently, about 9% of its land area is arable, the remainder of the country, being dominatedby rangeland, is suitable for extensive livestock production (Bureau of Statistics and Planning, 2007). The highest population density is found in the lowlands of the country, where most of the arable land mass is located.Here the increasing population pressure compounds the problems of serious soil erosion and land degradation (Bureau of Statistics and Planning, 2007). Rainfall is sporadic, and drought, hailstorms and winters can be quite severe. Even the estimated area of arable land in use is declining due to the erosion of the already thin layer of soil and limited vegetation. The high prevalence of mortality due to the AIDS pandemic results in less people being available to plough or cultivate the land, and in turn, the total cultivated land in use shrinks and decreases progressively.Wind and water carry 40 million t of soil away from Lesotho every year (Flannery, 1977). Weather is partly to blame for the soil erosion, but poor management and an ancient land tenure system also play their part. Lesotho has been described as one of the least forested countries in sub-Saharan Africa. However, trees are cut down for firewood and new shoots are eaten by animals, adding to soil erosion and further reducing the land available for agriculture. The soils of the Senqu River valley are an example of this erosion and it remains the most unproductive area of arable land in the region (Cauley,1986).  2007), and identified eleven adaptation technology options in agriculture -most of which address land and water management in agricultural production (Lesotho Meteorological Services, 2004;Dejene et al., 2011).Evaluation of the different types of farming practices (systems) currently in use in Lesotho is crucial, especially under conditions where the existing arable land (9%) is decreasing over time. In a recent assessment of farming practices (Mekbib et al., 2012(Mekbib et al., , 2015)), the Machobane Farming System (MFS), was concluded to be one of the most sustainable practices due to its high adaptability and resilience to climate change. It was developed, in the 1950s by Dr Machobane, for smallholder farmers who rely on the natural resources that exist around them (Robertson, 1994). However, there are uncertainties and challenges surrounding the use of the MFS.1. To develop scientific evidence that the MFS is a more useful indigenous farming practice in Lesotho in comparison to other farming systems. 2. To develop baseline information for the sustainable use of the MFS and how its practices can be applied to smallholder farming areas in Africa.Crop production is one of the most important components of farming systems in Lesotho, across all of the agro-ecological zones. The arable land is dominated by maize (63% of the planted land), followed by sorghum (28%) and wheat (12%), whereas beans and peas only account for 5% and 3% (of areas planted) respectively (Bureau of Statistics and Planning, 2007). The north and south-western lowlands, the Senqu River valley, the foothills and the mountain regions are the main cropping regions in the country. The amount and distribution of precipitation, as well as other climatic conditions in the area, are an important factor influence on crop production activity. The south-western lowlands are among the more susceptible areas to the erratic agro-climatic conditions in the region.Currently, six farming systems or technologies are practiced in Lesotho, namely: block farming (IRIN, 2009), mono-cropping (traditional farming), conservation farming (SWaCAP, 2001), keyhole gardening (Taylor, 2008), double digging (using a 24 inch [610 mm] deep trench) and the MFS (Machobane and Robert, 2004). Data depicting the percentage of farmers engaged in each farming system is not available. These farming systems are promoted with the obvious goal of assisting rural livelihoods, conserving the environment, and generating income. However, their response to climate change impacts, as well as the adaptability and resilient properties of these systems, remain a crucial factor for consideration in the selection of the best farming practice for rural livelihoods in Lesotho.Maize is the basic staple food crop in Lesotho, contributing to 40% of the population's daily diet. Sorghum is the next most important cereal, it is used in the preparation of porridge, traditional beer brewing and preparation of animal feed. Beans and peas have been grown as cash crops and are major sources of protein in the local diet. The areas under cultivation, and the yields produced, are very erratic and closely related to rainfall figures. Other major factors -soil infertility; the inadequate use of organic fertilisers; inefficient technologies, characterised by untimely planting; poor land preparation, including inadequate weeding; and delayed harvesting -also greatly affect crop production in Lesotho.In Lesotho, livestock production plays an important role, both economically and socially, next to crop production, and contributes 30% to the country's agricultural gross domestic product (Turner, 1993). The sub-sector consists mainly of sheep (45%), goats (30%) and cattle (25%) (Bureau of Statistic and Planning, 2002). Other livestock reared in Lesotho, include horses, donkeys, pigs and poultry. Cattle are mostly raised for subsistence livelihoods, specifically for draught power (i.e. as transport and for ploughing and weeding heavy soils), milk, fuel (dung), and meat. The 1996 distribution of Lesotho's livestock population, in different agro-ecological zones, is depicted in Table 1.Livestock are reared near homesteads for half of the year due to seasonal changes (the onset of winter), management practices (shearing and dipping), and to minimise the risk of theft. Thus, most stock have inadequate rations during long periods of the year, in terms of the poor nutritive value of fodder and forage available around the homesteads. This leads to an insufficient intake of dry matter by livestock. Though in some remote areas, rangelands are under-grazed, most village pasture areas are overgrazed. Farmers in Lesotho do not have a tradition of fodder husbandry on arable land, or conserving fodder as silage or hay. Thus, overstocking results in rangeland deterioration, which in turn affects livestock productivity -among other factors, such as the lack of proper feeding and disease control, poor breeding practices and stock theft.The livestock sub-sector in Lesotho is less prone to erratic climatic conditions compared to arable agriculture. Good rains positively affect rangelands and the water flow in streams and rivers, on which livestock depend. However, the productivity of the sub-sector is severely affected by the failure to maintain an appropriate balance between range resources and animal population, as well as the failure to adhere to traditional management practices (World Bank, 2001). The trend of a decline in the numbers of livestock and the sub-sector's output is attributed to declining animal nutrition, which has mainly resulted from the degradation and overgrazing of rangelands (Messner, 1989).Climate change offers both opportunities and risks for human development. As per IPCC's assessments, most parts of the world are likely to experience negative net impacts on food security due to falling crop yields, declining human health and shortages of water (FAO, 2011). Though no country is expected to escape the direct and/or indirect impacts of climate change, the magnitude of these impacts is likely to be worse in poorer countries, in which the majority of the population mainly depend on natural resources for survival. In addition, efforts to promote sustainable human development and environmental recovery in agriculture and forestry may also be negatively impacted. Farmers living in all four agro-ecological zones have noticed that the climate is changing. Long periods of drought and exceptionally heavy rainfall were noted by all focus group discussion (FGD) participants, selected from each of the four agroecological zones of Lesotho to discuss how indigenous knowledge (IK) helps them identify the impacts of climate change (Mekbib et al., 2012). The changing climate has brought about an eminent shift in the planting season, which has excluded certain crops like peas and beans in the mountain areas. Climate change has also decreased yields, causing poorly developed buds, greater pest infestation, drought, flooding and hail storms. In the Senqu River Valley, FGD participants noticed that no particular crop was resistant to climate change. A shift in precipitation patterns ultimately leads to a shift in sowing and harvesting seasons, from which unexpected and disastrous situations can arise before crops are harvested from the fields. In the mountains, locally known as mantsonyane, and foothills rainfall is higher, but the cropping season is much shorter due to the early onset of frost, thus, the climate favours animal farming. An increase in precipitation in winter may cause increased activity in frontal weather systems, which may result in heavier snowfall and strong, devastating winds that often bring disasters and human suffering, posing significant risks to crop production and animal husbandry in Lesotho. In fact, some people have attributed these negative climate impacts to the construction of Mohale dam. In addition, every year, wind and water carries 40 million t of soil out of Lesotho (European Forum on Rural Development Cooperation, 2002), a process which can also be regarded as intensified due to the impacts of climate change.In Lesotho, the specific measures taken to adapt to changing climate conditions have varied from one agro-ecological zone to the other. In the mountains, some farmers mentioned that they were experimenting to find out which crops are best suited to the short and shifting growing period. In the dry Senqu River valley, though no unique (innovative) measures have been implemented, mulching and returning residue to the fields was observed to be the best way of conserving moisture. Farmers in the Senqu River valley have also proposed water harvesting and the construction of small dams for irrigation during the dry period, as an effective adaptive measure in response to climate change. In the foothills at Pitseng village, farmers mentioned several adaptive measures that they had taken during FGDs, such as:• Ploughing the land whilst the plant residue is still there.• Avoiding burning the plant residue in order to conserve soil moisture and not destroy the nutrients. • Establishing appropriate sowing seasons for different crops to cope with the shifting seasons caused by climate change. Farmers in Pitseng used to sow maize in August, but due to climate change impacts they have shifted the sowing season for maize forwards to the end of July.In the mountains and foothills, though land productivity is low and subject to wide fluctuations, farmers are still experimenting and carrying out ongoing farm trials with different crops. These trials help farmers to establish which crops can cope best with the shifting sowing season using the MFS. According to the founder of this indigenous farming practice, Machobane, climate change constraints can be overcome by the rational exploitation of the resource base. This is achieved using a simple, lowinput technique based on intercropping and crop diversification, with the localised application of manure and ashes.The benefits of applying organic amendments (manure) and ash are well recognised by farmers using the MFS. Manure provides vital nutrients for plant uptake and enhances long-term soil fertility by improving its physical properties. Ash, on the other hand, provides nutrients such as potassium, and has a liming effect on acidic soils. Though the appropriate application rate of manure and ashes varies depending on the soil quality, crop and availability of amendments; intercropping and relay cropping in a small area maintains crop harvesting throughout the year. Such field practices show that the resilience of the MFS to climate change is primarily in the form of drought resistance and the maintenance of soil fertility and moisture throughout the year. It was noticeable in the mountain and foothill villages practicing the MFS, that the practice sustains soil fertility by releasing nutrients slowly and conserving moisture.With MFS field practices, a 0.4 ha area of land is considered sufficient to ensure food security for an average family of five members (one third of the area conventionally thought necessary) (Machobane and Robert, 2004). In Lesotho, seven basic crops are commonly grown: maize, potatoes, sorghum, wheat, peas, beans and Cucurbits (pumpkins and melons). When these crops are relay-intercropped in a 0.4 ha plot, the cropping pattern allows food to be produced almost all year round, reducing the likelihood of total crop failure and increasing productivity (Machobane and Robert, 2004). The MFS has shown great potential compared to other farming systems, allowing crops to grow in the field throughout the year whilst sustaining soil fertility. Results obtained from physicochemical (Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10) and microbiological (Figures 11 and 12) data analyses demonstrate that the MFS's resistance to climate change has great potential to increase family food security.There are some basic behavioural and technical requirements to adopt the MFS as an agricultural farming system. The basic behavioural aspects include the self-reliance of farmers, enabling them to achieve food security without external assistance. It is the farmers' will that makes the difference. Farmers must be convinced that they can improve crop production by fully exploiting their resource base, through their readiness to work hard, learn and teach, and with a commitment to help their neighbours (Machobane and Robert, 2004). Although the specifics of this farming system may be appropriate only in the temperate climate of Lesotho, many of the principles outlined here are also applicable to smallholder farming areas in tropical Africa.The MFS uses animal manure and wood ash as fertiliser. For the initial land preparation, approximately 7500 kg of manure and ash are used per hectare. Depending upon the type of soil, different mixtures of organic material are applied as required. About the same amount of organic matter is applied to the field before each cropping season. By the fourth year, the fertility of the soil will have improved, and less organic fertiliser will be needed each cropping season then after. Plant leaf litter and/or remains (mulching) can also be used as effective soil cover to maintain moisture and provide decomposing material to the plant.The MFS ensures complete crop cover throughout the year, because winter crops (e.g., wheat and peas) are planted in April-May (for harvest in January-March), and summer crops (e.g., maize, beans and sorghum) are planted in August-October (for harvest in November-December). The system uses minimum tillage (complete plowing of the field is only done once every 5 years) and thus, soil movement is minimised. Since crops are in the field throughout the year, grazing of livestock is not allowed. After harvesting, the residues left in the field build up humus that serves as sources of nutrients (fertiliser) for the next cropping cycle.Lesotho's climate is temperate, with a warm summer and a cool winter. Late or early frosts, hail and seasonal drought are not uncommon. The Machobane system allows for the planting of cool weather crops, such as peas, wheat and potatoes, which perform well in winter conditions. In the summer months, maize, beans, pumpkins and other crops are intercropped (Figure 2). However, because Lesotho can experience drought in the summer, drought-resistant crops, like sorghum (aptly known as the 'camel of the plant kingdom'), are also planted to reduce the risk of crop failure.In the first planting season, the field is ploughed, harrowed or disked to prepare the soil. A spade or hoe can be used to make the furrows or rows where the seed is to be planted. In April, the winter crops (wheat and peas) are planted. A double row of wheat is planted, with 30 cm between the two rows. Then a gap of 2 m is left, and a double row of peas is planted, again with 30 cm between the rows. Then, comes another gap of 2 m, followed by a double row of wheat, a 2 m gap, another row of peas, and so on. In August, the first batch of potatoes is planted in the 2 m gaps between the rows of wheat and peas; only half of the field is planted at this time. Starting in November, the rest of the field is planted with a second batch of potatoes (Figure 1).In October the summer crops are planted in a complex intercropping pattern of maize, beans, sorghum, pumpkin and watermelon. In the 30 cm spaces between the double rows of wheat and peas, a single furrow is dug. Maize and beans are planted in this furrow, with 30 cm between the maize plants, and 15 cm between the beans. Every 4 m, two pumpkin seeds are added to the maize and bean hill. In every other row, watermelon is planted rather than pumpkin. Finally, sorghum is sown along the entire furrow (Figure 2).After the first batch of potatoes are harvested in December, vegetables such as rape, cabbage, and spinach can be planted.• Tillage Once the crops are planted in the field, minimum tillage is done using a spade or a hoe. A hand-pushed ripper can also be used to open the furrow to plant the summer and winter crops. New crops can then be planted without harming the standing crops.• Weeding Weeds in the field should be controlled as they can harbor insects and pests, and can also compete with plants for moisture, light and nutrients. The first weeding is carried out with a hoe immediately after crop emergence, to break up and aerate the soil around the crops and kill the weeds. The second weeding is done when the crops are about 1 month old. Crop residues are left in the field, helping to improve soil fertility and hinder weed growth.• Natural pest control Natural pest control is encouraged in the system, while chemical pesticides are discouraged. Since some crops act as natural repellents to certain insects, the intercropping practice contributes to pest control. The deliberate crop rotation helps to break the life-cycle of insect pests. Regular weeding throughout the year also helps to control pests and diseases. Additionally, some plants can create an unsuitable environment for insects, for example, the pumpkin plant has hair which irritates insects. Home remedies for pest control may also be used (Table 3).• Relay intercropping The relay intercropping practice involves sowing crops at different times of the year to avoid competition during the growing period. Time spent weeding one crop helps prepare the soil for the crop that will follow. The use of available land is maximised with the production of several crop species.• Relay harvesting The relay intercropping system that the MFS adopts allows for the staggered harvesting of crops, manually throughout the year. No machinery is used for harvesting. The winter crop of peas can be harvested in November (as green peas) and in March (as grain). Harvesting of wheat starts in January. The first batch of potatoes is harvested from late November to March; the second batch is harvested from the beginning of April. The potatoes are harvested as soon as the leaves and stems have become dry using a spade or digging fork. Green maize can be harvested in December and January, and green beans from December to February. Watermelons can be harvested from February and from March to May, pumpkins should be harvested. Beans in grain form are harvested from April to the end of June; rape, cabbage, and spinach can be harvested during the same period. Grain or dry maize and sorghum are harvested in June and July.The study area covers the four agro-ecological zones of Lesotho: the highlands, foothills, lowlands and Senqu River valley, as depicted in Figure 3. From each of the selected farmers' fields (Machobane and non-Machobane), undisturbed samples were collected from the minipits at the depth of 0-20cm to determine the soil's bulk density (Blake and Hartge, 1986) and water reaction (Klute, 1986). Samples were collected according to pedological horizons, based on the slope/relief of the area for both physicochemical and microbiological analyses. Data about the type of vegetation around each mini-pit, the position of the mini-pit on the slope, the type of parent materials in the area and the soil texture was recorded according to the United States Department of Agriculture's method.Silt, clay and sand fractions of the analysed soil samples are shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6. These sites showed significantly different levels of sand, silt and clay. The silt and clay contents of the soil are good indicators of the soil's nutrient retention capacity. These sites are grouped into two categories those with silt contents > 40% (i.e. PMFS, PNMFS and TNMFS) and those with silt contents < 30% (i.e. MHNMFS, QNMFS, QMFS, TMFS, MHMFS, BBMFS and BBNMFS). The sand content from all of these sites can be grouped into three classes: those with > 50% sand contents (i.e. MHMFS, BBMFS and BBNMFS); sites with sand contents between 35 and 48% (i.e. QMFS, TMFS, TNMFS, QNMFS); and those with sand contents ≤ 35% (i.e. PNMFS, MHNMFS and PMFS) (Figure 4). The clay contents from all these sites can also be grouped into two groups: those with > 30% (i.e. TMFS, PNMFS, PMFS and MHNMFS) and those with clay contents < 25% (i.e. MHMFS, BBMFS, TNMFS, QMFS, BBNMFS and QNMFS).Generally, the soil pH can be grouped into two classes. Those with pH > 6.0 (i.e. TNMFS, QNMFS, MHMFS, MHNMFS, TMFS and QMFS) and those with pH < 5.0 (i.e. PNMFS, BBMFS, BBNMFS and PMFS) (Figure 7). These sites had significantly different levels of acidity and alkalinity. The levels of organic carbon (C) can be grouped into two classes: soil with organic C < 1% (i.e. BBNMFS, PNMFS, BBMFS and QNMFS) (Figure 8) and those with organic C > 1.5%. These sites had significantly different levels of organic carbon. Available phosphorus (P)The available P was generally low and could be grouped into two classes: soils with available P of > 10 mg/kg (i.e. BBNMFS, MHMFS and QMFS) and samples with < 5 mg/kg of P (Figure 9). The sites had significantly different levels of available P. Results showed that sites can be grouped into two categories based on their lime requirements: sites with lime rate > 1,500 kg/ha (i.e. PNMFS, BBMFS, BBNMFS and TNMFS) and those with lime rates < 10,000 kg/ha (MHNMFS, QNMFS, MHMFS, TMFS, QMFS and PMFS) (Figure 10).Soil samples from different agro-ecological zones of Lesotho were collected from five locations of Machobane and non-Machobane farming plots using (A4 size) brown paper bags. The samples were kept at 4°C in the fridge until processing. As a good indicator of soil fertility, the population dynamics of Bacillus spp. strains of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and strains of non-symbiotic nitrogen fixing bacteria (NFB) were determined using the methods described by Foldes et al. (2000) and Kennedy et al. (2004), respectively.Soil samples brought from Machobane practicing plots exhibited a higher number of soil fertility indicator microorganisms compared to the non-MFS soils. The total count of living NFB was 5.4 x 105 cells/ml followed by Bacillus spp. (1.96 x 105 cells/ml) (Figure 11 and 12). Soils rich in nutrients and carbon sources, not only increase the microbial population, but also the diversity of microorganisms (Colin, 2002). An increase in number could also be associated with the ability of the Bacillus spp. to fix nitrogen in nitrogen deficient soils (Colin, 2002), having an overall ameliorative effect on the soil pH. Significant differences were observed in soil pH improvement in some MFS practicing farms (Figure 7). The Bacillus spp., as a PGPR, has also been known to exert a direct effect on plant growth by producing phytohormones, increasing the solubility of inorganic phosphate, increasing iron nutrition through iron chelating siderophores and volatile compounds that affect the plant signaling pathways (Joo et al., 2004). They have also been known for their migration to aerial parts of the plant for the mediation of disease suppression activity (Gnanamanickan, 2003).Insects were identified as the major pests, followed by fungal and bacterial infections, which cause great damage to crop plants (Figure 13). Stock Borer (Busseola busca), and Bagrada Bug (Bagrada hilaris) were identified as the major insect pests, followed by aphids, which cause great damage to the crop leaves (>55%) and stem (51.5%), respectively.  -Farmers use any pesticides as per their economy for application from the nearby available markets whenever there is an outbreak. To control pests, about 44% of the respondents relied on the application of commercial pesticides and a further 30% used traditional pesticides in their farm. The formation of concoctions using various plant materials and other inputs has also been explained in the FGD in Table 2. The different types of crops that are grown at different agro-ecological zones and the types of disease/pests that commonly affect them are also listed in Table 2. The amount of precipitation and its percentage change over the years   The MFS pivots around the integration of cropping and livestock rearing activities, and requires a good understanding of land and crop management. Since its re-introduction in the early 1990s, nearly five thousand farmers have integrated this system into their land management,and have increased land productivity three-fold compared to traditional mono-cropping practices (Oakland Institute and the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, 2016).In 1991, the MFS was incorporated in the International Fund for Agricultural Development's (IFAD) Soil and Water Conservation and Agroforestry Programme (SWaCAP) (Mosenene, 1999)  , 2007). In addition, a modified form of the MFS was applied to nearly 1,500 backyard garden households. Since 2005, local NGOs, such as the Serumula Development Association and the Rural Self-Help Development Association, have also promoted the MFS in their projects. The Machobane Agricultural Development Foundation's programme met some Machobane farmers in Lesotho and was impressed by their attitude to experimenting with the use and mobilisation of their own resources; their capacity to discuss the agronomic problems that they encounter; their comparison of the results of different procedures that they had experimented with in the past; and their pride in extending their knowledge to others. Farmers have reported three main advantages of the MFS: (i) the intensification leads to much higher land productivity, (ii) potato intercropping produces large cash revenues, and (iii) their fields remain green, even when non-Machobane fields are dry during periods of drought. The number of new farmers adopting the MFS in Lesotho has continued to increase rapidly since 1991, reaching about 1,600 farmers in mid-1996. The MFS projects also promoted soil ripping to break up subsurface compaction and bana grass to reduce sheet erosion between bunds and provide fodder. It was noted that the significantly high adoption rates of the MFS were linked to farmer-driven extension initiatives (Consolidated Appeal Program, 2007). Currently, however, due to the reduced provision of support and lack of available workforce, among many other factors, the practicality and disseminative role of the MFS has weakened slightly.A guiding principle of the MFS involves the application of animal manure and plant ash, two important elements for increasing soil fertility. The availability of animal manure is difficult for some, unless it is donated from other sources. Its widespread application raises the long-term issue of the sufficient availability of organic animal manure. In the mountains, large areas of pasture land are available, albeit some areas are in a serious state of degradation due to overgrazing. On average, a household may own some 30-50 small ruminants (sheep and goats, reared for wool and mohair, and occasionally slaughtered for meat consumption), and 3-6 cattle (essentially kept for animal traction and reproduction) (MoNR, 2007).Well over half of the dung collected in the kraals (livestock enclosures) is consumed as fuel. To sustain the large scale application of the Machobane system, more dung should be produced and collected, and less should be burned. Burning less dung requires the substitution of dung briquettes for an alternative source of energy, which is still much too costly to be considered as a solution. However, fuel wood can be grown, and Machobane farmers in the mountains are aware that this has become an imperative for them to survive. Burning planted wood -a renewable source of energywould produce the required amount of ash, while increasing the amount of animal manure available for use in the fields. Increased dung production (and collection) does not require more animals, rather it requires healthier animals that are better nourished in winter when they are kept in the kraals. Short of purchasing supplementary feed -an expensive solution for the local people -a better option to provide winter feed would be to grow a fodder crop in the space provided by the improved land productivity obtained as a result of applying the MFS.Livestock is one of the biggest challenges for MFS farmers. There is endless competition over land for grazing and land for farming. Basotho people are very close to their animals, but they have problems with their management of grazing. Farmers stop cultivating because their fields are being grazed by other people's livestock. The Research and Science Development Agency itself cannot do much to improve the situation, but a new land tenure system probably could and such changes have been discussed for years. Recently introduced local government policies have potential to be advantageous for mediating competition between farmers over land for grazing and cultivating crops. Meanwhile, the lack of formal land ownership keeps people from making substantial investments in the land and taking care of the environment. As quoted from Dr Machobane, \"Young people will run away from agriculture if there is no profit attachment.\"For the nationwide dissemination of the Machobane indigenous farming technology, there should be a centrally administered sector specifically designed to mitigate and/or adapt policy to support MFS activities throughout the nation. As part of its initiative, the Machobane Agricultural Development Foundation has a unique opportunity and duty to work for the increased success of the MFS, in Lesotho in particular, and the rest of the world in general.The overall trend in precipitation and its percentage change over the years  in Lesotho showed high irregularity, which is an indication of the rise in temperature due to climate change. This effect results in decreased yields as buds develop poorly and there are increased instances of pest infestation, drought, flooding and hail storms. On the other hand, it is evident that the MFS practicing villages in the mountain and foothill areas, remained unaffected and appeared green throughout the year. This demonstrates that the MFS sustainably maintains soil fertility, despite irregular rainfall, by slowly releasing nutrients and conserving moisture.The MFS practice is known to involve the application of animal manure and plant ash to increase soil fertility. The availability of animal manure, unless donated from other sources, can be difficult for some. Thus, its widespread application raises the issue of the sufficient availability of organic animal manure in the long-term. The long-term technical sustainability of the Machobane technology is a distinct possibility, but it requires the close integration of all activities in the farming system: crops, livestock, and forestry.For the full exploitation of the Machobane farming practice in Lesotho and by other smallholder farmers in Africa, it is imperative that school children, herd boys, youth, farmers and households affected by HIV and Aids are trained to understand the basics of the MFS. The training should enable the poorest and most vulnerable rural communities to implement the system, using locally available materials to grow healthy crops in their gardens, without being adversely affected by climate change throughout the year.used in IK, including environmental conditions and certain patterns of flora. Major climatic events reported by the villagers, including warming temperatures and declining rainfall trends, agree with empirical evidence. However, the value of some of these indicators is declining in guiding farm operations mainly due to increased rainfall variability, reducing confidence in IK and its adaptive capacity to climate change. This has impacted smallholder farmer crop and livestock production through changes in cropping patterns and declining yields. Therefore, villagers of the study areas suggested localising scientific weather and climate prediction, and enhancing farmer capacity through training in the collection and use of weather data as priority adaptation strategies to reduce their vulnerability.Subsistence rain-fed agriculture underpins the majority of rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and supports the livelihoods of over 60% of the population (Staat et al., 2007;IFAD, 2010;Livingston et A herd of cattle drinking water al., 2011). Rain-fed agriculture also remains a dominant source of livelihoods in Malawi where over 90% of the rural population derive their livelihood from agriculture (NSO, 2009;GoM, 2010). Reliable climate and weather forecasting is therefore crucial to guide village-level farming decisions. It is widely agreed that scientific forecasts have spatial and temporal limitations for use at lower spatial scales such as village level (Adejuwon, 2007;Chang'a, 2010). Scientific weather and climate forecasting is often criticised for not delivering concise information on local climatic variation and for its poor communication, i.e. messages are too scientific and technical for farmers (Adejuwon, 2007;Joshua et al., 2011). Additionally, increased rainfall variability in southern Africa has increased uncertainty in seasonal rainfall prediction, thereby posing a greater challenge to scientists in their efforts to improve forecast accuracy and reliability (Cooper et al., 2007;Ambrosino et al., 2011;Jury 2013; IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre [ICPAC] 2014). In this regard, it is now widely acknowledged that conventional science alone cannot adequately address climate challenges (Finucane, 2009).Indigenous knowledge (IK) is increasingly recognised as an additional important source of climate knowledge for adaptation strategies in the face of climate variability and climate change (IPCC, 2007;Parry et al., 2007;Perry and Falzon, 2014). IK is a collaborative concept that together with scientific approaches can be applied to produce better knowledge systems and informed policies that are context specific (Whyte, 2013). IK is seen to play a notable role in enhancing \"the potential of certain adaptation strategies that are cost-effective, participatory and sustainable\" (IPCC, 2010a). Although challenges of uncertainty also apply in the application of IK due to increased rainfall variability (IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre [ICPAC] 2015), many studies are increasingly acknowledging that the integration of IK in weather and climate predictions offers a potential solution to contemporary challenges in climate science, including seasonal rainfall predictions (Chang'a et al., 2010;Nakashima, 2012). Collectively, IK is seen to represent a dynamic information base that has supported many rural communities in adapting to the constantly changing and varying climates (Nyong et al., 2007).There is no standard definition of IK systems (IKS). Agrawal ( 2003) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) define it as the knowledge systems and practices gained by communities through experience across generations. It is renewed by each generation and guides communities' innumerable interactions with their surrounding environment (Kimmerer, 2002;UNEP, 2012;Whyte, 2013). Similarly, Berkes (2012) defines IK as: \"a cumulative body of knowledge, practice, and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment\".In the context of this paper, IKS are defined as a collection of knowledge, beliefs, skills, innovations, experiences and insights of individuals and communities concerning the management of their natural and cultural environments. IK has several labels in literature including IK, traditional knowledge, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), local knowledge, farmers' knowledge, folk knowledge and indigenous science, but all share similar meaning (Berkes, 2012;Nakashima and Roué, 2002;Nakashima et al., 2012;Whyte, 2013). Hence, in this paper, the terms are used interchangeably and also relate to local knowledge held by nonindigenous rural communities (Grabherr, 2009;Lawrence, 2009).It is increasingly acknowledged that in weather and climate predictions, IK is found to be more rational, accurate and reliable than scientific knowledge at local scales (Ziervogel, 2001;Nyong et al., 2007;Kalanda-Joshua et al., 2011). It \"exists in parallel to western science\" (Kimmerer, 2002), and both are seen as \"complementary perspectives on the environment and natural resources\" (Whyte, 2013). IK \"observations tend to be qualitative, and they create a diachronic database, that is, a record of observations from a single locale over a long time period\" (Kimmerer, 2002). The observers are the local people (Kimmerer, 2002;Whyte 2013). Success of their decisions is inextricably linked to the quality and reliability of their ecological observations. In contrast, scientific observations made by a small group of professionals tend to be quantitative and often represent synchronic data or simultaneous observations from a wide range of sites, which frequently lack the longterm perspective of TEK (Kimmerer, 2002).In climate science, IK offers \"observations and interpretations at a much finer spatial scale with considerable temporal depth by highlighting elements that may not be considered by climate scientists\" (Perry and Falzon, 2014). This is in contrast to scientific scenarios developed at broader spatial and temporal scales (Raygorodetsky, 2011;Whyte, 2013).Although IK is an emerging topic in climate science, rural subsistent farmers have a long history with such knowledge, relying on IK to understand weather and climate patterns and for the selection of crops and farming practices (Nyong et al., 2007;Chang'a et al., 2010;Kalanda-Joshua et al., 2011;Nkomwa et al., 2013;Lucio, 1999;Ngugi, 1999). Several studies recognise the potential contribution of IK in predicting environmental fluctuations and informing localised adaptations, owing to its long history of applicability. Many studies agree that some communities, especially in flood and drought prone areas, have used IK in predicting and responding to the occurrence of extreme precipitation events (such as floods and droughts) (Chang'a et al., 2010;Roncoli et al., 2002;Anandaraja et al., 2008, Chirwa et al., 2011;Warren et al., 1995;Sillitoe et al., 2002;Nakashima and Roué, 2002;Sillitoe, 2007). In this regard, \"Indigenous knowledge relating to climate change, whether it concerns agricultural techniques, biodiversity, indicators of change, or weather prediction and response, provides the basis for many successful and cost effective adaptation measures\" (Anchorage Declaration, 2009) because of its local relevance (Anchorage Declaration, 2009;Reid et al., 2009).However, farming environments are diverse and their vulnerability to climate risks or trends varies spatially and temporally. Similarly, IK is site specific and its relevance in the context of climate inconsistency is also varied. Therefore, analysis of IK for agricultural adaptation in all diverse farming environments is necessary for informed interventions. There is a growing body of literature across the globe that has reported on weather and climate patterns, including climate change and responses, based on IK. Nakashima et al. (2012) have recorded a long list of literature documented across the world, including studies from the Arctic (e.g. Krupnik and Jolly, 2002;Nichols et al., 2004;Gearheard et al., 2006;Laidler et al., 2009;Aporta and MacDonald, 2011), North America (e.g. Turner and Clifton, 2009;Jacob et al., 2010), Asia (e.g. Raj, 2006;Crate, 2008;Marin, 2010) and Africa (e.g. Ovuka and Lindqvist, 2000;Action Aid, 2006;Kalanda-Joshua et al., 2011;Nkomwa et al., 2013). However, there is paucity of documentation at the local level (Action Aid, 2006;Joshua et al., 2011;Nkomwa et al., 2013;Whyte, 2013). The current study addresses this gap for Malawi with case studies from Chagaka, Mpasu and Mphampha villages in Chikwawa district.The study assessed the relevance of IK in weather and climate forecasting for adaptation to climate variability in the agricultural sector. More specifically, the study:• Identified climate risks in the Chagaka, Mpasu and Mphampha villages;• Identified the IKS initiatives practiced by smallholder farmers and the scientific support for their use; • Assessed the trend over time of the extent to which IKS are used by farmers (including an explanation of this trend) and the relevance of IKS actions in contemporary situations -taking into account population growth and climate change; • Identified threats to the use of IKS and the policies and actions required for their conservation; • Evaluated potential synergies for IKS with existing scientific climate approaches, and identified how IKS can be adapted to align with current efforts addressing the climatic challenges facing smallholder farmers.The three study villages Chagaka, Mphampha and Mpasu are located in Chikwawa, a semi-arid district in the southern region of Malawi, which is vulnerable to climate variability (Karanja et al., 2004). The villages are in Mbewe -one of the six extension planning areas (EPAs) of Chikwawa district in the lower Shire Valley (Figure .1). The Shire Valley is a rift valley at a low altitude of 2-300 m above mean sea level and contains the largest river in Malawi, the Shire River, which is the only outlet from Lake Malawi. Mphapha village is approached along an earth road that branches off from the tarmac road to Illovo sugar estates. On the western side, the village is bordered by Lengwe National Park. The village is located about 6 km away from the main road that connects Mozambique with Blantyre, and consists 60 households. Mpasu village is located 26 km away from the same road (Figure . 1), and is bordered by Lengwe National Park to the south and the Mkombezi River to the north. Mpasu village consists 120 households. Chagaka village is located roughly 30 km away from the main road from Mozambique to Blantyre and consists 67 households.The study was informed by a comprehensive desk review, comprising a literature review of assessment/evaluation reports, policies/strategies, and projects and programmes on IKS for climate change management Eighty six households were randomly selected from Mpasu (40), Chagaka (26) and Mphampha (20) representing a third of a sampling frame, to participate in the household survey. A list of households was generated for each village with the help of the village chief. To ensure household selection was random, the names of household heads were written on pieces of paper and torn into strips, which were then mixed up in a box and pulled out at random. Qualitative data collection using FGDs and KIIs occurred twice using the same checklist, first in April 2012 and then again in October 2016 to explore changes to reported IKS. The main unit of analysis during the farmer survey was the household -defined as those living within the same compound, and who worked or contributed food or income to the unit. There are inherent difficulties and limitations with such a definition, especially when used across countries and cultures, as not all households regard themselves in the same way. However, it was the most practical unit for the purposes of this survey.The data collected from FGDs and KIIs on perceptions of climate change and variability were compared with scientific hydro-meteorological data from the nearby Nchalo Sugar Estate Station in Chikwawa, which allowed applicability analysis of identified IK for agricultural adaptation. The hydro-meteorological data were analysed for trends using the Mann-Kendal Test (Mann, 1945;Kendal, 1975) as recommended by the World Meteorological Organisation. The study used a mixed methodological approach for the comprehensive understanding of the IK issues under study, and enhanced the validity of findings (Brannen, 1992;Barbour, 2008;Hennink et al., 2011). IK indicators commonly used for weather and climate forecasting in the villages were established through FGDs, and key informant and household interviews.Climate of the Mpasu and Chagaka villages is characterised by high temperatures and erratic rainfall year round. The study revealed that villagers have perceived a change in climatic variables in recent years, notably since 1992. Figure 2 and Table 1 provide a summary of the major climatic events that have occurred in Mpasu village since the 1980s and the associated impacts, according to respondent perception.FGD and KII participants mainly mentioned changes in precipitation and the high variability in rainfall patterns. People observed that the rains were starting late (e.g. November/December/January instead of October/September) affecting commencement of the planting season and subsequent agricultural activities. Farmers can no longer predict the likely arrival, duration or quantity of rain. In some cases, farmers had to plant two to three times before a normal rainfall pattern was established.In other cases, good rainfall activity was observed at the start of the season, only to be replaced by dry spells mid-season, with devastating consequences for crops such as maize.Results of the FGDs indicated that respondents have perceived a decline in rainfall since the 1990s, resulting in an increase in prolonged dry spells and droughts. However, based on data from the nearby village rain gauge station, information from the KIIs showed that the total amount of rainfall received in recent years had not changed significantly. Conversely, results from KIIs generally agreed with farmer perceptions that dry spells had become more frequent and prolonged. For example, in the 2011/2012 growing season, the longest dry spell was 24 days instead of the more common 10-12 days. The areas had also experienced worse conditions of prolonged dry spells and mid-season droughts every year since the 2007/2008 growing season. Temperatures were perceived to be increasing annually with the warmer periods beginning earlier than was expected. These high temperatures used to be associated with a high probability of rainfall, but this it is no longer the case. Furthermore, during FGDs, the people reported a notable increase in strong winds from the mid-2000s and a reduced frequency of floods.Winds -increasingly strong winds which often disperse the rain clouds affecting the rainfall pattern √ √ √ The rains have been perceived to be highly erratic and poorly distributed over the last 20 years. As per the observations in the other villages, the amount of rainfall was perceived to have declined resulting in more frequent prolonged dry spells and droughts. For example, the area has experienced a midseason drought or prolonged dry spells every year for the past 5 years since 2010, despite having an onset at the expected time in some years. In some cases, the rains became more reliable towards the end of the season, however, by this point, food crops such as maize are already in a wilted state hence, low yields were experienced.Other rainfall related indicators include the occurrence of strong winds and cold nights. The FGD participants reported that the combination of these two events adversely affect the rainfall pattern. Winds are known to drive away clouds, whilst the cold reduces evaporation as well as rainfall.In Mphampha village, the occurrence of floods recently has been rare. The few reported flooding episodes were caused mainly by upland runoff from the catchments nearby Mwanza and Nkombedzi wa Fodya Rivers. In addition, during FGDs, people from Mphampha village also noted that over the past 20 years, they have experienced warmer day temperatures and cooler nights.Results from the household interviews in the villages provided similar results to what was reported in the FGDs and KIIs (Figures 2a-2c).Respondents from Mpasu (61%) and Mphampha (91%) (Figures 2a-2c) reported that floods have become less frequent over the past 20 years. Conversely, most respondents from Chagaka village reported an increase in floods (65%) over the same period of time. In addition, seasonal droughts, erratic rains, intra-seasonal dry spells, strong winds and high temperatures are more frequent in all villages. On the other hand, stormy winds were perceived to be less frequent, specifically in Mphampha village (70%).Less Frequent Table 2 provides a summary of major climatic events that have occurred in Mpasu and Mphampha villages since 1980s. This is based on IK information passed through the generations.From Table 2 it can be seen that drought has occurred more frequently in the Mpasu and Mphampha villages except in 2001/2002 and 2005/2006 seasons when both floods and droughts occurred. Note: √ = event mentioned in the village; -= event not mentioned 1 No maize was yielded during this year because cotton pests did not respond to chemicals hence, a low cash crop yield was produced.A comparison between empirical weather data and the perceived weather changes of the respondents, showed some similarities. Daily rainfall from the WATCH data set for the period 1958-2012 (Weedon et al., 2010;2011), and temperature data for the period 1971-2008 from three stations in the area -namely Makhanga, Nchalo and Ngabu -were analysed for trends. Monthly and annual values were derived from this data. The Mann-Kendal trends for the stations are shown in Table 3 where a and b represent the 95% confidence interval limits.From Table 3, significant positive trends in daily rainfall at all three stations are indicated. However, monthly and annual rainfall at all stations has negative but statistically insignificant trends. This agrees with a study by Ngongondo et al. (2014) in which extreme rainfall variables, including simple daily rainfall intensity, were found to have increased from 1958 to 2012 over Malawi with a corresponding decrease in annual rainfall. This study also found that the consecutive number of dry days in many parts of Malawi had significantly increased. Together with the indication of a slight decrease in annual rainfall, the results suggest that most of the total annual rainfall in the area is derived from very few but intense rainfall events. This agrees with the villagers' perceptions of an erratic rainfall pattern. Figure 3 presents the trends of annual rainfall for the three stations. The linear regression trend line (dashed) suggests that rainfall was decreasing during the period 1958-2012 at all stations. The linear regression results show a decreasing rainfall slope of -0.64mm/year at Nchalo, -1.98mm/year at Makhanga and -1.46 mm/year at Ngabu.In agreement with villager perceptions, data from all three stations showed the daily temperature increased significantly at a 95% confidence  (GoM, 2009;2013). We therefore suggest that the villagers' perceptions on changes in rainfall and temperature were, on the whole, in agreement with the empirical evidence and can hence contribute to the generation of climate data at lower spatial scales (i.e. community level).Climate change is impacting on crop yields and types grown as well as farming practices. All three villages have experienced a decline in yield per unit area for most food crops. Maize has been the most affected due to prolonged droughts and inadequate seasonal rainfall. Detailed results from Chagaka are reported in an earlier study by Nkomwa et al. (2013).Similar to Chagaka (Nkomwa et al., 2013), due to a change in the rainfall pattern, the cropping calendars have changed for all crops in Mphampha and Mpasu. Information garnered from FGDs indicated that largely, farm activities are dictated by the onset and distribution of rainfall. For example, for rain-fed production of maize and cotton, planting now takes place in December or January due to late rains. Also similar to Chagaka village, staggered planting is becoming a common practice in Mphampha.Farmers can plant up to five times before the rains become stable. These results suggest a difficulty in predicting and establishing the onset of rains. Table 4 shows other impacts of climate change and variability on selected crops -using information from the FGDs. Results show that different climatic conditions have affected selected crops differently. Almost all the crops grown in the area are adversely affected by floods, too much rain and strong winds. However, sorghum and bulrush millet have been performing much better than other crops under low rainfall and drought conditions, hot temperatures and the late onset of rains. This suggests that sorghum and millet are more tolerant to these climate conditions.The villagers also reported that the increased prevalence of crop pests over the years is reducing crop yield. The frequent occurrence of crop pests is being associated with climate change impacts such as high temperatures and very low rainfall. Prevalent crop pest species in Mphampha village are presented in Table 5.Farmers from all three villages indicated through FGDs the need for a new cotton pesticide, as the current option is ineffective. The American bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera), locally known as mphutsi/mthutsi, destroys cotton leaves and was reported by villagers to be the most prevalent crop pest. Others include the locally named anunkhadala/abobo (Zonocerus variegatus) -a type of locus that also feed on leaves. Infestations by these cotton pests was severe in the 2012 growing season and spraying was not effective, despite the guidance of agricultural extension officers.Tomatoes and other vegetables are heavily attacked by spiders, locally known as kangaude, greenflies or nsabwe (Aphis gossyphi), leaf blight or chiwawu (Phytophthora infestans) and stalk boring moths or mbozi/kapuchi (Busseola fusca). Cassava is heavily attacked by the mosaic virus (Geminiviridae begomovirus), known locally as khate. Blight was not a problem in the area until 2012, but since then, farmers have been forced to spray their vegetables with expensive chemicals such as marshal and dithane, which are not locally available. Further, during FGDs, farmers reported that although sorghum is more resilient to climate change and variability impacts than other crops, it is vulnerable to head smut disease (Sphacelotheca reiliana), which is perceived to be on the increase compared to 15 years ago, and adversely affects sorghum yields. Farmers could not establish the reason for the current high prevalence.Farmers have observed that livestock production is decreasing due to the outbreak of diseases previously rare in the villages, such as foot and mouth, Newcastle disease, and African swine fever. Incidences of Newcastle disease are related to dry conditions, thereby signifying increased temperature and reduced relative humidity. Other effects of climate variability include decreased pasture quality and quantity, and water shortage. Water shortages are common during the dry season and farmers have to travel up to 3 km in search of water for their livestock. Similar findings were reported by Nkomwa et al. (2013).There has been a change in the type of crops and varieties grown in Mphampha village over the last 10 years. Following recent climatic events such as droughts and prolonged dry spells, rain-fed maize and rice production has reduced and the acreage of cotton and sorghum has increased. Maize production in all three villages is now mainly irrigated -but due to water shortages and limited access to irrigation water, is practiced by few farmers. Of all the crops, sorghum production is preferred for food and commercial purposes (though market opportunities are rare) due to its tolerance to many climatic risks relative to other crops. Crop diversification is also integrated within farming systems to reduce risk and improve yields in such unpredictable weather conditions.In the context of livestock production, farmers are now stocking a higher diversity of animals than they would have been 10 years ago, to reduce risk and increase income diversification. For instance, there are now greater numbers of goats and poultry than cattle. Farmers prefer to keep goats than cattle as they are more resilient to disease and can survive in dry pasture and drought conditions.  The study captured a number of indicators used by the villages for weather and climate prediction (see Table 5 for a complete list). Similar to earlier findings from the Mulanje district in the Southern Malawi, as reported by Kalanda-Joshua et al. (2011), these are based on environmental and cultural beliefs. Some indicators were common for all study villages whilst others were particular to each site. This result goes some way to reflect the site specificity aspect of IK, but cannot lead to a conclusion that indicators not mentioned by one village do not apply there, because knowledge capturing is based on recall and is not written down.Some of the common indicators used include the behaviour of birds, ants and insects. For example, the frequent occurrence of flying ants (ngumbi) and large numbers of elegant grasshoppers (Brachytrypes membranaceus) locally known as nkhululu, are indicative of a good rainy season, with well-distributed rains. However, it is worth noting that other indicators of heavy rains (e.g. winds blowing in all directions) can also signify the likelihood of floods in the rainy season. The song of the southern ground hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) locally known as Ming'omba, the croak of frogs and the high occurrence of bees in gardens are indicators of imminent rains. On the other hand, high occurrence of the stalk-boring moth -mbozi -is indicative of drought.Respondents of the FGDs noted that 1995/96, 1998/99 and 2003 were 'good' years, when farmers registered high yields in maize and sorghum. However, the three years from 2013-2016 were recalled as bad years because of drought. The farmers noted that the appearance of the nthanda/mtsinamowa (morning star/planet Venus) in the west indicates high rainfall, whilst its appearance in the east is an indicator of drought.In addition, winds blowing in all directions suggest a good rainfall season, while winds blowing from the south-east are an indicator of drought.The villagers also refer to the timing of flowering and fruiting, as well as to the fruit production of certain tree species to predict weather and climate. For example, the appearance of many flowers on monkey thorn  et al., 2011). However, taking into consideration observations from Chagaka and Mpasu, the mango tree observation reported in Mphampha probably refers to heavy fruiting of on one side and poor fruiting on the other. This growth pattern is indicative of a good onset of rains, followed by a prolonged dry spell e.g. for a month, with rains picking up again towards the end of the growing season -and is broadly categorised as a low rainfall season.Similar biotic indicators are used in weather forecasts across Africa e.g. the observation of plant patterns in Burkina Faso and Swaziland (Ayal et al., 2015;Joshua et al., 2012;Roncoli et al., 2001), and animal behaviours and physical body conditions in Ethiopia, Kenya andNigeria (Ayal et al., 2015, Shukurat et al., 2012;Speranza et al., 2010;Ziervogel and Opere, 2010).Analyses of the indicators used for weather prediction agree with earlier observations by Ayal et al. (2015) that some practices are common across cultures. Differences lie in the specifics due to varying spatial systems.An earlier study by Ayal et al. (2015) in Ethiopia, concluded that IK weather and climate predictions are short-term (e.g. 2 weeks) and hence, leave farmers with little time to prepare. However, in the current study, the short-term predictions are used to forecast imminent rains.Predictions for a season are of intermediate term and apply to 2-3 months, giving adequate time for farmers to prepare their farming responses. IK may not be as useful when considering long-term rainfall forecasts, but these can be managed by modern science.This section assesses the trend over time of the extent to which IKS are being used by farmers (including an explanation of this trend) and the relevance of IKS actions in contemporary situations, taking into account population growth and climate change. IKS have been guiding farmers in agricultural decision-making processes regarding when to prepare land, what crop to plant, and when to weed, harvest and process, since time immemorial. For example, signs of imminent rains indicate to farmers that rains will fall in a few days-time hence, farmers should prepare to plant. Signs of prolonged drought in the rainy season mean farmers should not weed because crops will be scorched by the sun, but indicators of a short dry spell mean it is a good time to weed. Harvesting should be done when there are indicators of many dry and sunny days. Signs of a low rainfall season indicate to farmers to plant crops with low water requirements such as sorghum, millet, cotton.Farmers indicated that IK is also used to determine the type of farming system to be practiced (rain-fed or irrigated) in a given year. For example, they explained that if an indicator suggests drought or prolonged dry spells, farmers opt for irrigation (using water harvested in river sand beds locally known as ). If the indicators are for rain-fed agriculture, farmers opt to grow sorghum, millet, sweet potato and cassava, which grow well under such conditions. FGD participants in Chagaka and Mpasu illustrated how they had applied IK in their choice of agricultural practice and selection of crops grown over the past 3 years (2013-2016), during which, IK indicators suggested drought conditions.To a large extent, IK is still in use despite incorrect weather and climate predictions over the past decade, this is because: i) some indicators remain applicable at farm level and ii) meteorological forecasts rarely apply to local situations. The FGD participants indicated that many IK indicators are still relevant, and when asked which had been applied in the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Chagaka and Mpasu farmers reported that the appearance of the morning star in the east had been used to signify drought. Further, they explained that the morning star had appeared in that direction for the past 3 years -which had also been drought stricken.Before the 2016/2017 rainy season, all reported indicators of a good rainfall season were observed, including the presence of Venus in the west. This forecast of good rains for this season aligned with western scientific predictions. In 2015/2016, farmers observed that there were no ants -an indicator of dry spells -and that year, they experienced drought. During FGDs, farmers indicated that nowadays, they mainly cultivate drought tolerant crops, specifically sorghum, due to the increased occurrence of droughts. The farmers indicated that these decisions are in part guided by IKS, which further emphasises the continued relevance of IKS in contemporary situations.To be confident in their predictions, farmers indicated that they rely on a combination of indicators, not just one. If there are a number of observed patterns (occurring at the same time) indicating a particular weather or climate pattern, farmers believe reliable conclusions can be drawn. Additionally, they emphasised that indicators based on floral patterns still apply today where the trees/vegetation indicator species are still available. Similar study results were earlier established by LEAD (2009).Despite farmers' reliance on IK, this study notes that the relevance of some local indicators has been challenged in recent times. Largely, these relate to the signs of imminent rains and flood occurrence. Initially, farmers would predict that rains would fall within a few days of observing the indicators highlighted in Table 6. In recent years however, those signs can be observed but the onset of rains may take 2-3 weeks. The role of strong winds has become unpredictable because it either drives away rain bearing clouds, delaying the onset of rains, or can be associated with   heavy rains. This creates confusion for farmers who are then unsure of when to plant, forcing them to practice staggered planting before the rains become established.Since 2002, villagers have experienced very high temperatures at times previously associated with heavy rains. However, during rainy days which indicate to farmers that the rainy season is about to commence, cold temperatures can occur which disturb the viability of TEK in weather predictions. Similarly, traditional indicators of flooding are becoming less reliable due to sudden occurrences of heavy rains from upland areas which cannot be forecast. These challenges are attributed to climate change and the associated increased rainfall variability, as well as to the loss of biotic species traditionally used for weather forecasting. For example, FGD participants from Chagaka and Mpasu reported that the value of IK has partially declined due to the loss of specific vegetation species, whose patterns were observed as indicators to determine weather forecasts. This problem is particularly felt in indigenous forest areas targeted for biomass energy production; their locations are also cleared for farming purposes.Low rainfall results in low river water levels and thus, a reduction in the number of aquatic species whose behaviour can be studied as part of IK. This reduces the confidence of farmers in IK, and their adaptive capacity to climate change. This result is similar to earlier findings by multiplestudies in areas including Zimbabwe (Makwara, 2013;Joshua et al., 2012), Kenya (Kipkorir et al., 2010) and Malawi (Kalanda- Joshua et al., 2011;Kalinga-Chirwa et al., 2011;Nkomwa et al., 2013). Such studies report additional causes of IK erosion, including teaching in contemporary religions, which may contrast traditional beliefs; poor documentation of IK; modern education that disregards the value of IK, and the limited transfer of IK from knowledge holders and younger generations (Makwara, 2013;Nakashima et al., 2012;Chang'a et al., 2010). However, taking into consideration the findings of the current study, this paper criticises generalised conclusions indicating that IK is not relevant to modern day. Addressing the reliability of IKS e.g. through the promotion of regeneration of indicator vegetation, would reduce the occurrence of faulty forecasts, enhance the significance of IK in weather and climate predictions and consequently, increase the adaptation and resilience capacity of farmers. An enabling policy environment is also critical to enhance the significance of IK.There is a growing number of policies and acts that recognise the vulnerability of farming communities to climate change impacts and the significance of adaptation, resilience and reliable weather data to inform farming practices. However, the extent to which IK is recognised in building adaptation capacity and generating useful weather and climate data, varies spatially. The policy analysis below demonstrates how much work is yet to be done at the national level.In 2012, the Malawi Government published its national policy on climate change (GoM, 2012) with a goal to \"contribute to the attainment of sustainable development in line with Malawi's National goals, as outlined in Malawi's Growth and Development Strategy II and Vision 2020\" (GoM, 2012). The policy aims to achieve this through \"better adaptation to, and mitigation against, climate change, with a focus on resilience building for Malawi's citizens\" (GoM, 2012). The national climate change policy articulates the principles, strategies and institutional frameworks necessary for the effective management of critical climate change issues, including capacity building through education, training and public awareness; and adaptation and mitigation in agriculture. One of the policy priority areas includes adaptation to climate change impacts and extreme weather events that the country is facing, and addressing factors that impede resilience. This includes the inadequate availability of climate risk information. The policy aims to address this information gap through a number of activities including the integration \"of relevant and validated IK and practices in adaptation and disaster response programmes\", and promotion \"of sustainable agricultural intensification practices that increase productivity while maintaining environmental integrity and ecosystem services\" (GoM, 2012). The Malawi Government acknowledges knowledge gaps in climate change issues, specifically: i. General knowledge and understanding of climate change ii. Predicting weather and associated impacts of extreme weather events iii. Managing risks and impacts of climate change iv. Integrating climate change issues horizontally across sectors and vertically (from the national level down to the district and community levels) among key stakeholders (GoM, 2013).Similar challenges are observed in the inefficiencies and inadequacies of \"research and technology, combined with systematic observation, to generate evidence for decision-making and provide solutions for improved adaptation to, and mitigation of, the impacts of climate change\" (GoM, 2012). The Government of Malawi acknowledges inadequacies of scientific knowledge and recognises the contribution of IK in addressing these challenges. In view of this, the policy emphasises that a key strategy for addressing such inadequacies in scientific knowledge is through \"supporting the documentation and validation of IK, through community engagement, so that it will be fully integrated within the overall knowledge base that informs policy and action\" (GoM, 2012).This recognition by the Government reflects principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, 1992) and the Kyoto Protocol (2001). It is also in line with the Paris Agreement of 2015 article 7:5. In the context of adaptation to climate change, the Paris Agreement emphasised the recognition of both scientific knowledge and IKS. Through this article, the Paris Agreement called parties to:\"acknowledge that adaptation action should follow a countrydriven, gender-responsive, participatory and fully transparent approach, taking into consideration vulnerable groups, communities and ecosystems, and should be based on and guided by the best available science and, as appropriate, traditional knowledge, knowledge of indigenous peoples and local knowledge systems, with a view to integrating adaptation into relevant socioeconomic and environmental policies and actions, where appropriate\" (UNFCCC, 2015).The Paris Agreement Article 7:5 reaffirms earlier international agreements including the Kyoto Protocol and the Cancun Adaptation Framework (CAF), adopted by Parties at the 2010 UNFCCC Conference in Cancun. CAF \"has as a guiding principle, the need for adaptation to be 'based on and guided by the best available science and, as appropriate, traditional and IK' (UNFCCC, 2010;Nakashima et al., 2012). It also calls for adaptation action to 'take into consideration vulnerable groups, communities and ecosystems' (UNFCCC, 2010;Nakashima et al., 2012).However, most of Malawi's related policies, strategies and legislation provisions on climate change adaptation are inadequate to effectively address the challenges because they are not relevant to local realities (Nakashima et al., 2012). For example, there is no mention/provision of the significance of IK in weather and climate prediction and adaptation in the country's constitution (GoM, 1997), the Malawi growth and development strategy (MGDS) (GoM, 2011), the environmental management act (GoM, 1996) or in the national adaptation programmes of action (NAPA) (GoM, 2006). These are key documents providing legal guidance for actors to recognise IKS in Malawi. The constitution provides a framework for all legislation in the country, therefore its recognition of IKS would provide a strong guarantee of IK inclusion in other legislation.The MGDS is the country's medium term development strategy. It is a reference document for development initiatives in the country, including responses to climate change, but none of the proposed strategies incorporate IK. The Environmental Management Act provides the legal framework for all environmental related legislation governing environmental issues in the country. NAPA provides a national framework for promoting activities that address urgent and immediate needs for adapting to the adverse impacts of climate change among rural communities in vulnerable areas. It outlines the urgent adaptation needs in agriculture, such as improving: i) early warning systems; ii) agricultural production under erratic rains and changing climatic conditions; iii) Malawi's preparedness to cope with droughts and floods, and iv) climate monitoring to enhance Malawi's early warning capability and decision-making. None of the prioritised activities to address these needs integrate IK despite its potential and proven contribution in many areas. The omission of IK's integration within such activities can be considered as a missed opportunity for developing effective knowledge and practices to enhance the adaptation and resilience of vulnerable areas.In addition, the comprehensive documentation of valid and useful IKS across the country requires some notable financial investment. For example, most documented IK is captured through FGDs and KIIs (Bryan, 2012). Such tools are time consuming, but less costly than obtaining a rich data set (Bryan, 2012) and are hence, justifiably included in national research budgets that focus on climate change management. However, the national climate change investment plan (NCCIP) (GoM, 2013) and the national adaptation strategy for Malawi (Nangoma, 2008) do not include IK (though they recognise climate change issues and the need to improve their disaster preparedness and resilience). The NCCIP emphasises that:\"To improve a community based early warning system, the programme will enhance weather and climate monitoring, prediction and information and knowledge management systems. Among others, the programme will also develop and modernise weather climate and climate change databases, strengthen the production of weather and climate seasonal forecasts, expand weather observation points, develop capacities in weather and climate information and data collection, and promote a telecommunication system that targets the communities\" (GoM, 2013).However, there is no consideration of IK research for informed policies, or for intervention in the NCCIP 6 year summary budget. This gap similarly features in the MGDS, the national agriculture policy (GoM, 1999) and in the irrigation policy (GoM, 2000) and irrigation act 2001(GoM, 2001)), hence threatens the ability of the country to adequately document and use valid IKS for informed policies, and interventions on community adaptation and resilience in agriculture. Research is needed to evaluate potential synergies of IKS with existing scientific climate approaches, and to identify where IKS can be aligned with current efforts addressing the climatic challenges facing smallholder farmers.The results of this study show the coexistence of modern science and IK in each village. Both have limitations and strengths. In the context of IK, each village is able to predict weather patterns using traditional indicators.Although over time, the value of some indicators has become threatened or declined due to environmental changes, farmers continue to depend heavily on them as opposed to scientific forecasts. The study has established that for decades, villagers have been relying on IK for farm level decisions, as scientific predictions are less applicable to the local environment. Over the past decade, villagers have largely accessed scientific weather data from the department of climate change and meteorological services through radio and extension services. The information provided is mostly linked to how farming practices can respond to climate change and variability. Advice includes planting of early maturing varieties and drought resistant crops, crop diversification, forestation for flood and wind control, and modern farming techniques.Listeners also receive information on weather forecasts in the month of September, but during FGDs, farmers reported that the weather information was not reliable as it applied to the region as a whole and thus, had limited application at district and local levels. Since 2016, the Zodiak Broadcasting Station, a private radio station, has been providing weather forecasts at district level, making the forecasts more reliable. This weather information is shared with villagers through public meetings where farmers are advised on when to plant crops depending on the forecast. However, the forecasts have largely remained inapplicable at the village level. Further, the study found that each village is in proximity to a rain gauge, but data collection is irregular and therefore unreliable for farmer use. The data managers are volunteers with limited financial capacity to share daily readings with officers for consolidation, and are hence less committed to send off regularly datasets to the responsible office.Despite repeated forecast failures, farmers are still found to rely on IK. This is probably because IK is dynamic, with practices becoming established after long-term experiments or observations. (Ziervogel and Opere, 2010).Addressing the environmental challenges that threaten the value of IK could enhance its applicability. However, IK is criticised by some scientists as a short-term forecasting method, which cannot adequately prepare farmers for long-term adaptation to climate change (Ayal et al., 2015).In contrast, scientific knowledge has the capacity to provide long-term forecasts and trends, but these are inadequate without reliable shortterm and local scale forecasts. Similar to earlier studies, this suggests that combining IK with scientific knowledge could produce robust and rigorous weather information (Makwara, 2013;Nakashima et al., 2010). However, in the study areas of this report, modern scientific weather forecasts are yet to recognise the significance of IK. At the time of this study, the climate change and meteorological department has started to work with Mphampha village to provide seasonal forecasts at the local scale, but due to statistical data challenges at this level, forecasts are not reliable. There is poor functional network coverage and additionally, the forecasts do not integrate IK.The climate change and meteorological department (MET) recognises the unique contribution of IK, but is yet to integrate it within forecasts due to a number of constraints. Firstly, there is limited documentation on IK because prior to 2015, the focus had been on scientific forecasts.Local policy recognition of IK in climate science, including its potential to enhance adaptation to climate change, is also a recent development, hence, the responsible office, MET had no mandate prior to 2015. Secondly, the climate change and meteorological department lacks the capacity to manage the collection and testing of IK for its integration. This suggests that the implementation of a climate change policy with the provision of IK in weather and climate forecasting, will not be effective unless network stations and their management at local scales improves.The integration of IK in weather forecasting can occur if the department revises its organogram to include social scientists with relevant expertise in IK. Furthermore, there is need to consider establishing adequate financial support for the systematic documentation and subsequent integration of IK in seasonal rainfall forecasting. The integration of IK offers the potential to increase the resilience of local communities, therefore it is also important to consider putting in place stiffer penalties for noncompliance by relevant authorities. These approaches are likely to reduce policy implementation gaps.This study has assessed the relevance of IK at the village level in weather and climate forecasting to enhance adaptability to climate variability in the agricultural sectors. The report looked at case studies from the Chagaka, Mpasu and Mphampha villages in Chikwawa district, southern Malawi, a semi-arid area where climate change is impacting on peoples' livelihoods. Farmer perceptions indicated a considerable level of knowledge on climate change and variability. Prominent of these were the noted reduction in rainfall, and increased temperatures and occurrences of strong winds -normally associated with the dry/windy season. These observations have been validated with empirical evidence from weather stations in the area. Key IK indicators used in weather and climate forecasting include plant and animal behaviour or occurrence, and astronomical as well as meteorological events. However, despite the huge potential of IK to improve the adaptability and resilience of farming communities to climate change impacts, current policies do not consider the value of IKS in agricultural production.©FAO/Yasuyoshi Chiba identified human activities such as bush burning, overgrazing, deforestation, and the use of chemical fertilisers as the major causes of climate change; farmers recognise that the effects of climate change have led to crop infestations and diseases, which have subsequently resulted in food shortages and increases in food costs; indigenous people cultivate crop varieties tolerant to climate change and use mulching within their farming systems as coping strategies to climate change impacts.The study concludes that more attention to IK practices are necessary for effective and appropriate environmental policies, particularly in developing countries. It therefore recommends that governments and development agencies concerned with the issue of climate change, should sensitise farmers more intensively on the realities of climate change, their effects and consequences on food production, and modern adaptation measures. The study also suggests future research activities in IK and climate change mitigation strategies, to expand the scope of IK and create avenues through holistic and environmentally friendly and sustainable policies.Agriculture places heavy burdens on the environment in the process of providing populations with food and fibre, while climate is the primary determinant of agricultural productivity. Given the fundamental role of agriculture in human welfare, concern has been expressed by federal agencies and others regarding the potential effect of climate change on agricultural productivity. Interest in this issue has motivated a substantial body of research on indigenous knowledge (IK) of climate change and agriculture in recent decades (Nelson et al., 2009;Lobell et al., 2008;Darwin, 2004;Fischer et al., 2002).Indigenous communities have long been recognised as particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to the close connections between their livelihoods, culture, spirituality, social systems and their environment. At the same time, however, this deep and long-established relationship with the natural environment affords many indigenous people with knowledge that they have long used to adapt to environmental change, and are now using to respond to the impacts of climate change.Local communities and farmers in Africa have developed intricate systems of gathering, predicting, interpreting and decision-making in relation to climate change problems (Simonelli, 2008).IK is a term used to describe the knowledge system developed by a community as opposed to the scientific knowledge that is generally referred to as 'modern' knowledge (Ajibade, 2003). IK is the basis for local level decision-making in many rural communities. It has values not only for the culture in which it evolves, but also for scientists and planners striving to improve conditions in rural localities. Therefore, incorporating IK into climate change policies can lead to the development of effective adaptation strategies that are cost effective, participatory and sustainable (Robinson and Herbert, 2001). It is necessary to observe that global science has acknowledged the relevance of IK as well; this is evident in the various discussions around IK that take place during United Nation Conferences on Environment and Development.Most studies on indigenous perceptions of climate change have been carried out in the developed countries of the world, which dominate the uppermost northern region of the earth and where the relationship between scientists and indigenous people is high (Jan and Anja, 2007). Despite the fact that efforts have been made towards the fight against climate change from a scientific perspective, research and policies directed towards the incorporation of IK within climate change strategies are desperately needed. The study of local perception is useful in understanding the true implication of a changing climate (Adesiji et al., 2013).Most third world countries, especially in Africa, have been making serious and frantic efforts to untangle development problems. Persisting problems include economic stagnation, declining agricultural productivity, natural resource degradation, insufficient infrastructure and a host of other socio-economic issues. However, awareness, understanding and use of local knowledge systems is one strategy that can help facilitate efforts to deal with these problems (Adedotun and Tunji, 1995). The importance of working with and through these local systems is slowly being appreciated by a growing number of development experts and local and international organisations both in developing and developed countries.In order to approach the problems of climate change appropriately, one must take into account local communities' understanding of climate change, since they perceive climate as having strong spiritual, emotional and physical dimensions. It is assumed that these communities have adaptive knowledge from which to draw upon and survive in highly stressful ecological and socio-economic conditions. Thus, the human response is critical to understanding and estimating the effects of climate change on food production, and for climate adaptation. Accounting for these adaptations and adjustments is necessary in order to estimate climate change mitigation and response (Apata et al., 2009). The current study considers the following specific objectives: examination of farmers' awareness and understanding of climate change; identification of the causes of climate change as understood by the farmers; assessment of the effects of climate change as perceived by the farmers; identification of the farmers coping mechanisms; and appraisal of the effectiveness of these indigenous methods.The awareness of climate problems and the potential benefits of taking action are important determinants for the adoption of agricultural technologies (Hassan and Nhemachena, 2008). Maddison (2006) argued that farmer awareness of changes in climatic attributes (temperature and precipitation) is important to decision-making for adaptation. For example, Araya and Adjaye (2001) and Anim (1999) stated that farmer awareness and perception of soil erosion as a result of climate change, positively and significantly affected their decision to adopt soil erosion measures. It is expected that improved knowledge and farming experience will positively influence farmer awareness and thus, motivation to take up adaptation measures. Hassan and Nhemachena (2008) opined that mitigation efforts to reduce the 'source' or enhance the 'sinks' of greenhouse gases will take time, therefore adaptation is of critical concern in developing countries, particularly in Africa where vulnerability is high because adaptability is low.It is generally known that Africa is a minor contributor of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Its share of carbon emissions, which is by far the most important GHG, was only 3.2% of the world's total in 1992. Africa's share of methane emissions was also low at the beginning of the 1990s -at only 7.7% of the world's total in 1991 (Davidson, 1998).Articulated in the literature are two lines of actions in dealing with the adverse conditions expected to accompany climate change. These are mitigation and adaptation strategies. Mitigation strategies are procedures or activities that help prevent or minimise the process of climate change.According to Swart et al. (2003), mitigation strategies can be categorised into two groups: some represent mainly technological solutions; others involve changes in economic structures, societal organisation, or individual behaviour. In Africa, mitigation strategies are traditionally employed as natural resource conservation measures, but they generally serve the dual purpose of reducing GHG emissions from anthropogenic sources, and enhancing the carbon 'sink'. Strategies aimed at reducing GHG emissions emphasise cutbacks in the burning of fossil fuelsparticularly the discontinuation of gas flaring -through improved energy efficiency, and the use of clean energy sources. Carbon sink enhancement generally involves forestry programs that protect the forest and encourage afforestation in marginal areas including range lands (Adesina et al., 1999).On the other hand, according to Enete et al. (2011), adaptation is an adjustment made to a human, ecological or physical system in response to a perceived vulnerability. Specifically, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2001) describe adaptation to climate change as an adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli, and their effects. Adaptation is one policy option to respond to climate change impact, and it is therefore an important component of climate change impact and vulnerability assessment, (Smith and Lenhart, 1996;Fankhauser, 1996).In agriculture, adaptation helps farmers achieve their food, income and livelihood security objectives in the face of changing climatic and socioeconomic conditions, including climatic variability and extreme weather events such as droughts and floods. (Kandlinkar and Risbey, 2000). Farmers can reduce the potential impacts of such happenings by developing tactical responses.Until recently, mitigation and adaptation were seen as mutually exclusive strategies in the fight against climate change. However, there is a strong link between the two, and it has now been recognised that their integration may not only provide new opportunities for effective climate change response, but may even be a prerequisite for successfully utilising both tactics. According to Klien et al. (2003), integrating mitigation and adaptation strategies will better connect them with natural resource management, biodiversity conservation and measures to combat desertification. While the intellectual argument for integration has been strongly made, its realisation in the policy realm has been less successful.Developmental projects introduced into rural communities with the hopes and promises of impacting their lives have not taken into consideration the culture of the people they were intending to help, and therefore resulted in low participation and success rates (Woodley 1991;Nyong and Kanaroglou, 1999). As a result, there has been growing interest in the incorporation of IK within such projects to increase local participation and provide environmentally sound approaches to development. This signifies that researchers are gradually recognising the importance of IK systems (IKS) in developmental studies.Climate change mitigation and adaptation projects can learn from the experiences of developmental initiatives that have recognised the value of IKS. However, two major problems that can be considered obstacles to the integration of IK within formal climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies are: recognising the need to, and how to actually integrate IK into western science (Nyong et al., 2007).IK adds value to climate change studies in a number of ways. Firstly, IKS create a moral economy by identifying a person within a cultural context, providing decision-making processes or rules of thumb to be followed based on observed indicators or relationships within events (Adunga, 1996;Woodley, 1991). Community members act within these rules of thumbs to maintain security and assurance -otherwise risk isolation from their community. In an uncertain and biased world, these rules of thumb provide people with a sense of belonging and stability.Secondly, IK is increasingly exhibiting a resemblance with scientific methods as many ideas in IK that were once regarded as primitive and misguided, are now seen as appropriate and sophisticated. Third, IKS provide mechanisms for participatory approaches to decision-making and project execution (Nyong et al., 2007). A major requirement for the sustainability of any project is the participation of the local population, who must be seen as partners with joint ownership. This is best achieved when communities effectively participate in the design and implementation of such projects. Fourth, IKS share the same guiding principles as the sustainable development framework with three major concernseconomy, equity and environment (Davies and Ebbe, 1995). The essence of most climate change projects is to reduce poverty and ensure sustainable development. This can be facilitated by the integration of IK within climate change policies. Fifth, IKS facilitate understanding and effective communication and increase dissemination and utilisation rates of climate change mitigation and adaptation options.The study area, Kwara state, Nigeria, is heterogeneous in nature with diverse ethnic groups, mainly dominated by the Barubas, Fulanis, Nupes and Yorubas. Kwara state is made up of seven different dialects including Igbomina, Ilorin, Ibolo, Ekiti, Nupe, Boko/Baru and Baruba/Batunu. There are 16 local government areas (LGAs), of which, 12 are found to be Yoruba speaking. The non-Yoruba speaking LGAs of the state are Baruten, Edu, Kaiama and Patigi (Ajibade, 2001). Kwara state has a total population of 2,371,089 people (NPC, 2006), and covers an area of about 36,825 km 2 with a population density of 42.51/km 2 (Adeoye et al., 2013;Jimoh and Adeoye, 2011). These settlements vary in size and population.According to Oyebanji (2000), Kwara state lies in the middle belt region of Nigeria and is situated between parallel latitudes -8oN and 10oN -and longitudes -3oE and 6oE -of the Greenwich meridian (Figure .1). The state has river Niger as its natural boundary along its northern and eastern margins and shares a common internal boundary with Niger state in the north, Kogi state in the east, Oyo, Ekiti and Osun state in the south, and an international boundary with the republic of Benin in the west.The geology of Kwara state is over 80% underlain by crystalline Precambrian basement complex rocks, while the remaining part is underlain by cretaceous and younger sediments (Jones and Hockey, 1964;Rahaman, 1976). Topographically, Kwara state is typified by undulating landscape with low rounded hills and occasional, often elongated, quartzite ridges indicating the characteristic pediment-inselberg landscape of typical basement terrain (Durotoye, 1983). The drainage pattern is mainly dendritic -a reflection that the underlying geological formation has horizontal strata (Oyegun, 1983). The natural vegetation belongs to the tropical Savanna. According to Oyebanji (2000), a large proportion of the land area of the state is characterised by ferruginous tropical soils on crystalline acid rock. The climate of Kwara state is tropical and humid with distinct wet and dry seasons each lasting for a period of about 6 months (Babalola and Ajayi, 2002). The wet season begins towards the end of March and lasts until October, while the dry season begins in November and ends in early March.Agriculture is a climate dependent activity that places serious burdens on the environment in the process of providing sufficient food supplies to the population. However, in Kwara state where 70% of the area is rural, agriculture is the dominant economic activity and engages the major proportion of the populace. Farmers in the area cultivate a wide variety of produce including rice, maize, guinea corn, groundnuts, beans, millet, melon, kola nut, tobacco, cotton, cocoa, coffee, oil, palm and tubers such as yam, cassava and sweet potato. Those living at the river banks are also engaged in fish farming. Other forms of socio-economic activities in Kwara state include mining and quarrying.Data required for this study was obtained from primary and secondary sources. The data on the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers and farmers' general knowledge on climate change, including its causes, effects and adaptive measures, were obtained through a detailed and wellstructured questionnaire. However, secondary data including a map of the study areas, population figures of farmers and data regarding agro- climate relationships were obtained from Kwara state's Ministry of Agriculture, academic textbooks, journals and the internet.Kwara state was stratified into three locations based on ethnic/language similarities. One LGA from each location was then randomly selected and from each of the three resulting LGAs, two settlements were also randomly selected -making a total of six settlements (Table 1).Selection of the sampled areas was based on the focus of the study as aerial phenomena, and not location specific. Thus it was assumed that similar problems would be faced by farmers in the same region, and that they are likely to proffer from the same set of solutions. The number of questionnaires administered in each settlement (Table 1) was determined by dividing the population of farmers in each settlement by the total number of farmers in all selected settlements (3,883), multiplied by the sample size (266). The results were determined using Cochran's (1963) equation: 266Systematic random sampling was adopted for questionnaire administration.The first farmer was randomly selected from the list of farmers in each of the selected settlements after which, every fourth farmer was selected. Descriptive statistics were used, while tables were used for data presentation.The study revealed that the majority of sampled farmers were male (74%).From the data analysis, the age of farmers ranged from 41-50, but the average age was 50. With an average age of 50, the farmers were expected to have the experience necessary for a study of this nature.Most of the respondents (71%) were married, 20% had no formal education; 14% attended Islamic schools, 34% attended primary schools and 28% were educated to secondary school level. Only 4% had tertiary education and 14% had received adult education (from schools created for adults interested in further schooling; Table 2). This implies that the respondents are semi-literate -a point that was assumed to be influential on their perception of climate change. The study reveals that farming is the main occupation of the people with 67.67% of respondents being full time farmers, and the remaining 32.33% engaged in other economic activities such as trading, transportation, casual labour and artisan activities. The modal value for farming experience was 21-25 years, while  the mean was 19 years, indicating that the farmers may have worked in the sector for long enough to have acquired relevant skills in coping with the effects of climate change.The study revealed that 92.48% of selected farmers are aware of climate change, while the remaining 7.52% claimed not to be aware of it. This suggests a high level of awareness of the subject matter in the study areas.The major media outlets accessible by farmers for climate change information are radio and television (26%); extension services (34%) and farmer cooperatives (30.45%) On the other hand, very few respondents obtained their information through print media or from friends (Table 3).The majority (97%) of respondents were of the opinion that the environment, and climate in particular, has been changing over the years due to human activities such as farming, deforestation, farmland extension, overgrazing, bush burning and industrialisation. More than half of respondents (59%) 'agreed' in the survey (Table 4) that the weather is becoming dryer every year, causing discomfort and agricultural difficulties for people within the study areas.About 60% of the respondents strongly agreed that the yearly rains are not supporting crop production as usual, and 53% of respondents agreed that the temperature has been rising over the years. Similarly, the majority of respondents (89%) concluded that rainfall can be abnormal causing regular floods and erosion (Table 4).Bush burning is generally the preferred traditional means of clearing farmland for seedbed preparation, which increases the concentration of GHGs and particulate matter in the atmosphere. A high percentage of farmer responses (54.89%) indicated that bush burning contributed to climate change (Table 5). The respondents also identified overgrazing as one of the causes of climate change, and 64.67% of respondents were of the opinion that overgrazing reduces soil fertility and production. Moreover, decreasing soil fertility is one of the impacts of extreme weather events, and as a result, 84.96% of farmers have had to resort to fertiliser use over the past 10 years. Meanwhile, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM, 2007) has reported that conventional agricultural activities contribute to climate change because they apply excessive amounts of nitrogen fertiliser for sustained productivity. The respondents also acknowledged deforestation as a major contributor to climate change, noting the negative aspects of deforestation such as the loss of trees, vegetation and species. About 74.44% of respondents strongly agreed that deforestation causes habitat loss and can lead to species extinction and reduced biodiversity. With the widely reported rate of poverty in Nigeria, especially among farming households, as well as the ever rising prices of kerosene and cooking gas, burning of fuel wood as cooking energy has become a predominant practice. Wood burning occurs not only among rural families but also among the urban poor; 96.62% of respondents confessing to undertaking this practice (Table 5).Table 6 gives details of the effects of climate change as observed by the surveyed farmers. About 60% of respondents agreed that climate change has led to various forms of crop infestation by pests, thereby reducing the quantity and quality of crops produced. As a result of food shortages, 55% of respondents agreed that the price of food will likely rise. Of the surveyed farmers, 64% reported that they had experienced floods and 53% had experienced drought, both of which are associated with climate change and threaten the livelihoods of farmers. Further, 56% of the respondents agreed that the environment is suffering from excessive de-vegetation and a decline in forest resources. About 70% of respondents attested to the fact that they use pesticides to control infestations and reduce the occurrence of crop disease, both of which are impacts associated with climate change -according to 96.62% of respondents (Table 6). To address the problem of soil moisture loss caused by increasing temperatures and decreasing rainfall, approximately 80% of respondents mulch their land, while 72.18% shade their crops to mitigate the same. Farmers consider that these practices allow foliage weight gain and root growth of crops. As another coping strategy, about 75% of the respondents reported to using fertiliser to improve soil fertility. On the other hand, one coping strategy that was not used extensively was bush fallowing, which was only practiced by 20.30% of respondents as it was said there was not enough land on which to carry out this farming system.Effectiveness of the identified coping strategies in Table 8 varied from farmer to farmer and settlement to settlement. However, the majority of farmers claimed to have benefitted from using such strategies over the years, with 58% confirming the effectiveness of intercropping. The use of pesticides to get rid of pests was indicated to promote production by 53% of respondents. Mulching was also identified as a very effective coping strategy for climate change adaptation, with 47% of respondents in agreement; and the use of shading structures to reduce soil moisture loss was considered an effective coping strategy by 47% of farmers. On bush fallowing, which is not a common practice of the area, 50.37% of farmers said it was very effective as a climate change coping strategy according to their experience. To the farmers, fallow land regains lost nutrients over time and would therefore be useful land for the cultivation of food crops. Finally, it was confirmed by 62% of farmers that the use of chemical fertiliser is a very effective coping strategy.The current study concludes that the threat of climate change is felt more keenly by rural farmers than by urban communities in Africa. It is due to this that the surveyed indigenous farmers of this study were found to take the issue of climate change very seriously. Indeed, they are aware of its occurrence and are capable of identifying its causes and effects, and designing adaptation strategies in order to survive. However, poverty is a major factor which reduces the ability of indigenous farmers to respond to climate change, as well as ignorance to various adaptation strategies. To address the existing knowledge and information gaps concerning the effects of climate change and promote adaptation strategies, immediate action is required to increase information dissemination through training programs.Based on this conclusion, the study recommends the promotion of principles of environmental conservation among indigenous people. This can only be possible by enhancing the knowledge of indigenous people regarding climate change implications; and the significance of conserving the natural environment.Bearing in mind that this study is restricted to climate change adaptation, there is need for future research on IK and climate change mitigation strategies. This is paramount as it will help to expand the scope of IK, and contribute to the development of holistic and sustainable climate change policies.A fishing community works with an experimental net with a larger mesh size that does not catch juvenile fishIndigenous knowledge (IK) has been used by our great grandfathers in timing farm activities long before the invention of modern seasonal weather forecasting technologies. This knowledge has been passed on informally from generation to generation and still plays an important part in decision-making among rural smallholder farmers, who have no access to the official government seasonal weather forecasts and predictions. Since most of the agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa is rain-fed, knowledge of the onset and cessation of rains is key to the timing of most farm activities. Knowing when to sow seed for the most food secure and staple crops, during periods of scarcity or hunger, is of utmost importance. Crop yields are normally expected to be stable and high when rainfall is properly timed. Most of the IK is, therefore, about seasonal weather forecasting of the onset and cessation of rains. Based on results from a number of cross sectional surveys among different cultures or tribes in Uganda, we present over 10 signs used by the indigenous people in forecasting the onset and cessation of the rain season. Indicators for the onset of rain, include changes in the behaviour of domestic animals such as cows, calls by particular bird species, the appearance or disappearance of insects, such as termites and grasshoppers, the wind direction, the appearance and movement of migratory birds, the colour of the clouds at a given time of day, and night temperature variations. Climate variability in the last 10-20 years is starting to impact on the timing and, hence, reliability of some of these traditional indicators. The time to plant crops can no longer solely be based on the calendar, since the seasons have  Although indigenous knowledge (IK) is often used by rural smallholder farmers to predict changes in the climate, this is barely documented. The scientific support for IK initiatives is also rarely investigated by meteorologists, let alone incorporated into modern weather forecasting. This negligence to include IK in forecasting, let alone in the design of adaptation strategies for climatic changes, has hindered the acceptance, trust or use of official weather forecasts among rural smallholder farmers. However, farmers are often eager to know when the rain season will start so that they can begin planting, especially for the first short rain season. This is because farming systems have evolved around weather patterns.Climate related disasters in Uganda are a responsibility of the office of the Prime Minister (OPM). This office mainly responds to large scale natural hazards together with other relief service providers, such as the Red Cross, World Food Program and other international and local non-governmental organisations (NGOs). However, the OPM, like many other government ministries, is constrained by limited funds/resources to mitigate or manage climate risks and natural disasters. This leaves many smallholder rural farmers at the mercy of nature or sympathetic donors to help them survive such tough times, whilst lacking basic needs. The dependence on rain-fed agriculture by the majority of smallholder farmers in Uganda, together with the low application of inputs (seed, fertilisers, pesticides) in agriculture, results in most farmers being unable to feed their families after a single season of crop failure. Since the government ministry is not able to provide long-term support (such as subsidised irrigation equipment), or short-term subsidies (like food stamps), most poor rural farmers remain food insecure and vulnerable to disease outbreaks after a single extreme weather event.The government of Uganda has designed a number of coping mechanisms through which rural smallholder farmers can mitigate the negative effects of climate change. The Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA) programme is implementing a number of projects, through the National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA), to support community adaptation, such as tree growing, land restoration, the strengthening of the meteorological department, rainwater harvesting, the construction of valley dams, and vector/pest/disease control, as well as the use of IK (Government of Uganda, 2007). The NAPA policy was designed to address the challenges brought about by climate change, but also to set priorities to support adaptation.There are many climate resilient solutions that work for smallholder farmers in Uganda. Okonya et al. (2013) listed 14 strategies through which farmers in six districts were coping with the negative effects of climatic change. The most commonly used measures included the planting of trees; the planting of improved, drought-tolerant, quickmaturing, or pest and disease resistant crop varieties; starting or increasing the use of pesticides; the use of mulch in a crop garden; flexible planting dates; and the diversification of income sources other than agriculture.Other climate resilient solutions that are being promoted by the government of Uganda include: 1) constructing rainwater harvesting roofs and tanks in drought prone areas; 2) constructing valley dams for cattle keepers or pastoralists; 3) promoting early maturity crops to escape drought in rain-fed crop farming systems; 4) developing drought tolerant crop varieties in drought prone areas; 5) promoting dietary diversification by including more climate resilient crops, such as roots, tubers and bananas, rather than solely cereal crops such as wheat; 6) promoting the use of conservation agriculture; 7) promoting integrated rangeland management; 8) encouraging improved post-harvest handling, storage (in granaries) and value addition; 9) promoting the construction of food granaries or stores where the surplus after a good harvest can be stored; 10) setting policies that require farmers to allocate at least 50% of their land to food crops rather than cash crops, such as sugar cane or palm oil.The capacity of smallholder farmers to adapt to or cope with natural emergencies in Uganda requires an improvement in factors that increase their adaptability, such as higher income levels, a more diverse number of income sources and a good level of education (Okonya et al., 2013). In this regard, the following avenues are intended to increase adaptability: 1) the distribution of quick maturity staple crop varieties for sweet potato and cassava; 2) wealth creation programmes to increase the income and asset ownership of peasant farmers, including the distribution of free coffee seedlings, heifers, goats, piglets, banana suckers and tractors; 3) training programmes on the use of conservation agriculture practices, such as no tillage and terracing; 4) encouraging diversified income sources, which do not only depend on agriculture, but include off-farm activities such as tailoring, retail shops and motorcycle taxi driving, popularly referred to as boda boda; 5) universal primary and secondary education to boost the social status of citizens' race, ethnicity, indigenous identity, gender and level of income to help define both their vulnerability and their capacities to adapt to climate change; and 6) the distribution of drought tolerant crop varieties, such as beans, upland rice and maize.The IKS initiatives, which farmers in Uganda have practiced for centuries to plan their agricultural production activities are many, but for this study we limit ourselves to those IKS related to agriculture with a bias towards weather and climate forecasting. Thus, climate in relation to agricultural IK can loosely be sub-divided into about four categories: 1) indicators for the onset of the rain season, 2) indicators for the dry season, 3) indicators for extreme climatic events, and 4) practices for the management of soil, water, rangelands and forest resources.One early warning sign of the onset of the rain season that Ugandan farmers look out for is a change in the direction of prevailing winds to blowing from west to east (Orlove et al., 2010;Egeru, 2012;Okonya and Kroschel, 2013;Nganzi et al., 2015). The shift in the direction of the wind could be due to the arrival of the Intertropical Convergence Zone from the south in March and its return from the north in September (Orlove et al., 2010). Normally, the fist short rain season is from March to May, while the long rain season is from September to December. Calls by rain birds, such as the black cuckoos (Cuculus clamosus), ducks, Abyssinian hornbills (Bucorvus abyssinicus) and the grey crowned crane (Balearica regulorum) (Orlove et al., 2010;Egeru, 2012;Okonya and Kroschel, 2013;Nganzi et al., 2015.), as well as many other bird species, always start instinctively when the rains are near. This could be due to the fact that their phenology or behavior, including courtship, mating, egg laying and migration to another area, is linked or in sync with the onset of the rain season. Shukla (1989), as cited in Acharya (2011), suggests that the black cuckoo birds sing in response to changes in the air waves caused by changes in the air humidity.The appearance or arrival of migratory birds, such as the ground Abyssinian hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus) also coincides with the arrival of rains (Orlove et al., 2010;Okonya and Kroschel, 2013;Nganzi et al., 2015). These birds either come to Uganda to breed or escape the cold winters.The movements of fronts are used by these migratory birds to provide them with tailwinds (Liechti, 2006). The movement of insects uphill (like the African army ants) or out of their nests (like the African flying white ants or termites) is another indicator of the onset of rain (Okonya and Kroschel, 2013;Nganzi et al., 2015). It is possible that these insects can sense differences in the humidity, pressure and temperature of the air visà-vis that inside their nests in the soil. The uphill migration of the African army ants from low land areas is probably a natural instinct to avoid areas that are likely to be flooded. Black ants (Componotus herculeanus) have been observed to carry their eggs uphill when rains are approaching.Local communities have reported a feeling of excess body heat during the night and day in the weeks before the rains, which could be due to increased temperatures, resulting from increased convection over the Lake Victoria basin. This increased convection at the onset of the rain season suggests an increased downward motion over the land; the warming of air that accompanies downward movement and compression could be associated with unusually warm nights (Orlove et al., 2010;Okonya and Kroschel, 2013;Nganzi et al., 2015). A number of tree species, including coffee, neem (Azadirachta indica) and the African teak (Milicia excelsa) are known to flower when the rain season is about to begin (Orlove et al., 2010;Okonya and Kroschel, 2013). Curran et al. (1999) observed that El Niño events may be linked to the triggering of the flowering of trees. After the onset of monsoon and when temperatures are high (over 40°C), a low pressure zone is created that attracts the clouds and, hence, induces rain (Chhaganibhai, 1992 as cited by Acarya, 2011). The formation of dark clouds (Okonya and Kroschel 2013;Nganzi et al., 2015), observation of celestial bodies, such as the halo moon and a group of stars in the east (Orlove et al., 2010;Okonya and Kroschel 2013), the sprouting of tree leaves and croaking by frogs (Okonya and Kroschel, 2013;Komutunga et al., 2013;Nganzi et al., 2015) are all signs indicating the imminent coming of rain.IK indicators for the end of the rain seasons have been reported by Okonya and Kroschel, (2013) and Nganzi et al. (2015), including winds blowing from east to west, the shedding of leaves by some trees, the appearance of insects, such as the bush cricket and butterflies, colder temperatures at night and a clear sky. The increased number of butterflies observed could be due to higher temperatures, which shorten their generation time, hence enabling them to have many generations in a short space of time (Okonya et al., 2015). The reduced rainfall conditions also reduce the effectiveness of natural entomopathogenic fungi, such as Beauveria balbisian, that often limit butterfly life stages.A number of government programmes, such as The Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF), include a community reconciliation and conflict management (CRCM) component, which aims to integrate IKS into its operations of peace building and conflict management (Laker and Namara, 2006). The NUSAF programme empowered traditional institutions to not only engage the local government, but also to facilitate post conflict reconciliations among local communities. The knowledge and skills of both traditional leaders facilitated reconciliation, and brought healing and cohesion to the disrupted communities in the Acholi region. Community interaction was strengthened and social capital enhanced through this CRCM programme. The National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) implemented a World Bank supported agriculture research and training project with the main aim to incorporate IK into agricultural research (Aluma et al., 2001). Integrating IK into NARO's technology development process was noted to increase farmer adoption rates, but also lower the adoption costs of NARO's technologies. This project identified a number of IK practices to be promoted, which included technologies for seed and food preservation, crop and livestock management, educational methods, and cultural values and taboos.Farmers in Uganda continue to practice traditional farming practices for the management of their crops, soil, water, forests and rangelands. Among the most common traditional practices is the use of local herbs (plant extracts) to make biorationals/biopesticides in order to control pests and diseases. For instance, Agea et al. (2008) reported that up to 25% of farmers in Soroti applied local homemade concoctions instead of using chemical pesticides to control pests and diseases on their farms. Akullo et al. (2007) also reported the use of IK in most of the farming activities of farmers in the Hoima, Masindi and Kibaale districts. Survey results from the Masaka and Mukono districts report that over 70% of smallholder farmers practiced shifting cultivation, crop rotation, mulching and used scare crows in their fields; all of these practices have been learned from their parents (Agea et al., 2008). Additionally, the conservation of plant species for cultural reasons, such as taboos, has played a big role in biodiversity conservation and the restoration of degraded landscapes. Amidst deforestation for fuel production (charcoal and firewood), some tree species in the Kaliro district continue to thrive because they cannot be used for cooking due to cultural reasons. These trees include, Piliostigma thonningii, Flueggea virosa, Gardenia ternifolia, Dracaena fragrans, Euphorbia tirucalli, and Hymenocardia acida (Tabuti and Van Damme, 2012).Statistics on the use of IK are only just starting to emerge due to the little research and documentation accorded to this field. A few references are, however, available for Uganda in the mainstream scholarly literature, all of which are quite recent, i.e. less than 10 years-old. In 2007, Akullo et al. (2007) carried out a study in the three districts of Uganda (Hoima, Kibaale and Masindi) and reported a number of IK practices that were being used in agriculture by smallholder farmers, but did not indicate the percentage of use for each IK practice. The study involved interviews of 240 individual farmers and 12 focus group discussions of 15-25 key informants (elders, community leaders and agricultural extension officers). Orlove et al. (2010) reported that 21% of the farmers in Rakai district used local indicators to predict the start of the rain season. Survey results by Okonya and Kroschel (2013) from six districts in Uganda (Gulu, Kabale, Kasese, Masindi, Soroti and Wakiso) in 2013, showed that on average 50% of the farmers used at least one IK indicator to predict the onset of rains and 38% for the start of the dry season. According to Egeru (2012), 85% of the households in the study area used IK on a daily basis whilst carrying out crop production activities, for predicting the start of the dry season and for spiritual matters (Egeru, 2012). In a study covering 22 districts of Uganda, Nganzi et al. (2015) observed that IK in weather forecasting was being used by 94.6% of the 135 interviewed agricultural communities and the majority of the 53 district officials (97%) interviewed re-affirmed this.The extent to which IKS actions are still relevant in contemporary situationsEconomic, and specifically financial, constraints make it impossible for governments to afford or purchase powerful and state-of-the-art equipment (computers and computer programmes) that can accurately predict climatic events based on satellite observations. Additionally, the meteorological department is unable to hire and facilitate enough technical staff to man the few weather stations that do exist. Poor staffing can, therefore, sometimes be a source of error in weather predictions, resulting in less precise forecasts that farmers cannot always rely on. Furthermore, out of the 110 districts in Uganda, active ground weather stations are in less than a quarter, which is not spatially representative and can negatively impact weather predictions. So, IK continues to be relevant with very few weather stations in the country to give reliable forecasts and the inefficiency of the meteorological department's dissemination of its weather forecasts.A young boy observing a swarm of locusts filling the sky near farmlandsUNMA has time and again issued official seasonal weather forecasts that have not been accurate at the local level. This is probably because the models used in most African countries for seasonal prediction give predictions that are too general, and at times not relevant at the local level. This has therefore increased skepticism among the general public and specifically smallholder farmers. 91% of the 223 farmers interviewed in Uganda by Nganzi et al. (2015) reported that official seasonal weather forecasts were unreliable. In the same study, 79% of the respondents continued to use both IK and official forecasts to plan their farm activities.In a related study in the Kaboong and Soroti districts, Komutungi et al. (2013) reported that more farmers (58%) considered IK more reliable than meteorological forecasts.Since most of the weather/climate forecast messages are relayed on radio, television and print media, many farmers who do not have access to these information sources due to poverty, or otherwise, base planning of their farm activities on IK. Secondly, due to the large number of ethnic groups/ languages spoken in Uganda (over 56 tribes and nine indigenous communities), it remains a challenge for the weather forecasts to be translated into all local languages, leaving IK as the only option for illiterate farmers or small tribes (Nganzi et al., 2015). Although the modern weather forecasts may be very accurate and accessible in certain areas, some elders prefer to hold onto and use IK indicators because they learnt them from their fore fathers, whom they trust and believe to be accurate. Some IK practices have become a part of these people's culture, which they are not ready to give up for modern scientific methods.IKS, like most knowledge systems, come with a number of threats even if policies to conserve them are in place. The implementation of polices that are not directly related to politics is not treated with the utmost importance in most African countries. Among the factors that threaten the use of IK is rural to urban migration: when most of the youth move to urban centres to seek employment, very few are left in rural areas to interact with the elders and learn IK skills. At the same time many rural youths are abandoning agriculture due to high inputs and low returns. Urban growth activities, such as hunting, charcoal burning, timber production, the construction of modern infrastructure like buildings, roads, and large commercial farms/plantations, threaten IKS by either changing the landscape, or destroying/displacing the natural ecosystem (forests, water bodies), which provides the habitat for the birds, animals or insects whose sounds/songs/calls/movement are needed for IK. The disappearance of IK indicators from the ecosystem due to environment degradation also poses a great risk to their continued use. A generational shift in attitudes towards IK also threatens its continued use and existence. Many young people think it is old-fashioned, unreliable or primitive to follow or use IK, so they are abandoning the use of IK in favour of scientific methods from developed western countries to make climatic predictions.Changes in the climate: farmers used to plant some crops, such as millet, potato and maize, during the dry season when they were sure of the seasonality of rain. However, this traditional practice is becoming less and less common nowadays due to the unpredictability of the start of the rain season (Olive et al., 2010;Egeru, 2012;Nganzi et al., 2015).Inadequate documentation and illiteracy: most IK practices are not documented, but rather, orally communicated, practiced or demonstrated and may be lost with the death of elders and gifted foretellers.Gender differences: some cultures (Iteso and Kuman) in eastern Uganda also have limitations on who in the community acquires the IK. Some IK practices are restricted to a certain gender, age, family, clan, leader or community. This restriction in transmission bars others from accessing and using this IK (Egeru, 2012;Haumba, 2015), and inadequate frameworks to conserve and patent IK, coupled with the total disregard for the value of IK due to misconceptions and disrespect of cultural values, threatens the survival of IKS (Uganda, 2007).Some policies do exist in Uganda regarding the use of IK, for instance, Uganda has a policy on climate change which seeks to reduce the country's vulnerability to changes in the climate. Although, the policy emphasises the need to promote community-based approaches to adapt to climate change, no explicit mention is given on the use or involvement of IK (GoU, 2015). To increase household income, the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) of Uganda lays emphasis on the inclusion of IK in the design of sustainable community-based agricultural programmes, to improve the ease of implementation and acceptance of programme technologies by smallholder farmers (PEAP, 2004). In the NAPA for Uganda, local communities are often consulted on how IK can be used in sustainable environment conservation, traditional medicine and weather forecasting (GoU, 2007) Education: the introduction of IK into primary school curricula and competitions among school children that promote the mastery of cultural norms and traditions of a given ethnic group, offering appropriate incentives to winners. The use of indigenous languages should also be encouraged e.g. children should not be punished for speaking their mother tongues at school. At Ugandan universities, competitions between different cultural groups do exist and most students feel proud to be members of these groups, which have taught them their cultural values.Examples of such groups include Nkobazambogo of the Buganda Kingdom and Basonga Nsete of the Busoga Kingdom, among others.there is a need to identify, document and disseminate IK. This will facilitate its accessibility and increase usage.Creating digital copies of IK to make it available in universities and national libraries would go a long way in promoting its use and conservation.Cultural kingdoms: there are over five kingdoms in Uganda and each kingdom should be charged with promoting its cultural heritage and the conservation of IK. An IK Resource Development Newsletter published by the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology does already exist.It should be noted that both meteorologists and indigenous people base their seasonal forecasting on the same atmospheric parameters, such as prevailing winds, type of clouds and sea temperatures. It is therefore possible for these two fields (farmers and scientists) to support and complement each other to increase the accuracy, acceptance and reliability of seasonal forecasts. There are a number of ways in which IK can be synergised with existing scientific approaches to mitigate climate change. Among them is the inclusion of IK in the development and testing of climate change related adaptation technologies, such as flood or drought tolerant crop varieties. This will increase the adoption rates of new technologies as the use of IK will improve their relevance for farmers.In order to improve food security and risk management strategies in rural areas, there is a need for the integration of IKS into official forecasts, which requires better awareness among village elders and chiefs of how the official forecasts work to complement the IK approaches. This can be achieved through routine discussions and meetings with the custodians of the IK and a continuous exchange of information between meteorologists, local chiefs and village leaders on how to improve the accuracy of weather forecasts. Examples can be seen in Kenya, Niger and Ghana where local groups, farmers, meteorologists and pastoralists are coming together to collect, share and plan for climatic events with the support of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and CARE (CARE, 2013).More studies are needed to explore if and how the traditional indicators for climatic events are responding to changes in the climate. Adaptation strategies that smallholder farmers are using will also need to be documented. CTA has developed and integrated IK to create a participatory 3D relief map. This elicited discussions and suggestions by local communities on how best to adapt to the changing climate. Local leaders were then able to use the different layers of the model to explain to the relevant authorities their understanding of climatic change, but also task their government to take action (CTA, 2012). Farmers are very keen on observing changes to the climate in their locality, on a daily basis over an extended period of time. Sharing such information with scientists can help them to identify the most vulnerable locations that need immediate interventions.Below are suggestions of ways in which IKS can be adapted to the current efforts to address climatic challenges facing smallholder farmers:(1) Biodiversity conservation of tree, bird and other wildlife speciessome cultural beliefs and values exist in a number of cultures that do not allow the cutting down of certain tree species or the eating of some animals and birds. Identifying these cultures and promoting the strict observation of indigenous beliefs and values that promote conservation can significantly contribute to biodiversity conservation for trees, birds and animals.(2) Absence of official forecasts at a community level -in the absence of accurate official weather forecasts for particular villages, there is a need for farmers to be trained on IK, specific to their area, which is proven to work. This will help both villagers and the government not simply to rapidly respond to crises, but also to be proactive and put in place a risk management plan based on IK outcomes and predictions.(3) Adaptation to climate change -indigenous people should be involved as key partners in the design of adaptation plans for climate change. The observations and IK of the local people should form an integral part of a successful, sustainable, cost-effective mitigation and adaptation strategy.(4) Matching indigenous indicators with their meteorological equivalent -indigenous indicators of climatic events, like those based on plant phenology, should be linked to their meteorological equivalent. This would not only increase local farmers' trust in official weather forecasts, but also increase the effectiveness of adaptation strategies in coping with climatic shocks (Ziervogel and Opere, 2010).(5) Participatory data collection and analysis -tools that prioritise the use of IK in data collection and analysis, for the design of climate adaptation strategies, need to be developed. An example of one such tool is the climate vulnerability and capacity analysis (CVCA) by CARE. The CVCA tool involves participatory methods, such as the use of historical timelines, hazard mapping, a vulnerability matrix and seasonal calendars. Such a tool can be used at all decision-making levels, including by policy makers (Dazé, Ambrose and Ehrhart, 2009).(6) Strong and specific policies -tailored policies need to be put in place together with an operational plan of specific objectives to integrate IK when planning for adaptation strategies to climate change.(7) Documentation of IK -the documentation of IK in journals, such as the Indilinga African Journal of Indigenous Knowledge Systems, may help to conserve as well as disseminate IK. However, such knowledge needs to be open access for its contents to be easily used and have maximum impact. The formation of networks of professionals -such as the agriculture network, which routinely gathers and publishes IK in magazines -can go far in creating awareness and increasing readership of IK (Anonymous, 2016).Rain-fed agriculture is the main source of income for many smallholder farmers in rural communities, who are always eager to know the best time to plant their crops. Most IK and weather prediction indicators are, therefore, related to rainfall. Rainfall is key to food security with a year of bad rain directly resulting in household food insecurity among most farmers in Uganda. IKS and scientific approaches to seasonal weather forecasts are two systems that could be harmonised to strengthen mitigation and adaptation measures towards climate change impacts, such as unpredictable rainfall patterns. In order to achieve this, the documentation of IK needs to be encouraged. Some policies regarding the use of IK to complement official weather forecasts exist, but their enforcement needs to be emphasised. Specific policies on the use of IK in seasonal weather forecasting ought to be elaborated with a clear formal framework in the climate change policy of Uganda. The growing interest among researchers, donors, and governments regarding the importance of understanding the role of IK in improving the adaptive capacity of a given community (IPPC, 2014), provides opportunities to use IK in strategies to address the challenges of climate change .formations, the patterns of stars and constellations, floral characteristics and wind direction, and animal behaviours such as pigs grunting and the migration of birds, to help manage climate risks.According to Masinde and Bagula (2012), indigenous/traditional knowledge (IK) is described as the knowledge of an indigenous community, accumulated over generations of living in a particular environment. It is a traditional, cultural knowledge that includes intellectual, technological, ecological and medical information. Ncube and Lagardien (2015) define IK as a body of knowledge built up by a group of people through generations of living in close contact with nature. This knowledge is established where people have survived for a very long time and have become familiarised with their surroundings. IK systems (IKS) applications vary from region to region, for example in southern Africa, IKS refer to bodies of knowledge embedded in African philosophical thinking and social practices that have evolved over thousands of years (Maferetlhane, 2012;Ncube and Lagardien, 2015). According to Ncube and Largardien (2015), the South African cabinet approved the IKS policy in 2004, which provides a broad basis for the recognition, understanding, integration and promotion of IK resources within South Africa (Maferetlhane, 2012;Ncube and Largardien, 2015).©FAO/Paballo ThekisoIn their 2015 paper, Ncube and Lagardien highlight the sharp increase in the number of publications focused on the area of IK in Africa, especially in South Africa, where tens of research projects have been funded through the National Research Foundation. Despite this encouraging trend, publications in the category of weather, drought and climate variation prediction, and more specifically, studies on agriculture and the environment, are still rare, and minimally represented as compared to other subject areas such as culture in relation to environment (Masinde and Bagula, 2012;Ncube and Lagardien, 2015). Similar concerns were highlighted in a study by the Water Research Commission in 2015.Generally, publications on the topic of IK within African climate management strategies reveal that communities use various mechanisms to predict drought and weather forecasts (Mpandeli, 2006;Masinde and Bagula, 2012;Ncube and Lagardien, 2015). Communities have been found to observe or use climate prediction indicators during the changing seasons, including lunar cycles, the behaviour of animals and the appearance of certain plants (Alcock, 2010;Masinde and Bagula, 2012;Ncube and Lagardien, 2015). Like modern weather forecasts, IK also involves studying meteorological parameters such as air temperature, cloud colour and wind direction (Masinde and Bagula, 2012;Ncube and Lagardien, 2015). It has been noted that researchers nowadays concur that IK and modern science complement each other.In contrast to developed countries, the majority of the rural populations in sub-Saharan Africa are engaged in farming. And small-scale farmers are known to produce the greater proportion of food consumed in SSA (Broad and Agrawal, 2000;Ifejika, 2010;Ncube and Lagardien, 2015).The production practices of these farmers are largely based on local knowledge and the experience they have gained over the years (Adger, 2001;Gommez, 1999;Ncube and Lagardien, 2015), as such, strategies and perceptions of risk very with location.According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007), climate change exerts multiple stresses on the biophysical as well as the social and institutional environments that underpin agricultural production. The impacts of climate variability on the African continent have been observed by many, particularly those affecting agricultural systems (Mark et al., 2008;Khanal, 2009;Jiri et al., 2016). Such impacts include: (i) the alteration of land suitability for agricultural production (ii) seasonal changes in rainfall and temperature, impacting agro-climatic conditions; altering growing seasons, planting and harvesting calendars; water availability; and pest, weed and disease populations (iii) alteration in evapotranspiration, photosynthesis and biomass production. The impacts, however, vary from region to region and consequently the strategies to adapt to the impacts vary across spatial locations. Factors that can influence adaptation strategies among countries include: economic disparity, cultural differences, severity of climatic change impacts, and the socio-economic activities carried out by the population (Adger, 2001;2003). The capacity of a country to respond effectively to climate change is bound up in the ability and interest of its societies to act collectively. However, specific groups within society such as government and organisations that champion IK and climate change issues, tend to act on behalf of society as a whole. Therefore, decisions made regarding climate adaptation can privilege one set of interests over another, creating winners and losers (Adger, 2001;2003;Tompkins and Adger, 2003).The most widely used climate change adaptation strategies in southern Africa include the production of drought resistant crop varieties and early maturing crops; crop and livestock diversification; and animal culling and food storage (Dabi, 2005). Another coping strategy for farmers in this region is the use of traditional or indigenous forecasting techniques that have evolved over time. Such strategies may provide farmers with useful information in order to optimise their agricultural practices (Alcock, 2010;Masinde and Bagula, 2012;Ncube and Lagardien, 2015).Due to the poor dissemination of climate information in South Africa, the majority of farmers in Limpopo province use IK/local knowledge as a way of counteracting climate risks. However, feedback from the farmers in the study areas of Rabali, Tshakhuma and Tshiombo showed that there are large numbers of farmers who are ready to use technically derived climate forecasting in order to increase their yields, and produce higher quality products. It has been highlighted in various studies that farmers in southern Africa are farming in very difficult situations due to the lack of proper extension services and access to climate advisory informationespecially in the Limpopo province and Karoo region in Western Cape of South Africa (Mpandeli, 2006;Maponya and Mpandeli, 2012;Ncube and Largardien, 2015). A major constraint to farming locations that experience marked climate variability are also generally subjected to periods of drought and flooding.One tool that could be added to farmers' risk management portfolios is seasonal climate forecasting. The majority of agronomic crops produced in southern Africa are highly sensitive to high climate variability and change.For example, research carried out in various countries of southern Africa has demonstrated that a 2° rise in ambient temperature, and a rise in mean temperature by 4° would significantly lower crop yields (Jiri et al., 2016).Previous studies have tested the potential effects of climate variability and change on maize, a staple crop in Zimbabwe, using a general circulation model and the dynamic crop growth model CERES-maize. Results showed that maize production was expected to significantly decrease by approximately 11-17% under conditions of both irrigation and nonirrigation (Mpandeli, 2006;Maponya and Mpandeli, 2012;Jiri et al., 2016).  The second case study is from Karoo region in the Western Cape province of South Africa, which focused on three municipalities: Beaufort West, Oudtshoorn and Prince Albert (Figure . 2). The study sites lie within the dry Central Karoo district and Oudtshoorn, which is in the Eden district (Ncube and Lagardien, 2015). The Karoo region covers a huge area, roughly 45% of the Western Cape province, and is home to about 6% of its people.An assessment of the coping and adaptation strategies used by farmers in the study regions was undertaken. Embedded in this chapter is also an evaluation of the role that information -which includes IK -could play in managing climate risk. The methods used to achieve this aim included literature reviews, survey instruments, participatory rural appraisal and focus group discussions (FDGs) with farmers in the area, as well as stakeholder and key informant interviews.The various phases of the research undertaken in the Limpopo province and Karoo region, are detailed below. A detailed desktop review of IK was carried out and case studies from the various study regions were completed. The interviews with farmers, key informants and stakeholders were undertaken in collaboration with extension officers, agricultural scientists and local community members of the Limpopo province and Karoo region in the Western Cape province. Methods for capturing IK were also reviewed and those appropriate were selected for use within the study. Participatory research methods were adopted throughout the study, particularly during interactions with the famers.Valuable information obtained during both the formal surveys and the FGDs -including on the use of indigenous climate information and coping strategies used for drought and flood periods -will be dicussed in this chapter (Ziervogel et al., 2004;Mpandeli and Maponya, 2012;Ncube and Lagardien, 2015).Traditional and local knowledge systems still play a major role in farmers' decision-making strategies.Results from the Rabali, Tshakhuma and Tshiombo study sites show that farmers use cloud formation to monitor possible rainfall occurrence. More than 60% of the 90 farmers surveyed in the Rabali, Tshakhuma and Tshiombo areas perceive cloud formation as the best climate-monitoring tool. A key area for further research would thus be to identify where/how these practices can be integrated with seasonal climate forecasts for improved risk management decisions.More than 45% of farmers in the Rabali, Tshakhuma and Tshiombo areas were using external forecast information only. During FDGs, it was indicated that the majority of farmers accessing and utilising external forecast information were young people, who obtained such information through the radio and newspapers. The results from the formal survey showed that more than 45% of the farmers in the Rabali, Tshakhuma and Tshiombo areas preferred to receive external climate forecast information during September, when it is time to assemble all inputs such as fertilisers, herbicides and seeds. Coping strategies refer to the actions or activities demonstrated by farmers or households, usually over short time spans, to survive when confronted with unanticipated livelihood failure. For example, during drought periods, farmers may adjust fertiliser inputs and/or adopt drought-tolerant crop varieties.Adaptation strategies refer to farmer responses to climatic conditions that may be used to reduce vulnerability. These are usually referred to as longerterm coping strategies (IPCC, 2001). Adaptation strategies used by farmers during drought include the utilisation of climate forecasting to obtain valuable information for optimised agricultural productivity (Ncube and Lagardien, 2015). Indigenous/ traditional forecasting indicators have been used for decades in the Vhembe district in Limpopo province, and the majority of farmers have high confidence in incorporating them within their coping strategies. Although traditionally used for shorter-term coping strategies, the use of indigenous/traditional indicators has evolved, and in some cases is now incorporated within longer-term adaptation strategies. This is particularly the case for farmers in the Rabali, Tshakhuma and Tshiombo areas and Karoo region.The results from this study are comparable to results obtained by Hammer et al. (2001) and Phillips et al. (2001), who both reported case studies whereCase study 1: Limpopo province of South Africa farmers were using a variety of forecasting methods to reduce risks. For example, farmers in Zimbabwe in 1997-1998, and again in 1998-1999 used seasonal climate forecasts and local knowledge based on the readings of clouds, wind, flora and fauna. All these indicators were usually based on local and cultural beliefs. Similar findings have been described in other case studies (Luseno et al., 2000).Research conducted in Kenya indicates that some farmers also use indigenous/traditional knowledge indicators in order to cope with climate variability and extreme climatic events in their farming activities.Farmers used indicators such as cloud formation, wind behaviour and lightning (Luson et al., 2000). Others observed the behaviour of livestock, wildlife or local flora (Luseno et al., 2000).Results from the three study sites in Limpopo indicated that the majority of farmers are also using a range of indigenous/traditional indicators to 'read' the weather and climate in order to manage risk. Cloud formation was perceived as the best parameter by all farmers in the study sites to monitor possible rainfall occurrence.While cloud formations usually relate to changes in weather in the short-term, the repeated observation of certain cloud patterns has enabled farmers to begin to adapt such observations for longer-term planning. All of the interviewed farmers indicated that the lack of timely external forecasting information makes them reluctant to abandon these traditional methods in their farm management, even though IKS are losing value due to increasing climatic variability and change.Osunade (1994) indicates that in order to cope with climatic variability and climate change, farmers use a series of indicators to plan production activities. These indicators have been developed over time through the observations of stars and the moon, and are used in combination with farmer experiences and information passed down from previous generations (Mpandeli, 2006). As shown in this chapter, farmers at all study sites use indicators such as cloud formation, wind behaviour, and cultural beliefs in their strategies, which have been used repeatedly over time and have become part of a risk-management portfolio.When the clouds are clustered and dark, farmers know that rainfall is imminent; almost 88% of surveyed respondents in Tshakhuma use cloud formation as an indicator of possible rainfall. Two percent of farmers in the same area indicated that if the wind direction is from east to west, it means that rain is coming within the next 24 h. At least 10% of the respondents indicated that they use different kinds of indicators in their farming activities e.g. by observing wind formation and temperature (Figure 3a). This knowledge was inherited from their ancestors and grandparents; however, some of the farmers raised concerns about IK becoming less effective due to the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events.The high usage of clouds and wind direction as indicators of possible rainfall was also found in the other sites. In the Rabali area for example, 78% of the respondents used cloud formation as a traditional rain forecasting method (Figure 3b). At least 6% of respondents indicated that wind behaviour was also used within indigenous/traditional forecasting. If the wind direction is travelling from east to west, this is perceived by older farmers as an indicator of high rainfall.The use of plant and tree characteristics as indicators within indigenous/traditional climate forecasting systems was indicated by 6% of respondents in the Rabali site. A further 10% indicated that they used other pointers such as the behaviour of specific animals. Despite the observation that only 10% are using agricultural indicators (e.g. assessing changes in mango flowers), these are still important indicators that were used, particularly during planting.The majority of farmers (68%) in the Tshiombo area also use cloud formation as an indication of possible rainfall. Two percent noted wind behaviour and the behaviour of insects as local indicators of rainfall (Figure 3c). For example, older farmers in the Tshiombo area believe that if the wind blows from the west, rain will be received within the next 12 h. These farmers also stated that the behaviour of insects such as the locust, locally known as bapu, sometimes indicates to them the occurrence of crop disease problems during the season (Figure. because community elders who are the predominant custodians of this knowledge command respect, and their stock of personal experience is considered to be valuable (Briggs and Moyo, 2012;Kolawole et al., 2014;Orlove et al., 2010;Jiri et al., 2016). It is highlighted in previous studies that farmers tend to share their experiences and knowledge on forecasts with others at a large scale to give them a sense of the arrival and progress of the rains (Orlove et al., 2010;Jiri et al., 2016). Farmers in Botswana and Malawi claimed that indigenous forecasts tend to be more accurate and simple to understand to farmers, as opposed to the complex nature of scientific forecasts (Ouma, 2009;Briggs and Moyo, 2012;Kolawole et al., 2014). This is due to scientific forecasting requiring sophisticated equipment, formal education, training and financial investment (Ouma, 2009;Briggs and Moyo 2012;Kolawole et al., 2014;Jiri et al., 2016). Local farmers prefer to use tree phenology, animal behaviour, wind circulation, cloud cover and social indicators to predict rains and season quality.The majority of surveyed farmers in the Vhembe district in Limpopo province use IK as a system of knowledge that has been sustained over time. The information has been inherited from previous generations and helps communities with their farming businesses during times of climate stress. However, since scientific climate forecasting was introduced to these farmers in the early 1990s, the majority have begun combining IK forecasting with external, scientific forecasts in order to reduce risk and increase production. Despite the awareness and use of scientific forecasts, there is still reluctance, however, to entirely replace IK forecasting in favour of scientific knowledge.Similar results have been highlighted in previous studies carried out in Botswana and Zimbabwe (Kolawole et al., 2014;Roudier et al., 2014).The aim of such studies was to assess the use of indigenous and scientific forecast information by smallholder farmers in these two countries. There is evidence to show that farmers have an inclination towards applying indigenous forecasting methods as opposed to scientific knowledge, because they prefer to rely upon their own/their community's experiences over the years (Kolawole et al., 2014;Roudier et al., 2014). Farmers rely on historical patterns, weather observations and signs to formulate expectations on weather and climate (Orlove et al., 2010). At least 20% of the farmers in the present study stated that it is difficult for them to abandon IK and replace it with scientific knowledge completely.However, other farmers perceive that IK is slowly losing value and becoming less reliable with time due to increasing climate variability and change. Due to this observation, and the fact that external climate forecasts can provide additional valuable information regarding crop management, planting times and advice on the choice of cultivars, some have started to use and apply technically derived forecast information within their agricultural activities. The majority of these farmers, especially young farmers, are incorporating external forecast information disseminated by weather service personnel and local extension officers (Figures 4a, 4b  and 4c). At least 46% of the farmers indicated that, by using external climate forecasting only, their confidence was high when making farming-related decisions.In the Tshakhuma area, at least 54% of respondents preferred to use external forecasting sources over IK. These farmers believed that external forecasting could add value to their farming businesses by facilitating more profitable decisions regarding management strategies. These results complement similar findings from studies by Orlove et al. (2010) and Roudier et al. (2014), which highlight the inevitable demand for seasonal and medium-to long-term climate forecasts to support decision-making.The farmers of both study regions tended to use a combination of meteorological information and IK in their seasonal forecasting, primarily relying upon IK (Orlove et al., 2010;Roudier et al., 2014). All the respondents interviewed in Tshakhuma had a radio so access to external forecasting was facilitated -for both daily weather forecasts and seasonal climate information -when such information was made available during radio programmes. The majority of farmers tuned in to stations such as Phalaphala FM, Radio Univen and the South African Broadcasting Corporation; whilst some farmers used other media sources such as the Mirror newspaper for accessing climate information, especially during periods of drought. However, due to high levels of illiteracy, newspaper information is less accessible.More than half of the respondents (60%) interviewed in the Rabali area preferred to use external forecasting to assist them in their decision-making processes (Figure 4b). These farmers also adjust their practices as more local information and scientific real-time forecasts become available (Furman et al., 2011;Frimpong, 2013;Orlove et al., 2010). At least 6% of respondents interviewed in the Rabali area preferred to use traditional forecasting methods only; these are the farmers who continue to resist incorporating external forecasting knowledge within their decisionmaking processes. Another 32% of respondents in this area preferred to use information from both sources (Figure 4b).In the Tshiombo area, 50% of surveyed farmers prefer to utilise information from both external and IK forecasting systems (Figure 4c), while 48% of respondents prefer to use external forecasting information only. Farmers within the latter group are more likely to have access to external information sources such as local newspapers and are more likely to be literate. Only 2% of respondents in the Tshiombo area used indigenous/traditional climate forecasting methods only for farm-related decisions. These farmers resist using external forecasting information completely because they claimed -during FGDs -that IK is easy to access, and is more reliable because it has been inherited from previous generations. Some farmers also indicated that IK forms part of their cultural belief system and that scientific forecasts should therefore be distributed in such a way that does not devalue their traditional forecasting methods, but rather builds on local expertise and is mindful of the cultural norms associated with IK, and its validation and effectiveness within society (Roncoli et al., 2000a).Climate information is very important for the farming community to be able to make informed decisions, and in many cases, is a prerequisite for coping and adapting to the negative impacts of climate variability and change (Goddard et al., 2010;Roudier et al., 2014 andMapfumo et al., 2015). Several studies have shown that farmers tend to make decisions regarding their farming practices based on potential evidence on climate occurrences -particularly in relation to rainfall patterns (Goddard et al., 2010;Mapfumo et al., 2015;Roudier et al., 2014).According to several researchers, most IK studies report on how the knowledge is used as a coping/ adaptation strategy for just one aspect of agricultural systems, (Mpandeli, 2006;Mpandeli and Maponya, 2012;Ncube and Lagardien, 2015); how IK is used relating to specific crops such as rice; or how IK is used in relation to soils. According to Ncube and Lagardien (2015), their study assessed how IK is used across the entire Karoo agricultural system -looking at crops, livestock and mixed systems. Information was collected under a variety of farming contexts with different kinds of activities at different levels of production. This complexity meant that the study could not go beyond documenting insights. The definition of IK had to be all encompassing i.e. 'traditional or local knowledge, that is embedded in the community and is unique to a given culture, location or society.' This was necessitated by the fact that the Karoo community is made up of both traditional Khoisan communities and other communities adjacent to the Karoo area, who have also been living in Western Cape since the late 1700s.A summary comparing indigenous with scientific knowledge is provided in the next section. This summary provides a good overview on how farmers in the Karoo region have been using, conserving and also maintaining their IK since the late 1700s, and the trends that still remain even with the introduction of scientific knowledge. It is interesting to see that farmers still believe in the relevance of IK in contemporary situations, even though they are farming in semi-arid areas under the impacts of climate change such as poor rainfall distribution and high temperature fluctuations (Ncube and Lagardien, 2015). According to Ncube and Largardien (2015), a comparison of indigenous/ local knowledge systems with scientific knowledge was carried out using information collected from farmers and extension officers. Table 1 summarises IK methods and gives corresponding scientific methods currently used in Karoo and other regions.A policy brief on the potential of IK for agricultural development in South Africa in 2012 focusing on the application of IK and local innovation at micro level of the farming household or community, giving seven case studies (Mpandeli, 2006;Ncube and Largardien, 2015). The value of the briefing was in the way IK was presented, and in the similarities between some of the findings of the case studies and the smallholder farming systems in the Karoo region.  In this chapter it has been found that farmers in southern Africa -including in Limpopo, Free State and Karoo -use a variety of different coping, adaptation and mitigation strategies during periods of weather uncertainty. Different indigenous/traditional coping and adaptation strategies in the southern African region are well documented (Archer, 2003;Ziervogel et al., 2004;Ncube and Lagardien, 2015). However, in the Limpopo province of South Africa, literature concerning climate change coping and adaptation strategies is very limited (Ncube and Lagardien, 2015;Jiri et al., 2016). Differences in such strategies exist across the region, however, some methods such as crop diversification and the use of hybrid and drought resistant seeds, are common among areas.Aspects of such strategies now form part of rural production systems. Some of these coping and adaptation strategies used by farmers in the southern African region include animal destocking, adjusting fertiliser inputs, use of drought resistant seeds and adopting a multicropping system.Indicator Indication for weather occurrence Time of occurrence Activity to do or action to takeHigh frequency in occurrence of wind swirls is a sign for good rains.October/November Farmers should prepare and plant since good rains are predicted.Wind direction High frequency in occurrence of wind swirls is a sign for good rains.October/November After rain the land can be ripped.The soil is ready to be turned over to minimise weeds.Early in the morning changing According to Zuma-Netshiukwi et al. (2013), farmers in the Free State province are using various indicators as part of their coping and adaptation strategies (Table 2), examples include: (a) the appearance of plants, (b) cloud formations, (c) the appearance of various insects and birds, (d) and wind Swirl (Table 2a, b, c and d).Case study 4: Summary of the drought coping and adaptation strategies used by farmers in the Limpopo province and other southern African countriesIn order to increase crop yield, the strategy of cultivating a diversity of crops was demonstrated by farmers. This coping method helps to reduce total crop failure due to the varying tolerances of crops to environmental stresses. Mixed cropping or intercropping proved to stabilise yields, preserve soils and make it possible to harvest different crops at the same time. There are several strategies used by communities and farmers to minimise disaster, including: (a) growing drought-resistant and early-maturing indigenous crop varieties; (b) gathering wild fruits and vegetables; (c) use of early warning systems. Various early warning systems have been documented in the literature, for example, in Zimbabwe, elders carry out rainfall predictions to inform the wider community and each homestead has a dugout canoe ready for transport in case of heavy flooding. In Swaziland, the height of Emahlokohloko birds' nests (Ploceus spp.) on trees is used as an indicator to predict floods. The Swazis also listen for the cry of certain bird species to predict rains, and the yields of certain wild fruit plants to predict famine. Other indigenous methods used by the Swazis to predict natural hazards include wind direction, the shape of the crescent moon and the behaviour of certain animals e.g., snakes and bees. Many farmers in the Vhembe district are now developing some alternative coping and adaptation strategies that could increase production, even when farming in marginal areas. The case study review from this chapter has also shown that farmers have adapted certain coping practices over time that enable them to 'read' and interpret the weather. While farmers in the study areas exhibited coping and adaptation strategies for drought in relation to planting, they also drew upon a wealth of IKS to help them adapt under increasing climate variability and change.In contrast with developed countries, the majority of rural populations in SSA are engaged in farming. Farmers are known to produce the greater proportion of food consumed in SSA (Mpandeli, 2006;Ncube and Lagardien, 2015). The crop and production practices of these farmers are largely based on their local knowledge and experiences developed over the years (Mpandeli, 2006;Ncube and Lagardien, 2015). The strategies of these farmers, and their perceptions of risk, vary across the region. Some researchers such as Fujisaka (1997), argue that it is necessary to pay attention to local knowledge systems and to analyse their relationship with seasonal predictions. Fujisaka (1997) reviewed the various strategies of Ethiopian farmers and farmers in the Andes of Ecuador to minimise seasonal climatic risk. Farmers used multicropping systems as a means of reducing/counteracting climatic risk -where perennial and seasonal crops are grown together. Farmers' adaptations to climatic variability and risk in dry-land agriculture is often established on a trial and error basis in a farming system that is conservative, and provides a minimum return during all seasons (Gommez, 1999;Broad and Agrawal, 2000). Faced with the uncertainties of climate, economy and politics, and in the absence of insurance markets, these farmers have been rendered highly risk averse due to their adaptation strategies, which include local knowledge.Currently, South Africa has a policy on IKS. The policy that have been developed on IKS take cognisance of developments in the southern African region, as well as the African continent as a whole. According to Ncube and Lagardien (2015), there are several IK approaches for environmental conservation including shifting cultivation, mixed cropping or intercropping, minimum tillage and agro-forestry, as well as transhumance. These technologies and practices are commonplace with various other methods of land use and management to promote higher yields, while at the same time conserving the environment.The analysis from this chapter shows that IKS play a very important role in climate adaptation strategy development for farmers in southern Africa, including in the Limpopo province and Karoo region. Farmers in SSA, including in South Africa, are finding it difficult to use IKS alone in their agricultural practices, and this is because local knowledge is losing value because of increasing climatic variability and change. At least 50% of the farmers interviewed argued that it is better to combine IKS with scientific knowledge in order to counteract the threats posed by climate change.In the Limpopo province, farmers were found to use cloud formation to monitor possible rainfall occurrence. It was noted that more than 60% of surveyed farmers in the Rabali, Tshakhuma and Tshiombo areas perceived cloud formation as the best tool (Figures 3a,3b and 3c). When the clouds are clustered and dark, for example, farmers know that rains are imminent. Almost 88% of respondents in the Tshakhuma area used cloud formation as an indicator for possible rainfall.In this chapter, it was noted that several other IK indicators are being used by farmers to predict weather patterns, such as the behaviour of wind and insects, and the characteristics of plants and trees. Two percent of surveyed farmers in Tshakhuma indicated that if the wind direction is from east to west, it means that rain is coming within 24 h.More than 45% of the farmers in the Rabali, Tshakhuma and Tshiombo areas are using only external forecast information for climate change adaptation strategies. However, more than 50% urged that scientific forecasts had failed them previously due to poor information dissemination by extension services, lack of interpretation of the information in the local language, and inaccessibility of the information. Therefore, farmers are also using local or traditional knowledge as a tool to manage climatic risks.It is important to note however, that IK forecasting has its own challenges. At least 60% of the farmers surveyed preferred to use external forecasting due to the increasing occurrence of extreme climatic events, which make IK less reliable. A young Maasai woman with a cup of fresh milkAgro-pastoral and pastoral communities across the world are considered to have in-depth knowledge of the traditional methods of rangeland assessment, which in turn influence their patterns of land use (Mills et al., 2002;Oba, 2006).Likewise, the East African agro-pastoralists are known for having a diverse range of strategies to sustain their livelihoods. These strategies are important for their own livelihoods, taking into account both crop farming and livestock keeping. Among the key livelihood strategies are pastoralists' mobility patterns -using IK to move livestock according to vegetation needs and water availability -keeping speciesspecific herds to take advantage of the heterogeneous nature of the environment, the diversification of income sources and, in some cases, temporary or permanent emigration (Oba, 2006). It is therefore argued that pastoralists can no longer depend on their livestock as the sole basis of their livelihoods, however, they have few opportunities for livelihood diversification (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], 2009).The Ugogo area in Mwvumi Division is well known for its long history of droughts and famine (Koponen, 1988;Maddox, 1996). The livelihoods of these agro-pastoralists have undergone some changes with respect to the expulsion of livestock from Mvumi in 1986, as part of soil and water conservation measures. As a result agro-pastoralists have had to depend much more directly than before on arable farming and more labour is now invested in crop production. The Gogo ethnic group, traditionally agro-pastoralists -though they live in a harsh and dry environment -have given great priority to farming as their major means of living. This chapter explores how farmers in Mvumi utilise IK and exploit the natural resources in a semi-arid and changing climate.The research methodsThe study entailed a detailed literature review of studies covering the East African region, particularly literature focused on the semi-arid areas of central Tanzania, as a case study. The study employed different approaches that necessitate both quantitative and qualitative data collection. As Strauss and Corbin (1990), have pointed out, quantitative and qualitative techniques are tools that play a useful complementary role. This approach was intended to gain an understanding of the patterns of livelihood strategies in a changing climate, as well as a detailed understanding of the complex nature of the relationship between humans and their environment.As well as the detailed literature review, some of the information presented in this chapter was generated through focus group discussions with villagers, coupled with the use of various rural appraisal methods; i.e. seasonal diagramming, participatory mapping, and preference ranking.The Mvumi division, part of the area known as Ugogo, is located within the semi-arid 1 area of central Tanzania (Figure 1 and Figure 2). The Ugogo area covers most of Dodoma rural district in the Dodoma region.The Mvumi division is located some 40 km southeast of Dodoma town, the capital of Tanzania. Of special attention is the fact that the M vumi division is situated within the sphere of a soil and water conservation project called Hifadhi Ardhi Dodoma (HADO) 2 .Most of the semi-arid central zone of Tanzania receives less than 600 mm of rainfall per annum. The rainfall pattern is highly variable in this semiarid environment and is characterised by a long dry period between May and November. The rains usually arrive in December, and this is normally interrupted by a short dry spell between January and February. In some years this dry spell becomes extended such that crops planted at the onset of the rains dry up. Low and unreliable rainfall is therefore one of the major constraints to agricultural production in these areas. This condition normally results in crop failures and, hence, frequent food shortages.The agricultural conditions in the semi-arid central zone of Tanzania differ from those in the humid and sub-humid areas of Tanzania, not only in terms of quantifiable variables such as rainfall, but also in terms of the intensity of the adaptive challenges imposed on the human communities.Notwith¬standing the natural challenge, people in Mvumi have been subjected to a number of land-based policies that have presented both oppor¬tunities and challenges to the survival of the inhabitants. Among the factors that have influenced livelihood patterns in Mvumi are villagisation 3 and destocking 4 . Villagisation, implemented in the early 1970s, caused a change in settlement patterns, while destocking, carried out in 1986, meant the total removal of livestock from the Mvumi division.Traditionally, the Gogo people, the main inhabitants of the study area in Mvumi, are considered to be agro-pastoralists. Their homeland, the Ugogo area, is regarded as a marginal area for agricultural production due to its low and unreliable rainfall. The local people are therefore accustomed to subsisting within the agricultural economy and grain production and livestock have played an essential role in the local socioeconomic system (Christiansson, 1981). Although Mvumi has long been recognised as an area that faced frequent droughts, surprisingly, it is twice as densely populated as the surrounding villages, with a population density of 76 inhabitants per square kilometre (Holtland, 1994).Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents to climate change and climate variability (Boko, et al., 2007). Overtime, East African farmers have developed several adaptation options to cope with current climate variability, but such adaptations may not be sufficient for the future likely changes in climate. Research demonstrates that farmers' adaptation to climate change and variability impacts crucially depend on whether they are locally able to predict weather patterns, such as rainfall fluctuations, and their ability to apply this information in an appropriate way to make informed decisions on agricultural production. Several studies have shown 1 A semi-arid environment is one that allows the development of more or less continuous vegetation cover, but is too dry and variable to permit the secure, regular rain-fed cultivation of cereals or other crops (Mung'ong'o, 1995). Most of Dodoma region is classified as semi-arid because its precipitation is on average 200-600 mm per annum (Mascarenhas, 1977).2 Hifadhi Ardhi Dodoma are Swahili words, which translate to mean 'conserve the lands of Dodoma,' referring to the Dodoma region in Tanzania. Among the major measures taken in this area to conserve land was the total removal of livestock (destocking) in 1986. 3 Villagisation was a policy measure or nation-wide campaign involving moving rural populations to concentrated planned settlement areas called villages (see especially Kikula, 1997). 4 Though the term destocking implies a reduction of the livestock herd size, in this study the term denotes the eviction of all livestock from a specified area.that farming communities, relying on agro-pastoralism and pastoralism as the basis of their livelihoods, have been disrupted by climate change and variability.Adaptation to climate change and variability has been uncertain, partly due to the unpredictability and uncertainties associated with conventional agricultural weather forecasts (East African Community, 2011). Climate change and variability is posing a great challenge to agricultural production, especially to poor and marginalised farmers who desperately depend on agricultural weather forecasts. This situation exacerbates the instability of food security in many parts of Africa.In the semi-arid communities, livestock provided a means of adaptation to the harsh climatic conditions as an alternative income source in case of crop failure. During the rainy season, cattle were kept near homesteads.In the dry season, cattle were driven away from the homesteads in search of grazing water. Some fields were purposefully set aside to serve as grazing reserves for the dry seasons. Fields set aside for communal grazing areas were locally known as luwindo, whilst the privately owned lands that set aside for grazing were known as milaga.The agro-pastoralists in Mvumi area practised a system of shifting agriculture with the cultivation of millet on large plots, usually within a reasonable walking distance from their houses and near the valley bottoms (Liwenga, 2003). Accordingly, there were two categories of fields that were planted with grain crops. Firstly, the fields located near the homestead that could be fertilised with manure from the existing cattle pen, or from the pens of old homesteads; secondly, the bush fields that could be cultivated for two to three years before being left fallow.In relation to the ways in which people living in semi-arid areas cope with their harsh environment, the research carried out by Mortimore and Adams (1999) in the Sahel provides important insights on how people living in these areas organise resources, as well as a useful basis to analyse IK and adaptation issues. The conceptual framework of 'constraints and responses', by Mortimore and Adams (1999), as shown in Figure 3, is useful for analysing livelihood patterns in the changing climate in Mvumi.The framework of constraints and opportunities as applied in the semiarid context, expresses the relationships between, on the one hand, the key constraints of rainfall, soils (bio-productivity), labour and capital; and on the other hand, households' responses to these constraints through managing the diversity, flexibility and adaptability of their livelihood and production systems.The goals of households living in dryland areas normally involve managing and maximising diversity, flexibility and adaptability in their production and livelihood systems, despite existing vulnerabilities (Liwenga, 2003).The diversity of resources and options available to households defines the scope of the responses that can be made. The term flexibility refers here to the ability to easily adapt to new conditions and particularly relates to short-term decisions concerning the use of resources. This includes decisions pertaining to the deployment of family labour on a weekly or even a daily basis. Adaptability, on the other hand, refers to an adjustment to new conditions and this relates to long-term decisions and to yearly adjustments and responses (Liwenga, 2003).The IK-based systemHistorically, local communities in different parts of the world have continued to rely on IK-based weather forecasts to conserve the environment and deal with natural disasters (Kijazi et al., 2012) predicting the weather that indigenous people of a particular geographical area have survived on for a very long period of time (Mapara, 2009)  (Makwara, 2013). Accordingly, a IKFs determines decision-making in activities such as agriculture, social events and resource management (Mhita, 2006). IKFs methods have been used since time immemorial, but with the coming of modern conventional methods of weather forecasting these traditional methods have tended to be ignored (Chang'a, 2010), and now are disappearing as most of its custodians (largely the elders) are passing away (Makwara, 2013).A shift in how adaptation is addressed by farmers to mitigate the impacts of climate change and variability has been dependent on the use of IKbased weather forecasts. However, IKS also have their limitations, as they are not always reliable. The new outlook promotes the integration of indigenous weather forecasts with conventional scientific weather forecasts provided by meteorological and hydrological agencies (Nganga, 2006). Studies have found that farmers possess vast knowledge of the resources around them, which could be extrapolated, up-scaled, updated regularly, and used to make comparisons and create locale specific information and advice (Mbilinyi et al., 2005).Regarding weather forecasts, existing climate change literature reflects a tendency to place more focus on modern approaches to weather forecasting. The modern approach to weather forecasting is normally based on systematic observations to monitor changes in the climate and provide forecasting services, as well as to plan adaptation options. However, systematic observation and data availability is limited in many fragile ecosystems, which applies to most of the ecosystems that indigenous people live in (Kirsty, 2010). Climate change is impacting on the local communities and indigenous people because they live in ecosystems that are already suffering from other stressors as a consequence of historical, social, political and economic rejection and exclusion.In recent years, there has been an increased realisation that IK provides a good basis for local community driven adaptation strategies.  , 2010). Extreme weather events highlight the importance of indigenous weather prediction knowledge to give timely warning of such impending events and help to mitigate the impacts.The notion of IK has gained in popularity over the past few decades. The current interest in IK has been motivated by an appreciation of its importance, as well as by its perceived loss due to the lack of documentation. Rural people's IK is defined as the set of concepts, meanings, skills and routines that emerge actively over time (Brouwers, 1993,). The knowledge systems of rural people derive from the interaction of individuals in a particular society with the local environment, and are formed and transformed by the society (Chambers and Jiggins, 1986). Researchers are not making adequate use of this abundant knowledge to advance the social and economic development of rural communities. Among the reasons for the limited acknowledgement of local knowledge is the lack of documentation (Hillbur, 1998,). Since the aim of this chapter is to better understand how people living in harsh dryland conditions adapt, it is important to take into consideration rural people's knowledge as a factor influencing their adaptation.Another aspect to take into consideration is that IK is not static, but exists in a dynamic relationship with their socio-economic and political environment, and is in constant evolution over time (Brouwers, 1993). As they interact with their surroundings, local people continually adjust their livelihoods to the existing environment, or try to change it to meet their needs. This involves a process of experimentation, adoption and propagation of new ideas about the environment and its management. In adapting to changes in their environments, local people not only modify the products that they use, but also the practices they employ and the amount of labour they expend, as well as other socio-economic factors. The sources of the changes that affect them are frequently from 'outside pressures' or influences, but also derive from changes arising from the subsistence activities and experimentation employed by the local people themselves (Brouwers, 1993). Human agency, or the capacity to devise ways of coping with life, plays a central role in the way rural people create new livelihood possibilities.Local knowledge, as it relates to food security, refers to a wide range of accumulated local experience concerning the ecosystem and natural resources, and how they are used and managed in the context of local organisational and institutional arrangements (Kauzeni, 2000,). It also includes the beliefs and value systems of the people. In this study, the contribution of local knowledge to agricultural production is explored in order to understand how people in Mvumi adapt to semi-arid conditions by depending on farming (Liwenga, 2003).Agro-pastoral and pastoral communities worldwide have in-depth knowledge of the traditional methods of rangeland assessment, which influence their patterns of land use (Mills et al., 2002). It has been established that on a daily basis, herders monitor the status of rangelands (Homewood and Rodgers, 1991) and determine the best grazing areas for their multi-livestock species (Cotton, 1996). However, the herder knowledge of the landscape in East Africa has been poorly documented (Oba & Kaitira, 2006). According to studies conducted in East Africa by Oba & Kaitira (2006), the Maasai herders classified seasonally grazed landscapes using socio-cultural folk systems, soils, topography and vegetation, management knowledge and seasons of grazing. Herders characterised the landscapes of grazing lands as degradable (orpora) or non-degradable (orkojita) in response to heavy grazing pressure, with reference to soil (ngulupo) and vegetation type. This categorisation is used for regulating seasonal grazing across heterogeneous landscapes. Likewise, studies undertaken by Egeru et al., (2015) have shown that in semi-arid areas, such as Karamoja in Uganda, there is variability in the forage availability for different livestock species. The availability is differentiated across various locations in the Karamoja livelihood zones, leading to the heterogeneity of grazing landscapes. In the different livelihood zones, forage availability deficit gaps vary with respect to livestock species. It is apparent that local communities harbour important information on valuable plants and vegetation dynamics; their knowledge is fundamental for management strategies aimed at the sustainable use and conservation of natural vegetation (Lykke, 2000). This is especially©FAO/Isaac Kasamani the case when other historical and ecological information is not available (Sulieman et al., 2012). Pastoralists in eastern Sudan, for instance, established a comprehensive list of plant species in the region, providing detailed biological and associated ecological descriptions (Sulieman & Ahmad, 2013). These descriptions provide an indication that the pastoralists are aware of the environmental changes taking place in their surroundings. Based on studies undertaken in the Sudan, for instance, it is known that local knowledgebased management strategies could ensure a focus on the species and vegetation types that are most valuable to local communities (Sulieman et al., 2012). Table 1, presents the adaptation measures used among the transhumant pastoralists in eastern Sudan.According to studies conducted in semi-arid areas of Tanzania, it has been established that agro-pastoralists are faced with a number of constraints, such as low and unreliable rainfall, poor soils, and labour and capital shortages (Liwenga, 2003). These agro-pastoral groups, such as the Gogo, have over a long period of time developed certain agricultural practices to adapt to these harsh conditions. It is this accumulated experience from communities who have lived for generations in a hostile environment, like the semi-arid zone of Tanzania, which provides a fundamental source of knowledge for the future. There is much to be learned from farmers' adaptation concerning the degree to which they react to changes occurring within their socio-economic and physical environment.Regarding patterns of movement, agro-pastoral communities in the semi- Source: Sulieman and Ahmad (2013) arid areas of central Tanzania, analysis of the seasonal calendars revealed that different farm and non-farm activities were carried out. For instance, it was evident that villagers in the study area start clearing their fields approximately three months before the on-set of the rains (Liwenga, 2003). Land preparations for farming activities are undertaken early enough to avoid it all having to be completed in a very short period of time, and to effectively time the rains. Early land preparation also helps to avoid an unnecessarily heavy competition for labour to carry out other agricultural tasks, especially during the peak agricultural periods.It was further established that in carrying out different livelihood activities, people in the semi-arid areas of central Tanzania try to ensure the proper timing of these different activities, based on the exploitation of the seasonality, diversity and flexibility of the available resources (Liwenga, 2003). Accordingly, agricultural production activities are normally concentrated during the wet season because agriculture in Mvumi is mainly rain-fed. The crucial agricultural activities, involving high labour demands, are carried out immediately following the first rains, in late November or early December. The peak agricultural period normally coincides with food insecurity for some households, particularly those that experienced poor harvests in the previous season, which implies that some livelihood strategies have to be adjusted to ensure household food security.Discussions with villagers in Mvumi revealed that indicators used for the timing of different operations vary between farmers (Table 2). In many parts of the Mvumi area, plant phenology was found to be the most used indicator in predicting rainfall events. Other indicators mentioned include the behaviour and movement of birds, insects and animals. The plants that have been used for weather forecasts include mango trees (Mangifera indica) and fig trees Mikuyu (Ficus sycomorus). Astronomical indicators, such as the arrangement of stars, were also found to be in use. Regarding meteorological indicators, local communities reported that they use the direction and variation of wind patterns to monitor rainfall as well.Indicators of good and bad years in terms of rainfall in the Mvumi area varied based on local experiences and knowledge generated over the years. Hoeing is ideally carried out upon the appearance of the Plaidaes in the night sky and planting begins only after the baobab trees develop green leaves (Mascarenhas, 1977). This kind of knowledge is passed from generation to generation. It has been noted that the proper observance of these various natural signs is key to successful farming and adaptation in a changing climate. If good rains are predicted then farmers can increase the areas of land under cultivation in anticipation of a good harvest. If, however, the signs indicate poor rains, then they concentrate on off-farm activities in order to generate income. Due to the unpredictability and variability of rainfall, predictions of rainfall are not always correct. This is particularly the case in relation to the duration of the dry spell that sometimes occurs in February for about two or three weeks. If the dry spell is prolonged then farmers predict a poorer harvest.In most societies, different worldviews related to environmental knowledge interact (Grange, 2007). It is explained that what one learns from life experience in one's immediate environment is different from what one is taught in class, thus, the essence of proper knowledge is an integration of both of these knowledge sources (Mercer et al., 2009). It has been reported that since the 1970s a growing body of literature has emphasised the importance of incorporating local knowledge and practices into development and conservation projects, as well as in policies on an international and national level, both in countries that are industrialised and those that have a developing status (Catherine and Hoppers, 2002;Payton et al., 2003). This comes at a time when the world,Stars When a group of stars locally known as nyelezi are seen shining in the western side of Mvumi Division in the months of August/September the farmers predict good rains.Appearance of fog locally known as hungulyosi on the mountains surrounding the villages in August/September is an indicator of good rains.Fruit trees If baobab and mango trees produce many flowers and fruits, this is regarded as an indicator of insufficient rains.Frequen winds during the daytime resulting in whirlwinds and dusty conditions locally known as chiffulafumbi in the months of August/September is associated with good rains.Onset of rains Starting of rains in November is regarded as a sign that there will be adequate rainfall. If the first rains only fall during the daytime, then the speculation is that the rainfall period is likely to be short.Source: Liwenga (2003) especially the developing world, is experiencing many environmental changes, including climate change and variability (Raymond et al., 2010).While in theory the importance of such integration of knowledge systems has been recognised within the international community, the practical application of this generally only occurs on a small scale within communities of developing countries, such as in areas of East Africa (Payton et al., 2003).Studies conducted on indigenous-based weather forecasts in many parts of Africa (Mapara, 2009;Risiro, 2012;Chang'a et al., 2010;and Makwara, 2013) conclude that both modern and traditional methods have got some advantages and weaknesses, and therefore, can be used together to produce more comprehensive reports of weather forecasts for end users. For example, in September 2008, through a Climate Change Adaptation in Africa-supported project focusing on IK in western Kenya, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development's Climate Prediction and Applications Centre brought meteorologists and Nganyi IK forecasters together to produce a further downscaled consensus forecast. The points of departure were thoroughly considered and reasons for the differences explored. An agreement was then reached on a harmonised forecast (Chagonda et al., 2012).Due to the oral nature of IK, little has been published on the process of integrating it into environmental conservation, management of natural disasters, or indicators of and responses to climate variability (Stigter et al., 2005). Knowledge, both scientific and indigenous, is intertwined with power and human relationships including social, political, technical and economic. IK is oppressed in a number of ways as a result of the marginalisation, exploitation, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, violence and denial of the existing knowledge placed upon its bearers, and hence, contributes to the suppression of IKFs where Seasonal Climate Forecasts (SCFs) are dominant (Mercer et al., 2009).It is worth noting that, while a number of frameworks on how to integrate IKFs and SCFs have been developed, there is still a lack of consensus among scientists and policy makers on the best framework, and this is partly due to the fact that IKFs are linked to social values within a specific environment, thus, most of the frameworks developed do not preclude their use elsewhere (Dickens, 2007). External processes, such as globalisation, environmental pressures, marginalisation, racism, and economic and health inequity (Edwards and Heinrich, 2006), impact on the loss of IKFs internally (intrinsic factors) through, for example, agricultural changes, migration and behavioural changes (Mercer et al., 2009).It is clear that IKFs and SCFs both have strengths and weaknesses; a major challenge remains regarding how to bring them together in a way that respects their different values and builds on their strengths. To integrate the different forecasts, detailed information about both IKFs and SCFs must be available (Chagonda et al., 2012), and this demands more research into the discourse that brings together meteorologist, non-governmental organisation representatives, extension officers, researchers, input suppliers, and indigenous weather forecasting groups to understand the devisable mechanism that could blend the two sources of information (Makwara, 2013).In understanding the function of agro-pastoral IKS in adaptation to climate change and variability, it can be concluded that IK is relevant for the survival of agro-pastoralists in semi-arid environments. This chapter has demonstrated how IK contributes to the survival of agro-pastoral and pastoral communities within the semi-arid areas of the Eastern African region, including, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. IK appears to have played a considerable role in determining how such communities develop their traditional agricultural and herding practices to suit the semi-arid conditions, and hence, cope with the dryland environment.The exploitation of 'seasonality' and diversity of soils for farming activities provides possibilities for adaptation to climatic changes under dryland conditions. The seasonal calendar provides guidance for agro-pastoralists as to when different livelihood activities should be carried out.It is apparent that IK is essential in order to sustain agro-pastoral systems in semi-arid areas. The reliability of IK, however, is under threat due to the effects of climate change, nevertheless, the question remains -to what extent is IK relevant in a changing climate? Ways in which IKS can be integrated with modern methods to further increase the flexibility of pastoralist communities in adjusting to climatic change impacts need to be explored. It is recommended that land use planners incorporate herder knowledge with scientific methods to explore how this could promote participatory rangeland management, and overall, increase the adaption capacity of agro-pastoralists and pastoralists in a changing climate.-considered as a new concept by indigenous smallholder farmers -they have developed their own methods of understanding and predicting weather patterns and seasonal rainfall quality. Through the observations of weather parameter performance, tree phenology, and animal behaviour over a long time, a form of knowledge called indigenous knowledge (IK) has been developed. This knowledge is not written or recorded within documents kept by communities, but shared over generations via family stories, community gatherings, ceremonies and rituals. IK or IK systems (IKS) refer to knowledge and knowledge systems that are unique and distinct to a given culture or society. The main function of IKS is to developed strategies for the survival of rural communities in response to environmental and resource challenges. These strategies are imbedded in the human beings who diligently use them to address the related problems (Tharakan, 2015).IKS acknowledges three main functional frames: 1 -human beings, who are the knowledge holders; 2 -the knowledge itself; and 3 -the problem or risks being managed.• Human beings: This frame refers to the human being benefiting or being negatively impacted by climate change (Jiri et al., 2015). He/she is the carrier of the knowledge, the one to fully understand it, and the decision-maker. The same is the principle weather observer, researcher of every new phenomenon and data analyst.• Knowledge: contemporary scientific forecasting is a relatively new phenomenon compared to IKS and thus, its credibility still requires much to be appreciated by most communities in Africa, especially for those in remote rural areas (Chagonda et al., 2014;Jiri et al., 2015;Tharakan, 2015). Such areas are hardly reached by most service providers, including meteorological and agrometeorological extension services. Access by these communities to written and electronic media sources such as newspapers, the internet, and television and radio is therefore limited. The climate risk information that does reach these areas is usually via word-of-mouth and is out dated, misleading and not suitable for decision-making. The poor communication systems in these areas further disadvantages the suitability of contemporary scientific forecasting in addressing climate risks among rural communities. However, local people have never been, at any time, without climate and forecasting knowledge. They have used IK since time immemorial and still depending upon it. This knowledge was not formed in isolation but links to other relevant information such as soil quality for holistic livelihood risk management, and has hence been depended upon since its development (Chagonda et al., 2014). It has been the sustainer and maker of what most African communities are today in terms of culture and agricultural production systems. Through the observation and analysis of weather parameters over time, smallholders have been able to interpret and use such information, and have disseminated the results to the benefit of the community and further. Significant knowledge on every aspect of agricultural systems has been developed for enhanced livelihoods. This knowledge may have had some limitations for effective management of all risks, but has been sufficient enough to sustain indigenous communities for decades.• Risks: Climate risks are expected to become more complex in nature due to climate change, however, it is important to appreciate that according to available knowledge, there have always been climate challenges. For example, flooding and drought challenges have always existed, although the magnitude and frequencies of which are now quite different, and the duration and occurrence of droughts in semiarid areas is only expected to intensify (Lasage et al., 2008). According©FAO/Desmond Kwande to Chagonda et al. (2014), a case study in Zambia and Zimbabwe revealed that farmers perceive climate change as seriously detrimental to their agricultural activities -mainly through droughts, flooding, prolonged dry spells and wet spells. Each phenomenon had its own associated effects such as excessive rains leading to the breakdown of dam walls, increased livestock disease, reduced yields and river siltation.On the other hand, droughts bring prolonged dry spells, perennial low flows of big rivers, reduced yields and the drying up of wells (Chagonda et al., 2014).According to an in-depth literature review of studies undertaken in Africa regarding IKS for weather forecasting, IK can be considered as a highly complex knowledge system. From long-term observation and experience, rural communities have come to recognise some bird species, insects and plants as weather sensitive and responsive to changes in atmospheric conditions. Indicators extend to phases of the sun and moon, and trade winds and their direction (Svotwa et al., 2013). Using this knowledge system, communities have developed climate risk management initiatives. It is for this reason that farmers in Zambia have an inclination towards utilising indigenous forecast information as opposed to that of scientific forecasts (Jiri et al., 2015;Kolawole et al., 2014;Roudier et al., 2014).This weather and seasonal rainfall quality prediction system which involves observed indicators is complex, and the components of which when combined together or used in isolation, have proven to sustain smallholder farmers' agricultural production. Therefore, farmers' confidence in IK is high.Forecast indicators of climate and changes in atmospheric conditions such as animal behaviour, tree phenology, and moon phases and appearance, can be classified into two categories for weather and seasonal quality predictions. Some indicators prove more helpful in determining the occurrence of imminent rains, while others are used in determining the quality of the season for the next 4-6 months.Good indicators are required to confidently forecast imminent weather patterns or those of a few days ahead. Just like in contemporary weather path of the moon. IK indicates that these moon phases do not bring rains. However, the moon phases on the eastern and western quadrants are associated with clouds, humidity, high temperatures, calm winds and rainy conditions, while the vertical and bottom quadrants are mainly associated with clear skies, lower temperatures, high wind speeds and dry conditions.As the moon phases change within the season, farmers are generally expectant of the long-term weather patterns associated with each phase. This practice is common among smallholder farmers whose access to contemporary scientific forecast information is limited. Although, it is also practiced amongst those that do have access to meteorological forecasts.The scientific explanation for the eastern and western moon phases being associated with the conditions as mentioned above, is because the synoptic systems of the moist Zaire Air Boundary, Inter tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the normal thermal lows over Zambia, have their presence during these phases, causing precipitation. The dry periods are equally due to the general presence of the semi-permanent high pressures during vertical and bottom quadrants phases. The A farmer using oxen and plough to prepare land for planting average period of one moon is about 7 days, similar to that of general global circulation systems. This is the very reason why the weather for the moon phases appears to be consistent with IK predictions.It is important to note however that generally, the weather in winter during the same moon phases, is almost the opposite of that during summer. The eastern and western moon phases are associated with high pressures, clear skies and high wind speeds, while the others are associated with lower pressures, cloudy conditions and reduced wind speeds. The synergies between IK and contemporary weather forecasts are notable (Nkomwa. et al., 2013). However, it is important to note that at different latitudinal locations, the weather systems will vary during moon phases.IK relating to moon phases is still relevant under contemporary situations as it complements scientific forecasting information, enhancing its credibility among rural communities (Chagonda et al., 2014). With the availability of both IK and scientific forecasting information, decisionmaking regarding climate risk management is enhanced for communities. However, such knowledge and practices may face future challenges if practitioners of contemporary forecasting and policy makers continue to disregard IK, and develop inhibiting policies for its integration.According to IK, the sudden presence of a flock of swallows to an area is associated with the likelihood of afternoon showers and thunderstorms (Jiri et al., 2015). The swallows are usually seen continuously flying over the same area in an aerobatic style for approximately 30 minutes, due to the arrival of flying insects to the area. Indeed, showers or thunderstorms generally commence later that afternoon. The scientific knowledge to support this IK is that when low pressure develops over an area, trade winds move in to fill the low pressure and bring with them many insects, which are then eaten by the swallows. Through long-term observations, farmers have come to associate this occurrence with imminent rains that tend to ensue (Hill, 2001). A synergy between IK and scientific forecasting is evident here, and calls for scientists to explain their knowledge to smallholder farmers to increase their utilisation of scientific information.Smallholder farmers celebrate the presence of swallows because this represents one of the last remaining reliable indicators of weather. According to IK, the accuracy of other forecasting indicators as a sign of incoming trade winds, such as phases of the moon, the halo of the sun and moon and the high noise of cicadas -or nyenze -during high temperatures, is complemented by the swallows' presence. Among smallholder farmers, the use of modern scientific information in forecasting showers and thunderstorms is best complemented when IK indicators, such as the presence of swallows, can also be considered. The use of IK indicators within scientific forecasting methods would increase smallholder farmers' perceptions of their credibility. The example of swallows as an indicator of weather events is not likely threatened by modern forecasts, since low pressures cannot be perceived by the human eye, therefore the presence of swallows will continue to be used by smallholders as a sign of imminent showers and thunderstorms.Smallholder farmers in Africa also make use of the prevailing trade winds for short-term weather forecasts. Some trade winds are known to be dry, while others are wet during the summer months and their presence indicates the likelihood of precipitation. The northerly and north westerly winds in Zambia are a good example of this. In summer, they are generally associated with high moisture contents and move towards low thermal pressure areas or the southern hemisphere ITCZs that are formed, and keep oscillating from the northern to the southern parts of the country. Their southward movement is generally associated with precipitation (Zambia Meteorological Department, 2016).When the moisture content in northerly/north westerly trade winds is normal or high, precipitation generally starts within the first or second day of their detection by farmers. The presence and absence of these winds helps smallholders plan more accurately in regards to the timing of agricultural activities, such as when to plant, apply fertilisers or weed their crops. In regards to the southerly and south easterly winds, smallholder farmers consider them to be characterised by high winds and clear weather conditions. Because they mainly originate from the continental high pressure systems over Mozambique and South Africa, they are generally drier and bring about little or no precipitation at all to Zambia in summer. High and low pressure systems cannot be seen, but their wind movements can be felt hence, they are best explained to smallholder farmers in relation to the prevailing trade winds.The movements of trade winds are associated with general circulation systems of the semi-permanent continental high and low pressure systems over the southern hemisphere. The presence of these pressure systems' over a particular area lasts for about 1 week. Smallholder farmers consider the moon phases to last for a similar length of time.From their IKS, smallholder farmers have come to recognise the general behaviour of trade winds and are able to forecast the likelihood of imminent precipitation to their area. In this way, they are able to more effectively manage agricultural-related risks throughout the year. Thus, the reliance of trade wind movements as an indication of weather events is very common in Zambia.The scientific support for their use lies in the understanding of low pressure areas that draw both moist and dry trade winds. The trade winds in their vertical movements span from the earth surface, through middle levels and higher -up to 30,000 ft. Trade winds tend to move faster towards a low pressure area in the higher and middle levels than at the surface area due to friction with ground surfaces. The moisture contents of the trade winds depict a halo around the sun or moon in the higher levels when their rays pass through the cirrus clouds. It is through the presence of the halo that smallholder farmers and scientists can confirm the increased presence of moisture in the atmosphere, and plan for A maize field partially flattened by rains and wind expected precipitation. Depending on the speed, the middle and lower levels of windsoon reach an area where precipitation commences within about 24 hours.Observations of cloud types in the sky represent another IKS tool for farmers to use within their climate risk management strategies (Roncoli et al., 2001). Such observations over time are what initially led farmers to discover the relationship between the presence of a halo around the sun and moon, and the subsequent weather conditions. They noted that some precipitation followed within 2 to 3 days of the appearance of the halo, and long-term observations of this phenomenon confirmed the trend. Further observations revealed a connection between the occurrence of the halo and the presence of swallows to an area -and both are associated with rainy conditions. The appearance of the two indicators at once therefore increases the accuracy of IKS in forecasting the likelihood of precipitation to an area.Smallholder farmers have practiced this form of weather forecasting for years, even in the absence of contemporary weather information. With this knowledge, they are able plan and manage for climate risks more effectively. Explaining the relationship of the halo with scientific weather synoptic systems would enhance the credibility of modern scientific forecasting among smallholder farmers. Low pressure systems are associated with high temperatures. Summer afternoons in Zambia under calm conditions can reach 40°C or more in certain locations. During such times, people seek relief from the blazing heat under the shade of trees. This process led communities to discover that cicadas, or nyenze, make sharp noises when temperatures reach highs of 38°C and above (Risiro et al., 2012). This is because when cicadas fan themselves in the heat, it produces a loud noise (Risiro et al., 2012). Further, they found that this occurrence was usually followed by precipitation -in particular showers and thunderstorms -soon afterwards. Following long-term observations, the sharp noise of cicadas has become associated with the likelihood of precipitation to an area. Contemporary forecasters should provide the scientific explanations of such occurrences to rural communities as well as make weather information easily accessible alongside this, in order to increase the appreciation and uptake of such knowledge among smallholder farmers (Challinor, 2008;McCrea et al., 2005).This chapter has discussed how African smallholder farmers use and rely upon IKS (historical patterns, weather observations and signs) to formulate expectations on weather and climate (Jiri et al., 2015;Orlove et al., 2010). The main challenge to IKS in modern times is the advent of climate change and population growth. The depletion of certain fruit trees through deforestation and agricultural development also complicates seasonal forecasting of IKS, as some indicators are no longer available. Adaptation of current IKS is going to be required to meet the challenges associated with global climate change.In Zambia, 75% of agriculture is rain-fed -a system that requires farmers to have a good understanding of the climate for every season. Farmers' knowledge regarding the coming season's forecast is important for decision-making regarding crop and farm management choices. Using their IK, farmers are able to forecast with some accuracy a good or bad season in regards to rainfall. A good season can be indicated through the presence of high yields on fruit trees such as masuku, locally known as wapaka kikiana, before the start of the growing season (Matsa and Mukoni, 2013;Nkomwa et al., 2013). On the contrary, a bad season can be anticipated in the absence of fruits on the same trees before the start of the growing season. This knowledge and information is widely used by farmers for planning seasonal cropping and management strategies.Fruit production on fruit trees is related to the attainment of a certain temperature threshold. A conducive root temperature condition, amongst other factors, enables a plant to produce more fruit. This optimum root temperature is only achieved when the air temperature reaches certain thresholds related to the level of rainfall -which must be normal or above normal. Synergies of this IK with contemporary rainfall forecasting information is recommended in the literature, since plant phenology is related to temperature -a parameter used in weather monitoring and forecasting (Matsa and Mukoni, 2013). A future challenge to this IK practice will be population growth, which spurs deforestation that continues to reduce fruit tree numbers.Another indicator used by smallholder farmers in Zambia for long-term seasonal forecasting is the presence of butterflies seen in the month of October flying from north to south (Chagonda et al., 2014). This is a sign of the development of semi-permanent low pressure areas in the southern hemisphere associated with the ITCZ. When the butterflies are absent at this time of year or are delayed to November, it is an indication of a bad season.Smallholder farmers' agriculture risk management in Zambia is mainly dependent on their IK regarding weather prediction. This knowledge is the result of long-time observations of certain indicators that have shown a relationship with climate occurrences. Observations of certain animal behaviours and tree phenology stages provide smallholders with the capacity to predict weather and seasonal quality, without contributions from modern scientific forecasts. Agricultural losses associated with climate extremes are minimised due to this knowledge. Contemporary scientific forecasting knowledge, which is new amongst indigenous smallholder farmers, is perceived by farmers to be less credible, not fully explained, difficult to understand and interpret, untimely, mostly inaccessible and hence, inappropriate for climate risk management.Conversely, the use of IK in weather forecasting and seasonal rainfall prediction for supporting agricultural development in Zambia, has proven to be a sustainable system and is deeply rooted in indigenous farming communities.The resilience of agro-ecosystems is rooted in the indigenous knowledge (IK) of smallholder farmers. The inherent dynamism of IK systems (IKS) lies at the heart of their ability to adapt. IKS are constantly evolving, learning through experimentation and knowledge building -processes that allow knowledge holders to adjust and modify their actions in response to environmental change. As global climate change and its emerging challenges and unknowns continue to affect southern Africa, it is essential that decisions, policies and actions are based on the best knowledge available. Biophysical and socio-sciences contribute significantly to the collective understanding of earth's systems, social systems and their integration. However, in recent years, it has become increasingly evident that scientific knowledge can benefit from the IK of farmers who directly bear the burden of climate-induced crises, and are the ultimate beneficiaries of efforts to solve such crises. The knowledge of local and indigenous people, often referred to as local, indigenous or traditional knowledge, is increasingly recognised as an important source of climate change knowledge and adaptation strategies.IK is already seen as pivotal in various fields, such as sustainable development, traditional medicine, agroforestry, biodiversity conservation and natural resource management. Many are expecting this knowledge to play a prominent role in climate science and in facilitating adaptation to climate variability and change, as shown by many of the chapters in this book.How robust are IKS in contemporary times, and how best can IKS be integrated with scientific knowledge are two important questions facing CHAPTER 15 -The future of indigenous knowledge systems and climate sciences indigenous communities. Modern science is more acceptable to indigenous communities if it is integrated with, and presented within, the context of what they already know. Scientific weather forecasts are more credible to communities when they are integrated with IKS, a knowledge they have relied on for generations to predict and cope with droughts, floods and other natural hazards. Many chapters in this volume have demonstrated this point. Many chapters also explain that even when smallholder farmers listen to weather forecasts from meteorological departments over the radio, they still sometimes rely on their own traditional knowledge (Mpandeli et al., this volume). The more scientific forecasts are reinforced with traditional knowledge, the more it will be used for planning purposes by indigenous communities.The challenges brought about by global climate change are beyond the level of experience of knowledge holders, whether scientific or indigenous (Huntington et al., 2005). Effective adaptation planning requires access to all the best available knowledge, whatever the source. In the face of uncertain and unpredictable risks and impacts due to climate change, there is a growing need for policies and actions that foster the coproduction of knowledge, based upon collaborative efforts involving community based knowledge holders and natural and social scientists. Knowledge co-production is the collaborative process of bringing together populistic knowledge sources to address a defined process (Armigate et al., 2011). This builds an integrated system oriented towards understanding a particular problem. Cross-scale and cross-cultural methodologies provide an important framework for adaptation action on the ground (Berkes, 2012). In the USA, the Swinomish climate change initiative combined Coast Salish cultural knowledge with US government scientific expertise, which resulted in the identification of the extent of impacts of climate change, and areas of concern for water quality (SITC, 2010). In the arctic, remote sensing through the use of fertilised research systems and other methods, such as meteorology and modeling, are being combined with IKS of Sami and Nenets reindeer herders to co-produce data sets to improve decision-making, herd management and adaptation strategies (Maynard et al., 2005). In Africa, rain makers in the Nganyi communities of western Kenya (Guthiga and Newsham, 2011) and farmers in Nessa village in southern Malawi (Kalanda-Joshua et al., 2011), have collaborated with meteorological scientists to provide integrated forecasts that are being disseminated by both indigenous and conventional methods to enhance community resilience to climate impacts. Berkes et al. (2007) underlined the capacity of indigenous observations to make sense of complex changes in the environment through qualitative analysis of numerous variables, as opposed to scientific quantitative assessment of a few variables (Mafongoya et al., this volume). This holistic approach to IK is akin to fuzz logic, which though different from scientific observation is complementary to it (Peloquin and Berkes, 2009). Such results point to the benefits of combining indigenous and scientific observation systems, as they may provide insights for climate change monitoring efforts.Many scholars have advocated for the protection of IKS through ex situ conservation -meaning isolation, documentation and storage of the information within international, regional and national archives (Warren et al., 1993). Ex situ conservation is the least technical strategy and the most convenient politically. However, there are serious shortcomings with this strategy because IK is inherently scattered and local in nature. IK gains its vitality from being deeply integrated within people's lives, hence, an attempt to isolate, archive and transfer such knowledge can seem contradictory to its function. If western science is condemned for being none-responsive to local demands and divorced from people's lives, then centralised storage and management of IK lends itself to the same criticism. IK is a dynamic knowledge system that evolves and adapts with the changing needs of its people, thus ex-situ conservation seems a particularly ill-suited strategy for its preservation.The same strategy has been used for the conservation of plant germplasm and biodiversity, and has been considered inadequate and unsatisfactory. If ex-situ conservation has failed to conserve physically distinguishable entities such as seeds, it should not be expected to conserve a knowledge that is integrally linked to people's lives, and is therefore constantly changing.Ex situ conservation may be justified on the grounds that IK is a public good or a global patrimony, and should therefore be made available to all interested individuals. National archives of IK materials and information should be made accessible to nationals and foreigners. However, access to centralised, bureaucratised data systems will always remain inequitable, disadvantaging the small users and farmers because of their centralised location, mostly in towns and cities.Indigenous people are vulnerable to the impacts of global climate change, not only because they depend on climate sensitive resources, but also because they are often marginalised from decision-making processes and political power. It has been said that smallholder farmers are in general, politically passive; when conversely, they actively engage with and are experienced observers of their environment, and have accumulated sizeable and sophisticated bodies of knowledge and practices about the variability and transformation potential of their environment. This knowledge and know-how provides the basis of people's livelihoods, which are in turn at the centre of societal efforts to adapt to variability and change. IK therefore, provides important insights into processes of adaptation. The significance of IK becomes all the more evident once it is acknowledged that people and local communities have faced environmental variability and unpredictability for centuries. Hence, they have developed a range of technical, social and economic solutions, which form the basis of resilience in the context of climate change and variability. The challenges brought about by global climate change will surpass the experience of humankind, necessitating that adaptation and mitigation strategies should be formed using a combination of available knowledge. In this regard, a case should be made for the recognition of IK resilience, which has been evolving and adapting to new challenges for centuries.Government policies and programmes should preserve and enhance indigenous resilience by supporting IK practices in natural resource management. Boosting IK resilience can also be achieved by fostering the diversity of indigenous crops and animals. Policies need to be planned and formulated through interdisciplinary research that brings together IK holders with scientists from various fields. This will allow efforts to build a mutual understanding among stakeholders, and reinforce trust between them. Recent efforts and partnerships between indigenous people and scientists are producing new knowledge in response to the emerging challenges of climate change. This co-creation and co-production of knowledge benefits and builds synergies between different knowledge systems, and is a good way to address the complexity of climate change and adaptation strategies.The studies in southern Africa and parts of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have shown that the IKS of rural communities cover aspects of food production and processing, nature conservation and natural disaster management. IKS are culture specific and evolve over time to cope with environmental challenges. While the systems differ in detail, depending on the local culture and environment, they share similarities and common challenges. Some of the similarities are:• IK relies on informal rules for its application • IK faces a serious threat of being lost • IK is neither pseudo-science nor anti-science, it is just another form of knowledge • IK influences millions of people' lives in SSA without acknowledgement or recognition by formal government in most casesIK practices of natural resource conservation, disaster management and climate change management have worked well within the power structures of traditional communities. However, fast population growth and new socio-economic impacts, including science and technology developments, pose challenges to IKS. It is clear that a form of hybrid knowledge incorporating IKS and modern science is required to meet these challenges, as noted within the various chapters presented in this book.1. IKS should be documented in databases 2. IKS should be documented urgently to prevent any further loss of information. 3. IKS should be incorporated into national policy and development documents 4. Laws to safeguard intellectual property rights relating to IK should be enacted 5. IKS should be integrated with modern or scientific knowledge 6. IKS should be taught in schools, colleges and universities to become part of education curriculums 7. IKS should be popularised amongst members of the public"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"705ca08635c4f9ea6afe64966b71662d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9a498edb-89ce-4b11-ba2f-20a3dc0a69ec/retrieve","id":"-1645637106"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5f78e247-5406-457e-8ddc-4f8c04951dfd","content":"Il n'existe pas de documentation réellement fiable indiquant quand et où la consommation d'escargots est entrée dans l'alimentation des êtres humains. Dans les régions où l'on trouve des escargots, en particulier dans les régions tropicales et subtropicales comme en Afrique de l'Ouest et en Afrique orientale, il est courant que les populations locales ramassent les escargots, les mangent et complètent leurs revenus en vendant les excédents.Cette brochure vise à fournir des idées aux paysans qui voudraient se lancer dans l'élevage d'escargots sur une petite échelle, pour leur consommation personnelle ou pour en faire une activité commerciale. Ce document n'est pas vraiment destiné aux exploitants voulant se lancer dans l'élevage d'escargots sur une grande échelle pour l'exportation. On y passe en revue trois grandes espèces d'escargots communes dans les régions tropicales, et tout particulièrement en Afrique : Achatina achatina, Achatina fulica et Archachatina marginata.La brochure présente les facteurs pouvant nuire à la réussite d'un élevage d'escargots, de sorte que les paysans ne démarrent pas un élevage sans en avoir soupesé les avantages et les inconvénients.Cette brochure répond à une demande fréquemment formulée dans les questionnaires Agrodok, à savoir la publication d'un Agrodok sur l'élevage d'escargots. Une grande partie des informations de base proviennent du guide pratique de M. Joseph R. Cobbinah Snail Farming in West Africa. D'autres informations ont été puisées dans la littérature scientifique et sur Internet ou ont été recueillies auprès d'experts africains.Dès les temps préhistoriques, les humains ont consommé de la chair d'escargot. Cette chair est riche en protéines (12-16%) et en fer (45-50 mg/kg) mais pauvre en lipides. Elle contient par ailleurs presque tous les acides aminés indispensables au corps humain. Une étude récente a également montré que les substances glandulaires présentes dans la chair d'escargot comestible provoquaient l'agglutination de certaines bactéries, phénomène pouvant permettre de combattre toute une variété de maladies, dont la coqueluche.Les escargots comestibles occupent aussi une place importante dans la médecine populaire. Au Ghana, on attribue une vertu spécifique au liquide bleuâtre restant dans la coquille une fois la chair extraite : celle de favoriser le développement du nourrisson. La forte teneur en fer de la chair fait partie des remèdes efficaces dans le traitement de l'anémie. Autrefois, on la recommandait pour combattre les ulcères et les asthmes. A l'époque de la Cour impériale romaine, la chair d'escargot, censée avoir des vertus aphrodisiaques, était souvent offerte en fin de soirée aux dignitaires en visite.En Afrique de l'Ouest, la chair d'escargot était un aliment essentiel du régime traditionnel des habitants de la forêt dense (zone forestière autre que la savane). On estime par exemple qu'en Côte d'Ivoire, la population mange 7,9 millions de kg d'escargots par an. Au Ghana, la demande dépasse clairement les capacités.Ces dernières années, le commerce international d'escargots fleurit en Europe et en Amérique du nord. En Afrique, malgré les fortes demandes étrangère et locale, il y a peu d'élevages d'escargots commerciaux comme on en trouve en Europe, en Asie du Sud-Est ou sur les continents américains. Au Ghana, au Nigeria et en Côte d'Ivoire, où la chair d'escargot est fort appréciée, on ramasse les escargots pendant la saison humide. Or ces dernières années, les populations d'escargots sauvages ont considérablement diminué suite à certaines activités hu-maines comme la déforestation, l'utilisation de pesticides, l'agriculture sur brûlis, les feux de forêt accidentels et le ramassage d'escargots immatures. Il est donc important d'encourager l'élevage des escargots (héliciculture) afin de protéger cette importante ressource.Les escargots ne sont pas nuisibles à l'environnement car, à l'inverse de la volaille ou des cochons, ni les escargots ni leurs excréments ne sentent mauvais. L'élevage d'escargots peut aussi se faire dans une cour.Les apports en terme de capital, équipement, main d'oeuvre et financement sont relativement faibles comparés aux autres types d'élevage (volaille, cochons, chèvres, moutons, bovins).La chair d'escargot est une bonne source de protéines. Elle est riche en fer et en calcium mais, comparée à d'autres sources protéiniques comme la volaille et les cochons, elle est pauvre en graisse et en cholestérol.Climat En l'absence de moyens artificiels coûteux pour réguler le climat, l'élevage d'escargots ne peut se pratiquer que dans des forêts tropicales humides où la température est constante, l'humidité relativement élevée et où, de préférence, il n'y a pas de saisons sèches. De même, il est préférable que le rythme jour/nuit soit relativement constant au cours de l'année.Pour certains, la chair d'escargot est une délicatesse alors que pour d'autres, il est hors de question d'en consommer, pour des raisons culturelles ou religieuses.Les escargots ont une croissance relativement lente. De plus, la chair comestible ne constitue que 40% (au plus !) du poids total vivant de l'escargot. De ce fait, d'élevage d'escargots ne peut être une activité lucrative à court terme.Escargots : un risque de plaie Les escargots qui s'échappent d'un élevage ou qui sont rejetés en pleine nature par un éleveur peuvent se multiplier rapidement jusqu'à devenir une véritable nuisance pour l'agriculture et l'horticulture.Il faut donc bien comprendre que l'élevage d'escargots ne peut se pratiquer qu'au sein d'une exploitation agricole diversifiée. Cependant, à force de patience et grâce à une bonne gestion et une intégration prudente dans les activités fermières existantes, l'élevage d'escargots peut fournir, à termes, des avantages substantiels.Les prochains chapitres fournissent des précisions sur l'élevage des escargots, à savoir : les espèces d'escargots d'élevage, le milieu ambiant, les enclos, le cheptel, l'alimentation et la santé des escargots.Attention : Avant de vous lancer dans l'élevage d'escargots, assurezvous que vous avez un débouché ! Cela peut sembler évident mais l'on connaît de nombreux cas où les escargots géants d'Afrique ont été importés pour l'élevage dans d'autres régions du globe et ont ensuite été rejetés dans la nature (ou laissés en liberté) faute de pouvoir les écouler sur le marché.Une fois que les escargots ont été introduits, rejetés ou laissés en liberté, ils deviennent une véritable nuisance pour l'agriculture. Sans ennemis naturels, ils finissent par détruire toutes sortes de cultures agricoles et horticoles et par causer des dégâts économiques considérables. Achatina fulica a particulièrement mauvaise réputation à cet égard.Les escargots géants africains sont considérés comme une délicatesse pour les personnes qui les consomment par tradition alors que d'autres personnes, même si elles sont du même pays, répugnent à les toucher, et encore plus à les manger. Il ne faut donc pas démarrer un élevage d'escargots lorsqu'on n'est pas absolument sûr que l'on arrive à les vendre ou à les manger soi-même.2 Espèces convenant à l'élevageLes escargots appartiennent au groupe d'animaux invertébrés appelés mollusques. La plupart des mollusques portent une coquille. D'autres espèces de ce groupe sont les limaces, les moules, les calmars et les seiches.Cet Agrodok se concentre sur le potentiel d'élevage des escargots terrestres géants d'Afrique, plus spécialement les espèces Achatina achatina, Achatina fulica et Archachatina marginata. Elles font partie de la famille des Achatinidae, un groupe de grands escargots/gastéropodes terrestres pulmonés, originaires des régions occidentales, orientales et australes de l'Afrique et possédant une longue coquille effilée. Leur taille varie de 3 à 25 cm. Les 14 genres sont : Achatina, Archachatina, Atopochochlis, Bequeartina, Burtoa, Columna, Callistpepla, Lignus, Limicollaria, Limicolariopsis, Lissachatina, Metachatina, Periderriopsis et Pseudachati. On les trouve principalement dans les jungles des pays tropicaux mais également dans les régions de prairies. Ils se nourrissent essentiellement de fruits et de feuilles. Ils sont faciles à ramasser et leur élevage ne présente pas de grandes difficultés vu qu'ils s'adaptent à toutes sortes d'environnement. Ils se reproduisent plusieurs fois par an. L'escargot comprend en gros deux parties, le corps et la coquille. Le corps est divisé en trois zones -la tête, le pied et les viscères. La tête, peu démarquée du reste, porte deux paires de tentacules rétractables. L'une des paires est beaucoup plus allongée que l'autre et elle contient les yeux dans sa terminaison protubérante. Le pied musculaire, allongé, occupe presque toute la surface ventrale et, comme la tête, n'est pas clairement démarqué du reste du corps. Un sillon longitudinal étroit court sur la longueur du pied en son milieu. Les viscères, de forme bosselée, se trouvent dans la coquille au-dessus du pied. Ils contiennent les organes digestifs, reproducteurs et respiratoires.Un pli de peau placé au-dessus des viscères secrète une importante coquille calcaire (composée à 98% de carbonate de calcium). Dans la plupart des espèces, la coquille pèse environ le tiers du poids du corps. Elle constitue l'habitat protecteur de l'escargot qui y rétracte son corps lorsqu'un danger se présente.Bien que les escargots soient hermaphrodites (ils ont des organes génitaux masculins et féminins), la plupart des espèces s'accouplent avant de pondre. Achatina achatina est originaire des forêts denses d'Afrique de l'Ouest, sur une ceinture allant de la Guinée au Nigeria. Achatina étant l'espèce comestible la plus prisée au Ghana, elle se fait de plus en plus rare dans la nature.  Reproduction. Achatina achatina se reproduit par autofécondation. A la différence de nombreuses autres espèces, il n'y a pas d'accouplement avant la production, même s'il n'est pas inhabituel de retrouver deux escargots collés l'un à l'autre. Des études (Hodasi, 1979) indiquent que cette espèce pond pendant la saison des pluies (avril-juin au Ghana).Ponte. La ponte a généralement lieu à la tombée de la nuit ou pendant la nuit et comporte de 30 à 300 oeufs. Les oeufs, plus ou moins ovales et de couleur jaune sale, font 8 à 9 mm de long et 6 à 7 mm de large.Les oeufs sont déposés dans des trous de 4 cm de profondeur creusés pour l'occasion. Si les naissains sont petits, on peut essayer une deuxième ponte, voire même une troisième.Eclosion. Les oeufs éclosent généralement 2 à 3 semaines après avoir été pontus, dans une fourchette de 10 à 31 jours, selon la température.A. achatina a un taux d'éclosion élevé de 90+%, voire parfois même 100%.Escargots nouvellement éclos. Le bébé escargot possède une fine membrane coquillière qui se calcifie progressivement. Bien que cette période se caractérise par une rapide croissance, les escargots sont capables de se passer de nourriture pendant quelques jours (5-10 jours) après l'éclosion.Jeunes escargots. La phase juvénile est la période commençant 1 ou 2 mois après l'éclosion jusqu'au stade de maturité sexuelle (14-20 mois). Au cours de cette période, l'escargot diversifie de plus en plus sa nourriture. En fin de cette période juvenile, sa coquille est complètement formée. Il pèse alors entre 100 et 450 g. On constate de grandes différences dans la croissance des différents écotypes au cours de cette période.Adultes. L'escargot entre dans une phase adulte lorsqu'il atteint la maturité sexuelle. Les escargots adultes ne pondent cependant pas tous des oeufs à chaque saison. La durée de vie est en moyenne de 5 à 6 ans, mais on a connaissance d'escargots ayant vécu 9 à 10 ans.  Reproduction. S'ils ne sont pas retardés par l'estivation ou l'hibernation, les escargots peuvent atteindre la maturité sexuelle en moins d'un an (voire en 5 mois, dans des conditions de laboratoire).Pour que les oeufs soient viables, il faut qu'ait eu lieu une fécondation croisée (6-8 heures).Ponte. Les petits oeufs blanc jaunâtre (4 mm de diamètre) sont pondus par groupe de 10 à 400 oeufs, 8 à 20 jours après la copulation dans des nids faits dans le sol. Une seule copulation peut entraîner des pontes répétées, chaque escargot ayant une réserve de sperme.La fréquence des pontes dépend du climat, en particulier la fréquence et la durée des saisons des pluies : 500 fois par an au Sri Lanka, 300 fois par an à Hong Kong et 1000 fois par an à Calcutta.Escargots nouvellement éclos. A l'éclosion, les petits consomment leurs coquilles (et les larves non écloses), et restent dans le sol pendant 5 à 15 jours en se nourrissant de détritus organiques. Il leur arrive de se nourrir de plantes pendant la nuit et de retourner s'enfouir avant le lever du jour.Jeunes escargots. Ce sont les animaux ayant une coquille d'une longueur de 5 à 30 mm qui causent apparemment le plus de dommage aux plantes.Adultes. Ils peuvent atteindre leur maturité sexuelle en moins d'un an.Les escargots les plus gros continuent de se nourrir de végétaux mais ils ingèrent plus de détritus à mesure qu'ils vieillissent. Leur durée de vie va de 3 à 5 ans.Cette espèce cause des dommages économiques considérables à de nombreuses cultures commerciales. Dans la plupart des régions du monde, les dommages sont plus importants là où l'espèce vient de s'installer ; les escargots sont alors très gros et leur nombre peut être considérable. Suit une phase de multiplication stable puis une période de déclin.Achatina fulica serait un vecteur intermédiaire du ver rond Angiostrongylus cantonensis, responsable de la méningo-encéphalite éosinophilique chez les humains, ainsi que de la bactérie à gram négatif Aeromonas hydrophila, pouvant provoquer toute une variété de symptomes, en particulier chez les personnes dont le système immunitaire est déficient. Il est donc dans l'intérêt de l'éleveur de prévenir, ou du moins de réduire, la dormance : ? en sélectionnant le site le plus favorable à l'élevage d'escargots (voir chapitre 3) ? en leur construisant un abri adapté (voir chapitre 4) ? en leur apportant une nourriture appropriée et en veillant à une bonne gestion de l'élevage (chapitres 5 et 6).De toute évidence, il est possible d'élever des escargots en contrôlant totalement les conditions environnementales mais cela nécessite des investissements considérables que les éleveurs auxquels s'adresse cet Agrodok ne pourront probablement pas se permettre. En l'absence d'un contrôle climatique artificiel, l'élevage commercial d'escargots est quasiment limité aux zones répondant aux caractéristiques suivantes :? Température : Une température stable de 25-30 °C tout au long de l'année et une faible variation de température entre le jour et la nuit ; ? Jour-nuit : Une photopériode 12 :12 relativement constante tout au long de l'année. ? Humidité de l'air : Entre 75-95% tout au long de l'année.Ces conditions correspondent aux zones forestières tropicales. Elles sont optimales lorsque les saisons sèches sont peu marquées ou lorsqu'il y a peu de fluctuations climatiques. De même, avant de se lancer, il faut prendre en compte les traditions locales ou culturelles pouvant s'opposer à la consommation voire même au seul contact avec des escargots.3 Choisir un siteLes escargots sont très forts pour s'échapper des enclos. Une des premières précautions à prendre lorsqu'on veut monter un élevage d'escargots productif, est donc de construire un parc ne leur laissant aucune chance de s'échapper. On choisira parmi les divers types de parcs à escargots (escagotières) celui qui conviendra le mieux à la taille de l'exploitation envisagée (voir chapitre 4). Mais il faut avant tout sélectionner un lieu approprié.Pour ce faire, il faut songer aux facteurs suivants : ? (micro) climat ? Vitesse et direction du vent ? Caractéristiques du sol ? Sécurité, protection des escargots contre les maladies, les prédateurs et les braconniers.On choisira également le site pouvant au mieux empêcher, ou du moins limiter, la dormance (voir paragraphe 2.6). Ci-suit des informations sur les facteurs comme la température, l'humidité et les caractéristiques du sol ; ils sont déterminants pour la survie et la croissance des escargots.Les escargots sont des animaux à sang froid ; aussi préfèrent-ils les températures modérées et une forte humidité. En Afrique de l'Ouest, les températures des régions où l'on trouve la plupart des espèces comestibles sont relativement stables. Les fluctuations en terme d'humidité de l'air sont cependant assez importantes et cela a un impact significatif sur les espèces d'escargots terrestres géants dont nous parlons dans cette brochure. Lorsqu'ils évoluent dans leur milieu naturel, les escargots entrent en dormance à la saison sèche (voir paragraphes 2.6 et figure 6).L'humidité de l'air ne doit cependant pas être proche de la saturation car cela favorise le développement de bactéries et de champignons nuisibles.En milieu extérieur, il est évidemment impossible de contrôler les facteurs climatiques. Cependant, l'amplitude des changements de température et d'humidité est réduite dans les régions où la forêt est restée quasiment intacte et dans les régions à végétation dense. L'on préfèrera de tels sites à des prairies ouvertes ou à des terrains cultivés.Bien entendu, il est possible d'élever des escargots dans un environnement fermé dont on maîtrise toutes les caractéristiques. Mais cela a un prix. La rentabilité de l'investissement dépendra des ressources financières de l'éleveur, des coûts locaux de production par kilo de viande produite et du mode de commercialisation. Le vent accélère la déshydratation des escargots. Pour empêcher que les escargots ne se déssèchent, les parcs doivent être installés à l'abri du vent. Le mieux est de trouver un terrain planté d'arbres en bas d'une pente, pour réduire l'impact du vent. On peut planter des arbres (fruitiers) autour des parcs pour réduire la vitesse du vent et améliorer le microclimat. Cela protègera également les escargots du soleil torride ou des pluies torrentielles.Le sol est une donnée essentielle de l'habitat des escargots. Sa composition, sa teneur en eau et sa texture sont des critères à étudier de près.? La coquille d'escargot est principalement constituée de calcium dérivé du sol et de la nourriture. ? C'est surtout dans le sol que les escargots trouvent l'eau dont ils ont besoin. ? Ils creusent le sol pour y déposer leurs oeufs et pour se reposer pendant la saison sèche.Pour toutes ces raisons, il est essentiel que le sol soit léger et qu'il ait une forte teneur en calcium et en eau.? Les pneus ou les bidons d'essence mis au rebut peuvent être transformés à peu de frais en parcs à escargots.Trois ou quatre pneus sont placés les uns sur les autres et l'on tend un grillage entre le pneu supérieur et celui placé juste en dessous.Les bidons d'essence doivent avoir un fond troué pour permettre le drainage. On les remplit d'une couche de 7 à 10 cm de bonne terre et on recouvre la partie supérieure d'une moustiquaire et d'un grillage.De telles escargotières permettent d'élever quelques escargots (jusqu'à quatre escargots adultes dans chaque container) près de la maison, pour un usage personnel. Le sol doit être changé de temps en temps car les excréments qui s'accumulent augmentent les risques de maladie. Un changement tous les trois mois est conseillé. Les casiers peuvent être placés près de la maison de l'éleveur. C'est un avantage en termes de contrôle et de protection. Les casiers sont d'une hauteur confortable pour l'éleveur qui peut ainsi facilement nourrir et saisir les escargots.En termes d'inconvénients, citons le coût de construction et la petite taille des casiers, limitant le nombre d'escargots (quelque 30 petits ou jeunes escargots ou trois escargots adultes dans une caisse de la taille de celle de la figure 9).Cette même illustration explique comment monter un casier. Les fosses sont remplies d'une couche de 10 à 15 cm de bonne terre.Elles sont fermées par un châssis en bois ou métallique, recouvert d'un grillage et d'un filet en nylon et équipé de cadenas pour décourager les braconniers. Bien entendu, il faut aussi protéger les parcs de la chaleur torride du soleil et des pluies fortes. On peut fournir un abri aux escargots en déposant des feuilles de banane à moitié désséchées dans les fosses (voir figure 10).Les fosses conviennent bien aux types d'élevage semi-intensif et intensif. Ils peuvent servir de couveuse, de nurserie ou de parc d'engraissement, la quantité d'escargots parqués dépendant de la taille des ceux-ci à chaque stade. On peut déplacer les escargots d'un parc à l'autre en fonction du cycle de croissance.Le principal avantage des fosses, enterrées ou surélevées, est que la manipulation des escargots est facilitée. Il est aisé de déplacer les escargots à mesure qu'ils croissent et de les localiser pour les nourrir, les traiter, les sélectionner et finalement les vendre ou les consommer.Les principaux inconvénients des fosses en sont (a) les coûts à la construction (tout particulièrement pour les parcs surélevés, voir 10), et (b) le fait que l'éleveur doit se courber ou se mettre à genou pour s'occuper des escargots.  Les parquets, comme les enclos de pâturage (voir paragraphe 4.6), conviennent bien à l'engraissement des escargots qui, n'ayant plus de fonction de géniteur, doivent grossir pour être vendus ou consommés par l'éleveur.On peut ajouter de la nourriture complémentaire dans le parc mais ce qui n'a pas été mangé doit être régulièrement enlevé. Les plantes servant de nourriture et d'abri doivent être replantées de temps en temps.  Dans l'élevage extensif, tout le cycle de vie de l'escargot se déroule dans le parc : accouplement, ponte, éclosion, développement des petits escargots et croissance des escargots jusqu'à maturité. Les escargots se nourrissent des végétaux poussant dans l'enclos.Dans l'élevage semi-intensif, l'enclos de pâturage abrite les escargots en développement et ceux mis à l'engraissement après avoir passé les stades antérieurs dans des casiers ou des fosses.  Vous trouverez une liste du matériel nécessaire à chaque type d'escargotière dans l'annexe 2.La distinction entre systèmes d'élevage extensif, semi-intensif et intensif concerne non seulement l'abri (chapitre 4) mais également l'alimentation.Dans un élevage extensif, les escargots se nourrissent des végétaux plantés spécialement pour eux dans l'enclos (parquet ou enclos de pâturage).Dans un élevage semi-intensif, on apporte de la nourriture aux petits, aux jeunes et aux géniteurs évoluant dans des casiers ou des fosses.Dans un élevage intensif, on nourrit continuellement les escargots, à tous les stades de croissance. Ceux-ci évoluent dans des casiers ou des enclos.Dans les élevages très intensifs, on nourrit les escargots avec un mélange spécial contenant toutes les protéines, hydrates de carbone, minéraux et vitamines nécessaires à une croissance optimale. Les escargots évoluent dans des casiers ou des fosses.A moins que votre élevage soit de type très extensif, il vous faudra nourrir les escargots vous-même, entièrement ou en partie, de façon à ce qu'ils se développent bien. Vous devrez donc faire l'effort de cultiver ou de cueillir la nourriture pour les escargots, ou bien de l'acheter. C'est pourquoi vous devez savoir ce que mangent les escargots et ce dont ils ont besoin.Ce que mangent les escargots Les escargots sont végétariens et apprécient toutes sortes de végétaux. Ils évitent tous les plantes à feuilles velues ou produisant des substances chimiques toxiques, comme par exemple la noix médicinale (Jathropa curcas). Les jeunes escargots préfèrent les feuilles et pousses tendres et mangent environ deux fois plus que les escargots adultes. A mesure qu'ils vieillissent, les escargots consomment plus de détritus : feuilles détachées, fruits pourris et humus. Cependant, les escargots adultes doivent recevoir les mêmes aliments que les escargots jeunes.En cas de changement de régime, les nouveaux aliments doivent être introduits progressivement.Les escargots ont besoin d'hydrates de carbone pour se procurer de l'énergie, et de protéines pour leur croissance. De plus, ils ont besoin de calcium (Ca) pour leur coquille, ainsi que d'autres minéraux et vitamines. La viande d'escargot contient peu de fibres et de graisse ; aussi ces éléments sont-ils de moindre importance dans l'alimentation des escargots.Feuilles : taro, noix de cola, papayer, bongo, aubergine, louffa, centrosema, chou et laitue. Les feuilles de papayer (ainsi que le fruit et sa peau) sont mentionnées dans de nombreuses observations comme étant un bon aliment pour les escargots.Fruits : papaye, mangue, banane, aubergine, poire, drupe du palmier à huile, figue, tomate et concombre. Les fruits sont généralement riches en minéraux et vitamines mais pauvres en protéines. Fleurs : Oprono (Mansonia altissima), odwuma (Musanga cecropoides) et papayer.Déchets domestiques : épluchures de fruit et de tubercule comme la banane, le plantain, l'ananas, l'igname et surtout la papaye ; restes de riz, haricots, foufou et gruau de maïs cuits. Attention : Les déchets alimentaires domestiques ne doivent pas contenir de sel !Déchets récupérés sur les marchés Comme les escargots sont végétariens, on peut les nourrir à moindres frais en récupérant les fruits et légumes invendus des marchés, à condition bien entendu que ceux-ci conviennent à leur alimentation. Cela permet de réduire les coûts et le travail impliqués dans l'achat ou la culture de fruits et légumes exclusivement destinés aux escargots.Achatina achatina se nourrit essentiellement de feuilles vertes, de fruits, de tubercules et de fleurs. A l'inverse des autres escargots, cette espèce préfère les feuilles et les fruits qui sont tombés de la plante.Elle semble également préférer les feuilles mouillées aux sèches et tirer grand profit des plantes cultivées dans le parc.   Le manque de terre forçant les éleveurs à passer d'un élevage extensif, où les aliments au sol sont en abondance, à un élevage semi-intensif, il peut devenir nécessaire de travailler avec des aliments composés. Des études menées au Ghana sur l'apport d'aliments pour volaille dans un élevage d'escargots ont montré que cette formule peut être intéressante pour l'élevage d'A. achatina.Au Nigeria, on recourt parfois à des aliments composés achetés dans le commerce mais cela revient cher. Il est possible de fabriquer sa propre préparation en utilisant les ingrédients suivants, et en veillant aux ratios (exprimé en kg pour 100 kg de préparation -recette originaire du Nigeria) :Tableau 1 : Préparation pour escargots, à faire soi-même   Une brochure de la FAO sur la reproduction des escargots indique que, dans une escargotière de 5 x 5m de type élevage en pâturage, on peut obtenir une production annuelle de 12 à 13 kg de chair d'escargot comestible (voir Bibliographie).Des études portant sur le taux de croissance des escargots (principalement Archachatina marginata au Nigeria) nourris suivant des régimes différents suggèrent que la constitution génétique des escargots a une influence sur les taux de croissance. Généralement, la progéniture des plus gros écotypes croît plus rapidement.Dans l'élevage extensif avec enclos de pâturage, les escargots ont un cycle de vie naturel. L'éleveur n'intervient que pour retirer quotidiennement les escargots morts, pour remplir les abreuvoirs, humidifier le sol en saison sèche et ramasser éventuellement les escargots adultes pouvant être vendus ou cuisinés.Dans les élevages semi-intensif ou intensif, l'éleveur s'occupera activement des escargots tout au long de leur cycle de vie : ponte, éclosion, croissance et maturité. Les activités changent à mesure que l'escargot se développe et en fonction des saisons, auxquelles correspondent des périodes d'activité ou de dormance pour les escargots (estivation pendant la saison sèche). (Remarque: Les escargots domestiqués continuent de pondre en saison humide comme en saison sèche ; Omole et al., 2007).Dans tous les cas, les éleveurs doivent avoir une population de géniteurs pour lancer leur élevage. Ils obtiendront ces escargots en les ramassant eux-mêmes dans les fourrés ou en s'adressant à des colporteurs, vendeurs, autres éleveurs d'escargots ou instituts de recherche.Il est recommandé d'avoir comme population génitrice de base des escargots ayant atteint la maturité sexuelle et pesant au moins 100 à 125 g. L'élevage devrait commencer de préférence en début de saison humide car c'est l'époque où les escargots commencent normalement à se reproduire.Tant que l'élevage ne sera pas autosuffisant, les éleveurs seront amenés à ramasser des escargots en pleine nature ou à en acheter, à prix réduit, en pleine saison puis à les engraisser en captivité en période creuse. On peut ramasser des escargots les lendemains de pluie dans Les notes prises par les éleveurs peuvent fournir ces informations. En règle générale, il faut choisir son cheptel de reproduction parmi les escargots ayant grossi le plus vite tout en ayant la coquille la plus solide. En effet, plus solide est la coquille, plus l'escargot peut se protéger des prédateurs.Les escargots sélectionnés pour la reproduction sont mis dans des casiers ou des parcs où on aura déposé de la nourriture et des abreuvoirs.Certains éleveurs laissent les escargots pondre dans les parcs de croissance puis transfèrent les oeufs dans des boîtes ou parcs incubateurs. Cela n'est cependant pas recommandé car il est alors difficile de localiser les oeufs et ceux-ci peuvent être endommagés pendant le transfer.Un géniteur peut pondre un à trois naissains par saison. Le nombre d'escargots géniteurs placés dans un casier dépend de la fertilité du groupe et du nombre de jeunes escargots désirés, nombre qui dépend à son tour de l'espace disponible dans le parc. Après la ponte, les escargots géniteurs devraient être remis dans les parcs de croissance.On a observé de grandes différences en matière de ponte entre et au sein des différentes populations A. achatina. Des études faites au Ghana ont montré que la taille moyenne des naissains produits par les divers écotypes pouvait aller de 38 à 563 oeufs. D'une manière générale, les escargots peuvent pondre entre 100 et 400 oeufs. Les oeufs sont ovales et font 5 mm de long. La ponte a lieu habituellement dans des trous ronds de 2 à 5 cm de profondeur creusés dans le sol (figure 20) Il arrive aussi que la ponte se fasse sur le sol ou au pied de plantes. Les oeufs d'escargots ont besoin d'une certaine chaleur pour éclore. L'éclosion se produit généralement 12 à 20 jours après la ponte.La coquille des petits A. achatina est marron clair et couvertes des rayures noires. Les petits doivent être gardés dans des casiers et nourris de feuilles de légumes ou de fruits (comme le taro et les feuilles de papayer), de fruits (généralement la papaye), de coquilles d'huitre pulvérisées et d'eau. Lorsqu'ils auront suffisamment grossi, on les mettra dans le parc de croissance. Les jeunes escargots profitent le mieux lorsqu'ils sont élevés avec des escargots de même taille.Les oeufs d'Achatina fulica sont petits (4 mm) ; un naissain comporte 10 à 400 oeufs et un géniteur pond plusieurs naissains par an. Après l'éclosion, les petits escargots restent 5 à 15 jours sous terre avant de sortir.Les oeufs d'Archachatina marginata sont assez gros (17 × 12 mm) et les naissains petits (4-8 oeufs). Un géniteur peut pondre plusieurs naissains par an. La période d'incubation est d'environ 4 semaines. Après l'éclosion, les petis restent en terre pendant 2 à 5 jours. En termes de poids d'escargot, la densité recommandée est de 1 à 1,5 kg par m 2 (pour A. achatina, entre 15 et 25 escargots par m 2 ). Mieux vaut commencer un élevage en limitant au maximum la densité. Lorsque l'éleveur connaîtra mieux les habitudes des escargots et maîtrisera mieux la gestion de son entreprise, il pourra alors augmenter la densité.Comme dans bien des exploitations, le succès d'un élevage d'escargots dépendra des bonnes pratiques de gestion.La plupart des recherches sur l'élevage des escargots géants d'Afrique ont été menées en Afrique de l'Ouest. Les activités saisonnières décrites ci-dessous suivent donc le cours des saisons propres à l'Afrique de l'Ouest où la reproduction et la ponte ont lieu entre mars et juillet. Notons que les escargots domestiqués continueront de pondre également pendant la saison sèche (Omole, et al. 2007).Les héliciculteurs opérant dans des régions humides (sub)tropicales devront adapter le cycle de gestion aux conditions locales.Dans les élevages semi-intensifs ou intensifs, les éleveurs placent les petits qui viennent d'éclore, les jeunes escargots et les géniteurs dans des casiers ou parcs séparés.Les petits ont plus besoin d'un environnement humide que les adultes. On les nourrira de feuilles tendres, comme celles de papaye ou de taro et d'un supplément de calcium, pour un bon développement de la coquille. Il faudra aussi veiller à ce que le sol reste humide et que les petits aient de quoi boire. Les parcs devront être munis d'un grillage fin, métallique ou en nylon, pour éviter que les petits escargots ne s'échappent. Pour les escargots nouvellement éclos et les jeunes, la densité peut tourner autour de 100/m 2 .Il convient de transférer les escargots d'environ 3 mois dans des parcs séparés. On favorisera leur croissance en leur donnant, en supplément de leur régime alimentaire normal, des aliments composés, riches en protéines crues, calcium et phosphore.Les géniteurs commencent à pondre lorsqu'ils ont atteint la maturité sexuelle, à l'âge de 10-12 mois. Il convient alors de les mettre dans des caisses ou des parcs séparés, en respectant une densité de peuplement de 10 à 15 escargots/m 2 . (Remarque : Les densités de peuplement mentionnées ont une simple valeur indicative. Vous pouvez en revanche suivre la recommandation d'une densité de cheptel de 1 à 1,5 kg d'escargots/m 2 ).La ration des géniteurs doit être riche en protéines crues et en calcium. Les oeufs retrouvés sur la terre doivent rapidement être réenfouis à 1 ou 2 cm dans le sol. La terre couvrant le naissain sera ameublie ou en partie retirée pour faciliter une éclosion homogène. Afin d'éviter le cannibalisme, les géniteurs seront replacés dans leur parc tout de suite après l'éclosion. Les adultes qui ne serviront plus à la reproduction seront déposés dans des parcs d'engraissement en attendant d'être vendus ou consommés.L'entretien quotidien de l'élevage comprend les activités suivantes :Apport de nourriture L'approvisionnement se fait après le coucher du soleil. Les aliments doivent être bien frais et sans moisissure et on enlèvera les restes dès le lendemain matin. Il ne faut pas non plus oublier de remplir les abreuvoirs.On vérifiera si les grillages et moutiquaires sont intacts; sinon, on les réparera. Les parcs doivent être nettoyés, et l'on veillera à bien fermer (avec un cadenas) les portes ou toitures.Pour maintenir une certaine humidité au sol, on rafraîchira la couverture végétale ou on arrosera, si nécessaire (en période sèche). Le dépôt d'excréments de volaille frais sur le sol est formellement déconseillé. On procèdera tous les trois mois au renouvellement du sol dans les parcs.Après inspection, on enlèvera immédiatement les escargots morts. Il faut éviter à tout prix les insecticides ou herbicides. La manipulation des escargots doit se faire avec précaution et de temps à autre, on les lavera à l'eau.Il convient de noter chaque jour les intrants et les résultats. Par intrants, on entend le travail fourni par soi-même et chaque membre de la famille ainsi que la nourriture ou les matériaux de réparation des parcs.Outre les habituels outils de jardinage (pelle, binette, râteau, cisaille, balai), il est nécessaire de disposer du matériel suivant : ? une petite balance pour peser les escargots et la nourriture ? un mètre à ruban pour mesurer les parcs et les escargots ? un transplantoir, pour creuser et nettoyer le sol des enclos ? un réservoir d'eau et un arrosoir pour maintenir le sol humide et remplir les abreuvoirs. ? des abreuvoirs et mangeoires ? Et, très important : un bloc-note pour consigner correctement les intrants employés (travail, matériaux et nourriture notamment) ainsi que les résultats de l'élevage.Pour minimiser les risques de mortalité, les éleveurs d'escargots doivent essayer de maintenir prédateurs, parasites et maladies à distance.Les escargots ont de nombreux prédateurs naturels parmi tous les grands groupes de vertébrés mais aussi les escargots carnivores, les carabes et même les papillons prédateurs.L'homme constitue également un grand danger pour les escargots vivant dans la nature. Suite à la pollution et à la destruction des habitats naturels, certaines espèces d'escargots se sont récemment éteintes. Quant aux escargots d'élevage, ils sont aussi une proie attirante pour les braconniers !Les prédateurs les plus courants dans les élevages sont les mulots, les rats et les musaraignes, les grenouilles et crapauds, grives, corbeaux et oiseaux domestiques comme les canards et les dindes, les lézards et serpents, coléoptères Drillidae et Carabidae, millepattes et centipèdes.Les grenouilles cherchent uniquement à attraper les jeunes escargots alors que les reptiles mangent des escargots de tout âge et même les oeufs.Dans les zones où les oiseaux prédateurs sont nombreux, il est nécessaire de placer des filets sur les parcs. Il peut aussi être nécessaire de construire des murets autour des parcs pour se protéger d'autres prédateurs. Les murets doivent alors faire 15 à 30 cm de haut et être bien enfoncés dans le sol. Il est également conseillé de poser des appâts ou des pièges autour de la zone d'élevage.La nourriture non consommée doit être retirée quoditiennement pour ne pas attirer des prédateurs comme les rats et mulots. Ceux-ci peuvent en effet décimer un élevage en quelques jours. Des études réalisées au Ghana ont établi que le principal parasite pour les escargots était une mouche : Alluaudihella flavicornis. Cette espèce appartient à la même famille que la mouche commune et l'adulte ressemble à une simple mouche. On trouve parfois des ectoparasites sur les escargots élevés dans des casiers. Il semblerait que ce soit des parasites secondaires, se développant généralement sur des escargots inactifs.Certains nématodes sont connus pour attaquer les espèces européennes d'escargots comestibles. Cela ne semble cependant pas être le cas pour A.achatina.On sait peu de choses sur les maladies qui affectent A. achatina en Afrique de l'Ouest. Mais l'héliciculture gagnant en popularité, il est probable que de futures recherches seront menées dans ce domaine. La principale maladie que l'on connaisse jusqu'ici est une maladie fongique qui se propage par contact physique lorsque les escargots lèchent la bave d'autres escargots.Les deux principales maladies affectant les espèces européennes touchent probablement aussi les espèces africaines car les organismes qui en sont à l'origine sont présents dans l'environnement naturel d'A. achatina. La première de ces maladies a pour origine une bactérie, Pseudomonas ; elle provoque des infections intestinales pouvant se propager rapidement au sein de populations d'escargots denses. La seconde maladie est causée par le fongus Fusarium, qui parasite les oeufs d'Helix aspersa. Les oeufs affectés prennent une couleur marronrougeâtre et leur développement s'arrête. Cette maladie s'appelle communément la 'maladie des oeufs roses '.Une bonne hygiène de base peut prévenir la propagation des maladies. Il faut nettoyer les enclos régulièrement en retirant les excréments et les reliquats de nourriture ainsi que toutes autres matières en décomposition qui pourraient devenir un substrat pour des organismes pathogènes. Il est également conseillé de stériliser à la vapeur ou par chauffage le sol des casiers à chaque préparation d'un nouveau lot de naissains (c'est-à-dire quand les géniteurs sont déposés dans les casiers pour y pondre).Ramassage et stockage L'âge et la grosseur auxquels les escargots devraient être ramassés dépend de toute évidence de l'objectif visé ; si les escargots sont élevés pour un usage personnel ou s'ils le sont pour être commercialisés.Les escargots engraissés pour un usage personnel peuvent être ramassés en fonction des besoins de l'éleveur, alors que ce sont les attentes des consommateurs qui dictent la grosseur optimale et, par conséquent, l'âge des escargots récoltés pour le marché. Il faut en général un an pour qu'un escargot parvienne à une grosseur et un poids corrects. Il est recommandé de ramasser les escargots avant qu'ils n'aient deux ans car après, leur taux de croissance ralentit.Les escargots sont ramassés à la main à la tombée de la nuit, lorsqu'ils commencent à s'activer et qu'ils sont donc plus faciles à trouver. Il faut les déposer prudemment dans un panier, une boîte, un cageot ou un sac sans endommager la coquille, ce qui leur ferait perdre de leur valeur commerciale. On ne mettra jamais plus de 10 kg d'escargots dans le même récipient pour éviter qu'au fond, les coquilles ne se fendillent ou ne s'écrasent.Les escargots destinés à la consommation domestique ou au marché peuvent être stockés sans danger pendant 6 à 8 semaines dans une boîte ou une caisse. Cela permet de ne pas avoir à les ramasser quotidiennement. Il faut alors déposer une couche de 5 cm de sciures ou de feuilles d'épis de maïs au fond de la boîte ; on intercalera ensuite 3 cm de sciures entre les différentes couches d'escargots pour finir par une dernière couche de sciure. On conservera la boîte dans un endroit frais et ombragé, bien protégé des prédateurs et des braconniers.Le transport vers le marché peut se faire dans des paniers, des boîtes ou des sacs, en veillant toujours à ne pas trop entasser les escargots pour ne pas les endommager (10 kg maximum).Les escargots fraîchement cueillis viennent juste de manger (sauf s'ils sont ramassés pendant l'estivation ou l'hibernation ? Informations sur les intrants : travail (vous, les membres de votre famille ou du personnel), argent, matériaux, aliments, etc. ? Informations sur la croissance de vos escargots.3 e étape : Décision : se lancer ou non Ce n'est que lorsque vous aurez établi précisément quels sont les coûts de production (par escargot commercialisable ou par kilo d'escargot vivant) et quels sont les revenus des ventes que vous serez en mesure de démarrer votre exploitation en toute sécurité. 4 e étape : Investissement en équipements et savoir-faire Equipements : ? Lieu, type et taille des casiers ou parcs, en fonction de la taille de l'élevage. ? Financement, en fonction de l'importance de l'exploitation prévue :Capital privé ou familial, micro-crédit (type Grameen Bank) ou crédit commercial. ? Savoir-faire :Acquérir ou améliorer vos connaissances sur l'élevage d'escargots en échangeant des informations, en lisant, en participant à des cours, etc.    "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d9076c08364512f0633830879fe3a634","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/946c9373-df27-4d2f-846b-5005d2401e11/retrieve","id":"-1197443634"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d45ca11d-e7ff-4bc0-a287-56248504b9d0","content":"Response Develop and initiate a plan to engage in a critical analysis of PIM's comparative advantage that enhances the proposal's strategic focus and its particular contribution to the delivery of the SRF.The list of six comparative advantages on p. 28 is simply a list, not an analysis of those factors in each domain the CRP contemplates working.We agree with the importance of continuous reflection on PIM's comparative advantage. This will allow PIM to fulfill its integrative function within CGIAR and to contribute to the efforts of the development community more generally. These discussions have occurred through consultations in the course of developing the proposal, and additionally during and after the Montpellier meeting of CRP Directors in June 2016. We will continue the reflection on comparative advantage in formulating the detailed work program for 2017.We have sharpened the general definition of comparative advantage (see Section 1.0.8): \"The definition of comparative advantage used in design of the PIM program has three components: (a) researchers are recognized as technical experts in the field in question, and able to deliver excellence in applied research; (b) the work proposed is relevant to the SLOs and PIM can make a significant contribution to the CGIAR portfolio-wide effort; (c) PIM brings a unique perspective that enables it to contribute research results distinct from those of other providers. Component (a) is assessed according to metrics of quality of science. Component (b) reflects interactions between and among CRPs to contribute to outcomes in shared subject areas, such as value chains or gender, and in a given geography, such as PIM's contribution to assessing the enabling environment for agricultural growth in the CGIAR countries of collaboration. PIM's unique attributes referenced in component (c) often relate to the ability to link the developmental topic to agricultural issues and to link social science research with agronomy and biology. Uniqueness may also derive from a long-standing in-country presence and reputation for objectivity, quality, and responsiveness to demand.\" Table 1.0.8.1 illustrates how each flagship addresses the three components of comparative advantage.In each flagship narrative, we now specify the constraints to attainment of the SLOs addressed and show the relevance (item b above) of the work in this regard.The revision draws on comments from the ISPC, prior consultation with researchers and partners, discussions with CRP Leaders in Montpellier in June 2016 and earlier, and follow-up meetings organized by PIM in July 2016 to agree on the respective roles of PIM and other CRPs on foresight, impact assessment of technology adoption, and value chains. The outcomes of these meetings have been incorporated into Annex 3.7, Tables 1 and 2a. We will continue regular interaction with other CRPs at the Director level to supplement the technical interactions within the communities of practice and to assure that PIM is addressing policy and institutional priorities of the other CRPs. We will also consider with the PIM Independent Steering Committee and the program's strategic partners whether external providers may be in a better position to pursue selected research. If so, partnerships will be used to leverage PIM's capacities.Response Strengthen the overall coherence of the CRP through identification and strengthening of the functional linkages among the FPs In its pre-proposal commentary, ISPC requested that PIM present a more coherent rationale for the FP structure and the value of linkages among CoAs. The PIM narrative now sketches outthough not entirely convincingly -linkages between flagships in a paragraph on p. 25 and visually through a conceptual framework diagram (Fig 1.6.2), which still falls short of adequately illustrating the inter-dependencies across the six FPs. In Fig 1.3.1, showing the relationships between FPlevel outputs, outcomes and program-level outcomes, there are no obvious inter-FP linkages. It is still not entirely clear, for example, how foresight researchers will work with value chain partners or how the outputs of each would be used by the others.As an integrative CRP, PIM has two axes of coherence; one with other CRPs across the CGIAR portfolio, and another between and among flagships within PIM. While PIM's flagships link to each other in specific ways, linkages with AFS CRPs (and external partners) are at least as important as linkages within the CRP. PIM flagships on technology, value chains, natural resource governance and gender have been formulated because of the importance of policy and social science research in these themes across the CRPs, rather than because they are interlinked within PIM. For example, the gender work in Flagship 6 achieves some impact through linkages within PIM, but more through links with other CRPs and external partners. The flagships on agricultural transformation and social protection provide complementary research to other CRPs.We have strengthened the discussion of the linkages between and among PIM flagships in both the CRP and flagship narratives. Examples of linkages between flagships of PIM are noted below:  The modeling tools developed under Flagship 1 have provided an insightful assessment of the costs and benefits of reduction in postharvest losses studied in Cluster 3.2.  Research on seed systems (Cluster 1.2) complements work on strengthening input markets (Cluster 3.2).  Analysis of farm size dynamics (Cluster 2.1) informs work on arrangements for extension and advisory services (Cluster 1.2), and changes in tenure and land administration (Cluster 5.1).  Research on agricultural expenditure (Cluster 2. With regard to (a), discussions with other CRPs and Centers about synergies with PIM during Phase 2 started early in 2016, continued at the Montpellier Science Leaders meeting in June 2016, and expanded during follow-up meetings organized by PIM in July 2016 to agree on the respective roles of PIM and other CRPs on foresight, impact assessment of technology adoption, and value chains. The outcomes of these meetings have been incorporated into Annex 3.7, Tables 1 and 2a.In 2016 a PIM-A4NH-WLE-CCAFS joint study will be conducted in Ethiopia and Bangladesh to identify potentially overlapping policy agendas within the domains of these CRPS and to coordinate efforts. This collaborative work will be expanded to other priority countries in Phase 2.Integration of social science and policy research across the CRPs takes place at the portfolio level, as different programs jointly contribute to outcomes. See Annex 3.11.7 \"PIM's Contribution to SLO Targets: Methodology Note\" for a description of different elements contributing to specific SLOs. The new Figure 1.0.3.2 shows how PIM integrates its research with other CRPs to contribute to the technology adoption SLO targets. The new Figure 1.0.3.3 shows joint efforts of PIM and other CRPs in analysis of postharvest loss and food waste. These joint efforts toward common objectives serve to build common methods and shared results, thus drawing social science researchers across the system together. The new Figure 1.0.7.1 \"PIM's contributions to engagement of CGIAR with Ethiopian partners\" shows connections between and among flagships in PIM and links with other CRPs on shared agendas of social science research.Details of social science interactions with other CRPs can be found in the flagship narratives. Following further dialogues with CRPs in July 2016, all flagship narratives have been updated except for Flagship 6 (Cross-cutting Gender Research and Coordination). Coordination on gender work will be furthered during the meeting of the CGIAR Gender Network in October 2016 to complete design of the collaborative platform and agree with the Gender Network on strategic priorities for research across the system.Response Focusing research on activities that exploit complementarities with other CRP activities rather than addressing very broad topics.Complementarity can mean either fulfilling a specific function in joint work with other CRPs, or providing a unique contribution needed for achievement of the SLOs, that other CRPs cannot provide. PIM's portfolio includes both types of complementarity. Complementarity in the sense of working together can be seen particularly where communities of practice are active, such as foresight modeling, adoption of technology, value chains, natural resource management, and gender research. Within the domains of these communities of practice, we have consulted with members of the communities of practice who also work in other CRPs and with Science Leaders to identify areas of complementarity as shown in the revised Table 1 of Annex 3.7 (Overview of inter-CRP collaboration). Complementarity in the form of providing a unique and essential contribution can be seen in the work on rural transformation, economywide effects, trade, and social protection. Indeed, PIM has made the case that it will not focus on topics covered by other CRPs, e.g., \"PIM has elected not to invest heavily in irrigation policy (covered by WLE), food safety policy (covered by A4NH), and land degradation (covered by FTA and WLE).\" These issues offer entry points for PIM for collaboration and cross-system research synergies, but they are left to the other CRPs.PIM works at a higher level of aggregation on many topics that are also addressed by other CRPs, e.g. foresight, seed systems, value chains, and gender. PIM has consulted with other CRPs to identify complementarity and selectivity of focus in the topics covered. Each of the topics noted in the comment from the ISPC is addressed by the CRP identified. PIM does some work on water as part of the work on tenure of natural resources and institutional arrangements for managing across landscapes, but most work on water is undertaken by WLE, which we think is an appropriate division of labor.The fact that identical wording is often used in Table 1 Overview of Inter-CRP Collaboration (Annex Section 3.7) across all AFS CRP cells, raises concerns as to whether genuine linkages and interactions are forming.We note the concern, and have provided more detailed information on coordinated plans with each CRP in the revised Annex 3.7 Tables 1 and 2a.Response Finally, the ISPC notes with some concern the 'low priority' given to \"Develop CRPs and Centers' partnering capacities\" within the context of the CapDev framework (p. 31).Building the research capacity of Centers and CRPs is central to PIM's work, and realized through collaborative studies, management of communities of practice, development of methods and tools, and data sharing. According to the CapDev framework, the indicator \"Develop CRPs and Centers' partnering capacities\" reflects specifically the capacity of CGIAR bodies to partner (and not the general capacity of CGIAR bodies). PIM does not directly address the \"capacity to partner\". We have assigned \"high\" and \"medium\" priority to the CapDev framework elements that we directly target. However overall, the work is not well integrated with the AFS CRPs and will be conducted mostly by IFPRI.Discussion of integration with the AFS CRPs has been enhanced in each of the flagship sections and in Annex 3.7. PIM is an integrative CRP with participation of all CGIAR Centers, as shown clearly in the budget tables. In the indicative budget, approximately 65% of Window 1-2 research funds are allocated to the Lead Center, and 35% to Participating Centers and managing partners. After allocation to CGIAR Centers and managing partners, about 25% of funds flow through to research partners and participants in capacity development. The earlier presentation of the budget data aggregated allocations to a number of CGIAR Centers under the category \"CGIAR collaboration.\" This was consistent with the guidance on budgets, but the budget tool did not pick up the category \"CGIAR collaboration,\" and assigned an inaccurately high proportion of funds to the Lead Center. We have remedied this mistake in the current presentation of the budget data. Provide further articulation of the TOC at the program and FP levels specifying the assumptions and IPs that recognize the complexities of achieving policy and institutional change RP and FP level TOCs do not delve sufficiently into the complexity of the process, surprising given the subject area of the proposal. The TOCs need to show how CoAs (for FPs) and FPs (for PIM at large) complement each other to help achieve FP level and overall PIM program outcomes in a coherent fashion.The sections on ToC at the program and flagship level have been revised. The presentation of the flagships' theories of change in the flagship narratives has been aligned with the general program's ToC, and assumptions are now more explicitly covered in each flagship. showing PIM's role as an integrating CRP working in conjunction with other programs facilitating achievement of impact (for the example of technology adoption). Finally, see the new Figure 1.0.3.3 showing how PIM uses its four channels of influence in an integrated approach to contribute to reduction of postharvest loss and food waste (sub-IDO of SRF and SDG Target 12.3).Response PIM maintains that its policylevel impact will come from influencing global agendas and policies, sharing tools and datasets, testing innovations for 'boundary partner' adoption, and raising the bar on research quality via capacity building and communities of practice. Each of these represents a relatively remote, theoretical and highly optimistic pathway that seems to miss the 'final mile' steps that are needed to translate knowledge into practice in measurable ways. The proposal needs to define in precise and concrete ways how attributable policy influence will be achieved.PIM's theory of change is presented more clearly and with more disaggregation by steps in the new Figure 1.0.3.1. Influence on next users is pursued through identification of a mechanism for change and key actors in the process, followed by selection of partners to enhance engagement and likelihood that the research will have influence. Much of the research is conducted jointly with boundary partners, and/or with frequent interaction with next users (including during the agenda-setting process, to ensure that research addresses their needs). Several examples of partnerships with national policy makers and international organizations are noted in the CRP-level and flagship narratives. PIM's list of key countries of engagement considers potential for policy impact, which is influenced by the presence of an IFPRI Country Strategy Support Program (e.g. in the cases of Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, and Nigeria). CSSPs provide a vehicle to influence policy and support strategy development through research, capacity building, and policy dialogue. PIM also benefits from long-standing relationships of Participating Centers and partners with national counterparts. For example, PIM's work in Tanzania draws on the institutional presence of IITA and Michigan State University. PIM relies on a framework of documenting relevance and contribution to policy processes without claiming attribution. This approach was endorsed at a workshop convened by PIM and SPIA in Phase 1. Response Exactly how PIM will work with other CRPs in the integration countries has not been specified aside from statements such as \"PIM will participate in the integration site plans once they are finalized\", though many other CRPs are actively engaged in developing those plans. The exception is for Ethiopia and Ghana where PIM states their preference for \"engaging in bilateral discussions with key government and development stakeholders to identify priority policy areas for PIM ….rather than establishing a separate mechanism.\" PIM fully supports country collaboration, and has participated in all meetings to develop plans in site integration ++ countries. PIM has significant presence in each of these countries, with the exception of Nicaragua, and partial exception of Vietnam. PIM's primary contributions to country collaboration are: (a) diagnostic assessment of the strength of the enabling environment to support the work of CGIAR; (b) identification of key constraints to success of the CGIAR portfolio in that country; (c) specific interventions to remedy policy and institutional constraints; and (d) facilitating coordinated engagement with national counterparts on policy issues. In the revised proposal (Section 1.0.7 and Annex 3.7), PIM provides clearer language confirming this commitment, and an example showing how it is implemented in Ethiopia (Figure 1.0.7.1). The language noted by the reviewer in quotations led to misunderstanding, and has been removed.Due consideration should be given to expanding the geographic domain of activity to include more Francophone countries in Africa.PIM works in the following francophone countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, and Senegal (see Annex 3.11.5 \"Countries of engagement\"). Some examples of how an understanding of gender has helped shape the agendas under each FP would strengthen the proposal. Such examples can be found in Annex 3.4.Response PIM's capacity development work is focused on promoting adoption of PIM concepts, tools and findings, rather than on raising the level and quality of agriculture and policy research more broadly. The proposal would be strengthened by a clear overarching strategy for building lasting capacity to take on similar work incountry or global post-PIM, as opposed to simply training individuals.PIM develops tools and methods to raise the level and quality of agricultural and policy research. The Social Accounting Matrices (SAMs) are among the most downloaded items produced by CGIAR. The Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEIA) is growing in application, as more development agencies use it to track the impact of their programs on women's empowerment. The work on unifying methodological approaches for measuring distortions in agricultural trade and value chains benefits (among others) the FAO MAFAP program, which regularly acknowledges the contribution. The tools for value chain analysis accessible through the www.tools4valuechains.org website are used by an array of partners within and outside CGIAR. The Country Strategy Support Programs provide ongoing capacity development for national partners. The PIM capacity development strategy has relied more on development of tools and institutional strengthening than on training of individuals, which appears to be consistent with the recommendation of the reviewers.The language in Section 1.0.3 and Annex 3.3 has been strengthened to convey the approach to capacity development described above.The outcomes are described in fairly general terms and not clear how budgets have been framed in relation to the intended work. The proposal would be strengthened by inclusion of more detail, particularly for the value-chain activity.Budgets have been framed in reference to historic costs applied to the work programs described. The budget narratives for each flagship (Sections 2.1.2, 2.2.2, 2.3.2, 2.4.2, 2.5.2, 2.6.2) include brief descriptions of the levels and categories of costs. Budgets for all flagships are at this point indicative, and will be developed in greater detail during annual planning exercises when levels of actual funding are clearer.Of interest is the assumption made that each FP leader will only spend 30% FTE on FP coordination. Even with a 100% FTE program manager, that seems too low.We wish to attract Flagship Leaders who are recognized experts in their fields. Few such people would accept positions that are largely administrative, and that leave little time for research and policy engagement. Seeking to fund a proportion of the time of Flagship Leaders in excess of 30% for management, administration, and reporting (as opposed to research) would inflate the program's management costs and reduce the pool of interested candidates. We will leverage the time of Flagship Leaders by hiring program managers.Response US$730,000 allocated to M&E activities as \"collaborator fees\" and travel costs for external evaluations raises questions. Since there are few actual interventions being proposed (which would require at least baseline and endline primary data collection), this estimate appears rather high.As explained in Annex 3.6 and in the CRP budget narrative (Sections 1.1.4 and 1.1.6), the $730,000 includes impact assessment, external evaluations, documenting research outcomes, setting up an online planning and reporting tool jointly with the other integrating CRPs, training sessions, and participation in the MEL CoP. The list of evaluations proposed can be found in Annex 3.6.There is a Management Committee, more than half of whom are IFPRI staff. This raises an issue about the insufficient level of integration with other CRPs. Hence, despite the 'linkages' that exist with non-IFPRI CGIAR entities, PIM is dominated by the interests and priorities of IFPRI. IFPRI researchers are the leaders in every FP and almost all CoAs within them.In Phase 1 the Management Committee included five flagship leaders (all from IFPRI), two Focal Points selected by the Participating Centers, the Gender Lead (a non-CGIAR staff), a representative of an external implementing partner from the NGO sector, and the CRP Director. In recognition of the concern that staff from Centers other than the Lead Center as well as managing partners should have opportunities to serve as flagship leaders in Phase 2, an open, merit-based, selection process was conducted in July, 2016. An invitation to nominate flagship leaders was sent to the PIM extended team (including Focal Points representing all Centers), CGIAR Science Leaders (CRP Directors and DDGs of the Centers), and active participants from managing partner organizations, along with TORs for the positions. Self-nominations were accepted. 11 nominations were received: 5 for IFPRI staff, 3 for staff from Participating Centers, and 3 for staff from external organizations. All nominees expressed interest for the positions. A selection panel consisting of two members of the SPAP, one external expert, one representative of the Lead Center, and one member of the PMU assigned scores to each nominee according to criteria known to candidates. As per the outcome of this process, IFPRI staff will continue to lead Flagships 1 and 4. Flagship 2 will be co-led by staff from Michigan State University and IFPRI. Flagship 3 will be co-led by staff from Wageningen University and Research Centre and IFPRI. Flagship 5 will be co-led by staff from CIFOR and IFPRI. Flagship 6 will be led by a staff member from Oxford University. It appears as if PIM is more outward facing in its ambitions rather than focused on system-wide strengthening, collaboration and the exploitation of inter-CRPs' synergies to deliver the SRF.PIM does indeed contribute to the work of the development community as a whole. This is consistent with the broad partnership strategy of CGIAR, and recognition that CGIAR is but one player in a constellation of contributors to rural prosperity, better health and nutrition, and stewardship of natural resources. PIM contributes to strengthening of the CGIAR portfolio by working to improve the enabling policy environment that underpins its success and through the several communities of practice to strengthen the research outputs of other CRPs. We have added clarifying language to show PIM's contribution to the system in Section 1.0. Response The entire budget of FP1, FP2, FP4 and FP6 is for IFPRI according to the budget tables; with about 25% of FP5 and less than 0.4% of FP3 allocated to Centers other than IFPRI. 95% of the PIM budget is allocated to IFPRI.Revisions of the text, Annex 3.7 Tables 1 and 2a, and the budget presentation have been made to address the concerns about funding for Participating Centers and external partners. In the indicative budget, 65% of PIM's W1-2 research funds are allocated to the Lead Center, and 35% to Participating Centers and partners. In Phase 1 IFPRI mobilized proportionately more Window 3/bilateral funds than did Participating Centers, with the result that about 80% of research funding from all sources was spent by IFPRI, and 20% by other Centers. In Phase 2 we will encourage and provide technical support to Centers to mobilize Window 3/bilateral funds in the same proportion relative to Window 1-2 funds as IFPRI. This should assure an increased contribution of Participating Centers to the program. In the indicative budget across sources of funding and years 76% of research funds are allocated to/mobilized by the Lead Center and 24% allocated to/mobilized by Participating Centers and partners. These proportions are indicative, and will be adjusted as mobilization of Window 3/bilateral resources on the part of Participating Centers becomes known. What is not quite so clear is the strategy for selection of core and peripheral collaborators. The proposal would have been stronger if it had discussed the principles on the basis of which partners have been selected, and the strategy for monitoring of partners' roles and output.PIM selects partners in accordance with the concept of comparative advantage as described in Section 1.0.8. At the flagship level, research partners are selected because of demonstrated excellence, unique attributes or engagement in processes, and/or to build their capacity to carry on with work once PIM exits a field of inquiry. Implementation partners are selected because they are located strategically along an impact pathway and engaged in the policy process or implementation of programs. Language added to Section 1.0.3, Section 1.0.8, and Annex 3.2 about the choice of partners is intended to clarify this.Response To complement the quantitative modelling exercise, the FP team might consider developing more descriptive/qualitative scenarios.Qualitative analysis is used to select scenarios for quantitative modeling. PIM has worked with CCAFS and regional stakeholders in Phase 1 to develop and link qualitative scenarios with quantitative modeling, and will continue to work with decision makers and stakeholders to link qualitative and quantitative approaches in Phase 2. The flagship narrative has been revised to note this. There are, however, still questions about the role PIM will play with respect to both technology adoption and impact analysis, in particular, the specific scope of effort, its comparative advantage (as highlighted in the previous commentary), and how it relates to other CRPs. It needs to be clarified if the same portfolio of work proposed in the pre-proposal is maintained, though scaled back and no longer functioning as a CoA, or whether the specific roles and activities have been reconsidered, along with the budget.PIM's contribution on technology adoption focuses on the role of policy reform and institutional and market innovations (e.g., seed regulations, targeted subsidies, ICT-enabled extension). This approach complements attention in AFS CRPs to determinants of adoption and costs/returns of CGIAR-supported technologies and practices. This will require that PIM conduct field-level analysis in close partnership with other Centers and CRPs as well as other partners, e.g., public research and extension organizations, non-governmental organizations, and private companies. We plan to prioritize such research in CGIAR countries of collaboration to facilitate linkages with AFS CRPs, and focus analyses on instances where identifiable policy, institutional, or market innovations have implications for the wider CGIAR portfolio and provide sufficient scope for analysis. No budget has been allocated to any non-IFPRI CGIAR Center.See response to comments on the budget presentation made in the general section. 40% of the Flagship 1 budget is allocated to CGIAR Centers other than the Lead Center and to outside partners.Response The agenda of CoA 1 appeared to be a collection of a wide range of topics (but missing some key ones) that did not reflect a clear strategic choice, but rather seemed to be chosen based on the existing skill set within IFPRI. There was also little mention of the large CSSPs and how they were feeding into the FP and overall CRP agenda. Those are now referred to several times in the FP2 narrative, though more could be said about the relationship between CSSPs and PIM's research agenda.The issues addressed in Flagship 2 are at the heart of the growth agenda for agriculturedependent countries, especially in Africa. CSSPs program their resources in direct discussion with governmental partners. Many issues are congruent with the topics covered in PIM, but PIM does not impose a research program on national partners or on the CSSPs. PIM is sometimes able to assist the CSSPs to broaden the agenda; e.g., to include gender or youth in a study that did not have an explicit focus on inclusion. PIM can bring Centers other than IFPRI to contribute to work requested by a national counterpart from a CSSP. PIM can also draw cross-national links between and among studies undertaken at the national level through CSSPs. CSSPs provide valuable entry to important national stakeholders. For example, when the ISPC invited PIM to organize a session at the Science Forum in April of 2016, PIM was able to do so through the excellent connections of the Ethiopia CSSP. While some key areas have been brought into the agenda, e.g., farm size, the team has stated that \"issues associated with inclusive growth that both attract bilateral funding and draw on staff capacity receive preferential treatment in FP2, which is consistent with comparative advantage and the constrained funding environment.\" The ISPC does not agree that this argument should be used to define the strategic agenda of FP2.The language about bilateral funding was misleading, and has been removed. The work of Flagship 2 is largely in Africa south of the Sahara, where countries, development partners, and now CGIAR through the country collaboration mechanism work together to meet objectives set at the national level consistent with commitments under CAADP and the Malabo Declaration. Funding and design of work follows agreement on the priorities. Thus it is neither W1-2 of PIM nor bilateral agencies that set the research agenda, but rather the national stakeholders and coordinated donors. PIM responds to the demand of the coordinated stakeholders. At present demand is concentrated in the areas developed in Flagship 2; that is, inclusive rural transformation, job creation, allocation of public expenditure and tracking of impact, and the political economy of late-transforming countries.Response A stronger justification for comparative advantage is needed. Other groups (J-PAL, 3ie, World Bank and university-based researchers) are involved in analysis of employment issues in developing countries. A clearer articulation of PIM's comparative advantage in this field would be useful in providing a stronger rationale for the specific topics of research in which this FP proposes to engage.The language on comparative advantage has been strengthened. Few organizations except for CGIAR have the necessary mandate, research skills, and convening power on these issues. PIM's partnership with FAO's Rural Employment team was motivated by their observation that most researchers working on jobs do not focus on agricultural or rural employment. Indeed, an online search revealed that only 58 (0.6%) of Institute for the Study of Labor's (IZA) 10,023 discussion papers since 1998 mention \"agriculture\" or \"farming\" in their abstracts; and only 29 (1.2%) of the 3ie database of 2,500 impact evaluations and 3 (1.7%) of JPAL's 173 agriculture/labor market studies mention both \"agriculture\" and \"employment.\" More importantly, few research organizations have the CGIAR's in-country policy experience, and most research does not consider both demand and supply-side factors affecting employment. Of the groups listed by the ISPC, only the World Bank has comparable research strength and policy engagement, but there, too, little attention is accorded to rural employment. (In a previous assignment the PIM Director wrote a chapter on youth employment in agriculture in Africa for a WB volume when it became apparent that the staffing of the study team did not include skills to cover agriculture.) The overall rationale for the selection of topics in Flagship 2 is addressed in the revised version of the proposal. The political economy work in CoA 3 looks promising, and is welcome, particularly given that so much of this CRP is built on TOC and IP that are tenuous. It is surprising not to see some mention of ideas being revived of problemdriven adaptive iteration (Andrews et al.), nor to the work led by David Booth and colleagues on doing development differently, i.e., working from positive deviance to induce generalised propositions.The presentation of the ToC has been revised, as noted above. Neither the TOC nor the IP is tenuous, although both are subject to risk and random occurrences as noted in the proposal. We agree that the referenced work by Andrews et al. and Booth offer important insights, and they have influenced the Cluster 2.3 team. To further acknowledge their importance, we have included reference to David Booth's as well as Brian Levy's work on \"going with the grain.\" What this concept means operationally for influencing evidencebased agricultural policy change is not entirely clear, and a useful topic for the Cluster 2.3 team to address. Similarly, Matt Andrews and Lant Pritchett's work on \"isomorphic mimicry\" and problem-driven adaptive iteration offers a refreshingly new lens on how to achieve institutional reform. The revised flagship proposal highlights how we will incorporate these authors' insights, as well as those of Peter Evans on \"institutional monocropping,\" into Cluster 2.3's work on public sector reforms in Africa.Response Structural change in SSA is a major development issue. The central research problem is the absence of industrialization. Looking at transformation only in Africa, as this FP does, risks ignoring key processes being seen in Asia and Latin America. In some influential circles there is a fierce concentration on raising agricultural productivity and closing yields gaps which, while important, is only one part of agricultural and rural development in Africa. Comparisons made across Asia and Africa are often ahistorical: the idea that Africa cannot industrialise through labour-intensive manufacturing rests in large part on a faulty logic that history does not corroborate. As China's wages rise, opportunities for manufacturing in Africa mount. Given this analysis, the FP may wish to consider broadening its outlook here.The team agrees that cross-country experience with structural and rural transformation is informative. The team already draws upon existing research from Asia and Latin America. Funding realities in Phase 2 are likely to constrain the amount of work that PIM can do outside of CGIAR countries of collaboration. Inclusion of Vietnam (a country of collaboration) allows us to explore the Asian experience while enriching shared CGIAR efforts. Bangladesh and India (additional countries of collaboration) also offer useful lessons. The text of the flagship narrative has been revised to note that cross-country learning from East and South Asia will be pursued as resources permit. In addition, IFPRI's office in China and good connections with Chinese research organizations allow continued partnership without commitment of too many resources. The reviewer notes, \"As China's wages rise, opportunities for manufacturing in Africa mount.\" Whether this is true, or instead China's firms will automate or outsource to Southeast Asian neighbors, is an open and important question. The work of Flagship 2 is structured to assess the issue from the African side, to understand the pace and composition of job creation and the role of Chinese and other investors. We participate regularly in fora and conferences that address the question with reference to China's changing labor market. We also examine the experience with youth employment in other countries; for example, an ongoing PIM project on rural youth employment in Africa includes historical studies of Brazil and Bangladesh. The FP adopts the approach of defining questions by diagnosis of problems, i.e., identify the problem, study the causes, and find policies and programs to remedy them. This makes sense, but the FP may also wish to consider an alternative approach using 'positive deviance' -e.g. based on assessments of cases of success that have occurred, and especially when success has been achieved in unpromising circumstances.Working from positive deviance is implicitly integrated into the work of Cluster 2.3 on political economy. Finding where there have been positive cases of policy change or \"islands\" of public sector effectiveness in a sea of low public sector capacity underlies the rationale to pursue qualitative case of successful reform. Similarly, Cluster 2.1's diagnostic approach includes studies of success at national and subnational levels. Other areas of the flagship may expand into such a methodological approach depending on resources. The description of the flagship's approach has been broadened in Section 2.2.1.3.Response While there is some past evidence of cross CRP collaboration within the foresight modelling work of FP1 (and to a lesser extent in value chains and NRM communities of practice), and frequent passing references to intentions to collaborate on various topics with other CRPs, for the most part, it is missing.The Flagship 3 team has conducted additional discussions with the AFS CRPs, and agreed on modalities of collaboration as listed below:  With RTB (FP4, FP5), FTA (FP2, FP3), A4NH (FP3), FISH, WHEAT, and MAIZE on measurement of postharvest losses;  With RTB, FTA, and A4NH on interventions to improve participation of women in VCs;  With FTA on value chains for forest and tree-crop products (e.g. inclusion, scaling, innovation, SME development);  With RTB on the value chain hubs in Peru and Senegal, and with LIVESTOCK on the VC hub in Ethiopia. This is reflected in the revised flagship narrative (Section 2.3.1.7) and in Annex 3.7. The team will seek additional cross-CRP collaboration as mutual interest and resources permit. Some of the FP narratives do allude to complementarities with other FPs. But it is still not entirely clear, for example, how foresight researchers will work with value chain partners or how the outputs of each would be used by the others. The same applies to the post-harvest technology work and statistics support.Although the linkages between the work on value chains and foresight modeling are implicit and logical (promising future technologies targeted for early development will require wellperforming value chains to reach their potential), time horizons differ between the two topics. Value chain analysis is more closely related to adoption of presently available technologies than to technologies in the development stages. The foresight work, in addition to developing guidance for investment in research, offers insight into geographies of promising adoption for existing technologies. In this area the two bodies of work are complementary, and work together. The work on seed systems in Flagship 1 is closely linked to analysis of input supply within value chains in Flagship 3. Similarly, reduction of postharvest losses improves returns to new technologies. Analysis of the evolution of value chains during the process of rural transformation brings Flagships 2 and 3 together. Flagships 3 and 6 are linked through the application of tools for gender analysis in value chains and the use of the WEAI to track gender impacts of interventions to strengthen value chains. Budget -The proposal would be strengthened by inclusion of more detail, particularly for the value-chain activity.Budgets have been framed in reference to historic costs applied to the work programs described. The budget narratives for each flagship (Sections 2.1.2, 2.2.2, 2.3.2, 2.4.2, 2.5.2, 2.6.2) include brief descriptions of the levels and categories of costs. Budgets for all flagships are indicative, and will be developed in greater detail during annual planning exercises when levels of actual funding are clearer. We have noted in an earlier communication to the ISPC that a significant share of W1-2 funds has been allocated to non-IFPRI partners. With the new approach to entering \"budget by partner\" data, the budgetary concern of the ISPC should be alleviated.Response Also, the research agenda appeared quite distinct from what the rest of the CRPs were doing, particularly in terms of integrating smallholders into domestic value chains that link farmers to processors. With respect to the latter, PIM had developed in Phase 1 a multi-center CoP for value chain research that it claims has strong linkages to other CRPs.Links to other CRPs in Phase 1 through the CoP were largely at the individual level, as members of the CoP participated both in PIM and in other CRPs, often those led by their home Centers. In planning for Phase 2, the links have been strengthened at the programmatic level through discussions with CRP Directors. The presentation of the coherence of the research agenda and complementarity with work of other CRPs has been enhanced through addition of Figure 2.3.1.6.1 \"Linking smallholders to markets through value chain research,\" showing key nodes in the value chain, recurrent constraints at each node, and potential interventions to address the constraints.Each of the nodes of the value chain presented in Figure 2.3.1.6.1 is local or domestic, although the ultimate customer or consumer could be an exporter. The fact that trade is covered in Flagship 3 does not diminish the focus of the teams on domestic and local value chains. One innovative feature of the flagship is application of tools developed for trade work (Producer Support Estimates or Nominal Rates of Assistance) to diagnostic assessment of domestic and local value chains. There is some evidence of this for a few CRPs in Table 2.7.1 (Key partnerships with other CRPs) but it is not obvious from Annex 3.7 where PIM describes what the FP provides and receives from each of the eight AFS CRPs and CCAFS. In each case the description is fairly non-specific and always the same. More specificity might be expected here reflecting the differential progress made with each CRP. Annex 3.7 has been revised to reflect specific agreements for joint work and collaboration.PIM indicates it intends to strengthen the linkages with CRPs during Phase 2, although no funds have been allocated to this end (co-investment is planned). It will be essential that PIM comes to the table seeking to both contribute to and receive from other CRPs to the CGIAR's greater advantage. The mechanism and strategy that will be used to achieve this needs greater clarification.As noted above, ties with other CRPs at an individual level through the CoP will be retained and expanded with additional members of the CoP. These members all participate in other CRPs as well as in PIM. In addition to individual links, programmatic links with other CRPs have been strengthened through consultation at the CRP Director level to ascertain areas of further engagement. Measurement and management of postharvest losses is an area of shared interest, and the work will be expanded through co-investment and parallel funding, with PIM providing leadership in design of research methods and coordination and other CRPs taking leadership in testing of interventions to address losses in their specific value chains. The value chains hubs will be another mechanism for collaboration, and other CRPs are invited to use the hubs to share results and convene partners. The value chain web site is available for other CRPs to use to post their results and methods, and to access material on useful tools.Response There are other issues related to the agenda that merit attention. While this FP focuses on value chains, there is little in the narrative that actually describes the typical issues that arise with them. In most cases, the pressing problems where markets fail concern input supply and financial services. If that is correct, then more of the work under this program should be focused on these issues. Rural finance probably deserves special attention. The supermarket revolution is another area which should probably be emphasized more in the narrative of this FP.Figure 2.3.1.6.1 has been added to show the main constraints that characterize different nodes in value chains. Finance and input supply are important, but not the only constraints. Issues of information asymmetry, contractual forms, infrastructure gaps, and others noted in Figure 2.3.1.6.1 are also important. The supermarket revolution is one element of the changing context that sends a pulse backward along the value chain, triggering changes in each node and requiring interventions of the kind shown in the figure; for example, new approaches to aggregation, contracting, demands on rural producers' organizations, and new mechanisms for meetings grades and standards. This work is already included in the PIM portfolio, as, for example, in the work of colleagues from CIP on placing native potatoes and processed products in supermarkets through the methods developed under the framework of the Participatory Market Chain Approach (PMCA). PIM's current portfolio of evaluations of value chain interventions is informed by inputs from the CoP members. PIM will continue to improve tools and build capacity to identify priority problems in value chains so that other CRPs may apply them widely for their own use and for shaping future work of PIM. It is still not that clear what added value CoA 3 (Approaches to VC improvement at scale) brings to CoA 2. While it is true there are things to learn about how small-scale pilots become large-scale programs (Korten, 1980) it is not at all evident that it warrants a separate cluster of activity.This comment from the ISPC initiated a further round of discussion within the PIM team and with two major external partners (Wageningen University and Research Centre and USAID) to consider the relative merits of removing or retaining the cluster. At the strong request of partners, we have decided to retain it with a strengthened justification. The approach that will be adopted is to collaborate with development programs already working at scale and with private firms to assess the effectiveness of interventions included in their programs. Often interventions are designed in a specific context without clear specification of the parameters of intervention or the contextual constraints that they are addressing. Under these circumstances, even when good baseline and endline data are available, it is difficult to discern why the observed impacts are or are not achieved. The work of Cluster 3.3 will undertake research in different contexts to learn where and why interventions are more likely to achieve results. This will be done with varying degrees of technical rigor depending on the need in a given setting. The findings will also provide richer end-of-project assessments for the implementation partners, both AFS CRPs and development agencies. The resources assigned to this cluster are modest, and most work will be done with cofunding by implementation partners.Response The scientific quality of the research proposed is high, except that it is not particularly new or innovative. There were some methodological issues raised by the ISPC in its pre-proposal commentary, particularly for CoA 1 which the full proposal has defended in its response and has provided further details about the methods in CoA 3. The scientific team is strong and represents a good balance of IFPRI, other CGIAR Center (CIP, ICRAF, Worldfish, CIAT, Bioversity) and Wageningen University researchers, all with good publications records. The comparative advantage is clearly high for CoA 1 but it is not at all that clear that PIM (or IFPRI) has a comparative advantage in the other two CoAs. Much will depend on how effectively linkages are formed and how productive the collaborations between PIM and other CRPs are.In addition to innovation in research, a program can make an important contribution by applying known high quality methods to new data to answer long-standing questions, such as, \"What is causing excess margins along a given value chain?\" Applying known methods in new settings often requires innovations in application. This is the case in diagnostic assessments of value chains to discover where the greatest losses are occurring and where interventions can deliver the most gain. Flagship 3 includes innovative work in measurement of postharvest losses, strategic prioritization of value chain interventions, and scaling-up of interventions. We agree that the comparative advantage of PIM in Cluster 3.2 is enhanced through inclusion of scientists from CGIAR and Wageningen University and Research Centre as a strategic partner.Response The main issue here, which has been raised previously, is the extent to which this subject area forms an obvious element of the CRP portfolio, or of the broader CGIAR portfolio. While social protection schemes are important for reducing poverty, their link to agricultural research is not obvious. Comparative advantage is the primary concern here. PIM asked to provide a stronger rationale for this FP in the full proposal, which it has not yet done. The full proposal presents a partial but not completely convincing case for why FP4 on social protection belongs within PIM, or indeed within the CGIAR.In response to this comment from the ISPC, we have substantially revised and clarified the rationale for PIM and the CGIAR to undertake this work, and expanded the work program on social protection and agriculture to strengthen its relevance to CGIAR. We have changed the flagship name to signal the importance of work on social protection for the resilience agenda. We renewed discussions with CCAFS about collaboration on research on climate change and safety nets in addition to the planned collaboration on climate change and insurance. Finally, we sought additional feedback from stakeholders at FAO about the research proposed under this flagship, and confirmed their view of the importance of continued work by CGIAR in this area.The SRF commits CGIAR to work toward \"increased resilience of the poor to climate change and other shocks\" as a contributor to poverty reduction. If the instruments for achieving this are to be limited to agricultural research narrowly defined, then interventions will be only in the sphere of technical agriculture, such as drought, heat, and flood-resistant crops and breeds, and new management techniques. As we have previously argued, even significantly accelerated growth in yields and drought/heat/flood tolerance will leave millions of people subject to shocks that increase poverty, erode health and nutrition, and contribute to degradation of natural resources. Relying only on agricultural research narrowly construed puts each of the SLOs at risk. PIM's research on social protection has already had impact on the design of large programs, and has produced highly regarded publications on the effect of social protection on agriculture, including impact on agricultural productivity and input use, livestock holdings, and adoption of technology (see references in the flagship 4 narrative). Social protection programs are growing in number and size, particularly in Africa south of the Sahara, and provide an important opportunity to build linkages with agricultural production, particularly in the early period of implementation when program design is still somewhat fluid. Social protection programs influence agricultural opportunities for hundreds of millions of smallholders and laborers in agriculture-dependent countries by alleviating credit constraints, reducing distressed sales of productive assets, often increasing demand for labor, and changing food prices. The work program set out in the proposal is ambitious but feasible, and important for attainment of the SLOs.Response Of the three research questions framing the scope of FP4 work, only the first makes a direct connection between social protection programs and their influence on agricultural growth and nutrition. Much other work in this FP would have a very indirect link to agricultural research. The CRP has argued that PIM's comparative advantage in addressing social protection derives from the ability to probe the complementarity of social protection and agricultural production thanks to linkages with the broader agricultural agenda of CGIAR. This makes sense; but how much of the research agenda this applies to in reality is not evident, although the CRP has made a serious effort to give a new orientation in this direction. Further elaboration on how each of the CoAs outputs capitalize on this connection between social protection and agriculture would strengthen the comparative advantage argument. There are important topics that need to be explored, e.g., how do public works programs affect labour allocation in relation to agriculture? How can producers' consumption be protected through social protection mechanisms in ways that don't distort market prices for foods, but the case hasn't been made here sufficiently. PIM no doubt does have competitive advantage in some parts of this agenda, but the work as currently proposed appears to duplicate work being done in several other institutions, including the World Bank, UNDP, OECD and ILO.In the revised proposal we have adjusted the work program to emphasize linkages with agricultural production. In addition we have changed the flagship name to signal the importance of work on social protection and insurance for the resilience agenda. The research agenda now has greater emphasis on complementarity between social protection and investments in agriculture and nutrition. The work will measure the effects of social protection on agricultural technology adoption, input use, cropping patterns, and holdings of livestock and productive assets. Other topics will include the impact of public works on agricultural labor supply, the effect of cash and food transfer modalities on food prices, and whether positive effects of transfers on women's empowerment identified in Phase 1 (Hidrobo et al. 2016) also affect the allocation of productive assets between men and women in the household, a major source of productive inefficiency. Research on the effects of social protection on human capital and intrahousehold allocation of resources is expected to yield insights into agricultural labor productivity and the division of labor within the household.Most of the institutions noted in the ISPC comments (World Bank, UNDP, OECD and ILO) do little on the relation between social protection and agriculture. FAO worked closely with IFPRI on the 2015 SOFA report, \"Social Protection and Agriculture: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty,\" precisely because little of the other work in the field of social protection addresses agricultural issues.Comment Response An area that probably deserves more attention here is land markets and how they are evolving, not the formal land markets, but the informal one.Flagship 5 works on customary as well as statutory, informal as well as formal tenure regimes. The interplay between the formal and informal markets is addressed jointly by Flagship 2 and Flagship 5. The work on changing farm size in Flagship 2 requires survey work on acquisition of land for farming and terms of use in which both formal and informal modes of acquisition are documented. Other resource issues that the FP might consider as important (and researchable) topics include: (i) Competition and cooperation over water: in Africa wherever water is available and used for irrigation, the governance of the water is a live issue. More cooperative models must be possible; (ii) Peri-urban challenges: multiple demands for land for farming, housing, infrastructure, industry and green space make the issues of fair and efficient rights all the more demanding; (iii) Climate change: Involving smallholders in reducing emissions and capturing carbon in their farming systems. Monitoring, reporting and verification of such capture is challenging but this seems to be a prime area for collaboration with CCAFS.Flagship 5 works on institutions for management of water, particularly within shared landscapes. The emphasis on water is not as strong as that on land, but water has historically been part of the agenda of CAPRi, and will continue to be included. The team coordinates with WLE to assure complementarity without duplication. The Flagship 5 team works with Flagship 2 on issues of rural-urban linkages and changing demands for land and water. PIM has worked with CCAFS on institutional issues associated with adoption of climate-smart technologies, but the work of measuring and monitoring emissions is undertaken by CCAFS.No comment that called for a response -Flagship narratives Sections 2. 1.1.3, 2.2.1.3, 2.3.1.3, 2.4.1.3, 2.5.1.3, 2.6.1.3 Impact Pathway and Theory of Change (for each FP). -Specific partnerships formed to facilitate achievement of outcomes are highlighted in flagship narratives Sections 2. 1.1.7, 2.2.1.7, 2.3.1.7, 2.4.1.7, 2.5.1.7, 2.6.1.7 Partnerships.-Performance Indicators Matrix Table A for contributions to the SRF targets.-Annex 3.11.7 PIM's Contribution to SLO Targets: Methodology Note.PIM expects to impact a range of beneficiaries including urban consumers, value chain actors, common property natural resource users, rural laborers, farmers and especially smallholder farmers. Efforts are made to target women and the youth in each of these categories. Given the main SLO targets that PIM contributes to (technology adoption, productivity increase, and poverty reduction), PIM's quantitative contribution to SLO targets in Table A is expressed solely in terms of number of rural farming households. We have elaborated a fairly comprehensive methodology to estimate numbers of beneficiary rural farming households (Annex 3.11.7).-CRP narrative Section 1.0.3 Impact Pathway and Theory of Change.-Flagship narratives.-Annex 3.2 Partnership Strategy.Flagship 1: Work on foresight modeling can have short-term impact on investment decisions for agriculture, which will yield impact on SLOs over a period >10 years. Analysis of seed systems, extension methods, and regulatory reforms can yield impact in 3-10 years. Flagship 2: Work on political economy can have short-term impact on current or upcoming policy cycles. Budget cycles often operate on the 3-5 year cycle of Medium Term Expenditure Frameworks; thus work on d. Is there organizational buy-in from implementing or scale-up partners? (high/ medium/ low) e. Does it explicitly outline how gender considerations will be incorporated into the research objectives, methodology and implementation public expenditure can have impact in that time frame. Policy reform to stimulate rural transformation and job creation will have impact in 3-8 years. Flagship 3: Trade negotiations can drag on for years with no apparent progress, and then suddenly reach critical decision points. For that reason it is important to have analytical tools ready to deploy on short notice. Impact will follow within 2-5 years of new agreements. Analysis of weak links in value chains and remedial interventions can take 2-3 years, with implementation following thereafter. Impact can be expected in the 5-10 year range. Scaling up could take place in the 5-10 year period on a selective basis. Flagship 4: Changes in design of ongoing social protection programs can take place over a period of one year after analysis of options for change (2-3 years). Impact could thus be expected in a period of 3-5 years. Design of new programs can also be undertaken in the same period, with one year for design and one year for introduction of new programs. Insurance products can be offered on a pilot basis within a year after research indicates likelihood of commercial success. The time frame for impact of research on insurance is therefore from to 5-10 years. Flagship 5: Many development projects on land administration are implemented over a horizon of 5 years, hence changes in tenure take place within the range of 5-10 years. Similarly, institutional arrangements for management of shared landscapes can be implemented as soon as they are agreed by the affected groups, so the 5-10 year time frame (or less) is appropriate. Flagship 6: Changes in opportunities for women can be implemented within the 5-10 year window if included in design of investment projects or other programs. Changes in norms and expected behaviors may take a generation, but can be hastened by successes with interventions implemented over a shorter period. It is reasonable to expect changes in gender opportunities following upon research results within a 5-10 year period.-Flagship narratives Sections 2. 1.1.7, 2.2.1.7, 2.3.1.7, 2.4.1.7, 2.5.1.7, 2.6.1.7 Partnerships.-CRP narrative Section 1.0.4 Gender.-Flagship narratives Sections 2. 1.1.9, 2.2.1.9, 2.3.1.9, 2.4.1.9, 2.5.1.9, 2.6.1.9  -Flagship narratives Sections 2. 1.1.3, 2.2.1.3, 2.3.1.3, 2.4.1.3, 2.5.1.3, 2.6.1.3 Impact Pathway and Theory of Change (for each FP).-Flagship narratives Sections 2. 1.1.7, 2.2.1.7, 2.3.1.7, 2.4.1.7, 2.5.1.7, 2.6.1.7 Partnerships.-Annex 3.2 Partnership Strategy.-CRP narrative Section 1.0.11 Program Management and Governance.-Flagship narratives Sections 2. 1.1.12, 2.2.1.12, 2.3.1.12, 2.4.1.12, 2.5.1.12, 2.6.1.12  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b95288676e26462f2bb86b60e7112642","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.fao.org/3/CA1159EN/ca1159en.pdf","id":"-1953308756"},"keywords":["• Essays","UK. 2013. The Sri Lankan Retail Market Marketing. Retrieved from https:// www.ukessays.com/dissertation/literature-review/the-sri-lankan-retail-marketmarketing.php?cref=1 • FAO","IWMI","RUAF (unpublished) City region food system situational analysis -Phase 2","Colombo","Sri Lanka"],"sieverID":"e6832d3b-3e7b-42fc-97d6-bf508a5b6ef6","content":"The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO.Tables Table 1: Age and gender distribution of city dwellers Cities and their surrounding areas, known as 'city regions', are increasingly concerned about food security and how it is affected by urban growth, escalating urban poverty, food price hikes, climate change, changing consumption patterns and the rise in diet-related health problems.Of particular concern is urban growth, which creates increased demand for the same land and water that also provide vital food and ecosystem services. This challenge calls for integrated territorial development and balanced urban-rural linkages for the benefit of urban and rural population alike.The city region food system (CRFS) perspective provides a platform on which to build concrete policy and offer investment opportunities to address these developmental issues with the objective to achieve better economic, social and environmental conditions in both urban and surrounding rural areas. Strategies and tools include: the promotion of peri-urban agriculture; the preservation of agricultural land areas and watersheds through land use planning and zoning; the development of food distribution systems and social protection programmes; support for short supply chains and the local procurement of food; and the promotion of food waste prevention, reduction and management.Building a sustainable and resilient CRFS, however, requires political will -integrating available policy and planning instruments (e.g. infrastructure, logistics, public procurement, land use planning), involvement of various government departments and jurisdictions (local and provincial), and inclusive organisational structures at different scales (municipal, district, etc.). An effective CRFS offers a lens through which this integration and coherence can be addressed at a specific territorial level. CRFS can also operationalise linkages between Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 2 (food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture); SDG 11 (inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities); and SDG 12 (sustainable production and consumption).CRFS implementation is in line with the recently adopted New Urban Agenda (October 2016) 1 that emphasises the need for cities to \"strengthen food system planning\" and recognises the vulnerability of long-distance food supply systems. The Milan Urban Food Policy Pact -the first international protocol, currently signed by more than 160 cities, including the cities in this series of reports -also calls for the development of more sustainable and resilient urban food systems. Signatory mayors from cities around the world pledged to develop actions and strategies to improve their urban food systems with strong urban-rural linkages.FAO and RUAF Foundation partnered to support local institutions in understanding and operationalising a CRFS in seven cities selected from across the globe to represent their regions Lusaka and Kitwe (Zambia), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Medellín (Colombia), Quito (Ecuador), Toronto (Canada) and Utrecht (The Netherlands). All results presented here describe the experiences from each city in terms of planning and informed decision-making, prioritising investments and design of sustainable food policies and strategies to improve the resilience and sustainability of the entire food system. Combined, this CRFS knowledge culminates in a set of tools to support individual city regions around the world to assess and better plan their own food system.Director Plant Production and Protection Division, FAODirector RUAF Foundation 1 http://habitat3.org/the-new-urban-agenda/As one of the fastest developing countries in Asia, Sri Lanka is facing an important urbanization process, particularly in Colombo. The Sri Lankan Government has recently set up a dedicated ministry to implement Megapolis, a large-scale urban development initiative in the Western Province, where Colombo is located. The initiative plans to create a megacity that addresses in a well-planned manner the issues of mobility, waste, slums and environmental pollution, and generates economic growth and prosperity, good governance, job creation, social equity and harmony, as well as environmental sustainability.The Western Province's population is growing fast and the Government will have the responsibility to ensure appropriate levels of food security and nutrition in a sustainable manner. This requires long-term, integrated and holistic food polices and strategies that include all actors involved in the food system. However, food continues to be excluded in urban planning. At the national level, current policies and programmes on food systems are fragmented and sectorial, while attempts to achieve macro-level improvements are mostly disconnected and in isolation. At the local level, policies and programmes have not yet produced concrete results.Colombo is the only city in Asia so far to be engaged on such an initiative. The introduced City Region Food System (CRFS) assessment and planning process represents a new and innovative concept, in which the food systems are reviewed within an urban/regional context giving due attention to micro-level diversities of food patterns. The CRFS process helps to position Colombo in a global context where it can benefit from international exposure and knowledge exchange.The city has signed the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, an international protocol signed by 165 cities from all over the world that enables better collaboration and knowledge exchange in creating more sustainable, inclusive and resilient food systems.In addition, the Colombo CRFS analysis, findings and recommendations will act as the basis for future FAO initiatives. They will directly contribute to the objective of the FAO Country Programming Framework (CPF) 2018-2022 to develop the capacity of government institutions to collectively implement vulnerability-sensitive measures in support of effective agriculture and food systems, food safety and improved nutrition. The CRFS assessment and planning process also feeds into the Rural-Urban Linkages (RUL) studies of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE), led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), that offers, through a landscapes perspective, innovative ways to strengthen food security, while reducing the environmental footprint of urbanisation and agricultural intensification as part of the global sustainability agenda.This report represents a joint effort of FAO and IWMI, in close consultation with the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), and is the result of the implementation of the Colombo CRFS assessment and planning process. It describes in detail the results of the assessment as well as the outcomes generated by the policy recommendations and stakeholder dialogue.This report is the result of the implementation of an assessment methodology for Colombo and its city region food system (CRFS).Colombo stands as a unique city in Sri Lanka due to the complexity of its socio-demographic profile and the diverse food items that arrive through multiple channels. The busy and complex lifestyle of its inhabitants, together with the floating population of the city, creates a high demand for catering services that supply prepared food for direct consumption. In addition, the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) acts as the national hub for imported food items and the regional hub for vegetable and fruit. As a result, Colombo has one of the most complex food systems in Sri Lanka.The aims of the CRFS assessment include: to better understand the functioning the Colombo food system; to examine the current and future constraints on food security and safety, with respect to the challenges of urban growth, diversity, lifestyle and dynamics; to explore the sustainability and resilience of the Colombo CRFS; and to seek to improve the livelihoods of rural and urban dwellers now and in the future.In order to promote local ownership, the assessment was conducted with the involvement of stakeholders that included government authorities, the business community, academia and non-state actors. The consultative and participatory process was given priority throughout the process. Specifically, it aimed to foster inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogue processes in order to support local government and other multiple stakeholders in taking informed decisions on food planning and to enhance synergies, reduce costs and prioritise investments. Key decisionmakers were involved in steering the process throughout the study. The study consisted of three phases:i. Situational analysis (Phase 1) 2 : a comprehensive scoping study on the food system was conducted using secondary data and expert interviews. The study areas were identified using stakeholder consultations. ii. CRFS assessment (Phase 2): an in-depth study was based on specific measurable indicators.The locally important indicators were selected collaboratively via focal group discussions. Four priority areas for in-depth study were identified: i) food waste and losses; ii) food security and safety; iii) value chain management; iv) natural resource management and climate change. iii. Policy support and planning: policy planning to improve the Colombo CRFS was conducted with the involvement of key stakeholders using a series of working groups.The commodities selected for the detailed study were the most consumed food items in the Colombo City Region that also supplied the key macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fat, etc.) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals): rice for carbohydrate, fish and beans for protein, coconut for fat and fruit (bananas, papayas) and vegetables (beans, brinjals) for vitamins and minerals.A city region is defined here as: \"a larger urban centre or conglomeration of smaller urban centres and the surrounding and interspersed peri-urban and rural hinterland\". A city region food system (CRFS) is defined as \"all the actors, processes and relationships that are involved in food production, processing, distribution and consumption in a given city region\".The definition of the Colombo CRFS is based on the following set of criteria:• Built-up areas and population density -the rationale is that less dense areas of the region would act as suppliers to the highly populated city of Colombo.• Jurisdictional and administrative boundaries -these are the governing units that take policy decisions and use available data to make decisions.From a geographical point of view, and based on the above factors, the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) defines as the city and Colombo District defines the Colombo City Region.The Colombo municipal area houses the commercial, transport and financial hubs of the country and is the wellspring of the Sri Lankan economy. It has a high population density and a floating population that is equivalent to the current residential population of the city (see section 3.1).Agriculture production within Colombo District is negligible (two percent of total demand) and mainly for self-consumption. This means nearly all the food has to be brought to the city, resulting in a long supply chain involving multiple actors and high food miles.Multiple government departments and authorities oversee the food system. They especially focus on the continuous supply of essential food items, retail prices of essentials and consumer protection (food safety and hygeine) of raw and prepared food items. Numerous entities have influence over one or several food commodities -for example, only the paddy marketing board has responsibility for rice. There is no single authority responsible for the food system.Sri Lanka has three layers of governance -national, provincial and local. There are many gaps between the national and the local levels. In general, fragmentation of the institutional landscape has resulted in complexity at the national level, while the local and provincial levels have limited roles and responsibilities.Actions and strategies on ensuring food security and nutrition in Sri Lanka are, in general, handled through the National Agricultural Policy of the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Nutrition Policy of the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, and several other policy documents and authorities. These latter are directly or indirectly addressing food processes, prices, security, safety and nutrition -for example, the Food Act regulates and controls food manufacturing, safety, importation, sale, distribution and inspections. Local authorities have been granted power as food authorities to enforce the Food Act, particularly with regard to safety and inspections.The food consumption pattern of consumers in Colombo is changing from home-cooked meals to purchased meals. Prepared-food suppliers in the city vary from international franchised food outlets to mobile units that sell prepared food using vehicles and street food without quality and hygiene control and assurance. One third of the eateries in Colombo is unregistered, which means that food safety concerns of prepared food in the city remain unanswered.Urban Sri Lanka shows signs of severe nutritional challenges. These include undernutrition, resulting in one of the highest 'wasting' figures in the world; but there is also an increase of overweight and obese people. Food-and nutrition-related health issues are significant in the Colombo City Region. A high prevalence of anaemia is reported in Colombo District (40 percent) and authorities state anaemic levels within the CMC exceed that of the district level. Colombo District also reports the highest percentages of non-communicable diseases, such as high blood pressure (11.9 percent) and diabetes (11.2 percent). One third of the population in Colombo District consumes less than the prescribed calorie intake, thereby highlighting the food insecurity status.Solid waste management in Colombo has become a major challenge. The waste quantity generated within the CMC exceeds 711 tonnes per day; approximately two-thirds of this is biodegradable. The mixed nature of the waste is the main barrier to the recovery of resources.The CMC does not have a sustainable waste management system at the moment.Post-harvest losses in fruit and vegetable value chains are as high as 30 to 40 percent, which directly contributes to low earnings for farmers and the invariably higher market prices for consumers. Almost 75 percent of the total loss occurs during transportation and is mainly attributable to the use of improper packaging and storage. Lack of proper storage facilities, long supply chains and high food miles increase the waste along the value chain.Food supply and distribution to the Colombo City Region has become a complex exercise with the involvement of many intermediaries and intermediate processes and activities, starting from food producers all the way to the final consumers. With vegetable prices doubling or tripling from farm gate to retail, wholesalers and commission agents are being accused of inflating prices to the disadvantage of farmers and poor consumers. While some intermediaries are required in these value chains, there are frequent calls for processes to be regulated.Natural resource management is a vital prerequisite for sustainable agriculture. Sri Lanka is rich with sources of water, has a diverse climate that suits a diverse agriculture and farming, and has a high percentage of suitable land for agriculture. However, Sri Lanka faces issues and problems related to natural resource management, such as soil degradation, water pollution, air pollution and loss of biodiversity. Urbanisation, industrialisation, over-use of agrochemicals and improper waste disposal are some of the causal factors for the above issues.Additionally, the impact of climate change has significantly affected water availability, rainfall, temperature, agro-ecological zone classification and soil ecosystem. Frequent floods, droughts and secondary disasters, such as landslides, reduce the cultivable area, impair the transport of commodities and adversely affect agriculture productivity.Key policy interventions identified collaboratively to strengthen the Colombo CRFS can be identified as:• Facilitate a more holistic and territorial approach to food security and nutritionExisting structures and policies are fragmented and not aligned to address rapid urbanisation and related city region challenges. Align current policies with the other food security and nutrition-related policies and adapt the structure (e.g. of the Food Advisory Committee), allowing representation from the provincial councils with additional responsibilities for food system and security.In the current situation, market chains are too long and unregulated to the disadvantage of rural producers and the urban poor. If, in addition, climate-related events hit the supply chains, the poor's suffering is doubled. Urban food reserves are needed to buffer shortcomings in food availability. Market supply chains have to be regulated and monitored to avoid price fluctuations that hit the poor.There is a need for adequate human and laboratory capacity to address food safety issues, including additional food safety analysts for local authorities. Upgrade the existing public laboratory facilities, including provincial laboratories and regional laboratories, so they become authorised analysis centres. In addition, create a system introducing laboratory tests for specific foods in respective authorities (e.g. coconut at a coconut research institute).• Streamline the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) sector with an empowered umbrella body that coordinates the integration and implementation of MSW managementThe vertical and horizontal complexity of the institutional landscape means that the implementation of regulations is detached from their management. A coordinating body at the national level needs to be appointed.• Create an enabling investment climate for private sector engagement in resource recovery and reuse (RRR)RRR businesses are relatively new to Sri Lanka so there could be further financial and regulatory incentives similar to the existing tax exemptions for the import of renewable energy equipment. Introduce financial schemes to attract and incentivise local entrepreneurs to enter RRR businesses, discourage food wastage in the retail sector and support waste valorisation processes.Currently, the CMC is attempting to adopt source separation for household and institutional waste but the buy-in to this scheme is limited. The CMC needs to improve on customer communication and awareness creation, and support schemes that offer refunds for bottles, impose fines for non-source-separating entities and add a price for plastic shopping bags.There is a demand for using food waste as animal feed, but the link between waste sources and the potential user (what, where, when) is missing. The CMC can be the moderator (e.g. low-cost, web-based platform/phone app) for facilitating direct producer-user linkages.A high percentage of food waste is generated by institutional canteens, in food courts and through event catering. Extend source segregation to all businesses, canteens of private and public schools, hospitals, food courts, etc. by: (a) capacity development in food waste reduction; (b) providing incentives (e.g. school ranking to create peer-pressure) and/or penalties; and (c) infrastructure support in public markets to keep food fresh. Commercialisation and industrialisation in cities lead to urbanisation by creating economic growth and job opportunities that draw people from rural areas. As a result, population densities in cities increase and land becomes a scarce resource.The limited lands available (Colombo District owns 676 square kilometres) are utilised for high-income generating activities whilst agricultural production within city limits remain minimal. City dwellers, commuters and tourists to a great extent (95 percent of supplies) depend on food supplies from outer regions. The food supply to a city should be varied enough to cater to diverse social, religious and ethnic groups. Moreover, the required quantities of different food items may vary depending on the season, climate, festivals, etc.An established, sustainable and resilient city region food system (CRFS) is essential to achieve the expected sustainable development goals of a country. A clear understanding of the socio-demographic factors of a city is key to developing a resilient and sustainable food system. Colombo accommodates 561 314 residents who belong to multiple religious, ethnic and social groups. Additionally, a floating population as large as the resident city population commutes daily to Colombo for work and to access services. Colombo is one of the top tourist areas in Sri Lanka and is also home to immigrant workers, which creates an additional layer of complexity. As a result, the demand for prepared food is relatively high and about 950 eateries across Colombo cater to diverse needs. It is evident that socio-demographic factors have a great impact on the food system of the Colombo City Region.Three elements -regulatory, institutional and social arrangements -form the foundation for a resilient CRFS.Policies and legislation on sectors related to the food system, such as agriculture, livestock, fisheries, water management, food import control and food safety, require evaluation in terms of their strengths and weaknesses in order to make necessary recommendations to improve the system's effectiveness. National level regulations apply equally to the CMC and other local governments. Furthermore, many government institutions at the national, provincial and local level are involved in various facets of the food system.Private companies and international organisations also influence the Colombo CRFS, making it complex to analyse as a whole. Consequently, it will be discussed under identified categories, which are important in the context of the CMC. National, regional and local level actors were considered during the CRFS assessment and planning process.Food producers are farmers who cultivate crops or engage in animal husbandry, ranging from the small scale 3 to commercial-level enterprises. A strong food production sector ensures both food availability for the population and sustainability of the food supply.In Sri Lanka, diverse weather and soil conditions have created geography-specific food production systems that offer a diverse range of food items and these reach Colombo through diverse channels. Multiple marketing strategies are operational and their efficiency has an impact on food prices, the generation of waste and food security.Food security and food safety are interrelated concepts and have a profound impact on the quality of life. Though quality control measures have been introduced by the government and international organisations, food quality and safety are still a concern. Changes in eating habits from home-cooked meals to outside meals has aggravated the situation. Many eateries, restaurants and snack bars within the city limits cater to the demand by city dwellers and commuters for prepared food and only two thirds of them are registered. Raw food items, such as vegetables, fruit, grains and pulses, have separate food safety issues, such as contamination with agrochemicals. The prevalence of non-communicable diseases among city dwellers is a concern requiring immediate attention among relevant authorities. This concern may potentially be linked to eating habits and/or related contaminants.The project consisted of three phases. The first phase consisted of a descriptive assessment and appraisal of the local context and of the CRFS, primarily based on the analysis of secondary data, stakeholder interviews and consultations. The key issues identified during the Phase 1 were further examined during Phase 2 where in-depth assessment shed light on the priority areas identified by the stakeholders (areas are mentioned under the in-depth assessment section). Phase 3 identified the policy interventions needed to fill the prioritised gaps.3 A farmer who operates on less than one hectare of land.The study was designed to establish an understanding of the whole food system and then narrow it down to focus on stakeholder priorities. The final aim is to introduce the relevant interventions (policy, institutional, etc.) based on the study's findings. The Colombo CRFS comprised of the following four components:i. Phase 1/Situational analysis 4 : comprehensive scoping study on food system; ii. Phase 2/CRFS assessment: in-depth study based on specific measurable indicators.In parallel with the Phase 2 assessment a capacity assessment and strategy formulation was conducted to identify the capacity development needs across the value chain; iii. Phase 3/Policy support and planning: policy planning to improve the Colombo CRFS.The situational analysis was conducted while defining the Colombo CRFS and aims to:• understand its socio-demographic and food patterns;• understand the local institutional, stakeholder, legal and policy context; • compile relevant information on food consumption, supply, security, marketing channels and nutrition, and to identify health and safety issues and to evaluate strengths and vulnerabilities.Required data and information were gathered from different sources -published and printed documents and published electronic sources, such as e-journals, institutional websites, web blogs, etc. Secondary data published by the Department of Census and Statistics, multiple secondary databases and expert interviews were used to fill the gaps.A stakeholder consultation workshop on Phase 1 of the study findings of the CRFS for the city of Colombo was conducted to pave the way for Phase 2 of the study. Thirty-five public, private and civil society members participated in these sessions which created a platform for stakeholders to discuss different disciplines of the food system. Priority areas of food systems were selected by participants through a participatory process.The main objective of the in-depth study on the Colombo CRFS is to understand the positives and negatives of the food system, based on specific measurable indicators identified by the FAO global project. The study was narrowed down to priority areas identified by the situation analysis. If secondary data was not available, primary data collection was conducted. The selected priority areas were:• Food waste and losses • Food safety and security Phase 3 mainly stemmed from the findings of CRFS Colombo Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies. This Phase 3 study identified issues, gaps and policy concerns and were further analysed using a comprehensive literature review. The researchers then conducted a series of key informant interviews, engaging senior officers at the Food Control Administration Unit, legal officers from council and other key institutes, sectoral agencies, private sector, regulators, academia and certain other stakeholders (such as NGOs and development agencies). The next step in this process was the scenario-building exercise to evaluate the impact of policy interventions with selected drivers and trends. This was conducted with the aid of key informant interviews, focus group participation/consultation with 10 to 12 stakeholders from various key institutes. The results of this exercise enabled the researchers to identify and prioritise the policy interventions needed. Based on the priorities, three policy briefs were drafted on specific recommendations for strategic policy actions and further validated during stakeholder workshops. Manning Market is the oldest open fruit and vegetable wholesale market in Colombo. It covers more than two hectares of land. At least 500 lorries enter Colombo daily from various parts of the country for the buying and selling of food items. In the Colombo city development plan, this market will be relocated to a 10-hectare site at Peliyagoda, where the wholesale fish market has been re-established in the northeast side of the city. Within the next few years Peliyagoda will be converted into an area for markets and trade. There are another 18 relatively large markets located within Colombo city limits.Colombo is the centre of the railway and bus transport systems. Four rail corridors run from Colombo Fort to the main cities of the country through a number of urban, semiurban and rural areas. However, there is a need for an integrated transport system in order to successfully fulfill emerging passenger needs and to address urban issues. The city is connected by a network of canals and bounded in the north by Kelani River and in the east by two canals -Kolonnawa Ela and Heen Ela. Beira Lake is located in the heart of the city. An inland water transport system is planned under the Megapolis Transportation Plan.Social factors in the city greatly influence its residents' food habits, food consumption patterns, food security and nutrition. Age has an influence on food culture and different ages have different dietary needs, such as toddlers and the elderly (Table 1).The highest percentage (24 percent) of city region residents is within the age group of 15-29 years.Ethnic sub-cultures within society have unique traditions and practices that require particular food consumption patterns -food types, methods of food preparation, consumption quantities, seasonal consumption habits, etc. Ethnically, the CMC is highly diverse and the three main ethnicities are represented more or less in equal percentages (Table 2). In Sri Lanka, religion follows ethnicity (e.g. most Sinhalese are Buddhists, most Tamils are Hindus).In parallel to ethnicity, religion has some control over food patterns. For instance, there is a significant divergence between vegetarians and non-vegetarians among people based on religious principles. Further, owing to religious practices, there are certain preferences in selecting or rejecting the livestock as a food item (e.g. Muslims and Hindus reject pork and beef respectively). More than 70 percent of Sri Lanka's population follow Buddhism, though only 31 percent of people in the CMC area are Buddhists. A remarkable difference in religions exists within the Colombo and Thimbirigasyaya divisional secretariats. This religious diversity is expected to create complex food consumption patterns and food systems in the Colombo City Region.The level of education can be important in helping people choose healthy and diverse foods. It is expected that people with higher education levels are more concerned with understanding the nutrient requirements of their diet as well as the side-effects of overconsuming certain foods. In Colombo District, 75 percent of the people have secondary or higher education qualifications whereas only nine percent have had no schooling. A quarter of the population in the Colombo divisional secretariat completed primary school education only, which is the worst ratio in the region; 67 percent has only limited secondary schooling and only 11 percent of the population has A/L or higher education. Figures for the Thimbirigasyaya divisional secretariat are better: 29 percent has A/L or reached a higher education level while 19 percent have primary or lower education.Poor living conditions lead to frequent sicknesses and diseases, such as diarrhoea, that are likely to reduce the absorption of nutrients, while creating adverse impacts on nutrient security. Assessing the living environment standard is not straightforward. It was noted that access to sanitation facilities is higher than 99 percent in the CMC area (i.e. open defecation is less than one percent in the CMC), while pipe-borne water supply covers 100 percent of the city.Other factors that affect the living environment include unsustainable management of food waste, hygiene of food preparation and hygienic practices. Housing structure seems a more acceptable indicator of the impact of urbanisation on the standard of living environment. More than 75 percent of households in Colombo own either a single-storey or a two-storey house. Land scarcity, fashion and high land prices might be encouraging high-rise housing complexes as the present trend. Line, row and shanty houses are the low standard houses in the CMC context. Remarkably, there are few shanties in CMC: 13 percent of houses in the Colombo divisional secretariat and six percent of houses in Thimbirigasyaya divisional secretariat have been identified as line or shanty houses.The poverty head count index is the percentage of the population living below the poverty line, which is defined by the consumption bundle that includes food and non-food items. According to results of a mapping exercise designed to calculate the poverty head count index at Grama Niladari (GN) level, it is clear that there is a concentration of poor people across Colombo District (Figure 4). According to the latest census statistics, 50 percent of the population of working age in Colombo District is employed and only two percent have been considered as unemployed. The remainder of the population (48 percent) is categorised as economically inactive. In the CMC area, 47 percent are employed, three percent unemployed and 50 percent economically inactive. The city of Colombo, which consists of Colombo and Thimbirigasyaya divisional secretariats, has a less than 50 percent employment rate. In the Colombo divisional secretariat, 51 percent of people aged 15 years or above were economically inactive, which is the highest in the district. This is not a surprise as a considerable number of people travel into Colombo each day for their employment.Significant disparities prevail in living standards, economic wealth and socio-cultural imbalances in the CMC (Figure 5). Even though Colombo is the heart of Sri Lanka, a significant proportion of marginalised people live in the area. In most cases, their living standard and poverty level seems to be much worse than those of the other regions in Colombo District. Land area belonging to the city of Colombo increased by 50 percent during the period of 1871 to 1971. However, it has remained unchanged at 37.5 square kilometres ever since. The population in the city of Colombo has increased at a higher rate, resulting in increased population density. The highest population density in Colombo was reported in 1981; during last four decades there has been a slight decrease, most probbaly due to high land prices and living costs. The temperature of cities is increasing due to such reasons as removal of vegetation, emissions from industries and power plants, and human and animal respiration. Metropolitan areas have higher temperatures than their surroundings and are termed 'urban heat islands'. Colombo has a number of these heat islands. Colombo Harbour is a heat island -its high temperature are said to be linked to its very low vegetation cover. Such situations may create adverse socio-environmental conditions.11 Low Country Wet Zone -3, >60 rainfall. Expects rainfall in March, April, May, June, July, October.12 Source: Department of Meteorology, Sri Lanka. Within the last three decades, the agriculture areas and low residential areas in Colombo have fallen by 14 percent and 13 percent respectively, while 23 percent of the land area has become urbanised. Urban growth has spread in a concentric way that varies according to the distance from Colombo (Figure 8) 14 .14 Weerakoon, K. G. P. K. Analysis of Spatio-Temporal Urban Growth using GIS Integrated Urban Gradient Analysis. Colombo District, Sri Lanka.  Establishing the boundary for the city is not straightforward as there is not one single way to define a city region food system. A city region's boundary may need to be adjusted by considering the local context and interests. When defining a city region, many additional factors need to be considered, such as judicial boundaries already in place, administrative boundaries, data availability level, etc.The Colombo CRFS has been defined on the basis of a set of criteria:• Built-up areas and population densities: the basis for this scenario is that less dense areas of the region would act as suppliers to Colombo.• Judicial and administrative boundaries: these describe the governing units for which data is available. Policy interventions can be introduced to these units.When idnetifing the foodsheds: the supplies of food commodities that provide macronutrients and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) to Colombo. In this case, rice for carbohydrate, fish for protein, coconut for fat, and fruit and vegetables for vitamins and minerals. When considering the food supply, foodsheds were identified as being the main production and supply areas to the CMC.The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) is the city of Colombo's legislative body which files legislations and enacts orders, ordinances and resolutions. The city council comprises the mayor and council members who are elected in local government elections. The council serves as the link between the citizens of Colombo and the Government. The Municipal Council Commissioner is a government-appointed chief administrative officer.The Western Province is composed of three districts: Colombo, Kalutara and Gampaha (Figure 9). District secretariats, divisional secretatiats and GN divisions are part of the administrative structure while provincial and local councils act as governing structures.  Figure 10 shows the institutional arrangement of the different components of the food system. It is clear that there are weak relationships in all three governance levels, creating institutional gaps that prevent the system functioning effectively.Production is the starting point of a food value chain. The quality and quantity of food production and supply affect the food security, nutrient security and food safety of consumers. Crop cultivation and animal husbandry are the major components of food production. Sustainable agriculture ensures production of healthy food without compromising the ability of future generations to produce food. According to the generic food culture in Sri Lanka, the major commodities consumed by people are rice, fish/ meat, vegetables and fruit. Geographically unequal food production can be observed in Sri Lanka due to economic, social and climatic factors.Crop cultivation within the city of Colombo is negligible. Except for urban home gardens there are no cultivated lands within the city limits. Small-scale livestock management, including cattle, buffalo, goat, pig and poultry, is reported in the Colombo divisional secretariat. Peri-urban and rural areas of Colombo District produce paddy, coconut, cinnamon, vegetables and fruit. Rain-fed paddy cultivation occurs on 11 percent of the land area in the district. Home gardens are very common in rural and peri-urban areas and account for 26 percent of the district's land area (Table 3).  A CRFS is understood as a given geographical region that includes the surrounding peri-urban and rural hinterland, across which people, food, resources/inputs for food production and ecosystem services are moving. The physical boundaries of the city region need to be determined by considering multiple dimensions. Since the concept of CRFS is fairly new, there is no clear-cut methodology to identify a city region so its boundaries need to be defined by the individual city context.Owing to the increasing complexities in social, economic and demographical differences, as well as traditions at a local level, there is a global trend of analysing the problems from a micro-level, geospecific perspective rather than from a macro perspective. This allows researchers and decisionmakers to narrow their focus and provide location-based solutions. Recent publications on food security have highlighted the importance of understanding the issue from a micro-level perspective (Berry, E M; Dernini2, S; Burlingame, B; Meybeck, Alexandre; Conforti, P, 2014). Following this trend, the city region food system approach is expected to analyse the actors/players and relationships in the food system of a certain city, while considering its relationship with the peri-urban and rural surroundings.In order to assess the characteristics of the food system through major commodities (Table 4), a few representative food items were selected by considering which contributed to the nutrient input most (both macronutrients and micronutrients). The food items were prioritised through a multistakeholder and expert consultative process. Through an expert and multi-stakeholder consultative process, the key food commodities relevant for the Colombo CRFS were prioritised. The commodities selected for the detailed study were the most consumed food items in the Colombo City Region that also supplied the key macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fat, etc.) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) -rice for carbohydrate, fish and beans for protein, coconut for fat, and fruit (bananas, papayas) and vegetables (beans, brinjals) for vitamins and minerals.Rice is the staple food in Sri Lanka. It is a seasonal crop cultivated twice a year in the two monsoon seasons. The Maha season starts by September and ends by March; the Yala season starts by May and ends by August. The Maha season provides more rain, hence more yield. Paddy production in Sri Lanka in 2016 was 4.4 million tonnes.Colombo District produces the least paddy, contributing 0.3 percent of total national production. Production according to district can be found in Figure 11 and supply to Colombo can be found in Figure 12.A large proportion of the rice produced in Sri Lanka's districts comes to Colombo. The rice requirement of the residents of Colombo was estimated as 38 183 tonnes and the supply was 86 520 tonnes, which is 126 percent over supply compared to the requirement. It can be assumed that the balance has been distributed via Colombo.  Coconut is grown mainly in the North Western and Western provinces of the country (Figure 13). Almost 99 percent of the coconut growers are classified as smallholders 17 and the total land extent under smallholdings is 81.9 percent of the total cultivated land.17 Farmers cultivating land of less than 8 hectares. Marine fish fulfill more than 90 percent of the country's fish requirement and also most of the fish requirement in the Colombo City Region. Deep sea fishing falls during periods of stormy weather, which can last approximately six months, because fishermen are discouraged by the conditions. Fish production in Sri Lanka can be found in Figure 14.Five major types of fish 19 are available in the Colombo City Region, with a different level of demand and supply in a given period. Fishermen in the southern coastal areas are the highest producers in Sri Lanka. Excess fish harvest is salted and dried as a cottage industry. Local dried-fish production is not sufficient to meet the demand and about 70 percent of dried fish is imported (Appendix 3).Brinjal is one of the most consumed vegetables in Sri Lanka. It is a low-country vegetable that can be grown in very dry areas and even with minimum irrigation facilities. According to the commission agents at Manning Market and Narahenpita Dedicated Economic Centre (within the CMC), the main brinjal supply to Colombo comes from the southern part of the country.19 Trevallies, sail fish, skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna and small fish. Beans are a highland crop that demands chilled weather to grow. According to the sellers at Manning Market, Colombo receives large quantities of beans from up-country (the central part of Sri Lanka).Production of beans is, on average, highest in the Yala season in Matale District, even though the cultivated area is less compared to other districts, except for Monaragala. According to the sellers at Narahenpita Dedicated Economic Centre (located within the CMC area), Colombo markets receive large quantities of bananas from southern part of the country (Figure 17).Papayas are grown in the dry and intermediate zones of Sri Lanka. Five main districts supply Colombo with papayas. Embilipitiya Dedicated Economic Centre is the hub for papaya supply to Colombo as it connects the two top producers -Monaragala and Hambantota districts (Figure 18). Annual papaya supply to Colombo is 8 347 tonnes. Ring spot virus is the main disease that affects the yield adversely. Manning Market is located in the Colombo City Region and is the oldest vegetable and fruit wholesale market in Sri Lanka. The main objective of establishing Manning Market was to accumulate all vegetable and fruit harvests throughout the country in order to distribute them easily and to eradicate the inability of harvest selling by farmers. There are more than 1 400 commission agents and sellers involved in buying and selling vegetables and fruit on a daily basis. The CMC owns the premises and each stall is rented to commission agents. The market is virtually open for 24 hours a day as lorries filled with vegetables and fruit arrive from various parts of the country from early morning. According to the business process, farmers and their agents bring the harvest to selected commission agents in Manning Market for an agreed price. Then the commission agent collects the vegetable and fruit stocks and resells them to wholesale and retail customers, while keeping a margin.Most vegetable and fruit farmers are smallholders without adequate quantities or capacity to transport their harvest by themselves to economic centres. In such a case, from farm gate to economic centre, many intermediaries may be involved -local collectors, local wholesale buyers, local transporters, etc. At each step of the value chain, every actor aims to make a profit which means the vegetable and fruit prices escalate. The business process chain involves farmers, farmers' agents and intermediate collectors/local wholesalers, who bring the harvest to the economic centre.The economic centres should function as open markets for farmers with plenty of negotiating power. However, in reality, this is not the case. Instead, wholesalers decide the prices of the products, not the farmers. Without any negotiating power, a farmers' presence makes little difference. In fact, farmers rarely come to the economic centres. Usually, truck drivers transport and deliver the vegetables collected from farmers. It is a tragedy that the hidden market mechanism has pilfered the negotiation power either completely or to a great extent from the farmer. Making the situation even more alarming, most farmers supply (or are bound to supply) only to a particular, predetermined wholesaler. Often, they obtain financial loans for fertiliser and other expenses during the cultivating season from these wholesalers and agree to sell their products to them. However, the harvest is purchased at a very low price later on, which makes the farmer highly vulnerable and keeps them stuck continuously in a debt trap.The Government of Sri Lanka has given a high priority, with a number of fiscal reliefs and incentives, to encourage value addition to agricultural produce and to minimise post-harvest wastage, generate employment and increase export growth.The different regions of Sri Lanka are home to diverse food-processing companies, such as mills, fruit preservation companies, slaughterhouses and meat processers, bakeries and confectionaries.Note: Ceylon Grain Elevators (CGE), Bairaha Farms PLC, Maxies & Company (Pvt) Ltd., Delmo Chicken and Agro (Pvt) Ltd., Keells Food products and Nel farms are some of the leading meat and meatbased product manufacturers in Sri Lanka. Wheat-based products, especially biscuits, are mainly manufactured by Maliban Biscuit Manufactories Limited, Ceylon Biscuits Ltd, Cargills Ceylon PLC and Luckyland biscuit manufacturers. The National Livestock Development Board, a government entity, is a leading milk and dairy-based products manufacturer, while Pelwatte Dairy Industries, Lucky Lanka Milk Processing Company, Kotmale Holdings and Fonterra Lanka are privately owned companies that significantly contribute to the dairy industry.Chocolate and many cocoa-based products are manufactured by several private companies aiming at both local and foreign markets. Ceylon Chocolate Limited, Edna Chocolate (Cey) Ltd., Diana Chocolates Private Ltd. and Daintee Limited are some of the leading companies in the chocolate manufacturing industry and they have also become successful in the export market.Facilities for vegetable and fruit processing and product manufacturing are not available around Dambulla, Meegoda and Narahenpita economic centres. Manning Market in Colombo is a more appropriate location to establish such facilities, as the wastage of vegetables and fruit due to oversupply is common here.Demand for processed and convenience food is increasing constantly due to urbanisation and the busy lifestyles and changing food habits of people. The complex socio-demographic profile of the population has revealed the diverse needs for prepared food. This complexity has paved the way to a well-established prepared food supply chain in Colombo, where all the segments can satisfy people's needs. The most common way to get prepared food is from hotels and restaurants, ranging from fivestar hotels to small-town hotels and from restaurants to street-food outlets. These hotels and restaurants are widely available in the city, providing households, workers and the floating population with easy access to prepared food.Colombo has five major types of prepared-food supplier. First, the international franchised food suppliers, such as McDonalds, KFC, Pizza, Dominos and Subway. Second, local suppliers, such as Perera & Sons, Fab, Steam Boat, Sen-saal, etc. Third, the institutional food providers who provide prepared food for schoolchildren, university students, armed forces, hospital patients, prisoners, etc. Fourth, and the most common form of preparedfood supply in Colombo, are standalone hotels and restaurants, which target different income segments of the population. Fifth, the static small-scale food stores that sell their prepared food. Finally, there are mobile units that sell prepared food from vehicles.Apart from food items sold via supermarkets, almost all other food items are channelled through main value chains. However, direct value chains are also getting popular and can become a competitive value chain in the future.In some value chains, the number of actors involved could be up to six; even though some actors may not add any value to the supply chain, their involvement further increases price levels. Such 'self-serving' intermediates in the main value chains do not provide any benefit to farmers or consumers, but simply cause unjustified price increases. Present average price increases from wholesaler to consumer are estimated to be 300 percent. Farmers receive only a small portion of the wholesale price despite their expenditure on resources, labour and time.However, there are alternative supply chains that are shorter, with less actors involved, that can deliver the harvest to the final consumer in a more favourable manner for farmers, providing them with a 30 percent mark-up.More than 26 percent of the country's rice production is sent to the market by mill owners. Owners of large mills buy paddy from farmers or collectors, and also from the Sri Lanka Paddy Marketing Board. Large-scale mills send their product to wholesalers, supermarkets and some retailers. Rice from small-scale mills is sent to wholesalers and retailers.Mill owners supply two forms of rice to the market: relatively cheap, unbranded rice (20-25 percent) and expensive, high-quality, branded rice (75-80 percent). Twenty-six percent of rice farmers sell their harvest to paddy collectors or small-scale mill owners; 46 percent of farmers do not sell their harvest but use it for self-consumption. Twelve percent of farmers sell their harvest directly to retailers. A significant price increase of at least 120 percent occurs when the rice comes through the value chain due to the value addition from milling, branding and storing (Figure 19).More than 57 percent farmers sell their coconut harvest through large-scale collectors, who send coconuts to auctions in Kuliyapitiya and Colombo. A quarter (25 percent) of farmers sell their harvest at their coconut fields while 12 percent sell their harvest through agents. More than half of the coconut harvest is handled by collectors. Nearly a third is auctioned and 30-40 percent of the product is collected by wholesalers from farmers, local markets and agents. Retailers in Colombo buy coconuts from coconut auctions and wholesalers (Figure 20). As per the survey findings, the highest percentage (40.82 percent) of fish is sold at the harbour to agents who in turn sell it at the Peliyagoda Central Fish Market, the main fish distribution centre in Colombo. Local retailers or collectors buy about a third of the fish (30.61 percent) at the harbour, while only four percent of the fish harvest is sold at Dedicated Economic Centres (Figure 21). Fish wholesalers buy fish either from the Peliyagoda Market or directly from harbours.Supermarkets, the Ceylon Fisheries Corporation outlet and a number of retail fish outlets are located within Colombo's city limits. Supermarkets have registered suppliers supplying fish according to quality standards stipulated by the management. Part of the fish harvest that is damaged or low in quality is sent to be processed as dry fish.As per the survey findings, 96 percent of the brinjal harvest arrives at the market. Of the total production, 44 percent is sold by farmers at vegetable markets in the same locality, while 31 percent is sold at a nearby Dedicated Economic Centre. Six percent of the production is sold at the farm and the same percentage is sold to agents. Commission agents at a Dedicated Economic Centre and collectors supply brinjals to Manning Market in Colombo. Supermarkets receive brinjals through their agents, who buy directly from farmers. Along the value chain there is a 63 percent price increase. The brinjal supply to Colombo comes from many locations around the country (Figures 22 and 23). When areas are closed to production, then supplies may come from longer distances. Manning Market acts as a regional hub, distributing vegetables to the suburbs. Some brinjal supplies travel back towards the production areas, which confirms a lack of coordination and inefficiency of the supply chain.The distribution channel data revealed that 17.31 percent of farmers send their beans to a Dedicated Economic Centre (DEC) and 13.46 percent sell them to retailers. A relatively significant percentage of farmers (11.54 percent) sell their products to both DECs and supermarkets. Along the value chain, the price of beans increased by at least 30 percent; in some reported cases, the retail price increased to more than 50 percent of the farmers' price. The bean supply comes mainly from the middle of the country, which is where the climatic conditions are best for the crop (Figures 24 and 25). A small part of the production comes from other parts of Sri Lanka. The inefficiency of the inflow and outflow of beans is similar to the brinjal supply.The data recorded on the distribution channels indicated that local markets sell the highest percentage of the banana harvest (31 percent). Around 16 percent of the total yield is sold to collectors. Farmers sell their bananas at the farm itself (16 percent) and only four percent of the harvest is sold at a Dedicated Economic Centre.Retailers in Colombo District buy bananas from Manning Market. Supermarkets get their supply from agents who buy directly from farmers and from Manning Market. The increase in price of bananas along the value chain is 21 percent. Bananas are cultivated in most parts of the country, with many commercial farmers in the southern part of Sri Lanka (Figures 26 and 27). The southern expressway, which has created an excellent channel of transport to Colombo, may be the reason for the concentrated supply from the south. However, the supplies seem to be absorbed by the suburbs.The distribution channels for papaya production indicate that 33.33 percent is sold at markets. It was also found that 16.67 percent of the papaya production is sold to agents and a similar percentage of papaya yield is distributed to markets, agents and the DECs. The study results revealed the price of papayas increases by at least 70 percent along the value chain. Papayas are cultivated in the dry zone of the country. There are long food miles from distant production areas despite closer production areas being available. However, the supplies seem to be absorbed by the suburbs without sending papayas back towards production areas, as with the brinjal value chain (Figures 28 and 29). There is room to optimise the supply chain to Colombo.Currently, the 12 Dedicated Economic Centres (DECs) in Sri Lanka (Table 6 and Figure 30) that act as wholesale markets are: Dambulla, Thambuththegama, Nuwaraeliya, Kappetipola, Kurunduwaththa, Welisara, Veyangoda, Narahenpita, Embilipitiya, Meegoda, Piliyandala and Rathmalana. Each centre has a range of specialised crops that are grown in that area. The Dambulla DEC is centrally located and operates on a 20 percent commission basis 20 . Farmers or collectors from almost all areas of Sri Lanka bring their products to this economic centre. There are 104 outlets or shops in the economic centre and these sell, on average, 26 500 tonnes each week. 20 20 percent of commission is paid to the shop owner of the DEC by the buyer and seller.    A trend is emerging where enterprises in food production and processing are directly transporting to Colombo by their own channels. Many food producers in the rice industry (e.g. local mills, such as Nipuna and Araliya), agrarian companies (eg. CIC, NLDB) and poultry farms (e.g. local commercial farms, such as Pussellawa and Maxies) sell their products directly from production centres to either retailers or final consumers through their dedicated channels.Small-scale farmers bring their harvest -using small vehicles or via public transport -to informal retail markets operating in Colombo. Many retail business people and individual customers visit these markets to buy fresh and rare vegetables and fruit at reasonable prices.Cargills Food City and Keells, two well-established, branded supermarket chains that operate in Colombo, have created their own innovative vegetable and fruit supply chains. They have their own purchasing centres in production areas and their own distribution centres. They use food safety protection measures that reduce food wastage and maintain food quality. These supermarkets offer relatively high prices to their registered farmers. Though the farmers have to transport their products, they are willing and able to do so due to the higher prices offered. The cold transportation fleet owned by supermarkets enables them to supply high-quality commodities to customers. Price inflation due to intermediaries is absent in these supply chains, which provide a good value for food producers and the right price levels for customers.Colombo Port is the main international harbour in Sri Lanka. Food items, such as wheat flour, sugar, onions, lentils, potatoes, palm oil, dried milk, soybeans, dried fish, canned food and fruit (apples, grapes, oranges), arrive via Colombo Port and are distributed throughout the country. There are many private small-and medium-scale wholesale shops and storages for imported food items in the CMC area. The country's entire wheat and red dhal requirement is met through imports. In 2013, the imported quantity of wheat and dhal was 934 596 tonnes and 151 129 tonnes respectively. The CMC acts as the national wholesale market for imported food items in Sri Lanka. At the same time Sri Lanka exports food items such as coconut, fish, vegetables and fruit, such as plantains, avocadoes and pineapples, to other countries. It is estimated that Sri Lanka spends around Rs.200 billion annually to import foods items (Figure 31).Demand for food in the city of Colombo depends on the number of residents and commuters, and on socio-economic factors of the population. In order to fulfill this demand in sufficient quantities and with preferable food items, a proper food marketing system needs to be established. Colombo has a range of marketplaces that cater to this diverse population with affordable food items that match their requirements. Marketplaces operating in Colombo range from supermarkets to roadside stalls.As well as the two branded supermarket chains, Cargill's Food City and Keels (see 4.5.5 above), there are 18 other relatively large markets located in Colombo's city limits. These markets are involved in the retail business of selling vegetables and fruit purchased from Manning Market. They operate under the CMC whose Department of Veterinary Service supervises them to ensure they adequately maintain food safety standards.Small-scale marketplaces operate throughout the city of Colombo. They started informally and gradually became well-established with a significant number of customers -both retailers and individual consumers -who buy fresh and rare vegetables and fruit at reasonable prices. There are also 27 daily and weekly markets that function outside Colombo. Farmers and food producers in the Colombo City Region bring their smallscale harvest to all these markets. There is one Dedicated Economic Centres within Colombo (Narahenpita), and four within Colombo District and five in Western Province.Roadside vegetable, fruit and prepared-food stalls are common in Colombo, particularly in densely populated residential areas. Flexibility in the minimum quantity of food that can be bought here, combined with relatively low prices, mean that these stalls attract low-income earners.Colombo CRFS analysis has identified seven major food items -rice, beans, brinjal, banana, papaya, coconut and fish -that are sources of nutrients. The latter include carbohydrate (rice), protein (fish), vitamins (vegetable and fruit) and fat (coconut).Based on one week's purchasing quantities of these items (using a typical week without any seasonal variations), monthly and annual consumptions were estimated. For example, rice is the main carbohydrate source in Sri Lankan meals and the main staple food: the average weekly household consumption is recorded as six kilograms, or 312 kilograms annually. Since there are 122 381 households in Colombo's city limits, a minimum of 38,183 tonnes of rice is needed each year. With the floating population of 500 000 people, who would also get their meals from Colombo, this demand increases significantly. Consumption of the other major commodities can be Figure 32.Annual supplies of selected food items were calculated using the weekly supply (obtained via primary data collection) and extrapolating in a linear way to monthly and then annual figures. Figure 32 depicts the estimated annual supply of selected food items. The supplies to Colombo are higher than the consumption requirement of the residential population. This can be explained by huge floating population and food outflows to the suburbs of Colombo.As Colombo is highly dependent on the food-producing regions of the country and acts as a marketing hub for food items, it is essential to ensure the supply of food items to the city matches the city's demand. However, as depicted in Figure 32, there is an over-supply for all seven food items. The supply of rice (126 percent) and fish (578 percent) exceeds demand by more than 100 percent. The supply of coconut exceeds demand by 60 percent.Consumers' consumption patterns in Colombo tend towards changing from homecooked meals to prepared meals outside the home. Therefore, the nutrition qualities of food safety concerns of the prepared-food industry have been an emerging issue that needs resolving. Not all the eating houses and restaurants in Colombo are registered. The highest percentages of household responses showed they were very rarely affected by food-related diseases, which could indicate that the public is unaware of the food safety issue.  6). According to the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) at the CMC, there are many unregistered eating places where the CMC has no control whatsoever. It is believed the number of unregistered eating houses is approximately 400, and thus some of the food safety concerns of prepared food in Colombo remain unanswered.Bakery 35Canteen 4Catering services 1Club 5Coffee shop 8Food manufacturer 1Hotel 35Lodging house 8Restaurant 121Uncategorised 20All catering services and food outlets in the CMC have to obtain a certificate to initiate a catering service and then renew their certificate annually after an inspection. Before issuing the certificate, the CMC has to conduct a thorough review. After issuing the certificate, the CMC continues random and scheduled inspections throughout the year to confirm catering food safety. As of 2014, there were 901 catering food traders and 303 had not been registered, i.e. they operated informally without having any approval by the CMC (Table 7).Eating Houses 598 303No. of prosecuted cases 434No. of convicted 167 The findings of the study revealed that selected vegetables and food items travel long distances to reach Manning Market (Figure 33). The shortest distance that a food item (banana) travels is 26 kilometres, whereas the longest distance is 396 kilometres. The longer distances can be reduced substantially by channelling commodities from closer supply areas and by promoting the CRFS concept.It is evident that part of the requirement for selected vegetables and fruit is fulfilled by foodproducing areas in the city region. Therefore, an increase in the production capacity of these will bring positive results in terms of food security, employment generation, nutrient security and food prices for the city of Colombo.Physical accessibility to food is not an issue in Colombo. Almost all low-income settlements are situated in well-urbanised areas so people have easy access to major food markets. Low-income earners in Colombo can reach a retail shop within 20 minutes; in fact, more than 50 percent can reach a shop within 10 minutes.More than 80 percent of respondents have retail shops within walking distance and eight percent of them use three-wheelers. Even though the supermarket concept is becoming more popular, lowincome city dwellers are not attracted to it. Only one percent of them regularly buy their food items from supermarkets while 75 percent buy from a marketplace or fair. Food prices may influence their choice of retail shop. It is clear that accessibility is not an issue but affordability may be.The wage-earners' daily food-purchasing pattern is highly adjusted to their earning pattern. Very few houses have refrigerators that allow them to store a weekly inventory of food items. Only 16 percent of households do inventory purchasing, where they purchase food items only once a week. All other households in the sample had to purchase once every one to two days, as shown in Figure 34. Since all foodpurchasing places are open daily, shopping for food is not a problem. In any desperate situation, shops located inside low-income settlements can be accessed at any time of the day, with or without cash on hand. Hence, residents have close access to food in their neighborhood.The poverty head count ratio of Colombo illustrates a considerable diminishing pattern over the period of 1990-2010 -it fell from 16.2 percent in 1990/91 to 3.6 percent in 2009/10. However, daily dietary energy intake is lower than the prescribed amount for more than 50 percent of the population in the Colombo City Region. As per the Household Department of Census and Statistics (2016) findings, the average monthly household food expenditure of Sri Lanka is 34 percent of monthly income, whereas in Colombo it is reported as 29 percent. All three districts in Western Province have a lower percentage of household food expenditure compared to the national figure. This shows that the expenditure on non-food items in Colombo is the highest in Western Province (Table 8). Monthly income of middle-and high-income residents ranges from Rs.25 000 to Rs.250 000 while the average income is reported as Rs.75 810. An average of 22 percent of income is spent on preparing three main meals a day. As per the survey findings, more than 50 percent of middle-and high-income residents spend over Rs.1 000 a day on preparing main three meals.  There is an increasing trend in organic food consumption in the city, especially among high-income groups. Two years ago, a small weekly market named \"Good Market\" offering regional organic products was set up in Colombo. A sample survey shows more than half of respondents prefer to consume organic food because of health issues related to non-organic food consumption. It indicates that respondents are well aware of the health benefits of organic products. Environmental friendliness regarding organic crop cultivation was taken into consideration by 30 percent of respondents who consumed organic foods often. Even though people are willing to consume organic food there is limited production and little access to it. Only ten percent of respondents have identified that organic products are readily available. When comparing the prices of organic and non-organic foods (Figure 36) it is clear that organic food items are relatively expensive; the difference in unit prices is double or more for most items.Research is needed into ways to lower the production cost of organic foods, so that their market price can fall.According to studies by Willer H. & Julia L. ( 2015) there are 62 560 hectares of certified organic farmland in Sri Lanka covering 2.4 percent of total agricultural cultivation. Under organic certification in Sri Lanka, 223 food exporters, 141 food processors and 524 food producers have registered their products. Though sellers claim their products are organic, there is no formal certification in the country, which is a gap that needs to be addressed. Colombo is the most urbanised city in Sri Lanka, with people living busy lives and wanting fast food. There is a relatively high intake of bread, wheat flour products and prepared food outside the home, and most of these are carbohydrate-based. As per the survey findings, an average family spends 18.4 percent of their total food expenditure on prepared food. An average rice, curry and fish/meat meal costs Rs.100-250. Many franchised food outlets are located in Colombo. Upper middle-and highclass people eat from these places, where the minimum cost per meal is Rs.600-700. Canteen and cafeterias in hospitals, universities, government offices and schools have relatively low prices for a meal (Figure 37).As revealed from survey findings, the majority of respondents spend comparatively less money on their breakfast and more on their lunch and dinner. The main reason for this is the food culture in Sri Lanka. 4.14 Heath issues related to food habits Food consumption habits have challenged community health significantly. Non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes and high cholesterol, are more prevalent among the local urban community. Diabetes among Sri Lankans is considered as silent epidemic in the country. Diabetes affects 366 million people worldwide -2.1 million are Sri Lankans, which is 10 percent of the country's population. To visualise the scale of the issue, 8.2 percent of urban youth under 20 years of age and 22.1 percent between 20 and 40 years of age have an abnormal glucose tolerance level, while 60 percent have abnormal lipids that could lead to diabetes if left uncorrected.Obesity prevalence among boys (4.3 percent) was higher than in girls (3.1 percent). The prevalence of thinness (wasting) was 24.7 percent in boys and 23.1 percent in girls.Approximately five percent of boys and 5.2 percent of girls are stunted. Underweight among girls and boys is 7.0 percent and 6.8 percent respectively. The majority of obese children (66 percent) and 43.5 percent of overweight children belong to the high-income category (who have a monthly family income of more than Rs.20 000).The percentage loss of food on farms varies significantly as per the commodity (Table 9): paddy (two to five percent), beans (four percent) and banana (three percent). However, there have been reports of a 20 percent loss of the brinjal harvest due to various pest attacks (Jayathunge et al., 2011) and a high proportion of fish loss (Ganegama Arachchi et al., 2000).Food losses of the selected seven commodities were assessed along the value chain (Table 9). As per the results of the assessment, it is evident that there is an increase in crop losses at the farm gate compared to previous research findings. Extreme climatic conditions and different types of disease may be reasons for these increases in crop loss. During this study, food waste and food losses were defined as shown in Figure 38. Food waste and losses occur along the stages of a supply chain, such as production, processing, storage, retailing and consumption. The decrease of food before it reaches a retailer is food loss, while food discarded by a retailer or a consumer is food waste. Problems in harvesting, storage, packing, transport, infrastructure and institutional and legal frameworks may lead to food loss and food waste. Food loss along the value chain varies for each commodity. The vegetable and fruit loss along the value chain (from farm to consumer) has been estimated at between 20-40 percent, depending on which vegetable or fruit is involved. Of this, nearly 75 percent of the total loss occurs during transportation, mainly due to the use of improper packaging.Overall visual quality from farmer to consumer changes from excellent to poor in most cases, which is not assessed in detail. The Institute of Post-Harvest Technology (IPHT) in Anuradhpura has completed a cost-benefit analysis on transporting vegetables in plastic crates and has found that it is profitable in the long term, though farmers cannot see encouraging results in the short term. Farmers who directly supply vegetables and fruit to supermarkets, restaurants and hotels pack the harvest in plastic crates before transporting. However, main supply chain members do not use crates except for a few kinds of vegetable, such as tomatoes.Based on the findings of the survey, the estimated food loss at Manning Market is 25 tonnes per day. According to observations and discussions with commission agents and retailers, the food loss of beans at the wholesale market is less than four percent and that of brinjals is 2.5 percent. Bananas and papayas are more susceptible to mechanical damage during transportation as both fruits are sensitive to vibration. Food loss of bananas and papayas at the wholesale market is estimated as 10 percent and six percent respectively. Post-harvest loss of coconuts is two to five percent and a small amount of fish is lost as they are transported chilled in cooler vehicles and in rigid boxes.At the retail business level, the loss of fruit (18 percent), vegetables (17 percent) and dry food (15 percent) is significantly high. The lowest food waste is reported for cooked food (four percent) and condiments (four percent), as shown in Figure 39. Supermarkets maintain their own supply chains which are shorter and more efficient than the main supply chains. Figure 40 explains the loss of selected food items at supermarkets; all losses were below ten percent, except for brinjal. Food losses at supermarkets are relatively low compared to other wholesale and retail businesses. The use of plastic crates to transport perishables, together with thorough sorting and grading at collecting centres and at outlets, results in less post-harvest losses. Further, supermarkets adopt multiple strategies to minimise economic losses due to damaged and poor-quality crops. Discount promotions, bargain sales and bundle offers for slowmoving food items are strategies they adopt. It is common to sell fruit products derived from partly wasted food items as eat-on-the-go type of foods, such as pickle, vegetable and fruit slices, and fruit salads.Evidence shows that 25 percent of the economic value of vegetables is wasted before they reach the retailer. Total annual economic loss is accounted as 58 billion Rs. by considering the actual vegetable production from July 2015 to June 2016 (Figure 41). The Colombo CRFS is influenced by multiple stakeholders. Institutes at the national, provincial and local levels are involved in different processes of food production, food processing, marketing, distribution, food safety monitoring and food waste management. A number of state ministries, such as the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resource Management, the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment, and the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, significantly influence the food production of the country. The Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine develops policies to improve the level of nutrition of people of the country and to ensure food safety. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce is responsible for a sufficient and timely food supply to the country. Different organisations functioning under the above ministries are responsible for implementing policies and executing legislations.The Department of Agriculture, the Department of Agrarian Service Development, the Hector Kobbakaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute, the Mahaweli Economic Agency, the Department of Irrigation, the Institute of Post-harvest Technology, the Consumer Affairs Authority, Food Control Administration and the National Livestock Development board are some of the public organisations that are operational within the country's institutional framework and that influence the country's food systems.Private sector organisations also play a major role in food systems and they intervene in the country's agriculture sector from input supply to organic waste management. CIC, Bauer and Hayleys are the leading companies that supply agriculture inputs, while Keells, Cargills, Arpico and Laugfs are the widespread supermarket chains in Sri Lanka. Food processing and manufacturing is mainly done by private companies.Provincial ministries, while not involved in national policy formulation, do plan and implement projects at the provincial level. Western Province, for example, is responsible for provincial operations that include the area of the Colombo CRFS.The CMC is the local authority which regulates markets, food safety monitoring and food waste management within Colombo. The CMC manages virtually all the major food markets in Colombo and executes the requirements stated mainly in the Sri Lanka Food Act and other policy and legislations at the provincial level.The legal framework of the agriculture sector is comprised of many acts, including the Seed Act No.22 2003, the Plant Protection Act No.35 of 1999, the Soil Conservation Act of 1996 and the Control of Pesticides Act No.6 of 1994. Most of these acts are implemented by different institutes that come under the purview of the Department of Agriculture. The Sri Lanka National Agriculture Policy was formulated by the Ministry of Agriculture's Agrarian Services ( 2007), with the aim of achieving the food and nutrition security of the nation as well as increasing the income opportunities and the income of farming communities through multiple means. During the Phase 1 stakeholder consultation, four priority areas were selected. Three areas -food loss and food waste, food security and food safety, and climate change and natural resource management -are analysed below. The fourth is value chain management, which is a cross-cutting area, and is discussed under each priority area, where needed. The detailed description of value chains can be found in Section 4.Local government is responsible for the management of the solid waste (MSW) generated within its area. Approximately 1 663 tonnes of solid waste are generated daily from Western Province; in the city of Colombo the amount is 700 tonnes (FAO, IWMI and RUAF, 2016).The CMC is responsible for managing the solid waste generated within city limits. The biodegradable solid waste is divided into two components based on the required time for its decomposition. Shortterm biodegradable waste (63.6 percent) produces a considerable proportion of food waste. Longterm biodegradable waste is most likely to be wooden waste, coconut shells, banana stems, etc. A very high portion of the short-term biodegradable waste and a portion of the long-term biodegradable waste consists of food waste.The total amount of food waste can be estimated as 350 tonnes a day, which is half of the total waste generation, and 80 percent of short-term biodegradable waste is estimated as food waste. More than 40 percent of the total food waste generated in commercial establishments can be recovered as source-segregated food waste (Figure 43), which amounts to approximately 150 tonnes a day. Waste management is one of the main challenges for the CMC. Resource recovery from MSW in Colombo is on the lower side. Recently, the Meethotamulla dump site collapsed (on 14th of April 2017) and at least 19 people, including five children, died and at least 40 homes destroyed. Now the CMC dumps its waste adjacent to a national wetland called Muturajawela. The CMC is under huge pressure from the public and nationally to adopt a sustainable waste management system.Primary data collection confirmed that low-income settlements produce a low level of food wastage (four percent). Sizable food waste generation can be evidenced from households in the middle-and high-income settlements. Almost 50 percent of the population wastes 10-20 percent of their food and four percent of the population wasted more than 30 percent. Respondents indicated that eating habits of residents are the main reason for such a high percentage of waste generation; the majority of households do not eat all the food prepared or purchased, and the excess is wasted. In lowincome settlements, people share extra food with their neighbours and whoever is in need, but this is not the case with high-and middle-income settlements. Among the food waste generated in middle-and high-income households, the highest percentage disposed is cooked rice (59 percent) followed by bread (20 percent). Of the respondents, only 14 percent and six percent indicated wastage of vegetables and fruit respectively. Food waste is mainly handed over to the municipal garbage trucks, a very few households bury them in a pit. Therefore, household level food waste in Colombo is dumped at an open dumping site.Households normally prepare food once a day, which they eat fresh for lunch and then serve up the remainder for dinner, so there is less opportunity for food waste. The majority (73 percent) of lowincome households do not throw away food; 17 percent waste more than ten percent of their food, which serves as animal feed for livestock (e.g. chickens) and domestic animals.Previous studies revealed 20-40 percent losses (see section 4.15 for the adopted definition for food losses) along the main vegetable and fruit value chains (Wasala, 2015;Dissanayake, 2015). By assuming that highly perishable vegetables have 30 percent losses and relatively low perishable vegetables 20 percent losses, the total economic value of the losses were assessed. Evidence showed that 25 percent of the economic value of vegetables is wasted before they reach the retailer. Total annual losses are accounted as 58 billion rupees by considering the actual vegetable production from July 2015 to June 2016.In 2014, GDP of Sri Lanka was estimated as USD 80.6 billion 21 whereas the contribution of the vegetable farming industry is 1.6 percent of GDP. Reducing the vegetable losses to five percent could increase the sector contribution to 2.1 percent of the total GDP of the country. The analysis can be found in Appendix 5.Sri Lanka does not have a production plan for vegetables and fruit. Hence, the recurring mismatch of supply and demand creates high price fluctuations and waste of products (i.e. price of perishable items go down and surplus production is wasted).A production plan for fruit, vegetables and other field crops needs to be developed to reduce the surplus.21 Source: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/sri-lanka/gdpNutrition indicators from Colombo District are poorer than national values. A high prevalence of anaemia is reported in Colombo District (40 percent) 22 and authorities state anaemic levels within the Colombo City Region exceed that of district levels.Additionally, the highest percentages of high blood pressure (11.9 percent) and diabetes (11.2 percent) patients are reported from Colombo District.According to Jayawardena (2013), the Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) was defined as the total count of different food groups irrespective of the amount consumed by individuals over a 24-hour period. When measuring the DDS, all food items consumed by the subjects were categorised into 12 food groups: starch (cereals, tubers, roots and starchy vegetables, such as jackfruit), vegetables, green leafy vegetables (green salads and 'Mallum'), fruit, fish (including dried fish and seafood), meat (including poultry, eggs), legumes (including nuts and seeds except coconut), milk (including all dairy products), beverages (tea, coffee and fizzy drinks), oils and fats (coconut products were included), and sweets and miscellaneous (e.g. alcohol). Thus, results can be derived from FAO on Sri Lanka's dietary deficiency levels. Sri Lanka is improving as a country, with decreasing trends in undernourishment, food deficit and food inadequacy ratios.Studies (Jayawardena, et al., 2014) found that when the dietary score increases the food consumption also increases in most food groups except starchy foods. Among the food groups of a dietary pyramid (all other groups except starch, sugar, meat and pulses), vegetables, milk and fruit were least frequent and lie below the national and international recommended levels.Among the age group of 6-59 months, Colombo District's prevalences of stunting (eight percent), wasting (17 percent) and underweight (16.3 percent) are lower than the national prevalences of stunting (13.1 percent), wasting (19.6 percent) and underweight (23.5 percent), according to the National Nutrition and Micronutrient Survey (2012). Anaemia in the CMC is higher (27.8. percent) than in Colombo District (22.3 percent) among the children in the age group of 6-59 months (Jayatissa & Hossain, 2010). The same study identified that the percentage of children yet to achieve the target of dietary diversity was 59.3 percent in the CMC area and 54 percent in the rest of the district.Among non-pregnant women aged between 15 and 49 years, 9.6 percent were underweight, 32.3 percent were overweight and 19.7 percent were obese in the CMC area, whereas for rest of the district, these figures were 12.1 percent, 27.1 percent and 7.9 percent respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that the dietary deficiencies of non-pregnant women in the CMC area are better compared with rest of the district.According to FAO, 1 810 kilocalories is the general Minimum Dietary Energy Requirement (MDER). However, in Sri Lanka, 2 030 kilocalories per capita is considered as the MDER when compiling the official poverty line. Mayadunne and Romeshun (2013) compared the district calorie intake and calculated the percentage proportion of the population under 1 810 kilocalories MDER and 2 030 kilocalories MDER between the periods of 2006/2007 and 2009/2010. Accordingly, 18.9 percent of the population in Sri Lanka does not receive 1 810 kilocalories MDER and more than a third of the population did not receive 2 030 kilocalories MDER level in 2009/2010. The situation is worse in Colombo District. Remarkably, more than a third of the population in Colombo has not achieved the 1 810 kilocalories level, whereas over half of the population in Colombo District has not reached the 2030 kilocalories MDER level. Colombo as the most urbanised district in the country also records the worst ratings for food insecurity among all districts.However, according to the findings of the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) calculation, the average HDDS of the low-income settlements was 7.6. According to the 22 Source: Demographic and Health Survey, 2006Survey, -2007. . National Food Security Assessment (NFSA) 2009, the mean HDDS was 7.8 in Colombo District and in the CMC area it was the highest score (8.8) in the country. Analysing the HDDS among households revealed that 49.5 percent of households have eight or higher and more than ten percent of households have ten or more.The previous results revealed that, even though people have very high awareness and the need to eat a healthy diet, the obstacles to achieving this are varied (Figure 44). It seems cost is the major obstacle for the low-income community. However, consumers have many choices to fulfill their nutrition requirements. Consumer knowledge on the nutrient value of different crops needs to be improved -for example, the less expensive but nutritious vegetables, fruit, grains and other field crops. Further, the nutrient value of harvested perishables deteriorates rapidly with time if proper storage facilities are not used.In Sri Lanka in recent years, there is a growing fear of food safety and quality risks. Though there are relatively fewer incidences reported, the density of issues probably tends to increase. Recently, chronic kidney diseases have spread through some parts of Sri Lanka, which is suspected to be due to agrochemical contamination of food and/ or water. The overuse of agrochemicals in vegetable and fruit production is a serious issue for the authorities in the agriculture, health and environment sectors. Farmers disregard the withholding period after the application of pesticides. If market prices are high, farmers harvest the crop even one day after applying the pesticides, making the situation worse. Post-harvesting, fruit-ripening stimulants are widely used, but farmers fail to adopt recommended methods. Some traders use calcium carbide as a ripening agent, but this is discouraged in many countries due to its associated health hazards.Members of middle-and high-income settlement areas do not often become victims of food-borne diseases. Only 18 percent of the respondents have said that their household members sometimes get food-related diseases and 30 percent said that it happens rarely. Most households are very rarely affected by food-related diseases. However, compared to low-income household responses where the majority had rarely been affected by food-related illnesses, the level of vulnerability towards food illnesses among high-and middle-income households seems relatively high. This was different to the expected situation. Perhaps people living in low-income households are better adapted to tough environmental and food conditions which people living in middle-and high-income households are not normally exposed to in their everyday life. Climate change and the deprivation of natural resources has been central in discussions on food systems. Currently, there are reported impacts on food systems due to climate changes, such as disrupted rainfall patterns and increases in temperature, and to the mismanagement of naturalresources. Climate change superimposes itself on existing trends, particularly in regions that already suffer from soils that are chronically deficient of organic matter -from water resource scarcity and exposure to climatic extremes, such as droughts and flooding. Many of these effects accelerate poverty and hunger. From a food system perspective, there are limited studies with an in-depth analysis of the effects of climate change and natural resource mismanagement. In Sri Lanka, discussions of the causes and consequences of these issues have focused on the national or regional level rather than the area of the Colombo CRFS. Owing to the unavailability and inaccessibility of data, some indicators in this study were analysed at the national, provincial or district level, depending on the segregation of available data sources. This section of the report discusses the causes and consequences of climate changes and examines what is needed regarding natural resource management in the Colombo City Region and the areas supplying food to the CMC.In addition, agriculture and activities related to food production are being identified as potential contributors to climate change acceleration and natural resource deprivation.Natural resource management is a vital prerequisite for sustainable agriculture. The rich stock of natural resources was the launching pad for a prosperous agriculture sector in Sri Lanka. The overuse of agro-chemicals, the absence of a proper cropping plan and farming malpractices have resulted in significant levels of soil degradation, water pollution and depletion of natural resources.Sri Lanka is an island with a surface area of 65 610 square kilometres, including inland waters and forests; 4.4 percent of the total land area is under surface water and 25 percent of the land is covered by forests. Every country inherits different stocks of natural resources, which, when exploited for economic gain, tend to deplete. If this happens in an uncontrolled manner, it becomes a challenge for sustainability and environmental balance. It is highly important to assess natural resources of the country and city regions, to identify their status and environmental trends, and to explore the challenging concerns for sustainability. Owing to controllable and uncontrollable reasons, both human-driven and nature-driven, certain aspects of Sri Lanka's natural resources have been depleted, creating a number of negative consequences that affect the food systems in the country.In 1990, forest cover in Sri Lanka was 36.4 percent of the total land area; over the subsequent 25 years, it has fallen to 33 percent, which is not such a huge decline compared to the scale of development activities that have taken place. However, soil degradation is one of the crucial environmental issues and immediate remedial issues are urgently needed. Over 44 percent of the soil in Sri Lanka is degrading in some way. Iron toxicity is an issue faced by wet-zone farmers. Soil erosion remains a highlighted issue. For example, soil maps have been developed by the Natural Resources Management Centre (NRMC) and these show that 68 percent of the area in Badulla District, 67 percent of Nuwaraeliya District and 74 percent of Kandy District are in the high to extremely high category of erosion potential. The Parliament of Sri Lanka amended the Soil Prevention Act No. 24 of 1996 to combat land degradation, improve conservation of water and watersheds, and prevent soil erosion.Evidence shows that huge attention has been given to prevent soil degradation as it directly affects soil fertility, which directly influences crop yield. According to the soil fertility map of the Ministry of Agriculture, soil types in the Colombo City Region are good for cultivating tea, rubber, coconut, coffee, cocoa and cinnamon. Vegetables, fruit, cereals and pulses are also recommended for cultivation. So far, the majority of land in the Colombo City Region has been utilised for cultivating rubber, coconut and paddy, which are recommended crops for the general soil condition of the region. This soil type requires good management to grow these crops (Department of Agriculture, 2000). Hence, cultivating vegetables and fruit in the Colombo City Region do not bring the same competitive advantage as other parts of the country, which have more suitable soil for their cultivation.Among the 25 districts in Sri Lanka, Colombo District is the smallest. It comprises 69 900 hectares of land surface, from which 62 705 hectares can be utilised for living and other human activities. With a population of 2 324 349, Colombo District has the highest population density in the country. In 2011, there were 323.16 people per hectare, an eight percent increase on 299.77 people per hectare in 2001. The land resources available for food production have rapidly declined and were pushed towards the outer border areas of the city. Food production from Colombo District can be considered as one of the lowest in the country.The future situation in the Colombo City Region is more alarming than in other regions. Soon, the entire Western Province will evolve into a huge developed region (Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development, 2016), with limited regions allocated for agriculture. The proposed plan for the Western Megapolis allocates Avissawella, Mirigama and Horana for mainly plantation crops. However, a comprehensive plan to feed the increased population in Western Megapolis area is lacking.Soil nutrient inputs for agricultural lands in Sri Lanka limits the application of synthetic fertilisers in most cases. Synthetic fertilisers can supply major nutrients, but they do not help to increase the micronutrients or organic content in soils. Chemical fertiliser usage in Western Province (Colombo District is part of Western Province) reveals gradual reduction in the use of fertiliser, most likely due to reducing agricultural activities in the region.Soil erosion maps have been developed by the Natural Resources Management Centre (NRMC) for the Central, Uva and Sambaragamuwa provinces. According to the soil erosion maps for the Uva and Central provinces, 68 percent of the area in Badulla District, 67 percent of Nuwaraeliya District and 74 percent of Kandy District are in the high to extremely high categories for erosion potential. Soil erosion in Nuwaraeliya District is 1 000 tonnes per hectare per year. Soil erosion is a key issue.As pest attacks are common in fruit and vegetables, farmers use chemicals in the early stage of cultivation to control its spread and avoid major economic losses. Overuse of agrochemicals is a major concern. Extension services need to be strengthened to provide required guidance to the farmers on fertiliser application, field sanitation and pest control.Planting seeds of high quality is a key component in improving productivity. The majority of the seedsrequired for vegetable and fruit farming are imported to Sri Lanka and these are high-breed varieties, which need huge amount of nutrients to provide the determined yield. This is one reason for the heavy use of fertiliser and agro-chemicals in agriculture in Sri Lanka. According to the available statistical sources, 331 000 tonnes of fertiliser are used per year, which makes Sri Lanka the fifth highest country in the world for its fertiliser usage per hectare. Such overuse has already created environmental and health impacts.The Colombo City Region is in the wet zone, which is supposed to receive consistent rain throughout the year and an average annual figure of 1 500-3 500 millimetres. The pattern of rainfall has been irregular since 2005 and in the years 2010 and 2014, the annual average was above 2 500 millimetres, higher than the average rainfall between 1961 and 1990. However, the lowest rainfall in Colombo was recorded in 2011 and the annual average fell below 2 000 millimetres in 2012.  The Colombo City Region has not been recognised as a risky area in any of the published climate change vulnerability assessments relating to food production in Sri Lanka. It is the impact of climate change on the major food supply areas of the whole country that are of concern to the Colombo City Region, which produces negligible quantities of food (less than two percent of the region's requirement).Three types of vulnerability have been identified as major concerns in Sri Lanka: droughts, floods and a rise in seawater. Their impact has been assessed in terms of irrigation water, agriculture production (especially paddy), livestock and other plantation sectors (Ministry of Environment, 2011). Water is a limited resource in the dry zone, which supplies a significant portion of the food required in the Colombo City Region. Cultivation in much of the dry zone depends on rainfall or on minor tanks managed by the Department of Agrarian Development. Variations in rainfall pattern and extreme climatic events, such as prolonged dry spells, adversely affect rain-fed agriculture. Methods of harvesting and retaining water as well as water-effcient irrigation methods, such as sprinker irrigation, can be encouraged. Adverse impacts on food production areas increases the vulnerability of the supply system to Colombo.Climate change, particularly the rise in seawater levels, can have a significant impact on the fisheries sector in Sri Lanka. In the Colombo City Region, marine fish fulfill more than 90 percent of the fish requirement.Food prices often rise in the cities after adverse weather-related incidents, which will become more frequent with climate change. An instance occurred during first two weeks of May 2016, for example, when high rainfall brought flooding to many parts of the country, including the Colombo City Region which saw its worst flooding in recent history.This study assessed farmers' perceptions about climate change. More than a third stated the impact is high on their farming practices and 53 percent declared that climate change had a moderate influence (Figure 46). Hence, the majority of farmers have perceived climate changes in their localities and that these changes have some influence on their farming practices, in some cases forcing them to alter the timings of their cultivation. Diverse agro-climatic regions: Sri Lanka is blessed with diverse agro-climatic conditions ranging from semi-arid to humid and from coastal to mountainous regions. This increases its potential to grow a wide range of crops. Paddy, the staple food, is grown in most parts of the country by adapting different land preparation methods, such as contour cultivation and lowland cultivation, together with water management methods, such as rain-fed and irrigated agriculture. A wide range of vegetables, including such exotic vegetables as bell pepper and broccoli, and such low-country vegetables as snake gourd, bitter gourd and cucumber, are grown where suitable climatic conditions prevail. Pulses, oil seeds and different types of root crop are grown in areas where less water is available.Stakeholder networks and their capacities: the Colombo CRFS is influenced by many stakeholders at national, provincial and local levels. Both public and private sector organisations contribute to varied aspects of the food system at different levels. The private sector has extended interests in specific activities of the food value chain, such as food processing, food safety, food security and pricing.Public institutes are engaged in all aspects of the food system and are fully involved in policy making, human resource development, capacity building and monitoring and evaluation. Establishment of more economic centres at strategic locations will benefit the food system of the city region.Strong legal framework: Sri Lanka has a comprehensive legal framework that regulates the food system in general. Gaps and outdated laws may require updates and amendments while strong implementation of existing regulation still needs to be practised. The summarised review of the legal framework can be found in Appendix 6.Social capital: greater social capital exists when society has strong relationships among people. Networks and relationships enable the effective functioning of a society and volunteerism promotes a sense of community. Higher levels of social capital reduce costs, increase the probability of collective action and make cooperation more likely among individuals. The innate Sri Lankan culture of volunteerism, and sharing and helping people who are victimised, is a real societal asset and presents an opportunity to strengthen food systems.Crop cultivation in Sri Lanka is a labour-intensive process, especially in the hill country where the possibility of using machinery is limited. Many farmers in Sri Lanka experience labour shortages, which can be solved by a labour exchange method practised at village level, particularly when land needs preparing and at harvest time. Exchanging seeds and harvested crops is also a help to farmers.In urban areas, especially among low-income families, people commonly exchange food and this means that their organic waste is significantly less compared to that of middle-and high-income families. Additionally, in disaster situations people help the victims by supplying cooked food, water and dry rations before other agencies kickstart the response process. This strong relationships among households and communities provides an opportunity to build sustainable food systems.government policy of improving agriculture, fisheries and livestock: the Government of Sri Lanka recognises the importance of developing the country's agriculture, and that increasing food production and introducing post-harvesting industries would increase food supply. Details for the improvement the fisheries sector can be found in Appendix 7.Market attractiveness: agriculture and livestock farming are rare in the city of Colombo, but it is an attractive business centre for agricultural and livestock farmers and middlemen. Many city residents have a relatively high income so actors in the supply chain view Colombo as the best place to get high prices for their products. At the same time, they bring enough food to supply the Colombo City Region.easy access to imports: the Colombo City Region has easy access to international food imports via the port and airport. All imported food items, such as pulses and canned fish, come to Colombo where they are distributed through Pettah Market.Major suppliers of non-food products: Colombo is the main commercial hub in Sri Lanka. Supply chains of many commercial non-food products, such as cloths, garments, electronics, fertilisers, start from the city. Vehicles come to Colombo with food products from different parts of the country and then return with imported non-food commodities.Resilience for disasters: despite Sri Lanka's increasing numbers of natural disasters -from droughts and floods to unpredictable weather patterns -Colombo is a resilient location as it receives food from multiple destinations, including imports.Complementary industries: in Colombo, the massive wastage of vegetables and fruit from places such as Manning Market provides an opportunity to introduce complementary industries for making sauces, pickles, ketchups, cordials and jams.Increasing demand for organic products: there is a tendency among residents in Colombo to consume organic foods; the demand means the prices of organic products are relatively high. Therefore, peri-urban and rural areas of the Colombo City Region could cultivate more organic vegetables and fruit to fulfill the increasing demand.Capacity building of farmers and food processors: in Sri Lanka, many public institutes conduct training to help build the capacity of farmers, transporters, collectors, shopkeepers and food processors. The Department of Agriculture and the Department of Agrarian Services provide training for farmers on different disciplines related to crop cultivation and natural resource management. These training institutes are well-equipped with the required physical resources and have experts who can advise on different aspects of value addition to crops and food processing. By utilising the resources at these training institutes in an optimum manner, the increased demand for value added and processed food products can be met while reducing the post-harvest losses of perishable foods.Support to establish start-ups: the Ministry of Primary Industries has grant-and-loan schemes to help start up new businesses that provide value addition to agricultural products. The ministry provided up to 10 million rupees to start up a project giving advice on business management and technical expertise.Infrastructure facilities: infrastructure facilities such as roads, power supplies and telecommunication networks have been significantly developed and improved within the last decade. These have helped farmers and consumers in various ways, such as reducing the quantities of post-harvest loss and providing access to timely market information through the internet and mobile phones. Used optimally, such facilities can benefit farmers and consumers and strengthen the Colombo CRFS. use of unutilised lands: increased food production within the city region via cultivation of abandoned and unutilised lands will help to augment the city's food supply and reduce food mileage. The Western Province harbours high agriculture potential as large extents of land remain uncultivated. They can be utilised for cultivating paddy, vegetables and other field crops. If labour scarcity issues are correctly addressed and water supply systems are rehabilitated and restored, a higher percentage of the food requirement can be fulfilled from the city region itself. The resultant reduction in the time taken to transport food and the consequent decrease in food mileage will greatly reduce the quantity of post-harvest loss.access to food: there are 19 CMC-controlled food markets, including the main wholesale market, in the city of Colombo. The main fish market is located in Peliyagoda and there is a well-established bazaar for rice, potatoes, onions and fruit. A Dedicated Economic Centre with 117 stalls sells a variety of foods. There are more than 40 supermarket outlets and around 900 small-to-large-scale prepared food stalls. Hence, there is a satisfactory level of food distribution points in Colombo and everyone in the city has easy access to food.there is an emerging trend in the Colombo City Region towards shorter food supply chains. Farmers from the region and neighbouring areas bring their harvests in small quantities. In addition, there are 27 daily and weekly markets outside the city but within Colombo District where farmers can take their produce. These short supply chains allow food producers within the Colombo City Region to directly sell their harvests to residents.The CRFS study identified policy recommendations mainly covering four study areas.After analysing the policy recommendations collaboratively, key policy interventions to be implemented were prioritised and are listed in section 7.4.The laws and regulations in Sri Lanka have not identified food waste as a separate waste category and so it is mainly governed by municipal solid waste regulations. RRR from food waste is a good possibility. The main focus is on how to optimise the RRR from food waste and to identify what new regulatory interventions are needed.According to the current legislation, there is no punishment for causing food loss and food waste in value chain, nor is there an incentive scheme for minimising it. If food operators store, distribute and exhibit their food in a way that increases the chance for food loss or food waste, they should be discouraged and, if possible, prohibited by law.Food operators should be encouraged to give discounts or to use promotional activities to sell food items that reach their expiry date. The FCAU can conduct research to identify such slow-moving food items and to assess their expiration tendency; then food operators can be encouraged to sell these items at a discount rate or as bundle offers when they reach their expiry date.Concerns about the safety and hygiene of secondary products made from waste food indicate that safety procedures and minimum standards and regulations should be established for waste food reuse and recycling at the commercial level.Food waste is a resource and an additional income-earning opportunity for employees at food operators and for housewives, so they could be educated about the benefits from sorted waste. To achieve this, local authorities with financial assistance from provincial councils could design and conduct a national level promotional campaign.The Western Province has a separate authority to manage its solid waste, but it is not seriously concerned about food loss and food waste, nor about the possibility of reusing and recycling of food waste. Therefore, it is recommended that the provisions of reusing and recycling of food waste be segregated to the provincial level in long run.The CMC can pass by-laws to encourage eating houses to adopt waste-minimising business practices, because sometimes the 'portion sizes' or 'food mix' contributes to food waste. Therefore, instead of providing standard quantities, eating houses can further reduce the portion of food parcels and top them up only if needed. Another option is make the food when the customer asks for it, without keeping large quantities of food prepared without assessing the demand.There is some demand for using non-mixed food waste, such as breads and buns and even for throwaway vegetables and prepared rice, as animal food. The CMC has to identify the animal farms inside the Colombo City Region and encourage the owners to use food waste as animal feed. Mixed food waste that is unsuitable as animal food can instead be used to generate biogas and compost. The CMC can provide technical assistance and reduce rates and licence fees in order to encourage business entities to reuse their food waste.Social media and SMS campaigns can convey useful messages by developing content that shows the consequences of inadequate waste management at household level.The CMC can conduct seminars at schools in Colombo to convey the message to elders via children.Food security and safety are areas lagging behind the rest of the food system in Sri Lanka. In 2018, Sri Lanka was identified as the second highest country for malnutrition in South Asia. Food safety in Sri Lanka is mainly governed by the Food Act that was enacted in 1980, with two amendments in 1991 and 2011 to alter the composition of the food advisory committee and to update certain terminologies. 'Food safety' has been recognised as an important term and has been regulated according to the Food Act.The Food Act disseminates the execution powers to authorised officers, including public health inspectors (PHIs) attached to provincial councils and local authorities. Provincial council and local authority acts and by-laws do not have sufficient up-to-date provisions for food safety and hygiene. Therefore, the Food Act of Sri Lanka should be amended, along with provincial level and local level acts and by-laws, to provide authority and directions on specific roles in food control. All three administrative levels jointly should revise the Food Act and their respective by-laws to eliminate the bottlenecks and contradictions they are currently facing.The Food Control Administration Unit is an independent body under the purview of the Ministry of Healthcare, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine. However, the ministry does not seem to give food control administration in Sri Lanka sufficient significance. Therefore it is recommended to institutionalise an independent apex body for food control administration in Sri Lanka, which has sole responsibility and authority to act as the food authority of the country.According to the Food Act, government analysts should analyse food samples and issue certificates to the food authority. Since their laboratories are not dedicated to food control administration, regular food sample testing has been kept to a minimum. Therefore, the Food Act should provide minimum standards for private sector laboratories to be recognised as approved analysts and should specify parameters they have to maintain to extend their licence each year. The burden on government analysts has been severe so there is a need to have at least one authorised analyst in each province to improve the quality of food control administration across Sri Lanka.Regulations should clearly state that food operators who try to promote the functional qualities of food that have not been clinically proven should be denied a certificate.Fines for violating the regulations of the Food Act are severely outdated so that food operators think they can carry on violating the rules with impunity. Hence, a revision of the punishment over offenders is needed for an effective controlling of food trade regionally. For example, as per the Public Health Inspectors' manual, an authorised officer has to inform a food operator about their inspection visit in advance, and get their consent for the date and time of the visit. This practice gives the food operator an opportunity to manipulate the actual situation and to pave the way for misconduct. Therefore, the authorised officer should have the full authority of an inspector with a specific guideline to enforce the food regulations (their role at present is more like an advisor).The testing and regulation of imported food items should be strengthened so this trade can rapidly increase in the future. Therefore, imported food regulation should be assigned to an established entity with state-of-the-art facilities to test food samples and empowered authorised officers to inspect imported food items.Product certification schemes operate in Sri Lanka, but most are either complementary or simply not compulsory. Competition forces tend to keep the standards up in most cases, but mandatory standards could be imposed for key commodities to protect consumers.Supply and value chain management as well as the regulation of value chains are not wellestablished at the moment. Self-regulation by the industry cannot be expected as the value chains have not yet been standardised to a satisfactory level.PHIs have no legal mandate to inspect the conditions of agricultural producers and their supplies. Further, the official inspection service under the Food Control Administration Unit (FCAU) has no satisfactory coordination and integration with other government agencies that are part of the local food chain. Therefore, a mandate should be provided to regulate control throughout the food value chain.There is a need to introduce regulations that specify the terms and conditions for running an online food store in Sri Lanka.In order to reduce the dependence of the city region on food supplies from the outer region, food production within the region needs to be increased -for instance, by cultivating high-value commodities such as vegetables, fruit and spices. Increased production within the city region reduces food miles, transport costs, logistics, the number of intermediaries and storage requirements. It further helps to maintain the quality of the produce and retain its nutrients.Climate change and natural resource management have significant impact on food systems. It has been identified that climate change would change bacteria and alter insect life-cycles, which would affect food safety and the hygiene of food. Since most food regulations were based on existing knowledge on food safety and hygiene, they have to be revised after conducting researches on the effects of climate change.It is recommended that food administration institutions at the provincial level work together to conduct research on new crop varieties that are suitable for extreme weather conditions and other emerging climate conditions and on finding alternative agriculture techniques.Most violations of existing regulations are due to lack of awareness. Educating today's children who will become consumers and food operators in the future on the Food Act, food regulations, standards and food waste would be a good investment to improve food safety and understand food waste management.There should be a nationally recognised food control awareness certification programme for anyone interested in acting as a food operator, in starting up a business or becoming an employee of the food industry. The certification should be mandatory Chapter 7. Proposed Recommendations for all food operators engaged in the food industry. If a food operator who has the certification becomes involved in violating food regulations, then punishment can be directly enforced.If the FCAU can introduce a panic button number or a mobile app to let consumers report violations of food safety and hygiene, or unnecessary food loss and food waste generated by food operators, a central communication unit can trigger a response -an authorised officer investigates the complaint and takes the necessary action against food operators.There are three types of local authority in Sri Lanka (MC, UC and PS) with significant differences between their respective laws and by-laws. Therefore, uniformity of food control at this lower level is needed. If there were provincial level food control administrative offices, the local authority could improve the communication and interconnectivity between provincial councils and local authorities.It is recommended that provincial councils conduct a scenario-building exercise for their respective provinces to identify trends, uncertainties and emerging scenarios in the long-term future. This would improve the provincial resilience to cope with climate change and its impact on their food system.Most of the CMC by-laws were enacted before 1978 and are not modern enough to manage current and future food systems in Colombo. Therefore, it is recommended to comprehensively revise these food control by-laws so the CMC can address its unique food system without having legal contradictions.PHIs are supposed to play multiple roles (such as health issues, environmental issues, inspections, etc.). As a result, the opportunity them to dedicate their service as authorized officers of food control has been limited. Appointment of dedicated officers as food safety officers is a need.Cities within the nine provinces in Sri Lanka have inherent significance as either a food supplier or a consumer. Each province can identify the significant cities in its unique food value chain and evaluate and assess the situation regarding the challenges and future direction in the food system of the country as a whole.As shown in Figure 47, during the Colombo CRFS study analysed the legal and institutional framework of the Colombo food system. Based on the findings, a number of policy implications for the food control system in Sri Lanka (with special reference to the city of Colombo) was reported. Focus group discussions brought together a diverse range of experts in the area of food control to discuss the critical drivers of food system change and their implications, and to provide essential feedback on them. Following the identification of the initial drivers, there were individual interviews with relevant officers using semi-structured discussions. The prioritised interventions were validated at a stakeholder workshop.• Streamline the management of the solid waste (MSW) sector with an empowered umbrella body that coordinates the integration and implemention of MSW management:°There is a vertical and horizontal complexity of the institutional landscape so that implementation of regulations are detached from their management. Coordinating body to be appointed to act at higher level.• Create an enabling investment climate for private sector engagement in RRR: °RRR businesses are relatively new to Sri Lanka and there could be further financial and regulatory incentives such as the existing tax exemptions for the import of renewable energy equipment. Introduce financial schemes to attract and incentivise local entrepreneurs to enter RRR businesses, discourage food wastage in the retail sector and support waste valorisation processes. °Currently, the CMC is attempting to adopt source-separation for household and institutional waste but the buy-in is limited. The CMC can improve on customer communication and awareness creation, encouraging RRR at household level (support a refund for bottles, fines for non-source-separating entities and a price for plastic shopping bags).• Link the food waste generator and user: °There is a demand for using food waste as animal feed, but the link between the waste source and the potential user (what, where, when) is missing. The CMC can be the moderator (e.g. provide a low-cost, web-based platform/phone app) for facilitating direct producer-user linkages.• Introduce by-laws to encourage food waste reduction in canteens and catering: °A high percentage of food waste is generated by institutional canteens, in food courts and through event catering. Extend source-segregation to all businesses, canteens of private and public schools, hospitals, food courts, etc. by (a) capacity development in food waste reduction; (b) providing incentives (e.g. school ranking to create peer-pressure) and/or penalties; and (c) infrastructure support in public markets to keep food fresh.• Facilitate a more holistic and territorial approach to food security and nutrition: °Existing structures and policies are fragmented and not aligned to address rapid urbanisation and the related city region challenges. Strengthen the Megapolis administration to facilitate pro-poor food legislations or, in general, the provincial councils. Align current policies with other food security and nutrition-related policies and adapt the structure of the Food Advisory Committee, allowing representation from the provincial councils with additional responsibilities in the food system and food security.• Develop physical and institutional capacity to reduce the vulnerability of the urban poor to food price fluctuations: °In the current situation, market chains are too long and unregulated to the disadvantage of rural producers and the urban poor. If, in addition, climaterelated events hit the supply chains, the poor suffer double. Urban food reserves are needed to buffer shortcomings in food availability. Market supply chains have to be regulated and monitored to avoid price fluctuations, which hit the poor.• Strengthening food safety across the Colombo CRFS: °There is a lack of adequate human and laboratory capacity for addressing food safety issues, including additional food safety analysts for local authorities.Upgrade the existing public laboratory facilities, including provincial labs and regional labs, as authorised analysis centres. In addition, introduce a system of laboratory tests for specific foods by respective authorities (e.g. coconut at a coconut research institute).The CRFS assessment and planning process was highly participatory and focused on local solutions to improve the food system that links Colombo with the surrounding region. As a local authority faced with fast-growing demands that need to be addressed, the CMC took the lead in coordinating the assessment and policy dialogues in an inclusive manner, and paved the way for local, regional and national authorities to communicate and discuss the food system and collaborative actions.The CRFS assessment and planning process targeted local level policy interventions but the project findings triggered policy discussions beyond local level and spread into provincial (regional) and national level. It has created the basis to start visualising the importance of a territorial approach to food systems and the actions needed to offset the impacts of natural resource management, climate change and shocks on city regions. It has shed light on food safety, nutrient safety, value chain management and food waste and losses in relation to urban spaces.At municipal level, the CRFS process helped the CMC and other institutions to understand the Colombo food system in its complexity, and has created the basis to build a common vision on a more sustainable and resilient city region food system. The process has identified the opportunities, challenges and needs to be addressed. It has signified the importance of looking at the food system from a micro-perspective and provided a better overview of the characteristics and inter-linkages of the local food system, as well its interconnections and flows across the urban-rural spectrum.As tangible policy outcomes, the CMC has already stepped in to act on some of the findings on food safety and food waste. In particular, the CMC will introduce a dedicated unit in the council for food safety within the health department and concentrate more on RRR from food waste.The regional level authority (the Western Provincial Council) identifies the importance of the territorial approach in a food system, which is mostly beyond the control of local level authorities. The Western Provincial Council has already demonstrated an interest in urban and peri-urban agriculture in the city and the city region. In addition, the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development has realised the importance of including the CRFS concept in its urban development planning process and is working with FAO and IWMI to obtain technical assistance and capacity-building support. The results of the CRFS assessment and planning will ensure the integration of food system sustainability in urban and territorial planning.At national level it was clear that existing food policies needed to be evaluated and adjusted. This was well received by the national authorities, who are taking initial steps to integrate the results of the CRFS assessment into the National Food Act. However, concrete measures to align local, provincial and national strategies and action plans are still needed.Overall, the CRFS assessment and planning process represents a remarkable learning experience for all stakeholders who have been engaged in the process. The increase in annual fish production at the national and provincial level is an opportunity to strengthen the food and nutrition security of city dwellers and commuters. Statistics on per capita fish consumption shows that fish is becoming a more popular source of animal protein in human diets.FAO and RUAF Foundation partnered to support a City Region Food System Assessment and Planning process in seven cities selected from across the globe-Lusaka and Kitwe (Zambia), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Medellín (Colombia), Quito (Ecuador), Toronto (Canada) and Utrecht (The Netherlands). A synthesis report on each city as presented here, describes the experiences from each city in terms of planning and informed decisionmaking, prioritising investments and design of sustainable food policies and strategies to improve the resilience and sustainability of the entire food system.This entire series of 7 reports will provide a full overview of the experience of those cities, and culminated in a set of tools to support city regions to assess and better plan their food system around the world. For a detailed description of the CRFS assessment process, city examples, tools and project outputs, please visit the FAO Food for the Cities Programme and RUAF CityFoodTools project websites.FAO and RUAF Foundation partnered to support a City Region Food System Assessment and Planning process in seven cities selected from across the globe-Lusaka and Kitwe (Zambia), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Medellín (Colombia), Quito (Ecuador), Toronto (Canada) and Utrecht (The Netherlands). A synthesis report on each city as presented here, describes the experiences from each city in terms of planning and informed decision-making, prioritising investments and design of sustainable food policies and strategies to improve the resilience and sustainability of the entire food system.This entire series of 7 reports will provide a full overview of the experience of those cities, and culminated in a set of tools to support city regions to assess and better plan their food system around the world. For a detailed description of the CRFS assessment process, city examples, tools and project outputs, please visit the FAO Food for the Cities Programme and RUAF CityFoodTools project websites."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"01357f5a65f45a4ee617712f6daa644a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bfc3e8cd-4e7e-4989-83c6-b4147a69f42b/retrieve","id":"-1416760834"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2d9abfb0-977e-421e-8bae-75fcb1b601a8","content":"Cameroon: Area under cassava prodlJCtion compared to total area cropped Cameroon: Annual cassava production and sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cameroon: Characteristics of agro-ecological zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..   Tanzania: Dry method of processing cassava in the lake zone areas. Tanzania: Wet method of processing cassava roots . . . . . . . . . Uganda: Relative importance of cassava with respect to production and area cultivated,I980 THE Collaborative Study of Cassava in Africa (COSCA) is an inter-institutional effort. The aim is to provide baseline information on cassava over a wide area Such information is needed to improve the relevance and impact of agricultural research on the crop in Africa in order to realize the potential of cassava in increasing food production and incomes of the people of Africa.The COSCA working paper series is published informally by COSCA to quickly disseminate its intermediate output. Publications in the series include methodologies for, as well as preliminary results of, the various components and phases of the COSCA surveys. The series is aimed at scientists and researchen working with national agricultural research systems in Africa (NARS), the international research community, policy makers, donors and members of international development agencies that are interested in cassava. As these papers are not in their fmal form, comments are welcome. Such comments should be addressed to the respective authors or to the COSCA project leader.Individuals and institutions may receive single copies free of charge by writing to:THIS volume is par! one ofthe edited papers of the third planning meeting ofthe Collaborative Study of Cassava in Africa (COSCA), held at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, !hadan, from September 4 to 10 1988. 1 The meeting took the form of a workshop aimed at assessing the status of cassava research in the COSCA countries and at outlining the methodologies of the proposed COSCA study. While this volume is a collection of papers presented by various national scientists on the stams of cassava research in COSCA countries, part two focuses on the methodologies for COSCA.The status of cassava research in Africa, as reported at the meeting shows that the research conducted on cassava in the COSCA study countries (i.e. Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zaire) was mainly limited to biological studies and on-station trials and experiments. Information is lacking at the farmer, processor, consumer and market levels. The study will therefore, involve the collection of primary data at the farmer, processor, consumer and market levels in three phases and will be conducted over a period of three years.Phase I will entail a broad characterization of the cassava producing zones to generate a sample frame and hypotheses for subsequent phases. Information will be collected by group interviews at the village level and by key informant interviews at the institutional level. Phase II will involve characterization of individual production, processing, marketing and consumption units. Collection methods will include direct observation, field measurements and individual interviews. Phase III will be an extension of phase II, but involve more intensive surveys and repeat interviews/visits to collect data on seasonal variables.COSCA is multidisciplinary and multi-institutional, however, all of the data being collected and analyzed will be integrated into one study. The sample procedure will be carefully co-ordinated and the site selection systematically zoned to ensure the integration of the data, such that Phase 11 of the survey will be conducted on a subsample of Phase I, and Phase III likewise, will be conducted on subsamples of phase II. Each hypothesis will be tested using the information collected at different phases.The output of the various phases will be disseminated through a working paper series, research reports, journal articles, books, and conference proceedings, especially the triennial symposia of the African Branch of the International Society of Tropical Root Crops.  Ii:] \"\"\".• Cotton Wholesalers coUect the various cassava products from the local markets/producers and take them to the cities where they are resold either wholesale or retail. Processed cassava products especiaUy those that are easily prepared into meals, e.g. gari, have a ready market in the urban centres. Poor transportation and market information systems hinder the movement of these products to targer markets. Farm to market roads are not well-developed and transportation costs are high. In most cases, the farmer sells his fresh produce at agive-away price. In many villages located along major roads, processed cassava products are sold in front of the processor's house.lnformal trade in cassava products exists between Cameroon and neighbouring countries, especiaUy Gabon.Research on cassava is carried out in Cameroon by the Cameroon National Root Crop Improvement Program (CNRCIP), which was started in 1973. One major objective of CNRCIP is to develop production systems acceptable to smaUholder, low resource farmers. CNRCIP promotes and distributes high-yielding cassava cuttings; identifIes and breeds disease and insect resistance into cassava varieties; promotes the development of cultural practices which maximize returns from improved or local cassava varieties with Il)inimum input; introduces and promot~s improved processing and preservation techniques to reduce postharvest losses, and advises consumers and processors on how to improve the nutritive quality of cassava products. Some high-yielding varieties have been developed and released by the program. A method for the incorporation o( soybean into cassava flour to improve its nutritive quality has been developed. A description of the farming system is available for the Central, East and North West Provinces. Data on production are available from the u.  Ie manioc bouilli a l'eau; Ie manioc frais, cuit a la braise;Ie manioc frais bouilli et pile seul ou aVeC du plantain ou de I' igname (foutou); la pate de mauioc (toh) obtenue ii partir de la farine de manioc; Ie \"placali\" qui est la pate obtenue avec du manioc broye et fermente; Ie gari ; et I' \"attieke\" qui est une sorte de semoule de manioc.Le mauioc ne fait que I' objet d'un commerce interne. En raison de la grande repartition de sa production dans Ie pays, les echanges sont surtout de courte distance. On D'a pas de circuits longs comme dans Ie cas du plantain et de I' igname. Chaque ville, dans une region donnee, est approvisionnee a partir de son arriere.pays immediat.Des series chronologiques sur une longue periode existent pour la plupart des variables qui nous interessent dans les domaines suivants:  CASSAVA is a major staple food crop in Ghana and in terms of area planted, ranks oext to maize (tables 3.1 and 3.2). The value of the gross output of fresh cassava roots ranged from 2.6 million cedis in 1985 to 117 miIlioo cedis in 1987 (1.00 cedi = 0.0025$). The 1987 f.gure represeots a 22 per ceot share in the agricultural gross domestic product, the highest amoog all agricultural products (table 33).  Cassava is grown tbroughout Ghana, although production is concentrated in the south (fig. 3.1 and table 3.4). Brong-Ahafo, Ashanti and the Eastern Region produce about 65 per cent of the total output, while the Central, Western and Volta Regions produce 29 per cent. In the southern parts of Ashanti, Volta, Greater Accra, Central, Western and Eastern regions the area planted with cassava exceeds 40 per cent of all area under cultivation (table 3.5). The Volta Region has the highest number of farmers growing cassava (45,417) as the predominant crop (fig. 3.2). Ashanti Region follows with 43,533 farmers growing cassava as the predominant crop. Cassava is grown in pure stands or intercrDpped -either as the dominant Dr subsidiary crop. Data from 1986 crop surveys indicate that cassava is mainly interplanted as a subsidiary crop (table 3.6). Where cassava is planted in rotation, it is usually the last crop before fallow. This is probably because cassava is a hardy plant tbat tends to do well even under poor soil conditions. Cassava processing is done mainly by small-scale traditional processors, most of whom are women. The Volta Region, where cassava is widely consumed, also produces most of the processed cassava products. Areas around Pokuasi in the Eastern Region are also known for gari processing. All over Ghana, however, wherever cassava is grown, pockets of processors, particularly gari processors, meet local consumer needs.Attempts to establish large-scale gari processing factories have largely failed for various reasons. The principal one being an inadequate supply of cassava roots. Transporting the fresh roots to processing sites also poses a problem, as feeder roads are lacking in most areas. Bediako (1978) highlighted the drudgery involved in gari processing and the desire expressed by traditional processors to own grating machines.In collaboration with the African Regional Center for Technology (ARC'T), the Ghana Food Research Institute is establishing a pilot demonstration project for gari production. An objective of the project is to set up a small to medium-scale unit for the production of gari and other cassava products consistent with the current and planned pattern for cassava production in the rural areas of Africa. A second obj ective is to use the u,nit as a training center for processors and technicians with a view to accelerating the dissemination of information about the improved technology.Traditionally, cassava is used in the form of fresh roots, peeled and boiled (ampesi); fresh roots roasted and peeled and eaten; fresh roots boiled and pounded into JUJU; peeled tubers cut into pieces and sun-dried and dried chips milled into I1our, used to prepare kokon/e, a food similar to fufu Gari is, however, the most popular processed cassava product in Ghana. It normally takes 4 to 5 days to process. The cassava roots are washed, peeled and grated and the grated meal is then put into muslin, jute or grey baft bags. Liquid starch is then pressed out of the grated mash by placing heavy objects on the bags. The wet meal is sieved to remove the larger pieces. Tbe fme grain is spread out to dry and later fried into gari. The end product is a gelatinized grainy I10ur which has a distinct sour taste. Gari is eaten in a number of ways. It can be mixed with cold water and sngar and taken as a meal. It can also be mixed with hot water to form a sticky mass (eba) wbich is eaten with soups or stews. It can be moistened and mixed with an oily stew containing tomatoes, onions and spices. This mixture is lightly fried and is known as gari-fOrioT. Gari is also mixed with milk and sugar and eaten like porridge, hot or cold. Agbelima (cassava dough) is another food product made from cassava by washing, peeling, grating and soaking, however, the starchy liquid is not removed, but the entire grated mass is allowed to ferment lightly. It is either used alone to prepare akple or mixed with maize dough.An unfermented cassava I10ur is made by grating, drying and sieving the cassava roots to produce a fme meal. A little water and salt are added and the mixture is moulded into I1at cakes and steamed. This food is called yakayake and is eaten with soup or stew. As an alternative to steaming, the salted mixture can be moulded into balls and deep-fried in palm kernel or coconut oil to make agbole kaklo.The Ghana Food Research Institute has developed I10urs from cassava that can be used in the preparation of fufu and akple. The processed flours are easier to transport and store longer than fresh roots or dough. One of these I1ours, instant fufu flour, is now being marketed under the trade name of 'Lukapap'. The acceptability to the public of this product is yet to be evaluated.Cassava leaves and roots are also used in livestock feed. The leaves and tender stems are fed to sheep, goats and rabbits. Dried cassava chips are also used as a carbohydrate component in compounding livestock rations.A principal by-product of gari processing is liquid starch from which two other products, tapioca and laundry starch are produced. The liquid starch extracted during gari preparation is allowed to sediment and the supernatent liquid is decanted. The liquid starch is then dried and fried over a low fIre to form tapioca granules. Instead of frying, the starch may also be dried and used as laundry starch. The extent of production of industrial starch and glue in Ghana is not known. Preliminary enquiries indicate tbat the starch used in the textile factories is probably all imported.There is no up-to-date data on the actual domestic consumption of cassava products. This is because no household consumptiOlfsurveys have been carried out in recent years. In 1962, a household expenditure survey showed that cassava together with its products accounted for another 12 per cent of expenditure on local food, while all the cereals witb tbeir products taken together accounted for 12 per cent. The survey sbowed that of the food crops, expenditure on cassava was only second to kenkey, a popular staple food prepared from maize (Ghana 1(62). Although these fmdings may well be out of date, they can still serve as an indication of the importance of cassava in the diet of the ordinary Gbanaian. More current bousebold consumption surveys are needed.Table 3.8 presents demand projections for fresb cassava roots. The surplus indicated sbould be viewed with caution, for it is not clear whether the projection of demand is for fresb cassava for use as fufu or ampesi alone, or includes fresh cassava used in the processing of otber products, sucb as gari, agbelima or kokonte. Owing to its bulky and highly perishable nature, the transportation of fresh cassava roots is usually restricted to the urban centres located near production areas. Fresb roots from farms and villages are evacuated to feeder roads by beadload.In the case of Accra, fresh roots may be transported for distances of up to 40 km by truck or rail. The major source of fresb cassava roots for Accra is the Eastern Region, as far as Koforidua. The bulk of agbelima and gari supplied to Accra is from the soutbeast, mainly from the Volta Region.While tbe exact flow of processed cassava products is not known, their distribution is probably wider than that of fresh roots. There is a brisk but informal trade in gari and agbelima along the Ghana-Togo border, mainly by means of headload.The Ghana Export Promotion Council believes that an export market for gari in the Western countries could be developed. Other cassava products whicb bave export potential, but are not produced in commercial quantities for export are cassava starch, cassava chips and cassava pellets. Ghana exported 55 and 53 tonnes of cassava to European countries in 1986 and 1987 respectively (see table 3.9). The major thrust of research on cassava by the Gitana Food Research Institute, Accra has been in the area of postharvest management including storage, processing and utilization. Studies conducted on storage of fresh cassava roots at the institute aim at improving the traditional methods of storage (Ankra et al. 1980;Ankra 1980;Ankra et al. 1981;Ankra 1984). In a study on the storage of cassava roots by Amewushika and Osei-Opare (1987), basket and wood sbavings were used as a medium for storing fresh cassava roots. This resulted in a longer storage period of up to 6 months, which maintained a high quality tuber suitable for making fufu and ampes-i.Most of the postharvest research efforts in cassava processing have concentrated on the development of dry cassava products to replace fresh roots in the preparation of fufu and akple. The now commercialized in• stant fufu powder, 'Lukapap', mentioned earlier, is the result of such research. Another flour, debydrated fermented cassava dough has been developed. This product was found to be acceptable for the preparation of akple in terms of texture and nutrients. It is not being produced commercially at present. Lartey (1969) also made an attempt at developing an instant breakfast food from gari. He milled gari into fine flour and blended it with sugar, powdered milk and salt. The product can be used in baking or as an instant breakfast food or as a thickening agent in soup. Results of this study have not been commercialized. Experiments on the use of cassava starch to fortify locally milled wheat flour for biscuits and cakes have also heen successful (Andah 1975). Flour with 10 per cent starch provided superior baking qualities than wheat flour alone.Student studies (Amaning-Kwarteng 1974, Essien 1974, Obuobi 1974, Dadzie 1975, F1eishcher 1975, Odoi 1976, Dodoo 1981, Yinka 1982, and Adarkwa-Ntiamaoh 1985) on the use of cassava in livestock feeding were carried out in the Department of Animal Science, University of Ghana. Finally, Blay and Budu (1987) have recently conducted a study on drying methods for the production of more wholesome kokonte.Agronomic research on cassava includes studies on fertilizer requirements, plant density, planting methods and cassava based intercropping. The absence of economic studies on cassava in Ghana is rather striking. The economic implications of all the agronomic studies will have to be evaluated if more meaningful and acceptable recommendations are to be made to farmers. Current use and availability of vital inputs including land, labor, fertilizer and credit need to be examined to explain the rather small size of holdings and apparently low yields.Evaluation of the cost of production of traditional products such as gari, agbelima and kokonte will help determine possible areas for cost reduction. Similar evaluations should also be conducted on new products being developed to determine their economic feasibility. Studies on demand and supply for cassava products should be initiated. Price and income elasticities of demand are required for the evaluation of the impact of price and income policies. For the same reasons supply response parameters need to be estimated. Interregional flows and consumption rates of cassava and its products have to be established to determine deficit/surplus regions and implications for policy. The profitability of using cassava in feed rations needs to be evaluated. Substitution of maize for cassava in feeds must be based on relative returns from the final product and not on cost reduction. In Nigeria, cassava can grow as far as latitude 13° north of the equator and, as high up as 2,000 m above sea level. However, soil and climatic factors, such as rainfall, restrict its production mainly to areas lying between the guinea savanna and the rain forest vegetation zones.Cassava growing areas in Nigeria can be grouped into three: major, medium and marginal, based on production levels and percentage of households cultivating cassava. The major cassava producing states are in order of importance -Bendel, Imo, Oyo, Anambra, Benue, Rivers and Cross River. In these states, the estimated annual production ranges from 100,000 tannes in Cross River to 463,(0) toones in Bendel. In all these states, with the exception of Cross River, more than 50 per cent of the households are reported to cultivate cassava (table 4.1). Medium cassava producing states are Kwara and Ondo where the annual production figures lie between 50,000 and 100,000 tonnes. Over 50 percent of the households in these two states are estimated to cultivate cassava. The remaining states are classified as marginal cassava producers as the annual production is estimated at less than 50,000 tonnes. Apart from Lagos and Ogun states, less than 50 per cent of the households are estimated to cultivate cassava (table 4.1).  Cassava utilizationCassava is used mainly for human consumption, although small proportions of the total prOduction are used in livestock feed and as industrial raw material. Cassava in its various processed forms is used to prepare a wide range of meals in Nigeria, eba, prepared from gari, is the most popular cassava meal in all of Nigeria. It is estimated that about 70 per cent of the total cassava harvest is processed into gari (Ngoddy 1977). Lajun, prepared from flour, is very popular especially in the western states of Nigeria. Fufu prepared from cassava fermented in water, is very popular in the eastern states and Bendel, especially in the rural areas. Tapioca, cassava roots parboiled, sliced, fermented overnight in water, washed and dried is also popular in the eastern states and Bendel. Pure cassava starch is cooked and eaten with banga soup, mainly in Bendel State.The processing of each of the products from which these meals are prepared involves some fermentation. In addition to processed cassava products, fresh roots of low cyanide varieties are eaten raw, boiled or roasted in some parts of Nigeria.Cassava is now used as a carbohydrate base in compounding livestock feed, as a partial substitute for maize. By-products from cassava processing are widely used to feed chicken and goats in the traditional sector. In the industrial sector, there are at least five large-scale cassava starch mills. There is great potential for cassava starch utilization in Nigeria's wood, paper, textile, sweetener and alcoholic beverages industries, to name a few. These industries largely depend presently on imported starch. The current erratic supply from domestic sources, is due to the large demand for cassava for human consumption. Unless supplies increase the potential for the use of cassava in industry will not be realized.Although there are speculations about the informal trade in gari across the borders of Nigeria to other West African countries there is no record of such trade. There is extensive internal trade in cassava mainly for human consumption. This trade is largely in processed products and generally between rural and urban areas. Even in the extreme north of Nigeria where production is limited, processed cassava products are sold in urban centres.The Several high-yielding, disease and pest tolerant varieties of cassava, for example, U/41044 and Um06 developed at NRCRI, and TMS 30555, TMS 30572 and TMS 30211, developed at IITA, have been released to Nigerian farmers. In addition, based on the results of uniform yield trials, NRCRI has also released as planting material four top selections labelled 8212, 8210, 8220, and 8208. These varieties are resistant to major cassava pests and diseases such as cassava mealybug (CMB), cassava green spider mite (GSM), cassava bacterial blight (CBB), and cassava mosaic virus disease (CMD). An integrated approach involving chemical and cultural control measures (early planting, and planting depth) has proved effective in combating the CMB and GSM. Bioagents, such as Epidinocarsis /opezi (the natural enemy of mealybugs) have been bred and released in some locations by !ITA in collaboration with NRCRI. This, in ad'dition to the other technologies has led to a drastic reduction in the population of CMB.Studies have resulted in the development of technologies for row planting, regular spacing, fertilizer practices for the major soil types, beneficial intercropping systems and optimum time of planting for the various ecological zones. Weed control studies at NRCRI and UTA have shown that weeds can be controlled where cassava is grown as a sole crop or an intercrop by the use of herbicides and live cover crops such as egusi melon (Coiocrilhyis cilm/us). In collaboration with the FAO, the NRCRI has developed a multi-furrow planter and harvester which has proved efficient, although some modifications may be necessary for manufacturing it locally.Whole cassava meal and cassava peel meal have been developed as a carbohydrate base for poultry feed. These can substitute up to 75 per cent for maize depending on the class of poultry and the method of production. Techniques have also been developed for processing cassava into powdered starch and for further processing the powder into cold water starch for textile finishing, home laundry purposes, and adhesives.One sq em \"'\" 100.000 toni of dried cauava.  Limited farming system surveys carried out in the country indicated that farmers practised more intercropping than monoculture. Most cassava varieties grown are local in origin. Estimated average yields of dry roots per hectare for local and improved varieties under farmers' conditions are 1.4 and 5.0 tonnes respectively (MOB 1985). However, at research stations, the yields of local and improved varieties are around 2 and 10 tonnes of dry roots per hectare respectively (Msababa et aI 1985). The production of dry roots from the regions between 1975 and 1987 is summarized in figure 5.1.Cassava is widely grown all over the country. The most important cassava areas are around Lake Victoria (Nwanza, Shinyanga and Mara regions); Lake Tanganyika (Tabora and Kigoma regions); Lake Nyasa (Ruvuma region); along the coastal strip of the Indian Ocean (Tanga and all Zanzibar regions); and along the Ruvuma Valley (Mtwara region). The altitude of these areas is between sea-level and 1500 metres, and rainfall is between 800 mm and 1200 mm per annum. There is not much cassava grown in the higher altitude areas of Mbeya and Iringa regions.Important production constraints of cassava in Tanzania are:i. Disease: The most important cassava diseases are cassava mosaic virus disease (CMO) which causes yield losses of up to 90 per cent in susceptible varieties (Jennings 1970) and cassava bacterial blight (Xanthomonas campes/Tis pv manihotis) which is equally devastating. CMD is widely distributed in the country, whereas CBB is restricted to areas around Lake Victoria and Lake Nyasa.ii. Pests: Termites, cassava green mite (Mononychellus spp) and cassava mealybug (Phenococcus maniho/J) are the most serious pests of cassava in the country. The corresponding estimates of yield losses in susceptible varieties caused by these pests are 39 to 49 per cent (AIR1984), 50 to 80 per cent (Shukla 1986), and 52 to 100 per cent (Msabaha 1987). All the pests are widespread except cassava mealybug.iii. Agronomy: Most farmers do not follow recommended agronomic practices. Frequently, cassava is planted late and left to grow with weeds particularly in monoculture.iv. Lack of improved planting materials: There is no institution responsible for the multiplication and distribution of the improved materials to farmers. Consequently, farmers plant any variety available. In most cases sucb varieties have low genetic potential in yield or poor resistance to major pests and diseases.v. Poor marketing inrrastructure: Most cassava producing centres are in the rural areas. Transport from the production centres to marketing places in urban centres is very costly.vi. Cultural: Some tribes have customs which prohibit consumption of cassava-based products.Cassava processing is mostly done by women. Processing metbods differ depending on the end product. The most common methods for processing cassava into dry chips and flour are summarized in figures 5.2 and 53.Processing for immediate use involves peeling and roasting on charcoal or frying in oil to provide a quick meal. Processing of cassava leaves involves pounding or crnshiug the leaves before cooking. Sometimes the leaves are soaked in water before cooking to reduce the HCN level.A small percentage of the processed cassava is utilized in domestic animal feed. In 1985, the Tanzania Animal Feeds Company used dry cassava in manufacturing animal feed for poultry and pigs (MALO 1987).The poultry feeds contained 5 to 10 per cent cassava flour and the feeds for pigs contained 20 per cent cassava flour (Msabaha et al 1986). The manufacturing of sucb ~va-ba'sed feeds was, however, stopped because it was expensive. Cassava is processed into starch at the Tanzania Starch Manufacturing Company located in Mwanza. The factory has a capacity to process 40 tonnes of wet cassava or 15 tonnes of dry cassava per day (MALO 1987). The starch is used by some textile,. paper and coufectionery industries in the country. Factors which limit the consumption of cassava have not been thoroughly assessed. However, consumer prices of preferred cereals are relatively more subsidized than the consumer price of cassava. There is lack of  Improved varieties which are high yielding and moderately resistant to CMD and green spider mite have been developed. Multiplication of improved materials on station and distribution to nearby farmers is carried out on a limited scale. A germplasm collection consisting of local and exotic (improved lIT A planting material) varieties has been established. There are about 370 varieties in the collection which have been classified as 'bitter', 'intermediate', or 'sweet', Preliminary work has been done to assess the efficiency of traditional processing methods of cassava, and on the utilization of cassava-based products in formulating livestock feed. The work was carried out at Sokoine University of Agriculture and the results are promising.Although the resources to carry out research continue to be restrictive, work continues. The breeding program aims at developing low HCN varieties which are high-yielding and resistant to major pests and diseases. Agronomy activities will focus on the improvement of cassava-based farming systems, collecting baseline data and developing systems for the use of inorganic and organic fertilizers. Surveys to establish the distribution of major pests and diseases will be carried out along with the development of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Biological control, host plant resistance and cultural control will be the main components of the IPM. Methods to improve traditional processing and belter postharvest storage technologies will be tested. Potential uses of cassava will be studied. The multiplication of planting materials will be carried out along with on-farm evaluation of promising clones. The training of staff to carry out the researcb activities, however, will depend on the availability of scholarships/fellowsbips from donor agencies.   CASSAVA is the most important root crop in Uganda. Among African countries Uganda ranks fifth in both the quantity produced and the area of land under cassava. In 1983, over 3.2 million tonnes of fresh cassava roots were produced (fig. 6.1). Total production in 1986 was estimated to increase by 30 per cent. There was a general increase both in land area and quantity produced throughout the period 1971-83. There was a sharp decline between 1976 and 1978 which can be attributed to the acute shortage of agricultural inputs in the country, particularly hoes and animal•drawn implements. The problem was further worsened by the ill effects of war in 1979, which severely reduced productivity in the entire agricultural sector.After the war, production of cassava dramatically increased from 848,000 tonnes in 1979 to 3,239,000 tonnes by 1983, a four-fold increase; and from a yield of 3,793 kglha in 1978 to 9,677 kglha in 1981. These improvements are the result of the government's present policy of reviving the entire agricultural sector through the provision of agricultural inputs and incentives. During the same period, Ugandan farmers shifted away from growing cash crops, such as cotton, which demand high labour input and yield low financial returns, when compared to food crops, such as cassava and maize.Cassava ranks second among major food crops in Uganda. It is preceded only by bananas and closely followed by sweet potatoes and finger millet. With its relatively low labor demand and high-yielding ability, cassava has more advantages than most other crops. At present it is grown in all the districts of Uganda particularly in the relatively drier Eastern and Northern Regions where it commands a major role as a staple food. In the Central Region and some colder areas of the Western Region, cassava has been largely replaced by plantains and sweet or Irish potatoes.Cassava is mainly grown by smallholder farmers on plots varying from 0.1 ha in the Lake Victoria region to 0.9 ha in the Eastern, Northern and Northwestern regions. Stem cuttings, about 30cm long, are planted horizontally in the ground at spacings of about 1m x 1m. About 30 per cent of the total cassava is planted with the first rains, 50 per cent of it is intercropped with various annual crops, such as groundnuts, beans or maize, which are harvested after three to four months to leave pure stands of cassava. Commercial planting of cassava is rare, although the Lira Starch Factory has a large estate of cassava in the Northern Region. Because of the subsistence nature of cassava cultivation in Uganda, the use of fertilizers and herbicides are rare.Cassava is generally ready for harvesting twelve months after planting. Where cassava is intended for sale, the whole field may be harvested at once; however, when intended for family use, it is harvested as needed.  Traditional processing methods were found to vary among regions, depending on the varieties grown, krcal customs, and tastes. Raw sweet cassava is eaten in Lira, Apach and Iganga districts. In Iganga, raw cassava is ooly eaten during the harvest of other crops like groundnuts, millet, cotton and sorghum, when farmers spend the whole day in the fields harvesting and no cooking is done. In Apach and Lira, raw cassava is eaten as a snack and thirst quencher. Sweet cassava roots are also roasted with or without the peel. Although some. cyanide is present in unscraped roots, this is destroyed by heat. The moist soil on the surface of the root dries and falls away when it is exposed to the sun or fire for some time. The roots are then buried in hot asbes at temperatures of 100 to 150 degrees centigrade or are placed in hot cinders and turned continuously for 20 to 30 minutes. Roasted cassava is common among school children as a snack, especially among children in boarding schools. Boiled and mashed cassava is a popular food in Uganda. The roots are peeled, scraped and then washed in water. The peeled roots are cut up and split to remove the fibrous core. The roots are then put in cold water and boiled. When the roots are soft they may be masbed or pounded and eaten with a sauce. In Iganga the roots are boiled with spices and with other foods like groundnuts, simsim and mutton. Cassava roots are also steamed between banana stalks and leaves, which impart a certain flavour to the roots which is popular in Iganga and Kampala.Traditionally, the problem of storage has usually been overcome by leaving the roots in the ground until needed. If more cassava is harvested than needed, however, the excess is peeled and sliced into chips and allowed to dry for three or four days in the sun. The dried slices or chips are then stored in a cool dry place, usually in tins and granaries. When the chips are to be eaten, they are ground into flour called moko mogo or unga, which is used in preparing kwon or ugali. Kwon is prepared by adding cassava flour to boiling water un til a thick firm paste is formed.Cassava flour may also be mixed with millet or sorghum in a ratio of two parts cassava to one pari millet, or three parts cassava to one part sorghum. The proportions tend to vary depending on the availability of either cereals or cassava, or on how soft the bread should be. When the cereals have been exhausted, the pure cassava flour is eaten. In Lira and Apach, mixtures of cassava and millet or cassava and sorghum are ground and the Hour is used to make porridge. In Apach the chips are allowed to ferment for three to four days until they get mouldy. The mould is scraped off and the chips are further dried in the sun. The fermentation imparts a Havour to the Hour which the consumers rmd desirable. The cassava and grain flour mixtures are also processed into other edible products like bread, chapatis and pancakes. The proportions are indeterminate and depend on the availability of the grain Hour; sometimes pure cassava flour is used.Local alcohol, enguli, waragi or kwete, is distilled from dry cassava roots for drinking. Industrial starch is manufactured at the Lira Starch Factory, about 200 miles north of Kampala.Cassava as a source of cash income for the farmer According to a recent on-farm survey by the Uganda Root Crops Improvement Programme, out of the total cash earnings from farm produce, 80 per cent and 60 per cent are earned by farmers from the sale of cassava in Soroti/Kumi and Tororo districts respectively. Cassava is sold as fresh roots, dry chips, flour or waragi.i. Disease: Bacterial diseases reported in Uganda include cassava bacterial blight (CBB), bacterial leaf spots and stem gall, possibly due to Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Among viral infections, only cassava mosaic virus disease (CMD) occurs in the country. Fungal diseases recorded are brown leaf spot, concentric ring leaf spot, anthracnose, vascular wilt, root rot and white root rot. Cassava bacterial blight and cassava mosaic virus disease are the most serious diseases of cassava in the country. Cassava bacterial blight exhibits wide pathogenic variability in Uganda and detailed studies on the distribution, symptoms, methods of innoculation, epidemiology and control of CBB in Uganda have been made. The planting of CBB resistant varieties in experimental plots has demonstrated the most effective form of control.Cassava mosaic virus disease belongs to the gemini virus group and occurs throughout the country where it causes serious economic loss. The disease is transmitted by the whitefly vector, Bemisia tabaci, generally under natural field conditions through infected planting material. Past research efforts in East Africa concentrated on developing CMD resistant cassava varieties and releasing them to farmers. In the early 1950's two CMD resistant varieties known as bukolasa 8 and 11 were released to farmers to replace the common susceptible local varieties. This program proved very successful, but with the general breakdown of agricultural services in the 1970's as a result of political instability, farmers relaxed the mosaic control regulations. The result is that cassava mosaic virus has become the most serious cassava disease causing the greatest economic loss of cassava in the country today. Recent research at Mugaga, Kenya and at Serere, Uganda has indicated that CMD can be effectively controlled by the use of mosaic free planting material and roguing, When this practice is combined with the planting of resistant to moderately resistant varieties, the control can be most effective.ii. Pests: In Uganda the cassava (green) mite comprises four tetranychid mites, Mononychellus tanajoa (Bondar), Tetranychus te/arius L. (= T. unicae Koch), T. cinnabarinus (Boaisd), and Oligonychus gossypii (Zacher). Of these, only M. tanajoa, the green mite, is of economic significance in cassava. M. tanajoa is widespread and is considered to be the most destructive pest of cassava in Africa. It is most destructive during the dry season, when severe infestations cause heavy defoliation of the plants. Control measures cur~ rently being tested include releasing phytosid mites (natural enemy of the green mite) in infested areas, and by distributing the newly developed resistant variety, Ebwanateraka.iii. Poor agronomic practices: A recent on•farm survey carried out by the Uganda Root Crop Improvement Programme indicated that the farmers' agronomic practices in the production of cassava are poor. Even simple measures such as timely planting and optimum spacing of cassava are lacking. The recent survey also showed that labor costs appear higher than the cost of using herbicides. A reduction in the number of hand weedings through timely use of herbicides could reduce weeding costs. There is a need to introduce herbicides, to advise farmers on optimal spacing and to recommend better intercropping systems. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dd575ff304663a8f9e45e8cebf317e89","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0a3802c9-f5d6-41a9-8893-0b2987cb9373/retrieve","id":"-2038460214"},"keywords":["Rohal Suong","situation analysis","needs assessment","CCAFS"],"sieverID":"00ca3626-6765-4091-a07b-844e4ff83c2d","content":"Rohal Suong village is located in Battambang province, Cambodia. The Situation and Needs Assessment was conducted in the village as part of the major initial work to collect data that will serve as baseline information to inform planning of CCAFS intervention and to form the basis for monitoring change over time. The baseline work was conducted in November to December 2014. Rohal Suong is a typical farming village that is moderately diversified, with two rice cropping, some vegetables and fruits, with some surplus to sell in an average year. Rice fields are connected to the Sangke River as a source of water throughout the year and to Tonle Sap Lake and associated flooded forests as a source of fish, firewood, and other animals and plant products. Small-holder agriculture production system prevalent in the village appears to be not very profitable because of the high cost of inputs and limited market and value chain development. Farming families have taken several strategies to increase their overall income by expanding the farming area, intensifying rice production, and seasonal labor migration. These strategies have negative implications: loss of forest and grassland to farmland, degradation of water quality and soil, and labor shortage in the village for agriculture. Raising small livestock is widely practiced as an income generation option, while large livestock is becoming less popular due to the shortage of grazing land. The general perception among the villagers is that the condition of natural resources is declining. Flooded forests are declining because of deforestation and agriculture encroachment. Fisheries resources are declining because of overexploitation and loss of habitats. Meanwhile, the village is also vulnerable to extreme events such flash flood, drought, crop disease and insect outbreak. The village has been supported by a variety of external agents through agricultural development, natural resource management, and food security programs, including some large donor programs, and received in-kind support as well as direct agriculture input subsidies. Several community institutions exist and are functioning well. The local production systems are well adapted to the natural seasonal fluctuation in rainfall and flooding regime, but occasional extreme flooding events cause crop damage and food shortage situation. The existing interventions are not directly associated with specific climate-related issues. There is an opportunity for CCAFS to identify and enhance existing practices that can become good examples of \"climate smart agriculture\", and be promoted more widely as such, to increase the general awareness of the importance of climate smart agriculture practices.Population trends in Battambang, 2007-2010 Table 2.Projected rainfall and temperature changes by 2050, Battambang Table 3.Area (ha) of major land categories by district in Battambang province Table 4.Area (ha) of annual crops Table 5.Protected Areas in Battambang Table 6.Potential irrigation and hydropower development and investment Table 7.Yield and production of annual crops in Battambang province Table 8.On-farm and off-farm employment in Battambang province in recent years Table 9.Animal and livestock production values from 2012, 2013, and 2014 Table 10. Manufacturing and services in Battambang  The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) is a strategic 10-year partnership between the CGIAR and Future Earth to deal with threats posed by a changing climate for achieving food security, enhancing livelihoods, and improving environmental management. Started in 2010, CGIAR-CCAF's major initial work include collecting baseline information through studies at the household and village levels, and the organization baseline study in selected sites in the three regions of East Africa, West Africa and South Asia. 1  The main aim is to collect data that serve as baseline information at each site to inform planning of CCAFS intervention and to form the basis for monitoring change over time (after 5 years and 10 years from the baseline period) in the selected sites.In the Southeast Asian region, the six selected sites with potential to become climate smart villages (CSVs) are: (1) Rohal Soung village, Battambang province, Cambodia;(2) Ekxang village, Vientiane province, Lao PDR;(3) Pailom village, Savannaket province, Lao PDR; (4) Ma village, Yen Bai province, Vietnam; (5) My Loi village, Ha Tinh province, Vietnam; and (6) Tra Hat (VN03), Bac Lieu province, Vietnam. Complementing the baseline data collection activities is the Situation Analysis and Needs Assessment (SANA). The baseline data collection in these sites was conducted in 2014. The aim is to have a deeper understanding of the selected sites to enable the design of appropriate and feasible intervention that will support their transformation to climate-smart villages in time.Specifically, the objectives of the SANA are: 1) To understand the current situation of the selected site, and 2) To identify the priority needs of the selected site in support of developing its agriculture and livelihoods while mitigating and adapting well to climate change.This report presents the results of the SANA for Rohal Soung village, Battambang Province, Cambodia. Data collection activities at the Rohal Suong village were led by the WorldFish Centre, one of the CGIAR research centers. This report has five parts. Following this introduction is the section on Methodology that describes the data and the sources of data used in the report, highlighting the relations of data collection activities for this report to other baseline data collection activities in the area. The third and the fourth sections present the results of the Situation Analysis and the Needs Assessment, respectively. A Recommendation section ends this report.1 More information about CCAFS sites is available at http://ccafs.cgiar.org/where-we-workTo facilitate SANA, additional primary and secondary data were collected. Needed data were also partly drawn from the village baseline study (VBS) and from the organizational baseline study (OBS). Primary and secondary data at the province, district, commune and village levels were collected. The sources of primary data were key informant interviews (KIIs) and the three gender-differentiated focus group discussions (FGDs). Secondary data consisted of official documents and research reports collected from various offices in the province and those that were available on official websites.Prior to the CSV activities, the WorldFish Centre conducted several projects in Rohal Soung village. Focus group discussions and a household survey were carried out in 2014-2015 in Rohal Soung village among seven other villages in the district. The results of these previous research projects were useful and were updated and used for the SANA. At the provincial and district levels, key informant interviews were conducted when secondary data was unavailable.A list of topics for the SANA was drawn by a group of social scientist at a meeting during the planning workshop for the implementation of the CSV in July 2014. The list includes 15 topics with data needed at the provincial/district and village levels: Natural resource utilization, Organizational landscape, Information network, Mitigation measures, Production and livelihood systems (including markets), Current and past natural resource management initiatives, Food security status and trends, Demographics, Climate change perception, Institutional landscape and governance, Social and gender differentiation, Hazards and vulnerability, Local climatic information, Health and nutrition profile and other livelihood outcomes, and Stakeholders. Four topics were common with the VBS: natural resource utilization, organizational landscape, information network, and mitigation measures.CCAFS has identified lead CG partners as well as local partners in every site in the implementation of its activities. For Rohal Soung, the WorldFish Center is the lead CG partner. For the baseline surveys, the teams in the six CCAFS sites were trained in September 2014 (for VBS, OBS, and SANA) and in November 2014 (for Household Baseline Study). Guide materials were given to the teams for reference.With VBS and SANA as complementary activities, field data collection was conducted at the same time.The FGDs were conducted for VBS in Rohal Soung village from 28 th to 30 th October 2014 with participation of 90 villagers. The FGDs were organized for men and women separately. Topics relevant to SANA that were collected during the FGDs include on natural resource utilization, organizational landscape, and information network. Additional information was collected from November to December 2014. A feedback seminar was held in the village with 15 villagers who had not participated in the FGDs as well as leaders from the province down to the village levels.Data on institutional landscape was collected through a participatory group exercise where important organizations were listed and their involvement in the community identified. From the list, the five most important organizations were selected by villagers for interviews using the protocol set under the OBS. Detailed information is given in the site analysis report of Rohal Suong.Battambang province is situated in the northwest part of Cambodia (Figure 1), about 300 km from Phnom Penh via national road No 5. The province borders on Beanteay Meanchey, Siem Reap, and Pursat provinces.The western boundary is framed by the enclave of Pailin province and the national border with Thailand. At its eastern tip, the province is connected to the Tonle Sap Lake. The province covers an area of about 11,803 km 2 , comprising 13 districts, one municipality, 96 communes, and 741 villages.In recent years, Battambang has reactivated its strategic location as an economic and trading center.Climate change and the degraded natural environment pose as a threat.Rohal Suong, one of CSVs in the Southeast Asia, is located in the Prek Norin commune, Eak Phnom district of Battambang province (Figure 2). It is About 15 km from Battamabang town. Rohal Soung village is a land-based village (Johnstone et al., 2013)   In 2005, the total population of the province was 952,306 (185,868 families) and it increased to 1, 043,928 (205,351 families) in 2008043,928 (205,351 families) in (NCDD, 2009)). Table 3 shows the population trend for years 2007 to 2010. During these years, the total population and a number of families were increasing, but the rate of increase was declining. Meanwhile, the number of female-headed households was increasing. Compared to other districts, Battambang has the highest population (151,656) in 2008 (Figure 3).  Over the next 10 years, the population of Battambang is projected to increase. Figure 4 shows the range of population projections based on three growth rate scenarios.Source: author's calculation based on NCDD data book 2010 Meanwhile, Rohal Soung village had a total population of 1,354 (342 families), comprised of 670 women and 684 men in 2014. About 36% of total families were identified as the poorest in the village (Praek Norint Commune, 2012).During the southwest monsoon season from May to November, about 90% of the annual rainfall occurs. The remaining months are hot and less humid, leading to particularly high potential evapotranspiration in March and April. The average annual rainfall amount is extremely variable between different parts of the country. In the northwest part of Cambodia and around the Great Lake, the rainfall is generally bimodal, with a first peak occurring between May and June, followed by a period of lower rainfall between June and August while the monsoon rains return during August through October. At this time, the rainfall is usually heavier and can cause widespread flooding. Yet this bimodal pattern is erratic and widely unpredictable, causing difficulties in farmers' crop planning.    Battambang is part of the greater natural landscape of the Cardamom region 2 . The natural habitats of this region form a complex network of interconnected landscapes and watersheds that provide important ecosystem services to the region (Killeen 2012). Table 3 shows the distribution of land use categories in the districts of Battambang province. More than half of the land area in Battambang province is agricultural land (596,497 ha). About 25% is forest land. Half of the forest land is flooded. This region covers approximately one third of the countrys's land surface and spans 24 of its provinces, including Koh Kong, Pursat, Battambang, Pailin, Sihanouk, Kampong Speu, Kampong Chhnang, Kam Pot and Kep.The five main categories of agricultural and forestry land in Battambang province are as follows (JICA et al., 2007): 1. Paddy Field: Most paddy fields in the basin are rainfed. The irrigated paddy field is estimated at about 22,000 ha or 24% of the total paddy field area. The prevailing rice cultivation method is direct sowing and the prevailing cropping pattern is a single cropping of rice in the wet season. The area under receding or floating rice cultivation is limited to 270 hectares in the basin.Field crop land makes up only 7,020 ha or 1.2 % of the basin and is almost exclusively found along small valleys in the mountain areas. The major crops cultivated in the wet season include corn, beans, and cassava. Fertile Cambisol field crop land in the basin of Pailin province was developed for commercial scale for upland crop cultivation.Garden crop land accounts for 15,990 ha or 3 % of the basin. It is divided into garden crop fields and village garden crop fields. These are mostly found along the Sangkae River and other rivers having access to water resources. Over 60% of the land is considered village garden crop fields. The major crops cultivated in these lands are vegetables and some upland crops mainly in dry season. 4. Forest: Forest accounts for the largest land surface, occupying 250,910 ha or 41% of the basin, and extends to the southeastern mountain areas in the basin. Forest land includes evergreen broad leafed, deciduous, and mixed forest of evergreen and deciduous. 5. Flooded Shrub/Forest: covers the lowland areas down to the Tonle Sap Lake and is composed of flooded shrub land and flooded forest. However, the former accounts for 98% of this category and the latter is limited in extent within the basin. Table 5 presents the three protected areas, totaling 710,000 ha, associated with the Sangker river system 3 . These partly encompass: Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary, Sam Lout Multiple Use Area, and Tonle Sap Multiple Use Area. Both Phnom Samkos and Samlaut are located upstream of most irrigation systems; therefore, there would be no adverse environmental impact through irrigation promotion in this basin. On the other hand, Tonle Sap Multiple Use Area is situated downstream of Sangkae River and this will be affected by water infrastructure development such as irrigation schemes and increased usage in fertilizer and pesticides. Attention needs to be paid to avoid negatively impacting downstream areas through irrigation (JICA et al., 2007).The Tonle Sap Multiple Use Area is biologically diverse, with over 110 species of fish present. It is a home to 11 globally threatened bird species and four near-threatened species such as the Spot-billed Pelican, Greater Adjutant, Bengal Florican, and Oriental Darter, and also supports important populations of reptiles such as Siamese Crocodiles. The planned rehabilitation of existing irrigation schemes located upstream of Tonle Sap Lake does not appear to cause any additional negative impact on the environment. However, if there is an expansion beyond existing schemes, then the environmental monitoring plan must be considered as one of the project components in order to minimize future negative impacts in Tonle Sap Areas (JICA et al., 2007).More natural forest areas, in particular from protected areas, are being granted to, or taken by, local communities or businessman for large-scale agricultural development. Since 2005, people have cleared forested areas to cultivate maize and/or cassava for sale to private factories or exported to Thailand. Newly cleared land requires a limited amount of fertilizer, but later on increasing amounts of fertilizer will be used as the land productivity, watershed, and water resources degrade.Currently, an estimated 191,492 ha of forest cover is left, of which 150,992 ha is under the management of the forestry administration and 40,000 ha is under the provincial department of environment. However, protected areas are increasingly under threat from land encroachment for large-scale agricultural land development (Provincial Development of Planning, 2015).Key informants from the Provincial Department of Agriculture reveal that the area under agricultural land will increase to 500,000 ha from 2015 to 2018, of which 100,000 ha will be dry season rice cultivation as well as upland rice crop. This trend for commercial cash crop production is likely to encroach significantly on both protected areas and recession flooded forest areas (Interview dated 22 nd December 2014).Interviews with officials from the provincial department of environment also confirm significant loss of protected areas, including:• Samkos wildlife sanctuary 4• 14,000 ha of land has been taken from these protected areas, of which 8000 was provided to local communities with legal title while the land title to additional 6,000 ha was in a process of being issued to farmers. • Roneam Dounsar wildlife sanctuary • Covers an area of more than 170,000 ha in two provinces: Banteay Meanchey and Battambang (70,000-80,000 ha). • Now there are only around 3,000 to 4,000 ha left in Batambang due to land concession and encroachment.• Samlout multiple use area • more than 60,000 ha in Battambang and Pailin, of which 40,000 ha in Battambang.• Now, there are around 10,000 ha left due to land clearance for cash crops and commercial farming.To prevent further loss of protected areas, a more effective land use and watershed management plan is needed in the Battambang River Basin. Such plans should consist of: (i) proper forest utilization as well as reforestation plans, (ii) diversified agriculture development for non-irrigated land, (iii) slope protection, and (iv) soil conservation. The report from JICA, MOWRAM, and MAFF (2007) suggested formulating an interministerial coordination body consisting of MOWRAM, MAFF, MOE, and Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning (MLMUC), Ministry of Construction, in collaboration with other relevant Ministries.Meanwhile, Rohal Soung is an old village with a total land area of 717 5 ha. It was covered largely by flooded forest before the 1990s. The flooded forest provides a good habitat for fish that villagers catch for consumption. The flooded forests, however, were degraded rapidly as a result of agricultural expansions and high demands for firewood. The grasslands were also converted to rice field over the last 10 years; some parts, however, are kept as grassland for cattle.This Samkos wildlife sanctuary covers three provinces: Battambang with 59,000 ha, Pursat with >200,000 ha, Koh Kong with >90,000 ha. 5 Some areas are fallen into two categories; some plots of land can be cultivated rice and then other cash cropsThe land is also categorized mainly as paddy field (wet and dry season rice field), crop plantation field, and residential areas. The residential area covers 75 ha. There is no restriction where local villagers can build their house. They, however, prefer to build their houses along the Sangke river and in main roads located higher than the farmland. Residential areas are also flooded during the serious flood year.Conservation pond (7 ha) and flooded forest (54 ha) are included in flooded forests. Ta Ek pond, one of the biggest ponds, was designated as a fish conservation pond and managed by the community fisheries.There are some small ponds and flooded forest associated with the conservation area. Small ponds are dried out during the dry season, thus all fish and brook stock move to survey in Ta Ek pond.Stung Sangker River is one of the key sources of water for the foundation of city development in Battambang. The river originates from the range of the Elephant and Cardamom mountains at an elevation of about 1,391 m, flows from the southwest to north across the Battambang Town and joins the Stung Mongkol Borey river at the Bac Prea village about 40 km downstream from Battambang Town. It then flows to the Stung Sreng river another further 10 km downstream, then flows into the Tonle Sap Great Lake. The upper Stung Sangker River is the combination of two rivers, namely, the Stung Sangker itself and the Stung Chamlang Kuoy (CNMC, 2012).At O Dambang, which is located about 5 km upstream Battambang town, the river splits into two rivers: the Sangker itself and the Stung Chas river, then flows directly into the Tonle Sap Great Lake. The Stung Sangker river catchment has a total area of 6,052 km². More than one third of this catchment area is between 4 to 13 m in elevation, and the highest elevation is 1,391 m. The catchment above the Battambang river (also known as Sangkae river) gauging station is 3,230 km² (CNMC 2012).In the past, before the civil wars, Battambang was considered as the rice bowl of the country. The province is endowed with good natural resources and certain environmental characteristics have shaped the agricultural production systems and productivity. For example, key water sources for agricultural production include:• Sangkae River: original source of water from Cardamom Mountains coming down through Battambang town and dividing the town into two parts (east and west), before going down to Tonle Sap Lake. • Munkul Borey River: original source from Pailin goes through Bavel district of Banteay Meanchey and then to Tonle Sap Lake. In 2012, Bavel irrigation scheme could irrigate 37,000 ha in wet season and 9,000 ha in dry season. Based on the data from provincial development planning 2015-2019 (5 years planning), only 30% of agricultural land is irrigated, while 70% is rain-fed.The Sangke River (or Stung Sangke in Khmer language) is one of the main rivers in Battambang province.It is approximately 250 kilometers long and it flows through 27 communes of 6 districts in Battambang before draining into the Tonle Sap Great Lake. The average depth of the river is 2.35 meters and 6.79 meters in dry and wet seasons, respectively (PDOWRAM, 2013).The Prek Norint commune is one of communes that the Sangke River flows through, and it provides main water source to feed into the small irrigation system especially to irrigate dry season rice. The villagers also use water from the Sangke River for domestic uses. The Sangke river provides a pathway for fish to migrate from the Tonle Sap Lake to flooded forest, open fields and other river channel networks in the wet season.Thus the Sangke River is a great fishing ground for local people.There are some small dike and water channel connected to paddy field, but these are of very limited capacity. The water channel plays a role to bring water from the Sangke River to the rice field. The culvert connection from the river to water channel was installed partly in 2013 and was completed in late 2014 with co-financing from WorldFish and the local villagers' contributions. Villagers have recently use pumping machine to pump water from the Sangke River to feed into culvert connection then drain to water channel. This pumping machine was lent by Ministry of Water Resources for the last two years; it is managed by the Water User Committees. Based on key informant interviews and FGD, the water channel and dike have a potential to expand and cover other parts of paddy field and crop land; farmers expect to get a high yield if their lands are irrigated.Certain infrastructure characteristics have played an important role in economic activities and human interaction around Battambang. Key infrastructures include:• National Road No.5 crosses through the municipality from northwest to southeast, connecting Sisophon, Poipet and Siem Reap in the north to Pursat and Phnom Penh in the south. • National road No.57 connects national road No.5 to the urban center of Battambang municipality and connects Battambang to Pailin in the southwest. • A national railway line from Phnom Penh to Sisophon crosses the municipality from southeast to northwest with a railway station in the urban center of Battambang.A road connects Battambang town to Rohal Suong village and continues to other villages near the Tonle Sap Lake. The road is built by the Royal Government of Cambodia in 2011; this road can be accessed by truck, motor carts, tractors, motorbikes, and bicycles. It plays a very important role to transport the agriculture and fisheries products and to connect local people to towns and market. Some parts of the roads in Rohal Suong and adjacent villages are flooded during the heavy flooding season. A small road located along the Sangke river bank, dusty and bumpy, is also used to transport agricultural and fisheries products by handtractors, motor carts, motorbikes, and bicycles.The primary school in the village is located in the middle of a village. The school condition is good; there are adequate classrooms, teachers, and school officials and also there is a running tape water system and playground. This school is supported and funded by external development agencies and the Royal Government of Cambodia. The children in the village and adjacent villages go to this school and continue to secondary school in the district town.There is no heath care center in the village; the villagers seek local medics for basic treatments; there are only four local medics (two women) and two traditional midwives. Patients go to health center located in the district town for serious illness or for giving birth. The loan agreement 7 between Cambodia and the ADB (2010) for railway rehabilitation will help increase domestic and regional trade and facilitate commodity flow with neighboring Greater Mekong Sub-region countries via the railway, thereby further supporting sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction.According to AUSAID (2013), the Cambodia Railway Rehabilitation Project is a US$143 million project to be managed by the ADB in partnership with the Government of Cambodia. It will help to rebuild Cambodia's railways, including stations and terminals, which have deteriorated over many years through war, neglect, and asset stripping. The railway project will also help the poor of Cambodia through increased economic growth and better transport.The Cambodian railway network consists of two lines: • The northern line, which was built in the 1930s, connects Phnom Penh to Poi Pet (going through Battambang and Sisophone) on the border with Thailand • The southern line, which was built in the late 1960s, connects Phnom Penh with Cambodia's main seaport in Sihanoukville. To date, approximately 93 % or 266 km of the southern line has been rehabilitated, and trains are operating between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville port. • Benefits from the project will include reducing the number of heavy vehicles on the road by up to fifty per cent, leading to: • Fewer road accidents (almost 1,800 people die in Cambodia each year in road accidents and thousands more are injured) 6The Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) is an integral part of the proposed \"Cambodia: GMS Southern Economic Corridor Towns Development Project\" (or the \"Project\" -hereinafter used in text). The PPCR will promote the mainstreaming of climate resilience in the Project. The project promotes the transformation of the Southern Economic Corridor of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), from a transport corridor into a full-fledged economic corridor by improving priority infrastructure and building institutional capacity in selected towns. 7Loan No.2288-CAM (SF): GMS: Rehabilitation of Agreement dated 2 March between Kingdom of Cambodia (borrower) and ADB with total funds around US$26,408,000.• Savings (estimated at over $US1 billion) in road and sea transport costs in the first thirty years of operations (trains require less than 20 per cent of the fuel used by commercial trucks). The typical container transit time between Bangkok and Phnom Penh by sea and road is usually 11 days; this will drop to about 20 hours by rail, resulting in a 67 per cent reduction in costs • Lower CO 2 emissions • Savings in road maintenance costs of $39 million (one fully loaded truck causes as much wear and tear on roads as 7,000 passenger cars), and • Removal of dangerous or inflammable cargo from roads to rail.The railway project will directly affect 4,000 families, one quarter of them will be resettled 8 . The government, under ADB loan, is responsible for relocating those affected by the project in line with ADB standards. The core principle of these standards is that no affected person will be worse off as a result of the railway project (AUSAID 2013).Local authorities consider investment in urban road and drainage structures the mobilizing factors in urban sector development. This is in recognition of the fact that Battambang is a market town with an urbanizing economy that serves local and regional functions. The planned development of the urban road system that integrates drainage structures will elevate Battambang as a regional economic growth center as well as ensure sustainable local economic development and investment. Thus, urban road infrastructure requirements according to classifications are as follows:• Improvement of 406.3 km of the National Road (NR 5). NR 5 is the major road running through the urban centre of Battambang. Through investment, it will be imrpoved and visually enhanced. Requirements will be the construction of an avenue with tree-lined roads and intersections designed to connect the national road with the other main urban roads. • Construction along almost 10 km of the inner and outer ring roads with drainage structures. This will connect NR 57 to the south of the new administrative area, and will continue further north to form a half-circular road leading northward. The planned investment for the construction of the by-pass ring road system in the urban centre of Battambang is intended to decongest traffic build up on the National Roads 5 and 57. The possible funding source for this investment is the JICA. • Upgrading 22.3 km of the municipal road or the urban interior roads.• Improvement of the existing provincial road with a total length of 21.3 km to be extended to a length of 105.3 km, connecting other provinces. • Construction of two new bridges to complement the urban road network, one north of the urban area in Chamkar Samrong commune and one in the south in Wat Kor commune aligning with the planned urban ring-road.8The Cambodian Government has agreed to provide compensation at replacement cost for the loss of their house (i.e. compensation for the cost of rebuilding the same house), or any of their property (including fruit trees or fences, for example), allowances to help families through the relocation transition, and to support and restore people's ability to earn an income.There is huge potential for irrigation schemes built during the Khmer Rouge regime, but most of them are not functioning due to poor structure and lack of maintenance. Potential hydropower development has also been highlighted in various studies, including the JICA hydropower development master plan in 2009 and 2007. These projects will contribute hugely to food security and food demand for both local and exporting oriented markets, as well as to the need for energy for both local urban residents and various business and enterprise developments within the municipality and the whole province. The Battambang Development Master Plan (2008Plan ( -2020) ) encapsulates the development pillars envisioned to achieve socially responsible, environmentally friendly, and economically successful development. In line with its socioeconomic goals, the development vision for Battambang is for it to be a competitive town, becoming the regional economic center for trade and investments in agri-industrial goods and services along the Southern Economic Corridor. Over the 15-year period, Battambang will aim to be a city of heritage and culture while sustaining its economic competitiveness for private sector investment.Based on an assessment of the current situation, the Battambang flood control subproject is composed of the following main components:• Civil works for river embankment and flood control structures located at Wat Sophy in the Sophy village in Rattanak Sangkat. The structure is approximately 200 m long and 30 m wide. • Civil works for a river embankment structure for erosion control located at Apsara Market in Kamkor village in Svay Por Sangkat. The structure is approximately 100 m long and 30 m wide.The town of Battambang experiences flooding and periodic inundation during the June-December period, rainy season in the area. Based on a CDIA study in 2010, the highest levels of flooding occur in the Sangkats of Svay Por and Preak Preah Sdach, with depths of almost 0.5 m. In the town centre, flooding has become a nuisance to the local population, affecting the flow of traffic and movement of people in the major thoroughfares while disrupting access to economic services.The local economic and market town development plan along the transport corridor offers considerable opportunities as well as enormous economic and environmental challenges. The town center, with 90% of commercial and residential establishments, is on the west bank of the river. The topography is flat and the Tonle Sap Lake to the East is connected to the Sangkae River, which runs through the town. The plan provides a long list of potential investments in the urban environment and economic infrastructure. Through various consultations and criteria, the selected urban infrastructure for priority investment includes the following: Improvement of waste water system and installation of treatment plant includes 3 km of open and close channel drainage structures along existing canals in the northern and eastern portion of Battambang. A 5 ha area has been identified as the site of the plant.River embankment protection and flood control measures involve civil works for the protection of the river embankment on the eastern side of the Sangkae River and the rehabilitation of drainage structures in the town center and adjacent sub-urban areas.Establishment of sanitary landfill and material recovery facility to improve solid waste management through the establishment of a sanitary landfill and installation of a material recovery facility at the Battambang dumpsite. The sanitary landfill will address the perennial problem of waste collection and disposal and achieve the projected collection rate of 90 % by 2020.Battambang has fertile land located near the Tonle Sap Lake, traditionally a rich agricultural area producing rice, cash crops and vegetables. Agriculture -including rice, vegetable, livestock, and poultry farming -still dominates as the main economic activity in the province. The economic growth rate of Battambang is 2.28%, which is above the national average, but much lower than in other provinces, such as Mondul Kiri, Oddar Meanchey, and Palin, where growth rates are above 6% (NIS 2008cited (MOE et al., 2013). Table 7 shows the average yield and production of annual crops in Battambang province in 2011 and 2012. Data shows that cassava and red corn are the main products in terms of production. There was a reduction, however, in their total production in 2011 and 2012: red corn from 562,448 to 510, 2995 tons and of cassava from 2,001,839 to 1,692,895 tons. In 2010, an estimated 176,561 families were involved in the agricultural sector (Provincial Department of Planning 2014). Table 8 and Figure 8 show the proportion of the population involved in the agricultural sector in Battambang province and its districts in 2012. Although most of the labor in the province are in on-farm labor, the trend has decreased since 2012 to 2014. The fishery sector in Battambang is dominated by capture fisheries rather than aquaculture. The province has 303,000 ha of flooded forest, or 26 % of the total provincial territory. This flooded forest area borders (30 km) the Tonle Sap Lake and covers paddy field floodplains and floating rice cultivated areas, creating a natural habitat for fish spawning, breeding, and biodiversity.Currently, there are 48 fishery communities, 40 of which were officially registered and recognized by MAFF. An additional 43 fishery refuge for spawning/breeding are managed by local communities, and another seven fishery refuges, and 28 fishery ponds are managed by the provincial fishery administration (5 years strategic development planning 2015-19, Battambang).Meanwhile, the fishery resources were abundant in Rohal Suong village. These resources have declined rapidly since flooded forest and natural water bodies were converted to rice fields and development projects.Local farmers, however, still catch fish during rainy and high peak season in the Sangke river, lake and water bodies near their village. The fish catch can be sold out and processed for household consumption.In 2002, Rohal Suong village joined Sdey and Dourng Mea villages in establishing community fisheries (CFi). The purpose of CFi establishment was to manage and use fisheries resources in a sustainable manner. The CFi is composed of 13 committee members (including 3 women) and 856 members (296 women). A total of 1.814 ha was allocated as CFi area and 7 ha was designated as a fish conservation area in Rohal Suong.Only eight households have small scale aquaculture, which was introduced by Harvest Cambodia and Aphivat Srey (AS). Four households have eel culture.Employment in the services and manufacturing sector in Battambang province has been increasing (Table10). The province has 10 active small-scale rice mills and 23 active large-scale rice mills, 33 electronics shops, 33 brewery factories, 153 small service providers (massage parlors and cosmetics), 183 small enterprises, 10 clinics, and 50 pharmacies in the municipality.Tourism is another employment sector. Key tourism sites include cultural villages, Khmer traditional houses, and colonial buildings, museums, and entertainment areas. Currently, there are 24 hotels, 32 guest houses, 46 restaurants, and 15 gasoline stations (Table 9) (Battambang Municipality, 2011).Given its strategic location and geographic advantage in terms of agriculture, Battambang has high potential to be transformed into an agro-industrial hub, tourist attraction, and become a competitive city for public and private sector investment.A study by ACI (2010) showed that the production of vegetables in Cambodia is insufficient to supply the market. Production is highly seasonal. Import of vegetables from Vietnam and Thailand occurs throughout the year and in particular during the dry season. About 50 % of all vegetables consumed in Cambodia are imported (70% during the dry season and 30% during the wet season). In Battambang, farmers have not been able to reap the benefits of upgrading and improved post-harvest practices due to lack of organization, production planning and their dependency on collectors who are reluctant to share margin with farmers. The strategic development plan 2015-2019 (draft) also acknowledges key constraints on commercial crops, including red corn and cassava, resulting in both a reduction of cultivated areas, and production. Battambang has a surplus of rice production, with total production of 790,306 tons in 2012 and 789,899 tons in 2013. A study conducted by Gergely, Pierre, and Chanty (2010) shows that primary marketing systems in rice trade and production are very fluid and involve a large number of actors:• Farmers: The majority of farmers keep paddy for their own consumption and only sell their harvest when they are short of cash or have extra requirements. The home consumption is estimated at 40 % of the net production; this brings the consumption per head to 195 kg of rice.The trade of paddy involves many actors: collectors, intermediary traders called \"middle persons\" and traders. Collectors generally cover 4 or 5 villages and gather the rice from individual farm lots into small warehouses. Depending on the price, they sell paddy to medium and large millers but most of the quantity is sold to middlemen. These intermediary traders are typically involved in the inter-provincial and cross border trade with Vietnam and Thailand. In such a case, they usually sell their paddy to traders located close to the border, who are in direct contact with Vietnam millers (they are, in particular, pre-financed by them). They are also involved in the trade of other commodities, such as soybean, sesame, and fertilizers.• Export paddy rice to Vietnam and Thailand: Cambodia exports the majority of its surplus rice production as paddy rice to Vietnam and Thailand, bypassing the milling stage. Middlemen sell paddy rice to traders who transport the bags to Vietnam and Thailand traders across the borders (although export paddy is not allowed). Most of the paddy rice exported to Vietnam comes from the dry season harvest of the rice IR variety. • Medium and large millers: Rice millers buy paddy rice from primary collectors, traders, or farmers themselves. Milled rice is then distributed from mills back to collectors and traders and to wholesalers in towns and larger markets. From these wholesalers, the rice is distributed to consumers through retailers. • 40 % of production is exported as paddy rice: Rice consumption per head is estimated between 170 kg and 230 kg rice per head/year. The flow of paddy rice for export to Vietnam and Thailand have increased substantially as production of paddy rice has increased in Cambodia. • Dependency on exports: If Vietnam or Thailand close their borders or tax the paddy rice imports to protect their own market, the domestic paddy rice price will drastically decrease in Cambodia resulting in a major income crisis. Opening a Cambodian export rice chain is largely an economic safety priority.Overall, market access remains unreliable within the province. Rice markets are strongly controlled by middlemen who own commercial rice mills within the village and in major district or provincial towns. A case study in Kampong Pouy shows that large scale rice milling associations and private rice mill owners from provincial towns determine the price of rice (Try, 2013).According to a feasibility study on the establishment of an open paddy rice market in Cambodia conducted by JICA and the Royal Government of Cambodia in 2003, 51 commercial rice mills existed within Battambang province, with 31 of these in three districts in the irrigated areas: Bannan with 5, Thmor Koul with 24 and Moung Russey with 12 rice mills (JICA and RGC 2004). By 2007, the number of commercial rice mills decreased to 20 and transformed from individual ownership into networks and associations. Rice milling in the province is controlled by the provincial chamber of commerce, which has close ties with the ruling political party.According to the 2011 Economic Census (RGC, 2013) Battambang ranked 2 nd among 24 provinces by various indicators derived mainly from the results of the 2011 Economic Census (Table 12). The total number of commercial establishments in Battambang was 34,097 while the total number of persons engaged in these establishments was 84,790. Battambang accounts for 6.8% of the total number of establishments in Cambodia (505,134 establishments) and for 5.1% of the total number of persons engaged in establishments (1,673,390 persons) in the Kingdom of Cambodia.  In Rohal Soung village, the average family size is six and the average land holding is 7 Rai 9 including rice field, crop planting and residential areas. The main occupations are rice production and agriculture-related activities and followed by fishing, and small trading. Most rice farmers increased rice cultivations from single cropping to two cropping per year. New rice varieties have been introduced in the village by dealers, NGO and government projects; those rice varieties are Sen Kra Ob, Sen Pidor, Sar Kra Nhanh, OM, and IR. The new varieties generally provide higher yields, but also require intensive inputs such chemical fertilizer, pesticides, machineries and water.Beside rice cultivation, local farmers grow other crops such as maize, mung bean, watermelon, cucumber, pumpkin, and yam bean. Tables 13 and 14 show the results of a focus group discussion with the villagers during data collection for the situation analysis exercise. There is no official market venue in Rohal Suong village. There are few small local shops operated by villagers that offer very basic supplies and groceries. There are a few shops selling agricultural materials/ inputs. Some farmers, who do not have enough money, buy on credit the seeds and chemical fertilizers in the early season and pay at a higher price during harvest season. In recent years, rice traders visit the village to buy rice directly from the villagers during the harvest season.Generally, rice has a high market demand, but its price is unstable. Farmers complain about the low rice price for years, and they sometimes cannot make any profits. Farmers in Rohal Suong are also challenged in marketing their other agricultural produce such as watermelon, bean, and other vegetables. During the peak harvest period, the price of these agricultural products falls rapidly.Meanwhile, fish marketing is dominated by traders who buys the fish in the village and transport the fish in bug buckets by motorbike. The big fish is transported to Battambang, Phnom Penh and Thailand; while small fish is sent to a processing area, about 10 km distance from Rohal Suong village. Based on total rice production, both in wet and dry season, Battambang has managed to produce major surpluses and also leads exports to neighboring countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, mostly through informal channels.Nutritional status is the result of complex interactions between food consumption and the overall status of health and care practices. Numerous socioeconomic and cultural factors influence decisions on patterns of feeding and nutritional status. Adequate nutrition is critical to child development. Measurement of nutrition status among young children covers three major indices: Height-for-age (stunting), Weight-forheight (wasting), and Weight-for-age (underweight).In Cambodia, 40 percent of children under age 5 are stunted, and 14% are severely stunted. Analysis by age group indicates that stunting is apparent even among children less than 6 months of age (10%).Table 15 summarizes the percentage of children under 5 years old classified as malnourished according to three anthropometric indices of nutritional status: height-for-age, weight-for-height, and weight-for age (Background Characteristics, Cambodia, 2010). The height and weight of women aged 15-49 were measured among a 50 percent subsample of households selected in the 2010 CDHS (Figure 11). Results show that while undernutrition is declining, obesity is increasing during the years 2000 to 2010. In Battambang, out of the 654 women, 6.27% were found to be below 145cm in height, 74% with normal weight, 13.9% total thin and 9.6% mild thin, 4.3% severely thin and 12.1% with total overweight, 10.5% overweight and 1.6% obese. A study conducted by MOE (2010) for the Second National Communication for UNFCCC shows that Battambang is the most vulnerable province to drought and second-most vulnerable to floods based on the level of fatalities, property losses, and contaminated wells. In an earlier study conducted by MOE (2005MOE ( ,2006) )   ADB (2011) indicated that Battambang is one of the provinces surrounding the Tonle Sap Lake that often received flash floods, recorded back in 1961, 1966, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2004and 2006. JICA, MOWRAM and MAFF (2007) published a survey on river basins surrounding the Tonle Sap Lake, of which Stung Snagke or Battambang is one of the key river basins.  Based on a CDIA/ADB report (2010) flooding also happens along the rail line due to the reduced capacity of drainage canals blocked by new construction and filled with sediment and water. In several locations lateral roads have been built without proper drainage works.Official records from various documents shows that in 2011 (with water levels up to 13.95 m) floods affected 31,458 people (7,111 households in 31 communes in 9 districts), inundated 52,503 ha, and destroyed 36.266 ha of rice fields. Flood in in 2013 was even more serious as the water level was the highest in history at 14.2 m high along Sangke River (normally 12.5 meters, water start to overflow from the river to the town and areas in lowland or wetland).  It was reported during the fieldwork in late October 2013 that floods have significant impact in the area. The flood started in early October and lasted around 7 to 10 days while in some areas, the flood lasted longer, around 20 days. Among the provinces affected, Battambang and Battey Meanchey were the worst affected in terms of numbers of households and infrastructure (social sector, agriculture, and infrastructure value) (Table 19). Figure 14 shows the effects of flooding on agriculture in 2013. In particular, out of 131,553 ha of agricultural land dedicated to rice, 36,895 ha were destroyed. Other crops such as fruit trees and cash crops were also reported to be affected, with 51,437 ha and 35,543 ha, respectively, destroyed. As a result of flooding in 2013, 16 irrigation schemes were destroyed with a total 31,072 m of main canals, 1,247 m of dikes and 15 construction sites. The total cost of repair was estimated at US$ 700,000. As discussed with local community groups in Rohal Soung, local villagers experienced extreme events such flash flood, drought, crop disease and insect outbreak. Flood in late 2013 was considered as the worst flood over 70 years; it rose up to 14.50 m high along the Sangke river. Normally water starts to overflow from the river to the town and areas in lowland once the water level reaches 12.50 m high in the Sangke river (Try, 2015).About 80 per cent of rice production in Rohal Suong were destroyed by flood in 2013; moreover some livestock and infrastructures, such as paths and channels, were also damaged during a flood (Sat Ch., 2014, per. comm.). Table 20 shows the extreme events which occurred in the village The climate vulnerability index published by MOE, WB/ADB and Hatfield (2013) focuses on key sectors including agriculture, water, and infrastructure. Vulnerability was mapped in terms of population density and location of important biodiversity resources. Adaptive capacity was mapped using various socioeconomic indices (e.g., human development index) and indicators such as access to technology and availability of infrastructure. The agriculture, water, and infrastructure sectors are summarized below:The impacts of climate change to the agricultural sector in Battambang, and in Cambodia as a whole, are especially significant due to the sector's importance for rural livelihoods. Eastham et al. (2008) predict that by 2030:• Agricultural productivity would increase • Food availability in excess of demand decreases • Temperature, annual precipitation and runoff increase • Dry season precipitation and runoff decrease • The high probability of increased flooding (not quantified)• Seasonal fluctuation in Tonle Sap Lake area and levels increases• Minimum areas of Tonle Sap Lake increases • An area of flooded forest permanently submerged increases and possibly be destroyed • Maximum areas of Tonle Sap Lake increase with possible negative impacts on agricultural areas, housing and infrastructure.Under wet and median future climate scenarios for 2030, productivity of rice in the Tonle Sap catchment (which includes Battambang) is expected to increase slightly from historical productivity measures (Eastham et al. 2008). Rice production in Battambang is expected to increase under climate predictions for 2025, 2050, and 2100(MOE, 2002)). Analysis of yield anomaly of rice productivity (i.e., the difference between observed and estimated data) for Battambang suggests that, under elevated CO 2 emission rate projections, yields of wet-season (mostly rain-fed) rice may increase (0.1 or 0.2 tonnes/ha in 2050 or 2100) compared to those of dry-season rice (MOE, 2001). For wet-season rice in Battambang, rice production under the projected climate change trends would become more variable (MOE 2002). These scenarios only consider projected climate change for different increases in CO 2 emission rates and do not take into account other variables that influence crop growth and development.Contrary to the findings above, analysis of changes in soil water content under future climate change (MOE, 2010) reveals that western and northwestern provinces (including Battambang) will be exposed to higher drought risk due to higher temperature, evaporation rates, and extended dry seasons. Growing seasons in these areas may be reduced from five months to 2-3 months, affecting agricultural production in the province.In addition to increased drought risk (with a shorter wet season and longer dry seasons), more intense rainfall and flooding may cause damage to crops. Rural farmers may not have adequate resources and capacity to cope with reduced harvests during drought and heavy rainfall years (MOE, WB/ADB and Hatfield Consultants 2013).Farmers in Battambang will be particularly vulnerable to livelihood and food security impacts resulting from reductions in the length of growing seasons and reduced agricultural productivity.Various studies have suggested that climate change will alter the water cycle and hydrology in the Mekong basin and tributary catchments (especially in the Tonle Sap catchment, which includes Battambang), shifting the timing, duration, and intensity of rainfall patterns and affecting the quantity, availability, quality, and distribution of water resources (ICEM 2014).Temperature and annual precipitation are expected to increase with high probability of flooding. Increased flooding is expected to affect all parts of the Mekong basin, with the greatest impacts felt in the downstream catchments of the Mekong River due to the cumulative impact of upstream runoff (Eastham et al. 2008).The Tonle Sap catchment (including most of Kampong Thom) is likely to be wetter, flooded for a longer period, and to experience higher water levels and more extensive flood inundation.Construction of upstream hydropower dams along the mainstream Mekong River and its tributaries will also affect future water availability. Hydropower dams will regulate flow in the Mekong, reducing it during the wet season and increasing it during the dry season (Lamberts 2008;Sarkkulla et al. 2009). Under various hydropower development scenarios (MRC 2010), dams are expected to help offset extreme fluctuations in river flows caused by the frequent floods and droughts predicted under climate change. However, regulation of Mekong River flows will have a significant impact on the annual flood pulse of the Tonle Sap River, with potentially disastrous impacts to the Tonle Sap Lake ecosystem and, therefore, the livelihoods that depend on it for agriculture and fisheries.Impacts of climate change on water resources will affect livelihoods, primarily through changes to agricultural productivity (see section above) and fishery resources (which have not been quantified), which sustain over 80% of the rural population in Battambang. However, the precise nature and levels of these impacts are uncertain and difficult to predict, as they depend not only on uncertain future climate conditions but also on uncertain future demographic and socioeconomic conditions.Vulnerability of infrastructure to future climate risks has not been quantified in Cambodia (including Battambang province), except for the coastal regions subjected to sea-level rise. Roads in Battambang are susceptible to flooding throughout much of the rainy season. With a high likelihood of increased rainfall intensity, causing stronger floods, it will be necessary to climate-proof the roads (i.e., to build them in such a way as to make them more resilient to extreme climate events) (PPCR 2011).Infrastructure in Battambang will remain vulnerable to intensified flooding and drought risks unless climate-proofing is done (enhancing flood resilience of roads, sanitation, solid waste management, public markets, and other infrastructure). Construction of flood-resilient infrastructure in a number of provinces (including Battambang) is planned under the Strategic Program for Climate Resilience. Planned activities for reducing infrastructure vulnerability involve both soft and hard interventions. Hard interventions include climate-proofing roads and drainage systems and improving riverbank flood-protection, water, and sanitation facilities under a concessional credit scheme (PPCR 2011).Climate in Rohal Suong is pretty similar to the climate in the Tonle Sap Great Lake region; the first rainfall peak occurs between May and June and followed by a period of lower rainfall between June and August. During a period of lower rainfall, some dry spells are occurring, in some year dry spells were taking too long. Then the monsoon rains return during August through October, at this time the rainfall is usually heavier. Meanwhile water from the Mekong flow over to the Tonle Sap Great Lake and spread out to lowland, thus it can cause widespread flooding. Farmlands in Rohla Suong are flooded from August to mid-October every year, while residential areas are also flooded in the big flooding year. The remaining months are hot and less humid, leading to particularly high potential evapotranspiration in March and April.Previously, the locals believed that the rain is coming when they hear the frog croaking during drought or dry spell. However, they have observed changes and this belief have become unreliable. The weather and climate have become unpredictable.A recent study conducted by MOE, WB/ADB and Hatfield Consultants (2013) shows rural infrastructure in Battambang is very poor; a factor that contributes to climate change vulnerability (MOE 2010) and, at the same time, inhibits socioeconomic development and wellbeing in the province. In this context, improving and upgrading key infrastructure -drainage networks (particularly in flood-prone areas), rural watersupply systems, rural electrification systems, and the rural road network -remains an immediate/shortterm priority not only for climate change adaptation, but also for development and economic growth. These investments, however, entail relatively high economic costs.Continued risk assessment and identification of high-risk areas under both current and future climates will be important in reducing the vulnerability of infrastructure under changing conditions. In the short term, institutional capacity needs to move toward mainstreaming current and future climate risks in planning infrastructure. This does not occur in Cambodia under present environmental impact assessment regulations. Mainstreaming requires both greater technical knowledge and improved managerial capacity, as well as improved systems for inter-agency coordination in infrastructure development planning.Medium-term pilot actions will be beneficial, particularly in climate-proofing rural roads and in constructing flood-protection dykes, culverts, gates, and canals in flood-prone areas near the Tonle Sap Lake and tributary rivers (e.g., Stung Sangkae River). Rehabilitation of water pumps, pumping stations, and other infrastructure for water distribution management will be important in water-stressed, drought-prone, and/ or mountainous districts (such as the western, northwestern, and southern districts of Battambang).Over the medium to long-term, protection of the rural infrastructure sector will require the adoption of building regulations and proper land-use planning and regulatory controls to discourage inappropriate forms of land development. In the long-term, potentially high-cost, proactive efforts to minimize future risks in the face of uncertainty should be investigated, including the relocation of people and the rehabilitation of degraded catchments and ecosystems.The Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) study in 2011, published by the Ministry of Environment (MOE), shows that Cambodians perceive changes in their weather and environment. They indicate that extreme weather events, particularly drought, are more frequent and more intense than they once were, and that temperatures have increased:• Nine in 10 Cambodians said they experienced at least one extreme weather event in the year preceding the survey. More than a third of people (36%) had not received any information about the extreme weather event, and of those who did receive information, almost three-quarters (72%) only received this information during or after the event.• Almost all recognized at least one of the terms 'climate change' and 'global warming' .• Broadcast media (TV and radio) and word-of-mouth (neighbors, family members, friends and colleagues) seemed to be the main sources of information for most people. • Most considered deforestation as one of the country's highest priority issues, and 67% indicated deforestation within Cambodia causes weather patterns to change. Deforestation was also a concern for key informants, for them trees were understood to provide shade and shelter from strong winds, to purify the air, to prevent extreme weather events such as floods and storms, and to play a role in bringing rain and ensuring that groundwater supplies are maintained. • Just 18% mentioned industrial pollution, while just over 11% mentioned driving cars and other vehicles, as causes of the changing weather patterns. • When prompted, 72% agreed that human activities are causing weather patterns around the world to change over time. One third (33%) of people indicated that their own actions contribute to climate change. Individual actions linked to weather change include using of machines, cutting wood for cooking, burning waste, cooking, and using chemicals.  Figure 19. Understanding the present and future impact of climate change to Cambodia (KAP, 2011) In Rohal Soung, generally local people defined \"climate change\" as the changes in temperature, weather and environment. They believed the changes of temperature and weather, natural disasters and extreme events as a result of huge deforestations and high motorizations. They also recognized the implication of changes make very negative impact to people, animal, livestock, and environment as well. They also shared their experiences that they had been faced so far, as summary in Several organizations, both formal and informal, were identified during Village Baseline Survey and by key informant interview. Those organizations were classified into three levels, community, locality, and beyond local locality level. Table 22 shows the list of 18 organizations working in Battambang province and their operation level.  However, there are organizations that are not so important to local villagers and have finished their project duration. Seven organizations were found in operation in Rohal Soung (Table 23). Based on focus group discussions with both men and women's groups, only five organizations were working on food security: DSR irrigation/water user committee, AS, Harvest Cambodia, WorldFish, and department of agriculture (DoA) (Table 24).• DSR/water user irrigation committee, a community-based organization, mobilized the internal and external resources to install the culverts and rehabilitate the water channel. • AS, a local NGO, plays a key role to provide the farming techniques, market information, and awareness on the importance of nutrition and food security to farmer households. • Harvest Cambodia plays main role to provide the farming techniques including vegetable gardening, fish farming, rice farming and some input materials as well. Harvest Cambodia also focuses on food safety, which provides awareness and food provision program in the community. • The WorldFish plays a very important role to provide capacity building to the community, WorldFish mobilize the local community to build a community vision and community action plan. A lot of guidance, motivation supports and matching funds were provided to the community in order to achieve their action plan of small irrigation rehabilitation. • The DoA, a provincial government department, used to provide farming techniques, seeds, and some input materials to farmer households.  According to an interview with the commune chief in Rohar Soungh of Aek Phnom, most of the local villagers watch TV for entertainment while mobile phones are used for a variety of purposes.Community people access a wide range of community-level information since more than 60% of households have TV and/or radio. However, most information is not related to agriculture, weather, climate, or environmental changes. Information on agriculture came from a variety of formal and informal sources such as peer farmers, provincial and district line agency officials, NGO staff, donor project staff, and traders/brokers.Information networks were analyzed in order to be able to describe how people access and share information within the community. The aim was to understand the diversity of options people use for accessing information on agriculture and weather, how people take advantage of sources of information available, and if some sources are not used and why. Table 27 presents the sources or networks from which individuals receive information regarding the information topics. These sources include other individuals, organizations, and the media.In 2010, Cambodia had an active agricultural population of 5,869,633, or 62 % of the overall agricultural population. Of the active agricultural population, 47 % were males and 53 % were females. All zones within the so-called Tonle Sap region (that includes Battambang) had a higher percentage of females than males in the active agricultural population, with the Coastal Zone recording the highest percentage females in the active agricultural population at 55 % (FAO and MOP 2010).The northwest provinces of Cambodia experience both internal and international migration due to a variety of reasons: experience with civil wars for more than three decades, for livelihood improvement, and as a response to climate change. Cambodia migrants consider migration as a short-term coping strategy to mitigate unexpected income shocks, and not a long-medium term process aimed to increase the socioeconomic status of the family (Middleton, Borin and Naruemaon, 2013).Seasonal migration, both domestic and international, is emerging as an important livelihood option intended to reduce household vulnerability and exposure to new risks (Hienonent cited in Middleton, Borin and Naruemanon 2013). Based on NCCD (2010) data, Battambang experiences in-migration, outmigration, and temporary migration (staying temporarily). Table 28 shows number of female migration out of total number and Table 29 shows the number of job migration from 2006 to 2008. The number of people working outside their home villages in companies/factories, and the number of people with uncertain jobs is shown in Table 30.   A study conducted by Middleton, Borin and Naruemon (2013) shows an increase in migration and indicates that Battambang has the highest proportion of migrants compared to other provinces surrounding the Tonle Sap Lake (Table 31).Table 31. Domestic migration for six provinces around Tonle Sap Lake (Middleton et al., 2013)  Middleton, Borin and Naruemon (2013) provide two principal factors at the village level that push people to migrate: lack of work in the villages and debt in the families. A lack of work in villages is linked to three factors. First, declining fish stocks have reduced opportunities to make a living as a fisher.Second, the number of family members exceeds the needed labor for farming the available land; and third, the households are landless or land poor. The latter is also compounded by increasingly fragmented landholdings that are not viable to make a full-time living. The mechanization of farming also reduces the opportunity for local laborers to be hired. Furthermore, local work in farming is seasonal, and is perceived by potential farm laborers as short-term, irregular, and low-paid work. This makes work outside Cambodia, or domestically in urban areas, more attractive as it is perceived to be more regular and to have better wages.With regard to debt, most are from failure of agriculture. This push factor is influenced by access to, and the quality of, natural resources. Natural resources are in turn impacted significantly by the flood in a particular year given that the annual flood cycle is a precondition for the productivity of natural resources around the Tonle Sap Lake.With regard to international migration, the main destination countries are Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea. In Thailand, most Cambodian migrants end up working in dirty, difficult, or dangerous (3 Ds) jobs, including construction, manufacturing, plantations, domestic help, the entertainment and/or sex industry, and fishing. In Malaysia, most Cambodians work as domestic workers, and in South Korea, in factories facilitated by bilateral government (Middleton et al., 2013).Table 32, Figure 22, and Table 33 below summarize the current health status of women, using births among women aged 15-45, delivery methods, and proportion of women using the toilets in the province. Battambang today is the main hub of the northwest, connecting the entire region with Phnom Penh and Thailand. As such, it is a vital link to Cambodia. The province has experienced unsatisfactory law enforcement and sometimes monotonous and unsuitable design in recent infrastructure and agricultural development and investments.The key remaining challenges stem from inadequate infrastructure investments and the limited institutional capacities at the provincial and district levels to manage urban sector development and provide essential urban services. The increasing population and rapid growth of the urban areas are creating considerable pressures on the part of the local authorities to provide urban infrastructure that can sustain the liveability and competitiveness of Battambang as a trade and investment center.In recent decades after the civil war, this province has experienced rapid land use changes and now has a vision to become regional trade and commercial center in the GMS countries, not only in Cambodia. Most of the development is situated in Battambang town and along Sangkae River while watershed and forest land along the river has been under threat due to large-scale farmland expansion and conversion of forest land to farmland. Climate change projections suggest increases in temperature, floods, and droughts. For instance, the recent flood in October 2013 resulted in huge losses and damages for various sectors including social and trade services, the production sector, and infrastructure.Key informants interviewed consider intervention in the agricultural sector, including farmer cooperative development, seed improvement and extension support, as well as additional water resource intervention, highly important. Pilot actions will be beneficial, particularly in climate-proofing rural roads and in constructing flood-protection dykes, culverts, gates, and canals in flood-prone areas near the Tonle Sap Lake and tributary rivers (e.g., Stung Sangkae River). Rehabilitation of water pumps, pumping stations, and other infrastructure for water distribution management will be important in water-stressed, drought-prone, and/or mountainous districts (such as the western, northwestern, and southern districts of Battambang).Over the medium to long-term, protection of the rural infrastructure sector will require the adoption of building regulations and proper land-use planning and regulatory controls to discourage inappropriate forms of land development. In the long-term, potentially high-cost, proactive efforts to minimize future risks in the face of uncertainty should be investigated, including the relocation of people and the rehabilitation of degraded catchments and ecosystems (MOE, WB/ADB, and Hatfield 2013). Market infrastructure and connectivity for agricultural products remain challenges of which most farmers often complained.Interviews and other sources of information suggest that Battambang still needs irrigation, fertilizers to improve soil fertility, as well as seed production and technical support for farmers. In addition, the master plan prepared by the Japan International Cooperation (JICA) team on socioeconomic factors remains one of the most relevant for agricultural and social economic development in the provinces. These findings can be summarized in Table 34 below and are based on the survey sample of farmers and their responses and/ or activities. Rohal Suong is endowed with several types of natural resources. The majority of the households seems to own farmland and have access to the Sangke River as a source of water throughout the year. The river water is distributed in the village through a rudimentary canal network and water storage ponds of various sizes. Tonle Sap Lake and associated flooded forests are also traditionally used as a source of fish, firewood, and other animals and plant products. A natural cycle of seasonal flooding from the lake and river replenishes the top soil and soil nutrients. Rice fields become connected to large water bodies during the wet season and are also used as fishing grounds. The typical farming system is moderately diversified, with two rice cropping of rice, some vegetables and fruits, with some surplus to sell in an average year. Raising small livestock is widely practiced as an income generation option, while large livestock is becoming less popular due to the shortage of grazing land. Basic infrastructure exists. There is paved road access to provincial town and other tertiary roads to access key community resources.The village has been supported by a variety of external agents through agricultural development, natural resource management, and food security programs, including some large donor programs, and received in-kind support as well as direct agriculture input subsidies. Several community institutions exist and are functioning well.The general perception among the villagers is that the condition of natural resources is declining. Flooded forests are declining because of deforestation and agriculture encroachment. Fisheries resources are declining because of overexploitation and loss of habitats (including flooded forests).Small-holder agriculture production system prevalent in the village appears to be not very profitable because of the high cost of inputs and limited market and value chain development. With the exception of wild fish, markets and value chains for agricultural products are not well established, and rely on traders from outside. The cost of agricultural inputs is generally high and market prices are not stable.Farming families have taken several strategies to increase their overall income; to expand the farming area, to intensify rice production, to seasonal labor migration. These strategies have negative implications: loss of forest and grassland to farmland, degradation of water quality and soil, and possible labor shortage in the village for agriculture.Coverage of dry season irrigation is limited to some part of the village and the farmers report water shortages in the dry season. The local production systems are well adapted to the natural seasonal fluctuation in rainfall and flooding regime, but occasional extreme flooding events cause crop damage and food shortage situation, most recently in 2011.Resuls from the visioning exercises, conducted by AAS and CCAFS, the villages seem to prioritize increase in agriculture productivity/profitability and restoration of natural resources, namely fisheries. Both of these are a key element of the income generation strategy of the community. Priority interventions identified by the villagers are the improvement of the irrigation infrastructure, water distribution network, and its management. This also includes improvement of associated water storage ponds network for supplementary irrigation and for fisheries resource productivity.Other more general needs include farming skills training and market/value chain improvements to increase the efficiency and profitability of small holder agriculture production. The list below is summary prioritization provided by local community people:• Build capacities of farmers on farming techniques (including rice disease treatment) • Range of crop options that can be grown by the farmers • Enhance soil and water management since water is the main constraint to farming • Build local capacity on how to manage and use water efficiently.• Extend the water channel and increase the number of ponds • Increase water connection system and build a fish refuge pond • Replant flooded forest • Build capacities to community fisheries and farmers on fish refuge pond management and rice field fisheries improvement • Build paths and bridges to paddy fields • Market for agricultural product with a reasonable price and market informationRohal Suong experiences seasonal and year-to-year climate variability, and has devised production systems that are well adapted to the natural conditions. However, these existing interventions are not directly associated with specific climate-related issues. There is an opportunity for CCAFS to identify and enhance these existing practices that can become good examples of \"climate smart agriculture\", and be promoted more widely as such, to increase the general awareness of the importance of CSA practices. Some of the priority interventions identified by the local community--namely water management--can directly contribute to the increasing climate resilience of the community. CCAFS can focus its effort in supporting those interventions. On the other hand, there are many other possible climate smart practices that are either common sense \"no regret\" interventions, such as basic skills training and information access, or those that have potential and can be tested and validated in this site, such as crops and crop varieties that are more tolerant to flood conditions. CCAFS can also support local communities to explore these additional options for possible adoption in the future."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"04955b3878b61f6bf376fdf3c3a5697e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.crc.uri.edu/download/WSFS2022_02_CRC_FIN508.pdf","id":"-1575494830"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6ed1374e-bbd7-4a70-b140-dc9eff259ee3","content":"The views expressed and opinions contained in this report are those of the Project team and are not intended as statements of policy of either USAID or the cooperating organizations. As such, the contents of this report are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.Ghana is a West African country bordered on the north, east, south, and west by Burkina Faso, Togo, the Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean) and Côte d'Ivoire, respectively. Its coastal region is divided into three distinct geomorphological zones -the west coast covering about 95kms, the central coast covering 321kms, and the east coast estimated at 149kms (Armah, 2005). Ghana is also endowed with over 100 coastal water bodies, including closed lagoons, open lagoons, and estuaries, accompanied by mangrove vegetation, mud, and tidal flat marshes (Yeleliere et al., 2018). These resources are essential in supporting fishing and fish-related enterprises that form the primary source of livelihood to the surrounding community. Oyster fishing is among the main economic activities dominated by females (Osei, 2020;Njie and Drammeh, 2011), thus the need for clear mechanisms to promote sustainable harvesting of shellfisheries and mangrove forests in the country. A recent study by Duguma et al. (2021) suggests that Ghana has lost a net of 539 square kilometers of mangroves in the last two decades, with the 2000-2010 period recording a loss of almost five times that of the 2010-2020 period.Addressing the challenges related to degradation requires contextualized and community-led processes (Sagoe et al., 2021). The visioning process brings together communities in a well-guided process to understand the land-seascape changes, current situation, and their envisaged future. Contexts vary by location, and solution options should consider local realities. Developing and implementing such localized solutions could be costly in countries with poor financial capacity (CPI 2019). Due to the ineffectiveness and cost inefficiency of centralized government led approaches, community-based approaches dominate the African natural resources management space as noted by Roe et al. (2009). Therefore, it is crucial to devise means of designing a collective vision driven by local interests and aspirations and owned by communities who reside in the landscape for the long term. As described above, the vision should address and respond to the likely envisaged effects of climatic and non-climatic ecosystem stressors (Freduah et al., 2018). Community ownership is crucial because projects and programs are often time-bound (Thwala, 2010), and hence, there is a need for the interventions to become mainstream activities within the landscapes (Lachapelle, 2008).Visioning is imagining, framing, and visualizing the future based on; 1) history, 2) current reality, and 3) emerging and likely priorities and interests. It is about 1) framing into context and promoting what we want to see more, and 2) designing strategies for what we want to see less in our landscapes. Broadly, visioning is based on the aspirations of the residents of the landscape and builds a future that can sustain recognizing the limitations, challenges, and opportunities existing in the land-seascape. A vision owned by local communities is the most realistic one, and it reflects their societal norms, cultural viewpoints, and social-ecological realities as McLeroy et al. (2003) argues. Developing such visions in a participatory manner has become a vital co-design process to induce the adoption of sustainable practices while reducing the intensity of destructive practices.The purpose of this study is to present the process of developing a shared land-seascape vision to tackle pertinent environmental challenges that communities relying on shellfishing identify as crucial to be addressed. To achieve this, we adopted the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) approach as the vision must be a consensus among the broader community beyond the individual households. Focus group discussions were held in Densu Estuary, Narkwa Lagoon, and Whin Estuary in Ghana. The purpose was to collect data through dialoguing and consultations with shellfishers and other communities living close to the mangrove ecosystems and in agricultural landscapes adjacent to it. The discussions focused on assessing the perceptions of shellfishing communities based on their experiences of the state of their landscape concerning agricultural, forestry and fishery resource trends in the past, present, and future prospects using the landscape visioning tool. The aim is to develop a community-owned vision to improve their land-seascapes and livelihoods by creating a vision that helps them better manage their ecosystems.The FGDs were conducted in five communities located along estuaries and lagoons off the Atlantic coast of Ghana, (i.e., the Gulf of Guinea), in three administrative districts. These are Tsokomey & Bortianor in Ga South District; Narkwa in Ekumfi District and Apremdo and Amanful in Kuma-Effia-Kwesimintsim sub metro of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis. The socio-demographic, biophysical, and economic features of the sites surveyed are summarized in Table 1. Densu and Whin estuaries are adjacent to urban areas and economies, while Narkwa is peri-urban to rural. Infrastructural expansion is pronounced in Densu and Whin. Whin is the most populated of the three sites, with a population density of 6000/square km. National and multi-national companies undertake most of the economic activities in the agriculture, forestry, and service sector in these land-seascapes. The study sites spanned an ecological/vegetation gradient from the drier coastal savannah plains of Densu, with the coastal strand/thicket vegetation through the dense shrubby vegetation of Narkwa, to moist savannah semi-deciduous forest vegetation at Whin (Figure 1). Climate is equatorial across all sites with two rainy seasons between April and November. Temperatures vary from 22-34°C, while rainfall ranges from 790mm in the drier equatorial zone of 'Densu to over 2000mm in the moist equatorial zone of Whin. Soils are primarily orchrosol and loamy, although they could be saline in some areas. The soil supports the production of a range of vegetables, staples, fruits, pulses, and tree crops. Each area is well-endowed with at least two major water resources that drain into the sea.Figure 1: Ghana study sites: Densu, Narkwa, and Whin (Adapted from DeGraft-Johnson et al., 2010).The three sites have agrarian communities involved in crop, livestock, and fishery activities. Whin has the least households engaged in agriculture while Narkwa has the most, with agriculture and fisheries employing over 95 percent of the labor force (www.ghanadistrcits.com). Subsistence crop production (mainly vegetables: tomato, garden eggs, pepper, onion, okra, and staples: maize, cassava, plantain) is the predominant agricultural activity, largely rain-fed and practiced under slash and burn with relatively low external inputs (Rankoana, 2017). Cash crops including pineapple, citrus, oil palm, and coconut are also produced. Livestock (sheep, goats, poultry, and pigs) is kept mainly on a subsistence basis. Artisanal sea fishing is predominantly practiced by local fisher folks in these coastal communities.Oyster harvesting is a predominant livelihood activity of women and children in the three sites (Chuku et al., 2020).Community contacts identified and enumerated shellfishers and invited them to participate in FGDs voluntarily. The selected community members were clustered into groups based on location and gender especially where men are also involved in shellfishing activities especially in Densu and Narkwa. In Whin, only women were involved in oyster collection, so the gender-based clustering was not relevant. A total of 115 shellfishers comprising 107 (93 percent) females and 8 (7 percent) males participated in the FGDs. Location-wise, 42 (Densu), 43 (Narkwa), and 30 (Whin) persons voluntarily participated in the FGDs.Two protocols were followed during the FGDs. The participant consent form and the COVID-19 protocols. First, participants signed informed consent forms prior to voluntarily participating in the interactive focus group discussions. Second, Covid-19 protocols included provision of a washbasin, water, soap, tissue, and sanitizer were provided for cleaning hands. A face mask was provided for each participant. The facilitator ensured each participant wore the face mask before commencing the session. The facilitators tried to get group consensus for each question or issue discussed before finalizing each issue discussed.Densu Estuary: At Densu, forty-two shellfishers comprising male (3) and female (39) participated in the FGD. According to the women, male shellfishers are in the minority and are formally organized into the Densu Oyster Pickers Association (DOPA). Members of DOPA from three communities (Tsokomey, Bortianor, and Tetegu) participated in the FGDs at a central location at Tsokomey. The largest proportion of DOPA members are from Tsokomey. Participants indicated that both Tsokomey and Tetegu communities are predominantly settlers from the Volta Region of Ghana and thus tend to be similar in characteristics in terms of ethnicity, resident status (mainly settlers) and livelihood options. Consequently, participants from Tsokomey (25) and Tetegu (3) were combined and segregated into two groups, i.e., male (5) and female (23). Participants from Bortianor (15) are the Ga people originating from the Densu area. Meetings are often held on Tuesdays as it is observed as a non-fishing day in the Densu community. It is a day of the week reserved for funerals and other social occasions.Narkwa Lagoon: Narkwa is the only community bordering the Narkwa Lagoon where shellfishing is undertaken. The shellfish collectors are not organized into a group. Hence, snowballing was used by the community contacts to first identify and list or enumerate. The people of Narkwa have not set aside any special traditional day for non-fishing activities; thus, the community engages in fishing activities every day. At Narkwa, it was not possible to subcluster the women (43 individuals) hence seats for the women group were arranged circular but roughly in three clusters (i.e., right, left, and middle) for effective engagement.Whin Estuary: The participants recruited for the Whin meeting were 30 shellfisher women from two communities, i.e., Apremdo (19) and Amanful Kuma (11). Like Narkwa, the women exploit shellfish resources from the Whin estuary every day. However, at Apremdo, the women were further grouped into subsistence and commercial collectors, where the latter was selected for this assessment to envision the landscape changes as they depend more on the lagoon and mangrove ecosystem.Based on the responses provided by the focus group respondents, qualitative summary attributes were generated to represent change trajectories as increasing (improving), no change, or decreasing (declining). Also using the qualitative details on the change trajectories, we computed proxies for understanding the relative state of the land-seascapes on a scale of 12 attributes based on the ecosystem functions and services the land-seascapes provide to people and animals (see Table 1 above).For all the 12 attributes, communities qualitatively graded them on a trend scale of improving, no change or declining (degrading). For each FGD group, the number of declining or degrading was counted and divided by the total number of attributes ( 12). An overall site score was then calculated summing the number of attributes ranked as degrading per community focus group and dividing by the number of focus groups times 12 attributes. The value was used as a degradation proxy, representing a synthesized community perception of land-seascape degradation for each site. In the computation, 'no change' and 'improving' are considered as no sign of degradation.3.1 Socio-demographics and livelihood options in the land-seascapesParticipants of the FGDs included largely female shellfishers (Table 2). The shellfishers are of average ages of 43, 47, and 51 years for Densu, Narkwa, and Whin respectively. Although shellfishers generally had some formal education from basic to secondary schooling across the three sites, Densu has the highest share of people who at least had formal primary education, relative to Whin and Narkwa. These results are comparable to those reported by Agbekpornu et al. (2021) in the Densu area.Most shellfishers are born in the current areas they operate in, especially in Narkwa and Whin (Table 2). Those in Tsokomey & Tetegu in Densu are predominantly settler communities representing the Ewe people (Gbe ethnic group) originating from the Volta Region. Bortianor, Narkwa, and Whin are typically indigenous communities, with most residents originating from the area.Most shellfishers engage in more than one livelihood activity with the widest range of activities at Densu. Shellfishing is a major livelihood activity among participants across the three sites, with oyster being the most collected species. The collection of periwinkle, cockle, and other species are undertaken, but predominantly at Whin by women. Sea fish sales, trading, and farming are three major additional income-earning activities undertaken by women shellfishers. However, 1 percent, 9 percent, and 11 percent of women at Densu, Narkwa, and Whin respectively depend entirely on shellfishing for their livelihood, and thus do not engage in any other income generating activity (Table 2). These results affirm the reports by Asare et al. (2019) highlighting the supplementary livelihood contribution of shellfishing in addition to other livelihood activities. Livestock (sheep, goats, poultry and pigs) is generally reared among shellfishers across the three sites.Farming and wild fruits collection are most undertaken at Whin and Narkwa. Increasing urbanization with associated expansion in infrastructural development at Densu constrains adjacent upland areas for farming, particularly in Tsokomey and Tetegu. At Bortianor, some limited cropping is done onareas not yet developed for infrastructural expansion. At Whin, although some cropping is done, participants were not certain about the long-term use of the land due to insecure tenure or rights to perpetual use of their farmlands due to the continual conversion of farmlands for housing and corporate purposes.Women shellfishers generally undertake household chores in addition to collecting, processing, and sale of oysters, crabs, periwinkles, and cockles (Whin) which they catch from the lagoon or estuary. While all men engage in collecting shellfish for their spouses or sell to other women to process for sale, those at Densu also sometimes engage in sea and estuary fishing (Table 3). Across sites, shellfishing is done in the morning when the tides are low. Usually, shellfishers return home with their catch by 8 AM. However, commercial collectors at Whin set out in the night to harvest oysters from mangroves. They return at dawn, rest awhile before performing household chores and then process their oysters for sale. At Narkwa, according to the participants, men usually supplement sea fishing, their major occupation, with farming and shellfishing, whereas women work predominantly on farms and in the lagoon. Women appear to be more affected by changes in the landscape than men.The main livelihood activities reported by respondents across the sites and communities included sea fishing and shellfishing (Table 4). Farming was also quite common and reported in all communities except Tsokomey & Tetegu (in the Densu estuary). An additional activity, to fishing and farming, was trading. At the Whin estuary, masonry (at Amanful) and sand mining (Apremdo) were also reported. In all studied communities, respondents reported a declining trend in livelihood activities over the last ten years, except for shellfishing at Apremdo which was reported to have had no change. The major reasons underlying changes observed in fishing activities are the use of light in fishing, fine mesh nets with tiny holes, use of chemicals for fishing, and high-water tides during the rainy season. At Bortianor (in Densu basin), it was reported that the diversion of the course of the estuary also affected shellfish yields. The underlying reason for decline in trading among respondents at Narkwa was lack of financial capital. Respondents at Amanful indicated that masonry jobs had also declined due to reduction in the number of job opportunities available in recent times. Concerning mining activity at Apremdo, the underlying reason for the decline was stated by participants as related to the unavailability of lands for sand collection and the very laborious nature of the activity.Generally, communities desire their livelihood activities to be expanded in the next ten years except for sand mining which they want to eliminate. The apparent reason for the desired increase in livelihood activities or productivity was to ensure improved incomes and food security, and general wellbeing.There was more diversification in livelihood activities at Tsokomey and Tetegu than the other sites for both men and women. Narkwa was the place with fewest livelihood activities, especially for men. In this site, participants stated that the only livelihood activity common among men in the communities covered by this research was sea fishing. The most familiar livelihood activity for women was stated as fishing in the lagoon (for shellfish, crabs, periwinkle, etc.), followed by petty trading, fish porters (carrying), and fish processing.The communities pursued different livelihood activities during the year. At Densu, shellfishers undertake five main activities during the year:1. Fishing from the sea and the estuary throughout the year 2. Oyster fishing from May till about November when the oyster season is closed 3. Fish smoking and sale throughout the year 4. Carrying fish (throughout the year) 5. Farming (Bortianor mainly) from March to December.Trading (usually small-scale businesses) is generally a secondary activity undertaken by some women shellfishers. However, in Bortianor, men may trade to augment fishery activities from January to February (Table 5). At Narkwa, shellfishing and fishing in the lagoon and fish sales are three main activities undertaken by shellfishers, mainly women, throughout the year. Farming is a secondary activity done for only four months from May to August during the major cropping season (Table 6). Women are the major gender group involved in farming while men concentrate on fishing mainly from the sea and to a lesser extent from the lagoon.At Whin, shellfishers undertake four main activities during the year as follows:1. Fish sales except June-October when fish harvest is impossible due to heavy torrential rains. Sea fishing is done throughout the year by men at Amanful, except during periods of torrential rains. 2. Shellfishing throughout the year, with farming and trading occurring frequently.3. Farming mainly during the rainy season (April-August), especially at Apremdo 4. Trading throughout the year, especially at Amanful Trading is a major livelihood activity from the second to the fourth quarter of the year at Amanful and becomes a secondary activity undertaken by some women during the first quarter. During this period, shellfishing is done as a secondary activity and sometimes may not be pursued at all from June to October when the rains are torrential and water volume swells (Table 6). Farming is a major women's activity only during the rainy or growing season especially at Apremdo. As defined in the methods section, the state of the land-seascapes was assessed using responses from the FGDs conducted in site. The results of the perceptions of the communities show that Densu site experienced a significant degradation extent (88%), compared to what was there in the past. The figures for Narkwa and Whin are also not that very good with degradation proxies of 67% each, on average. The observed perception is quite understandable when the growing extractive pressure from the growing coastal population and communities in the adjacent landscapes is considered. The designation of Densu as one of the Ramsar sites is based on the realization that the site is extensively degraded and there is a need to reverse that. It is this degradation, as also perceived by the communities, that has led to numerous community and institutional actions to restore the landseascapes, particularly in Densu. Among the notable local actions are the mangrove planting activities by Development Action Association and the Densu Oyster Pickers Association. Table 7 summarizes the land-seascape degradation perceptions of the communities.Respondents at all sites indicated that the benefits (e.g., food, feed, fiber, income, etc.) generated from the land-seascapes are generally declining over the last decades. The trend was attributed to various causes which varied with communities. The causes for decline in sea fishing, shellfishing, and farming were similar at all the sites (Tables 8-10). Forests and woodlands Note: The color codes and signs indicate the following: yellow-no change (=); red-declining (▼); green-improving (▲).Crop cultivation trends over the past decade in the communities, show that similar crops were cultivated in the past and present (Table 8). However, harvest quantities declined due to reducing land sizes. To continue crop cultivation, the communities highlighted the need for agricultural inputs such as manure and fertilizer to improve yields due to depleted soils. Over the decade, Tsokomey & Tetegu completely lost the tomatoes, onions, and peppers they cultivated in the past as all idle lands previously farmed have been converted into beach resorts by private developers. Regarding the future, the responses from all communities were unanimous stating the wish to improve farming activities as an alternative livelihood option to augment their household needs. However, the main barriers or limitations to achieving this vision were listed as lack of land due to infrastructural development, depleted soil fertility, and poor rainfall patterns.Fishing (both sea fishing and shellfishing) is on the decline. For sea fishing, the causes for decline as stated by participants were the use of light fishing, use of fine mesh nets, pair trawling by boats, use of dangerous chemicals for fishing, and general overexploitation of fish. At New Amanful (in the Whin basin), the respondents believed that recent non-adherence to certain cultural practices (sacrifices to gods) that bring bumper harvests was also a cause of fish decline. For shellfishing, the causes were pollution of lagoons, siltation of the lagoon due to erosion, destruction of mangroves, creation of wooden traps in the lagoon, and high-water levels in the lagoon during the rainy season that make it impossible for women to collect shellfish.Petty trading by women has also declined in recent years. The respondents at the three sites attributed the cause of declining trading among women to a lack of financial capital. At Apremdo community in the Whin basin, the respondents attributed the leading cause of declining sand mining to the laborious nature of the work and the depletion of sand quantities from continuous mining. For other minor livelihood activities (e.g., carpentry, masonry, catering, etc.), respondents indicated that jobs were irregular, hence people with such skills experienced insecure livelihoods.Livestock rearing: Poultry and goats were the most common livestock reported to have been reared in the past in all communities (Table 8-10). It was reported that while rearing some livestock types (pigs and goats) have stopped altogether in recent times, livestock quantities have reduced drastically for other types of livestock like poultry. The main reasons for the decline are infrastructural development, leading to lack of land and inability to practice free grazing and disease outbreaks leading to the death of livestock. Those households still engaged in livestock rearing reported an increase in cost due to the need for animal shelter and feed. When asked about the future of livestock rearing, communities indicated continuing with the practice despite the overarching barriers such as lack of land due to infrastructural development, inability to practice free grazing, and disease outbreaks that cause mortality of animals. Possible solutions for these limitations are the adoption of intensive livestock rearing and the involvement of veterinary services to protect the animals from diseases and mortality.Vegetation cover and agroforestry: At all sites, respondents indicated that the vegetation cover in the past years (both natural and planted tree cover) was better than the present. The leading causes for declining tree cover and agroforestry are land sale, settlements expansion, and wood harvesting for various needs (timber, charcoal, firewood). At Bortianor, residents indicated a remnant forest area that they are currently protecting. Some respondents believed a wall should be erected around the remnant forest to protect it. They generally stated a desire to increase vegetation cover and agroforestry but recognized that a major limitation is the limited availability of land. While acknowledging the importance of forests, some people also expressed fear that forests could become a hiding place for criminals and dangerous animals. At Densu basin, and for both Bortianor and Tsokomey/Tetegu communities, all land-seascape attributes assessed were generally degrading or declining (see Table 8 above). The main factors causing a decline in crop production were reduced land for cultivation (see Table 11 below). The cause of livestock decline was lack of space due to settlements. The decline in the fishery was attributable to pollution and overharvesting. Also, the decline in biodiversity of aquatic animals was attributed to the use of light in fishing, the use of fine mesh nets leading to over-exploitation. The decline in biodiversity of terrestrial animals was attributed to habitat destruction and the building of settlements. Further, the cause of decline in forests and woodlands was the conversion of forests for infrastructure. The decline of mangroves was due to intensive harvesting, while the decline in soil fertility was attributed to over-cultivation of the same land over years. Increasing population and high demand for land aggravated the shrinkage in available residential spaces. Decline in freshwater availability and quality was caused by pollution (due to deposition of refuse, excretion, etc.), erosion, and sand mining. At Narkwa basin, some of the land-seascape attributes were degrading or declining while others had no change, but none was reported to be improving (Table 9). Communities reported crop production, livestock production, biodiversity of aquatic animals, soil fertility, and residential spaces were on the decline. Communities also reported agroforestry and commodity plantations, biodiversity of terrestrial animals, forests and woodlands, mangroves, freshwater volume, and quality to have remained the same. Table 12 presents the main factors communities thing might have led to the changes in Narkwa. The main factors causing decline are as follows: for crop production, it was the reduction in land for cultivation and declining soil fertility; for livestock, it was lack of space due to settlements; for fishery and biodiversity of aquatic animals, the causes were the use of light for fishing and industrial trawler fishing in marine waters. Also, the decline in soil fertility was attributed to over-cultivation of the same land over the years, while the decline in residential spaces was attributed to increasing population and high demand for land. The main threats identified included lower crop production, disease outbreaks for livestock production, over-exploitation for fishery and aquatic biodiversity, and over-cultivation of land in the case of soil fertility.At Whin basin, and for both Apremdo and Amanful communities, the land-seascape attributes were generally degrading or declining: except biodiversity of aquatic and terrestrial animals, and mangrove vegetation at Apremdo. At Amanful, more land-seascape attributes were reported to have had no change, namely, crop production, fishery, aquatic animals, and agroforestry and commodity plantations. Livestock production in the Amanful community was reported to be improving.The main factors causing a decline in the Apremdo community were reported as follows (Table 13):for crop production, it was a reduction in land for cultivation and declining rainfall; for livestock, it was disease outbreaks and theft; for fishery, the cause was over-exploitation; for forests and woodlands as well as agroforestry and commodity plantation, the cause was harvesting of trees. Also, the decline in soil fertility at Apremdo was attributed to over-cultivation of the same land over the years, while the decrease in residential spaces was attributed to land sales for infrastructure and settlements. Further, freshwater volume and quality decline are reportedly caused by siltation from different sources, including erosion, pollution, and illegal mining. The main threats identified by respondents at Apremdo community included lower/erratic rainfall in the case of crop production, disease outbreaks for livestock production, over-exploitation for fishery, lack of land in the case of agroforestry and commodity plantations and cutting of trees in the case of forests and woodlands. Other threats to land-seascape attributes were over-cultivation in the case of soil fertility and siltation and pollution in the case of freshwater volume and quality.At the Amanful community, the main factors causing decline in livelihood activities were reported as follows: for forests and woodlands as well as mangrove vegetation, it was harvesting of trees, for decline in soil fertility, was attributed to over-cultivation of the same land over the years, while the decline in residential spaces was attributed to increasing population and needed for infrastructure. Further, freshwater volume and quality decline are reportedly caused by siltation from different sources, including erosion, pollution, and illegal sand mining. On the other hand, the cause of the reported increase in livestock production is that more people are rearing livestock. The main threats identified by respondents at Amanful community were similar to those identified at Apremdo and already enumerated above. Tables 14 and 15 present the activities that need to be stopped, expanded, or introduced as perceived by the communities. At Densu basin, the main activities to be stopped at Bortianor, Tsokomey, and Tetegu were light fishing and pollution of water bodies. At Bortianor other activities were listed, including fine mesh nets, use of chemicals for fishing, cutting of mangroves, and use of wooden traps for fishing. At the Narkwa basin, the main activity to stop was light fishing. At Whin basin, the Apremdo community wanted to stop sand mining while the Amanful community wanted to stop the shoreline protection activities (e.g., seawalls and groynes) which are designed to prevent beach erosion but then do not allow access for beaching artisanal fishing canoes. For activities to expand, both communities in the Densu basin mentioned planting mangroves, while the Narkwa and Whin basin wished to expand shellfishing.For new activities to introduce, the Densu basin communities proposed introducing advanced fishing boats, mangrove planting, market linkages, and restoration of ecosystems. At Narkwa, there was a request to introduce potable water for domestic use, while a new activity common to Narkwa and Whin was the introduction of alternative livelihood options. The various proposed change trajectories have a common purpose: to improve community livelihood activities and hence people's wellbeing. The proposal to stop light fishing, pollution of water bodies (through various means), cutting of mangroves, use of chemicals in fishing, use of wooden traps, use of fine mesh nets, and sand mining are all aimed at improving sustainability in fishing activities. For instance, stopping the activities mentioned above will ensure clean water resources and prevent depletion of aquatic animals and reduced yields. Also, the proposal to expand mangrove planting activities and shellfishing would increase aquatic animal harvests. For instance, mangroves are critical for providing suitable habitats for reproducing many marine animals, including shellfish.Community aspirations to replace beach pollution with cleaning of beaches, and replace tree cutting with tree planting, would help ensure improvement in water conditions and lead to higher yields of harvests. Concerning new activities to introduce such as advanced fishing boats, mangrove planting, market linkages, restoration of ecosystems, the introduction of potable water for domestic use, and the introduction of alternative livelihood options are all geared towards improving community livelihoods and wellbeing.Diverse stakeholders are present in the different landscapes. While the Bortianor and Tsokomey/ Tetegu communities in Densu had up to eight stakeholder organizations each, the Amanful community in Whin and Narkwa had three recognized stakeholder groups while the Apremdo community (also in the Whin basin) reported two stakeholder groups with involvement in fishing activities.The prominent roles played by the identified stakeholders varied considerably depending on the type of stakeholder (Table 16). Based on the contribution of each stakeholder to their livelihood activities, respondents at the Densu basin identified Development Action Association, a non-governmental association (NGO), as the most important stakeholder followed by the Densu Oysters Pickers Association, a community group, and then the Ministry of Fisheries. At Narkwa, the fishers' group was identified as the most important followed by the USAID/ SFMP project in the community. At New Amanful, the fishmongers group was more important followed by the USAID. Municipal and District Assemblies are key stakeholders in local governance across sites but were only mentioned at Densu, where it plays a key role in co-management of the oyster shellfishery in the estuary.3.9 Mangroves as unique elements of the land-seascape: their state, health, and contributions to shellfishingCommunities in Densu believed the mangroves are improving, while it is the opposite in Amanful in the Whin basin. At Apremdo (also in New Amanful), the community reported no change in their mangrove forest. The mangrove forests at all communities were of good health except at New Amanful (Table 17). The respondents agreed that mangroves are important for shellfishing in all the communities where mangroves currently grow. They explained that mangroves provide a habitat for shellfish to live and reproduce. In the light of this, respondents indicated a willingness to plant more mangroves to realize the associated benefits. Van Lavieren et al., (2012) and Hutchison et al., (2014) also stated the sustainability of oyster farming depends on the mangrove state. At Densu, the most important indicator of the health status of mangroves is its appearance. Where the vegetation looks physically good with vigorous growth, its attributes will be normal green leaves if the mangrove is healthy. Leaves will be curled and yellow with weak looking or degraded plants, signs of harvesting, and high sunshine in the area if the mangrove is unhealthy. A second important indicator is the presence of animal species. A healthy mangrove attracts or is inhabited by several animal species, particularly birds. The presence of high quantities of shellfish in general, oyster and crabs, are indicators of a healthy mangrove, while it is unhealthy for the reverse, where shellfish yields will be reduced (Table 18).Participants at Whin believed that the form of the mangrove tree is the most important indicator of how healthy the stand is. The stand is healthy when the trees are growing well, with the trees resprouting when cut. The findings from this study indicate highly vulnerable communities along the coastal areas whose livelihood options are heavily restricted to land and water resources around them. Lawson et al. (2012) also reported the intertwined nature of the environment-livelihood nexus in coastal areas of Ghana and how vulnerable they could easily be if ecosystems are not managed well. With the landseascape under intense degradation pressure and with climate change directly posing a significant challenge (Atindana et al., 2020;Freduah et al., 2017)  One notable observation from the challenges the communities identified and the measures they proposed is the very strong need for regulatory measures to be implemented in their land-seascapes (Figure 2). For instance, light fishing, chemical fishing, sand mining, illegal expansion of houses and construction, etc. all need the interventions of government agencies to be actively playing their roles in minimizing degradation of the land seascapes. They could be very critical in developing legislative instruments (i.e., policies, strategies, and guidelines) as the enablers for local actions (Table 19). However, as indicated in the preceding sections of this report, governments do not always have sufficient workforce and skills to effectively implement specific measures that should happen at every locality. This is where empowering local resource governance systems through the communities could than land, owing to many challenges. They aspire to improve these land-based activities if existing barriers can be removed or circumvented. Observations of the community distribution further revealed some potential to make better use of the upland areas in the communities. Under the existing circumstance, it is possible to design and implement agroforestry interventions to improve/optimize current land use and provide additional benefits and resources to communities, including enhanced agricultural productivity, multiple ecosystem services, and human well-being (Brown et al., 2018). For instance, woodlot-based timber farming could generate substantial income on land and meet the domestic energy demands primarily in the upland parts, and as a result contribute to reducing soil erosion often resulting in siltation in the coastal areas (Eshetu et al., 2018). Another alternative is fodder tree growing for livestock rearing which could easily be combined with the zero-grazing approach.Useful multi-purpose tree species could be introduced for planting in the communities (Kankam et al., 2021). Although locals complained about inadequate spaces for planting, a close observation of the communities reveals that some tree integration is possible. For instance, trees could be planted in homesteads (home gardens), home boundaries, and on the farms of those who have land. Major constraints to the successful introduction of trees include inadequate knowledge about tree planting and nurturing, exposure of planted tree seedlings to livestock, poor technical knowledge on dealing with saline soils, lack of access to planting materials and commitment to nurture planted trees until maturity (Airoldi et al., 2021). These constraints can largely be resolved through training and capacity building for local people. Providing certain basic inputs such as tree seeds or tree seedlings would also help overcome the challenges and improve chances of success.For the expansion of livestock rearing in the communities, the major constraint is the lack of space to practice the traditional free-range approach of livestock rearing. A possibility would be to adopt a zero-grazing approach where the animals are fed in stables. Other constraints are disease outbreak and theft (Timpong-Jones et al., 2014). For diseases, involvement of veterinary services would help, while housing livestock would also minimize or eliminate theft. Successful implementation of livestockbased intervention in these communities would also require that local people be given some training on the new ways of keeping and caring for livestock. It was evident from the agricultural and wild biodiversity assessment that feedstocks for goats and sheep were primarily limited to cassava leaves and peels except for Narkwa where fodder from Ficus spp. was occasionally harvested for sheep.There is a possibility of introducing fodder species from the wild or planting on farms, in home gardens, or boundaries if livestock are put in enclosures. There may also be a need to create linkages between local people and extension service providers.We deployed a participatory landscape visioning process to engage coastal communities in focus group discussions to appraise resource and livelihood trends and understand the change trajectories on selected land-seascape attributes. Participants were enthusiastic in responding to the questions discussed. The major highlights and implications of the findings are summarized below.Most shellfishers were female (over 40 years of age) with a minority of male involvement. Even where males were involved in shellfishing, they performed specific tasks along the value chain, leaving certain specific aspects to females, thus highlighting gender differentiation in participation of livelihood activities.The crops cultivated across sites included staples (e.g., maize, plantain, cassava), vegetables (e.g., tomatoes, onions, okra, pepper) and fruits (pineapple), while livestock included poultry (fowls and ducks), pigs, and ruminants (goats and sheep). Across all sites and communities, changes have occurred in landscape productivity towards declining availability of resources over the past 5-10 years. Resource availability was declining for almost all resources (e.g., crops, livestock, fishery, biodiversity, soil, etc.). The drivers of resource decline did not differ much across sites and communities, and the major causes are the increasing human population and the subsequent high demand for resource supplies. For instance, increasing population led to over-exploitation/ over-utilization of lands/ soils, biodiversity, vegetation of all kinds, and water. The main threats to resource availability, going forward, were identified to include erratic/ reduced rainfall, disease outbreaks, and continuous over-exploitation of resources. These threats can further worsen the current situation in the communities.The main livelihood activities across the sites and communities were fishing and farming and were reported to be on the decline. Alternative livelihood options independent of the existing natural sources (sea and land) are almost non-existent in the study sites; only masonry, trading and sand mining were mentioned in some communities, but their scale of practice was low. This situation would invariably lead to further worsening of the already existing over-dependence on these natural resources and thus increase the vulnerabilities of inhabitants.The respondents identified some activities they wish to stop/ eliminate, expand, and replace. Additionally, some activities were identified as necessary to introduce in the communities. The activities to be stopped or replaced are those with negative consequences on resource availability and, by extension, livelihoods, including pollution of waters (sea and lagoon), causing over-exploitation of aquatic animals such as the use of light fishing and cutting of mangrove forests. Alternatively, activities to expand or introduce are perceived to impact communities and their livelihoods positively. These include planting mangrove forests, expanding shellfishing, restoring ecosystems, introducing advanced fishing boats, and providing market linkages for local fisher folks.Stakeholder organizations are actively present in the Densu basin but not in the other sites (Narkwa and Whin). The presence of relevant stakeholder organizations influences the communities in the execution of their daily livelihood activities; thus, it has been observed that the Densu basin is exposed to certain opportunities and activities that are non-existent in the Narkwa and Whin basins. For example, while the shellfishers at Densu basin have all been engaged and thus have knowledge about mangrove planting, shellfishers at Narkwa and Whin basins have no such knowledge and experience. Consequently, the mangrove stands have expanded at Densu because of planting and appears healthy from community perceptions. At Whin, mangrove stands at Apremdo have not changed but are healthy, those at Amanful have reduced in size and appear unhealthy.The indicators of healthy mangroves mentioned by respondents include physical appearance of mangrove plants, presence of indicator species like birds, presence of shellfish and crabs due to presence of mangroves. On the other hand, the indicators of unhealthy mangroves include signs of harvesting, high sunshine in the area, and reduced yield of shellfish.Generally, coastal livelihoods are increasingly threatened as water resources and the general landscape seem to be declining with overuse, infrastructural expansion, and climate change. Apart from land scarcity issues at Densu, irregular climatic patterns leading to high temperatures and unexpected drought during the main growing season negatively affect farming, particularly at Narkwa and Whin. At Narkwa, the coping strategy for some people has been digging wells for watering especially for pineapple production."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d9ebe044e88e463309f713f8997d20cc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/eddf5cf6-948f-478d-9a9a-e8071964f288/retrieve","id":"728750558"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1a022576-71ad-4e2e-b60a-de2df8b15d49","content":"They should be supported (ex. subsidised) by the Government to import the product.Government should work together with the distributor to make the product accessible to farmers.Pig production is an important socio-economic activity in Uganda. Not only does the country have the largest pig population in East Africa, it also has the most rapidly growing pig population in sub-Saharan Africa and the highest per capita pork consumption in Eastern Africa (FAO, 2011). Taenia solium cysticercosis is a parasitic zoonosis caused by larval cysts of pig cestode. Porcine cysticercosis is a faecal-borne infection caused by the ingestion of T. solium eggs dispersed by a human T. solium tapeworm carrier. New tools have become available for the control of porcine cysticercosis that could help to break the disease cycle (Lightowlers, 2013), namely a recombinant vaccine antigen, TSOL18, and the benzimidazole drug oxfendazole, which can act as a de-wormer in pigs. These drugs are not currently on the market in Uganda. GALVmed, a product development and adoption partnership focusing on livestock health, has implemented field trials in Uganda aimed at the control of T. solium through the combined use of TSOL 18 vaccine and oxfendazole. Results from the trials have confirmed the efficacy of the combined use of the vaccine and oxfendazole in preventing infection in the pigs enhancing immunity against T. solium (Nsadha et al., 2021) Although the vaccine has proven effective during the GALVmed field trials in Uganda, its potential for marketing as a private good has not been evaluated. This study addresses this gap by conducting market scoping studies to generate evidence to guide the Porcine Cysticercosis vaccine entry into the market in Uganda.The objective of the market scoping study was to assess the potential demand for the TSOL vaccine -oxfendazole combination and to gain a clear understanding of its potential for 'private good' marketing. It also assesses how the vaccine might influence product availability, supply mechanisms, price structure, competitiveness of products, profit margins, and the potential to sell these products to smallholder pig producers in Uganda.Eight separate market scoping studies have been conducted in Uganda's Masaka, Bukedea, Kampala and Mukono districts targeted at different nodes of the pig value chain -namely consumers, traders, distributors, and drug stockists -and involved interviews, focus group discussions, a simulated egg experiment, choice experiments, and observation. Choice experiment is a multi-trait/multi-attribute stated preference method that assesses the value of single traits of a bundled good by using individuals' stated preference in a hypothetical scenario. Due to the hypothetical nature of stated preference data in which the respondents are not bound by real life constraints, especially income in the choices made, there are tendencies for Willingness to Pay (WTP) values to be overestimated.The market scoping exercise yielded a broad range of observations from across the pig value chain. Key findings include:• Farmers had a strong preference for a porcine cysticercosis vaccination that would yield them premium prices when selling their pig and that would only require a single dose to confer immunity. Farmers indicated willingness to pay US$0.44 more if the vaccine resulted in an additional dollar in price, as well as US$1.67 more for a vaccine administered once versus three times. This is a key point that unless the pig market system can pay premium price for TSOL18 vaccinated pigs, uptake of the vaccine by farmers through market mechanisms may not be successful.• The choice experiment results showed a low proportion of farmers (only 19%) that selected the choice option of the vaccine with its current combination of attributes and were willing to pay a total of US$2.61 for the vaccine per pig (including administration costs) until immunity is attained. Many farmers (38 -50%) selected choice options that had combinations of improved attributes of the vaccine especially higher price premium of vaccinated pigs and a vaccine viability detector and were willing to pay US$12 -17.• Pig traders are aware of porcine cysticercosis, and most trader participants indicated that they refuse to purchase pigs suffering from porcine cysticercosis. However, results show that traders' most preferred attribute for pigs was weight gain, although they also reported concerns about consumer health. Weight gain can be achieved through appropriate deworming regimes such as through use of oxfendazole.• Consumer focus group discussion participants considered hygiene as the most important factor in ensuring pork is safe. They also noted willingness to pay more for pork certified to be porcine cysticercosis-free as long as their safety is guaranteed. However, consumers' preferences as depicted by actual purchases are driven by other factors such as personal preferences versus food safety, and they may have a different perception of what is considered as 'safe food', as compared to food safety experts.• There appears to be substantial demand for livestock de-wormers in Uganda, and the market for de-wormers is relatively crowded. Animal health service providers preferred ivermectin, while farmers preferred levamisole and albendazole. Most other drugs are cheaper per dose than Paranthic 10% (active ingredient oxfendazole), which is an important consideration for farmers.• For the TSOL18 vaccine-oxfendazole combination to be competitive (if viewed simply as a de-wormer), it should be priced between US$1.62 and US$6.11, per the drug stockist scoping study.• Even though oxfendazole is comparatively expensive, there is an opportunity for it to capture some market share because it is a broad-spectrum de-wormer on top of being effective against porcine cysticercosis. However, the fact that the vaccine and de-wormers are not packaged together makes the combination unattractive to distributors because of anticipated challenges in acquiring both products at the same time when needed.Insights from the market scoping study shows that obtaining a premium price for immunized pigs is a strong incentive for farmers to vaccinate pigs for porcine cysticercosis. Additionally, the demonstrated preference for the TSOL18 vaccine with low administration costs (US$0.90 per pig) underscores a communal approach and preference for a one-dose TSOL18 vaccine. However, quality assurance is a concern for pig farmers, as expressed in their preference for a viability detector; the product manufacturer should take this into account. The TSOL18 vaccine-oxfendazole combination as presented is less likely to succeed as a private good. In addition, there is need for mass sensitisation about the control of T. solium cysticerciosis amongst stakeholders at all levels (including veterinarians, farmers, traders, butchers, consumers, animal health service providers, and policymakers). Necessary accompanying intervention measures along the value chain would include:Animal health service providers: They are the major source of information for farmers. So, they represent an important channel for information dissemination to farmers. During awareness campaigns, the animal health service providers should be involved. They should also be trained in disease recognition and management of carcasses that are affected.The product packaging and cost of the TSOL18 vaccine-oxfendazole combination should be addressed so that farmers can easily purchase it. Farmers should be sensitised about the effects of the disease on pigs and its public health importance.Traders/butchers: this category of actors could be used as an agent of change, because they are highly connected to pig farmers and know all trading networks. They also have high awareness about the disease. They should be trained on the effects of the disease in humans and policy regulations about the disease.• Finding 1: Farmers want a vaccine which will result in a high premium when they sell the pig. Farmers indicated willingness to pay US$0.44 more if the vaccine results in an additional dollar premium price. Farmers now get US$43 for a pig. With the current vaccine attributes, only 19% of farmers are willing to purchase the vaccine and are willing to pay US$2.61 for it.• Implication: The current pig market structure does not pay premium price for \"safe food\". There may be need for consumer sensitisation campaigns to enhance appreciation of safe food.• Way forward: Studies on demand for vaccinated pigs. Investigate public private partnerships which would subsidise the vaccine.• Finding 2: Farmers prefer a vaccine given only once and indicated willingness to pay US$1.67 more compared to one that is administered three times.• Implication: The current vaccine needs to be given two times which will be a considerable barrier to uptake.• Way forward: Further development of the vaccine as a single dose immunisation is needed to make it more cost-effective.• Finding 3. Farmers prefer the inclusion of a vaccine viability detector. Farmers indicated a willingness to pay US$4 if the vaccine comes with a viability detector.• Implication: This reflects concern over fraudulent and ineffective products which farmers believe are widespread.• Way forward: Investigate cost of adding viability indicator. Plan how to proactively build farmer trust in drug distribution system.• Finding 4: The farmers preferred a vaccine associated with low administrative costs.• Implications: The high cost for vaccine administration may be a disincentive for vaccine uptake• Way forward: Cheaper models for delivering vaccines to famers should be investigated (ex. promotion of group vaccination to reduce on the cost)• Finding 5: There are few vaccines for smallholder pig diseases on the market in Uganda• Implication: The TSOL18 vaccine has a high potential for being the first vaccine introduced in the pig sector in Uganda• Way forward: Large sensitization campaign is needed among pig value chain stakeholder to support and promote the uptake of the vaccine• Finding 6: Albendazole and Erafen 5 (active ingredient fenbendazole) are the potential competitors for oxfendazole.• Implication: It will be very hard for oxfendazole to enter and capture market shares for pig deworming• Way forward: Entry of oxfendazole in the market should be accompanied by a lot of advertisement to show the competitive advantage of oxfendazole as compared to the potential competing products• Finding 7: Farmers are the main market segment for dewormers• Implication: The 1 litre package of oxfendazole would not suit farmers• Way forward: A smaller packing size of oxfendazole (ex. 10 ml) would be more suitedUganda: An introductionUganda has the largest pig population in East Africa and the most rapidly growing pig population in sub-Saharan Africa. Pig production grew from just 16,000 animals in 1961 to more than 3 million in 2011; while pork accounted for only 1 to 2% of the 11 to 12 kilograms per year per capita meat consumption in the 1960s, it now accounts for at least one-third of the current 10 kilograms per year. Uganda has the highest per capita consumption in Eastern Africa, at 3.4 kilograms per year -almost two times higher than all other East African countries -and the highest in sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa (FAO, 2011) . Moreover, whereas the consumption of pork in Uganda sharply increased just before 1990, the consumption of beef has declined; in 2007, they reached the same level (figure 1).The net result has been that per capita meat consumption in Uganda has remained at a low level of 10 to 11 kilograms per year, yet meat consumption in developing countries has been continuously increasing from a modest average annual per capita consumption of 10 kilograms in the 1960s to 26 kilograms in 2000; it is expected to reach 37 kilograms by about 2030 (FAO, 2011). Cattle and pig populations increased significantly from 1970 to 2010, according to the records of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (figure 2). The Uganda Bureau of Statistics found a 4% increase in the country's pig population from 2010 to 2014 (3.4 to 3.5 million) (figure 3). The proportion of female-headed households owning pigs in Uganda has also increased significantly in the last 10 years, from 15% to 32%, whereas the male-headed households with pigs have increased from 21% to 31% (Heinz and Hautzinger, 2007). Most pigs (80%) are kept by smallholder pig farmers owning between one to five pigs managed with limited inputs (UBOS, 2009).Beef Uganda In Uganda, pigs are predominantly kept by poor people because pig keeping offers an attractive alternative to ruminants since pigs come with smaller investment costs, do not compete for pasture land, can transform kitchen waste into food, and have a short reproductive cycle allowing for quick financial turnover (FAO, 2011). In addition, marketing pigs and pig products offers a good opportunity for the predominantly rural population to raise money quickly to diversify their income sources and thus mitigate economic risks and improve livelihood-related resilience. Money from pig keeping helps farmers to pay for school fees and household health needs; other benefits include manure production, nutrition and food security, and a source of wealth (Phiri et al., 2003). The majority of pigs in Uganda are located in the central region, as shown in figures 4 and 5. Masaka, Wakiso, and Mukono districts have the highest pig population density in the country. The northern part of the country has low pig population density, with Nakapipirit and Koboko having the lowest pig population (Annex 1). Three pig production types exist: exclusive grower producers (wean-finish/farrow-finish), exclusive piglet producers (farrow to wean), and both piglet and grower producers. On average, farmers define small-scale piglet producers as those who own one to three sows. Small-scale growers are defined as those owning one to four grown pigs for slaughter. Typical smallholder farmers, including piglet producers and growers, comprise about 80% of households in the studied regions in Uganda -Masaka, Mukono, Kamuli, Lira, and Hoima (Ouma et al., 2015) Three keeping systems are practiced in Uganda: free-range or scavenging (extensive), confinement or housing (intensive), and tethering. Pig keeping types can vary according to the season, with farmers tending to practice extensive systems more during the dry season (compared to the rainy season), when most of the gardens have been harvested and pigs scavenge for plant remains or crop residue. This is in part because the crossed and exotic breeds are feared to contract diseases and succumb to environmental pressure when they roam (unlike the indigenous breeds, which are perceived as resistant). Extensive pig-keeping relieves farmers of the need to collect or purchase feeds, as it is assumed that the pigs find adequate food and sufficient nutrients through scavenging. It also allows sows to access breeding boars within the system when farmers do not have their own boars or enough money to pay for breeding.Tethering usually involves pigs grazing in the field in the morning and later in the day being tethered inside compounds or very close to homestead, where they have easy access to crop/plant residues, sufficient water, and assured shade. Tethering is the most practiced system in rural areas, with approximately 62% of rural farmers participating in the study practicing it. Farmers using this technique indicated that small land does not allow animals to scavenge and that lack of funds to construct pig corrals or purchase feeds was the main reason they tethered their pigs.Confinement in pens is usually associated with investment because housing structures require farmers to have the necessary financial sources. In Masaka, Mukono, and Kamuli, 17 to 18% of participating farmers, mainly in rural areas practiced the free-range scavenging system. Confinement in pens is more common in urban areas, with 86% of farmers participating in the study reporting their households practiced it. Free-range was reported to be more common in rural areas, and mainly seasonal, being more common during dry season (Nantima et al., 2015).The pig husbandry practices typically used by Ugandan farmers include castration, deworming, iron injection, parasite control, vitamin administration, sow serving, and ear tagging. Farmers are generally responsible for all husbandry practices; they engage with para-veterinarians for specific services, mostly those that require high-level skills such as drug injection and castration. The most common disease prevention measure adopted by farmers is deworming and parasite control, including spraying pigs with acaricides to control mange; multiple studies report the average proportion of farmers who annually deworm their animals is 80%, with farmers deworming an average of two times before the pigs are sold or slaughtered (Dione et al., 2014;Ouma et al., 2015). The most common dewormers reported by stockists participating in the study to be used by farmers are albendazole and ivermectin. Para-veterinarians and drug stockists are the main sources of the drugs, and the cost of the service varies with the age of pigs. Piglets cost UGX300 to UGX500 (US$0.08 to US$0.10), while adult pigs cost UGX800 to UGX1,000 (US$0.20 to US$0.30) per treatment. A few farmers prefer to pay veterinarians for a year's worth of service, which can cost up to UGX50,000 or US$14. Additionally, farmers sometimes deworm by themselves or assist each other to lower the cost. This leads to high levels of self-medication, which was reported by farmers to be a major problem. (Dione et al., 2014;Opio et al., 2015).African swine fever is the most feared pig disease among Ugandan farmers (Dione et al., 2014;Opio et al., 2015;Ouma et al., 2015). African swine fever outbreaks have been linked to a strong negative impact on pig farmers' socioeconomic status, involving losing revenue and experiencing more severe poverty (Muhanguzi et al., 2012;Dione et al., 2014;Nantima et al., 2016). The disease is recognised as one of the biggest hurdle for the development of Uganda's pig sector (Chenais et al., 2015;Chenais et al., 2017). Lack of sufficient knowledge on how to control African swine fever, coupled with high-risk practices and the absence of effective prevention and management strategies, has resulted in continuous outbreaks of the disease (Ssewaya, 2003). Empowering value chain actors to better prevent and respond to African swine fever in a sustainable and realistic manner is key to reducing the disease burden in domestic pigs and protecting unaffected areas (Dione et al., 2016d;Nantima et al., 2016).Infection with gastrointestinal parasites is also common for smallholder pig farms in Uganda. Almost two-thirds of the pigs examined in the district of Masaka, Mukono and Kamuli were infected with at least one of the parasites studied, predominantly strongyles followed by coccidia (Roesel et al., 2017). The most significant risk factors identified are relatively easy to control at the farm level, such as litter and manure removal and routine disinfection. These biosecurity-related practices may not only be effective against productivity-inhibiting parasites, but also against pathogens such as African swine fever and respiratory pathogens (Dietze et al., 2012). In Uganda generally, there is a high prevalence of Streptococcus suis and Leptospira spp., as well as a range of respiratory pathogens such as porcine circovirus type 2, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, Influenza A and porcine parvovirus (Dione et al., 2018). Several zoonotic pathogens have been detected in the pig value chain: cysticercosis (Waiswa et al., 2009;Nsadha et al., 2014;Kungu et al., 2017c;Kungu et al., 2017b), trypanosomosis, trichinellosis, salmonellosis, toxoplasmosis, anderysipelosis (Roesel et al., 2016). Observed patterns of multiple infections, related risk factors, biosecurity perceptions, and farmers' practices provide important entry points to improve production systems and reduce the economic impact of common pig pathogens. The few existing disease surveillance activities are usually limited to body temperature checks and parasite control carried out by farmers themselves and village veterinarians. Additionally, information-sharing platforms in the villages are almost non-existent (Dione et al., 2016c). There is need to reinforce pig disease surveillance and control mechanisms in Uganda to reduce the impacts of diseases.According to Ouma et al. (2015) most veterinary drug sellers in 3 major pig producing districts namely Masaka, Mukono, and Kamuli are male (72%), and the majority (54%) hold a diploma in animal production. Almost all (99%) provide services in addition to selling drugs including treatment, consultation services, and the sale of farm equipment. Dewormers are the most sold drugs by stockists (93%), followed by antibiotics (4%) and multivitamins (3%). The most used dewormers by farmers are albendazole (46%) and ivermectin (40%). Levamisole, praziquantel, and piperazine are also used. Drug stockists claimed that the main causes of drug ineffectiveness are related to the large proportion of farmers medicating on their own, leading to wrong dosage due to poor dilution of drugs, poor administration, and poor handling and storage.The majority of animal health service suppliers are para-veterinarians. They usually hold a diploma in animal husbandry or a certificate in agriculture or livestock. Only 5% hold at least a bachelor's degree in animal health, e.g., a bachelor's degree in veterinary medicine. The main services provided by the veterinarians and paraveterinarians are treatments and advisory services, and almost all (97%) carry out secondary activities such as the sale of animal feed, crop production, or breeding services. Advisory services include training farmers in pig business management (Dione et al., 2014a).The major pig related products traded in Uganda are live pigs and pork. Traders play the dominant marketing role in the value chain, and they take on multiple roles -essentially, a 'pig trader' in this context searches for the pigs, bargains with the producer or another trader, buys live pigs, and transports them to where they will be slaughtered.Traders will generally either use a motorcycle or bicycle or a truck. If traders are from within the village, they mostly use a bicycle or trek with the pig; if they are from outside the village or district, they often use a motorcycle to gather the pigs in one central place in the village and transport them using a truck. After slaughter, the traders sell the pork either roasted/fried or raw to the final consumer or another trader. Smallholder pig farmers have three major channels through which they sell their pigs: pork butchers within the village, pork butchers near urban centres, and traders coming from Kampala. The channel most available to the farmers is through pork butchers within the village (Lule, 2014).In terms of value chain governance, there are no contractual arrangements between actors in smallholder pig value chains. Farmers and traders do not have contracts with buyers or suppliers in all three districts. However, most live pig traders are vertically integrated, performing several functions in the value chain under single ownership.Pig being transported to the market, Mukono, Uganda (Picture credit/Michel Dione, ILRI)Compared to pig farmers who are largely concentrated at the production node, live pig traders are also involved in the retail nodes of the value chain, operating pork butcheries and pork joints while also carrying out pig slaughter functions (Ouma et al., 2017).In Masaka, Lira and Mukono districts, pig farmers identified various sources of animal health services, including veterinarians employed by the government such as former National Advisory Agricultural Services staff members, private veterinarians and animal health workers (para-veterinarians), and experienced farmers who help fellow farmers with basic animal health services. Private animal health service providers are the most accessed source of services; access to radio programmes (talks show on issues related to crops and livestock) are one source of extension services (Ouma et al., 2017) . Most agro-vet business operators among the interviewed population in Masaka, Lira and Mukono (21/36) hold diplomas in animal husbandry and do not have specific training in animal health (Opio et al., 2015;Ouma et al., 2015). Therefore, substantial efforts to enhance their capacities in animal health would improve livestock health care in Uganda. Additionally, from this study, a higher proportion of men received animal health services compared to women except in urban settings.In Uganda, most pig producer households are male headed (81%). The female spouse often plays a major role in initiating pig production through purchasing first stock in male-headed households. In terms of production, men and women divide up tasks. Men often build the pigsties and to some extent work on the animals' health and husbandry, while women take care of the pigs (e.g., clean the sties, mix feed, and bring water for the animals).Sometimes, women also take on non-traditional roles that require knowledge of animal health and husbandry (Dione et al., 2014a); this happens, for example, during outbreaks of diseases like African swine fever. However, men largely dominate other components of the pig value chain, including working as drug stockists, livestock feed stockists, live pig traders, and in agro-veterinary services and village boar-keeping businesses.According to recent study examining gender roles in the pig value chain in Uganda, (Ouma et al., 2016) decisionmaking in the pig enterprise in general, women claimed that they exclusively did most of the activities and decisions. Men claimed that most activities and decision-making were of shared responsibility or done jointly by men and women. Activities clearly in the women's domain included pig feeding, watering, and cleaning pens; marketing was mainly in the men's domain. In urban areas, most women indicated the enterprise was theirs and consequently it was their role to carry out activities and make most decisions (Dione et al., 2016). The study found that men were more knowledgeable and skilled in pig husbandry. This is because they have more ties to outside organisations, interact more often with veterinary services (whose staff are mostly men), are offered more training, and have greater access to the media and thus to messages about the disease. Men usually can easily interact outside the household and access health inputs more easily than women (Ouma et al., 2015). Given the critical roles that women play in pig management, there is a need to engage them while implementing interventions aiming to upgrade the pig value chain.There is a lack of designated slaughter facilities for pigs in Uganda in both rural and urban areas, except for Kampala. This gap is filled by traders who invest in backyard slaughter facilities that are not regulated and lack ante-mortem inspection of pigs. The resulting pork is largely not inspected and mainly sold through local retail outlets such as butcheries and pork joints (Ouma et al. 2015). Furthermore, the hygiene of the backyard slaughter premises and pork joints, in addition to pork handling, are often poor (Tatwangire, 2014). The veterinary and public health departments in local governments are responsible for regulating such premises and enforcing standards to ensure that only safe, high-quality pork and other meat products are offered in the market. However, there is poor enforcement of these regulations. A study carried out in 158 pork-eating places in Kampala reported that 68% of the pork consumed was from places where slaughter was not authorised and meat inspection not carried out, with only 42% of the outlet owners having a public health certificate to operate; holding a public health certificate is an important predictor of good practices (Kungu et al., 2017a).Pig value chain's constraintsThe production and management of pigs is affected by a lack of organisational strategies to achieve economies of scale at the farm level (Ouma et al., 2017). Productivity is very low and is largely attributed to the dominance of low-input/low-output systems practiced by small-scale producers. The following constraints have been reported by several studies: feed shortages during the dry season; poor pig health management resulting from diseases such as African swine fever, helminthiasis (such as porcine cysticercosis), and external parasite infestation; poor feeding practices and poor quality of feeds; poor husbandry practices; and an absence of appropriate breeding strategies (Nabikyu and Kugonza, 2016). Low productivity coupled with poor access to services such as veterinary assistance, extension (Muhanguzi et al., 2012;Dione et al., 2014;Roesel et al., 2017), financial and market information services, and the absence of sustainable farmer organizations have all greatly affected the development of the pig value chain in Uganda. These weak linkages have had significant negative impacts on farm gate prices. (Dione et al., 2014a;Nabikyu and Kugonza, 2016). In addition, regulations on biosecurity measures and waste management are poorly implemented, and the adherence of farmers and other actors to these regulations is equally limited (Ouma et al., 2017) . Poor implementation of regulations results in negative environmental impacts and the spread of diseases.Unavailability of inputs and veterinary services are among the most notable constraints to the pig value chain, and the poor quality of services and price fluctuations of these inputs are priority concerns. Farmers claimed that inputs and veterinary services are costly. Veterinary services are scarce, leading to low access to extension services for farmers. Additionally, farmers reported a lack of financial resources to purchase more pigs and low prices of outputs (live pigs) relative to the high prices of inputs; this lowers pig farmers' profit margins and thereby discourages them from acquiring inputs (Dione et al., 2014a;Dione et al., 2016d). Lack of acceptance of new versions of the same brand of drug by some farmers and drug stockists is a major challenge. The major constraint faced in terms of veterinary services is the poor infrastructure, including roads, and poor access to vet service. Other studies such as Ilukor et al (2013) find farmer inability to pay for quality veterinary products and services. Drug misuse by farmers and service providers was also cited as an important constraint; this practice is associated with lack of knowledge of farmers together with low education levels of drug stockists and animal health workersespecially the use of poorly trained animal health workers (Ouma et al., 2015).There are limited pig sales outlet options for farmers, especially in rural areas due to poor linkages with pig buyers and poor information flow (Ouma et al., 2017). As a result, farmers are exposed to low price offers for their animals as they sell their pigs individually to traders and lack bargaining power. Pig farmers within the same locality tend to sell their pigs to the same (local) buyers, leading to a glut in the pig market (especially just before schools reopen), and further depressing market prices. In addition, farmers have limited capacity in estimation of live weight of pigs and are therefore unable to assess whether price offers are fair (Ouma et al., 2017) . Marketing is mostly done by itinerant traders through brokers located in the villages. There are no fixed-point pig collection centres due to lack of marketing infrastructure and poor value chain coordination. Such capacity gaps and market disincentives, limits farmer investment into the enterprise.Quality assurance standards in the pig production process have yet to be embraced since few traders grade pork products and quality standards do not exist in Uganda. There is a challenge in enforcing existing rules and regulations in the feed, live pig, pork, and veterinary drug businesses because traders and service providers still operate without following government regulations. For example, rules that some businesses do not adhere to include having inspection certificates, business licenses, health examination certificates, slaughtering permits, or animal movement permits (Ouma et al., 2015).Although the pig sector has significant potential in Uganda both commercially and as a pathway towards poverty reduction, the sector has been marginalised due to its low priority in the national agricultural sector policy framework (the Development Strategy and Investment Plan). Pig-raising was not chosen to be among the 12 priority strategic commodities, although it was recognised as very important for the population's food and nutrition security. According to a stakeholder meeting held in Kampala in 2013, the main underlying cause for the government to not prioritise the pig sector is lack of evidence of the industry's full scope and potential and misconceptions about pigs being dirty animals (Worsley, 2013). However, some districts such Hoima and Masaka have prioritised the pig sector in their district development plans and are leveraging different partners' work to support the sector. Although the pig sector is not a priority per se, the government of Uganda recognised the role played by pigs especially in poorer settings. To confirm this, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries, and Fisheries has allocated strategic funds for controlling African swine fever -a disease with significant socioeconomic impact -in the Agriculture Sector Strategic Plan 2015/16 to 2019/20. There is no specific policy or strategies to harmonise the way actors in smallholder pig value chains are governed. The lack of organisation of farmers, traders, processors, and other actors in the value chain creates inefficiencies that open the door for exploitation and poor-quality products. There is a need for a good policy if actors, particularly pig farmers, are to move up the value chain (CGIAR, 2013).Background and status T. solium cysticercosis is a parasitic zoonosis caused by larval cysts of pig cestode. The primary intermediate host is the pig (which harbours the cysticercal stage), with the only definitive natural host being humans (who become infected via the adult intestinal tapeworm). Humans can also harbour the cystic stage in their tissue, causing cysticercosis or -if located in the central nervous system -neurocysticercosis. Neurocysticercosis is the most serious form of cysticercosis in humans and causes epilepsy. Porcine cysticercosis is a faecal-borne infection caused by the ingestion of T. solium eggs dispersed by a human T. solium tapeworm carrier. T. solium has received little attention for decades despite its traumatising health and socioeconomic impacts (Tatwangire, 2014).In many areas in which it is endemic, T. solium cysticercosis is inadequately controlled by the existing sanitary systems, resulting in considerable public health impact. It remains a major public health problem in developing and some developed countries (Boa et al., 2006;Pondja et al., 2012). However, despite the numerous, often obvious, and seemingly simple options for preventing T. solium transmission, few intervention programmes have led to sustained reduction in the incidence of the disease. Considering the life cycle of T. solium, there are many opportunities for controlling the parasite's transmission.T. solium cysticercosis is largely under-recognised in many developing countries (Lightowlers, 2013). In Uganda, few studies have explored the epidemiology of the disease. Most studies have been limited to reporting prevalence and are factor-associated data. Very few studies have addressed the disease from the human health perspective.Porcine cysticercosis has been reported in Uganda in several studies:• High seroprevalence was reported in slaughter slabs in Moyo district (37.7%) (Tsang and Wilson, 1995).• Post-mortem surveys at Wambizi slaughterhouse found a prevalence of 9.4% (Anyanzo, 1999).• A field survey reported the highest prevalence of porcine cysticercosis in the Lac Kyoga bassin, with an average of 24% in five districts (Kisakye and Masaba, 2002).• The disease was reported in area of high pig density such as Masaka (11.7%), Kamuli (13.5%), and Mukono (11.2%) (Nsadha et al., 2010).• Other regions with lower prevalence include Lira (6.5%) and Moyo (13.2%) (Kungu et al., 2018) .Cysts seen in the masseter muscle of a pig (Picture credit/ Zachary Nsadha, ILRI)Cyst seen on the tongue of a pig (Picture credit/Zachary Nsadha, ILRI)Major risk factors are free-range piggery systems, the absence of latrines, and a lack of knowledge amongst pig farmers about the disease's impact in Uganda (Kungu et al., 2019) . Open-air defecation is common in many parts of Uganda, and some studies have shown that many households do not have latrines. In Soroti District, 54% of households were reported to not have latrines (Kungu et al., 2017b), while 36% of households had no latrines in the Lake Kyoga basin. Proper disposal of human faeces is needed in most of these areas. In addition, wrong or poor perceptions about the disease in pigs prevent communities from self-evaluating pork for cysticercosis before consumption. Ignorance about the transmission of T. solium cysticercosis prevents the adoption of proper control measures (Nsadha et al., 2010).Veterinary inspection of live pig and pork to identify cysts is lacking at both markets and slaughter slabs in most districts. The few time it is done for live pigs, it is limited to lingual screening, which is known to have low sensitivity. Regular pork inspection in Uganda is only carried out at the country's only regulated pig slaughterhouse at Wambizi, which mainly supplies the urban and peri-urban areas of Kampala (Nsadha, 2013;Kungu et al., 2017a).Most of the pork consumed in rural areas is not inspected -for example, a field study in the Lake Kyoga basin found 90% of the pork consumed undergoes no inspection (Nsadha, 2013). This is mainly because slaughter is carried out in unregistered places, making it difficult for inspection personnel to access the sites.Practices such as open-air defecation and lack of inspection are key contributors to the persistence of porcine cysticercosis in Uganda. However, prevalence studies need to be extended to other districts in order to have a clearer picture of the distribution of the disease.Approximately 2.5 million people worldwide carry the T. solium tapeworm, and at least 20 million people are infected with T. solium cysticerci (Nsadha et al., 2010). Neurocysticercosis represents the most common helminthic infection of the central nervous system and is one of the most important causes of secondary epilepsy worldwide. Conservative estimates attribute 50,000 deaths every year to neurocysticercosis (Bern et al., 1999). The World Health Organization estimates that eight people per 1,000 worldwide have neurocysticercosis (Mafojane et al., 2003), and the disease can lead to epilepsy, severe mental illness, blindness, and death. The disease is reported to cause 20 to 50% of all late-onset epilepsy cases globally and is also assumed to be a common cause of juvenile epilepsy in certain parts of the world, in particular southern Africa (Phiri et al., 2003). In Uganda, T. solium cysticercosis in humans has been confirmed (Winkler, 2012); however, there is a lack of evidence of T. solium as cause of neurocysticercosis.In some sub-Saharan African countries (such as Nigeria), the prevalence of human taeniosis is quite high (8.6%). Surprisingly, however, no cases of human cysticercosis have been reported, although epilepsy is very common. Large epidemiological surveys have only been carried out in Togo and Benin, where the prevalence of human cysticercosis was 2.4% and 1.3%, respectively. In Central Africa, human cysticercosis is endemic in Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Cameroon. Cysticercosis has been shown to be one of the major causes of epilepsy in Cameroon, with figures as high as 44.6% (Willingham and Angels, 2006).Based on the available information, a conservative rough economic estimate indicates that the annual monetary losses due to porcine cysticercosis in ten western and central African countries amount to about EUR25 million (Zoli et al., 2003). In countries where this condition occurs, every case of cysticercosis in pigs has been estimated to result in an average loss of EUR194 and nine disability adjusted life years (DALYs) per 1,000 persons per year (Zoli et al., 2003). Financial losses due to human cysticercosis are very difficult to estimate, but they are certainly exceeded by the social impact of the disease, especially because of the negative perception of epilepsy in many African communities. In addition, it is important to note that the true prevalence of T. solium cysticercosis in pigs and humans in central and west Africa remains underestimated because of unreliable slaughterhouse data and the lack of awareness and diagnostic facilities in the public health sector (Ngowi et al., 2003).The eradication of T. solium from most European countries was due to progress in environmental sanitation, adequate husbandry of pigs, and adequate inspection of pig carcasses. Unfortunately, these measures have not yet been completely implemented in many developing countries (Zoli et al., 2003). Porcine cysticercosis is potentially eradicable for several reasons:• The adult T. solium lives exclusively in human beings.• Taeniosis is the only source of infection for the intermediate host.• Porcine cysticercosis can be controlled.• There are no wild reservoirs.• There are safe and efficient cestocidal products against the tapeworm and the cysticercus (Flisser et al., 2003).Recently, much progress has been made in terms of research on diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of human taeniasis and porcine cysticercosis, although more operational research is still needed. Major obstacles to practical implementation of control measures include low levels of sanitation and health education amongst endemic populations, ineffective health services infrastructure, and inadequate socioeconomic development in these areas (Schantz et al., 1993). Pawlowski et al. (2005) showed the mass drug administration in humans and pigs interrupted transmission of taeniasis and cysticercosis in a region in which these diseases were endemic. However, the magnitude of the effect was small and did not attain the goal of eliminating transmission. According to Garcia et al. (2016), mass drug administration is a temporary solution since unhealthy conditions and poverty prevail in countries where these diseases are endemic, making this approach unsustainable; this means that the eradication of taeniasis and cysticercosis requires a socioeconomic and political approach, not an entirely pharmacological one. Most previous studies that aimed at controlling porcine cysticercosis did not target regional elimination but rather assessed control interventions in a few villages (Carpio et al., 2016). There is a need to validate these studies in wider geographical locations.Eventual elimination of T. solium taeniasis-cysticercosis will benefit from the use of a 'One Health' approach recognising the connections between human and animal health, with implementation of multiple interventions in human, animal, and ecosystem health simultaneously occurring across sectors and supported by appropriate health education tools (Garcia et al., 2006;O'Neal et al., 2014). Based on a T. solium cysticercosis transmission model (Johansen et al., 2014) and on the available evidence in the literature, the World Health Organization recommends a combined approach as the current 'best-bet' option for rapid reduction of infection pressureutilising the treatment of human taeniasis cases through mass drug administration or selective chemotherapy combined with the TSOL18 vaccination and treatment of the porcine host (oxfendazole, 30mg/kg). This core approach should be supplemented by supporting measures such as health education and followed with measures requiring fundamental social changes such as improved meat inspection, husbandry, and sanitation (Kyvsgaard et al., 2007). Full community commitment of policymakers and communities will be essential to achieve successful, sustainable disease control.New tools have become available for controlling porcine cysticercosis that could help break the disease cycle (World Health Organization, 2015). T. solium parasites encysted in the muscle tissues of pigs are killed following a single oral treatment of 30 mg/kg of the benzimidazole drug oxfendazole (Gonzales et al., 1996). In 2013, oxfendazole manufactured under Good Manufacturing Practice standards was licensed for the first time for use in pigs to treat cysticercosis by MCI Santé Animale, Morocco. Vaccines have also been developed for porcine cysticercosis (Flisser et al., 2004). A recombinant vaccine antigen, TSOL18, produced in Escherichia coli has been shown to be highly effective at reducing T. solium pig infections under field conditions in Africa and Peru (Garcia et al., 2016); A commercial vaccine based on TSOL18, and produced under Good Manufacturing Practice standards, was licensed in 2016 by Indian Immunologicals Limited, India. These tools provide opportunities for new interventions against T. solium.TSOL18 vaccine (Cysvax™): Containing the T. solium oncosphere antigen (TSOL18), 150 ug/ml adjuvanted with mineral oil. Dose of 1 ml per pig was administered by intramuscular injection at three-month intervals.Oxfendazole (Paranthic™ 10%): Containing 10% w/v oxfendazole, oral suspension. Dosage of 3 ml/10kg body weight (30 mg/kg) was administered orally.• The TSOL18 vaccine is effective when both primary and booster vaccines are applied.• Primary vaccination is given to pigs at least 2 months old.• Booster vaccine can be given from three weeks to four months after the primary vaccine. Immunity in pigs develops within two weeks of the booster dose.• Re-vaccination occurs six months later if the pig is still on the farm and not yet sold.• The vaccine is thermal labile and needs to be stored and transported at temperatures between 2○ and 8○C (thus requiring a cold chain).• Oxfendazole is administered concurrently with the vaccine during primary and booster vaccinations, as well as re-vaccination to treat infected pigs.• The mode of administering the TSOL18 vaccine is deep intramuscular injection behind ear for vaccine and drenching for dewormer.• The withdrawal period for the vaccine is zero days, but use of oxfendazole requires a withholding period of 21 days (three weeks).Lightowlers ( 2013) indicated that the most effective control of T. solium cysticerosis was usage of chemotherapy and vaccination every six months. The vaccination regime was based on current knowledge at the time, which indicated that immunity was induced by two vaccinations given approximately one month apart. More recently, it has been shown that the immune response is maintained even after longer vaccination intervals and more flexible intervention strategies are possible and by the same logic based modelling vaccination and deworming of pigs at three monthly intervals has the potential to prevent transmission of T. solium in slaughter weight pigs (Lightowlers et al., 2016;Lightowlers and Donadeu, 2017) The trials carried out in Uganda by GALVmed aimed to evaluate concurrent treatment of porcine cysticercosis, with the TSOL18 vaccine and oxfendazole administered to pigs exposed to natural T. solium infections under field conditions in Uganda. Results showed that three monthly interventions with the TSOL18 vaccine (Cysvax™) and the dewormer Paranthic™ eliminated cysts in pigs (Nsadha et al., 2021). The intervention regimen was safe (no adverse reactions), and there were high levels of compliance and acceptance. In addition, anecdotal evidence from pig farmers indicated there were economic benefits. Similar trials have been carried out in Nepal, Tanzania and Zambia and also demonstrated the same high level of efficacy of this control strategy (Poudel et al., 2019;Gabriël et al., 2020;Kabululu et al., 2020).As part of the programme Protecting Livestock, Saving Human Life, funded in part by the UK Government (formerly Department for International Development, DFID, currently the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, FCDO) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, GALVmed was implementing activities aimed at controlling porcine cysticercosis in pigs in Uganda. Initial field tests have confirmed the efficacy of the combined use of the TSOL18 vaccine and oxfendazole. In addition, farmers in the pilot study reported improved weight gain in vaccinated pigs compared to non-vaccinated ones (probably due to reduction of helminths), and pigs attracted a higher market price. Farmers also claimed that it was easier to sell pigs. Due to these benefits, there could be potential for marketing the porcine cysticercosis vaccine as a private good. At the same time, experience and a review of the literature show that poor smallholder farmers are unlikely to invest in preventive animal health treatments, even highly effective ones; this can undermine a purely market-driven approach. In addition, the technical features of the package can both incentivise and de-incentivise farmer adoption (e.g., benefits from controlling other parasites versus the need for a booster).The purpose of this porcine cysticercosis market scoping exercise was to gain a clear understanding of the opportunity for 'private good' marketing of the TSOL18 vaccine and oxfendazole. It also aimed to quantify the market size more accurately and determine market segments and the registration status of these products, as well as how these might influence product availability, supply mechanisms, price structure, competitiveness of products, profit margins, and the potential to sell these products to smallholder pig producers in Uganda.Findings and recommendations from the scoping study will guide GALVmed and its partners subsequent entry into the market related to porcine cysticercosis in Uganda by thoroughly describing the possible market routes for the TSOL18 vaccine and oxfendazole, highlighting any potential marketing challenges, providing insight into strategies for engaging other pig value chain partners with capacity to undertake large-scale sustainable porcine cysticercosis vaccination delivery, and identifying key interventions that have potential to benefit producers and other value chain stakeholders.The study's main objective was to understand market opportunities for the TSOL18 vaccine and oxfendazole in order to:i. Determine whether pig producers are willing to pay (and if so, how much) for vaccination and treatment against porcine cysticercosis as a routine practice;ii. Evaluate animal health delivery and the ability to market both products; andiii. Discuss with key stakeholders -and report recommendations on -the potential for large-scale, sustainable private-sector distribution mechanisms for the TSOL18 vaccine in Uganda.7. Methodology for the market scoping studiesThe market scoping studies took place in Uganda's Masaka and Bukedea districts (figure 6). Masaka was selected because it has the highest pig population density in Uganda and because the International Livestock Research Institute's smallholder pig value chain projects have been active there in terms of undertaking research. ILRI have established strong partnerships with local government and pig value chain actors. Bukedea was selected because porcine cysticercosis vaccine trials are being carried out with GALVmed in the district. This was to leverage existing information on vaccine trials and porcine cysticercosis awareness. For the consumer studies, Kampala and Mukono districts were selected because they have the highest number of pork consumers in the country. Several scoping studies targeting different nodes of the pig value chain were conducted. The focus and approach of each are summarised below:Objective: Assess farmers' willingness to pay for the TSOL18 vaccine-oxfendazole product combination Participants: Individual interviews with 294 randomly selected pig farmers (140 in Masaka district and 154 in Bukedea district)Approach: Choice experiments using different attributes and levels Location: Masaka and Bukedea districtsA choice experiment is a multi-trait/multi-attribute stated preference method that assesses the value of single traits of a bundled good by using individuals' stated preference in a hypothetical scenario. 1 The traits to be valued -as well as value levels -are identified and combined according to an experimental design to create sets of discrete choice alternatives. Respondents are then presented with a series of choice alternatives and asked to choose their most preferred option. Each alternative is characterised by a number of traits, one of which is a monetary trait offered at different levels across alternatives. Analysts can then assess how respondents' choices change as the traits and monetary amounts are varied. Appropriate models are then applied to the choice data to reveal a measure of utility for the traits of the choices. 2 The choice experiment method is particularly useful for valuing traits without market values since the trade-offs that people make within traits demonstrate a willingness to pay. 3   The theoretical framework for choice experiments derives from Lancasterian consumer theory and discrete choice random utility theory. 4 The Lancasterian framework postulates that utility (U) is derived from traits or attributes of goods (zi) rather than the good per se, assuming a random utility function, depicted as:Here, P njt denotes the cost parameter or price of alternative j, which is often included as one of the attributes of the choice alternative. X njt denotes the other observed attributes of choice alternative j. The constant, β0nj denotes individual n's choice-specific intercept for alternative j; γ n is the coefficient for the cost parameter, and β n represents the coefficient vectors for the other traits for individual n. The implicit prices (willingness to pay) for the traits can be estimated as the rate of change in the trait divided by the rate of change of the cost parameter (marginal rate of substitution) represented as:Identification of the attributes/traits and levels used in this study were based on past studies and expert opinion (table 1). The identified traits and the associated levels were combined based on a fractional factorial orthogonal main effects-only experimental design using SAS software. The design resulted in 12 generic choice sets, each with three alternatives and a 'no-buy' option. The overall efficiencies of the choice experiment were high -D efficiency: 98.6%; an efficiency: 97.1%; and G efficiency: 93.4%. The high efficiencies shows that the designs are statistically efficient. The key consideration is that maximizing statistical efficiency minimizes the variability of the parameter estimates (Rose and Bliemer, 2004) These choice sets were used to construct cards with pictorial profiles describing the differences in traits and levels to demonstrate each choice set to pig farmer survey respondents (see annex 3). The 12 choice sets were blocked into two groups of six choice sets each. Each pig farmer was presented with six choice sets. The choice experiment was administered as part of a short farm-level survey questionnaire using in-person interviews. The rest of the questionnaire covered socioeconomic aspects such as location of the farm and other household-and farmlevel characteristics (see annex 4).The administration of the choice experiment was conducted in the following manner: The farmers were first asked if they were aware of porcine cysticercosis and its effects. They were then provided with background on porcine cysticercosis and its transmission cycle and health effects. They were also provided with information about the porcine cysticercosis vaccine that will soon be introduced into the market in Uganda and the importance of feedback from pig farmers to the vaccine manufacturer. They were then presented with the choice cards developed from the information in table 1 in the form of pictorial profiles. They were shown three vaccine choice options at a time for each of the six choice sets and asked to choose the most preferred vaccine to purchase. In each case, a 'no-buy' option was also presented for farmers who preferred none of the three options. A total of 294 farmers from Masaka and Bukedea districts (140 and 154, respectively) participated in the choice experiment interviews. Each farmer responded to six choice sets, yielding a total of 1,764 observed choices.A conditional logit model using NLOGIT 6 (Econometric Software Inc.) was applied to assess factors influencing choice and to estimate the implicit prices (i.e., willingness to pay) for the traits. Table 2 presents the choice experiment variables used in the model and the coding of their corresponding levels. Objective: Determine whether pig traders are willing to pay premium prices to pig farmers for T. solium-free pigs (i.e., vaccinated) Participants: 33 pig traders Approach: Choice experiment, similar to that described for farmers in the previous section, using different attributes and levels presented in table 3 based on field experience and previous studies Location: Bukedea districtThe administration of the choice experiment was conducted in the following manner: The traders were first asked if they were aware of porcine cysticercosis and its effects. They were then provided with background on porcine cysticercosis and its transmission cycle and health effects, as well as information about the porcine cysticercosis vaccine that will soon be introduced into the market in Uganda and the importance of feedback from pig farmers to the vaccine manufacturer. The traders were then presented with the choice cards developed from the information in table 3 in the form of pictorial profiles. They were shown three vaccine choice options at a time for each of the eight choice sets and asked to choose the most preferred vaccine to purchase. In each case, a 'no-buy' option was also presented for farmers who preferred none of the three options. A total of 33 traders from Bukedea district participated in the choice experiment interviews. Each trader responded to eight choice sets, yielding a total of 264 observed choices. Objective: Analyse practices around the consumption of safe pork in general and consumer awareness of porcine cysticercosis and cystic pork at retail outlets Participants: Four groups of consumers (2 groups of men and 2 groups of women) Approach: Focus group discussions Location: Two divisions in Kampala -Makindye and Nakawa divisions Four focus group discussions with pork consumers were held in Makindye and Nakawa divisions in Kampala district using a checklist for guiding discussions (annex 4). The two divisions have the highest number of pork joints in Kampala district, a proxy for high number of pork consumers. Two focus group discussions per division (four total) were held, covering a total of 50 consumers (25 men and 25 women). Posters and pictures were used to illustrate the life cycle of the tapeworm. Pictures showing cystic pork and non-cystic pork of different qualities were presented to participants to assess knowledge and preferences.Objective: Assess consumers' preference for safe food from animal sources Participants: 47 (24 women and 23 men) Approach: A simulated egg experiment with consumers (due to ease of handling eggs compared to other animalsource foods such as pork) Location: Goma and Kyaggwe sub-counties in Mukono municipality Four different egg types and qualities were purchased and used for the experiment. Equal amounts of each type were presented to the consumers during the experiment. The per-unit prices of the different egg types varied, with costs based on actual market prices:• Regular eggs (eggs from local hens kept under backyard systems): UGX600 (US$0.17)/egg • Antimicrobial-free eggs -organic eggs: UGX700 (US$0.19)/egg • Eggs from hens vaccinated against Newcastle disease: UGX400 (US$0.11)/egg • Eggs from hens that have been vaccinated against Newcastle disease and are antimicrobial-free -UGX1,200 (US$0.33)/egg At the start of each experiment, per site, a workshop-like format was adopted to provide participants with detailed information on the effects of antimicrobial residues and Newcastle disease on human health. Posters and pictures were used for illustration, and the different eggs in the market were explained in detail. After this, each of the participants was given UGX5,000 (US$1.39) to individually purchase at least four eggs from any of the egg categories in the market. They were allowed to keep leftover money from the purchase. This was to avoid the known hypothetical bias that occurs with stated preference methods such as choice experiments when participants make purchases with imaginary or endowed money and to create a real world situation where participants would buy as frugally or extravagantly as they would with their own money. A short questionnaire was then administered to each participant to collect information on the number and type of eggs purchased, as well as other socio-demographic characteristics.Objective: Determine potential market entry points and barriers for the TSOL18 vaccine-oxfendazole package Participants: 21 drug stockists Approach: Individual interviews and observations Location: Masaka and Bukedea districtsIn both districts, a list of all drug stockists registered at the District Drug Inspector's Office was generated. In Masaka, 11 of 16 drug stockists (79%) were interviewed, while in Bukedea all 10 drug stockists were interviewed (100%). In Masaka, interviews took place between 20 and 27 October 2017, while in Bukedea they took place between 31 October and 4 November 2017. An interview was conducted with each stockist, which took about two to three hours each and involved visual inspection of products. Data were entered into Microsoft Excel and Stata for analysis.Objective: Assess the perspective of the veterinarians and para-veterinarians on their willingness to sell the TSOL18-oxfendazole package and farmers' willingness to buy it Participants: 22 veterinarians Approach: Focus group discussion Location: Masaka and Bukedea districtsThe heads of both districts' veterinary departments were asked to invite all the veterinarians and para-veterinarians that operate in the municipality (for Masaka) and town council (for Bukedea). Twelve veterinarians in Masaka and 10 veterinarians in Bukedea were interviewed. The focus group discussion for Masaka took place in Katwe Butego sub-county on 20 October 2017, while in Bukedea it took place in Bukedea Town Council on 31 October 2017. Each session lasted about two hours, and a checklist was used to guide the process. For the focus group discussion, there was a session facilitator and a note-taker that recoded all of the responses to the checklist.Objective: Assess the distribution channel for pig dewormers and livestock vaccines and large stockists' willingness to distribute the product (TSOL18-oxfendazole package) Participants: Two veterinary drug distributors Approach: Face to-face interviews Location: Kampala Two major veterinary drug distributors participated in the study. The research team conducted a two-hour faceto-face interview with the executives of these companies at their head offices in Kampala. The discussions were centred around brands of dewormers distributed (with emphasis on oxfendazole), channels of distribution, and the regulatory framework for drugs and vaccine distribution.Objective: Discuss with key stakeholders -and report recommendations on -the potential for large-scale, sustainable private sector distribution mechanisms for the TSOL18 vaccine in Uganda Participants: Key stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry and management and animal health sector (described below) Approach: Brainstorming Location: KampalaThe ILRI team proposed a list of stakeholders that would answer the set objectives: one district veterinary officer, one drug stockist, one experienced veterinarian, one individual from the National Drug Authority veterinary section, one drug stockist, and one focal person for 'One Health' at the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries, and Fisheries. Invitation letters were sent out, and four of the six attended the meeting on 4 December 2017 at the ILRI offices on Naguru Katalima Road in Kampala. The meeting started at 10 a.m. and ended at midday. A checklist was administered to participants in the form of a discussion and their responses were noted.8.1 Farmers' willingness to pay for TSOL18 and oxfendazoleOf the interviewed farmers, 63% were female and 37% were male. The average age of the farmers was 39.2 (±13.7). About half of the farmers interviewed reported having primary-level education (figure 7), and 48% of households had a monthly income of less than UGX100,000 (US$28) per month (table 4). The farmers had an average total herd size of 3.8 pigs (±4.4), with at least one sow and one weaner. Various categories of pigs were sold by farmers in the previous six months (table 5). The buyers for the finishers, sows, and boars are mainly butchers (78%), while weaners are mainly bought by individual households.• Farmers prefer vaccines that would reward them in terms of yielding a high premium price for vaccinated pigs, as well as vaccines administered only once at 2 months old to attain immunity.• Key attributes highly valued by farmers included a high premium price due to porcine cysticercosis vaccination and the inclusion of a vaccine viability detector. Farmers indicated willingness to pay US$0.44 more if the vaccine results in an additional dollar premium price, as well as US$4 if the vaccine comes with a viability detector.• The farmers had a high preference for a vaccine that is only administered once to achieve porcine cysticercosis immunity and indicated willingness to pay US$1.67 more compared to one that is administered three (is this missing from table 6 and 7) times.• The farmers preferred a vaccine associated with low administrative costs.  Piglets 0.9 (2.8) 0 25Fifty-five per cent of the farmers interviewed had heard of porcine cysticercosis, and 87% of farmers who reported being aware were from Bukedea district. The main source of information regarding porcine cysticercosis was the veterinary officer/animal health assistants (figure 8). Twenty-two per cent of the farmers interviewed indicated their pigs had suffered from porcine cysticercosis in the last 24 months; most of these were from Bukedea district. For the affected farmers, the main effect of porcine cysticercosis in pigs was loss of money (figure 9).  The maximum likelihood estimates of the conditional logit model are presented in table 6. The results show that farmers prefer vaccines that would reward them in terms of a high premium price for vaccinated pigs and one that is administered only once at 2 months to attain pig immunity. The results also show a strong preference for a vaccine with a vaccine viability detector. The negative and strongly significant coefficient on cost of vaccine and vaccine administration cost shows low preference for high vaccine and administrative costs. Estimates of the implicit prices of the traits are presented in table 7. The results show two key attributes are highly valued by farmers: a high premium price due to porcine cysticercosis vaccination and inclusion of a vaccine viability detector. Farmers are reportedly willing to pay US$0.44 more if the vaccine will result in an additional dollar premium price. They are also willing to pay US$4 if the vaccine comes with a viability detector. This indicates a \"lemons market\" for veterinary drugs in Uganda: a lemons market occurs when consumers who cannot observe the quality of a specific item but believe that a fraction of products in the market are low quality (or counterfeit) will have lower willingness to pay for the product, thereby depressing prices. A similar issue has been well described for pesticides in Uganda. A World Bank study found that one third of pesticides were sub-standard and that farmers believed 40% of pesticides were sub-standard and this substantially reduced their WTP for pesticides (Ashour et al., 2017) The farmers have a high preference for a vaccine that is only administered once to achieve porcine cysticercosis immunity, being willing to pay US$1.67 more. Additionally, they prefer a vaccine that is associated with low administration costs, which has implications for communal vaccination initiatives and other efforts aimed to reduce transaction costs. The farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for combined features of the PC vaccine traits has been estimated using the compensating surplus model. The compensating surplus shows the change in income that would make a respondent indifferent between the base-case (current attributes of the PC vaccine) and subsequent alternative scenarios with specified combination of the vaccine traits. The compensating surplus (CS) model, is calculated as:Where β cost is the coefficient associated with the cost of the vaccine, V 0 is the expected utility from the base case attributes of the vaccine, and V n is the utility of an alternative vaccine scenario. Table 8 presents the farmers WTP for two PC vaccine scenarios containing an improved combination of the vaccine attributes. The WTP estimate of the base scenario of the vaccine (current existing attributes), until the pig attains immunity is US$2.61, though only 19% of the surveyed farmers selected that vaccine combination. The improved traits of the vaccine results in higher farmer WTP. For instance, scenario 1 of the attributes (lower administration cost and a 50% price premium) was selected by 37% of the farmers and result in a WTP of US$12.84. The WTP for scenario 2 (50% price premium, vaccine viability detector and a 10% increase in pig live-weight) is US$16.94 selected by 49% of the farmers. The results show that under baseline scenario -which mimics current vaccine attributes, only few farmers would be WTP for the vaccine. Farmers are interested to pay for the vaccine if they are assured of a price premium and have confidence in the quality of the vaccine (through a viability detector). The average age of the traders interviewed was 36, and 85% reported having primary-level education. The traders sold an average of six to 10 pigs per month between May and October 2017. Most of the interviewed traders (94%) said they had heard of porcine cysticercosis. Their main source of information on porcine cysticercosis was fellow traders and veterinary officers and animal health assistants (figure 10).Traders are aware of porcine cysticercosis; 94% of traders interviewed had heard of it.Most of the traders (94%) said they reject (i.e., do not purchase) pigs suffering from porcine cysticercosis. In some cases, they offer lower prices for these pigs.The traders are concerned about consumers' health, and 96% condemned infected pigs/pork.Pigs' weight gain was traders' most preferred attribute. Eighty per cent of the surveyed pig traders said they had come across porcine cysticercosis-infected pigs. They recognised the disease by lingual palpation (below the tongue) and observing poor quality pork from slaughtered pigs (table 9). Most of the traders (94%) said they reject (i.e., do not purchase) pigs suffering from porcine cysticercosis; in some case, traders offer lower prices for these pigs.Performed lingual palpation (below tongue) 15 (40%)Poor quality pork from slaughtered pigs 10 (27%)Worms below the ears 1 (3%)Hair on back of animals falling off 1 (3%)The traders reported being concerned about consumers' health, with 96% condemning infected pigs/pork (table 10). They reported believing that the vaccine and dewormer are the most effective means of controlling the disease. Eighty-one per cent, however, believe that controlling porcine cysticercosis is the government's role and it should therefore subsidise the cost of the vaccine.   Across the two divisions in Kampala where the study took place, the participants were from diverse ethnic groups with different cultural values, norms, and experiences relating to pork consumption.Consumers across the two divisions reported that the most important factors to consider for ensuring that consumed pork is safe relate to environmental factors associated with the pork joint, as well as pork-quality attributes. These included the hygiene of the pork joint, the person handling the pork, the plates, and the kitchen where pork is prepared. Hygiene was considered by the participants to be the most important attribute because poor hygiene could lead to illnesses like diarrhoea, cholera, and tapeworm. Participants in the focus group discussions noted (parentheses indicate discussion location and date):\"My life is my priority, thus I have to eat from a clean environment in order not to contract diseases\" (Nakawa, 7 November 2017).\"Hygiene is important because I can avoid health-related problems associated with contaminated pork\" (Makindye, 5 November 2017).\"Cleanliness of the place is vital because eating from a dirty environment can be very expensive because after eating, you have to go for treatment. Hence, it is better to eat from a place which cannot cause harm to one's health\" (Nakawa, 6 November 2017).Additionally, participants mentioned the quality of pork as an important attribute influencing their decision to purchase and/or consume pork from specific retail outlets. According to the respondents, important aspects of pork quality they look for are leanness and fat content, freshness demonstrated through colour, and cooking method. Participants in the focus group discussions noted (parentheses indicate discussion location and date):\"Well-cooked pork doesn't contain diseases because all the liquid is dried out\" (Nakawa, 6 November 2017).\"Pork takes a very short period to go bad. That is why I want the fresh pork, which is free from contamination\" (Nakawa, 7 November 2017).November 2017).Generally, both male and female focus group discussion participants had some knowledge of T. solium cysticercosis and were able to describe the signs of infection and how it is transmitted; two men and one woman (of 48 total participants) had never heard of it. Although almost all respondents knew about tapeworms in humans, none knew about cysts in pork. Additionally, some of the information participants provided about tapeworms was inaccurate. Focus group discussion participants noted (parentheses indicate discussion location and date):\"Tapeworm is got through eating leftovers/food that have stayed overnight, and sign I know is swollen stomach, especially in children\" (Nakawa, 6 November 2017).\"When one eats raw/half-cooked food like potatoes, cabbages, and cassava, one can get tapeworms, and one of the signs is severe headache, diarrhoea and loss of appetite\" (Makindye, 5 November 2017).\"One can get tapeworm through eating meat from animals which have not been dewormed. This can cause body weight loss, vomiting, and anaemia\" (Makindye, 10 November 2017).\"Tapeworm is transmitted through eating raw food which the enzymes cannot digest. The signs include very high appetite, itchy behind, constipation, and crumps (stomach makes noise like 'kukukuku…')\" (Nakawa, 7 November 2017).Most of the women (in contrast to the men) reported that had actually seen tapeworms, especially in children's faeces, and two women actually noted that they were once victims of tapeworm.• Consumer focus group discussion participants considered hygiene to be the most important factor in ensuring pork is safe because poor hygiene could lead to illness like diarrhoea, cholera, and tapeworm. • Participants noted pork's leanness and fat content, freshness demonstrated through colour, and cooking method as pork quality attributes they look for. • Although almost all participants had knowledge on tapeworms in humans, none knew about cysts in pork.Some information they provided on tapeworms was inaccurate. • The most significant source of information on tapeworms amongst participants was the home/parents and particularly mothers. • Female participants reported being more observant in terms of taking relevant safety measures in terms of food. • Although participants were trained about the dangers of eating pork with cysts, most said they cannot throw away what they have already bought and would rather cook the pork thoroughly to kill the cysts. Both male and female participants in both divisions noted willingness to pay more for pork certified to be porcine cysticercosis-free as long as their safety is guaranteed.Participants noted a variety of channels as their information sources on tapeworm, with the most significant source given being the home/parents and particularly mothers; other sources included schools, hospitals, seminars, and village health teams. There was no significant difference between male and female respondents. Focus group discussion participants noted (parentheses indicate discussion location and date):\"My mother was a traditional herbalist, so I learnt from her because she used to treat children in our village who had tapeworm\" (Nakawa, 6 November 2017).\"My siblings suffered from tapeworms, and when my mother took them to the hospital, the nurses told her it was tapeworms. Then she came back, she informed us about tapeworms and its effects\" (Nakawa, 7 November 2017).The consumer focus group participants were asked if they had ever seen cystic pork. Six of the 25 men (24%) had seen pork with cysts either in Kampala or in their home districts; ten of the 25 women (40%) had seen cysts in various pork retail outlets. Participants attributed the gender difference to men being less vigilant: Most men order pork by calling the pork joint owners, and by the time they get to the joint, the pork is ready for consumption; female consumers, on the other hand, buy fresh pork to prepare at home and are therefore able to inspect pork before purchase. Despite the fact that both male and female consumers have observed cysts in the pork, their assumption was that the pork was just fatty. Focus group discussions participants noted (parentheses indicate discussion location and date):\"I saw pork with cysts in my village, but we had to bury it. It is a tradition in my family that our father slaughters for us a pig every 23rd December, but last year the pig which was slaughtered had cysts and my father had to bury it and slaughtered another one\" (Makindye, 5 November 2017).\"I saw pork with cysts here in Kampala at one joint\" (Nakawa, 7 November 2017).After the sensitisation sessions on pork tapeworm, all focus group discussion participants indicated that when cystic pork is bought on their behalf, the pork would be returned to the seller. Participants generally indicated they would not buy cystic pork at the butcher, although some said they might purchase the cystic pork and request the pork handler ensure it is well prepared (dried). Although consumers were trained about the dangers of eating pork with cysts, most consumers noted that they cannot throw away what they have already bought but would rather cook the pork thoroughly in order to kill the cysts. Focus group discussion participants noted (parentheses indicate discussion location and date):\"We roast the pork very well until when it is fully roasted and just cook it in groundnuts, and we eat\" (Makindye, 5 November 2017).\"In case we have sent someone else to pick for us, we take back the pork to the butcher, educate him about the dangers of consuming pork with cysts and also teach the consumers whom we will find in the butcher and urge them not to buy such pork again because it is not healthy\" (Nakawa, 6 November 2017).\"When we see such pork, we advise the butcher person the effects of the tapeworm, and we also advise him not to sell, and if he refuses, we call the public veterinarian (Nakawa, 7 November 2017).\"When we see it on the butchery, we just call the concerned health people like the veterinary officer or Local Council administrators (LCs) at any level, and the owner should tell the community where he got the sick pork which was not inspected\" (Nakawa, 6 November 2017).Men and women in both divisions indicated they were willing to pay more for pork certified as porcine cysticercosis-free as long as their safety is guaranteed. However, they noted that they have no control for food safety regulations and that in case food standard regulations are put in place, they would rather reduce the quantity of pork consumed and focus on quality. They noted (parentheses indicate discussion location and date):\"Life is important, and when lost, one can't regain it. Thus, safety first\" (Nakawa, 7 November 2017).\"Because we are concerned about our health, we would rather pay for expensive pork which is safe for our lives than eating the unsafe pork\" (Makindye, 5 November 2017).\"I will buy and continue to eat pork irrespective of the price as long as the pork is safe for consumption\" (Nakawa, 6 November 2017).Although most consumers indicated their willingness to pay premium prices for pork certified as porcine cysticercosis-free, one consumer said if price increased, he would stop eating pork because it would be too expensive for him.The focus groups were presented with photos of four categories of pork based on quality and price per kilogram, with prices based on prevailing quality-based market prices:Choice A: UGX13,000 (US$3.61)/kg (somewhat lean pork)Choice B: UGX6,000(US$1.67)/kg (leftover parts of pork and pig parts sold after slaughter)Choice D: UGX10,000 (US$2.70)/kg (fatty pork)Choice C: UGX15,000 (US$4.17)/kg (lean pork)Each participant was asked to select their preferred type. Figure 11 shows that 58% of the consumers preferred choice C, the leanest and most expensive at UGX15,000 (US$4.17) per kilogram, followed by 32% preferring choice A, which was the second-best quality and priced at UGX13,000 (US$3.61)per kilogram. Choice B -leftover parts of pork and pig parts sold after slaughter priced at UGX6,000 (US$1.67) per kilogram -was selected by 8% of participants, and 2% selected Choice D, fatty pork priced at UGX10,000 per kilogram.The findings show that consumers' preference is tagged to quality of pork, although this may not necessarily translate to actual purchases due to budget constraints. They were also probably using price as a proxy for pork quality.  About 32% selected choice C for pork type because it was perceived to be of good quality, not fatty and safe from diseases or infections; this was similar in all the focus group discussions and across gender and division. However, 14% of women in Makindye chose choice A because they considered the price of pork as favourable compared with 2% of the women in Nakawa; choice A was a mixture of bones and meat, and the participants indicated that 'the nearer the bone, the sweeter the money'.Consumers' preference for safe food from animal sourcesParticipants' mean age was 51 (table 12). Most of the respondents (43%) had attained secondary school-level education ('O' level), while 17% and 19% had university-and tertiary-level training, respectively (figure 13). Fortytwo per cent of the consumers reported a total monthly household income above UGX400,000 (US$111), while 30% have an income of less than UGX200,000 (US$55.50) (figure 14).• Although consumers may be aware of safe foods, their preferences as depicted by actual purchases are driven by other factors (such as personal preferences versus food safety), and they may have a different perception of what is considered 'safe food'.• Most of the consumer participants (85%) strongly agreed that it is important to protect their family's health by ensuring they purchase safe food from animal sources. Regular eggs were the most preferred and purchased eggs by the consumers, with participants purchasing an average of three regular eggs (table 13). The preference for regular eggs was attributed to the yellow yolk and belief that it is more nutritious relative to other egg types. Each consumer purchased on average one each of the other egg types. Fifty-four per cent of the eggs purchased were regular eggs (table 14). The 'safest' egg (free from antimicrobial residue and Newcastle disease) amounted to 24% of the purchased eggs. The pattern was not any different to any degree of statistical significance across gender (table 15). The results show that although consumers may be aware of safe foods, their preferences as demonstrated by actual purchases is driven by other factors (such as personal preferences) rather than food safety. Consumers' regular purchasing habits could also play a role -they may be used to purchasing regular eggs and may have never experienced any food safety challenges. The percentage of purchased eggs free from antimicrobial residue and Newcastle disease is relatively high compared to only antimicrobial residue-free or only Newcastle diseasefree, showing interest in purchasing safe products even when the price is high. Additionally, most of the consumers also expressed concern about lack of labelling and adequate information regarding food safety in market outlets to guide purchases.Most of the consumers (85%) strongly agreed that it is important to protect their family's health by ensuring they purchase safe foods from animal sources (table 16). About half (49%) of the consumers were concerned about unsafe foods from animal sources in the markets, and an equal number felt safe foods from animal sources do exist in the market but are too expensive for them. Thirty-two per cent strongly disagreed that even if animal source foods are well cooked there is no risk associated with their consumption; this could be attributed to the fact that consumers learned prior to egg selection that some antimicrobial residues cannot be destroyed even with cooking. In this study, the participant drug stockists listed 21 brands of dewormers sold to pig farmers and pig health service providers (table 17). None of the drugs mentioned as currently sold contain oxfendazole. Only albendazole was mentioned as a drug that could treat tapeworms. However, when the interviewer visually inspected drug shop shelves in Masaka, Erafen 5 (with fenbendazole as its active ingredient) was found. Praziquantal is available in Uganda, but was not found in this survey; it has been used to treat pig tapeworm in combination with albendazole.• There appears to be substantial demand for livestock dewormers in Uganda.• The market for dewormers is relatively crowded; there are 21 brands of dewormers. Active ingredients include ivermectin, levamisole, piperazine, albendazole and fenbendazole.• Animal health service providers preferred ivermectin, while farmers preferred levamisole and albendazole.• Most other drugs are cheaper per dose than Paranthic 10% (active ingredient oxfendazole), which is an important consideration for farmers.• Albendazole and Erafen 5 (active ingredient fenbendazole) were mentioned as potential competitors for oxfendazole. However, fenbendazole has side effects and treatment requires multiple doses, which may limit its widespread use.• Participants ranked farmers as the most important market segment for dewormers, followed by animal health service providers. Most farmers (68 to 80%) deworm their pigs an average two times per year.• The market appears to be quite price-sensitive, with the most sales for the cheapest drugs.• The promotion mechanisms that are most used by the distributors are door-to-door marketing and advertising through radio, newspapers, and television.• For the TSOL18 vaccine-oxfendazole combination to be competitive (viewed simply as a dewormer), it should be priced between US$1.62 and US$6.11.Ivermectin 10Levamisole 7Piperazine 2Albendazole 2Competitors to oxfendazole fall into two categories: drugs that can be used to treat pig tapeworm and drugs that treat parasites in pigs. For treating pig tapeworm, oxfendazole is considered the most attractive (and possibly only effective) drug. It is effective in a single-dose scheme, superior to praziquantel and albendazole, and leaves pork with a clean, marketable carcass (Lightowlers, 2013). Fenbendazole is also reported to be effective (Mkupasi et al., 2013); it significantly decreases the number of cysts, although it has side effects and requires multiple doses (Mkupasi et al., 2013). According to the stockists, there is currently no demand for a product that treats pig tapeworms; instead, farmers and animal health workers want products that treat pig parasites. This is partly because there are currently no well-suited products for this, but also because there is no general awareness of the problem.Additionally, when examining drug competition, it is important to look at all drugs that treat pig parasites. Table 18 provides information on competing brands that also treat tapeworm, including Paranthic 10% (active ingredient oxfendazole). Table 19 discusses competing brands that treat parasites in pigs. The tables help provide information and context relevant to marketing oxfendazole:• Most other drugs are cheaper per dose than Paranthic 10%, which is an important consideration for farmers.• Ivermectin will also treat mange, a visible and common problem, which is a unique selling point and important advantage• Erafen 5 packaging has a picture of a pig. However, a picture could easily be added to Paranthic 10% or a brochure provided with a picture of a pig; a picture is not a unique selling point.• Many drugs don't list the dosage for pigs on the label. This is a limitation for the animal health specialist market segment. However, it is very easy for this information to be added (if the drug is licenced for use in pigs), so this is not the basis for a permanent market issue.• The oxfendazole market could be an important criterion in the future, as farmers in East Africa have a strong preference for 'tried-and-true' brands.• Means of administration is also an important factor. Paranthic 10% is a drench, as are levamisole and albendazole. Ivermectin is injectable. Farmers may prefer drenches because they are unfamiliar with injections. For animal health workers, injections are often easier. Pricing deserves special attention because poor farmers are highly cost sensitive. Cost per deworming for a 10-kilogram pig is higher for Paranthic 10% compared with Erafen 5 -and, unlike the other drugs, this does not include mark-up. Table 20 provides details on mark-ups for the different drugs as reported by the drug stockists.Albendazoles might seem more expensive, but they are not indicated for treatment of porcine cysticercosis. For competitor drugs, a 35% mark-up was added on top of the drug's price when sold to stockists by the distributors.Piperazines had the lowest mark-up, while levamisoles had the least mark-up added. Most of the drug distributors give price sheets to the drug stockists. For Paranthic 10%, a mark-up of 28% would be feasible since it's a drench as an albendazole. The high standard deviations reported are due to large differences between purchase and sale price for some of the products. For example, 100 tablet Wormcid packet (levamizole) had a distribution price of UGX9250 but could be sold to as high as UGX25000 to the farmers. The two major customers for dewormers are farmers and animal health service providers, which includes veterinarians and para-veterinarians. Some stockists also sell drugs to other stockists and organisations. Most customers are farmers (56% in Masaka and 83% in Bukedea) (figure 15); however, other actors may buy in larger quantities. There are more animal health service providers that are operating in Masaka than Bukedea, and these professionals are better informed and can be critical to a new product's successful market penetration. The drug stockists were asked to rank customers by order of importance, and farmers were ranked as the most important customers followed by animal health service providers (figure 16). This was because farmers comprise the largest number of their customers and pay higher prices than animal health service providers, who are better informed and tend to bargain. Organisations such as the National Agricultural Advisory Services and some local nongovernmental organisations were ranked third because they are seasonal customers. Other studies suggest that albendazole is the most popular treatment (used by 90% of farmers), followed by levamisole and ivermectin (Doble, 2007). However, albendazole's adverse effects after treatment of porcine cysticercosis include prostration, anorexia, lethargy, and death after a single dose of 50mg/kg, and lethargy and anorexia after three consecutive doses of 30 mg/kg (Mkupasi et al., 2013). This makes it not recommended for the treatment of porcine cysticercosis in pigs by most manufacturers.The drug stockists were asked to estimate the percentage of farmers that deworm in their districts and the number of times they deworm. They indicated that an average of 68% of farmers who own pigs deworm their pigs about six times a year with a range of one to 12 times and most farmers deworming twice a year. Little difference existed between the districts in terms of the number of times dewormed and the percentage of farmers that deworm. The drugs stockists indicated that in Bukedea, peak sales occur during the rainy season and low sales occur in the dry season. In Masaka, 55% indicated that there were no peak and low seasons, while the others indicated the same trend as in Bukedea. The reason for the high sales in the rainy season was that the pigs are prone to becoming infected with worms then. However, even the 32% of druggists that don't deworm present an opportunity for the TSOL18 vaccine-oxfendazole combination.The estimated cost of deworming can be calculated using the number of times the farmers deworm pigs, along with the prices from table 17 and several assumptions:• Farmers deworm an average of six times a year (two to three times a year being previously reported by the veterinarians).• The cheapest dewormer that treats tapeworms on the market costs US$0.077 per 10-kilogram pig (Erafen 5), and the most expensive dewormer costs US$0.28 per 10-kilogram pig (Albafas). These data and parameters indicate that deworming would cost a farmer between US$1.62(if the farmer deworms six times a year using Erafen 5) and US$6.11 (if the farmer deworms six times a year using Albafas). The cost can go a bit higher since the pigs gain weight and the calculation is based on a 10-kilogram pig. To be competitive, the TSOL18-oxfendazole combination (viewed simply as a dewormer) should be within this price range. If demand could be created for other unique features (e.g., control of cysticercosis), there might be additional willingness to pay.The drug stockist were asked about how they got to know about the new products on the market (table 21). Most drug stockists heard about new dewormers through radio, newspaper, or television advertisements (85%) and the distributors marketing the dewormers directly in their shops (75%). Mobile phone calls are an emerging communication pathway. This means that if the TSOL18-oxfendazole combination is to be promoted, it could use advertisements and promotion through distributors. Becoming an agent 0 20The drug stockists were asked how they receive the drugs and vaccines from the distributors, shown in figure 18. The drug stockists had three options: having the distributor come to their shop on a scheduled date for that region; calling the distributor in case of stock outages and having the drug sent through any means of transport they choose (with the transport costs incurred by the stockist); and going to the distributor and collecting the drugs themselves. In Masaka, 61.5% of the drugs and vaccines were delivered by the distributors; 31% of the drug stockists collected them from the distributor. In Bukedea, these two options were chosen almost equally. For all the districts, 44.8% of the drug stockists reported that they collect the drugs from the distributor, 37.9% have the distributor deliver the drugs during their routine visits and the rest send their orders for delivery to the distributors. The pharmaceutical companies Norbrook and Eram have the most brands on the market and could be possible partners in distributing the oxfendazole dewormers. Stockists were also asked about vaccine suppliers. Eight companies were mentioned (table 22), although they distribute mostly poultry vaccines. Eram, Norbrook, and Evervictory were ranked as the most important distributors of vaccines because of reliability, quality assurance, and delivery to shops. The vaccine stockists in Bukedea mentioned as a supplier 'Container Village', an area in Kampala where drug and vaccine importers are found. In Masaka, drug stockists mentioned the government typically supplies vaccines for lumpy skin disease and foot and mouth disease (both for cattle); thus, if a drug inspector finds them in a druggist's stock, they have to provide an explanation. Other vaccines like Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) and those for dogs can only be ordered on client request. Generally, for poultry vaccines, the Newcastle disease vaccine is the most in-demand because most poultry farmers have either experienced related economic losses or seen/heard about the severity of the disease.Stockists mentioned power shortages (80% of participants) and expensive equipment (40% of participants) as major challenges they faced. One drug stockist mentioned that the National Drug Authority has set up guidelines that require an inverter to stock vaccines in case of power shortages or a paraffin-run refrigerator. Willingness of service providers to sell the TSOL18 vaccine and oxfendazoleThe veterinarians and para-veterinarians who participated in the study reported accessing the drugs within their localities, especially in the district's major town. In Masaka, the veterinarians and para-veterinarians access the drugs from the municipality (especially in Katwe-Butego sub-county, where most drug stockists are located). There are few drug shops in the rural areas because of the annual charges (about UGX300,000, or US$86) and strict rules imposed by the National Drug Authority:• Floors, ceiling, and walls made of washable materials that don't flake off.• Premises have a regular and sufficient supply of water.• Minimum floor area of four square meters.• Premises supervised by a person holding a bachelor's degree in veterinary medicine or an animal husbandry officer.In rural areas, drugs are mostly delivered by the veterinarians working in those areas or farmers go to towns to buy drugs. However, the veterinarians said farmers mostly source drugs by themselves.Of the municipality's drug shops, 44% stock vaccines together with other veterinary drugs. There is no single shop in town that stocks only vaccines. All shops stock mostly vaccines for poultry diseases (e.g., Newcastle disease, infectious bronchitis, and Marek's disease). The few vaccines stocked for other animals include the rabies vaccine for cats and dogs and (in a few drug shops) lumpy skin disease vaccine in cattle. Some veterinarians (28% of the service providers) sourced some drugs from Kampala (about 130 kilometres from Masaka); the reason for travel was that drug stockists do not stock some brands needed by veterinarians.Table 23 lists the actors in the drug market in Masaka and Bukedea. Masaka has an estimated nine veterinarians with a bachelor's degree in veterinary medicine; of these, seven are employed by the government, while the rest are in private practice. In Bukedea, there are three veterinarians with a bachelor's degree in veterinary medicine, all working with the district's local government. Access to information on new drugs was the same in both districts, with respondents indicating they receive information from:• Distributors who usually organise seminars to train veterinarians on the use of the new drugs • Radio and television advertisements • Promotions by the distributors offering slightly lower prices • Drug stockists putting posters and leaflets about the new drugs on shop doors • Colleagues• Generally, dewormers are more accessible than vaccines to the veterinarians in both Masaka and Bukedea districts.• Vaccines are more accessible in Masaka versus Bukedea district. The vaccines that are more accessible are almost all for poultry; access to vaccines for other livestock is sporadic.The dewormers used by the veterinarians and pig farmers fall in the drug categories of ivermectins, levamisoles, albendazoles, and piperazine citrates. The veterinarians prefer ivermectins, specifically the brands Noromectin and Keramectin, while the farmers prefer levamisoles (preferred brand Wormcid)• The price range for injectable dewormers was UGX7,000 to UGX20,000 (US$2 to US$5) per bottle (of either 50 millilitres or 100 millilitres). The range for oral dewormers was UGX200 to UGX6,000 (US$0.05 to US$2), with tablets being cheaper than the liquid drenches.• More than 75% of farmers deworm their pigs two to three times a year. In both districts, the charge for deworming ranged from UGX2,000 to UGX5,000 (US$0.60 to US$ 1.50).• Most veterinarians would not deworm pigs that are not in their area of operations because it would make deworming unaffordable for the farmers.• One challenge in Bukedea was almost all vaccines being out of stock out except for the thermal stable Newcastle disease vaccine.• The para-veterinarians in Masaka were not aware of porcine cysticercosis, while those in Bukedea were aware of the disease.• In both districts, veterinarians would be willing to sell the TSOL18 vaccine only if the price is not more than UGX3,000 (US$0.90), the vaccine efficacy is proven, the disease is publicised, and the benefits of vaccination are well articulated for the farmers.In Masaka, veterinarians and para-veterinarians use several types of equipment when transporting vaccines depending on the distance of the farmer, number of animals, number of farmers, and errands the veterinarian needs to run before vaccinating. This equipment include iceboxes, floaters, flasks, and polythene bags (table 24); the vaccine stockist supplies the ice. This is the same equipment used in Bukedea district. In both districts, the veterinarians and para-veterinarians indicated that they use bags, polythene bags, and boxes for the drugs. In Masaka, the veterinarians preferred to use ivermectin because it is easy to administer without significant retraining on pigs and because it can control both external and internal parasites with minimal dosage. It is also very effective against mange; farmers can easily see the effect of the treatment. Most veterinarians were guarded on the use of injectable levamisole, especially those recommended for subcutaneous administration. This is because if the drug were injected intramuscularly by mistake, the pig would die in a few minutes. Veterinarians and para-veterinarians do not use oral levamisole; they indicated farmers prefer these because they don't require technical expertise to administer.In Bukedea, the veterinarians and para-veterinarians said drenches are cheaper in the field than ivermectin and farmers prefer oral drugs because administration is very simple. Most farmers don't know there are injectable dewormers and some would not believe their pigs had been dewormed if the veterinarians used injections. In both districts, the veterinarians and para-veterinarians said that the farmers who self-administer dewormers to their pigs prefer the levamisole brand Wormcid because it is easier to use and some farmers believe that it helps in fattening the pigs. The veterinarians and para-veterinarians preferred brands of ivermectins called Noromectin and Keramectin because they use a lower dosage for effectiveness and don't require follow-up; the other brands require going back after a week to administer another dose, making it expensive for farmers (Table 25). In Masaka, the veterinarians and para-veterinarians who participated in the study charged an average price for deworming a pig of about UGX3,000 (US$0.90) per animal, including transport. If the farmer is very close to the area where the veterinarian operates, they are generally charged only UGX2,000 (US$0.60) per pig. However, the cost can rise to UGX5,000 to 8,000 (US$1.40 to $2.30) if the distance is far. In Bukedea, the cost of deworming depends on the financial status of the farmer, type of dewormer, and distance from the farmer to the veterinarian. But on average the veterinarians and para-veterinarians in Bukedea charges UGX1,000 (US$0.30) per piglet, UGX2,000 (USD$0.60) per gilt, and UGX5,000 (US$1.40) for the adult pigs. If the farmer is too far, then the veterinarian waits to attend to that farmer until there are other cases in that area; this was also the case in Masaka.There are three major method of administration to pigs -oral, subcutaneous, and intramuscular -with the method used depending on the instruction sheet that comes with the drug. In both districts, all veterinarians and paraveterinarians preferred the use of injectable drugs rather than oral administration because pigs are very difficult to restrain and bite syringes when receiving dewormers orally. Veterinarians and para-veterinarians normally recommend that farmers use the oral dewormers when self-administrating because they have a wide safe margin and are easy to apply.In Masaka, about 75% to 100% of the pig farmers deworm their pigs. Normally, the farmers deworm pigs an average three times a year. Those that don't deworm use local herbs (e.g., one called 'lusiti'). In Bukedea, farmers deworm two or three times a year, and the decision to deworm depends on the harvest time since this is when farmers have extra income to buy the drugs. In both districts, veterinarians and para-veterinarians mentioned that farmers normally deworm during the rainy season.In Masaka, all of the para-veterinarians that attended said that they had never heard of porcine cysticercosis but knew about the tapeworm. In Bukedea, all of the veterinarians were aware of the condition and said the region even has a local name, 'ikuri', because the disease is said to resemble a cowpea (a staple cereal in that region). The disease is so serious in their community that no trader would buy a diseased pig. This high level of awareness was probably due to a farmer who had to refund a trader's money because when the district veterinary officer inspected the pig and found cysts, he burnt the pork. The fact that the vaccine trials with GALVmed are happening there could also be a contributing factor.In Masaka, all participating service providers were willing to sell the vaccine as long as it did not cost more than UGX3,000 (US$0.90) to the farmer to attain immunity; this means that the drug stockists need to sell the dose at about UGX1,000 (US$0.30). They said that the farmers could only accommodate those prices if the vaccine's value is demonstrated to them. The veterinarians preferred the vaccine packaged in 20 mL units because it would bring the transaction costs (for example, transport) down for deworming/vaccination 20 pigs.In Bukedea, the veterinarians and para-veterinarians said they would be willing to sell the vaccine if it is priced between UGX3,000 and 5,000 (US$0.90 to $1.40), the vaccine efficacy is proven, and it is accessible and easy to store. They believe there is a market for the vaccine because the disease is common in their district. Additionally, farmers in Malera sub-county, where the vaccine was tested, are aware of its benefits in controlling porcine cysticercosis. The vaccine would lose market potential if it were priced substantially more than the dewormers. Veterinarians and para-veterinarians said the vaccine should not exceed UGX3,000 (US$0.90) in cost to the farmer. Most farmers know that vaccination is a public good that is supposed to be provided by the government at a subsidised price or even free of charge.• The most commonly distributed livestock dewormers in Uganda are albendazole, levamisole, ivermectin, and piperazine.• Most animal vaccines distributed in Uganda target cattle, poultry, shoats, and (to a lesser extent) dogs and cats.• There is no vaccine for pigs distributed in Uganda.• The mark-up for the distributor (in Kampala) and drug stockist (in the district) was 30%.• Poor cold chain is a challenge to the vaccine quality.• Given its current form (cost of product and packaging) and based on their experience with livestock vaccines, the participating distributors said they probably would be willing to distribute the product if it were subsided by the government.• Even though oxfendazole is more expensive than competing dewormers for other parasites than cysts, there is an opportunity for it to capture some market share because it is a broad-spectrum dewormer on top of being effective against porcine cysticercosis.• The fact that the vaccine and dewormers are not packaged together make the combination unattractive to distributors because of anticipated challenges in acquiring both products at the same time when needed.• The model for product adoption most likely to be effective is for it to be presented as a public good.Potential for large drug distributors to market TSOL18 vaccine and oxfendazoleThe distributors interviewed indicated that the most commonly distributed livestock dewormers in Uganda are albendazole, levamisole, ivermectin and piperazine. Specific pig dewormers distributed proportionately are ivermectin (60%, mainly because it can protect against both internal and external parasites), levamisole (20%), and piperazine (20%). The interviewed distributors did not stock oxfendazole, but stocked a benzimidazole called fenbendazole that has similar effects but needs multiple doses to clear cysts. This could be a substitute for oxfendazole. However, the distributors mentioned that there is a brand of oxfendazole in the registration process at the National Drug Authority.Most animal vaccines distributed in Uganda target cattle, poultry, shoats, and (to a less extent) dogs and cats. For cattle, distributed vaccines target contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, foot and mouth disease, brucellosis anthrax, and lumpy skin disease. For poultry, the most common vaccine are for Newcastle disease, gumboro, infectious bronchitis, Marek's disease, fowl typhoid and fowlpox; for dogs and cats, rabies vaccine is the most stocked. No vaccine is stocked for pigs by the interviewed distributors. For the poultry vaccines, most of the time only exotic breed are vaccinated, and the Newcastle disease vaccine is the most sold. The distributor mentioned that vaccines are not as marketable as the drugs, mainly because farmers prefer curative rather than preventive measures. Vaccines targeting diseases with a high mortality rate (e.g., Newcastle disease) get higher market share because farmers can directly see the effect of the diseases on their flock.When it comes to determining the price, distributors add a 15% margin for transport from the manufacturer to Kampala and a 30% mark-up on drugs (for distributor profit). The distributor mentioned that most of the drug stockists they supply in different districts add a 30% mark-up. Example of costs at the distributor level include: for lumpy skin disease, UGX800 (US$0.22) without distributor profit and UGX1,500 (US$0.42) with distributor profit; and for foot and mouth disease, UGX5,500 (US$1.53) without profit and UGX6,200 (US$1.72) with profit. The distributors were then introduced to the TSOL18 -oxfendazole combination and informed the distributor about the country where the drugs were manufactured and the price per dose. From this the distributors simulated the following figures on the cost of the combination TSOL18-Oxfendazole in Uganda; UGX8,000 without profit (i.e., at the distributor's warehouse); UGX10,000 to 11,000 (US$2.70 toUS$3.00) with distributor's profit; and UGX15,000 to 20,000 (US$4.20 to US$5.50) with profit for the stockist in the district. If needed, veterinarian fees would cost about UGX5,000 (US$1.40), meaning the farmers would pay a total of about UGX25,000 (US$6.90) per pig. This imply that the product will not be competitive given that farmers may not be able to afford it considering the fact that their major expenditures which is in dewormers is around US$1 annually.The typical vaccine distribution process works as follows:• From the airport, the importer picks up vaccines packed in insulated containers with icepacks from the airport cold room and transports them on a non-refrigerated truck.• At the distributor's warehouse, vaccines are kept in a cold room until they are sold.• Vaccines are packaged depending on the quantity required by customers: Vaccines are transported in insulated material with ice packs for those purchasing in bulk quantities, and temperature monitors are included in the packaging so a cold chain is maintained, especially for government purchases to their cold room. Those purchasing individual doses or less stock are required to have a flask and ice packs before vaccines are sold. Challenges do occur for drug stockists selling to farmers, as there is poor packaging to maintain a cold chain, vaccine reconstitution, and ignorance of cold chain maintenance amongst the farmers.According to the distributors, vaccine uptake is generally low in livestock due to farmers' lack of knowledge on vaccine use and its direct benefits to the farmer. Its benefits are more public health-focused, making the product less attractive to farmers; Farmers would incur minimal loss if they do not use the proposed vaccine. In addition, cheaper options for eliminating tapeworms are available on the market. Given these challenges, the distributors would be willing to stock the vaccine if the government is involved by making it mandatory to vaccinate against porcine cysticercosis. This speaks to the need for integrated 'One Health' approach.On the use of the TSOL18 vaccine-oxfendazole combination, the distributors mentioned that it is better if both products are sold together (as recommended) by the same distributor. It would also be better if the manufacturer packaged the dewormer in tablet form and it were administered as single dose.The interviewees discussed three strategies for a distribution mechanism of the vaccine and evaluated their likelihood of success:• Strategy 1 (Low): The product is fully managed by distributors (the current mechanism). The distributor imports the vaccine, launches it, trains other distributors and their networks focusing on areas with high pig population, and uses equipment for the cold chain in place (electricity).• Strategy 2 (Medium): A consumer-driven/certification model, with proof of vaccination certification presented at slaughter. In this way, vaccine uptake can be promoted via self-regulation in the market.• Strategy 3 (High): Vaccine as a public good, convincing the government of the human/public health impact (e.g., epilepsy) and ensuring farmers understand their roles in the transmission of the disease and its impact on humans. A 'One Health' approach by the Ministry of Livestock and Health could be used and the vaccine subsidised by government. This strategy could involve a government initiative, as with mosquito nets; a government initiative to buy vaccines from importers in bulk would minimise costs to farmers. This strategy would involve pig value chain actors and focus on areas with high pig densities and commercial farms.Table 26 summarises distributors' recommendations for the TSOL18 vaccine-oxfendazole product.Product packaging• Option 1: Have the same distributor for the TSOL18 vaccine and oxfendazole.• Option 2: Package the TSOL18 vaccine and oxfendazole together.• Explore if the dewormer can be formulated into a tablet form instead of drenching.• Use collective vaccination to reduce the transaction cost of the veterinarian.• Consider training vaccinators.• Consider that vaccine quality indicators are useful (feedback through mobile phone is used in Uganda) but expensive.• Organise training on how to maintain the cold chain.• Raise awareness and educate consumers.• Consider that a monopoly is the best way to distribute a product to control its quality.According to one of the distributors, the East Coast fever vaccine is unattractive from a business perspective because there are two distributors in Uganda and the profit is minimal. • Streamline the competition and deploy ethical standards across all distributors.Companies do not have same standard operating procedures for marketing, which affects product quality because distributors all manage the product their own way. Authorities must deploy standards and streamline competition.• Use a combination of personal contact and broadcasting to raise awareness. Personal contact (e.g., group meetings with farmers) is more effective but expensive and limited in terms of the number of farmers reached. Broadcasting (e.g., radio) can reach more farmers but is less effective because some farmers do not have radios.Results from the stakeholder meeting focused on describing current models for delivery and distribution of livestock vaccines and dewormers, as well as suggestions for improved distribution for the TSOL18-oxfendazole package.For the TSOL18 vaccine-oxfendazole combination to cover the entire country, the distributor would need to use the existing distribution method, including:• Route sales, in which the distributor would deliver oxfendazole directly to drug shops countrywide.• Real-time delivery for the vaccine to maintain the cold chain. However, in the beginning this would be a challenge, since TSOL18 would be a new vaccine and thus orders likely would not be as forthcoming as for well-established vaccines.To distribute a new product on the market, the distributor first identifies the drug stockists that have a high turnover in each district and targets them for early adoption of the product; the distributor would specifically target from this list the drug stockists that they have worked with for a long time and that have earned their trust. They explain the new product to the stockists and supply it on credit (excluding vaccines that are supplied by cash-on-delivery basis). The distributor then checks on the drug stockist to see product performance and gain feedback. The distributor gives only a small amount of stock to reduce the drug spending a lot of time on the shelves. From this, it can be deduced that very few samples would be imported in the first year of the TSOL18 vaccine while the product is being assessed.In Uganda, only the vaccine for East Coast fever is sold alongside another drug. It is distributed by two companies in Uganda, Scope Vet and Eram, and is administered with oxytetracycline. The distributors sell the vaccine and the drug as different products. The challenges faced in distributing the East Coast fever vaccine include:• To stock it, one needs liquid nitrogen -a scarce commodity.• Animals need to be monitored for seven days, a disincentive for adoption.• Training is needed on administering the drug; few veterinarians are currently trained, which leads to low use.• Since the East Coast fever vaccine is live, some animals might die; this scares off farmers from adopting its use and thus disincentivises it being stocked in drug shops.The East Coast fever vaccine's key similarity to the TSOL18 vaccine is that it is administered alongside another drug. The East Coast fever vaccine is promoted independently from the drug it is administered with, although they are used concurrently. Also, only vaccine distribution is limited to authorized distributors; oxytetracycline is distributed by many entities under different brand names. This same strategy could be adopted for oxfendazole and the TSOL18 vaccine, leaving vaccine distribution to a few distributors and letting all oxfendazole brands on the market be used.Additionally, the East Coast fever vaccine demonstrates how distribution can be hampered if the vaccine has characteristics that would affect farmers' adoption. In this case, all of the vaccine's distributors have welldeveloped distribution networks, but the vaccine has failed to penetrate the market even when there are no competing products and the distributors do not face any competition. From this case, the TSOL18 vaccine needs to look at factors that would keep farmers from vaccinating their pigs, especially in terms of the price of the vaccine.For large-scale distribution of the TSOL18 vaccine-oxfendazole package, the vaccine always has to be available in the country to limit any shortages. It would be easier to use the current system in place, real-time delivery and use of vaccine stockists. The challenge is that some areas have pigs but very few vaccine stockists. In such areas, the veterinary practitioners and extension staff are the best option to fill this role for farmers. In such areas, the closest vaccine stockist is treated as priority in distribution (i.e., scheduled first when they send in orders). Other avenues for distribution would need to be explored, such as sending the vaccine through the courier bus services (although the distributor would need to educate the courier service providers on how to handle the vaccines and invest in coolers to transport the vaccine). For oxfendazole, the normal distribution mechanisms used for other drugs can be adopted (route sales).One key challenge for TSOL18 vaccine distribution is that most of the distributors import drugs and vaccines only two to three times a year, so the distributor that has the contract must also have the capacity to stock enough vaccines. Additionally, the TSOL18 vaccine targets a disease of low economic importance to farmers, so sales would not be very high -meaning that the cost of distributing the drug would affect the final product price to the farmer. Another key challenge is that the vaccine industry is highly regulated, with more regulations set to take effect on the distribution of vaccines.The stakeholder meeting participants agreed that for successful distribution, there should be enough of a market for the product. In this case, the TSOL18 vaccine should be affordable enough to create farmer demand. This would make the distribution sustainable because there would be a market pull.Since the TSOL18 vaccine can only be administered by professional animal health service providers and not by farmers, the best promotional model would be through giving seminars. Additionally, promotion posters can be distributed to the drug stockists, although they first need to be approved by the National Drug Authority.Another model for product promotion is using the traditional extension system to promote the vaccine, through public extension staff in each sub-county conducting trainings and promoting awareness of porcine cysticercosis in their areas of jurisdiction. This would be costly but would lead to a lot of coverage in the country. Additionally, another suitable promotion model would be large-scale awareness-raising of porcine cysticercosis as zoonosis. This could be done over television and radio but would still need approval from the Ministry of Health. If this is done, then vaccine promotion would be relatively easy. The challenge is convincing ministry officials that this disease is worth the effort, which can only be done if ministry officials are convinced with numbers on taeniasis cases and epilepsy due to cysts.Methods to support adoption of the TSOL18 vaccine-oxfendazole combinationThe results from the market studies provide insight into the potential of marketing the porcine cysticercosis vaccine and dewormer as a private good. Pig farmers' choice behaviour indicates that if the vaccine is to be marketed as a private good, then the market would require a premium price to be paid for vaccinated pigs. However, the traders' choice behaviour for porcine cysticercosis-vaccinated pigs, shows substantial preference for pigs with high carcass weight. Furthermore, the premium-price attribute is not statistically significant. It is the dewormer component that may result in extra weight due to a reduction in worm burden. Although the participating traders are concerned about consumer health, most believed that control of porcine cysticercosis is the role of the government and should therefore subsidise the cost of the vaccine. The perceptions of large drug distributors and animal health service providers match those of traders. They believe that porcine cysticercosis control should be promoted through a public good channel because its negative impacts are much more visible in human health than in animal health. Hence, there is a need to engage the government to make this vaccination mandatory.This exercise demonstrated that farmers have a high propensity to hold onto money (high time preference and high discount rate) and would therefore not want to spend much money on the vaccine and costs associated with vaccination administration; this was demonstrated by the high willingness to pay for a vaccine with low administration costs and low frequency of administration. Quality assurance was an important attribute highlighted by farmers and consumers alike. Farmers preferred a vaccine with a viability indicator, showing the importance of quality assurance for the vaccine and veterinary products. Pig farmers in Uganda have reported poor performance for products such vaccines and dewormers, which is due to the use of adulterated products and poor handling and misuse. So incorporating a quality tracer in the vaccine would be of interest to farmers, would provide reassurance and could improve perception and uptake. The Pan African Veterinary Vaccine Centre (AU-PANVAC) of the African Union provides international independent quality control service for veterinary vaccines produced in and imported to Africa, so in addition to manufacturer's quality control testing, batches of the TSOL18 vaccine should be submitted to AU-PANVAC to provide additional reassurance.Participating consumers of food from animal sources raised concerns about lack of labelling, certification, and clear food safety information in retailers selling this type of food. This implies that in addition to consumer sensitisation, demand for the vaccine requires clear certification schemes for porcine cysticercosis-free pork from pigs that have been vaccinated.The TSOL18 vaccine-oxfendazole package has potential for market capture if the package's price range is similar to conventional pig deworming. Combining the vaccine with a dewormer such as oxfendazole would make it slightly less favourable for the veterinarians since they dislike administering oral dewormers; oxfendazole and even other derivatives of benzimidazoles are not dewormers that veterinarians use in Uganda. In that regard, it is important that the safety, efficacy and quality benefits of this brand are clearly presented to veterinarians and farmers to gain the acceptance of these important stakeholders. Mass awareness of porcine cysticercosis should be carried out, especially to the para-veterinarians and in areas where the disease is not reported, to enable veterinary professionals to effectively market the vaccine to farmers. Given the high trust that pig farmers have in veterinarians and para-veterinarians, these professionals can be effective in terms of information sharing.To avoid conflicts of interest amongst distributors, increase motivation to distribute, and make quality control easier, franchising for drug distribution should initially be given to just one distributor. The promotion costs should be borne by the manufacturer, as this would reduce the final price and thus potentially improve uptake. Training extension staff in pork inspection on porcine cysticercosis would also promote adoption because it would increase the number of reported cases and also make traders aware of the condition.Given farmers are considered the most important customers for the vaccine-dewormer combination, alternative delivery mechanisms may need to be explored (e.g., via community animal health workers). Vaccines are popular where disease has a high economic impact; currently, the economic impact of cysticercosis is limited, and more incentives need to be created to encourage uptake. Animal health service providers could potentially play a role in growing the market.Reports indicate that a retail price of around US$1 per dose is an acceptable limit for smallholder farmers to be able to purchase the vaccine (Bardosh et al., 2014). In this study, a maximum retail price of US$0.90 per treatment is what farmers said they could afford; this matches what they regularly spend to deworm their pigs (Bardosh et al., 2014).Ideally, one vaccine dose should provide lifetime protection for pigs; in many traditional pig-breeding areas where pigs are free-roaming, the life of a slaughter pig is about 12 months. According to Pedersen et al. (2000), this might be possible by using delayed-or pulse-release vaccine formulations or by using live recombinant vaccine vectors such as salmonella. Another option could be combining the porcine cysticercosis vaccine with African swine fever vaccine (if available) since African swine fever is generally farmers' most-feared disease causes them more direct losses; or a respiratory disease vaccine such as Porcine Reproductive Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS).An important question concerning the sustainability of a vaccination programme is: who will pay for the vaccine -the pig farmer or the government? The answer to this question depends on whether the vaccine is considered a public good from which the community benefits or a private good from which the farmer benefits. However, the farmers benefit only if they get premium prices, and It is important to note that pig farmers are not willing to spend more than what they do for regular deworming; based on this study, the product would cost at least 10 times regular deworming, making it unaffordable for farmers. Benefits to the community are the decline and eventual disappearance of T. solium tapeworm carriers and, in the long term, neurocysticercosis. It may be is a sufficient justification for a government to fund a vaccination campaign against T. solium cysticercosis. In this study, all the interviewed value chain actors and stakeholders suggested that considering the high cost of the vaccine, it should be considered a public good if eradication must be achieved.A study in Tanzania found that health education intervention significantly improved knowledge of and attitudes towards T. solium cysticercosis control and thus would reduce the consumption of infected pork (Ngowi et al., 2008). It recommends that health education, particularly targeting women, be integrated as an essential component of prevention and control programmes for T. solium infections. Sensitisation would go a long way in increasing vaccine uptake, especially in areas where disease prevalence is low. All value chain actors should be targeted, including farmers, traders, drug stockists, animal health service providers, and public health practitioners.The models that could be used in sensitisation would differ depending on the value chain actor:• Farmers should be aware of porcine cysticercosis, its impact on pigs and public health, and how to control it. The benefits of vaccination should be demonstrated to them, and they should be trained on basic best practices in pig husbandry and management (including pig housing using affordable materials and feeding). Farmers should also know how and when to report a disease and have access to deworming regimens for their pigs.• Traders should be aware of the disease and its impacts on human health. The role and importance of live pig inspection should emphasise, and they should be trained on basic tongue palpation techniques in the absence of a qualified veterinarian.• Veterinarians should be aware of the disease and control options, including vaccination. Their diagnostic capacities should be enhanced, especially tongue palpation, to reduce the number of infected pigs reaching the market. Veterinarians should be used to reach farmers given their close working proximity.• Veterinary drug distributors have long been the primary drug distribution model used in Uganda, according to key informant interviewed during the stakeholder meetings. Because the vaccine is a biological and policy issue, radio and television advertisements cannot be used because they are banned by law. If this model is used, then the vaccine manufacturer contracts with the distributor to promote the vaccine. Since the TSOL18 vaccine-oxfendazole combination would be new and have no competing products, the distributor would be hesitant to pick up the cost. Because oxfendazole has some competitive advantage over other dewormers and is a single dose, the distributor could take on the drug's promotion cost.• Public health practitioners' training should focus on disease diagnosis since this would lead to improved meat inspection; any carcass rejected due to the disease would lead to more awareness amongst traders.• Government/policymakers, specifically health officials, should be convinced of porcine cysticercosis' importance, especially economically. This could happen through detailed studies to estimate the disease's monetary impact, which could prompt funding to raise awareness of the disease and methods of elimination (including vaccinating pigs). This would help increase vaccine uptake and would reduce distributors' costs related to sensitisation.The bundling of the two products together presents some marketing challenges. Due to government regulations around vaccine advertising, TSOL18 can only be advertised using seminars and targeting technical personnel. Oxfendazole can be advertised through radio, television, and other methods; however, if only oxfendazole is advertised this way, it would have higher coverage of oxfendazole and would affect vaccine adoption (with people opting to deworm rather than vaccinate). Given this predicament, the awareness-raising phase would need to be the first step undertaken prior to advertisement. Then seminars could be arranged countrywide for vaccine promotion.The major actors in the drug and vaccine value chain are the manufacturer, the distributor, drug stockists, animal health service providers, pig farmers, and traders. The National Drug Authority, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries, and Fisheries, the District Veterinary Department, and extension service providers in the sub-counties also help create an enabling environment in terms of the value chain. For the TSOL18 vaccine-oxfendazole combination, these actors would all need to play a role to create a cost-effective, sustainable process:• The drug distributor would organise seminars at the district level for the drug stockists, district officials, and animal health service providers. In these seminars, the distributors would explain porcine cysticercosis epidemiology and prevalence rates, as well as how the vaccine would reduce and consequently eradicate T. solium cysticercosis. The distributor would also talk about the pricing and the locations where the vaccine could be found, as well as the means of delivery.• The district veterinary department could conduct district awareness campaigns for the disease using their extension staff. This could include staff calling for village meetings for smallholder farmers, educating them about the disease and making them aware that T. solium cysticercosis can be vaccinated against (without mentioning the TSOL18 vaccine specifically). The campaign's cost should be borne by either the manufacturer or the local government if it is convinced that the disease is worth eliminating.• Drug stockists would make smallholder pig farmers aware of the vaccine and T. solium cysticercosis through posters and educating customers that come to buy another pig-related drug. They could also offer to vaccinate pigs for their customers as a service. The drug distributor must supply stockists on time.• Animal health service providers are the most significant category of actors in terms of dealing directly with farmers on drug administration. They should be used to reach many farmers during awareness campaigns though a training-of-trainers approach.• Pig traders should be used as the change agent since they are more likely to find T. solium cysticercosis in the pig when slaughtered and the economic impact affects them most given that they cannot easily identify the disease at the point of purchase.The potential for marketing the TSOL18 vaccine-oxfendazole combination as a private good is low given the status quo; the market doesn't reward food safety. Farmers are willing to pay for the vaccine only if premium prices are guaranteed, while traders' willingness to pay premium prices is based on higher pig weight, consumers' willingness to pay for safe food, and services providers' willingness to market the product. There are several barriers to market entry that need to be addressed to improve the market environment:• The cost of the product is high and must be significantly reduced if it is to be promoted as a private good, possibly through subsidising.• The intervention's benefits need to be made visible to farmers and traders.• Some of the product's characteristics need to be revised to meet the reality in the field.• The capacities of animal health service providers need to be enhanced in diagnosis and treatment of the disease.• The enabling policy environment for distributors needs to be improved.• The impacts of porcine cysticercosis should be acknowledged and its control given momentum by the government.The rising pig population and pork consumption in Uganda presents an opportunity for marketing the product, although porcine cysticercosis is not a priority disease to farmers like African swine fever (probably because economic losses from African swine fever are evident versus from porcine cysticercosis). Therefore, significant awareness and sensitisation is needed to achieve impact at scale for the control of porcine cysticercosis. This cannot be done by farmers alone; all value chain actors and stakeholders should be involved, with a clear push by the government.About 1.1 million households rear pigs in Uganda (UBOS, 2009). The survey also indicated that 68% of pig farmers deworm at least twice per year. The farmers that deworm are more likely to take up the vaccine since they can afford deworming, which would mean that 748,000 households could potentially vaccinate their pigs; districts with high porcine cysticercosis prevalence would have higher penetration rates than those with low prevalence rates. Assuming a penetration rate of 1%, this would mean that 74,800 households would vaccinate their pigs. The highest market potential would be in Eastern Uganda; though the pig populations are low there compared to the other regions, the prevalence rate is high -making vaccine adoption quite easy and fast.The market distribution structure would be based on one or two local large distributors selling to the many local retailers serving as drug stockists; these stockists would in turn sell the vaccine to the trained technical personnel (veterinarians and para-veterinarians) and sell oxfendazole to the farmers since these are packaged as different products. The vaccine has no competing products since the disease is not vaccinated against in Uganda, but the dewormer oxfendazole has competing products -Wormcid, a levamisole, has the largest market share in deworming pigs, followed by the ivermectins used by the technical personnel for deworming; there is also a fenbendazole (Erafen 5) on the market that competes directly with oxfendazole since it targets tapeworm and can be used in deworming pigs. Even though fenbendazole is on the market, it is still a new product and can be outcompeted by oxfendazole since the former requires several doses.The major market segment for the porcine cysticercosis vaccine would be veterinarians and para-veterinarians. Ifthey are convinced by the results of the vaccine, then the farmers would adopt it since most farmers rely heavily on these professionals for any uptake of new products. To a lesser extent, if the government is convinced that the disease is critical, then they could also be potential customers; for example, for diseases like foot and mouth disease, the major customer is the government.The value proposition of the porcine cysticercosis vaccine is more tailored to public health benefits rather than economic benefits, with the deworming component giving it economic benefits. Thus, the vaccine needs to be sold as a product solving a public health need. This would mean that there is a need to demonstrate porcine cysticercosis' correlation with cases of epilepsy in humans in Uganda to attract policymakers. In the meantime, since deworming is an acceptable and routine animal husbandry practice, the value proposition could focus on reducing deworming times (though the vaccine only fights one type of worm). Another (improbable) idea is to encourage manufacturers to develop multi vaccines as they do for shoats/ cattle and poultry so there is added value in vaccinating against more than one disease; for this, it would be imperative to rely on the private sector since the bulk of veterinary vaccination is through this sector, which has an established distribution mechanism.Some distributors in Uganda have exclusive agreements to distribute specific products from manufacturers. This type of agreement would be difficult to use in terms of the TSOL vaccine-oxfendazole combination, and some of these distributors have well-established sales routes and market share. The National Drug Authority has strict guidelines for registering vaccines that can sometimes be cumbersome. Additionally, farmers' poor attitude towards vaccination is one of the biggest barriers to entry. This can be easily demonstrated with the free rabies vaccines that are also not easily taken up by farmers. Farmers are more used to deworming their pigs, and it is a cheaper option compared to the TSOL18 vaccine, meaning farmers might not use the vaccine since its price is far too high compared to conventional dewormers.Sensitisation would target several audiences, and for each, sensitisation would be about the disease or the vaccine. Due to policy restrictions, sensitisation via radio and television should focus on disease awareness without promoting the vaccine. Meetings with the technical professionals should provide concrete evidence that due diligence was done in the trials and also present a safety surveillance system that is going to be used. The promotion of the TSOL18 vaccine and oxfendazole would be at the district level with technical personnel from the drug stockists and public and private veterinarians operating within the district. Additionally, pig traders are important change agents since they buy the vaccinated pigs. Proper training on the effects of the disease and its impact on their sales will increase vaccine uptake amongst farmers (Table 27).This means that farmers cannot be aware of the condition in their herds. Thus, pen-side diagnostic tests should be made available.• Poor meat inspection leads to fewer carcasses being condemned, which in turn leads to underestimation of the disease burden and to traders not regarding the disease as significant.• The policy that vaccination can only be carried out by veterinarians is challenging in terms of increased transaction costs and limited coverage of veterinarians.• The cost of the vaccine is high, which makes it challenging for farmers. A new affordable vaccine formulation should be researched.The key related intervention that can improve resource-limited stakeholders' livelihoods is organised group vaccination campaigns. The veterinary practitioner could organise to vaccination for 20 households with one pig providing schedules and notifications that there will be vaccination. This would reduce transport costs that would have been incurred by a single household. Also, involvement of communities in the control of porcine cysticercosis is key. This could be done through the creation of community trainers using a human health platform (such as with community control of malaria).Existing policy issues do not just affect the TSOL18 vaccine, but all veterinary vaccines. The new proposed requirements for prequalifying drug shops that stock vaccines will reduce the number of available drug stockists to distribute the vaccines and thus reduce coverage. There is also a new policy that veterinary drugs have to be tested and assign a new expiry date every three years; this would lead to increased costs to the distributor. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f9383c27ea0128cd18a54ee461b17bbf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a3775137-7f5f-4232-9a60-5a28936e6866/retrieve","id":"-2033592907"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"24e1439d-bec9-4e1d-b3fc-6281a778e4bd","content":"Este cultivo andino de rafces pertenece a la familia del girasol. Sus tuberculos comestibles, que son similares en apari encia a las rafces de batata, se desarrollan hasta las 3,300 m de altitud , desde Venezu ela hasta el noroeste de Argentina.En 1994 el CIP logr6 una mayor estabilidad financiera y marc6 un numero importante de hitos en la investigaci6n. Despues de cuatro afios diffciles, ahora el Centro puede planifi ca r aumentos modestos en las actividades cientfficas.Como saben los lect6res de los informes anuales anteriores, los recortes del presupuesto que afectan a la comunidad de los investigadores del desarrollo han redu ci do la habilidad de los centros internacionales de investigaci6n de cumplir a cabalidad con los retos de la seguridad alimentaria y la protecci6n ambiental.El afio 1994 nos mostr6 un progreso significativo en nuestro programa de investigaci6n y un ligero incremento en nuestras invers ion es en capacitaci6n. El trabajo basico del Centro en papa y batata (camote) estuvo marcado por los avances en el mejoramiento para resistencia horizontal al tiz6n tardfo y en el desarrollo de hfbridos de semi Ila sexual. El nuevo laboratori o de biotecnologfa del Centro para la investigaci6n avanzada sobre tiz6n tardfo y tricomas glandulares comenz6 sus operaciones a mediados de marzo. Estas actividades de investigaci6n seran tratadas mas ampliamente en el informe tecn ico del Centro que se publicara en octubre.Ademas, 1994 marc6 el primer afio completo de operacionespara el consorcio de investigaci6n CO N DESAN. Todavfa en sus primeras etapas de desarrollo, CONDESAN esta ayudando a promover la cooperaci 6n entre numerosos co laboradores de la investigaci6n en un esfuerzo para detener la degradaci6n de los recursos natural es y para crear una base mas s6 1ida para incrementar la productividad agrfcola en el futuro. CON DESAN fue considerado recientemente como una actividad basica por el Comite Asesor Tecn ico (TAC, en ingles) del GCIAI.El consorcio tambien desempeiiara un papel importante en la nueva iniciativa del GC para la agricultura sostenible de las montaiias, que sera convocada por el CIP. Esta iniciativa, aprobada al termino de la reciente revision de programas y administraci6n del Centro que hizo el TAC, sera presentada ante los donantes del GCIAI en mayo de 1995.En este informe anual presentamos el estado actual de un grupo de las actividades de investigaci6n del CIP.Trabajando a 3,800 metros, los limites mas altos para la agricultura, los agricultores de esta comunidad carnpesina han aumentado sus ingresos en 30% con e! uso de practicas de manejo integrado de plagas.La identificaci6n de enfermedades virales por medio del microscopio electr6nico es un paso importante hacia el desarrollo de practicas de detecci6n de virus.-•6Empezamos con una actualizaci6n sabre nuestro trabajo para conservar los recursos geneticos dentro del contexto del debate internacional sabre la biodiversidad. El informe cubre tanto el trabajo tradicional con los recursos ge neticos como un numero de programas novedosos que involucran la conservaci6n y el mejoramiento del germoplasma a nivel de las comunidades.Tambien hacemos refere ncia al impacto de los proyectos del CIP en se milla sexual de papa, manejo integrado de plagas y desarrollo de va riedades . Los tres estudios de casos son pa rte de un esfuerzo mayor para documentar el impacto de la investigaci6n y la colaboraci6n del CIP con diversas agencias colaborativas en todo el mundo.De un proyecto del CIP en Ecuador nos llega un artfculo tecni co que proporciona resultados sorprendentes sobre la contaminaci6n con pesticidas y su impacto sob re el ambiente y la salud. El proyecto ilustra la diffcil elecci6n que debe hacerse para balancear las necesidades futuras de una mayor productividad, los problemas del medio ambiente y la equidad social. El artfculo tambien sefiala la urgente necesidad de una informaci6n mas precisa sobre los efectos de los cambios tecnol6gicos y las dificultades que encontraran quienes deciden las polfticas cuando to men decisiones que tengan co nsecuencias para el futuro.El informe termina con las secciones de finanzas, personal , go bernabilidad y otros temas del diario quehacer. Estas se cciones proporcionan una indicaci6n del nivel de la inversion hec ha en el CIP por nuestros numerosos componentes. Estos incluyen nuestros 35 donantes, quienes continuan invirtiendo generosamente en el CIP, nuestro personal que proporciona las innovacion es necesarias para impulsar una variedad de frentes de investigaci6n y nu estros co laboradore s en los sistemas nacionales y en l as ONG, es peci almente en nuestro pafs sede, Peru, quienes nos ayudan a trasladar la investigaci6n del CIP a los campos de los agricultores.Hubert ZandstraAbril de 1995--1 0Hace miles de aFios, los primeros ag ricu Ito res como los quechuas en las tierras altas de los A ndes y los mayas en Mexico seleccionaron las plantas que se adaptaban mejor a sus variadas necesidades. Este proceso condujo a una gran diversidad genetica entre las poblaciones tradicionales de papa y batata (camote). Pero las practicas de la agricu ltu ra modern a a menu do se apoyan en un numero limitado de variedades de alto rendimiento, geneticamente uniformes.Actualmente, la diversidad genetica esta ame nazada. Areas ricas en especies vegeta les son destru id as por la desertificacion, la deforestacion, la erosion del sue lo y la agr icu ltura m isma. No sabemos si sera posible aumenta r la produccion de alimentos en e l mundo en la proporcion necesaria para e l proximo sig lo sin esta diversidad.Durante los u ltimos 25 aFios, los centros del Grupo Consultivo para la lnvestigacion Agricola Internacio nal (GCIAI) han acumu lado la coleccion de ge rm oplasma mas grande reunida fuera de la natura leza. Los bancos de genes de los centros contie nen alrededor de 80% de los recursos genet icos de los principales cu ltivos alimentic ios en los paises en desarrol lo.Hasta 1994 los centros manejaban sus recursos geneticos en forma independiente, si n una estrategia o programa uni ficad 1 o. Hoy, los centros estan definiendo una nu eva agenda para proteger la biodiversidad, v ital para el mundo.En octubre de 1994 e l Presiden 1 e del GCIAI, Ism ail Serageldin, firmo un acuerd larga mente esperado con la Organizacion park la Alimentacion y la Ag ri cu ltura de 1Js Naciones Unidas (FAQ) que co loca estas valiosas co lecc io nes de germoplasma bajo los auspic ios de la FAO. El GCIA I fue e l pr imerq de los gra ndes grupos que mantienen el germop lasma de los cu ltivos al im en tici os que firmo el 1cuerdo.El pacto, el cua l establece un a ~ersoneria juridica e identid ad politica interg~bernamental para los ban cos de ge nes manten ildos en los centros, fue firmado por los direct! res gene rales de 12 centros afi li ados al GCIAI. ~ubert Zandstra firmo por el CIP. El acuerdo anun €io una nueva era en la cooperacio n in ternacion~I para la co nse rvacion y el uso de los recu sos ge neticos vegeta les y establecio e l primer si tema global para el manejo de los recu rsos d germop lasma del GCIAI, los cuales estan bajo t te l a pa ra el beneficio de la hu manidad .El acuerd o GCIAl-FAO no estu o libre de controvers ia s. Algunos gobiernos y orga n izaciones no gubernamenta es, co n intereses en el medio ambiente y el desarrollo, objetaron lo que el los co nsiderarb n como una demora excesiva de parte del Ba lco Mundial para colocar las co lecciones de los ce tros bajo la tutela de la FAO. El GCIAI in sist i ' en que solo seguia las re comendacio nes de u estudio especia l que aconsejo a los centros estab lecer una red colaborativa para manejar lo • recursos de germoplasma antes de entrar en urn acue rd o con la FAO. Esto ya se ha hecho. La r d opera como el Programa Global de Recursos Ge eticos del GCIAI, bajo la direccion del lnstituto Inte rn acio nal de Recursos Fitogeneticos Vegeta es (IPGRI).El programa del GCIAI tiene amora un com ite asesor que dirige las politicas ye manejo de lo s recursos ge neticos. Los centros r cibiran fondos separados para el trabajo con loJ recursos geneticos y se desarrollaran una ase de datos y un siste ma de in formacio n estan<llarizado.Aun antes del pacto GCIAl-FAO, aparecieron problemas g loba les acerca de la erosion continua de la diversidad biol6gica. La importancia de revertir esta tendencia alarmante, la cu al esta debilitando el capital biol6gico del mundo, dio como resultado la Convenci6n de las Naciones Unidas sobre la Diversidad Biol6gica, aprobada hace dos aiios en la Cumbre Mundial en Rio de Janeiro. Mas de 100 paises han ratificado la Convenci6ri: han apoyado su objetivo principal de conservar la biodiversidad y repartir equ itativamente los beneficios que se derivan del uso de los recursos geneticos.El GCIAI ha ofrecido a la Convenci6n su experiencia tecnica y cientifica y sus bases de datos sobre biodiversidad. Las disputas prolongadas por decenios entre las naciones en desarrollo, ricas en genes, y las naciones desarrolladas, pobres en genes, sobre la soberania, el acceso, la propiedad de los recursos geneticos y los derechos de propiedad intelectual seran seguramente temas futuros en la• agenda de la Convenci6n.Mientras tanto, los cientificos del CIP continuan sus esfuerzos para proteger las raices y los tuberculos andinos; saben que estos preciosos grupos de biodiversidad estan desapareciendo rapidamente. Para acelerar el trabajo, el Centro esta fortaleciendo el uso de la informaci6n y la capacitaci6n para elevar las capacidades de los programas nacionales. La meta es crear una red en la cual se compartan en forma amplia las responsabi I id a des en la preservaci6n, documentaci6n y distribuci6n de los materiales geneticos.En este informe el CIP presenta el estado actual de tres de sus proyectos sobre biodiversidad, dos en los Andes -el centro de origen de la papa y de los cu ltivos de raices y tubercu los me nos conocidos-y otro en la isla de Nueva Guinea, una fuent€ secundaria de diversidad para la batata.La Comunidad Indonesia de Waga-Waga Cosecha las Primeras Batatas de su Banco de GenesEn novi embre de 1994 la comunidad etnica Dani de Waga-Waga, Ind onesia, ce leb r6 la primera cosecha del banco de genes de su comunidad. Todos los agricultores que participaron en I impiar y labrar la tier ra compartieron un a fiesta y recibieron un a porcion de la cosec ha de las variedades seleccionadas por la comunidad .Para los c ientfficos del CIP y de Indon esia, la cosec ha de Waga-Waga fue doblemente significativa porque proporc iono nueva informacion sobre la biodi ve rsidad y los conoc imientos indfgenas sobre las variedades de batata (camote) de las tierras altas centra les de la provincia indonesia de lri an Occid ental.Los investigadores dicen que la isla de Nueva Guinea (lri an Occidental oc upa la mitad occidental) es un ce ntro sec undario de diversidad para la batata. \" Nu eva Guinea ti ene una enorme diversidad de batata concent rada en un area pequefia y contien e materiales geneticos que debi eran ser usados par las mejorado res de batata en todo el mundo\", dice Peter Schmiedich e, representante regiona l del CIP para el Estey Sudeste de Asia y el Pacifico.Los cientificos creen que el culti vo fu e introdu cido desde America de l Sur hace 400 afios y se desarrollo en ni chos eco logi cos aislados. Durante ese tiempo, las practicas agrfcolas lo ca les y la evo lu c ion ampliaron su frontera conocida. En alg u nos ca sos la batata cu ltivada en lri an Occidental puede enco ntrarse en altitudes hasta los 2,800 metros, mu c ho mas alto qu e las variedades halladas en America del Sur.\" lri an Occidental y Papua Nueva Guin ea son las unicos lu gares en el mundo donde la batata se cultiva en cond iciones subalp ina s\", dice Schmiediche. \"Su adaptacion a cond ici ones mas frfas serf a extrem adame nte val iosa para las principales pafses productores de batata ta les coma China, V ietn am y Tail andia\". Los productores y los consumidores en Nueva Gu in ea han desarrollado vastas fu entes de informaci6n al re specto. Este conoc imien to indfgena tambien serfa val ioso en areas donde la batata es un componente principal en los siste as agrfcolas locales, como en el norte de Lu zon yen la s montafias de Africa Central.\" El potenc ial del material geneti f o de la region y el conocimiento asociado con e l perm anecio ignorado por largo tiempo en lri an ()ccide ntal \" , dice Jurg Schneider, un antro polog coordinador del proyecto hasta hace poco.\"E ncontramos que un hu erto de a comunidad podfa contener 40 cultivares, por lo cu al nos parecio que los agr icu ltores sabfan como manejar lrian Occidental y PapUa Nueva Guinea son las unicos lugares en el mundo donde la batata se cultiva bajo condiciones subalpinas. la diversidad genetica \", dice el. \" Todos es to s cultivares tenfan una base genet ica comun, pero mas estrecha qu e la que se encuentra en America del Sur. El merito de lri an Occidental es qu e la selecci6n loca l de pl antas esta determin ada por las neces id ades de subsistencia, no por las fuerzas de l merca do o por criterios de mejorami ento\" .Uno de los hall azgos inicial es del proyecto fue que la eros ion ge netica esta avan za ndo en lri an Occidental porqu e los agri c ultores e li ge n lo s cu ltiva res de madurac i6n mas rapida. Ademas, la economfa de mercado se ha expand id o hac ia las Festejos con las variedades tradicionales cosechadas del banco de genes de la comunidad de Waga-Waga.lrian Occidental: un centro secundario de diversidad para la batata.areas montafiosas, trayendo co nsi go otros cultivos, como el arroz. Schneider dice qu e el proyecto esta actuando rap ida mente para ayudar a prevenir un a mayor erosion tanto de la diversidad ge netica del area como del conocimiento indigena.Peter Grego ry, Director Ge neral Adjunto para la lnvestigaci6n del CIP, afiade, \"N uestro objetivo como centro intern ac ional es determinar por qu e esta co munidad en particular tien e instinto s tan pod erosos para la conservaci6n de sus re cursos geneticos. La idea es aprender cual es la dinamica que permite que las tradi cio nes sobrevivan y determinar si nosotros podemos ayudar a transferir algunos de estos e lementos a otras localid ades . Las tradiciones co mun ales sobreviviran so lo si podemos encontrar un a fo rm a para que la poblaci6n local participe en los esfuerzos globales para protege r e l germopl as m a. En esta forma tambien ayudamos a asegurar que la evoluci6n continue bajo las condiciones reales del mundo\".El trabajo se puso en marcha oficialmente a fines de 1993 tras va rios afios de con ta ctos i nformal es con los c ientifi cos indonesios. Lu ego, un eq uipo conj unto CIP-indonesio se leccion 6 450 cultivares como un a indicaci6n de la diversidad genetica enco ntrada en el area y desarroll6 una propuesta multidisc iplinaria para las oportunidades de in vestigaci 6 n loca l.Durante los viajes por e l ca mpo en lrian Una vez establecido e l proyecto, dice Schn ei der, la comunidad selecc io n6 un hu erto de siete hectareas para su banco de ge es. El area fue limpiada, cercada y preparada ~ara la siembra. Tambi en se tu vo c uidado de asegurar que hubi era espac io disponible para los ri tos espirituales. Un anciano a cargo de las practicas habituales para la fertilidad de la tierra fue design ado para bendecir e l ca mpo.La primera siembra tu vo lugar en febrero de 1994. Para la cosecha en noviembr ., Surabut in v it6 a los ancianos de las comunidades vec inas, quienes ahora desea n involucrarse 1n la prese rvaci6n de la diversidad varietkl. \"Aunque nuestra percepci6n de lo qu e sucede sea a Igo diferente a la de ellos\", dice :chneider, \"yo estoy convencido de que la co ntihuaci6 n de esta actividad de co nservac i6n en la • omunidad es inestimab le\". Que la comunidad este invo lucrada I . , d I , . b en a conservac1on e sus recursos genet1 cos a re la pue rta a su parti c ipaci 6n en futuraJ investigaciones.I \"C reemos que e l conocimiento imdfgena asociado co n las variedades pu ede yudar a d eterminar con mayo r eficiencia lo atributos deseab les\", continua Sc hne ider. \"E el caso de lri an Occidental, el conocimiento db l agricultor nos ayudarfa a identificar variedad Js adaptadas al frio o aquellas apropiadas a difere n CIP-24: Una Papa Viajera CIP-24, un cla n de papa co n resistenc ia moderad a a las enfermedades y uno de las cu lti va re s mas amp liam ente usados en China, estuvo mas de 40 afios en preparaci6n par las mejoradores de papa de cuatro co ntin entes.\"Este ej emp lo\", dice Hubert Za ndstra, Director General del CIP, \" muestra c6mo el intercambio libre de material genetico e informac i6n puede traducirse en impacto para las campos de las agricultores\".Segun Peter Schmiediche, c ientifico del CIP, las primeros cru zam ientos para obtener CIP-24 se hicieron en A lemania en las afios 50, con material silvestre de papa de origen desco nocido. Este material era parte de una co lecc i6 n reunida en las afios 30. Un primer juego de semillas obtenido de cruz amientos entre espec ies si lvestres y cu ltivares europeos fue enviado en algu n momenta desde Alema ni a a Argentina para posteri o res cruza mientos.Este material aleman fu e cruzado con var iedades bien adaptadas a las prin c ip ales region es productoras en Arge ntina. Un cruza mi ento hec ho en 197 1, usa ndo como pare nta les la primera var iedad nac io nal mejorad a de papa l iberada por Argentina en 1946 y dos vari edades liberadas por e l Departamento de Agricu ltu ra de los Estados Unidos en los afios 30 y 40, o ri g in6 CIP-24 . La eva lu ac i6n de la va riedad se co mplet6 en 1979 y fue liberada en Argentina como Achirana-INTA (en honor a un fa moso canal de irrigaci6n in ca, Achirana, en Peru). Esta var iedad no fu e popular para los arge nt inos y su area de siembra no sobre pas6 nun ca unas pocas hecta reas anu ales.En 19 76 el espec ialista e n sem ill as del CIP, Jim Bryan, re co noci6 a Achirana co mo un cl on co n potencial para los paises en desa rrollo. Lo ll ev6 a la sede del CIP en Peru para so meter lo a pru ebas adicionales para detectar enfermeda des, y para su eva lua c i6 n y distribuci6n. Lu ego de resultados prometedores en A merica Lat in a, e l clon fue envi ado a Australia para la el imin ac i6n de enfermedades y su posterior d istribuci 6n en Asia.La variedad CIP-24 fue introduc ida desde el CIP en China en 1978 po r la Academ ia Chi na de C iencias Agricolas (CAAS) e n fo rma de plantula in v itro. El lnstituto de lnvesti gac i6 n Agricola Wumeng de Mongo li a Interior la propag6 e hi zo los prim eros exper imen tos de campo . Despues, las pl antul as de prueba y las semi I las o rigin ales fueron distribui das en el norte de Chi na.H ac ia 1993 la var iedad habia sido I iberada en 12 pafses productores de papa, tropicales y subtropica les, desde Madagascar hasta Butan. En China se siembran mas de 150,000 ha.CIP-24 tambien esta ayuda ndo a los agricul tores ch inos a soporta r la sequia. La va riedad tiene mayor rendimiento que los cultiva res loca les en afios de sequia. En Mon go lia Inter ior, donde la prec ipi tac i6n anu al va ria en tre 400 y 600 mm, CIP-24 produce rend imi entos uni formes de 10 tone ladas por hecta rea en afio s pobres y hasta 20 to neladas por hec tarea en buenos afios. Por sus buenos prec ios se le encuentra en mercados distantes como los de Guandong, provincia cercana a Hon g Kon g.El cultivar CIP-24 -40 anos en preparaci6nahora cubre mas de 150;000 hectareas en China.l nvestigado res de Ecuado r, Bo l ivia, Peru y Bras il co m p leta ron en 1994 e l pr i mer afi o de un proyecto de c i nco afios pa ra reco lect ar, prese rva r y usar nueve de las especies menos co nocidas de los cul t ivos de rafces y tu be rc ul os andin os (ve r rec uadro) .\"Hasta aho ra, ha habido poco inte res internac iona l en estos c ul t ivos\", dice M iguel Ho ll e, coo rdinador de l proyecto. \"Se ha investiga do m uc ho, pero ha n sido algun os cas os aislados y los fo ndos han sido cas i inexiste ntes\".Ho ll e anota qu e e l proyecto co m bi na los es fu erzos de co nservaci6n con la in vesti gaci6 n sob re pro du cc i6n y uso. A l rededor de 160 c ientificos de 22 i nstituc io nes aho ra recibe n d inero de l proyecto pa ra becas. Para mu c hos d e los pa rti ci pantes, ,esto represe nta su primera o po rtu ni dad de trabajar como p arte de un equ ipo i ntern aciona l y p ara intercamb iar i nfo rmac i6 n y datos.Los cie ntificos en Bo l iv ia han desc ub ierto in fo rmac i6n q ue ind ica qu e la erosio n ge net ica de los c ul t ivos de rafces y tu be rc u los an di nos podrfa no estar t an d ise m i nada co mo antes se c rei a. Los i nvesti gadores d el proyecto enco ntra ron que algun as var iedades de oca, ullu co y ar racac ha se t ras lad an a gran des d istancias a tral-es de rutas come rcia les que data n de la epoca Jpreco lon ial. Antes se pe nsaba q ue estas v ari ed 31des de rakes y tuberc u los eran d istribu idas pri ncip blmente po r med io de l tru eque en los mercadosj loca les y raras veces se d isemi naba n a mas de 25 k il 6 metros de su pu nto de o ri ge n. N uevas ev idenL as sefia lan qu e algun as va riedades se pu ede n bnco ntrar hasta a 500 km de d istancia. En e l ado o ri enta l de los A ndes bo li via nos, va r iedades qUJe se cons ide raba n perd idas fueron enc9 ntradas en pueb los alej ados poco conect ados o r medio de l co merc io in form al.La ah i pa, un pa ri ente ce rca no de la popu lar jica m a, cas i no ha recib id o ate nc i6 n agro n6 m ica hasta hoy. Us u almente se co nsu me c ru da y en ensa ladas; sus hojas y ta ll os so n t6x icos . Se p iensa q ue sus raice s t ienen prop ied ades in sec ti c idas.Bras il , un producto r princ ipal de rafces de arr acac ha qu e se usa n en com id as para bebes, .esta pro po rc io nando a los c ientfficos de Ecuador v ari edades te mpranas mej orad as de arracacha. El ge rmop las m a nat ivo pu ede demo rar m as de 10 meses en pro du c ir; las v ari edades bras i lefi as• pueden cosec harse en so lo 7 meses . Ec uado r esta pro po rc io nando materi ales nat ivo s para el prog rama bras i lefi o de mej o ram iento de la arracac ha y es e l cond ucto po r el cual se rea liza e l interca mbi o de germo p lasm a nat ivo y mej o rado con los pa fses m as all a de los Andes.El u l lu co es uno de los tubercu los m as cu lt iva dos y de mayor impo rt anc ia eco n6 m ica en los And es. Co nti ene ni ve les sustanc iales de protein_ a, ca lc io y c aroteno. Las mu jeres de la zo na c ree n que el ull uco fac i li ta el pa rto .En e l pasado los ag ricu ltores rec ib fan de los invest igado res los m ateri ales ge neti co s co ma cul tivares un icos, ge net icame nte diferentes. Los inve st iga do res la Un ive rsid ad de Cu sco, Peru , han reunid o un a mezc la de c lo nes q ue aho ra di stribu ye n a lo s ag ric u I to res. Po r ej emplo, todo s los cu lti va res conoc idos de ull uco de co lor amarill o (ca racteristi ca desea b le para los ag ricu ltores locales) han sido agrup ados y di stri bu idos . El o bj et ivo es rein trodu c i r un gran num ero de va riedades en los ca mpos de los agri c u lto res y darl es a los produ cto res loca l es la oportuni da d de se lecc io nar los cultiv ares qu e se co m po rten mej o r baj o. sus co ndi c io nes.La ar racac ha es ta relac io nada.co n la za nahor ia y el api o . La parte de la p lanta econ 6 m ica mente va li osa, su raiz reserv ante semej ante a la zanah o ria b lanca, es ri ca en almid6 n. La arracacha se procesa en d iversos alime nto s para be bes.Conse rvaci6 n y caracte ri zaci6n de especies sil vestres: en prime r piano (con fl ores ama rill as) un a entrada sil vestre de yac6 n.La oc a, una hi erb a peren ne, se co me en so pas y gu isos . Ev idenc ias hi st6 ricas indica n q ue fue un alim ento bas ico en los A ndes en la epoca p reco lombi na. Los rend im ientos de los tubercul o s de oca a me nu do igualan o supera n los de la pap a.( Tropaeo/um tuberosum).Nuestro conocimiento sabre estos cultivos y su biodiversidad progresa rapidamente gracias a las esfuerzos de estos cientfficos.La mac a se cu lti va en los lim ites mas altos para la agricultura. Se c ree que sus raices poseen propiedades qu e aumentan la fe rtilidad. Lo s pobladores andinos cree n que mejora las ca pacidad es ffsicas y mentales.El trabajo para desarrollar pro ed imientos de laboratorio para detectar virus en oca, u I luco, mash ua y maca esta progresando Se necesitan procedimientos para los program Js de . certificaci6n de semi Ila y para pr 1 p6sitos de cuarentena para exportaci6n. En r apa, la eliminaci6n de vi ru s del mater ia l Cle siembra usualmente da como resultado un in cremento automat ico de 30% en el rendimi nto. En el caso de los cultivos de raices y tuberc los andinos, nadie sabe el efecto de los virus n la producci6n. En Ecuador, Bolivia y Peruse ll eJ an a cabo pruebas para determinar el impa o que las enfermedades virales tienen sobre estos cultivos.Dos variedades de ulluco fueron liberadas y I distr ibu idas a los agricu Ito res en l±cuado r. Los re glame ntos para I iberar u na vari ~dad en ese pa i s son rigurosos pu es requieren dat s exte nsivos de pruebas en los campos de los agr cu I tores en multiples localidades. Se cree que estas libe raciones son el primer caso de un cultivo de raices y tuberculos andinos oficialmente autorizado por e l gobierno. El pr grama nacional de Peru piensa libera r sus propia variedades en 1995 usando procedimientos semejantes. El ullu co ha captado la atenci6n de los pro6 ucto res y de quienes elaboran la s politicas po e l potencial de su rendimiento -m as de 50 t/ha y la alta demanda de los consumidores.La mau ka fue redescub ierta por lo s cientificos a med iados de los 60. Sus raic es solo se pueden comer despues de exposici6n al sol , lo que induce la producci6n de azucares. Las rafces son sabrosas y ricas en carbohidratos y protein as.Los investigadores suponen que las plagas de gorgojo que atacan la oca se comportan en forma similar a las que infestan las papas. Sin embargo, las practicas de manejo integrado de plagas para el control de los gorgojos de la papa de los Andes no son adecuadas para una especie relacionada que ataca la oca. Los investigadores peruanos tratan de desarrollar practicas de control que reduzcan la infestaci6n de la oca por el gorgojo y disminuyan significativamente la dependencia de los agricu !tores en los pesticidas.La mashua, una rafz •rica en protefna, prospera en suelos marginales y se cree que .contiene altos n iveles de compuestos con propiedades medicinales y repelentes a las plagas. Los hombres no la consumen con frecuencia por su reputaci6n como antiafrodisf aco.De acuerdo con el Director General de! CIP, Hubert Zandstra, el resultado mas importante de! afio pasado fue que los cientificos de u n amplio grupo de instituciones de la region andina empezaron a trabajar colaborativamente para recolectar, conservar y caracterizar las especies de raices y tuberculos andinos menos conocidas: \"Nuestro conocimiento sobre estos cultivos y su biodiversidad esta progresando rapidamente gracias a los esfuerzos de estos c ientificos\".La achira, una especie poco conocida de los valles calidos andinos, produce un cormo rico en almid6n que es procesado en forma de harina de alto valor. En Vietnam la achira se usa cada vez mas para producir fideos de alta calidad y valor adicional.El yac6n es un pariente lejano de! girasol. Sus raices comestibles, las cuales son du Ices y bajas en calorias, se comen trudas. El yac6n contiene inulina, un sustituto de! azucar natural, y tiene un valor corisiderable para los diabeticos y para qu ienes siguen dietas.Una papa silvestre, So/anum bukasovii, que c rece entre los cactus, es candidata para la reintroducci6n en los puntos clave de la diversidad.A traves de un p royecto co n multiples posibilidades para e l futu ro de la d ive rsid ad biol6gica e n los Andes, se piensa ay ud a r a los agricu Ito res a restab lece r y co nserva r los an cestros si lvestres de la papa y ot ros cu ltivos ex6ticos de raices y tuberc ulos andi nos e n sus h ab itats nativos. Cua ndo e l proyecto propu esto reciba fo ndos suficie ntes, sera e l primer g ra n esfuerzo para estab lecer la co nservaci6n in situ, o en finca , d e nueve cu lti vos de raices y tube rculos a ndi nos.El proyecto establecera a reas proteg id as para ayuda r a restau rar a lgunas de las es peci es sil vest res de papa mas im porta ntes que actu a lme nte se prese rva n e n las co lecc iones d e los ba ncos de genes. Para identificar estos lu gares, los c ie ntificos participantes del C IP y de los prog ramas n aciona les usaran inform ac i6n proporc ion ada por la Ba se de Datos de Papa qu e ln terco necta los Bancos de Ge nes, la cu a l cubre toda s las espec ies de papa sil vest res y cu ltivadas. Esta in formac i6n se usara para ide ntifica r los puntos clave o areas donde las expedicion es recolecto ras prev ias e ncontraro n e l m ayor nume ro de es peci es si lvestre s.Lu ego los c ientfficos d e l proyecto d ete rminara n por media de encuestas e l estado de la biodiversid ad y e l grado de e rosi o n ge netica e n cad a pu nto c lave. Estos esfuerzos de be n proporcion a r la b ase c ientifica p a ra un a extensiva restau ra c i6n in situ de las espec ies que or igi na lme nte crecian e n las a reas c la ve.En lo que bien puede se r el co m 9onente mas novedoso del proyecto, los c ie ntificos tambien ayuda ran a los agr ic u I tores a usar iJ semi I la botanica -o sem i Il a sex u a l d e papJ -pa ra se leccio na r nu evos c ul t iva res segun las neces id ades y pre ferencias loca les . El uso de se mi Il a sex ual , mas conoc ida por s ac r6nimo TPS (e n in g les), dara a los agricu ltores un poco d e seg urid ad para e l cu lti vo co ntra se ufas y he la das.Cuando se usa TPS p a ra e l me jo 1 amiento, hay un a g ran va riaci6n en sus proge ni es. El proyecto a n im ara a los ag ricu I tores a usar esb va riabi li d ad natural para sel ecc ion a r materiales geneticos que resuelva n los prob le m as loca les. L s agr icu ltores c uyos cu lti vos esta n infectados co n la ve rruga de la papa podran se le ccionar c lones esi stentes. Esto debe rfa reduc ir su d e pende nc ia en la semilla importad a, ay ud a r a in creme ntar la diversidad ge netica y dism inuir el uso de qui 'icos.Ademas, co n e l uso de TPS, las omunidades loca les pu eden e limin ar v irus qu e du ce n e l rendim ie nto, un procedim ie nto que ahora s61o se pu e de seg uir e n los laborato ri os. El proyecto tambie n ay ud a ra a dete rminar la to lera nc ia o prefe renci a de las c omunidades po los c ul tivos no uni fo rm e s, a l mismo t ie mpo que se m a nti e ne la dive rsid ad genetica.Para los c ul t iva res o va riedades tradi c io na les de l ag ricu ltor, los c ientificos d e l proyecto piensa n ace lerar los esfue rzos para e rrad ic1 r v iru s y otras En 1994 los eco nomistas d e l CIP completaron un trabajo de nu eve estudios de casos d e imp acto qu e abarcan e l trabajo d e l Centro en mejo ra mi e nto de va ri edades, man e jo in tegrado d e plagas y tecno logias me joradas de se milla . Los estudios de ca sos rep resenta ban u na pequefia pa rte pe ro importa nte de la investi gac io n del CIP y las tecnologias re lac ionada s.Segun Tho mas Walker, eco nomista d e l Ce ntro, los retorn os de la inversi o n ca l c u I ados para los diferentes estudios varia n d e 27% a 106% . W a lke r hace nota r q ue las cifras son extre madam e nte co nse rvado ras. El cuadro (arriba a la derecha) mu estra las tasas inte rnas de reto rno a nu a les (TIR) y los be nefic ios netos para cada estudio . Normalm e nte, se considera ex itoso un retorno a nual de la investigacion ag ricola que sobrepasa e l 30-50 %.Walker cree que las cifras so n a un mas a le ntad o ras cuando se co nsidera n a la rgo plazo. \"Si to mamos la inversion total e n e l CIP desde su co mi e nzo y la co mparam os con e l impacto actua l y e l imp acto proyectado d e las tecnologias estudiadas, podremos ver un reto rno anual de l 11 % en el afio 201 O\". En termin os de l d o lar de 1994, un retorno a nu al d e l 11 % eq ui va le a US $230 millones a prox im ada me nte.\"Sin e mb argo, no pod emos co mparar e l impacto d e papas y bata tas co n e l exito de las c ultivos de cerea les de a lto re ndimiento e n los afios 60 y 70\", dice Walker. En esa epoca e l indice de cosecha para e l trigo y e l arroz podia in c re mentarse rapidamente y e l trabajo ge net ico e ra mas facil co n a mbos c ultivos que con raices y t ube rc u la s.Pe ter Gregory, Direc tor Gene ra l Adjunto para la ln vestigac io n del CIP, a fi ade, \"Sabiamos que e l Ce ntro habfa te nido un impacto, pero nun ca trata mos de me dirlo o do c um e nta rlo sistematicamente. La revi s io n exte rna de 1989 sefia lo la neces id ad de doc ume ntar nu estro traba jo . Ya qu e nose habfa hecho un a eval uacio n sistematica d e l imp acto, tambien tuvimos problemas e n est imar e l imp acto ex ante e n e l estab lec imi e nto de nue stras prioridades. Los nu eve estudios de casos, que rep rese ntan un a te rce ra parte d e los proyectos que pensamos qu e han tenido un imp acto e n las paises e n desarrollo, deben ay udarnos a reso lve r este problema\".Los siguientes so n los puntos destacados de tres de las estudi os de casos.En India lo s c ie ntffi cos de l CIP y sus colegas del ln stituto Central de ln vestigac ion e n Papa ha n desarrollado hibridos de se mi Il a sexua l (TPS, en ingles) que proporc io na n una a lte rn ativa efectiva y de bajo costo a los siste mas de siembra tradicionales. Las papas norm a lm e nte se p rod uce n sembra ndo pa rte del c u lti vo d e l afio ante ri o r o usando tube rcu lo-se mill a importado. TPS se deriva de los pequefios fru tos que produ ce la flor de la papa.La produccio n d e TPS hfbrid a esta c rec ie ndo rapida me nte en Indi a, respa ldada por lineas parentales prob adas, tecnicas de produccion esta nd a rizad as y e l fuerte interes de los sectores pu b li co y privado . Los nu evos hfbridos rinden a lre dedor de 25 % mas qu e las variedades c lonales mas popul ares de l pa fs .Las botellas-trampa de feromonas sexuales (derecha) reducen drasticamente el daiio que causan los gorgojos de la batata (izquierda).Los estud ios demostraron beneficios en los ingresos de los agricu !tores que se cambiaron a TPS. El uso de plantulas desarrolladas a partir de semilla sex ual cas i duplic6 el ingreso por hectarea comparado con el tuberculo-semilla co nvenciona l. Los c ientificos del CIP opinan que para e l afio 2015 el 18% del area cultivada de papa en India estara sembrada con materiales derivados de TPS. Esto represe ntaria mas de 250,000 hectareas y co nve rtirfa a India en el lider mu ndial de la producci6n y uso de TPS.Aproximadamente 20 toneladas de TPS seran suficientes para satisfacer la demanda nacional. Los beneficios netos estimados por e l analisis ex ante proyectan retornos conservadores de $200 millon es anuales.Los estudios de cas os enco ntraron que el man ejo integrado de plagas (MIP) ha sido una de las areas mas productivas de la i nvestigaci6n colaborativa entre el CIP y los sistemas nacion ales de investigaci6n agricola (SNIA). En Republica Dominicana, los estimados de 31 ca mpos de batata, muestreados en 1991, indi ca n perdidas promedio de 39% por infestac i6n del gorgojo, una cifra que se traduce en un 40% de disminuci6n en el in greso bruto de los agricultores. La in c iden c ia promedio estimada y la severidad del dafio fueron calcu lad as en $300 por hectarea.El proyecto piloto MIP del CIP en Republica Dominicana dio enfas is a un a variedad de medidas de control que in cluyeron: rotaci6n de cultivos, aradura profun da, desyerb oportuna y uso de trampas con feromonas sex ales. Las feromonas sexuales son producidas por las hembras de much as especies de i nsectos pa a atraer a los ma chos para el apareamiento. Los exper imentos demost raron que se puede elaborarl una trampa eco n6mica y eficie nte co locand o la feromona en un recipiente plastico usado, lleno 6e agua jabo nosa. Para los agricultores, las ~rampas de feromonas demostraron se r una op i6n atractiva por su efectividad y bajo costo -c~da trampa cuesta aproximadamente $2.75, y e l costo total es $11 por hectarea .La aceptaci6 n ini cia l de las tra feromonas fue alentadora. En 1993 campos de batata en Republica Do inicana estaba n protegidos por trampas. El informe sobre robos de los dispensadores de fero f onas atestigu6 la demanda. Calculamos los benefit os para los agricultores cuyos campos estuvieron bajo seguimiento en 1993 y 1994.Los agricultores qu e practicaron MIP produjeron en promedio rendimi entos ligeram .nte mas altos, pero tambien expe rim entaro n dafio sustancialmente menores que otros agricu I tores. Sin las trampas de feromonas, e l d fio fu e 1 .8 t/ha; con las feromonas, el dafio totaliz6 s61o 0.7 t/ha. El va lor econ6mi co de esta disminuci6T de 1.1 t/ha fue $110 por hectarea aproximadament .Lo s cientificos del CIP creen qu la mitad de la batata en Republica Dominicana crecera bajo condiciones de protecci6n por ferol monas para 19 97. En ese caso el beneficio net de la invest igaci6n alca nzaria $300,000 anua les hacia el afio 2000.La variedad de papa CIP-24 (ve Una Papa Viajera, pagina 15) fue introdu cida en China a fines de los 70 y experi ment6 una rapid expansion desde 1984. Los beneficios netos a~uales en solo . .. d Id tres provinc1as, est1ma os co nserv oramente, alcanzaron $1 mill6n en 1987 y $4 millon es en 1990; los beneficios estimados par el afio 2000 son aproxi mad ame nte $5 millon es J anua les. Esta cifra representa un incremento en •I rendimi en to promedio de 3 t/ha. En China, la p pa ti ene un valor de aproximadamente $35 po n tonelada, prob ablemente e l precio mas bajo ara e l cul tivo en c ualqui er parte del mundo.La perspectiva de largo alcance es considerada buena para la variedad. Cl P-24 tiene excelentes caracterfsticas agron6micas en las regiones norte y sur de China donde se cultiva papa, aunque su periodo de desarrollo relativamente largo es un problema en sistemas de cultivo multiple. Su alta tolerancia a la sequia y su resistencia a algunas enfermedades son importantes en las areas mas pobres con baja precipitaci6n. La baja tasa de degeneraci6n del cu ltivar tambien lo hace atractivo para los agricultores quienes retienen las semillas por un tiempo largo. En los campos de San Gabriel, en las montanas de l norte de Ecuador, es comun ve r a un agric ultor co n una mochila aspe rjad ora en la espa ld a apl icando un pesticida al cu ltivo de papa .Esta escena, que se rep ite d iariamente en millones de fincas a lo largo de los paises en desarrol lo, presenta un dil ema. Ha dividido a dos importantes grupos de interes -a mbi ental istas y ag ricul tural istas-y los ha encerrado en una amarga d isp uta politica.En anos rec ientes el debate sobre la sostenib ilidad de la tecnologia ag ricola moderna ha enfocado cada vez mas los temas de la salud y e l medio am bi ente. Los temas de interes involucran e l agotami en to de los recursos naturales, erosion del suelo, contaminacion del agua, deforestacion y co ntamin ac ion y enve nen amiento causados por los quimi co s agrico las . El dilema es como balancea r el desarrollo ag ricola , que incluye el uso de productos quimicos, con las demandas de la ag ri cultura sostenib le apropiada para el ambiente.Este tema no es so lo un a preg unta academica en Ecuador. Los grupos ambientales sostie nen que los agricultores que usan pes ticidas quimicos para la papa estan envenenando e l medio ambiente. Basado en estos argumentos, el grupo ambiental ha recomendado la prohibicion de num erosos pesticidas, incluso los insecticidas que se emp lean para controla r el gorgojo de los Andes de la papa, la plaga mas devastadora de la papa en esta region. El grupo agrico la se opone a esta propuesta.Charles Crissman, econom ista del CIP, dice que la situa c ion ecuatoriana es un conflicto c lasico entre la agric ultura y el medio ambiente -e l intercambio entre la producci6n agricola y la cal idad de l medio amb ien te. El tema, co n intereses poderosos en ambos lados, probabl emente se dec ida en la arena politica. lnfortun adamente, temas como estos se ca racterizan por la falta de informacion so lid a sob re la importancia de intercambios potencial es. Por ejemplo: zQu e cant id ad de la produccion agrico la hay que sacrificar para mejorar el amb iente o la salud? Lo s politicos, entienden lo s intercambios en form i ntu itiva, operan con fre cue ncia sin la inform c ion necesar ia para respaldar sus decisi nes.Para el dilema medio amb ien te-a~r icultur a, el GCIAI alienta a sus in stituc iones a imco rpora r temas sobre la sosten ibil idad en sus agendas de investigacion. Una respu esta de lo centros del GCIAI ha sido e l inicio de program s de investigacion basados en los agroecos istema mas qu e en los prod ucto s mismos.En un reciente proyecto de inves igacion I iderado por Criss man, e l Centro comsidero el rendimiento y los impactos del uso ' e pest icidas sobre e l medio ambiente y la salud en la produccion de papa en e l area d e S n Gabriel. Ademas de arrojar lu z sobre el deb te de Ecuador, la informa c ion es valiosa para el Centro, cuya funcion principal es ge nerar t cnologias agricolas mejoradas, especia lm ente para los agri c u I tores pobres.\"Las nuevas tec nologias pued en ' ncrementar el rendim iento del cu lti vo y los in gres ' s del agricu ltor, pero tambi en pueden te er impactos indirectos o fuera de sitio\", dice Crissman. \"Estos u I ti mos impactos han I legado a ser as importantes en la evaluac ion de nu vas tecnologias y retornos de la in vesti acion . PorEn el norte de Ecuado r, las c ientfficos de l CIP esta n t rabaj ando con sus co ntrapartes de la Unive rsidad Ca to lica de Ecuado r, las un ive rsidades de Co rn ell y del Estado de M o ntana en Estados Unidos y la Unive rsidad M cM aste r en Ca nada. Juntas ha n d ise fi ado un metodo de in vest igac io n pa ra propo rc io nar un extenso respa ldo analitico que comb in e las interrelac io nes a ni ve l de ca mpo entre las practi cas de manej o ag rico la, las ca racterist icas medio ambienta les de la t ierra y la co nta m inac io n no de punta co n imp actos sa bre la sa lu d hum ana. Para qu e fuera util para el anali sis de las po liticas, la metodologi a d e in vest igac io n fue di sefiada para establecer un enl ace entre la salud hum ana y las ca mbios fisicos en la ca li da d de ! medi a am b iente y de la s rec ursos atr ib uibl es a la s practicas agrico las.La premi sa bas ica fu e qu e el anali sis costobenefic io, un a herrami enta econo mi ca bi en estab lec ida, podria pro po rc io nar el m arco ca paz de co mb inar mode los di sc iplin ari os co n d atos pa ra anali za r las po lit icas. Un equ ipo de in vesti gac io n de c ientificos de sue los, epi demi o logos, medicos y eco no mi stas ag ricolas apli co e l mode lo en una investigac io n enfocada en la co nta min ac io n de l ag ua de! subsuelo y el en ve nenami ento de la s trabaj adores ag rico las .San Ga bri el en un periodo de dos afi os, las inve stigado res enco nt raron qu e, cuando las agri culto res usaba n combinac io nes de pest ic idas quimi cos para contro lar el gorgoj o de las A ndes y el tizo n ta rdio (rancha), la ca nt idad de pestic ida que se filtraba de la zo na de la raiz de la pa pa estaba muy pa r debaj o de las estanda res de la Organ izacio n Mund ial de la Salud, inclu so en las esce nari os mas pes imi stas. Lo s efectos co mbin ados de l co nte nid o de m ate ri a o rga ni ca de las suelos volca ni cos, la vid a medi a corta d e las in gredi entes activos de la s co mpu estos usados y e l patro n de baj a precip itac io n mov ili za ro n lenta mente las quimi cos a t raves de! suelo, donde se un ie ron con la materi a orga nica y se degradaro n rapidamente.Estos resultados experim entales refuta n las argum entos de! grup o ambi entali sta . En e l caso de la p roducc io n de pa pa si m il ar a la de ! lu gar en estu di o -el cu al in c luye la m ayo r parte de Ec uado r-la co nta min ac ion ambi enta l pa r pes ti c id as es minim a.Sin embargo, estos res ultados no co ntemplan las im pactos sabre la salud. En el segu imiento de las envenenamientos, segu n las info rm ac iones de las expertos en el cuid ado de la sa lud, el eq uipo de investigaci6n encontro que la tasa de envenenamientos pa r pesti c idas en la reg ion de San Gabrie l era ocho veces mayor -de 21 casos pa r cada 100,000 perso nas a 171 po r 100,000. Un seg uimi ento poste rior mostro qu e la m ayo ri a de estos casos era n hombres dedi ca dos a la apli cac i6 n de pes ti c id as. Las pru ebas co n los ope radores de pest ic id as mostraro n un patro n co nsiste nte de erupc io n c roni ca y dafio del si stema nerv ioso ce ntral pa r lo s resid uos de pesticidas abso rb idos a traves de la p iel, especifica mente pa r las manos.Los res ultados de los modelos arroj aron co nsiderable luz sab re el debate en Ecua dor. \"El uso de pestic idas en la produ cc ion de papa no es lo que co nta min a el medi a ambiente\", di ce Cri ss man, \"pero esta enve nenando un gran segmento de la pobl ac ion rural. Pa r lo tanto, la s presc ri pc iones polit icas so n ma rcada mente diferentes pa ra estos res ultados di fere ntes. En lu ga r de desa rro ll ar un a po lit ica med ioamb iental, coma las regul aciones sabre la ca lidad del agua, lo que se recomienda so n po liticas de sa lud publi ca, tales como prog ramas de educac io n sabre la sa lud \".Un agricultor volunta rio usa parc hes blancos para medir la exposici6n a pesticidas. A pesa r de la info rm ac i6 n recog id a de los modelos disc ip lin arios, qui enes in terv ien en en las decisiones macroeco n6mi cas frec uentemente e nfrenta n el probl em a de qu e cantidad de la produ cc i6n se deberia sa c rificar para lograr objetivos medioambiental es ode sa lud . Los modelos qu e ex pli ca n la s fronteras de la pos ib ilid ad de intercam b io so n u na herramienta pract ica para tomar esa dec ision (ve r figural.La pendi ente de la frontera de la posibilidad de i nterca m bio ex p I ica a qu ienes hace n las po lfti cas qu e ca ntid ad de la ca lid ad d e l media ambiente hay que in tercambiar para aumenta r la produ cc i6n ag ricola. La in vest igac i6 n co nducid a en Ecuador propo rc iona est imad os empfri cos de los lfm ites de la po sibilid ad de interca mbi o .Esta fi gura muestra que, para un mejoramiento de la calidad del medio ambiente desde e hasta e', la comunidad tiene que sacrificar la producci6n agricola desde p hasta p 1 • Si una unidad de mejoramiento de l medio ambiente eqliiva le a dos unidades de perdida de la producci6n agricola es una decision para quienes intervienen en las decisiones macroecon6micas. En el caso del estudio de San. Gabriel, una nueva variedad de papa resis tente al tiz6n tardio que requiere menos fungicidas debe causar que la frontera se desplace hacia afuera desde AB hasta AC. El resultado seria un nivel mas alto de calidad medioambiental para el mismo nivel de producci6n .Una l imitaci6 n cr ftica para qu e la investiga -ci6n sa bre el media ambi e nte sea co mp at ibl e con e l ana l is is de las po l ft icas es la un ida d de med ida baj o la c ual operan los mod e los . U n cie ntffico de suelos t rab aj a tipicame nte a nive l de parce la o c ampo, mi entras qu e e l an ali sis de la s polfti cas es co ndu ci do a nivel nac ion al o re giona l. El pro blem a es c6mo co nside rar la info mac i6 n, a part ir de una observaci6n a ni ve l de campo, hasta un a unid ad co mp at ibl e co n e l ana l is s de polfti cas. En el estudio de San Ga bri TI los mode los midi eron las distribucion es de las pr babilidades de fen6me nos tales co mo c l im a, caracterfst icas ffsi cas de l ca mpo, aplic ac iones de p 1 sticidas y p rec ios de in su mos y prod uctos. Est s datos in co rpor ados en los modelos de si m laci6 n mac ro-mi cro permiten un a ser ie de re guntas \"l que pasa si .. . ?\".Las preg untas \" lq ue pasa si ... ?\" puieden inclu ir escenarios de difere ntes polft icas ecb n6 m icas tal es coma impu estos a los pesti c ida , subve nc io nes para las papas o ca m ios en la tec nologia coma la introducc i6 n de vari edades resiste ntes al ti z6 n tardio o pra cti casl de MIP. Al considerar estos ca mbio s en el mod lo de simu laci6n integrado se produce u na ser ie de va lo res es timados de la producci 6 n grico la y de la ca lidad del med ia ambien te ode a sa lud qu e se co nectan para crea r la fro ntera de la posib ilid ad de interca mbi o .Las preg untas sa bre la ag ricultur soste nibl e ll evan a co nsidera c ion es sabre los e ectos fuera del siti o de las practicas agrico las q e a la vez nos hace n pensar en el estado del e osistema en e l cual ope ra la agr icultu ra. El CIP a empezado a in vest iga r rec ientemente estos fe n61fenos .Resolver este grupo de prob lemas n es co ma reso lve r prob lem as relacionados co los produ ctos po r media de la in vestiga i6n agrfco la I . I I .qu e emp ea ensayos experime nta esf requ1ere una nu eva forma de pensa r sab re los metodos. La in vestiga ci6 n sabre los imp actos de los pes ticid as en Ec uado r i lustra la posibi I idad de uevos metodos. Estos metodos todavia usarn lo s va lores estab lecidos por la invest igac i6n d i cip li nari a, pero se da un nuevo sig nifi ca do a I pal ab ra \" in te rdis c iplinario\" cua nd o se hace n conces ion es disc iplinari as para aco moda r difere tes unidad es de•m edid a que in teg ren los resu ltad s de u n mode lo en otro. Otra diferencia obvlia es e l uso de mode los, tanto dete rminist icos co m~p robab ilisti cos, para los anali sis estadisticos y e simulac i6n.En eco sistemas tan diversos coma I s altoand inos, las enfoqu es con ensayos experim e tal es so n costosos y toman muc ho t iem po. El so de mode los que pu ed an ser extrapo lad s hac ia areas m as ampli as pu ede se r un a form a m ' s efic iente para empl ea r el dine ro de la investi aci6 n.Por casi un cuarto de siglo, el GCIAI ----'Grupo Consultivo para la lnvestigaci6n Agricola Internacional -ha sido uno de los medios mas efectivos para el avance de la agricultura sostenible y la seguridad alimentaria en los paises en desarrollo.El GCIAI, un consorcio voluntario de 45 donantes publicos y privados, proporciona los fondos para 16 centros de investigaci6n agricola internacional. En 1971 comenz6 apoyando un nucleo de cuatro centros que trabajaban en la producci6n de cultivos alimenticios basicos en areas tropicales . El CIP fue aceptado como un centro del GCIAI en 1972. Hoy, el sistema GC incluye tambien investigaciones sobre ganaderia, silvicultura, pesca, irrigaci6n, polftica y fortalecimiento institucional.Aprovechando los avances cientificos de la Revoluci6n Verde, el GCIAI pas6 rapidamente a ser un contribuyente principal de la investigaci6n en los esfuerzos para enfrentar el reto del hambre y la pobreza globales . Mas tarde, los centros respondieron a las preocupaciones internacionales por proteger los recursos naturales erosionados y lograr un desarrollo sostenible apropiado para el ambiente.Hoy el GCIAI lleva a cabo un proceso de renovaci6n que involucra el desarrollo de prioridades de investigaci6n con un enfoque mas preciso, una mejor gobernabilidad y mayores esfuerzos para propiciar la colaboraci6n cientifica. Para estos fines, los tres co-patrocinadores del sistema -la Organizaci6n para la Alimentaci6n y la Agricultura (FAO) de las Naciones Unidas, el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD) y el Banco Mundial-han apelado a la ayuda de los colaboradores. Guiadas por el paquete financiero especial unico aprobado por el Banco Mundial en 1994, las agencias gubernamentales, organizaciones multilaterales de donantes y fundaciones privadas estan respondiendo a las necesidades financieras del GCIAI para un compromiso de largo plazo que permita atender la demanda mundial de alimentos que podria duplicarse para el afio el 2025.Los acontecimientos en el CIP reflejan los cambios que estan ocurriendo en el sistema GCIAI. Basado en sus extensas colecciones de germoplasma, el CIP ha obtenido logros impresionantes en el mejoramiento sostenible de papa y batata en todo el mundo, al mismo tiempo que ha incorporado las preocupaciones sobre el ambiente en sus programas y redes mundiales.Hoy, con un enfasis internacional en las ecorregiones, el CIP esta listo para usar su vasta experiencia en la agricultura de montafias para convocar proyectos que involucren una gama de colaboradores, incluyendo los centros del GCIAI, los sistemas nacionales, organizaciones no gubernamentales y el sector privado. El trabajo dara impulso a sistemas agricolas mas sostenibles en los Andes y los Himalayas y las tierras altas del Este de Africa.Pantalla del CIPFIS, sistema de presupuesto del CIP en red, con base en proyectos.El CIP hizo esfuerzos especiales en 1994 para mantener la fuerza de sus programas de papa y batata y tambien adquiri6 nuevas responsabilidades en la ecologfa de las montafias tropicales.La respuesta del Centro a la Agenda 21 y a otros esfuerzos internacionales para sostener la calidad del ambiente dio como resultado un programa para los c ulti vos de rafces y tuberculos andinos amenazados, enfocado en la preservaci6n de su biodiversidad en las regiones montafiosas.El CIP tambien se convirti6 en el centro convoca dor dentro del GCIAI de un programa de investigaci6n global sobre el Desarrollo Agricola Sostenible de la de las Montafias.El estado financiero del Centro se recuper6 bastante despues de tres afios de recortes, del fin de las grandes deudas y del mejoramiento de las condiciones en el Peru. Ahora el CIP esta bien preparado para enfre ntar cambios futuros. El presupuesto total basico del CIP para 1994 fu e $18.4 millones, por enc im a de los $15.6 millones de 1993. El aumento se debi6 parcialmente a nuevas actividades basicas en la agricultura de las montafias ya una actividad basica restrin g id a de investigaci6n en batata en el Sureste de Asia .BALANCE GENERAL (LJS$000) Ademas, a pedido del GCIAI el Cent) traslad6 mas de $2 millones en fondos comp lemen ari_ os a su presupuesto basico, para que el Banc Mundial liberara nuevos fondos a otros centro . Los $5.7 millones de fondos comp lementarios ' ieron al Centro un presupuesto total de $24.1 r llones.Al 3 1 de diciembre Los gastos operativos aumentaron en 1994 por la inflacion en muchos paises donde el Centro opera. Esto se debio en parte a la revaluacion de la moneda local o a la disminucion de las tasas de devaluacion versus la inflacion local. Esto tuvo un impacto significativo en el Peru, donde el centro gasta el 40% de su presupuesto, yen Kenia, Ecuador y Filipinas. El poder adquisitivo del CIP disminuyo en $1 .5 millones en 1994. Por eso el Centro congelo varios puestos internacionales y redujo el personal local. El aumento de precios y la erosion del poder adquisitivo aun persisten.Se comenzaron las renovaciones de la estacion experimental del CIP en Huancayo, Peru, atacada por terroristas en 1988. Huancayo sera el lugar de capacitacion y expansion de la i nvestigacion en tizon tardio, conservacion genetica, virologia y semilla sexual. La mayor seguridad en el Peru ha permitido al CIP restituir las operaciones en Huancayo. Sin embargo, la investigacion en la estacion de Yurimaguas en el Peru se dio por terminada y las operaciones en San Ramon se redujeron en un tercio, ya que algunas actividades se trasladaron a otras localidades en Africa y Asia. Las principales bases de datos cientificas del CIP-germoplasma, in vitro, distribucion de semilla y pedigri-se integraron y ahora son accesibles a traves de la red local del Centro. Esto significa que los cientificos del CIP, incluso quienes usan el nuevo Servicio de lnformacion Geografica, tienen acceso a las bases de datos mas importantes. En el futuro, las bases de datos del CIP seran accesible s para los cientificos que trabajan en las regiones o en cualquier otro lugar.En 1994 el CIP continuo mejorando sus servicios de informacion financiera a traves de CIPFIS . Este sistema de presupuestos y contabilidad sencillo, en red y con base en proyectos, funciona en la sede yen las estaciones experimentales en el Peru. Cada unidad de presupuesto tiene acceso a las computadoras las 24 horas del dfa. CIPFIS ha demostrado ser una herramienta poderosa en la toma de decisiones.Al                           Act iv id ades en proceso (un idades de semi lla )• Filipinas •Kenia• Peru Programa, Proyecto y ActividadMantenimiento, distribuci6n internacional y seguimiento de/ comportamiento de/ germoplasma avanzado de la batataActividades en proceso (unidades de se milla)Estreses abi6ticos y manejo de/ cultivo de papa Mej o rami ento para la toleran cia a los estreses ab i6ti cos lnvest igac i6n ag ron6mica para papas c ultivadas bajo estres   "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1d886c804c6d4e7c2274f314746f9504","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/20bab928-7998-4576-b9e6-760fa8c5b8c0/retrieve","id":"-1113137011"},"keywords":["CHIRPS-v2","climate change adaptation","farmer perceptions","rainfall cessation","rainfall onset"],"sieverID":"7c7e607c-1289-42ab-bcbc-4b925775bf4e","content":"Rainfall onset and cessation date greatly influence cropping calendar decisions in rain-fed agricultural systems. This paper examined trends of onsets, cessation, and the length of growing season over Northern Ghana using CHIRPS-v2, gauge, and farmers' perceptions data between 1981 and 2019. Results from CHIRPS-v2 revealed that the three seasonal rainfall indices have substantial latitudinal variability. Significant late and early onsets were observed at the West and East of 1.5 • W longitude, respectively. Significant late cessations and longer growing periods occurred across Northern Ghana. The ability of farmers' perceptions and CHIRPS-v2 to capture rainfall onsets are time and location-dependent. A total of 71% of farmers rely on traditional knowledge to forecast rainfall onsets. Adaptation measures applied were not always consistent with the rainfall seasonality. More investment in modern climate information services is required to complement the existing local knowledge of forecasting rainfall seasonality.Global ecosystems are experiencing changes in rainfall amount, intensity, and temporal distributions [1] that poses a great challenge to agricultural production [2][3][4]. Trends of rainfall amount are widely documented [5,6] but shifts in rainfall seasonality (onset and cessation) have received less attention although it determines timing of cropping calendar activities. The temporal variability of rainfall is a critical determinant of timing of cropping calendar in rain-fed farming systems and is defined by three indices i.e., the onset, cessation dates, and the length of the season. The onset and cessation dates are the day of the year when rainfall starts and ends. The difference between the onset and cessation dates is the length of the growing season. There are several methods for determining the onset and cessation dates of rainfall that are applicable at different agro-ecological zones and intended uses [7][8][9][10]. Ref. [10] developed a new method that is generally applicable for estimating the onset and cessation dates across Africa continent though the study applied low resolution gridded data (approximately 110 Km). Many studies determine rainfall onsets and cessation from gauge data, e.g., [11,12] in northern Ghana. Recent advances focus on the application of gridded satellite rainfall estimates for spatial determination of onsets and cessations [10,13]. Ref. [10] mapped the timing of onset and cessation of rainfall over Africa using gridded data at 110 Km resolution and reported inconsistent deviations over West Africa when ERA-Interim and ARC-v2 data was applied. Similarly, Ref.[14] evaluated the skill of onset forecasts for West Africa. Again, Ref. [13] demonstrated that daily climatology from CHIRPS-v2 data could forecast rainfall onset and cessation of rainfall with a bias of less than 7 days in large parts of Eastern Africa.Agricultural production in the West Africa region is predominantly rain-fed. The region is also highly vulnerable to climate change and variability due to rampant poverty, rapidly increasing population, and low levels of technological development [15]. The increasing variability of rainfall amount and seasonality destabilizes the fragile ecosystem and threatens food production and livelihoods. Likewise, the variability of rainfall amount in northern Ghana has attracted more attention compared to seasonal distribution [5,6,16]. Moreover, there is no consensus in the literature on the three rainfall seasonality indices i.e., the onset, cessation, and length of growing period (LGP) in northern Ghana, although these are crucial determinants for cropping season activities. The LGP in northern Ghana is highly variable due to inconsistencies of rainfall onset and cessation dates Refs. [11,17]. For instance, Ref. [12] reported early-onset dates of the rain season ranging between −0.3 to −0.5 days/year (earlier onset of 7.5-12.5 days) between 1986-2010 in Tamale and Wa in northern Ghana. However, Ref. [18] reported a significant delay of up to 0.88 days/year in the Volta basin located in northern Ghana, which translates to late onset by 35 days over 40 years. Similarly, Ref. [11] reported a significant variability of onset and cessation of rainfall over a band of 2-8 years over different agro-ecological zones in Ghana. Recent studies using gauge observations have demonstrated that late onset or early cessation of rains and a high frequency of dry spells within the growing season in northern Ghana cause a significant decline in crop yields [19,20]. The variability of onset and mid-season breaks in the rain makes the agricultural calendar unpredictable and complicates decisions on sowing time, crop choice, and variety [17,21]. Erratic and delayed rainfall onset pose a severe challenge to food production and food security [11]. Lack of synergy between rainfall onsets and agronomic decisions such as sowing date is one of the main factors causing low maize production in Northern Ghana [20]. False starts of rains [22] have become more regular in northern Ghana and induce farmers to plough and plant without sufficient follow-up wet days to sustain the growth of crops [23]. Accurate prediction of the onset, cessation, and length of rainy days dates is essential for synchronized timing of cropping calendar activities. Precise information on the onset and cessation of seasonal rain can reduce the risks and costs of re-sowing seeds due to the season's false onset [24]. The late onset of rains provides the first outlook of a rainy season and is a reliable early warning of food insecurity several months before harvesting [25]. A ten-day delay of onset of the rainy season makes drought conditions more likely. Early identification and warning of drought conditions can inform preparedness of interventions to save lives and livelihoods.Inadequate weather observation networks hamper timely and accurate rainfall forecasts that can guide farmers on cropping calendar decisions [26]. The observation gauge network in Ghana is characterized by low density, skewed distribution, short-term records, and significant data gaps [6,26,27]. The information generated from a few gauge stations with long-term data is applied to generate agro-advisories over a large area beyond the (>50 Km 2 ) recommended by World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Most gauge networks are in the main urban centers, resulting in inadequate coverage in rural areas where agricultural activities take place [26]. Satellite-derived rainfall can complement the sparse gauge network to produce spatially explicit layers representing the onset, cessation, and length of the rain season [10,13,28]. In this manner, the big data generated from remote sensing platforms is applied to identify hotspots where agricultural production experiences a high risk of climate change and variability. Identifying locations that are more vulnerable to shifts in seasonal calendars associated with climate change and variability is essential to guide the evidence-based targeting of appropriate climate-smart technologies [17].Farmer perceptions on changing rainfall patterns determine annual cropping decisions. If farmers' perceptions agree with the trends recorded by the observation network, it means more awareness of prevalent trends and a higher likelihood of applying appropriate adaptive measures [28,29]. Proper knowledge of local trends of rainfall seasonality is required to guide the implementation of appropriate adaptation measures that reduce the negative effects of climate change. Ref. [30] showed that adaptation measures implemented without considering local climate reality led to maladaptive outcomes that exacerbated the vulnerability to climate change and variability in northern Ghana. Integrating knowledge from meteorological observations with local perceptions is essential for developing locally relevant and sustainable adaptation strategies. Several studies reported agreement between farmer perceptions of rainfall trends with observation data [29,31]. However, other studies reported deviation between farmers' perceptions of climate change compared to observation networks [32,33]. Therefore, evaluating the seasonal trends of rainfall from farmers' perception, observation network, and satellite time series can reduce uncertainties on climatic trends.This study uses daily rainfall data from satellites to map the spatial variations of the onset, cessation, and length of the rain season in Ghana for 39 years (1981-2019). We validated the three indices generated from the satellite with rain gauge data. We examined the long-term trends of the three indices for almost four decades. Moreover, survey data are used to explore the farmer's perceptions of changes on the three seasonal indices and their coping strategies. The specific objectives of this study are to; (1) generate maps of the onset, cessation, and LGP from daily rainfall from satellite and gauge networks over 39 years in northern Ghana, (2) map the variability and trends of the onset, cessation, and LGP over 39 years, (3) validate the three indices with gauge networks, (4) examine the methods farmers apply to forecast the onset of rainy seasons and (5) examine the crop management practices applied by farmers as adaptation to the observed trends of the three seasonal indices in northern Ghana.The study area covers three administrative regions in northern Ghana, namely the Upper East (UER), Upper West (UWR), and Northern (NR) regions (Figure 1). Ghana lies in the tropics and is characterized by a tropical monsoonal climate system with two dominant seasons (wet and dry) [11]. Rainfall is controlled by the West African Monsoon (WAM) and convective activities due to the movements of the Inter-tropical Discontinuity (ITD) [11]. The ITD oscillates from South to North and retreats to the South annually. The three regions in Northern Ghana experience a unimodal rainfall pattern between May and September ranging between 500 mm and 1200 mm [5,34]. The LGP ranges from 140 to 240 days and increases in a North to South and East to West gradient [11].The Climate Hazards Center InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS-v2) has four decades of quasi-global rainfall data set [35]. Data records start from 1981 to near-present with an area coverage between 50 • S-50 • N. CHIRPS-v2 incorporates 0.05o resolution satellite imagery with in-situ station data to create a gridded rainfall time series for trend analysis and seasonal drought monitoring [35]. CHIRPS-v2 uses the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis version 7 (TMPA-v7) to calibrate global Cold Cloud Duration (CCD) rainfall estimates. Validation studies over the region have shown that the CHIRPS-v2 dataset correlated well with gauge observations, especially on monthly to seasonal scales [6,36,37]. Additionally, CHIRPS V2 have exhibited a good skill at representing these rainfall indices as well as rainfall extremes compared to other globally available data sets such as, GPCC, TRMM 3B42 and CMORPH. This is because CHIRPS blends thermal infrared and passive microwave tend to perform better than IR-only or PM-only products [36,37]. For this analysis, the daily rainfall of CHIRPS-v2 at a spatial resolution of 0.05 • × 0.05 • was used. Rain gauge data for six available stations located in UER (Garu and Zuarungu), UWR (Wa and Babile), NR (Bole and Tamale) from 1981 through 2016 were obtained from Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet). A survey was conducted in December 2020 to elicit farmers' perception of the trends of the three rainfall indices, their impacts on cropping calendar activities, and the adaptation measures implemented to adapt to the changes (Table 1). A total of 400 farmers were interviewed in the UER (94), UWR (146), and NR (160). The average age of respondents was 50 years. The farmers were selected using a stratified random sample from a list of members involved in the ongoing Africa research in sustainable intensification for the next generation (Africa RISING; https://africa-rising.net/, accessed on 20th August 2021) program. Farmer responses were conducted using a structured interview and recorded with tablets using the KoboCollect toolbox. Farmers reported the onset dates in weekly intervals (the week of the specific month) because they could not recall the precise dates.  The methods presented below aim at computing the three seasonal rainfall indices i.e., onset and cessation of rains and the LGP from gauge, satellite and farmers perceptions. The rainfall onset and cessation dates were determined using the percentage mean cumulative rainfall amount (PMCR; [11]). Daily rainfall fields for all grids over northern Ghana from 1981 to 2019 were extracted from the CHIRPS-v2 gridded rainfall data. The percentage mean annual rainfall for 5-day intervals was calculated for all grids. This was followed by accumulating the percentages of the 5-day periods. When the cumulative percentages are plotted against time through the year, the first point of maximum positive curvature of the graph corresponds to rainfall onset, and the last point of maximum negative curvature corresponds to the rainfall cessation. The points of maximum curvatures corresponding to the onset and cessation of rainfall are respectively 7-8% and over 90% of the annual rainfall (Figure A1). The length of the growing season is then the difference of the onset and cessation dates of rainfall (Equation ( 1)).where LGP is the length of the growing period, RC is the rainfall cessation, RO is the rainfall onset. The time series rasters of the three seasonal rainfall indices (onset, cessation, LGP) were applied to test null hypothesis (no trend) from the entire time series data. The trends of the three seasonal rainfall indices were determined using Theil Sen's slope estimator ( [38]; Equation ( 2)). There are several methods for testing the significance of climatic trends such as the Mann-Kendall test [39,40], Spearman's rho test [41,42] and graphical method [43].Existence of serial autocorrelation and ties in time series of climate data influence the magnitude of variance of the test statistic [44]. We plotted the autocorrelation function (ACF) to check if the time series of the three rainfall indices had serial dependency. Since the dataset did not show significant serial-dependence (Figure A2), the significance of the trends was then tested using Mann-Kendall test [39] at a significant value of 0.05 (Equations ( 3)-( 5)). The ability of the CHIRPS-v2 satellite data to capture the onset and cessation dates in the UER, UWR, and NR was assessed using data from six-gauge stations (Figure 1). A point to grid approach was applied, whereby rainfall for the six-gauge stations was extracted and matched with geolocated satellite data. Where a particular station's data were missing, nearby station's data were used to gap-fill. This is because stations that are close to each other, not greater than 4 Km apart, have been revealed to have similar rainfall patterns. After that, the onsets, cessations, and LGP for both gauge and satellite at these stations were computed and compared. To validate the indices' captured by satellite data in the UER, UWR, and NR, the index's average for the two stations that fell in each region was computed for gauge and satellite and compared.where Q is a Theil Sen's slope estimator. Y i are Y i the values at times i and i, where i is greater than i, and n is all data pairs for which i is greater than i.andZ MK is the MK test statistic, S is the number of positive differences minus the number of negative differences, and VAR(S) is the variance of S. The satellite's performance against the gauge station data were assessed using the Pearson correlation coefficient (r), the Root-Mean-Square Error (RMSE), and the bias. The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) measures the linear relationship between the satellite and the gauge estimates and ranges between −1 to +1 (Equation ( 6)). RMSE is the mean deviation of the estimates from the observations (Equation ( 7)). Bias estimates the extent to which the satellite under or overestimates the gauge observations (Equation ( 8)). The Rainfall seasonal indices and their trends were generated using shell script and Python packages.where S is satellite (CHIRPs) data, G is the gauge data.4.1. Satellite-Derived Seasonal Rainfall Indices (Onsets, Cessations, and Length of Growing Period (LGP)Figures 1-4 show maps of the three seasonal rainfall indices representing the onset, cessation, and the LGP, respectively, derived from the CHIRPS-v2 data. Only maps for 2000 to 2019 seasons are shown for illustration purposes but a summary for all the years is shown in Figure A3. The rainy season's onset showed a progression along the south-west to northeast direction, with rains starting earlier in the former (Figure 2). Exceptionally early onsets were recorded in northern Ghana in 2013 that can potentially disorient farmers given it rained at the time that farmers usually prepare their fields. Figure 2 shows cases in 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2018 where early rainfall onsets (mid-March) were observed in the NR. In 2007, and 2014 seasons we observed an early onset of rain (21st March to 15th April) covering the entire region. However, the UWR experienced more instances of the early start of rainfall than the UER. Moreover, the NR has shown the earliest onset among the three regions. The transition agro-ecological zone in the NR showed the early start of rainfall (21st March) compared to areas located closer to the UER and UWR. This could also be due to the CHIRPS-v2 poor strength along the zonal boundaries, as reported in [36], which could lead to false onsets at these locations. On average, rainfall onsets occurred between 28th April to 25th May in the UER, 10th April-15th May in the UWR, and 21st March to 25th April in the NR except for exceptional seasons. Generally, the results revealed that the region's rainfall indices have substantial latitudinal variability, with early onsets (21st March-15th April) south of 10oN latitude and late onsets (15th April-25th May) at the north of 10 • N latitude.    The CHIRPS-v2 data revealed earlier, and late onsets date over the West and East of 1.5 • W longitude, respectively (Figure 5a). The observed trends of rainfall onset dates confirm and contradict recent studies in the same region. For example, [12] reported earlier onset dates of the rain season in Tamale and Wa gauge stations between 1986-2010, ranging from −0.3 to −0.5 days/year 7.5 to 12.5 days earlier in the 25 years period. However, Ref. [18] reported a significant delay of onset dates up-to 0.8 days/year in the Volta basin in Ghana (35 days delay in 40 years). Ref. [17] reported a 16-day delay of rainfall onset in the UER, although they monitored a shorter period (1997-2014) with very coarse resolution gridded data (110 Km). Rainfall showed late-cessation dates over most parts of Northern Ghana (Figure 5b). Similarly, longer LGP were observed East of 1.5 • W longitude of northern Ghana due to late cessation of rains (Figure 5a,c). The contrasting trends of onset and cessation dates reported in different studies could result from different datasets, the temporal span and the methods applied in the analysis. Nevertheless, several studies have demonstrated the accuracy of the PMCR method that we applied [10,11]. However, one weakness of the method is that it mostly does not take into consideration false onsets. Moreover, a weakness identified with the CHIRPS-v2 data was that it tends to be biased towards capturing false onsets near boundaries of the study area. This section assessed the CHIRPS-v2 satellite data's ability to capture the three seasonal rainfall indices (onset, cessation and LGP) in the UER, UWR, and NR of Northern Ghana. Figure 6 represents the variability values of the rainfall indices from satellite and gauge data at the six stations from 1981 to 2016 in, UER (Garu and Zuarungu), and UWR (Wa and Babile), and NR (Bole and Tamale). The rainfall onsets as captured by gauge occurred between 80-140 days, while the onsets captured by satellite occurred between 80-135 days in the six stations, except for exceptionally early onsets observed at some locations. It is observed that satellite data generally captured the earliest onsets in UWR (Wa) compared to gauge. Specifically, Bole showed the earliest onset recorded on 58 days for gauge and 78 days for satellite. Exceptionally early onsets were also observed at some locations as shown by outliers (in black circles). The gauge data showed that rainfall cessation dates generally occurred between 255-305 days compared to between 255-295 days from the CHIRPS-v2 except for exceptional early (late) cessations at Tamale (Wa) (Figure 6). Early cessation of rainfall was observed at the Garu and Zuarungu stations located in the Upper East region. The LGP at the location of all stations from the gauge and CHIRPS-v2 data ranged between 105-205 days and 130-205 days, respectively. The shortest LGP observed from gauge was 105 days at the Zuarungu station. On average, CHIRPS-v2 captured longer LGP compared to gauge at Babile, Garu and Zuarungu stations. Generally, CHIRPS-v2 consistently returned early (late) onset (cessation) dates across the six stations. The onset dates derived from CHIRPS-v2 had less temporal variability compared to the gauge. The cessations date had less variability over time compared to the onset dates. CHIRPS-v2 returned longer LGP as a consequent of early-onset and late-onset dates than the gauge stations.The statistical performance of the satellite in capturing the rainfall indices at the stations (Bole, Babile, Garu, Tamale, Zuarungu, and Wa) is presented in Figure 7. CHIRPS-v2 showed an average performance for the rainfall onsets compared to the gauge at the two stations located at the UER and the Wa and Tamale stations with r values between 0.4 and 0.60. However, a very poor correspondence (r < 0.22) was observed for the Babile and Bole stations located at the UWR and NR, respectively. The rainfall onsets' bias values range from −15 to +6 days at the six stations. Generally, the onset days are under-estimated (earlier onset dates) in all stations except in the Tamale station, where onsets were slightly over-estimated (delayed onset dates) by six days. The Root means square error values of onsets at the stations were in the range of 0.09-0.25. The Bole station in the Northern region recorded the highest value (RMSE = 0.25) while the least was observed in Wa located in the Upper West region. In general, for rainfall cessations, CHIRPS-v2 showed a good agreement with gauge (0.4-0.74) except in the Wa station where a weak correlation coefficient (r = 0.12) was recorded. The bias values are in the range of 4-9 days, indicating a late estimate of rainfall cessations dates. The minimal RMSE values (0.03-0.05) observed in all stations reveal that CHIRPS-v2 data generally captured the rainfall cessations. The correlation coefficients of LGP between gauge and CHIRPS-v2 at the stations were in the range of 0.4-0.53 except in the Bole station. The low correlation in Bole (r = 0.04) could be because this station had more than 20% of missing data that was gap-filled. CHIRPS-v2 produced longer LGP in all but Tamale station, where the estimate was shorter by 4 days than the gauge. The RMSE for the LGP from CHIRPS-v2 at all the stations ranges from 0.1-0.18. CHIRPS-v2 in the Wa and Tamale stations recorded the lowest RMSE value of 0.1.  In contrast, relatively high RMSE values (0.14-0.18) were observed in the remaining stations. Although CHIRPS-v2 showed good skill in capturing the rainfall indices over the study region, high biases were detected in some cases. According to [26], the skill of CHIRPS rainfall estimates has high spatial variability due to the influence of climate, topography, and seasonal rainfall patterns. CHIRPS-v2 is known to overestimate and under-estimate low and high-intensity rains in this region, respectively [6]. The inherent systematic biases in CHIRPS-v2 emanates from low density and decreasing Global Telecommunication System (GTS) data over time, leading to insufficient representation of rainfall [26,27,36]. The systematic bias has significant implications for agricultural production, considering that crops' success or failure is more dependent on accurate estimating of onsets and cessations of rains. The accuracy of estimating the three rainfall indices can be improved by applying robust method for correcting systematic biases in CHIRPS-v2 data such as the bias correction and spatial disaggregation (BCSD; [45]) or the Bayesian bias correction method [46].Figure 8 represents the temporal trends of rainfall onset, cessation, and length of the growing period during 1981-2016 derived from gauge and CHIRPS-v2 dataset in the UWR (Wa), UER (Zuarungu), and NR (Tamale). At Zuarungu station, there was a fair agreement (r > 0.4) between gauge and satellite for all rainfall indices, and the RMSE was relatively low (RMSE < 0.19; Figure 8a,d,g). Both the gauge and satellite captured the decreasing trend of rainfall onsets and increasing cessations and LGP in Zuarungu, although with differing slopes. At Wa station, the rainfall onset dates derived from CHIRPS-v2 data showed a good correlation with gauge (r = 0.57), but the direction and magnitude of slopes differed substantially (Figure 8b). At Tamale station, the satellite agreed better with the gauge for the rainfall cessation (r = 0.74, Figure 8f), followed by LGP (r = 0.53; Figure 8i), and lastly, the onsets (r = 0.4, Figure 8c). Moreover, both satellite and gauge showed earlier onset dates but late or longer cessation and LGP in Tamale. The observed trends of rainfall onset contrast and confirms some findings in [12], who reported earlier onset dates of 7.5 days in Tamale and Wa. Our results reveal early (late) onsets dates of 8 days in Tamale (Wa) as captured by CHIRPS-v2 from 1981 to 2016. Therefore, our results agree with [12] at Tamale but contrast at Wa station. Over 95% of the UWR and UER region farmers reported late-onset dates of the rainy season (Figure 9a). However, responses were more divergent in the NR, where 76% and 16% of farmers reported early and late-onset dates, respectively. A total of 248 (62%) and 134 (33%) of farmers reported late and early onset of the rains, respectively (Figure 9b). In contrast, over 80% of farmers in UWR and UER reported early cessation of rainfall (Figure 9c). Farmers' experiences on the cessation of rains in NR were split between early (49%), late (41%), and no change (11%). The regional aggregates showed that a total of 288 (72%) and 86 (22%) farmers reported early and late cessation of rain, respectively (Figure 9d). The late onset and early cessation of rains in the UWR and UER imply the shortening of the growing season, but the NR status is divergent.Table 2 shows a comparison of the trends of onset and cessation dates of rainfall from the gauge and satellite at representative stations in Figure 5 and the aggregated farmers perceptions per region (Figure 9a-c). The farmer perceptions relatively matched the long time series of the gauge and satellites because the household survey elicited farmer perceptions of the trends of onset and cessation dates by comparing the last growing season (2020) with the situation over three decades ago. However, the farmer perceptions were aggregated per region and not necessary at the location of the station, a fact that may reduce the precision. Table 2 shows an agreement between the observation network and farmer perceptions in Tamale station. However, most farmers in UER perceived late onset and early cessation dates of rainfall which completely differed from observation network. Likewise, the satellite and farmer perceptions on onset dates differed from gauge in Wa station although the cessation dates were converging. Therefore, the agreement between gauge, satellite, and farmer perceptions had wide spatial-temporal variability. Our results agree with [33] that farmers' perceptions can vary with location, which decreases their spatial reliability compared to observation networks. Similarly, Refs. [33,47] observed that farmers' perceptions of climate change in northern Ghana deviated from the meteorological records. One possible explanation of the deviations of farmer perceptions and the gauge observations could be their failure to differentiate between climate variability and change [29]. Climate variability has weakened farmers' altitude on traditional forecasting methods and has become more open to scientific measurements. Farmers' perceptions are shaped mainly by short-term variability of climate parameters and the frequency of extreme events than slow long-term changes in the average conditions [29]. Farmers are more perceptive of changes in temperature than rainfall, and their perceptions depend on location, age, and indigenous knowledge [29,33]. In areas that experience land degradation and climate change, farmers' perceptions can confound changes in rainfall seasonality with changes in soil fertility [31].Table 2. Summary of the trends of onset and cessation dates of rainfall from the gauge and satellite at representative stations from Figure 5 and the aggregated farmer's perceptions per region obtained from Figure 9a-c. Over 68% of farmers across all regions replanted the main crop seeds at least once in the last five seasons (Figure 3g,h). This reflects the high frequency of false onsets of the rains in the previous five cropping seasons. Replanting increases the cost of seeds, therefore reducing profitability. Studies had indicated that farmers planted up-to seven times after repeated crop failures during drought seasons in Burkina Faso [48]. Repeated replanting is done late in the growing season, making crops flower after a shortened vegetative period that eventually reduces the crop yield. Evidently, 79% of farmers identified the timing of the onset of rains as a crucial determinant of the crop yield (Figure 9e,f). Results showed that only 29% of farmers rely on data from meteorological agencies to forecast the start of the season (Figure 10a). The use of meteorological agency data was lowest in UWR. Most farmers (>70%) rely on traditional methods to forecast the onset of the rainy season, such as a change in temperature, the pattern of clouds, vegetation phenology, movement pattern of insects/birds, and wind direction (Figure 10a). The traditional knowledge of forecasting rainfall onsets is easy to use and affordable to local farmers, but they are becoming less reliable due to increasing climate variability [48]. The traditional methods are available to different socio-economic and demographic groups over space and time, e.g., herders are more likely to observe movement and nesting of birds in the bush. At the same time, rural women are more likely to note the change of water levels or behavior of insects at water sources where they fetch water [48]. Similarly, Ref. [29] observed that farmers in Ethiopian highlands rarely used scientific climate information despite being in the frontline of implementing the adaptation measures. Our research highlights the need to invest in modern climate services such as the automated gauge network within the farming communities in northern Ghana to complement the existing local knowledge of forecasting the onset of rainy seasons. This will support the provision of tailored weather information services to farmers. Farmers in the study area are willing to pay for climate information disseminated through mobile services [49]. Moreover, by integrating the scientific and traditional methods, our study improves the understanding of the current climate knowledge systems that can help to enhance the modern observation networks in a culturally and locally relevant manner. Our study helps to enhance the observation network by identifying the degree and locations where the satellite estimates mimic the gauge data. The accuracy assessment is important considering that the satellite data are increasingly relied upon for agro-advisory due to the prevalent sparse gauge network in this region. The traditional forecasting methods observe the changes in temperature, wind and clouds that are integral variables of interest to modern meteorology. Therefore, as suggested by [48], scientific meteorologists could build on local understanding between temperature and seasonal rainfall to explore technical aspects of scientific forecasts based, for example, on sea surface temperature. The results further points to the uncertainties arising from relying solely on traditional methods and existing daily satellite rainfall estimates. Figure 10b shows the crop management practices applied by farmers to adapt to shifts of onset and cessation dates of rainfall in the three regions. The early maturing cultivars, early planting, drought-tolerant cultivars and replanting emerged the most common but with different intensities across the three regions (Figure 10b). Planting early maturing cultivars is a strategy to cope with shortened LGP. Early planting enables crops to take advantage of every drop of soil moisture at the onset of season. The UER and eastern NR experienced longer LGP resulting from early-onset and late-cessation dates, therefore, planting early and medium-late maturing varieties are viable adaptation measures in that part. However, in the UER fewer farmers applied early planting (49) compared to early maturing varieties (81) reflecting adaptations that are mis-aligned to local reality. However, the situation was the opposite in the NR. Therefore, adaptation measures were not always consistent with the rainfall seasonality. Similarly, Ref. [30] noted the blanket recommendations policies on the adoption of early maturing crop varieties where seasons are becoming longer in northern Ghana led to maladaptation outcomes that increased vulnerability to climate change and variability. Farmers in UER respond to delayed onset and shortening of LGP by spreading out the sowing of crops across the first three months of the season through a wait-and-see or delay strategy [17,24]. They sow the drought-tolerant crops (sorghum and millet) in April to take advantage of early rains. Farmer's shift sowing of drought-sensitive crops (maize, rice, and groundnut) from May to June or July to reduce the risk of exposure to early season drought. However, this can increase the risk of exposure to the late-season dry spell since these crops mature after 3-6 months. In addition to, the timing of rainfall seasons, selecting appropriate adaptation measures needs to consider the significant spatial-temporal trends of rainfall amount and temperature reported in northern Ghana [5,6].Spatio-temporal variability of rainfall seasonality in northern Ghana, poses a challenge to food security and other socio-economic activities. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the variability and trends of three rainfall indices (rainfall onsets, cessations, and length of the growing period) using the spatially high-resolution CHIRPS-v2 daily rainfall series for the period of 39 years (1981-2019) over Northern Ghana. The study further assesses the satellite and farmers' perceptions of the start of the rainfall season over three Northern regions (Upper East, Upper West, and Northern) using gauge data obtained from the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) during 2020. Our findings show that the region's rainfall indices have substantial latitudinal variability, with late onsets at the North of 10 • N latitude and early onsets south of 10 • N latitude annually. Conversely, early (short) cessions (LGP) are seen to occur at the South of 10oN latitude, while late (long) cessions (LGP) are observed at the North of 10oN latitude. On average, CHIRPS-v2 captured rainfall onsets between 21st March and 25th May, rainfall cessations, 17th September to 10th November, and the LGP is usually between 120-210 days annually in Northern Ghana. Significant late cessations and longer LGP were observed over most parts of Northern Ghana. CHIRPS-v2 data revealed slightly, but significant late, and early onsets date at the West and East of 1.5 • W longitude, respectively. Our findings indicated a trend towards late-cessation dates in most parts of the region. CHIRPS-v2 was biased towards capturing early onsets and late onsets, resulting in a relatively longer LPG. CHIRPS-v2 agreed better with observation for the rainfall cessation, followed by LGP, and lastly, the onsets. The satellite-generated rainfall onset dates agreed better with the gauge at Wa and Bole stations. In contrast, farmers' perceptions were more accurate than satellite stations in the Tamale station. Therefore, farmers' perceptions and CHIRPS-v2 to accurately estimate rainfall onsets are time and location-dependent. Approximately 29% of farmers rely on meteorological agencies' data to forecast the rainfall season's start, while the remainder depends on traditional knowledge. Adaptation measures were not always consistent with the rainfall seasonality. CHIRPS-v2 has inherent systematic biases that could come from low density and decreasing gauge observations over time in Ghana, leading to insufficient representation of rainfall indices. CHIRPS-v2 data were biased towards capturing false onsets near boundaries that have significant implications for agricultural production, considering that crops' success or failure is more dependent on accurate estimating of onsets. Thus, the study recommends the correction of systematic biases in CHIRPS-v2 to improve agro-advisories on the timing of seasonal calendar activities. Moreover, our study highlights the need to invest in modern climate information services such as the automated gauge network to complement the existing local knowledge of forecasting the rainfall seasonality in in northern Ghana. "}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"932255eb-dc21-4485-be16-ad35b5da7ae1","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/7854553025.json b/main/part_2/7854553025.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4f9324529ab2de7b131ecf2beaca4c74","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0fa99f2f-d3e3-48a6-bb48-7eb828b6d5f5/retrieve","id":"-1567986022"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b5adf78c-39ad-4a04-af8b-b412497de3ef","content":"1. Gerrnplasm collections 2. Tested stocks from other breeders 3. Single plant selections from population improvement and the pedigree crossing program 4. Mass selection out of existing lines, and eventually 5. By feedback of materials co-developed with collaborator's stations and national programs.Materials are first tested in a preliminary yield trial. This season there are 92 entries in three trials. Each trial consists of about 30 lines replicated twice. All plots are of a standard size (4 meter 4 row plots with 75 cm between rows and 20 cm between plots vlithin t he row). Pr eliminary trials are grown only at IITA. The best of the material from these trials, and material fed in by other subprograms, are tested in advanced yie ld trials cons~ting of about 25 ljnes with 4 replications. Th is season t he re are 100 entries in four trials. Advanced Trial No. I contains the best material from previous years' advanced trials and is grown both at IITA and other stations. Uniform trials are made up of the top entries from the previous seasons' advanced yield trial No.1 and uniform trials.The orders of priority in yield testing will be the following:1. Increasing the efficiency of the yield tests 2. Evaluation of the level of precision of the presen t s ys t em 3. Increasing the number of lines being tested for yield, and 4. Developing different kinds of trials for s pe cific purposes .In order to increase the efficiency of the pr e se nt testin g procedure an in-depth analysis of the present 4m four row plot has been undertaken in an experiment which also explores the use of hill plots . The questions being asked are:1. Is the four meter four row plot big enough to accurately predict yield potential? 2. Does one border row at each side of the plot offer enough protection from \"border\" effect? 3. Are four replications enough considering soil variability? 4. Can small or \"hill\" plots be sampled to predict yield at the preliminary testing stage, and 5. Can whole plots be harvested and yield figures derived from ground cover and a conversion factor if optimum population density remains constant.The prec1S10n of the present system can be found by looking at the goal of higher potential and stability of yield. Photo and temperature-sensitively can be indicated by days to 50% flower and days to maturity. Much more can be accomplished through cooperation with institutes in s tudies involving growth chambers. The precision needs to be greatly increased with studies of genotype by environment interactions. Plant efficiency and plant architecture are looked at through leaf size and shape, plant type, and pods per peduncle, but more extensive tests need to be conducted and correlations run between such characteristics as gas exchange, phot osyntheti c efficiency, peduncles per plant, light penetration, light utilization, and other plant characteristics. Studies of this type may well hold the key which will one day unlock the resistance of legumes to the greater genetic advance which has been enjoyed in the field of cereals.Resistance to disease has always been a deterent to higher yields. Great strides have already been made in the identification of diseases and the location of resistance. Un f ortunately, as better plants are bred, the pathogens also undergo genetic evolution,and breeding for resistance will always be necessary. Much the same can be said for in sec t pests, although insecticides give a greater leverage against pests. However, we need to continue to locate genetic resis tance, determine how the resist an t reaction works, and apply the principle of biotic parallelism in identifying new and different sources of resistance. The simple notes on resistance taken by a breeder alone are necessary but not sufficient.The three avenues throu gh which material with highest yield in our tests flow out from lITA are:1. As gene tic stocks from the germplasm collection or breeding program in various stages of generation advancement 2. As bulked seed from our population improvement program to collaboratin g scientists, and3. As varieties t hro ugh either uniform coordinated yield trials or ge rmplasm \"description\".In addition most hi gh yielding materials will be recycled through the lITA population improvement pro gram and into varietal improvement crossing programs. The se materials also will have b een processed through other sub-programs in GLIP for test i n g and evaluation of seed cooking qualit y , nutritional value, physiolo gical characteristics and disease and insect reaction.New materials are now flowing out of our testing program. A large backlog of promising materials are avai l able for evaluation, and much duplication can be observed in the early s tages. As testing inevitably expands we must efficiently process much larger numbers of genetic stocks at both advanced and preliminary levels .The objectives of GLIP are to increase grain legume usage in the lowland tropic s, and to increase yield potential and stability of grain l egumes. From observations of the \" green revolution\" in other parts of the world, the first objective is easily obtainable, provided a new variety can be produced with increased yield potential and stability and of acceptable consumer quality. Unfortunately, proteih quality and quantity are not usually considered by consumers as they have no method of measuring it. However, there exists a responsibility to insure high protein quality and quantity in all new materials generated.Cowpeas have at least three major uses, mono-cropping, multiple cropping, and ground cover. Each use requires a different type of plant which is stable over a different set of environments. New methodology must be developed to find which plant fits into which environment, placing even greater stress on the need for studies measuring genotype by environmental interactions. Then the question \"Do you want broad adaptivity and stability of yield per ~ or merely to determine where each variety is best adapted?\" must still be answered."}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"eff62e1c-0a80-4388-b9ef-11a9edfee2f8","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/7860411317.json b/main/part_2/7860411317.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5e2daf288026afc85aeb9812f6c40e83cfc4cf5f
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+++ b/main/part_2/7860411317.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ace6b320786d027ce7f3f7e63a93ed32","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/056f6f41-d869-4b81-ab36-8a73835b2585/retrieve","id":"274839012"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"02e75db2-2934-43ca-925a-87a47c70f962","content":"• Globally, pork is the most consumed meat due to its rich nutritional value (protein, iron, zinc, potassium, magnesium, vitamins). • Consuming pork is important for the health of both men and women.However, worldwide, women eat less pork than men and this is not different in Uganda. • The reasons why pork consumption is gendered are largely unknown, and the aim of this was to explore possible reasons.• Research questions were to ❑ identify attributes of pork retail outlets that male and female pork consumers consider when purchasing pork, ❑ examine gendered perceptions of pork consumption, and ❑ analyse other factors affecting consumption of pork by women and men in Kampala District.• Pork consumer study was in Kampala (people from different sociocultural backgrounds) • Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 116 pork consumers (64 male and 52 female respondents) • 6 focus group discussions with consumers (3 men, 3 women only) • 9 semi-structured key informant interviews with pork retail owners/managers • Content analysis was performed on the transcripts of these interviews and discussed using Nvivo software.• Men and women had a perception that eating pork improves the immune system, especially among people living with HIV/AIDS. • Men consume pork because it tastes good, relieves hangover, and is social (get together to discuss business and everyday life issues). • Women consume pork because it tastes good and is tender meat.• For both men and women the hygiene (cleanliness) of the pork retail outlet environment as well as that of the waiters and waitresses was the most important attribute for choosing pork retail outlet. • Female respondents also looked for other attributes of retailers including proximity of the pork retail outlet to their homes, security (open and free of attack and harassment), good customer care (friendliness, respect and speed of services) and quality of pork (well dried pork). • On the other hand, male respondents looked for retail outlet that have a relaxed setting that allow privacy, sell pork on credit, offer low prices, and that use accurate weighing scales.• Our study revealed variations between men and women pork consumption behavior. • It gave insights into consumer decision making processes, which are significant for the innovation and diversification in the Uganda pork sector and for public health policy decisions related to meat consumption in general and pork consumption in particular. • Subsequently, to avoid gender differences of pork consumption, there is need to sensitize people about social-cultural beliefs/attitudes that prohibit women from eating pork so that men, women and children are allowed to freely consume pork. • Health campaigns on pork consumption should be gendered in order to increase the intake of pork amongst women, men and children. ILRI IPM September 2019• Both men and women consume pork because of health reasons.• Male and female choice of pork retail outlets is attributed to the hygiene of the premises and the attendants. • Communities perceive female consumers who eat pork from pork retail outlets as demonstrating loneliness and prostitution. • The presence of unaccompanied women at pork retail outlets signifies irresponsibility. • Female pork consumers perceive men who patronize pork joints as irresponsible and running away from their traditional responsibilities as family breadwinners. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/7863042938.json b/main/part_2/7863042938.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..21fadf533f45ef1de8f71f629f34bf31155816b6
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+++ b/main/part_2/7863042938.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b2da2674e7381060cd0f236169663c23","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c3f096eb-784f-43d0-a19c-2906325b5e57/retrieve","id":"923672962"},"keywords":["Zea mays","atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration","multi-model ensemble","water use","stomatal conductance","grain number"],"sieverID":"43057ca5-ec15-4c88-9665-1bf8973c9da7","content":"How accurately do maize crop models simulate the interactions of atmospheric CO2 concentration levels with limited water supply on water use and yield?The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) believes that open access contributes to its mission of reducing hunger and poverty, and improving human nutrition in the tropics through research aimed at increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture.CIAT is committed to creating and sharing knowledge and information openly and globally. We do this through collaborative research as well as through the open sharing of our data, tools, and publications.Given population growth and changes in dietary habits, global maize demands are expected to increase (Pingali, 2001). Water deficits, air temperature and atmospheric CO 2 concentrations ([CO 2 ]) are expected to rise significantly by 2050 and beyond (IPCC 2013). For instance, [CO 2 ] of approximately 540 parts per million (ppm) is projected for 2050 to 2100 under the radiative concentration pathways (RCP) 8.5 or 4.5 scenarios, respectively (Van Vurren et al., 2011). Projections of maize production remain unclear partly due to the large uncertainty in the response of C 4 crops to elevated [CO 2 ] and interaction with water and temperature stresses ( Markelz et al. 2011, Deryng et al., 2016, ); a better mechanistic understanding of the underlying processes as they are affected by climate change can reduce that uncertainty. Mechanistic crop models are valuable tools to both integrate the complex interactions of climate variables and to make reliable estimates of projected impacts of rising [CO 2 ] on crop yields and resource use. During the last few decades, the models have evolved from cropping system models to agricultural production system models and are used in a large variety of domains or sectors like food security (Matthews et al. 2013), agricultural policy assessment (Bryan et al., 2011;Van Ittersum and Cassman, 2013;Gutzler et al., 2015), plant breeding (Banterng et al., 2004;Boote et al., 2011, Heinemann et al., 2015), climate change impacts assessment (Kapetanaki and Rosenzweig, 1997;Kassie et al., 2015;Southworth et al., 2000;Ringem et al., 2008;Tao et al., 2009;Sultan et al 2013, Deryng et al., 2014;Rosenzweig et al., 2014, Nendel et al.2014) and adaptation design (Tao and Zhang, 2010).The various crop models use different coding and parameterizations in their simulation of [CO 2 ] effects on key crop processes and yield under climate scenarios (White et al., 2011;Kersebaum and Nendel, 2014;Deryng et al., 2016). These approaches may provide useful insights on the direction and magnitude of the impacts of expected climate change effects and scenarios on important crops, such as maize.Nevertheless, the uncertainty due to the way models simulate maize growth responses to increasing [CO 2 ] concentrations precludes more precise projections of maize production and related food security scenarios (Leakey et al., 2012;Deryng et al., 2016). Crop plants respond to [CO 2 ] via its impact on stomatal conductance. For wheat, Yin (2013) suggested that many crop models, for which parameters were identified with growth chamber experiments, tend to overestimate the beneficial effects of elevated [CO 2 ] on productivity. The knowledge and testing of [CO 2 ] effects to simulate the reduced transpiration rate using maize models is even more rudimentary.A previous intercomparison study of multiple maize models, based on experimental data at four sites in France, Brazil, USA, and Tanzania, showed large variability in simulated yield responses to different levels of [CO 2 ] and under non-limiting water conditions (Bassu et al., 2014). In that study, models that explicitly considered effects of doubled [CO 2 ] between 360 and 720 ppm on carbon assimilation and transpiration via stomatal conductance resulted in yield increase of 0 to 19%. The study also revealed that the simulated crop water use through evapotranspiration exhibited even higher variability among models. These modeling uncertainties can partly be explained by the different formalisms used in the models to represent the CO 2 fertilization effect, often based on empirical functions (Yin, 2013) or developed and/or calibrated using data from experiments that failed to represent open-field responses (Long et al., 2005(Long et al., , 2006;;Ainsworth et al., 2008). Furthermore, the development of these models' parameters were made using a very limited number of data, thus reducing their reliability. For that reason, complex interactions between water, temperature, radiation and [CO 2 ] have not been investigated fully. We believe that gathering the experience of many years of improvement of models and their embedded formalisms and parameters may provide insight into these complex interactions and may advance our capacities for a more certain projection of climate change on maize yield. This approach may be implemented by cross-comparing model results with open-field Free Air CO 2 Enrichment (FACE) data, as FACE experiments provide more realistic production conditions (O'Leary et al., 2015, Boote et al., 1996, Tubiello and Ewert, 2012). In this way, possible sources of model discrepancies can be examined, hints on specific weaknesses extracted, and overall model ability to simulate response to varying [CO 2 ] conditions enhanced.While the response of C 3 crops to CO 2 fertilization is comparatively better documented and analyzed in the scientific community, the response of C 4 crops to elevated [CO 2 ] is much smaller and is also less documented in chamber and FACE experiments. The effect is expected to be small due to the C 4 photosynthesis pathway in which CO 2 is prefixed by PEP-Carboxylase and substrate saturation of that carboxylase occurs at about 400 ppm i.e. the current ambient [CO 2 ]. Two papers on FACE-experiments on C 4 crops report very little yield sensitivity under good water supply, but show greater response, near 20% yield increase under dry conditions. This effect of CO 2 on C 4 crops is illustrated by the results of Manderscheid et al. (2014) and Manderscheid et al. (2015), who conducted a maize-FACE experiment in Braunschweig, Germany, in 2007 and2008. The experiment evaluated two [CO 2 ] levels at two water regimes. Under dry conditions only, significant effects on maize yields were observed in 1 of 2 years with a very large [CO 2 ]-induced increase in yields of 40% and with the same total crop water use as the ambient [CO 2 ] levels. That experiment provided results of an unusually positive CO 2 fertilization effect of 550 ppm [CO 2 ] on maize yields under water limited conditions.The data of that experiment are therefore valuable for evaluating the variability of maize models to simulate such considerable impacts. This study is the second phase of the Maize pilot of the Agricultural ModelIntercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP), which is a major international research effort that brings together climate, crop and economic modelling communities with cutting-edge information technology to conduct model intercomparisons and improvements, and to coordinate multi-assessments of future climate impacts and adaptation on the agri-food sector (Bassu et al., 2014;Rosenzweig et al., 2013).Here we: 1) briefly describe the conditions and design of the field experiment, 2)present the data supplied to the 21 individual modelling groups to perform this work, and 3) provide a short overview of the CO 2 response mechanisms used in the participating models.The underlying data of the presented simulations originate from a FACE-experiment performed on a 10-ha research field site at the Thünen Institute, Braunschweig, Germany The 21 modellers involved in this work were provided with basic information on the experimental field conditions (physical and chemical soil properties and initial conditions, weather data, maximum rooting depth), management of the different treatments (tillage, fertilizer application, nitrogen fertilization, CO 2 enrichment; Table 1), and essential information on measurements (development stages and dates: sowing, anthesis and physiological maturity, harvest) and limited cultivar information from the seed company (approx. degree days from emergence to maturity). Modellers were asked to calibrate and run their models based on the provided information for the treatments IRR_AMBIENT for 2007 and 2008. Subsequently they applied their models to simulate all treatments of both years (see Table 1).The simulation results of the individual models and multi-model ensemble were compared to the respective measured values and evaluated by means of absolute and relative (response ratios) graphical representations using boxplots and time series analysis. Additionally, a number of statistical tools were used to evaluate the ability of the models to simulate the measured plant growth and soil water dynamics of the FACE experiment.The Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) is related to the RMSE and defined by Nash and Sutcliffe (1970) (Eq 1).Where m i and s i are the measured and simulated values, and \uD835\uDC5A ̅ is the measured mean.The NSE values are dimensionless and can take values from -∞ to 1.0. A NSE value of 1.0 is given for a perfect match of simulation and measurement, if NSE ≥ 0, the model is better than when the observed mean is used as a predictor, while negative values indicate that the observed means is a better estimate.Deviations from the measurements are estimated by the root mean square error (RMSE, Eq. 2) in total values and units with respect to the observed variable:(2) Key Characteristics of the Participating models.The main characteristics of the participating maize and agroecosystem models can be found in Bassu et al. (2014) and in the individual model documentations. Eleven models consider the [CO 2 ] effects on maize growth through the primary modification of daily biomass accumulation using either coefficients for the radiation use efficiency (RUE) or transpiration efficiency (TE) or both simultaneously. Ten more mechanistic maize models used algorithms based on biochemical photosynthesis processes (Table 2).Six models specifically used routines to compute the grain number, all based on the growth rate of the above ground biomass during a short period from anthesis to beginning grain growth. Finally, 15 models included an explicit impact of [CO 2 ] on leaf (or canopy) stomatal resistance and hence transpiration rate, although 6 did not (Table2).The median simulated date of anthesis was similar for all treatments and 3 days earlier than the measured values (Table1), within a range of 4 and 6 days for 50 % of models in 2007 and 2008, respectively.For the 21 models used here, the median RMSEs of yield, AGB at anthesis, AGB at harvest and soil plant available water in the 60 cm soil layer (SPAW) were 1.8, 1.5 and 2.1 Mg.ha -1 and 81 mm, respectively. As expected, the RMSEs of the model ensemble, computed with the median of the 21 model's results, and for the same variables were much smaller except for crop water use (Table 3).Models exhibited an especially high variability for water use and that was also reflected in the variability of ET/ET° and SPAW. For the latter, the Nash-Suttclife coefficient varied between 0.74 and -35, with a median value of -0.39 for the 21 models. The main discrepancies between simulations of observations came from a very variable estimate of the initial soil water content in the 60 rooting depth, on sowing date, i.e. 30 days before the first data measured in the experiment.The response of simulations to the various crop treatment conditions was analysed as followed. First we compared the models and the results at ambient CO2 and wellwatered conditions. Secondly, we studied the impact of water deficit at AMBIENT CO2 and finally, we analysed the impact of [CO 2 ], first under well-watered conditions then during the drought of 2008.The models were calibrated on the IRR AMBIENT treatments observations for 2007 In 2007 the water deficit treatment had no impact on simulated yields so that the AMBIENT DRY treatment could be considered as a replicate of the AMBIENT IRR treatment. This was fully consistent with the observations (Fig variability also increased, models varying within a range of 1800 grains m -2 . These features were consistent with a simulated drought-induced decline in yield to approximately 6.1 Mg.ha -1 instead of 10.8 Mg.ha -1 in the control (Fig1). As for the IRR treatment, these simulated data generally were slightly lower than the measured yields.The variability between models increased in comparison to the range found in the three other IRR treatments (including the DRY AMBIENT in 2007). 50 % of models simulated values within 2.86 Mg.ha -1 instead of 1.6 Mg.ha -1 in the IRR treatments on average.As in the experiment in the treatments receiving sufficient water (including the DRY There was no impact of [CO 2 ] on ET/ET° (Fig 4) in the same situations and no significant impact on the simulated water consumptions exhibited either (Table 1).However, the 21 models' medians of SPAW tended to be higher for the FACE treatment (Fig S1 for 2008(Fig S1 for , 2007 not shown) not shown).When water deficit had an impact (DRY treatments in 2008), models were able to simulate a compensating impact of [CO 2 ] but with less intensity than the one measuredAt 550 ppm, the median simulated yield was 7.4 instead of 6.2 MG.ha -1 at ambient concentration, i.e. a 19 % increase for the median of the model ensemble. However, because of the variability of the relative [CO 2 ] increase between models, the median increase of the 21 models was 10 % only. This [CO 2 ] positive impact on yield under water deficit was less than half the measured increase, between 7 and 9.8 Mg.ha For the 6 models that simulated grain number, simulated growth rates of AGB between 5 days before and 5 days after flowering was computed. On average, models generally showed no [CO 2 ] effect on that variable. Even at low water availability in 2008, the difference between the two [CO 2 ] regimes i.e. at ambient and elevated [CO 2 ],respectively was not significant (156 and 176 Kg.ha -1 .day -1 , respectively, Table 4). Discussion.As previously reported in other work, the simulated maize yield was not increased by elevated CO 2 under well-watered conditions (Ghannoum et al. 2000, Leakey et al.2006, Twine et al. 2013). For the 2008 season which exhibited significant water deficit; however, simulations were able to simulate a significant increase in yield with CO 2 enrichment, although less than observed in the same season. The measured impact of CO 2 was more than three times as large as the simulated one, considering the median of the 21 models. This is one of the highest experimental impacts of [CO 2 ] increase on maize recorded in the literature (Kimball et al.2002, Leakey et al. 2006;Long et al. 2007, Meng et al. 2014). Because no impact was found for the simulations of the 2008 As analysed by Manderscheid et al. (2014), and further documented in their later paper (Manderscheid et al. 2015), the reasons for the dramatic increase of yield under 550 ppm [CO 2 ] as compared to the ambient concentration resulted from a reduction of transpiration rates at early stages of the crop cycle, enabling plants to conserve soil water when water was still non limiting. During the time period -5 and + 5 days of anthesis, the actual difference in SPAW between the two [CO 2 ] levels in the dry and well-watered situation was approximately 18 mm. That was approximately five times more than the difference simulated by the models in general. Such higher SPAW under 550 ppm [CO 2 ] which brought about a much less stressful situation condition during kernel set and grain formation for the high [CO 2 ] treatment were, in general, not captured correctly by the models. This cumulative water-saving effect appears to occur primarily because the simulated CO 2 effect to reduce transpiration appears to be too weak in most of these maize models. Another causal factor is that the models on the whole also predicted ET to be too high compared to measured (Table 1 and Figure S1), which would make this [CO 2 ] effect even more critical. Later, in August, the larger leaf area of the crop in the elevated [CO 2 ] treatment compensated the CO 2 -induced decline in transpiration rate so that the water use from the beginning of June until harvest was similar in both treatments. Models were able to partially represent that complex kinetics, although missed the precise magnitude. This suggests that the response functions parameterized in some of the models may simulate interactions at the process level correctly. In the field, the decrease of the intensity of the transpiration rate induced by an increase in [CO 2 ] was almost exactly compensated by (i) the availability of more soil water at the time where ETo was highest and (ii) an increase in green leaf area. FACE treatments generally bring about a hotter and drier local microclimate (Twine et al 2013, Manderscheid et al. 2015, Webber et al. 2016), resulting in very similar quantities of water use in both CO 2 treatments until the end of the growth cycle. Under ambient [CO 2 ] at the end of July, the observed fraction of SPAW reached levels lower than the 0.5 ratio of water holding capacity, which is often interpreted as a threshold for crop productivity (Allen et al. 2006). The saved water that was observed in the root zone provided a much higher SPAW and enabled the crop grown at 550 ppm [CO 2 ] to maintain a better water status, longer green leaf area duration and hence to harvest more energy and therefore produce more biomass. Again, all this could be followed in the kinetics of simulated variables,showing that the ensemble of models actually reproduced some of the impacts. What the models did not take into account was (i) the consequence of the altered water regime of plants on the microclimate (Twine et al. 2013, Manderscheid et al. 2015, Webber et al. 2016) and (ii) the absorption of light by the rainout shelters. But even if considered, these factors could not account for the full difference observed, all together. More important, was the impact of [CO2] level on the timing of the maximum water stress 3 days after the anthesis date, coincided with a very sensitive phase of kernel set in maize to plant water status (Turc et al. 2016).The simulated timing of the maximum stress for the crop was fairly precise, with only 3 days difference. Therefore the drought relief effect of prior water conservation  2014), the median simulated reduction in transpiration was 8 % for a doubling of [CO 2 ] from 360 to 720 ppm. By comparison, an 18 % reduction in transpiration was reported for maize grown at 720 versus 360 ppm [CO 2 ] in two studies on maize conducted in sunlit, controlledenvironment chambers (Allen et al., 2011;Kim et al. 2006, Chun et al., 2011,). We propose that if the maize models were updated to reflect this greater observed reduction in transpiration, that the model simulations of water conservation during the pre-anthesis phase would have been substantial, both improving the simulated soil water balance and giving a larger benefit of elevated [CO 2 ] for the water-stressed treatment in 2008.Some consistency to that statement is given by the comparison of two groups of models: those which have an explicit impact of [CO 2 ] on the stomatal conductance and those which do not (Table 3.) For those models with explicit stomatal conductance, the seasonal water use was less and the mean RMSE for yield was significantly less, sustaining the hypothesis that a more mechanistical approach for the response of crop transpiration to [CO 2 ] is better. The RMSE for yield of the ensemble model made of the models with explicit stomatal conductance response was 0.7, i.e. even less than for the other ensemble, which did not differ from the median value of the models' RMSE of 2.3 for yield.Although the main source of uncertainty in this study comes from the variability in water use, the grain number issue must be considered as well as shown by the experiment itself. It may be expected that once the water economy of the crop is improved, the setting of kernel number (sink strength) could be the next to be improved, because occurrence of water deficits at the critical timing of kernel number determination should have caused more [CO 2 ] effect on kernel number, but did not do so because the water conservation effect (transpiration reduction) was insufficient. Indeed, models with explicit grain number did not perform significantly better than those without simulating grain number (Table 3). Lack of significance might be due to the insufficient number of models in the first category ( 6), given the minimum number of maize crop models in an ensemble able to securely match the actual yields was found to be close to 10 in a previous study (Bassu et al. 2014). But above all, improved models also improve the ensemble of models (Martre et al 2016). Also, the routines used to take this effect into account might not be relevant. In all 6 models able to compute a grain number, the process is based on the AGB growth rate around anthesis. But that variable averaged -/+ 5 days around anthesis for the DRY treatment in 2008 did not differ between both [CO 2 ] treatments (Table 4). Indeed recent findings by Turc et al. (2016) suggest that direct hydraulic influence on silk elongation set (i.e., affecting anthesis-silking-interval) might cause the decrease in grain number. The follow-on or feed-forward effect was that reduced kernel number on the ambient [CO 2 ] treatment actually caused sink limitation later during grain-filling when rains were received. Evidence for this sink limitation is provided by Manderscheid et al. (unpublished data) who observed less carbohydrate remobilization from the ambient treatment than observed for the elevated CO 2 treatment for the 2008 dry case. This interaction of water stress timing with kernel number set is what makes the CO2 impact larger for this experiment.In this study, CO 2 affected maize yield primarily through crop water balance.The coincidence of prior water conservation under elevated CO 2 and because most severe water stress occurred at anthesis can explain the particularly high impact of CO 2 in the data set and therefore, models missing this critical point in crop phenology cannot adequately simulate the high impact of CO 2 for this situation, regardless of the CO 2 impact algorithm implemented in the model. This poses a great challenge to regional applications of maize models in climate change impact assessments, since the accurate reproduction of sowing dates (which determines the subsequent simulation of phenology) at the regional scale is already very difficult. Probabilistic approaches to cover a satisfying representation of phenology could overcome this problem and prepare the way for making full use of improved CO 2 impact algorithms.Crop transpiration/water balance and kernel number set (sink strength) are the modules that require special attention. More robust functions and good input data are required for making these model adjustments         "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c1802569c8a6937e68aa9da865a19440","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c32020c9-d698-4cca-a0e8-e8c4358f18c2/retrieve","id":"1632697177"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9e31505b-d22e-41ed-8648-165b96d1fef1","content":"Disclaimer: This publication has been prepared as an output of the CGIAR Initiative on Aquatic Foods and has not been independently peer reviewed. Responsibility for editing, proofreading, and layout, opinions expressed, and any possible errors lies with the authors and not the institutions involved. The boundaries and names shown, and the designations used on maps do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by IWMI, CGIAR, our partner institutions, or donors.This review report provides an overview of Ghana's fisheries and aquaculture sectors. The report summarizes and highlights the formal policies and governance structures related to aquaculture, inland fisheries, and marine fisheries in Ghana. The report identifies the legal frameworks and strategies governing these sectors and the plans and regulations in place. The aquaculture sector is an expanding subsector that has greater potential to increase and meet the increased demand for fish in Ghana, which is currently being met through imports.The report emphasizes that fisheries resources in Ghana are derived from marine, inland, and aquaculture sources. It notes a decline in marine fish production but a steady increase in inland and aquaculture fisheries production. The National Aquaculture Development Plan aims to further increase the market share of commercially farmed fish.Furthermore, the report underlines the significant contribution of fisheries and aquaculture to Ghana's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), accounting for 4.5% of the National GDP and 12% of the Agriculture GDP. It also highlights the importance of fish as the main source of protein for many households in Ghana, which is higher than most countries within the Sub-Saharan region.The report also highlights some of the Government of Ghana's programs and interventions to increase aquaculture production. Such interventions include the Aquaculture for Food and Jobs initiative, which is linked to the broader Agriculture for Food and Jobs initiative. This intervention increases aquaculture production by supporting women and youths in pursuing fish production by providing initial capital support, which is complemented by capacity development, quality fingerling provision and inculcating the view of aquaculture production as a serious business and employment creation venture.The report concludes by highlighting some of the points below as key considerations for sustainable aquaculture production.• The importance of linking policy and practice.• The key role of applied research.• Policy harmonization.• Importance of innovative financing models.• Ensuring that women and youths are included in aquaculture investments.• One Health perspective to deal with the threat of fish diseases.This review report aims to provide a broader introduction to Ghana before moving to look at the fisheries formal policy context in Ghana with a focus towards aquaculture which can be traced back to the 1950s (Abban et al. 2009). This brief review focuses on inland fisheries policy. Whilst this report focuses on the inland fisheries, the policy architecture tends to bring both the marine and inland fisheries under the same broader legislative frameworks. This review will not focus on indigenous/local level policy practices which are important for inclusive fisheries governance according to the illuminating hidden harvest study (FAO 2023). Fish is the main source of protein for most of the households in Ghana (FAO 2016). Fisheries and aquaculture contribute 4.5% of the National Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is about 12% of the Agriculture GDP (Alhassan and Akongyuure 2020;World Bank 2019). Aquaculture production in Ghana largely focuses on the Nile Tilapia and catfish producing 43% of the freshwater fish production in Ghana (World Bank 2019). Aquaculture production offers an opportunity to increase fish production especially in the context of the declining fish catches from the marine sector. Ghana has a 26 kg per capita fish consumption which is 6 kg above the global average of 20 kg/ per capita (World Bank 2019). Fish is very central to Ghana as it provides employment, nutrition and financial security (Akongyuure et al. 2017;Bene et al. 2015).Ghana has a long history of fishing which stretches back for centuries with records of marine fisheries going back to as far as 1700s (Alabi-Doku et al 2020). The fisheries sector in Ghana is gendered with men mainly engaged in the actual fishing and women dominating the post-harvest activities (Appiah et al. 2021). Aquaculture in Ghana, which is synonymous with fish culture, was reported to have been taking place in the 1950s in the northern regions of Ghana (Abban et al. 2009). The aquaculture sector is dominated by men comprising 89%, with females comprising about 3 % and the remaining 8% comprising for collective action aquaculture production through groups (Abban et al. 2009).This review report is within the context of the CGIAR Initiative on Aquatic Foods (AqFI). This initiative aims to strengthen the resilience of aquatic food systems to realize their full potential for nature, people and climate by tackling systemic challenges such as data gaps, gendered power asymmetries, water resource mismanagement, limited research investment and missed opportunities for scaling through agricultural innovation systems and address food insecurity by piloting the co-designing and scaling of aquaculture interventions in small water reservoirs for multiple-use purposes (irrigation, aquaculture, livestock, and domestic uses) in Ghana.This review report is based on literature review which looked at the legal framework governing fisheries and specifically aquaculture in Ghana. This entailed looking at the laws and policies governing fisheries from the historical and current perspectives. Aquaculture has largely been governed by the fisheries legislations. The fisheries and aquaculture management plans and other frameworks which governed aquaculture management were also reviewed.The objective of this policy review is to provide an understanding of the fisheries and aquaculture policy landscape over time. The policy context will enable the CGIAR Initiative on Aquatic Foods to better locate the aquaculture pilot schemes within the broader policy and economic setting of Ghana. The ongoing pilot aquaculture projects will also be scaled to more regions within Ghana.It is therefore important that the broader underlying policy is summarized.The first section will provide an overview of fisheries and aquaculture in Ghana. This is then followed by an overview of Ghana's Macroeconomic context to provide some background on the economic situation in which fisheries and aquaculture are situated. The macroeconomic section will cover the GDP, labour force and the agricultural food systems whilst relating them to the fisheries and aquaculture context. The main programmes which have relevance to the fisheries and aquaculture sector were also looked at in another section. The programmes include the focus on the youth, the One Village One Dam (1V1D) initiative, fisheries and aqua businesses and Aquaculture for Food and Jobs (AFJ). The review then moved on to examine the Ghana Fisheries legislations and key policies such as the 2008 National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy. The final section then draws out lessons of experience and their implication for the future aquaculture trajectories in Ghana. The review then ends with a brief conclusion.Ghana is a country in West Africa with a total population of 30.8 million with females comprising 50.7% and males 49.3% (Ghana Statistical Services 2021). Aquatic food accounts for 60% of Ghana's national dietary intake of animal protein (Rurangwa et al. 2015;Chan et al. 2019), about four times higher than the global average (Hishamunda et al. 2009). Ghana is an exception in the continent as it has a high per capita fish intake of 26 kg. The current gap between aquatic food demand and supply, which is filled by imports, is about 640,182.47 metric tons (mt) (50.10%) of the total fish production, according to the 2021 Annual Performance Report from FisheriesCommission. The map of Ghana, indicating its location and the constituent regions, is shown in Figure 1. Due to the incidence of infectious spleen and kidney necrosis virus (ISKNV) which attacked most cage fish farms on the Volta Lake, aquaculture production dropped to 52.36 tons in 2019. In 2020 aquaculture production increased to 64,010 tonnes which could be due to government intervention to the sector by providing free vaccines to fish farms that were affected. The aquaculture production further rose to 89,375.48 tonnes in 2021 (Fisheries Commission 2022). Unlike the capture fisheries, aquaculture has been expanding and still has a lot of opportunity to increase (Statista 2023). The growth in aquaculture was largely driven by large-scale cage aquaculture (Ragasa et al. 2022;Ragasa et al. 2018). In Ghana, tilapia remains the most popular cultured fish, with cage culture accounting for the largest share of fish production. Catfish output has significantly increased recently, with a high production of 20,660.95 mt in 2021 compared to 16,321.96 mt in 2020 and13,063.41 mt in 2019 (Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), 2023)The small-scale pond aquaculture has great promise for the smallholder farmers to be engaged and derive livelihoods as they were having a profit margin of about 27% (Ragasa et al. 2022). The farmers who were adapting good aquaculture practices were deriving even greater returns. One of the major challenges experienced by aquaculture farmers was the high input costs especially on the fish feeds and fingerlings. For instance, the production cost figures for 1 kg of tilapia in Ghana was USD1.51 which was higher than major tilapia producers such as Bangladesh, Egypt and China where the production cost per kg averages from USD0.78 to USD1.29 (Ragasa et al. 2022). This was compounded by the fact that 54% of the aquaculture farmers had difficulties accessing inputs and 56% and challenges accessing markets for their fish. The Government of Ghana sees aquaculture as offering opportunities for increasing fish production whilst creating employment and wealth creation opportunities (Fisheries Commission 2022).Figure 2 shows the aquaculture production figures in Ghana. This section highlights the key macroeconomic indicators that have shaped the country' economic architecture for decades. The indicators include the GDP growth rate, poverty rates, and labour force participation. The different indicators, where data is available, are also linked to the fisheries and aquaculture sector.According to the World Bank, Ghana's GDP in 2022 was 72.8 billion United States (US) dollars, which represents 0.06% of the world economy, and GDP per capita of $ 2,175.9 (World Bank 2023). In 2023, the World Back estimated that 25.1% of the Ghanaian population was below the International Poverty Line of USD 2.15 per day.The African Development Bank (AfDB 2020), notes that the Ghanaian economy, between 2017 and 2020 outperformed the world economy, attaining GDP growth rates of 6.3% and 6.5% in 2018 and 2019, respectively (AfDB 2020). Because of COVID-19 pandemic, GDP growth for 2020 was low (0.5%) but then bounced back to 5.1% in 2021, but soon entered a macro-economic crisis in 2022, caused by existing imbalances and external economic shocks. Because of this crisis, GDP growth rate declined to 3.1% in 2022 and is estimated to have further declined to 1.8% in 2023 (World Bank 2023). Moreover, the instability of the international financial markets generated put pressure on the exchange rate, which combined with a general increase in food and input prices globally, and resulted in exceptionally high inflation in Ghana: 31.2% in 2022 and 45.4% in 2023, most of which is driven by increased food prices inflation and low economic growth are also expected to increase poverty in the country, with 27% of population estimated to be poor in 2023 (World Bank 2023). In the aquaculture sector, high inflation rates resulted in significant increases in fish feed prices. Studies in Ghana have also noted that feed prices in Ghana were twice as expensive as in other aquaculture-producing countries (Ragasa et al. 2018;Macfadyen et al. 2012).The Fisheries sector contributed 1.7% of the GDP in 2022 (Ghana Statistical Services 2022). The major contributor is marine fisheries with inland and aquaculture contributing a smaller proportion.The sectors contribution to Agriculture GDP for the period 2015-2020 is estimated at 5.4%(Fisheries Commission 2022). The sector also provides raw materials to the fish canneries and other fisheries-related industries in the country (GSS 2023)Ghana has valuable fisheries that could generate in the order of US$ 1 billion in revenue each year.The fisheries support 135,000 fishers in the marine sub-sector alone and indirectly support the livelihoods of about 10% of all people in Ghana (https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/gha178892.pdf).The contribution of fisheries to the GDP has been declining from 1.49 % in 2013 to 1.04% in 2021 (Fisheries Commission 2022). Table 1 summarizes the contribution of aquaculture to the GDP. In Ghana, the accessible data for labour force participation rate from 1990 to 2020 shows that, during that period the country recorded an average value of 71.78%, with a minimum of 66.2% in 2020 and a maximum of 74.92% in 1992 (ILO 2020). In a similar vein, data for female labour force participation from 1990 to 2019 reveal that the average figure for the country was 47.8% with a minimum of 46.31% in 2015 and a maximum of 48.67% in 2000. Currently, the figure for 2019 was 46. 66% (Ibid). The International Labour Organization, however, posits that for the same period, the average value for male labour participation was 74.86% with a minimum of 71.69% in 2019 and a maximum of 77.68% in 1990. The latest value recorded in 2019 is 71.69% (ILO 2020).The marine fisheries sector is gendered with men engaged in the actual fishing and women engaged in the post-harvest fisheries value chains and marketing (Appiah et al. 2021). Aquaculture was observed to also offer employment opportunities to youth and women in Ghana (Ragasa et al 2022). The total number of people employed in fisheries is 140,000 with aquaculture directly employing 4,474 people (Fisheries Commission 2022). Women and youths are largely involved in the informal sectors with the figures on their labour contribution being estimates as compared with other sectors of the economy.Agriculture continues to play an important role in Ghana's economy. It contributes nearly 20 per cent of GDP and also employs about 42 percent of the workforce (Government of Ghana 2020; GSS 2020; World Bank 2019 and MOFA 2019). The agricultural sector also accounts for more than 30 percent of export revenue and serves as the main raw material base for the manufacturing industries (MOFA 2020). Ghana's agriculture is predominantly smallholder, traditional and rainfed. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (2018), about 60 % of all farms in the country are less than 1.2 hectares in size, 25% are between 1.2 to 2.0 hectares, with about 15% above 2.0 hectares. The sector also accounts for about 80% of total agricultural production in the country (MOFA 2016; World Bank 2019; GSS 2020). Although Ghana's farming systems take different forms across agro-ecological zones (see Figure 2), there are, however, some common characteristics that manifest across farmlands throughout the country (GSS 2020). The forest zone, which lies in the middle belt of the country is where tree crops such as cocoa, oil palm, coffee and rubber flourish. The zone also helps in the cultivation of food crops such as maize, plantain, cocoyam and cassava. Maize, millet, cowpeas, groundnuts, yam and rice are some of the main crops that are cultivated in the northern parts of Ghana (GSS 2020).Aquaculture has developed from using earthen fishponds to the use of tarpaulin tanks, concrete tanks, cages and so on as holding facilities. Therefore, aquaculture development in any of the regions in Ghana depends on availability of funds and the interest of entrepreneurs to invest in the sector.With the introduction of cage culture, the Eastern Region is leading in terms of aquaculture production in Ghana. This position used to be enjoyed by Ashanti Region which has a lot of earthen fishponds due to the suitability of their soils for fishpond construction.Aquaculture production in Ghana is concentrated in the Eastern region, Greater Accra and the Volta which account for 82% of the total aquaculture production as shown in Table 2. This section highlights some of the programmes which are relevant for the fisheries and aquaculture sector. The benefits of youth involvement in agriculture in the country cannot be underestimated. To start with, the programme intended to ensure the sustainability of the sector's labour force, considering that, the current average age of a farmer in Ghana is 55 years and life expectancy averages between 55-60 years. More so, efforts to boost Ghana's food production will not yield positive results until the youth are strategically positioned in the sector. This will help reduce Ghana's dependence on imported goods, as the continuous reliance on this makes the country more vulnerable. Through the programme, it was intended that rural employment would be increased thereby leading to a decline in the rate of youth unemployment. This programme serves as productive alternative for youth who might otherwise engage in crime due to unemployment. The programme provides farmers with tractor services, as well as subsidized, interest-free agricultural inputs (MOFA 2020).There are four components of the YIAP (MOFA 2020). These are:i. Crops and Block Farm,ii. Livestock and Poultry,iii. Fisheries/Aqua-business -this aims at promoting fisheries and aquaculture as viable business enterprise.iv. Agribusiness 4.2. One-District-One-FactoryThe One-District-One Factory (1D1F) is an initiative of the current government to transform the nature of the country's economy from the type which is reliant on an import and export of raw material to one that is focused on manufacturing, value addition and export of processed goods.According to available data, 76 factories have been built comprising of 28 new and 48 expansions of existing factories (https://1d1f.gov.gh/#).The initiative which was launched on the 25 th of August, 2017 at Ekumfi in the Central Region hopes to achieve the following objectives; \"to add value to the natural resources of each district and exploit the economic potential of each district based on its comparative advantage, ensure even and spatial spread of industries that would stimulate economic activity in different parts of the country, create employment particularly for the youth in rural and peri-urban communities, and thereby improve income levels and standards of living, as well as reduce rural-urban migration, promote exports and increase foreign exchange earnings and enhance the production of local substitutes for imported goods thereby conserving scarce foreign exchange\" (MOFA 2020).The one District One Factory may potentially enhance fisheries and aquaculture production through the value addition of fish from the aquaculture farms whilst also creating employment opportunities. One of the main challenges for aquaculture is sourcing fish feeds and engaging in the fish value chains. Some of the factories could also be producing quality feeds nearer the aquaculture production areas and help farmers engage in the fish value chain.In 2017, the Government of Ghana launched its 1V1D initiative, which seeks to make irrigation accessible to small-scale farmers in Northern Ghana. This initiative is implemented in five regions of northern Ghana that have consistently been ranked by the Ghana Living Standards Survey as the poorest in the country. The programme is envisaged to develop 570 small dams. The 1V1D initiative aims to build dams for irrigation purposes and to promote dry season farming in the northern parts of Ghana. As of March 2024, about 300 dams were constructed.To give further description of the dams, the MOFA reveals that, it is expected that each dam will be identified by certain features including, \"land area ranging between 2 and 3 hectares, earth embankment wall ranging between 150 to 250 meters with a maximum height of 5 metres depending on the topography of the location, a maximum depth of about 5 metres (2.5 m below and 2.5 m above ground level), water holding capacity of about 30,000 cubic meters, inlet-outlet Structure to supply water downstream (to irrigation farms) from the small dam and Spillway to control the level of water in the small dams\" (MOFA 2020). The dams are anticipated as providing water for irrigation, domestic and livestock watering uses. Even though the goal of the initiative is applauded the success of the phase one of 1V1D initiative, however, remains debatable in the national policy discussions due to the technical and implementation challenges encountered. In order to incorporate aquaculture production, the depth of dams under the 1V1D needs to be increased. In the second phase of the program, aquaculture should be considered part of the planned use for the water infrastructure. The 1V1D initiative needs to be more intentional towards aquaculture and also ensuring that there is post-construction institutional support and coordination for sustainability of the dams and aquaculture production.This programme is an expansion of the Planting for Food and Jobs which focused on crop farming.In the fisheries sector, AFJ was introduced as a mechanism to increase local fish production and creation of jobs for the youth and women in the aquaculture value chain. This programme is expected to increase fish production from the aquaculture sector by 91, 000 tonnes while creating about 86,000 jobs especially targeting women and youth from 2018 to 2020 (Ragasa et al. 2022;MOFAD 2018). The focal areas for this programme are:• Private sector engagement• Involvement of small-scale fish farmers• Providing Institutional support -schools, prisons and other institutions• Providing Input support for new and existing farmers especially youths• Improving aquaculture extension servicesThe main objectives of AFJ include: 3. The staff of Fisheries Commission will inspect and assess all proposed lands to ascertain their suitability for the project (i.e. the topography, soil type, source of water -its availability, accessibility and quality).4. Each group should have at least 20 members.5. At least 40% of the members should be females.6. Each group will be inaugurated by the parties (Development Partners, MOFAD and FC officials) and taken through all the rules and regulations of the project.7. Each member of the group should be willing to work without expecting any remunerations until the first fish harvest.8. Each group will elect its leaders -Leader, Assistant Leader, Secretary, Organizer, Treasurer, Financial Secretary and other members. 9. Each group will be registered as a business entity with equal shares among the members.10. Open a current account for each group/company.11. Each group should formulate bye-laws to govern their group/company.12. Sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Project Partners.a. Each group is given ten (300 m 2 ) earthen ponds or its equivalent in cages.b. They are supplied with a total of 20,000 tilapia or catfish fingerlings.c. They are supplied with 750 bags of feed.d. They are trained in fish farming techniques and management.e. Other accessories (water pumping machine, mechanized borehole, etc) under case-bycase basis.4.4.3. The Group's responsibility 1. Provision of suitable site/land for the construction of the pond.2. Take care of the day-day running of the project.3. Provide security for the facility until harvesting.4. Harvest and sale of the fish.5. Reinvest the proceeds from the harvest into the project to ensure sustainability of the project.4.4.4. AFJ Package for Off-takers (Fish Processors)In the case of Off-takers (Fish Processing and marketing) who are about 15 members per group, the following package is provided:i.A fish processing centre containing 'Ahoto' oven is constructed for them.ii. They are given training in fish handling, processing and marketing.iii. They are given a start-up capital in the farm of cartons of fish or cash. ii. Provision of 2,000 tilapia or catfish fingerlings.iii. Provision of 75 bags of fish feed. e) Enrol more farms hands for efficient running of the farm.A total of 1,600 direct and indirect jobs were created for the youth and women during the piloting phase of AFJ from 2018 -2022. These include youth groups in fish processing, off-takers in fish processing and trade, institutions, fingerling producers, fish feed manufacturers and many more along the aquaculture value chain. It worth noting that during this period, which was the piloting phase, funding was a major challenge which affected the achievement targets set for the project.However, the significant achievement chalked during the pilot phase gives the confidence that with adequate funding to the project, the aquaculture sub-sector would be a solid means of bridging the wide gap between fish demand and supply in Ghana.Policies aimed at improving the fisheries and aquaculture sector have been implemented over time. The sector incorporates various actors both within and outside its divisions to formulate, implement, influence and fund fisheries and aquaculture policies in Ghana. Figure 3 shows the different actors and their roles. Association, the private sector, fish farmers, fish farmer associations, Non-governmental organizations, Civil Society Organizations, and development partners. There has been a general increasing trend on aquaculture fish farms since the 1950s. Asmah (2008) showed that the annual aquaculture development rate was about 16%.The evolution of the key Fisheries Legal Framework in Ghana and its implication on aquaculture is summarized in Table 3. Further tighten licensing and international cooperation in controlling illegal and unreported fishing.Main focus is on international fishing and cooperation.Stipulated detailed guidelines for fishing vessel construction, acquisition, registration and fishing permits Largely not applicable for aquaculture.Fisheries Regulations, 1979 Addressed fishing methods, regulations and also stipulates the requirements for importing live fish into Ghana, as well as sea worthiness of boats.Importation of live fish has implications on aquaculture.Fishing Increase aquaculture investment and production.Make it easier to register for an aquaculture project Source: Compiled from Acts, FAO Database and Fisheries Commission 2022.This Act established the Fisheries Commission, its powers, functions and organizational structure.One important element is also that it sets up the Fisheries Development Fund and how it is to be used. This Act also regulates the management and conservation of fisheries resources. 5.3. National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy (2008) This policy realized the need for complementing the declining fisheries catch, with the expansion of aquaculture in order to meet the increasing demand for fish in Ghana. This policy also notes the important need for going beyond capture fisheries which is also facing challenges of illegal/unreported fishing especially within the context of marine fisheries. The industrial marine fishing declined from 207,070 tonnes in 2002 to 198,660 tonnes in 2014. Artisanal fisheries also declined in the same period from 209,770 tonnes to 169,930 tonnes. Illegal marine fishing is said to cost USD$ 2.3 billion every year to the coastal countries in West Africa (Alabi-Doku et al 2020).The focus areas for the policy on the aquaculture part are:• The sustainable development of aquaculture.• Increase annual aquaculture production from 9.000 tonnes to 100,000 metric tonnes by 2015.• Proposes the establishment of a regional aquaculture facility at Asamasa to supply fingerlings and aquaculture feedstuffs to local fish farmers.• Support local farmers, small scale and commercial aquaculture production.A critique of this policy by (Abban et al. 2009) highlights 4 points below:(i) Does not provide for tailored aquaculture zoning.(ii) Silent on the establishment of aquaculture development.(ii) Lacks innovative financing solutions for aquaculture.(iv) No research funding solutions.This was launched in 2012 and was scheduled to cover the period 2012 to 2016. The Ghana National Aquaculture Development Plan (GNADP -2012(GNADP - -2016) ) was designed to enable Ghana take advantage of its biophysical and socio-economic environment; strong research capacity; and rising fish prices locally and globally, to significantly bridge the huge gap between national fish demand and supply in the medium term. This medium-term plan was one of the bold initiatives by the Government of Ghana to arrest the decline in the nation's annual fish output and revitalize the fisheries sector, by establishing a strong basis for the sustained and accelerated growth of the aquaculture subsector.According to FAO, the plan was ambitious with a vision of the Plan being \"a strong basis for the accelerated development of a private sector-led aquaculture that enables this subsector to contribute significantly to fish food and nutritional security, employment generation, increased incomes, economic growth and poverty reduction, on a sustained basis\" (FAO online accessed 12 April 2023). The plan was building upon National Aquaculture Strategic Framework (2006), meant to facilitate the promotion of aquaculture as a business under the principle that:• The best investments come from matching the appropriate aquaculture system and the prerequisite bio-physical and socio-economic requirements (i.e., high priority zones); and• Support mechanisms or services for these aquaculture businesses should be private sector-led thereby requiring a shift in Government's roles and responsibilities more to one of facilitation, monitoring and control.As result of the realization that that the GNADP has since been overtaken by changing political priorities, social and economic events including the impact of COVID-19, a draft national aquaculture development plan is being used to engage stakeholders for their input. This draft emerged as a planned output for the Norwegian supported Fish for Development (FFD) Project.The brief review of the fisheries and aquaculture policy terrain in Ghana as well as the current ongoing piloting of the four aquaculture interventions in the small water infrastructure help to bring to fore the following thematic discussion points.Ghana has very good policies and legal frameworks which govern the fisheries and aquaculture sectors. The policies, however, need to be enforced and implemented for better development outcomes. For instance, the policies recognize the importance of science and innovation within the fisheries sector in order to further enhance aquaculture productivity, for instance. However, the MOFAD does not seem to get adequate resources to ensure that the increased productivity materializes. Whilst MOFAD tends to have one of the lowest budgets in Ghana, sometimes it does not receive its full allocation from the Ministry of Finance. This tends to undermine the implementation of activities in all sub-sectors including aquaculture.Breeding of fish is key to ensure that aquaculture productivity is high.The Fisheries Commission does not seem to receive the adequate financial support despite the setting up of the Fisheries Fund. This further undermines the effectiveness of the aquaculture interventions given the potential contribution of this sector. The Akosombo tilapia Strain, which has been a success in Ghana, now needs to be upgraded. There is the need for continuous research into fish breeding to ensure the sector has quality fish seed with good growth performance, disease resistant and tolerant to a wide range of temperature fluctuations. New culturable species are also needed to increase variety and keep the industry vibrant.Cross sectoral policy harmonization is a major concern to ensure that, for instance, the aquaculture policies are aligned with the customs and import regulations to ensure that feeds cost are affordable as feed accounts for over two-thirds of the input cost for the aquaculture farmers. Smart subsidies to enhance local quality fish feeds production in partnership with the Fisheries Commission and CSIR might be one of the potential long-term solutions given the priority that the government of Ghana is placing on aquaculture production. The small-scale fisheries benefit through discounted fuel costs under the National Premix Fuel Committee Regulations (L.I. 2233). Special targeted subsidies could be planned within the aquaculture sector. Such a subsidy needs to be critically evaluated to ensure that it does not cause further distortions within the broader market and negatively impact on the resource base.Multiple Use Systems which are holistic need to be incorporated for more efficient and productive aquaculture sector. Existing policies tend to be largely sector specific. It is interesting to note that under the 1V1D initiative, the main thrust was on domestic water supply, livestock watering and crop irrigation. With over 300 small water reservoirs provided in the northern regions of Ghana, it is an opportunity to ensure that where the infrastructure is suitable, aquaculture production must be promoted. This will increase the basket of benefits coming from the small water infrastructure and will also contribute towards further improvements in nutrition and financial income streams.The Government of Ghana developed a number of programmes including the AFJ. The success of the programmes hinges on the availability of financing by the private sector, especially taking into account the limited state resources. It is, therefore, important to also ensure that programmes developed also map out the funding sources from the private sector. This should entail stakeholder engagements in the plan to explore different explore funding mechanisms for the proposed programmes.Diseases are a major setback for the aquaculture and fisheries sector more broadly. However, it is important to understand such diseases within the broader horizon of fish and human disease interactions in order to come up with holistic solutions for addressing fish diseases.Aquaculture should offer an opportunity for increasing opportunities for women, youths and other marginalized communities in line with Sustainable Development Goal 5. The Government of Ghana, as part of AFJ has identified this gap. However, for more informed gender inclusion, evidence needs to be provided for the gender barriers for women, youths and other vulnerable communities to benefit from the technical aquaculture innovations. The unlocking of the identified barriers will ensure that the technical solutions are grounded within the society under which the innovations are being introduced. Such an approach will avail more sustainable aquatic investment solutions.One of the confounding challenges in Ghana and in Sub-Saharan Africa at large is that there are a number of policy instruments which have been developed but which are not being implemented.This fact raises the point that policies are important but not adequate to see transformation of the men, women and youths on the ground. A number of reasons have been offered. Some of the reasons include lack of financial resources to implement the mandate that the law provides. One example within the broader fisheries sector in Ghana is the enforcement of marine fisheries permit system. This has not been very effective due to limited capacity and resources to patrol the Ghanaian waters. Some of the other reasons provided at the sub-Saharan Africa level are that policy initiatives are sometimes inspired from the international level which might not reflect on the capability to enforce them at national level.6.9. Quality Fingerling Production and High Feed Cost Productivity of aquaculture is impacted by the quality of the fingerlings that the farmers are able to access and the high cost of fish feed. In the case of Ghana, fingerling production will not be able to cater for the projected increase in aquaculture production. It is therefore important that plans are put in place to increase both the public and private quality fingerling production strategically located across the different parts of the country. The role of the private sector needs to be promoted as the share for fingerling production by the private sector which was about 1% has since risen to 90% (Asmah 2009). Similarly, the private sector and farmers should be trained and assisted in quality local feed production to reduce the high input cost. Whilst this increased fingerling production and local feed production are welcome, it is also important that the regulatory role of the state is further enhanced to ensure compliance with standards and good practices which might end up being compromised in pursuit of profits. The recently held aquaculture conference from 26 to 27 April 2023, clearly showed that some vaccination activities for fish were ongoing with limited engagement of the state.This brief review report has outlined some of the broader issues on fisheries and more specifically on aquaculture in Ghana. Aquaculture does have a role to play to make up for the declining marine and inland capture fisheries. Beyond good policies, practical implementation strategies and resources are necessary for the effectiveness of fisheries and aquaculture policies in Ghana. This calls for a strategic policy and practice reflection to ensure that individuals and collective action is promoted to enhance aquaculture production. Encouraging multiple use systems under the 1V1D programme and the AFJ programme will offer nutrition, employment and income opportunities for women, youths and other vulnerable members of the community. Policy harmonization and sustainable financing mechanism will also ensure sustainability of the project."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"79d0e247bbd3073b5f0f114381761287","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4bca05d6-12d8-4ed3-bb1f-cae7bbabf79e/retrieve","id":"-2120394088"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"20c3bf2a-8dd4-4278-9509-7563c87c96e0","content":"Published by the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) RTB is a broad alliance of research-for-development stakeholders and partners. Our shared purpose is to exploit the potential of root, tuber, and banana crops for improving nutrition and food security, increasing income generation, and fostering greater gender equity-especially amongst the world's poorest and most vulnerable populations.The RTB Working Paper series is intended to disseminate research and practices about production and utilization of RTB crops and to encourage debate and exchange of ideas. The views expressed in the papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position of RTB.This user's guide presents a tool, called the multi-stakeholder framework for intervening in RTB seed systems. It is designed to help any interested person to understand RTB seed systems or to improve interventions (e.g., projects or programs) in them. The frameworks may be graphed as a table, with rows of stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, researchers, and seed producers) and columns of characteristics: availability of seed, access, and quality. Access includes delivery channels, affordability, and awareness. Seed quality includes crop variety and other issues (health, genetic purity, physiological age, and physical quality). Gender should always be taken into account when using the framework.The framework can be used to plan a future intervention or to analyze the recent history of one. When used before an intervention, the framework may guide a study of the existing seed system and identify bottlenecks and key actions for the upcoming intervention. When used to monitor an ongoing intervention, the framework can help to plan the evolution of activities, scope, theory of change (including assumptions about farmers and seed), objectives, and impacts. The framework will help stakeholders to think about RTB seed systems in a holistic way and to account for differences-even contradictions-in the perspectives of some of the people and organizations who are the stakeholders in these crops.Root, tuber, and banana (RTB) crops include cassava, potato, sweetpotato, yams, and bananas. These are important staple crops, especially in developing countries, where they are produced by about 200 million farmers, and contribute to food security.Because RTB seed is vegetative planting material (roots, tubers, vines, stem cuttings, suckers), RTB seed systems are not like those of grain and pulse crops, which have usually dominated the research-anddevelopment agenda. Vegetative seed has the advantage of allowing the crop to multiply true-to-type, because the planting materials are clones, genetically identical to the parent plant. This can make these crops more uniform. On the other hand, RTB seed is more susceptible to carrying pests (including viruses and other pathogens, according to the FAO's 1996 definition). This makes vegetative seed more challenging to manage than true seed. Vegetative seed is also highly perishable, and RTB crops require many more kilograms of seed per hectare than do grains or pulses. For all these reasons, RTB seed is more likely to be produced and distributed locally than grain or legume seed.RTB seed systems have suffered from low investments, weakly organized value chains, and poorly documented evidence of the value of interventions, among other shortcomings. In recent years, however, major donors have been investing heavily in RTB seed systems, to disseminate new varieties and reduce the yield gap in existing ones.The objective of this user's guide is to present a tool-the multi-stakeholder framework for intervening in RTB seed systems-to help practitioners, donors, and policymakers to improve interventions on RTB seed systems, especially on the design and analysis of the interventions. The guide is not intended as a step-by-step procedure, but rather is a simple yet powerful tool to realize the complexity of RTB seed systems; take into consideration perspectives of different stakeholders; and have elements to improve availability, access, and quality of RTB seed. The framework should be used in combination with existing tools (e.g., literature reviews, participatory rural appraisal, market studies, yield gap analysis, etc.) and other tools that are being developed at the moment (e.g., models for degeneration of RTB planting material, impact network analysis, etc.).The tool that is described in the user's guide is a slightly modified version of the multi-stakeholder framework for intervening in RTB seed systems (Sperling, Ortiz, and Thiele 2013). This framework is a table (Table 1); the first column lists the stakeholders (people, roles, or organizations) of the seed system. The characteristics of the seed system (availability, access, and quality) are listed across the top row. The multi-stakeholder framework is an adaptation of the seed system security assessment (SSSA). Remington and colleagues (2002) developed the SSSA framework with the three parameters of access, availability, and utilization (quality), derived from concepts of food security. Distinguishing access from availability became extremely useful to identify whether an emergency required seed to be imported from far away (availability problem) versus improved local movement of seed (access problem). This simple dichotomy helped Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and partners move away from doing emergency seed work with imported seed to addressing access with vouchers. These three parameters were developed and put into practice many times by CRS and partners in the context of emergencies. Sperling (2008) later coined the term \"SSSA\" and applied it to a wider range of development contexts, not just for emergencies.Between December 2012 and September 2015, the SSSA framework was adapted for the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) during five workshops, revised by expertsmainly from RTB-but also nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and Wageningen University. During these workshops, case studies were chosen to test and refine the multi-stakeholder framework under different conditions, maximizing diversity (various crops, in Latin America and Africa, from community projects to multinational ones). The authors of the case studies were insiders, with much experience working in the region and with that particular crop. These case studies have been compiled as a book (Andrade-Piedra et al. 2016). The multi-stakeholder framework for intervening in RTB seed systems is referred to as \"the framework\" from here on.A seed system is the network of stakeholders involved in producing and planting the seed (including vegetative seed) of a particular crop in a certain area. The seed system is associated with certain agricultural and seed-production technologies, and with the genetic resources needed to produce the seed. Seed systems can be formal or informal, depending on the extent of regulation and integration with the public and commercial seed sector. Formal seed sector regulation varies by crop and context, but by definition includes some form of an inspection process known as \"certification\" and controls over crop varieties, to ensure that available seed is healthy and of a recognized variety. Informal seed systems are less regulated. They are also huge, diverse, and poorly documented.This section defines various groups of stakeholders (e.g., actors, organizations involved in a given activity). The stakeholders in a seed system or intervention may include:• Policymakers, who set national policy for seed, including seed quarantine, seed certification, and research and extension. Local officials (e.g., at the district level) may also be included.• Donors, including private foundations, multilateral (e.g., UN agencies), and bilateral (e.g., the United States Agency for International Development), who fund projects for agricultural research and development. National governments, especially in middle income countries, also fund important seed system interventions. This group of stakeholders has not previously been considered in the framework, but probably should be.• Agricultural researchers include scientists at national and international centers. Plant breeders develop new crop varieties, but other researchers are important for creating new pest and disease management techniques (e.g., for seed-borne pests and diseases) and for seed management (e.g., storage, planting densities). Social scientists such as anthropologists, economists, and gender specialists help to describe the goals and perspectives of different stakeholders in the seed system and address particular questions (such as why varieties are being adopted or rejected). Some research agencies also multiply seed, and curate the breeder seed, use to produce certified seed. Ideally, research links with extension to learn farmers' demands and to offer solutions to seed growers and seed users.• Traders buy and sell seed. They often deal in informal seed, but they can also traffic formal, certified seed. They may be found in local markets, and often have other activities besides dealing in seed (e.g., buying and selling ware produce as well).• The private seed sector includes companies dedicated to producing or selling seed, often as part of the formal sector.• Farmer organizations and specialized seed producers. The key word is \"specialized.\" These are not simply farmers who sell some of their ware production as seed. They are using some technique to produce a crop designated as seed, and they are usually organized into farmers' groups (FGs). Some seed producers are highly organized and some are ad hoc creations of a project. Women often participate in these groups, and some groups are made up only of women.• Extension (NGOs and government agencies) teach the seed users and the specialized seed producers to manage the seed. Extensionists do most of the work on the projects led by international research, mainly because NGOs and extension agencies have the personnel to do all the work: to train farmers, strengthen FGs, multiply seed in the field, distribute planting material, and conduct awareness campaigns.• Private food sector processors include food manufacturers; supermarkets; and even restaurants and others who buy ware produce, add value to it, and sell it. Some processors actually distribute seed, but this group is more important as a stimulus-buying farmers' commodities, demanding certain varieties, setting quality standards (e.g., potatoes of just the right size and composition for making into chips), and requiring a stable supply of produce.• Seed users are the most important stakeholders. They are the farmers who buy or trade for the seed, who accept or reject the new crop varieties, and who still manage the bulk of crop seed on their own farms. Many of the seed users are women, whose livelihoods can be enhanced through proper seed interventions.This list of stakeholders is suggestive, and can be added to. As you design your own framework for your own seed system, you may want to split some stakeholder categories in two or add new types of stakeholders.The characteristics of a seed system are here defined as availability of seed, access to seed, and seed quality.Availability (of seed): Seed supply; the physical existence of the seed; having enough seed at the right place and time.Access (to seed): Farmers have money or other resources to obtain and use seed. Access is divided into three subcategories: delivery channel, affordability, and awareness.• Delivery channel. The transport, location, distribution, and logistics of getting seed from point A to point B.• Affordability. The farmers can buy the seed at the price at which it is offered. The seed is profitable to use. Affordability can be influenced by markets; as farmers earn more money from a crop, they can afford to pay more for seed. An intervention can make seed more affordable through subsidies, including vouchers (where farmers receive a piece of paper which they can exchange for seed).• Awareness. Information about how and where to get quality seed and how to use it; includes information on prices.Seed quality includes the concepts of (1) desirable varieties and (2) quality, in the strict sense, of health, genetic purity, physiological age, and physical quality.• Desirable crop varieties, especially those that respond to market or farmer demand. \"Desirable varieties\" is often taken to mean of modern varieties, improved for higher yields or better nutrition; but farmers may also demand local varieties. Biodiversity (in a seed system) includes the genetic diversity of local varieties (sometimes also called land races, biotypes, or ecotypes) of crops. Each crop has a wealth of genetic diversity, which is often threatened (by replacement with modern varieties).• Quality seed is healthy: pests (including emerging ones) have been managed.• Genetic purity: seed has no mixtures of other varieties.• The seed is of good physiological quality-for example, not dried out-and of the appropriate age (e.g., seed potato tubers are often aged until they are green and sprouted, and yam seed has a dormancy period, but most other RTB seed is best planted fresh).• The seed is of good physical quality (e.g., the right shape and size for planting) and free of mechanical damage.Gender (e.g., of seed producers and seed users) should be considered when analyzing seed availability, access, and quality. For example, women smallholders may be less able to afford seed, and so have unique problems with access.The framework can be used to plan an intervention, and to analyze the results of an intervention. So far, the framework has been used mostly after the project has ended, to analyze results of an intervention (see the book of case studies, Andrade-Piedra et al. 2016; see also CONPAPA and Marando Bora examples, below).Before starting an intervention, the framework can help to organize one's thoughts by doing a context analysis to understand the socioeconomic conditions on which the seed system is operating: a literature review of the crop and the geographical area of the intervention (see Figure 1). Topics should include:• Key stakeholders• Type of farming systems• General seed sector characteristics• Trends, developments, ongoing change of context.Place special emphasis on interventions previously conducted with this crop, in your project area. A review of publications and gray literature is fast and easy, and allows you to ask better questions of the people you will interview later. If needed, complement with field visits using existing tools-for example, a participatory rural appraisal through key informant interviews, field visits, and the like.The framework can be used to help design the intervention, by understanding the existing seed system and identifying key bottlenecks. The use of the framework to plan an intervention has yet to be validated.Once you have defined your stakeholders (from the context analysis), place them in the first column (as in Table 2) and place the characteristics of the seed system in the first row. Fill in each cell with one or more questions: What role does that stakeholder play regarding that characteristic of the seed system? What do you need to know about the stakeholder's role in order to design a seed intervention? Examples of the types of questions to ask are listed in Table 2. You may also craft your own questions to ask about the system.To answer the questions required, we will need different tools from social sciences (interviews, market studies, etc.) and from biological sciences (yield gap analysis, experiments to assess the effect of seed quality, surveys to estimate incidence or severity of a pest, etc.). The timeframe for answering these questions varies from a study that can take a couple of weeks to a study of a couple of years or more.In cases where information is critical but a full study cannot be conducted, we can always make educated guesses with key informants or assumptions as explicit as possible. Importantly, in these cases the framework is actually helping to define research agendas by pointing out the topics that need to be addressed in order to answer a research question or test a hypothesis.Hold key informant interviews with people who represent the different stakeholders. During the interviews, ask them to discuss the questions that you have previously identified in your own version of Table 2. For example, ask the policymakers to explain seed certification policy. Ask the researchers how they identify demands for new varieties, and so on. Each interview will consist of several questions.There are various published guides on how to do a semi-structured interview (e.g., McCracken, Pretty, and Conway 1988;Bentley and Baker 2002, chapter 4).Certain questions can be asked in multi-stakeholder workshops. Since we expect discussions and potential agreements or disagreements among stakeholders, facilitation should be carefully done. For some basic ideas on how to facilitate a workshop, see Hogan (2002) and Seeds of Change ( 2011). See also Ogero, Pamba, and Walsh (2015) for the results of an evaluation workshop using the framework. After using the questions in Table 2 to learn about the existing seed system, the framework can be used to identify bottlenecks and define key actions for the seed system intervention. Bear in mind the stakeholders in the intervention, and the roles that each will play (Table 3).In many cases, we expect that the interventions will be based on a few critical assumptions, because conducting full studies is usually beyond the scope of development projects. In those cases, we should consider collecting information to test the assumptions at the same time the project is implemented, to provide feedback and redirect the intervention in iterative cycles of action and research. As a seed system intervention progresses, bottlenecks will be solved and perhaps new bottlenecks encountered, periodically. The framework can thus help to visualize and document the evolution of seed system functions over time. After the intervention, the framework will help to identify critical issues to improve future seed system interventions. The same questions of Table 2 can be asked of stakeholders that participated in the intervention.In addition to the questions generated by the framework, you may include:• Brief description of the activities components, scale, and scope.• Theory of change: what assumptions were made on the farmer-demand of seed, the seed quality of local seed versus project seed• Information on scaling up, achieved objectives, impact (monitoring and evaluation component).Testing the framework to analyze interventions that have been completed was done using 13 cases (Andrade-Piedra et al. 2016). Two of those case studies are summarized below.CONPAPA is a farmers' organization in Ecuador, established to connect smallholders to their buyers and to consumers in the cities. Researchers helped the organized farmers create links with buyers. Those new links, and an expanding market for potatoes to supply the cities, allowed farmers to sell better potatoes at higher prices. Improved sales meant that farmers could now afford seed, but not certified seed, which was often in short supply anyway. Smallholders in CONPAPA organized themselves to buy high-quality source seed potato from Ecuador's National Agricultural Research Institute, plant it, and produce their own QDS, which they sell to seed users. Organized seed producers receive training and collaborate in quality control visits. CONPAPA does quality control with the farmers (not like a visit from the police), finding problems, and counseling farmers on how to improve quality in the future. CONPAPA's experience with seed has influenced the Ministry of Agriculture in Ecuador to change the quality control guidelines used for certified seed, and include parameters developed by the intervention, for a seed category equivalent to QDS as part of the legal seed system (Table 4). Example 2: Marando Bora (Sweetpotatoes in Tanzania)Marando Bora (\"better vine\") was a project designed to share healthy sweetpotato planting material with 150,000 farmers in Tanzania. The project trained some farmers to produce sweetpotato vines alone and others as groups. Women farmers often appreciated producing vines in groups as a way of overcoming the scarcity of land and other resources. These vine producers would sell their planting material to other farmers, who would pay with subsidized vouchers. The vine growers produced several improved varieties, which they reproduced from virus-free material, although there were problems with re-infection in the field. Various NGOs provided training and facilitated FGs, although this took more time than was anticipated and some of the NGOs could not keep up with all of their groups. In the second year of the project, more vines were produced en masse at central points. Some vines were given to farmers for free at schools, reducing the transaction costs of the voucher system. The project sensitized farmers to buy the vines. Virus-free seed can improve yields if farmers buy enough vines to plant a whole field (Table 5). We propose the multi-stakeholder framework as a practical tool for use during planning, monitoring, and implementation of RTB seed system interventions. The framework is useful for thinking in a more integrated and holistic way. It promotes a taking into account different stakeholders and key characteristics (especially access, availability, and quality), recognizing that stakeholders often have unique perspectives and agendas for these characteristics, which can be even in conflict with the perspectives of others. Also, the perspectives of different stakeholders are not always recognized from the start of project design. Some interventions ignore the perspective of some stakeholders on certain issues while giving significant credence to the perspective of other stakeholders on the same issue. Unfortunately, this is not unique to RTB seed interventions.This simple framework for analyzing RTB seed systems and interventions can be used across different crops. It will be useful to have such a standard analytic framework with which to assess, design, plan, and evaluate seed system interventions. The framework promotes a common vocabulary for seed practitioners to communicate, draw distinctions, make comparisons, assess similarities even across the different countries and cultures that care for and are, in turn, fed by banana, cassava, potato, sweetpotato, yam, and other RTB crops."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f49732d084cc854072da60cb8649af86","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/23501675-b795-4321-a2f3-cdb657301136/retrieve","id":"1815508538"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"806139ee-d5f7-4b27-b204-60874fd23607","content":"About 2/3 of the households (HH) had reduced agricultural income in the year 2019, mostly due to climate-related shocks. Those impacts were higher for female-headed HH (75%). About 20% of HH made changes in their cropping activities and 8% in their livestock activities. Female-headed HH, however, made more frequent changes (75% in crops and 50% in livestock), compared to male-headed HH (16% and 5% respectively).Climate shocks were the main drivers of changes in cropping and livestock's activities for men and women.Innovative changes (never undertaken before in the farms) were reported by 57% of maleheaded and 11% of female-headed HH.A high proportion of farmers (twice more male than female) accessed climate-information services, but only a few portion of them was able to translate them into action.The adoption of the CSA practices promoted in Kaffrine reached 159 male (96%) and 110 female (70%) farmers but was lower in femaleheaded than in male-headed HH.High adoption rates were reported for agroforestry and reduced tillage (70%), medium-adoption levels for manure (40%), organic matter + microdose of inorganic fertilizer, and FMNR (ca. 23%) and lower adoption (<15%) for microdose (NPK +urea) and drought tolerant varieties.The most adopted practices in female-headed HH were organic + microdose of inorganic fertilizers, manure and reduced tillage whereas drought tolerant varieties were not adopted at all. Male-headed HH adopted twice more frequently reduced tillage and FMNR.On average 90% of adopting farmers reported positive outcomes of the CSA practices on: generating additional incomes, enhancing food access and diversity, improving climate resilience and not increasing agricultural labor time. The perceived effects on improving yields varied among gender and specific CSApractices ranging from 8% to 88%.The level of participation and/or control of income generated by the practices was about 96% for both male and female. This synthesis presents an analysis of the results from the 2019 implementation of the Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) Monitoring framework in Kaffrine (Senegal). This work contributes to the Activity 2.2 'Mainstreaming of evidence-based CSA options within the selected value chains', in the context of the CCAFS-EU-IFAD grant reference 2000002575 for the research project \"Building livelihoods and resilience to climate change in East & West Africa: Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) for large-scale implementation of Climate-Smart Agriculture\" led by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT.In the context of the climate-smart villages (CSVs) approach developed by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and its learning platform on \"Participatory evaluation of Climate-Smart Agricultural (CSA) practices and technologies\", farmers in the Daga-Birame village (located within the Kaffrine Climate-Smart Village site) have been implementing and testing in an integrated manner, several agricultural interventions. Those include a range of agricultural practices and technologies that aim to sustainably improve agricultural productivity and households' income, to improve the resilience of farmers and their ecosystems and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or sequester carbon when possible.To support a standard and robust evaluation of these technological options and build context-specific evidence on their adoption drivers and related outcomes at household level, CCAFS developed the CSA Monitoring framework. The framework is associated with an ICTbased data collection App (Geofarmer) that helps researchers and practitioners to assess to what extent farmers' implementation of CSA options leads to positive socio-economic and biophysical changes.This study presents some of the results of the implementation of the CSA monitoring in Kaffrine (Bonilla-Findji et al 2020). It specifically focuses on assessing how household's agricultural incomes were affected by climate shocks in 2019, which responses they put in place and to which extend the access to CSA options (practices, technologies and climate information services) brought positive outcomes in terms of Livelihood and Food security and an increased Adaptive capacity.Kaffrine is located in the transition zone from the Sahelian towards the Sudan Savannah zone. The climate is Sudano-Sahelian with a short rainy season ranging from June to October and a long dry season of 8 to 9 months. Precipitation varies between 600 mm and 700 mm per year. The region is crossed by the tributary of the Saloum river, to which are added temporary ponds and small valleys fed by rainwater. The vegetation is a grassy savannah where only a few trees are encountered together with shrubs on very arid soils. The monthly average temperatures go from a minimum of 18.2 °C (January) to a maximum of 40.7 °C (April). Agriculture is the major economic activity in Kaffrine region. Income sources are predominantly agriculture, livestock sales, small businesses (small shops), remittances and farm labour. The area is characterized by extensive small-scale mixed crop-livestock farming systems with some small Jatropha and fruit areas. Cropping systems are based on pearl millet, peanut and cowpea, generally not intensified and cropped without agricultural inputs. In the south, peanut is intensified using inputs, and maize, sorghum, lowland rice and sesame are also cropped. The main challenges limiting production include: land degradation and low soil fertility, high poverty levels with low access to capital, high population pressure on natural resources and no attractive markets and climate related risks such as erosion, high rainfall variability, strong winds, drought and floods.To improve productivity, while restoring biomass for environmental benefits and carbon sequestration in ground and surface, demonstration tests combining different Climate-smart options have been put in place on community plots to serve as field-school to farmers, as well as research laboratory allowing to understand the functioning of such an integrated agro-ecosystem. The Kaffrine CSV site is a block of 30 km x30 km.Seven CSA practices tested by farmers were covered: (1) Agroforestry or Tree planting (this refers to baobab, jujube, tamarindus, guava); (2) Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR); (3) Drought tolerant varieties (millet, maize or groundnut); (4) Reduced Tillage; (5) Organic fertilizer (manure, compost); (6) Microdose of inorganic fertiliser (NPK, urea); (7) Manure + microdose of NPK and urea.The CSA monitoring framework includes 17 core indicators and an additional set of complementary extended indicators linked to specific survey questions gathered in different thematic modules and hosted in the Geofarmer App.The core indicators include 7 uptake indicators (to track CSA Implementation and adoption drivers; CSA disadoption and drivers; access to climate information services and agro-advisories, capacity to use them and constraining factors) and 10 outcome indicators (they track farmers perceptions on the effects of CSA practices on their livelihoods, food security and adaptive capacity and on gender dimensions. The outcome indicators focus on: CSA effect on yield/production, on income, on improved food access and food diversity, on vulnerability to weather related shocks and on changes in agricultural activities induced by access to climate information. The gender dimensions examined include: decision-making on CSA implementation, participation in CSA implementation, CSA effect on labor, decision making and control on CSA generated income. Finally, the extended indicators allows to tackle changes in enabling conditions and farmers characteristics such as: livelihood security, financial enablers, food security, frequency of climate events, coping strategies, risk mitigation actions, access to financial services and training, CSA knowledge and learning.Data collection associated with the CSA monitoring was carried out between November 14-24, 2019 (Ouedraogo et al 2020). The main objective of this monitoring was to assess farmers' adoption/implementation of CSA practices and technologies over the last 12 months and the perceived effects of their implementation on: food security, crops productivity and income, adaptive capacity and gender aspects.The monitoring survey targeted two persons of opposite sex involved in on-farm activities from a sample of households located in the ten villages. Those included Daga-Birame (where the CSV activities have been focused), Fass Sy, Mbane, Touba Taba, Toune Mosquée, Medina Ndiognick, Ngouye, Ndamboul Mboul, Touba Keur Cheikh and Djida. Only the households from Daga-Dirame were direct beneficiaries of the CCAFS project. All the core Indicators of the CSA monitoring framework were calculated using R-Scripts. The following section presents a synthesis of the key results.A total of 328 farmers were covered by the monitoring: 167 male and 161 females. They belong to 166 households (HH) (7% female-headed) with average productive farm areas of 5.2 Ha. A large majority depend on agricultural income (96% of male and 80% of female) largely generated on-farm.Nearly 80% of male-headed households (HH) owned all the land they cultivate, about twice more than femaleheaded HH (Figure 1).In 2019, 61% of HH reported reductions in their agricultural income, and in 61% of the cases, those were associated with climate shocks. Income for female-headed HH was more affected (88%) as were the impacts from climate events (75%) These events included decrease in rainfall (55%), drought spells (52%) Irregular rains (36%) and in much lower frequency (< 5%) floods and heat waves (Figure 2).Main Food source: On-farm production was the main food source for 76% of male-headed HH and 80% of female-headed HH, followed by food accessed from relatives or community members (ca. 20%).1 A household has that experiences one of these three most severe conditions: running out of food, going to bed hungry, or going a whole day and night without eating, even as infrequently as rarely.In 2019, 90% of female-headed HH and 85% of the male-headed HH suffered from some degree of food access insecurity.During the most difficult months, (July and August) 54% of HH were severely1 food insecure. Femaleheaded HH reported, however, lower levels of severe food insecurity (40%) and the proportion that reached food security2 (30%) was twice higher than male-headed HH (Figure 3) Access to financial services: Nearly 1/3 of Kaffrine's farmers were able to make saving from their agricultural income. On-farm investments, however, were twice more frequent by male (61%) than by the female and, in ca. 25% of the cases they were driven by an intention to recover from or prevent climate-related impacts. Gender differences were also registered in access to agricultural credit (ca. 30% for male and only 10% for female). 36% and 18% of those credits, respectively, were climate-driven (Figure 4). While 44% of male got their credit from cooperatives or microcredit institutions, 47% of the female access credit from community saving groups.Coping strategies: Two-thirds of the HH reported borrowing money to overcome the negative economic impacts caused by climate shocks, 1/3 used loans and savings and about 20% sold assets, reduced expenditures or got a new income source. In 17% of the HH the coping strategy included rationing of skipping meals and 15% went elsewhere to work. Female-headed HH used loans and savings and the reduction of expensed much more often than maleheaded HH (Figure 5).Risk mitigation actions: On average about 19% of the HH reported having made changes in their cropping activities and 8% in their activities related to livestock production. Changes were more frequent in female-headed HH: 75% did changes in their crop production and 50% in their livestock, compared to 16% and 5% respectively, in male-headed HH (Figure 6).Innovative changes: About 57% of male-headed and 11% of female-headed HH reported innovative changes (never undertaken before in their farms).Climaterelated stocks were the main drivers of change. They accounted for 67%-71% of changes made in their crop production activities by female and male-headed HH, respectively and for 90%-100% of the changes in livestock production. Only a low fraction of HH made autonomous changes (ca. 30% in crops and 12% in livestock). Autonomous and climate-driven changes made to crop production were more often reported by female-headed HH (Figure 7).Around 50% of the HH made climate-induced changes on substituting crop varieties and breeds. Half of male-   headed HH also diversified their animals while 25% of female-headed HH abandoned an animal type. Female-headed HH, made twice more frequently changes in their crop management practices (50%) than male-headed HH.About 72% of the farmers reported having accessed CIS in 2019. Gender wise this access was almost twice higher for male than for female (90% and 53%, respectively). Weather forecast was more frequent than seasonal forecast. Access to agro advisories was namely associated with seasonal forecast. Reported by 41% of male and 22% of female, it concerned mainly crop management (75% for female and 48% of male) and water management (ca. 25%). Despite a relatively high access to CIS, only a portion of the farmers accessing CIS reported the capacity to use them. This was higher for the seasonal forecast (65% of male and 73% of female). Weather forecast was only used by 49% of male and 39% of female (Figure 8).The specific constraints to the use of CIS differed among male and female and among the type of information service. For males, the main constraint to use weather forecast was the lack of trust (31%) and resources to act after making the decisions (28%), while for female it was the ability to understand it (38%) and to translate into action (32%). For the seasonal forecast, the major challenge reported by about half of the farmers was understanding it. None of the farmers reported having accessed CIS related training in 2019.This study shows that in 2019 the levels of CSA adoption across the CSV were very high: 269 farmers (83%) and 153 households (96%) from the 7 villages surveyed were implementing one or more of the 7 practices suggesting an important scaling out from the Daga-Dirame village (only one with direct beneficiaries). Adoption accounted for 95% in male-headed HH and 100% in the female-HH households covered by the survey. At individual level, 159 male (96%) and 110 females (70%) were involved in the implementation of CSA practices (Figure 9).   Specific CSA practices: Overall, adoption was lower in female-headed than in male-headed HH. From the seven practices tested, the two that showed high adoption rates (ca. 70%) were: agroforestry and reduced tillage; The three practices that registered medium-levels of adoption were: manure (40%), the mix of organic matter + microdose of inorganic fertilizer, and FMNR (ca. 23%). The lower adoption (<15%) was associated with microdose (NPK +urea) and drought tolerant varieties. In female-headed HH the most adopted practices were organic + microdose of inorganic fertilizers (twice more than in maleheaded HH), manure and reduced tillage whereas drought tolerant varieties were not adopted at all. Male-headed HH adopted twice more frequently reduced tillage and FMNR (Table 1).Average CSA area/practice: In the Kaffrine site covered by the monitoring, the total productive area dedicated to CSA practices accounted for 894 Ha and it mostly corresponded to areas with organic matter + microdose of inorganic fertilizers (305.5 Ha), reduced tillage (194 Ha), microdose of inorganic fertilizers (137.5 Ha), FMNR (98.5 Ha) and drought tolerant varieties (maize, millet (78 Ha) followed by areas for agroforestry (55 Ha) and manure (25 Ha). At farm level, the share of area dedicated to the different practices was more balanced; on average largest fraction was dedicated to agroforestry (ca. 3.7 and the lowest to manure and drought tolerant varieties (2.8 Ha) (Figure10).Adoption drivers: Overall, the main factor stimulating adoption of most of CSA practices was learning and/or accessing training. This was specially the case for drought resistant varieties, microdosing of inorganic fertilizers, FMNR and manure (51% to 83%) and for agroforestry by male (65%). Female farmers that planted trees reported that they did it because of training, market opportunities and climate shocks (Table 2). Those shocks were also the second most important driver inducing the implementation of reduced tillage. The mix organic matter + NPK and urea was not only implemented due to learning but as a proactive measure to adapt to future climate shocks (100% for female and 39% for male).Dis-adoption: Dis-adoption of CSA practices was below 5%. Microdosis of inorganic fertilizers and drought tolerant varieties were dis-adopted by 2% and 1% of farmers, respectively in 2019. Female disadopted manure (5%), reduced tillage and organic matter + inorganic fertilizer (1%) while male disadopted FMNR (2%).The main reason reported by female farmers for stopping the implementation of CSA practices was related to the workload. In the case of manure, the second reason for stopping was that it was expensive to implement (38%).Male farmers reported that they dis-adopted microdose of inorganic fertilizers and drought tolerant varieties due to their high cost. For FMNR, however, drivers of disadoption were shared among the level of work required, that did not help to adapt to climate shocks and other reasons (33%).The participatory testing and evaluation of contextspecific CSA practices has been at the core of the drawing lessons for policy makers from local to global levels.The results of the 2019 monitoring showed that farmers' had positive perceptions regarding the effects of CSA practices on generating additional incomes, enhancing food access and diversity, improving climate resilience and not increasing agricultural labor time (on average 90% of adopting farmers). The effect on improving yields differed between male and female and among specific CSA-practice (Table 3); it ranged from 8% (for agroforestry and OM+ microdose of inorganic fertilizers for female farmers) to 88% (this same practices for male).Farmers reported that the positive effect of the CSA practices on decreasing their vulnerability to climate shocks ranged between ca. 74% (microdose of inorganic fertilizers) up to 88% (OM + inorganic fertilizers). Across all the practices (from high to low adoption rates), on average, the highest benefits were associated with improving food access and food diversity (95%-97%). Those were followed by positive outcomes on increasing incomes (94%) and decreasing vulnerability to climate shocks (82%).Overall, the results of this analysis suggest that improving yields might not be the primary incentive for farmers to implement CSA practices.Their potential to generate benefits on food security, incomes and climate resilience, combined with the characteristic of not implying additional labor are major determinants.Participation in decision making on implementing the practices: Most male and female farmers agreed that male did decide alone on the implementation of: manure, FMNR and microdose of inorganic fertilizers. They disagreed, however, on their level of participation in the decision to implement the other practices: e.g both reported being the ones deciding alone on agroforestry (96% for male and 67% of female) and reduced tillage (79% male; 47% female).For drought tolerant varieties and the mix of organic matter + inorganic fertilizers, about half of the male reported mainly being the deciding alone while female reported more often that it was a joined decision.Participation in CSA implementation: Male and female farmers reported that male did most of the work associated with the implementation of: reduced tillage, manure and microdose of inorganic fertilizers. Contradictory perceptions where recorded on the other practices. For agroforestry, both (91% of male and 67% of female) reported that they did most of the work, similar to what was observed for FMNR (>50% in male and 38% in female). For drought tolerant varieties, 42% of female considered that they equally contributed while 47% of male said that they did most of the work.Participation/Control of income generated through CSA: The level of participation and/or control over income generated by the seven practices was above 97% for female and above 98% for male farmers.Smallholder farmers in Kaffrine continue to face the historical challenges associated with climate variability. They are implementing coping strategies but also risk mitigation actions mainly driven by climate shocks. Despite their low proportion (7%), female-headed household, showed, higher levels of food security during the hardest months and made changes in their cropping activities more often than male-headed HH. The level of adoption of the CSA practices in Kaffrine is very high (95% in male-headed HH and 100% in the female-HH) reflecting scaling out and farmer to farmer learning. This is also consistent with the positive perceptions on the impacts of these practices on HH livelihoods (income generation), food security and climate resilience as well as on female and male participation and/or control over the generated resources (above 97%).Bonilla-Findji O, Eitzinger A, Andrieu N, Jarvis A, Ouedraogo M, Zougmoré R, Mamadou F, Adeyemi C (2020) \"2019 -CSA Monitoring: Kaffrine Climate- "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"59aa8c31e6f05c319130832f6f601582","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/37df4dff-1f12-47d2-b306-3094c72520af/retrieve","id":"795633107"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"99d476f4-2f04-4bee-ac36-ae0957458b0f","content":"One of the key attributes of small reservoirs in many locations in the world is the unreliability (or the absence) of up-to-date inventories. The evaluation of their potential at national or regional scales, and the strategic planning of future infrastructure in selected areas, are dependant on accurate information. It is important to have at disposition a synoptic perspective highlighting \"where reservoirs are\".Burkina Faso is probably the West African country with the highest density of small reservoirs. As elsewhere, the demand for the creation of new reservoirs remains constant. Neither the actual distribution of small reservoirs nor the spatial dynamics associated with the construction of new devices are available. Basic information regarding the status of small reservoirs i.e. their locations and size remain to be gathered and shared.Small reservoirs are artificially created aquatic ecosystems. Intrinsic factors such as size (depth) determine their potential (e.g. capacity, biological productivity). But external driving pressures, hereafter called contexts, ultimately control their effective properties (Cecchi 2007). Growing populations and intensive use of watersheds may exert severe pressures that e.g. modify runoff or stimulate eutrophication. Conversely the value of small reservoirs isolated in an area devoid of people is questionable. Contexts, including human behavior, modulate their potential. It is useful to locate reservoirs in response to the key drivers exerted by their environment.A 'pilot' Atlas of Lakes and Reservoirs of Burkina Faso, called FasoMAB, has been developed to fulfill these needs. Earlier versions of the atlas were developed to help to profile specific interventions of the SRP in Burkina Faso, and first of all determine \"where to work\". It was decided to focus scientific activities in areas simultaneously characterized by high densities of populations and high densities of reservoirs (hot spots). Administrative limits were first used to select these areas, with departments (N=351) as finest grain (Fig. 1). Further refinements provided alternative geographical perceptions of these hot spots. Using the grid of the Climatic Research Unit to pixelize the country allowed a neutral identification of clusters of reservoirs; the use of a Digital Elevation Model furnished a hydrographic perspective and allowed the identification of target basins. The tool has been developed using only the most recent available secondary databases, provided by official sources (to insure the fingerprinting of data). Merging and interconnecting these heterogeneous data was problematic. We homogenized this disparate information in a metadata base, and created a tailor made GIS to combine all of the data, and generate maps. Subsequently we realized that this project intended solely to focus the work of the SRP (i.e. to select study areas), could also be a valuable by-product of the SRP project. The FasoMAB atlas has been developed to share this information, through a limited series of maps and commentaries that present some of the main characteristics of lakes and reservoirs in Burkina Faso. The ambition is not to provide a definitive description. Daily reservoirs are built or destroyed. This atlas could nevertheless contribute to a better assessment of reservoirs, and maybe could stimulate further initiatives. From a very pragmatic point of view, the atlas allows immediate visualizations (\"the power of maps\") of reservoirs and thus illustrates their role and importance. This tool highlights some of these insights, as displayed by the FasoMAB atlas.The target groups for this tool are those concerned with small reservoirs in Burkina Faso and those who may see the utility in creating a similar atlas in their region of interest. The FasoMAB atlas has been developed to share small reservoir information with the National Water Management Directorate (DGRE), an institutional partner of SRP in Burkina Faso. FasoMAB is accessible online via the DGRE and IRD web sites.Because we used secondary databases provided by different institutions (see Table. 1), which sometimes have very different geographical attributes, cross-validation was required. The GIS specialists organized the data in a unique and efficient meta-system. It required the meticulous and time-consuming comparison and validation of the different sources to create the atlas.Different categories of data were used: -Registers and inventories (reservoirs, populations, etc.) developed by national institutions such as DGRE and the National Institute for Statistics and Demography (INSD). Although various attributes and descriptors are included within these data bases, the information is usually not systematically georeferenced. An exception, new DGRE database, PEM: Modern Watering-Places, 2006, provides both watering locations and population data with georeferenced attributes for the first time for the entire country. We used this data base. However, it needed cleaning and preparation (see limits in Table 1). -Thematic maps (administrative limits, hydrographic networks basins, and geomorphology, etc.), sometimes redundantly provided by different sources had to be corrected and merged, for example the DGRE and National Geographic Institute (IGB) maps of the hydrographic network.In that case, the data are often georeferenced, but sometimes using different projection systems.The DGRE uses a geographical reference system incompatible to currently accepted geographical format. The use of an alternative resource (Digital Terrain Model SRTM90, NASA) allowed a clarification of the hydrographic network. Other thematic data, not georeferenced, were provided as polygons. -Remote sensing information was provided by IGB, which corresponds to a Landsat TM-based description of land use at the national scale from two different periods (1992 and 2002). We'll see below the important limitations associated to these data resources (see limits in the table 1).Regarding surface water, and whatever the limitations encountered, this data base remains up to now unique, in providing a national and synoptic perspective. Thematic maps and remotely sensed information provide details on extent and distribution of water masses, but have limitations when individual attributes (e.g. age) are of interest.The FasoMAB pilot Atlas has been developed in combining information from these different sources with the aim of presenting the status of surface waters in Burkina Faso within their human and biophysical environment.FasoMAB is a small \"pilot\" project. The ultimate version of this kind of tool should be developed by national or basin level agencies, and ideally regularly updated using a uniform format shared by all of the agencies providing data. It should be public good accessible to all users.The data used in the creation the FasoMAB Atlas are listed in Table 1. A brief description of the treatments used follows.The data have been systematically verified (quality, mode of acquisition, comparison of sources...) and treated (reformatting and organization). Whenever necessary, records have also been modified (localized, substituted, deleted, or extended). Finally they have been validated, a step which consisted of defining quantitative limits and a few subjective standards. Missing or inadequate data were recreated if they could not be found in other available data sets.ArcGIS has been used to incorporate all collected information and to generate maps. ArcGIS uses the first northern UTM zone (zone 30N) projection, based on the WGS 84 datum. Our data are most densely concentrated in this zone, and WGS 84 is the datum used by the global positioning system (GPS). Thus, this choice facilitates the importation of eventual new data without excessive treatment. Burkina Faso is a small (274,000 km 2 ) land locked West African country. It is enclosed in the large northward swing of the Niger River: a third (30.5 %) of the national territory, mainly in his northern and eastern parts, is in the Niger basin (Map 1). Most of the country (63.1 %) is in the upper end of the Volta Basin. The remaining (6.5 %), bordering Mali and Ivory Coast, drains into the major rivers that constitute the Comoé basin. In Burkina Faso, the Volta basin is mainly constituted by two large watersheds, the Mouhoun (former Black Volta, 53 % of the Volta basin' area in Burkina Faso) and the Nakambé (ex-White Volta, 47%).Owing to their different characteristics (size, latitude, etc.), these basins carry very different quantities of water across Burkina Faso's boarders. With more than 5 km 3 yearly flowing towards Ghana via the Nakambé and Mouhoun rivers (Tab. 2), the Volta basin appears as the most important transboundary watershed of Burkina Faso (Andreini et al. 2002): its importance is crucial to the hydrologic budget of the Volta Lake in Ghana.  A large fraction of the national population resides in the Volta: densities are elevated, particularly for the Nakambé basin (see Table . 2). Anthropogenic pressures exerted on resources (ratio of population's densities used here as proxy) are expected to be there 2 to 3 times those in the Comoé and Niger basins.Information regarding the lakes and reservoirs of Burkina Faso are available from two main sources: the official inventories provided by DGRE (locked in 2001) and the remote sensing data on water masses > 5 hectares, as described by the Land Use National Database (BDOT, IGB) in 2002 (see Table 1).The DGRE data are presented as a series of attributes (location, administrative features, technical characteristics, date of construction, type and dimensions of dikes, heights and volumes, etc.), theoretically provided for 1453 records (Map 2).Map 2: Localization of the 1453 lakes and reservoirs in Burkina Faso (DGRE records). The class < 0.2 Mm 3 includes also reservoirs without capacity-related information.Apart from location and administrative features, that could be confirmed from other sources of information (location by BDOT; administrative features by BNDT, e.g. national topographic database); none of these characteristics is verifiable. Moreover, only a fraction of records are complete.Age of reservoirs, as example, is an important parameter: 1053 records (72.5 %) are available (Fig. 2). The oldest reservoirs are over a century old: it's a record in West Africa! Today, this water constitutes a normal component of landscape: uses and users have evolved together. Half of registered reservoirs were built between 1974 and 1987, during a dramatic drought that affected all West Africa. The construction of dams was chosen as a measure to secure water for people and their livestock. Building reservoirs as a form of insurance against drought continues today. We observe new construction daily in field and in local newspaper reports. New reservoirs will continue to be a reality in rural Burkina Faso for the foreseeable future.  1910 1912-1939 1940-1956 1957-1973 1974-1987 1988-2001  Volume is registered for 1015 reservoirs (70 % of the records) in the DGRE census (Fig. 3). Two large reservoirs (Bagré and Kompienga, 1.7 and 2 km 3 respectively), both in the Southern part of the Nakambé basin (see Map 3) account for more than 60 % of the national capacity (Fig. 3). Conversely, the contribution of the numerous small reservoirs (capacity < 1 Mm 3 : N = 881, 86.8% of the total number of reservoirs) represents less than 3.3 % of the national capacity.The number and size of the reservoirs are strongly dependant on the morphology and their location in the drainage network. A general expectation is that there should be an inverse relationship between their size and their number: smaller they are, more numerous they are. Both the histogram and the size distribution frequency of registered volumes indicate a truncation of the observed distribution, reflecting the fact that small-size infrastructures are always poorly represented in official data bases (Meybeck 1995, Lehner & Döll 2004).Thus, we postulated a significant underestimation in the census of smallest reservoirs in the DGRE database. It should to be added however that doubling the number of the smallest reservoirs registered (e.g. < 1 Mm 3 ) wouldn't change significantly the global contribution of the different capacities'classes, as largest reservoirs will continue to represent more than 93 % of the national storage. The Volta basin is again particularly important (Tab. 3): 85% of the national storage capacity is in reservoirs located on the Nakambé or its tributaries, confirming the strategic role played by this basin in Burkina Faso.  Around fifty percent of the total storage capacity is replenished annually (DGRE 2001): the yearly filling of reservoirs is not systematic; a large fraction of stored water is immediately used, mainly for hydropower, irrigation and tap water. For the Nakambé river and its tributaries, the amount of water yearly stored within reservoirs corresponds to quite the annual inflow of the river (2.24 Mm 3 stocked and 2.44 Mm 3 as annual inflow, see Table 2): an increasing in the storage' capacity if the Nakambé basin will obligatorily affect the annual inflow, highlighting the potential tensions between Ghana and Burkina Faso regarding transboundary water sharing.The classification procedure applied by IGB for the land use characterization (BDOT) allows for the description of all water bodies with areas > 5 hectares. It provides synoptic information, at the national scale, that includes both location and size. Unluckily, no clear indication regarding season and thus hydrologic status, e.g. high versus low water, with all infinite intermediary options is really available. We made two major assumptions to use the information provided by BDOT.-The addition of all water bodies identified by the automatic classification procedure used by IGB for the treatment of the 2002 remote sensing sources (Landsat TM; see § limitations of the tools) provides a minimal value. We assume that the water bodies (> 5 hectares) identified were effectively present: if for seasonal reason (e.g. low versus high levels), areas are undervalued, or if some reservoirs have not been sensed remotely because they are too small or dry, the following estimates should be considered as explicitly underestimated.-The spatially heterogeneous visual treatment used for the establishment of the BDOT 1992 data made unrealistic an analysis of land use evolution from 1992 and 2002 (see § limitations of the tools). Nevertheless, we consider that owing to the unambiguous, even though visual, detection of surface water > 5 hectares on Landsat TM colored compositions (> 50 pixels 30m x 30m), the values indicated for 1992 will also (e.g. as for 2002) constitute a minimum. Seasonal reasons (e.g. low levels) as accuracy of treatments (more or less convincing) could minimize, but not major, the observed situations, and particularly the differences hereafter discussed between the two periods.Around 1,050 km 2 of water (0.4 % of the national territory, 274,000 km 2 ) have been automatically identified by IGB using a standardized procedure for the classification of 2002 remote sensed information (Map 2). They found 620 lakes and reservoirs > 5 hectares. Their distribution covers all the country. There is no simple relationship between the rainfall pattern (here represented by the CRU data, see New et al. 2002) and the distribution of reservoirs. Most of them are concentrated in the central part of the country and along the Nakambé corridor. Burkina Faso is a relatively flat country without any significant relief. The majority of water bodies are located at altitudes between 200 and 400 m; there does not appear to be relationship linking their size and their altitude, mostly because of the coarse grain used for elevation' delineation (100 m). The deepest reservoir of the country, Kompienga, lies under the 200 m isoclines.Map 2: Lakes and reservoirs > 5 hectares in Burkina Faso.Fourteen hundred and fifty reservoirs were inventoried in the 2001 DGRE database. An unknown fraction of them is temporary. Six hundred and twenty water masses were identified by BDOT in 2002: the discrepancy is significant! Seasonal reasons have first to be suspected. A complete Landsat TM coverage of the country for landuse characterization may reasonably be found during the dry season, when cloud cover is supposed to be minimal, and also when contrasts between classes are said to be maximal. For the four largest reservoirs in the country (Kompienga, Bagré, Ziga and Yako), their observed sizes in 2002 corresponded to around 70% of their maxima. It's reasonable to assume that the BDOT classifications were made with dry season pictures. It implies that the smaller water bodies may be too small to be depixelized, or even dry, justifying some of the observed discrepancy.The DGRE database indicated that some 24 reservoirs were built yearly between 1988 and 2001 and 240 reservoirs were probably built between 1992 and 2002. The BDOT indicates an increase of only 79 between the two periods. Owing to the previous discussion, we argue that they correspond to large enough (e.g. perennial) systems, highlighting again the poor representation of smallest aquatic ecosystems, including small reservoirs.Despite these limitations, approximately In 2002, BDOT also reported that the length of the shoreline associated to these water bodies, was approximately 4,000 km. Applying the mean national population' density (see table 2) to a buffer zone of 3 km along this shoreline indicates that about half a million of inhabitants are in close contact with water (Keiser et al. 2005 used a distance of 2 km away from the shoreline of reservoirs to delineate the potential biting area of mosquitoes; 3 km is much less than the distance traveled daily by rural people to use water from reservoirs). This population could be considered at risk regarding water borne diseases (McCartney et al. 2007). The shoreline is the contact area between users and water bodies: it's a place of labor, for domestic purposes or for small scale production; it's also a place for leisure, particularly for childrens. The shoreline is the principal hot spot associated the transmission of water borne diseases and contamination. From 1992 to 2002, the creation of 800 km of new shoreline may have benefited approximately 90 000 (maybe new) people, using the different goods and services associated to the close availability of water, and conversely exposed them to a potential new burden of threats.These different estimations are in all probability low. The areas and shoreline lengths are intermediate if not minimal values owing to seasonal fluctuations in the dry season and we assume also a huge underestimate for both areas and shorelines due to the pixel size (11 pixels/hectare with Landsat TM). In addition the number of (small) reservoirs is obviously underestimated.Size (surface) distribution of water masses in 1992 and 2002 reveal close characteristics: the most striking features is its linearity when drawn on a double logarithmic scale (Fig. 4). This indicates that the lake size distribution follows a power law in the form N = xA y ; an observation made already by various authors (Wetzel 1990, Meybeck 1995). If y = -1, the relationship becomes scale invariant, implying that the distribution of lakes and their sizes is fractal in form (Lehner & Döll 2004), as observed for small reservoirs in the Upper East of Ghana (Liebe 2002). The application of these power laws allows the calculation of (theoretical) N values that will perfectly fit the observed regressions in 1992 and in 2002 (Tab. 5). These calculated numbers have to be considered with precautions: these are brutal estimations! However, several interesting points are highlighted:-Regressions are strongly influenced by large systems, which are the less abundant. The addition of 4 large identifiable reservoirs (surfaces between 10 and 100 km 2 ) between 1992 and 2002 significantly improve the quality of the regression (Fig. 4).-Differences between calculated and observed numbers show that discrepancy increase with the diminution in size of water masses (Tab. 5).o A same value is indicated in BDOT 1992 and BDOT 2002 for the smallest size' classe, [0.05 -0.1[km2: N = 86, whereas all other classes have increased during the same period. It's not by chance: it's a bias, probably associated to the visual treatment realized on BDOT 1992. Assemblages of pixels are too small for a global and efficient \"on-screen\" discrimination. This class is also the most sensitive to seasonal variations and shall be the most underestimated by BDOT, owing to the remote sensing period used.o More interesting are the results associated to the size'classe [0.1 -1[km 2 : results indicate that in 1992 as in 2002, less than half of the theoretical number of water masses have been discriminated by the treatments applied to remote sensed information. The smallest reservoirs in concern, 100 hectares, will appear in their majority too large to dry: if present, they shall have been discriminated, a minima with the automatic procedure applied by IGB in 2002. We may conclude that even if there is an underestimation of the exact number of reservoirs included in this size' classe, this underestimation shouldn't be as important as the regression suggests it could be. The DGRE census inventoried 1450 reservoirs in 2001: we already advocated that the discrepancy between this number and the 620 water masses depicted by BDOT in 2002 is for a significant part attributable to very small reservoirs. We may confirm that medium size' reservoirs (e.g. [0.1 -1[km2) wouldn't be so in concern. This observation may perhaps also sustain the idea that all \"theoretical\" places eligible for reservoirs' construction are far from being saturated.o Following the DGRE database information, we forecasted that 240 reservoirs may have been edified between 1992 and 2002: BDOT indicates that only 79 have been effectively created. We may further consider that the difference (240 -79 = 161) could be attributable to smallest reservoirs (< 0.1 km 2 ), which number didn't change between 1992 and 2002 in BDOT (N = 86 for both periods). So far, we'll consider that in 2002 this class corresponded to an effective of (86 + 161) 247 reservoirs, growing their total number towards 781 in 2002.From 1992 to 2002, 526 new km 2 of water have been identified by BDOT. Among them, 262 km 2 (Tab. 4) have been attributed to reservoirs: 264 km 2 (50 % of this augmentation) have to explained.We postulated that BDOT underestimated the number of small reservoirs, and have modified the number of systems < 0.1 km 2 from 86 to 247. This enhancement (+ 161 reservoirs) may however correspond to a maximum increase of 16 km 2 in surface. Even in increasing by a factor 10 this number (e.g. + 1600 reservoirs < 0.1 km 2 between 1992 and 2002), the associated surface wouldn't exceed 160 km 2 . Around 100 km 2 remained still to be justified. We may conclude that apart from the artificial evolution of the water surface associated to the edification of new reservoirs, other factor(s) may interplay: a seasonal lag between the two seasons of remote sensed information acquisition could first be suggested as, independently of the presence (and number) of reservoirs at these two periods, there were more water (≈ + 38%) in 1992 than in 2002 [(264 -160)/264 km 2 ].It follows that areas and shorelines described for 2002 correspond to minimal values that are clearly associated to large enough ecosystems to occupy significant surfaces \"late\" in the dry season. The 620 water masses identified in 2002 may thus be associated to perennial water masses.Among the 1453 records in the DGRE lakes and reservoirs census, 419 only are available to compare their indicated characteristics, namely their volume, and their surface as estimated by the BDOT classification (for surface > 5 hectares). Even if it corresponds to a drastic reduction, this shortened database could be useful to explore eventual relationships between these two parameters.As previously discussed, BDOT 2002 provides areas and shorelines: there is (logically) a perfect allometric relationship between both (Fig. 5). Such a relationship validates the quality of data obtained from the BDOT. It indicates also a clear homogeneity in the form of reservoirs.A compactness coefficient (equivalent to the Gravelius coefficient for watershed), called Shoreline Development Index (D L , Hutchinson 1957) has been calculated: D L = 0,282 * P * A -1/2 with P, the shoreline length (km) and A, the Area (km 2 ) of the water masses: D L is the ratio of the length of the shore line to the length of the circumference of a circle of area equal to that of the water system in concern. Only a few lakes, such as crater lakes approach the circular shape, i.e., D L = 1 (circular). This coefficient is always greater than 1: more it is low, more the water masses in concern have a regular form. D L is strongly dependant on the size of water masses (Fig. 6), indicating first that smaller they are, the more simple their morphology is. It reveals also the global homogeneity of reservoirs both within (relatively small and non recovering standard deviations) and between the different classes (regression). That sounds logical regarding their spatial distribution (Nakambé corridor mainly) and their dispersion within the low margins of the basin (between the 200 m and 400 m isoclines). What is known about reservoirs in Burkina Faso is their low mean and maximum depths. Apart from the Kompienga reservoir, the deepest of the country, which benefits from an undulated landscape, and from some rare medium systems located within the high course of Comoé River (e.g. Moussodougou, Douna), maximal depths rarely exceed 10 to 15 m. For perennial reservoirs, areas may vary from, say, 1 to 1000 km 2 , whereas in the same time, the maximum depths will remain proportionally quite constant in varying, say, between 5 to 15 m: a factor 1000 for areas, a factor 3 for depths. It means that reservoirs in Burkina Faso are mostly shallow lakes, their relative shallowness increasing with their size. This echoes with the previous observation regarding morphology of reservoirs: when increasing the area, the shoreline will proportionally increase faster for large systems than for small one, but in involving very shallow areas. In other words, to increase by one unit the volume of large systems will require proportionally far more surface than what is required for small ones.The same ensemble of objects, namely the lakes and reservoirs from Burkina Faso, could be described towards two different and completely independent data sources: on the one hand, the DGRE census and, on the other hand, the BDOT classification. The census, locked in 2001, and the BDOT 2002 are supposed to be contemporaneous, and thus comparable. The superposition of both distributions suggests a certain amount of redundancy (Fig. 7). Both distributions apply to the same ensemble of objects: the relative contribution of the different size classes reveals a coherent pattern, in volume as in surface, indicating again the predominance of small (< 1 km 2 / 1 Mm 3 ) even very small (< 10 hectares / 100 000 m 3 ) water masses. Unluckily, no information is provided by that way regarding the existence of eventual relationship linking volumes and surfaces.Volumes provided by the DGRE census and areas from the BDOT 2002 are available for 419 water masses. A significant tendency links these morphological traits (Fig. 8).The two larger reservoirs (Bagré and Kompienga) were eliminated. Three small size outliers have been (graphically) identified and were simply discarded because of evident error for their volumes.For the larger systems (grey dots on Fig. 8), two apparent outliers have also been identified and obvious typographic mistakes corrected. But it's by evidence impossible to proceed identically for the whole data base, first owing to the absence of any external reference allowing the validation of the information provided. Huge tendencies only can be proposed.We first estimated for each record its theoretical volume by applying the regression (Fig. 8), and compared the estimations to the registered values provided by the DGRE census. We eliminated all records whose volume was over-or underestimated by more than 75 %: 277 records remained available to recreate another regression, V (x 1000 m 3 ) = 1,612 x A (km 2 ), R 2 = 0.95.Applying this second regression to the 618 records < 100 km 2 provided by BDOT indicates first that 1.2 km 3 were stored within these perennial water masses during the 2002 dry season. We previously observed that an underestimation evaluated to 38 % characterized the BDOT 2002 classification, when compared to the 1992 classification. We also indicated that the surfaces provided by BDOT 2002 for the larger reservoirs of the country were underestimated by around 30 %.It seems thus admissible to apply such a coefficient to the estimated volumes and thus to propose a stored capacity of (1.2 km 3 + 30 %) = 1.56 km 3 . Adding the cumulated capacities of Bagré and Kompienga indicates that 5.26 km 3 were stored in 2002: it corresponds to values provided by the DGRE census (Tab. 3) but without taking in account the numerous < 0.1 km 2 reservoirs (30 to 35 % of the total, Fig. 7). We already observed that their storage contribution remains weak, whatever their number. If this assertion could be acceptable at a global scale, as discussed here in terms of hydrologic budget, its pertinence becomes doubtful at local scales. Water storage facilities are a resource, particularly in arid country, and as such contribute to the water poverty alleviation, first in terms of water availability.Map 3 provides an illustration of a more sophisticated treatment allowed by the FasoMAB project.The PEM database (DGRE 2006) indicates the localization of all groundwater distribution devices implemented in Burkina Faso. We added all reservoirs as inventoried by the DGRE (2001) database, and projected both categories of water resources on a map clothed with the hydrographic network (a combination of BDOT 2002 and those that has been created with the SRTM numerical model). A 3 km radius buffer has thus been created around each of the georeferenced point indicating the presence of a water providing device. Any point of the territory that is located out of this buffer is declared as \"water scare area\" and appears with a pink color on Map 3. For WHO (Howard & Bartram 2003), a distance > 1 km is defined as a \"no access\" situation, always inducing severe health damages. We increase this distance to 3 km to minor local heterogeneities and illustrate more clearly large infra-and inter-regional discrepancies. Water devices are defined here as points. For lakes and reservoirs, polygons should have been used: their shorelines are indeed systematically used by their riverines. Pink areas around the Bagré and Kompienga lakes (in the southern part of the Nakambé basin) are thus abusive. It remains that the observed distribution of water scarce areas is firstly characterized by its extreme patchiness.An important fraction of the country appears in water scarce conditions as defined here, and large pockets without infrastructures are apparent. These areas may constitute target areas in terms of future equipments.These \"water scarce\" zones are welting the central part of the country which constitutes a dramatic exception. The concentration of water providing devices within the Nakambé basin (dark line on Map 3) is obvious: surface water as groundwater are intensively exploited. We already have mentioned that this area corresponds to the densest zone of the country: there is an evident link between both as investments are logically concentrated in the most populated areas. The delineation of the linguistic area shared by the Mossi folk (red line on Map 3) provides another perception of this concentration, probably highlighting the resilience of a traditional but still powerful Establishment that continues to drain within its own influential area a large fraction of development project.Conservation areas, free of human settlements are also of interest: most of them (dark green on Map 3) are not equipped with water harvesting devices, as there is theoretically nobody to use them. The Nakambé corridor, East of Ouagadougou, constitutes a noticeable exception. All clear green zones correspond to area theoretically free of populations that appear either pressured on their borders (as particularly apparent in the western part of the country, along the Mouhoun River and its tributaries), or quite completely invaded (see the two conservation areas located east of Bobo Dioulasso). In this particular last case, the resettlement of refugees populations recently drawn aside of Côte d'Ivoire has to be directly involved (Courtin 2007).These two last points introduce a fundamental dimension: the historical perspective.The map illustrates the location of all georeferenced watering places in Burkina Faso: their obvious concentration in the central part of the country has historical foundations. The delineation of the mooré linguistic area on Map 3 corresponds also and for a long time to the delineation of a degraded area (Izard 2004). With a mean population density of 15 inb/km 2 at the end of the 19 th century, with important disparities (desertion of inland valleys, large scattering of settlements and concentrations in focal places), the \"Moogo\" kingdom early appeared as a very populated area. It's seems paradoxical regarding the unfavourable pedological context and the constitutive soils poverty of this area: overpressure on the natural resources and land degradation seemed a process installed since (and maybe for) a long time.The situation observed in the periphery of conservation areas points out the existence of another scale of change, related to contemporaneous dynamics. If in some place the resettlement of refugees -it was at that time a priority -explains the erosion of protected areas, in many others, it's the human densification within the bordering buffer zones that is in concern. It highlights the sometimes very focal but local demographic dynamics that may often induce, accordingly to the human densification, also focal and local overpressures and degradations.The definition of contexts of small reservoirs, first goal of our tool, has to encompass these two historical dimensions. The Nakambé basin will be again explicitly in concern in our tool kit, regarding in particular cyanobacterial communities that develop preferentially and massively within its reservoirs, and their eventual relationship with the intensification of agricultural practices around the reservoirs. It is hypothesized that huge driving pressures are exerted by watersheds on the global metabolism of reservoirs, including the determinism of the structure of the living communities that develop inside. The influence of contemporaneous landuse is now clearly established (Burford et al. 2007) and the consideration of diachronic insights has proven its importance (Harding et al. 1998). It creates however a very complex situation, as the identification of pertinent proxies including both the actual and the historical conditions, will require (1) adequate data to effectively document the situations, (2) at a pertinent scale. It couldn't be the case with a global perspective. This constitutes one of the main limitations of our tool.It is well known that even for large systems, the reservoir' census provided by DGRE is not exhaustive: Ziga, recently constructed to provide drinking water to the capital, with a capacity of 200 Mm 3 , was not included, nor was the 75 Mm 3 Kanazoe Dam. Both are in the top 10 of largest reservoirs of the country; both lie on the Nakambé River. By definition it is difficult to quantify the error for small reservoirs. We estimated in comparing our data to maps provided by the RESO Project (a regional inventory of water resources) that in some places (along the southern portion of the Mouhoun River, particularly) the official reservoir's database includes fewer than 70% of the dams effectively present. This error may not be the same at national level: numerous recently (after 2001) constructed dams may not be included in the DGRE database. Furthermore, although there has been a general augmentation of the number of dams, new construction is not necessarily occurring at the same rate throughout the country. Their contribution remains largely insignificant in terms of water budget but their local influence is most often of great importance.The BDOT (Base de Données d'Occupation des Terres, \"Land Use Data Base\") provided information on land occupation over the whole country. This came out of a project sponsored by Burkina Faso's Projet National de Gestion des Terroirs (PNGT; \"National Land Management Project\") and realized by IGN-France International in partnership with the Geographic Institute of Burkina (IGB). BDOT uses the hierarchical nomenclature standardized by CORINE LAND COVER, which was initially developed for the European Union and later validated for tropical zones. The land use is described using pixels whose size can range between 5 and 25 hectares according to land use classes.The current BDOT database consists of three elements: data collected in 1992 and 2002, and a field named \"changes\" which summarizes all the differences in land use values between the two periods.It has a resolution of 5 hectares and can thus be considered as a dynamic view of the changes that occurred during the decade. This database, however, unfortunately turned out to be truncated. The 2002 database remains completely valid, as it was created automatically by a standard procedure: it provides local data at the national scale. The 1992 database, on the other hand, was constructed manually by superposing the BDOT 2002 data and a classification of Landsat images taken in 1992. Changes in soil occupation were detected by examining the two images on the screen. To accomplish this, the country was partitioned into 200,000 square tiles; these were then assigned to various IGB operators for processing. The noticeable heterogeneity of the \"changes\" data (Fig. 9) thus reflects the relative skill, precision, and even patience of these operators. The central part of the country contains the greatest number of reservoirs and a very large population, and is therefore crucial to any mobilization of water resources. Yet, quite obviously, this strategic region is far from being the best documented area. Is this absence of visible change really attributable to very weak evolution in an area where population density has indeed been elevated for a long time and where recent local changes appear too small (< 5 hectares) to be detected on screen? Or does this zone's apparent stability simply reflect the operator's lack of fitness in treating the data? In the end, the 1992 BDOT and the \"changes\" database were not used in our analysis. We only conserve the water surfaces estimations provided by BDOT 1992, as it is assumed that even a visual discrimination allows a minimal detection, at least for medium size' reservoirs. Today 650,000 people, or about 5% of the national population, are not correctly geo-referenced. If one supposes that this population is uniformly scattered at the national level, then no bias should be introduced on this scale. This assertion becomes less valid when zooming in on smaller areas. The \"villages\" database (N>8000) that we have constituted represents the elementary unit of the GIS. Its coherence is assumed on the scale of departements (N=350) or basins of several thousand square kilometers. This coherence will have to be validated on a case-by-case basis for any geographic units of smaller size (notably for basins covering tens to hundreds of square kilometers). On the scale of the Nariarle River 1 , for example, specific validation reduces the uncertainty to about 2% of the basin's 150,000 inhabitants.By combining different sources of information, it has been possible to develop a tool that allowed, if not a renewal, but a synthetic description of lakes and reservoirs in Burkina Faso. Their number, obviously underestimated by the official census, may clearly be majored by ten % a minima. To correct the database for large systems is not problematic. More complex even impossible is to rectify information for small systems owing to the absence of external reference. Remote sensed information revealed its limits, first for seasonal reasons. It permitted however to show that both sources (DGRE census and BDOT classifications) provided redundant information: the same objects (e.g. reservoirs) are focused. The very elevated numeric contribution of small even very small systems is highlighted. However, owing to their small size, even a doubling of their number wouldn't erode the dramatic dominance of a small number of (large) reservoirs in the constitution of the national capacity yearly stored in Burkina Faso.The populated Nakambé basin is particularly in concern: the annual flow is yearly retained within principally 4 reservoirs, all 4 in the top five of the largest systems of the country. Simultaneously, this basin concentrated most of small reservoirs, constituting a very dense network of scattered water resources.A relative morphological unity characterizes these reservoirs: very shallow, largely open owing to the flatness of the landscape, they need important areas to accumulate significant volumes in developing elongated shorelines. They offer large surfaces for evaporation.A very minimal estimation is to consider that around half a million of persons is living less than 3 km from a perennial reservoir, mostly again within the Nakambé corridor. Historical reasons justify the concentration of reservoirs within this basin where both long time tendencies (degradation and overexploitation of watersheds) and recent dynamics (agricultural intensification around reservoirs) may exert strong influences on the functioning and properties of water masses.The combination of data provided by DGRE and BDOT allow ultimately the establishment of a coarse relationship linking areas and volumes of reservoirs at the national scale. The results provided are coherent."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9e1ba9b42de3ebf4a8683d1954a87779","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8a9303f2-fb89-4f12-b625-b0d8b68f372a/retrieve","id":"1562128279"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"237eb98f-1e9c-4be5-a959-02efeb58d81d","content":"Développé par une équipe multidisciplinaire de chercheurs de l'Institut international de recherche sur l'élevage (ILRI) et de l'Université Emory, le module WELI est un nouvel outil standardisé qui mesure l'autonomisation des femmes impliquées dans le secteur de l'élevage.Remarque aux concepteurs de l'enquête : Les informations du module G1 peuvent être saisies de différentes manières, mais il y a un moyen particulier de le faire. Il incombe de : (a) identifier l'individu approprié au sein du ménage en mesure de répondre à l'enquête, (b) relier cet individu du module au fichier du ménage, (c) coder le résultat de l'entretien, en particulier si ledit individu n'est pas disponible, pour le distinguer des données manquantes, et (d) enregistrer les personnes du ménage qui étaient présentes au cours de l'entretien. Cet outil doit être adapté au contexte du pays, notamment en ajoutant des exemples pertinents et des traductions dans les langues locales, le cas échéant.Remarque aux recenseurs : Ce questionnaire doit être administré séparément aux répondants primaires et secondaires identifiés dans la liste des ménages du questionnaire au niveau du ménage. Vous devez renseigner la page de couverture pour chaque individu identifié dans la « Section de sélection », même si l'individu n'est pas disponible pour être interviewé à des fins de déclaration. Pour certaines enquêtes (telles que celles axées sur les résultats nutritionnels), le répondant féminin peut être la femme bénéficiaire ou la mère, ou encore la personne qui s'occupe principalement de l'enfant index (également le répondant féminin pour le module de nutrition pro-WEAI). Veuillez vous assurer qu'elle est également la personne interrogée pour ce questionnaire et que le répondant masculin est son époux/partenaire (le cas échéant). Veuillez vérifier à nouveau, pour vous en assurer, que :• vous avez rempli la section de la liste du questionnaire ménage pour identifier la/les personne(s) interrogée(s) primaire(s) et/ou secondaire(s) correcte(s) ;• vous avez correctement noté l'ID du ménage et l'ID de l'individu pour la personne que vous allez interroger ;• vous avez obtenu le consentement éclairé de l'individu dans le questionnaire ménage ;• vous avez cherché à interroger la personne en privé ou lorsque les autres membres du ménage ne peuvent pas entendre ses propos ou contribuer aux réponses f. Sélectionnez weli_ilri_2019_... (choisissez l'outil le plus récent/approprié pour votre projet) et « Get selected ».g. Cliquez sur OK pour télécharger le formulaire h. Une fois le téléchargement terminé, cliquez sur « Remplir le formulaire vierge » pour lancer l'application de collecte des données.• Ne lisez pas aux répondants la liste des réponses codées, à moins qu'on ne leur demande explicitement de « LIRE ». Laissez plutôt la personne interrogée vous donner sa réponse à la question et elle choisira la réponse la plus appropriée dans la liste des réponses codées. Si la réponse du répondant n'est pas claire, cela peut signifier qu'il/elle n'a pas compris la question. Dans ce cas, approfondissez et reformulez la question pour qu'elle soit correctement comprise.• Le mois doit toujours être écrit en chiffres, en utilisant des nombres de 1 à 12.• L'année doit toujours être écrite avec 4 chiffres.• Les dates complètes telles que les dates de naissance ou les dates d'interview doivent respecter le format suivant : JJ-MM-AAAA (c.-à-d. le jour à 2 chiffres, le mois à 2 chiffres, l'année à 4 chiffres).• Les pourcentages doivent toujours être écrits avec des chiffres compris entre 0 et 100.• Commencez par le questionnaire ménage, puis poursuivez avec les questionnaires individuels. Si possible, et si la composition de l'équipe de terrain le permet, les enquêteurs masculins doivent interroger le principal répondant masculin et les enquêteurs féminins, le principal répondant féminin.• Pour le questionnaire individuel, les répondants individuels doivent si possible être interrogés séparément, sans la présence d'autres membres du ménage ou de personnes extérieures. Il N'est PAS conseillé que d'autres membres du ménage aident à se souvenir des questions du questionnaire individuel. Il est cependant acceptable que d'autres membres du ménage aident à se rappeler les questions posées au répondant dans le cadre des questions au niveau du ménage UNIQUEMENT.• Bien que la recherche estime différents indicateurs, le principal étant l'Indice d'autonomisation des femmes dans l'élevage (WELI), la mention de la recherche en cours doit porter sur le projet dans le cadre duquel les estimations du WELI sont nécessaires soit pour suivre l'avancement du projet, soit pour informer les activités du projet, et non pas nécessairement pour décrire les outils d'analyse (c'est-à-dire le WELI, etc.). Comme indiqué dans le formulaire de consentement à l'étude, les questions portent directement sur la prise de décision au sein du ménage. Afin de ne pas donner l'impression que nous voulons changer ou influencer les rôles de genre ou l'autonomisation des femmes en utilisant l'étude, ce qui pourrait biaiser ou fausser les résultats, il est préférable de présenter le projet en question et ce que l'outil couvre en termes de prise de décision au sein du ménage, et non pas l'analyse des données (autonomisation des femmes).• 1 kilomètre = 0,6 mille• 1,67 kilomètre = 1 mille• 1 mile = 1 667 mètres• 1 PIED = 0,30 MÈTRE• 1 MÈTRE = 0,91 MÈTRE• 1 KILOMÈTRE = 0,62 MILLE• 1 acre = 100 décimales• 1 hectare = 2,47 acres• 10 000 mètres carrés = 1 hectare• 4 048 mètres carrés = 1 acre• 1 mètre carré = 0,000245 acresLes codes suivants peuvent être appropriés pour toute question de l'enquête sur les ménages. En aucun cas (à l'exception des invitations à passer à la question suivante), une question ne doit être laissée sans réponse. Si vous n'êtes pas sûr(e), prenez une note et demandez à votre superviseur à la fin du questionnaire de quelle manière renseigner la question particulière.Sans objet (SO)/Aucune décision prise 98Si autre, précisez 99Instructions par section : Questionnaire pour les ménagesUne définition claire et standardisée du ménage est importante car différentes définitions du ménage entraînent différentes compositions de ce même ménage, et peuvent avoir des impacts significatifs sur la variation des indicateurs de résultats, en particulier en ce qui concerne le travail et la consommation (Beaman et Dillon 2012).Afin de faciliter les comparaisons entre pays, nous recommandons les définitions standard à utiliser pour identifier ce qui peut être qualifié de « ménage », et qui de sujet d'entretien ou de répondant « primaire » et « secondaire ».Plusieurs enquêtes portant sur les ménages à buts multiples définissent un ménage comme étant un groupe de personnes vivant ensemble et prenant de la nourriture dans la « même marmite » (Ayad et. al., 1994 ;Glewwe, 2000). La partie importante de cette définition est que le groupe d'individus partage au moins certaines ressources communes et prend certaines décisions communes en matière de budget et de dépenses. Un membre du ménage est une personne qui vit dans ledit ménage depuis au moins six (6) mois, et au moins la moitié de la semaine de chaque semaine au cours de ces mêmes mois. Même les personnes qui n'ont pas de liens de parenté (comme les domestiques, les locataires ou les travailleurs agricoles) sont des membres du ménage si elles remplissent ces conditions, et inversement, les individus qui dorment dans le ménage, mais qui ne supportent aucun coût relatif à la nourriture ou ne prennent pas de nourriture dans « la même marmite », ne sont pas considérés comme des membres du ménage. Cette définition, qui comprend des exemples et des directives plus spécifiques, est intégrée dans les questionnaires.Il convient de noter que, par exception aux règles susmentionnées, les personnes suivantes doivent être considérées comme membres du ménage :• Un nouveau-né de moins de 3 mois.• Une personne qui a rejoint le ménage par mariage il y a de cela moins de 3 mois.• Les serviteurs, les locataires et les travailleurs agricoles qui font actuellement partie du ménage et qui y resteront plus longtemps mais qui sont arrivés il y a moins de 3 mois.Ne pas considérer comme membre du ménage :• Une personne décédée très récemment mais qui est restée plus de 3 mois au cours des 6 derniers mois.• Une personne qui a quitté le ménage suite à un mariage moins de 3 mois auparavant.• Les serviteurs, les locataires et les travailleurs agricoles qui sont restés plus de 3 mois au cours des 6 derniers mois mais qui sont partis définitivement.• Si la définition standard du ménage n'a aucun sens dans le contexte où les enquêtes seront mises en oeuvre, le plus important est de s'assurer que les recenseurs ont la même compréhension des définitions afin que la mise en oeuvre soit cohérente pour l'ensemble des ménages. En cas de doute sur la personne à inclure ou exclure, veuillez en discuter avec votre superviseur.Les répondants primaires et secondaires sont ceux qui sont identifiés comme étant les principaux responsables de la prise de décision, tant sociale qu'économique, au sein du ménage. Ils sont généralement mari et femme ; ils peuvent cependant également correspondre à d'autres membres tant qu'il y a un homme et une femme âgés de 18 ans et plus. Par exemple, une mère veuve et son fils adulte peuvent être les principaux responsables de la prise de décision au sein du ménage. La femme index peut être soit la répondante principale, soit la répondante secondaire.Avant de commencer l'interview, il est nécessaire de présenter le ménage au niveau de l'enquête et d'obtenir son consentement pour y participer. Il faut lui faire comprendre que sa participation à l'enquête est volontaire.Après avoir lu le consentement éclairé et l'avoir demandé aux personnes interrogées, assurez-vous de faire signer les duplicata du consentement éclairé à chaque membre du ménage et de laisser un exemplaire au ménage après l'interview.La couverture : Veuillez vous assurer que les informations recueillies sur la page de couverture du questionnaire individuel sont cohérentes avec les informations de la page de couverture du questionnaire ménage. Il est très important que l'ID du ménage et l'ID de l'individu soient corrects (obtenus à partir de la liste des ménages). Pour les rangées G et H, les questions G2.07 ne doivent pas être posées, et passez à l'activité suivante.Pour les rangées I à K, les questions G2.07 et G2.08 ne doivent pas être posées, et passez à l'activité suivante.Éléments du Tableau G2.01 -G2.07Dans certains cas, les répondants auront besoin de plus d'explications quant au contenu de certaines catégories. Dans ce cas, le recenseur peut utiliser des exemples simples en guise d'explication. Ces exemples peuvent être adaptés aux activités spécifiques entreprises par les ménages dans la zone d'enquête. Voici quelques exemples susceptibles d'être utilisés :• A. Culture de céréales de base et transformation de la récolte : Céréales qui sont principalement cultivées pour la consommation alimentaire : Par exemple, avez-vous pris part aux décisions concernant le type de céréales (riz, maïs, manioc, millet, blé) à planter cette année ou au sujet des parcelles dans lesquelles elles seraient plantées, ou encore en ce qui concerne les semences, les engrais (autres intrants) que votre famille achèterait ?• B. Horticulture (jardins) ou cultures de grande valeur et traitement de la récolte : Comprend la production alimentaire à petite échelle dans le jardin pour la consommation personnelle et la vente, qu'elle soit génératrice de revenus ou destinée à la consommation domestique. Par exemple, avez-vous participé aux décisions concernant le type de cultures de rente ou de cultures vivrières (fruits, légumes et autres produits de base) à planter cette année ou dans quelles parcelles elles seraient plantées, ou encore les semences, l'engrais (autres intrants) que votre famille achèterait ?• C. L'élevage de gros bétail et la transformation du lait et/ou de la viande : Par exemple, avez-vous pris part aux décisions concernant l'achat, les soins ou la vente de gros bétail comme les bovins ou les buffles ?• D. Petit élevage et transformation du lait et/ou de la viande : Par exemple, avez-vous participé aux décisions concernant l'achat, les soins ou la vente de petits animaux d'élevage comme les moutons, les chèvres ou les porcs ?• E. Élevage de volaille et d'autres petits animaux : Par exemple, avez-vous pris part aux décisions concernant l'achat, les soins ou la vente de poulets, de canards, de dindes, de cailles et la transformation des oeufs et/ou de la viande de ces animaux d'élevage ?• F. Pêche ou pisciculture : Par exemple, avez-vous pris part aux décisions concernant le moment de la pêche, la façon de remplir un étang à poissons ou les intrants pour la pisciculture ?• G. Activités économiques non agricoles : Petite entreprise, travail indépendant, achat et vente : Par exemple, avez-vous participé aux achats effectués pour une petite entreprise ou à la vente de biens ?• H. Emploi salarié : Travail en nature ou activité rémunérée, à la fois dans l'agriculture et dans d'autres domaines : Par exemple, avez-vous pris part aux décisions concernant votre travail ou celui d'autres membres du ménage à l'extérieur de la maison ?• I. Grands achats occasionnels du ménage : Par exemple, avez-vous pris part à l'achat d'appareils électroménagers coûteux pour la maison, comme un réfrigérateur ou des meubles ? Ou de biens de plus grande valeur comme un terrain ou une bicyclette ?• J. Achats courants des ménages : Par exemple, avez-vous pris part à des dépenses moins importantes du ménage, telles que celles liées aux besoins quotidiens, comme la consommation de nourriture ? Ces catégories d'achats sont axées sur la taille (faible valeur) et la fréquence des achats (achats de routine, achats quotidiens), contrairement aux catégories d'achats des ménages collectées dans le module sur la nutrition et la santé qui se concentrent sur les articles et qui ont une pertinence particulière pour les résultats en matière de santé et de nutrition.• Veuillez introduire la section en disant à la personne interrogée que vous aimeriez parler de la prise de décisions concernant les activités d'élevage dans son ménage, afin de donner un aperçu de la façon dont les biens d'élevage sont utilisés par les membres du ménage.Définition des éléments du Tableau G2.08 -G2.20GRAND RUMINANT (LOCAL LAITIER) …1 -il s'agit des bovins laitiers locaux/indigènes de la région.Remarque : Les bovins laitiers (également appelés vaches laitières) sont des vaches élevées uniquement pour la production de lait. Remarque : Sélectionnez cette option uniquement lorsque tout le troupeau de bovins locaux est gardé pour la production de lait seulement.-il s'agit de bovins laitiers qui sont soit exotiques, soit croisés avec des bovins exotiques. Les bovins laitiers (également appelés vaches laitières) sont des vaches élevées uniquement pour la production de lait. Remarque : Sélectionnez cette option uniquement lorsque le troupeau entier de bovins améliorés est gardé pour la production laitière seulement.-il s'agit de bovins locaux/indigènes élevés à la fois pour la production de lait et de viande bovine (double usage). C'est ce que l'on trouve surtout dans les ménages de petits exploitants agricoles qui élèvent des bovins. Remarque : Sélectionnez cette option lorsque le troupeau entier est composé de races locales et possède à la fois des bovins pour la production laitière et la production de viande bovine.-il s'agit de races exotiques ou croisées de bovins exotiques élevés à la fois pour la production de lait et de viande bovine (double usage). C'est ce que l'on trouve surtout dans les ménages de petits exploitants agricoles qui élèvent des bovins. Remarque : Sélectionnez cette option lorsque le troupeau entier est composé de races améliorées et qu'il possède à la fois des bovins destinés à la production laitière et à la production de viande bovine.PETIT RUMINANT (OVINS, CHÈVRES LOCAUX) …5 -il s'agit d'ovins et de caprins locaux/indigènes.-il s'agit de races exotiques ou de croisements de moutons et de chèvres exotiques.-il s'agit de races locales/indigènes de tout type de volaille domestique, telles que les poulets, les dindes, les canards, les oies, les cailles, etc.-il s'agit de races exotiques ou de croisements de races exotiques de tout type de volaille domestique, comme les poulets, les dindes, les canards, les oies, les cailles, etc.-il s'agit de races locales/indigènes de porcs/porcins.-il s'agit de races exotiques ou de croisements de races exotiques de porcs/ porcins.Posez les questions suivantes à la personne interrogée :G2.08 : Parmi les espèces de bétail suivantes, lesquelles sont élevées dans votre ménage -Sélectionnez toutes les espèces que le ménage garde, selon la personne interrogée. Remarque :• Pour les gros ruminants, si un ménage possède à la fois des animaux laitiers et des animaux de boucherie, sélectionnez seulement l'option GRAND RUMINANT (BOVIN ou MIXTE...) et non pas les deux options• Si une espèce de bétail qui n'appartient à aucune des catégories énumérées est mentionnée par le répondant, sélectionnez l'option « Autre spécification » et procédez à l'inscription du nom de ladite espèce de bétail.G2.09 : Veuillez sélectionner l'espèce et le type de race les plus importants pour les moyens de subsistance de votre ménage -sélectionnez une seule espèce de bétail dans la liste, celle que la personne interrogée identifie comme étant la plus importante pour les moyens de subsistance du ménage.G2.09a : Raison pour laquelle elle est la plus importante pour le bien-être/moyen de subsistance de votre ménage : -Il s'agit d'un champ de texte libre dans lequel vous devez saisir la raison citée par la personne interrogée qui explique pourquoi l'espèce de bétail sélectionnée est importante pour le ménage.G2.10 : Veuillez sélectionner l'espèce et le type de race les plus importants pour votre propre moyen de subsistance -Sélectionnez une seule espèce de bétail dans la liste, celle que la personne interrogée identifie comme la plus importante pour son propre moyen de subsistance. Remarque : l'un ou l'autre ou les trois ci-dessus doivent être considérés comme des animaux reproducteurs m. Organisation de l'insémination artificielle (IA) -cela implique de :1. contacter le fournisseur d'IA ;2. choisir les animaux qui seront les parents de la prochaine génération ;3. prendre des dispositions pour recevoir le service d'IA.Remarque : l'un ou l'autre ou les trois éléments ci-dessus doivent être considérés comme des dispositions prises pour l'insémination artificielle.n. Recours à un service de reproduction -cela implique de :1. rechercher d'autres personnes pour fournir un animal mâle pour la reproduction ;2. choisir les animaux qui seront les parents de la prochaine génération ;3. prendre des dispositions pour ledit service de reproduction.Remarque : l'un ou l'autre ou les trois ci-dessus doivent être considérés comme des services de taureaux receveurs.o. Gros ruminants (laitiers) -il s'agit des bovins laitiers. Les bovins laitiers (aussi appelés vaches laitières) sont des bovins élevés pour leur capacité à produire de grandes quantités de lait. Les vaches laitières sont généralement des vaches élevées uniquement pour la production de lait.-il s'agit de bovins élevés à la fois pour la production de lait et de viande (double usage). C'est ce que l'on trouve surtout dans les ménages de petits exploitants agricoles qui élèvent des bovins.Volaille -il s'agit de tous les types de volailles domestiques, telles que les poulets, les dindes, les canards, les oies, les cailles, etc.Étang à poissons ou équipement de pêche -un étang à poissons, ou vivier, est un étang contrôlé (un petit plan d'eau calme formé naturellement ou par des moyens artificiels), un lac artificiel ou un réservoir qui est rempli de poissons et utilisé en aquaculture pour la pisciculture.L'équipement de pêche est utilisé pour la pêche.Équipement agricole non mécanisé (outils à main, charrue à traction animale) -notamment charrette à bras/ boeuf/âne ; pelle ; hache ; couteau de brousse (panga) ; houe à main ; charrue à boeuf, herse à boeuf, brouette à roue, pompe de pulvérisation à main, coupe-paillettes manuel, pulvérisateur manuel, bidons de traite, etc.Équipement agricole mécanisé -il s'agit notamment des tracteurs charrues, tracteurs herses, motoculteurs et pompes à pédales, pompes à eau.Matériel non agricole -ceci inclut les panneaux solaires, les machines à coudre, le matériel de brasserie, les friteuses.Maison ou bâtiment -il s'agit des locaux d'habitation du ménage et d'autres bâtiments appartenant au ménage.Les biens de consommation durables de grande taille -les réfrigérateurs, les téléviseurs, les canapés, les cuisinières à gaz ou électriques, les réservoirs d'eau.Petits biens de consommation durables -les radios, les ustensiles de cuisine.Autres terres non utilisées à des fins agricoles -il s'agit notamment de parcelles, de terrains résidentiels ou commerciaux.Moyens de transport -ceux-ci comprennent les bicyclettes, les motocyclettes, les pousses-pousses, les voitures. G3.08 : Dans le cas de biens appartenant uniquement au répondant, demandez-lui ce qu'il peut faire de ces biens par lui-même, sans consultation. Remarque : sélectionnez toutes les options possibles.G3.09 : Pour les avoirs détenus conjointement, demandez au répondant avec qui il est copropriétaire.G3.10 : Dans le cas de biens détenus conjointement avec une autre personne, demandez au répondant ce qu'il peut faire de ces biens par lui-même, sans consultation. Remarque : sélectionnez toutes les options possibles.G3.11 : Pour tous les biens appartenant au répondant (seul ou conjointement), demandez au répondant ce que son conjoint peut faire de ces biens par lui/elle-même, sans le consulter. Remarque : sélectionner toutes les options possibles.Pour les éléments autres que le bétail, seule la question G3.07 est posée.Ce module contient des questions sur l'accès au crédit. Quelques éléments sont à considérer :• Les sources de crédit peuvent être adaptées au contexte du pays, mais il est important de les distinguer les unes des autres et de ne pas les comptabiliser deux fois. Si la langue locale ne fait pas de distinction entre les catégories, elles peuvent être combinées en une seule. Par exemple, si une organisation non gouvernementale et une microfinance ou un prêt de groupe sont les mêmes dans le contexte local (si toute la microfinance de groupe est gérée par des ONG), il est alors possible de combiner les catégories en une seule. Dans ce cas, il y aura cinq catégories au lieu de six sur lesquelles poser des questions à la personne interrogée. Il ne faut jamais compter la même source de prêt dans plusieurs catégories. Si vous pensez que ce que la personne interrogée décrit peut appartenir à deux catégories ou plus, faites preuve de jugement et optez pour la catégorie qui vous semble être la meilleure.• La période de rappel se situe dans la dernière année ; cependant, si une source de crédit est en cours depuis plus d'un an (c.-à-d. un prêt pluriannuel qui a commencé deux ans auparavant), elle doit être comptée.• « En nature » désigne le crédit accordé sous forme de biens, de marchandises ou de services, par opposition à l'argent comptant.• Les « prêteurs informels » sont ceux qui, comme les prêteurs d'argent ou autres, NE sont PAS inclus dans l'une des autres catégories de crédit.• Il est à noter que la question G3.08 n'est pas incluse dans le calcul de l'indice pro-WEAI. Toutefois, nous vous recommandons de la poser, car elle vous permet de déterminer si les particuliers sont en mesure d'emprunter auprès d'une source particulière, même s'ils n'ont pas essayé de le faire au cours de la dernière année. C'est important pour les programmes, car cela indique s'il y a une contrainte de crédit en termes de demande de crédit non satisfaite.• En ce qui concerne le G3.09, dans certains cas, l'individu peut ne pas savoir si d'autres membres du ménage ont accédé ou utilisé un type de crédit spécifique et, dans ce cas, la réponse 97 « Ne sait pas » peut être choisie.• Pour les G3.10, G3.11 et G3.12, entrez jusqu'à 3 ID de membres ; assurez-vous de sonder la personne interrogée et de lui demander « y a-t-il quelqu'un d'autre ?».• La question G3.13 porte sur les services financiers numériques (argent mobile), les comptes bancaires individuels et les comptes bancaires conjoints. Toutefois, cela exclut les comptes bancaires détenus par des groupes (VSLA, SACCOS, etc.), même si un individu en est membre.Le but de ce module est de se faire une idée de la façon dont le temps des hommes et des femmes est réparti. Les types d'activités et leur durée peuvent être utilisés dans l'analyse économique aussi bien que sociale, par exemple la contribution des femmes aux activités économiques ; la valeur de la production domestique et du secteur informel ; la productivité ; la pauvreté et autres. Nous nous intéressons particulièrement aux activités agricoles telles que l'agriculture, le jardinage et l'élevage, que ce soit dans les champs ou au sein des fermes. Nous nous intéressons également au temps passé à s'occuper des enfants, surtout si cela se produit pendant que le répondant pratique d'autres activités.G4.01 : Veuillez consigner un registre des activités de la personne au cours des dernières 24 heures complètes (commençant la veille au matin, à 4 h, et se terminant à 3 h 59 de la journée en cours). (Remarque : Si les dernières 24 heures ont été extrêmement inhabituelles, c'est-à-dire si elles ne peuvent être comparées à une journée typique, p. ex. un jour férié, un jour de mariage, un jour d'enterrement, etc., demandez au répondant de choisir le jour qu'il considère comme le plus typique).G4.02 : Cochez cette case si la personne interrogée s'occupe aussi des enfants pendant qu'elle pratique une autre activité. Pour cette question, les soins aux enfants comprennent à la fois des soins dits « actifs » (comme par exemple : nourrir, baigner l'enfant) et des soins dits « passifs » (comme par exemple : recueillir de l'eau tout en portant un enfant). Remarque : Cette question doit être posée à partir du moment où les activités principales sont remplies.• La grille horaire commence à 4 heures du matin pour tenir compte des répondants qui se réveillent très tôt. Il est plus utile de remplir cette grille tout en engageant une conversation avec le répondant, plutôt que de lui demander ce qu'il faisait à 4 h 15, 4 h 30, 4 h 45 et ainsi de suite. D'abord, il est utile d'établir l'heure à laquelle le répondant s'est réveillé et s'est couché, de sorte qu'il ne reste plus que les heures au cours desquelles il était éveillé.°Le recenseur doit d'abord demander à la personne interrogée à quelle heure elle s'est réveillée le jour précédent, puis indiquer n'importe quelle heure avant cela comme « sommeil et repos ».°Ensuite, le recenseur peut demander au répondant à quelle heure il s'est endormi) la veille, puis indiquer n'importe quelle heure après cela comme « sommeil et repos ». En suivant cette procédure de deux premières étapes au début, on établit ainsi les limites de temps pour la journée qui doivent être prises en compte.• Après avoir établi les heures de réveil et de sommeil, le recenseur peut ensuite demander à la personne interrogée ce qu'elle a ensuite fait, et pendant combien de temps, et ainsi de suite jusqu'à ce que la journée entière soit remplie. Par exemple, demandez ce que cette personne a fait après s'être levée. Le répondant raconte alors ce qu'il a fait et pendant combien de temps. La tâche du recenseur est alors d'identifier le code correct associé à chaque activité et d'entrer la réponse dans l'intervalle de temps correct. Ensuite, le recenseur demande : « Avez-vous également pris soin des enfants pendant que vous pratiquiez cette activité ?» Le recenseur doit cocher la case si la personne interrogée s'occupait aussi d'un enfant pendant qu'elle faisait autre chose. Même si le répondant ne s'occupe pas activement de l'enfant ou n'interagit pas avec lui (par exemple, l'enfant dort ou fait autre chose), tant qu'il est responsable de l'enfant pendant ce temps, il faut considérer cela comme un « Oui » et cocher la case pour l'intervalle de temps approprié.• Selon le contexte, il peut également être utile d'utiliser des marqueurs temporels communs pour aider les répondants à se rappeler des activités en rapport avec d'autres événements qui se produisent de manière prévisible tout au long de la journée (à savoir le déjeuner à 13 heures, l'heure de la prière, le lever/coucher du soleil, etc.).• Les intervalles de temps sont marqués par périodes de 15 min et une activité peut être marquée pour chaque période de temps en inscrivant le code de l'activité dans la case. Ne laissez aucun des intervalles de temps en blanc. Si une activité est effectuée sur de longues périodes (plus de 15 minutes), le même code d'activité doit être répété pour la durée de l'activité. Par exemple, si l'activité « E » a été effectuée pendant 1 heure, alors « E » doit être indiqué dans quatre cases consécutives.• Assurez-vous que vos marques sont très claires. Vous ne devez jamais avoir plus d'une activité marquée pour une même période. Si la personne interrogée faisait plusieurs choses en même temps (par exemple, prendre son petit déjeuner et écouter la radio), demandez-lui quelle était l'activité principale et inscrivez le code de l'activité pour la période de temps appropriée. Si l'activité secondaire consiste à prendre soin d'un enfant, assurez-vous de cocher également la case du G4.02.• Si une activité est réalisée pendant la majeure partie des 15 minutes (jusqu'à 8 minutes), cochez alors la case entière pour cette activité. Cependant, si une activité n'est complétée que pour la partie mineure ou moindre de 15 minutes (moins de 8 minutes), alors ne comptez tout simplement pas l'activité dans le tableau. Par exemple, si la personne interrogée a mangé/bu pendant 20 minutes, une seule case doit être remplie (15 minutes sont comptées et les 5 minutes restantes sont perdues parce que les 8 minutes ne sont pas atteintes). Par contre, si la personne interrogée a mangé/bu pendant 25 minutes, alors deux cases doivent être remplies (15 minutes dans la première case et 10 minutes dans la seconde). Un intervalle ne peut jamais être divisé.• Lorsqu'une personne interrogée décrit de nombreuses activités sur une courte période, comme par exemple sa routine matinale, faites appel à votre meilleur jugement pour déterminer à quelles catégories appartiennent la majorité des activités et remplissez cette grille de temps pour la période concernée.• Ne laissez jamais un intervalle de 15 minutes en blanc. Il faut tenir compte de toutes les 24 heures.Example : : Dans le diagramme ci-dessous, on peut voir que le répondant dormait ou se reposait jusqu'à 5 h 30. À partir de 5 h 30, il a écouté la radio pendant 30 min, puis a pris son petit déjeuner pendant 15 min et s'est lavé et habillé sur une durée de 15 min. À 6h30, il a commencé à travailler dans un magasin, ce qu'il a continué à faire pendant une heure et demie.Matin Jour 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00La liste des activités est assez générale. Il se peut donc que quelque chose que le répondant a fait ne soit pas décrit parmi les activités. Réfléchissez d'abord si l'activité s'inscrit dans l'une ou l'autre des activités préimprimées. Si ce n'est pas le cas, utilisez la catégorie « Autre, précisez ». Essayez de la décrire de la façon la plus détaillée possible. Si plus d'une activité entre dans la catégorie « Autre », assurez-vous qu'une description distincte est disponible pour chaque activité.Le travail formel et l'école ont préséance sur les autres activités. Les soins personnels, l'alimentation, la lecture, les voyages, etc. pendant les heures de travail et d'école sont toujours marqués comme travail/école. Toutefois, une pause officielle est enregistrée comme étant consacrée à l'alimentation, aux soins personnels, aux achats ou à tout ce qui a pu être fait. De nombreuses activités, comme les courses, sont liées aux voyages. Si ces déplacements constituent la partie la plus longue d'une période de 15 minutes, il faut le noter comme un déplacement. Les déplacements spécifiques pour se rendre au travail ou à l'école et en revenir doivent être enregistrés comme des déplacements quotidiens (ou déplacements pendulaires), (activité M), et non comme des voyages.Remarque : Les activités G-L couvrent TOUS les aspects de la catégorie. Par exemple, en ce qui concerne l'élevage de gros bétail (comme une vache), cela signifie le temps passé à nourrir la vache, à la traire, à traiter et à vendre son lait.A : Dormir et se reposer Comprend le repos, par exemple essayer de dormir.B : Manger et boire Comprend le temps passé à consommer de la nourriture et des boissons. Inscrire les repas et les boissons avec une composante sociale comme « activités sociales et passe-temps ». Le fait de prendre seulement une collation avec des amis ou en regardant la télévision ne peut pas être considéré comme une activité principale.C : Soins personnels Peut comprendre le bain, l'habillement, le brossage des dents/des cheveux, etc. Inscrivez les services achetés, comme la coupe de cheveux, comme « service de magasinage et d'accueil ».Les soins personnels et les pauses plus courtes pendant les heures de classe sont considérés comme relevant de l'école.E : Travail en tant qu'employé Comprend les soins personnels, l'alimentation, les déplacements, la lecture, etc. pendant les heures de travail qui font partie de vos activités génératrices de revenu (c.-à-d. que vous êtes envoyé de l'autre côté de la ville pour assister à une réunion ou que vous lisez pour votre travail), mais cela exclut les déplacements entre le domicile et le lieu de travail (inscrivez sous « voyages et déplacements pendulaires »).Comprend le travail pour son compte propre et les activités liées au ménage, à l'exception de l'agriculture, de la pêche et du textile, même pour la vente.G : Culture de céréales de base et transformation de la récolte Céréales qui sont cultivées principalement pour la consommation alimentaire (riz, maïs, manioc, millet, blé). Cela comprend la transformation après la récolte dans les champs et dans les exploitations familiales, qu'elle soit génératrice de revenus ou destinée à la consommation domestique.H : Horticulture (jardins) ou culture à haute valeur ajoutée et transformation de la récolte Comprend la production alimentaire à petite échelle dans le jardin pour la consommation propre et la vente. Cela comprend la transformation post-récolte dans les champs et au sein de la ferme, qu'elle soit génératrice de revenus ou destinée à la consommation domestique.I : Élevage de grands ruminants Alimentation, élevage, pâturage, transport du bétail, des buffles, etc. au marché ; transformation des produits et transport du lait au marché.J : Élevage de petits ruminants Alimentation, élevage d'ovins, de caprins et de porcins et commercialisation de ces animaux ou de leurs produits.Alimentation, élevage, poulets, canards, dindes, pintades, et commercialisation de ceux-ci ou de leurs produits L : Culture des étangs à poissonsComprend la pêche pour la consommation personnelle et la vente, mais exclut la pêche pour le plaisir (à enregistrer comme « activités sociales et passe-temps »).M : Déplacements pendulaires Déplacements domicile-travail ou école.N : Service d'achat/de prise en charge (y compris les services de santé)Comprend les soins personnels rémunérés, comme la coupe de cheveux, la visite chez le médecin ou dans un établissement de santé (obtention de services de santé), l'entretien de la voiture et les opérations bancaires, etc. Tout déplacement lié aux achats sera noté comme un voyage.O : Tissage, couture, soins des textiles Comprend les travaux textiles pour la vente et la consommation personnelle, mais exclut la réparation des textiles (à noter comme « travaux domestiques »).P : Cuisine Comprend le temps consacré à l'achat de nourriture au marché (mais pas le temps de transport, qui est compté dans la catégorie transports), à la préparation des aliments à cuisiner, au temps de cuisson et de nettoyage par la suite. Ne comprend pas le temps passé à récolter (à inclure dans « agriculture/élevage/pêche »). °Si la personne interrogée est une femme, l'agent recenseur doit vérifier le fichier pour s'assurer qu'elle a un enfant de moins de 5 ans. Puisque cette information a déjà été recueillie dans le fichier, nous ne conseillons pas de lui poser cette question, ce afin de minimiser sa fatigue.• G4.04a : Demandez à la personne interrogée si elle peut prendre un enfant avec elle si elle veut faire quelque chose qui est lié à la subsistance, à la formation ou aux soins personnels.• G4.04b : Si vous vouliez faire quelque chose (lié à la subsistance, à la formation, aux soins personnels) et ne pouviez pas emmener votre enfant avec vous, quelqu'un qui pourrait s'occuper de lui en votre absence ?°Pour ces deux dernières questions, nous nous intéressons à l'accès de la répondante à la garde d'enfants. La participation à de nombreux types de projets de développement exige de consacrer du temps supplémentaire à la formation, aux réunions de groupe, etc. L'accès à d'autres prestataires de services de garde d'enfants peut donc déterminer la facilité avec laquelle les femmes peuvent participer à de tels projets.• G4.05 : Entrez jusqu'à trois identifiants de membres des personnes susceptibles de s'occuper de l'enfant ou des enfants de la personne interrogée, en son absence. Si la personne n'est pas un membre du ménage, veuillez sélectionner d'autres membres ne faisant pas partie intégrante du ménage, le cas échéant.Le but de ce module est d'obtenir de l'information quant à l'accès des hommes et des femmes au capital social.Quelques éléments à noter :• Notez que les groupes dans la communauté peuvent être soit formels, soit informels et coutumiers. • Notez que la définition de la notion de « collectivité » est laissée à la discrétion du répondant et qu'il peut s'agir de groupes dans son propre village ou d'un groupe plus vaste comprenant un village ou une ville à proximité.• Il est à noter que de nombreux groupes ont des activités multiples. Par exemple, un groupe agricole peut avoir une composante de microfinance. Lorsque c'est le cas, choisissez la catégorie de groupe qui représente l'activité principale. Si le groupe agricole fournit de nombreux services de vulgarisation, y compris la microfinance, alors le groupe agricole, et non le groupe de crédit ou de microfinance, doit être sélectionné. Demandez au répondant de décrire le groupe plus en détail si vous n'êtes pas clair.• Un « groupe religieux » peut inclure le fait d'aller à l'église, à la mosquée, etc. ou encore d'être membre d'un petit groupe de prière ou de discussion religieuse.• Si un certain groupe n'est pas approprié au contexte, il peut être remplacé par le groupe approprié dans la même catégorie ; si aucun remplacement n'est possible, il peut être omis du questionnaire. La décision d'omettre ou non un groupe doit être prise au cours de la formation ; un groupe ne doit jamais être omis lors de la conduite d'un questionnaire.Le but de ce module est d'obtenir des informations quant aux endroits où les hommes et les femmes se déplacent à l'extérieur de la maison. Les questions G6.01-G6.07 sont obligatoires. Le but de ce module est de comprendre les motivations à l'origine des actions des hommes et des femmes dans différentes activités.• Chaque situation (par exemple, A1, A2, A3, A4) décrit un type de motivation différent. La motivation #1 est de faire quelque chose parce que vous n'avez pas le choix. La motivation #2 est de faire quelque chose parce que vous aurez des problèmes avec une personne en particulier si vous agissez différemment. La motivation #3 est de faire quelque chose pour que les autres ne pensent pas du mal de vous. La motivation #4 est de faire quelque chose parce que vous pensez personnellement que c'est la bonne chose à faire.• Les recenseurs doivent lire à haute voix chaque histoire, les questions qui suivent et les codes de réponse. Assurez-vous de changer les noms pour refléter les noms locaux masculins et féminins couramment utilisés. Les noms doivent être masculins/féminins selon le sexe du répondant, de sorte que les noms masculins soient dans les histoires lues au répondant masculin et les noms féminins dans les histoires lues au répondant féminin. L'ordre des sujets a-d doit être aléatoire, et dans chaque sujet, l'ordre des histoires 1-4 doit être aléatoire.• Nous recommandons de poser toutes les questions de cette section (G8.01, G8.02, G8.03) pour saisir un indicateur plus précis de l'autonomie. Cependant, certains utilisateurs peuvent choisir d'ignorer les questions G8.02 et G8.03 s'il y a un risque important de non-réponse, ou si ce n'est pas un indicateur prioritaire pour le projet. Dans ce cas, seul le G8.01 « Es-tu comme cette personne ? » sera collecté. Notez que l'abandon des questions de suivi (G8.02 et G8.03) est susceptible d'identifier plus de personnes comme étant dépourvues de pouvoir.Le but de ce module est d'obtenir des informations concernant la confiance en soi et la capacité des répondants à atteindre les objectifs qu'ils se sont fixés.• Pensez à la façon dont chaque énoncé se rapporte à votre vie, puis dites-moi dans quelle mesure vous êtes d'accord ou en désaccord avec l'énoncé sur une échelle de 1 à 5, où 1 signifie que vous êtes « Fortement en désaccord » et 5, que vous êtes « Fortement d'accord ».• Remarque : Il peut être utile de randomiser l'ordre des énoncés.• Les questions suivantes vous demandent dans quelle mesure vous êtes satisfait(e) de votre vie dans son ensemble, sur une échelle de 1 à 5, où 1 signifie que vous vous sentez « Très insatisfait(e) » et 5 que vous vous sentez « Très satisfait(e) ».MODULE G9 : Attitudes à l'égard de la violence familialeLe but de ce module est d'obtenir des informations sur les attitudes et les croyances concernant la tolérance de l'usage de la violence contre les femmes dans les relations intimes. Les questions de ce module ne portent pas sur l'expérience personnelle, mais plutôt sur les attitudes à l'égard de la violence familiale en général. Il est important que ce module soit placé à la fin de l'enquête pour des raisons de sensibilité.• IMPORTANT : Ces questions s'adressent aux hommes comme aux femmes.• Si vous interrogez une personne non mariée, posez la question de la même façon. °Dans cette question, demandez à la personne interrogée qui, soit les membres de la famille (sélectionnez les noms des membres), soit d'autres personnes figurant dans la liste du code donné, paie pour le(s) vaccin(s). Sélectionnez tout ce qui s'applique, c'est-à-dire tous ceux qui paient pour le(s) vaccin(s).°« Qui paie pour le vaccin » décrit les personnes qui utilisent leurs propres ressources, en argent ou en nature, en échange du vaccin.°Cette question doit être posée d'abord pour une espèce puis répétée pour l'espèce suivante, après avoir posé toutes les autres questions du module pour la première espèce, si le ménage garde les deux espèces (chèvre et poulet).°Dans cette question, « vous » se réfère au répondant lui-même.°Dans cette question, demandez au répondant s'il sait où le vaccin peut être acheté.°Cette question doit être posée d'abord pour une espèce puis répétée pour l'espèce suivante, après avoir posé toutes les autres questions du module pour la première espèce, si le ménage garde les deux espèces (chèvre et poulet). "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"119e4489f4bd503ced1057a14bdd0035","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/05d31830-cc7c-4f5c-afbc-127434bd5e62/retrieve","id":"-711478324"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"739ae9ae-bd19-4e99-9b56-700c8a30ca1e","content":"Striga hermonthica is the most widespread and destructive plant parasite infesting maize and other major crops in sub-Saharan Africa where it causes severe yield losses and threatens food security. Several tolerant maize lines supporting reduced S. hermonthica emergence have been deployed. However, the molecular bases of such resistance are yet poorly understood. Based on a time course comparative gene expression analysis between susceptible and resistant maize lines we have confirmed resistance mechanisms known to be activated upon plant parasite infestation and identified potential novel players worth further investigation e.g. iron homeostasis and mitochondrial respiration-related genes. Most intriguingly, we show a previously unknown strategy of maize post-attachment resistance based on DIMBOA accumulation in S. hermonthica-infested maize roots. S. hermonthica infestation triggers positive regulation of gene expression in the hydroxamic acid (HA) pathway culminating with an accumulation of benzoxazinoids (BX), known for their antifeedant, insecticidal, antimicrobial, and allelopathic activities. We demonstrate that HA root content is positively correlated with S. hermonthica resistance in the resistant parent and its progenies and in unrelated maize lines. Downregulation of HA genes causes increased susceptibility to S. hermonthica infestation in loss-of-function maize mutants. While the mechanism of BX action in parasitic plant resistance is yet to be uncovered, the potential of this discovery for developing effective control and breeding strategies is enormous.Plant-to-plant parasitism concerns about one percent of angiosperms and in specialized agroecosystems it causes tremendous yield losses. Parasitic weeds invade host plant roots forming direct vascular connections to the host vascular system thus withdrawing water and nutrients. Agriculturally relevant and particularly problematic, the Striga genus (witchweed) is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) infesting up to 64% of the arable farmland (cereals and grain legumes) in West Africa (Mwangangi et al., 2021). Although consequences are difficult to measure, in maize, the most important staple crop in SSA, Striga spp. are estimated to be endemic in 75% of cultivated land and cause yield losses of up to 100% (Yacoubou et al., 2021). Particularly S. hermonthica has become a major threat to food security, exacerbating hunger and poverty in many African countries where the impact is increasing owing to intensive land use, mono-cropping, drought conditions, and soil nutrient deficiency all favouring Striga spp. growth (Menkir and Meseka, 2019).Although several strategies for the management of parasitic plants have been developed, they are individually inefficient and difficult to apply in a selective manner so as to avoid damage to the crop to which they are physically and biochemically connected. Despite the constant effort to deploy resistant crop varieties, host resistance, and tolerance are not durable and can be overcome by some parasitic weeds able to re-establish the infestation, particularly under climate change conditions. Therefore, understanding the genetic and molecular bases underlying interactions between parasite and host is of great interest and essential to developing effective and durable parasitic weed control methods to prevent yield losses.Following the parasite life cycle, host resistance is classified as preattachment resistance, resulting from host signal profiles inducing reduction of seed germination and early attachment inhibition, and as post-attachment resistance. The latter relies on plant immune system mechanisms and culminates in the impairment of attachment and establishment of vasculature connection after haustorium penetration as well as the reduction of parasite-induced symptoms (Hu et al., 2020). Germination of soil-borne striga seeds is triggered by strigolactones (SLs), a compound mix exuded from the roots of maize and other plants into the rhizosphere. Changes in the SL mix composition influence germination and maize resistance and the recent identification of genes mediating the synthesis of different SLs opens up the possibility of modifying the SL profile of host plants to increase their resistance (Li et al., 2023). After parasite seed attachment, the host can oppose a first physical barrier (the cuticle and cell wall) supported by metabolite production and can block the parasite invasion at the epidermis, in the cortex, at the endodermis, and inside the central cylinder (Yoder and Scholes, 2010). To date, a number of plant-released metabolites have been reported to have a negative (allelopathic) effect on neighbour plants but also on insects, fungi, and bacteria living on and around them (Schandry and Becker, 2020). In both cultivated and wild Poaceae, allelopathy is often mediated by allelochemicals of the benzoxazinoid (BX) family (Fernández-Aparicio et al., 2021). BXs are secondary metabolites with inhibitory and toxic effects against a wide range of pests, pathogens, and competing plant species (Niemeyer, 2009;Schandry and Becker, 2020). They occur constitutively as basal defence compounds, mainly in younger tissue of younger plants but can be induced upon pest attacks (Wouters et al., 2016). BXs are also known to interfere with seed germination and plant growth of crops and parasite plants, inducing biochemical changes such as decreased activity of hydrolytic amylase enzymes but their mode of action is yet unclear (Hussain et al., 2022). In maize, BXs are central to chemical defence and other functions but the molecular mechanisms underlying their activities are yet to be elucidated (Zhou et al., 2018).Striga species are among the hardest parasitic plants to fight and deployment of resistant crop varieties is the most effective and sustainable approach for durable control (Jamil et al., 2021). However, there are few sources of crop resistance and only partial resistance to Striga spp. has been documented so far in various hosts (Mwangangi et al., 2021). In maize, genome-wide association studies for S. hermonthica have identified significant related loci, and a number of resistant lines and hybrids have been developed (Menkir and Meseka, 2019).Pre-attachment Striga resistance has been shown in the KSTP'94 farmer-preferred open-pollinated maize variety secreting different and less efficient Striga seed germination stimulants as compared to a Strigasusceptible line (Yoneyama et al., 2015). An interesting example of post-attachment resistance to S. hermonthica was first described in the African ZD05 maize inbred line (Amusan et al., 2008) but also reported in KSTP'94 and in rice (Mutinda et al., 2018). In these cases, the parasite develops much less and slowly compared to susceptible lines and, if eventually penetrates the host cortex, it remains confined outside the endodermis.This suggests host activation of multilevel specific biochemical or physiological barriers to the witchweed growth and development (Jamil et al., 2021). However, the molecular mechanisms of such incompatibility are yet unknown, but it is likely that this resistance is controlled by multiple genes potentially harnessable for the establishment of durable and stable resistance. In this study, we aimed to provide insights into the molecular basis of post-attachment resistance to S. hermonthica in maize and compared the transcriptome of two maize cultivars that differ in the level of Striga susceptibility in infested and uninfested conditions. Our results confirm the multigenic regulation of tolerance to S. hermonthica in maize but reveal the involvement of the Hydroxamic Acid (HA) pathway as a new key player in the biochemical incompatibility to the parasite growth and development.All African maize lines analysed in this study were obtained from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) collection. They include the parental ZD05 tolerant and the 5057 susceptible lines, five of their progeny lines produced at IITA and four heterogenic African lines selected at IITA. The American commercial hybrids were obtained from the Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences of University of Bari. The loss of function transposon insertion maize mutant lines identified and the W22 genetic background line (Tzin et al., 2015;Vollbrecht et al., 2010) were kindly provided by George Jander, Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research.A Petri dish assay (PDA) was set up to monitor Striga hermonthica germination rates as previously described (Pérez-De-Luque et al., 2005) with modifications. Briefly, 500 mg of striga seeds, previously purified by sucrose gradient centrifugation, were placed in tubes (50 mL) filled with tap water and rolled for 30 min. After discarding the upper part of the suspension, 25 mL were dispensed in a gradient tube containing 15 mL of 60% sucrose solution and 10 mL of 40% sucrose solution. After centrifugation at 4000 rpm for 10 min, seeds from the interface layer were taken out with a glass pipette and washed with distilled water using a filter and a funnel. In addition, seeds were disinfected with 70% ethanol for 30 s and 1% sodium hypochlorite for 20 min, thoroughly washed with distilled water, and dried. Subsequently, 9 mg of striga seeds, were uniformly distributed on a wet sheet of glass fiber filter paper (GFFP, Whatman GF/A 15 cm ∅) placed in a Petri dish (15 cm ∅ filled with sterile vermiculite. Petri dishes were then sealed with parafilm and stored in the darkness at 28 • C for 10 days to allow pre-conditioning. Maize seeds, previously sterilised with 1% sodium hypochlorite for 20 min, were germinated in rolled-up wet filter papers placed vertically in a beaker filled with distilled water and kept in a growth chamber at 25 • C for 7 days. After that, preconditioned, seeds in plates were induced to germinate by adding 3 mL of 0.1 ppm GR24 (Chirax, Amsterdam) and incubated overnight at 29 • C. Roots of seven-day-old seedlings were placed on GFFP sheets containing pre-germinated striga seeds through a hole made in the Petri dish. In this way, plant foliage could develop outside of the dish. Subsequently, Petri dishes were sealed with parafilm, wrapped in aluminium foil, and stored vertically in a greenhouse chamber at 25 • C (12/12 h day/night). Plants were watered with 10 ml of a modified Hoagland solution (without phosphate) every 3 days.The number of attached striga seeds, out of the total number of seeds in host root proximity, was recorded at three different time points, corresponding to 3, 9 and 21 days after transplanting, using a stereomicroscope (10x). Five biological replicates were used for each genotype.All the data were transformed by means of square root to better fit the Normal Distribution of counting data. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to assess the statistical difference by means of Duncan's Multiple Range Test.A method adapted from Palmer and Grogan (1965) was used for the determination of hydroxamic acid content. Five biological replicates for each root genotype. Briefly, fresh maize root tissue (100 mg) was ground on ice with acetone (1 mL acetone/100 mg fresh sample) and subjected to centrifugation (14000 g at 4 • C for 10 min). The supernatant was evaporated at 60 • C for 1 hand the volume made up to 500 μL with distilled water. The extract was stored at − 20 • C after the addition of absolute ethanol (1 mL). In an ELISA optical plate, 2 μL of a 0.03 mol dm3 FeCl 3 solution was added to each sample extract (200 μL). As the major FeCl 3 reactive substances correspond to the DIMBOA derivatives (Hamilton, 1964), absorbance readings of the clear blue colour change developed in the sample at 564 nm with an ELISA spectrophotometer (Varioskan Flash, Thermo Fisher) were used as a direct indication of DIMBOA concentration. Obtained data were subject to statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) by means Duncan's Multiple Range Test.RNA was extracted from samples of root tissue using the kit Directzol RNA Miniprep (Zymo Research, USA) according to the manufacturer's instructions.The RNA concentration in the samples was normalized based on Qubit assays (Invitrogen, Thermo Scientific) and gel observations, and 1 μg of quality-confirmed RNA was subjected to complementary DNA (cDNA) synthesis as follows. Reverse transcription was completed with 1 μg of total RNA in 20 μl. First-strand cDNA synthesis was performed using the M-MuLV Reverse Transcriptase (New England Biolabs ® Inc.)according to manufacturer instructions. The reaction contained 1 μg of RNA, 2 μl of 10x RT random primer, and 1 μl of 10 mM dNTPs. The mixture was denatured at 65 • C for 5 min and placed on ice immediately.Next, 3.2 μl of the RT master mix (consisting of 2 μl 10x RT Buffer, 1 μl of M-MuLV RT, 0.2 μl of RNasin) were added in a final volume of 20 μl and the mixture incubated at 25 • C for 5 min, at 42 • C for 1 h, and 65 • C for 20 min. The cDNA synthesized served as a template for qPCR amplification of specific target genes.Briefly, qPCR reactions containing 10 ng of cDNA, 400 nM of each forward and reverse primers, and Luna® Universal qPCR Master Mix (New England Biolabs ® Inc.) were combined in a total volume of 12.5 μl. Three technical replicates per sample were used. The reactions were conducted in a LightCycler® 480 Instrument (Roche) using the following cycling profile: 10 s at 95 • C, followed by 40 cycles of 3 s at 95 • C and 30 s at 60 • C. Data obtained were converted into relative gene expression using the 2-ΔΔCT method corrected for the PCR efficiency of each amplicon using LightCycler 480 software release 1.5.1.62 (Roche). Primers for amplification of the genes of interest were designed using the PrimerQuest software (Integrated DNA Technologies Inc., http://eu.idtd na.com/Primerquest/Home/Index). Upon comparison with fpgs, folylpolyglutamate synthase coding sequence (EU956947, Genbank accession), the expression levels of the cullin gene, cul (XR_002265612.2, Genbank accession), resulted the most stable in our experimental condition, therefore, cul was used as reference gene.Raw data from RT-qPCR experiments were analysed by LightCycler® 480 software (v 1.5.1.62). Tukey test (p-value <0.05 and < 0.01, as reported in each Figure ) was used for multiple pairwise comparisons while pairwise comparison was made by the Students' test (p-value <0.05 and < 0.01, as reported in each Figure ). The software IBM SPSS v19 was used for statistical analysis. To analyse the relation between gene expression data and time in resistant and susceptible lines, a regression analysis was carried out. The statistic R-squared (R 2 , calculated by means of Excel) was used to measure the goodness-of-fit for linear regression models, evaluating the strength of the relationship between our model (time) and the dependent variable (gene expression). Values > 0.5 and < -0.5 indicate a positive and negative linear relation between independent (TPs) and dependent variable (gene expression level) at p-value <0.01.RNA samples (three biological replicates per sample), depleted of ribosomal RNA (Ribo-Zero rRNA Removal Kit Plant, Illumina), were sequenced with Illumina technology (Illumina NextSeq 500) to obtain an average of 20 million paired-end reads per sample (deposited in the European Nucleotide Archive at EMBL-EBI under accession number PRJEB59229). The raw reads were mapped with the STAR algorithm (Dobin et al., 2013) against the maize reference genome (Zea mays RefGen_V4). Mapping efficiency was between 45% and 82%, assuming that some of the non-mapped reads belong to the Striga transcriptome. SAM files were converted to BAM files and sorted with the Merge-SamFiles tool from the Picard package. Sorted BAM files were used by CuffLinks and CuffDiff algorithms (Trapnell et al., 2010) to calculate normalized FPKM using geometric means of fragment counts across all libraries (Anders and Huber, 2010) and the foldchanges with corresponding p-values. Only genes with p-values smaller than 0.05 in at least one sample were selected for further downstream analysis. Genes were selected according to the regulation (up-or downregulated, fold change > |1.5| in at least one comparison) between infested and non-infested plants and then compared between the resistant and susceptible plants. R and the graphical package ggplot2 (Wickham, 2009) were used for graphs and statistical analysis.Statistical enrichment analysis was performed using the gProfiler web tool providing significant enriched Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) terms for functional interpretation. To increase efficiency and reliability, driver terms were identified using a two-stage algorithm for filtering the GO enrichment results (Raudvere et al., 2019).To gain insights into the molecular basis of post-attachment resistance to S. hermonthica in maize, we performed comparative gene expression profile analysis to investigate molecular differences between the resistant (ZD05, R) and the susceptible (5057, S) inbreed lines over time. S. hermonthica was previously shown to develop differently on roots of R and S, albeit in the early phase (3 days post infestation, dpi) parasite attached to the host behaved similarly in the two lines (Fig. S1). At 9 dpi, when 90% of seeds attached to S roots had developed at least one primordial leaf and fully differentiated haustoria in the host stele, 65% of S. hermonthica attached to R roots had not developed leaves and there was no evidence of tissue differentiation in the few formed haustoria (Amusan et al., 2008). Only in rare cases, seeds attached to R showed three/four poorly emerged leaf pairs at 22 dpi and occlusions blocked the connection to the host xylem of the haustoria eventually penetrating the host epidermis. At the same time, the parasite had formed several leaf scales and secondary haustoria in S (Amusan et al., 2008).Based on this knowledge, three time points (TP) were chosen to investigate critical stages of the parasite development on maize roots of both infested and uninfested plants of each line: developmental stage (DS)1 (3 dpi), attached S. hermonthica seeds; DS2 (9 dpi), S. hermonthica leaf emerged; DS3 (22 dpi), developed S. hermonthica shoots (Fig. S1).To identify functions and processes specifically related to S. hermonthica resistance, we selected genes significantly (p < 0.05) differentially expressed (DEGs) between infested (I) and uninfested (U) R and S plants and compared them at each of the three selected developmental stages. In a discovery approach, GO and KEGG functional enrichment analyses were carried out for a global comparative DEG analysis.At DS1, the GO annotation terms mainly included metabolic catalytic activities, particularly in the terpene biosynthetic pathway molecular functions (MF, Fig. 1), supporting the activation of early defence response to the parasite attach (Pichersky and Raguso, 2018). The biological processes (BP) analysis identified, together with 'diterpenoid biosynthetic and metabolic processes' also biosynthetic and metabolic cellular processes driven by the 'amine biosynthetic process' and 'alpha-amino acid metabolic process' terms (Fig. 1) further supporting the essential role of the amino acid metabolism in the plant immune system (Zeier, 2013). Six days later (DS2) while some of these terms were maintained, the relevance of terms related to protein synthesis and regulation increased in both MF and BP GO categories (Fig. 1, driver terms). Interestingly, the 'mitochondrial alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex' driver term in the cellular component (CC) GO category, indicates the activation of mitochondrial respiration-related genes in the maize-S. hermonthica interaction and suggests further studies on their potential role in basal defence against the parasite as previously shown in other pathosystems (Ma et al., 2020). Late in the infestation (DS3), the GO-MP analysis revealed 'heme binding' 'cellulase', and 'lactoperoxidase activity', and the GO-BP analysis showed 'cell wall biogenesis', 'cellulose metabolic process', 'phenylpropanoid biosynthetic process' terms. Together with the 'plant-type cell wall' and 'cell periphery' terms identified in the GO-CC category and the 'phenylpropanoid biosynthesis' identified by the KEGG analysis, these terms are compatible with late stress response and the activation of cell wall repair mechanism at this developmental stage (Shanmugabalaji et al., 2020). According to both MF (nicotianamine synthase activity) and BP (nicotianamine biosynthetic process) analyses, the synthesis of nicotianamine, a chelator enhancing iron transport and accumulation, is regulated between S and R lines in all three TPs. Interestingly, there is a growing understanding of iron-immunity cross-talk in plants (Herlihy et al., 2020), and, among others, iron was recently shown to play a critical role in initiating ferroptosis-mediated cell death (Dangol et al., 2019). This is intriguing and suggests further studies to investigate the potential role of iron homeostasis also in plant parasite defence.Most interesting, KEGG analysis at early and late developmental stages revealed the regulation of \"benzoxazinoid biosynthesis \"between S and R lines (Fig. 1)To examine in more detail the molecular differences influencing tolerance to S. hermonthica in R, we compared the expression level of genes known to be involved in the two main steps of the interaction between host and parasitic plants: seed germination and host penetration.A physical barrier to S. hermonthica penetration is the first deployed host defence mechanism as blocking the parasite at any root cell layer from the epidermis to the central cylinder can hinder parasitization and Striga survival (Hu et al., 2020). Therefore, we monitored the regulation of the major genes involved in the mechanisms of tolerance to Striga based on reinforcement of the host cell wall. At 3 dpi, when in both lines the Striga haustorium had successfully penetrated the entire host root cortex (Amusan et al., 2008), all genes were generally expressed at a higher level in S than in R (Fig. 2A, Table S1). However, as the parasite developed, the situation was reversed, and gene expression progressively increased in R compared to S over time (Fig. 2A). At 9 dpi, when the parasite is known to have penetrated the host xylem but tissue differentiation in the haustoria is visible only in S and not in R (Amusan et al., 2008), in the latter we observed the specific activation of genes involved in cell wall expansion, synthesis and remodelling such as expansins, endoglucanases and β-glucosidases (Fig. 2A, Table S1), known to influence plant growth and response to stresses (Marowa et al., 2016;Perrot et al., 2022). Relevant for plant immunity, also a member Fig. 1. GO and KEGG annotation in S. hermonthica infested S and R maize line. Manhattan-like plot illustrating the enrichment analysis of genes differentially expressed between S and R lines at developmental stages: DG1 (3dpi), DS2 (9 dpi), DS 3 (22 dpi). Functional terms are grouped and colour-coded: GO Molecular functions, red; GO Biological process, orange; GO Cellular components, green; KEGG, magenta. p-value represents the probability of the observed intersection plus probabilities of all larger, more extreme intersections. Circle sizes are directly proportional to the corresponding term size. Colour intensity is in accordance with the term p-value. Driver terms, including leading gen sets, are reported in white font. of the cysteine proteinases family was significantly regulated at DS2. Later in the development (DS3), almost all analysed genes are significantly more expressed in R than in S roots, but some genes e.g. cellulose synthase, endoglucanase 6, peroxidase 42 became positively regulated also in S (Fig. 2A and Table S1) maybe suggesting a late attempt to activate cell wall repair mechanisms.The parasitic plants' cycle starts with seed germination, induced upon sensing of host-derived SL in the root exudates thus tolerance to Striga can be based on low host SL root exudation (Fernández-Aparicio et al., 2014). Comparative microscopy analysis of S. hermonthica  1 and 2 penetration in S and R maize line roots shows a block of the parasite development at the epidermis level in R whose defence is considered to be prevalently post-attachment (Amusan et al., 2008). Nevertheless, as a reduced number of attached seeds is also observed at S1 (3dpi) in R compared to S, we analysed the expression level of relevant genes of strigolactone and related pathways, known to be involved in the pre-attachment resistance to Orobanchaceae plant parasites. At 3dpi, the carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases MAX3/CCD7 (Zm00001d002736), MAX1 (Zm00001d046207), and VP14 (Zm00001d033222) showed higher expression in infested S compared to infested R (Fig. 2B and Table S2). While MAX1 is directly involved in SL biosynthesis, MAX3 dioxygenase is involved in the production of carlactone, an SL intermediate. VP14 is a critical enzyme for ABA production, whose activation reduces striga seed germination (Hu et al., 2020). Even though in our study-system Striga seeds were pregerminated and the parasite infestation was at least partially independent from root exudates, the differential SL activation in the R and S lines suggests that partial contribution of pre-attachment defence strategies to the tolerance of the ZD05 post-attachment resistant line cannot be ruled out.Taken together the results of the global and targeted transcriptome analyses revealed the differential activation of multiple gene expression pathways upon S. hermonthica infestation in the R compared to the S maize line pointing out to a multigenic defence strategy not limited to the post-attachment developmental stages of the parasite infestation.  3.The KEGG analysis indicated enrichment in the benzoxazinoid (BX) biosynthesis pathway in the R line starting from the early time point of Striga development (Fig. 1). To confirm this result, we performed a comparative gene expression analysis that revealed contrasting expression profiles of several genes in the BX hydroxamic acids pathway (Fig. 3A) between infested R and S lines with generally higher expression in R than in S (Fig. 3B; Table S3). The BX hydroxamic acid biosynthetic pathway (Fig. 3A), leading from indole-3-glycerol phosphate (IGP) to DIBOA (2,4-dihydroxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one), the process of BX activation and their chemical reactivity in biological systems have been extensively elucidated but the transcriptional regulation of bx genes is yet scarcely studied, especially in roots (Wouters et al., 2016;Zhou et al., 2018). In our experimental conditions, fold change levels between infested and uninfested lines were higher in R compared to the S line over time, and indicated an early peek of expression of bx genes and of a β-glucosidase gene (glu17), required for bioactivation of the stable BX glucoside intermediates stored in the vacuole (Niemeyer, 2009), in the infested R line (Fig. 3B and C). Over time, fold changes in R decreased between the DS1 and DS2 timepoints to remain stable between DS2 and DS3 (Fig. 3C; Table S3). An opposite trend was observed in the S line where negative fold change of the same genes was observed compared to R, at 3 dpi and partially at 9 dpi (Wouters et al., 2016).As an increased level of gene expression occurs in infested rather than in the uninfested R line, and not in the S line (Fig. 3B), it might be triggered by the parasite infestation and potentially be involved in the mechanisms of resistance to S. hermonthica, particularly in the early phases of parasitization. To test this hypothesis, we monitored the development of the parasite-host interaction by counting the number of S. hermonthica sprouts on maize roots in infested S and R lines at DS2 and DS3 time points to correlate S. hermonthica development to the hydroxamic acid (HA) gene expression levels. As expected (Amusan et al., 2008), we counted no sprouts in both R and S lines at the time of infestation (DS0) and an increasing number of sprouts between DS2 and DS3, culminating in a statistically significantly higher number in S than in R line at the latest TP (Fig. S2). The lower rate of infestation in R consistently with the higher level of expression of five bx genes (bx 1, bx 2, bx 5, bx 6, bx 13) measured in the same roots by RT-qPCR (Fig. S3) and in line with the RNA-seq data analysis, confirms that increased expression of the HA genes observed in R compared to S line upon S. hermonthica infestation is significantly correlated to the reduction of S. hermonthica development. Considering the functional redundancy of the enzymes in the maize benzoxazinoid pathway, the exception of bx6, showing initially low and increasing expression levels over time in the infested R lines and opposite trend in the infested S lines (Fig. 3B, DS2), suggests its involvement in alternative oxidising activities and a possible shift of DIBOA-Glc oxidation under the control of other enzymes, including bx13 (Zhou et al., 2018).Because a progeny population obtained by crossing the two maize inbred S and R lines revealed segregation of the S. hermonthica resistance trait (Table S4), we sought to confirm the correlation between differential bx genes expression with the level of S. hermonthica infestation in five representative progeny lines at 9 dpi (DS2) when S. hermonthica sprouts are well countable.Based on the number of S. hermonthica sprouts observed on maize roots, four (L3, L4, L7, and L8) out of the five progeny lines analysed were statistically equal or more tolerant than the parental R, and the HA content we measured was inversely correlated to the level of S. hermonthica infestation in all tested lines (Fig. 4A; Table S5). The S parental line resulted statistically different from all other lines both in the HA content and in the number of sprouts counted (Table S5). Consistently with our hypothesis, the expression of representative bx genes was generally higher in tolerant lines compared to less tolerant lines, and positively correlated to HA content. The highest HA accumulation and tolerance to S. hermonthica among the analysed lines is observed in L8 and R where genes upstream in the HA biosynthesis pathway (bx 1 and bx 2, Fig. 3A) are still expressed at a higher level than in the other lines. Furthermore, the strongest correlation between HA and the relative expression level of the analysed bx genes is associated with bx 2 (r = 0.7) followed by bx 1 (r = 0.54) (Fig. S4). Taken together, these results indicate a role of HA in the control of S. hermonthica sprouting in R and progeny lines.Further, we asked whether the tolerance to S. hermonthica infestation was specific to the ZD05 genetic background or also occurred in unrelated lines. Therefore, we selected four heterogenic maize lines distinct from S and R showing different levels of S. hermonthica infestation in the Fig. 4. Hydroxamic acids accumulation in maize roots upon Striga hermonthica infestation. Average ± SE of S. hermonthica sprouts and hydroxamic acids content (upper panels) and relative expression of bx1, bx2, bx5, and bx6 genes (lower panels) at DS2, 9 dpi in roots of (A) ZD05 and 5057 progeny lines (L1, L3, L4, L7, L8) and (B) heterogenic African lines (SL3, SL5, RL2, RL4). Relative expression represents the average of three biological replicates ± SE, normalized by the cullin gene as an internal control. field (Table S6) and quantified HA content, number of S. hermonthica sprouts, and bx genes expression in infested roots at 9 dpi (DS2). As for the progeny lines, the heterogenic lines scored expected levels of S. hermonthica infestation inversely correlated to the measured levels of HA (Fig. 4B; Table S7). For these heterogenic lines, an even stronger positive linear correlation between HA content and the relative gene expression level of each representative bx gene analysed was found compared to the progeny lines (Fig. S5).Furthermore, we tested the susceptibility to S. hermonthica infestation of three American commercial hybrid lines of different maturity classes: CRISTAL, MAS 68K, and KASIMEN. Based on the parasite sprout count and the HA accumulated, these lines behaved similarly to S and statistically different from R upon infestation with S. hermonthica (Fig. S6; Table S8). Taken together with the above results, these data broadly confirm the inverse correlation between HA accumulation and susceptibility to S. hermonthica in maize.HA accumulation, triggered by the parasitic plant infestation, suggests that the increase of bx gene expression, correlated to host resistance, might be a general strategy of maize defence against S. hermonthica infestation. To investigate how the hydroxamic acid pathway influences maize resistance to S. hermonthica, we tested the level of parasite infestation in the bx1::Ds and bx6::Ds loss of function transposon insertion mutants previously identified in the maize W22 genetic background (Tzin et al., 2015;Vollbrecht et al., 2010). Both bx1::Ds and bx6::Ds mutant lines accumulated significantly lower levels of HA than W22 wt with a corresponding increase of S. hermonthica infestation observed in the homozygous bx1::Ds mutant line (Fig. 5). BX1 catalyses indole production as the first step of the BX pathway (Fig. 3A). Therefore, it might be the rate-limiting factor of the DIMBOA-glucoside synthesis (Zhang et al., 2015), which this result confirms contributes to S. hermonthica resistance in maize. The absence of statistically significant striga sprout reduction observed in the bx6::Ds mutant despite the decrease of HA accumulation (Fig. 5), is compatible with a residual 40% DIMBOA-Glc content known to be maintained in the bx6::Ds mutant that indicates the presence of alternative enzyme with DIBOA-Glc dioxygenase activity similar to BX6 in the W22 maize line (Tzin et al., 2015). DIMBOA-Glc is the predominant BX in maize (Frey et al., 2009) and BX6 mediates the first step in the conversion of DIBOA-Glc to DIMBOA-Glc (Fig. 3A). Therefore, probably due to the high functional relevance of BX6 in the maize HA pathway, the amount of HA accumulated by the bx6::Ds mutant, albeit reduced, might be still sufficient to hinder striga infestation. However, the evidence that bx6 is not significantly involved in the regulation of Striga infestation in the W22 line and that it follows a different trend of expression compared to the other bx genes in the S. hermonthica-infested R line (Fig. 3B) together suggest a possible shift of DIBOA-Glc oxidation under the control of other enzymes, including bx13 a maize-specific duplicate of bx6 (Wu et al., 2022) upon maize striga-infestation.Our findings provide strong and unprecedented evidence that maize resistance to S. hermonthica is at least partially mediated by parasiteinduced HA accumulation.To broadly confirm the effect of the variation of BX accumulation on maize resistance to S. hermonthica, we performed a correlation analysis including all maize lines used in this study. The strong negative correlation observed between HA root content and Striga sprout count (Fig. 6), conclusively supports a general negative effect of HA accumulation on the level of S. hermonthica infestation in maize roots.Our study supports the activation of multiple defence-related pathways in the strategy of maize tolerance to Striga infestation. Most intriguing, we found and demonstrated that HAs are new players exerting allelopathic and defence actions against S. hermonthica infestation in maize.During aphid feeding on maize, DIMBOA triggers callose accumulation forming a physical barrier to aphid feeding whereas HDMBOA-Glu, produced from DIMBOA-Glc under the control of BX12 (Fig. 3A), locally induces higher toxicity (Zhou et al., 2018). Modulation of the relative accumulation of these two glucosides contributes spatio-temporal regulation of defence strategies in maize, and DIMBOA, which moves in the phloem, is probably the signalling molecule (Zhou et al., 2018). A similar mechanism of action might be deployed for resistance to S. hermonthica in the ZD05 line where post-attachment physical and chemical barriers prevent haustorial penetration and thus sprouting (Amusan et al., 2008). Consistently, callose deposition, suberization, and local accumulation of toxic compounds are reported as defence mechanisms against parasitic weeds (Jhu and Sinha, 2022).Future studies should determine the composition of the compound(s) accumulating at the haustoria-host interface in ZD05 (Amusan et al., 2008) and other resistant lines to shed more light on the mechanism of BXs action in maize resistance to S. hermonthica infestation and more  generally to pests and parasites after root penetration. On the way forward to sustainable and durable control of Striga spp. in sub-Saharan Africa, this discovery is not only key to breeding and engineering resistant maize plants but has also potential future applications for direct control in the field. The potency of BX released from residues of plant cultivations and used for weed control opens to future applications to reduce parasitic seed bank in the soil and parasite plant emergence in the field (Schulz et al., 2013)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bd802bc426d9a17d76e00671407e19a0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/8cb9c057-90cf-4ca0-8f6b-2b1c34f997d2/content","id":"-178813250"},"keywords":["Canonical correlation","Linear regression","Selection response"],"sieverID":"5b9d5787-f8a6-4b9c-ae55-0658051f3588","content":"The plant net genetic merit is a linear combination of trait breeding values weighted by its respective economic weights whereas a linear selection index (LSI) is a linear combination of phenotypic or genomic estimated breeding values (GEBV) which is used to predict the net genetic merit of candidates for selection. Because economic values are difficult to assign, some authors developed economic weight-free LSI. The economic weights LSI are associated with linear regression theory, while the economic weight-free LSI is associated with canonical correlation theory. Both LSI can be unconstrained or constrained. Constrained LSI imposes restrictions on the expected genetic gain per trait to make some traits change their mean values based on a predetermined level, while the rest of the traits change their values without restriction. This work is geared towards plant breeders and researchers interested in LSI theory and practice in the context of wheat breeding. We provide the phenotypic and genomic unconstrained and constrained LSI, which together cover the theoretical and practical cornerstone of the single-stage LSI theory in plant breeding. Our main goal is to offer researchers a starting point for understanding the core tenets of LSI theory in plant selection.The linear phenotypic selection index (LPSI) theory was first described in the plant breeding context [1] and later in the animal [2] breeding phenotypic selection context. When the phenotypic and genotypic covariance matrices of the traits are known, the LPSI is the best phenotype-based linear predictor of the individual net genetic merit. In LPSI theory, it is assumed that the genotypic values that define the net genetic merit are composed entirely of the additive effects of genes and that the LPSI and the net genetic merit have joint bivariate normal distribution [3]. The main objectives of using a selection index (LSI) are (i) to predict the unobservable net genetic merit values of the candidates for selection, (ii) to maximize the expected genetic gain per trait or multi-trait selection response, and (iii) to provide the breeder with an objective rule for evaluating and selecting for several traits simultaneously. The advantages of an LPSI are that it modifies the predefined economic weights according to the trait heritability, that it considers indirect selection effects resulting from the genetic correlation between traits, and that it is relatively easy to use. Its disadvantages are that it may be difficult to assign economic weights to some traits, and that it requires large amounts of information to reliably estimate the genetic covariance between traits. This may cause a large sampling error.Because economic weights are difficult to assign to some traits, several modified indices, such as the base index, the modified base index, the non-weighted multiplicative index [4] and the eigen selection index method (ESIM) [5,6], have been proposed. The main LSI theory was developed assuming that the economic weights are fixed and known, which is, for instance, not the case for the ESIM.In the LPSI structure, each trait has an economic weight. This could also imply that, for each trait, a directional change is desired. This may not be suitable to achieve a breeding objective in which some traits should remain unchanged. Assuming that the breeder is interested in keeping a certain trait within a range, we could either combine the use of an LPSI with independent culling for the restricted traits, or we could incorporate the fact that not changing the trait is desired. This was the main idea of the restricted LPSI (RLPSI) [3] which solves the usual LPSI equations subject to the restriction that the covariance between the LPSI and some linear function of the genotypes involved equals zero, thus preventing selection on the index from causing any genetic change in the expected genetic advance of the restricted traits.Later the RLPSI results were extended [7] to a selection index called constrained LPSI (CLPSI) that attempts to make some traits change their mean based on a predetermined level while the rest of them are unrestricted. The CLPSI equals the covariance between the LPSI and some linear functions of the genotypes to a constant or genetic gain predetermined by the breeder. Some authors [5] developed a constrained index ESIM (CESIM) that does not use economic weights. The CLPSI (CESIM) is the most general LPSI and includes the LPSI (ESIM) and the RLPSI as particular cases.In a similar manner, in the marker-assisted selection (MAS) context, a linear marker selection index (LMSI) was proposed [8] that uses phenotypic and marker score values jointly to predict the net genetic merit. The LMSI combines information on markers linked to quantitative trait locus (QTLs) and the phenotypic values of the traits to predict the net genetic merit of the candidates for selection because it is not possible to identify all QTLs affecting the economically important traits. Several authors [9,10] have criticized the LMSI approach because it makes inefficient use of the available data. In addition, because the LMSI is based on only a few large QTL effects, it violates the selection index assumptions of multivariate normality and small changes in allele frequencies. We shall not describe the LMSI. Readers interested in the LMSI can see [11] for details.The linear genomic selection index (LGSI) and constrained linear genomic selection index (CLGSI) were developed in the genomic selection (GS) context in which animals and plants are selected based on the GEBV of the candidates for selection [12,13]. In the LGSI context, all marker effects of the genotyped individuals in the training population are estimated using marker and phenotypic data. These estimated effects are used in subsequent selection cycles to obtain predictors (GEBVs) of the individual breeding values in the testing population for which there is only marker information about the candidates for selection.It has been shown [9] that GS increased the accuracy of predicting the breeding values of the candidates for selection, and reduced the intervals between selection cycles and the costs of the breeding programs (See Chaps. 5, 6 and 30). Because GS decreases the generation interval, it leads to a much higher genetic gain per year. Some authors [14] indicated that GS could replace traditional progeny testing when maximizing the genetic gain per year, as long as the accuracy of GEBV is higher than or equal to 0.45.The expected selection response of the net genetic merit and the expected genetic gain per trait are the main quantities to consider when comparing different LSI. These parameters give breeders an objective basis to compare different selection methods. We describe the practical applications of the phenotypic and genomic LSI using real wheat data. Readers unfamiliar with LSI theory should read the Appendix of this work first and then return to the manuscript. A complete exposition of LSI theory is in [15].Breeding Value the value of an individual measured by the mean phenotype of its progeny obtained by random mating with the population. It is also the sum of the average additive effects of the genes of the individual.Economic Weight the increase in profit achieved by improving a particular trait by one unit.Expected Genetic Gain Per Trait (Multi-trait Selection Response) a vector of expected genetic gains associated with the traits of the offspring of the selected parents.GEBV the sum of additive whole genome allele effects of an individual. Allele effects are estimated by a regression of the phenotypic values on the whole genome DNA markers. It is used to predict breeding values of individuals in animal and plant breeding programs in the genomic selection context.Genomic Selection the selection of parents based on the higher GEBV values or on a linear combination of them (e.g., LGSI or CLGSI).Linear Selection Index (LSI) a linear combination of phenotypic and/or GEBV values, or marker scores. In addition, it can be unconstrained or constrained.Net Genetic Merit a linear combination of breeding values of the individual traits of interest, each of them weighted by its respective economic value. It is also called the total economic value of one individual.Phenotype Value the sum of genotypic (or breeding) value, environment value, and genotype-by-environment interaction.Quantitative Traits plant and animal characteristics (or phenotypic expression) that exhibit continuous variability, which is the result of many gene effects interacting among themselves and with the environment.Selection Response the expectation of the net genetic merit of the selected individuals when the mean of the original population is zero. It is also defined as the difference between the mean phenotypic values of the offspring of the selected parents and the mean of the entire parental generation before selection.• Selection indices are fundamental tools for modern plant breeding.• The use of selection indices is a key to better estimate the net genetic merits of candidates for selection. Selection indices will ensure that wheat improvement research maximizes its impact. • New breeding technologies like genomic assisted breeding and rapid cycle selection has to be combined with the use of selection indices to maximize response to selection.The net genetic merit (H = w ′ g) is related to the vector of trait phenotypic (y) values aswhereare vector 1 × t (t=number of traits) of true unobservable breeding values and observable trait phenotypic values, respectively, I = b ′ y is the LPSI, and w ′ = [w 1 w 2 …w t ] is the vector of economic weights. In Eq. 32.1, we assume that e has normal distribution with expectation E(e) = 0 and variance σ e 2 , and that I and e are independent; thus V V Vb Pb is the variance of I, P is the phenotypic covariance matrix, andis the residual variance. The LPSI (I = b ′ y) can be written aswhere b = P −1 Cw, C is the genotypic covariance matrix, Cov(H, y) = Cw is the covariance among H = w ′ g and y, and P −1 is the inverse matrix of P.A method for assigning economic weights to the traits [1]  Suppose that an advance of 10 in baking score (Y 2 ) is equal in value to an advance of 1 bushel per acre in yield (Y 1 ) and that a decrease of 20% infection (Y 3 ) is worth 1 bushel of yield (Y 1 ), and so on. Then, taking Y 1 as standard and units as indicated, w 1 = 1.0, w 2 = 0.1, w 3 = − 0.05, etc., will be the economic values of each trait.One additional method for assigning economic weights to the traits (which we have used in this work) is based on the expected genetic gain per trait (Appendix, Eq. 32.A5). Let us consider the real data HarvestPlus Association Mapping (HPAM) panel, which consists of 330 wheat lines from CIMMYT, and assume that the objective of the selection is to increase the mean value of Zn content in the grain (Zn), the Fe content in the grain (Fe), and grain yield (GY, t/h), while decreasing or maintaining the same plant height (PHT, cm). We found that the vector w > @ 0 1 0 5 2 8 0 6 . . . . (see Sect. 32.10) is adequate for obtaining the expected genetic gain per trait described in the Results Section of this work. This method is by assay and error and requires the evaluation of Eq. 32.A5 until we obtain the desired results.The maximized correlation between H and I (ρ HI ) and the maximized LPSI selection response are This index is useful when, instead of the index values, the breeder observes only the vector of selection differentials (s). In this case, the index that would give the same observed s is called the retrospective index and its vector of coefficients can be obtained as b = P −1 s [16].The CLPSI vector of coefficients iswhere The maximized CLPSI selection response and expected genetic gain per trait arerespectively, where k is the selection intensity.The maximized ESIM selection response (R E ) and the maximized correlation betweenrespectively, whereis the first eigenvector of equationU HI E j j E E (Appendix, Eqs. 32.A7 and 32.A8). When F is not used,(Appendix, Eq. 32.A7), whereas Eq. 32.932 Theory and Practice of Phenotypic and Genomic Selection Indices is the square root of the first eigenvalue of Eq. 32.A7, i.e., U U HI HI 1 1.TheThe maximized CESIM selection response (R CE ) and expected genetic gain per traitrespectively, where all the terms were defined earlier.The LGSI and the CLGSI are, respectively, an application of the LPSI and CLPSI to the genomic selection context. Thus, the LGSI and the CLGSI theoretical results are very similar to the LPSI and CLPSI theoretical results. be a vector of GEBVs for t traits. The individual LGSI isw z, (32.12)where w is the vector of economic weights for t traits.The CLGSI vector of coefficients iswhere w is the vector of economic weights,is the covariance matrix of GEBV, and I t is an identity matrix of size t×t, whereas D and U are the matrices described in Eq. 32.A6 (Appendix). When d = 0, D=U and matrix K G can be written aswhereIn this case, the CLGSI is a null restricted LGSI. When D=U and U ′ is a null matrix, β G = w. Thus, the CLGSI includes the null restricted and the unrestricted LGSI as particular cases.The maximized CLGSI selection response and expected genetic gain per trait arerespectively. The methods to estimate the index parameters are in [15].To obtain the GEBV, we used a multi-trait genomic best linear unbiased predictor (GBLUP) described in [12,13].We used the HarvestPlus Association Mapping (HPAM) panel, which consists of 330 wheat lines from CIMMYT and four traits: Zn content in the grain (Zn), Fe content in the grain (Fe), grain yield (GY, t/h), and plant height (PHT, cm). The objective of the selection was to increase the mean values of Zn, Fe, and GY while PHT decreased or stayed the same. Using CLPSI, CESIM, and CLGSI, we constrained traits Zn, Fe and GY with the vector of constraints c > @ Figure 32.1 presents the averages for four traits of the 20 selected individuals (with LPSI and ESIM) with a proportion of 6% (k = 1.985). In this case, those averages were very similar. We found similar results when we made selections using CLPSI and CESIM for this real dataset.Table 32.1 presents the estimated LPSI, ESIM, CLPSI, and CESIM selection response, coefficient of correlation and heritability. The estimated ESIM and CESIM selection response, correlation and heritability were higher than the estimated LPSI and CLPSI selection response, correlation and heritability. Thus, ESIM and CESIM efficiency for predicting the net genetic merit was higher than LPSI and CLPSI efficiency.Table 32.2 presents the estimated LPSI, ESIM, CLPSI, and CESIM expected genetic gain for four traits selected with a proportion of 6% (k = 1.985). The estimated CLPSI and CESIM expected genetic gains per trait were constrained by vector c > @  For datasets G, G-COP and COP, in Table 32.3 we present the estimated LGSI and CLGSI selection response and expected genetic gain for four traits with a selected proportion of 12.45% (k = 1.65). In this case, the estimated CLGSI expected genetic gains per trait were constrained by vector c > @ d 1 5 1 6 0 45 . . . values. Thus, the estimated expected genetic gain of traits Zn, Fe, and GY should be similar to the d values. The estimated CLGSI expected genetic gain values were lower than the d values. This means that to reach d values, breeders will need to select once again using CLGSI. Note, however, that the estimated LGSI and CLGSI selection response and expected genetic gain values were higher than the estimated LPSI and CLPSI expected genetic gain values. This means that for the predicted data, LGSI and CLGSI efficiency was higher than LPSI and CLPSI efficiency. In addition, the estimated LGSI and CLGSI selection response was not affected by the restriction imposed on the LGSI and CLGSI expected genetic gain, as we would expect.Incorporating a selection index requires a step-by-step approach to ensure its successful implementation. Most of the time, breeders use a customized procedure to select individuals based on independent culling that comprises multiple steps. The first step consists of understanding the selection procedure executed by the program. The steps in the selection procedure can be mapped back to a set of reduction and selection steps applied to a selection unit (i.e., lines, families, etc.); each step consists of trait conditions (value and directionality). Each selection step can consist of meeting more than one trait condition (Table 32.4).The second step identifies which parts of the selection process can be replaced by an index. For example, by looking at Table 32.4, you can decide to pick a single step and replace independent culling or replace multiple steps with a single selection index. Here we will replace steps 2-11 with a selection index.A third step consists of building the index. Indices that depend on economic weights are difficult to implement. Instead, a retrospective index is the best way to start implementing an index. For example, assume that the matrix of estimates for the traits indicated above is available together with an indicator column in which the material was selected by the breeder using the steps indicated in Table 32    The obtained weights can be confusing if they have a different direction than the desired direction. For example, the 4th weight for Xa2 (Table 32.5) resistance is positive, when we would expect it to be negative. This is because covariances among traits are expected to account for taking the trait in the right direction despite the value of the weight.To show that these weights are better than the current approach, we can calculate what would be the selected individuals and the selection differentials using the index and compare them to the selection differentials obtained with the current approach. As can be seen in Table 32.6, if these weights are considered the real weights (even economic weights), the index can select better individuals than the breeder's eyeball method. This example shows how the selection index theory can provide higher selection differentials than the breeder.The LSI theory includes, as particular cases, the unconstrained LPSI and LGSI, and any other unconstrained LSI associated with this theory that is based on the quantitative genetics and the multivariate normal distribution theory. The LSI theory is based on multivariate normal distribution theory because this distribution allows the LSI to be completely described using only means, variances and covariances. When the phenotypic traits and GEBV values have multivariate normal distribution, linear combinations of phenotypic traits and GEBV are normal. Even if the phenotypic traits and GEBV values do not have multivariate normal distribution, this distribution serves as a useful approximation, especially in inferences involving sample mean vectors, which, by the central limit theorem, have multivariate normal distribution [17]. By this reasoning, a fundamental assumption in LSI theory is that the LSI and the net genetic merit have joint bivariate normal distribution. Under the latter assumption, the regression of the net genetic merit on any linear function of the phenotypic or GEBV values is linear [3].The selection response and the expected genetic gain per trait were the main parameters of the LSI and the criteria to compare LSI efficiency and predict the net genetic merit of any linear index. These parameters give breeders a clearer base on which to objectively validate the effectiveness of the adopted selection method.The LPSI was the first LSI used to predict the net genetic merit and has good statistical properties when the phenotypic and genotypic covariances matrices are known. The LGSI is the most recent LSI and has the advantage of reducing the intervals between selection cycles by more than two thirds.The constrained LPSI (CLPSI) and the constrained LGSI (CLGSI) impose constraints on the expected genetic gain per trait. These indices include the unconstrained indices as particular cases. There are two types of CLPSI and CLGSI: the null restricted index and the predetermined proportional gain index. The null restricted index allows imposing restrictions equal to zero on the expected genetic gain of some traits, while the expected genetic gain of other traits increases (or decreases) without imposing any restrictions. In a similar manner, the constrained index attempts to make some traits change their expected genetic gain values based on a predetermined level, while the rest of the traits remain without restrictions. The objective of both types of selection indices is to predict the net genetic merit and select parents for the next generation. The CLPSI and CLGSI are projections of the vector coefficients of the LPSI and LGSI, respectively, to a different space, and the constraining effects are observed on the CLPSI and CLGSI expected genetic gains per trait where each restricted trait has an expected genetic gain according to the constrained values imposed by the breeder. Both the unconstrained and constrained indices have the same statistical properties when the phenotypic and genotypic covariance matrices and the economic weights are known. For example, they have maximum correlation with the net genetic merit and the variance of the predicted error is minimal; however, when the phenotypic and genotypic covariance matrices and the economic weights are unknown, the statistical sampling properties of the indices described in this work are difficult to know. Assuming that the estimated LSI have normal distribution, some authors [18] found the statistical sampling properties of the LSI selection responses in the phenotypic and genomic selection context while others [15] reported the statistical sampling properties of ESIM and CESIM.• Using a selection index in plant breeding maximizes the expected genetic gain per trait or multi-trait selection response and provides an objective rule for evaluating and selecting for several traits simultaneously. • The advantages of a selection index is that it considers indirect selection effects resulting from the genetic correlation between traits. Main disadvantages are that it may be difficult to assign economic weights to some traits. Several modified indices exists to overcome this problem. • Recently genomic selection indices have been developed and used based on the genomic estimated breeding.Our main goal was to offer researchers a starting point for understanding the core tenets of LSI theory in plant selection. We provided the unconstrained and constrained LSI theory associated with phenotypic and genomic selection. We validated the LSI phenotypic and genomic theoretical results in the wheat breeding context using a real wheat dataset with four traits.be a vector 1 × t (t= number of traits) of true unobservable breeding values associated with the observable vector of trait phenotypic val-, such that the j th (j= 1, 2, …, t) individual trait phenotypic value for one environment iswhere G j is composed entirely of additive genetic effects and includes all types of gene and interaction values, whereas ε j denotes the deviations of Y j from the G j values. In Eq. 32.A1, G j and ε j are independent unobservable random variables, normal distribution with expectation E(G j ) = 0 and E(ε j ) = 0, and variance σ G j 2 and V H j 2 , respectively. In addition, Y j is observable random variable, with normal distribution, expectation E(Y j ) = 0 and variance V V His the covariance between Y j and G j .The random vectors c is an unknown vector of coefficients associated with y, and w ′ = [w 1 w 2 …w t ] is a vector of known economic weight values associated with g. In Eq. 32.A2, V H The selection response (R) is the expectation of H for a proportion p (Fig. 32.A1) of individuals selected and can be written aswhere k is the intensity of selection, σ H is the standard deviation of H and ρ HI is the correlation between H and I. Equation 32.A4.1 is the same for all LSI; the only change is the type of information (phenotypic or genomic) and restrictions used when the index vector of coefficients is obtained to predict H and to maximize Eq. 32.A4.1, which is the main objective of any LSI. The genetic gain in Eq. 32.A4.1 will be larger as p becomes where k is the selection intensity, L denotes the interval between selection cycles, Γ = Var(z) is the covariance matrix of GEBV, and V I c w w * * is the standard deviation of I G = w ′ z.The main objective of the CLPSI is to maximize Eq. 32.A4 under some restrictions imposed on the expected genetic gain per trait (E), which can be written asThe type of restriction imposed on Equation 32.A5 can be a null restriction (RLPSI) or a predetermined constraint (CLPSI). Thus, let c } > @be a vector of r constraints and assume that μ q is the population mean of the q th trait (q=1,2,…,r , and r is the number of constraints) before selection. The CLPSI changes μ q to μ q + d q , where d q is a predetermined change in μ q imposed by the be a Mallard matrix [7] (r−1)×r of predetermined proportional gains, where d q (q=1, 2…, r) is the q th element of vector d, and let U ′ be a matrix of 1's and 0's, where 1 indicates that the traits are restricted and 0 that the traits are not restricted [3]. To obtain the CLPSI vector of coefficients, we minimized the mean squared difference between I and H, E[(H−I) 2 ], with respect to b under the restriction D ′ U ′ Cb = 0, where C is the covariance matrix of genotypic values.The CLPSI vector of coefficients is The ESIM maximizes the correlation between H=w′g and I = b ′ y, does not require a vector of economic weights w, and is associated with the canonical correlation theory [17]. In ESIM, I and H are canonical variables, whereas b and w are canonical vectors. The correlation between I and H (ρ HI ) is the canonical correlation. Thus, the measure of association between the j th linear combination of y( I E , where I = F −1 F is an identity matrix of size t×t, and F=diag{f 1 ,f 2 ,…,f t } is a diagonal matrix with values equal to any real number, except zero values. Thus, Eq. 32.A7 is equivalent toU HI E j j E E , (Eq. 32.A8)where T 2 =FTF −1 and E E E E j jFb ; T and T 2 =FTF −1 are similar matrices and both have the same eigenvalues but different eigenvectors. Matrix T 2 =FTF −1 is called the similarity transformation, and matrix F is called the transforming matrix [19]. When the F values are only 1's, vector b E j is not affected; when the F values are only −1's, vector b E j will change its direction, and if the F values are different from 1 and −1, matrix F will change the proportional values of b E j . In practice, b E j is first obtained from Eq. 32.A7 and then multiplied by matrix F to obtain β β E j , that is, β β E j is a linear transformation of b E j . When vector β β E j substitutes , the ESIM index should be written asc E E y .The CESIM is a constrained ESIM and its vector of coefficients is the first eigenvector of Eq. 32.A9 Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4fe01914a720efe28340bcda1192e7ed","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7b9f03df-5adc-4745-bdc1-1edeeef4fdde/retrieve","id":"-184051753"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e4551a22-9fb9-4290-a653-6434f996f7fb","content":"Được giới thiệu vào năm 2015 bởi Chương trình Nghiên cứu của CGIAR về Biến đổi khí hậu, Nông nghiệp và An ninh Lương thực (CCAFS), Làng Nông Thuận Thiên (CSV) được thành lập nhằm xây dựng các mô hình cộng đồng thích ứng với biến đổi khí hậu và thực hiện thí điểm Nông nghiệp thông minh thích ứng với biến đổi khí hậu (CSA). CCAFS tại Đông Nam Á đã thành lập bảy CSV trong khu vực, bao gồm thôn Mạ, thôn Mỹ Lợi và ấp Trà Hất tại Việt Nam; thôn Phailom và Ekxang tại Lào; thôn Rohal Suong ở Campuchia; và thôn Guinayangan ở Philippines. CSV là một nền tảng đa ngành để thử nghiệm các giải pháp công nghệ và thể chế thích ứng và giảm thiểu biến đổi khí hậu trong nông nghiệp. Làm nổi bật bối cảnh, quy trình và kết quả, khái niệm CSV được chứng minh là một cách tiếp cận sáng tạo trong việc lồng ghép CSA vào phát triển nông nghiệp nông thôn và cảnh quan xung quanh."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"797dc3f53d9579c997172a1a6d937f60","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/df79bc9a-8196-4a7e-95f0-7073b4b00031/retrieve","id":"-2085896288"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f67e85e8-69c0-4e86-8eee-fe9e5df2908a","content":"In December 2022, the members of the Federation of Malagasy rural female farmers (FVTM) and the coalition of farmers of Madagascar (CPM) in Mahabo, received a GEM rice parboiling kit, composed of a soaking tank, steamer and rice husk-fueled stoves. The donation came from the East and Southern Africa Parboiling Rice project, funded by GIZ from 2019 to 2022, and aiming to pilot improved rice parboiling technology among rural farming households and consumers in Madagascar and Mozambique.The equipment received includes the GEM system which (i) enhances rice Grain quality, retaining nutrients and reducing breakages at milling, (ii) is Energy efficient, using husk as fuel, and (iii) is fabricated with stainless Materials lasting for 20 years. The project built the capacity of the local fabricators. Today, 11 fabricators and artisans can fabricate, repair and support parboiling activities in Madagascar and Mozambique. 8 women groups/platforms received each a parboiling kit, and prototypes were given to partners to scale-up parboiling. 537 women in Madagascar and 432 women in Mozambique were trained on rice parboiling, outspreading the gained competencies to over 5700 women and men.The women in Mahabo made the best of the kit, and upon experiencing real challenges, proactively called a support-trained artisan to share lessons of managing moisture content, drying, and storing parboiled rice.On a fortuitous visit to Mahabo six months after the donation, I was literally shown stars in new booklets recording each woman's contribution to the group savings and the group's cumulating savings at the nearby microfinance institution. Each star is a voluntary 2000 Ariary (Madagascar currency) token savings arising from the profits of selling parboiled rice. Hence, despite the feeling of the premature project ending barring technical backing and wide consumer awareness, these women are rising stars into the venture.According to Mme Brice Razafindraozy, FVTM president in the region: \"the project empowered us as contributors in our homes, we feel more valued, and we are role models in our communities. We, also, no longer fear to bargain with collectors, and can now sell at higher prices and earn higher incomes\".The women have become bold 'entrepreneurs' who know what they want; they lead parboiled rice awareness sessions in fairs through rural radios and engage directly with local consumers. Women attend the meetings more regularly and demonstrate more interest and group dynamism. The majority adopted improved farming techniques and increased their rice farm area. Non-members asked to join them and learn more about parboiling. Mme Brice, the star collector, and her group are already training other women in her community and beyond thus scaling up the best practices and benefits of the parboiling rice project.Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) through the Fund International Agricultural Research (FIA)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"271360f85a3354dd9803d612c0ce95f1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/4b8e1912-507a-4429-8bd4-7b9ac5405f5b/content","id":"57468364"},"keywords":["Biofortification","High zinc wheat","Public-private partnership","Dissemination CIMMYT: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center","WHO: World Health Organization","PPP: Public-private partnerships","RDA: Recommended Daily Allowance","BHU: Banaras Hindu University","NEPZ: North Eastern Plain Zone","PVS: Participatory Variety Selection","CGIAR: Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research"],"sieverID":"3ac3968c-044a-4dc1-8328-8a37cc03fb4d","content":"The main objective of the HarvestPlus led wheat biofortification breeding program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and its national program partners in South Asia is to develop and disseminate competitive wheat varieties with high grain zinc (Zn) and other essential agronomic features. The emphasis of this program is to introduce novel sources of genetic diversity from wild species and landraces, into the adapted wheat background. This variation is being exploited through limited backcross approach with shuttle breeding at two contrasting locations in Mexico, which resulted in widely adapted, durable rust and foliar disease resistant, high Zn wheat varieties. The new wheat varieties developed by CIMMYT in HarvestPlus project are 20-40% superior in grain Zn concentration and are agronomically at par or superior to the popular wheat cultivars of South Asia. The biofortification breeding program of CIMMYT utilizes new wheat varieties from the core-breeding program as background parents that are higher yielding, resistant to rusts, heat tolerant, wateruse efficient and 5-10% higher yielding than main varieties grown at present. The biofortified high Zn wheat varieties with 20 to 40% (8-12 mg/kg) Zn superiority and grain yield potential at par or superior to the popular wheat varieties are being adopted by small-holder farmers in South Asia. Through Public-private partnerships (PPP) more than 50,000 farmers and 250,000 household members expected to benefit from the Zn-biofortified wheat varieties in South Asia by the 2015-2016 wheat seasons.About 2 billion people around the world suffer from micronutrient deficiency, according to the World Health Organization. 1 Also known as \"hidden hunger,\" micronutrient deficiency occurs when people eat food that does not provide enough vitamins and minerals.People living in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are hardest hit by hidden hunger, which is characterized by iron-deficiency anemia, vitamin A and zinc deficiency. 1 Zinc is important for cellular growth, cellular differentiation and metabolism. Zinc deficiency limits childhood growth and decreases resistance to infections. Supplements may help to improve linear growth of children under 5 years of age. Zinc deficiency affects about one-third of the global population. Severe zinc deficiency can result in short stature of preschool children and approximately 165 million children under five years of age are stunted, with the vast majority living in Africa and Asia resulting in the hypogonadism, impaired immune function, skin disorders, cognitive dysfunction, and anorexia. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a major staple crop, providing 20% of dietary energy and protein consumption worldwide. 2 It is an important source of mineral micronutrients such as zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) to the resource poor consumers. 3 The breeding targets for high Zn wheat was derived based on the bioavailability of Zn enriched wheat, daily per capita intake of wheat, type of food preparation, and estimated average requirements or Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA). The preliminary breeding target for Pakistan and Northern India is to increase Zn levels by 12 mg/kg, above the baseline levels of 25 mg/kg, which is the mean of popular varieties currently grown in the region. 4 Large variability for these micronutrients has been found in landraces and wild relatives of common wheat. 3 A targeted breeding program was initiated at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in 2006-2007 to develop wheat germplasm with 8-12 mg kg -1 increased grain Zn concentration over the popular varieties grown in the target regions along with profitable yields, and farmer preferred agronomic and end-use quality attributes. 5,6 The main feature of this program is the introduction of novel genetic diversity from wild species and landraces into the adapted wheat backgrounds. The objective of the research reported in this paper is to update the varietal adoption status of high Zn wheat varieties in the target environments of Eastern Gangetic Plains of India as a case study example.To assure nutritional and food security, it is paramount that suitable biofortified wheat varieties identified for specific growing conditions that are released and seed disseminated for their widespread adoption. Competitive high Zn wheat varieties were distributed to national program partners in South Asia to reach resource poor small-holder farmers. Superior agronomic traits are inherent in these biofortified wheat varieties along with enhanced nutritional value. Adoption of these new varieties together with improved agronomy is expected to scale up significantly with the public-private partnerships (PPP). A publicprivate partnership (PPP) is a contractual agreement between a public agency (federal, state or local) and a private sector entity. Through this agreement, skills and assets of each sector (public and private) are shared in delivering seeds of biofortified wheat to farmers.In 2012, HarvestPlus program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) devised a strategy in alliance with Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and CIMMYT to reach thousands of wheat farmers with high zinc wheat in North Eastern Plain Zone (NEPZ) of India. We along with HarvestPlus identified Eastern Uttar Pradesh (UP) of NEPZ as a proof-of-concept strategy to test and promote high Zn wheat varieties. The productivity of wheat in farmers' field in this region is comparatively low when compared to other parts of the country due to unavailability of new improved wheat varieties and low mechanization, for example. Hence, this region was chosen to replace existing disease susceptible varieties with zinc-fortified, disease resistant wheat varieties by creating awareness about nutritional and agronomic benefits of high Zn wheat varieties. After two years of multi-location testing led by BHU researchers at the university's research stations and onfarm testing in neighboring villages of 3 districts, several leads were identified, which combined 8-14 ppm Zn advantage, competitive yielding ability and tolerance to water-stress and heat. In 2012, these biofortified wheat varieties were demonstrated to farmers through Participatory Variety Selection (PVS) approach in 18 villages falling under the districts of Mirzapur, Chandouli and Varanasi. There was a great interest among farmer's community to adopt high Zn wheat varieties by seeing their agronomic potential and its nutritional benefit. To expedite the variety release process and a fast-track commercialization, six best leads were identified for pre-release seed multiplication, of which T.SPELTA PI348449//2*PBW343*2/KUKUNA (BHU-3) and CROC_1/AE.SQUARROSA (210)//INQALAB 91*2/ KUKUNA/3/PBW343*2/KUKUNA(BHU-6) were the 'best bets' with high Zn and competitive agronomic benefits. 7 In India, wheat can be grown only in winter season, but to expedite seed availability to meet the seed demand the crop delivery team of HarvestPlus undertook off-season seed multiplication in the Himalayan Mountains. As soon as seeds were multiplied, during 2013 season about 1000 mini-kit seed bags were distributed to progressive farmers in Eastern UP. Simultaneously, rest of the seed was used for main season multiplication led by HarvestPlus. To meet the seed demand, the 'Sai Seeds' company owned by a progressive farmer in that region came on board to multiply and commercialize high Zn wheat varieties as truthfully labelled seed. In 2014, more than 10,000 farmers adopted high Zn wheat through formal and informal seed systems. The Sai Seeds, in conjunction with BHU scientists, conducted several field days by inviting men and women farmers to demonstrate the agronomic and nutritional superiority.The public-private partnership (PPP) is gaining momentum in seed sector in India. The Nirmal seeds of India joined hands with HarvestPlus for fast-track commercialization of two of the lead varieties Abhay (ZincShakthi) and Akshai (BHU3) by rigorous multi-location testing of more than 250 diverse sites and full-fledged seed production of these varieties to commercialize during 2015-2016 crop season. Astha Beej based in Uttarakhand also marketed 4 tons of 'ZincShakthi' seeds (produced and provided by HarvestPlus) in 2014 as \"Chitra\" and also multiplied its seeds in over 100 acres for marketing in 2015.addition seed multiplication of BHU6 was undertaken by HarvestPlus in 170 acres to ensure that the PPP more than 50,000 wheat farmers will benefit from the zinc-biofortified wheat varieties in India during 2015-2016 crop cycle.As a follow-up action of the outreach activity, regular field visits were ensured by BHU, CIMMYT and HarvestPlus scientists to oversee seed multiplication programs in Mirzapur district of UP. The feedback from the progressive farmers in the region, was very encouraging. They were happy with the performance of 'Zinc Shakthi' variety for its good performance under fully irrigated and limited irrigated conditions. For instance, this variety had about 5-10% yield advantage under limited irrigated conditions over the currently grown local varieties with 40% Zn increment (Figures 1 and 2). All the farmers expressed their satisfaction about the performance of 'ZincShakthi' and other leads which are in seed chain. Most of the farmers ensured that they will use part of the harvested seed for their use and will also distribute to neighboring farmers. Some of the farmers also expressed their satisfaction about its grain size, cooking quality, grain color and overall appearance.  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d7e6ee5780c53e9ab7227ff907eb70d7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6dd1c2c0-d4d4-48ae-9a7e-3c9f9292da3c/retrieve","id":"2109970778"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"847d1f13-9481-4267-ab2d-9cee34b65e3f","content":"Informe de actividades de especializaci6n en evuluact6n y manejo de pradecas o Valderedes ~lartins da Silva Cali, Colombia, Julio de 1982 .. '. . -. , AI'lOCIACION DE g.. HU/<1IDICOI,A cm] D.OVALIFOLIUr-l BAJO PlIS'l'OREO COLl'rnWO 'l ALTERNO CON CA!<c;]\\S FIJAS EN .SABANA BIEN DRENADA HIP¡;:R~~EmlICA. I. .DISPO~IIBILIDAD DE M.lITEHI1\\. SECA, Sr:J~EC'rIVIDAD y PRODUC'l'IVIDAD ANUlAL. Por: Valderedes Nartins da Silva* !la:jo supervisi6n de Luis E. 'l!ergas ** Supervisi6n adicional:Carlos Lascano, Gustavo Cuenca y Jaime Velásquez** IN'rRODUCCION Con los aumentos demográffcos, principalmente en los países más pobres del mundo, diversos organüuflos internacionales suman esfuerzos a entidades nacionales en investigaciones agropecuarias, buscando elevar la oferta de alimentos para atender la demanda cada vez mayor de estas poblaciones. Aunque r,!xistan en el m• .. mdo extensas áreas sin explotar, S0 carece de la tp.cnología adecuada y de informaci6n suficiente que comprueben su 'viabilidad económica para que puedan ser incorporadas al sis\"Lema productivo. * ** InveBt:i.gador B. S. de 1\", Empresa l'ernanbucana de Pesquisa lIgropecu\",ria-IPA. Brasil Programa Pas tos Tr()picales -CIl!.'J', Cali, ColombiaEn la América tropical, c.e acuerdo con datos del proyecte de evaluación de recursos de t:i.erras para América latina, del CIAT, estas áreas corresponden a 850 millones d~ hectéll:eas (51% del recurso) (1).Los suelos de esta regi6n son en su mayoria Oxisoles y Ultisoles de escasa fertilidad y presentan severos U.mi tantes para la producción agropecuaria. Sin embargo, poseen, en g~neral muy buenas propiedades físicas, además de existfr en la región una abundante radiación solar y prolongadas estaciones de crecimiento vegetal ~2), que los hacen ideales para con Ulla adecuada tecnología fmplantar los pastos mejorados y por ende aumentar la producción de alimentos de orj.gen anfmaJ.. Este es el objetivo principal del programa de Pastos Tropicales del Centro Internacional do 1\\.gricul tura ~'ropical-CIAT, ~ue busca, con mucho €nfasis, una tecnología que pueda incorporar estas tierras al s.istema productivo de los países a que pertenezcan. De este modo se espera ccmtribuix: para disminuir el desequilibrio entre la oferta y demanda , ,\" .-2de alimentos' y hacer Ilegal: con mayor seguridad a la mesa de las poblaciones de pocos recursos, la carne , la leche y otros productos de primera necesidad. El trabajo reportado en este informe es conducido por la Secci6n de utilizaci6n de pasturas del ClAT que tiene como objetivo primordial caracterizar y evaluar el germoplasma introducido . promisorio por' su valor alimenticio y su potencial de pl:oducttvidud animal, así como ladeterminación del maneja apropiado de la pradel:a para seguJ:ar la persistencia (2). Se busca aquí condensar las informaciones de las actividades desarrolladas en la secci6n antes citada, con el fin de lograr especialización en evaluaci6n y manejo de praderas, dentro del Programa de Capacitación Científica del crAT.~mTERIALES y METODOS Los datos que se presentan en este informe fueron obtenidos de un ensayo conducido en el Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias del lCA \"Carimagua\", Llanos Orientales de Colombia que tiene 22 mil hectáreas de tierra ubicadas en el eC0sistemd de sabana bien drenada hipertérmica con una altura sobre el nivel del mar de 175 ro y presenta algunas zonas inundables, con peneientes de menos de 0.5%. Estas áreas están cubiertas de sabanas nativas con bo.sques de \"galeria\" que se presentan a lo largo de los caños y rios. Sus suelos (Oxisoles) son ácidos (pH 4.2 -4.8) con elevados niveles y saturación de Al, además son deficientes en N, P,J<, -Ca, Mg, S Y elementos menores. La precipitación anual es de 2.100 mm distribuidos en 8 meses (Abril, noviembre) de lluvia y 4 meses (diciembre a mayo) de sequía. La temperatu.ra promedio es de 26•C con pocas variaciones durante el año. Las praderas en asociación de J3.humidicola y Q.ovalifolium de las cuales se obtuvieron los datos para este informe y fueron establecidas de la siguiente manera: -4-En el cuadro 1 se incluyen los datos de la rep2tici6n 1 y se observa en la época seca una bucma disponibilj.dad (k forraje inicial, corres\" pondiendo más del 50% ¡;¡ la produccj.6n de la leguminosa. El pastoreo se inicio en el mes de febrero y en abr11, época d!;) transici6n, ya se percibe el efecto del. pastoreo con su respectiva carga, ocurriendo una mayor aceptaci6n ele la legur.ünosa en esta \";¡poca, lo cual favorece un mejor equilibrio de los componentes de la pradera. Es importante resaltar la ocurrencia de una proporción elevada de material r.luerto de gral'1ínea y tallos de le9nminosa al inicio del pastoreo (Figura 1). En la época húmeda en tocas las cargas, ocurre una reducción severa el1 la dispol1~bilidad de la gramínea, causando un desequilibrio notable en los componentes botánicos. Este desbalance puede ser atrj.buído, tanbién al crecimiento exuberante del D.ovalifo1 sin competencia en esta época. La baja producción de B. humidicola, aee~ás de la alta proporción de material muerto en la época de traniij.ción (Figura 1) ocasionaron En la protelna y alta digestibiHdad. Existi6 también un equilibrio los componentes gramínea-leguminosa, excepto en la carga baja, el cual el 66% correspondía a la gramínea. pruebas de selectividad, a diferencia de la primera repctj.ción preferenCia animal por la gram1nea fue alta. Esto puede observarse ,.-5-Producci6n de materia seca y porcentaje de los componentes de la pradera ele D.humidicola y!?. ovalifolium en asociaci6n, bajo pastoreo continuo en tres épocas. Carimagua, 1982. I Repetici6n.Gram1nea.Le~luminosa Total an/ha t7ha . ,• -/.   -7al comparar las Figuras 2 y 4. En esta repetici6n los animales tenían a disposición gramínea tierna (Figura 3) ce mejor calidad que posiblemente 'proporcionaba una mejor dieta con elevado contenido de pr~teína para una'mayor producci6n animal (4).En la carga baja hubo al inicio una gran cantidad de gramínea y un desbalance en los componentes (Cuadro 2), pero debido a una mayor preferencia y consumo ~e la gramínea (Fi<:;ura 4) ocurrió para e l \" , , mes de julio, un equilibrio en la composición botánica. En las otras ,cargas ocurri6 un desequilibrio en funci6n del mayor namero de' animales, mayor preferencia y consumo de gramínea, lo que condujo a un crecimiento exuberante de la leguminosa, mas que todo por la falta de competencia (Cuadro 2).En el Cuadro 3, se puede observar que la ganancia diaria de peso por animal durante el período de transición de,la época seca a la lluviosa fue baja para todas las cargas. Esto estuvo relacionado con ,la cisponibilidad y calidad del forraje existente en esta época, aunque inicialmente existi6 'buena disponibilidad de forraje (CuadroEn lQs primeros 43 días de la época lluviosa se observ6 un significativo aumento en la producci6n animal como consecuencia de una mayor disponibilidad de forraje (Cuadro 1) que favoreció la ganancia compensatoria de peso por los 'animales durante epta época, 'esto también pudo deberse a la mayor contribuci6n de la leguminosa en la dieta (Figura 2). Para el período total de 109 días experimentales la mayor producci6n animal se alcanz6 en la carga de 3.5 anima,les/ha. Fue en este tratamiento en donde la disponibilidad de forraje durante la época seca y de transici6n fue mayor, siendo el porcentaje de leguminosa siempre superior al 48%. lo cual favoreció su consumo, especialmente en la época cr:ttica. En el cuadro 4', se presentan los datos de ganancia éle peso por los animales para la 11 repetici6n. Estas ganancias son superiores a las obtenidas en la repeticiÓn 1, debido a que los animales tenían a su di~posici6n forraje de buena calidad (Pi'gura 3) y estaban en condiciones de seleccionar una mejor dieta. Puede, observarse que al ;.\" -'.~.'.  -8-aUMm~ la carga animal disminuyó la ganancia diaria de pese, pere la preducci6n per hectárea fue mayer 3. Dispenibilidad de ferraje y cempesición mtanica de las praderas en pasteree alterne.Las figuras 5 y 6 muestran la disponibilidad de ferraje y les efectos de maneje del pasteree cen sus cargas en esta dispenibilidad y cempesici6n betánica en una pradera que empezó seQetida a pasteree centinue en febrere de 1981 y pesteriermente fue cambiada para pasteree alterne cen 14 días de descanse y 14 de _.ocupación.El petrere A por peseer mayer cantidad de ferraje, recibi6 3 animales/ha y el B recibi6 2 animales/ha. En el mes de maye empezaren a ser utilizades al ternamente cen la carga de 3.5 an/ha (•6).Inicialmente hube deminie de la gramínea y cen el cambie del sistema de pasteree se íegr6 una estabilidad en les ~empenentes gramínealeguminesa (Figura 5). Este .ocurre temporalmente después de enere hasta junie•de 1982, ebsérvase en la Figura 6 un desbalance cen mayer .oferta de gramínea, pere cen alta cantidad de material muerte y de talle que afectará, sin duda, el censume per les animales íFig .. 3-4)Per ser este el primer añe de pastoree y en ferma similar-a le .ocurrido en las praderas utilizadas bajo pastereo continuo, anteriormente citadas, per la abundancia de ferraje de buena calidad, el rendimiente de' les animales fue alte, cerne se .observa en el Cuadre 5.Se .observa que mientras, la preductividad animal disminuye al avanzar el tiempe de pastereey que la estabilidad de les componentes iniciales de la pradera han cambiade con predeminie de la gramínea (Figura 6).Tede esto tal vez pueda ser explicade, perque en alguna época la carga animal fue insuficiente para el'velumen de ferraje preducide, ecurriende una rápida maduración del material y su rechaze per les animales.La alta cantidad de material muerto y do;! t;l1lo de gramínea, además de la ausencia de hoja de leguminesa (Figura 6) que puede causar un baje censume per les animales, tal vez explique la pérdida de pese -10-• de 66g/an/d1'.a en el pedoCb de enero a marzo .de 1982 y la baja ganancia en los períodos siguientes (Cuadro 6). Este cuadro muestra una baja productividad animal comparado con los datos de los otros cuadros, se puede atribuir posiblemente, como se dijo anteriormente a la abundancia de material de baja calidad en el forraje disponible que imposibilit6 una selección •de una mejor dieta por los animales •Al inicio del pastoreo siempre se observ6 una alta disponibilidad de forraje con una gran proporción de hoja y un buen balance entre los componentes Brachiaria humidicola -Desmodium ovalifolium .    -, -11del comportamiento de las especies de la pradera que en términos de producci6n animal."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"90b07ff3e3bfece77d82c1c1c05e95e1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/11713824-25d1-4b5d-8534-bdb975fbafa5/retrieve","id":"1989962595"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cb7ed591-7c8e-4010-aa43-182adf6ee630","content":"• Major pillar of the economy + increasing demand • Extensive production, soil degradation, deforestation • 63% of GHG emissions Opportunities for income and employment along the value chains Interventions to mitigate GHG emissions and recuperate degraded soils. Improved pasture systems for increased productivity and reduced GHG emissionsThe livestock sector in NicaraguaThe   • Allows for rapid feedback (farmers and other value chain actors)• Input data• Additional farm types and intervention scenarios• Ground-truthing through stakeholder feedback• More user-friendliness for participatory running of scenariosThank you!"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d7271a1ee6c63bf37549de0ba91af948","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/41bcd5ef-c4f2-41ec-9e4d-558664c92537/retrieve","id":"174306772"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6fe26d48-0589-466a-8f67-f030980ce908","content":"A phone survey was conducted in July 2022 to understand the effects of COVID-19 and political instability on Myanmar's mechanization service providers (MSPs), crucial to enabling smallholder farmers to undertake a range of power-intensive farm and post-harvest operations in a timely manner. This note reports on the results of this survey, the ninth in a series of phone surveys, as well as on trends from earlier surveys.These declines appear to be both due to declining demand from farmers, and also the rising costs of services due to increasing prices of machines, equipment, fuels, repair services and operators, which led to more than 50 percent increase in nominal values of hiring fees between 2021 and 2022.• For farmers who continue to rely on mechanization services, the significant increase in hiring charges directly reduce their incomes and potentially lower yield.• Revenue prospects among MSPs, which were already poor in 2021, continue to remain dire in 2022. Increases in operating costs are also more commonly perceived among MSPs.• Set up measures to extend loans at affordable rates, including those dedicated for supporting small-scale enterprises. Doing so can help some MSPs to remain in business during the ongoing crisis, and prevent the losses of critical mechanization service skills which can be hard to restore once lost.Reduce taxes and fees temporarily, including imported goods like fuels or equipment, to mitigate the increase in costs for mechanization services.Disruptions that affect the equipment supply-chain and mobility of MSPs should be minimized, or at least made consistent, to allow MSPs to operate freely. Keeping repair shops open can also partly alleviate MSPs' concerns on rising costs of repair work. These policies can also help MSPs who had suspended their businesses due to violence to resume their service provisions.Access to formal credit through the MADB or through microfinance institutions should be expanded to help ensure farmers' access to affordable mechanization services, as farmers are likely to continue facing significantly increased costs in the 2022 season. The rising fees of mechanized services and the growing inability of farmers to make payments will continue to reduce monsoon season production.STRATEGY SUPPORT PROGRAM RESEARCH NOTE 82 AUGUST 2022Agricultural mechanization service providers (MSPs) are crucial to enabling smallholder farmers to undertake a range of power-intensive farm and post-harvest operations in a timely manner. These operations are important for food production and farm income. MSPs are capital-intensive operations. The economic viability of these businesses is highly sensitive to (1) capacity utilization, which generates the cash flow needed to repay equipment loans;(2) prices of imported capital goods, including machines, equipment, and fuels; and (3) availability of machine operators, among others. Hence, the operations of MSPs are sensitive to restrictions on mobility and trade.This Research Note focuses on the impacts of the COVID-19 and the on-going political crisis on MSPs from the latest phone survey conducted in July 2022. This note primarily covers the activities of tractor service providers (TSPs) in the 2022 monsoon planting season, as well as combine harvester service providers (CHSPs) that completed harvesting from the dry season. The results of previous rounds were published in Myanmar Strategy Support Program Research Notes 07,12,17,39,43,59,62,and 76. As MSP operations continue to be affected by market disruptions, an understanding of the situation on the ground is critical to support measures to ensure farmers' access to MSP services.In the ninth survey round, a total of 352 mechanized service providers (MSPs) were interviewed-277 tractor services providers (TSPs) and 75 combine harvester service providers (CHSPs). Among them, 312 (247 TSPs and 65 CHSPs) were also interviewed in the same season in 2021, and 192 TSPs were interviewed in 2020 (Table 1). This note focuses primarily on the panel samples of 192 TSPs and 65 CHSPs, while also providing insights from 247 TSPs where appropriate. While panel samples are sub-samples, their information can shed light on changes over time.   Most TSPs and CHSPs continue to feel restricted to operating solely within their village tracts or townships during the 2022 monsoon planting season, with relatively little improvement in their perceptions from 2021 season (Figure 2). The share of TSPs who feel their movement is confined to township increased from 75 percent in 2020 to 95 percent in 2021, and has remained largely unchanged in 2022. Since COVID-19 mobility restrictions have been greatly reduced, TSPs and CHSPs may be facing unofficial restrictions due to the persistent security situation, and/or having perceptions that these restrictions are broadly in place, even it remains unclear how movement restrictions are formally imposed. TSPs and CHSPs typically travel at night, reserving the daytime for servicing farms, and the security situation may not allow for safe night travel. Security checkpoints The declining acreage serviced by TSPs in 2022 (Figure 1), may be in part due to declining demand.For those still demanding the service, the timeliness of services somewhat improved in 2022 monsoon planting season compared to the previous years (Figure 3). The shares of TSPs reporting that their customers had to wait longer for their services, compared to one year earlier, decreased from 66 percent and 61 percent in 2020 and 2021 respectively, to 46 percent in 2022. Similar declines were observed for CHSPs too. However, for CHSPs, this appears to be weather related as they reported that the rainy season arrived late and that heavy rain at the end of the season delayed harvesting. However, as is shown subsequently, improved timeliness is likely to be due to declining demand. Most (close to 80 percent of) TSPs still continue to perceive the demand for land preparation services to be weaker than in 2019 (Figure 4). While about 20 percent of TSPs continue to see the  same or increased demands, this may reflect that some TSPs have discontinued the business during the previous few years, particularly since 2021, creating more demand for other TSPs in their area.As is described later, some MSPs left their businesses when their machines broke down and could not have affordable repairing services. Hiring charges for TSPs in 2022 monsoon planting season were significantly higher than those in 2020 or 2021. At the median, hiring charges (per acre) for in 2022 were 30,000 MMK, about 50 percent higher than the 18,000 MMK charged at the same time in 2021 (Figure 5). These patterns are similar in Delta and Dry zones. Hiring-charge increases are likely due to significant depreciation in the Kyat since the early 2021, which has increased the costs of the imported goods including machines and fuels. With increased hiring charges, a majority of MSPs continue to receive requests from farmers for late payment (Figure 6). The shares for TSPs receiving late payment requests somewhat decreased from 90 percent in 2021 to around 75 percent in 2022. This may, however, reflect that more farmers with financial stresses might have simply stopped hiring tractor services. In fact, the share of TSPs providing additional financial assistance to farmers increased from 4 percent in 2021 to about 10 percent in 2022. To mitigate the perceived lower demand, an increasing share of TSPs are coping by servicing smaller groups of farmers or plots (increase from around 20 percent in 2020-2021 to 47 percent in 2022) (Figure 7). This may reflect that some of larger groups of farms or farmers with larger plots stopped hiring tractor services. This coping measure is likely to further raise the costs of TSP operations per plot area. In contrast, a smaller share of TSPs opt to expand their service to farmers at further distance, possibly because of lingering mobility restrictions and rising fuel costs for travel. On the supply-side, almost all MSPs continue to experience increased prices of machines, spare parts, attachments (either imported or locally manufactured), and fuel compared to the previous year (Figure 8). The rising prices are also becoming more common for repair services and operators. These supply-side challenges increase the cost of providing mechanization services and are expected to continue affecting farm production costs in 2022. The shares of MSPs reporting reduced availability of these machines and services declined somewhat in 2022 compared to 2021, but these may partly reflect the overall declining demand for MSPs in general, and do not seem to significantly mitigate rising prices that are caused more by the supply-side shocks. A significant share of MSPs continue to experience financial challenges due to the impacts of COVID-19 and political unrest (Figure 9, top charts). Both TSPs and CHSPs continue to be concerned about various financial requirements, including rising staff wage, and other expenses associated with the operation of service provision. The shares of TSPs and CHSPs who report no financial challenges declined further in 2022 to 7 percent and 9 percent, respectively. Repossession of equipment continues to grow more common (Figure 9, bottom charts). In July 2021, 26 percent and 36 percent of TSPs and CHSPs reported knowing other MSPs whose machines had been repossessed since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. These shares increased to 43 percent and 59 percent in 2022, respectively. MSPs' perceptions of financial prospects toward the end of the year, which were already pessimistic in 2020 and in 2021, continued to be bleak in 2022 (Figure 10). Close to 90 percent of TSPs and CHSPs continue to expect their revenues to be lower than the previous year. Furthermore, 66 percent and 64 percent of TSPs and CHSPs expect their operating costs to further increase in 2022, compared with 54 percent and 55 percent in 2021. The negative overall perception at the end of the 2022 monsoon planting, demonstrates the need to continue closely monitoring how these MSPs can survive financially through the remainder of the 2022 season. As in earlier survey rounds, respondents were asked for their opinions on what measures would be most beneficial for their businesses to continue during the COVID-19 and political crises (Figure 11). Compared to previous years (particularly 2021), a significantly higher share of both TSPs and CHSPs reported that policies to extend new loans, including those for small-enterprises, are preferred. While a minority, the preference for policies to reduce taxes/fees also increased since 2021. Other policies keeping machine/parts shops open and allowing movement of machines across greater geographical regions remain commonly preferred, albeit to a lesser extent than in 2021. These perceptions are consistent with perceptions of reduced demand for mechanization services.Strengthening MSPs requires not only supporting those who are currently in business, but also those who temporarily suspended the business due to the crisis since 2020, but are willing to resume the business. To gain insights, this survey round also traced 16 MSPs who have suspended their business recently since 2020, whom we could still contact by phone. Although the sample is small, some important patterns are worth noting.Out of 16, 5 MSPs still kept their machines, while the other 11 had sold their machines. We found that the former MSPs had suspended their business typically because of increased violence and reduced security and rising fuel prices, while the latter 11 suspended their businesses due to rising price/reduced availability of machines / equipment / repair services. Most of the former types of MSPs indicated their willingness to resume their business within one or two years. Therefore, targeting support to MSPs who have kept their machines without selling may be particularly effective in restoring the MSP sector once the demand for MSPs re-emerges.Extending support to these MSPs may also be important because, as we found, relatively few of them may have alternative income generating businesses or options to recover investments in machines. A majority of these MSPs (13 out of 16) have reverted back to farming as primary income earning activities, instead of any off-farm activities that are potentially more profitable. Those who have sold their machines, could do so typically at 20 percent lower prices than they would have desired, suggesting that re-selling their machines may not be an attractive alternative to MSPs which would typically bring higher returns to machine investments.To support these MSPs, particularly those who are willing to resume their businesses, we asked their preferred policies. Similar to Figure 11, these MSPs particularly prefer policies that keep machine shops/repair shops open (indirectly by containing conflict / violence), allow greater movement of machines across regions, as well as provide general support to farmers that could further enhance their effective demands for MSP.The observed conditions on the ground in 2022 monsoon planting season continue to show the deteriorating situation for MSPs in Myanmar. Combined with the global increases in the cost of fuels, disruptions to the supply-chain are significantly raising the cost of mechanization services. These factors are contributing to a significant decline in demand for services. As MSPs are sensitive to capacity utilization, which generates the cash flow needed to repay equipment loans, we may continue to see the rate of repossessions or the discontinuation of business by MSPs increase as coping methods are exhausted.At the same time, albeit with declining demand, a significant share of farmers still hire mechanization services. The increasing cost of tractor services (50 percent or more in nominal terms between 2021 and 2022) add additional strain on farmers already facing increasing input prices 3 and marketing challenges 4 and could result in lower cultivated areas and yields. The potential scarcity of cheaper alternatives (hired labor or draft animals) demonstrates the need to address the challenges facing MSPs into the rest of the production season.The following measures are recommended to ensure the long-term availability of mechanized services to farmers:• Set up measures to extend new loans at affordable rates, including those dedicated for supporting small-scale enterprises. Doing so can help some MSPs to remain in business during the ongoing crisis, and prevent the losses of critical mechanization service skills which can be hard to restore once lost• Reduce taxes and fees temporarily, including imported goods like fuels or equipment, to mitigate the increase in costs for mechanization services• Disruptions that affect equipment supply-chain and mobility of MSPs should be minimized, or at least made consistent, to allow MSPs to operate freely.• Keeping repair shops open can also partly alleviate MSPs' concerns on rising costs of repair work.• Access to formal credit through the MADB or through microfinance institutions should be expanded to help ensure farmers' access to affordable mechanization services, as farmers are likely to continue facing significantly increased costs in the 2022 season. The rising fees of mechanized services and the growing inability of farmers to make payments will continue to reduce monsoon season production."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"642710f467423f269b8295293056b918","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d76c7bd1-62b4-498c-a2fc-6b09c05c3ed5/retrieve","id":"1996507936"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"29288444-01f5-4fd5-b004-48c44f5bd0cc","content":"The aim of this two-pager 1 is to provide input for the OneCGIAR investment plan. Notably to identify key research challenges within the OneCGIAR impact areas, how these areas interact with Dutch policy priorities and how the challenges could be addressed / strengthened.A Breeding. Breeders have made significant genetic gains capitalizing on germplasm collections. However, the mixed impact and the need to anticipate on future stresses and challenges require increased breeding efforts to achieve adoption of improved varieties and higher varietal turnover. This requires further improvement of the targeting and the scaling of data collection and procedures that are able to adequately capture farmers' demands. Current practices still result in the promotion of varieties that are sub-optimal, excluding in particular groups of farmers (including women) with limited resources, as well as farmers in agro-ecological and/or market niches. There is need for methods and practices that generate socially and agro-ecologically differentiated feedback about candidate varieties and/or user preferences at a larger scale than before, and exploring among other the use of new ICT-supported opportunities for data collection and data analysis (e.g. v Etten et al., 2019) which can support the definition of product and client profiles in a stage-gated set up as (will be) used by CGIAR breeding programs.B Seed supply and delivery. In the current breeding and seed systems of the majority of the major food crops, (CGIAR/national public) breeders still \"hand over\" their products to public and private sector actors for seed multiplication and delivery. However, seed multiplication and delivery also face a series of challenges that result in inefficiencies and/or in inadequate volumes of seed of possibly relevant varieties being available to different type of farmers (McEwan et al., 2021). The challenges involve questions around seed business models: the organisation of the different actors in the value chain in terms of partnerships and their information exchange (Rutsaert & Donovan, 2020). It also asks for information about preferences and needs of different groups of farmers in the sourcing and acquisition of seeds, and their access and willingness/ability to pay that better reflects their contextualized reality (Almekinders et al., 2019). This knowledge gap requires development of methods and approaches that tie in with the need of information for the definition of product and client profiles that breeders can use to be more demand-oriented and serve the definition of effective seed delivery pathways for farmers in different agro-ecologies and of different social categories (McEwan et al., 2021).C Seed quality and degeneration. Quality of seed planted by farmers is often sub-optimal, in particular of vegetatively propagated crops, due to the build-up of pests and diseases that are carried over to the next generation, resulting in seed degeneration. While this process and its impacts on yield have been widely studied, particularly for potato, many unknowns remain on the biophysical relations and the interactions with farmers' decision to invest in seed replacement and quality seed. This knowledge is also crucial for developing effective interventions and the definition of strategies to limit the spread of invasive pathogens. These, in turn, provide entry points for scaling the introduction of new varieties and trait prioritization for breeding programs. Novel approaches need to be further developed to combine biophysical data on plant health, plant performance and contextualized socio-economic considerations of different type of farmers.Addressing the challenges on information collection and sharing can only lead to higher impact of breeding and seed system interventions when the new insights are acted upon and bring changes of practices at scale. From studies about system innovation we know that systems are likely to change only if they are confronted with sufficient pressures and when there is sufficient learning in and around the system to arrive at ready and mature alternatives for the standard way of operating. Daily decision-making dynamics are embedded in existing governance structures and practices, shaped by cultural norms and values.Seed system transformation implies the scaling of changes in the decision making dynamics. Supporting responsible transformation processes ask novel engagement and advocacy strategies to catalysing learning and change of practices which are congruent with the key dimensions of responsible research and innovation (MacNaghten, 2020).Action research and scaling of capacities play a key role in arriving at envisioned system transformations.To address the challenges we propose one or more coherent research programs combined with the capacity development.The research would have as overarching research question What combinations of methodological and system learning strategies enable inclusive transformation of breeding and seed system at scales? It would count with the following areas of activities: a developing and testing methodological and analytical approaches for generating feedback at scale that is more sensitive to socially differentiated demands. b developing and testing methodological and analytical approaches for generating and integrating biophysical and socio-economic information on seed quality related processes and human behaviour. c developing and testing engagement and advocacy strategies through which the feedback can be leveraged and made to count in breeding and seed systems. d conducting comparisons across breeding and seed systems. The research would have to following features: • Involve a ranges of crops, allowing for comparative analysis of breeding and seed systems• Be highly interdisciplinary in nature, involving genetics, modeling and statistics, social sciences • Use a system approach to understand trade-offs between goals, priorities and system levels "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f2505a6c90c15e165cb320d09c2da5a2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/31a19943-eb0f-4319-b76e-e31d6c30bc48/retrieve","id":"1943856146"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"98be968b-2973-44ca-8f89-489acd0fbdff","content":"o Beans are an important part of the diet for millions of people in Africa.o They are high yielding, virus resistant, heat and drought tolerant.o Beans can provide up to 50% of daily iron needs of women and children."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ec907f24f7f6466926de8d273e972406","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c05336d3-c8c5-411d-885d-58d44fad8f5e/retrieve","id":"857279394"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"677d72e9-d019-439a-8e1b-b85f3bfb89e0","content":"https://climatesecurity.cgiar.org CGIAR aims to address gaps in knowledge about climate change and food security for peace and security policies and operations through a unique multidisciplinary approach. Our main objective is to align evidence from the realms of climate, land, and food systems science with peacebuilding efforts already underway that address conflict through evidence-based environmental, political, and socio-economic solutions.The data collection methodology employed aligns with the principles of participatory appraisal, wherein community members assume the role of citizen scientists and experts in comprehending the diverse vulnerabilities and security-related challenges that affect their lives. This approach empowers them to actively contribute insights and recommendations for improvement. To facilitate this process, a range of collective reflection techniques, as documented in studies such as Rüttinger et al. (2014) and   This Community Voices on Climate, Peace and Security series report, under CGIAR´s Climate Resilience Initiative, presents the results of a participatory appraisal conducted with residents of three localities across Guatemala, including:1. Maya Ch'orti' Indigenous Peoples farmers in La Lima village, Camotán, Chiquimula department;2. Farmers, ranchers and sand harvesters in Tenedores village, Morales, Izabal department; and 3. Farmers in El Carpintero village, Chiantla, Huehuetenango department.A total of 70 community members (35 men and 35 women) participated in 18 FGDs, held throughout November and December 2022 across the three localities.The impacts of climate variability in Guatemala are leading to the depletion of natural resources and the destabilisation of established weather patterns, which are critical for many livelihoods. These climate-related extremes are intensifying the vulnerability of local communities and amplifying existing challenges to societal stability and conflict. This includes issues such as a lack of political legitimacy, exclusive control over natural resources, the presence of illicit sources of income, criminal violence, a large informal economy, insecure land and resource rights, and widespread inequality and marginalisation.In addition to these preexisting drivers of instability, the effects of climate change are compounding the situation and exacerbating trends in irregular migration. This poses additional security risks for those on the move. Moreover, these sources of instability and conflict are eroding the capacity of local populations to adapt to climate change and work together to build resilience.Six climate security pathways, as experienced by local populations, were identified:• Pathway 1: The effects of climate change interact with structural drivers of marginalisation and antagonism, increasing societal unrest, conflict and potentially exacerbating political instability.• Pathway 2: Climate-related loss of livelihoods increases the risk of populations, mainly the young, in adopting illicit activities.• Pathway 3: Climate change exacerbates the risks of inter and intra-communal conflicts around access to and use of natural resources.• Pathway 4: Inequality and unequal distribution of available funds for resilience building is undermining social cohesion and collaborative capacities for climate adaptation.• Pathway 5: Climate-related livelihood insecurity increases human mobility and associated security risks for migrant populations.• Pathway 6: Disasters lead to loss of lives, population displacement, destruction of property and infrastructure, and the reduced provision of public services.Community-led policy recommendations to address climate-related security risks The management of natural resources and efforts for climate adaptation can also be the source of cooperation across conflictive groups, thereby helping to build resilient institutions that can moderate and reduce the disruptive impacts of conflict. Urgent conflict-sensitive resilience building actions should be implemented, aligned with the priorities of the community. These actions should draw from local and Indigenous knowledge, as well as the everyday experiences of community members in understanding the dynamics of problems, vulnerabilities, and conflicts. It is essential to consider the perspectives of the community regarding structural sources of vulnerability and conflict. In this context, community members have formulated context-specific policy recommendations to transform climate-related security risks into opportunities for resilience and peacebuilding.The members of La Lima community have proposed a set of climate adaptation strategies aimed at protecting their agricultural livelihoods and improving access to markets, strengthening land tenure, fostering local agencies for natural resource management, and addressing structural inequalities within their community. In Tenedores, Izabal, community members have identified several key priorities for climate adaptation solutions. One of the primary focuses is to strengthen the community's collaborative capacity, fostering the ability to work together through collective action. This collaborative approach is meant to maintain social cohesion, by ensuring that community members can support each other in times of climate-related challenges.In Tenedores, Izabal, community members have identified several key priorities for climate adaptation solutions. One of the primary focuses is to strengthen the community's collaborative capacity, fostering the ability to work together through collective action. This collaborative approach is meant to maintain social cohesion, by ensuring that community members can support each other in times of climate-related challenges.Fostering collective action in El Carpintero has become increasingly challenging due to a history of water-related conflicts, economic concerns related to irrigated agriculture, and the absence of means to measure and enforce water consumption regulations. Addressing these challenges will require efforts to rebuild trust among community members, explore alternative livelihood strategies, and invest in the necessary governance practices, infrastructure and tools for effective water management and regulation enforcement.Strengthen resource tenure of local populations, such as formal agreements for land leasing, while implementing incentives for resilient agriculture in leasing agreements.Establish cooperative associations of local producers meant to increase collaboration among farmers around strategic highvalue crops.Strengthen local livelihoods by formalising farmers associations that increase access to markets, financial services, and capacity development in agricultural livelihoods.Increase access to climate information systems to strengthen integrated water management and collaborative capacities within communities, while accounting for inequalities in decision making processes and resource access.Develop and implement integrated resource management plans based on collective action between conflicting parties, neighbouring communities and municipal governments.Strengthen the conflict-resolution capacities of water-related community committees through more integrated and collaborative approaches to water management.Strengthen engagement capacities of local coordination offices for disaster risk reduction and the equitable distribution of resilience building benefits.Allocate suitable locations and infrastructure for temporary shelter during extreme events, which ensure the continuous provision of public services during and after extreme events, including security-related.Increase coordinating capacities between migrant populations and those in the community as a resilience building strategy. The effects of climate change and conflict act as compounding and interrelated stressors over people's wellbeing. While it is widely acknowledged that climate change exacerbates ongoing conflicts by diminishing the adaptive capacity of societies and governments to address them effectively, numerous unanswered questions persist regarding the multifaceted connections between climate and conflict. There is a notable deficiency in locally contextualised and policy-relevant research that delves into the precise mechanisms through which climate-related security risks manifest in diverse geographical and social settings.Moreover, existing studies on the intricate interplay between climate change and conflict often overlook the importance of local cultural and political realities.Consequently, the recommendations that emerge from such research tend to prioritise technocratic solutions and top-down governance structures, often at the expense of recognising and aligning with the perspectives, understanding, and priorities of local populations concerning peace and resilience.A recent IPCC report (2022) recognises the pivotal role played by climate change in exacerbating vulnerabilities that are intrinsically tied to conflicts. It unequivocally underscores the need for climate adaptation strategies to function as a tool for addressing the adverse effects of climate change on factors that drive conflict, particularly by addressing issues of political and economic inequality. Adaptation to climate change should therefore integrate strategies to foster social cohesion, empower communities to build resilience, and enhance the relationship between states and societies.In pursuit of a deeper understanding of the intersections between climate and security, the Community Voices on Climate, Peace and Security research initiative, conducted under CGIAR's Resilience Initiative, embarked on an assessment of climate-related security risks and conflict-sensitive climate adaptation strategies as conceived by local populations in five different countries: Kenya, Senegal, Guatemala, Zambia, and the Philippines. This research initiative aims to bridge existing knowledge gaps in this critical area and shed light on the perspectives and insights of local communities.A conceptual framework for climate securityA recent review of the climate security literature, conducted by Buhaug and von Uexkull (2021), has proposed a conceptual framework for understanding the intricate relationship between climate change impacts and conflict. This framework (see Fig. 1) draws upon three well-established areas of scientific inquiry:• Drivers of vulnerability to climate extremes and variability: This component delves into the factors that render societies vulnerable to the effects of climate change and variability. Socioeconomic vulnerabilities play a significant role in shaping a community's susceptibility to climate-related challenges.• Climatic drivers of conflict risk: Here, the focus is on how climatic changes and their associated impacts can heighten the risk of conflict and societal instability, as experienced by local populations. This dimension examines how environmental factors can influence conflict dynamics.• Societal and environmental impacts of conflict: The third component assesses the consequences of instability and conflict, both on society and the environment. These impacts can further exacerbate vulnerabilities to future climate hazards.The proposed framework illustrates a complex interplay between these three components.Socioeconomic vulnerabilities influence the risk and severity of the impacts of climate extremes and variability. These climate-related impacts, in turn, can escalate or deescalate the risk of armed conflicts. Furthermore, the ramifications of armed conflicts can amplify vulnerabilities to subsequent climate-related threats. This interconnection creates the potential for a society to become ensnared in a \"vicious circle\" of climate insecurity.Similarly, cooperation for resilience building can trigger an opposite, or \"virtuous\", cycle that contributes to peacebuilding and societal stability.It's important to note that this framework is shaped by institutional responses at various levels and across diverse policy sectors, adding further layers of complexity to the interaction between climate change, peace and conflict. Ulrichs et al. (2015), were employed as a toolkit to design a participatory vulnerability assessment that incorporates a focus on climate-related security risks. This methodology combined tools previously utilised in participatory assessments of climate change vulnerability and conflict. The overarching objective was to uncover potential connections between climate and security by identifying vulnerabilities to climate impacts and security risks. Subsequently, this information was leveraged to develop resilience-building solutions rooted in collective action, with the ultimate goal of contributing to sustainable peacebuilding efforts within participating communities.The climate hazards to which populations are exposed, such as increasing droughts, rainfall variability and extremes, flooding, among others.The socio-economic, political, cultural and environmental factors that shape population sensitivity to climate impacts and their capacity to adapt.The consequences of conflict and societal instability over people's vulnerability to future climate impacts.impacts over people'sThe effects of climate wellbeing and societal stability, and population responses to those impacts.Figure 2. A conceptual framework for climate-related security risks.• Adaptation: In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects, in order to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities.• Adaptive capacity: The ability of systems, institutions, humans and other organisms to adjust to potential damage, to take advantage of opportunities, or to respond to consequences.• Climate Security: Climate-related security risks are systemic risks emerging through interactions between ecological, social, political, and economic dimensions, and \"driven by one or more climatic stressors that [directly or indirectly] challenge the peace and stability of states and societies\" (Detges et al., 2020, p. 5).• Conflict-sensitive climate adaptation: an approach to climate adaptation that seeks to avoid unintendedly making conflict situations worse and, when possible, aims to contribute to address the causes of conflict.• Exposure: The presence of people; livelihoods; species or ecosystems; environmental functions, services, and resources; infrastructure; or economic, social, or cultural assets in places and settings that could be adversewwly affected.A condition that is met when the vital core of human lives is protected, and when people have the freedom and capacity to live with dignity. In the context of climate change, the vital core of human lives includes the universal and culturally specific, material and non-material elements necessary for people to act on behalf of their interests and to live with dignity.• Maladaptation: Actions that may lead to increased risk of adverse climate-related outcomes, including via increased GHG emissions, increased vulnerability to climate change, or diminished welfare, now or in the future. Maladaptation is usually an unintended consequence.• Pathways: Context-specific interactions between climate impacts and peace and insecurity risks.• Resilience: Capacity of social, economic, and environmental systems to cope with a hazardous event, trend or disturbance by responding or reorganising in ways that maintain their essential function, identity, and structure while maintaining their capacity for adaptation, learning, and transformation.• Vulnerability: The propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected. Vulnerability encompasses a variety of concepts and elements including sensitivity or susceptibility to harm and lack of capacity to cope and adapt.The appraisal method applied in this study expands our comprehension of climaterelated security risks in Guatemala. It examines the way local actors capitalize on practical experience to elucidate their understanding of the environmental-and conflictrelated collective problems they face; to reflect on their action strategies in addressing such problems; and to challenge institutional structures that sustain underlying causes of their vulnerability. Ongoing community-level responses are also discussed, identifying short-term coping and long-term adaptive strategies which have most successfully enhanced local capacities towards managing climate risks. The assessment took place through a qualitative multiple-methods approach combining direct observation, participatory group sessions, and open structure interviews. The appraisal method consists of an assessment integrating three phases (adjusted from Bonatti et al., 2018) each with the respective goal of:1. Recognition of community knowledge: This phase aimed to identify and acknowledge community-level knowledge pertaining to social-ecological systems and climate change.2. Definition of conflict and vulnerability drivers: The second phase sought to define the drivers of vulnerability to climate hazards and security-related risks. Importantly, this process was grounded in local experiences and traditions, ensuring a contextually relevant understanding.3. Exploration of conflict-sensitive resilience building: The final phase explored opportunities for meaningful collective action that could simultaneously enhance resilience and contribute to sustainable peacebuilding efforts.These phases were in turn made up of six steps (see Figure 3 below), each using different appraisal tools to facilitate a joint reflexive dialogue with community members. The first and second phases were conducted through a transect walk and focus group discussions (FGDs) held separately for women and men, hence allowing for the identification of intersectional drivers of vulnerability and different perceptions of community-level responses to risk management strategies. Phase 3 on collective action planning was facilitated through working groups in which women and men were divided equally.Qualitative key informant interviews complemented the analysis. Each case study assessment was conducted over five days. Local languages and in-time translation were used throughout the FGDs to facilitate an inclusive dialogue.For further details on the method´s process, adopted tools and limitations, readers can refer to the document \"Community voices on Climate and Security: a social learning approach\" (Medina et al., 2023).Context appraisal activity which includes a guided tour of the locality. Researchers ask community leaders to show them the most important sites for the community and its surroundings.Output:• Gain a better understanding of the main social, physical and ecological characteristics of the community and its surrounding area. • Develop a profile of adaptive capacity and vulnerability in the community.Focus Group Discussion (FGD) meant to develop a graphical representation of most impactful events, changes and trends as recollected by community members.• Map recent history of the community in terms of main political, socio-economic and environmental events as perceived by participants. • Identify main trends in climate extremes and variability.• Identify historical and recent trends in conflict dynamics.Working groups focus on prioritised security challenges and propose adaptive solutions that account for ongoing responses and rely on collective action.• Potential solutions for prioritised security challenges.• Actions to implement each solution, along with responsible actors and required external support.Participants are asked what they liked and disliked the most about the method.• Participants perspective on the method's usefulness and impact as a tool to assess vulnerability and plan adaptive action.Risk assessment tool that situates vulnerability in seasonal patterns. Participants map livelihood strategies throughout the year and identify risks to security in terms of access to resources, health, financial assets, safety and conflict.Output:• Profile of livelihoods and main socio-economic and environmental challenges.• Characterise climate impacts over livelihood strategies and well-being.• Map seasonal nature of risks, including conflict risks.The problem tree defines the main conflict risks, and determines their direct and root causes. The solutions tree asks participants to identify ongoing community responses to the main causes of conflict.Output:• Shared understanding of underlying causes of conflict, and identification of structural drivers of conflict. • Assessment of the potential role of climate impacts on the drivers of conflict.• Identify ongoing adaptive responses, their operation and effectiveness. The climate of Guatemala exhibits distinct features across its several regions. The western highlands experience colder temperatures, while the northern Petén region is characterised by tropical forests. The coastal parts are humid, although the eastern territories in the Central American Dry Corridor tend to have drier climates (MARN et al., 2021). The period of seasonal precipitation spans from May to October and is primarily distinguished by a temporary dry phase referred to as the mid-summer drought (or canícula). This drought entails a decrease of approximately 40 percent in rainfall, lasting from several weeks to a month in July or August (Arnoldo Bardales et al., 2021;MARN et al., 2021).According to Notre Dame University (2022), Guatemala is recognised as a hotspot of climate change, primarily due to its heightened exposure, vulnerability, and limited capacities of adaptation. Guatemala is recognised as a nation with significant exposure to climate variability and extreme weather events, in addition to non-climatic natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions (IEP, 2021;MARN et al., 2021). Over the course of the last two decades, there has been a discernible rise in the average annual temperature, as well as the maximum and minimum daily temperatures, with an increase of 0.8ºC and 0.6ºC respectively (MARN et al., 2021). This trend has been most prominent during the months of February, July, August, and September. The regions experiencing the most significant temperature rises include the Pacific coast, Bocacosta, Valles de Oriente, and the Caribbean, as reported by MARN et al. (2021). During the period spanning from 2010 to 2015, it was observed that coastal zones in the Pacific region underwent a rise in surface sea temperature of approximately 0.44ºC, accompanied byThis report presents the results of a participatory appraisal conducted with residents from three localities across Guatemala, including 1) Maya Ch'orti' Indigenous Peoples farmers in La Lima village, Camotán, Chiquimula department; 2) Farmers, ranchers and sand harvesters in Tenedores village, Morales, Izabal department; and 3) Farmers in El Carpintero village, Chiantla, Huehuetenango department. A total of 70 community members (35 men and 35 women) participated in 18 FGDs, held throughout November and December 2022 across the three localities.The report is structured in five parts. Section 2 summarizes the research context. Section 3 discusses climate and environmental change as perceived by community members throughout recent decades. It also assesses impacts of climate change over the community's well-being and ongoing adaptive responses. Section 4 discusses the different causal pathways through which climate change and security-related risks may be interlinked. Section 5 details the recommendations developed by community members for resilience building action that can potentially serve as an instrument for peace.an increase in sea level ranging from 1.7 to 2.5 mm (MARN et al., 2021). Over the past two decades, there has also been a notable modification in rainfall patterns, characterised by a rise of 122mm in the average yearly precipitation and a greater occurrence of severe and less distributed rainfall events (MARN et al., 2021). This also means that the seasonal periods of dry spell have become longer.According to projections, it is anticipated that temperatures will rise by approximately 2°C to 4°C by the year 2050 (García Morales, 2019;MARN et al., 2021). The regions most likely to experience high temperature rises include the Caribbean coast, the northern region, and the southern coast (MARN et al., 2021). Similarly, forecasts indicate a potential reduction of up to 50 percent in precipitation levels within the semi-arid portion of the country, which is located in the Dry Corridor (Arnoldo Bardales et al., 2021). However, it is anticipated that there will be a decrease in rainy days, but an increase in the occurrence of extreme events, such as tropical cyclones, throughout the country (Arnoldo Bardales et al., 2021). Evidence indicates that the onset date of the mid-summer drought is expected to shift earlier and persist longer (+18 days, approx.), resulting in the expansion of semi-arid climatic conditions throughout various locations.The departments of Baja Verapaz, Sacatepéquez, Totonicapán, Chimaltenango, Guatemala, El Progreso, Zacapa, Jutiapa, Chiquimula, as well as the northern regions of Quiche and Huehuetenango, are projected to see the most significant impacts on water supply shortages (Arnoldo Bardales et al., 2021). Coastal municipalities are expected to face significant vulnerability to climate change due to the projected rise in sea levels, estimated to range from 9 to 13 cm by the year 2050, and provoking floods and erosion (MARN et al., 2021;USAID, 2017).All these climatic characteristics and projections are considered to adversely affect food access and availability as agricultural subsistence and cash crops are affected. In Guatemala, agriculture continues to be one of the most significant economic sectors, contributing up to 31% of all employment and 9.4% of GDP (World Bank, 2021). However, agricultural production is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change since most of it is rainfed and because over 80% of agricultural-based GDP is produced in disaster-prone areas (Hernández, 2012;World Bank, 2011). It is anticipated that the impacts of climate change will lead to a heightened escalation in economic damages, specifically affecting small-scale farmers engaged in the cultivation of crucial cash and staple crops for the nation, primarily corn, bananas, and coffee (Luna Natareno, 2022;Tucker et al., 2010;Waddick, 2017;WFP et al., 2017). For instance, it is projected that agricultural production will see a reduction by the year 2050. Specifically, there is an anticipated decrease in yield, with maize and beans likely to reduce by 14 percent, while sugarcane may evidence a decline of up to 35 percent (Castellanos et al., 2018). Similarly, climate variability and exposure are expected to continue impacting negatively on other economic sectors, such as forestry, livestock and marine resources (MARN et al., 2021). For instance, in the case of fishing industries, habitat suitability for fisheries is expected to decrease between 10.2 and 13.6% by 2050, due to climate change (Clarke et al., 2021). The negative impacts on vital economic sectors could lead to insecurity in livelihoods, ultimately contributing to the escalation of poverty, malnutrition, and migration throughout the nation (Ferré-Garcia et al, 2023). Furthermore, the western areas of the country may see heightened competition over resources, tensions, and land conflicts due to the restricted access and limited supply of resources, as well as livelihood insecurity (Ferré-Garcia et al, 2023).The recent history of Guatemala has been affected by military coups, a civil war, authoritarian repression, and an atmosphere of instability and insecurity. It has a high number of homicides and violent crimes, most of which are related to gang violence and organised crime, with drug trafficking-related violence playing a significant role in the dynamics of insecurity (IEP, 2021;Nett & Rüttinger, 2016).Guatemala's civil war occurred during the Cold War. Following the coup against elected President Jacobo Arbenz in 1954, the country saw a battle between the conservative government and left-wing guerillas, with revolutionary wars followed by harsh government persecution (Álvarez Aragón et al., 2013;Molden, 2015). Guatemala witnessed an intrastate armed confrontation between government troops and insurgent groups such as the FAR (Rebel Armed troops), the EGP (Guatemalan Guerilla Army of the Poor), and the PGT (Guatemalan Worker's Party) from 1965 until the mid-1990s (UCDP, 2023). This time period was marked by one-sided state violence, which culminated in the deaths and disappearances of roughly 200,000 individuals, 83% of whom were Indigenous Mayan populations who, according to the Commission for Historical Clarification, were subjected to genocide (UCDP, 2023;ODHAG, 1998).Although a peace agreement was signed, post-conflict Guatemala still faces violence on a daily basis from both state and non-state actors, including organised crime and gang violence (Godoy, 2006;Knowlton, 2017;Rodgers & Muggah, 2009). Guatemala has seen an increase in violence associated to drug trafficking, micro-trafficking, extortion, and money laundering activities due to its location in the center of the drug smuggling route from South to North America (del Mercado et al., 2021;ICG, 2017;Nett & Rüttinger, 2016). Guatemala has one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America and in the world, as well as one of the highest rates of femicide (UNICEF, 2014;World Bank, 2021b). These reasons led to UNICEF (2014) ranking Guatemala as the second most dangerous country for children under the age of nineteen.Poverty, socioeconomic inequality and disparities in land accessibility have been traditionally regarded as primary drivers of conflicts in Guatemala. The nation's rates of poverty and inequality are still alarmingly high. In the departments located in the Dry Corridor, unemployment rates are estimated as high as 54% (WFP et al., 2017). Guatemala has one of the highest 20 Gini values in the world and is one of the most unequal nations in Latin America (World Bank, 2014). While 1% of Guatemalans own 40% of the nation's wealth (Oficina Económica y Comercial de España en Guatemala, 2022), 59% of the country's population lives in poverty, and 10% of its people subsist on less than $2 USD per day (World Bank, 2014). Indigenous Peoples experience a disproportionately high rate of poverty, with 79% of them living in poverty (WFP, 2022), which has led to constant grievances, civil unrest and conflict in territories with a majority of indigenous populations. Similarly, since high levels of gender inequality restrict women's access to land, resources, financial services, and employment prospects, women are disproportionately affected by these vulnerabilities (Howland et al., 2021).Government's corruption and negligence, along with weak governability and people's distrust towards political institutions, are also considered important drivers of conflict in Guatemala. Lack of resources, inadequate governance and corruption have hindered the state's ability to respond to the basic requirements of the population, such as basic food security and healthcare, and especially in climate vulnerable contexts (Nett & Rüttinger, 2016; University of Notre Dame, 2022). Furthermore, the role of private economic actors, such as extractive transnational corporations, has also contributed to fueling conflict, as opposing economic interests meet in the same environments (INTRAPAZ, 2009). Large-scale investments, such as sugarcane cultivation in Polochic, the reactivation of nickel mining in Izabal, and the development of hydroelectric plants on the Northern Transversal Strip highway, have been identified as a source of conflict between local communities and extractive industries (INTRAPAZ, 2009;López et al., 2021).Also prevalent are conflicts between communities and social groups over access to natural resources. There is evidence of inter-and intra-community conflict in San Marcos, for example, between the municipalities of Tajumulco and Ixchiguán, and in Sololá, between the municipalities of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán and Nahualá (ACLED, 2022;Garcia, 2022;Tejiendo Paz, 2020). Despite not being directly related, all these tensions are understood as continuations of the social and economic inequalities of the civil war, as they are concentrated in regions with unequal distribution that were severely affected by the conflict (López et al., 2021).Most individuals who identify as Maya Ch'orti' primarily reside within the eastern border of Guatemala, concentrated in the Chiquimula department, notably in the municipalities of Jocotán, Camotán, and Olopa. Additionally, many Ch'orti' live in the department of Zacapa, particularly in La Unión. The municipality of Camotán stands as one of the few remaining locations where the Ch'orti' language is still prevalent in daily life, although with a clear infusion of Spanish lexicon. The aggregate population of this Indigenous group is currently estimated at around 56,000 individuals.The Ch'orti' peoples residing in La Lima inhabit a geographically challenging terrain. While village settlements in general possess vehicular access, the unpaved roads, often susceptible to disruption during heavy rains, pose hindrances to people´s connectivity with municipal centers and urban locales. The topographical characteristics of Camotán municipality, in particular, exhibit rugged terrain typified by steep hills, mountainous regions, as well as rivers and streams. Soil quality is poor and large areas are unsuitable for agriculture. Notably, Camotán lies within the confines of what is commonly referred to as the Dry Corridor of Central America.The Dry Corridor experiences a highly variable climate, with distinct wet and dry seasons. The dry season typically extends from November to April, leading to prolonged periods of drought. In contrast, the wet season occurs from May to October, bringing occasional heavy rains and the risk of flooding. The region faces chronic water scarcity due to the irregular rainfall patterns. This scarcity significantly impacts agriculture, making it difficult for farmers to grow crops and sustain their livelihoods.Corn and beans are crucial staple crops for the Ch'orti' Indigenous Peoples of Guatemala. The agricultural system known locally as the milpa, relies on a polyculture approach, wherein a variety of crops, including beans, squash, yams, sweet potatoes, chili, and corn, are cultivated together. Among these crops, corn occupies a vital role as the primary staple in the Mayan family diet. These foods are not only essential for their diet but also hold deep cultural significance. In fact, the Ch'orti's ancestral names are linked to maize and beans. Furthermore, the cultivation of corn is a repository of diverse knowledge encompassing aspects related to flora, the utilisation of bio-indicators within the vegetation to assess soil quality, the interpretation of bird songs in association with climatological patterns, and the observation of flowering patterns to predict cycles of abundant or scarce rainfall.The cultivation of sugarcane holds substantial importance, as numerous families allocate a sizable portion of their land to its growth. Concurrently, the cultivation of vegetables is a widespread practice, primarily spearheaded by women in the community. Additionally, labor wages from coffee plantations, of varying sizes, is one of the prevailing incomegeneration strategies in the region, both daily and seasonally. Many community members undertake cross-border journeys into Honduras to participate in coffee harvesting activities. In contrast, the role of domestic animals is less pivotal within this context. Beyond chickens and turkeys, the care and utilisation of domestic animals constitute intermittent activities. These animals are generally considered a secondary source of food and are not relevant as income-generating activities.Like many Mayan communities in Guatemala, the Ch'orti' have grappled with a range of complex challenges that encompass human rights violations and marginalisation during post-conflict recovery after Guatemala's Civil War, impediments to land tenure, exclusion from governance systems, and cultural erosion. Within the national landscape of Guatemala, the department of Chiquimula ranks fifth from the bottom in terms of its Human Development Index. In the year 2016, Chiquimula exhibited the third highest incidence of extreme poverty within the country, affecting 41% of its population. Most people suffering extreme poverty in Chiquimula are precisely Indigenous communities.Tenedores is situated in the municipality of Morales, within the department of Izabal. It is a community comprising approximately 4,000 residents. The village's origins trace back to the establishment of a railway station built in 1896 by the Guatemalan Northern Railway company. Initially, Tenedores served as the municipal seat but witnessed limited development. In 1914, the municipal seat relocated to a different location, and subsequently, in 1920, it was relocated once again to Morelos, where it remains today.Tenedores is strategically positioned along the banks of the Motagua River, the largest river in Guatemala, and is additionally bordered by the Tenedores River. The village is surrounded by numerous hills, creating a distinctive topographic and hydrographic landscape. Unfortunately, this geographic configuration renders the community highly susceptible to flooding, particularly during the rainy season, known as \"winter\" in Guatemala, spanning from August to February. The month of November carries a notably elevated risk of flooding incidents in this locality. Furthermore, Izabal and the wider Caribbean coast region is known for its elevated temperatures and humidity. Extreme heat can further stress the environment and affect the health and well-being of local communities.The region enjoys a tropical climate, which facilitates a diverse range of agriculturalbased livelihoods. The primary large-scale agricultural activities in the area include the cultivation of bananas, African palm trees, and to a lesser extent, cardamom. Additionally, residents commonly engage in the cultivation of various crops for both commercial sale and personal subsistence. Among these crops, maize and beans are primarily grown for personal consumption, while smaller quantities of chiles, tomatoes, bananas, lemons, papayas, avocados, and other products are cultivated for sale in local markets. Due to livelihood diversification and economic development, households have developed an increasing reliance on processed foods for their diet.Another noteworthy contributor to the local economy in Tenedores is the extraction of sand from the riverbank of the Motagua River. This activity is also highly dependent on a suitable climate and during flood events it becomes unfeasible, depriving many workers of their daily wages. Additionally, the reliance on daily wages is prevalent in the big plantation sector, related to the cultivation of bananas and African Palm trees for extracting palm oil. In some cases, relatively affluent families in the community engage in cattle ranching as their primary source of income. Others pursue fishing and fish farming as additional means of livelihood diversification during certain periods of the year. These various economic activities collectively contribute to the community's resilience. On the other hand, labor work in sand extraction and plantations is associated with hardship, low wages, informality and insecure employment.The El Carpintero community is situated in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. It is located at a distance of fewer than 10 kilometers from the municipal center, Chiantla, in the department of Huehuetenango. It encompasses four villages within its borders. Geographically, this community is positioned at the periphery of the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, which ranks as the highest non-volcanic mountain range in Central America. The locality of El Carpintero is characterised by an abundance of water springs within its territory. However, most of these springs have been subject to privatisation by neighboring municipalities or individual community members.The climate is predominantly temperate due to the high altitude. The region experiences distinct wet and dry seasons. The rainy season typically runs from May to October, while the dry season spans from November to April. These seasonal variations in precipitation have a significant impact on the region's ecology and agriculture. The landscape is dominated by cloud forests, pine forests, and alpine meadows. These ecosystems support a wide range of plant and animal species, many of which are endemic and/or endangered.The Western Highlands of Guatemala boast fertile volcanic soils and a temperate climate, creating an ideal environment for agricultural activities. Historically, the region primarily cultivated crops such as maize, beans, potatoes, and vegetables, mainly for self-consumption. In the El Carpintero locality, however, limestone production emerged as a primary income source for rural communities during the latter half of the 20th century. The extraction of limestone and the continuous operation of lime ovens, which relied on timber as an energy source, led to extensive deforestation throughout the 1980s. A decline in the profitability of artisanal limestone production subsequently triggered an economic downturn, prompting the abandonment of this activity and a significant increase in irregular migration by men seeking economic opportunities abroad. This migration phenomenon established a precedent that subsequent generations of children aspired to follow.During the 1990s, the influx of remittances from migrants and a move toward livelihood diversification prompted the development of a more mechanised and higher-value agricultural sector within El Carpintero. The community implemented initiatives such as greenhouses known as casas maya and micro-irrigation projects, funded through joint savings and credit schemes among community members. These efforts have facilitated the cultivation of high-value crops, including broccoli, cabbage, sweet and snow peas, garlic, tomatoes, and various bean varieties, marking a significant transformation in the agricultural landscape of the area and the resilience of agricultural livelihoods.The shift from lime extraction to agriculture marked a significant turning point in the region. This transition led to a reduced demand for forest resources, creating an opportunity for increased government initiatives and collaborative actions aimed at reforestation. This transition also coincided with the signing of peace agreements to end the civil war in Guatemala, which had several provisions, including the dissolution of the Patrullas de Auto-Defensa Civil, paramilitary community groups that had assisted the military in their efforts against rebel forces during the conflict. These groups have been reported to be involved in numerous human rights abuses and were among the primary perpetrators of genocidal actions, often carried out at the behest of military forces. With the conclusion of the war, the government introduced a one-time payment program for individuals who had previously provided security services. This payment was contingent on their support for reforestation efforts.Recent initiatives aimed at the restoration of forested areas have focused on capacity building and the diversification of conventional economic activities through the implementation of forestry projects. Despite recent progress across the region, deforestation, soil erosion, and water pollution are still some of the pressing issues that impact ecosystems, people and agricultural productivity in El Carpintero. Additionally, over the past decade, there has been a noticeable shift in the outlook of local residents, particularly among the younger population, regarding agriculture as a feasible and sustainable means of livelihood. Labor-intensive industries, notably construction, are increasingly viewed as promising avenues for employment opportunities, while irregular migration to the United States also remains a widespread phenomenon among the community and reliance on remittances is high.Guatemala is recognised as a significant hotspot for climate change due to its high vulnerability and limited preparedness to mitigate the impacts of climate change (Notre Dame University, 2022). The country is particularly susceptible to climate variability and extreme weather events, making it one of the most exposed countries in Latin America. This section summarises community perspectives on the effects of climate extremes and variability over their livelihoods, security and societal stability.The population residing in Guatemala's Dry Corridor is exceptionally vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and ecological challenges. Many individuals in this region depend on subsistence farming and face limitations in terms of accessing resources, alternative employment opportunities, public services, and infrastructure. These factors leave them highly exposed to the risk of crop failures and food shortages. The departments located within the Dry Corridor, including Chiquimula, consistently report some of the lowest Human Development Index values in the country.Participants from the La Lima community have observed increasing climate variability and a growing level of frequency and intensity of extreme weather events since the occurrence of Hurricane Mitch in 1998. The primary change they have noted is a significant alteration in rainfall patterns. This alteration includes an increase in the amount of rainfall, as well as a shift towards more intense but less evenly distributed rainy days. These changes have resulted in reduced predictability of weather patterns, which threatens subsistence and small-scale agriculture.To illustrate this, two decades ago the community celebrated the Día de la Cruz (Day of the Cross) on the 3rd of May and would immediately plant the milpa the next day. However, due to the shifting rainfall patterns, local farmers must now wait until the end of May or the beginning of June to begin their planting activities. This shift in planting schedules reflects the climate-induced uncertainty that has become a central concern for agricultural practices in the community.During the dry season, the typical weather pattern known as \"temporal,\" which is a 2 week-long period of continuous light rain, has become increasingly uncommon. Instead, precipitation tends to occur in more concentrated episodes lasting a couple of days only. This shift in rainfall patterns has resulted in longer periods during which crops receive inadequate rainfall, which is believed to significantly reduce agricultural yields.Increasingly concentrated precipitation has also led to more intense storms and associated challenges. Storm Eta and Iota in 2020 had devastating impacts on the community, destroying crops and crucial infrastructure. Roads were impassable, powerwas disrupted, and the access bridge to the community collapsed. It took more than a year to have a fully operational bridge again. Similarly, although less severe, destructive effects were observed during Storm Julia in 2022, with entire sections of the community forest flattened, and a significant portion of crops destroyed. The community has been significantly impacted by these storms, and even during years without intense tropical storms, maize harvests remain at risk of flooding and agricultural yields are negatively impacted due to the effects of soil erosion. Community members acknowledge that their traditional harvesting method, which involves leaving maize in the field to dry, has worsened the effects of heavy rains and led to higher crop losses. However, they lack the means and proper incentives to shift towards farming methods that foster soil conservation and climate resilience.Small-scale coffee production is a widely spread income strategy for people in La Lima. However, this activity is hampered by the fact that local farmers lack effective organisation to access regional markets. Consequently, they depend on selling coffee harvests directly to intermediary buyers who sporadically visit the community. This lack of organisation for market access restricts the potential income and employment opportunities that local coffee production could provide.Additionally, the detrimental effects of coffee leaf rust on productivity have become increasingly evident in the region due to climate change. Since 2000, there has been a noticeable increase in the incidence of coffee leaf rust, which has limited farmers' ability to combat the disease effectively. As a result, local farmers now find it necessary to increase fertiliser application to three times per coffee harvest, compared to the traditional two applications. This is taking place against the backdrop of the 2022-2023 Food Crises that has led to a global shortage and a rapid increase in the price of fertilisers. Hence, this disease exacerbates the challenges faced by local coffee growers, making it harder for them to sustain their livelihoods through coffee cultivation.High prices of agricultural inputs have made it difficult for people to apply the necessary amounts of fertiliser to achieve previous levels of productivity. A higher reliance on fertiliser and pesticides today compounds this challenge. Additionally, increasing prices of staple food products such as beans and maize over the last two years, along with lower coffee prices, further impacts food security and livelihoods in the community. People´s inability to sustain a livelihood has also led to increased deforestation due to timber extraction, a problem which is considered to be related to environmental degradation and diminishing ecological resilience, including the lower availability of water, soil fertility, landslides, and the regulation of weather patterns.The wider diversity of income sources in Tenedores, Izabal, strengthens the community's adaptive capacity and, as a result, is more climate resilient in comparison to other rural communities across Guatemala. Tenedores has a higher degree of development than other communities, which may be explained by various factors. For example, the village is very close to the main highway connecting Ciudad Guatemala with Puerto Barrios, the biggest commercial port in the country. Furthermore, the railway crossed the village up until around 2015, when the Ferrocarril del Norte company stopped using the railway.The tropical weather predominating across the region has also allowed for a larger availability of agricultural-based livelihoods, while its location next to a river has proven to be crucial for the community.The community of Tenedores, despite experiencing urbanisation and economic growth, remains highly vulnerable to flooding from the Motagua River. Changes in precipitation patterns with more intense and concentrated rainfall have led to increased incidents of flooding, particularly during tropical storms. In 2020, for instance, the community suffered severe impacts from Hurricanes Eta and Iota. Water levels in the community rose above 1.5 meters in the lower parts of the community, catching residents unprepared. While most buildings withstood the floods, people reported losing all their possessions. Additionally, livelihood activities across the region were severely disrupted, affecting not only agriculture but other non-agricultural sectors as well.The catastrophic impacts of the 2020 storms prompted coordinated efforts by community members to enhance their capacity for disaster risk response. With funding from international organisations and support by local NGOs and government, the community initiated an 18-month project aimed at improving their response plan for disasters. As part of these efforts, they established a network of local representatives for disaster risk reduction (COLRED), deploying 20 members throughout the community. These representatives were responsible for coordinating with relevant authorities and supporting organisations, as well as disseminating information and building the capacity of their fellow residents. Additionally, the community developed a risk map to identify high-risk areas within the community and determine safe locations and meeting points in case of flooding. They also set up monitoring points for water levels to serve as an early warning system.These disaster risk reduction efforts were put to the test during the Julia tropical storm in 2022. Community members reported that the residents of Tenedores responded promptly to the threat of flooding. They moved their belongings to higher ground and sought shelter in the designated locations as planned. However, despite their preparedness, the impacts of Storm Julia still resulted in some infrastructure and property damage, along with extensive crop losses and the inability to plant new crops due to flooded land. Additionally, the upsurge of the river led to land loss and erosion of the riverbank, which had been gradually deteriorating due to the absence of proper structures to divert the flow of the river during upsurge events. However, no loss of lives was reported which showed a success in the locally-led risk reduction initiative.\"There was a summer time, when I came when I was 13 years old to this village, that lasted 4 or 5 months back then. Summer and winter were marked. But now I see that there is no more summer, basically everything is winter. With these changes, there are a lot of problems in the community, because the rivers spill over and the crops are lost, and we can no longer have anything good. What affects us here in Tenedores is the \"llenas\"[waterlogging], because we work and eat but we can't harvest. That is what worries me. If you go to see where we live, we are in a place where we have nowhere to go out, we only have the yard. We can't raise animals, or anything, because everything is drowned.\"Another concern is the lack of suitable flood management and response infrastructure in Tenedores, notably the absence of a community shelter and flood barriers in the river. Currently, the community school is used as a community shelter. However, this practice has the unavoidable effect of the school being canceled during periods of flooding.The lack of a proper storm shelter leaves the population vulnerable to a heightened flood threat from the river. Furthermore, previously installed barriers have been now overwhelmed by recent extreme events, rendering them useless.In Tenedores, the climate risks extend beyond intense flooding from tropical storms.The community faces a range of challenges due to changing weather patterns and increased rainfall during the rainy season. These changes have led to a notable decline in agricultural and livestock productivity, affecting both farmers and cattle owners.Beyond the occurrence of extreme events, shifting precipitation patterns have also affected local agricultural livelihoods. Increased risk of flooding and waterlogging due to more concentrated rains during the rainy season has increased the risk of cattle deaths through diseases. This compels cattle owners to sell their cows preemptively in the hope of minimising potential losses. This practice has resulted in a surplus of cattle in the market, leading to decreased cattle prices and reduced profitability. Farmers are also grappling with the consequences of shifting climate patterns, making it increasingly challenging to generate profits given the elevated risks of crop losses. This situation is exacerbated by the rising costs of agricultural inputs. These challenges have placed additional financial burdens on individuals engaged in agriculture.Although there are reliable sources of water, other infrastructure and public service issues persist in the community. Waste management is reported to be inefficient, as the municipality does not provide garbage collection services. Additionally, there is a lack of proper drainage infrastructure. This results in wastewater flowing freely into the Tenedores River, which then flows into the Motagua River, contributing to pollution. Many residents have mentioned that a couple of decades ago, it was possible to bathe in the river, which was used for recreational purposes, but this is no longer the case due to pollution.In El Carpintero, the recent history of diversification towards high-value crops and irrigated agriculture, partly facilitated by widespread irregular migration and the receipt of remittances from the United States, has significantly influenced (unequal) adaptive capacities within the community. While the shift toward high-value crop production has enhanced the community's livelihood resilience, several climate risks continue to negatively impact people's livelihood security. One of the notable climate change-related challenges is the reduced flow of waterholes during the summer dry season, leading to diminished water availability for irrigation and household use. This situation particularly affects the main high-value crops as they are typically cultivated during the summer.\"This occurred as a result of the El Niño phenomenon that occurred in 2014, there was a decompensation of these early rains in March and April, which are called the first downpour. The land was prepared during December and January to be able to plant in February, but these rains are now very scarce. They are not even rains anymore, butStarting in 2014, an intense El Niño-induced drought resulted in almost total crop loss that summer. Since then, community members have observed a sustained decrease in the flow of water from natural springs in the region. In that same year, the community was compelled, for the first time, to ration the provision of water to different settlements, providing only 3 to 4 hours of water per day. Since then, this seasonal practice has become necessary in most years during dry seasons and mid-summer droughts.Increasing seasonal variability and unpredictable rainfall patterns are clear expressions of climate change as experienced by local populations. While those living in the lower lands of El Carpintero generally have access to micro-irrigation infrastructure, individuals living upstream do not. The declining soil productivity due to drought and excessive agricultural inputs makes these upstream populations increasingly vulnerable to unreliable precipitation.As agricultural incomes are perceived to be unprofitable and unstable, particularly by younger members of the community, people are turning to irregular migration as an alternative livelihood strategy. Huehuetenango consistently ranks among the departments with the highest rates of migration, measured by the number of people detained at the US border. Additionally, community members report that over half of the population has migrated in the last three decades, reflecting the significant impact of migration on the community's demographics and economic dynamics.\"Where I live, I don't have mini irrigation, I sowed the milpa in February, waiting for the rains that come between March and April, but this year they didn't come and the summer went by. It rained until the end of May. That cornfield was already very old and didn't hold up by the time the rain came.\"During the summer, the community faces an increased risk of forest fires, mainly due to more intense dry spells and higher temperatures. These forest fires can occur both intentionally and accidentally. It is common for individuals to intentionally set fire to land, and disputes over land access often led to these incidents. Additionally, some individuals might maliciously set fire to another person's forest land as a form of revenge or as a response to disputes. Tragically, in 2020, a significant fire that was intentionally ignited resulted in the loss of two lives.Pathway 1: The effects of climate change interact with structural drivers of marginalisation and antagonism, increasing societal unrest, conflict and potentially exacerbating political instability.In both La Lima, Chiquimula, and Tenedores, Izabal, the majority of small-scale farmers lease their land on a seasonal basis, with only a minority being landowners. This pattern of land ownership has shifted over time, primarily due to international migration. Remittance-receiving households tend to have more financial resources and, as a result, are often able to invest in land. These land-leasing agreements are usually informal and are structured to cover a single harvesting season in La Lima, which typically lasts for about three to four months, while in Tenedores agreements last for six months to one year. Although a few farmers may have managed to secure informal longer-term arrangements, many in the community report living under the constant risk of being evicted from their rented plots at any point. For example, community members listed landowners receiving a better offer or the return of a family member from abroad as common reasons for losing their leasing agreement.In the context of climate change-induced reductions in agricultural and livestock productivity, compounded by the prevalence of short-term and insecure land leasing arrangements, the ability of individuals to secure adequate land for subsistence farming has been severely compromised. The main reason for this is the necessity for farmers to expand their cultivated land in order to meet their subsistence requirements, thereby increasing demand for limited available land. This challenge poses a substantial threat to food security. Furthermore, the perceived inequality and unfairness associated with prevailing land tenure arrangements exacerbate tensions between landowners and lessees, giving rise to grievances and risks of future conflicts.In response to this issue, Maya Ch'orti' farmers in La Lima, with the support of international development initiatives, have endeavored to adopt and scale up agricultural conservation practices as a means to counter the diminishing productivity of arable land. However, the prevailing insecurity surrounding land tenure has confined the adoption of such practices to limited areas, primarily small plots used for vegetable gardening, predominantly managed by women. Under the existing land leasing agreements, neither landowners nor farmers possess the necessary incentives to implement longer-term land conservation measures.In Tenedores, the community has been able to find some relief through alternative livelihood strategies. These include sand harvesting, regular temporal migration to Canada, and employment opportunities in the banana plantations. These alternative income sources have helped community members diversify their economic activities and reduce their dependence on agriculture and livestock. However, there is a growing awareness among community members that the limited availability of land and insecure land tenure arrangements have the potential to spark conflicts among neighbors. The scarcity of arable land and the absence of clear property rights can lead to disputes over land use and access. Community members considered the concentration of land for industrial agriculture and cattle ranching as one of the main drivers of this form of conflict.Testimony from a male farmer in la Lima \"It is difficult to find land for rent nowadays, as most of it is already set aside. Basically, the owners of the land rent it to the person who comes up with the money first. It is very common for people to run out of the land they need for that season.\"The effects of climate change also compound with increasing resentment by community members due to unfair commercial agreements with private agricultural companies. People in El Carpintero, Huehuetenango, are grappling with a complex array of challenges that include the adverse impacts of climate change, mounting costs of agricultural input, and supply chain disruptions. These issues are collectively undermining the feasibility of agriculture as a reliable income source and are straining community-government relations. A significant factor contributing to the challenges faced by local farmers is their overreliance on intermediary private actors for accessing supply chains and marketing their harvests. This dependence can expose them to unfavorable terms and conditions, rendering them susceptible to exploitation.For example, commercial agreements established with private companies are perceived by local farmers as unfair and inequitable. The frequent disruption of supply chains or breaches of contractual obligations often results in substantial losses, jeopardising their investments. For example, private companies have often failed to meet their contractual obligations, claiming that payments were handed over to community representatives responsible for distribution, yet these representatives often abscond with the funds. These perceptions of unjust contractual agreements, coupled with the scarcity of alternatives, contribute to the community's resentment towards government authorities.The perception of the private sector engaging in practices further intensifies this resentment, as community members feel that their economic interests are being either neglected or taken advantage of.\"Two years ago we planted peas and delivered them to the company and they never paid us. We complained to the company representative, but he told us they never gave him the money. The cooperative does pay, it has not been bad for us so far.\"Testimony from a young male farmer in la Lima \"Here it sometimes happens that because they don't have money, people adopt the idea of robbing other people. They take people's paychecks. During the coffee harvest, it is common that the pickups that have sold their product are more susceptible to being assaulted.\"Pathway 2: Climate-related loss of livelihoods increases the risk of populations, mainly the young, in adopting illicit activities.The heightened frequency and severity of tropical storms, as well as mid-summer droughts (known as canícula), have amplified soil erosion and led to decreased nutrient levels. These climate-related impacts have had adverse effects on agricultural productivity across the region. They have increased the vulnerability of crops to losses and resulted in reduced yields. Given prevailing low-income levels, limited employment opportunities, and food security challenges in La Lima, residents are more inclined to engage in illegal activities, particularly the cultivation of illicit crops, mainly cannabis. The loss of livelihoods, coupled with the limited availability of alternative employment options, has also driven young people in the area towards other illicit activities, including assault and theft.The elevated risk associated with resorting to illicit means of livelihood is further compounded by the pervasive presence of criminal organisations in the region, primarily involved in drug trafficking activities. In this sense, high rates of poverty and unemployment are not the only factors that explain the increase in crime and violence.Other factors that contribute to this are the higher quality-of-life expectations of the population; the lack of local opportunities and the consequent human mobility, mostly towards an also violence-afflicted north; rapid and disorderly urban growth resulting in high population density and low-levels of public service provision. There have also been fundamental changes in traditional community and family structures that have led, in certain areas, to this being replaced by gangs and cartels as units of belonging. Lastly, institutional systems fail in offering protection and social security in the face of threats to health and livelihoods.Pathway 3: Climate change exacerbates the risks of inter and intracommunal tensions around access to and use of natural resources.The scarcity of natural resources, particularly water, in El Carpintero, Huehuetenango department, has raised the risk of conflicts, both within the community and with external actors. The ownership and control of water sources, changing precipitation patterns, and limited social cohesion all contribute to this complex and challenging situation. Within the community, tensions related to water and access to drainage are common issues. These can manifest in various ways, have different degrees of intensity and involve different parties, both within and outside the community. One prominent type of conflict has arisen when private individuals or entities from outside the community have attempted to acquire control over the natural springs that serve as a vital water source for community members in El Carpintero. These external actors seek to privatise water sources, which can lead to disputes with the local population. Conflicts also emerge between farmers within the community over access to water for irrigation. Additionally, conflicts can arise between farmers, who may require significant amounts of water for irrigation, and households within the community. This has manifested in complains from some community members that some farmers are using drinking water, allocated for household use by the local water committee, for irrigation. Balancing the needs of agricultural water users with those of households for daily water needs can lead to conflicts over access and allocation.It is worth noting that the community has demonstrated an effective track record in managing these conflicts, ensuring that issues related to water resources and drainage are resolved through collaborative efforts and local governance structures. Waterrelated conflicts are typically addressed through the coordination of various local bodies, including the community-led Water Committee, the Community Development Council (COCODE), the Drainage Committee, and Auxiliary Mayor. In fact, conflicts over water in El Carpintero have seldom become violent. Although study participants listed several instances of violence, and occasional killings, around access to water resources, these conflicts most often take the form of confrontations in informal and formal governance systems, destruction of infrastructure, and blockages by the community to avoid access of external actors. Conflicts over access to water were perceived by participants as highly frequent and threatening the collaborative capacity between community members. In fact, a community leader of El Carpintero showed serious concern around how the increased intensity of droughts could eventually lead to \"war over water\".A socio-economic factor which significantly contributes to disputes is entitlement and access to water sources. Since the 1980s, many of the water springs that provide water to El Carpintero were sold off by the municipal government to surrounding municipalities and private actors. Consequently, the community now only has access to a limited number of springs that remain within its territory. Furthermore, the remaining springs are predominantly located on private lands belonging to community members, further complicating efforts by community authorities to secure a public source of water.Changing precipitation patterns, characterised by reduced water flow during the dry season and mid-summer droughts, have heightened concerns over water-related conflict among the population. Community members recognise the urgent need to secure access to the remaining springs to ensure a stable water supply for the future. However, several factors complicate this objective. First, the private ownership of these springs makes it difficult for the community to acquire them collectively. Second, there appears to be limited willingness among community members to pool-in resources towards purchasing the plots in which natural springs are located. This lack of internal cohesion, mainly attributed to the lack of trust by individuals that other neighbors will comply with their due payment, poses a significant challenge to achieving the goal of securing water access and adapting to climate change. External actors have expressed interest in acquiring the remaining waterpoints, further complicating the situation. These external interests can potentially lead to conflicts both within and beyond the community as different stakeholders mobilize for control over the resource.Within the community, there are notable disparities between people with and without access to irrigation. Those with irrigation infrastructure can cultivate higher-value crops aimed for exportation, contributing to their improved standard of living over time.Conversely, individuals without access to irrigation often rely on day-to-day incomes, particularly during the summer when they depend on day labor for their livelihoods. Irrigated areas also support multiple crop cycles throughout the year, while those with greenhouses can manage year-round cultivation. Individuals with access to irrigation typically do not require loans to prepare for winter cultivation. In contrast, those without irrigation infrastructure often need to take out loans to sustain their agricultural activities. The geographical location of households plays a crucial role in determining the feasibility of installing irrigation systems. Mountainous communities, situated upstream, lack access to streams or springs as these resources were acquired by private owners' decades ago.In the department of Chiquimula, a territorial boundary dispute between La Lima and its neighboring community has been an ongoing issue since the 1980s, creating a source of tension in the region. In recent decades, tensions have escalated as members of the neighboring community have forcefully pushed the territorial limit to expand their access to the communal forest that lies between both communities. This aggressive action has led to violent confrontations with members of the La Lima community who dare to venture near the newly established boundary.The communal forest, although diminished in accessibility due to threats of violence, has become increasingly critical for the residents of La Lima. This heightened reliance on the forest's resources can be attributed to declining agricultural livelihoods. As traditional farming becomes less sustainable, the forest serves as a vital source of sustenance, whether it be for timber, foraging, or other essential needs. A particularly distressing aspect of this situation is the vulnerability experienced by women in La Lima. When they enter the forest, they report feeling exposed to the risk of abuse and violence, further exacerbating the community's overall insecurity and unease.Efforts to resolve this territorial dispute have been made through dialogue processes initiated by the municipal government. However, despite these attempts, a lasting and mutually acceptable agreement has proven elusive. The deeply entrenched tensions, combined with the critical importance of the forest resources to both communities, have made finding a resolution challenging.Pathway 4: Inequality and unequal distribution of available funds for resilience building is undermining social cohesion and collaborative capacities for climate adaptation.The community of Tenedores faces an increasing threat from floods originating from the Motagua River. The devastation caused by the Eta and Iota storms in November 2020 prompted international cooperation projects to collaborate with the community in establishing an early warning and response protocol. While these efforts have made progress in enhancing the community's preparedness for disasters, concerns have emerged regarding the perceived unequal distribution of humanitarian and resiliencebuilding initiatives among local residents.\"The people here at the time may not have thought that the community would develop in the future, but if they had thought about it, they might have secured access to these springs.\"An eroded social capital also undermines adaptive capacities in El Carpintero and La Lima. Study participants have identified several challenges when it comes to fostering collective action, particularly in areas such as joint-credit schemes for irrigation and water management. These difficulties are rooted in both past conflicts related to water access and current economic concerns.One key factor contributing to this challenge in El Carpintero is the history of conflicts over access to water that the community has experienced in previous years. These conflicts have left a legacy of mistrust and apprehension among community members, making it more challenging to rally them for collective initiatives, such as joint-credit schemes for irrigation.Moreover, the community faces economic challenges that have eroded confidence in irrigated agriculture as a primary source of income. The combination of rising prices for agricultural inputs and lower crop prices has cast doubt on the economic viability of irrigated farming. This skepticism has led many community members to seek alternative livelihood strategies, further diminishing the interest in collective action related to irrigation and water management.Significant efforts and resources have been directed towards households residing in close proximity to the river. This focus is justified by their heightened vulnerability, as these households are the most exposed to the immediate dangers posed by flooding and are, therefore, a priority for assistance and support. However, residents living in higher elevation areas within the community assert that they face similar socio-economic challenges as those who have received more substantial benefits from the projects. Their concerns are valid, as they encounter their own set of difficulties, such as the lack of proper sanitation and solid waste management, a problem that is heightened after heavy rains.Furthermore, these higher-elevation households play a crucial role in disaster reduction efforts, as they are expected to provide shelter and support to their neighbors in lowerlying areas during extreme events. This role places additional responsibilities and burdens on them during times of crisis. The perceived unequal distribution of climate adaptation benefits is also beginning to affect social cohesion within the community. Such disparities in assistance can foster feelings of resentment and division among residents, potentially hampering future resilience-building efforts.\"After the storm, the institutions came and made their lists, and people were fighting because some received more than others. They said \"but we are poor too, why do they give more to those at the bottom\". But the important thing here is that the attention to problems should be at the community level, not individual, and that it should be long term.\"As a result of reduced collaboration among community members, there is a reluctance to adhere to water rationing regulations established by community-driven water management and irrigation committees. These regulations are crucial for the sustainable and equitable use of water resources. However, their enforcement is perceived as practically impossible because there are no mechanisms in place to measure water consumption at the household and farm levels. The absence of such measurement tools makes it difficult to ensure that water is distributed fairly and that everyone abides by the established rules.In La Lima, there are several interconnected factors that contribute to increasing inequalities both within and between communities. One significant factor is the concentration of land ownership, which creates opportunities for landowners to generate income by leasing out their land and exploiting the natural resources within it. In contrast, those who do not own land are often compelled to sell their savings or provide labor just to meet their basic needs. Migration, particularly to the United States, is another widespread phenomenon that can exacerbate inequalities. Those who successfully migrate often send remittances back to their families, substantially increasing household income, enabling savings, land purchases, and investment in alternative livelihoods. This has a heavy impact in the power dynamics of the community, creating inequalities between those that receive remittances and those that do not. Increasing livelihood insecurity coupled with the unequal access to resilience funds and remittances may lead to increased tensions and conflicts within the community.Pathway 5: Climate-related livelihood insecurity increases human mobility and associated security risks for migrant populations.La Lima is grappling with a complex migration landscape driven by the seasonal demands of the coffee industry, declining agricultural productivity, and limited market access for local farmers. These interrelated factors collectively impede the potential of coffee production to serve as a stable source of income and employment for the residents of La Lima.Seasonal mobility to coffee plantations, both in Guatemala and Honduras, has emerged as the predominant pattern of migration in La Lima. This form of migration has become increasingly prevalent in recent years, primarily due to declining agricultural productivity in the region. As agricultural yields diminish, community members have become more reliant on migrating to participate in the labor-intensive coffee harvesting activities.The surge in demand for short-term employment opportunities in coffee plantations has created a situation where a growing number of individuals are compelled to seek alternative sources of income during the dry periods. Many people therefore migrate further away in search of employment, with some people heading to sugarcane plantations located southwest of Guatemala, while others venture into the city in searchTestimony from male farmer in Tenedores \"Natural disasters are contributing to migration. There has always been job insecurity, but now that the storms came, even more so. Some of them lost their house, their bed, they lost everything, and what are they going to do now? After the storms, there were several who left here. It increased. What has helped a little bit so that there is no illegal migration is the opportunity to go to Canada, but those who cannot do that find another way.\"Another significant factor driving internal and irregular migration in these communities is a limited access to education. Without access to quality education and vocational training, young individuals may perceive their prospects for advancement as limited, prompting them to explore opportunities in other locations. This lack of educational resources further perpetuates the cycle of poverty and migration.Additionally, deeply ingrained cultural norms play a crucial role in this migration pattern. Cultural traditions and expectations may influence young people to seek opportunities and financial stability in urban or more economically developed areas, even if it means leaving their hometown behind. The pressure to succeed and support their families can be a powerful motivator for migration. Also, a unique and challenging aspect of the situation in El Carpintero is the absence of fathers within many households. This absence can create a range of difficulties, including a disconnect between children and their mothers, which can lead to various social issues. For instance, many community members claim that it is often associated with delinquency. Young people may struggle to find positive role models and guidance in the absence of their fathers, which can contribute to behavioral problems and social challenges.of urban-based livelihoods. However, this migration is not without its challenges, as it is associated with significant security risks. Those on the move are more susceptible to assaults, theft, and even kidnappings, underscoring the vulnerability of these migrant workers.Similarly to La Lima, younger generations in El Carpintero and Tenedores view migration as a practical and achievable way to obtain employment opportunities that extend beyond their immediate surroundings. This perception has given rise to a notable phenomenon of both internal and irregular migration in these communities. Several factors contribute to this trend, with poverty being a central and pervasive issue. The lack of employment opportunities and capacity resources within these communities drives many young people to seek better prospects elsewhere. People furthermore perceive that the lack of employment opportunities is associated with the loss of agricultural livelihoods and the occurrence of disasters.A note-worthy resilience-building opportunity for community members in Tenedores is facilitated migration. The municipality of Morales participated in a program in collaboration with the Canadian government and NGOs, which allowed for the temporary placement of agricultural and construction workers for periods ranging from 6 to 24 months. This program proved to be highly successful, and although the initial program concluded in 2020, some individuals have since secured permanent employment in Canada. Additionally, those who excel in their work are often asked to provide recommendations for others to be hired temporarily, further expanding the pool of young migrants.This type of legal migration has proven to have a higher positive impact in the social cohesion and economic development of families and the community, since it allows young workers to return for a month in December. These yearly visits increase the social fabric between the migrant, its family and the community, decreasing the likelihood of a disconnection between those who migrate and those who stay as it sometimes happens with irregular migrants that do not have this option. The annual visit also increases the chances of the migrant expending and investing its income in the community. However, it is important to note that this opportunity is predominantly available to men, as the type of employment foreign companies offer is not traditionally associated with women.Despite the security challenges associated with irregular migration, the effects on people´s adaptive capacity cannot be overlooked. In El Carpintero, participants estimated that around 50% of the population has migrated to the United States since the early 2000s, with a notable increase in migration rates after 2012. This significant level of migration has brought about several impacts on the community, most of which are viewed positively by its members. One of the key positive impacts of migration is the economic growth and diversification of livelihoods in the community, driven by the remittances sent back by those working abroad. These remittances have allowed for improvements in living standards and housing conditions. The construction industry has emerged as one of the main sources of livelihood for young people in the community, alongside opportunities in the police force and non-specialised work unrelated to agriculture.Pathway 6: Disasters lead to loss of lives, population displacement, destruction of property and infrastructure, and the reduced provision of public services.Despite notable advancements in disaster risk management across Guatemala, several challenges persist in safeguarding rural populations from recurrent floods along the country's Caribbean coast. The increased frequency and severity of flooding poses significant threats to lives, as well as the widespread loss of property and critical infrastructure. In the specific case of Tenedores, located in Izabal, the devastating impact of the Eta and Iota hurricanes in 2020 resulted in the destruction of both public and private buildings. These natural disasters had a profound and lasting impact on the community, leaving a trail of destruction and loss in their wake.Among the lasting effects of the storm, the relocation of police services from Tenedores to neighboring localities in the aftermath of these intense floods, because of the building´s destruction, has significantly affected the community's capacity for crime response, the availability of public security services and their sense of security. Despite rare incidences of crime in the community, the shift in law enforcement resources has given rise to challenges in terms of crime prevention and immediate responses to criminal incidents. These challenges have had a particularly pronounced impact on women, who report an increased sense of insecurity and vulnerability.One of the drawbacks of the police relocation is the delayed response to criminal incidents. While perpetrators have been apprehended, especially in cases of domestic violence, the time it takes for police forces to arrive has increased. This delay limits the effectiveness of preventive measures and immediate responses to criminal activities.The community members are left with reduced capacity to address security concerns promptly.The effects of climate change over the availability of natural resources and people´s capabilities to sustain a secured livelihood can contribute to perpetuate, and at times exacerbate, broader social conflicts. Local, intercommunity and transboundary disputes over land, water, forests and fisheries were perceived by community members in this study to be worsened by climate change. Similarly, processes of societal instability were found to be indirectly affected by the non-inclusive nature of decision-making institutions, political and economic structures that undermine resource tenure, the perceived legitimacy of authorities, and the populations´ trust over and access to social protection mechanisms. The effects of climate change over people's livelihoods and wellbeing were perceived to interact in complex and multidirectional ways with people´s grievances around these structural issues of concern.The climatic drivers of insecurity and conflict, as perceived by participants of this study, are expected to worsen in the coming decades. Average temperatures, rainfall variability, and drought are all projected to rise as the climate continues to change. Under a scenario whereby adaptive capacities remain the same, these effects will further impact people's ability to maintain food security, stable livelihoods and a shared indigenous identity. They will also increasingly undermine institutional capacities to provide public services and social protection. The results from this study suggest that, if left unaddressed, ongoing insecurity dynamics may worsen under more challenging climate conditions.Nonetheless, the management of natural resources and efforts for climate adaptation can also be the source of cooperation across conflictive groups, thereby helping to build resilient institutions that can moderate and reduce the disruptive impacts of conflict.Participants in this study came up with actionable proposals which mostly rely on their own collective action but require support from wider policy systems and the international community for their implementation. Their proposals build upon specific natural resources available in each region, the concrete climate threats that communities face, and the nature of conflictive relations between regional actors. International efforts for climate adaptation need to internalize the idea that people who are facing a problem are better positioned to understand it and address its underlying roots. Collaboration between different levels and types of actors -including practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and local actors-holds the best promise to empower communities and produce innovative solutions for climate adaptation to act as an instrument of peace.The members of La Lima community have proposed a set of climate adaptation strategies aimed at protecting their agricultural livelihoods and improving access to markets, strengthening land tenure, fostering local agencies for natural resource management, and addressing structural inequalities within their community. These recommendations reflect a holistic approach to addressing the complex challenges faced by the community, with an emphasis on collaboration, sustainability, socio-economic development, and community empowerment. They have the potential to not only enhance the community's resilience but also promote social cohesion and economic well-being.In Tenedores, Izabal, community members have identified several key priorities for climate adaptation solutions. One of the primary focuses is to strengthen the community's collaborative capacity, fostering the ability to work together through collective action. This collaborative approach is meant to maintain social cohesion, by ensuring that community members can support each other in times of climate-related challenges. Other crucial goals include improving the collective access of local farmers to regional markets and fostering secure and formal land-leasing agreements and labor contracts.Fostering collective action in El Carpintero has become increasingly challenging due to a history of water-related conflicts, economic concerns related to irrigated agriculture, and the absence of means to measure and enforce water consumption regulations. Addressing these challenges will require efforts to rebuild trust among community members, explore alternative livelihood strategies, and invest in the necessary infrastructure and tools for effective water management and regulation enforcement. Members of the El Carpintero community favored climate adaptation practices that could foster better relations and trust within the community, as well as with external actors. They prioritised an integrated approach to water management, as decreasing availability of water was deemed the most pressing climate threat. They also focused on protecting small-scale agricultural livelihoods as a strategy to reduce security risks associated with the loss of income.Strengthen resource tenure of local populations, such as formal agreements for land leasing.One proposed climate adaptation strategy put forward by members of La Lima, in the department of Chiquimula, is to establish formal leasing agreements between landowners and farmers in the region. Recognising that there are little incentives by landowners to formalize leasing practices, participants proposed for this initiative to be supported by ongoing resilience building projects across the locality. International organisations and local NGOs could play a pivotal role in engaging both landowners and lessees to define more secure leasing conditions that protect the rights and interests of all parties involved.The establishment of formal leasing agreements supported by development projects is a comprehensive strategy that not only ensures secure land tenure but is also meant to promote sustainable and more productive agricultural practices. This approach can enhance the livelihoods of farmers, prevent conflicts over land access, and contribute to climate adaptation efforts by promoting conservation agriculture. Moreover, emphasising agricultural practices that promote soil conservation and climate resilience can provide an opportunity to encourage landowners to support the formalisation process. In principle, landowners have a vested interest in maintaining the long-term health and productivity of their land. Therefore, formalized leasing agreements could incorporate provisions that facilitate the adoption of climate-smart and conservation agricultural techniques by local farmers.Under present circumstances, small-scale farmers in the region often lack the motivation to implement more sustainable practices. This reluctance is partly because they are uncertain about whether they will continue farming a specific plot in the near future. By formalising land tenure arrangements and providing stability to farmers, it becomes more feasible for them to invest in and commit to sustainable agricultural methods that can enhance soil quality, mitigate climate-related risks, and promote agricultural resilience.By aligning the interests of landowners and small-scale farmers through formalized agreements that encourage sustainable practices, it is possible to create a win-win situation that benefits both parties and contributes to the broader goals of environmental conservation and climate adaptation in the region. The following are the priority issues listed by community members to account for in the formalisation process:• Secure land tenure: The formal leasing agreements provide a legal framework for land tenure, ensuring that farmers have a clear and protected right to use the land.• Enhance conservation agriculture practices: These spaces of dialogue also serve as platforms to raise awareness about the importance of conservation agriculture. They can facilitate discussions on adopting sustainable farming practices, such as the use of organic fertilizers, the construction of natural barriers to reduce soil erosion, and the adoption of bean varieties that preserve soil fertility. Fostering conservation and climate-smart agriculture was also deemed as a suitable incentive for land-owners to engage in dialogue, as they have a theoretical interest in the soil conservation of their private land. Through more secure land tenure, farmers are also more likely to adopt sustainable farming practices.• Strengthen agricultural livelihoods: By promoting secure and sustainable land use, this strategy can enhance the livelihood opportunities of farmers. More productive and resilient farming practices can lead to increased agricultural yields and income for both landowners and lessees.• Conflict prevention: Establishing clear leasing agreements helps prevent future conflicts around land access. When the rights and responsibilities of each party are well-defined, disputes are less likely to arise. Also, it can incentivise conflict resolution practices through legally formal means.Establish cooperative associations of local producers meant to increase collaboration among farmers around strategic high-value crops.Participants in La Lima proposed the establishment of a local coffee producers association within the community. This association's primary goal is to foster collaboration among coffee growers and enhance their access to regional markets. A central function of the association is to encourage coffee producers to combine their coffee produce. The association can also be mandated to explore innovative methods for processing and transporting coffee. It may access, for example, joint credits schemes to purchase means of transport or processing machinery. Through collective marketing of their coffee produce, the association could potentially enhance market access for its members, making them more resilient to market fluctuations and other external influences. The collective bargaining power of the association can also result in improved prices for their coffee in regional markets.The association would take an active role in advocating for conservation agriculture practices among its members. This includes techniques to safeguard soil fertility, minimise soil erosion, and combat coffee rust. Educational workshops and training sessions can be organised to educate coffee growers on sustainable and environmentally friendly farming practices. Strengthening coffee production within the community can lead to economic benefits, including increased income for local coffee farmers. This can, in turn, reduce the community's reliance on seasonal and rural-urban migration as a primary income source. Additionally, the association may generate employment opportunities within the community, such as hiring individuals for coffee processing or transportation roles.Strengthen local livelihoods by formalising farmers associations that increase access to markets, financial services, and capacity development in agricultural livelihoods.Promoting the organisation of agricultural producers is vital to achieve several objectives, including gaining improved market access, enhancing the dignity of farmers, and reducing reliance on agricultural inputs. One key priority is establishing a more direct route to markets while decreasing the dependency on informal arrangements with private companies. Ongoing collaboration with cooperative organisations has shown initial progress, as these arrangements are perceived as fairer in terms of commercial conditions. Furthermore, it's important to enhance collective transportation and joint marketing of agricultural products. These efforts can streamline the process and improve the bargaining power of farmers in the market.In this regard, participants in Tenedores and El Carpintero proposed to formalise a Farmers' Association. This association would comprise community representatives, mainly consisting of local farmers and livestock herders. Through the association, the community can work collectively to enhance economic opportunities, improve landrelated arrangements, and promote sustainable land conservation practices. The central focus of this association centers around three key objectives.Firstly, the association aims to strengthen local farmers' access to markets. This involves facilitating the marketing of agricultural products, ultimately leading to improved economic prospects for the entire community.Secondly, the association seeks to establish alternative arrangements between cattle keepers and farmers that enhance land tenure security across the community. By doing so, the community can reduce the occurrence of land disputes, providing stability to both cattle owners and farmers.Lastly, the association plays a critical role in fostering land conservation practices throughout the community. For instance, in cases where cattle keeping is no longer profitable, cattle owners, who often possess large land plots in the region, could collaborate with farmers. They can lease their land under longer-term contracts while providing incentives for the adoption of conservation and climate-smart agricultural farming techniques.While joint credits to boost the community's capacity for market access were not viewed as feasible due to low social capital, there is potential in sharing agricultural and commercial experiences from among farmers. This could involve dialogues on strategies for negotiating better commercial agreements and adopting alternative agricultural practices. These discussions serve as a promising initial step toward increasing willingness for collective action among farmers. Furthermore, past experiences around joint credit schemes for micro-irrigation financing can serve as a successful example of resource pooling and cooperation. Lastly, the organisation of farmer markets was proposed as a strategy to reinforce agriculture as a promising livelihood strategy and foster higher-value crops through farming technologies.Increase access to climate information systems to strengthen integrated water management and collaborative capacities within communities.To enhance integrated water management and improve access to climate information systems, it is crucial to involve the community in the department-level Agro-climatic Technical Committees, overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture. These committees serve as essential platforms for sharing information about climate patterns and climate adaptation practices. A key step in this process involves selecting a representative from the community to participate in the department-level Agro-climatic Technical Committee. This representative would act as a liaison between the committee and the local community.The local representative, in collaboration with community-level committees, would work to disseminate the climate information contained in the quarterly-published agroclimatic newsletter among local farmers. This dissemination ensures that vital climate information reaches those who need it most. Additionally, dedicated dialogue spaces within the community could be created for disseminating climatic information. These spaces serve as local platforms for farmers to exchange experiences and knowledge about water-saving techniques at the farm level.By actively involving the community in the department-level committee and facilitating the exchange of climate information and best practices at the local level, integrated water management can be significantly strengthened. This approach empowers local farmers with the knowledge and tools they need to adapt to changing climate conditions and optimise their water resources.Develop and implement integrated resource management plans based on collective action between conflicting parties, neighbouring communities and municipal governments.A proposed climate adaptation strategy by participants of La Lima, in Chiquimula department, involves the development and implementation of an integrated forest management plan based on collective action, engaging members of La Lima, the neighbouring conflictive community, and the municipal government.This consists of the community initiating the development of an integrated forest management plan in collaboration with neighbouring communities and the municipal government. This plan seeks to replace the current system where forest resource regulations are primarily defined and enforced by municipal representatives. The collaborative management plan would be led by a community forest association, endorsed and supported by the municipal government. This association would be composed of community members who have a stake in forest resource management. One of the primary objectives of this initiative is to reduce the potential for violence, as previously perpetrated by Shupá community members within the forest. As such, the direct involvement of Shupá representatives in developing and enforcing the management plan should be encouraged. This engagement fosters dialogue and collaboration between the two communities, strengthening a sense of interdependence and shared identity over the communal forest.The community would be mandated with the responsibility of developing, updating, monitoring, and enforcing the forest management plan. This involvement empowers the community to take ownership of forest resource management and conservation. In turn, this collaborative effort of developing and implementing the forest management plan can potentially strengthen relations between the state (municipal government) and local constituents. This engagement provides an opportunity for more inclusive and participatory governance of forest resources.The plan can also create employment opportunities for community members involved in forest management, such as monitoring and enforcing regulations and sanctions. These employment opportunities are meant to contribute to local economic development, and a reduced reliance on small-scale agriculture and irregular migration.Strengthen the conflict-resolution capacities of water-related community committees through more integrated and collaborative approaches to water management.Water is already perceived as a scarce resource by inhabitants of the El Carpintero community, in the Huehuetenango department. Over recent years, conflicts related to water have become increasingly prevalent, making it imperative to establish trust among community members and ensure that community-led institutions for water management act as impartial conflict resolution bodies. It is also necessary to strengthen the community's capacity to collaborate towards ensuring future access to regional water springs and avoid the further privatisation of available water.Community members in El Carpintero proposed that the local water-related committees, including for irrigation and sanitation, increase their capacities to facilitate community engagement in dialogues about the threats posed by water scarcity, with a forwardlooking perspective that accounts for future climate conditions. These dialogues are meant to foster consensus-building among different water users and user-groups regarding protocols for the enforcement of water-rationing bylaws and a formal process for water-related conflict management. In participants´ view, these dialogues can also encourage neighbours to participate in joint-credit schemes aimed at financing the acquisition of new water springs by the community, to serve as public sources of water. Past successful experiences in the community, where people collectively funded smallscale irrigation projects, indicate that residents may be willing to pool-in resources for joint financing of resilience building projects if the right conditions are present.Participants recommended the following strategies through which their local water committee can play a more effective role in community governance, fostering trust, strengthening conflict management mechanisms, and promoting sustainable water resource management:• Develop neutral conflict resolution mechanisms: Water-related committees should act as impartial conflict management institutions, equipped with a formalised protocol for handling disputes related to water use and access. This structured approach will help in resolving conflicts through institutionalised processes which are deemed as legitimate, inclusive, representative, and transparent. Protocols for conflict resolution should be developed and formalised through inclusive engagement processes open to all community members and in coordination with government authorities.• Increase collaboration with the municipal government: Close coordination and collaboration with the municipal government are vital to bolster the legitimacy of local water management committees. This partnership can strengthen the committees' authority and facilitate smoother conflict resolution.• Establish incentives for private owners of streams to increase community access: Through collective dialogues, local committees can work on establishing a system of incentives for private water spring owners. These incentives could encourage landowners to grant long-term access to water resources for the community. In exchange, landowners could receive preferential conditions for services, such as reduced payments for water and electricity.• Increase local capacities for water-use monitoring: One key initiative is the installation of water meters in both households and irrigation systems. This step becomes increasingly important as drought conditions intensify, necessitating water rationing during specific times of the year. Effective monitoring of water consumption within the community is crucial for managing these challenges.Participants in El Carpintero have raised a significant concern regarding the unequal access to irrigation infrastructure among different settlements within the community.Settlements that have implemented micro-irrigation projects in the past not only enjoy easier access to water for agricultural purposes but also have the capacity to cultivate higher-value crops. Since the introduction of irrigation technology, socioeconomic disparities among settlement groups have widened.One of the primary drivers of this divergence is geographical. It is more challenging to install irrigation infrastructure in settlements located upstream of the basin. As a result, these upstream settlements face greater challenges in accessing water for their agricultural activities and are more vulnerable to climate effects. To address this issue and reduce the risk of competition and conflict within the community, participants have emphasised the necessity of introducing water pumps and rainfall capture infrastructure.They also made an emphasis on the need to integrate disparities in water access within dialogue processes for conflict management and resolution. These measures are seen as essential to support the more marginalised settlement groups, promote equitable access to water resources, and foster socioeconomic balance within the community.By implementing these measures, the community can establish a more coordinated and sustainable approach to water management. This approach not only addresses immediate water scarcity challenges but also fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility among community members for the long-term well-being of their water resources.Strengthen engagement capacities of local coordination offices for disaster risk reduction and the equitable distribution of resilience building benefits.Tenedores faces a dual challenge: the ongoing threat of river-induced floods and the perceived unequal distribution of climate adaptation benefits. While it is essential to prioritise households most at risk near the riverbanks, it is equally crucial to address the concerns of residents in higher elevations who face their own socio-economic challenges. Striking a balance in assistance and support while promoting unity within the community will be vital for successful and equitable resilience-building efforts in the future.To enhance disaster risk reduction efforts in an equitable manner, it is essential to strengthen the engagement capacities of the local coordination office for disaster risk reduction (COLRED). By implementing these strategies, COLRED can play a more effective role in disaster risk reduction, ensuring that the community's needs and concerns are taken into account, and that risk reduction efforts are well-informed and inclusive:• Engage the municipal government: COLRED should improve its ability to engage with the municipal government effectively and demand better representation of the community at the municipal level. This engagement is vital for addressing community concerns related to the perceived unfair distribution of humanitarian support following flooding incidents.• Incorporate community preferences for equal distribution: COLRED should actively seek and account for the perceptions of the community regarding the distribution of humanitarian aid after flooding events. This is intended as a strategy to ensure that relief efforts are fair and address the needs of all community members.• Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction Planning: It is essential to foster more integrated disaster risk reduction planning that considers the requirements of residents living in higher areas of the community.• Capacity building for disaster risk reduction: COLRED should invest in capacity building for the local population to encourage the adoption of risk reduction measures and recommended responses. This empowers community members to take proactive steps to mitigate disaster risks.• Enhancing COLRED´s legitimacy: Ensure that community-level preferences and local knowledge are integrated into potential risk reduction measures. This approach makes disaster risk reduction strategies more effective and culturally relevant. By actively engaging with the community and addressing their concerns, COLRED can increase its legitimacy as a representative body for the community in matters of disaster risk reduction when interacting with the municipal government.Allocate suitable locations and infrastructure for temporary shelter during extreme events, which ensure the continuous provision of public services during and after extreme events, including security-related.To provide a suitable location for temporary shelter during extreme events, participants in Tenedores community proposed to use a nearby plot owned by the municipal government. This plot would serve a dual purpose, as it would be utilised to construct a new temporary shelter while also accommodating a local office for the municipal police. By utilising this municipal government-owned plot for the dual purpose of a temporary shelter and police station, the community can have a more accessible and secure location during extreme events, ultimately promoting the safety and well-being of its residents.Although this location is not directly within the community, it offers several advantages. Firstly, it is significantly closer to the community than the temporary offices adopted after the Eta and Iota floods. This proximity ensures quicker access for community members during extreme events, enhancing their safety and reducing response times. Secondly, having the municipal police stationed at this location can be instrumental in maintaining order in post-disaster contexts, ensuring the safety and well-being of residents during challenging times. Lastly, the plot's placement in higher terrain is advantageous as it minimises the threats to public infrastructure from flooding and other extreme events. This location contributes to the overall resilience of the shelter, making it a safer and more secure option during emergencies.Increase coordinating capacities between migrant populations and those in the community as a resilience building strategy.Empowering local communities to effectively coordinate with migrants, both within Guatemala and abroad, is a valuable strategy for building resilience and harnessing migration as a positive force for community development. Participants across the three case studies discussed the establishment of community-level organisations that facilitate the exchange of migratory experiences and best practices among those who remain in the community and those who migrate.These community-level organisations are envisioned as platforms for sharing knowledge, skills, and experiences related to migration, both regular and irregular. Migrants can provide valuable insights into successful strategies for employment, income generation, and adaptation to new environments based on their own experiences abroad. These populations also often engage in entrepreneurial activities and bring back innovative ideas and practices from their experiences, which can benefit the entire community. Furthermore, these organisations can support the development of local businesses and initiatives by drawing on the expertise and resources of both migrants and residents who stay in the community. This collaborative approach can create economic opportunities and stimulate local economic growth.Additionally, these community-level organisations can act as advocates for the rights and interests of community members, both locally and at the national and international levels. They can help protect the rights of migrants and promote policies that benefit both migrants and those who remain in the community. Better coordination between populations abroad, people on the move, and those at places of origin could serve as a strategy for the protection of people in transit.Lastly, these organisations can play a role in preserving cultural traditions and strengthening a sense of identity and belonging among community members. By fostering a connection between migrants and their home community, they can contribute to the preservation of cultural heritage and traditions, even in the face of threats to local livelihoods. Although the pooling of resources sent as remittances to invest in collective resilience building was not deemed possible at this point in time, further coordination between diaspora networks and local populations could eventually lead to more effective disaster responses and investments for local development."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ffaeba05503e184dd019e54fcf476c3f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ca8b99e1-e660-4393-a93c-7fa8f5c1b11c/retrieve","id":"-2051792095"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e55ec4e4-ace3-4dfd-92a7-7f05927fed56","content":"The goal of positively transforming people`s life is both a developmental and professional issue. Writing a curriculum on Index-based Livestock Insurance to guide extension worker's efforts to inform the pastoralists and agro-pastoralists of Northern Kenya was an effort towards achieving this noble goal. In this endeavour the consultants appreciate constant helpful directions given by Dr. Andrew Mude and Ms. Brenda Wandera of International Livestock Research Institute. We equally thank Mr. Hussein Gufu, a former policy holder from Marsabit County who gave us detailed information about the product on ground. We equally recognize the contribution of Linda Communications (design & print), John Otieno Okande (Editor), Kevin Ouma (photography) as well as Lewis Masinde (cartoonist). We thank them all.The recurrent drought has had devastating effects on pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in Kenya. Marsabit County located in the Northern part of Kenya, is one such region where pastoralist's households have continuously experienced severe consequences of drought. Affected pastoralists are often forced to employ short term traditional drought coping strategies such as migrating with herds to other regions, distributing herds amongst their relatives and borrowing herds from clan members. Drought related risks often affect the entire region thus rendering traditional risk sharing arrangements insufficient. Many a times the entire livelihoods of the pastoralists are threatened since livestock which is their only source of income and food, perish in great numbers during severe drought.It is in response to such needs and due to the absence of formal insurance in this region that International Livestock Research Institute, Equity Bank and UAP Insurance rolled out Index Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI). IBLI, just like other insurance products, compensate its clients in the event of a loss. Unlike traditional insurance which assesses losses on a case by case basis and makes payouts based on individual client's loss realizations, IBLI offers policy holders within geographically defined areas payouts when the area based indicator is triggered.Introducing the Index-Based Livestock Insurance product to pastoralist communities and educating them of its benefits is challenging because the target clientele are often: i)Generally unfamiliar with the concept of insurance ii)Situated in remote and infrastructure deficient areas iii)Mostly illiterate iv)Pastoralists who are constantly moving in search of pasture for their livestock.Consequently the mode of delivery of information about IBLI product to the pastoral communities will be through extension workers. Extension workers have been identified as the ideal way of educating the pastoralist since they are relatively literate, are part of the pastoral communities and will therefore explain the product detailThe overall objective of IBLI training is to equip potential clients with knowledge that can help them understand and appreciate how Index-Based Livestock Insurance works so that they are able to make an informed decision in investing in insurance. The training also has the objective of sharing information and creating awareness of the IBLI product. It is expected that by the end of the training the trainees should be able to: i) Explain clearly the key features of IBLI ii)Describe and be able to disseminate information on IBLI purchase and compensation processes iii)Explain the advantages derived from investing in the IBLI product.The expected outcome from the Index-Based Livestock Insurance training shall be as follows: i) Increased level of awareness of IBLI product and its features ii)Improved methods of managing drought related risks through informed decision making iii)Increased number of IBLI policy holders.The training will employ the following teaching and learning methodologies The training will use the following instructional equipment for effective delivery:• Calculators • Generator (where the electricity and solar power is unavailable) • Laptops and LCD projectorsThe mode of instruction shall be: Direct mode, Face-to-face, Trainer-trainee interactionThe target clients for the IBLI product are the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities. This manual is intended to equip the extension workers with tailor-made contents and methodologies to ensure that the training objectives are met.It is recommended that the extension workers educate the target clients through village Barazas (meetings) organized by the village elders or the local chiefs. The target groups may also be accessed at the water points where a number of herders congregate during village water committee meetings. Alternatively they may be accessed through local development associations.The evaluation of the training will employ 4 factor comparison technique. This technique covers all the four levels of training evaluation which includes the following:Reaction and learning levels of the evaluation will be assessed immediately through end of session oral evaluations and through an objective quiz at the end of the training. Behavioral and impact levels will be evaluated at least a year after implementation of the training through a survey.Insurable livestock Unit, contract premium and sum assured• Insurable livestock unit • Sum assured for insured livestock • Premium value for insured livestock 3 5.• IBLI purchase process • IBLI compensation processes 1 6.• Benefits of IBLI to potential clients • Modes of creating awareness of the IBLI to the pastoralist community • Methods of accessing the potential clients• IBLI sale and compensation periodsTraditional drought risk management methods and the concept of insurance   Explaining the shortcomings of traditional drought coping methodsDroughts have been a major cause of livestock losses in pastoralist regions in Kenya. Given that livestock is the main source of livelihood for pastoralists, livestock losses have depleted a significant part of pastoralist's wealth by leaving them with no fall backs and hence exposed to greater risks (risk is uncertainty concerning the occurrence of loss).The consequences include: A reduction of the ability of pastoralists to feed their families, educate their children and exposure of pastoralist communities to death etc. In the past pastoralists have tried many traditional methods of coping with the consequences of droughtThe methods include: Migrating to other regions, taking livestock to relatives or assuming the risk.Clearly none of these methods are able to fully address the problem. Pastoralists are still left vulnerable to the severe effects of drought.Indicate to the trainees that: As a community the pastoralists need a lasting solution to recurrent drought problem. There is a Boran saying that goes: \"Man tannan wan tat hid`abdu\" (if people come together to seek solution to a problem they cannot fail to find one) The Turkana have proverb: \"Emuduk ilanyi akiru\" (it is better to prepared early) the Rendille on the other hand have a similar saying: \"aha khaptai tietah kafayo\"One solution now available to pastoralist is insurance introduce the concept of insurance using the following case of 200 herdersSuppose all the 200 herders come together and contribute Ksh. 400 p er year, what would be the amount of the common fund? Expected answers: i) Ksh.75, 000 ii) Ksh.80, 000 Indicate to the trainees that: To ful ll the loss of herders whose bulls died, the contributed fund is more than su cient. This way, the loss of the 5 herders is distributed amongst 200 herders.Formal insurance works this way, people who buy insurance pool their resources by contributing to an insurance fund. The fund is used to cover the cost of those who su er the loss; however the insured is expected to bear a de ned proportion of the insured risk. Individual risks are consquently reduced by spreading them among the fund contributors. Therefore insurance not only involves risk transfer but also pooling and risk reduction. Thus the risk for the group is reduced and the losses that result are pooled through the payment of an insurance premium (the price for insurance cover).The premium ii)The contribution of Ksh. 400 ii)The total contribution of the entire 200 herders of Ksh 80,000Tell the trainees that: Risk management is the process of determining the maximum acceptable level of overall risk from a proposed activity then using risk assessment techniques to determine the initial level of risk and developing a strategy to reduce the overall level of risk to an acceptable level.There are 200 herders each having one bull.Each bull is worth K sh.15,000. Every year, 5-bulls die, on an average due to drought Insurance on the other hand is a formal way of managing risks. Those who buy insurance always transfer a proportion of their insured risks to the insurance company in return for payment of an insurance premium which is the actual amount of money charged on an insurance contract (policy).Indicate to trainees that: One such methods of managing drought related risks is Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI).Explain the concept of index based insurance: Index based insurance uses a suitable and measurable proxy such as forage availability or rainfall to construct an indicator or index that is highly associated with event being insured (drought related livestock deaths or crop failure respectively). This Index then serves as the measure upon which insurance payments are, or are not, made. A pre-determined threshold level of the index, often refered to as the trigger point, marks the point at which payments begin.For example, an index insurance contract designed to cover the risk of drought related livestock mortality would begin making indemnity payments if forage availability fell below the threshold over a de ned time period, such as a year. Index insurance is best suited for correlated risks (severe, widespread events such as droughts).Pose to the trainees: Why then should the pastoralists consider using IBLI to manage livestock related deaths? Underscore the relevance of this question through a proverb.For the Boran the proverb goes: \"Fula jiitu bilachi iit mara\" (literal translation -we expect butterflies to hover over a damp area) meaning-People will consider an investment if it has a potential return for the Turkana a similar proverb goes: \"Nyitao ngikinyam nalup nakagongok\" for the Rendille it goes: \"nti rath kwaro kohani kajira\".Expected responses include: The traditional drought copying strategies have continuously left pastoralists vulnerable to the devastating effects of recurrent drought. Unlike the traditional drought coping strategies, IBLI is expected to enable beneficiaries to: i)Restock their livestock in the event of drought related losses ii)Stabilize household incomes i.e. during severe droughts, households whose incomes would have otherwise been significantly reduced are cushioned by the insurance payouts.Evaluate whether the session objectives have been met by asking your trainees the following questions: i) What are the shortcomings of traditional drought risk management methods? ii)How does conventional insurance work? iii)What are the differences between conventional insurance and index based insurance?Based on the answers clarify any misconception that may exist   Indicate to the trainees that: An index is an indicator that is associated with the event being insured. The index IBLI uses is predicted livestock mortality within a given area. This indicator is constructed from forage availability of a given division captured from satellite images. These image pictures are taken every 16 days.Use Picture 1 and 2 in figure 2  Point out that: The above satellite pictures capture the forage on the ground. As indicated on the key, the indicator of forage takes value between 0 and 1 the representation is on a continuum of colours from dark green (dense forage) to dark brown (no forage). The larger value means a better vegetation condition.Take for instance Maikona and North Horr Divisions, in image 1 where the forage cover was quite low implying poor forage availability. Image 2 presents a contrast of the two divisions where Maikona division portraying dense forage cover than North Horr.The level of forage determines the productivity and health of livestock which in turn directly affects the mortality of livestock. The prediction of livestock mortality is done after monitoring the forage availability for at least twelve months (1 year).Figure 2 shows how forage availability in Loiyangalani division was monitored in the period between October 2009 and September 2010. Explain for instance that: Figure 2 indicates the trend of forage availability in Loiyangalani over 16 day period starting from October 2009 to September 2010. The horizontal zero line is the long-run average forage availability for that period of the month since 1981. Therefore, when the line is above this, it means that there is more than an average amount of forage on the ground relative to the norm. Similarly when the line is below zero, it indicates that forage availability is less than the norm. As such, the figure indicates that the last three months of 2009 in Loiyangalani division were considerably worse than normal. However, there must have been some rains (or perhaps large herd die offs that reduced the pressure on forage) as from early on in 2010 the forage situation improved to considerably better than average. The months thereafter have continued to see better than average forage but at a decreasing rate until September 2010 where it was around the long-term average.Clearly with forage conditions better than average formost of the time, we would expect that livestock in September 2010 were generally healthy. Point out that: Pasture availability in the target division is monitored using satellite images (such as those shown in figure 1) for at least 12 months. The data on forage availability captured from each division is then fed into a response function and converted into an index for the division. This index is called predicted mortality index. Indeed, the predicted mortality index for Loiyangalani division for the period October 2009 to September 2010 read 0.02. This means that only 2 out of one hundred livestock were predicted to have perished as a result of the state of forage for that periodExplain that: The predicted mortality index is constructed as summarized in figure 3Explain to the trainees that: Satellite data is provided by the independent international scientific organizations. The index is currently constructed by International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) an international organization dedicated to improving pastoralist livelihoods through innovations in livestock management. UAP and Equity bank provide the insurance cover (UAP underwrites while Equity Bank provides agency services). Both the satellite data providers and ILRI are independent international organizations that cannot be influenced by the insurance company to manipulate the index.Evaluate whether the session objectives have been met by asking your trainees the following questions: i)What is the risk covered by IBLI? ii)How is livestock mortality predicted? iii)Can the insurance company manipulate the index in order to a void making compensations? iv)What is the relationship between forage availability and livestock mortality? Based on the answers clarify any misconception that may existBy the end of this session the trainees should be able to: i) Explain the significance of the trigger point ii)Explain the geographical coverage of IBLI Indicate to the trainees that: In insurance, clients are expected to bear a small part of the cost of losses incurred. This cost is usually referred to as a deductible. (The Gabra and Boran have a practice similar to deductible called Busa. In this practice if a member of clan losses his livestock, the clan members may contribute livestock for him based on the level of the severity of the losses because the a ected member of the clan is expected to bear part of the losses. Other pastoralist communities do have similar practices).The severity of livestock losses are measured using a scale of zero to one hundred, where zero represents no livestock loss while hundred represents total livestock losses. Compensation is only made if the predicted livestock losses exceed 15 points (15%) on the scale. Clients are expected to bear any loss below 15 points (15%). This point is known as a trigger point and is treated as a deductible in IBLI.Figure 4, illustrates the predicted livestock deaths, trigger level and expected compensation graphically. Explain to the trainees that: As indicated in figure 4 expected compensation will be zero until the trigger point is reached, at predicted mortality level of 20%, for instance, the expected compensation is correspondingly 5% (20% -15%) of insured livestock value. Similarly if predicted mortality level is 50% expected compensation will be 35% (50% -15%) of insured livestock value.Stress to the trainees that: If the predicted livestock losses are 15% and below policy holders do not receive any compensation. The 15% is treated as a deductible and therefore no compensation will be made if the trigger point is not reached.Indicate to the trainees that: Marsabit County has different climatic conditions. As such, the index -predicted livestock mortality -is given at the division level. The IBLI index is split into FIVE divisions, namely: North Horr, Maikona, Loiyangalani, Laisamis and Central/Gadamoji. Because insurance payments are made according to the index level, this means that IBLI may make different payments across all the divisions. Every insurance policy holder within the same division, however, will receive the same rate of insurance payment (if the index is above the trigger).  Indicate that: The relatively drier divisions have higher risk of experiencing drought than the relatively less drier divisions. This means that the livestock mortality in the upper divisions is likely to be higher than livestock mortality in the lower divisions. Based on the di erences in risk of drought for the two sets of divisions, the premiums for upper Marsabit has been set higher than premiums for Lower Marsabit.The premium for Upper Marsabit is therefore 5.5% for the average livestock value and the one for lower Marsabit is 3.25% for the average livestock value.Stress that: due the fact that the predicted mortality index is expected to be unique for each division the expected compensations are expected to be di erent for di erent divisionsClarify that: in as much as the premiums are per cluster (Upper and Lower), the payouts are made per division as forge availability is monitored per division. Ask one trainee who will act as the predictor to pick one card from a well shuffled percentage cards and show it to the rest of the t rainees.Explain the meaning of the percentage on the card. If say 10% card is picked this indicate to the trainees that this means that 10 animals in every 100 animals are predicted to have died in the G addamoji division. 4.Tell the 10 herders to put back the animals back together since they usually graze together. 5.Based on the prediction made ask the predictor to pick the number of animals that are predicted to have died from the pack of live cow cards and replace them with the dead cow cards. If say again 10% card was picked, 10 live cow cards should be replaced with 10 dead cow cards 6.Ask the predictor to shuffle the 10 dead cow cards together with the remaining live cow cards 7.Ask the 10 herders to again pick 10 cards from the well shuffled cards at random without looking at the picture on the card until all of them have picked 8.After each of the herders has picked tell them to reveal to the rest of the trainees how many live animals and dead animal they have and record them on a flip chart.After recording the number of live animals and dead animals for each of the herders explain that even if say 10 animals (assuming again 10% card was picked) in every 100 animals are predicted to have died, each of the herders suffers different levels of losses. 10.Repeat the exercise with different trainees until the point is understood. 11.Where percentages cards between 0 and 15 are picked clarify that the herders are expected to bear the cost of the losses, they will not be c ompensated. Since the herders are expected to bear the predicted losses are below 15 deaths in every 100, compensation will only be for losses above 15 deaths in every 100 12.Display Figure 4 and explain it again to drive home the concept of the t rigger level 13.If say 20% card is picked, then the predicted livestock deaths are 20 in e very 100 for the location. Compensation for the location then will be f or the predicted deaths that are above the 15 deaths in every 100 that the herder is expected to bear. In this case then the all herders in the location will be compensated for 5 deaths in every 100 even if each suffered different levels of losses. In conventional insurance each herder should be compensated for the actual animals that died (the problem with it is the verification of actual deaths which laborious and expensive f or the insurance company).Summarize the key learning points of the role play: i) P redicted livestock mortality is based on the predicted mortality for the division and not on individual herders' loss experiences. Consequently herders may be over or under compensated depending on actual losses suffered. Good animal care or husbandry is encouraged, ii)Assessment of actual losses is not required. Compensation is based on the predicted mortality index for the division. iii)Compensation may only begin after the trigger level is exceeded iv)Due to the fact that assessment of individual livestock losses is not r equired before IBLI compensation, compensations are faster, less p rotracted and objective unlike in conventional insurance.Evaluate whether the session objectives have been met by asking your trainees the following questions: i) Explain the significance of the trigger level ii)Identify the geographical clustering of IBLI coverage iii)Explain the reasons for the geographical clustering iv)What are the conditions for IBLI compensations to be madeSession 4: Insurable livestock unit, contract premium and sum assuredBy the end of this session the trainees should be able to: i) Explain the insurable livestock unit ii)Determine sum assured for insured livestock iii)Calculate premium value for insured livestock  This means that on TLU basis 1 cow is equivalent to 10 goat or sheep, and 1 camel is equivalent to 1 cow and 4 goats or sheepThe value for one TLU has been set at Ksh 15,000. This value may then be used to arrive at the predetermined average value of livestock across Marsabit as shown in Table 6.The sum assured is the value of livestock insured.It is given by multiplying the predetermined average value of each livestock by number of livestock being insured.One decides the number of livestock they wish to insure and the insurance company does not require verification of livestock numbers. One may even decide to insure different numbers of livestock each period. For example:i) If you insure 1 camel your sum assured will be Ksh .21,000 ii) If you insure 1 camel and 1 cow your sum assured will be Kshs. 21,000 plus Kshs. 15,000 = Kshs. 36,000 iii) If you insure 1 camel, 1 cow, 1 goat and 1 sheep your sum assured will be Kshs. 21,000 +15,000 +1,500 + 1,500 = Kshs. 39,000 iv) If you insure 2 camels, 3 cows, 5 goats and 10 sheep your sum assured will be as shown in table 7:(2)(3) The sum assured is therefore Kshs.109,000Notice that:   Explain that premium is: One trainee to act as the predictor of livestock deaths 3.The trainer to act as an insurance clerk. The insurance clerk to have blank cards that are expected to serve as money and a marker pen. 4.Give each of the group 100 live cow cards, a bank money card, calculator and a marker penThe Role Play 1.Ask each of the group to decide the number of cows they wish to insure. Record this on a flip chart. 2.Given that the average market price for a cow in Marsabit County is g iven as Kshs. 15,000 ask the trainees to determine the sum assured by multiplying the number of animals they wish to insure b y Kshs. 15,000. Confirm the figures and record on a flip chart 3.Based on the insurance premium per cow which is Ksh 487.50 and 825 for lower and upper Marsabit divisions respectively ask each of the group to calculate the total premium of the cows they wish to insure. Each of group should confirm the premium figure with the t rainer. 4.On confirming the figures, ask the trainees to write the premium figure on the money card 5.Each of the groups should then send one of their members to buy the insurance from the insurance agent using the money card with the premium indicated. The insurance agent to record the details. 6.Ask the predictor to pick 4 cards, one at a time from a well shuffled park of \"percentages cards\" to predict the livestock deaths for the 4 divisions. Each time the percentages card is picked it should be shown to all trainees 7.Explain the meaning of the percentage on the card. If say 10% card is picked for the first division, indicate to the trainees that this means that 10 animals in every 100 animals are predicted to have died in that division. 8.Based on the prediction made ask the predictor to pick the number of animals that are predicted to have died from the pack of live cow cards and replace them with the dead cow cards for each group. If say again 10% card was picked, 10 live cow cards should be replaced with 10 dead cow cardsRecord the figures for dead cows and live cows for each group on a flip chart 10.After recording the number of live animals and dead animals for each of the divisions explain that even if say 10 animals (assuming again 10% card was picked) in every 100 animals are predicted to have died, each of the herders in the division suffers different levels of losses ( as was illustrated in the previous role play). 11.Where percentages cards between 0 and 15 are picked clarify that the herders are expected to bear the cost of the losses, they will not be c ompensated. Since herders in each division are expected to bear the c ost if predicted losses are below 15 deaths in every 100, c ompensation will only be for losses above 15 deaths in every 100 12.If percentage cards above 15% are picked say 20%, then indicate to the t rainees that the predicted livestock deaths are 20 in every 100 for the location. Compensation for the location then will be for the predicted deaths that are above the 15 deaths in every 100 that the herder is e xpected to bear. The group is as such required to subtract 15% from the predicted percentage deaths. In this case it will be 20% -15% = 5%. T he expected compensation may also be read directly from figure 4. T hen when the predicted mortality is 20% the expected compensation is 5%. All herders in the location will be compensated for 5 deaths in e very 100 cows of their sum assured. If say their sum assured is Kshs 100,000 the compensation in this case will be 5 divided by 100 then multiplied by 100,000 [(5÷100)×100,000]=Ksh 5,000 13.Ask each group to calculate their expected compensation after which they send one of their members to pick their compensation f rom the insurance clerk 14.The insurance clerk calculates the expected compensations for each of group and writes each figure on a separate blank money card. As each of the group comes for their compensations one at a time, the clerk confirms their figures and issue compensation in f orm of the money card as the rest of the trainees observe.Explain that:Summarize the key learning points of the role play: i)The sum assured is the value of insured livestock. It is obtained by multiplying the average market value of livestock by the number of livestock that one has insured ii)Contract premiums are the cost incurred for one to buy an insurance contract. For IBLI, the contract premiums are set at 5.5% of sum assured for upper Marsabit divisions and 3.25% of sum assured for lower Marsabit divisions iii)The predicted mortality index is monitored per division and c ompensations may only be made if the trigger for a given division is exceeded iv)Different divisions are expected to receive different levels of c ompensation because the indices for the different divisions may not be the same. v)Expected compensations are based on the predicted mortality index and not individual losses therefore loss assessment is not r equired.Evaluate whether the session training objectives have been met by asking the trainees the following questions: i) How is the sum assured calculated? ii)What are the premiums of the different livestock covered by IBLI? iii)What are the justifications for geographical clustering for IBLI c overage? iv)How are compensations determined? Produce ID 3.Client indicates the number and types of animals they wish to insure 4.The Agent shows the client the premium payable 5.The client confirms the premium figures 6.The agent authorize the transaction 7.The client is issued with transaction receipt when the transaction is over Premium Payment Procedure (HSNP Clients) These are clients with HSNP cards 1.The client present himself/herself at Equity Branch 2.The client indicates the number and type of animals they wish to insure 3.The Agent shows the client the premium payable 4.The client confirms the premium figures 5.The agent authorize the transaction 6.The client is issued with transaction receipt when the transaction is over The rational consumer will only buy those goods and services that add value to their lives. The key factors that consumers consider before buying a service include: i) Satisfaction of current need ii)Affordability of the service iii)Clarity of the service featuresGo through each of the factors one by one with the trainees and discuss the extent to which the IBLI product fulfils them: i)The recurrent drought problem is a current need for the pastoralist ii)The premiums are set at affordable levels iii)Concerted efforts have been made to clarify the product featurese xplore the opinion of the trainees about the clarity of the IBLI p roduct features.The potential benefits to the pastoralist communities which include among others the following:Emotional protection from risks of losses ii)Maintenance of social status in the society Economical bene ts i)Cost effective -the premium is affordable to pastoralists and p otential compensation is adequate ii)Economic stability-households will be cushioned against losses c aused by drought iii)Improved quality of life-safeguard against dehumanizing effect of p overtyIndicate to the trainees that based on the benefits identified concerted efforts should be made to create awareness of the IBLI product to the pastoralist and agro-pastoralists so that they can make informed decision in dealing with the risk of drought related livestock death  Generally unfamiliar with the concept of insurance iii)Situated in a remote and infrastructure deficient areas iv)Pastoralists who are constantly moving in search of pasture for their livestockConsequently the mode of delivery of the information about IBLI product to the pastoral communities will be personal (face to face) communication through extension workers. Extension workers have been identified as the ideal way of educating the pastoralist because they will be relatively literate, will be part of the pastoral communities and will therefore explain the product details using local dialects. Reasons why personal (face to face) communication is considered ideal for creating awareness about IBLI are shown in table 11.The expected outcome from the index-based livestock insurance training shall be as following: i) Increased level of awareness of IBLI product and its features ii)Improved methods of managing drought related risks through informed decision making iii)Increased number of IBLI policy holdersThe evaluation will employ 4 factor comparison techniques. These techniques is quite current in the market and popular because it covers all the four levels of training, that is, reaction, learning, behavior, and impact levels.Evaluation of IBLI programme is proposed to be carried out at the following times:As trainees participate in skill practice, role plays, exercises, demonstrations, simulations and other learning activities, the trainer will observe the degree to which they will have mastered the content. This will be followed by oral evaluation of skills and knowledge gained at the end of each session. Evaluation tool at this stage will be oral questions.Trainees will be provided with End of Training Evaluation Quiz (on page 42). The scope of evaluation at this stage will cover training content, and knowledge acquired during the training. The target for this evaluation is the trainees who have undergone the training. Evaluation tool at this stage will be an objective quiz. The objective of this evaluation is to identify areas of the training that have not been well understood with a view to having the areas revisited in the final session. This is intended to make sure that misconceptions are cleared before the trainees embark on the task of educating the pastoralists about IBLIAfter at least one year the trainer will evaluate attitude, behavioural change and impact of the pastoralists to determine whether they are applying what they learned to their life situations and the impact of the performance on the pastoralist's livelihood. The target for this evaluation is the pastoralist and agro-pastoralist. This stage of evaluation will assess the levels of the IBLI product uptake and how individual families that bought IBLI product have had their livelihood improved. Evaluation tool at this stage will be Part two of the evaluation too on page 48 (Long-term Evaluation Tool) and observation.The following are the order for the To be conducted after at least one year of the implementation of the training. The objective is to evaluate the extent of behavior change and the impact of the product on the livelihoods of the pastoralists.A    "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9afca4e934c4edb7d7a2198bd9e76486","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1c9b7fb2-14c0-470c-88f0-684cdb9ca10c/retrieve","id":"-1268330899"},"keywords":["Zea mays","Aspergillus flavus","imbibed kernels","aflatoxin","resistance genes"],"sieverID":"ee8384d2-4081-4ce2-841d-2fe614e9a730","content":"Aflatoxin contamination caused by the opportunistic pathogen A. flavus is a major concern in maize production prior to harvest and through storage. Previous studies have highlighted the constitutive production of proteins involved in maize kernel resistance against A. flavus' infection. However, little is known about induced resistance nor about defense gene expression and regulation in kernels. In this study, maize oligonucleotide arrays and a pair of closely-related maize lines varying in aflatoxin accumulation were used to reveal the gene expression network in imbibed mature kernels in response to A. flavus' challenge. Inoculated kernels were incubated 72 h via the laboratory-based Kernel Screening Assay (KSA), which highlights kernel responses to fungal challenge. Gene expression profiling detected 6955 genes in resistant and 6565 genes in susceptible controls; 214 genes induced in resistant and 2159 genes induced in susceptible inoculated kernels. Defense related and regulation related genes were identified in both treatments. Comparisons between the resistant and susceptible lines indicate differences in the gene expression network which may enhance our understanding of the maize-A. flavus interaction.Aspergillus flavus is not only a saprophytic fungus, but an opportunistic pathogen which invades susceptible hosts such as maize, cottonseed, tree nuts, and peanuts [1]. Aflatoxin contamination caused by A. flavus is a major concern in maize production prior to harvest and through storage [2][3][4]. Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites of this fungus which can be highly toxigenic and carcinogenic to humans or animals consuming contaminated food or feeds [5][6][7]. Significant research has been devoted to developing ways of controlling aflatoxin contamination of crops. Understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the interaction between A. flavus and maize kernels would aid the development of strategies to interrupt the aflatoxin contamination process.The morphological process and the molecular mechanisms of A. flavus involved in maize kernel invasion have been widely observed and discussed [8]. Numerous fungal genes have been shown to be involved in the invasion process and in aflatoxins biosynthesis [9,10]. However, identifying genetic resistance mechanisms in maize kernels of aflatoxin-resistant lines, and under varied environmental conditions, can be very challenging. To control the environmental effects, better ascertain kernel genetic differences between genotypes and assist field screening in maize breeding, the laboratory-based Kernel Screening Assay (KSA) was developed [11,12]. The KSA uses mature kernels inoculated with A. flavus to quantify aflatoxin accumulation, therefore, highlighting the phase of kernel development in the field where aflatoxin increases. This technique speeds-up aflatoxin assessment and eliminates escapes. The KSA correlates well with field trial results [12][13][14], and is a primary technique used to screen germplasm in a collaborative project for breeding aflatoxin-resistant maize lines between the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the Southern Regional Research Center (SRRC) of the USDA-ARS [15]. Six aflatoxin-resistant inbred lines were released to the public through this collaboration [14].Over the past twenty years, a number of resistant maize lines with low aflatoxin accumulation levels have been identified or developed [14][15][16][17][18]. While maize hybrids with improved resistance to A. flavus infection and aflatoxin biosynthesis may be in commercial use, the levels of resistance are not yet adequate to prevent unacceptable aflatoxin concentrations (FDA has limits of 20 ppb, total aflatoxins on interstate commerce of food and feed, and 0.5 ppb of aflatoxin M 1 on the sale of milk) [17]. To make use of maize germplasm with greater resistance that are available now or in the future, efficient biomarkers are needed [17].Plants have defenses against most phytopathogens through recognition and the triggering of a wide range of defense responses, including the reprogramming of cellular metabolism, the accumulation of barrier-forming substances, and the production of antimicrobial compounds, which act directly to prevent pathogen invasion [19,20]. Despite impressive advances in knowledge concerning defense mechanisms in vegetative plants [19,21,22], little is known about molecular mechanisms of plant seeds for defending against fungal infection. This is especially the case regarding infection by facultative pathogen, A. flavus.Previous studies indicate that both constitutive and induced resistance are involved in maize kernel defense against A. flavus infection [16,23]. Comparative proteomics has identified numerous constitutive resistance-associated proteins (RAPs) in mature kernels [24,25], presuming their resistant function in aflatoxin contamination. Meng et al. [26] analyzed the gene expression profile of aflatoxin-resistant inbred Tex6 during kernel development using microarray analysis and found that RAP genes were significantly expressed at the late developmental stage. In that study, kernels in developing ears were used to observe induced resistance in response to A. flavus infection introduced by a non-wound inoculation method. However, consistent gene profiles were unable to be acquired due to variation between experimental replicates caused by factors such as the kernel developmental stage, the environment, and/or A. flavus inoculation methods. The purpose of the present study is to determine gene expression differences between aflatoxin-resistant and -susceptible maize lines in response to A. flavus' challenge. This may highlight the presence of inducible resistance factors to complement constitutive factors previously identified through comparative proteomics. Employing gene expression analysis can also overcome the limitations of protein analysis such as the expensive costs involved in identifying a complete proteome and the lack of visibility of some lowly-expressed protein spots, which potentially limits the detection of important proteins. To minimize the effect of different genetic backgrounds on gene expression, two closely-related inbred lines, Eyl25 and Eyl31, were used; these were derived from a cross between two resistant lines, 1368 and GT-MAS:gk, in the SRRC-IITA collaborative project [14,15]. Of the two lines, Eyl25 is aflatoxin-resistant (R), and Eyl31 is susceptible (S). To eliminate the effects caused by using developing kernels in field trials, imbibed mature kernels (under KSA conditions) were used in this research. The KSA protocol involves inoculating kernels with A. flavus and incubating them at 31 °C and 100% humidity. This method attempts to create an \"ideal\" environment for maize kernel infection and subsequent aflatoxin production. To acquire gene expression profiles, oligonucleotide microarrays developed by the Maize Oligonucleotide Array Project [27] were used.Dry mature maize kernels of aflatoxin-resistant Eyl25 and of -susceptible Eyl31 used in this study were provided by Dr. Abebe Menkir of IITA of Ibadan, Nigeria. The A. flavus strain used was the same as in all other studies performed in this lab, AF13 (ATCC 96044; SRRC 1273). Kernels were sterilized and inoculated with A. flavus as described in the KSA protocol [12]. Noninoculated kernels served as controls. For each treatment, 40 kernels were used. After 72-h incubation at 31 °C and 100% humidity, kernels in each treatment were bulked and washed three times using 0.02% Triton X, each time for 3 min, followed by rinsing with DD H 2 O to remove A. flavus growth from kernel surfaces. Kernels were then dried using absorbing paper, and frozen using liquid nitrogen. All kernels were kept at −70 °C until RNA extraction. A parallel experiment to assess fungal colonization levels and aflatoxin accumulation in inoculated kernels was conducted according to the KSA protocol. After 72 h incubation with A. flavus, colonization of kernels was classified on a 5 level system based on the percentage of kernel surface colonized: 1 = 1-20% of the surface colonized; 2 = 21-40%; 3 = 41-60%; 4 = 61-80%; 5 = 81-100%. After 7 days incubation, aflatoxin levels in inoculated kernels were quantified using a FluoroQuant Aflatest kit (Romer, Union, MO).Total RNA was extracted from seed using TRIzol reagent (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA). All RNA samples were treated with DNase (Qiagen, Valencia, CA) to remove DNA, and purified with the RNeasy system (Qiagen). RNA quantity and quality were assessed with a Nanodrop spectrophotometer (Nanodrop Technologies, Montchanin, DE).Fluorescent dye Cy3 and Cy5 labeled probes were prepared using the indirect labeling method of cRNA according to the protocol provided by The Maize Oligoarray Project [28]. A total of 6 μg of aminoallyl-cRNA were needed for each probe labeling. The aminoallyl-cRNA was synthesized and amplified using the RNA amplification system (Ambion, Austin, TX). Mono-reactive dyes Cy3 and Cy5 (Amersham, Piscataway, NJ, USA) were coupled to aminoallyl-cRNA from differently treated samples. The un-incorporated free dyes were removed with the RNeasy MinElute cleanup kit (Qiagen).Maize 46k 70-mer oligonucleotide arrays (Maize Oligonucleotide Array Project, version 1.0 [27]; were used in this study. Hybridization of slides was performed according to manufacturer's instructions [28]. Kernels of inbred Eyl25 and Eyl31were bulked respectively from several individual ears before being shipped to the U.S. Therefore, no biological replicates were designed in the microarray experiment, only technical replicates based on pooling samples. A study on the utility of pooling biological samples in microarray experiments demonstrated that this method would not adversely affect most differentially expressed genes [29]. Our study was of a population phenotype (resistant or susceptible) and not of individuals within those populations and, therefore, appropriate for the pooling method. A direct comparison design was applied, which included Eyl25 Inoculated/Control, Eyl31 Inoculated/Control, Eyl25 Control/Eyl31 Control, and Eyl25 Inoculated/Eyl31 Inoculated. In each comparison, 4 technical replicates were used, including two dye swaps. Hybridized slides were scanned using a Genepix 4000B Scanner (Molecular Devices, Sunnyvale, CA, USA), and hybridization images were analyzed using GENEPIX 6.0 software. Signal values were initially normalized during the image scanning process by adjusting the photomultiplier tube (PMT) based on the average ratio between two channels. To eliminate the cross hybridization effect of A. flavus genes in the maize microarray hybridization under high PMT, the saturated spots ratio was set at 0.005%. This insured that the intensity of A. flavus genes would not affect maize gene expression results.Microarray data were analyzed using GeneSpring GX 10.0 software (Silicon Genetics, Redwood City, CA, USA). Two criteria were used for selecting positive spots, mean (Signal-Background) >400 unit as expression intensity filter, and the occurrence of at least two spots in the four replicates. These filters were imposed to remove genes with very minor differential expression or genes with little evidence for expression. Data normalization was performed using a LOWESS (locally weighted regression) algorithm. To identify statistically significant genes, a one-way ANOVA on the normalized data was performed using a T-test and p-values lower than 0.05 as criteria. Furthermore, a fold change analysis of significance was performed to address the magnitude of change of statistically significant genes.Twenty-four genes with expression patterns of up-regulation, down-regulation, or no-change in the microarray analysis were selected for quantitative analysis using one-step qRT-PCR. Total RNA from above samples were treated with DNase (Qiagen), and subsequently purified with an RNeasy Cleanup Kit (Qiagen). Three technical replications were performed for each sample to assess the reproducibility, and the mean of the three replicates was used to calculate relative expression quantitation. One-step qRT-PCR was performed using the QuantiFast SYBR green RT-PCR kit (Qiagen) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The total volume of the reaction was 20 μL which consisted of SYBR green RT-PCR master mix, QuantiFast RT mix, and 1 μM of each primer. Gene-specific primers were designed using Primer Express 3.0 (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA) and amplicons were between 100-150 bp. The PCR assay was carried out using the Stepone Real-Time PCR System (Applied Biosystems). Cycling parameters were set according to the recommendation of QuantiFast SYBR green RT-PCR kit as: Reverse transcription at 50 °C for 10 min; PCR initial activation of DNA polymerase at 94 °C for 5 min, followed by 40 cycles at 95 °C for 10 s, and 60 °C for 30 s. At the end of the PCR final cycle, melting curves were run immediately to determine if measurements were influenced by primer-dimer pairs.The amplification curve was generated after analyzing raw data, and the cycle threshold (CT) value was calculated based on the fluorescence threshold of 0.01. The expression of the alpha-5 tubulin gene in kernels was very constant as demonstrated by micraorray and real-time PCR analysis, and was used as an internal reference in this study; primers were 5'-CTTGACATCGAAAGGCCAAC as the forward primer and 5'-CAAGGTTGGTCTGGAACTCAG as the reverse primer. A Student's test and the \"delta-delta CT\" (2 −ΔΔCT ) mathematical model [30] were used for description and comparison of the relative quantification of gene expression between samples. Fold change of a target gene in the test sample was represented by R = 2 −ΔΔCT , where ΔΔCT = ΔCT test sample-ΔCT reference sample, ΔCT sample = C(T)test gene-C(T)reference gene. The comparative result of a target gene in test sample and reference sample was described by statistical significance (P < 0.05) and fold change.Aflatoxin levels in inoculated kernels of aflatoxin-resistant maize line Eyl25 (R) and of-susceptible line Eyl31 (S) are shown in Table 1. Eyl25 demonstrated the same level of aflatoxin accumulation as the resistant check, while Eyl31 accumulated levels that exceeded both Eyl25 and the susceptible check. After 72 h incubation of A. flavus inoculated kernels under KSA conditions, A. flavus colonization on kernel surfaces was observed, and the colonization level, characterized. Results indicated that all S kernels were colonized by A. flavus, and that the colonization levels of 53.3% of the inoculated kernels were rated >3 (60% surface colonized). However, 36.6% of the R inoculated kernels had visible fungal colonization, but none were rated >2 (40% surface colonized).To understand the gene expression profile in noninoculated kernels under KSA conditions, controls of the R and S genotypes were compared. According to the selective criteria of gene expression based on spot signal intensity on the microarray, 6955 genes (non-redundant IDs) in R and 6565 in S were detected. Of the total 8075 non-redundant expressed genes in both R and S controls, 5454 are contained within the expression overlap in the two controls, which is about 80% of the expressed genes in each genotype. Although the genetic similarity between Eyl25(R) and Eyl31(S) is 87.5% (Table 1), there are approximately 20% of the genes expressed differentially at the transcript level in each line.An important concern of this study was defense-related genes. Therefore, based on a gene ontology (GO) search in the maize biological process [31], defense-related genes were identified, and classified into six categories (Table S1). Results indicated that many pathogenesis-related (PR) genes were expressed in both R and S and that genes from most of the 17 PR families were observed [32]. Among the PR families, different members were detected in several families, such as in beta-1,3-glucanase, chitinase, lipid-transfer protein, and peroxidase families. However, expression values for members could be significantly different. For example, for nonspecific lipid-transfer protein in R, the value for member MZ00041610 was 41131.0, however, for member MZ00041203 the value was 512.5. Some biotic stress-related genes, related to pathogen recognition and signal transduction were detected in both genotypes. These include Avr9/Cf-9 rapidly elicited protein, mlo2 protein and receptor-like kinase Xa21-binding protein 3. Of all the defense gene categories, abiotic stress-related genes contained the most components. The stresses involved include heat, cold, salt, drought, wound, and UVB. Of the stress-related genes, heat shock protein (HSP) and glycine-rich protein were the families with the most members. From the survey of hormone-related genes, abscisic acid, auxin and ethylene contained the most genes involved in hormone synthesis and in response to hormones in both genotypes, but gibberellin had the fewest genes. The jasmonate induced gene (MZ00014430) and cytokinin inducible protein were only found in R. With regard to antioxidant and secondary metabolism genes, both genotypes expressed similar components.To identify differences between R and S controls, gene expression profiles of the two were compared. The criteria for significant difference were set as P value <0.05, and fold change >2. Of the total 8075 non-redundant expressed genes in the R and S controls, there were 530 genes that were significantly different between R and S, including 248 up-regulated, and 282 down-regulated. The fold changes of differentially expressed genes were between 2 and 45.9. Results indicated that genes were distributed in all listed functional categories of biological processes (Figure 1). The largest proportion of genes were in the unknown category, including 55.2% of up-regulated and 60.6% of down-regulated genes. R had more genes involved in metabolism, protein fate, response to stress, and signal transduction. However, S had more genes involved in transcription and transport. Defense-related genes with a significant difference between the R and S controls were also revealed. Of the six listed categories (Table S2), abiotic stress-related genes and pathogenesis-related genes comprised the majority, but their proportions and components were different in the two genotypes. There were more abiotic stress-related genes up-regulated in S than in R, but more than 50% of the genes belonged to HSP family. The HSP34 (MZ00035042) and HSP17.2 (MZ00031854) were the top two in fold-change ranking, which were 32.9 and 21.9 folds higher respectively in S than R. However, there were more PR genes in R than in S, with several members belonging to the chitinase family; no chitinase member was down-regulated in R. The PR gene with the greatest significant difference between the two genotypes was PR-4 (MZ00043659), which was 36.3 fold higher in R than in S. Of the antioxidant genes, all 5 up-regulated genes in S belonged to the glutathione S-transferase (GST) family. However, in R, catalase 3 (MZ00042638) was also up-regulated along with GST family member, GST 41 (MZ00026611). Based on GO search, several annotation unknown genes were classified as disease resistant, and were up-regulated either in R or in S. An example is gene MZ00019113, which was up-regulated by 14.5 fold in R. For the hormone Up regulation Down regulation related genes and secondary metabolism genes, fewer differentially expressed genes were observed in either genotype.The differentially expressed transcriptional profiles in the two genotypes were analyzed separately using microarrays. Results indicated that 214 genes in R and 2159 genes in S were induced compared to controls (Figure 2). Although R had fewer differentially expressed genes, it contained a higher proportion of up-regulated genes. Based on GO search of biological processes, the comparison of differentially expressed genes between R and S was conducted (Figure 3). Results showed that they were distributed in all listed categories; biological process unknown had the majority, followed by metabolism.  To study the difference between resistant and susceptible genotypes in response to fungal challenge, the two inoculated samples of R and S were compared in an independent experiment. A total of 1376 differentially expressed genes were observed, including 689 up-regulated and 687 down-regulated. The fold-changes of gene expression were between 2 and 125.8. Results also indicated that genes were distributed in all listed functional categories of biology processes (Figure 4). R had more genes in protein biosynthesis, protein fate, catabolism, cell fate and development, signal transduction, and transport. However, S had more in metabolism, stress related and transcription categories. Defense-related genes were significantly expressed (P < 0.05, 2 fold change) in both inoculated resistant and susceptible genotypes, especially in S (Table S3). Of the up-regulated genes, PR and abiotic stress-related genes comprised the majority in both R and S, and the induced PR genes included most of the 17 PR families. However, the gene members and their expression levels in each family could be different. Chitinase, for example, had 12 members in R, and 14 in S. The maximum fold-change of the chitinase gene was 6 (MZ00043658) in R, but 18.3 (MZ00043035) in S. The maximum fold-change for defense genes in R was 6 for chitinase (MZ00043658), and only 3 defense genes were more than 5 fold different. The maximum fold-change in S was 85.7 for polyphenol oxidase (MZ00015021), and 10 defense genes were more than 10 fold different. The investigation also indicated that no PR gene was down regulated in inoculated R, but several were in S (Table S3).Differences in defense-related genes were also compared between the inoculated samples of R and S (Table S4). Of the significantly expressed genes, several up-regulated genes, which were up-regulated in the comparison between noninoculated R and S, were also up-regulated in the R and S inoculated comparison. Examples of these were dehydration-responsive protein RD22 precursor (MZ00057294), glycine-rich protein (MZ00016231), pathogenesis-related protein 4 (MZ00043659), auxin-regulated like protein (MZ00042957), gibberellin-stimulated transcript 1 like protein Up regulation Down regulation (MZ00014890), 1,3-beta-glucanase (MZ00030174), nonspecific lipid-transfer protein precursor (MZ00041611), and Zeamatin precursor (MZ00017927). These results suggest that in the comparison between the two inoculated samples, differentially expressed genes were caused by both fungal challenge and having a different genetic background. To identify the differentially expressed genes caused by A. flavus' challenge, and eliminate those caused by genetic background, Venn diagram analysis based on gene ID comparison was conducted between the inoculated R, the inoculated S, and the inoculated R/inoculated S (Figure 5). Results indicated that 75 defense-related genes were in response to A. flavus, and the remaining 88 genes were different due to genotype. Results also indicated that 23 defense genes were expressed in both inoculated resistant and susceptible genotypes. Of 75 defense-related genes (Table 2), more were up-regulated in S, especially PR genes.   Up-regulated transcription factors were investigated in the inoculated resistant and susceptible genotypes. Results indicated that R had fewer than S (Table S5). The gene with maximum fold-change in R was the DNA-binding protein RAV2 (MZ00017226, 4.3 fold). Many were down-regulated in S (not shown), but only one down-regulated factor was observed in R. Among the up-regulated TFs (totaling about 190), only four were expressed in both genotypes, including development regulation gene OsNAC4 (MZ00026127), DNA-binding protein RAV2-like (MZ00017226), ethylene responsive element binding factor (ERF) 3 (MZ00018574), and zinc finger transcription factor ZF1 (MZ00056566).Fewer TFs were shown to be significantly different between the R and S controls (Table S5). Most of the fold-changes in the expression of TFs were less than 4, and the maximum was 5.3. However, many transcriptional factors were shown to be significantly different between inoculated R and S. The maximum change was 25 fold. This indicates that TFs in R and S responded differently to challenge. Several TFs were shown to be significantly different in the comparisons of inoculated treatments and their controls, such as OSJNBb0020J19.6 (MZ00027110), unnamed protein product (MZ00024145), transcription initiation factor IIE (MZ00026843) in R, ethylene-responsive factor-like protein 1 (MZ00030445), and Sip1 protein (MZ00041367) in S.Of NPR1 gene members, only one (MZ00019046) was expressed in the inoculated R and S, but its expression was not significantly different between the inoculated samples and the controls. Of the WRKY genes, the WRKY9 (MZ00042052, MZ00042053, MZ00016272) and WRKY12 (MZ00021479) were expressed in both inoculated R and S, but expression was not significantly different between them. However, WRK (MZ00001709) and WRK12 (MZ00042508) were up-regulated significantly in the inoculated S. Many bZIP members were expressed in both inoculated R and S, such as MZ00043889, MZ00016963, MZ00028410, but none were up-regulated. A similar situation was observed with Myb genes; many members were expressed, but only Myb-like DNA-binding protein (MZ00044429, MZ00018761), and GAMYB-binding protein (MZ00024498) were up-regulated in inoculated S. Of the ethylene responsive factors, ERF3 (MZ00018574, MZ00026596) was up-regulated in inoculated R. ERF (MZ00016032), ethylene-responsive factor-like protein 1(MZ00019568, MZ00030445), and ERF3 (MZ00018574) were up-regulated in inoculated S.Other transcription factors also were observed in inoculated R and S, such as zinc finger transcription factor ZF1 (MZ00056566), transcription factor MYC7E (MZ00044532), and AP2 domain factors.From the survey of genes in signal biosynthesis pathways and down-stream response factors, a number of key ethylene pathway genes were expressed in the A. flavus-challenged samples. Some related genes were up-regulated, such as ACC oxidase (MZ00018436), ERF3 (MZ00018574, MZ00026596) in R; ACC synthase (MZ00018872), ERF3 (MZ00018574), ethylene-insensitive-3-like protein (MZ00042402, MZ00042403), ethylene-responsive factor-like protein 1 (MZ00019568, MZ00030445), ethylene-forming enzyme (MZ00027365), and ethylene-inducible CTR1-like protein kinase (MZ00025350) in S. Comparing inoculated R and S, the ethylene induced protein kinase PK12 (MZ00041589, MZ00001435) and ethylene receptor (MZ00025470) were up-regulated in R, but ethylene-forming enzyme (MZ00004140, MZ00027365) and ethylene-responsive factor-like protein 1 (MZ00030445) were down-regulated.Besides ethylene, a number of key auxin pathway genes were also expressed in A. flavus' challenged samples. Some auxin related genes were up-regulated in inoculated S, such as auxin response factor 1 (MZ00024113, MZ00024115), auxin response factor 2 (MZ00014879), auxin response factor (MZ00016434), auxin response transcription factor (ARF6) (MZ00018657), auxin-induced protein (MZ00055925), and auxin-regulated protein (MZ00017133). But in inoculated R, only the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (MZ00020357) was up-regulated by 2.3 fold. Compared with inoculated S, only auxin-regulated protein-like (MZ00042957) and auxin-induced protein (MZ00029389) were up-regulated by 25.0 fold and 8.3 fold respectively, and auxin response factor 2 (MZ00014879) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (MZ00020357) were down-regulated by 2.0 fold and 4.8 fold respectively in R.In the present study, several genes in lipid metabolism were up regulated in the inoculated samples, such as lipase (MZ00037469), lipid transfer protein (MZ00041203, Z00041204), and membrane lipoprotein lipid attachment site-containing protein (MZ00001596) in R; lipoxygenase (MZ00015701, MZ00000521, MZ00041271), lipase-like (MZ00026059), lipid transfer protein (MZ00023565, MZ00041610, MZ00041611), and GDSL-motif lipase/hydrolase protein (MZ00005177) in S. Of the lipoxygenase isoforms, only MZ00041271 was up-regulated (4.0 fold) in the noninoculated R and S comparison, and only MZ00015701 was down-regulated (8.4 fold). Of the lipid transfer protein isoforms, the up-regulated genes were MZ00023565 (4.7 fold), MZ00019645 (3.9 fold), MZ00041613 (3.0 fold), MZ00041611 (3.4 fold) in this comparison; no down-regulated genes were observed. In the comparison between inoculated R and S, only up-regulated genes were detected. These include MZ00041612 (3.7 fold), MZ00041611 (4.7 fold), MZ00041613 (2.4 fold) and MZ00028450 (6.5 fold). The members of MZ00041611 and MZ00041613 displayed higher expression in both the inoculated R and the control. Lipid transfer proteins are also considered PR proteins.Of the kinases differentially expressed in the comparison between R and S controls, protein kinase Xa21 (MZ00001132) was up-regulated by 21.6 fold, LRR receptor-like kinase 2 (MZ00031205) by 2.7 fold, and receptor protein kinase (MZ00031498) by 2.6 fold. In the comparison between inoculated R and S, several were up-regulated such as protein kinase Xa21 (MZ00001132) by 27.0 fold, protein kinase A. FLAVUSC3 (MZ00015865) by 12.1 fold, and serine/threonine protein kinase (MZ00030536) by 15.1 fold. Several were also down-regulated, such as Avr9/Cf-9 rapidly elicited protein-like (MZ00041362) by 2.4 fold, MAP3K-like protein (MZ00018666), MAP kinase 4 (MZ00027390), casein kinase (MZ00013631) by 10.3 fold, serine/threonine protein kinase PKPA-like protein (MZ00056607) by 10.8 fold, and protein kinase (MZ00044579) by 11.6 fold.To confirm the reliability of the microarray results, twenty-four genes with the expression patterns of up-regulation, down-regulation, or no-change from microarray analysis were selected for validation using qRT-PCR (Table S6). Statistical significance and fold change based on relative quantification of C T were analyzed for the selected genes in the comparison of inoculated R and S. Generally, R-value > 2.00 (P < 0.05) was described as up-regulation (++), R-value < 0.50 (P < 0.05) as down-regulation (−−), and 2.00 > R-value > 0.50 (P > 0.05) as no-change (+−). Results (Table S6) indicated that the expression patterns measured by qRT-PCR matchedthose measured by microarray, with regard to up-regulation, down-regulation and genes where no change occurred. The differences observed between the two methods were in expression level (fold change).KSA based A. flavus' inoculation and incubation of kernels provides an efficient assessment method for aflatoxin accumulation. During this protocol, quiescent dry seeds will commonly germinate after the uptake of water. Different germination phases have been described, each with a unique metabolism status as well as gene expression pattern [33,34]. These phases include: (1) seed imbibitions; (2) reinitiation of metabolic processes; and (3) emergence of the radicle through the seed envelope [35]. KSA-processed kernels, which imbibe under 100% humidity, take longer to enter the third phase than do kernels steeped in water. It is also our observation, that the time required for radical emergence of incubated kernels varies with genotype. In some lines, radicals cannot be observed even past a 7-day incubation period.In the present study, R and S kernels were incubated via the KSA, 72 h for microarray analysis and 7 days for aflatoxin measurement. No radicle emerged by the 72 h time-point, however, variation in the amount of A. flavus colonization between R and S kernels was observed by this time-point. This variation facilitated the removal of kernels that differed from the resistant or susceptible phenotype (based on fungal growth on the kernel surface) used for the microarray experiment, therefore, avoiding the inclusion of false information in the microarray analysis. From the gene expression profiles of the two controls, metabolic processes in kernels had been reinitiated at 72 h. Therefore, the physiological status of the KSA kernels by definition would be phase 2. Microarray results indicate that kernels could sense and respond to a challenge from A. flavus at this stage, as a complex defense system was initiated in response to A. flavus infection in both R and S lines. Also, multiple defense genes were shown to be involved in this system.In general, the comparison between resistant and susceptible controls demonstrated that the total expressed genes and their biological processes have similar expression patterns (Figure 1); transcriptional profiles of imbibed kernels at the early phase of germination are also similar to profiles of inbred Tex6 kernels during late development in the field [26]. This result suggests that imbibed kernels at the early germinating stage are restored to the physiological status existing prior to kernel dormancy. Further studies, however, comparing gene expression during imbibition with expression in late development, within the same genotype, would be required to confirm this suggestion. Imbibed kernels (early germination) might then provide a more suitable subject for gene expression analysis than late developing kernels from the field. To the authors' knowledge, the present study represents the first time a gene expression profile has been obtained using imbibed kernels to investigate the maize-A. flavus interaction. Since aflatoxin-resistance in pre-and in post-harvest kernels correlates well [12,13], using imbibed kernels may also facilitate further understanding of the ability of mature pre-harvest seed, where aflatoxin buildup occurs in the field, to respond and defend against A. flavus infection and aflatoxin production.All plants have a basal defense, the general immune response to pathogens and other mechanisms to counter microbial infections [19,22,36]. Earlier proteomic investigations demonstrated that possession of a strong constitutive resistance is a primary factor differentiating resistant from susceptible kernels [23]. By comparing the gene expression profile in R and S control kernels, numerous defense genes were clearly detected, and these genes could be part of the normal kernel development process under germinating conditions and a part of the constitutive resistance against potential pathogens and environmental stress at this stage of development. However, different genotypes could have different defense genes or different expression levels, even genotypes with close genetic backgrounds, such as Eyl25(R) and Eyl31(S), which are 87.5% genetically similar (Table 1). The comparison between R and S controls shows that more PR genes were expressed in R than in S. Several members of the chitinase family were up-regulated significantly in R, however, none were up-regulated in S. Chitinase may play an important constitutive defense role in R; one member, PR-4 (MZ00043659), was expressed by 36.3 fold higher in R than in S.In response to challenge by A. flavus, defense genes were induced in both aflatoxin-resistant and susceptible genotypes, especially PR genes. Most PR gene families were observed in both genotypes after induction, but the members and their expression levels varied between the two maize lines. Some induced PR genes in inoculated samples were also highly expressed in controls, such as PR4 (MZ00043659), beta-1,3-glucanase (MZ00030174), zeamatin (MZ00017927), and nonspecific lipid-transfer protein (MZ00041611). An interesting result was that no PR gene was down-regulated in the inoculated R. The gene expression profiles of both genotypes revealed that S kernels were even more sensitive to challenge by A. flavus than R kernels. A proteomic investigation of aflatoxin-resistant and -susceptible maize rachis tissue showed the same variation in sensitivity to challenge by A. flavus observed in the present study [37]. The response of S and R genotypes to infection presumes the presence of a recognition and regulation system in kernels. Based on this presumption, kernels under attack would determine the defense components needed to ward off a pathogen. The lack of adequate preformed components could therefore, lead to the expression of numerous genes for defense purposes. On the other hand, the resistant line, with 'adequate' constitutive resources would be less sensitive in its response to pathogen attack, synthesizing components to a lesser degree than the susceptible line. This study and future investigations may assist us in understanding an \"A. flavus recognition and defense-response system\". This phenomenon may provide a new strategy for screening lines for resistance at the molecular level.Since numerous constitutive and induced genes comprise maize kernel resistance to A. flavus infection, devising a sound defense strategy may require an understanding of the regulation network involved in the kernel defense response. The discovery of transcription factors (TFs) expressed in response to challenge could help in understanding the regulation of defense genes and the response of TFs to signal transduction in kernels. Besides constitutive TFs in the noninoculated R and S, many TFs were induced in response to infection, and differences in induced TFs between R and S kernels were demonstrated (Table S5). In plant disease resistance, transcription cofactor NPR1 controls the expression of antimicrobial PR genes by interacting with other transcription factors, such as WRKY, ERF, bZIP, Whirly and Myb factors [22,36,38,39]. WRKY factors appear to play a major role in transcriptional reprogramming during a variety of immune responses [40]. One NPR1, several WRKY and many bZIP members were expressed in the inoculated R and S, however, no up-regulated ones were observed in the comparison of controls. Of the observed Myb and ERF members, three Myb and four ERF members were up regulated in the inoculated S, no Myb members but two ERF members were up regulated in the inoculated R. So, ERF members could be involved in the response of R and S kernels to A. flavus, especially ERF3 (MZ00018574), expressed in both inoculated genotypes. ERFs are known to comprise one of the largest families of transcription factors in plants, and play a virtual role in response to biotic and abiotic stress. In response to pathogen infection, ERF proteins activate the expression of PR genes by binding to the GCC box (AGCCGCC) in the promoter of PR genes, which positively regulates resistance to pathogen attack [41][42][43].Several plant signaling components have been shown to be involved in the induction of plant defense, such as salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, ethylene and reactive oxygen species [22,36,44]. Research also suggests that a lipid-based molecule could be the mobile signal in plant defense systems [36]. Interestingly, previous evidence implicates a lipid metabolite as playing a signal role in host resistance against A. flavus infection [45][46][47]. In fact, different isoforms of lipoxygenase, could lead to different host responses to A. flavus infection. The present microarray investigation of signaling components indicate that ethylene, auxin, and lipid pathways are involved in the response to challenge by A. flavus. The relationship between the related pathways, however, still must be uncovered.Receptors and kinases are important signal transduction components in plant defense systems [22]. Of the detected receptors and kinases, Avr9/Cf-9 rapidly elicited protein, mlo2 protein and receptor-like kinase Xa21-binding protein 3 are expressed in both R and S controls. Avr9/Cf-9 rapidly elicited protein and mlo2 protein have been shown to be involved in resistance to fungal pathogens [48,49]. Xa21 serves as a pathogen recognition receptor in rice to innate immune systems in resistance to bacterial blight disease caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Oryzae [50]. Interestingly in the comparison between R and S, protein kinase Avr9/Cf-9 rapidly elicited protein-like structure (MZ00041362) was up-regulated in the inoculated S, and Xa21 (MZ00001132) was significantly higher in both the control and the inoculated R than in S samples. However, further work is needed to determine the exact involvement of Xa21 (MZ00001132) or the Avr9/Cf-9 rapidly elicited protein-like structure (MZ00041362) in the interaction with A. flavus, and if higher expression of Xa21 in R accounts for the difference in A. flavus resistance between R and S.The present gene expression study of closely-related maize lines, aflatoxin-resistant Eyl25 and susceptible Eyl31, which vary in aflatoxin accumulation, displays a network of genes expressed, with and without challenge by A. flavus. This includes the identification of regulatory genes and their differential expression between resistant and susceptible phenotypes. By analyzing the gene expression profile, the relationship between genes and their products can be determined, on a quantitative and qualitative level. This research can aid in understanding kernel resistant mechanisms at the transcription level, and assist in the discovery of target genes for enhancing resistance in maize. The use of imbibed mature kernels as microarray subjects in the present study, offers researchers a potentially quicker and easier way of obtaining kernel materials for profiling genetic differences while controlling environmental factors to a greater degree than previously achieved using traditional methods."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8ae05cc53334a55e73a43acfc221fbe7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0f56432e-0d9c-4488-8a45-ea729d5caf58/retrieve","id":"-827989818"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f007a12d-636e-412d-8827-8361816ff0ed","content":"Cover drawing by Wessene Abay. and policy-related constraints to its adoption were identified. The study found evidence that farmers themselves are modifying the technology to try to overcome some of the constraints prevailing at the household level. For widespread adoption to occur of the BBM and the other components of the technology package that it is dependent on, such as improved seed and fertiliser, adoption constraints need to be understood more clearly and appropriate measures identified that could assist in overcoming them. Farmers' active involvement in, and feedback to, technology development and extension is critical if effective means are to be found and implemented for alleviating poverty and hunger among the rural poor.. Cattle owned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  F19. Improved wheat residue yields (kg/ha) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Table F20. Improved wheat prices (EB/kg). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Improved wheat residue prices (EB/kg) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Table F22. Crops replaced by BBM-related crops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Crops replaced by BBM-related crops by farmer numbers and location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Table F23b. Land preparation practices for the BBM replaced crops in 1998 . . . . . . Table F24. Mean yield of local wheat (kg/ha) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  F47. Average net labour saved (person days/ha) using the BBM, by zone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .               Starting in 1986, five institutions, including what was then the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), but is now the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), collaborated on the Joint Vertisol Project (JVP) for the sustainable use of Vertisol soils in Ethiopia. The improved soil drainage from the use of the broadbed maker (BBM) plough is one component of a technology package, that together with improved crop varieties, fertilisers and credit access (as well as favourable climatic and market conditions), can improve the well-being of farmers in Ethiopia by increasing grain and fodder (via crop residue) yields.Several studies had been conducted previously in relation to the adoption of this technology, albeit in a limited way. However, this ex post impact assessment was the first study undertaken since the research programme began and the BBM technology was developed for Ethiopia in 1986, to be focused on the impacts of the technology following adoption. The purpose of this study of the BBM was to assess quantitatively the returns to the research investment in this technology. The assessment was conducted using economic surplus methodology.To collect information for this analysis, geographic information systems (GIS) and surveys were extensively used. Initially, based on the important climatic and agronomic criteria related to use of the BBM technology (i.e. Vertisol soils, growing period greater than 180 days and rainfall greater than 1000 mm and altitude above 1500 m above sea level (asl)), an accurate estimate of the areas for which the BBM technology might be relevant was achieved using GIS. This information was then used to assist in the selection of survey sites from which to collect information for the analysis.Three different surveys were conducted at three different levels of organisation in agricultural production between November 1998 and February 1999. Ethiopia is administratively divided into eight regions that are subsequently divided in zones. These zones are further divided into weredas that represent the least aggregated of the formal administrative classes. Government officials at zonal and wereda agricultural bureau administrative offices (identified as ZABs and WABs, respectively) were surveyed. The information provided by the ZABs and the WABs together resulted in approximately complete coverage (and double-checking of information) in relation to BBM technology package distribution and training in Ethiopia. A further survey was conducted at the farmer level, the sample comprising 273 farmers across the country who were using, or had used, the BBM in the last 5 years.The survey of ZABs and WABs revealed that approximately 2600 BBMs were bought by the Ethiopian Bureau of Agriculture (the main BBM buyer in Ethiopia) up to 1998 and the majority of these were available at the WABs for distribution to farmers. The WAB survey revealed that only 37% of BBMs available at the WAB offices had subsequently been sold to farmers. It was indicated that the remaining BBMs could not be sold to farmers and a significant number were subsequently loaned out to farmers from the WABs at no cost.An initial estimate of the total number of farmers who had used the BBM technology in 1998 (under all forms of possession-either sole or shared ownership, borrowed or leased in) was nearly 1300-slightly higher than the average number of farmers (1080) using the technology over the years 1995 to 1998. However, information from the farmer survey indicated that the total number of farmers who had used the BBM technology in 1998 was more likely to be nearer 500.Results of the farmer survey indicated the following:• Household land use: The average farm size of those surveyed was 2.1 ha and 85% had Vertisol soils, over half of which had serious water logging problems.• BBM arrangements: Most of the BBMs used by the farmers were borrowed (twothirds of farmers surveyed), the dominant lender being the Bureau of Agriculture; on average, those farmers with sole ownership leased it to three other farmers.• Draft animal usage: Approximately 57% of farmers surveyed owned two draft animals for use with their BBM; 20% owned more than two draft animals, while 23% of farmers had fewer than two draft animals and supplemented their draft requirements for the BBM by borrowing, sharing or leasing draft animals.• BBM related crops: The average area of BBM-prepared land was 0.5 ha/farmer per year and was almost exclusively used to grow improved wheat.• Crops replaced by BBM related crops: A total of 13 crops were replaced with almost half of the number of farmers surveyed replacing teff (Eragrostis tef L.) with improved wheat and nearly 40% replacing local wheat with improved wheat.• BBM technology package elements: Over 50% of farmers used the improved wheat variety ET13 with an average seeding rate of 150 kg/ha. Over 70% planted improved wheat from late June to mid-July; nitrogen and DAP (diammonium phosphate) fertiliser rates were 100 kg/ha per application. Only 17% of farmers used relatively small amounts of credit for the use of the BBM itself while 60% reported using larger amounts of credit for BBM inputs (570 Ethiopian birr (EB); US$ 1 = EB 7.0 in 1998) per hectare of improved wheat grown.• BBM extension: Seventy-five per cent of farmers surveyed had participated in a Bureau of Agriculture development project. Spontaneous adoption was very limited.• Labour implications: The average net labour saved per hectare of BBM crop grown was 1.5 person days, one-half of which was saved in male labour and one-quarter saved in both female and child labour. Savings in planting labour were nearly offset by increased land preparation and weeding labour requirements.• Comments on the BBM: Farmers commented that the BBM contributed to soil drainage, saved labour and increased yields. The most frequently made comments on the disadvantages of the BBM were that it was heavy and required more traction power (25%) and was more expensive than other implements (15%), comments similar to those reported by the wereda office staff in this study and in previous studies. Economic surplus modelling to 1998 showed that the costs of BBM technology research and extension significantly outweighed the benefits obtained up to that time, with concomitant negative net economic welfare changes. Running the economic surplus model to 2006 showed that the BBM could realise positive welfare benefits if adoption increases significantly in the coming years. Various economic, technical, socio-cultural 1 IntroductionThe broadbed maker (BBM) is an oxen drawn plough developed for Ethiopian conditions from a number of prototypes as a key component of a technology package designed to improve the productivity of Vertisol soils in the highlands of Ethiopia (Jutzi et al. 1987). The development agency was the Joint Project on Improved Management and Utilisation of Dark Clay Soils, or Joint Vertisol Project (JVP). The JVP (1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991) began as a collaborative project of five institutions: the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), now the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI); the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT); the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), now the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization (EARO); Alemaya University of Agriculture (AUA) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). The other components of the Vertisol technology package include the use of inputs such as improved varieties of wheat, fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides, and access to credit for the BBM and inputs.Vertisol soils by nature are fertile but difficult to cultivate because of their high shrink-swell clay content, making them hard, cracking soils when dry and sticky and waterlogged soils when wet. Africa has a third of the world's estimated 300 million hectares of Vertisol soils, the highest percentages being in Sudan (60%), Chad (10%) and Ethiopia (10%). These soils predominate in the highlands of eastern Africa (areas higher than 1500 m above sea level (asl) where rainfall is relatively high and evaporation relatively low). These areas are characterised by high human population density, low income per caput, and large-scale resource degradation as indicated by soil erosion, nutrient depletion, deforestation and reduction of pastureland. The World Bank (1997) estimated that the average annual income per person in Ethiopia was US$ 100.Innovative crop, livestock and soil utilisation and management technologies are thus needed for the sustained productivity of low-input crop-livestock farming systems that are widespread in the region. The African Highlands Initiative (AHI), governed by the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), is a response to the major concern of national agricultural research systems (NARS) and international agricultural research centres (IARCs) that decades of agricultural research in the relatively high-potential but densely-populated highlands have not achieved commensurate results in terms of improved and sustainable land productivity (ICRAF 1995).In Ethiopia, approximately 7.6 million hectares (60%) of the estimated 12.7 million hectares of Vertisols are situated in the Ethiopian highlands (Figure 1; Getachew Asamenew et al. 1993a). The highlands of Ethiopia contain nearly all the cultivated land of Ethiopia as well as accounting for the majority of human and livestock population, estimated at 60 million people, 30 million cattle and approximately 20 million sheep and goats (FAO 1999).However, it has been estimated that only 2 million hectares (16%) of Ethiopia's highland Vertisols are currently cultivated because of water logging problems that restrict the use of the remaining Vertisols to dry season grazing (Getachew Asamenew et al. 1993a). As a result, grain production from Ethiopian Vertisols was estimated at approximately 2 million tonnes but had potential for 12 million tonnes (Srivastava et al. 1993).Traditional farming practices on the Vertisols in Ethiopia include a variety of land preparation and planting practices and the use of more water-tolerant crops such as teff (Eragrostis tef L.) to reduce water logging problems. Traditional land preparation techniques on Vertisols include flatbed planting and various methods to improve soil drainage, such as drainage furrows, ridges and furrows (shurube), and hand-made broadbeds and furrows (BBFs). Traditional seedbed preparation for planting cereals in the Ethiopian highlands is done using a maresha, the traditional plough. Strictly speaking, the maresha is more a cultivating implement than a plough as the soil is not inverted and there is no cutting action that might otherwise bury stubble and weeds (Abiye Astatke and Ferew Kelemu 1993). BBFs are slightly raised beds (80 cm wide) constructed in a process of demarcating furrows (40 cm wide), scooping out the soil by hand and covering the seed. Before making BBFs, farmers broadcast the seed on the flat seedbed and then make furrows with oxen (Hailu Beyene and Chilot Yirga 1992). Abate Tedla et al. (1993) reported that from on-station trials for durum wheat (traditional local variety, Triticum durum L.), BBFs compared with flatbed planting increased grain and straw yields by 60% and 36%, respectively.Land preparation normally begins with the short rains in March-April and continues up to May, depending on the soil moisture. Cultivation resumes in mid-June when the main rains begin (see Figure 2 for an example of the rainfall pattern for Ginchi, near Addis Ababa).The land is ploughed from two to as many as five times before planting, depending on the soil quality, condition of the oxen, and the crop to be planted. At planting, seed is broadcast and the land is cultivated to cover the seeds using the maresha. Planting of crops that require better-drained soils at the time of planting is delayed until August-September after the fields have drained off naturally. The disadvantages of this system are under-utilisation of the growing period, inefficient use of fertiliser in waterlogged soils, and soil degradation through erosion as a result of the cultivated fields being exposed to the rains (Getachew Asamenew et al. 1993a). The exception to the under-Source: Srivastava et al. (1993). utilisation of the growing season by traditional practices is teff. As teff tolerates water logging, it is usually sown during the wettest part of the rainy season (from late July to mid-August). Teff is broadcast on a finely prepared flat seedbed and sometimes trampled in by the farmer.The ploughing productivity of the oxen is an important factor in land preparation and is related to the availability of feed; so if the oxen are malnourished they are less able to draw the plough. Getachew Asamenew et al. (1993a) identified three major livestock feeding periods: the long rainy season with abundant plant regrowth; the dry period with scarce native pasture and the short rainy season. Natural grazing and cereal crop residues are the main source of feed and are also used for fuel and housing material.Compared to the traditional practices, with the exception of the hand-made BBFs, the BBM offers superior drainage and productivity increases. The BBM, a dual oxendrawn plough, is essentially a combination of two mareshas, modified by the addition of metal wings for heaping the soil, linked together by a cross-beam (Figure 3). A chain attached behind the plough is designed to cover the broadcast seed with soil pushed up toward the centre of the plough by the wings. The BBM produces approximately 80-cmwide soil beds separated by 40-cm furrows for drainage, with beds approximately 15 cm high. The BBM typically uses the same number of oxen as the maresha but is heavier and requires double the human labour to operate (two farmers instead of one). However, overall planting labour is saved because of the wider surface area coverage per run of the BBM compared with the maresha. In the case of hand-made BBFs, the additional ad- vantage of using the BBM is the redistribution of tedious, physically difficult labour from women and children to men and oxen.The BBFs created by a single pass of the BBM after passes of the maresha increase the drainage of the soil, allowing crops to be planted earlier (late June to mid-July versus August-September). Earlier planting leads to earlier harvesting, enabling farmers to have access to food at a time of low food stocks and to market their crop before the main season to take advantage of higher cereal prices.The productivity increases in both grain and crop residues associated with using the BBM stem from replacing traditional low-yielding (in terms of grain and straw) varieties of wheat and teff crops with improved, higher yielding varieties of wheat and other inputs including fertilisers. Diammonium phosphate (DAP-18% nitrogen (N) and 46% P 2 O 5 ) and urea (46% N) fertilisers are not traditionally widely used in the highlands but are applied to teff and wheat (Getachew Asamenew et al. 1993a).In terms of labour, replacing teff with local wheat saves approximately 50% of labour in cereal production, as teff requires extra ploughing for finer seedbed preparation and extra weeding. Teff is less competitive than wheat with respect to weeds, particularly in the early stages of crop growth when the weeds are short and immature and therefore harder to eliminate (de Leeuw 1992). However, replacing teff with improved wheat coupled with the use of fertilisers reduces the weeding labour saved from switching away from teff.Problems associated with early planting include possible damage from grasshoppers if there is a gap in July rainfall and the need for careful weeding to reduce the spread of weeds in the following year (McCann 1992). In addition, given the almost exclusively smallholder, livestock-cereal subsistence farming system in the highlands, unless adequate drainage furrows exist, excess water drained from one plot by any means may exacerbate water logging problems in neighbouring plots (Figure 4; Gaspart et al. 1998) provided a discussion of public goods in relation to drainage in the Ginchi pilot watershed, and Wallis (1997) described a related study in India.From a technology adaptation and adoption perspective, after exposure to the BBM technology, several farmer-initiated modifications to the maresha to improve water drainage have been observed in the field. These include placing both wings on a single maresha and placing sticks from shrubs out to both sides of the maresha beam to cover wheat seed, the advantages being that the implement is lighter and more durable than the BBM and as effective when the soil is friable. Another drainage practice, locally called menose, is now getting wider acceptance in North-West Shewa Zone and it technically performs the same function as the BBM in the area. This is a practice in which a wooden stick is tied across a local maresha, which helps to cover broadcast seeds and to level the soil after furrows are opened by the maresha at an interval of about 60-80 cm wide (Solomon Gebreselassie, Wagnew Ayalneh and Tesfaye Gebre Hanna 1999, ILRI, personal communication).  In general, the adoption and use of technological innovations may be constrained by unresolved issues about land tenure, limited infrastructural development, limited competition in input supply markets, constrained access to rural credit, capacity limitations in the research and extension system, and lack of co-ordination between programmes promoting increased agricultural production and programmes promoting conservation objectives. While these issues are not dealt with specifically in the following analysis, several of these points are highlighted here for emphasis and for their applicability in Ethiopia.McCann (1992) cited the 1974 land reform, price manipulation by the Agricultural Marketing Corporation and the suppression of private input markets as examples of strong interventionist policies, the latter also confirmed by Hoekstra and Corbett (1994). Deregulation of input markets only occurred in the retail sector in 1997 and the wholesale sector in 1998 (Pender et al. 1999). In addition, under the new Ethiopian constitution, all land is the property of the state and it may not be sold or mortgaged; the individual regions are responsible for policies regarding land leasing. Tigray's new land policy allows leasing for up to 2 years for traditional uses and up to 10 years if the lessee makes significant investments. There is reportedly no restriction on lease terms in Amhara Region while in Oromiya, smallholders may only lease out half of their land for up to 3 years (Pender et al. 1999; for more details see Appendix 1.1). The demand for credit for inputs is reported as far exceeding supply and until 1998 maximum interest rates on loans were regulated although these restrictions have been eliminated. Minimum interest rates on loans are still regulated as are the maximum loan sizes by financial institutions (EB 5000; about US$ 600). The absence of credit for consumption purposes is also given as a factor that may inhibit productive development (as well as food security) by causing farmers to be highly risk averse when considering use of new technologies and inputs (Pender et al. 1999). In addition, the World Bank (1997) estimated that Ethiopia has only 0.4 km of roads per 1000 people, highlighting the scarcity of infrastructure. This feature, together with a shortage of pack animals in some areas, may mean that farmers in certain food surplus areas do not have good market access and are unable to sell surplus produce, thereby depressing local prices.The World Food Programme has estimates of historical food security status and predicted the food surplus and deficient weredas in Ethiopia (Figures 5 and 6). These  estimates indicate that much of the country has traditionally faced food shortages and will continue to do so in the short term.As noted above, improving the productivity of the Vertisols could significantly boost food production in Ethiopia, thereby helping to alleviate food shortages in the country. The results of on-station and on-farm trials indicate that the BBM package has the potential to significantly boost cereal production, not only improving the well-being of farmers who adopt this technology package but also consumers. This study sought to answer the questions, how large has the impact of the BBM technology been relative to the research investment, why, and what are the implications? In answering these questions, it is hoped that the lessons learned will be used to increase the positive impacts of not only the BBM but also other innovations designed to alleviate hunger, poverty and environmental degradation.  Although several studies had been conducted previously in relation to the adoption of the BBM technology this was the first study, concentrating on the impacts of the technology once adopted, to be undertaken since the research programme began and the BBM was developed for Ethiopia in 1986. The assessment was conducted using economic surplus methodology with information obtained from geographic information systems (GIS) analysis and three different field surveys. A significant amount of information collected from the surveys was used to estimate gross margins for different farm enterprises, information that was subsequently used in the economic surplus model.Initially, based on the important climatic and agronomic parameters related to use of the BBM, an estimate of the areas for which the BBM technology might be relevant in Ethiopia (i.e. the BBM technology recommendation domain) was derived using GIS (Table 1; Srivastava et al. 1993). This information was then used to assist in the selection of survey sites from which to collect information for the economic analysis. Based on the same recommendation domain criteria, the possibility that this technology could also be extended into other parts of the developing world was investigated as part of a global GIS analysis. Areas in Kenya, Asia and South America where lowinput mixed crop-livestock smallholder farming exists on small plots of land were of particular interest in this analysis. The following global data sets were collected to assess the BBM recommendation domains for the developing world:• global Vertisol distribution (Global Soil Data Task 1999) • annual rainfall for the developing world (Corbett and O'Brien 1997 for Africa, Central America and South America; IIMI and Utah State University 1997 for Asia)• global length of growing period (Fischer et al. 1996) • global altitude above sea level (IIMI and Utah State University 1997).The recommendation domain derived from the global analysis is largely dependent upon the extent and interpretation of Vertisol distribution. Subsequently, two distributions of Vertisol soils were considered in the analysis: first, those areas where Vertisols are the first or second most dominant soil type in each area; and second, those areas where Vertisols were the first, second or third most dominant soil type in each area.Ethiopia is administratively divided into eight regions that are subsequently divided into zones. These zones are further divided into weredas that represent the least aggregated of the formal administrative classes (Figure 7). Three different surveys were conducted at three different levels of organisation in agricultural production: zonal and wereda agricultural bureau administrative office (ZABs and WABs, respectively) surveys, and the farmer survey. The purpose of the ZAB and WAB surveys was to provide complete information coverage (and double-checking of information) in relation to BBM distribution and training in Ethiopia and to provide information for the farm survey sampling and the modelling work. The purpose of the farmer survey was to obtain a range of information related to BBM technology usage including farm size, Vertisol coverage, crop production and management practices for use in the model (see survey forms in Appendix 2).Following a multistage stratified sampling procedure from the information provided by the GIS analysis, and with input from local experts and the subsequent ZAB survey, a Note: All boundaries are approximate and unofficial. Graphic by UN WFP Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (VAM) Unit, December 1998. sample of weredas was selected from which to draw approximately 20 farmers who had used the BBM technology in the last 5 years. Farmers for this survey were initially selected using the WAB staff knowledge of BBM users in the area. Subsequent farmers were added to the sample based on word-of-mouth either from the selected farmer providing information about other neighbouring BBM users or community news (news that a survey team was in the area looking to survey farmers who had used the BBM; these farmers then assembled at a central location for surveying).Experiences from testing the three surveys in the Oromiya Region indicated that in the majority of areas this sampling frame worked very well. In a small number of cases, there were discrepancies in the information obtained from the different levels of government. For example, based on initial information, certain weredas were visited but the number of BBMs in use was found to be far fewer than that reported by higher-level administrative units or the suppliers. In these cases, additional weredas were randomly selected and sampled to obtain the survey information.To facilitate the economic surplus modelling, a set of enterprise gross margins for 1998 was developed, based largely on information provided in the survey. The gross margin information was used in the modelling work.Economic surplus modelling has been used widely to evaluate the impacts of research expenditure compared to the situation without research expenditure, both before (ex ante) and after (ex post) research investment. The ex post impact assessment modelling procedure followed was that of Masters (1996) using information primarily from the GIS analysis and the surveys undertaken in this study.The net change in economic surplus or welfare from a technological innovation is estimated by reducing the change in total economic surplus by the amount of real research and extension costs. From this, net present values (NPV; the amount by which total benefits exceed total costs from a stream of costs and benefits discounted at some specific interest rate), internal rates of return (IRR; the discount rate at which the present value of the costs exactly equals the present value of benefits) and benefit cost ratios (BCR; change in total gross economic surplus (benefits) divided by the real research and extension investment (costs) for a period of time and discounted for the time period) can be estimated.The time period taken for the ex post impact assessment study starts in 1986 when the JVP and the BBM technology package were launched. Several years of on-farm verification, demonstration and popularisation trials were undertaken before wider distribution of the BBM began in 1994. The ex post impact assessment period is thus from 1986 to 1998. It was also assumed that the flow of benefits from the technology would occur over a 21-year time frame (1986 to 2006), adding an ex ante impact assessment dimension that is discussed more fully in the results section below.Two types of spill over effects have been documented in estimating economic surplus: new knowledge or technologies produced in or targeted for one country or region that can spill over into other countries or regions; and new technologies that can affect prices, not only in the region and country adopting the technology but in other regions or countries where the product is produced or consumed (Alston et al. 1995). In this analysis spatial spill over effects were incorporated across Ethiopia but because of the relatively small area of BBM-suitable land outside Ethiopia and the historical food deficits, the small country case of a non-traded commodity was assumed. For simplicity, the analysis was restricted to a partial-equilibrium model of the benefits to the food grain sector of the Ethiopian agricultural industry. The more indirect impacts on economywide, agricultural (e.g. effects on soil erosion) and non-agricultural production were not accounted for, but these can reasonably assumed to be positive, increasing the positive impacts of the BBM technology. Potential changes in demand due to changes in population and per caput income changes were not incorporated. The point price elasticities of demand and supply used in the model for wheat and teff were taken as the average of literature estimates, although data on these parameters are scant. In this model, variations in elasticity estimates have a minimal effect on total benefits (Alston et al. 1995). The functional form of the supply and demand curves was assumed to be linear. Without contrary information on the nature of the supply shift, it was assumed to be parallel. The nominal adoption costs per unit area switched to the new technology used in the model were estimated from the difference in the total cost estimates of the gross margins for improved wheat and local wheat and teff. These costs were then arbitrarily allocated as follows: 80% to grain production and 20% to residue production. As a dramatic change in the cost of inputs is not expected, these costs were assumed to remain constant over the study period.The total change in economic surplus was derived by summing the changes in economic surplus from increased production of wheat grain and residues from switching to improved wheat from local wheat and from teff. A complicating factor in this analysis was the switch from producing teff to producing improved wheat. The technological effects in such multiproduct situations, where different commodities are related either in consumption or production, are discussed in Alston et al. (1995). Capturing all the interactions requires a model of the economy, an exercise 'likely to be beyond the scope of most research evaluation and priority-setting studies' and certainly this study (Alston et al. 1995). However, to make at least some allowance of these effects in this study, it was assumed that teff and improved wheat were perfect substitutes in the teff market. It was also assumed that there would be no change in the welfare of remaining teff producers and consumers (as a result of a reduction in teff supply caused by a switch to wheat production) and that there were no cross-price effects on the demand side.As no prior estimate of the BBM technology adoption rate for Ethiopia was available, this was estimated from the results of the surveys. The adoption rate (i.e. the area under improved wheat/BBM technology as a proportion of the total area of wheat and teff land) used in the model was derived by comparing an estimate of the total area under production using the technology with the actual total area of wheat and teff available from national statistics.The estimated area under improved wheat using the BBM technology was derived by taking the estimated total number of farmers using the BBM in 1998 and multiplying this by the average area of BBM land per farmer in 1998. Working backwards from this result, the adoption rate for 1998 was estimated as the rate that would produce this estimated area of land under improved wheat using the BBM technology. When the same adoption rate is applied to the actual area of wheat and teff land, the area of land for improved wheat taken from the teff land is larger than the area taken from the local wheat land because of the larger area of teff compared with local wheat land. This result is important as it reflects the actual situation found in the survey whereby more teff land was converted to improved wheat land than local wheat land. The small area of land taken from chickpea for improved wheat was not included in the estimation of economic surplus for simplicity.The adoption rate in previous years was then estimated based on a theoretical sigmoidal adoption curve. Future estimates of adoption were also made, bearing in mind the size of the recommendation domain based on the current total area of wheat and teff and the area predicted from the GIS analysis.To estimate net economic surplus, an estimate of the cost of research and extension on the BBM technology (adjusted for inflation) was required. Attributing costs incurred on one component of a larger, multi-component package is difficult. These costs affect the calculation of net societal welfare changes, and thus the estimated returns to the research. These costs were estimated by taking 50% of the larger annual figure from ILRI's operating costs and donor funding for the ILRI project encompassing the BBM technology, plus a 20% overhead cost, and adding an estimate of expenditure by other institutions and NGOs taken to be equivalent to the previous estimate less the overhead costs for the years 1986 to 1998. Because these costs are very difficult to assess, sensitivity analysis was carried out on these, and results are reported in Section 3.4.The economic surplus modelling was completed by experimenting with different break-even scenarios to provide further insight into the impact of the BBM technology.The results of mapping and combining the GIS parameters provided a picture of the recommendation domain for the BBM technology in Ethiopia (Figures 8 and 9). When this information was compared with the initial evidence of BBM technology distribution, it was found to be very accurate, a feature that was later ground-truthed by the surveys.The GIS information also indicated that in the year 2000, the human population and land area corresponding to the selected parameters was approximately 9 million people (from a total population of 66 million) and 54 thousand km 2 (from a total area of 1.1 million km 2 ), indicating the number of people from households in the area that could potentially benefit from the impacts of the technology. Because of the relatively high human population growth rate in Ethiopia, by 2040 the potential recommendation domain is estimated to contain nearly 24 million people (from a total of 186 million).Research is also being conducted in Kenya on land-preparation implements to improve Vertisol productivity. Using the same recommendation domain criteria as were used for Ethiopia, the GIS analysis for Kenya indicated that approximately 940 km 2 of land might be suitable for use of the BBM (Figures 10 and 11).The results of a global GIS analysis indicated that use of the BBM technology is largely restricted to Ethiopia with some possible niches for a similar technology package (or  elements of the package) in China and South America if the scope is widened to the broadest Vertisol classification (Table 2 and Figures 12 and 13). Initial information provided by government officials indicated that the BBM had been supplied to four of the eight regions in Ethiopia, confirming the BBM recommendation domain indicated by the GIS analysis. Based on this, staff at 12 zonal and 29 wereda agricultural bureau administrative offices were selected as the sample to be surveyed at the ZAB and WAB level, respectively. The information provided by the ZABs included the total number of weredas to which they had distributed the BBM technology (Table 3 indicates the wereda coverage, and notes on the assumptions for standardisation of data and extended comments on the BBM are provided in Appendix 3). By careful selection, the initial sample of ZABs covered approximately all the WABs involved in BBM technology research and distri-bution in Ethiopia. Subsequent field visits to WABs and surveys indicated that only a small number of WABs had been overlooked, and information related to the BBM technology from these six were added to the 23 WABs originally selected from the ZAB survey information. The ZAB information, together with the information from the sample of WABs, resulted in approximately complete coverage (and double-checking of information) in relation to BBM package distribution and training in Ethiopia from 1994 to 1998. 1  Based on the information from the ZAB and WAB survey, a sample of 18 weredas was selected for the focus of the farm level survey and 273 farmers were surveyed from these weredas. The aim was to obtain a sample of approximately 20 farmers who had used the BBM in the last 5 years per wereda. This was difficult to achieve in some weredas, because of disparities between official figures and actual figures and some confusion over the improved soil drainage implement as many were using their own adaptations of the maresha but not the BBM (see Table 3, the 'Farmer survey' column). It should be noted that farmers who were using the BBM were also found in one other wereda not included in the ZAB and WAB coverage (Tefki wereda in West Shewa Zone, Oromiya Region). The ZAB survey indicated that approximately 2400 BBMs in total had been bought by the Ethiopian Bureau of Agriculture (BoA) through the ZABs-all of these between 1995 and 1998. BBMs in Ethiopia have been produced either by a BBM company based in Addis Ababa or by Rural Technology Promotion Centres (RTPCs); the sale price from each was given as EB 250 and 55, respectively. There is no patent on production of the BBM.Where the BBM supplier was specified, the majority of the BBMs purchased by the BoA came from the BBM company (Table Z1; the 'Z' tables are located in Appendix 7). In all but one case in East Shewa where seven BBM were bought by Sasakawa-Global 2000(SG 2000) and supplied to the ZAB, the BoA was the BBM purchaser. These results were confirmed by information provided by the WAB survey (Table W2; the 'W' tables are located in Appendix 6).Figure 13. BBM Suitability in areas with Vertisols 1st, 2nd or 3rd dominant .The BBMs at the ZABs were then either distributed to WABs in the same year or held in storage for eventual distribution to the WABs. Of the 2400 bought by the ZABs up to 1998, approximately 2200 had been distributed to a total of 66 WABs.The largest numbers of BBMs were supplied by ZABs to WABs in North-West Shewa, West Shewa (both in the Oromiya Region) and the neighbouring zone of East Gojam (in the Amhara Region) in central Ethiopia. The major zones where distribution from the ZABs to the WABs was incomplete were Arsi (165 BBMs, equivalent to 80% of the ZAB total not yet distributed), Southern Tigray (26 or 50%), South Wello (38 or 36%), and East Shewa (30 or 10%) (Table Z2). The WAB survey of 29 weredas indicated that they had received a total of 1800 BBMs. The major supplier of BBMs to the WABs was the BoA via the ZABs (Table W3). The estimate of the number of BBMs received was derived from the sum of 'BBMs sold to farmers' and 'BBMs in storage', assuming that the two are mutually exclusive (Table W4). If this is not the case and some of the sold BBMs were also counted in storage, then this figure overestimates the total number of BBM received by the WABs. However, estimates of the number of BBMs received by the WABs and supplied by the ZABs from the WAB and ZAB surveys, respectively, for the 23 weredas common to both surveys revealed a high degree of consistency between the two totals, with the exception of West Shewa weredas.For the 6 weredas covered by the WAB but not by the ZAB, the total number of BBMs stored and sold was estimated at 445. Therefore, to widen the coverage and give the best estimate of the total number of BBMs distributed through the WABs, this figure was added to the ZAB total of 2200 (from Table Z2) to provide an estimate of 2600 BBMs available to farmers through the WABs in Ethiopia up to 1998. The rapid survey of Pankhurst (2000) provides solid support for this figure-the number of BBM available ' … is over 2000 but is probably not more than 3000' (Pankhurst 2000, p. 4).Of the 1800 BBMs available at the WABs surveyed, approximately 63% had been held in storage compared with 37% (670) reported to have been sold to farmers from the WABs (Table W4). It was assumed that the BBMs not sold by the WABs were loaned, at no cost, to farmers in the relevant weredas, given that the number of BBMs in storage was generally recorded only in 1 year and that subsequent information from the WABs (confirmed by the farm survey) indi-cated that borrowing the BBM was the dominant form of BBM possession.Rather than relying on the estimated number of BBMs available, an estimate of the actual number of farmers using the BBM each year was obtained from the surveys of ZABs and WABs. The ZAB survey indicated that the total number of farmers using the BBM in 1998 was approximately 100 (Table Z3). In the 2 years previous to 1998, it was more difficult to estimate the number of farmers using the BBM each year as the West Shewa ZAB reported the number of plots prepared using the BBM rather than the number of farmers. In this instance, it appeared that the ZABs were too removed from the farmer level and/or did not have good reporting channels from the WABs to provide accurate information on farmer usage of the BBM. We thus relied more heavily on the WAB survey to provide information on farmer usage.The WAB survey indicated that nearly 1300 farmers had used the BBM technology in 1998, more than in 1997 but fewer than in 1996 and only slightly above the average of 1080 farmers in total using the BBM each year from 1995 to 1998 (Table W5). However, additional information collected from the field surveys indicated that some of the usage figures were dubious (detailed below by region, zone and wereda and high-lighted in Table W5). Therefore, adjusting the yearly totals by removing only the most dubious figures resulted in an estimate of 530 farmers using the BBM in 1998, reflecting a steady decline in numbers from 1995 and averaging 780 farmers in total using the BBM each year from 1995 to 1998. The percentage of farmers estimated to be using the BBM each year compared with the 2600 BBMs estimated to be available from the WABs was 30%. The field observations that follow were recorded by the survey team and strongly support the conclusion that the usage figures estimated by the WAB are exaggerated (Solomon Gebreselassie, Wagnew Ayalneh and Tesfaye Gebre Hanna 1999, ILRI, personal communication).The weredas in the West Shewa Zone receiving the largest number of BBMs were Becho, Ilu and Alemgena and all had similar circumstances regarding the use of BBM. Of all the areas visited in the country, farmers in these weredas, particularly Becho and Ilu have the most positive attitude towards the BBM technology package. Farmers mentioned that previously wheat growing was not widely practised in the area as yields were very low. Farmers started to grow wheat widely only after the BBM technology was introduced to the area by SG 2000 in 1996. The better yields obtained from BBM plots attracted farmers and this resulted in an increased demand for the BBM. Despite the high price farmers were very interested in owning a BBM, either individually or as a group.Farmers also reported that the BBM was leased in at a rate of EB 5 per day during planting time. In Ambo, a crop failure was recorded in all BBM fields in 1995 because of heavy rain and every farmer had discontinued use of the BBM since then. In Dendi, the survey team found it difficult to obtain a sample of 20 farmers in the wereda as a whole because of confusion between the use of their own drainage practices and BBM-related drainage practices.Gimbichu (East Shewa Zone) BoA staff indicated that farmers had strong reservations about using the BBM technology. This was because of problems such as the high price of the BBM, weed and insect infestation associated with BBM usage, the detrimental effect of the BBM on draft animals, and the lack of an adequate co-ordinated local drainage policy to ensure that the neighbouring plots were not damaged by runoff from plots prepared with a BBM.BBM usage was very low in both Arsi and Bale zones, despite 4 weredas in Bale receiving 200 BBMs and 2 weredas in Arsi receiving 35 BBMs. The major reason given for the low usage was that BBM distribution was not supported with sufficient training to BoA staff or farmers. The BoA staff reported having had only 3 hours of BBM-related orientation and that it was insufficient for subsequently training farmers on BBM techniques, hence their reluctance to disseminating the technology. Not surprisingly, there were only 5 farmers in Arsi who had used BBM and then only for 1 year. No farmers in Bale had tried the BBM. As a consequence no interviews were conducted in these zones.In contrast to the ZAB survey that reported no farmer usage in Enebse Sar Midir wereda (East Gojam), the WAB survey reported substantial BBM usage by farmers in this area, estimates that are somewhat doubtful given the farm survey results. The discrepancy may be explained by confusion as to what a BBM user meant, as some farmers registered as BBM users were actually using more traditional drainage practices. Given this discrepancy, the BBM technology had the highest acceptance in the Enebse Sar Midir wereda than anywhere else in the Amhara Region. The soil in this wereda is lighter and has lower clay content than the soils in other weredas in the zone such as Dejen where the BBM was almost totally rejected by farmers (Solomon Gebreselassie, Wagnew Ayalneh and Tesfaye Gebre Hanna 1999, ILRI, personal communication).The ZAB survey indicated that approximately 70 BBMs had been distributed to 5 weredas in the South Wello zone and were used by approximately the same number of farmers. However, Debre Sina, Kelela and Wegidi weredas generally reported only one or two farmers as having tried the BBM technology, with BoA staff having little knowledge of the BBM itself. After completing the survey in these weredas, the survey team discussed the discrepancy with WAB staff and it was agreed that the farm survey information was the most accurate. The farm-level survey sample was therefore drawn from the other two weredas of Were Ilu and Jamma where the ZAB survey reported that 59 and 12 farmers, respectively, had used the BBM during the last 2 seasons. These two weredas were also used as ILRI experimental sites during the first phase of on-farm research (1987/89). At Jamma it was not possible to interview more than three farmers because many were away from the area for seasonal livestock trading. Despite the low BBM usage it was found in this zone that the illustration of the advantages from making beds and furrows had led to the practice of hand-made broadbeds and furrows to grow wheat. The BBM technology was introduced to the North Gonder zone in 1997 and 60 BBMs were distributed to 5 weredas. However, only a small number of farmers in three of these weredas reported using the BBM. The weight of the implement was given as the major reason for the low rate of adoption.The ZAB survey indicated that the ZABs had distributed 38 BBM to 4 weredas in the North Shewa Zone in 1995 but in 1998 it was reported that no farmers had used the BBM, on the basis that the implement was heavy and would harm their oxen. From this zone, Seya Debir/Ensaro Wayu (Deneba) wereda was selected for the farm level survey as this had been one of the ILRI verification trial sites for the BBM package for many years (see details in Appendix 1). ILRI had left the area in 1996 after completion of on-farm research, selling the 60 sets of BBMs and handing over a revolving fund to be used to buy inputs for the package. The aim of the interviews in this wereda was to see what the farmers had been doing with the implement they had bought after ILRI had left the area. The results showed that farmers were still growing wheat using their traditional hand-made BBFs and no farmers had used the BBM since ILRI had left; farmers cited the weight of the implement as the major problem. Therefore, all the information collected during the interviews with these farmers relates to the period of the ILRI verification trial. The ZAB offices had distributed 13 BBMs to 8 weredas in the South Gonder zone in 1996 for demonstration purposes only. According to the ZAB survey, no farmer had used the BBM in these eight weredas. This was verified by farm visits to two weredas, Fogera (another ILRI site in phase 1) and Libo Kemkem, which revealed that farmers had shifted from wheat to the more lucrative production of rice.A large number of BBM users was reported in Pawe by the WAB survey, but this was not confirmed by field evidence from the farm surveys. Many farmers in Pawe were resettled there from different parts of the country affected by repeated drought in the past. These farmers were members of relief and rehabilitation programmes and were supported mainly by the Tana Beles project until the downfall of the previous government. In 1994, the International Committee for Peoples Development (CISP), an Italian NGO, introduced BBM technology to the area. The same year, 14 BBMs were distributed to 14 farmers free of charge and all the 14 farmers planted maize using the BBM technology and obtained good yields. Motivated by the previous years results, in 1995 CISP supplied 160 BBMs to a further 160 farmers without any payment. As reported by CISP, the number of farmers who used the BBM was 174 assuming that every BBM owner used the implement. However, the actual number of farmers using the BBM was much fewer, confirmed by the fact that the survey team spent 2 days in the wereda and could only identify 9 farmers for interview. These observations were confirmed by conversations with CISP staff that indicated that after trying the BBM on farmers' fields for 2 years (1994 and 1995), there was strong resistance from farmers to using the BBM. Two major reasons were given: the heavy weight of the implement was beyond the traction capacity of local oxen weakened by trypanosomes, and water drained from BBM fields caused flooding in other farmers' plots down the slope because of lack of primary and secondary drains.After these problems were identified, CISP decided to discontinue extending the BBM technology until these problems, particularly the drainage problem, were solved. In January 1998, the NGO sponsored a watershed project study and this study was implemented by constructing main and secondary drains on a small watershed site as a model. There is also a plan to integrate the BBM package with the watershed scheme in the future and to expand it on a wider scale.Discussions with the regional BoA extension department indicated that the Tigray Region as a whole has low rainfall and there are very few places that receive high rainfall and have areas of Vertisols where water logging is a problem. The areas identified as receiving BBM technology are three weredas in the western zone and six weredas in the southern zone; these received approximately 50 and 30 BBMs, respectively, in 1996. However, because of its heavy weight, the extra labour requirement during planting and failure of the assembly during operation, farmers were not willing to continue using the BBM.BBM related training. Previously, a major drawback to the spread of improved Vertisol technology was the shortage of extension staff to give advice (Getachew Asamenew et al. 1993b). The ZAB survey indicated that during the period 1995 to 1998, approximately 6600 farmers and 800 development agents attended BBM-related training courses in each year (Table Z4). Staff at the ZABs reported that 24 training courses were provided over the 1995-98 period, the highest number being 9 in 1996 (Table Z5). North-West Shewa (and Arsi) reported the highest number of training courses per zone, providing training courses in each of the years surveyed. Most of these courses involved training related to BBM usage (Table Z6). East Gojam and East Shewa, two of the zones receiving the highest numbers of BBMs and reporting no farmers using the BBM, provided training on BBM usage in only the first 2 of the 5 years covered in the survey, although no participant numbers were provided.The WAB survey indicated that training was conducted in 24 of the 29 weredas surveyed with an average of 900 farmers, 120 development agents and 6 assistant development agents attending each year from 1995 to 1998, the numbers of farmers receiving training increased rapidly each year (Table W6). The type of training included training on BBM usage, input usage, crop protection, and soil conservation (Table W7). Despite this training, the need for additional training on the use of the BBM was also emphasised by a significant number of farmers (as summarised in their comments at the end of this section). According to the WAB, and in contrast to the ZAB survey results, farmers from West Shewa constituted the largest number of farmers trained between 1994 and 1998 (56%, Table W6). As for the figures on farmer usage of the BBM, the WAB estimates of the number of people trained appear to be more realistic compared with estimates from the ZAB.BBM technology related inputs. Apart from training, farmers using BBM technology also rely on the BoA to provide related inputs including improved seed, fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides/insecticides. From the ZAB survey, offices in 9 of the 12 zones surveyed reported supplying the farmers, via the WABs, with BBM-related inputs of improved seed and fertiliser; 4 supplied pesticides as well (Table Z7).The WAB survey indicated that, in relation to the BBM technology, approximately 250 t of improved wheat seed, 350 t of fertiliser (urea and diammonium phosphate) and 1000 litres of pesticides and herbicides were distributed by the WAB to farmers between 1995 and 1998. Given the average number of farmers using the BBM each year from 1995 to 1998 of approximately 1000, these volumes translate to 60 kg of improved wheat seed and 90 kg of fertiliser (DAP and urea together) per farmer per year. This is less than half the BoA-recommended application rate for these inputs (100 kg DAP per ha, 100 kg urea per ha in two equal applications and 150 kg wheat seed per ha). This indicates that only some of the farmers reported in the WAB survey used inputs distributed by WAB, used them at lower rates, or the number of farmers using the BBM was over-estimated as discussed above.The WAB provided information on the cost of BBM-related technology inputs. The average cost estimates were calculated from this information and used in the gross margin analysis (Table 4). Input costs were generally higher in the Amhara Region compared with the Oromiya Region.Access to credit for purchase of the BBM and related inputs is widespread. For example, 9 of the 12 ZABs surveyed reported providing credit for inputs with 2 providing credit to buy the BBM itself (Table Z8). According to the WAB survey, the use of credit was more widespread with credit being supplied for the BBM and related inputs to all areas where farmers used the BBM. The cost of credit in terms of the interest rates charged ranged between 10% and 15%. The highest rates of 14% and 15% were recorded in Ambo and Dejen weredas in East Gojam (Table W8).Advantages and disadvantages related to the BBM. General comments on the BBM obtained during the survey were classified into advantages, disadvantages and other comments related to BBM use. The relative importance of each comment in the survey was assessed by its percentage occurrence. The main advantages of the BBM were that it contributed to soil drainage (19%), saved labour (14%), resulted in uniform seed germination (3%) and increased crop yields (7%). Farmers also felt that the BBM affords a better use of land (4%). However, the BBM was reported to be heavy and requiring more traction power (18%), and was expensive compared with other implements (18%). (It may be that the extra 'weight' of the BBM is the result of extra resistance from the soil displaced around the side-blades and the levelling chain of the BBM compared with the maresha.) Farmers also reported that some parts of the BBM fail during operation. Among the other comments, the need for additional training on the use of BBM was emphasised (7%) (see Table W9).The farm level survey involved surveying 273 farmers from 18 weredas (Table F1 and F2). This also covered approximately 72 peasant associations, although this now unofficial administrative level was not used in reporting these results (details are shown in Table F.2-the 'F' tables are located in Appendix 5). Extensive household information was collected and aggregated for use in estimating the gross margins and the economic surplus modelling.Crop production in the Ethiopian highlands is characterised by small, fragmented areas of cultivated land owned or held by farmers ranging from 0.25 ha to 8 ha, the average area reported in the survey being 2.1 ha (Table F3). On a regional basis, the area of cultivated land owned or held in the Oromiya Region was larger than in the Amhara Region (2.7 ha versus 1.6 ha; all differences in means were tested using Student's t-test) and less variable (Table F3 and Figure 14). A comparison of the average cultivated area by zone  indicated that the largest cultivated land areas were in West Shewa (2.9 ha) followed by East Shewa (2.5 ha) in the Oromiya Region (Tables F4 and F5). The distribution of farm sizes in Amhara Region from the farm survey is supported by information from the World Food Programme, indicating that most farms are relatively small (0.5 to 2 ha; Figure 15). As expected, the farmer survey results indicated that of the 264 farmers (from 273) reporting having Vertisols, these soils accounted for approximately 85% of the farmers' cropland. Of the 227 farmers reporting having Vertisols with serious water logging problems, this problem existed in over half of the cultivated land. Land holdings used for grazing were reported at 70% of the Oromiya farmers compared with 23% of Amhara farmers with the area grazed (both owned and communal) averaging 0.8 and 0.3 ha in the two regions, respectively. In terms of additional land holding arrangements, 60% of farmers in the Amhara Region reported undertaking sharecropping arrangementsdouble the percentage in the Oromiya Region-of an area ranging between 0.76 and 1.05 ha. Conversely, more than double the percentage of farmers (35% versus 14%) reported leasing in or renting additional land in the Oromiya Region (particularly in the West Shewa Zone) compared with the Amhara Region, the area of land leased/rented ranging from 0.74 to 1.32 ha. The average cost of leasing or renting in land in the Oromiya Region (EB 300 per ha) was approximately half the cost in the Amhara Region. This is presumably related to the higher yields and prices for crops and crop residues in the Amhara Region indicated for some crops in some years. Only two farmers (from the Oromiya Region) reported leasing out 1.5 and 1.0 ha of land at the common price of EB 100 per hectare.Confirming the information from the ZAB and WAB survey, nearly two-thirds of the farmers surveyed had borrowed their BBMs at no cost, the primary lender being the BoA (Tables F6, F7 and F8). A small number of farmers in the Amhara and Oromiya regions also borrowed from neighbours, a positive feature for technology adoption. In the Amhara Region, the next most common forms of BBM possession after borrowing were sole ownership (21% of the region's total arrangements) followed by shared ownership (18%), although this was restricted to particular weredas in the East Gojam and North Shewa zones (Table F7). In the Oromiya Region, shared ownership was the next most common form of BBM possession after borrowing (25% of that region's total arrangements) while sole ownership was quite rare (3%); again this was restricted to particular weredas in the West Shewa Zone (Table F7). In general, only a small percentage of BBMs were leased in by farmers.Approximately one-quarter of the farmers with sole ownership of the BBM leased it out to between one and five other farmers, over half leasing it to three other farmers (Table F9). Farmers also share the BBM, mostly between four farmers (Table F10). The number of farmers who can practically share the BBM each season is restricted by the distance between farmers plots and the window of opportunity for planting following the start of the main rains.The average price of leasing the BBM (recorded only in the dominant leasing out region of Amhara) was approximately EB 28, equivalent to approximately 10% of the purchase price of a BBM. This estimate was used in the gross margin analysis for the BBM leasing out/in scenarios. One-half of farmers in a shared ownership arrangement with the BBM shared with four other farmers, with a further third sharing with three other farmers.A shortage of draft power is a major farming constraint in some areas. To supplement draft needs, farmers borrow/share and lease cattle and in some areas, horses. The farmer survey revealed that overall, approximately 57% of all the farmers surveyed owned two cattle for use with their BBM (Table F11).However, in the Amhara Region, nearly a third of the farmers owned only one head of cattle while a third of the farmers surveyed in the Benshangul region did not own any of their own cattle for use with the BBM (Table F13). In the Amhara Region approximately the same percentage of farmers owning only one animal reported to have shared one or more head, particularly East Gojam and North Shewa (Tables F12 and F14). Conversely, in the Oromiya Region, a quarter of the farmers owned four cattle with over 80% of farmers owning two or more cattle.Three Oromiya farmers, concentrated in the West Shewa weredas of Becho and Alemgena, were the only respondents to report leasing cattle out-one leasing one head, one leasing three head and one leasing 11 head (one farmer reported owning 14 cattle and leasing out 11, but this type of activity is atypical). The average price of leasing out cattle was EB 200 per head in Becho and EB 300 per head in Alemgena. A slightly larger percentage of farmers in all three regions reported leasing cattle in, with the largest number of these farmers again being from the Oromiya Region and mostly leasing in only one animal per season for the BBM. The average cost of leasing in cattle was EB 330 per head in the Amhara Region and EB 440 per head in the Oromiya Region (West Shewa Zone). In the Oromiya Region, in-kind payments of either labour or grain were common for leasing out cattle and the grain was converted to an approximate monetary amount: approximately 100 kg of teff grain per animal leased out, valued at EB 2 per kg. These costs and prices were also used in the gross margin analysis where, for simplicity, it was assumed that if a farmer was leasing in/out the BBM, they were also leasing in/out draft power. The use of horses for draft power was also noted although this practice was not common. For example, three farmers in the Dabat and Wogera weredas of the North Gonder zone (Amhara Region) used horses for draft power with the BBM. Two farmers in Dabat also shared one to two horses for use with the BBM.Although the 273 farmers surveyed had used the BBM between 1994 and 1998, the average number using the BBM in any one year averaged approxi-mately 100 (36% of the sample, with little variation over the last 4 years, Table F15). In terms of continuity of use, Ambo and Girar Jarso weredas in the Oromiya Region indi-cated that use of the BBM was discontinued by all farmers surveyed after 1995. In the Amhara Region, farmers in four of the nine weredas surveyed had also discontinued using the BBM.A closer inspection of the adoption pattern for farmers reported to have used the BBM in the last 5 years indicated that the majority of farmers had used the BBM only once in 5 years with a smaller number reported to have used it twice in the 5-year survey period (Table 5). Only 4% of farmers reported using the BBM technology 4 or 5 times in the last 5 years.Looking at the pattern of adoption, of the farmers who had used the BBM only once or twice, the majority of these had used it in 1995 and/or 1996 and then discontinued its use (Table 6). A similar number of one-and two-time BBM users were recorded for 1998 and 1997/8, respectively. No conclusive information was obtained as to whether the majority of these farmers would continue using the BBM in the future. For the small number of farmers remaining who reported using the BBM twice, these were not in consecutive years indicating that the farmers may be spreading the risk of the BBM technology over 2 years.For each of the 273 farmer surveyed, in each year when the BBM was used, the average area of crops grown on BBM-prepared land was 0.5 ha, an area that has not increased (Tables F16 and F17). This estimate was consistent across regions and also with reports that the extension of the BBM technology (including credit etc.) is based on 0.5 ha units.Of the 273 farmers surveyed who had used the BBM, 96% reported growing improved wheat in conjunction with using the BBM. The results discussed below are focused on these farmers. The other 4% were farmers in Pawe wereda (Metekel Zone, Benshangul Region) where maize can be grown. These farmers were using the BBM to grow, on average, 0.25 ha of maize.A summary of the yield and price information obtained from the farmer survey and used in the gross margin analysis is given in Table 7.  F32-F39). 2. Tables F19, 21, 25, 27, 30 and 31. Crop residue yields in the Amhara Region were significantly higher than those reported in the Oromiya Region in every year of the survey.Before using the land to grow improved wheat using the BBM technology, this land had been used to grow a total of 13 different crops. The majority of crops replaced by improved wheat were teff (recorded by 50% of farmers) and local wheat (37%). A small percentage of farmers recorded replacing chickpea (14%) and roughpea (6%) with improved wheat (Table F22). The remaining crops replaced by improved wheat were barley, horse bean, lentils, maize, oats, rice and green grams, each grown by less than 3% of the farmers surveyed. A higher percentage of farmers surveyed in the Oromiya Region compared with the Amhara Region replaced teff with improved wheat, the converse being true for the percentage of farmers replacing local wheat with improved wheat (Table F23a). In the modelling, general account was taken of the fact that improved wheat was not only replacing local wheat but also teff.The productivity differences associated with the improved drainage from using the BBM compared with the traditional land preparation practices were also accounted for by using average grain and residue yields. However, land preparation practices, and therefore within-crop productivity differences, varied by zone (Table F23b). For example, in the Amhara Region, flatbed planting and drainage furrows were used for local wheat and teff, while chickpea, barley and roughpea were grown on drainage furrows. In South Wello, local wheat was grown on a combination of hand made BBF, flatbed, drainage furrows and ridges and furrows (shurube). In Oromiya, local wheat was mainly grown on shurube in East Shewa, drainage furrows in North-West Shewa and a combination of these in West Shewa. Teff and chickpea were mainly grown on flatbeds and drainage furrows, while roughpea and green gram was grown on flatbeds.The yield difference for crop residues is important because of its use in the farming system. For example, between 80% and 90% of farmers reported using crop residues for feeding their own animals with approximately 10% of all farmers (although mostly from the Oromiya Region) reporting also using crop residues for housing material and fuel. Three farmers in Becho wereda (West Shewa Zone, Oromiya Region) used crop residues for cattle fattening operations. The estimates of crop residue yields used in the gross margin analysis may be under-estimates because residues are not marketed.The main variety of improved wheat seed used with the BBM was ET 13 with over 50% of farmers recording this as the variety used (Table F40). The next most popular varieties used by 23% of farmers surveyed were the HAR varieties (HAR 710, 1709 and 1685) followed by BH varieties (Buhea and BH 140 were reported) grown by 18% of farmers. While ET 13 was used throughout the weredas surveyed, the use of HAR varieties was restricted to East Gojam and West Shewa and the use of BH varieties was reported by farmers in the Oromiya region only.The seeding rate for improved wheat varieties reported by nearly all farmers was 150 kg/ha; this was consistently reported across years and weredas. Over 70% of farmers reported planting improved wheat from late June to mid-July, the percentage increasing to over 90% for mid-June to late July. However, planting in the Metekel Zone of Benshangul was conducted much earlier, with almost all the farmers in this area planting improved wheat in the period early May to early June (Table F41).The amount of nitrogen fertiliser and DAP fertiliser used as part of the BBM package was reported by almost all farmers across weredas and years to be 100 kg/ha for each type of fertiliser. This estimate is consistent with the literature for DAP fertiliser application but double that expected for urea. In addition, as expected DAP is applied only once during the season by nearly all farmers but approximately half the farmers surveyed used only one application of urea, predominately in the Oromiya Region (Table F42). The average cost of pesticides and herbicides used (mostly pesticides) was also consistently reported at EB 46 to 47/ha, with estimated application rates of 1 litre/ha.Seventeen per cent of farmers reported using credit for the use of the BBM. West Shewa (Oromiya Region) and East Gojam (Amhara Region) were the only zones where farmers (23% and 24%, respectively) reported using credit for the BBM. The amount of credit used ranged from EB 20 to 200. Farmers in West Shewa reported using the highest amount of credit (16 farmers reported using EB 200 credit for the BBM), while 21 of the 24 farmers in the East Gojam Region reported using EB 50 or less of credit. Compared with credit used for the BBM itself, more farmers (approximately 60%) reported using credit for BBM inputs such as improved seed, fertiliser and pesticides/ herbicides. The average amount of credit used for BBM inputs was approximately EB 570/ha of improved wheat grown, with 50% of farmers using this level of credit being in the West Shewa Zone. (Average input credit per hectare was estimated by taking the average of the last 3 years of input credit per hectare, the second estimated by dividing the total amount of credit used with the BBM by the area of improved wheat grown in each year.)Use of the BBM technology was highly correlated with the farmer's participation in a BBM project; 75% of the farmers surveyed had participated in such a project, the BOA being given almost exclusively as the organisation involved. Seventy per cent of these farmers described the project they participated in generally as an extension package project with the remainder describing it more specifically as a BBM project. Nearly half of the farmers using the BBM who had not participated in a project came from East Gojam, suggesting that spontaneous adoption may be responsible for BBM use in this region.Much has been written about the labour-saving aspects of BBM technology. To determine the effect of BBM use on labour require-ments, farmers were asked to indicate how much additional labour (in person days) was saved or required by male adults, female adults and children from using the BBM compared with their traditional crop production practices. Overall, the average net labour saved (labour saved less extra labour required) per hectare of BBM crop grown was 1.5 person days, one-half of which was saved in male labour and one-quarter saved in both female and child labour (Table F43). (The average labour per hectare of BBM land was estimated by dividing the farmer's response to total labour saved/required using the BBM by the average of the last 4 years' area of land where BBM crops were grown; for most farmers the area of BBM land recorded was 0.5 ha.) This estimate is somewhat smaller than what has been reported previously, as the savings in planting labour are offset by increased land preparation and weeding labour requirements. However, female and child labour was saved in activities such as land preparation and planting. On a regional basis, only the larger relative amount of child labour saved in the Amhara Region was statistically significantly different to child labour saved in Oromiya Region. In Benshangul, from the small sample of farmers it appeared that the BBM saved male labour but increased the female and child labour required. On a zonal and wereda basis, results from North Gonder and South Wello (Amhara Region) indicated that the BBM required more labour: more male labour in both zones and more female and child labour in the former zone, Wogera wereda (Tables F44 and F45). West Shewa Zone also recorded the smallest saving in male labour as Ambo and Becho weredas recorded negative male labour savings, offsetting the male labour savings recorded in the other four weredas covered in the zone.The average total labour savings, in person days per hectare of BBM crop, by activity were positive for planting (2.6), harvesting (0.2) and threshing (0.3), and negative for land preparation (-0.9) and weeding (-0.6) (Tables F46, F47 and F48). The albeit small amount of labour saved in harvesting and threshing activities is surprising, given the higher yields related to the technology. On a regional basis, the labour saving in planting activities as a result of using the BBM was significantly higher in the Amhara Region compared with the Oromiya Region (3.2 versus 2.3 person days/ha of BBM crop).Of the labour saved in planting by using the BBM, 80% of the saving was in male labour and 10% in both female and child labour (Table F49). Harvest labour savings were all attributed to savings in male labour as female and child labour increased in these activities, indicating that male labour was diverted away from these activities. Child weeding and threshing labour was saved while male labour for these activities increased in the Amhara and Oromiya regions (except for male threshing labour in the Oromiya Region), again indicating some role reversals. Male labour for land preparation was increased as a result of using the BBM but the amount of female labour involved in land preparation was reduced, particularly in the zones of North, East and West Shewa (Tables F50 and F51-it may be noted that male land preparation labour was saved in North Shewa). In a comparison of activities by gender/age between the Amhara and Oromiya regions, only the positive amount of child labour saved in the Amhara Region was significantly different.The most frequently made comments on the BBM were that it was heavy (25%), expensive (15%) and ineffective for seed covering (11%) (Table F52). In fact, farmers in some areas reported clearly that they would not use the BBM in the future (11%). On the advantages of the BBM, 8% of comments were made about the improved drainage results, yield promotion and labour saving benefits of the BBM.The estimated gross margins and their accompanying assumptions and notes are provided in Appendix 4. A summary of the gross margin estimates is given in Table 8.The dominant type of ownership/use of the BBM revealed in the survey was that of the farmer borrowing the BBM at zero cost, despite the inconvenience to the farmer of not necessarily being able to borrow and use the BBM when required.It was not possible to estimate the adoption and related impact of the BBM if all farmers had had to buy the BBM, but it could be assumed to be considerably less than the current estimated level (and thus overestimating the positive contribution to net economic surplus) for two major reasons. First, adopting the BBM package involves considerable risk to the farmer. For example, if an improved wheat crop fails, the farmer is liable for at least the cost of a considerable portion of the inputs, the BBM and interest-a cost at least equivalent to, if not more than, his/her entire annual income. Second, if a risk premium of 11% is included, the gross margins for buying (and leasing in) the BBM to grow improved wheat are almost equivalent to the gross margin estimate for teff. To compensate for the exaggerated adoption and impact contribution to net economic surplus as a result of the availability of the borrowing option for farmers, the adoption cost estimate used in the model is that of buying the BBM rather than borrowing it.The net change in total economic surplus, a measure of the welfare derived by society from a technical innovation, is estimated by reducing the change in total economic surplus by the amount of real research and extension costs. The model used to derive this estimate and the accompanying assumptions are given in Appendix 4. The results of the economic surplus modelling are summarised in Tables 9 and 10.From the surveys, it was estimated that approximately 1080 farmers used the BBM in 1998 with each farmer using the BBM on 0.5 ha. This number of farmers is in accord with the rapid survey of Pankhurst (2000), who estimated 1100 farmers using the BBM in 2000 in the areas surveyed; the country-wide total number of farmers using the BBM in that year he assessed at 1500. This translates to a total area under the new technology of 625 ha and an adoption rate of 0.02%. Taking the estimated research benefits and costs to date (US$ 19.8 million in real (1998) dollars or US$ 12.3 million nominal dollars) into consideration, the ex post impact assessment resulted in an estimate for the change in net economic surplus of US$ -19.6 million. Not surprisingly, the benefit-cost ratio is only 0.01 and the net present value is negative, the internal rate of return not being computable with a negative net present value.As noted in Section 2.4, estimates of research and extension costs for one component of a broader package may be very uncertain. To address this, the ex post analysis to 1998 was re-run for two situations: first, where the research and extension costs were increased by 50% (i.e. assuming that the baseline scenario grossly underestimates their true value), and second, where these costs were decreased by 50% (i.e. assuming that the baseline grossly overestimates their true value). Results are shown in Table 10. It is clear that this ex post analysis is not sensitive to these costs, in the sense that the net present value for all scenarios is negative and the benefit-cost ratio is very small. The uncertainty inherent in the research and extension costs used in the economic surplus modelling therefore affects neither the analysis nor the discussion that follows.Extending the baseline ex post analysis to 2006, representing a time period of 21 years since the technology was developed, and assuming no research and extension costs after 1999, the break-even point in terms of net economic surplus would require an annual 95% increase in adoption of the BBM. This is equivalent to an adoption rate of 4.2% in2006 and approximately 430,000 adopters, assuming no increase in the BBM-prepared land per farmer of 0.5 ha. We estimate the total area of land under wheat and teff production in Ethiopia in 2006 to be approximately 5 million hectares, based on recent trends and the maximum size of the recommendation domain. If the average farm size remains at 2 ha per farmer, this is equivalent to 2.5 million wheat and teff farmers in Ethiopia in 2006. The estimated 430,000 adopters by 2006 would appear to be reasonable, representing 17% of the total number of wheat and teff farmers. Some changes in various assumptions could also be expected to have a positive effect on net economic surplus:• If the area of BBM-prepared land per farmer did not stay constant but increased over time, this would improve the per hectare productivity per farmer by reducing the cost of the BBM per hectare per farmer.• The productivity of the BBM technology could be expected to increase as a result of an increase in the output per farmer, as adopters develop greater proficiency with the technology.• The productivity of the BBM technology could well increase as a result of a reduction in the cost of the BBM technology arising from a reduction in the cost of the BBM itself. Given that increased adoption of the BBM is likely to require continued research and extension expenditure of various organisations other than ILRI, another break-even (with respect to change in net economic surplus) scenario was investigated where the estimated annual costs of these organisations were assumed to continue at the 1999 level up to 2006. Under this scenario, an additional 37,000 farmers having 0.5 ha of BBMprepared land is required to break even. This also appears to be feasible, given the size of the potential recommendation domain for the technology.Maximisation of the net positive benefits of technology-driven development for a particular target population is a highly complex issue. It is also one that is not particularly well understood, in part because there have been relatively few detailed studies of the process. This understanding can perhaps best be improved by using a participatory approach to development. In such an approach, the key objectives of stakeholders at various levels of aggregation, and their major problems, are elucidated, considered and constantly re-visited in the development process. In particular, livelihood strategies of farmers and households need to be considered for the insights they can provide into why farmers make the decisions they do when faced with new technologies (Conway 1997). It cannot be stressed enough that an understanding of all that is embodied in technology adoption is vital to maximising the efficiency and equity of development assistance.To obtain information on which to base decision making concerning technology development, ex ante adoption and impact assessments should be performed, bearing in mind that the impact of new technologies is critically dependent on the rate and scope of adoption. Ex post adoption and impact assessments should also be performed after identifiable project milestones are reached (Thornton and Odero 1998).In relation to the BBM, several previous studies were carried out, including three ex post adoption studies conducted between 1992 and 1994 and a further two conducted in 1997. These are outlined in Appendix 1.4. But undertaking these studies is not enough; the information obtained from them has to be utilised by the stakeholders involved, so that technology development can be fine-tuned.This study was undertaken as an ex post impact assessment. Early on in the study it became evident that the impact of the technology was limited because of limited adoption. Because of this, the study sought to generate quantitative adoption information that had not been available previously; this information was subsequently obtained from the wereda-level and farmer-level surveys. These surveys, and that of Pankhurst (2000), identified key adoption constraints on an extensive scale, which have very important implications for future research and development activities. These implications, in terms of lessons learnt, are discussed in the following sections.Farmers take risks; they have been experimenting since the beginning of agriculture (Conway 1997). However, only recently have scientists begun to consider explicitly the factors underlying farm household and individual decision making and ultimately the outcomes of development assistance (Doss 1997). In the case of the BBM, the risks faced by farmers adopting this technology and their subsequent responses have been imperfectly appreciated. In essence, the BBM package was an 'all or nothing' package, in that the farmers could not reduce the risk by adopting pieces of the technology over time in a more 'à la carte' fashion (Conway 1997).Adopting the BBM technology package involved considerable costs to the farmer for similar gross margins (revenues minus variable costs). Previously published perceptions were that the BBM technology would triple yields and, as a result of the yield increases, adoption would naturally follow. However, evidence from this and other studies indicates that grain yields in farmers' fields did not increase by this magnitude. In fact, when the costs involved in obtaining increased grain yields were included to derive gross margin estimates-estimates that had not previously been published-they indicated that the gross margins between the traditional and non-traditional activities were similar or even greater than the non-traditional activities, if allowance is made for risk. In addition, problems associated with early planting with the BBM include the risk of damage from grasshoppers and weeds, highlighting the need for a more integrated approach (McCann 1992). de Leeuw (1992) also highlighted the additional risk to farmers of using BBM technology in years of unusually high or low rainfall-in these instances, yields under the BBM have tended to be lower than those obtained using traditional technology.In the wider framework, developing efficient and effective low-cost agricultural input and output markets that provide greater access to credit at a reduced cost, are essential for encouraging technology adoption, particularly in countries such as Ethiopia with limited infrastructure (Schreiner et al. 1997). In particular, providing credit to farmers with some thought to the conditions under which it is offered (such as length of repayment period, insurance against crop failure etc.) may help overcome some of the constraints outlined above.Reducing risk as a constraint to adoption could also be brought about by reducing the costs of the various elements of the technology package. For instance, the cost of the more highly priced BBMs alone represents over a third of a farmer's average annual income in Ethiopia; this clearly represents considerable risk.Of special note is the fact that some farmers, seeing the benefits offered by the BBM, adopted their own BBM-inspired adaptations to the traditional maresha. These adaptations resulted in reduced adoption costs and did not increase the weight of the implement significantly, thereby overcoming another BBM adoption constraint as discussed further below.Capturing the benefits of new technology is dependent upon farmers and extension staff receiving effective training and advice. The results of our study indicated that as early as 1992, farmers felt that a major constraint to BBM technology adoption was the shortage of extension staff to give advice. This message appears to have been received by the BoA and development agencies, as indicated by the considerable effort put into the training of farmers and extension staff. However, many farmers still reported requiring additional information in relation to the BBM technology package, implying that the effort has not been as effective as required and that this message needed to be heard and corrective action taken to overcome this adoption constraint. Some extension staff mentioned to the survey team that some BBM technology package expertise was lost when extension staff in areas suitable for the BBM technology were moved to areas not suitable for the technology and were replaced by staff unfamiliar with the BBM package.The design of the surveys meant that information on labour availability and use could be analysed extensively for insights into this important and often misunderstood issue. The BBM was generally thought to be highly labour saving. However, this study revealed that while it did save some labour, the savings were not as high as previously thought. What was even more interesting in terms of its development implications was the redistribution of the labour among household members and particular tasks as a result of adopting the new technology (Abdulai and Delgado 1997). In particular, there may be tasks that are neglected or redistributed as a result of the increased demand for male land preparation labour and the increased demand for female and child harvesting labour.Of particular concern as an adoption constraint was the fact that the BBM technology requires two operators per implement compared with one for the traditional maresha and that this labour was required at peak land preparation times when labour was already scarce.Furthermore, the relatively narrow window of opportunity for land preparation and planting placed added pressure on farmers who also relied on sharing the implement, particularly those farmers whose plots are further from their neighbours. Making more BBMs available to farmers would help to overcome this adoption constraint.A further input constraint to BBM adoption is draft power. As discussed in the results from the farmer survey, approximately one-quarter of the farmers reported to have used the BBM owned fewer than two draft animals. Access to draft animals would be a particularly binding constraint to BBM technology adoption for those households with no draft animals.In the future, the adoption of motorised land preparation techniques suitable for adoption by smallholders would overcome the household labour constraint and the draft power constraint. Again, the implications in terms of labour use and redistribution under this development scenario would need to be investigated.Compared with the traditional maresha, the additional weight of the BBM was also cited by farmers as a key constraint to adoption. Apart from requiring two operators, the weight factor reduced the willingness of some farmers to provide draft power for fear that the weight would harm their animals. The weight also made the task of carrying the implement between plots more difficult. To overcome this constraint, the design of the BBM could be modified to include lighter weight materials.Other design considerations could be addressed to overcome some of the other problems identified in the farmer survey including BBM parts failing during use, and the BBM being ineffective for bed making and seed covering when the soil is wet because of soil sticking to the blades and chain.Crop production in Ethiopia, being typified by smallholders who own small and geographically distributed plots, provides a further constraint to BBM technology adoption. For example, unless a co-ordinated approach to BBM adoption is taken whereby adequate drainage furrows are installed, excess water drained from one plot by any means, including the BBM, is likely to exacerbate water logging problems in neighbouring plots.Taking a wider view of the farming community, perhaps to the watershed level, and gaining a better understanding of the interdependencies within and between household farming systems, could be expected to lead to a greater understanding of opportunities and threats of technology adoption and rural development.There is substantial evidence that adoption of the BBM technology can lead to improved productivity of Vertisols, and that there are opportunities to increase this productivity further once farmers become more familiar with the technology. The BBM does save labour overall, especially for women and children and particularly in planting. However, these labour reductions from planting are largely offset by increased labour requirements in other activities, particularly land preparation and weeding. This clarification helps to explain the low uptake of the technology to date, despite the availability of the implement, other related inputs and training.The BBM technology is still in the early stages of its adoption, however. Taking the cost of the research investment to date, the indications are that the BBM technology package will only realise positive welfare benefits if adoption increases significantly. To increase adoption, the major concerns of farmers regarding the weight and the cost of the BBM have to be reconsidered. In particular, the fact that many farmers are making their own adaptations to the maresha to capture some of the benefits of the BBM's design, without the disadvantage of the extra weight from the BBM, is encouraging. This also highlights the fact that farmers should be more involved in the development of the technology to make it more appropriate to their needs and available resources. Given the estimates of the cost of production, it is not unreasonable to assume that the cost of the BBM to the farmer could be reduced to a more modest level, thereby encouraging adoption by reducing both the capital outlay and the high risks associated with adoption.An important lesson for the future is the need to take a 'farmer first' approach to technical innovations, so that the concerns of the farmer are listened to early and often.Before the revolution in 1974, farmers in many parts of the country had a crop-sharing arrangement with landlords who took one-third to one-half of the crop as a tithe in addition to free labour and gifts. After the revolution 'Ethiopian socialism' came into being. In 1975, many key financial and manufacturing enterprises were nationalised and rural and urban land reforms (villagisation and agrarian socialism) were instigated.Between 1976 and 1981, central planning and state control over the economy (particularly production, distribution and exchange) were strengthened (Stroud and Mulugetta 1992). The Land Reform Declaration of 1975 abolished the old tenancy system including all private ownership of land, without compensation, making land collectively owned under three arrangements: peasant associations (PAs), producer co-operatives (PCs) and state farms. As a result, most peasant farmers still did not have secure use of their land.Peasant associations accounted for the majority of the cultivated land area that was divided in 800-ha units. These were the basis for administering land-use directives from the government, administering and conserving public property and settling land cases (Table A1). A PA then allotted land to individual farmers. The allotment depended on family size, fertility of the land, the number of PA members and the total land area available within the PA (Getachew Asamenew et al. 1993a).Producer co-operatives were collective farms ranging in size from a few to several hundred families. State farms were usually large, mechanised operations managed by government agencies that produced higher yielding crops with teff the major strong exception (and also possibly sorghum and barley) (Table A2). In 1990, the Ethiopian Government officially disbanded PAs and PCs and allowed more secured usufruct to land for farmers. Source: Stroud and Mulugetta (1992).A summary of the grain and straw yields was collected from the literature for comparison with that found in the farmer survey as discussed in the gross margin analysis (Tables A3  and A4). Source: Stroud and Mulugetta (1992).Table A3. Ethiopia highland Vertisol crops-Grain and straw yields. As part of a survey of farming systems in the Ethiopian highlands, several sites were sampled and the results are summarised below (Tables A5 and A6). This highlights the different systems according to the dominant crop and land preparation methods, which further explain the zonal and wereda level differences in yields and crops replaced by BBM-related crops as mentioned in the report.  A6).Table A6. Survey sites and production system.Change in crop production system with BBM Inewari*/Deneba (North Shewa, Amhara)Improved wheat replaces local wheat Hidi*/Ada/Debre Zeit (East Shewa, Oromiya)Improved wheat replaces teff Dejen* 1 (East Gojam, Amhara)Teff dominant Ginchi* 2 (West Shewa, Oromiya) Improved wheat replaces teff * original 1986 JVP project sites. Were Ilu (South Wello, Amhara Region) was originally chosen but in 1992, political unrest forced the close of the project.1. Wereda on the Fogera plain of Gonder region was also originally chosen but was moved to Dejen after the first year due to the traditional low intensity agriculture, heavy seasonal flooding and lack of experience with wheat cultivation. The project at Dejen was subsequently closed in 1990. 2. Efforts by national agencies and NGOs to introduce BBM technology continue (e.g. IAR and MoA at Tulo Bollo and Ambo (West Shewa)).Source: McCann (1992).As mentioned in the report, several previous studies concentrating on adoption have been undertaken in different areas and these are summarised below in the text and in Tables A7 and A8.   staff at different levels and other logistical support. In 1994, the Vertisol management package (VMP; BBM and inputs) was included in the demonstration programme. In 1995, of 1163 wheat EMTPs established in different parts of the country, 347 were related to VMP. Like other EMTPs, development agents (extension staff) in collaboration with their supervisors selected farmers for VMP EMTPs. Farmer participation was voluntary on condition that they followed recommended inputs and practices. Production inputs were supplied at cost but on credit with 25% to 50% down payment for different technologies. Credit to buy the BBM was not universal as in some demonstration areas, the BBM was not used but seeds and fertilisers were given on credit to farmers using hand-made BBFs.In 1996, the MoA adopted the EMTP as the methodology for technology dissemination including that for VMP (SG-2000(SG- 1996)). After the 2-year demonstration with SG-2000 support, MoA has been implementing the same model since 1996. SG 2000 and some NGOs bought the BBM sets from private manufacturers or from the governmentowned technology centres and delivered them to the specific regional agricultural bureaux, which in turn allocated them to zonal agricultural offices that allocated them to specific wereda agricultural offices. The wereda offices have been distributing them along with seeds, fertilisers and herbicides to interested farmers on credit. In some weredas, farmers were not willing to buy the BBM set but wanted to borrow it just to make the beds. In such cases, BBM service was provided free, but other inputs were given on credit. Training for extension agents and potential users is not provided as extensively and effectively as in the case of the SG-2000 demonstration programme. A rapid appraisal in early 1998 identified lack of adequate training as a major deficiency of the diffusion programme, so JVP, in collaboration with SG-2000, conducted a training course for mid-level extension staff who were expected to train their subordinates.• A rapid adoption assessment of Vertisol technology, ex post adoption, May-June 1992.• Adoption of an improved Vertisol management package in Ethiopia, ex post adoption, 1993-94.• Evaluation of Vertisol/broadbed maker technology, ex post adoption, June 1994.• Rapid adoption study 1997-unpublished work (Tables A9 and A10).• Adoption pathways for the broadbed maker, ex post adoption, January-December 1997 (Jabbar et al. 1998).During 1990-95, on-farm tests continued in three of the five original JVP sites with particular focus on farmer adoption behaviour. In the 3 sites, 598 of 1553 households (28%) were reported as adopters-defined as having participated in on-farm research and tests during 1989-95.In 1995/96 a sample of 474 of the 598 adopter households and 111 non-adopter households from the 1553 households were surveyed. Of the non-adopters, it was reported that 50% had not yet acquired sufficient knowledge about the BBM while 50% had acquired knowledge but had not yet decided to adopt the BBM. Of the adopters, 161 (34% of adopters) reported using the BBM continuously while 313 (66%) reported discontinuous use.An analysis of adoption behaviour indicated that the adoption pathway is complex and that different factors affect the three given phases, i.e. technology knowledge acquisition, adoption and usage.  • Difficult to find appropriate slope in most Vertisol areas at which BBM could perform efficiently because most of the places are flat • Within Vertisol areas and even with the appropriate slope, there are places with high clay content that are not conducive to BBM use • The use of BBM is limited to wheat crops while farmers have other alternative crops like chickpea, rough pea, etc. that can grow on Vertisols that require less labour and no fertiliser inputs and are therefore less risky • The time gap during which the BBM could be used effectively is very narrow Field operation• Frequent failure of the assembly • BBM operation requires additional beam and special yoke and these are sometimes difficult to obtain • The traditional ox-teaming system among single-ox owners cannot work for the BBM as farmers are unwilling to lend their oxen as they believe the implement is too heavy Extension• BBM operation requires intensive and close supervision until the farmers are familiar with its operation. However, due to various other commitments, the development agents were not in a position to provide such supervision • Lack of trained development agents • BBM is heavy for farmers as well and increases their hardship in transporting and assembling • Absence of compensation in case of crop failure discourages farmers from using the implement the next time Manufacturing• Change in the original design of the implement by some manufacturers • Poor workmanship like poor welding, inappropriate curvature, closed end chains etc.   Notes:• The grain prices for local wheat and improved wheat are significantly lower in the farm survey used here than in the WAB survey. • The grain prices for teff, chickpea and rough pea are somewhat lower in the farm survey used here than in the WAB survey. • The grain yields for all grain except improved wheat are lower in the literature.• The crop residue yields reported in the farm survey are much lower than those in the literature, presumably because of their on-farm use.        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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3c2bae6b49412aed020e84b52b16a472","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4ff56cec-c056-4bea-8cdf-d614f1cd36f1/retrieve","id":"-135353003"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4b8d8b49-77a2-4073-99ba-2339cdbb07f5","content":"C assava is the second most important staple crop after maize for which an estimated 92 % of total production is utilized as human food. In the recent past, increased volumes of dried cassava chips and flour have been used as raw material in the feed, textile, wood and paper industries. Cassava is thus an important food security crop that can stimulate increased economic and rural development serving as a direct response to the crop diversification strategy and policy frameworks of Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, Sixth National Development Plan, National Agricultural Policy, and Millennium Development Goals.However, most of the cassava that is produced in Zambia is produced based on traditional knowledge that is passed on from generation to generation. This knowledge may not be based on science and has resulted in the productivity of cassava being very low. There are a number of factors that contribute to low yields. These include among others, poor soil, low moisture levels in the soil, use of low yielding and susceptible varieties to diseases, lack of mechanization and production technology information among others. Therefore, this manual has been developed based on scientific knowledge and experiences accumulated so far in Zambia. This knowledge when employed correctly will result in increased productivity and production of cassava in Zambia. This will in turn stimulate the operations of the cassava value chain which has been affected due to low productivity.Although commercial, medium-scale cassava farmers are beginning to emerge in the country, most of them use only some and not all available or recently developed modern techniques that can increase efficiency of growing and processing cassava. Inability to apply modern technologies in a holistic or consolidated manner for cassava growing and processing operations reduces the prospect of maximizing yield. This manual is designed for farmers, processors, marketers, extension agents and other experts who are supporting cassava commercialization in Zambia. The use of the manual by value chain actors will enhance their knowledge and capacity to improve efficiency of their cassava related operations and increase profitability.C assava is propagated by stem cuttings and the main sources of the planting materials are the farmers' own fields, farmers' neighbours and sometimes rural markets. High-quality cassava cuttings for planting are often in short supply due to low multiplication ratio. However, it is necessary that farmers plant healthy stem cuttings as planting materials. The criteria used in determining quality of planting materials of cassava are generally based on the threshold levels of infestation of pests. For common diseases, such as cassava mosaic disease, cassava brown streak, anthracnose disease and cassava bacterial blight, threshold levels are determined during field inspections, to ensure good planting material production. At the same time, the incidence, levels of damage and reduction in quality to the plants caused by insect pests such as Green mites and Cassava Mealy bugs are also determined. Crop fields which fall within the acceptable score range of quality standards, qualify as good planting materials, while those outside the range are rejected. The use of disease free, mature, true to type planting materials is recommended to start the process of multiplication.The seed supply system for cassava relies mainly on research institutions that are a source of breeder seed as a starting point. Special care needs to be taken during the multiplication process to ensure pest free planting material. The seed multiplication process thus follows a system where the certification process is guided by generations starting from breeder's seed to certified seed. The following generations are therefore important to observe:1. Breeder seed/pre-basic: Breeder seed is the variety released and maintained by the breeder either at or close to the research station for easy supervision by research scientists. This is usually referred to as primary site.2. Basic seed: This is the progeny of breeder seed. The seed is produced at secondary sites managed by mandated institutions such as seed producing institutions, departments of the Ministry of Agriculture, religious groups or NGOs. These institutions/ agencies are normally backstopped by the breeders/ researchers through training about the varietal characteristics and multiplication system of the varieties. Its production is normally under the control of mandated institutions under the direct supervision of the Seed Control and Certification Institute (SCCI).Certified seed: This is produced through the multiplication of basic/foundation seed at tertiary sites. This can further be recycled three times provided it remains pest free. Under tertiary production, fields are managed by small-scale farmers, NGOs, but under the supervision of a certification scheme. Seed multipliers are registered for purposes of enforcing quality control. Seed multipliers should consider the following:Two types of crop varieties are generally bred and released by researchers: (a) industrial crop varieties; and (b) varieties for consumption. In the case of industrial crop varieties the objective is to breed for yield, starch content and quality. For food consumption the consideration is generally for yield, cooking ability, good inground storability and tolerance to pests and diseases. Whatever the case, the demand must be there. Below is a table showing released varieties and their potential yield. Persons or institutions duly registered with SCCI for purposes of producing seed must have undergone training in seed production and understand available classes of seed and their requirements.Seed certification ensures pest-free cassava seed planting material.The following certification standards are applied through field inspection to ensure clean planting material by seed multipliers: C assava is grown using cuttings ranging from 20 cm to 1 m in length.The use of disease free, mature, true to type planting materials is recommended to start the process of multiplication. Apart from diseases and insect pests, the production of cassava planting materials also comes with other difficulties. Some of these are bulkiness, low multiplication ratio which requires transporting high volumes of planting materials which may result in damage to cuttings, to production fields. Hence the planting materials require special attention.The conventional cassava seed multiplication method is the easiest and most widely used. However, it has a disadvantage of having a low multiplication rate of 1:10 unlike the rapid multiplication technique of 1:60-100. Cassava for seed multiplication should be planted at 1m x 0.5m or 0.5m x 0.5m. The stem cutting should be 25-30cm long with 6-8 nodes per cutting. Care should be taken to avoid bruises and damage to the stem and buds when planting. The cuttings can be planted in an upright, horizontal or slanted position. In the horizontal position, the cutting is laid horizontally and covered with soil. To produce deeper lying storage roots for anchorage of the plant, plant the stem vertically in the soil with two-thirds of the length of cutting below the soil. To optimize on stem production, the whole stem should be buried in a horizontal position.Rapid multiplication of cassava stem cuttings as planting material involves producing cassava stems using 2 to 3 node cassava stakes. The technique requires selecting stems of improved or local varieties of choice and cutting the stems into 2 or 3 node stakes. To ensure pest free stakes, a mixture of insecticide and fungicide is sprayed before planting.For rapid multiplication the mini-stem cutting should be planted horizontally at a spacing of 10cm x 10cm and a depth of 4cm to 5cm.It is important not to plant the cutting at shallow depth as they may become exposed and get dehydrated when weather conditions are unfavourable.The mini stem cuttings should be positioned with the nodes on the sides in the hole in which it is planted. Avoid orienting one node on top and another one node at the bottom as the shoots developing from bottom may break when transplanted. 1. Select physiologically mature, pest and disease free cassava stems. If the stems are infested with pests, an insecticide can be applied at manufacturer's recommended dosage by dipping the ministems in broad spectrum insecticides and fungicides.2. Remove the green immature and the lower woody portion prior to cutting the selected middle part. Cut the stems into ministems containing 2 to 3 viable nodes.3. Pre-sprout the mini-stems in nursery beds or in perforated polyethylene bags filled with good quality soil. Alternatively, a nursery bed can be prepared depending on the number of cutting required. Plant the two-node mini-stems horizontally in a small furrow in the bed at close spacing. It is necessary to ensure that the cuttings are not exposed to direct sunlight.After planting, the following measures should be taken:• Water the cuttings immediately after planting and once every day where necessary.• Where there is more than one variety the beds must be labeled.• Weed regularly to keep the nursery clean.• During watering care must be taken not to expose the buried stem.4. Transplant mini-stem cuttings 4 weeks from the nursery bed to the field.Transplant cuttings in a well-prepared field at a spacing of 1× 0−5 m.Where mini-stems have been transplanted the field should be well managed by applying water where necessary. Weeds should also be removed using a hoe.7. When the stems are physiologically mature or 8 months after transplanting, the stems can be cut and distributed to farmers as planting material.8. Tie the stems together in bundles of a sizeable weight. Handle the stems with care when harvesting, loading, transporting, and unloading to avoid bruising. 9. Cassava cuttings cannot be stored for a long time because stems dehydrate. When storing, place the stalks in an upright position (bud facing upward) in a well-ventilated shed or under a tree providing good shade.Rapid multiplication using shoot tips requires extra care.Immediately the cuttings of about 10 cm long with 6-10 nodes are made, they must be put in a container of water to avoid dehydration.Leaves must be stripped off leaving the youngest leaves and not damaging the auxiliary buds. Bury two thirds of the cutting in the growth medium planting at a spacing of 10 cm x 10 cm in a nursery bed that enables one reach the middle by hand from either side to facilitate management. The cuttings must be watered regularly to avoid drying up of the growth medium that can lead to shoots dehydrating. Keep the nursery weed free and the plants can be transplanted into the field at 8 weeks after planting. Semi-hard woodHandling Planting Material for Better YieldsC assava is propagated by use of fresh stem cuttings which makes it prone to damage and loss of viability. Therefore to ensure good sprouting and establishment, cuttings must be handled with proper care. This section highlights on key agronomic determinants of quality cassava cuttings that need to be considered in stem handling for increased yield.The quality of the cassava cuttings is determined by the following agronomic factors:To obtain good cuttings 12 -18 months old plants should be used. Although cuttings from green, immature plants germinate, they are more susceptible to pathogen and insect attack. In addition, these cuttings cannot be stored for very long because they dry out rapidly due to their high water content. Their succulence makes it easy for many micro-organisms (bacteria and fungi) to infest them and cause severe rotting shortly after planting.When plants are older than 18 months, about two-thirds of the stem is highly lignified and cuttings of this material would germinate slowly and produce non-vigorous shoots. In addition, stems from plants older than 18 months could have a greater number of lesions caused by localized pathogens or by insects. Finally, when older stems are used, cuttings are difficult to cut and transportation costs are increased.In cases where stems stored for some time are utilized, the cut surfaces should be checked for exuding latex; if the latex appears slowly, the material should be discarded because it has dried out.It is the age of the stem that should be taken into account here and not that of the plant, since the age of the stem depends basically on the plant section where the stem piece is located. The middle third of a 12 months old plant can be used, while for an 18 month old plant, the upper third can be used and the lower basal third discarded.Cutting diameter is determined by the age of the plant and the part from which the cutting has been obtained. To determine the diameter a relationship between the total cutting diameter and that of the pith has been established. A transverse cut is made on the cutting; if the diameter of the pith is equal to 50% of the cutting diameter, the material is adequate for planting (Figure 3.1). As a general rule, it is recommended that the total diameter of the cuttings selected not be less than one-half the diameter of the thickest part of the stem for the variety being used.The size of cutting is between 20 and 25 cm long and taken from mature parts of the plant. Each node on the stem has an auxiliary bud that theoretically can produce a plant. It is recommended to plant cuttings having 5 to 7 nodes; as these cuttings have more buds they give a better guarantee of producing a plant and if some of the buds are damaged, the others can germinate (Figure 3.2). • Stem cuttings should be cut with sharp machetes, knives, secateurs, or cutlasses to ensure straight smooth cut ends and avoid jagged cuts (Figure 3.3). • If a machete is used, cutting is done in the air as uniformly as possible taking care to avoid tearing the bark or splinting the woody piece. It is most convenient to hold the stem in one hand and make a small cut, then turn the stem 180 o and make a second cut to separate the stem pieces.• When cut transversely the cutting is able to root uniformly around the perimeter giving better root distribution.Cassava stems are bulky and do not store well for a long time. Their transportation and distribution, therefore, deserve special effort by the people who are responsible for making the materials available to farmers.1. In cases where materials have to be transported over long distances and stored before planting, it's advisable to prepare 1m long stakes instead of planting size.2. Any strong blow against the stems or branches selected for planting material should be avoided during cutting and transporting. Any physical damage the cutting suffers can decrease its quality. Physical damages both to the epidermis and to buds can occur from striking or friction to the cuttings during preparation, transport, storage and planting (Figure 3.4).  1. The stems are tied into bundles and stored upright under a roof, in a well-ventilated shed or under a well-developed tree providing good shade for up to about 8 weeks before cutting into planting size and planting.2. The oldest ends of 1m long cassava stems are inserted upright into the soil which is moistened regularly, with the surrounding kept free from weeds (Figure 3.6). The basal portion of the stems should touch each other. The stems are inserted so that they lean on a strong support (a tree stem or bamboo stick) which has been tied horizontally between two trees a few meters apart.3. The stem bundles can also be hanged horizontally between tree branches or along the building walls under a grass thatched roof.When storing cassava stems, there are a number of important points to bear in mind:• Avoid direct sunlight and hot or cold winds.• Let the buds point upwards when stems are stored vertically.• Long stems store better than short ones.• Use mature stems from healthy cassava plants or plantations.• The viability of the stems under storage depends on a number of factors including the variety, the storage and the quality of planting material.Land preparation improves soil structure, eases planting, facilitates root penetration, increases microbial activities and helps in weed control. Cassava can be planted on flat or ridges.A good ridge should be at least 30 cm high and the distance between the ridges vary from 80 to 100 cm. Where the soil is not sandy, ridging is considered the best land preparation method for cassava. The advantages of ridges is that they are relatively easy to prepare either by hand or machine, less land is wasted compared to mounds, spacing is regular leading to better plant density, light interception and even plant nutrients distribution. The planting and harvesting is easier.On sandy soils, like in Western province, cassava may be planted on flat land; otherwise this practice is not recommended for cassava production. Planting on the flat has disadvantages of poor drainage, soil compaction leading to poor plant growth and tuberous root development.Although cassava is considered seasonally flexible crop, it is necessary to have the best planting time so that best plant establishment can be achieved.Plant cassava as early as November provided the rains have started or soil moisture is sufficient for plant growth. Early planting will enable cassava plants to establish reasonably good to face cold and dry season and possibly dry season pests such as cassava green mite, cassava mealybug and termite attack.There are three methods of planting cassava (Figure 3.7).• Horizontal method: Cassava cuttings can also be planted in a horizontal position in which the cuttings are completely buried in the soil to a depth of 5 cm. Horizontal planting is better in dry areas.• Slanting method: Cassava cuttings can be planted in a slanting or angular orientation (45 o ). Even in this case the cuttings should be buried in the ground with two-thirds in the soil. Always ensure that the buds point upwards. • Vertical method: Cassava cuttings can be planted vertically upright with two-thirds of the cutting inserted deep in the ground.Achieving increased yields of 20-45 t/ha from improved varieties starts with this critical stage of stem handling. To ensure increased cassava yields, start right by following the recommended steps.Optimum plant density varies from upland to low land or dambo areas and depends on whether cassava is an intercrop or a monocrop. Denser planting is practiced in dambos (with higher moisture) with distance between cassava plants ranging from 50 to 100 cm. In a monocrop, space cassava 80-100 cm within and between rows. A plant density of 10,000 to 15,000 plants/ha gives an optimum crop stand and yield.C assava can be grown without using any input such as fertilizers and herbicides or organic compost. Cassava is highly productive under favourable environments where no major production constraints prevail. Under harsh environments-particularly where prolonged drought and poor soils are major constraints for the successful production of other staple food crops such as cereals cassava can produce reasonably well with virtually no purchased inputs. Potential productivity of cassava under favourable environments compares favourably with other major staple food and energy crops in the tropics. Based on the observed experimental yields, cassava produces more calories per hectare than maize, sorghum, and rice (assuming one crop per year) but less than sugar cane.The zero input method encourages biological activity in the soil and provides natural protection from diseases. It can guarantee good yields, provided that you select a land with adequate organic matter, use the right varieties, plant at the right spacing and time, and ensure a weed-free field.• Choose a field that has good soil with medium fertility and good drainage.• Avoid stony, clayey, or water-logged soils.• Use a field that has been well maintained.• Practice minimum tillage in sandy soils to conserve organic matter and moisture.• In shallow or hard soils, make ridges or mounds to increase the topsoil volume per plant for a better establishment (Figures 4.1a and 4.1b).• Choose improved varieties with the highest and most stable yield performance.• Select planting materials from healthy cassava plants (8-24 months old) without stem or leaf damage from pests    • Plant at the right time to ensure healthy sprouting and good crop establishment. Dry season planting is not recommended when the rains stop early or where the water table is low. There may not be enough moisture to allow sprouting and the stems to survive. In general, cassava should be planted when 2 months of adequate soil moisture is expected after planting.• Plant at the correct spacing to optimize plant growth. The recommended planting space is 1m × 1m for branching types and 1m × 0.8m for non-branching types (Figures 4.3a and 4.3b). • Grow fast and mature early.• Tolerate major diseases and pests.• Give high root yields (fresh and dry).• Meet end-users' quality needs.• Store well in the ground for 12-15 months.Intercropping cassava with short-duration crops is a common practice among smallholder farmers in Zambia (Figure 4.4). Cassava is regarded as a long-season crop and due to its slow growth at the early growth stages; it does not efficiently use the available space, light, water and nutrients. Hence short-duration crops may be interplanted to make more efficient use of these growing environments. Among all, legumes can be considered for use in intercropping systems with cassava because of their fast growing and the ability to improve soil fertility through nitrogen fixation.The intercrops are used because they supply either food or additional income, especially when the cassava crop cannot be harvested immediately; they may fix N and supply other nutrients to the topsoil; they may protect the soil from the direct impact of rainfall, and may decrease the speed of runoff water when the cassava canopy is not yet closed, thus reducing soil erosion; and they may reduce weed growth during the early stages of cassava development. However, intercrops need to be carefully managed in order to reduce the competition with cassava, for light, water and nutrients. This is usually done through modifications of the plant spacing or planting pattern of both crops, by adjusting the relative time of planting and by fertilizing each crop adequately to maximize yields.Plant leguminous crops such as soybean in rotations or intercrops, or Velvet bean and Sunhemp in fallows. This helps to sustain soil fertility and quality, and to manage water, weeds and pests.This means covering the soil surface with plant materials. It is especially valuable when growing cassava in dry areas and on slopes. It has several advantages:• Improves the fertility of the soil.• Increases the ability of the soil to hold water for plant growth.• Reduces erosion and weed problems.Sources of good mulching material include dead leaves from alley crops, rice husks, coffee hulls, crop/weed residues and leguminous plants (live mulch). Cover crops such as Mucuna, Centrosema, and Aeschynomene, when used as live mulch, are usually incorporated into the soil before the crop is planted.• A good yield of cassava can be achieved without external inputs since these are often unavailable or too expensive, and demand too much technical knowledge from the small-scale farmer. But you must use the crop husbandry practices mentioned in this manual. This environmentally-friendly farming strategy is more suitable for cassava than crops such as maize, rice, and sorghum that have a high demand for fertilizer. Although cassava responds well under low input environment; additional nutrient supplementation can increase the yields much more.• High yielding and healthy planting materials can be received or purchased from your country's cassava Research Institutes, Cassava Program or Root and Tuber Programs.• Good planting materials can be purchased from trained and individual farmers, farmers' associations or seed companies that multiply cassava for sale in your area.W eeds can cause serious competition for cassava for space, light, water, and nutrients if left unattended to. Inadequate weed control can result in low yields. Keeping a field weed free is a requirement to avoid yield loss (Figure 5.1).Hand pulling, hand slashing, and hoeing are the most widespread weed control methods used by subsistence farmers in Zambia. However, these have proved to be inefficient due to drudgery, time consuming, labor-intensive, and expensive. To overcome this challenge herbicides can be used and are effective when applied to young and actively growing shoots.There are two broad categories: annual and perennial weeds. Weeds can further be grouped into broad leaved weeds, grasses, and sedges: Time and frequency of weeding depends on plant population and the type of weeds. However, three weedings at 45-day intervals from planting date are recommended with a hand hoe. Care should be taken not to injure the roots during weeding as this could result in rotting of roots. Weeding together with earthing up results in better plant growth and root development. This helps the plant anchor into the soil preventing it from being blown by the wind.• Hand weeding is effective on small farms; therefore hand weeding is common among small-scale cassava farmers.• Use of in situ live mulch in the form of a cover crop is an effective method of weed suppression. For example, Mucuna pruriens var. utilis grown during the season prior to cassava cultivation helps to suppress weeds. Cassava cuttings can be planted directly into the mulch cover with little or no land clearing.• Appropriate intercrops (such as legumes, melons and pumpkin) can significantly reduce weeding frequency and intensity.Intercropping with leguminous crops has the additional benefit of soil improvement.• Improved cassava cultivars which are vigorous, able to branch rapidly and are competitive against weeds, effectively suppress weeds during the early and more vulnerable growth stages. Slow growing and late branching cultivars are less competitive against weeds.• Use of inter-row weeders pulled by either tractor or animal draft power can also be employed where their cost can be justified.Several pre-emergence herbicides have been identified for weed clearing in sole and multiple cropping:• Chloramben (1-3 kg/ha)• Diuron (1-3 kg/ha)• Formulated mixtures of fluometuron and metolachlor (2+2 kg/ ha)• Metobromuron and metolachlor (4 kg/ha)• Fluometuron and pendimethalin (2+2 kg/ha)  Integrated control combines the four weed control methods mentioned above. Examples of integrated weed control are:• Combining one weeding with the use of an improved variety, planted at optimum density; and• Combining a pre-emergence herbicide with late weeding.Early weeding prevents weeds from competing with the crop for nutrients, water, light and space. Hand weeding is recommended if labor is available and economical.6Cassava pests occur in all cassava growing areas of Zambia. Insect pests reduce crop yield causing food and income losses by damaging planting materials, leaves, roots and acting as vectors of major cassava diseases. Insect pests of importance in Zambia include cassava mealybug, termites and cassava green mite while diseases of importance in Zambia include cassava mosaic disease and cassava bacterial blight.CM causes yield loss through leaf loss and weakening of planting material and consequently root yield reduction which has been estimated up to 70%.Initially the CM attacks the terminal ends of cassava shoots which become stunted and the leaves curl and fold. The internode length is reduced, causing twisted stems, and the emerging leaves are compressed together into 'bunchy tops' (Figure 6.1).When the attack becomes very serious plants die starting with the top most growing point of the plant, where the highest pest population is found.  The attack of CM on lower leaves and natural leaf fall in the dry season causes a so called \"candle-stick\" appearance. The affected plants may produce lateral leaves but even these become attacked by the insect pest.CM damage reduces cassava yield by reducing the capacity of the plant to form tubers, and by reducing the quality of leaves as a vegetable. The twisting of stems also reduces the quantity and quality of planting material. Since the attacked plant loses leaves more weeds tend to grow underneath.Due to its non-conspicuous nature, CGM is only noticed through its damage symptoms. The CGM damages cassava by sucking sap from the leaves and shoot tip. The damage initially appears as yellowish (chlorotic) \"pinpricks\" (Figure 6.2) on the upper surface of developing and newly formed leaves, and later takes a blotched and bronzed like appearance.On heavily attacked plants, the youngest leaves die and drop, the shoot remains without leaves and looks like a \"candle-stick\", and the plant appears stunted. CGM reduces production of the tubers by inducing chlorosis, and causing loss of leaves.Scale insects are tiny wingless white insects that cover the cassava plant stem (Figure 6.3). The scales feed by sucking sap from the cassava plants. Therefore, they may reduce the likelihood of cassava cuttings to sprout, or they may cause death of the entire plant through loss of water from the plant.The scale insects are dispersed passively by wind, spreading from one plant to another. They are also spread through use of infested planting materials. Termites are small white wingless social insects with brown heads that live in underground tunnels or above ground nests. In addition to cassava, termites also attack other food crops including maize, yam, and groundnuts. Termites normally feed on dead wood materials but some species also feed on living plants (Figure 6.4). Termites eat below and above ground parts of cassava stem cuttings. The attacked stems grow poorly, die and rot causing poor plant stand. Termites attack weakens and causes the plant to fall down easily. This contributes greatly to loss and shortage of cassava planting material. Attacked stems and cuttings are usually filled with soil particles lessening the likelihood of cuttings to sprout into new plants.• Use resistant or tolerant varieties which are released or recommended by the Root and Tuber Improvement Programme at research stations.• Always select and get cuttings only from plants that are not showing presence of pests• Plant cassava early in the rainy season to allow the crop to establish well before the dry season, as a strong plant is more likely to withstand pest attack.• Avoid burning cassava plantations at harvest as the burning indiscriminately kills insects including the natural enemies.CMD is a disease of cassava and is caused by a number of viruses which are transmitted by the whitefly. CMD attacks only cassava and causes reduction in yield ranging between 20 and 90% depending on the variety, location and virus strain. The yield reduction is basically in terms of reduced fresh weight of roots as well as reduced plant vigour.The disease damage can either appears as patches of normal green leaf colour mixed with light green, or patches of yellow interspaced with white chlorotic areas. The leaves on infected plants become small, distorted and twisted along the edges. As the disease progresses the affected leaves may reduce and the plants become stunted (Figure 6.5).CBSD is a disease of cassava caused by either one or more viruses.It is also transmitted by whitefly (Bemisia tabaci). CBSD displays a number of symptoms. On the leaves, the disease appears as a feathery chlorosis on the smaller veins. On the stems the disease displays small streaks hence the name CBSD. On the roots the symptoms occur as yellow/brown, corky necrosis in the starch-bearing tissues and radial root constrictions in very severe infections. The necrosis begins as discrete areas, but in fully susceptible cultivars, it may affect most of the root, rendering them unfit for consumption.There variations of symptom expressions, depending on cultivar, crop age, virus strain/combination, and weather conditions. CBSD foliar symptoms normally occur only on mature leaves and the young expanding leaves are symptomless (Figure 6.6).  On stems, CBSD is noticeable by the appearance of necrotic lesions in the leaf scars remaining after the leaves have been shed. In case of highly prone varieties, the entire stem tissue may degenerate and such plants are liable to be killed by the disease. CBSD causes substantial root yield loss of up to 100% (Figure 6.7). CBB attacks only cassava and no other food crops. CBB is spread through infected cuttings. CBB is recognised by the presence of water-soaked, angular spots on leaves and wilting of the stems, branches, and leaves (Figure 6.8). These spots occur between leaf veins and are best noticed on the underside of leaf surfaces. Brownish gum exudates are observed on the leaves, petioles and shoots infected with CBB (Figure 6.9). Severely infected leaves wilt but remain attached to the plant for some time before falling down causing plant defoliation, tip die-back and considerable yield losses of both roots and leaves. Other disease affecting cassava but less important in Zambia are Cassava Anthracnose, Cassava Root Rots, and Cercospora leaf spots.• Use recommended varieties which are disease resistant or tolerant from the Root and Tuber Improvement Programme at Research Stations.• Plant only cuttings from healthy plants and regularly inspect fields to remove any plant showing disease symptoms.• Bury the diseased plant residues just before the onset of the dry season.• Plant cassava in rotation with other crops.• Obtain planting materials from sources recommended by Root and Tuber Improvement Programme.Obtain clean planting materials from recommended sources, if the materials are infested with insect pests or diseased, pesticides can be applied in recommended quantities.I n Zambia cassava is mostly produced by small-scale farmers who depend mostly on manual labour. Though improved varieties with high yielding potentials have been made available by research institutions in some African countries; including Zambia, the full benefit of such technologies cannot be realized without mechanization. This section provides a guide on cost effective mechanization in cassava production and focuses on small-scale mechanization for small to medium scale farmers.The level of mechanization can vary to suit small-, medium-or large-scale farmers and suitably designed for different activities in production such as land clearing, cultivation, fertilizer application, weed control, and harvesting. However, choice of a machine will depend on land size, financial capacity, terrain, soil type, and rainfall in the area. Some of the machines available for cassava production are indicated in the table below (Table 7.1 and Figure 7.1)  • The operation of the cassava planter requires a tractor operator, two adult people to feed stems in the cutting mechanism and another person on the ground.• The planter has a mechanism that will cut the cassava stems to stakes of constant preset length, plant at predetermined distances, apply fertiliser and cover the planted stake in a single operation. The cassava two-row planters that are available in Zambia plants cassava stakes horizontally and the field has to be thoroughly harrowed before the planting operation.Weed infestation in a cassava field reduces yield as outlined in section 6. With the increase in the size of cassava fields due to mechanisation of other operations it would be virtually impossible to weed the cassava field on time using manual labour. Therefore, any delay in carrying out the weeding operation will have an effect on the yield of the crop.Weeds can be effectively controlled by applying an appropriate herbicide by using a tractor mounted boom sprayer or knapsack sprayer depending on the size of the field.A suitable mechanized production system developed with care can reduce the labor requirement and operational costs. Farmers should carefully select the machines required for each operation, depending on the scale of production, to avoid choosing a production method too expensive for the work. The Zambian government and the private sector are encouraged to make agricultural machine hiring services functional, organized, and accessible as well as affordable. Farmers are therefore encouraged to take advantage of these services available with Zambia National Service at all provincial headquarters.K nowing when the roots are ready for harvest is a key first step in ensuring cassava roots with good eating and processing qualities are harvested. Therefore, cassava has to be harvested at an appropriate age, size and tenderness in order to meet the quality of its intended use. Generally, if cassava harvesting is delayed, the roots tend to become fibrous and lose good qualities for the fresh market.It is also important to harvest cassava roots at the right time so that the land where it was planted is freed up for other agricultural production activities.Generally, the time from planting, eating quality are important considerations in the determination of time of harvest. However in Zambia the time of planting gives an indication when cassava roots are ready for harvesting because most of the existing improved varieties bulk between 8-18 months after planting.Once the roots are ready for harvesting, they should be carefully removed from the soil. Manual method is involves the use of hand hoe for cassava harvesting. It is a common and predominant method of harvesting for cassava that is planted on ridges, mounds or flat land among the smallholder famers in Zambia.Ridges and mounds facilitate the easiest harvesting of roots compared to the other systems of bed formation since the roots are generally confined to the ridges and mounds.When cassava is planted on flat land, it is difficult to know exactly where the roots are, therefore it is always likely to have roots damaged during harvesting operations.In manual harvesting, losses are usually higher during the dry season because of compacted soil leading to roots breaking and remaining in the soil. Therefore, care must be taken to loosen the soil first before the cassava roots are gently pulled to avoid bruises on the roots.In either manual or mechanical harvesting methods, once the cassava has been uprooted, the root clusters are carefully separated into individual roots by cutting above the swollen storage roots leaving a piece of woody tissue attached to each root. Do not separate the root from the stump by hand breaking because it will cause injuries to the root.Harvested roots should be placed under the shade of trees to avoid direct sun as this would accelerate deterioration. The practice of placing cassava roots in polypropylene bags or sacks as a mode for packing during transportation must be avoided because it increases the chances of damaging them resulting in a greater incidence of spoilage.When harvesting cassava if possible crates must be used to avoid damage to the roots.It is good practice to sort cassava roots in the field because some amount of damage is expected during harvesting operations. Therefore, damaged or roots showing visible symptoms of rotting should be removed from undamaged ones at this stage.Harvesting requires good planning in terms of timing and method to be used. Manual harvesting is labour intensive and expensive. For commercial farmers it is advisable to use the mechanised harvesting operations because it is cost effective. The amount to be harvested must always match the processing capacity so that losses of quality caused by delayed processing are minimised. In Zambia, all the existing cassava planters are imported from Brazil and are not found with local agricultural machinery suppliers. However, importation of this equipment could be facilitated for those who intend to go into commercial cassava production as individuals or as a cooperative.C assava tubers attached to the main stem can remain safely in the ground for several months. However, after harvest the roots start deteriorating within 2 -3 days, and rapidly become of little value for consumption or industrial use. This section provides a guide on post-harvest handling and storage of cassava.Cassava roots deteriorate and lose quality when not utilized within 48 hours of harvest. Hence, they must be transported to the homestead, market or processing plant immediately after harvesting. The following considerations should be taken when transporting the roots:• Use wheel barrows, sacks or any other suitable container to transport roots in small quantities and short distances, such as from the farm to road side or bulking center where they will be loaded on a vehicle for long distance transportation.• Gently off-load the roots from the wheelbarrow, sack or container without causing bruises or damage to the roots• Vehicles transporting cassava for long distances should be covered with tarpaulin to avoid rapid moisture loss from the roots.• Use oxen-cart for transportation especially in the rural areas where there are no paved roads or impassable to vehicles.• Carefully sort and arrange roots neatly in the vehicle or cart to save space.• Do not seat or put heavy objects such as vehicle tyres on roots after loading.Cassava roots start deteriorating soon after harvesting. Internal discoloration and loss of marketing value occur if they are not cooked or processed within 24 -48 hours of harvesting. Fungi and bacteria infection may cause rotting in untreated roots.Fresh cassava roots are traditionally stored in the following ways:• Fresh cassava roots once mature are left in the ground and harvested when needed. This practice is called piecemeal harvesting and is common when cassava is used for food security. However, it is not suited for commercial production.• Fresh cassava roots are heaped under shade and watered daily.• Undamaged fresh roots are stored in pits or trenches dug in well drained soils, sloppy and shaded area. The trenches (usually 1 meter long and 30-40cm wide), with the long side directed downhill are lined with straw and dried leaves before roots are arranged in them after which the roots are covered with either river-sand or sea-sand. Water-logged areas and heavy clay soils used for covering must be avoided.• Fresh cassava roots are coated with clay or mud.• Freshly harvested or peeled cassava roots are stored for 1 -2 days by completely submerging in water. The roots are simultaneously detoxified but may ferment or spoil after 3 days.• The storage methods described here extends the shelf life of the roots by only 2-3 days. This cannot sustain commercial operations.Postharvest losses can be reduced by harvesting when the soil is wet or by growing the crop in loose soil. Root damage and bruises must be avoided during harvest and transportation. Only uninjured roots must be selected for storage of more than one week. Storage could be enhanced by treating unpeeled roots with a fungicide before storage.Step-wise Procedure Remarks/Precautions The storage period is 2 -4 weeks.Vacuum packing make the polythene bag air tight and creates the atmosphere (reduced oxygen and appropriate humidity) for the storage. The cassava roots can be stored for about a month but they may lose same moisture. However, their texture and taste may not be significantly affected. Step-wise Procedure Remarks/Precautions 6 Freezing 1. Select healthy roots Peeling and/or cutting into small sizes are optional.2. Wash and freeze the roots.To reduce texture damage, apply blast freezing to quickly freeze the roots.Freezing is suitable for long term storage and long distance marketing but the textural quality of the frozen roots may be affected.Wash non-bruised or undamaged roots in chlorinated cooled water.Edible coating/film formulated with cassava starch, glycerol, carnauba wax and stearic acid have been tested for waxing of cassava roots and were found suitable.Dip in melted paraffin wax at a temperature of 51.5-52.5°C.Waxing slows down respiration rate and transpiration, and prevents physiological deterioration.Waxing is done for commercial export of roots.The improved storage methods for roots help to extend shelf life of stocks of fresh roots by 2-6 weeks. The methods are suitable for storing small amounts of roots by consumers, restaurant operators and itinerant food vendors. Low temperature storage can be combined with fungicide treatment or waxing and is suitable for export of large amount of roots. In this case, the processors or exporters can afford the needed specialized equipment and have the necessary technical skills while the consumers can afford the higher cost.of the cyanogenic potential of cassava, because its cyanogen content is usually 5 to 10 times more than that of the root cells.Although mechanical peelers exist in other countries, in Zambia cassava peeling is achieved by using hand knives and this is mostly done by the women and youth. It is a slow and labour demanding operation and the peeling loses are usually very high estimated at about 22-30%.As much as possible, use potable water during cassava processing.It is a process that involves cutting of cassava roots into smaller particles or sizes. This process is recommended for low-cyanide or sweet cassava varieties. However, in the traditional cassava chipping operations, it involves cutting cassava roots in smaller chunks either longitudinally or horizontally which usually results in improper drying and poor quality products.Processing of high quality chips involves reducing cassava roots to thin slices of fresh, peeled cassava with an average diameter of 3mm to 5mm which facilitates rapid drying cassava especially under sunny conditions thus cutting out any risk of fermentation or soil and dust contamination.Unfermented Cassava chips are bright white and could be milled into flour for other uses such as cassava flour for nshima preparation and confectionery products e.g., dough-nut and biscuits etc.High quality cassava chips can be produced by manual or motorised chipping machines which are locally fabricated by trained local fabricators.The process involves pressing fresh cassava roots against a swiftly moving surface provided with sharp protrusions which tear up the whole root turning it into a mash (Figure 10.1). This operation is recommended for high cyanide or bitter cassava varieties. This process facilitates reduction of toxic compounds associated with bitter cassava by more than 95% and the greater part This method is also used for extracting starch, flour and gari.Manual grating is laborious and predisposes processors to hand injuries.Grating machines are locally made and come with different processing capacities. Pressing or dewatering the water. In bitter cassava varieties this step contributes to reduction of toxic compounds. The cake that is obtained after pressing requires to be broken down into granules. This can either be done manually or mechanically by passing the cake again in a grating machine. The loose granules obtained can then be further processed into the desired products such as gari, high quality cassava flour, starch etc.In Zambia the most common method used for dewatering grated cassava is the use of hydraulic presses which are also locally fabricated.Drying is the process of removing moisture from cassava roots, slices/chips or granules by placing the products in the sun or in a drier. This process significantly reduces the water and increases the shelf-life of cassava roots, chips or granules. Although sun drying is the most cost effective method it has limitations in the rainy season due to extended cloud overcasts.Other methods used in the traditional sector for drying cassava include, exposing the cassava to fire especially in the rainy season, spreading the cassava mash on specially identified rocks, road side especially tarred roads, cooking places, roof tops etc. These methods are very slow and susceptible to contamination and yield poor quality products.Poor quality of cassava products (discoloured, changed tastes, offensive smell etc) often leads to poor market acceptability and low prices of cassava products.Shading nets on raised drying racks have the best drying efficiency and cleanest product for drying chips. Black shading net absorbs (60%) heat, allows air circulation and therefore has got a high drying rate. Unfortunately shading net is quite expensive and only available in few places. Bamboo racks can also be used as alternatives to nets (Figure 10.2).Cassava chips or granules from a grater are spread on a drying surface exposed to sunrays. The more chips on a drying surface, the slower the drying rate will be. Thin chips dry faster than thicker ones. It should be noted that the quality of the chips is higher if the drying time is short. However, the cyanogenic potential of cassava decreases when the drying time is longer. Therefore, drying parameters that affect drying rate, especially the loading rate (weight of drying material per unit area of drying surface), are important in determining the residual cyanogen content of the dried cassava.In general one can put 5-8 kg of fresh (wet) chips per sq m depending on the weather conditions and expected drying period. Drying on concrete floors is not recommended for processing of cassava chips for human consumption as it will increase soil and dust contamination and free-range livestock may access cassava dried on the floor and reduce the quality. Concrete drying floor can be used in case of large scale drying of cassava chips for feed production.Many types of mechanical dryers are available and these include cabinet, solar and flash driers as well as tunnel and rotary driers. The main sources of heat energy for driers are wood shavings, saw dust, wood, charcoal, diesel, electricity, sun etc.Select of the mechanical driers with appropriate drying capacity, high drying efficiency through low energy-use, low fuel consumption or low heat loss.Cabinet driers using charcoal wood and saw dusts have been tested in Zambia and the results were promising. Flash drying technology is recommended for large-volume rapid drying of grated cassava granules, starch etc. Therefore it is important to establish the quantity of available raw materials for drying through the year before selecting the drier with an appropriate capacity. This technology has being tested in Zambia and it is promising.This is the process of breaking down of dried cassava roots, chips or granules into flour of desired fineness for domestic or industrial use. Milling machines (hammer mills or roller-mills) that are used for grains can also be used for milling cassava chips and granules. However, the fineness of the flour largely depends on the sieve used and the ultimate use of the flour. Sieves of different sizes can be purchased from stocks of hammer mill spares.Cassava that is meant for production of livestock feed should not be very fine while that is which is meant for baking and starch must be very fine.The traditional method of milling dried cassava for home use is pounding. This method has very low throughput and is labour demanding especially for the womenfolk and young girls.Proper packaging and appropriate storage conditions will preserve quality characteristics and extend shelf life of cassava products.The selected packaging material and storage conditions must prevent the stored product from reabsorbing moisture from the environment and allow entry of insect pests. If the stored cassava products absorb moisture, it may lead to fungi growth which may increase the risk of mycotoxin contamination.Polythene bags, paper or polypropylene bags lined with polythene are suitable for storage of cassava of products.A chieving increased yields starts with the selection of high quality planting materials and adopting proper planting procedures. The use of good agronomic practices that eliminate the use of chemicals or fertilizers can guarantee good yields of cassava at low costs and at the same time be friendly to the environment. A good agronomic practice starts with selecting varieties that are high yielding and by sourcing healthy planting materials from specialized institutions, certified individual farmers, farmers associations, or seed companies. In addition, cassava farmers need to seek advice or service on weed control from trained personnel who have the relevant technical knowledge and experience. Such expertise is usually available at research and extension centers specializing on cassava. Therefore, these subject matter specialists are either very few or are located too far from majority of the farmers. In order to increase the quality of service provision to farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture may consider establishing training programs to transfer these skills to educated youth in the rural areas and equip them with the necessary tools to provide these services to farmers in their localities. Farmer Training Centers could be utilized for these trainings.Cost-efficient mechanization of cassava production up to harvesting and bulk transportation of harvested roots to point of processing or sale is necessary to enable farmers have the full benefits of using improved inputs, such as improved varieties, fertilizers, and herbicides. To reduce the labor requirement, a farmer may choose to hire his/her implements or processing machinery from implement hiring institutions or buy them. A careful selection of such implement will enable farmers and processors reduce operational costs.In the case of storage and packaging of fresh cassava, for a short or long time, the choice of storage technique depends on the form in which the cassava will be used or consumed at the end of storage, the intended storage period, and the level of freshness required. In any case, it is beneficial to use improved storage methods that are cost effective. If processing is desired, improved"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/8082024220.json b/main/part_2/8082024220.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d377d4f67c7a54394a82cc064b6e9a2e5a486b98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/8082024220.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0ee8820c80b846c7eca6d07bf90b1134","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/20396a6d-0176-42d7-9176-23731a65f24d/retrieve","id":"-92899648"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4524cf08-20aa-40c5-a54a-a5a938a15988","content":"Characterization and distribution of Pythium spp associated with bean root rot in East Africa.Pythium isolates (134) from root rot affected areas in Kenya and Rwanda were characterized by sequencing of ITS-1 region. P. ultimum was the most frequent occurring species followed by P. torulosum. Pythium distribution maps showing relative importance of characterized species in Kenya and Rwanda were developed.Contributors: R. Buruchara, S. Mayanja, G. Mahuku, A. Levesque.Collaborators: R. Otsyula (KARI), L. Butare (ISAR).Developing integrated pest management components of root rots.Beans is one of the crops grown under the intensive agricultural system in southwest Uganda. Others include sorghum, maize, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, bananas and peas. Crop rotation in the strict sense is rare. Dominance of crops in the field shifts according to season. Rotations commonly practiced include beans-maize-sorghum, beans-maize-beans and beans-Irish potato/maize-sweet potato (Edidah, 2003). Maize and sorghum are also intercropped with beans and/or Irish potatoes such that the bean crop appears in the field season after season. However, of all these crops, beans are most affected by root rots. In recent years this has resulted in the decline in bean production in the area. Given that some of the root rot causing pathogens (e.g. Pythium spp) are known to have a wide host range, some of the questions asked are: do crops grown in association or in rotation with beans play any role in the pathogen survival, inoculum density and severity of root rots in beans?; is bean the only crop in the system that is affected or is it simply a good indicator of the level of root rot pathogens?; to what extent are other crops in the system affected by bean pathogens?; what are the effects of management options for bean root rots on other crops? To address these questions, we initiated studies to characterize Pythium spp associated with major crops found in the bean based systems; to determine pathogenicity of some Pythium species on these crops; and to determine the effects of management options for bean root rot on crops grown in association with beans.Pathogenicity studies: Three Pythium species pathogenic to beans (P. ultimum, P. chamaehyphon, P. pachycaule) were artificially inoculated on three crops commonly associated with beans namely: sorghum, millets and maize. Autoclaved millet (100 g) was mixed with 200 ml of water in a 500-ml bottle and subsequently used to raise the fungi. After two weeks of incubation, the infested millet was mixed with pre-sterilised soil at a ratio 1:10 v/v in wooden trays. Maize, sorghum and millet were planted in two rows of twelve plants and replicated in three trays. Bean varieties CAL 96 and RWR 719 were used as susceptible and resistant checks respectively. Cumulative emergence and plant stand was recorded one week after germination. Three weeks after germination, plants were assessed for any root and shoot symptoms that may be associated with Pythium infection.Four crops; beans (B), sorghum (S), maize (M), and peas (P) were subjected to four amendments i.e., farm yard manure (FYM), green manure (GM), inorganic fertilizer (NPK), fungicide (Ridomil) in farmers fields in Rubaya, Kabale district, southwest Uganda. Sorghum, maize and peas seed were obtained locally from farmers. A root rot susceptible bean variety (CAL 96) was used as a check. Farm yard manure and green manure (Crotalaria) were applied on a dry weight basis at a rate of 5t/ha and their nutrient level determined. NPK fertilizer was applied at a rate of 50 kg of N/ha. Ridomilwas applied as seed treatment (slurry) at a rate of 2.5 kg/ha. Qualitative data was obtained through field observations and photography. Quantitative data collected included: emergence, plant stand, disease incidence and severity at different times during the growing season, plant vigor and yield parameters (dry matter poduction). Disease severity was evaluated according to a CIAT nine-point scale where 1 is resistant and 9 susceptible (Abawi and Pastor Corralles, 1990)..Pathogenicity studies: The different Pythium species invoked typical root rot symptoms on susceptible bean cultivar CAL 96 in screen house studies. As expected, cultivar RWR 719 was resistant. Sorghum exhibited severe stunting and purple color on leaves. These features were more pronounced with isolate KAK 5 B (P. pachycaule). Similarly, millet exhibited stunting as well as yellowing and drying of the leaf tips, unlike plants in un-inoculated control trays. Maize showed less pronounced effects characterized by reduced plant vigor and size.Symptoms on roots of sorghum were comprised of red-black lesions and discolorations, reduced root mass and length. Millets displayed some lesions and reduced root mass. Maize exhibited little if any lesions on roots 3 weeks after emergence although root mass was relatively lower than in the control trays. Pythium was re-isolated from roots of all crops grown in infected soil.These screen house results showed that Pythium species used had an effect on the different crops tested. The most affected crop was beans and then sorghum, millet and maize in that decreasing order. Maize exhibited an interesting reaction in that there was some reduction in both shoot and root mass but little necrosis on the latter. Stunting in crops is attributed to reduced capacity of roots (either due to damage or reduced amount) to support adequate water and food uptake. We can tentatively conclude from these preliminary observations that Pythium species pathogenic to beans cause damage to sorghum, millets and maize to varying degrees. Further investigation to elucidate these interactions is going-on.The management options evaluated affected the crops in different ways. FYM and ridomil significantly reduced initial root rot infection on beans. High incidence of root rots was observed with GM and attributed to interactions between the root rot pathogens and soil micro-organisms. But FYM, GM and NPK, enhanced root (mass) growth in beans, contrary to observations in control plots.As in screen house studies, infected sorghum plants exhibited stunted growth, purple leaves, shoot death and dark-red to black root lesions (Figure 1). Significantly high incidence and severities were observed in control plots particularly 54 and 72 days after planting. Amendments reduced these effects and plant recovery was evident in plots amended with GM, FYM and NPK.Symptoms on maize were expressed as grey lesions on roots (Figure 2), stunting and poor establishment. However, incidence and severity were low indicating that maize was less affected (Figure 3a). As with sorghum, amendments and particularly FYM reduced severity (Figure 3b) and improved plant vigor and growth. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/8090151179.json b/main/part_2/8090151179.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3919619a8d9de21502f2cd60ea81745bcd52a6a1
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cffa8b7e353199b1dc32421b47afc3c0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/95e55b98-24c0-4b15-b2dd-70a63c75c505/retrieve","id":"-1459788159"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"facd72fc-199d-421c-86aa-893b0c5c0f4f","content":"Started as early as Dr. Borlaug race 15B Notable sources of durable resistance to • SR include \"Hope\" (Sr2,Sr7b,Sr9d,Sr17)and \"Thatcher\" (Sr5,Sr9g,Sr12,Sr16)• LR \"Americano 25\", \"Americano 44D\", \"Surpreza\" ( Lr13; Lr34; Lr3,Lr20),\"Frontana (Lr1,Lr13,Lr15[1108]; Lr10,Lr20,Lr28,Lr34)\", and \"Fronteira\"• YR \"Wilhelmina\", \"Capelle Deprez\" (Yr16), \"Manella\" (Yr2, Yr14), \"Juliana\" (Yr14, Yr18) and \"Carstens VI\" (Yr12).• Lr34 [ Syn.=Yr18=Sr57=Pm38=Sb1=Bdv1=Fhb?=Ltn1],• Lr46 [ Syn.=Yr29=Sr58=Pm39=Ts?=Ltn2],• • 10-15% lines with high levels of adult plant resistance• 40-50% lines with adequate adult plant resistance• 20-30% lines with at least 8 race-specific resistance genes (Sr13a, Sr22, Sr25, Sr26, Sr50, SrND643, SrHuw234, SrNing)• 20-30% lines with inadequate resistance   "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/8099100056.json b/main/part_2/8099100056.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..40d43167b1552b4f63d6cf475c254063de6aedbd
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e2a69cdee802c21e45521f426a933634","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/751def69-108e-4daf-a78b-abd4573fc45e/content","id":"-2146208346"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"28e438ba-4996-44b8-9bfa-8e8411e5f8ab","content":"En el municipio de Tepalcingo, en el estado de Morelos, los productores suelen fertilizar los campos de maíz únicamente con nitrógeno y fósforo, lo cual podría limitar su producción. Esto es ocasionado por la falta de un análisis de suelo. Por otro lado la información, sobre fechas y densidades de siembra optimas al igual que la identificación de los mejores híbridos, esta limitando los rendimientos de la región.El área de Fertilidad Integral del Programa MasAgro realizó en esta localidad la evaluación de una nutrición balanceada, basada en la recomendación de un análisis de suelo para los nutrientes: nitrógeno (N), fósforo (P), potasio (K), zinc (Zn) y boro (B); así como el potencial que tiene esta práctica cuando se combina con otras que involucran el uso del mejor híbrido, la mejor fecha y densidad de siembra.El objetivo de esta guía es dar a conocer los resultados de la evaluación del ciclo agrícola 2015. Para que el productor y/o técnico puedan elegir cuales son las mejores prácticas con base en sus propias condiciones. Cada uno de los tres puntos en esta grafica representa el rendimiento promedio de 18 hibridos sembrados en tres densidades en cada fecha de siembra.La gráfica 2 nos muestra que el rendimiento más alto se obtuvo durante la fecha de siembra correspondiente al 10 de junio, sin necesidad de emplear densidades altas. La información resulta relevante, porque es una ventaja poder utilizar densidades intermedias y así ahorrar en el costo de la semilla.Rendimiento promedio de los híbridos con relación a la densidad para cada fecha de siembra.Asimismo, podemos observar que en caso de que la fecha de siembra se retrase, podemos incrementar el rendimiento si se aumenta la densidad: 21 de junio: al emplear una densidad de 90,000 semillas/ha, el rendimiento aumenta media tonelada. 2 de julio: al emplear una densidad de 90,000 semillas/ha, el rendimiento aumenta una tonelada. En esta fecha, una densidad de 80,000 semillas por ha es suficiente para obtener el máximo rendimiento. Mientras que en siembras tardías es necesario incrementar a una densidad de 90,000 semillas para incrementar el rendimiento.Los híbridos que destacaron en la primera y segunda fecha fueron el P4083W y en la tercera fecha de siembra el híbrido NOVASEM 1.10La mejor fecha de siembra para obtener altos rendimientos es cercana al 10 de junio. En esta fecha la densidad con la que se obtiene el mayor rendimiento es de 80,000 semillas/ha.La selección del mejor híbrido se dará en función de la fecha de siembra. En las siembras tardías es posible compensar parte de la pérdida de rendimiento al incrementar el número de semillas de 80,000 a 90,000 semillas/ha. CONCLUSIONES 1 9 9 5 1 9 9 6 1 9 9 7 1 9 9 8 1 9 9 9 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 3 2 0 0 4 2 0 0 5 2 0 0 6 2 0 0 7 2 0 0 8 2 0 0 9 2 0 1 0 2 0 1 1 2 0 1 2 2 0 1 3 2 0 1 4 "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/8106368430.json b/main/part_2/8106368430.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2b45e6e601ad51cf0c743eebbbfd8113","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e0db6fac-ff77-4599-8ed0-1d641c84d70f/retrieve","id":"1253704564"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"11e74c4e-344a-47a6-8cbf-6a1a5581ddb2","content":"New highly productive and resilient varieties of legumes (groundnut, pigeonpea & bambara nut; cereals (drought tolerant Quality Protein Maize (QPM), sorghum & pearl millet), have been developed. Fodder tree species such as Glyricidia sepium has been evaluated and shared.These new varieties, when supported with appropriate scaling models, will provide farmers with new options for production. They will increase productivity by 2-3 fold and enhance options for land management, nutrition and income for smallholder farming communities.This poster is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. January 2017We thank farmers and local partners in Africa RISING sites for their contributions to this research. We also acknowledge the support of all donors which globally support the work of the CGIAR centers and their partners through their contributions to the CGIAR systemPurpose: To evaluate and deliver new crop and fodder varieties for sustainable intensification in dryland agro-ecologies of central Tanzania (Manyara, Kongwa).Approach: Released and test lines were evaluated on-farm for inclusion in sustainable intensification package on researcher and farmer managed plots. Farmer evaluations were conducted to identify farmer and market variety preferences and inform variety release. Disease free fodder species were evaluated on-farm and scaling and inclusion in livestock feeding regimes tested. Applications for new variety releases were made.• Cereals and legumes: Two drought tolerant QPM varieties (CZH132019Q (T283-34) & CZH132003Q (T283-31), have been released (Table 1). • Legumes: One groundnut variety and 4 pigeonpea varieties namely Ilonga 14-M1, Ilonga 14-M2, Kiboko and Karatu-1 have been evaluated and readied for inclusion in intensification activities. • Significance: New crop and fodder genotypes suitable for increasing and stabilizing, production, and productivity and related benefits of nutrition and income outcomes have been identified. • Scaling: Scaling models are being evaluated and partnerships built for scaling up and out of these improved materials in these communities.  "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/8130973383.json b/main/part_2/8130973383.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d2250922a0c025f2b2624c8540f9efc0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/47edb7c6-dc5e-464a-a7f3-a0989c0a4afe/retrieve","id":"201575139"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"6e670ce2-5bb8-4b2d-940d-d7509f9841c4","content":"The PIM-funded gender-sensitive LINK Methodology developed by CIAT is the cornerstone of the Rural Opportunities Project, funded by Global Affairs Canada and implemented by Swisscontact, CIAT, McGill University, and local partners in Honduras. In 2018 Swisscontact rural business advisors were trained in the use of this toolkit, designed to build inclusive commercial relationships linking rural producers with modern markets. It is hoped that this project will allow 450 small rural businesses and 2000 farmers to benefit from gender-inclusive business models.PIM tools to foster gender-inclusive business models in small rural enterprises in Honduras Women producers are often excluded from the most profitable markets. As a product goes from farm to market, women tend to lose control of the product and corresponding income. Focused interventions are necessary to improve women's economic empowerment and inclusion in rural business models.The LINK Methodology [1] is a toolkit designed by CIAT to build inclusive commercial relationships which link rural producers with modern markets. A gender-sensitive version of this toolkit [2] was developed in 2016. Both of these outputs received PIM support.Through the Central America Learning Alliance [3], which fosters adoption, adaptation and scaling of innovations by development partners, Swisscontact and CIAT have a long history of shared learning, including around the development and field testing of LINK. Thus it is not surprising that Swisscontact turned to CIAT for assistance in using LINK for implementing a social inclusion strategy in the value chains and rural businesses targeted by the Rural Market Opportunities project funded by Global Affairs Canada in southern Honduras.CIAT's role includes translating the gender-sensitive LINK manual into Spanish, training Swisscontact rural business advisers and staff of local government partners in the application of LINK and in gender-sensitive business development ( [4], [5]), technical advice to apply the methodology to non agricultural business areas such as tourism, and support for monitoring and evaluating changes resulting from the use of the methodology.2018 was the project's first full year of implementation, with focus on the training component. By 2022, the adoption of the Gender-Sensitive LINK Methodology for the Rural Market Opportunities project should strengthen women's economic empowerment in 450 rural businesses, and 2,000 farmers should benefit from the strengthened business models of the farmer organizations they belong to. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/8138728786.json b/main/part_2/8138728786.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"79407ee653948bdc6347b3294a77c292","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/793e8529-1059-4a10-a5c5-734660a0a3be/retrieve","id":"-869132152"},"keywords":["Thierry Lescot","Cirad","Francia YM: Yvan Mathieu","Vitropic","Francia"],"sieverID":"0bd2f776-2843-405f-97f7-98f7ac5fe44e","content":"La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musaceascapitulo 1: ¿Es importante la calidad del material de siembra para la productividad de las plantaciones de las musáceas?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceasCapitulo 1: ¿Es importante la calidad del material de siembra para la productividad de las plantaciones de las musáceas?Las musáceas 1 son un cultivo importante para las familias de los pequeños productores en climas tropicales y sub-tropicales: contribuyen a la seguridad alimenticia, diversifican la dieta y generan ingresos a millones de hogares rurales. Cada año, las familias productoras siembran o resiembran sus plantaciones de musáceas, usando más de 20 a 30 billones de cormos o algún otro tipo de material vegetativo de siembra.Esta guía ilustrada resume las prácticas clave para la producción de material de siembra, con mayor potencial de producción, para los pequeños productores, dependiendo de las plagas y enfermedades que se presenten.Esta guía también está diseñada para contribuir a planificar mejor la propagacíon del material de siembra para proyectos de desarrollo rural y de mitigación de desastres.Una versión sencilla de este manual está disponible, como fichas de campo para productores, bien ilustradas con fotografias. Las leyendas y explicaciones de los diferentes métodos, de ser necesario, pueden ser traducidas a los dialectos o lenguas locales.capitulo 1: ¿Es importante la calidad del material de siembra para la productividad de las plantaciones de las musaceas?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musaceas 6 capitulo 1: ¿Es importante la calidad del material de siembra para la productividad de las plantaciones de las musáceas?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceas 6Minimizar la transmisión de enfermedades y plagasCada cormo es una oportunidad de mejorar el rendimiento y la calidad de la cosecha de los pequeños productores, pero también puede contribuir a una planta poco productiva. Igual que con los demás cultivos propagados vegetativamente, la mala selección del material de siembra puede ayudar a transmitir plagas insectiles, enfermedades fungosas o bacterianas y virus. Un material de siembra infectado con plagas y enfermedades puede resultar en pérdidas del 20 al 100% de la primera cosecha, dependiendo del problema y puede reducir el número de cosechas a la mitad o menos.Obtener suficiente material de siembra libre de insectos y enfermedades es un reto grande para los pequeños productores, porque no sólo necesitan cinco o diez hijos cada año, sino cientos o miles de ellos. Si sólo el 10 al 20% del material de siembra está infectado, las plagas y enfermedades rápidamente pasan a las plantas sanas reduciendo tanto el tamaño del racimo como el número de cosechas. Algunas enfermedades como el virus \"bunchy top\" del banano y la marchitez por Fusarium son letales y las nuevas plantaciones provenientes de hijos infectados no tendrán ninguna producción.Los cormos libres de plagas y enfermedades son muy importantes para los pequeños agricultores, con patio diversificado, aunque pueden preferir, para el auto-consumo, una diversidad de variedades que produzcan pocas cabezas cada mes. (GO)capitulo 1: ¿Es importante la calidad del material de siembra para la productividad de las plantaciones de las musaceas?capitulo 1: ¿Es importante la calidad del material de siembra para la productividad de las plantaciones de las musáceas?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceasCada hijo sembrado tiene el potencial de producir racimos, cuyo tamaño y características dependen de la planta madre. Los productores, durante miles de años, han seleccionado plantas con características especiales para la siembra y resiembra, generando así la agro-biodiversidad mundial. Productores del Este de África tienen más de 200 tipos de su banano AAA EAH. Hoy en día, el reto para cada productor es sembrar hijos con mayor potencial de cosecha en cada nueva plantación, mediante la selección de hijos de las mejores plantas madre, eliminando las plantas menos productivas.Los pequeños agricultores que producen para el mercado local y para el auto-consumo suelen sembrar una o dos variedades. Les interesa plantaciones con una larga vida que producen varias cosechas. Ellos deben usar material de siembra sin plagas ni enfermedades. A través de una cuidadosa selección de plantas madre, pueden también mejorar el potencial productivo de sus plantaciones en cada siembra o resiembra. (CS)capitulo 1: ¿Es importante la calidad del material de siembra para la productividad de las plantaciones de las musáceas?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceasPlanificar la duración de la cosecha Además de la transmisión de plagas y enfermedades y del potencial de cosecha, la calidad de los materiales de siembra, también, puede contribuir a la duración de la cosecha. Hijos de diferentes tamaños, sembrados en el mismo campo, producirán los primeros racimos en un período de tiempo más largo que aquellos hijos u otros materiales de siembra que son mucho más uniformes. Para el consumo familiar, una producción distribuida en el tiempo es conveniente, pero, para el mercado, tener más racimos en un corto período de tiempo puede ser una estrategia más rentable.Grandes cantidades de insumos y alta densidad anual de plantas pueden ser usadas para concentrar las cosechas en períodos de tiempo cortos, cuando los precios son altos. Tales sistemas demandan un material de siembra, limpio con alto potencial productivo y un tamaño bastante uniforme. (LP) capitulo 2: ¿Cuáles son las principales plagas insectiles y enfermedades transportadas por el material vegetativo de siembra?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musaceas 9 capitulo 2: ¿Cuáles son las principales plagas insectiles y enfermedades transportadas por el material vegetativo de siembra?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceasCapitulo 2: ¿Cuáles son las principales plagas insectiles y enfermedades transportadas por el material vegetativo de siembra?Unas diez plagas y enfermedades pueden trasladarse de plantaciones viejas donde están presentes a plantaciones nuevas recien sembradas en cormos y otros materiales de siembra. Estas plagas y enfermedades pueden ser agrupadas en categorias dependiendo de qué tan fácil son manejadas por los productores o por otros proveedores de servicios a la producción.1) Los nematodos y picudos de las musáceas: estas plagas muy frecuentes pueden ser fácilmente manejadas por los productores y con poco riesgo.2) Las marchitezes bacteriana o fungosa y el virus del rayado (BSV) del plátano (AAB): este grupo de enfermedades requiere un manejo especial en la finca, y puede acarrear algunos riesgos.3) El virus \"bunchy top\", virus del rayado en el banano AAA y otros virus en musáceas: estas enfermedades pueden ser controladas solamente por técnicas de propagación fuera de la finca.Nota: El virus del bunchy top, el virus del mosáico de las brácteas, la marchitez por Fusarium raza tropical 4 y las marchiteces bacterianas (Xanthomonas y Ralstonia) solamente se encuentran en ciertas regiones y países. La cuarentena internacional y nacional tiene como meta reducir la introducción de estas enfermedades a nuevas áreas. Contacte a sus autoridades locales para saber si estas enfermedades cuarentenadas están presentes en su país or localidad.capitulo 2: ¿Cuáles son las principales plagas insectiles y enfermedades transportadas por el material vegetativo de siembra?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musaceas 10 capitulo 2: ¿Cuáles son las principales plagas insectiles y enfermedades transportadas por el material vegetativo de siembra?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceas Problemas de plagas generalizados, pero fáciles de manejar en fincaAlgunos fitonematodos y el picudo de las musáceas, transmitidos a través de un material de siembra infectado, se pueden manejar con prácticas sencillas en la finca para producir material de siembra relativamente sano. La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceas Prácticas claves de manejo para plagas fáciles de manejar en la finca 1. Seleccionar el material de siembra de plantaciones jóvenes y vigorosas, en su primer ciclo de producción. 2. Pelar o hervir los hijos o cepas para minimizar el daño por nematodos o la presencia de picudos. Eliminar los hijos con un exceso de tejido necrotico de color negro o marrón; 3. Aplicar medidas sanitarias (pelando o hirviendo) cerca de dónde se extrajeron los hijos. Esto evita la contaminación del campo que se va a sembrar, con raíces infectadas o pedazos descartados de los cormos. 4. Almacenar los hijos lejos de cualquier plantación de musáceas. 5. Asegurarse de usar substratos limpios (libres de fitonematodos) para las bolsas de vivero, si se están usando técnicas de macro-propagación.Las larvas del picudo de las musáceas se alimentan de los cormos y seudo-tallos, formando una red de tuneles caracterizados por un tejido muerto ennegrecido. Estos tuneles debilitan los cormos y las plantas frecuentemente se quiebran, a nivel del cormo. (PC)El picudo de las musáceas se presenta en los campos en tres estadíos de vida. Los adultos viven en los residuos de las musáceas y se mueven en los tuneles formados por las larvas. Ellos ponen huevos en el cormo, los cuales eclosionan, dando vida a unas larvas que se alimentan del cormo y seudo-tallo.La marchitez bacteriana causa amarillamiento de las hojas más viejas y provoca la muerte de las plantas. Nunca se debe tomar hijos de las plantas con estos síntomas o de ninguna planta vecina, ya que la bacteria es transportada también por el agua y los insectos. Los campos que presentan marchitez bacteriana generalmente no deben ser usados para sacar hijos. (OB)Plantas con Fusarium muestran un amarillamiento progresivo de las hojas, iniciando con las hojas más viejas, seguidas por la marchitez y dobladura de las hojas. (PC)Erwinia se evidencia por la presencia de tejido suave y de aspecto acuoso en la superficie del tallo, el cual es rapidamente invadido por otros organismos causando la pudrición del tejido. (PC)Problemas de plagas que requieren cuidos especiales en finca capitulo 2: ¿Cuáles son las principales plagas insectiles y enfermedades transportadas por el material vegetativo de siembra?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceasLas enfermedades bacterianas y fungosas pueden ser detectadas, algunas veces, en los cortes transversales del tallo. Un corte transversal del tallo saludable debe aparecer de color blanco y sin manchas de otro color.Cuando la marchitez bacteriana está presente, se puede observar un exudado de color marrón, en el corte transversal del tronco a menudo asociado a una decoloración del seudo-tallo. (PC)Hojas exteriores del seudo-tallo se observan con tejido suave y de aspecto acuoso, con decoloración café a medida que se extiende.(PC)El hongo invade las raíces y el sistema vascular de la planta, evidenciado por hilos marrones pasando a lo largo del seudo-tallo.(PC)(TL)BSV en plátano AAB se evidencia por la presencia de hojas gruesas y distorsionadas, con rayas y manchas cloróticas que posteriormente se vuelven necróticas. Es común que el tallo se raje. La presencia de BSV también produce el rompimiento del verticilo de las hojas cuando emerge el racimo y la deformación del mismo.Prácticas claves para el manejo de plagas que requieren cuidos especiales en finca En el caso de la marchitez bacteriana y fungosa:1. No extraer hijos o retoños de campos contaminados.2. Si no hay plantaciones libres de marchitez, extraer hijos solamente de las plantas distantes de las plantas enfermas y que estén ubicadas en las zonas altas de las pendientes. 3. Extraer los hijos de las plantas que están a punto de cosecharse, cuando los síntomas son más visibles.Evitar usar las plantas que presentan síntomas sospechosos y las plantas vecinas. 4. Para reducir la propagación de la marchitez bacteriana en la plantación, hay que quitar la flor masculina lo mas pronto posible despues de la formación del racimo. No extraer hijos o retoños de plantas con síntomas sospechosos o de plantas cercanas a ellas. 5. Para prevenir la diseminación de la marchitez bacteriana, de un hijo a otro a través de las herramientas, se debe desinfectar los machetes y otras herramientas usadas para la extracción de los hijos y para el mondado de cada hijo. Sin embargo, la desinfección no es efectiva para la marchitez fungosa. 6. Descartar cualquier hijo con indicios de decoloración en un corte transversal del tallo. 7. Desinfectar y seleccionar los hijos cerca de las plantaciones donde fueron extraidos. Esto evita la contaminación de las nuevas plantaciones con raíces o cortes de cormos dañados.En el caso del BSV en plátano (AAB):1. No se debe extraer hijos de plantas con BSV. 2. Extraer los hijos de plantas a punto de cosecharse, cuando los síntomas son más visibles.3. Eliminar rigurosamente las plantas anormales y las plantas con síntomas de BSV en cualquier etapa de multiplicación y establecimiento de la plantación. 4. Volver a plantar en zonas cercanas para limitar la difusión potencial del virus.capitulo 2: ¿Cuáles son las principales plagas insectiles y enfermedades transportadas por el material vegetativo de siembra?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceas Problemas de plagas que requieren técnicas de propagación especializadas fuera de la finca Ciertos tipos de virus tienen un impacto muy severo en el rendimiento. Si estos virus están comunmente presentes en el material de siembra en una región, los productores no pueden usar el material de siembra obtenido de sus plantaciones o de plantaciones vecinas. Plantas libres de virus producidas in vitro deben ser multiplicadas en laboratorios especializados, con protocolos de prueba y limpieza de virus. Otros virus conocidos incluyen al virus del mosaico del pepino (CMV) y al virus del mosaico suave del banano (BMMV). Cuando se presentan solos, estos virus causan daños mínimos, pero pueden causar pérdidas serias de rendimiento, si hay infecciones por varios virus a la vez. El CMV también puede volverse más dañino si otros cultivos susceptibles como el pepino, sandía y calabaza se siembran como cultivos asociados dentro de las plantaciones de musáceas.El virus del mosaico de las brácteas del banano (BBrMV) no puede ser detectado visualmente en los retoños. El BBrMV genera manchas en las hojas que desaparecen en 48 horas y un mosaico amarillo o blancorojizo en el seudo-tallo. Sin embargo, unas rayas de color marrón rojizo o decoloraciones en las brácteas masculinas son los síntomas para identificar la presencia del virus. (CS)Prácticas clave para el manejo de plagas que requieren técnicas de propagación especializadas fuera de la finca 1. En regiones con presencia de BSV (excepto en plátano AAB) y BBTV, se deben usar plantas in vitro provenientes solamente de cultivos de tejido de laboratorios con equipamiento completo para la detección y limpieza del virus. 2. Si se proponen conseguir vitroplantas provenientes de regiones con BBrMV (principalmente en Asia), deben aceptar solamente vitroplantas de laboratorios de cultivos de tejido que tienen capacidades para la detección de todos los virus. Se puede reducir los riesgos de recibir plantas contaminadas comprando solamente vitroplantas procedientes de laboratorios certificados con procedimientos de trazabilidad de países libres de virus como el BBrMV y BBTV. 3. Cuando compren vitroplantas, asegurense que estos u otros virus, tales como el CMV y BMMV, han sido eliminados antes de la multiplicación. 4. Si emplean vitroplantas como fuente de material de siembra para macro-propagación, se debe usar multiples técnicas de aislamiento para prevenir la infección de las plantas resultantes con BBTV, BSV en variedades de bananos AAA y marchiteces bacterianas. 5. En el caso de vitroplantas para plátano AAB, hay que eliminar rigurosamente las plantas atípicas o anormales y las que tengan síntomas de BSV en cada etapa de la multipicación y establecimiento de la plantación.capitulo 3: ¿Qué tan uniforme necesita ser el material de siembra?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceasCapitulo 3: ¿Qué tan uniforme necesita ser el material de siembra?Diferentes tipos de materiales de siembra pueden ser extraídos de una plantación establecida de musáceas. Casi cualquier forma o tipo de hijos o de cormos principales puede ser usado, ya sea intacto o cortado en pedazos para sembrar nuevas plantaciones. Todos los diversos materiales de siembra, de diferentes formas y tamaños, son útiles para producir un racimo, aunque ciertos materiales de siembra tienen un ciclo de producción más corto entre la siembra en el campo y la cosecha. Los cormos provenientes de tallos grandes sin parir tienen el intervalo más corto de la siembra a la cosecha, seguido por los cormos de espada grandes y luego, los cormos de espada pequeños.Los cormos pequeños e hijos de agua tienen el intervalo más largo de la siembra en el campo a la cosecha.Una mata que ya ha producido su primera cosecha puede tener cormos, hijos o retoños de diferentes tamaños. Aún los hijos de agua y los retoños más pequeños pueden ser extraidos y puestos a crecer en viveros. Los cormos procedentes de tallos grandes, antes o después de la cosecha, también se pueden usar como fuente de material de siembra. La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceasAdemás del tamaño y de la edad del material de siembra, el tipo de musáceas y su variedad también tendrán algún efecto en la duración del período de cosecha. Dependiendo de sus objetivos, los dueños de las fincas pueden preferir una plantación con la cosecha distribuida en el tiempo para el consumo familiar o una plantación comercial altamente uniforme para cosechar grandes cantidades de un mismo tipo, en un período de tiempo corto.Al sembrar un nueva plantación, los productores pueden necesitar unos cuantos cientos o miles de cormos u otro material de siembra.Mientras más uniforme sea el material que se siembra, en terminos de edad y tamaño, más concentrada estará la cosecha en un período entre 2 a 5 meses o más. Si el material de siembra posee muchos tamaños o el campo se siembra durante un período de varios meses, la cosecha será más distribuida en el tiempo.\"Hijo de agua\". (CS) \"Peepers\". (PC) capitulo 4: ¿Podemos mejorar el rendimiento potencial a través de la selección de las plantas madre? capitulo 4: ¿Podemos mejorar el rendimiento potencial a través de la selección de las plantas madre?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceasCapitulo 4: ¿Podemos mejorar el rendimiento potencial a través de la selección de las plantas madre?En el mundo actual existen cientos de variedades de bananos, plátanos, guineos, cambures y matooke.Por miles de años, los productores de Asia, África y el Pacífico han venido observando sus plantaciones y barbechos y han seleccionado plantas con características especiales.Cada variedad actual tiene ciertos aspectos que hace que se distingue de las otras variedades como el tamaño y forma de los racimos y dedos, el sabor, textura y olor del fruto, y el color y forma de los tallos y hojas. Sin embargo, cada variedad es también caracterizada por una cierta variabilidad en algunos de los mismos aspectos ante mencionados. Esta variabilidad provee una interesante oportunidad a través de la cual los pequeños productores pueden mejorar la productividad de sus plantaciones. Dicho de manera sencilla, se debe tomar el material de siembra únicamente de plantas que tienen un comportamiento superior al promedio, en rasgos importantes tales como el número y tamaño de los dedos, estatura de la planta, intervalo de retoño entre la cosecha del racimo de la planta madre y la cosecha del racimo de los cormos de retoño. Esta práctica através del tiempo tiene un efecto multiplicador doble: la reducción de plantas con rasgos inferiores al promedio y el incremento de plantas con rasgos deseables.Las compañías exportadoras de bananos identificaron algunas pocas plantas élite dentro de las plantas con características sobresalientes en sus plantaciones. Después de realizar pruebas de detección de virus, esas plantas élite son multiplicadas en laboratorios de cultivo de tejido, para generar lineas monoclonales de plantas que tienen un crecimiento y características del racimo muy uniformes. Esto no sólo incrementa el potencial de cosecha, sino permite tener mayor densidad de siembra, dado que todas las plantas tienen un tamaño similar y existe menos efecto de sombreado por plantas vecinas más altas.capitulo 4: ¿Podemos mejorar el rendimiento potencial a través de la selección de las plantas madre?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musaceas 20 capitulo 4: ¿Podemos mejorar el rendimiento potencial a través de la selección de las plantas madre?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceas Principios de selección de plantas madre deseables• Identificar las caraterísticas importantes sobre las cuales se centrará el proceso de selección.• Determinar los valores mínimos o máximos de las características tomadas en cuenta en el proceso de selección.• Marcar las plantas en cosecha que tienen características interesantes para la selección.• Seleccionar plantas madre solamente entre las plantas ubicadas en condiciones homogéneas.• Evitar plantas en los bordes o favorecidas por otras condiciones del entorno.• Evitar plantas que tienen características anormales o sintomas de plagas o enfermedades predominantes.Los hijos seleccionados por esta vía pueden ser sembrados o multiplicados usando diversas técnicas.El Instituto Taiwanés de Investigación en Banano (Taiwan Banana Research Institute, TBRI) ha usado una selección masal para identificar plantas con una mayor tolerancia a la marchitez por Fusarium. Cada año, los productores de banano taiwaneses resiembran sus plantaciones de bananos con vitroplantas, una estrategia incialmente diseñada para evitar pérdidas de cultivos por tifones. Desde la aparición de la marchitez por Fusarium, los científicos y productores han estado seleccionando plantas que continuan creciendo aunque las plantas vecinas hayan sido afectadas por Fusarium. A través de esta estrategia, nuevas líneas de banano (Cavendish AAA) han sido identificadas con tolerancia a la raza sub-tropical 4 de Fusarium, aún cuando generalmente se considera que Cavendish es susceptible a esta enfermedad.capitulo 5: ¿Cuáles son los métodos de propagación más comunes?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceasCapitulo 5: ¿Cuáles son los métodos de propagación más comunes?Existen cinco métodos comunes para obtener material de siembra para el establecimiento de nuevas plantaciones de musáceas. Cada método tiene requerimientos específicos, en términos de facilidades y equipos; una tasa de multiplicación característica y ciertos riesgos de contaminación de plagas y enfermedades. Los métodos varían desde la extracción de pocos hijos de una parcela, a pequeños viveros de unos pocos cientos de plantulas distribuidas a nivel local, y hasta unidades de producción industrial de varios millones de vitroplantas por año para la exportación.Las técnicas específicas están descritas e ilustradas a continuación. En secciones posteriores, se describirán las buenas prácticas para las diferentes etapas de multiplicación de las plantas.1) Hijos extraídos de campos de producción de musáceasLos hijos deben ser extraídos de plantas madre, con técnicas apropiadas para evitar debilitar sus sistemas radiculares de apoyo.(PC)Una planta de musácea produce hijos que brotan de yemas de la planta madre. Estos cormos pueden ser extraídos y resembrados para establecer un nuevo campo. (CS)capitulo 5: ¿Cuáles son los métodos de propagación más comunes?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceas2) Hijos reproducidos en parcelas de multiplicaciónUna parcela de multiplicación de cormos se siembra con altas densidades, hijos de buena calidad, libres de plagas y enfermedades en suelos bien drenados y profundos, ricos en materia orgánica. En las páginas iniciales de esta guía, se ha hecho referencia a tres categorías de plagas y enfermedades -fáciles de manejar en finca, manejables en finca con cuidos especiales y manejables solamente con prácticas especializadas fuera de la finca. En el cuadro abajo el riesgo de la transmisión de ocho plagas y enfermedades importantes está planteado para los cinco métodos de multiplicación más comunes. Esta estimación del riesgo se aplica solamente si ciertas prácticas claves están empleadas para cada método con el debido cuidado y destreza. Estas prácticas están detalladas en la siguiente sección. Por favor, preste atención a las prácticas claves cuando usted planifique la preparación o compra de material de siembra. Por supuesto, si su área está libre de uno de estos problemas fitosanitarios, como por ejemplo BBTV en América Latina, el riesgo se reduce, salvo que se está trayendo material de siembra de otro continente o de una zona donde la enfermedad o plaga está presente.Riesgo de transmisión de plagas y enfermedades para cada método de multiplicación, asumiendo que se usa buenas prácticas de multiplicación en un 100%(*) Si la plaga o enfermedad no está presente en la región, significa que el riesgo se reduce sustancialmente.capitulo 7: ¿Cuáles son las prácticas clave de multiplicación para cada método que garanticen la calidad del material de siembra? capitulo 7: ¿Cuáles son las prácticas clave de multiplicación para cada método que garanticen la calidad del material de siembra?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceasCapitulo 7: ¿Cuáles son las prácticas clave de multiplicación para cada método que garanticen la calidad del material de siembra?Los agricultores utilizan técnicas de bajo costo, tanto como sea posible, en sus plantaciones. Sin embargo, el uso de material de siembra de baja calidad, contaminado con plagas y enfermedades, puede tener un impacto negativo, tanto en los rendimientos como en las ganancias. Aun las vitroplantas se venden como limpias y de alta calidad genética, pero esta tecnología supuestamente moderna no elimina los riesgos de planta fuera de tipo o contaminadas con virus o bacterias, si los procedimientos indicados no son respectados. Los productores necesitan conocer las prácticas clave de cada método de multiplicación, para así tomar decisiones bien fundamentadas en cuanto a sus planes de producción. En este documento, no describimos todos los detalles de la multiplicación de materiales de siembra, sino que identificamos las prácticas clave determinantes para la calidad del material de siembra.Prácticas clave para la selección de plantas madre superiores y saludables 1. Extraer hijos solamente de campos libres de virus de BBTV, BBrMV, BSV o CMV. 2. Extraer hijos solamente de campos libres de marchitez bacteriana o fungosa. 3. Extraer hijos solamente de campos con una mínima presencia de nematodos y picudos. 4. A lo largo del año, marcar las plantas con racimos grandes, como una fuente de hijos cuando el racimo esté cosechado. Una vez pasada la cosecha, podría ser difícil reconocer estas plantas de características superiores. 5. A lo largo del año, marcar las plantas con hojas abundantes y saludables, raíces con buen anclaje, tallo robusto, y que tengan altura por debajo de la media, como fuentes de hijos. 6. Si seleccionan hijos por multiplicación en cultivo de tejidos en laboratorio e incluso a través de la propagación de yemas axilares, seleccionar cuidadosamente las plantas madre con las mejores características y sin defectos. Si la planta madre élite no se ha seleccionado bien, entonces el material multiplicado no ofrecerá todas las ventajas esperadas de una alta tasa de multiplicación. 7. El material extraído de plantas madre superiores, para uso en la multiplicación in vitro, debe ser puesto en cuarentena y se debe comprobar que está libre de virus y marchiteces bacterianas.capitulo 7: ¿Cuáles son las prácticas clave de multiplicación para cada método que garanticen la calidad del material de siembra?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceasSeleccionen hijos de plantas que han estado marcadas previamente por su vigor, altura menor que la media, buen anclaje radicular, tallo robusto y racimos grandes. Extraigan hijos de plantas jóvenes con pocos nematodos y picudos. (PC)No extraigan hijos de plantaciones viejas o de plantaciones en las cuales las plantas superiores no han sido identificadas. (CS)Cuidados en la selección de la planta madre La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceasPrácticas claves para la extracción y preparación de hijos para la siembra directa 1. Utilizar prácticas identificadas en la sección sobre la selección de plantas madre superiores y sanas. 2. Seleccionar hijos de espada que hayan alcanzado 1 metro antes de que las hojas anchas hayan salido, aunque los hijos de agua y las secciones de cormos, cosechados de cormos y plantas jóvenes, también pueden ser usados.3. Usar tratamiento de mondado (pelado) o agua hirviendo para desinfectar el material de siembra.Para pelar:• Mondar los cormos en el campo donde son extraídos, hasta que quede solamente el tejido blanco. • Descartar cualquier hijo que tenga el cormo muy reducido en relación al tamaño del tallo, que tenga el cormo con abundante tejido marrón-negruzco o que tenga manchas descoloridas o exudados en el corte transversal del tallo. • Trasladar de inmediato los cormos tratados a un área lejos de la plantación de musáceas, para evitar nueva contaminación con picudos. Los picudos son atraídos por el olor de la savia de los cormos. Para el tratamiento de cormos con agua caliente• Seleccionar hijos con el tejido del cormo abundante, sano y blanco, descartando todos los hijos con poco cormo, con manchas o exudados en un corte trasversal del seudo-tallo, con abundante tejido del cormo de color marrón o negro, o con galerias. No es necesario pelar el cormo completamente. • Sumergir los cormos en agua hirviendo durante 30 segundos.• Trasladar de inmediato los cormos tratados a un área lejos de cualquier plantación de musáceas, para evitar la nueva contaminación con picudos. Prácticas clave para la multiplicación de hijos en parcelas 1. Aplicar las prácticas señaladas en la sección de selección de plantas madre superiores y sanas. 2. Aplicar las prácticas señaladas en la sección de selección y preparación de hijos para siembra directa, incluyendo las de mondado o desinfección con agua caliente. 3. Seleccionar una parcela para la siembra donde no se haya sembrado musáceas por más de un año y que esté alejada de los lugares donde hay plantaciones de musáceas. 4. Eliminar cualquier planta atípica o con síntomas problemáticos y descartar el campo como fuente de material de siembra si se encuentran plantas con síntomas de BBTV, BSV, BBrMV, marchitez bacteriana o Mal de Panamá. 5. Eliminar las flores antes de la emergencia (por decapitación, \"falsa decapitación\", tallo doblado).La decapitación sirve para eliminar el punto de crecimiento antes de la emergencia de la flor y para estimular la formación de hijos. (JC) La \"falsa decapitación\" también sirve para estimular la formación de hijos por la inhibición de la emergencia de la flor. (OB) Los hijos deben ser cosechados tan pronto como alcancen el tamaño mínimo útil para dar espacio a los hijos restantes. (JC) capitulo 7: ¿Cuáles son las prácticas clave de multiplicación para cada método que garanticen la calidad del material de siembra?La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceasPrácticas claves para el crecimiento de micro-cormos 1. Usar las prácticas señaladas en la sección sobre selección de plantas madre superiores y sanas. 2. Usar las prácticas señaladas en la sección sobre extracción de hijos de parcelas en producción. 3. Realizar mondado en hijos con peso de 200 a 500 gramos y agrupar cormos de tamaño similar. 4. Seguir las prácticas clave de viveros de adaptación. Prácticas claves para la propagación de plantas a partir de yemas axilares1. Usar las prácticas señaladas en la sección sobre selección de plantas madre superiores y sanas. 2. Usar las prácticas señaladas en la sección sobre extracción directa de la plantación. 3. Mondar los cormos que alcancen un peso de 200 a 500 gramos, hasta que se vea solamente el tejido blanco. 4. Cortar las hojas, una a una, exponiendo así las yemas axilares en la base de cada hoja. Hacer un corte profundo en forma de equis sobre el punto principal de crecimiento, en el centro del corte transversal del tallo. 5. Preparar camas altas de aserrín humedecido, dentro de una cámara con paredes de plástico transparente que esté parcialmente sombreada. 6. Eliminar cualquier retoño que brote de la yema principal, ya que este inhibirá los brotes de las yemas axilares. 7. Remover cuidadosamente los brotes de yemas axilares que ya tienen raíces, teniendo el cuido de mantener intacto el bulbo en la base del tallo. 8. Regresar los cormos al aserrín humedecido para rebrotes adicionales. 9. Seguir las prácticas clave para el desarrollo y adaptación de plantas en vivero. Prácticas claves para la compra de vitroplantas 1. Exigir garantías de que las vitroplantas fueron multiplicadas de plantas madre superiores de las variedades recomendables para las condiciones climáticas de la zona de producción. 2. Exigir garantías de que las plantas madre venían de zonas libres de marchitez bacteriana (Xanthomonas y Ralstonia) y fungosa (Fusarium raza tropical 4) y de virus (BBTV y BBrMV). 3. Exigir las pruebas de virus de las plantas madre para asegurar que las vitroplantas no portaban BBTV, CMV, BSV, BBrMV u otros virus. Para el BSV en plátano, se debe usar la prueba IC-PCR. 4. Pedir la certificación de que las vitroplantas son libres de infecciones bacterianas (especialmente Xanthomonas y Ralstonia) y fungosas (sobre todo Fusarium raza tropical 4). 5. Pedir la certificación de que solamente 1,000 plantas fueron generadas de un brote apical. 6. Exigir una garantía de que el número de plantas atípicas no pasará del 5%. En el caso que el porcentaje sea superior al limite, se debe recibir plantas de sustitución gratuitamente.1. No comprar plantas in vitro sin certificados de calidad de las plantas madre, procedimientos de prueba de virus y ausencia de contaminación por bacterias y hongos.capitulo 7: ¿Cuáles son las prácticas clave de multiplicación para cada método que garanticen la calidad del material de siembra?Prácticas clave para el crecimiento en vivero de micro-cormos, plantas a partir de yemas axilares y vitroplantas1. Escoger un sitio con buen drenaje y con fácil acceso a fuentes de agua limpia para el riego. 2. Para reducir el riesgo de infección desde plantaciones de musáceas cercanas, especialmente por insectos, incluyendo hormigas, se debe emplear una malla para proteger el vivero. Ademas, se debe mantener libre de vegetación una franja de 10 metros alrededor del vivero. 3. Planificar un máximo de 50% de sombra, la cual puede ser gradualmente reducida y luego eliminada justo antes del trasplante. 4. Preparar un substrato limpio, rico en materia orgánica y nutrientes adecuados para el crecimiento inicial de plantas vigorosas y a la vez libre de nematodos y posible contaminación por bacterias o hongos. 5. Eliminar frecuentemente las plantas anormales y atípicas con poco vigor y las plantas con enfermedades. 6. Incrementar el espacio entre las bolsas en el vivero, a medida que las plantas crezcan y las hojas comiencen a traslaparse.El sitio del vivero debe tener buen drenaje, con buena circulación de aire y fácil acceso al agua para riego.  La propagación de material de siembra de calidad para mejorar la salud y productividad del cultivo: prácticas clave para las musáceasProgramas alternativos para producir 50,000 plantas cuando hay presencia de enfermedades que requieren realizar la multiplicación fuera de la finca En regiones donde están presentes los BBTV, BSV en banano AAA o Fusarium Raza 4, el uso de hijos producidos localmente en campos para siembra directa o la producción de hijos en parcelas, de micro-cormos o de plantas de yemas axilares representan un riesgo muy alto de multiplicación de enfermedades. La única opción accesible depende de la multiplicación in vitro con brotes apicales garantizados libres de virus. A mediano plazo, si el programa logra sostenerse durante un período de 5 a 10 años, el proceso de selección puede incluir la identificación de clones superiores, con un alto y uniforme potencial productivo.La opción 1 (ver tabla 1) es más aplicable cuando las vitroplantas son baratas y la tasa de reinfección es alta. Esta estrategia se usa en Taiwan bajo amenaza de marchitez por Fusarium, y en las Filipinas cuando la presencia de BBTV es muy alta. Bajo tales condiciones, el uso de parcelas de multiplicación de cormos representa un alto riesgo de reinfección que no permite la implementación de cámaras de multiplicación en base a yemas axilares.La opción 2 (ver tabla 1) es muy exigente en término de medidas de protección que hay que aplicar durante varias etapas, pero puede ser aplicable donde el riesgo de reinfección es bajo, donde la producción de vitroplantas es más cara o las facilidades de laboratorio son limitados y la variedad a multiplicar es principalmente de interés local. Programas alternativos cuando no hay presencia de las principales enfermedades que requieren una cuarentenaEn regiones donde las enfermedades que requieren una cuarentena están ausentes, existen numerosas opciones para producir un material de siembra limpio. El principal reto, en estas regiones, es desarrollar clones superiores con potencial productivo alto y uniforme. El uso de la multiplicación in vitro no es mencionado entre las opcions presentadas a continuación, pero puede ser muy efectivo una vez que los clones superiores han sido identificados.Las opciones 3 y 4 son las más recomendables cuando existen grandes extensiones de la variedad deseada (tabla 2). Cuando la fuente de plantas madre es más limitada, se necesita un período mayor, como se indica en las opciones 5 y 6 (tabla 3). Cuando la disponibilidad de hijos para la multiplicación es muy limitada, se necesita un período aún mayor para lograr el objetivo de 50,000 plantas como se indica en las opciones 7 y 8 (tabla 4). Tabla 4. Multiplicación de material de siembra con plantas provenientes de yemas axilares (donde las enfermedades que requieren cuarentena están ausentes) capitulo 9: Claves para mejorar el material de siembra en la fincaEn el caso de países o regiones que no tienen enfermedades que requieren de servicios especiales fuera de la finca, dos áreas principales merecen especial atención:1. Los servicios de cuarentena necesitan ser reforzados para asegurar que los países o regiones permanezcan libres de enfermedades tales como el BBTV, la marchitez bacteriana (Xanthomonas y/o Ralstonia) y la raza tropical 4 de Fusarium. 2. El reforzamiento de capacidades debe concentrarse en el relativamente poco personal técnico que dirige y ejecuta procedimientos de cuarentena de plantas, con campañas públicas de sensibilización, dirigidas a quienes podrían representar el mayor riesgo de introducir involuntariamente material enfermo.También, existen oportunidades para mejorar la capacidad de los productores de usar material de siembra de plantas madre superiores y con un nivel de infestación menor de fitonematodos y picudos. A través de mejores materiales de enseñanza y mejores ejercicios de campo en las escuelas técnicas, universidades y programas de formación de extensionistas, los productores tendrían mayores posibilidades de recibir una mejor asistencia técnica sobre la calidad del material de siembra.Para hacer frente a la demanda de materiales mejorados de siembra por los pequeños productores, los sectores público y privado en Australia y Las Filipinas tienen servicios clave, recursos humanos y materiales tales como laboratorios para pruebas de virus, compañías privadas de cultivo de tejido, virólogos y oficiales de campo de cuarentena. La República Democrática del Congo, por otro lado, enfrenta un reto doble: primero, determinar qué servicios adicionales y recursos materiales y humanos se necesitan para proveer material de siembra libre de BBTV y luego, implementar una estrategia, comenzando en las zonas de menor costo y mayores posibilidades de éxito.Este manual se ha basado en décadas de investigación y desarrollo sobre métodos de multiplicación de materiales de siembra más eficientes y efectivos. Sin embargo, la implementación de programas dirigidos a facilitar que los agricultores empleen un mejor material de siembra sigue siendo un reto de desarrollo considerable, más alla de los detalles y prácticas claves sobre los diferentes métodos de multiplicación."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1dcc7c36341957f0564cc78e23686c20","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ce18f1c5-c12f-456f-adbe-339804ad8a4f/retrieve","id":"399289391"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e99a2f8e-a21d-469c-8fc9-b279317ab33a","content":"MAIZE and WHEAT researchers, together with colleagues within and beyond, published findings based on gender-transformative research and methods with clear policy implications for three countries Ethiopia, Malawi and Tanzania and contributed to policy impacts and practices in Morocco. Researchers also influenced policy-making, with potentially longer-term social change impacts in Nepal and Zambia. From a CGIAR-internal perspective, researchers expanded the reach of gender-transformative research and proposed innovations in gender-intentional maize breeding in sub-Saharan Africa.Outcome story for communications use: MAIZE and WHEAT researchers and their partners have been applying gender-transformative research and methods to unravel the complex dynamics of gender and social norms that play a part in agricultural innovation pathways. Much of this work was informed by GENNOVATE (Enabling Gender Equality in Agricultural and Environmental Innovation Initiative; 2014-2018), which received major funding support from WHEAT and MAIZE. GENNOVATE scientists developed 16 tools and resources by engaging 27 partner organizations. These tools and resources have been promoted by FAO.Significant outcomes of gender research uptake (1: Lopez et al. 2021), as well as their application to inform policy changes, were: -Looking at zero tillage users and subsequent herbicide applications in Bangladesh, India and Nepal, scientists observed that zero tillage does not reinforce existing inequalities within households (4: Brown et al. 2021). MAIZE & WHEAT researchers provided policy recommendations to those governments, underlining the significant gender gaps associated with agricultural technologies' adoption. For example, Paudel (5: 2020) estimated that with similar access to productive resources, many more women would likely adopt mini tillers in Nepal. Gartaula (7: 2020)  -In Southern Ethiopia, Gebre et al. (6: 2021) called for policies that not only ensure equal levels of productive resources, but also help households to build their capacity. These recommendations aim to improve both transitory and chronically food-insecure situations.-Based on a representative Zambian household study, Simtowe and De Groote (11: 2021) recommend policies that promote equitable access to production resources, such as land, to reduce the gaps in market participation between men and women -and to help women take advantage of the inter-seasonal maize price movements.-In gender-intentional maize breeding in sub-Saharan Africa (12: 2021, https://doi.org/10.1177%2F00307270211058208), researchers found that evidence for gender-differentiated preferences for maize varieties remains inconclusive. They proposed changes in research approaches and priorities: A more nuanced understanding of gender relations in maize production and seed decision-making, new gender-responsive approaches to measuring farmer preferences and seed demand, and research to address operational challenges in breeding.•  In Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, researchers (5: 2021) observed significant challenges associated with technology adoption, such as metal maize storage silos; adoption may switch storage ownership and associated benefits to men, because women have less scope for bargaining over their rights. For Zambia, MAIZE scientists (6: 2021) recommended policies that promote equitable access to production resources (e.g. land) to reduce gender gaps in market participation. Based on a holistic approach (8: 2021), other researchers argued for more targeted policy interventions to address the unique needs of women in Malawi and Tanzania, who have different capacities to participate and realize technology adoption benefits (7: 2021).For Southern Ethiopia, MAIZE and WHEAT scientists (9: 2021) called for policies that not only ensure equal levels of productive resources, but also help households to build their capacity to deal with food-insecure situations. Going beyond the dichotomy of male vs. female-headed households in Ethiopia, gender researchers looked at married women within male-headed households and women heading their own households, observing that customary norms often hamper women's effective use of productive resources and their ability to innovate (10: 2020).In sub-Saharan Africa (13: 2021, https://doi.org/10.1177%2F00307270211058208), researchers reviewed the evidence on gender-differentiated traits and proposed changes to research approaches and priorities, including new gender-responsive approaches for measuring farmer preferences and seed demand and research to address operational challenges in breeding.In South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal), scientists observed that zero tillage does not deepen existing inequalities within households (11: 2021). WHEAT and partner researchers provided policy recommendations to those governments, underlining the significant gender gaps in adoption.Collaborating scientists (12: 2020; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101250) estimated that with similar access to productive resources as men, women would much more likely adopt mini-tillers in Nepal. In a related study in India, scientists (13: 2020; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-020-02941-w) proposed policy options to promote climate-smart, GHG emission-reducing technologies that could reduce women's labour drudgery, whilst cautioning about possible negative implications for specific vulnerable groups."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f5a0d3bb37a73c61f739253e97d39cd4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6d12f54b-b34e-4e92-987b-12ed08db07cf/retrieve","id":"-301028091"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"34cb4e7d-6209-49a5-860a-b354494c49f7","content":"With a diverse host range, Meloidogyne incognita (root-knot nematode) is listed as one of the most economically important obligate parasites of agriculture. This nematode species establishes permanent feeding sites in plant root systems soon after infestation. A compatible host-nematode interaction triggers a cascade of morphological and physiological process disruptions of the host, leading to pathogenesis. Such disruption is reflected by altered gene expression in affected cells, detectable using molecular approaches. We employed a high-throughput proteomics approach to elucidate the events involved in a compatible banana-M. incognita interaction. This study serves as the first crucial step in developing natural banana resistance for the purpose of biological-based nematode management programme. We successfully profiled 114 Grand naine root proteins involved in the interaction with M. incognita at the 30 th -and 60 th -day after inoculation (dai). The abundance of proteins involved in fundamental biological processes, cellular component organisation and stress responses were significantly altered in inoculated root samples. In addition, the abundance of proteins in pathways associated with defence and giant cell maintenance in plants such as phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, glycolysis and citrate cycle were also implicated by the infestation.Plants are constantly exposed to a range of pathogenic organisms inhabiting the soil. Amongst these, plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) are documented as soil pathogens of economic importance incurring approximately US$100 billion worth annual crop losses [1]. Amongst the PPN, sedentary root-knot nematodes (RKN; Meloidogyne spp.) are one of nature's most successful obligate parasites. Meloidogyne incognita was reported to be the most widely distributed The difficulty in carrying out proteomics studies on root-pathogen interactions has been reported in a review [33]. Recently, Palomares-Rius et al. [31] and Li et al. [34] reported a commendable 2D-based proteomic study of tripartite interaction on chickpea and Fusariumbanana root interaction, respectively. However, the throughput of gel-based systems is limited and only a scarce amount of interesting proteins has been discovered. Therefore we adopted the gel-free, Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS)-based Proteomics platform to elucidate proteins involved in banana-M. incognita interaction at the 30 th -and 60 thday after inoculation (dai). The two time points were chosen in order to obtain an increased number of galled cells for increased peptide abundance detection. Gel-and label-free LC-MS methods represent attractive alternatives since they are robust and amenable to all types of biological samples, despite being cost effective. This is the first high throughput report to reveal the molecular profile and dynamic changes occurring in banana roots inoculated with M. incognita. Our report adds new insights to plant reactions during nematode infestation and new knowledge on the weak points in plant defence mechanisms which can serve as the basis towards developing a molecular-based nematode combating regime.Plant materials and M. incognita culture Banana cv. Grand naine (ITC 1256) plantlets were obtained from the International Transit Centre (ITC) of Musa collection at Katholieke Universitiet Leuven, Belgium. The plantlets were propagated and maintained in Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal media (pH 5.8) supplemented with 4.1 μM biotin, 5.7 μM indoleacetic acid (IAA), 5.4 μM naphtaleneacetic acid (NAA), 87 μM sucrose and 2 g/L gelrite with 3 mg/L 6-Bensylaminopurine (BAP) prior to transfer onto rooting media (MS including vitamins, 1 mL/L ascorbic acid, 30 g/L sucrose, 2 g/ L gelrite and 0.5 g/L active charcoal, pH 6.15 at 60˚C). Banana plantlets were left in the rooting media for a month until reaching a four or five-leaf-stage prior to transplantation. Transplantation and acclimatisation processes were carried out as described in [35]. Briefly, the plantlets were transplanted into a 200 mL plastic pots containing sand: peat (2:1) soil mixture and left to acclimatise under greenhouse conditions for 8 weeks. Fertiliser was applied twice a week starting from the second week post transplantation. The plants were later transferred into 1 L pots for inoculation procedure. Meloidogyne incognita (Malaysian population) culture was obtained from Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI). This culture was then propagated and maintained in Grand naine host plants until future use.Collection of RKN egg masses from plant hosts and hatching of juvenile stage two (J2) nematodes were carried out as described in [35]. To estimate the number of J2 used for treatments, J2 individuals obtained per mL were counted in triplicates and later averaged. dH 2 O was used to adjust to 1000 J2 per treatment. Treatment was carried out using a single inoculation protocol as we previously described [35]. Briefly, plants transplanted into 1 L pots were left to acclimatise for a week. Following that, one of the primary roots was selected as an inoculation target. The selected root was placed across a 3.5 cm diameter plastic Petri dish (the target root fragment) and left in soil for three days prior to inoculation. One thousand J2 nematodes were inoculated onto the targeted root fragment and the target site was left in soil until the experiment was terminated at either 30-or 60-days after inoculation (dai). Each time point consisted of three nematode-inoculated banana plantlets and three control plantlets (three biological replicates for each treatment). Upon harvesting, the targeted inoculation site was excised from the root system (one root fragment for each banana plant), thoroughly washed under running tap water, air-dried and weighed. The weighed root fragment was placed into a fresh 1.5 mL microcentrifuge tube, snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen and then stored in -80˚C until further lyophilisation.Stored banana root sample was lyophilised for 48 hours at -100 C˚according to [36]. Banana root proteins were then extracted using phenol extraction methanol/ammonium acetate precipitation-based protocol as described in [37] with minor modifications suitable for LC-MS shotgun platform. Protein extraction procedure was conducted at 4˚C unless mentioned otherwise. Briefly, 60 mg lyophilised banana root tissue were ground using cooled mortar and pestle in the presence of liquid nitrogen and later suspended in a fresh 2 mL microcentrifuge tube containing 750 μL Extraction buffer [100 mM Tris-HCl pH 8.3, 5 mM EDTA, 100 mM KCl, 1% w/v DTT, 30% w/v sucrose; complete protease inhibitor cocktail (Roche Applied Science) and mixed. Subsequently, 750 μL buffered phenol were added to the sample and vortexed for 10 min. The mixture was then centrifuged (12,000 rpm, 10 min) and the resulting phenolic phase was transferred into a fresh microcentrifuge tube and protein was re-extracted using equal volume of extraction buffer. Sample was then centrifuged (12, 000 rpm, 5 min) and resulting phenolic phase was transferred into a fresh tube. Proteins were precipitated overnight in 5 volumes methanol (100mM ammonium acetate) at -20˚C. Following this, the sample was then centrifuged (13,000 rpm, 60 min) to collect the pellet and later rinsed twice in 2 mL rinsing solution (cold acetone/0.2% DTT). Note that for the first rinse, the pellet was left in the rinsing solution for 1 hr at -20˚C and centrifuged (13, 000 rpm, 30 min). Cleaned pellet was left air-dried and suspended in 100 μL Lysis buffer (8M urea, 5mM DTT, 30 mM Tris). Protein quantification was carried out using 2-D Quant Kit (Amersham, UK) following manufacturer's protocol.Twenty micrograms of protein sample was incubated in 0.02 M DTT for 15 min. This mixture was then mixed with 0.05 M iodoacetamide and incubated in the dark for 30 min prior to dilution in 0.05 M ammonium bicarbonate. An aliquot of 20 μg of protein was then digested with 0.2 μg/μL trypsin and incubated overnight at 37˚C. Samples were acidified with trifluoroacetic acid (0.1% final concentration) and de-salted using C18 solid phase extraction according to the manufacturer (Pierce™ C18 Spin Columns, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Ghent, Belgium). Peptides were eluted with 40 μL 70% acetonitrile (ACN), after which solvents were evaporated using a speedvac and dissolved in 5% ACN, 0.1% formic acid.The UPLC-MS/MS analysis was performed on a Q Exactive Orbitrap mass spectrometer (Thermo Scientific, USA) as described by [38]. The samples (5 μL containing 1 μg peptides) were injected and separated on an Ultimate 3000 UPLC system (Dionex, Thermo Scientific) equipped with a C18 PepMap100 pre-column (5 μm, 300 μm × 5 mm, Thermo Scientific) and an EasySpray C18 column (3 μm, 75 μm × 15 cm, Thermo Scientific) using a gradient of 5% to 20% ACN in 0.1% formic acid (FA) in 10 min followed by a gradient of 10% to 35% ACN in 0.1% FA in 4 min and then a final gradient from 35% to 95% ACN in 0.1% FA in 2.5 min. The flow-rate was set at 250 μL/ min. The mass spectrometer was operated in a positive ion mode with a nanospray voltage of 1.5 kV and a source temperature of 250˚C. ProteoMass LTQ/ FT-Hybrid ESI Pos. Mode CalMix (MSCAL5-1EA SUPELCO, Sigma-Aldrich) was used as an external calibrant and the lock mass 445.12003 as an internal calibrant. The instrument was operated in a data-dependent acquisition (DDA) mode with a survey MS scan at a resolution of 70,000 (FWHM at m/z 200) for the mass range of m/z 350-1800 for precursor ions, followed by MS/MS scans of the top 10 most intense peaks with + 2, + 3 and + 4 charged ions above a threshold ion count of 16,000 at a 35,000 resolution using a normalised collision energy (NCE) of 29 eV with an isolation window of 3.0 m/z and dynamic exclusion of 10 s. All data were acquired with Xcalibur 2.2 software (Thermo Scientific).All raw data were converted into mgf files using Progenesis v4.1 (Nonlinear Dynamics, UK). The spectra were searched using Mascot (Version 2.2.06; Matrix science, London, England) against our in-house Musa database (76,220 sequences) containing all protein sequences of published A and B genome along with contaminant sequences (trypsin and keratin). The following parameters were used: the enzyme was trypsin and one miscleavage was allowed, cystein-carbamidomethylation was chosen as a fixed modification and methionine-oxidation as a variable one. Precursor peptide charge state was 2+ and 3+, error window on experimental peptide mass values was 10 ppm and 20 absolute milli-mass units were chosen for fragment ion mass tolerance. Peptides assigned to keratin or trypsin were not taken into account.For data validation, the false discovery rate (FDR) was calculated using Scaffold (Version: Scaffold_3.6.3; Proteome Software Inc., Portland, OR, USA). An integrated version of X! Tandem (Version: CYCLONE, 2010.12.01.1) in Scaffold was used for an additional database searching. For FDR calculation, the search results from both Mascot and X! Tandem were combined automatically by Scaffold with the following settings: a peptide confidence level of 95%, a protein confidence level of 80%, a minimum peptide number of 1, and the thresholds of each search engines separately.Quantitative analysis was performed using Progenesis LC-MS version 4.1 (Nonlinear Dynamics) as described by [39] with some modifications. For alignment, a reference run was selected, after which the files were aligned automatically, manual landmark vectors were not necessary. The sensitivity of the peak picking limits was put to four. With these settings, Progenesis LC-MS generates an aggregate run that contains all ions from the analysed runs. Peptides with charges two to five were retained in the filter step, and then the data were normalised by calculating abundance ratios to a reference run. Peptides with p-value < 0.05 (Progenesis) were retained for further analysis and abundances of all corresponding significant peptides were summed per protein accession number. By this, protein abundances were calculated based on peptide abundances. A list of identified proteins was then generated and subjected to Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to assess whether or not proteins from similar experimental condition cluster with each other. The software STATISTICA (Version 8.0; Tulsa, OK, USA) was used for data analysis. Statistical evaluation started with a principal component analysis (PCA) according to [40]. Only proteins (ANOVA: P 0.05) with more than 1.5 times fold change and showing maximum ion score of more than 30 were deemed significant and selected for further analysis. For ease of analysis, pairwise comparison matrices were used to compare between treatments i.e 60-dai inoculated vs. 60-dai control samples; and 30-dai inoculated vs. 30-dai control samples in order to profile proteins involved during the interaction. For these matrices, protein abundance in control samples were used as the baseline to obtain protein fold changes. These proteins were then subjected to Gene Ontology (GO) analysis using BLAST2GO and grouped based on GO levels obtained from this software. In cases where a protein was present with more than one GO level, the most general level that described its function was chosen. Protein-GO interactions were mapped using Cytoscape (available for free at http://www.cytoscape.org/download.php).In this study, we observed that galls were more visible to the naked eye as swellings on inoculated banana roots at 60-dai compared to root fragments inoculated for 30 days (Fig 1). No galls were present in all control samples. A total of 408 proteins were subjected to Principal Component Analysis (PCA). We found that principal component one (PC1) separated 60-dai control samples from 60-dai inoculated samples. However, definitive clustering was not obtained for samples harvested at 30-dai (Fig 2). On the other hand, all 30-dai samples were separated from the 60-dai samples by PC2. We identified 114 root proteins showing significant differential abundance levels between nematode-inoculated root tissues and control root tissues at 30-dai and 60-dai (Table 1).Ninety-six percent of 114 proteins that showed significant abundance difference belong to the 60T vs. 60C matrix while the remainder belongs to the 30T vs. 30C matrix. The majority of the proteins (54%; inclusive of those detected only in inoculated samples) were present at higher abundance level while 46% were present at lower abundance level in inoculated samples (Fig 3). Proteins involved in M. incognita-Grand naine interaction were further categorised into 17 groups based on their annotated gene ontologies (GO) as described in Table 1. Cytoscape analyses based on shared GOs revealed interactions amongst 114 banana root proteins occurring during nematode infestation (Fig 4a -4c). We further investigated protein-GO interactions involved in fundamental biological process, cellular component organisation and response to stresses.Fundamental biological processes. Interaction of ribosomal proteins categorised under the fundamental biological processes (Table 1) was investigated as all of the proteins were either detected only in inoculated samples or present at higher abundance level in inoculated samples. We found that these proteins shared a similar function in translation (Fig 4a). Three ribosomal proteins namely 40S ribosomal protein s4-3 (GSMUA_Achr2P01640_001_MU-SAC), 60S ribosomal protein I10a-1-like (ITC1587_Bchr3_P07546_MUSBA) and 40S ribosomal protein s20-2-like (ITC1587_Bchr3_P06192_MUSBA) were mapped to be involved in RNA binding while 40S ribosomal protein sa-like (GSMUA_Achr1P21820_001_MUSAC) were involved in cellular component organisation. A protein categorised in catalytic and hydrolytic group namely Ras-related protein raba5c-like (ITC1587_Bchr11_P33367_MUSBA; Table 1) that was detected only in inoculated samples (Fig 4a) shared the same function as these ribosomal proteins in translation and RNA binding.Cellular component organization. We noted that proteins involved in cellular component organisation shared similar annotations with four other proteins that were involved in translation factor activity and cellular protein modification process. Twelve proteins that are involved in cellular component organisation showed differential abundance levels. Two of the proteins namely Ru large subunit-binding protein subunit alpha (ITC1587_BchrUn_random_P35868_MUSBA) and tubulin beta chain-like (ITC1587_B-chrUn_random_P35428_MUSBA) were detected only in inoculated samples. On the other hand, alpha-glucan-protein synthase (ITC1587_Bchr4_P10810_MUSBA), tubulin alpha-3-chain-like (ITC1587_Bchr6_P17875_MUSBA) and 40S ribosomal protein Sa-like protein (GSMUA_Achr1P21820_001_MUSAC) showed higher abundance levels in inoculated samples while other proteins were present in lower abundances in inoculated samples (Fig 4b). Interestingly, we had profiled two tubulin beta chain protein species (ITC1587_Bchr6_P16601_MUSBA and GSMUA_Achr6P04600_001_MUSAC) involved in   cellular component organisation that showed differing abundance levels in inoculated samples. When the interaction of the three tubulin proteins was selected, it was revealed that these proteins shared nucleotide binding function with actin101-like protein (GSMUA_Achr10P03730_001_MUSAC) that, according to GO analysis, was present in cytoplasm and cytoskeleton (Fig 4b). Stress responses. Thirteen proteins were found to be involved in stress responses. Of these, one was present only in inoculated root tissues at 60-dai and the remaining twelve were present at lower abundance level in the same samples. On the other hand, at 30-dai caffeoyl-O-methyltransferase (GSMUA_Achr6P36400_001_MUSAC) was present at higher abundance level in inoculated samples compared to the control ones (Fig 4c). The interaction of these proteins were further investigated and we found that only four of these proteins namely pathogenesis related protein 1-like (ITC1587_Bchr9_P26466_MUSBA), chloroplastic probable 1-ascorbate peroxidase (GSMUA_Achr10P16040_001_MUSAC), peroxidase 5-like (GSMUA_Achr8P12370_001_MUSAC) and 70kDa peptidyl-prolyl isomerase-like (GSMUA_AchrUn_randomP02470_001_MUSAC) were annotated to be solely involved in response to stress. CBS domain-containing protein (mitochondriallike) (GSMUA_Achr3P26630_001_MUSAC) is involved in two other functions namely catabolic process and transportation, and share similar annotation with probable ATP synthase 24 kDa (mitochondrial; GSMUA_Achr6P02850_001_MUSAC) and cytoplasmiclike aconitate (GSMUA_Achr11P01170_001_MUSAC) for the same functions. On the other hand, the remaining five proteins mapped showed involvement in catabolic processes. We investigated three KEGG pathways that were associated with defence and giant cell maintenance in bananas which include lignification and energy metabolism namely phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, glycolysis and citrate cycle pathways.Lignification. Lignification process is greatly influenced by enzyme activities in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and three enzymes were found to be implicated in this pathway (Fig 5). Here, we found that caffeoyl-O-methyltransferase (EC 2. Carbohydrate catabolism. Four proteins were differentially abundant in the glycolysis pathway (Fig 6). Interestingly, two putative protein species of fructose-bisphosphate aldolase (EC 4.1.2.13; ITC1587_Bchr5_P14394_MUSBA and ITC1587_Bchr8_P21572_MUSBA) were recovered in this study with each showing differing abundance levels at 60-dai. The putative isoform with the accession number ITC1587_Bchr5_P14394_MUSBA was present at lower abundance level (5.1-fold) while another putative isoform (ITC1587_Bchr8_P21572_MUSBA) was detected only in inoculated samples. This enzyme together with glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.12; GSMUA_Achr5P25410_001_MUSAC) that showed significantly increased abundance level (468.9-fold) are involved in the production of glycerate-3-phosphate. On the other hand, aldehyde dehydrogenase (EC 1. In this study, we investigated banana responses at the 30 th -and 60 th -day after inoculation (dai) with Meloidogyne incognita using a Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) shotgun approach. We opted to use our in-house-designed single inoculation site approach [35] due to our past failures in obtaining consistent data using a general inoculation approach described by [41]. We inoculated 1000 J 2 M. incognita on approximately 50 mg root fragment in order to increase the number of infected cells per 50 mg root fragment (wet weight used in our protein isolation procedure). By doing so, we hypothesised that the chance to detect protein abundance changes in two sample types (inoculated vs. control) will also be increased. This approach was deemed efficient since galls were visible to the naked eye as swellings on inoculated banana roots for both time points i.e. 30-and 60-dai (Fig 1). It is noteworthy that galls were more visible on inoculated samples at 60-dai compared to 30-dai. This may be due to nematode population build-up in 60-day old root fragments. In addition, we have also successfully identified 114 proteins (from A and B genomes) showing significant abundance difference (p 0.05) between inoculated and non-inoculated samples. We compared our data with the transcriptomic data recently published by Castaňeda et al. [42] and found that 71 A genome banana genes obtained in our study out of 77 obtained in [42] were significantly modulated upon M. incognita inoculation in susceptible banana varieties namely 4279-06 and Cavendish (CAV) at early time points (S1 Table ). Such a high level of match (92%) between transcriptomics and proteomics data substantiates the involvement of these 71 genes in banana-nematode interaction.Our result implied that a major reprogramming of plant metabolism had taken place during M. incognita-Grand naine interaction. The global proteome profile obtained in this study illustrated an incidence of a battle involving attack and defence occurring between the two organisms during pathogen colonisation in the root fragments leading to a compatible interaction. Gheysen and Mitchum [43] stated that molecular mimicry and manipulative behaviour of nematode effector molecules reprogrammed plant cells to form feeding cells and simultaneously suppress host stress and defence responses. To counter this infection, generally, plants have evolved two recognition mechanisms namely the transmembrane pattern recognition receptor (PRR), and the intracellular immune receptors known as resistance (R) proteins [44]. The former responds to microbial/pathogen-associated molecular patterns (MAMPS or PAMPS) inducing PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI) while the latter responds to effector molecules inducing effector-triggered immunity (ETI) [44,45]. With regards to ETI, effector molecules secreted by the pathogen will be recognised by specific resistance (R) genes in plants and cascades of defence mechanisms will be triggered. This includes the activation of hypersensitive responses (HR) in cells adjacent to the infection site. Once HR is activated, plant's systemic acquired resistance (SAR) pathway will eventually be turned on. Although we found that the majority of proteins involved in responses (Table 1; Fig 4c ) were present in lower abundances in inoculated samples, the involvement of R protein in Grand naine-M. incognita interaction was not captured in this experiment. Conversely, Castaňeda et al. [42] had demonstrated that three potential R genes namely LRR receptor-like serine/threonine-protein kinases (GSMUA_Achr3G10820_001, GSMUA_Achr1G01110_001 and GSMUA_Achr3G28550_001) were significantly upregulated at 3-dai in susceptible banana cultivars. These genes were then downregulated at 10-dai, which may justify the inability of the LC-MS platform to detect its significant abundance difference in the root tissues at 30-and 60-dai.A calcium influx-signalled oxidative burst [46,47] producing reactive oxygen intermediates occurs soon after host plant-pathogen contact [25,48]. The activation of these intermediates results in the activation of defence gene expression in adjacent cells triggering HR, a form of programmed cell death in plants. This includes cell wall reinforcement such as lignification ) were recovered in this study with each showing differential abundances at 60-dai. One isoform (ITC1587_Bchr5_P14394_MUSBA) was present at lower abundance level (-5.1x) in inoculated root samples while another (ITC1587_Bchr8_P21572_MUSBA) was detected only in inoculated samples (black star). Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.12; GSMUA_Achr5P25410_001_MUSAC) was present at 469-fold higher in inoculated root samples with another two enzymes namely aldehyde dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.3; GSMUA_AchrUn_randomP11080_001_MUSAC) and pyruvate dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.4.1; GSMUA_Achr5P25000_001_MUSAC) were present at lower abundance levels in inoculated samples (-5.8x and -3.7, respectively). Enzymes present in lower abundance level were marked with black arrows pointing downward while the ones present in higher abundance level were marked with black arrows pointing upward. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0178438.g006 occurring only at the site of infection. Both Levine et al. [47] and Backiyarani et al. [49] agreed that cell wall fortification was one of the defence mechanisms included in HR. Lignification is a defining feature of secondary cell wall formation. Besides its essential role in maintaining cell rigidity [50], lignin plays an important role in plant disease resistance [51]. Lignin biosynthesis was reported to be induced upon wounding, pathogen infection, metabolic stress and perturbations in cell wall structure [50]. Since lignin is a complex phenylpropanoid polymer [52], its synthesis is greatly influenced by enzyme activities in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway (Fig 5). In our study, at 30-dai, a protein that participates at an earlier stage of lignin production pathway namely caffeoyl-O-methyltransferase (GSMUA_Achr6P36400_001_MUSAC; EC 2.1.1.104) [52,53] was found at a significantly high abundance level (5.3 folds) in inoculated samples compared to control samples. Our data corroborate that of published in Castaňeda et al. [42] whom demonstrated that caffeoyl-O-methyltransferase (GSMUA_Achr6P36400_001_MUSAC) was downregulated at 3-dai in 4379-06 and 7-dai in CAV cultivars upon M. incognita inoculation and was later upregulated at a later stage of infection suggesting successful colonisation. At 60-dai, we found cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD; GSMUA_Achr4P06150_001_MUSAC; EC 1.1.1.195)-an important enzyme catalysing lignin formation [54] to be detected only in inoculated samples, which may indicate a defence response. However since the abundance level of lignin-forming anionic peroxidase-like protein (GSMUA_Achr4P05250_001_MUSAC; EC 1.11.1.7) was four-fold lower in the same samples at the same time point, lignification level was expected to be reduced in these samples. Vanholme et al. [50] reported that the down-regulation of CAD increases the incorporation of cinnamaldehydes into lignin polymer. This suggests that the increased level of CAD at 60-dai could potentially decreases the incorporation of cinnamaldehydes into the polymer in the inoculated samples, indicating that lignification was halted at 60-dai. This suggests that at this time point, M. incognita might have targeted CAD for giant cell formation/maintenance which involves cell wall dissolution. It is noteworthy that Glazer et al. [55] had reported inhibition of xylem lignification in Meloidogyne javanica-infected tomato roots at 14-and 28-dai. We hypothesise that in an interaction involving banana and root-knot nematodes, such an increase in protein abundance of a host at a later stage of infection (60-dai) may translate to manipulation of host's cell system by the nematodes in order to maintain their nutrient sink, the giant cells. This is in line with that of found in Castaňeda et al. [42] highlighting the decreased level of expression of cell wall-associated genes in nematode-inoculated root tissues over time. In addition to that, we also observed that a probable calcium-binding protein, calmodulin-like protein 7 (CML7) (ITC1587_Bchr9_P27746_MUSBA) was present at 5.2 folds higher in abundance in inoculated samples at 60-dai (Table 1) implying that the influx of these second messengers (Ca 2+ ions) still occurred in the infected cells even at a later stage of infection. This suggests that signalling and major biochemical changes are still occurring in the nematode-inoculated banana roots at 60-dai. It is noteworthy that Castaňeda et al. [42] demonstrated that another calcium binding protein, CML 18 was significantly upregulated in an M. incognita-inoculated Cavendish banana variety at 10-dai.We also found a probable lipoxygenase (LOX) 4 protein (GSMUA_Achr1P22970_001_-MUSAC), to be present at two folds lower in abundance in inoculated samples at 30-dai. This gene was found to be significantly downregulated at the transcript level as early as 3-dai [42]. LOX catalyses the oxygenation of fatty acids involved in the production of jasmonic acid (JA) [56], the signalling molecules that modulate HR. Tremblay et al. [57] reported that LOX2 gene expression was suppressed during a compatible Glycine max-Phakopsora pachyrhizi interaction while Ibrahim et al. [1] found that the expression of genes encoding enzymes of the alphalinolenic acid pathway leading to jasmonic acid production in Glycine max-M. incognita interaction was turned off after a prolonged infection (10-weeks after inoculation). This led us to echo the suggestion made by Ibrahim et al. [1] that genes involved in JA synthesis could be targets for further testing for conferment of nematode resistance in bananas by overexpressing them. Since the expression of a key gene correlated to HR had been turned down at 30 dai, our result showed that the subsequent cascade leading to plant resistance has been 'battered' ( Fig 8). Our analysis revealed that pathogenesis-related protein 1-like (PR1-like; ITC1587_Bchr9_P26466_MUSBA) was present 30-fold lesser in inoculated samples at 60-dai. This implies that SAR pathway is shut down upon M. incognita inoculation in Cavendish bananas. Spoel and Dong [58] motioned that accumulation of salicylic acid (SA) induces the gene expression pathway leading to the production of PR proteins. Such a signal transduction cascade will result in an establishment of immune memories leading to SAR. From our result, we hypothesise that the nematodes may have successfully 'tampered' with Grand naine immunity system at least at 30-dai or much earlier.M. incognita infection not only impinged upon plant defence system but also manipulated the cell division cycle in order to re-design root morphology to form galls. This re-designing involves the induction of multiple rounds of acytokinetic mitosis amongst the infected cells to form multinucleated giant cells [1,16,43] that serve as nutrient sinks for the nematodes [59]. Although we did not capture the involvement of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) as that of reported by de Almeida Engler et al. [15] in our data, consistent with the presence of gall-forming multinucleated giant cells observed, we have successfully profiled proteins involved in cellular organisation (Fig 4b) of the inoculated root samples. In agreement with that of reported by de Almeida Engler et al. [60], our analysis shows that three tubulin proteins (Table 1) were found to be present at high abundance levels in inoculated samples reflecting that a major cytoskeletal rearrangement had taken place in these samples. Note that both α-and β-tubulin proteins will polymerise into microtubules-one of the key components of the cytoskeletons that play an indirect role in maintaining cell shape [61]. Interestingly, one of the tubulin-beta chain protein species obtained (GSMUA_Achr6P04600_001_MUSAC) was present at lower abundance in inoculated sample while the other (ITC1587_BchrUn_random_P35428_-MUSBA) was present at ~200-fold higher in the same tissues suggesting that one of these protein species is important in microtubule formation of giant cells. In 2004, de Almeida Engler et al. [60] reported the presence of a large number of unusual and randomly oriented actin bundles and cables during giant cell development. We found that the abundance of an actin-101-like protein (GSMUA_Achr10P03730_001_MUSAC) was decreased by almost two-fold in inoculated samples suggesting abnormal cell development had occurred in inoculated samples. This may justify the importance of actin for a successful M. incognita colonisation in plant root tissues. It is noteworthy that the transcriptomic expression profile of both tubulin-beta chain (GSMUA_Achr6P04600_001_MUSAC) and actin (GSMUA_Achr10P03730_001_MUSAC) genes obtained in Castaňeda et al. [42] at earlier nematode infection time-points matched our proteome profiling data. A total of 11 ribosomal proteins were found either at higher abundances or detected only in inoculated samples. This finding is consistent with that of reported by Jammes et al. [13] where 71 genes encoding 40S and 60S ribosomal proteins were specifically upregulated in M. incognita-inoculated Arabidopsis root samples suggesting an increased level of protein synthesis in giant cells. This justified the notion proposed by Ibrahim et al. [1] that nematodes utilise plant resources to develop and reproduce. In our study, proteins involved in carbohydrate catabolism and energy metabolism were differentially abundant in inoculated root samples to either meet the nematode's energy and carbon demand, or, evading plant defense response. We found potentially two fructose-bisphosphate aldolase (4.1.2.13) protein species present at opposing abundance levels in glycolysis/gluconeogenesis KEGG pathway (Fig 5). This enzyme catalyses an aldol cleavage of fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate to dihydroxyacetone-phosphate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate in a reversible aldol condensation [62]. It is noteworthy that, this aldolase could either be cytosolic or chloroplastic in plants [63]. Although both protein species differ in their primary structure and intracellular localisation, they both play an essential role in carbohydrate metabolism; hence, differing levels of abundance of both protein species could implicate plant growth [64]. Konishi et al. [64] reported that they observed notable accumulation of Gibberellic acid-induced aldolase at apical region of rice seedling roots. Interestingly, active cell division occurred in both apical region and root differentiation zone where the nematodes reside [16] suggesting that increased levels of aldolase may stimulate root cell growth that mediate energy production. However, in the case of nematode-infested root system, we hypothesise that cell growth, in this context, reflects giant cell formation, and plant energy production may be manipulated by the pathogen to sustain their longevity. Another enzyme in the glycolytic pathway present at significantly high abundance level was glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH; EC 1.2.1.12; GSMUA_Achr5P25410_001_MUSAC). Castaňeda et al. [42] demonstrated that this gene was upregulated as early as 10-dai in a Cavendish banana upon M. incognita infestation. This enzyme is responsible to produce energy and supply intermediates for cellular metabolism [65] and had been implicated in embryo development, root growth [66] as well as in transducing hydrogen peroxide signals in Arabidopsis response to stress [67]. We also noted that two enzymes involved in glycolysis namely pyruvate dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.4.1; GSMUA_Achr5P25000_001_MUSAC) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.3; GSMUA_A-chrUn_randomP11080_001_MUSAC), responsible in the production of acetyl-CoA, were present at lower abundance level in inoculated samples suggesting implicated acetyl-CoA production in inoculated samples. Acetyl-CoA is an important molecule involves in the Citrate cycle (TCA cycle) pertinent in ATP production [61]. We found four enzymes involved in the Citrate cycle pathway to be differentially abundant. Although isocitrate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.41 and EC 1.1.1.42; GSMUA_Achr1P05110_001_MUSAC) was found to be present only in inoculated sample, an enzyme that was responsible in converting succinate to fumarate namely succinate dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.5.1; GSMUA_Achr6P31640_001_MUSAC; ITC1587_Bchr7_P18621_MUSBA) was present twice times lower in abundance in inoculated samples. This may potentially implicate the production of ATP in the inoculated samples. Our result showed four ATP synthase subunits (GSMUA_AchrUn_randomP15230_001_MUSAC, GSMUA_Achr10P27350_001_MUSAC, GSMUA_Achr9P21710_001_MUSAC and ITC1587_Bchr10_P31293_MUSBA) and one probable mitochondrial ATP synthase (GSMUA_Achr6P02850_001_MUSAC) to be present in lower abundance levels (1.5 to 2.6 folds lower; Table 1) in inoculated samples. ATP synthase is known as a highly conserved enzyme that involved in catalysing ATP synthesis from ADP and phosphate during mitochondrial respiration [68]. Although it was expected that the abundance level for ATP synthase to be high in tissues undergoing adverse metabolic reprogramming activity such as the galls, our profiling result proved otherwise. This enzyme is a complicated protein complex and is divided into two sectors namely a soluble globular F 1 catalytic sector and a membrane-bound F 0 proton-translocating sector [69]. In our result, one of the proteins of the latter complex was present at a lower abundance level in inoculated samples suggesting the presence of deformed ATP synthase complex with an inability to translocate proton in inoculated root cells. Proton translocation is important for the cell to generate proton electrochemical gradient that serves as the driving force for ion and metabolite uptake across the plasma membrane [70]. Therefore the deformation of ATP synthase complex in the inoculated samples may indicate interference in such mechanism in nematode-infested banana root cells. This set-back will eventually impair plant growth and fruit production.In this study, by using our in-house-designed single inoculation site approach [35] coupled with an Orbitrap LC-MS platform, we conclude that 114 banana root proteins showed significant abundance changes when inoculated with Meloidogyne incognita at 30-and 60-dai. Our study revealed that these changes affected proteins involved primarily in fundamental biological processes, cellular component organisation and stress responses. Our analysis provided a new spectrum of knowledge especially on plant-parasite interaction from the perspective of a non-model organism. Corroborating transcriptomic data obtained in [42], we had identified players in banana defence and response pathway against M. incognita infestation namely caffeoyl-O-methyltransferase (GSMUA_Achr6P36400_001_MUSAC) probable lipoxygenase (LOX) 4 protein (GSMUA_Achr1P22970_001_MUSAC) and pathogenesis-related protein 1-like (PR1-like; ITC1587_Bchr9_P26466_MUSBA) that could serve as targets for further functional tests in order to develop a tolerant/ resistant banana cultivar against M. incognita. Here, we propose a hypothetical defence pathway leading to a compatible interaction between Grand naine-M. incognita primarily based on Castaňeda et al. [42], Hahlbrock et al. [46], Levine [47], and Tanaka et al. [71] (Fig 8). We also have mapped the stress and defence proteins obtained from our study to this hypothetical pathway."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1238280d87d7ead0b669a6dc39b7e502","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://dataverse.harvard.edu/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/ARAGPO/HJ3WDP","id":"1888527224"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fbf1f313-312e-488d-b11b-d9c2dc1f6514","content":"File name: 003_S2P2 Description: This file provides demographic information about household head, most knowledgeable female and respondent.  In which year did you first adopt Bt cotton? S4P1_Q8 How many years in total did your household grow Bt cottonTo experiment with a new variety 2Could not obtain enough seed of just one variety 3Learnt that better varieties are available 4Learnt that a new variety was better adapted to conditions on my farm 5The new variety was given to me for free/as a gift 6The cost of seed for the previous variety was too expensive 7The seed of the previous variety was of poor quality 8The previous variety gave a poor yield 9To minimize risk by growing multiple varieties 10The previous variety was susceptible to disease 11The previous variety was susceptible to bollworms 12The previous variety was susceptible to Cotton Leaf Curl Virus (CLCV) 13The previous variety was susceptible to other pests 14The previous variety was not resistant to flood 15The previous variety was not resistant to drought S4P1_Q6 1 To experiment with a new variety 2Could not obtain enough seed of just one variety 3Learnt that better varieties are available 4Learnt that a new variety was better adapted to conditions on my farm 5The new variety was given to me for free/as a gift 6The cost of seed for the previous variety was too expensive 7The seed of the previous variety was of poor quality 8The previous variety gave a poor yield 9To minimize risk by growing multiple varieties 10The previous variety was susceptible to disease 11The previous variety was susceptible to bollworms 12The previous variety was susceptible to Cotton Leaf Curl Virus (CLCV) 13The previous variety was susceptible to other pests 14The previous variety was not resistant to flood 15The previous variety was not resistant to droughtFile name: 008_S4P2 Description: This file having the information on cotton varieties sown in Kharif 2012 and farmers' knowledge about these cotton varieties. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4617810eba8d117e144af1481eb89595","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/be3bcb36-75ba-4f33-8b4e-56564c21e4af/retrieve","id":"-472840211"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fe240b0f-1ca6-412a-a480-b0abf4c42afe","content":"It takes the 5 Recommendations to One CGIAR proposed by Coffman et al. (2020) as a starting point, and grounds those recommendations in the 15 years of AR4D practice of the Consortium for Improving Agriculture-based Livelihoods in Central Africa (CIALCA 5). The objective is to derive success factors, failures and lessons learned that can support the development, organisation and impact of similar consortia as part of Regional Integrated Initiatives under One CGIAR.This perspective paper complements the Special Issue, by taking the five Challenges and Recommendations to One CGIAR as a starting point, and grounds those recommendations in the 15 years of AR4D practice of the Consortium for Improving Agriculture-based Livelihoods in Central Africa (CIALCA). CIALCA is a longstanding consortium of CGIAR centres and regional and national research and development partners that aims to accelerate the impact of agricultural research for sustainable development and transformation. CIALCA has had a strong focus on the Great Lakes Region countries of Rwanda, Burundi and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, with affiliated research and capacity development activities in the broader East Africa Region (Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania). The objective of this perspective paper is to derive key success factors and lessons learned from CIALCA that can support the development, establishment and impact of similar consortia as part of Regional Integrated Initiatives under One CGIAR.The table provides an overview of the Challenges and Recommendations made to One CGIAR by Coffman et al. (2020) and what we believe are the three most important practical recommendations based on CIALCA experiences, reflections and lessons learned. The core text of the perspective paper provides additional recommendations, perspectives and details.Our reflections could provide the starting point, or inform a broader assessment of successes, failures and learning among similar existing, mature CGIAR consortia and partnerships elsewhere, from which more concrete guidelines can be distilled to inform the establishment of new Regional Integrated Initiatives under the One CGIAR framework. It is important that such guidelines are broad enough to accommodate social, political and cultural diversity across the locations where CGIAR is active.CIALCA confirms that the key principles that drive the transition process towards One CGIAR make sense and should be pursued. Strong and continued (pooled) investment creates a stable and enabling environment for collaboration, learning and combining demand-and supply-driven research and delivery with partners. It also allows to bring together international, regional and national expertise to tackle complex agricultural problems in a multi-disciplinary way. When investors and partners see this happening, they are more than willing to co-invest and work together. If this occurs in an organizational set up that is conducive for doing state-of-the-art science and delivery, then this will attract and motivate young researchers and have a higher likelihood to lead to real innovation and impact.In the operationalization and implementation of its research agenda, One CGIAR should learn from, and build upon existing, mature AR4D consortia and initiatives such as CIALCA to ensure that existing relations, collaborations and innovation and scaling processes are preserved and exploited. However, we also recommend that One CGIAR actively supports and incentivises re-organisation, optimization and change in existing consortia and their modus operandi to further increase efficiencies and avoid business-as-usual mentality. To meet the challenges of global cooperation and collaboration, the One CGIAR must form alliances with universities and National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) and make strategic use of other institutions' leadership abilities and comparative advantages.• Regional integration and providing pooled funds reduces competition among CGIAR centres and AR4D organisations, enhances impact orientation and expands planning horizons • Regional Integrated Initiatives attract investments, and facilitate alignment, integration and synergies between those investments • Co-investment between CGIAR and national and regional AR4D partners forms a basis for more equal, sustainable and impactful collaborations #2 Capacity Building: In formulating the One CGIAR capacity building strategy, a more sustainable framework should underpin a model where training is done regionally, in cooperation with NARIs, and structured to reach the entire constellation of trainees, from PhD-level scientists to farmers.• Capacity development requires investment across individual, organisational, network and systems levels if it is to contribute to agricultural transformation at scale • CGIAR alumni end up being business, policy or science leaders which creates a basis for ongoing collaboration and increased legitimacy and impact • Continuous capacity development needs assessment with partners can inform AR4D agenda setting and priorities for innovation and scaling #3 Enabling Environments for Young Researchers: To ensure an environment of scientific excellence and innovation, One CGIAR will need to institute flexible work environments, schedules, and services that address family work-life issues, and benefits that reward the effort made by researchers, staff, and families.• CGIAR needs to provide more secure career pathways and tenure track for all its staff and encourage capacity development through sabbaticals, secondments to (partner) organizations, exchange visits and talent development programs • Young researchers need to be provided a safe space to develop ownership over tackling a science or development challenge, mentored by their senior colleagues • CGIAR needs to provide and follow progressive international policies and standards that encourage diversity in the work-place and work-life balance • Invest in structures that facilitate continuous dialogue for demand articulation and mapping of policy, development and business questions and needs to inform investments in innovation and scaling of innovation • Combine demand-and supply-driven research for policy to not only focus on the immediate needs of today, but also provide new ideas that can inform future programming of sustainable agricultural transformation • Combine addressing knowledge gaps using scientific research with understanding policymakers, their needs, processes and policy systems #5 Advocacy and Communications:One CGIAR should take a leadership position and hone in a unified message in support of science, and advocate for new technologies and public policies that address the challenges of feeding the many without destroying the planet.• Implementing a vision and agenda that is developed with and agreed upon by key government, public and private stakeholders There is a wind of change blowing through the sector of international agricultural research for development (AR4D), mainly as a result of comprehensive reorganisation and transformation of one of its largest players, the CGIAR. In January 2020, Food Policy published a Special Issue providing valuable external and high-level reflections, challenges and recommendations for One CGIAR. One of the papers by Coffman et al. (2020) provided five Challenges and related Recommendations to the One CGIAR.The re-organization of CGIAR is largely fuelled by an ambition to develop and implement a more coherent research strategy aimed at 'Ending hunger by 2030 through science to transform food, land and water systems in a climate crisis' and focussed on five impact areas: nutrition, poverty, gender, climate, and environment, and ultimately the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Barrett, 2020). The transition is also a response to increased fragmentation in the CGIAR system. The key driver of this fragmentation is a strong reduction in what used to be referred to as 'core-funds' that CGIAR centres could invest in strategic, long-term scientific endeavour along a pipeline of agricultural innovations of different maturity level, with the ultimate objective to contribute to achieving development outcomes and SDGs. Because of a desire for greater control and oversight from those investing in the CGIAR on the one hand, and limited ability to show impact on the other hand, 'core-funds' have been reduced and partly replaced by a sprawl of short-term projects and programs. Although such projects are often more focused and tangible, they also increasing internal competition over limited resources, rather than joint collaboration among CGIAR-centres, and scientists spending more time on report writing, proposal development, engaging with scaling partners, and less time allocated to the actual science (Leeuwis et al., 2018;Lobell, 2020). This has resulted in a situation where the impact potential of the CGIAR is underutilized, leading to critical questions from those investing in, working in, and those supposed to benefit from, agricultural research for development.To counteract some of these trends, the CGIAR has initiated a large-scale and comprehensive transition process, referred to as One CGIAR. As us stated on the CGIAR website: One CGIAR is a dynamic reformulation of CGIAR's partnerships, knowledge, assets, and global presence, aiming for greater integration and impact in the face of the interdependent challenges facing today's world (CGIAR, 2020). Some of the key features of One CGIAR include: (i) A sharper mission statement and impact focus to 2030, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); (ii) Unified governance under a One CGIAR Common Board; (iii) Institutional integration, including more aligned management under an empowered Executive Management Team, common policies and services, and a unified country and regional presence; (iv) A new research modality; as well as (v) More, and pooled, funding (CGIAR, 2020).In January 2020, Food Policy published 5 Viewpoint articles and an Editorial as part of a Special Issue on research strategy for the new One CGIAR 4 . The articles provide useful reflections, challenges and recommendations, key research issues, principles and priorities for One CGIAR. The articles have two things in common. First, they all present a global perspective and remain at the level of making generic recommendations, which is understandable and probably wise when taking into account where the CGIAR currently stands in its transition process. Second, the authors, although several of them have experience working in or with the CGIAR, present an external perspective. On the one hand, such an external perspective is good and allows one to think out-ofthe-box and beyond existing constraints in the system. On the other hand, it could also benefit from grounding some of the proposals and recommendations in the everyday practice of AR4D within the CGIAR.This working paper complements the Special Issue papers, by presenting a practical perspective on One CGIAR, based on 15 years of collaboration between several CGIAR centers and their partners in a consortium working in Central Africa.There is a wind of change blowing through the sector of international agricultural research for development (AR4D), because of comprehensive re-organization and transformation of one of its largest players, the CGIAR. 2 The CGIAR is a consortium of 15 AR4D centres, the first of which were established in the late 1960s. Formed in 1971 on the heels of the first celebrations of a Green Revolution in 1968, CGIAR was tasked with extending and translating that revolution in agricultural production to new countries and new crops 3 . Over the past decades, the CGIAR has undergone several reforms as donor funding models shifted, demands on the AR4D sector have changed, and accountability and reporting mechanisms for accessing funds have evolved (Leeuwis et al., 2018;McCalla, 2014).It has resulted in a situation where a drastic reform is underway to adapt the CGIAR structure for current challenges and dynamics (Barrett, 2020).2 www.cgiar.org 3 https://hssonline.org/conferences/historical-perspectives-on-the-consultative-group-on-international-agricultural-research-cgiar/#:~:text=-Formed%20in%201971%20on%20the,new%20countries%20and%20new%20crops 4 www.sciencedirect.com/journal/food-policy/special-issue/10ZH9P5WC1R 5 More information on CIALCA can be found on www.cialca.orgDue to the complementary nature of the activities proposed, DGDC urged the involved institutions to operate as a consortium to ensure cooperation and complementarity and avoid duplication at the national level. In 2005, CIALCA was born and received continued support from DGDC during 4 main phases:During the first phase of CIALCA aimed, among others, at determining the agro-ecological, socio-economic and farming systems characteristics of the CIALCA region, called 'mandate areas' , and as well as establishing the benchmark of the intervention. A number of technical research products were delivered, and technologies that were developed in other countries were brought in and adapted. This included improved banana and legume germplasm, improved cassava-legume intercropping system, and integrated pest management approaches for bananas. The focus was on research, design and testing of innovations to improve major farming systems in the Great Lakes Region in a supply-driven way.The second phase continued the investments made during the first phase, but with more emphasis on the promotion and dissemination of CIALCA innovations through strong (1) collaboration with national agricultural extension services, and international non-governmental organizations, and (2) the establishment of a Knowledge Resource Centre in Bu-jumbura, Burundi. CIALCA also set forth the consortium's strong focus on scientific capacity development, by training over 50 students in a region that had lost much of its scientific capacity during the many years of civil unrest and conflict. An international scientific conference entitled 'Challenges and Opportunities for Agricultural Intensification of the Humid-Highland Systems of sub-Saharan Africa' was convened by CIALCA in Kigali, Rwanda in 2011.In the context of the reform of the CGIAR system, the formulation of the CGIAR Research Program on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics (Humidtropics) was initiated in early 2010 and from the start, the CIALCA operational area was identified as part of the intervention area for East and Central Africa. CIALCA+ was a bridge to the Humidtropics program, allowing CIALCA to integrate its network of partners into the new CGIAR Research Program and to adapt its activities and approaches to the vision, mandate and organization of Humidtropics. Key features of CIALCA such as its demand-driven, regional and integrated research for development approach informed the CGIAR reform and establishment of so-called 'Systems CGIAR Research Programs' more globally.During this phase, CIALCA became the key operating platform for the CGIAR Research Program Humidtropics in Central Africa. By building on many years of investment in innovation and partnerships, CIALCA was able to jumpstart activities and mobilize multi-stakeholder networks in Burundi, Rwanda, and eastern DRC. The integrated systems approach includes understanding livelihood diversity, gender, value chains, nutrition, markets, natural resource improvement, institutional innovation, and the scaling of successful innovations through partnerships. In June 2016, CIALCA celebrated its 10th Year Anniversary with its staff, partners, donors, and alumni during the 7th African Agriculture Science Week organized by the Forum for Agriculture Research in Africa (FARA) in June 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda (IITA, 2016).The closure of the CGIAR Research Program Humidtropics formed a starting point to reset and re-focus the CIALCA research for development agenda with the national partners, the Belgian government's new strategic policy note on 'Agriculture and Food Security' and the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB). Based on 10 years of experience in the region and reflection on CIALCA's unique role in the region, CIALCA decided to develop its agenda around 3 Pillars: (1) Policies and Partnerships, (2) Capaci-ty Development, and (3) Innovation and Scaling. The cross cutting thematic focus was on: (i) entrepreneurial farming, (ii) ICT for agriculture, and (iii) integrated sustainable agricultural systems for nutrition. Significant time was spent on demand mapping with the public and private sector in the region to work in a demand-driven way, and redesigning the way CIALCA should respond to those demands in a responsible and sustainable way. Major changes from earlier phases were to subdivide between learning-and more impact-oriented workstreams, to work with high-impact partners around modalities of co-investment, and to revitalize the PhD and MSc capacity development program.Through 15 Years of CGIAR consortium work, passing through several cycles of CGIAR reforms, donor investment cycles, regional policy re-orientation, and through several phases and foci, CIALCA managed to establish itself in the field of agricultural research for development landscape in the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa. It made CIALCA among the longest running 'investments' in the CGIAR. Below, we share some of the key success factors and learnings from 15 years of regionally integrated consortium work that could support the One CGIAR in setting up similar consortia elsewhere in the world.CIALCA is a longstanding consortium of CGIAR centers, National Agricultural Research and Extension Institutes, African and Belgian universities, FAO/IAEA and other national and international partners. CIALCA aims to accelerate the impact of agricultural research for development. CIALCA was 'born' out of a call for proposals by the Belgian Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGDC) in April 2004. Following the call, it was proposed to merge 3 submitted CGIAR projects that operated largely in the same parts of Rwanda, Burundi, and the eastern of Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), with similar agro-ecological conditions and national partner institutes.  CIALCA partners and co-investments reach approximately 1.5M households in Rwanda, Burundi, and DRC to achieve SDGs 1,2,5,13,14,17.For every 1 Euro invested 4 Euro of Co-investment are mobilized.CIALCA has trained over 30 PhDs, 40 MScs, 125 BScs and over 1000 partner staff, and contributing through its networks to documented knowledge and capacity of > 25,000 researchers.CIALCA has a pipeline of 2-3 tested & tailored innovations per year (e.g. 11 innovations in the 2017-2020 period)In total, 20 respondents provided inputs to the survey, sharing their experiences of how CIALCA contributed to navigating the challenges and recommendations for One CGIAR. Below, we summarise the cross-cutting recommendations.Each section shares the main CIALCA experiences, as well as a set of broader reflections that could trigger useful discussion for One CGIAR when developing, organizing and implementing its Regional Integrated InitiativesOne of the key starting points for developing fruitful cooperation and collaboration with universities, NARIs and other public and private sector partners 7 , is that in-house competition among CGIAR-centres must be reduced significantly. In many regions and situations, CGIAR centres compete over research and development grants and partnerships, and often put their 'own' innovations, mandate crops and thematic areas above the questions whether these are priority or have the highest impact potential. This leads to situations where innovations get 'forced' onto recipients, rather than adapting the innovation to needs. CIALCA has always embraced an outcome-orientation focussed towards optimising farming and agricultural systems for improved productivity, income and nutrition benefits. When putting the societal outcomes at the centre of an integrated project and focusing on overcoming key bottlenecks to optimise farming or agricultural systems, then collaborations can be established to address those (site-specific) bottlenecks. In CIALCA, this meant seeking collaboration with other CGIAR centres or other R4D partners to address specific livelihood challenges in the Great Lakes Region. This was most visible during the CIALCA Phase 3, where the International Potato Centre (CIP) and World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) were engaged to support work in Northern Rwanda, and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) supported crop-livestock integration in Burundi and eastern DRC, while CIALCA was supporting those efforts through specific fodder-crop research (Klapwijk et al., 2020) and studies focussing on multi-stakeholder innovation platforms (Schut et al., 2016a). Under Phase 4, a collaboration with the Soil and Water Management & Crop Nutrition Laboratory (SWMCNL) of the Joint FAO/IAEA Division was established to provide insights in increased water use efficiency to counteract drought effects on cassava production in Central Africa. As consortia, past and present CIALCA work attracted and connected projects of different partners funded by various donors based on demand of scaling of (validated) CIALCA innovations adapted to the local context, regional capacity development, and student scholarships for sustaining the innovation-scaling cycle. During Phase 4 of CIALCA, the value of those related 'spin-off' projects represented a total of USD 10.9M, more than 3.6 times the original investment in CIALCA by DGDC Belgium (USDTo meet the challenges of global cooperation and collaboration, the One CGIAR must form alliances with universities and NARIs and make strategic use of other institutions' leadership abilities and comparative advantages (Coffman et al., 2020). 8 92.9M for the period September 2017-December 2020) (CIALCA, 2020). Having a central coordination platform such as CIALCA ensured active integration, collaboration and synergies between those short-term projects and their partners, as well as continuity in AR4D in the Great Lakes Region for long-term transformation.One of the unique features and comparative advantages of CIALCA is its ability to connect actors, organisations and AR4D systems across national boundaries (Muchunguzi et al., 2016). The Great Lakes Region of Central Africa is a region with a long history of past and present turmoil and conflict, which sometimes makes it difficult for national scientists to collaborate, exchange and learn with and from each other. CIALCA enables NARI scientists to exchange with their counterparts in other countries, to test innovations in different agro-ecologies across countries, but also to expose the different types of enabling environments, and how to develop country-specific strategies for innovation and scaling (Hermans et al., 2017). Furthermore, CGIAR centres and scientists usually have a broad international network, and can tap into knowledge, innovations and research conducted on similar problems or opportunities in other parts of the world. Providing access to this knowledge, and to the universities and AR4D organisations working on it, is considered a big advantage of working with consortia such as CIALCA.CIALCA also provides open access to all of its household socio-economic data from the region to its government, public and private partners through CIALCA-base, which was launched in 2019. Although this does not translate into direct and tangible impact at farm-level, it does provide a starting point for science and learning in AR4D. For example, one of our respondents indicated that his science work on agronomy at scale, decision-support tools and dealing with variability in on-farm conditions in CIALCA inspired the development of a much larger R4D initiative (African Cassava Agronomy Initiative), and how that created a basis for Excellence in Agronomy which is likely to become one of the large-scale initiatives under One CGIAR. Such examples demonstrate the butterfly effect of providing space for real science and learning in R4D projects.The advantage for the CGIAR is that the NARIs and other public and private partners usually understand better theOne CGIAR Challenge One CGIAR RecommendationTo meet the challenges of global cooperation and collaboration, the One CGIAR must form alliances with universities and National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) and make strategic use of other institutions' leadership abilities and comparative advantages.#2 Capacity Building In formulating the One CGIAR capacity building strategy, a more sustainable framework should underpin a model where training is done regionally, in cooperation with NARIs, and structured to reach the entire constellation of trainees, from PhD-level scientists to farmers.To ensure an environment of scientific excellence and innovation, One CGIAR will need to institute flexible work environments, schedules, and services that address family work-life issues, and benefits that reward the effort made by researchers, staff, and families. #5 Advocacy and Communications One CGIAR should take a leadership position and hone a unified message in support of science, and advocate for new technologies and public policies that address the challenges of feeding the many without destroying the planet.Table 1. Five challenges and related recommendations made by Coffman et al. (2020) to the One CGIAR.The initiative to write this working paper triggered a reflection exercise within the CIALCA team. A list of former and current CIALCA staff, partners, students and donor representatives was developed, and a short survey was sent out to harvest feedback and inputs against the five challenges and related recommendations made by Coffman et al. (2020) to the One CGIAR (Table 1).  proach), CIALCA now tried to collaborate more strategically with service providers to overcome their structural bottlenecks and enable them to operate more efficiently at scale (the Phase 4 approach). This latter approach has a much larger impact and sustainability potential, but requires relationship building, including more long-term research and learning trajectories. It also emphasizes the need to form selected strategic partnerships with organisations that are able and willing to make a difference, rather than making the working with as many partners as possible an objective in itself.In the context of acknowledging mutual comparative advantages and added value between CIALCA and its learning and scaling partners, it becomes easier to develop more equal and demand-driven partnerships based on the development of a joint vision, defining priority constraints, transparency and shared responsibility, co-learning and developing a common language. However, this is easier said than done. Many of the local organisations see the CGIAR centres as 'donors' , rather than as knowledge or research partners that they can collaborate with to overcome country agricultural challenges. As will also be emphasized under Challenge #5, it should be the countries and national partners who are in the driving seat in terms of expressing their demands and interests, and jointly exploring where collaboration can be of mutual benefit In CIALCA Phase 4, the above process took appropriately one year from first discussion to signed MoU and initial activities. This time is usually not available in short-term interventions, but is a key condition for developing more equal collaborations between CGIAR and its academic, research and development partners. Co-investment is more than just merging budgets. It is a safeguard and indicator to ensure that CGIAR works on things that matter to its clients, and that those clients take co-ownership over the activities. Furthermore, co-investment created a more equal platform for CIALCA and its partners to discuss, negotiate and agree on the AR4D agenda, and identify those agenda items that are important enough for the national and regional partners to invest their own (scarce) resources. Co-investment engenders trust across partners as all cards are in the open and there are no ulterior motives. Once agreements and co-investments are documented, the agility of projects increases. All parties are moving in the same direction, towards similar goals and outcomes. Co-investment also creates a more enabling environment for the scaling of innovations, as one can assume that approval for co-investment requires support and buy-in from key decision-makers in the national system. In sum, moving away from a situation where national and regional partners participate in -rather than co-design -the projects with CGIAR is a key condition for creating a situation in which co-investments can translate into sustainable and impactful agricultural development. We acknowledge that the 11 10 funding of NARIs complicates co-investment and having a level playing field for collaboration around agricultural development challenges.At the local level, direct cooperation and collaboration with farmers or other beneficiaries through participatory research based on principles of inclusivity and equality is required. Here also, principles of co-investment can be applied, as long as the risks associated with doing scientific research are mitigated and not transmitted to (vulnerable) groups of next-or end-users. Participatory research approaches have been widely used in CIALCA, and in several cases have fast-tracked the adoption of CIALCA innovations (Dontsop Nguezet et al., 2020). The use of digital tools can enable citizen science and crowdsourcing of data as part of innovation design, testing and validation, and as part of monitoring, evaluation and learning mechanisms. This enables rapid and continuous feedback from innovation users on the extent to which innovations serve their purpose and what modifications or complementary innovations would be required (Steinke et al., 2020;Van Etten et al., 2019).During the most recent phase of CGIAR Research Programs, capacity development has not received considerable attention and investment. In a reflection on the CGIAR, Leeuwis et al. (2018) concluded that investment in strengthening capacity at both individual and systems levels are essential to foster co-ownership and legitimacy of AR4D investments, and to increase the chances that research becomes salient and effectively linked to national agendas, policies, partnerships and ongoing development efforts. It seems that as part of One CGIAR, capacity development is back on the agenda.CIALCA has a strong history of strengthening capacity in the Central Africa Region. The CIALCA philosophy is that capaci-In formulating the One CGIAR capacity building strategy, a more sustainable framework should underpin a model where training is done regionally, in cooperation with NARIs, and structured to reach the entire constellation of trainees, from PhD-level scientists to farmers (Coffman et al., 2020).Individual Capacity in a system is as good as the capacity of its people. As mentioned before, CIALCA facilitated access to international experts and organisations that have worked on similar bottlenecks that can help solve more country, agro-ecological or regional challenges. Lastly, countries need to develop their capacity to innovate and scale innovations through policies, strategies and other frameworks that can stimulate collaboration between public and private organisations, stimulate investment in the agricultural sector, encourage efficiencies and continuous capacity to identify problems and develop solutions to overcome those problems.Although we cannot claim that CIALCA has invested equally in capacity development across all four levels explained above, there are a number of lessons learned that could inform capacity development strategies in One CGIAR. For example, PhD-trajectories of approximately 4 years do not always align well with funding cycles of (integrated) projects, usually 3 years maximum. This complicates entering into partnerships with (inter)national universities, as well as the learning process of the students. CIALCA experiences show that once students continue their 'normal' jobs in the NARIs, the finalisation of the doctoral thesis is challenging, both for the students and for those supervising the students, as students get additional activities not linked to the PhD thesis. CIALCA seeks to develop cohorts of PhD and MSc students. For example, as part of the current phase, eight PhD students are following the same capacity development trajectory. Having a cohort of students from different countries in the region has multiple advantages, such as (1) developing a regional network, (2) peer-to-peer exchanges and support, and (3) providing basic training on generic topics such as the integration of gender and nutrition in AR4D, use of ICT-tools in data collection and analysis, and the art of writing scientific papers. The One CGIAR should also consider to develop regional alumni networks. The CIALCA experience is that many of our alumni end up being business, policy or science leaders with whom we still actively collaborate and who can support us in increasing the legitimacy and impact of our AR4D in the region. Additional benefits for CIALCA students include their exposure to international research and development networks, developing their language and multi-cultural skills when spending time at universities abroad.As  , 2020). Such collaborative research fosters more organic and bi-directional learning and feedback between the CGIAR scientists and its partners and clients. It also creates fertile ground for scaling of innovation, as the partner organisations are fully aware of the innovation, will have ensured that the research innovation fits within their organisation's operating systems, and will advocate for its broader use if deemed beneficial for the organisation. This is a strategic approach to scaling of CGIAR innovations, as compared to trying to push or advocate for innovations after their initial design, testing and validation without partner involvement. During various Phases of CIALCA there have been investments in developing curricula for university and vocational training. This is a more sustainable way of embedding CIALCA or CGIAR research and experiences in training systems, and making it available for future generations, ensuring that donor investments are not a temporary success, but provide long-term and actionable solutions to encourage real benefits for recipients, rather than being empty numbers. Digital tools and training platforms open up a new spectrum of possibilities in terms of developing online training materials that are accessible and free to a broad variety of organisations globally. CGIAR scientists could be involved in updating and testing curricula as well as guest lecturing with their university counterparts in the countries where they operate.Strengthening capacity for innovation and scaling at network level was the key focus of CIALCA Phase 3, where a number of so-called multi-stakeholder innovation platforms were set up. Innovation platforms aim to support holistic analysis of farming and agricultural systems, identifying and prioritising entry points for innovation, and working together to make improvements. After 3 years of implementation and study of innovation platforms and their functioning, we had to conclude two things. First, the orchestrated approach to setting up or implementing innovation platforms did not seem very promising. The systems analysis highlighted several key bottlenecks for innovation -mainly non-technological related to access to market, credit, inputs -that the CGIAR centres and their partners were not able or keen on tackling (Schut et al., 2016b). Instead, they continued to focus on the design, testing and validation of technological innovations, while ignoring the partner demands and interests. Second, we found that over time the initial innovation platform networks fell apart, leaving a few CGIAR centres and one or two other partners that received direct budget support from CIALCA (Sartas et al., 2018;Sartas et al., 2019). It inspired us to invest more in demand-mapping and development of the co-investment model as part of CIALCA Phase 4. It also contributed to better understanding of the importance of having fit-for-purpose partnerships that are focussed on addressing specific bottlenecks in innovation systems, rather than striving for equal and continuous stakeholder participation throughout all phases of innovation processes (Lamers et al., 2017). Stakeholder mapping using tools such as social network analysis can support to identify which stakeholders are fit-for-purpose to overcome specific bottlenecks in innovation and scaling processes (Hermans et al., 2017), and such tools have supported CIALCA spin-off projects in more critical thinking about who to involve when and for what purpose in AR4D processes.Capacity development at systems level is the most ambitious and least tangible form of capacity strengthening, and probably the outcome of strengthening capacity at individual, organisational and network level. Capacity to innovation at systems level has been described as the capacity (i) to continuously identify and prioritize problems and opportunities in a dynamic systems environment, (ii) to take risks, experiment with social and technical options, and assess the trade-offs that arise from these, (iii) to mobilize resources and form effective support coalitions around promising options and visions for the future, (iv) to link with others in order to access, share and process relevant information and knowledge, and (v) to collaborate and coordinate with others, and achieve effective concerted action (Leeuwis et al., 2014). These capacities -if developed -provide benefits or enabling environment for development that cut across multiple sectors, including agriculture. CIALCA has made specific investments in developing capacity at systems levels, mainly by engaging in policy development. This has met varied success. Policy advocacy for banana-coffee intercropping and promoting innovative banana disease management have not yielded the desired results so far. Working with the NARIs and Ministries of Agriculture on developing soil information systems, early warning systems for pests and diseases, and updating fertilizer recommendations for key food security crops in the Central Africa Region seem to be more promising in terms of resulting in change at systemic level. For all kinds and levels of capacity development, ongoing capacity needs assessments are essential. Continuous and inclusive needs assessments across individual, organisational, network and systems levels can inform integrated project cycles and shape the AR4D agenda. If stakeholders and partners see their needs reflected in the CGIAR AR4D agenda and its investments, then this would also contribute to recognition and showing value added of the CGIAR in the agricultural sector in the countries and regions where it operates.The CGIAR is an extremely demanding, exciting and confusing working environment for young researchers, and the Recommendation #3 made to One CGIAR is timely and appropriate. One of the key principles of CIALCA is that young researchers (for example postdoctoral researchers) work 100% on CIALCA instead of scattering their time across multiple projects. This creates focus, ownership and leadership over the tasks, and allows young researchers to invest in developing and discovering their contribution to a specific science domain. CIALCA affords a bubble to allow young researchers a fertile medium to define themselves as scientists, rather than becoming project managers.CIALCA distinguishes between learning-oriented and impact-oriented workstreams (Table 3). The impact-oriented workstreams focus on translating or embedding (proven) CIALCA innovations into the systems of scaling partners. This work is usually led by the more experienced CIALCA scientists who were involved in the design, testing and validation of the CIALCA innovations during earlier phases. Impact-oriented workstreams are characterised by requiring quick results and impact, often with organisations that focus on achieving impact at scale. These organisations need to see a direct benefit in the collaboration and are less interested in engaging in a more open-ended process of scientific discovery and learning. Providing young researchers with an environment that allows them to experiment, make mistakes, learn and focus on science is extremely important, but also extremely difficult in the CGIAR. Often, young researchers are drawn into project management, reporting and communication, leaving little to no time to do the science that they are passionate about. In addition, more senior science staff should have sufficient time to mentor young colleagues in how to navigate the CGIAR system and develop themselves and their science domain in the AR4D sector. Offering opportunities for professional and career path development is important for the young researchers, as well as for the One CGIAR as a learning organisation.CIALCA's leadership and management has changed and rejuvenated over time, bringing new spirits, energy and research themes, but also a better understanding of what the next generation of young researchers is looking for in their jobs. Every new generation of young scientists bring their own ideas about the so-what of their projects and organisations, how their work leads to measurable benefits, and what they consider to be a modern and professional environment that enables them in achieving their potential. Part of this is finding the right work-life balance, which is challenging. What is still typical in the CGIAR is long days in the field, whole growing seasons away from home, six-day work weeks, remote research locations, the expectation of always being connected through weekends and leave, and a limited or slow embrace of technological advances such as video conferencing that can replace travel that burdens family life, and contributes significantly to negative environmental impacts. The recent COVID-crisis may have accelerated the uptake of digital tools for collaboration, and hopefully will become more accepted and used as part of the 'new' normal where we find a good balance between online and in-person modes of collaboration.The new generation of male and female CGIAR researchers prioritises work-life balance, want to live and work in anTo ensure an environment of scientific excellence and innovation, One CGIAR will need to institute flexible work environments, schedules, and services that address family work-life issues, and benefits that reward the effort made by researchers, staff, and families (Coffman et al., 2020).environmentally responsible way, and believe in equity in the workforce. To be able to recruit and maintain the best professionals, the One CGIAR needs to reflect this in their institutions, work environments, and benefits and follow both international progressive standards and local cultural norms. This includes working part-time, working from home, opportunity to take sabbaticals, support child day-care, better conditions for maternity and paternity leave, and more conservatively defined responsibilities that avoid excessive work load. It would be incorrect to claim that CIALCA provides such more progressive conditions and meets international standards. Where CIALCA has made good progress is in allowing work-from-home, organising writing and learning retreats, allowing staff to combine work-related travel with visiting their families, but there is still much progress to be made.Another challenge that goes beyond CIALCA as a consortium is the fact that all scientists in the CGIAR lack permanent contracts and tenure track. Career paths in the CGIAR are extremely unclear and uncertain which creates insecurity for young researchers. This goes hand in hand with the strong dependency of (fragmented) project funding which does not create continuity for both the researchers and the research lines they are trying to develop. The One CGIAR ambition to strive for 70-80% pooled funding which can create a more stable funding situation and create more enabling conditions and prospects for young researchers to develop themselves in the CGIAR system.As a consortium, CIALCA creates a safe space for working with peers in other CGIAR centres. There is a lot of competition between CGIAR centres, which sometimes creates challenges for pooling brainpower to overcome agricultural development challenges. Invest in a collaboration if they believe it will make them more (cost-)efficient/ increase their impactCollaborating with an established AR4D consortium, curious how to enhance their development programs Table 3. CIALCA's impact-oriented and learning-oriented work streams.'pushing' their commodities, thematic fields or innovations.One CGIAR should continue to develop a global network of agricultural thought leaders, and stimulate all of its researchers to continue to develop their multi-cultural, multi-dimensional science skills and competencies.A final recommendation to One CGIAR is to institutionalise programs that allow young-and mid-career researchers to develop their capacity as scientists, leaders or research managers. An example could be to develop a CGIAR talent-program, where those scientists with the competences and ambition to develop themselves as research managers are mentored and prepared for a role as managers in the CGIAR. Similar talent-programs can be developed for research or science leaders. If One CGIAR aspires to become a USD 2 billion/year organisation 8 , then providing a career path to its talents is an absolute prerequisite for becoming the global centre of excellence for AR4D. Another example could be the secondment of CGIAR staff to government, public or private sector organisations. This can also allow CGIAR researchers to better understand their clients and partners and their needs and demands, and stimulate capacity and network development of the researchers and the CGIAR more generally.There is a strong need for the One CGIAR to align research agendas with the policy agendas of government, public and private sector organisations. Here, it is important to spend time on demand-mapping and identify the knowledge and capacity gaps that hamper the development, implementation and enforcement of agricultural policies aimed at improving livelihoods and agricultural systems more generally. As mentioned earlier, organisations that could benefit from collaborating with the CGIAR often do not have a clear idea about what their knowledge or capacity gaps are, and how research can help them to overcome those gaps. Demand-articulation is therefore a prerequisite for conducting policy-relevant research and should be seen as an important step or phase in any research cycle, on which sufficient time and attention should be spent. For Phase 4 of CIALCA, almost one year was spent on mapping demand, and developing Theories of Change with partners to define what type of research would be policy-relevant to them. A good starting point for developing a policy-relevant research agenda is to develop an inventory of country and regional agricultural development priorities (e.g. those defined in policy or strategy documents). The added value of the CGIAR is that it can propose concepts, models and applications from different parts of the world, based on previous and ongoing work on similar policy challenges or opportunities elsewhere and tailor it to the local circumstances. A good example is recent CIALCA work on developing site-specific fertilizer recommendations for cassava. This work builds on earlier work conducted by the CGIAR in Tanzania and Nigeria, and was brought into Rwanda, Burundi and eastern DR Congo to support the government and oher local organisations in updating their fertiliser recommendations to farmers. Early results created broader interest and attention to apply the same science to potato and maize. The CGIAR has an important role to play in availing both positive and negative examples and learning from other geographies and sectors to guide research and implementation strategies that are proven to work.However, working in a policy-relevant way is much more than just working on the 'right' questions and what is proven to work. An important condition for research to successfully inform policies is to develop relationships, mutual understanding and credibility with those people designing, implementing and evaluating policy (Schut et al., 2014). CIALCA has worked in partnership with the national institutions (research, extension and policy) at both national and local levels. This mode of operation has fostered the identification of problems and ownership of innovations. It also eased advocacy as the key stakeholders are part of the entire process of developing, testing, validating and -finally -scaling innovations. Important for developing such (trust) relationships is to take policy-makers to the field, invite them to your research stations, respond quickly to their questions and demands, facilitate access to experts in the network, and deliver on commitments. Nevertheless, some of the CIALCA innovations, such as Single Disease Stem Removal (SDSR) to manage Banana Xanthomonas Wilt in Central Africa has, despite its technological superiority (Blomme et al., 2017), not resulted in large-scale policy adoption. Only recently, CIALCA -supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Roots Tubers and Banana -has started the development of country-specific scaling strategies for SDSR in Burundi, Rwanda and eastern DR Congo. It showed that political or capacity related bottlenecks hamper the mainstreaming of SDSR in policy. A similar example from CIALCA is related to coffee-banana intercropping in Rwanda (Jassogne et al., 2013). Despite clear benefits for income and food security, coffee-banana intercropping did not lead to impact at scaleThe One CGIAR should develop policy-relevant research to guide research and implementation strategies that follow 'what works' while avoiding what is duplicative or anecdotal (Coffman et al., 2020).as it was conflicting with the Rwandan government's Crop Intensification Program that promoted mono-cropping for some of the main food and cash crops during that period of time. It does not mean that such science may not lead to policy change in the future. There are many examples of where windows-of-opportunity may open as a result of -for example -a major crisis, and 'old' science may become relevant again for informing 'new' policies or strategies.While creating short-term trust with policy actors and providing them with the best answers to their immediate challenges, it is important to identify long-term agendas for research that anticipate the challenges of the future, looking 10-20 years ahead. CIALCA has several local policy champions who are often former CIALCA staff or alumni who have grown to become policy makers or business leaders. Those champions provide a good sounding board for CGIAR centres, and can advise how the CGIAR can best contribute to addressing policy questions. Similarly, when so-called 'windows-of-opportunity' for contributing to policy change emerge, former staff or alumni can play an important role in bridging research and policy.It is important for the CGIAR to be transparent about its comparative advantage and mandate, and the strengths and weaknesses associated with that. CGIAR is not an emergency relief or development organisation, and it should not aspire to be. 'Research by CGIAR and its partners can support the drive to disseminate innovations, but the scaling up effort must be led by national institutions, supported by regional or international development organizations where appropriate' . This may be easier said than done, as many governments and donors do regularly knock on the doors of CGIAR centres with urgent demands, which are often difficult to accommodate in the current context of CGIAR. More generally, CGIAR should invest more in keeping track of its contribution to agricultural transformation and sustainable development impacts across global, regional and national levels. Novel performance and results management systems should focus on keeping track of how long-term investments in innovation and scaling resulted in achieving outcomes at scale, so that we will have many more CGIAR success stories similar to those of, for example, orange-fleshed sweet potato (Low and Thiele, 2020).During the demand-mapping of the current phase of CIALCA, many more 'demands' were identified than CIALCA could effectively address. That means that there should also be transparent mechanisms for prioritisation demands based on criteria that include impact potential, alignment with national agricultural strategies, available expertise and capacity to effectively support or work on identified gaps and demands.In addition, demands that cannot be addressed immediately, should be shared with other (more relevant) partners in the AR4D network. CGIAR should also invest in analysing or optimising the effectiveness of incumbent policies and pol-icy frameworks. An example from CIALCA is a study by Klapwijk et al. (2014) who analysed the Rwandan Government's 'One Cow per Poor Household' policy, concluding that not all households could support an improved cattle breed in terms of its feed and labour requirements, which triggered development organisations to explore alternative small-or micro-livestock options (Klapwijk et al., 2020). It is a good example of how critical, scientific evaluation of policies can lead to making improvements or exploring alternative policy models.Not all CGIAR research needs to have direct policy-relevance.As explained in the previous section, CIALCA distinguishes between impact-oriented workstreams and learning-oriented workstreams. The policy-relevant research would -in most cases -be executed under the impact-oriented workstreams, trying to address short-term needs or demands by adapting and embedding innovations in the systems of government, public or private sector extension or delivery mechanisms.Learning-oriented workstreams can be more supply driven and propose innovations that -if successfully designed, tested or validated -contribute to more long-term agricultural transformation or sustainable development. As those learning timelines often expand the timelines of incumbent policies, politicians or policymakers, they do not always meet direct demands. In CIALCA Phase 4, the combination of having both impact-and learning-oriented investments and workstreams enables us to balance between addressing both the problems of today, and those of the future. In the end, it is about finding the right balance between push and pull, supply-driven and demand-driven, discovery and learning, and learning and impact. A key lesson for the One CGIAR is to ensure that investment in innovations that are of different levels of scaling readiness, to ensure a constant flow or pipeline of innovations to contribute to impact.For One CGIAR to be successful, it needs to be seen as a Global Centre of Excellence for AR4D. This starts with developing and communicating a clear vision and strategy that creates trust and buy-in with funders, partners and beneficiaries across different levels. Such a vision and strategy need to be developed with key stakeholders, including regional agricultural policy and advocacy networks, global players such as the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), donors and investment banks, and representatives of civil society, private sector and farmer's organisations to ensure buy-in, ownership and co-investment in achieving it. As mentioned in the previous section, advocacy starts with developing and nurturing stakeholder and partner networks, and by developing, implementing and evaluating joint AR4D agendas. A joint vision provides the starting point for developing a coherent integrated project, improves transparent communication, and ensures that all involved are on the same page in terms of what it does, and does not seek to achieve. Successful advocacy could also emerge from having liaison officers who 'manage' the relationships between research and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector. Such a liaison officer could represent CGIAR in key events, agricultural sector working groups and meetings, and facilitate matchmaking between research and development players. Although this is not something that CIALCA does directly, this should be considered as part of the One CGIAR transition.With its 15 years of presence in the Central Africa Region, CIALCA has been able to build a reputation and develop such personal relationships. In many occasions, the CIALCA consortium or CIALCA as a brand name that is sometimes better known than the CGIAR centres leading the consortium. One CGIAR provides an opportunity to develop such a brand out of the CGIAR, where the CGIAR becomes the brand name on the long-term, rather than the numerous short-term projects that it designs and implements. For advocacy and communication to be effective, it is very important to be objective and correct when communicating, and not try to only emphasize the things that are successful, but also those efforts that are difficult, those innovations that looked promising, but did not work. Speaking with one voice, and ensuring visibility in the field, online and in policy arenas is essential. For communication to be effective, clear communication targeted to different audiences is key. Scientists often get lost in technical details and abstract language that does not resonate well with the language, worldviews of farmers, business people or policymakers. The media can play a role in translating scientific outputs andOne CGIAR should take a leadership position and hone a unified message in support of science, and advocate for new technologies and public policies that address the challenges of feeding the many without destroying the planet (Coffman et al., 2020).indicating what are the (potential) benefits for the agricultural sector or society more broadly. High quality and unified communication products further contribute to developing a culture of excellence and high standard. Depending on the audience, communication products should provide both the global relevance of the work that is being implemented (ie. its importance and contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals at scale), as well as a personal touch to make the CGIAR work more personable (ie. how investments in innovation and capacity development changes people's lives). As part of CIALCA, we try to combine this in our reporting where we share scientific advance towards achieving impact at scale, but also share the stories of the scientists and PhD-students implementing the AR4D activities.Communication strategies should emphasize the added value of using science and research products in designing, implementing and evaluating agricultural policies. It should focus on the types of savings and efficiencies that advanced scientific knowledge can result in, and how these can benefit farm, national and regional levels in terms of food security or cost savings. Presenting different impact scenarios (e.g. bestcase scenario versus worst-case scenario) can provide a useful strategy in communicating expected outcomes. Strong and unified monitoring and results systems are needed to generate the content on outputs, outcomes and impacts that can provide the basis for communicating about progress, learning and achievements. Since 2017, CIALCA has fully aligned its monitoring, evaluation and learning with the CGIAR digital MEL platform which enabled more streamlined, effective and concise communication about progress at both project and CGIAR research program level. Furthermore, it has reduced the reporting burden on the CIALCA scientists by reporting all deliverables and outputs in one digital system that can easily be accessed and used to aggregate progress at project, research program and CGIAR system levels.Our reflections could provide the starting point, or inform a broader assessment of successes, failures and learning among similar existing, mature CGIAR consortia and partnerships elsewhere, from which more concrete guidelines can be distilled to inform the establishment of new Regional Integrated Initiatives under the One CGIAR framework. It is important that such guidelines are broad enough to accommodate social, political and cultural diversity across the locations where CGIAR is active.CIALCA confirms that the key principles that drive the transition process towards One CGIAR make sense and should be pursued. Strong and continued (pooled) investment creates a stable and enabling environment for collaboration, learning and combining demand-and supply-driven research and delivery with partners. It also allows to bring together international, regional and national expertise to tackle complex agricultural problems in a multi-disciplinary way. When investors and partners see this happening, they are more than willing to co-invest and work together. If this occurs in an organizational set up that is conducive for doing state-of-the-art science and delivery, then this will attract and motivate young researchers and have a higher likelihood to lead to real innovation and impact.In the operationalization and implementation of its research agenda, One CGIAR should learn from, and build upon existing, mature AR4D consortia and initiatives such as CIALCA to ensure that existing relations, collaborations and innovation and scaling processes are preserved and exploited. However, we also recommend that One CGIAR actively supports and incentivises re-organisation, optimization and change in existing consortia and their modus operandi to further increase efficiencies and avoid business-as-usual mentality.In the previous section we have shared experiences and ideas of how the five Challenges and Recommendations made by Coffman et al. (2020) could be operationalised and implemented as part of Regional Integrated Initiatives that are being developed under One CGIAR. Our proposals and ideas are based on 15 years of experiences, lessons learned and broader reflections under the CIALCA consortium. The main take-away messages have been summarised in Table 4.One CGIAR Recommendation CIALCA experiences, lessons learned and reflectionsTo meet the challenges of global cooperation and collaboration, the One CGIAR must form alliances with universities and National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) and make strategic use of other institutions' leadership abilities and comparative advantages.• Regional integration as part of One CGIAR reduces competition among CGIAR centres and enhances impact orientation • A consortium or platform such as CIALCA can attract other investments in R4D in a region, and facilitate alignment, integration and synergies between those investments • Partnerships should be flexible and fit-for-purpose in the sense that they should be formed around addressing specific innovation or scaling questions • Co-investment between CGIAR and national and regional partners forms a basis for more equal, sustainable and impactful collaborations • Digital tools and citizen science approaches can engage R4D next-and end-users in a cost-efficient, meaningful and inclusive way in innovation and scaling • Strong, continued and flexible donor investment and support creates an enabling environment for collaboration, learning and impactful research and delivery To ensure an environment of scientific excellence and innovation, One CGIAR will need to institute flexible work environments, schedules, and services that address family work-life issues, and benefits that reward the effort made by researchers, staff, and families.• Avoid young researchers to be scattered across many different projects and allow them to develop ownership over tackling a science or development challenge • Provide an environment for experimentation, making mistakes and learning.Do not overwhelm young researchers with management tasks • Allow young researchers to discover and develop their science domain and allow them to find their niche and contribution to the AR4D system • Let senior researchers mentor young researchers in how to navigate the (challenges of the) CGIAR and broader AR4D system • Implement and apply progressive, international work-life balance policies and standards • Encourage sabbaticals, secondments to other (partner) organisations, exchanges visits and talent programs to encourage capacity development and networking • Provide more secure career paths and tenure track for young researchers that allow scientists to focus on their science, and not their job security all the time "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"29019c5f420b9043638cedfcec42cfcf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/68d16201-9094-4afe-b6a0-13620676a0f8/retrieve","id":"893163224"},"keywords":["Frijol","Forrajes (trópico bajo)","Yuca Maiz","Trigo Papa","Camote","Raices y tubérculos Cereales","Forrajes","Garbanzo","Lenteja","Haba Árboles agroforestales Sorgo","Mijos","Gandul","Garbanzo","Cacahuete Guisante","vigna","Yuca","Caupí","Batata","otros Forrajes (trópico mediano-alto) Banano y plátano Arroz Arroz"],"sieverID":"7246183d-9524-4701-b308-fb56d25ca896","content":"Son objetivos en las actividades de producción:•Conservar la integridad genética de las accesiones manejadas durante los procesos de multiplicación y regeneración.•Llevar cada una de las accesiones al tamaño adecuado que permita cumplir con los propósitos del banco.•Contribuir en la identificación, caracterización y evaluación del germoplasma conservado en el PRG VALOR DE USO.Hay que aumentar la semilla original preservando su integridad genética, y asegurando su estado fitosanitario y su viabilidad al más alto nivel, para permitir la distribución internacional.Para el cumplimiento de estos objetivos, el Grupo de Producción de Fríjol cuenta actualmente con tres estaciones con ambientes contrastados en Popayán, Palmira y Tenerife (El Cerrito, Valle del Cauca). El fríjol tiene una amplia variabilidad genética y sus caracteres morfológicos especialmente el color de las semillas y el hábito de crecimiento, han sido utilizados para la selección de variantes.Esa selección y la deriva genética han sido los principales factores evolutivos responsables del mantenimiento y la ampliación de la variación morfológica.Las plantas y los granos de fríjol se identifican por el tamaño, el color de las semillas, el hábito de crecimiento y la adaptación a climas adversos.Descriptores varietales morfológicos empleados en la evaluación de accesiones de frijol ✓Conocer la variabilidad genética del fríjol mediante el uso de marcadores morfológicos y agronómicos , utilizando el análisis unificado de marcadores.✓Determinación de los centros de origen a partir de las características de la flor -color, forma y tamaño de las bractéolas-la forma del folíolo central de la hoja, la presencia de venas en el estandarte y el tamaño de las semillas típicas de los acervos mesoamericano y andino que fueron propuestas por Singh et al. (1991).El adecuado análisis y tratamiento de los datos de caracterización morfo agronómica y la inclusión de información sobre el origen geográfico de las especies proporcionan un panorama amplio del conocimiento de la variabilidad genética que permite su utilización en programas de mejoramiento.Identificación de descriptores confiables de las accesiones: Phaseolus dumosus Macfady.La taxonomía provee un marco unificador que nos muestra las relaciones entre las diversas formas de vida y que subraya la unidad original de la vida. En colaboración con el Laboratorio de Calidad Genética se adelantan estudios orientados al conocimiento de la diversidad original para garantizar la integridad genética del material y para mejorar la representatividad de la colección mundial.Fuente: CIAT, PRG 2011COSECHA. El sistema de cosecha es manual, realizándose periódicamente, cada que las plantas van mostrando vainas secas y/o en madurez fisiológica, se realiza por el sistema conocido como ordeño.Una vez finalizada la cosecha de vainas secas o en madurez fisiológica estas son depositadas en bolsas de tela o muselina las cuales permiten la perdida de humedad durante el proceso de presecado.Debe evitarse maltrato y las condiciones inadecuadas de almacenamiento y transporte a la estación CIAT -Palmira.Una vez recibidas las semillas, éstas son puestas en los secadores de aire fresco para iniciar la reducción progresiva del contenido de humedad Iniciar inmediatamente el proceso de desgrane y secado.Condiciones finales del secado: 10-12% de contenido de humedad.Registro de la información en la base de datosEs la renovación de las accesiones de germoplasma mediante la siembra y la cosecha de semillas con las mismas características de la muestra original. La regeneración de germoplasma es la operación más crítica en el manejo de un banco de germoplasma.Esta se aplica a materiales que tienen baja viabilidad y/o vigor y que por lo mismo podrían ser perdidos si no se recuperan sus niveles mínimos de calidades germinativas.Los procesos de regeneración incluyen algunas de las actividades del proceso de multiplicación:siembra -desinfección -escarificación -pre-germinación-preparación suelollenado de potes -trasplante -tutorado -riegos -toma de datos -control de plagas y enfermedades-cosecha -caracterización Sin embargo en los procesos de regeneración se puede requerir de procesos de multiplicación vegetativa.El Grupo de producción de fríjol del PRG maneja diferentes técnicas para optimizar la regeneración:Caracterización morfoagronómicaCaracterización molecular• Desinfección del suelo • Uso de semillas limpias y secas para sembrar • Tratamientos de semillas (escarificación, desinfección, pregerminación) • Mantenimiento adecuado de los suelos y campos de producción • Riego y buen drenaje • Identificación de plagas y enfermedades mediante inspecciones • Cosecha en estados óptimos de madurez.• Secado de vainas inmediatamente después de la cosecha.Como producir germoplasma de calidad ?Condiciones generalesAdecuada selección del ambiente de multiplicación y manejo del cultivo.Un estado fitosanitario pobre del germoplasma puede generar baja viabilidad de las semillas Parámetros de cosecha, almacenamiento y presecado son punto critico para garantizar la calidad fisiológica del germoplasma.Las entradas de germoplasma deben satisfacer las regulaciones locales Recomendaciones generales sobre las semillas Recolección de vainas secas cosechadas en el momento óptimo.Adecuada limpieza para eliminar restos de suelo, material vegetal, malas hierbas, insectos entre otros.Un estado fitosanitario pobre del germoplasma puede distorsionar la caracterización y evaluación del mismo(I) Control de la contaminación mecánica.(II) Control de la contaminación genética.(III) Control de la deriva genética.(IV) Control de la erosión genética ocasionada tanto por infección (plagas y enfermedades) como por la deriva genética.Se debe reconocer que cada vez que se hace un proceso de regeneración y/o multiplicación, es probable que perdamos una pequeña parte de la integridad genética de las muestras, de ahí la importancia de minimizar estos riesgosRegeneración de Germoplasma de Phaseolus Control de la Deriva GenéticaSeleccionar el mejor ambiente de multiplicación de las semillas Implementar las mejores condiciones y logística para el ambiente. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e90fffacb11f32fdbda0be60a60391c2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a4d6e3ff-284d-4c2b-b11d-71ab93dc76c9/retrieve","id":"1243545052"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"614f0477-9a8f-4ceb-a56e-3e5152fc253a","content":"Achieving benefits in all three dimensions is difficult, and so necessary choices among competing investments and objectives must be made.Research shows that climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is beneficial in increasing productivity, promoting resilience and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.The complex nature of agricultural systems implies that there are always multiple outcomes and goals to choose from. Some are immediate whereas others are long term. Achieving some goals might compromise the ability to achieve others.To invest in and scale up successful interventions, evidence is needed to help select and assess benefits and limitations of different CSA interventions.The broad goal of CSA is to reach a triple win: improve productivity, adaptation, and mitigation. Thus, trade-off analysis is required at every level of the decision-making process, from farmer to policy level, and all stakeholders need to be equipped with the right information to scale up appropriate evidence to meet the specific local need. Farmers do not farm crops in isolation: they carry out many different practices on one piece of land. A whole-farm evaluation is needed taking into account crop, livestock, and aquaculture subcomponents before trade-offs can be suggested.The trade-off analysis approach involves evaluating trade-offs, synergies and impacts of CSA adoption by looking at the whole farm within a diverse population of households. There is always an opportunity cost -a difference in net returns associated with changing from the current (not CSA) system to an alternative CSA technology. As a result, outcomes are associated with adoption and therefore with opportunity costs.Assess whole-farm trade-offs and synergies for climate-smart agriculture p2 1. Identification of impact indicators representing a measure of economic, environmental, or social outcomes that stakeholders want and that are associated with the three CSA pillars (see brief 0).Taking a whole-farm system approach by comparing crop, livestock, and aquaculture components, and offfarm activities and alternatives where CSA technology has been adopted.to whole-farm choices.3. The economic, environmental, and social impacts of the rate of CSA adoption is estimated.Impacts associated with adoption to determine which households will gain from the CSA technology and those who will lose i.e. are better off in the current farm system -are compared.Quantification of trade-offs and synergies acknowledges that agricultural systems are diverse, and constitute varying biophysical (refer to CSA lesson brief 8) and socioeconomic conditions (refer to CSA lesson briefs 1 & 2 ).In the adoption of any agricultural technology in a particular context, there may be tradeoffs. In a drought-prone region, the promotion of a drought tolerant (DT) crop variety may improve the household's ability to withstand climate shock, translating into better climate adaptation. Adoption may bring labor burdens due to the increased time needed for the agronomic practices that accompany the DT variety. If labor is a binding constraint and there is limited availability of hired labor, the adoption of the DT maize will increase the socioeconomic vulnerability of households. In some cases, using different technologies might offset trade-offs. However studies have shown that distributional impacts may vary within the population of farm households (Figure 1). All the possible impacts of different CSA practices in a particular context must be understood because these influence the adoption decisions taken by farm households. Adoption rates are positively correlated with anticipated positive returns on desired outcomes for farming households.Trade-off analysis helps to estimate the proportion of the population that gains or looses when a CSA technology is adopted.We need to estimate the effects of farms adopting a new technology. First, expected returns for all farm subsystems based on their impact indicators, for example yield, price, cost of production, land allocation, labor use and income are estimated. This provides evidence of the economic, environmental and social outcomes associated with the adoption. Then, aggregate expected returns for adopters versus nonadopters are compared to highlight the proportion of farms for which the adoption of the CSA technology is economically feasible.The trade-off analysis approach provides decision makers with quantitative information on trade-offs and synergies associated with the adoption of different CSA practices.The trade-off analysis can be conducted using several approaches such as statistical analysis, econometric analysis, economic-statistical simulation, and bi-economical models. Graphically, outcomes within and between the three CSA pillars are illustrated in Figure 2. Ideally CSA seeks to promote a win-win outcome but trade-offs can also occur. For example in option B, there is a gain in productivity and adaptation, and a loss in mitigation. Option F presents a gain in adaptation and a loss in both productivity and mitigation. Option H is not desirable as it compromises all the three pillars i.e. non CSA.Providing information on trade-offs and synergies to decision makers improved CSA priority setting and enhanced the likelihood that the CSA investment would get positive outcomes within a particular context while mitigating any unintended adverse outcomes. In Kilolo and Mbarali districts of Tanzania, farmers prioritized the adoption of minimum tillage, improved crop varieties and integrated pest management. An estimation of expected impacts from adopting the three CSA technologies was then conducted using econometric analysis (Figure 3). The analysis showed that all technologies contributed to an increase in farm income, which was a benefit to the productivity pillar. However, adopting minimum tillage, as a single technology or in combination with the other two technologies, also led to labor saving. Thus it is clear that synergies exist in the adoption of minimum tillage. However, the adoption of improved varieties and integrated pest management increased labor use by the farms, suggesting such a combination would create the trade-off. We used the Ruminant model and the tradeoff analysis model for multi-dimensional impact assessment (TOA-MD) to assess how improved livestock management options affected the three pillars of CSA: increased productivity, improved food security, and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Table 1). We observe gains (synergies) in the three pillars when we compared the base system and improved system (CSA adopters).Assessing impacts of alternative livestock management options in Lushoto, Tanzania"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/8219053342.json b/main/part_2/8219053342.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f36517b15be49c4ed3a2a7397d2b76d550e1d6d3
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c91058ebdf02275b0e65120d597ecb6b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7999d868-c9cd-42e5-8083-549352997dd2/retrieve","id":"784112946"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fbdb187c-760c-4d29-a7d5-f564371ff3fa","content":"Article 4.19 as read with Article 2.1(c), Article 4.1 and 4.4 of the Paris Agreement and decision 1/CP.21 paragraph 35, invites countries to formulate and communicate to the United Nations Framework Conventionon Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat their respective \"Mid-century long-term low GHG emissions climate resilient development strategies (Economy-wide LTS) by 2020\". Such a long-term strategy will set out a visionary agenda -providing political certainty for bold, concrete actions while helping to inform near-and long-term investments that spur sustainable economic and social transformation. A country's LTS has a great potential to guide it on a path to a climate resilient development pathway. This also contributes to the collective global response of limiting warming to 1.5 -2 ºC by the end of the century through low-carbon green growth in critical sectors. The COP26 through its Glasgow Climate Pact recognized the importance of developing and aligning NDCs with the long term low emissions and climate resilient development strategies (LTS) and reaching net zero emissions by around mid-century. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/8219153991.json b/main/part_2/8219153991.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d91548cbbdaad3c02af0401111e119d3bcc46929
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4a16483e90b70e573c58782577395d2c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1a9bbd9c-975f-4744-82b2-ee1aa970aeb6/retrieve","id":"-213330409"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f69d5b6e-dc87-4f88-9a9c-58889d8ed538","content":"We have audited the accompanying statements of 'financial position of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) as at 31 December 2003 and 2002 and the related statements of activities and cash flows for the years then ended as set out on Schedules 1 to 3. These financial statements are the responsibility of CIFOR's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards established by the Indonesian Institute of Accountants. These standards require that we plan and perform the audit 'to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of CIFOR as at 31 December 2003 and 2002, and the results of its activities, and its cash flows for the years then ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in Indonesia.Our audit was conducted for the purposes of forming an opinion on the basic financial statements taken as a whole. The accompanying supplementary information on Schedule 5 and Schedule 6 are presented for the purposes of additional analysis and are not a required part of the basic financial statements. Such information has been subject to the auditing procedures applied in the examination of the basic financial statements and in our opinion, is fairly stated in 'all material respects in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole.Presented below are the significant accounting policies adopted in preparing the financial statements of CIFOR, which are in conformity with generally accepted accounting p,rinciples in Indonesia and are consistent with the accounting guidelines of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).The financial statements are prepared on the basis of historical cost. The financial statements have also been prepared on the basis of the accruals concept except for the statements of cash flows.The statements of cash flows are prepared based on the indirect method by classifying cash flows on the basis of operating, investing and financing activities. For the purpose of the statements of cash flows, cash and cash equivalents include cash on hand, cash in banks and short-term deposits with a maturity of three months or less, net of overdrafts.Figures in the financial statements are rounded to and stated in thousands of US Dollars, unless otherwise stated.CIFOR maintains its books and records in United States Dollars (USD).Transactions denominated in a currency other than USD are converted into USD at the exchange rate prevailing at the date of the transaction. At the statement of financial position date, monetary assets and liabilities in currencies other than USD are translated into USD at the exchange rates prevailing at that date.Exchange gains and losses arising on transactions in currencies other than USD and on the translation of monetary assets and liabilities in currencies other than USD are recognised in the statement of activities. .c.Cash equivalents are short-term, highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to known amount of cash with original maturities of three months or less. Cash equivalents with maturities of more than one year from the date of the statement of financial position are classified as other assets.Accounts receivable are recorded net of a provision for doubtful accounts, based on a review of the collectibility of outstanding amounts. Accounts are written-off as bad debts during the period in which they are determined to be not collectible.Prepaid expenses are brought to account over the expected period of benefit on a straight line basis.Fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. The cost of fixed assets comprises their purchase price and all other incidental cost in bringing them to their working condition for their intended use. Fixed assets are depreciated using the straight line method over their estimated useful lives as follows:Infrastructure and leasehold Office fbrniture and equipment Computers Vehicles 25 years 5 years 3 yearsThe cost of maintenance and repairs is charged as an expense as incurred.Expenditures over than USD 500, which relate to assets and extend the future life of assets or provide further economic benefits, are capitalised and depreciated based on applicable depreciation rates. f. Fixed assets (continued)When assets are retired or otherwise disposed of, their carrying values and the related accumulated depreciation are eliminated from the financial statements, and the resulting gains and losses on the disposal of fixed assets are recognised in the statement of activities.Fixed assets acquired through restricted grants (assets in custody) which remain the property of the respective donors until the expiration of the agreementdcontracts, are directly expensed. These fixed assets are not recognised as CIFOR's fixed assets until the donor expressly transfers the ownership of the fixed assets to CIFOR at the completion of the project.Cash grants restricted by donors to investments in .property and equipments or for specific projects or to be invested permanently are recorded as other assets in the statement of financial position. Cash equivalents with maturities of more than one year from the date of the statement of financial position are also classified as other assets in the statement of financial position.Net assets represent residual balances of total assets minus liabilities. Net assets are classified as unrestricted, temporarily and permanently restricted net assets. unrestricted net assets are further classified as unappropriated and appropriated net assets.Unappropriated net assets are assets whose use is not designated by center management for special purposes. Appropriated net assets are assets whose use has been restricted by center management for specific purposes such as capital build-up, reserve for replacement of property and equipment, etc. Appropriation from unrestricted net assets may be done on an annual basis based on board trustees' resolution.1.Unrestricted wants 1.Unrestricted grants (continued) Unrestricted grants may be classified as either unappropriated or appropriated.. Unappropriated unrestricted grants are those whose use of assets is not designated by CIFOR management for a specific purpose. Appropriated unrestricted grants are those whose use of assets has been restricted by CIFOR management for a specific purpose.Unrestricted grants are recognised as revenue in the year in which the grants are pledged, as long as collection is probable, and when the donor imposed conditions are met.Restricted grants are grants received in support of specified projects or activities mutually agreed upon by CIFOR and donors.Restricted grants may either be temporarily or permanently restricted.Temporarily restricted grants are those whose use by CIFOR has been limited by donors to later periods of time or after specified dates or to specific purposes. Permanently restricted grants are those whose donor-imposed restriction limit CIFOR's use of the assets or its economic benefits neither expire with the passage of time nor can be removed by CIFOR's meeting certain requirements .Restricted grants are recognised as revenue to the extent that the grant conditions have been met and the related expenses 'have been incurred. Restricted grants received, for which expenses have not yet been incurred as at the date of the statement of financial position, are classified as current liabilities.Grants in kind are recognised as revenue to the extent that the conditions have been met and recorded at the fair value of the assets or services received or promised, or the fair value of the liabilities satisfied.Other revenues Other revenues and gains are recognised in the period in which these are earned. Employee benefits related to retirement, service and compensation payments are recognised when they accrue to the employee. A provision is made for the estimated liability as a result of past services rendered by employees up to the statements of financial position date and meets the requirements of the prevailing law.Cash on hand Cash in banks Short-term deposits In accordance with the CIFOR Provident Fund Policy Manual, CIFOR provides the Indonesian national staff members with a contribution of 12.5% of each member's base salary. The fund is managed by a Committee which consists of three national staff elected by the members and two ex officio members, the Deputy Director General-Corporate Services and the Human Resourc.es Manager. Th.e Committee provides semi-annual balance reports to each member and an annual report to the national staff assembly.Provisions for employee benefits Internationally recruited staff Nationally recruited staff CIFOR had no significant contingent liabilities as at 31 December 2003.Certain amounts in the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2002 have been reclassified to conform with the presentation of accounts in the financial statements for the period ended 3 1 December 2003.   "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/8263767178.json b/main/part_2/8263767178.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1550f693c859e1bf7469333efd526a6021016fee
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"caa1f12c37771b23c17fbdca9590c9ef","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bcb8b9e6-353e-4b05-9454-8b39bc86d5e8/retrieve","id":"-1930700472"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d6d0a353-bf39-4eb9-84e0-5f967029e592","content":"◼ A pilot radio program increased women's and men's access to climate information and locally relevant adaptation practices.◼ A piloted radio drama that featured intrahousehold decision-making showed promise for generating behavioral changes -specifically, increasing women's agency in decision-making about climate-smart practices.Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) supports the development of socially inclusive climate information and digital agricultural advisory services. Climate information services (CIS) can inform and assist farmers in decision-making processes to manage climaterelated risks.In Kenya, however, access and uptake of CIS has been relatively low so far, with rural women's uptake of the resource being particularly limited. Gender is a cross-cutting theme across the five thematic areas of AICCRA's Kenya Cluster, and previous research findings emphasized that socially inclusive access to CIS can be achieved by increasing and diversifying dissemination channels.But effectively conveying the potential positive impacts of CIS to women and men in drylandssuch as boosting the uptake of climate-smart practices and expanding women's decision-making roles -has been challenging to date.The Kenya Cluster employed a five-step process of co-creating pilot radio programs with stakeholders to enhance lower eastern drylands communities' access to CIS -and their potential to benefit from it, too. The key steps in this process, outlined below, could easily be adapted to benefit other communities facing similar challenges. Step 1: Learn and generate evidenceFirst, Renee Bullock and Gerald Katothya (2022) conducted a study to understand gendered access to CIS and climate-smart agriculture (CSA) in Kitui, Makueni, and Taita Taveta counties to develop a context-specific understanding of local women's and men's different sources of climate information and decision-making processes related to CSA.They found that common dissemination channels include mobile phones, radios, television, and interactive meetings, such as those between farmers and extension agents, amongst farmers' collectives, and within the community meetings known locally as barazas. Radios were perceived as the most-accessed, easiest-to-access, and most reliable source of information for both women and men.Women cited time constraints as a barrier to capacity building in CIS and CSA. Their agency in CIS uptake varied by household type -married women reported that they seldom made independent decisions about whether to implement advice. However, women may exercise more agency in decisions about food crops.The study participants also requested that AICCRA hold more stakeholder meetings to increase opportunities for conversation, and for the cocreation of agro-advisories with Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) officials and agricultural and livestock extension officers. These findings and recommendations informed the following step in the process: holding a stakeholder dialogue and piloting a radio program in Kitui County.Step 2: A stakeholder dialogueThe stakeholder dialogue was held chiefly to facilitate conversation between key stakeholders to strengthen CIS networks in Kitui County.Participants included KMD national-and countylevel staff, county-and ward-level agricultural extension agents, and climate observers. These observers are community members that record and share rainfall data with KMD to inform countyand zone-specific forecasts. The data they collect enables a better understanding of rainfall patterns in remote and underserved areas and is used to generate context-specific agro-advisories.Step 3: Developing the radio programsTwo radio programs -a live show and a dramawere created and aired by County FM, a station that broadcasts in the local language, kiKamba. Both programs provided forecasts for the upcoming March-April-May season (MAM 2023) and recommended CSA practices for the predicted The 12-minute drama was aired three times in one week, during the morning. A local drama group 'Kyalo' enacted a skit in which a husband and wife, upon listening to the forecast, discuss and plan practices such as planting droughttolerant crops and investing in water harvesting and conservation measures. An overarching theme of the program was to promote discussions and shared decision-making and investments between men and women in the home, with the overall goal of influencing women's agency in implementing CSA practices. Step 4: Group feedback sessionsGroup feedback sessions were held to review the radio pilot programs and glean suggestions about how to improve their content. The researchers also aimed to assess the potential of the programs to lead to a change in behaviors, specifically the uptake of the recommended CSA practices.Twenty-four sex-and age-disaggregated group discussions were convened across Kitui County with young women aged 18-34, young men aged 18-34, and women and men over the age of 35. The purpose of these groupings was to distinguish whether youth and adult preferences for radio programming differed. Each group was composed of 7-10 individuals and a total of 187 individuals participated.In each group, the drama and three short segments of the live show were played. Four questions followed each program, and participants were asked to vote privately and rate each show in terms of levels of likeability, understanding, usefulness, and whether they would follow the advice provided. An additional question for the drama was: if a husband and wife listened to the program together, would there be a change in gender roles and household participation in planning? Voting trends were recorded on a flip chart and presented, and participants were asked to volunteer explanations for their votes.When comparing votes (see Figure 1) on whether the individual would follow most, some, or none of the advice the radio programs, both women and men -79-98% of each group -voted that they would follow most or all the advice given in the show. Men's votes for the drama were slightly higher than for the live show, whilst women's votes were slightly higher for the live show. Young women's votes for the drama were the lowest (79%), while young men's votes were the highest (98%). Women's and men's reasons for not following the advice included a lack of capital to purchase or invest in the technologies. Adult women cited labor and knowledge as constraints:\"In situations where one is elderly, it may be hard to follow the activities or advice -for example not being able to dig the dams, and not knowing how to measure the holes or mix the soil, because even if we listened, we were not taught how to do it practically\" -Widowed woman, Tseikuru WardListening together was described as important to support investments in farming:\"If we listen the two of us, there won't be arguments about the farm, or questions like: 'where did you get that information from?' Like if the rain is going to be scarce, [my husband] won't ask who I heard it from. Then, if he stays in town and I request money to make terraces, he won't ask where I received that opinion, because we listened together\" -Married young woman, Kyuso WardParticipants also said that listening together could also help couples to plan more effectively: \"There will be a change if I listen with my husband, because men tend not to listen to their wives if they did not get the teachings themselves. But if we hear the teachings together, we will be able to work together as a team, because we will have gotten the same knowledge or idea from the teachings\" -Married adult woman, Tseikuru WardThe researchers also assessed whether the drama program had the potential to influence gender relations within households -specifically women's agency and increased participation in decisionmaking. Overall, the perception that there could be a change was very high. Between 90 and 99% of all participants voted that there would be 'some change' or 'major change' in terms of who participates in planning for the season.Suggestions to improve the radio programs were to include more voices -specifically to increase the amount of time that men's voices are heard, so that men do not think that the show is for women only. Participants agreed that the best time for couples to listen to the program would be the early evening.Step 5: Result sharing and feedbackResult sharing and feedback sessions were conducted in Mutomo Ward with 29 women and feedback sessions. The researchers presented their preliminary research results, and sexdisaggregated group discussions were then held to discuss them in more detail. Community networks, such as neighbors and WhatsApp groups, were also raised as important channels to share information. In general, women requested more information on climate-smart crop management, such as spacing suggestions, while men requested more information about pest and disease management.A panel with the subcounty and county agricultural extension and Association of Women in Agriculture Kenya (AWAK) partner was also held to discuss climate and gender-related issues.Participants recommended that the county prioritize developments in providing post-harvest and marketing support.  For more information, please contact Renee Bullock, R.Bullock@cgiar.org This series of briefs summarizes gender and social inclusion findings from AICCRA Kenya Cluster, that is undertakenby the International Livestock Research Institute. This brief describes an intervention to increase women's and men's access and uptake of climate information services and climate smart practices to improve resilience in drylands."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c2091ce9b5d0bff2b0f81d0b4ad137d4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H_5719.pdf","id":"2001531513"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3c067cf2-6b14-4fb3-817c-8b84e7e126d4","content":"Agricultural production in Pakistan is based almost solely on irrigation. Pakism's public surface water supply system has a long history, dating back to the 1800s. Extensive public development of F'akistan's abundant groundwater reserves, however, has taken place in only the past 30 years. Even more recent hasbeen theremarkableexpansion in thenumberofprivate tube wellsinstalled by farmers. Currently groundwaterplays amajorrole inPakistan's agricultural production system. Conservative estimates place its contribution to the total water supply for irrigated agriculture at 30 percent Since the late 1970s the Government of Pakistan has adopted an official policythatemphasizesprivateinsteadofpublic tube welldevelopmentin fresh groundwater areas. The test vehicle for implementing this policy is the Transition Pilot Project of the Salinity Control and Reclamation Project. By the end of fiscal year 1990 this project will either terminate or transfer the control of 213 of its wells to farmers in the Khanqah Dogran block of the Salinity Control andReclamationProject-1 area. In addition, theprojectplans to encourage the installation of 2,100 private wells in the Khanqah Dogran block to ensure that vertical drainage still takes place, and that small farmers retain access to groundwater supplies.A proper analysis of the potential impacts of projects aimed at private tube well development, such as the Transition Pilot Project of the Salinity Control and Reclamation Project, is impossible without a proper historical understanding of that development process to date. This paper is one effort to provide such an understanding through a review of past literature on private tube well development in Pakistan, as well as previous public programs and policies that have directly or indirectly affetted the pace and character of this development  (Mohammad, 1965:Z). Between 1944 and 1953.1.500 wells were installed as part of the Rasul and Central Tube Well Projecu in Rechna and Chaj Doabs to lower the water table by intercepting canal seepage and to provide supplemental irrigation water. In addition, the Provincial Irrigation Department.Punjab Province, also began installing tube wells forsupplemental irrigation purposes. Public groundwater development began on a large scale and in a comprehensive manner with the initiation of the Salinity Control and Reclamation Projects (SCARPS) in the early 1960s.While private groundwater development in the form of Persian wells has a long history inPakistan's PunjabProvince, theinstallation ofprivate tube wells initially lagged far behind public tube well development. In 1950, the Department of Agriculture reported only 177 private wells, all installed with its help since 1939. Although private drillers were certainly installing wells before 1950, thenumberis notknown, and probably was not significant. It was   Project wells in many areas where they coexistsuggesting that private wells have a greater impact on water table levels than do public wells. In addition, evidence suggests that private tube wells result in cropping intensities and yields that exceed those attributed to the Salinity Control and Reclamation Project wells (Lowdemilk et al., 1978:21,25,46; Anson, 1983:29). The Water and Power Development Authority (1980,xiii) estimated that more than 91 percent of these private wells were located in Pakistan's Punjab Province.Faced with crippling Salinity Control and Reclamation Project costs, and realizing the apparent benefits of private well development, the Water and Power Development Authority of Pakistan, the agency responsible for planning and executing the Salinity Control and Reclamation Projects, proposed a shift in policy ind979. In its RevisedProgramme for IrrigatedAgricultureReport, the Water and Power Development Authority called for a gradual divesting of public responsibilities for groundwater management in fresh groundwater areas, and for an increasing reliance on the private sector to both maintain proper water table levels and provide additional water for irrigation use. The government's draft of the Sixth Five Year Plan (FY84-FY88) reflected this policy change: \"...the Government would like to leave the development of other sweet water areas (of those having depth-to-water-table greater than 5 feet) to the private sector; in fact it would seek to transfer some of the public sector tubewells already existing in certain SCARF'S to the private sector.\" Oneoutcomeofthis policy change istheTransitionPilotProject ofthesalinity Control and Reclamation Project, funded by the World Bank. On 1 November a For a complete list. see Johnson, 1982 1987, the Pilot Project began terminating the operation of the Salinity Control and Reclamation Project wells in parts of the Khanqah Dogran subproject area of the Salinity Control and Reclamation Project-I, while encouraging further private development through a variety of methods.The transfer of responsibility for groundwater management from the public to the private sector in Pakistan reflects a broader trend that is current across Asia and the Near East. Within the irrigation sector throughout this region, there is amovement to shift specific responsibilities from government agencies to users or user groups. However, the Water and Power Development Authority's policy change in 1979 also was the product of an at times intense debate within Pakistan over the merits of public versus private control of fresh groundwater supplies. Beginning with Ghulam Mohammad's work with private tube wells in the early 1960s (Mohammad, 1965). researchers in Pakistan have repeatedly questioned the validity of the Salinity Control and Reclamation Project program in fresh groundwater areas when so much potential existed for private tube well development. This paper is not intended to provide detailed analyses of the programs it describes. For many, there have been published evaluations; where these exist they are noted. Our purpose is to give a brief overview of the type and variety of past g o v m e n t programs and policies aimed at private tube well development, along with some of the conclusions others have reached regarding their efficacy.The agency with the longest history of promoting private tube well development is the Department of Agriculture. Through its Agriculture Engineering Section, it has offered subsidized drilling services to farmers. In 1939. the Agriculture Engin-Section began installing wells at the rate of approximately 10-20ayear (Mohammad. 1965:3). In 1950. the pace WBS quickened; between June 1961 and June 1964, more than 1,000 wells were installed by this program. By the fiscal year 1981/82 the Agricultural Engineering Department had the capability and the equipment to complete 3,500 wells per year, or roughly 40 percent of the wells reported installed in the Punjab that year (Anson. 1983: 131). Usually, the Department of Agriculture does the drilling and it lowers the casing, while fanners are expected to provide material and labor. Anson (1983:131) estimates that in actual terms this subsidy is only a fraction of the total boring cost, amounting to less than 25 percent of the total cost of sinking a well, if one includes the cost of constructing a pump-house, diggingasumppit,andinstallingaconcretestillingtank. Forfarmerswithjust a bore-point, however, the savings can be significantThe net impact of the Department of Agriculture's drilling services over the years is hard to estimate. The Water and Power Development Authority (198019)concludedthatalmostallprivate wells(92%) areinstalledby private drillers because private drilling facilities and the services of these drillers are readily available when farmers need them, without their having to follow bureaucratic procedures to obtain public assistance. However, the demand of farmers for this service reportedly exceeds the ability of the Department to In 1983/84, the average disbursement of the Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan is against tube wells was Rs 35,675 per well with the bulk of the investment in the Punjab.' The weighted average cost of a new tube well in this same period was estimated to be Rs 45,000, implying that farmers had to also either find additional sources of financing, or use their own resources.However, it is difficult to draw general conclusions as to the sufficiency of lending by the Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan on a per tube well basis, since included in this Rs 37,675 average were loans for maintenance, repair, and replacement for existing tube wells where the total costs involved were certainly less than the RS 45,000 required to install a new well. Also it is not clear how much of the financing of this bank has gone to electrically-  (Malik, 1981). Farmers whosatisfiedprogramrequirements could apply the subsidy against the cost of government approved dieselpowered pumps. Program requirements were substantial; they included regulations on the size of holdings allowed, timetables for completion of approved wells, and proof that the groundwater was fit for irrigation purposes.The amount of subsidy varied substantially with the particular year, size, and location of the wells. Between 1972 and 1979, the percentage of the total installation cost provided by the subsidy ranged between 15 and SO percent.The number of wells installed each year as part of the program also varied considerably in this time period, from 444 wells in 1973t74 to 5,737 in 19761 77 (Malik, 19815). ByJune 1979.16.086subsidieshadbeensanctionedunder this program, representing 20 percent of the total number of wells installed in this period, at an expense to the government that was equal to only 3 percent of the total expenditures up to that time on the Salinity Control and Reclamation Project wells. Demand For subsidies outstrips supplyin 1981/ 82 only 1,100 out of 3,000 applicants were funded in the Punjab. comprising a mere 13 percentof the total number of wells installedin the Punjabduring that fiscal year (Anson, 1983:130).The Diesel Subsidy Program has had its difficulties; Malik (1981) provides a complete list. A few particular shortcomings that Malik highlighted in his review were: 1) The subsidy program initially favored large-scale farmers by requiring compact landholdings of at least 10.12 ha (25 acres). In 1979, this restriction was eased so that small-scale farmers had access to subsidies for tube wells with capacities less than 28.32 litershec (1 cusec). The project included funds for: improving electricity supply infrastructure, installing private wells, lining of minors, watercowse improvements, and institutional development. In fact, the actual amount of money earmarked for the installation of private wells is only a small portion of the total project cost. affecting 1.62 million ha (4 million acres) of land. This project has been controversial from the start because of its size and because many of the assumptions upon which it has been based.Besides these programs, several agencies have had programs of their own with more specific goals and specialized constituencies. One example is the Integrated Rural Development Programme, partially described by Yasin (1975,4),underwhich600new tubewellsin 1972/73and200in 1973l74 were installed. More recently, the Punjab Land Utilization Authority has begun its own limited effort. Established in 1980, its mandate was to provide incentives to farmers who could reclaim waste land by providing electrical connections for tube wells free of cost, subsidizing the purchase of transformers, providing a rebate for two years on the fixed charge portion of the electricity bill, extending easy credit, and hiring bulldozers for land-levelling. Between 1980 and 1984,470 wells were installed under this program. Its progress has been reviewed by Shah, in a report published in 1986.To encourage the installation of private elecuically-operated wells, the Water and Power Development Authority has hada tube well powerconnection subsidy. Anson (1983:130) reports that a subsidy of up to Rs 15,000 has been available for tube well connections to the Water and Power Development Authority grid, but availability was subject to budget restrictions. \"WAPDA admit (sic) that preference is given to connection applications for which subsidy is notrequired.\" Since farmersareexpected topay forthe installation of a feeder line and a transformer, the subsidy was originally only a fraction of the cost involved with installing an electrically-operated tube well. This fact has meant that the subsidy \"is selective towards the richer, larger (sic) farmers\" (Anson,1983:131). Since 1983,thesubsidy hasbeenincreasedtoRs 30,000 per connection. Anson (1983:133) also reports that a subsidy of 20 percent is theoretically available to farmers who purchase diesel for pumping purposes. \"Few farmers apply in the face of bureaucratic disincentive.\"There also have been indirect subsidies for private tube wells. Starting in the mid-l960s, the government began to encburage private tube well development via \"liberal imports of pipe and accessories. credit and electrical connections, etc.\" (Water and Power Development Authority, 1980107).The one policy that has had probably the most profound impact on farmers' technology choices and usage rates has been an electricity tariff subsidy for agricultural consumers of electrical power.  electricity to all consumers was Rs 0.52 per kilo watt hourNwh). Comparing this to an average sale price of Rs 0.35 kwh for agricultural consumers demonstrates the subsidy inherent in electricity supplies for agricultural production. Assuming that agricultural consumers used 25 percent of the available power supplies in 1981/82, the implication is that nonagricullural consumerspaid 66 percent per unit more fortheir supplies (about Rs 0.58 kwh).The traditional rariff includes a fied monthly charge, plus a meted consumption charge. In 1981/82, the fixed monthly portion of the charge was equal to approximately 83 hours worth of the metered consumption charge.Based on 1981/82 prices, Anson (1983:123) estimated that diesel-powered tube well owners paid approximately 3 times more per unit of water pumped than owners of electrically-operated wells. This finding is nothing new. In 1980, the Water and Power Development Authority estimated that the operating costsofdiesel-powered wells were57percenthigherthanthoseforelectricallyoperated wells. A significant portion of these price differentials was due to the subsidy inherent in electricity tariffs for agricultural consumers. The result has been a marked preference for electrically-operated wells among farmers, and an observed difference in utilization rates between owners of diesel-powered wells and owiers of electrically-operated wells (Water and Power Development Authority, 1980). In recent years, the Water and Power Development Authority has allowed electrically-operated tube well owners to switch from a mixed tariff (composed of both fixed monthly connection charges and metered charges) to one entirely based on a fixed monthly charge. On an operating cost basis, this policy change will increase the differential that currently exists between operating costs for diesel-powered and electrically-operated wells. Technology choice and utilization rates have special significance in Pakistan, where the electric power supply grid is already overburdened.In conclusion, public programs aimed at encouraging the development of private wells in Pakistan's Punjab can be characterized in the following way: 1) There have been a variety of such government programs that included most of the available options for public interventions (i.e., credit. direct power and installation subsidies, direct technical support through drilling, indirect subsidies for hardware). 2) These involved most of the government agencies that could have claimed any interest in groundwater development (i.e., the Water and Power Development Authority, the Department of Agriculture, the AgriculNral Development Bank of Pakistan, the Land Reclamation Departments, etc.). 3) Except in the case of the Transition Pilot Project of the Salinity Control and Reclamation Project, the programs/policies supported by various agencies have been relatively uncoordinated. 4) The cumulative impact of these programs/policies on the number of private tube wells installed has been small. although they may have had a substantial impact on choice of power source, and total pumpage. 5 ) Finally, these programdpolicies represented arelatively small portion of public expenditures on groundwater development.There have been manyimportantfieldstudiesofvariousaspectsofprivate tube wells that have been conducted since Ghulam Mohammad's initial work in the middle of the 1960s: Taken together, these comprise a body of knowledge that thegovemmentcanuseasareferencepointinits attempts topromoteequitable and environmentally sustainable groundwater development through the private sector for fresh groundwater areas. Some of the more important conclusions found in this body of knowledge are outlined in this section.The way data has been collected in the past on private tube wells has greatly influenced the kinds of information that are currently available. Without exception, past studies of private wells relied on onetime cross-sectional interview data to reach conclusions. Typically, samples were constructed based on official records of private tube wells and drawn from political units (i.e., districts), rather than hydrological units (i.e., canal command aras). As a result, past studies focused on issues that lent themselves to cross-sectional data collection, such as the total number of wells installed, the types of technology used, installation and operating costs, owner characteristics, and impacts on agricultural production (i.e., cropping patterns, intensities, and yields). Hence, there have been some aspects ofprivate tube well development that have been established repeatedly, and can now be accepted without doubt, but there are other aspects of that same development that are not understood.The conclusions presented i n this section were drawn from the following studies: The Water and Power Development Authority (1983) estimated that in 1977/ 78privatewellsaccountedformorethan90percentofthetotalpumpage(with 75 percent of this occurring in canal command areas) and supplied 30 percent of the total amount of irrigation supplies available at the farm gate. The effect of this 30 percent on total productivity is even larger than the number suggests since private tube well water is water supplied on demand, versus public supplies whose availability bears no relationship to farmer requirements.Although the rate of increase in the number of private wells has slowed in recent years, current growth in thenumberofprivate wells suggeststhatprivate groundwater development will play an even more important role in the agricultural production system of Pakistan in the future. The second reason for the concentration of private wells in large-scale landowners' hands is that technologies available to date become financially unattractive when holding sizes fall below a minimum level. While water selling in the Punjab is common, the Water and Power Development Authority (1980) claims that the amount of water sold in Pakistan compared to the amounts pumped is very small, providing little incentive by itself for installing a well. The implications are that the primary source of returns to a farmer installing a private well must come from his own land. Also, while fractional cusec technologies are available, costs are relatively inelastic when compared to capacities. Hence, cutting a well's capacity in half does not reduce its installation cost by a corresponding amount.Finally, the wells owned jointly by several farmers are a relatively small fraction of the total number of private wells. The estimate of the number of wells owned by groups range from 11 percent (Yasin, 1975) to 25 percent (Water and Power Development Authority, 1980). Again, this is partly due to the fact the public programs have done little to encourage joint ownership of private wells; in fact, somediscourage such arrangements. Forexample, in the past the Agricultural Development BankofPakistan's tube wellcreditprogram has refused to consider loans to cooperatives or similarly organized groups. Anson (1983) explains the small number of joint owners in terms of: available technology, financing restrictions, farmers' distrust of cooperatives, and the lack of efforts by the government to organize farmers based on local customs.The economics of private tube well investments, at least from the owner's perspective, has been included in almost every field study of private wells. Basedon the worktodate,four conclusionscanbedrawn. First, theinstallation costs for private wells have risen enormously over the past 20 years. For example, the Water and Power Development Authority (1980) estimated capital investment costs as Rs 35,600 for a diesel-powered well and Rs 25,100 for an electrically-operated well; this is reported to be 3040 percent more than in 1977. This authority also reported that in 1969 these costs were only Rs 6,848 for an electrically-operated well and Rs 9,103 for a diesel-powered well.After adjusting these values for hilation, this authority estimated that installation costs had increased by as much as 300 percent in this period.The second conclusion is that, despite these costs, the returns to a private well can still be substantial. The Water and Power Development Authority (1980) calculated benefivcost ratios with 1978 data that ranged between 1.28 and 3.18, depending on the assumptions. Yasin (1975) claimed that owners of electrically-operated wells in some dismicts of the Punjab could expect to recover their investment in less than a year. Mohammad(l965) estimatedthat diesel-powered well owners would reclaim their investment in 3 years, and electrically-operated well owners in 2 years. Obviously, such estimates are highly dependent on the size of landholdings and the quantity andreliability of alternative water supplies such as rainfall, public canal water and the Salinity Control and Reclamation Project pumpage. But. the Water and Power Development Authority (1980) concluded that it was these high financial returns that have escalated private tube well development since the 1960s.The third conclusion is that operational costs are substantially higher than installation costs. In 1980, the Water and Power Development Authority In a review of several field studies conducted in Pakistan, Anson (1983:29) concludes that \"farms served by private tubewells have achieved significantly higherprcduction levelsthan farms thatarenot.\" Theseincreases arereflected in these parameters: yields increased by 15 to 30 percent; cropping intensities increased from 120 to 140 percent; and cropping pattern shiftedto higher value crops. In 1980. the Water and Power Development Authority reported cropping intensity comparisons of 157 percent for owners of tube wells versus 136 percent for non-owners of tube wells who purchased water versus 113 percent for non-owners with no access to private water supplies. In addition, the Water and Power Development Authority reported marked differences in cropping patterns between owners and non-owners, especially with regard to high value crops (basmari rice, sugarcane, etc.). It also reported yield increases that almost reached 100 percent in thecaseofsugarcane. Theeffects of private tube wells on owner income have also been remarkable, especially when a combination of holding size and pumping technologies allowed the original capital investment to be recovered in a years' time.Private tube wells have played acrucialrole in theadvancement of agricultural production in Pakism's Punjab. As the government enters a new era in groundwater management, with an emphasis on private rather than public control of pumping facilities in fresh groundwater areas, the key issue arises: how can the government and donors encourage equitable and environmentally sustainable development of groundwaterresources via the private sector? Past research has been thorough in describing the importance of private wells to Punjab's agricultural production, to the economics of private wells, to the technologies in use. and to some primary characteristics of private tube well ownership. However, little insight has been gained to date into themore subtle questions of the long-term sustainability of private tube well development, the distribution of its benefits among different groups, and the links between the public surface imgation system, and its underground private counterpart.To date, for obvious reasons, private tube well development has taken place almost entirely in areas of the Punjab overlying \"fresh\" groundwater. In the context of Pakistan's Punjab, however, water is never absolutely fresh or saline; groundwater quality in fact varies over a wide range of values for standard water quality indicators. Vertical drainage, as practiced directly by the Salinity Control and Reclamation Project wells and indirectly by private tube wells, is not a long-term solution to the accumulation of salts in the groundwater, since these salts are not removed from the system when water is applied to farmers' fields. One may expect that groundwater quality will deteriorate in Pakistan's Punjab over time, although the rate of deterioration is open to debate.Oneofthe conclusions from the Waterandpower Development Authority's private tube well study in the late 1970s was that \"...by and large, the water developed by private tube wells does not pose any hazards according to the generally advocatedcriteria of waterquality\" (Water andpower Development Authority, 19801 1). However, recent work by the Pakistan Division of the International Irrigation Management Institute (IIMI Pakistan) in thecommand area of one distributary located in the heart of a ''fresh\" groundwater area found a very mixed situation with regard to groundwater quality, with the majority of water sampled from private wells rated as \"unfit\" for long-term use as irrigation water. Past researchers have hypothesized that fanners treat their groundwater supplies differently as water quality worsens! With the government's current commitment to relying on the private sector for the development of groundwater in \"fresh\" areas, it is essential that detailed work bedoneon how waterqualityaffectsinstallation and usage pattemsforprivate wells, and on what the long-term implications of private groundwater use are for overall groundwater quality and the productivity of agriculture. Anson (1983:32) claims that \"With the exception ofthe Bari Doab area, the growth of tubewells and pumpage has not seriously threatened groundwater quality or its depletion in any large areas. Uncontrolled pumpage. however, may pose a future problem in other areas, especially where there is a high concentration of private tubewells.\" With the transfer of responsibility for groundwater development from the public to the private sector in fresh groundwater areas, there is uncertainty as to whether private tube well pumpage will indeed be sufficient to maintain water tables at satisfactory levels, or, on the other hand, whether further encouragement of private tube wells will lead to overextraction, with adverse effects on water quality and water tablelevels. To answer thesequestions,accurateinformationisrequired on total installed capacity in the private sector. and on the utilization of that capacity.As long ago as 1965, Ghulam Mohammad questioned the accuracy of official estimates of installed capacity for private wells. At the time he estimated that actual numbers of private wells were 76 percent more. than what theRevenueDeparunentreported. In 1980, the WaterandPowerDevelopment Authority reported tube well densities of 4 tube wells per405 ha (1,ooO acres) in the Gugera command area of Rechna Doab. IIMI Pakistan's intensive field survey,in 1988,oftheLagardisuibutary.oneofGugera'smanydistributaries. showed a tube well density closer to 15 wells per 405 ha (1,000 acres). This figure is higher than any reported by the Water and Power Development Authorityforanypartof the Punjabin 1980,even thoughtheLagardisturary First, thegreatestscopeforfuturedevelopmentofprivatetubewells lies in extending their use to smaller farmers (less than 5.06 ha [ 12.5 acres]) through promoting appropriate fractional tubewell technology, credit facilities, electricity extension, and reliability, and appropriate forms of farmer organization. Second, the limited evaluations of farmer group experiences in the management of private tubewells highlights the need for further field research that could provide insights to the most effective ways of strengthening farmer organizations.While ensuring equal access to pumping facilities is one way to guarantee equitable distribution of groundwaterresources, it is unrealistic to assume that each farmer in Pakistan's Punjab will one day at least partially own a private tube well. For those farmers who are not owners, access to the benefits of groundwater development can only be guaranteed through some form of water markets. Past studies in Pakistan's Punjab have shown that groundwater is commonly sold, although most conclude that such sales represent only a fraction of the total amount pumped in a given year, that they are seasonal, and that wells are not installed primarily to sell water. Work in other parts of the Indian subcontinent have identified locations where relatively sophisticated groundwater markets have naturally developed (see for example Shah, 1987).A closer look at incipient markets in Pakistan's Punjab is necessary to identify obstacles preventing more extensive water selling arrangements. Such work may also suggest ways in which water markets can be encouraged, and the forms such markers might take.Thediversearray ofpast andpresent governmentprogramsandpoliciesthat affect or have affected private tube well developmentprovides a rich source of information on the potential impacts of planned governmental programs.What isrequiredisanassessmentofthoseprograms/policiesin terms lessgross than simply thenumber of wells installed. While in many casesthere havebeen program evaluations that provide useful information, they invariably rely on simple cross-sectional surveys. The type of information required for a complete understanding of a given program's impacts requires baseline information and monitoring through time. In the case of the Salinity Control and Reclamation Project program, there has been some success in instituting this kind of evaluation process (for an example of one product, see Water and Power Development Authority, 1988). Programsandpoliciesaimedatpnvate tube well development, however, have lacked even mdimentary arrangements for this type of evaluation process.The groundwater problems and potentials that Pakistan's Punjab Province experiencesareadirectprcductoftheexistingsurface watersystem. Programs aimed at improving the surface system will also have profound impacts on the availability of groundwater supplies on the one hand, and farmers' demand for those supplies on the other. To date, there has been no analysis in Pakistan whatsoever that adequately addresses these linkages, or that attempts to explore the implications of surface water programs for groundwater development, and vice versa.While it is true that private wells have become a crucial part of Pakistan's agriculture system with little attention from the government, the track that development h taken has been largely determined consciously or UIICOIISCiOUSIy, by government policies. Now that the government has explicitly decided to turn over groundwater management in fresh groundwater areas to the private sector, it is essential that future government policies and programs be built on a thorough understanding of the private tube well development process. and of how the groundwater system is linked to public surface supplies."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1357a77d907303ae22b51913b705d777","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c6585a52-e1be-4994-bf01-84827cb95317/retrieve","id":"577809047"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fffff3c8-406a-486e-b992-3ae83f04adc1","content":"Overview of the Feed Assessment Tool Launching the FEAST ToolLesson 6• By the end of this lesson, you should be able to: • Conduct follow-up research to assess facts behind any incomplete or disputed sections of the Focus Group Discussion Guide or Individual Interview QuestionnaireLesson 6• Ground Truth -To send researchers into the field to verify data collected by other methods• Sometimes necessary to \"ground truth\" incomplete, unclear or disputed data from focus groups and interviews• Methods include:- Lesson 6You should now be able to:• Conduct follow-up research to assess facts behind any incomplete or disputed sections of the Focus Group Discussion Guide or Individual Interview Questionnaire"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"60a7d80ec2222d69402efcc59ecc7707","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/952ce224-a87a-474a-8b4b-59491a17fa25/retrieve","id":"81902095"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"27687378-fb4a-4275-a825-5124e827a98e","content":"Discussions with farmers in Coastal Bangladesh showed they prefer using off-farm income to purchase agricultural inputs, rather than credit. Public policy that enables off-farm income generation opportunities are likely to be of use, where current level of fertilizer application is below optimum, particularly for resource-poor farm families. Where farmers routinely over-apply fertilizers, or practice imbalanced application, more complex policy, and development interventions may be needed, including educational programs, direct training, and behavioral nudging methods that encourage more rational use.• Multi-national Country(ies):• India • Bangladesh • NepalComments: Indo-Gangetic Plains focussed Links to MELIA publications:• https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13975-7"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e4ad50e281a5ee36a3b65bb4ae04db45","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7b28c763-5918-4333-afab-a5e06418d7bf/retrieve","id":"-1699267980"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"38292f85-8469-4818-bb18-f1961b912cde","content":"Below are two websites where you can find additional background and examples about the perspective of Participatory Action Research and the tools we have learned to use during the workshop.Between 8-12 July 2013, 34 scientists met in Yaoundé, Cameroon, to participate on the workshop on the Management and Use of Forest Landscapes as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests,Trees and Agroforestry (CRP6). The five-day workshop brought together biophysical and social scientists from the region to learn participatory research methods to unpack gendered knowledge, skills and interests relevant to the management and use of forest genetic resources research.Participants included Bioversity scientists as well as national partners and Bioversity gender fellows working on collaborative projects in Cameroon, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso and Mozambique. Social and biophysical scientists from ICRAF and CIFOR also took an active part in the workshop. Maria Fernández and Ricardo Ramírez facilitated the workshop, with process documentation by Carlos Basilio; all from the International Support Group (ISG). Julia Gerbig from the University of Freiburg's Centre for Anthropology and Gender Studies was also present to make a video of the proceedings with the intention of developing gender-learning modules for the Bioversity's Forest Genetic Resources Programme.Through a participatory, learning-by-doing process, participants went through exercises on different participatory research methods and tools. These tools allow researchers to explore gendered knowledge of tree resources so as to contribute to enabling rural communities to conserve and use them now and in the future. The workshop focused on how to make visible the knowledge, priorities, division of labour, skills, access and control of resources differentiated by gender and the relationships among them. The workshop participants' eclectic backgrounds and perspectives stimulated vigorous discussions on these themes throughout the week.The workshop focused on the potential that participatory research holds for triggering gender transformative processes that can make tree use and management more sustainable while promoting gender equality. Participants practiced the use of landscape mapping, activity calendars, and matrices of important and least important timber and non-timber forest products to encourage learning through action and reflection. They also spent a day in the field acquiring first-hand experience using these tools with women and men from Minwoho Village in the Division of Evodoula, a village where CIFOR and ICRAF has been supporting a number of activities during the last 10 years.For many of the participants, this was a first attempt to integrate gender-responsive social analyses in their work on tree genetic resources. For others, it was an initiation to participatory, social learning approaches that can build on local traditions of biodiversity management, and foster positive social changes in the communities where they work. As participants parted ways, they agreed that bridging the social and biophysical sciences, and doing research in a participatory way, are essential to generate relevant, meaningful, and quality research results that promote social equity and the conservation of forest genetic resources.This report attempts to capture, largely through the use of photographs, the dynamic interactions and activities that took place during the weeklong workshop.  There is a need to consider the issues listed above when conducting research on forests and their genetic resources to achieve the outcomes we seek: poverty alleviation and more sustainable use of natural resourcesVideo project: Julia Gerbig, University of Freiburg An introduction was given to the University of Freiburg team and its role in documenting this and other Bioversity CRP FTA workshops that will lead to the development of gender learning modules. The idea behind this work is: ! The production of a booklet and an interactive video (http://korsakow.org/) ! To explore possibilities of documenting experiences in the field ! To share possibilities of initiating rural communities in using video for learning Workshop Facilitation: Ricardo Ramirez, International Support Group Members of the International Support Group (ISG) provided the technical inputs and facilitation for the workshop. ISG is an association of practitioners and researchers who come together to facilitate learning approaches to natural resource management. The members are distributed across the globe and collaborate on-line and where possible during face-to-face events like this one.Workshop Expectations: Participants were asked to write down their main expectation from the workshop. The expectations were written on cards and posted on the wall. The goals of the Workshop was to provide participants with a practical understanding of how a gender perspective and participatory methods are relevant for forestry research, providing skills that can help take gender into account during field studies and thereby project development and implementation.Objectives:• Incorporate and/or reinforce a gender dimension into the bio-physical research • Facilitate an understanding of the technical knowledge and skills of men and women, forest managers, and their visions for resource use • Get a better grip on research as a process of learning and reflection with gendered forest managers about future optionsGetting to Know Each Other: participants took a few minutes to get to know someone they had not yet met and then they presented \"their new friend\" to the plenary. Rules of the Game: Participants then established the rules they felt should be followed to ensure that the workshop would be an optimal forum for discussion learning. 'Consequences' were gathered from all that those who broke the rules would need to preform.Tool 1: Addressing Gender: how do we see each other? Facilitator's Instructions:• Write down what comes to mind when you hear the word Woman.• Write down what comes to mind when you hear the word Man.• In the right corner of each card place a W if you are a woman and or M if a man.• Post the cards on a volunteer Woman and a volunteer Man.Figures 4-7 -Perceptions men and women have of themselves and of each otherHighlights of Discussion:• Men see men as themselves while women see themselves in relation to others (as mothers, wives, etc.) • Men see women in terms of physical attributes while women see women in terms of their roles and responsibilities in the household, family, community, society • Men see men as strong, head, chiefs and women see men similarly • How we see other people is not the same as we see ourselves • Men and women have with a lot of baggage (biases, stereotypes, assumptions) from their previous experiences and they need to be aware and careful of these baggage when doing researchers in the communities Highlights of Discussion:• All presentations indicate show that priority was given to items that will satisfy the nutritional needs of the household with one group even defining their shopping list based on food groups • The presentations did not give enough data to indicate differences on gender preferences although they did indicate that men express information differently. They tend to give more general information while women provide specific details. For example, while onions and other ingredients of a sauce is defined in the women's shopping list, the men's shopping list only contained sauce, indicating that women had a more detailed knowledge and skills in cooking  Highlights of Discussion:• Four groups gave high scores in terms of consensus and evidence. However 1 group gave themselves a low score for evidence • The low score for evidence was based on the limited availability of other information (evidences: maps, reports, etc) that could support the information. Most of the information was given by key informants • The score could be improved if opportunities are given to verify and replicate information • Social science research is challenging because one deals with perceptions and need high degree of trusts from the informants in order to be given the right information.Information given is also dependent on the expectations of the informants and power relations within groups of informants. The problem can be addressed if the research activity is negotiated with the community • How does gender relates to forest resources -Social differences lead to differences in relations with resources -Gender differentiation brings differences in opportunities and constraints -Gender roles varies with culture and time • Gender roles and responsibility have implications in access and uses of trees -Different levels of knowledge, skills, abilities, opportunities and constraints impacts on changes in forests -Effective policies need to be gender responsive -There is a need to understand gendered livelihoods and landscapes • How do men and women perceive each other to create some awareness on how to look on gender -Women see themselves differently from how men see them -Difference on how men see themselves and the way the are seen by women is not pronounced -Men look more to physical aspects while women focus more on roles • The most important change in gender study is the bias related to assumption and stereotypes: there is a need of asking more questions about roles rather than making assumptions.• Gender divided groups made a shopping list for a week for a family of four.-Women described with more detail than men -The ways preferences were outlined depend on skills, knowledge and vary with location and socio-cultural factors. -Care must be taken to avoid stereotypes: there is need to understand what is happening in the area of the study for and among men and women. Session 4: Gendered Forest Landscapes• Participatory research tools: lessons and consequences from using them • Landscape mapping exercise: gender divided groups mapped landscapes such as savannah, villages, concessions and transition forest-savannah.-Scale matters when expressing gender issues in mapping exercises Session 5: Consensus and Evidence• How robust, accurate and trustworthy is the exercise -The evidence was perceived differently. There is need of defining clearly evidence -Mapping perception is different from mapping reality.-The level of the evidence and consensus acceptable, depend on the nature of the dataDay 2 continued with introduction of matrix analysis and annual activity calendar as tools for gender responsive participatory research. The participants were asked to prepare and analyze gendered matrices of important species and activity calendars. The rest of the afternoon was spent for preparing protocols for the fieldwork. Highlights of Discussion:• It is not easy to rank the species on the basis of limited information • It is better to make the list of species first and identify the priorities later • Men and women have different criteria to identify the most and least important species • Identifying least important species is tended to be more difficult • Presentations indicate differences with multiple use and single use species by each gender or by both • The exercise is difficult to do if informants are not familiar with the situation in the communities • Definition of economic use emphasize sales or generation of cash income deemphasizing the use of species for food security and household nutrition • We need to question our assumption that cash is more important than food.• One thing is cash but another is value • Some species are considered as medicinal by men but not by women and vice versa • We need to unpack the meaning of traditional, cultural and social values. It includes the use of species for games, hospitality, gifts , exchange, pleasure • Eliciting a huge set of criteria can provide a better chance of identifying criteria relevant to the people. • It is important to let people identify their own criteria rather than imposing our own criteria upon them. Workshop participants arrived and met with local community members. Once introductions were completed, workshop participants broke out into groups of men and women. Each group was then subdivided into five groups (2 groups for landscape mapping, 2 groups for activity calendar and one group for matrix analysis). The men worked with groups of men from the village, while the women facilitated participatory exercises with groups of women from the village. A member of the community presented the results of the exercise in plenaryLunch was served for all participants. A local musician provided entertainment in between sessions and after lunch with a number of participants encouraged to dance with the music. Workshop participants returned to Yaoundé at 3 pm.The community and the workshop participants in Minwoho during the field day --Roles (facilitation, translation, introduction, time keeping and presentation) --Clarify (what is facilitation and observation, photos, tools and who keeps them) --Tools (selection of tools to use) --Materials (collecting and preparing materials to take to the field The different groups under landscape, activity calendar and matrix sat and brainstormed on the methodologies to use following the fieldwork protocol listed above.--The facilitators were chosen --Decision on who will do the writing, drawing and presentation ( mostly villagers) --Time keepers and those in charge of materials were also chosen in all the groups --Decisions on symbol identification were also madeFacilitator's Instructions:• Work in mixed field teams and gender • We have identified 6 Tree Species or NFTP of interest • Write each one across the top of a matrix;• Write the following characteristics along the vertical 'criteria' column:-1 men sell the product -5 women sell the product -1 men do the transformation-5 women do the transformation -1 women have access to the products -5 men have access to the products -1 women have skill to manage -5 men have skill to manage -1 the product is sold -5 the product is consumed • Rate each column using the appropriate number in the continuum in the vertical 'criteria' column • Scan the matrix: Which Tree Species share similar PATTERNS in ratings?• Are there groups of Tree Species that share similar characteristics? • Can you think of additional Tree Species that would fit the desired characteristics listed? • Time: 60 minutes? • Rep Grid demonstration Group Outputs: The RepGrid example below was based on the data from Group 1. We first verified that the Elements (Tree Species) and Constructs (gradient of variables) and scores were correct using DISPLAY. We verified the degree of association among columns using FOCUS. Last, we used PinGrid to display the clustering of the species and the gradient of variables. • The range od consensus of (1-5 to 1-10) can be stretched but may affect facility of consensus • The tool can only establish patterns, identifying outliers (acacia) or clusters with common characteristics (okok, nossette, njangsang, bush mango) • Data did not really represent replications and we need to be careful with interpreting quantitative (value) and qualitative (scores/ranks) data and interpreting qualitative data in a qualitative way • It can also provide degre eof variation and/or association • Rigor still needs to be determined through consensus and evidence analysis.• In this example the statistical variance is the addition of the two percentages: 56.1 (horizontal axis) and 34.5 (vertical axis) = 89.6%Facilitator's Instructions:• Work in groups of men and women • List 1 landscape resource (individual cards)• Prepare a matrix: place the resources on the vertical column • On the horizontal axis produce four columns: 2 for Access by men & women and 2 for Control by men & Women. • Score on a scale of 1-5 (5=high) the degree of access and control that each gender has.Figures 49-53: Interpretation of women's and men's access and control over resources on a scale of 1-5• Too much packed together to analyze • Some groups changed the rules (zero=no access; \"/\"-state control)• Importance of piloting and anticipating what kind of data you are likely to receive • Discovered zero access. Good discussion though hard to isolate items • Leads to question, the notion of control (access allows one to manage; control allows one to sell) • There are contextual differences • Exercise can create some discomfort • There are layers of \"laws\" (in a clearing fields vs in the forest, including regrowth) • Layers include official rules, social representation, norms, customary laws, who makes decisions • There's no public acknowledgement of women's actual control • Gender relations at home influence our scores • What people say and what they actually do is not necessarily the same. We need to talk to the women to challenge our assumptions • Women may have more control in nuclear families than in extended families.• If we want to influence change, we need to know \"who is able to make decisions/use our recommendations.Daily Recap: Thursday (11/07/13) Delphine Agbornerem and Frederick Nkeumoe All sessions were geared towards -Reflection of fieldwork carried out during the field trip.-Recommendations on findings carried out.-What we want to do in the future as far gender and participatory research is concerned in our various work places.Participants were asked to work in the same working groups as were in the field and the various tasks were to answer the following questions:-Did you follow the protocol? -What did you learn about gender and forest genetic resources? -What did you like about the process? -What made you uncomfortable?The instructions were that:• The different groups work for 30 minutes on: gender landscaping, matrix and calendar of activities (10 working groups) • The different groups of the same gender and of the same activity worked together for the next 30 minutes come out with similarities and differences of work carried out in the field • Make presentations of group work results Aspects that came out strongly:• The results of the fieldwork were based on the different orientation of the various teams.• The working sessions in the field were participatory • There was a lot of unpacking of knowledge and skills of the villagers according to gender. Group work 2: -Six activities that the villagers are involved in were chosen; collection and processing of bush mango, njansang, okock, cocoa, noazet -It was meant to unpack household activities between men and women and were it fits in a particular gradient -1. Men do all of it -2. Men do most of it -3. Men's participation is equal to women's participation -4. Women do most of it -5. Women do all of it The following criteria were used -Men sell the product 5; women sell the product 1 -Men do the processing1, 5 women do the processing -Women have access to the product 5, 5 men have access to the product -Women have skill to manage 1, 5 men have skill to manage -The product is sold 1, 5 the product is consumed -5 working groups were formed in such a way that at least one or two participants from the different working groups join to form working groups so that results from the different working groups are used for the ranking exercise. -Rate each column using the appropriate number in continuum in the vertical criteria column Penalties and Permission -Laura present long-awaited joke: \"A lion and a mouse\" -Lea danced to the tune of Abdon et al. -the \"Zangalewa\" -Abdon and Marlène took permission to carry out other duties.Tool 8: Domain Analysis -Task: Identification of similar patterns (families) base on results in respective groups.-Both Column-wise and row-wise -A kind of multivariate analysis of participatory research outcome -Ascertain the degree of association across columns and row variables.-A free Software introduced: facilitates such MVA -REPGRID (site www.sas2.net) -Does clustering of items -Shows degree/and strength of associations -Other uses and applicable to varying situation -Results of scores from 5 groups were displayed -A free tutorial book (English, French and Spanish versions) -How to synthesize replicated and data? -It is hard to keep track when transforming qualitative information into quantitative data -A mechanism to visualize and evaluate gendered relations between different variables.-What number of tools to use answering particular question or situations? -The need for triangulation to assure data quality Results:Acacia and Cocoa appeared as outliers; indication of single-use species. Multiple-use species; common pattern and high association In-depth gendered analysis conducted: to unpack and identify the interplay of existing relationships between items in common families Tool 9: Access and Control Matrix -An extensive debate on distinction between Assets and Resource -Social categories ≠ Biological categories -The scope of exercise contextualized; -Exercise: Perception of most important resource -Grouped into similar categories (Yvonne and Alda) -6 key resources were jointly agreed; Land -Water -Food trees-Timber -Bush meat -Crops -Exercise: Same groups -The Access and Control Matrix filled -Gradient/Scores: 1 -5 -Scope: natural forest, landscape, farmland.-Results presented (pasted) -Discussion and comments -some burning issues -Alteration of the protocol: need for consensus to whatever changes made in course of project. -The importance of piloting and anticipating the type of data you are likely to collect -Question on the notion of control and access -Access: allow to manage -Control: allow to sell -Existence of contextual differences -Existence of different layers of \"laws\": No public acknowledgement of women's actual control -Gendered relationships (at home) influence -In order to influence and impart change, e need to know \"who\"; -Is able to make decisions and/or -Use recommendations made from our research findings Way Forward -Expected Contributions of Gendered Participatory Research to CRP6 (Forests, Trees and Agroforestry: Livelihoods, Landscapes and Governance) reiterated by Laura -What do we need to do? -How do we go about with our research? -What are the indicators to measure progress towards achieving the outcome -Mid-term reports to be submitted -Focus will be on what we can do with the tools learned. Tool 9 : Time Line -Part 1 Baseline: of present research projects -Overview of current research protocol and sequences -Groups formed based on involvement in on-going projects -2 Groups for Beyond Timber Project -1 Group for Burkina-Faso Project -I Group for ICRAF and Potential partners -Tasks; in each landscape or project team -Provide timeline of current research activities -Indicate; Methods, Tools, and Partners.-Time 60 minutes -Registration sheets filled by participants -Days activities closed at about 17:45pm; -Group work continued to next day Day 5 -12 July On Day 5, the goal was to discuss the Timeline of each project represented in the workshop. The timelines are made of the phases, activities, methods, tools and actors used in the past superimposed with changes that the participants intend to do with the same aspects in the future. The latter part of the day's afternoon was spent in wrapping up the workshop by revisiting expectations, conducting the workshop evaluation and handing over certificates of attendance to the participants.   Facilitator's Instructions:• Identify one of the outcomes of your project that needs to \" genderized\" (pink card)• Give one suggestion of a progress marker for enhanced gender responsive research (green card)Outputs:Figures 62-66Gender responsive research outcomes and progress markers• There are four major opportunities for the CRP6 program to integrate gender in its research activities. The first is the inclusion of gendered activities in the preparation of grant proposal for the Phase II of the project. • The second is to make use of the gender fellows, the gender specialist and the honorary gender research fellow for support. • The third is the need to report back to the communities the results of the research activities. This must be done with both women and men who will provide feedback on results and take them forward • The important thing is that we learn more each time across profession, across culture and across landscapes • Be open to the fact that communities may often use terms that do not conform with our scientific background. In a way we should be aware that we are always carrying scientific baggage."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e0e74c75c6b8e4ce3e2e1e0321b9cc4a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/67f71509-616f-470e-8be1-f5b1d9f758fe/retrieve","id":"176232291"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"860ac250-9743-4721-902e-0b05e98124e3","content":"Armed conflicts can have impacts on individuals' economic activity (Verwimp et al. 2019)    • Yet, these are far from uniform, especially for women (Acemoglu et al. 2002; Menon & van der   Meulen Rodgers 2015; Robertson et al. 2020)    • Women's economic activity can rise during and after conflicts, e.g., because of changes in household composition and needs for women to take on new roles (Justino 2018).• However, cultural, economic, physical, and time constraints may also create negative or null net impacts on women's economic activities during and after conflicts (Greiner 2022)• Which conflict impacts dominate, under which conditions, and over which time horizons remains illunderstood, and empirical evidence is scarce and scatteredMulti-country African individual-level data on economic activity • With different types of armed conflict • With various time horizons of the conflict events: 1, 2, or 3 years before survey date Outcomes: employment variables related to participation in agrifood system; income • We estimate linear fixed-effect models of employment outcomes at the individual level:  Overall, local conflict exposure:• bears little effect on the likelihood of participating in the labour force• reduces hours worked • increases engagement in agriculture by gender:• reduces the number of hours worked by men more than by women• increases agricultural activity of women more than men • causes a drop in income much stronger among women across time and conflict typologies:• bears strong impacts three years after conflict exposure when there's no conflict in-between • has much weaker impacts three years later when conflict continued • yields qualitatively similar impacts across conflict event types, largest for explosionsOur results confirm previous findings on:• Gender gaps in labour market outcomes in developing countries• Worsening of economic outcomes in conflict situations Conflict has particularly detrimental economic implications for women due to:• Shift towards activities with relatively low monetary returns, primarily agriculture• Increase in economic gender gaps More generally:• Labour markets absorb shocks and adapt to conflict• Effects of conflict events more towards labour time re-allocation than abandoning economic activities• Rain-fed agriculture appears to play a key role on conflict impacts in Africa"}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"0a66a83e-6c2f-43b7-882b-d3119af05c8e","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d83dfa99154b95cbe2265278001df090","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/31969a6c-20aa-4c7a-9059-da30ec70edee/retrieve","id":"28360415"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fcb71d55-de39-4954-accf-d5f3a194f2fd","content":"Las publicaciones del CIP contribuyen con información importante sobre el desarrollo para el dominio público. Los lectores están autorizados a citar o reproducir este material en sus propias publicaciones. Se solicita respetar los derechos de autor del CIP y enviar una copia de la publicación donde se realizó la cita o publicó el material al Departamento de Comunicaciones, a la dirección que se indica abajo.o Aprobación de la Propuesta de Proyecto EncontrAR: Se recibió retroalimentación sobre el documento, se ajustó, no hubo observaciones a la teoría de cambio.o Desarrollo del manual de gestión: Se avanzó en la primera parte del manual funcional para la web de EncontrAR, centrándose en el registro y estructura de competencias, con complementaciones planeadas tras mejoras web.o Diseño de Bases para el Fondo Concursable: Se elaboró una primera versión de las bases del concurso, incorporando aportes de voluntarios y resaltando la necesidad de un enfoque en la sistematización de experiencias.o Elaboración de los términos de referencia sobre foro de dialogo y webinarios, que están implementándose, producto de lo cual se realizó un foro y se tienen calendarizadas las siguientes actividades para el año.o Tomar decisión sobre cómo será gestionado el documento de propuesta de proyecto de EncontrAR para que sea utilizado en el apalancamiento de fondos.o Formalización de Participación en el Grupo Núcleo: Necesidad de definir condiciones y modalidades para las cartas de entendimiento con la Alianza EncontrAR.o Finalización y Socialización de Bases del Concurso: Concluir las bases del concurso y organizar su socialización, priorizando la reunión con la Alianza para avanzar en este aspecto.o Incremento de Usuarios en la Web: La plataforma EncontrAR experimentó un aumento del 163.3% en usuarios registrados, pasando de 30 en marzo a 79 en julio, gracias a estrategias de divulgación durante el foro. Los usuarios son en su mayoría personas en cargos de coordinación, gerencia y dirección, de ONG y cooperación internacional, cuya procedencia predomina de Perú.o Realización del Foro de Diálogo: Se llevó a cabo el 1er Foro de Diálogo sobre Prácticas Agropecuarias en Gestión de Agua, con 393 personas registradas y 106 asistentes. Se están enviando certificados el 12/7/2024 y una encuesta de satisfacción que nos permitan hacer mejoras para eventos futuros.o Reuniones informativas con actores de Colombia para atraer interés de participación en la comunidad de Practica. Fueron contactas ENANDES, Corporación Autónoma Regional del Cauca (CRC)/Negocios Verdes, el Proyecto de Ecorregión del Macizo Colombiano/Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, la Universidad del Cauca, el Centro Regional de Innovación y Productividad (CREPIC), el Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Popayán, el Fondo de Agua Vivocuenca, y la Corporación Pajarero Tierra de Oro. Además, está en agenda una reuión para el 15/07/2024 con la Plataforma de Conocimiento de la Agricultura Familiar (PCAF) para explorar sinergias con ellos.Puntos de Atención:o Implementación de la Encuesta de Satisfacción: Se planea ejecutar una encuesta trimestral en julio para evaluar la satisfacción de los usuarios y recoger sus comentarios sobre la web.o Desarrollo de Alianzas Estratégicas: Se debe dar seguimiento a las relaciones con ENANDES y otros actores en Colombia para consolidar alianzas y asegurar la continuidad de compromisos.o Lanzamiento de Webinario: Se deben organizar el webinario sobre agricultura regenerativa para la semana del 23 de agosto y el lanzamiento del concurso de sistematización, ambos considerados de alta prioridad.o Comunicación Directa a Actores Clave: Se envió una carta a aproximadamente 400 actores en el directorio de EncontrAR, destacando objetivos y recursos disponibles entre experiencias, buenas prácticas y documentos técnicos, entre otros. Lo que permitió también depurar y actualizar el directorio, el mismo que hoy en día tiene el registro de 794 actores.o Apertura de Nuevas Redes Sociales: Se inauguró la cuenta de EncontrAR en Facebook el 5 de junio de 2024, complementando las publicaciones regulares en X, aumentando la visibilidad y promoción de actividades.o Participación en Redes Sociales: Aumentaron las visualizaciones en X, con publicaciones que alcanzaron hasta 108 visualizaciones, mostrando interés en la temática, aunque la interacción en forma de \"me gusta\" y \"reposteos\" sigue siendo baja.o Retraso en el Boletín Bimensual: No se avanzó en la elaboración del boletín por falta de contenido, programándose su publicación para agosto, incluyendo el anuncio del concurso de sistematización.o Limitación en Facebook para Transmisiones: Actualmente, la página de Facebook no cumple con los requisitos necesarios para activar la transmisión de eventos, como tener más de 100 seguidores y 60 días de funcionamiento. Se planea superar estas limitaciones para el webinario de agosto o Ampliación de Alcance en Redes Sociales: Se planea abrir una cuenta de LinkedIn en julio y establecer un calendario mensual para la publicación de materiales comunicacionales, con el objetivo de fortalecer la difusión de actividades.o El presente informe se basa en el plan de trabajo entregado en mayo del presente año y se divide en tres partes según las responsabilidades delegadas: 1) Conceptualización y Técnica, 2) Administración, y 3) Difusión. Cada una de estas responsabilidades se subdivide en dos secciones: una que detalla el avance de las actividades previstas en la planificación, y otra que presenta consideraciones a tener en cuenta para el siguiente período de trabajo.o En el detalle de avance, se subdivide según las actividades previstas, proporcionando claridad sobre las actividades que se ejecutaron, las que no estaban previstas para el presente período, y aquellas que han tenido alguna modificación.Se ha concluido la elaboración de la propuesta de proyecto, ha sido sometida a revisión y los aportes estuvieron orientados a la mejora de redacción. No se ha contado con observaciones sobre la teoría de cambio e indicadores. La versión actualizada a la fecha está a la disposición de los miembros de EncontrAR: AQUÍ A2. Desarrollo de manual de gestión funcional de la web de EncontrAR (parte I).Se avanzó con la primera parte del manual, de acuerdo a lo planeado, sobre todo en lo que respecta al registro y la estructura funcional de las competencias habilitadas a la fecha. La complementación y mejora se realizarán tras las mejoras de la web, previsto para el último cuatrimestre del año. La versión preliminar es accesible AQUÍ.A3. Diseño de las bases para el fondo concursable de incentivo a la sistematización de experiencias.Se ha elaborado una primera versión, la cual ha sido compartida con un grupo de voluntarios del grupo núcleo interesados en contribuir al proceso del concurso de sistematización de experiencias. La versión socializada puede ser revisada AQUÍ.Producto de la reunión se concluyó sobre la necesidad de (se puede acceder a la memoria de reunión (AQUÍ):o Enfatizar ideas clave en negrilla y destacar la importancia de compartir conocimiento para la réplica y escalabilidad.o Definir un objetivo general y objetivos específicos, vinculados a las categorías del concurso.o Decidir mediante encuesta si se abordarán los tres temas (gestión de agua, biodiversidad, sistemas agropecuarios sostenibles).o Incluir personas naturales y jurídicas, con respaldo para individuos.o Experiencias con al menos dos años de implementación y una definición clara de sostenibilidad.o Precisión en criterios de evaluación y definición de categorías de premiación. La gestión de fondos será decidida por los ganadores.La actividad está experimentando cierta demora debido a la necesidad de madurar más la categorización de experiencias, en términos de las áreas temáticas prioritarias y el público al que está dirigida (si será solo institucional o también para personas naturales). Además, se deben definir algunos requisitos específicos para laComponente 1: Conceptualización y Técnica.A. Reporte de avance:valoración. Esto requiere, paralelamente, una conversación con la Alianza EncontrAR para aclarar estos aspectos. Esta actividad cobrará relevancia en lo que queda de julio, con el objetivo de realizar la convocatoria en agosto.Se diseñaron los términos de referencia sobre los foros de dialogo agrícola y webinarios. En los TDR se explica en detalle, de qué tratan, cual es el objetivo, de que va tratar cada uno de ellos, se dan indicaciones básicas sobre las estrategias de comunicación y el trabajo con las áreas de comunicación. Es en base a estos que se ha elaborado el primer foro sobre gestión del agua y está en organización el evento de agricultura regenerativa2. Esto más los aportes de los miembros de la alianza EncontrAR se ha establecido un calendario de eventos, que corresponde a:Gestión de contenidos de los repositorios de EncontrAR: experiencias, prácticas y documentos A.5 Revisión y soporte para la carga de nuevas experiencias en la plataforma La única actividad prevista en este componente para este período de reporte ha sido la revisión y el soporte para la carga de nuevas experiencias en la plataforma. En relación con esto, se han gestionado correcciones en las dos fichas utilizadas para el foro de gestión del agua y se ha coordinado con el PPD la inserción de fotos en sus fichas de sistematización.A.6 Actualización de las fichas de buenas prácticas (vinculación con productos multimedia)No había actividad prevista para este periodo de reporte.A.7 Ampliar el repositorio de documentos.No había actividad prevista para este periodo de reporte.Gracias a la organización del foro se ha actualizado el directorio, logrando tener el contacto de 794 personas. Este es un número significativo y sobre el que se irá ampliando más contactos. Se puede acceder al registro AQUÍA pesar de estar planificada esta actividad, no se avanzó en ello. Se requiere, en reunión con miembros de la Alianza EncontrAR, establecer las condiciones y modalidad en la que se generaran estas cartas de entendimiento; así mismo está pendiente conversar sobre la factibilidad o no de la formalización de EncontrAR.Se llevaron a cabo dos reuniones relacionadas con la comunidad de práctica, según se detalla a continuación, según el siguiente detalle:Se realizaron reuniones con los miembros de cada uno de los países para recopilar aportes sobre las acciones a desarrollar en 2024. Con base en estas conversaciones y en colaboración con la Alianza EncontrAR, se elaboró un plan de trabajo para el resto del año. Este plan de trabajo fue presentado a todos los miembros de la comunidad de práctica el miércoles 12 de junio, con el objetivo de validarlo. Algunos aspectos mencionados que enriquecen el plan comprenden las siguientes consideraciones:o Se sugirió sistematizar las experiencias de IDMA para enriquecer el repositorio.o Ampliación de la difusión de la plataforma, para llegar a una audiencia más amplia. Incluso se propuso un enfoque en niños, ya que están en una etapa de formación y sensibilización. Sin embargo, esta última sugerencia no se considerará este año porque requiere una estrategia particular y podría desviar el enfoque inicial de EncontrAR. Más adelante, podría considerarse como una estrategia complementaria, pero por ahora se priorizará el objetivo de satisfacer la demanda de información sobre experiencias agrícolas probadas e innovadoras.o Comisión de voluntarios para el fondo concursable: Se constituyó una comisión de voluntarios integrada por Milka Tello, Liliana Recaman, Natacha del Cisne Fierro, Cristina Fonseca y Javier Ochoa para trabajar en este aspecto.o Debe incorporarse una actividad sobre estrategias para la financiación de proyectos y oportunidades colaborativas mediante acciones conjuntas.o Convocatoria y difusión de eventos: Se sugirieron mejoras para la convocatoria y difusión de foros y webinarios mediante el uso de otras redes sociales complementarias a X.o Se recomendó fortalecer la colaboración con las academias para generar un trabajo solido con este actor Estas sugerencias enriquecen el plan de trabajo y asegura una implementación efectiva de las actividades planificadas para el resto del año. Ver el plan operativo de EncontrAR: AQUÍEl objetivo principal de la reunión fue revisar y proporcionar retroalimentación sobre la primera versión de las bases del concurso. Se discutieron varias secciones, destacando la importancia de resaltar ideas clave y enfocar el concurso no solo en el incremento de experiencias, sino también en compartir el conocimiento para su replicabilidad y escalabilidad. Se propuso establecer un objetivo general y específicos, estos últimos vinculados a las categorías del concurso. En cuanto a los temas prioritarios, aún se necesita reflexión, pero se sugiere utilizar una encuesta para decidir entre gestión de agua, biodiversidad, y gestión de sistemas agropecuarios sostenibles. La encuesta también ayudará a definir subtemas y prácticas relevantes. Se discutió la inclusión de personas naturales y jurídicas como participantes, con la condición de que las personas naturales presenten una carta de respaldo de una entidad jurídica. Además, se acordó que las experiencias deben tener al menos dos años de implementación y que la definición de \"sostenibilidad\" sea clara.Los siguientes pasos incluyen la preparación y envío de la encuesta al grupo el 12 de julio de 2024, el reajuste del cronograma del concurso, y la realización de un ejercicio para usar la web y generar una nueva experiencia para evaluar la usabilidad del sistema. Se acordó ajustar las bases del concurso y generar material didáctico complementario. La próxima reunión está programada para el miércoles 17 de julio a las 3 pm (4 pm en Bolivia).Ver la memoria de reunión: AQUÍ En el siguiente periodo se deben tener las siguientes consideraciones:o Dado que ya se tiene una propuesta de proyecto base sobre EncontrAR; en la alianza debe establecerse la utilidad que se le dará a este documento y definir los siguientes pasos con miras al funcionamiento de EncontrAR para el 2025 (A1)o El desarrollo de la segunda parte del manual estará vinculado a los ajustes que se realicen en la página web. Por lo tanto, es realista pensar que la actualización del manual se llevará a cabo entre septiembre y noviembre (A2).o En el próximo período se concluirán las bases del concurso y se iniciará su socialización (A3). Es conveniente tener una reunión con la Alianza EncontrAR para avanzar en este propósito.o Se requiere una reunión con la Alianza EncontrAR para delimitar bien cómo se procederá con las cartas de entendimiento para formalizar la participación de los integrantes del grupo núcleo (A9).Gestión de la web y satisfacción de usuario B1. Gestionar operaciones de la plataforma web EncontrAR.La cantidad de usuarios aumentó en 163.3%. El 28/03/2024 estaban registrados 30 usuarios, y al 08/07/24 se registran 79. Este incremento se debe a la divulgación y motivación realizadas durante la organización del foro y su convocatoria, alentando a los interesados en suscribirse en la web. Esta estrategia ha resultado en un notable aumento de usuarios. Sin embargo, tenemos una base de datos de 394 personas que se han registrado al foro y que podemos utilizar para continuar motivando su suscripción a la web (junto a otros contactos que se tienen). Ver el registro de usuarios: AQUÍConsideraciones para el siguiente periodo:Componente 2: Gestionar operaciones de la plataforma web EncontrAR A. Reporte de avance:Algunas características del público registrado son:o Las ocupaciones más frecuentes de los usuarios son: 1) Coordinador de Proyectos (7.6%), 2) Docentes y/o profesores (6.1%), diversos roles directivos (6.1%). Existe un 60.7 porciento de usuarios con ocupaciones que tienen una sola mención, es decir no se repite (ej. Enfermera, Oficial de Alianza, etc.).o Las personas registradas son predominantemente de ONG / Cooperación Internacional (44), de academia (21), sector privado ( 16), gobierno local (9), entre otros.o Sobre la procedencia de los usuarios, predomina gente de Perú (33), seguido por Colombia (17) y Bolivia (13).Es importante mencionar que el incremento de personas colombianas registradas es destacable, porque entre marzo y julio se ha incrementado de 3 a 17.Durante este periodo de reporte, ningún usuario manifestó inconvenientes en su registro (problemas en proceso de inscripción, pérdida de contraseña y otros). Se han tenido inconvenientes para acceder a las estadísticas de trafico de la página web, inconveniente que ha sido reportado a Manthra, por lo que en este reporte (en esta fecha de presentación) no se pueden proporcionar estos datos. Apenas se subsane el problema será reportado el tráfico y evolución que está teniendo la web.B2. Gestión de mejoras técnicas de la web y funcionalidad de la web.Se mantuvo coordinación con Manthra para la atención de inconvenientes referidos sobre todo a la página de eventos, en donde había campos que no estaban visuales al público o tenían un error de visualización (fecha, mes, el link de registro y otros). Esto ha sido atendido oportunamente y no se han tenido inconvenientes adicionales.Para las gestiones administrativas del servicio de Manthra para el ajusto de módulos de la web, Javier Ochoa abrió una carpeta en la que hemos estado cargando información de soporte para fines administrativos de contratación. Ver carpeta de información: AQUÍ. Se tuvo una reunión con Manthra para especificar los cambios necesarios que se requieren, y que comprende particularmente:o Gestión de colaboradores y plataformas. Básicamente para poder insertar o eliminar logos institucionales y al pulso de estos articular a sus páginas institucionales. La clasificación de colaboradores, vamos a analizarlo. o Gestión de usuarios. Para tener una base de datos de los usuarios registrados y usuarios activos en el foro. Esa base de datos que permita transferiréis o generarse en Excel, para el uso estratégico de esa información. o Gestión de contenido de experiencias y buenas prácticas. En el caso de experiencias y buenas o prácticas, las ediciones específicas se podrán establecer después de la reunión de refrescamiento en el uso.De acuerdo a lo conversado hoy se adelanta la necesidad de: 1) campos editables en los formatos de buenas prácticas, 2) incorporación de un campo referido a las NDC, 3) actualizar la selección múltiple de NDC en experiencias.o Incorporación de nuevos recursos y consecuente habilitación para la gestión, videos para la sección de buenas prácticas. (Nota: como ya se va a editar las fichas de buenas prácticas, es más eficiente hacer este pedido de una vez)Adicionalmente se está en gestión para renovación de contrato para el hosting, según cotización presentada por Manthra por un valor de 1.800 $us. Ver cotización haciendo click: AQUÍ B3. Implementar una encuesta trimestral en línea sobre satisfacción de usuario.Será ejecutada en julio.B4. Coordinación periódica con lideres de las instituciones de la Aliana EncontrAR para promover y articular actividades interinstitucionales (eventos estudios).Durante este periodo, el producto especifico al respecto, ha sido con AgriLAC, a través de Willy Pradel, que ha facilitado el contacto con el ponente especializado en agricultura regenerativa, que será el tema del webinar de agosto. En julio, intensificaremos las coordinaciones relacionadas con este evento. Adicionalmente se ha contado con el respaldo y participación activa de Cristina Fonseca en el desarrollo de actividades de EncontrAR, lo que ha permitido tener retroalimentación y complementariedad para el desarrollo de actividades.Para el presente periodo se tienen los siguientes avances:o Se ha sostenido una reunión con ENANDES, gracias a la articulación realizada por Liliana Recamen del grupo núcleo de la comunidad de práctica. En la reunión se presentó qué es EncontrAR, lo que representan las experiencias y buenas prácticas en la gestión de conocimiento. Tras la reunión y de acuerdo a algunos acuerdos se mandó una correspondencia formal para invitar a ENANDES a formar parte de EncontrAR. Ver la correspondencia AQUÍ. Aún no se ha tenido respuesta y es un asunto pendiente.o Se realizó una reunión con diversos actores de Colombia, gracias a las gestiones de Liliana Recaman del grupo núcleo. En esta oportunidad, participaron representantes de la Corporación Autónoma Regional del Cauca (CRC)/Negocios Verdes, el Proyecto de Ecorregión del Macizo Colombiano/Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, la Universidad del Cauca, el Centro Regional de Innovación y Productividad (CREPIC), el Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Popayán, el Fondo de Agua Vivocuenca, y la Corporación Pajarero Tierra de Oro. Se les extendió la invitación a integrarse a la comunidad de práctica, y algunos de los miembros ya se han registrado y han participado en el foro. Está pendiente acordar la sistematización de sus experiencias. Para ver la memoria de la reunión, haga clic AQUÍ.o Actualmente, estamos gestionando una posible alianza con la Plataforma de Conocimiento de la Agricultura Familiar (PCAF), que tiene cobertura regional en América Latina y el Caribe. Nos hemos puesto en contacto con Carolina Maturana, Consultora de Agricultura Familiar para América Latina y el Caribe de la División de Asociaciones y Colaboración con las Naciones Unidas (PSU). Tenemos programada una reunión con ella para el lunes 15 de julio, con el fin de explorar oportunidades de alianza. Esto nos permitiría ampliar nuestra red de contactos y consolidar nuestro trabajo en la región, dado que compartimos temas afines. Además, nos brindaría facilidades y formalidad para compartir y utilizar la información que esta plataforma ofrece, y viceversa.En conclusión, se han logrado avances significativos en la coordinación y ampliación de nuestra red de contactos. Además, hemos incorporado a nuestra base de datos una serie de contactos provenientes de universidades con programas relacionados con el medio ambiente y la agricultura. De este modo, la comunicación de EncontrAR ahora también se dirige a diversas universidades, fortaleciendo así nuestras conexiones académicas y ampliando nuestro alcance.Estrechar lazos y trabajo colaborativo con entidades públicas del sector agrícola y medio ambiente en el ámbito de cobertura de EncontrAR.A ejecutar en el nuevo periodo, de acuerdo a lo planificado.Está teniendo una ligera demora según los tiempos previstos, porque requiere de una discusión sobre los requisitos y criterios de evaluación a incorporarse en las bases del concurso. Se plantea abordar en reunión con miembros de la Alianza EncontrAR en el presente mes.B.8 Implementación de los foros de diálogo de EncontrAR.En principio el evento fue programado para el 26 de junio, pero surgió desde Helvetas y PPD la recomendación de postergación, que por demoras en la producción de material de comunicación se optó por cambiar el foro para el 5 de julio. Fecha en que se ejecutó el Foro de Dialogo sobre Prácticas Agropecuarias en Gestión del Agua. Toda la información referida al mencionado foro puede ser encontrada AQUÍ, que contiene la agenda, presentaciones, documento de preguntas y respuestas, video del evento, certificados y otros. Esta información será utilizada cómo base para los siguientes eventos.A continuación, una ficha de resultados del foro:Nombre de evento: 1er Foro de Diálogo sobre Experiencias Agropecuarias en Gestión de Agua Fecha de realización: 5 de julio del 2024Agenda:Experiencias y expositores:• Conservando una cabecera de cuenca: Experiencia en el distrito de Yanque, Arequipa, Perú.• Betty Chatata, directora ejecutiva -AEDES Asoc. Especializada para el Desarrollo Sostenible. o Se retomarán las coordinaciones para los ajustes correspondientes de la web. Además de las coordinaciones administrativas para el pago del hosting (B2).o Se lanzará una encuesta de satisfacción a los usuarios para conocer sus opiniones y ver en qué medida se puede satisfacer sus comentarios mediante los ajustes que se harán a la web (B3).o Se monitoreará las relaciones con ENNANDES y otros actores de desarrollo de Colombia, para dar continuidad a los compromisos asumidos en las reuniones que se han tenido en el periodo de reporte.o Se organizará el webinario para la semana del 23 de agosto (B9) y el lanzamiento del concurso de sistematización B7). Ambas actividades son de prioridad.Estrategia específica para la difusión y promoción de EncontrAR D.1 Carta para presentar y reposicionar la wed de Encontrar.Con el objetivo de recordar a nuestro público objetivo la presencia de EncontrAR, hemos enviado una carta al directorio de EncontrAR, compuesto por aproximadamente 400 actores registrados en los cuatro países. En esta correspondencia, hemos destacado los objetivos de EncontrAR, así como los recursos disponibles para el público, y hemos presentado los eventos planificados a lo largo del año. Pueden revisar la carta enviada haciendo clic: AQUÍ.Esta actividad también ha permitido depurar datos y actualizar la lista de registrados en la página web de EncontrAR, así como los registros de participantes del foro de diálogo y asistentes confirmados.Sin avance, por falta de contenido relevante. Reprogramada para fines de julio o inicios de agosto 2024.En el presente periodo de reporte, hemos retomado las publicaciones en X de manera regular y hemos inaugurado la cuenta de EncontrAR en Facebook el 5 de junio de 2024. En conclusión, estamos manteniendo un ritmo regular en X, con destacadas visualizaciones. Es fundamental ir conocimiento mejor el mensaje atrayente al público para fomentar la preferencia y el reposteo por parte de nuestra audiencia.En relación a Facebook, mantenemos una cifra constante de 79 seguidores y 24 me gusta en la página en la última semana. Es crucial ampliar nuestro alcance, especialmente para alcanzar más de 100 seguidores y poder activar la función de transmisión de eventos. Esta ha sido una limitación para transmitir el foro desde la página de EncontrAR y facilitar la participación de nuestros aliados. Hasta ahora, no cumplíamos con los requisitos de 60 días de funcionamiento y más de 100 seguidores, condiciones necesarias para activar esta funcionalidad.Dada las actividades organización y convocatoria al foro se han generado materiales de comunicación que son reportados en la sección B8. Esto ha sido producto de la colaboración del área de comunicación de los aliados, particularmente de Valentina Yomayuza, Andrea Cruzado y Andrea Prado.En términos generales, el progreso ha sido satisfactorio, salvo por el boletín bimensual, el cual no avanzó debido a la postergación del foro de diálogo agropecuario sobre gestión de agua, dejando sin contenido informativo al boletín. En este sentido, se coordinará con las responsables delegada de comunicación para dar soporte a EncontrAR, para establecer un modelo de boletín y asegurar su publicación en agosto, incluyendo el anuncio del concurso de sistematización.Además, en julio se abrirá una cuenta en LinkedIn, sumando así tres redes sociales bajo responsabilidad de EncontrAR. A partir de julio, se establecerá una programación mensual para los materiales comunicacionales que refuercen nuestro calendario de actividades.A. Consideraciones para el siguiente periodo:Paola Andrea Mercado Salas, Gestora EncontrAR, encontrar@encontrarandes.org Willy Pradel, w.pradel@cgiar.org Cristina Fonseca, c.fonseca@cgiar.org CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to transforming food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis. Its research is carried out by 13 CGIAR Centers/Alliances in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations and the private sector. www.cgiar.orgWe would like to thank all funders who support this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund: www.cgiar.org/funders.To learn more about this Initiative, please visit this webpage.To learn more about this and other Initiatives in the CGIAR Research Portfolio, please visit www.cgiar.org/cgiar-portfolio © 2024 CGIAR System Organization. Some rights reserved.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International Licence (CC BYNC 4.0)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2cb4e3090d39fe84c67c9e136da1e9d0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/27f61ba9-8e83-4739-85f2-3d4fb8a29851/retrieve","id":"1748566276"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"597b660a-0bd7-4b9e-ad83-5d9732c6030c","content":"The Philippine Federation of Rural Broadcasters, with support from CCAFS, developed a school-on-the-air program on climate smart agriculture (SOA-CSA) with modules focusing on rice production, post-production and marketing. The program, with 68 modules airing for over five months, was implemented in the region's major rice producing provinces through live radio broadcast by Department of Agriculture-owned controlled radio stations, Philippine Broadcasting Service, other government stations in Cagayan Valley, and member stations of PFRB."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5dd049981be1e1bd7c61f2aeb11616c5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/957736e7-ed9d-4b94-98f7-035b111fa5f3/retrieve","id":"-1908361959"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8e9f34ec-1d49-48da-8565-fc7a5cb62006","content":"¡Bienvenidos! Nos complace que hagan parte del curso del 4 al 6 de octubre de 2023. El objetivo de este curso es brindar herramientas de política a nivel nacional facilitando a los tomadores de decisiones a diseñar y evaluar políticas que aborden los diversos factores que afectan a la economía, especialmente al sistema agroalimentario colombiano. Nos damos cuenta de que hay mucho interés en aprender este tipo de herramientas, y nuestro objetivo es hacer de esta una experiencia de aprendizaje productiva y positiva."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e04626ac4d4c0f08c96924a332209c51","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://dataverse.harvard.edu/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/FJBLNL/OLPQIG","id":"-506113812"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"12e95979-fad6-4267-946b-88a10aef7330","content":"Good morning/afternoon. I am ________ from the Data Analysis and Technical Assistance Limited (DATA), a Research organization based in Dhaka. Together with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), we are conducting an evaluation of a BRAC's A&T project in this area. We want to talk with you about the health status of mother & child of your area. We will ask you some questions related to your jobtime commitment and satisfaction. Also questions related to maternal nutrition and health, training exposure and socioeconomic status. The information that you will provide us will be used to set up a good health program in this community and in similar settings in other parts of the world.We are inviting you to be a participant in this study. We value your opinion. You will only be identified through code numbers. Your identity will not be stored with other information we collect about you. Your responses will be assigned a code number, and the list connecting your name with this number will be kept in a locked room and will be destroyed once all the data has been collected and analyzed. Any information we obtain from you during the research will be kept strictly confidential. We will use approximately 1 hour of your time to collect all the information.There will be no cost to you other than your time. Your participation in this research is completely voluntary. You are free to withdraw your consent and discontinue participation in this study at any time. You also have the right to refuse to answer specific questions. There will be no risk as a result of your participating in the study.The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and DATA are jointly conducting this survey. Your participation will be highly appreciated. The answers you give will help provide better information to policy-makers, practitioners and program managers so that they can plan for better services that will respond to your needs.The researcher read to me orally the consent form and explained to me the purpose of this survey. I agreed to take part in this research voluntarily. I understand that all information given by me will not be disclosed, that I am free to discontinue participation at any time if I so choose, and that the investigator will gladly answer any question that arise during the course of the research.Today we would like to ask you some questions about your job and about child nutrition. First, we'd like to talk about your job itself. We would like to know some things about the kinds of activities you do, and the amount of time it takes for you to do them.   "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"487211962bd7f81baf2a07bf62c974fb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10668-022-02182-0.pdf","id":"1855000822"},"keywords":["Water insecurity","COVID-19","Vulnerable groups","Mekong region","SDG 6"],"sieverID":"84706876-8c21-43d0-9828-949f325ebc86","content":"Access to sufficient clean water is important for reducing the risks from COVID-19. It is unclear, however, what influence COVID-19 has had on water insecurities. The objective of this study was to assess the associations between COVID-19 control measures and household water insecurities. A survey of 1559 individuals living in vulnerable communities in five countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam) showed that increased needs for clean water to wash hands or facemasks made it more likely a person was water insecure along those dimensions. Water insecurities with respect to handwashing and drinking, in turn, made adoption of the corresponding good practices less likely, whereas in the case of washing facemasks there was no association. Water system infrastructure, environmental conditions such as floods and droughts, as well as gender norms and knowledge, were also important for water insecurities and the adoption of good practices. As domestic water insecurities and COVID-19 control measures are associated with each other, efforts should therefore be directed at identifying and assisting the water insecure at high risk when COVID-19 reaches their communities.Access to sufficient clean water for drinking, preparing food, hygiene, and sanitation is important for reducing risks of COVID-19 transmission in vulnerable populations and for health outcomes if a person is infected (Amankwaa & Fischer, 2020;Desye, 2021;Lau et al., 2020;Stoler et al., 2020). Household water insecurities arise when the ability to obtain and benefit from water for household uses is reduced or threatened, for example, by problems of availability, access, or allocation (Gupta & Lebel, 2020;Jepson et al., 2017;Young et al., 2021). Poor water quality is another source of insecurity, for example, as a major cause of diarrhoea (Hannah et al., 2020). Common measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 may influence household water insecurities in several ways. First, frequent handwashing (Lao et al., 2021;Maude et al., 2021), and wearing reusable cloth facemasks (Bauza et al., 2021;Duong et al., 2021;MacIntyre et al., 2021), may lead to growing demand for water in homes where clean water access is already restricted at certain times (Sayeed et al., 2021;Sempewo et al., 2021;Zvobgo & Do, 2020). Second, lockdowns and road closures may disrupt the delivery of drinking water or disrupt the servicing of water systems (Desye, 2021;Howard, 2021;Neal, 2020). Third, the closure of businesses and markets reduces incomes, pushing people towards cheaper but less safe water sources (Shao et al., 2021). Finally, an increased need for water in situations where pump outlets or delivery points are shared make conventional social distancing guidelines impractical, increasing the risks of COVID-19 transmission (Hasan et al., 2021;Stoler et al., 2021).The combined impacts of water insecurities and COVID-19 measures may be particularly severe for residents of urban informal settlements without their own water supplies (Corburn et al., 2020;Wilkinson, 2020), communities in remote locations with limited infrastructure (Eichelberger et al., 2021), refugee camps with inadequate facilities (Rafa et al., 2020), or migrant worker dormitories and camps with shared facilities and no spatial independence (Djalante et al., 2020;Kim et al., 2021). Such communities are often already vulnerable because of power relations and discrimination (Stoler et al., 2020;Wilkinson, 2020). In addition, within communities, women and girls may be more vulnerable to the impacts, as they often carry the greater burden for water collection, cleaning, and caregiving (Adams et al., 2021). The elderly, bed-ridden, or disabled may also be especially vulnerable, as they are dependent on others for access (Scherer et al., 2021).Recognizing that pre-existing water insecurities may make the impacts of COVID-19 outbreaks more severe, and vice versa, COVID-19 impacts may make water insecurities more serious. In this study, we assess the drivers and consequences of household water insecurities in vulnerable communities in five countries in the Mekong Region (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam), in the context of an unfolding COVID-19 pandemic and on-going efforts to meet Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6)-'ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all' (UNESCAP, 2021). In mid-2020, a ranking of 47 countries in the Asia-Pacific Region according to a COVID-19 water security risk rating (Guthrie & Roiko, 2020), ranked three of the Mekong countries in the top 10 at highest risk: Laos (3rd), Cambodia (6th), and Myanmar (7th). Vietnam ranked 26th and Thailand 36th. The countries cover a range of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) development contexts. Laos, for instance, had the fewest COVID-19 infections and deaths (Phonvisay et al., 2021), but also the lowest coverage of handwashing facilities in rural areas (Table SM1). Thailand, in contrast, had the highest rate of COVID-19 infections, but the highest coverage of handwashing facilities. Clearly, the relationship between COVID-19 and water insecurities are more nuanced than what aggregate national rankings or statistics can reveal.Studies in Vietnam in more privileged communities suggest that COVID-19 led to more frequent handwashing and switch to hand sanitizers when water and soap were not available (Huong et al., 2020), and daily washing of cloth facemasks when subjects did not opt for single-use disposable surgical masks (Duong et al., 2021). Water insecurity has not, however, been examined closely in otherwise relevant studies of COVID-19 impacts in more vulnerable and potentially water insecure communities in the Mekong Region. Thus, a study in ethnic minority upland communities in Chiang Rai, Thailand, documented positive changes in hygiene practices such as wearing facemasks in public spaces and frequent handwashing, but also problems from reduced income and limited access to the health care system (Kitchanapaibul et al., 2021). In a companion paper, coping responses were also documented (Suratana et al., 2021). Neither analysis mentioned water.From previous studies in the Mekong Region, it is therefore unclear what influence common control measures have had on household water insecurities, and whether water insecurities influence the adoption of good practices (Fig. 1). In this study, we chose to focus on water used for washing hands, drinking, and washing facemasks, as these three uses span different water sources and practice routines, and thus likely different patterns of association with COVID-19. We address two questions.1. How did the COVID-19 outbreak effect household water insecurities in vulnerable communities? 2. How did household water insecurities impact the adoption of practices important to reducing the risks of COVID-19 infection?In each country, communities in which all or most homes were not connected to a central public water supply system (local community schemes were included) were selected from administrative areas in three geographic zones: upland rural, lowland rural or peri-urban, and urban informal settlements (Table SM2). Several representative communities likely to be water insecure were chosen within each area after consultation with public health offices or local governments. Households and informants within communities were selected by The survey instrument covered basic information about the respondent, their sources of drinking water and handwashing water, access problems, household washing facilities, handwashing and facemask washing practices, impacts of COVID-19 outbreak, gender division of labour and decisions, social well-being, as well as needs for further assistance (See Supplementary Materials). As the survey was carried out among marginalized groups, we kept the format of most questions as simple as possible-most commonly requiring either a Yes or No answer. The survey instrument was translated into five national languages, with an occasional further step of translation in the field to a minority language where necessary. Pre-tests were done in all countries, and the project team met online several times to ensure the intended meaning of each question was understood and captured in the survey instrument in all languages. Respondents gave their verbal consent to participate and were provided with compensation or gift to cover their time.The survey instrument was developed using the online software Alchemer (formerly SurveyGizmo). Answers from respondents were normally entered directly onto handheld tablets or smartphones by a trained interviewer, except where there was no reliable access to internet at a field site, in which case results were recorded first on paper and later uploaded.Unlike work aimed at developing a coherent, standardized set of questions for comparing and tracking changes in household water insecurities (Tsai et al., 2015;Young et al., 2019), this study focused on designing measures for a one-off survey around three specific, contrasting household water uses of importance to COVID-19 transmission in vulnerable communities using multiple water sources of varying quality. The key measures used in this study to characterize a respondent in relation to handwashing, drinking, or facemask washing are defined in Table SM3. Being handwashing water insecure (HWWI), for example, was measured by combining responses to 8 questions covering four aspects: whether water quality was perceived as adequate (2), water volumes sufficient to needs (1), water supply improving (4), and water-related intra-household conflicts (1) (Table SM3). For aspects with multiple question, items responses were weighted so total was 1 for each aspect (or -1 in case of reliability as a reversed scale). We opted for simple questions (Yes or No), based on respondent's experience (rather than summarizing across all members of a household) whenever possible, and a long recall period of over a year, so we could cover with a single survey both the wet and dry seasons known to be very important for water quality and volumes in our target study areas. The long recall period also allowed for some differences in the timing of COVID-19 impacts in different countries. One limitation of the HWWI measure is that it does not include information on severity, for instance, duration or frequency of periods where did not have enough clean water or water system performed poorly. The HWISE scale using a recall period of four weeks (Young et al., 2019) allows for a more detailed questions and nuanced measure of insecurities, but in this setting would have required multiple surveys in different seasons and national pandemic 'waves' that were beyond resources available for this study. The items used in this study included items referring to water quality, an aspect not explicitly addressed in the 12-item HWISE scale (Young et al., 2019).Three measures of good water practices, one corresponding to each insecurity item, were also defined (Table SM3). Good handwashing practices (GHWP), for example, combined identifying situations where washing was important with responses to questions about number of times per day, with time spent each time, and changes in practices in response to COVID-19 (Table SM3). The main limitation of this measure is that it did not include information about the washing process or steps.Derivations of other composite measures used in the analysis, such as financial insecurity, health insecurity, and social insecurity, are given in Table SM3.Analyses of the associations between binary outcome variables and predictors of special interest adjusted for potential confounding variables were done using logistic regression models (Hosmer & Lemeshow, 2000). The strengths of association were measured and interpreted using odds ratios-abbreviated to OR in this paper if adjusted, and to OR raw if not adjusted. Odds ratios greater than one indicate an increased likelihood, whereas ratios smaller than one indicate a decreased likelihood of the outcome. Where appropriate a 95% confidence interval (CI 95 ) for the odds ratio estimate is provided. A CI 95 that does not include 1 can be interpreted as being statistically significant from the baseline group.Two types of statistical models were built following the logic of our conceptual framework (Fig. 1) and sequence of research questions. The first, assessed the impacts of COVID-19 on the likelihood of being water insecure, while considering the social context and water system. The second, assessed the association of water insecurities with the adoption of good practices that could help reduce risks of COVID-19 transmission.The modelling approach was to initially force the inclusion of predictors of special interest, and to identify other candidate predictors using automated backward elimination option in SPSS25 software, and in a second step to manually simplify the model further, retaining only significant (P < 0.05) predictors. All candidate predictor variables used were categorical with transformation of scores and indices with many values to ordinal variables with 3-5 levels to reduce influence of outliers, and so that nonlinear associations could be easily detected without needing to conduct a series of tests, and to keep interpretation of odds ratios simple and consistent in form across predictors. In interpreting significant associations, further analysis was done to better understand associations among closely related variables and individual indicators in composite measures.The findings are organized according to the framework (Fig. 1), starting with information about the vulnerable communities studied and how their lives were impacted by COVID-19. The water sources for drinking and washing are then briefly summarized before the analysis moves onto the two main sections of the results, focussed on the sources of water insecurities and the adoption of practices that reduce the risks of COVID-19 transmission.Basic characteristics of respondents and their households are given in Table 1. A few noteworthy points include that only 13% of respondents had a regular salary, while 42% worked as daily labourer, and 40% had difficulties in making loan repayments, underlining the financial precariousness of many in these communities. Although respondents were living in remote locations, peri-urban transition zones, or in urban informal settlements, 85% had been in residence at their current location for more than 10 years (Table 1), underlining that these vulnerable communities are not transitory.A total of 53 respondents (3.4%) surveyed claimed to have 'never heard of COVID-19' and thus were not asked questions that assume at least some minimal awareness. A comparison with those who had heard of COVID-19 indicates the former are much more likely to have had no formal education (OR raw = 9.12; CI 95 :5.21-16.2), belonged to an ethnic minority group (OR raw = 14.9; CI 95 :6.68-33.2), and lived in upland as opposed to urban sites (OR raw = 16.3 CI 95 :4.88-68.4). Unaware respondents were found at sites in Laos (7.7%), Thailand (7.9%), and Myanmar (1.0%). This group of COVID-19 unaware individuals is a vulnerable group that unfortunately could not be included in the main statistical models reported.At the time of interviews (February-May 2021), only 8% of households had a member who had been tested or undergone quarantine for COVID-19. Nevertheless, COVID-19 measures such as mobility restrictions and closing of certain businesses had significant impacts on livelihoods, mobility, and access to goods and services over most of 2020 (Fig. 2). The patterns across countries were similar in the first six months of 2020, corresponding to the first wave, but diverged more in the following six months or start of the second wave (Fig. 2). The specific activities impacted followed similar patterns in the five countries with a few exceptions. Respondents in Laos, for instance, were less likely to have experienced reduced income, whereas those in Vietnam suffered more from restrictions on mobility, and those in Myanmar most from loss of access to goods and services (Figure SM1).Across the five countries, the most common source of water for hand and facemask washing was groundwater wells (58%). For drinking water, bottled sources ranked highest overall (56%). In the Mekong Region, 'bottled' includes not just small (< 1 L) bottles but also larger reusable plastic containers of 10-20 L. There were some important differences by ecological zone, with groundwater wells being more important in upland sites for drinking, and bottled water relatively less important (Fig. 3a). For sources of drinking water other than bottled or from a dispenser, most respondents boiled and/or filtered water prior to consumption. Thus, of the 8% who drank from running surface waters, 84% boiled or treated water beforehand, while of the 33% who drank well water, a similar proportion (82%) boiled or treated. In lowland and upland sites, water for hand and facemask washing sometimes came from local or central waterworks systems (Fig. 3b), but in many of these cases (77%) washing water was still carried back to the home, implying water was not piped directly to individual homes. Households in the urban informal settlement zones were rarely connected to the public waterworks system (2%). Many households had multiple sources of water for handwashing (32%) and drinking (46%).Being handwashing water insecure (HWWI, 54%), drinking water insecure (DWI, 49%), or facemask washing water insecure (FWWI, 33%) was defined by combining responses to questions about problems experienced in the past year with the quantity and quality of water for each use, as well as trends in reliability of supply (Table SM3). Just under half (48%) of respondents, for example, had experienced not having enough clean water to drink in the past year. Differences among zones in the problems faced were modest, with residents in lowland sites, for example, encountering dirty or unsafe water more often than in other zones (Figure SM3). In the rest of this section, logistic regression models (Table 2) are used to mutually adjust association of various predictors with the three forms of household water insecurity.There were a few associations between changes in practices, which respondents attributed to the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak and being water insecure (Table 2). Respondents who had increased the thoroughness of handwashing (94%) because of the COVID-19 outbreak were twice as likely to be HWWI (OR = 1.79), and those who washed facemasks more frequently (OR = 2.33) or more thoroughly (OR = 2.15) were likewise more likely to be FWWI (Table 2). In all cases, the increased attention to hygiene implies an increased need for clean water; finding significant associations with insecurity measures implies that the availability of sufficient clean water is not guaranteed.Changes among water sources of different quality were also important to water insecurity. Thus, switches to cleaner sources for handwashing (36%) in response to COVID-19 outbreak made it less likely (OR = 0.56) of being HWWI, while drinking water more frequently from unsafe sources (12%) made it more than three times (OR = 3.71) more likely of being DWI (Table 2). These associations are consistent with the importance of water quality indicators in the definition of all three water insecurities (Table SM3).  Increased wearing of facemasks outside the home (90%) was also associated with FWWI, consistent with the increased frequency and intensity of facemask washing. Respondents with less money to spend on drinking water (39%) were more likely to be DWI (OR = 1.46).In terms of water micro-infrastructure, if water must be carried to the home, then a respondent was more likely to be handwashing (OR = 1.63) or drinking (OR = 1.46) water insecure (Table 2). Having access to more handwashing stations reduced the likelihood of being drinking water insecure (OR = 0.65). Convenient access to clean water is important to reducing water insecurities.Respondents were more than twice as likely (OR = 2.28) to be HWWI if household sources included surface waters (rivers or ponds). Almost a third (31%) had at some time used surface sources to wash their hands (Fig. 3b). If supplies were affected by droughts (49%) or salinization (6%), respondents were more likely to be HWWI (Table 2). Dry season droughts and salinization reduce the volume and quality, respectively, of water for washing hands and contribute to HWWI. Respondents were more likely to be DWI if household drinking water sources included surface waters (OR = 2.89) or rainwater tanks (OR = 2.81). Using groundwater wells for washing also made it more likely for a respondent to be FWWI (OR = 2.26). Unimproved or 'natural' sources are of unreliable quality and their use thus a potential source of water insecurity.Households in which women had a similar (shared) or a relatively greater role than men in managing water supplies (Fig. 4) were more likely to be handwashing and facemask washing water insecure (Table 2). One possible explanation is that members of such households are more aware of needs for clean water because women are primary users in the home (Fig. 4), and therefore more likely to detect water insecurities. Looking more closely at Fig. 4 Gender division of labour in the household. Scores vary from women dominate role (+ 1) through both or neither (0) to men dominate role (− 1) specific responsibilities, one of the strongest individual associations was between households in which women (as opposed to men) were responsible for maintaining handwashing facilities and being HWWI (OR raw = 3.11; CI 95 :2.28-4.24). Overall, women are burdened much more than men by roles in food preparation, dish washing, cleaning inside the house, and care-giving tasks (Fig. 4). Many of these activities involve washing hands. Thus, households in which women dominate food and care roles were also more likely to be HWWI (Table 2).An alternative explanation to awareness or perception of insecurities is that households in which women dominate water supply management are less able to address water insecurities, as this requires influence or power within and beyond the household, and this is often held by men. Survey evidence does not support the within household argument. Households in which women (as opposed to men) make water supply decisions were more likely to be HWWI (OR raw = 1.77; CI 95 :1.26-2.51) and FWWI (OR raw = 2.56; CI 95 :1.77-3.71). We did not collect information that could be used to test the beyond the household argument.There were a few other significant associations with socio-economic factors. Respondents with many information sources were less likely than those with few sources to be HWWI (Table 2). This suggests experience or knowledge is important to reducing insecurities. Without adjustment for other predictors, those with a high education were less likely to be HWWI (OR raw = 0.77; CI 95 :0.61-0.97), whereas those with more than 20 years at current location were more likely to be water insecure (OR raw = 1.31; CI 95 :1.12-1.53) than those with fewer than 5 years residence, implying it is an issue of knowledge or information rather than experience. Obtaining information about COVID-19 from social media channels was common (Figure SM2) and was associated with being less likely to be HWWI (OR raw = 0.69; CI 95 :0.56-0.85), whereas those who obtained information from health workers were more likely to be HWWI (OR raw = 1.61; CI 95 :1.31-1.98), perhaps because they set stricter standards.Respondents that were more socially insecure were more likely to be FWWI and HWWI (Table 2), implying that social relations are important for access to water for washing. Increased tension within the household due to COVID-19, for example, made it more likely to have experienced not having enough clean water to wash facemasks (OR raw = 2.59; CI 95 :2.01-3.33). Respondents that were more financially insecure were less likely to be DWI (Table 2), counter to expectations that drinking water access would be more of a problem for those with reduced income or less wealth. Respondents with intermediate health insecurity scores were significantly more likely to be HWWI than those with low scores.Respondents in urban areas were less, and those in lowlands more, likely than those in uplands to be FWWI. Seasonal drought impact household water uses in the uplands (46%) more often than in urban areas (28%). Patterns of water insecurities among countries were diverse (Table 2).In this section, logistic regression models (Table 3) are used to mutually adjust association of various predictors with the adoption of good handwashing practices (GHWP,  1 3 26%), good drinking water practices (GDWP, 23%), and good facemask washing and using practices (GFWUP, 31%) as defined in Table SM3.Respondents experiencing mid or high levels of handwashing water insecure (HWWI) were less likely to adopt GHWP than those with low insecurity scores (Table 3). Experiencing high levels of drinking water insecure (DWI) made it less likely (OR = 0.56) to adopt GDWP. Water insecurity in the case of handwashing and drinking was an obstacle to the adoption of good practices. In contrast, respondents experiencing intermediate or high levels of facemask washing water insecure (FWWI) were neither more nor less likely to have adopted GFWUP than those at a low level (Table 3).In terms of water systems, respondents were more likely (OR = 1.67) to follow GHWP if they had access to more handwashing stations (Table 3). Multiple facilities are an indicator that a house has water hygiene micro-infrastructure, making it easier to follow good practices. Having to carry washing water home, implying a household does not have a direct piped connection, made it less likely (OR = 0.70) to adopt GFWUP. These associations are consistent with the convenient access explanation noted earlier with respect to water insecurities.Having had drinking water supplies impacted by floods was associated with a greater likelihood (OR = 2.94) of adopting GDWP (Table 3). Floods through contaminated run-off may reduce water quality. Residents with experience of being impacted by floods thus were much more likely to boil water prior to drinking (OR raw = 6.42; CI 95 :4.98-8.29), and in doing so meet one of the conditions of being GDWP (Table SM3). Respondents having multiple water sources (OR = 2.94) for drinking were also more likely to adopt GDWP (Table 3).Respondents impacted by floods were more likely to adopt GHWP (Table 3). Floods might help renew groundwater and surface water sources, reducing water shortages for washing hands. However, the evidence from our survey does not support this interpretation, whereby households impacted by floods were more likely to not have enough clean water to wash hands (OR raw = 1.74; CI 95 :1.40-2.17). Those who had used rainwater from tanks for handwashing (16%) were less likely to adopt GHWP. One explanation for the latter association might be the amount that could be stored was quite limited and prioritized for drinking. Consistent with this interpretation is that of the 21% whom had used collected rainwater, 88% had done so for drinking. Moreover, those who used rainwater for washing hands were twice as likely to not have enough clean water to wash hands (OR raw = 2.12; CI 95 :1.61-2.78).Entries in body of table are odds ratios (and 95% confidence intervals) from logistic regression models. Baseline for comparison, if not shown explicitly with '1', is the absence or opposite of the stated conditionWomen were more likely (OR = 1.58) to adopt GHWP than men, while for GDWP and GFWUP there were no differences (Table 3). Households in which women had a greater role in securing water supplies were more likely to adopt GHWP, but less likely to follow GDWP than households in which men had the greater role (Table 3). One reason for the association with GHWP might be the better understanding of good practices regarding washing, cleaning, and food preparation that women have because social norms reinforce these work burdens on them (Fig. 4). That the association with GDWP is different may reflect that buying drinking water is often a shared (37%) or male (26%) responsibility.People who were health insecure, after adjustment for other predictors, were more likely to follow GHWP (Table 3). The health insecure by definition (Table SM3) has recent experiences of being hospitalized (OR raw = 5.00 CI 95 :3.91-6.36) or feeling unwell, which may inform or motivate good practices. Having multiple information sources or a higher education was associated with the adoption of GFWUP (Table 3). Television was the most important channel of information about COVID-19, but social media was also important, as were neighbours (Figure SM2). Households that provided help to other households to cope with the impacts of COVID-19 were more likely to have also adopted GHWP and GFWUP (Table 3). Patterns of association with zones were complex. Residents in urban and lowland sites were more likely to adopt GHWP than those in upland sites, perhaps reflecting less exposure to public health campaigns in remote locations. People in urban sites were more likely to obtain information from government officials than those in upland sites (OR raw = 1.42; CI 95 :1.08-1.88), providing partial support for this explanation. Those in lowland sites, however, were less likely, and in urban sites more likely, to adopt GDWP than those in upland sites.Government measures to control the spread of COVID-19 involved restricting movement or limiting business activities, disrupted livelihoods and reduced incomes in vulnerable groups, but had few traceable impacts on household water insecurities. Behavioural campaigns aimed at hygiene practices, like washing hands and wearing and washing facemasks, had stronger associations with water insecurities, as they increased needs for clean water in a context in which it may be seasonally in short supply, low in quality, or difficult to access in vulnerable communities. Studies in other low-and middle-income countries in other parts of the world have also found that risk-reducing practices require access to more clean water, and this may not be easily available (Sempewo et al., 2021;Stoler et al., 2021;Zvobgo & Do, 2020).Household water insecurities had mixed associations with the adoption of good practices for reducing risks of COVID-19. Being water insecure with respect to handwashing, made the adoption of good handwashing practices less likely-as noted above, perhaps reflecting difficulties in meeting increased demand for clean water. Being water insecure with respect to drinking water also made the adoption of good treatment practices less likely. Being drinking water insecure was strongly associated with the relatively rare use of unsafe surface water sources. The COVID-19 outbreak resulted in increased consumption from these unsafe sources, as well as more boiling prior to drinking. In contrast to the first two insecurities, being facemask washing water insecure was not significantly associated with good facemask washing and using practices. This may reflect strong cultural, as well as mandatory requirements to wear facemasks in public, regardless of whether daily washing or replacement of facemasks is feasible.More broadly, differences between washing hands and masks are reflected in routines. Washing hands happens several times a day, including instances that are not scheduled, whereas washing masks happens less frequently and is scheduled, and may be combined with washing clothes. This suggests convenient access may be more important for handwashing than facemask washing-something that depends on micro-infrastructure or facilities such as buckets, taps, hoses, and soap holders. Drinking water happens many times a day, but preparation (boiling and other treatments) may be done just once a day, while buying bottled water might be done weekly. Moreover, handwashing is an individual activity, whereas washing facemasks or securing clean drinking water might be done by one person for other household members. This study was one of the first studies to report on the significance of water access issues for washing facemasks-with COVID-19 having impacts on water insecurity.Water systems are important to insecurities and practices. A lack of household water infrastructure, as indicated by need to carry handwashing water home, was associated with being water insecure, while having multiple places to wash hands was strongly associated with good hand and facemask washing practices. We suggest that convenience is a key factor in compliance with public health guidance. Our findings are consistent with other studies and reviews which find that adequate facilities and infrastructure to support water, sanitation, and hygiene practices are important to reducing risks from major health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic (Bauza et al., 2021;Desye, 2021).Environmental conditions, in particular floods and droughts, had implications for the performance of water systems, sometimes contributing to water insecurities and the adoption of good practices. Water quality issues were often key, underlining the importance of continuing to actively pursue SDG 6 targets in the Mekong Region countries by focussing efforts on vulnerable, water insecure communities. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, greater attention is needed on disposal of solid wastes and wastewater (Islam et al., 2021;Tortajada, 2021).Social context was important for water insecurities and hygiene practices, not just infrastructure and technologies. Women were more likely than men to adopt good handwashing practices. A study in Vietnam also found women had better handwashing practices than men (Huong et al., 2020). A study in Indonesia also documented that women were more likely to comply with voluntary COVID-19 measures, in part because it fit with norms on gender roles (Paramita et al., 2021). Two norms were examined in this study. The first was in responsibility for securing water supplies for the household-overall this was evenly balanced between men and women and often shared. The second was in responsibilities for food preparation, dishwashing, and care-giving-this was strongly skewed towards women and often their sole responsibility. Households in which women had a greater role (burden) with respect to the managing of water supplies were more likely to be water insecure with respect to washing hands, drinking water, and washing facemasks. There is some evidence consistent with the idea that women are more aware of water insecurities because they are primary users of water within the household. Other possible explanations include women in such households may be too busy to fetch more water for washing, or that men are less likely to assist when water use is for an activity they don't normally do (or feel any responsibility for), and thus not seen as a priority.In the vulnerable communities surveyed in this study, beliefs in the protective merits of frequent handwashing and wearing facemasks were high and comparable to other studies of the general population (Huong et al., 2020), healthcare workers (Maude et al., 2021), or students (Duong et al., 2021) in the Mekong Region. While most people in the Mekong Region had access to multiple sources of information, there were some significant knowledge gaps in some remote ethnic minority and migrant communities studied, with some individuals effectively unaware of the COVID-19 outbreak at the time of interviews. This points to communication failures. Information about COVID-19 prevention in this study mostly came from television, while government officials were only a common source in Cambodia. Social media was also a significant source in all countries. More work is needed to understand the role of different stakeholders-governmental and non-state-have played in providing information and responding with actions to address problems of water insecurity and COVID-19 transmission risks in vulnerable communities.Differences among countries, after adjustment for other variables, were often substantial. Respondents from the Vietnamese sites in the Central Highlands, for example, were more likely to be water insecure with respect to handwashing water than respondents from most other countries, and were less likely to adopt good handwashing practices. In this case, the challenges from seasonal drought that impacts even groundwater wells are an important shared factor across sites. Good drinking water practices were least likely in Myanmar, reflecting a still high reliance on unimproved water sources. Across countries, dependence on wells for drinking water, for instance, was greater in the uplands than in urban or lowland areas where bottled water predominated.This study had some important limitations. First, as a cross-sectional survey we had to rely on respondents recall and attributions to assess impacts. In addition, the recall period was long, which meant we could only ask simple questions about experiences and perceptions. Second, the key measures of water insecurity and good practices were not comprehensive. We did not look closely at handwashing techniques or facemask handling and disposal practices, nor did we cover all dimensions of household water uses. Third, this study did not examine sanitation issues. Given the importance of water quality problems in these vulnerable communities, this was a significant gap. Future work should also look more closely at the associations between drinking water sources and sanitation.In conclusion, the findings of this study show that household water insecurities and COVID-19 measures may influence each other. Changes in practices made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak exacerbated water insecurities, while water insecurities were an obstacle to adoption of some good practices. In the Mekong Region, water quality issues were often a prominent aspect of insecurities. Water systems, from sources through to household micro-infrastructure, are diverse and important to insecurities and the adoption of good practices. Gender norms assign different roles to women and men in relation to procuring versus using water in the household.Based on our findings, we offer a couple of suggestions for policy development and program design. First, greater attention should be given by governments and non-governmental organizations to identify water insecure households in vulnerable communities, as they are likely to be at high risk when COVID-19 reaches their communities. Communities which, for various reasons, are often not adequately served by programs aimed at the general population.Second, programs promoting good hygiene practices for reducing COVID-19 risks should not assume that abundant clean water is always available, that all water used by a household comes from a single source, and that a source has a fixed quality. Programs need to be designed with attention to seasonality.Third, in looking for ways to help vulnerable communities, consideration should be given to supporting micro-infrastructure that makes access to clean water more convenient. Convenient access reduces water insecurities and makes good hygiene practices important to COVID-19 responses more likely.Fourth, while women often share with men responsibilities for securing household water supplies, women are the main users of water within the home for preparing food, washing dishes, cleaning, and care-giving. Aligned with these differences in roles, women are more likely than men to adopt good handwashing practices. COVID-19 risk reduction interventions targeting men may be needed to address these differences in perception and practice.Taken together, these suggestions imply a combination of hardware and software is needed in vulnerable communities to effectively and simultaneously address household water insecurities and behaviours that reduce the risks of COVID-19 infection. Future research should examine interventions by state and non-state actors to reduce water insecurities, and how they have been impacted by COVID-19."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5917c753df94296357e01b34003df72f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/c147ffea-f746-48c2-95b7-340ac8b1baf2/content","id":"694769886"},"keywords":["Near infrared","Normalized difference vegetation index","Green normalized difference vegetation index","Canopy reflectance"],"sieverID":"36805132-4431-43ed-85e0-7f398d8a6e84","content":"Common bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were grown under three phosphorous levels (0, 100 & 200 kg ha -1 ) and under rain fed conditions with the objective to examine the association between vegetative indices (NDVI, normalized difference vegetation index; & GNDVI, green normalized difference vegetation index) and intercepted radiation, leaf area index, biomass and yield during the growing season. The maximum intercepted radiation, leaf area index (LAI) and biomass were reached during the pod filling stage {80 days after sowing (DAS)}, and the P treatment of 200 kg ha -1 showed the highest values. The high intercepted radiation was derived from an increase in LAI inducing a major biomass accumulation. Near to physiological maturity LAI decreased as a result of leaf abscission. NDVI and GNDVI were higher with P supply than without P at anthesis and pod filling stage (50 -80 DAS). Near to physiological maturity NDVI and GNDVI decreased in all the treatments. When the maximum intercepted radiation, LAI, and biomass production were reached during anthesis and pod filling stage, NDVI and GNDVI also had the highest values. The association between the vegetative indices and seed yield during the pod filling stage showed a linear relationship by the P supply. The relationship between GNDVI and seed yield was higher (r 2 = 0.77) than the relationship between NDVI and seed yield (r 2 = 0.61).Phosphorus (P) is one of the most important elements for crop growth. It is a component of many cell constituents and plays a major role in several physiological processes including photosynthesis, respiration, energy storage and transfer, cell division, and cell enlargement (Föhse et al., 1988;Blevins, 1995). Also, P is necessary for seed formation, and it is an essential element in nodule metabolism in legumes (Bethlenfalvay & Yoder, 1981;Ibijbijen et al., 1996).P is the second most crop limiting nutrient in most soils, and most cropping systems require supplemental P to maximize their yield potential. Bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) showed a strong yield increase due to different rates of P fertilizer in field trials (Föhse et al., 1988;Singh & Singh, 2002;Roy & Partasaranthy, 2003). Variability among P. vulgaris genotypes in harvest index, and grain yield has been evaluated in relation to nitrogen and P fertilization (Araújo & Teixeira, 2003). The symbiotic N 2 fixation under P deficiency also has been assessed in common bean plants (Vadez et al., 1999). The growth and yield of P. vulgaris genotypes was evaluated under P deficiencies in different soil types (Yan et al., 1995).The crop growth can be assessed using canopy reflectance indices (remote sensing techniques) linked with yield traits (Wiegand et al., 1991;Araus et al., 2001). The most commonly known index for analyzing vegetation is the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI; R 900 -R 680 /R 900 + R 680 ) (i.e. Araus et al., 2001). It is used as an indirect assessment of canopy biomass, leaf area index, light-absorption, and potential photosynthetic capacity (i.e. Gamon et al., 1995;Peñuelas, 1998;Araus et al., 2001). Alternatively, Gitelson et al. (1996) proposed the use of the green normalized difference vegetation index (GNDVI, R 780 -R 550 /R 780 + R 550 ), which may prove to be more useful for estimating green crop biomass.By periodic measurements of NDVI during the growing cycle of a crop, the agronomic yield has been predicted in wheat (Rudorff & Batista, 1990) and corn (Wiegand et al., 1991). NDVI and GNDVI were associated with yield and biomass among bread wheat genotypes (Gutiérrez-Rodríguez et al., 2004b). In a previous study with Phaseolus vulgaris grown under three nitrogen levels (0, 100 & 200 kg nitrogen ha -1 ) we found a positive association between NDVI and seed yield (Gutiérrez-Rodríguez et al., 2004a). However, there are not studies related with the use of spectral reflectance indices to assess the crop growth of P. vulgaris varying P supply under field conditions.In the present study, common bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were grown under three phosphorous levels (0, 100, & 200 kg ha -1 ) and rain fed conditions to: (i) examine the association between vegetative indices (NDVI & GNDVI) and intercepted radiation, leaf area index, and biomass during the growing season; and (ii) determine the relationship between vegetative indices and seed yield by the P supply.The study was carried out in Montecillo, Mexico (19 o 19' N, 98 o 54' W, 2250 m above sea level) with a temperate climate, and a fluvisol soil (FAO, 1974). Seeds of Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Flor de Durazno were sown in a plant density of 25 plants m -2 under rain fed conditions (June-September, 2001). During seed sowing, three P rates were applied (0, 100 & 200 kg of P 2 O 5 ha -1 ) given as triple superphosphate, and a nitrogen level of 100 kg of nitrogen ha -1 as urea in all the treatments. The experimental design was a random block with four replications.Canopy reflectance was measured from 350 to 1100 nm using a FieldSpec spectroradiometer (Analytical Spectral Devices, Boulder, CO). All data collected were expressed as spectral reflectance after standardization by radiance of a leveled reference standard (BaSO 4 ) (Labsphere Inc., North Sutton, USA). Canopy reflectance measurements were taken 0.5 m above the canopy with a 10 o field of view foreoptic, and were taken at random places on cloud-free days near solar noon. The measurements were taken on different occasions during the growing season corresponding to distinct phenological stages; four leaf stage (25 DAS [days after the sowing ]), appearance of racimes (32 DAS), appearance of floral buds (39 DAS), beginning of anthesis (50 DAS), pod filling stage (80 DAS), and late pod filling stage (90 DAS).SR indices were calculated following the equations with the wavelength (nm) described by several authors; NDVI = R 900 -R 680 /R 900 + R680 (Araus el al., 2001); and GNDVI = R 780 -R 550 /R 780 + R 550 (Gitelson et al., 1996).Leaf area index (LAI), and intercepted radiation were determined on the same dates when spectral reflectance was taken on the canopy. All the trifoliate leaves were removed from the shoot to measure area using a leaf area meter Licor LI-3100 (Licor Instruments, NE). Leaf area index was calculated as follows: LAI = leaf area per plant*plant density/land area.Intercepted radiation (400 -700 nm) was measured with a line quantum sensor model LI-1915B (Licor Instruments, NE) collocated in a perpendicular orientation to the rows. The radiation (µmols m -2 s -1 ) was measured above and at the base of the canopy, and the intercepted radiation was calculated following the equation described by Adams and Arkin (1977):Transmitted radiation = radiation above the canopy*100/radiation under the canopy, and Ground cover = 100 -Transmitted radiation At physiological maturity, aboveground biomass and seed yield were determined in every plot. Other yield components also were determined such as seed number, seed weight, pod number, and seeds per pod. The samples were oven-dried, weighed, and threshed, and the seed weight was recorded.Meteorological data (maximum & minimum temperature, & precipitation) were recorded during the growing season.Coefficient of determination (r 2 ) and analysis of variance were carried out using SAS procedure (SAS Institute, 1990).The length of the growing season was 98 days (physiological maturity) after the sowing date, and there were no differences in phenology as a result of the P fertilization. The beginning of anthesis was reached at 50 DAS, and mid pod filling stage around 80 DAS.The precipitation accumulated during the growing season was 445 mm, and mean daily temperature oscillated from 11 to 20 o C. Biomass and yield. Pod and seed number were increased by the P fertilization (100 & 200 kg ha -1 ) and they had a direct influence in seed yield (Table I). Seed per pod and the weight of 100 seeds did not show differences among the three P treatments. Biomass also showed an increase from P fertilization. Intercepted radiation, leaf area index (LAI), and biomass. Intercepted radiation showed differences after 50 DAS (Fig. 1a). The maximum intercepted radiation was reached during the pod filling stage (80 DAS). The Table I  PHOSPHORUS / Int. J. Agri. Biol., Vol. 8, No. 2, 2006 205 200 kg ha -1 treatment showed the highest value (80%), the 100 kg ha -1 treatment showed 74% and the control treatment 68%. The high intercepted radiation associated with P supply was derived from an increase in LAI inducing a more biomass accumulation (Fig. 1b, c). Higher biomass production also occurred at the pod filling stage. The treatment of 200 kg ha -1 had the highest biomass (1059 g m -2 ) at physiological maturity (98 DAS), while the other treatments accumulated less biomass (932 g m -2 for 100 kg ha -1 , & 852 g m -2 for 0 kg ha -1 ) (Fig. 1c).Leaf abscission occurred when the plants started to maturate, and intercepted radiation, LAI, and biomass decreased after 90 DAS in all the treatments reflecting the difference in the P supply. Vegetative indices (NDVI and GNDVI). NDVI did not show differences in early growth stages due to P supply (Fig. 2). But 100 and 200 kg ha -1 treatments showed higher NDVI than the treatment without P at anthesis and pod filling stage (50 -80 DAS). Near to the physiological maturity NDVI decreased in all the treatments.GNDVI showed a similar tendency as NDVI. It increased from early growth stages (less than 50 DAS) and reached a maximum at pod filling stage (80 DAS) (Fig. 2). The P supply increase GNDVI from anthesis to pod filling (50 -80 DAS). Near to the physiological maturity GNDVI also decreased.) and intercepted radiation, LAI and biomass is shown in the Fig. 3. During early growth stages the vegetative indices and the other parameters (intercepted radiation, LAI, & biomass) increased until reaching a maximum at anthesis and pod filling stage (50 -80 DAS). The treatments of 100 and 200 kg P ha -1 were always higher than the treatment without P.The association between the vegetative indices and intercepted radiation, and biomass showed an increase in early stages and a decrease near to the physiological maturity due to leaf abscission (Fig. 3a, b, e & f). The association between vegetative indices and LAI (except at physiological maturity) was described with a quadratic model showing an r 2 that ranged from 0.76 -0.85 and 0.88 -0.95 for NDVI and GNDVI, respectively (Fig. 3c, d).The association between the vegetative indices (NDVI & GNDVI) and seed yield during the pod filling stage showed a linear relationship associated with P supply. The relationship between GNDVI and seed yield was higher (r 2 = 0.77) than the relationship between NDVI and seed yield (r 2 = 0.61) (Fig. 4).The P supply (100 & 200 kg ha -1 ) increased yield of common bean plants grown under rain fed conditions (Table I). The P treatment of 200 kg ha -1 showed the highest seed yield, and biomass. Several studies have demonstrated that P fertilization increases seed yield and dry matter in common bean plants (Föhse et al., 1988;Singh & Singh, 2002;Roy & Partasaranthy, 2003). Association between vegetative indices and intercepted radiation, leaf area index and yield. Both vegetative indices (NDVI & GNDVI) showed a similar tendency during the growing season of common bean plants grown under three P treatments (Fig. 2, 3). The P treatments of 100 and 200 kg ha -1 gave higher NDVI values than the zero P treatment. The maximum values of NDVI were reached during the pod filling stage (80 DAS) when intercepted radiation, LAI, and biomass had the highest values. Other studies have found that NDVI and GNDVI are increased in early stages reaching a maximum during anthesis and decreased near to the physiological maturity (Aase & Siddoway, 1981;Shanahana et al., 2001).Although the association between the vegetative indices and intercepted radiation and biomass was not explained with a model, they were associated. When maximum intercepted radiation, LAI and biomass production are reached during anthesis and pod filling stage, NDVI and GNDVI also had the highest values. Both indices showed a positive correlation with LAI measured until pod filling stage with a quadratic model (r 2 ranged from 0.76 to 0.85 for NDVI, & from 0.88 to 0.95 for GNDVI) (Fig. 3). Several studies have found that NDVI can be associated with yield; for example, NDVI measured at any crop stage is highly associated with yield in durum wheat genotypes under rain fed conditions in several environments (Royo et al., 2003). In another study, grain yield was highly positively correlated with NDVI in soybean genotypes (r 2 up to 0.80) during the reproductive stage (Ma et al., 2001). In a previous study, we found a positive association between NDVI and seed yield in common bean plants varying nitrogen levels. In the current study, the two vegetative indices showed an association with seed yield during the pod filling stage (Fig. 4). The relationship between NDVI and seed yield was weaker (r 2 = 0.61) than the relationship between GNDVI and yield (r 2 = 0.77). The index GNDVI has been reported for estimating green canopy biomass and grain yield in corn varying nitrogen levels (Gitelson et al., 1996). Shanahana et al. (2001) found in maize hybrids that the relationship between GNDVI and yield was higher (r 2 = 0.50 -0.85) than NDVI and yield (< 0.50) during the grain filling stage. In another study, we found a positive relationship between yield and NDVI and GNDVI in wheat genotypes (Gutierrez-Rodriguez et al., 2004b). In our study, GNDVI had a stronger relationship than NDVI with yield during the growing season of common bean plants grown under different levels of P supply, and this is the first study reporting the association for common bean plants.The P supply increased yield and biomass in common bean plants grown under rain fed conditions, and the vegetative indices (NDVI & GNDVI) showed association with intercepted radiation, leaf area index, and biomass during the growing season. GNDVI had a higher relationship than NDVI with seed yield at the pod filling stage varying P supply. The vegetative indices could be used to identify high agronomic yield in common bean plants varying P supply, and they provide additional analytical tools for interpreting crop growth, and yield."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"80826e5abcef25f1cacfc49b04f5d72b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/b257cfaf-0658-43d7-8efc-f185d3977305/content","id":"-961808144"},"keywords":["Le Scaling Scan Qu'est-ce que le scaling ? Utilisation du Scaling Scan Étape 1","Ambition de scaling Étape 2","Ingrédients du Scaling Scan Step 2","40 Questions Étape 3","Points d'attention Annexe 1","Programme de l'atelier Annexe 2","Scaling Scan Annexe 3","le Scaling Scan rapide Annexe 4","Aperçu des outils Annexe 5","Sources Étape 1","Ambition de scaling Qu'est-ce que le scaling ? Utilisation du Scaling Scan Étape 1","Ambition de scaling Étape 2","Ingrédients du Scaling Scan Step 2","40 Questions Étape 3","Points d'attention Annexe 1","Programme de l'atelier Annexe 2","Scaling Scan Annexe 3","le Scaling Scan rapide"],"sieverID":"2afb55bc-9a17-4b6e-8606-38d8a69c99f3","content":"Outil d'analyse ; un guide pratique pour déterminer les forces et les faiblesses de votre ambition de scaling. 2ème édition Le Scaling Scan Qu'est-ce que le scaling ? Utilisation du Scaling Scan Étape 1 : Ambition de scaling Étape 2 : Ingrédients du Scaling Scan Step 2: 40 Questions Étape 3 : Points d'attention Annexe 1 : Programme de l'atelier Annexe 2 : Scaling Scan Annexe 3 : le Scaling Scan rapide Annexe 4 : Aperçu des outils Annexe 5 : Sources Le Scaling Scan Qu'est-ce que le scaling ? Utilisation du Scaling Scan Étape 1 : Ambition de scaling Étape 2 : Ingrédients du Scaling Scan Step 2: 40 Questions Étape 3 : Points d'attention Annexe 1 : Programme de l'atelier Annexe 2 : Scaling Scan Annexe 3 : le Scaling Scan rapide Annexe 4 : Aperçu des outils Annexe 5 : Sources 3 Quand ? Le Scaling Scan comble le vide entre le fait d'avoir (au moins) une idée générale de ce qui devrait être mis à l'échelle (par exemple lorsqu'un bailleur de fonds demande une proposition pour l'adoption d'une technologie) et le fait d'avoir une stratégie de mise en oeuvre détaillée pour un impact à grande échelle.Le scaling, ou en français a mise à l'échelle des innovations, est le processus qui consiste à étendre l'utilisation de technologies ou de pratiques bénéfiques sur le plan géographique et au sein des organisations afin d'atteindre un plus grand nombre de personnes. L'obtention d'un impact gagne en importance, notamment au vu des objectifs de développement durable (ODD). Cependant, les résultats positifs des innovations dans les projets (pilotes) ne sont presque jamais reproduits à grande échelle, et si c'est le cas, les résultats obtenus s'estompent souvent après la fin du projet. Voici quelques enseignements importants : • La mise à l'échelle des innovations nécessite un environnement politique, financier, social et commercial propice. Si ces derniers ne sont pas présents, il faut soutenir les innovations pour améliorer ces conditions. • La mise à l'échelle des innovations doit être un moyen de parvenir à une fin. Faire plus, ce n'est pas toujours faire mieux ; l'agriculture est le plus grand utilisateur, la principale source de pollution des eaux, et l'une des plus grandes menaces pour la biodiversité, par exemple. • Il est important d'atteindre un grand nombre d'adoptants au cours des projets, mais la manière dont ils sont atteints est encore plus importante. Après tout, nous voulons que l'impact soit durable et se développe au-delà des limites du projet (temps et espace).Un changement d'échelle significatif consiste à concevoir un changement durable et responsable dès le début, à encourager l'appropriation et le leadership locaux, à apprendre et à s'adapter tout au long du processus. La mise à l'échelle des innovations est l'une des pièces essentielles du puzzle pour obtenir un impact, tout comme le changement des conditions qui entretiennent les problèmes (causes profondes) et le soutien aux innovations qui contribuent à un environnement favorable.La nature multidimensionnelle du scaling d'une innovation a découragé plus d'un à s'engager dans un scaling significatif et à comptabiliser les utilisateurs à la fin d'une intervention de mise à l'échelle. Des doutes existent également quand à la pérennité de l'intervention de mise à l'échelle dès lors que le soutien du projet cessera.Le Scaling Scan fournit un outil collaboratif pour explorer ce qui est nécessaire pour accélérer une innovation dans un contexte particulier, les implications que cela a pour la gestion du projet et les collaborations et les compromis potentiels sur l'environnement ainsi que la dynamique sociale. Au coeur du Scaling Scan se trouvent dix ingrédients qui constituent l'environnement favorable autour d'une innovation et qui déterminent en grande partie si une ambition de scaling TM peut être réalisé de manière réaliste. Le Scaling Scan peut être utilisé pour :• Faciliter la discussion et développer les capacités de mise à l'échelle d'un grand nombre de parties prenantes ; • Aider à formuler une ambition de scaling réaliste, adaptée au contexte et responsable pour une innovation sélectionnée ; • Identifier rapidement les risques et les opportunités d'une initiative de développement et générer des informations immédiates pour adapter les stratégies ou identifier les besoins de nouvelles collaborations ; • Vérifier si les propositions de projet, les plans de mise en oeuvre et les évaluations ne manquent pas d'éléments de mise à l'échelle importants.Le Scaling Scan est conçu pour toutes les personnes impliquées dans des programmes de développement durable qui cherchent à étendre leur impact. Les coordinateurs de projet, les responsables et les équipes qui gèrent les ressources, les priorités de projets seront les plus en mesure de tirer parti de cet outil. Il est spécifiquement conçu pour développer les compétences des non-experts en matière de développement à reconnaître et à donner un sens à la mise à l'échelle dans leur contexte. Nous recommandons vivement d'impliquer un ensemble diversifié de parties prenantes pour des choix plus riches et plus délibérés sur ce qui doit être abordé et fait pour réaliser l'ambition de scaling.En outre, le Scaling Scan peut être appliquée :• Au sein d'un éventail de secteurs, bien qu'il soit basé sur l'expérience du secteur de l'agriculture et de l'eau Appliquez le Scaling Scan dans le cadre des réunions annuelles d'examen du projet avec l'équipe de mise en oeuvre pour suivre l'évolution de l'évolutivité dans le temps.Le Scaling Scan n'a pas été conçu pour :• Mettre à l'échelle un projet ou un programme ; elle se concentre sur une innovation définie ; • Fournir une stratégie de mise en oeuvre de projet pour un impact à grande échelle -au lieu de cela, elle montre clairement les points qui devraient être abordés dans la stratégie pour une mise à l'échelle réussie ; veuillez utiliser un outil d'élaboration de stratégie avec lequel vous êtes à l'aise ; • Donner des réponses exactes, car elles sont basées sur des expériences et des connaissances plutôt que sur des preuves ; ou • Être un outil complet ; l'annexe 4 fournit des liens vers d'autres outils pertinents qui permettent de traiter davantage de questions de mise à l'échelle dans une stratégie de mise en oeuvre.• Étape 1 : Définissez votre ambition de scaling. Certains utilisateurs du Scaling Scan ont trouvé utile de commencer par une analyse des causes profondes afin d'évaluer le problème clé à résoudre (« pourquoi ») et de (pré-)sélectionner l'innovation la plus prometteuse qui peut résoudre ce problème à grande échelle (le « quoi »), et/ou de faire un brainstorming entre les utilisateurs sur une vision du succès, soit avec un petit groupe de direction, soit en plénière, avant de commencer l'étape 1.Étape 1 : Définissez votre ambition de scaling.     Nous vous invitons donc à évaluer l'impact de la réalisation de l'ambition de scaling (au-delà des limites géographiques, sociales et temporelles fixées par le projet) et les risques associés.• Les femmes et les hommes bénéficient-ils -et ontils accès -de manière égale aux ressources et aux opportunités pendant le processus de réalisation de l'ambition de scaling ?L'égalité en matière d'âge • Les jeunes et les personnes âgées bénéficient-ils également des ressources et des opportunités -et y ont-ils accès -au cours du processus de réalisation de l'ambition de scaling ?• Certains groupes (en fonction de leur origine ethnique, de leur religion, de leur statut économique, de leur handicap, etc.) sont-ils exclus d'un ou de tous les avantages pendant le processus de mise à l'échelle ? • Les personnes concernées par l'innovation participentelles aux décisions relatives à la mise à l'échelle et à la réussite ou non des effets escomptés ?L'équité en matière de pouvoir :• Qui sont les gagnants, et les perdants, lorsque l'innovation est adoptée à grande échelle, et comment pouvons-nous nous assurer que les plus vulnérables ne soient pas lésés ?• Si le projet procure des avantages ou un pouvoir à certains acteurs, comment éviter cela à long terme ? (Par exemple, le monopole d'un fournisseur de services)• Le groupe cible peut-il facilement revenir sur son adoption s'il n'est pas satisfait des résultats, ou le projet déplace-t-il des alternatives ? • Quel est le coût de l'échec, et qui le supportera ?Comment éviter que seuls les plus vulnérables le supportent ? Rédigez maintenant votre ambition de scaling (révisée), en tenant compte des points d'attention pour les dimensions système et responsabilité.    "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b98d89209d708f0a6ded352e86fe1412","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/555332ac-6c33-4e24-b9dc-619efee385af/retrieve","id":"21357562"},"keywords":["Rainfall variability","Planting dates","Climate change","Plant growth","Nutrient uptake"],"sieverID":"76d1f6e6-b971-4429-837d-4a73c8034074","content":"The shift of growing season's onset due to rainfall and seasonal variability are among the climate change impacts affecting agricultural productivity in semi-arid. Previous studies have also noted the seasonal variations in planting windows in semi-arid Tanzania. Because of such rainfall variability due to uncertainties of climate change, farmers face difficulties in determining the appropriate planting dates. Though, climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices are reinforced to mitigate such climatic extremes and sustain crop production, there is limited information on the performance of CSA practices under the uncertainty of planting windows due to unpredictable rainfall on-set and patterns. This study assessed the effects of CSA practices at different planting windows on maize growth and nutrient uptakes at Mlali village of Dodoma, Tanzania. A split-plot experimental design was adopted, treatments involved CSA practices (Chololo pits, tied ridges, intercropping and Oxcultivation -as a control) and/at planting windows (Early, Normal and Late planting). The planting windows were determined based on previous studies and Tanzania national weather forecasts. The results showed that, CSA practices had a significant (p < 0.05) effect on maize height and N nutrient uptake. Similar biomass and Mg nutrient uptake were significantly affected (p < 0.05) by both CSA practices and planting dates though Leaf Area Index (LAI) were significantly affected (p < 0.05) by planting windows. Chololo pits and tied ridges and late planting dates had the highest soil moisture, plant heights, and biomass. Ox-cultivation had a slight high N, K and Mg nutrient uptake followed with Chololo pits and tied ridges.Globally, climate change and variability are the most climatic extremes which threatens food production and food security (Wheeler and von Braun, 2013;Porter et al., 2014). In Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) shifts in the timing of rains due to increases in climate variability and extreme events has been a reason for low production and sometimes crop failures (Cairns et al., 2013;Morton et al., 2014). Early signs of climate change such as increase in temperature and drought spells hindered germination, plant development and yield in Southern and Eastern Africa (Cairns et al., 2012(Cairns et al., , 2013)).In Southern Africa, limited soil moisture was found to be the most climate extreme threatened and stressed crop growth and yield due to prolonged droughts (Thierfelder et al., 2017).Traditionally, number of practices has been done by farmers to address climatic change and variability (Majule et al., 2012;Scherr, 2012). These practices include shifting cultivation, use of drought-tolerant varieties, use of ox-plows in land preparation and use of farmyard manure (Kimaro, 2016;Thierfelder et al., 2017). Recently, climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices has been proposed as a climate resilient to mitigate concerns of food security and climate change challenges (FAO, 2013;Neufeldtetal.2013;Thierfelder et al., 2017). CSA needs a holistic and integrative approaches to achieve its three main pillars: a). sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes; b). Adapting and building resilience to climate change, andc). Reducing and/or eliminating greenhouse gas emissions (FAO, 2013).Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) suggests appropriate land management practices that are resilient and adaptive among farmers to climate variability to mitigate climate change (Thornton, 2018;Kimaro et al., 2019).The greater resilience of the system qualifies the management practices that are able to overcome abiotic stressesas climate-smart. Notably, seasonal variations areamong the climate extremes due to unpredictable rainfall on-set, in-seasonal draught spells and cessation of rains (Mashingaidze et al., 2012;Thierfelder et al., 2017). These shift and unpredictable rainfall patterns, expose farmers in semiarid of Tanzania to uncertainty of practices and planting dates (Kimaro et al., 2016;Nyagumbo et al., 2013Nyagumbo et al., , 2017)). Rainfall variability and inappropriate planting times, caused poor germination, wilting, poor grain filling, increased pest and disease incidences are among the risks farmers in central Tanzania encounter (Scherr, 2012).Although, optimum planting date is a precursor for higher crop production due to its important role in plant physiology and yield of maize (Chisanga et al., 2014;Kimaro et al., 2016), but this needs a well understanding of its resilient systems which integrates both locally adaptive management practices and planting dates (Thornton et al., 2014, 2018: Shrestha et al., 2018).Adoption ofin-situ rain water harvesting management (IRWH) options in combination with planting windows may also be a resilient system which aligns with CSA practices (Kimaro et al., 2018;Shrestha et al., 2018).Integration of IRWH (in this study referred as CSA practices)with optimum planting dates can sustain increased food productivity in semi-arid areas (Mudatenguha et al., 2014). Though, climate smart agriculture (CSA) practices are has been promoted to mitigate climate change effects for sustainable crop production, little information on the performance of CSA practices under the uncertainty of planting windows due to rainfall on-set of growing seasons. This article summarizes various effects of CSA practices and planting dates on maize growth, development and plant nutrient uptake. This information may be useful for maize growers and researchers in semi-arid conditions.The study was carried out at Mlali village in one of farmer's farm at latitude 6°16'384\"S and longitude The experimental design was laid in a split -plot design with four selected CSA practices as treatments (consisting of tied ridges, Chololo pits, intercropping and ox-cultivation -as a control) assigned as main plots and three planting dates (early, normal and late) assigned as sub-plot replicated three times.In both seasons, maize variety (STAHA) and pigeon pea variety (ICEAP 0040, Mali) were planted. The experimental treatment plot size was the 7 × 5-m and the unplanted buffer strips between plots and blocks were 1-m and 2-m respectively. For intercropping treatments (maize and pigeon peas) planted across the three different planting dates. Three (3) seeds were sown per hole at a spacing of 0.6 m within rows and 0.9-m for maize and in alternate rows for pigeon peas in intercropping treatments. One week after emergence, one plant per hole was thinned leaving out 2 plants per hole.Weeding was done by hand hoe two times specifically in the 4 th and 8 th week after emergence to avoid competition of resources such as light, water, nutrients between weeds and crops and also to improve soil physical conditions. DAP fertilizer (18P:46N:0K) was used as a source of P at a rate of 15kg P/ha. Nitrogen was applied as Urea (46%N) at two splits (at planting and 4 th week after planting) of 30 kg N ha -1 for a total of 60 Kg N ha -1 for all treatments.Pest and diseases control was done by use of pesticides and insecticides effective against detected pests and diseases in the plots.  (2012).Assessment of Soil Moisture, Maize plant growth and nutrient uptake parameters Soil moisture content in percent was measured using the gravimetric method, this was done at 3 rd , 6 th , 9 th , 11 th and 14 th weeks after planting (Karuma et al., 2014). Soil samples were collected at a depth of 0-20 cm by using a soil auger, from four randomly points within each treatment then packed in a zipped plastic bags shipped to laboratory for analysis.The soil samples were weighed using a digital weighing balance, then oven dried at 105°C for 48 hours and re-weighed. Its differences in mass between the wet and the dry soil sample were expressed in percent soil moisture content. The mean percent of soil moisture content from four soil samples for each treatment were recorded following weeks after planting in which soil samples were collected.Five plants per row within a net area (4 m x 3.6 m)were randomly-selected and measured for growth parameters at their 3 rd , 6 th , 9 th , 11 th and 14 th weeks after planting treatment (Tewodros et al., 2009).The mean from five plants for each treatment were computed for their growth parameters to obtain mean data for plant growth stages. Maize plant stem girth (mm) was measured at the base of maize plant root collar diameter (RCD) 5 cm from the soil surface by using a digital veneer caliper. Plant height (cm) was measured from the soil surface to the base of the tassel by using a wood meter rulerfor each plot/treatment.Leaf Area Index (LAI) was measured by using AccuPAR LP-80 Ceptometer (Decagon Divices 2015)for the same sampled five maize plants in each treatment as described by Chen (1997).Determination of dry biomass weight of maize plants was done at flowering stage for each treatment within plot net area (4 m x 3.6 m). The same five plants were sampled from the maize rows and its fresh weights were recorded, packed in a brown paper bag after optimal air dry then shipped to laboratory for oven dry analysis (Ghosh et al., 2017). These samples were oven dried at 70 ºC until constant weight (no further changes) was obtained for determination of whole dry matter yield per each treatment.Five maize plants at roasting growth stage in each treatment combination, were sampled from the maize rows and their fresh weights were recorded. Oven dried biomass samples of maize were ground and wet digested for analysis of N Kjedahl method, P by stannous chlorine method while K, Mg, Ca using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Nutrient content in this were calculated as a product of biomass (Mgha -1 ) and the corresponding concentration of each element and the values were expressed in Kgha -1 all the procedures were as per Anderson and Ingram (1993).Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the GenStat software (15 th Edition) in a Split Plot Design. Treatment means separation test were done by using Turkey's-Test at 5% level of significance. The basic assumption in the ANOVA was that each observation (Yij) is independent and residuals are normally distributed. In addition, correlation analysis of soil moisture and growth and yield variables were conducted to understand their relationships.The soil texture is sandy loam with a pH 6.2, rated according to (FAO, 2010;Landon, 1991). Organic carbon of the soil was 0.39%, rated as very low, total N of the soil was 0.031%, rated as very low and extractable P was 15.85 mg/kg, rated as medium, exchangeable Ca and K were 3.54 cmol/kg and 0.35 cmol(+)/kg, rated as medium (NSS, 1990) (Table 1). The soil fertility status of the experimental site (Table 1) would be of medium status, supporting maize and pigeon peas production. However, optimization of some nutrients would be required. Soil moisture significantly increased (p = 0.049) across CSA practices in the 6 th week after emergence (Fig. 2).Chololo pits had the highest percent soil moisture of 7.2%, followed by tied ridges and intercropping both at 6.4% as compared with ox-cultivation which had the lowest percent soil moisture content of 6.0%.Despite, there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in soil moisture across CSA practices, planting dates and their interactions in the 3 rd , 6 th , 9 th , 11 th and 14 th weeks after emergency, the variations were noted. For example, Chololo pits and tied ridges CSA practices had the highest percent soil moisture, similar there was high soil moisture at early and late planting windows (Fig. 3).Maize plant height: Maize plant heightwere significantly affected (p <0.001) byClimate smart agriculture (CSA) practices in both cropping seasons (Table 1). There were no significant differences (p> 0.05) between planting date, and their interaction between CSA practices and planting dates with respect to Maize plant height.  1).The lowest dry biomass weight under CSA practices was (1.2 t ha-1 ) obtained under intercropping while normal planting dates had a lowest dry biomass (1.3 t ha 1 ) for planting dates and intercropping CSA practices in combination with normal planting dates resulted into the lowest dry biomass weight of 0.93 t ha-1 for the two cropping seasons. Maize Nutrient Uptake: CSA practices had a significant (p = 0.006) effect on Nitrogen (N) nutrient uptake. Alike, Magnesium (Mg) nutrient uptake were significantly affected by both CSA practices (at p < 0.005) andPlanting dates (at p = 0.048). Also, there were significant differences (p = 0.038) forthe interaction between CSA practices and planting dates on Phosphorus (P) nutrient uptake by maize plant, although the interaction between CSA practices and planting date were not significant on N, K, Mg and Ca nutrient uptake (Table 2). Nitrogen (N), Potassium (K) and Magnesium (Mg)were high in ox-cultivation CSA practices followed by Chololo pits practices, whereby Chololo pits and Tied ridges had the higher amount of Phosphorus (P) and Calcium (Ca) nutrient uptake by maize plant.Nutrient uptake by maize plant ranged from 5.5 Kg ha-1 to 10 Kg ha-1 across CSA practices, wherebyChololo pits and ox-cultivation had the highest N uptake at 9.8 Kg N ha-1 and 9.2 Kg N ha-1 respectively.Planting date had the nutrient uptake ranged from 0.9 Kg ha-1 to 9 Kg ha-1 whereby normal planting date resulted into the highest nutrient uptake as compared with early and late planting dates. Magnesium (Mg) nutrient uptake was significantly affected by planting date with the highest 2.47 Kg Mg ha-1 at late planting window absorbed by maize plant. Early planted maize resulted into higher amount of P uptake by the plant (at 2.5 Kg P/ha) which is 0.58% increase when compared with nutrient uptake under early planting date (1.89 Kg ha-1 ).Maize grown under Chololo pits and tied ridges CSA practices resulted into the highest and fastest growth in both cropping seasons. Unlike to maize grown under intercropping and ox-cultivation.Chololo pits outperformed tied ridge on maize plant height, which is expected in drought areas as described by (Howell et al., 2002;Janvier et al., 2014).  Chololo pits and tied ridges CSA practices had shown resilience on leaf area due to its high capacity of soil moisture conservation. Few plant leaves at 50% flowering were affected by drought spell that had influenced light interception and fresh biomass but were promising state in Chololo pits and tied ridges as compared with ox-cultivation and intercropping CSA practices.The higher the ground biomass across both CSA practices and planting dates, this signifies the resilience of water stress tolerant and high yield.According to Kimaro et al. (2009) grain and biomass yield were associated with N and P nutrient uptake.We found high biomass yield influenced N and Mg uptake by maize plant. In this study we found that among CSA practices assessed, Intercropping had the lowest biomass dry weight whereby Kimaro et al. (2009) suggested that this might be due to shading effects and nutrient competition between maize and pigeon peas.Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices improved uptake of nitrogen nutrient by plant which is a critical nutrient for increased crop yield. In this study, we found that there was a positive correlation between soil moisture and nutrient uptake by maize plant. For example, the higher percent soil moisture content in Chololo pits and Tied ridges CSA practices is highly associated with higher N, P, K, Mg and Ca nutrient uptake. Our results agree with Lipper et al., (2014) who found that nutrient uptake of any crops were influenced by soil moisture due to its direct involvement in microbial activities, transportation to the root and solution equilibrium. Also in our resultswe agree with studies by Fatondji et al., (2006) andPatel et al., (2013) that sufficient available water and amendments around the root zone had positive significant effect on soil fertility. Apart from Chololo pits and Tied ridges CSA practices which performed better on nutrient uptake by maize plant, oxcultivation CSA practice also had the highest Mg and K nutrient uptake by plant as compared to intercropping practice. This supports the findings that Chololo pits CSA practices makes available soil water potential at the soil root surface to regulate nutrient concentration for enhanced nutrient uptake (Kimaro et al., 2008;Kurwakumire et al., 2014). Our results show that, soil moisture in Chololo and tied at normal and late planting dates made nutrient uptake possible through diffusion process were dissolved Mg+ 2 in soil solution. Similarly, to our findings, Nyoki and Ndakidemi (2016) found that the uptake of water and ions by a plant around root zone seems to concentration gradient in response to which water and ion flow from the root surface thus made it easier for Mg uptake by plant. The site was found to be P limit as there was no significant differences across tested CSA practices and planting date. Similar study by Kimaro et al., (2016) it suggests that such P limit influenced photosynthesis and biomass production however P was not statistically significant. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"942d99ed79f8f276b42741d50fbfad44","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a30069e4-6dd4-4fa0-8b98-0a0f7b735fd9/retrieve","id":"-658923891"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b8cbf3bb-da8e-4e0c-bbae-13bf014c7e13","content":"Despite collaboration bottlenecks, stakeholders stress the importance of intersectoral collaboration.• While mobile-based CIS communication tools demonstrate significant potential for scaling, it is crucial to exercise caution to avoid exacerbating existing inequalities. Thus, it is recommended to employ complementary communication channels that work synergistically with mobile-based tools.• Limited financial capacity hampers farmers' access to essential inputs, hindering full CIS benefits and necessitating reevaluating business models for greater inclusivity.Climate variability and extremes are affecting farmers worldwide. As the impacts of climate change become more pronounced, these negative effects are anticipated to worsen. To alleviate these impacts, the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project builds on 50 years of CGIAR innovation to scale climate information services (CIS) to reach millions of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). AICCRA primarily focuses its efforts in six anchor countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Senegal, and Zambia) with spillover benefits being realized throughout SSA. This preliminary study aims to provide a synthesis of lessons learned from the first programming cycle of AICCRA (2020AICCRA ( -2023)), and presents an opportunity for knowledge exchange to guide the development of effective and scalable CIS in Africa. The results presented here cover both the barriers and bottlenecks as well as the enablers and success stories. By examining the implementation of CIS from production to use, the study specifically aims to inform practices in the additional financing (AF) phase of the AICCRA project and shape pathways for further inquiry.Considering the priorities for the AICCRA AF, we present findings under the following thematic areas: CIS co-production and tools; partnerships and policy; access, use, and impact; followed by an exploration into CIS opportunities for bundling, strengthening gender-responsiveness, and scaling.Semi-structured interviews, each lasting 30-60 minutes, were conducted with 15 key informants across four countries, representing both West African and East and Southern African regions. Informants include staff from CG centers, AICCRA partners from national ministries and regional centers, as well as the private sector.Using purposive sampling from a list of informants provided by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), email requests were sent out to 57 individuals; those that responded affirmatively were invited to participate in interviews (26% response rate). While the study aimed for gender parity, only 27% (n=4) interviewees were female. Discussion topics included: CIS co-development, effectiveness and impact, bundling, gender and social inclusion, partnerships, the policy environment, and scaling vision, and interview notes were coded using an emergent approach with NVivo.This study reports on two main AICCRA CIS tools-AgData Hubs and iSAT-as well as the communication of agro-meteorological bulletins, and overarching CIS capacity strengthening with national and regional meteorological services.AgData Hubs are digital national platforms that aggregate climate, agriculture, and weather data into a dashboard layer with visualizations and decision support tools to help various actors. Each AICCRA country has taken a different approach to AgData Hub development. In some countries they are integrated with existing government platforms, whereas in others they are being developed from the ground up. According to the interviewees, AgData Hubs were nearing completion in most countries, but were not yet fully publicly accessible.The AgData Hub framework reflects a collaborative and participatory approach in developing and deploying CIS interventions under the AICCRA project. In Ghana, for instance, the AgData Hub was developed in an incremental and participatory manner to increase user acceptance as it was developed. AICCRA has been credited by partners in playing a key role in coordination and bringing sectors together. Stakeholders noted that the AgData Hubs aggregate data more efficiently than past initiatives, enabling greater ease of sharing. The need for broad engagement of stakeholders, along with specificities regarding the hosting platforms, have slowed implementation.The digitalization of CIS presents some associated challenges. Face-to-face communications allow for more dialogue, questions, and clarifications. With digital platforms, while it is easier to compile information and share advisories more rapidly, the possibility for misunderstanding in the absence of an in-person subject matter expert increases. Full utilization of the AgData Hubs also requires technological capacities and, according to one partner, not all institutions are yet able to use and benefit from the sharing capabilities the platform enables due to capacity limitations. Thus, to ensure greater accessibility, more capacity building on the tool is needed.The AgData Hubs also require authenticated and quality data. One respondent remarked that the willingness to share raw climate and research data is a challenge, emphasizing that the provision of real-time climate data from the national meteorological services can be difficult to implement, often due to mandate issues, whereas foreign institutions will readily provide access to real-time data.A plan for sustainability is also important in the development of CIS tools. For example, a critical sustainability component of the AgData Hubs is to incorporate them into the national government architecture to ensure continuation after the project ends. Given this, it is important to clearly define ownership and responsibility beyond the lifecycle of projects. For tools to remain relevant, they also need to be adaptive and able to respond when the technology changes; there should also be a mechanism to measure the benefit of the tools to ensure that they are being used effectively towards impact and to justify continued investment in the future.The Intelligent agricultural Systems Advisory Tool (iSAT), which was developed prior to AICCRA in a previous CGIAR project, provides agro-advisories based on forecasts and management decisions using a decision tree framework. In Senegal, iSAT has been deployed over two seasons, in collaboration with national meteorological and agricultural partners with Jokalante, a Senegalese agritech company. iSAT is also being developed in Kenya and Zambia.In Senegal, the iSAT tool and deployment through the Jokalante platform is co-developed with attention to context specificity and accessibility. Senegal's national meteorological agency first produces the climate information, which is then transformed into advisories by the national agricultural research and extension partners, translated into local languages, and re-validated. The advisories are then sent via Interactive Voice Response messages, tailored to the relevant crop value chains and languages according to the profile of the farmers in the area. In the design of iSAT, respondents remarked that it was important to understand the local indigenous knowledge and decision-making framework in the development of climate informed crop management agroadvisories.Within AICCRA and across the countries, Ministries of Agriculture and Meteorology collaborate to produce agro-meteorological bulletins, focusing on expert-driven content, analysis, and forecasted advisories. AICCRA staff also participate in the development of these agro-meteorological bulletins in collaboration with the national partners. These advisories are communicated through various mediums including radio, social media, digital platforms, and through farmers groups.AICCRA is investing in ongoing capacity strengthening with the national and regional meteorological centers. AICCRA partners, such as the IRI, have supported this strengthening through trainings on climate data and forecasting and through the co-development of climate risk management for agricultural extension curriculum. One respondent applauded AICCRA for being very capacitating for national meteorological staff. In addition, as a result of IRI-led trainings, AGRHYMET, the Regional Climate Centre for West Africa and the Sahel, was able to capacitate its 17 member countries' national meteorological services on forecasting tools and approaches.From interviews, it became clear that there is a lack of awareness about the information products produced by the national meteorological services, particularly with regards to high-resolution datasets that span the entire country. This suggests, importantly, that there is a need to communicate with AICCRA partners and stakeholders about the data capabilities being developed in the national meteorological services through the AICCRA project.Continued capacity strengthening appears to be a critical investment for the AICCRA project. Several respondents noted that capacity among stakeholders continues to be a barrier for CIS deployment. The capacity challenges are underpinned by a lack of sufficient human resources and capital to enable more broad scale capacity transfer.AICCRA has played an important role in fostering partnership and forging new institutional collaboration. Stakeholders stressed the importance of inter-sectoral collaboration and underscored the pivotal role that AICCRA has played in building consensus and bridging gaps between sectors, essential for addressing divisions arising from historical gaps in collaboration.Several respondents, across country contexts, spoke of lingering collaboration obstacles between national agricultural and meteorological sectors. Some opined that due to institutional mandates there was tendency to \"work in silos\" and hesitancy in sharing data. While policy frameworks are seeking to overcome these obstacles, the perception is that these silos persist, in part due to competition in the allocation of scarce resources.To help resolve these bottlenecks, respondents emphasized the need for investment in an intentional institutional architecture that supports integration of agriculture and meteorology-as equal stakeholders, for example through a dedicated agro-meteorology division-in addition to clear guidelines and policies to ensure successful co-production and effective translation of CIS. While this challenge was emphasized, there are several examples within AICCRA of successful collaboration across mandates, for example in the co-production of agro-meteorological bulletins. As one stakeholder noted, coordination and cooperation is essential to ensure that the messaging is relevant and context specific, as CIS requires a lot of information to come together in an integrated manner.The National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS) has been successfully launched in some of the AICCRA countries and is considered helpful to bring everyone together in an official way. As one respondent remarked, a great achievement of AICCRA in Zambia was the kickstarting of the NFCS process. They hoped that it would improve the ability to pool resources and bring together the various players. However, another respondent underlined that it is difficult to bring collaboration forward without funding.Collaboration between the government and private sector was recognized as crucial for CIS implementation and scaling. Respondents indicated that telecommunication businesses provide an essential pathway to reach the envisioned millions of smallholder farmers accessing CIS through AICCRA.However, there are challenges to navigate vis-a-vis national meteorological services' mandates to provide climate data and forecasts as a public good, versus private sector entities who often get data from outside sources and charge a fee for their services. Data sharing was one of the main public-private collaboration challenges to overcome. For this reason, respondents noted that it is critical to verify where the climate and weather data used in AICCRA CIS are originating from in order to ensure credibility.While the importance of private sector engagement was well-noted, and there are successful cases in the AICCRA project, findings suggest that there are some additional bottlenecks in procedural requirements needed to collaborate within the AICCRA project, stressing the need for a more efficient and streamlined process of partnership agreements and policies that enable partnering with the private sector. They also suggested that continued engagement with the private sector in the deployment of CIS requires institutional behavioral and procedural changes geared towards more efficiency, innovation, and viable business models. Well-designed publicprivate partnerships, establishing clear protocols for roles, responsibilities, and data management and sharing can help to overcome these challenges.Providing attention to the accessibility and usability of CIS is a prerequisite to achieving impact.Mobile-based dissemination of CIS holds enormous potential for scaling access and impact in Africa but faces key challenges. For example, WhatsApp proved to be a critical medium for communicating CIS, with several national meteorological services using WhatsApp to communicate climate information with farmers. Limited mobile network penetration in rural areas, the need to pay for data, and energy to charge phones can limit the accessibility of this medium. Furthermore, unequal access to smartphones between men and women is a further obstacle to overcome (discussed below).Throughout the interviews, stakeholders also highlighted the importance of providing CIS in local languages (not just in English or French) and assuring language accessibility by limiting technical climate terminology and translating the forecast data into practical terms. Furthermore, given some of the persistent barriers in the accessibility of mobile-and web-based CIS, stakeholders emphasized the importance of multiple and complementary communication channels, including community radio stations, extension officers, and farmer groups with \"lead\" or \"champion\" farmers.Local radio is another powerful communication tool. Through AICCRA there were many lessons learned from the provision of CIS via radio, including the need to have free feedback lines so that farmers can seek clarifications without requiring the need to spend additional money. Additionally, many stakeholders identified that exploring efforts to integrate indigenous knowledge into CIS and collaborating with traditional leaders and other local institutions like churches could further enhance access to CIS.Irrespective of communication channel, interviews also provided insights into various barriers to the uptake of CIS. While AICCRA has enabled many farmers to utilize CIS to make better climateinformed decisions regarding types of crops and varieties to cultivate, as well as when to plant and the utilization of inputs, one substantial obstacle identified is the lack of clarity on how to use climate information for informed decision-making among farmers with limited technical understanding. Thus, interviewees emphasize the importance of translating technical information into practical advice, making digital CIS platforms more interactive, and including processes to incorporate farmers' feedback for more effective community engagement. Even for CIS intermediaries, such as agricultural extension officers, stakeholders noted the importance of enhancing digital literacy and integrating digital technologies more effectively into their daily routines and professional responsibilities.Moreover, farmers' adoption of CIS and climatesmart agriculture (CSA) faces hurdles due to limited financial capacity and restricted access to crucial inputs and land, particularly impacting women. Farmers with limited capacity or resources will find it harder to adjust their practices and reap benefits based on CIS. To tackle this challenge, a reevaluation of existing business models becomes imperative. For instance, the exclusionary cost of improved seed varieties, which disproportionately affects women, highlights the need to engage seed companies in developing models that ensure broader accessibility.Interviews revealed that impact studies have been undertaken in the AICCRA project. For example, a study in Mali found that access and use of CIS positively and significantly increased rice yield per hectare. In Senegal, Jokalante conducts surveys on the use of iSAT at the end of each growing season. According to our interviewee, the majority of participants express preference for voice messages as a medium for receiving climate information, and successfully use the information communicated in seasonal forecasts to choose crops, crop varieties, and planting dates, as well as to inform land management.While these impact studies are important for building the evidence base of the usefulness, effectiveness, and impact of CIS, stakeholders also voiced that additional research is needed to more fully understand the impacts of CIS interventions. For example, agricultural extension officers share agro-meteorological bulletins with farmers but it is often not clear the extent to which this information trickles down and is used for decision-making; enhanced systems to verify the use and impact of these bulletins is recommended. Others emphasized the need to build in more mechanisms for feedback from farmers on the usefulness of the CIS, and to integrate those findings to improve design and service delivery.The strategic integration of CIS with complementary services, particularly financial services, is pivotal for enhancing farmer use and adoption of CSA practices. To this end, \"bundling\" emerges as a key strategy to facilitate increased farmer use and effectiveness of CIS and adoption of CSA. The private sector is critical in providing both financial services and agricultural inputs, such as certified seeds and fertilizers. Engagement with the financial sector can also help improve women's access to financial resources.When asked about bundling of CIS services with other complementary agricultural and financial services there was a range of interpretation of what exactly bundling entailed. For many, bundling was simply the integration of climate information with agricultural advice and advisories. Given the historically siloed collaboration between the agricultural and meteorological sectors, this in itself can be seen as a major accomplishment.Other respondents reflected that bundling with agricultural inputs is emerging in AICCRA but that financial services, while extremely important, is still limited. Many expressed hopes that the AICCRA AF would include bundling with financial services, especially insurance, to help overcome resource constraints. Nevertheless, despite unanimous recognition of its potential, there is still a considerable amount of work to be undertaken to implement comprehensive bundling.Many of the specific challenges faced by women in accessing and utilizing CIS are rooted in deeper systemic issues that hinder their empowerment and agency. One significant constraint which exists in many contexts where AICCRA operates is unequal access to land and resources within households. Therefore, in contexts, women are to make productive agricultural investments because they lack access to financial resources and are not fully involved in household decision-making processes. Another systemic barrier is women's and girl's access to education, which directly impacts CIS accessibility. Many of these issues require broader intervention, at the policy and practice level. For instance, there is a need to bring more women into professional roles, such as extension officers, as well as to hire and train more female scientists.Despite the complexities associated with genderinclusive CIS interventions, our findings underscore the need for tailored strategies and guidelines with clear steps on how to increase accessibility of CIS for women. For example, CIS communication via smartphones can pose barriers for women who often lack network access on their phones, or who may not have access to smartphones at all. To address this, stakeholders highlight the need for complementary communication strategies, such as via TV and radio. It is also important to consider that female farmers may engage with these information sources at different times than men, necessitating programming at times that are convenient for women's schedules. Additionally, partners in Senegal stress women's stated preferences to receive voice messages from other women.While AICCRA has demonstrated deep commitment to gender-sensitive design and innovation, respondents felt that there is more that can be done to ensure gender-specific CIS programming tailored to consider women's unique needs and capabilities. Suggestions offered include focusing support on women-led organizations, and ensuring that women have leadership roles as well as decision-making and voting rights in farmers organizations and cooperatives. To this end, in Senegal, AICCRA is targeting business groups that are specifically working with women. In Ghana, AICCRA is making a deliberate effort to have female lead farmers and supports efforts to promote cowpea-a \"women's crop.\"A critical objective of the AICCRA AF project is to scale the impact of CIS and CSA. Stakeholders strongly emphasized the pivotal role of digitalization and private sector involvement in CIS scaling, referring to the private sector as the \"engine\" of the scaling process. For example, achieving ambitious goals, such as reaching a substantial number of farmers and enhancing accessibility to CIS through digital platforms like WhatsApp, SMS, and voice messages, requires collaboration with telecommunication companies and the private sector.Critical to effective scaling, and part of the complexity of scaling CIS, is the need for attention to context specifics, and understanding local needs and stakeholder dynamics. Mechanisms to ensure this is addressed appropriately include the integration of indigenous knowledge and collaboration with traditional leaders and other local authority figures. Stakeholders also emphasized the need for an iterative process to allow for the integration of farmer feedback and data to continually improve services. For example, community radio can provide a space for farmers to highlight and share their expertise, and integrate traditional knowledge into CIS.Stakeholders emphasized the importance of diversifying communication channels to scale access and expand CIS to new sectors and users, including disaster risk managers, those managing pest and disease outbreaks, and international institutions working on food security and humanitarian assistance. Furthermore, there is a pressing need for increased investment in CIS for pastoral systems, as the majority of CIS resources have traditionally focused on cropping systems.Several stakeholders also remarked that effective scaling will require policies to improve open access to data (and data sharing), as well as higherresolution datasets, and more infrastructure, such as increasing automatic weather stations.This report provides initial insights into the CIS successes and lessons learned in the first programming cycle of the AICCRA project. The findings underscore the need to promote intersectoral collaboration at the national level, streamline private sector engagement while adhering to national data sharing mandates, and invest in gender-sensitive CIS communication channels to avoid exacerbating existing inequalities.Addressing these requires a comprehensive approach, involving collaborative frameworks, efficient communication, adaptive learning, capacity building, access to agricultural inputs and financial services, and the development of genderinclusive business models. Investing in studies that examine programming successes-as well as challenges and lessons learned-will continue to provide valuable insights for the development of more effective, inclusive, and sustainable CIS for smallholder farmers in SSA.Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) is a project that helps deliver a climate-smart African future driven by science and innovation in agriculture. It is led by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and supported by a grant from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank. Explore our work at aiccra.cgiar.org Maya Moore (mayamoore@iri.columbia.edu) is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Columbia Climate School. Geneva List (geneva@iri.columbia.edu) is a Senior Staff Associate at the IRI. Stephen E. Zebiak (steve@iri.columbia.edu) leads the Climate Services Cluster of the AICCRA project. Alison Rose (arose@iri.columbia.edu) is the Science Officer for the Climate Services Cluster of the AICCRA project.About the authors 1.CONCLUSION"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"01956714f1f450accb9fc6d7428aaf64","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/cedf81c7-6c9d-4409-8c26-e312d2161a80/content","id":"767571550"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"bc05b453-b24b-469c-a683-8eb52d085500","content":"Genomic selection is revolutionizing plant breeding and therefore methods that improve prediction accuracy are useful. For this reason, active research is being conducted to build and test methods from other areas and adapt them to the context of genomic selection. In this paper we explore the novel deep learning (DL) methodology in the context of genomic selection. We compared DL methods with densely connected network architecture to one of the most often used genome-enabled prediction models: Genomic Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (GBLUP). We used nine published real genomic data sets to compare a fraction of all possible deep learning models to obtain a \"meta picture\" of the performance of DL methods with densely connected network architecture. In general, the best predictions were obtained with the GBLUP model when genotype•environment interaction (G•E) was taken into account (8 out of 9 data sets); when the interactions were ignored, the DL method was better than the GBLUP in terms of prediction accuracy in 6 out of the 9 data sets. For this reason, we believe that DL should be added to the data science toolkit of scientists working on animal and plant breeding. This study corroborates the view that there are no universally best prediction machines.programs worldwide, and is being implemented in most developed nations. The fast growing popularity of GS can be attributed to a continuous reduction in the cost of obtaining large numbers of DNA markers of plant or animal genomes, and to the empirical evidence that this approach indeed improves genetic gains per unit of time, facilitating the rapid selection of superior genotypes and accelerating the breeding cycles (Weller et al., 2017).For these reasons, genomic selection is being implemented by commercial companies and national breeding programs of maize and wheat (Crossa et al., 2017), cassava (Wolfe et al., 2017), oil palm (Kwong et al., 2017), and macadamia (O'Connor et al., 2018), among others. The goal of most breeding programs is to predict the genetic merit of unphenotyped individuals and thus enable targeted combinations of desired alleles to improve the performance of the next generation(s). However, to effectively implement GS in crop breeding also requires prediction models that can improve prediction accuracy in large-scale data sets and are robust across trait-environment combinations. Prediction models often perform poorly for some traitenvironment combinations, so the search for better genomic prediction models is an active area of research.Machine learning (ML) is a field of computer science that uses statistical techniques to give computer systems the ability to \"learn\" (i.e., progressively improve performance on a specific task) from data, without being explicitly programmed to do this (Samuel 1959). ML is closely related to (and often overlaps with) computational statistics, which also focuses on making predictions through the use of computers. In general, ML explores algorithms that can learn from current data and make predictions on new data, by building a model from sample inputs (Samuel 1959). The fields of statistics and ML have some goals in common and will continue to come closer together in the future. Although applications of ML in genomic selection (González-Camacho et al., 2012) exist, application of DL methods in genomic prediction is lacking.This paper evaluates prediction accuracy in the context of genomic selection of Deep Learning (DL) methods with a densely connected network architecture, which is a type of ML algorithm that uses an artificial neural network with multiple layers linked nonlinearly. The \"deep\" in DL refers to the number of layers through which the data are transformed. The layers in these methods consist of multiple stages of nonlinear data transformations, where features of the data are represented by successively higher and more abstract layers. The goal of a DL method is either to predict or to classify a response variable using inputs. Traditional linear regression models are not considered deep because they do not apply multiple layers of non-linear transformations to the data. The prediction performance of DL methods has proved to be similar or better than that of traditional methods in many areas like health care, image processing, natural language processing, speech recognition, military target recognition, marketing, investment portfolio management, financial fraud detection, stock market forecasting, optical character recognition and traffic sign classification (Deng and Yu 2013). Also, companies such as Microsoft, Google, IBM, Yahoo, Twitter, Baidu, Paypal and Facebook are exploiting DL methods to understand consumers (Deng and Yu 2013).There have been successful applications of DL in the biological sciences. For example, Menden et al. (2013) applied a DL method to predict the viability of a cancer cell line exposed to a drug. Alipanahi et al. (2015) used DL with a convolutional network architecture to predict specificities of DNA-and RNA-binding proteins. Tavanaei et al. (2017) used a DL method for predicting tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes. DL methods have also made accurate predictions of single-cell DNA methylation states (Angermueller et al., 2017). In the area of genomic selection, we found two reports only: (a) McDowell and Grant (2016) found that DL methods performed similarly to several Bayesian and linear regression techniques that are commonly employed for phenotype prediction and genomic selection in plant breeding; (b) Ma et al. (2017) also used a DL method with a convolutional neural network architecture to predict phenotypes from genotypes in wheat and found that the DL method outperformed the GBLUP method.In this study we examine a DL method with a densely connected network architecture in the context of GS in plants to have a better idea of its prediction performance. We compare the DL method with GBLUP, the most widely used method. Our study involved 9 multi-environment real data sets used in genomic selection of wheat and maize breeding programs. The data sets comprise a large number of wheat and maize lines with several traits that were measured in several environments.Multiple-environment Genomic best linear unbiased predictor (GBLUP) model: Since genotype•environment interaction is of paramount importance in plant breeding, the following univariate linear mixed model is often used for each trait:where y ij represents the response of the jth line in the ith environment (i ¼ 1; 2; :::; I, j ¼ 1; 2; :::; JÞ. E i represents the fixed effect of the ith environment, g j represents the random genomic effect of the jth line, with g ¼ ðg 1 ; :::;1 is a genomic variance and G g is of order J • J, represents the genomic relationship matrix (GRM) and is calculated (VanRaden 2008) as G g ¼ WW T p , where p denotes the number of markers and W is the matrix of markers of order J • p. The G g matrix is constructed using the observed similarity at the genomic level between lines, rather than the expected similarity based on pedigree. Further, gE ij is the random interaction term between the genomic effect of the jth line and the ith environment; let gE ¼ ðgE 11 ; :::; gE IJ Þ T $ Nð0; s 2 2 I I 5GÞ, where s 2 2 is an interaction variance, and e ij is a random residual associated with the jth line in the ith environment distributed as Nð0; s 2 Þ; where s 2 is the residual variance.Deep learning model: Popular neural network architectures are: (a) densely connected networks, (b) convolutional networks, and (c) recurrent networks. Details on each type of network, its assumptions and input characteristics can be found in Gulli and Sujit (2017), Chollet and Allaire (2017) and Angermueller et al. (2016). In this study we implemented type (a), which is a typical feedforward neural network also known as multilayer perceptron, which does not assume a specific structure in the input features (Goodfellow et al., 2016). In general, the basic structure of a densely connected network consists of an input layer, an output layer and multiple hidden layers between the input and output layers. Neurons (units) are connected in the network; the strength of the connection between neurons is called weight. The weight values of the connections between the layers are how neural networks encode the learned information extracted from the raw training data. The input layer neurons correspond to the number of features (called independent variables by the statistics community) you wish to feed into the neural network. The hidden layer neurons are generally used to perform non-linear transformation of the original input attributes (Lewis 2016). The number of output neurons corresponds to the number of response variables (traits in plant breeding) you wish to predict or classify and they receive as input the output of hidden neurons and produce as output the prediction values of interest (Goodfellow et al., 2016).The layer is the core building block of a neural network; it is a dataprocessing step that we can think of as a filter for data, since the data that go in are transformed and come out in a more useful form. Specific layers extract representations out of the data, which are fed into representations that are more meaningful for the problem at hand. Most DL methods consist of joining together simple layers that will implement a form of progressive data distillation (Chollet and Allaire 2017).In training neural networks, one epoch means one pass (forward and backward) of the full training set through the neural network. Since one epoch is too big to feed into the computer at one time, we divide it into several smaller batches. A batch consists of a number of training samples in one forward/backward pass. The larger the batch size, the more memory is needed to run the model. For example, suppose you had a batch size of 500, with 1000 training samples. It will take only two iterations to complete one epoch. An iteration is the number of batches needed to complete one epoch. We used more than one epoch because too few epochs lead to underfitting of DL models. Therefore, as the number of epochs increases, the weights are changed in the neural network and the DL model goes from underfitting to optimal fitting or to overfitting. Unfortunately, the right number of epochs is data dependent. Also, due to the sensitivity of DL models to overfitting, constraints are put on the complexity of a neural network by forcing its weights to take on only small values, which makes the distribution of weight values more regular. This is called weight regularization, and it is done by adding to the loss function of the network a cost (penalty) associated with having large weights. There are many types of regularization but in this paper we implemented dropout regularization, which consists of temporarily removing a random subset (%) of neurons with their connections during training. This means that their contribution to the activation of downstream neurons is temporarily removed on the forward pass and any weight updates are not applied to the neurons on the backward pass. In other words, dropout consists of randomly dropping out (setting to zero) a number of output features of the layer during training. Unfortunately, choosing the optimal values for each of these hyperparameters is challenging; the process of choosing these values is art and science.Model selection in DL. Hyperparameters govern many aspects of the behavior of DL models, such as their ability to learn features from data, the models' exhibited degree of generalizability in performance when presented with new data, as well as the time and memory cost of training the model, since different hyperparameters often result in models with significantly different performance. This means that tuning hyperparameter values is a critical aspect of the model training process and a key element for the quality of the resulting prediction accuracies. However, in DL models, making a good choice of the number of layers, number of units (neurons), number of epochs, type of regularization penalty, type of activation function, among others is challenging.Manual tuning of DL models is of course possible, but relies heavily on the user's expertise and understanding of the underlying problem. Additionally, due to factors such as time-consuming model evaluations, non-linear hyperparameter interactions in the case of large models, and tens or even hundreds of hyperparameters, manual tuning may not be feasible. For this reason, the four most common approaches for hyperparameter tuning reported in the literature are: (a) grid search, (b) random search, (c) Latin hypercube sampling, and (d) optimization (Koch et al., 2017). In the grid search method, each hyperparameter of interest is discretized into a desired set of values to be studied, and models are trained and assessed for all combinations of the values across all hyperparameters (that is, a \"grid\"). Although fairly simple and straightforward to carry out, a grid search is quite costly because the expense grows exponentially with the number of hyperparameters and the number of discrete levels of each.A random search differs from a grid search in that we no longer provide a discrete set of values to explore for each hyperparameter; rather, we provide a statistical distribution for each hyperparameter from which values may be randomly sampled. This allows a much greater chance of finding effective values for each hyperparameter. While Latin hypercube sampling is similar to the previous method, it is a more structured approach because it uses a random Latin hypercube sample (LHS) (McKay 1992), an experimental design in which samples are exactly uniform across each hyperparameter but random in combinations. These so-called low-discrepancy point sets attempt to ensure that points are approximately equidistant from one another in order to fill the space efficiently. This sampling allows for coverage across the entire range of each hyperparameter and is more likely to find good values of each hyperparameter.The previous two methods for hyperparameter tuning perform individual experiments by building models with various hyperparameter values and recording the model performance for each. Because each experiment is performed in isolation, this process is parallelized, but is unable to use the information from one experiment to improve the next experiment. Optimization methods, on the other hand, consist of sequential model-based optimization that allows using the results of previous experiments to improve the sampling method of the next experiment. These methods are designed to make intelligent use of fewer evaluations and thus save on the overall computation time (Koch et al., 2017). Optimization algorithms that have been used in machine learning generally for hyperparameter tuning include Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno (BFGS) (Konen et al., 2011), covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy (CMA-ES) (Konen et al., 2011), particle swarm (PS) (Renukadevi and Thangaraj 2014), tabu search (TS), genetic algorithms (GA) (Lorena and de Carvalho 2008), and more recently, surrogate-based Bayesian optimization (Dewancker et al., 2016). Also, recently the use of the surface response methodology has been explored for tuning hyperparameters in random forest models (Lujan-Moreno et al., 2018). However, the implementation of these optimization methods is not straightforward because it requires expensive computation; also, software development is required for implementing these algorithms automatically. There have been advances in this direction for some machine learning algorithms in the statistical analysis system (SAS) software (Koch et al., 2017). An additional challenge is the unpredictable computation expense of training and validating predictive models using different hyperparameter values. Finally, although it is challenging, the tuning process often leads to hyperparameter settings that are better than the default values, since it provides a heuristic validation of these settings, giving greater assurance that a model configuration that has higher accuracy has not been overlooked.Real data sets. Three maize and six wheat data sets were analyzed.Maize data sets 1-3: These three data sets are made up of a total of 309 maize lines which were used by Crossa et al. (2013) and Montesinos-López et al. (2016, 2017). Traits evaluated were grain yield (GY; data set 1), anthesis-silking interval (ASI; data set 2), and plant height (PH; data set 3); each of these traits was measured in three environments (Env1, Env2, and Env3). Phenotypes of each trait were pre-analyzed and adjusted for the experimental field design. The number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), after filtering for missing values and minor allele frequency, was 158,281.Wheat data sets 4-6: These three data sets were used by López-Cruz et al. (2015) and Cuevas et al. (2016). The phenotypes in the three data sets are grain yield (GY, tons/hectare) adjusted for the experimental design. The data sets came from CIMMYT and were obtained from its wheat breeding station at Cd. Obregon, Sonora, Mexico. The environments were three irrigation regimes (moderate drought stress, optimal irrigation, and drought stress), two planting systems (bed and flat planting), and two different planting dates (normal and late). Wheat data set 4 had 693 wheat lines evaluated in four environments; wheat data set 5 included 670 wheat lines evaluated in four environments, and wheat data set 6 had 807 lines evaluated in five environments. Genotypes were derived using genotype by sequencing (GBS) technology; in all the analyses we used 15,744 GBS markers that resulted after quality control.Wheat data sets 7-8: These two wheat data sets came from a total of 250 wheat lines that were extracted from a large set of 39 yield trials The number of markers used was 39,758 that remained after the quality control process from a total of 40,000 markers.Method implementation. The GBLUP method was implemented with the BGLR package (de los Campos and Pérez-Rodríguez 2014) in the R statistical software (R Core Team 2018). DL methods were fitted with the Keras package (Gulli and Sujit 2017; Chollet and Allaire 2017) with a densely connected network architecture also in the R statistical software. In both GBLUP and DL, we used two different sets of covariates: the first set was composed of information on environments and genomes (that takes into account genomic information), while the second set of covariates included genotype•environment interaction (G•E) information as well. It is important to point out that marker information was not included directly as covariates in both models (DL and GBLUP) since information on markers was included in the design matrix of genotypes and G•E through Cholesky decomposition of the genomic relationship matrix (GRM) that was calculated with the marker information as mentioned above with the VanRaden (2008) method. The GBLUP and DL models were compared with and without the G•E term. Since the DL method requires values of some tuning parameters, we first ran several DL scenarios by choosing as tuning parameters some values recommended in the DL literature. Based on such runs, we implemented the grid search method with a full factorial design with the following three factors: (a) number of units (U), (b) number of epochs (E), and (c) number of layers (L). For U we used 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100; for E we used 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100; and for L we used 1, 2 and 3. Thus 6•5•3 = 90 experiments were run for each data set with a densely connected DL method. It is important to point out that the 90 DL experiments used dropout regularization, which is one of the most effective and commonly used regularization techniques in neural networks, developed by Srivastava et al. (2014) at the University of Toronto. In our case, the dropout rate was fixed at 0.3 (30%); this meant that the percentage of features that were set to zero was 30% in each layer; this value was selected following the suggestions of Gulli and Sujit (2017), Chollet and Allaire (2017) and Srivastava et al. (2014). Also, concerning the activation function we implemented in the deep layers and output layer the Rectified linear unit (Relu). Cross-validation: Prediction accuracy of both DL and GBLUP was evaluated with random cross-validation (CV): the whole data set was divided into a training (TRN) and a testing (TST) set. This crossvalidation is the same as the so-called replicated TRN-TST in the publication of Daetwyler et al. (2012) since some individuals can never be part of the training set. The percentages of the whole data set assigned to the TRN and TST sets were 65% and 35%, respectively. Our random CV used sampling with replacement, which means that one observation can appear in more than one partition. The design we implemented mimics a prediction problem faced by breeders in incomplete field trials where lines are evaluated in some, but not all, target environments. More explicitly, TRN-TST partitions were obtained as follows: since the total number of records per trait available for the data set with multi-environments is N ¼ J • I, to select lines in the TST data set, we fixed the percentage of data to be used for TST (PTesting = 35%). Then we chose 0.35 • N (lines) at random, and subsequently, one environment per line was randomly picked from I environments. The resulting cells (ijÞ were assigned to the TST data set, while cells not selected through this algorithm were allocated to the TRN data set. Lines were sampled without replacement if J $ 0:35 • N, and with replacement otherwise (Lopez-Cruz et al., 2015).The cross-validation we just described is called the outer CV and was applied for both models. However, in the DL model, an inner CV strategy was also applied for tuning the hyperparameters using the grid of hyperparameter values defined above (90 experiments). The inner CV strategy consisted of splitting each training set of the outer CV, where 20% of data were assigned to testing-inner and 80% to training-inner.The training-inner data set was used to train the DL model using the grid of hyperparameter values. This inner CV strategy was facilitated by using the internal capabilities of Keras and the validation_split argument on the fit() function. The predictive power is assessed in the second part of the data set (testing-inner). With this, a set of bestfitting hyperparameters (the best combination of units, epochs and layers) from the inner CV loop is obtained. Finally, this set of hyperparameters was used to predict the performance of the independent testing data set (testing-outer). For each data set, 10 random outer CV partitions were implemented, and with the observed and predicted values of each testing-outer data sets, we calculated the average Pearson's correlation as a measure of prediction accuracy. It is important to point out that the outer cross-validation we implemented did not allow forward prediction because our TRN and TST sets were not separated across generational lines (Daetwyler et al., 2012). The accuracy reported in terms of Pearson's correlation was divided by the square root of the heritability of each trait-environment combination since heretabilities change in each trait-environment combination.Data availability and software. The phenotypic and genotypic data used in this study can be found in several articles (see the description of the data above). The readers can download the DataSets_DK.rar used in this study from the following link hdl:11529/10548082. Furthermore, R codes for fitting the DL methods used in this study are given in the Appendix.The results are given in 10 sections, one for each real data set plus one where all data sets are compared. In the first 9 sections, we provide a Maize data set 1-trait GY Figure 1 shows that the average Pearson's correlation (APC) prediction accuracies under the GBLUP method desegregated by environment when the G•E term interaction was taken into account were: 0.394 for environment 1, 0.411 for environment 2 and 0.319 for environment 3. The predictions (Figure 1) under the DL method were: 0.382 for environment 1, 0.365 for environment 2 and 0.230 for environment 3. When the covariates corresponding to the G•E interaction term were ignored in both methods, the APCs were 0.274 for environment 1, 0.272 for environment 2 and 0.323 for environment 3 under the GBLUP method. On the other hand, the predictions (Figure 1) with the DL method under APC were 0.393, 0.388 and 0.306 for environments 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The corresponding standard errors (SE) for the APCs are given in Table B1 of Appendix B.Figure 2 shows that the APC for each environment for the GBLUP method including the interaction term was 0.542 for environment 1, 0.512 for environment 2 and 0.312 for environment 3. On the other hand, the predictions (Figure 2) with the DL method with interaction in terms of APC were 0.402 for environment 1, 0.451 for environment 2 and 0.194 for environment 3. On the other hand, when the G•E interaction term was ignored, the predictions of the GBLUP method were 0.427 for environment 1, 0.414 for environment 2 and 0.339 for environment 3. Under the DL method, the predictions (Figure 2) in APC terms were 0.496 for environment 1, 0.509 for environment 2 and 0.319 for environment 3 (Figure 2).Figure 3 shows that the APCs for the GBLUP method with the G•E interaction term were: 0.481 for environment 1, 0.489 for environment 2 and 0.529 for environment 3. On the other hand, the predictions (Figure 3) obtained with the DL method under the APC were: 0.506 for environment 1, 0.436 for environment 2 and 0.455 for environment 3. When the G•E interaction term was not taken into account, the APCs of the GBLUP method were: 0.232 for environment 1, 0.296 for environment 2 and 0.471 for environment 3. Under the DL method, the predictions (Figure 3) resulting in APC terms were 0.499 for environment 1, 0.482 for environment 2 and 0.491 for environment 3 (Figure 3).The predictions with the APC for each environment under the GBLUP method with the interaction term were 0.902 for environment 1, 0.841 for environment 2, 0.712 for environment 3 and 0.800 for environment 4 (Figure 4). On the other hand, the predictions (Figure 4) with the APC under the DL method were 0.594 for environment 1, 0.559 for environment 2, 0.534 for environment 3 and 0.348 for environment 4 (Figure 4). When the G•E interaction was ignored, the predictions under the GBLUP method were 0.848 for environment 1, for environment 2, 0.585 for environment 3 and 0.666 for environment 4, while under the DL method, the predictions (Figure 4) were 0.689 for environment 1, 0.620 for environment 2, 0.548 for environment 3 and 0.488 for environment 4 (Figure 4).Figure 5 shows that the APCs under the GBLUP method disaggregated by environment with the G•E interaction term were 0.661 for environment 1, 0.787 for environment 2, 0.713 for environment 3 and 0.843 for environment 4 (Figure 5). On the other hand, the predictions (Figure 5) under the DL method were 0.584 for environment 1, 0.557 for environment 2, 0.548 for environment 3 and 0.571 for environment 4 (Figure 5). When the G•E term was ignored, the predictions for the GBLUP method were 0.380 for environment 1, 0.707 for environment 2, 0.568 for environment 3 and 0.791 for environment 4, while the predictions (Figure 5) under the DL method were 0.597 for environment 1, 0.706 for environment 2, 0.599 for environment 3 and 0.647 for environment 4 (Figure 5).Wheat data set 6-trait GY Figure 6 shows that the APCs under the GBLUP method disaggregated by environment with interaction were 0.664 for environment 1, 0.552 for environment 2, 0.724 for environment 3, 0.498 for environment 4 and 0.511 for environment 5 (Figure 6). Under the DL method with the G•E interaction term, the predictions (Figure 6) in terms of APC were 0.682 for environment 1, 0.555 for environment 2, 0.731 for environment 3, 0.405 for environment 4 and 0.422 for environment 5 (Figure 6). When the G•E term was ignored under the GBLUP, the predictions were 0.321 for environment 1, 0.209 for environment 2, 0.356 for environment 3, 0.337 for environment 4 and 0.324 for environment 5 (Figure 6). Under the DL method, the predictions in terms of APC were 0.634 for environment 1, 0.497 for environment 2, 0.705 for environment 3, 0.359 for environment 4 and 0.363 for environment 5 (Figure 6). Wheat data set 7-trait PH Figure 7 shows that the APCs for the GBLUP method were 0.388 for environment 1, 0.684 for environment 2, and 0.724 for environment 3 (Figure 7). The predictions (Figure 7) under the DL method with interaction in terms of Pearson's correlation were 0.554 for environment 1, 0.563 for environment 2 and 0.733 for environment 3 (Figure 7). On the other hand when the interaction term was ignored, the APCs under the GBLUP method were 0.119 for environment 1, 0.719 for environment 2 and 0.672 for environment 3 (Figure 7). Under the DL method, the predictions in terms of APC were 0.430 for environment 1, 0.573 for environment 2 and 0.836 for environment 3 (Figure 7).Wheat data set 8-trait DTHD Figure 8 shows that the APCs of the GBLUP method with G•E interaction were 1.00 for environment 1, 1.00 for environment 2 and 1.00 for environment 3 (Figure 8). Under the DL method with G•E interaction, the predictions (Figure 8) in terms of APC were 0.75 for environment 1, 1.00 for environment 2 and 0.978 for environment 3 (Figure 8). When the G•E interaction term was ignored, the APCs for environments 1, 2 and 3 were 1.00, 1.00 and 1.00, respectively, under the GBLUP method, while the predictions (Figure 8) under the DL method were 0.967 for environment 1, 1.00 for environment 2 and 1.00 for environment 3 (Figure 8).Wheat data set 9-trait DTM Figure 9 shows that the APCs of the GBLUP method with interaction were 1.00 for environment 1 and 0.918 for environment 2 (Figure 9). Under the DL method, the predictions (Figure 9) in terms of APC were 1.00 for environment 1 and 0.792 for environment 2 (Figure 9). On the other hand, when the interaction term was ignored, the APCs for environments 1 and 2 were 1.00 and 0.633, respectively, under the GBLUP method without interaction (Figure 9). The predictions under the DL without G•E method for DTM were 0.633 for environment 2 and 0.552 for environment 1 (Figure 9).A meta-picture of the DL method vs. the GBLUP model Figure 10 shows the mean Pearson's correlation across environments of the GBLUP model and DL model, with and without G•E interaction for each data set. Here it is evident that for data sets 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 when the G•E interaction term was not taken into account, the DL method was better than the GBLUP model. When the G•E interaction term was taken into account, the GBLUP model was the best in 8 out of 9 of data sets under study; only in data set 7, the DL method was better than the GBLUP model.The rapid increase in the genomic data dimension and acquisition rate is challenging conventional genomic analysis strategies. The DL method that recently appeared in the biological arena promises to leverage very large data sets to find hidden structures within them, and make accurate predictions (Angermueller et al., 2016). In other words, DL algorithms dive into data in ways that humans cannot, detecting features that might otherwise be impossible to catch. In our study, we explored a fraction of all possible combinations of hyperparameters of DL methods. Based on our results, we found that the DL method with densely connected network architecture competes well with the GBLUP method, since in many scenarios under study we did not find great differences between these two approaches. The network implemented with the DL method is a feedforward multilayer neural network whose structure (topology) is composed of an input layer, one or many hidden layers, and a single output layer. Each layer can have a different number of neurons and each layer is fully connected to the adjacent layer. The connections between the neurons in the layers form an acyclic graph.One possible explanation for the good performance of the GBLUP method compared with the DL method is that, as has been documented, when the data are scarce (no really large data sets in terms of observations), many times the most commonly used statistical (or machine) learning method outperforms the DL method. Given that with small data sets, one of the major challenges when training a DL method is dealing with the risk of overfitting (i.e., when the training error is low but the testing error is high), the method fails to learn a proper generalization of the knowledge contained in the data. For this reason, in our application of DL with a densely connected network, we used dropout regularization, which consists of temporarily removing a random subset (30%) of neurons with their connections during training. However, even with regularization, DL results were not superior in general terms to GBLUP results when the interaction term was taken into account.It is important to point out that the DL method was superior when the G•E interaction term was not included in the method under the grid of parameters implemented. This can be attributed to the fact that DL methods are capable of capturing complex relationships hidden in the data without requiring strong assumptions about the underlying mechanisms, which are frequently unknown or insufficiently defined (Angermueller et al. 2016). Also, DL methods are a type of generalpurpose approach for learning functional relationships from data that do not require prior information, as do the GBLUP and other genomic Bayesian methods. However, three main disadvantages of DL are: (a) it is really hard to train a DL method because we need to test different combinations of hyperparameters corresponding to the number of layers, the number of units, the number of epochs, the type of regularization (and the dropout percentage in the context of dropout regularization) and the type of activation function in each layer; (b) the computational time required to implement a DL method, since it increases as the number of layers and units increases; and (c) a DL method requires a level of experience in computer science and statistics that is not always available in organizations working with biological data.Also, according to our results, the best combination of hyperparameters (i.e., number of layers, number of units and number of Based on our results, the DL methods are a powerful complement of classic genomic-enabled prediction tools and other analysis strategies. For these reasons, DL methods have been applied successfully in many areas of science, from social science to engineering. However, the results obtained here only apply to DL methods with densely connected network architecture and for the studied hyperparameters; but there are still opportunities to evaluate the performance of other network architectures such as convolutional neural networks and recurrent neural networks.Furthermore, in the companion article of Montesinos-López et al. (2018) the authors extended the multi-environment DL model of this research to the case of multi-trait multi-environment DL model (MTDL) and found challenging aspects for the selection of the hyperparameters. However, the authors have concluded that that MTDL is feasible, and practical in the GS framework with important savings on computing resources as compared to other multi-trait multi-environment models.Finally, it should be noted that although the DL method performed well compared to the most popular Bayesian genomic selection method (GBLUP), its prediction accuracy was always lower than that of the GBLUP method. However, the boom of DL methods is very widespread and the media are selling DL as the panacea for predicting any type of phenomenon. However, as pointed out above, the DL method also has many limitations that need to be improved, since it is a methodology with a rational thought process that is entirely dependent on the problem we are trying to solve. A lot of time is needed to understand its essence and be able to take advantage of its virtues when trying to apply it to solve real-world problems.However, we must also point out that DL is an alternative approach that can help explore other pathways that underlie biological data.In this paper we compare a DL method with densely connected network architecture to the most popular genomic prediction method, the GBLUP. Our results show that the DL method with densely connected network architecture performed as well as the GBLUP method, but that in general terms, the GBLUP method was superior when the covariates corresponding to G•E interaction were taken into account. However, the DL method was superior (in terms of Pearson's correlation) to the GBLUP method when G•E interaction was ignored, since in 6 out of the 9 data sets under this scenario, the DL method was better than the GBLUP method in terms of prediction accuracy. Based on this empirical evidence, we can say that DL methods with densely connected network architecture were competitive with the most popular genomic prediction method (GBLUP). For this reason, DL methods should be added to the data science toolkit of statisticians, animal and plant breeding scientists so they can use them to evaluate other data sets and other types of network architectures of DL methods that have been applied successfully in other scientific domains."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d020e2e74ee06146f9b0665ca8b7af93","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d889aace-e556-4682-b229-0938bfabd5c3/retrieve","id":"-1517395200"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cd1bc28c-6b1f-4e30-b2fe-982e35ac3cc1","content":"A world in which agriculture thrives within vibrant ecosystems, and where communities have higher incomes, improved food security and the ability to continually improve their lives.Assessments of the state of the system and scenarios.Recommendations to improve investments and practices.Engagement in established platforms or working in partnership to establish new ones.Tangible outputs can be formulated under these categories, for each activity:\" \"Food security and livelihoods of male and female farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are improved through the expansion of small-scale irrigation and strategic improvements in rainfed agricultural systems that do not compromise ecosystem functions but underpin sustained development.Livelihoods of rural poor, particularly women, in Asia, are strengthened through improved irrigation and agricultural water management.The development of water, land, energy and ecosystems is maintained and enhanced through the equitable sharing of benefits and risks amongst different uses and users across key river basins and landscapes.Improved investments in sustainable intensification are made at national, regional and global levels.the United Nations (FAO) and hundreds of partners in the regions we work. It focuses on the very complex problem related to how we can meet global needs for food and feed while ensuring that natural resources are sustainably managed. It does this through emphasizing a new approach to sustainable intensification that works at the landscape level and recognizes the competing demands on land and water resources arising from urbanization, population growth, demographic changes (e.g., the feminization of agriculture and migration) and climate change.For IWMI, we see WLE as an excellent vehicle to move to a more focused and programmatic way of working. WLE will help expand partnerships and provide us with new tools for ensuring IWMI and partners' research products are being appropriately used in developmentrelated processes and responds to the variety of development challenges in different regions.This first inception year of WLE in 2012 was an important stepping-stone in building partnerships and inclusive I arrived at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in October 2012 and have seen a rapid evolution of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE).For IWMI, as lead Center of the program, WLE represents a major collaborative research initiative that will be a vehicle for change in how we address challenges related to water, land and agricultural productivity through a new paradigm of sustainable intensification -a paradigm that firmly places ecosystem considerations at the heart of efforts to generate growth and reverse current trends of resource degradation.From a programmatic perspective, WLE brings together many of the CGIAR Centers, the Food and Agriculture Organization of management structures. We have a very engaged and diverse Steering Committee that is guiding us in understanding the complex, multi-scale and multi-institutional dimensions of the program, and I am pleased to report significant progress in articulating the program strategy and implementation procedures, particularly for our focal regions and business plans for key thematic research areas.We look forward to further strengthening these partnerships to bring about Thus, in WLE, we strive to achieve a wholesale change in how we perceive agricultural production and do this through an innovative form of sustainable intensification.Whilst sustainable intensification has a focus on the farming enterprise there is a need to go beyond this spatial scale to ensure that ecosystem services at the landscape level are explicitly incorporated into our thinking of future agricultural production systems that place ecosystems and people first. As shown in this report, WLE has progressed a great deal in articulating its vision and developing the operational foundations to make the program run. Second, WLE is a complex program with many parts. More than 160 projects were implemented in 2012. So, the challenge is bringing together these elements to ensure that the program is the sum of all of its parts and is effectively delivering on its potential. In 2012, we have been examining these different projects, how they fit together, and how we can build upon lessons learned and experiences to ensure that we have a coherent program of research for development.An example of this is the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) which has been integrated into WLE and is currently working in six major river basins using an innovative research for development program (see section on CPWF. We hope to build upon not only the science the program is carrying out Strategic Research Portfolios (SRPs) and crosscutting themes will work together in an integrated fashion to achieve higher impact.In order to realize this programmatic vision, we first have to initiate change ourselves.Individually, researchers will need to learn how to work within a multi-disciplinary program and engage in development processes. Organizationally, we will need to break down silos and work in an integrated fashion around complex problem sets. Institutionally, we will need to forge new partnerships and ways to engage with end users to ensure research is having impact and leading to the desired changes we all seek to achieve. but also the innovative arrangements it has established to move research outputs to development outcomes through its partnerships, and uptake and engagement strategies in the places it works.Likewise, WLE put in place a number of operational and management systems which will form the basis for the program to get off to a running start in 2013. A Management Committee has been established which consists of all major partners, and an operations team has been selected to steer the program.Looking ahead it is clear that a programmatic vision is taking shape. WLE will work broadly in eight regions with a concentrated effort in six of these regions. These programs will be articulated and designed, in close collaboration with partners, in 2013. The first year of implementation of WLE has seen significant progress being made in moving the program from a concept to a research program that has the potential to make a real difference in sustainably managing water, land and ecosystems for the betterment of people and nature. WLE brings together the combined capacity and resources of 11 CGIAR Centers and FAO along with hundreds of other partners.During this inception the focus has been on establishing the organizational elements that would drive the program, and putting in place the platform from which new initiatives will emerge that demonstrate the integrative aspects of the program. The profile of engagement, communication and knowledge management has been raised and further resources have been budgeted for it. This is in recognition of the fact that if we want to move from research to outcomes, communication and uptake will play a central role.  A major programmatic challenge has been to articulate how WLE operates as a whole, given the different elements that link it together. This is largely because legacy projects mapped to WLE have contractual obligations that restrict some programs from moving into new integrated areas of research for development.That's key: research for development. WLE uses a matrix approach to its research where \"thematic activity clusters\" (see Box 1) have been identified for each Strategic Research Portfolio (irrigated systems, rainfed systems, resource recovery and reuse, river basins and information systems) to ensure that the research is focused on specific global problem sets. In addition, WLE has embraced a regional approach where specific problems are identified and the SRPs come together in an integrated fashion to solve these problems.A Strategic Plan to embrace the paradigm shift reflected by WLE was drafted in September 2012 and is being fine-tuned. The plan will call for the research program to operate in three focal regions: Volta/ Niger, Indus/Ganges and Nile/Eastern Africa. Additional focal regions will be designated in 2014. At the same time, WLE will continue to accommodate research in other regions and will extend its educational outreach globally.Agricultural intensification based on the integration of rainfed and irrigated strategies and innovations in resource reuse, will result in improved, resilient and sustainable livelihoods.Gender and cultural diversity provides better stewardship for sustainable intensification of agriculture.Ecosystem services are key to poverty eradication.The focal regions will examine three working hypotheses: Box 1. Activity Clusters.In addition to focal regions, WLE's research is focused on \"thematic activity clusters,\" to ensure research is for impact and development. These clusters are focused pathways for change within the strategic research portfolios. Each activity cluster outlines the specific problem the research is addressing, anticipated development outcome, research outcomes and outputs, timeframe and budget.For example, one activity cluster is irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa. The problem is that an estimated 70% of the 400 million poor live in rural areas and depend on farming and livestock for their livelihoods. One intermediate development goal is to improve food security in drought-prone areas by extending irrigation technologies to smallholder farmers.  Gender, Poverty and Institutions -the coordinator for this crosscutting theme was hired at the end of the year. Gender equality targets are being established by working within the SRPs to identify the most pertinent gender issues. Since a majority of the gender issues are context-and culturally specific, a more participatory approach will also be used within WLE's focal regions to develop targets and a monitoring program.Forty-percent of the world's food is produced on the 20% of farmland under irrigation. Irrigation has improved livelihoods and enhanced food security for millions of rural and urban households. However, irrigation has both positive and negative impacts on ecosystems.Gaining a better understanding of those impacts will enable us to determine why the rates of increase in productivity on irrigated lands are stagnant or declining in several important regions, such as the Indo-Gangetic Plains. We will also aim to enhance the understanding of constraints and opportunities for extending irrigation across Africa, and will analyze issues related to surface water and groundwater.In 2012, the Irrigated Systems SRP conducted a workshop with partners, which focused on African irrigation potential and peri-urban agriculture The SRP also started work on its public canal irrigation systems activity cluster, with e-discussions and a workshop with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).The AgWater Solutions Project, led by IWMI and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, came to an end in 2012. The three-year research project found that investments in smallholder farmers could ensure food security and increase incomes for tens of millions of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Researchers estimated that access to motorized pumps in sub-Saharan Africa alone could benefit 185 million farmers and generate net revenues of up to USD 22 billion.The project recommended ways to support the market, such as through micro-credit financing, equipment rental programs and training. It developed a calculator that shows how agricultural yields increase when money is invested in various technologies.The AgWater Solutions Project has resulted in a number of developments taking place in the countries where research was carried out. In West Bengal, India, government officials relaxed permit requirements for buying small pumps and provided low-cost electric connections. In Tanzania, a parliamentary committee recommended a USD 6 million funding increase for the Ministry of Agriculture. In Ghana, the Ghana Irrigation and Development Authority (GIDA) is formalizing links between the agriculture, rural energy and transportation sectors.One of the highlights is the work that the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) are doing to contribute to N2Africa, a major initiative to improve soil fertility and yields among smallholder farmers by introducing nitrogen fixation technologies. The initiative focuses on growing legumes such as soybeans, cowpeas and peanuts, as well as using the most advanced rhizobium, compost and chemical fertilizer practices. Some legumes are particularly effective at converting nitrogen in the air to the soil through their roots -the soil bacteria rhizobium aids in such nitrogen fixing.N2Africa will reach more than 225,000 farmers, more than 50% of whom are women, in eight sub-Saharan African countries, with more countries soon to come on board. The project is changing behavioral patterns in farming techniques as well as training area mentors. It was designed as a development program, but at the same time data collected through field trials can be used to better understand crop production variability and target future interventions with the goal of improving livelihoods and sustaining resources.This SRP targets the 80% of the world's farmland that is largely under rainfed cultivation. Though many farmers in rainfed areas capture and store water for use as supplemental irrigation, millions more depend entirely on rainfall. The inherent uncertainty and extensive poverty that characterize rainfed systems generate research questions that are quite different from those pertaining to irrigated agriculture. We need to better understand the risks that households face in rainfed settings. We also need to explore the reasons why many methods for enhancing soil and water management are not adopted, while learning more about livestock production in water-scarce environments.In 2012, Rainfed Systems aligned partners and global initiatives. Activities included hosting a partner workshop, developing a white paper, co-hosting a United Nations Environment Program workshop on soil carbon, and engaging in high-level conferences and forums. New research collaborations were developed together with FAO and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.One notable success has been in the Near East, where ICARDA works with home farmers in arid and semi-arid areas of Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine to promote the safe use of greywater for irrigation. A total of 24 greywater treatment units were installed in target areas between 2010 and 2012. Project beneficiaries in Jordan formed their own Greywater Reuse Association, and the safe reuse of greywater was promoted through a public awareness campaign that included posters, radio discussions and a video. Training, particularly targeting women, was conducted on system operation and maintenance. Land degradation and nutrient depletion characterize large areas of agricultural production, particularly in sub Saharan Africa. Many farmers in Africa can't afford fertilizer. Yet, both domestic and agro-industrial wastes contain substantial amounts of nutrients that can be used in agriculture. Such use could be compelling in regions where the price and availability of commercial fertilizers don't match demands. This SRP will determine, through a business approach, how to maximize the untapped potential for recovering water, energy and essential nutrients. At the same time, it will promote safer and healthier practices when reusing waste materials on farms and when processing crops for consumption. It will also examine affordable measures for improving ecosystem health in areas where reuse occurs.The Resource Recovery and Reuse SRP was already under way at IWMI, hence it has become operational quickly within WLE. The SRP works in nine peri-urban areas in Asia, Africa and Latin America. RRR research is mainly led by IWMI with ICRISAT implementing a North-South technology transfer project in India and ICARDA addressing greywater reuse in the Near East. In 2012, activity clusters were developed, partnerships were established and a business plan was drafted, which will serve as a model for the other SRPs.River Basins will be used as a unifying SRP to assess the impact of agricultural management on many ecosystem services, given that hydrological processes connect all water and land users. This connection greatly complicates decision-making, as decisions made in one location can have substantial and often unrecognized impacts in others. Salinization in the lower Indus, for example, is partly the result of farmer choices further upstream.Researchers will also examine issues pertaining to competition for water, benefit-sharing mechanisms and other forms of cooperation in river basins, where the sum of competing water demands is greater than available supplies. This SRP is intricately linked to the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF).The River Basins SRP kicked off its activities with a workshop in May 2012 and has developed its activity clusters, which include managing water resources variability. Meetings were held to discuss innovative groundwater recharge systems, such as underground water storage. The basin theme was introduced at various international forums, and two special sessions were prepared for the Global Water System Project 2013 conference on the water-energy-food nexus.As an example of the opportunities, in 2012, IWMI concluded a five-year project to foster transboundary cooperation on two small rivers in Central Asia -the Khojabakirgansai shared by Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and the Shakhimardansa in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.IWMI generally takes a basin-wide approach, and has been involved in a broader water resources management and agricultural productivity program in the Fergana Valley since 2001.However, in this case, IWMI believes that potential conflicts in this volatile region can be eased through cooperation on small rivers, with the hope that such efforts will spread. The two rivers feed into the Syr Darya River which, in turn, empties into the depleted Aral Sea.IWMI organized workshops and helped provide a framework for joint river management action plans. Changed behavioral patterns have included better communication during extreme weather events, joint water measurements and data sharing, more reliable water distribution, and a process for resolving disputes.The Information Systems SRP addresses a critical issue that can either constrain or enhance any research effort -the availability of accurate and reliable information. The SRP reflects on the pressing need for better data on hydrology, water management and agriculture. In many countries, data collection and reporting efforts are inadequate to support high-quality analysis of important research questions. These activities must be enhanced, taking advantage of modern methods such as remote sensing, which allows one to monitor and measure trends, and risks and impacts on hydrology, soils and agriculture as never before.The SRP will also establish data collection and reporting systems that are needed to improve national and international research programs.To systematically identify high priority information needs, an Intervention Decision Model framework using the Applied Information Economics (AIE) method has been developed in partnership with Hubbard Decision Research. The AIE method was developed to analyze investment dilemmas which have extensive uncertainties and risks. It synthesizes quantitative methods from economics, actuarial science, decision and game theory, and statistics. Unlike traditional methods that produce arbitrary scores, the AIE method conducts a riskreturn analysis with the same rigor that would be used by actuaries to estimate insurance loss rates.The AIE method will be used to identify what information has the most impact on stakeholder decisions on water, land and ecosystems. Research has shown that most measurement efforts are spent on areas that have little value to the desired impact.\"The approach is currently being applied to a sample of six cases across the WLE portfolio, including irrigation, integrated rainfed agriculture, human waste reuse, managing water variability in river basins, payments for environmental services schemes, and increasing the resilience of pastoralist systems,\" said Keith Shepherd, Information Systems Program Leader and Principal Scientist at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). He said that plans are under way to apply the framework to other areas, such as the evaluation of investments in public irrigation in Ethiopia and farm-level decision making in Tanzania.Shepherd said that it's already becoming apparent that the process is encouraging researchers to think more specifically about interventions and impacts. \"One of the areas that researchers have struggled with most is in identifying the specific development decisions that they are trying to influence,\" he said.Ecosystem Services and Resilience (ESS&R) a crosscutting theme within WLE.In the context of poverty alleviation, ecosystem services research and management is about natural capital supporting the lives of the poor. It offers a holistic view that enables one to understand trade-offs and synergies, both short-and long-term, on how mixed-use landscapes can be managed for their multifunctionality. WLE recognizes the critical need to demonstrate how, under what conditions, and at what scale ecosystem service management contributes to improving the lives of the poor.Ecosystem services go beyond solely impacting the poor however, and are central to a global strategy for sustainability. Global agricultural systems are met with the dual challenge of increasing food production to meet a growing global population, and to reduce the negative impact of agricultural systems on the environment. WLE recognizes that agriculture of the twenty-first century must move beyond yields and focus on the capacity of agricultural landscapes to provide multiple ecosystem services, including food production and hydrological services. Until recently, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) methods have concentrated on using agronomic techniques to reduce the need for pesticides. One of the few assets available to small-scale farmers in developing countries is to reduce pests and disease through the appropriate management of crop diversity. Through on-farm experiments, researchers identified traditional crop varieties that have higher resistance to pests and diseases. Researchers found that an increased diversity of crop varieties corresponded to a decline in the damage of crops from disease. The results support what might be expected of a strategy to reduce the damage caused by pests and diseases to crops.As an example, the research will examine the extent to which male and female farmers have different irrigation adoption rates and identify gender-specific barriers that may work against adoption. Gender-sensitive policies will be developed for land and water management, and the program will seek to improve women's involvement in managing resources.Gender, Poverty and Institutions recruited a coordinator in late 2012, and Nicoline de Haan started in March 2013. Gender and poverty issues are being incorporated into the research designs of WLE's four focal regions, and equality targets are being established by working within the SRPs to identify the most pertinent issues. Since a majority of equality issues are context-and culturally specific, a more participatory approach will also be used within WLE's focal regions to develop targets and a monitoring program.The program will also examine the relationship between poverty and government policies. \"The bigger picture is how poverty and institutions are interlinked,\" said Nicoline de Haan, Coordinator, Gender, Poverty and Institutions.For example, IWMI, ILRI and local partners have been examining those issues in the Fogera District in the \"Blue Nile River Basin\" of Ethiopia, as part of a livelihoods project.Various groups, including focus groups divided by gender, were shown a video made by community members. The video, titled \"A Rope to Tie a Lion,\" focuses on community attitudes toward unrestricted grazing, water stress, and government-led soil and water conservation work.The participatory process is designed to encourage people to talk openly about power, gender and representation, with the goal of eventually changing attitudes and behaviors, including male-dominated behaviors. One member of the district (woreda) administration who watched the video said, \"Today I have come to realize that farmers can play a role in solving their problems by participating actively.\" WLE will ensure that all of its research and associated work benefits poor women and men. Researchers will seek to remove all gender-bias in research and, where appropriate, data will be disaggregated by gender and evaluated in terms of equity issues. platforms have been established to bring these actors together to discuss production and marketing challenges. In Gwanda, a diverse and active innovation platform has created a strong local auction system for goats, helping to raise the value of one goat from USD 10 to USD 60. \"Farmers who used to sell one or two animals at their farm gate now plan ahead and sell their animals at the auctions, because they trust this system,\" says Andre van Rooyen, a scientist at ICRISAT-Bulawayo.In van Rooyen's opinion, it is the creation of this regular marketing channel with a reliable pricing structure that has inspired the recent increase in livestock-related technology adoption rates. \"Farmers know what their animals are worth. So, they are now willing to invest in technologies that will protect their animals,\" says van Rooyen. The execution of W1 & W2 funds stood at 77%, with the variance mainly due to the later than anticipated start of the program moving recruitments, capacity building and program development activities under the essential costs budget into 2013. The rate of execution of bilaterally sourced funds was 72%, with a proportion of unspent funds to be carried over into 2013, also due to the late program start. The total expenditure for 2012 was $55.5m. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cee95bfff51b29b6b7dc7b1d7d43dc6b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a9fa22ca-5f8d-44d8-a585-443a1b291027/retrieve","id":"130884542"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b50e3be5-4518-4bcc-a96e-fced2a7fb583","content":"Usando dos respuestas por hogar para calcular tasas de adopción PREGUNTAS Del ejemplo, se puede observar que, incluir las percepciones de hombres y mujeres, permite valorar ambas de igual manera en lugar de asumir o dar más credibilidad a una de ellas, situación que se presenta generalmente en las encuestas tradicionales de hogares las cuales recolectan datos del jefe de hogar, rol típicamente asumido por un hombre. Si nos fijamos en la tasa de adopción que resulta de las percepciones de los hombres podemos observar cómo serían los resultados en una encuestaAl menos uno de los encuestados dice adoptar la práctica. Este es el cálculo menos restrictivo.Ambos encuestados dicen adoptar la práctica. Este es el cálculo más restrictivo.Cuando el hombre encuestado dice adoptar la práctica.Cuando la mujer encuestada dice adoptar la práctica.Datos: Encuesta de género intra-hogar en el Territorio Sostenible Adaptado al Clima (TeSAC), Tuma-La Dalia, Nicaragua tradicional. Sin embargo, lo interesante de las encuestas intra-hogar es que permiten contar con información adicional para calcular la tasa de adopción ya que, si se restringe la adopción considerando solo los casos en los cuales los hombres y las mujeres están de acuerdo, se obtiene la tasa de adopción mínima. Mientras que, si por lo menos uno de ellos reporta adopción, se obtiene la tasa de adopción máxima.Los resultados asociados al círculo interno corresponden a las respuestas a la pregunta 1. Los resultados del círculo externo se refieren a las respuestas a la pregunta 2. Las encuestas intra-hogar permiten reconocer las preferencias y percepciones individuales de los diferentes miembros del hogar; también sirven para analizar brechas de género, poderes de negociación y empoderamiento. Sin embargo, tener múltiples respuestas complica el análisis a nivel del hogar, por ejemplo, cuando se quiere estimar la productividad agrícola y las tasas de adopción. Esta infografía presenta cuatro formas de calcular tasas de adopción a nivel de hogar cuando se tienen dos respuestas. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fe24abdfe4771c8e438118943feeb2a9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H016798.pdf","id":"498543193"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c1a35b38-ceae-41a1-b196-2947c5c874e2","content":"Review  (1994)] provides a future outlook of the sector and identifies potential means to reduce water and energy pollution loads. This annex briefly summaries the main findings of the study, focusing on options for improving water use efficiency and reducing pollution loads. The study concludes that within the Pulp and Paper sub-sector, there are \"win-win\" solutions worth exploring. From the point of view of the company, investments in pollution control projects mean reduction of production cost (only reduction of chemical --recovery projects); from the point of view of the society, these projects mean enormous savings in water that could be available for other beneficial uses and less pollution loads into the environment.The study looks at the Rakta company, a government-owned enterprise, with a total capacity of 89,000 tons per year (67,000 of paper and 22,0000 tons of board) and a 1990/91 production level of 74,000 tons (54,000 of paper and 20,000 of board). At present, the firm employees some 2,400 people. Enforcement of Law 48/1984 calls for a reduction of water pollution. If pollution cannot be reduced, the result would be closing it down and laying off all workers.Water pollution is the most serious environmental problem caused by the pulp and paper sub-sector. In Rakta, total pollution load has been assessed at 80,000 kg of BOD per day. About 90 percent of the pollution is coming from Filter No 1 after cooking and washing in the digester section takes place. The effluent, commonly called black liquor, is equivalent to the pollution caused by a city of about 1.6 million people.Although Rakta has in place a rotary vacuum filter system for washing the effluent coming from the digester, counter-current washing is not practiced because the large deposition of silica on the filters and blocking of filter pores. Rakta is not interested in practicing recovery of pulping chemicals. The current mode of operation consists on an open system of discharge from the seal tanks and use of fresh water for washing and wire cleaning. Thus, dilution is being practiced to reduce the concentration load of solid to about 2%, while about 150 cubic meter of wastewater is generated per ton of pulp produced in the pulping section. If counter current washing were practiced, volume of wastewater could be reduced to 15 cubic meters per ton with a concentration of solids of 8 percent. Massive dilution is being practiced at present. At present Rakta uses about 360 cubic meters of water per each ton of paper. In 1978, the water use coefficient was assessed at only 194 cubic meter per ton. One reason could be that the industry is using much more water than technically needed in order to comply with water quality standards.The average concentration of the effluent is about 1,000 mg/l while the maximum allowable limit according to the Law 48 of 1984 is only 60 mgll. Enforcement of the Law"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"566466d4fa8ae44c66f1cd9007a13c97","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/66eda1c0-c55a-478a-9e1b-413b968db23f/retrieve","id":"-249937254"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b5806aa4-9d5b-4bac-920d-1af6ec15a310","content":"A team of staff from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) participated in the 12th Biennial Conference of the Society for Tropical Veterinary Medicine (STVM) and the VIII International Conference on Ticks and Tick-borne Pathogens (TTP8), held in South Africa in August 2014.ILRI held a side event on 24 August to sensitize conference participants on ILRI's work on tick and tick-pathogen combination vaccines, vector-pathogen interactions, the molecular basis of vector competence, the influence of climate on the prevalence of tick-transmitted diseases and screening African ticks for the presence of human pathogens.The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has previously had active programs on tickrelated research including anti-tick vaccine evaluation and antigen identification, vector genomics and vector-pathogen interactions. These were designed to complement the long term activities on recombinant vaccine development for control of East Coast fever. ILRI still maintains a unique tick unit facility with tick colonies from four genera, Rhipicephalus, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus), Amblyomma, and Hyalomma. The tick unit maintains selected lines of Rhipicephalus appendiculatus that have differential susceptibility to infection with Theileria parva. The cattle pens in the Tick Unit can hold up to 16 animals at BSL2 containment level, for use in specific experiments, including vaccine and acaricide trials or aspects of tick biology Given the increasing burden of ticks and tick-borne diseases in many regions of the world, ILRI seeks to reenter the tick research arena, targeting areas where it has comparative/competitive advantage and the greatest potential for impact. A key driver in this decision is the spread of the invasive species Rhipicephalus microplus within eastern, western and southern Africa. As an institute with a global mandate, ILRI envisages a tick program that extends beyond Africa, particularly to South Asia.As a first step in re-entering the tick research field ILRI invited distinguished scientists in the field of tick biology and control to attend a special session at TTP8 to discuss how the institute can best reintegrate into the global tick research arena, in synergy with the ongoing research activities of other groups.To identify current research gaps and opportunities for ILRI participation in tick and tick-borne disease control and tick biology research   The presence of co-infections in animals in the field and the lack of knowledge regarding how this may influence the outcome of vaccination. The need to test individual antigens rather than cocktails. The results from approaches using artificial salivary component cocktails are likely to be dependent on specific composition of particular cocktails  Is there a possibility the ticks can evolve escape variants ('vaccine resistance') which will ultimately make a vaccine less effective? Are tick resistant animals changing tick populations through selection for more tolerant ticks? Will the use of 'rotational vaccination' delay the evolution of resistant ticks ?  Vaccine trial standardization to allow comparisons between different laboratories is an important requirement. Presently, different breeds and animals of different ages are used in vaccine trials. There is a need for standardized protocols. Threshold levels of vaccine efficacy for effectiveness in the field need to be determined.  There is requirement for a network exchanging well defined tick populations from different sources  Tick cell lines represent an underutilized tool for research on basic aspects of vectorpathogen interaction. More could be done using in vitro systems. Look for endogenous viruses in tick cells that may have effects on transmission. The potential for culture of Theileria in tick cells is little studied. Factors determining susceptibility to infection and hence vector competence are little known. One example is the role of the microbiome, which is a researchable area. The role of symbiotic bacteria and their manipulation lags behind research in mosquitoes. There is no systematic understanding of how tick salivary gland proteins and other biomolecules modulate pathogen infection. This would benefit from a coordinated approach. Transgenic ticks would be very useful tools. While many transgenic mosquitoes exist, this approach has not yet been pursued for ticks. Mutagenesis of tick-borne pathogens, which has already been pioneered for Anaplasma could help identify some of the key loci and molecules involved in vector pathogen interaction, for example receptor-mediated interactions. Induction of sporogony in vitro using cell lines is possible but only as a research tool; it is not possible to generate sufficient amounts for vaccine development. ILRI Currently concentrates on research on ECF, but not other TBDs. However, Ticks and TBDs are a major problem in the field in Africa A recent SADEC livestock disease index places TBDs well above FMD in importance. A more detailed understanding of the biology of pathogen survival and multiplication inside the tick. This includes tissue specific responses at different stages of the infection cycle. ILRI could play a role in projects relating to many of these research gaps, but this would be on a strategic basis and in collaboration with external research groups.Group 3: Monitoring of livestock tick distribution In AfricaKnowledge Gaps Identified  Current initiatives to map tick distribution are small scale and isolated. To date, there has been research performed in Benin, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Togo, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania. There are no similar studies for Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, and central Africa. A continent-wide project is required to generate a comprehensive map of tick distribution and density on the African continent. There is an urgent requirement for improved tick identification protocols. Western Africa is one key area where Rhipicephalus spp ticks. are present but often misidentified. It is also possible that hitherto unknown taxa are present. Molecular analysis has revealed the presence of hybrid ticks: unanswered questions related to this discovery include:-Are the hybrid genotypes/phenotypes assisting the ticks to adapt to new habitats? -Are the hybrids viable? These seem to be found only in areas with Rhipicephalus microplus -What is the potential impact of hybrids on deployment of tick vaccines? -Is there selective pressure that favours the hybrids? "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dc1e1ab1e5cef3ccf560f499dd4fbb7b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a7f9391c-9051-4ce1-9f9e-594e7b5a0755/retrieve","id":"-2026481444"},"keywords":["aflatoxin contamination","awareness","Farmers","Kendal's concordance","perception"],"sieverID":"27a7fd59-f4c8-4d27-a00c-5b30b8e7ea55","content":"Nutritional security is effective when all people can always consume food of sufficient quantity and quality in terms of variety, diversity, nutrient content, and safety to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and a healthy life (FAO/AGN, 2012). A recent study on the cost of malnutrition reveals that under-nutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and obesity currently cost the global economy up to US$3.5 trillion and are a major impediment to global efforts to reduce poverty (Global Panel, 2016; World Bank Group, 2016). In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), much of the attention on improving nutrition has focused on reducing under-nutrition and micronutrientdeficiencies. Although some protein-and micronutrient-rich foods have been recommended for consumption, some of them such as legumes and livestock products (milk and cheese) are often the most risky foods as they are also susceptible to contamination by mycotoxins (Sirma et al., 2014).Aflatoxins among the various mycotoxins have garnered significant attention owing to their negative and even carcinogenic effects on human and animal health. Although they are mainly produced by several Aspergillus species, the major causal agent of contamination globally is Aspergillus flavus (Klich, 2007). There are four major aflatoxins, B 1 , B 2 , G 1 , and G 2 ; however, aflatoxin-B 1 is the most toxic and prevalent and is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC, 2002). Highdose exposure to aflatoxin concentrations can cause acute health effects such as vomiting, abdominal pain, and even death (Probst, Njapau, & Cotty, 2007;Sherif, Salama, & Abdel-Wahhab, 2009), while sublethal chronic exposure may lead to stunting in children, immune system suppression, and liver cancer (Chan-Hon-Tong, Charles, Forhan, Heude, & Sirot, 2013;Wu & Khlangwiset, 2010). In 1981, for instance, the outbreak of aflatoxicosis due to consumption of maize contaminated with 3.2-12 mg/kg of aflatoxin-B 1 caused fatalities in Kenya (Obura, 2013). In another severe outbreak, also reported in the Eastern Province of Kenya, contamination was found to be the cause of over 125 deaths in 2004-2005(Azziz-Baumgartner et al., 2005). Williams et al. (2004) have indicated that over 5 billion people living in low-income countries are at risk of chronic exposure to aflatoxins. In animals, aflatoxins may lower resistance to diseases, interrupt vaccine-induced immunity, and adversely affect growth and reproduction, causing serious economic losses (CAST, 2003;Fink-Gremmels, 1999).Aflatoxin contamination is common in low-income tropical countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where temperature and relative humidity create an atmosphere favorable for the proliferation of aflatoxigenic fungi (Kamika, Ngbolua, & Tekere, 2016;Kamika & Takoy, 2011). Apart from climatic conditions, socioeconomic factors contribute to aflatoxin contamination, including (a) informal marketing systems, (b) inadequate transportation modes, (c) unavailability of needed materials, tools, and equipment, (d) lack of information and knowledge on appropriate pre-and postharvest management, and (e) poor governmental regulations and legislation.Moreover, DRC has experienced conflicts, resulting in poor outcomes in health, education, and living standards. Food insecurity and malnutrition are also a common occurrence, especially among children, in resource-poor households. The interplay between safety of food and adequacy of food is therefore crucial when addressing the aflatoxin problem in the country.Although aflatoxin contamination is known to be common in lowincome countries, there is little if any documentary evidence, so the impact of eating contaminated food in SSA is underestimated (Grace et al., 2015). Moreover, key factors, such as farmers that could play a significant role in control, have limited knowledge about the causes of aflatoxin contamination, its effects, and measures of control. In effect, they are not willing to incur the costs of controlling aflatoxin contamination especially as most of the transactions are in informal markets without strong regulations (Sirma et al., 2014). This study tries to address four questions regarding aflatoxins in Eastern DRC:(a) What is their incidence in crop products from farmers' households? (b) What are the correlates of the degree or the extent of aflatoxin contamination? (c) Are farmers knowledgeable about the causes and effects of aflatoxin contamination and ways of control? (d) Are farmers willing to pay for control measures? Information generated by this study will provide guidance for interventions required for aflatoxin mitigation in staple crops in DRC.Data were collected during May and June 2017 in specific areas of Kabare and Uvira districts in Eastern DRC. These areas were contrasted by altitude, average temperature, and rainfall. Kabare is considered as high altitude area (1,463-2,000 m above sea level) with an average temperature of 20°C and annual rainfall >1,000 mm, while Uvira represents low altitude area (1,000-1,200 m above sea level) with an average temperature of 26°C and annual rainfall 800-1,000 mm. The farm households in these areas are mainly subsistence farmers and grow rainfed crops. The main food crops in Kabare district include cereal crops such as maize and legumes, while in Uvira district the main crops are cassava and legumes.The two districts were selected as they are the major production areas of maize, cassava, and groundnuts. Due to security reasons, the study was conducted in the north-eastern part of Kabare and northern part of Uvira. To collect a representative data set, we first obtained the list of villages in each district from Provincial Inspection for Agriculture and Livestock (IPAPEL). From each district, 10 villages were then randomly selected. These include Nshebeyi, Cituzo, Konge, Miti centre, Cibinda, Buhandahanda, Kashenyi, Cirheja, Mwanda, and Kahungu villages in Kabare district and Lupango, Katagota, Ndolera, Nyamutire, Luvungi, Muturule, Lubarika, Sange, Kiliba, and Kamanyola villages in the Uvira district. From each selected village, households were selected for interview using probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling approach. As the sampling takes into account the population size of the village, the number of interviewed households per village is not the same. In particular, more households were selected in villages with more population size for interview. In total, 150 farm households were selected for this study. The geographical attribute of the sampling areas is shown in Figure 1.As maize, groundnut, and cassava are the main staple crops, a total of 300 food samples, consisting of 30 dried cassava roots, 30 cassava flours, 50 maize grains, 50 maize flours, 50 groundnut grains, 50 roasted groundnuts, and 40 groundnut flours, were collected from 150 farm households. The samples were collected during visits for interview. Two samples were collected from each individual household, depending on available samples in each household.All samples were produced by farmers and used for household consumption. For each sample, 0.5-1.0 kg of the commodity was collected from different parts of the container and thoroughly mixed. Samples were labeled with the name of the farmer, household number, village, and collection date, and then subdivided into two portions. The first was kept as a back-up; the second was examined to determine the level of aflatoxin contamination. All samples were dried to 9%-11% moisture content, sealed in polyethylene bags under normal atmospheric conditions. The package seal was inspected frequently to avoid any possibility of fungal proliferation, insect infestation, and leakage. Subsequently the sealed packages were stored at a temperature of 4°C without direct sunlight until further analysis.For each sample except flour, 200 g was ground into fine powder To analyze the aflatoxin concentration, a Reveal Q+ test kit (Neogen Corporation, USA) was used as a single step lateral flow immuno-chromatographic assay based on a competitive immunoassay format. A total of 500 μl of diluent were mixed with 100 μl of the sample filtrate and then carefully mixed by being pipetted up and down five times in a dilution cup. A 100 μl portion of the mixture was transferred to a clean sample cup. Subsequently, a Reveal Q+ for aflatoxin test strip was placed into the sample cup for 6 min, removed, and inserted in the AccuScan ® reader (AccuScan Pro, model AX-2; Neogen Corporation, Australia). Aflatoxin concentration was displayed in parts per billion (ppb; μg/kg). All samples were analyzed in duplicate.The standard of total aflatoxins was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Chemie GmbH (Taufkirchen, Germany). To test the sensitivity of the method, the standard solution at two different concentrations was added to all samples. The extraction and recovery of the spiked samples were performed in duplicate as previously described. The validation of Reveal Q+ method was carried out with the determination of the recoveries and the coefficient of variation (%CV) as presented in Table 1.After selection of 150 respondents who had the main responsibility for their household's farm activity, interviews were conducted using semi-structured questionnaires designed in English and translated into French. It was pretested and administered by trained enumerators. Each interview began with the enumerators confirming the respondent was the person responsible for the survey and explaining the aims of the study. Where the farmers scheduled for interview were not at home, the enumerators rescheduled the interviews.To characterize the socio-demographic backgrounds of respondents, data on the following variables were collected: relationship with household head, household size, sex, age, marital status, education, off-farm activities, and household income and sources. As the word \"aflatoxin\" is technical, its meaning was explained to farmers in their local languages (Swahili and Mashi). Thereafter, farmers were prescreened, and only those who indicated that they knew aflatoxins were asked to evaluate their knowledge and awareness about the causes, consequences of aflatoxin contamination, and preventive measures. The survey instrument included a detailed list of questions such as \"are aflatoxins caused by fungi?\" to measure farmers knowledge about aflatoxin. Similarly, questions such as \"are you aware of aflatoxin contamination in crops in the field and during storage?\" were asked to assess farmers awareness about aflatoxin. Moreover, only farmers who knew aflatoxins were asked to rank their perception of causes and consequences and knowledge of preventive measures on a five-point scale (strongly agree = 1, fairly agree = 2, neutral = 3, a little agree= 4, and not at all = 5). Lastly, the willingness to pay for a package of interventions was examined using the following question: \"are you willing to pay for a package of interventions to address aflatoxin contamination?\" Information was collected by asking farmers to directly report their willingness to pay as an investment.The data for aflatoxin contamination in foods were statistically analyzed using SAS (Ver. 9.4; SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). Analysis of farmers' knowledge, awareness, and willingness to pay was performed using STATA (version 14.0; StataCorp, TX, USA). To describe the responses, basic statistics such as means and frequencies were computed. Chi-square (χ 2 ) and t tests were used to examine differences in the responses from farmers. They were made to rank their perceptions about the cause and consequence of aflatoxin contamination, and preventive measures using the five-point Likert Scale.The mean scores of each of the ranked factors were computed to identify the most important.Kendall's coefficient of concordance (W) was computed to measure agreement in the ranks of the factors (m) by the farmers (N) (Siegel & Castellan, 1988). Kendall's rank correlation coefficient was calculated as follows:where K is the number of ranking criteria and S is the sum of squares of deviation from rank means. Kendall's rank correlation provides a distribution-free test of independence and measures the strength of dependence between two variables being compared to judge the To better understand the association between household farmer characteristics and the level of aflatoxin contamination, we also estimated the main determinants of aflatoxin contamination using a regression model. In particular, let Y i be the level of aflatoxin concentration found in the food items consumed by a particular farmer and let X be a vector of socioeconomic factors such as education, income, age, etc., that affect aflatoxin concentration level. The full list of the main determinants is presented in Table 2. The empirical relationship between aflatoxin concentration and the above socioeconomic variables is then specified as follows:where α 0 is the intercept term and ϑ is the error term. The above specification was estimated using Ordinary Least Square (OLS).Further, to explore the main determinants of farmers' knowledge, awareness, and willingness to pay about aflatoxin, the following Probit model specification was estimated: a dummy variable that takes on a value of one if the household responds \"yes\" to at least one of the above questions and a value of zero, otherwise. The detailed questions used to construct knowledge and awareness are presented in Table 3. Finally, willingness to pay was measured using the following simple hypothetical question \"are you willing to pay for intervention to address aflatoxin contamination?\" (Yes/No). Based on the response, we constructed a dummy variable which takes on a value of one if the answer for the above question is \"yes\" and zero, otherwise. For each outcome (knowledge, awareness, and willingness to pay), a separate Probit model was estimated. As before, X denotes a vector of socioeconomic variables as given in Table 2 and γ is a vector of parameters to be estimated.The occurrence and concentration of total aflatoxins in crop samples collected from farmers' household in Eastern DRC are summarized in Table 4. All 300 samples were contaminated with aflatoxins that ranged from 1.6 to 2,270 μg/kg. As DRC does not have regulations for aflatoxins, we applied the EU standard for maize as a comparison for all crop samples. About 68% of total samples contained aflatoxins above the EU's 4 μg/kg permissible limit for total aflatoxins in maize intended for human consumption (EU, 2007(EU, , 2010)). In cassava samples, aflatoxin levels ranged from 1.6 to 5 μg/kg. More than 85%of the samples met the EU regulatory threshold for aflatoxins, and all the samples met the proposed East African regulatory threshold of 10 μg/kg. Aflatoxin levels in maize samples ranged from 2.5 to 325 μg/kg. About 66% of the maize grain samples and 88% of the maize flour samples did not meet the EU regulatory threshold. In groundnut samples, total aflatoxin concentration ranged from 2.7 to 2,270 μg/kg. The highest level was found in groundnut flour(2,270 μg/kg), followed by roasted groundnut (865 μg/kg), and dried kernels (25 μg/kg). About 68% of the groundnut samples exceeded EU aflatoxin regulatory limits. None of the groundnut flour samples were fit for human consumption according to any existing global regulation. In addition, aflatoxins were found in processed groundnut more than in unprocessed, dried grain.The socio-demographic characteristics of 150 farmers interviewed for this study is presented in Table 5. About 59% were household heads, and the average household size was eight persons. Farmers were of middle age with an average of about 43 years. Over 88%were married, giving an indication of the importance of the marriage(2) institution in the study area. About 75% had completed at least primary education, indicating a measure of literacy. More than 80%were engaged in off-farm activities that provided alternative sources of income and served as an insurance against shocks. The average household annual income was US$914. Relating this to household size results in an average per capita income of about US$114. The main sources of annual income include harvested produce (72%), permanent employment (24%), and processing (3%).Results reported in Table 6 indicate a positive and significant correlation between household size and the level of aflatoxin contamination, while a negative and significant correlation was observed between education, household annual income, and level of aflatoxin contamination (Table 6). This result suggests that food samples from larger households are more likely to be contaminated by aflatoxin than samples from smaller households. Food samples from households where the household head had received education and had a high income are likely to have lower levels of aflatoxin contamination compared to households where the household head has little education and that are poor.Of the 150 farmers, 127 (85%) farmers knew about aflatoxin. Of these 127 farmers, 85% (108 farmers) knew that aflatoxins can be present in crops. Among those who knew aflatoxins can be present in crops (108 farmers), 96% of them (104) farmers agree that infection occurs at any time of plant growth. About 54% knew about the bio-transfer of aflatoxins to livestock products. Interestingly, 41%did not know that aflatoxins are caused by fungi. This suggests that farmers knew of the occurrence but not of the organism that causes contamination. Regarding the effects of contamination, an average of 73% identified changes in taste and color as the main effect on crops-even when the presence of aflatoxins cannot be detected visually. More than 50% had sufficient perception on the negative impacts of contamination on animal production. Although 80% knew that contamination can reduce the price of crops, the majority were not aware of the risk to human health from contamination.The farmers who knew about aflatoxins were then asked to rank their perceptions on causes, consequences, and preventive measures of aflatoxin contamination. The results showed that farmers perceived abiotic factors to be the cause of the high prevalence and severity of contamination (Table 7). High humidity was also rated as a cause of very severe contamination. Other causes were rated as moderately severe and included poor soils, poor storage practices, drought stress, contaminated seeds, and delayed harvesting. The farmers' ignorance of the biotic causes of contamination might be due to their lack of knowledge on the connection between microorganisms and contamination. When asked how they could control contamination, the farmers identified tackling poor storage practices, followed by poor soils, insect infestation, poor field management, and delayed harvest.The mean ranking of farmers' perceptions on the consequences of aflatoxin contamination was calculated (Table 8). The farmers ranked changes in color as the most important consequence, followed by changes in smell and taste, and difficulty in selling crops.These factors are interlinked as they make the product unattractive to consumers and affect farmers ability to sell it, resulting in financial losses. Generally, farmers who knew about aflatoxins were very much aware of the potential ill effects of the consumption of contaminated foods. They also identified delayed child growth as the most severe consequence of contamination, followed by development of liver cancer, change in smell, and difficulty in selling crops, in that order. The ranking was the same for the need for immediate control.Although farmers were less knowledgeable about the negative impact of aflatoxin contamination on human and animal health, at least 73% knew the importance of good farming practices for prevention (Table 9). The farmers also agreed on the importance of selection of healthy seeds (68%) and use of pest and disease control (67%). They, however, do not appreciate the potential of postharvest management practices for minimizing contamination in agricultural products. To eliminate the risks of fungal development and subsequent aflatoxin contamination, only 12% indicated the use of proper drying as an effective method, while less than 5% understood the importance of proper storage, food processing, and hygienic methods of feeding animals.The mean ranking of farmers' perceptions on measures to prevent aflatoxin contamination is shown in Table 11 presents farmers self-reported willingness to pay for some of the aflatoxin control measures. The result suggests that farmers are willing to pay for some of the control interventions such as training (73%), seeds of resistant varieties (83%), seed treatment (75%), and information (51%) that can reduce contamination. Without any clear demand for aflatoxin-free crops in these countries, farmers claimed to be willing to allocate more of their resources (32%) to improved seeds as opposed to training (27%) and information (20%).Nonetheless, the lower levels of investment perhaps reflect poor awareness of the hazards of contamination.The main determinants of farmers awareness and knowledge about aflatoxin contamination as well as their willingness to pay for aflatoxin control measures are presented in Table 12. Results of the Probit model reveal that large households were observed to be less knowledgeable and aware about aflatoxin contamination compared to small households. Female-headed households were also found to be less willing to pay for aflatoxin control measures compared to male-headed households. Further, we found a negative The first integer is the number and the integer in is the percentage of samples containing a specified level of aflatoxins.and significant association between marital status and willingness to pay for aflatoxin control measures. This indicated that single as well as separated or divorced farmers were more willing to pay for control than those who were married. Education was significant and positively correlated with higher levels of knowledge concerning the occurrence, cause, and effect of aflatoxin contamination.Annual income, on the other hand, only influenced farmers knowledge and awareness about aflatoxin contamination but not willingness to pay.The results from samples collected from farmers' households suggest that fresh cassava is safe from aflatoxin contamination; however, processing methods such as heat treatment, sun drying, and freezing may alter the ability of cassava to block toxin production, leading to secondary contamination (Abass, Awoyale, Sulyok, & Alamu, 2017). Another possible explanation for this observation is that the effect of the process generally employed in processing roots to dried cassava and cassava flour favors the growth of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) or some microorganisms such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. The ability of these microorganisms to bind or degrade aflatoxins, especially aflatoxin-B 1 and aflatoxin-M 1 , in foods and feeds has been reported (El-Nezami & Gratz, 2011;Peltonen, El-Nezami, Haskard, Ahokas, & Salminen, 2001;Shetty, Hald, & Jespersen, 2007).In maize samples, our findings support those of Kamika et al. (2016), who reported that aflatoxin contamination in the DRC occurred along the maize supply chain, with a drastic increase of up to 500 times from preharvest (3.1-103.9 μg/kg) to city stores(2,070.5 μg/kg), and to distribution markets (2,806.5 μg/kg). They attributed this trend to inappropriate storage practices as well as a lack of drying facilities in the country. The higher levels of aflatoxin contamination in processed groundnut could be explained by the fact that processed groundnut, often prepared from low quality materials, can be exposed to a wide range of environmental conditions, such as high temperature and humidity as well as oxygen and mold, which can trigger further increases in contamination. Moreover, contamination usually increases during storage, thus as samples were taken after undergoing some storage time in markets, the values obtained were likely to be higher than others obtained before storage. Nonetheless, other factors including biological, nutritional, and climatic factors can be responsible for aflatoxin contamination, especially in groundnut and maize, some of which are either difficult or impracticable to control (Bankole, Schollenberger, & Drochner, 2006;Ezekiel et al., 2013;Monyo et al., 2012).We found a negative and significant correlation between the level of aflatoxin concentration and the level of education and income of farmers. This result suggests that more educated and wealthier farmers tend to be more conscious about the quality of the food they consume as aflatoxin concentration in their foods is much lower compared to the concentration found in the foods of other farmers in the study area. It also appears that educated farmers who practiced effective crop husbandry had a lower level of aflatoxin contamination in products than farmers with little education.Regarding income, Robert, Manolis, and Tanner (2003) stated that lower income consumers are more concerned about value for money and meeting their basic needs (Erasmus, Donoghue, & Dobbelstein, 2014).For aflatoxin prevention and control, most farmers mentioned high costs, unavailability of technology, and low awareness of potential benefits as the main reasons for not applying postharvest management. This corroborates with the finding of Marechera and Ndwiga (2014) who reported the low use of modern postharvest aflatoxin control technologies in Eastern Kenya. Considering the cost associated with control methods, most farmers indicated that the use of resistant varieties and control of pests and diseases are the most expensive. This was followed by cleaning crops before storage, seed treatment with chemical fungicide, and using anti-microbial agents. Midega, Murage, Pittchar, and Khan (2016) reported that the low use of chemical applications is due to lack of information on appropriate and effective products as well as the inability to afford these chemicals. Kumar and Popat (2010) noted that farmers were indifferent to aflatoxin contamination due to many factors such as their perceptions of aflatoxins as an economic constraint, low levels of awareness and knowledge, and market restrictions. The priority for farmers in these countries was increasing crop productivity as opposed to increasing quality. In addition, the lack of regulatory enforcement or even a definition of acceptable limits does not affect the markets; hence, farmers simply do not bother to control aflatoxin contamination.When examining factors influencing farmers' knowledge and awareness about aflatoxin contamination, we found a negative and statistically significant correlation between household size and knowledge and awareness. This may be due to the high consumption pressure (to fulfill family consumption needs) associated with a large family, limiting their ability to learn about the quality of the food they consume. Many studies indicated that women had a greater knowledge of fungal and aflatoxin contamination compared to men (Sabran, Jamaluddin, Abdul Mutalib, and Abdul Rahman (2012); Saulo & Moskowitz, 2011). In contrast, we found that respondents in female-headed households were less willing to pay for aflatoxin control. Jolly, Bayard, Awuah, Fialor, and Williams (2009) mentioned this behavior as men are more concerned about the cost of reducing aflatoxin levels, whereas women exhibit greater awareness when cost was related to the benefits from control. Age might imply greater experience or authority but this factor was not correlated with farmers level of knowledge, awareness, and willingness to pay in this case study. Further, the analysis reveals that marital status is negatively a A five-point scale ranking (1 = strongly agree, 2 = fairly agree, 3 = neutral, 4 = a little agree, and 5 = not at all). b Mean (standard deviation).correlated with willingness to pay for aflatoxin control measures.The result can imply that single farmers might have lower liquidity constraints in the household, thus may be more likely to pay for aflatoxin control. However, this result contradicts those of Langiano et al. (2012) who reported that high-risk behavior of improper safety rules was influenced more by single status than by being married.Furthermore, our results clearly depicted that education was an important mode of dispersing information and knowledge to the public. Midega et al. (2016) too reported positive and significant effects of education on farmers' knowledge of maize pests in western Kenya. Strosnider et al. (2006) indicated that education and awareness are crucial factors in alleviating the problems of aflatoxin in developing countries. Many findings reported that income is one of the most salient factors that influence farmers' perception and awareness (Marmot, 2002;Sabran et al. (2012); Shankardass, Lofters, Kirts, & Quinonez, 2012). In this study, a positive and significant relationship was observed between annual income and knowledge as well as awareness about aflatoxin contamination. This result suggest that poverty and lack of sufficient income might contribute to low levels of awareness and knowledge about aflatoxin, leading to high aflatoxin exposure (Leroy, Wang, & Jones, 2015). This result might also be related to farmers' reluctance to invest their limited income to learn about and pay for aflatoxin control, especially because the negative effects of contamination are not widely known in the country. However, the positive correlation agrees with the studies reported by Jolly et al. (2009) and Sabran et al. (2012) that people with high income are likely to be more careful about food and are more willing to pay for food safety than those with lower incomes.Regarding the willingness to pay for aflatoxin control interventions, Tiongco, de Groote, Saak, Narrod, and Scott (2011); Tiongco, Ndjeunga et al. (2011) reported that willingness to pay for riskreducing technologies is high for producers who have more assets. In addition, they also found that respondents in Kenya who have had experience with aflatoxicosis outbreaks have high willingness to pay for improved seeds as well as for tarpaulins and metal silos for drying and storing grain. Contact with extension agents, access to credit and prior experience in using a technology play determine the amount a farmer is willing to pay for the technology as has been found for the biological control product Aflasafe in Nigeria (Ayedun et al., 2017). Aflatoxins are colorless, odorless, and invisible; thus, contaminated foods may be perceived as safe and edible (Rodrigues, Venancio, & Lima, 2012). Therefore, farmers with low resource base or low experience in using aflatoxin-reducing technologies choose not to invest their time, energy, and resources in control interventions as there is no quality grading or price differential for aflatoxinfree products sold in the markets.Finally, our study also uncovered some misconceptions about aflatoxin contamination. For example, most farmers are aware that aflatoxin contamination can reduce the price of crops. However, most of them were not aware of the risk of contamination to human health. In addition, although farmers value the importance of good Crop storage (PICS) bags, might play an important role in reducing contamination. PICS makes the use of chemicals unnecessary and allows the farmer to store grains until needed for consumption or sale.This is the first report on the incidence of aflatoxin contamination in crop products produced by farmers for household consumption in Eastern DRC. All samples were aflatoxin positive and 68% contained total aflatoxin levels over the EU maximum tolerable level of 4 μg/kg. The processed samples were more contaminated than unprocessed samples. The results from this exploratory study also showed that farmers' knowledge and awareness about aflatoxins were mostly influenced by the level of income and education, while marital status, and sex of the household head were negatively correlated with willingness to pay for control measures. To reduce the exposure and negative This study does not involve any human or animal testing.This work was carried out under the framework of the CGIAR ILRI/ IITA Crop Livestock Integration Project (CLIP: PJ-002057) that is funded by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).The authors also acknowledge the support of the project \"Aflatoxin contamination prevention and control in grain\" which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1007117).The authors have no conflict of interests.Patchimaporn Udomkun http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3777-9252 TA B L E 1 2 Probit model estimates of the determinants of farmers' knowledge and awareness of aflatoxin contamination and their willingness to pay for control"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"823f49cfcdd9c8f3da4670cb2c265e08","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ddbce0e9-4cdd-4000-b9fc-b0e323aaffb5/retrieve","id":"-1900948266"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"614ec9a5-797f-475b-9e11-6f5264f5593a","content":"In 2021, 12 CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) and four CGIAR Platforms came to a close. This summary report presents an overview of the work of the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock (LIVESTOCK) between 2017 and 2021 and highlights its key achievements over this five-year period.LiVESTOcK provided research-based solutions to help smallholder farmers, pastoralists, and agro-pastoralists transition to sustainable, resilient livelihoods and to productive enterprises that will help feed future generations. it aimed to increase the productivity and profitability of livestock agrifood in low-and middle-income countries (LMics).1. Livestock genetics, which ensured that appropriate livestock breeds are readily available, affordable, and widely used by women and men livestock keepers in LMics.2. Livestock health, which worked toward improving livestock health and health service delivery, with research conducted to ensure animal welfare.3. Livestock feeds and forages, which increased livestock nutrition by identifying, testing, and delivering superior feed and forage strategies and options.4. Livestock and environment, which reduced the environmental footprint of livestock production across both rapid and fragile growth trajectories, while ensuring that livestock systems in LMics were able to adapt to global environmental changes.5. Livestock livelihoods and agrifood systems, which maximized livestock-mediated livelihoods and resilience to risk among smallholder and pastoral producers and their communities, while enhancing availability and access to animal-source food for rural and urban consumers.Each flagship featured research on gender and on young people with a strategic research agenda addressing issues of gender and social equity in the flagship on livestock livelihoods and agrifood systems. capacity developmentboth capacity to undertake livestock research and to use research results -was integral to the program's theory of change, as were innovative approaches to communication.LiVESTOcK work spanned across africa, the Middle East, Southeast asia, and South and central america (Figure 1). Four priority countries were selected to demonstrate how technological and institutional innovations can be integrated into real-life interventions.In Ethiopia, LiVESTOcK unlocked the potential of small ruminants through the development of equitable, sustainable, and efficient sheep and goat value chains.In Tanzania, LiVESTOcK catalyzed uptake of dairy technology packages through institutional approaches that involved inclusive agribusiness models for improved livelihoods of smallholders and environmental sustainability.In Uganda, LiVESTOcK developed and tested an environmentally sustainable and gender-inclusive integrated intervention package that aimed to improve pig productivity and incomes of value chain actors.In Vietnam, LiVESTOcK worked toward identifying, testing, and evaluating appropriate livestock and livestock-related interventions to address sustainable intensification challenges for ethnic minorities in the northwest region of the country.Between 2017 and 2021, LiVESTOcK reported contributions to nine of the United Nations' Sustainable Development goals (SDgs), with the most contributions tagged to SDg2, zero hunger (76%) (Figure 1).LiVESTOcK reported contributions primarily to cgiar's System Level Outcome 1 (SLO1), set out in the CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework 2016-2030 -with notable contributions to the adoption of feed and forage grasses to reduce poverty. Overall, 13 SLO contributions were reported between 2017 and 2021 (Figure 2). From 2017-2021, LIVESTOCK reported achievements primarily in South Asia (21%) and East and Southern Africa (16%). In addition, 43% of LIVESTOCK's reported achievements were global and 3% were regional. Adoption of tropical forage grasses in 2017, LiVESTOcK reported that the total area sown with cgiar Brachiaria (syn. Urochloa) hybrids (forage grasses), which were distributed by the primary commercial seed sector partner, had increased by 103,000 hectares in 23 countries. The global acreage for these hybrids had nearly doubled since 2013 and was estimated to be 829,000 hectares in more than 30 countries. in a separate study of five Latin American countries, the total area planted with improved cgiar Brachiaria varieties (including hybrids) was estimated to be about 3.9 million hectares.From 2018 to 2021, Urochloa hybrids were scaled significantly through the commercial partner in more than 30 countries, with the highest areas planted being in Latin america, asia, and africa. in 2019, the total area sown with LiVESTOcK hybrids was estimated to be more than 950,000 hectares. By 2021, the total area planted had been scaled to more than 1,230,000 hectares. Achievements Cont'dKEy ChALLEnGESThroughout the course of the program, LIVESTOCK reassessed its priorities and focus as a result of changing circumstances, opportunities, and challenges. Notable adjustments and pivots included the following:• Enabling CGIAR genetic laboratory capacity in Kenya to support national and regional COVID-19 testing and variant monitoring.• Expanding ex-ante assessment work to determine the potential economic impacts of the adoption of a new forage variety in Colombia and align barley breeding within forage breeding programs.• Expanding work on rangeland management to include more gender dimensions in response to partner interest.• Dropping a planned cost-benefit analysis in Nicaragua in 2018 because of political unrest.• Including barley breeding for feed/forage from 2019 to complement ongoing forage grass breeding programs.• Expanding the small ruminant reproductive platform to more sites in Ethiopia at the request of national partners in 2019.• Conducting research on two zoonotic tick-borne diseases representing a major global public health threat: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in dromedaries and tick-borne encephalitis in sheep.• Consolidating research on soil carbon in rangelands, silvopastoral, and mixed crop-livestock systems to understand their role in greenhouse gas emissions.• Increasing resources for the Women's Empowerment in Livestock Index (WELI) given support and demand for the index.mAnAGEmEnT Of RISKS• CGIAR funding arrangements and effects on the involvement of external partners. To address this, LIVESTOCK negotiated exceptions to standard CGIAR financial policies given low financial risk associated with external partners, thereby enabling their continued involvement.A CRP-wide meeting was held to reinforce researcher identification with the LIVESTOCK agenda, high lighting the benefits of collaboration.• • Not completing activities before the portfolio ends. LIVESTOCK provided increased support for planning for 2021 and increased the intensity of monitoring progress.Strategic Investment Fund to cover shortfalls in W1/W2 funding.In response, LIVESTOCK identified priority work in areas that could be conducted as strategic CRP-wide activities.To mitigate this, LIVESTOCK engaged more closely with national partners.• Insecurity in Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Burkina Faso, and Mali. Teams adapted their plans. In Nicaragua, for example, activities were decen tralized and were coordinated with local rather than national authorities, with some activities moved to Colombia. The figures in this report reflect reporting valid as of July 21, 2022.bundling animal health services to increase access to quality services for pastoralists -2017 access to animal health services is one of the most important factors in improving livestock productivity. LiVESTOcK piloted bundling services by public and private sectors during vaccination campaigns. in two counties in Kenya -garissa and Marsabit -it is now routine for the government to invite private sector actors to provide additional services, while the government provides vaccinations. This arrangement has saved the government money, increased business opportunities for the private sector, and provided quality services to pastoralists at affordable prices.Feed is a key constraint to milk production. LiVESTOcK developed a simple rapid assessment tool, the Feed Assessment Tool (FEaST), and together with farmers in Kenya, five Brachiaria grass varieties were identified as suitable. From 2015-2018, the U.S. agency for international Development (USaiD) -funded Accelerated Value Chain Development (aVcD) project aimed to support the dairy sector in nontraditional dairy regions of Kenya. The program facilitated the dissemination of improved fodder technologies, including Brachiaria varieties in 10 counties, and achieved a total of 18,064 hectares of improved fodder varieties. Nearly 80,000 farmers applied improved technologies or management practices (including feed, animal health and breeding). adoption of the improved fodder variety, together with other management practices, resulted in increased milk production and productivity.in Tanzania, all villages are required by law to produce a village land use plan. However, the majority of villages have not done so because of a lack of capacity and resources. LiVESTOcK and partners, including the government of Tanzania, piloted joint village land use planning (JVLUP) to protect shared resources, including grazing lands for local livestock keepers, in four clusters of villages covering 175,000 hectares of grazing land. 4 The content in this section is drawn from the LiVESTOcK annual reports, which are included in the resource section of this Summary report.The JVLUP has resolved conflicts between land users, improved access to resources for women and men, and laid a strong foundation to strengthen rangeland management. The government has since decided to scale up JVLUP across 22 villages in five districts, involving almost 13,000 households (69,555 people) over 30,000 hectares.The practice of participatory rangeland management (PrM) is expanding across East and Southern africa. By 2020, eight fully functional rangeland management institutions had been established in Kenya and Tanzania, with almost 45% female representation. LiVESTOcK provided technical support to the Piloting of PrM project and supported policy dialogue in national and regional governments. in 2020, a new U.S. agency for international Development (USaiD)-funded project invested US$24 million to scale up the PrM approach in afar, Oromia and Somali regions, Ethiopia, through the resilience in Pastoral Areas project, benefiting 178,000 households, with interventions to be led by carE Ethiopia between 2020 and 2025.Adoption of spineless cactus pear by 7,000 smallholder farmers in Jordan and India as a multipurpose crop for enhanced resilience and increased household income -2021The cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) has attracted global attention because of its successful adaption to drought and low soil fertility, its capacity to grow with minimal cost and inputs, and the multiple food, livestock feed, and livelihood benefits generated from the fruit and cladodes. research, advocacy, and trainings on spineless cactus pear across South and West asia by icarDa and partners has led to rapid adoption by smallholder farmers, who are benefiting from greater income. Support from governments, national agricultural research systems, nongovernmental organizations, private sector, and universities is amplifying efforts.The complete list of reported LiVESTOcK impacts can be found on the CGIAR Results Dashboard.  4).The crP's top funders (Figure 5) include the cgiar Trust Fund, the United States of america, and the Bill & Melinda gates Foundation. LiVESTOcK was primarily implemented by iLri, with participation from icarDa and ciaT (Figure 6). LiVESTOcK engaged an appropriate range of skills. achieving an appropriate level of staff and partner diversity was challenging. Generally, the funding for the CRP was sufficient, except for the hiatus in Flagship 3 and 5 funding, which threatened crucial long-term, longitudinal research.LiVESTOcK produced a high volume of research outputs of mostly good, and some excellent, quality. although some approaches were resource intensive, an in-depth review of a sample of 34 physical output products largely showed relevance to next-stage users. Most quality-of-research-for-development elements necessary for scientific credibility and legitimacy were in place. Yet there was inconsistent application (such as ethics) or need for better development (such as conduct or early career researcher support).There was a commendable shift toward more farmer-driven, inclusive, and systematic approaches in the more heavily science-focused flagships. All flagships pointed to significant achievements notwithstanding delays and shifts in priorities. CRP and flagship management adapted to changing circumstances. Management was comparatively less effective in promoting cross-flagship coordination and learning. The priority country programs were promising.The theories of change (Tocs) were of acceptable quality, but overly ambitious. Planning and reporting were not structured around outputs and outcomes as described in the Tocs, and the suite of metrics present in 2019 failed to provide a coherent overview of progress.All flagships made significant achievements. The inevitable pull to carry out new research needed to be counterbalanced by a push to build on the promising areas of crP research and extrapolate lessons to inform the future direction of work. Insufficient resources for country-specific work, and the limited timeframe to address priority country programs, raised concerns that achieving impact through an integrated approach was unrealistic by the end of 2021.Based on the experience of LiVESTOcK, the CAS evaluation offered the following lessons:• a longer-term vision, better aligned with next-and end-user priorities and based on early engagement, would ensure that the One cgiar vision becomes a reality. This way, innovations are likely to be taken up, and tracking of the impact of applied innovations is easier.• at an early stage, engagement and dialogue with in-country donors and a more systematic approach to private sector engagement (such as discovery) might foster wider impact.• Funding for priority areas must be secured over the long term, using a multi-annual perspective.• Local anchoring through local science is key to success and sustainability. clear and measurable targets for engagement and capacity building of national scientists are needed to create clear exit strategies."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"83a2dbb35c1201319f1314afa50860fb","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/decacaa3-702c-4ab9-ae6b-3aabfd54baeb/retrieve","id":"-1243045634"},"keywords":["Orange-fleshed sweet potato","social approval","Uganda Creative Commons User License: CC BY-NC-ND"],"sieverID":"ad1c3291-1899-44a1-b114-f54562e451b7","content":"This study examined the role of social-cognitive factors in farmers' decisions to cultivate orange-fleshed sweetpotato as a food-based approach to alleviating vitamin A deficiency among rural households in Uganda. Cross-sectional survey data collected from 341 randomly selected household level decision-makers drawn from two rural districts in Uganda were analysed using hierarchical regression. Perceived capability and perceived social approval significantly predicted household decisions to grow orange-fleshed sweet potato (p≤0.001). Overall, decision-makers' subjective norms and control beliefs were found to be significant mediators (p≤0.01) of the orange-fleshed sweet potato acceptance process. These results point to a cardinal role for processes that create supportive social and cognitive environments in promoting the cultivation of biofortified technologies such as orange-fleshed sweet potato.Vitamin A deficiency (VAD), a form of hidden hunger, is a major public health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa (HarvestPlus, 2016). In Uganda's case, 36% of the pre-school children and 38% of the women of childbearing age are deficient in vitamin A (Wirth et al., 2017). Accordingly, bio-fortification-a relatively new strategy that mainly uses conventional breeding techniques to enrich the micronutrient content of targeted staples-is being promoted as a strategy that is well suited to address VAD challenges in rural areas (HarvestPlus, 2016). For the three most widely promoted vitamin A bio-fortified crops in Uganda, (that is, orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP), orange cassava and orange maize), the fortification involves enrichment with ß-carotene, a precursor for the vitamin (Low et al., 2017). Many OFSP varieties and delivery efforts have been implemented since the late 1990s, attracting diverse stakeholder support. Central to the associated promotional strategies is working with communities that already produce and consume selected crops as staples to progressively replace conventional varieties with bio-fortified ones (Asare-marfo et al., 2013). It is argued, for example, that OFSP where eaten regularly provides 100% of the daily vitamin A needs and that a 500m 2 plot of OFSP is adequate for meeting the annual needs of the vitamin of a family of five (Low et al., 2017). Proponents of OFSP also maintain that it shares many attributes with the energy-dense white fleshed sweet potato which is popular for its short maturity period, staggered root maturation that allows gradual harvesting over several months, and easy access to the vegetative planting materials.Even with the above benefits, OFSP has to compete for space and position within the domain defined by the attributes of consumers and the foodstuffs they consume. A major moderator for this process is the acceptance of the OFSP by key decision makers. However, a dearth of knowledge exists regarding key decision makers' considerations for the acceptance of OFSP. In the extant literature, studies tend to be descriptive and focus on technology awareness and the channels for effective delivery of planting materials (e.g. Lukonge et al., 2015). Other related studies (e.g. Oparinde et al., 2014), are concerned with consumer willingness to pay for or consume bio-fortified staples, which approaches are not particularly helpful in assessing bio-fortification strategy given that rural households mainly grow their own food. Valuable insights may thus be gained by focusing on decision making by household members regarding uptake of bio-fortified staples. This paper discusses the extent to which decisionmakers' beliefs about OFSP and their valuation of the status of relationships they enjoy with actors they deem important influence their acceptance of OFSP. It also explores the role of decision-makers' desire for social approval and self-perceived capability as mediators of OFSP acceptance.The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and stages of change (SoC) model are psychosocial explanations of health-related behavioural change. Icek Ajzen initially advanced the TBP in 1991 positing that behavioural decisions (such as acceptance of OFSP) are not made spontaneously, but rather are a result of reasoned processes that are predicated by the decision maker's intention to engage in the specified behaviour (Ajzen, 2015). Under the TPB, behavioural intention is regarded as an intermediate output founded on the decision-makers' beliefs about whether important people approve or disapprove of the behaviour (subjective norms), overall positive or negative evaluation of the behaviour (attitude) and level of perceived control over performing a behaviour (perceived behavioural control).The SoC models behavioural change as a five-stage process involving precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance (Prochaska et al., 2013). Pre-contemplation and contemplation can be deemed to feed \"behavioural intention\" as described in the TPB, whereas preparation and action relate to \"trial\" activities, in which one experiments with the new behaviour, before deciding to maintain it (Prochaska et al.,2013).This study combined TPB and SoC on the premise that the acceptance of OFSP by households is guided by a psycho-social process that integrates main decision makers' cost-benefit calculations and their desire not to compromise their status in the social groupings they subscribe to. The two models were deemed compatible since considerations of social approval and perceived capabilities as envisaged under the TPB can arguably feed the calculations that influence decisions to transition between the SoC stages. Besides, because an individual mentally applies a new idea to his or her present or likely future state before deciding whether or not to try it, intention could be considered as the first point of SoC.The study adopted a SoC-based dependent variable, acceptance. Additionally, elements of TPB were used to generate indicators of the decision-makers' perceptions about their capability to pursue the opportunities nested in OFSP and their predisposition to adopt VAD alleviating variety in the face of social pressures to stick with conventional sweet potato varieties. The study tested the hypothesis that acceptance of OFSP among smallholder farmers in Uganda is a distal dependent variable that is significantly determined by household socio-demographic characteristics (Figure 1). It also tested the hypotheses that the influence of socio-demographic attributes on acceptance is significantly mediated by two key decision-makers' sociocognitive considerations; approval of their behaviour by significant others (H1) and their own calculus of their capability to take up the technology (H2). This study was conducted in Uganda, a country that lies at 1 0 29' South and 4 0 12' North of the Equator and 29 0 34' East and 35 0 0' East of the Greenwich, in locations where production and consumption of OFSP was being promoted by a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization, HarvestPlus. HarvestPlus promotes agriculture for nutrition and health in developing countries (HarvestPlus, 2016). The study explicitly focused on the beneficiaries of the Developing and Delivering Bio-fortified Crops (DDBC) project, who included 409,711 households reached by the project between 2012 and 2016 in Uganda.The DDBC project was implemented in Uganda with the aim of promoting widespread use of OFSP. By 2013, four regions comprising thirteen districts had been covered by the project. Two of the regions, central and eastern Uganda, were purposively selected using data on national VAD incidence (Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) and ICF International Inc, 2012). Central and eastern Uganda were respectively at the lower and higher ends of the VAD incidence continuum. Kirumba sub-county in Kyotera district (central) and Bugaya in Buyende district (eastern) were randomly selected to represent the two study regions. The populations of the two sub counties are primarily rural and mostly subsist on rain-fed production of beans, maize, and white fleshed sweet potato (UBOS, 2016). One hundred households were randomly sampled from each of the selected sub-counties from the register of OFSP distribution contact groups, in order to arrive at a fairly large and equal sample size of study participants from either region. The two main decision-makers (female and male) were subsequently selected from each household for the individual interviews, resulting into a sample size of 400 participants.Data were collected from 341 respondents (85% response rate consisting of 55% female and 45% male) in April and May 2017 using a 29 item seven-point Likert scale (1 = not-like me, 7 = more-like me) questionnaire. The items captured four hypothesized mediating variables: control beliefs (10 items), self-efficacy (10 items), subjective norm (4 items) and attitude (5 items). The scale items were adapted from Ajzen (2013) and Mackie et al (2015). Socio-demographic data (VAD experience, income and education level) were also gathered about the respondents. VAD experience was captured using a binary scale (no = 1 and yes = 2). Income, which was measured on a metric scale, was later collapsed into four equal interval categories. Formal education attainment categories were collapsed into four (none = 1, primary = 2, secondary = 3, and postsecondary = 4) to cater for those which only had a few responses. The dependent variable was measured basing on a three-point Likert-type scale (1= under consideration, 2 = trial action and 3 = maintenance) adapted from Prochaska et al. (2013).The questionnaire was pretested on 16 households in Nsambya village, Rakai district, which was selected because of its distant location from the study sub-counties (60 kilometres for sites in Kyotera and 420 kilometres for Buyende) to avoid contaminating the main sample. Following the Cronbach's alpha reliability analysis, and in line with Taber (2018), only items with coefficients greater than .70 were used for subsequent data collection. The coefficients for control beliefs, self-efficacy, subjective norm and attitude were .85, .90, .71 and .84 respectively, indicating that the scales used to measure the study constructs had a generally strong internal consistency and reliability. Given that respondents lived in areas with known high illiteracy rates (UBOS, 2016), the instrument was administered by trained interviewers in native languages. Prior to data collection, written permission to engage project beneficiaries as study participants was obtained from HarvestPlus. Before each interview, participants were informed of their rights, the study purpose and were also assured of confidentiality. Each participant also signed a consent letter.Data analysis was done in three steps. First, principal component analysis (PCA) was done. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test of sampling adequacy and Bartlett's test of sphericity, with Eigen values set at 1 was performed to reduce the number of items into a parsimonious dataset as suggested by Field (2013). Second, descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations were computed to describe the variables and appraise conceptual relationships. Third, hierarchical regression was performed with SPSS version 16 (using 'enter method') to determine the major predictors of OFSP acceptance. Mediation effects were determined using the three criteria commonly used in psychosocial studies, since they were first suggested by Baron and Kenny three decades ago. Baron and Kenny posit that mediation is said to be established if (i) variations in levels of the independent variable significantly account for variations in the presumed mediator (Path a) , (ii) variations in the mediator significantly account for variations in the dependent variable (Path b), and (iii) when Paths a and b are controlled, a previously significant relation between the independent and dependent variables (Path c) is no longer significant (Lemmens, et al., 2016). In a proper mediation, the correlation between independent and dependent variable need not be significant.Descriptive statistics for the socio-demographics and acceptance of OFSP The socio-demographic factors examined were the decision-makers' VAD experience, educational attainment and average monthly income. Two of every three decisionmakers (67%) did not consider VAD a major problem in their households while 56% did not consider it a major problem for the community. A plausible explanation for the discrepancy, as suggested by Ndaula et al. (2019), is that the communities are not sufficiently sensitized about VAD to be able to associate patient symptoms with their VAD status. The decision-makers may also have under-reported VAD prevalence in their households because it is socially more acceptable to do so. Consistent with the national census (UBOS, 2016), 66% of the respondents in this study had only attained some level of primary education, 21% had attained secondary education, 6% had attained tertiary education while 7% had not had any formal education. Most of the respondent households (71%) earned US$ 3 or less per month; only 28% earned above US$ 3, implying that virtually all the households lived in extreme poverty (World Bank, 2016).Regarding acceptance of OFSP, 70% of the households had maintained OFSP cultivation for more than six months, 19% were carrying out trial cultivation while 11% were still considering starting to cultivate OFSP varieties. It is also noteworthy that most of the households at the maintenance stage had OFSP covering less than 20% of the acreage under sweet potato.The PCA revealed three factors as underlying control beliefs (Table 1). Perceived household control over timeliness of labour, general labour, financial resources outside the household and financial resources within the household loaded highly (factor loadings over .7) against Component 1. Perceived household control over the fertility of soils and adequacy of soil water loaded highly (factor loadings over .8) against Component 2. Perceived control over other farmers growing OFSP and access to OFSP vines loaded highly (factor loadings over .8) against Component 3. In line with Field (2013)'s suggestion that an extracted component is primarily a measure of the factor with which it is most strongly correlated, the components were labelled as control belief (access to labour), control belief (soil fertility) and control belief (vine access). Selfefficacy and subjective norms and attitudes in social approval domain had only one factor each extracted, thus all retained their variable labels. KMO measure of sampling adequacy obtained for the extracted factors were equal to or higher than the recommended .5 and the Bartlett's test of sphericity were also significant (p≤.001) (Table 2). Eigenvalues were above Kaiser's criterion of 1 and the factors explained 66.5%, 52.4%, 54% and 61% of the variance in data of control belief, self-efficacy, subjective norm and attitude respectively; it was thus acceptable to proceed with the analysis (Field, 2013).Bivariate correlation of the study variables showed that five variables: education, VAD experience, average monthly income, subjective norms, and control beliefs (vine access) were significant predictors of acceptance of OFSP (p≤.01) (Table 3). Attitude, self-efficacy and control belief (access to labour), and control belief (soil fertility) were not. Among the independent variables, self-efficacy was outstanding in being correlated (p≤.01) to all the other variables except education. These relationships imply that selfefficacy is probably mediated by other variables given that it does not significantly associate with acceptance.   Table 4 shows the hierarchical regression analyses conducted to test the influence of the three main predictors of acceptance, hypothesised earlier in this paper (Figure 1). Models 1-4 tested the relationships between independent and mediator variables in H1a and c and H2 a and c. The first hypothesis proposed that socio-demographics are related to subjective norm (H1a) and as shown in the first model, the hypothesis was supported (R 2 = .046, F = 5.4, p≤.01). The second hypothesis stated that sociodemographics are related to attitudes (H1c). As shown in the second model this hypothesis was not supported. This implies that socio-demographics were not significant predictors of positive or negative attitudes towards OFSP among decisionmakers in the study. Further, the third hypothesis which stated that socio-demographics influence perceived control (H2a), was supported as indicated by the third model (R 2 = .032, F = 3.7, p≤.05). Lastly, the fourth hypothesis which asserted that sociodemographics influence self-efficacy (H2c) was supported as suggested by the fourth model (R 2 = .093, F = 11.4, p≤.001). Thus, this study established that H1a, H2a and H2c met the first criterion for establishing mediation namely, that variations in levels of the independent variable significantly account for variations in the presumed mediator. This is consistent with psychosocial studies (e.g. Rivera and Pérez, 2015) that indicate that the context in which a decision maker operates is important in the formation of the latent beliefs on which most salient psychosocial variables, such as self-efficacy, depend. Model 6 was used to test four hypotheses (H1b and d and H2 b and d), which focused on the relationships between the independent, mediator and dependent variables. Overall, this model was supported by the data (R 2 = .206, F = 12.3, p≤.001). Specifically, the hypothesis that stated that subjective norms positively influence acceptance of OFSP (H1b) was supported (β = 0.182, P≤ .001). However, H1d that stated that attitude positively relates with acceptance of OFSP was not supported. Accordingly, Model 6 met the second criterion for establishing mediation, namely that variations in the mediator significantly account for variations in the dependent variable. Thus, subjective norms significantly predicted acceptance of OFSP, but attitude did not. These findings conform with those of social norm studies and the norm descriptive narrative (e.g., Mackie et al., 2015;Cislaghi and Heise, 2018)), which established that changing a socially embedded behaviour requires a critical mass of community members to believe that enough near-peers are accepting or expect them to accept the novel behaviour; otherwise, attitude becomes an inadequate predictor. Arguably one cannot have tenacious attitudes about ideas that he/she has not fully experienced; hence before an adopter tries out a technology, the attitude he or she holds is likely to be an outcome of external influence and unaligned with their behaviour.The hypothesis that stated that perceived control positively relates with acceptance of OFSP (H2b) was supported (β = 0.114, P≤ .01). The status of the relationship between control belief and acceptance of OFSP conforms with the findings of previous studies that used TBP concepts (e.g. Talsma et al., 2013). Talsma et al. (2013) found control beliefs to be a vital predictor for caregivers' intentions to feed children on orangefleshed cassava in Uganda. This highlights control over production inputs required by households to cultivate OFSP as a core element of a household's calculations in deciding whether to accept or reject the technology.Insignificant evidence was found regarding the association between self-efficacy and acceptance of OFSP. Accordingly, H2d did not meet the second criterion for establishing mediation. Vancouver and Purl (2017) assert that self-efficacy is clearly positively affected by past performance, implying that its effect on behaviour can be negative, unrelated, or positive. By extension of this logic, self-efficacy may not have effectively predicated OFSP acceptance in this study because self-efficacy beliefs about the OFSP were probably confounded by experience with sweet potato varieties previously grown by the respondent households. Nezami et al. (2016) also reported that the ability of self-efficacy in explaining behavioural changes may be limited by lack of activity specificity to which self-efficacy is referenced. In this study, self-efficacy was measured following the sweet potato value chain activities (from site selection to cooking), which was presumed sufficient to eliminate the measurement effect.Model 5 tested the relationship between the independent and dependent variables in H3 hypothesis that stated that socio-demographics had a significant direct influence on acceptance of OFSP (R 2 = .074, F = 9.0, p≤.001). Accordingly, H3 did not meet the third criterion for establishing mediation, namely that \"when paths a and b are controlled, a previously significant relation between the independent and dependent variables is no longer significant, with the strongest demonstration of mediation occurring when Path c is zero\". This implies that even after controlling for subjective norm and perceived control, both of which met the first and second criteria for establishing mediation, a significant 7.4% of the variance in household acceptance of OFSP probably continued to be accounted for by mediators currently not included in the study's conceptual model. The study revealed subjective norms (in social approval domain) and control beliefs (in the capability perceptions domain) to significantly mediate the acceptance of OFSP, since almost all coefficients of the socio-demographic variables (model 5) reduced and became insignificant, on introducing in the mediator variables in the model. Only the coefficients of farmers' experience with VAD remained constant and significantly related with acceptance, implying that this relationship could be mediated by some other variables.subjective norms in the social domain and control beliefs under capability perceptions were associated with acceptance of OFSP. These results point to a cardinal role for processes that create supportive social and cognitive environments for promoting biofortified technologies, such as orange fleshed sweet potato. The results further suggest that beyond individual decisions that household level decision makers make, it is vital to seek to alter the perceptions held by the near-peers especially those actually cultivating OFSP and have the capacity to be leaned on by peers to do the same. This could be achieved for example through variety endorsements (e.g. by leaders and pop stars), or through targeting the most motivated and connected members of the community first, when designing OFSP dissemination campaigns. Similarly, farmer groups could be strengthened to better support members to grow OFSP. The results also point to the need to train farmers, particularly in activities such as vine preservation and production sequencing between seasons that increase access to OFSP planting materials.The study also established that socio-demographic characteristics strengthen both subjective norms and control beliefs which in turn increase OFSP acceptance; both mediated effects are positive. The direct effect of socio-demographic characteristics was also positive. Consequently, a state of complementary mediation pertains. However, the presence of a significant direct effect of socio-demographic characteristics on acceptance, points to a need for future research to explore the possibility of additional mediators. In particular, the positive direction of the effect hints at probable addition mediator(s) whose effect is likely to be positive."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2d66c9ff9a87e129e6a66f8e2842bc73","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0991b15f-ec09-4435-ade2-8a95c90868cf/retrieve","id":"1328277931"},"keywords":["cassava","carotenoids","genome-wide association studies (GWAS)","genomic selection (GS)","calibration","near infra-red spectroscopy (NIRS)"],"sieverID":"08da0657-7b3c-4b67-b102-56d83b89ea3f","content":"Random forests (RF) was used to correlate spectral responses to known wet chemistry carotenoid concentrations including total carotenoid content (TCC), all-trans β-carotene (ATBC), violaxanthin (VIO), lutein (LUT), 15-cis beta-carotene (15CBC), 13-cis betacarotene (13CBC), alpha-carotene (AC), 9-cis beta-carotene (9CBC), and phytoene (PHY) from laboratory analysis of 173 cassava root samples in Columbia. The cross-validated correlations between the actual and estimated carotenoid values using RF ranged from 0.62 in PHY to 0.97 in ATBC. The developed models were used to evaluate the carotenoids of 594 cassava clones with spectral information collected across three locations in a national breeding program (NRCRI, Umudike), Nigeria. Both populations contained cassava clones characterized as white and yellow. The NRCRI evaluated phenotypes were used to assess the genetic correlations, conduct genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and genomic predictions. Estimates of genetic correlation showed various levels of the relationship among the carotenoids. The associations between TCC and the individual carotenoids were all significant (P < 0.001) with high positive values (r > 0.75, except in LUT and PHY where r < 0.3). The GWAS revealed significant genomic regions on chromosomes 1, 2, 4, 13, 14, and 15 associated with variation in at least one of the carotenoids. One of the identified candidate genes, phytoene synthase (PSY) has been widely reported for variation in TCC in cassava. On average, genomic prediction accuracies from the single-trait genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP) and RF as well as from a multiple-trait GBLUP model ranged from ~0.2 in LUT and PHY to 0.52 in TCC. The multiple-trait GBLUP model gave slightly higher accuracies than the single trait GBLUP and RF models. This study is one of the initial attempts in understanding the genetic basis of individual carotenoids and demonstrates the usefulness of NIRS in cassava improvement.Carotenoids are well known for their nutritional and health benefits, particularly in the prevention of a number of human cancers and eye diseases. Most important is the vitamin A activity of the provitamin A carotenoids (PVAC), especially, beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, and gamma-carotene (Krinsky and Johnson, 2005;Paiva and Russell, 2013). Vitamin A is essential for growth and differentiation of a number of cells and tissues and vital for the healthy development of the fetus and the newborn (Strobel et al., 2007). Inadequate intake of vitamin A is associated with impaired vision, poor immunity, retarded growth, and even death, particularly among children and pregnant or nursing mothers (Strobel et al., 2007;Ceballos et al., 2013;Bechoff et al., 2015). Also, carotenoids act as antioxidants and some non-PVAC, for example, lutein and zeaxanthin, are important components of the macular pigment in the eyes, and their deficiencies are linked to some eye-related problems (Krinsky and Johnson, 2005;Kim et al., 2010;Bechoff et al., 2015).Cassava is the fourth most important basic food after rice, wheat, and maize worldwide and provides food for many people, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where over 600 million people depend on it to meet their energy requirements (Oliveira et al., 2014;Rabbi et al., 2017). Generally, cassava roots are low in nutritional quality, containing mainly carbohydrates (Nweke, 2004;Ceballos et al., 2017). However, there are ongoing efforts to improve the nutritional quality of cassava, taking advantage of genetic variability existing in the crop (Ceballos et al., 2013;Mugode et al., 2014;Ceballos et al., 2017). Such efforts are invaluable in alleviating vitamin A deficiency (VAD) problems prevalent among individuals below poverty thresholds who cannot afford healthy and balanced nutrition from more expensive food sources (Maziya-Dixon et al., 2006;Strobel et al., 2007). The bio-fortification effort has led to a substantial boost in the proportion of carotenoids in cassava roots and the recorded success has been largely attributed to the adoption of advanced analytical tools (Marini et al., 2013;Belalcazar et al., 2016).In cassava phenotyping, the conventional use of color intensity in quantifying carotenoid content in cassava roots is challenging and restricted to a qualitative classification of clones into white, cream and yellow categories (Ceballos et al., 2017). Other alternatives include the use of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and UV-Visible spectrophotometry, which are low-throughput and require skilled labor and favorable laboratory conditions (Ceballos et al., 2013;Belalcazar et al., 2016). Such laboratory facilities and conditions are lacking in lowresource breeding programs and experimental sites (out-stations) where most multilocation evaluations take place. Besides, such standard facilities are expensive to install and ineffective for large volume analytical procedures. Recently, the use of near infra-red spectroscopy (NIRS) has been demonstrated to enable highthroughput assessment and quantitative evaluation of micronutrients including total and individual carotenoid components (Sánchez et al., 2014;Belalcazar, et al., 2016;Ikeogu et al., 2017). Such development is necessary for accurate phenotyping and understanding of the underlying genetics of PVAC in cassava.Linear regression models have been widely used in developing NIRS calibrations-correlating spectral response of each sample at individual wavelengths to known chemical concentrations from laboratory analysis (Chen and Wang, 2001), but their performance is often limited by nonlinear effects including baseline drift, light scattering effects, and multicollinearity (Büning-Pfaue and Kehraus, 2001;Cen and He, 2007;Sánchez et al., 2014). Linear models generally perform regression on factor analysis components which in many cases, lack direct physical meaning (Cristianini and Shawe-Taylor, 2000;Wold et al., 2001;Andersson, 2009;Ghasemi and Tavakoli, 2013). Recently, the option of nonlinear calibration models has been gaining attention as such models are useful in addressing both linear and nonlinear multivariate relationships. The growing interest in the use of nonlinear models for spectra analyses could be attributed to their comparable accuracy, mathematical simplicity, computational efficiency, and robustness to noise (Breiman, 2001;Lee et al., 2012;Ghasemi and Tavakoli, 2013). Random forests (RF), a nonlinear model, has been effective in multivariate calibrations from modern measuring instruments, including spectrometers, chromatographs, and sensor batteries where it has been used to provide valuable interpretable results. It also provides an adequate fine-tuning mechanism to control overfitting and collinearity associated with most spectroscopic data (Svetnik et al., 2003;Ghasemi and Tavakoli, 2013;Sila et al., 2016).The lack of adequate phenotyping tools especially in dissecting total carotenoid content (TCC) into its individual components is a limiting factor in the genetic studies of PVAC in cassava. Genomewide association studies (GWAS), which leverage available marker polymorphisms distributed throughout the cassava genome, have been useful in identifying the genomic regions associated mainly with TCC variation in cassava (Esuma et al., 2016;Rabbi et al., 2017). GWAS could fill in the limited information on the genomic regions associated with most of the individual carotenoids, their relative genetic control, and correlations.Naturally, carotenoids are present in various configurations and isomerization (Castenmiller and West, 1998;Paiva and Russell, 2013). In addressing VAD, attention should be given to the reported bioavailability and bioconversion interactions of carotenoid components including a positive interaction between β-carotene and concentrations of α-carotene, negative interactions between β-carotene and lutein, lycopene, and canthaxanthin (Castenmiller and West, 1998). From a breeding perspective, it is very important to establish the genetic correlations of carotenoid components in cassava and determine the relationship between such correlations and the reported bioavailability and bioconversion interactions (Castenmiller and West, 1998;Strobel et al., 2007;Mugode et al., 2014;Bechoff et al., 2015). In addition, understanding the relationships between TCC and the individual components will help to track the extent of progress made thus far or need to be made, including the adoption of the best strategy for carotenoids improvement in cassava roots.Unlike GWAS, genomic selection (GS) is a breeding technology that is used to predict the genetic potential of individuals in a breeding program without necessarily uncovering the underlying genes and quantitative trait loci (QTL) behind the traits of interest (Meuwissen et al., 2001;Goddard and Hayes, 2007;VanRaden, 2008). It promises to accelerate genetic gain over time, shorten breeding cycles and reduce the costs of breeding (Habier et al., 2009;Hayes et al., 2010;de Oliveira et al., 2012;Wolfe et al., 2017). As the field continues to grow and new computational methods develop, nonlinear GS models have been shown to be useful in estimating total genetic values (TGVs) beyond just breeding values (Lorenz et al., 2011;Heslot et al., 2012;Wolfe et al., 2017). Being a clonally propagated crop, the TGV of a cassava plant can be reproduced so that its prediction from nonlinear GS prediction models is appropriate in cassava breeding and trait improvement.Laboratory facilities to assay the full suite of carotenoids are not readily available in Nigeria. In order to assess the full spectrum of carotenoids in Nigerian cassava germplasm, we leveraged a calibration population developed at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Cali-Palmira, Colombia, to predict content of carotenoids in a cassava population of the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) in Umudike, Nigeria. We validated the predictions by assessing their genotype to phenotype relationships in terms of heritability, genomic prediction accuracy, and the identification of significant GWAS hits. We used RF, a nonlinear method for NIRs prediction for TCC, ATBC, VIO, LUT, 15CBC, 13CBC, AC, 9CBC, and PHY in cassava and employed the calibration models in analyzing the spectral information of a training population from NRCRI in Nigeria. We estimated the genetic correlations, identified the underlying genomic regions associated with the variation, and demonstrated the potential of using GS for the rapid improvement of these traits, comparing linear with nonlinear prediction models. While many GS predictions are performed on a single trait basis, the use of multiple-trait models has shown prediction improvements in various cases (Jia and Jannink, 2012;Fernandes et al., 2017;Okeke et al., 2017). Therefore, we also compared predictions of single and multiple-trait GS models for the improvement of carotenoids in fresh cassava roots.Training Population and Spectra Collection NRCRI has a training population currently used for the implementation of GS in cassava which has been fully described (Wolfe et al., 2016;Wolfe et al., 2017). The germplasm consists of Training Population 1 (TP1) and Training Population 2 (TP2). Trials of these two populations were further divided into sets (TP1 had two sets and TP2 had four sets) for easy management and the control of experimental error and the sets in each trial were established as randomized incomplete blocks with three replications of a plot size of five plants. TP1 was evaluated at Umudike in a single set whereas TP2 was evaluated at Umudike, Otobi, and Kano using four sets in the 2015/2016 cropping season. Two or three technical replications were taken in each clone replication across sets and trials. A total of 594 clones from the two populations-221 (TP1) and 411 (TP2) with an overlap of 24 clones, were used for analyses. The origin of the NRCRI clones has been described (Wolfe et al., 2016). Briefly, most of the clones have ancestry from germplasm introduced from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Cali-Palmira, Colombia (Njoku et al., 2011;Ceballos et al., 2013). Also, a cluster analysis of spectral data from CIAT and NRCRI roots (data not shown) did not suggest the two populations were disjoint. The training population included clones characterized as white and few others as yellow provitamin A clones.Spectral data on the TP were collected using a full range (350 -2500 nm wavelength in 1-nm increments) portable visible and infrared spectrometer (Vis/NIRS) (QualitySpec Trek: S-10016, ASD Inc.). Root samples from two to three sizeable roots were randomly selected from a plot and the selected roots were peeled with knives, washed, and homogenized into a paste-like mash using a portable power-operated grater. Spectral data were collected from homogenized mashed samples in quartz sampling cups placed against the window of the portable Vis/NIRS device. Each final spectral output was a mean of fifty scans (Ikeogu et al., 2017).The carotenoids of NRCRI training population were estimated from calibration equations derived from a calibration population (n = 173) developed from the breeding population of CIAT using RF. Usually, the use of NIR instruments for analyses require the training, also known as the calibration of the instruments for the evaluation of traits of interest. Calibration establishes a mathematical relationship between the absorption spectra from the NIR instruments and the factor of interest (Chen and Wang, 2001;Cen and He, 2007). Developing a calibration model requires spectra measurements of samples from a population that includes all variances in future prediction and some important aspects of calibration development require using a good number of samples uniformly covering a wide range of the analytes of interest from the calibration set known as a training set to develop models. Thereafter, the developed calibration models should be validated to test the model performance on future samples on the remaining subset of the calibration set (test set) (Cen and He, 2007;Lopez et al., 2013). The calibration population has been previously described and analyzed using a linear calibration model-modified partial least square regression, with mashed cassava root samples and HPLC reference values (Ikeogu et al., 2017). Just like the NRCRI population, the calibration population contained clones characterized as both white and yellow. Calibration was performed in R using the caret package (Kuhn, 2008;R Core Team, 2017).Prior to building calibration models, standard normal variate and detrending (SNVD) spectra pretreatment (D = 2, G = 5, S1 = 2, S2 = 1) was applied to correct for external interferences on the spectral data, where D indicates the derivative order number (0 indicates no derivation, 1 means the first derivative, and so on), G indicates the gap (the number of data points over which derivation is computed), S1 indicates the number of data points in the first smoothing (1 means no smoothing), and S2 indicates the number of data points in the second smoothing (1 means no smoothing) (Davrieux et al., 2016;Ikeogu et al., 2017).The cross-validation of the NIRS calibration models was done by dividing the calibration set into training and testing sets in a ratio of 3:1 which was repeated 10 times. After assessing the performance of the initial calibration models on the testing set, a final model was fitted on the full calibration set for each trait in order to maximize the number of calibration samples. These final RF models were used in predicting the carotenoids of over 4,000 spectra from 594 clones from NRCRI across Umudike, Otobi, and Kano locations.The genotype data used in this study have been previously described (Wolfe et al., 2016;Wolfe et al., 2017). The data were generated using genotyping by sequencing (GBS) with the ApeK1 restriction enzyme. SNP calls were carried out with the TASSEL GBS pipeline V4 (Glaubitz et al., 2014) and aligned to the cassava reference genome (Goodstein et al., 2012;Bredeson et al., 2016). Individuals with more than 80% missing SNP calls and markers with more than 60% missing calls were removed. Missing data were imputed with Beagle (version 4.0) (Browning and Browning, 2008) and marker data were then converted to a dosage format. After filtering based on MAF > 0.01, a total of 114,884 SNP markers were used for analyses. ). ( N 0 2 I Models were fitted using the lmer package in R (Bates et al., 2014;R Core Team, 2017). Since the clones were not replicated equally across locations, trials, and sets, our data set was unbalanced and in order to account for the variability in predicted error variance (PEV) and unequal shrinking of the BLUPS for clones, BLUPs were deregressed on the basis of PEV (Garrick et al., 2009). The deregressed BLUPs (dBLUPS) were used in the downstream studies. Broad-sense heritability (H 2 ) was calculated using the estimated variance components from the mixed models according to (Holland et al., 2010) aswhere, σ C 2 = clone variance, σ S 2 =set variance, σ r 2 =replication variance, σ e 2 =error variance,while s , r and r s were harmonic mean number of sets, mean number of replications, and mean number of plots in which each clone was observed, respectively.Single Trait, ST-GBLUP, and ST-RF Models Genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) for the clones were extracted using the genomic BLUP (GBLUP) model which is defined asε ε and y is the vector of dBLUPs for each carotenoid; 1 is a vector of ones; μ is the mean for the dBLUP values; u is the vector of random additive genomic effects (GEBVs) with the corresponding design matrix Z; and K is the additive genomic relationship matrix calculated from SNPs using method 1 of (VanRaden, 2008). The ST-GBLUP models were fitted using the sommer package (Covarrubias-Pazaran, 2016). RF models were trained to estimate the TGVs. TGVs are different from GEBVs since they incorporate nonlinear genetic effects. The ST-RF model was carried out with the randomForest package in R (Breiman, 2001;Svetnik et al., 2003).The nine carotenoids were modeled as multiple response in the multiple-trait model: Y = M + ZU + E, where Y is the response matrix of the dBLUPs for the nine carotenoids; M is the matrix for the means (M=1μ' where 1 is a vector of ones, and μ is the means vector for the nine carotenoids); U is a random matrix of additive genomic effects vector (GEBVs) with the design matrix Z and E is an independent residual matrix; U and E are assumed to have independent matrix variate normal distributions given as N(0, V Z , K) and N(0, V ε , I n ) respectively. The multiple-trait GEBVs were derived using the EMMREML package in R (Akdemir and Okeke, 2015;R Core Team, 2017). Prediction accuracies were derived as the correlation between the deregressed EGV and the genetic value predicted by the marker-informed models using a fivefold cross-validation scheme (Kohavi, 1995) iterated 30 times.A genome-wide association analysis to identify genetic variants associated with the NIRS predicted carotenoids was carried out using GCTA software (Yang et al., 2011). Markers were further filtered and 87,380 SNPs with MAF > 0.05 were retained for the analysis.predicted values within the training set (rc) ranged from 0.66 in PHY to 0.97 in ATBC (Table 1). Similarly, the correlation between the actual values and predicted values in the test set (rcv), predicted using the model developed from the training set ranged from 0.62 in PHY to 0.97 in ATBC (Table 1). The rootmean-squared error (RMSE) was highest in PHY (2.9) and lowest in AC (0.01). In the final calibration models (combined set of training and test sets), the rc was similar to the initial calibration with only the training set (Table 1).There was considerable phenotypic variation for all the carotenoids from the analyzed NRCRI TP data (Table 2). There was a number of both white and yellow root clones similar to a population earlier used for GWAS studies for TCC (Rabbi et al., 2017). The predicted TCC values ranged from 2 μgg -1 to 15.39 μgg -1 with an average of 4.72 μgg -1 (fresh weight basis). Variation in ATBC ranged from 0.53 μgg -1 to 10.18 μgg -1 with a mean of 1.58 μgg -1 (Table 2). Compared to other traits, AC had a narrower range of 0.05 μgg -1 to 0.07 μgg -1 with a mean of 0.06 μgg -1 and standard deviation of 0.004 (Table 2). The broad sense heritability for these traits ranged from 0.24 in LUT to 0.80 in TCC and 15CBC (Table 2).After calculating the genetic correlations, few values in LUT and VIO seem to be influencing the result (data not shown), we used a generalized extreme studentized deviate outlier test to identify and remove the extreme points and recalculated the correlations (Figure 1). The correlation between TCC and the individual components was highest in 15CBC (r = 0.98; p-value <0.001) and lowest in PHY (r = 0.18; p-value < 0.001) (Figure 1). Among the carotenoid components, the highest genetic correlation was observed between 9CBC and 13CBC (r ≈ 1). Other associations were mostly positive and highly significant (p < 0.001). However, a significant (p-value <0.001) and negative correlation was observed between PHY and LUT (r = -0.12). Negative but nonsignificant associations were recorded between PHY and 9CBC as well as 13CBC (Figure 1).We identified a total of 42 unique markers significantly associated with variation in TCC and individual carotenoids (i.e., with p-values small than a Bonferroni threshold at an alpha of 5%). Most of the significant markers were associated with variation in more than one trait (Table S1). There was no significant hit for AC and PHY from this study (Figure 2). The observed regions associated with variation in the different carotenoid components were on chromosomes 1, 2, 4, 13, 14, and 15. A total of 20 markers were significant for variation in TCC, and 17 of those markers were located between 23.386 Mbp to 24.709 Mbp on chromosome 1. A single marker tagged another peak around 12.739 Mbp on Chromosome 2 (p-value = 4.71 × 10 -7 ) and the remaining two markers tagged another peak around 21.85 Mbp on chromosome 13 (p-value = 4.34 × 10 -7 ) (Table S1). Interestingly, similar regions tagged by almost the same markers for variation in TCC were significant for variation in ATBC, 9CBC, 13CBC, and 15CBC. In addition, there was a nearby peak at 25.427 Mbp tagged by one marker TABle 1 | Calibration statistics of the portable Vis/NIRS spectra analyzed using random forests for total carotenoid content (TCC), all-trans β-carotene (ATBC), violaxanthin (VIO), lutein (LUT), 15-cis beta-carotene (15CBC), 13-cis beta-carotene (13CBC), alpha-carotene (AC), 9-cis beta-carotene (9CBC), and phytoene (PHY) carotenoids in cassava roots.   The cassava genome (v6.1) (Bredeson et al., 2016) on Phytozome (v12.1.6) (Goodstein et al., 2012) was queried to identify annotated genes within 0.5 Mb of the genomic regions occupied by significant SNPs. The candidate gene Manes.01G124200, a phytoene synthase (PSY) gene known for increasing the accumulation of carotenoid in cassava roots (Welsch et al., 2010; FIGURe 1 | Genotypic correlation of total carotenoid content (TCC), all-trans β-carotene (ATBC), violaxanthin (VIO), lutein (LUT), 15-cis beta-carotene (15CBC), 13-cis beta-carotene (13CBC), alpha-carotene (AC), 9-cis beta-carotene (9CBC), and phytoene (PHY) carotenoids in cassava roots.FIGURe 2 | The Manhattan (A) and QQ (B) plots of genome-wide association studies on cassava root total carotenoid content (TCC), all-trans β-carotene (ATBC), violaxanthin (VIO), lutein (LUT), 15-cis beta-carotene (15CBC), 13-cis beta-carotene (13CBC), alpha-carotene (AC), 9-cis beta-carotene (9CBC), and phytoene (PHY) carotenoids. Esuma et al., 2016;Rabbi et al., 2017) and Manes.01G001200 gene also associated with carotenoid biosynthesis (Goodstein et al., 2012;Bredeson et al., 2016), located within the genomic regions (~24.15 to 24.16 Mbp, forward, and 25.21 to 25.48 Mbp, forward, respectively) were found around the regions of the significant markers on chromosome 1, which was associated with variation in TCC, ATBC, 9CBC, 13CBC, 15CBC, and VIO. There were other noncarotenoid candidate genes (not reported) found in the other regions associated with variation in the studied carotenoids on chromosomes 2, 4, 13, 14, and 15.The result of the genomic predictions for the studied carotenoids showed a slight increase in prediction accuracies using ST-RF compared to the linear ST-GBLUP models (Figure 3). On the other hand, the MT-GBLUP models had slightly higher accuracies than the ST-RF model except in 9CBC and 13CBC where the accuracies were similar. Overall, prediction accuracies ranged from 0.16 in PHY to 0.52 in TCC (Figure 3).Robust calibration performance has been previously reported using the same calibration set that was used in this study (Ikeogu et al., 2017). It is important to note that both the CIAT calibration set and the NRCRI test set were mixed, containing cassavas characterized as white and yellow. Trait heritabilities, correlations, and prediction accuracies reported here are therefore valid only for such mixed populations, which would not be typical of breeding populations. The use of ST-RF in this study was valuable in accounting for any potential nonlinear relationship between the variables (Svetnik et al., 2003;Lee et al., 2012;Ghasemi and Tavakoli, 2013). Most importantly, it was relevant in restricting negative prediction of constituents by using average prediction technique obtained from several trees of RF (Breiman et al., 1984;Qi, 2012). The coefficient of correlation (r) and determination (R 2 ) have been used in assessing calibration performance (Duan et al., 2012;Wang et al., 2014) and the values obtained in this study (Table 1), which are similar to previous calibration results with linear models, are most valuable for screening and quantification of constituents (Cai et al., 2012;Fox et al., 2012;Lebot, 2012). Nevertheless, there is still a need for calibration improvement. Possible adoption of specific mathematical treatments for each trait, increasing the number of calibration samples and the use of variable selection approaches could potentially help to improve the current calibration models (Centner et al., 1996;Tosato et al., 2016). Also, the revalidation model approach and the use of local regression could be useful in improving predictions particularly when the target constituents evolve in breeding programs (Davrieux et al., 2016). This initial calibration and the application of NIRS in the assessment of traits in a low-resource national breeding program is promising especially when there are no cost-effective and efficient alternatives for such evaluations. This study provides an opportunity for rapid improvement of many valuable traits in cassava.Several studies have shown that TCC is a highly heritable trait in cassava (Morillo et al., 2012;Ceballos et al., 2013;Esuma et al., 2016;Rabbi et al., 2017). Besides TCC, we observed moderately high heritability for most of the carotenoids, though it is unclear what heritabilities might be in a population composed only of yellow cassavas (Ceballos et al., 2013). High heritability for TCC and the individual carotenoid components has been reported in maize (Kandianis et al., 2013).FIGURe 3 | Genomic predictions for total carotenoid content (TCC), all-trans β-carotene (ATBC), violaxanthin (VIO), lutein (LUT), 15-cis beta-carotene (15CBC), 13-cis beta-carotene (13CBC), alpha-carotene (AC), 9-cis beta-carotene (9CBC), and phytoene (PHY) cassava root carotenoids. For each trait: ST = single trait GBLUP, RF = single trait random forest and MT = multiple-trait GBLUP models.Understanding the genetic relationship especially between TCC and its components is vital in assessing the amount of progress made so far or required for a simultaneous increase TCC and its corresponding components, most especially, the PVAC in cassava. Previous efforts, especially in most of the low resource breeding programs, have centered mainly on the qualitative improvement of TCC partly due to the lack of effective and standardized phenotyping protocols. The high and positive phenotypic and genotypic relationships observed between TCC and the PVAC (especially AC, ATBC, VIO, 9CBC, 13CBC, and 15CBC) were encouraging and suggested that these traits could be improved concurrently. Because of its health benefits, the positive and significant genetic association between LUT and the PVAC (Figure 1) have a favorable implication for the health of millions of people that depend on cassava as a major staple. Lutein is a very important component of the macular pigment in the eyes and its deficiency is closely associated with some eye-related problems (Krinsky and Johnson, 2005;Kim et al., 2010;Bechoff et al., 2015). The positive associations offer the opportunity for simultaneous improvement of these traits and improving the nutritional value and health of millions of cassava users, especially women and children in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the low and significantly negative association between PHY and LUT requires further biochemical and genetic insights, including the design of adequate strategies in improving these traits. High and positive correlations especially between AC and PHY as well as between AC and ATBC have been reported in carrot (Santos et al., 2005). Although a negative interaction between β-carotene and lutein was reported, the positive interaction between β-carotene and concentrations of α-carotene were in agreement with previously reported bioavailability and bioconversion studies in carotenoids (van Vliet et al., 1996;Castenmiller and West, 1998).The GWAS result was in agreement with the previous GWAS reports on TCC in cassava (Esuma et al., 2016;Rabbi et al., 2017). The identified candidate gene, phytoene synthase gene (Manes.01G124200) has been reported as a single genomic region associated with quantitative variation in TCC using both a panel of partial S1 and S2 inbreds (Esuma et al., 2016) and a diverse African germplasm collection phenotyped using an indirect color chart and a Chromameter value (Rabbi et al., 2017). However, other than the single major locus associated with qualitative or quantitative measures of TCC, the possibility of more than one associated locus has been widely suggested (Iglesias et al., 1997;Akinwale et al., 2010;Esuma et al., 2016;Rabbi et al., 2017). Previous genetic study of the progeny (F2 population) of a cross between yellow and white parents suggested that yellowness in cassava is controlled by two major genes, one controlling the transport of the product of precursors to the roots and the other responsible for the accumulation process (Chavez et al., 2000). This study uncovered additional regions for variation in TCC as well as the individual carotenoids. We identified regions that are significant for more than a single carotenoid which suggests the possibility of pleiotropic effects. Epistatic effects of the major genes had been earlier reported for TCC in cassava (Chavez et al., 2000). Some evidence of pleiotropic effects on multiple carotenoids have been reported by various genetic mapping studies especially in maize (Harjes et al., 2008;Yan et al., 2010;Kandianis et al., 2013). However, further investigations will be necessary to fully understand the physiological processes and interactions surrounding the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway in cassava (Mayfield et al., 1986;Shumskaya and Wurtzel, 2013).The benefits of GS as a breeding tool in reducing breeding cycle time and accelerating the rate of genetic gain, especially that of complex traits, has been demonstrated in cassava (Oliveira et al., 2014;Okeke et al., 2017;Wolfe et al., 2017). GS has been widely used in many plants and animal breeding programs (Lorenz et al., 2011;Daetwyler et al., 2013;Zhang et al., 2015) and its adoption in cassava improvement is vital in fast-tracking product delivery in terms of varieties to meet the food and upcoming industrial demand for the crop. On average, we obtained higher prediction accuracies with the multiple-trait GBLUP while the nonlinear single trait RF had higher accuracies than the linear single trait GBLUP models. Multipletrait models use the estimate of genetic and residual covariance in deriving GEBV for the traits of interest (Jia and Jannink, 2012;Okeke et al., 2017;Montesinos-Lopez et al., 2018). The benefit of multipletrait models is very effective especially in the joint analyses of low and high heritable traits with medium to high genetic correlations (Calus and Veerkamp, 2011;Okeke et al., 2017). The advantage of nonlinear GS over linear models has been widely reported (Heslot et al., 2012;Pérez-Rodríguez et al., 2012;Crossa et al., 2014). Nonlinear models help to capture dominance and epistatic effects and enable the prediction of TGV rather than GEBV (Spindel et al., 2015;Wolfe et al., 2017). The prediction of TGV is valuable for crops like cassava and rice where released varieties are clones and inbreds, respectively.Although genotyping costs are drastically decreasing, it could still be considered relatively expensive for resource-limited breeding programs to genotype a large collection of genetic materials, especially at the early breeding generations. Offsetting the high genotyping and classical phenotyping costs in such setups, NIRS provides an opportunity to incorporate certain descriptors in improving genomic predictions and overall breeding cost-efficiency (Hayes et al., 2017). Near-infrared spectroscopy wavelengths significant for some important traits could be targeted for candidate genes. The use of NIRS as a high-throughput, low cost, and nondestructive tool in the indirect capture of endophenotypic variants and the computation of relationship matrices for predicting complex traits has been suggested (Rincent et al., 2018) and this will be a very useful concept for low-resource breeding programs. The combination of rapid phenotyping using NIRS and the adoption of genomic breeding tools in cassava will lead to the reduction of phenotyping cost and time, enable the addition of more individuals for selection, promote genetic diversity, and shorten breeding cycle time. Due to its flexibility, NIRS can be useful in tracking carotenoid concentrations in cassava roots before and after processing. This is important in the current effort in increasing the content of carotenoids in a crop where increases in fresh weight gains need to be translated into dry weight in the final cassava products, given that the relationship between carotenoid concentrations on fresh and dry weight basis is not always linear (Iglesias et al., 1997;Ceballos et al., 2017).This study complements the current effort in addressing vitamin A deficiency in many regions of the world through the bio-fortification of major staple foods (Chávez et al., 2005;Pillay et al., 2014). The quantitative evaluation of total and individual carotenoids offers a tremendous opportunity in understanding the natural genetic diversity and the underlying architecture of these traits in cassava. The positive and high genotypic associations observed in this study underscores the fact that any effort in increasing TCC could lead to an increase in the individual components. Such information is beneficial in designing the best strategy for improving carotenoids content in cassava (Bouis et al., 2011;Ceballos et al., 2013). The identified loci associated with variation in carotenoids could be used in MAS for improved nutritional quality in cassava. Also, the information from the GWAS analysis could be incorporated into GS to improve predictions of carotenoid content in the genetic background of other relevant agronomic traits (Spindel et al., 2015;Wolfe et al., 2016).This study supports the usefulness of GS in accelerating the improvement of carotenoids in cassava as demonstrated in other traits and species (Hayes et al., 2010;Ly et al., 2013;Hayes et al., 2017;Wolfe et al., 2017). The use of nonlinear GS models has the potential to capture nonlinear underlying relationships between dependent and independent variables and are beneficial in predicting TGVs in cassava (Heslot et al., 2012;Wolfe et al., 2017). In addition, the use of multiple-trait models could help improve GS prediction accuracies."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5fca1c9c9226d11de36fbef4181a1d4b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/41ecb995-af5b-4c2b-81b0-a64ea61c045a/retrieve","id":"1350687598"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a2353dcb-a4d4-4991-a53f-95e3f6f59389","content":"The CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) is a broad alliance led by the International Potato Center (CIP) jointly with Bioversity International, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and CIRAD in collaboration with research and development partners. Our shared purpose is to tap the underutilized potential of root, tuber and banana crops for improving nutrition and food security, increasing incomes and fostering greater gender equity, especially among the world's poorest and most vulnerable populations. Cassava is an important source of food and income in Uganda. Consumption of cassava has been increasing especially in the urban areas. Total consumption of fresh cassava in 2013 was estimated to be 1.32 MT per annum (RTB-ENDURE -Cassava Sub-Project scoping study, 2014). Market demand for fresh cassava in 2013 was estimated to be 309,528 MT per annum and was projected to increase to 387,074 MT in 2018, signifying a 25% increase. New market segments for fresh cassava roots have been emerging for both the niche and mass markets. Fresh cassava was found to be consumed in various forms. According to findings from the RTB-ENDURE Market Study (2015) high-end restaurants had introduced cassava recipes while fried cassava chips were a delicacy in road-side food catering services, a new phenomenon. Further, the study revealed that the most preferred consumption form was in fried form (37% of the study respondents), followed by boiled (35% of the study respondents) and steamed in banana leaves (25% of the study respondents).Cassava enjoys a unique position as a convenient food that is easy and fast to prepare. It is in recognition of this fact that cassava has been selected as one of the ten priority crops to assist Uganda transform its agricultural sector through provision of household incomes, employment and food security.However, despite this growth in demand, both utilization of and income derived from marketing of fresh cassava are being hindered by the rapid postharvest physiological deterioration (PPD) of the roots. Cassava suffers spoilage within two to three days of harvest. The implication is that it cannot be marketed over a long time and distance thereby reducing incomes to growers and traders, leading to less investments and hence low productivity.To address this challenge, the RTB-ENDURE Cassava Sub-Project also known as \"Extending the Shelf life of Fresh Cassava Roots for Increased Incomes and Postharvest Loss Reduction\" aimed at introducing, testing, validating and assessing the efficacy of two technologies for increasing the shelf-life of fresh cassava roots, and thereby assisting to increase the value to growers, traders and consumers along the entire value chain. These technologies included high relative humidity storage and waxing.Both relative humidity storage and waxing of fresh cassava roots are in commercial use elsewhere. However, their applicability and feasibility in Uganda was unknown since these technologies were new. Therefore, the approach used in RTB-ENDURE Cassava Sub-project involved knowledge sharing between the Ugandan research team and its counterpart at CIAT in Colombia, one of the countries where these technologies are being commercially adopted. CIAT has substantial experience in conducting research on PPD of cassava and on how to tackle the issue of the rapid deterioration of the roots by use of suitable varieties, agronomic practices and pre-harvest techniques such as pruning. CIAT scientists and value chain actors in Colombia trained the Ugandan research team in various aspects of high relative humidity storage and waxing, including varietal selection, PPD scoring, and the agronomic and pre-harvest techniques that reduce PPD.The project team conducted a scoping study and later a detailed market assessment, carried out on-station research on varietal selection (based on PPD susceptibility) and validation of the technologies for shelf-life extension, and established two pilot pack houses in western Uganda. These included one pack house in Kyenjojo district to test a farmer operated business model and another one that was established in Kabarole district to test a trader operated business model. Thereafter, the project built the capacities of both operators and their identified partners and potential suppliers to promote the adoption and adaptation of these shelf-life extension innovations.This report describes the capacity building process and activities that were done to enable the value chain actors adopt and adapt the pre-and post-harvest practices, and waxing and high relative humidity storage technologies in order to run a successful business enterprise.This training activity aimed at sensitizing and imparting knowledge and skills to all the actors such as farmers, processors and traders involved in operating, supporting or doing business with the pack house managers in Kyenjojo and Kabarole districts. The actors also included extension and NGO staff responsible for and operating in Kyenjojo and Kabarole districts. .As the research team learnt during the training in Colombia (LA), shelf-life extension technologies are effective only if coupled with specific agronomic (e.g., pruning of plants and careful harvesting of the roots) and postharvest practices. Therefore a capacity building plan was developed to provide farmers in Kyenjojo and Kabarole and the trader in Kabarole with the required knowledge on agronomic practices that would enable efficient and effective application of waxing and high relative humidity treatments to fresh cassava roots. The plan also included building the capacities on how to carry out waxing and high relative humidity storage treatments.The general approach involved the following steps:1. Preparatory and planning meetings with farmer groups to discuss the purpose of the training 2. Identification and acquisition of land by the group to be used for the practical training 3. Identification of cassava farms with mature cassava owned by the group members 4. Getting buy-in from local government extension officials which would enable them participate and offer administrative support to the actors 5. Training of trainers which necessitated identification of future trainers for both the farmer and trader led models. These would be trained so that they can continue to train others.Practically, capacity building involved the following:1. Practical hands-on training in new methods of land preparation that involve ridge making in order to enhance productivity and the production of commercial roots that are suitable for waxing and high relative humidity storage 2. Practical hands-on training on cassava planting 3. Practical hands-on training on cassava pruning 4. Practical hands-on training and knowledge sharing on harvesting techniques that minimize PPD 5. Practical hands-on training in washing, disinfecting, drying, waxing, relative humidity storage and packaging of roots for marketing.The methodology combined sensitization, exposure and field training sessions to provide an opportunity to the trainees to get hands-on experience. Trainees first attended theoretical sessions conducted in a classroom setting. This was followed with practical/physical demonstrations and exposure in the field. Later the trainees were provided with an opportunity to conduct these activities by themselves. Sensitization on the requirements for applying both high relative humidity storage and waxing technologies was done.After the series of trainings, researchers monitored the activities of trainees, collect and analyzed information obtained from feedback and brainstorming sessions. These were useful in participatory identification of gaps and planning future training programs.Successful waxing and high relative humidity storage require complementary agronomic practices.The trainings focused on production, harvesting, transportation of roots to the pack houses, handling and packaging of waxed/high relative humidity storage roots. The importance of harmonious group dynamics and strong collective action on the part of smallholders was highlighted.The training sessions were developed based on the knowledge gained by the Ugandan researchers from the LA capacity building activity on the two shelf-life extension technologies.For pack house operations, the approach targeted a few selected trainees in the case of the entrepreneur and group members for the farmer model. These trainees constituted the initial pack house labor force. Tables 1 and 2 show the calendar of the training sessions that were conducted, the participants and the content of the different sessions. This session covered issues of group dynamics and collective action. Participants were introduced to the importance of strong cooperative structures for collective action that are specific to such enterprises. The training covered aspects of rule setting, enforcement mechanisms, sanctioning systems, incentives provision, governance, financial regulations and conflict resolutions. These rules, regulations and incentives were aimed at assisting the emergence of strong cooperative structures around the following:1) Planning cassava production schedule to ensure consistent supply of commercial roots to the pack house 2) Collective transfer of cassava production knowledge and methods to the members. 3) Financing: fund mobilization to support production and investment plans 4) Approaches to taking-in new members based on the objectives of the enterprise 5) Gender equity in the distribution of both activities and benefits of production, roots handling and processing at the pack house 6) Scaling-out of the novel technologies by the group to the community at large (farmer-tofarmer knowledge transfer) 7) Group leadership and how members can contribute to the common good of owning and operating a successful business venture.Capacity and needs assessment of the group took place throughout the project life-span. This assessment was participatory. While Rwibaale Farmers Cooperative (operators of the Kyenjojo pack house) had some level of collective action for production (there was a collective garden and storage facility) this was strengthened to respond to the lack of a concrete plan to expand its production capacity and in the light of the new roles and responsibilities arising from the need to successfully manage the pack house and market the roots with extended shelf-life.Sensitization was done on the importance of self-reliance, business ethics and cost/benefit sharing mechanisms as the best approach to enhance business growth and sustainability. Right from the start, the group was challenged to take initiative and play a leading role in discussing with service providers rather than leaving this to the research team to carry out. A plan to carry out this was proposed, implemented and evaluated over time. Resources that needed to be collectively procured included land for locating the facility and also accessing and equip a water supply point.Key points of this methodology involved setting up an ad hoc committee to lead the negotiations with local government and other service providers. The aim was to facilitate both sense of ownership and also enable business partners acknowledge the fact that they were dealing with a local farmer group rather than a project. This aspect also had the advantage of having realistic costs from service providers.Land preparation, including soil preparation and ridge making, is an important aspect in growing fresh cassava roots for waxing and high relative humidity storage. Apart from enhancing the yield of fresh cassava, ridge planting increases the likelihood that the roots will present the characteristic required for the the shelf-life extension treatments, i.e., roots that are medium sized, straight and not too long. Cassava was usually grown on flat bed and the practice of growing it on ridges was new in the target locations. A practical session on land preparation involving ridge-making was conducted. The distance between ridges was 1.8m. Ridges should be between 40 and 50 cm high. Planting in ridges facilitates harvesting. The roots are easily pulled out of the soil. Ridges have a higher water retention capacity. Current harvesting practices largely contribute to the injuries that the roots are subjected to. Cassava is harvested using a hoe and usually the roots are damaged in the process.Injuries to roots accelerates the on-set of PPD. This problem is more severe during the dry season when the ground is hard. Ridges also increase the topsoil volume per plant and hence lead to a better establishment of the roots.The gender sensitive training on ridge-making built upon current practices in cassava growing, where both women and men traditionally play a key role in land preparation for cassava growing. Therefore a deliberate effort was made to train women and involve them in the practice of land preparation and ridge making.  Figure 4 shows both women and men trying out the practise of making ridges on the group garden. This followed the initial training in ridge making and required measurement. The group was tasked with continuing with ridge-making to cover their entire plot. Thereafter each member was tasked with transferring the same technology to their fellows that could not attend.  The shelf-life extension technologies work best when the roots are healthy. For roots to be healthy, growers need to plant healthy and vigorous stakes derived from healthy plant stems. The planting stage is therefore crucial since cassava is propagated using stem cuttings. Trainees were sensitized and trained in best practices in stem handling for increased yield. Trainees' capacities to identify clean planting materials were strengthened. The following issues were covered at this regard:1) Planting material should be cut from healthy and mature plants 10 -12 month old 2) Stems should be handled with care to avoid destroying the nodes.3) Stems should be cut with sharp tools into 25 cm cuttings and should have 5 to 7 nodes 4) Stems should be cut from disease free materials or healthy plants. The training on planting of cassava cuttings involved measurement of spacing between plants. It also involved a discussion on all the current planting techniques that farmers employed. These include horizontal, inclined and vertical planting. Horizontal planting was recommended and farmers were trained accordingly. This technique maximizes root growth and promotes the production of roots of a size suitable for the shelf-life extension treatments. This training was imparted to both men and women who were thereafter tasked to implement what they had learned. They later provided a feedback to the entire group. Planting was done by hand. Spacing between plants was measured to be 60cm. Several sticks measuring 60cm were cut. This was achieved by using a tape measure. These sticks were later used by farmers to mark the spacing between plants along the same ridge. Placing of the cuttings in the ground (Figs. 9 & 10) was done in such a manner that the side with the largest number of nodes should face upwards. This is done to maximize yield. Furthermore, this planting technique promotes the sprouting in the same direction in the entire field and hence assists in minimizing mechanical damages during harvesting since the location of the roots in the ground is more predictable. Pruning, also known as de-topping, involved cutting off the top most braches having green leaves. These are usually lateral branches. The cut-off point is a few inches (2 to 3) from where the green leaves are attached to the lateral branch. Pruning is done on plants that are between 8 and 12 months old and it is carried out 7 days before harvest. On the seventh day the pruned plants are harvested.Pruning was found not only to delay the onset of PPD but also improve the eating quality. Pruning technique is not practiced in Uganda.Participants were therefore sensitized about the importance of pruning. The trainees from both Kyenjojo and Kabarole districts were introduced to this technique and were given hands-on training in how to carry out pruning. Practical sessions were conducted on pruning and its intended benefits. Fresh roots from pruned plants were compared with those from unpruned plants and participants examined PPD progression and also the eating quality. Figure 13 and 14 show trainers imparting knowledge on pruning in Kyenjojo and Kabarole respectively. Figure 15 shows a pruned garden in Kabarole. Current harvesting practices were found to contribute largely to the early onset of PPD in cassava due to injuries inflicted on the roots during harvesting. Farmers traditionally dig up the cassava roots by using a hoe and not paying attention to minimizing injuries. In addition, the traditional way of cutting off the peduncle of the root exposes the flesh and, therefore, contributes to accelerate the PPD.Practical sessions on harvesting were conducted to show farmers best practices that minimize injury to roots. The sessions emphasized the importance of limiting injuries to roots. The trainees were introduced to careful methods of harvesting. For this to occur there was a need to avoid uprooting using a hoe since it is difficult to know where the roots are. The alternative was to carefully remove the upper soils, and later use hands to locate the roots (Figure 17 and 18).The roots would then have to be pulled out by hand and usually by two people. Figure 18 shows a woman using her hands to locate the roots and get them out without causing any injury. This is extremely difficult where cassava is not planted in ridges. Novel ways of harvesting roots were demonstrated and explained to the trainees. Each of the practice was assessed and its value shown in terms of assisting effective application of waxing and relative humidity technology in extending the shelf-life of cassava.Harvesting is the most challenging activity. This is the stage where injury is most likely to occur. Once this happens, the root is not suitable for shelf-life extension treatments despite good shape or size. Trainees were instructed to avoid using a hoe but use hands to locate the roots. Therefore after the first stage of removing the top grass, the next stage involved using hands to locate the roots. In addition the plants are cut short to make it easier for the farmer to pull the roots out of the soil. This process would normally take about six minutes per plant. However, where the ground is soft especially during the rainy season, the process takes less timeabout two minutes per plant.As indicated earlier on, minimizing use of a hoe implies that a lot of energy has to be used to get the cassava roots out. Figure 19 below shows male farmers pulling out the roots. The act involves cutting the stems so that they are short; slightly shaking the plant as pulling-out is done. If the plant is still firmly stuck in the ground, more of the top soil is gently removed and the act is repeated until the roots are harvested. Harvesting could sometimes be difficult (Figure 20). However, when cassava is planted in ridges harvesting is easier, quicker and injuries are minimized. Participants were able to experience this. Once the plant is pulled out of the ground, the roots are carefully cut off in such a way that they retain the peduncle (Figures 22 and 23). The cutting point should be nearest to the stem so that the roots have a longer peduncle to enhance preservation. Machetes or secateurs are recommended for cutting off the roots from the stem, leaving a small piece of peduncle on the roots so that the parenchyma is not exposed to the air.  Participants were instructed not to over-fill the crates (Figure 24). A gender perspective was included in the training. Crates were packed to weigh between 15 to 20 kg, with 15 kg being the most suitable weight that could easily be carried by women as well. The number of roots in the crate was determined by their size, and shape. One challenge was related to roots that were longer and therefore could not fit in the crate. In such a case these are placed on the crates so that they do not get damaged/broken.Crates were carried on the head by both women and men during transportation from the farms to the nearest location where they could be loaded onto a motorbike or pick-up truck. They then would be transported to the pack house for treatment. Avoiding crates resting on the roots was recommended to avoid damages. This was done by ensuring gaps between the crates. Roots were transported gently to the processing center (Figure 25 and 26). At the pac khouse, roots were again sorted and graded. Sorting is done to remove broken, or damaged roots. Grading is done to differentiate roots according to size i.e., big, medium and small. Sorting is often the first activity once the roots arrive at the pack house.Trainees were taught to reduce the peduncle. Roots should have a peduncle that is not too short and not too long Trainees were shown how to wash cassava roots. They were trained in how to mix the solution which contains water, a surfactant and a fungicide. Using a brush with soft plastic bristles, roots were gently scrubbed in a trough of cold water, to remove any soil and foreign matter that might be attached to them. Roots were rinsed in fresh clean water in another trough, while inspecting the roots for bruises and other damages. During this process, care was taken not to bruise the roots. Air-drying training involved demonstrating how roots are placed on a special drying area at the pack house, and the process of cross-checking to make sure they are ready for waxing or high relative humidity storage. For high relative humidty, roots were dried for 20 minutes. In the case of waxing, roots needed to be completely dry. Participants were taught how to examine fully dried roots. Fully air-dried roots would be warm without any feeling of coldness or humidity if touched. After the drying process, the fresh roots are now ready for either of the two treatments, i.e. waxing and high relative humidity storage. In case of relative humidity storage (Figure 33), participants were trained in ways of carrying out the following actions:1) Weighing the roots in packs of about 3 kgs 2) Packing the weighed roots into polythene bags and seal3) Labelling the bags (name of variety, weight, date of processing, name & address of processor, safety and nutritional information, best before date, storage conditions, how to prepare for cooking/home use).  The trainees were trained on the process of packaging waxed roots, which involved the following:1) Packing the waxed roots into crates 2) Weighing the roots (each crate should ideally weigh about 20 kgs)3) Labelling the crate/package with the name of variety, weight, date of processing, name & address of processor, safety and nutritional information, best before date, storage conditions, how to prepare for cooking/home use)At the end of each training session, a training evaluation was carried out to get feedback from the trainees on their experiences. The evaluations covered course content, subject matter relevance, and practicability of imparted knowledge and practices.Participants appreciated and welcomed the new knowledge on agronomic and harvesting techniques that were imparted to them. All the participants strongly agreed that the course content was suitable and relevant to their training needs. The training approach was very practical with participants having hands-on experience. Similarly all the trainees strongly agreed that the practical nature of the training was very useful and that they would continue to practice what they had learned and provide the project implementation team with regular feedback regarding uptake of these technologies within their communities."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"babad7ace7597d965227402e17fc1c5f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fbd82a74-56f7-45a1-bffe-74cbdf09e73b/retrieve","id":"1244045791"},"keywords":["food security","seafood","food system","food and nutrition security","interdisciplinary"],"sieverID":"6977b458-87a1-40b4-9839-a0179914b138","content":"Seafood in Food Security terrestrial production remain siloed, with very few papers addressing the combined contribution or relations between terrestrial and aquatic systems. We conclude that far more attention is needed to the specific and relative role of seafood in global food security and call for the integration of seafood in a wider interdisciplinary approach to global food system research.The contribution of seafood to global food security is being increasingly highlighted in policy. However, the extent to which such claims are supported in the current food security literature is unclear. This review assesses the extent to which seafood is represented in the recent food security literature, both individually and from a food systems perspective, in combination with terrestrially-based production systems. The results demonstrate that seafood remains under-researched compared to the role of terrestrial animal and plant production in food security. Furthermore, seafood andSeafood, including the full range of animals and plants produced in water and encompassing both marine and freshwater environments, makes an important contribution to global food security-an estimated 59.6 million people depend on capture fisheries and aquaculture for their livelihoods and nutrition, and a further 3.2 billion people rely on fish to provide 20% or more of their average per capita intake of animal protein (FAO, 2018). This consumption of seafood is particularly important for low income regions of the world where plant and animal seafoods are a major source of essential nutrients including long-chained polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids (Michaelsen et al., 2011;Lund, 2013), and vitamins and minerals such as calcium (Larsen et al., 2000), iron, zinc, and vitamin A (Roos et al., 2007).Despite the importance it makes to the global diet, attention has only recently turned to the importance of \"sea-food security.\" The role that seafood plays, both currently and into the future, has been highlighted in several recent global science-policy documents (e.g., HLPE, 2014;United Nations, 2015). The overall message encapsulated in these reports, complimented by a growing academic literature, is that the role of seafood in food security is not only significant but also largely underestimated. However, much of the literature on seafood security is \"siloed\" with attention given to the role of marine and freshwater animal and plant production consumption largely in isolation from the terrestrial food with which it is consumed (Béné et al., 2015).Isolating out seafood from the rest of the food system is problematic for several reasons. First, aquatic and terrestrial food production is intrinsically linked, given their use of the same finite resources and the feedback cycles which connect them-perhaps most obvious when agricultural water pollution impacts on aquatic food production systems (Parris, 2011), and given the increasing reliance of fed aquaculture on terrestrial feed ingredients (Naylor et al., 2021). Second, understanding the relative impact of aquatic and terrestrial foods, in terms of climate emissions, land use, and resource use is essential to enable \"whole plate\" sustainability assessment and planning (Hilborn et al., 2018;Parker et al., 2018;Poore and Nemecek, 2018;Tsakiridis et al., 2020). Third, understanding sustainable nutrition also means understanding the relative contribution of seafood in contrast and combination with terrestrial foods-both in absolute nutritional terms (Willett et al., 2019) and in terms of replacing terrestrial proteins such as beef (Tilman and Clark, 2014;Davis et al., 2016). While growing attention is being given to the importance of understanding the role of seafood from an integrated food systems perspective (Béné et al., 2015;Blanchard et al., 2017;Gephart et al., 2017;Cottrell et al., 2018;Bogard et al., 2019;Halpern et al., 2019;Tlusty et al., 2019;Tezzo et al., 2020;Bennett et al., 2021), it is not clear to what extent the contribution of seafood is considered in the context of food security both alone and in combination with terrestrial food production.In this paper we fill these gaps by reviewing the ways in which the academic literature on food security published between 2007 and 2017 has addressed the contribution of aquatic and terrestrial food production to food security within the wider global food system. In doing so we consider food security from a food system perspective (Ericksen, 2008;Ingram, 2011) that integrates production, processing, distribution, and consumption of food with food security outcome categories of availability, access, and utilization, as well as impacts on environmental, social, and economic sustainability dimensions. We also explore how the contribution of seafood has been treated in this literature in terms of weighing the contribution of fisheries and aquaculture to nutrition with its wider social, economic, and environmental impacts in different parts of the world. Finally, following the ambitions of food systems research to recognize the multifaceted nature of food production, trade and consumption, we explore the degree to which sea-food security has been taken up through interdisciplinary research approaches (following Horton et al., 2017).The following section describes the scoping review methodology we adopted for this study as well as the parameters used to delimit our literature search and document analysis. We then present the results of the review, focusing on the prevalence of seafood in relation to terrestrial livestock and crops in the light-touch review and the content of papers specifically focused on seafood in terms of the importance given to seafood, the quality of this analysis and the degree to which an interdisciplinary food systems perspective is currently applied. Finally, we discuss the potential for future research to integrate the role of seafood more centrally in global food systems research.We adopt a scoping review methodology to map key areas of recent literature related to seafood's role in food security and identify research gaps in the existing literature (Arksey and O'Malley, 2005). Following Munn et al. (2018), we determined that a scoping review is better suited to our objectives than other types of literature synthesis, such as systematic reviews, because we are interested in providing an overview or map of the current evidence rather than addressing the feasibility, appropriateness, meaningfulness, or effectiveness of the methods within this literature. A further benefit of a scoping review is that while they make use of an a priori protocol and aim to be transparent and reproducible, they allow more flexibility for including review papers as well as qualitative and quantitative research. As argued by Peterson et al. (2017), this makes scoping reviews particularly well suited to complex and interdisciplinary areas of literature such as food security.We delimited the scoping review to seven key themes related to food security: \"production, \" \"nutrition, \" \"behavior, \" \"consumption, \" \"modeling, \" \"resource use, \" and \"safety.\" These themes were inductively generated by the Sustainable Seafood Consumption Initiative (SSCI) 1e based on interdisciplinary research experience, and agreed at the first SSCI international meeting, which brought together and provided input from over 50 experts representing more than 15 countries across Europe, South East Asia, Africa, and North America, from a diverse range of disciplines and a mixture of terrestrial and aquatic food research backgrounds. These themes were intended to ensure papers were incorporated in the review from a variety of disciplines and with a number of different disciplinary perspectives on food security.  The analysis aimed to identify differences in representation of seafood compared to terrestrial food among these themes and was implemented in two stages: 1. an initial light-touch review that identified potentially relevant papers to the topic, and 2. an in-depth review of papers for a range of important characteristics (Figure 1).The Web of Science, one of the fourteen academic search engines found to meet all performance requirements to be suited to being a principal literature search source (Gusenbauer and Haddaway, 2020), was selected as the database for this project due to its inclusion of over 73 million pieces of data, replicability of search strings, and advanced search settings. For works published from 2007 to January 2018, the first 20 papers available in English, sorted by relevance, were downloaded for seven combinations of keywords-\"food security\" AND each individual theme: \"nutrition, \" behavior (searched as \"behavi * r\", to include both UK and US spellings), \"production, \" \"consumption, \" modeling (searched as \"model\"), \"resource use, \" and \"safety.\" This resulted in 140 papers, 21 of which were duplicates (i.e., these papers were in the first twenty papers listed for two or more themes), giving a total of 119 unique papers across the seven themes (see Supplementary Materials for a full list of papers and themes).Using the Web of Science \"topic\" search function meant that the key words from this review were searched for within the paper's title, author-selected keywords, keywords plus (words or phrases that frequently appear in the titles of an article's references), and abstract, allowing for a broader sample than if only those papers with the review keywords in their titles or author-selected keywords were returned.Each paper was manually reviewed to determine the number of times key terms relating to seafood (fish, seafood, seaweed, etc.), terrestrial crops (rice, wheat, vegetable, etc.), and terrestrial animal-source foods (beef, chicken, dairy, etc.) were used. Five or more mentions of any combination of key terms for the seafood category was set as the threshold for further review; where a paper mentioned key terms relating to seafood, terrestrial crops, or terrestrial animals five or more times, it was deemed possible that this food category was a core component of this paper. Where a paper mentioned a given food category less than five times, this was assumed not to be a substantive element of the paper, for example in reference to the use of similar methods in another system, or in introduction or discussion sections as an area for further study.Comparisons were made of the number of papers mentioning each food category five or more times by theme (Figure 2). In order to determine whether papers were focusing on only one food category, or whether papers were more likely to consider multiple food categories, the number of papers mentioning only one food category five or more times, those mentioning two food categories five or more times, and those mentioning all three food categories five or more times were quantified (Figure 3).A total of 27 papers mentioned seafood key terms five or more times and were reviewed in-depth. Expert reviewers were sought through the SSCI 1e and each paper was assigned for review according to area of expertise. Reviewers were asked to answer  a series of questions relating to paper focus (Table 1) and quality (Table 2). Quality was assessed using the methods presented by Béné et al. (2016), which calculate a percentage score based on answers to nine questions in the categories of validity, rigor, and reliability. Where this method was not suitable for a given paper (e.g., theoretical papers or reviews), quality was not assessed. An overall quality score was calculated for each paper, based on each reviewer's answers. Where differences between reviewer answers were >20%, the lead and second author reviewed the paper and took a consensus decision regarding quality. Overall quality levels were classed as: high quality-required the paper to have scores of over 0.75 for all three of validity, rigor, and reliability; moderate quality-had at least one score below 0.75, but at least two scores above 0.5; and low quality-where at least two of the scores fell below 0.5.Where reviewers disagreed about issues relating to paper focus, the first author reviewed the paper in question and took a final decision. The majority of data regarding paper focus and quality were summarized according to theme and across the whole dataset. As no papers were listed as having a focus on overconsumption of food alone, this is not reported further.Final scores were calculated by taking an average of the responses to the question \"How integral is seafood to this paper.\" Where this score was below 1.5, the answer was deemed to be \"Not very integral\" between 1.5 and 2.49 was deemed to be \"Moderately\" integral and ≥2.5 was deemed to be \"Very\" integral. The same method was used to assess the level of interdisciplinarity, based on the use of, or discussion of, multiple discipline perspectives on the research question. For example, a paper which used only standard biological methods would be considered mono-disciplinary, while a paper which used biological analysis to inform an economic analysis and presented both results would be considered highly interdisciplinary. In order to determine to what extent the representation of seafood in the literature is simply a result of local importance in the diet, for countries/geographical areas, comparisons are drawn between the level of importance of seafood in the paper and the importance of fish to diets in that country in terms of % total protein supply coming from seafood.Terrestrial Livestock and Crops in the Light-Touch ReviewThe results of the light touch review reveals that terrestrial crops were the most frequently represented in the sampled papers across all themes with the exception of food safety, where terrestrial animals (generally the second most commonly represented) were represented in an equal number of papers. In contrast, the number of papers mentioning seafood accounted for less than half of those reviewed in each theme (Figure 2). The majority of papers, however, were not specific to a single food category and included key terms for two or three categories of food. The most common combination of these terms, for 32% of papers, related to terrestrial animals and crops (Figure 3). Twenty-two papers mentioned all three food categories at least five times. The least common combination was terrestrial crops and seafood, accounting for only two papers, followed  Where papers focused on an entire country, their geographic location is given as the capital city. Two papers considered multi-country regions-these are indicated by the two large circles (these circles do not delineate the exact area covered), one of which was relating to West Africa, and one relating to Sub-Saharan Africa. Colors show how integral seafood was to this paper-blue dots indicate seafood was very integral, yellow that seafood was moderately integral, and red that seafood was not very integral. Green country shading indicates the estimated proportion of total protein supply derived from seafood (calculated as the sum of total fish and total other aquatic protein supply) in 2013, as per FAOSTAT food balance sheet data (FAO, 2017). The map was prepared in QGIS and values were categorized using Jenks natural breaks classification to show groups in the data.by terrestrial animals and seafood (five papers). This indicates a general lack of research cutting across both terrestrial and aquatic systems in comparison with terrestrial-terrestrial systems (Figure 3). The least common food category was terrestrial animals, though both terrestrial animals and seafood were discussed individually far more rarely than terrestrial crops (three papers on terrestrial animals only, as compared with four for seafood only, and 30 for terrestrial crops only).Level of Importance of Seafood Seafood was \"very integral\" to only three out of the 27 papers subject to in-depth review, and moderately integral to a further eight of these papers. It was not deemed integral to the remaining majority of papers. Some variation exists by theme, both in terms of total number of papers reviewed and in respect to seafood integrality, with papers in the \"Modeling\" theme equally split between not very integral, moderately integral, and very integral, and more than half of papers in the \"Consumption\" theme rated seafood as moderately integral (Figure 4). The \"Production\" theme, by contrast, has no papers where seafood was deemed very integral, despite having more papers reviewed than any other theme.Papers reviewed came primarily from North America, Africa, and Asia, with few papers from Europe and Australia, and none from South America (Figure 5). Seafood was very integral to all but one of the North American papers; this is in sharp contrast to the papers from Africa, where seafood was not very integral to all but one. It is therefore not simply the case that seafood was very integral in papers from countries where it plays an important role in diets, and not integral in countries where it does not. Three papers were considered to be global in scope-these are not included in Figure 5, but in all cases, seafood was classed as not very integral.Out of the 27 papers reviewed in depth, 13 were review or theoretical papers, and so were not given a quality score. The high proportion of review papers in this sample highlights the depth of primary literature relating to food security. Of the remaining 14 papers, 8 had an average quality score of over 75% and were deemed to be of high quality, and 6 of under 75%. For themes where papers could be assessed by quality, the number of papers with an average quality below 75% never exceeded the number of papers with an average quality above 75% (Figure 6).Over 70% of papers reviewed in-depth were considered to be mono-disciplinary, with six papers having some interdisciplinary elements, and only two papers being considered highly interdisciplinary. Some variation among themes is evident, with all \"Behavior\" papers being mono-disciplinary, while more than half of the papers from the \"Nutrition\" and \"Production\" themes had some interdisciplinary elements (Figure 7). \"Model\" was the only theme which did not contain any mono-disciplinary papers.Seafood was not integral to the majority of the 27 papers reviewed in-depth across all themes, and appears to be particularly underrepresented in relation to nutrition, production, and safety, themes where no papers were deemed to have seafood as a very integral component. However, seafood is not totally absent from the reviewed literature, as evidenced by the fact that key seafood terms were mentioned at least five times in multiple papers under each theme. Given the importance of terrestrial crops to food security, it is unsurprising that these production systems are most prevalent in the food security literature reviewed.Overall, the review reveals a low degree of integrated foodsystems thinking as represented by the few papers that combined seafood with both terrestrial crops and terrestrial animals. The terrestrial food security literature does in contrast integrate terrestrial plant and animal production more substantially. The lack of attention given to understanding the interlinked role of seafood for food security highlights a clear set of gaps in the recent food security literature. First, it currently fails to adopt a whole-plate approach to nutrition that would enable a clearer understanding of the relative importance of water and land-based foods and the future challenges of changing patterns of availability. Second, at the production end, there is an ongoing need to understand the consequences of further feed-based intensification as aquaculture continues to grow and depend on a growing share of both terrestrial and aquatic plant-based feed stock (Troell et al., 2014). Third, it fails to draw attention to the multiple facets of transitioning to a holistic understanding of sustainable food systems that considers the relative consequences of terrestrial and aquatic foods in terms of food safety, feedback from land and sea-based behavioral change and the wider ecosystem level feedback from resource use.The lack of an integrated food systems approach is also evidenced by the geographical spread across the papers reviewed. The lack of attention to seafood in the papers reviewed was not a function of where the research had been undertaken. In more than half the papers with a single country focus, seafood made up at least 5% of total protein supply-for context, seafood makes up 5% or more of the protein supply in 89 countries, and <5% in 88 countries (FAO, 2017). Further, the local importance of seafood in diets did not link clearly with the importance of seafood in the reviewed papers, despite the fact that seafood can be critical to communities vulnerable to poverty and nutritional insecurity (de Roos et al., 2018) and could continue to support food security as the global population increases, particularly in the Global South (Béné et al., 2015). Further study, specifically assessing the representation of seafood in the food security literature from these regions could help to clarify these findings. Such an understanding is important because regions where fish is a key component of the diet, such as South East Asia (FAO, 2017), are often also areas where climate change is expected to have a disproportionately high impact on public health, as well as economic, political, and resource security (Kumaresan, 2011). Specific groups, such as coastal indigenous peoples, who are highly vulnerable to climate change, are also highly reliant on seafood, with a per capita consumption which is 15 times higher than their non-indigenous counterparts (Cisneros-Montemayor et al., 2016). For Pacific Island countries and territories, for example, where subsistence fishing provides a key source of dietary protein, forecasts predict that even well-managed fisheries will struggle to meet demand in 2030 (Bell et al., 2009). In this region, redistribution of fish due to climate change poses a serious threat to food security, one which may require policy intervention and negotiations to ensure long-term resource conservation (Bell et al., 2021). Such region-specific research is needed to ensure local seafood system sustainability, with knowledge sharing across regions allowing best practice to spread rapidly and underpin global sustainability. Seafood from aquaculture may increasingly support food systems as they become more sustainable (Béné et al., 2019). In this context, it is worth noting that there is at best a weak connection between fisheries and aquaculture policies; given the products of each are often considered substitute goods by the consumer (and this can extend to terrestrial goods such as chicken), better integration seems key to policy-making for food security. The lack of papers focusing on South America is also worth noting, and may reflect either a lack in publications relating to (sea)food security in this area, or a lower number of papers relating to South America published in English during the time frame selected for this review.The weak interdisciplinarity observed in the reviewed papers suggests that important components from a food systems perspective, such as sustainable seafood in a dietary context, may be lacking integrated attention. Similarly, research on seafood needs to better contextualize the role of aquatic products within the broader food system, including consideration of the trade-offs for different food types in a balanced diet. Despite calls for interdisciplinary research to address the challenge of food security (Ingram, 2011;Yu et al., 2012;Horton et al., 2017;Bogard et al., 2019), and calls for researchers to move outside the epistemic bubbles of a single research discipline in order to increase accountability (Huutoniemi, 2016), this finding highlights the dominance of research in single discipline silos. Therefore, despite the evolution in problem context over the period assessed in this literature review-broadly toward the need for integrated and interdisciplinary research (e.g., United Nations, 2015;FAO, 2019;Willett et al., 2019)-the papers reviewed do not reflect this, highlighting an important research gap and raising the question of structural issues which may be preventing the widespread uptake of interdisciplinary research in the area of (sea)food security. Of interest, however, is the fact that none of the papers where seafood was deemed very integral included author affiliations to research institutes with seafood key terms in their names, suggesting these issues are of some interest to more generalist organizations.One limitation not addressed in this paper is the question of whether seafood is under-represented in the food security literature because of a lack of research, or, whether seafood research was not included due to a lack of the use of the term \"food security\" in the seafood literature. However, given that a search in Web of Knowledge for \"food security\" (alone giving 25,123 papers) and \"crop\" gives 6,998 results, \"livestock\" gives 1,200, \"fish\" gives 1,052, it seems unlikely that it is a lack of the use of this keyword alone which has given rise to this outcome. The similarity in number of papers returned for \"livestock\" and \"fish\" is particularly interesting, and suggests that researchers in these areas are equally likely to highlight the food security aspects of their work.Due to the time scale of the papers assessed in this work (2007-January 2018) a number of important publications which were published after this date are, by definition, excluded from this analysis. Work done on the potential for fish to provide key micronutrients for sustainable diets (Hicks et al., 2019), and the inclusion of seafood in recent conceptualisation of sustainable food systems (Bogard et al., 2019;Halpern et al., 2019), as well as the inclusion of seafood as a potentially important component of the EAT-Lancet reference diet (Willett et al., 2019), all point to a growing literature working to integrate seafood more fully into sustainable food systems discussions. This paper should therefore be seen as offering insight into a particular slice of time, which could, in future work, be compared to later periods of time to assess the growth and integration of this area of research in the wider sustainable food systems discourse. This study is also limited in scale, assessing 119 papers taken from a vast corpus, and while 118 papers is the average sample size seen in a review of 494 scoping studies (Tricco et al., 2016), further analysis may identify additional research gaps of interest.While it is difficult to assess what proportion of the literature would constitute an ideal representation of seafood, it is clear from this review that seafood is rarely included as a core component of the food security papers reviewed, despite the fact that seafood forms a potentially important component of a healthy and sustainable diet. The significant growth in fisheries and aquaculture production since the middle of the twentieth century, and especially in the past two decades, has enhanced the world's capacity to consume diverse and nutritious food. Global apparent fish consumption has, on average, increased faster than population growth since 1961 (3.2% as compared to 1.6%), and exceeded terrestrial animal meat consumption for all categories other than poultry (FAO, 2018)-though concern has been raised over such comparisons of fish and meat figures, particularly around differing reporting processes and a lack of comparison made on an edible portion basis (Edwards et al., 2018). Food fish consumption has increased from 9.0 kg per capita per year in 1961 to 20.2 kg per capita per year in 2015, with preliminary estimates suggesting even higher rates of consumption in 2016 and 2017, at 20.3 and 20.5 kg per capita per year, respectively (FAO, 2018). These figures do not, however, highlight the large variation in annual consumption both globally (with, for example, an estimated 58 kg consumed per capita in Japan, and 2.4 kg per capita in Yemen) and within continents (27.3 kg per capita in Ghana as compared with 4.6 kg per capita in Kenya) (Guillen et al., 2019). While increasing seafood consumption can play an important role in providing sufficient protein, it is also particularly valuable for preventing micronutrient deficiencies, with high production scenarios having the potential to prevent an estimated 166 million cases of inadequate micronutrient uptake by 2030 with important improvements in areas of low food security such as Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (Golden et al., 2021).Understanding and acknowledging seafood's role in addressing global and regional food security issues must be accompanied by efforts to ensure that seafood production is sustainable. The FAO estimates that world marine fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels decreased from 90% in 197490% in to 68.6% in 201390% in (FAO, 2019)). More work is needed, in research and in practice, to reverse this trend by adequately managing wild and farmed seafood to reduce the overfishing, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem disruption that can result from poorly managed seafood production. Understanding the role of seafood is important for several interrelated Sustainable Development Goals, including zero hunger, good health, and well-being, climate action, and life below water (United Nations, 2015). While progress has been made toward sustainability in aquaculture in recent years (Naylor et al., 2021), more research is needed into the role of seafood for food security in relation to implementation of these goals. Increasing the sustainability of seafood production systems relies on research that bridges the terrestrial-aquatic divide-this review shows that this critical junction has many opportunities for food systems researchers. Further work, including systematic reviews in order to obtain a comprehensive view of the state of the literature in this area can help to identify research priorities and guide policy decisions. Research on aquaculture, which has the potential to enhance the resilience of global food systems through diversification and improved efficiency (Belton and Thilsted, 2014;Troell et al., 2014), is also essential in order to ensure adequate seafood production in a sustainable manner. Greater recognition and understanding of the role of plant and animal aquatic foods in global and local food security could result in more resources to support these efforts."}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"e33c774e-3196-41af-9f80-4cc9d6ca7fe2","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"90ab7f1fdbfc79c3d570e23d66675ab7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cef48684-8f90-4ab2-8f53-2447967a60e4/retrieve","id":"-1705947596"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b9e01a1c-b385-4a9d-af3c-a33a9cf179eb","content":"The Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST) is a systematic method to assess local feed resource availability and use. It helps in the design of intervention strategies aiming to optimize feed utilization and animal production. More information and the manual can be obtained at www.ilri.org/feast FEAST is a tool in constant development and improvement. Feedback is welcome and should be directed feast@cgiar.org. The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is not responsible for the quality and validity of results obtained using the FEAST methodology.The Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST) was used to characterize the feed-related aspects of the livestock production system in Kigumba, Kiryandongo district of Uganda. The assessment was carried out through focused group discussions and completion of short questionnaires by three key farmer representatives owning small, medium and large scale farms. The following are the findings of the assessment and conclusions for further action.The farming system is primarily a subsistence based, mixed crop/livestock system. Farm sizes in the area are around 8 acres (3.2 ha) on average with most of the land being used for cropping. A typical household size is 7 people who live permanently on farm on average per year. Households in the area commonly grow a variety of food crops including; maize (Zea mays), beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), sunflower, cassava (Manihot esculenta), groundnuts (Arachis hypogea) and vegetables. Farmers grow Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) is the most common forage crop grown by 55% of the farmers. A few farmers grow fodder legumes such as Lablab purpureus and Mucuna pruriens as well as fodder trees and shrubs such as Calliandra calothyrsus. The average area of land used for production of food crops is shown in Figure 1 and fodder crops in Figure 2.Each household also raises a variety of livestock species including cattle, goats, chicken and pigs for various purposes. Cattle are kept mainly for milk, cash income from animal sales, drought power and manure. On average most households have 5-10 milking cows. In addition, many households have 5-10 goats. Indigenous chickens are kept by households to meet household meat, egg and cash needs. Ankole type cattle are kept by about 60% of households but they are not popular with farmers due to their low milk production capabilities. Improved cross bred cattle are kept by about 40% of the households. Cross breds comprise mainly of Friesian , Jersey breeds with the local Ankole cattle. Goats are also raised by 10-20% of the households for quick sale when funds are required. Labour is generally available all the time at approximately 60,000 Uganda shillings per month. In addition to this price workers are given meals, milk and some health care cover. Rainfall levels are generally adequate to support cropping activities; however, rainfall unreliability is increasingly becoming common (Table 1). Water is a major constraint in the area but no large scale irrigation is carried out.  Milk sales are the primary contributor to household income. An average of 80% of all household income comes from the sale of milk. Crops, mainly maize, beans, bananas, groundnuts and cassava make an important contribution of approximately 13% to household income. The contribution from off-farm activities such as business is considered relatively minor at 10% collectively for some households (Figure 3). The contribution of livestock sales varies substantially throughout the year based on climatic conditions. Sale of animals generally occurs in an ad-hoc manner when funds are required quickly or undesirable animals such as bull calves and unproductive old cows need to be culled.CROP SALES 13% BUSINESS 7%Contribution of livelihood activities to household income (as a percentage)The production system is mainly extensive with 40% of the farmers practicing semi-intensive management. Improved dairy breeds, namely Friesians and a few Jerseys dominate livestock holdings as shown in Figure 4. Milk produced on the farm is sold by individuals or through milk collection centres to different middlemen at an average price of 600 Ugandan shilling (UGS), (0.2 USD; ranging from 500-800; 0.21-0.33 USD) per litre. The average milk production per cow per day in the area is 5 litres. Management of the cows varies with type of cattle. Goats are left to graze freely and returned home in the evenings. The common feeding strategies in the area include grazing, feeding chopped green fodder and or crop residues especially maize stover. Hay and silage is not a common technology among farmers.Artificial Insemination (AI) services are available for all farmers in the area from Kiryandongo dairy farmer business associations (DFBAs) and it is not currently the preferred method of reproduction. Bull services are also available from individual farms at a cost of UGS 10,000 (4.3 USD) per successful service. The price of semen varies significantly and AI services cost UGS 30,000 -40,000 (13-17 USD per service) per service. Farmers pay UGS 30,000 for any repeats. contribute the greatest proportion of the total ME (MJ/kg) and crude protein (CP; %) to the total diet on farms. Supplements such as maize bran and dairy meal can be purchased for 500 UGS (0.21 USD) per kg and 60,000 UGS shillings (24 USD) per 100 kg bag respectively. According to farmers, the main constraint to production in this area is the lack of a forage pulverizer and pasture scarcity and water shortage. Pasture scarcity is partly due to insufficient forage seed needed for establishing high yielding forages. Animal diseases, especially tick borne diseases and lumpy skin disease are also important problems in the area. Water scarcity is very important problem especially in the dry season. Other problems include unavailability of animal health providers. Farmers also consider fluctuation of milk prices in the dry and wet season as a major problem to sustainable incomes. Farmers attribute price fluctuation to the monopoly of the milk processor in the area. A summary of problems and farmer proposed solutions are shown the (Table 2). Legume residuesConcentrates Rainfall pattern (score 0-10) -Increase number of local drug shops -Increase number of service providers -Education on control of diseases and vaccinations -Introduce check-off for the drugs at the DFBA.-Low milk prices -Enhance collective bulking selling through the DFBAs.One way of mitigating the effects of feed related constraints is to collaboratively work with the farmers through the DFBA to increase production of more feed biomass per hectare and linking them to fabricating companies tho access a low cost pulveriser to be used on a communal ownership arrangement . To mitigate the effects of lack of forage seed, efforts will have to be made to engage in community seed production either through groups or interested people as a business. There is also an avenue of linking seed companies to the DFBA to supply seed in small packages that are affordable to farmers.Fodder conservation technologies should be promoted as polythene bags or small scale silage pits may be viable options. Grazing forms a substantial amount of forage to households. Improving pasture quality can significantly increase DM available for feeding. Simple methods of improving pasture such as bush clearing, strip and circular sowing are viable options given that farmers own small portions of land. Since the maize growing is very dominant in the area, there need to exploit use of maize Stover more seriously. Lack of pasture seeds leading to pasture scarcity.  Lack of forage pulveriser to make use of crop residues during the dry season.-Limited use of crop residues.-High incidences of animal diseases caused by unavailability and high cost of drugs and vaccines. -The price received for milk is low and variable throughout the year.-Feedback workshop to design implementation strategy and action planning -Support DFBAs to operationalise implementation of activities -Build capacity for DFBA extension workers to conduct and implement feed plans -Enhance efficient concentrate feed delivery chains to farmers and train them on optimum concentrate usage.Crop growing is the most important activity followed by milk production for subsistence and commercial purpose. Farm sizes in the area are an average size of 8 acres (3.2 ha) most of which used for cropping. Every household has at least 3-8 milking cows and 5-10 goats. The primary crops of importance are cassava, maize and beans. The main constraints to the further intensification and development of dairying in the area are a lack of forage pulverizer to make use of crop residues especially in the dry season, pasture scarcity and water shortage and high incidence of diseases. Napier grass is the main type of fodder. Farmers keep both improved and Ankole cattle. Milk prices are generally unstable and vary throughout the year due to an oversupply in the wet season."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e5f7af221f9e27d2e122569b753ce1ee","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/Publications/PDFS/RP21052.pdf","id":"-747464195"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0251dd71-218e-4a5a-91b7-8181355e487f","content":"The stakeholder workshop on co-designing context-appropriate and gender-responsive land restoration options for Makueni county was held on 27th October 2021 in Wote, Makueni County. The workshop brought together twenty-nine participants from the County Government of Makueni, the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), the African Sand Dam Foundation (ASDF), farmers and Ward Agricultural Officer among others. The workshop was organized as part of the ICRAF-led project on Promoting nature-based solutions for land restoration while strengthening the national monitoring technical working group in Kenya funded by UK-PACT.The meeting began by welcome remarks from Catherine Muthuri, who took the opportunity to introduce herself and welcome participants to the workshop. The welcome remarks were followed by an exercise to gather the participants' perspective on the need for options by context approaches to restoration and consideration of factors other than biophysical conditions. In the exercise, the participants stood next to the card that best represented their views with reference to the statement: \"Climate, soil texture and slope are the most important factors to consider when matching restoration options to local conditions\". The cards were laid out on the floor and ranged from strongly agree, somewhat agree, neither agree nor disagree, somewhat disagree, and strongly disagree. No. of people Men Women Strongly disagree 3 1 2Somewhat disagree 3 3 0 Neither agree nor disagree 0 0 0 Somewhat agree 7 3 4Strongly agree 10 5 5Below are the responses:-Because when we restore land, we must consider the slope basically because of soil degradation. Therefore, we must work towards the slope issues as water causes a lot of erosion.-Because they determine nature.-Because they control soil water and determine suitable plant varieties for better results.-Because the soil profile matters in tree planting. The climate determines which tree survives in a particular area. -Climate is an aggregate of several weather conditions and influences which activity to be undertaken in the soil. Texture and slope as a great influence on what to plant. -Because they influence water availability, soil moisture retention and water infiltration.-Because soil moisture matters.-Important to look at the vegetation that could adapt in the area.-Due to species site matching, restoration is specific to these factors.-Water retention/release are site specific -They are important but not the only factors-There are others that influence the three e.g., gender roles, cultural norms, education levels, and income levels. -Other than the three, other factors like the trees planted regulate water flow, infiltration, and moisture retention. -The available resources have a role to compliment the soil texture, climate, and slope.-Other factors like the gender, household size and composition, farm size, rainfall patterns and the land use have a role to play. -It also depends on the farmers interests and goals.-The factors are context-specific -Restoration is site specific -Focus on water retention -Because we have human activities as a factor.-We have other factors to consider like social, cultural and land tenure.Christine Magaju, the workshop facilitator, shared with participants the workshop objectives, the principles of engagement for the workshop, and gave a brief overview on what participants would expect during the workshop process. The objectives of the workshop were to:1. Showcase the Options by Context (OxC) approach to land restoration and introduce the UK PACT Project. 2. Promote knowledge sharing and the co-design of inclusive and context-appropriate land restoration options for Makueni County. 3. Identify promising and ongoing land restoration activities in the county and the contextual factors conditioning their suitability for different user groups. 4. Foster collective reflection on how the social dimensions of land restoration can generate constraints and opportunities for scaling up restoration efforts. 5. Identify opportunities for integrating OxC and gender-responsive approaches into ongoing and future restoration activities in the county.The expected outcomes of the workshop included:1. Increased understanding and capacity for OxC approaches to land restoration. 2. Increased awareness of the importance of inclusivity and cross-cutting nature of social factors such as gender, youth and wealth dynamics. 3. Opportunities for integrating OxC and inclusive approaches into ongoing restoration activities identified. 4. Contextual information and OxC matrices that can be used to guide the selection of context-appropriate and gender-responsive restoration options.Catherine Muthuri, CIFOR-ICRAF Kenya country co-ordinator and the project lead, introduced the UK PACT project to the workshop participants. The project, titled 'Promoting nature-based solutions for land restoration while strengthening the national monitoring technical working group in Kenya, aims at establishing a national restoration monitoring technical working group in Kenya and promoting gender-transformative restoration activities and knowledge products that enable their scaling. She emphasised the importance of matching land restoration options to local circumstances for achieving impact at scale and improving people's livelihoods. She further highlighted the crucial role of rural women and youth as catalysts of change in the county. More information about the project can be found here.Mary Crossland, a system scientist at CIFOR-ICRAF, introduced the options by context approach to land restoration to the participants. In her presentation, Mary defined options as things that farmers and communities can do/were doing differently but may also include actors at multiple scales (e.g., NGOs, local and national governments) and context as the ecological, economic, and social situations in which the options were implemented. Options are not just technological but can include innovations aimed at improving the enabling environment for change (e.g., market interventions, extension systems, policies). Options interact with 'context' to determine their performance and as such Option by Context approaches (OxC) aim to match 'options' to local 'context'. Mary also presented on overcoming some of the barriers to scaling by using gender transformative approaches. These are approaches go beyond considering gender norms, roles and relations and instead aim to transform existing gender norms and underlying power imbalance (Figure 3). The presentation was complemented by a data wall displaying displaying results from the OxC analysis using the IFAD-EC Land restoration case study and an example OxC matrix that the participants could explore. In line with the project's expected outcomes -increased capacity for monitoring and reporting of restoration approaches at county and national levels -Ivy Okutoyi, a consultant with CIFOR-ICRAF, gave an overview of the Makueni County Resource Hub. This online dashboard was developed to support the County Government's efforts to bring together the diverse partners and data sources to enhance coordination, planning, communication, and evidence-based decision making. The opensource dashboard is available online and can be accessed here.Arising questions from the participants on the resource hub included:-What are the units of measurement for the agricultural production data? o Tonnes -Is it possible to incorporate the distances via the actual roads?o Yes -Is there a link to prices?o Not yet -Is biomass accounted for even during crop failure?o No, but more information will be sought from the relevant county departments To identify restoration activities implemented in Makueni County, participants were divided into groups based on the key land uses in the County (i.e., agriculture/Crop Land/Horticulture, forest, and pastureland). In the groups, the participants identified which restoration options were implemented in each land use, who was involved in their implementation and who benefited from the restoration options. Overall, the identified options included tree planting, grass reseeding, dryland agroforestry, farmer managed natural regeneration (FMNR), terracing, rainwater harvesting, composting and agroecology (Table 2). The participants also identified the main successes to scaling the restoration options as well as the challenges to scaling. Each group then presented, in plenary, the options they had identified as well as the success and constraining factors to scaling.  The last exercise in this session saw the participants identify the ways in which the restoration options identified earlier on were monitored including the key indicators assessed. Below is the feedback from the groups.  The participants, in the land use groups, identified the main contextual factors conditioning the suitability of the selected restoration option. They also considered the influence of gender, youth and wealth dynamics of the identified factors, and the key knowledge gaps regarding the option suitability. Then in plenary, each group presented back on key factors, the gender considerations that the group identified and the biggest knowledge gaps. Figure 7 shows the matrix on planting basins developed by participants and Table 3 summarises the discussion.  Finally, the participants worked on identifying the constraints to scaling restoration options. Working as one large group, the following challenges were identified:-  Afterwards, the participants then broke out into their groups and conducted problem tree analysis to identify the key issues that underpinned the identified challenges. In the problem tree analysis, the challenge is placed in the centre of a page to simulate the trunk of a tree. The causes of the challenge are placed below the challenge simulating the roots and the effects placed above the challenge simulating the leaves. For each identified cause, the participants ask, \"Why does this problem exist?\", \"What are the situations or factors that have caused this barrier?\", resulting in the multiple layers of factors that contribute to the challenge.  The workshop concluded with an outline of next steps for the project and presentation of the timeline of the upcoming workshops (Annex 2). These workshops will include a capacity development and training workshop on the use of gender transformative facilitation methods and approaches, a reflective multi-stakeholder workshop to collate and reflect on the gender transformative co-design process, formulate lessons learned and identify ways to continue supporting gender transformative change, and inter-county and national level workshop with targeted government agencies and nonstate actors to communicate the lessons and influence policies.Finally, the participants evaluated the workshop by filling in the UK PACT questionnaire. They evaluated the workshop in terms of the overall content (usefulness, relevance, and methods), learning (how much they learnt about the topic of the workshop) and behaviour (likelihood of using the information and knowledge gained in the workshop). In terms of lessons learned, feedback from workshop participants highlighted a need for more time during workshops and to increase the number of participants to ensure greater representation of all stakeholder groups. While participant numbers were limited due to COVID-19, this feedback will be considered when planning future project activities (i.e., multi-day workshops)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"776d8fc4f5d5140d8f31ea8c6959b614","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b1fff99c-8616-4b1e-938c-73642d5b86bb/retrieve","id":"-2145328094"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3b4a8f9f-5238-479a-ab23-84eb2a59e23a","content":"Module 1 -Territorial Approach for Rural Enterprise Development Module 2 -Chain Approach: Basic Concepts This manual is the result of several years of action-research in diverse sites of Latin America with producer organizations, local nongovernmental organizations, governmental organizations, and the private sector. Without the efforts and ideas of each of these, this document would not be what it is. We would like therefore to recognize the support we have received from:-Communities of the Cabuyal River micro-watershed in Cauca Department, Colombia; -Support organizations grouped in the Comité de Agroindustria Rural de Consorcio Interinstitucional para una Agricultura Sostenible en Laderas (CIPASLA); -Communities of the municipalities of Yorito and Sulaco,Nowadays a great percentage of the rural populations throughout the developing world finds itself facing a crossroads. On the one hand, traditional products are losing value in a rapidly globalizing market, and on the other hand, their natural resource base is reduced due to pressures of survival that place today's food ahead of care for tomorrow's resources. As a result, many families have abandoned the countryside in search of better options in cities and even abroad, without achieving dignified livelihoods for their members.Confronting this reality are donor and development organizations that support rural development projects aimed at increasing incomes. However, many of these projects look at only one part of the chain , and therefore have limited effectiveness. A classic example of this approach is the project that, at great effort and expense, manages to significantly increase the productivity of small-scale producers, only to encounter a limited market for these additional product, thus leaving producers disillusioned and often with less income than before. This situation is derived from a limited understanding of markets, how chains work, and what opportunities for value adding are available for smallholders. Concepts such as these are key for better-focused rural development projects and would complement the resources and commitment to supporting rural populations expressed by these actors.The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT, the Spanish acronym), through its Rural Agro-enterprise Development Project (RAeD) and local partners in Honduras, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Peru, has been developing methodologies that aim to respond to the needs of rural development organizations in the field of Rural Agro-enterprise Development (RAeD). At present, the Center has a territorial approach for RAeD composed of four interconnected methodological steps that seek to improve local capacities. The four elements are: (1) formation of local teams for rural agroenterprise development, (2) identification of market opportunities, (3) analysis of chains and the generation of strategies for their improvement, and (4) the design and provision of Business Development Services, BDS (Figure 1).1. Why have rural development approaches oriented towards agricultural productivity failed to improve rural family income? 2. What are the elements of a territorial approach for rural enterprise development? 3. Who are the local actors that participate in this approach, and why is the forming of a local group for inter-institutional work important for facilitating processes of rural enterprise development?Each of these elements includes spaces for organization and planning, and others for action.Organization and planning serves to generate, systematize, and share information and knowledge with the aim of building agreements to guide actions, and in turn increase the probabilities of their success. Table 1 shows a general timeline for the four topics.Table 1. Planning, organization, and action: key times for rural agroenterprise development (RAED). This manual covers the third component of the territorial approach for RAeD: the design of strategies to increase chain competitiveness. These strategies seek to improve the competitiveness of the chain by means of concrete research and development actions identified and implemented in collaboration with chain actors. Through this process, trust and collaborative problem solving is facilitated so that, at the end of the process, the groundwork has been laid to move from a production chain to a value chain.The manual is divided into 10 modules or chapters with the aim of explaining not only the reasons behind the methodology, but also concrete steps that may prove useful in the field. To facilitate better understanding and assimilation, each module is structured in the following fashion:• Guiding questions that introduce the themes and ask the reader to reflect on their experience;• Conceptual support relating to the themes introduced;• Appropriate tools to facilitate participative processes of planning, analysis, and design of strategies to increase competitiveness with smallholders and the other enterprise actors in the chain ;Rural Agro-enterpriseField Manual Development ProjectCompetitive Strategies 4• Practical examples of experiences with this methodology in Latin America related with the theme of the module; and • A review at the end of the module that restates the main ideas.Rural Agro-enterpriseField Manual Development ProjectCompetitive StrategiesChain Approach: Basic ConceptsTraditionally, interventions that seek to support the development of the agricultural sector have been centered on increasing production through programs of agricultural reform, credit, research, and technical assistance, among others. This type of intervention, on the whole, has resulted in an increase in the sector's productivity, measured in kilograms produced by area cultivated, thus allowing substantial improvements in the supply of basic agricultural products.However, as a result of the law of supply and demand, these production increases have generated significant reductions in the prices paid for these products,. A clear example is the tendency that can be seen in the average price of basic \"commodity\" products that has been decreasing over the last 50 years. Although production increases have \"reduced\" the cost of foods for important segments of the urban population, they have not generated sustainable improvements in the income of producers or of rural populations, nor have they contributed to reduced levels of rural poverty.To effectively reduce rural poverty requires moving beyond productivity, and incorporating themes such as profitability and competitiveness in our work agenda. Profitability, measured in income for area cultivated, helps us with themes such as the generation additional income through value adding, product diversification, and the development of more dynamic and complex markets. The promotion of a rural sector capable of managing and maintaining connections with growing markets is presented then as an alternative strategy of rural development.1. What is needed to achieve effective and lasting rural poverty reduction? 2. What elements characterize the rural situation in your community? 3. What is the difference between \"comparative advantage\" and \"competitive advantage\", and how are they related with innovation? 4. What is a chain or sub-sector approach, and what are its advantages and disadvantages? 5. What other elements need to be included in a chain analysis, and why? 6. How is a strategy to increase competitiveness defined, what is it for, and how is it executed? 7. What is the difference between a chain and a value chain or value net? 8. What differences are there between the efficiency of an individual enterprise and the efficiency of a chain as a system? 9. What implications does geographic scale have for the design, financing, and execution of a strategy to increase competitiveness?1. Focus on production or sales, but not marketing. In rural zones, most producers are focused towards production and marketing of their products, which means to say that they know how to produce and sell their products, but not how to market them. Marketing seeks to find more competitive advantages by means of strategies such as product differentiation, market segmentation, and development of specific client niches. 2. Disarticulation of the chain. The different links of the chain (production, post harvest management, marketing, and business development services) are disjointed, generating a deficient flow of information along the chain which is utilized by certain market agents, while generating systematic inefficiencies along the chain. 3. Weak and incipient managerial capacity. Most existing rural organizations are weak in managerial terms. They have limited capacities to identify and analyze critical points in their chains, build relationships with others and therefore to find key strategies or actions to improve their business. 4. Individualand not sectoral competitiveness. Given the uncertainty that characterizes rural areas, it is normal to find that actors seek individual solutions in the short term instead of thinking of initiatives that promote the sector's competitiveness in the medium or long term. This translates into relations between actors along the chain characterized by low trust, selfinterest and a limited capacity to assume strategic initiatives as a chain.Business development services to the agricultural sector have been characterized as being punctual and focused on a single link in the chain. Furthermore, these activities reach producers in poorly coordinated form, which results in the duplication of efforts in some areas and gaps in others. As a result, the support received by the chains in the agricultural sector is not sufficiently effective to increase its competitiveness.Rural Agro-enterpriseA first intent to respond to this situation was the development of the chain approach, with the purpose of visualizing the whole agrichain from the provision of inputs and the production of basic goods, to the marketing of the final product, including the stages of post harvest management and processing. Figure 2 shows the links and their functions.Components of a chain.The use of the chain approach has several advantages:1. It permits a more complete vision of the chain and its different actors, and therefore improved information management. 2. Access to more complete information facilitates the identification of critical points impeding the chain's development, and the location of alternative solutions that are more effective and have greater impact. 3. It is an appropriate scenario for seeking alliances and synergies between the different actors because it can identify common interests, diminish transaction costs and permit more efficient use of available resources.However, the chain approach leaves out, or at least does not explicitly identify, three aspects that are key to understanding a chain's behavior: the degree of business development of participating organizations, the provision of business development services and the context in which the chain operates.Normally, various business organizations, both formal and informal, participate in taking the product from the farm to the final market. One of the limitations of the traditional chain approach is that it does not take a detailed look at these organizations, their structure, capacities, or the links between them. A good understanding of the degree of business organization along a chain allows the design of strategies that play to the actors' existing capacities instead of presenting proposals that are theoretically possible, but difficult to implement in practice.Traditional chain analysis also does not take into account the organizations -both public and private -that provide business development services to the chain. As in the case of business organizations, it is important to understand the quality, coverage, and effectiveness of existing business development services to find possible ways of improving the chain's functioning and competitiveness. Understanding the relationship between business development services and the bottlenecks that limit chain development is equally important. Often it is more illustrative toFunctions: Finally, a general understanding of the context in which the chain operates is critical. Specific issues to bear in mind include local and national policies, the climate for economic development, social issues, natural resource management concerns and the existing technological conditions of the chain.In response to these gaps, we propose a wider view of the chain that combines the initial definition, with the analysis of business organizations, the existing support system and key contextual issues.A wider view of the chain covers not only the chain's functional aspects (production -post harvest -marketing), but also includes the existing level of business organization, the business development services connected to the sector and the context in which the chain functions. Figure 3 shows this perspective.Wider perspective of a chain .The method \"Design of Strategies to Increase the Competitiveness of Smallholder Chains\" intends to respond to the gaps identified in the traditional approach to chains in the following ways:1. Experience has shown that the success or failure of any intervention for the development of chains depends principally on the actors and business organizations that participate in it and the context in which the chain exists. By explicitly focusing on understanding the actors and the relationships between them as well as with the surroundings, this method facilitates more effective interventions along the chain. 2. Through analyzing existing chain dynamics and elaborating strategies to increase competitiveness we seek to identify interventions that generate a fair distribution of the benefits, and the possibility of involving rural smallholders, their families and their communities. In many cases, this allows the design of strategies that achieve benefits for the producers with the least resources. 3. The use of the term \"strategy\" permits the design and implementation of various parallel or complementary projects guided by common and clear objectives. These definitions should be taken as a guide and not as the final word on strategies to increase competitiveness. In fact, each actor or local working group can have its own definition of a strategy to increase competitiveness, its objectives, and how to carry it out, based on experiences with this methodology.Before looking in detail at the methodology of strategies to increase competitiveness, various general considerations on chains are useful to bear in mind. The first is the relation between innovation and competitive advantages, and how these advantages may or may not be sustainable over time. The second is the difference between an existing chain and the building of a value chain as a strategy to increase competitiveness. Finally, how do managerial efficiencies in a single firm compare to building the systematic competitiveness of a chain involving various businesses in diverse activities.A strategy to increase competitiveness is a set of activities that are planned and carried out with the active participation of a chain 's diverse actors to achieve common objectives, around which one or more business organizations and/or interest groups are linkedA strategy to increase competitiveness seeks to strengthen or establish a chain that has been prioritized based on its market potential, sustainable production system, and capacity to generate income and employment for the rural population.1 One of the results of a strategy to increase competitiveness is the promotion of processes of change, or innovation, in themes related to production, post harvest management, processing, marketing, business organization, and supply of business development services. These processes are diverse and can touch upon few or many of the chain's links; what they have in common is an understanding of the chain as a system and not as a collection of individual actors. Together, the innovations proposed to increase competitiveness seek to improve the chain's efficiency, and at the same time improve its competitive position in regards to other similar chains. In this sense, one of the main reasons for innovation is to compete better and thus generate and capture added value for the chain actors. Economists use the term \"rents\" to describe this added value.When a business or chain innovates in such a way that its product is differentiated from the others in the market, it can collect additional value. Examples of this are the use of labels that differentiate the product (brands), or the emphasis on its form of production (organic, sustainable, socially responsible), or new presentations (new products), among others. Often these strategies are seen as ways of gaining added value for the product in the face of competition.Over the last few years, experiences with organic production have been seeking additional rents for small-scale producers. The logic behind this strategy is that \"small-scale producers have not had the necessary funds to apply chemical fertilizers or pesticides to their crops, thus they can convert to organic production quickly, and receive a premium price for their products.\" In this case, the innovation to increase the chain's competitiveness is the organic certification based on the economic limitations of the small-scale producers. However, as illustrated in the case of organic cacao, an organic certification will not confer long lasting benefits when many other producers count on the same \"competitive advantage\". Or, in economists' terms, the entry barriers facing this innovation are low and, thus, the innovation is easily replicable by others (see Box 1).Based on this experience with organic cacao, what lessons can we learn about innovation and competitive advantages?-If innovation is easily replicable by other producers, it tends to be quickly copied and thus loses the advantage and added gain. -The profitable innovations, no matter how complicated, are copied sooner or later and thus the rents will begin to descend. -This indicates that processes of market information and innovation should be continuous and require periodic inversions to maintain competitive advantages and added rents.Finally, it is important to note that the big multinationals invest time and money not only in improving their products, but also in generating a brand that differentiates it. Perhaps in the long term, the existence of an easily identifiable brand translates into a more sustainable competitive advantage than innovations in systems of production, post harvest, and marketing. What implications might this assertion have for the processes of rural enterprise development that are being promoted nowadays? 3Often the terms production chain and value chain are used interchangeably, but in fact the two have some important differences. In its simplest definition, a production chain is the description of all participants in an economic activity that relate to take inputs to a final product and deliver it to the final consumers. Conversely, a value chain is understood as a vertical alliance or strategic network between a number of independent business organizations within a production chain.According to Hobbs et al. (2000) 3 , a value chain is differentiated from a production chain because:-Participants in the value chain have a long-term strategic vision.-Participants recognize their interdependence and are disposed to work together to define common object, share risks and benefits, and make the relation work.-It is oriented by demand and not by supply, and thus responds to consumer needs.-Participants have a shared commitment to control product quality and consistency.-Participants have a high level of confidence in one another that allows greater security in business and facilitates the development of common goals and objectives  The present guide seeks to understand the production chain and facilitate sufficient negotiations between participants to lay the groundwork for the formation of a value chain. It is important to underline that the resulting value chain will have a smaller group of the participants than the production chain as a whole. Not all participants are interested or willing to enter into a value chain arrangement given that this step requires negotiation, information exchange, risks, and changes in the relations along the chain. A third theme that it is important to bear in mind while elaborating strategies to increase competitiveness is the difference between efficiency measured in terms of an individual enterprise versus the efficiency of a chain as such. There are many examples of chains comprised of one or more highly efficient enterprises, but linked in an inefficient fashion. In these cases, the firms' gains in production or post harvest management efficiency could well be lost through inefficient marketing channels. Given that most agro-enterprise activities are not carried out by a single enterprise, but by various interrelated economic actors, achieving a competitive productive chain requires a systemic focus. This focus requires establishing trust-based relations along the chain, and in turn challenges us to move beyond the conflictive relations that reign in most chains. Under this focus, there are no good or bad actors, but rather a system that seeks to be the most efficient possible in benefit to its participants.When the cheese factory, Las Brisas, began activities over 10 years ago, it functioned like all the other plants in the cheese-making cluster of Santa Cruz de Turrialba in Costa Rica, that is, with unstable relations with suppliers and buyers. But as the sector evolved and became more competitive, Las Brisas began to seek strategies to move from being just one more player in the production chain to constituting a true value chain.This search led to the establishment trust-based relationships with both suppliers and buyers.On the milk production side, for example, La Brisas facilitated the entry of its biggest milk provider as a new partner in the business, and thus guaranteed 70% of its daily consumption.On the commercial side, it pursued two related paths. First, it developed contacts with one of its clients -a biscuit factory -to produce a special cheese for manufacturing biscuits. The two businesses jointly obtained support from the University of Costa Rica for specific research on the best type of cheese for the biscuits; and Las Brisas entered a new market, in which no competition existed while assisting the biscuit factory to expand production and sales. Second, Las Brisas consolidated relations with an important chain of supermarkets in San José, the country's capital, through the application of a methodical quality control for its own brand, participation in joint promotion and marketing strategies, and the development and testing of new products.What are the results has Las Brisas obtained from its value chainstrategy? First, the quality of its product is one of the best in the zone and, therefore, has high acceptance in the market. Second, it is the only business of the cheese cluster in Santa Cruz that sells consistently directly to supermarkets in San José. In 2001, a promotion of cream was so successful that it contracted additional production with other plants of Santa Cruz, but under its supervision and brand. Third, it suffers less than other businesses during times of milk shortage. In summary, constituting a value chain has given Las Brisas some important competitive advantages over other similar plants.Rural Agro-enterprise CIAT Field Manual Development ProjectCompetitive Strategies 14The methodology has been designed to be flexible in its application and useful at diverse scales of work. This section seeks to present, briefly, some of the implications in terms of capacities, resources, and methodologies for this approach depending on the scale of analysis. The term \"scale\" refers to the geographic coverage in which the chain works. The present manual works with three scales (microregional, regional, and national) that can be defined as:° Microregional scale: Refers to a local scale that can range from a village to a municipality.This scale is useful when seeking to work closely with processes of community development and community management of natural resources. ° Regional scale: Includes more than a municipality and can reach as far as a department or a province. This scale is useful for working with more geographically dispersed agro-enterprise chains, or those with more complex interaction, such as clusters or local agrifood systems. ° National scale: Focuses on one single chain at the national level and presents advantages when the objective of the exercise is to formulate policies or plans in medium or long term to promote national competitiveness in a given product. Some of the factors that could be affected, depending on the scale chosen, are:° Representation and participation: What are the considerations for guaranteeing active participation and adequate representation of all actors and interests involved in the chain? ° Definition of necessities: How do we assure that we hear the needs of all actors in the chain?This point requires special care with the chain's weaker actors whose ideas tend not to be taken into account. ° Differentiated strategies: How do we guarantee that the final strategy includes differentiated solutions according to the needs of the diverse actors? The agro-enterprise chains include heterogeneous actors, and thus demands differentiated solutions according to their needs instead of \"one size fits all\" strategy. ° Methodologies: How do we choose an adequate basket of methodologies for the scale at which we wish to work? What functions well at a microregional scale is probably less effective at national scale, and vice versa. This consideration has to do with participation, level of detail and information, and costs. ° Level of detail: What is the key information that we have to collect and analyze? Collecting additional information, however interesting it may be, implies more analysis and additional costs. ° Costs: What can we achieve with the available budget? The definition of some viable objectives with the available resources is important and can have important implications for the scale at which we work. ° Capacity to convene: Whom should we convene for work at the scale we propose? Do we have the capacity to bring these actors together? ° Management, negotiation and implementation capacity: What implications does the chosen scale have in terms of management and implementation of the resources, and negotiation with important decision makers? How strong will our negotiating position be in relation with key decision makers in the chain? ° Potential impact: What is the potential impact of actions at the chosen scale in terms of number of beneficiaries, economic development, natural resource management, social and gender equity, impact on class relations, or others? Table 3 summarizes some of the considerations of scale in relation to the themes previously defined. This guide is based on the use of participatory methods adapted from the school of Participative Learning and Action (PLA). These methods, which include focal groups, mapping, visualizations, social dramas, and many other forms of facilitated reflection, prioritize not only documented results, but also to the process of application as such. Although a concrete result is generated (a map, a matrix, a table, etc.) this is not the sole or even central purpose of the exercise. Of equal importance is the process of analysis and reflection that is generated by the participants themselves around the methodological tool. Often the discussions and agreements reached are more important than the final tangible result of the method.In the case of this guide, the use of participative methodologies implies that we are going to hear many voices speaking about a single theme: a chain. These points of view will be quite different-what the rural producer thinks is very different to what a city trader thinks-but all the viewpoints have important information regarding the reality of the chain. To achieve our objective of understanding the chain, its strengths, weaknesses, and the design of a shared Rural Agro-enterprisestrategy to increase its competitiveness requires listening to all voices equally. Our role in this process is to document all the information, organize it, and give it back to the chain actors so that they may decide on what to do, together, to improve their economic activity.The design of a strategy to increase competitiveness is a systematic way to generate an open, informed discussion among actors from a chain. But, at the end of the day, those who decide what to do, design action plans, and implement them are the actors themselves.In this module, we have reviewed some basic concepts about chains; an initial definition of what the strategy to increase competitiveness can be, for what it is designed, and how it is carried out; some key ideas on production versus value chains; some appreciations regarding the scale of intervention; and finally, some initial ideas on the use of participative methodologies. In the next module, we will look in more detail at the principles behind this method. Many of these principles relate to the concepts that we have seen in this module, and together form a philosophy that supports the design of strategies to increase competitiveness.In the previous module, we saw some of the basic concepts underlying strategies to increase competitiveness. In the present module, we look in more detail at the principles behind the method. Many of these respond to some extent to the concepts that have been seen in the previous module, and together form the basic philosophy for the design of strategy for increased competitiveness.A strategy to increase competitiveness is based on building agreements between chain actors to seek sustainable improvements in the competitive performance of a particular chain . This approach is inserted within a context of territorial approach to rural enterprise development, and endeavors to strengthen existing business support capacities and to create new abilities when these are lacking. The methodology is intended to be sufficiently clear to be applied by local actors-technicians, promoters, facilitators, leaders-without having to resort to external experts. These actors should revise the method and decide which parts are useful for them, which parts are not, and finally adapt this guide adapted to their needs.To support this process we recommend keeping in mind some basic principlesA competitive strategy is a business tool. It has been designed to support enterprise activities that seek to increase incomes and respond to market demands. Before starting with a competitive strategy, local facilitators should have a clear idea of the strengths, weaknesses, and potential for enterprise development in the local area, and have up-to-date information on the market opportunities open to the territory. When selecting a chain with which to work, assessing the level of existing business organization and the market opportunity are essential.The business organization of a chain does not have to be formal. In fact, there are chains that function well, have a systemic focus, and are competitive, based only on informal actors. Perhaps1. What are the principles behind a strategy to increase competitiveness? 2. What characteristics and qualities are required to facilitate the design of such a strategy? 3. Why is it important to keep in mind the heterogeneity of the chain 's actors even within a single section of the chain? 4. How can research and development activities be combined in a strategy to increase competitiveness, in the short-, medium-, and long-term?Negotiation and design of the strategyRural Agro-enterpriseCompetitive Strategies 18 the most common is a mixed system in which formal and informal actors intervene at the same time. It is important to reflect on the type (formal, informal, mixed) of business organization existing and its capacities. Are there key actors that move this chain ? Who are they?Given the time and commitment required for designing and implementing a strategy, we recommend doing so in only cases where the market opportunity merits this investment (possibility of increasing sales and incomes of various actors). Trying to organize a competitive strategy around a chain with low value or minimum possibilities of added value is more difficult than around a chain with good potential. In the case of new or promising chains, care must be taken in analyzing and understanding existing market opportunities so as not to generate false expectations.The methodology reviews all the functions of the chain starting from input provision to the consumption of the final product. The existing enterprise and available business development services are analyzed as well as the functions of input provision, production, post harvest management, processing, and marketing. This wide analytical framework is important to understand the chain as a business system, and at the same time identify critical points where a minimum of effort will generate maximum benefits.The methodology assumes that areas of common interest between diverse actors along the chain are not evident, and thus requires the facilitation of meetings and coordination. For this reason, the methodology seeks to incorporate and motivate of a wide variety of actors to define common objectives and strategies thus permitting a coordinated effort between them. In this approach, it is important to ensure that all key actors in the system are included. The organization facilitating the process should have friendly relations with all key actors or be disposed to build these relationships during the course of the process. Building contacts with actors in the private sector (big enterprises, supermarkets, local and external traders, those offering business development services, etc.) is sometimes complicated, given time limitations, but at the same time is critical because of the information they manage regarding the chain, the market, and its potential.An additional objective is the identification of synergies among actors along the chain. The organization facilitating the process should involve representatives of all actors to highlight their interdependence and the possibilities of improving, together, their business activity. This does not mean to say that all actors participate at all times in the design of the strategy. It is highly probable that the private sector will not attend long workshops about the chain, but some of their representatives should be interviewed to capture their opinions, be present when results of the analysis are discussed, and participate in final design of the strategy. Despite being less participative due to time constraints, these actors can often help (or hinder) any proposed change in the chain , and therefore must be included.With the objective of having a good understanding of how the chain functions, it is important to have good representation from along the chain. Key input suppliers, producers, people involved in post harvest management and processing, marketing of the final product, or the provision of business development services to the chain need to participate actively in such a way that the different viewpoints are clearly heard.Rural Agro-enterpriseCompetitive StrategiesIn the same way, within each link of the chain there may exist groups that are important to differentiate. For example, if a chain includes the participation of large-, medium-, and smallscale producers, with diverse technologies, different access to resources, and thus different opportunities and limitations, it is important to have representatives of each group and thus design effective support strategies. People or organizations involved in processing activities are another example; different levels of technologies may exist that affect processing efficiency, costs, and final product quality. It is useful to differentiate these actors to better focus future interventions. At a consumer level, differentiation is also important. For example, consumers of varying income levels may have varying demands based either on product quality or price or a combination of the two.The final strategy can include both research and development activities at any point or points along the chain . Research actions can be oriented towards improving productivity, post harvest management, processing, marketing, or the provision of business development services with the purpose of resolving structural or strategic problems that limit the chain's competitiveness. One or various actors may implement development activities in a parallel fashion (for example, extending the use of an improved, but little known, technology). Like the research actions, these seek to increase the chain's competitiveness. Normally, short-term activities are focused on development outcomes, but as the strategy advances, and research results are obtained, these are implemented by or diffused among the chain actors.The process of innovation is long term and, if possible, permanent. A reasonably long time horizon is important to guarantee the chain's competitiveness both now and in the future. In other words, improving the chain quickly is important, but if substantial (or sustained) improvements are sought, a strategic research system that facilitates innovation is key. It is important to clarify that \"strategic research\" is not necessarily an action carried out by specialists or research centers (although these may participate), but rather a permanent focus of innovation, learning, and diffusion that draws on both experts, and the knowledge of chain actors and their own capacity for innovation. 4A strategy to increase competitiveness, as well as including both research and development activities, proposes actions of short, medium, and long term with or without external resources.The strategy to increase competitiveness, like the Territorial Approach to Rural Enterprise Development of which it forms part, is based in the first instance on local actions with local resources. Before seeking external support, chain actors should strive to initiate activities using local resources and knowledge. This is useful because it promotes a positive dynamic between the actors through which they realize that they can do things without waiting for external support. In the medium and long term, local and external resources and knowledge can be mixed, and at the same time more complex actions or strategies designed and implemented to increase the chain's competitiveness.There are three main reasons why is it important to think about time and resources from the start of the process:1.A process initiated with local resources and knowledge tends to strengthen local capacities for analyzing and resolving problems, and thus assists in the development of capacities for innovation.Seeking solutions to chain needs based on existing local resources instead of waiting for external resources (or projects) to solve the problem results in faster and more sustainable actions. Often the most efficient solutions require more commitment from actors than financial support.Grounding activities in local resources tends to reduce the pressure of overestimating the chain's needs and possible responses. A clear example is the choice of technological options. When large-, or medium-scale funding is available, costly and complicated technological solutions tend to be chosen; while when solutions are based on local capacity of payment and maintenance of the technology, these tend to mesh better with local needs and conditions.Finally, the design of a strategy to increase competitiveness requires an organization or people that can facilitate the process. This organization can be a Producers' Association or other union (for example, a processors' association), a Local Chamber of Commerce, one or various nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), a university, a private enterprise, or other group. In CIAT's experience, NGOs together with organizations of producers are the most common facilitators of strategies to increase competitiveness, but in some cases others have promoted them (a regional center for competitiveness in Colombia, and a private support service enterprise in Peru, to name two). There are indications also that these processes could be led by strong private enterprises that seek to improve their competitive position and that of their chain .The facilitating organization of this process should have certain basic capacities, characteristics and attitudes for the work, which appear below. Table 4 is a generalization of the basic conditions, and therefore should be taken as a guide and not as a definitive list.Table 4. Identifying a process facilitator.In summary, the design and implementation of a strategy to increase competitiveness has a business orientation, responds to clear market opportunities, analyzes the totality of the chain with contributions from key actors, seeks synergies between them to implement research or Figure 4 shows the different stages in the design of a strategy to increase competitiveness, which begins with the selection of a chain based on different criteria. Once the market contacts are identified, the next step is to identify the different actors and interest groups that should form part of the analysis. Once actors are identified and brought together, the chain is mapped, the level of business organization evaluated, the support system identified, and past interventions catalogued.Based on this information, the critical points for the development of the chain are analyzed.Next, a long-term strategic vision is prepared based on market prospects and innovation possibilities. Around this vision, a set of strategies is designed to resolve the critical points, take advantage of opportunities and contribute to an increased level of competitiveness for the chain and its actors. In this module, we have discussed the principles that support and orient the analysis of a chain and the design of a strategy to increase competitiveness. Some characteristics and qualities were identified that are required of organizations or persons intending to facilitate the design and execution of strategies to increase competitiveness. The importance of recognizing the heterogeneity of the chain's actors and its implications was also touched upon. Finally, the module closed with a brief discussion on how to combine research and development activities in the short, medium, and long term to generate innovations that permit increases in the chain's competitive position. In the modules that follow, each step of the method will be developed.Module 4Once the decision has been made to work using this method, the first step is the selection of a chain on which to work. This decision can be made based on diverse criteria ranging from the pre-selection of a product by a development project to a decision based exclusively on the use of market signals. There is no single, correct way for making this choice since it is a decision of the organization that will implement the process. Nevertheless, it is important to reflect upon the impact the use of diverse criteria might have on the success or not of the chainselected.The selection of a chainseems easy enough, but the reality is somewhat different. In this process, the organization that will implement the strategy has to balance criteria such as effective market demand, consistent supply, poverty reduction or employment impact, technical, social and environmental feasibility, existing organizations needs and wants, among other factors. If this process is carried out in coordination with other organizations, each one with particular interests, it becomes slower, but at the same time, possibly more sustainable. The purpose of this process is to select, based on clearly identified criteria, the best bets for a given territory. A systematic process like this improves the possibility that the selected chain will be successful.This module presents some generic selection criteria that have been useful in previous applications of the methodology, explains them briefly, and ends with the presentation of a concrete field experience.The following criteria may be useful for selecting a chain on which to work. They do not represent an exhaustive list and they should be modified according to the criteria of the organization that will lead the design and put the strategy into motion. Equally, these can be applied simply or using a great deal of data and analysis. The final decision on which of the criteria to apply, and the way of doing so, remains in the hands of the organization facilitating the design of the strategy.1. What are some key criteria for selecting one or various chains with which to work in the territory? 2. How can these criteria be classified according to their relative importance? Which one/ones is/are more important than the others, and why? 3. Once the criteria are identified, how can they be used to separate key chains from those of lesser importance? 4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using quantitative selection criteria and objectives compared with qualitative, more subjective ones for selecting a chain?Negotiation and design of the strategyAnalysis of production chainRural Agro-enterpriseCompetitive Strategies ° Market demand: How much market demand is there for the chain's product? Is the market for this product growing strongly or slowly, is it stable or diminishing? We recommend working with primary products that show strong or moderate market growth since this usually implies that the market can assimilate additional production. In the case of new products, a survey of intent to buy can be done to identify potential market size. 5 This decision should be taken based on reliable information; it is best to use information from recent market studies, or surveys made by private or state institutions. ° Product profitability: How profitable is the production or processing of this product? How does the product's profitability compare with what a bank pays on money in a savings account? Is it much higher, a little higher, the same, or less than the bank pays? Comparing the profitability of various products requires calculating the internal rate of return (IRR) for each, and then comparing the interest rate paid by the bank. We recommend working with products that more profitable than the bank's savings account interest rate, which is the opportunity cost for savings. However, this is not a hard and fast rule given than opportunity costs for labor tend to be low or non-existent in many rural areas. It is important that the product be sufficiently profitable for the producers at actual market prices, and that the market demand is sufficient to assimilate additional product without entering a state of oversupply and price declines.. ° Potential impact: How many families could benefit from a strategy to increase competitiveness in this chain? Will this strategy generate strong, medium, or low impact in terms of income for producers? What impact will this strategy have on least favored groups? On women as opposed to men? It is also important to ascertain if the strategy will generate rural farm or non-farm employment, and for whom. If the target population of the project or organization is a specific segment of the population (for example, small-scale producers, women, indigenous populations, youth, or others), it is important to ask ourselves if this group will be able to take advantage of the additional gains foreseen by the project. Working on strategies that present greater impact in terms of additional income in the zone is important, but without losing sight of the distribution of these benefits. Strategies with greater impact generate interest among possible participants and contribute to the business development of the territory as bring in additional profits instead of merely redistributing existing ones. ° Feasibility: Even thought a market demand exists, is it possible to produce this product in the territory given existing social, economic, and environmental conditions with the quality that the market demands? Is the production system for this product consistent with the sustainable natural resource management? The selection of chains that adapt to existing conditions and coincide with the facilitating organization's concept of natural resource management is recommended. If this is not the case, the facilitating organization should identify strategies to resolve feasibility limitations (for example, credit for installation costs of perennial crops such as fruits, simple systems of water harvest, micro-irrigation systems, or the identification of improved post harvest technologies). The existence of feasibility questions should not necessarily eliminate the product since solutions can be included as part of the activities to increase the chain's competitiveness. ° Existing business organization: What are the business organizations in the chain like? Are there formal or informal groups of producers, processors, or traders in this chain? How strong or weak are they in business terms? Is there coordination among them now, or was there in the past? In this criterion, care must be taken not to leave out informal actors and organizations such as local and regional traders and their networks of suppliers, who despite being informal, are business organizations that exist and function with some grade of effectiveness in the zone. This is not a matter of judging if they are \"good\" or \"bad\" organizations for the target population, but rather of identifying them as business organizations. ° Support agencies: Is there one or more support organizations associated with this chain? What services do they or could they offer to the chain? Are they willing to facilitate or participate in the design of a strategy to increase competitiveness? Again, it is important not to leave out the actors who are associated with the chain informally, in aspects of technology, credit, or technical assistance since they can facilitate or limit the design and implementation of the strategy.Each organization or group of organizations should develop their own selection criteria. These can range from the most elemental to the most technical in nature. If the facilitating organization has some pre-defined chains as part of its project, then there is little sense in having long discussions. However, it may be interesting to discuss the order in which of these chains will be worked on. On the other hand, if a decision is being made amongst various organizations with different criteria and work agendas, this exercise can be useful for defining a common agenda instead of each organization working on its own agenda in isolation. The decision to apply this part of the method and how to apply it is in the hands of the facilitating organization(s).If it is decided that it would be useful to prioritize among the various chains for the development of one or various strategies, then there are several methodological options ranging from simple (voting or discussion) to more complex (technical studies). Simple methodologies are quick, while technical methods permit more analysis and greater security in the decision made. A balance needs to be struck between subjectivity and objectivity that the participants feel comfortable with. It all depends on the needs of the facilitating organization. Generally, CIAT has applied more technical methods such as those described below.With the intention of developing individualized selection criteria, we recommend a brainstorming session. This exercise can be done internally within the facilitating organization or among various organizations if there is a committee for rural enterprise development or other territorial organization with this focus.The steps to follow in this process are:Identification of criteria (a) Select a facilitator who is capable of organizing the results. It is best to name two people, one as facilitator and the other to document the decisions and take notes on the process. (b) Ask each participant to write a list of three criteria in response to the question: \"What are the most important criteria for selecting a chain with which to work in our territory?\" Each answer should be recorded on a card (one criteria per card, in big letters, maximum three lines) and given to the facilitator. (c) The facilitator reads out each card and places it where it is visible to all participants (wall, floor, table, blackboard, etc.) without additional comments. Only clarifying questions are permitted at this time.Rural Agro-enterprise(d) Once all ideas have been read out, they are grouped by common themes. For example, all cards that are related to the theme of impact are put together on one corner of the wall. All those to do with profitability on another, etc. If some cards do not fit in any group, they are put aside for later revision. (e) The facilitator invites participants to revise each group of cards to see if one or more common criteria can be generated among them. At this point, it is useful to underline the common themes among the cards and look for a phrase or title that summarizes the cards. Once a summary phrase or title has been defined, it is placed on top of the group of cards on a new, differently colored card. This exercise is repeated until all the groups of cards have been revised. (f) When work with the groups of cards is finished, the different cards that were not initially classified are looked at again, to see if the idea is already in another group or if it is worthwhile including as a separate theme. (g) Once the themes are defined, there should be a list of selection criteria to apply to the chains of a given territory.At this point it is useful to review all the criteria selected and decide on which are the most critical for the decision making process. We recommend a list of three to four criteria with easily measurable indicators so as not to spend an excess amount of time on the chain selection process.Once the criteria are selected, the group moves to identify indicators and measure each one.Based on the list of criteria identified previously, the group proceeds to define indicators for each.For example, if of our criteria is potential impact, we define how impact will be measured (persons, families, communities, municipalities, etc.) and where the data will come from. If another of our criteria is profitability, then decisions must be made on how to measure profitability, which data to use, and with what to compare the profitability of the heading.Depending on the number of criteria and points of view, this process may take more or less time.The end product is a list of operational criteria with their respective forms of measurement and data sources.Using the list of criteria and their respective indicators, we proceed to prioritize criteria: Which is the most important of them all for us? Are chains that involve more producers of higher priority than those that are more profitable? Is it more important that the activity be sustainable in environmental terms, or profitable? This step gives a specific weight to each criterion with the purpose of enlarging the differences between the options, reducing the number of ties, and thus facilitating selection of chains. At the end of this process, we have arranged the criteria from the most to the least important, and each is assigned a score or weight. For example, if there are four criteria, the most important could have a weight of four points, the second of three, the third of two, the fourth a single point.Using the list of criteria with the indicators and sources of information, the final step is the construction of a selection tool. This tool can take the form of a decision tree (see example 1 below) or a simple weighted scoring matrix (see example 2 below). What is important is that the criteria are clear to all participants and that we have the necessary supporting data to take decisions. Once the tool is established, it is applied to all potential chains in a territory to see which are the most important for us.Rural Agro-enterpriseCompetitive StrategiesTo facilitate selection of chains among multiple options, agendas of support organizations, and interests of community groups, the Rural Agro-industrial Committee (RAI) of the Consorcio Interinstitucional para una Agricultura Sostenible en Laderas (CIPASLA) developed the decision tree presented in Figure 5. The objective was to compare a long list of chains with market opportunities, favorable conditions for production in the zone, and with some degree of interest or organization of producers. The development and implementation of the example presented in Figure 5 was a long process, as it required the agreement of four local NGOs, a governmental organization, and a producer association. The process was carried out in three 2-hour meetings and was useful for the members of the RAI. This decision tool was applied using the following criteria and measurements: each option studied received a score out of the total possible of 21 points. The criteria and measurements used were:The growth of market demand is organized in three categories: High -annual growth in demand above 6% Medium -annual growth in demand between 3% and 5% Low -annual growth in demand between 0% and 2%Note: In the case of CIPASLA, indicators on the level of growth of each product were taken from \"Market studies for products of small-scale producer economy of the zone of the Cabuyal River micro-watershed\". An organization is interested in associating with producers in the process of strengthening the chain.The crop or product exists in the zone, and thus is known by local producers.For each product identified with market options, and of interest to CIPASLA partner organizations or producers, relevant information was collected for each point above. Once the information was completed, possible points for each criterion were assigned, and total points generated for each product. To select the products for which to first elaborate strategies to increase competitiveness, scores were compared to identify those that best responded to the criteria of the RAI of CIPASLA.Example 2 -Simple weighted scoring matrix 6Another way to implement a decision-making process using the criteria identified is to use a weighted scoring matrix as shown in the following example. This system seeks to combine a simple scoring system with the relative importance of the selected criteria for a more targeted decision-making process. In this example, Product B actually has a higher overall score but when the weighted criteria are applied, Product A is better.This module has presented some criteria that have been useful for selecting chains within a territory. The identification of prioritized chains is the first step for proceeding with the analysis of the chain and the design of a strategy to increase competitiveness. At the end of the exercise, instead of having many chains to work with simultaneously, the facilitating organization or work group should have a few chains selected according to their own selection criteria. Once the work menu is defined, the remaining steps of the methodology of strategies to increase competitiveness can begin to be developed.The selection of one or several prioritized chains using methodologies such as those described in the previous module allows us to focus our efforts on a few chains with good potential for change in accordance with the interests of the facilitating organization or working group. Once the chains are identified, we need to assess whether on not the necessary information is available for analysis. As a first step we recommend reviewing market and product information. Who is the client for this product? What ranges of quality are acceptable to the buyer?To answer these and other queries, we recommend revising existing data of market tendencies or carrying out a rapid survey with known or potential buyers of the product. This phase of the method seeks to place the process on a firm footing with reliable market data, and at the same time identify and get to know the clients of the product or products. Likewise, it is a good opportunity to invite key clients to participate in the analysis of the chain and the elaboration of the strategy to increase competitiveness.A rapid market survey should not be confused with a complete market study, but rather understood to be a short exercise that permits identification of certain key aspects of the market(s) for the chain's product(s). Specific key information is sought that helps in decision-making. The required information can be divided between data about the buyer, the product itself, and other specific observations defined prior to the survey. What is important is to clearly define what information is needed to make business along the chain more dynamic, evaluate the possibility of establishing new business with key buyers, and permit the definition of possible strategic buyers for the chain .7This section presents a simplified version of a rapid market survey. For a complete explanation on identifying market opportunities, consult: Ostertag, C.F. 1999. 1. Why is it useful to have up to date market information for the chain's products before beginning the analysis? 2. What information is it useful to have about the product or products, the market, the rules of the game, and the buyers? 3. How can we generate reliable information on the market in a quick and efficient way? 4. What decisions can be made based on up to date market information, and what implications do these have for elaborating a strategy to increase competitiveness?Negotiation and design of the strategyRural Agro-enterpriseThe basic data needed about the clients are:-Name -Location (exact address, city, department, etc.) -Contact information (telephone, fax, cellular phone, electronic mail, etc.) -Type of client (trader, supermarket, restaurant, hotel, institution) -What other products are boughtThe data required about the product are:-Description of the product and its presentation (weight, packaging, etc.) -Legal requirements for selling the product (sanitary registration, bar codes, packaging, legalized invoices, etc.) -Product price and form of payment (cash, credit, for how many days) -Price paid for the product -Volume of the product required by the client -Frequency of product delivery (dates, periods, etc.) -Site of product delivery (at the buyer's site, on the farms, etc.)In addition to these data, we can ascertain whether the client is interested in new suppliers of the product, whether s/he is interested in participating in more strategic long-term relations with groups of producers, or whether s/he wants other products that could be of interest for the territory. At this time, it is important to identify clients with whom a commercial relation can be achieved. This process goes beyond simply saying \"market demand exists\" to identifying people with whom the chain's producers can negotiate. If there are clients who express reservations about working with small-scale producers, for example, finding others who are more flexible in this sense is recommended. 8 The simplest and quickest way of performing a market survey is by means of structured or semistructured interviews with the clients. These interviews should be designed beforehand and the facilitating organization can carry them out either with producers, extensionists, students, or any other suitable group. The complexity of the surveys and the requirements for the survey takers vary according to the market. For a local market, the producers themselves, or secondary school or university students, can carry out the survey. However, for an urban market, far from where producers live, we recommend organizing a mixed group of producers, extensionists from the facilitating organization, and students for carrying out the survey. Regardless of the selected market, it is highly recommended to include several of the chain's key producers or processors since these are in a good position to diffuse survey results to their neighbors and acquaintances, and thus firmly establish bases for later changes in the technology or product.If the actors hope to use the survey results to motivate changes in the form of production or product quality, it is useful to gather graphic evidence of the visits to the market and the products seen using photography or video for later demonstration to other chain actors. Sometimes, being able to clearly show the differences between the quality of one product and another, or a new form of packaging, is enough to motivate a change in the chain's actors.For a full discussion on the theme of methodologies, consult Ostertag (2000).To perform a rapid survey, a group of market researchers (or facilitators) is formed. This group should participate in the design of the tool and the questions to make sure they understand both clearly. Once the survey tool is designed, it should be tested with local actors to: (a) verify that the information sought is obtained; (b) identify possible gaps, and (c) ascertain that the survey can be carried out in a reasonable time. Likewise, the forms that will be used for recording the data should be tested, and their ease of use verified. When the tools are ready, groups of researchers are formed to perform the survey, and each is assigned tasks. 9Several research teams can carry out the survey in a single day, or a lesser number can do so over a longer period. Given that markets are not static, it is important to carry out the surveys in a timely fashion; within 1 to 2 weeks at most is better in terms of capturing easily comparable data.If the selected market is large, an urban center for example, it is best divided amongst several groups of researchers. At the end of the day it is useful for the groups to meet to review results, compare notes and decide how to manage any difficulties.Once the survey is complete, results should be documented as soon as possible. There are many ways of documenting and systematizing survey results, what is important is to choose a format that permits a useful comparison, and that makes sense to the participants. Information to be included in the format can include:-Name of the company or client -Location and contact information -Quantity of the product bought by day, week, month, or year -Means of delivery of the product (with or without processing) and required packaging (bag, basket, tray, etc.) -Present source of the product being bought and present suppliers -Prices and form of payment -Special requirements (health registration, bar codes, etc.) -Possibility selling to this client In the case of chains that include multiple products, it is useful to generate a table for each product. For example, if we are gathering market information for a dairy chain, we can identify buyers for fresh milk, pasteurized milk, cheese, yogurt and other sub-products. Each specific product has different characteristics that are important to identify. Table 5 presents an example format that has been used in the past for this type of survey. 9 These groups can be composed of a single person, or up to three or four persons. According to CIAT experience, groups of from two to four persons are best since it is difficult for a single person to interview and document answers at the same time, while large groups tend to intimidate those being interviewed. The results of the survey are useful in various ways. First, they allow us to meet clients of the chain, which facilitates selecting those who will participate in the elaboration of the strategy as representatives of the marketing link. Second, they help identify which buyers are more open to collaboration with the chain's other members, and where they are located. Third, the results give an indication of the actual volume of the product that enters the market; this fact is important, to know how much of the product the market is presently absorbing and at what price (a rough proxy for product demand). In the same way, clients can be asked at what price they would be prepared to buy more of the product.The survey results give us a clear idea on product delivery and the form of payment presently used. Based on this information, the differences between the quality of our product or its packaging and existing market norms can be identified. Also, it is possible to revise the mechanisms of payment managed by the clients, analyze which is the most favorable for the chain's producers, and what would be the implications of beginning negotiations with different types of buyers. 10 Also, based on the survey, clients can be classified according to the possibility of selling to them or their strategic value for the chain. Some useful criteria in this exercise can be the volume that each client manages, the segment s/he attends, the use s/he gives to the product 11 , the price s/he pays or is prepared to pay, and disposition (or not) to establish strategic relations with other members of the chain. At this time, it is important to make sure that information generated covers the market(s) in which we hope to work.Finalizing the process of information and market contacts, the organization or facilitating group should have clear:-Who the clients of the chain's product(s) are.-Where they are located and how to contact them.-What the rules of the game that govern the market and its most important segments.-What quality of product is required for the diverse segments of the market.-Which of the clients should participate, directly or indirectly, in the design of a strategy to increase competitiveness.In this module, we reviewed the principal reasons for carrying out a rapid market survey if we do not have access to up to date data on the products and markets with which to work. A short list of the key data to collect regarding clients, product characteristics, form of payment and other strategic themes was discussed. Finally, some simple methods, forms of documenting the results, and their usefulness for a strategy to increase competitiveness were mentioned. In the next module, we will proceed to identify the key actors and design strategies to convene them for the strategy's elaboration.A good evaluation of the requirements and rules of the game that reign in different segments of the market is useful. At times a \"good\" market turns out to be not so good when these factors are analyzed. A concrete case is the supermarkets that tend to extend payments to their suppliers for 30 days or more, and at the same time discount money for product not sold. At the outset, their prices and volumes are favorable, but it may not be the most profitable segment for small-scale producers.11If clients exist that use the product in different forms (for example, the extraction of essential oils from aromatic plants) it is important to take them into account. Sometimes these non-traditional businesses have greater possibilities of growth and demand for strategic relations than the traditional channels. Furthermore, because of being relatively new, there is possibly less competition in these segments.Up to this point in the guide we have covered two preparatory steps for elaborating a strategy to increase competitiveness: selecting the chain in which to work and generating or systematizing specific market and product information. In this module, we will cover the final step of preparation prior to analyzing the chain. In this section, various important points related to the identification of key actors, a strategy for convening them, and the organization of workshops for the strategy's elaboration will be covered. At the end of this module, the facilitating organization will be ready to convene the participants and elaborate a participative analysis of the selected chain.The identification of key actors has two basic steps: (1) an analysis by each functional category of the chain, and (2) an analysis within each functional category. The first step seeks to identify the chain's general participants by functional category (production, post harvest management, processing, marketing, provision of business development services), locate them geographically, and obtain some data about them. Results from this step include a list of actors (people, groups, companies, etc.) by function. Based on this information, each functional category is reviewed to assess if we can deal with all actors as single group or if they must be further divided based on social, gender, economic, geographic, technological or other criteria. The differentiation of the actors constitutes the second step for their identification.1. Who are the key actors in the chain that should be consulted for their point of view? 2. Are there important differences between actors that participate in the same link of the chain ? What are they? Why do they exist? 3. Why is it useful to differentiate the actors along the chain? What are some advantages or disadvantages of doing this? 4. Which actors have the capacity to lead processes of innovation in the chain? Which factors are important for promoting lasting changes in the chain?Negotiation and design of the strategyRural Agro-enterpriseCompetitive Strategies 36The identification of actors by functional category is based on Figure 3 (from Module 2), repeated here.Actors are grouped by the following functions:-Production -actors whose functions are directly related with basic agricultural production, including input provision, for elaborating the chain's product(s). This category can include pre-production, production, harvest, or extractive activities.-Post harvest and processing -actors whose functions are directly related with post harvest management (cleaning, sorting, packaging) or its processing into value added products (for example, processing milk into cheese, sugarcane into panela, or other types of processing). These activities may be in the hands of individual actors or rural or urban companies, within or outside the territory. -Marketing -actors whose functions are related to the chain's product(s). In general, these actors move the product from the territory to the end markets (as traders), but wholesalers located in urban centers can also be included. Various marketing actors can be involved depending on the geographic extension of the chain under analysis. -Providers of business development services -individual actors, organizations, or companies that offer business development services to the chain. The services offered by these actors can be tangible (transport, machinery, storage, among others) or intangible (technical assistance, training, etc.), and formal (NGOs, state agencies, companies, etc.) or informal (transporters, local traders, other farmers, etc.)In operational terms, actors can be identified through brainstorming with a small group that knows the chain . At this point, an exhaustive list of the actors is not needed, but rather an idea of key actors for each functional category. If the participants do not have much information on some functional categories, then interviews may be necessary to generate reliable data about the actors in this part of the chain .At the end of this process, results can be documented in a table such as Table 6. For each actor typology identified, a brief description with the most salient points can be prepared including the number of actors in this category, their social, ethnic or gender characteristics, their leadership in the chain, their capacity to assume risks and innovate or other relevant criteria. Box three contains a brief example of an actor typology.INSERT TRADER EXAMPLE FROM SANTA CRUZ DE TURRIALBA HERE (see page 34 SNV guide for example)The objective of this exercise is not to complicate the selection process of participants, but rather to verify that groups representative of the all chain functions are included. The main justification for this is to assure that we will receive the most complete view possible of the chain as it now stands. If, for example, we only include processors using modern technology, the identified problems and support options will be adequate for them, but not for the other processors that use more rudimentary technology. The same occurs with the geographic location of the chain actors; hillside producers, for example, commonly face different problems than do low land producers. Indeed there are probably differences between the hillside areas located at different altitudes.What is important is to assure that all groups expected to participate in chain analysis and in the final strategy are identified and included to correctly identify limitations and construct adequate solutions for their diverse conditions.Once the chain's actors are identified and analyzed, a group of them is selected to design the strategy to increase competitiveness. It is neither necessary nor desirable to convene all of the actors, but rather to choose a subgroup of strategic actors for this process. The definition of strategic depends on the objectives of the strategy. If we are seeking to improve the links of small-scale hillside producers with an intermediate urban market, and finally with various export companies, then strategic actors should be selected from each of these groups.For the selection of these actors, two general criteria have been useful: (1) that they are interested in participating, and (2) they have the capacity to improve the chain. The second criteria is important since it leads us to analyze which of the actors can influence the chain most rapidly. This means including powerful actors, sometimes known as chain \"captains\" in the exercise. These persons and companies exercise diverse forms of influence on the chain. For example, a producer or group of producers that has experience in developing innovative production technologies can have quite a lot of influence on how production occurs. In the same way, a processing company that is interested in new forms of product presentation, developing new products for the market, or entering an alliance with producers can have great influence. The final buyers of the product have purchasing power, and if they participate can facilitate rapid and lasting changes in the relations between other actors. Finally, the support organizations (including the one that facilitates the chain analysis) have negotiating power with the diverse actors. Often, this power is used to negotiate better terms of exchange between the different actors, and at the same time verify that all are complying with what was agreed on. In this sense, all of the identified actors are reviewed and the most appropriate selected for the exercise.A common error is to try and involve everyone. Provided that good representation of the different actors exists, there is no benefit to having a larger number of participants. In practice, almost always producers are the most numerous participants, followed by processors and support organizations. The group that least participates in workshops, but not in the implementation of the strategy, tends to be the traders or buyers. Provided that there is adequate representation for each Rural Agro-enterpriseCompetitive Strategies 39 group of people who know the chain, the total number of participants should not be a cause for concern.The organization of workshops with identified actors for mapping the chain, identification, and analysis of problems and of final negotiation are the principal form of obtaining information, discussing difficulties, seeking possible solutions, and achieving agreements among the actors. Therefore, the adequate organization of these spaces is important. Main factors to keep in mind are: explaining the process of elaborating a strategy to increase competitiveness, the site and the time needed for each workshop and for the whole process, the expected results and benefits, and the use of the results. Each factor is described below.At the start of the first workshop or informative meeting, it is important to explain to participants why increased competitiveness is important, how the process will function, who will participate at what times, and the expected results and benefits. This can be done using a flipchart or other communication technique. Highlighting that this process seeks synergies among actors is important to clarify that the process does not intend to exclude actors, but rather to improve the overall functioning of the chain.Once the process is clarified, we recommend a round of presentations. There are many ways of doing this. Choosing a method that promotes contacts along the chain (for example, producers with traders, and processors with support organizations) is recommended. Mainly, the idea is to show to the group who the participants are, their role in the chain , and what their expectations or interests are in the process.The elaboration of the strategy to increase competitiveness requires various spaces for group work, plus a central site where all participants can be brought together. Depending on the number of participants, these spaces may be at one site (different rooms or corners of a large room) or in several. The following steps of the method explain when to do group work and when to hold plenary sessions. If separate sites are used for different actors, we recommend that they be close by so as to facilitate plenary sessions.The methods described in this guide require time. It is important to clarify with the participants how much time is needed, and how much time they are prepared to invest; also, it is important to organize the workshops so that they adapt to the time the participants have available, which in practice, may imply working in the afternoon or night or over weekends.At the start, it is a good idea to explain what the expected outputs are. Generally, these results seek to increase the chain's competitiveness, but it may be that the facilitating organization wishes to highlight additional benefits for the chain actors; for example, explaining to those that offer business development services that the results can be used to present funding proposals to improve the chain, or to the traders that results will include shared quality criteria along the chain.From the start it is necessary to make clear that the results of this process will be shared among the participants, may form part of future projects, and form the basis for negotiation at the end of Rural Agro-enterpriseCompetitive Strategies 40 the process. If there are any concerns in this regard, it is good to clarify them at this time or achieve specific agreements about the use of the information. At the end of each stage of the process, systematized results should be shared with all participants in a timely fashion.Given that most of the information comes from the chain actors, their contributions must be recognized in whatever document or presentation comes out of the process. The facilitating organization should be recognized for its work, but it must be remembered that the real owners of the information are the chain actors themselves.Elaborating a strategy to increase competitiveness usually requires four 6-hour workshops, organized over 3 or 4 months, depending on the availability of the actors. These workshops cover chain analysis, identification limiting factors, proposed solutions to these, and negotiation among the chain actors for the final strategy. Table 8 shows a time line used by an NGO in Colombia.Table 8. Time line of design workshops for a strategy to increase competitiveness. The main sources of primary information on the chain are the actors themselves. However, it is probable that some chain actors do not participate in the workshops because of their business activities or interests. Therefore, the facilitating organization must think of other ways of collecting their points of view and information. Some techniques that have been of use for CIAT are: interviews (semi-structured and structured), visits, and focus groups. The participation of all strategic actors in the final negotiation sessions is critical as this is where actions to improve the chain are negotiated and defined.As well as primary information from chain actors, secondary information contained in reports, books, or other available documents about the chain is useful. In the case of secondary information, it is important to share and validate this information with participants in the workshops.Rural Agro-enterpriseBy the end of this module, the facilitating organization will have identified chain actors by functional category, ascertained if it is necessary to differentiate among sub-groups in each functional category, selected strategic actors for strategy design, and organized the details of the workshops. The next module explains the first step of chain analysis: the mapping of the chain .To reach this stage of the method, potential chains were reviewed and one selected, existing market data organized and complement and a group of strategic chain actors selected and convened. This module explains how to begin the analysis of the chain by forming working groups and the application of some tools: the mapping of the chain , identification of business development services offered, and the construction of a brief history of the chain. Each tool is explained in detail in the following pages. Prior to beginning chain analysis, criteria for the analysis of complex systems should be reviewed and appropriate working groups formed.The method described in this field guide engages the diverse actors along the chain. Given that each group of actors plays a distinct role in the system, they tend to have different points of view about the limiting factors and opportunities that affect the chain. This diversity is positive, since a chain is a complex system where actors know their part of the system well, but do not necessarily comprehend other aspects or the overall picture. The effective analysis of complex systems requires the application of some simple criteria.Given the diversity of roles along the chain, actors have different points of view. The producers know a lot about what happens on the farms (production difficulties, pests, varieties, yields, etc.), but progressively less as the product leaves their community or goes into processing processes. Actors who are concerned with post harvest processes, equally, know a lot about this theme, but know less about production or marketing. And so it follows with the actors involved in marketing the product or products of the chain; they may have general knowledge about the entire chain but1. What are some important criteria for analyzing complex systems such as chains? 2. Why can it be useful to divide chain actors into differentiated groups to analyze the system? 3. What are some techniques that permit us to generate a common language and understanding around the chain? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the use of participative tools to this end? 4. What can we better understand by mapping the chain, and what not? Is there additional information that is difficult to capture in this way? Why? 5. Why is understanding the business development services offered along the chain important? What important information can we collect in this area? 6. What can we learn by carrying out a historic analysis of chain development over the last few years? When might this be useful and when not? When is an extensive and formal revision necessary, and when is a rapid analysis sufficient?Negotiation and design of the strategyRural Agro-enterpriseCompetitive Strategies possess more complete and profound information about the aspects that directly concern them. Finally, support actors ought to be knowledgeable, in theory, the entire chain . However, in practice, it is common to find that they also have specific focuses according to their objectives or capacities. 13 To overcome the compartmentalization of information requires listening attentively to the voices of diverse actors along the chain. All have valuable information about their particular activities and can contribute general data about the whole system. However, no one, including the technical actors, is knowledgeable about the chain in its entirety.If it is accepted that all the actors are partly correct, then a process of triangulation is useful to understand the larger picture of the chain. What is triangulation? It can be understood as a relation between three or more persons who are examining something in particular. Each one can see a part of the object, but not all of it. If we ask them to draw the object, we get three points of view that need to be combined into the full picture of the object. Each one sees the system from their perspective, and therefore can describe what they see or experience, but is partially blind to the realities of the other actors. To have a more complete picture then, all the points of view must be combined-or triangulated-as shown in Figure 6. In practice, triangulation implies combining and contrasting data from various viewpoints. It is common to find that actors describe diverse issues from their viewpoint, but when these are reviewed, they turn out to be part of the same problem. For example, producers tend to talk of low prices for their products, while processors and traders talk of the problems of quality and continuous supply. All are describing the same problem (lack of information on what to produce, when and how) from their own points of view. When data from diverse actors is compared and contrasted relationships become clear and solutions that benefit the chain as a system, and not a specific group of actors are evident.13 For example, many NGOs have an explicit focus towards specific populations (small-scale producers, rural women, youth, indigenous, etc.) or one or other link of the chain (technical assistance or credit in production, access to transformation technology or storage of the product for marketing). The same occurs with informal support actors. The valuable thing about these actors is their profound knowledge of certain aspects of the chain, and their capacities to support it in some way.Actor ARural Agro-enterpriseManaging power relationships In a complex system with multiple actors it is common to find unequal power relationships. Some feel comfortable talking to outsiders, and others will not speak more than necessary. Likewise, some actors have formal education, or economic resources, etc. The diverse implications of power in relationships can fill multiple sociological studies, but is also important for a strategy to increase competitiveness.In chain analysis, technicians and men with a certain degree of formal or informal education speak easily from the start. While these actors may have valuable knowledge to share, they tend to dominate the scene, obscuring the others (persons with little or no education, youth, women, ethnic minorities, etc.). As a result, only part of chain reality is heard. How do we manage these power relations to ensure more equitable participation among diverse chain actors?While many methods exist, experience has shown that the formation of separate groups to map the chain, analyze business development services, and review chain history is useful. With separate groups different points of view are heard more clearly, and the final strategy to increase competitiveness will be more complete and firmly grounded. This practice implies separating producers, processors, traders, and those offering business development services into different groups. In addition, if there are important sub-groups within each functional category (as previously identified in Module 6) it may be necessary to have them work separately as well. This is especially important if the strategy focuses on a specific population group (small-scale producers with certain characteristics, groups of women, old or young people, ethnic minorities, etc.), since the problems and solutions analyzed, should correspond to the focal group and not to other actors in the chain.Initial working groups are formed based on the functional categories in the chain. Those who are involved in production are grouped, the same as those involved in post harvest management or processing, marketing, and business development services. Once grouped, a decision is made whether the organization of subgroups to capture diverse geographic, social, technological, class, ethnic, age or gender viewpoints is needed. These decisions can be discussed with participants so that all are clear about the different groups and their objectives. Figure 7 shows this process.Once the working groups are formed, the exercises are explained. When everyone is clear about what to do, each group should work separately on the exercises without the intervention of the other actors. This process is much easier if all the work locations are in the same zone.Rural Agro-enterprise The tools used for chain analysis are mapping, identification of business development services offered, and chain history. The most important of these are mapping and the identification of supply and demand for business development services. The review chain development is an optional step that provides useful information for analysis. On the following pages, the objective of each tool, time required for its use, necessary materials, steps, facilitating questions, and examples are provided.Visualize product flows, business development services, and inputs along the chain, from primary production to sale to wholesalers, from diverse points of view.About 2½ hours in total. One hour for the elaboration of the maps by each group, 1 hour for the socialization and construction of a consolidated map, and one half hour for identifying and filling gaps in the information.This exercise can be carried out using flipcharts and markers, blackboards and chalk, or even on the floor with local materials. What is important is to describe the flow of the product in such a way that all the actors can see and discuss it.Small producersFormal organizationsSeperation by functional categoriesRural Agro-enterpriseCompetitive StrategiesWhat is the form of payment in each stage of the chain? What are the quality requirements? What is the buying frequency? How are relations between chain actors? Are they happy with the existing relationships? Why or why not?If the facilitating organization has more specific questions, these can be included in the final facilitation tool, making the necessary adaptations so that they are of maximum help in visualizing and understanding the chain. Additional tools can be combined with the mapping exercise to document specific information of interest to the participants and the facilitating organization. One example is that of gender analysis where the relative roles of women, men and children can be analyzed along the chain in the various productive activities. A more complete analysis in this sense could examine not only roles and responsibilities but also access to resources, knowledge and gendered decision-making by chain actors.If, at the end of the exercise, there are parts of the chain with major gaps, it is probable that we have left out one or more key actors in these functional categories. A strategy to elicit and include their points of view is needed.  Rural Agro-enterpriseAn important aspect that does not appear to be set down on the map is the question of quality. In this case, the importance of quality was raised in the map interview done by the facilitator. In this example, traders, exporting firms and support organizations did not participate actively. As a result, gaps remain that must be filled through workshops, focal groups, or semi-structured interviews with the missing actors.The map gives information about the production system at the farm level in the Municipality of Sulaco. Here, we can see the average production per manzana 16 of land, the cost of depulping the coffee (2.5 Lempiras 17 per liter of coffee), and the use of the final product.In the map interview, what gaps need to be clarified?Existence of depulping machined in the zone (Do people usually pay for this service?) Number of coffee farms in the zone, total hectares in production (approximately) or volume of coffee produced.Sometimes it is easier to find this data with intermediaries who, for example, have good knowledge of production volumes, or with support organizations that manage more formal data such as extension, yields, and average costs.Nevertheless, it is important to ascertain what producers know about the activity since these data tend to be more accurate and up to date than most \"official\" figures.The map helps us appreciate Sulaco's system of coffee marketing. The data included are: (a) price of production per load of coffee, (b) traders' purchase price, (c) names of local traders with an indication of which ones are most important, (d) sales price to regional traders, (e) names of regional traders with an indication of which is the most important, (f) final destination of the coffee -San Pedro Sula, and (g) names of the export firms known by producers.This exercise provides key information to plan future research activities, such as semi-structured interviews with the local and regional traders and visits to export firms in San Pedro Sula.What are the gaps in this information that must be filled?Prices between Yoro and the export firms and the price of Honduran coffee in international markets. The use of \"futures\" by local traders to guarantee volume at favorable prices. Who provides the funding for this? Local traders or regional traders? What are the advantages or disadvantages of this system for the actors involved?The support lent by intermediaries to producers (services provided, costs, volumes, and frequency)It is interesting to note that the support system, both formal and informal, appears clearly defined.In this case, producers receive formal assistance (technical assistance, training, and some credit) from public and private firms (see Figure 8 top right-hand corner), while business support (marketing, transport, inputs, and advances of working capital through future purchases) come from traders.In the case of the traders, a more complex, two-way relationship is shown, than with support organizations. In this space, what data are missing?Information on the actual relationships between traders and producers. Is it a stable relationship, or do producers feel exploited? What is the real flow of funds like in this relationship? The trader advances resources, but what is the final cost of these resources for the producer? More details on the relations between local and regional traders. As well as buying the coffee, what role does the regional trader play? More information on the business development services provided by support organizations. Are they efficient, of good quality, sufficient? Does everyone have access to these services? Do they respond to producers' needs?It is interesting to note the map was generated in a relatively short amount of time (less than 1 hour) by a group of small-scale producers. At the same time, other, less complete maps were generated by other groups. After reviewing all maps, it was decided to use this one as the base map for the analysis of the coffee chain in Yorito and Sulaco. Another interesting point is the level of detail (names, for example) that appears for the informal actors. This contact information is of great use to identify key sources of information for follow-up work.To make a simple list of business development services that exist along the chain and to qualify their quality and identify gaps susceptible to future improvements.About 2 hours in total; 1 hour for identifying, describing, and qualifying the services by functional category, and another hour for socializing the results and comparing them amongst the groups.This exercise can be done using flipcharts and markers, blackboards and chalk, or even on the floor with local materials. What is important is to describe the services supplied and received in such a way that all the actors can see and discuss them.Continuing with the same groups used for mapping, proceed examine supply and demand of formal and informal business development services in each function of the chain. The groups of producers, processors, and traders analyze their respective links based on results of the mapping, while the business development service providers look specifically at the services they supply.After about 1 hour of working in groups, results are revised in a plenary session, and matrices are generated of supply and demand in each functional category.It is important to make a special effort to include informal service suppliers since they are more difficult to identify. Examples of informal suppliers of services include: farmer extensionists or smallholders with additional knowledge on production themes; metalworking shops that make or repair agricultural or simple processing machinery; workshops that rent out machinery for The basic questions for facilitating this exercise with the groups of producers, processors, and traders are:-Who supplies services to this link in the chain? -What services are supplied? -What cost does this service have? -How useful is this service? Does it solve your problem?The results can be organized in the following matrix (Table 9). In the case of suppliers of the service, useful questions include:-What services are supplied to each link in the chain (production, post harvest, processing, marketing, business organization)? -Who are the clients of the service? -What portion of the service cost does the service client cover? What portion is covered by other sources (donor or state subsidy)? -How effective is the service? Does it manage to solve the problems of the client? -How much does it cost to supply the service?Results can be organized in a matrix such as the one shown below (Table 10). This methodology was applied to a dairy chain in the Municipality of Guamote, Ecuador, with the following results (Tables 11 and 12).  There are various ways of arranging the identified problems. If the group is relatively homogeneous in terms of participation (no single person dominates the group), and if it has a limited number of problems (8 maximum), the double-entry matrix tool described below can be used. If there is a marked tendency for one or more persons to influence the decisions of the group, or a large number of problems, it is better to opt for a secret vote to capture more clearly the opinion of the group and not just that of the most vocal members.A pair wise ranking process uses a matrix where the identified problems are placed in identical rows and columns as seen in the following example (see Table 14). Based on this example, work proceeds in the following fashion: (1) identical themes are not compared (financial against financial, for example) and each pair will be compared once only (for this reason only half will be filled in); (2) the facilitator asks, \"between access to funds and access to inputs, which should be solved first?;(3) the group discusses the question in an attempt to reach a consensus; (4) the answer is written on the card and the group proceeds to the next pair of problems; (5) notes should be taken on the rationale behind the decision (why are pastures more critical than access to funds, for example). The logic behind the decisions is sometimes more illustrative than the decision itself. Depending on the group, this exercise takes between 30 and 45 minutes.At the end of the exercise you should have something similar to the following matrix (Table 15).Complete example of a pair wise ranking exercise.In addition to providing a more profound understanding of a chain's problematic, problem trees can be useful for identifying possible solutions. Causes can be translated into objectives or activities of a project with the central limitation as the general objective, while effects become either indicators of progress or impact. Figure 12 explains this process.Using the problems tree to identify solutions.If the problem tree has been carefully elaborated -with clear logical links between the different levels -this process should be relatively simple. If it is difficult to translate problems into objectives, the tree's logic should be revised to find gaps or inconsistencies.To facilitate this exercise, ask the participants to put the negative points in the problems tree into a positive expression that is placed in the solution tree. It is easier to begin with the central limitation and move downwards (that is to say, change the causes into specific objectives or into activities), and then repeat the process upwards translating direct effects into progress and impact indicators. Given that most chains contribute to economic aspects of livelihoods, it is difficult to maintain total causality at this step. If we to know specifically how much a chain contributes to a particular livelihood strategy, this requires further analysis with chain participants and the use of complementary livelihood analysis tools.Figure 13 shows the objectives tree that emerges from the problem tree example shown previously. Prior to designing a strategy to increase competitiveness, it is useful to compare key competitive aspects of the chain with other chains with similar products. This process is known as benchmarking. The chains selected for comparison may be direct competitors -i.e. in the same markets or market segments -or indirect competitors -i.e. in other markets or market segments. If a related chain serving a more attractive market segment can be found, this is a good point of reference as it can show chain actors how close or far they are from being able to enter a potentially more lucrative market segment. If no such chain exists, comparing key competitive variables with the direct competition is useful.  With a general solution tree, a simple benchmarking exercise and a brief prospective analysis for a chain ready we can advance to the design of a strategy to increase competitiveness. A useful first step at this stage is the design of a logical path. A logical path is nothing more than the organization of the specific objectives in chronological order, plus the definition of a common vision of the future for the chain. Why is this step important? Principally because one or more of the specific objectives facilitates, drives or is a prerequisite for other more complex changes planned for the chain. A logical path helps build consensus on where to focus limited resources to achieve the greatest possible impact in the shortest amount of time.The facilitation of the process is an exercise in logic. Based on the general solution tree, the general objective is defined and the specific objectives are placed on cards and read out to remind all participants of them. Next, the central limitation is placed at the left end of the workspace and the general objective at the right thus showing both where we are and where we hope to end up. The participants are then asked to define in few words both extremes bearing in mind the results of the benchmarking study and the selected future scenario. How can we describe our current situation? How can we describe where we hope to arrive? These ideas are noted on cards and placed below each extreme. At this point, it is recommendable to focus more on the right-hand extreme-commonly known as the vision-to clearly define a desired future for the chain. The vision can be a few lines or a paragraph, what is important is to pick up the feelings of the participants, place them in a concrete timeframe (within 5 years, for example), and define measurable or verifiable changes. Depending on the size of the group, it can be useful to workinitially in subgroups, with each subgroup responsible for generating some words or short key phrases for the chain's future. Then the facilitators collect all the contributions and construct a shared future vision.Once the two extremes are clear, the specific objectives from the objective tree are reviewed to identify a logical order for their implementation. Facilitators can use phrases such as, \"starting from where we are now we hope to reach our desired future in 5 years by achieving the following objectives, which one or ones come first? Is there one objective or several whose achievement would leverage important changes in the others? Are there objectives that depend on others? Where do we begin, and why? These questions tend to generate debate amongst the participants. In CIAT's experience, at the end of the debate one or two objectives with the potential to catalyze change tend to emerge. These specific objectives are placed a little to the right of the central limitation previously identified.The process continues with the placement of the other specific objective in a logical pattern flowing from right to left until all the specific objectives have been placed between the two ends, as shown in Figure 14. Once the objectives are logically organized, activities and results are defined for each objective. At this stage, the logical path clearly identifies the key entry point or points followed by additional linked objectives to guide the chain to the desired future (Figure 15).Complete, simple logical path with actions and results.In few words, where are we? Description of desired future situation. In few words, where do we want to be?Objective 1Objective 2Objective 3In few words, where are we?In few words, where do we want to be? In most cases, however, reality is much less logical and linear than Figure 15. In these cases, the logical path can be represented with diverse parallel objectives that are necessary prerequisites for others further ahead. The objective of this exercise is to generate a graphic navigation chart that is understood by all participants in the strategy to increase competitiveness. An example of a more complete version of a logical path appears in Figure 16.  In few words, where are we?In few words, where do we want to be? • Enterprises collect and process an average of 200 L •Enterprises manage to widen their client base through new purchasing agreements •Enterprises manage to place all their production on the market• Production of feed for cattle has been increased and diversified (green forage, proteins, harvest subproducts, etc.) •There are sustainable production systems in pilot phase. •Production losses and morta due to parasite incidence and other diseases are reduced.•Production of milk / animal / day has been increased. Include copies of the general limitation tree and the general solution tree with ranked limitations and their analysis. If discussions are anticipated, it may be useful to have all the problems trees generated available.Include a copy of the logical path generated for the chain with its respective activities and results.In addition, give credit to for data collection and analysis to participants and facilitators in the workshops in the summary document.We recommend providing this technical document with participants in the negotiation workshop ahead of time so that they can review the contents. It is also useful to kick off the workshop with a brief presentation highlighting the most important results from the diagnostic process. This aspect is important as some of the actors present in the negotiation workshop may have been absent from the previous workshops, but are key to resolving the chain's difficulties.Objectives -Share and discuss the chain diagnosis with a representative group of chain actors.-Identify key critical points among the different actors.-Negotiate possible alliances and collective actions (between more than one actor) to resolve key critical points.The following steps are recommended for the negotiation workshop. Each organization should revise their applicability for their conditions, and adapt or change them according to their best criteria. Mixing these steps with social activities focused on building better relationships between actors is recommended.At the start, the problems found in the chain can be shared by each group of actors. An easy way of communicating this information is by means of a matrix where the functional categories of the chain appear with the points of view of the different actors as shown in Table 18. This matrix should be adapted to the chain's needs since the problem probably will not be as general as post harvest management, but rather something more specific such as \"lack of adequate packaging material\".Facilitating notes -The information needs to be presented to the actors in an easily understandable and comparable way according to the rank that each group has given the problem. If different actors have used different terms to refer to the same problem it is important that either all the terms appear (so that everyone can clearly see their point of view represented), or else a short phrase that attempts to pick up the essence of the problem. If the second option is selected, the facilitator of the meeting must explain where the phrase comes from, and that this intends to reflect the terms used by the participants. -It is a good idea to leave a space for the participants to provide feedback on the diagnostic by giving their opinions and clarifying points that are confusing. -It is important to emphasize not so much the diversity of viewpoints, which will certainly occur, but rather common issues where a collective solution to the limitation may be found. -The objective of this space is to show the participants that their problems are intimately interrelated. The links between actors and their difficulties serve as inputs to identify common cause and as a way of visualizing possible gains for various actors from changes made in one part of the chain.The second stage of the workshop seeks to facilitate discussion among participants to identify the best way to improve chain functionality. This process should flow from the problem analysis included in the first part of the workshop. The objective is to identify joint activities (or areas in which joint activities could be generated) in the short, medium, and long term that to improve the chain. Ideally, these activities will represent some type of gain for all participants or, at least, for more than one of them. It is important to avoid focusing on solving a problem that only affects one actor since the rest could misinterpret this as favoritism and feel taken advantage of.In this stage, the real interest of the participants in supporting collective action in the chain is put to the test.Rural Agro-enterpriseFacilitating notes -The role of the workshop facilitators is key at this stage since equilibrium must be found between the distinct actors. The focus should be on how to generate positive solutions for all, not gains for some at the expense of others. -It is better to identify relatively simple activities in the short term and increase the level of complexity and difficulty over time even though complete solutions probably represent more gains than partial ones. We recommend this approach as most of the actors in the chain do not know one another well, and may even have an adversarial relationship. To achieve complex objectives, therefore, requires a process of incremental positive experiences through which actors can build trust in each other and confidence in the process of chain improvement.In the third step of the workshop, potential opportunities for collaboration are identified. This starts by listing possible solutions, the actors who wish to participate in the solution, and what they are willing to contribute. A Table such as Table 19 could be generated. Here it is a good idea to divide the possible activities by time frame (short, medium, and long term) and by resources (local and external resources). It is important to note that the concept of short, medium, and long term varies by the chain. One of the tasks of the negotiation workshop is to identify a feasible time frame with chain actors. We recommend starting with actions that show quick, tangible results-in a few months-to generate a positive dynamic around the strategy to increase competitiveness. In this sense, a reading of the participants' degree of patience is important. More patient groups can opt for more ambitious initial results, while groups with pressing needs or low levels of trust need rapid results to achieve simple, but important, achievements (see Facilitating notes -At this stage in the workshop, goal is for chain actors to commit to collaborate to resolve common problems, and not so much the elaboration of detailed plans. Details can be worked out in the final strategy to increase competitiveness, and further revised and improved upon in additional workshops as the necessary confidence between the actors grows. -The workshop facilitator should try to emphasize solutions that focus principally on the useof local resources since the attainment of external resources is a long, risky process. By choosing this path, solutions may take more time, but they will not be subject to external decision making processes divorced from local realities.Based on the above discussion, the logical path prepared previously is presented to the workshop participants for discussion and improvement.At the end of the negotiation workshop the following products should be available that serve as input to the preparation of the final strategy:-Identification of possible alliances to solve chain problems and clear commitments in this respect. -Anticipated activities, with times and external resource needs.-Revised and improved logical path for a strategy to increase competitiveness.Based on the corrected technical document, the systemized results of the negotiation workshop, and the agreements achieved between the actors, a final version of the strategy to increase competitiveness is designed. This document can be a more extensive version of the technical document, adding the results and agreements of the negotiation workshop, or can be a new document with more details. Generally, various details from the negotiation workshop remain open for discussion, such as responsibilities, costs, and dates. These details should be developed and put in the final document either by the facilitating organization or by a working group of chain actors. In this sense, the final strategy is an on-going process.CIAT does not recommend a specific format for the final strategy, as its use for planning joint actions and for developing funding proposals precludes a set structure. We do recommend, however, that the chain have a logical general framework for the chain improvement that all Rural Agro-enterpriseField Manual Development ProjectCompetitive Strategies 73 actors can agree upon and collectively seek to implement. This is especially true in big chains where the total cost for implementing the complete strategy at once is prohibitive. In almost all cases, it is recommended to divide the strategy into specific subprojects focused on specific funding opportunities while, as the same time, not loosing sight of the relationships between each subproject.In general terms, the strategy can be understood as a road map that defines a path for increasing the competitiveness of a chain. The way in which the strategy is implemented depends on the actors themselves. There are examples of strategies of competitiveness that are implemented by local actors (formal and informal) with a minimum of external help, and others that have managed to obtain significant funding. It is important, therefore, not to view the strategy as a document, but rather as the first step in a process of discussion, collaboration, and support between actors focused on changing their relationships in a substantial way, and therefore the functioning of the chain.In the following and final module, some general guidelines for the monitoring and evaluation of strategies to increase competitiveness are presented."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d56c41c3aaf1720ee7511fd33cb00032","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3fbdf6ea-2f2f-4a9c-8830-34a521fb6a60/retrieve","id":"-1400008105"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e96a96d9-d308-4949-980d-6c89bb0e9661","content":"Eco Health -One Health • The One Health concept is a worldwide strategy for expanding interdisciplinary collaborations and communications in all aspects of health care for humans and animals. One Health Initiative (http://onehealthinitiative.com/)Broader thinking -OneHealthEco Health -One Health• Ecosystem approaches to public health issues acknowledge the complex, systemic nature of public health and environmental issues, and the inadequacy of conventional methodologies for dealing with them. David Walter-Toews, University of Guelph• The Ecohealth approach focuses above all on the place of human beings within their environment. It recognizes that there are inextricable links between humans and their biophysical, social, and economic environments, and that these links are reflected in a population's state of health. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"725b259d56243c7825ef7551fb686471","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5d337cfc-a610-478b-9422-83de58667cdf/retrieve","id":"-765922628"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c178b6d9-37e5-4d7b-a320-0636e2e0d3bf","content":"Plant breeders allover the world make use of the variability in a given crop to improve the desirable plant characters. Varia-b111ty could not be created but the natural ava1lable variability is necessary as a startin g point. Tberefore the rice breeding section has a modest rice collection of about 3 J OOO fro~ different parts of the world.The attached table indicates source number available from the source and TOs numbers for the accession. Objectives 1.To screen under West African conditions for upland variety 2.To screen for irrigated variety 3.To select entries resistant to Afric a n pests and diseases 4.To obtain materials vdth go cd grain qualities acceptable to West African consumers.To have materials available to effect many crosses.To supply varieties and lines to requesting research stations and agents ~ithin and outside West Africa 7.To conserve the important West Af rican and other rice germplasm in Vest Africa.Rice seed viability could be maintained for over 3 years under low temperature and low humidity. For example at rITA our long term large seed storage is kept at 5°C and 40% R.h. The small indefinite seed storage is maintained at about -7 0 -t-o:\"4 o c and 10% R.h.Vlt;3.bi 11 tv ~_e~~nc.!. _''1~_~n~e_~~nceA check on viability is done about once every 2 -3 years.Those with low viability are either grown and increased or replaced by . newly harvested sant:'lles.The file c ontains infor~ations such as date of receipt of seeds.TOs number, varietal na'TJe or pedir,rce nurnber and the source.Field notes are ta!u:n on the entries vrhich are usually grmTn under both lrrl~ated and upland conditions. In future these informations will be transfe rred ~nto computer cards, /dao/ 0 2-D .   "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"99efc57a5abb9c51a8686ac2486e8626","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1e931ec6-ad95-48e4-85cf-67a92092e9f8/retrieve","id":"-703419392"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"134fc7bc-97ce-4c4b-bb7b-409189a12b69","content":"Vietnam is becoming Asia's dynamic tiger economy. Economic and political reforms have transformed the country of 94 million people from one of the world's poorest countries 25 years ago into a lower middle-income country in 2011. Poverty rates declined sharply from over 70% to below 6% and GDP per capita increased by 2.5 times, standing over US$2,500 in 2018 (World Bank 2019).Although the rate of urbanization increases fast, agriculture remains one of the key pillars in the country's growth with this sector contributing 15% of the GDP in 2018 and generating incomes and livelihoods for millions of people in rural and highland areas.Classified as a middle-income country, Vietnam still confronts numerous important challenges that may hinder it from the pathway to sustainable development. In the agriculture sector, the country struggles with environmental threats from unsustainable intensification, ensuring food security and food safety, ag-biodiversity, nutrition and health, degradation of natural resources, and the impacts of the changing climate, among others. All these challenges raise the question on how Vietnam can develop in a more sustainable way, and this makes this Southeast Asian country a focus for CGIAR work.  In recent years, the work of CGIAR in Vietnam focused on implementing technologies and practices for sustainable agricultural transformation, adapting agriculture to climate change and low emission development, and supporting the country's One Health thrust for optimal health for people, animals, and environment. Last year, CGIAR, together with its centres and research programs, supportedVietnam in tackling its goal of transparent, responsible, and sustainable food systems, in line with the United Nations' Food System Summit.In Vietnam, CGIAR partners with a number of institutions, such as the government ministries, universities, national research institutes, development agencies, and the private sector, to plan and implement research programs.Over the past 5 years, CGIAR has implemented more than 100 large and small projects in Vietnam, with a total budget about 24 million US dollars. CGIAR projects have directly and indirectly benefited about 2 million and about 24,5 million people, respectively.In response to the changes in the external environment, CGIAR has been in an almost perpetual state of reforms from the start of the new millennium to One CGIAR.One CGIAR is a dynamic reformulation of CGIAR's partnerships, knowledge, assets, and global presence, aiming for greater integration and impact in the face of the interdependent challenges facing today's world.As One CGIAR, scientific innovations for food, land and water systems can be deployed faster, at a larger scale, and at reduced cost, having greater impact where they are needed the most. This will provide our beneficiaries around the world with more sustainable ways to grow, catch, transport, process, trade, and consume safe and nutritious food.The overarching objectives and principles guiding the transition have been set and we are now undertaking an inclusive and consultative process of co-creation to define the destination in further detail, and the transition pathway to reach it.To achieve its mission -to deliver science and innovation that advance transformation of food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis -CGIAR will design its work with partners to realize multiple benefits and transformative change across five SDG-focused Impact Areas: (i) Nutrition, health, and food security; This Initiative aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in seven countries that are regional top-tier emitters for food systems, reducing annual global food systems emissions by 6.5% by 2030.This Initiative aims to create resilient, inclusive and productive deltas -which maintain socio-ecological integrity, adapt to climatic and other stressors, and support human prosperity and wellbeing -by removing systemic barriers to the scaling of transformative technologies and practices at community, national and regional levels.This Initiative aims to demonstrate how One Health principles and tools integrated into food systems can help reduce and contain zoonotic disease outbreaks, improve food and water safety, and reduce anti-microbial resistance, benefitting human, animal, and environmental health.This initiative aims to stimulate the demand for/consumption of sustainable healthy diets and the supply of nutritious, safe, affordable, and sustainably produced foods (sustainable nutritious foods), while also improving livelihoods, gender equity and social inclusiveness in all sectors of food systems. This Initiative aims to re-imagine, co-create, and implement nature-positive solutions-based agrifood systems that equitably support food and livelihoods on the ground, while simultaneously ensuring that agriculture is a net positive contributor to nature.This Initiative aims to deliver agronomic gain for millions of smallholder farming households in prioritized farming systems, with emphasis on women and young farmers for measurable impact on food and nutrition security, income, water use, soil health and climate resilience.This Initiative aims to protect agriculture-based economies of low-and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America from devastating pest incursions and disease outbreaks, by leveraging and building viable networks across an array of national, regional and global institutions.This Initiative aims to support the delivery of seed of improved climate-resilient, market-preferred and nutritious varieties of priority crops, embodying a high rate of genetic gain to farmers, ensuring equitable access for women and other disadvantaged groups.This Initiative aims to contribute to transforming livestock sectors in target countries to make them more productive, resilient, equitable and sustainable."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c64877d8e066a4ac9a80de0350b63ba5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c1a83be5-121a-4fd5-ab60-58f2b0b2b783/retrieve","id":"-1591507161"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"873fe8fa-33cf-4664-8445-96e6d4e4ae2b","content":"CGIAR is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food-secure future. The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock provides research-based solutions to help smallholder farmers, pastoralists and agro-pastoralists transition to sustainable, resilient livelihoods and to productive enterprises that will help feed future generations. It aims to increase the productivity of livestock agri-food systems in sustainable ways, making meat, milk and eggs more available and affordable across the developing world. The Program brings together five core partners: the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) with a mandate on livestock; the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), which works on forages; the International Center for Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), which works on small ruminants and dryland systems; the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) with expertise particularly in animal health and genetics and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) which connects research into development and innovation and scaling processes.The Program thanks all donors and organizations who globally supported its work through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust FundIn the past, the pig health research agenda of the smallholder pig value chain in Uganda has focused on single infectious diseases, which have been looked at separately. This has generated a lot of useful information that helped characterize the pig health status (Dione et al., 2014;Ouma et al., 2015;Dione et al., 2016;Roesel et al., 2017;Dione et al., 2018). However, the link of health issues to the wider herd\" ecosystem\" has been missing. For example, the importance of feeding strategies, co-infection, and reproductive management is not fully acknowledged. Herd Health Management (HHM) is a method to optimize health, welfare, and production in a herd. Pigs are within a delicate \"ecosystem\" which needs to be analyzed when managing a herd. In the HHM, one doesn't focus on a single infectious disease, but rather on general farm conditions such as feed strategies, biosecurity, general health, reproductive management, husbandry, and management skills. The whole need to ensure sustainable production to maximize profit (Figure 1). However, some externalities such as greenhouse gas emissions, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and animal welfare need to be addressed to ensure that the production system remains sustainable and resource-efficient into the future.In Uganda, the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock (CRP Livestock) runs this project that aims to improve the livelihoods of women and men farmers through a market systems approach, by supporting a stronger and more profitable market linkages between pig aggregators (buyers) and pig producers. This is done through market arrangements that strengthen backward linkages and incentivize the adoption of integrated productivity-enhancing best-bet interventions. Integration of the piloted bestbet interventions (feeds, disease control, and herd health services, coupled with improved genetics) especially at the production node may result in higher gains and positive outcomes for farmers and other actors due to interaction effects as documented by Wainaina et al. (2017) and Kassie et al. (2018). Therefore, a heavy focus will be given to the capacity building of the value chain actors on the best-bet interventions.In this project, the Animal Health Flagship of the CRP Livestock will contribute in strengthening advisory services in herd health and best practices in biosecurity with value chain actors (farmers, traders, and butchers), and bringing in ICT-based channels for information dissemination to reach all value chain actors (including veterinary input suppliers). A specific focus will be given to the application of HHM in respective districts.Herd Health is an important topic to improve animal productivity. Such a topic is not well developed in Uganda veterinary curriculum. The CRP Livestock programme made important efforts to promote Herd Health in the pig system in Uganda to increase the productivity of the pig systems. The exchange of knowledge between Uganda and Sweden is a good lesson to acknowledge."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"aabb2fdafec300ee1680bec924488d08","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/55bf064c-18d6-4a1a-be91-706275371463/retrieve","id":"286377862"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"638b28d7-3212-4370-b6ee-c4b79ba86d92","content":"Since its re-emergence, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 has attracted considerable public and media attention because the viruses involved have been shown to be capable of producing fatal disease in humans. While there is fear that the virus may mutate into a strain capable of sustained human-to-human transmission, the greatest impact to date has been on the highly diverse poultry industries in affected countries. In response to this, HPAI control measures have so far focused on implementing prevention and eradication measures in poultry populations, with more than 175 million birds culled in Southeast Asia alone.Until now, significantly less emphasis has been placed on assessing the efficacy of risk reduction measures, including their effects on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and their families. In order to improve local and global capacity for evidence-based decision making on the control of HPAI (and other diseases with epidemic potential), which inevitably has major social and economic impacts, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) has agreed to fund a collaborative, multidisciplinary HPAI research project for Southeast Asia and Africa. The specific purpose of the project is to aid decision makers in developing evidence-based, pro-poor HPAI control measures at national and international levels. These control measures should not only be costeffective and efficient in reducing disease risk, but also protect and enhance livelihoods, particularly those of smallholder producers in developing countries, who are and will remain the majority of livestock producers in these countries for some time to come. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by or representative of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), ILRI or of the cosponsoring or supporting organizations. This report is intended for discussion.For more information about the project please refer to http://www.hpai-research.netThe outbreak and spread of Asian-lineage highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) from Asia to Europe and Africa in 2003-2007 challenged national disease surveillance and response programs particularly in those countries where infection occurred. Ethiopia has not had the disease, but it is considered as being vulnerable because it lies under the pathway of migratory birds and has an expansive border that makes it difficult to control cross-border trade in poultry and poultry products. Some of the challenges that the country might face in preventing and controlling HPAI relate to uncertainty about the epidemiology of the disease, resource and organizational constraints, and variable compliance with HPAI control measures by actors in the poultry sector. This study characterized control measures in terms of the expected degree of compliance among actors in the value chain and the agents responsible for their implementation, and identified specific actors who may be expected to act as compliance fail-points to successful implementation of control measures.The study involved 102 respondents from Ada/Debre Zeit, Debre Birhan, Dessie, Kombolcha, Harar, Hawassa and Dire Dawa Districts. These respondents included 15 small-scale commercial chicken producers, 34 backyard chicken producers, 10 traders, 15 retailers, 7 transporters and 21 agents responsible for implementing mitigation measures. Small-scale commercial producers were selected randomly from a database that had been developed by the Ethiopian Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards and Livestock and Meat Marketing (SPS-LMM) Program. Backyard chicken producers were identified randomly from the areas where commercial farms were located while traders, retailers and transporters were identified in the local markets.The study evaluated two preventive mitigation measures (biosecurity and reporting) and two outbreak containment measures (culling with compensation and movement control). It used questionnaires with standard Likert scales that allow for the measurement of the direction and intensity of attitudes, opinions or convictions and were therefore appropriate for the assessment of compliance. Scores ranging between 1 and 5 were assigned to each question based on the response obtained. Average scores were generated and used as alignment indexes to answer two key questions: (i) what mitigation measures are likely to enjoy better compliance and therefore achieve the expected technical effectiveness? and (ii) for each control measure, where do potential compliance fail-points lie and how might they be addressed?The major findings in this study clearly indicate that:Improving biosecurity is the control measure expected to enjoy the most compliance across the actors in chicken value chains originating in sectors 3 and 4. Culling and compensation appears to face the most difficulties in achieving sufficient compliance to ensure its effectiveness.Potential fail-points for compliance with biosecurity lie mainly with transporters and mitigation agents, mostly due to inherently weak capacity. Actions can be taken to address this constraint by improving access to informational, financial, and human resources through training, micro-credit, and subsidizing actor investment in uptake of these measures.Weak capacity among traders in terms of absorbing extra holding costs when movement controls are imposed creates a potential fail-point for successful implementation of movement controls. Adjusting movement controls strategically, subsidizing or compensating vii for the extra costs incurred, or providing temporary financial cover should be considered to improve compliance. Timely reporting of outbreaks by value chain actors is contrary to their current practices and attitudes. Social marketing of the benefits and need for timely reporting should be given high priority, while also devising appropriate penalties for failure to report. The expected poor compliance with culling and compensation appears to be related to poor alignment with existing practices and attitudes among all categories of value chain actors, as well as to vulnerability to the consequent disruption of income. The reasons behind the existing practices merit more investigation; resilience to income shocks can be addressed in part by attention to equity and timeliness in administration of compensation.In response to the spread of the Asian-lineage highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus from Asia to the Middle East, Europe and Africa in 2005-2007, Ethiopia, like most other countries in the region, undertook emergency preparedness plans that included (i) formation of a national coordinating committee and a national technical task force (for resource mobilization, communication and advocacy, and prevention and control of the disease), and (ii) formulation of national response action plans. Specific measures proposed in the national action plans included surveillance and capacity building, biosecurity, vaccination, culling and compensation, and movement control and market restrictions (www.ochaonline.un.org). A series of analyses were also conducted to identify potential pathways through which the disease could be introduced into the country. Alemu et al. (2008) and Stevens et al. (2009) showed that the risk of introduction of the disease was high because of limited biosecurity and the fact that the country lies under migratory bird flyways.An HPAI outbreak would have a large impact on the poultry industry if the disease occurred in the country partly because most commercial farms are concentrated in a small area. These farms would therefore need to invest heavily in biosecurity and other disease control measures such as culling to prevent cross contamination between farms. When a suspicious die-off occurred in the Gurage State poultry multiplication centre in 2006, the veterinary services quickly culled some 15,000 birds; the cause was later confirmed to be Newcastle disease rather than HPAI. In the meantime, though, it caused a panic among consumers that led to a decline in the prices of poultry and poultry products.The government is expected to involve poultry value chain actors (producers, traders, transporters, retailers and consumers) in the development and implementation of HPAI control policies in order for these interventions to be effective and sustainable. It is not clear, however, whether value chain actors can participate effectively given the nature of their occupations, their socio-economic characteristics related to capacities, incentives and practices and the requirements for the implementation of the standard HPAI interventions. This study was designed to evaluate these issues. Its objectives were:To characterize control measures in terms of the expected degree of compliance by actors in the value chain and the agents responsible for their implementation To identify which actors may be expected to act as compliance fail-points to successful implementation of control measures.Participation of poultry value chain actors in HPAI control is greatly influenced by the interaction between the nature of their poultry-related activities, the nature of the disease and risk of its transmission, and the nature of mitigation measures and how they are implemented. These factors are expounded below.The poultry sector comprises a constellation of actors involved in a range of activities along production-to-consumption supply chains. These actors include producers, input suppliers, processors, traders, transporters and consumers as well as various implementing agencies that provide a range of technical and other support. The value chain concept as described by Kaplinsky and Morris (2001) provides a useful framework for describing the poultry sector, its structure and its dynamics. Key to the concept is the emphasis on how capacity among actors and the incentives they receive affect the performance of the diverse poultry value chain activities, including HPAI control measures, in a given geographic location or across wider areas.HPAI outbreaks and effectiveness of measures taken to control them are determined by the interaction between the nature of the disease and the value chain context into which they are introduced (Taylor et al. 2008). Risk analysis approaches have proven powerful in applying epidemiology to identify possible threats and evaluate the risk of disease associated with a commodity along its production-to-consumption path. The description and analysis of such risk pathways generally focuses on the relationship between practices in handling the commodity that influence exposure to and spread of the disease, and informs potential mitigation strategies. Risk analysis techniques do not, however, typically assess the ability or willingness of actors in the risk pathway to adopt or comply with such strategies.Various measures are taken to reduce the risk of HPAI outbreaks and to control it when an outbreak does occur. Some measures may be taken directly by the actors within their domain in the poultry value chain to protect or promote their individual interests, but most are generally considered the responsibility of actors external to the value chain, particularly public veterinary services that implement measures in the value chain in the interest of the public good. Prevention strategies include 'peace time' measures such as ensuring surveillance, laboratory support, contingency planning, enabling legislation, communication to raise awareness, training, movement controls, vaccination, biosecurity, and restructuring. When faced with an outbreak, measures include movement restrictions, culling, compensation, disinfection, and use of personal protective equipment. Each strategy has its technical specificities and may apply to or affect the various actors within the value chain in different ways. Which measures are promoted and implemented depend in principle on the best available evidence as to their relative cost and effectiveness given current knowledge of HPAI epidemiology. In reality, lack of definitive evidence or consensus on the best practices for choosing and implementing control measures leads to decision making influenced by a variety of stakeholder pressure groups (e.g. veterinary professionals, poultry industry, international agencies, donors) from both within and outside the value chain, each having their specific interests and perspective.The choice of control measures to adopt is based on which is perceived to have the optimal epidemiological impact on suppressing the disease, while at the same time being politically feasible. When then applied, control measures often do not achieve the full intended effect, which can be attributed to insufficient capacity or willingness to implement the measure as intended, insufficient capacity or willingness to comply with the measure as intended, or a combination of the two.Drawing on each of the three dimensions described above allows us to begin understanding the institutional aspects of HPAI and its control. The central players are the value chain actors (individuals, firms, or organizations), each defined by its capacities and its incentives. These capacities and incentives determine the types of practices adopted when handling poultry or related commodities (both internally and when transferring products between the actors), which in turn influence the risk of HPAI being introduced or spread along this risk pathway. The relationship between any pair of actors and the arrangements governing their transactions are also factors.Disease control strategies are imposed on the value chain actors to reduce disease and its risk along the risk pathway. The choice of strategy is a function of the capacity of the mitigation agency, as well as the institutional and individual incentives of management and staff of that agency, which are conditioned in turn by other stakeholders and their respective incentives. How effective the selected strategy is in reducing disease and its risk then depends not only on its technical efficacy, but also again on the capacity and incentives of the mitigation agency to deliver it as intended, and of the capacity and incentives of the value chain actors to comply with it as intended.Based on this framework, the present study developed an approach for evaluating the capacities, practices and incentives associated with each category of value chain actor, including those responsible for implementing HPAI control, as relevant to each of the principal control measures that could be used in Ethiopia in the event of an outbreak, to ask the question: to what degree is the control measure intrinsically aligned, or not, with these critical characteristics for each type of actor? This degree or index of alignment can then be used to qualify whether the control measure may be expected to perform to its technical expectations or be less effective than expected due to poor compliance, as well as to identify where accompanying measures may be appropriate.The types of respondents interviewed and questionnaires used in the study are described in this section. Related information on the sampling strategy and field survey is given in subsequent sections.The sampling design developed for this work was based on using a supply chain as the unit of analysis to provide representative samples of value chain actors in space and time. However, most of the producers recruited for the study did not have contacts for second-level actors such as traders or transporters who were directly connected to them (through their most recent transactions). The design was therefore modified to allow for the selection of producers through a random selection process while traders, transporters and retailers were identified conveniently at live-bird markets.The study focussed on backyard, small-scale broiler and layer live-bird supply chains (corresponding to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO] sectors 3 and 4 1 ) because live birds represent the greatest risk of H5N1 HPAI virus transmission through virus shedding and contamination of inanimate materials. Egg supply chains were not included because eggs do not play a big role in recycling the disease back to farms.Questionnaires were designed based on specific practices, incentives and capacities associated with each mitigation measure that was being assessed as indicated in Table 1. Two peacetime mitigation measures (biosecurity and reporting) and two outbreak containment measures (culling with compensation and movement control) were selected for evaluation. A standard Likert scale, which allows for the measurement of the direction and intensity of attitudes, opinions or convictions, was considered appropriate for evaluating the degree to which the socio-economic characteristics of the supply chain actors were aligned with the requirements for successful implementation of the selected HPAI mitigation measures. A Likert scale consists of at least five Likert-type items with each item consisting of a stem, which is a statement of an attitude, and an ordered set of options representing a full range of the attitude being measured. The respondent chooses one of these options as a response to the statement being put across to him or her.For each combination of actor category, mitigation measure and socio-economic factor, at least five statements were constructed. Each statement was assigned one of the following three scales depending on the nature of the issue being assessed:Always, Often, About half the time, Seldom, Never Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly agree Very likely, Likely, Neither likely nor unlikely, Unlikely, Very unlikelyThe content and range of questions were adapted for each actor depending on the type of mitigation measures that each actor could implement. Box 1 shows examples of Likert questions used for each type of socio-economic characteristic; a full enumerator training manual containing all the questions for small-scale commercial farms is shown in Annex 1. Questionnaires for producers and mitigation agents covered all of the mitigation measures, while those for transporters excluded 1 FAO (2004) established the following functional classification for poultry farms that is often used in discussions of HPAI control:Sector 1 farm: Industrial integrated system with high level of biosecurity and birds/products marketed commercially (e.g. farms that are part of an integrated broiler production enterprise with clearly defined and implemented standard operating procedures for biosecurity)Sector 2 farm: Commercial poultry production system with moderate to high biosecurity and birds/products usually marketed commercially (e.g. farms with birds kept indoors continuously; strictly preventing contact with other poultry or wildlife)Sector 3 farm: Commercial poultry production system with low to minimal biosecurity and birds/products entering livebird markets (e.g. a caged layer farm with birds in open sheds; a farm with poultry spending time outside the shed; a farm producing chickens and waterfowl)Sector 4 farm: Village or backyard production with minimal biosecurity and birds/products consumed locally. culling and compensation questions because they were not considered the owners of chickens being transported and so were not subject to this measure. To permit evaluation of self-reporting bias, questionnaires for all the actors had a section where perceptions on whether mitigation agents had the required capacities and incentives to implement HPAI control measures were recorded while those for mitigation agents had a section where perceptions on whether practices, capacities and incentives of broiler and layer producers were aligned with the requirements for movement control were asked. At the end of each set of questions for a given mitigation measure, respondents were asked two open-ended questions on the reasons why they could or could not implement the measure.The research protocol, including the questionnaires, was developed over a series of meetings and consultations. The first meeting involving a small working group of researchers was held in Nairobi 27-30 August 2009, and recommended the study focus on backyard and small-scale broiler and layer chicken production systems and their associated supply chains to maintain the pro-poor focus of the project. The group also recommended using a sample size of 12 supply chains for each production system, with each supply chain comprising a constellation of chain actors such as producers, collectors, traders, transporters and retailers. As noted earlier, two peacetime preventive measures (biosecurity and reporting) and two outbreak containment measures (culling with compensation and movement control) were identified as most relevant.Soon afterwards, a workshop was held in Addis Ababa 6-9 October 2009 to train the survey team of 8 enumerators. The team carefully reviewed the questionnaires for the various value chain actors, adapting them to the local context as needed. A timetable for this training is given in Annex 2.A sampling frame comprising lists of 91 layer and 34 broiler small and large-scale commercial farms was developed using data obtained from the Ethiopian Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards andTo assess alignment of culling with farmer practices: Q. Some producers may try to sell their chickens quickly before culling.  Strongly agree 1 Agree 2  Neither agree or disagree 3To assess alignment of culling with incentives faced by the farmers: Q. If I don't let my chickens get culled, they may die anyways and I won't get compensated  Strongly agree 5 Agree 4  Neither agree or disagree 3To assess alignment of culling with farmer capacities: Q. I can cooperate with culling because my poultry business is just a portion of my income  Strongly agree 5 Agree 4  Neither agree or disagree 3Livestock and Meat Marketing Program (SPS-LMM) database. Farms included in the frame were limited to those having between 100 and 10,000 broilers or layers. The sampling strategy developed for the study required the selection of 24 small-scale semi-commercial farms comprising an equal number of broiler and layer farms using a random sampling technique. Farms were identified using addresses recorded in the SPS-LMM database. Farms that could not be identified (for example, due to inaccurate addresses) were replaced with conveniently selected ones within those villages where the missing farms were thought to have been located. Backyard farms (12 required for the study) were selected conveniently throughout the study region. Other supply chain actors, i.e. traders, retailers and transporters, were conveniently selected in live-bird markets.Five regional states (Tigray, Amhara, Oromia, Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP) and Harari) and one regional administration (Dire Dawa) were used in the study. The specific areas visited were Ada/Debre Zeit in Oromia, Debre Birhan, Dessie and Kombolcha in Amhara, Harar in Harari, Hawassa in SNNP and Dire Dawa in Dire Dawa regional administration (Figure 1). These areas were selected for the study because they had large populations of poultry (based on the findings of a previous SPS-LMM study).  1. Interviews were administered using the local Amharic language to enhance their clarity and understanding. Mitigation agents filled out their questionnaires on their own.Data were entered into a database developed using SPSS® (v. 15). They were then coded and analyzed using SPSS, STATA® (STATA Corporation, College Station TX, 2007) and MS EXCEL® (Ms Windows 2007®). Descriptive statistics including proportions and minimum and maximum values were used to summarize baseline characteristics of the respondents. Frequency distributions were also generated for some of the variables such as numbers of chickens kept.The analysis of the Likert-scale data was done in two steps. First, each statement was assigned a numerical integer code from 1 to 5 depending on the answer given by the respondents and the dimension of the statement made. For example, a choice that strongly affirmed a positive statement consistent with compliance was assigned the highest possible score of 5, while a choice that strongly opposed the statement got the lowest possible score of 1. On the other hand, a choice that affirmed a negative statement relative to compliance got the lowest score of 1 and a choice that was strongly opposed to the statement got the highest score of 5. Data from each respondent were then averaged for each socio-economic factor related to capacity, incentives and practices such that each respondent had three data points for each mitigation measure evaluated. Individual scores for each factor were accordingly summarized by a mean value. Usually, Likert items are aggregated by simple summation to create a Likert score. In this case, because the actor categories and mitigation strategies were evaluated using varying numbers of Likert items, such summated scores would not be comparable, therefore, average scores are used instead.A mixed-effects model using the Residual Maximum Likelihood (REML) method was used to analyse the Likert scores. The fixed effects considered were actor category and socio-economic factor while the random effects were type of value chain and actor. During implementation, the envisaged sampling design to strictly sample actors along a given value chain network proved impractical. The random variable 'value chain' was still considered as being important because primary actors (producers) tend to be linked to a given group of secondary and tertiary actors.Multiple comparisons between levels of the same effect were calculated using a t-value ([mean Amean B] / s.e.d.), referred to a t-distribution with t degrees of freedom, where t = degrees of freedom at the actor level. Although information on the effects was available at all levels (value chain, actor, residual), using the actor-level degrees of freedom provided some conservativeness to the test. In addition, a Bonferroni adjustment (significance level = alpha / n where n = number of comparisons) was used to adjust the significance level to reduce the false-positive error rate caused by multiple comparisons.Several challenges were encountered in the course of the survey, including:It was difficult to link traders and other higher level actors such as transporters to producers. It was also not easy to get transporters because there are very few specialized transporters for poultry in Ethiopia. Some poultry and poultry products are transported using passenger service vehicles Most respondents had difficulty answering some of the questions because they had limited knowledge and awareness on poultry management and disease controlIn some places, sector 3 producers and implementing agents were either not willing to participate in the survey, took a long time to respond to individual questions or asked to be interviewed at some other time due to time constraints.A total of 102 respondents were recruited for the study. These included 34 backyard chicken producers (sector 4), 15 small-scale commercial producer (sector 3), 10 traders, 15 retailers, 7 transporters and 21 implementing agents. The distribution of the actors interviewed by region and site is given in Table 2. Overall, a large number of the respondents came from Oromia Region.*Agents implementing HPAI control measures often were not associated with a specific site, so only the total sample size is reported. Of the 34 backyard chicken producers interviewed, 24 (71%) were men. The mean age was 40 years and ranged 19 to 60. Sixty-two percent (n=21) were household heads. Their roles in chicken husbandry included either daily management (44%, n=15) or purchasing inputs (29%, n=10). A majority (71 %, n=24) of these producers had been in chicken farming less than five years.Chicken rearing was not the main source of income for most of these producers: half of them (50%, n=17) indicated that they generated their main income from formal employment, and only 12% (n=4) of them reported that their main source of income was chicken farming. The average number of chickens raised was 87 (minimum 3 and maximum 700). The type of breeds kept included exotic breeds (by 41% of producers), indigenous breeds (29%) and mixed breeds (18%); the remaining 12% of producers did not know the type of breeds they kept. Types of husbandry practices and their distribution among backyard chicken producers are outlined in Table 3. Backyard chicken producers were asked to indicate the uses of chickens and chicken products by season. The results are summarised in Table 4 and show that the uses of eggs (sale and home consumption) and live chickens did not vary by season. These products were either sold or kept for reproduction.Most (n=10, 67%) of the small-scale layer and broiler producers interviewed were men. The producers had a mean age of 37 years, varying from 23 to 50. A large number of them (n=11, 73%) had been keeping poultry for less than 5 years. Only 20% (n=3) had been keeping poultry for 5-10 years.The average number of chickens kept by these producers was 2,149 (minimum of 180 and maximum of 12,000). All of them kept exotic chicken breeds. Up to 60% (n=9) kept broiler chickens while the rest raised layers. The different methods of selling broilers and spent layers and the frequency at which each of these methods was used are illustrated in Table 5. The table shows that broilers were frequently sold as dressed chickens while spent layers were sold as live birds.Types of materials used to construct chicken houses were investigated. Roofs were often covered with tin (67%, n=10) or wooden shingles (20%, n=3) while walls were made of off-cuts (47%, n=7), cement and stone (33%, n=5), or wooden planks (20%, n=3). Floors were either earthen (47%, n=7) or constructed with cement and stone (47%, n=7). All except one of the traders interviewed were men. The average age was 33, with a minimum of 25 years and maximum 40. A significant share (40%, n=4) had less than 10 years experience in poultry trade. Among the remaining, 30% (n=3) and 20% (n=2) had been trading in poultry for a period of 5-10 and <5 years, respectively.Half of the traders interviewed collected chickens from various suppliers including collectors and other traders. A fifth (20%, n=2) purchased chickens from farmers. Chickens were kept in a basket (40%, n=4), shop (30%, n=3), or at home (10%, n=1). A majority (70%) of these traders used public service vehicles to transport their chickens; the other 30% used their own transport. In the market, 30% of traders kept chickens in basket cages while 20% used fenced pens. Others either tethered chickens or used closed rooms. Eighty percent of the traders (n=8) indicated that chicken trade was their main source of income. Their clients included individual customers (50% of the traders), retailers at markets (30%), hotels and restaurants and other traders.Of the 15 retailers interviewed, 87% (n=13) of them were men. The mean age was 34 years and ranged between 27 and 40 years. The duration over which they had been trading in chicken and chicken products varied from <5 years (20%, n=3), 5-10 years (33%, n=5) to >10 years (47%, n=7).A majority of the retailers (47%, n=7) bought chickens from producers who delivered their chicken to the market. A few (13%, n=2) purchased chickens from traders or collectors. Most of them (60%, n=9) kept purchased chickens at home before being sold. The types of transport used ranged from public service vehicles (used by 46% of the retailers), bicycle/cart (7%) or own/rented vehicle (7%).The remaining 27% of retailers used other means of transportation such as carts, donkeys or cages carried on the shoulder. At the market, retailers kept chickens in a closed room (47%, n=7), fenced pen (20%, n=3), in cages (20%, n=3) or other methods such as tethering (14%). Overall, 87% (n=13) of retailers indicated that poultry trade was their main source of income. Retailers sold their birds directly to individual consumers or to hotels/restaurants.All of the 7 transporters recruited were men; their ages ranged between 28-70 years, with a mean of 36. Of these, 43% (n=3) had been transporting poultry for <5 years and 29% (n=2) for 5-10 years.Fifty-seven percent (n=4) depended on poultry transportation as their main source of income. They therefore had their own transportation vehicles. The others were passenger service vehicle operators (29%) or other transport service providers such as Bajaj (motorcycles that have been refurbished to carry passengers/light merchandise) or horse carts (14%). Chickens were commonly tied and piled loosely while being transported (by 57% of the transporters who had their own transport). Other transporters used either plastic cages or baskets. Overall, 43% of the transporters raised poultry.The type of clients for these transporters included (i) producers (n=2), (ii) traders who transported chickens between markets or to consumers (n=1) or (iii) collectors (n=2).A high proportion (86%, n=18) of the implementing agents interviewed were men. They were drawn from Agriculture and Rural Development offices (various levels including federal, regional, district and kebele levels), Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Oromia Regional Agricultural Research Institute, National Veterinary Institute, Kality Feed Mixer and Miller PLC and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Their qualifications included technical personnel/experts/veterinarians (11), development agents (5), researchers (3), lecturer (1) and feed processor (1). A majority (95%) of them indicated that they had been involved in HPAI-related activities for >3 years. Their roles regarding HPAI control are summarized in Table 6. Table 7 gives an ordered ranking of the mitigation measures based on their estimated alignment index (mean scores). Transporters would not be expected to cull chickens they transport because they usually don't own them; therefore, as noted before, they were not asked any questions regarding culling and compensation. The mean scores for transporters are therefore computed from a different base than the other actors, and so aggregate mean scores with and without the transporters are presented to permit comparison. In either case, biosecurity exhibits a significantly higher mean alignment score than the other measures. Culling and compensation was ranked last although its mean alignment score was not significantly different from that of reporting. Mitigation agents are better aligned with movement controls and reporting. Table 8 reports overall mean scores by value chain actor, again estimated with and without culling questions to facilitate comparison across actor categories since transporters were not asked these questions. The score for sector 3 producers appears at the high end of the range and was significantly higher than those of the retailers, transporters and mitigation agents, but not significantly different from those of the backyard chicken producers and traders. Conversely, the mean alignment score for mitigation agents was significantly lower than those of all other value chain actors. Stratifying the analysis by culling slightly affected the significance of the mean alignment score for traders.The overall mean alignment scores by socio-economic factor related to incentives, practices and capacities were 3.10, 2.92 and 2.94, respectively. The mean score for incentives was significantly higher than those of practices and capacities. There was significant variation in the mean scores by actor and socio-economic factor, as well as a significant statistical interaction between these two variables (Table 9). The mean score for sector 3 farmers was significantly higher than those of retailers, transporters and mitigation agents. Backyard chicken producers had the second highest mean alignment score which was also significantly higher than those of retailers and mitigation agents. Mitigation agents had the lowest mean score. Mean scores for each of the socio-economic factors (capacities, incentives and practices) were significantly different from each other with actor incentives the most aligned with biosecurity measures and actor capacities the least. p value Sector 3 producers 3.44 a,y 4.39 b,x 3.70 a,b,y,z 3.84 x Backyard chicken producers 2.96 x,y 3.89 a,x,z 3.52 a,z 3.45 x,y Traders 2.98 a,x,y 3.42 a,b,y,z 3.82 a,z 3.41 x,y,z Retailers 2.81 a,x,y 3.52 a,x,z 2.76 a,x,y 3.03 z Transporters 2.54 a,x,y 3.27 a,y,z 3.24 a,y,z 3.01 Mean scores (across rows or down columns) sharing the same superscript a or b (rows) or x, y or z (columns) are not statistically different α = 0.05/n (where n = number of comparisons; Bonferroni correction). *F-test statistic for interaction between supply chain actor and socio-economic factor Ninety-three percent (n=14) of sector 3 producers, 60% (n=9) of retailers, 41% (n=14) of backyard chicken producers, 20% (n=2) of traders and 14% (n=1) of transporters stated that they were willing to confine their chickens-a basic biosecurity measure-to control disease spread both to poultry and humans. Other reasons given by these actors for their willingness to confine chickens were to: (i) increase productivity; (ii) avoid conflicts with neighbours; and (iii) minimize time for looking after the chickens. Some of the major constraints faced by the respondents with respect to chicken confinement included lack of awareness of the benefits of the practice and lack of financial resources required for purchasing feed and building the required facilities. However, 88% of backyard chicken producers indicated that they would confine their chickens if the government issued a regulation requiring them to do so.Over half (60%, n=6) of traders reported using disinfectants to minimize disease-related mortality losses. In comparison, only 47% (n=7) of retailers disinfected chicken-holding facilities to prevent disease transmission. A small percentage (20%, n=2) of traders used disinfectants to clean their equipment. Reasons given by some of the actors for not using disinfectants were ignorance and their high costs.There was modest variation in alignment scores for reporting among the actors (Table 10). The only statistically significant differences occur between the high alignment scores for producers and the low ones registered for mitigation agents. The overall mean score for practices was significantly lower than those of capacities and incentives, reflecting weak levels of reporting currently by most actors. Mean scores (across rows or down columns) sharing the same superscript a (rows) or x or y (columns) are not statistically different α = 0.05/n (where n = number of comparisons; Bonferroni correction). *F-test statistic for interaction between supply chain actor and socio-economic factor When asked to give reasons why they were willing and able to report disease outbreaks, 88% (n=30) of backyard chicken producers, 67% (n=10) of sector 3 producers, 71% (n=5) of transporters, 80% (n=8) of traders and 40% (n=6) of retailers said that reporting would help them protect their chickens from getting infected. Failure to report disease outbreaks was associated with lack of awareness (by 41%, n=33 of all the respondents), fear of losing their products or market closures (23%, n=18), lack of response from mitigation agents (16%, n=13), indifference to the consequences of not reporting (7%, n=6) and a few actors (4%, n=3) said that they did not know why they could not report.There was no significant variation in the mean alignment scores by actor (Table 11). Backyard chicken producers however had the highest score while mitigation agents had the least. The mean scores for socio-economic factors varied significantly only between practices, which was highest, and incentives, the lowest. Mean scores (across rows or down columns) sharing the same superscript a, b (rows) or x, y (columns) are not statistically different α = 0.05/n (where n = number of comparisons; Bonferroni correction). *F-test statistic for interaction between supply chain actor and socio-economic factor When asked to give reasons why they would be willing and able to comply with movement control regulations, 33% (n=27) of the respondents-who included 71% [n=5] of transporters and 50% [n=5] of the traders-indicated that that movement control would help them control diseases. Up to 31% (n=25) of all respondents-who included 56% (n=19) of backyard chicken producers-said that they had adequate knowledge about movement control regulations. Other reasons given by a minority of the respondents included fear of penalties associated with non-compliance, the need to keep family members healthy, and access to other income sources when poultry trade is curtailed. The main reasons given for lack of compliance included lack of awareness (by 30% [n=24] of all the respondents), chicken rearing/trade as the only source of income (21%, n=17), loss of income (20%, n=16) and lack of compensation (4%, n=3).Backyard chicken producers, sector 3 producers, traders and retailers all had significantly higher mean alignment scores for culling and compensation than mitigation agents (Table 12). Similarly, the mean score for practices and capacities were both significantly lower than that of incentives.The supply chain actors interviewed said they could comply with culling and compensation to prevent disease transmission to humans (59% of all the actors, n=44), safeguard health of their communities (14%, n=10), get compensation (12%, n=9) and collaborate with the government on the disease control (9%, n=7). The main reasons they gave for not willing and able to implement the measure included: chicken rearing/trade was their main source of income and they would stand to lose if compensation was not provided (39% of all the actors, n=29); lack of awareness (34%, n=25), lack of compensation (18%, n=13); and that there was a possibility of finding a market for selling their live birds (7%, n=5). All the respondents were asked to evaluate the Likert statements regarding the alignment of implementing agents with effective implementation of movement controls. The set of Likert statements slightly varied by actor (because it was felt that certain statements would be difficult for some types of actors to evaluate) although similar issues were generally covered across the actors. The results are reported in Table 13. The mitigation agents' self evaluation of their overall alignment with the requirements for implementing movement controls, on average, matched that assigned to them by supply chain actors. However, mitigation agents' self assessment of their capacity to implement was higher-and for incentives significantly lower-than the mean score obtained from the supply chain actors' assessment of the same. Similarly, mitigation agents were asked to give their assessment on how characteristics of sector 3 farmers aligned with movement controls. In this case, sector 3 producers gave themselves a slightly (but not significantly) higher mean alignment score compared to that given by mitigation agents (Table 14). A similar pattern was observed for incentives and practices but not for capacities. The mean scores were however not significantly different. The supply chain actors said that government personnel would do a good job in implementing movement controls because it was their job to implement the controls (57%, n=46), were interested in controlling the disease (16%, n=13) and that they were being supervised to do their work by their managers (14%, n=11). The actors also indicated that government personnel would not do a good job because of lack of awareness or accountability (37%, n=30), corruption (21%, n=17), lack of resources e.g. human, financial and facilities such as vehicles (15%, n=12) and irresponsibility (12%, n=10).The implementation of strategies to detect, prevent and control HPAI in Ethiopia, just as in many developing countries, is affected by (i) uncertainty about the epidemiology of the disease and whether the selected measures are technically optimal; (ii) constrained capacity to implement control; and (iii) variable compliance by the relevant actors, mainly in the poultry sector. The present study addressed the degree of compliance of poultry supply chain actors with HPAI control measures. Previous work in this area has generally approached the issue of compliance indirectly by considering the relative importance of HPAI to farm families in terms of the types of impact it has on their livelihoods. The FAO/University of Berkeley component of the Pro-poor HPAI Risk Reduction Project has also been studying whether consumer demand for quality could be used to create incentives for investment in bio-secure production and marketing systems (Ifft et al. 2007). Otherwise, attempts to improve compliance with HPAI control have tended to be ad hoc and reactive, relying mainly on anecdotes and reasoning based on intuition and experience.The premise for the approach adopted in this study is that actors' willingness to comply depends fundamentally on the alignment of control measures with the actors' capacity to comply, their current practices, and incentives they face. Examples of how these three characteristics relate to specific control measures were presented in Table 1, in which each characteristic is represented as several different dimensions, such as capacity being associated with aspects of financial, human, physical and social capital. An index was then derived for each of the three characteristics by asking a sample of actors a series of questions in Likert scale format about the various dimensions. The answers were ordered such that a high score would indicate strong alignment with the control measure and a low score, weak alignment. The index provides a quantitative measure that can be compared statistically across actors, supply chains, type of characteristic, and control measures. It could therefore be used to evaluate the feasibility of specific control measures from a compliance perspective and to identify potential compliance fail-points.The Likert scale methodology applied in this study has been widely used in marketing research to measure attitudes, images and opinions (Albaum 1997;Wu 2007). In this study, a five-point scale comprising both one-dimensional choices (e.g. always to never and likely to unlikely) and bipolar choices (e.g. strongly agree to strongly disagree) was considered appropriate. There is an ongoing debate in the Likert scale literature about the impact of the number of choices used on the accuracy of information obtained: an odd number of choices is thought to allow interviewees to sit on the fence, whereas an even number forces the respondents to make a decision. 2   Though intuitively appealing, the approach presented several challenges during data collection and analysis. First was identifying an appropriate set of indicators of capacity, incentives and practices relevant to each control measure, and translating these into appropriately worded questions. The indicators listed in Table 1 and their corresponding Likert questions were derived through consultations with international and local experts, but may not be exhaustive. Second, ensuring that careful wording and interpretation of the Likert statements was maintained through translation into Amharic and when presented by enumerators proved difficult; it is not clear that the data collected consistently and faithfully matched the original design of the instrument. It had also been anticipated that a supply chain would be used as a unit of analysis to reflect the growing interest in combining value chain and risk assessment frameworks to identify suspected high risk points (see, for example, Taylor et al. 2008;McLeod et al. 2009). Tracing supply chains and their associated actors proved to be difficult, particularly with the backyard chicken production system. The study design was therefore modified to allow for a random selection of small-scale semi-commercial farms using the Ethiopian SPS-LMM database and a convenient selection of traders, transporters and retailers in the markets identified by producers, possibly introducing bias.Turning to the analysis, three issues emerged. First, the number of Likert scale items varied across the different categories, and this unbalanced design meant that scores were averaged instead of being summed when formulating Likert scales. A second issue related to clustering of Likert scores. As can be seen by scanning the various results presented in the preceding section, many mean Likert scores fell between 2.8 and 3.2 and lie roughly in the middle of the 1-to-5 Likert scale. It is not clear to what degree this reflects a natural tendency of respondents to avoid extreme values, possibly as a type of politeness bias. Such clustering may limit the differentiating power of the analysis; quite a few statistically significant differences were detected nonetheless. Finally, while the statistical analysis of the mean Likert scores allows us to draw conclusions about the relative alignment across different categories-e.g. sector 3 producers being more strongly aligned with biosecurity measures than backyard producers-it is more difficult to judge whether the difference between the two groups is in fact small or large, as well as the absolute degree of alignment-e.g. can we conclude that sector 3 farmers with a mean score of 3.84 are on average weakly or strongly aligned with biosecurity measures? The clustering of mean scores within a relatively small range in the middle of the scale would suggest that alignment is generally moderate, and that the differences between categories are in fact modest.In each case, the survey instrument focused on respondents evaluating alignment within their own category of actors or agents, so the scores are based on self-evaluation. The instrument also included one triangulation exercise in which the respondent was asked to evaluate a different actor or agent category. In the case of supply chain actors assessing the alignment of mitigation agents with movement controls, the self and third-party evaluations match (score 2.85); in the other case of mitigation agents assessing the alignment of sector 3 producers in implementing movement controls, the mitigation agents' evaluation was significantly lower (2.54) than the self-evaluation (3.21). The questions assess perceptions, so who is asked to evaluate is therefore likely to make a difference.Despite these caveats, the patterns emerging from the analysis appear reasonable and generally consistent with conventional wisdom about rates of compliance across the different categories. This robustness of this study design will be evaluated when findings from similar studies conducted in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Indonesia are compared.The analysis has generated a series of tables that compare alignment indexes across a variety of categories: mitigation measures, supply chains, actors, and socio-economic characteristic (capacity, incentives and practices). These results provide the basis for addressing two key questions:For a mitigation measure to be successful, it should be effectively implemented across all value chains and by most of the actors within the poultry sector. Table 7 reports the estimated index for each measure across the principal sector 3 and sector 4 production and marketing systems, and indicates that biosecurity was the measure most aligned with the characteristics that influence a value chain actor's willingness to comply and so most likely to meet with general acceptance. Culling and compensation, on the other hand, was the least aligned, and so would be expected to meet with the most resistance, putting into question whether it would effectively control HPAI. Note, though, that the difference between the highest (biosecurity: 3.40) and lowest (culling and compensation: 2.97) mean alignment scores represents only 11% of the full 4 unit Likert scale from 1.0 to 5.0, so while statistically significant, is actually small in absolute terms. However, given the tendency of scores to cluster towards the middle of the scale as noted above, this difference may be nonetheless sufficiently large to be meaningful for drawing implications for policy formulation. These findings also concur with anecdotal reports of poultry being hidden from culling operations, whereas actors are not against biosecurity measures as such. Culling and compensation was also least aligned with the willingness and ability of the mitigation agents to implement the measure. Movement control was most aligned with mitigation agents' socio-economic characteristics that influence the implementation of HPAI control measures.By reviewing the scores by individual mitigation measure and how they vary by supply chain, actor and type of characteristic, more insight can be gained as to the where within the poultry sector compliance may be expected to be problematic and why, and thus where to target interventions.Biosecurity: Transporters and retailers were identified as fail-points with respect to measures to improve biosecurity. In both cases, adoption of biosecurity measures appear to be constrained by weak inherent capacity mainly related to access to information, financial, and human resources (Table 1). This also applies to the other supply chain actors. These findings suggest that compensating for the weak capacities of the chicken supply chain actors to implement biosecurity might increase the effectiveness of biosecurity measures in HPAI control. This would support the need for appropriate policies and actions targeted specifically to transporters and retailers. Communication aimed at improving biosecurity has an important role to play in capacity building. Communication strategies developed should be able to determine the acceptability of proposed biosecurity measures and create an understanding of risk-why the measure is needed-and the benefits of these measures. It also needs to be recognized, though, that uptake of improved biosecurity requires a significant financial and time investment by these actors, so additional actions should be envisaged that would evaluate and subsidize these investment costs as needed, not only at start-up, but also for their continued application. In commercial systems, investments in biosecurity can often be justified in terms of efficiency returns they generate; such returns may not be as evident in backyard and informal trade systems and so may justify a public-good investment by the government. Programmes to deliver micro-credit and training would begin to address such constraints. The implementing agents also deserve greater attention given that their characteristics are poorly aligned with the requirements for the implementation of improved biosecurity yet they would be responsible for monitoring its execution.The challenge in improving compliance with disease reporting lies in addressing poor reporting practices among all the actors except transporters (who had lower capacities to report compared to practices and incentives). Sector 3 producers had the highest alignment score while retailers and mitigation agents had the lowest scores. Campaigns to raise awareness combined with social marketing techniques aimed at encouraging behaviour change towards more disease reporting can be reinforced by sufficiently severe penalties, but only when failure to report can be reliably established. Prompt response to disease reports by veterinary personnel and the use of socially acceptable methods for controlling the disease can also promote reporting compliance.Movement control: Fail-points for compliance with movement control appear to lie primarily in poorly aligned incentives across the various actors, with the exception of traders and sector 3 producers. In the survey instrument for value chain actors, incentives related mainly to the ability of producers and traders to protect their own or neighbours' chickens from catching the disease, traders buying chickens at low prices and fear of being punished. This result suggests that attention may need to be given to softening the impact of movement controls by providing adequate compensation in cash or in-kind (e.g., free provision of feed to movement-restricted farms and businesses). Compensation, if practiced, usually focuses on chickens that are destroyed, but does not consider the costs associated with maintaining live birds beyond their optimal sale date. Alignment of implementing agents was also low. In this case, measures to improve capacity (avail human, financial, logistical resources) as well as institutional coordination and incentives (for example, introducing systems for recognising and rewarding agents who do well in disease control) should be implemented.Culling and compensation: This is the control measure least aligned with producer and trader willingness to comply across the three value chains under study. All actor categories consistently scored low with respect to their current practices and capacity. Current practices concern behaviour in avoiding participation in culls; additional investigation would be required to understand the source of this behaviour: is it fundamental or is it due to inadequate levels of compensation and bad experiences with previously implemented culls that can be addressed through smarter design? Questions about capacity focused on actor resilience to disruptions of their chicken-related income flows and delays in receiving compensation as noted by Sims and Narrod (2008). The results suggest that such resilience is low, and fair and timely compensation will therefore be critical if better compliance is to be achieved.The methodology and results presented here may offer a more systematic approach for ex ante assessment of fail-points in HPAI control interventions rather than waiting for experience to reveal them. Identifying specific fail-points can then inform better design and targeting of these measures to enhance compliance and effectiveness of HPAI control.The major findings in this study indicate that:The difficulties that Ethiopia would face in controlling HPAI, if the disease occurred, would include a combination of uncertainty about the epidemiology of the disease, resource and organizational constraints, and variable compliance by actors in the poultry sector. Compliance can be viewed as a function of the capacity of the actors, the incentives they face, and alignment with their current practices. Assessing these attributes among the various actors in the poultry sector can provide insights on potential fail-points for HPAI control measures. Improving biosecurity is the control measure expected to enjoy the most compliance across the actors in chicken value chains originating in sectors 3 and 4. Culling and compensation appears to face the most difficulties in achieving sufficient compliance to ensure its effectiveness. Potential fail-points for compliance with biosecurity lie mainly among transporters and mitigation agents, mostly due to inherently weak capacity. Actions can be taken to address this constraint by improving access to informational, financial, and human resources through training, micro-credit and subsidizing actor investment in uptake of these measures. Weak capacity among traders in terms of absorbing extra holding costs when movement controls are imposed create potential fail-points for successful implementation of movement controls. Adjusting movement controls strategically, subsidizing or compensating for the extra costs incurred, or providing temporary financial cover should be considered to improve compliance. Timely reporting of outbreaks by value chain actors is contrary to their current practices and attitudes. Social marketing to highlight the benefits and need for timely reporting should be given high priority, while also devising appropriate penalties for failure to report. Compliance with culling and compensation is expected to be weak, which appears to be related to poor alignment with existing practices and attitudes among all categories of value chain actors, as well as to vulnerability to the consequent disruption of income. The reasons behind the existing practices merit more investigation. Resilience to income shocks can be addressed by attention to equity and timeliness in administration of compensation.This questionnaire is intended for small-scale commercial producers of broilers and layer operations who usually keep 100-10,000 birds at any one time. A total of 24 broiler and layer farms have been selected randomly (from a developed by Tadelle). Once a farm identified, ask for the farm manager, introduce yourself and the project.I am ____ and we are doing a study on poultry with IFPRI/ILRI. We are doing research on methods used to prevent or control bird flu. We will use the information you will give us to advise the government on what to do in case the disease occurs. We are therefore requesting you to give us some time to go through the questionnaire.At the end of the interview, the respondents will be given a brochure summarizing the results from the project activities that have been completed so far When filling the questionnaire, check a choice using an 'X', ex. . If you make a mistake, do not try to erase or blot out the box that you have already checked; instead, check the box for the correct answer and circle that box to indicate it is the final correct answer, ex.This section provides some information about (i) the farm manager, and (ii) the chicken unit so that we have a good sense of the type of production system. What is the most frequently used method of selling broilers? slaughter here and sell dressed  slaughter elsewhere and sell dressed  sell live birds  do not raise broilers  sell to customers from farm   sell to collector/trader  take to market to sell  sell and deliver to customers  other: What is the most frequenly used method of selling spent layers? slaughter here and sell dressed  slaughter elsewhere and sell dressed  sell live birds  do not raise layers  sell to customers from farm  sell to collector/trader  take to market to sell  sell and deliver to customers  other:Part 2: Bird Flu control measures We are interested in understanding whether producers would be able and willing to comply with actions implemented, and practices promoted, by the government to stop bird flu from breaking out or spreading. Most of the questions are presented as a range. If available, a visual representation of the question as a scale should be used to help the respondent answer. It is important to stress that we are not interested in what the respondent thinks it the 'correct' answer, but rather what people really do.In the tables below, the questions are grouped by type --those that relate to: (1) what producers currently do (practices); (2) their ability to comply with the action (capacity); and (3) reasons that influence their willingness to comply with the action (incentives). In the questionnaire, however, the order of the questions will be mixed up under each mitigation measure to keep answers to the questions as independent from one another as possible.Most questions are asked about the producer's own practices, incentives and capacities, but for sensitive questions, we want to avoid 'politeness bias', i.e., giving you the answer they think is 'correct' or they think you want to hear, so such questions are asked about how they think other producers might behave more generally.Biosecurity includes all the measures that are used to prevent the spread of a disease from an already infected farm/premise to a non-infected one through cleaning, disinfection and prompt disposal of carcasses (bio-containment) and measures that are applied to prevent the disease to infecting an uninfected farm e.g. preventing wild animals from coming into contact with domestic birds, preventing visitors from accessing chicken houses etc (bio-exclusion). Practices: We want to get a sense of the degree to which the producer follows the recommended practices as indicated by:-  Disagree  Neither agree nor disagree  Agree  Strongly agree 29. Why would producers like you be willing and able to make efforts to limit exposure and access to their chickens? 30. Why would producers like you NOT be willing and able to make efforts to limit exposure and access to their chickens?The veterinary Department expects all the members of the public including producers to promptly report disease outbreaks observed in their farms or in their neighbourhoods. Reporting also includes the more general issue of sharing information about disease problems with others, who in turn might report, whether the problem is in their own flock or someone else's.31 Following an outbreak of bird flu, the veterinary department, sanitary control unit and the police will kill all the chickens within a radius of 3km from the outbreak foci. Poultry products and feedstuff will also be destroyed and contaminated premises disinfected. Compensation will be given for every chicken killed at 24 Birr. Compensation will be given for killed chickens and not for any other birds that die from any other cause including bird flu. Now imagine that you are a farmer in a culling zone, but there is currently no disease in your flock; yet, your chicken as well as those of others have to be killed, wastes removed and chicken premises disinfected using disinfectant (e.g. Virkon®). How would you or others react? Practices: These reflect behaviour that would comply, or avoid compliance with, the culling effort. Since it is hypothetical, and we want to avoid polite bias, it is better to ask the question about how other people might be expected to act.Trying to avoid culling by moving/selling/hiding/eating their chickens beforehand -Accepting to participate 52. Some producers may try to remove their chickens (healthy or sick) out of the culling zone  Strongly disagree  Disagree  Neither agree nor disagree  Agree  Strongly agree 53. Some producers may try to hide their healthy chickens to avoid having them killed  Strongly disagree  Disagree  Neither agree nor disagree  Agree  Strongly agree 54. Some producers may try to sell their chickens quickly before they are killed.  Strongly disagree  Disagree  Neither agree nor disagree  Agree  Strongly agree 55. Producers will accept to have their chickens killed  Strongly disagree  Disagree  Neither agree nor disagree  Agree  Strongly agree 56. It makes more sense to slaughter and dress your chickens and store them than wait for them to be killed  Strongly disagree  Disagree  Neither agree nor disagree  Agree  Strongly agree Incentives: The main incentive for complying with culling is to qualify for compensation, but this may not be timely enough. Also:-It reduces the disease risk to their family, their flocks and those of their neighbours The main reason why the farmer may or may not be able to comply with culling could be related to their reliance on the chickens for income and their thin cash flow; i.e. inability to wait for compensation 62. If you let all your chickens be killed, it will destroy your business and you won't be able to feed your family  Strongly disagree  Disagree  Neither agree nor disagree  Agree  Strongly agree 63. Chicken-keeping is your only possible agricultural option, so you would be unwilling to comply with culling  Strongly disagree  Disagree  Neither agree nor disagree  Agree  Strongly agree 64. If you let all my chickens be culled, you will have to fire your workers and it will be hard for them.  Strongly disagree  Disagree  Neither agree nor disagree  Agree  Strongly agree 65. You can't be without poultry income during the gap between culling and new production after restocking  Strongly disagree  Disagree  Neither agree nor disagree  Agree  Strongly agree 66. You can cooperate with culling because your poultry business is just a portion of your income  Strongly disagree  Disagree  Neither agree nor disagree  Agree  Strongly agree 67. Why would producers like you be willing and able to cooperate with the culling of their chickens when there is a disease outbreak?68. Why would producers like you NOT be willing or able to cooperate with the culling of their chickens when there is a disease outbreak?Following an outbreak of bird flu, the local law enforcing authorities including the police, Kebele administration and other relevant stakeholders like the sanitary control unit and the veterinarians will be mobilized to enforce movement controls in a region of about 10km radius from the site of \\an outbreak. Livestock movement will be barred and markets will be closed. They will impose penalties for noncompliance.Scenario: Now, imagine that you are in an affected area and such movement controls have been announced. How would you react? (Use for reference any types of disease outbreaks and movement controls that they may have experienced previously). Practices: Again, this situation is hypothetical and producers may not have experienced such a situation with other diseases, so it is best to ask about how others might be expected to react. Compliance means keeping all their poultry and poultry products on their premises and limiting access, so questions address these and whether producers might go against the movement controls to sell or bring in poultry 69. Producers would try to sell out their chickens in the event of a disease outbreak  Disagree  Neither agree nor disagree  Agree  Strongly agree 85. Why would producers like you be willing and able to comply with movement controls of poultry and poultry products when there is a disease outbreak?86. Why would producers like you NOT be willing and able to comply with movement controls of poultry and poultry products when there is a disease outbreak?If there is an outbreak of avian flu and movement controls as described above are implemented, various government offices, led by the veterinary service, the police and including sanitary control unit, would be called upon to announce, establish, and enforce the controls. This set of questions explores the producer's perceptions of the government services to effectively implement these measures.Incentives: Producers may not be aware of institutional mandates and incentives, but they may have perceptions and opinions about what would motivate individual staff members, especially their professionalism and remuneration 87. The veterinary service would unofficially allow some movement of poultry despite the quarantine because they could be given bribes  Very likely  Likely  Neither likely nor unlikely  Unlikely  Very unlikely 88. The sanitary control unit would unofficially allow some movement of poultry despite the quarantine because they could be given bribes  Very likely  Likely  Neither likely nor unlikely  Unlikely  Very unlikely 89. Veterinary service staff would do a good job stopping movement of poultry and their products because they are highly dedicated and professional. People do not fully trust the veterinary service staff that would be involved, and so would not support those services to make sure the movement controls were respected.  Very likely  Likely  Neither likely nor unlikely  Unlikely  Very unlikely 104. People do not fully trust the sanitary control unit that would be involved, and so would not support those services to make sure the movement controls were respected.  Very likely  Likely  Neither likely nor unlikely  Unlikely  Very unlikely 105. Why would government workers want or be able to do a good job in making sure that movement controls are fully enforced? 106. Why would government workers NOT want or be able to do a good job in making sure that movement controls are fully enforced?Additional questions on biosecurity and reporting 107. How long do you think it will it take to build separate housing for poultry (wired cage with wooden skeleton)? (days, weeks)?_____________________ 108.How much money do you think will it take to build separate housing for poultry (wired cage with wooden skeletonfor the number of chickens that you have) "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8d76fda0f5d7715111e7cd354a7ff65b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/98a5436e-8c3c-4354-a9de-2c3329aae45c/retrieve","id":"-935100097"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"726e08e5-65f2-44bd-b7f8-2bf5b895bdd2","content":"Expanding Utilization of Roots, Tubers and Bananas and Reducing Their Postharvest Losses (RTB-ENDURE) is a 3 year project (2014)(2015)(2016)    List of Tables Table 1:   Cooking banana is the main staple crop in Uganda produced mostly by smallholders for food and income. However, actors along the cooking banana value chain in Uganda face risks high postharvest (PH) losses due to short green life of bananas and damage arising from poor postharvest handling, leading to high physical and economic losses. To understand and quantify the extent of the losses and other overarching issues along the value chain (VC), a detailed market study was conducted based on five specific objectives, including: (1) identify and describe the key players in the banana value chain; (2) establish the current demand and future growth prospects of the different banana presentation forms;(3) establish the level of sorting and grading in the banana value chain; (4) establish the level of use of the weight-based pricing system along the VC and the actor's willingness to pay for its introduction; and (5) determine the extent and causes of postharvest losses along the banana value chain.The study was conducted in south-western Uganda in the districts of Rakai and Isingiro betweenJuly and September 2015. The two districts were selected because they are among the main banana producing districts in Uganda. Isingiro is located about 310 km and Rakai about 208 km south-west of Kampala, Uganda's largest urban and capital city. One sub-county from each district was purposively selected, that is, Dwaniro sub-county in Rakai and Rugaaga sub-county in Isingiro district. 100 farmers (50 per sub-county) were randomly selected for the survey. Ten wholesalers (lorry traders), seven bicycle traders, and ten brokers were selected for the study to get acquainted with the roles played by various value chain actors. Similarly, eight markets (Kasubi, Kisaasi, Bugolobi, Kalerwe, Kawempe, Kibuye, Nakawa and Kansanga) in Kampala and Wakiso districts were also selected. In these markets a total of 40 retailers and 80 consumers were randomly selected. Eight market masters (one per market) were also interviewed to obtain an overall picture of the banana retail market. Lastly, five supermarkets and three exporters were also interviewed.Different tools were used for data collection. A pretested structured questionnaire (for face-to-face interviews) was administered to producers, traders, and consumers, while checklists were used to gather information from key informants (including market masters, bicycle traders, brokers, wholesalers, exporters, and supermarket representatives). Direct observations and literature review were also used. Data were coded and entered in SPSS (version 17), while analysis was done using STATA 13. Descriptive statistics such as means and percentages are presented in this report.The cooking banana value chain mainly comprises of producers, collectors (brokers and bicycle traders), wholesalers, exporters, retailers and consumers. The chain involves the movement of bananas from the producer to the lorry traders either directly by farmers or through brokers and bicycle traders. Lorry traders transport and distribute the bananas to the retailers who then sell to the final consumers. Some bananas move from producers directly to the exporters; who mainly sell to Europe and to the region, especially South Sudan. But, the volume of export is relatively very small. For the study 58 male (28 from Rakai and 30 from Isingiro) and 42 female (22 from Rakai and 20 from Isingiro) producers were interviewed. The average age of male farmers is 48 years, while that for the female is 46 years. The proportion of four market-preferred varieties (including, Nakitembe, Musakala and Mbwazirume plus Kibuzi which is known to have long intrinsic shelf-life) was estimated at farm level. Prior to the survey, the market-preferred varieties were identified and confirmed during two stakeholders meetings involving various VC actors and other stakeholders. Kibuzi is grown by 25% male and 20% female farmers in Isingiro district, while in Rakai district it is grown by 15% male and 13% female farmers. Mbwazirume was found to be grown only in Rakai by 8% male and 4% female farmers, while Nakitembe is grown by only 2% male farmers in Isingiro and 3% male farmers in Rakai. Equal numbers (2%) of both male and female farmers grow Musakala in Isingiro and Rakai. Other varieties are also grown (Entukura, Mbululu, Enzirabushera, Muvubo, Enjagata, and Entukura). Most farmers (71%) obtain their planting materials from their own farms. The majority of farmers belong to groups, but they mostly sell as individuals; hence they tend to have low bargaining power. All bicycle traders are males.They buy their banana from the dispersed farmer plots within the village, and they act as the initial  Market vendors incur few costs, including rent for stalls, own transport, meals and labor costs. The market margins along the value chain vary significantly with large differences between the farm gate price and the retail price. In the low production seasons, the total market margin for a small bunch (10-15Kg) is estimated at UGX 13,500 and UGX 16,500 for a large bunch (above 25Kg), while in the high production season it is estimated at an average of UGX 9,900 for a small and UGX 15,850 for a large bunch. 1 The node of the value chain with the highest market margin is the wholesale level, yet all actors at this level are men.Presentation forms across the value chain: All producers, all brokers and 90% of wholesalers sell their banana in form of bunches and/or sacks of unpeeled fingers. attributed to the ease of handling and high demand for a particularly presentation form, in particular, 32% of the retailers reported that there is an increased demand for peeled bananas .Sorting and grading of bananas across the value chain: VC actors practice some sort of grading. For instance, results show that all VC actors grade their banana bunches by size.However, with exception of exporters, all other VC actors do not grade their banana by varieties and/or quality. VC actors have varying perceptions in relation to quality and variety grading.Results show that 78% of the producers agree that sorting and grading by variety and quality is a good practice and would increase revenues from banana sales, and close to three quarters of such 1 Exchange rate 1 US$=3,150 UGX at the time of the survey.farmers (73%) believe that such practice would not require many (or any) additional skills since it can be done easily at farm level. However, the majority of farmers (80%) acknowledged that sorting and grading requires more time. Most farmers (80%) and bicycle traders (57%) are willing to accept and pay a premium for good quality and sorted bananas, respectively. 80% of retailers and 60% of wholesalers are also willing to accept and pay a premium for good quality and sorted bananas. Approximately 90% of the consumers are willing to purchase good quality and sorted bananas at a premium if availed on the market. About 55% of consumers are not satisfied with the quality of bunches sold in the market and 58% are not satisfied with the quality of peeled bananas sold in some open markets.The weight based pricing system: Unit prices are determined by visual inspection, as reported by all producers, brokers, bicycle traders and wholesalers, which is subjective and arbitrary and therefore presents risks for unfair marketing transactions. All exporters to Europe buy and sell banana in kilograms, yet their suppliers negotiate (through brokers) the bunch price using visual inspection at farm level and sell to exporters in kilograms. Only one of the five supermarkets visited had once sold bananas using the kilogram system, while only five female (12.5%) and three male retail traders (7.5%) in open markets sell (or have ever sold) their bananas by weight. However, the study shows that 98% of the producers, 40% retailers, 75% supermarkets and 50% consumers are willing to embrace the weight-based pricing system. Similarly, 40% of the interviewed consumers believe that other consumers (who were not interviewed) will purchase cooking bananas sold in kilograms. Most consumers (57%) would prefer to purchase unpeeled fingers using the weight-based pricing system. The most preferred pack of weighted unpeeled banana would be a 5kg pack, with 55% of the consumers stating that they are likely to purchase weighed bananas in such quantities (5kg). Most producers are willing to accept an average price of about UGX 750 per kilogram of banana, while bicycle traders are willing to pay an average of UGX 413 per kilogram of banana bought. Super market traders are willing to buy a kilogram at UGX 1,000 and would sell it at UGX 3,200. A big proportion of consumers (45%) are willing to pay between UGX 1,000 and UGX 2,000 per kilogram. Value chain actors ─ most producers and wholesalers, and all bicycle traders believe that the introduction of a weight-based pricing system along the value chain would improve efficiency and lead to fairer pricing in the banana business. These actors as well as half of the brokers also believe that sales by weight would improve trust among the banana VC actors. However, retailers and consumers appear less optimistic at this regard and are mainly afraid that traders would mostly use fake weighing scales, not properly calibrated as required by UNBS. Moreover, some actors believe that the weight-based pricing system will come with added costs in terms of labor for weighing as reported by most producers, bicycle traders and retailers. Results show some gender differences in perceptions. Male producers and retailers are more positive about the weight-based pricing system in terms of efficiency, fair pricing and trust compared to their female counter parts. However, female producers and retailers are more prone to think that the weight based pricing system will not add any extra cost.The postharvest losses across the value chain: Actors along the cooking banana VC face risks of high postharvest (PH) losses due to short green life of bananas and damage arising from poor postharvest handling. During low production (scarcity), on-farm postharvest losses affect about 3.3% (in form of physical losses) and 5.4% (in form of economic losses) of bananas, while during high production PH losses increases to 9.6% (physical losses) and 8.1% (economic losses). Onfarm economic PH losses translate into an average residual value of about UGX 7,500 during scarcity (e.g., a bunch that would have been sold at UGX 10,000 is sold at about UGX 7,500 due to quality deterioration) and UGX 2,400 during surplus per damaged bunch. The major causes of PH losses at farm level during scarcity are thefts (for physical losses) and sell of immature bananas (for economic losses), while ripening is the main cause of both physical and economic losses during surplus season. Though physical losses are not significantly different across gender, economic losses do differ. Female farmers exhibit more economic losses with approximately 8.3%of bananas affected by some degree of quality deterioration leading to lower prices compared to 5.6% of their male counterparts. Furthermore, this quality deterioration translates into higher price discounts for female than male farmers, with residual values of approximately UGX 4,700 compared to UGX 5,100 per bunch, respectively. PH losses in Isingiro are more than 50% higher than those in Rakai district. At retail level (for open market vendors) physical losses ranges from approximately 6.2%-9.8% (scarcity-surplus) and economic losses from approximately 6.5% to 12%selling at an average residual value of UGX 12,000 to 7,500 per bunch, respectively. The major causes of PH losses at retail level are thefts, bruising, finger-plucking and ripening. Losses due to ripening are mostly associated with production gluts, which are partly due to seasonal scheduling of follower sucker selection. Results also show that other chain actors experience PH losses as well. For brokers physical losses range from 2 to 4% while economic losses affect 2 to 5% of bananas. Bruising is the lead cause of physical losses while ripening causes the greatest economic losses in the scarce season. In the surplus season, ripening, bruising and scotching (browning of the fingers when exposed to the sun for long hours) stand out as the major causes.For wholesalers, physical losses range from 7 to 9% while economic ones range from 3 to 8%.Bruising and thefts are the lead causes of both the physical and economic losses in scarcity times, while ripening and bruising cause tremendous losses in the surplus season. The forms in which bananas are handled and transported lead to these high PH losses. Bananas are transported to the markets mainly as bunches on bicycles or stacked on trucks and unprotected. They are also transported as fingers tightly packed in poorly aerated polythene bags that build up heat around the bananas in transit. For the exporters, physical losses range from 2 to 3%, while economic losses are about 4 to 6%. Ripening is the major cause of physical losses in both scarcity and surplus seasons while bruising causes most of the economic losses during both seasons. The losses at export level are minimized by transporting banana clusters with great care and protected in cardboard boxes.Banana varieties Kibuzi, Nakitembe Mbwazirume and Musakala are only accessed by few farmers yet these are the most preferred varieties in the market. Farmers are willing to purchase clean planting materials of these varieties from the nurseries if availed. This presents a business opportunity to farmers who are willing to establish nurseries. Banana presentation forms of clusters and peeled fingers are missing at lower levels of the value chain. There is an increasing demand for peeled bananas at retail level therefore retailers could demand for peeled bananas right from the farm. Farmers are willing to provide peeled bananas as they would wish to use the banana peelings as manure for their gardens. Banana value chain actors are very positive and willing to embrace the weight based pricing system. This is expected to improve efficiency and fairness in the banana pricing system as well as improve transparency between buyers and sellers.The total postharvest losses across the value chain are high and thus require various interventions to reduce them tremendously. All these innovations are expected to improve margins along the value chain and thus reduce the difference between farm gate and retail prices.Cooking bananas are an important starchy food and cash crop in Uganda. About 24% of all agricultural households are engaged in banana production (Kalyebara et al. 2005) Bananas are a major staple food for more than a half of the Ugandan population, with per capita consumption of 172Kg/person/year (Haggblade and Dewina, 2010) , making Uganda the largest consumer of cooking banana in the world (Kabahenda and Kapirir, 2010). Banana is the single most important source of calories among Ugandans accounting for 17% of total daily per capita caloric food intake (Fiedler et al., 2013). Smallholder producers mostly sell their bananas to other agents at farm gate who finally deliver to the urban markets. Moreover, smallholder producers get the least share of the profits in the banana value chain due to a large number of middle men (about 5 to 7 according to Ngambeki et al., 2010). According to the New Vision newspaper (August, 2014), for a 40kg bunch sold at UGX 25,000 in Kampala, its farm gate price is UGX 4,000, yet the transport costs for the same bunch is just UGX 2,000. About 90% of the bananas produced are consumed within the domestic market and the rest exported as fresh or processed banana products (Smale and Tushemereirwe, 2007).However, actors along the cooking banana value chain in Uganda face risks of high postharvest (PH) losses due to short green life of bananas and damage arising from poor postharvest handling, leading to high physical and economic losses. To understand and quantify the extent of the losses and other overarching issues along the value chain, a detailed market study was conducted.The objectives of the study were:1. To identify and describe the key players in the banana value chain  One sub-county from each district was purposively selected: Dwaniro sub-county from Rakai and Rugaaga sub-county from Isingiro district. A total of 100 farmers, 50 per district, were randomly selected. Similarly, in the same districts, ten wholesalers (lorry traders), seven bicycle traders and ten brokers were also randomly selected. Data regarding retailers and consumers were obtained from the major banana markets in the greater Kampala region as indicated in table 1. A total of 40 retailers (market vendors) and 80 consumers were randomly selected. Eight banana market masters (one per market) were also interviewed to obtain an overall picture of the banana market.Lastly, five super markets and three banana (and fruit) exporters were also included in the study. Data were collected using different tools: a pretested structured questionnaire (for face-to-face interviews) was administered to producers, traders, and consumers, while checklists were used to gather information from key informants (including market masters, bicycle traders, brokers, wholesalers, exporters, and supermarket representatives). Direct observations and literature review were also used.Data were coded and entered in SPSS version 17 while analysis was done using STATA 13.Descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviations and percentages were used to obtain the baseline values regarding banana varieties grown, banana presentation forms, grading, use of the weight based pricing system, and extent of postharvest losses across the banana value chain.Descriptive statistics were also used to determine the gender distribution of males and females across the value chain. Results were presented in tables and figures.2. RESULTSThe majority of farmers (93%) are members of at least one famers group in the village. Each group has an average of 31 members, with 16 females and 15 males. There are four main joint activities carried out in the different groups, including, savings and credit management, collective marketing, pooling of labor and bulk procurement of inputs. The major group activity is savings and credit management as reported by 72% of the respondents. Through groups, farmers are able to easily access credit even without any collateral. The second major activity is collective marketing (25%).Though farmers agreed that collective marketing improves bargaining power and access to bulky markets, it was practiced by only 2% of farmers. Pooling of labor was practiced by 2%, while bulk procurement of inputs was practiced by 1% only. Farmers reported that if structured in groups they can easily organize and mobilize for trainings being much easier and cheaper to invite an extension worker in a group than on individual basis. Majority of the banana growing farmers in the study area are semi commercial (93%); i.e., they produce for both food and the market. Only 6% are exclusively subsistence farmers, while the least (1%) are commercial farmers. On average, the total land owned per household is 10.1 acres, of which more than a half (6.0 acres of land) is dedicated to crop production. An average of 5.4 acres of land is dedicated to banana production (table 2).  2).The Pearson chi square test shows that there is a strong association between the main banana farming objective and the type of variety that is mostly cultivated. Moreover this test is highly significant (pr=0.000). Results show that 63 out of 93 semi-commercial farmers would like to growKibuzi as their number one priority because this variety is more preferred in the market compared to other varieties. Kibuzi is preferred for its large finger size and longer shelf life (Spilsbury et al., 2004). However, farmers have a challenge in accessing clean planting materials. About 55% farmers report that it is not easy for them to access clean planting materials when they want to expand their banana plantations. 14% of the farmers are not sure whether the planting materials they use are clean, while 30% are able to reliably access clean planting materials. Results further show that 95% of the farmers do not get their planting materials from nurseries. The main source of planting materials is the farmer's own farm (as reported by 71%). 3% of the farmers obtain their planting material from neighbors, while those who obtain planting materials from both neighbors and their own farms are 26%. If obtained from a neighbor's plantation, each farmer will incur an average cost of UGX 500 per sucker. If nurseries were established in their respective localities, 86% of the farmers would be willing to purchase the clean planting materials at a cost of UGX 900 per sucker. Generally, farmers anticipate a high demand for clean planting materials if grown in nurseries near their homesteads. Other purchased inputs include manure and mulching materials.On average, farmers spend UGX 1.5 million on manure per annum, while mulching materials purchases contribute approximately UGX 645,000.Labor, including family and hired, is another input greatly required on banana farms. Both men and women participate in the day to day management of banana plots, with men participating more than women. Male family labor is mostly used in land preparation, while female labor is mainly used in weeding. Male household members generally work for more hours compared to the female. This can be explained by the fact that women have other roles (reproductive roles and household chores) to fulfill other than the productive roles. Similarly, more men are employed as laborers (hired labor) than their women counterparts. Hired labor is mostly used for land preparation, planting, weeding and manure spreading. On average, UGX 380,000 is spent on hired labor per annum.The average annual banana production per farmers is about 660 bunches in Rakai and 2,050 bunches in Isingiro (table 3). The difference is primarily due to larger acreage allocated to banana production in the latter. September-November). Generally, most farmers (77%) experienced an increase in their banana production over the last one year. In relation to attributes considered at the point of purchase at farm level, most buyers (55%)primarily pay attention to the size of the bunch and fingers while only 20% pay more attention to quality of the cooking banana. Producers mostly talk about prices (58%) when they meet their buyers, followed by quality of the banana (41%). Other issues discussed include, availability of bananas and the working relations. In addition, some buyers (13%) demand for varieties that are not currently grown by the producers.When asked about the most crucial issues affecting the banana market, most producers reported taxes (71.7%), followed by lack of access to market information (66.7%). In particular, most women producers (65%) do not have timely access to the prevailing market prices due to their immobility and thus they sell at lower prices than what could be fetched. 55% of the producers who sell to exporters reported that the export market has stringent regulations and standards and sometimes their bananas are rejected due to their poor quality. Similarly, another challenge reported by many producers (80%) is the lower prices caused by the production gluts (during the high supply seasons). Other challenges included lack of access to financial service (54%), lack of access to extension services (70%) and pest and disease outbreaks (30%).In general, women participates more in purchasing cooking bananas for consumption. In our sample across the market 72% of the respondents who buy cooking banana for consumption were women compared to 28% men. At farm level most (65%) of the banana produced is consumed and an average of about 30% is taken to the market. 60% of the banana sold in the open markets in the urban centers goes to individual households consumers, while the rest goes to other customers such as hotels and restaurants.Results indicate that consumers have developed strong relationships with their respective sellers over time. For instance, figure 3 shows that about 36% of the consumers are loyal to their sellers.The main reasons given for their commitment include: fair price, good quality bananas (in terms of color and finger size), ability to purchase on credit and good customer care. Nevertheless, a good number of consumers purchase from more than one seller. This is mainly to cater for the seasonal supply of bananas in the market. Consumers feel that they can obtain bananas from other sellers even in the low supply seasons.There is information sharing regarding cooking bananas through the established buyer-seller relationships. For instance, approximately 71% of the consumers reported that they mainly inquire about prices when they talk to their respective sellers, 36% talk more about the quality while only 1% pays more attention to availability of specific varieties. Similarly, some consumers often inform sellers of the type of bananas they need in case they do not find them on the market. The most common means of communication is through face to face interaction (75 %), while 16% of consumers reports use of telephones and 9% communicates to their sellers through other people.A number of attributes are considered when purchasing cooking banana as shown in table 4.Consumers often consider maturity of the banana as the key attribute, as indicated by 95% of the respondents who agreed that maturity of bananas is very important at the time of purchase. This is followed by affordability (in terms of price), freshness (from harvest time to purchase) and size of the fingers and bunch. Only 20% of the consumers pay attention to the variety of the banana. The cooking banana value chain mainly comprises of input suppliers, producers, collectors, wholesalers, retailers and consumers as depicted in figure 4.  5). Buloba town in Wakiso district, which is about 300 km away from the nursery operator's point of operation. When the nursey operator meets with the supplier at AGT, they often talk about price related issues, availability of different banana varieties and disease control methods. Generally, there is no variation in varietal prices, though purchase prices slightly increase in the wet (rainy)season. This is due to the high demand generated by farmers who wish to benefit from the rain.The main customers are mostly men (table 6). The input supplier reported that the majority of farmers (80%) does not use banana tissue plantlets. There are no other banana input suppliers known in the district except the interviewed one. The input supplier agrees that banana plantlet business presents future business opportunities for farmer entrepreneurs. The biggest challenge faced by the input supplier is disease outbreaks, specifically banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW). The main services received by the input supplier are trainings on agronomy and these are provided by MBADIFA and NAADS twice a year.A total of 100 farmers were interviewed from both Isingiro (50%) and Rakai (50%) districts for this study. Table 7 shows the demographic characteristics of producers. Both male and female farmers were included in the sample, of which 58% were males and 42% are female. The majority of respondents were married (84%). Results indicate that 93% of the respondents had formal education while only 7% did not have any kind of formal education. The majority attained primary level of education. The average household size was six in Rakai and nine in Isingiro. The study shows that all bicycle traders are males and self-employed, with an average age of 33 years. They buy bananas from dispersed farmer plots within the village. They operate as the initial collecting agents. They are well-known members of the community and they have established strong relationships with the farmers. The strong relationship helps the bicycle traders to collect enough volumes (quantities) and good quality bananas from farmers at reasonable prices.Nevertheless, competition amongst bicycle traders exists as barriers to entry are quite low. Bicycle traders mostly obtain information from fellow traders. There is also information sharing between bicycle traders and farmers in terms of price and quality of the product. Information is shared through telephones (50%) and face to face interaction (50%). About 57% of the traders inform the producers about customer needs in terms of quality (i.e., fresh, green and large finger size) and about 86% of the producers occasionally respond to such needs. On average, bicycle traders make four trips per day during the surplus season and three trips per day in the low supply season.Figure 5 shows that all bicycle traders look for fresh and mature bunches (with good bunch and finger size). Most traders (86%) also consider price and variety during purchase. Bicycle traders sell their produce to brokers at collection centers that are found at sub-county or district trading centers, while a smaller percentage (20%) of their sales go to local consumers, market vendors or lorry traders. The major challenge faced by bicycle traders is price fluctuation of the bananas (figure 6). About 30% of the bicycle traders reported that low supply in the scarcity season affects them as they waste a lot of time looking for bananas. 15% of the traders reported that it is hard for them to find the varieties mostly required by the market (Kibuzi, Musakala, Nakitembe and Mbwazirume).Losses during transportation to the point of sell reduce their revenue and these losses are mainly due to bruising, breakages and scotching (browning of the fingers when exposed to the sun for long hours).Bicycle traders receive services from banana traders (63.7%), banks (9%) and consumers (27%).All traders receive services at least once a year. Figure 6 shows the services rendered to the bicycle traders. Majority (50%) receive information on quality and quantity of bananas. Resultsshow that 86% of the bicycle traders have never received loans for banana business. All brokers were found to be male with an average age of 40 years. At least 50% of the brokers have attained primary level education and own their businesses. Brokers have been involved in the banana business for an average of ten years. Brokers, though might collect directly from the farmers, buy most (70%) of their banana from the bicycle traders. Brokers are commission agents linking bicycle traders with lorry traders who buy directly from them. Brokers, however, also engage in the transportation of banana to urban markets. Brokers sell primarily to lorry traders. Resultsshow that about 34% of the brokers have good relationships with the lorry traders, and as a result they get cash advances to consolidate stocks and, likewise, sometimes lorry traders are able to buy on credit. 47% of the brokers reported that the main information shared between the brokers, suppliers and the buyers is price-related, while 45% reported to mainly share information related to the quality of bananas. The most popular mode of communication is telephone as reported by 62%of the brokers while 38% communicate face to face. 40% of the banana producers occasionally respond to the brokers needs in the banana market. Results further show that 80% of the brokers look for large fingers, 100% look for mature bananas, 50% look for particular varieties and 80% look for freshness while buying bananas. Brokers reported some challenges in buying bananas as shown in figure 8. Due to the inability to meet the market demand, there are many immature bananas on the market during the scarcity season and, despite the higher market prices at this time, such bananas are low priced due to their low quality. Brokers are also challenged with  farmers, most (80%) are not organized into any group or association. These traders are selfemployed. However, most of them (70%) do not own the trucks. These are hired, which represents their highest operating cost. Traders tend to work with brokers because they prefer to buy bulked stocks which have already been quality screened by the brokers. Mainly price related information is shared between the lorry traders and the suppliers, where 70% communicate occur through telephones. Lorry traders transact mostly (71%) on cash basis but sometimes (21%) procure on credit. All lorry traders have obtained business loans at least once, with an average of UGX 7,500,000. The major constraints faced by lorry traders are high transportation costs, postharvest losses due to ripening and low supply in the scarcity season that leads to purchasing immature bananas. The scattered nature of farmers and the poor road infrastructure in the villages discourage lorry traders to transact directly with the farmers.Market vendors are largely women (about 70%) though for this study men were oversampled to get a better representation of their views. Most (43%) market vendors attained secondary level education. Retailers operate market stalls and most of them (90%) are self-employed. The major banana outlets are the open markets such as Kalerwe, Nakawa and Kasubi. There are several other markets mainly located nearby large communities. The vendors procure their entire banana stock from the lorry traders. They have long term relationships with 70% of their suppliers and at least 40% of their customers. They mostly communicate by mobile phone (52%) for pricing and delivery requirements. Most (83%) vendors do not belong to organized groups or associations.They are largely clients of microfinance institutions and SACCOs, from whom they derive most of their working capital requirements. The main micro finance institutions include FINCA, Pride microfinance and Brac. Market vendors sell their produce to household consumers, hotels, restaurants and schools are mostly paid (65%) on cash basis. Market vendors incur few costs, including rent for stalls, own transport, meals and labor costs resulting in high business profitability.Supermarkets are also involved in the retailing of bananas, and they prefer varieties with longer shelf life and large finger size. The greatest challenge faced by supermarkets is the inconsistent supply of bananas.67% of the exporters are male with an average age of 38 years and 9 years of working experience.The majority (67%) of exporters procure their bananas from farmers directly, while 38% obtain from brokers. Their main challenges are poor quality of bananas during the scarcity season. Exporters sell their bananas to South Sudan and Europe.Consumers play the end-user's role in the banana value chain. Eight markets in and around Kampala were visited from which 80 consumers were interviewed. Among those interviewed, 73%were female and 27% were male. The majority (95%) had acquired some level of formal education, where 24% had primary education, 43% secondary education, 13% tertiary and 15% university degrees. 66% of the respondents were married, with an average age of 34 years. The average household size is was five members per household. Decisions on whether to purchase bananas or not in a household are mainly (70%) taken by wives. About 35% of banana consumers earn below UGX 500,000, while 33% earn between UGX 500,000 and 1,000,000 per month. The average distance to the market is 2.5 kilometers. The majority of consumers (52%) mentioned rice as the typical substitute of banana, while 35% mentioned maize. The preference for these substitutes is because of their consistent availability in the market.At farm level, 77% of the banana business is managed by male household heads. Bananas are sold in form of bunches and sacks of fingers. The majority of farmers sell at farm gate, whereas 80% sell individually and only 20% sell in groups. About 12% of producers operate their banana business under contracts with buyers. Under these agreements, farmers are given advance payments before harvest. Producers rate their buyers as being trustworthy and bulk purchasers.Results show that majority of the males are positioned in the most profitable nodes of the value chains (table 8).The marketing margin (difference between the retail price and farm-gate price) is higher in the scarce season compared to the surplus season as shown in table 8. In the low production seasons, the total market margin for a small bunch is estimated at about UGX 13,500 and UGX 16,500 for a large bunch, while in the high production season it is estimated at an average of UGX 9,900 for a small and UGX 15,850 for a large bunch. Margins are higher in the scarcity season and for large bunches because of the higher prices of bananas. The least profitable node of the value chain is that of the producer. The most profitable node is the wholesale level (table 9), yet all actors at this level are men (table 10). Further analysis was done to determine the quality of packaging materials for peeled bananas.Results show that 33% of the consumers have bought peeled bananas at least once. These consumers rated the quality of packaging material as shown in figure 9. The majority of consumers are not satisfied with the quality of the packaging material as they think it is unhealthy. However, consumers suggest that a standard packaging material that is less harmful to man and the environment should be developed. About 60% of the producers reported an increased demand for bunches in the last one year, while 50% reported increase in demand for bags of unpeeled fingers. At retail level, 91% of the retailers reported an increased demand for bunches, 70% for heaps of unpeeled fingers, and 62% reported an increased demand for bags of fingers. Though the increase in demand for peeled fingers is not large (32%), retailers reported that the demand is steadily increasing over time. Bunches are the most highly demanded type of presentation, with 61% of the consumers demanding small bunches, particularly if they have a not too large household size. The results show that there is no significant difference between presentation type demanded and family size.Bananas can be graded according to variety, quality, size and form of presentation in the market.All value chain actors grade their bananas in terms of size and presentation form. However, there is no single actor grading in terms of variety and/or quality as shown in figure 10.Though grading in terms of quality and variety is not practiced in the banana value chain, different actors have different perceptions regarding this practice. Results show that 78% of the producers agree that sorting and grading is a good practice and would increase revenues from banana sales.Producers (73%) also believe that sorting and grading does not require any additional skill, however 80% of the producers agree that sorting and grading is tiresome and time consuming.Results also show that 60% of producers are willing to accept higher prices for good quality and sorted bananas. Majority of the bicycle traders (57%) are willing to occasionally pay higher prices for good sorted bananas while 43% are willing to regularly pay higher prices. 50% of brokers, 67%of wholesalers and 88% of the consumers reported that they are willing to pay higher prices for good quality and sorted bananas if availed on the market.The majority of bicycle traders (86 %) occasionally find the required quantities of the preferred banana varieties, while 14% rarely find the right quantities of the required varieties. About 32% of the retailers reported increased demand for particular varieties like Kibuzi, Nakitembe, Musakala and Mbwazirume. 55% of the consumers are not satisfied with the quality of bunches and 58% are not satisfied with the quality of peeled bananas.Figure 11 shows the proportion of value chain actors selling banana using the kilogram system.None of the producers, bicycle traders, brokers and wholesalers use a weight-based pricing system. All European exporters buy and sell banana in kilograms, yet their suppliers (brokers) negotiate the bunch price using visual inspection at farm level and sell to exporters in kilograms.Only one of the five supermarkets visited had once sold bananas using the kilogram system, while only five female and three male retailers in open markets sell (or have ever sold) their bananas by kilogram. All markets have at least one market vendor who has ever used (or is still using) the weight based price system except Kalerwe market (figure 12). Results show that 31% of the consumers (25 out of 80) buy or have bought at least once cooking bananas sold in kilograms. Value chain actors ─ most producers and wholesalers, and all bicycle traders believe that the introduction of a weight-based pricing system along the value chain would improve efficiency and lead to fairer pricing in the banana business (table 13). These actors as well as half of the brokers also believe that sales by weight would improve trust among the banana VC actors. However, retailers and consumers appear less optimistic at this regard and are mainly afraid that traders would mostly use fake weighing scales, not properly calibrated as required by UNBS. Moreover, some actors believe that the weight-based pricing system will come with added costs in terms of labor for weighing as reported by most producers, bicycle traders and retailers. Results show some gender differences in perceptions as shown in table 13. Male producers and retailers are more positive about the weight-based pricing system in terms of efficiency, fair pricing and trust 2.8.3. Postharvest losses at the wholesale level At wholesale level physical losses during scarcity are estimated at about 6.7% and economic losses at 3%. These economic losses result into a residual value of about UGX 20,000 per damaged large bunch in scarcity season. The major causes of such losses are thefts and bruising for physical losses and bruising and ripening for economic losses. However, in the surplus season, both physical and economic losses increase and are mainly caused by ripening and bruising.Likewise, the residual value also decreases significantly to approximately UGX 11,000 per bunch if damaged (table 17).  Bruising and ripening are the lead causes of postharvest (both physical and economic) losses during the surplus season at retail level. Bruising results into discoloration and exposes the banana to infections thus shortening the shelf life and lowering the quality. Other causes that have been mentioned include overstaying, scotching and finger plucking. Table 19 shows PH losses by gender. Though no significant differences were observed, males tend to incur more physical and economic losses during scarcity than females, while during surplus women tend to incur more economic losses compared to men. Residual values are not significantly different in both seasons. Banana varieties of Kibuzi, Nakitembe Mbwazirume and Musakala are only accessed by few farmers yet these are the most demanded varieties in the market. Farmers are willing to purchase clean planting materials of these varieties from the nurseries if availed. This presents a business opportunity to farmers who are willing to establish nurseries. Banana presentation forms of clusters and peeled fingers are missing at the production end of the value chain. There is an increasing demand for peeled bananas at retail level therefore retailers could demand for peeled bananas right from the farm. Farmers are willing to provide peeled bananas as they could use the banana peelings as manure for their gardens. Banana value chain actors are very positive and willing to embrace the weight based pricing system. This is expected to improve efficiency and fairness in the banana pricing system as well as improve transparency between buyers and sellers. The postharvest losses across the value chain are high and thus require various interventions to considerably reduce them. All these innovations are expected to improve margins along the value chain and thus reduce the gap between retail prices and farm gate prices."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/8722492418.json b/main/part_2/8722492418.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7944604476b85cb426e4d7e2eb6d5250","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0fa2a953-ce36-43a3-b6b9-c539ca47c0ca/retrieve","id":"1935444125"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3f50375d-71bd-4fce-91ca-a9ca62aa7db3","content":"This document briefly explains how predicted livestock mortality index is derived 1 . First, we explain how and why we have separate index-based livestock insurance (IBLI) contracts across Marsabit. We then describe the forage availability proxy we use, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and then explain how predicted livestock mortality index is constructed based on NDVI.IBLI divides Marsabit area as shown in Figure 1. Upper and Lower Marsabit have different insurance contracts. By this we mean that both Upper and Lower Marsabit contracts are modeled and priced using a separate response function which determines the relationship between constructed NDVI variables and livestock mortality as explained below. This split was made due to substantial differences in agro-ecology, herd compositions and climate patterns between these two regions.IBLI further divides Marsabit into 5 divisions, each of which has its own predicted livestock mortality index. That is, that the average NDVI reading is taken at the division level plugged into the same response function for divisions in Upper Marsabit (North Horr and Maikona) and those in Lower Marsabit (Loiyangalani, Laisamis and Central) This division into 5 was chosen in order to strike a compromise between increasing localized index precision by using more disaggregated NDVI values and having fewer indexing areas to reduce administrative logistics and account for the wide area pastoralists commonly graze.Figure 1. 2 Insurance contract areas and 5 predicted livestock mortality index areasThe Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is a satellite derived indicator of the amount and vigor of vegetation. The magnitude of NDVI is related to the level of photosynthetic activity in the observed vegetation. Images of NDVI are sometimes referred to as \"greenness maps\" since they represent the vegetative vigor of plants. In general, high values of NDVI indicate greater vigor and amounts of vegetations. The NDVI data are available at the resolution of 8.0× 8.0 km. Since the late 1980's, the Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) has used AVHRR data 2 to produce dekadal (10-day) composite NDVI images of Africa, and has built a valuable archive of these data from June 1981 to present, which are available in real time. Figure 2 shows NDVI in Marsabit in the 1st dekad of February 2009.Point to Note: As per the above paragraph, the NDVI response function was modeled based on AVHRR NDVI data. The intention was then to use regularly available NDVI data to then generate the predicted livestock mortality indices. However, in March 2010, the sensor producing AVHRR data began to deteriorate and has since then been offline. In conjunction with scientists from the Belgian Institute, Vision on Technology (VITO) which specializes in remote sensing, we identified the best alternative NVDI source to be from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) which flies onboard the satellites Aqua and Terra of the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA). Given the policy document agreed by the insuring parties, it was required that we stick to the contractually agreed response function but invoke a clause in the contract that allows for the use of appropriately calibrated as an alternative data source. We use the MODIS NDVI 16day composite at a 250m resolution.In what follows we show how the data were calculated to arrive at the predicted mortality index.Figure 2. NDVI in Marsabit in 1 st dekad of January 2010In order to take into account the differences in weather impact on vegetation, geographic attributes and resources (soil, vegetation type and topography), we use standardized NDVI, zndvi for any pixel i of 16-day d in year t : relative to the long-term mean driven by climate. Figure 3 shows ZNDVI in Marsabit in the 1st dekad of January 2010. Figure 2 shows that most of Marsabit was very dry in the 1 st decade of January but Figure 3 reveals that, at least in the Northern part of Marsabit, it was greener compared to the same dekad in previous years. Figure 4 shows time series of ZNDVI in North Horr from 2000 to 2010.Point to Note: When we needed to announce the indexes for 2010 LRLD contract in early October 2010, the NDVI data for the last 16-day period (14 -29 September 2010) was not available. We extrapolated the ZNDVI for the last 16-day period based on the ZNDVI values in the previous 12 months (see Appendix for the detail). To reasonably capture the cumulative impact of climate, we introduce the cumulative path of zndvi (e.g., Czndvi ) into the model. After investigating various cumulative variables with different periods and different ways of cumulating, we identify the following cumulative NDVI variables for inclusion. Figure 5 shows time flow of insurance coverage periods and NDVI summation periods for the various variables. Table 1 shows dates and months we assign for each of 16-days.An annual period is divided into 2 seasons: Long rain long dry (LRLD) season from March to September and short rain short dry (SRSD) season from October to February. For LRLD insurance coverage, we capture NDVI in the previous SRSD and across the duration of the coverage LRLD. Similarly, for SRSD insurance coverage, we capture NDVI in the previous LRLD and the SRSD. Based on these insurance coverage periods and NDVI reading periods, we construct the following 4 types of cumulative ZNDVI variables:  Accumulation process of zndvi   Point to note: The four cumulative standardized NDVI variables above are multiplied by particular values (Table 2) so that magnitudes of the MODIS-based variables would be equivalent to those based on AVHRR NDVI variables available every 10 day. This is done as the response function was calibrated with AVHRR data.      In order to capture the difference in area-averaged mortality responses to climate (strictly speaking, to climate-driven vegetation condition) between moderate and severe climate outcome, we use the following regime switching model in estimating the relationship between Czndvi variables and livestock mortality: When we needed to announce the indexes for 2010 LRLD contract in early October 2010, the NDVI data for the last 16-day period (14 -29 September 2010) was not available. We extrapolated the ZNDVI for the last 16-day period based on the ZNDVI values in the previous 12 months. This appendix explains how we extrapolate the ZNDVI. Denote the ZNDVI for index area i for 16-day d by ZNDVI id . We regressed ZNDVI id on the ZNDVI in the previous 12 months (22 16-day time period) using ZNDVI data for the 5 index areas from 2000 to 2010. Table A1 shows the regression results. We extrapolated the NDVI data for the last 16-day period based on the ZNDVI values in the previous 12 months and estimated regression coefficients. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/8726544015.json b/main/part_2/8726544015.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ddc3551d14ba9a9edda21dd1493411f41e6fcff8
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fcc0abe73b6e04c63a615447742b9642","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3c5be53d-aaf1-4e16-a689-1cfebf4be766/retrieve","id":"-1151349001"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b444db45-0ccb-4f4a-884a-e92435586b56","content":"To identify promising hybrids of the Megathyrsus breeding program [Megathyrsus maximus (Jacq.) B. K. Simon & S. W. L. Jacobs (= Panicum maximum Jacq.)], 20 apomitic hybrids pre-selected from a population of 80 F1 hybrids were evaluated. This F1 population comes from the cross between a sexual genotype (PM15) and 90 accessions of the CIAT germplasm bank. The evaluations were made comparing agronomic traits (such as biomass production, growth habit, height, cover, greenery and pure seed production) with commercial cultivars Mombasa (CIAT: 6962), Tanzania (CIAT: 16031), AGROSAVIA Sabanera, Megathysus Naturalized and Check1 (Witness with sexual reproduction). Currently the stablishment of the experiment was done, as well as two phenotypic evaluations. The phase of data collection will be finished during 2020 as well as data analysis and selection.Para identificar híbridos promisorios del programa de mejoramiento genético de Megathyrsus [Megathyrsus maximus (Jacq.) B. K. Simon & S. W. L. Jacobs (=Panicum maximum Jacq.)] se evaluaron 20 híbridos, de reproducción apomíctico y previamente seleccionados de una población de 80 híbridos F1. Esta población F1 proviene del cruce entre un genotipo sexual (PM15) y 90 accesiones del banco de germoplasma del CIAT. Las evaluaciones se realizaron comparando rasgos agronómicos (como producción de biomasa, habito de crecimiento, altura, cobertura, verdor y producción de semilla pura) con los cultivares comerciales Mombasa (CIAT:6962), Tanzania (CIAT:16031), AGROSAVIA Sabanera, Megathysus Naturalizada y Check1 (Testigo con reproducción sexual).Identificar híbridos promisorios de Megathyrsus maximus con potencial agronómico para ser incluido en la producción ganadera.El experimento, codificado con el numero FM1907, fue establecido en invernadero el 25 de Julio de 2019, y posteriormente llevado a campo en septiembre de 2019. Se evaluaron 20 híbridos y 5 controles en un diseño de alpha-lattice con 4 mega-bloques. Para caracterizar los híbridos se realizan cinco evaluaciones, una primera 40 días después del establecimiento y cuatro adicionales 40 días después del corte de estandarización realzado a una altura de 20 cm. De estas cuatro evaluaciones se realizan dos en época de baja precipitación y dos en época de alta precipitación. Se realizaron tres tipos de evaluaciones (estimaciones visuales, con Dron y mediciones cuantitativas) para caracterizar rasgos agronómicos, florales y de producción de semilla. Las variables de cada uno de estos rasgos se presentan en las siguientes tablas.Carácter Definición Unidades Altura de planta Altura de la planta desde el suelo a la hoja bandera Cm Habito de crecimiento Angulo de crecimiento del tallo 1 = postrado, 5 = erecto Relación hoja/tallo Proporción de hojas y tallos 1-5 (1 = muy \"talloso\") Biomasa Visual Producción de biomasa 1-9 (1 = baja biomasa) % de materia seca Porcentaje de materia seca producida g Biomasa Dron Volumen Cm3 Cobertura Diámetro de la planta Cm2 FloraciónPorcentaje visual de floración 1=0% -5=100% de floración Verdor Grado de verdor de las plantasA la fecha se han realizado dos evaluaciones, se presentan únicamente los datos de estimación visual de la biomasa. Los datos obtenidos están en proceso de análisis y consolidación. A partir de los datos hasta ahora obtenidos y las observaciones en campo podemos realizar las siguientes observaciones:1. Los genotipos con mayor vigor son aquellos que presentan un índice de floración menor o de floración tardía. Los genotipos de floración precoz tiendes a presentar un mayor grado de lignificación y menor relación hoja tallo.2. Ninguno de los híbridos igualo o supero en producción de biomasa al testigo Mombasa (CIAT/6962, Figura 1 y 2).3. Los híbridos exhibieron diferentes hábitos de crecimiento (Figura 3). Algunos crecen paralelo al nivel del suelo, sin embargo, no tienen la capacidad de producir estolones ni raíces adventicias que les permita expandirse sobre el suelo. Otros son de habito totalmente erecto. Los híbridos con mayor vigor presentan habito de crecimiento intermedio (Figura 4).   Perspectivas para 20201. Determinar la calidad nutricional de los genotipos preseleccionados.2. Determinar el comportamiento de los genotipos en época de máxima y mínima precipitación.3. Determinar si existe correlación en los datos de variables visuales y los datos de las variables evaluadas mediante análisis de imágenes capturadas con Dron.4. Caracterizar el componente de calidad nutricional de 5 híbridos preseleccionado mediante análisis bromatológico. En total se realizarán cuatro análisis bromatológicos, dos en época de mínima precipitación y dos en época de máxima precipitación.5. Evaluar las características florales (porcentaje de floración) y de la semilla (porcentaje de llenado y peso neto de la semilla producida)."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/8732042512.json b/main/part_2/8732042512.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3f19aa5b743931b7359afeee4ae14f71a91cece2
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c7d6f1ae8c239a6432c527acf84785c2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/abccac62-de7d-4ddb-8ef2-76057eae0b41/retrieve","id":"-971855340"},"keywords":["moisture deficit","catchment restoration","runoff","resilience","Ethiopia"],"sieverID":"087263e3-6eed-49e3-b3bc-b4c4911a4e04","content":"The coupled land degradation-drought impacts have been central challenges to ecosystem functions and livelihood of farmers in Ethiopia. As a response, catchment restoration initiatives have been implemented since 1970s. The objective of this paper is to analyze the outcomes of the catchment restoration initiatives on water resources and drought resilience, using metadata from 106 peer reviewed journal articles comprising 361 paired-catchment case studies. The study shows exclosure, fanya juu and soil/stone bunds are major soil and water conservation (SWC) practices introduced to restore the degraded catchments in regions prone to land degradation (with a high value for degradation coefficient). Runoff was less in treated catchments (97±29 mm/year) than in control catchments (168±77 mm/year) (n=217, p<0.0001). A paired t-test also shows a lower runoff coefficient exists in the treated (13±10%) catchments than control catchments (25±15%) (n=57, p<0.0001). The conjunctive uses of SWC measures enhanced water infiltration into vadose and aquifer zones. These measures are effective in reducing unproductive water losses. Moreover, the water level in shallow wells raised from a depth of 18±11 to 2±1 m after catchment management.In the dry season, well-functioning catchments promoted upstream-downstream hydrological linkages. Such consistent water flow reduced hydrological, agricultural and socioeconomic drought effects in treated catchment. To conclude, catchment restoration practices at the degraded landscape have twin goals: enhancing freshwater availability and building drought resilience. We suggest scientists, donors and managers to work on spreading of restoration efforts to other degraded landscapes to improve water yield in the face of climate variability.In the Anthropocene, drylands are sensitive areas to climate change (IPCC, 2014). Climate change increase recurrent drought in the drylands. Drought occurs when water availability drops below a threshold in arid and semi-arid regions. Drought can be disentangled into meteorological, agricultural, hydrological and socioeconomic droughts (Van Loon et al., 2016). These drought types affect ecosystem services and functions (Mekonnen & Hoekstra, 2016). Increasing temperature and low rainfall caused scarcity of groundwater and surface water. It is expected that drought will reduce 10 to 13% of the global freshwater resources in the future, and without action, it will result in a water crisis in 2030s (Wilby, 2019).Ethiopia has been a hotspot of drought risk. Frequent drought events have been observed over time.The worst drought in 2015 with an economic loss of $11.5 million (Gebremeskel et al., 2019) had the greatest hit on resource poor communities. The future hot and dry years will even worsen the water scarcity in the country (Coffel et al., 2019). Added to the impacts of drought, land degradation is a critical problem in tropical drylands of Ethiopia. Nyssen et al. (2014) showed slope gradient, population growth combined with low socio-economic conditions, and low vegetative cover are drivers of land degradation. Water erosion in highlands and decline of soil fertility reduced regulating, provisioning, and supporting ecosystem services (Abera et al., 2019). The processes of soil erosion have affected water availability in the catchment (Bond et al., 2008).The synergistic impacts of drought and soil erosion pose a serious threat to rainfed agriculture. It was found land degradation and drought hinder the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (FAO, 2014). There is a widespread concern about how the poor survive under severe impacts of land degradation and drought (Falkenmark & Rockström, 2008). With this in mind, building resilience through adaptation and mitigation is crucial to reduce drought effects in the dryland agriculture (Cornelis et al., 2019). Notably, the marginal communities require building better resilience for environmental challenges (Falkenmark et al., 2019).Intense land restoration and water harvesting, thus, could build resilience and preparedness against acute water shortage and soil erosion hazards mainly in the arid and semiarid zones. Here, land restoration refers to the recovery of ecosystem functions including hydrological balance, and ecosystem resilience (Stavi et al., 2020).With the help of NGOs and governments, advances in the soil and water conservation (SWC) and sustainable land management (SLM) initiatives have embarked to restore degraded catchments in Ethiopia (Abera et al., 2020;Adimassu et al., 2018;Herweg & Ludi, 1999, WRI, 2015). Popular mass mobilization in the form of 20 free-labor days and with a motto of \"be like bees\" was used to restore barren slopes in Tigray since 1991 (Segers et al., 2008). Since 2011, Ethiopia has instituted a national physical SWC construction similar mass campaign every year in the high potential as well as low potential areas (drought-prone) (Mekuria et al., 2018).In Ethiopia, managing environmental resources (1980s), SLM phase I ( 2008) and SLM phase II (2012) were implemented to meet societal needs and ecosystem functions (MoARD, 2014).Moreover, an integrated watershed management (IWM) program has been carried out since 2004 in the country (Haregeweyn et al., 2016). These land restoration practices became an integral part of the farming system (Nyssen et al., 2010). Mekuria et al. (2018) also reported implementation of SWC measures has been under taken as part of the agricultural extension package.The land restoration initiatives for the last three decades improved degraded landscapes in Ethiopia.Runoff and sediment export have reduced in the central and northern highlands (SCRP, 2000). In southwest Ethiopia, Kassa (2017) reported agroforestry practices have reduced hillside runoff production. Besides, Dagnew et al. (2015) and Tebebu et al. (2015) found catchment interventions reduced runoff volume downstream sites. Nyssen et al. (2014) also reported northern Ethiopia is greener than in the last 145 years. Asfaha et al. (2018) further added that steep catchments in the northern Ethiopian mountains are reforested since 1936. Furthermore, Munro et al. (2019) showed 85% of catchments in Tigray is restored over the last decades.In general, the catchment restoration practices have transformed the degraded slopes into greener landscapes (Adimassu et al., 2017;Ayele et al., 2018;Gebremicael et al., 2020;Nyssen et al., 2008;Nyssen et al., 2010;Walraevens et al., 2015;Wolka et al., 2018a). These restored watersheds have improved ecosystem services and functions. At large, Tigray was awarded the \"world's best land restoration policies\" on combating desertification and land degradation evaluation (World Future Council, 2017).The earlier scientific studies, however, were conducted over a limited variable, space, and time scales. With better spatial coverage, Abera et al. (2020) showed the impacts of land restoration on general ecosystem services in Ethiopia. We presume, however, the interlinkage between land restoration, water resources and drought were not addressed so far at country level. These previous works were not strong to answer \"where soil moisture is a limiting factor for biomass growth, how important are the catchment restoration in improving water resources and drought resilience in Ethiopia?\". Given this research question, this research connects, bridges, and recaps the previous studies related to the impacts of catchment restoration to provide a concrete knowledge for policymakers and stakeholders; it connects the dots of the findings.Worldwide, the twinned or paired-catchment approach has been used since the 1920s to understand the hydrological response to headwater land use or cover (Brown et al., 2005;Van Loon et al., 2019). This approach requires similar biophysical characteristics of the catchments (Oudin et al., 2010). Besides, the same catchments need to be adjacent to each other. Likewise, the pairedcatchment analysis of the scientific studies updates the outcomes of the catchment restoration in Ethiopia. In these twinned catchments, measured data on hydrological parameters from the control (non-conserved) and treated (conserved) sites with similar biophysical factors were used to build our metadata, that were further analyzed to understand the responses to catchment restoration.The main objective of this paper is to collect, synthesize, and analyze the impacts of catchment restoration on hydrological behavior and drought resilience in Ethiopia. The specific objectives are (1) to explore the state-of-the-art evidence on SWC technologies applied in various climatic zones,(2) to elucidate if the catchment restoration harness on-site and off-site water yields, and (3) to examine if the treated catchments have reduced the drought categories in Ethiopia.The research findings assist land managers to optimize the catchment restoration investments. This knowledge production may further contribute to the realization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): protection and restoration of water (SDG6) and land degradation neutralization (SDG15) (Ringler et al., 2020) in the face of global water crisis.In this study, the major land mass of Ethiopia (Figure 1) is considered, the country is highly affected by drought and land degradation. Ethiopia is situated between 3° to 15°N and 33° to 48°E, with a total area of 1.13 million km 2 . The landforms of the study area comprise highlands, hills, lowland plains, and peaks, where mountains account for 45% of the overall topography (Figure 1). The elevation ranges from 125 m below sea level in the Dallol Depression to 4620 m a.s.l in the Simien Mts. The highlands are surrounded by the lowland and semi-desert areas. Importantly, the elevation and topographic features strongly influence the rainfall patterns (Figure 3).Based on the climate types of the world (Peel et al., 2007), arid desert, temperate dry winter and hot summer, and tropical savanna are the major climate types of Ethiopia. For better understanding, Figure 2 depicts the spatial distribution of mean annual rainfall regions in Ethiopia.In northern and central Ethiopia, rainfall is confined to two rainy seasons: belg (March-May) and meher or kremt (June-September). The belg period has a brief rainfall, whereas the meher period has a longer rainfall duration and amount. The latter being the primary rainy season supporting 90-95% of the total cereal grains production (Abera et al., 2019). In southern Ethiopia, however, the dry season is between December and February, whereas a long rainy season occurs between March and November, with annual rainfall depths that commonly reach up to 2000 mm/year (Kassa, 2017). Moreover, the average annual temperature varies from over 30°C in the lowlands to less than 10°C at high altitudes in Ethiopia.Precambrian metamorphic rocks, Late-Paleozoic to Mesozoic marine and continental sediments, Cenozoic basic and felsic volcanic and volcano-sedimentary and volcanoclastic rocks are the major rocks in Ethiopia (Tadesse et al., 2003). Berhanu et al. (2013) also mapped that Lithic Leptosols (208,882),Humic Nitisols (134,722),Eutric Vertisols (115,208),Eutric Leptosols (71,269) and Chromic Luvisols (58,749) are the major soil types (all numbers are in km 2 ). The remaining area of the country (515,171 km 2 ) is covered by another 55 soil types in the countey.With an annual growth rate of 2.5%, the total population was approximately 105 million in 2017 (https://data.worldbank.org/indicator) in Ethiopia. Climatic conditions determine where people to settle in the country (Nyssen et al., 2014). It is reported that population densities are correlated to the land degradation coefficient; where less human settlements are found in the degraded areas and poor climatic condition.A systematic literature review is a valuable option to overcome lack of available data in similar case-studies (Padrón et al., 2017). We extracted peer-reviewed articles from global academic search engines and platforms, particularly Google Scholar, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and ResearchGate. A step by step review procedure was used to explore the peer reviewd journal articles. Using keywords, we built a conceptual mind map of the variables on the outcomes of catchment restorations on water availability and drought resilience in Ethiopia.We searched the relevant articles up to 2019 (Figure 6), as the SWC interventions started in the 1970s (Munro et al., 2019). Spatially, the literature search was delimited to Ethiopia. Moreover, hydrological variables were delimited to the impacts of land restoration measures on hydrological parameters and drought resilience. Therefore, the inclusion criteria for article selection are time, space, and variables. Also, references cited in searched studies were considered for this study.Each article used for this study passed via checking, exploring, intensive reading, and checking up.Next, the available were organized by lead author, publication year, location, elevation, rainfall, intervention type, ecosystem service, and impacts related to the hydrological components (such as runoff, runoff coefficient, evapotranspiration, infiltration rate, soil water content, pond water level and groundwater level).The variables were standardized as mean ± standard deviation (M± StDev) of runoff depth (mm), runoff volume (m 3 ), runoff coefficient (%) in the control (untreated) catchment, and treated (restored) catchments. Besides, the average values of evapotranspiration (mm), water levels in hand-dug wells and boreholes (m b.s.l), infiltration rate (mm/hour), soil hydraulic conductivity (mm/hour) and irrigated area (ha) were computed.Elevation, rainfall, and slope gradient were mapped to understand the spatial distribution of the case studies. In an attempt to link the SWC outcomes with climatic variability, the aridity index and Fournier's degradation coefficient were also calculated and mapped. According to Peel et al. (2007), the aridity index (A, unitless) is computed as:Where RFy (mm) is the mean annual rainfall, Ty (°c) is the mean annual air temperature. A lower value indicates high aridity of the area.The degradation coefficient (Cf, mm) is calculated (Fournier, 1962) as follows:Where RF is monthly rainfall in the wettest month of the year, and RFy is the mean annual rainfall.The degradation coefficient expresses soil erosion in a specific area is dependent on annual and seasonal rainfall (Nyssen et al., 2014). Large values indicate a high potential for degradation.Boxplot, scatter plot, and bar graph were also used to explore the runoff and runoff coefficient between the treated and control catchments. After checking the normality of the data, a paired ttest was forced to compare the average runoff depths, runoff coefficients, and water levels between the treated and control catchments. Two-sample t-test was also employed to compare the average runoff response and runoff coefficient for various SWC practices at plot and catchment level. In addition, we run a pairwise correlation between the runoff depth reduction of major SWC practices (Fanja juu, grass strip, soil bund, and stone bund) and annual rainfall depth. We considered a 5% level of significance. Minitab (Version 20) software package was used to analyze the data.Most of the land restoration initiatives were confined to highlands (Figure 1) with steep slopes.The duration of these restoration projects is between 5 and 29 years. The elevation of the studies ranges between 1054 m and 3294 m, whereas the annual rainfall of these areas is 1121±500 mm/year (Figure 2). The intervention areas have a higher aridity index value (Figure 3), with at least semiarid, subhumid and humid climates. The average aridity index is 3.3±0.93 (unitless) (n=192). Moreover, the average degradation coefficient of the study areas is 50±22.2 mm (n=192).In this view, a higher degradation coefficient values (up to 99 mm) were found in areas with strong rainfall seasonality (Figure 1).The land restoration densities were sparse in fragile and drought-severe regions mainly in the Afar and Somali peripheral areas. These areas have a lower value of aridity index (Figure 3) and a lower degradation coefficient (Figure 4). In agreement with Abera et al. (2020), most of the restoration projects were implemented in the highlands with a high degradation coefficient. Thus, land investment research projects were implemented in the highlands likely as these rainfed agricultural areas are more vulnerable to soil erosion (Hurni et al., 2015). And, the low degradation areas were not treated with SWC practices. In fact, these lowlands are not attractive for human settlement due to the harsh temperature condition and prevelance of diseases. Therefore, the catchment restoration in these marginal lands were not invested in the low potential areas.Introductions of SWC practices vary over time in Ethiopia. The traditional SWC practices dated back to 400 BCE (Ciampalini et al., 2012). Latter, the dryland farming research has started in 1960s. However, well planned SWC works (e.g., modern terracing) have started in Mekelle and Adigrat in 1970 as a response to the Sahel drought phases (Munro et al., 2019). After the 1972-73, modern terraces, check dams and re-vegetation were on a place for the recovery of agriculture.Since 1994, importantly, intensive SWC practices have been made in Ethiopia (Munro et al., 2019).The SWC related scientific research efforts began in 1988 and took off in 1997 (Figure 5). Indeed, there are other studies related to the effect of rainfall on soil detachment (Rose, 1960) and soil and erosion features (Virgo & Munro, 1978).A total of 106 scientific articles were considered for this study. With an increasing trend between 1998 and 2019, we found 361 case-studies related to catchment rehabilitation impacts on hydrological variables; this indicates one article can report about more than one impact variable.The case studies (n=361) were undertaken at plots (65%), catchments (20%), landscapes (1%) and others (14%) levels. Our analysis reveals that most of the studies were undertaken at plot level.The case-studies comprised structural (n=210, 58%), biological (n=79, 22%), combined (n=45, 12%) and in-situ conservation (n= 28, 8%) measures (Figure 7). The result implies that most of the reported land restoration projects were focused on physical SWC practices. Historically, such SWC practices have been practiced in the central and northern highlands as these areas were most degraded areas in the country (Hurni et al., 2015;Munro et al., 2019;Nyssen et al., 2014).Fanya juu is the most reported conservation technology implemented in cultivated fields (Figure 6). It refers to the practice of digging a ditch on the contour and throwing the soil uphill to form an embankment (Thomas & Biamah, 1991). The structure reduced annual runoff from 142±17 to 84±13 mm/year (n=76, p<0.007) (Table 1), and it also reduced the runoff coefficient by 11% (Table 2).Soil bunds that practiced usually in farmlands reduced runoff from 212±17 to 119±12 mm/year (n=34, p<0.0001) (Table 1). It reduced runoff coefficient by up to 40% (n=11, p<0.006) (Table 2).As a result, it improved soil moisture by 20-60%. It is noted that level soil bunds are preferred if mean annual rainfall is less than 1400 mm (Wolka et al., 2018b), whereas graded soil bunds are constructed in areas with high rainfall (>1400 mm/year) to discharge excess surface runoff (Hurni et al., 2016). Importantly, stabilizing soil bunds with grass can reduce runoff by up to 330 mm/year, and decrease the runoff coefficient from 56% to 81%. In agreement with this metadata result, Amare et al. (2014) reported soil bund combined with elephant grass and denser rooting structure had the lowest runoff downstream.Stone bunds have been built along the contour of the hillslope (Figure 9A, topside). They are effective in moderate rainfall areas with available rock fragments. The metadata analysis shows these structures lead to an annual reduction of runoff from 165 ±17 to 61±6 mm/year (n=30, p<0.0001). Besides, they minimized a runoff coefficient up to 36% (Table 2). Analogously, Nyssen et al. (2000Nyssen et al. ( & 2007) ) reported that better moisture storage was found in deep soil horizons on both sides of the stone bunds in northern Ethiopia.Trenches are dug behind the stone bunds to collect runoff. These structures reduced runoff from 614 to 362 mm/year. Besides, they reduced the runoff coefficient from 28±12 to 10±6% (n=6) (Table 2). With careful design, the trenches increased soil moisture up to 100%, recharging the groundwater. In line with this finding, the direct runoff retained within the trenches increased soil moisture and groundwater (Yaekob et al., 2020).In gullies, gabion check dams are widely applied structures in the highlands. The installation of these dams reduced an annual runoff from about 152 to 97 mm/year. The structures enhanced the annual recharge from 8 to 108 mm/year. Consequently, the water table raised from 8.5 to 2.5 m b.s.l in the plain areas.However, there has been frequent destruction of gabion dams in the mountain areas. To counteract the destruction of gabion dams, Nyssen et al. (2016) introduced boulder-faced log dams (1m deep).In this first study of its kind, the log-dam diffuses the peak flows over the channel width.Similar to Jessour in Tunisia (Castelli et al., 2019a), overall, the check dams during the torrent beds increased soil water status (Nyssen et al., 2004). Elsewhere, Dile et al. (2016) found check dams caused a decrease of annual streamflow volume (14 to 33%).In rainfed agriculture, conservation agriculture (CA) captures rainwater for crops. For example, a zero-tillage reduced seasonal runoff from 25±4 to 10±7 mm (Table 2). Moreover, a tied-ridge conserved water and reduced the amount of moisture that would lose due to excessive plowing. This technology reduced runoff depth 85±20 to 37±19 mm/year (n=4) in croplands (Table 1).Derdaro also reduced seasonal runoff from 160 to 50 mm/year. Here derdero and terwah are traditional in situ conservation tillage practices. Furthermore, terwah reduced runoff from 134±31 to 58±4 mm/year (Table 1).As opposed to the other conservation practices, land fallow increased runoff from 259 to 281 mm/year due to the absence of tillage. It should be noted that fallow increases soil quality over time during the same season. When tall and dense grasses colonize the fallow land, the volume of runoff decrease.The application of CA as part of SWC reduced unproductive evaporation, and it, in turn, enhances soil moisture. Moreover, mulching reduces non-beneficial evaporation. Analogously, the application of CA improves soil water storage (Bossio et al., 2010;Critchley & Radstake, 2017;Knoop et al., 2012;Lanckriet et al., 2012). Converesely, the application of terwah and derdaro increased evapotranspiration from 46 to 131 mm/year (Table 3). Such on-site water loss was increased due to moisture exposure to the surface temperature.The combined physical SWC measures were more effective in reducing overland flow than single measures (Figure 7). For example, combing an infiltration pond with a trench could contribute between 30% and 50% of total aquifer recharge. However, Taye et al. (2015) and Yaekob et al. (2020) reported the effectiveness of physical SWC measures declines with the age of the structure installation due to the lack of maintenance.The establishment of exclosures reduced annual runoff up to 323 mm/year (Table 2). A reduction of runoff increased up to 350 mm/year when the exclosure is combined with physical structures (Figure 7). The catchments with exclosures reduced the annual runoff up to 91%. Moreover, the areas closed for grazing and agriculture had lower runoff coefficients (4±5%) than the control sites (19±12%) (n=8). As a result, the baseflow from catchments with exclosures was 1.5 to 4 times greater than the baseflow from cropland. In the central and northern highlands of Ethiopia, Mekuria Human-induced vegetation regreening modifies the runoff generation downstream (Table 1). Tree planting on degraded catchments reduced an annual runoff depth from 242±23 to 148±34 mm/year (n=5). This result indicates tree planting brought an annual runoff reduction of 252 mm/year (Table 1). Simultaneously, tree planting reduced the runoff coefficient from 30 to 17%. Hence, tree planting on steep hillsides increased soil moisture from 17 to 35%. In agreement with this work, Stavi et al. (2020) stated vegetation breaks up the kinetic energy of rainfall, and thereby captures excess runoff. Overall, the presence of vegetation and forests regulates water fluxes in soilvegetation-atmosphere continuum (Figure 9C), playing a crucial role in the water cycle.Restoration of tree cover influences water availability (Descheemaeker et al., 2009). The myth makers states that \"more trees means less water\" in catchment (Sheil and Bargués, 2020). The deep-rooted trees have an eco-hydrological impact (Chanie et al., 2013); it reduces moisture. As opposed to this myth, myth breakers stated that trees can have a major positive influence on groundwater recharge mainly via infiltration and preferential flow. Although deep-rooted trees could transpire more water (Zhang et al., 2001), our metadata analysis reveals the overall water storage was higher in the vegetated hillsides. Thus, we support the isea that more trees are needed for more water yields in the drylands.Contour grass strips (0.5-1 m width) are proved runoff barriers in degraded areas. The grass strips reduced annual runoff from 118±18 to 73±10 mm/year (n=47, p<0.0001) (Table 1). These barriers reduced the runoff coefficient from 22 to 4% (n=3). The result shows grasses catch a lot of runoff and increased rate of infiltration into vadose and saturated zones. In line with this finding, Welle et al. (2006) found grass strips absorb runoff in Jijiga area of Somali region. Therefore, adapted vegetative and grasses have been best barriers to increase soil moisture (Critchley & Radstake, 2017).Generally, the biological SWC measures facilitate infiltration to soils and groundwater. However, most of the catchment restoration projects have focused on physical structures with less attention to the multipurpose biological measures (Figure 5; Table 1). Equally to the physical structures, we need to strengthen the application of biological measures to improve the blue water (groundwater and surface water) and green water (soil water) storage. Herweg and Ludi (1999) also suggested that fanya Juu, stone bunds and ditches must be supplemented with biological measures to improve storages of blue and green water resources.The uses of IWM (integration of various biological and physical structures) reduced runoff from 234±54 to 157±62 (n=5) mm/year, with a difference of 82±71 mm/year (Table 1). Comparative The landscape restoration continuum has been introduced in Ethiopia. This restoration approach starts from the upper slope (trenches, moisture retention, and afforestation) and middle slope (check dams, percolation ponds, grass trips, and exclosures) to lower slope (check dams, plantation and spate system). Following this practice, groundwater raised from 18±11 m b.s.l to 2±1 m b.s.l (n=8, p<0.008) in 5 years. In this context, a catchment-wide (37 km 2 ) interventions in a Mendae plain (5 km 2 ) raised the groundwater level (Figure 9D). After the restoration of upstream areas, the delayed river flows increased in the central valley in the Abrha Weatsbeha. As a result, the groundwater level became within the farmers' reach. Over 200 large diameter wells were then dug for irrigation (Walraevens et al., 2015). Interestingly, the landscape restoration continuum could be a lasting solution to acute water scarcity in the low-lying areas. To conclude, multiple uses of catchment restoration tools improved water storage in arid and semi-arid areas.The upslope catchment treatment has increased freshwater resources downstream (Figure 9D). The upstream-downstream discharge linkage has improved availability, leading to less water use connectivity between the communities along the river courses (Figure 9D). With limited trade-offs, a decreased in the peak flows, but increased in low flows, have positive implications for upstream and downstream social-ecological systems (Dile et al., 2016). However, Negash et al. ( 2020) argue headwater hydrological water retention via SWC could reduce the downstream flood-based farming system during the rainy seasons.The average runoff response of catchment level was higher (118.7±12.9 mm) than the runoff reduction at plot level (63±7.9mm) (p<0.01). However, the runoff coefficient response at plot level (14±11%) was higher than at catchment level (12.37±10.93 %) (p>0.05).Based on the pooled metadata, a paired t-test result shows the runoff depth of the treated catchments (97±29 mm/year) was lower than the corresponding benchmark catchments (168±77 mm/year) (n=217, p<0.0001) (Figure 8). The runoff coefficients of treated 13±10% and control (25±15%) catchments also showed a marked difference (n=57, p<0.0001). Moreover, the study reports that there were a contrasting runoff and runoff coefficient between the control and treated catchments.In the central highlands of Ethiopia, a 44% reduction in discharge was observed due to the integrated SWC measures (Yaekob et al., 2020). Gebremicael et al. (2020) further confirmed that the drastic reduction in runoff has improved baseflow by 55% due to the intensive SWC works in northern Ethiopia.In agreement with Guyassa et al. (2018), we conclude that the integrated uses of catchment rehabilitation measures transformed from the \"runoff contributors/leaky\" to the \"runoff absorbers/water conservers\", but this is an insufficient panacea.It is stressed that one type of SWC measure could not fit all climates types/elevations in Ethiopia.To begin with areas with annual rainfall is less than 500 mm (drought prone area), an intercept (cut-off point) could indicate that there is minimal effect of catchment treatment on reducing runoff in the arid climates (Figure 10). In such in highly eroded areas, the catchment treatment effects should be concentrated on gullies.With a semi-arid climate, moisture conservation practices are given top priority. In this climate zone, the aridity index is lower than humid and subhumid climates or elevated areas (Figure 3).Similarly, the degradation coefficient of the area is low (Figure 4). On a relative basis, this implies there is a lower potential for land degradation in the area. However, moisture deficit is a critical challenge for rainfed agriculture. Thus, water harvesting structures could be successful interventions in responding to the summer runoff and conserving moisture (Figure 10).The subhumid areas have rainfall between 500 and 1300 mm per year. Based on monthly rainfall, mean annual rainfall and mean annual air temperature, the degradation coefficient (Figure 4) and aridity index (Figure 3) fall between semiarid and humid climate types. At a time of intense rainfall, conservation ditches are needed at the top-slope to flash out the excess water. In the mid-slope of the production area, however, adding tied-ridges to the ditches is required to increase infiltration during the low rainfall seasons. Among the basket of options, fanya juu, soil bund, and grass strip are perhaps suitable SWC measures to this climate zone (Figure 10). As noted by Tebebu et al. (2015), a top priority could be given to re-vegetate degraded areas in order to reduce moisture deficits during dry years.In humid areas with secure high rainfall (>1300 mm), we need to prioritize the soil conservation and the draining of excess water. In such conditions, cross-slope barriers allow safe drainage of the extra runoff downstream. In this landscape, the aridity index is higher, and there is no problem with moisture stress. Moreover, larger volume of monthly rainfall in the wettest month gives a larger degradation coefficient in the hydrological year (Figure 4). As a result, the degradation coefficient value could be severe. Hence, properly managed waterways are needed along the mountain slopes to protect the river incision and gully development (Dagnew et al., 2015).Figure 11 presents the runoff depth reduction with the aridity index and degradation coefficient.Importantly, the runoff reduction between 0.5 and 150 mm corresponds with an aridity index of 1.5 and 4.3 (Figure 11A). Moreover, most of the degradation coefficient of the case-studies align between 16% and 85% (Figure 11B). The findings of this study imply that the runoff reduction has a direct relationship with the aridity index and degradation coefficient.The runoff depth reduction of fanja juu (r=0.36, p<0.007), grass strip (r=0.51, p<0.001), soil bund (r=0.31, p<0.05), and stone bund (r=0.57, p<0.002) and annual rainfall depth showed a positive correlation (Figure 10), indicating that there there is a high runoff depth reduction with increasing rainfall depth.We learn that the SWC measures have shown mixed results in terms of their effectiveness in Ethiopia. Qualitative data highlight that many SWC measures have been in celebrated progress.For example, installation of exclosures and stone bunds at degraded landscapes are successful interventions in the semiarid hilly regions of Tigray due to the popular support and capitalization of available resources. Gebremeskel et al. (2018) also added that exclosures and enriching plantations were found to be the most important tools for the observed environmental recovery in northern Ethiopia.In contrast, water harvesting schemes showed limited success in these areas (Balehegn et al., 2019) due to the top-down approach, overambitious development projects, insufficient institutional support, lack of project follow up, and lack of rainfall were frequently reported constraints of success of SWC structures. In addition, lack of inputs such as stones and labor affected the performance of the SWC practices.In high potential area, farmers in areas of secure high rainfall had serious complaints about adaptation of the SWC structures as they occupy precious cropping area (Herweg and Ludi, 1999).Development of waterlogging, rodents and weeds also hindered the success of the SWC structures.As a result, poor success of catchment restorations was shown in the area (Mekuria et al., 2018).We infer that the failures of sustainable SWC implementations were similar across the central highlands, eastern highlands, southern highlands, northwestern highlands, and northern highlands (Tefera & Sterk, 2010).In Ethiopia, now more than ever, drought resilience is required to address drought impacts on poor communities. The land restoration and water management strategies could buffer drought shocks.The contribution of restoration intervention measures on reducing the major drought types (meteorological, hydrological, agricultural and socioeconomic) is discussed hereunder.The atmosphere is a starting point of drought development, known as meteorological drought (Figure 12). The presence of minimum rainfall in a rainy season due to weather systems and climate feedbacks causes a meteorological drought. . Once this drought occurs, the best resilience strategy is through farmers' adaptive capacity. Individual livelihood strategies distribute the risks of meteorological drought. For example, the protection of forests, conservation of water, and afforestation typically enhance carbon sinks and reduces releasing carbon to the atmosphere (Figure 9; IPCC, 2014). Also, appropriate uses of technologies minimize the imbalance of weather and climate systems (that caused minimum rainfall). Otherwise, this drought type grows into anathor drought type, hydrological drought (Barker et al., 2016;Van Loon et al., 2016).Hydrological drought occurs when available water declines due to rainfall deficient. It is related to dry periods of surface and subsurface hydrology. Catchment characteristics influence the extent of hydrological drought; where degraded areas store less water. Also, poor water consumption intensifies the hydrological drought (Wada et al., 2013). This result implies inappropriate climatecatchment-human interactions aggravate drought severity. Against this background, a practical solution could come from rehabilitating watershed and effective water management. Exclosures, tree planting, bunds, and terrace reduce water losses, and these measures improve the quantity and quality of water in the soil, rivers, and aquifers (Table 3). Otherwise, hydrological drought transfers into an agricultural drought in the regions (Van Loon & Laaha, 2015).Agricultural drought refers to water deficit in soils (Van Loon et al., 2016). Crop growth suffers from a lack of soil moisture due to both rainfall variability and unappropriate anthropogenic activities. Where agriculture is core for societies, adaptive catchment management is required to overcome the water shortage for crops. To this effect, hydraulic roughness such as soil bund, stone bund, and CA are required to store moisture. In addition, water planning, water flow regulation, and supplementary irrigation build a substantial resilience to agricultural drought. In this context, Kosmowski (2018) further reported physical structures buffered crop growth against the 2015 severe drought in Ethiopia. At a time of drought, the diversion of river baseflow into croplands also reduced the effect of agricultural drought up to 30% (Gebregziabher et al., 2016).Socioeconomic drought is a mismatch between human demand and supply of water (Figure 12). Similar to the influence on hydrological drought, human activities disrupt water system. As a response, conjunctive uses of exclosures, terraces, and bunds are viable strategies to increase the baseflow and new spring development to fulfill societal and environmental needs (Table 3). Lasage et al. (2015) also reported that water harvesting structures help to adapt to climate change and mitigate household water shortages under the ongoing climate change.The Ethiopian topography allows to convert the floods into socioeconomic benefits (Figure 1). The low-lying areas such as grabens receive huge floods during the rainy seasons. In this view, western escarpments of the Rift Valley release flash floods to the grabens. Golina River (≈ 297 km 2 ) could eject up to 732 m 3 /s (Meaza et al., 2019). As a result, about 1.2 million ha of flat areas receive a flood in the Afar lowlands.We ask a question \"why we face critical drought impacts if there is a huge volume of unused floods flowing downstream?\". In such environment, thus, an introduction of modernization of spate irrigation could improve the community's drought resilience (Gumma et al., 2020;Meaza et al., 2017;Meaza et al., 2018). In low-lying areas, improving flood management is important in water catchment management (Demissie et al., 2021).Appropriate uses of runoff along roadsides and footpaths could build drought resilience to water shortage (Knoop et al., 2012;Woldearegay et al., 2019). In this decade, water harvesting near roads has been effective. In more than 10 countries, and integrating road and water development contribute to flood protection and sand harvesting (http://roadsforwater.org/). Closer to road bodies, infiltration bunds, culvert flood water spreaders, half moons, infiltration trenches, water ponds, and recharge ponds are effective for water harvesting along the roadsides. According to the metadata analysis, hillside road-driven soil moisture benefited on average 100 ha per km on both sides of the road. Therefore, water harvesting from the roads, new railways, and footpaths could store water in soil and groundwater that can be used in time of water shortage.There is a strong link between the drought types (Figure 12; Medeiros & Sivapalan, 2020). Notably, the meteorological drought is a driver for the other main drought types. Hence, catchment restorations could disconnect the chains of drought types. For instance, a healthy soils and vegetation cover have a linking role between the surface and atmosphere. Hence, keeping the healthy soils and vegetationcould regulate the various drought categories we experience in arid and semiarid regions.Lessons from this study show catchment restoration buffers droughts. In line with this, Castelli et al. (2019b) demonstrated that improving soil water storage by SWC practices mitigated the hot temperatures. This finding implies that degraded landscape restoration regulates meso-climate in agroecosystems. Insights from the Nile basin further showed SWC technologies buffer against crop production risk in the face of climate change and variability (Kato et al., 2011).Land restoration efforts have been implemented in Ethiopia. The objective of this work is to grasp the impact of these restoration measures on the hydrological variables and drought resilience. A paired catchment approach was used to address the research question. The study shows exclosure, fanya juu and soil and stone bunds are among the catalogue of catchment management options.These SWC practices and management water along the degraded slopes were effective in reducing excess runoff. As a result, the water infiltrated into the soil contributed to streamflow during the extended dry seasons.The appropriate restoration interventions increased groundwater recharges, leading to better baseflow. Additionally, water interdependence between headwater and downstream communities was reduced over time. As a result, water availability increased development of on-site small-scale irrigation and large-scale irrigation downstream sites. Thus, the trend of irrigated agriculture has been growing in many areas due to the catchment treatment.Farmers increased their resilience against the impact of recurrent droughts. The integrated catchment restorations become water insurance to meet both the societal needs and ecosystem functions. These findings provide an important reference basis for the planning of soil and water conservation investments. The catchment restoration efforts were effective to improve water storage on catchments. However, these restored catchments may not enough to drive dryland secure agricultural sustainability in Ethiopia. Most of the landscapes have remained untreated hitherto, while the impacts of soil erosion and drought are gratifying over space and time. High potential for soil erosion exists in the highlands with high aridity index and degradation coefficient values, whereas critical water shortage is situated in the lowlands with low aridity index and degradation coefficient.The success stories reported here provide an impetus to replicate the best restoration practices to another drought and erosion hotspots. Along with upscaling the best catchment restorations in the highlands, construction of flood harvesting strategies are crucial to buffer drought shocks mainly in the lowlands. Therefore, suitable catchment restoration and water harvesting efforts are required to break the \"dry gets drier and wet gets wetter\" paradigm. As the \"future is much closer than it used to be\", researchers, governments and stakeholders need to join their efforts to tackle the coupled soil erosion -drought impacts through restoring the degraded landscapes in arid and semiarid regions.    Groundwater level (depth in m) (n=9) 3±2 1 5 17±12 3 33            "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b6601a549113358e9032bfcf12e22f6c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/12514571-57b2-4d9c-9829-2d841a5042a8/retrieve","id":"-1483569257"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d8f5e00f-0452-4b9a-872e-a9340c05c32a","content":"Tropical (CIAT) -miembro del Consorcio CGIAR-desarrolla tecnologías, métodos innovadores y nuevos conocimientos que contribuyen a que los agricultores, en especial los de escasos recursos, logren una agricultura eco-eficiente -es decir, competitiva y rentable así como sostenible y resiliente. Con su sede principal cerca de Cali, Colombia, el CIAT realiza investigación orientada al desarrollo en las regiones tropicales de América Latina, África y Asia. www.ciat.cgiar.org CGIAR es una alianza mundial de investigación para un futuro sin hambre. Su labor científica la llevan a cabo los 15 centros de investigación que integran el Consorcio CGIAR, en colaboración con cientos de organizaciones socias.www.cgiar.orgEl cambio climático es uno de los problemas más complejos a los que se enfrentan las comunidades actualmente. Por lo tanto, hacerle frente implica acciones que involucren el conocimiento de los actores desde el nivel local hasta el nacional. En ese sentido, la gestión del cambio climático se convierte en un proceso continuo de largo plazo, que debe abarcar de manera transversal los territorios, los sectores productivos e institucionales y a los grupos humanos, considerando como prioridad la adaptación, ya que de no actuar hoy los impactos económicos, sociales y ambientales serán mayores a futuro.Sabiendo que todo proceso de gestión y adaptación al cambio climático debe entenderse como un proceso de planificación local para que se convierta en una alternativa de adaptación efectiva, tal como se señala en el Plan Nacional de Adaptación (PNACC) en su documento ABC (Adaptación Bases Conceptuales), \"es fundamental contar con información local, dado que cada territorio enfrenta retos particulares debido al cambio y la variabilidad climática. Asimismo, es indispensable vincular la participación comunitaria en el proceso de planificación y definición de medidas de adaptación para lograr una adaptación más efectiva y duradera, ya que son las comunidades las que mejor conocen sus características y necesidades\" (DNP, 2012).Por todo lo anterior, la Corporación Autónoma Regional del Valle del Cauca (CVC) y el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) vienen desarrollando Portafolios de Estrategias de Adaptación al Cambio Climático, los cuales tienen como principal objetivo hacer de los municipios territorios más resilientes y con mayor capacidad adaptativa, lo cual permitirá que los efectos del cambio climático se reduzcan, generando un mayor desarrollo y progreso en las comunidades.El calentamiento en el clima es inequívoco. Desde 1950, se han observado cambios en el sistema climático que no tienen precedente, tanto si se comparan con registros históricos observacionales, que datan de mediados del siglo XIX, como si se comparan con registros paleoclimáticos referidos a los últimos milenios. La atmósfera y los océanos se han calentado, la cantidad de extensión de las masas de hielo y nieve han disminuido, el nivel del mar ha subido y las concentraciones de gases de efecto invernadero han aumentato (IPCC, 2014).Por lo anterior, según resultados del Grupo Intergubernamental de Expertos sobre el Cambio Climático (IPCC, por sus siglas en inglés), se prevé que el mundo pueda llegar a tener dos grados más de temperatura hacia el año 2100, bajo un escenario moderado, en donde todos actuemos responsablemente con el medio ambiente.Las profundas consecuencias ambientales, económicas y sociales, y las secuelas que puede dejar el cambio climático, se presentarán en mayor medida si los territorios no actúan de manera planificada. La adopción oportuna de medidas apropiadas para reducir los impactos de este fenómeno es un aspecto estratégico, pues cada vez será más difícil enfrentar sus consecuencias, y la capacidad de recuperación ante escenarios de desastre será menor.Los portafolios de adaptación municipales surgen por esa necesidad de adaptación desde \"lo local\", que permita establecer acciones y estrategias enmarcadas en el contexto específico de cada territorio, que a su vez permita dar respuesta a las problemáticas propias que presenta cada comunidad dada su exposición, amenazas y vulnerabilidad.Municipio de Restrepo, Valle del CaucaEl municipio de Restrepo se encuentra ubicado al occidente del departamento del Valle del Cauca, a 3° 49' 30\" latitud norte y 76° 31' 30\" longitud oeste Fuente: Elaboración con base en datos de cartografía CVC (2015).A continuación se describen algunas características hidroclimáticas y geográficas del municipio.Cuadro 1. Datos geográficos e hidroclimáticos del municipio de Restrepo.Fuente: Cartografía CVC (2015) y Alcaldía de Restrepo (2012).del meridiano de Greenwich. Limita al norte con el municipio de Calima-Darién, al sur con los municipios de La Cumbre y Vijes, al oriente con Vijes y Yotoco; y al occidente con los municipios de Dagua y La Cumbre (UMATA et al., 2012). La división político-administrativa del municipio está distribuida de la siguiente manera: 7 corregimientos, 27 veredas y 11 barrios en la cabecera municipal (Alcaldía de Restrepo, 2012). El Cuadro 2 describe de manera más detallada la división político-administrativa del municipio y el área que cada una abarca.  El municipio de Restrepo presenta tres zonas climáticas: cálido con una extensión de 40 km 2 ; templado con una extensión de 180 km 2 y frío con una extensión de 23 km 2 . Estas zonas climáticas propician una variación de la temperatura que se evidencia en una disminución en los períodos de lluvias. La temperatura promedio oscila entre los 18 y 20 °C.El brillo solar en el municipio se estima en 1792 horas/año, la humedad relativa es de 84% y la evaporación promedio de 87,38 mm/mes (UMATA et al., 2012).La extensión completa del municipio forma parte del territorio que define la cuenca hidrográfica del río Dagua. Dentro de esta cuenca, el municipio pertenece a la parte alta, donde depende básicamente de los recursos ambientales de la subcuenca del río Grande, que cuenta con una longitud de 17,75 km. A continuación, se describen los demás tributarios y elementos que constituyen la red hídrica el municipioLa precipitación en el municipio de Restrepo muestra un régimen bimodal, presenta sus mayores valores entre marzo-mayo y septiembre-diciembre, mientras que los valores más bajos se observan entre enero a febrero y julio a agosto. El promedio anual de precipitación es de 1.116 mm.  Los suelos del municipio de Restrepo están conformados por rocas correspondientes al grupo Agua; caracterizado por esquistos gris-verdosos, con intercalaciones de micacericita, clorita y poca segregación de cuarzo. Consta en su base de pizanos filíticos, en su parte media arenosas y calcáreas; en la parte superiorm se compone de sherts negros y pizanos silíceos con limolitos. Los materiales originarios corresponden a cenizas volcánicas depositadas sobre arcillas.En el aspecto geológico estructural, el municipio presenta gran complejidad debido a su ubicación dentro de la zona regional de fallas con orientación este-norte -sur-occidente. Encontramos características estructurales como: fallas, pliegues, lineamientos, diaclasas y fracturas menores (Alcaldía de Restrepo, 2012).    En el municipio, se presentan conflictos por uso del suelo, clasificados en las siguientes categorías: alto, moderado, sin conflicto y zona urbana. En el siguiente cuadro, se presenta la distribución del conflicto en el municipio por corregimiento.Cuadro 6. Conflicto por uso del suelo en el municipio de Restrepo.Fuente: CVC (2015).Sin conflictoZona urbana Figura 6. Conflicto por uso del suelo en el municipio de Restrepo.Fuente: Elaboración basada en cartografía CVC (2015). Teniendo en cuenta la información cartográfica de la CVC del año 2010, el municipio presenta las siguientes coberturas:Cuadro 7. Coberturas del municipio de Restrepo.Fuente: CVC (2010).  El municipio de Restrepo presenta cuatro ecosistemas y dos biomas, descritos en la cartografía regional de la CVC del año 2010. En el Cuadro 8, se detallan las áreas correspondientes a cada una.   , 2006).La agricultura es una actividad que tiene aún mucha importancia en este municipio que por mucho tiempo fue considerado como cafetero, a pesar de la caída notable del cultivo del café (Alcaldía de Restrepo, 2006).se siembran cerca de 2.800 ha, de las cuales el café representa el 27% con 740 hectáreas, seguido por el plátano y la piña con 638 y 380 ha respectivamente, según datos de Agronet (2013). En la Figura 9, se muestra la participación de los diferentes cultivos sobre el total de las hectáreas cultivadas. En este capítulo, se pretende hacer énfasis en algunos conceptos claves relacionados con el cambio climático y la adaptación, con el fin de generar una mayor comprensión a lo largo del documento.Para tal efecto, se toman los términos consignados en el documento \"ABC: Adaptación Bases Conceptuales\" del Plan Nacional de Adaptación al Cambio Climático   Fenómeno ENSO: Es un ciclo oceánico-atmosférico que se desarrolla en las aguas ecuatoriales del océano Pacífico tropical y consta de dos fases, correspondientes a un ciclo del fenómeno: la fase cálida, conocida popularmente como El Niño y la fase fría, conocida popularmente como La Niña. Las fases están referidas a las temperaturas superficiales y subsuperficiales del océano Pacífico ecuatorial. Además de estas temperaturas existe otro factor, representado por el Índice de la Oscilación del Sur, que constituye el componente atmosférico del fenómeno.Según el IPCC, el cambio climático también se puede entender como la variación del estado del clima, identificable (por ejemplo, mediante pruebas estadísticas) en las variaciones del valor medio o en la variabilidad de sus propiedades, que persiste durante largos períodos de tiempo, generalmente decenios o períodos más largos.El cambio climático puede deberse a procesos internos naturales o a forzamientos externos tales como modulaciones de los ciclos solares, erupciones volcánicas o cambios antropógenos persistentes de la composición de la atmósfera o del uso del suelo.La Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático (CMNUCC), en su Artículo 1, define el cambio climático como \"cambio de clima atribuido directa o indirectamente a la actividad humana que altera la composición de la atmósfera global y que se suma a la variabilidad natural del clima observada durante períodos de tiempo comparables\". La CMNUCC hace una diferencia entre el cambio climático a causa de las actividades humanas que alteran la composición atmosférica y la variabilidad climática atribuible a causas naturales.Componente gaseoso de la atmósfera, natural o antropógeno, que absorbe y emite radiación en determinadas longitudes de onda del espectro de radiación terrestre emitida por la superficie de la tierra, por la propia atmósfera y por las nubes. Esta propiedad ocasiona el efecto invernadero. El vapor de agua (H 2 O), el dióxido de carbono (CO 2 ), el óxido nitroso (N 2 O), el metano (CH 4 ) y el ozono (O 3 ) son los gases de efecto invernadero primarios de la atmósfera terrestre. Además, la atmósfera contiene cierto número de gases de efecto invernadero enteramente antropógeno, como los halocarbonos u otras sustancias que contienen cloro y bromo, y contemplados en el Protocolo de Montreal.Cuadro 9. Tiempo de vida, concentración actual y preindustrial, potencial de calentamiento y principales actividades que generan los gases de efecto invernadero.* PPMV = partes por millón en volumen a la reducción de la vulnerabilidad de comunidades, protección de ecosistemas marinos y costeros y de alta montaña, construcción o reparación de infraestructura vial, salud y seguridad alimentaria, entre otros.Todos los sistemas (humanos y naturales) son vulnerables al cambio climático; por lo tanto, la propuesta de solución es la adaptación.Gran parte de los impactos sociales y las pérdidas económicas asociados a eventos climáticos están relacionados con la exposición y la vulnerabilidad, ambas son determinantes clave del riesgo.El riesgo depende del tipo de amenaza, del nivel de exposición y de las condiciones de vulnerabilidad El riesgo climático está dado en función de tres factores:• Amenazas/Peligros (eventos climáticos) El IPCC define la adaptación como aquellas iniciativas y medidas encaminadas a reducir la vulnerabilidad de los sistemas naturales y humanos ante los efectos reales o esperados de un cambio climático.Vulnerabilidad: Según el IPCC, la vulnerabilidad al cambio climático es la susceptibilidad o incapacidad de un sistema para afrontar los efectos adversos del cambio climático y, en particular, la variabilidad del clima y los fenómenos extremos.La vulnerabilidad es una función de dos factores: Sensibilidad y Capacidad de Adaptación.Sensibilidad: Predisposición física del ser humano, la infraestructura o un ecosistema de ser afectados por una amenaza, debido a las condiciones de contexto e intrínsecas que potencian el efecto de la amenaza.Capacidad de adaptación: Capacidad de un sistema y de sus partes de anticipar, absorber, acomodar o recuperarse de los efectos de un disturbio de una forma oportuna y eficiente. Esto incluye la capacidad para preservar, restaurar y mejorar sus funciones y estructuras básicas.En Colombia, la adaptación es una prioridad en la política ambiental nacional. La principal herramienta de política pública sobre cambio climático en Colombia es el CONPES 3700 del 2011, en el cual se originan cuatro estrategias para hacer frente a la problemática del cambio climático:• La Estrategia de Desarrollo Bajo en Carbono (mitigación).• El Plan Nacional de Adaptación al Cambio Climático (adaptación).• La Estrategia Nacional REDD+(Reducción de Emisiones por Deforestación y Degradación Forestal Evitada). Este manual hace referencia a que los PNA (programas nacionales de adaptación) deben prepararse mediante un proceso participativo que incluya, en particular, a las comunidades locales.Con ese fin, las directrices proponen que se establezca un equipo nacional para el PNA, compuesto por un organismo principal y por representantes de las partes interesadas, incluidos organismos gubernamentales y la sociedad civil. El equipo nacional para el PNA designará un equipo más amplio y multidisciplinario al que encomendará la mayoría de las tareas.Internacional CONPES 3700: Estrategia institucional para la articulación de políticas y acciones en materia de cambio climático en Colombia El CONPES 3700, en referencia a los procesos de adaptación local hace alusión a los siguiente: La mitigación y adaptación al cambio climático requieren del desarrollo de estrategias de articulación tanto a nivel sectorial como en los ámbitos nacional y territorial, con el fin de generar una gestión compartida y coordinada, y la información pertinente y oportuna para la toma de decisiones para así contrarrestar de manera efectiva los problemas subyacentes.A partir de 2010, se empezaron a trabajar cuatro estrategias frente a la problemática del cambio climático, las cuales quedaron plasmadas en el Plan Nacional de Desarrollo 2010-2014 \"Prosperidad para Todos\". Dentro de estas estrategias se encuentran el Plan Nacional Adaptación al Cambio Climático (PNACC); la Estrategia Colombiana de Desarrollo Bajo en Carbono (ECDBC); la Estrategia Nacional para la Reducción de Emisiones por Deforestación y Degradación Forestal en los Países en Desarrollo, la Función de la Conservación, la Gestión Sostenible de los Bosques y el Aumento de las Reservas Forestales de Carbono en los Países en Desarrollo (EN-REDD+) y la Estrategia de Protección Financiera ante Desastres.El Plan Nacional de Adaptación al Cambio Climático (PNACC) Busca incidir en los procesos de planificación ambiental, territorial y sectorial de tal manera que se tomen decisiones de manera informada, teniendo en cuenta los determinantes y proyecciones climáticos, reduciendo así efectivamente la vulnerabilidad tanto en poblaciones, ecosistemas y sectores productivos a este fenómeno, y aumentando la capacidad social, económica y ecosistémica para responder ante eventos y desastres climáticos. Estrategia Colombiana de Desarrollo Bajo en Carbono (ECDBC)Es un programa de planeación de desarrollo a corto, mediano y largo plazo que busca desligar el crecimiento de las emisiones de gases efecto invernadero (GEI) del crecimiento económico nacional. Esto se hará a través del diseño y la implementación de planes, proyectos y políticas que tiendan a la mitigación de GEI y simultáneamente fortalezcan el crecimiento social y económico del país, dando cumplimiento a los estándares mundiales de eficiencia, competitividad y desempeño ambiental.La ECDBC es liderada por el Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible (MADS), a través de la Dirección de Cambio Climático, con el apoyo del Departamento Nacional de Planeación (DNP) y los ministerios sectoriales de Colombia.Actualmente ocho sectores productivos del país hacen parte de la ECDBC Nacional Estrategia Nacional REDD+ Esta iniciativa busca promover a nivel local, el desarrollo de actividades de implementación temprana (proyectos o acciones piloto) para reducir la deforestación, que le permitan al país \"aprender haciendo\", tanto de los temas técnicos, como de los institucionales, jurídicos y de gobernanza local. Lo anterior con el fin de establecer el marco nacional para desarrollar proyectos REDD+.Plan de desarrollo del Departamento del Valle del Cauca \"El Valle Vale\" para el período 2012-2015.En el capítulo IV. Armonización del Plan Departamental con las Políticas Nacionales, el Plan Nacional de Desarrollo incorpora las políticas existentes en cambio climático en el eje 4: Gestión Territorial y Ambiental con Sostenibilidad, con un capítulo especial sobre el tema, en donde se hace énfasis en que, para el departamento del Valle, el Plan Territorial de Adaptación al Cambio Climático es la herramienta mediante la cual se va a poder medir el riesgo a los eventos hidrometeorológicos extremos y definir las acciones y proyectos que deberán implementar los diferentes actores a nivel regional para reducir la vulnerabilidad ante estos fenómenos.En cuanto a los programas y subprogramas del plan, 4 de 31 programas incorporan de alguna forma actividades tendientes a la gestión del cambio y la variabilidad climática y 5 de 98 subprogramas de los programas relacionados incorporan en las metas de producto actividades tendientes a la gestión del cambio y la variabilidad climática.Municipio de Restrepo, Valle del CaucaAnálisis de vulnerabilidad para los Nodos Regionales de Cambio Climático (NRCC) 2011El Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales (IDEAM) presentó en el año 2011 el documento sobre análisis de vulnerabilidad para los NRCC, en el que se hace relación al Nodo Regional del Eje Cafetero, específicamente en el apartado sobre vulnerabilidad establece lo siguiente:3 En este nodo los climas muy húmedos y húmedos se reducirán para el período 2011-2040, dando paso a la ampliación de climas semihúmedos y semiáridos.3 El índice de sensibilidad permite ver que predomina una categoría de sensibilidad media en el territorio lo que genera, después de asumir la capacidad que tiene la región cafetera para adaptarse, una predominancia de alta vulnerabilidad en las diferentes corporaciones que la conforman.3 El Nodo Regional de Cambio Climático del Eje Cafetero en general tenderá a una disminución leve de la escorrentía para el período 2011-2040 (entre -30 a -10%), excepto la subzona hidrográfica del río San Juan en la jurisdicción de la Corporación Autónoma Regional de Risaralda (CARDER), en donde la afectación al rendimiento hídrico podría ser aún más leve (-10 a 10%).Análisis de vulnerabilidad para la cuenca alta del Rio Cauca -AVA. \"Desarrollo compatible con el clima en el sector agrícola del alto Cauca colombiano\".Reconociendo el deterioro ambiental y la importancia de la seguridad alimentaria en un entorno cambiante, se creó el proyecto Agricultura, Vulnerabilidad y Adaptación (AVA), de la mano del sector agropecuario y ambiental, con el apoyo de las gobernaciones, municipios, corporaciones autónomas regionales, academia y centros de investigación. Los miembros del proyecto AVA son la Alianza Clima y Desarrollo (CDKN), la Universidad de Caldas, el Centro Nacional de Investigaciones de Café (Cenicafé), la Universidad del Cauca y el CIAT.AVA tuvo como objetivo desarrollar una metodología que permitiera cuantificar y analizar la vulnerabilidad del territorio y de los sistemas productivos, para apoyar la planificación integral de los procesos productivos, la sostenibilidad y la conservación de la cuenca alta del río Cauca.Por medio de la metodología de AVA, se midió la vulnerabilidad del sector agrícola para los sistemas productivos de café, cacao, papa, plátano, fríjol y caña de azúcar, en 99 municipios que conforman la cuenca alta del Cauca de los departamentos de Caldas, Risaralda, Quindío, Valle y Cauca. En el Valle del Cauca, se realizó en 33 municipios, entre ellos Alcalá, presentándose en este municipio un índice de vulnerabilidad muy bajo (0,9) en caña de azúcar; bajo (2,6-5,39 y 9,29) en plátano, papa y fríjol, respectivamente; medio (27,5) en café; y muy alto (9,63) en cacao.Es importante resaltar que Restrepo es uno de los pocos municipios que hace 3 años o más vienen realizando procesos de adaptación al cambio climático, mediante proyectos específicos, lo cual permite que la capacidad adaptativa sea mayor.(Continuación)Descripción AlcanceEn el plan de desarrollo se ha establecido contribuir a la sostenibilidad del desarrollo a través de una estrategia de la reducción del impacto del cambio climático en la población y su entorno.Estrategia de adaptación al cambio climático en el municipio de Restrepo Valle del Cauca.(UMATA, 2012)En 2012, La Unidad Municipal de Asistencia Agropecuaria (UMATA), con la colaboración de la fundación Ecoeficiencia, optaron por desarrollar un documento el cual tenía como principal objetivo: implementar de forma participativa las líneas de acción, proyectos y acciones necesarias para consolidar en el municipio de Restrepo una estrategia efectiva de adaptación al cambio climático que fomente un territorio sostenible. En este documento se plantean estrategias como:• Implementación de un Sistema Municipal de Áreas Protegidas (SIMAP)• Valoración del potencial de áreas para restauración y del estado de conservación de las áreas restauradas en el municipio de Restrepo.• Implementación de un vivero comunitario, como estrategia de apoyo al proceso de restauración.• Implementación de un proceso de servicios ambientales y beneficios tributarios para la conservación en el municipio de Restrepo.Municipio de Restrepo, Valle del CaucaAl igual que en el proceso de adaptación nacional liderado por el IDEAM y el MADS, compilado en el Plan Nacional de Adaptación de 2012 y en el CONPES 3700 de 2011, este portafolio pretende generar lineamientos conceptuales y acciones específicas que respondan a las necesidades puntuales del territorio.Es así como la CVC, preocupada y comprometida con la planificación y gestión del cambio climático local, ha venido desarrollando una serie de ejercicios tendientes a la construcción participativa de \"Portafolios de Adaptación al Cambio Climático\" en diferentes municipios del Valle del Cauca.Este proceso inició en el año 2013 con la construcción de los portafolios de Tuluá y Guadalajara de Buga, mediante un convenio con la Unidad Central del Valle del Cauca (UCEVA) y más recientemente a través del Convenio Interadministrativo No. 033 de 2014 con el CIAT, el cual tiene como objeto: \"Aunar esfuerzos y recursos humanos, económicos y técnicos para realizar acciones en el marco de la mitigación y adaptación al cambio climático en el Valle del Cauca\", se han realizado los portafolios para Cartago, Alcalá, Cali, Jamundí, Dagua, Restrepo y Buenaventura.El principal objetivo del portafolio es entregar información verídica, actualizada y útil, en torno a las problemáticas del cambio climático no solo a los tomadores de decisiones locales, sino a toda la comunidad. La información de este portafolio permitirá incluir acciones de adaptación en los procesos de planificación local, lo cual hará de los municipios, territorios más resilientes y con mayor capacidad de adaptación ante los efectos del cambio climático.El presente documento busca generar un conjunto de acciones de adaptación priorizadas teniendo en cuenta los criterios más relevantes de adaptación, previamente identificados por los actores del municipio. Dichas acciones de adaptación, como se planteó en la metodología, tienen en cuenta las características, biofísicas, sociales, económicas, políticas, entre otras, del municipio, lo cual permite que dichas acciones respondan a necesidades específicas del municipio. Estas acciones deben ser implementadas en conjunto por los diferentes actores del municipio, lo cual señala que la articulación institucional es determinante en el proceso de adaptación.También es importante recalcar que el portafolio de adaptación debe ser actualizado conforme se vayan modificando las necesidades ambientales, sociales, económicas y políticas del municipio, en aras de que el proceso sea continuo y ayude a evaluar los avances y logros obtenidos, y de esta manera se puedan incorporar nuevas iniciativas en función de las modificaciones reales del clima y los pronósticos de cambio climático.En este punto se presenta de forma general el procedimiento metodológico usado para la construcción del portafolio de adaptación a la variabilidad y cambio climático del municipio de Restrepo.El proceso constó de nueve fases. En la fase 1, se llevó a cabo una reunión inicial que permitió recolectar información municipal relacionada con procesos y políticas de adaptación. En la fase 2, se efectuó un taller participativo con el fin de recopilar información primaria a través de dos métodos: cartografía social y prospectiva territorial. En la fase 3, se cruzó la información generada en el taller participativo con la cartografía oficial obtenida de la CVC, El Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi (IGAC), el IDEAM, etc. En la fase 4, se generaron escenarios de cambio climático a nivel municipal. La fase 5 consistió en la identificación de las principales amenazas y riesgos climáticos por municipio. La fase 6 fue la más importante, la cual consistió en generar y priorizar las acciones de adaptación basadas en la información anteriormente evaluada y analizada. En la fase 7, se realizó una socialización de los resultados con los actores del municipio, lo cual es el insumo principal para realizar la siguiente etapa. En la fase 8, se hizo la retroalimentación del portafolio. En la fase 9, se desarrolló el portafolio de estrategias de adaptación al cambio climático para el municipio.En la Figura 12, se presenta un resumen del procedimiento metodológico.Para el desarrollo de dicho proceso en cuanto a la prospectiva territorial, se utilizaron siete instrumentos metodológicos, los cuales se explican a continuación. No obstante, dicha información fue complementaria a la cartografía social, la cual permitió identificar zonas de riesgo y zonas en donde podrían llevarse a cabo procesos de adaptación. Formato 1. Análisis de actores: El objetivo es realizar la identificación de los actores del proceso, su modo de participación y capacidades en la construcción del portafolio de medidas de adaptación. (Para mayor información consultar el Anexo 1. Formato 1: Análisis de Actores).Formato 2. Identificación acciones/proyectos: Tiene como objetivo obtener la información necesaria acerca de los proyectos conocidos. (Para mayor información consultar el Anexo 2. Formato 2: Identificación de acciones/proyectos). Formato 3. Cambios esperados para el futuro (tecnológicos, económicos, sociales, ambientales, institucionales y organizacionales), con el objetivo de identificar los cambios en el municipio relacionados con el cambio climático y la variabilidad climática. (Para mayor información consultar el Anexo 3. Formato 2: Cambios esperados para el futuro).Municipio de Restrepo, Valle del Cauca Figura 12. Resumen del proceso metodológico para la construcción del portafolio de medidas de mitigación y adaptación al cambio climático.1. Reunión con actores principales y recolección de información secundaria municipal • Plan de Ordenamiento Territorial (POT)• Plan de desarrollo• Plan ambiental• Proyectos relacionados con CC, entre otros.7. Socialización con los actores del municipio.6. Generación y priorización de acciones de adaptación al cambio climático.• Análisis jerárquico.2. Recolección de información primaria a través del taller participativo que involucró tres metodologías:• Cartografía social.• Prospectiva Territorial.8. Retroalimentación con base en las consideraciones de los actores del municipio.5. Identificación de principales amenazas y riesgos climáticos por municipio.3. Análisis de la información generada y cruce con información geográfica oficial.9. Generación del Portafolio de Estrategías de Adaptación a Nivel Municipal.4. Generación de escenarios de cambio climático a nivel municipal. De acuerdo a la evaluación general de la percepción de los actores sobre la realidad municipal frente a la variabilidad climática y al cambio climático, se presentan entonces los cambios presentidos, anhelados y temidos por los actores para el municipio.Cuadro 11. Cambios anhelados, presentidos y temidos por los actores para el municipio de Restrepo.• Aumento de los cultivos de piña.• Escasez de agua.• Incremento de la temperatura y la precipitación.• Contaminación de las fuentes hídricas.• Desbordamiento de las quebradas.• Ventiscas y granizadas repentinas.• Deforestación en las microcuencas y zonas urbanas.• Aumento de la frontera agrícola y pecuaria con especial énfasis en los monocultivos.• Afectaciones por el cambio climático.• Diversificación de cultivos en todo el municipio.• Incremento de la cultura ambiental ciudadana.• Incentivo desde políticas municipales el desarrollo de diferentes cultivos.• Programas de reforestación en el sector urbano y rural enfocadas hacia la recuperación de zonas importantes.• Implementación de buenas prácticas agrícolas con asesorías técnicas adecuadas.• Limitación de la compra de predios para Cartón Colombia.• Protección de microcuencas.• Ordenación y manejo adecuado de las cuencas y microcuencas hidrográficas.• Deterioro de los suelos por agricultura intensiva.• Deterioro de la salud como consecuencia del uso de agroquímicos.• Desabastecimiento de agua a causa de actividades mineras y agrícolas.• Desaparición de microcuencas.• Aumento de la ganadería extensiva.• Aumento de la contaminación por prácticas agrícolas inadecuadas.• Extinción o pérdida de biodiversidad.• Deterioro de la calidad de vida.Municipio de Restrepo, Valle del CaucaEl perfil de oportunidades y amenazas (POAM) permite analizar el entorno municipal frente a aspectos externos. La síntesis de estos y la especialización de las amenazas se presenta a continuación:Cuadro 12. Perfil de oportunidades y amenazas (POAM) para el municipio de Restrepo.• Disponibilidad de recursos humanos y económicos a nivel nacional e internacional para trabajar en procesos de cambio climático.• Fomento de las relaciones interinstitucionales para desarrollar programas de asesoría técnica en temas concernientes al cambio climático.• Establecimiento de acciones encaminadas a la proteccion y conservacion de la Reserva Forestal del Pacífico y el enclave subxerofitico.• Creación de un marco normativo para abordar procesos ambientales y de gestión del cambio climático.• Potenciar nuevos productos agrícolas aprovechando la variabilidad climática.• Bajo control sobre la actividad minera.• Presencia de fenómenos naturales con mayor intensidad y frecuencia (vendavales, inundaciones, deslizamientos, sequía, entre otros).• Alta demanda de agua para cultivos, que pone en riesgo la demanda de la población.• Alteración negativa de los ecosistemas y los recursos naturales del territorio por el manejo inadecuado de los recursos.• Pérdida del territorio.• Pérdida de capacidades productivas por aumento de la ganadería extensiva.• Legitimidad institucional deteriorada: Fortalecer la gestión institucional a través de mecanismos de participación ciudadana, recuperación de legitimidad institucional con nuevas prácticas institucionales, defensa y administración responsable y transparente del patrimonio público. Municipio de Restrepo, Valle del CaucaEl perfil de capacidad interna (PCI) permite tener una visión global de la situación interna del municipio para hacer frente al cambio climático, ya que facilita la identificación de las medidas apropiadas para la adaptación.Partiendo del hecho que el cambio climático es un fenómeno que afectará toda la población, es necesario resaltar la participación y el compromiso interinstitucional de todos los actores presentes en el municipio de Restrepo, y así desarrollar e implementar acciones y medidas de adaptación al cambio climático en forma integral y localizada.Teniendo en cuenta esto, se presenta a continuación los diferentes actores que participaron en la construcción del Portafolio de Adaptación al Cambio Climático: Empresa de Energía del Pacífico (EPSA), Asociación de Usuarios de Servicio de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de El Queremal (ASUAQ), Asociación de Productores y Comercializadores de Atuncela (ASOPROCAT), Mercado Agroecológico Campesino (MERCOVIDA), Asociación de mujeres campesinas (ASOCAMPO), Asociación de Paneleros (ASOPAS), Unidad Municipal de Asistencia Técnica Agropecuaria (UMATA), Club Defensores del Agua (DAMAGUA), Asociación municipal de usuarios campesinos (AMUC) y las presentadas en la Figura 14.Cuadro 13. Perfil de capacidad interna (PCI) para el municipio de Restrepo.• Ubicación geográfica estratégica del Municipio para el desarrollo de proyectos ambientales.• Interés y participación activa de las organizaciones comunitarias y campesinas en procesos desarrollados en el municipio.• Inclusión del tema cambio climático en los diferentes proyectos y propuestas del municipio como por ejemplo la Estrategia de Adaptación al Cambio Climático 2012 y el Plan de Desarrollo Municipal 2012-2015.• Existencia del sistema de áreas protegidas.• Acompañamiento del Instituto Mayor Campesino (IMCA).• Organización de las juntas de acueductos en pro de la conservación del agua.• Insuficiencia presupuestal para el desarrollo de procesos y proyectos de impacto y la continuidad de los mismos.• Instrumentos de planificación desarticulados con la gestión del cambio climático y los diferentes procesos ambientales.• Socialización de proyectos ambientales.• Debilitación y poca participación de las juntas de acción comunal y el Comité Interinstitucional de Educación Ambiental (CIDEA).• Mala planificación agropecuaria.• Poco control sobre el mantenimiento y recuperación de los cuerpos hídricos.• Cuerpos de agua mal canalizados.• Inadecuada gestión y manejo de los residuos sólidos • Presencia de grandes empresas en el municipio que demandan muchos recursos.• Desarrollo y promoción de ganadería extensiva.• Presencia de monocultivos.• Monopolización de los predios donde se encuentran las microcuencas.En cuanto al análisis de la participación en las fases del proceso de gestión del cambio climático a escala local, se encontró que el mayor interés se encuentra en las fases de formulación e implementación representadas con un 29% cada una, la fase de seguimiento representada con un 25% y finalmente la fase de evaluación con un 16%. Es importante resaltar el compromiso de los actores en las primeras fases; sin embargo, sería ideal que se asignara el mismo interés en todas las fases para darle continuidad al proceso. El análisis de la participación de los actores mostró que el 40% de los asistentes pertenecen a organizaciones privadas, el 35% a organizaciones sociales, el 20% a organizaciones públicas y el 5% a organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONG); quedando excluidos los sectores academia y sociedad civil. De acuerdo a estos resultados, es importante resaltar la necesidad de promover la participación amplia de estos últimos para garantizar que los procesos se desarrollen de manera íntegra y conjunta. La Figura 17 representa el porcentaje de los recursos ofertados por los actores para el proceso de implementación del portafolio, obteniendo el mayor aporte el de recursos humanos con un 67%, seguido de los recursos físicos con un 22%, recursos económicos con un 8% y otros (logística) representado con el 3%. Lo anterior evidencia que existe una amplia disposición de participar en el proceso; sin embargo, es necesario buscar fuentes de financiación económica que puedan soportar la implementación del portafolio con los tomadores de decisión y la participación de las instituciones presentes en el municipio.Las amenazas climáticas de mayor frecuencia en la actualidad para el departamento, en lo que respecta al último quinquenio de mayor a menor son: las inundaciones, los incendios forestales, los vendavales y los deslizamientos. En comparación con otros municipios del departamento, Restrepo se ubica en el sexto lugar en materia de concentración de desastres por eventos relacionados con la variabilidad y el cambio climático en el Valle del Cauca. Este nivel de afectación es superado por los municipios de Buenaventura y Jamundí, con un número de personas afectadas que pueden llegar a ser hasta 10 veces mayor que los que se presentan en el municipio de Restrepo.De los 12 eventos climáticos que se han presentado en el municipio de Restrepo en el último quinquenio, el 42% corresponden a vendavales, el 42% a inundaciones, el 8% a deslizamiento y el otro 8% a incendios forestales. Vendaval 8% 8%Deslizamiento IncendiosMunicipio de Restrepo, Valle del CaucaEstos eventos climáticos sin duda configuran un riesgo en la medida que afectan a los sistemas naturales y sociales.El total de personas afectadas entre 2010 y 2015 por las amenazas climáticas identificadas, fueron a septiembre del último año 3.515, según datos reportados ante la UNGRD (2015).El análisis de esta información nos lleva a concluir la necesidad de realizar acciones entorno a los problemas más importantes a nivel climático en el municipio, tales como incendios forestales, deslizamientos, inundaciones y vendavales; para reducir la cifra de personas afectadas (3.515) en el último quinquenio. Sin duda, este portafolio se convierte en una herramienta fundamental para hacerle frente a estos fenómenos, teniendo en cuenta las amenazas particulares y las características del territorio.A continuación, se muestran el cambio de temperatura y precipitación proyectado por el IDEAM en 2015 en la Tercera Comunicación Nacional de Cambio Climático. Este análisis tiene en cuenta diferentes horizontes temporales (entre 2011 y 2100). Se espera que la temperatura entre 2071 y 2100 aumente en promedio en 2,14 °C, mientras que en términos de precipitación los cambios son más variables; por ejemplo, se espera que para el 27% del territorio nacional disminuya entre 20 y 30% en las zonas de: Amazonas, Vaupes, sur del Caquetá, San Andrés y Providencia, Bolívar, Magdalena, Sucre y norte del Cesar, y aumente entre 10 y 30% en zonas como: Nariño, Cauca, Huila, Tolima, Eje Cafetero, occidente de Antioquia, norte de Cundinamarca, Bogotá y centro de Boyacá. 3,515  Para fin de siglo, el departamento podrá aumentar en 2,4 °C la temperatura promedio. El municipio de Buenaventura será el de mayor aumento, con valores de 2,6 °C adicionales a los valores de referencia actual (IDEAM et al., 2015).En general, el departamento podrá aumentar en 6% las precipitaciones sobre el valor actual. Particularmente las provincias en el occidente, sur y centro serán aquellas que presenten mayores aumentos, con valores de hasta un 20%, al igual que los municipios de Cartago, Ulloa, El Águila, Ansermanuevo y Alcalá (IDEAM et al., 2015).Las estimaciones de cambio climático también se realizaron a nivel de municipio desde el equipo de modelación climática del CIAT, y los resultados para Restrepo, con el ensamble de modelos globales de cambio climático (GCMs, por sus siglas en inglés) son los siguientes: Temp.Municipio de Restrepo, Valle del CaucaLa temperatura del municipio de Restrepo en la mayor parte del territorio se encuentra entre 20 y 26 °C; sin embargo, la zona de la parte noroccidental en el límite con el municipio de Calima presenta una temperatura promedio anual de 15 °C. Algo similar ocurre en esa zona donde las precipitaciones están entre los 1.700 y 1.800 mm al año.El cambio climático en el municipio de Restrepo muestra aumentos en la temperatura y la precipitación, tanto a 2030 como a 2050. Para 2030, se estiman aumentos de temperatura de 1,3 °C y 11,2% en precipitaciones. Mientras que para 2050, los aumentos serían de 1,8 °C en temperatura y de 14,6% en precipitaciones.En términos relativos (cambios %), se espera que la zona con mayores aumentos en precipitación sea la zona suroccidental del municipio que limita con Dagua y La Cumbre, dicha zona se ha caracterizado por bajas precipitaciones; sin embargo, se espera que a futuro en esta zona aumente la precipitación con respecto al valor actual.De acuerdo a estos cambios en temperatura y precipitación, se concluye que el municipio de Restrepo tiene una gran exposición al cambio climático, lo cual hace necesario establecer medidas de adaptación que ayuden al municipio a mejorar su capacidad de adaptación y resiliencia.Cuadro 14. Aumento en la temperatura y la precipitación en 2030-2050.Cambios en precipitación anual (%) Con el objetivo de implementar las acciones contenidas en el portafolio de adaptación y promover los mecanismos de administración, gestión y seguimiento, se sugiere el siguiente esquema de organización que contempla la articulación institucional y la optimización de los recursos.El esquema anterior plantea la conformación de un grupo interinstitucional e intersectorial coordinador, asesor y gestor, encargado de la parte técnica, administrativa y toma de decisiones, en el marco de la promoción y desarrollo de las acciones para la adaptación al cambio climático.Dicho grupo optimizará los esfuerzos y recursos existentes, con el fin de evitar la duplicidad en las labores desempeñadas por los actores involucrados. Asimismo es necesario establecer un mecanismo de retroalimentación entre ellos y los componentes que establecen el grupo de concertación. Es importante resaltar la necesidad de establecer una dirección administrativa que se encargue de apoyar los temas de comunicación, educación para el desarrollo y coordinación de las diferentes actividades; todo esto con el ánimo de llevar a cabo el buen funcionamiento del proceso.En síntesis, este esquema se presenta como una alternativa de organización y gestión para la implementación de medidas de adaptación al cambio climático, que busca facilitar la armonización de los procesos y realizar acciones interinstitucionales y sociales desde una orientación colectiva.Municipio de Restrepo, Valle del CaucaA partir de los talleres realizados y de las indagaciones sobre información secundaria relacionada con medidas y proyectos formulados, en ejecución o en fase de formulación para la adaptación al cambio climático, y con el propósito de priorizar los identificados, se planteó la necesidad de asignar una importancia a los criterios de selección, que permitiera relacionar niveles de preferencia sobre los aspectos más relevantes en materia de adaptación para el municipio de Restrepo. Todo ello desde el conocimiento local representado por los actores sociales y participantes del municipio.La metodología empleada para facilitar el proceso de toma de decisión frente a la configuración de un portafolio de adaptación fue el AHP (Proceso Analítico Jerárquico). El AHP es un método de evaluación y decisión multicriterio, desarrollado por el matemático Thomas Saaty, que consiste en formalizar la comprensión intuitiva de problemas complejos mediante la construcción de un modelo Jerárquico. El propósito del método es permitir que el agente decisor pueda estructurar un problema multicriterio en forma visual, mediante la construcción de un modelo jerárquico que contiene tres niveles: meta u objetivo, criterios y alternativas (Hurtado y Bruno, 2005).El AHP se fundamenta en: • La estructuración de un modelo jerárquico (representación del problema mediante identificación de meta, criterios, subcriterios y alternativas).• Priorización de los elementos del modelo jerárquico.• Comparaciones binarias entre los elementos.• Evaluación de los elementos mediante asignación de \"pesos\".• Ranking de las alternativas de acuerdo con los pesos dados.• Síntesis y análisis de resultados.El AHP hace posible la toma de decisiones grupal mediante el agregado de opiniones, de tal manera que satisfaga la relación recíproca al comparar dos elementos; luego toma el promedio geométrico de las opiniones. Cuando el grupo de expertos genera cada uno su propia jerarquía, el AHP combina los resultados por el promedio geométrico de las mismas (Saaty, 1997).De acuerdo a esto, se presenta a continuación el desarrollo de este esquema metodológico para las medidas y proyectos identificados, así como los resultados de este proceso para el municipio de Restrepo.La estructuración del modelo jerárquico para la priorización de las medidas y proyectos identificados, se desarrolla a través de los siguientes componentes metodológicos, que configuran un proceso confiable para la toma de decisiones ante las medidas o proyectos actuales y futuros.Actualmente, en materia de adaptación al cambio climático son importantes los esfuerzos, recursos e inversiones sociales, que hacen parte de los contenidos programáticos de los instrumentos de planificación territorial; las agendas institucionales, los programas locales y las apuestas comunitarias. Todos estos de gran relevancia bajo un contexto general de adaptación. Sin embargo, no todas estas iniciativas responden en igual medida a las prioridades que para el municipio de Restrepo puede representar el contexto sociocultural, ambiental y económico-político desde el cual busca una adaptación exitosa al cambio climático.Estas condiciones particulares, identificadas en la fase prospectiva de este ejercicio, contienen amenazas y vulnerabilidades que generan escenarios únicos ante los cuales adaptarse. Por tal motivo resulta de interés la priorización de medidas y proyectos que respondan a criterios o componentes de mayor importancia para los autores del proceso de adaptación en el municipio, de tal manera que dichos esfuerzos generen impactos positivos para este en el corto y mediano plazo.El objetivo del AHP en este estudio es el de seleccionar las medidas o proyectos con mayor impacto potencial sobre las prioridades de mitigación y adaptación del municipio de Restrepo.Dichas alternativas responden a problemáticas relacionadas con el cambio y la variabilidad climática y configuran un portafolio de medidas y proyectos que responden a este propósito.El departamento del Valle del Cauca ha venido desarrollando en diferentes municipios portafolios de estrategias, medidas y proyectos de mitigación y adaptación, planteando con esto un referente para el abordaje de la temática desde un enfoque articulador y coherente con las perspectivas de los vallecaucanos.Fruto de estos procesos y como resultado de diagnósticos participativos en los diferentes municipios, se evaluaron y validaron en Restrepo siete criterios por parte de los agentes claves involucrados en los talleres.Estos criterios fueron empleados para la calificación y selección de un número limitado de medidas y proyectos, las cuales conformarán el marco decisorio para la configuración del portafolio.En este sentido se muestra a continuación una pregunta clave y una breve descripción de cada uno de los criterios. El listado de los siete criterios se enuncia en un consecutivo desde el literal A hasta el G, el orden de estos es aleatorio, no corresponde a su importancia o jerarquía para la toma de la decisión.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto involucra procesos de adaptación relacionados con la soberanía y seguridad alimentaria ante la variabilidad y cambio climático?Por medio de este criterio se busca priorizar proyectos y medidas relacionadas con la adaptación ecológica y cultural de los agroecosistemas a la variabilidad y cambio climático, el reconocimiento y recuperación de saberes y prácticas productivas ancestrales que garanticen la soberanía y seguridad alimentaria ante el cambio climático.A través de este criterio, se busca priorizar aquellas medidas y proyectos que involucran posibles adaptaciones desde la gestión del riesgo ante el cambio climático, involucrando obras de manejo y mitigación de riesgos por escenarios de variabilidad y cambio climático, como vendavales, incendios forestales, inundaciones urbanas, avenidas torrenciales, el manejo de procesos erosivos en zonas de ladera, entre otros.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto representa posibles adaptaciones para la gestión integral del agua ante escenarios de variabilidad y cambio climático?Este criterio prioriza medidas y proyectos que involucran procesos de gestión del agua a escala de cuenca hidrográfica; desde aspectos ecológicos y culturales relacionados con la oferta, demanda y calidad del recurso, como la protección y recuperación de fuentes abastecedoras, el ahorro y uso eficiente del agua y la salud ambiental.Municipio de Restrepo, Valle del Cauca Figura 28. Modelo Jerárquico para la toma de decisiones con AHP.Fuente: Elaborado con base en datos de la CVC (2014).Objetivo: Priorizar las medidas y proyectos con mayor impacto potencial sobre las prioridades de adaptación del municipio de Restrepo Criterios ambientales, socioculturales, económicos y productivosMedidas con mayor impacto potencial en el proceso de adaptación Proyectos con mayor impacto potencial en el proceso de adaptaciónPregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto busca la conservación de ecosistemas estratégicos para la adaptación al cambio y la variabilidad climática?Este criterio busca entregar una mayor prioridad a las medidas y proyectos relacionados con la conectividad ecosistémica, la gestión ambiental en áreas naturales protegidas y la conservación y regulación de fuentes hídricas y de los bosques del departamento. Involucra además proyectos que contemplan procesos de conservación en el marco de esquemas de pago por servicios ambientales y exenciones tributarias por conservación de áreas ambientales estratégicasPregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto plantea la incorporación de prácticas y procesos sostenibles en los sistemas productivos como respuesta al cambio y variabilidad climática?Este criterio entrega una mayor prioridad a las medidas o proyectos que incorporan de prácticas de manejo ecológicas en los sistemas productivos del municipio con el fin de hacerlos más resilientes y adaptativos ante el cambio y la variabilidad climática.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto proporciona escenarios para la investigación, formación de capacidades y apropiación de conocimientos en torno a la gestión y adaptación ante el cambio climático?Este criterio entrega una mayor prioridad a medidas o proyectos relacionados con procesos de investigación, generación de información, formación de capacidades humanas para la gestión del cambio climático, así como la apropiación social, institucional y sectorial de su conocimiento, la proyección de procesos de educación ambiental enfocados a temas relacionados con el cambio climático y el reconocimiento de las vulnerabilidades e identidades culturales locales.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto implica el desarrollo o transferencia de tecnologías ambientalmente apropiadas para la adaptación al cambio y variabilidad climática?Por medio de este criterio, se otorga mayor prioridad a las medidas o proyectos que plantean procesos de apropiación de tecnologías (tradicionales y de punta), que sirven a posibles adaptaciones al cambio y la variabilidad climática, aplicables en el sector agropecuario, en los sistemas urbanos, o en los sistemas de información para la toma de decisiones, apropiadas en términos de viabilidad socio-económica, ambiental y cultural.Se plantea conforme a la metodología AHP, la estructuración de la jerarquía del problema objeto de decisión. Los criterios ya mencionados y las alternativas, constituidas por las medidas y proyectos identificados en función del objetivo, permitirán la materialización de un portafolio priorizado que atienda en mayor medida las perspectivas en cuanto a adaptación que se tienen en el municipio de Restrepo.Cuadro 15. Escala de valoración de Saaty.Fuente: Esquema propuesto por Morales et al. (2011).Cuadro 16. Formato utilizado para la calificación de criterios por pares.Fuente: Esquema propuesto por Morales et al. (2011).Con el ánimo de determinar las medidas y proyectos idóneos en el proceso de adaptación al cambio climático para el municipio, se compararon los siete criterios descritos anteriormente, usando la media absoluta; sabiendo que esta permite el manejo de un bajo número de alternativas.Posteriormente se realizó este proceso por pares para conocer las preferencias o pesos entre diferentes criterios, y de esta forma establecer una jerarquía, que permitiera la evaluación en forma independiente de cada una de las medidas y proyectos.En esta etapa del estudio se examinaron los elementos del problema aisladamente por medio de comparaciones de a pares. Las evaluaciones o juicios fueron emitidos por los actores claves interesados, que a su vez hicieron parte del desarrollo de los talleres.Para la valoración de criterios se empleó una escala ajustada a la planteada por Saaty (1997), donde se establece una serie de medidas que varían en un rango de 1 a 5, relacionadas con juicios verbales de tipo cualitativo, los cuales a su vez establecen un grado de preferencia sobre los elementos comparados.El objetivo de este ejercicio consistió en establecer la importancia de cada uno de los criterios que se han definido para la calificación y selección de medidas y proyectos de adaptación al cambio y la variabilidad climática en el municipio de Restrepo.Una vez realizada la comparación y asignación de pesos con base en la preferencia individual de cada actor involucrado, se procedió a la obtención de una preferencia colectiva, a partir de la ponderación de los valores otorgados individualmente. En este proceso se promediaron las valoraciones realizadas por los actores clave.La preferencia resultante constituyó la jerarquía final otorgada para cada criterio en comparación; posteriormente esta fue relacionada con un valor numérico que finalmente permitiría la evaluación de las medidas y proyectos, a partir de la sumatoria de los valores relacionados con el cumplimiento o no de cada uno de los criterios.La ponderación efectuada representa la medida absoluta del peso asignado a cada criterio por todos los actores, y puede apreciarse con mayor detalle en el siguiente cuadro.Los resultados de este ejercicio constituirán el insumo base para la realización de un análisis de jerarquías por medio de la metodología AHP, lo que permitirá establecer la importancia de los diferentes criterios.Para el desarrollo del ejercicio los actores clave, respondieron las preguntas que se encuentran en las columnas dos y tres del Cuadro 6, con base en la información contenida en cada una de las filas. Para el caso de la pregunta ¿En qué grado considera usted que es más importante?, el grado de importancia se calificó con base en la escala de valoración planteada por Saaty, colocando en el espacio del cuadro el valor numérico correspondiente al juicio realizado sobre la importancia. Como resultado de la ponderación, los actores definieron una jerarquía para los criterios, de acuerdo a los pesos establecidos en las calificaciones, esta jerarquía puede apreciarse en el siguiente cuadro. El resultado de este ejercicio plantea como el criterio de mayor importancia para el colectivo de participantes, en materia de mitigación y adaptación al cambio y variabilidad climática, los \"Procesos y sistemas productivos ambientalmente sostenibles\", la \"Conservación de ecosistemas y áreas de interés ambiental\" y la \"Gestión integral del recurso hídrico\". Estos tres criterios configuran el grupo de mayor relevancia para las prioridades del municipio, evidenciando una perspectiva en la que medidas y proyectos con estos alcances podrían representar un mayor impacto en el proceso de adaptación.El segundo grupo de criterios, con pesos que oscilan entre 0,15 y 0,13, está constituido por el \"Desarrollo y transferencia de tecnologías ambientalmente apropiadas para la adaptación\" y la \"Generación de capacidades para la gestión y adaptación ante el cambio climático\". Estos representan criterios que si bien son relevantes, no son considerados los de mayor importancia.Finalmente la \"Gestión del riesgo asociado a la variabilidad y cambio climático\" y la \"Soberanía y seguridad alimentaria ante el cambio climático\" recibieron la menor calificación en el proceso de priorización. Este resultado no significa que estos criterios carezcan de relevancia, sino más bien que en estos aspectos, desde la percepción de los participantes, ya se cuenta con avances significativos, y no se percibe una vulnerabilidad considerable.Es importante aclarar que todos los criterios resultan importantes para los procesos de mitigación y adaptación, y que estas jerarquías deben ser interpretadas desde la complementariedad de las temáticas que debe abordar una estrategia, proyecto o medida, de tal forma que involucre más de un criterio y en mayor medida aquellos identificados como prioritarios.Consecuentemente, estos pesos y jerarquías serán de utilidad en el momento de evaluar cada proyecto o medida de mitigación y adaptación, en función de los criterios que resultan prioritarios para las particularidades que afronta el municipio, desde la perspectiva de sus habitantes.Contando con este resultado, a continuación se describen las medidas y proyectos identificados, y se presenta su respectiva evaluación desde las prioridades establecidas anteriormente.Municipio de Restrepo, Valle del Cauca Fuente: Adaptado de CVC (2014).Se identificaron un total de 24 proyectos con impacto potencial sobre la adaptación. Estos constituyen las alternativas evaluadas desde los criterios de sostenibilidad aplicados en el marco de la metodología AHP.Para facilitar la comprensión de los resultados obtenidos, se plantea un sistema de cualificación de Cuadro 19. Sistema de cualificación de medidas y proyectos.las medidas y proyectos, basado en los umbrales determinados para cada componente o criterio en el proceso de priorización descrito anteriormente. Estos umbrales determinan un grado de aporte a las prioridades del municipio en términos de adaptación para cada proyecto o medida evaluada, donde se presentan mayores aportes en aquellos proyectos que responden de manera integral a más de un componente o criterio priorizado. El Cuadro 19 presenta el sistema de cualificación utilizado en el proceso de priorización de medidas y proyectos.De acuerdo a la aplicación del sistema de cualificación y priorización de criterios a través de las comparaciones entre ellos, se obtuvo como resultado final el ordenamiento de las medidas y proyectos. Este proceso se desarrolló a partir de la evaluación o cualificación bajo un esquema de pregunta clave con única respuesta, donde cada alternativa fue sometida al cumplimiento de cada criterio de evaluación. El formato utilizado se presenta a continuación. Se presentan entonces los resultados de la priorización de acuerdo a la valoración de impacto en los componentes de adaptación, presentándose según los resultados proyectos de carácter: prioritario, necesario y de impacto puntual, como se describe en el siguiente cuadro.Cuadro 21. Clasificación de los proyectos de acuerdo a la valoración de impactos en los componentes para la adaptación al cambio y la variabilidad climática.(Continúa)Responsables Clasificación Como resultado del análisis de los cambios presentidos, anhelados y temidos, el perfil de capacidad interna, el perfil de oportunidades y amenazas del medio, y las ideas estratégicas resultantes, se proponen una serie de estrategias, que complementan las expectativas de los actores clave participantes y responden a las necesidades locales del municipio en materia de adaptación al cambio y variabilidad climática.Es importante resaltar la necesidad de planear un proceso de adaptación para el municipio de Restrepo, prefiriendo las medidas enfocadas a la prevención de los riesgos y no aquellas que buscan enfrentarlos. Siguiendo este orden de ideas se presentan a continuación las iniciativas de adaptación, organizadas de acuerdo a la importancia establecida en la priorización de criterios para la adaptación al cambio y la variabilidad climática.Se presenta una ficha por cada iniciativa establecida, las cuales están conformadas por una descripción de objetivos y metodología para su desarrollo y un mapa con la espacialización de los proyectos más relevantes. Estas iniciativas constituyen una propuesta complementaria desde la prospectiva territorial desarrollada, que refleja en sus plazos los resultados del ejercicio de priorización, constituyendo un insumo desde lo local, para la futura articulación de todos estos en el marco de los contenidos programáticos que conformarán los planes de adaptación al cambio climático a escala regional. Figura 30. Proyectos identificados en el marco de la adaptación para el municipio de Restrepo.Programa Establecer acciones de manejo, protección y conservación de la Reserva Forestal del Pacífico y el enclave subxerofitico.Preservar la diversidad biológica existente en este ecosistema de tal forma que las actividades desarrolladas en el municipio no la afecten. Revisión y seguimiento a los proyectos y procesos relacionados con la conservación de los ecosistemas Objetivo Dar continuidad a los procesos desarrollados en el municipio en materia de conservación y adaptación al cambio climático y evaluar sus resultados.Responsables Plazo Rural Urbano Una de las tareas básicas de la gestión de los proyectos es el seguimiento y la evaluación, puesto que implican un proceso sistemático de revisión y análisis del comportamiento de los proyectos en sus principales componentes.De igual forma la retroalimentación constante de los grupos de trabajo aunado a la documentación de las iniciativas exitosas, puede contribuir a mejorar y elevar el perfil de los programas sobre la conservación.Es necesario resaltar que los programas de conservación necesitan mejorar su eficacia en el cumplimiento de metas y objetivos, su eficiencia en la asignación y uso de los recursos y lograr mayor acercamiento a la sociedad, para convertirse en una herramienta confiable de manejar y planificar los ecosistemas.X X CVC, UMATA,Programa Fortalecimiento a la consolidación de áreas de reserva natural de la sociedad civil Objetivo Definir las reservas naturales de la sociedad civil como una iniciativa de conservación de la biodiversidad y los recursos naturales en predios de propiedad privada.Responsables Plazo Rural UrbanoEl apoyo y la promoción del establecimiento de áreas de reserva natural de la sociedad civil se enmarca en el ámbito de contribuir y consolidar con las iniciativas de la sociedad civil, en su aporte a la conservación de los recursos naturales y en la búsqueda del desarrollo sostenible.Para el desarrollo del proceso de registro es necesario describir detalladamente los servicios ambientales y sociales que cada predio ofrece; algunas de las características que debe contener son: localización del predio, zonificación de los tipos de uso y hectáreas (conservación, agrosistemas, amortiguación y manejo especial e infraestructura), lo anterior descrito en un mapa; de igual forma se deben detallar los instrumentos de planificación de la reserva y los objetivos de manejo (PNNC, 2005). Fase II: Evaluar el problema. Se identifican los ecosistemas de referencia y la divergencia entre las condiciones actuales y las deseadas, y se realiza una evaluación de impacto ambiental y social.Fase III y IV: Desarrollar las metas y objetivos de la restauración ecológica. Se desarrollan las metas y resultados, se identifican los objetivos mensurables y se considera el diseño preliminar de monitoreo.Fase V: Diseñar la estrategia de la restauración ecológica. Se define el ámbito y se desarrollan los planes de implementación y monitoreo.Fase VI: Implementar la estrategia. Se lleva a cabo la restauración y se comunica el progreso.Fase VII: Implementar la gestión adaptativa. Se monitorea y evaluan los resultados de la restauración, Se ajustan según sea necesario las fases IV, V y VI con base en los resultados; y finalmente se comunican los resultados (Keenleyside et al., 2014).Municipal CortoMunicipio de Restrepo, Valle del Cauca Programa Elaboración de un inventario de servicios ecosistémicos del municipio Objetivo Conocer la distribución espacial de los servicios ecosistémicos para diseñar estrategias que garanticen el buen uso y la preservación de estos, en beneficio a los distintos sectores de la población.Responsables Plazo Rural UrbanoEl concepto de servicios ecosistémicos permite entender de qué manera las poblaciones humanas dependen de la biodiversidad. Su cuantificación y valoración permite informar de manera apropiada a los tomadores de decisiones y, que los desarrolladores de políticas tengan en cuenta los costos y beneficios relacionados para intervenir en los recursos naturales.En este sentido un inventario de servicios ecosistémicos permite conocer y establecer las relaciones entre biodiversidad, servicios ambientales y las reservas de carbono que estos poseen.De igual forma sirven como herramienta para el análisis de investigadores y de comunicación, para los planificadores y el público en general sobre donde se encuentran las áreas con mayor prioridad de conservación.(Álvarez, s.f.).Componente Estratégico: Procesos y sistemas productivos ambientalmente sostenibles Programa Implementación de buenas prácticas agrícolas mediante diversificación de cultivos (zona apta para agricultura)Utilizar eficientemente los espacios horizontales y verticales de las parcelas, aumentar los ingresos de los agricultores e incrementar la oferta de diferentes productos en el mercado local y regional.Responsables Plazo Rural UrbanoLa diversificación de cultivos aumenta la seguridad alimentaria, disminuye la necesidad de insumos agrícolas y hace los sistemas más resilientes.La metodología de implementación consiste en lo siguiente:1. Seleccionar los cultivos más adecuados a las condiciones climáticas y ambientales de la finca teniendo en cuenta las preferencias del mercado.2. Establecer un plan de manejo y monitoreo de las prácticas de cultivo y determinar los costos de producción.3. Realizar una adecuada selección de cultivos acompañantes (sinergias positivas).4. Sembrar las variedades de acuerdo con el plan establecido y los tiempos de cosecha.5. Incorporar prácticas de producción y aplicación de abonos orgánicos, conservación de suelo, rotación de cultivos y manejo integrado de plagas. Implementar sistemas agrosilvopastoriles en zonas degradadas por ganadería extensiva Objetivo Desarrollar un sistema de producción diversificado con un enfoque de conservación e iniciar con este un proceso de restauración del suelo y revegetación forestal.Responsables Plazo Rural UrbanoEl sistema agrosilvopastoril agrupa un conjunto de técnicas para asociar especies arbóreas con ganadería y cultivos en el mismo terreno, con el fin de lograr interacciones ecológicas y económicas significativas.En este sentido la metodología de implementación es la siguiente:1. Identificar las características físicas del terreno (topografía, suelos, drenaje) que ayuden a determinar la selección, manejo y productividad potencial de los elementos del sistema.2. Realizar un plan de manejo que establezca las áreas destinadas a ganadería, producción agrícola y vegetación arbórea con base en la capacidad de carga del sitio y el consumo de forraje requerido.3. Seleccionar las especies leñosas, arbustivas, rastreras y herbáceas a sembrar, incluyendo pastos para ganado y cultivos anuales.4. Limpiar, trazar, sembrar y trasplantar los estratos de acuerdo con el plan establecido, protegiendo las áreas productivas de los animales. La restauración de los suelos incluye acciones de regeneración de los ciclos naturales del suelo mediante revegetación con especies rastreras y arbustivas, reforestación con especies arbóreas nativas, así como trabajos de contención con estacados. La restauración de suelos se desarrolla de acuerdo con las condiciones biológicas y edafológicas particulares del sitio, lo cual también determina la selección de especies a utilizar.Para llevar a cabo un proceso de restauración de suelos es necesario realizar lo siguiente:1. Hacer un diagnóstico del estado del suelo y formular el programa de restauración con apoyo de un técnico.2. Establecer especies pioneras para incrementar la estabilidad y contenido de materia orgánica del suelo.3. Clavar estacas vivas de especies nativas arbóreas, de alrededor de 1,2 m, en los taludes con erosión severa y reforzarlas con estacas perpendiculares a la pendiente del terreno. Este sistema compone una serie de técnicas que aprovechan los multiestratos de un ecosistema.Son idóneos para sitios con vocación agrícola o forestal en estado degradado para recuperar zonas boscosas sin sacrificar la producción. Su desarrollo se compone de los siguientes pasos:1. Diseñar el sistema con apoyo de un técnico y de acuerdo con las características particulares del sitio (suelo, clima, topografía, cultivos y especies potenciales, acceso a mercados).2. Seleccionar las especies a incluir en el sistema (arbóreas maderables y comestibles, arbustivas y rastreras comestibles y medicinales, herbáceas comestibles para abonos verdes y control de plagas).3. Limpiar y trazar tomando en cuenta curvas de nivel y elementos topográficos distintivos.4. Obtener especies leñosas en viveros y trasplantar. La orientación de esta medida debe enfocarse en tres aspectos básicos:• Labranza reducida o cero para conservar el suelo.• Cobertura permanente del suelo con residuos del cultivo anterior o con abonos verdes. Teniendo en cuenta esto se pueden desarrollar las siguientes estrategias para la educación y el cambio climático:• Incorporación de la educación sobre el cambio climático y el medio ambiente en el plan de estudios, con adaptaciones para el contexto local.• Formación docente.• Estrategias de sensibilización.• La educación no estructurada (actividades después de la escuela).• Agua, saneamiento e higiene en las escuelas.• Desarrollo de escuelas verdes. Participar en el seguimiento del proceso de elaboración de la estrategia local de cambio climático, colaborar en la recogida de información y su análisis, hacer propuestas concretas de mejora y debatir soluciones a partir de la recogida de información, plantear actividades de divulgación, y cooperar en el proceso de seguimiento de aplicación de la citada estrategia (Futurelx, 2009) Un sistema de tratamiento es una combinación de procesos unitarios cuyo objetivo es la modificación de las características del residuo para su adecuación a la demanda como producto de calidad.El sistema de tratamiento más adecuado se selecciona dependiendo de los costos y los productos finales deseados.Teniendo en cuenta lo anterior y las condiciones ambientales y sociales del municipio, el sistema más adecuado para el tratamiento de los desechos porcícolas es un biodigestor.El biodigestor consiste en una bolsa elaborada en membrana de PVC protegida contra el crecimiento microbiano, con 2 acoples en membrana a tubería de PVC, de 4 a 8 pulgadas para la entrada y salida de la materia orgánica y un niple de PVC de 1 pulgada, ubicada en la parte superior para la salida del biogás.Antes de instalar el biodigestor es necesario identificar la ubicación más adecuada, esta deberá estar cerca del corral donde se producen los desechos.Seguidamente se calcula el tamaño del biodigestor, teniendo en cuenta el número de animales y se acondiciona el sitio.Finalmente se instala el biodigestor, la tubería de escape de gas y entrada, y las protecciones del biodigestor.Con la instalación completa del biodigestor se obtiene como productos finales: biogás, lodos que pueden ser utilizados para tratamiento de suelos o compostaje y residuos líquidos que pueden usarse como fertilizante por su alto contenido de nutrientes (SAC, et al., 2002). Formación para el trabajo minero. Esta línea hace énfasis en formar capacidades de capital humano para el desarrollo de la actividad minera, pero sobre todo en adelantar un proceso de acompañamiento continuo a los mineros en sus procesos productivos y empresariales.Inclusión diferencial y desarrollo social. Esta línea se enfoca en definir herramientas, estrategias y acciones que permitan trasladar los beneficios de la minería a la población.Información para la formalización. Esta línea se enfoca en generar herramientas, instrumentos y sistemas que brinden información confiable, oportuna, pertinente y actualizada del sector minero y de las variables existentes en torno a la formalización de la minería en Colombia.Fortalecimiento técnico, asociativo y empresarial. Esta línea apunta a promover la innovación y el desarrollo tecnológico de la actividad minera con el propósito de lograr mayores niveles de productividad y competitividad.Recursos e incentivos para la formalización. Esta línea se enfoca en establecer programas de apoyo económico al minero informal, de pequeña y mediana escala y facilitar su acceso al crédito, mediante la asignación de recursos financieros.Minería bajo el amparo de un título. Genera condiciones para que el desarrollo de las actividades mineras se realicen en el marco de la legalidad.Normatividad y lineamientos para la formalización minera. En este sentido el IPCC plantea un esquema metodológico basado en el cálculo de emisiones a partir de datos de actividad y factores de emisión para cada país. Este proceso metodológico abarca las siguientes etapas:Identificación del propósito del inventario.Selección de la técnica de medición: Establece el método de cuantificación de las emisiones de GEI y contaminantes, criterio a partir del nivel de profundización seleccionado.Identificación de fuentes de emisión: Mediante información suministrada por diferentes entidades públicas y privadas como: cámara de comercio, autoridades ambientales, empresas de transporte y bases de datos electrónicas.Recopilación de datos de actividad: Se realizará en función de las fuentes de emisión identificadas.Selección de factores de emisión: Se seleccionan teniendo en cuenta los datos de actividad de las fuentes de emisión que apliquen para el municipio, y las recomendaciones de la metodología IPCC. El objetivo del siguiente ejercicio consiste en establecer la importancia de cada uno de los criterios que se han definido para la calificación y selección de medidas y proyectos de adaptación al cambio y variabilidad climática en el municipio de Restrepo Los resultados de este ejercicio constituirán el insumo base para la realización de un análisis de jerarquías por medio de la metodología AHP, lo que permitirá establecer la importancia de los diferentes criterios.Para el desarrollo del ejercicio, se procederá a responder las preguntas que se encuentran en la segunda y tercera columna del Cuadro A2, con base en la información contenida en cada una de las filas. Para el caso de la pregunta ¿En qué grado considera usted que es más importante? (Tercera columna en el Cuadro A2), el grado de importancia se calificará con base en el Cuadro A1, colocando en el espacio respectivo del cuadro, el valor numérico que corresponda al juicio que se realice sobre la importancia. La escala definida para esta valoración (de 1 a 5) ha sido diseñada con base en la metodología de Análisis Jerárquico AHP. Ejemplo de aplicación:En el anterior ejemplo, la valoración efectuada asignó una preferencia al criterio número 6, por encima del criterio número 3; y el grado o valoración de la importancia que se otorgó es de 4, conforme a la escala planteada en el Cuadro A1.A continuación se presenta el formato vacío (Cuadro A2) donde podrá usted efectuar las calificaciones. Recuerde consultar, al final del presente documento, la explicación de cada criterio si tiene alguna duda en el proceso de comparación y calificación. Por favor evite realizar comparaciones cuyo valor de preferencia sea 1 (igualmente importante), reserve dicha opción para casos extremos en que no le sea posible tener una preferencia. Por medio de este criterio, se busca priorizar proyectos y medidas relacionadas con la adaptación ecológica y cultural de los agroecosistemas a la variabilidad y el cambio climático, el reconocimiento y recuperación de saberes y prácticas productivas ancestrales que garanticen la soberanía y seguridad alimentaria ante el cambio climático.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto contempla adaptaciones, manejo o mitigación de riesgos relacionados con variabilidad y cambio climático?A través de este criterio, se busca priorizar aquellas medidas y proyectos que involucran posibles adaptaciones desde la gestión del riesgo ante el cambio climático, involucrando obras de manejo y mitigación de riesgos por escenarios de variabilidad y cambio climático, como vendavales, incendios forestales, inundaciones urbanas, avenidas torrenciales, el manejo de procesos erosivos en zonas de ladera, entre otros.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto representa posibles adaptaciones para la gestión integral del agua ante escenarios de variabilidad y cambio climático?Este criterio prioriza medidas y proyectos que involucran procesos de gestión del agua a escala de cuenca hidrográfica; desde aspectos ecológicos y culturales relacionados con la oferta -demanda y calidad del recurso, como la protección y recuperación de fuentes abastecedoras, el ahorro y uso eficiente del agua y la salud ambiental.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto busca la conservación de ecosistemas estratégicos para la adaptación al cambio y variabilidad climática?Este criterio busca otorgar una mayor prioridad a las medidas y proyectos relacionados con la conectividad ecosistémica, la gestión ambiental en áreas naturales protegidas y la conservación y regulación de fuentes hídricas y de los bosques del departamento. Involucra además proyectos que contemplan procesos de conservación en el marco de esquemas de pago por servicios ambientales y/o exenciones tributarias por conservación de áreas ambientales estratégicas.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto plantea la incorporación de prácticas y procesos sostenibles en los sistemas productivos como respuesta al cambio y variabilidad climática?Este criterio brinda una mayor prioridad a las medidas o proyectos que incorporan prácticas de manejo ecológicas en los sistemas productivos del municipio con el fin de hacerlos más resilientes y/o adaptativos ante el cambio y variabilidad climática.Pregunta clave: ¿La medida o proyecto proporciona escenarios para la investigación, formación de capacidades y/o apropiación de conocimientos en torno a la gestión y adaptación ante el cambio climático?Este criterio entrega una mayor prioridad a medidas o proyectos relacionados con procesos de investigación, generación de información, formación de capacidades humanas para la gestión del cambio climático, así como la apropiación social, institucional y sectorial de su conocimiento, la proyección de procesos de educación ambiental enfocados en temas relacionados con el cambio climático y el reconocimiento de las vulnerabilidades e identidades culturales locales.Por medio de este criterio, se otorga mayor prioridad a las medidas o proyectos que plantean procesos de apropiación de tecnologías (tradicionales y de punta) que sirven a posibles adaptaciones al cambio y variabilidad climática, aplicables en el sector agropecuario, en los sistemas urbanos o en los sistemas de información para la toma de decisiones, apropiadas en términos de viabilidad socioeconómica, ambiental y cultural."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e6436a7f3a8e540e91f10d69734e56b3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H040644.pdf","id":"764843458"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"08f310f9-dd39-4f73-9d84-fceef8492bb9","content":"Development of irrigation can result in negative environmental and human health impacts. Irrigation undertaken without full consideration of these impacts can have serious adverse repercussions, not only undermining the investment but also worsening poverty and contributing considerably to peoples' suffering. The impacts are strongly inter-linked because it is changes in the environment that cause changes in health. Furthermore, mitigation measures that reduce environmental damage often improve health outcomes. In the past, research into impacts, and the development of impact assessment methodologies, has focused primarily on large scale, capital intensive, schemes. However, small scale and less formal water management interventions, which are increasingly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, can also have significant environmental and health impacts. This paper summarizes the findings of a study of environmental and health issues associated with all scales of irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa. It is not a compendium of data, but rather provides an overview and framework for understanding policy and programming issues. It is recommended that a pragmatic approach to address current environmental and health planning includes three levels of implementation: i) strategic planning at the national and regional level; ii) full environmental and health assessment for government and donor funded projects; and iii) development of simplified tools for impact assessment relevant to community led, NGO and small private projects.It is widely acknowledged that irrigation can play a major role in improving food productivity, reducing poverty and sustaining rural livelihoods (Hussain and Hanjra, 2004;Smith, 2004). However, over the past two decades, investments in irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa have declined significantly (Kikuchi et al. 2005). There are a number of reasons for the decline, but the poor performance of irrigation, especially with respect to capitalintensive schemes, has undoubtedly contributed. Although not the sole reason, environmental factors and adverse health impacts have been a prominent cause for the disappointing performance of many schemes (Oomen et al., 1990). Inadequate consideration of environmental and health issues in the planning and implementation of projects is widely perceived as a key cause of project failure (Moradet et al., 2005).The environmental and human health aspects of irrigation schemes need to be considered in tandem, because they are strongly inter-linked. It is changes in the environment, in conjunction with associated socio-economic change, which results in changes in the health of local populations (Figure 1). Environmental and health impacts of irrigation are generally site specific and are multiple, varied and complex. They depend on a range of factors, including the scale of development, bio-physical conditions, management and operation, as well as the extent to which safeguards are implemented.The potential negative environmental impacts of large capital-intensive irrigation schemes are extensively documented (e.g., Adams 1992; Dougherty and Hall 1995;Kay, 1999). Modification of river flow regimes, depletion of groundwater, sedimentation effects, soil salinization, waterlogging, water contamination and biological effects 24 , have all been responsible for undermining the sustainability of schemes. Often farmers on irrigation schemes are fully aware of many environmental problems. However, because small incremental changes can take a long time to have a significant impact on productivity, often nothing is done until it is too late. It is estimated that in the southern region of Ethiopia, approximately 50% of irrigation scheme failures and below capacity performance are due in part to technical (as opposed to institutional and social) reasons, many of which are environmental in nature (e.g., soil salinization, sedimentation in headworks and channels, and drying up of rivers) (Robel, 2005). Although investment in irrigation is supposed to bring health benefits, through improved nutrition and income, it can have adverse impacts through the extension of waterrelated vector-borne diseases (e.g., malaria, schistosomiasis, liver flukes, filariasis, onchocerciasis, dengue fever, yellow fever, Rift Valley fever and encephalitis (Oomen et al. 1990). For example, malaria has been closely associated with the Gezira Irrigation System, in Sudan since it began in 1924. Severe outbreaks in the mid-1970s were linked to changes in irrigation management practices and the onset of pesticide resistance in malaria mosquitoes (Hunter et al. 1993).Contrary to widespread belief, communitybased and small-scale agricultural interventions also have environmental and health impacts (Konradsen et al. 2000;Mutero et al. 2004). These impacts are often disregarded and in many instances, there is almost no knowledge of the cumulative environmental and health impacts arising as a consequence of up-scaling. For example, small earth dams are being widely promoted throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa for multiple uses of water including irrigation and livestock watering. In many places, these dams have resulted in increased household income through improved agriculture.However, the potential environmental impacts and health consequences are rarely considered and the impacts of many thousands of dams are unclear. In Cameroon, the development of hundreds of small agro-pastoral dams led to a rapid spread of schistosomiasis (Ripert and Raccurt 1987) Similarly in Ethiopia, the construction of small dams in Tigray has led to outbreaks malaria, where previously there were none (Ghebreyesus et al. 1999).The need to take environmental and health considerations into account as part of ensuring sustainable development is now widely recognized. Many countries in sub-  1). However, currently there remains considerable diversity among donors and other institutions in their mandates and approaches to dealing with social issues (including health). Most institutions routinely consider social impacts that are mediated by the environment, such as the health impacts of water pollution and many also consider a range of physical/biological impacts on directly affected groups (e.g., displacement or adverse impacts on local communities). Nevertheless, current coverage of human health aspects within environmental and social assessments is widely regarded as inadequate (Birley et al. 1997). Public health agencies are often excluded or only marginally involved and Environmental Health Impact Assessments (EHIA) are generally underutilized as tools for health protection (Fehr, 1999).Practical approaches to EHIA have been advocated by the World Health Organization and the Asian Development Bank. The WHO/FAO/UNEP/UNCHS Panel of Experts on Environmental Management for Vector Control (PEEM), jointly with the Danish Bilharziasis Laboratory, developed a training course on rapid health impact assessments, later further refined and disseminated by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (Birley 1995;Furu et al. 1999;Bos et al. 2003). In addition, some good text books are now available (e.g., Kemm et al. 2004). However, for the most part EHIA development has occurred in parallel, but is not integrated, with EIA methodologies. There is need for much better integration. A policy shift is required so that institutions promote EHIA rather than EIA (Amerasinghe and Boelee 2004).Environmental, Health and Social Assessment ToolsA process for examining the environmental and human consequences, both beneficial and adverse, of a proposed development activity, and for incorporating appropriate measures to address them into project design and implementation. In many instances EIA is defined broadly to include social dimensions such as health.Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Similar to EIAs, these are intended to focus specifically on the health implications of a project, in situations where greater emphasis is required.Similar to EIAs, these are intended to analyze, manage and monitor both the intended and unintended social consequences of a development. They may be used to promote social goals such as social inclusion or poverty reduction.A process to assess the environmental and social implications of strategic decision-making. SEA differs from EIA in that it is applied to policies, plans and programs rather than to projects. It addresses a number of shortcomings of EIA in that it is capable of addressing the cumulative impacts of projects (i.e., where one project stimulates other development), it can address synergistic impacts (i.e., where the impact of several projects exceeds the sum of the individual project impacts) and it can address global impacts such as biodiversity loss.Strategies developed for ongoing activities to avoid, mitigate or compensate for adverse impacts. They should include specific quantifiable aims and objectives and assign responsibilities and budgets for the environmental and social (including health) impact management measures.Determine the effectiveness of mitigation measures conducted and, where appropriate, propose remedial measures.In common with other regions in the World, in sub-Saharan Africa, approaches to reduce the negative impacts of irrigation schemes are successful in some circumstances but are not effective in others. Constraints to environmental and health management, and the successful implementation of measures to ameliorate negative impacts, arise for a range of technical reasons as well as limitations in human, financial and institutional capacity.Many countries lack the resources to properly enforce policies and to ensure that recommended practices are followed. Consequently, despite current national policies, EIAs are most often restricted to large construction projects and are largely donor-driven. For example, the effectiveness of the Environmental Council of Zambia (ECZ), the lead institution for overseeing EIAs in Zambia, is severely curtailed by the inadequate budget and limited human resources (McCartney et al., 2004).Failure of measures to mitigate negative impacts often stem from a lack of sufficient information at the design stage in planning (Morardet et al. 2005). More often than not, baseline information is unavailable for irrigation projects. Furthermore, adverse environmental and health consequences often occur because schemes are planned and managed in isolation from other things occurring within the catchment. In many instances too little thought is given to the dynamics of catchment change and there is inadequate evaluation of the specific biophysical and socio-economic context in which the scheme is located. Available descriptions of effective mitigation measures generally do not include the underlying assumptions or specifications that were used to design them. Without appropriate criteria and specifications for the design of measures, it is unusual for the measures to achieve the desired goals. To develop the necessary criteria and specifications, sufficient information must be obtained. Very often the environmental, ecological and socio-economic monitoring required, both for design prior to the implementation of a scheme and afterwards to assess the effectiveness of protection measures, is inadequate. For example, in Ghana a data checklist sent to 22 irrigation schemes, provided limited information for just three schemes. This lack of data was attributed to poor data keeping and the fact that, for the majority of schemes, assessment of environmental and/or health impacts had never been undertaken (Kranjac-Berisavljevic and Cofie, 2004). In relation to health, baseline information on the health and socio-economic status of communities, and hence their susceptibility to change, is often lacking (Fehr, 1999).To a large extent the effectiveness of environmental and health management depends on the abilities of those people who plan and manage mitigation measures. In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the requisite professionals are unavailable or not proficient in the interdisciplinary working habits necessary for successful environmental and health planning and management. Furthermore, there is often a lack of coordination between relevant government departments. In a review of World Bank projects in Africa, the most frequently cited recommendation for corrective action for environmentally sensitive projects was improvement of capacity in responsible institutions (Green and Raphael 2000). This lack of capacity is being be exacerbated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic (Cohen, 2002). Another major limitation to formal environmental and health procedures is that often there are no mechanisms to ensure adaptation in the design of the project. Usually the people who demand the assessment are not the same as those who decide on changes in the project design or even whether or not the project will be carried out. Most sub-Saharan African countries have neither the necessary framework to ensure legal compliance nor organized civil society to ensure that recommended environmental and health safeguards are implemented. In such situations the contractual arrangement with the donor may be the major means for ensuring compliance. However, in the absence of a transparent accountable system this arrangement is rarely successful. Very little is known about the proportion of assessments that lead to actual adaptations or implementation of mitigating measures.However, a study of the follow-up to the EIA conducted for the Koga irrigation scheme in Ethiopia found that only two of the twenty major recommendations made in the EIA were being implemented satisfactorily. The lack of follow-up was largely attributed to institutional failure, with no single authority being responsible for ensuring that the EIA recommendations were implemented (Abebe et al. 2007). In a global review of the effectiveness of its EA procedures the World Bank found that key constraints to successful implentation in projects for which EA was not deemed to have been performed effectively were: i) the lack of a definitive Environmental Management Plan (EMP) with time-bound actions and responsibilities; ii) the absence of environmental monitoring indicators; iii) a lack of reporting requirements for project performance (including environmental and health indicators) and iv) the absence of legal commitments by borrowers to undertake environmental actions (World Bank 1997).Clearly, if irrigation is to make a significant contribution to realizing the potential of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, there is need for much improved and integrated planning.Measures that promote sustainability by, among other things, capitalizing on the opportunities for enhancing human health, should be at the core of agricultural water development. The EA process, recommended by most donors and governments, is widely recognized as a useful for identifying issues and developing plans to address them. However, within sub-Saharan Africa there are, as outlined above, many constraints to the process and subsequent follow-up is often weak. Furthermore, the process is inappropriate for many small-scale developments. Subjecting smallholder and community-led projects to full environmental and health assessment, and monitoring, although justifiable, is often neither economically feasible nor practical. Against this background, the following recommendations are a pragmatic attempt to address current limitations in environmental and health planning and management pertaining to irrigation development.Focused on what governments and donors can do to improve planning and management, the recommendations are divided into three categories:• strategic planning at national and regional level • agricultural water projects for which full environmental and health assessment should be mandatory (i.e., all government and donor funded projects, whatever their size, plus all other projects involved in commercial agricultural production and greater than 20 ha in extent 25 )• agricultural water projects that by-pass current procedures and for which it is unrealistic to expect full environmental and health assessment to be conducted (i.e., private, community and NGO organized projects smaller than 20 ha in extent 2 ).Strategic environmental assessments (SEAs) can be used to plan irrigation development at national level and for major international river basins (e.g., Zambezi, Limpopo, Volta). SEAs are most valuable if they integrate environmental, health and social concerns and attempt to reconcile development, environmental protection, community rights and human health. Regional and national development goals, as well as issues such as climate change and loss of biodiversity, and commitments to international conventions (e.g., the Convention on Biological Diversity) should be considered.Improve and promote EHIA Currently health impact assessments are often conducted in isolation from environmental assessments. Since much of the information to be collected on environmental receptivity and community 25 The suggested value of 20 ha is arbitrary but intended to make recommendations operationalizable. Governments could decide on a more appropriate figure, based on the specific agro-ecological conditions and development needs of their country.vulnerability is the same it is mutually beneficial if they are integrated. Where necessary, EHIA should specifically include the issues of migrants and livestock that hitherto have tended to receive very little attention.All countries without compulsory environmental and health assessment processes should consider enacting laws that make these mandatory for large infrastructure projects, including large irrigation projects. In many countries strengthened institutional arrangements would assist in the implementation of environmental and health assessment processes. For example, establishing environmental units within Government ministries responsible for irrigation could be contemplated. The effectiveness of such units would be enhanced if they work closely with national environment agencies and appropriate health authorities.The ability of governments to implement sound environmental and health practices would be improved if donor agencies harmonized procedures and developed a consistent framework for the evaluation, planning and management of environmental and health aspects of irrigation. Procedural requirements should conform to current international best practice and be clearly laid down in regulations and operational manuals.More research is needed on the benefits of incorporating environmental and health safeguards in irrigation planning and operation versus the cost of not taking potential negative impacts into account.Another researchable issue stems from the lack of monitoring, both for water resources development projects and in the health sector. With baseline data not available, proxies need to be developed to provide alternative ways to the same information. Specific tools need to be developed to facilitate assessment of long-term health and environmental impacts. For example, long term cohort studies are required that are not feasible within the context of individual EHIA.Agricultural water projects for which full environmental and health assessment should be mandatoryComprehensive options assessments, undertaken during the scoping of irrigation projects, provide a means, early in the planning process, to eliminate unacceptable projects or project components. Comprehensive environmental and social audits can help determine the causality of environmental and human impacts and the relative magnitude of impacts at a basin or regional level, which can then be compared to alternative development scenarios. It is essential that environmental, health and social criteria, as well as technical, economic and financial factors, are considered when comparing alternatives.The environmental and health impacts of irrigation are diverse. As with any development process, trade-offs between social, environmental and economic goals are inevitable. As far as possible these tradeoffs need to be identified and made explicit. Often it is assumed that, by improving food security and/or peoples' socio-economic status, water development will inevitably result in health benefits and improved livelihoods.However, the intended livelihood and health benefits are rarely made explicit, and in reality, neither costs nor benefits are evenly distributed amongst stakeholders. Environmental and health assessments, as well as management plans, need to take into account the socio-economic diversity of communities and ensure that the weakest and most vulnerable are not adversely affected. Intended health and livelihood benefits as well as means of verification need to be identified and stated at the outset of any irrigation scheme.Plan and manage using a catchmentwide perspective Given the inter-linkages between impacts and what occurs elsewhere in the catchment it is essential that projects are planned and managed within the specific socio-economic and biophysical context in which they are located. Consideration must be given to potential environmental impacts on, as well as impacts caused by, the development. Assessments of impacts on the catchment water balance and sediment fluxes, including evaluation of possible future development (particularly relating to land-use change), are essential. The potential cumulative affect of small-scale interventions should be specifically included in assessments.A major constraint to the sustainability of agricultural water development is the lack of site-specific data and long-term monitoring; pre-requisites for informed decision-making. For this reason measures to significantly improve data generation and analysis related to environmental and health impacts should be encouraged (e.g., coordination of existing data collection efforts between sectors and/or establishment of meta-databases). Ideally monitoring strategies would be mandatory in all projects and governments and donors must provide adequate funding to enable this.The cost of effective environmental and health measures is often very high and must usually be borne by the organization responsible for the irrigation development. The most common mechanism for financing these measures is to incorporate the costs into the capital financial package of the project. The costs that are most readily incorporated into the capital costs are those that occur once (e.g., construction of fish ladders in dams). Financing on-going obligations, such as environmental and health monitoring, is more difficult. Whilst it is sometimes appropriate for beneficiaries to cover these, in many cases it is not. For this reason donors and governments ought to investigate innovative ways of financing recurring costs, such as trust funds 26 .to ensure compliance with environmental and health requirements Incorporating environmental protection and health measures into irrigation projects is made difficult by the failure of many project operators to fulfill voluntary and mandatory obligations. Innovative approaches to encourage compliance ought to be investigated. Options could include: a) the use of performance bonds, supported by financial guarantees and expressed in wellbeing-related outcomes and not just agricultural yields and water use efficiency; b) implementation of a sector-specific environmental management system, perhaps constructed around that developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO); c) development of an ethical code for large-scale irrigation projects to ensure that environmental and health concerns are adequately addressed.Governments and donors should support campaigns of health awareness carried out by community health teams and training programs that, in collaboration with community groups (e.g., farmers associations, agricultural water user associations, water committees and women groups), increase 26 Trust funds have been suggested as a possible mechanism for financing the mitigation of the environmental impacts caused by large dams (Bizer 2000). A project-specific trust could be established at the outset of a project (by the project financier) with the condition that funds are used specifically for environmental and health management, including monitoring. The approach could incorporate annual contributions from the scheme owners/beneficiaries as well as other organizations (e.g., governments or donors), with the environment and health program funded from the proceeds of the trust."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"97021d550494bc6d1aa11be2acec0dea","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8ec4942e-0cf6-4568-b92b-bc5e8b16b169/retrieve","id":"-1584784280"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8491cefb-7e25-4952-b343-bed0c558c86f","content":"The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has made significant strides to improve the incomes and nutritional status of its population over the last decade. Often dubbed an \"African tiger\" following a decade of 10% annual economic growth, Ethiopia is in a state of transformation. Agricultural production has risen massively over this period while nutrition has improved significantly: stunting in children dropped from 58% to under 30% in recent years.In 2010, the Ethiopian government introduced its first five-year (2010-2015) Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP I) to drive development. During GTP I, agricultural production rose by between 5-7% annually and GDP per capita grew by 84% to USD 691 annually. In this phase, the government shifted focus from humanitarian to development activities, with an increased interest in expanding and transforming the agricultural sector. Greater investment in high-potential areas was considered critical for agricultural growth. Ethiopian farmers' vulnerability and exposure to climate shocks is high, especially due to the lack of capacity to store water for irrigation. Expanding agricultural production areas under irrigation, especially for small-scale farmers, has been a key vehicle to increasing and diversifying agricultural productivity. In GTP II (2015II ( -2020)), the government has focused on ensuring rapid, sustainable, and broad-based growth by enhancing the productivity of the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, improving the quality of production, and stimulating competition within the economy with aspirations to become a low middle-income country by 2025.Contact: Berga Lemaga, CIP, Ethiopia • b.lemaga@cgiar.orgvarieties through existing breeding programs; 2) supporting the development of sustainable-delivery models for scaling up, including public-private partnerships, and cost-effective delivery models in protracted crisis environments; and 3) strengthening the evidence base on the impact of biofortified sweetpotato to ensure biofortification is included in relevant policies, plans and programs. The project has been implemented in four African countries and Bangladesh. In Ethiopia, the project is working in Oromia and SNNP regions.Investor: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)  This project is designed to improve the food security and health of poor families in sub-Saharan Africa by exploiting the untapped potential of sweetpotato. Now in its second phase, SASHA II seeks to 1) ensure increased capacity for production of high quality sweetpotato planting materials by public and private sectors; 2) enhance the awareness and commercialization of high quality sweetpotato xplanting material among stakeholders; and 3) establish quality assurance of sweetpotato pre-basic seed and quality declared seed. The project has reached more 20,000 households, significantly increased their seed security and knowledge about Triple S method of conserving planting material.This project seeks to build on success in various African countries of promoting the production and use of nutritious sweetpotato puree by bakeries and other food industries. Over the next two years, the project seeks to scale up use of sweetpotato puree for baked and fried products by formal and informal sectors. The potato is an important crop in Ethiopia grown for food, incomes, and nutritional security. The acreage devoted to potato has increased more than four-fold since 1961 to 296,000 hectares with total production of 3.7 million tons in 2015-16, accounting for more than USD 700 million in revenue. Significantly, more than 99% of tonnage and value was produced by small-scale farmers. While not as valuable to economy as potato, the orange-fleshed sweetpotato provides a rich source of vitamin A, a nutrient commonly deficient among Ethiopian children and women of reproductive age.The International Potato Center (CIP) promotes the use of potato and sweetpotato to complement grain-based diets in the farming systems, contribute to equitable economic growth, and strengthen the food and nutritional security of consumers and small-scale farm households. Potato and sweetpotato are resilient, fast maturing, nutritious crops. Orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) has high levels of beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, which is important to reduce health problems associated with vitamin A deficiency. CIP has a solid track record of driving the development and delivery of improved climate-smart potato and sweetpotato varieties and related technologies in Ethiopia and elsewhere.CIP has worked in Ethiopia for more than 30 years supporting nutritional improvement, value chain development, pest and disease management, clean planting material production, and the breeding, evaluation, and dissemination of improved potato and sweetpotato varieties. For instance, CIP has contributed to the release of more than 30 of the country's improved potato varieties and 29 sweetpotato varieties. In collaboration with universities, research centers, government agencies, private companies, NGOs, and the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), CIP has helped improve the productivity, sustainability and resilience of the potato and sweetpotato sectors, while strengthening and supporting the capacity of local partners and relevant government officials in scaling up interventions. This three-year project builds on past experience and seeks to promote large-scale adoption of high-yielding, disease-resistant, user-preferred, and climate-smart potato varieties by 60,000 households in the Amhara, Oromia, and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples (SNNP) regions through an improved and efficient seed potato production and delivery system. Higher productivity should translate into better food security targeting 20,000 most vulnerable households having enough to eat during the 'hunger months. ' Equal access to seed, knowledge and information for women is ensured through targeting and careful monitoring of their participation. Improving the capacity of the national agricultural system to produce suitable new varieties and increasing private sector involvement will help to ensure quality seed potatoes are produced more quickly and in larger quantities.Investor: USAID (2018-20) Potato and sweetpotato are ideal food security crops, and improved varieties produce good harvests under challenging growing conditions. During phase I, from June 2016 to August 2018, this project provided approximately 120,000 people in the SNNP region with quality planting material of improved varieties and training, enabling them to rebuild their food security following a period of severe drought. Phase II (2018-2020) is focusing on gender issues and extending these benefits to an additional approximately 187,000 people in need of emergency support in SNNP and Amhara regions. Teams support farmer training centers and groups with access to planting material, irrigation, nutrition training, and production and post-harvest technologies. Thousands of extension agents, development agents, and model farmers will receive training for production, postharvest and nutrition technologies.The project helps improve the nutrition status of families with young children in the Amhara and SNNP regions with orange-fleshed sweetpotato: a reliable source of vitamin A and energy. In selected districts, 15,000 households (approximately 80,000 people) are being trained in infant and young child nutrition practices while introducing the orange-fleshed sweetpotato varieties to local cropping systems. A second arm of the project seeks to reach 60,000 urban consumers by supplying fresh OFSP roots to vegetable markets and promoting the use of OFSP puree as an ingredient in common food staples such as injera and bread. In addition to working with processors and other value chain actors, the project provides OFSP planting material to small and medium scale farmers to incorporate into their array of marketed crops.Through these key relationships, CIP works to develop and evaluate suitable potato and sweetpotato varieties and production systems that foster agricultural diversification and rural development opportunities. Through biofortification of potato and sweetpotato, CIP contributes to increased availability of micronutrient-rich crops in Ethiopia. This approach has been recognized in national policies and action plans in both the nutrition and agriculture sectors. Working with government extension services, farmer groups and cooperatives, CIP also supports effective and efficient delivery systems for potato and sweetpotato planting material, technical inputs and services, and market chains.  ), reached more than 256,000 people with quality potato and sweetpotato planting materials of improved varieties, enabling some to increase potato yields by as much as 400%. The project expects to reach additional 48,000 people before it ends in August 2020. Two years into a five-year European Union-funded project to introduce orange-fleshed sweetpotato to 100,000 people has already reached more than 80,000 with planting material of resilient, biofortified varieties. Irish Aid and GIZ have funded projects in Tigray and SNNPR and reached more than 148,000 people with Scaling Triple S technology. Preliminary results suggest that infant dietary diversity has improved significantly among beneficiaries and there is a growing demand by consumers for biofortified sweetpotato varieties. In projects like these, and others, CIP Ethiopia and its partners have trained several thousands of women, cooperatives, model farmers, extension agents, and nutrition experts to ensure sustainability of achievements to improve their well-being. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"60a32f76680802cda8f042b7032dd7bf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e0247da1-0195-47a0-baab-8b6483f29a14/retrieve","id":"1694770918"},"keywords":["Outputa: l","lmproved production systems","2","More sustainable landscapes","3","Strengthened organizations","4","Decision makers supported","S","Efficient, participatory project management"],"sieverID":"828cbc91-886b-43de-957b-4aea1151f286","content":"Gaina: Farmers and locally organized producers use technologies, tools, and methodologies developed by CIAT and its partners at the level of reference si tes. The results are sustainable and profitable production systems, improved land use, and natural resource preservation at the landscape level.Partner organizations use technologies, tools, and methodologies developed by /with the project for their planning and activities at the local, national, and regionallevels. Oecision makers at different levels have more irúormation, tools, and methodologies provided by the project to support their planning, monitoring, and decisions.Output 3: Organizations strengthened 3.1 Develop and/or validate methods and tools for developing and strengthening key organizations 3.2 Train local, regional, and national organizations in the use of methodologies and/or tools developed by CIA T and its partners, using methods developed 3.3 Strengthen small-scale producers, managers, and local, regional, and national organizations in aspects related to rural development using participatory investigative methods 3.4 Support, through incorporating processes of participative investigation, local organizations oriented to agricultura! investigation 3.5 Promote and support interinstitutional plans for sustainable rural development  To improve the standhd of living and food security of hillside farmers in Tropical America and make their interaction with the environment more sustainable Output 2More sustainable landscapes Output 1: Production systems improved• Socioeconomic and biophysical data compiled for Honduras and Nicaragua • Impact of improving water quality assessed for San Dionisio watershed • Capacity developed to simulate water courses in a community watershed from digital terrain models • Tria! version of forages database on a graphical platform accessible to selected scientists via the Internet • New book.lets produced by CIALs adapted to regional context and include CIAL experiences • Identification of bean and maize selection criteria used by producers • Hillsides Options Supermarket (SOL, its Spanish acronym) sites being established in Honduras and Nicaragua with options designed and being implemented in the fieldOutput 2: More sustainable landscapes• State of 15 microwatersheds ofCalico River evaluated after hurricane Mitch and study results diffused to other institutions active in the area • Market options evaluated and selected for the pilot subregion of Y orito and Sulaco, Honduras • Market options ofTascalapa River watershed evaluated in participation with small-scale producers• Photographic catalog available of land use and cover in San Dionisio, Nicaragua• GIS characterization completed of Jalapa microwatershed, Honduras • Database on Honduran soils produced • Multi-institutional forum held in Tegucigalpa, Honduras as first step to creating a permanent linking mechanism between institutions working on the topic of slash-and-bum altematives • Consortium formed for the Manejo Integrado de los Suelos de Centro América (MIS) • Forest area at Jalapa microwatershed analyzed from aerial photography  • Training of farmers on field management and postharvest management • 25 of37 departments and 107 municipalities in Honduras and Nicaragua received project seed • About 22,000 farmers directly benefited in Honduras and NicaraguaTowards the end of 1998, the PE-3 Project revised the existing logframe and changed it significantly. The Project hada finn base in decision support systems, but had become imbalanced since fragmentation into different projects. The new logframe attempts to address short-, medium-, and long-term goals. The reference sites are our biophysicallaboratories, our focal points in the countries of Colombia, Honduras, and Nicaragua.Ouput 1, \"Production systems improved\", seelcs for impact at the farm leve l. Socioeconomic and biophysical data is being compiled to support development programs carried out by other entities and for research over the long-term. For the Comités de Investigación Agricola Local (Committeesfor Local Agricultura/ Research) (CIALs) and Supermercado de Opciones para Ladera (Hillsides Options Supermarket) (SOL) base we are producing useful information on markets and making ex-ante studies to try and understand the local situation. The SOL sites in Nicaragua and Honduras are putting technological options into action. The communities are participating actively in our research. Examples of work done this year are the market option analysis in Yorito and Sulaco, the ex-ante evaluation ofwater quality in San Dionisio, and the participatory evaluation of forages.The sum ofthe farm-level work and its interaction with the environment around the farms (e.g., watershed) takes us on to the landscape approach. Thus Output 2, \"More sustainable landscapes\", is a consequence ofOutput 1 while at the same time preparing the ground for the results coming from farm-level. Studies at watershed or landscape level this year include participatory mapping, surveys of market options, diagnosis of land use, applying the methodological tools, and supporting local institutions. The Manejo Integrado de los Suelos (MIS) consortium was formed to complement research and validation activities carried out by other regional institutions. Support to Campos Verdes continues under a positive relationship with the municipal government and contributes effectively to community development.How do we achieve more sustainable landscapes? This question leads us into Output 3 \"Organizations strengthened\". We must strengthen the organizations that are interacting with us and this leads us beyond the landscape level to department and country levels. lt involves moving out of the reference si tes and, at the same time, the meeting of a demand from outside. Workshops were held in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua. These workshops provide training and at the same time validate the nine guides that the Project has developed. The contents of the guide can then be irnproved and their applicability broadened. The workshops make CIA T materials accessible to many more people and institutions in the regions. Training was also given to technicians of Red Nacional de Sistemas de Información Geografica (RENASIG) in Honduras.Decision support (Output 4) has always been a strength ofthe Project and continues to remain important with the nine methodological tools and other decision support (DS) tools and systems as a firm base. Most of our training is done with the use of the guides, but also with other DS elements. There exists an enormous demand for them from within reference sites and outside (e.g., Dominican Republic). Beyond the training given, the guides demanda commitment from participants to produce action plans. The authorities of the different communities then approve these plans and they are put into action. An example of successful implementation of action plans is the work of Consorsio Interinstitutional para el Manejo de los Recursos Naturales del Norte y Centro del Valle del Cauca (COMV ALLE) consortium in Valle, Colombia. This carne as a consequence of the positive results obtained with the Consorcio Interinstitucional Para una Agricultura Sostenible en Laderas (CIPASLA), Cauca. We develop different kinds oftools, meeting the demand of partners with the capacities at our disposal. This year, work on hydrological models and simulation models and the development of mapping tools are sorne examples of this output.Output 5 \"Efficient, participatory project management\" puts our house in order. The historical Hillsides Program was divided into projects, the information acquired was fragmented and moved. We decided to collect together the dispersed data and establish our Webpage to diffuse the information. Coordination of interactions helps our own work and m oves outwards to partners and end users. Communication is necessary for this at alllevels. The production of 2monthly bulletins keeps collaborators and partner informed of our current activities. Our reports and documents (see Publications) are kept in centralized fonn and are easily available.Coordinating at alllevels is an on-going and dynamic activity. Interinstitutional activities disseminate the infonnation generated by the Project and help its positive impact in the region. The participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) study is a new adoption in the search for efficient management and will eventually extend to all outputs. At present the tool is on trial in three case study projects, the SOLs, the Investigación Participativa para Centro América (IPCA) in Yorito, and the Gennan Agency for Technical Cooperation-Apoyo a la Foresteria Comunal (GTZ-AFOCO) in Yuscarán, Honduras.The Seeds of Hope Project was an unforeseen emergency effort to recuperate agricultura! activity in Central America after hurricane Mitch struck. We could not continue to work as usual in a disaster area without becoming strongly involved. All our knowledge and experience was used to put together a fonn ofhelp, which was highly successful. In only the frrst few months of operation, the Seeds of Hope Project had already reached 22,000 farmers. We are not just providing seed, we are also encouraging seed production and helping strengthen organizational capacities. We have made, and continue to make, a strongly positive contribution. ./ Socioeconomic and biophysical data compiledThis activity aims to provide \"baseline\" information for the projects and for the process of monitoring and assessment at reference sites in Central America.The method used was that of Ostertag (1998) 1 and forms part of a methodological package used to identify market opportunities for small-scale producers. The preparation of the biophysical and socioeconomic profile consists of the review, analysis, synthesis, and documentation of available secondary information and of data from other sources on the reference si tes of Y o rito and Sulaco. Aspects included in the characterization were: l. Physical, including location, landscape, climate, soils, and irrigation potential. 2. Social, covering population, demography, educationallevel, well-being level, land tenure, ethnic groups, and conflicts. 3. Economic, including existing infrastructure, prevailing production systems, livestock inventory, areas under pastures, major economic activities (e.g., agroenterprises), marketing channels, support systems for trade and agroenterprises (financia!, transportation, communicatíons ), use of agricultura! inputs, and problems of natural resource conservation. 4. lnstitutiona/, covering the system of government and existing institutions and community organizations.The analysis provided a general panaroma of information, the key points of which are outlined below.• The demographic growth rate and the illiteracy rate are both high.• Prevailing agroclimatic characteristics could favor a broad range of production systems, which are not observed in the region. • Traditional crop production systems show low yield indexes, indicating that more profitable technological packages should be adopted. The data collected provides a basis from which to work for projects in Honduras.~V . \"V..Collaborators: SN-1 Project and Agronomía Genetica y Tecnología (AGROGENET), a consultant company../ Socioeconomic and biophysical data compiled ./ Agreement signed with the Universidad Nacional Agraria (UNA), Nicaragua, on project management ./ Training given to students and advisers in modeling methodology ./ Fieldwork begun on characterization, revision, and collection of informationThe aim of the project is to propose development options that improve the production systems of the Calico River watershed, thus enhancing the standard of living of impoverished small-scale farmers, who represent a majority within the target study area.Simulation models usually require a considerable amount of infonnation, confirmed on-site, to generate a solution as optimal and realistic as possible. The watershed model uses linear programming, which aims to optimize a linear function of severa! variables, and is subjected to a set of linear inequalities of severa! variables. Tiús model allows a target function to be maximized ( e.g., farmer income) or minimized (e.g., production costs). This function is evaluated according to technical restrictions imposed by the system itself or by external factors. The model 's information requirement is high to ensure the veracity of the solution. Thus, both primary and secondary socioeconomic and biophysical infonnation was, and is being, gathered. Infonnation and characterization is being carried out through a collaborative agreement with the Faculty ofNatural Resource (F ARENA), UNA.Most research projects will focus on the Wibuse microwatershed, which was selected based on a series of criteria, ofwhich the main ones were accessibility, population density, status ofwater supply systems, studies conducted, conflicts, and poverty. Research methodologies involve fieldwork, laboratory analyses, and data processing.A large amount of data was compiled. Table 1 summarizes the socioeconomic and biophysical infonnation currently available for the Calico River watershed.   Total population (1995) • Orthophotos (1996) • Volumes of domestic consumption and production, base year • Orthomosaic (1996) 1995 Digital elevation model (1998)• Production costs, staple crops (1998Production costs, staple crops ( -1999) ) • Watershed and microwatershed boundaries• Percentage of arable land vs cultivated land ( 1995) • Hydrographic network • Percentage ofproducers by production ítem (1995) • Precipitation over the last 1 O years • Total income and per capita income (1998)(1999) • Soil, road, moisture index, slope, and altitude The benchmark data can be used for comparisons of production and to fmd production altematives. A document is available on an analysis in which estimated data from 1998-1999 are compared. A matrix is also available with complete production costs (which did not exist in the literature reviewed) ofmajor crops and oflivestock.During 1999, a second agreement was signed with UNA to support the research work offour further undergraduate theses ofF ARENA's Soils and Forestry programs, in the project's study area (Calico River watershed. These will basically continue research on topics defined in the Hillsides Project agenda at the reference site and provide input to the ex-ante evaluation, through the watershed model.Four short training courses on modeling methodology were carried out with the group ofthesis students and advisers. These courses aimed to train participants in linear programrning, using the LINGO program to run the models. To date, all project participants have been introduced to the methodology that will be used to achieve the final objective. With the UNA team, a frrst hypthetical model was prepared at the watershed level, using both real and fictitious information, indicating that the model can be applied with the information already generated.Fieldwork has begun regarding characterization, revision, and collection of information. Also, in the case of soilloss caused by water erosion, the six plots have already been established and all the equipment installed to make the corresponding measurements. A local farmer, with the support of CIA T and UNA staff will manage data collection.The use of modeling as a tool to pretest technological altematives was assumed with interest by our main partner in this endeavor, the UNA. Modeling could become a major contribution to university curricula and strengthen the research area. This innovative method to evaluate production altematives at the watershed and municipality levels has never been attempted at locallevel. Although severa! technicians have shown interest in the model, its real usefulness will depend on the degree farmers themselves (as end users) respond to the model to improve their production systems and optimize their income.The information already compiled and that still pending is another contribution to support development projects carried out by other entities working in the watershed, and can be used for research purposes over the long term. The aim was to estímate the impact of improving the quality and quantity of drinking water in the San Dionisio watershed. The community identified water management as one of the major natural resource problems they faced, and this study attempted to put an economic value on the resolution of the problem.Water markets do not exist in San Dionisio, thus the price and quantity data required for traditional impact studies was not available. Instead, non-market valuation techniques were used to value the importance of improving community water supplies. The frrst was the time cost approach, in which the time spent by household members carrying water to the house is measured and valued. This time is an expense associated with water consumption. If this time could be reduced either by linking the house toa potable water project or by improving the quality and availability of water in nearby sources that are currently too contaminated to use, this would constitute an economic benefit to the family.The second method for valuing the impact of improving water supplies is called the contingent valuation method (CVM). With this method, respondents are asked hypothetical questions about how much they would be willing to pay for improvements in water quality. The Nicaragua study tested sorne innovations in methodology and implementation of CVM for valuing potable water, including valuing changes in quality of existing natural water sources, such as wells or streams, and using local residents as pollsters.Econometric methods were used to test the validity of the responses to the CVM questions.Because of its hypothetical nature, the CVM is subject to many biases that can affect the reliability of the data. Econometric techniques exist to test whether the responses are consistent with what economic theory would predict based on the characteristics of the household. lf the data are found to be consistent with theory, this suggests that we can be confident in interpreting the responses as people's true willingness to pay (WTP) for improved water quality.We give here a brief description of the major results of the analysis. A more thorough report of the methods and findings ofthe study can be found in Johnson and Baltodano (1999). 2 Data for the analysis were obtained in a survey carried out in five of 17 communities of the watershed -El Cóbano, El Jícaro, Wibuse, El Zapote, and Susulí. These were selected because they are representative ofthe watershed in terms ofboth water use and water conflict. The sample was selected at about 15% of the population, resulting in a sample size of 153 households.Table 2 shows the different measures ofthe value ofimproved drinking water in the microwatershed. According to the time cost analysis, 42% of households had to spend time carrying water. The average time spent per household was about 37 minutes a day, which is equal to 225 hours or over 5 weeks offull-time work per year. An econometric analysis of the results of the WTP responses confirmed their reliability as individual measures ofWTP for improved water quality. Other determinants ofWTP were also analyzed, and several interesting observations emerged. It is believed that one ofthe benefits of improving water quality will be to improve health in the community.Women are more willing to pay more for access to potable water than men, and the difference is statistically significant. This makes sense because they would most benefit from the reduction of time spent collecting water. It also suggests that women should be involved in any schemes to improve access to potable water in the community since they are most likely to participate.Activity 1.2.2.Not reported on this year.Activity 1.2.3. Bioeconomic simulation to evaluate market options;o <IVJ-1./ Models desígned to evaluate market options and database establishedThe objectives are to: 1) Evaluate the profitability and sustainability of production systems that include products with identified market opportunities for the small producers of Yorito and Sulaco; and 2) Develop and apply improved planning methodology in fanns, using mathematical simulations that seek to combine crops that generate a maximum income while evaluating environrnental sustainability.Models were designed using the participatory methodology developed of instantaneous farm modularization with producers. A research associate and a student from the Escuela Agrícola Panamericana (EAP)-Zamorano were trained.Data needed to run the models were collected, and a database was established. Producers with farms that represented three economic levels (high, middle, and low) and three types of access (permanent, temporary, and bridle paths) were selected. Both criteria were used to prepare a typology of producers in homogeneous categories and subdivide the reference si te into homogeneous areas, taking into account the access criterion, which is a determinant factor for market access.Data were directly collected using a laptop computer, with producer participation. The simulation ofthe farms' production systems was done simultaneously, each fann's production system was compared with the optimum production system that resulted from the simulation. Results were discussed with producers, as well as the reasons why the fann's production system differed from that proposed by simulation results. A sensitivity analysis was conducted based on the hypothesis that fanners would have greater access to capital through, for example, a credit program.To evaluate the profitability and sustainability of systems that included products with identified market opportunities the following steps were performed: l. Simulations were made to evaluate profitability and environmental sustainability (taking into account erosion) by integrating the identified short-term market options (short-cycle crops) into the previously simulated basic production systems. 2. Systems simulations were also made with identified, long-term market options (avocado, plantain, and coffee, all perennial crops) and with identified options presenting high investment requirements (traditionally processed cheese and butter).Results are still being analyzed.Research associate and student trained in the methods. This simulation will help identify market opportunities. The aim is to collect relevant data and apply biophysical modeling calibrated for maize and beans.Data was collected on soil analysis, rainfall, temperature, local cropping patterns, and maize and bean germplasm for Y o rito and Sulaco. The biophysical modeling was applied with DSSA T (decision support system for agriculture in the tropics). The impact was measured of different techniques ( e.g., fertilization, plowing, and irrigation) on the long-term productivity of maize and beans at the project reference si te in Honduras. Parameters of maize production functions were provided for in the bioeconomic model on the basis of DSSAT results.The collected data was used in modeling. The model is calibrated for maize and will soon be calibrated for beans.The data and modeling provides a base for project work and help in collaborative work, especially with the CIALs. In collaboration with national agricultura! research systems (NARS), nongovernment organizations (NGOs), and farmer groups, CIA T identifies germplasm preferred by farmers. GIS tools are being developed for strategic targeting of forage gennplasm first to environmental and later to socioeconomic niches in the hillsides of Central Ameríca. The work is anticipated to also contribute to the development of an overall strategy to guide future research and to aid in the diffusion and final adoption of forage-based technology by small-scale farmers. The interaction with strong national partners -alongside the farmers -will be of paramount importance to the success of the approach.A combination of agronomic evaluation techniques, participatory technologies, soil indicators, socioeconomic studies, and GIS tools are employed. The work links closely with the TROPILECHE project, using sorne of the sarne germplasm. On the other hand, Forage germplasm selected from this work will be useful to TROPILECHE and to other projects working in developing new forage altematives for crop-livestock systems in hillsides.Farmers at two sites (San Jeronimo and San Antonio) around Yorito, Honduras assessed and selected ( absolute evaluation) a range of grasses. At both si tes, Brachiaria brizantha CIA T 26110, Panicum maximum CIAT 16031(cv. Tanzania), and Brachiaria hybrid FM 920111873 were the overall most preferred accessions. Main selection criteria for the farmers were productivity, rooting intensity, color ofleaves, ability to cover the soil, and closing the stand.The Brachiaria hybrid, FM 920111872, was consistently perceived as an accession with soft leaves (seen asan indicator for high palatability) and ofhigh quality and therefore liked by sorne farmers. Severa! farmers, however, rated the accession lower for its lower productivity compared to the two other selected accessions. All of the initial farmers involved in testing the three preferred grasses on larger plots on their farrns made seed requests.Although not selected for its forage production, sorne farrners -in particular those with a stronger focus on crop production -rated Brachiaria dictyoneura CIA T 613 3 ( cv. Llanero) high for spreading and rooting and thus its potential for soil conservation.For herbaceous legumes, fanners were exposed to far more accessions. Therefore sorne openended evaluations were executed to narrow down the number of accessions interesting to farmers. Based on perceptions of farmers and agronomic performance, a range of eight accessions was selected for absolute evaluation at one site, beginning in July 1999. Table 3 presents prelirninary results. Farmers were especially interested in the two Arachis pintoi accessions, CIA T 17434 ( cv. Pico Bonito in Honduras), for their ability to cover the soil and for their ample leaf material Stylosanthes guianensis CIA T 184 ( cv. Pucallpa) found interest mainly for its ability to retain green leaves during the dry season. At another site, only a few accessions persisted because of poor adaptation to soil and problems with pest and diseases. At that si te, farmers accordingly selected a different range of accessions, with Centrosema spp. (in particular Centrosema plumieri DICTA) and C/itoria ternatea cv. Tejuana being preferred. The aim is to convert the Forages Information System toa graphical, user-friendly, and attractive platform. This easy access to important data will help work on forages in the hillsides of Central America. The programs in ORACLE FORMS 3 are converted to ORACLE DEVELOPER 2000, with emphasis on user-friendliness and on an attractive platform. In phase 1, the old programs with information available in character mode are transferred to graphic mode. In phase 2, new modules are added.An initial trial version was developed and tested for year 2000 compatability. At present, the database contains 153 7 accessions, evaluated in 315 sites. In many of these sí tes, available information is incomplete and therefore a great effort is being made to update the database through capturing information from existing publications and through obtaining data directly from scientists in the Forage and Production systems projects.A preliminary version ofthe graphically and user-friendly database is available for selected scientists through the Internet. During 2000, this database will be refmed for use via the Internet and for a CD-ROM. The database will also be used in developing the Decision Support Tool for the targeting of forage germplasm. The activity intends to integrate agroecological, economic, and social information based on two main assumptions:1) A wealth of information on the agroecological adaptation of forage germplasm is available in CIA T -held forage databases. However, the access and hence utilization of this information needs to be improved. 2) In previous evaluations of forage germplasm adaptation to environmental conditions, the agroecological information is separated from socioeconomic factors influencing forage germplasm adoption.Based on these assurnptions, the targeting of forage germplasm intends to enhance the utility of existing information and, in future, to integrate environmental and socioeconomic adaptation of forage germplasm for multiple uses. It is anticipated that this approach will allow a more accurate and client-oriented prediction of possible entry points for forage germplasm.A working group was formed and agreed to follow step-wise procedure for the development of the system.1) Include the existing Red lntemational de Evaluación de Pastos Tropicales (RIEPT) database -to start with the regional trials A+Binto the GIS system to describe agroecological adaptation of forage germplasm in Latín America. 2) Include supplementary information on agroecological adaptation as existing in CIA T -held forage databases ( e.g., the RABA OC database ). 3) In~ude experiences of (former) CIA T scientists and collaborators. 4) Incorporate socioeconomic information based on existing results from characterization studies and from on-going work, first on a regional leve! (i.e., Central America).Parameters were identified for the description ecological adaptation and agronomic performance of accessions across environments. Currently the group is revising the classification of agroecosystems to be used for the database because the classification of agroecological zones developed by TI Cochrane may not be suitable for use in the GIS tool to be developed.Progress was made in data preparation of the database underlying the GIS model and sorne trials were run. For better targeting of clirnatic and soil conditions, the classification of agroecosystems is b2in revised.. '  New, promising genetic materials (maize, beans, soybeans) are being evaluated that can improve local agricultura! systems. Farmer experimentation in the watershed has been potentiated. New didactic booklets were prepared that are adapted to the regional context and include CIAL experiences in the area.Severa! collaborative agreements were established, among which we should mention the Seeds ofHope project that obtained a credit for 7.5 quintals (375 kg) ofbean seed for the frrst and second planting seasons and benefited 60 families, most of them participating in agricultura! research. The CIALs constituted the main bridge to dírect this benefit toward many farmers of the watershed. Entities were supplied with genetic materials.Most important was the identífication of bean and maize selection criteria used by producers, thus providing feedback to programs supplying new materials.The CIALs and their members have played an active role in other project activities, especially at the organizationallevel, and continue todo so. An example is their participation in the Reforestation Committee of the \"Caminos Verdes\" association of local organizations, a vegetable project that shOJVS organizational strengthening and plays a leading role within the community.. See under Seeds of Hope Project.Activity 1.3.5.This activity is also reported in the Tropical Forages Annual Report under TROPILECHE./ Parameters identified for the description ecological adaptation and agronomic performance of forage germplasm accessions across environments ./ Central American GIS database set upThe aim was to improve access to data on forages for use in project work.Progress was made in data preparation ofthe database underlying the GIS model and sorne trials were run. The classification of agroecosystems is being revised so that ciimatic and soil conditions can be better targeted. Data will be overlaid with road maps and a preliminary recommendation for si tes for in-situ conservation of forages in disturbed environments will be available by 2000.Ten forage gen uses were selected as test speecies.A start has been made on setting up the database and adapting models to better target forage germplasm for improved forages.A wealth of information on the agroecological adaptation of forage germplasm is available in CIAT's-held forage databases. However, the access and thus the use ofthis information must be improved. Based on these assumptions, the targeting of forage germplasm intends to enhance the utility of existing information and, in future, to integrate environmental and socioeconomic adaptation of forage germplasm for multiple uses. It is anticipated that this approach will allow a more accurate and client-oriented prediction of possible entry points for forage germplasm.•~ f\\V ~ (-?' The SOL is an initiative ofthe CIAT-Hillsides project to develop technological options that are economically viable and environmentally sustainable and offer these to technicians, producers, and institutions at our reference sites. The aim is to develop technologies aimed to establish profitable, sustainable production systems through multi-institutional alliances, using a participatory approach (design, planning, monitoring, and assessment) that includes shared responsibility at all decision-making levels.In Honduras, we aimed to establish the project's SOL ata representative site ofthe Tascalapa River watershed and to form a network of SOLs with the participation of institutions working in research and technology validation and transfer at that reference site. In Nicaragua, the representative site is the Wibuse-Jicaro no.l microwatershed.In Honduras, the methodology followed to establish the project's SOL included (1) selecting a microwatershed, (2) biophysical characterization ofthe site, (3) prioritization oftopics to be included in the SOL, and (4) design and implementation of options in the field.Severa! meetings were held with regional producers and technicians to form the network of SOLs. A common vision about the network was achieved at these meetings anda conceptual action framework was defined.In Nicaragua, secondary information was used from, for example, biophysical and socioeconomic studies, participatory maps, maps from geographic information systems, interviews with key informants, and reports among others to support that existing at the site. Based on this and on the experiences of similar projects at other sites, a list of criteria was prepared to select the microwatershed.Using the technique of the transect hike through different parts of the microwatershed, observation points were determined to be able to report farrn characteristics and the conditions required for implementing altematives.A participatory planning by objectives (PPO) is in progress. lt allows communities to identify their problems, causes and effects, and possible ways to solve these problems in the region. It also strives to encourage and promote true collaboration among actors at different levels: producers, local communities, development organizations, research and extension institutions, and the municipal government. Based on the concems expressed at the Participatory Planning Workshop, the following activities are performed: (a) a floristic survey, (b) a fann soil characterization, and (e) design.Three microwatersheds -Luquigue, Albardilla, and Mina Honda-were selected on the basis of available biophysical information. Y orito community representatives selected the Mina Honda watershed on the basis of qualitative criteria similar to that used in Nicaragua (Table 4). The greatest differences among sites were found regarding institutional presence, conflicts in land use, and representativeness.The scarcity of suitable land in the Mina Honda watershed precluded locating the SOL there, although it had the highest score. An area was therefore selected in the Luquigue watershed.A erial photography was used to show the distribution of classes of land use and slopes in the area selected for the SOL. Areas with the most pronounced slopes ( class VII) are dominated by sandy loam and sandy clay loarn soils covered with native pine and forage grasses. Class VI soils are clay loams, covered with forage grasses and sorne remaining pine. Soils with a more clayey texture predominate in the rest of the area, which has more moderate slopes and vegetation consisting of introduced pastures.The results of soil chemical characterization indicated that most soils in the flattest parts have slightly acid pH. Further, in the areas covered with pine trees, soil pH is higher because these are very superficial soils in which outcropping parent material is essentially of calcareous origin. The greater nutritionallimitations of these soils are associated with imbalances caused by the high calcium contents and low potassium and magnesium levels.The joint analysis ofthe problem of sustainability with the community, in a Participatory Planning by Objectives (PPO) workshop, showed that the low sustainability of regional production systems was associated with: 1) Low use of inputs, 2) Depleted soils, 3) Inadequate agricultura! practices, 4) Limited economic resources, 5) Subsistence culture, 6) Reduced technological diversification, 7) Limited crop diversity, 8) Low profitability of prevailing production systems, 9) Lack oftraining in new altematives, and 1 O) Poor land distribution.After prioritizing the problems that could be solved by the SOL, severa! topics and specific activities were identified. Based on recommendations made by the community, several technological options were designed that include the testing and assessment of new components and systems. Table 4 shows these options, which include the testing of new crops and multipurpose forage and tree species. • Observation plots and silvo-pastoral systems 2. Reforestation• Traditional maize-beans; associated maize-beans; beans; and maizecowpea 3. Arrangements ofsystems• Evaluation of native and introduced multi-purpose species 4. lmproved fallow• Legurne species to improve soil fertility 5. Fruit trees• Species to recover and protect fragile areas 6. Satellite tests• Evaluation plots of new crops 7. Live barriers• Multi-purpose species 8. Protection of gullies• Multi-purpose tree species 9. Vegetables• Species to enhance the home garden .The selected area is representative of the use given to lowlands in the Tascalapa River watershed.Many of these areas are devoted to cattle raising. The selected si te is representative of the overall condition of the watershed regarding soil chemical characteristics: slightly acid pH and high calcium and organic matter contents. This condition is important when extrapolating developed technological options to other areas of the watershed.Two meetings were held with producers and representatives of Y orito-based institutions to conceptualize the idea of establishing a supermarket oftechnological options for the community.It was concluded that network activities should be based on the following principies: 1) Services oriented toward client needs, 2) Feedback mechanisms established to determine product adoption and adjustments made by producers, 3) Systems designed to promete and sell technologies, services, and products, 4) Systems designed to promete products and services and make them accessible, 5) Marketing services provided, and 6) Participatory monitoring systems established.A working group integrated by representatives of the CIA T Hillsides project, the CIA T Rural Agroenterprise project, IPCA, SERTEDESO, and the University ofHohenheim was established to promote networking and prepare a funding proposal to obtain additional resources needed to establish other SOL components.A characteristics ofthe SOL network is that its strategies of generation and validation of technological innovations are more oriented toward satisfying producers and the market than toward the simple self-promotion of SOL products, which makes it different from other strategies. The connection between different SOL actors forros a model that could become a tool to be used by other institutions in the future.Table 5 shows the prioritization ofthe microwatershed for establishing the SOL according to selection criteria. The Wibuse-Jicaro watershed received the lowest scoring and was thus selected.  The SOL site is located in the Wibuse-Jicaro 1 microwatershed, 5 km from the municipal capital, at 550 m above sea leve!, with temperatures ranging between 23 oc and 28 °C. On its predominantly hilly topography, the principal crops grown are coffee, basic grains (maize and beans), dual-purpose livestock (which ranks second in importance), citrus fruits, and vegetables, to a lesser extent. Most households also raise pigs and chickens.The agronomic management of crop production systems is based on ronda (clearing either si de offence to prevent weeds spreading), chapia (clearing oflot by machete), buming ofstubble (most of it), use ofherbicides (Gramoxone, 2-4-D, Fusilarle, and Flex), and insecticides (MTD).Fertilizers are mainly applied to maize. Hill-plot planting is performed. The two production cycles are (1) from June to September and (2) from September to November. During the nonproductive summer, most rural families harvest coffee or chapia paddocks among others tasks, both inside and outside the area. The community has 128 families; ofthese, 60% have access to drinking water and primary and preschool educatíon.The livestock lot has altemative grass species for the area and a seed production area for grass and legume species. The sílvopastoral system uses tree forage species in association with grasses and legumes. The farm includes a small forest of caducifoliate species, a spring of water, andan area with a geological depression resulting from hurricane Mitch. This area is where soil conservation and recovery activities are carried out, and the natural regeneration of native species.Different types of observation nurseries and agricultura! and pasture trials were established for identifying promising species as altematives to improve prevailing agricultura! and livestock production systems ofthe area. Forage materials and agricultural crops were planted in small plots to observe their performance. Table 6 shows crops planted and the institutions involved.An agricultural-commerciallot on the farmc ontains traditional crops ofthe area, and other types of altemative arrangements for the frrst and second planting seasons of maize, beans, and green manures. It includes live barriers as a cropping altemative and for soil and water conservation, and nontraditional altemative crops such as pineapple, pitahaya, plantain, and cassava.Men and women ofthe community actively participated in the different activities carried out to date. Local institutions, such as Cooperative for American Remittances Everywhere (CARE), PRODESSA, CARITAS, INTA, and the mayor's office contributed plant material to establish and monitor trials and test technologies.While still in their initiating stages, the SOL sites are expected to help develop technological options that will be readily adapted by small-scale farmers. The aim is to contribute to the reconstruction and reactivation of the Calico River watershed.This study used the methodological tool ofVernooy et al.  Men and women ofthe local community made a valuable contribution to this study, as did the leaders of different community organizations. Most had previous experience in applying this methodology and live in one of the 15 microwatersheds.The current state of 15 microwatersheds ofthe Calico River after hurricane Mitch was evaluated based on a series of components (water, forests, soils, and crops among others). The scores or values for each microwatershed were derived from a set of indicators. The microwatersheds showing the highest degradation were Junquillo-Las Cuchillas, El Zarzal, El Carrizal, and El Quebrachal, all with values below 65. The components most affected were soils, forests, water, crops, and infrastructure (Table 7).Bean was the worst affected crop; excess water causing disease affected 80% of its production.Landslides destroyed other areas planted to beans. Losses in maize were estimated at 60%. The availability of seed for the next planting cycle will be a problem for producers, most of whom Iack seed because the crops were destroyed. Storage conditions are inadequate, and producers mostly use sacks and plastic bags.Among the species that inhabitants reported as most affected by the hurricane are the Congo monkey, armadillo, chameleon, rabbits, guardia/a (type ofbird), and species inhabiting the streams and main rivers. No projects in the area conduct activities directed towards the preservation of wildlife, which is disappearing year by year from the area. All microwatersheds were affected regarding this 'component.The conflicts mentioned by watershed inhabitants include the following: use of trees, frrewood, and water; land tenure; and deposition of trees destroyed on other properties.An \"Environmental Management Plan\" was proposed and presented for approval to community leaders of the territorial unit and entities and institutions working in the area. The \"Campos Verdes\" Association and other institutions are using the results of this study to carry out severa! of the activities envisaged in the plan, for example the Sustainable Agriculture Project carried out by CARE, which is implementing strategies within the forests and soils components. The Instituto de Desarrollo Rural (IDR) has directed activities in the forests and soil conservation components. The Municipal Mayor' s Office and the IDR are conducting school rehabilitation and housing projects for sorne ofthe victim families. The Programa Mundial de Alimentos (PMA) is implementing nutrition projects in coordination with other entities that work in the protection and conservation of natural resources. Credit coverage to communities has increased in the form of credit fqr seeds for the first and second pl~tin% of this year.  Results indica te the presence of entities and projects is exclusively restricted to areas close to the municipal capital and of easy access Activity 2.1.2.The soil samples collected when assessing soilloss are being analyzed in the laboratories of the national University in Honduras (UNA). This activity will be fully reported when analyses are completed.Contributor: UNA Activity 2.1.3.Not reported on this year.Activity 2.1.4.Identifying and assessing market options using a participatory approach ./ Rapid market survey for the pilot subregion of Yorito and Sulaco, Honduras ./ Market options evaluated and selected ./ Survey of decision-making criteria used by small-scale producers regarding market options ./ Participatory evaluation ofmarket options with small-scale producers ofTascalapa River watershedThis activity contains different modules. The overall aims are to: 1) Validate the methodological package developed for identifying and assessing options with market potential for small-scale producers at the Y orito and Sulaco reference sites, and 2) Apply the methodology to determine the most suitable options for conducting subsequent activities to develop rural agroenterprises, agro industries, and support systems in Y orito and Sulaco.Each module is carried out according toa methodology developed by Ostertag (1998i .~ Ostertag CF. 1998. ldentification and evaluation ofmarket opportunities for small-scale rural producers. Guide No.7 (in Spanish) ofthe series \"Instrumentos metodologicos para la toma de decisiones en el manejo de los recursos naturales\". CIAT, Cali, Colombia. 182 p.Based on selection criteria, the following products were selected as having market potential: avocado, cassava, tomato, red onion, sweet chili pepper, plantain, cabbage, lettuce, cheese, butter, sawn wood, wooden furniture, coffee, beans, and maize. Matrices were produced of market, agronomic, and economic characterizations. Variables were determined for participatory evaluation. A survey identified the criteria that producers consider most important for adopting an activity.Table 8 summarizes the options preferred and considered to be good options by different producers of different economic levels from regions with different types of access. All options present financia! rates of return (FRR) that indicate their profitability. Except for beans, coffee, cassava, and wooden furniture, the other options present a positive net present value (NPV), indicating their attraction as businesses even with financing. Milk products, beans, coffee, avocado, and tomato ha ve low price stability, but the rest of the products show little variation. The activities of sawmills, fumiture manufacturing, and milk production require a high level of investment and labor compared with the others.The participatory evaluation workshops indicated that coffee, avocado, plantain, maize, beans, red onion, and milk products are market options that usually interest producers most. However, preferences are relatively different depending on the type of access and the economic leve! of producers.The sawmill and wood funúture options were discarded mainly because of the concem for sustainability of forest clearings. Although it was explained to producers that a forest management plan is feasible, they showed concem about problems such as the complexity of developing a forest management plan, the difficulty of acquiring a clearing permit, conflicts between tribes about forest exploitation, and high investment costs.Market options were identified. Involving farmers in the participatory analysis should lead to their greater acceptance of decisions made and quicker adoption of technological innovations.Cootributors: M'Totobesol~ The aim was to establish a graphic record ofland cover in the area of San Dionisio. This work complements the diagnosis of land use of the same area In both, landscapes are being used to complement the information system for San Dionisio (in preparation) and to support ground truthing of the digital survey of topographical characteristics carried out.Between the 29th of April and the 8th ofMay 1999, 5llandscape photographs were taken ofthe area of San Dionisia. For each photo, the following data were recorded: date and hour oftaking, azimuth, geographical coordinates, altitude, characteristic for which photo was taken, slope, and aspect of the terrain. These photographs were then incorporated into the San Dionisio database as a points file, which allows the graphic opening of the file within the context of accessible digital cartography.Vanous documents (Rubiano ¡g98a; 1999~c,d,e) were produced on work done in the diagnosis ofland use in microwatersheds and are available from PE-3.Information from photos on land use in San Dionisio is now readily available.).)Contributor: 4 ubiano./ Evidence that choice of land-use type withing small geographic landscapes affects soil macrofauna populationsThe aim is to monitor macro fauna of a variety of land use types in the Cabuya! River watershed to use as an indicator of change so that environmental monitoring efforts can be focused to places at highest risk.The methodology being used in this research relies on a spatially aggregated, stochastic, neutral modeling approach. The approach is to \"eliminate\" mechanisms in question and then compare predictions with empirical information. Expected \"controlling factors\" are then added to the model and results are compared. This is conceptually similar to stepwise regression and is intended to \"keep things simple\". For example, it may be that sample variability increases dramatically as a function of space and time in typicallandscapes like the Rio Cabuya! watershed. However, sampling an indicator that has rigid spatial and temporal requirements is not likely to be accepted by community stakeholders responsible for local-level monitoring. Therefore, the specific question this research had to address was what are typical patterns and variances in abundance and biomass for a range of soil macrofauna.Figure 2 shows results of 20 months of sampling of soil macro fauna of a variety of land-use types (LUTs) found throughout the Cabuya! River watershed. Immediately obvious is the variability in macrofauna populations as measured by abundance and biomass across the range of LUTs sampled. A bit surprising is the magnitude of differences observed among the four forested sites. Nevertheless, biodiversiy as measured by number of taxonomic units was significantly higher in the forested sites (except for the pine plantation) compared to the LUTs characterized by increasing intervention. This reinforces the dilemma of abundance/biomass versus taxonomic diversity and respective relevance to the function of environmental filtering.Another analysis looked at the issue of abundance/biomass and disturbance/intervention. Findings suggest that hope for developing a simple common scale \"macrofauna\" indicator for monitoring soil quality across a variety of LUTs, even within the same small community-scale ecosystem such as the 6000-ha Cab, uyal River watershed, is not encouraging. More encouraging, however, is the evidence that choice of LUT within small geographic landscapes affects soil macrofauna populations. This suggests key plots within a landscape might be \"zoned\" for specific LUTs as a strategy for managing landscape functions such as environmental filtering.In addition, other analyses are looking at relationships between abundance/biomass vertical distribution, relationships between abundance and biomass, and relationships between growth and development, for example, the resting, juvenile, subadult, and adult stages. The latter data has relevance to issues of population resilience.The landscape is being screened so environmental monitoring efforts can be focused on those plots within the overalllandscape that are at highest risk. The strategy is then to use macrofauna monitoring as. an \"ear Ji' warning\" indicator of ecosystem change.  ..., ., \"' •e:  Activity 2.2.Activity 2.2.1.Characterization of Jalapa microwatershed 1 0 ?q ?/J Highlight v' GIS characterization of Jalapa microwatershed completedThe aims were to contribute to the diagnosis ofthe situation in the watershed and show, in three dirnensions, the results of sirnulations. We also aimed to irnprove the microwatershed atlas and feed a bioeconomic model whose scenarios will improve decision making in the community.Project PE-3 has made an agreement for collaboratíon with the research department of the Honduran Forestry Uruversity (ESNACIFOR, its Sparush acronym). A student (A Hemández) is to be trained in the application of the CIA T bioeconomic model to the Jalapa microwatershed, located between Y orito and Sulaco.The GIS characterization ofthe Jalapa microwatershed was completed. Five new maps were added to existing ones. These were a cadastral map made by the Mimstry of Cadastre, a new land use map based on 1993 aerial photos, a map of the remaining natíonal forest including tree density, a map calculating access time to roads, anda new 20-m slope map. To show results to the cornmunity, 3-D maps were developed. Four maps were overlaid (access to roads, slopes, altitude, and land tenure) to define 72 homogeneous land units that automatically feed the bioeconomic model.The information ;3 c rue,d can be used by projects and co1Jaborating institutions..Contrtbutor: M yarza Ex-ante eva/uation of alternatives (\"Earth \"project)Highlight ./ Situation of beneficiarles of credit characterized more broadly as producers befo re and after land acquisitionThe project aims to analyze the impact o ver time of land tenure as an economic altemative for improving the quality of life of the poorest rural families in an environment where land is the principal means of subsistence.Project participants be long to the poorest communities of the watershed, according to a survey on the level ofwell being carried out by CIAT's Hillside Project in 1997. A credit was granted for a 6-year period. The average amount approved for each benefici~ was US$600, which fmanced an average of 1.5 to 2 manzanas of land ( equivalent to 80 m ).The annual interest rate was 8% and the debtors are to deliver 30% of their production each planting season (twice ayear) or, in its absence, the mínimum quota necessary to effect the payment on time, as initially agreed upon. Results will be monitored year to year, assessing impact 3 or 4 years after project initiation.Most beneficiarles did not cultivate their land last year and those who did plant on part of it lost the crops when hurricane Mitch hit. Also, they had to prepare and clean the land they recently acquired, so they decided not to plant.Planting took place during the frrst season of 1999, and production results are not yet available.According to the payment plan and the commitment assumed by all beneficiarles, the frrst quota should be delivered in mid September. CIA T is responsible for monitoring this payrnent. A first meeting was held with beneficiarles to assess severa! elements of impact and observe the changes that have occurred regarding their initial situation.The project began in April 1998 and after 1 year, eight of the nine quotas are in arrears of payment because of losses in production caused by hurricane Mitch.With their participation, the situation of the beneficiarles was characterized more broadly as producers before and after land acquisition to facilitate further analysis and observe changes at the econornic and ofliving standard levels (socioeconomic variables).Severa! expected changes have been observed, for example:1) Land owners rent the most neglected soil and at different si tes each planting season, thus discouraging any type of investment in conservation or other work, despite having the knowledge and willingness to do so. 2) No diversification options were available because they had to plant profitable crops with short-tenn income, _ with the sole purpose of\"surviving\". The aim was to deve1op a user-friendly consultation system on general characteristics of Honduran soils.The Administración Forestal del Estado (AFE)/COHDEFOR was contacted about the use of soil data generated for the Project for ldentifying and Delimiting Forest Land, carried out by the Dirección Ejecutiva del Catastro (DEC) between 1996 and 1997.The characterization entries of more than 5000 soil pro files countrywide were added to the original database. Excel was initially used to clean the database and then expand it. Georeferenced information of tbese pro files was later included, allowing results to be spatially linked with the Honduras Atlas.We have digitized and preserved the most relevant information produced over the last 3 years and expect to facilitate the general diagnosis of soil conditions for general use and to extrapolate successful experiences to other similar sites. The database is the largest and clearest source of information on Honduran soils at the digitallevel, and will become a high-quality analysis and planning tool.The database ís currently in Fox Pro format and contains information of 656 profiles and 2422 strata, with their respective laboratory analyses and field descriptions, profile location data, and general information on the project. Contacts were made with the Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFE) to incorporate the database they recently developed for coffee-growing areas of Honduras.The database was presented to the scientific and technical soils group, which met to form the Manejo de Suelos Acidos (MAS) Consortium at EAP-Zamorano.The representatives of 18 institutions of Honduras and Nicaragua, the universities of Bayreuth and Rothamstead in Germany, Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CA TIE), and Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) attended the meeting.The database on Honduran soils can be used for high-quality analysis andas a planning tool. A student activity schedule was established and drafts of theses outlines prepared. The most important indicators of the Luquigue microwatershed were identified. Plants were mapped and inventoried as soils indicators, using a participatory approach; a floristic map was produced.Students carried out a 1-week supervised work tour to obtain georeferenced information at defmed points on severa! predefined transects of the microwatershed. Each thesis student was allowed to use the exercises and practices described in the Guides. Preliminary analysis of results has begun.Students were trained in the use ofthree methodological tools developed by CIAT-Hillsides. Estimating tbe impact of burning on natural resources and designing alternatives to burning ./ Multi-institutional forum held in Tegucigalpa, Honduras as first step to creating a permanent linking mechanism between institutions working on the topic of slash-and-burn altemativesThe aims were to determine the state-of-the-art ofknowledge on the impact ofbuming and fires on natural resources in Honduras and to identify, together with other institutions, the causes and effects of bumings, defining strategies to reduce their impact.A multi-institutional forum was organized in July in Tegucigalpa to examine management altematives and environmental implications of the use of fue in hillside ecosystems. The forum was organizedjointly with the Department ofNatural Resources ofEAP-Zamorano.Representatives of 18 institutions participated in the event. The five presentations offered on the topic were fully discussed. A card system was used to group problems found under common themes.Sorne of the infonnation presented at the forum in di cates that only 20% of the 2200 forest tires registered in Honduras in 1998 were spontaneous. Incendiarles caused most ofthem. Forum participants, however, agreed that periodic controlled forest burning could be beneficia! in that it maintains the low level of accumulated residues. But, no technical recommendations are given for managing burning, nor is there a legal framework that regulates burning. Although Quezungualan producers in the region of Lempira ha ve experimented with agricultura! systems that do not u• se burning, other secondary problems arose such as pest pressure, weed invasion, and waste management (these must be solved to guarantee sustainability ofthe practice).Participants assigned the problems related to burning to four areas of interinstitutional action: (1) research, (2) education, (3) involving local organizations, and (4) policies. The institutions that will serve as facilitators in future actions were defined in relation to each ofthe four topics: (1) EAP Zamorano, (2) ESNACIFOR, (3) CIAT, and (4) Secretaria de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente (SERNA). A committee was created to identify potential sources of funding to prepare joint projects.The main aims were to: 1) Provide information and suggest action strategies in critical areas, 2) Create new mechanisms of coordination and/or strengthen existing mechanisms to face the problem of on-farm burning, and 3) Prepare work proposals to be carried out in areas under the umbrella ofparticipating entities.National experiences were presented in work groups. To promote group analysis, each group was given a set of questions to direct the discussion and reach a consensus on the topic. The guide covered (1) studies and experiences regarding burning on agricultura! Jand, and (2) proposals for action regarding burning on agriculturalland.Land use practices in Nicaragua include burning. Fires can be classified into two types: (1) intentional fires used to clean agricultura11and, eliminate crop residues, and manage forests, among others, and (2) intentional frres caused by lightning orto cause harm.In 1985, 13,184 tires were recorded, accounting for 550,539 hectares ofland destroyed. In 1996, 5,023 tires were recorded accounting for 97,898 hectares ofland destroyed. Ofthese, 64,431 hectares corresponded to burnings in agricultura! areas and 33,467 to forest areas. National fue statistics indicate a decreasing trend in the number of fires and area destroyed by fire over the last 12 years.A first step was taken towards creating a permanent linking mechanism between institutions working on the topic. This strategy will allow the project to capture demands, disseminate existing solutions, and generate other altematives. In the near future, sorne of the proposals generated in the Honduras forum will hopefully be linked with those ofthe recently created Consortium of Inte~~ted Soil Management. The aim is to develop indicators for the participatory monitoring of projects.At locallevel (Matagalpa and San Dionisio, Nicaragua), a project with PE-4 and MAGFOR was defined to produce an Atlas for Matagalpa and San Dionisio. In this context, an indicator set was defined, databases were consolidated and put into operation, and the interface to use indicators and produce the Atlas was defined.Activities were held with national institutions (COHDEFOR, MAGFOR) to create capacities and improve the use ofinformation and tools. A Workshop was held with RENASIG on support tools and decision taking, 5-9 October 1998, Tegucigalpa, Honduras. A course was given on ArcView during this workshop. A meeting was held with MAGFOR, PE-4, and the CIAT-World Bank-UNEP Project to define the Indicators Project at locallevel (Matagalpa, San Dionisio ), from March 22-26, 1999, Managua, Nicaragua. A coordination meeting ofthe same group was held from October 13-15, 1999, in Managua, Nicaragua.An indicator set was defmed at locallevel for Matagalpa and San Dionisio, Nigaragua.The linkages and activities together with other projects and institutions at nationallevel allowed the Rural Sustainability Indicators to exchange experience, harmonize frameworks and tools, diffuse results and methods, validate and test information and interfaces, and i.mprove the use of information for policy making and planning This is an ongoing activity, as can be seen from the report under Activity 5.5.Activity 2.4.Promote and implement consortia for landscape management Highlight ./ Consortium for the Manejo Integrado de los Suelos de Centro América (MIS) formedThese were to:1) Understand the role of MAS and its poten ti al contribution to the region, 2) Develop a cooperation strategy among different consortium participants, 3) Define a strategy for field activities and dissernination of successful experiences, and 4) Develop ajoint action planto initiate the consortiurn.A workshop was held at the EAP-Zamorano, Honduras, to promote the establishment of a Consortium for the Integrated Management of Soils (MIS, its Spanish acronyrn) in Central America. This consortium will form part of the Consortium for Managing Acid Soils (MAS) under CIAT leadership as well as part ofthe Systemwide Soil, Water, and Nutrient Management Program (SWNM).Meetings were previously held in Honduras and Nicaragua to identify the main problems of sustainability related to soil, water, and nutrient management. These results were presented and discussed during the joint workshop, and topics of interest to both countries were identified and prioritized. The Consortiurn's mission and approach were also defmed and, fmally, an executive committee was named to monitor preliminary initiatives and prepare a work agenda that would be submitted to consortium members for approval. The Consortium is expected to be fully operational before the end ofthe year.The participants defined the consortium as \"a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional effort, whose objective was to create and facilitate the adoption of options for the sustainable management of soils in Central America\". The Consortium' s mission is \"to offer viable competitive and sustainable technological solutions for the Central American region that benefit producers and their organizations\".Workshop proceedings indicate the problems identified per country and topics of common interest identified by workshop participants. The prioritization of topics at the end of the meeting was: 1) Inadequate management practices, 2) Strategies to adopt successful practices, 3) Alternate fertilizer sources, 4) Problems of water availability, 5) Nutrient recycling, 6) Soil biological structure, 7) Water quality, 8) Adapted germplasm, and 9) Policies.This prioritization will be taken into account when preparing the work plan.Executive Committee members are Margoth Andrews (EAP-Zamorano ), Elizabeth Santacreo (DICTA), Matilde Somarriba (UNA), and Pedro Orozco (PRODESSA). Miguel Ayarza will represent CIA T in the Consortium. The Committee met in Nicaragua on 7 September to prepare its work agenda and define immediate steps to be taken.The Consortium should complement research and validation activities carried out by other regional institutions, while promoting the exchange of experiences and generating other technological innovations, especially at our reference si tes. The success of the Consortium will depend on the interaction between institutions involved in research, technological validation and transfer.Contributors: M Ayarza, ~omas (PE-2)Activity 2.5.Activity 2.5.1.Strengthen participation of grass-roots organizations in consortia for landscape management Supporting local organizational processes such as the \"Campos Verdes\" Association ./ Effective contribution to community developmentThe aims ofthe project are to:1) Study and analyze the organizational process ofthe \"Campos Verdes\" Association, emphasizing those elements that have allowed its development and strengthening, and those factors that have limited its operation and are an obstacle to achieving sustainability, and 2) Compare this organizational process with other organizational experiences with similar characteristics, thus learning from the successes andlor errors that can be drawn from these.The present study followed the methodological process otBeltrán et al. (1999). 9Since the \"Campos Verdes\"Association was established 2 years ago, CIAT's Hiilside Project has helped by: a During this period, CIA T staff participated in severa! Association activities.Concrete advances were made to legalize the Association in the short-or medium-term by establishing interna! norms that regulate its operation. It has established a positive relationship with the Municipal Govemment.The diffusion strategy implemented by the Association in early 1999, in the 17 communities forming the municipality of San Díonisío, has strengthened community organization. This strategy helped ídentify those problems that the community considered most important, and assess to what extent the projects approved by the Association have met the priority demands of the rural population of San Dionisio. Also, both the sectorial and the territorial representativeness of the Association improved.The participation of women in the diffusion strategy was significant, accounting for 40%, which is equivalent to sorne 200 women of different communities.The Association shows signs of having reached a certain level of empowerment, in the sense that it has been carrying out an intensive financia! management effort with national and international entities to increase its funds and thus be able to approve urgently needed community projects in the different communities. Members of the Association' s Board of Directors received training in the management of economic resources and opening and upkeep of account books.Communities have benefited from the production projects approved by the Association. These were directed toward preserving the environment and ensuring the food security of producers. These projects also benefit the Association because the granting of revolving credits generates income that allows the Association to grow.Ofthe three projects approved by the Association in 1998, one involved a group of 15 associated women ofEI Zapote community, who belonged to the Association oflndigenous Groups, for the construction of an organic manure enterprise (Table 9). Regarding sustainability, the fact that the Association does not have legal capacity will become a limitation to fundraising in the medium or long term. However, Board members feel that this cannot be achieved in the short term, and that the Association needs to project itself and establish links at different levels (local, regional, national, and intemational) to facilitate the procurement offinancial resources. Strong ties were established with three NGOs (CARE, PRODESSA, and United Nations Development Programme [UNDP]), three govemment organizations (Mayor' s Office, MAGFOR, and UNA) and three local organizations (\"Sueños Realizados\" Cooperative, Union de Campesinos Organizados de San Dionisio [UCOSD], and CIALs). This represents about 38% ofthe 27 entities working in the municipality ofSan Dionisio.The Association has successfully obtained funding for community projects through national and international institutions and nongovernment organizations. Less than 2 months after hurricane Mitch, the Intemational Development Research Center (IDRC), Canada, approved a project presented by the Association \"Support Fund for the Application ofK.nowledge\" for US$10,000. Also,. the Association successfully established a collaborative agreement with the Group Pro Ecological Agriculture (GP AE, its Spanish acronym)/ Programa de Agricultura Sostenible de Laderas en Centro América (PASOLAC) for a Seed Fund ofUS$340. It participated with CARE and CIA T in the project \"Support for planting apante beans\" 10• for US$2800. Also, through CIAT' s \"Seeds ofHope\" project, the Association negotiated 7.5 tons ofseed for a value of US$3750 for the first planting season of 1999, especially with small-scale producers. All these projects pursued a corn.mon objective: to contribute to the reconstruction and reactivation ofthe Calico River watershed.The Association contributes effectively to community development. Severa! governmental and nongovernment organizations have found the Association to be an effective support to program activities, an indicator of the interest that has arisen in its permanence and operation in different corn.munities. The original aims were to identify new activities and strengthen ongoing activities through participatory evaluation and organizational strengthening. However, these were changed during the year mainly because of public disorder. Instead, the project has gone into a process of phaseout with the objective ofhanding over control offinancial resources, decision-making, and responsibility to the local farmers' organization.At the start of 1999, capacity-building activities were conducted. This included (1) presentation of the ant control experience and results by local farrners at a seminar on organic agriculture at the University of Cauca in Popayan, and (2) a visit to a local farrner committee (ClAL) working with maize followed by collective cultivation ofmaize. To strengthen ongoing activities, an ant control competition was completed with good results.A major activity to be developed was the cultivation of sugarcane live barriers in collaboratíon with the CIA T soíl project (PE-2). Because of extemal factors (public disorder), however, work was suspended for long periods ofthe year. This affected daily contact and the trust and confidence ofthe farrners, which is so important to this kind ofwork. Further, the indigenous organization decided to suspend collaborative activities until an arrangement of meetings at higher level decision-making between the Cabildo and CIA T could be agreed upon.lt was therefore decided to initíate a phase-out process to enable the local farrners to control and manage the project and its resources independently ofCIAT. Thus far, a \"Green Fund\" (Fondo Verde) managed by CIA T fmanced research activities. The independent local management of this fund is perceived as essential for the success of locally based initiatives. At a later meeting, the communities selected an executive committee, but decided to limit initial activities to the municipality ofLa Laguna. Later, other parts ofthe watershed will be included. Unfortunately, the Cabildo decided not to participate.Control is being pas,~ed over to local farmers to manage the project independently. The aim was to rapidly assess the damage caused by erosion post-Mitch. Also we wanted to disco ver the thoughts of producers and entities about this process in six microwatersheds of the Calico River, and on representative farms selected as having the lowest indexes of the soils component, according to the mapping diagnosis and the participatory analysis ofpost-Mitch natural resources.Twelve farms were selected, located in the upper, middle, and lower areas ofthe watershed (from 350 to 1250 m), in areas planted to basic grains and located in the SOL project. Soil samples were taken for laboratory analyses, information gathered on farms, and sketches made of each farm. The damage caused by erosion was sampled and mapped on 12 fanns.Table 10 indicates soillosses on 13 farms, ofwhich the frrst 12 were located in areas used for planting basic grains, in six microwatersheds. Farm 13 was assessed for damages caused by erosion in an area located in the Wibuse-Jicaro microwatershed (SOL project).Among the relevant characteristics estimated of study areas, slopes and contour length (more than 100 m) contributed to the damages observed, for example, erosion in ditches and higher soil loss in the different microwatersheds. The highest soillosses corresponded to farms located in the microwatersheds in the upper part of the watershed. The area damaged ranged between 3% and 5% of a plot of land. The results were presented to 1 O producers who participated in the study, 13 neighboring producers of surrounding are as, five members of the \"Campos Verdes\" Association, and five of PRODESSA. Producers identified different factors causing landslides in the Municipality of San Dionisio, including:• Too much water (high precipitation),• Land slope,• Water overflow in the upper part ofthe plots (overflux), which formed an avalanche of sediments, • Uniform, loose soils with water saturation, • Lack of soil and water conservation practices, and • Fissuring of land before hurricane Mitch.Soillosses were measured and factors 1 contributing to erosion assessed ..  The aims were to estímate the change in forest area over time at reference si tes and assess the importance offorests. We also aim to determine the economic irnportance and potential of agroforestry and the potential of environmental services (carbon sequestration).The 1993 aerial photo of forests in the Jalapa microwatershed in Honduras was digitized. Land use was digitized and area per land use estimated. Data on tree density, volume, and productivity were collected from a forest inventory conducted in 1993.Two UNA students carried out work in San Dionisio; one of their theses was the floristic inventory. Two UNA students and two professors are studying the economic potential of agroforestry.The data collected and the analysis of aerial photography fonn a base from which to analyze the importance offorest in the Jalapa microwatershed.  The aim is to develop a rural atlas for the department of Matagalpa and the municipality of San Dionisio, where basic cartographic information is combined and a series of indexes and indicators are defined and generated, contributing to decision making and to the monitoring of development and environment issues.A digital database was constructed ata 1:50,000 scale for rivers, roads, towns, contour levels, and municipal and departmentallirnits. Maps we're made of current land use, soil, climate, potential land use, and conflicts over land use. A socioeconomic database was designed and set up, georeferenced for the department and for the municipality.The methodology and application of indicators to help in decision making and in monitoring development and environmental issues were designed. Basic and complementary indexes and indicators by problem were selected. An interface was developed that enables decision-makers to access a tool for using basic maps, indexes, and indicators.These are being processed by GIS-MAGFOR, and reports of advances will be sent soon. Develop and/or validate methods and tools for developing and strengthening key organizations ../ Guides 1 and 2 of the nine methodological tools updated and improvedThe aim was to introduce changes into the ILCS manual 11 to improve technical and scientific aspects of the microwatershed concept to be used in training workshops. Guide no.2, 12 was to be restructured for easier understanding by the end user.Guide no. 1 was updated and edited. The organization of Guide no. 2 was reviewed extensively. It required reorganization and expansion or correction of several concepts. lt was successfully restructured on the basis of a literature review and on consultation with experts on the topic. Changes were made as deemed necessary, mostly in form and background information. Among major changes made to manual 2, were the new orientation given to the Introduction, and the expansion ofthe concept ofbiological activity in soil formation, with relevant exercises and practices. Also, two new sections were introduced: (1) comprehensive soil quality indicators and the concept of plants as soil quality indicators, and 2) soil quality indicators at the microwatershed level: impact assessment of natural resource management at several different scales. These were written by E Barrios.The revised guides were published.Constantly updating and improving the methodological tools ensures their validity when used in the field..CoUaborators: R Thomas, W\\ Turcios, V Zapata (Consultant) The decision support tools consist of eight guides developed by various projects at CIAT in collaboration with farmers and professionals from national counterparts. As a part of its objective to strengthen local institutions in their work with rural development, a training process was initiated in Colombia and severa! Central American countries, specifically Honduras and Nicaragua. The main objective is to train trainers to diffuse knowledge, capacity, and the final application ofthe methodologies by a range of different local institutions, NGOs, and government organizations.The workshop in Santander de Quilichao, Colombia was held from April 14 to 23, and consisted of a process of identifying and training partners, and presenting the methodologies for the end users. The workshop was organized by CIA T and its partner organizations from the Consorcio Interinstitucional Para una Agricultura Sostenible en Laderas (CIP ASLA) and organizations related to the Guadalajara watershed in Buga. Thirty-three technicians from 20 organizations and 20 farmers were trained in using the decision support tools.As a follow-up on the workshop in Santander de Quilichao, participants were asked to elaborate action plans to specify how and when they would apply the methodologies. At meetings in May and July, agreements were reached to carry on with two larger projects. 1) Ex-ante analysis ofthe economic feasibility offorage technologies and systems for the conservation and recuperation of degraded soils in the Andean Region of Colombia. 2) August 25-27, a Strategic Planning Workshop was held to conforman inter-institutional consortia and to develop a project proposal for its initial activities.This second initiative emerged as a desire from sorne of the participating institutions in the Santander de Quillichao workshop to join forces in using and applying the decision support tools. The course in Honduras took place from September 12 to 22 and was slightly different in the sense that it aimed at creating a national training team for Honduras (and later for Nicaragua and Colombia) in the use and training of the decision support tools. Participants in previous courses have only trained professionals and extension officers within their own organizations. The idea is that at nationallevel this team will carry out a series of training events for local users of the tools.As a result of their training, users will design \"action plans\" as has been done in Colombia and the Dominican Republic.The validation workshop in Ticuantepe (Nicaragua) was attended by 64 participants, amongst producers, agricultura! technicians of ADECA, CENADE, INPHRU, INTA, PASOLAC, Aldea Global, and the Mayoral Offices ofTicuantepe and Nindiri; and representatives ofUNA (see p 115 for acronyms). Ofthese, 11 teachers from UNA were also being trained in the application of methodological tools and 25 technicians of the other institutions as final users.The validation workshops ha ve allowed the content of the different manuals to be improved and their applicability broadened. These workshops have also made CIA T materials accessible to many more people ~d institutions. in the region. The purpose was to raise awareness on the value of information and to judge the feasibility of producing a consolidated dataset of which non-technical users can take advantage for planning.A large collection was made of GIS coverages assembled in a user-friendly interface programmed in ArcView Avenue, together with metadata, gray literature, and tutorials. Through RENASIG, the responsibility of updating the Atlas can be taken o ver by national organizations, with technical assistance from CIA T as required.An extensive multidonor effort, the Honduras Atlas was formal! y released in October 1998. The release of the Atlas was followed by a 2-day course in Honduras: Advanced Are View with the Honduras Atlas, where 20 participants leamed advanced GIS techniques while learning how to use the Atlas. The interface, produced in Arcview data Publisher 2.1, was perfectly stable in spite ofthe randornness in the participant' s keystrokes.Technicians were trained to use GIS for updating the Honduras Atlas. Virtually all participants showed great interest in producing a similar product for their organization, with the help of CIA T.A national organizatiop received support in using GIS J.,q_r mapping. Tbe aims were to determine the way in which tools and knowledge generated by the project can support collaborating institutions in decision making in NRM and to define strategies that allow project products to be incorporated into the agendas of partner institutions.During the Advisory Group meeting held in Managua, technical aspects of the project were presented and participants analyzed their needs for training and technical support. A PPO Workshop was carried out at the reference site to evaluate problems of sustainability in the region and to identify topics that should be addressed by the project in the future. On the basis ofthese activities, a program including training and generation of technological options was designed for the reference site.Table 11 shows the• needs for training and technical support expressed by members ofthe Advisory Group. Most of the demands were related to training in the use of project tools. Tbe presentation ofNRM tools to members ofthe advisory group allowed the project to determine the demand for project-generated tools. On the basis of this demand, training courses were designed and held in September and October.The PPO Workshop carried out with institutions and producers of Y orito made it possible to corroborate the causes and results of the low sustainability of production systems in the region.On the basis ofthis analysis, community needs were defined in order to improve the standard of living of the population in this region. Many of these needs were considered when selecting topics ofthe SOL.The  The aim is to develop an Atlas of San Dionisio.In Nicaragua, a digital Atlas similar to the Honduras one was produced mainly as a startup for a Nicaraguan initiative to produce a national Atlas. We identified MAGFOR, the Nicaragua Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, as the best partner to carry on this task. An agreement was signed in October 1998, to coordinate the development of a national atlas that would include, among other, the coverages representing the municipal-leve} plans for agricultura! development that MAGFOR is producing under contract with the World Bank. A component ofthe Atlases that was added later, i.e. introduction of Sustainability Indicators through funding by PE-3 minigrants program, is described in Activity 2.6.5.A digital Atlas was produced as a first step in developing an Atlas of San Dionisio Output This will serve an important purpose for CIA T: the communication of these plans to our partners in the bencbmark si tes. In effect, CIA T has a strong commitrnent in building common knowledge bases, which proves especially effective when a vertical dialog among decision makers can be established together with the horizontal ones that exist in our benchmark sites. The aim is to elaborate a map of both actual and potentialland use to help decision makers in watershed areas ofNicaragua.The information available was documented. It includes:1) A study of land use/cover of San Dionisio, 2) Revision of information available at the end of summer 1999, 3) Digital map of land use 1988 for the Calico River, 4) Identification ofbiophysical units in the San Dionisio watershed, 5) A photographic catalog of land use in San Dionisio, and 6) Geographic characterization, together with PE-2, ofthe reference sites in Central America.We have made good progress towards the finished product.All information on San Dionisio is now ready for use in the mapping.Contributor: JE Rubiano The aim was to produce a model of the Calico River watershed that could be used by the local community to belp in decision making.A model of the Wibuse-San Dionisio district (Nicaragua) was elaborated for the use of local groups. Local community leaders, professors, and students were trained in the preparation of models and their use. Field validation was conducted of the preliminary version of the Methodological Manual of Modeling, to be subsequently incorporated into the series of methodological manuals prepared by the project.This activity is adding to the work done on teaching manuals by the project. Work on the preliminary version of the manual of modeling is progressing well.Training local groups in the preparation of models and their use should help them in their decision taking.Contributor: The aim of this activity is to develop a computer model that can assess the consequences for water budgets as a result of effects of altemative paths of community-watershed development.Three different scenarios for the year 2025 were defined based on contrasting, but plausible, views of development for the Cabuya! River watershed. Each scenario is characterized by a different magnitude and direction of changes in the land cover/use pattem and different growth rates and spatial distribution of the population, resulting in distinct sectoral water demands. These factors are considered key extemal stresses that act on the watershed ecosystem. The scenarios were used to test the \" fitness\" of the watershed under these externa!, unpredictable stresses. The level of fitness is an indicator for the longer-tenn sustainability of the watershed and resilience of the watershed to externa! disturbances. The fitness of the watershed was evaluated by applying a stress and evaluating whether, (1) a critica! sectoral water shortage occurred, (2) where in the watershed it occurred, and ( 3) during what time ofthe year it occurred. In other words, the question to be answered was under what condition(s) would the watershed fail the fitness test for water regulation?A Workshop was held on Hydrologic Models for Decision-Making, CIAT-King's College, June 1999.Needs were deterrnined of organizations and projects in Cauca, Colombia, and in Ecuador regarding monitoring and modeling ofland use change, hydrology, and erosion.Measured river flow rates were compared with results of model simulation for the Ovejas River, the larger gaged river ofwhich the Cabuya! River is a tributary. Figure 3 compares the results of sirnulations of the three scenarios together with current ( 1995) water use by sector for the peak demand months of August-September.Armed with this knowledge, strategic decisions can be made regarding policy and investments, which will reduce the risk of supply/demand conflicts. In fact, our analyses indicate that the Cabuya! River watershed supplies enough water to satisfy the demand of all three scenarios if a few small dams are built to store water for use during the dry season. It is also a straightforward exercise to estímate economic agricultura! production under constraints ofthe resp? ec•v scenarios.. ~,1'  --------------------------------------------------Peak Water Use (Aug-Sept) 139.2 60 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------46:4----------------• •----------so:s------ The objectives were to: 1) Model the potential hydrological impact of scenarios for land use change generated by empirically based cellular modeling, 2) Assess the impact of deforestation on slope stability in the area of the Ovejas watershed, Cauca, Colombia, and 3) Determine whether topographical features are associated with land cover changes within a tropical hillside watershed.Three time series maps (1946, 1970, and 1989) from the Cabuya! watershed were analyzed to identify shape pattems of 1and use changes and identify neighbourhood relations. The cellular automata (CA) model was then applied to the Tambito catchment and land use cover scenario maps were generated and used as input for the hydrological model. Soil samples were collected from 16 different •points in the catchment, which was classified according to slope, aspect, and vegetation cover. Other field measurements were taken.Results showed that land use change is associated with the presence of roads and rivers. The neighborhhood analysis presented no clear pattems of change that depend on the extent of a specific land use around each category. The model reproduced with good approximation the behavior of parameters like evaporation and infiltration reported in the literature.For full details on methods and results, see Rubiano (1998)  Eighteen sheet maps were digitized anda DEM was built for each. Following the surface module in Grid Module, slope, aspect, and watershed delineation coverages were produced. Safety factors of slope were calculated.The analysis shows that when cohesion is reduced, after total deforestation, the area susceptible to landslides increased by 11 ,000 hectares.For full details on methods and results, see Rubiano (1998)  To examine the relation between the physical variables and land cover series, a chi-squared statistical analysis was carried out. Each series of land use change was compared against features derived from a DEM. These features were slope angle, altitude, wetness topographic index, and terrain aspect.The results obtained show a high dependence of Iand cover types upon landscape topographical features. Slope and aspect showed the clearest relationships while altitude and topographic index were not as strong.For full details on methods and results, see Rubiano (1998) 15• Output Developing models to assess land use changes helps in areas where data are insufficient or Iacking. They then 59-ed validation in the field.Contributor: JE''RubianoHighlight ~ Capacity developed to simulate watercourses in a commurrity watershed from digital terrain modelsThe aim is to simulate watercourses in community watersheds that can then be used to target scenario analysis and monitoring.The Spatial Water Budget Model (SWBM) is a watershed-scale model of continuous simulation and distributed parameter that simulates water supply and demand over space and time on a daily basis using raster GIS data structures. It was programrned in A venue and is fully embedded in ArcView GIS v3.1. Based on a digital elevation model (DEM), the SWBM delineates the locations of streams. The streams are used to determine the locations of possible springs (for the salce of simplicity, we are calling the \"plots\", springs) The stream network has been delineated for 3 different days in 1994 -a da y in the wet season (A), mid season (B), and dry season (C). Results are based on actual simulations. The stream flow at the outlet ofthe watershed was 2164 L (A), 1030 L (B), and 284 L (C). The number of springs on the 3 days were 69 (A), 30 (B), and 12 (C).An example priority map might show 1-ha plots across the 3246 ha Cabuya! River watershed. This analysis can be thought of as identifying microdrainage areas where each numbered si te is the beginning of a stream originating from leaching and lateral flow across a small drainage area. The analysis focuses scarce diagnostic and monitoring resourcesThe map was generated based on threshold levels ofwater flow. The technique lends itselfto multiple simulations using a range of threshold levels and therefore can produce more refined maps based on sensitivity analyses.Results of the analysis of prevailing land use seem to suggest a strong relationship between the location of springs and a few specific land use types (e. g., dense pasture, bush scrub ), natural clean pasture, and stubble. To investigate if such a relationship does exist, the results must be corrected for the actual area of each land use class. Table 12 gives the areas covered by each land use type. The area covered by each varíes strongly. Streams and springs in reality may be located around specific land use types such as forest. This may be partly the result of deforestation projects in the neighborhood of the springs ( e.g., creation of natural buffer zones around waterways). An important aspect of this work is that it greatly reduces the complexity of monitoring landscape properties and creating scenarios of plausible future states by focusing attention and resources on a fraction of the total area. Another output is the capacity to simulate watercourses in a community watershed from digital terrain models. These simulations can be used to prioritize small plots of land within complex landscapes based on lateral flow and drainage properties. Individual plots across the landscape that are sensitive to accumulation of water and therefore accumulation of soluble ions can then be targeted for scenario analysis and monitoring using procedures developed by other collaborators on this activity (see Activity 4.2.7). The aim ofthis analysis was to investigate the propensity ofthe ecosystem to reach equilibrium in proportions of land cover for the different explorative scenarios.This type of modeling is structured around statistically based, heuristic rules rather than mathematical relationships. Its role is to fill the gap when strict data requirements of numerical models cannot be met. We have engineered a rule-based model that simulates changing patterns of land cover based on logical rules developed from time-series analysis ofhistorical air and satellite imagery and GIS coverages. Advantages of this class of models is that during scenario analysis, stakeholders are more apt to feel comfortable judging and modifying rules written in common text rather than abstract mathematical functions.Land cover was projected over a 1 00-year time series. The year 2025 was chosen as the year of the explorative scenarios.The graphic projection shows that changes take place continuously o ver 100 years, but at slower rates. Whether the model reaches near-equilibrium land use distributions depends solely on the selection of land conversion rules. It would be difficult to a priori calculate a set of appropriate probabilities for which the land use distribution approaches an equilibrium because (1) the total number of different probabilities is large and (2) each land unit may have a different set of applicable conversion rules. Moreover, there is no reason to suspect that exogenous land use drivers will drive the system to equilibrium.The model can be used to help in decision making on land use when data is insufficient or lacking. We are engaged in developing and teaching a strategy whereby rural communities can form partnerships to create the ei_!vironment in which they desire to live.The first element of the strategy is to challenge stakeholders to examine their uncertain future through comparisons of a few descriptions of plausible altemative environments called explorative scenarios. The second element, in forums of representative stakeholders, is to identify a set of goals, the simplest of which should be represented by variables whose values can be observed or measured.A11 other goals should be framed into one or more altemative sets of these simplest goals, which we call \"desired future conditions\". All descriptions of altemative futures, whether plausible or desirable, must be internally logical and consisten!. Therefore, the third element of the strategy involves simulation modeling ofkey indicators called system variables (see Activity 4.2.7). The fourth and final element is the accessibility of current data and knowledge bases of system variables or indicators with which to begin the analysis and negotiation. An important use of the databases is to quantify distances or gaps between desired future conditions and current or plausible future conditions. Determining what it would take to close those gaps is what this strategy is all about.Workshops were held in April at the University of Georgia and in May in Nicaragua!. A 250 page workbook was developed for use in the workshops and tested in two in-country workshops.Government institutions, NGOs, and university stakeholders are being trained in the use ofthe \"multiple goal-driven\" methodology. The aim is to help build partnerships and create plausible futures.The partnerships we are emphasizing in our work are best characterized as multi-institutional alliances affecting resource management of community-scale ecosystems such as watersheds.We have identified six critical tasks that consortia of institutions must carry out to successfully support resource management. They are to:1) Identify stakeholders and ensure their representation in management efforts, 2) Provide forums for analysis and negotiation of di verse goals, 3) Define rules and nonns for the use ofresources within the watershed/landscape, 4) Initiate a process of local-level resource monitoring, 5) Formulate demand for services from extemal institutions in support of local efforts, and 6) Negotiate intemal versus extemal watershed interests.T o facilitate these six tasks, we are engineering an enabling environment we call the Intelligent Team/Decision Support System or IT/DSS. The \"Intelligent Team\" modifier connotes that our DSS is designed to support a team of multiple-goal-pursuing stakeholders as opposed to singleproblem, single stakeholder decisions. The \"intelligence\" follows from our objective to engineer a T/DSS that has intemal capabilities to \"leam\" by monitoring shared communications between stakeholders and pro-offer or on-demand make suggestions that will facilitate and expedite collaboration.Information technology products that are used to fortify computer-supported, collaborative work among groups ofpeople are commonly referred toas groupware. Work on the IT/DSS began with an evaluation of groupware either available commercially or those available from public universities that were typically \"free\" but restricted to noncommercial applications. Our search concluded with the selection of Habanero©, first released in 1996 by NCSA (the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (www.ncsa.uiuc.edu and search for \"Habanero\").In our opinion, Habanero©, or any off-the-shelf groupware, does not qualify as a DSS. To fill our needs, we are molding Habanero© around a structured, goal-driven, group-planning methodology, which involves the following phases.l . Statement of the core issue. Those representative stakeholders who scripted the initial set of scenarios with a call for creating a forum will have proposed the issue under consideration. 2. Stakeholder identification. This phase involves a detailed identification of all stakeholders with an interest in the issue and examination of their actual or poten ti al stake. 3. Goal formulation. 4. Development and evaluation of indicators (distance). 5. Goal-gap analysis. Identification offactors that are uncontrollable, facilitate reaching goals, or raise obstacles. 6 .. Generation of decision altematives. 7. Evaluation of altematives. 8. Agreement on the decision. 9. Implementation and monitoring.Drafts of printed instructional material to guide stakeholders through the methodology ha ve been tested and are available. Virtual forums offer opportunities for stakeholders separated by geography to consult colleagues, double-check available data and perhaps carry out rapid surveys to facilitate agreement. We demonstrated the IT/DSS in a local area network (LAN) configuration in Honduras.A short-tenn altemative to virtual forums could be face-to-face meetings where IT/DSS links small working groups through a LAN. Although sorne effectiveness would be lost, the IT/DSS + methodology combination still has several advantages: built-in support for accessing databases either on a server or locally like CD-ROMs available from CIAT, spatial analysis functionality (primarily GIS), and access to Internet resources (text documents, online databases, images, etc.). In addition, the IT/DSS guides and automates the entering of infonnation on prestructured forms and by tracking shared communications, it \"learns\" and can make \"intelligent\" suggestions. This is part of the definition of a unique approach to linking ad hoc measurements and geographical representations of poverty from com.munity-level, local! y constructed ''well-being\" rankings to standardized maps of national-level rankings. Our work links a measure of local indicators to nationwide databases and may contribute to bridge the knowledge gap between decision-makers and poor farmers.Ravnborg and her team (see IDB mid-term report) characterized 90 Honduran villages using locally identified indicators to derive locally relevant rankings of''well-being\". We then \"link\" this database to national household databases using neural networks, and then generate a map of the ''well-being\" composition of all Honduras villages.The result is an example of a \"common knowledge-base\" that can bridge the communication gap from international and national perspectives to local community perspectives.The level of well-being mapped at nationallevel helps identify critical areas of poverty. Labor productivity and natural resources: an assessment at the nationallevel in Honduras Highlight ./ Labor productivity and natural resources assessed at the nationallevel in HondurasThe aim was to establish if a link existed between natural resources and agriculturallabor productivity.Statistical analysis and GIS were used, based on census data and other biophysical parameters.The method can be applied quickly and can be reduced to smaller areas where projects and program want to focus. Correlation gives a sense of the relations between variables. Regression predicts roughly what would be the return of different investments. Cluster analysis helps to simplify the interpretation of a complex set of variables.We show through spatial analysis ofproductivity and natural resources that the relationship between natural resource conditions and agricultura} productivity is not as direct as one might think. Length of the rain y season has a strong and quasi linear relation with income. Soil has little impact on productivity as well as slope and altitude since coffee production in the mountain has a strong relation on productivity. Access to the main cities and to the main seaports has little relation with productivity because sorne of the main cities are located in unproductive areas.Improving the small road network would have more positive impact. The study suggests that good research and good policies can have a good impact on productivity.The study establishes the link between agriculturallabor productivity and natural resources variables at the nationallevel in Honduras. The combination of the three statistic techniques, correlation, regression and cluster, improves the understanding ofthe Honduran situation and may help orient policy reform. This work brings new understanding on the way poverty is being measured, and how it relates to productivity and NRM. The aim was to develop a methodology to ensure that well-being, preferences, and problem rankings are extrapolatable to nationallevel.The method ís based on the orthogonal design used for rnarket studies. We chose a sample of villages that present contrasting biophysical and socioeconomic characteristics, to better identify the driving forces asto well being, preferences, and problems. We used our household-level census databases, and other GIS prirnary and secondary data. In contrast to \"hard\" sampling, where there is a fixed set ofvillages to study, we derived a \"soft\" sample, where villages are ranked in terms of their degree of contrast, and from which the user can choose a sample subset. This allows more flexibility for working with partners, or improvement of fieldwork efficiency.We prefer this approach to the one of choosing \"representative\" villages. In effect, representativity implies that we already know what factors are important, and therefore leads to a strong bias towards the known. The risk in that case is to pave the way to preconceived ideas, and forget to take into account the minorities or the voiceless.We found that the choice of contrasting sample should be preferred o ver that of representativity. Participatory research should be planned as a designed experiment to ensure generalization of the results. We found that a \"soft\" sample, i.e., a broader sample with a criteria to help to selecta subsample, has the flexibility needed for field work and better integration of partners (NGOs, National Institutions).This activity helps to~ards the mapping of poverty at national Strengthen capacity for management and use of information, tools, and methods (train, diffuse, and follow up the process)Disseminating and evaluating maps with communities and prioritizing actions with communitiesHighlight v\" New maps added to Atlas ofYorito and Sulaco, HondurasThe aim was to pro mote the use of the interface by decision-makers in Y orito and Sulaco thus improving planning and investment.New maps from ESNACIFOR, COHDEFOR, and Cadastre were added to the Atlas. A former nonfunctional interface was repaired and improved with new maps. An Are View interface with menus, with more than 30 maps at the village level, was created. The interface was presented to the community in early September, and was installed on computers of nine organizations in Yorito.The 23 best maps ofthe Tascalapa microwatershed are in a user-friendly ArcView interface with easy access to menus. These maps have already been shown several times to the community, but by the former team, without the user-friendly interface.New maps were added.The user-friendly interface will ease the end user with GIS maps and help decision makers in Y orito and Sulaco.Training in GIS and database use Highlights ../ A manual was developed for local organizations on how to use ArcView with local maps ../ The manual was tested in Y orito ObjectiveThe aims were to pro mote the use of maps by alllocal organizations at our reference si tes for planning, proposals, reports, and analysis and to help alllocal organizations establish their data base.A manual was developed for local organizations on how to use Are View with local maps, and was tested in Yorito. Participating organizations answered a questionnaire aimed to determine the demand of GIS and databases. Twenty high-school students were trained in using Excel to work with databases.Technicians and students were trained.We are making future provision ofpersonnel trained in databases and GIS .. The aim was to train in the use ofthree dimensional models for use with the community.The manual 16 explains the use and advantages ofthis geographical tool before going through the steps in its construction. The mechanisms for achieving community participation are also discussed. Photographs give clear illustrations of points made.The manual is available for use.Using three-dimensional models is a more effective way ofworking with rural comrnunities. The manual helps train ~nĩti s interested in this type of work.,.-<>-\\ { 1) ...JE~ubiano, L Hurtado, M Vidal (Fundación Sol y Tierra), MO Fiscué Activity 4.3.3.(Asociación de Cabildos-Norte de Cauca)This activity is being carried out as required for training and agreed research. The objective of this activity is to develop practical procedures for screening data, indicators, and indexes routinely used by decision-makers responsible for managing hillside landscapes, and to demonstrate potential con.flicts in interpretation caused by \"scale effects\".A series oftools was developed to allow multi-scale analysis of geographical data. Table 13 lists the measures used. The toolkit is combined with a GIS package (ArcView 3) to enable users to access the census database and to generate infonnation relevant to their \"level\" or \"scale\" of interest. This is the first part of the process. It provides us with information that can then be further analyzed to spot \"where the action is\" in a dataset, and try to re-express the data in a way that captures the salient infonnation.Levels of explanation must be extracted from data, not preimposed. To date, our empirical evidence shows that the levels extracted from the data do not correspond in any simple way to traditionallevels of organization, but unfortunately the heritage is deeply ingrained. When you change the observation set, you change the level, therefore you cannot logically take a set of a priori levels and impose them on a new observation set, the imposition leads to confusion at best and to serious error at worst.  With the direct support of the office, more than 16 thematic maps were prepared on the impact of the hurricane on agriculture, infrastructure, services, and support in answer to requests made by 15 international aid organizations and the Secretary of Agriculture and Livestock. Twenty institutions were trained in the use of the Atlas during the workshop \"Tools to Support Decision-Making\" carried out in October 1998 in Tegucigalpa. Also, in January 1999, the Atlas of Honduras version \"Mitch\" was formally presented to representatives of the most important govemment institutions and intemational missions. The CD-ROM was also presented at several national and intemational events.The Atlas ofHonduras version \"Mitch\" was directly delivered by the office to 85 institutions. An undetermined number of copies were also distributed through an agreement with the United States Geological Survey (USGS).The Atlas ofNicaragua is currently in process and is being developed under an agreement between CIA T and MAGFOR.Key technicians ofHonduras were trained in using the digital Atlas ofHonduras. This was particularly useful given the disaster following hurricane Mitch. We aimed to assess the relationship between natural resource quality and labor productivity in Honduras and develop a coherent methodology to analyze the national spatial database. Other aims were to pro mote the CIA T Mitch Atlas, the soil database, and the use of the national census.Workers' productivity in Honduras were calculated and the correlation between variables. A linear regression was run to explain productivity, anda cluster analysis to identify clusters of homogenous farmers.Productivity in Honduras cannot be explained by distance to main cities. The most productive regions are not close to cities. The month when rains occur is the most important factor. Annual rainfall is not important. Soil characteristics have little impact on overall productivity. Slope and altitude are not strongly related to overall productivity because coffee production compensates the depressing effect of both slope and altitude. Land concentration is in the hands of a few and this decreases overall productivity. Population density has a strong negative relationship with productivity. Education and extension services have a strong relationship with productivity. Ethnic villages have lower productivity. Study results were submitted to colleagues for revision and will be presented to policy makers. A paper was presented at the CIA T Poverty workshop in Costa Rica.The databases produced have good potential to change the perception people have about hillside areas. The analysis shows that hillside areas have good productive potential. The airn was to update the borne page ofCIAT's Hillside project on the World Wide Web.Different structure proposals for the Hillside proj ect' s borne page were designed on the basis of a revision of different borne pages and the project's annual reports publisbed to date. These proposals were discussed intemally until the project agreed on the structure. We bave defined the information that will be included in the different parts of the project' s borne page, and their location within the hierarcby.Meetings with the CIA T WWW borne page group bave belped us identify basíc design concepts.So far four hierarchicallevels bave been defined:Levell. Leve12. The aims were to mak.e information about the project and its products available in an organized form, and to improve local and outside access to information about the project.The Web page, designed in 1997 using Netscape Composer, integrated the information generated by the project since 1994. In 1999, it was completely revamped to include more detailed information on project reference sites and on products developed by the project over the last 2 years. The project' s home page was recently linked to the CIA T general home page, anda space was created for the new MIS Consortium.At http://www.intertel.hn/org/ciathill, users can rapidly consult the biophysical and socioeconomic characteristics of project reference sites in Honduras and Nicaragua. They can also obtain general data on characteristics from the Atlas of Honduras and other decision-mak.ing tools. Information contained in newsletters and documents produced by the project can also be accessed. Figure 4 shows the structure ofthe project's Web page.With the updating ofthe Web page, new project products were included and the number and variety of users able to access the page increased.National partners are better informed about project activities. The aims were to inform members ofthe project's Advisory Group and other key institutions in the region about the advances in project activities as related to the 1999 annual operational plan, and to expand activities carried out by other CIA T projects in the region.An editorial committee was established to identify topics and write the items that would appear in the bulletin, to be published every 2 months. The text and photographs are incorporated into a simple format using Microsoft Word.To date two issues have been published. Copies were sent to 30 institutions in Nicaragua and 30 in Honduras. The first issue focused on the general description of project activities, and the second included practica! examples of how the project helped strengthened rural communities through the Rural Agroenterprise and Seeds of Hope projects.The bulletin has become a .direct communication channel for members of the Advisory Group. Its members are informed about project activities and potential benefits. The two issues published to date are a so urce of up-to-date information.Outpu.t The aims were to centralize all information generated and compiled by the project and toallow project staffto use this information through a user-friend1y system.All documents published by the staff of Hillsides-Colombia were inventoried and systematized.The Hillside Project's digital database ofphotos, covering 1993-1999 was launched. Documents in digital format, databases of surveys, and geographical studies pertinent to Hillsides, were identified followed by recovery and compilation.The title page indicating the information included was developed in htlm format, forming links with the files in their original format. Netscape Composer was used to design the access to existing information.Figure 5 shows how digitalized information on the project is presented  The centralized information has been structured to date in the case of Honduras. The databases can be used to access project documents and the maps ge~erated in ArcView. A similar structure is being implemented in the case of information for Nicaragua. So far, most of the information scattered in files, databases on different computers, proceedings, reports, and specific maps has been centralized. However, to increase its usefulness, this information should frrst be revised to avoid duplications and then organized systematically.The centralization of information is the frrst step to inventory the types of informatíon generated by the project over time and its usefulness as a work too l.\\~o-Ji v1' f\"' fnr,J-J11r~ R.r~-\"\"\"Contributors: v ' Escober, J~'beltrart;' M' Ay~ ffi~ubiano Activity 5.3.6.Information was collected and is in the process of publication.Activity 5.3. 7.All products aer being sold in different parts ofboth countries.Table 14 summarizes all interinstitutional actívities in which project staff in Honduras has participated (July 1998-late 1999). This participation includes workshops and events organized by the Project at the national and locallevels, as well as other events to which the project was invited.The project-especially its coordinators in Honduras (M Ayarza and L Brizuela)-have spent much time coordinating events and participating m meetings and workshops. The implications these activities can have for disseminating information generated by the project are significant, as well as the positive impact that the project can have in the region.   • Participants exchanged information on activities of their respective institutions• Doubts clarified about mechanisms osed by institutions to benefit to target population      Three participatory NRM projects were selected to develop and introduce a PM&E system. They were (1) GTZ-Apoyo a la Foresteria Comunal (AFOCO), Yuscarán, (2) IPCA, Yorito, and (3) CIA T Hillsides -SOL project.Exploratory interviews with different stakeholders were conducted in the project regions to collect sorne baseline information and to become acquainted with the communities and their perceptions.The action research process was initiated by a series of workshops, which were conducted in each project to develop PM&E together with different stakeholders. The PM&E approach that is followed is oriented by a concept ofGermann et al. (1996)   17 •As a frrst step, exploratory interviews were conducted in each project region of the two selected case study projects CIAT-Hillsides and GTZ-AFOCO. From 19th-23rd of April and 3rd_7th of May, 53 semi-structured interviews were realized with local people and key informants in CIAT's reference site Yorito 1 Sulaco; and from 12th-21st ofMay, 42 interviews were conducted in AFOCO's project area Yuscarán, El Paraíso Departrnent.On 28th of June and 27th -28th of July, meetings were organized to conceptualize the idea of a \"supermarket\", to identify the objectives ofthe SOL Network, to develop first ideas related toan M&E system, and to establish an interinstitutional working group, which further promotes the establislunent of the network of supermarkets. The idea is to elaborate a joint proposal which allows us to apply for sorne additional funds . Given that the SOL Network is still initiating and that it adopts a marketing strategy rather than working on self-help promotion, makes it different from the other two cases, which were selected to introduce the PM&E concept.The IPCA is a partner institution collaborating with CIA T -Hillsides in the reference si te of Y orito where it initiated and supports more than 20 cornrnunity-based farmer research teams (CIALs). On the 24th and 25th of August, workshops were conducted with two CIALs (1 ofmen and 1 of women), to support them in developing their own M&E systems.The project AFOCO in Yuscarán, El Paraíso Department, lays strong emphasis on selfpromotion. On 19th of July a meeting was held with the AFOCO project staffto review the existing M&E activities, and to introduce the PM&E concept. It was agreed to (1) support local groups in developing their own M&E systems, and (2) build a complementary project M&E based on the staffs expectations and fears that allows amplification ofthe conventional logframe-based M&E. The team suggested starting to develop an M&E with the \"Cooperativa Agro forestal La Guadal u pe Ltda\" The cooperative is a key actor in the process of developing a model for cornrnunity-forestry. On July 22\"d, a workshop was held with the directive ofthe cooperative to establish their M&E system. Two persons (members ofthe \"junta de vigilancia\") were nominated as observers (M&E committee ), and started to document and record their observations in simple form. A series of complementary meetings was held with the project team to improve and harmonize the project-based M&E.A preliminary report (in Spanish) ofthe exploratory interviews, summarizing people's statements is available. This does not yet include the full infonnation, which was recorded on cassettes, and it does not yet attempt to analyze and comment on the statements people made.So far a frrst step has been taken to initiate PM&E systems in the three case study projects. More experience on the benefits and usefulness of this instrument will be gained by carrying out and adjusting PM&E over the following months.Having been involved in the above~mentioned meetings, the AFOCO project staff regards themselves capable of also supporting other local groups in the establishment of their own M&E systems.p rf Contributor: K Probst Activity 5.6../ Intermediary and final indicators defined -1' Defined a chain of impact from the product to the farmer with an emphasis on the adoption process -1' Each researcher from Honduras defined a chain of impact for own productThe aims were to measure, in the reference si tes, community advance in terms of natural resources, production, and poverty and to assess where investigation needs are the most importan t.A task force of four researchers working in the four CIA T reference si tes (Y orito in Honduras, San Dionisio in Nicaragua, Pucallpa in Peru, and the Llanos in Colombia) meet every 3 months to define a clear strategy of indicator monitoring. Bruno Barbier is in charge of the monitoring at the watershed and municipality levels in Yorito and Sulaco. Kirsten Probst is in charge ofthe monitoring for several farmers groups (CIALs) working with IPCA and for the SOL Project.Intermediary and final indicators were defmed. The chain of impact was mapped between the initial indicators and the final indicators. A chain of impact was defmed from the product to the farmer with an emphasis on the adoption process. Each researcher from Honduras defmed a chain ofimpact for own product (e.g., agroenterprises, Seeds ofHope, SOL project, soils, and simulations ). A review was made of what other organizations are doing in Y orito and Sulaco. A large part of the NRM monitoring in Honduras and Nicaragua (rainfall, stream flow, erosion, sedirnentation) was begun.A good start has been made to assessing impact in the reference sites. The task force has not yet defmed a strategy for watershed-and municipality-level rnonitoring.This is, in effect, measuring CIA T' s impact on poverty and NRM.  Seed produced during the d.ry season (Dec-Jan) was distributed at beginning ofthe frrst planting season (Apr-May) to the poorest farmers most affected by hurricane Mitch in Honduras and Nicaragua.In Honduras, seed was distributed in 14 of its 16 departments by rúne institutions. Seed reached 63 municipalities and 7,687 farmers. In Nicaragua, seed was distributed in 11 ofthe country' s 20 departments by seven institutions. Seed reached 34 municipalities and 3,199 poor farmers affected by hurricane Mitch.From May to June, another 123 hectares were planted in four departments: Francisco Morazan, El Paraíso, O lancho, and Comayagua. Yields in this area are about 150 tons of clean, packed seed. Therefore another 12,000 farmers in Honduras and Nicaragua were benefited with the second delivery of seed.A training course for postharvest management of bean seed of artisan production was held in Honduras and Nicaragua. In Honduras, this event received the support ofDICTA, Secretaria de Agricultura y Ganadería (SAG), EAP-Zamorano, and PROFRIJOL, and in Nicaragua that of INTA,. MAGFOR, UNA, PROEMSA, and PROFRIJOL. Among farmers and technicians, 59 people were trained, with the participation of 17 collaborating institutions (Table 17). The aim was to produce maps that would help determine most pressing areas of need for seed.We developed a method to do a first screening of the villages that would receive seeds produced by the Seeds ofHope project. We relied essentially on the Mitch Atlas, but also on more extensive databases such as the unit-level agricultura! census of 1993 and data from USGS. We used a set of criteria discussed with our partners in country to produce a series of maps to help identify sites for beans, maize, and potato distribution. In addition, we had a consultant assemble in a GIS, information about our possible partners for this project.The criteria table was not used as we intended, i.e., GIS could not be used as a prescriptive tool, but mainly provided data and maps that were used to support the decisions on the sites that would receive seeds.The maps that we produced from the CIA T -Cali office, with an educated guess about what should be the pararneters to take into account for prioritization, resulted necessary and sufficient. The use of GIS allowed better targeting of communities to receive -seed help in Honduras and Nicaragua. \\ "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7560a2e76176892cb4072236a971e10e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/1c10ca95-1eb9-49b7-b717-129da8468bc1/retrieve","id":"-1577407357"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b2a3c9c6-cac3-4437-a8d2-6f7b1f9446d2","content":"In agrarian economies, the cultivation of low-profit staple crops could meet subsistence needs, but poverty levels may still persist. Striking a balance between staple crops and high-value crops using climate-smart agricultural practices, including groundwater use, could help drive food security and poverty reduction.Access to and control over groundwater supports climate resilience, and offers farmers a competitive advantage compared to those without access to this resource.The ultimate success (food security, profitability) of cultivation systems depends on a range of enabling technological, structural and financial investments (land tenure, markets, communications, transport, trade policies, finance and inputs) at plot to national scales. Some of these investments are made by farmers and governments, and others by the private sector and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).The North Central Province (NCP) is situated in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka. Average annual rainfall in the province is less than 1,750 mm, of which very little occurs between May and September (dry season). An estimated 12,000-16,000 irrigation tanks, mainly situated in villages, have been constructed since 300 BC to store surface runoff to support dry-season rice cultivation, which is practiced in addition to rain-fed rice production. However, dry-season cultivation remained at subsistence levels, with slash-and-burn agriculture in the highlands complementing limited lowland paddy production. Therefore, poverty levels in rural areas continued to persist, due to rural economies being largely dependent on subsistence agriculture. This scenario has changed with the recent use of groundwater to intensify dry-season cultivation in some parts of the Dry Zone. In the late 1980s, under the government's National Agro-well Program, subsidies were provided to farmers in NCP for the construction of shallow (~6-8 m), large diameter (~8 m) open wells and for the purchase of diesel pumps. The program primarily focused on poverty alleviation and food security. Early signs of success of the program attracted further support from NGOs and provincial ministries, although investments by farmers themselves soon became a major driver in the expansion of agro-wells (Karunaratne and Pathmarajah 2003).A farmer in the Anuradhapura district irrigates his onion crop using water from an agro-well (photo: Sanjiv de Silva/IWMI)  This research study focused on four villages in the Anuradhapura district, where a high density of agrowells support intensified agricultural production systems. During the period from November 2013 to October 2014, quantitative primary data were collected through a structured household questionnaire, while qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with government officials, female and male farmers, village elders and private sector actors. Primary data collection was supported with field observations, local government data and a review of existing literature. The collected data covered the evolution of agro-well-based cultivation and associated crops and cropping patterns; agricultural income and production costs; irrigation practices; village-level poverty and employment; evolution of policy and regulatory environments; political economy of land use regulations in relation to the conversion of the state's forestland to private farmland; and the emergence of value chains driven by both the state and the private sector.Using this on-demand source of irrigation water, subsistence dry-season crops have been replaced with high-value crops such as chili and onion. While average net annual income from 1 acre (0.404686 hectares) of paddy is approximately USD 994, the equivalent income from onions and chili can be as much as USD 5,561 and USD 4,231, respectively. This multi-fold increase in income has financed major improvements in the well-being of households, such as improved food security, quality of housing, transport (motorbikes) and agricultural mechanization. Survey respondents attributed this to the income gained from agro-well-based agricultural production, a claim supported by official village employment statistics which indicate that only 16% of those between 18 and 60 years of age are employed outside the agriculture sector. In the highlands, the crop cultivated in the wet season also changed from soya to maize, while onions and chilli were the dominant crops in the dry season. The number of agrowells increased from 64% to 179% in the study villages from 2002 to 2012. Land under highland cultivation also expanded from an estimated average of 1 acre per household in 1985 to 5 acres today, which may have been at the cost of converting much of the surrounding forests, and causing conflict between people and wildlife such as elephants, who pose a threat to crops, physical property and human lives.The resilience of this agro-well-based agricultural production to climatic stress was demonstrated during the prolonged drought marked by several months of below-average rainfall between September 2013 and December 2014. While this reduced agricultural production by approximately 40% at national level 1 , farmers in the study villages increased net incomes from chili and onions when these crops were abandoned in parts of the Dry The success of this agricultural production system in generating pro-poor outcomes cannot be explained by agro-wells and pumps alone. Tracing its evolution reveals diverse contextual enabling factors at play, covering social, political, institutional, economic, ecological and physical dimensions as shown in Figure 1. Many of these elements, moreover, have a concurrent evolutionary trajectory to the agricultural production system itself that reflects broader developmental processes. The government's National Agro-well Program provided the original impetus. Political patronage, expressed as outright gifts of agricultural technology or subsidies during local and national elections, also helped. Private sector credit facilities with service delivery to nearby towns and villages further enhanced access to finance. This facilitated expansion of agricultural mechanization from pumps to tractors, combined harvesters, threshers, dryers and vehicles to transport produce to markets. Mechanization also controlled labor costs and reduced the time needed for land preparation and harvesting.A typical agro-well in the Anuradhapura district (photo: Sanjiv de Silva/IWMI) Zone where there are no agro-wells. This led to a shortage in the supply of these products and hence large price increases.  Past studies suggest this to be a likely externality Risk to human health, and soil quality and productivityLoss in water-holding capacity of village tanks due to siltation Loss of forest habitat causing loss of biodiversity and an added risk to human safety and crop production due to human-wildlife conflictProduction of other field crops contribute to reducing domestic supply deficits, especially in the dry seasonAn increase in domestic production will reduce the need for imports Highland production with feedback loops between Drivers and OutcomesThe concurrent development of agricultural markets has been critical in absorbing production at prices that have thus far outstripped costs of production and farmers' perceptions of risk. The government invested in a wholesale fruit and vegetable market in Dambulla as part of a network of regional collection centers linked to markets across the country. The price of highland rain-fed maize -a key ingredient in local breakfast cerealsdoubled after several private companies The lax enforcement of forest regulations by the Forest Department and local government enabled land conversion. Interviews conducted with officers from these institutions confirmed that poverty alleviation was consciously prioritized over rule enforcement. This was also driven by strong kinship and other social relationships, since many local government and line agency staff were local recruits with close ties to these farming communities. Social networks also helped to maintain low labor costs through traditional reciprocal forms of free labor among households. began offering forward contracts for the produce. Their sourcing network replaced a more exploitative market controlled by local middlemen. Improvements in the rural road network and mobile communications enabled negotiations between farmers and buyers, and linked farmers to diverse markets, credit providers and state sector service providers.Market structure is also central to the profitability of chili and onions. Since domestic production only accounts for approximately 50% of national demand, sharp short-term price spikes (especially for chili) during the dry season enable farmers to achieve significant profit margins. This is also possible because chili can be continuously harvested once the plant reaches maturity, whereas the harvesting of paddy or most other field crops occurs only at the end of the season. Another factor is the aim of the government fiscal policy to reduce the financial burden of high food imports (Sri Lanka Government Ministry of Agricultural Development and Agrarian Services 2008). Therefore, this prompts an increase in tariffs on imported onions at the time of local harvests to ensure farmers achieve sufficient profit margins, and to encourage further investment in production. This case study demonstrates that establishing and sustaining new crop production systems must be conceptualized as part of broader national/subnational development strategies, which lead to multi-sectoral (on-and off-farm) investments to achieve optimal production and sufficient income while managing risks.However, the study also highlights the need to monitor both water quality and abstraction rates due to the significant loss of forest cover and cropping intensity, which raises water demand and increases the use of agrochemicals. If not managed, abstraction beyond sustainable levels and water pollution can put the future of these highly lucrative production systems at risk."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"080a80f2028dfcef7010b5c470c1124c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0b1cac73-dcdc-4058-9a26-beea10255fd8/retrieve","id":"-1537758654"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cf189600-5344-4b54-b883-c78a5843e3a3","content":"WHEREAS, the Consortium and the Centers, including the Lead Center, will work collaboratively to advance the objectives of the CGIAR; WHEREAS, the Consortium submitted to the Fund Council a proposal for use of funds from Windows 1 and/or 2 of the CGIAR Fund for the implementation of this CRP (copy attached hereto as Exhibit [_]). The Fund Council approved the proposed CRP on _______, and the Fund Council and the Consortium entered into a CPA, upon which basis the Consortium is hereby entering into this Program Implementation Agreement with the Lead Center; and WHEREAS, this PIA governs the funding and implementation of this CRP; NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the representations, warranties, covenants and agreements contained herein, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, and intending to be legally bound hereby, the Parties hereby agree as follows:1.1.1 Grant Amount. Based on the Fund Council approval of the Fund Council-Approved Component of the Total Budget for [__] years (a copy of the Total Budget is attached as Exhibit [ ]) set forth in this CRP's proposal, the amount of funds from Windows 1 and 2 of the CGIAR Fund that shall be disbursed from the CGIAR Fund to the Lead Center as part of this CRP is US$ _____________ (or the equivalent thereof) subject to revision by the Fund Council (\"Windows 1 and 2 Funds\"). Such disbursements shall be made according to the budgeted (yearly) amounts provided in the Consortium Performance Agreement applicable to this CRP and this CRP's proposal approved by the Fund Council, as may be amended from time to time, and at all times subject to the availability of funds in the CGIAR Fund.Use of Windows 1 and 2 Funds.As set forth in the Glossary, \"Window 1 Funds\" means funds disbursed from Window 1 of the CGIAR Fund. \"Window 2 Funds\" means funds disbursed from Window 2 of the CGIAR Fund.Funds deposited into Window 1 shall consist of (a) any funds designated to Window 1 by Fund Donors, (b) refunds from recipients, including the Trustee and Fund Office, regardless of the Window from which the funds were originally received, (c) any investment income generated by funds held in the CGIAR Fund, (d) the CSP amounts from Windows 2 and 3 and the Provisional Account, and (e) the Bilateral Portion of System Costs. Window 1 funds may be allocated by the Fund Council to CRPs, in consultation with the Consortium, and to System Costs.Funds deposited into Window 2 shall consist of funds directed by Fund Donors to specific CRPs proposed by the Consortium and approved by the Fund Council as eligible to receive Window 2 subaccount funding.The Windows 1 and 2 Funds, and any investment income earned thereon, shall be used only for the purposes described in this CRP's proposal.The Lead Center may use, and may allow the Program Participants to use, Windows 1 and 2 Funds disbursed from the CGIAR Fund for use in this CRP to retroactively pay for expenditures incurred as part of this CRP as of the start date of this CRP which is set to be on [_________] (\"Start Date of this CRP\") 1 . For the avoidance of doubt, this PIA does not impose on the Lead Center any obligation to carry out activities under this CRP if the corresponding Window 1 or 2 Funds are not disbursed to the Lead Center under this PIA. (For purposes of this PIA, \"Program Participants\" shall be limited to Program Participants in this CRP.)Investment of Windows 1 and 2 Funds. The Lead Center agrees, and shall require all Program Participants to agree, that all yet-to-be spent or committed Windows 1 and 2 Funds, which have been disbursed to the Lead Center or any such Program Participant, must be invested in highly liquid investments (such as an interest-bearing bank account) with the primary objective of preserving principal so that they remain available for funding of this CRP in the manner described in this PIA. Any interest or other income generated by such Windows 1 and 2 Funds, including currency conversion gains, shall be (i) used only for the purposes described in this CRP's proposal or (ii) if not needed for such purposes, returned to the Trustee for deposit as Window 1 Funds. The Lead Center and any Program Participants may freely exchange Windows 1 and 2 Funds into other currencies as may facilitate their use and disbursement. Any currency conversion losses that are incurred in implementing this CRP shall be taken into account as a reasonable, allocable and allowable expense of this CRP. 2Management Structure. This CRP shall be managed as set forth in this CRP's proposal approved by the Fund Council.3.1 Partners/Subcontractors. The Lead Center may use Windows 1 and 2 Funds to partner or subcontract with Program Participants for the implementation and completion of this CRP. The Lead Center shall require any Program Participants in this CRP to operate this CRP in accordance with this PIA and all applicable Fund Use Agreements to which the Consortium is a party (copy [copies] attached as Exhibit [ ]), which consist of the Joint Agreement and the Consortium Performance Agreement applicable to this CRP). (For purposes of this PIA, \"Consortium Performance Agreement\" or \"CPA\" will refer to the CPA applicable to this CRP.) If a Program Participant informs the Lead Center that such Program Participant has other third party contractual obligations, internal policies or statutory or regulatory requirements that differ from this PIA, the Joint Agreement or the CPA, the Lead Center may take such issues into consideration in formulating the governing Subagreement; provided, however, that the Lead Center first consults with the Consortium and, to the extent that any failure to flow down provisions from this PIA, the Joint Agreement or the CPA to such Subagreement adversely affects the Consortium's ability to fulfill its contractual obligations to the Fund Council or Fund Donors, receives the Consortium's advance, written approval.Oversight by Lead Center. The Lead Center shall be responsible for overseeing the implementation of this CRP by Program Participants and for all payments to and reporting from Program Participants.Procurement. The Lead Center shall, and shall require all Centers participating in this CRP to, use Windows 1 and 2 Funds disbursed from the CGIAR Fund for use in this CRP in accordance with the existing CGIAR Procurement of Goods, Works and Services Guidelines (No. 6), which apply as part of this PIA, unless and until replaced by the relevant section expected to form part of a chapter of the Common Operational Framework upon approvals by the Fund Council and Consortium, which shall be consistent with the CGIAR reform principle of streamlined and effective system-level governance with clear accountability. (Any such replacement by the relevant section of the Common Operational Framework shall provide for a period of transition to such new guidelines to limit to an absolute minimum any additional costs to by incurred by the Lead Center or other Centers participating in this CRP.)Due Diligence by Lead Center.(a)The Lead Center, either directly or through other Centers participating in this CRP, shall conduct due diligence and review of Program Participants to the extent deemed necessary or appropriate by the Lead Center. Material Changes. Except as specified in this CRP, or as otherwise approved by the Consortium, the Lead Center agrees, and shall require the Program Participants to agree, to seek approval from the Consortium to make material revisions to this CRP, including for the following reasons: (i) to change the scope or the objectives of this CRP or to add any new material activity ; (ii) to change any budget line item of this CRP's Total Budget by more than (y) 10 percent or (z) $500,000, whichever is lower; and (iii) to request an increase in the Fund Council-Allocated Component or in the Total Budget. 44.1 Cost Allocations. The Lead Center shall, and shall require Program Participants to, use Windows 1 and 2 Funds for costs incurred in carrying out this CRP only to the extent that such costs are reasonable, allocable and allowable, as defined in the Financial Guidelines No. 5 CGIAR Cost Allocation Guidelines.Reimbursements. The Consortium shall not be obligated to reimburse the Lead Center or any Program Participants for costs incurred in excess of the total Windows 1 and 2 Funds committed in this PIA. The Lead Center shall not be obligated to continue performance under this PIA, or otherwise to incur costs in excess of the amounts committed and/or actually transferred under this PIA, unless and until further funds from the CGIAR Fund have been allocated and distributed through amendments specifying the new committed amounts.Bilateral Funds. The Lead Center shall, and shall require each Center participating in this CRP to, accept Bilateral Funding for the implementation of the SRF under agreements or arrangements entered into after the effective date of the Joint Agreement or additional funding after the effective date of the Joint Agreement under existing agreements or arrangements only when the CSP for such funding is provided for in such Bilateral Funding agreements or arrangements or is otherwise to be paid by the Lead Center, or such Centers, from operating or unrestricted funds. In addition, the Lead Center shall also cause each Center to require, through appropriate Subagreements, any other Center to accept Bilateral Funding for the implementation of the SRF only under such conditions. In exceptional circumstances, the Consortium and the Fund Council may waive this requirement for collecting the CSP from all Bilateral Funding received directly by a Center.Windows 1, 2 and 3 Funds. Neither the Lead Centers, nor any Centers participating in this CRP, shall have any obligation to collect or otherwise pay the CSP on funds disbursed through Windows 1, 2 or 3. The Parties understand that the Trustee of the CGIAR Fund shall collect the CSP before such funds are disbursed from the CGIAR Fund.5.1 General.(a)The Lead Center shall submit to the Consortium all reports described in the harmonized reporting requirements (reporting templates) approved as part of the Common Operational Framework.Notwithstanding any provision in this Section 5, the Lead Center shall provide reports to the Consortium as may be reasonably necessary for the Consortium to comply with its reporting obligations provided in the Joint Agreement or the Consortium Performance Agreement (as noted previously, copies attached as Exhibits [ ] and [ ]).Financial Reporting.(a)The Lead Center shall maintain, and shall require that any Program Participants maintain, books, records, documents, and other evidence in accordance with their respective usual accounting procedures to sufficiently substantiate, in a manner reasonably satisfactory to the Consortium, financial data relating to this CRP. The Lead Center may, in exceptional circumstances, accept Bilateral Funding from a donor that refuses to allow its name to be disclosed. In such circumstances, the Lead Center shall identify the donor as \"anonymous,\" but shall disclose the funds received from such donor in all relevant reports and shall explain to the Consortium the justifications for keeping such donor's identity anonymous.The Lead Center agrees, and shall require Program Participants to agree, that the Fund Council and any Fund Donor reserves the right to request separate audited financial statements or reports for portions of this CRP financed by Windows 1 or 2 Funds; provided that any such requesting Fund Donor(s) have a statutory, regulatory or policy environment requiring such Fund Donor(s)' ability to make a request unilaterally and have negotiated such rights through its respective Contribution Agreement or Contribution Arrangement. The cost of any such separate audited financial statements or reports, including the internal costs of the Lead Center, Centers and other Program Participants with respect to such statements or reports, shall be paid by the requesting Fund Council (through the Fund Office budget) or Fund Donor(s), as the case may be. The Lead Center shall, and shall require any Program Participants, to: (i) retain all records evidencing expenditures of Windows 1 and 2 Funds disbursed pursuant to this PIA for at least three years after the termination of this CRP as part of which such Windows 1 and 2 Funds were provided; (ii) permit designated representatives of the Consortium or the Fund Council to examine such records; (iii) provide to the Consortium and the Fund Council all such information concerning such records as they may from time to time reasonably request.Activity, Output, Outcome and Impact Reporting.(a) Within six months of the completion of this CRP, the Lead Center shall provide a final report, in a format agreed to in advance with the Consortium, regarding this CRP.The Lead Center shall promptly inform the Consortium of any conditions that interfere or threaten to interfere with this CRP or with the Lead Center's obligations under this PIA.Annual Reports. The Lead Center shall provide to the Consortium upon request, and shall require any other Center participating in this CRP to provide to the Consortium upon request, a copy of any annual report that the Lead Center or such Center, as the case may be, prepares on a project funded with Bilateral Funds.6.1 General.(a) Notwithstanding any provision in this Section 6, the Lead Center agrees, and shall require the Program Participants with respect to this CRP to agree, that the Consortium has the right to commission evaluations of the Lead Center and the Program Participants in connection with activities undertaken by the Lead Center and Program Participants with respect to this CRP as may be reasonably necessary to comply with the Consortium's obligations provided in the Joint Agreement or any Fund Use Agreement to which it is a party (as noted previously, copies attached as Exhibits [ ] and [ ]). If the costs of such evaluations have not be approved as part of this CRP, the Consortium shall pay the fees and expenses relating to such evaluations out of its share of the Systems Costs, or otherwise arrange for such payment. For the and uphold the highest standards of integrity in the administration of such Windows 1 and 2 Funds, including the prevention of fraud and corruption.The Lead Center shall, and shall require Program Participants to, agree that Windows 1 and 2 Funds received as part of this CRP shall not be used for payments for which corrupt, fraudulent, collusive, obstructive, or coercive practices were engaged in by representatives of the Lead Center or Program Participants.The Lead Center shall, and shall require Program Participants to, promptly report to the Consortium any occurrence of which the Lead Center or Program Participants, respectively, becomes aware of any Windows 1 and 2 Funds disbursed from the CGIAR Fund for use in this CRP being used for purposes other than as provided in this PIA.The Lead Center shall confirm, and shall require the Program Participants to confirm, that, given the activities funded by Windows 1 and 2 Funds, such recipient does not believe that Windows 1 and 2 Funds would be diverted in support of drug trafficking.The Lead Center agrees, and shall require the Program Participants to agree, to use their best efforts, to the extent allowed by applicable agreements, such as those signed by host governments, and other applicable laws, to ensure that their use of any funds disbursed from the Fund (including Window 3 Funds) will be free from any taxation or fees imposed under local laws.The Lead Center is not aware, and shall obtain assurance from each Program Participant that it is not aware, of information that indicates the need for further scrutiny of the use of the Windows 1 and 2 Funds (including non-frivolous allegations that corrupt, fraudulent, collusive or coercive practices were undertaken in relation to such use). In the event that the Lead Center becomes aware of information that indicates the need for further scrutiny of use of the Windows 1 and 2 Funds in violation of this section of this PIA (including nonfrivolous allegations that corrupt, fraudulent, collusive or coercive practices were undertaken in relation to the use of the Windows 1 and 2 Funds), the Lead Center shall promptly notify the Consortium thereof. The Lead Center agrees to include corresponding provisions with respect to Program Participants in any Subagreement.The Lead Center agrees, and shall require the Program Participants to agree, to provide appropriate attribution for all Fund Donors for this CRP that is funded with Windows 1 and 2 Funds. The Consortium shall provide the Lead Center with clear guidelines regarding such attribution as soon as such guidelines are received from the Fund Council.The Lead Center agrees, and shall require the Program Participants to agree, to carry out all regulated research activities under high standards (set with reference to internationally accepted practices and to be described in the Common Operational Framework) and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. The Lead Center agrees to indemnify the Consortium for any damages arising from such this CRP-related activities financed by Windows 1 and 2 Funds, except to the extent that such damages are the result of the Consortium's actions. In the event any amounts are received by the Consortium under such indemnification, the Consortium shall determine the allocation or distribution of such amounts.The Lead Center acknowledges and supports the CGIAR policy of full cost recovery from all sources of financing for implementation of the SRF. The Lead Center shall require Program Participants in this CRP to accept bilateral funds for implementation of this CRP only at full cost recovery. In exceptional circumstances, the Consortium and the Fund Council may waive this requirement for full cost recovery.Liabilities. None of the Fund Donors, the Trustee, the Fund Office or the Consortium shall be responsible for the activities of any person or third party engaged by the Lead Center, any Center or any Program Participants with use of Windows 1 and 2 Funds or as a result of this PIA, or any Window 3 Transfer Agreement or Subagreement; nor will the Fund Donors, the Trustee, Fund Office or Consortium be liable for any costs incurred by such recipients in terminating the engagement of any such person.9.1 Prohibited Use of Windows 1 and 2 Funds.(a)Recognizing the obligations of countries that are members of the United Nations under various United Nations Security Council resolutions to take measures to prevent financing of terrorists, the Lead Center agrees, and shall require the Program Participants to agree, to undertake to use reasonable efforts, consistent with their governing arrangements and policies, including those pertaining to combating financing for terrorists, to ensure that the Windows 1 and 2 Funds disbursed from the CGIAR Fund for use in this CRP are used for their intended purposes and are not diverted to individuals or entities associated with terrorism, as identified in accordance with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. The Lead Center shall, and shall require Program Participants, (i) not use such Windows 1 and 2 Funds for the purpose of any payment to persons or entities, or for the import of goods, if such payment or import, to the recipient's knowledge or belief, is prohibited by a decision of the United Nations Security Council taken under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, including under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 and related resolutions, and (ii) include a corresponding provision in any Subagreements that the recipient enters into with entities to which the recipient makes such Windows 1 and 2 Funds available. While the Lead Center and all Program Participants must comply with the prohibition set forth in this Section 9.1(a), for the avoidance of doubt, this Section 9.1(a) does not prevent the Lead Center and/or Program Participants from operating or partnering in territories where threats of terrorism may be present.The Lead Center shall not partner with any other organization or subcontractor in implementing this CRP that (a) appears on the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons maintained by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control or any similar list maintained by the European Union, or (b) within the past five years, has been found guilty or liable under any anti-money laundering, trading with the enemy, antibribery or similar statutes of any country, or is under investigation with respect to any of the foregoing and such investigation has been publicly announced by the investigating entity or body.The Lead Center agrees, and shall require the Program Participants to agree, not to discriminate against persons with disabilities in the implementation of this CRPrelated activities financed by Windows 1 and 2 Funds, and to make every effort to respect the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in performing such activities. To that end, and to the extent this goal can be accomplished within the scope of the objectives of this CRP, each of the Lead Center and any Program Participants involved in an activity financed by Windows 1 and 2 Funds should demonstrate a comprehensive and consistent approach for including men, women and children with disabilities consistent with such principles: (1) respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including the freedom to make one's own choices, and independence of persons; (2) non-discrimination; (3) full and effective participation and inclusion in society; (4) respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity; (5) equality of opportunity; (6) accessibility; (7) equality between men and women; and (8) respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities. The full text of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities can be found at the following website: http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/convention/convoptprot-e.pdf.Lobbying. The Lead Center agrees that no portion of Windows 1 and 2 Funds disbursed from the CGIAR Fund for use in this CRP is earmarked for lobbying activity, defined as attempting to influence legislation (1) through affecting the opinion of the general public or any segment thereof (i.e. grassroots lobbying), or (2) through communications with any member or employee of a legislative body.Electioneering. The Lead Center confirms that Windows 1 and 2 Funds disbursed from the CGIAR Fund for use in this CRP shall not be used to influence the outcome of any specific public election or to directly or indirectly carry on any voter registration drive.Return of Windows 1 and 2 Funds.(a)The Lead Center shall promptly return to the Consortium without request any portion of Windows 1 and 2 Funds disbursed from the CGIAR Fund for use in this CRP that is unexpended or uncommitted at the termination of this CRP (including approved extensions), or used for purposes or in a manner other than as provided in this CRP or the terms and conditions of this PIA.The Lead Center shall require the Program Participants to promptly return to the Lead Center without request any portion of Windows 1 and 2 Funds disbursed from the CGIAR Fund for use in this CRP that is unexpended or uncommitted at the termination of this CRP (including approved extensions), or used for purposes or in a manner other than as provided in this CRP or the terms and conditions of the governing Subagreement.Upon the last duly authorized signature of this PIA as provided below, this PIA shall be effective as of the Start Date of this CRP as set forth in Section 1.2 (c) above (\"Effective Date\"), and until this CRP is completed and all obligations of the Consortium and the Lead Center relating to this CRP, as provided in this PIA and this CRP's proposal, are completed. The Parties agree to conduct a formal review of this PIA by May 31, 2013 and make any necessary amendments.11.1 Termination/Suspension.(a)The Consortium has the right to suspend or terminate this PIA, and/or discontinue making payments under this CRP if the Fund Council terminates the governing CPA with the Consortium or the Fund Council or the Trustee suspends or terminates disbursements from the CGIAR Fund to the Lead Center as part of this CRP. If the Consortium, in consultation with the Fund Council, determines that the Lead Center is not complying with any material terms or conditions of this PIA or any material activities implementing this CRP are not progressing efficiently or effectively, or that such activities are failing to reach planned indicators or results, in a manner that merits corrective action, the Consortium may notify the Lead Center of its view with recommendations for improvement with regard to this CRP or with a request that the Lead Center propose corrective measures designed to address such shortcomings. If the Lead Center does not address any such material shortcomings, the Consortium shall have the right, in consultation with the Fund Council, to suspend or terminate this PIA and notify the Trustee to discontinue making further disbursements from the CGIAR Fund to the Lead Center for this CRP.The Lead Center has the right to suspend performance under this PIA if the Consortium fails to submit Payment Requests to the Fund Council as required in the CPA for this CRP and /or if the Trustee fails to distribute the requested funds from Window 1 or Window 2.Upon termination, the Lead Center shall (i) promptly return to the Consortium (or the CGIAR Fund, if directed to do so by the Consortium), any unspent or uncommitted Windows 1 and 2 Funds disbursed from the CGIAR Fund for use in this CRP and held by the Lead Center (as of the date of termination), (ii) proceed with terminating its Subagreements with Program Participants and (iii) promptly collect such unspent or uncommitted Windows 1 and 2 Funds from such Program Participants and return such funds to the Consortium (or the CGIAR Fund, if directed to do so by the Consortium).The Parties may suspend or terminate this PIA by mutual agreement.12.1 Successors and Assigns. This PIA shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the Parties and their respective successors and assigns; provided that no Party may assign its rights or delegate its obligations under this PIA without the express prior written consent of the other Party. As noted in section 12.10 below, this requirement for prior written consent shall not apply to the anticipated assignment and transfer of this PIA by Bioversity to the Consortium after the Consortium obtains its international organization status. 12.2 Notices.All notices, requests and other communications hereunder shall be deemed to have been duly delivered, given or made to or upon any party hereto if in writing and delivered personally, sent by documented overnight delivery service or, to the extent receipt is confirmed, telecopy, telefax or other electronic transmission service to the appropriate address or number as set forth below.If to the Consortium: ____________________ or at such other address and to the attention of such other person as the Consortium may designate by written notice to the Lead Center.If to the Lead Center: ____________________ or at such other address and to the attention of such other person as the Lead Center may designate by written notice to the Consortium.The date of delivery of any such notice, request or other communication shall be the earlier of (i) the date of actual receipt or (ii) three business days after such notice, request or other communication is sent, if sent by certified or registered mail, (iii) if sent by courier who guarantees next business day delivery, the business day next following the day such notice, request or other communication is actually delivered to the courier or (iv) the day actually telecopied, telefaxed or electronically transmitted.12.3 English Language. All documents to be furnished or any communications made under this PIA shall be in English or, if another language, accompanied by a certified translation into English, which translation shall govern between the Consortium and the Lead Center.12.4 Amendments and Waivers.Any provision of this PIA may be amended or waived if, but only if, such amendment or waiver is in writing and is signed, in the case of an amendment, by each Party, or in the case of a waiver, by each Party against whom the waiver is to be effective.No failure or delay by any Party in exercising any right, power or privilege hereunder shall operate as waiver thereof nor shall any single or partial exercise thereof preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right, power or privilege. The rights and remedies herein provided shall be cumulative and not exclusive of any rights or remedies provided by law.No provision of this PIA is intended to be, or should be construed as, a waiver of any privileges and immunities of any Party, or the officers or employees or any Party, which privileges and immunities are expressly reserved. No delay in exercising, or omission to exercise, any right or remedy under this PIA shall impair any such right or remedy or be construed to be a waiver thereof.12.5 Governing Law; Severability. This PIA is governed by and shall be construed in accordance with the law of the State of New York without regard to its conflict or choice of law provisions. This choice of law provision is not an agreement by the Parties to be subjected to the jurisdiction of the courts, administrative agencies or other governmental bodies of the State of New York. Any provision or the application of such provision hereof that is invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall be ineffective only to the extent of such invalidity or unenforceability, without affecting in any way the remaining provisions hereof or the validity or enforceability of such provision in any other jurisdiction and shall not affect any other provision hereof. The Parties shall negotiate in good faith to replace any provision so held to be invalid or"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ef3adb8992c78f30f71544d65c7b2882","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f975dba2-1197-4de6-9cca-7195674edf6d/retrieve","id":"414114828"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5e779ad2-0545-439e-a357-3c77956610ce","content":"ARD AVIS cif CBE COVOL fob IDEA UTA INCO NARO NUSPA PROPAGE UKI UOSPA USAID Associates in Rural Development Brand name for Kampala-based cosmetics company certified. insured freight cocoa butter equivalent Cooperative Office for Voluntary Organizations free on board Investment in Developing Exporr Agriculture Program International Institute of Tropical Agriculture International Cooperation Research Agreement of the European UnionShea project between COVOL, Centre de cooperation internationale en recherche agronomique pour Ie developpment. and Bangor University, Wales National Agriculrural Research Organization of Uganda Northern Uganda Shea Processors Association Association pour la promotion and fa propagation de parrimoine vegetal des regions arides et semi-arides Brand name for a Kampala-based cosmetics company Uganda Oil Millers and Processors Association United States Agency for International Development vi x This aspect has already been used by the Body Shop in a high profile, community-based project, centered on one village in Ghana.Shea grows in a \"natural\" savanna system, lending it \"natural organic qualities\" currently much in favor with industrial companies. Recent scare stories about industrial agricultural1. This study was commissioned to evaluate the economic and environmental prospects for the Shea sector of Uganda. Specifically, the study aimed to evaluate the market prospects for a range of products including low value traditional products and high value expon Shea products in the domestic, national, and international markets.The study found that Shea is a highly valued resource in northern Uganda and that previous financial suppon by USAID to the Shea sector had significantly raised the profile and value given to the Shea [fCC and its products. For women in northern Uganda, Shea is a major source of income and consequently any investment that promotes growth in the Shea sector is likely to provide considerable benefits to women in one of the poorest areas of the country.2. Vitellaria paradoxa, the Shea butter tree, grows throughout \"Sudanian\" Mrica, in a belt from Senegal to Ethiopia. Distribution of the trees is divided with the dominant subspecies, Vitelldria paradoxa subsp. paradoxa, found in the rone from Senegal to the borders of Sudan, and Vitelldria paradoxa subsp. nilotica, found in Sudan, Uganda, and Ethiopia.3. Shea trees are truly multipurpose. They are important not only for the economic and dietary value of the cooking-oil but also for the fruit pulp, bark, roOts, and leaves used in traditional medicines. and for the wood and charcoal used for building and fuel. 4. European explorers first recorded Shea in the early eighteenth century. By the 1920s, a flourishing trade had developed between Western Africa and Europe. However. a combination of changing agricultural production methods. self-sufficiency policies introduced during World War 2, and new product formulations led to a decline in demand.Despite interest by governments and FAO expert panels in developing Shea industries, no attempts have been made to domesticate the crop. Essentially. Shea remains a wild fruit that is seasonally gathered by local communities.5. FAO estimates the total African production is approximately 1760000 t of Shea nuts.From this potential yield, only 35% of the nuts are gathered and 85% of this harvest are locally processed to make 100 000 t/yeaI of local butter. The remaining portion, approximately 65 000 t, is exported, mostly to the food industry. Less than 5% of the exported butter is used in the international cosmetics industry; a probable figure is 3000 tiyear.Present industrial demand for Shea is as a low cost substitute for cocoa butter in the cocoa butter equivalent (CBE) maIkets. The bulk of Shea exported from West Africa supplies this market. Despite a long-term association with processing markets in Europe,there have been no attempts to domesticate Shea and supply through communiry-based collection systems. Recent changes in EU regulations on the use of substitutes for vii cocoa butter increased the demand for Shea butter from chocolate confectioners. as it is now possible to blend up to 5% eBEs into chocolate products. The main industrial consumption is in Europe. Japan. and North America. 7. In the past three years there has been renewed interest in Shea from high value cosmetics companies. In this market sector. the fact that Shea is a wilderness crop that is collected and processed by women's groups in remote rural areas creates a fashionable scenario. 8. Chemical analysis of Shea butter extracted from nut samples from four African countries (Uganda, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Mali) confirmed considerable variability in the composition of Shea oil produced by the subspecies across Mrica. The Ugandan sample had a 59% oleic acid content compared with 47% for Nigeria and only 39% for Burkina Faso. From these studies it was found that Malian Shea closely resembles cocoa butter and is, therefore, highly suitable for the eBE market, whereas Ugandan Shea has more similarities with olive oil. This makes the product highly suitable for use in cosmetics. 9. In West Africa. there have also been some attempts to market local cosmetics products such as \"Vaseline Shea Butter\" in 1996. The commercial success was mixed and the manufacturer has plans to relaunch this product. 10. In comparison with West Africa, the commercial development of Shea products in Uganda remains at an embryonic stage. The crop is used as a cooking-oil and market supplies are highly localized. Tn the Ugandan Shea production area, a Vaseline-type product is used for babies. The supply of Shea nuts from Eastern Africa is considerably less than from West Africa and there are no statistics available for export. 11. There are numerous reasons why a parallel industrial supply has not emerged in Eastern Africa. The major factors include a significantly lower concentration of trees, high levels of local oil consumption, and a softer Shea butter that is not suitable for CBE users.Uganda is landlocked and so has higher transportation costs than coastal countries such as Ghana in West Mrica. Lack of security within the Ugandan-Sudanese Shea belt has reduced investment and obviously hampers supply chain support and activities. Most importantly, Uganda lacks a traditional partnership between local producers and users in industrialized nations. Despite this somewhat bleak outlook. the market potential for East African Shea is not entirely without prospects as its qualities are suited to the high value cosmetics market. 12. Results from this survey estimate that potential levels of Shea nut production in Uganda range from approximately 70000 to 385 000 t/year. This would yield between 15 and 80 million liters of oil using traditional methods at a value ofUS$30 million, increasing to more than 120 million liters with improved extraction techniques. However, most of the nuts are not harvested and hence the value of the market is considerably less than its potential. 13. Even with a low level of collection, Shea oil plays a significant role in the household food and income security of northern Uganda, especially in the districts of Lira, Katakwi. Kitgum. and Kotido. The crop is a particularly important source of income for rural women and children. Interviews revealed that women processors rated Shea oil as the viii highest source of income generation, providing more income than brewing and farming. The money made through Shea is also held by women, whereas much of a woman's labor goes into agricultural products that are sold by the head of the family, usually a man. Shea nut wholesalers, all men, also indicated that trading in Shea was highly lucrative with gains being higher than from other crops such as sunflower, groundnut, and maize. 14. The Shea region is located in the poorest area of Uganda. Therefore, any increases in income through interventions that increase the demand for Shea in this region will have significant economic and social benefits.15. To develop the Shea market in Uganda, some important issues should be taken into consideration.• Developing personal contacts with buyers is essential. Links with overseas industries are well established in West Africa and similar contacts will have to be built in East Africa if development of the Shea subsector is to occur.• Scale of output, quality, and cost must be matched to market requirements.Cosmetics buyers require small quantities but pay high prices, whereas CBE buyers require large quantities but pay relatively lower prices. As Uganda is unlikely to compete in the CBE market, the emphasis for future technical develop ment should target the cosmetics market. •[n Ghana, the experience of a subsidiary of a major international company in producing a mass-market skin moisturizing product containing Shea butter points to the potential of exploiting regional cosmetics markets. East Africa's large-scale cosmetics industry is well developed and has the capacity for new products. This opportunity needs to be explored with private sector partners. 16. Prospects for expanding the Shea olein market would mean moving from very small and irregular production to substantial tonnages. Whether this happens will depend on private sector decisions. There is an opportunity to supply a competitively priced Shea olein product to the expanding cooking-oils market. As a by-product of Shea stearin processing for the cosmetics market, Shea olein could be sold as a highly competitive product. Sales of crude Shea oil on national and possibly regional markets will depend crucially on consumer preferences and how effectively the product can be marketed.There is some conflict between the local preference for the roasted flavor of Shea oil and the need to process without roasting the nuts for the extraction of high quality stearin. 17. Surveys in the local cosmetics markets found considerable interest in developing value-added Shea cosmetic products for a domestic market of expatriates and upscale Ugandan women. In consumer trials it was found that most respondents had never before heard of Shea but all reacted very favorably rowards it, especially when told of the moisturizing and healing benefits and the organic/cultural value of the product. Women would be interested in buying lip balm, face and body lotions, hand cream, and soaps.The major challenge that local manufacturers of Shea products need to address is the smell. It will be important to create a pleasant smelling product while still retaining the ix natural positioning and the product benefits. Quality packaging is also essential and a high profile, well-targeted marketing campaign will be necessary to communicate the emotional and physical product benefits.18. Prospects for increased sales of improved Shea cooking-oil in Northern Uganda were positive but the reality of limited income and the spending habits of the women in Lira suggest some caution. Currently, women buy only small quantities of oil, tending towards the cheaper, multipurpose oils such as sunflower oil (locally produced) or cooking-oil from Mukwano Industries. Shea nut oil as a comestible is seen to be a luxury (and a seasonal one at that), and the flavor of Shea is not one that people would want in their daily diet. 19. With regard to the international market. the main cosmetics buyers of Shea butter/oil are located in Europe and the US. European and US cosmetics companies buy from a variety of sources, depending on requirements. A large proportion of the Shea butter used in cosmetics is purchased from the food industry in a highly refined form. Such butter is cheap (having usually been obtained through solvent extraction), readily available, reliable in quality, and does not become rancid. However, the refining process removes most of the sun-protection, healing, and antiseptic qualities of natural butter. Despite this, most of the larger cosmetics companies prefer to use refined butter as this enables the producer to label the product as a \"Shea\" formulation. Smaller companies and specialist suppliers of cosmetics ingredients are willing to buy unrefined Shea butter from Africa. However, concerns over quality have forced them to become intimately involved with its production. This aspect reinforces the need for strong linkages between primary and secondary processors in the market chain. 20. The Ugandan cosmetics market is supplied from both international and local companies. Those companies not using Shea would be interested to test the product. Those already using Shea had plans to expand use up to 10 15 t/year. 21. In Uganda, there are a number of private sector companies and agencies that are interested in expanding the Ugandan Shea market. For production and processing, these include COVaL, NUSPA, Guru Nanak Oil Mills, and Mukwano Industries; for local cosmetics manufacture, these may include AVIS, Desbro, and UK! Ltd; and for export, COVaL, Guru Nanak Oil Mills, Mukwano Industries, and possibly Technoservc.However, for any progress to be made in the Shea sector, more detailed business plans need to be developed so that these agencies can make more informed decisions on levels of investment and marketing partners. 22. Support services required to develop the Shea sector in Uganda include extraction testing, development and market testing of new products and linkage between local processors and loeal and/or international buyers. There are a number ofloeal agencies that could assist in these areas, including NARO, Food Science Research Institute, and IITA, for product development. Market testing of products and packaging could be developed through agencies such as Research International, K2, and other local consultants. Overseas market linkage could be investigated through the IDEA project and other overseas partners, such as the Natural Resources Institute and Tradecrafr.23. In conclusion, Shea is a highly valued commodity in northern Uganda, but is virtually unknown outside the production area. In the northern disnicrs, the crop is imporrant to the livelihoods of the people and Shea has particularly important dietary, food security, and financial benefits for women. Due to changes in technology and world market demand, Shea has the potential for market expansion at the local, national, and internationalleveis. The findings from this study suggest that the most promising area is in cosmetics products for both domestic and international markets. There is evidence that the demand for Shea products is increasing: any donor intervention that leads to an increased demand for Ugandan Shea would have a significant and positive impact on the livelihoods of the people, in particular of the women, in the Snea producing area. However, for this group to be able ro capitalize on a more commercial Shea sector, additional support is required to link the gatherers and primary processors tv profitable niche markets.This srudy was commissioned by Associates in Rural Development Tnc. (ARD), on behalf of USAID Kampala, to evaluate the economic and environmental prospects tc)r the Shea sector of Uganda. Specifically, the study aimed to evaluate the prospects for a range of Shea products for the local, national, and international markets. The output from the study is to provide options for improving the livelihoods of communities based in the Shea producing ateas of Uganda and to suggest possible strategies to assist greater commercialization of this novel traditional product in an environmentally sustainable manner.Evaluating the marketing opportunities for Shea nut and Shea nut processed products in Uganda ---------~--.Vitellaria paradoxa, the Shea butter trec, grows across a wide swathe of Africa, from Senegal to Ethiopia. Throughout the \"Shea belt\" the trees are highly valued by rhe local communities, not only for rhe economic and dietary value of the cooking-oil, but also for other products. The fruit pulp, bark, roots, and leaves arc used in traditional medicines and the wood and charcoal are used for building and cooking (l'ig 1), European explorers made first records of the In his journals, Park described the local trade in Shea products as a vibrant, inland commercial activity and since thar time, colonial agriculrural officers have made detailed notes of the local trade in Shea nuts, burter, oil. cake, and latex, and speculated on its export trade potential. Along with many other oil crops, samples were tested for fuel and food products. By the 1920s, a flourishing trade was developing between West Africa and Europe where the butter was used in making vegetable margarine and candles.However, changing agricultural policies in Europe towards greater self-sufficiency and new product formulations led to a decline in demand for Shea. In many respects, 5hea now falls into the \"Cinderella\" or underutilized crop category. Shea continues to be processed and traded in the dry savanna region as a source of cooking-oil but it is no longer a mainstream industrial product. Despite intetest by governments and support from FAO expert panels in developing local industries based on Shea, no attempts have bt\"en made to domesticate the crop. Essentially, Shea remains a wild fruit that is seasonally gathered by local communities.For industrial processors, Shea has been relegated to a low cost substitute product but, as with true Cinderella commodities, there is a glimmering interest from the high value niche markets for greater use of Shea. Currently, Shea is undergoing renewed demand from the high value cosmetics companies. For this market sector, the very facts that Shea remains a \"wilderness crop\", that it is produced naturally, that it ha.<; cultural and medicinal qualities, and is collected and processed by women's groups in remote rural areas, all combine to create a Etshionable scenario for high profile cosmetics marketing.According to Boffa (1999), there are more than 500 million fruiting Shea trees across the production belt and FAO estimates that the total Shea nut production is approximately 600 000 t/year. This volume translates to more than 1.5 million t/fresh fruit/year, and production is comparable that of othcr commercial oil crops, such as avocado that currently stands at 2 million t/year. This represents a huge production, given there are no Shea plantations and farmers start to protect trees only when they are more than saplings as parr of the traditional savanna farming system.Studies by Ruyssen (1957) found that productivity of V paradoxa subsp. paradoxa rises rapidly in the age range 40-50 years and stabilizes in trees of 1 00-200 years before declining in aging plants of200-400 years. Due to the variable rainfall in the Shea belt, fruit production fluctuates considerably from trce to tree and betwecn seasons. Information on productivity is highly variable, with extremes from 5 to 500 kg of fresh fruit/tree/year. However, average fruit yield/tree is conservatively estimated at 15-30 kg/year, (Ruyssen 1957) and later, more optimistically, at between 25 and 55 kg/year by Fleury (1981). Schreckenberg (1996) calculated an average annual yield of 5 kg/dried kernels/tree in a study in Benin, which would yield approximately 2 liters of oil/tree.Using sampling techniques and extrapolating these data over the Shea belt, it has been estimated that the total yield of Shea nuts is I 760000 t, which translates into 4.12 000 t of Shea butter. However, due to the scattered nature of the crop over an extensive and of tell remote landscape, it is estimated that less than one-third of this amount is collected. From these figures it is projected that from a harvested yield of 545000 t, (= 131 000 t of She\" butter), 105 000 t are used for household and commercial purposes. According to Obi (2000), approximately 65 000 t of nms (26 000 t butter) are exported for use in food and cosmetics industries.The Shea market is divided into three distinct categories.High volume, low value, locally processed products. High volume, intermediate value exports to the food processing market. Low volume, high value exports to the cosmetics market.By far the largest part of the Shea production throughout Africa (65%) is not harvested.Of the 350/0 that are gathered by women and children, 300/0 are locally processed at an extraction rate of 200/0 and used to make 100 000 t/year of local butter. Virtually all of this Shea buner is used as local cooking-oil. The remaining 5% or less are exported, mostly to the food industry that uses the Shea butter as a cocoa butter equivalent (CBE). Shea butter is currently trading on the international market at US$0.50-60/kg (US$500/t). It is estimated that only 50/0 of the total volume exported to Europe and North America arc used in the cosmetics industry. However, as reported by Collinson and Zewdie•-Bosuener (1999), this level is rising.Recent changes in EU regulations on the use of substitutes for cocoa butter have increased demand for Shea from chocolate confectioners as it is now possible to blend up to 5% of CBEs in a chocolate product and still sell it as chocolate. The l-~•ice of Shea in this case is driven by the cost of cocoa butter. In the current climate of commodity prices declining worldwide, this will mean continued depressed prices into the foreseeable future.However, a recent wave of renewed interest from cosmetics houses. has also rekindled market interest in Shea. Whilst this increase in demand represents a small change in global terms. such opportunities can have considerable benefits to the small groups of traders, mostly women, that gather. trade, and process the nuts. For the cosmetics industry, Shea has a combination of marketable attributes.Shea is harvested by women in rural areas, and this suggests that income will accrue to the most vulnerable. As such, this is an incentive to pay premium prices for Shea products.products have led to a major boom in the organics sector with reports of 30 0 /0 increases in sales.Shea is considered to have traditional healing properties and this is a strong basis for building a \"natural/medicinal\" identity.Thus, Shea is a highly suitable candidate for special interest support through ethical trading, gender support, and \"natural\" labelling. These marketable qualities are increasingly important market levers. Consequently, if a quality product can be supplied on a regular basis, then the future market options for Shea have potential. Howevet, in order to make this work, all the aspects in the marketing chain need to be highly polished. It will require a highly dedicated team with considerable investment and business acumen to enter into the higher value markets.It should also be noted that the future of Shea within the haute couture cosmetics market is not without risk. Shea was in high demand in the 1970s but fashions changed. and sales of Shea butter to the cosmetics industry declined. The recent tenewal in interest for Shea shows a revival in the market but the rate of market growth and the longevity of this market are uncertain.Shea trees begin to bear fruit after 15 years and increase in yield up to theit main fruit production period from 100 to 200 years. Fruit production then declines but trees continue to produce fruit even up to 400 years. The long period taken to reach maturity has discouraged plantation planting although Shea arc used as shade trees for other crops in certain dry areas.The nuts arc embedded in soft fruits that fall to the ground during the harvesting period. In West Africa, the nuts arc buried in pits; this causes the pulp (0 ferment and disintegrate, and sufficient heat is generated to prevent germination that spoils the Shea oil. After fermentation, the nuts are dried for a few days and later shelled to reduce moisture content from 40 0 /0 to about 7%). The oil is extracted locally by a process involving heating and kneading the crushed kernels and straining the resultant crush to release the oil. In Uganda. the nuts are sun dried rather than fermented, then roasted prior to processing. As in West Africa, the nuts are crushed and the mash is heated in hot water to separate the oil. Shea butter is produced on a commercial scale in Europe using hydraulic presses on the nuts. The product is bleached with a hexane solvent. The butter is then stored and transported in cool conditions in airtight containers to avoid rancidity.The main industrial consumption (almost all for chocolate production) is in Europe. Japan, and Northern America. In the EU, only the UK, the Irish Republic, and Denmark are permitted to use Shea butter in their chocolate products. but other EU countries are lobbying to be allowed to use up to 50/0 vegetable fats, other than cocoa butter. in their chocolate. According to a recent EU ruling. chocolate made with less than 100% cocoa butter can be sold under names such as \"milk chocolate\" to differentiate it from rbe pure and most expensive original product.The supply of Sh,a butter to rbe international market is flexible, but demand is not. Only a fraction of the potential production is exported for industrial use. A1rbough Shea butter offers certain useful technical characteristics to the chocolate maker, its use in the chocolate industry depends on its price in relation to that of cocoa butter. There are very few major refiners and they have considerable control of rbe market rbrough a system oflong-term purchase agreements. New producers of sizeable quantities are unlikely to find a ready market for their product. It is, therefore, something of a closed market in terms of export.The main buyers in the international trade are the refiners in developed countries, often associated with the chocolate and/or food industry. They prefer to buy the raw nuts rather than the butter in order to have as much control as possible in the processing and quality of the final product. Another reason for preferring nuts is that they can be stored for up to five years in the right conditions, whereas butter is more expensive to store and deteriorates more rapidly. Any exports of butter from African countries tend to be of unrefined material.For the export market, Shea nut supply far outstrips demand. The largest percentage of the 600 000 t of Shea butter, V. subsp. paradoxa, is produced in West Africa. Most is used locally as a cooking-oil or for the skin and hair. The other subspecies, V. nilotica, which has a quality preferred by the cosmetics firms, is primarily grown and processed in northern Uganda and southern Sudan. Both of these areas are insecure and so the product is generally unavailable to the international markets. Hence, products from V. nilotica have not been commercially developed.For the expOrt market, individual buyers specilY rbeir own quality conditions fur purchase of Shea butter. Typically, free fatty acid (FFA) and moisture content should be no higher rban 1 %. Buyers may also specilY a particular iodine value and a melting point between 30 and 40\"C. The product should be free of impurities.Users in rbe mainstream cosmetics industry accept only a very highly refined product and may require a detailed specification of rbe different fatty acids, rbe refractive index, and saponification value. To achieve consisteney fur these high-quality standards, rbe industry has tended to buy nuts from traders and store rbem at rbe processing factories.Against this trend, there are some cosmetics companies who are working with communities in Africa to source Sh,a products including butter, bur processing merbods are stringent and volumes of supply rbrough in-country processing remain very limited. The most publicized community is rbe Ghanaian village that is linked wirb rbe Body Shop, UK. In rbis case, rbe Body Shop is working directly wirb women's groups to produce a high quality product that is then further refined and incorporated into the Shea product range. These products were widely promoted in the summer season of200l.For the local cooking-oil and nut trade, there are no grades and standards, and this leads to a highly variable quality in the oils produced.Chemical analysis of Shea butter extracted from samples of nuts from four African countries (Uganda, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Mali) were conducted by the Ben Gurion University, Israel, as part of an ongoing, EU-funded research project on Shea. Fatty acid analysis shows there is a high level of variability in Shea oils across Mrica (Table 1). The Ugandan sample had a 59% oleic acid content, compared with 47% for Nigeria and only 39% for Burkina Faso.The large variability in fatty acid profiles indicates that Shea butter is nor a single uniform product across the continent. For example. Malian Shea more closely resembles cocoa butter while Ugandan Shea has more similarities with olive oil, due to its high oleic content. This variability suggests that Shea oil from different regions could he targeted towards different niche markets or industrial uses, assuming that the genotypic effect is greater than the environmental effect on quality, which is unknown. If reliable vegetative propagation techniques could be developed, clones of trees bearing specific types of nuts with unique chemical constituents could also be selected and planted to produce a higher value crop. Specific selections may be envisioned for cocoa butter substitution in foods, for production of industrial stearin, for cosmetics products high in vitamins and other antioxidant phenolic compounds, and for oil that could compete with olive oil (Maranz and Wiesman, unpublished).  1995). The primary exporc market for the West Mrican Shea buner is as a substitute for cocoa buner in the chocolate and confectionery industry. the Shea product being referred to as a CBE. The second, significantly smaller but higher-value, export market is within the cosmetics industry, where small amounts of Shea butter are used as a component within skin-moisturizing, sun-screening. and skin healing products. Other manufacturing uses are in the pharmaceutical and edible fat industries. However, these markets are very limited. Currently, Shea is also being tested in new products, such as creams for HIV patients to provide relief from skin rashes and irritations. and in animal health products. Both of these would be new and potentially lucrative niche markets for the Shea gatherers and markets of this type offer strong price incentives for exploitation.In Ghana, a subsidiary of a major international company launched a skin-moisturizing product called \"Vaseline Shea Butter\" in 1996. The commercial success of this product was mixed and the manufacturer claims that many of the problems were technical rather than demand-based. According to Collinson and Zewdie-Bosuener (1999), the company was planning to produce 150-200 t of this product, and this would make a significant in-country market demand for Shea butter.A major international manufacturer of cosmetics in Ghana launched two Shea products onto the market in 1996. However, these products were withdrawn due to poor sales and quality problems. The company has plans to relaunch these products ifit can find a regular supply of high quality Shea butter.Within the industrial sector, Aarhus Olie (OK) is the only large-scale company that manufactures edible fats and oils from Shea butter. Until 1997, all processing of Shea nuts was conducted in Denmark and formulations were supplied thereafter to confectionery and cosmetics firms. Grades and standards are clearly a major issue and for this reason, processing companies preferred to buy \"standard\" industrial products on guaranteed supply contracts from companies such as Aarhus Olie. Reported problems with the qualiry of supplies from producer countries led to all the value-added part of the processing being conducted overseas (Collinson 1999).Recently, European environmental legislation has militated against the processing of oil products in-country and this has led to greater demand for processing in the Shea producing countries. For these reasons, Aarhus Olie (Ghana branch) had plans to increase purchasing of butter up to 1000 tlyear and in 1999, Aarhus Olie was offering fob price ofUS$0.80/kg, with a 100/0 premium for quality hutter.In Ghana, there are 3-4 small to medium-scale oil milling companies that process Shea In comparison with West Africa, the commercial development of Shea products in Uganda remains at an embryonic stage, with little documentation on the market dynamics of the crop in Uganda and its surrounding countries. Production of Shea in Northern Uganda is from V. paradoxa subsp. nilotica. The crop is mainly processed into cooking-oil in the Shea belt and market supplies are typically based on the local purchases by people from the Shea region who know the product and have traditionally used it as a cooking-oil, a Vaseline-type product for babies, and for religious ceremonies. Sales of Shea products outside the Shea belt are minimal, with no statistics available for exports from the region.The current market sector can be described as almost entirely traditional in nature with low levels of collection and consumption. There are numerous reasons why a parallel industrial supply has not emerged. The major factors include the following.There is a significantly lower concentration of Shea trees, (an average of7 trees/ha in East Africa, compared with> 50 trees!ha in West Africa).Levels of consumption of the local oil are high in the Shea belt of Uganda. There is a lack of market linkage between local gatherers and users in industrialized nations. These flCtors all work against the development of market linkage between suppliers in Eastern African and buyers in Europe and the North America. In order to overcome these problems, highly innovative approaches will be required and new buyers identified if market opportunities are to be developed. Despite this somewhat discouraging outlook. East Mciean Shea has potential value, as its qualities may be highly suited for specific niche markets. According to its advocates, Uganda Shea has all the typical attributes of a high value \"natural\" niche product and the medicinal and skin absorption qualities are \"real\". They are real in the sense that whilst few Of no stringent tests have been conducted on Shea products, there is a sufficient quality of anecdotal evidence that the products do what is claimed.There is a strong cultural value attributed to Shea. It grows naturally but is limited in supply due to its poor accessibility. Therefore, the product has merit in that it can be harvested only through local community-based action. Ugandan Shea butter is liquid at room temperature and this consistency is particularly suitable for usc in hand creams and lotions. This quality attribute may have considerable commercial value, as the new growth markets in \"natural products\" require that the original product be used in its unrefined state.Trends in the global market for \"fair trade\" agreements also indicate that Western consumers are prepared to pay higher prices for products that are processed in the country of origin, and for a limited niche production system this may be feasible.The herbal medicinal market has shown dramatic growth and has developed in North America from a US$10 billion/year industry 5 years ago into US$40 billion/year sector now. This also provides a major new market where Shea is used as an ingredient in the new and expanding range of herbal medicines.Other unexplored potential markets are value-added products sold into the middle to higher income, African consumer market. In West Africa, the local cosmetics industry is using increasing amounts of Shea in its beauty products and this may be a market that has potential in Eastern Africa. Developing products for the local and regional markets also has the advantage that it provides income and may prove to be a useful testing ground for products, prior to sales into export markets.In spite of the potential suitability of Ugandan Shea for these growth markets, such opportunities have not been explored. Thus, Uganda Shea products remain low value, lowquality products sold to low income groups in and around the Shea production sites.Given this rali of opportunities, and the range of potentially good qualities of Shea, one must ask the question, Why is there no industry? Shea is not a new product; it is not difficult to process. Therefore, the most likely answer is that there is no effective demand beyond the local production of oil.Highly specialized and motivated skills will be required to develop the sector which is based on the processing of the fruit oflow density, widely distributed trees in a poor, isolated. and insecure part of a landlocked country. To supply a highly \"qualiry conscious\" niche market product in the high end of the cosmetics market is not a simple task. Therefore, in order to assess the situation regarding investment, one must make a cold economic evaluation of this market opportunity against other market opportunities in northern Uganda. These projects aimed to provide economic impact in one of the poorest areas of Uganda through working on a nondomesticated crop within the traditional savanna farming systems. In this region, there are limited economic opportunities; investment is low; security is poor due to rebel activities from the Sudan; Shea has the added attraction of being a crop that is almost exclusively gathered, processed, and traded by women and children. Impacr, in terms of greater market linkage for the crop could. therefore, provide income for the most vulnerable in society and also protect an important natural resource.The USAID-supported COVOL project focused on seven counties in the districts of Lira, Katakwi, Kitgum, and Korido. The project had two components: conservation and marketing /processing. It aimed to develop and disseminate technology for \"enhancing\" the production of Shea oil/butter compared with traditional methodo;. The development hypothesis of the project was that improved quality and market efficiency of Shea products would raise income levels among rural households in a historically marginalized region of the country. This would provide incentives for rural producers to conserve the Shea tree and the savanna in which it grows and counter its destruction for fuel and charcoal making and losses through agricultural expansion.The conservation aspect of the work dealt with analyzing the distribution of trees in northern Uganda, and gathered information on tree age and production. Shea trees in Lira district were at a density of7 trees/ha. The trees produce approximately 30 kg/fruit/year. which in turn produces 3--5 kg/nuts. These nuts are traditionally processed into 1.5-3 kg/Shea oil/tree (Nkuutu et al. unpublished).According to Nkuutu et al. (unpublished) Shea tree numbers in northern Uganda are declining. Studies of Shea tree populations in northern Uganda revealed a population gap of trees aged between 5 and 100 years. Shea does not produce fruit for the first 15-20 years. Surveys in Otuke County, Lira district. indicate that the bulk of productive trees are more than 100 yeats old. The loss of younger trees has been linked with changing land-use practices and increased levels of more permanent arable farming. Increased arable pressure has led to a measurable loss of younger fruit bearing trees which is considered to result from slash-and-burn dearing methods. Increased human population pressure has also led to more trees being felled for charcoal burning, despite local bylaws that ban the use of Shea for charcoal production. According to local sources, these laws are not well enforced and it is common knowledge that Shea wood is good for charcoal and, due to its termite resistance, is ideal for house construction. Consequently, the tree is used for both purposes.To offiet the destruction of the Shea trees, the COVOl project led a high-profile campaign against making charcoal from Shea and also developed tree nurseries to promote tree planting as a means of increasing tree numbers. The processing and marketing aspect of the project focused on developing improved methods of processing Shea butter, using mechanical grinders and screw press technologies. These technologies provide a higher rate of extraction than the local manual techniques and produce a butter of a higher quality. The so-called \"cold press\" butter is of a quality high enough to be used in cosmetics formulation; this product has been incorporated into a number of cosmetics products that have undergone limited market testing by COVOl in San Francisco, USA.During the life of the COVOL project, an indigenous production and marketing body-the Northern Uganda Shea Producers Association (NUSPA)-was established. NUSPA is an umbrella organization for widely scattered, small, village-based Shea processing groups and has over 200 members. NUSPA has limited capacity but desires to playa role in promoting and achieving the dual results of the project, conservation and valueadded processing.Although the markets for Shea nuts and traditionally produced Shea oil/butter are established in the northern districts, opportunities for establishing a domestic market for both local and value-added products in the form of food oils and cosmetics have not been tested. Similarly, product testing of export formulations has been limited and there is no information about products being tested in Uganda.The conservation aspect of this project was successful. People interviewed in the Shea zone dearly stated that the Shea project played an important role in raising the cultural importance of the tree and stimulated a collective notion that the trees should be protected from careless burning and sales for charcoal.The research aspects of the project were presented at a regional conference. in partnership with the INCa project. This conference debated the various issues related to Shea production in Eastern Africa, (Lovett and Masters unpublished). The proceedings of this conference provide an excellent overview of Shea production, processing. and market opportunities, and when published, will be a useful information resource.With regard to the commercialization of Shea products in Uganda, the COVOl project also made significant progress in several aspects. • Developing women's groups for the collection and processing of Shea nuts.• Establishing the NUSPA cooperative. • Imroducing equipment to process Snea nuts into a higher quality product via a cold press process.Training women in quality and grading of nuts and in high-quality processing of Shea butter. • Developing a range of products for local and international markets. Sec Figure 2. • Developing a partner organization in USA, which plans to act as a conduit for sales of processed Shea burrer, first-stage processed product. • Establishing a product brand name \"Nilotica\" www.covol.org/ sec Annex 3.Developing an interactive website for the promotion and sales of Uganda Shea products.Establishing linkage with a major boutique, Body Time, for sales of the product. Despite substantial progress in the area of product development and local supply chain organization, export market linkage remains weak and sales of Shea butter to the USA are currently measured in terms of tens of kilograms. Secondary processing of the butter into high value niche market products is irregular and in small volumes.The model for sales of the product was based on a community scheme in which women's groups purchased Shea nuts and processed the nuts into butter in their villages. The butter was then sold to COVaL for Ush 110000/20 kg of cold pressed oil and for Ush 65,000/20 kg of hot pressed oil. (U5$1 = Ush 1750).The wholesale market price for Shea oil is approximately Ush 30 000/20 kg. Hence, there was a very strong price incentive for the women's groups to store their nuts and process when COVaL required a shipment. Average incomes in this region of the country are less than U5$1.00/day; therefore the prospects ofU5$60 batch supplies are probably the most lucrative activity the women are able to access in a year. Loyalty to COVaL was strong in terms of holding the nuts for a shipment and this commitment indicates the importance of this economic activity for the women.The COVaL organization purchased me processed oil and then conducted some simple form of fractionation. prior to shipping the butter to their sister agency in USA. In the USA, the butter was processed it into high-value hand and body creams through a partner cosmetics manufacturing company. The product was then retailed at US$15~35 for 35 ml. At this price, even the high premiums paid by COVaL to the women's group were easily absorbed.Given this marketing plan. if volumes of the product were to increase, there would be a dramatic economic benefit to the NUSPA women's groups. A detailed economic assessment of the COVOL project was undertaken by the Association pour la promotion et la propagation de patrimoine vegetal des regions arides et semi-arides (PROPAGE) in February 1999. This provides a clear breakdown of the exact costs for the products and the conclusion was that the process and model developed by the project were viable.The acid test. however, is the volume of sales. Whilst the Body Shop approach makes shipments of30+ tlyear, the COVaL project exported only 100 kg/year. The weakest link for this process was the retail sector. COVOL had developed a formulation for their cosmetics but did not have rights to the formulation and, therefore, were obliged to pay a franchise fee. The retail agency was primarily Body Time, but this was only on a test basis and it seems that COVaL was aiming to use e-commerce as the main avenue of sales. It may be that the retail aspect of the COVal strategy was a major hurdle to success, although there are no figures on sales. An alternative approach would have been for COVaL to supply their high-quality Shea as an ingredient to other retailers. This would have avoided the problems of distribution and meant that more time could have been devoted to reducing costs and raising the profile for the qualities of the product.Studies conducted on Shea across Africa indicate the major differences in the average densities of trees across the Shea belt (Table 2). Although Shea has been undet investigation for commercial exploitation in Uganda since the 19305, there has been no comprehensive study to determine the potential supply of Shea nuts and estimates remain vague. The best information comes from the COVOL-INCO research project which conducted a series of surveys to determine tree density by land use and tree age profiles in selected counties of Lira district. In addition, D. Nkuutu conducted more extensive, though rapid. reconnaissance surveys in the northern districts outside the COVOL project area, to gauge the approximate tree density in the Ugandan Shea belt.For the purposes of this study, a combination of these datasets was used to estimate the potential supply of Shea in Uganda. The detailed surveys conducted in Otuke County by Nkuutu et aI. showed a mean of 32 trees/ha of various species. The tree population was made up from 72 recorded tree species. Within this agroecozone, the most common tree was V. paradoxa, at a density of7 treeslha, which accounted fot 55% of the total estimated tree biomass. The survey revealed that in the highest density locations, the numbers of Shea trees were up to 50 trees/ha. Excluding the wetland areas, the average density of Shea was approximately 9 treeslha (Table 3).   L-\"':-. \\)tv\",'); 9::/ ~ ~ Q{<Q Y:i t}:f c::::r :'\\' _b.:' ~ \"IJ~\" ,,\"'\" I).. I);\"5 b< tI< ':3 co '\\: '\\ 't1 OJ'\" O)'lf ,,<:5 ,,\"' 1;Basal tree diameter em  Analysis of the population structure by Lovett et aI. showed that the age profile was somewhat skewed with a gap in the size profile for trees in the size class 7-25 em diameter at the base of the tree (Fig. 3). This finding suggests that the tree has been subject to selective age management. indicated by a high number of trees in the lower and higher age classes. This information supports the view that there has been, in recent years, a systematic removal of trees. This may be the result of trees being used to provide building materials and charcoal and the effects of losses caused by increased agricultural activities, road building, and urban spread.In order to gain a better idea of the potential supply of Shea throughout northern Uganda.this study used a combination of techniques and interviews to gain a conservarive estimate of the potential crop supply. The initial data were taken from the surveys conducted by D. Nkuuru as part of his BSc thesis. Mr Nkuuta used Arc View to map tree densities. This information was then extrapolated across the Shea belt to produce Figures 4-6. Figure 4 shows the general Shea belt in Uganda. Figure 5 shows density based on survey work used to establish density zones.Figure 6 shows a ronal map that was developed by defining the areas based on the density maps. The area of these wnes was then calculated via the GIS software and these figures were used to estimate tree density distribution and, therefore, potential yields. Figure 7 shows distances from roads in the Shea belt at increments of 5 km. These were used to evaluate distances that people would be able to travel from a road to collect the nuts.F\" 'gure 4. Main Shea bell in Uganda.  It is clear that the entire northern part of the country is fairly well served by roads and there are very few areas that arc more than 5 km away from road. The data generated through the GIS software were subjected to a series of assumptions on yield as shown in 1ables 4--'/ to extrapolate density, yield, and potential supply in Uganda. The data in Table 4 were developed from the GIS zones that were generated from density maps. The data in Table 4 were then multiplied by the assumed density ranges that were based on previous fieldwork to provide ranges for numbers of trees within the wnes (Table 5).The low (I 3,781, 158) and high (25,671,710) tree scores from Table 5 were then multiplied by the estimated high and low yield ranges. Figures for low yield (5 kg/kernels!rree) and high yield (I5 kgitree) were converted to ronnes (Table 6).Estimated kernel tonnage ranges were then converted into liters of oil and cash value in US$ according to the traditional oil extraction rate (20%. Table 7) and using improved techniques (30%, Table 8). The role of Shea nuts in the Uganda household economyShea oil is considered to be particularly important for household food and income security in the districts of Lira, Katakwi, Kitgum. and Kotido. The crop is a particularly important source of income for rural women and children. Studies by Lovett found a number of categorics for utilization of Shea (Table 9).Processing Shea nut inro oil is an historical traditional occupation for communities in Norrhcrn Uganda. This knowledge has been passed down from generation to generation and is widely practiced in the Shea belt. The process is, however, time consuming, laborintensive, and hard work. OUf surveys revealed that many younger women arc unwilling to process Shea and those in towns particularly prefer to use refined oil or buy Shea.In Uganda, the Shea fruits typically mature in June. Women and children harvest the Shea fruits when they fall from the trees. At harvest, the fruit is eaten raw and then the kerneLs are cracked using a stone to obtain the nuts. The nuts are sun dried for about one week. Drying the nuts requires some care and usually mHS arc dried for only 2-.3 hours/day. Slow drying prevents oil losses. If nuts are overdried or overheated, they become black and either cannot be sold ro processors or the quality of the oil is reduced. Heating the nuts also prevents the nuts from germination. Germination reduces quality and is associated with a bitter taste in the processed oil.Processing Shea oil is a labor-intensive process, requiring 4-6 women to work a full day to produce 4-5 liters of oil from 20 liters of nuts. A 20-liter jerry can contains 20 kg of nuts.There are many variations of the main procedures, but essentially, rhe nuts are ground or pounded into rough grist using mortars and grinding stones and then roasted. Sometimes, rhe nuts are roasted prior to grinding. After heating, the nuts are ground into a paste. This paste is mixed with an equal amount of water and boiled. The oil is then skimmed off and held in a separate container. The oil is generally washed again and boiled to remove particles and mucilage from the first stage boiling. The oil is then left to cool. Typically in Uganda, the product is brown oil that separates into the olein and stearin fractions. This quantity can last a family 1-3 weeks depending on usage. Shelflife of the oil is from 1 to 3 weeks, depending on the moisture content after processing.Table 9. Utilization of the Shea tree.-----------------~~-----~---- Eaten fresh or dried and stored for later use. Also described as a famine food~ Dried seeds used for oil production or sold for immediate income.Oil is mainly used as edible oil, for frying, as an addition to sauces or sold in local markets as an important source of income. Other uses include utilization in many cultural ceremonies (weddings, birth, naming of babies, funerals, rain, crop/soil fertility, divining the future, and the ordination of local chiefs or priests). The oil has also been described as a traditional moisturizer, as an ointment for newborn babies, as a lubricant of machinery, and as an important component of medicines for sprains, scabies or as a dressing on an open wound. The oillfat can also be used to produce traditional soap and to protect wood or metal from corrosion.Wood is used as charcoal or firewood and the poles are frequently employed as the roof or \"Y\" shaped poles in house construction. The timber is also used for local handicrafts (stools, pestles, and mortars) and to make beehives. In addition, large tree boles are used to build local canoes.Whole tree is said to improve soil fertility, provide shade, and protect against wind or soil erosion.Although rarely utilized, the leaves from this tree species are used in funeral ceremonies.The flowers are used to flavor tobacco, as a medicine to reduce chest pains and to cure eye problems. They are important in honey production.Frequently used as a medicine for stomach problems, specifically against diarrhoea.The residue from oil production is commonly used as a termaticide for houses (to protect walls and poles) or crops, burnt to repel rnosquitoes and the ashes from this product can be used to produce local salt.The latex is used as a medicine to dress open wounds, as glue to seal pots or calabashes and as an adhesive to trap animals or birds.The roots are utilized in the production of unspecified medicines (should not be confused with mistletoe which is known as twit yao.Source: Loven (2000).Shea fruits and nurs are gathered, processed, and retailed exclusively by women and children. Shea is an important source of income for women and this income is used to educate children or pay for medication. Children earn an income through gathering Shea nuts and selling the kernels at the market. In interviews with oil traders, we were told that children use the funds made through sales of Shea to buy their clothes. The money made through Shea sales is also used for joint family purchases.Men are involved in wholesaling the nuts as they have sufficient capital to purchase bulk loads of the commodity and rent stores in the local markets in the main towns and then either retail or wholesale the nuts back to the village markets.Importance to household diet, income, and food security Shea nut products command an important position in the diet of the rural community.The children and women eat the fruit while it is raw and the processed crude oil is used as a food accompaniment. In most northern villages, refined cooking-oil is not available. Shea oil is the only source of cooking-oil used for all the traditional foods.Shea oil provides a major source of income [0 the households engaged in its trade. Interviews in the vil1ages and rural markets revealed that women processors rated Shea oil as the highest source of income generation. According to them, Shea oil provides more income than brewing and farming. The money made through Shea is also clearly for the women, whereas much of a woman's labor goes into agricultural work and most produas are then sold by the head of the family, in which case the money is usually the property of the man.Wholesalers stated that trading in Snea is highly lucrative, with higher gains on Shea than from other crops such as sunflower, groundnur, and maize.Shea fruit and oil provide an essential part of the diets for [he people in the Shea belt. Trading in Shea also provides an important source of income that is used by the rural households [0 purchase food.The experience in West Africa Shea is an important household resource in savanna regions of Core d'lvoire, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria. Nut gathering practices and traditional processing techniques are broadly similar across the region. Most Shea butter uses are commonly shared and include cooking-oil/fat, food accompaniments, and topical treatments of various skin conditions. The importance of Shea butter comes from its relative abundance in areas that are otherwise resource-poor. Irs contribution to household welfare and food security is therefore significant.In West Africa, the international Shea trade is dominated by purchases made by, or on behalf of CBE manufacturers in Europe and Japan. CBEs are a group of highly processed food products made from several different (mostly tropical) vegetable fars. They mimic the properties of cocoa burter with which they are mixed in chocolate and confectionery manufacturing to modifY the properties and reduce the cost of the finished product\". The CBE trade jealously guards its secrets, even to the point of refusing to release information on the quantity of Shea nurs that it purchases. However, African export and European import data suggest that the annual quantities vary between 50 000 and 70 000 t!nuts!year Oaeger 1999).Until recently, all the European CRE manufacturers insisted on purchasing Shea nuts rather than Shea butter from Africa. Only this way, they have claimed, could they control quality (in particular, the content of free fatty acids that cause rancidity). Uilimarcly, however, this has merely been an excuse to avoid engaging with oil seed millers in Wes( Africa. There now appears to be a concerted effort on the part of some CRE manufacturers (notably the Dutch Unilever subsidiary Loders Croklaan and the Japanese company Fuji Oils. through its buyer ltochu Ltd.) to buy Shea butter from West Africa. To a large extent, this has been prompted by tighter European and Japanese environm~ntallegislarion that discriminates against dirty industries, such as oil seed crushing. As a result, European oil seed crushing companies are not reinvesting in plant (pers. comm. Ian Cullen, retired Ttochu oils and fats buyer).There are now plans to export large quantities of Shea butter from Ghana. Buyers favor Ghana for several reasons.• Ghana has a well-earned reputation for producing good quality nuts, with low free fatty acid contents. This is a reflection of good post-gathering practices l •• Since 1991, the Ghanaian Shea subsector has had minimum interference from the government 2 • This contrasts with the situation in the francophone countries, where government investment and control have been the norm (Devey 1995).• Ghana is politically stable.Until early in 200 I, the only significant Ghanaian Shea butter exporter had been Kassardjian Ltd. Alongside its regular European Shea nut buyers, this family-owned company has formed an exclusive Shea butter trading relationship with Irochu Ltd, the oils and fats buying company for the Japanese CBE manufacturer Fuji Oils. Kassardjian has adapted the traditional boiling extraction process to produce butter of a consistently high quality. Part of the secret of Kassardjian's success lies in its long-standing and strong position in Ghana's Shea nut export industry. The company has a well-developed buying network, which procures high quality Shea nuts. This experience has meant that the nuts used for burter extraction have been very low in free fatty acids.In 2001, Shebu Ltd emerged as a serious Shea butter extracter. Backed by Loders Croklaan, the new company plans to extract large quantities of Shea butter using expeller presses. The raw material will come from Loders' long-standing Shea nut suppliers (Kassardjian and Olam) plus a network of community groups. Loders intend that this latter source will ensure greater returns ro poor village people.Industrial extraction in francophone West Africa has been directed towards local and international cosmetics and toiletry markets. This reflects the predominant French interest in Shea butter. As with many other industries in francophone Africa, state involvement in the Shea extraction industry has been sizeable.Historically, French companies have dominated exports of Shea nut and butter to the international cosmetics markets. Recently, however, cosmetics buyers from the US and UK have shown an interest in buying directly from African suppliers. Cosmetics buyers, whether from the USA or Europe, are willing to pay considerably more for Shea butter than those buying for the CBE industry. However, on the most conservative estimate, the demand for CBE is at least 17 times larger than the demand for the cosmetics industry. A factor of70 may be more accurate. There is a tendency for potential Shea butter extracters in West Africa to get carried away by the prices that overseas cosmetics buyers ofTer, while ignoring the small quantities required.In 1998, the subsidiary of a major international company in Ghana started producing a lThe Ghanaian Shea industry used to be controlled by the Cocoa Board (Chalfin 1996). Clearly, cocoa producers and expuner:. had a vested interest in controlling exports of a commodity that potentiaHy reduces the quamity of cocoa buncr consumed in the world. However. market liberalization forced an end to this arrangement. The idea of control is debatable; one may sensibly piggyback similar commodities within one marketing board.butter caused the company to withdraw the product. If these problems could have been solved, demand for Shea butter would have grown subsrantially, particularly if the regional market could have been exploited.In 2000, DFID funded the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) to conduct a pilot project to test the fea.'Oibility of operating a small or medium enterprise (SME) to supply approximately 50 tlyear of Shea butter to the CBE industry (Gallat et aI. 2000). The technology was the same as that used by COVaL and NUSPA in northern Uganda. Unfortunately, the enterprise would have made a substantial loss, even if Shea burter prices offered by CBE manufacturers had been substantially greater than those that prevailed at the time.The only practical way for the project to become profitable would have been to reinvest in a much larger capacity plant, thereby putting the opportunity beyond the reach of most local businessmen. However, if production had been oriented to the cosmetics market, and a buyer willing to take 50 t!year of Shea butter could have been found, the enterprise would have made substantial profits.In general, industrial and traditional Shea activities in Ghana have coexisted happily.Although the volume of exports is much smaller than local consumption, export buying sets the price for Shea nuts on the domestic market. Both sources of demand use the same network of traders and there is a danger that increased international demand for Shea would raise prices to the exclusion of traditional users (who, all things being equal, should benefit from higher export prices).If excessive demands were to occur on Shea nut resources in Ghana, it would probably not be widespread. Large, sparsely populated areas in the north are currently beyond the economic reach of Shea nut buyers (pers. comm. Mr Kassardjian Senior). A substantial increase in international demand would initially be met by extracting more Shea nuts from existing supplying areas. Beyond that, traders would be encouraged to enter new areas.Traditional Shea nut market Shea nuts traded through the local wholesale and retail markets are used in the traditional processing of crude Shea oil. Most of this oil is consumed directly in the home, while the remainder are traded in local retail markets mostly by the women who process the oil.Trade is restricted to northern Uganda. We found no evidence that Shea nuts were traded outside the northern districts. Shea nut wholesalers tend to operate from the larger towns but their buying activities take them to rural Shea producing areas where they maintain satellite stores.COVOL members of staff were interviewed to establish parameters to determine the volumes of Shea traded.• The zoning of the Shea nut belt.A list of markets where Shea nuts are sold (within the Shea belt).The seasonal changes in the quantities of nuts sold.The quantities of nuts that get to the markets.The Shea nut belt comprises the following districts; Kotido, Katakwi, Kitgum, Gulu, Pader, Lira, Nebbi, and Arua. In six of these districts, 59 markets were identified through disclissions with the COVOL team and these markets were confirmed in a later interview with the local trade officer. As we were unable to access market information collected by COVOL, the team members provided information that was based on their best estimates of nuts regularly available in these markets. Results are summarized in Table 10.From interviews and market visits we estimate that the roral quantity of Shea nuts traded through the northern Ugandan markets is approximately 6000 tlyear. This is 100/0 of the lowest estimated potential nut yield. The study showed that these nuts are traded between the same groups and, therefore, we assumed a real trade in sellers and users to be 3000-4000 t/yr. This equates to approximately 700 t or 0.8 million liters of oil. Given that the wholesale value of Shea oil is approximately Ush 1500/1iter, this translates to a market value of Ush 1.2 billion, equivalent to U5$700 000 (US$I = Ush 1750).The overall oil market in Uganda is estimated at 44 000 tlyt with a value of about US$36 million. According to the latest figures from UOSPA, the supply of raw materials including cotton and sunflower seed was 78 000 t in 1999 (Otimodoch and Singh 2000). This converts to approximately 18 750 t of oil. Given a wholsale price fot refined oil at Ush 1300/liter, the value of oil from local seed is approximately US$15 million/year.  These figures suggest the market share of rraditional Shea oil is approaching 5% of the local production. This figure includes only the potential Shea oil produced from the traded nuts and does not include the amount of Shea oil sold in the market. We also noted that in many of the Shea markets, there was no refined oil on saJe. Prices of Shea oil were higher than prices of refined vegetable oils in the main Lira market; oil traders confirmed there was strong demand for Shea oil and that people were prepared to pay more. Therefore, demaIld for the local product is strong and, despite the often variable quality, Shea is competing effectively in the marketplace.Future sales of Shea oil are, however, unclear. Given the higher price of the product and the increasing competition between refined vegetabl<;> oil producers, it is likely that in the main towns of the north, refined oil prices will fall relative to Shea, as production increases.It is also likely that, due to the staodard quality of the refined oil, consumers will shift to a lower cost substitute.The quaotity of nuts available in the markets is dependent on the seasonality of the Shea tree and the sales of the nuts from the stores. Volumes of nuts at the markets are highest in June, July, aod August (peak season). In October, September, November, and December, volumes fall by 50%. The quaotities are lowest in Januaty, Februaty, and March, then begin to rise in April and May. During the peak season aune, July, and August), the price of nuts is Ush 200/kg at rural market retail. During the \"off peak\" season in September, October, November, December, April, and May, the price rises to Ush 300/kg. In the season of scarcity, it may rise to Ush 400 or 500/kg.The nuts vary in quality though no grading is done at the market. For every given quantity of nuts available in the market. we observed that 50% of the nuts were highest quality, 35% were moderate, and 15% poor quality. COVaL had introduced a campaign to improve nut quality and although the system is not generally used in the trade at the market, many traders were aware of the standards introduced by COVOL. Approximately 50% of gathered nuts are top quality, another 35 to 40% are of second quality, while the remaining 10 to 15% are generally too inferior to process (pers. comm. NUSPA representative).Figure 8 illustrates the trading chain for Shea nuts. Margins and costs along the chain have also been calculated (Table II). Marketing agents along the chain take on added responsibilities. Rural assemblers were found to involve themselves in transportation in addition to assembly. As can be seen from Figure 8, the distribution channel exhibits variations mainly due to seasonality.The nuts are collected, dried, and stored at household level by the gatherers, the first point in the trading chain. These have three outlet channels: itinerant traders, rural assemblers, and processors. According to field interviews, both the itinerant traders and the processors constitute a large flow of the volume traded. During the peak season, processors buy directly from the nut gatherers on market days. They also purchase nuts from their households at other times. The gatherers themselves are the major source of nuts for the processors in the peak period.The volume that goes to the processors is consumed; that going through the itinerant traders during the peak season mostly ends up stored by the assemblers and wholesalers to profit from scarcity during the lean periods .  Processors purchase the nuts from traveling traders and wholesalers in the lean periods, with the latter constituting the larger flow of trade volumes. Table II gives an example of costs and margins in the trading of Shea nuts between the rural and urban areas. It summarizes a chain that begins with the gatherer selling the nuts to the rural assembler usually through the itinerant trader. The itinerant trader relies on his bicycle to traverse the countryside in search of the nuts. After the village assembler comes the traveling trader who arranges for the transportation of the nuts to the urban wholesalers/retailers in town. The wholesaler stores and sells the nuts to the processor.The cost and price information used to construct Table 11 is the result of fieldwork conducted in July and later in September. The table gives a snapshot of the How of trade and estimated margins along the chain.Shea nut prices vary considerably over the year. During the Shea season Oune, July, and August 2001) the ex-store price in Lira is approximately Ush 280/kg (US$0.16/kg). By January, the wholesale price will probably have increased to Ush 495/kg' (US$0.29/kg) (Pers. comm. Lira wholesale trader).Spatial differences do occur. In the main concentration areas of Kitgum, Pader, and Gulu, prices are lower than in Lira and the peripheral areas around the main Shea belt.This is mainly attributed to the forces of demand and supply prevailing is such areas. Local traders are of the opinion that prices in the more remote areas of Pader, Kitgurn, and Gulu where nut concentration seems to be heavier are much lower than in the other areas. While nuts cost about Ush 50/kg in the more isolated areas of Kit gum, they cost about Ush 80/kg in Lira during the peak season.Prices across the Shea belt appear to be remarkably similar, and those that differ, tend to reflect higher transport costs (Masters 1992). This indicates fairly free transmission of market information and a well-integrated market.Table 12 gives an estimare of the costs, revenues, and profits of a Shea nut wholesaler interviewed during our fieldwork (workings and assumptions appear in the annexes). The wholesaler operates from a store in Lira but has four rural stores in strategic buying locations. Apart from Shea nuts, the wholesaler trades and stores beans, soybean, sorghum, millet, and rice. With a gross margin 4 of 370/0, this is clearly a profitable business. However, there are reponedly only ten traders in Lira and whilst profits are high, volumes are &irly low. In the main market in Lira town there are six nut traders. These buy in bulk usually in bags and 3Sale price has been adjusted to account tOr a 10% weight loss from drying during the storage period. 4Gross margin % is calculated as 100 )( (Revenue-Total variable operating oosts)/Revenue. their buying price is quoted in kg. They sell nuts in cups to processors in and around Lira town. Just outside the main market. in what is known as the \"produce line\". there is one nut trader while another two operate further away from the main market. Greater participation in this trade is probably constrained by a lack of working capital and expertise in Shea nut storage. Shea nut wholesalers admit that competition is not as great as in other wholesale food markets. Large seasonal price movements and the relatively high levels of profits earned from interseasonal storage suggest that the Shea nut wholesale market is uncompetirive.One trader informed us that the main traders are those people who know the crop and know how to manage the product in store. For most people. Shea is considered not to be a major commercial commodity.Expansions of interseasonal storage would help to reduce the large seasonal price movements. It would also create a greater demand for nuts in the Shea season, increase household income during this period. and help to reduce household expenditure later in the year when Shea nuts have to be purchased. The overall effect would be an improvement in household food security. Current players in the market do not have sufficient working capital to do this at present. Apart from concerns about liquidity and limited Shea storage expertise in the wholesale food trade, expansion might be constrained by a lack of unexploited Shea nut reserves. Industrial users of Shea nuts who would require a major share of the Shea resource would compound this problem. Although our rough estimates indicate that there are sufficient unexploited volumes available, the fragility of household economies in northern Uganda underlines the need for conducting a careful survey of nut resources and current demand in northern Uganda.Alternatively, we may speculate that an industrialist who would buy up a significant share of the Shea nut would also create increased demand for cheaper refined vegetable oil.If this were to occur, a secondary market could be exploited.Expansion of the interseasonal Shea nut trade would support traditional Shea oil processing by limiting the price of Shea nuts in the lean season.Greater income earned from Shea nut gathering would persuade villagers (Q give greater protection (Q Shea trees. However, overharvesting of Shea nur would limit natural regeneration of the Shea tree species unless this were tied to or supported by a planting scheme.There was insufficient time to collect information on the quantity of Shea oil consumed by the population in the north of Uganda. This would require an in-depth study at the household level. High quality is associated with a dark brown color, the best indication that nuts have been correctly roasted before oil extraction. Such oil is more flavorsome and has a much longer shelflife. Lighter colored oils have been known to become rancid within two weeks, whereas dark brown oil can last for several months. Given this rapid market appraisal, consumers are generally unwilling to pay more for higher quality oil. However. traders know that they can sell darker oil much more quickly than the inferior lighter colored oil. Quality, therefore, does have a market value.Due to its varied uses, crude Shea oil has no direct substitutes. Clearly, however. for some specific uses, substitutes do exist. For frying, the main alternatives are palm and sunflower cooking-oils. As a skin moisturizer and protectant, petroleum jelly is a competitor although it does not have the same healing properties as Shea. These are proportedly linked to Shea oil's vitamin content.In northern markets, crude Shea oil is currently more expensive than refined vegetable oils.A botde (135 ml) costs Ush 300 while a similar quantity of the improved sunflower oil retails for Ush 250. A Fanta botde (300 mil of crude Shea nut retails at Ush 600 while its sunflower equivalent costs Ush 500.Information about price movements, however, suggests that in areas deep into the Shea belt, sunflower oil is more expensive during me Shea peak period. The improved oil is transported into these areas from the major urban centers.During the Shea lean period, crude Shea oil prices across the region increase dramatically in the major urban centers. While the price of a 300 ml bottle of vegetable oil is fairly stable at Ush 500 in Lira town throughout most of the year, Shea oil increases to Ush 800 in the lean period.Traditional At harvest, the fruit is eaten and the nuts are sun dried. The processing of oil extraction begins by mixing me nuts wim ash or sand and roasting. The ash or sand helps to achieve uniform spread of heat and avoids burning the nuts. According to the local processors, roasting may take up to two hours and more, if the nuts are not well sun dried. Thereafter. the roasted nuts are sieved out of the ash and sand and cleaned with leaves. The nuts are then put into a mortar and pounded into a crush. According to most processors this is the most labor-intensive activity in the process. After crushing, the grits are ground into a fine powder using a grinding stone. The powder is then mixed with boiling water. The paste-water mixture is boiled for some time to release the oil and then left to cool. Oil settles on the top and is removed, leaving the residues in the water. The Shea oil produced by this method has a nutty, roasted flavor that is preferred by the local community.The cold press method promoted by COVOL is used to produce Shea butter that can be used by industrial or cosmetics processors. For this process. the dried nuts are crushed and ground into powder. The powder is mixed with hot water and poured into a bag that is then placed in a container. It is hand-ptessed and the oil filters througb me bag into the container. According to reports from Sudan, for a family of five women who process 4 liters of oil every 2 weeks, this means that 130 work-days/year are required for women to process their oil requirements. Using me COVOL technology, the women obtain a higher quality product and can produce about 4 liters in 30 minutes or up to 40 liters in one day. The products and equipment required for cold processing are shown in Figures 9-12.Profit. higher in the peak than in the lean season, is a combination of the gross margin made on processing the oil and the returns from trading it in the market. Although not particularly great, the profits can be the most important part of a woman's contribution to household income.Across the Shea belt, individual women process me nuts into oil, which mey retail in local markets. In Lira main market there are about 10 women who process on a small scale. These form the main trading chain for the nut wholesalers. They buy 120 cups of the nuts weekly from wholesalers inside the market.The women rely on both hired and family labor to process the oil. In the town markets, hired labor is mostly used while in the rural areas, family labor is common. Processing is done in smaller batches of 40 cups weighing 16 kg. From this, a full 5-liter jerry can is obtained. On average, they process 15 liters of oil/week. See Table 13.Average sales/person/week amount to about 15 liters. During periods of peak demand, volumes/week double, bur the number of processors may fall due to scarcity of the nuts.     Processors have several sources of nuts depending on seasonality and socioeconomic fuc\"tors. During the peak season, processors get nurs from gatherers while in (he lean period, wholesalers provide [he main supply channel (Fig.  For an estimation of trading costS and margins accruing to small-scale women processors across the Shea belt, see Table 14. Variations were found to exist, depending on whether family labor was used or not, the source of nuts, and seasonality.In nonhero Uganda, supply appears to be in balance with demand which, according to several of our informants, is fairly constant throughout the year. AJthough market prices rise on a seasonal basis, this is caused by an increase in raw material (Shea nms) costs rather than a reduction in processed volumes. The desirabiliry of expanding supply is unclear.Given the lack of direct substitutes for traditionally processed crude Shea oil, one might expect demand to be inelastic. However, households have the ability to process their own Shea oil, suggesting that market demand may be elastic. In this uncertainry, the extent of the downward pressure on prices arising from an increase in supply is difficult to predict.Ultimately, the type of people who purchase Shea oil and those who market it are the same, and so, even ifsuppliers should lose out to consumers (or vice versa) as a result of increased supply, the welfare of the northern Ugandans 3.-'i a whole should increase. J:<rom our limited fieldwork, the following appear to constrain processing.The expense of transport, either in fares or time spent providing own transport. • Scarcity of nuts in the lean season.The price of nuts in the lean season (perhaps implying a cash flow problem). • Poorly dried seed. Sales and marker raxes were also mentioned but we have no objective measure of whether these are burdensome.Given the importance of Shea in the income and food security of the women in the north of Uganda. and the fact that this is most economically depressed region of the country. there is scope to consider some of the more social benefits to investment relative to economic agribusiness type interventions. If one accepts that a marketing approach will not work for everyone. as clearly shown in industrialized nations where depressed regions are given strong social support programs, then several options may be considered.Increased revenue from Shea oil sales should encourage people to conserve Shea trees. It is unlikely that Shea oil production will increase to the extent that the Shea resource will be put under such pressure that it is no longer available. Increasing demand would also tend to create a pull for Shea from southern Sudan.At present, the level of cross-border trade between Sudan and Uganda for Shea is minimal. Reports from southern Sudan, however, indicate that Shea is in plentiful supply and would be processed in greater volume if a market were identified.The Ugandan market for cooking-oils and vegetable fats is dominated by low-cost products, mosdy produced from imported crude palm and sunflower oil and domestically grown cotton and sunflower seed. US cooking-oil from USAID's PL480 program is also sold, but in quantities that are purported not to distort the market. The size of the vegetable oil market is estimated at approximately 44 000 t (Otimodoch and Singh 2000) and is growing at abour 20/0/year; 650/0 of cooking-oil is currently produced from imported raw materials.According to repocts, there are plans to install a solvent extraction plant in northernUganda with a capacity of 500 t/oil/day. The plant will be supplied with oilseed grown on a 10 000 ha company farm and on a considerably larger area owned and managed by outgrowers. If this plan is realized, Uganda will probably become self-sufficient in oil seed production.prefer \"big name\" company products, which they associate with quality and status (pers. comm. William Mollah, Research International).Crude Shea oil can also be used as a cooking-oil. either directly or fractionated to yield stearin and olein. The stearin is valued too highly on domestic and international cosmetic markets to be used as a cooking-fat. However. Shea olein has yet to find a substantial international market and therefore could be sold as a cooking-oil on the Ugandan market. Shea olein is gold-colored oil, the quality of which has tentatively been compared with olive oil (Maranz and Wiesman 2000).Consequendy, Shea oil could potentially be marketed to the small but probably growing group of wealthier Ugandan consumers who appreciate quality in ingredients for cooking. If it were produced in any quantity, it would have to compete on price with refined vegetable oils. Our financial analysis of Mr Jones oil mill in Lira suggests that this could be done profitably (see page 57) assuming that a reasonably valuable market for Shea stearin could be found in the local cosmetics market.An organization such as NUSPA could supply nuts andlor Shea stearin to agencies involved with cosmetics and then supply cold pressed Shea stearin to the cooking-oil market.Alternatively, COVaL has the capacity to supply olein as a by-product from its ftactionation process. Assuming that COVOL continues to supply Shea stearin to the valuable cosmetics industry in the US, the organization could probably sell Shea olein at a price that is competitive with the vegetable oils that currently dominate the market. This aspect much depends upon the levels of processing that COVaL undertakes. If Guru Nanak Oil Mills implements its plans to produce Shea stearin for the export market, there could be up to 600 t of Shea olein available to the national vegetable cooking-oil market. Mukwano Industries also plans to extract and export crude Shea oil. However, if the company went one step further and fractionated its crude oil. the total amount of olein on the Ugandan market could rise to as much as 1700 t. Shea olein could, in this case, be sold as a virtually new product. refined Shea oil. If this were not successful. then it could be blended with the other refined oils.Expansion in Uganda: opportunities and desirability For Shea olein. expansion means moving from very small and irregular production to substantial tonnages. Whether this happens will depend on private sector decisions that, to a large extent. are beyond donors' influence. There is an opportunity to supply a competitively priced Shea olein product to the expanding cooking-oils market. As a by-product of Shea stearin export production, Shea olein could be sold as a highly competitive product. Sales of crude Shea oil on national and possibly regional markets depend crucially on consumer preferences and how cleverly the product can be marketed.Commercial decisions not to extract and fractionate Shea stearin and olein.Although current interest from Guru Nanak Oil Mills is high, many factors could persuade its owner not to proceed.Adverse changes in the international markets for stearin. The international cosmetics market for stearin will become more integrated, meaning that the very high prices that some buyers are willing (0 pay will decline. The current situation is that Shea stearin is being sold into the CBE market at U5$O.60/kg and virtually the same product is being wholesaled into the cosmetics matket at prices ranging from U5$5 to U5$25/kg.• Insufficient supplies of Shea nuts.Shea nuts will become a more valuable resource. Due to remoteness and scattered distribution, further exploitation will have to involve poor local people. This will help to spread the economic gains from the new Shea industry among poor communities.As long as industrially extracted crude Shea butter is not marketed in the north of Uganda, the only danger to traditional processing activities would be if competition for [he Shea resource pushes nut prices upwards.The major danger to expanding this market would be overexploitation of the other activities. such as wood usage. charcoal burning, and land cultivation.Background In Northern Uganda. Shea oil has a current market in its crude form for various household uses:• Cooking-oil.• Food accompaniment and/or flavor enhancer.• Cosmetic use (moisturizer, skin protectant) healing cream.Commercially. a fractionated version of the product-stearin-•-receives high unit returns when sold to the US cosmetics market but export volume is very low. Commercialization of the product on a local scale has been unsuccessful to date, possibly because of the following.• Lack of promotional support.• No dear communication and understanding of benefits.• Confusion in consumer perception of the oil.• No serious investor.The benefits of Shea oil are not currently valued and the product competes in the market purely on price. USAID. through support to the appropriate commercial or community organizations, wants to promote sustainable development in northern Uganda. Trade in renewable Shea tree products could potentially promote economic growth while protecting the natural environment. Research is needed to investigate the potential of cold••pressed and traditional Shea oil products for local and regional markets.In order to gauge the potential for developing a domestic or regional market for Shea products, a series of focus groups were convened with women in October 2001 in Kampala and Lira. Findings from these studies indicate there is potential for developing value-added Shea cosmetic products for a domestic market of western expatriates. upscale Ugandan women, and Asian women. The interviews found that most respondents had never heard of Shea before.' However, all respondents reacted very favorably. These benefits of these products-healing and moisturizing-combined with the emotional benefits of being \"organic\", \"all natural\". \"environmentally conscious\". and \"made in Uganda\" created a very appealing proposition. For expatriate women. the additional emotional benefits of community trading and women's empowerment were valuable. but to a much lesser degree for the Ugandans.Findings from this study should be seen as indicative rather than conclusive. The focus groups results are helpful in defining the perceived strengths and weaknesses of Shea products. as well as creating a clearer understanding of the potential market and its defining parameters.consider further support to the development of value-added Shea products for the potential domestic market.2. It will be important to keep in mind-especially in the early stages--that there is virtually no knowledge of Shea and its benefits, and as a result there is no ready market. These will not be market-driven products. If a budget is dedicated to product development and processing, a budget will also have to be dedicated to market development.Without this, Shea products will continue to reside in obscurity. 3. Cosmetic products that could be developed are soaps, lotions, lip balm, and solid hair oil.To merit charging a premium, the products must be aesthetically pleasing. taking the following key criteria into account:• Scent (must be pleasing and not smell like Shea). • Appearance (should look natural but not too homemade).Packaging (natural but upmarket).• Perception of import quality.With regard to sales of high-quality Shea oil, despite a demonstrated level of interest among Lira women, it is not recommended that an improved Shea cooking-oil be pursued at this time.Before proceeding any further, the following two key questions should be addressed:• Will it be possible locally to produce and package value-added Shea products to meet the criteria of the discerning market as described above?• Will it be possible to support product development and processing with a substantial marketing budget?A series of focus groups were conducted among three groups: expatriate women living in Kampala (from Europe and North America), Ugandan women living in Kampala and Lira, and Asian women based in Kampala. The majority of Asian women approached were unwilling to leave home without their husbands and were interviewed in their homes in a separate series of meetings. The Lira groups focused primarily on the cooking-oil sector and were conducted in Luo. the 10ca1language. Separate discussion guides were designed for each group of respondents. each following a specific line of discussion touching on all the required topics. A maximum of eight women attended each focus group that lasted approximately two hours. Each woman was given refreshments and a cash incentive for attending the group, which encouraged and ensured participation from all respondents. As stimulus material. respondents were shown several concepts of Shea butter and were also shown a collection of Shea products ranging from locally produced butter and oil to products produced in Britain, France, and the US. Current usage and attitudes Expatriate women. Expatriate women are far more entrenched in beauty and cosmetic routines than their Ugandan counterparts. All women interviewed bathed daily, sometimes twice a day. They used a wide range of soaps, some bought here in Uganda and some brought in from home leave. Most expatriate women have established a routine of cleansing and moisturizing in the morning and evening and indicate a high degree of brand loyalty, especially where the face is concerned. Some women had been using the same brand fO( over 10 years. Brands used are all well-known and high-end:Expenditure on face creams is a given for these women and needs no justification. Many of the women interviewed use a day cream as well as a night cream which is reportedly richer and more \"reparative\".These women believe that by living in Mrica they are more exposed to sun damage than their European counterparts and so are more likely to use expensive products to counter the effects of aging. \"They say that for the skin, one year in Africa is like three years anywhere else\". Ironically, none of the women in this group used sun protection in their daily routines. For all-over body moisturizing, this group agreed that because of the humidity in Uganda, there is less need to moisturize their bodies than in their native countries. They do moisturize if they have been swimming or lying in the sun, or when preparing for a special evening our. When moisrurizing the body, there is less brand loyalry and less of a tendency to spend highly. Products are more of a supermarket variery: Revlon, Vaseline, Johnson and Johnson. Only one woman sruck to her line of products for all skin-care (Clarins).Ugandan women are less brand-loyal. They are aware of the numerous brands available, but tend to roam among brands of soaps, creams, and oils. This group is also far less likely to differentiate berween moisturizer for the body and for the face, or to spend highly. Brands used are as follows.• Mary KayBody Shop UganJan women. For Ugandan women, South Mrican, British, and even Kenyan products are seen to be superior to Ugandan. They have better packaging, better promotion. and, by association, better content. Ugandan women in the north use Shea butter for \"smearing\"'. They use it as a moisturizer but only for babies-adults do not use it because of the smell.Asian heritage to explore the potential of Shea cosmetic products. The women were all of Asian descent; some were born in Uganda. others in India and Pakistan. One woman was of mixed descent, Ugandan! Asian.Overall, findings from this research support the original report: Shea products have great appeal. These women especially liked the natural healing properties as a proposition. While they are fairly entrenched in their habits of moisturizing and are not looking for a new product, Shea as a healing moisturizer presents a whole new concept. These women can also see real benefits in locally manufactured products. As we heard in the other groups, the biggest challenge that locally manufacturers of Shea products need to address is the smell. It will be important to create a pleasant smelling product while still retaining the natural positioning and the product benefits. Packaging comes a dose second. Again, a marketing campaign will be necessary to communicate both the emotional and physical product benefits.All the women agreed that living in Uganda made their skin darker and more susceptible to sunburn and peeling. In terms of cosmetic use, they have a tendency to use powder alone on their faces and lotions only on their bodies. Brands and products used by the respondents include the following.• Amla-As far as brand use is concerned, loyalty is largely bred out of complacency rather than a really strong sense of loyalty: \"If there is no problem with the product I use, I will continue to use it\".-An element of heritage creeps into loyalty; if a family has used a product for a long time, the women will continue to use it. They also feel an affinity for products \"Made in India\" as they feel these have their needs in mind.\"Where do women buy these products? Expatriate women tend to buy their cosmetic products while on home leave. They also have a tendency to stockpile for the year ahead. Some of the brands and products used (i.e., l'Oreal) are available in Uganda now, but at a significant mark-up and women don't like paying more than they need to. Duty Free counters are a popular place for buying cosmetics-if they are buying a product they are already using. All women in this group said that they preferred speciality shops if they are trying a new product, partly for the expert opinion, partly for the relaxed atmosphere, and parrly for the pampering. Soaps and body lotions, however, are bought in a myriad of retail outlets, from chemists to supermarkets to speciality shops. Lotions and soaps are bought locally but are generally imported. There is a real lack of knowledge of any Ugandan products, and the general feeling is that Ugandan products are bound to be inferior. Ugandan women are divided into two camps: the younger, more brand-savvy women (I 9-30) are likely to shop at Pioneer Mall for their cosmetics. There are two speciality shops there that deal in beauty products. Another shop, Avoa, on Buganda road, was also cited. Some women buy their products from the beauty salons where they go for treatment. As with the expatriates, these women are looking for an outlet offering advice and a level of customer care. They trust these shops and the products bought from them.There is great concern that there are too many product rip~•ofFs in Uganda. Consumer protection is in its infancy and women see cosmetics as a prime target for rip-offs and scams. These women do not buy from town, from the hawkers or from dukas, as they suspect that the products are not bona fide. They also suggested that Ugandan products are far more likely to be rip-ofE than imports.to be an underlying lack of faith in any Ugandan value-added product despite awarene\" (hat Uganda could produce many more consumer items.Current perceptions are that Ugandan products are inferior to imports. As far a'i the respondents were concerned, the following problems were identified with domestic products. • Imported products are seen (0 be superior to Ugandan products.There was concern around the duplication of local products-as was seen with the Ugandan women-which appears to be a significant barrier to buying domestic products.It was generally accepted that Ugandan products are not as good as imports from UK, Europe, and the USA.The women unanimously agreed that Ugandan packaging is inferior (poor quality, unattractive) which also influences their attitudes towards domestic products.On the positive side, domestic products arc likely to be more affordable, easily accessible, and any queries or concerns can be forwarded with ease to the manufacturer. There was a real scepticism among the Ugandan women about Ugandan-Asian manufacturers with an undercurrent of belief that these manufacturers generally compromised quality in pursuit of a profit. Several women even said, as the conversation progressed, \"Do not let an Asian develop these products for you\". The suggestion was, should this be the case, this segment of the market would be lost due to this preheld scepticism.The women were all shown written concepts describing Shea, the origins, the properties, the physical benefits, and the potential emotional benefits. These concepts were devised from numerous articles found on the Internet and edited to suit the focus group environment.Segments of the concepts have been isolated and expanded below, but the key finding here is that gestalt (i.e., \"the whole is greater than the sum of the parts\") of the benefits is far more powerful than individual concepts.Healing and moisturizing. The response was overwhelmingly positive to these concepts.Spontaneous links to cocoa butter and Aloe Vera were made, but it was acknowledged that there was no known cream that achieved both healing and moisturizing. This W3-'i the most appealing positioning of the product for Asian women who were mostly interested in the healing attribute as they are presently content with their moisturizing lotions. A natural healing cream is a novel proposition. \"I would consider using this for my son who has eczema. We have tried so many different things and nothing so far has worked\". Some women felt that Shea sounded rather rich and were afraid that it might cause breakouts and spots. fu a night-cream, it sounded conceivably effective, and as an all-over moisturizer and after-sun cream, it sounded idea1.Organic, Natural Conceptually, these are great selling points. Expatriate women have been buying into this concept for years, and Ugandan women are beginning to see the advantages. For the Ugandans, there is particular concern about the addition of bleaching agents.It is important to note, however, that consumers today are increasingly sceptical, and terms like these are open to abuse. This led to a debate in several of the groups whether preservatives should be allowed in \"natural\" products; 100% organic products are more likely to go rancid or smell bad, but by adding a preservative. you lose the organic status. It was agreed that a preservative was acceptable.Conceptually. these are great selling points. but the women were willing to trade these benefits for a better smelling product.EnvironmentaOy friendly. The women unanimously supported the environmentally friendly concept of Shea products. Deforestation is becoming an increasingly salient issue in Africa, a concern borne by both Ugandans and expatriates alike. The fact that the Shea nut harvest for oil production protects the trees from being felled is an extremely appealing factor. In addition. it was understood that the Shea tree is indigenous to the area (not a plantation tree) and, as a result, preservation of the trees became more significant to the respondents. All the Asian women supported the environmentally friendly concept of Shea products but they did not see this as a key factor for them.Tradition, heritage. While there is a current global fascination with traditional remedies, this concept was not altogether convincing for the respondents. In fact, this is possibly a turn-off for some of the younger, more modern, urban Ugandans who arc shrugging off their heritage in the pursuit of sophistication. The scientific explanation of Shea's beneficial properties was far more effective, and relevant. For the Asian community. this proposition was interesting, but not a particularly strong selling point. The product performance is far more important.Community development, women's groups. Again, this concept had higher cachet with the expatriate women whose collective consciences have been bombarded with \"responsibility\" issues for years. Buying a product that helps a community, especially a women's cooperative, adds a deep \"feel good\" factor. The Ugandan women, while they were not opposed to this concept, felt that these women in Lira were simply doing their job ... they didn't want to have to think about it. This concept had very little appeal to the fuian women interviewed.Poverty alleviation. This concept is a little less personal and a little less \"visual\". Many of the respondents liked to feel that they are making a contribution and supporting those less fortunate than themselves. The Asian women thought this concept had no value-they dismissed it as \"irrelevant\".A number of products were brought to the table for the women to try: creams, lip balms, and soaps. The women were impressed and a little surprised that Shea products were already being produced elsewhere, which gave Ugandan Shea a little more credibility.The locally produced soaps were well liked (produced by Jane Bates). Respondents particularly liked the inclusion of herbs, both from a scent perspective as wdl as a textural perspective. The imported hand cream and moisturizer (produced by l'Occitane, mixed with honey and African flowers) also met with fave reviews, in particular for the scent and the packaging. Expatriates liked the soap from l'Occitane but Ugandans did not. Nilotica packaging was well-liked (green glass jar) but the lemony scent was overpowering.The pure Shea butter was then passed around and while all agreed that it had a very unpleasant smell, all liked the texture and how it made their skin feel. It was understood that this was 100% pure Shea butter, and could be reduced to a lower content, as for rOccitane at 200/0 Shea products. As long as the ingredients were natural and Shea was one of the primary ingredients, respondems were still positive.The same line of product samples was produced for the Asian women, with the following responses.The three most appealing products were the 15% Shea body lotion from I'Occitane (said to be \"perfect\"), the pure Shea butter from Uganda (but without a scent), and the hair conditioner (from the Body Shop). All of these products could be seen in everyday use for the whole family.The glass Nilotica packaging was the best liked; the plastic packaging was considered too \"down-market\" and didn't communicate quality, healing, and moisturizing.W'here would you buy them? Many respondents suggested that a speciality shop should be opened in Kampala that showcased natural Ugandan products like this. A dedicated shop would prevent low quality imitations and provide the level of trust that many women need. Others suggested Pioneer Mall, Banana Boat (Kisemente), and Avoa (Buganda Road). Expatriates added that they would certainly buy lots of soaps and creams to take back to their home countries as gifts.All the Asian women agreed that the best places for them to buy these products would be pharmacies and beauty salons. Again. as we saw with the other groups. these places are more trusted than the average supermarket. shop. and hawker.The owner of Avoa, Ori Kahana, was imerviewed following the fieldwork and indicated a willingness to further explore Shea products. She is currently making her own products and uses Shea. Other manufacturers (UKl, AVIS) are interested in Shea but are not yet using it.Current usage and attirudes All the women use cooking oil. They listed the oils by type or brand, e.g., cottonseed, sunflower. Shea, Muzigo, and Mukwano. To these women, Mukwano appears to be a type of oil rather than a brand or manufacturer, which is an indication of how unaware of brands women in the rural districts are compared to their more urban contemporaries. (According to the Lira oil-miller, Mr Singh of Guru Nanak, the Mukwano oil is generally a mix of sunRower oil and imported palm oil but the women just call it Mukwano.) Oil is bought daily in various forms of containers.• Cavera (plastic bag).• Small tots or shots.• Small liquor bottles: 14 liter.• Larger liquor bottles.• Jerry cans: 5-, 20-liters. Mukwano is perceived as the better oil. Women refer to it as refined. Sunflower oil is recognized as being locally produced but its heaviness and thickness are less desirable.Mukwano and sunRower oils are used for frying on an everyday basis use and, generally, the women buy it on a daily basis in small quantities. A clear product benefit of these types of oil, however, is their ability to withstand storage. Orher oils tend to go rancid very quickly. Cortonseed oil is used by Lira women but nor greatly liked because of its foul smell.Shea oil is generally used more as a flavor enhancer than as a cooking-oil. Muzigo (cow fat) is used in the same way. The roasted-nut taste of Shea oil is said to add a distinct flavor, and many women believe that adding a spoonful of oil creates a richness of texture that will ensure the belly is filled more quickly. Several women said that the distinctive flavor of Shea is part of the reason they do not use it more frequently: they tire of it. The paradox is, without this distinctive Ravor, they would nor buy it.There was great interest in the refined oil shown to the groups. They were impressed that their traditional product could be improved. ff quality could be guaranteed (and the product priced consistently) the women were definitely inrerested in a value-added product. This should be treated with an element of caution, however, as economics and behavioral patterns suggest that the women will nor change their purchasing habits.They felt that the color was roo light and that, as a result, the flavor would not be the same, but made suggestions about improvements. \"You need to roast the nuts more or else you won't have the Ravor\". It is possible that there could be a slow evolution away from other oils towards improved Shea oil, but the women are very entrenched in their habits and views. Without a high degree of sensitization about the benefits of Shea oil versus the sunflower and Mukwano oils (i.e., Shea oil does not smoke at high temperatures), Shea will continue to have its niche 3..-'i a Ravor enhancer or speciality oil in the north. U7here do women buy these products? Women in Lira are not economically well off and tend to buy oil when they can. This means they buy in small volumes on a daily basis. Oil is bought at the market, from a duka (small wooden hut) or direct from the processor (more cheaply). Sometimes the women process it themselves despite the amount of time and effort required.Although Shea is available in the markets year round, the price fluctuates dramatically due to seasonal availability and prices become up to 100% higher in February-April. Pricing for other oils remains stable throughout the year. In addition, many women complain of the erratic quality of processing and say that the oil can be bitter if the roasting or the extracting had not been done correctly. The quality of other oils remains consistent.In a rapid survey of the local cosmetics companies in Uganda. the response to the possible use of Shea products was favorable.Company A purchases 300 t/month of stearin at a cost of US$3501r. They import their materials and would be interested to learn more about local supplies. The quality of the stearin was, however. paramount. The company would be interested to conduct trials with a supplicr and would also like more information on product quality tests and market acceptance.Company B provided no information on levels of stearin usage, but indicated that all the materials were imported. Thc company had heard about Shea and would be be willing to trade in Shea if a supply of good quality materials at low cost were available.Company C is producing cosmetics (lotions. shampoo. creams. liquid soap, and beauty products) and uses a range of matcrials including the following.• Synthetic stearic acid. • Fatty acids. • Sunflower oil.• Essential oils.At present, the company buys 200~300 kg/month of Shea butter that it uses in [he manufacturing of creams and lotions. When soap making begins, about 500~ 1000 kg! month could be utilized. The Shea butter used in this plant is supplied by Mr Singh (Guru Nanak Oil Mill), and produced locally in Northern Uganda. A similar quantity of synthetic stearic acid is used and imported from the UK.The company noted that Shea possesscs very good skin-moisturizing properties. It is also a very good skin softener and less expensive than imported raw materials. Limitations in using Shea butter include the lack of purification, a potential for conramination by antioxidants. and an uncertain shelf life. According to this company. the future for ,,\",'hea looks bright; the company may utilize about 2 t/month of Shea butter in the manufacture of cosmetics and soap.Shea butter is used in cosmetic products including ointments, creams, and lotions. Becaw-ie of its high content of unsaponifiablcs, it is mostly appreciated for facial, hand, and bodycare products, giving a very pleasant, smooth feeling to the skin. Shea is also recommended for lipstick. make-up. sunscreen formulations, and preparations for sensitive skins, due to its anti-inflammatory qualities. Shea butter may also be used in hydrophobic (oil-based) products, or in the oil phase of formulations for cosmetics, toiletries including soap, and over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceutical preparations (Table 15).Depending upon the formulation and budget, one will most likely want to choose a level which will take into consideration cost--effect and efficiency in the formulated product.Two commercial options for Shea incorporation into products are as follows. -Companies seeking to improve their label «value\" with Shea butter use below 50/0 of the product. -Companies that want to improve product performance through Shea butter use 100/0 and more of the product.The main cosmetics buyers of Shea butter/oil are located in Europe and the US. Although Shea butter is used extensively in Japan's food industry, it is not used in the country's substantial cosmetics industry (Bekure et al. 1997). European and US cosmetics companies buy from a variety of sources, depending on their requirements. A large proportion of Shea butter for use in cosmetics is purchased from the food industry in a highly refined form (de Saint Sauveur 1999). Such butter is cheap (having usually been obtained through solvent extraction), readily available, reliable in quality, and does not become rancid. However, the refining process removes most of the sun-protection, healing, and antiseptic qualities of the natural butter. Despite this, most of the larger cosmetics companies prefer to use refined burter because of the natural product's reputation for Ulueliable quality and the occasionally high content of free fatty acids, the cause of rancidity (de Saint Sauveur 1999). This also enables the producer to label the product as a Shea formulation. Smaller companies and specialist cosmetic ingredient suppliers are willing to buy unrefined Shea buttcr from Africa. Howevcr, concerns over quality have forced them to become intimately involved with its production. In some cases, buyers prefer to buy Shea nuts and -----------------------------------------------extract the butter themselves. This approach has been adopted by the French company Teco Industries that is one of the largest suppliers in the world of unrefined Shea butter for cosmetics. When sourcing butter directly from Africa, buyers tend to form exclusive relationships with African suppliers, thereby creating discrete marketing chains. This lack of market integration creates a situation where prices offered for essentially the same type of Shea butter can range from as little as US$lfkg fob to as much as US$601kg cif In Europe, cosmetics manufacturers have tended ro use 2Jnea butter in small quantities to add specific qualities to their products. Product promotion has paid no atteorion to the Shea butter conteor. More recently, however, several European companies have introduced products that contain large proportions of Shea butter. Promotion of these products has focllsed on the additional health-giving properties of Shea butter. In many instances, US cosmetics companies have treated Shea butter rather differently from their European counterparts. They have concentrated on selling Shea butter proJucts into the \"ethnic\" and \"natural product\" market sectors (Bekure et al. 1997). Shea butter content has been high and promotions have concentrated on the origins of the butter anJ its natural qualities. large-scale US cosmetics manufac(Urers also use Shea butter, although they almost certainly buy refined Shea butter sourced from Europe.The fragmemed nature of the international Shea butter market means (hat no pn~cise information is available on the quaIHiry of Shea butter used in the cosmetics industry. Estimates range from 400 tlyear to over 1500 t Uaeger 1999).After an initial period of interest in the 1970s, sales of Shea buner to the cosmetics industry declined. However, interest has now revived and the market is almost certainly growing. The rate of growth, however, is unknown.International buyers have traditionally purchased West African Shea butter that, as previously noted, is much harder than the Shea oil from East Africa. Consequently, international buyers tend to expect hardness. COVOl has tried to reproduce the qualities of the West African butter by fractionating Shea oil to produce Shea stearin (de Saint Sauveur 1999). However, there are at least three reasons why East African crude /)nea oil or even Shea olein has advantages over the West African product. 1. East African oil penetrates the skin more easily. Americans and Europeans prefer this quality. 2. East African Shea oil can be incorporated directly into an emulsion without further processmg.3. Shea is very good for the hair but the hardness of the West African butter limits the amount that can be used in hair formulations. East African Shea oil does not present these problems (de Saint Sauveur 1999). East African Shea olein may also have considerable potential. After fractionation it remains high in unsaponifiables and vitamins. This makes it particularly suitable for moisturizing creams (de Saint Sauveur 1999).There seems to some scope for increasing supplies of Ugandan crude Shea oil to the international cosmetic ingredients markets. Current interest in extracting Shea oil in Uganda for this purpose suggests that the opportunity could be exploited and there are players in the market who are interested in direct investment. See page 57.• The market is very small. If Guru Nanak Oil Mills and Mukwano Industries decided to enter production, they would almost certainly swamp the current international market. • The fragmentation of the market means that personal contact with buyers is indispensable. Buyers need to be reassured that they will receive quality products and service. To add to the difficulties, East African Shea butter is not as well-known as its West African counterpart.• Market fragmentation will almost certainly diminish as the US market matures and the very high prices paid by a few buyers will disappear. However, the market will become more predictable and easier to sell into.Cocoa burter gives chocolate its texture. It melts at body temperature and gives that familiar sensation in the mouth. However, despite recent low international prices, it remains one of the most expensive ingredients in chocolate. For many years, the confectionery industries in several countries have been using alternatives to reduce the quantity used. CBEs are the closest equivalents of cocoa butter, and not only reduce the manufacturing cost but can also modifY the properties of chocolate and confectionery products to allow more versatile uses. Among CBS, those manu£1.ctured from the Sudan, and Kenya,In the past, the major Shea butter CBE companies have preferred to import Shea nuts and conduct their own crushing, thereby ensuring that they are using the best quality ingredients in their manufacturing processes. However, environmental concerns in developed countries are beginning to force companies to rethink. Legislation in Japan and the EU is increasingly discriminating against the smells and effluents associated with oil seed crushing. Aarhus remains the only European company that continues to crush its own Shea nuts. Loders Croklaan has contracts with independent oil crushers in the UK, and within the last year, Karlshamns has sold its crushing mills. In Japan, Fuji Oils only import Shea butter, leaving the extraction process to companies in countries of origin. 2. In terms of gender. Shea is a crop that is almost exclusively the domain of women. The crop is gathered by women and children, the crop is processed by women, and most of it is sold by women. Shea is enshrined in the domestic culture of women and is used as source of fruit, oil, Vaseline, and medicine. Men are mainly involved in wholesaling and storage of Shea nuts.3. Results from the surveys found that for women involved in Shea nut and oil sales, this commercial activity was likely to be the most lucrative commercial activity of their financial year. Therefore, any increase in demand for Shea nuts or oil would have a considerable positive economic impact on their livelihoods.For dietary and food security importance. Shea is highly prized as a fruit during the lean season. It is an important source of vitamins. For most of the villages in the northern districts, Shea is the only source of cooking-oil.Environmental and research status of Shea in Uganda has developed a strong team of Shea researchers and significant progress has been made in the understanding of the Shea crop. Much of this information was captured in the proceedings of a regional Shea Tree Workshop held in lira. 2000. The proceedings remain unpublished and efforts should be made to facilitate the publication of this valuable text.World trade in Shea 7. In West Aftica. marketing channels are well defined and there has been a long-standing export of Shea nuts and butter to European countries and North America. The primary export market for the West African Shea butter is as a substitute for cocoa butter in the chocolate and confectionery industry. There have been some attempts to market local cosmetic products such as \"Vaseline Shea Butter\". Although the product was commercially successful, problems with sourcing Shea butter forced a manufacturer in Ghana to cease production. The product has not been relaunched. 8. International market demand for Shea-based products is increasing due to three factors.Changes in EU regulations now make it possible to blend up to 50/0 CBE into chocolate products. Economic recovery in former Soviet states has led to increased demand for Shea for input into their confectionery products. There has been renewed interest in Shea bU(ter for cosmetics. 9. Chemical analysis of Shea butter extracts indicates that Ugandan Shea has simitarities with olive oil and that this offers two potential markets, in cosmetics and cooking-oil production.Supply of Shea across the savanna belt 11. Potential Shea nut production in the Ugandan ,)nea belt is estimated to fall within a range from 70 000 to 385 000 million t, with a high variation in annual yield. This would yield between 15 and 80 million liters of oil using traditional methods, which would have a median value of US$30 million. Extraction may increase up to more than 120 million liters with improved processing techniques.12. From interviews and market visits, it was estimated that the toral volume of Shea nm transactions through the northern Ugandan markets is approximately 6000 t!year. However, many of these transactions are connected with interseasonal storage of nuts and, therefore, we estimate the actual volume of nuts to be 3000-4000 t. This volume equates to approximately 700 t of oil, or 0.8 million liters of oil. Given that the wholesale value of Shea oil is approximately Ush 1500/liter, this translates to a market value of Ush 1 186500000, which is equivalent to U5$ 0.68 million (U5$1 = Ush 1750).13 The current trade in Shea nuts accounts for approximately 4-50/0 of the oil produced from local vegetable oils in Uganda. This figure does not take into account the amount of oil that is locally produced and does not enter the market place. Further studies would be required to determine this level.Implications for Ugandan marketing based on the Ghanaian marketing system14. The quality of Shea butter is highly dependent upon the methods of grading nuts.drying, and processing. Gatherers and processors should find effective working relationships in order to maintain quality along the value chain. products has been developed including local cooking-oil, hot roasted and cold-pressed, export quality hand and body lotions, lip balm, and some novel pet products. 19. Within the marketing strategy, COVaL was to playa market linkage role for NUSPA, the local processors, and cosmetics retailers such as Body Time. Although this strategy seems to be sound, in terms of (1) local equity for the processors, (2) the establishment of an intermediaty that handles quality and market linkage, and (3) a strong retail partner in USA, the volumes of sales through this system were low. The costing structure was somewhat unclear and sales performance was poor, possibly due to problems at the retail end of the marketing strategy. Future trade via the COVal link is unsure at this time, but events can be tracked on their website.20. There are considerable seasonal fluctuations in market prices for Shea nuts. Expansion of interseasonal storage would help to reduce the large seasonal price movements. It would also create greater demand for nuts in the Shea season, increase household income during this period, and help to reduce household expenditure later in the year when Shea nuts have to be purchased. The overall effect would be an improvement in household food security and less income drain in the off season period.21. Prospects for expanding the Shea olein market would mean moving from very smaIl and irregular production to substantial tonnages. There is an opportunity to supply a competitively priced Shea olein product to the expanding cooking-oils market, as a by-product of Shea stearin export production. As the chemical profile of Ugandan Shea olein is most comparable with that of olive oil, high-quality Shea olein could be sold as a highly competitive product (bearing in mind that price, and not quality, is the main market driver). Sales of crude Shea oil on national and possibly regional markets depend crucially on consumer preferences and how cleverly the product can be marketed. 22. Surveys in the local cosmetics markets found there was considerable interest in developing value-added Shea cosmetic products for a domestic market of expatriates and upscale Ugandan women. Most respondents had never heard of Shea before, but all respondents reacted very favorably towards it when told of the benefits. Women would be interested in buying lip balm, body lotion, hand cream, and soaps. There was a perception from the group that a \"butter\" was not a product to use as a facial cream and therefore the term \"Shea butter\" does not lend itself well to face cream. The major challenge that local manufacturers of Shea products need to address is the smell. It will be important to create a pleasant-smelling product while still retaining the natural positioning and the product benefits. Quality packaging is also essential and a high profile, well-rargered marketing campaign will be necessary to communicate the emotional and physical product benefits. 23. With regards to a market in Northern Uganda for improved Shea cooking-oil, [he response was very positive. but the reality oflimited income and the spending habits of the women in Lira does not lend itself to a rapidly growing market. Further analysis of this would be required with samples of high-quality olein to pursue this possibility. 24. The main international cosmetics buyers of Shea butter/oil are located in Europe and the US. A large proportion of Shea butter is purchased from the food industry in a highly refined form. Such burter is cheap, having usually been obtained through solvenr extraction, readily available, reliable in quality, and does not become rancid. However, solvent extraction removes most of the sun-protection, healing, and antiseptic qualities of the natural butter. Therefore, Shea is LL'ied mainly to improve the labelling, rather than for its health-providing qualities. Smaller companies and specialist suppliers of cosmetics ingredients are willing to buy unrefined Shea butter from Africa. However, concerns over quality have forced them to become intimately involved with its production. Linking groups from Uganda with specialist cosmetics companies will require a considerable amount of market support, either in terms of direct market linkage with the cosmetics company or through an intermediary organization in Uganda.Potential agents for developing the Shea market in Uganda 25. COVaL is currently the only Shea processor in Uganda that is producing higher-value products on a regular basis. The organization has developed a supply chain and has deployed low technology processing equipment in the Shea producing villages, so that local community groups can process a high quality product. The organization suffers from relatively high overhead costs and lacks capital from which to expand the business. COVOL developed a marketing model that is closely aligned with the \"ethical trade\" movement in terms of maximizing the involvement of and rewards to the local community. The organization has been successful in developing products and identi-lYing buyers but sales volumes have been disappointing. The marketing system may benefit considerably if a small-business advisor, such as Technoserve. were to work with NUSPA and COVOL to develop a more robust business plan. The decentralized community-based processing model developed by COVOL is unique and is highly attractive in terms of local ownership and the retention of a higher portion of the added value in the rural areas. Although COVOL are not at this time keen to centralize their processing activities, it may be that a critical financial review and quality assessment would indicate the advantages of a more centralized processing center. During the visits to Lira, it was the view of several operators in the oil milling business that significant savings and quality improvements could be achieved ifNUSPA supplied a more technically advanced organization to process the product at a single processing center where hygiene could be closely monitored.26. \"Mr Jones of NOM\", Lira, has built a pilot 5nea extraction plant and is experimenting with extracting crude Shea oil and fractionating it into stearin and olein. He has supplied small quantities of stearin to Ugandan cosmetics manufacturers and has already started processing Shea butter in the hope that he will find a buyer. Although there is a possibility that he may attract some local interest, the Ugandan cosmetics firms at present are not familiar with Shea and do not know how to formulate Shea in their products. In order to develop either a local or export market, he requires support in terms of technical analysis of the products he is currently processing to determine their potential for export. To develop the domestic market, the cosmetics manufacturers would also require technical support in how to utilize Shea in their formulation ranges. 27. Mr Alykhan Karmali, MO, Mukwano Industries, the largest vegetable oil processors in Uganda, is considering the development of a Shea extraction plant that would process up to 2000 t!year of oil, based on the purchase of some 5000 t of nuts. The stearin would be used through an in-house cosmetics company and the olein would either be mixed into the sunflower oil or sold as a stand-alone product. At worst, the oil would be used in the soap-making process. An alternative market strategy would be for Mukwano to produce and sell the Shea stearin to generic cosmetics companies that make products for the major retail stores in Europe.Company. Technoserve is providing the technical support for this new marketing initiative and the current consultant, Mr A. Gasparotti, was previously involved in the exportation of Shea products from West Africa to the Japanese cosmetics market.Regional cosmetics producers, for instance. Unilever in Nairobi, should also be explored as potential buyers; samples ofMr Jones' shea stearin were sent to Unilever for tests.market -driven products. If a budget was dedicated to product development and processing, a budget will also have to be dedicated to market development. Without this, Shea products will continue to reside in obscurity. Products that could be developed are soaps, body lotion, lip balm, and solid hair oil. Key elements to the strategy will be (I) developing locally produced and packaged value-added Shea products that meet the criteria of a discerning market, and ( 2) the need for a substantial marketing budget.Given that Ugandan When potential buyershave been identified, it would be possible to develop meetings between these agents and the potential primary processors in Uganda. This process of vetting potential buyers and linking them to processors could be accomplished through an agency such as the Investment in Developing Export Agriculture Program (IDEA).The Shea product is a non-plantation crop that is produced organically and harvested by local communities. It has a potential marketing package that could be linked to alternative trading arrangements. such as the Fair Trade movement and communitybased buying (as operated by, among others, the Body Shop). Organizations such as Trade Craft would be able to use their current contacts within the equitable trade fora to access the best supply and marketing models to develop the grades that are required for the products. They could also evaluate the demand in terms of volume and the equiry terms along the value chain. A critical part in this study will be to assess the real comparative advantage of Ugandan high-value stearin. compared with more established products and marketing agents for Shea products in Western Mrica.A planning workshop is needed with the main players in Uganda that are interested to develop the Shea sector. This could be done through Technoserve, who would be able to assist in business plan development and. crucially. to provide an overview of the most credible business plans that were developed. In return for donor assistance. Shea nut processors could be expected to enter an ethical trade agreement, whereby they would pay a \"£air\" price to nut gatherers (possibly through a pricing formula). Terms for such an arrangement would be defined in the terms of reference (TOR) developed by the equitable trade survey.An important component for the local community is the development of organized Shea nut gatherers and training groups to supply high qualiry nuts. This aspect would take place only when markets have been identified, i.e., when there is an investor and a buyer lined up. Given that this has been established, donor assistance could be effectively used to strengthen the Shea buying network. NUSPA has the abiliry to supply large quantities of high qualiry, dry Shea kernels. During our fieldwork, the NUSPA chairperson estimated that her members could gather 1000 t in a Shea season. In return for access to this valuable supply network, a primary processor could be asked to enter into an \"ethical trade\" agreement with NUSPA to pay a fair price for the Shea nuts.10. Marketing of traditional Shea products.To improve the current processing and trade in traditional products, womens groups within the Shea belt of Uganda could be trained in the following areas. Methods of Shea storage, i.e., investigate the potential for training women's groups in storage techniques and how to manage credit in order to playa role in wholesaling the nuts.Market information, i.e., train women's groups in the use of market information to evaluate the benefits of storage during the peak season.Improved processing, i.e., train women's groups in improved methods for processing Shea and about the benefits of Shea in the diet. All processing ideas would need to be developed on a cost sharing basis from the outset such that the groups would be dear that any development within the traditional sector would be through a commercial, partnership style arrangement.Oil milling, i.e., investigate the prospects of assisting the development of a medium•-scale oil milling business to improve the quality and throughput of Shea olein production, such that the oil can compete on a better price basis with refined oils.11 By-products.Commission research to evaluate the fertilizing, insecticidal, and sterilization performance of ground Shea expeller cake.There are rhree main strategies rhat can be adopted by USAID in rhe Shea sector at rhis time.As a result of rhis action, new commercial players may enter rhe business and bring changes to the subsector. USAID would be able to do very little to influence matters and the consequences of this action might mean that capacity built on investment to date would be lost. Those most negatively affected by rhe wirhdrawal of support will be the members of NUSPA who have developed skills in Shea bulking and processing and have developed a strong loyalty to Shea, based on rheir financial returns to date.This approach will build on the success so fur achieved with regard to Shea in northern Uganda and the conservation of the Shea habitat. Whilst rhis approach will meet parts of rhe USAID strategy, it is unlikely to address the underlying economic problems rhat will lead to sustainable conservation, particularly in rhe northern part of Uganda which is particularly challenged economically. Therefore, any conservation-biased approach should also consider marketing strategies and returns on investment as an integral pan of any development process.As rhis survey suggests, further support to rhe commercialization of rhe Ugandan Shea sector should focus on developing the cosmetics markets, including the national. regional. and international markets. To do rhis, strategies should include the following.Assisting the potential Shea processors, identified in rhis srudy, to develop robust business plans would enable donors and banks to make more informed decisions on where to make future investments for most effective economic and employment benefits to this economically challenged area of Uganda.A key finding from rhis study was rhe lack oflinkage between Shea processors in Uganda and processors or cosmetics houses in rhe target markets. Developing stronger links wirh buyers would require further market investigations to gauge rhe interest of buyers in rhe region, Europe, and USA for Ugandan Shea. Market interest could be evaluated The molecule gets over the problem that \"oil and water don't mix\" by having a rno!t:cu!e with 2 parts, an oily pan and an ionic part. The tail is basically an alkane, and so readily dissolves in fat, oil and grease but not in water. Thus the tail is said to be hydrophobic (=water h3ting). The head group, however, is polar, and so easily dissolves in water (h)'drophilic = water loving) and will not dissolve in oil or grease. Thus, when added to w~ltt'r containing dirt, oil, or fat droplets (e.g., when doing the washing up, at barhrimc, or the laundry, etc.), the tail avoids contact with the water by burying itself into the oil droplets, leaving the head groups sticking out into the water, as they prefer. Thus the oil and dirt are dragged off the dirty objects (dishes. clothes. or people) collected together into dumps. and washed down the drain. Sodium stearate is not the only fatty acid to be used in soaps. Sodium Iaurate (the salt of lauric acid which is a C\" fatty acid extracted from coconut oil) is often added. Potassium salts of fatty acids are also used, in combination with excess stearic acid, to give a slow-drying lather for shaving soap.Natural bacteria can metabolize soaps, and this process is most rapid when there are no branches in the hydrocarbon rail of the soap molecule. Since the naturally occurring fatty acids are all straight-chained. soaps derived from natural fats (like sodium stearate and laurate) are biodegradable. However, in 1933 the first synthetic detergents were marketed, with the advantage that they did not form the hard \"scum\" that often results when soap is used in hard water regions. (This scum is actually the insoluble calcium and magnesium salts of the fatty acid, e.g., calcium stearate.) The first detergents were alkylbenzenesulfonates: like soaps they had a polar head and a large hydtocarbon tail, but the tail was branched.Sodium alkylbenzene sulphonate That meant that these early detergents were not easily biodegradable, and since the bacteria which operated in sewage plants could not metabolize them they were passed into the waterways with the treated sewage, often appearing as unsightly foam or suds on the surface of lakes and rivers. Faced with this problem, in 1965 the detergent industry introduced linear alkanesulfonate detergents (such as the one shown in the figure), which, being straight-chained compounds, were biodegradable.Oleic acid (also called cis-9-octadecenoic acid) is an example of a fatty acid found in animal and vegetable oils. It is a mono-unsaturated fatty acid, due to the presence of a single double bond. The physical properties of fatty acids like oleic acid are determined by the number, geometry, and position of the double bonds in the chain, along with the degree of unsaturation (i.e., number of double bonds). In naturally occurring fatty acids such as those found in vegetable oils, the double bonds are all in the cis configuration {shown in bold in the figure}, making the molecules bent or curved. This also makes the molecules much less flexible than those of fully saturated fatty acids (e.g., stearic acid). Their bent shape also hinders crystallization, and explains why these acids are oils at room temperature. (Sarurated acids have straight chains and can pack easily into a crystal lattice, and so are solid at room temperature, e.g., butter.)Unsaturated fatty acids are a good energy reserve, and are found in abundance in many types of meat. Pork, lamb, and chicken fats all contain a higher proporrion of unsaturated fats than beef and so feel softer to the touch. Plant seeds, too, are a good source of these fats, where they act as a compact efficient food reserve. They can be found in plants as diverse as corn, cottonseed, soybean, rapeseed, safHower, and sunflower. Oleic acid itself is the main fatty acid in oil pressed from the ripe fruit of the olive (Olea europaea). It was also featured in the Hollywood film Lorenzo; Oil (Universal Studios 1992). In a rare genetic illne\" called adrenoleukodystophy (ALD), young boys suffer from an excess of harmful long chain (C 14 -C U ) fatty acids which causes the myelin around nerves cells to deteriorate, leading to brain damage. The boys progressively lose more of their faculties, speech, movement, etc., until they eventually die. It was discovered that ingestion of large quantifies of pure oleic acid triglyceride (mixed with around 25% of the related en acid, erucic acid) prevented the buildup of rhe harmful longer chained acids, relieved all the symptoms associated with the disease, and allowed the sufferers to lead a normal life. This works by essentially keeping the enzyme responsible for biosynthesis of the acids busy metabolizing these harmless acids, and so they have no resources left to produce the harmful ones.Oleic acid is present in the cocoa buner of chocolate as one component of a triglyceride. The other two components are often either stearic acid, or the closely related palmitic acid. This means that the triglyceride has a much more uniform structure than is normally found in most fats and oils, and this uniformity results in a sharper than normal melting point. This allows chocolate to remain stiffaimost up to its melting point (34 \"C). 'W'hen it does melt, the melting occurs suddenly and endothermically. If this occurs in the mouth, it gives a feeling of coolness-this is perhaps one of the reasons for the lasting popularity of chocolate (along with its sweetness due to the added sugar).Shea nut production FAD's production and export statistics of major supplying countries are provided in below, although they are not considered to he completely accurate and are primarily estimates.Exports during the last two years of available statistics hovered around 50000 t with an export value of US$1O million. Exports in 1996 and 1997 were more than double the five-year low recorded in 1993, but lower than the high recorded in 1994.Table 1. Shea nut production, 1993Shea nut production, -1998 (t) (t)   Historically, the price for cocoa butter has reached a high of U5$1 OOO/t, but there has been a gradual downward trend as the price of cocoa beans and bucter has decrea..<;cd. The price of Shea nuts and butter follows the movement in the price of cocoa beans and butter but at a substantially lower price because it is only a substitute for cocoa butter in chocolate. The price of cocoa beans has decreased 40% in the past year due to increased supply at origin and lower consumption in the market (Figs. 1-3), Manufacturers add the Shea burter to their CBE in the hope that they can provide a discount on their product in order to increase sales, although they often try to convince Source; Public Ledger Online.consumers that there is a quality issue involved in their marketing decision. With lower cocoa bean prices. there has been less of an incentive to purchase Shea nuts. Chocolate manufacturers remain committed to CBE, nevertheless, because their thinking is long-term and the confectionery industry has a labeling cost to contend with in Europe as they must state whether a product has eBE in it or not. There is a large markup for the various Shea nut by-products: fractionated oil can fetch a price of US$33001t and the refined butter from Europe trades at US$lOOOIt (all prices cif, US). The retail price for the refined butter is US$6/ounce in the US. The unrefined Vitellaria nilotica Shea butter from Uganda is priced at US$60/kg, while unrefined Shea butter from West Africa is priced at US2001t (cif, Europe).Shea processing financial workings for Guru Nanak Oil Mills, Lira. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1aaee9a8e6e1a2ffb173fda868cf691a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c900498a-6d0f-4417-b77b-a824ef81ea75/retrieve","id":"802884588"},"keywords":["GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE: REGIONAL TITLE Transforming Lives: Biofortified Beans Reach 22.14 Million people in Africa Subtitle Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Initiatives Make Impact Across Regions REFERENCES 8. Farrow, A.","Muthoni-Andriatsitohaina, R.","Ongom, B.","Ojara, M. 2020. Bean production areas in sub-Saharan Africa. Available here EVIDENCE Final Project Results and Operations Report Project, Improving Bean Production and Marketing in Africa (IBPMA) Project Number: P000734. Available here"],"sieverID":"a3fde16d-22a3-41df-aab4-5318869e31f0","content":"PART 1: Description and all information of the outcome/impact reported OUTCOME STORY/IMPACT STATEMENT Nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions were mainstreamed through the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance's (PABRA) bean corridors approach between 2017 and 2023. These interventions have increased the number of women and men accessing and consuming biofortified high-iron beans (HIBs) and value-added bean products in Central, East, and Southern Africa from 720,000 to 22,14 million people. The continued adoption of HIBs and value-added bean products across 18 PABRA countries is attributed to complimentary projects that are promoting HIB release and mainstreaming through community outreach, school feeding programs, and value-addition and commercialization interventions.Nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions, including promotion of production, processing, commercialization, and general utilization of biofortified beans and value-added bean products were mainstreamed under the Improving Bean Production and Marketing in Africa (IBPMA) project through PABRA's bean-corridor approach from 2017 to 2023 [1,4]. The project target was to increase the proportion of people consuming high-iron beans (HIBs) and value-added products in at least three countries across Central, East, and Southern Africa by 5%. Between 2019 and 2023, the number of HIB consumers increased from a baseline of 720,000 to 22.14 million people in 18 countries across the PABRA bean corridors, where there has been an increase of 21.42 million consumers (of which 11,331,180 or 52.9% women) of HIBs above the baseline figure. This represents a 121.4% outcome achievement against the project's target of reaching 10 million consumers, demonstrating the project's success in exponentially increasing the number of women and men accessing HIBs [1,4]. In terms of value-added products, composite bean flours across most East African countries and other bean-based products, such as precooked beans in Malawi, Rwanda, and Zambia are increasingly available to more men and women, increasing, for example, from 174,481 to 6,518,955 (of which 4,432,889 or 68% women) between 2017 and September 2022. Again, for example, between April 2022 and September 2022, a total of 1.31 million people (of which 888,814 or 68% women) accessed bean-based products. This was mainly registered in seven countries of the East Africa Red Mottled (EAREM) bean corridor (Burundi, DRC East, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda), nine countries in Tanzania, Zambia, and Malawi (TAZAMA) bean corridor (DRC South, Eswatini, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe). In addition, two countries located in Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, and Central African Republic (CAMACOCA) bean corridor (Cameroon and Central Africa Republic) and one country of Ghana located in the Togo, Ghana Burkina Faso (TOGHABU) bean corridor contributed to this achievement [1,4]. This outcome has also been achieved as a result of the project's policy influence that has informed/led to the governments' policy of adding HIBs to their school feeding menus and due to complimentary projects promoting HIBs, processing, value addition and commercialization of bean products across several PABRA countries [4,5,6,7].Gender relevance: 2 -Principal. A Gender Equality Strategy was developed at the start of this project in 2017 to address gender inequalities (available here) in the bean value -chain across the production, distribution and consumption hubs in nine bean corridors across sub-Saharan Africa. Cap Dev relevance: 2 -Principal. The project is implementing a strategy to strengthen the capacity of farmers in adapting to the impacts of climate change. PABRA has begun training National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) and their partners in using climate information services based on the PICSA approach, drawing from successful experiences in Rwanda. Climate Change relevance: 2 -Principal. To ensure environmental sustainability, the project prioritized mitigation as well as adaptation measures, such as: i) Use of multiple-stress-tolerant bean varieties and integrated crop management options to suppress the use of pesticides; ii) promote low-cost and environmentally smart technologies, such as seed dressing, bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides as pest and disease management options in bean production; iii) research on diverse non-chemical solutions to environmental stresses; iv) PABRA has promoted fast-cooking beans through rapid breeding, bean processing, and development of value-chains for fresh beans. Youth relevance: 2 -Principal. The Gender Equality Strategy include youth inclusion. In late 2017/2018, we conducted a gender analysis to understand the role and responsibilities of men, women and youths. The project focused on youth entrepreneurship in the bean value-chain. It targeted youth entrepreneurs championing and leading the way for other youths. In Tanzania, for instance, Imara Techxx a youth-owned entrepreneur has developed a portable multi-crop thresher. Lever 1: Food Environment & Consumer Behavior Lever 3: Climate Action Lever 5: Digital Inclusion Gender, Youth and Inclusion SDG TARGETS 2.3 -By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, Indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists, and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and nonfarm employment. 2.4 -By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production that help maintain ecosystems that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding, and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality. 2.5 -By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants, and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed.End hunger for all and enable affordable healthy diets for the 3 billion people who do not currently have access to safe and nutritious food.Reduce cases of foodborne illness (600 million annually) and zoonotic diseases (1 billion annually) by one third.Lift at least 500 million people living in rural areas above the extreme poverty line of US $1.90 per day (2011 PPP).Reduce by at least half the proportion of men, women, and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions.Close the gender gap in rights to economic resources, access to ownership, and control over land and natural resources for over 500 million women who work in food, land, and water systems.Offer rewarding opportunities to 267 million young people who are not in employment, education, or training.Implement all National Adaptation Plans and Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement.Equip 500 million small-scale producers to be more resilient to climate shocks, with climate adaptation solutions available through national innovation systems. Turn agriculture and forest systems into a net sink for carbon by 2050, with emissions from agriculture decreasing by 1 Gt per year by 2030 and reaching a floor of 5 Gt per year by 2050.Stay within planetary and regional environmental boundaries: consumptive water uses in food production of less than 2500 sq. km. per year (with a focus on the most stressed basins), zero net deforestation, nitrogen application of 90 Tg per year (with a redistribution towards low-input farming systems) and increased use efficiency, and phosphorous application of 10 Tg per year. Maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants, farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed genebanks at the national, regional, and international levels.1.Bean production areas in sub-Saharan Africa Available here 2.The Atlas of Common Bean Production in Africa Available here 3.IBPMA-PABRA consolidated Outcome Reporting Worksheet 23.12.2022 final (Available upon request, for internals here) 4.School Feeding PABRA countries (Available upon request, for internals here) 5.Launch of School feeding guidelines in 2021 in Tanzania, emphasizing the importance of using Biofortified crops to improve school meals (e.g., HIB and Provitamin A maize) Available here 6.The Tanzanian President signed contracts with Regional Commissioners across the country to ensure and oversee access to and utilization of nutritious meals in schools and communities in 2022 Available here 7.PART 4: References, evidence and COM material PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS Bean Atlas 2.0 launched by Pan Africa Bean Research Alliance -Alliance blog"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"84dc9c8f8cfa0bd6889f605761d3758e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3c7614cb-56c4-4f2a-a8b8-92d3a0ff2620/retrieve","id":"529649907"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2ebd6b46-6c0c-4796-8314-4e84daeb8400","content":"Esta herramienta te ayudará a responder las siguientes preguntasFicha #05Ficha #09Ficha #03 Ficha #04Herramientas de Rikuy Agrobio que se pueden combinarEl monitoreo de la agrobiodiversidad es importante porque contribuye a la valorización de los recursos genéticos y a conocer su estado de conservación. Asimismo, permite conocer la variación de la diversidad varietal en el tiempo y su distribución, así como mejorar el manejo y su aprovechamiento sustentable. La agrobiodiversidad puede aumentar la resiliencia de las comunidades frente al cambio climático.Para monitorear la agrobiodiversidad en un área determinada es necesario realizar una documentación y caracterización morfológica de las variedades de un cultivo o especies vegetales usando descriptores morfológicos.Esto se puede lograr a través de ensayos en campos deEsta herramienta te ayudará a responder las siguientes preguntas de investigación: agricultores, porque ellos conocen las variedades que se cultivan en su localidad y su colaboración enriquece el proceso. Los ensayos en campos de agricultores y los descriptores morfológicos permitirán que estudiantes y actores interesados conozcan la diversidad de cultivos o especies de un lugar específico. La información obtenida puede contribuir a la elaboración de catálogos y líneas de base para facilitar el monitoreo en el tiempo.La caracterización morfológica proporciona una identidad para cada genotipo mediante el uso de una serie de descriptores que indican la variabilidad morfológica. Existen listas oficiales de descriptores para los principales cultivos.En el 2012 se lanzó la iniciativa Chirapaq Ñan, que monitoreó sistematicamente cuatro microcentros de alta diversidad de papas nativas (Solanum sp.): (1) el Altiplano (Bolivia), ( 2) Chiloé (Chile), (3) Huancavelica (Perú) y ( 4) Apurímac (Perú). El monitoreo se enfocó en la diversidad de papas nativas y el estado de conservación de las variedades a lo largo delAntes de implementar esta herramienta es necesario que se realice un acuerdo entre los investigadores y agricultores. Una vez instalados los ensayos, se deben usar los descriptores morfológicos en diferentes fases fenológicas del cultivo. Sin embargo, el intervalo de tiempo desde el ensayo hasta la evaluación de los descriptores morfológicos dependerá de los objetivos del proyecto y del cultivo o especie que va a ser caracterizada. En el caso de cultivos como la papa, yuca (Manihot esculenta), oca (Oxalis tuberosa Mol.), ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus) o maíz (Zea mays L.) el tiempo puede variar entre 1 y 4 años ya que se recomienda evaluar durante un mínimo de dos campañas agrícolas en ambientes distintos.1 año 4 años a Fotografía 1. Ensayos en campos de agricultores y uso de descriptores morfológicos. A: Selección y colección de muestras de variedades de papa nativa durante la cosecha para sembrar en ensayos en campos de agricultores. B: Caracterización morfológica de papa en grupo. C: Caracterización morfológica de papa en forma individual.tiempo en su ambiente natural, a través de ensayos en campo de agricultores y descriptores morfológicos (ver fotografías 1 y 2). La caracterización morfológica en campo permitió establecer las características de cada variedad, información que paulatinamente ha sido utilizada para publicación de líneas de base de las variedades (por ejemplo: CIP, 2021).Para establecer estas herramientas y monitorear la agrobiodiversidad, se deben seguir los siguientes pasos: Antes de iniciar los ensayos en campos de agricultores, se debe realizar una reunión con las autoridades locales y miembros de la comunidad para socializar la actividad. Esta actividad es importante para obtener el consentimiento de las autoridades de la comunidad y de las familias y poder colaborar con ellas. De preferencia, en esta misma reunión se deben identificar y contactar a las familias de agricultores para la colección de las variedades. Lo ideal es que los agricultores que vayan a El segundo paso es preparar la matriz de información para la colección de variedades (ver Anexo 1 y Anexo 2). La información de esta matriz se completará con identificación de cada una de las muestras para evitar confusiones y hacer seguimiento de cada variedad.El tercer paso es diseñar el ensayo en las parcelas de cada agricultor seleccionado para el estudio. Aquí, se debe definir el número de plantas que se sembrarán por cada variedad. El mínimo debe ser entre 5 y 10 plantas por cada variedad, cultivar o raza. También se debe consultar y aclarar si las familias de agricultores participantes prefieren sembrar su material en una parcela comunal (junto con otros agricultores) o individualmente.Para llevar a cabo el ensayo en campos de agricultores y usar los descriptores morfológicos son necesarios los materiales descritos en la Tabla 1.Tabla 1. Lista de materiales que se necesitan para implementar ensayos en campos de agricultores y realizar caracterizaciones morfológicas de los cultivos.• Fichas de registro • Muestras de semilla de las variedades colectadas para las parcelas en estudio• Insumos agrícolas para manejar la presencia de plagas y enfermedades• Mallas, bolsas de papel y etiquetas (para cada muestra)• Herramientas de campo para sembrar las semillas de las variedades• Marcadores• Tablets o celulares (si hay posibilidad de cargar batería con electricidad o paneles solares)• Caja de cartón, lápices, tajador, tablero de clip.• Etiquetas para cada muestra• Lápices, marcadores, tajador, tablero de clip• Descriptores morfológicos del cultivo o la especie a estudiar• Tarjeta de colores• Libro de campoparticipar sean reconocidos por su conocimiento y manejo de gran número de variedades y que su participación sea completamente voluntaria. Con las familias de los agricultores seleccionados, idealmente reconocidos como guardianes, toca separar las muestras de semilla para establecer los ensayos en campo (Fotografía 1). Es importante contar con suficientes mallas, etiquetas y una hoja de colección de información (Anexos 1 y 2).El cuarto paso es la instalación y mapeo de los ensayos en campos de agricultores. Aquí, se dividen los ensayos en dos bloques. El primero, para variedades nuevas que aún no han sido caracterizadas y el segundo bloque para variedades que ya fueron evaluadas, pero requieren repetición. Cada variedad será sembrada por separado, usando semillas de buena calidad que no tengan defectos ni daños físicos para asegurar el éxito del ensayo en cada campaña agrícola. La práctica de plantar una especie diferente entre variedades puede ayudar a separarlas ordenadamente. El distanciamiento dependerá de los requerimientos y manejo local del cultivo, pero se debe proveer suficiente espacio entre variedades para permitir la caracterización y documentación fotográfica.En el caso de papa, se organizarán todos los tubérculos-semillas por su forma y color de la variedad, desde redonda hasta alargada y del color más claro al más oscuro. Este ejercicio permitirá identificar fácilmente posibles variedades queEl siguiente paso es realizar la caracterización morfológica de las variedades y el seguimiento y monitoreo de éstas a través de campañas agrícolas posteriores. Para esto, se utilizan los descriptores morfológicos que han sido diseñados para cada cultivo. Se recomienda revisar en detalle los descriptores y de ser posible participar en una capacitación experta realizada por curadores del cultivo. En la Tabla 2 se pueden encontrar enlaces a descriptores morfológicos de diferentes cultivos.Una vez que se tengan los descriptores es necesario que se revise el documento ya que existen variables que solo se pueden observar en diferentes estados fenológicos: típicamente Tabla 2. Descriptores morfológicos de diferentes cultivos seleccionados, enlaces correspondientes y referencias bibliográficas estén duplicadas, ya que se sembrarían lado a lado. Un paso sumamente importante es la codificación de cada una de las variedades para que tengan una identidad única. Se sugiere usar un sistema lógico que reconoce la localidad, familia y número de muestra.Luego se realizará un mapa registrando la ubicación de cada variedad en el campo del agricultor (croquis). Después de que las plantas emergen, se removerán aquellas que estén enfermas o no pertenezcan a la variedad (análisis visual) y se registrará el número de plantas por variedad en la matriz. Se procederá a digitalizar la matriz de información y se adjuntará al archivo de libro de campo en Excel.Siempre existe la posibilidad de que se pierdan las variedades en estudio por diferentes incidentes (ej. plagas, enfermedades, desastres climáticos). Por esta razón se sugiere que estos ensayos se repitan en diferentes zonas y campañas agrícolas.floración, fructificación, a la cosecha y al almacenamiento. Las características que se documentan deben ser predominantes, es decir presentarse en la mayoría de las plantas, flores, frutas o partes a evaluar. Es necesario considerar que las características principales son aquellas que se encuentran en mayor proporción y son evidentes a primera vista. Las etapas fenológicas pueden ser muy distintas entre variedades y por ello se requiere visitar los ensayos con frecuencia. Se sugiere no evaluar las plantas de los bordes de los ensayos, debido a que experimentan condiciones diferenciadas al resto de plantas.Al momento de la cosecha, se registran primero las variables de rendimiento de cada una de las plantas evaluadas por variedad. Además, es un buen momento para verificar y confirmar con el agricultor el nombre común de la variedad. Posteriormente, se debe separar las semillas de buena calidad de cada una de las variedades para caracterizarlas nuevamente en el siguiente ciclo. Las muestras se guardan en mallas amarradas con dos etiquetas (una dentro de la malla y otra amarrada a la malla). Se guardan 10 muestras por variedad en bolsa de papel rotulado, junto con su etiqueta, para la caracterización morfológica y el resto queda para los agricultores. Se recomienda compensar al agricultor por el producto que se usa para fines de investigación.El séptimo paso es el tratamiento de la información poscosecha. Aquí, se digitaliza la información de la matriz de información en el libro de campo (ver Anexo 1 y Anexo 2). Para registrar correctamente los datos de cada una de las variedades, se sugiere usar consistentemente el código asignado y que los nombres comunes de las variedades se escriban completamente, evitándose el uso de contracciones.Agrobiodiversidad: Variación de cultivos y ganado en la agricultura y en los sistemas agroalimentarios que resultan de factores heterogéneos (ej. factores económicos, ecológicos y tecnológicos). Este concepto también involucra los procesos dinámicos entre seres humanos y la naturaleza a múltiples escalas y niveles de organización (Zimmerer et al., 2019).Cultivar/variedad/raza: Se definen como un grupo de plantas con características distintas, uniformes y estables (Camarena et al., 2014).Descriptores morfológicos: Son caracteres visibles, altamente heredables que pueden ser fácilmente detectados a simple vista, y se expresan igualmente en todos los ambientes (IPGRI, 1996).Digitalizar: Convertir textos físicos a su forma digital (guardar en la nube).Diversidad varietal: La diversidad de cultivares / variedades razas dentro de una especie.Especie: Es una población de individuos capaces de reproducirse entre sí y dar descendencia fértil (Sarukhán, J. 2020).Fase fenológica: Es el periodo durante el cual aparecen, se transforman y desaparecen los órganos de las plantas. La mayoría de estas fases son visibles en casi todas las plantas (SENAMHI, 2012).Código "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"eafdb4567cddb968c9518887777afe6f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0caba26e-3c78-40c2-8c79-de731a8994bd/retrieve","id":"223067571"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d87e46d5-fe97-4ff6-9be1-9c3516f59f6c","content":"CGIAR is a global partnership that unites organizations engaged in research for a food-secure future. The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock provides research-based solutions to help smallholder farmers, pastoralists and agro-pastoralists transition to sustainable, resilient livelihoods and to productive enterprises that will help feed future generations. It aims to increase the productivity and profitability of livestock agri-food systems in sustainable ways, making meat, milk and eggs more available and affordable across the developing world. The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock brings together five core partners: the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) with a mandate on livestock, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) which works on forages, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) which works on small ruminants and dryland systems, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) with expertise particularly in animal health and genetics and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) which connects research into development and innovation and scaling processes.The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) retained Enterprise Uganda to undertake needs' assessment, entrepreneurship training workshop (ETW), customized and specialized training and business mentoring for aggregators, stockists and veterinary service providers in Mukono and Masaka districts. This assignment was implemented from November 2020 until September 2021 under the 'Strengthening entrepreneurial and business capacities of women and youth-led businesses to deliver quality services and support linkages with pig farmers' project.ILRI works to better lives through livestock in developing countries. ILRI is co-hosted by Kenya and Ethiopia and has 14 offices across Asia and Africa. ILRI is a CGIAR research centre, a global research partnership for a food-secure future. CGIAR science is dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services. Its research is carried out by 15 CGIAR centres in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations and the private sector.The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock (Livestock CRP) in Uganda recognized that there were technical, financial and business skill deficiencies among women and youth-led pig aggregator businesses, which resulted into weaker market linkages with pig producers and lower productivity. The project envisaged that empowered and skilled women and youth-led businesses would provide services and link smallholder men and women pig producers to other input and service providers through various forms of market forward and backward linkages.This report therefore covers; the introduction, assignment objectives; activities undertaken; lessons learned, challenges faced; conclusion and recommendations.It is against this background that ILRI engaged Enterprise Uganda (EUg) to strengthen entrepreneurial and business capacities of women and youth-led businesses with the following objectives:To build and boost an entrepreneurial mind-set amongst women and youth-led pig aggregator businesses with a focus on setting business goals, stronger business linkages with pig farmers and business growth;To improve financial management and financial literacy amongst the pig aggregators to enable their businesses to thrive;To enhance profitability in the business through improved business operations which shall strengthen the linkage with pig producers and others along the value chain; andTo improve customer service skills of the pig aggregators to enable them to serve the pig farmers better.and support linkages with pig farmers 3. Activities undertakenThe exercise was carried out from 2-6 November and 9-13 November 2020 for Mukono and Masaka districts respectively and the was to find out the business and entrepreneurial skills training needs of the aggregators, feeds stockists and veterinary drugs and service providers under the project. This would assist the project tailor the business development interventions aimed at enhancing sustainability of the participating enterprises on the project.The assessment was based on a sample survey of 48 business owners out whom 21 (43.8%) were from Mukono and 27 (56.2%) from Masaka. The sample chosen was based on information of registered participants randomly selected from the database of 117 business owners provided by ILRI. Primary data was collected using a survey questionnaire administered to the 48 business owners (pig aggregators 32, 67%; feeds stockists 9, 19%; and vet drugs and service providers 7, 14%) as shown in figure 1.  The study recommended that entrepreneurs be equipped with business and entrepreneurial best-practices' skills to assist them to run their businesses sustainably while enhancing their business growth and contributing to the country's economic growth.Having identified the weaknesses and challenges faced by participating enterprises, the Enterprise Uganda (EUg) team developed appropriate capacity building solutions to strengthen entrepreneurial skills of the beneficiaries. Customized training and follow up packages will be made. The following training modules were proposed;Entrepreneurship and business resilience training The detailed report on the needs assessment was part of submission of this assignment.Strengthening entrepreneurial and business capacities of women and youth-led businesses to deliver quality services and support linkages with pig farmers 3.2 Entrepreneurship training workshops (ETWs)A total of 48 participants from Mukono and Masaka districts attended the training. Out of these, 22 (46%) were female while 26 (54%) were male.Masaka had the highest number of participants 29 (60%) while Mukono had 19 (40%) the least. Masaka had better mobilization by the district officials who were more supportive compared to Mukono. Overall composition by value chain for both Mukono and Masaka had pig aggregators and feeds stockists at 20 (41.6%) for each category, and drug stores at 8 (16.8%) of the total participants as shown in figure 2. Mukono registered more female participants, 10 (53%) than the males 9 (47%), while Masaka had more males 17 (59%) than 12 (41%) females, figure 3. The purpose of the training was to equip participants with the skills necessary to start, enhance and grow their business in order to increase household incomes. The training sought to change the mindset of the beneficiaries to identify opportunities in their environment, pursue them and make decisions to undertake activities that fit their abilities, interests and means for business growth while being mindful of sustainability of the businesses. The specific objectives were:1. To learn attitudes, skills and practices associated with successful entrepreneurs; and 2. To enhance participants' skills and knowledge in generating and refining business ideas and opportunities for business growth and sustainability.The modules covered at the workshop were: the mindset; increasing the value of time; visioning business as my lifetime job; identifying business ideas and opportunities; setting my business goals; effective marketing and improving my financial literacy acumen. Due to time constraints, the following topics were not covered, and it was planned that they should be covered during the specialized trainings sessions; excellent customer care; planning for my business venture and managing and growing an enterprise.Participants were able to visualize their enterprises and families, 5 -10 years from 2021. This they did through a business visualization exercise that enabled them to come up with a clear vision of their future in terms of business growth and family achievements. This provided a good foundation for them to set SMART goals in respect to the investments they wanted to happen, revenues, profits and assets. A pictorial mapping of this vision was made by each participant.Action plans for improvement in specific business areas were made. This included actions in improving customer care, increasing revenue, increasing the number of customers, financing businesses, savings, reducing family and business expenditures, improving stock and improving set up of business premises.Participants were given a training file containing a workbook and handouts. This will continue to offer guidance as it will be used as a point of reference.The collaboration between the different value chain actors was improved as they build more rapport among themselves, created linkages, shared experiences and contacts for future engagement.To separate classes for the three categories into two: One session for pig aggregators and another for stockists and drug shops operators. The pig aggregators required more attention and time, which slowed down the sessions. On average, the stockists and drug shops operators had an advantage over the aggregators in terms of education levels.To adjust the training time for the proposed categories above. The aggregators are usually involved in purchasing of pork during the morning hours. They also use this time to set up their places of work. However, from 1.00 pm until 4.00 pm they are less occupied and therefore would be available to attend the training sessions. On the other hand, the stockists and drug shops operators preferred having morning sessions, starting from around 10.00 am until 1.00 pm.Follow up participants on implementation of the business vision and goals they set during the training and actions planned for business growth.To arrange for exchange visits between the participants. This would enable them to encourage one another and also mentor each other and hold each other accountable regarding implementation of the learnings from the training. The peer-to-peer approach to learning provides a continuous opportunity for them to get inspired and learn from one another.Explore translating the training manual and related handouts into Luganda. Some participants asked for Luganda manuals and handouts as they were not very comfortable with English.The sessions were conducted on 10-11 May 2021 at Mukono Resort Hotel for Mukono District and 18-19 May 2021 at Mariaflo Hotel for the Masaka participants. Sessions with stockists and vet providers were held starting 9.00 am to 1.30 pm while the ones with aggregators were held from 2.00 pm to 4.30 pm.The focus of the specialized training was to enable entrepreneurs to understand key business knowledge areas that enhance and accelerates the momentum generated by their business activities. The sessions were aimed at grounding participants in their entrepreneurship journey and expose them common pitfalls to avoid in their business operations. Specifically, the specialized training had the following objectives:1. enhancing participants skills in financial management and record keeping;2. enabling participants to master the key pillars for business growth and sustainability;3. creating an environment for peer-to-peer learning through sharing of experiences on application of skills from the ETW; and 4. developing business action plans for business growth.Record keeping; this included the importance of keeping records and the consequences of not having them; various approaches to keeping records and types of records; simple records that a startup business can use; making simple income and expense statements and cash flow statements. The latter two were for the stockists and vet service providers whereas the aggregators were introduced to simple income and expenses record book.Managing a growing enterprise; this focused on the 5 pillars of business growth that an entrepreneur should consider. The five pillars that govern and ensure growth were: leadership and governance; production and operations; effective marketing; human resource management; and financial management.Many stockists and vet service providers mentioned improved arrangement of their stock, customer focus and increased savings. They reported more resilience in terms of self-confidence, persistence, information seeking and goal setting. Participants shared lessons of receiving positive feedback from family members when they shared their vision, goals and the pictures drawn. In some instances, family members made additions of the things they thought would be necessary beyond what the participants had drawn. Family buy-in is critical in ensuring that the business vision is fulfilled. Many alluded to the fact that they had been taking business lightly but following the training, they saw the value of embracing it as a lifetime career.Participants shared experiences gained during the specialized training. The following are some of the outstanding cases;Gwokyalya Suzan (not their real name) -who used her savings, following training ETW training to purchase a second hand motorcycle. This has eased her movement while purchasing pork and reduced her expenses on transport tremendously. Kato Ronald (not their real name) reported reducing the family expenses considerably after understanding separation of business and family expenses. He is also involving other members of the family in the business more than before.Kyabagu Tom (not their real name) utilized suppliers' credit and other people's money thereby navigating around the challenge of inadequate capital. He has established good relations with farmers, and they are now willing to give him pork on credit which he clears after selling. He shared that he has come to appreciate that there is a lot of money out there that one can tap into and expand their businesses, provided they are trustworthy. According to him he does not need money to start a business but a positive mindset.Joyce Akello (not their real name) and Natukunda Joy (not their real name) reiterated how making value of time had made a difference in their operations. They can now manage their time better than before. They have been able to explore other opportunities that can be executed during teh time they earlier did not utilize and considered idle. Many participants expressed the fact that they had reduced on redundant time, have time for record keeping and undertaking alternative business enterprises Nankya Carol (not their real name) was able to start up her own business, besides being employed elsewhere. This was a result of being able to increase on her productive time. She can manage her employer's business but equally manage her own business. The confidence she built through the ETW enabled her to convince her employer about opening her own business.Kyeswa David (not their real name) and Kabuye John (not their real name) reported increasing the number of customers through effective customer care. They follow up their customers and always ask them what improvements can be made to serve them better. Many other participants reported improved customer service leading to more sales.Finance is the life blood of any business and must be tracked or else the business will run out of \"blood\" and will not survive.A business person should know where their money is coming from, where it is and where it is going. For this to happen records are very vital as they show the movement of money within the business. An entrepreneur can get started on having records using simple tools like exercise books, counter books, receipt book, debtors' books and a daily income and expenses record or cashbook.Keeping records helps in separating personal from business expenses. Even where one has used business money on personal expenses, the records will remind them to pay back.Keeping records is a discipline that participants need to cultivate. Participants were encouraged to cultivate a culture of writing as opposed to relying on their memory. There are different types of financial records and these serve different purposes.Records remind business owners of past activities, help with planning and guide transparent financial managementBusiness growth requires the entrepreneurs to have good leadership and governance, know which activities take place and how to implement them, know how to manage workers especially relatives, marketing well and attract customers and keep good records.There are many obstacles and challenges that the entrepreneur needs to develop navigate in order to grow their business. These include among others; setting realistic goals for the short, medium and long terms; keeping customers happy; finding a great mentor; having the right team of workers and recruiting the right people; considering financial implications in every action taken; understanding your business operations; knowing your growth market; safeguarding your money and monitoring where the money is.The follow-up and mentoring sessions started on 7-11 June 2021 for Mukono and 30th August until 3rd Sept 2021 for Masaka. A total of 37 beneficiaries were followed up and mentored. The purpose of the follow-up and mentoring sessions were:1. to get feedback and assess how participants were applying the skills and knowledge got from the previous two training sessions;2. to enhance continuous learning and improvement by the trainees; and 3. To provide on-site hands-on business advice to participants at their business premises.A total of 37 participants were followed up (13 for Mukono and 24 for Masaka). The 13 followed up in Mukono constituted 68.4% of the total number expected to be followed up from Mukono. On the other hand, the 24 followed up in Masaka constituted 83% of the total participants from Masaka.The discussions focused on the five pillars for business growth and development including leadership and strategy; production/operations; marketing and customer service; human resources; and financial management /literacy and record keeping). Critical issues surrounding the impact of COVID-19 on the enterprises were discussed and appropriate advice given by the mentors. The business mentors reiterated the fact that challenges come with an equal measure of opportunity. Participants therefore were challenged to adopt a positive mindset that looks at the opportunities that arise out of such situations.One of the follow-up and mentoring session in Masaka (photo credit: Patrick Ssemwogerere/Enterprise Uganda).Most participants have taken on saving and opened accounts with saving groups. The increase in savings was enabled by the reduction in personal expenses that heavily reduced their propensity to save. The trainees have greatly improved their customer care and service. In addition, they appreciate time management as a key success factor for their enterprises. Trainees reported keeping a keen eye on their stock through stock taking and putting in place measures to minimize stock losses. Record keeping has greatly improved with participants putting in place formalized record keeping systems even when it is still manual. It was noted that trainees have taken deliberate actions to reduce non-business expenses especially home expenses and other luxurious expenses. Participants reported that they have trained their staff on key areas especially customer service, record keeping, stock management, general hygiene and smartness. They have recognized the fact that business networking is key for survival of enterprises.The gains made by the aggregators, stockists and vet service providers therefore provide a good foundation for scaling up growth and consolidation at enterprise level. There is need to follow up on these issues in subsequent programs if the opportunity arises.The aggregators were more responsive to the interventions in terms of attendance than the stockists and the vet service providers.Joint planning among stakeholders is key in ensuring success of planned interventions. There was close collaboration between ILRI, Enterprise Uganda and the districts where the project was implemented.Participants' needs and unique circumstances should be incorporated in the planning process. It was evident that when stockists/vets were separated from aggregators, there was considerable improvement in the activeness of the aggregators. In addition, engaging the stockists and vet service providers in the morning sessions while aggregators attended in the afternoon improved the participation of the aggregators. At the start they felt marginalized by the stockists/vets.Business can be undertaken, just like any other profession on purely business principles. Business is profitable if entrepreneurs develop habits of maximizing profit, reducing risks and increasing production.By developing a positive entrepreneurial mindset, participants can attain considerable milestones within a short time. Those who embraced the positive mindset have witnessed tremendous changes at both personal and business levels. Everyone can do this if only they are flexible.The responsibility to create change starts with the entrepreneur as an individual. Later this impact can be felt by the household or family and the entire community.Record keeping is paramount in ensuring that entrepreneurs know from the movement of their money. This enables them to manage costs in a more prudent way.Acquiring wisdom and learning is a process. From the interventions, it was evident that entrepreneurs need to appreciate that learning does not happen in isolation, but that it involves how the learner relates and even adapts the learning to their work and home environments. Once entrepreneurs recognize that learning is a process, they can then apply everything learned to whatever situation is at hand. and support linkages with pig farmersNotable challenges during execution of this assignment included;Impact of COVID-19 and the restrictions that were instituted to control its spread. The implementation schedule was affected following institution of a nationwide lockdown. Delays were experienced as participants often reported late for the training sessions whenever it rained. This affected the number of hours dedicated for the training sessions.During the need's assessment, it was hard to reach some participants as their locations were hard to reach due to poor road networks. This was exacerbated by heavy rains.Some of the participants, especially the stockists and vet service providers were not cooperative. They would report late for the training sessions and when appointments were made for follow up, their responses where not positive.Despite the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the consultant was able to undertake the key planned activities of needs assessment, entrepreneurship training workshop (ETWs), specialized training and follow up/mentoring sessions. The training sessions were meant to build and boost an entrepreneurial mind-set amongst women and youth-led businesses; improve financial management and financial literacy amongst the participants; enhance profitability in the business through improved business operations; and improve customer service skills of the pig aggregators to enable them serve the pig farmers better. By and large, there is a notable positive change in attitude and mindset towards business. Participants on the program have started valuing their business as a career and being mindful of the investments they have made.Our recommendations based on our experiences during this consultancy include the following;1. Strengthen the working relationships with the districts as these are key in ensuring optimum mobilization of the participants;2. Follow up participants through other programs on implementation of their long-term business goals which were set during the intervention;3. Encourage exchange visits between the participants. This will enable them to encourage one another but also mentor each other as they hold each other accountable for implementation of the learning got from the training."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"086aff4eb6a3ab7a42b7e7ba30e03c99","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/362ed06d-9fa7-4d7a-b91e-50b99554ac3e/retrieve","id":"-727867134"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"18ff83dc-99f3-4dc1-baff-0b9e062dd881","content":"La Mesa de Ganadería Sostenible -Colombia (MGS-Col), es un espacio de participación interinstitucional que nace como un compromiso para identificar la importancia de contar con un órgano consultor que tenga conocimiento técnico sobre la ganadería sostenible en el país y que sea un referente en el proceso de construcción de planes, programas y proyectos en torno a la ganadería sostenible.La Mesa tiene como objeto principal, la realización de actividades encaminadas a apoyar en la estructuración de políticas públicas, y el desarrollo de programas, planes y proyectos relacionados con la ganadería sostenible en Colombia.El roll del CIAT en la Mesa es muy importante, ya que representa una institución la cual cuenta con amplia experiencia y personal calificado con sustento técnico no solo para los productores, sino también para a las entidades del Estado Colombiano en la toma de decisiones y acciones encaminadas al desarrollo de la ganadería sostenible en Colombino, lo que permitirá que el país sea un referente en procesos de implementación de la ganadería sostenible a nivel mundial. Es así como el CIAT lidera la elaboración de las NAMAS siendo una de las instituciones responsables de esta meta, lugar que se ha ganado gracias a las capacidades que se tienen para la elaboración, monitoreo y aplicación de prácticas y tecnologías en pro de la sostenibilidad y conservación del medio ambiente.El CIAT participa en la Mesa de ganadería Colombiana Sostenible Durante el año 2017 se realizaron 6 reuniones programadas por parte de la secretaria de la MGS, en las que se tuvo participación del 100% en estas. Así mismo se realizaron 5 foros regionales, dos conversatorios y tres talleres, dos de ellos liderado por el CIAT. Primer Taller Nacional para la Formulación de la Política de Ganadería Sostenible para Colombia En el marco de la Mesa de Ganadería Sostenible -Colombia, se desarrolló primer taller para la formulación de la política nacional de ganadería sostenible. Este fue un espacio de participación y construcción conjunta entre los miembros de la Mesa y demás entidades interesadas en el tema, en la cual el CIAT fue ficha clave para la identificación de estrategias que permitan alcanzar el objetivo de recolectar insumos para la construcción de éste documento. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B7PViM4Yj8qQX3FEVUEzV3BJV1U Talleres ''NAMA´s, Contribuciones Nacionalmente Determinadas -NDC, Contribución determinada Nacionalmente'' y el taller asistencia técnica en el marco de la Mesa de Ganadería Sostenible -Colombia''. Durante el mes de Noviembre el CIAT lidero el diseño, elaboración y ejecución de los dos Talleres en mención; el taller NAMA's se elaboró como parte de las actividades identificadas en Plan de Acción 2017, Ésta actividad tenía como objetivo principal identificar los avances que el país ha tenido en éstos temas, las acciones pendientes aún por realizar y las contribuciones que éstos asuntos técnicos tienen en la elaboración y construcción del documento de propuesta de política de ganadería sostenible. En cuanto al taller de asistencia técnica, el objetivo fue identificar cuáles son las necesidades y falencias que se tienen bajo el modelo actual de asistencia técnica, de manera que se lograra diseñar un nuevo modelo con el cual se mejoren los procesos de transferencia, adopción de tecnologías y los procesos de implementación de la ganadería sostenible en Colombia, con los cuales en busca tener mayor impacto en el sector agropecuario cerrando la brecha existente entre trasferencia y adopción. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ahOge6tPbGPRf7wmychVw2xN-W3wyB4H En el mes de Junio se llevó a cabo en la sede principal del CIAT la tercera reunión de la Mesa de Ganaderia sostenible-Colombia, en la cual el investigador Mauricio Sotelo investigador del programa de Forrajes Tropicales, realizó la presentación del Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical -CIAT, en conmemoración de los 50 años de la institución, mostrando el enfoque que ha tenido el programa de Forrajes durante estos 50 años, así como el trabajo dentro del Centro con el cual se busca que a través de la investigación en el sector agropecuario se generen importantes impactos que permitan que los productores logren ser competitivos, rentables y sostenibles. Así mismo con esta presentación, el CIAT mostró que su trabajo no solo está basado en Colombia, sino en otros 52 países en donde tiene presencia alrededor del mundo enfocando sus esfuerzos en temas de agrobiodiversidad, análisis de políticas y suelos y paisajes para la sostenibilidad, análisis económico de costo beneficio de las tecnologías generadas por el centro, etc.https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7PViM4Yj8qQamhnb1MzeHVlZlU/view?ts=5a9073bb Presentación de resultados 2017 El 7 de diciembre se llevó a cabo la presentación de resultados de las actividades realizadas por parte de las comisiones y grupos de trabajo que conforma la MGS-Col, en cumplimiento de los objetivos propuestos para el plan de acción 2017. En éste encuentro se evidenciaron los resultados obtenidos, las dificultades presentadas y las oportunidades de mejora para el trabajo de la Mesa. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yt0_iA_YUAlkvbrXRnvWyYXJ6Y7ZbhJZ A través de los miembros de la Mesa de ganaderia Colombiana y las mesas Regionales, se logró identificar actores de potenciales en cada una de las zonas de acción del proyecto Visión Amazonia con los cuales se realizó la socialización del proyecto y se seleccionaron los propietarios interesados en participar de esta iniciativa los cuales demostraron que en sus predios realizan conservación de áreas de bosques Amazonicos. De ahí la importancia de pertenecer y trabajar con las mesas regionales y la MGS-COL, ya que mediante este tipo de alianzas se puede tener una red muy amplia de actores del sector agropecuario Así mismo a través de los foros y talleres regionales se logró llegar a las comunidades de los departamentos del Caquetá y del Guaviare, zonas tradicionalmente ganaderas, en donde se ha tenido un fuerte impacto ambiental sobre la selva Amazónica, desarrollando una serie de talleres en el trascurso del año 2017, en donde se pudo capacitar un poco más de 60 representantes de diferentes comunidades y asociaciones ganaderas de los departamentos, en el establecimiento y manejo de sistemas silvopastoriles como herramienta para frenar la tala de bosques y optimizar el uso de las áreas ya intervenidas por la ganadería o como estrategia para la sustitución de cultivos ilícitos a través de la ganaderia ambientalmente sostenible. Así mismo se elaboró una cartilla técnica denominada '' Sistemas sostenibles de producción ganadera en el contexto amazónico Sistemas silvopastoriles: ¿una opción viable? Con la cual se busca concientizar a los productores sobre los beneficios ambientales y económicos que se tienen bajo la estrategia de una ganaderia planificada. Estas actividades se encontraban en el marco del Proyecto Visión Amazonia y fueron apoyadas por la Mesa de Ganaderia Sostenible.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320689937_Sistemas_sostenibles_de_produ ccion_ganadera_en_el_contexto_amazonico_Sistemas_silvopastoriles_una_opcion_viab le"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ca00f0a65205acb29e87afd4ec1499f9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/28f9b757-5c11-4960-8560-c3617cf87f4a/retrieve","id":"-1418082512"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"fbf48835-94a7-432e-8c50-2ed5b2ecc05a","content":"Bioversity International is the only global non-profit research organization that places the use and conservation of agricultural biodiversity in smallholder farming systems at the centre of its work. Bioversity is a member of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Consortium, a global association of public and private members to create a food secure future.Bioversity has its headquarters in Maccarese, near Rome, Italy, with offices in more than 20 other countries worldwide. The international status of Bioversity is conferred under an Establishment Agreement. Financial support for Bioversity's research is provided by more than 150 donors, including governments, private foundations and international organizations. For details of donors and research activities please see Bioversity's Annual Reports, which are available in printed form on request fromThe fourth joint meeting of the World Beta Network (WBN) and of the Working Group on Beta of the European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources (ECPGR) was held during 20-22 June 2012 in Cappelle-en-Pévèle, France. It was hosted by the company Florimond Desprez.Lothar Frese, Chair of the Working Group, opened the meeting by welcoming the 33 participants from 17 countries. He thanked the ECPGR Secretariat and Florimond Desprez for the efficient organization of the meeting.Bruno Desprez welcomed all the participants; he briefly described the facilities at Florimond Desprez and wished the participants a fruitful meeting.Lorenzo Maggioni, ECPGR Coordinator, welcomed the ECPGR Working Group and the WBN participants, and thanked Bruno Desprez and the Florimond Desprez staff for their invitation, hospitality and financial contribution to the meeting.Lothar Frese reminded the participants that this meeting, the fourth in its series, brings together people from various disciplines, bound by the common wish to work together for the conservation and use of plant genetic resources of a crop of global importance. The Group intends to work together to share knowledge, according to each one's availability and capacity.He presented the agenda for the three days, reminding the Group of the target of defining the conservation priorities and the plans for a joint management of the available resources. This can be better achieved through the generation of knowledge on the distribution, genetic diversity and genetic structure of the Beta populations.Opening remarks: Beta maritima: the origin of beets B.V. Ford-Lloyd The book \"Beta maritima: the origin of beets\" by E. Biancardi, L. Panella and R.T Lewellen was published in 2012 by Springer. It summarizes existing knowledge and offers stimulus for future research; it thus serves as a resource for the Group. The book is a unique text entirely dedicated to sea beet and its descendants, offering narrative experiences of researchers who have investigated sea beet populations around the world and worked with its wild plants.B. Ford-Lloyd thought that the book was an incentive for the Group in its reflection on how it can organize itself for the conservation of Beta in the near future. The Group's first priority should be to ensure that conservation of beet continues in Europe, since the plant is of European origin. Technology is helping conservation. Next-generation sequencing supports the genetic population studies on which conservation priorities are based. High throughput transcriptomic and gene expression studies will soon be possible as well.The Working Group on Beta should continue to facilitate conservation efforts in Europe. In this context, the Group should remain alert to the changes that ECPGR is undergoing. The International Database for Beta (IDBB) still exists but there are not enough resources to improve and develop it beyond the achievements obtained through recent EU-funded projects. The IDBB still needs to be integrated with the database created by the AEGRO project (An Integrated European In Situ Management Work Plan: Implementing Genetic Reserves and On Farm Concepts), including data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), herbarium data, etc.Macaronesian region A. Santos Guerra According to the checklists from Azores (Silva et al. 2005)  1 , Cabo Verde (Sánchez-Pinto et al.  2005) 2 , the Canary Islands (Acebes Ginovés et al. 2010)  3 and Madeira-Salvagens (Jaardim and Menezes de Sequeira 2008) 4 , four species of Beta (B. macrocarpa, B. patula, B. vulgaris and  B. vulgaris subsp. maritima,) and three of Patellifolia (P. patellaris, P. procumbens and P. webbiana) are present in these territories. B. patula and P. webbiana must be considered as endemic species for Madeira and the Canary Islands, respectively. Further research is required to know the exact representation at different archipelagos to resolve the problems of the complex P. webbiana and the polymorphic P. procumbens or to expand the area of some species. Strikingly, P. procumbens (IUCN category LC) has not yet been reported for the island of Fogo in the Cabo Verde archipelago.Due to the halophilous or halo-nitrophilous character of most of these species, their distribution is relegated to littoral or lowlands areas and is related to human activities. In a few cases, some plants can be present at higher altitude (for example, P. patellaris in the Caldera de Taburiente National Park, La Palma, Canary Islands). This aspect should be taken into account for preserving some of these populations and studying their evolution, especially within protected areas (national, natural and rural parks, etc.) and in relation to the impact of human presence. Discussion M.C. Duarte thought that conservation should be focused on species and populations that are rare and live at the margins of the distribution area.1 Silva L, Pinto N, Press B, Rumsey F, Carine M, Henderson S, Sjögren E. 2005. List of vascular plants (Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta). In: Borges PAV, Cunha R, Gabriel R, Martins AF, Silva L, Vieira V, editors. A list of terrestrial fauna (Mollusca and Arthropoda) and flora (Bryophyta, Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta) from the Azores. Direcçâo Regional do Ambiente de Madeira and Universidade dos Açores, Horta, Angra do Heroísmo and Ponta Delgada. pp. 131-156.2 Sánchez-Pinto L, Rodríguez MªL, Rodríguez S, Martín K, Cabrera A, Marrero MC. 2005. Pteridophyta, Spermatophyta. In: Arechavaleta M, Zurita N, Marrero MC, Martín JL, editors. Lista preliminar de especies silvestres de Cabo Verde (hongos, plantas y animales terrestres). Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias. pp. 38-57. Jaardim R, Menezes de Sequeira M. 2008. Lista das plantas vasculares (Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta). In: Borges PAV, Abreu C, Franquinho Aguiar AM, Carvalho P, Jardim R, Melo I, Oliveira P, Sérgio C, Serrano ARM, Vieira P, editors. A list of the terrestrial fungi, flora and fauna of Madeira and Selvagens archipelagos. Direcçâo Regional do Ambiente de Madeira and Universidade dos Açores, Funchal and Angra do Heroísmo. pp. 157-178.A. Santos clarified that Beta is not a priority for the botanic garden La Orotava in Tenerife and that not enough seed is kept available for distribution. However, the botanic garden in Gran Canaria has a good seed bank.L. Frese wondered whether a true sample was used for the sequencing of P. webbiana, since the only site where this species can be confirmed is in a military area in La Isleta, Gran Canaria, and other occurrences have not been taxonomically confirmed. A. Santos thought that it should be possible to obtain a permit to collect new seed from the original source.The purpose of the survey was to establish the extent of changes since 1987 to native Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima populations represented in ex situ genebank collections. Its other aim was to establish contacts with relevant local authorities, making them aware of the presence of populations of this crop wild relative in the Areas of Scientific Interest and the Special Areas of Conservation under their control.Location names and coordinates obtained from the International Database for Beta yielded 43 unique sites from which seed was collected in 1987. The survey was carried out in two periods between 2003 and 2007. Each site was surveyed across 500-1000 m of shoreline, as appropriate. Plant populations were estimated, a GPS point reference was taken for 10 representative plants at each site, and digital photographs were taken to record the extent of these habitats and threats to these sites.On the east, south and southwest coasts, the majority of in situ populations were at least as good as found in 1987, and were not under any immediate threat of destruction. However, on the west coast, north of Galway Bay, no plants were found at two locations; there are now no recorded populations present from north of Galway Bay to Carlingford Lough on the north-east coast. Evidence of the negative impact of coastal erosion and human activity on habitats was evident at all sites.International evaluation of ex situ genebank accessions has indicated that useful resistance genes are present in Irish populations, and molecular investigation of selected accessions has confirmed that Irish material is genetically closer to north-western European ecotypes than to those from the Mediterranean area.a comparative genomic analysis A. Darracq, J.S. Varré, L. Maréchal-Drouard, A. Courseaux, V. Castric, P. Saumitou-Laprade, S. Oztas, P. Lenoble, B. Vacherie, V. Barbe, P. Touzet Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is a common feature in Angiosperms. This sexual polymorphism where hermaphrodites and females coexist in populations is called gynodioecy. It is believed to be the output of the genomic conflict between the mitochondrion that produces male sterility factors and the nucleus that counteracts by restoring male fertility. Wild beet, B. vulgaris subsp. maritima, is a gynodioecious species where different CMS systems have been described. The nearly whole sequences of five new mitochondrial (mt) genomes in the Beta genus were presented: four from B. vulgaris and one from B. macrocarpa, a sister species belonging to the same Beta section. Results were pooled with those from two previously sequenced genomes of B. vulgaris and from previously studied genome diversity at the species level arriving at a total of 7 mt genomes, with 3 CMSs and 3 non-CMSs from B. vulgaris. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that CMSs and non-CMSs formed separate clades. The two groups of mt genomes − CMSs and non-CMSs − were therefore compared, and it was found that the CMS lineage might have evolved rapidly in sequence and structure (Darracq et al. 2011). 5 Molecular analyses of Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima accessions of the Greek Genebank P. Ralli, O. Koutita, K. Tertivanidis and G. Skaracis Wild beet is a proven valuable source of desirable traits for sugar beet breeding programmes. Detailed characterization of such available material is a prerequisite for its efficient exploitation. The objective of this study was to investigate, by means of molecular markers, the genetic diversity in certain wild beet accessions preserved at the Greek Genebank. Thirtyfour accessions of the sea beet (B. vulgaris L. subsp. maritima (L.) Arcang.) collected from different regions of Greece were included in the study. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used. Following a preliminary evaluation of 60 random 10-mer primers, 21 such primers manifesting polymorphism (an average of 6.5 bands per primer) were further analysed. Bulked DNA samples from five individual plants per accession were amplified with these primers. A total of 218 bands were detected out of which 136 (62.3%) were polymorphic. Genetic similarity, based on Jaccard's coefficient, was estimated between the different accessions. The association between the accessions was assessed by two multivariate analyses: UPGMA (unweighted pair group average) and PCOORDA (principal coordinate analysis). Very similar grouping (three main groups/subgroups) was achieved by both the clustering and ordination approach. Good correlation was observed between such grouping and the geographical distribution data of the accessions. Thus, the use of these and other sea beet populations collected throughout Greece can be planned more effectively.Sea coast P. Stevanato, D. Trebbi, E. Biancardi, G. Cacco, J. M. McGrath, M. Saccomani  Thirty-nine sea beet (B. vulgaris L. subsp. maritima (L.) Arcang.) accessions of the Adriatic coast were screened genetically and for their adaptive morpho-functional root traits in order to identify new sources of abiotic resistances for sugar beet breeding programmes. Genetic diversity was evaluated with 21 microsatellites markers, which identified 44 polymorphic alleles. Two main clusters of sea beet were identified: the West and the East Adriatic coast groups, with the latter showing higher genetic diversity.Among sea beet accessions with desirable root traits, four accessions have proved to be useful for sugar beet (B. vulgaris (L.) subsp. vulgaris) breeding aimed at improving the tolerance to nutritional stresses. Lastovo (ID 29) and Zut (ID 34) accessions were characterized by the highest values of root elongation rate (RER), total root length (TRL), fine root length (FRL) and root surface area (RSA), still maintaining a high value of root tips density (RTD), while Grado (ID 21) and Portic (ID 23) accessions were characterized by the highest RTD, but low values of RER, TRL, FRL and RSA. 5 Darracq A, Varré JS, Maréchal-Drouard L, Courseaux A, Castric V, Saumitou-Laprade P, Oztas S, Lenoble P, Vacherie B, Barbe V, Touzet P. 2011. Structural and content diversity of mitochondrial genome in beet: a comparative genomic analysis. Genome Biology and Evolution 3:723-736.Wild genetic resources of beet are widespread along the Atlantic coast, Mediterranean region and a part of Asia. Very little is known about existing species and their genetic structure in Morocco. The objectives of this study were to identify the main existing species and to undertake a genetic evaluation. Collection trips for Beta have been conducted since 2005, covering different climatic regions along the Atlantic coast and from inland areas. Nineteen populations from the collection were evaluated for genetic diversity. Eight B. maritima, six B. macrocarpa and five P. patellaris populations were analysed using 12 polymorphic microsatellite markers.High genetic diversity was observed between and within populations of each studied group. Allelic richness was about 5.13 for B. macrocarpa, 5.07 for B. maritima and 1.6 for Patellifolia. An analysis of functional correspondence showed a low population genetic structure for B. macrocarpa and B. vulgaris subsp. maritima. In contrast, Patellifolia presented very highly structured populations. Gene flow was significant within B. macrocarpa despite its being a self-pollinated plant; it is probably due to seed transfer and transportation. Gene flow within and between populations of B. vulgaris subsp. maritima is the result of both seed and pollen migration. Gene flow was very low within the Patellifolia group as it is a highly autogamous species.The evaluated germplasm presents high genetic diversity. The Moroccan collection is of great interest for introgression of genes of interest into cultivated beet.maritima (abstract provided by authors, who were unable to attend the meeting) E.S. Ober, D. Johnston Insufficient soil moisture limits sugar beet (B. vulgaris subsp. vulgaris) yields in the UK and other water-limited areas. It was hypothesized that the wild maritime relative B. vulgaris subsp. maritima, which often thrives in saline and dry habitats, may have desirable drought tolerance traits that could be introgressed into elite sugar beet germplasm. To test this hypothesis, the performance of commercial sugar beet hybrids was compared with maritima accessions under well-watered and water-limited conditions. Various physiological and morphological features related to drought tolerance were studied in sugar beet and maritima types from Corsica, England and Greece in both field and glasshouse experiments. In the field experiments, maritima types maintained greater turgor, net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance and transpiration rate than sugar beet, especially under water-limited conditions. However, maritima types had a lower total dry weight (TDW), water-use efficiency (WUE) and radiation-use efficiency (RUE) than sugar beet. This suggests that the whole plant net photosynthesis and/or the conversion of fixed CO2 into dry matter was smaller in maritima types than in sugar beet. The percentage decrease in TDW and relative growth rate (RGR) due to water-limited conditions was similar in both Beta types, suggesting that sugar beet had similar tolerance to stress as maritima. In the glasshouse experiment, similar leaf water potentials, net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance and transpiration rate were obtained in both Beta types. As in the field experiment, maritima had lower TDW and WUE than sugar beet. However, the percentage decrease in TDW and RGR due to waterlimited conditions was smaller in maritima than in sugar beet. This may have been due to the faster onset of water deficit in the glasshouse compared with the field experiments. It was concluded that the maritima accessions studied were not more drought tolerant than sugar beet. Further work has shown that sufficient diversity for drought tolerance exists within elite sugar beet germplasm to enable breeding progress. However, the maritima accessions did show greater osmotic adjustment than the hybrids, which deserves further investigation.Beta nana is a rare alpine species endemic to Greece. It is a crop wild relative of cultivated beet (B. vulgaris subsp. vulgaris) and is an important genetic resource for breeding cold tolerance and other traits. A plant exploration conducted in 2005 found 26 occurrences of this wild beet on six mountain locations that span three phytogeographical zones in Greece, from Mount Olympus in the north to Mount Taygetos in the south. In addition to seed, leaf materials from about 30 individual plants were collected at each mountain location. These samples were used to estimate genetic diversity and differentiation patterns, using co-dominant simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci. Specifically, these genotypic data were used to estimate the hierarchical genetic structure across these discrete alpine habitats in Greece and to estimate ongoing and historic demographic and gene flow patterns linking these sites. Importantly these patterns of genetic differentiation were compared with environmental niche models for the species.Spatial and genetic data were integrated to assess the impact of various climate models on the range of this specialized species and to identify regions of critical conservation priority.Preliminary work on tissue from plants grown from seed collected at Mounts Olympus, Giona, Vardousia and Parnassos showed results similar to Nagamine and Ford-Lloyd (1989) 6 , who had found five unique and invariant allozyme alleles compared with other species. High overall inbreeding associated with locus information was detected by SSR markers in populations at nine sites comprising 180 individuals. Population-specific variation with SSRs also showed huge inbreeding, with some populations showing no variation. Genotypic data have shown that if loci are polymorphic, almost all the diversity is partitioned among the populations of different mountain tops.A. Tan pointed out that protocols for germination of B. nana need to be developed.B. Ford-Lloyd remarked that a better understanding of the ecology of this species would be useful for gauging the effects of climate change. At present, this species cannot be easily grown outside its natural habitat.P. Ralli presented a proposal for a research study for in situ conservation of B. nana on Mount Olympus, to be carried out in collaboration with the protection services of the Olympus National Park. It is important to know that Mount Olympus is a National Park and it belongs to the Natura 2000 protected area network. The location is also close to the genebank, which is an advantage. The threat from human activities or from grazing is more limited here than in other areas where B. nana was detected. However, climatic and environmental changes can be a more immediate threat, since this species is adapted to conditions of low atmosphere pressure, oxygen concentration and temperature, and high relative humidity. The purpose of the project would be the detection of appropriate areas for in situ 6 Nagamine T, Ford-Lloyd BV. 1989. New genetic markers in a wild species of beet (Beta nana Boiss. et Heldr.): prospects for utilization. Plant Breeding 102: 344-347 (doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0523.1989.tb01268.x). conservation of B. nana and monitoring of B. nana populations that were located during previous expeditions (Dale 1980(Dale 7 , 1981 8 ; 8 ;Frese et al. 2009 9 ), as well as surveying of additional areas.The proposed plan for the study includes:-Detailed mapping of B. nana populations in the studied areas, as well as in other areas of Greece; -Regular monitoring and recording of demographic parameters of populations; -Periodic observations and measurements of the ecological environment; -Conservation actions in populations that are at risk in specific habitats; -Complementing in situ conservation with ex situ measures by sampling and safe maintenance of seeds in the Greek Genebank; -Phenotypic characterization, agronomic evaluation and genetic study of identified populations, including the study of the reproductive system and of factors affecting germination ability; -Documentation of the acquired information (collection and passport data, field observations, population monitoring data, etc.) in a database. A. Santos confirmed that Patellifolia species are protected in many areas, but no organization is working on this genus in the Canary Islands. The competent authority for protection of the island's flora is the Canarian authorities. L. Panella commented that 66 accessions of three Patellifolia species are present in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN, USA). The concern is that P. webbiana may not really be webbiana; collaboration was invited for the identification of Patellifolia with appropriate genetic markers.L. Frese reported that, using a flow cytometer, JKI observed 3x and 4x types in a P. patellaris sample taken at Marrakesh. B. Ford-Lloyd suggested collecting single plant samples of Patellifolia species in the Canary Islands and Madeira. L. Frese reminded that this had already been done; the samples are now stored either as dry leaves or DNA-probes at the Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI). The set of SSR markers used to analyse the variation within B. patula did not work in Patellifolia. He offered to do routine analysis on Patellifolia material, but also wished to see a more comprehensive cooperative project being developed on this issue with the objective of detecting SSR markers suited to describe the genetic diversity in the genus Patellifolia. Fine-mapping of rhizomania resistance using an in situ population of B. vulgaris subsp. maritima F.J. Kopisch-Obuch, S.L.M. Frerichmann and G. Capistrano-Goßmann Rhizomania is one of the most severe sugar beet (B. vulgaris) diseases worldwide, including Germany, leading to a loss in sugar yield of up to 80%. The causal agent of this disease is the beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV), which is transferred by the soil-borne plasmodiophoromycete Polymyxa betae. Rhizomania is controlled by the use of resistant sugar beet varieties. Resistance is conferred mainly by the two resistance genes Rz1 and Rz2. While the origin of Rz1 is still unknown, Rz2 has been derived from the B. vulgaris subsp. maritima accession WB42. This accession was collected from a wild beet population that still exists in situ nearby Kalundborg, Denmark. Low linkage disequilibrium (LD) is assumed as this population is segregating for Rz2 and has undergone many generations of crosspollination and recombination. The wild population along the coastal line of Kalundborg was re-sampled, providing a genetic resource that is very suitable for high-resolution mapping of Rz2. This project is aimed at (i) fine-mapping of Rz2 in B. vulgaris subsp. maritima, (ii) map-based cloning of Rz2 and (iii) sequence-based search for new sources of rhizomania resistance. More than 200 test cross families were produced from 200 distinct wild beets and a rhizomania-susceptible CMS sugar beet line. These test cross families are being phenotyped for rhizomania resistance, and various marker systems are employed for fine-mapping of Rz2. Preliminary results were presented.The study was received by the meeting as an exemplar case showing the value, also for genetic studies, of in situ conservation of entire populations of crop wild relatives. Even though the area under study had already been proposed for the establishment of a genetic reserve, the results show that the existing genetic diversity for rhizomania resistance is also distributed outside the limits of the proposed genetic reserve. Therefore, it will be worthwhile revisiting the extension of the proposed genetic reserve.Aphanomyces root rot in Japanese elite breeding lines K. Taguchi, K. Okazaki, H. Takahashi The Japanese elite breeding lines were derived mainly from ancestral cultivars, which could have originated from only about ten kinds of open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) (Taguchi et al.  2006) 11 that were included in the hybrid breeding programme launched at least 50 years ago for creating useful parental lines. Considering that it is a very important task to conserve the genetic diversity of the germplasm for the future, 63 elite breeding inbred lines (ILs) were assessed for resistance to three major diseases: Cercospora leaf spot (CLS), Rhizoctonia root rot (RHR) and Aphanomyces root rot (APR) at the National Agricultural and food Research Center, Hokkaido Agricultural Research Center (NARO/HARC).Analysis of resistance data, assessed on a NARO/HARC scale of 0-5, indicated significant differences between the ILs. Clear variations of disease indices were recorded: 3.3±0.4 for CLS, 4.5±0.5 for RHR and 1.7±1.0 for APR. The broad-sense heritability was estimated at above 90% in each evaluation. There were some strong resistant lines in ILs, the ratios of which were 9% for CLS, 3% for RHR and 27% for APR. The proportion of APR-resistant lines was relatively high, while only a few CLS-and RHR-resistant lines were observed among the ILs. The variation of resistances could be explained in part by the pedigree relationships between the ILs and their ancestral OPVs. Some lines were observed with higher resistance than in the standard strong varieties. These highly resistant lines will be useful for the disease resistance breeding programme. Eight additional lines showed medium resistance to the three diseases and can also be used for resistance breeding.A.E. Müller, S. Vogt, W. Zhang, N. Dally, G. Schulze-Buxloh, M. Lommel, G. Weyens, M. Lefèbvre, B. Wahl, A. Schechert, C. Jung Natural accessions of B. vulgaris such as sea beets (B. vulgaris L. subsp. maritima) comprise annual forms that bolt and flower within a single growing season without requirement for vernalization as well as iteroparous perennials that require vernalization. The annual habit is controlled by the bolting locus B (Munerati 1931 12 ). The vernalization response of cultivated biennial forms such as the sugar beet (B. vulgaris L. subsp. vulgaris) is mediated by BvFT1 (FLOWERING LOCUS T1), which acts as a floral repressor and is downregulated by vernalization. Flowering in annuals and vernalized biennials also depends on expression of the floral promoter gene BvFT2, which is induced under long-day conditions (Pin et al. 2010 13 ). Current studies aim to understand the genetic network that governs life cycle and bolting control in beet, with applications for plant breeding including suppression of vernalization-responsiveness to enable winter cultivation. Using a large F2 population derived from a cross between an annual and a biennial beet and a map-based cloning approach, the team developed a set of molecular markers that cosegregate with B and anchor a 0.9 Mb BAC contig to the genetic map of the B locus. Whole BAC sequencing identified BvBTC1 (BOLTING TIME CONTROL 1) as a strong candidate gene. A functional analysis of BvBTC1 demonstrated its pivotal role in life cycle control in beet as well as an unexpected role in biennials. A haplotype analysis in wild and cultivated beets further suggested that domestication of beet involved selection of a rare BvBTC1 allele. Besides the B locus, a genetic survey of biennial genotypes derived from ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis of an annual accession by linkage mapping in newly developed F2 populations identified two additional, previously unknown loci B2 and B4 that co-regulate annual bolting in wild beets (Büttner et al. 201014 , Abou-Elwafa et al. 2011 15 ). In a complementary approach, additional components of the floral transition gene network in beet are being identified by genome-wide transcript profiling. An integrated model for the genetic control of bolting in beet was presented.A. Tan Gardens have existed in Turkey since ancient times. Traditional Turkish houses always had a garden, no matter what the size of the house. These gardens are not only important sources of food, fodder, fuel, medicines, spices, ornamentals, construction materials and income, they also provide microenvironments for the conservation of a wide range of different vegetable and even fodder beets, since Turkey is one of the centres of origin and domestication for beet and holds wide diversity of both wild beets and cultivated beets that have been grown for centuries. For this reason, beets in home gardens were investigated. Since home gardens are considered as a niche within an agroecosystem, study sites were selected in the agroecological zones that contain significant biological diversity. Common sampling procedures were applied to assess the extent of species diversity maintained in home gardens; the study sites were then surveyed for in-depth study. Local knowledge associated with this diversity, ethno-botanical diversity based on local taxonomy used by growers, socio-economic status and local seed management systems were also recorded. The recorded beet species and forms of local beet cultivars were also characterized, using agromorphological traits. Very diverse forms of leaf beets, root beets and even fodder beets were grown in the home gardens and were sometimes associated with wild maritime beets and wild Corollinae species. Growers, especially women, play a key role in managing this diversity in agroecosystems. Such maintenance of diversity is a very valuable complement to ex situ conservation. It is not uncommon to find more than 50 plant species in a single garden.The status of wild species belonging to the genepool of cultivated beets was assessed by Bilz et al. ( 2011) 16 using the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Criteria (IUCN 2001, cited in Bilz et al. 2011). The results indicate that 50% of these wild species are threatened by extinction to varying degrees: Beta patula (critically endangered, CR), B. macrocarpa (endangered, EN), B. adanensis (= B. vulgaris subsp. adanensis, valid name) (vulnerable, VU), B. nana (VU), and Patellifolia webbiana (CR). There is therefore an urgent need to conserve the intraspecific diversity of these species in their natural habit (in situ) with the objective of increasing their conservation status to the level of least concerned (LC). The genetic reserve conservation technique was suggested by Maxted et al. (1997)  17 as a way of preserving intraspecific diversity. With the aim of identifying priority genetic reserve sites, Kell et al. ( 2012) 18 developed and tested the crop genepool strategy in the context of the AEGRO project (http://aegro.jki.bund.de/aegro/). A case study on the genepool of cultivated beets provided a basis for decision-making (Frese et al., AEGRO working document 19 ). On this basis, 26 locations in the EU-27 were proposed as suited for the establishment of genetic reserves for Beta and Patellifolia species. The Genetic Reserve Information System (GenResIS 20 ) developed by the University of Madrid provides detailed information on the locations of the recommended sites and their ecogeographic variables. In close cooperation with the national and local nature conservation agencies, action plans now need to be developed for integrating the management plans of genetic reserves with those of 16  The 26 sites were selected on the basis of geographic, climatic and genetic data and proposed to the best knowledge. They form the first components of species-specific networks of plant occurrences presumed to represent a significant part of the intraspecific diversity of threatened wild beet species. The network can be expanded to ensure the existence of a wide genetic base, which is essential for the adaptive evolution and persistence of the species that are important genetic resources for plant breeding. More investigations into the ecogeographic patterns of intraspecific diversity are required to better inform the decisions taken in favour of or against specific sites and plant occurrences.The discussion clarified that the selection system of the suggested reserve sites has been only partially successful, since certain interesting sites are missing from the lists; also, more information should be used (such as molecular genetic data) to revise the site list.Implementation of the genetic reserves concept remains difficult in its last stages, which involve follow-up with local authorities; the WG could play a significant role here. The list of proposed genetic reserves should be revised and the network of genetic reserves should be expanded through cooperation with non-EU representatives.  In situ and ex situ management of Beta germplasm should exemplarily be linked using recommended genetic reserve sites (i.e. samples of B. patula from the genetic reserve sites should be deposited in the genebank of Madeira). AKER is the name of a French research initiative on \"New strategies for the use of the exotic variability, based on genomic tools (sugar beet as a model plant)\". The project responds to the need to become more competitive in the international sugar market. The competitive advantage of other players like Brazil compared with Europe can be reduced in the future not only because of increasing costs of production in Brazil, but also through genetic improvement that can be achieved through this project. Current barriers to yield increase in Europe are losses caused by leaf diseases; also, it is impossible to adopt genetically modified crops as they are not accepted by the public, as opposed to the case in competitor countries.Since the genetic variability currently used in sugar beet is increasingly narrow, the use of the existing variability needs to be improved to speed up genetic progress. A favourable factor is the possibility of optimally utilizing world genetic variability by using available informatics and genomic methodologies. A group of players in France is determined to invest in this crop, which is of commercial interest and has a relatively simple genome.The objectives of the project include: 1. To obtain improved genetic material; 2. To improve access to genetic material, optimizing genetic diversity that is available and can be rapidly used to reach new targets; 3. To provide access to molecular tools and new technologies to accelerate creation of improved genomes; 4. To provide access to improved phenotyping tools and methodologies; 5. To train new human resources in the use of novel genomic techniques; 6. To establish a public-private collaboration on root beet as a model plant. The project started by requesting over 3000 accessions from the genebanks. Out of the received accessions, 15 will be selected as holders of the necessary variability. These will be crossed with elite lines, and 200 individuals from each crossed population (i.e. a total of 3000 hybrids) will then be selected for further genotyping and phenotyping. New phenotyping systems will need to be developed for monitoring all plant growth phases. Bioinformatics for data integration will be used to establish new breeding algorithms and prediction tools. Training and teaching components will be embedded in the project.The project used EURISCO to identify around 9000 accessions in European genebanks. Of these, 3185 were selected on the basis of geographic distribution.Thirty-nine institutions were contacted; 12 gave positive answers, 3 negative answers, 2 are under negotiation, 22 gave no answer. Problems were therefore identified in this exercise, since EURISCO does not necessarily provide information on available seed, updated addresses of the institutions or names of relevant contact persons. It was also surprising to meet restricted genetic resources policies in some cases (Kew Gardens, UK; Vavilov Institute, Russian Federation; China).PGR Secure is an EU-funded project on \"Novel characterization of crop wild relative and landrace resources as a basis for improved crop breeding\" (http://www.pgrsecure.org/). The aim is to research novel characterization techniques and conservation strategies for European crop wild relative and landrace diversity, as a means of enhancing crop improvement by breeders to ensure continued food security in the face of changing consumer demand and climate change. The project, coordinated by the University of Birmingham, UK, involves partner institutions from Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, UK, as well as Bioversity International, the European Association for Plant Breeding Research (EUCARPIA) and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen). The project is developed in close collaboration with the ECPGR In situ and On-farm Conservation Network. Among the anticipated results, the project is expected to help develop national and regional crop wild relative and landrace conservation strategies. Information on important traits in this material will be made available through a portal, and collaboration between breeders and conservationists to facilitate the use of these traits will be promoted. With focus on Avena, Beta, Brassica and Medicago, a model will also be developed to predict whether unknown accessions are resistant or susceptible to pests and diseases.Web-based components were developed for the AEGRO and AVEQ (Avena genetic resources for quality in human consumption) projects. In the case of AEGRO, a Population Level Information System (PLIS) was developed for model crops (e.g. Beta), as well as an integrated model for in situ and ex situ data. As part of PLIS, a Web application was developed for information on already known sites and additional tools supporting in situ field work. Concepts were also proposed for data exchange and for the integration of project results in existing information systems (e.g. the European Central Crop Databases, ECCDBs). Historical occurrence (distribution) data have also been integrated in the System. Biological data sources for Beta accessions were derived from GBIF, EURISCO, pcGRIN and the IDBB. Geographic data sources were taken from EUROSTAT and Natura 2000. This has allowed an analysis of occurrences of Beta within and outside protected areas.In the case of AVEQ, Web solutions were developed for managing cooperative multisite genetic resources evaluation and facilitate the inclusion of project data into a central database by promoting standardized ways of documentation and data generation. These solutions have allowed online description of field experiments and treatments, online field plan generation, download of pdf and Excel templates, and spreadsheet upload with routine calculations (e.g. emergence, yield, seed weight).The future use of information tools envisages that: -The user community should be able to manage the database itself by using the online tools; -Users should be able to adapt and further develop these tools themselves for their purposes with the source code available in an open source repository.The following next step is proposed:-All source codes developed for AEGRO and AVEQ will be made available in CropForge together with journal publications.New project ideas proposed for further development and funding include:-Mobile apps for using the IDBB in exploration and monitoring of in situ crop wild relative resources; -Using and improving the online tools developed for AVEQ in a Beta evaluation and characterization project;-Updating passport data and/or stronger integration with EURISCO and GRIN passport data.The discussion focused on the importance of user-friendly information systems that are able to service the user community effectively. The practice of certain national genebanks to restrict or complicate access to information on accessions − even though they are listed in EURISCO − was widely criticized. These difficulties met by users, when reported to the wider public, can backfire on the sustainability of publicly funded plant genetic resources systems.Data exchange between information systems holding data on Beta is still inadequate. The diversity of systems -each new project builds a new database -is a problem for the genetic resources user community.The tools developed for the Avena Database could be implemented in the IDBB, in case the Group considers it important. If so, the necessary funds should be raised. There is some concern that the building of huge centralized systems (such as EURISCO and GENESYS) will discourage interest and investment in the maintenance of central crop databases. The Working Group on Beta could therefore prepare a project for the development of the IDBB and submit it to appropriate donors for funding. The WG Chair and the IDBB Manager should prepare as soon as possible a project proposal that aims to guarantee the future sustainability and further development of the IDBB.The posters listed below were presented. The Coordinator cautioned that unspent funds of the WG will not be immediately available for new activities. The Secretariat would have to submit an application to the Steering Committee (SC), requesting approval for the use of these funds. Currently, unspent funds have been frozen by the SC, given that a few member countries still have outstanding dues.The participants were informed about the outcome of the ECPGR Independent External Review (July 2010) and about the process followed by the SC for taking decisions at their next meeting in December 2012 on the future of the ECPGR, based on the \"Options paper\" being prepared by the ECPGR Executive Committee. The new goal and objectives of the ECPGR, as agreed by the SC in Bratislava (December 2010), were presented.The elements of the workplan were summarized and progress reported.1. Identification of target populations for in situ conservation should explore the feasibility of creating genetic reserves as soon as possible.Progress: A total of 26 occurrences have been identified within the framework of the AEGRO project. The recommended sites are located in Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain.2. Develop a data model and module for In Situ Management (ISM). Develop and agree on a descriptor list for ISM. Progress: Completed as part of AEGRO.3. Organize a technical meeting focused on the development of a descriptor list and a data model. Progress: Activity was cancelled.Progress: There was some discussion on problems related to the identification of Patellifolia species between the Botanic Garden of Tenerife, the University of Birmingham and the Julius Kühn-Institut in response to the paper of Thulin et al. (2010). 22 5. Inclusion of additional characterization and evaluation data into the IDBB: the IDBB Manager will not request data. It is the task of the institutions producing data to submit them to the IDBB. Progress: A data set was offered by the Armenian member. The IDBB Manager invested time to ensure the technical online availability of the information system by migrating the database from the old server to a new one. There is no staff capacity available for updating the system.6. Establishment of a baseline of genetic diversity data for monitoring. Progress: About 1000 plants were sampled starting from July 2008; DNA probes were produced from the samples and part of them (only section Beta) were analysed by the JKI using SSR markers. B. nana accessions collected by a joint USDA-ARS, GGB and JKI plant exploration team in Greece in 2005 were analysed in a similar way. The results on B. nana and B. patula were published. 23,24 The work needs to be continued. The history of the establishment of AEGIS, its milestones and its key components were presented. Thirty countries are now members and 43 genebanks have signed Associate Membership Agreements with their respective National Coordinators. The scope of the European Collection was described, and the main elements of the AEGIS Quality System (AQUAS) were outlined. In line with the AQUAS principles, the Group had already developed in the past a seed increase protocol for wild and cultivated Beta germplasm, and areas for developing a quality concept had been identified: germplasm acquisition; status of acquired material; regeneration; post-harvest; pre-storage; germination capacity and storage conditions.A few points for action by the WG were proposed, as follows:1. Agree on the process of identifying Beta accessions for the European Collection; 2. Compile first lists of possible AEGIS accessions; 3. Decide whether crop-specific standards are needed beyond the current FAO draft list of technical standards for seed crops/species and, if so, plan for their elaboration.Ayfer Tan introduced the subject, indicating that all available data sources should be used to identify the existing Beta accessions in European genebanks. EURISCO records 8224 accessions from 28 European genebanks, while the IDBB records 10 485 accessions held in 28 genebanks worldwide. In order to select appropriate accessions for inclusion in the AEGIS European collection, she proposed merging of the lists from EURISCO and the IDBB, and starting the sorting of accessions held in countries that have signed the AEGIS Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The second step would be to check completeness of a minimum amount of data (at least \"Species\" and \"Accession name\" or \"Collecting number\" or \"Donor number\" or \"Other number\" or \"Country of origin\"). Accessions without species name, unclear species and hybrids should not be considered. The lists could then be divided into sub-sections and candidate accessions could first be selected from the smaller subsections. Obvious duplicates could be identified, and Most Appropriate Accessions (MAAs) among duplicates could be selected on the basis of criteria such as:-Quality of passport data -Quality of management standards of holding institutes -Minimum number of regeneration cycles -Health status (checked for seed-borne/quarantine diseases) -Existence of characterization and evaluation data -Whether the accession is maintained in the country where it was collected or originated -Accession history -Storage facilities -Minimum germination % standards used by holder (International Seed Testing Association, ISTA; AQUAS) -Monitoring germination % by holder (Revised Genebank Standards for the Conservation of Orthodox Seeds, RGBSO; AQUAS).Other crop-specific criteria that could be used to select those accessions that have been properly regenerated could be the following:-Number of seeds or approximate size of the original sample; -Number of plants used in the regeneration plots; -Pollination method (controlled); -Number of plants collected in the regeneration plots (minimum 10?).However, the information for these criteria may not have been recorded or may not be easily available. The general problem is that lack of data or wrong data make it very difficult to select material.The Group considered that the analysis of the databases in the proposed way and with so many criteria would be difficult to achieve without funding support. The alternative suggested was to start focusing on those accessions that were selected in the past for GenRes projects and now for the AKER project. These accessions are rich in data and have already been selected through some criteria. Moreover, full sets of characterization data are not required to select accessions that need to be preserved as a priority. For example, accessions belonging to the taxa included in the IUCN Red List (B. nana, B. patula and B. webbiana)  would all need to be conserved in the European Collection. The taxa related to the proposed in situ conservation sites were also suggested as appropriate. This type of choice would also establish a link between in situ and ex situ conservation, thereby bringing their complementarity into effect.Regarding the possibility of sorting out accessions on the basis of their taxonomy, it was pointed out that the taxonomy currently used by the N.I. Vavilov Research Institute for Plant Industry (VIR, St Petersburg) does not match other taxonomies such as GRIN; a parallel between the two should be established. The first group of accessions to be proposed for inclusion in the European Collection should be selected from the Beta Core Collection and the AKER collection. Accessions of threatened species should also be included. Under the guidance of the IDBB Managers, a list of candidate accessions to be included in the European Collection will be compiled by end 2012, using the Beta Core Collection, AKER collection and accessions of threatened species. All concerned country representatives and/or curators will support the IDBB Managers' activity. The WG Chair will then submit the agreed list to all the concerned National Coordinators, suggesting inclusion of the respective accessions into AEGIS.  Lothar Frese, with the assistance of Maria Cristina Duarte, will compare the VIR and GRIN taxonomies for Beta and provide a list of matching relationships for all relevant taxa by end 2013.Discussion on generic genebank standards and on the need to agree on cropspecific standards (introduced by A. Tan) Following a request of the FAO Commission to update existing standards for orthodox and non-orthodox seeds, and for clonally propagated plants, the FAO drafted the \"Revised Genebank Standards for the Conservation of Orthodox Seeds\". This document (www.fao.org/docrep/meeting/022/MB179E.pdf) was discussed by the FAO Commission during its meeting in July 2011; it will be finalized and discussed again at the Sixth Session of the Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in November 2012. In this document, standards are defined for acquisition, drying and storage, seed viability monitoring, regeneration, characterization, documentation, distribution, safety-duplication and security/personnel. Ayfer Tan suggested that the FAO Genebank Standards could be adopted as they are, and that the genebanks should attempt to follow them. The WG on Beta had already developed a crop-specific \"Seed increase protocol\" and collected the available regeneration guidelines in the form of country protocols, all available on the Beta WG's Web site (http://www.ecpgr.cgiar.org/networks/sugar_starch_fibre_crops/beta/other_wg_docume nts.html).The existing protocols are judged to be sufficiently developed and, when followed, ensure quality of conservation of Beta germplasm. Guidelines for the multiplication of B. nana are, however, missing and should be developed. The FAO \"Genebank Standards for the Conservation of Orthodox Seeds\" combined with the Beta WG \"Seed increase protocol\" should be checked by the WG curators to confirm whether they can be adopted by the WG and proposed for approval as part of the AEGIS Quality System (AQUAS). The only missing element is a regeneration protocol for B. nana, which should be developed by the WG. Lothar Frese will request Barbara Hellier (USDA-ARS) to provide information or possibly a protocol for the regeneration of B. nana by end 2012.  Under the coordination of the WG Chair, all Beta WG curators will check the validity of the seed increase protocol for Beta and inform the WG Chair of their analysis, by end 2012.L. Frese summarized the recommendations and workplan items that emerged from the discussions at the meeting. The agreed workplan items are compiled in Appendix I (pp. 25-26). The scientific proceedings of this meeting, including the contributions of all the authors, will be published by JKI. Papers for inclusion in the proceedings will be submitted to L. Frese by 3 September 2012.Lothar Frese was reconfirmed as the Chair of the Working Group on Beta. He agreed to act as the Chair until the end of 2013 and suggested the new Chairperson be elected via electronic media. Yasmina El-Bahloul was elected as the new Chair of the World Beta Network.The participants visited the laboratories of Florimond Desprez. On behalf of the participants, the new Chair warmly thanked Bruno Desprez for the excellent organization, financial support of some participants and the splendid hospitality that contributed to a pleasant and productive meeting. All participants concurred that the Working Group gained momentum as the meeting facilitated the exchange of some very new and exciting research results. Special thanks were addressed to Valérie Fortin and all the staff of Florimond Desprez involved in the organization of the meeting. Special thanks were also addressed to Lorenzo Maggioni (representing the ECPGR) for the financial and logistic support, and his contributions to the meeting. He was asked to convey special thanks to Lidwina Koop and Elinor Lipman for their excellent help. The last meeting took place in 2006; given the many ongoing activities in the field of conservation and utilization of genetic resources and related research projects, the Group suggested that such meetings be held every two or three years. The Chair of the ECPGR WG and of the WBN took note of this suggestion. The meeting was closed by the Chair who thanked all participants for their valuable contributions to the meeting and wished all participants a safe journey home. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"cd7138aec1d84d8b23aca0938c71e63a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/74c1f3d0-f4d8-4861-aed3-60c8d3783596/retrieve","id":"-1613842541"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2de501cd-5327-45e4-b4c5-ebb42f3e0e1f","content":"technologies forward across a wide ecosystem of strategic partners intended to provide sustainable and cost-effec ve solu ons to farmers. As TAAT efforts intensified in 2019, the program partners working within compacts, have been contribu ng more climate smart agricultural solu ons and best prac ces across the con nent to farmers and other stakeholders. This is done through the delivery and scaling of improved cul vars of crops and breeds of livestock, and increased use of best farm management prac ces. TAAT intends to con nue moving forward in this effort in 2020.A Mid Term Review (MTR) of the program conducted in March 2019, concluded that the program is on track to achieve its developmental o b j e c v e s d e s p i t e t h e c h a l l e n g e s o f implemen ng such a complex program in diverse environments across many ins tu ons. Some issues were iden fied and they are being addressed accordingly. Another milestone achieved was the convening of all implemen ng partners to chart the way forward with the planning of TAAT phase 2 in order to build on the achievements of TAAT phase 1 and use some of the lessons learned to refocus the program where needed.In highligh ng the Program's 2019 achievements in this report, I need to men on there will be s o m e n e g a v e i m p a c t t o p r o g r a m implementa on due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The 2020 work plans take this into account, pu ng in place mi ga on measures. As we have seen with the reduc on in imports to the con nent, fragility to food access requires now more than ever, effec ve value chain systems that support the whole agricultural sector including the smallholder farmers as well as the large scale producers.There is no doubt in my mind that TAAT is well poised to accelerate exis ng efforts while working amidst the COVID19 pandemic that is nega vely impac ng farmer produc vity and livelihoods. This report highlights how TAAT stands ready to accelerate long-term sustainable agriculture interven ons that enhance delivery of agriculture, con nue to maintain food supplies and boost local produc on in a way that does not allow the pandemic to win. Through TAAT, agricultural transforma on will con nue on the con nent -pu ng farmer produc vity and livelihoods in the forefront of the pandemic. AAT works through partnerships that T help move proven technologies to scale for nine commodi es and six enablers. The synergy between the Commodity Compacts, Enablers and other partners ensures that the African farmer gets \"a package of prac ces and technologies\" that w i l l i n c re a s e p ro d u c v i t y o f A f r i c a n agriculture. We know that it is not possible to achieve scaling up in agriculture development without the public and the private sector. TAAT works closely with the private and public sectors to enable countries to realize the poten al of the agriculture sector for economic growth and job crea on, par cularly among farmers, women, and youth. The TAAT management structure is flexible and agile having a program management unit that manages the program and ensures that there is a proper and compliant fiduciary and procurement system in place to support the c o m p a c t s a n d t h e i r p a r t n e r s . T h e Clearinghouse assists the technology owners and assembles the validated technologies ready for the next users. Clearinghouse brokers appropriate partnerships with research organiza ons, private sector, value chain actors, and farmers and works closely with mul lateral donor ins tu ons to ensure TAAT t e c h n o l o g i e s a r e l i n k e d t o c o u n t r y investments. This arrangement has delivered great results and makes TAAT the place to go for donor communi es who want to contribute to the development of agriculture value chains.In 2019 we disseminated 144 technologies in 27 countries. We reached more than 9 million beneficiaries with technology packages. Around 1.3 million farmers were trained on the technologies and there were 6,000 promo ons and outreach campaigns. We also reached 12,000 processors and linked them to farmers to build effec ve 28,000 value chains. This effort has linked over 32,000 beneficiaries to the agri-business supply chain and that greatly improves their income. TAAT currently has seed funds from the AfDB and it is expected to work with government to access mul lateral loans to scale up the technologies. In 2019, TAAT compacts worked with various agencies and leveraged an extra US $ 2.5 million and that contributes to the scale up effort. TAAT partners will con nue to accelerate this fundraising effort with individual countries and regional blocks to scale up the successful technologies. We believe that in 2020 and in subsequent years, we will have an enhanced agricultural produc on that will be the beginning of the an cipated agricultural transforma on in Africa. It originated from the declared need \"to execute a bold plan to achieve rapid agricultural transforma on across Africa by raising agricultural produc vity,\" made by par cipants in the Dakar High-Level Conference in October 2015 that led to the formula on of the Feed Africa Strategy by the Bank in June 2016. TAAT is also aligned with the objec ves of the C o m p r e h e n s i v e A f r i c a n A g r i c u l t u r a l Development Programme (CAADP) of the African Union Commission's New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), namely to:• Eliminate extreme poverty • End hunger and malnutri on • Turn Africa into a net food exporter, and • Posi on Africa at the top of agricultural value chains where it has a compara ve advantage.TAAT has been under implementa on for two years and is able to highlight successes that are being recorded in terms of developing infrastructures to enable scaling up of technologies and actual impact on the ground. TAAT has deployed proven technologies to African farmers at scale hence enabling them to increase yields and improve their livelihoods in a sustainable manner through selected commodity value chains: Maize, Rice, Wheat, High Iron Bean, Cassava, Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato, Sorghum/Millet, Livestock, and Aquaculture. With the support of Enablers, TAAT con nues with its accelerated momentum to significantly address the issues of low yields by tackling more transversal issues in African agriculture. These are: improving soil fer lity, discovering the untapped poten al for improved water management, coordina ng and advoca ng agricultural research ini a ves, providing the necessary policy support, a rac ng African youth in agribusiness, and helping farmers respond to transboundary plant pests and diseases such as Fall Armyworm.TAAT has also sustained the momentum and its commitment to deliver high quality seeds to beneficiaries to help countries respond to food insecurity remains intact. In 2019, TAAT produced and disseminated 54,868 MT of breeder seeds, 1 , 2 5 3 M T o f E G S , 5 , 5 8 9 . 2 0 7 M T o f Basic/Founda on seeds, 79,311 MT for Cer fied seeds, 6,338 MT of Quality Declared Seeds, and 2,004 MT of Hybrid seeds. The numbers, disaggregated by cereals and grain legumes are as follows: 65,525 MT for wheat;20,134.347 MT of maize;292.915 MT of rice, 1008.718 MT for sorghum, and 620.450 MT of millet;and 4,957 MT of High Iron Beans (HIB). Looking at the seed for roots and tubers, the program has produced 81,315 bundles of cassava, 20,328,750 cassava cu ngs, and 32,995,950 potato vine cu ngs. TAAT has also made strides towards improving self-sufficiency in inland fish produc on with 127,011,842 fingerlings disseminated to farmers.In 2019, TAAT reached 9,064,161 beneficiaries with men cons tuted 6,506,153 (71.78%) while women beneficiaries were 2,532,424 (27.94%) and youth beneficiaries cons tu ng 25,593 (0.28%). Cumula vely, the program has reached 48% of its target so far and that includes expected beneficiaries for the 5-year TAAT program. This publica on brings to light, achievements of the program in 2019, documen ng success stories to highlight the deployment of proven climate smart agricultural technologies for large scale adop on across the con nent. The stories are first-hand accounts of how TAAT is helping farmers improve livelihoods through a mechanism that provides sustainable support to farmers. Indeed, with help from TAAT, Africa's agricultural sector appears to be firmly placed on the pathway to sustainable agricultural transforma on.Pathways to Transforma on A 2019 Annual TAAT Corporate ReportThe transforma onal vision of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals calls on all countries and stakeholders to work together to end hunger and prevent all forms of malnutri on by 2030. This ambi ous goal can only be fulfilled if agriculture and food systems become sustainable, so that food supplies are stable, and all people have access to adequate nutri on and health. There a r e t o d a y , approximately 795,821 million people suffering f r o m c h r o n i c undernourishm ent globally, 36.4 m i l l i o n m o r e than in 2015. Of t h e s e , 2 5 . 7 2 million people live in Africa and the number is projected to increase exponen ally to almost 22% or 2.2 billion by 2050 (OECD-FAO, 2016). Sixty-six million primary school-age children a end classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone. These figures point to a vulnerable sector on the African con nent that need resources and the right p ro g ra m s t o i m p ro v e t h e l i v e s o f t h e impoverished. Progress towards food and nutri on security has been slow and can be a ributed to low produc vity of agricultural resources, rapid popula on growth rate of 2.7% per annum, poli cal instability, and civil strife. There are frequent food shortages that con nue to occur in African countries due to a set of factors that include climate change, popula on growth, regional conflict and lack of adequate investment in the agricultural sector by the African governments. A mix of these factors varies from country to country. However, African countries need to address these nega ve factors that decreases its ability to feed it ci zens.Agriculture remains a key driver for Africa's economic transforma on and development. Africa has 60% of the world's arable land. However, despite this huge poten al, the con nent is yet to reap the mul ple benefits from agriculture that could help li millions out of poverty. Agriculture provides up to 60% of all jobs on the con nent and is the primary source of income for 10% to 20% of urban households accoun ng for about 15% of the Gross Domes c Product (GDP).Africa has also remained a net importer of a g r i c u l t u r a l products during the last three decades. Annual f o o d i m p o r t costs are US $ 45 billion currently a n d a r e e x p e c t e d t o reach US $110 billion by 2025. E a c h b i l l i o n dollars of food i m p o r t s i s equivalent to 670,000 on-farm jobs and 200,000 off-farm jobs. Africa has been expor ng jobs abroad through food imports. Yet, Africa is the only region where the youth bulge will con nue to grow in the foreseeable future, presen ng an opportunity to reap the demographic dividend and avoid an imminent me bomb and threat to social cohesion. There is also the poten al scenario for massive migra on out of Africa in search of opportuni es as long as an enabling environment is not fostered to harness the dividend. One in five youth will remain unemployed, uneducated, or without training (NEET in 2019). This state of joblessness has been steadily growing since 2012 mirroring the trends in the global rate. The NEET rate is projected to increase slightly by 0.3 percentage points to 20.8 in 2021 (Global Employment Trends for Youth 2020: Africa, ILO (2020)). If Africa was to improve and grow its agricultural sector through import subs tu on, the con nent would mi gate the poten al me bomb that is caused by unemployment among its youthful sec on of the society.CAADP has been a catalyst for African ini a ves, including defining na onal priori es and14 Sorghum in water conserva on design in Toma, Burkina Faso Pathways to Transforma on A 2019 Annual TAAT Corporate Report facilita ng an African control of the dialogue with technical and financial partners. Indeed, CAADP has established itself as the expression of reclaimed ownership of agricultural policy by African States and ci zens of the con nent. It is therefore a means of breaking away from the condi ons and restric ons imposed by 20 years of structural adjustment. Nevertheless, public commitment to boos ng agriculture has been limited and has failed to match the targets set. Todate, few countries have reached or exceeded the target of alloca ng 10% of public expenditure to agriculture. To address these challenges holis cally, the African Development Bank, in 2018 launched the TAAT program under the Bank's Feed Africa Strategy.The TAAT program seeks to ensure the growth of the agricultural sector, improve food security, and encourage inclusive growth by catalysing enhanced involvement of women and youth in Agriculture. It also promotes improved resilience to climate variability and shock. The overall goal of TAAT is to improve agriculture as a business across Africa by deploying agricultural produc vity-increasing technologies within nine priority commodi es (cassava, wheat, rice, maize, sorghum/millet, orange-fleshed sweet potato, high iron beans, aquaculture, and small livestock). By focusing efforts on these ini al priority commodi es, TAAT is poised to increase agricultural produc vity and diversifica on. This will lead to improved food and nutri on security, j o b c r e a o n t h r o u g h e x p a n d e d commercializa on and industrializa on. it will also improve the socio-economic status of farmers including women and youth, through the expected improved livelihoods. Other benefits a re : re d u c e d v u l n e ra b i l i e s to m a r ket fluctua ons as a result of more reliable supply chains be er organized and accessible markets, improved soil, land and water management prac ces as a result of Good Agricultural Prac ces (GAPs), and increased resilience to climate variability and stress through the deployment of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies and innova ons.A f r i c a h a s m a ny a g r i c u l t u ra l re s e a rc h organiza ons opera ng in the research and development sectors. These are the CGIAR centers, Na onal Agricultural Research Ins tutes, Regional and Africa-wide bodies. These bodies and centers seek to address the problems of low agricultural produc vity, food insecurity, malnutri on, lack of agribusiness skills, lack of use of modern technologies and many others. yet, While these ins tutes, over the last 50 years, have assembled many ground breaking agricultural technologies, moving these technologies from the ins tute's shelves to the end users has been the missing link. It is for this reason Africa ranks low in the world in terms of u liza on of modern seeds, inputs and other scalable agriculture solu ons. Technologies have not moved to scale in Africa due to many factors. These are weak agricultural extension systems, poor linkages between research and extension services, lengthy technology verifica on and release systems, na onal boundaries, and insufficient a en on to private sector players along the commodity value chains. Africa has 33 million farms of less than 2 hectares, accoun ng for 80% of all farms. Hence, ge ng these farmers to adopt new technologies requires new way of thinking if we are to truly transform agriculture on the con nent TAAT is a program that seeks to address these c h a l l e n ge s by e n s u r i n g t h e h o l d e rs o f t e c h n o l o g i e s d e v e l o p t h e a p p ro p r i a t e sustainable partnerships with research organiza ons, government agencies, financial service providers, and private sector to accelerate technology deployment to farmers and rural communi es. In order to coordinate implementa on across numerous partners, TAAT is overseen by a Regional Technology Delivery Infrastructure made up of four en es: The Programme Steering Commi ee (PSC), the Clearinghouse (CH), the Programme Management Unit (PMU), and the Commodity Technology Delivery Compacts, also known simply as Compacts.The The The Clearinghouse is the main decision-making body of the RTDI when it comes to selec ng technologies to disseminate and scale up. The objec ve of the Clearinghouse is to decide which proven agricultural technologies proposed by each crop/livestock compact group can be rolled out and taken to scale. The ac vi es of the Clearinghouse include: evalua ng requests from the compacts for technologies to be rolled out and scaled up, valida ng the design and plan with stakeholders for buy-in and commitment; iden fying the op mal mix of partners that accompany the implementa on, providing technical backstopping and monitoring of the proposed plan; monitoring and assessing m i l e stones and KPI s, a n d working with governments and private sector on investment opportuni es a n d fi n a n c i n g m e c h a n i s m s f o r t a k i n g technologies to scaleThe  The TAAT value chain approach begins with technologies from research centers that are then taken to scale by agricultural experts (from these centers) in close collabora on with public private partners along the value chain. TAAT leverages the exper se and influence of partners to help deliver las ng benefits to smallholder and largescale farmers.   To ensure that the model is sustainable, TAAT has adopted a value chain or market system approach in developing the commodi es. While There are varia ons in approaches within compacts, TAAT focalises on facilita ng produc ve linkages between agricultural market actors. This approach emphasizes impact, scalability, sustainability, value for money, and return on investment. The value chain approach to the TAAT agricultural program implementa on seeks sustainable results by leveraging exis ng local, commercial, public and civil systems for farm-to -market service delivery. The principles of facilita on take center stage in this systems approach although the tac cs and intensity applied in the field may vary ini ally, depending on exis ng local capacity. The key is to introduce incen ves that s mulate local actors to invest their own capital and labor to upgrade services without crea ng a dependency on TAAT resources, and without TAAT projects introducing parallel structuresIn 2019, Commodity Compacts deployed 41 lead technologies and over 100 accompanying technology solu ons. into what is known as \"technology toolkits\" or \"technology packages\" that describe the agricultural solu ons by crop and loca on. These technologies help mi gate impact of climate change, shorter fallow periods, deforesta on, worsening farmland and the loss of labor due to migra on of the youth from rural areas to the urban centers.Due to agro-ecological zone differences, agricultural prac ces vary from region to region. Hence, different technologies and their accompanying solu ons are packaged and applied accordingly.         Heat tolerant and climate smart wheat varie es Mechanized support of raised plan ng beds Conserva on agriculture (e.g. no-ll planters)Vegeta ve propaga on of virus and drought tolerant varie es Seed systems establishment Good Agronomic Prac ces Good harves ng prac ces Post-Harvest Handling Puree produc on and u liza on Silage produc on of harvested stems and leaves                           * Cer fied seeds were the largest category distributed accoun ng for 53% followed by the breeder seeds. However, hybrids and early genera on seeds is the lowest each having 1% of produc on and distribu on.For grain legumes (HIB) and cereals (wheat, maize, rice, sorghum, and millet), seed producers are strategically iden fied and contracts are entered into usually with formal seed companies. The agreement specifies the quan ty of seed of specific category they have to produce per season. Graph 4 shows the distribu on of grain and cereals  For cassava and Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) seed system there is a slight difference in terms of how the seeds are produced. This is because there are few formal seed producers growing the seeds for the market. Historically, there has been limited engagement from the private sector in seed produc on of vegeta vely propagated crops due to the absence of smart and cost-saving seed propaga on technology and a reliable market. The incidence of yield suppressing diseases such as cassava brown streak virus and sweet potato motley virus combined with the absence of supply-demand rela onships in the cassava and sweet potato commodi es has led to a high-risk opera ng Taking into the cognizance, the differences in ins tu onal arrangements for the livestock and aquaculture compacts, it would be apposite to present the produc on details separately. There are very few private sector seed producers in this sector with the excep on of poultry. The aquaculture fingerlings produc on is emerging with pond produc on of fish in many countries. However, the aquaculture compact is working with the NARES in their countries of opera on. The NARES backstop's the private sector where possible with the necessary capacity building for farmers engaged in fingerling produc on. The Aquaculture Compact produced and distributed 127,011,842 fingerlings to farmers within the period under review. Graphs 7 and 8Graph 7. Aquaculture compact fingerlings produc on and dissemina on in 2019 24 Graphs 5 and 6 below shows where the seed were produced per country for cassava and OFSP respec vely.The livestock compact's ac vi es have been geared towards sheep breeding and improved fa ening processes through various ac vi es. See graph 8 belowTAAT MEL unit uses the Outcome Case study approach to systema cally validate reported outcome results.  In progress (25-49%)Increased food produc on MT (%)A TAAT ground truthing monitoring field mission was conducted in December 2019 in Kenya to verify results reported by the compact between August 2018 and December 2019. The mission's aim was to corroborate and validate successes reported by the Maize Compact on the ground by reviewing documents from seed companies and hearing first-hand from beneficiaries, implementers, and other stakeholder groups. The mission also sought to highlight key observa ons and lessons learnt to help guide compact ac vi es moving forward. The Maize Value Chain is very complex and takes long to reach the final consumers. The star ng point is hybrid seed produc on. There are many actors involved in the value chain whose contribu ons are instrumental to its success. Moving along the value chain, we find that there are key drivers of technology uptake.The findings of the ground truthing mission showed that through a network of NARES, Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and farmer groups, 1,003,640 direct beneficiaries have learnt about the value add of climate smart maize hybrids seeds. This is through field days, open days, hands-on training sessions and small seed pack distribu on. In partnership with 28 seed companies (Kenya -4, Uganda -4 , Tanzania -6, Zambia -8 and Zimbabwe -6), the Maize Compact has facilitated the establishment of 4,256 field demonstra on plots, conducted 757 field days. The Compact partners have distributed 84,321 free small pack seeds to boost the scale up of over 17,340 tons of climate smart maize seeds produced in partnership with the seed companies. For Kenya alone, compact outputs include; 548 field demos established, 5 large field days with 8,640 farmers recorded to have par cipated, 973 small field days to create awareness on the performance of the climate smart varie es, 15 radio episodes, 2 road shows organized to promote the climate smart varie es, 4,500 MT of climate smart varie es sold, 160 Lead Farmers technically supported to promote the climate smart varie es, and 25,000 small packs of KH500-31A distributed to 10,000 farmers.We also found out that millers give farmers ready markets for their produce. The farmers sold a bag of 90 Kg of grains for Kshs 3,000 giving them a marginal benefit (profit) of Kshs 1,000 per bag. To back up tes monials and informa on given by farmers during the TAAT Maize MEL mission in Western Kenya, the team further validated the findings through the review of journals from previous studies on the farmer adop on and onfarm performance of the similar Drought-TEGOTM (WE1101) variety. Nyota HIB variety s part of the data verifica on, the TAAT MEL A unit selects randomly a Compact and a loca on of the reported data to be visited for ground truthing and verifica on. One of such case studies is the August 2019 study on the High Iron Bean (HIB) Compact's reported produc vity increase in Zimbabwe. Hence, a visit was undertaken to the loca on. The results are presented in graph 9 below. During the team's mission to Zimbabwe to validate outcome of outputs reported, the team found that there was an improved produc vity from a baseline of 0.60 t/ha to 0.76 t/ha (of the new varie es) despite the impact cyclone Idai that destroyed a large propor on of the crops at germina on stage in the country. Based on the finding, it is es mated that, the HIB Compact has generated on average, a Return on Investment (RoI) of US $ 8.35 for an average investment of US $ 5.08 per farmer. That is an increase of about US $ 0.64 for every dollar invested. It was further reviewed that women are engaged in NUA45 by-products processing, and the youth were venturing into seed produc on. he agricultural sector comprises the T collec ve business ac vi es performed from farm to fork. As men oned at the introduc on, agricultural sector is very important because it employs a great percentage of African popula on but also contributes a significant propor on of the GDP. TAAT program is promo ng a bundle of technologies with a goal of increasing agricultural produc vity in Africa. Therefore, these agricultural technologies must play a key role in Africa's economic development. This sec on is par cularly concerned with the enabling environment for technology development, specifically the policies and regula ons that affect input availability, the interac ons of the private sector with public agricultural research, and agricultural enterprise development. It is well acknowledged that the growth in the agricultural sector is o en hindered by policy, regulatory and ins tu onal bo lenecks that prevent agricultural development. Examples of these bo lenecks include:• Inefficient systems governing variety release, cer fica on and registra on• Deficiencies in the policy and the re g u l ato r y e nv i ro n m e nt s l o w i n g domes ca on and implementa on of regionally harmonized seed regula ons across the four major Regional Economic Communi es (RECs) in Africa (COMESA, ECOWAS, SADC and EAC)• Inadequate supply of quality seed and other important agro-inputs (fer lizer, pes cides) with high incidences of fake agro-inputs• weak and non-compe ve agricultural value chains and low intra-Africa agricultural trade.To address these challenges in a holis c manner, the TAAT Policy Enabler Compact's (TAAT-PEC) goal is to facilitate the increase and use of improved seeds by farmers in Africa from 30 percent to 60 percent within the next 8-10 years. Led by the African Agricultural Technology Founda on (AATF), TAAT-PEC works to facilitate farmers' access to high-quality seeds and supply of agro-inputs through well-accredited input markets across the con nent.TAAT-PEC is implemen ng a four-pronged approach organized around four work streams that include: (I) enabling seed policies that deliver cer fied seeds at scale, (ii) accredita on of agroinput suppliers, (iii) harmoniza on of regional variety release and registra on, and (iv) policy reforms to facilitate performing commodity value chains. The compact provides exper se to all TAAT Compacts and countries that include Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, DRC, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Togo Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe. The compact also works at Regional The TAAT-PEC conducted rapid assessments of the policy environment around seed subsectors in 12 countries. The goal of the ac vi es was to iden fy and priori ze policy, regulatory and ins tu onal gaps for targeted advocacy.The advocacy ac vi es will then s mulate commitment from policy makers to implement desirable reforms. Significantly, this effort was cataly c to the passage of the seed policy in Uganda, establishment of a variety catalogue in DR Congo, and the recent enactment of the Plant Variety Protec on Law in Malawi. In addi on, interven ons by TAAT-PEC resulted in the development of guidelines and protocolsfor accredita on of seed suppliers and agrodealers in Tanzania and Nigeria to mi gate against prolifera on of counterfeit agro-inputs.In November 2019, the Regionally Harmonized Guidelines for Registra on of Pes cides was adopted by the East African Community (EAC) member states. TAAT-PEC was a partner in the t e c h n i c a l w o r k i n g g r o u p b r o u g h t together to finalize the dra .Months a er a d o p o n o f t h e guidelines, six firms submi ed applica on dossiers for tes ng and r e g i s t r a o n o f promising pes cides for control of the FAW in a move that is poised to help both agrochemical companies to register products in a cost-effec ve manner thereby crea ng faster access to quality pest control products for millions of farmers in the EAC partner states. As noted by Dr. Nang'ayo, TAAT Policy Compact Coordinator, \" The finaliza on of these guidelines is not only important but very urgent to set the stage for adop on of implementa on of processes that will ensure availability of promising pest control products to address the threat caused by the recent outbreak and spread of the Fall Army Worm (FAW) in the region\".TAAT-PEC subsequently convened high-level policy dialogue events throughout the year to review progress made and iden fy challenges hampering implementa on of other regionally harmonized regula ons for seed in COMESA and ECOWAS regional economic blocks, and for pes cides in EAC region. The ac on plans that resulted from these events helped in s mula ng and fast-tracking engagements focused on domes ca on and implementa on of harmonized regulatory instruments.(Maize, Rice, Beans, Wheat, Sorghum and Millet)The TAAT Maize Compact 34Maize is one of the most important cereal crops in Africa. More than 300 million Africans depend on maize as the main staple food. Maize accounts for 30−50% of low-income household expenditures in Africa where its produc on was around 75 million Metric Tons in 2018, represen ng 7.5% of global maize produc on. However, several challenges severely undermine maize produc on. These includes drought, diseases and insect pests such as the fall armyworm invasion.Fortunately, many proven technologies such as climate smart maize technologies, pest and disease tolerant varie es among others, have been developed by researchers worldwide to address some of these challenges. As part of its mandate in the program, the TAAT Maize Compact (TMC) embarked on ac vi es to: increase maize produc vity, increase uptake and use of highyielding climate-smart maize hybrids by smallholder farmers; increase income in the maize value chain by facilita ng improved market linkages and entrepreneurship; increase number of women and youth par cipa on in the value chain; and create employment in Africa.These technologies are being deployed in the following countries: Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo DR, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The TMC is led by African Agricultural Technology Founda on (AATF). The Compact works closely with the TAAT Fall Armyworm Management Enabler Compact (TAAT-FAWEC) led by IITA.TAAT-FAWEC is responsible for the scaling up and deployment of proven and/or promising FAW management technologies to smallholder farmers in Africa. The Compact achieves this by crea ng an enabling environment for accessing and deploying IPM-based FAW management technologies; dissemina ng FAW monitoring/surveillance and scou ng tools in Regional Member Countries (aligned with the ini a ves of country programs and development partners); and building the capacity of implemen ng partners and farmers in FAW iden fica on, field scou ng/assessment and pest management. What was the problem?The produc on of maize in Africa is expected to register a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.2% by 2025. And Africa consumes 30% of the maize produced in the world, with West, East and Central Africa accoun ng for 21% of the consump on. Around 14 countries of these subregions of Africa consume 85-95% of maize as their staple food rather than as animal feed. Maize provides basic diet to millions of people in Africa.The cereal is the cheapest source of calories among the cereal grains, making up about 65% of total food calories consumed by households in Africa. To meet this demand, maize is produced on 40% of the total crop area and it is mainly by smallholder farmers. Most of the maize is produced in rain-fed areas. It is also common to find maize being grown in those regions frequently hit by drought condi ons in Africa.Constraints affec ng maize produc on include drought, low soil fer lity, pests and diseases. Foliar (leaf) and stalk/ear rot diseases and stemborers have tradi onally caused great losses in maize produc on across the con nent. Climatesmart agriculture could assist farmers adapt to changing weather condi ons, increase climate resilience and improve farmer incomes.Empirical evidence suggests that many farmers depend on informal seed systems with the commercial seed markets making up about 10% of the total seed planted by farmers. The reliance on informal seed systems, has a nega ve impact on produc vity in the region a ributed to gene cally weaker seed w h i c h i s m o r e suscep ble to emerging b i o c a n d a b i o c s t r e s s e s . H o w e v e r , smallholder fa r m e rs i n Africa o en s h y a w a y from inves ng in high-yielding climate smart maize seed varie es due to limited access to viable output markets. In general, farmers have highlighted weak output market linkages. Maize marke ng is usually controlled by brokers and middlemen who pay low prices during harvest mes. Hence, there is li le incen ves for these farmers to invest in maize farming as a business or invest in climate smart-agriculture that could involve buying more expensive inputs.The TAAT Maize Compact ini ated the move to strengthen the TAAT Regional Technology Delivery Infrastructure (RTDI) by engaging maize off-takers or Food Chain Millers (FCM) in Kenya to create demand for both maize seed and grain. Adop ng its innova ve approach of aggrega ng farmers into groups, Food Chain Millers (FCM) offer farm input credits to maize farmers. This includes improved climate smart maize variety seeds acquired through the Compact. They then purchase harvested grain from the farmers a er harvest. Through this mechanism, the farmers pay off their creditors through the sales made to FCM and make a profit because they u lised proper seeds and other inputs that increased their yield per hectare.Through this ini a ve by the TMC, the FCMs have maintained a pool of over 2,400 smallholder farmers who supply them with maize grain annually. With formal contractual agreements with the farmers, FCMs were able to purchase about 4,320 MT of maize grain in 2019. They processed 3,600 MT and 720 MT of maize flour and animal feed, respec vely. These products were then sold in the open market. This value chain development has led to higher incomes for mul ple stakeholders including seed producers, farmers, grain processors, and other key players along the value chain. Through this partnership with the TMCs, farmers have the incen ves to adopt climate smart maize hybrids in Kenya, par cularly hybrid DroughtTEGO® (WE1101), with a promise of high produc vity and access to grain markets. Maize is a key cereal crop in Africa which is central to livelihoods of approximately 300 million people. However, a myriad of bio c and non-bio c factors threaten maize produc on, including climate change, diseases and pests. One of the most damaging pests affec ng maize in Africa is the fall armyworm. Fall armyworm feeds on and damages about 80 different crop species. However, when it comes to maize crops it is known to cause 50 to 100% grain yield loss. Such damages in areas that rely on maize as a stable crop poses a major threat to maize produc vity and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite efforts by farmers to employ various control mechanisms, the effects of FAW con nue to ravage farmers' fields.Efforts by researchers are yielding results, such as potent seed treatments. Scaling out use of these technologies is thus key to preven ng the spread of the Fall Armyworm pest. With support from the African Development Bank, the TMC and the TAAT-FAWEC led by IITA, were able to jointly access Fortenza Duo (FD) chemical treatment. Fortenza Duo is a systemic treatment that offers protec on to maize crops against FAW up to 4 weeks a er germina on, which is usually the most cri cal stage in maize growth. This technology minimizes the chemical sprays by farmers thereby reducing produc on cost. TMC and TAAT-FAWEC, in partnership with an exis ng government programme as well as selected seed companies, ini ated the deployment of over 36,000 liters of Fortenza Duo seed treatment to seed companies in Southern Africa. The companies used 17,440 liters of the FD to treat over 3,007 tons of 40 climate smart maize varie es in Zambia and Zimbabwe. These seeds were deployed to more than 300,000 farmers in both countries. The first 4 weeks of maize seedling are cri cal as they determine the eventual grain yields expected by a farmer. The FD-treated maize seed is protected for up to 4 weeks a er germina on, implying that with proper farm management, it provides be er chances for the farmer to reap higher yields. The farmers that used the treated maize got a good crop stand, be er ear forma on and grain size. Hence, over 300,000 farmers got a good harvest despite the FAW devasta ng the untreated maize. A good harvest allows the farmers to sell their surplus produc on and maintain the remainder to feed their family. It is against this background that the TMC in collabora on with Corteva Agriscience, a member of Crop life Interna onal Associa on, deployed \"Delegate\" insec cide to be used in the control of FAW 4 weeks a er germina on. During this me, the effec veness of FD treatment is minimal. Ideally, only 2 sprays of delegate are needed a er the fourth week to control FAW infesta on up to harvest. However, in highly infested areas, the number of sprays can be increased to three. TMC tapped into the Crop life exis ng pla orm in over 80 countries, to enhance training of farmers and agricultural workers in the responsible and effec ve use of crop protec on products. The Compact enhanced its work with youth groups affiliated to the Na onal Union ofFarmers in Zambia, to expand coverage and reach of farmers with this toolkit. TMC in partnership with Corteva Agriscience recruited youths, who were trained in the provision of spraying and stewardship services among maize farms in Zambia. With support from the agricultural officers, the youths were able to spray the maize fields in two districts of Zambia, namely, Chongwe and Mpongwe, a er the 4 weeks of FD had elapsed.Ini al presenta on of the plants illustrated that fields with Fortenza Duo + Delegate had much less infesta on of FAW than Fortenza Duo + Non-Delegate fields. Farmers were very recep ve to this ini a ve and requested that the service be made available to help more farmers. The advantage in working with private sector Crop Life Programme is that it ensures access to quality products, stewardship package from the partner companies and training, and monitoring. The Project further connects the trained youths (Spraying Service Providers) with Agrovet outlets and farmer groups in the maize value chain. Apart from effec vely helping smallholder farmers to control FAW damage on their maize plants, the ini a ve also exposed youths to a new business model. They can start crop spraying enterprises in the maize value chain and other crops to improve their livelihoods while transforming farming prac ces in their communi es.Since the advent of fall armyworm in Africa in early 2016, several Training of Trainer (ToT) programs have been conducted. The goal is to build the capacity. These trainings have been conducted with the na onal program personnel involved in agricultural research and extension. They have also been conducted both at the na onal and regional levels. Mindful of the deficiencies in most FAW Trainingof Trainers (ToT), TAAT-FAWEC organized a FAW ToT Programme at IITA's Southern Africa Research and Administra on Hub (SARAH) Campus, Lusaka, Zambia. The ToT workshop taught par cipants how to iden fy FAW directly based on the morphological features as well as indirectly based on damage on maize crops. The training also educated farmers on how to iden fy other insect pests infes ng maize alongside FAW, confounding its damage and provided field assessment in order to determine FAW incidences and damage levels. Par cipants were also trained on the calibra on of spray equipment and managing of FAW using inexpensive resourcesP a r c i p a n t s w e l c o m e d t h e o n -fi e l d demonstra ons of sprayer calibra on using an actual standing crop at different phenological stages. Opportuni es to discuss the merits of using mechanical control methods such as the applica on of sand to plant whorls vis-à-vis applica on of conven onal chemical pes cides. The par cipants assessed FAW infesta on and general crop health in a maize crop in which some plots were under sand-in-the-whorl treatment and others had Ampligo® (chlorantraniliprole + lambda cyhalothrin) sprayed every 2 weeks. Par cipants were par cularly grateful to the compact for training them on how to accurately es mate the area of a field (or pasture) under infesta on by FAW and other pests such as African armyworm. Par cipa on and feedback were e n c o u r a g i n g . O n e p a r c i p a n t n o t e d , embarrassing to realize that all along we have been providing wild guess-es mates of field areas when the star ng point is a simple pacing exercise on a piece of flat ground and then calcula ng the average length of one's stride when moving at a comfortable walking speed.\" 41As at 2015, rice consump on in African countries was es mated to be approximately 26 million (MT) of which 13 million MT, represen ng about onethird of what is traded on the world market, was imported to the con nent. Rice consump on in Africa is projected to reach 34.9 million tons by 2025. The African Development Bank es mates that the rice sector has the poten al to become an engine for economic growth across the con nent. It is expected that the demand for rice will increase as result of popula on growth, increased per capita consump on, and a shi ing preference towards 'premium' rice. The la er is linked to increased urbaniza on. Therefore, Africa will need to produce approximately 13 million addi onal tons of premium rice per year. Increasing rice produc on to meet this need is expected to improve the livelihood of at least 3 million producers and lead to economic gains of about US$ 5.5 billion per year among African countries. However, in order to achieve this, Africa needs to develop holis c technology deployment mechanisms and infrastructures to support widespread distribu on and commercial adop on of high-yielding climateresilient rice varie es.As part of its mandate in the program, the TAAT Rice Compact (TRC) contributes to the 'Feed Africa' ini a ve through deployment of rice technologies in the rice value chain. The compact seeks to achieve a 25% yield increase in rice produc on while crea ng 70,000 jobs. About 50% of those jobs will be women and the youth. This will also contribute to a 50% increase in annual household income and a further reduc on in wood consump on in rice parboiling segment targe ng the high-end markets. Nigeria is the leading consumer of rice in Africa.The country consumes 7 Million MT of rice per year represen ng 21% of total rice consump on in Africa whilst producing 4.9 Million MT of milled rice (6.5 Million MT of paddy) represen ng 19.7% of the total produc on on the con nent and currently it has overtaken Egypt as the leading producer of rice. However, there is s ll a gap of 2.1 MT of rice that is covered by imports. This Rice in N i g e r i a i s m a i n l y produced by smallscale producers who usually sell 80% of total produc on, the rest is used at the household level. To increase Nigeria's domes c rice produc on, the government adopted several measures. Some of these included outright ban on importa on of rice and closure of all land borders. These measures increased the demand for domes cally produced rice. Higher demand for higher quality rice has increased the quality of domes c parboiled rice. However, the domes c produc on supply has been below the demand, leading to higher prices and some rice shortage.Leveraging on the Innova on Pla orm (IP) established at Bukan-Sidi Lafia, Nasarawa state under the African Development Bank-sponsored project \"Support to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops\" (SARD-SC), the TRC opted to use the exis ng infrastructure laid within the IP to introduce Grain Quality Enhancer Energy-efficient and Durable Material (GEM) rice parboiling in Nigeria. Through awareness campaigns, field days and workshops, the compact introduced GEM rice parboiling technology to value chain actors, farmers, millers, seed producers and extension workers. To be effec ve, the compact sought the buy-in of the local authori es. Hence, they engaged State Ministry of Agriculture, tradi onal rulers (Amir), farmer groups, traders, and women and youths, to promote quality GEM domes c parboiled milled rice. In addi on, the TRC introduced the rice husk-fueled GEM parboiling system that can completely subs tute firewood fuel with rice husk. This innova on saves on average, approximately US$ 30 per ton compared to the cost of firewood to parboil the rice.In The government policies will now encourage rice producers, millers, and marketers along the value chain so that rice sector will be a key driver for job and wealth crea on in Nasarawa state and in Nigeria as a whole.What was the problem?Farmers are using poor quality seeds and old varie es that are not climate-smart in Guinea.There is a higher frequency in droughts, erra c rainfall, and frequent flooding in the rice growing areas. Yet, the farmers are s ll reliant on the old technologies and poor rice management prac ces.TAAT Rice Compact managed by Africa Rice Centre is working with the Africa-wide Rice Breeding Task Force (TF). This a key catalyst of the rice technology delivery infrastructure, that has developed rice varie es that are tolerant to key bio c and abio c stresses. These varie es are;• NERICA L19sub1 (submergence/flood tolerant at vegeta ve stage)• Aroma c ORYLUX 6 (Basma group of rice), recognized for their excellent grain quality, taste, and early maturing• hybrid ISRIZ 09 (AR051H) -released by ISRA in Senegal with excellent grain quality (long grain with firm texture) and good tasteThese varie es form part of the latest genera on of rice varie es for Africa. These new mega varie es are suitable for rainfed lowland ecologies where there is limited or no water control and the irrigated ecology where water control is prac ced. Yields of up to 7 tons per hectare have been obtained with the inbred varie es while the hybrid yields on average 9.9 t/h in the Senegal River Valley. The Japan Emergency Seed Project for Guinea in collabora on with TAAT Rice Compact produced over 10 tonnes of founda on seed of widely cul vated mangrove and lowland 44Hybrid rice varie es being deployed by TAAT Rice Compact rice varie es -Mbapeya (local landrace) and ROK5. These varie es are very old with low yields. Therefore, there was a need to increase the varietal por olio in Senegal (especially with new mega climate-smart rice varie es in Guinea and beyond). TRC added over 1 ton of founda on seed of NERICA L19sub1 and WITA 4sub1 to the ini al number. From the founda on seed of these new varie es, at least 400 tonnes of cer fied seeds are expected to be produced by farmer seed producers, with technical support from the Ins tute de Recherche Agronomique de Guinée (IRAG). The expected cer fied seed will be enough to cover 8000 ha and reach 32,000 smallholder rice farmers in Guinea. This interven on has the poten al to reach 160,000 individuals.To illustrate the impact of this interven on we visited a smallholder farmer -Abou Camara of Koba in Guinea who has been involved in rice farming since 1998. What was the problem?Nigeria has high poten al for rice produc on. However, the sector is plagued by low yields. Hence, the local supply of rice cannot meet the demand. The shor all is then met by imports that drains the country's foreign exchange. T h e r e l a v e l y l o w investment costs of the water efficient irriga on s y s t e m a l l o w s t h e Nigeria's rice farmers to 45The TAAT-WEC in collabora on with the TRC demonstrated efficient delivery systems u lizing PVC pipes and valves in the two countries. The technology reduces unnecessary water spillages and associated expenditures for fuel. This technology has already improved wheat produc on in Nigeria. Par cipa ng farmers now plan to expand their irrigated land during the dry season with rice and other crops that are suitable for lowland environment produc on.Rice Farmers in the lowland areas around Bobo Dioulasso in Burkina Faso and Sikasso in Mali can now extend their agricultural season to the dry season thanks to technologies brought by the TAAT-WEC. Rice farmers can now tap into shallow ground water aquifers using the tube wells and motor pumps brought by the compact. Like most of his colleagues, Ibrahim Issah, a rice farmer from Bobo Dioulasso is hopeful about the posi ve outcomes of the newly introduced tube wells.\"Every farmer will have access to water for irriga on. With the introduc on of modern irriga on technologies, farmers can properly harness available groundwater to expand their produc on. We are very grateful to the new ini a ve\" Issah observed.The major achievement is that farmers go from one season (rainy season) to two seasons. Therefore, they intensify rice produc on by 200%. There are opportuni es for farmers to cul vate even up to three crops should they choose the right varie es and adopt the right cropping calendar. However, farmers instead of plan ng two rice crops per year, they prefer to rotate their produc on by growing irrigated vegetables in the dry season. This is a logical choice as these are higher value crops. What was the problem?Tradi onally, farmers irrigate vegetables and other crops by excava ng wells by hand and li ing water using buckets. Limited access to water is the major reason accoun ng for low rice produc vity in Burkina Faso and Mali. Therefore, adop on of water irriga on technologies can lead to increased produc vity in rice thereby reducing imports. Common beans are a major and affordable source of protein, minerals (iron, zinc, calcium and potassium), fiber and vitamins that offer many health benefits. High Iron Beans (HIB) are biofor fied to increase the iron and zinc content that help to reduce blood disorders such as anemia (especially in women of reproduc ve age), impaired physical and mental development (especially among children under 5 years), delayed matura on, poor appe te, poor reproduc ve health in men, and impaired immune func on.The TAAT High Iron Bean (HIB) Compact interven ons build on the Pan Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) model of the \"Bean Corridor\" as a market-driven transforma on approach to scale. PABRA's model brings together a wide range of stakeholders (research, extension, donors, private sector, and farmers) at the country level. Collec ve innova on is catalyzed in the bean corridor through the establishment and facilita on of bean business pla orms linking various actors in the HIB value chain. With this approach, the Compact contributes to: (i) enhanced HIB produc on and produc vity (ii) business opportuni es and increased investments along the bean value chain, (iii) increased incomes especially for women and youth, and (iv) enhanced nutri on and food security of target households.The TAAT-HIB Compact (THC), through publicprivate partnership is giving bean farmers (including women and youth) access to be er quality seed and complementary produc vityenhancement technologies. The bean corridor model provides structured markets for HIBs with private sector as a key player in terms of marke ng and processing of value-added products. Ul mately, these efforts will result in improved food and nutri on security and enhanced incomes for HIB farmers and other value chain actors.The THC deployed funds to catalyze development of the seed system for HIBs and focused on suppor ng and educa ng farmer groups involved in produc on, value addi on, and school feeding.Through partnership agreements with DR & SS, LEAD Trust, Feed the Future and Alliance Bioversity-CIAT, THC funded the procurement and supply of agrochemical inputs delivered to 467 beneficiaries who were growing the new HIB varie es: NUA45, Sweet Violet and Cherry. The interven on by the HIB compact offered be er opportunity for breeder seed produc on, mobiliza on of private sector. In return the private sector engage in HIB founda on and cer fied seed produc on. The THC provides capacity building on seed entrepreneurship, market opportuni es linking seed companies with producers, and awareness crea on campaigns on HIB in an effort to s mulate demand for high quality and nutri onal seed.The Sweet Violet HIB variety deployed in ZimbabweThe The study also revealed that the HIB Compact has generated on average a RoI of $8.35 for an average investment of $5.61 per farmer. Women and youths are now engaged in profitable enterprises along HIB processing while men are engaged in seed produc on to get higher returns as described in previous sec ons. The TAAT High iron Beans Compact adopted a school feeding approach as an entry point for introducing technologies that enhance nutri on and income of farming communi es around schools in Tanzania. The Compact worked with 137 schools with 25 in Kagera, 10 in Iringa, 5 in Njombe, 5 in Mbeya, 10 in Songwe, 12 in Manyara, 14 in Kilimanjaro, 10 in Arusha, 7 in Karatu, and 40 in Musoma. They were provided with quality seed of JESCA, Selian 14 and Selian 15 varie es of HIB.Of the 137 schools, 113 received 10 kg of seed each and 24 received 20 kg of seed each. The three varie es are high-yielding and rich in iron and zinc. The schools were then guided to set up demonstra on plots at their farms, where children studying agriculture gained prac cal lessons on GAPs to be able to apply to their farms at home. The school demonstra ons were set up in close collabora on with local government authori es (agricultural extension and educa on departments) and Project Concern Interna onal (PCI). At the end of the season, field days were organized with a wide range of actors -teachers, parents/ farming communi es, input suppliers (seed companies, agrodealers), grain off-takers, and local government authori es. It is expected that the knowledge from the demonstra ons plots will extend beyond the schools and into farming households.The school feeding approach to technology dissemina on recorded high levels of par cipa on in the field days because the schools are used as venues for various local events. This, in turn, sparked greater interest among governments who were looking for entry points for improving nutri on and enrolment in schools. By adop ng high-yielding technology interven ons, they get the benefits of good nutri on for the communi es as well as enhancing farmers' income. The school feeding programs have created ripple effect in the wider business ecosystem by catalyzing private sector investments in provision of inputs and in marke ng of good quality grain to support farmers plan ng HIB. The coverage of schools using biofor fied beans is close to 400, which has resulted in a sharp increase in demand for seeds. For example, in Mara region, demand rose from 0.4 tons to 11 tons, while rural schools in Moshi, the demand for biofor fied beans increased from 0.06 tons in 2018 to 4 tons.Demonstra on site at a primary school in Nyaga District, District, Kagera Region, Tanzania A at more than 40 million tons per year, at a cost of about US$ 15 billion. This wheat import represents a third of the con nent's total food import bill. Owing to stronger demand because of its uses in many food products, wheat is an imported commodity in all African countries. Yet wheat is grown on approximately 10 million hectares under rainfed and irrigated condi ons across North Africa, the Sahel, the East Africa Highlands, and on the Southern Africa plateau, producing around 24 million tons per year. Wheat demand is expected to increase by an addi onal 8.7 million tons per year by 2025. Hence, without the right strategic sustainable interven ons, wheat deficits will run to nearly 49 million tons per year. If nothing is done to stem this trend, 80% of all wheat consumed in Africa will be imported. This situa on can change substan ally if proven and successful agricultural technologies are adopted and taken to scale. The TAAT Wheat Compact (TWC) is seeking greater self-sufficiency in wheat produc on and progressive reduc on on imports. This will be achieved through guided use of improved varie es and management prac ces. The compact seeks to increase average wheat yields from 3 t/ha to over 6 t/ha allowing overall produc on to double over five years. This paves the path for over 7.7 million farmers to move into commercial wheat farming. TWC is already implemen ng a two-pronged approach aimed at s mula ng a wheat revolu on in Africa. The first approach is by bridging yield gaps in tradi onal growing areas of North Africa and the African highlands through the deployment of: (i) high yielding and climate smart varie es, (ii) i m p ro ve d s o i l a n d wa te r m a n a g e m e n t techniques, and (iii) heat-tolerant and diseaseresistant wheat technologies. The second approach is deploying mechaniza on based on low-cost equipment and medium-scale irriga on systems that contribute to improving agricultural prac ces in wheat farming. Na onal agricultural research and extension systems (NARES) are partnering with TWC in wheat expansion in terms of seed registra on and bulking, extension advice, and capacity building of farmers. TWC's efforts are being linked to the private sector to Wheat is one of the most important agricultural commodi es in Sudan for food security in terms of quan ty and calories consumed. It is grown on approximately 201,000 ha under irriga on with an average produc vity of 2.5 t/ha. The annual wheat produc on stands at 513,000 MT, represen ng about 22 % of the total na onal requirement of 2 million MT. The ever-widening gap between local produc on and consump on led to a huge shor all primarily covered through imports. This costs the Sudanese economy over 500 million dollars per year in foreign exchange. In 2018, farmers and other players in Sudanese agricultural sector were hit by a severe bread shortage that resulted in commodity price increases. The bread shortage was blamed on a lack of foreign currency which exacerbated the crisis a er the government halted wheat import subsidies. Gezira State is the breadbasket of Sudan, producing about 60 percent of commercial wheat grain in the country. It is located between the two Nile Rivers, occupying about one million hectares and inhabited by close to 1.2 million people. For many years, produc on of cer fied wheat seeds in Sudan declined progressively.To tackle the wheat crisis, TWC in collabora on with partners such as Sudan's Na onal Agricultural Research System and the private sector, released a number of high-yielding, heat-Low wheat Produc vity in Sudan (Country: Sudan) tolerant wheat varie es namely Imam, Goumria, Zakia, Elnielain and Bohain each with produc on poten al of 5 to 8 t/ha into the market. Over 1,260 hectares of basic seed is under produc on to further mul ply to cer fied seeds for the next season ensuring wider accessibility of quality seed to farmers. In 2018/19, a total of approximately 29,965 MT of cer fied and high-quality seed was produced and disseminated, covering an es mated total area of 299,650 hectares. This area coverage is close to the en re wheat area in the country. The expected produc on of cer fied wheat seed in 2020 will be 76,000 MT. This will be enough to plant half a million hectares of wheat. The partnership established six Innova on Pla orms sites, produc on and delivery of high-quality seeds, scaling up and adop on of proven wheat t e c h n o l o g i e s a n d c a p a c i t y s t r e n g t h e n i n g o f d i ff e r e n t stakeholders along the wheat value chain in Sudan. TWC and its partners are rewri ng the story of wheat in Sudan.Recent experiences to promote heat tolerant wheat varie es in Sudan through the African Development Bank-funded SARD-SC (Wheat) project revealed that technology-adop ng-wheat farmers across project interven on sites increased their wheat produc vity from 4 to 7 t/ha. When farmers conserve their tradi onal varie es they rarely exceed 2.5 t/ha. Adop ng new technologies leads to increasing the yields by 100%. Abdelaziz Mahmood and Idriss Al-Hassan, both technologyadop ng farmers under the TAAT Wheat program, expressed their happiness with the impressive performance of heat-tolerant wheat varie es. \"We are expec ng to realize yields of 4 to 6 t/ha this season, as compared to 2 t/ha we are used to before joining the TAAT program,\" Al-Hassan said. At Wadelneim village, a group of innova ve farmers who adopted the heat-tolerant varie es (Zakia and Imam) shared their views with field day par cipants that they are expec ng to achieve yields of 6-7 t/ha from their farms. They further indicated that the hands-on training that TAATorganized at the farmer field school and proper 54Pathways to Transforma on A 2019 Annual TAAT Corporate Report applica on of the recommended technology packages were the keys to their success.With an es mated produc on of 4.6 million MT of wheat per year, Ethiopia is Africa's largest wheat producer. However, domes c demand is es mated at 6.3 million MT. The increasing rise in income witnessed in Ethiopia in the last decade has fueled the rising demand for wheat. Demand for wheat in Ethiopia is growing at 5% per annum, while produc on is growing at a lower rate of 1 to 2% per annum. Wheat is mostly grown in the highlands with be er rainfall, from which 4 million MT of wheat grain are harvested. Ethiopia currently imports 1.6 million MT of wheat, via the Djibou Port some 700 km from Addis Ababa, to meet the shor all. The gap in wheat supply is projected to double to 3 million MT in the next five years. Given the need to conserve scarce foreign exchange, provide employment to the youth, and remove the added cost to food consumers, the government of Ethiopia embarked on a wheat self-sufficiency campaign.TWC began to work with the Ethiopian government and seed companies to bulk up seeds of five heat-tolerant varie es released in Ethiopia through the African Development Bank-funded SARD-SC project. By the end of 2019, the TWC had established 20,000 hectares of irrigated wheat, and that was 10% of the target. This was in the lowlands of Ethiopia working with 28,000 smallholder farmers. The farmers used an exis ng irriga on scheme used for co on and other crops that has now been adapted to wheat as a \"winter season\" crop. The Compact deployed excellent heat-tolerant wheat varie es in collabora on with the local partners consis ng of wheat seed system specialists, agronomists, and breeders. This was made possible through a strong commitment of government to provide seeds and fer lizer to farmers. Hence, TWC was able to achieve rapid progress in Ethiopia.TAAT con nues to reinforce the opening of new fron ers in wheat produc on in Ethiopia. This is through scaling up of climate-resilient, high yielding wheat varie es in tradi onal rainfed highland areas and heat tolerant high yielding wheat varie es to expand wheat produc on in irrigated lowland areas. As part of the technology deployment, women and youth were engaged through the establishment of business-centers. The business centers were set up to promote rural entrepreneurship, and access to credit facili es for inputs (seed, fer lizers, and agro-chemicals) for both smallholder and large-scale farmers. The government of Ethiopia was convinced by the good performance of ICARDA's heat-tolerant wheat varie es in Ethiopia's lowland under the then bank-funded SARD-SC program. Hence, it has included wheat expansion as part of its policy and established a 200,000 Hectares of irrigated wheat fields in the hot and dry (300-400 mm of rainfall a year) Ethiopian lowlands around the Awash river. The Innova on pla orms set up by SARD-SC and reinforced by TWC inspired the Government of Ethiopia to establish a high-level commi ee in the Agricultural, Finance, Trade and Industry, and Water and Irriga on Ministries accompanied by water management techniques to farmers. The objec ve is to expand wheat produc on in Nigeria. TWC and TAAT-WEC also provided exper se to farmers in terms of land prepara on including raised beds, furrow and deficit irriga on, sprinkler systems, and low-cost mechanized plan ng within conser va on agriculture. Through farmer field days, TAAT-WEC trained farmers and extension workers in Kano State on proven technologies and innova ons in irriga on and agricultural water management prac ces. These technologies are Impact Sprinklers, Gun Sprinklers, Weirs, Flumes, Spiles, Orifices and the PVC conveyance and distribu on technology which saves me (hours) of irriga on and reduces the cost of produc on while at the same me increasing yields. Other TAAT-WEC ac vi es included capacity building for innova on pla orm facilitators, extension agents, champion farmers and youths in the proper use of irriga on and water management technologies and implementa on of good irriga on management prac ce.About 7,600 MT of heat-tolerant wheat varie es have been deployed as basic, cer fied and qualitydeclared seeds through the TWC. Over 500,000 hectares of wheat have been grown in Nigeria through reinforced support by the TWC. A number of Northern states like Kano, Jigawa, and Gombe are already growing wheat and are now producing wheat year-round under tropical rainfall with support of cu ng-edge irriga on technologies. The Kano state government has pledged to assist wheat farmers in curtailing the waste of water, thereby increasing the produc on of wheat using technologies promoted by the TAAT program.Moreover, new partnerships with large-scale co on farms w e r e e s t a b l i s h e d a n d expecta ons are for a bumper c r o p h a r v e s t w i t h y i e l d s expected to reach 6 t/ha. At an es mated average yield of 4 t/ha, a total wheat produc on of 840,000 MT is expected, w h i c h , a t t h e p r o j e c t e d conserva ve price of US$ 250, can save Ethiopia about US$ 210 million per year.With a produc on of 60,000 MT annually, wheat remains the least cereal locally produce in Nigeria, although widely consumed. In 2013, the country's wheat consump on was es mated at 4.1 million tons crea ng a huge market poten al in the wheat supply gap. By 2017, 5.4 million tonnes were imported, indica ng an increasing local demand for the cereal. Wheat requires very well-drained soil, making it difficult to be grown in salty or acidic soil. The region of the country that supports wheat produc on includes Northern states such as Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Katsina, Yobe, Borno, Bauchi, Adamawa, Jigawa and Gombe. However, local wheat produc on in Nigeria is fraught with challenges. The variety of wheat cul vated in Nigeria is hard while the most popular types imported cannot grow in Nigeria as a result of the country's soil and clima c condi on. Wheat farmers in Nigeria who irrigate use water from the tube wells using centrifugal pumps and then runs by gravity on soil surfaces to the crop field. This tedious tradi onal method takes a long me to irrigate big fields running the pumps for many hours increasing the cost of produc on with higher water conveyance losses.The TWC and TAAT-WEC worked together to deploy technologies comprising heat/drought-tolerant a n d ste m r u st-re s i sta n t w h e at va r i e e s 56 Africa's Semi-arid Zone occupies 5.5 million km and supports a popula on of 239 million. Poverty is widespread with 53% falling below the poverty line of $1.25 per day. The natural vegeta on across the Sahel and Sudanese Savanna is shrubby grassland. These lands are generally flat with over 16% converted to agriculture albeit subject to severe drought affec ng the produc on of crops and livestock. This zone is extremely fragile and subject to deser fica on and catastrophe, however at the same me its people are extremely resilient and are ready for innova ve labor-intensive solu ons in land management.Sorghum cul va on specifically is extremely important in the Sahel owing to its greater drought tolerance than maize, occupying 15.8 million ha. Yields are low (0.8 t/ha) owing to low plan ng density, insufficient access to improved varie es, widespread plant parasi sm by striga, low adop on of fer lizers, inappropriate farming prac ces, declining soil fer lity, lack of marke ng and extreme weather events resul ng in annual produc on of 13.2 MT per year. Demand for sorghum across Africa is expected to increase by 9.1 million MT by 2025.Millet like Sorghum, is equally important to human welfare in the Sahel as it is the most important cereal grown in the drier por on of the Semi-arid zone, occupying 15.5 million hectares of rota onally grazed lands. Yields are also low (0.7 t/ha) owing to poor water management coupled with limited adop on of Integrated Soil Fer lity Management (ISFM), resul ng in an annual produc on of 10.2 million MT per year proving insufficient to feed the growing popula on.Despite the research efforts that have led to the development of technologies to overcome produc vity challenges, Sorghum and Millet produc vity remains low due to insufficient efforts at dissemina ng successful crop interven ons. Through the TAAT Sorghum and Millet Compact (TSMC), the African Development Bank envisions a comprehensive response that will assist sorghum farmers in inves ng an addi onal $151/ha in improved seed, water harves ng and Integrated Soil Fer lity Management, that will in turn increase average yields to 1.8 t/ha and steadily reduce the infesta on of striga on these crops. To improve produc vity, food and nutri on security as well as farmer livelihoods, TSMC adopted a pathway to sustainable intensifica on and improved profitability of millet and sorghum by producing 1 MT of breeder seeds, 40 MT of founda on seeds and 70 MT of cer fied seeds in the country. This was achieved in collabora on with the Centre Na onal de Recherches Agronomiques (CNRA), Bambey, Senegal.Senegalese farmers are very apprecia ve of the 'Darou' variety (ISRA-S-622B) provided because it produces quality grains without tannin, quality fodder and sweet grain for human consump on.The TSMC in partnership with CNRA, developed this variety for large-scale dissemina on in the Sudano-Sahelian zone where the rainfall is between 600 mm and 800 mm. In Senegal, thisLow Sorghum and Pearl Millet Yields in Senegal (Country: Senegal) zone includes Kaolack, Kaffrine and the North of Tambacounda regions. Following successful scale up of this variety, and subsequent introduc on in Senegal, Senegalese farmers now prefer shortdura on millet varie es such as GB 8735 (Origin: ICRISAT). The variety is bio-for fied with zinc and iron. It is the farmers' first choice because of its white and big grains which are suitable for processing and early maturing streak. In addi on, GB 8735's good exer on of the head prevents millet head miner a acks.Sorghum is the main cereal crop grown in Burkina Faso, with more than 1.5 million hectares. Along with pearl millet, it is the s ta p l e d i e t o f r u ra l popula ons in the Sub-S a h e l i a n r e g i o n s . B u r k i n a Fa s o i s t h e con nent's third top producer of sorghum ( a e r N i g e r i a a n d Sudan). Despite various i n t e r v e n o n s , i t s produc vity remains low, with an average yield of approximately one ton per hectare. M a n y f a c t o r s h a v e contributed to the decreased produc vity, including demographic pressure, ecological degrada on, loss of soil fer lity, and water erosion. Other factors include the nega ve impact of the dry season on crop growth and yield, the nega ve effect of end-of-season drought, as well as the scarcity of organic amendment, improved seed and other farm inputs. Over half of the farming popula on grows sorghum and millet crops, which together account for 5-7% of all full-me jobs in the country. Sorghum and millet also contribute 5% to the GDP and account for about 15% of consump on shares (in monetary terms) in Mali. These crops are highly adapted to the low 59Pathways to Transforma on A 2019 Annual TAAT Corporate Report rainfall and light soil types that prevail in the Sahel. Yet yields have remained very low, and output is significantly below its poten al. As sorghum and millet remain strategic crops for food security in Mali, TSMC interven ons in the country are needed more than ever to improve food and nutri on security and improve farmer livelihoods.During the 2019 rainy season, TSMC in collabora on with the TAAT-WEC selected Burkina Faso and Mali to host the demonstra on of irriga on management of climate smart technologies. The technologies iden fied are Zai, Half-moons and Contour Lines soil and water conserva on technologies. These were displayed in Burkina Faso using the famer field school approach, while the contour lines technique (CLT) was presented to farmers in Mali using the demonstra on plot approach. In both countries, abandoned bare lands, which tradi onal famers believe are not suitable for cul va on, were used to demonstrate TAAT technology interven ons. Kapelga, a sorghum variety (white grain and early maturing) was used in the district of Toma. It is a variety that is under promo on in the province and beyond by Federa on des Professionnels Agricole du Burkina (FEPAB).In the district of Boussoma (Burkina Faso), I C S V 1 0 4 9 a v a r i e t y p r o m o t e d i n t h e Sanmentenga province was used. Both varie es were grown in half-hectare of half-moon and half-hectare of Zai. The half hectare planted with the same varie es was used as control using the farmer's prac ce. The two sorghum varie es were s e l e c t e d b a s e d o n t h e a g ro -e c o l o g i c a l characteris cs. Plan ng was done on the same day at each site. In Toma, the field was managed by FEPAB (25 farmers with 9 of them being women) and in Boussouma it was managed by 30 farmers of which 13 were women. Two field days were organized in each site during sprou ng and maturity stages. The second day of the farmer field school presented an opportunity to harvest and help farmers with es ma ng yield outputs of the different technologies.In Sorofing (Mali), one of the selected villages, the TAAT-WEC trained farmers on how to design the contour lines using the automa c reading method. Mr Dramane Male, a local farmer applied what he learned to the contour lines technique (CLT) on 2.0 hectares of Fadda. Despite the fact that he planted towards the end of season's drought, the plants remained green with good soil moisture which was a posi ve output. Dramane said that the CLT stopped the runoffs. \"If this were to be the tradi onal method in a similar rainy season, I would have lost all my crops because of drought,\" he added. He ensured that going forward, he will apply the CLT in all the areas of his fields with pronounced slopes. On a 0.5hectare plot, Yaya Male, another farmer, applied the CLT that resulted in the plants being well-developed with big stems and green leaves. A field day was organized at Foh (Mali) to showcase the performance of the demonstrated technology to farmers. About 10 research and development ins tu ons including a private seed company and many farmers were represented at the event which was covered by Office de Radio diffusion-Télévision du Mali (ORTM), the country's na onal television sta on.In addi on to the proposed variety (Tiandougou Coura), the farmer used his own local variety to understand if the crop performance was linked to the varietal differences. The results were promising. The plot under CLT produced good plants with large panicles compared to the control (low plant stand due to runoffs). \"I usually abandon this par cular field because of the runoffs,\" Pierre Diarra said. \"With this exposure to the CLT now, I promise to apply the CLT in all 60Pathways to Transforma on A 2019 Annual TAAT Corporate Report problema c soils for all crops,\" Pierre added. Variety used on this site was Tiandougou Coura and some NPK fer lizer was broadcast on both t r e a t e d a n d t h e c o n t r o l p l o t s . The yield of treated plots was 1.7 t/ha whereas the yield of the control was 0.9 t/ha. This shows that the new technology almost doubled the yields compared to the control plot. Michel Traore, the Deputy Mayor who led the team of local authori es to the demonstra ons, appreciated the technology deployed in his community. He then called for con nuous support for taking the technology beyond his provinces. The Deputy Mayor promised to include the CLT technique in their local Development Plan (PDSEC) to ensure a sustainable pathway forward. At the Interven on site called Bla, the variety used was Hybrid Fada and for demonstra on NPK was used a as micro-dose on both treated and the control plots. The yield of treated plots was 2.8 t/ha whereas that of the control was 2.0 t/ha. Hence, we find a yield increase of 40% when micro-dosing technology is u lized.Two technologies were demonstrated in Burkina Faso. The Variety used was Kapelga with a poten al yield of 1,300 kg/ha. Two technologies were demonstrated. These are Halfmoons and the yield obtained was 1,625 kg/ha. The field that was treated with the Zai pits, the yield was 1,456 kg/ha. These were against a control plot yields of 0.95 t/ha. That is an increase of yields by 71% with the half-moon technology and Zai pits increased yields by 53%.In South Darfur, Sudan, pearl millet is the most popular crop with 90 percent of farming households consider it to be one of their three major crops followed by groundnuts and sorghum. Millet and sorghum are the main staple food crops across the Darfur region while groundnuts are normally considered a cash crop. Although pearl millet is the most widely grown crop, less than 20% of farming households use improved varie es. In South Darfur, farming households obtain their seed from mul ple sources such as: the seed they had saved, local grain/seed markets, social networks, seed aid from the Government and other humanitarian and development partners, local seed banks and agro-input dealers. Access to improved seed capable of boos ng crop yield cons tutes a major problem to farmers here. The challenge is made worse by the gaping lack of access at the community level.In line with TSMC's commitment to boos ng agricultural produc vity and self-sufficiency in Sorghum and Millet by 2025, the compact iden fied the 25-member strong Al-Amel Agricultural Women Group in Sudan as a key partner driving a farmer field school and training ini a ve that provided knowledge sharing and outreach on improved crop seed produc on and good agricultural prac ces on varie es of Sorghum and Millet. TSMC realised that the farmer field school was a credible pathway to delivering agricultural technologies and inputs to farmers at local levels. Hence, the compact partnered with the Food and Agriculture Organiza on (FAO) and Arab Organiza on for Agricultural Development (AOAD) to deliver cu ng-edge training services to the Al-Amel Agricultural Women Group. Other partners suppor ng this training campaign such as Nyala Research Sta on (NARES), worked with the Compact to provide founda on seeds.Improved varie es were introduced, including a medium-maturing variety of 120 days which has the benefit of being matched with the dura on of rainy season in the area.During the growing season, the women group received seed extension services from research and extension personnel. As a result of this effort, the women produced about 7 MT of high-quality declared seeds. The apprecia ve women all remarked that it was an important breakthrough for them to start their own businesses. Now their goal is to promote quality seeds to NGOs and farmers groups for further promo on and sale at premium prices. The Cassava crop is unfortunately widely regarded as a food for the poor rather than a crop for value-added food and industrial starch produc on. The TAAT Cassava Compact (TCC) aims to transform Cassava percep on as low value crop by accelera ng industrialized Cassava produc on and processing across Africa. This will contribute to the drive of achieving key poverty reduc on and economic growth targets. A full spectrum of private sector partners is needed to support this effort including input manufacturers, agro-industrial processors, agribusiness development specialists, credit services, and insurers. Since 2018, TCC has begun addressing the limi ng factors to cassava transforma on using a holis c and mul -stakeholder approach. This approach brings on board researchers, extension service providers, development prac oners, input dealers, informa on service providers, processors and farmers across the c a s s a v a v a l u e c h a i n . U n l i k e p r e v i o u s dissemina on efforts, TCC's strategy of technology delivery is driven by delivery and dissemina on experts and backstopped by researchers drawn from na onal agricultural systems.TCC In the Republic of Benin, over half of the nearly 10 million popula on rely on subsistence farming for their livelihood with over 3.3 million people considered to be food insecure in the country. Since the mid-1980s, Benin has increased produc on of cassava. However, poor infrastructure, low yields and flooding, which can wipe out harvests and seed stocks, are persis ng challenges that the farmers face. Cassava is s ll largely produced at a s u b s i s t e n t l e v e l i n t h e country in spite of the crop's high growth poten al to increase farmers' income and livelihoods as an industrial crop. There are plethora of post-harvest products that can be derived from cassava for industrial applica ons a n d e x p o r t . Y e t , t h e processing of cassava in Benin s ll remains ar sanal and focused on tradi onal cassava products such as fufu, gari, and tapioca. These products have limited commercial transac ons and are more for household consump on.About 4000 local varie es of cassava are in 17 major cassava-growing countries in Africa, including Benin. Some improved varie es have been developed as well, with some of these being high-yielding and also nutrient-dense. However, many of these improved varie es are yet to be deployed in Benin. There is the yellow-fleshed cassava (Yellow Cassava) with nutri onally significant concentra ons of carotenoids -a precursor of vitamin A. This yellow cassava is yet to become popular in the country. Farmers do not plant it for fear of glut on account of buyers' lack of interestTo address this challenge, a behavioral change communica on approach involving extensive sensi za on campaigns in key villages was adopted by the TCC. Then plan ng materials of provitamin A cassava varie es were transferred from IITA Nigeria to Benin. The main partners were the Ins tut Natonal des Recherches Agricoles du Bénin (INRAB),Low Yields and inadequate nutri on (Country: Benin Republic) BIORAVE, HarvestPlus and the Root and Tubers and Banana Program of the CGIAR. Through this effort, the compact was able to introduce technologies for rapid mul plica on of plan ng materials of improved cassava varie es. This will contribute to the effort of addressing the nutri onal deficiency and increase cassava yield up to an average of 25 to 44 t/ha. The plan ng materials were mul plied to provide 200,000 cu ngs, distributed freely to the first group of seed growers and root farmers in selected villages of Ouémé, Plateau, Zou, Couffo, and Atlan c departments of Benin.Ezaie Etenou, a garri processor in Massi is already dreaming of a future with yellow cassava. \"This sensi za on we had today is going to help us a lot. If we succeed in producing this new yellow cassava variety, it will greatly help in changing the whole community because it addresses malnutri on and food security at the same me\" she said.Nazaire Donkpegan, a farmer is fascinated about the possibility of increased yields from yellow cassava. \"My impression of this awareness is that as a producer, I am used to growing white cassava variety which gives me li le yields. I also sell the produce at a low price. But with this new yellow cassava variety, I get higher yields and can produce at a large scale for sale. Higher yields means that I get more income from cassava produc on\" , he added.Cassava commercializa on is faced with a doubleedged problem of expensive or very few raw materials available for cassava processing plants. These plants are usually located near ci es (for access to electricity) while cassava farmers, o en located in rural areas, lack access to the market to sell their roots, partly due to inaccessible roads. The rural sector lacks the necessary infrastructure (electricity, water, etc.) and skilled labor to a ract private-sector investment in processing factories.Since cassava is very bulky, the cost of transpor ng cassava roots to city-based factories is very high even where all-season roads exist. Hence, most processing factories established in the ci es are not compe ve and are in a state of paralysis, opera ng below their capacity or are abandoned. Many private sector investments in processing factories have become moribund and bankrupt. Meanwhile, the rural sector lacks market access, jobs for the youth, and modern technologies that can make cassava farming profitable or a rac ve. Hence the rural areas are in a state of intractable poverty.TCC and its partner, the Federal Ins tu on of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO) in Nigeria, is championing the use of Mobile Cassava Processing Plant model. This is an alterna ve investment approach for the private sector to avoid the problems associated with investments in expensive processing buildings, insufficient electricity supply, inconsistent and inadequate supply of raw materials, and the high cost of transpor ng bulky fresh roots to city-based factories across Nigeria.The specially constructed Mobile Cassava Processing Plant (MCPP) consists of modern processing machinery and an electricity generator that is housed on a six-wheel machinery carrier equipped with a loader crane. The Mobile Cassava Processing Plant is carefully equipped with a specific set of machinery tailored to process targeted, shelf-stable, marketdemanded cassava products. These are highquality gari, fufu, flour or any other products.Both sides and the tailgate of the truck open flat to form a larger flatbed or pla orm for a cassava processing workspace. Depending on the product for which the machinery has been tailored, processing can be completed on the workspace combined with the ground-level workspace. Specific standard opera ng procedures are used for processing the product of choice.Cassava farmers, especially the large-scale growers, who o en face the challenge of selling all their outputs at maturity before the root quality begins to deteriorate, can seek the services of a mobile cassava processing plant. They can process the roots on the farm when the market price of the cassava product of choice is good and before the roots begin to decay. In addi on, the Mobile Cassava Processing Plant can be used to make intermediate processed products. These are pressed cake from grated cassava roots, starch or fufu to be transported to a centrally located final processing factory for mechanical drying. This approach ensures that shelf-stable or nonperishable value-added products of 20-50% of the weight of ini al raw material (fresh roots) are transported from the rural areas to distant m a r ke t s , t h e re b y re d u c i n g t h e co st o f transporta on and increasing the consistency of supply of the products at a compe ve price and higher profitability to either the end-users such as tex le mill, biscuit factories or to markets.67The mobile processing unit was operated in Nigeria by a private agricultural investment company to process and supply high-quality cassava cake to a starch factory. This arrangement showed a projected net value of $79,303. That translates to 50% internal rate of return and 156% return on investment for a three-year period. This is with 70% loan financing of the total startup capital of $49,386 at a 17% interest rate and a moratorium of 3 months. This technology has the poten al to resolve many of the intractable challenges of the cassava processing enterprises in Nigeria. There are investors from the private sector, state Chambers of Commerce and commercial banks in Nigeria that in the process of acquiring Mobile Cassava Processing Plants.What was the problem?The major challenge of cassava produc on in Central Africa, par cularly the D.R Congo, is the availability of a sustainable seed system, an inherently low mul plica on ra o of the crop as well as lack of clean plan ng materials due to pest and disease pandemics. Unlike maize, wheat, rice and other grain-legumes, commercial seed producers of cer fied seeds for cassava do not exist in this country posing a significant bo leneck to scaling up cassava technologies.TCC ini ated two parallel and complementary paths to increase farmers' access to plan ng materials of virus-free modern cassava varie es. This is through Seed Bulking Farms in the Western areas of Congo, and the deployment of Semi Autotrophic Hydroponics (SAH) technology for the Eastern part of the country. The two were introduced as approaches to develop a sustainable seed system for cassava in the What was the problem?Many cassava varie es have been developed by researchers in Zambia. However, many of these varie es which are high yielding and resistant to diseases and pests, are yet to be adopted on a large scale in Zambia. One major challenge that comes with the development of new cassava varie es is the task of mul plying and dissemina ng to farmers on me before the onset of rainfall. Being a clonal crop, cassava mul plica on is done using stems. This is a process that takes several years. This constraints in access to high-quality cassava seed in Zambia, results in cassava farmers not deriving the poten al benefits from cassava. The main contribu ng factor to the reduced benefits is the use of low-quality plan ng materials which leads to poor harvests, hunger and poverty across many of the country's villages dependent on cassava. The scheme is already running. Each of the seedbulking farm when cer fied, will be used to plant addi onal 174 hectares of land to mul ply cassava seeds at 58 loca ons spread across the na on.The Compact has developed Strategic alliance with the Seed Control and Cer fica on Ins tute (SCCI) of Zambia. They will verify the health status of the cassava plants and cer fy the farms as seed stock. TCC is engaged in strategic alliances with t h e C i z e n s E c o n o m i c E m p o w e r m e n t Commission (CEEC), through ZARI and also Chitambo cassava milling factory, through the ADB-Zambia. They will get plan ng materials from seed farms and the CBF to distribute to root growers near the cassava processing mills.What was the problem?The agricultural sector occupies an important place in the na onal economy of Togo, significantly contribu ng to the gross domes c product. To this end, the cassava sub-sector has been iden fied as having a high growth poten al and can contribute to job crea on, improved incomes and the living condi ons of farmers and other actors in the value chain. There are diverse products that can be derived from cassava for industrial applica on and export. Yet, the processing of cassava in Togo remains ar sanal as tradi onal cassava products such as fufu, gari, starch, and tapioca have limited commercial transac ons. Repeated efforts made by the processors to export gari and tapioca to Nigeria and France failed due to high costs and low quality of the products.The A unique co-financing approach was used by the Togolese government and the TCC in financing the cassava development ac vi es in Togo. TCC  Orange-fleshed Sweetpotato (OFSP) is a rich plant-based source of beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A. In Africa, most sweet potato varie es grown are high dry ma er white and yellow fleshed varie es with li le betacarotene content. In 1995, researchers at Interna onal Potato Center (CIP) recognized the poten al of OFSP varie es to address widespread vitamin A deficiency across the con nent using an integrated agriculture-nutri on approach. W i t h t h e i r p a r t n e r s , t h e y c o n f r o n t e d conven onal wisdom concerning food-based approaches and ins tu onal barriers, to build evidence and subsequently bred 80 OFSP varie es adapted to farmer needs and consumer preferences in Africa.TAAT Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato Compact (TOFSP) is working with stakeholders to increase the average yield per hectare of sweetpotato in general and scale up the deployment of new high yielding OFSP varie es. The compact is leading efforts at strengthening sector-wide human and ins tu onal capacity to integrate OFSP into African food systems and markets for increased incomes. The compact pursues the a ainment of its mandate through increased adop on of Beta Carotene-rich OFSP among smallholder and large scale farmers and improving their produc vity. This leads to improved income at the household level through sale of roots. The Compact is also increasing value of the roots through promo on and capacity building for OFSP-based products processing along the value chain. This then provides a market for the surplus roots for the smallholder farmer while crea ng commercial OFSP farmers geared for the market. Since OFSP is biofor fied, there is a need to raise awareness of its nutri onal benefits. It can be cooked, roasted or processed into many products that currently use wheat. In tackling this challenge, TOFSP, in partnership with the \"Triple S\" scaling project in Ghana funded by the RTB Scaling Fund, deployed the Triple S technology to conserve roots and generate quality plan ng material a er a long dry season that was experienced in Northern Ghana. TRIPLE S stands for Storage, Sand and Sprou ng technology. The technology allows farmers to store sweet potato roots through the dry season in a container of sand. As the rainy season nears, these preserved roots can then be planted in seedbeds and watered to sprout healthy plan ng material ready for sowing at the op mal me. This simple and affordable system has proven to be effec ve and is now being scaled to farmers in Ghana. The compact partnered with Damongo AgriculturalCollege. This is one of the five colleges in the country that train agricultural extension agents, offering both cer ficate and diploma courses with over 224 students. The college piloted the training of this technology to its students. This partnership is in recogni on of the fact that Agricultural Extension Agents (AEA) who work closely with farmers, are best suited for knowledge dissemina on on good agricultural prac ces and new technologies. Damongo Agricultural College was granted permission by Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), to conduct the trainings. One hundred and twenty-six students and 8 tutors were involved in the training that was delivered through p r i n t e d m a t e r i a l , instruc onal videos, and hands-on demonstra on of the innova on. Malawi's cuisine is quite dependent on root crops, with typical meals consis ng of potato, sweetpotato, and cassava. With ranging weather condi ons, the availability of sufficient and premium sweetpotato vines at the onset of the rainy season is essen al to producers in order to guarantee good yields. The situa on is par cularly difficult because sweetpotato vine produc on takes place during the dry and hot months preceding the rainy period. Producers are required to water their plants. The task is commonly done by hand using watering cans and tapping water from streams and hand-dug wells. This is a laborious back breaking task shunned by women and the youth. Hence, most vine mul pliers can only plant small areas that can easily be irrigated by using their current t e c h n o l o g i e s . O e n p l a n t s r e c e i v e insufficient water compared to their demands and water stress leads to diseased seeds because they are weak leading to lower produc on and quality of vines.In collabora on with TAAT Water Enabler Compact, TOFSP provided selected Malawian farmers with new varie es, good agronomic p r a c c e s a n d r e c o m m e n d a o n s i n combina on with appropriate irriga on technologies. Demonstra on sites were set up around Blantyre in southern Malawi. Irriga on equipment was procured with the support of local irriga on pipe producers, Pipeco Ltd. It was observed that local produc on of the pipes significantly reduces the cost to farmers as the sustainable High-Density Polyethylene (HPDE) pipes were priced equally to that of the PVC pipes. These pipes would be sourced within a short me within the country at the same me backup support was guaranteed. Surface water was then pumped into a water-efficient conveyance system and distributed to the field using two different technologies: gun sprinklers and rain hoses. Rain hoses lead to a more homogeneous water distribu on within the farmer's field with less impact from wind. Because of this technology women and youths showed keen interest to go into OFSP vine mul plica on.A er the one-day joint field demonstra on led by CIP, IWMI, Ministry of Agriculture and equipment suppliers, the farmers were impressed by the achievements and requested the expansion of TAAT interven on across all parts of Malawi where sweetpotato is grown. They also reacted enthusias cally and began to reflect on other crops they could cul vate to make op mal use of the new irriga on infrastructure. Three cropping cycles per year are possible and cul vated areas can now be expanded. It is believed that this is a poten ally profitable technology that can take farming in Malawi to new levels. The users of the technology reported that they managed to double their produc on of OFSP vines. They got be er quality vines produced on me for the season which could be sold at a higher price, hence increasing their incomes (Table 3.) This trend is expected to improve even further with the successive years with more experience by the farmers and encouragement for the increased demand.   Aquaculture accounts for more than 43% of global fish supply but only 2% in Africa, mainly from Egypt and Nigeria. With fish in high demand globally, a great opportunity exists for the produc on of lapia and ca ish across the con nent. Increased produc on of farmed fish by 2 million MT/y in Africa can increase fish consump on and greatly reduce current imports. However, to completely replace projected imports, the produc on of an addi onal 5 million fish by 2025 is required. This is a task not insurmountable with proper planning and investment.Through the TAAT Aquaculture compact (TAC), the African Development Bank seeks to disseminate and upscale aquaculture technologies. This will be by increasing aquaculture value chain actors' produc vity, increasing fish protein consump on and enhancing sustainability across the value chain. To achieve these, the compact aspires to create an enabling environment for technology adop on, facilitate effec ve delivery of technologies to aquaculture value c h a i n a c to rs , a n d ra i s e a q u a c u l t u re produc on and produc vity through iden fica on and deployment of appropriate technologies. TAC seeks to create and improve access to improved fish seeds for 80% of fish farmers across twelve countries. This will lead to achieving 20% increase in aquaculture produc on and 10 to 30% reduc on in importa on of fish. The increase will also Fish farms producing fresh lapia and processed fish in Zambia are faced with many challenges ranging from indiscriminate the , predators, lack of access to modern technologies, and poor management prac ces. Despite investments such as installa on of solar plants for water pumping and running of aerators, renova on of ponds, and construc on of cold rooms for fish storage to maintain fish freshness, the challenge of enhancing produc on and profitability s ll remain.TAC iden fied Be er Management Prac ces (BMPs) and value addi on technologies as requisite interven ons capable of turning around the low produc vity. The compact selected Mpeni farms in Lusaka as a demonstra on center and extended its training services to farmers. The farm also received a facility upgrade with a solar tent fish drying technology. Many fish farmers including women and youths were trained on the use of modern technologies in fish farming as well as be er management prac ces in preserva on, storage and value addi on. Through this effort, Mpeni farms now serve as a central loca on for training of women and youth in fish value addi on and product developed from fish. These are fish fillets, sausages, mince fish, fish cakes and fish powder as an inclusion in baby food and pregnant women for the provision of essen al amino acids. This technology is now being disseminated to other women in the country as a source of increased income and nutri on in the community.According to Mrs. Joyce Tembo who benefited from the farmer outreach, \"value addi on overcomes the problem of rapid fish spoilage and is more profitable than selling fresh fish\". The technologies have transformed the community in several ways. These include providing a cheap source of protein for thousands of people and by providing them with the necessary knowledge to improve their fish produc vity and storage.Low Fish Produc vity (Country: Zambia)Employment opportuni es have been created in the community leading to the mobiliza on of resources for the impoverished. The TAC interven on has encouraged youths and women to come for contracts and training at Mpeni Farms. This leads to a more balanced resourceful a n d a c ve co m m u n i t y. Wo m e n i n t h e community are now wholesalers of fish, who sell to retailers. Fish processing has now become a lucra ve business in the community as women now order fish on a large scale to resell to others.A er the interven ons the yields increased by 60%, sales increased from USD2,000 to USD3,000. This is a 60% increase. At the moment, the farm is able to produce 1.2 tons of smoked and dried fish and 100 kg of fish sausage.What was the problem?The oldest form of fish produc on is the u liza on of exis ng water bodies. Here the yields are generally low (20-50 kg/ha/year) and the possibili es for human interven on are rather moderate. Non-availability of exis ng water bodies or land cons tutes a great hindrance to those interested in going into fish farming in Africa. There is an increasing demand for aquaculture products in the face of moun ng economic and environmental constraints. However, some constraints are curtailing the growth of aquaculture produc on. These In response to the lack of water bodies and land cost, the compact has introduced the raised pond technology. The compact organized mul ple trainings to transfer knowledge on available technologies. These are; in-Pond Raceway System (IPRS) which reduces the period of produc on from eight months to five months; Raised Pond System (RPS) which gives women and youths who do not own land in Kenya and are not near a water body, the opportunity to start fish farming. It also works to increase the accessibility of high-quality feed. The Compact has introduced technologies that ensure the produc on of quality fast growing fingerlings. Raised Pond System uses less space, is easy to manage, and is movable, enabling a farmer to move with them from one locality to another.Mr Wachira, a par cipant at one of the many trainings organized by one of the beneficiaries of To address this myriad of challenges, the TAC in collabora on with the WorldFish Centre, organized a demonstra on of aquaculture technologies and best management prac ces for extension workers, fish farmers and aquaculture value chain actors from 10 African countries including Zambia. Among those facilitated to par cipate in the training was Royd Mukonda, a university graduate of aquaculture who runs Mukasa Agrosolu ons in Kabwe, Zambia. The TAAT training was mely for Royd as he was having challenges in breeding ca ish and lapia as well as accessing water quality parameters which are not found in Zambia. He was able to interact with experts in lapia breeding from WorldFish and also bought the necessary equipment to use for produc on. He got the concept of mono-sex lapia fingerlings produc on, value addi on and produc on of low-cost feed using local raw materials from the informa on he received. To address the problem of non-availability of quality mono-sex lapia fingerling, the TAAT Aquaculture Compact supported the young fish farmer with improved 300 brood stock to help him achieve massive mono-sex fingerling produc on.Royd implemented the technology for mass fingerling produc on while using his farm as a demonstra on center for conduc ng extensive trainings. Over 515 fish farmers in Zambia have been trained in quality fingerling produc on. The  Livestock supports the livelihood of about 1.3 billion people in developing countries and contributes up to 30% of the agriculture GDP of countries in Africa, mainly through the provision of meat, milk, eggs, wool, hides and skins. Demand for livestock products in Africa is increasing, rapidly fueled by the growing popula on, urbaniza on and improved incomes leading to shi s in diets towards high value commodi es such as meat and milk. Livestock is a source of readily conver ble cash and acts as a household insurance against crop failures. The objec ve of the TAAT Livestock Compact (TLC) is to increase the produc vity and profitability of small animal value chains through scaling-up innova ons in livestock gene cs, improved feed, be er health, good produc on systems, linkages to the marke ng and a conducive policy environment.TLC's work cuts across value chains in the small ruminants and poultry sectors by scaling a selected number of proven technologies for more efficient, gender inclusive and sustainable sheep, goats and poultry produc on. The compact's delivery model uses best prac ces and approaches with carefully selected and exis ng partnerships between ILRI, ICARDA and CIAT, and strategic public and private sectors to make these technologies available, accessible, a rac ve and profitable for livestock farmers and other value chain actors. Working with the stakeholders, e. The HQCP wet cake, fine and coarse marsh are the key market products serving as ingredients in animal feed. Up to 25% maize in poultry feed can be replaced with HQCP fine mash. To gain commercial acceptance for the product, the partners conducted independent evalua on of the quality of cassava peels mash on broiler and layer chickens and beef ca le. Layer and broiler birds were fed with the HQCP mash at a replacement rate of 60 kg/ton. These birds performed similarly on feed intake, conversion efficiency, egg produc on and growth rate while achieving 10 to 12% lower feed costs compared with control birds on maize-based diet. Rams fed 591 gm/day coarse cassava peels and cassava leaves a ained average weight gain of 66.5 gm. Pigs receiving 30% HQCP mash diet achieved feed conversion ra o of 5.97 from feeding approximately 200 to 250 grams per day of HQCP as supplement. Market linkages support for the HQCP flagship product (fine marsh) led to iden fying Premium Fish Feed limited, at Ikorodu in Lagos state, South-West Nigeria. Premium Feed incorporates up to 60% of HQCP into the fish mash to produce excellent quality, 100% floa ng, nonleaching fish feed. According to Premium feeds, fish fed with the fine mash feed achieved a feed conversion ra o (FCR) of 1:1, compared with 1: 0.5 on conven onal feed. Premium feeds currently have a produc on capacity of 6,000 kg of feed daily with ample room for further expansion. The company off-takes up to 6 tons ofSoil degrada on and environmental pollu on from cassava waste peels (Country: Nigeria) To date, 120 entrepreneurs and 20 cer fied trainers have been trained at the ILRI HQCP model center at IITA, Ibadan on understanding the benefits of using cassava peels for feed. Synergos and ILRI are leading efforts to establish three addi onal cassava peels processing facili es in Kogi, Benue and Ogun states of Nigeria. The partnership contributes to improving the economic wellbeing of rural women, enhancing value-addi on of cassava peels in livestock and fish feeds and reducing the menace of environmental degrada on. The TLC is suppor ng women coopera ves to own the HQCP processing machines so that they can reap the full benefits of the technology. The HQCP technology has the poten al to add around 15 million tons of quality feed to the livestock sector when taken to scale. The economic poten al to the feed industry in Africa hovers around 2 billion dollars a year. From the installed capacity of the four new small and medium cassava processors, it is es mated that approximately 10 tons/day of HQCP mash will be produced. This translates to approximately 117,000 or 0.11 million USD in one year. Up to 15 to 20% reduc on in feed costs are a ainable by using HQCP mash.Bolstered by the opportunity that the processing of cassava peels offers for poverty allevia on and women empowerment, the Benue and Kogi s t a t e g o v e r n m e n t s h a v e s u p p o r t e d entrepreneurs to establish 10,000 hectares of cassava farm. In an effort to create more awareness of the HQCP mash technology, the Oyo State government in collabora on with the ILRI and the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Nigeria, convened a stakeholders forum tagged \"Waste to Wealth: Cassava Peels U lisa on''. In addi on, five Nigerian states including Abuja have been mapped with poten als to process cassava peels to HQCP.What was the problem?Youth cons tute a significant por on of the Ethiopian popula on. Out of 108,386,391 people, 71% of this number fall under the 25 to 30 age group while two-third of the popula on are under 25 years old and more than half are women. However, urban youth unemployment stands at 22% compared to 17% for all other age groups. There is a high unemployment rate in rural areas where most of the youth live. The rural youth derive their livelihood from tradi onal farming with very limited land access. Access to land is guaranteed either through inheritance upon death, as gi , or as informal rental markets, leaving young farmers without land inheritance at a disadvantage. With 80% of popula on residing in rural areas, there are opportuni es for the youth to get involved in livestock fa ening and dairy produc on as a means of earning a living. The challenge remains that agricultural technology and best prac ces are not widely available or adopted across rural areas in Ethiopia. In most parts of Ethiopia, lack of training and knowledge prevent youths and women from playing pivotal entrepreneurship roles in the broader livestock value chain.The Compact partnered with the ICARDA to d issemin ate imp roved s h eep fa en in g Abaynesh Demisse feeding her rams 85 technologies in Bonga, Doyog na in the e Southern Na ons, Na onali es and Peoples region (SNNPR) and Menz in Amhara region. The partnership successfully provided resources, technical and business trainings to youths. The TLC's sheep fa ening interven on created youth and women sheep fa ening groups which were not exis ng before the interven on. To kick start interven ons, the Compact provided one free ram to each youth and women group, while each youth provided another ram. The youths were trained on aspects of sheep fa ening such as feeding, housing, and health. Other materials provided included, plas c feeding and watering containers for the animals. The project trained NARES trainers, on sheep fa ening and entrepreneurship business training.In Doyogena, Ms. Abaynesh Demisse, a youth beneficiary aged 22 years, said that the d e p l o y m e n t o f s h e e p fa ening technology by the T L C a n d p a r t n e r s h a s enabled her (and her family) to increase their livestock and overall asset ladders. Ms. Abaynesh who started the sheep fa ening business with two rams (including one free Ram through TLC), is on her 5th sheep fa ening cycle. She currently owns a Holstein Friesian crossbreed heifer worth 9,000 ETB (USD 279) and 4 sheep. She has also upgraded her father's house structure and has created shelter for her livestock in her homestead. I n B o n g a , M r. A s h e b i r qualified as a beneficiary on a sharecrop basis to acquire a sheep and benefit from the start-up package. He is currently on his 4th sheep fa ening cycle and owns an ox worth 12,000 ETB (USD372) and 4 rams. The improvement in livelihoods was observed for 150 women through the feed technology program deployed by the TLC. The technology interven on included using the false banana recipes known as as feed for the sheep. The TAAT Programme recognizes that success in transforming agriculture to reach the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program's (CAADP) goals will come from interven ons at a very large scale that require partnerships between research ins tutes, public ins tu ons, farmers' support organiza ons and the private sector with the combined support of na onal programs. In Year 2 of implementa on, TAAT con nued on its pathway to transforming African agriculture by delivering technology solu ons to smallholders as well as large scale farmers through its nine commodity compacts organized around rice, maize, cassava, wheat, sorghum and millet, orange-fleshed sweetpotato, high iron beans, small ruminants, and aquaculture. The Compacts are supported by six enabler compacts providing support services in soil fer lity management, water management, capacity building and technology outreach, advoca ng a suppor ve seed technology policy, mobilizing the youth into agribusiness, and organizing a response to the fall armyworm invasion. Accelerated use of proven technologies is at the heart of TAAT's ambi on to improve produc vity and efficiency in African agriculture. This is through a bundle of technologies that include advances in crop improvements through new and be er varie es of crops and be er gene cs in breeds of animals coming out of research ins tu ons and the accompanying technology toolkits that enable them to be fully deployed. This achievement require that the program coordina on and implementa on structures mobilize proven technologies and bring them to their intended beneficiaries.Building on the founda on laid down these past two years of TAAT opera ons as well as the lessons learned, it is impera ve that TAAT meets and even surpasses its overall goal to ensure that 40 million smallholder farmers across Africa can effec vely access produc vity-enhancing technologies and services by 2025. There is no doubt that the progress to reach the stated goal will be accelerated by Phase II of TAAT. Phase II will build seamlessly on the investments and infrastructure set out by TAAT I.In 2020 and beyond, TAAT will accelerate achievements to scale by reaching further down the value chain to support the development of efficient supply chains that increase returns to farmers and offer guarantees of quality produce to upstream investors in processing capacity and value-addi on. TAAT has iden fied a suite of policies requiring regional harmoniza on and enforcement. TAAT will therefore intensify the support to policy-based regional ac vi es. It will also support the bank's funding to countries based on analy cs for impact. TAAT compacts are commi ed and tooled to offer exper se to individual countries or regional projects to ensure that the projects are implemented u lizing the best possible bundle of technologies and prac ces. That way TAAT will assist the bank in ensuring that the stated goal of improving the African Agricultural Produc vity is achieved through the value chain selected under the Feed Africa Strategy. TAAT is commi ed in assis ng the design of projects that are sustainable and profitable to enhance agricultural transforma on across the con nent. The TAAT seed system support is already benefi ng over 6 million farmers. TAAT will con nue to deepen the expansion of these seed systems, partnering with private seed firms and SMEs to ensure sustainability at scale. Where there are no seed systems, TAAT works with partners to support their development as viable businesses. Phase II of TAAT will allow partners to invest more in supply chain infrastructure. These are agro-dealer networks and agripreneurs and SMEs suppor ng the value chain, and be er use of technology tools for trainings, managements and analy cs. In the last two years of opera ons, TAAT has iden fied some policy bo lenecks limi ng faster agricultural development, harmonized regional agricultural systems viz seamless seed systems, movement of varie es across borders, and value chains development. TAAT with the partners, will con nue to engage individual countries and regional bodies to remove these bo lenecks.TAAT is a strong engine already contribu ng towards agricultural transforma on on the con nent. However, comprehensive transforma on can only be achieved by con nuing with priority value chains through strategic public-private partnerships. We will also work to provide mechanisms that improve market systems that a ract more farmers and provide the necessary incen ves that lower produc on, processing, and marke ng costs. This will be achieved through collabora ons with public and private sector as well as other mul lateral donors and development agencies working in the same sector. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2ea9ee419f89dce1a40992103207ae08","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b862cb5c-eabb-4112-8014-93276dda57cd/retrieve","id":"688402476"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e2085360-0afb-4a45-b7f7-58f374a6ac85","content":"A rapid review of foodborne disease hazards in East Africa Florence Mutua 1 , Hope Masanja 2 , James Chacha 2 , Erastus Kangethe 1 , Maureen Kuboka 1 and Delia Grace 1,3  ©2021 International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) ILRI thanks all donors and organizations which globally support its work through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund.This publication is copyrighted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). It is licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. To view this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. Unless otherwise noted, you are free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format), adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) for any purpose, even commercially, under the following conditions: Tables Table 1. Number of papers considered at each stage of the rapid review process, June-August 2020 Table 2. Summary of pathogenic E. coli reports found in the review Table 3. Occurrence of Taenia solium cysticercosis in pigs in Kenya, rapid literature review, June-July 2020 Food is essential for life and livelihoods. Hazards in food can make it unsafe for human consumption, depending on their levels and how they are amplified or reduced on the farm to form pathway. A study to assess occurrence of food hazards in East Africa (EA) using a rapid literature review approach was designed. In addition to foods, studies reporting important foodborne diseases, in animals and humans, were considered. Searches were done in PubMed, CAB Direct, and Google Scholar databases. Data were extracted from 71 publications, which together yielded 228 records: animals (51), humans (65), food (97), and vegetables (15). A separate desk search was used to capture chemical hazards. Several hazards or hazard proxies were found in animal-source foods, and included Staphylococcus spp (16%), E. coli (18%), and Campylobacter spp (18%). In vegetables, Salmonella spp were the most commonly reported hazards (and accounted for about one third of the reported cases of vegetables contaminated with hazards or hazard proxies). Cholera, salmonellosis, botulism and anthrax were among the disease outbreaks observed in the review. A number of studies reported aflatoxins and heavy metal presence, some at levels beyond what regulatory bodies recommend.Although this was a rapid review, implemented within a short time, it did allow for some important conclusions to be drawn: foodborne disease (FBD) hazards or hazard proxies are common in animals, food, and people in EA; bacterial hazards are more reported than viral, parasitic, or chemical hazards; Salmonella spp, toxigenic E. coli, Campylobacter spp and Taenia solium are important hazards. Consumption of raw milk, vegetables eaten without cooking as well as unhygienically handled cooked meat are important matrices for FBD transmission. Surveillance and reporting of FBD is weak and needs urgent strengthening.Food is essential for life and livelihoods and must be safe to support health and nutrition. For a long time, the health burden associated with foodborne diseases (FBD) was less known and often underestimated. In 2010, the Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG) under the aegis of the World Health Organization (WHO) analysed a total of 31 FBD hazards and estimated that these caused 600 million illnesses and 420,000 deaths, resulting in a burden of 33 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) (WHO 2015). DALYs are a measure of disease burden in the population. They combine losses due to mortality and morbidity and are computed by summing the number of years of life lost (YLL) due to premature mortality and the years lived with disability (YLD) due to sickness. One DALY is equivalent to one year of healthy life that is lost. A second part of the FERG study assessed the health burden of four heavy metals which were found to cause an additional more than 1 million illnesses, over 56,000 deaths, and more than 9 million DALYs (Gibb et al. 2019). Combined (approximately, because the two parts of the study used different methodologies), the health burden of FBD is around 42 million DALYs per year, comparable to the health burden of tuberculosis or malaria. The figure is conservative and likely an under-estimate of the real burden of foodborne disease (Yen et al. 2018).Foodborne diseases can have both acute and chronic forms. In the first part of the FERG study, the most frequent (91%) causes of foodborne illnesses were diarrhoeal disease agents (which were also responsible for 54% of the deaths) (Havelaar et al. 2015). The relationship between diarrhoea and malnutrition is bidirectional -diarrhoea leads to malnutrition and malnutrition makes worse the course of diarrhoea (Nel 2010). The malnutrition effect is through reduction in food intake, decreased nutrient absorption and metabolic insufficiencies (Martinez and Tomkins 1995).Children under five years bear a disproportionately high burden of FBD (40%) (Havelaar et al. 2015); because of their poorly developed immune systems, susceptibility to small pathogen doses, and their inability to judge food safety (Fung et al. 2018). Other vulnerable groups are the elderly, malnourished, pregnant and immunosuppressed (Grace 2015).Africa is among the continents impacted most by FBDs (Havelaar et al. 2015). In monetary terms, the World Bank estimated the cost of unsafe food in the region to be USD16.7 billion, comprising productivity and treatment losses, but excluding costs that are not easy to quantify (Jaffee et al. 2019). Food safety is key to attaining several of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including zero hunger, health and well-being, clean water and sanitation, and responsible production. Trade in safe products not only safeguards human health but also supports national and regional economies. The African Union, under the 2014 Malabo Declaration on Agriculture and Postharvest Losses, plans to triple the intra-African trade in agricultural commodities and services by the year 2025. Food safety will need to be considered to ensure progress. Trade under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) started in January 2021 1 . Food safety will be critical in sustaining the initiative.Most East African Community (EAC) partner states are in the WHO subregion 'AFR E' (as per the WHO burden study).The region has one of the highest shares of the FBD burden, and a review of foodborne diseases and hazards present in locally consumed products was deemed necessary, to not only understand the current situation but also identify priorities, and support risk management. The study was undertaken as part of the project 'Situational Analysis of food safety control systems in East Africa Community member states' with findings intended to add to the ongoing food safety A food hazard is any agent that has the potential to cause ill health. Both biological and chemical hazards were considered in the review. Hazards are different from risks. Risk considers the probability of an agent to cause disease when one is exposed to it, and the magnitude of the resulting effects. It can be qualitative or quantitative depending on the assessment criteria used. It is possible for a hazard contamination level to be low yet its risk to human health is high, and vice versa. Some studies report presence of microbes which may or may not be pathogenic; for example, the presence of Enterobacteriaceae indicates faecal bacteria are present, some of which may be pathogenic (for example, hazards) and some commensals (for example, not hazards): we refer to these as hazard proxies.Because the review needed to be done within a short period, we chose a 'rapid review' approach, rather than a systematic literature review (SLR) which would have taken longer (Khangura et al. 2012). SLRs are not appropriate where evidence is urgently required and rapid reviews are an option to reducing the time constrain associated with SLRs (Kaltenthaler et al. 2016); as was the case in our study.We additionally extracted information relevant to FBD in East Africa from FERG, which remains the most reliable source of information on health burden. A separate review was done to capture studies on aflatoxins and chemical hazards..We defined key words and combined them into appropriate syntaxes. We conducted searches in PubMed and Google Scholar (GS), except for Tanzania, where, CAB Direct was used in place of GS (for technical reasons as the system could not run at the time the search was applied for other countries). For GS, short syntaxes were developed and applied, and sorted by relevance. For each, we considered the first 100 hits. However, for Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, because of the limited time available, the GS search was restricted to syntaxes yielding the largest number of hits (top three). We identified and removed duplicates (after results from the different databases were combined). Titles were screened by one person and were judged as either acceptable or not acceptable. Abstracts linked to acceptable titles were screened by two reviewers, independently, after which the files with reviewer decisions were combined. The reviewers addressed the inconsistencies in their decisions and agreed on the ones to include or exclude from the review. A third reviewer assessed the excluded papers as well as papers where the reviewers had differed in their decisions and made a final decision on which to take to the next stage of review. Additional papers were then sought and added to the template of the respective country, after checking to be sure they had not been captured in the main review.All full papers were reviewed and a decision on those to accept or reject was made. Quality assessment was subjective and was based on clarity of the study design, analyses of the data, and presentation of the results. Because of the limited time available to the research team, full paper review and quality assessment were done at the same time (meaning that an acceptable full paper was also of good quality and was recommended for data extraction). We focused on papers that were specific on hazard type and those that indicated the number of samples tested and those that were found positive.Studies that mentioned indicators of food quality as the only outcome (coliform counts, total bacteria) were excluded from the rapid review. We extracted data from a few abstracts (the ones found relevant but whose full papers were not available for review, but still gave the required information).The included papers were those published between 2000 and 2020, presented in English, and were related to FBD and hazard or hazard proxy occurrence in the six East African countries (namely Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan and Kenya). We did not search for papers published in French, which might have excluded relevant papers (especially for research done in Rwanda and Burundi). We excluded studies that did not consider food hazards, experiments, focused on antimicrobial resistance, and studies outside of EAC. For microbial papers, we only considered records that specified the number of samples analysed and reported results (positive or negative).Data were extracted from eligible publications and entered in a Microsoft Excel® template. At the start, two people extracted data from five of the publications, reviewed the entries in a meeting with a third reviewer, then proceeded to extract data for specific countries, individually. Virtual meetings, by the reviewers, were planned each week to discuss progress as well as review papers that the data extraction pair had found challenging to manage. The following data were extracted (where available): author and title, year data were collected, country, region within the country, type of study, sampling method used, what was studied (animals, humans, food), type of hazard (or proxy), name of the hazard (or proxy), number of samples analysed, number of samples that were positive, test used, and indications of disease burden.Descriptive analyses, including frequency tables, graphs, etc. were used to summarize data by country, what was studied (humans, animals, food), and hazard type. A meta-analysis was not performed given that this was a rapid review, using an approach that did not strictly adhere to the documented SLR protocol.For the rapid review, we extracted data from 72 publications, most of which were from studies in Kenya and Tanzania (Table 1) (excludes the two papers from South Sudan which are presented in the results). In Burundi, none of the retrieved studies was found to be eligible for data extraction (and a Google search targeting studies mentioned in a previous project report did not return any results). However, several abstracts reported in French from PubMed suggested Salmonella spp had been detected in people and animals, and Shigella (one study in people). Twenty-six papers were added from other sources (from the reference session of included publications and from papers that the authors were aware of from past research on the topic). The 72 papers yielded a total of 228 records; most were from studies in Kenya (39%) and Tanzania (37%). While most human studies were from Kenya (46%; n=90), food studies were the most frequent in Tanzania (54%; n=85), Uganda (37%; n=38) and Rwanda (60%; n=15). Thirty-three percent (75/228) of the records were from studies with designs that were either not mentioned or were considered unclear. Ten of the records (4%) were on outbreak investigations. Faeces from humans and animals (39%), meat (16%), milk (16%), serum from animals and humans (9%) and vegetables (7%) (n=228) were among the samples analysed. Animals were sampled either at the farm or at the slaughterhouse level (before slaughter). They included cattle (37%) and pigs (49%).The records were from studies involving animals (51/228), food (95/ 228), humans (65/228) and vegetables (15/228) samples. They reported on bacteria (72%), chemicals (2%), parasites (22%) and viruses (4%). Escherichia coli (25%; 42), Campylobacter spp (20%; 33), and Salmonella spp (18%; 30) were the most frequently reported bacteria (n=165). Three of the E. coli records were positive for E. coli O157 (Table 2) (one from milk, one from infant food, one from cattle faeces). Most of the Salmonella spp reports (15/ 27) did not specify the species or serotype (however, five isolates specified nontyphoid Salmonella, four S. enteritidis, one S. gallinarum, and one S. typhi). Chemicals (n=5) (reported in the rapid review part of the study) included antibiotic residues, all of which were reported in milk. Toxins of Clostridium botulinum were reported in an outbreak investigation study in Uganda. Adenovirus, sapovirus, rotavirus and norovirus were among the viruses reported in the review.Campylobacter spp (16%), E. coli (16%), and parasites (31%) were the most frequently reported pathogens in the animal and human records (n=116),overall (Figure 1) 2 .Figure 1. Records of foodborne bacterial pathogens reported in humans and animal studies, rapid review, June-August 2020.  examined 66 slaughter pigs and found 44 to also be positive for Campylobacter spp (most isolates, 74%, were C. jejuni). Escherichia coli was reported in 24% of human and 5% of animal samples. A study in peri-urban Nairobi involving cattle found E. coli O157:H7 in 15 of the 285 pooled faecal samples (5.2%) (Kangethe et al. 2007). A study in Uganda did not find any E .coli O157; the authors reported that 45 of the 159 cattle examined were positive for shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) (Mulindwa et al. 2001).In an abattoir survey in Tanzania, Luwumba et al. (2019) reported a brucellosis prevalence of 7.5% (14/190) in cattle and 1.5% (3/200) in goats, using the Rose Bengal test (4.7% of cattle were positive when tested using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and none of the goats tested positive). Non-typhoid salmonella was investigated in 237 layer farms in Uganda (Odoch et al. 2017); 78 (n=366 samples) were found to be positive (20% of the farms had a positive finding). The isolates were diverse, and included S. newport (30.8%), S. hadar (14.1%), S. aberdeen (12.8%), S. heidelberg (12.8%), and S. bolton (12. 8%). Out of the 997 pigs examined for mycobacterium in Uganda, 93 (or 9.3% of total) were positive by necropsy and 32 (or 3.1%) by culture (Muwonge et al. 2010).Foodborne parasites constituted 49% (n=51) of animal records. In the study by Braae et al. (2014), in Mbeya District of Tanzania, pigs were sampled at baseline (n=822 pigs), during follow-up in six (n=812) and 14 months (n=998) after the study started. The number of pigs positive for T. solium cysticercosis, by Ag ELISA, was 127 (15%), 198 (24%), and 202 (20%) for the baseline, six-month, and eight-month periods, respectively. Previous T. solium cysticercosis studies in Kenya are summarized in Table 3. Cryptosporidium spp, Toxoplasma spp, Trichinella spp and ascarids were additionally reported (Table 4). Foodborne parasites constituted 18% (n=65) of human records. In Kongwa District of Tanzania, Eom et al. (2011) analysed a total of 1,057 faecal samples, and confirmed two as T. solium and three as T. saginata. Analysis of stool samples (of food handlers) in Kisii, Kenya, found 41% (n=168); Entamoeba histolytica (12%), A. lumbricoides (13%), hookworms (7.7%), and G. lamblia (3.6%) (Nyarango et al. 2008). Sparganosis, a parasitic infection caused by larvae of tapeworms belonging to the Spirometra genus (Galán-Puchades, 2019), was reported in South Sudan by Eberhard et al. (2015).A few foodborne outbreak investigation studies were reported including anthrax, botulism and cholera (Table 5). Five of the positive samples were from milk that had been boiled. Bacillus cereus was confirmed in milk sampled in Dar es Salaam (Kivaria et al. 2006) while 50% (n=59) of milk samples collected and analysed by Swai and Schoonman (2011) in Tanga, were positive for Brucella. Enterobacter aerogenes and Enterococcus foecalis in milk was reported by Kivaria et al. (2006). None of the milk samples analysed by Kamana et al. (2014) and Schoder et al. (2013) were positive for pathogenic Listeria monocytogenes.Antimicrobial residues were reported in 4.5% (n=67) of the milk samples analysed by Mdegela et al. (2009). In an earlier study, in Dar es Salaam, nine of the 128 (7%) samples analysed by Kivaria et al. (2006) were positive for drug residues. Ngasala et al. (2015) did not find any positive samples out of the 35 milk samples they analysed. In Kenya, Shitandi and Sternesjö (2001) found 165 milk samples positive for penicillin residues (14.9%; n=1109); 118 samples exceeded the EU limits. Ekuttan et al. (2007) reported an antibiotic residue prevalence of 4% (11/259) in samples taken from dairy farms in Dagoretti, Nairobi, and 0.07% (1/136) in samples from neighbouring non-dairy households. The most frequently documented hazard was Salmonella (n=15; 33%) (Figure 2). In Morogoro, Tanzania, FERG has included several chemical hazards in the global estimate for burden of foodborne disease. These include aflatoxins, arsenic (Ar), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), methylmercury, peanut allergens and dioxins (Havelaar et al. 2015;Gibb et al. 2019). In East Africa the most commonly documented hazards are mycotoxins, heavy metals, pesticide residues and veterinary drug residues.Aflatoxins are among the mycotoxins prevalent in the East African region. Most studies have been done in Kenya, probably because of the outbreak in 2004 (Azziz-Baumgartner et al., 2005;Lewis et al. 2005;Probst et al. 2007). The outbreak occurred during a time of severe hunger and was one of the most severe episodes of acute human aflatoxin poisoning in history (317 cases were reported; the case fatality rate was 39%). However, there has been numerous reports on aflatoxin occurrence in all the five EAC countries (Table 7) resulting in a relatively high donor investment in this area (GFSP 2019).According to published studies, a substantial proportion of samples tested for aflatoxins exceed national standards: typically, by 10-50%. But country standards may be stricter than WHO standards. In practice, standards are rarely enforced. Although typically, most samples do not exceed standards by large amounts, in outbreak situations, maize may contain massive amounts of aflatoxins. One interesting study (Sirma et al. 2018) found that if standards were enforced in Kenya, and in the absence of other interventions to replace the staple food discarded, the population would have a maize shortage of 22% leading to millions of death from starvation unless maize could be sourced elsewhere; on the other hand, the strict enforcement of standards would save around 1,400 lives a year from averted liver cancer.Fewer studies have assessed the impact of aflatoxins on human health, and those that have been conducted agree with the FERG data that aflatoxins are a minor cause of health burden (in comparison to other foodborne hazards). However, the association between aflatoxins and childhood stunting has not been fully elucidated: it may be explained by correlation or causation. If the relation is causal, the health impacts would be considerably higher.A cross-sectional study of aflatoxin contamination of milk and dairy feeds in five counties in Kenya, representing different agro-ecological zones, was carried out. Consumption of AFB1-contaminated feeds by dairy animals can lead to release of AFM1 in milk. The dairy feed concentrates from farmers had AFB1 levels ranging from less than one part per billion (ppb) to 9,661 ppb and the positive samples ranged from 47.8 to 90.3%. The proportion of milk samples with AFM1 above the WHO/FAO standard of 50 parts per trillion (ppt) varied from 3.4% (Kwale) to 26.2% (Tharaka-Nithi); the highest concentration was 6,999 ppt (Senerwa et al. 2016).A probabilistic survey was conducted of informal raw milk vendors in Nairobi. The cELISA test found the mean concentration of AFM1 was 128.7 parts per trillion (ppt) (median=49.9; 95% confidence interval=3.0-822.8) with a maximum of 1,675 ppt. Overall, 55% of samples exceeded the European Union (EU) maximum level of 50 ppt and 6% exceeded the recommended maximum level of the United States Food and Drug Administration of 500 ppt (Kirino et al. 2016). Another survey in peri-urban Nairobi reported contamination in 99% percent of the samples analysed. The mean aflatoxin level was 84 ng/kg; 64% of the samples exceeded the EU legal limit (Kagera et al. 2019). An earlier study reported a geometric mean of 62 ppt, in low income areas (n=135), and 36 ppt in high income areas (n=156) of Nairobi, and observed a significant seasonal variation in aflatoxin content (Lindahl et al. 2018).Milk and dairy products sampled from Burundi had aflatoxin levels ranging from 5-261ng/kg (Udomkun et al. 2018). The average contamination in fresh milk and yoghurt was 89.25±25 ng/kg and 88.02±1.28 ng/kg, respectively. Fresh milk and yoghurt samples (total of 30%) exceeded the EU limit of, while 20% of the cheese samples were above 250ng/kg (Udomkun et al. 2018).A summary of aflatoxin contamination in selected commodities is given in Table 7. In Tanzania, in a longitudinal study lasting more than two years, 6.4% of Bambara nut were found to exceed the regulatory standard immediately after harvest, but 62.5% to were over the standard after storage. Likewise, only 2% of harvested sunflower seeds were over standard, but the frequency increased to 61% after storage; groundnuts 19% were over the standard after harvest, and 82 % after storage (Seetha et al. 2017). High levels of aflatoxins in sunflower seeds, up to 662 ppb, have been reported in Tanzania (Mmongoyo et al. 2017). In northern Uganda, sampled groundnuts had a mean aflatoxin level of 2.4 ppb and over 70% of the samples exceeded the EU limit of 4 ppb (Echodu et al. 2019). The same study reported contamination in sorghum (11.8 ±1.8 μg/kg), millet (3.9 ± 1.1 μg/kg) and sesame (3.2 ± 2.1 μg/kg). In Burundi, all groundnuts from samples the markets were found to be contaminated with aflatoxin with an average concentration of 7 ppb (for the grain), 220.3 ppb (roasted) and 824 ppb (for the processed flour). (Udomkun et al. 2018). Grosshagauer et al. (2020) reported aflatoxin contamination in complementary foods in Rwanda. High levels were reported in nine of the 17 samples: 294 μg/kg and 229 μg/kg for total and aflatoxin B1 respectively.Results show that aflatoxin exposure from milk contributes relatively little to the incidence of liver cancer. One study found the annual incidence rates of cancer attributed to the consumption of AFM1 in milk in rural areas to be around 0.003 cases per 100,000 people per year (Sirma et al. 2019). Another study estimated the risk of AFM1 in urban areas to be 0.004 cases per 100,000 people per year (Ahlberg et al. 2018). A quantitative risk assessment on the risk of aflatoxin from maize consumed in Kenya estimated 1,346 cases of liver cancer from maize, 35 cases from millet and sorghum, and 5 cases from milk in Kenya in 2016 (Sirma et al. 2018). 4.2 Pesticides, heavy metal residues, and other chemicals Omwenga et al. (2021) reported organophosphates (OP) and carbamate contamination in vegetable samples collected from Nairobi (spinach, tomatoes, French beans and kales). OP pesticides were detected in 22% of the samples and profenofos, chlorpyrifos, acephate, methamidophos and omethoate were the most frequently detected pesticides. The EU limits were exceeded in 8-33% of the vegetable samples. Kunyanga et al. (2018) reported dimethoate, metalaxyl, bifenthrin, cyromazine, metribuzin and pyrimethamil in commonly consumed vegetables including kales, amaranth leaves, and tomatoes. Thiabendazole was detected in samples of mangoes, however, this is not considered hazardous since it is applied on the peels which are normally not consumed. In Tanzania, Kapeleka et al. (2020) analysed a total of 613 vegetable samples and found 47% to be contaminated with pesticide residues with 74.2% having levels that the exceeded maximum residue limits (MRLs). The main contaminants were organophosphorus, organochlorines, pyrethroids and carbamates. Kunyanga et al. (2018) reported presence of lead in sampled fruits and vegetables in the range of 0.01 to above 0.06 mg/100g. Cadmium was also detected in all samples but at concentrations lower than 0.01mg/100g. Amaranth leaves, cabbage, scarlet eggplant and tomato samples were collected from five open-air markets in Bushenyi District, Uganda. Analysis of heavy metals was performed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Nickel, lead, chromium and cadmium were detected in decreasing order of concentration in all samples. Lead and nickel significantly exceeded the WHO limits in all the sample species (Kasozi et al. 2021). Mukantwali et al. (2014) studied heavy metal contamination in pineapple products produced by small and medium processors in Rwanda. Lead concentration in the pineapple syrup was 11 to 18 times higher than the permissible limit of 0.05 mg/kg. Levels of copper, zinc and cadmium in the jam were above the permissible levels and ranged from 0.63 to 2.47 (0.03) mg/kg for copper; 0.82 to 3.55 (0.05) mg/kg for zinc and 0.01 to 1.46 (0.01) mg/kg for cadmium.Water and sun-dried fish samples from 10 different landing sites along Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga, Uganda, were analysed for heavy metal presence using atomic absorption spectrophotometry (Mbabazi and Wasswa 2010). Total mean levels, in µg ml−1, in water samples from Lake Victoria were 1.478 ± 0.076 (zinc), 1.123 ± 0.208 (copper), 0.093 ± 0.019 (cadmium), and 1.054 ± 0.165 (lead). The maximum permissible limits in drinking water are Zn = 3; Cu = 2; Cd = 0.003; Pb = 0.01 µg ml−1 (WHO, 2008). Concentration (µg g −1 ) in the silver fish was 5.64 ± 2.16 (Zn), 3.43 ± 2.18 (Cu), 0.57 ± 0.09 (Cd) and 0.17 ± 0.05 (Pb). Cadmium levels were beyond the recommended levels of 0.05-0.3 (Öztürk et al. 2009). Silver fish (Rastreneobola argentea), locally known as mukene, is widely consumed in Uganda.Rao and Murthy (2017) determined heavy metal concentration in milk sampled from urban farms in Dodoma, Tanzania. Except for cobalt which was detected at 0.11 ± 0.03ppm, the levels of copper and zinc were found to be within the recommended daily intake levels (the calculated daily intake of cobalt was 13.4 µg/day while the recommended is 5-8 µg/day). Another study in in Entebbe and Kampala, Uganda, analysed heavy metal contamination in raw milk samples collected from dairy farms and shops. Lead (1.57±0.41), zinc (1.43±0.75) and cadmium (0.16±0.08) were found to exceed the recommended daily allowance intake (RDA) (William et al. 2011).A total of 49 infant formulae milk powder samples (imports to EAC markets, informal micro-retailers in informal markets) from Dar es Salaam were tested for presence of melamine using AgraQuant melamine sensitive test. Six percent of the total samples (3 out of 49) and 11% (3 out of 27) of those supplied by international brands had melamine concentration ranging between 0.5 and 5.5 mg/kg which was above the tolerable daily intake (TD1) of 0.2mg/kg (Schoder 2010).A cyanide poisoning outbreak was reported in Kasese District, Uganda, in September 2017. A cassava-based dish made from wild cassava cultivar flour consumed during a community gathering was implicated. About 100 probable cases were investigated with a case fatality rate of 2%; 33 persons were hospitalized with symptoms such as vomiting, malaise, dizziness, diarrhoea and abdominal pain. Officials from the Ministry of Public Health withdrew cassava flour from local wholesalers and retailers where the victims said they had obtained their flour (Alitubeera et al. 2019). In Kenya, Rostrup et al. (2016) describes a case of methanol poisoning, reported after consumption of homemade illicit brew. Separately, 314 and 126 cases were reported in the months of May and June 2014, with case fatality rates of about 30% and 20%, respectively.The East African Rift Valley runs through several EA countries such as South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Due to active volcanic activity along the Rift Valley, many drinking water sources are contaminated with elevated levels of fluoride leading to dental and skeletal fluorosis among consumers (Eirik, 2013). A summary of fluoride concentration in drinking water sources in the region is given below (Table 8). The values are compared against the WHO limit of 1.5 mg/l. Source: WHO (2015); Havelaar et al. (2015); Gibb et al. (2019) 3 Only hazards resulting in a loss of one or more DALYs per 100,000 people were includedFood is essential and its safety concerns everyone. The best evidence on the burden associated with unsafe food is that provided by FERG, based on the 2010 data. The estimates are, however, not available for individual countries but rather for WHO regions that are grouped on the basis of adult and child mortality, with E being the subregion with the highest mortality levels (Havelaar et al. 2015). The AFR E region (the focus for the current review) comprises of Botswana, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The included EAC partner states (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania) account for one quarter of the AFR E countries and nearly a third of its population, suggesting that FERG data might give some insight into the burden of FBD in the EAC. In the future, establishing detailed country-and region-specific data will be useful for risk and FBD burden assessment, and consequently in determining public health priorities.Animal-source foods are responsible for many, and perhaps most, of FBD (Grace et al. 2018). Li et al. (2019) put the global burden associated with consumption of ASFs at 168 DALYs per 100,000 population (equivalent to 35% of the global burden of FBD), but this did not include non-zoonotic pathogens which are common in ASF as it provides a good matrix for pathogen survival. Also, hazards with animal reservoirs have been shown to have a higher proportion of illnesses attributable to food than those involving human-human or waterborne transmission (Hald et al. 2016). The WHO attribution study (Hoffmann et al. 2017) reported the percentage of pathogens transmitted through different foods including vegetables; it, however, did not consider meat that was contaminated by non-zoonotic pathogens, missing an important intervention point. Meat is likely to be contaminated during slaughter especially where good slaughter practices are not observed and cross-contamination is a possibility at both retail and household level. In most cases, food contamination occurs naturally, by toxins and environmental pollutants or during the processing, packaging, preparing, storage, and transportation of food (Rather et al.2017).Processed products are more likely to contain chemical contaminants than the biological ones (Grace 2015).The hazards found compare with what has been reported globally and justify the need for further research. The WHO study found Campylobacter spp, pathogenic E. coli, non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS), and Shigella as the main bacterial agents associated with foodborne diarrhoea (Havelaar et al. 2015). Animals are implicated in transmission of these pathogens. Salmonella has been reported in meat products more than any other foodstuff with poultry and poultry products presenting the greatest risks of exposure (Ehuwa et al. 2021). Campylobacter -shedding animals, especially poultry, are an important source of food and water contamination (Gölz et al. 2014) with contamination occurring mostly during slaughter. Escherichia coli normally inhabits the gastrointestinal system of humans and animals. A few strains are pathogenic and can cause disease in humans (Donnenberg and Whittam 2001), including Enteropathogenic E. coli, which can cause diarrhoea and vomiting; STEC (associated with enterohaemorrhagic strains), which can cause haemorrhagic colitis and haemolytic uremic syndrome; enterotoxigenic E. coli, which can cause watery diarrhoea; and entero-invasive E. coli, which can also cause watery diarrhoea. Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli occurs as a result of consumption of foods tainted with animal faeces (Canpolat 2015). The burden associated with these strains, based on the WHO data, was 2,938,407 DALYs (for Enteropathogenic E. coli), 2,084,229 (Enterotoxigenic E. coli), and 12,953 (for STEC). Non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) often cause gastroenteritis and, in immune-compromised individuals, bacteraemia and faecal infections (Pegues et al. 2001). Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium and S. enterica serovar enteritidis are the most frequently reported serotypes. Invasive NTS is an emerging public health issue in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), especially in children and the immunocompromised individuals (Gordon 2012). According to Stanaway et al. (2019), a total of 535,000 (95%; 409 000-705 000) cases of invasive NTS occurred in 2017 and the highest incidence was in SSA.Staphylococcus aureus has been reported in several African countries in humans, animals and food products (Lozano et al. 2016). It should be noted that majority of S. aureus strains have the potential to produce enterotoxins (Bennet and Monday 2003) which are responsible for the virulence associated with the bacteria. Moreover, toxins are not destroyed by cooking. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is increasingly being reported in East Africa (Joachim et al. 2017;Masaisa et al. 2018;Wangai et al. 2019). Development of MRSA, both hospital-and community-acquired, present significant public health concerns (David et al. 2008).Noroviruses are a leading cause of gastroenteritis and can be fatal in vulnerable populations including children and the elderly (Glass et al. 2009). The WHO study found a burden of 2,496,078 (1,175,511,092) DALYs associated with the virus (Havelaar et al. 2015).Parasites found in the review included Cryptosporidia spp, Giardia spp, Taenia cysts, Ascaris, Entamoeba histolytica, and Trichinella spp. Cryptosporidium is a protozoa that is transmitted through the faecal-oral route, usually through food and water (Zahedi et al. 2016). The transmission of T. solium, which is endemic in many countries, involves pigs as the intermediate hosts and humans as the definitive hosts. Humans can also carry the larval stage, resulting to neurocysticercosis in the case where the cysts lodge in the brain (an important cause of epilepsy in developing countries) (Pall et al. 2000). Pig confinement, improvements in hygiene and sanitation, and meat inspection are required to break the cycle of spread. Exposure of trichinellosis in humans is through consumption of meat with viable T. spiralis cysts, when consumed raw or inadequately cooked (Robinson and Dalton 2009). The additional desk work also reported pesticides, heavy metals and aflatoxins, all of which are important for public health. Gibb et al. (2019) analysed the burden associated with four metals and found them to have caused a total of 1,122,436 (333,683-3,899, 318) illnesses and 56,192 (14,299-98,806) deaths resulting to over 9 million DALYs. Fifty-four per cent of the cases were due to lead, 96% of the deaths were due to arsenic (none for lead and methylmercury), and 60% of the DALYs were attributed to lead (of the 9,164,162).An overview of FBD hazard occurrence in the East African region has been given, however, data on some key hazards are limited. Similar hazards were found to occur in humans, animals and foods, showing the need for a One Health approach to manage them. Additional research is recommended to confirm the occurrence of these pathogens and determine characteristics that may inform future control measures. Although national governments have a role to play in ensuring food safety, the contribution of other players in the value chain including the private sector should be emphasized. Based on the work by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners, three factors are key to successful implementation of dairy projects namely, training of market actors, providing an enabling regulatory environment, and considering incentives that would support behaviour change (Grace et al. 2019). A farm-to-fork approach is recommended. An effective risk management system will require intervening at every stage of the food value chain, not just regulating the end product (Allard 2002;Burlingame and Pineiro 2007). Equity is another important consideration (Grace 2015). Any measure that is proposed should be risk-based. It has been shown that about 61% of infectious diseases are zoonotic (as are 75% of emerging pathogens) (Taylor et al. 2001). The potential for One Health in disease mitigation ought to be considered.The current review was implemented within a short time, but that notwithstanding, important information was obtained which can inform future research and policy decisions on food safety. The findings are expected to add to ongoing food safety work in the region and contribute to the implementation of the current EAC's strategy on food and nutrition security. A follow up research activity is proposed to confirm the literature findings and provide evidence where significant data gaps have been found (e.g. in Burundi and South Sudan). A risk assessment would then be planned to determine the priority hazards, based on the risks they pose to public health, and subsequently, guide their management."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"eeb3a684c55ae59739684c6054437014","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d661f08a-e627-40ce-9b3c-168d6ead0f6a/retrieve","id":"-2077711092"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3dd8406f-31b5-4d8f-a7ad-b82c95cbe3b9","content":"Undernutrition in South Asia has improved, but a complex set of intersecting social, environmental, climate, and health challenges make continued progress difficult. Moreover, rates of obesity and noncommunicable diseases are rising rapidly as food environments change. Solutions to poor diets are needed across the productionconsumption continuum. Understanding causal linkages along this continuum requires a clear and comprehensive understanding of what drives food choice. Recent methodological advancements to assess the food environments in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) (Downs et al. 2020; Karanja et al. 2022; Sparling et al. 2021; Turner et al. 2019) emphasize the external food environment (availability, prices, vendors and product properties, marketing, and regulation) and more recently, the personal food environment (accessibility, affordability, convenience, and desirability). Assessment of individual and household food choice behaviors and their drivers (such as values, habits, and priorities), however, has received less attention (Blake et al. 2021).Knowing what to assess and how will be critical for guiding efforts to improve diets. Currently, there is no standardized method for assessing individual and household food choice behaviors or drivers of food choice. Providing clarity on which constructs to measure and existing instruments and measures can help to advance food choice research by reducing the need for time-consuming recreation of data collection protocols.This brief identifies important constructs for assessing drivers of food choice behaviors and describes progress on the development of a repository of instruments and measures for assessing these constructs.We reviewed and synthesized models of food choice in order to identify and define constructs for drivers of food choice and food choice behavior at the household and individual levels. To provide an organizational framework, we used thematic coding to define, group, and connect food choice constructs. We then compiled research instruments and measures for each construct into a Food Choice Repository. This repository excludes instruments and measures that only measure the external food environment, dietary intake, or infant and young child feeding.The food choice constructs are organized into six categories (Figure 1): Food choice behaviors are the outcomes of conscious and unconscious processes of food choice decision-making. Intrapersonal drivers are individuals' knowledge, cognition, thinking, skills, and feelings, all shaped by experience, that influence food choice behavior. Sociocultural drivers arise from social and cultural environments. Personal food environments are individuals' perceptions of food relative to a household or individual. Material assets and resources hold a tangible value. Person-state drivers are individuals' biological, physiological, and psychological characteristics that are not easily changed. The constructs that make up these categories are defined in Appendix A.We identified instruments and measures that can be used to assess each construct. Throughout the identification process, we solicited expert feedback on what to include in the repository. The Food Choice Repository (Dropbox folder) provides a central location to access instruments and measures for assessing drivers of food choice and food choice behaviors.This repository is organized in three levels. First, it is organized by the categories described above, which include conceptually related constructs.Second, each category may include multiple sub-constructs. Third, each construct folder includes sub-folders holding specific instruments or measures. These folders include copies of each instrument or measure and guidance documents (such as peerreviewed publications, administration guides, and web links) that describe the methodology used in the development or testing of the instrument or measure.The Food Choice Repository is a useful resource to simplify food choice research, but more work is needed to make the repository widely accessible. In addition, further investment is needed to transform it into a searchable digital repository that can be filtered by keywords, instrument or measure type, study population, and other dimensions of interest.Several methodological advances are urgently needed. First, there is a need for instruments and measures that comprehensively and simultaneously assess multiple food choice behaviors. Second is methodological development in the assessment of drivers of food choice, including but not limited to values, habits and routines, value prioritization, food-related life-course experiences, time use, and food preferences. And third, valid, reliable, and context-appropriate instruments and measures for use in LMICs must be developed. Recent research on drivers of food choice behavior in LMICs (DFC, n.d.) can inform these urgently needed advances.The following fictional example illustrates how to apply knowledge of the drivers of food choice behavior to utilize the Food Choice Repository of instruments and measures to assess drivers of food choice in a South Asia context.Nadia, a 19-year-old lactating mother of two, lives in a village in Habiganj District, Bangladesh, with her husband's family. During pregnancy, Nadia and her husband received nutrition counseling services. Nadia has the nutritional knowledge that milk, meat, fish, and vegetables are important during pregnancy and lactation. Nadia's fatherin-law acquires most household food from the local market. Nadia often desires more fruits and vegetables, but due to their unaffordability and gender roles, she cannot ask for them. Occasionally her husband purchases these foods for her; however, she feels obligated to share them among family members.These foods are allocated first to Nadia's father-in-law, followed by her husband and daughter, and then Nadia and her mother-in-law receive whatever is left over. The child and the male members consume more meat or fish during mealtimes, whereas Nadia consumes more rice at the end of the meal. When her husband and father-in-law are not looking, Nadia sneaks extra foods, like shrimp, milk, and eggs, to her children as her goal is to have her daughter grow tall and healthy.This example shows how drivers of food choice behavior interact to influence diet quality. Researchers can use the Food Choice Repository to assess drivers of food choice related to their research questions.  Food, water, and housing securityPossible research questions for this illustrative example are listed in Table 2.Appendix A can help with identification of constructs to answer the research questions. Drivers of food choice behavior at the household and individual levels can be assessed using instruments and measures accessible in the Food Choice Repository. Expansion of this Food Choice Repository to align with complementary efforts to assess the external food environment could be an important step to advance actions that improve diets in low-and middle-income countries.The outcomes of conscious and unconscious processes of food choice decisionmaking. Food choice behaviors are classified as those related to food acquisition, preparation, allocation, consumption, safety practices, and storage. Assessment and measurement of food choice behaviors of individuals and households often focus on the primary food provider, whose behavior impacts all household members. Measuring individual or household food choice behaviors provides insight into behaviors but not the drivers of those behaviors.ACQUISITION: What, how, and where food is made available by individuals or household members.PREPARATION: Actions performed to transform food from raw or partially or fully processed ingredients into a consumable form in the household.ALLOCATION: What food, and how, is distributed to or shared among members within a household. Allocation is specific to the type of food, quantity, and quality each household member receives relative to other household members and the food order.CONSUMPTION BEHAVIORS: Conditions and processes involved at the time food is taken into the body through the mouth (quantity and quality of foods consumed).Feeding Practices: The behaviors or actions (intentional or unintentional) performed by other household members to feed those who cannot feed themselves (young children, individuals with disabilities, and elders).Household Eating Patterns: Household eating is described according to its patterning (such as regularity, skipping, timing), format (sequence of consumption of food groups), and context (such as family meals, engagement in co-occurring behaviors such as watching television) (Leech et al. 2015).Behaviors that affect foodborne illness. These include buying, preparing, and storing food using safe food-handling practices, such as personal hygiene, prevention of cross-contamination, and adequate temperature control, that prevent the spread of harmful bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses; and choosing foods believed to contain less harmful ingredients (that is, avoiding pesticides, agrochemicals, and adulterated foods).Food Safety Practices: Conditions and practices that preserve food quality to prevent contamination and foodborne illnesses.WASH Practices: Water, sanitation, and hygiene practices related to the accessibility of safe drinking water/water security, toilets/latrines, environmental hygiene, and handwashing to prevent infectious diseases.Food Storage: Conditions and practices wherein uneaten/leftover food or raw ingredients are kept for future use, protected from entry and propagation of microbes.Methods by which food already prepared or raw ingredients are discarded due to the determination that they are no longer wanted or consumable.Individual knowledge, cognition, thinking, skills, and feelings held by a person that influence food choice behavior. These are proximal drivers of food choice and are shaped by experience and modifiable through new active experiences, passive exposures, education, and interventions. The focus of measurement is on the individual, but measurements may be collected for multiple household members or a household food provider to gain insight into intrapersonal drivers of food choice at the household level.The activities an individual carries out during a day and the amount of time spent on different activities (such as food preparation, shopping, eating, and childcare).The responsibilities and positions individuals' hold within their household and community. Individuals' intrahousehold social position reflects their power and impact on others within the household. Roles within the community reflect their power and impact on access to material and social resources and support.IDENTITY: Individuals' self-schemas and self-identities drive how and what they eat. Examples include cultural identity (such as ethnic, religious, and regional), health identity (for example diabetic), ethical identity (for example, vegetarian), and eating identity (such as picky eater, meat eater, emotional eater, or healthy eater).What individuals and households know, understand, and believe informs their food choices.Knowledge and Skills: What individuals know (for example, about vitamins, minerals, or other nutrition needs) and can do concerning food (such as food preparation and cooking skills; and classification of foods).Attitudes: Manner, disposition, feeling, and position concerning food.Examples include prestige and satiety associated with food.Beliefs: Something that is accepted, is considered true, or is held as an opinion. Examples include definitions of \"healthy,\" the importance of sustainable eating, and taboos.Beliefs about one's ability to perform a specific behavior (that is, perceived skills and perceived control over handling of food (Young 2017)) even when confronted with barriers (Freivogel and Visschers 2020).The driving force behind human actions. Motivation and expectancies are closely related drivers of food choice behavior.Motivation: The process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors.Expectancies or Anticipated Consequences: Expectations are personal beliefs about occurrences that may take place in the future.Preferred foods are set or held above other foods or beverages in estimation; liked better; or chosen over other foods. Preferences differ from measurements of desirability in that preference involves comparing foods or beverages. Examples include conditioned preferences, ranked choices, and a listing of favorites.Habits are recurrent, often unconscious behavior patterns acquired through frequent repetition. A routine is a series of things usually done at a particular time or in a fixed order. Examples of ways to measure habits and routines include assessing eating scripts, daily eating schedules, behavioral strategies for habitual eating, and behavior plans.Goals that drive food choice behavior are intentions or the object toward which an endeavor is directed; an end (for example, intentions for future eating behavior, child feeding goals, and dietary change goals). Prioritizations are negotiations and/or trade-offs that inform the ranking of food considerations (such as cost, taste, convenience, health, body image, moral/ethical, and managing relationships).Individual or household characteristics contingent on the social and cultural environments in which they previously or currently live. These characteristics tend to be shared by members of households and communities. The focus of measurement is on the individual, household, or community level to gain insight into sociocultural drivers of food choices at the individual or household level.A process whereby the lives of women and girls are transformed from a situation where they have limited power to a situation where their power is enhanced. This framework recognizes three levels of change: personal, relational, and environmental (VeneKlasen and Miller, 2002).Life-course experiences of the individual, household, or community drive food choice behavior (for example, associative conditioning, social conditioning, prior food experiences, and diet history).VALUES: \"Trans-situational goals, varying in importance, that serve as guiding principles in the life of a person or group\" (Schwartz et al. 2012), such as openness to change, stimulation, self-direction, hedonism and/or indulgence, conservationtradition, conformity, security, self-enhancement-power, face, achievement, selftranscendence-benevolence, and universalism.SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS: Association with people or groups (such as networks, relationships, status, and caste) that provides the individual or the household informational, instrumental, or emotional support in ways that impact food choice behaviors. The focus of measurement is on the social structure of the community and the social assets of the individual and household.Social Capital: Tangible and nontangible resources an individual or group has access to through their networks and connections.Personal perceptions of the extent to which food available in the external food environment is desirable, convenient, affordable, or accessible relative to personal and household circumstances and characteristics. The focus of measurement is on the perception of the food itself.AFFORDABILITY: Food affordability is determined by the relationship between the cost of food and individual and/or household purchasing power, or perception of the extent to which foods are affordable.Convenience of food (that is, the relative time and effort needed to acquire, prepare, allocate, and/or consume food) or perception of food as more or less convenient given personal and household constraints.ACCESSIBILITY: Food accessibility reflects the perception of the physical distance, time, space, and place relative to individual activity spaces and daily mobility of food sources.DESIRABILITY: Food desirability is the degree to which food is preferred, acceptable, and meets taste preferences or is positively perceived.Tangible material assets and resources either available or perceived to be available to an individual or household. These assets and resources tend to be shared by members of households. The focus of measurement is on the individual or household to gain insight into material assets and resources that drive food choices at the individual or household level.FACILITIES: Physical spaces and equipment available for food preparation, storage, allocation, consumption, or disposal (cooking facilities, dining spaces, refrigeration, storage space, and so on).The degree to which individuals and households have access, at all times, to sufficient food, water, or housing for an active, healthy life.Food Security: The state of having reliable access to sufficient, safe, affordable, and nutritious food.Housing Security: The state of having secure, affordable, safe, acceptable, and decent housing.Water Security: The state of having access to adequate (that is, appropriate quantities of water for all household uses), reliable, and safe water for wellbeing and health. Measurements consider the multiple components of water security at the level at which it is experienced (by individuals and households).Fuel Security: The state of having access to consistent, reliable, clean, and preferred cooking fuels.WEALTH: Assets and financial resources available to individuals and households that drive food choice behaviors (such as income, land for growing food, material goods for barter or sale, and other assets).TRANSPORTATION: Availability of transportation options to access food sources (such as bike, motorbike, car, or public transport).Individuals' biological, physiological, and psychological characteristics that influence food choice behavior. These characteristics tend to be stable (for example, genetics); or occur in consistent patterns (such as hunger) at the individual level that are not easily changeable, and not generally shared among household members. The focus of measurement is on the individual.BIOLOGICAL FEATURES: Biological characteristics of individuals that drive food choice behavior (such as genetic influences on disease risk or body composition, taste receptors, hunger/satiety mechanisms, and/or nutrient requirements).The physiological state of individuals that drives food choice behaviors (such as hunger, learned satiety, growth, weight status, physical fitness, and/or health status).The psychological state of individuals that drives food choice behavior (such as neophobia, eating disorders, emotional regulation, mental state, and/or innate personality)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"63c9450a84493701a53d2ce1d4dcd3d3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c0ee7b2d-2bab-4bc5-8f14-cab8215cdb2f/retrieve","id":"-1815772924"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d2d39b4d-8356-41fe-9deb-53aea03ac873","content":"L e haricot vert, variété du haricot commun, Phaseolus vulgaris L., est une culture de rente cultivée par les grands exploitants, comme par les petits agriculteurs. En Afrique orientale, plus de 90% de la production est destiné aux marchés régional et international. Le haricot vert représente une culture légumière d'exportation majeure au Kenya, en Tanzanie, en Ouganda, en Zambie, au Zimbabwe et en Afrique du Nord, et gagne en importance dans d'autres pays, notamment au Cameroun, en Ethiopie, au Rwanda et au Soudan. A l'est, au centre et au nord du continent africain, les variétés naines sont les plus communes. Les variétés volubiles sont généralement plus productives que les variétés naines et leur récolte s'étale sur une plus longue période, un double avantage susceptible de susciter l'intérêt des petits agriculteurs désirant augmenter les retombées économiques des travaux effectués par la famille. Les variétés volubiles adaptées à l'Afrique orientale restent néanmoins à mettre au point. Les préférences commerciales sur le type et l'apparence de la gousse du haricot varient selon les régions. Les travaux sur l'amélioration du haricot vert en Afrique de l'Est se concentrent sur la mise au point et la production de variétés naines et volubiles qui offrent un rendement élevé de haricots fins et extra-fins par plant, sachant que ce sont les plus rémunérateurs.Pour les petits exploitants, particulièrement au Kenya, en Ouganda, au Soudan et en Tanzanie, le haricot vert est une source de revenu majeure. Le haricot vert est également cultivé par les grandes compagnies commerciales en vue de son exportation vers les supermarchés de l'étranger ou de sa vente au secteur de la conserverie. La haute qualité de sa gousse, l'empaquetage, ainsi que les soins post-récolte que requièrent les produits d'exportation ont conduit les petits agriculteurs à s'organiser en groupements (tels que l'Association des exportateurs de produits frais du Kenya (FPEAK) ou encore à utiliser les services de compagnies privées ou d'organismes semi-publics (comme l'Autorité de mise en valeur de l'horticulture -HCDA-au Kenya).Aujourd'hui, le haricot vert est le pilier de l'exportation de légumes au Kenya, secteur prospère et en plein essor. Au cours des cinq dernières années, le Kenya a exporté 25 000 tonnes de haricots verts par an, représentant une valeur de 60 millions de dollars. On estime que plus d'un million de personnes bénéficient du sous-secteur du haricot vert au Kenya 1. Les chaînes européennes de supermarché, contraintes par les normes européennes relatives au contrôle de la qualité à la source, tendent de plus en plus à s'adresser directement à un nombre restreint de producteurs à grande échelle, entraînant une marginalisation du secteur de la petite agriculture, qui constituait pourtant le pivot de cette industrie.Le rendement du haricot vert dans les petites exploitations varie de 2 à 8 tonnes par hectare, alors que les producteurs à grande échelle peuvent produire plus de 14 tonnes par hectare. La production en petite exploitation est en effet grandement limitée par les attaques de ravageurs (tels que la mouche du haricot) et les maladies (comme la rouille). La nature intensive de cette culture induit un risque élevé d'attaques de parasites et de maladies, rendant l'utilisation des pesticides souvent excessive. Le coût élevé des semences entrave également la production à petite échelle. Les rares variétés développées par les institutions publiques sont souvent très sensibles aux maladies et aux ravageurs. Peu d'efforts ont été fournis en vue de mettre au point des variétés améliorées de haricot vert et de les diffuser gratuitement auprès des petits agriculteurs et du secteur semencier informel (qui fournit plus de 90% des graines de haricot sec semées) dans la région. La demande orientée vers un haricot de haute qualité impose aux petits exploitants de recourir à de grandes quantités de fongicides et d'insecticides pour réduire la perte de production, comme les pertes postrécoltes, causées par les maladies et les ravageurs. Cette pratique est néanmoins vouée à disparaître du fait des limites maximales de résidus récemment instaurées. Toutefois, la politique des grands supermarchés européens, privilégiant un nombre restreint de fournisseurs à la source et l'achat des produits aux grands producteurs, risque fort d'entraîner les petits agriculteurs vers la faillite. C'est pourquoi les grandes associations de petits paysans, telles que la FPEAK, secondent les importateurs dans le traçage de la chaîne d'approvisionnement jusqu'au niveau de l'exploitation individuelle, de manière à garantir la qualité du produit final.Le CIAT et le Réseau centrafricain de recherche sur le haricot (ECABREN), rejoints par l'ASARECA en 2005, appuient un programme régional sur le haricot vert, lancé en 2001, visant à mettre au point, à l'intention des petits producteurs, des variétés améliorées de haricot vert offrant un potentiel de rendement élevé, une bonne résistance aux stress biotiques et une gousse de qualité. Ce programme est régi par quatre institutions : l'Institut de recherche agricole Kawanda en Ouganda; L'Université Moi à Eldoret; le Centre national de recherche en horticulture de l'Institut kenyan de recherche agronomique (KARI) à Thika, au Kenya, et le Département des sciences des plantes et de la protection des cultures de l'Université de Nairobi. Les travaux menés à l'Institut Kawanda se concentrent sur le tri des variétés de haricot vert en collaboration avec les agriculteurs et sur la mise en place de systèmes globaux de production. A l'issue de quatre années d'évaluation en collaboration avec les agriculteurs, quatre lignées ont été sélectionnées. Le programme de l'Université Moi, au Kenya, a pour but de mettre au point des cultivars de haricot vert adaptés aux conditions locales, offrant un meilleur rendement des gousses, une bonne résistance à l'anthracnose et à la rouille, et une gousse répondant aux exigences de qualité du marché. Après avoir obtenu six générations de sélection, 12 lignées ont été identifiées, puis évaluées dans le cadre d'essais nationaux de performance réalisés sur six sites différents, en partenariat avec l'Inspection phytosanitaire du Kenya.Selon les sites, le rendement moyen a varié de 3,1 tonne/hectare1 à Thika à 19.7 tonne/hectare1 à Marigat. Ces lignées ont démontré une bonne capacité d'adaptation et un potentiel de rendement élevé dans des milieux divers. L'observation de la réaction des plants aux agents pathogènes à Marigat, à Lanet et à Njoro, régions où les cultures sont les plus vulnérables aux maladies, a permis d'identifier quatre lignées résistantes à la rouille. Ces lignées possédaient également une gousse de bonne qualité, comparable à celle des cultivars commerciaux. Le rendement moyen obtenu sur les différents sites était de 10 à 13 tonnes/ hectare.Au centre du KARI à Thika, les travaux de recherche ont porté sur la mise en place d'une collection de variétés de haricot vert et de haricot à rames à des fins d'application pratique, ainsi qu'au développement de populations en ségrégation. Quinze accessions de haricot vert et cinq accessions de haricot à rames ont été collectées au centre. Vingt sélections F4 provenant d'un croisement entre une variété commerciale et une variété localement améliorée et résistante à la rouille ('Kutuless') ont été obtenues. Deux lignée de F4, particulièrement prometteuses, ont alors été développées jusqu'à la génération F6.A l'Université de Nairobi, des croisements ont été effectués de manière à transférer les traits de résistance à la rouille à trois variétés sensibles de haricot vert. Des populations en ségrégation ont été mises au point à partir de croisements entre trois cultivars commerciaux de haricot vert sensibles à la rouille et deux lignées résistantes à la rouille. Les semences des lignées mises au point par les quatre institutions sont multipliées en vue de leur évaluation par les agriculteurs et les exportateurs de la région.La consommation croissante dans les centres urbains d'Afrique de l'Est et dans le secteur hôtelier laisse présager un avenir prometteur à la production de haricots verts. La disponibilité de variétés commerciales publiques améliorera l'accès des petits agriculteurs aux semences. Les nouvelles variétés permettront très probablement de réduire les coûts de production grâce à un meilleur accès aux semences et à une moindre dépendance vis-à-vis des fongicides et des pesticides. Et surtout, par un moindre recours aux pesticides, les agriculteurs seront à même de respecter les normes très strictes d'exportation fixant les limites maximales de résidus. Il s'agit là d'une condition essentielle si l'on veut que cette culture continue de fournir travail et revenus en milieu rural. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6c199dc006992bf23d7a80cf9bdaaec9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/52d633dc-d216-4593-9cba-3b40bfda2a02/retrieve","id":"-1543024331"},"keywords":["D4t.\\\",A!.\\~~ ó 'rln~ .• iL fMA .\\. '''1°\\'' ~ft:::,.o (\"\" 11' 0",".. O F'l.I\"Q\\.. ,\",'E",",oMPc"],"sieverID":"e6c22364-6ff4-4845-b3fc-ae8d2eac12e4","content":"La estrateg~a de meJoram~ento del fr~Jol voluble en Cusco, debe part~r de la ~mportancLa del cultLvo de ma~z En un estud~o rec~ente en dos comun~dades ma~zeras del Valle Sagrado, se ha encontrado que el 75% y 88% de los agrLcultores consLderan el frLJol como un cultLvo prLncLpal S~n embargo, solamente el 57% y 22% del area de maLZ se encuentra sembrada con frLJol Ademas, los agrLcultores acostumbran a sembrar el frLJol en baJa densLdad, debLdo en parte, al alto grado de competencLa que este ocas Lona al ma~z Esta pract~ca causa rendLm~entos baJOS en el frL]ol entre 300 y 500 kgjha Frente a estos datos y con el fLn de aprovechar la gran extensLon de areas cultLvadas con ma1Z, en el Valle Sagrado y otras zonas, se ha tomado como estrateg1a de me]OramLento Desarrollar lLneas de frLJol aptas para la aSOC1aCLon con ma1ZLas nuevas l~neas perm1ten al maLZ mantener su nIvel de rendLmlento, aumentando a la vez la produccLon por hectarea de frLJol De acuerdo a esta estrategLa y en base a anterLores evaluaCIones, se han selecc~onado para la campaña 88/89, en la Estaclon ExperImental Taray, 15 lIneas promIsor1as, de las cuales se destacaron ZAV 8382, 1,354 kg/ha (frIJol) y 7,667 kg/ha (ma~z), ZAV 8397, 1,354 kg/ha (frIJol) y 7,395 kgjha (maLz), ZAV 8398, 1,052 kg/ha (frIJol) y 8,156 kg/ha (ma~z), frente al testIgo local Amar~llo GIgante, 1350 kg/ha (frIJol) y 4,500 kgjha (ma~z) El test~go local, debLdo a su hab~ to de crec~mLento IVb (muy agreSIVO), baJa sLgnLfLcatlvamente los rendImIentos del ma~z, una desventaJa que superan las nuevas lIneas, todas de hab~to IVa (menos agresLvo)AsoclacLon ma~z-frIJol, habIto de creCLmlen- O -1 ha 1 -5 ha 5 -10 ha 10 ha y mas % de las unl.dades 54,0 37,6 2,9 ! 5,5 agropecuarl.asMas de la ml.tad de las tenenclas cuentan con una extensl0n total que apenas llega a una hectarea Cabe menCl.onar que en estos mlnlfundlos se produce una gama amplla de cultl.vos, lo que reduce otra vez el area dl.sponl.ble para un cultl.vO determl.nado En el caso del malz, un estudl.o del CIMMYT ha determlnado para el grupo de los pequeños agrlcultores del Departamento de Cusco, un area promedlo de 0,6 ha (Ben]amln 1980 14) Se qu~so saber 51 a esta lmportancla SUb]etlva que les atrlbuyen los agrlcultores a los dlferentes cUltlvOS, correspond~a la lm-portanc~a en cuanto al area sembrada con estos cultl.vOS Los resultados se presentan en el graflco 2 a,b Se observa que el frl.Jol mantlene la l.mportancl.a tambl.en en area sembrada En cuanto al malZ que ocupa el pr~mer lugar, tanto en la l.mpor-tanCl.a subJet~va como en el area sembrada, se t~ene la slgulente extens~on total En Macay 43, ° ha y en Medlaluna 28,4 ha De estas areas se encuentran el 22% y 57% respect~vamente sembradas en aSOClac~on con fr~Jol De esta manera resultan para cada comunero en ambas comunldades las s~gu~entes extenslones de ma1Z y de la aSOClaC10n ma1z-fr1Jol (Cuadro 2) Extens~on con ma1Z y con la aSOC1aC10n ma1z-fr1Jol por comunero en dos comun1dades campes1nas. Llegamos a las slgulentes conclusloneS con lmpllcaclones para el me)Oramlento del frlJol voluble 1 EXlste un contraste entre la lmportancla que los agr1cultores atrlbuyen al frlJol por un lado, y los baJos rend1mlentos, por otro ladoEn la zona de Cusco se ha ldentlf1cado un potenclal para la mayor d1fus10n del cultlVO de frl)ol voluble Se trata de las grandes extenslones de ma1Z unlcultlvo Tamb1en se ha ldentlf1cado como problema, la baJa densldad de frlJol en los terrenos de malZ asoclado con fr1Jol Tanto el potenc1al (ma1z un1cultlVO) como el problema (baJa denS1dad de frlJol) estan ocasl0nados por el hablto de creClmlento de los frl]oles locales (IV b, muy agreslvo) (Vease graflco 3 )Tomando en cuenta esta causa (agreslVldad), se ha def1n1do como estrateg18 de me)Oramlento, buscar llneas de fr1)01 voluble con hab1to de creclmlento IVa, con adaptaclon a alturas hasta 3,000 m s n m y con otras caracterlst1cas deseables Ahora blen, el agrlcultor puede 19ualar con sus varledades locales los rendl-m1entos de las nuevas 11neas, pero solamente hasta una C1erta densldad poblac1onal del frlJol 81 se pasa esta densldad, el agrlcultor obt1ene un mayor rendlmlento por area de frl)ol solamente en per)U1Cl0 de los rendlmlentos del malZ Eso le obllga respetar una densldad max1maEl efecto prlnclpal de un camblo del hablto de creC1m1ento sera entonces, la pos1bl1ldad de aprovechar una dens1dad opt1ma para el frlJol, que perm1te aumentar la productlv1dad por area, man-ten1endo a la vez el rendlmlento del malZ Esta estrateg1a se puede representar en base a una curva de respuesta con las dos var1ables \"densldad\" y \"rendlm1ento\" (graflco 4) Las varledades locales llegan hasta la densldad maXlma D, (sln per]Ud1Car al ma1z) Con las nuevas varledades, Sln embargo, se puede llegar a una denS1dad opt1ma para el frlJol Di La estrategla conslste, entonces, en explotar el espac10 B de graflco Cabe menC10nar que los trabaJOS de me)Oramlento han sldo dlrlgldos no solamente hac1a el camblo del hablto de crec1mlento, S1no tamblen han 1ncluldo fuentes de reslstenc1a a antracnosls, añublo de halo y ascochyta, enfermedades pr1nclpales de la zona Ademas, se ha selecc10nado por precocldad y, por supuesto, por color y tlpo de grano La estrategla descrlta se manlf1esta en los s1gu1entes trabaJOS 1 El estableclmlento de un Banco de Germoplasma en la Estac10nExper1mental de Andenes (Mollepata y Taray)2 El avance de las generacl0nes se eJecuta en dos zonas contrastantes en altltud Mollepata y Taray a 2,800 Y 2,900 m s n m respectl vamente I Sahuayaco y Amaybamba a 850 y 1,800 m s n m , lograndase dos generac10nes por año 3 Los materlales promlsor10S, producto de las evaluac10nes de germoplasma o del desarrollo de 11neas son ensayados en ex-per1mentos prellmlnares con dos o tres repet1c10nes, luego ensayos e11te (parcelas de tamaño optlmo y con adecuado numero de repetlc1ones)4 Se desarrollan llneas res1stentes a antracnosls, ascochyta y añublo de halo, con hablto de creclmlento menos agreslvo para un ef1C1ente s1stema asoc1ado con ma1z, a part1r de generaclones tempranas rec1bldas del CIAT 5 Se estan buscando 11neas de fr1Jol con grano comerc1al tlpo \"Amarl11o Glgante\", \"Caballero\", \"ROJOS Grandes\", \"K1dney\" y \"Canarlos\" aptos para el cUltlvo asoc1ado En la med1da que se reducen selecclonadas, se aumentan (r = -0,56, con test1gos r = los rendl.m1entos de las 11neas los rend1mlentos del malZ -0,69) 3 Se observa que las varledades locales le hacen competenc1a al ma1Z hasta reducl.r sus rendl.m1entos en 44% (test1go local frente a la llnea G-ll264 y 45% (testl.go local frente a la ll.nea ZAV 84093) Esta tendencl.a se mant1ene Sl se comparan las med1as de los testlgos locales con las medlas de todas las 11neas selecclonadas 4,77 tmjha frente a 7,73 tmjha, o sea una reducclon de 38% En otras palabras, la evaluac10n de estas llneas ha conflrmado el cr1terlO de su selecclon 4 Se observa que las 11neas selecc1onadas, aunque no superan en rendlmlento a la varledad local, permlten mantener un buen rendLmLento del maLz, lo que es un resultado Lmportante para los agrLcultores maLceros de la regLon 5 Las lLneas seleccLonadas, son de grano comercLal y tLenen resLstencLa a las prLncLpales enfermedades de la zonaA traves del meJoramLento genetLCO se ha logrado LdentLf1car lLneas promLsorLas y var1edades meJoradas con habLto de creCL-mLento IV a El cambLo del habLto de crecLmLento permLte una densLdad mas alta de frLJol A este efecto del me]OramLento ge-netLco hay que añadLr la estrategLa agronomLca de aprovechar de la LnverSLon que se hace de todas maneras en la produccLon del maLZ El frL]ol ocupa el mLsmo terreno del maLZ, lo que es pre-paracLon del terreno, fertLILzacLon y algunas labores culturales, se tLenen que eJecutar con o S1n fr1]01 La aSOC1aC10n del ma1Z con fr1]01 aumenta los costos de produccLon solamente en cuanto a la sem1lla y alguna mano de obra ad1c10nal Entonces, los costos de producc10n del fr1]01 no son muy altos comparados con su benef1C10FLnalmente cabe subrayar que el mercado, med1ante buenos prec10s de fr1]01, V1ene est1mulando la producc10n de este cult1vo en el Cusca En la etapa de segulm1ento, espec1almente en un futuro eStudlO de adopc1on, serla necesar10 averlguar el grado de correlaclon entre el camb10 del hablto de creclm1ento y la esperada mayor d1fuS10n del cult1vO de fr1]ol, y mas 1mportante aun, comparar el efecto de esta 1nnovaClon tecnologlca con el efecto del mercado, a traves de la 1nteraCCLon entre los baJos costos de produccLon y el precLo del frL]ol  -  f\"'\" .. \\. \\\"I'\\' 'Q\",,\\,. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/8998390321.json b/main/part_2/8998390321.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..391f046117087d3c8817bab1058e5ec1f8cb5655
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fc2cd13ae5f43bb00f50977680c5768c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/231bab87-e2e7-4a12-8b9f-e1f2867f7995/retrieve","id":"1971163410"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f956aa89-9f59-4a75-a268-c5bacb360b81","content":"• Retail prices of maize increased by 22 percent since June 2022.• No ADMARC purchases or sales were reported in any of the markets monitored by IFPRI.• Retail prices in Malawi were lower than in selected regional markets in eastern Africa.As of the end of July, maize retail prices averaged at MWK310/kg, an increase of 22 percent from the previous month (Figure 1). This is about 137 percent higher than the same month last year (July 2021). Since harvest this year, maize retail prices have ever been rising likely related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as explained in our policy note on that topic.Within the month, maize retail prices were highest in Bangula, selling as high as MWK400/kg and lowest in Rumphi and Jenda selling at MWK230/kg. All markets except Chitipa and Mbayani (where prices were constant) registered price increases from as low as 1 percent in Mzimba to as high as 45 percent in Rumphi (Table 1).Maize continues to sell the highest in the South. Prices in the North were more unstable than in the Center and South (Figure 2).As of the end of July, prices in the South averaged MWK 324/kg, in the Center averaged MWK 291/kg, while in the North prices averaged MWK 286/kg. The Monthly Maize Market Report was developed by researchers at IFPRI Malawi with the goal of providing clear and accurate information on the variation of maize prices in selected markets throughout Malawi. The reports are intended as a resource for those interested in maize markets in Malawi, namely producers, traders, consumers, or other agricultural stakeholders. To learn more about our work, visit www.massp.ifpri.info or follow us on Twitter (@IFPRIMalawi).No ADMARC purchases or sales were reported in any of the markets monitored by IFPRI.As of the end of July, retail prices of maize in the Malawian markets were lower than in selected regional markets in eastern Africa. Prices in Lunzu and Chimbiya were higher than on SAFEX. (Figure 3).IFPRI Malawi has been monitoring retail maize prices and ADMARC activities in selected markets since July 2016. Currently, data is collected from 26 markets across the country, with monitoring occurring six days per week, excluding Sundays. At least three monitors report data from each of these markets. Data is collected by means of automated short message service (SMS) with follow-ups made by telephone if necessary. Regional prices reported in Figure 3 are sourced from Food and Agriculture Organization's Global Information and Early Warning System (FAO-GIEWS), IFPRI Malawi, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), and the Kenya Agricultural Management Information System (KAMIS). "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/9031036552.json b/main/part_2/9031036552.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ca7257bb2d853f2689d3212d462a6a5475998f9c
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d4a732950d8727ec744dc86608aa244a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/63c152ba-dc63-4b19-a8f0-8b091b9052cd/content","id":"1969096026"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"95271c9d-b288-4d23-bff9-0eba09009a7a","content":"Value-added agriculture entails changing a raw agricultural product into something new through packaging, processing, cooling, drying, extracting or any other type of process that differentiates the product from the original raw commodity.A combination of agriculture and livestock farming; high dependence on rangelands.Traditional slash-and-burn agroforestry practice with crop and fallow phases.Dominated by agriculture with integrated forestry, agroforestry and livestock farming.Agroforestry-horticulture-b ased high value crops -tea, coffee, nuts, fruits, medicinal and aromatic plants and spices (large cardamom)   Farmers in Japan can now generate solar electricity while growing crops on the same farmland -called \"Solar Sharing\".The concept was originally developed by Akira Nagashima in 2004 who learned the \"light saturation point.\" The rate of photosynthesis increases as the irradiance level is increased; however at one point, any further increase in the amount of light that strikes the plant does not cause any increase to the rate of photosynthesis. One day you might be able to buy a spray that changes the colour of their flowers by silencing certain genes. Farmers may use similar gene-silencing sprays to boost yields, make their crops more nutritious, protect them from droughts and trigger ripening. The technique could let us change plant traits without altering their DNA. https://www.newscientist.comMonsanto hopes to have an RNA spray ready by 2020 that will tackle potato beetles resistant to many pesticide."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/9054410305.json b/main/part_2/9054410305.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..253a29644c4e252661c239e755d3534253bb6a5d
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"29e3bc62dfda061a18714c598615ad60","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/42198a33-33c2-4565-ad28-51b516011eaf/content","id":"1463330118"},"keywords":["Aegilops","barley","carboxylation","enzyme kinetics","photosynthesis","Rubisco","Triticeae","Triticum"],"sieverID":"bfbf4237-9c7b-41fd-b04d-b3ff59bebd14","content":"Rubisco is a major target for improving crop photosynthesis and yield, yet natural diversity in catalytic properties of this enzyme is poorly understood. Rubisco from 25 genotypes of the Triticeae tribe, including wild relatives of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum), were surveyed to identify superior enzymes for improving photosynthesis in this crop. In vitro Rubisco carboxylation velocity (V c ), Michaelis-Menten constants for CO 2 (K c ) and O 2 (K o ) and specificity factor (S c/o ) were measured at 25 and 35 °C. V c and K c correlated positively, while V c and S c/o were inversely related. Rubisco large subunit genes (rbcL) were sequenced, and predicted corresponding amino acid differences analysed in relation to the corresponding catalytic properties. The effect of replacing native wheat Rubisco with counterparts from closely related species was analysed by modelling the response of photosynthesis to varying CO 2 concentrations. The model predicted that two Rubisco enzymes would increase photosynthetic performance at 25 °C while only one of these also increased photosynthesis at 35 °C. Thus, under otherwise identical conditions, catalytic variation in the Rubiscos analysed is predicted to improve photosynthetic rates at physiological CO 2 concentrations. Naturally occurring Rubiscos with superior properties amongst the Triticeae tribe can be exploited to improve wheat photosynthesis and crop productivity.Wheat is the most widely grown crop and an important source of protein and calories, providing more than 20% of the calories consumed worldwide (Braun et al., 2010). It is projected that the world population will rise to over 9 billion by the year 2050 (United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2013). This growth in population, along with a rise in per capita consumption (Kearney, 2010), will increase the global demand for food. Future increases in crop production will rely mainly on new strategies to increase yield and cropping intensity (Gregory and George, 2011;Alexandratos and Bruinsma, 2012;Fischer et al., 2014).Yield traits that were positively affected by the green revolution appear to have relatively little remaining potential for further exploitation in modern wheat (Zhu et al., 2010), and further increases in yield potential will need to come from the improvement of photosynthetic efficiency. In this context, significant variation in biomass has been identified in exotic wheat genetic resources (Reynolds et al., 2015). Rubisco, (EC.4.1.1.39) is a key player in photosynthetic CO 2 assimilation, as it catalyses the first step of the Calvin-Benson cycle, fixing carbon dioxide through the carboxylation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP). Rubisco also catalyses an additional and competing reaction with oxygen, which leads to the loss of fixed carbon and energy during photorespiration. This, together with the relatively low catalytic rate of Rubisco, limits photosynthetic productivity. Overcoming the limitations of Rubisco is therefore a major target in attempts to increase photosynthesis and yield (Parry et al., 2007;Parry et al., 2013).There is natural variation in the catalytic properties of Rubisco isolated from various higher plants (Delgado et al., 1995;Galmés et al., 2005;Kapralov and Filatov, 2007;Andralojc et al., 2014;Galmés et al., 2014a;Galmés et al., 2014b). Relatively few studies report all catalytic parameters-the maximum velocities (V) and the Michaelis-Menten constants (K M ) for the carboxylase (c) and oxygenase (o) activities (V c , V o , K c , and K o , respectively) and the specificity factor (S c/o =(V c /K c )/(V o /K o ))-or measurements at anything other than a single temperature. Greater natural diversity is likely to be revealed when the catalytic parameters of Rubisco from a broader range of species become available. Current evidence suggests that there is a trade-off between the maximum carboxylation rate of Rubisco (V c ) and the relative specificity for CO 2 (S c/o ) (Bainbridge et al. 1995;Zhu et al., 2004;Savir et al., 2010), which may limit the extent to which these parameters can be independently altered. Clearly, a superior Rubisco for improving crop performance will have catalytic properties that maximize carboxylation, minimize the oxygenase activity, and enable enhanced rates of photosynthesis in relevant environments (Galmés et al., 2014b;Sharwood and Whitney, 2014).Evolution of Rubisco variants with differing catalytic properties has been driven by their respective diverse cellular environments, which in turn are affected by their respective external environments (see Carmo-Silva et al., 2014 and references therein). These conditions provide selective pressures which favour changes in Rubisco structure that optimize performance (Tcherkez et al., 2006). While the chloroplastencoded Rubisco large subunits incorporate the catalytic sites and therefore contribute directly to the observed catalytic properties, recent evidence suggests that changes in expression of genes within the nuclear-encoded small subunit multigene family can also cause catalytic variation (e.g. Morita et al., 2014).The goal of this study was to identify Rubisco variants in the Triticeae tribe with catalytic properties that are likely to improve photosynthetic efficiency in wheat. We focused on wheat relatives so that useful traits could be introduced into a wheat genetic background by means of wide crossing (thus avoiding genetic manipulation), with increased likelihood that the available (wheat) chloroplast chaperones and Rubisco activase isoforms would subsequently promote the assembly and maintenance of catalytic activity in any resulting forms of the Rubisco holoenzyme. Triticeae genotypes from diverse climates and geographical locations were studied to increase the likelihood of identifying forms of Rubisco with different (and hopefully superior) kinetic properties from those found in Triticum aestivum (bread wheat). The resulting catalytic parameters were assessed in silico using a biochemical model of leaf photosynthesis. This approach suggested that Rubisco from two of the genotypes studied has the potential to improve the photosynthetic capacity and yield potential of wheat.For all kinetic measurements, values obtained in test samples were compared with those of T. aestivum cv Cadenza, which was used as control. Cadenza is widely grown and has routinely been used in transformation experiments, making it a well-known and characterized variety. A total of 25 genotypes were analysed (Table 1). Species related to bread wheat were chosen with a range of characteristics, such as adaption to warmer conditions (T. aestivum SATYN and T. dicoccon CIMMYT), or which had been used to introduce desirable traits into bread wheat (Schneider et al., 2008). Seeds were obtained from CIMMYT (Mexico); the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (UK); and colleagues at Rothamsted Research. All plants were grown from seed in trays containing Rothamsted Research compost mix in a glasshouse at 20 °C with a 16 h photoperiod. Additional lighting was provided whenever the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) fell below 500 μmol m −2 s −1 . All plants were well watered. Young, healthy leaves were harvested 2-3 weeks after sowing and rapidly frozen in liquid nitrogen.Rubisco from snap-frozen young leaves (at least 500 cm 2 ) was extracted in homogenization buffer (40 mM triethanolamine pH 8.0, 10 mM MgCl 2 , 0.5 mM EDTA, 1 mM KH 2 PO 4 , 1 mM benzamidine, 5 mM ε-aminocaproic acid, 50 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, 5 mM DTT, 10 mM NaHCO 3 , 1 mM phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), 1% w/v insoluble polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP)) at 0.3 ml cm −2 . Leaves were homogenized in a pre-cooled blender for 45 s and then filtered through four layers of muslin. Homogenate was clarified by centrifuging at 13 870×g for 12 min at 4 °C, after which PEG 4000 (60% w/v) was added to the supernatant to obtain a final concentration of 20.5% (w/v). MgCl 2 was added to the solution to increase the concentration of MgCl 2 to 20 mM. The ensuing protein precipitation was complete after 30 min at 0 °C, and the precipitate collected by centrifugation at 13 870×g for 20 min at 4 °C. The protein precipitate was redissolved in column buffer containing 25 mM TEA-HCl (pH 7.8), 5 mM MgCl 2 , 0.5 mM EDTA, 1 mM ɛ-aminocaproic acid, 1 mM benzamidine, 12.5% glycerol, 2 mM DTT and 5 mM NaHCO 3 . This was clarified by centrifugation at 175 000×g for 20 min at 4 °C followed by filtration through a 0.45 µm regenerated cellulose syringe filter before further purification by anion-exchange chromatography on a 5 ml HiTrap Q column (GE Healthcare, UK). Rubisco was eluted with a 0-1.0 M linear NaCl gradient in the same buffer. Fractions with significant absorbance at 280 nm were tested for Rubisco activity by measuring the RuBP-dependent incorporation of 14 CO 2 into acid-stable products, as detailed below. Fractions showing Rubisco activity were pooled and further purified by size-exclusion chromatography on a Sephacryl S-200 column (GE Healthcare, UK) using a buffer consisting of 50 mM Bicine-NaOH, pH 8.0, 10 mM MgCl 2 , 0.2 mM EDTA, 10 mM NaHCO 3 and 2 mM DTT. Peak fractions based on Rubisco activity were pooled and concentrated using Pierce Protein Concentrators (150K MWCO, Thermo Scientific, UK). Samples were snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80 °C. Before use, samples were desalted by gel filtration through Sephadex G50 (medium grade; Sigma-Aldrich, UK) pre-equilibrated with assay buffer (0.1 M Bicine-NaOH, pH 8.2, 20 mM MgCl 2 ).S c/o was determined by measuring the decline in oxygen that accompanied the total consumption of RuBP in an oxygen electrode (Hansatech Instruments, UK), as described by Parry et al. (1989): Rubisco was activated in extracts by adding orthophosphate (4 mM, pH 8.2) and NaHCO 3 (11 mM), and incubating at 37 °C for 40 min. A reaction mixture containing assay buffer and carbonic anhydrase (0.001% w/v, ≥2500 W-A units mg protein -1 ; Sigma-Aldrich, UK) was equilibrated in an oxygen electrode vessel at controlled pH and temperature. All subsequent additions were made through a small aperture using glass syringes. Activated Rubisco and NaHCO 3 (2 mM) were added to the vessel and the oxygen signal allowed to stabilize. RuBP (0.37 mM) was added to the reaction, which was allowed to run to completion over a few minutes, as indicated by a stabilized oxygen signal. The amount of RuBP carboxylated was calculated by subtracting the oxygenated amount (represented by the amount of oxygen consumed during the reaction) from the amount added. The specificity factor was calculated as follows:RuBP was prepared as previously described (Wong et al., 1980).Rubisco was extracted from 20-30 cm 2 of leaf material that was lightadapted immediately before being snap-frozen, then stored at -80 °C.Leaves were ground in an ice-cold mortar with 100 mg quartz sand and 3.5 ml of ice-cold extraction buffer, consisting of 100 mM Bicine-NaOH, pH 7.9, 5 mM MgCl 2 , 1 mM EDTA, 2 mM benzamidine, 5 mM ε-aminocaproic acid, 10 mM NaHCO 3 , 50 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, 5% (w/v) PEG 4000 , 10 mM DTT, 1% (v/v) plant protease inhibitor cocktail (Sigma-Aldrich, UK), 1 mM PMSF and 2% (w/v) insoluble PVPP. After centrifugation for 5 min at 14 000×g and 4 °C, samples were desalted by gel filtration through PD-10 columns (Sephadex G-25 Medium, GE Healthcare, UK) that had been pre-equilibrated with 100 mM Bicine-NaOH, pH 8.0, 10 mM MgCl 2 , 1 mM EDTA, 1 mM benzamidine, 1 mM ε-aminocaproic acid, 1 mM KH 2 P i , 10 mM NaHCO 3 , 10 mM DTT and 2% (w/v) PEG 4000 , 2% (v/v) protease inhibitor cocktail (Sigma-Aldrich, UK) and 20 mM MgCl 2 was added before samples were snap-frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen, awaiting assay. Catalytic parameters were measured essentially as previously described (Carmo-Silva et al., 2010). Carboxylation activity was measured at 8, 16, 24, 36, 68, and 100 µM CO 2 (aq) in equilibrium with a gas phase of N 2 supplemented with 0, 21, 60, or 100% (v/v) O 2 . K M and V max for carboxylation (K c and V c , respectively) were calculated at each O 2 concentration using a Michaelis-Menten kinetic model. K M and V max for oxygenation (K o and V o , respectively) were calculated as follows: ) was calculated assuming a pK a of 6.11 at 25 °C and a pK a of 6.06 at 35 °C for carbonic acid, taking into consideration the pH of each buffer solution (measured on the day of assay). Carbonic anhydrase (≥77 WA units per 1 ml reaction; Sigma-Aldrich, UK) was present in the reaction solution to maintain equilibrium between NaHCO 3 and CO 2 . Control reactions were performed by measuring CO 2 fixation (acid-stable 14 C) in reaction solutions lacking RuBP or NaHCO 3 , as well as following total inhibition of Rubisco by prior treatment with an excess of the tight-binding inhibitor 2-carboxyarabinitol-1,5-bisphosphate (CABP). These controls confirmed that the activity measured was entirely due to Rubisco.Radioactive content of 14 C-labelled compounds was measured in 0.4-0.45 ml aqueous solutions to which were added 3.6 ml Ultima Gold Scintillation cocktail (Perkin-Elmer, UK), in a Tri-Carb 2100TR Liquid Scintillation Analyser (Perkin-Elmer, USA).Turnover number (k cat : mol product mol active site −1 s −1 ) was calculated from the corresponding V max values (V c and V o : µmol acidstable 14 C mg Rubisco −1 min −1 ).Rubisco was quantified by the [ 14 C]CABP binding assay described by Parry et al. (1997). For this, aliquots of the leaf extracts used in the assays described above, which had been snap-frozen immediately after extraction, were used. Each assay was performed in duplicate. Radioactive content of 14 C-labelled compounds was measured as described above in 'Rubisco catalytic properties'. Radiolabelled [2′-14 C]CABP was prepared as previously described (Pierce et al., 1980).Genomic DNA was extracted from young leaf tissue using the Qiagen DNEasy Plant Kit (Qiagen, UK). Partial rbcL fragments (equivalent to codons 1-463, c. 98% of the rbcL coding region) were amplified (Phusion HF polymerase, Invitrogen, USA) using the primers 5′rbcL_F2 (5′-TAATTCATGAGTTGTAGGGAGGG-3′) and cp063R (5′-TTTCCATACTTCACAAGCAGCAGCTAG-3′, from Dong et al., 2013), and cloned using the pGEM T-Vector Easy System (Promega, UK) with blue-white selection. For each genotype, multiple colonies with the fragment incorporated were identified and sequenced using the Eurofins Genomics service (Eurofins Genomics EU, Germany). Sequencing was performed using the primers M13 rev (5′-CAGGAAACAGCTATGACC-3′), M13 uni (5′-TGTAAAACGACGGCCAGT-3′), DRS15 (5′-CAAAAGTAGTAGAAACCATTTTAGTTCAGGTGG-3′ and DRS19 (5′-GKGYTCCTATTGTAATGCATGACTACTTAAC-3′). Sequence data were analysed using Geneious 7 (Biomatters; Kearse et al., 2012). Sequences obtained have been submitted to EMBL (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/) and are publicly available (see Supplementary Table S1 at JXB online for accession numbers). Corresponding residue differences in the predicted large subunit (LSu) sequences appear in the format [Cadenza residue][residue position][test species residue] throughout the text.The effect of replacing native Rubisco in a wheat leaf with Rubisco from another species was modelled at 25 and 35 °C by entering the measured Rubisco catalytic constants into the biochemical models of carboxylation-limited and RuBP-limited C 3 photosynthesis (equations 2.20 and 2.23, respectively, in von Caemmerer (2000)).To accomplish this, values of K c , K o , and S c/o were converted from units of concentration (mol l −1 ) to those of partial pressure (bar), assuming solubilities of 3.34 × 10 -2 and 1.26 × 10 -3 mol (l bar) −1 for CO 2 and O 2 , respectively, for assays performed at 25 °C. At 35 °C, the respective solubilities were taken as 2.51 × 10 -2 and 1.083 × 10 -3 mol (l bar) −1 . We assigned a value of 38 μmol m −2 for the estimated number of Rubisco active sites and kept this value constant for all samples. R d was calculated as 0.015V cmax . We assumed J max as 1.5V cmax at 25 ºC and 35 ºC giving a good fit above C a . Equations used to generate the A-C i curves were: (von Caemmerer, 2000).Best-fit values of Michaelis-Menten constants (K c and K o ) and maximum velocities (V c and V o ) were derived from the kinetic data using Sigmaplot (v12.5). There was one determination per test genotype, with Cadenza values calculated from n=7 for catalytic properties and n=9 for S c/o . Values of S c/o at 25 °C were normalized to the corresponding value for the Rubisco of T. aestivum cv Cadenza (S c/o =100), which was determined in parallel to each test sample measured (Parry et al., 1989). For S c/o , the mean±SEM for every Rubisco preparation was calculated from a minimum of five technical replicates. Correlation coefficients were calculated using the Pearson product moment correlation test. The interaction between genotype and temperature was analysed using a non-parametric statistical approach. Ranking was done in descending order with the highest rank assigned number 1. Ranks of the measured variables for each genotype at 25 °C and 35 °C were correlated using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and these were tested for statistical significance using Genstat (17th edn, VSN International Ltd, Hemel Hempstead, UK).Rubisco catalytic properties at 25 and 35 °C were determined for 25 genotypes of Triticeae. For all genotypes, the maximum carboxylation velocity (V c ) was significantly higher at 35 °C than at 25 °C, ranging from 1.34 times higher in Ae. juvenalis to 2.65 times higher in T. dicoccon3 (Fig. 1 and Supplementary Tables S2 and S3). At 25 °C, H. vulgare ranked the highest for V c , followed by Ae. cylindrica, T. aestivum SATYN3, and Triticale (Cando) above T. aestivum cv Cadenza (reference genotype). At 35 °C, T. dicoccon4 (a line developed by CIMMYT for warm climates) ranked the highest for V c , followed by the other CIMMYT lines (T. aestivum SATYN and T. dicoccon genotypes) and H. vulgare, before Cadenza, which ranked seventh. At both temperatures B. distachyon ranked the lowest for V c .There is statistical evidence of a correlation between the performance of the genotypes with respect to V c across temperature, with a Spearman's rank correlation coefficient ρ=0.707 (P<0.001) (see Supplementary Tables S2 and S3). This value was slightly lower when comparing genotypes grouped according to rbcL sequence, although still significant (ρ=0.607, P=0.035) (Table 2).Rubisco from 14 genotypes had a higher affinity for CO 2 (lower K c ) than Cadenza at 25 °C, with B. distachyon ranking the highest (see Supplementary Table S2). Similarly, at 35 °C 13 genotypes showed a higher affinity for CO 2 (lower K c ) compared with Cadenza (Supplementary Table S3). Of these, only Rubisco from H. vulgare showed both a higher V c and a higher affinity for CO 2 compared with Cadenza based on rank.Regardless of the measurement temperature, Rubisco from most of the genotypes had a lower maximum oxygenation velocity (V o ) than Cadenza. Rubisco from genotypes that had a low affinity for O 2 (i.e. a high K o ) at 25 °C also showed a relatively low affinity for O 2 at 35 °C (Table 2 and Supplementary Tables S2 and S3).Rubisco specificity factor (S c/o ) ranged from 90.4 (for Ae. juvenalis) to 111.0 (for B. distachyon) at 25 °C and was lower at 35 °C for all species (Fig. 2 and Supplementary Tables S2  and S3), ranging from 68.8 for T. aestivum SATYN1 to 94.0 for B. distachyon. In contrast to its ranking with respect to V c , B. distachyon, ranked the highest for S c/o at both temperatures. The CIMMYT lines T. aestivum SATYN3, T. dicoccon1, and T. dicoccon2 ranked much higher at 35 °C than at 25 °C with respect to S c/o , although only T. dicoccon1 and T. dicoccon2 ranked higher than Cadenza. A correlation was identified in the performance of the genotypes across temperature with respect to S c/o (ρ=0.857, P=0.003; Fig. 2 and Supplementary Tables S2 and S3). The correlation coefficient for S c/o across temperature was lower but still significant when genotypes were grouped according to rbcL (ρ=0.503, P=0.002; Table 2). To compare S c/o across temperatures, the respective ranks of individual genotypes were added up and compared (see Supplementary Tables S2 and S3). This revealed that B. distachyon (sum of ranks=2), Ae. tauschii (sum of ranks=8), T. monococcum (sum of ranks=8), Ae. cylindrica (sum of ranks=9) and Ae. triuncialis (sum of ranks=10) maintained their ranking much better than Cadenza (sum of ranks=28) across different temperatures.A positive correlation was observed between Rubisco V c and K c for all 25 genotypes, with this correlation being stronger at 35 °C (r=0.798, P<0.001) than at 25 °C (r=0.372, P=0.062) (Fig. 3). Rubisco from two genotypes (Ae. cylindrica and H. vulgare) appeared to have superior catalytic properties at 25 °C, possessing higher V c and lower K c values than Cadenza. From these, only Rubisco from H. vulgare retained superior properties at 35 °C compared with Cadenza, which performed remarkably well at this higher temperature. A strong positive correlation was found between V c and V o at 25 °C (r=0.726, P<0.001), while a moderate negative correlation was found between V c and S c/o at both temperatures (r=-0.428, P=0.029 at 25 °C and r=-0.528, P=0.006 at 35 °C).Analysis of the rbcL coding sequences (codons 1-463) of the 25 genotypes revealed differences relative to the Cadenza reference sequence in 12 corresponding large subunit (LSu) residues, at positions spanning a number of domains within the Rubisco large subunit structure (Table 3). For 11 genotypes, all of which were either Triticum or Triticale, LSu sequences were identical to Cadenza at the amino acid level (Table 3 and Supplementary Table S1). Of the remaining 14 genotypes, each possessed at least one different amino acid from the Cadenza LSu. The LSu residue differences K14Q and S95N were the most common, and were found to occur together in all but one Aegilops species. These two residue differences were also found in S. cereale and T. monococcum. In H. vulgare, K14Q was the only difference relative to Cadenza rbcL. In Ae. cylindrica, in addition to K14Q and S95N, the LSu sequence also contained the difference V17A compared with Cadenza.The catalytic efficiency of Rubisco in air (21% O 2 ) can be measured as the ratio between the carboxylase turnover number and the Michaelis-Menten constant for CO 2 (i.e. k cat /K c at 21% O 2 , Table 2). Rubisco from Ae. cylindrica and H. vulgare appeared to have a superior efficiency to Cadenza (and other genotypes with the reference LSu sequence) at 25 °C. Rubisco from H. vulgare also showed superior efficiency at 35 °C, along with Triticale (Cando).From the relationship between catalytic efficiency (k cat /K c at 21% O 2 ) and S c/o it is also possible to identify Rubisco enzymes with superior catalytic performance (Fig. 4). In general, catalytic efficiency was higher, but S c/o was lower, at 35 °C compared with 25 °C. Forms of Rubisco with the same LSu sequence (residues 1-463) showed considerable variation in their combination of catalytic properties. Rubisco from H. vulgare, which only differs from Cadenza by virtue of the alternative residue Q14 (K14 in Cadenza), stood out as having a promising combination of k cat /K c and S c/o at both temperatures. Rubisco from Ae. cylindrica, differing by K14Q, V17A and S95N relative to Cadenza, showed promise only at 25 °C. Rubisco from Ae. vavilovii showed a similar catalytic response, despite the LSu sequence being identical to that from a number of other species that did not show such catalytic advantage compared with Cadenza. In B. distachyon, six residue changes compared with Cadenza (Table 3) might be associated with a higher S c/o , but at the expense of catalytic efficiency (Fig. 4).The Rubisco catalytic constants measured in vitro at 25 and 35 °C for Cadenza, Ae. cylindrica and H. vulgare were used to assess the theoretical impact on photosynthetic performance of wheat leaves over a range of intercellular CO 2 concentrations, including those corresponding to ambient air (c. 210 µbar). This modelling exercise predicted that at 25 °C photosynthetic rates would be improved by replacing wheat Rubisco with the enzyme from either Ae. cylindrica or H. vulgare (Fig. 5A, B). At 25 °C Rubisco from Ae. cylindrica showed a maximal increase in assimilation rate of 23% (6.3 µmol m −2 s −1 ) compared with Cadenza at 270 μbar C i (Fig. 5A), while Rubisco from H. vulgare maximally increased assimilation rate by 22% (6.7 µmol m −2 s −1 ) at 300 μbar C i (Fig. 5B). Rubisco from H. vulgare also showed promise for the improvement of photosynthesis in wheat at 35 °C, while the enzyme from Ae. cylindrica was inferior to Cadenza wheat at the higher temperature (Fig. 5C, D).The catalytic properties and primary sequence of the Rubisco large subunits (LSu, encoded by rbcL) from 25 Triticeae genotypes revealed diversity relevant to improving wheat photosynthetic performance in current and projected warmer temperatures. In the major wheat producing countries, grain filling is accompanied by increasing daytime temperatures (Asseng et al., 2015). Within the limits of resources available to this study, measurements were taken at an ideal growth temperature (25 °C, Nagai and Makino, 2009), and at an elevated temperature at which a pronounced negative impact on yield would be expected (35 °C, Duncan et al., 2014). At the higher temperature V c was higher, but S c/o was lower, which Where n>1, values are means±SEM for the Triticiae Rubiscos containing the same rbcL sequence. Other kinetic parameters are calculated using the Michaelis-Menten kinetic model as explained in text. For S c/o , n≥5 technical replicates per genotype.Representative is consistent with previous research (Brooks and Farquhar, 1985;Tcherkez et al., 2006;Savir et al., 2010;Galmés et al., 2014b). Differences were observed in the Rubisco response to temperature that suggests some acclimation to different geographical locations.As reported previously (Savir et al., 2010), a positive correlation between V c and K c , the determinants of Rubisco carboxylase efficiency, was observed at both temperatures for the Triticeae genotypes studied here, indicating that genotypes with a high V c tend to have lower affinity for CO 2 . The catalytic efficiency of Rubisco in air was a useful tool to identify Rubiscos with superior performance. Furthermore, the combined results suggest that all of the Rubisco catalytic properties, including the specificity factor, must be taken into account during the search for forms of Rubisco with improved performance in air. This follows from the parameters required for biochemical modelling of photosynthetic performance, which include V c , K c , and S c/o (=V c .K o /V o .K c ), the latter being used to determine the compensation point (Γ*=0.5[O 2 ]/S c/o ) in the absence of dark respiration (von Caemmerer, 2000).In wheat, variation in V c has been observed across different genotypes and it has been suggested that many of the catalytic properties of Rubisco are determined by the large subunit (Evans and Austin, 1986;Terachi et al., 1987;Kasai et al., 1997), which contains the catalytic sites. The rbcL gene is chloroplast encoded (Spreitzer and Salvucci, 2002) and the chloroplast genome tends to be evolutionarily highly conserved. However, within the Poaceae, rbcL has evolved at a relatively rapid rate compared with other families of flowering plants (Bousquet et al., 1992;Gaut et al., 1992). Since the large subunits contribute directly to catalytic function, variation in this sequence in wheat relatives represents a potential source of improved catalytic activity.The majority of the Triticeae genotypes characterized in this study are highly inter-related and this was reflected in the similarity of the respective rbcL sequences. Some of the observed differences in Rubisco catalytic activity correlated with differences in rbcL sequence. For example, differences in catalytic properties determined for H. vulgare, Ae. cylindrica, Triticale (Cando) and B. distachyon compared with Cadenza Rubisco might be associated with their specific rbcL sequences. Conversely, differences in catalysis for genotypes with the same rbcL sequence (e.g. the Cadenza group represented by black symbols or the Aegilops group represented by yellow  2008; Carmo-Silva et al., 2014). Recently, this residue was highlighted during a search for residues under positive selection, and it is in proximity to residues involved in L 2 intradimer interactions (Galmés et al., 2014b).Interestingly, species combining the K14Q and S95N residue differences (but having no other differences) showed no consistent catalytic difference compared with the reference LSu sequence group.The valine at position 17 is known to be involved in intradimer interactions (Knight et al., 1990;Kellogg and Juliano, 1997). Rubisco from Ae. cylindrica containing V17A in combination with K14Q and S95N had improved carboxylation catalytic efficiency at 21% O 2 and 25 °C compared with the reference Cadenza (Table 2). This form of Rubisco was predicted by modelling to improve photosynthetic performance at all CO 2 levels relative to Cadenza at 25 °C (Fig. 5A). Hence, the influence exerted by the relatively conservative Val-Ala (V17A) difference, when combined with K14Q (and S95N), may explain the positive impact on Rubisco catalysis.H. vulgare Rubisco had improved k cat /K c compared with Cadenza, while only containing the K14Q difference. Studies in Anacystis nidulans found that a K14Q or K14L mutation had no influence on enzyme activity (Kettleborough et al., 1991). While the present study did not cover the extreme C-terminus of the large subunit, available sequences showed a KV extension in that region of the H. vulgare sequence (Petersen and Seberg, 2003), which may be relevant to its superior catalysis in comparison to Cadenza. Confirmation of this hypothesis would be valuable, given that modelling of the photosynthetic response to intercellular CO 2 predicts a benefit at both 25 and 35 °C by replacing the native Rubisco with the barley enzyme.  As with Ae. cylindrica (Colmer et al., 2006), barley is considered to be a valuable genetic resource for improving stress tolerance in wheat (Dulai et al., 2011;Molnar-Lang et al., 2014). Barley-wheat hybrids have been investigated before (Kruse, 1973;Malik et al., 2011;Dulai et al., 2011;Rodríguez-Suárez et al., 2011;Pershina et al., 2012;Zou et al., 2012), but without a focus on yield improvement. One notable exception is the development of Tritordeum, which is a hybrid between wild barley (H. chilense) and durum wheat (T. turgidum ssp. Durum, haploid genome BA; Martin et al. 1996), which has been commercialized (http://www.agrasys.es/). Tritordeum has particularly high protein content and has shown tolerance to drought conditions in field trials (Martin et al., 1999;Villegas et al., 2010). While Tritordeum does not include the D genome present in T. aestivum, data in this study suggest that this hybrid warrants further investigation with respect to Rubisco kinetics and yield potential.This study has identified residues that warrant further study, e.g. by mutagenesis. Well targeted single amino acid changes can have a dramatic impact on catalytic performance (e.g. Whitney et al., 2011). However, at present there is no available expression system to test the effect of amino acid substitutions on Rubisco from monocots. An alternative, and possibly more promising approach, which utilizes available technology, is the introgression of traits through wide-crossing of Triticeae genotypes.The Rubisco catalytic properties determined for 25 genotypes showed that variation exists even amongst closely related genotypes. Rubisco from Ae. cylindrica and H. vulgare showed promising catalytic properties that should be explored in the context of improving photosynthesis, and ultimately yield, in wheat. Ideally, this could be carried out by crossing a number of the species examined here with bread wheat and studying the resulting plants with respect to Rubisco catalytic activity, photosynthesis and yield. This study supports the case for investment in genetic resource screening for photosynthesisrelated characteristics."}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"c256ac98-3919-41da-a68b-84191226819e","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ebe5c1d926cf71e93ba5efbe88518faa","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0d183c88-48df-4348-9dd1-53d02473fe06/retrieve","id":"1403831778"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9b815f74-87d6-4292-addb-1cd7ce82615f","content":"For example, in Denmark, 100% of all water used (domestic, agricultural, and industrial) is derived from groundwater 2 . This extensive global dependence on groundwater is quite recent in human history, with withdrawals tripling over the last 50 years. Groundwater underpins many terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and is critical for a host of the ecosystem services and natural habitats on which humans depend.Groundwater represents close to 99% of all unfrozen fresh water in the world. Groundwater makes up one third of all water being used, provides almost half of the world's population with domestic water 1 , and is the source of almost half of the water used for irrigation worldwide. Prehistoric farmers in Europe are skilled carpenters long before metal is discovered and make water wells out of oak timber 4 . Water was for human and animal consumption.In ancient China, wells are dug to manually extract groundwater for drinking 5 water and later for irrigation as well.300 BC Mechanical water lifting devices (Sakia or Persian wheel) powered by oxen to lift groundwater from wells are common in places like India 7 and Pakistan.Before 1 st millennium BC Underground aqueducts (locally known as Qanat or Karez) are used to extract groundwater in the Middle East 6 .Groundwater abstraction [km /yr]  Practical solutions, such as managed aquifer recharge (MAR) 13  , are put forward to enhance stability of groundwater reserves and to support ecosystem services, for example in Orange County, California.Signs of subsidence (downward settling of the ground's level) become evident in major cities, like Mexico City, Jakarta and Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, due to groundwater overexploitation 14 .Engineers and hydrogeologists, in collaboration with diverse partners and stakeholders, establish the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) 12 in order to better understand the resource and to help identify solutions to groundwater risks. 2008 More than half of the world's largest aquifers are being depleted, with the US having lost more than 1,000 cubic kilometers of water from its aquifers . Globally, non-renewable freshwater use is 50% higher than in 1960 due in part to groundwater abstraction from non-renewable groundwater sources 21  . Overabstraction is also taking place in aquifers that replenish much slower than the rate of pumping.The main springs that feed the Azraq Wetland Reserve in Jordan, an oasis that used to cover 25 square kilometres, are dried out due to excessive pumping of groundwater for agriculture and use in nearby urban areas 18  starting in the 1960s. The critical bird habitats are later partially rehabilitated by pumping water for the wetland 19  .Year Communities in rural Ethiopia with access to reliable groundwater sources through the major El Niño drought have greatly improved water security 25  .As springs dry up and groundwater is depleted, many Moroccans give up citrus farming and move to the cities 26 , following the trend in other Middle Eastern and North African countries.Seawater encroaches on emptied aquifers along the east coast of India, tainting drinking water supplies in places like Chennai. Bed dams along the coast are implemented to arrest the intrusion 23  .Year 2018 2019Cape Town in South Africa identifies April 12 as \"Day Zero,\" when it will allegedly run out of water. Putting into place strict water conservation measures allows the city to evade the pending drought grip 27 . Groundwater use and groundwater management play an increasingly critical role in enhancing the city's water security 28  .While some reversal of negative water quality trends 29 in European aquifers are seen, many aquifers around the world, and in particular in developing countries, are facing pollution threats from conventional sources and increasingly from contaminants of emerging concern 30  .Year Abstraction of groundwater improves water and food security for many people, but overexploitation and degradation of the resource may eventually exacerbate droughts and food insecurity. If we take action now to sustainably manage our surface and groundwater resources, we can prevent these problems from becoming worse and potentially irreversible in the future.NOW 25 60% of Indian groundwater aquifers are in a critical condition 33 .1.8 billion people globally are coping with water scarcity, partially due to overextraction of renewable and non-renewable groundwater resources 31 .Managed aquifer recharge, including through use of treated wastewater, is projected to double by 2030, and could ultimately contribute 10% or more of groundwater use in many countries 13 .With half of the Sub-Saharan African cities in 2035 not yet built and the secondary cities of today expected to become the mega cities of tomorrow, a quadrupling in water supply service rates will be required just to maintain current levels (let alone to increase proportional coverage), much of which will need to come from groundwater. Wherever high-yielding aquifers exist within 30 km of an urban demand center in Sub-Saharan Africa, their managed and staged development by water utilities can significantly increase water-supply security 32 .Year 2050The Ogallala aquifer in the United States, previously the site of one fifth of the world's wheat, corn, cotton, and cattle production, is severely depleted, making it impossible to grow crops on 35% of previously arable land 35  .Groundwater depletion threatens to push this vital resource out of reach for more than 170 million small-scale farmers who are the backbone of India's food security 36  . Long-term groundwater monitoring, innovative research and technology can help understanding and managing impacts of climate change on groundwater resources 37 . It can inform groundwater forecasting 38 , tackle groundwater quality threats 39 , and create opportunities to explore for new groundwater reserves 40 .Innovative management and business models can also support sustainable water supply from groundwater, through maintenance services for rural water supply infrastructure as trialled in sub-Saharan Africa 41 , and through supported community participation in groundwater monitoring and management 42 and access to solar irrigation for smallholder farmers as successfully implemented in India 43 .Water, and by extension groundwater, clearly underpins human development and life and the achievement of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).History teaches us that groundwater development and management need to go hand in hand. Many goals, such as those related to food security, access to safe water and sanitation, cannot be achieved without taking sustainability of groundwater into consideration. However, while many of the SDG targets reinforce sustainable and equitable groundwater use, some, like economic development, may threaten the resource. Hence, going forward, achieving the SDGs will be a balancing act that requires juggling between sometimes difficult and conflicting trade-offs regarding groundwater.The historical lessons show us that we need a much more informed approach than our previous efforts. Greater emphasis is needed on informing groundwater-dependent communities and the general public about this common pool resource -especially where it is the sole or go-to resource during drought, on monitoring groundwater levels, quality and use, and facilitating equitable and transparent management practices by culturally acceptable means at meaningful scales. It is also important to acknowledge and account for the fact that many decisions with impacts on groundwater are taken outside the sphere of groundwater management. These decisions and trade-offs need to be made explicit in the context of increasing groundwater risks and juggled correctly to achieve the SDGs.  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"318924ef6f561083d09e955ef4096d81","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d32adc22-19f0-4e3a-92ca-61ca0afc67a8/retrieve","id":"1215866605"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3acf4b52-7b44-47c8-9764-f3df7fa36114","content":"Sustainable intensification in crop and livestock production is the foundation for smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa to adapt to a changing world, to respond to new economic opportunities, and to address poverty reduction and food security. For crop farmers, substantial gains in potential productivity have been made through crop genetics, but these do not translate into production without complementary investments in soil, water, and pest management. Nitrogen is the key driver for cereal crop performance across most environments, both in terms of yield and stability of yield (Vanlauwe et al. 2013). Understanding nitrogen use efficiency (NUE)here defined as the amount of additional grain harvested per kilogram of nitrogen applied to the grain cropthus becomes an urgent project that underlies success in agricultural development in the region. Indeed, nitrogen has been identified as one of the grand challenges of the 21 st Century given its pivotal role in food production, and nowhere is this more important than in sub-Saharan Africa where fertilizer manufacture infrastructure is non-existent and landlocked countries face fertilizer costs five to ten-fold higher than in the Global North.Maize is the staple food crop of smallholder farmers across Southern and Eastern Africa, with the potential to produce large amounts of calories if supplied sufficient nitrogen. Other nutrients are required in modest amounts and only occasionally limit production. Raising the efficiency of nitrogen use by maize is therefore crucial for the sustainability and economic feasibility of land intensification in the region.It is well known that the efficiency of fertilizer use on maize in sub-Saharan Africa is considerably higher on experiment station plots and researcher-managed farm trials than on plots managed exclusively by smallholders. Nitrogen use efficiency on maize plots following researcher management protocols can be in the range of 14 to 50 kg maize per kg nitrogen (N) and even higher in some cases (Whitbread et al. 2012;Vanlauwe et al. 2011). 1 In the 1995/96 and the 1997/98 cropping seasons, a nationwide research trial in Malawi was implemented on over 3,000 farmers' fields in total by agricultural extension field assistance with relatively close researcher oversight in order to verify the yield performance of a range of inorganic fertilizer packages on hybrid maize. The average linear maize yield response to nitrogen estimated from the trial results was 17.7 kg maize grain per kg N-applied, with somewhat higher levels of around 19.0 seen in the mid-altitude plateau areas of Lilongwe, Kasungu, and Mzimba (MPTF 1999).By contrast, estimates of NUE on maize plots derived from nationally representative and site-specific household survey data in Malawi are typically in the range of 7 to 14 (Ricker-Gilbert et al. 2011;Chibwana et al. 2012;Snapp et al. 2013;Wiyo and Feyen 1999). 2 It is well accepted that NUE on researcher-managed plots should be higher than those achieved by smallholder farmers on their own plots, given the myriad constraints on limited-resource farms. However, the magnitude of the difference between estimated NUEs on researcher-managed and farmer-managed plots as reported in survey data have led to questions as to the reliability of survey data as a means for generating such estimates. It is also possible that the wide gap in NUEs observed between researcher-managed plots with non-random farmer participation and nationally-representative farmer-managed plots are real, signalling the magnitude of constraints faced in smallholder production systems and the need for a holistic approach of education and integrated management to support policies aimed at enhancing access to and efficient use of fertilizer. A number of reviews of maize and fertilizer technology in the region have recommended investments to improve NUE, and we take up that challenge here (Heisey and Smale 1995;Snapp, et al. 1998;Vanlauwe et al. 2013). This paper has two objectives. Our first objective is to review the research evidence on the factors known to be affecting the efficiency with which Malawian farmers use nitrogen fertilizer on maize. It is our position that such factors, along with non-random aspects of most trials, might explain the large gaps observed between researcher-managed plots and farmer-managed fields.Our second objective is to provide practical guidance to Malawian policy makers and the national extension system for helping farmers to raise the efficiency with which they use fertilizer. In so doing, we emphasize that crop diversification and soil management practices that raise soil fertility, while often viewed as \"alternative\" forms of agriculture, may be more accurately characterized as major components of an input-intensive and efficient production system that is both profitable and sustainable.Table 1 reports mean NUEs in Malawi for farmer-managed maize plots based on survey data. Some of the studies report a range of NUEs, since even mean NUEs for a particular farming population can be meaningfully disaggregated according to the type of seed used, weather, soil types, and whether the plot was intercropped or monocropped. Most of the crop seasons covered by these studies were either normal or favorable growing seasons in most of Malawi, although localized problems were reported by a sizeable proportion of farmers in every year. Several studies based on farmer interviews and computations of value-cost ratios report that a large proportion of Malawian farmers find fertilizer to be of limited profitability or negative profitability when costed at its full commercial price (Wiyo and Feyen 1999;SOAS 2008;Ricker-Gilbert et al. 2011;Kamanga et al. 2014). 3 Whether fertilizer is profitable for farmers to use at full commercial prices depends greatly on the efficiency with which they use fertilizer. Farmers vary in their management skills, and studies estimating household-specific NUE find that even within fairly concentrated geographic areas with similar elevation and growing conditions in the same season, NUE can vary enormously, owing to differences in management ability, soil conditions, labor constraints, and exogenous shocks such as drought, pests and disease (see Figure 1 for an example from Zambia). Soil quality heterogeneity has been shown to be a factor in NUE on smallholder production fields, with much lower NUE in 'outfields' which are extensively management and sometimes associated with low soil organic matter (Vanlauwe et al. 2011).For these reasons, the mean NUEs reported in Table 1 are expected to mask considerable variation across farmers and within fields. More research is necessary in Malawi to understand the extent of this variation. If it is found to be rather large in Malawi, as has been found to be the case in neighboring countries, then efforts to raise the fertilizer use efficiency of the bottom half of farmers to that of the mean could raise national maize production by as much as 8 to 11 percent without any additional use of fertilizer (Xu et al. 2009). Maize response to nitrogen fertilizer has been the focus of agronomic research in Malawi for over fifty years. We highlight five factors that, according to published research evidence, significantly affect the efficiency with which many Malawian farmers use inorganic fertilizer. These are inadequate weeding and other pests, limited use of crop rotation and intercrops, late fertilizer application, the level of active organic carbon in the soil, and other chemical properties of the soil. In addition to these five factors, we also highlight several factors about the design and implementation of researcher managed trials that create problems of external validity in extrapolating their NUE estimates to a nationally representative smallholder population.Weeding improves the uptake and utilization of N and P by the crop. Farmers that weed their maize plots only once can experience major weed build-up which may result in a 26 to 34 percent yield reduction (FAO 2000). While Malawian smallholders understand the importance of multiple weedings in raising their maize yields and the efficiency of inorganic fertilizer application, there are usually good reasons why they often cannot devote as much labor to weeding as they would like. For example, more than half of the farmers interviewed by Kamanga et al. (2014) reported being unable to devote more than one weeding to their maize plots due to obligations such as harvesting their tobacco, ganyu labor (casual work done for other farmers for food or cash), funerals, and illness. 4 Kamanga et al. (2014) report that when fertilizer is obtained at highly subsidized prices through the Farm Inputs Support Programme (FISP), the financial returns to labor were generally higher when farmers performed two weedings compared to one. However, when valuing fertilizer at market prices, they found that neither one nor two weedings generated returns to labor that exceeded the prevailing ganyu labor wage rate. National survey data from the 1980s indicated a strong location effect on the intensity of weeding undertaken by Malawi farmers, with the highest levels invested in the South where the rural population density is highest (Heisey and Smale 1995). Further, the survey data were consistent with farmer knowledge of weed-fertilizer interactions:The survey results showed that early weeding was applied to between 70 and 97 percent of fertilized maize plots compared to early weeding being done on only between 30 and 60 percent of unfertilized maize plots.Table 2 suggests that during the 2006/07 and 2007/08 seasons, 65 to70 percent of plots were weeded twice. Zero or one weedings were reported on between 25 and27 percent of plots, while only 3 to 10 percent of plots were weeded 3 or more times. These data indicate that the majority of households in Malawi find it optimal to weed their maize field twice, given the labor and other resource constraints that they face. However, there is still a substantial portion of plots that receive more limited attention and are weeded fewer than 2 times. Weeding intensity and timing is likely to differ substantially on researcher-influenced farm trials relative to farmer fields, due to the small size of trial plots. The preferential location of trial plots on farms that are relatively well resourced could also influence the investment of weeding in these plots. On this basis, some differences in NUE among these two groups should be expected.Pests such as the parasitic weed Striga 5 and insect infestation are other challenges faced by smallholders in Malawi. These tend to be location specific (e.g., striga build up is particularly seen in maize grown in central Malawi upland soils), or weather related and episodic in severity. We note from the national survey data that 13.7 percent of smallholders in 2006/07 and 17.3 percent in 2008/9 reported yield loss due to crop disease and pests (Table 2).A factor that consistently influences maize yield response to nitrogen is rotation with a legume crop. Legume residues are N-enriched, containing 3 to 5 percent N compared to 1 to 2 percent N in cereal residues. This is due to the biological N-fixation capacity of most legumes through a symbiotic relationship with rhizobia soil bacteria. Legumes that have a longer-duration growing period and produce copious amounts of vegetative matter over 6 to 10 months are much more likely to fix appreciable amounts of N, compared to food legumes such as common bean and soybean with a shorter 3 to 4 month growing period (Snapp et al. 1998). 6 There is considerable debate in the literature regarding the amount of N that can be fixed by legumes grown under smallholder conditions, where plant population densities tend to be low, and where soil fertility is generally depleted. However, bushy and viney long-duration food legumes have been shown to fix 30 to 100 kg of N/ha, and to build soil N pools (Cadisch et al. 1998;Snapp et al. 2010). Table 2 indicates that between 35 and 50 percent of maize plots in Malawi have some legumes grown with the maize, but that the prevalence of legume intercropping declined over the period the surveys were conducted.There are also unique contributions that legumes make to maize productivity via what is termed the 'rotation effect'. This is not well defined, but is generally associated with building active soil organic matter and associated microbial diversity (Turco et al. 1990). The yield response of maize to nitrogen when grown after soybean is estimated to be 15 to 20 percent higher than the yield response of continuous maize to applied nitrogen. In a study in Tennessee, USA, this rotation effect recently was shown to consistently increase the calculated net returns for maize producers (Boyer et al. 2013). In a nationwide trial in Malawi on the effects of incorporating legumes into smallholder cropping systems, maize response to N fertilizer was shown to be between 35 and 125 percent higher than continuous maize when grown in a rotation after a 'best bet' legume such as shrubby pigeonpea, which has substantially more potential to fix nitrogen and improve soil than shorter lived food legumes (Snapp et al. 2010). This large-scale study also demonstrated improved stability in maize yield response due to the rotation effect, as well as gains in NUE.As population pressures cause a shrinking of farm sizes in Malawi over time, smallholder farmers respond by continuously cropping their fields. As shown in Table 2, estimates from the IHS3 survey are that only 1.1 percent of plots were left entirely fallow in 2008/09 and 2009/10, and that 95.7 percent of plots had never been fallowed. More than half of Malawi's smallholder farms are smaller than 0.8 hectares. Most production systems in densely populated Africa are so heavily prioritized to meeting the next year's staple food needs that crop rotations and the use of green manures or agroforestry systems are difficult to adopt. One surprising change in land use is the marked decrease of maize-legume intercropping over the last four decades. Intercropping was practiced on almost 100 percent of maize plots in Malawi in 1968/69. By 1980/81, intercropping was observed on only between 25 and 39 percent of maize plots (Heisey and Smale 1995;Table 5.11). Continuing reductions in intercropped land are observed in the results from recent countrywide surveys (Table 2). Government policies have promoted sole-cropped production of hybrid maize. As adoption of hybrid maize has increased markedly in recent years, this may have contributed to the decline of intercropping, although other factors are hypothesized to contribute to this decline as well (Heisey and Smale 1995).Less surprising is the preferential practice of crop rotation by better-off farmers with larger landholdings (Snapp et al. 2002). On very small farms, households cannot afford to sacrifice using the land for an entire year for crops for which there is limited consumption value. Such households need to produce as much staple food as possible for the coming year. Therefore, many households continue to grow maize on the same field year after year, resulting in declining NUEs when these households apply fertilizer to their maize. Systematic differences in crop rotation therefore may be another source of variation in NUEs between researcher-influenced farm trials vs. nationally-representative household survey data. In order to raise the NUEs such small farmers realize in their use of fertilizer on maize, research could be directed at market or other policies that strengthen the incentives for farmers to use maize-legume crop rotations.Timing of fertilizer application is essential for optimizing both yield and quality. Proper timing of fertilizer application reduces nutrient losses, increases the efficiency of nutrient usage, and prevents damage to the environment (Jones and Jacobsen 2003). It is essential that fertilizer be made available to farmers in a timely manner so that they can apply it when their crops need it. Though the surveys from Malawi do not clarify exactly when households acquire their fertilizer through the Farm Input Subsidy Programme, according to the 2006/07 and 2008/09 AISS surveys, the majority of households apply their first, basal dose of fertilizer 3 or more weeks after planting. This was especially true in the 2008/09 season, when 72.5 percent of households applied the first dose of fertilizer to their maize 3 or more weeks after planting. Late application of fertilizer by farmers could be due to various factors, such as late delivery of fertilizer, lack of available labor to apply it, and lack of knowledge about appropriate fertilizer use. By contrast, most farmers participating in on-farm research trials would need to follow timely fertilizer application protocols as a condition of participation. Therefore, late application of fertilizer may be yet another source of observed differences in NUEs reported between farm trials and survey data.A cornerstone to sustainable intensification in Africa is soil organic carbon (SOC). Crops require a healthy, functioning soil environment in order to grow rapidly and respond to inputs. Soil quality is a key regulator of crop yields in a variable rainfall environment, as both excess and insufficient precipitation can reduce crop yield in the absence of good infiltration or water holding capacity (Shaxson and Barber 2003). Thus, maintaining soil quality is a major concern now and in the future, given climate change and the highly variable rainfall patterns that farmers face in Malawi. Over a quarter of farmers surveyed in the 2006/07 and 2008/09 Agricultural Inputs Support Surveys (AISS) reported yield loss due to adverse weather conditions (Table 2).Soil organic matter is particularly important in smallholder tropical agriculture as amendments such as lime, irrigation and micronutrient fertilization are rare. However, it is difficult to enhance total SOC on tropical smallholder farms. Not all SOC is the same: biophysical fractionation of soil carbon pools has shown that it is the active fraction of SOC that regulates nutrient release, aggregation and soil function as a media for plant growth and response to fertilizer (Beedy et al. 2010). Fortunately, biologically active soil C can be improved through additions of mixed quality residues, even at a modest levels of biomass addition (3 to 5 tons, including roots). Such quantities of biomass are practical to produce in the sub-humid tropics through growing leafy types of multipurpose legumes or by manure transfers (Barrios et al. 1996;Snapp et al. 1996). If the active soil C pool is enhanced, there is evidence that soil inorganic N availability will increase from almost nil to 35 kg of N per ha, with associated maize yield response due to improved crop establishment and early growth (Chikowo et al. 2004). This requires broader testing, and is the subject of ongoing analysis. 7   To build total soil C and the active pool requires a combination of residues from cereals, legumes, or compostalthough the latter is difficult to source in Malawi (Snapp et al. 1998). As presented in table 2, survey data indicates that only 15.2 percent of all maize plots had organic fertilizer applied to them in 2002/03 and 2003/04, which declined to 12.7 percent in 2008/09 and 2009/10. This could be attributed to limited livestock production in Malawi and labor constraints that make it difficult to engage in composting. More evidence on the extent to which low SOC poses limitations on NUE in Malawi is needed.Although contentious, there is evidence that soil acidity is a constraint to crop production in some locations in Malawi, particularly in high rainfall and high altitude areas (Kabambe et al. 2012). There is almost no trial evidence that maize responds to application of lime, which is indicative of soil pH not being an important soil constraint to this crop. However, extension campaigns promoting compost use have been successful in areas of Malawi in which groundnut is intensively produced, such as Mchinji. This groundnut yield response to compost may be due to the soil acidity and calcium deficiency amelioration properties of composted manure.Important nutrients to consider in crop production across Malawi are generally considered to be phosphorus and sulfur and in some locations zinc (Heisey and Smale 1995;Kumwenda, et al. 1997). Soil phosphorus status is tremendously variable in Malawi, with inorganic phosphorus varying both within and between fields, reflecting the role of management history in regulating phosphorus availability (Snapp 1998). There is evidence since the 1960s that for some crops, particularly legumes, the highland regions of Malawi have soil types that supply insufficient P (Kumwenda et al. 1997). Thus, the generally recommended combination of apply a basal fertilizer containing phosphorus (and sulfur), such as 23:21:0+4S, followed by a top-dressing of high analysis N fertilizer, such as urea, is appropriate for most soil types in Malawi. However, in the short-term and in the absence of fertilizer subsidies, if maize is the focus without considering the nutrient needs of other crops grown on the farm, then urea may be the most profitable fertilizer for farmers to employ (MPTF 1999).Few farmers will pay the full commercial price of fertilizer unless they feel that they can use it profitably. Therefore, households paying for commercial fertilizer on average tend to be relatively productive users of fertilizer, and hence have higher NUE on their maize plots, than households not paying for it. Access to working capital may confound this relationship to some extent, but in general we find a positive correlation in smallholder survey data between access to credit, asset wealth, maize production, and NUE (Ricker-Gilbert and Jayne 2012). If fertilizer is distributed to a large proportion of farmers at a highly subsidized price, then survey data would tend to include some proportion of fertilizer users who would not have demanded it at commercial prices for fear of not breaking even, but who would be glad to acquire it at a cost that is 10 percent of the full price. The probability of breaking even are obviously considerably higher when paying 10 percent of the full price even among relatively inefficient users of fertilizer. Hence, the Malawi Farm Input Subsidy Programme may put downward pressure on the NUEs observed in the survey data, as a large proportion of maize plots of survey households would have been fertilized with subsidized fertilizer. Recall the data in Figure 1 showing the wide variation in NUE among farmers even in the same area.The \"observer effect\" principle holds that measurements of a system cannot be made without affecting the system itself. Applied to the case of researcher-influenced on-farm trials in Malawi, farmers participating in such trials may have subtle incentives to apply more intensive labor and management oversight to their trial plot than to their ordinary plots, as a matter of pride, social standing in the community, or for other reasons. Consequently, NUEs as reported from farm trial plots may be expected to be somewhat higher than from fields in which no trials were sited, other conditions being held constant.Another factor that leads to over-estimates of crop yields and treatment response is that of plot size. In researcher-influenced trials, whether conducted on-farm or on research-stations, resource constraints and an interest in comparing a large number of treatments makes it necessary to limit the size of plots, compared to real world fields. This often leads to small plot sizes of 10-100 m 2 , whereas farmer fields in Malawi, although generally small, are often orders of magnitude larger than these trial plots. This introduces a biological bias, as 'edge effects' can dominate in small plots which have a large boundary area where plants experience minimal competitionthat is, plants can access light and other resources to a much greater degree than in the middle of a plot. An example of the magnitude of plot size effects was recently illustrated in a literature review of biomass potential estimated from field trials of biofuel species: annual above ground biomass in switchgrass was estimated at between 4 and 35 mt/ha but decreased to between 2 and 3 mt/ha in more realistic field-scale tests (Searle and Malins 2014). This plot size effect on biomass measurements was primarily associated with edge effects.Non-random sampling of farmers and plots is expected to influence differences observed in NUE between researcher-influenced farm trial studies and what farmers actually obtain. These are based on farmers' willingness to take part in the study. Farmers involved in such on-farm studies tend to be well-connected to extension staff. This can result in on-farm trials over-sampling 'master farmers' with superior management skill, despite efforts to overcome such bias. Studies with a large numbers of randomly selected farmers, as with nationally representative surveys, provide an opportunity to sample a wider range of variation on-farm (especially those recording sub-plot yield measurements). In contrast, most researcher-influenced on-farm trials involve few and non-randomly selected observations. 8Bias in results is also expected from researcher-managed on-farm trials of crop yield response to applied nutrients that report NUEs after having excluded crop yield data from trial sites that were subject to crop damage or other factors that confounded the nutrient response in the crop planted at the trial site (e.g., MPTF 1999). However, over half (54 percent) of the Malawian farmers surveyed in the nationally representative 2010 IHS3 survey reported that they harvested less than the area that they planted due to various exogenous shocks (see Table 2).Non-random sampling and the exclusion of some plots experiencing damage from analysis are appropriate under certain study objectives, such as when a better understanding of crop yield response to nutrient application is sought. However, findings from such studies cannot be extrapolated to provide valid estimates of actual NUE achieved by the full cross-section of Malawian farmers given the serious challenges that they face in their farming systems. In contrast to studies attempting to measure NUE based on what farmers might achieve under favorable conditions, a more accurate estimate of the actual NUE obtained by a representative sample of farmers would be:where α is the proportion of sampled farmers experiencing little or no crop damage and 1-α is the proportion experiencing significant crop damage, and NUEncd and NUEcd are the nitrogen use efficiencies obtained on fields experiencing no crop damage and some damage, respectively. If, for example, 75 percent of the plots in the trials had no reported crop damage, while the other 25 percent of plots did, and the nitrogen use efficiency of the 'no crop damage' group was 24, while the N use efficiency of those experiencing crop damage was 6, then researchers interested in what a particular plot would achieve under relatively favorable conditions would report NUE=24, while researchers interested in reporting NUE by all farmers would be 0.75*24 + 0.25*6 = 19.5. Therefore, we conclude that different treatment of cases of crop damage as well as non-randomness with respect to farmer selection for study trials may also account for some of the observed difference in NUEs between trials and nationally representative survey data.There is broad agreement that, whatever the current level of efficiency with which Malawian farmers use fertilizer, great benefits at household and national levels can come if they are able to use it more efficiently. Toward this end, we make the following proposals:FIRST STEPS1.Diagnose the key regulating factors that determine NUE on farmers' fields as a vital input for policy recommendations and to prioritize among public investments in agriculture;2.Improve the logistical operations of Farm Input Subsidy Programme input supply chains to ensure timely fertilizer delivery to farmers. This is a widely supported recommendation of past FISP reviews that requires action.Strengthen the quality and dissemination of agricultural extension messages on targeting fertilizer to responsive soils and plants:  Target fertilizer to improved crop varieties, and apply directly near crop roots (application of doses directly to crops as microdoses to planting stations or band along rows).For farmers that cannot afford the recommended combination of 23:21:0+4S and urea fertilizers, application of moderate doses of high analysis-N fertilizer (e.g., 30 kg N per ha) should prove profitable over the short to medium term on most soil types, using lower amounts in drier areas (e.g., 10 kg N per ha);  Apply moderate doses of fertilizer that contain N and P (e.g. basal fertilizer, 23:21:0+4S) to maize grown in rotation or intercropped with food legumes, and to soil types that show P-deficient symptoms (purple leaves in maize seedlings, or observations that crops respond to P fertilizers); For poorer quality soils and striga infested areas, grow 'best bet' legumes in combination with compost and small doses of fertilizer, to suppress striga and build soil productive capacity.Use best agronomic practices for maize production, such as optimum plant densities, proper weed management, and the timing of key cropping operations. To realize the NUEs that on-farm researcherinfluenced trials demonstrate are possible to achieve in Malawi, farmers must have information on the best agronomic practices that they are able to employ.1.Provide agronomic advice in tandem with the Farm Input Subsidy Programme. Building on the Starter Pack and field demonstrations conducted under the Agriculture Sector-wide Approach (ASWAp), support good agronomy through building farmer knowledge and capacity to innovate with inputs. Extension staff activities, radio campaigns, and collaboration with the Ministry of Education are important means to add value to the FISP as opportunities to enhance farmer experimentation and capacity. Agronomic topics include:  Improved weed management through integrated approaches, promote crop diversification to reduce crop-specific weed build up, correctly timed and targeted application of fertilizer directly to crops for maximum uptake efficiency and reduced weed competition. High crop populations with well-timed early weeding.Promote broader use of 'best bet' legumes through education and market policies to maximize biological N-fixation, P solubilization, and active soil organic matter for sustainable intensification. These 'best bet' legumes include pigeonpea, doubled up legumes (pigeonpea intercropped with food legumes), long-duration varieties of soybean, cowpea, and climbing bean; all grown using good quality seed at high plant population densities, with targeted use of inputs. Integrated pest management techniques, particularly for striga and stem borer in maize and weevils in food legumes and tubers. Farmer field school and related extension approaches should be used to promote pest life cycle knowledge and the introduction of combined approaches, such as compost, rotations, intercrops, and targeted spraying with botanical or chemical pesticides.Allow flexible vouchers under the FISP so that farmers can choose which inputs they feel would be in their best interests to purchase. For market-oriented farmers, access to both input and output markets for growing cash crops with low-toxicity herbicides may be appropriateto the extent that labor constraints impede the number of and intensity of weeding operations. Because few farmers currently use herbicides, training in the mode of action of the herbicide and its safe use combined with access to appropriate application equipment and safe modes of storage are all essential if herbicides are to be introduced in a safe and effective manner.Improve the production capacity of soils in the long-term through educational activities on diagnosis of soil problems and their amelioration through investments by farmers and government. The design of the FISP could be altered so that it provides increased incentives for farmers to engage in soil and water conservation and soil fertility enhancement activities, increase their legume production, and use compost and fertilizers to address persistent problem soils with striga, acidity, soil compaction, or other issues. We propose the use of a 'conditional universal subsidy' through which any farmer of any size can qualify for subsidised fertiliser provided that she or he adopts soil quality-enhancing investments to reverse the cycle of land degradation in densely populated farming areas. This makes modifying the FISP so that the program better addresses these issues, in conjunction with education on building soil production capacity through the provision of improved agricultural extension services, of vital importance to food security and building the nation.Raising the efficiency with which farmers use fertilizer is crucial for achieving sustainable agricultural productivity growth, food security, and poverty reduction in Malawi. Survey data indicate that NUE on maize fields managed by Malawian farmers is variable but low on average. Interventions to raise NUE will be crucial for enabling farmers to use fertilizer profitably, thereby raising the commercial demand for fertilizer and contributing to sustainable forms of land intensification.NUE from researcher-involved farm trials tend to be two or three times higher than NUE estimates obtained from smallholder household surveys where yields are measured by either yield sub-plot data or farmer recall of harvest from the plot. Reasons for the major differences in the NUE reported from researcher-influenced on-farm trials and from household survey data include differences in weeding intensity, late application of fertilizer by farm households, nonrandom selection and self-selection of farmers to participate in trials, the tendency for farmers to provide different levels of effort on plots where their maize yield is being recorded by outside observers, and farmers growing maize continuously with no legume break crops, among others. We also point out the bias associated with edge effects on small plots and the tendency of nationally representative survey data to include a higher proportion of farmers using fertilizer with belowaverage management skills and farming on more degraded soils compared to farmers participating in trials.In recent years, 50 percent or more of the Government of Malawi's expenditures on agriculture have been devoted to subsidizing the cost of fertilizer. Sustainable agricultural productivity growth in Malawi may be more effectively achieved by an increased emphasis in public investments to elevate efforts to help farmers use fertilizer more efficiently, in addition to the current emphasis through the FISP on raising the quantity of inorganic fertilizer and hybrid seed used. Greater use of fertilizer and hybrid seeds in the absence of programs and interventions to raise the efficiency of input use will continue to depress the positive impacts of the FISP program.Toward this end, this paper identifies the need for investment in understanding the factors that influence the variation of NUE observed on smallholder fields across Malawi. Insights from such research can be used to inform policies and complementary investments to input subsidy programs. We contend that near-term improvements in NUE can be made through prioritizing timely availability of inputs, and investment in educational activities to support widespread knowledge of how to manage nitrogen fertilizer for maximum returns. Longer term and important investments include support for soil management practices that increase active SOM and rainfall-use efficiencies, through extension education and market infrastructure that enhances farmer adoption of legumes and soil diagnosis and rehabilitation practices. While often viewed as \"alternative\" or \"low-input\" forms of agriculture, these may be more accurately characterized as important components of a holistic system approach that enables an input-intensive production system to be both profitable and sustainable in a rapidly changing world."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f770ed8bc1c63e5f0b5988c980a4cce7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b89ea500-aa82-4909-bfa4-e74aec296818/retrieve","id":"-1470316353"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"df851d65-5c60-43b2-92f8-71def5fb32e3","content":"This decision analysis approach evaluates business cases and simulates the impact of proposed investments using participatory and probabilistic tools to quantify the potential costs, benefits and associated risks of interventions. The methodology has been applied to case studies in Kenya: Marsabit County and in honey value chains in Lamu County."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b438952c93d12d8ffe1c6b808a1671b8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/3916ad9b-892b-4b1d-a88a-44475a861bc5/content","id":"1166854424"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e0fbe785-c594-4d27-8a24-ab4d2532261c","content":"Centroamérica es una de las regiones más vulnerables a los efectos de la variabilidad climática, eventos extremos, y el cambio climático. Los servicios de información y sistemas de apoyo a la toma de decisiones son herramientas claves para adaptarse a la variabilidad climática, y anticipar y responder a eventos extremos. Esta nota describe de manera general el ecosistema de plataformas y modelos que soportan el desarrollo de servicios digitales para la toma de decisiones en el sector agropecuario de Honduras y Guatemala. Los hallazgos que se resumen aquí hacen parte de la iniciativa AgriLAC Resiliente del CGIAR. Como primera medida, se realizó un diagnóstico general de herramientas digitales y sistemas de apoyo a la toma de decisiones, que brinda un panorama general del ecosistema. Para cada herramienta, se realizó una evaluación de su proceso de desarrollo, ciclos de aprendizaje, y proceso de diseño centrado en el usuario. De igual manera, como parte de la fase de evaluación llevada a cabo en 2022, se llevaron a cabo reuniones y entrevistas con con la partes interesadas con el fin de recopilar información, identificar fortalezas y desafíos actuales, lo cual permitió identificar algunas de las principales necesidades existentes en los servicios meteorológicos en cuanto a la generación de información e implementación de plataformas de difusión de servicios de información que permitan proveer a los usuarios de servicios de monitoreo meteorológico y climático regional y de pronóstico a diferentes escalas.Ecosistema de plataformas y sistemas de soporte a toma de decisiones La Figura 2 presenta un inventario de herramientas en dos áreas clave para avanzar en la reducción del riesgo agroclimático y la intensificación sustentable de la agricultura en Latinoamérica. La primera área es la de monitoreo y análisis de la actividad productiva, que incluye herramientas como E-Agrology, y SIRIA, que son sistemas de monitoreo de la actividad productiva, así como herramientas de agronomía guiada por datos, que permiten analizar los factores limitantes de la actividad productiva (Jiménez et al., 2019;Ramirez-Villegas et al., 2018). E-Agrology es un sistema de captura de datos de campo, para el monitoreo del manejo agronómico, seguimiento técnico al productor y validación de recomendaciones implementados. SIRIA también permite monitorear la actividad productiva al nivel de finca, pero además facilita el reporte de estadísticas de comercialización de insumos agrícolas. Por otra parte, la agronomía guida por datos es una colección de rutinas (scripts) para analizar datos de producción comerciales, identificar factores limitantes, y derivar recomendaciones agronómicas.Figura 1 Inventario de plataformas digitales y sistemas de predicción agroclimática y de apoyo a la toma de decisiones de mayor visibilidad en Latinoamérica Un segundo grupo de herramientas corresponde a predicción de agroclimática y del tiempo meteorológico. En este grupo se encuentran plataformas como Aclimate (Sotelo et al., 2020), que provee recomendaciones sitio-específico de manejo de cultivos con base en pronósticos estacionales. Una plataforma similar es ¿Va a Llover?, desarrollada por la Federación Nacional de Arroceros de Colombia (FEDEARROZ). Esta plataforma provee pronósticos de tiempo, y calendarios que le permiten al productor hacer una planeación de la actividad productiva. De igual modo, se encuentran plataformas y modelos que hacen parte de la base del ecosistema (e.g., IRI NextGen, IRI Data Library), que proveen datos base y/o abordajes específicos para generar pronósticos estacionales y sub-estacionales. La última categoría contiene una mezcla de herramientas que abordan temas como el monitoreo de la seguridad alimentaria, el manejo de la roya del café (Coffee Cloud), y el desarrollo de puntajes de crédito.Esta línea de acción está motivada por la interrogante sobre cuáles son servicios de información climática más adecuados para poder reducir el riesgo climático y mejorar la eficiencia en el uso de los recursos por parte de los actores del sistema agroalimentario en Honduras. La relevancia de esta pregunta radica en que no se han realizado esfuerzos significativos en esta línea en Honduras. Esto último considerando que a pesar de la creciente disponibilidad global de información meteorológica y climática, y sistemas de pronóstico meteorológico y predicción climática estacional, la mayoría de los agricultores realizan su toma de decisiones en base a tradiciones y de manera intuitiva para la planificación agrícola.Existen múltiples oportunidades para incrementar la resiliencia de los sistemas agrícolas a los eventos meteorológicos adversos. Sin embargo, la mejora en la respuesta en los sitemas alimetarios utilizando servicios climáticos comienza necesariamente con el análisis de los registros históricos del clima, los cuales muy frecuentemente son escasos y de calidad subóptima, transformándose en una limitante que reduce el potencial de creación de resiliencia. AgriLAC busca generar información confiable, aplicable y procesable a partir de la investigación con el fin de proporcionar herramientas para la toma de decisiones y la planificación por parte de los agricultores e instituciones de de recursos y de extensión en Honduras. Las actividades realizadas en 2022 se centraron en la evaluación de los productos meteorológicos y climáticos actualmente generados por CENAOS-COPECO. Para ello, se llevó a cabo una reunión entre profesionales de AgriLAC y CENAOS-COPECO, en la cual se avanzó en el conocimiento sobre las capacidades técnicas existentes y en las oportunidades de colaboración en el contexto de la iniciativa AgriLAC. Inicialmente se identificaron cuatro áreas de apoyo técnico, incluyendo (1) el desarrollo y mejora de productos de monitoreo relevantes para la agricultura, (2) la evaluación y actualización del pronóstico meteorológico generado actualmente por CENAOS-COPECO, (3) la mejora en los canales de comunicación de los productos y servicios desarrollados (boletín agrometeorológico, sitio web), y (4) la implementación de un sistema de pronóstico climático estacional para Honduras.Las herramientas de monitoreo que permitan estimar los impactos del clima en la producción agrícola son un componente importante de la resiliencia. El área de apoyo (1) busca generar productos de monitoreo del clima relevantes para la agricultura, con el objetivo de proveer a CENAOS-COPECO de datos de alta calidad que permitan, por ejemplo, regionalizar áreas de mayor impacto de eventos meteorológicos, generar datos para áreas no cubiertas por estaciones meteorológicas, realizar estimaciones de producción agrícola con modelos de simulación de cultivos, o diseñar estrategias de adaptación de los sitemas agrícolas a los riesgos climáticos. De esta manera, análisis como las tendencias observadas o la estacionalidad del clima permiten caracterizar los riesgos existentes. Un ejemplo de los avances en esta actividad es la evaluación en curso de productos grillados de precipitación de alta resolución y de largo plazo para Honduras, considerando la lluvia como un factor tanto de producción como de riesgo climático. Como resultado de la reunión inicial entre AgriLAC y CENAOS-COPECO, se sugirió un enfoque de comparación entre productos grillados con datos de estaciones locales. La Figura 2 muestra un ejemplo de la evaluación realizada, en este caso en términos de lluvia anual en Honduras. Estos mapas muestran que existe un patrón de distriución comparable entre productos, con ciertas diferencias espaciales, y que requieren ser contrastados con datos de estaciones locales. La validación y selección de un producto grillado permitirá contar con datos continuos de calidad caracterizada para ser utilizados posteriormente en la generación de productos de monitoreo de eventos extremos como lluvias intensas o sequías, entre otros. El área de apoyo (2) contempla el diagnóstico del pronóstico meteorológico actualmente generado por CENAOS-COPECO utilizando el modelo Weather Reasearch and Forecasting Model (WRF), el fortalecimiento institucional de las capacidades de pronóstico, y la mejora en los productos generados. Para esto, siguiendo los requerimientos de CENAOS-COPECO, actualmente se realiza un análisis de sensibilidad del modelo WRF a esquemas físicos (microfísica, cúmulos y capa límite) para Honduras, y una calibración para extender el pronóstico actual de 5 días a 10 días, y pronosticar eventos extremos. La extensión del pronóstico de 5 a 10 días permitirá realizar seguimiento y pronóstico a eventos de alto impacto como lo son los ciclones tropicales, cuya duración alcanza más de los 5 días. Como ejemplo, la Figura 3 muestra el pronóstico de lluvia obtenido con WRF durante la ocurrencia de un ciclón tropical en 2020 (huracán IOTA). Este pronóstico debe ser contrastado con datos observacionales de superficie con el fin de entender la incertidumbre y poder reducir el error de estimación del pronóstico. No obstante, un herramienta de pronóstico confiable de este tipo de eventos extremos podría ser utilizado para la alerta temprana en agricultura y otros sectores.Los ejemplos aquí presentados se enlazan con la mejora de los productos y servicios desarrollados para la comunicación, en lo cual se contempla la mejora en el actual boletín agrometeorológico y el sitio web de CENAOS-COPECO, integrando más productos y plataformas de visualización. Ademas, con el fin de proveer información para la planificación agrícola, las actividades conducentes a la implementación de un pronóstico estacional para Honduras permitirá incrementar el rango de posibilidades de decisiones a otras escalas temporales. El uso de pronósticos estacionales junto con datos históricos de calidad y en formatos adecuados permitirá a los agricultores contar con información de respaldo de alto valor para reducir el riesgo climático. Los próximos pasos en Honduras requieren coordinación y compromiso de parte de AgriLAC y CENAOS-COPECO para aprovechar al máximo la oportunidades que la etapa de evaluación a destacado, y así poder generar productos confiables y con valor agregado que contribuyan a la seguridad alimentaria de Honduras. De igual manera, se buscará apalancar el apoyo técnico a partir de las herramientas ya existentes (ver Figura 1), y expandir el trabajo en servicios agroclimáticos digitales a otras instituciones que generen o usen información agroclimática para la toma de decisiones. Esto último requerirá conectar los diferentes productos, modelos, y plataformas de COPECO-CENAOS a plataformas, espacios, y mecanismos de traducción, y diseminación de la información agroclimática.Aclimate Guatemala 1 es la implementación que se realizó de la plataforma AClimate para Guatemala. Uno de los principales requerimientos del proyecto fue la integración con los productos que ha venido generando el Instituto de Sismología, Vulcanología, Meteorología, e Hidrología (INSIVUMEH). INSIVUMEH es la institución nacional oficial que produce información de pronósticos climáticos en Guatemala. Durante la implementación del sistema para Guatemala, se trabajó en la integración con los productos de pronósticos que son generados por el INSIVUMEH, incluyendo, (1) NextGen, 2) REALTIME, y (3) REALTIME_4_MONTHS, los cuales son publicados en una librería de datos o Data Library 2 . Los pronósticos estacionales generados por INSIVUMEH son datos geoespaciales para todo el país, que indican cual es la probabilidad de déficit o exceso de precipitación. La Figura 4 muestra la página de inicio de AClimate Guatemala, y la arquitectura general de la plataforma, incluyendo su conexión con la Librería de Datos del INSIVUMEH.El primer prototipo de AClimate Guatemala incluye un total de nueve localidades (en el departamento de Baja Verapaz), que se seleccionaron como zona de estudio para la implementación inicial de la plataforma. El sitio web está alojado en un servidor de AWS (Amazon Web Services) gestionado, por el momento, por el CGIAR. El portal web está consumiendo servicios web desde la plataforma de AClimate Global, gestionada por el CGIAR. Los datos de pronósticos estacionales son almacenados en el Data Library del INSIVUMEH.Figura 4 Página de inicio (izquierda) y ejemplo de pronóstico estacional (derecha) de AClimate Guatemala.La arquitectura general de la plataforma se presenta en la Figura 5, incluyendo su conexión con la Librería de Datos del INSIVUMEH. Se espera que la configuración y parametrización sea realizada por personal del CGIAR y del INSIVUMEH (Administrators), en tanto que los usuarios finales (técnicos, extensionistas, entre otros), van a poder acceder a la información a través del portal web personalizado para Guatemala.Figura 5 Arquitectura general (nivel 1) de la Plataforma AClimate Guatemala Como uno de los objetivos de AgriLAC, se espera conectar la plataforma AClimate con servicios de mensajería de texto (SMS), redes sociales (a través de chatbots), con las Mesas Técnicas Agroclimáticas (MTAs), y con los procesos participativos de servicios climáticos para la agricultura (PICSA)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ca87b16d5e7b679034568ffed0734aa9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ea9ad84b-70bb-49a9-be7a-332269e8404f/retrieve","id":"1321803134"},"keywords":["Good agricultural practices","adoption and impact","smallholder pig value chain"],"sieverID":"c97d0e3b-4670-450c-98c3-233122b91ab5","content":"This paper investigates the adoption of VietGAHP, a set of guidelines for best practices in pig production, and evaluates impacts using quantitative and qualitative indicators. It tackles the following specific research questions: 1) What is the extent of adoption of VietGAHP among smallholder pig producers? 2) Is there a difference in performance between VietGAHP adopters and non-adopters? Outcomes from adoption and compliance with VietGAHP are assessed using reduction in mortality as a metric for efficacy. Cost-benefit comparisons are also made to illustrate economic outcomes as a measure of effectiveness. We employ statistical t-tests for mean comparison of outcomes between VietGAHP adopters and non-adopters and across exposed and control sites. Our study shows productivity gains from practice and behavioral changes elicited from adoption and compliance with VietGAHP outweigh the costs of doing so, at least at the household level. The observed economic and market incentives could boost the adoption of VietGAHP if these incentives are sustained with appropriate institutions in place. Scalability could be facilitated by exposure via demonstration effects. Peer-to-peer learning is an effective strategy in enhancing capacity for uptake. With exposure being strongly linked to uptake, regardless of gender of respondents, training opportunities for non-exposed groups are worthwhile to pursue.Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) are historically a private-sector strategic response to increasing demand for food safety and quality. GAP certification with quality labels as signals has become a central component of modern consumer policy in developed agri-food market systems, and increasingly in developing country settings in recent years. Being GAPcertified could secure market share and capture price premium by providing competitive advantage to a supplier of a product with credible quality and food safety attributes (Reardon and Farina 2002). In developing country settings where informal markets are still the dominant and generally preferred outlets for food, establishing a credible GAP certification scheme poses institutional and policy challenges. Consequently, the preponderance of standards with dubious credibility erodes public confidence and lead to market failure and sub-optimal supply of safe food being sold at higher prices. Since certification systems mainly depend on trust, the certification and audit procedures need to improve to engender trust in the system and avoid opportunistic behavior. The underlying institutional structure can considerably influence the effectiveness and reliability of the whole certification system (Jahn et al. 2005).There are two types of GAP certification system: public and private. Government certification systems serve consumer protection purposes by providing quality labels to improve market transparency. Some disadvantages of public standards include loss of flexibility and innovation, lock-in-effects, and few incentives for over-compliance (McCluskey 2000). Private certification schemes tend to be significantly different depending on whether the certification is to be used for consumer marketing purposes or should meet the demands of institutional buyers. Many existing schemes in developed countries focus on the suppliers (EUROGAP, ISO); recently introduced schemes have shifted focus of labels on the consumers. There are also meat industry approaches comprising the whole value chain (e.g., the Dutch IKB-system or the German QS-system). Private certification schemes are likely to emerge in settings where there are weak or non-existent public certification systems (Lapar and Tiongco 2011). The main focus of private certification systems is management of food safety risk along the value chain in order to achieve a higher level of assurance in terms of regulatory compliance, and to capture price premiums and market share of the 'certified' product.Increased concerns about foodborne illness from fresh produce and the attendant economic loss from foodborne illness have motivated many growers to voluntarily adopt good agricultural practices (GAPs). Evidence from available empirical work on horticulture products, for example, show that GAPs help reduce microbial contamination on farms and improve food safety systems (Unnevehr 2015). However, GAPs won't necessarily increase consumer demand for fresh produce if buyers do not know that farmers adopted practices to improve food safety on farms. Consumers usually have no way to know whether or not fresh produce is grown with GAP practices. This is particularly true in developing country settings where certification systems are still in a nascent stage and third party certification a costly process.In the context of livestock value chains, there are potentially two important benefits from adoption and compliance with GAP. First is economic risk reduction, including the potential reduction in risk that an outbreak could be traced to the farm and thus avoiding large economic losses, and 'positive externality' from reduced risk of spreading foodborne illness from the farm and consequently lowering risk of an outbreak that affects the entire value chain. Second are the improved market access opportunities by enabling GAP-certified producers to sell to a more diverse range of market outlets for their products. On the other hand, the cost of adoption of GAP could include large capital investments or more moderate expenditures such as training workers to improve hygiene and upgrading record keeping technologies. These costs could potentially pose critical barriers to some potential adopters.The experience in the implementation of GAPs in developing country settings like Vietnam has shown mixed results, mainly in horticulture (Ha et al. 2014;UNCTAD 2007). For livestock, VietGAHP (Good Animal Husbandry Practices) was promulgated through Decision 1506 /QĐ-BNN-KHCN dated 15 May 2008. A revised set of guidelines based on the original VietGAHP but targeting household-based pig production was issued in 2011 (MARD 2011) and had been rolled out through a development project (LIFSAP). VietGAHP includes 29 practices on which compliance for VietGAHP certification is being evaluated. The list of 29 practices and requirements for compliance is presented in Annex --. The 29 practices are classified into eight categories as follows: Group 1: Pig housing, tools and equipment (6 practices); Group 2: Pig stock and management (3 practices); Group 3: Feeds and feed use (4 practices); Group 4: Water use (2 practices): Group 5: Veterinary hygiene (8 practices); Group 6: Marketing (3 practices); Group 7: Environment (2 practices); Group 8: Recording (1 practice). (Table 1).Are GAPs such as VietGAHP effective? Are there sufficient incentives to engender adoption and compliance? Are these transferable and scalable? These are important policy questions. This paper investigates the adoption of VietGAHP and evaluates impacts using quantitative and qualitative indicators. It tackles the following specific research questions: 1) What is the extent of adoption of VietGAHP among smallholder pig producers? 2) Is there a difference in performance between VietGAHP adopters and non-adopters? The findings could provide empirical evidence to guide appropriate strategies for uptake and scaling of best practices.We designed our study within an ongoing development project, LIFSAP (Livestock Competitiveness and Food Safety Project), which provided a natural setting to study adoption and compliance with VietGAHP and compare the outcomes of adoption and compliance across a number of performance indicators. We identified three groups of survey participants to recruit, namely, the VietGAHP adopters, the VietGAHP non-adopters, and a control. The VietGAHP adopters and non-adopters were recruited from the exposed sites, or where VietGAHP had been rolled out. The control group members were recruited from a nonexposed site, or where VietGAHP has not been introduced and where LIFSAP has not had nor any ongoing field activities. A total of 112 respondents were selected of which 42 are VietGAHP adopters, 40 non-adopters and 30 are control.A structured survey was implemented in Nghe An province, one of the project sites of LIFSAP. For purposes of this study, Dien Chau district was selected as the exposed site, for its proximity to Vinh City, the urban center of the province and thus enabling the capture of rural to urban patterns of pig and pork trade that may influence uptake of best practices for pig production. Hung Nguyen district, not having been exposed to VietGAHP, was identified as the control site. Focused group discussions (FGDs) of men and women pig raisers were undertaken to capture qualitative information about knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and gender issues.Outcomes from adoption and compliance with VietGAHP are assessed using reduction in mortality as a metric for efficacy. Cost-benefit comparisons are also made to illustrate economic outcomes as a measure of effectiveness. We employ statistical t-tests for mean comparison of outcomes between VietGAHP adopters and non-adopters and across exposed and control sites.Survey data was processed in Excel and data analysis was done using Stata. Descriptive statistical analysis was applied on a total sample size of 112 observation points from 37 VietGAHP adopters, 40 non-adopters, and 30 control respondents.Table 2 reports on the profile of respondents. The majority of respondents across the three groups are heads of households, and mainly responsible for pig raising. Gender balance is slightly tilted towards more women than men among respondents in the exposed site; a relatively higher proportion of men than women comprise the respondents in the control group. Income from pig production accounts for about a fifth to a fourth of total household income; VietGAHP adopters exhibit a higher proportion of household income from pigs vis-à-vis those in the other two groups.Compliance was evaluated among adopters at two levels, e.g., high compliance (at >65% compliance) and low compliance (at <50% compliance) for each practice. Level of compliance is measured as the proportion of criteria met/practices adopted to total number of criteria/practices. A household is classified has having high level of compliance if that household las met/adopted greater than 65% of criteria/practices. Otherwise, that household is classified as having low-level of compliance.Overall, there is relatively low level of compliance in 17 of the 29 VietGAHP practices, while a relatively high level of compliance was documented for 12 out of 29 practices among the identified adopters of VietGAHP. (Table 3)The extent of mortality during the period of reference used in the survey, i.e, the last pig production cycle, is relatively low as reported by respondents; i.e., three pigs on average died among adopters and non-adopters of VietGAHP (see Table 4). The incidence of mortality is higher among non-adopters (10 out of 45 respondents reported with dead pigs) than among adopters (2 out of 27 respondents reported with dead pigs). The incidence of morbidity or having sick pigs is also relatively lower among adopters (17 out of 37 households) than among non-adopters (26 out of 45 households). Non-adopters also reported as having more sick pigs than adopters, on average (see Table 4) Within exposed sites, we find that high compliance with the practice of feed hygiene (p=0.06) (Group3, 3.2-high, in Table 3) and keeping pig pens clean on a daily basis (p=0.03) (Group 5, 5.2-high, in Table 3) are strongly indicative of improved pig health with lower numbers of pigs dying among adopters vis-à-vis non-adopters. High compliance with keeping the pig pens free from leaking roofs and walls and secured from wind drafts is also making a difference in pig mortality outcomes between adopters and non-adopters, albeit the relatively weak statistical significance (p=0.10) (Group 1, 1.4-high, in Table 3).Strong statistical significance in mortality rates between adopters and non-adopters is also exhibited from low compliance with making complete records of pigs available during pig sales (p=0.05) (Group 6, 6.2-low, in Table 3), as well as in proper use of veterinary drugs and antibiotics including keeping records of veterinary drug us (Group 5, 5.6-low, in Table 3). Other practices where low levels of compliance appear to have influenced mortality outcomes include practices related to maintaining hygiene and sanitation of pig pens, tools and equipment; maintaining feed quality and safety; proper use of veterinary drugs; record keeping; and ensuring traceability. Does exposure make a difference? Comparing outcomes between non-VietGAHP adopter in exposed sites and the respondents in the control or non-exposed site could inform whether exposure to new practices could bring about improvements in performance. Statistically significant differences are observed between the mortality rates of pig producers who are not VietGAHP adopters but exposed to the practices and those who have not been exposed to VietGAHP (see Table 3). Specifically, higher mortality rates are observed among non-exposed pig producers when evaluated in terms of practices such as proper application of veterinary medicine (Group 5, 5.6-high, in Table 3) and keeping records of sale of pigs (Group 6, 6.2-high, in Table 3). It appears that exposure to best practices may likely engender improvements in the way pigs are raised by non-adopters when compared to those who have not been exposed at all. This could be facilitated by the demonstration effect; that is, seeing the effects of applying best practices first hand is likely to engender behavioral changes among those who have been exposed by taking up specific practices that are deemed relevant and feasible in their own particular case.Cost-benefit comparisons between adopters and non-adopter show some glaring differences in production parameters, input use, output levels, and sales (see Table 5). VietGAHP adoption and compliance appear to engender shorter production cycle (7% longer for non-adopters), higher productivity (13% higher liveweight per head among adopters), more pigs sold (89% higher per household among adopters), and heavier pigs sold (10% heavier/head pigs sold among adopters). These production metrics are consistent with the documented lower mortality rate (by half) among adopters vis-à-vis non-adopters. VietGAHP adopters also appear to receive higher selling price, e.g., 4% higher per unit liveweight compared to prices received by non-adopters on average. Estimates of total production costs show no significant difference between adopters and non-adopters, although there are differences in the cost share of inputs, notably different types of feed and use of veterinary and other services. Among adopters of VietGAHP, feeding has shifted to more nutrient-dense feed that translates to higher cost of concentrate feed use, at the same time cost of other types of feed such as raw feed and crop byproducts and residues declined. Cost of veterinary and other services are also slightly higher among adopters as compared to non-adopters. It does appear however that the value of productivity gains outweigh the cost of achieving these gains, thus resulting in net positive profits, on average (see Table 5).Our study findings suggest that adoption of best practices such as VietGAHP do engender positive economic benefits and thus promotion of wider uptake could potentially redound to broader and positive economic outcomes. Productivity gains from practice and behavioral changes elicited from adoption and compliance with VietGAHP outweigh the costs of doing so, at least at the household level. It is also noted that the cost of investment in VietGAHP include other costs not reflected in the farm level cost-benefit analysis. Nonetheless, the reduced mortality from healthier pigs that appear to have been rewarded with better prices in the market are generating productivity gains that translate to better profits from pig production. The observed economic and market incentives could boost the adoption of VietGAHP if these incentives are sustained with appropriate institutions in place. Scalability could be facilitated by exposure via demonstration effects. Peer-to-peer learning is an effective strategy in enhancing capacity for uptake. With exposure being strongly linked to uptake, regardless of gender of respondents, training opportunities for non-exposed groups are worthwhile to pursue. Uptake could potentially be facilitated by continued investments in capacity development of target users who could transition as trainors to other potential adopters in the scaling out process. While full compliance with all practices is the desired target of the LIFSAP project for VietGAHP certification, the health and safety outcomes from full vis-à-vis partial compliance is not strongly supported in the empirical evidence from our study. Validation of this finding in other settings and with a relatively larger sample size would be useful to pursue as a future research enquiry.Table 1 VietGAHP criteria, sub-criteria, guidelines on practices.Criteria/Guideline/Practices 1. Pig housing, tools and equipment used in the pigstyBe isolated from residential areas and from drinking water sourceHave fence to separate the pigsty site from living house and other animal housing systemsHave the entrance to pigsty with lockable doors Have an antiseptic system (footbath) in front of the entranceHave no standing waterDo not leak and avoid draftHave systems to collect and treat solid and liquid waste 1.6. Tools and equipmentHave clear origin and be fully recordedPig herds are fully vaccinatedKeep newly purchased pigs in quarantine and record information Do not keep pigs with other animals Keep different litters of pigs separateFeedstuff must be hygiene, not moldy Kitchen waste like leftover food must be cooked before feedingConcentrate feed must be mixed in accordance with instructions for pig species, ages Complete feed mixture must be marked with stampFeed must be stored on shelves to avoid mold To be packed in sealed bags to avoid spillage Have separate storing place, protect from insects, rodents ...Have enough water for pig production Use drinking water/treated waterDisinfect the entire pigsty 07 days before and after the sale Criteria/Guideline/Practices Notes:1. \"Group\" pertains to the criteria and numbered according to the order of criteria shown in Table --. 2. \"Practice\" refers to the sub-criteria or specific requirement/practice, numbered according to the order shown in Table -- "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1de2ebc5771a1a07d326ce2721c2e31c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/75105810-3156-4dc7-bf7c-c0bf2c4e83e5/retrieve","id":"294229997"},"keywords":["Carlos Andres Tovar/IPGRI. ISBN-13","978-92-9043-702-4 ISBN-10","92-9043-702-2 IPGRI Via dei Tre Denari 472/a 00057 Maccarese Rome, Italy"],"sieverID":"f92a9c20-6e51-436e-8330-2012df4d7a29","content":"The International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) is an independent international scientific organization that seeks to improve the well-being of present and future generations of people by enhancing conservation and the deployment of agricultural biodiversity on farms and in forests. It is one of 15 Future Harvest Centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private members who support efforts to mobilize cutting-edge science to reduce hunger and poverty, improve human nutrition and health, and protect the environment. IPGRI has its headquarters in Maccarese, near Rome, Italy, with offices in more than 20 other countries worldwide. The Institute operates through four programmes: Diversity for Livelihoods, Understanding and Managing Biodiversity, Global Partnerships, and Improving Livelihoods in Commodity-based Systems.The international status of IPGRI is conferred under an Establishment Agreement which, by January 2006, had been signed by the Governments of Algeria,The rapidly expanding study of DNA in so many areas of science has created an odd surplus: the DNA itself. Reasonably easy and inexpensive to store, with established techniques for almost infinite multiplication, the samples of DNA created in laboratories around the world have almost by accident become an important resource for future research. Participants at an IPGRI-organized meeting on The Evolving Role of Genebanks in the Fast-Developing Field of Molecular Genetics (see de Vicente MC, editor. The Evolving Role of Genebanks in the Fast-developing Field of Molecular Genetics. Issues in Genetic Resources No. 11. IPGRI, Rome, Italy; 2004) discussed informally how a more organized and collaborative approach to DNA banking might benefit the conservation and use of genetic resources and other areas of research. Those discussions prompted IPGRI to undertake a worldwide survey, which in turn resulted in this book.As will be seen from the individual chapters, DNA banking is not at present widespread (fewer than 20% of the institutions responding to a survey bank DNA) but would be welcomed (more than half of the respondents expressed interest in banking DNA). The book also presents considerable evidence of the ways in which DNA banking, by permitting relatively easy transfer and analysis of genetic material, can improve genebank management, plant breeding, conservation, population studies, and many other subjects. Taken together, these suggest that there is indeed a need for practitioners to cooperate to develop the kind of collaborative system envisaged in this book.Many issues remain to be sorted out. Some are extremely practical: how should DNA banks be physically arranged and should they store both DNA and the tissues from which it was extracted? How should DNA samples be distributed? Others hinge on technical issues: what are the best bioinformatic methods to tie together the various strands of information and the DNA samples from which the information was derived? Yet others involve high-level policy decisions: what rules and procedures will govern the exchange of DNA samples and sequence information, and how will access and benefit sharing, including the benefits of further research on the samples, be governed? By pulling together so many individual experiences and perspectives this book sets out several signposts that will help to guide further discussion and elaboration of DNA banking.It should be stressed that none of the contributors sees DNA banking as a substitute for the conservation of genetic resources. DNA banks complement conservation strategies that make use of ex situ and in situ conservation, and they can help to ensure the optimal use of plant and animal populations. DNA banks are probably not going to permit the resurrection of extinct populations. But their potential to enhance so many aspects of the use and conservation of genetic resources makes them an important topic for further discussion and elaboration, to which we hope this book will make a useful and distinct contribution.Director General International Plant Genetic Resources Institute November 2005M. Carmen de Vicente 1 , Meike S. Andersson 1 and Jan Engels 21 International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI-Americas), Cali, Colombia 2 International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), Rome, ItalyOver the last thirty years or so, awareness of the important value of genetic diversity has contributed significantly to the conservation of plant genetic resources (PGR). The strength and weaknesses of the individual ex situ and in situ approaches have ensured that both approaches are widely applied.In situ (=on-site) conservation refers to the maintenance of plant populations in the habitats where they naturally occur and evolved. In the case of crop species, conservation can be achieved in home gardens or on-farm, and in the case of wild species through the designation of protected areas such as national parks and nature reserves.Ex situ (=off-site) conservation of germplasm takes place outside the natural habitat or outside the production areas, in facilities specifically created for this purpose. Depending on the biological nature of the species to be conserved, different ex situ conservation methods may be appropriate. The storage of PGR as seeds in genebanks at subzero temperatures is the most widely applied method. Approximately 90% of more than 6 million accessions stored ex situ worldwide are maintained as seeds (FAO 1996;Engelmann and Engels 2002). Other methods include maintenance of whole plants in field genebanks, as tissue culture (different tissues) in in vitro genebanks, and immersion of tissues, embryos or seeds in liquid nitrogen (i.e. 'cryopreservation'). The latter two methods are particularly used for the conservation of vegetatively propagated species and for species with recalcitrant seeds.All the conservation approaches and methods mentioned above have advantages and disadvantages; for this reason, a complementary approach to safely conserve the genetic diversity belonging to the genepool of a given crop is strongly recommended (Bowen 1999). Information is available about the seed storage behaviour of more than 7000 species (Hong et al. 1998), and a number of methods for complementary conservation schemes are well developed for a wide range of species. A variety of manuals, guidelines and protocols have been published providing technical recommendations and information about opportunities and limitations (e.g. Cromarty et al. 1982;Breese 1989;Stalker and Chapman 1989;FAO/IPGRI 1994;Engelmann 1999; Engelmann and Takagi 2000;Mohd Said Saad and Rao 2001).PGR conservation is, however, not restricted to the collecting and conservation of germplasm. It also includes their efficient management and utilization and it is necessary to document, characterize and evaluate the genetic variation available in genepools of cultivated crops and their wild relatives in order to maximize the use of these genetic resources in crop breeding (FAO 1996).Besides the traditional documentation and characterization/evaluation techniques, some biotechnologies offer important tools for the effective conservation and use of PGR, particularly molecular markers. Their usefulness for the management of genebanks has been widely applied and discussed, e.g. for the characterization of genotypes, assessment of genetic diversity, estimation of genetic relationships within collections, identification of duplicates, establishment of core collections as well as monitoring genetic stability and integrity (e.g. Anderson and Fairbanks 1990;Hodgkin and Debouck 1992;Karp et al. 1997;Karp 2002;de Vicente 2004;de Vicente et al. 2004).Molecular marker technologies are based on DNA analysis and total DNA as crude extracts will be generated for all target samples. Moreover, samples may also remain as amplification products as a result of applying technologies based on the polymerase chain reaction, e.g. random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) or amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). Other technologies, prior to the identification of the markers, require the construction of libraries, i.e. collections of segments of DNA (genomic, c-DNA) containing several copies of the genome of a given species. It is now routine to keep leftover DNA samples or libraries, even after a particular research project has been finished, because they constitute a valuable reserve for research and are a way to continue capitalizing on the investment (time and funds) already made to develop knowledge and/or products. DNA resources can be maintained at -20ºC for short-and mid-term storage (i.e. up to 2 years), and at -70ºC or in liquid nitrogen for longer periods. Although these DNA storage activities generally are not planned, being spinoff activities of varied ongoing projects, this situation has prompted the consideration of DNA collections as a genetic resource (Ramanatha Rao and Riley 1994).In some instances, however, the establishment of DNA 'banks' may be a planned activity and/or the main objective of a research project. Then, DNA storage is undertaken with a specific objective, e.g. the extraction of genetic material to be made readily available for molecular applications. These experiments normally aim to obtain knowledge to improve the efficiency of some conservation activities or to scientifically inform decisions related to the conservation of germplasm. Other objectives of the creation of DNA banks may be related to training or distribution to scientists with an interest in different areas of biology.In none of these cases however, are DNA banks assembled as a means to replace traditional methods of conserving genetic resources. This is important to note as conservation of genome fragments or individual genes is quite a different situation from the conservation of entire genotypes, as living organisms, for their future use.One of the oldest DNA collections of its kind and, to the best of our knowledge, the only DNA bank with an exclusive conservation objective, is the 'Frozen Zoo®', hosted by the Zoological Society of San Diego. The Frozen Zoo® was initiated over 25 years ago (Benirschke 1984) and today preserves the genetic material of approximately 7000 endangered or threatened animal species (mammals, birds and reptiles) in the form of frozen tissue samples for the extraction of DNA for its subsequent use in conservation research (http://www.sandiegozoo.org/conservation/zooproject_frozenzoo.html).Among the few institutions assembling and documenting PGR DNA specimens, the following maintain the most important collections:The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK currently house the world's largest and most comprehensive PGR DNA bank, consisting of over 20 000 DNA specimens representative of all plant families ( http://www.kew.org/data/dnaBank/homepage.html).The US Missouri Botanical Garden holds a collection of 20 000 plant tissue samples with the exclusive objective of supplying researchers with the raw material for the extraction of DNA for its subsequent use in conservation research. A database of the available taxa is accessible through (http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/applied_research/). The Australian Plant DNA Bank was launched at the Southern Cross University in June 2002 to conserve representative genetic information from the entire Australian flora (http://www. dnabank.com.au/).The DNA bank at the Leslie Hill Molecular Systematics Laboratory of the National Botanical Institute (NBI) in Kirstenbosch, South Africa, in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens The DNA bank at the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS), Ibaraki, Japan, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) in Tokyo, is responsible for the preservation of DNA and molecular information of agricultural organisms, and presently maintains DNA samples from rice and pig specimens (http://www.dna.affrc. go.jp/bank/index.html).The groundwork for this publication was a discussion held among germplasm experts on the future role of genebanks in the modern era of molecular genetics and genomics (de Vicente 2004). The primary objective of genebanks is and will continue to be the conservation of plant genetic resources for their future use in plant improvement, to contribute to sustainable agriculture systems, and ultimately thereby helping to eradicate hunger and poverty. Some of the new applications of molecular biology tools and methods contribute to the routine conservation operations of germplasm in genebanks. However, these technologies are most important as the basis of major advances in genomics, and genebanks and their products are attracting a considerable number of new clients, such as molecular biologists and geneticists alongside the traditional plant breeders. An important challenge for genebanks is to satisfy the needs of this wide range of users, usually with a great diversity of expectations.These considerations were the basis for circulating a questionnaire to gather up-to-date information on PGR DNA banking activities and outlooks (a summary is presented in Chapter II). The results of this survey stimulated the preparation of this publication with the aim of establishing a point of departure rather than providing tailor-made answers. A wealth of valuable information has been assembled concerning different aspects related to DNA banking in general, and of PGR in particular.Chapter III discusses the importance of DNA storage for the conservation of species, particularly for gene and genome conservation, and analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of DNA banking as part of an ex situ conservation strategy using the cases of the Frozen Zoo® (San Diego, USA) and of the rice genome research in Japan as examples.Chapter IV reviews best practices and experiences with the preservation of DNA samples, recent advances in technical aspects related to DNA storage (DNA bar-coding), as well as issues that still need to be resolved.The amount of data and information produced by molecular applications is growing exponentially and the rapid advances in molecular as well as in information management technologies require special attention to genetic resources documentation. Chapter V presents some of the bioinformatics applications already employed and calls for the implementation of a standardized, universal molecular database.Chapter VI reviews the usefulness of DNA banks as a primary resource for conservation research, in view of the fact that they provide the raw material for molecular genetic applications that facilitate the assessment and analysis of diversity (e.g. genetic diversity, molecular evolution), thus combining research and conservation.The following two chapters (VII and VIII) deal with DNA banking of other than PGR. DNA banking efforts for these other genetic resources sectors are, in many instances, far more advanced and, therefore, the experiences accumulated might be transferable and useful for PGR DNA storage. Chapter VII reviews the use of tissue collections as a means of storing DNA, based on the experiences of the Colombian National Tissue Collection, hosted by the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Institute. Chapter VIII summarizes the experiences with • DNA banking as a tool for animal genetic resources conservation and demonstrates its utility for conservation research by describing recent studies on endangered animal species.Chapter IX analyzes the particular opportunities, limitations and needs for DNA banking from the perspective of developing countries. This bears in mind that most of the unique genetic diversity has originated in these countries and can still be found there. At the same time, these countries frequently do not have the required capacity and resources to maintain this important heritage and to benefit from its use as developed countries do.In the final chapter (Chapter X), a model is presented for linking DNA storage with traditional ex situ germplasm conservation in order to enhance the management, distribution and use of ex situ-stored PGR. The establishment of a network of DNA banks is proposed to be linked to the current global genebank system under the auspices of the FAO. This would build on the model network of working and reserve nodes as developed and proposed by Adams and Adams (1992). The chapter also includes capacity building aspects and the possible role of IPGRI.Meike S. Andersson 1 , Eloina Mesa Fuquen 2 and M. Carmen de Vicente 1 1 International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI-Americas), Cali, Colombia 2 Escuela de Ingeniería Industrial y Estadística, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia A worldwide survey about DNA storage and use was carried out in 2004 by the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) among international and national plant genetic resources research institutes, botanical gardens, universities and the private sector, focussing on: 1) the inventory of the current state of knowledge and extent of use of DNA storage; 2) the documentation of the prevailing practices to process and store DNA; and 3) legal issues related to DNA banking.The survey consisted of two parts. Part one addressed those institutions that store DNA, with the objective to find out why they store DNA; the procedures they use; if DNA is being supplied to others and how; the legal issues related to DNA storage and exchange; the kind of problems encountered; and the kind of improvements proposed. Part two was directed to those institutions that do not store DNA. It tried to find out if they had ever considered DNA storage and why; if so, the reasons why it was decided not to apply it; and whether consideration to storing DNA would be given in the future and under which conditions.The first part of the survey consisted of 50 questions and the second of 19, the majority of which were simple or multiple-choice. The survey was prepared in English and Spanish and distributed by email and fax. It was sent to 816 institutions in 134 countries assembled from the IPGRI Germplasm Collection Directories (Frison and Servinsky 1995;Knudsen 2000), the FAO Directory 2001 of Correspondents to the Global Network of the World Information and Early Warning System on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (FAO 2001) and by Internet search. Special attention was paid to geographical representation, seeking to include institutions from as many different countries as possible, with a balance between developed and developing countries. The regions were classified as 'developing' and 'developed' according to the status of the majority of the countries constituting them (IMF 2004).More detailed information about the survey and results of the statistical analysis are presented in the technical report (Andersson 2004, available on request).Two hundred and forty-three (30%) valid replies from 77 countries were obtained. Of these, 51 respondents (21%) stored DNA and 192 (79%) did not. The frequency and relative proportion of respondents in the different regions surveyed and according to the type of institution are shown in Tables 1 and 2, respectively.The proportion of people replying to the survey was similar in developed countries (7.0 to 28.4%) and developing countries and countries in transition (4.5 to 21.4%) (Table 1). The sample studied can thus be considered as balanced with respect to the relationship between developed and developing countries, without bias. The result is noteworthy given the fact that the distribution of the questionnaire was mainly by electronic mail.Analysis of the results showed that in general DNA storage is not a common practice in the Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) community. In fact, out of all the replies received, only 20% stored DNA. The survey revealed that at present the majority (79%) of the institutions do not store DNA due to budget problems, insufficient equipment, as well as constraints in personnel and training. However, more than half of them (57%) would consider DNA storage if base level long-term funding were available to ensure stability of the collections, and funding for equipment and training, and standardized protocols were available.The results indicated a substantial lack of information about DNA storage and conservation. Eighty-four per cent of the institutions that store DNA expressed a need for more or better information about DNA storage and conservation; 42% of those institutions not storing DNA mentioned the lack of information as an important reason for not doing so. Respondents agreed that information is needed for logistics (i.e. storage procedures, etc.), protocols, legal issues related to DNA exchange, the uses of DNA storage and funding opportunities to support it. The need for coordination and standardization of DNA banking activities as well as the creation of web-based databases with information about available samples worldwide were other issues frequently mentioned by survey respondents. In particular, respondents from developing countries expressed their concern about the possible applications of DNA banking, and the implications, responsibilities and costs involved. Virtually all institutions (98%) that stored DNA did so with the objective of ensuring its availability for future research activities, whereas gene/genome conservation (29%) and safety duplicates (8%) were only of secondary importance.Interestingly, DNA storage was mentioned as an ongoing activity with similar frequency in developed and developing countries, with more than half (55%) of the DNA banks located at national research institutes. However, research institutes in both developed and developing countries suffered from inadequate equipment and supplies, e.g. commercial kits for DNA extraction (see below). The USA was the country most engaged in PGR DNA storage (eight institutions), followed by the UK (four), Colombia, Germany and Japan (three each), and Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, India and Israel (two each).Virtually all institutions that store DNA (98%) extract the DNA themselves, using standard manual extraction protocols or modifications of these. Roughly one-third of the respondents (39%) also resort to commercial kits for DNA extraction, and 4% use commercial kits exclusively. Not surprisingly, the use of commercial extraction kits was considerably higher in developed countries than in developing countries. None of the institutions in developing countries could afford to use commercial kits exclusively, and the institutions in Africa and the Middle East depended 100% on manual extraction. In North America and Western Europe on the other hand, half or more of the institutions (50% and 62%, respectively) had access to kits, and nearly every fifth respondent (20% and 15%, respectively) used them exclusively.Replies showed that DNA is generally stocked for both medium (6 months to 2 years, at -20 ºC or -70 ºC) and long (more than 2 years, at -70 ºC) periods. One third of the respondents keep it only for short periods (less than 6 months). Although this is usually stored as total DNA, often DNA fragments are also kept (39%).Almost half of the institutions (45%) that store DNA supply DNA samples to others, mainly for scientific purposes but in some cases also for commercial purposes (private institutions). The DNA is mostly provided for free (65% of the cases), but 69% of the respondents agreed that DNA supply should have a cost covering the material and transport expenses of the institute. The institutions also concurred that, apart from basic passport information, ideally as much additional information as possible should be provided, e.g. quantity and quality of the DNA, the extraction protocol used, molecular marker data, sequence information, references to works or publications on the respective species, original donor, pedigree information, links to genebank data, and names of other institutions that have requested the respective accessions. Nearly half of the respondents (43%) that supply DNA to others stated that their institutions had not dealt with legal issues related to ownership and the international movement of the    ). Only every fourth institution (25%) had established official policies, mostly in the form of material transfer agreements (MTA). MTAs reflect national and international regulations and require signature prior to any germplasm exchange, in order to facilitate the exchange of PGR and to protect them from claims about IPR. MTAs usually include clauses regulating the IPR of the requested material and related information, conditions of its use and distribution to third parties, benefitsharing, furnishing of the dispatching institute with any data, information or research results obtained by using the genetic material concerned. However, in most cases these agreements are specifically adapted to the exchange of seeds or plant tissue, and do not consider issues that are of importance in the case of exchanging DNA (e.g. IPR and patenting). Examples of MTAs that make explicit reference to DNA are those used by CATIE (Costa Rica), NIAS (Japan), the Missouri Botanical Garden (USA) and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (UK). Indeed, the legal situation with respect to the collection, exchange and patenting of PGR in general and of plant DNA in particular is very complex, and international regulations are just being developed. An overview about the most important aspects related to this issue is given in Chapter IX.Respondents agreed that DNA banking is a complementary conservation strategy on the one hand, and an effective tool for the more efficient management of genebanks and for conservation research on the other. However, the survey showed that DNA storage of plant genetic resources is not a common practice. Particularly in developing countries only a few public sector institutions are using advanced research techniques and most are only in the early stages of developing the capacity for DNA storage. Private sector research has been virtually absent in these countries, in contrast to the developed world where over 70% of DNA storage is performed by private firms. This demonstrates that technical capacity and financial resources for DNA banking are currently very limited in developing countries.More and better information about the possible uses of DNA banking, and a broader discussion among the scientific community of the opportunities and limitations is crucial. Moreover, there are many questions related to DNA exchange, and IPR and patent protection are still unresolved and legally in a state of flux. Therefore, there is an urgent need to conduct policy research in this field in order to propose solutions for closing these gaps.IPGRI was requested to initiate and coordinate efforts on a) the standardization of speciesspecific protocols for DNA extraction, amplification and storage and b) the development of a DNA banking manual, providing the theoretical background and information on the different uses of DNA storage, limitations and opportunities, legal issues related to DNA exchange and patenting, and technical procedures and methodologies. These suggestions are further elaborated in the last chapter of this publication. DNA may be a cost effective form for conserving germplasm depending on the objective of the conservation and the type of use to which it would be applied. For many species that are difficult to conserve by conventional means (either as seeds or vegetatively) or that are highly threatened in the wild, DNA storage may provide the ultimate way to conserve the genetic diversity of these species and their populations in the short term, until effective methods can be developed.A survey on the feasibility of DNA storage and use carried out by the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) in 2004 showed 1) that DNA storage is still not a common practice as a conservation method and 2) that institutions involved in germplasm conservation would apply DNA storage only if a number of constraints are resolved (Andersson 2004; see also Chapter II, this issue). In the present chapter we look at the role that DNA storage can play in the overall conservation strategy of target species, and discuss the concept of complementary conservation strategies and its application to conservation of plant germplasm. It has long been recognised that no single conservation technique applied alone for conservation of plant genetic resources adequately conserves the full range of genetic diversity of a target species or gene pool (Hoyt 1988;Maxted et al. 1997). The two approaches of conservation, namely ex situ and in situ, are both important in the conservation and use of genetic diversity and should be regarded as complementary to each other (Maxted et al. 1997;Dulloo et al. 1998;Rao 1999;Engels and Wood 1999). The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) also alludes to the complementary nature of ex situ conservation to in situ conservation in both its preamble and Article 9 of the convention (UNCED 1992). The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation that was adopted in April 2002 by the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the CBD includes a recommendation to \"employ in situ conservation measures as the primary approach for conservation complementing them where necessary with ex situ measures…\".The concept of a complementary conservation approach has been around for a long time. Different people have used different terminologies to describe it. Nature conservationists prefer to call it 'integrated strategies' (Falk 1987;1990) while plant genetic resources conservationists mostly use the term 'complementary conservation strategies' (Maxted et al. 1997, Damania 1996). But for all intents and purposes they refer to the same concept.A complementary conservation strategy can be defined as \"the combination of different conservation actions, which together lead to an optimum sustainable use of genetic diversity existing in a target genepool, in the present and future\" (Dulloo et al. 2005). This concept recognizes that the conservation of genetic diversity is not only for the sake of conservation, but also for utilization. The form in which genetic diversity is used is an important one, and would, in consequence, determine the way in which it should be conserved so that its utilization can be facilitated.It is clear that a complementary conservation strategy is necessary to ensure optimum sustainable use of genetic diversity of any target species. Developing such a strategy involves doing a number of things. It is beyond the scope of the present chapter to discuss in detail how a complementary conservation strategy is formulated. In brief, a number of different issues, including consideration of biological characteristics, identification of conservation objectives, methodologies available, socio-economic factors and organizational and funding issues, need to be taken into account. Specific case studies have been documented on complementary conservation strategies in relation to a number of crops including musa (Sharrock and Engels, 1997), coffee (Dulloo et al. 1998), coconuts (Dulloo et al. 2005), Asian sweet potatoes (Nissilä et al. 1999) and tropical fruit trees (Drew and Ashmore 2004). Dulloo et al. (2005) provides a framework and decision-making guideline for developing a complementary conservation strategy for coconuts that can be used as a model to develop complementary conservation strategies for other crops or species.There are various techniques for conserving germplasm, each with their own advantages and disadvantages (Maxted et al. 1997, Maunder et al. 2004). As progress in biotechnology advances, DNA storage is regarded as one of the emerging ex situ techniques for germplasm conservation. The next section describes briefly the range of ex situ techniques available for germplasm conservation.The CBD defines ex situ conservation as \"the conservation of components of biological diversity outside their natural habitats\" (UNCED 1992). There exists a wide range of ex situ conservation techniques. The choice of techniques for germplasm storage is determined by a number of factors depending upon amenability of the target species to the particular technique in question (Thormann et al. 2005). The most widely used technique of germplasm conservation is in the form of seeds. This is usually achieved, conventionally, in seed banks for species with orthodox seed, which can be stored at low temperatures and low moisture content (Roberts 1973), and 90% of the 6 million accessions held in over 1500 genebanks globally (FAO 1998;Imperial College 2003) are conserved in this way. However, many species produce seeds that are desiccation sensitive and/or cold sensitive (Roberts 1973;Pammenter and Berjak 1999) or are usually propagated vegetatively. In such cases, they cannot be kept in seed banks. Conventionally they have been conserved as living plants in field genebanks (Reed et al. 2004) and botanic gardens. Botanic Gardens are estimated to cultivate four million accessions of plant taxa globally, but have very little representation of genetic diversity. With the advent of biotechnology, new methods have been developed using in vitro slow growth and cryopreservation techniques. In vitro conservation provides a useful aseptic method of conservation and solves the problems associated with pests and diseases and environmental hazards that are a major limiting factor for field collections. At the same time, it increases their availability for distribution if the materials are maintained virus free (Reed et al. 2004). Cryopreservation is another option now being regarded as one of the most promising techniques for conservation for the so called 'problem' or 'difficult' species, i.e. those that are vegetatively propagated and species with recalcitrant seeds (Engelmann and Engels 2002). Although protocols for several hundreds of species of temperate and tropical origins have been developed using different types of explants (cell suspension, calluses, apices, zygotic and somatic embryos) (Engelmann and Dussert 2000), there is still a rather limited number of cases where cryopreservation is currently used in genetic resources conservation. Cryopreservation is more advanced for vegetatively propagated crops than for recalcitrant seed species. There is much more work to be done in understanding the recalcitrant behaviour of some species in order to be able to develop cryopreservation protocols.DNA banking is an emerging technique in genetic resources conservation. DNA extracts, DNA or RNA sequences are considered as genetic resources and they are now routinely extracted and conserved in DNA banks (Adams 1997). It is often argued that DNA banking is an unrealistic option for germplasm conservation given that DNA cannot resurrect extinct species (Maunder et al. 2004). DNA storage should still be regarded as an insurance policy rather than a replacement for conventional modes for germplasm storage (Callow et al. 1997). One of the most frequent forms of germplasm requested from genebanks is DNA material (de Vicente, 2004). If such is a need for provision of DNA material for molecular genetic research, then DNA banks have their raison d'être. Maunder et al. (2004) provides a good illustration showing the relative relationship between the different conservation techniques (Figure 1). In this framework, we have included the position of DNA storage to show its relationship to the other techniques of conservation.The biodiversity of plants and animals, including species diversity and intra-specific genetic variation, are best preserved in natural environments. This has often been considered as a preferred method for conservation. In situ conservation is defined as \"the conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats and the maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their Assumes facilities exist to perform task Ongoing effort and/or marginal resources required natural surroundings and, in the case of domesticated or cultivated species, in the surroundings where they have developed their distinctive properties.\" (UNCED 1992, Article 2). Thus, in situ conservation is regarded as conserving germplasm not only in the natural habitat where the target species is found, but also in man-made habitats such as farms and home gardens. The latter applies particularly to cultivated plants and their cultivars, landraces and weedy forms, and not so much to wild relatives of crops. Maintaining viable populations is another key phrase in the definition because it ensures that species do not become static but maintain their evolutionary potential and ecological functions (Kennedy 2004).In contrast to ex situ conservation, in situ methods offer the best opportunities for the conservation of multiple species, particularly recalcitrant species, while allowing the dynamic evolutionary processes to continue, especially in producing new resistance to pests and diseases. Provided in situ reserves are designed optimally, they may conserve a broader range of variability of the target taxa than is possible in ex situ collections, particularly for recalcitrant seed species. However, the difficulties are that the materials are not easily accessible for use and they may be vulnerable to natural and man-made calamities and other biotic interferences such as invasive alien plants. In fact, for both plants and animals, loss of habitat and altered environmental conditions have led to the decline and disappearance of some species and the endangerment of others. It is a fact that no in situ conservation programme would ever be able to protect all the populations and the full range of genetic variability, except for a limited number of highly threatened species. Some priority setting will have to be made in designing in situ protected areas (FAO, DFSC and IPGRI 2001;Heywood and Dulloo 2005).For these reasons, ex situ conservation should be regarded as an important complementary approach for conservation and use of the biological diversity, targeting those populations that are difficult to conserve in situ. Collecting representative samples of the wild populations is crucial and there has been much debate on how much to collect and from how many populations to ensure the maximum of genetic diversity (Brown and Briggs 1991;Neel and Cummings 2003). In case of critically endangered species where very few populations or even individuals exist, the entire genepool can be collected and maintained in ex situ collection as safety duplication to the in situ populations (see the example on the California condor below). Making available the diversity in these collections is also of critical importance. Depending on the type of use of the material, conserving the material in the form of DNA can be very advantageous and will help to facilitate the use of such material. Here DNA banking can have a major role to play. However, the utilisation of these materials should be well regulated to comply with the provision of the access and benefit sharing of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (FAO 2004).One of the major contributions of ex situ genetic resources is the ready provision of documented specimens for use in studies to assess, monitor and manage biological diversity across taxonomic levels, trophic levels, and ecosystems. Increasingly, knowledge of the evolutionary ecological, physiological and behavioural biology of species is amenable to elucidation through genetic studies for which access to small amounts of DNA is crucial. Genetic analyses are becoming a sine qua non for systematic and strategic conservation efforts. Accordingly, storage and curation of documented DNA samples serve a crucial infrastructure need in conservation science and complements efforts to preserve biological diversity both in situ and ex situ.Recent advances in DNA sequencing technology and reduction in the cost of sequencing reagents have brought remarkable progress in genome analysis of various species. At present (as of February 2005), the genomes of 1389 species are being analyzed by various research groups all over the world. Among them, 258 species have been completely sequenced and the rest, including 655 prokaryotic species and 474 eukaryotic species, are in various phases of genome sequence analysis. The nucleotide sequence data generated from these efforts are submitted and registered in the three major international sequence databases, namely NCBI/ GenBank, DDBJ (DNA Data Bank of Japan) and EMBL/EBI (European Bioinformatics Institute). Researchers worldwide can have direct access to these data and use them for various analyses such as homology search, etc. As of February 2005, the registered base sequence information in NCBI/GenBank has reached more than 40 580 000 entries corresponding to 44 billion nucleotide base pairs (Figure 2).In addition to the sequence information, researches associated with genome analysis generally produced biological materials such as cDNA clones, RFLP (Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) markers on the genetic map, cosmid clones, PAC (P1-derived Artificial Chromosome) clones, BAC (Bacterial Artificial Chromosome) clones, YAC (Yeast Artificial Chromosome) clones, etc. These genome resources are indispensable tools for future post-genome research, such as physiological and morphological characterization of a species, functional analysis of genes, comparative genomics and plant breeding. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain an efficient system for conservation and management of DNA materials.Genetic resource collections in the form of frozen tissues, purified DNA samples, frozen, viable cell cultures and derivatives such as RNA, cDNA and genomic libraries all represent valuable components of comprehensive storage strategy. Initially, frozen tissues and viable seed collections were developed. Purification of DNA for a large number of samples is laborious and time consuming. Furthermore, DNA may be more stable in frozen tissues than in aqueous solution. Lyophylization of DNA to provide long-term storage of purified material adds anGrowth of GenBank  Sequences additional step in the preparation process that is costly when large numbers of samples are considered. However, tissue storage in ultra cold freezers is notoriously unreliable; many valuable collections have been lost for lack of vigilant freezer surveillance and contingency plans for the inevitable freezer failures. Liquid nitrogen storage is more expensive but has been successfully developed as a long-term conservation strategy for both plant and animal genetic resources. However, there are no long-term liquid nitrogen storage facilities for DNA samples.Because DNA storage collections have a relatively more recent history and more specialized use than do frozen tissues and germplasm collections, we can anticipate that recurrent evaluation and strategic planning will continue to shape thinking and guide policy for DNA banking efforts. However, it is of considerable importance to point out that, as biodiversity declines continue, no better opportunities than the present are available to collect and incorporate extant biodiversity as part of the efforts to document and conserve a legacy for future generations. Efforts to establish DNA banks have been progressing worldwide. Two examples of this kind of initiative for animal and plant diversity are provided below.The Zoological Society of San Diego's initiative called 'Conservation and Research for Endangered Species' (CRES) has established a unique repository for frozen cell cultures, frozen tissues, gametes, embryos and DNA samples. CRES began by preserving biological specimens with the formation of the Frozen Zoo® in 1975. The Frozen Zoo® currently holds viable fibroblast cell lines and tissue pieces (the living tissue collection) and/or nucleic acid preparations from approximately 7300 individual mammals, birds, and reptiles. Artiodactyls, perissodactyls, primates and carnivores are very heavily represented (Figure 3), together comprising greater than 85% of the total collection. The emphasis of the collection in the past was on specimens from mammalian taxa. Now 20 of the 26 mammalian orders (Wilson and Reeder 1993) are represented. More than 95 species within the primate order alone are held in the collection. Another focus was to seek significant representation in the collection of samples from Africa, Asia, and South America. More recently, this aim has been expanded in the effort to obtain samples from other regions, including San Diego's own local species. Of major importance are animals listed as endangered and threatened. Of the approximately 500 species/subspecies in the collection, more than 200 are listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. An equally important concern from the onset was the interaction of CRES conservation efforts with those of the Species Survival Plan (SSP) groups under the auspices of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA). Seventy-two of the 74 SSP mammalian taxa are now represented in the CRES repository, and close cooperation with several SSP groups has enabled the continuing collection and storage of specimens from all captive individuals of certain targeted species.As an example of current efforts for a commercially important plant species, the mapping and sequencing of the rice genome is informative. Rice is one of the major cereal crops and is the staple food for over 50% of the world population mainly concentrated in Asia. The rice plant originated from domestication of wild rice which resulted in various cultivars through adaptation to a wide range of environmental conditions and continuous breeding for over 10 000 years. However, despite a continuous increase in world population, rice production has actually declined in recent years due to drastic environmental changes. Thus it is necessary to develop innovative approaches to breed new rice varieties with high productivity in a shorter period of time than it takes by conventional breeding methods. This can be easily achieved through identification of the genes that control high yield such as flowering time, seed grain density etc. at the DNA level. For this reason, it is necessary to fully characterize the structure of the rice genome and determine the function of all genes that comprise the rice plant.The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) in Japan started a comprehensive analysis of the rice genome in 1991, using a japonica rice cultivar 'Nipponbare'. As fundamental research for clarifying all genome information of the rice plant, the objectives of the first stage of the Rice Genome Research Program (RGP) were: 1) to establish a catalogue of all expressed genes; 2) to construct a high-density linkage map; and 3) to generate a YAC-based physical map of the rice genome. The results and resources obtained were then used in the second phase of RGP (1998RGP ( -2005)), which focused on the sequencing of the entire genome. The other objectives of the rice genome project included: 1) analysis of full-length cDNA sequences; 2) analysis of gene function by insertional mutagenesis using an endogenous retrotransposon; and 3) isolation of genes for important agronomic traits in rice. The rice genome sequencing is a collaboration of publicly funded laboratories from 10 countries, namely Brazil, China, France, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the UK and the USA, which participated in the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP). This consortium accelerated the genome sequencing and achieved its goal of accurately deciphering the complete nucleotide sequence of the japonica cultivar 'Nipponbare' by the end of 2004.Major new initiatives to understand plant and animal biology are closely integrated with DNA storage collections, although perhaps not to the extent that the future scientific community will consider desirable. As plant and animal genomes are sequenced, access to DNA samples from the individual organisms whose genomes were sequenced is required for many continuing studies. Similarly, large insert libraries, such as bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) and fosmid libraries, play a crucial role in initial and ongoing investigations of genome organization and sequencing in a variety of species. To advance basic genomic studies and facilitate comparative studies, DNA library resources must be expanded and a functional system for ensuring long-term access to existing libraries must be put in place.The rice express sequence tag (EST) project generated a total of 30 040 cDNA clones with partial sequence from the 5' and 3' end (Sasaki et al. 1994;Yamamoto and Sasaki 1997). These clones were derived from cDNA libraries constructed from various tissues and organs such as green shoot, etiolated shoot, root, panicle and callus under various culture conditions. The cDNA libraries for the rice full-length cDNA project were constructed by the biotinylated cap-trapper and oligo-capping methods. A total of 175 642 cDNA clones were partially sequenced and subjected to clustering. Then the full sequence of 32 127 non-redundant clones was analyzed (The Rice Full-Length cDNA Consortium 2003). All rice ESTs and full-length cDNAs are available for distribution.For accurate analysis of the genome, a high-density linkage map (genetic map) was constructed by RFLP analysis using cDNA and genomic clones. As a result, 3599 DNA markers were mapped on the 12 rice chromosomes. A set of land markers representing specific positions in the 12 chromosomes is available for distribution (NIAS DNA BANK).Rice genome sequencing analysis was carried out by hierarchical genome shotgun sequencing method based on the accurate genetic and physical map. For physical mapping, a yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) library with 350 Kb average insert size, a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library and a P1-derived artificial chromosome (PAC) library with 150 Kb average insert size were constructed. In particular, the PAC and BAC clones were used to construct a sequence-ready physical map that serves as template for genome sequencing.Insertional mutagenesis is an efficient strategy for characterizing the function of genes in rice. It has been proved that the activation of rice retrotransposon (Tos17) cause tissue culture induced mutations in rice. From 50 000 mutant lines produced by insertional mutagenesis using Tos17, about 5000 lines have been analyzed for phenotype and flanking sequence of insertion sites (Hirochika 1997). Seeds of these Tos17 mutant lines are available (Rice Genome Resource Centre).Most agronomically useful traits such as plant height, panicle number, heading date or the socalled quantitative trait loci (QTLs) are difficult to analyze because they are controlled by multiple genes. However, research materials for genetic analysis, such as back-cross inbred lines (BILS), nearly-isogenic lines (NILs) and chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs), have been developed using the DNA markers and genome sequence data. These materials facilitate comprehensive analysis and positional cloning of target QTLs (Yano et al. 2000;Kojima et al. 2002).Detailed information of the rice genome resources, such as nucleotide sequence, chromosomal position, etc. can be accessed at the following Web sites:Rice These DNA materials are valuable resources that have been developed from comprehensive analysis of the rice genome over a long period of time, using enormous budget and considerable human effort. They are useful research tools that can be utilized in various research fields, such as breeding, isolation of genes for useful traits, functional analysis of the genes, comparative genome analysis, etc (Sasaki et al. 2005). These genome resources are particularly valuable because they are accompanied by relevant information, such as an accurate nucleotide sequence, functional information, positional information on the chromosome, etc. The National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS), through the DNA Bank and the Rice Genome Resource Centre,facilitates the preservation and management of the biological materials generated from the rice genome project (Antonio et al. 2003). It also provides researchers from all over the world with access to these materials to facilitate efficient use of these resources in plant science research.The DNA clones, such as ESTs, full-length cDNAs, BACs, PACs and YACs, are fundamentally stored and maintained in 96-well microplates or 384-well microplates stored in -80°C ultradeep freezers. These clones are preserved in duplicate or triplicate in order to prevent the risk that may be caused by troubles arising from mechanical failures and other disturbances. For cDNA clones, plasmid DNA is extracted from the host Escherichia coli, and stored at -30°C in 1.5 ml Eppendorf tubes labelled with a two-dimensional bar code. This facilitates a system for inventory and accelerates the distribution of the samples to users. It also minimizes human error that may occur during sample preparation. Seeds of 50 000 Tos17 mutant lines are also stored and labelled with bar codes.Recently, the NIAS, in collaboration with RIKEN Institute in Japan, constructed a DNA book for rice as an alternative method for maintenance and distribution of DNA materials (Kawai and Hayashizaki 2003). The 'Rice Full-Length cDNA Encyclopedia DNABook™' contains 32 000 clones printed or fixed on special paper and bound as a book. The DNA book has the following advantages: 1) efficient maintenance of a large number of DNA materials in small space and under normal conditions; 2) easy recovery of DNA from paper and extraction using PCR; 3) less labour-intensive and less time-consuming as compared with storage in freezer; and 4) cheap distribution using ordinary mail.Current initiatives to produce phylogenies for plants and animals that involve greater taxonomic sampling, incorporation of larger datasets of molecular and morphological characters and combinatorial analytical methods are resulting in unprecedented collaborations producing increasingly large datasets. A key factor in undertaking these new initiatives is the availability of samples for appropriate taxon sampling. It is also important that molecular analysis be available from the same or a closely related taxon to those used in morphological analyses of extant taxa.The 'tree of life' that is generated provides a strong framework for interpreting biological phenomena. Accordingly, it will be very useful to future investigators to have access to specimens that yielded the data producing the resultant phylogenies. Although such a need can be anticipated, it is not possible to say that there are significant initiatives underway to establish and make available such a framework resource of biomaterials for further studies in biotic evolution.It should be noted that some of the species that constitute key taxa for resolving phylogenies may be threatened or endangered, suggesting that the availability of samples to future investigators cannot be assumed unless specific steps are taken to include these species in genetic resource banks from which they will be broadly and equitably shared. For example, it is estimated that approximately one-fourth of all mammals and as many as one-third of all primates may face extinction in the next two or three decades.Efforts to collect samples from endangered species and incorporate them into DNA banking serve broader interests than evolutionary and comparative studies. Increased knowledge of the biology of endangered species may be crucial for their long-term survival and it is likely that rigorous scientific analysis of DNA data will require the availability of a larger set of samples than are currently being incorporated into DNA banks. Both the number of individuals sampled and the amount of DNA available may become limiting resources for conducting rigorous scientific studies. Furthermore, it is difficult to anticipate which species, now represented by only small amounts of DNA, in DNA banks may be sought after by future investigators. Establishing cell cultures through cryopreservation of tissue fragments, from which cell cultures can later be established, provides a more renewable resource for supplying DNA. Additionally, cell cultures also provide intact cellular constituents, facilitate cytological studies, and may be an important source of cellular RNAs for analysis and construction of cDNA libraries.While DNA banks exist in many countries and in different regions of the world, there is no effective coordination among DNA banks nor are there any databases that can be queried to provide details regarding DNA collections. However, some efforts are underway and, although these are in their beginning stages, represent steps toward facilitating access to DNA specimens or investigations relating to basic science and conservation biology that are non-commercial in nature. INPRIMAT is a European initiative focusing on making available existing primate DNA resources and developing and providing DNA libraries and various reagents (such as DNA microsatellite primers) for primates. In the USA the Integrated Primate Biomaterials and Information Resource (IPBIR) is an NSF-sponsored programme that aims to provide high quality DNA samples of known provenance for research studies. IPBIR relies heavily upon the production of cell lines as renewable resources for providing DNA and also includes associated data to confirm the species identity of individual samples and other voucher information.As whole genome sequencing efforts are being undertaken for more species, including endangered ones such as the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), Savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana), the Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo pygameus albeii), DNA sequencing efforts for these taxa will not produce the same extent of coverage as for model organisms such as human, mouse, drosophila, maize, Arabidopsis etc. Thus, there will continue to be calls for DNA from these species that are not now readily available (except in the case of the great apes through IPBIR and INPRIMAT).An example of a DNA banking project that contributes to the understanding of a major taxonomic group (Aves) and has a decided conservation application is the effort in progress to produce a genetic map for the endangered California condor, Gymnogyps californianus. The California condor was on the verge of extinction, with only eight birds remaining in the wild and a small captive population, when the crucial decision to bring all the birds into captivity was made. Since then, DNA samples have been saved from every California condor and a complete pedigree established. DNA analysis is now routinely applied for sexing the monomorphic bird (Chemnick et al. 2000). Elucidated by multi-locus probe DNA fingerprinting techniques, studies of shared genetic variation have identified three closely related groups (clans) of California condors that constitute the remnants of the gene pool of the species that once distributed throughout much of North America. Both a California condor BAC library and an enriched microsatellite library are available. A segregating hereditary disorder, chondrodystrophy, has been identified in the California condor (Ralls et al. 2000), using the banked DNA samples (including those from affected chicks). A physical map of the California condor can be constructed taking advantage of the advances in genomic biology that have been made for the chicken (International Chicken Genome Sequencing Consortium 2004).Another example from the plant world, which illustrates the value of DNA banking to our understanding of plant's taxonomy and phylogeny and in helping develop conservation and population management strategies, is the Tropical Plant DNA Bank located in the Fairchild Centre for Tropical Plant Conservation. This centre was established to serve as a permanent repository for genetic materials from Fairchild's plants collection and in particular their palm collection. The Fairchild Centre has the world's largest collection of palm DNA, mostly from palms and cycads cultivated at the Centre. Their goal is to have every palm and cycad species in the living collection represented in the DNA bank. It allows harvesting research material (DNA) from relatively transient ex situ collections and serves to carry out phylogenetic work on palms and cycads, population management including recovery planning, and security mark-ing for high value cycads (M. Maunder personal communications). The bank also includes samples collected directly from the wild. This is important because it provides the opportunity of analyzing data from the wild and helps in the development of conservation strategies. For example, samples from wild populations of the princess palm (Dictyosperma album (Bory) H.A. Wendl. & Drude ex Scheffer), a highly endangered species from Mascarene islands in the Indian ocean, have been compared with cultivated populations in order to develop a new conservation strategy for Dictyosperma (C. Lewis, personal communications).As the importance of collecting and providing access to samples of biological diversity for describing, understanding, and conserving the living world becomes more recognized and ingrained, we envision that efforts similar to the Frozen Zoo® and the Rice genome research project will foster a much-needed collaborative system for sharing information and samples. However, currently the collective effort is incompletely described and its global extent not fully recognized.Rice is considered a model plant because it has the smallest genome size among the major cereal crops. The accurate sequence of the rice genome will be invaluable in understanding the structure of other cereal genomes. In addition, various genome resources such as 32 000 rice full-length cDNA clones with full sequence information (structural information), about 50 000 Tos17 mutant lines and genetic analysis materials are also available. In the future, these molecular research materials will become an important tool of the plant life science research, such as functional genome analysis, comparative genome analysis, microarray development, etc. These DNA materials will be useful in rice breeding as well. As we can see in cultivated rice, only traits that are useful for humans have been selected during the breeding process and many other useful traits may have been deleted. The genome sequence information and accompanying biological materials may provide the key for unravelling many important genetic resources that remain undiscovered in wild rice species. For these reasons, valuable DNA materials must be stably maintained and conserved in the long term since they will be indispensable tools for new discoveries in breeding in order to provide enough rice to feed the growing population. This is the mission of DNA banking. We hope that the molecular and genetic resources will be efficiently utilized by the scientific community to facilitate innovative researches in both functional and applied genomics of rice and other cereal crops. Wilson DE, Reeder DM, editors. 1993 The accelerated use of genomic technology in biological research portends a changing pattern in the use of genetic resource collections and fuels the desire among researchers to establish DNA banks (e.g. Savolainen and Reeves 2004;Edwards et al. 2005). DNA sequencing of herbarium sheet specimens, cell cultures and germplasm, harboured at various institutions for various purposes, offers a new approach to studies of gene function, evolution, taxonomy and epidemiology among plants. A catalogue of unique genetic sequences or 'DNA barcodes' can conceptually unite diverse assemblages of repositories under a common registry of sequence accessions. This will enhance online access to information about species, populations or individuals and enable a broadly applicable reference database that is essential for performing DNA-based identifications on samples of unknown origin. The International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) offers a useful ontology for standardizing genetic information and tracking associated information about the origin, identification and subsequent uses of plant DNA (de Vicente et al. 2004).One of the major benefits of genomic technology is fast, reliable and accurate characterization that is broadly comparable across all life stages and species. DNA banks will become the libraries for reference sequences that can be applied to estimate genetic diversity and relative change within populations or to identify samples when phenotypes confound morphologically-based identification (e.g. Olson et al. 1991;Tanksley and McCouch 1997;Avise 2004). It is anticipated that the current demand for DNA samples will keep pace with the exponentially increasing knowledge about genomes. It may also be assumed that questions about cellular differentiation, genome size, structure and gene function will become increasingly sophisticated, requiring nucleic acids unadulterated during handling and storage. The major limitation of genetic analysis involves specimen quality, which dictates the type and degree of characterization that can be successfully undertaken.The challenge for present-day DNA repositories is to provide a product that is amenable for uses anticipated in the future, and also balancing user needs for genetic resources with institutions' abilities to efficiently provide these materials from ex situ collections. The timescale for the usefulness of the sample is an important consideration, as it dictates the stringency for collection, preparation and documentation. Timescales for usefulness will also determine how large the sample must be, how (if) it can be augmented or regenerated and when (if) it can be decommissioned. Many genebanks distinguish between short-term collections, where newly obtained material is characterized and distributed based on current goals, and long-term collections, where samples are placed in safe-keeping for retrospective or population screening studies or because there is a high risk that the material will not be available in the future. Genebanks typically employ both strategies by sub-sampling specimens to meet both short-term (characterization) and long-term (archival) goals.Long-term needs will have a decisive impact on operational organization and repository design. The first of a series of 'Best Practices for Repositories' focuses on human biological materials, but offers useful guidelines for the management of all collections (ISBER 2005). DNA banks should review these general guidelines and also consider actual case studies of existing collections developed in the genomic and proteomic era (e.g. Eiseman et al. 2003). Design criteria for DNA banks should follow guidelines considered more generally for genebanks and repositories, including: the source of the material the anticipated duration of its utility the capacity of the bank and the total volume of the stored material and the institutional commitment to provide infrastructure for storage, processing and distribution.In addition, DNA banks must delineate responsibilities for extracting DNA. For example, should this be a service by the collector, a curatorial function where the source material is stored, or a job for the investigator who uses the material? The roles of various members of the repository team will determine how DNA banks integrate into existing repositories and whether providing DNA becomes an additional service or a new mandate. Who bears the cost for the activity will be a deciding factor in how DNA banks evolve.The inherent stability of DNA and the number of pressing questions that can be addressed concerning genetic information justifies a coordinated effort to bank DNA. The quality of the DNA (molecular weight and authenticity of sequences) is the major determinant of its value in genomic surveys. The curator of the DNA bank must, therefore, preserve the material in a form that is close to the original state and document the risks and actual changes within the prescribed timescale for archival storage. Institutional policies designed to standardize DNA sample collection, extraction, characterization, distribution and archival storage will allow for a more careful evaluation of DNA quality and the effect of different storage platforms on DNA stability over time. This information is necessary for DNA banking strategies to evolve for an ever-increasing array of potential applications.DNA is an unusually stable biomolecule that often outlasts the organism it encodes. The discovery that DNA from ancient specimens may be sufficiently intact to clone specific genes or reveal evolutionary detail is a testament to the resistance of the molecule to degradation (e.g. Goloubinoff et al. 1993;Jaenicke-Després et al. 2003). Models of degradation kinetics predict that fully hydrated DNA will depolymerize into small fragments in about 10 000 years at room temperature (Lindahl 1993). Other models suggest that a background radiation dose equivalent to 32 000 years is required to lethally destabilize chromosomes in cryogenically-stored organisms (Ashwood-Smith and Grant 1977). Practical experience tells us that DNA degrades much more quickly if it is not protected from ionizing radiation, activated oxygen or nucleases.Non-enzymatic degradation of the primary (sequence) and secondary (helical) structure of DNA is usually initiated by cleavage of the N-glycosidic bond between the sugar backbone and the base and is followed by oxidative reactions that fragment the molecule and make the bases susceptible to deamination (Britt 1996). As the DNA template becomes progressively fragmented, it is increasingly difficult to amplify large molecular weight products through polymerase chain reactions (PCR) because primers hybridize poorly with shorter template segments and modified bases (Pääbo et al. 2004;Halliwell and Gutteridge 1999).The quality of DNA extracted from plant specimens is dependent on the condition of the specimen before storage, the storage environment and the duration of storage. General guidelines on how to collect, store and transport samples from the field that are intended for molecular analyses can be found elsewhere (Prendini et al. 2002). The physical appearance of the sample does not necessarily indicate that DNA can be extracted and amplified, although senescing tissues consistently give low yields of DNA that are difficult to amplify using standard techniques • • • • (Taylor and Swann 1994;Rogers and Bendich 1985). Conversely DNA fragments from badly charred seeds collected from ancient burial sites appear to be more amenable to PCR amplification (e.g. Goloubinoff et al. 1993). Studies that use DNA extracted from herbarium specimens are highly revealing about the stability of DNA with time under relatively controlled storage conditions. Valuable sequence information could be obtained from samples stored for over 100 years; however, researchers generally reported low yield and low molecular weight of DNA extracted from aged herbarium specimens (Rogers and Bendich 1985;Taylor and Swann 1994;Ristaino et al. 2001;DeCastro and Menale 2004). Extraction of DNA using extraction kits is highly efficient, although procedures usually need to be modified to accommodate compositional differences among species and tissue types or when samples are highly degraded.Stability of DNA in leaf and seed tissues has not been compared directly. DNA is more commonly extracted from leaf herbarium samples of 150 years or less or mummified seed samples of 500 years or more. Our experience extracting DNA from seeds stored for about 130 years in an attic was similar to reports using aged herbarium samples: low yield and highly fragmented DNA (Walters et al. in prep). However, DNA extracted from dead seeds that were stored for 70 years, mostly under ambient laboratory conditions, had high molecular weight and provided a good template for PCR amplifications of the 650 bp segment coding for the internal transcribed spacer (ITS region) of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene family (Walters et al. submitted). Most species of seeds are expected to survive for 100 years if stored at -18 ºC (Walters et al. 2005a), and it is expected that viable seeds will yield high quality DNA, although there is some evidence that desiccation and storage induce minor lesions that can be repaired when surviving organisms are rehydrated (Roberts 1988;Phillips et al. 2002;Osborne et al. 2002).The stability of DNA molecules within dead cells and deteriorating tissues presents unforeseen consequences and unique opportunities for genebanks. The increased use of PCR-based DNA sequence analyses has led to a regrettable decline of meticulous field collection and archival practices associated with an earlier era of protein or germplasm-based studies that required both greater quantity and higher quality starting materials (Edwards et al. 2005). On the other hand, accessions that were deemed worthless because viability was lost (seed collections) or freezers failed (tissue samples) can now be salvaged for molecular studies (e.g. Hanner et al. 2005).DNA preserved in DNA banks will be stored either within cells and extracted upon retrieval from storage or extracted from cells and purified before storage. The approach that is used to preserve genetic material depends on the goals of the DNA bank. When the object is to isolate DNA from cells, the yield, purity, molecular weight and amplification efficiency are the major considerations. Storage of cells and tissues, rather than purified DNA, provide added value for diagnostic tests, epidemiological studies and identification of gene products (i.e. Austin et al. 1996;Ristaino et al. 2001;Edwards et al. 2005), and should be considered for rare specimens that produce germplasm that is difficult to preserve or grow. 'Immortalized' cells should be considered if biochemical and molecular studies of living cells accompany the genomic studies, if DNA supplies need to be replenished occasionally, or if the sample is rare (e.g. Austin et al. 1996;Visvikis et al. 1998).Preservation stresses (drying, freezing or time) cause some damage to DNA, but most chromosomal aberrations are repaired in surviving cells after a few cell divisions. Preserving immortalized cells requires that normal genome function is retained. Remarkable stability of chromosome structure and function was demonstrated by the ability of mouse spermatozoa to generate normal offspring, even though the spermatozoa had been killed by cryo-exposure or freeze-drying (Kusakabe et al. 2001). However, most reports of somatic cells show some chromosomal aberrations that are symptomatic of an overall loss in vigour in response to preservation (e.g. Phillips et al. 2002;Osborne et al. 2002). When cells are killed by preservation stresses, enzymes that rapidly degrade DNA are released. In some cases, cells initially appear to survive preservation stresses, but then fail to fully recover and eventually dwindle or lyse. This type of morbidity has been linked to programmed cell death (PCD), a process analogous to apoptosis in stressed mammal cells (Earnshaw et al. 1999). Non-specific damage to DNA or PCD has been demonstrated following cryo-exposure of animal cells (e.g. Baust 2003;Men et al. 2003) and has been indicted in cryo-exposed vegetative cells (Benson 1999).Hydrated cells must be cryogenically stored to maintain viability and cell structure. 'Best practices' recommend storage below a critical temperature (ISBER 2005), which is usually interpreted to be the glass transition temperature for pure water (~-140 ºC) (Franks 1985). Below the glass transition temperature, molecular motions that promote ice formation or deteriorating reactions are severely limited on a practical timescale. Cells that are partially dehydrated by air drying, freeze desiccation or by the addition of cryo-protectants will likely have higher (less negative) glass transition temperatures, but the critical temperature for storage has not been studied. The fate of DNA at post-thaw stages has been correlated with pre-exposure conditions (rate of drying or entry into liquid nitrogen), storage duration and overall tolerance of cells to stress (e.g. Benson 1999;Men et al. 2003;Baust 2003) Preservation treatments of hydrated samples can be less stringent if full genome function is not required. The quality of DNA declines within days in hydrated samples held at room temperature or in refrigerators. Drying the sample or storing it in freezers or liquid achieves better preservation of DNA molecular size. Most of the information available on the stability of DNA in hydrated cells comes from studies of red blood cells, which require some processing to remove cations and inhibitors of PCR reactions (Austin et al. 1996;Visvikis et al. 1998).There is little information on the long-term stability of DNA during frozen storage, but most repositories consider several years to decades as realistic (e.g. Visvikis et al. 1998). Because intracellular ice formation does not appear to affect DNA yield or molecular weight, the critical temperature for frozen materials is the melting temperature (usually -3 to -6 ºC), not the glass transition temperature that is considered the standard when maintaining cell viability. Storage at temperatures less than the critical value will likely provide longer shelf-life; however, the relationship between subzero temperature and the kinetics of DNA degradation is unexplored and so predictions of the extent to which shelf-life is prolonged are speculative.Decisions about using conventional freezers (-18 ºC), -80 ºC freezers and liquid nitrogen storage are usually based on space, containers, inventory needs, frequency of access and importance of preventing contamination and temperature fluctuations. Liquid nitrogen (LN 2 ) freezers offer the advantage of resiliency because they have no mechanical compressors to fail (in case of power outages or excessive wear), but such infrastructure is more costly to implement and is primarily suited for long-term archival storage of hydrated samples. Multiple freeze-thaw cycles tend to degrade DNA in frozen mammalian cells (Visvikis et al. 1998), probably because nucleases are released during thawing. Consequently, most tissue repositories aliquot samples before they are put in storage and many laboratories put samples that are accessed frequently at -18 ºC and place reserve archival samples in -80 ºC storage. DNA should be extracted immediately from samples retrieved from frozen storage using protocols that inhibit nuclease activity. Procedures for handling, storing and extracting DNA in large-scale tissue banks (the literature reports predominantly on banks used for human specimens) are not standardized and require optimization (Visvikis et al. 1998). 'Best practices' manuals provide basic guidelines for repository operations (ISBER 2005).Dried cells are becoming popular storage platforms because of the flexibility they provide for handling, distribution and storage. Archiving dried samples intended for genetic analyses began during World War II when Guthrie cards (a blood sample dried onto filter paper) were used to identify soldiers lost in battle via enzymatic assays. DNA stores well at low relative humidity, as demonstrated by the continued, extensive use of blood samples stored on Guthrie cards (e.g., Verlingue et al. 1994;Kline et al. 2002) and the successful use of dried herbarium specimens in molecular evolution studies (Ristaino et al. 2001;Drábková et al. 2002;DeCastro and Menale 2004). Blotting tissues onto filter paper that has been treated with nuclease inhibitors, antioxidants and detergents to break up cells are suitable for DNA storage (Kline et al. 2002) and purportedly extend the shelf-life of DNA in dried specimens (see manufacturer's descriptions for FTA paper (Whatman, Florham Park, NJ) and Isocode paper (Schleicher & Schuell, Keene, NH)). Tissue blots on specialized filter paper should be stored at 30% relative humidity to maximize the shelf-life of samples (Genvault, Carlsbad, CA), which is also considered nearly optimum for the long-term survival of desiccation-tolerant organisms (Walters et al. 2005b). The filter paper platform was designed for storage at ambient temperatures; however, storage at lower temperatures may increase shelf life according to the same principles that govern stability of dry organisms (Walters et al. 2005b).Literature on the stability of purified DNA dissolved in buffer suggests that the overall fragment size decreases with storage time, and that the usefulness of the specimen for PCR-based assays may be 1-2 years when stored at 4 ºC, 4-7 years when stored at -18 ºC and greater than 4 years when stored at -80 ºC (Madisen et al. 1987;Visvikis et al. 1998). Extracted DNA, stored in buffer at -18 or -80 ºC, may be appropriate for short-term goals, but there is little enthusiasm for its use in long-term projects (e.g. Madisen et al. 1987;Visvikis et al. 1998;Drábková et al. 2002). Purification procedures, which are needed to remove degrading agents and PCR inhibitors, inevitably shear DNA into smaller fragments and remove proteins that stabilize tertiary structure. Fragment sizes of 20 to 50 Kb are typical for routine DNA isolations and do not interfere with many of today's applications, although physical mapping projects and studies of DNA damage usually require larger DNA molecules of about 100-200 Kb. Methods to efficiently extract high molecular weight DNA from plants are available (Bennett et al. 2001), but the long-term stability of these molecules is unexplored. Extracted DNA shows greater stability when it is dried (e.g. Madisen et al. 1987;Trapmann et al. 2004), presumably because degrading reactions are slowed.In summary, even though DNA is an intrinsically stable molecule, it can be easily degraded during extraction and storage. Most DNA banks store cells or tissues and extract DNA upon request. Standard storage protocols can be used, and the choice of temperature usually depends on the moisture level within the sample.Characterizing DNA samples DNA, the basic code for all life forms, can be the substance that unifies biological collections of all sorts and for all purposes. Exchanging tissue samples or purified DNA for genomic analyses provides researchers with immediate access to information that may not be readily available because of the restrictions that limit germplasm exchange or prevent the spread of invasive organisms across national boundaries. DNA banking as a formal repository activity can, therefore, unify research programmes by providing a source of genetic information for indexing and retrieval.Access to DNA that has been linked to expertly-identified biological samples can be used to better characterize and identify species, and is likely to be the most immediate need for plant DNA banks. These samples will serve as references to create a stable classification scheme that integrates resource collections with the modern information technology necessary to establish a unified and stable taxonomy (Godfray 2002). An attractive approach to species' molecular diagnostics, known as 'DNA bar-coding', proposes employing a common set of standard markers to accelerate the identification of all species (Hebert et al. 2003). Using sequence database accession numbers to cross-index genebank holdings with voucher collection databases and the published literature, it is possible to develop a virtual platform capable of reconciling specimens and their associated histories with valid scientific names derived from authoritative sources. DNA banks are thus fundamental to organizing a comprehensive 'Encyclopaedia of Life', as envisioned by E.O. Wilson (2003). Ultimately, this research agenda derives from a need to obtain stable classifications that make information retrieval about particular taxa possible and further informs predictions about taxa based on evolutionary propinquity.Reference sequence projects will evolve from a coarse and rather typological species identification tool to a more refined tool that places individual haplotypes within a phylogeographic framework. DNA banks will provide information on frequencies of appropriate genetic markers within populations to assess population structure and demographic trends and to assign individuals to populations using probability-based models. Stored DNA samples will also be used as reference samples for analyses of parentage or verification of specific genotypes.Standardization of the DNA source and quality across investigators is required for the collaborative inventory of biological materials that will enhance the value of existing collections and unite their diverse missions and geographic specialties. The quality of DNA provided by DNA banks should parallel the molecular diagnostic tools available, and steps to obtain and verify that quality are needed. A major role of DNA banks will be to provide the quality standard. Because DNA banks are a new venture, there are few guidelines to help establish quality assurance standards for the physical integrity of banked samples. However, different qualities of DNA may result from different storage platforms and may undermine goals for standardization that are required to justify institutional investments. Degradation of DNA is most typically evaluated by the molecular weight of extracted DNA, which can be characterized using gel electrophoresis and reported in a structure consistent with guidelines from de Vicente et al. (2004). Efficiency of amplifying template by PCR and assessments for purity using Absorbance at 260/280 nm may be other criteria of quality (Visvikis et al. 1998). Interestingly, electrophoresis proved as informative as PCR, reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and Northern blot analysis in determining the quality of nucleic acids extracted from banked human tissue (Jewell et al. 2002). Laboratory and procedural guidelines to reduce risks of contaminating DNA and artefacts in aged specimens during PCR may also be appropriate for DNA banks (Cooper and Poinar 2000;Pääbo et al. 2004).Extracting DNA from non-living cells will lead to the eventual exhaustion of highly requested specimens. Whole genome amplification (WGA) is a method to regenerate samples of purified DNA and extend the use of the sample (Lasken and Egholm 2004;Hughes et al. 2005). Kits for WGA are available commercially, although some evidence of allelic dropout has been observed in WGA products relative to the template DNA, particularly when the starting template is of low quality or when less than 10 ng of the template is used in the WGA process. However, a new DNA amplification technology, restriction and circularization-aided rolling circle amplification (RCA-RCA), appears promising for degraded samples, including those treated with formalin (Wang et al. 2004). Such breakthroughs will likely continue to aid in the analysis of historic specimens, but should not be viewed as a substitute for careful field collection and preservation protocols involving new material.Poor data quality associated with both the provenance of deposited specimens and the information derived from them is a serious concern for DNA banks. Some DNA banks, such as the Integrated Primate Biomaterials and Information Resource, conduct baseline genetic characterization of their specimens as a means of quality assurance, using sequence data to help verify the taxonomic identification obtained with the specimen from the submitter (Lorenz et al. 2005). Recipients of DNA bank specimens can subsequently use this baseline information for independent verification of the sample. Moreover, collections that genetically characterize their holdings and disseminate the information in genetic databases are creating digitized taxonomic information about the specimen. The effort contributes to the reference sequence database that will facilitate identification of biomaterials of unknown origin and also raises the profile of collections (Cambon-Thomsen 2003). For example, the Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) is a growing international collaboration to construct a comprehensive database of DNA sequences that are associated with morphological voucher specimens representing described species. Hosted by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (see: http://www.barcoding.si.edu), this effort involves museums, herbaria, biological repositories and biodiversity inventory sites, working together with academic experts in genomics, taxonomy and computer science. Voucher specimens at participating sites become increasingly valuable because they are the only practical way to address known errors in genetic databases (Ruedas et al. 2000;Bridge et al. 2003;Harris 2003).The 'DNA Bar-coding' initiative represents the first global effort to standardize the use of specific genetic markers and is a significant advance to calibrate molecular identifications. Barcoding relies on short orthologous sequences for rapid, accurate, cost-effective and universally accessible species identification (Hebert et al. 2003a;2003b). While animal species can typically be discerned using the 5' end of the mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase (COI) gene, this locus evolves too slowly to be of such use in plants. However, recent work has shown that a combination of the nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and the plastid trnH-psbA intergenic spacer are potentially useful DNA regions for applying bar-coding to flowering plants (Kress et al. 2005). ITS is the most commonly sequenced locus in species level phylogenetic investigations in plants and trnH-psbA is the most variable plastid region in angiosperms. In this respect, the combination of a nuclear and plastid gene for bar-coding plants will allow efficient detection of hybridization, thereby overcoming one of the major limitations of using a single maternally inherited marker as in animal bar-coding.The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) supports the aims of CBOL and is developing taxonomic and collection support for global barcode projects, including a Web-based tool to facilitate the bulk submission of barcode-flagged data records to GenBank®. Barcode-labelled records in GenBank® should include latitude-longitude data, collection dates, collector details, and specimen vouchers that will be displayed as structured comments. Links among museums, herbaria and other collections with specialized databases that maintain collateral natural history records, photographs and descriptions are also planned. As of spring 2005, the genomic database collaborators-the DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ), the European Molecular Biologiy Laboratory (EMBL) and GenBank®-agreed to adopt and exchange additional DNA sequence qualifiers suggested for bar-code entries (but also available for all sequence submissions) as follows: lat_lon collection_date collected_by identified_by fwd_primer rev_primer fwd_primer_name rev_primer_name Electropherograms associated with barcode sequences can now be archived by the NCBI so that quality scores can be computed for inferred bases. Although not a requirement, CBOL encourages the deposition of trace files in the NCBI trace archives regardless of where the initial sequence information is deposited.In summary, quality assurance/quality control procedures need to be developed to ensure that DNA provided by DNA banks meets standards for quality and authenticity. Associated information on the provenance of the DNA will be invaluable to its usefulness.Most repositories have databases to link information about the sample with the deposited sample. This information is crucial to the utility of the repository and to the goals of documenting the distribution of biological diversity in time and across environmental gradients (e.g. Gimaret-Carpentier et al. 2003). The vision of unifying repositories through DNA banks requires that information networks are also unified, globally accessible and updated as research results become available. The GenBank® platform is an important component of this network but, as an archival database, it rarely provides updates about specimen or locality data. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) was established in Copenhagen to promote standardization and aggregation of repository data via a network of participating providers (Edwards 2004). GBIF advocates a structured data ontology for biospecimen collections (e.g. Noy and McGuinness 2005) and either the simplified Darwin Core or the ABCD Schema for data exchange (http://www.gbif.org) to provide confidence when accessing records on a taxon, date and location. Characterizing DNA specimens using standardized markers will facilitate retrieving files for authoritative taxonomies (e.g. Index Herbariorum) and published information through linkages with GenBank®, PubMed and the NCBI Taxonomy Browser (de Vicente et al. 2004).A DNA bank is a particular type of genetic resource bank that preserves and distributes the DNA molecule and provides associated information. Existing DNA banks usually support human medical applications and provide a wealth of experience on various procedures and storage platforms. Exchanging DNA of other species will be increasingly important as specialized techniques in genomics become more taxonomically widespread and global projects, such as DNA bar-coding, seek to provide a unified information structure. While DNA banks focus primarily on the DNA molecule, resources for more labile molecular targets such as replication, transcription and translation machinery will be needed in the post-genomic era. The genebank operator must, therefore, balance future needs against present research trends.It is therefore imperative that the method of preservation, both in the field and at the repository, maximizes the potential utility of collected samples. There are numerous ways to preserve DNA structure; however, preserving chromosome function and patterns of gene expression usually requires maintaining cell viability. Even though there is little information that documents the long-term stability of DNA and other cellular components in different storage platforms, it appears that there are several good methods available to store whole or slightly processed cells that can provide high quality DNA for many years.DNA banks provide an accessible means for genetic characterization and electronic integration of the many existing biomaterial collections. Thus, DNA banks are most useful when paired with traditional herbarium collections and frozen and/or living tissue collections. Standardization of DNA quality and characterization is crucial to a broadly applicable system of DNA-based information on taxonomy, species distribution and quantitative traits. Linkages among genetic resource collections and information help to justify the continued maintenance and expansion of all biorepositories.Theodore Kisha 1 and Oliver Ryder 2 1 Western Regional Plant Introduction Station (WRPIS), USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System, Pullman, WA, USA 2 Conservation and Research for Endangered Species (CRES), Zoological Society of San Diego, CA, USA To date, bioinformatics needs in the context of conserving germplasm and genetic resources have received little attention. This is in spite of the efforts applied to the development of genome analysis tools and the expansion of Web-based data query structures (led by GenBank®; Benson et al. 2003). Even though the special needs resulting from agricultural plants, their wild relatives and endangered animals (Ryder 2005) have yet to be addressed, it is hoped that this will be done soon in a manner that will facilitate the rapid advancement of conservation bioinformatics.One of the aims of managers of conserved endangered animal species is the retention of genetic diversity as it exists in nature. Inter-specific hybridization is discouraged (even if fertile offspring arise) and subspecies mixing using captive populations (ex situ) to support in situ populations is unsuitable, except under dire circumstances. Genetic tools have been used to support small population management of endangered animal species for at least thirty years (Ryder and Fleischer 1996). Now, this is a rapidly growing area of conservation biology. Much of the impetus for this development has come from the human genome project and plant genome sequencing projects. As a consequence, the list of species for which efforts in light sequencing coverage or intensive genome sequencing are being undertaken is expanding quickly.Genetic studies of endangered species may benefit from this expanding collection of data and the comparative studies they facilitate. For example, studies on endangered canids (including foxes and wolves) have been facilitated by information derived from domestic dog genome sequencing efforts.In these circumstances, annotation of genome sequences becomes an ever-increasing challenge even as the cost of sequencing projects decreases and technical obstacles are routinely handled. For example, GenBank® accepts sequences as submitted, but their use requires a level of scrutiny by investigators that may not always be practicable. In addition, collections without sufficient identifiers and associated data often lose their value and cannot be used, or are used and provide misleading data; for example, ascribing DNA sequence information to another species.New uses for stored samples, such as is now being realized through the increasing use of DNA technology and data generated, often require new data linkages to combine information from separate sources. An initial study of elephant mitochondrial cytochrome B sequences resulted in the deposition of a sequence in GenBank®. Subsequent studies found that this sequence was an outlier. Because it was possible to return to the original sample and a sample from another tissue collected at the same time, re-sequencing determined that the original sequence had been erroneous (Fleischer et al. 2001).It is now quite common for investigators to analyze samples from multiple individuals. However, to draw accurate information from the results, knowledge of where and when the sample was taken is crucial, and accurate assessments of whether the individuals that were sampled are related to one another should be undertaken. Thus, for many DNA samples of endangered species for which access is limited (and often only available through a zoological or botanical institution) knowledge of kinship, as is available through stud-book records, is essential. In one instance, a study of ten individuals of a species of ape involved four samples from the same individual that had been housed at four different locations.As a result, DNA bar-coding is receiving increasing attention (see also previous chapter). As part of the nucleotide sequence data record, documentation sufficient to relate the sequence to other, independent, systematic identifiers (e.g. museum accession information, digital images, stud-book records, and provenance information) needs to be included in the respective databases.Some protocols are now emerging for Web-based resources to allow specialists who are not genome biologists per se to be able to assemble, analyze and evaluate data and to hypothesize with genomic sequences and gene expression data, as in the case for primates, for example. Ultimately, this facilitates efforts to annotate the human genome but, not coincidentally, provides new tools for characterizing the genetic organization and variation within the genome of endangered primates. The current estimate that up to 30% of primate taxa may be vulnerable or endangered foretells the utilization of this type of resource, when fully available, for research applications of primate adaptation, population genetics and demographic analyses.The ex situ conservation of plant genetic resources has received worldwide attention for many years. Agriculture in the USA, as well as in many developed countries, is primarily based on crop plants native to other parts of the world. Improvement of major crops for yield, quality and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses must rely on new genes found in old or wild germplasm. Additionally, greater sensitivity to environmental issues has increased farmers' dependence on host plant resistances as opposed to the use of pesticides to fight diseases and pest damage. Despite some useful breakthroughs in biotechnology allowing the tapping of tertiary gene pools for genes with specific purposes, primary and secondary gene pools are still the most important sources of genetic variation for plant breeders. Germplasm collections worldwide provide genes for today's breeding efforts, while preserving other genes for future needs.Availability of genetic diversity is of limited use, however, without the identification and characterization of that diversity, so it can be exploited and applied in an efficient manner. Transgressive segregation for quantitative traits, such as yield, in crop plants relies on the recombination of many different genes positively affecting that trait. Given the potential number of genetically distinct progeny from a single cross and the number of parents available for crossing, knowledge of parental characteristics and their relationship to one another is imperative. This is especially true when searching collections for useful traits such as pathogen resistance. The Western Regional Plant Introduction Station (WRPIS), located on the campus of Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, USA, is part of the USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) with the responsibility of maintaining seed and clonal germplasm. Currently, WRPIS maintains over 70 000 accessions from over 2600 plant species from 376 genera. The Germplasm Resources Information Network of the NPGS (GRIN, http://www.barc.usda. gov/psi/ngrl/dbmu.htm) documents 33 repositories in the United States, comprising 462 253 accessions from 10 768 species and 1669 genera (as of 30 Jan 2004), and these numbers increase daily. The System-wide Information Network for Genetic Resources (SINGER, http://singer. grinfo.net/) lists collections maintaining over 600 000 accessions from 12 of 15 international agricultural research centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Knowledgeable and effective exploitation of such large collections is difficult and their great size is a barrier to their use.Molecular markers have become an accepted and widely used tool for the measurement of genetic diversity. The Centre for Genetic Resources (CGN) in the Netherlands (2000) collated a bibliography representing the many applications of genetic markers in managing germplasm collections. Molecular marker technology can be used to characterize the extent of diversity within a collection and for the development of collection management strategies, which may include the establishment of core collections, identification of redundancies or contamination, guidance for future collection efforts, and identification of gaps of ancestral crop relatives. In addition, analysis of worldwide genetic diversity can identify areas suited for the establishment of in situ conservation sites.The amount of research dedicated to the analysis of genetic diversity using molecular markers grows every year. A search of the AGRICOLA database (http://agricola.nal.usda.gov/) by year using search terms 'diversity' and each respective molecular marker type is represented in Figure 1. The advent of new marker technologies is soon followed by its application to diversity analysis, but old technology continues to be exploited.Few, if any, studies in genetic diversity can be directly compared or compiled. One of the reasons may be due to the fact that most studies are limited to a few accessions or to accessions from a limited area of interest. As a consequence, after publication, the marker data may be lost or forgotten.Years ago, the same was true for DNA sequence data. Researchers all over the world were sequencing DNA, and there was no central data repository that scientists could use to compare results or to measure diversity. In 1988, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI; http://www.ncbi.nih.gov/Sitemap/index.html) was created as a division of the National Library of Medicine to create and maintain databases to enhance biomedical research. The NCBI assumed  1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Figure 1. The number of manuscripts identified in the AGRICOLA database characterizing genetic diversity by marker type. (RFLP, restriction fragment length polymorphism; RAPD, random amplified polymorphic DNA; AFLP, amplified fragment length polymorphism; SSR, simple sequence repeats (microsatellite markers); and MOL, total for all molecular markers) responsibility for GenBank® in 1992 (Benson et al. 2003), and the number of DNA sequences has since risen from a few thousand to over 40 million at the end of 2004 (NCBI 2005). Moreover, the number of links and related databases at the NCBI increases as sequence data are analyzed and new uses for the data emerge. For example, phylogenetic studies based on sequence similarity can now be run from the existing database. 'Virtual' cluster analyses are now possible using tools available at the NCBI Web site, without having to duplicate costly sequence information.However, the state of molecular marker data, fundamental to the study of genetic biodiversity, is lagging behind. Virtual cluster analyses based on the comparison of new accessions to a complete database of accrued marker information would result in savings of both time and money. Relationship queries can be adjusted to filter data based on geographical regions, environments, latitude, etc., if the database is formatted to contain such information.GenBank®, and the organization of the NCBI Web site is a model for international cooperation among agencies and institutions. A molecular marker database would have to follow the example of that model. It would need to be a curated database because of the somewhat imprecise nature of naming markers based on fragment size. A centre or collaborating centres within the network should be responsible for a particular species and define a core set of primers for each marker type, covering the genome randomly and uniformly. A number of 'reference' accessions with defined markers should be included, so that virtual analysis could be anchored, and an image defined of the expected marker pattern with monomorphic and polymorphic bands to ease the construction of an input file with which to conduct a virtual cluster analysis and for submission to the database. As with sequence submissions, the file would be linked to any publications resulting from the analysis.The database should compile individual, marker-centred accession files akin to sequencecentred GenBank® flat files. Formatting should include the species, marker type (information should be available for comparison with any technology currently in use), primer(s) used for RAPD or AFLP studies, or primer sequences and locus names for microsatellite studies, as well as any passport data or descriptors deemed valuable for filtered studies (i.e. inclusion/ exclusion based on origin, or other descriptors). Data for inbred lines would contain loci defined by primer, fragment size and '0' or '1' to indicate the presence or absence of the marker respectively, while data for synthetic populations, obligate out-crossers, or land races would contain allele frequencies.The number of benefits for the conservation and use of genetic resources that can be drawn from available molecular data are almost limitless. However, at present a common platform for storage and analysis of genetic resources marker data is not available. The construction of a universal molecular database may seem like a daunting task, but it can come to fruition by the construction of locally created databases developed through collaborative efforts among members of germplasm conservation centres. The first step is to come to a consensus on the format of such locally generated databases for eventual linkage to a worldwide network. The conservation of biodiversity is a global concern and an increasing amount of attention is focused on measuring the extent of diversity and monitoring the potential fate of these natural resources (Orr 2003). There are many different approaches to the conservation of biodiversity, including combinations of both in situ and ex situ techniques, but before it can be conserved, biodiversity needs to be adequately catalogued. Conservation activities are expensive and time-consuming. However, a balance of all available methods is advisable to ensure that the long-term goals are achieved (Bowen 1999).The advancement and development of techniques in molecular biology and genetics has seen an increase in the ability to quantify and qualify diversity, and in the use of this information for the purpose of conservation. Molecular analyses are particularly useful in determining bottlenecks and historical events, population structure and phylogenetic and phylogeographic relationships (Frankham et al. 2002). As a result many research groups, through their use of molecular analyses, are developing large archives of extracted genomic DNA.In the late 1980s, efforts were made to encourage groups and institutions to establish repositories of genomic DNA in an attempt to complement other conservation efforts and by 1992, 31 institutions were participating in a network of DNA banks (Adams 1997). A number of DNA banks have now been established (Table 1).While the previous Chapters IV and V discussed technical aspects of DNA banking, this chapter will focus on the potential application of plant DNA banks as a primary resource for conservation research.Traditional plant conservation activities include the management of ex situ living collections in seed banks and botanic gardens, and specimen collections in herbaria and museums. It could be argued that these can serve as sources of DNA for the purpose of molecular analyses. In the case of seed collections, these germplasm stores are often referred to as 'gene banks' or 'gene libraries' (Given 1994;Miglani 1998). However, these same terms have more recently been used to describe collections of 'extracted genomic DNA' (Mattick et al. 1992;Adams 1997). This discussion will refer to plant DNA banks as collections containing extracted plant genomic DNA (Rice in press), plant tissues for DNA extraction and products of molecular-biology-based research.A DNA bank, therefore, conserves genomic DNA or tissue for the purpose of extracting genomic DNA and the collection cannot be readily used to re-create the species using conventional methods of plant breeding. It has been suggested that the rapid advancement of biotechnology will, in the future, enable the use of ex situ collections in transformation and cloning (Godwin 1997;Rabiya 2000).The approach to store plant tissues and genomic extracts is suitable for enabling the storage of large numbers of samples securely, efficiently and cheaply (Brown et al. 1997). These large collections of plant materials and genomic extracts can then be used to support molecular-based plant conservation research. It might be argued that if a DNA bank only stores material to be used for DNA extraction, then we may be doing little more than duplicating existing collections such as herbaria and museum specimens. However, the ultimate aims of herbaria and DNA banks are different. Herbaria maintain specimens for the purpose of identification and classification based on morphology, whereas a DNA bank keeps specimens for the purpose of DNA extraction and use in molecular based research. Although it is sometimes possible to extract genomic DNA from herbarium specimens this is not the primary purpose of the collection, and if the herbarium specimens have been treated during preservation this can make the extraction of high quality DNA difficult (Adams 1997). The advantages of storing plant material as part of a plant DNA bank collection are three-fold (Adams 1997):The collection provides a constant supply of material for future genomic extractions. Extraction of genomic DNA can be prioritized and the collection can still grow through the incorporation of new plant samples.If the plant material is to be stored with the aim of being used for extraction of DNA, then it will be preserved to facilitate downstream applications and may allow for improvements in techniques.In contrast, preserving only isolated DNA, rather than combinations of plant tissue and DNA, is also more space efficient and less subject to long-term degradation brought about by initial processing approaches. However, it is not feasible to consider that a collection of plant DNA extracts will exist without the original plant material from which the genomic DNA was derived. Ideally, to confirm its validity, the material lodged within a DNA bank needs to be backed up and supported by the relevant herbarium accessions (or equivalent database and easily accessible plant samples). It may be that stronger collaborative efforts are needed among institutions such as herbaria, germplasm collections, universities and museums to ensure the rationalization of linked samples to the centres with particular expertise, e.g. genomic DNA in a DNA bank and associated seed in a seed bank with cross-references to each collection in their respective database.Plant DNA banks as a conservation tool Plant DNA banks have an enormous potential to collect and conserve a great deal of information about global plant genetic diversity. It has already been highlighted that preserving the DNA of species is in essence about the storage of information (Mattick et al. 1992). Mattick et al. (1992) estimated that the genetic variation in different species is in the range of 1 million to 10 million base pairs and that a DNA bank holding the 10 million species on earth would have an associated 1015 pieces of information contained in the database. Despite this, little effort has been made to collect and document DNA as a genetic resource (Ryder et al. 2000). However, there are individual groups that do aim to share their collections, e.g. the Australian Plant DNA Bank and the DNA banks at Missouri Botanic Gardens (USA), Kew Botanic Gardens (UK), Kirstenbosch Botanic Garden (South Africa) and Rio de Janeiro Botanic Garden (Brazil).The Australian Plant DNA Bank focuses on the collection of Australian native flora and aims not only to include a representative of each known species but also to capture the within species genetic variation. Similarly, the South African and Brazilan plant DNA banks also focus on the diversity within their own native flora. In contrast to this, plant DNA banks at larger institutions such as Kew Botanic Gardens and Missouri Botanic Gardens aim to include representation from as many species as possible across all countries and do not always cover the within-species variation. All of these collections support phylogenetic studies and those that have captured the within-species genetic variation can be used in population genetics.In addition to these DNA banks, many private collections exist and it would be good if a coordinated effort could be made to share the numerous private archives of DNA that have developed through large biotechnology programmes or molecular-based research. For example, the Australian Plant DNA Bank works with local conservation groups to ensure that very rare individuals are stored so that the genetic information will be available for future generations (Rice in press).It is well known how access to DNA from species and molecular analyses can enhance the conservation of the species. On the whole, the assessment of genetic variation within plant populations has made valuable contributions to conservation genetics of species (Byrne 2005). For example the Australian Plant DNA Bank in Lismore now holds samples of extracted genomic DNA that represent the entire known genetic diversity for a range of local rare species, such as Fontainea oraria, Elaeocarpus williamsianus, Eidothea hardeniana, and well over 50% of the known diversity of other rare species, such as Elaeocarpus sp 'Rocky Creek'. The availability of this stored DNA has already enabled the development of a series of conservation-focused studies on these extremely rare species (Rossetto et al. 2000;Rossetto et al. 2004a,b;Rossetto and Kooyman 2005).In the Australian genus Acronychia, DNA-based techniques have been used to clarify its taxonomic status (Rossetto 2005). This also has important implications for the use of this molecular data for the development of conservation strategies. A study on Fontainea oraria used random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) to elucidate the relationships between individuals within a population (Rossetto et al. 2000). This study was particularly important in relation to the development of conservation strategies since the molecular data illustrated that only a few adults were contributing to the next generation of seedlings.Molecular biology is also useful in estimating the levels of clonality (Rossetto et al. 2004a), and in assessing the effects of habitat fragmentation on dispersal (Rossetto et al. 2004b). Knowledge and application of DNA based microsatellite markers developed in closely related economic species can often be used to establish the effects and extent of habitat fragmentation on population structure. For example, microsatellite loci developed from grape (Vitis vinifera) have been used in molecular studies in the closely related Australian members of the Vitaceae (Cissus hypoglauca and Cissuss sterculifolia) (Arnold et al. 2002).It cannot be overlooked that genomic DNA samples will also be valuable if a species becomes extinct or its numbers significantly decline. For species that have declined since the collection of DNA material, the available samples will allow access to information on pre-decline levels of genetic diversity (Rabiya 2000), as long as the collections are representative and good records of origin are kept. It could be argued that other collections already represent the snapshot of historical diversity, but often the amount of material available for DNA extraction is limited and the preservation process may render it unsuitable (Adams 1997).Plant DNA banks do have an important role to play in aiding the conservation of biodiversity by providing facilitated access to the raw material for molecular research. They also preserve genetic information for future research, i.e. they provide an insurance policy to ensure that the full extent of the information about a species or plant family is not lost after they become extinct. It has been argued that the lack of emphasis placed on the value of DNA banks as a conservation tool may be appropriate at the current time, but the lack of knowledge of their existence and scope might also be a hindrance and perhaps the current generation does not value the legacy they would leave for the future (Ryder et al. 2000). One potential of DNA collections is that they may assist with easing the pressure placed on natural ecosystems from disturbances that multiple collecting trips may incur (Ryder et al. 2000). Similarly, accessing plant material from distant, poorly serviced areas or areas of social unrest can be costly, difficult and dangerous (especially for the researchers). A central repository of material can avoid wastage of resources that can otherwise be used for conservation research and practices. The information held in the DNA samples can support research into plant evolution and diversity. Extinction of species of interest will not necessarily hinder the research if the DNA is available.The need to conserve species for food and agriculture has been central to many conservation efforts. Molecular analyses play an important role in the management of germplasm collections and in the selection of material for breeding programmes, which also includes crop wild relatives (Richards 2004). Recent examples of DNA analysis of the diversity of plant germplasm associated with the Australian Plant DNA Bank include studies of sugar-cane (Cordeiro et al. 2003), barley (Bundock and Henry 2004), sorghum (Dillon et al. 2005) and pine trees (Shepherd et al. 2005). Even though protection of crop wild relatives has received little attention, they represent extremely valuable resources that are critical to world food security (Henry 2005). Domestication of crop species has led to a loss of genetic diversity in the cultivated varieties leaving a gene pool with little potential to provide resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses (Nevo 2005). This is particularly relevant to current changes in environmental pressures and predicted climatic shifts. The results of molecular studies on wild barley genetic resources (Hordeum spontaneum) from three countries indicate that this material is genetically more diverse than landraces (National Herbarium of NSW, Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney NSW, Australia evo 2005).In the example of the Australian tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia; Myrtaceae), which is grown to produce pharmaceutical grade oil, a comprehensive genetic study showed that although there is a great deal of genetic diversity across the species, the majority of the variation occurs within single populations (Rossetto et al. 1999). In other words, between-population genetic variation is low, thus simplifying potential germplasm collection exercises for the purpose of identifying material for breeding programmes.By using DNA to determine phylogenetic relationships it is also possible to identify the closest potential sources for new genes in plant breeding programmes. Molecular studies in the Australian Vitaceae identified that Cissus hypoclauca and Cissus sterculifolia are closely related to cultivated grapes and, as a result, are potentially suitable for improvement of grapes (Rossetto et al. 2001). Similarly, Australian native Sorghum species have been identified as a potentially good source of new genes for improvement of Sorghum bicolor (Dillon et al. 2001).DNA bar-codes and DNA banks: is this the way forward for DNA-based conservation research?DNA bar-coding is the use of one or a few reference genes to screen samples in order to identify species and/or to enhance the discovery of new species (Moritz and Cicero 2004). In particular, the catch phrase 'DNA bar-codes' refers to the use of a single mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase (COI) (Moritz and Cicero 2004). The terminology has been described as a bad fit as it infers that each species has a fixed characteristic like a bar-code on a supermarket product (Moritz and Cicero 2004). Although most of the preliminary work has been done on animals, recent work suggests that the same approach can be followed for plants, albeit based on the ITS region and the trnH-psbA spacer rather than a single region (Kress et al. 2005). The use of DNA-sequence-based fingerprinting of one or more loci has been highlighted below as a potentially important standardized tool for DNA banks. These approaches to large-scale sequencing will proceed rapidly if diverse collections of genomic DNA are available through DNA banks. A DNA bank would then be able to house the reference bar-code samples and keep track of the relevant databases. The DNA bar-code approach needs further investigation to determine its suitability as a technique for identifying individuals and as a technique for assessing genetic diversity (Moritz and Cicero 2004).For DNA banks to be a useful resource for conservation, it is necessary that: a coordinated approach be taken, i.e. through international networks that aim to develop standardized protocols and identify priorities a commitment of both financial and human resources from the host institution appropriate collaborative networks are developed and the necessary funds are made available to ensure that research on banked DNA progresses efficiently each sample must have a herbarium voucher and adequate information maintained in an appropriate database and legal issues related to sample exchange are investigated and documented.In the development of standardized protocols for DNA banking, it is evident that methods for monitoring the quality of stored DNA need to be developed. In conjunction, the development of protocols for DNA-sequence-based fingerprinting of appropriate loci might enable the direct comparison of samples held in DNA banks throughout the world. An example for plant species has shown that the granule bound starch synthase I (GBSSI) is useful for the identification of individual species within the Poaceae family (McIntosh et al. 2005). Research into methods for storage of DNA requires further investigation and it is hoped that this research will explore feasible alternatives to storing frozen extracts. There is an imminent need for the ability to store extracted DNA at room temperature. This would provide the advantage of reducing the need for specialized facilities and the costs of hosting collections (Adams 1997). The other problem that should be addressed in the management of DNA banks is that the regeneration of DNA samples may no longer be possible through repeating the extraction from fresh or preservedExtinction of plant species is a reality and the diversity held in collections of DNA may not be represented in living ex situ collections, such as botanic gardens, or in herbaria. In this case, as the DNA samples are used, regeneration methods for whole genome amplification will need to be adopted to maintain the collection. However, these techniques will require further evaluation (Brown et al. 1997).In particular, clearly defined guidelines must be developed in regard to the amount of associated information kept with each sample. The lack of accompanying information with physical samples is a well-documented problem often associated with ex situ collections (Given 1994).A lack of well-defined objectives and planning can also lead to the downfall of projects like DNA banks (Given 1994;Adams 1997). Another issue is the correct taxonomic identification of samples-a reason why DNA banks need to coexist with other institutions like herbaria, museums and zoos so that the necessary expertise can be accessed (Given 1994;Powledge 1995). An obvious step towards achieving these goals is to develop databases in collaboration with those institutions that already have successful databasing procedures. Databases are central in allowing the research community to search collections for samples of interest. A Web-based database has the advantage of allowing researchers to search the collection for samples of interest and order them online. The value of bioinformatics for DNA banks and conservation has been discussed in Chapter V.Legislation surrounding the access and use of genetic resources is another concern that may have an influence on the extent of DNA collections and, as a result, determine their value as a conservation resource. The implementation of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) by governments has seen the access and use of genetic resources change. The convention is important to prevent over-exploitation of resources, to protect ecosystems and to ensure financial returns from commercialization flow to the original owners. This has resulted in each institution developing its own material transfer agreement to ensure that the transfer of material to third parties does not leave the DNA bank's host institution liable for misuse of the samples. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is also in the process of implementing the International Treaty for Food and Agriculture, which has been developed from the underlying principles of the CBD. Unlike the CBD, the International Treaty covers a list of species of importance to food and agriculture and aims to monitor their use and access to them. The issues surrounding how these international agreements effect the use of genetic resources are largely unresolved and it is not uncommon for countries that feel they have not received a fair share of benefits in the past to prevent access to their genetic resources (Kaplan 1998).The full value of DNA banks as a resource for conservation is yet to be realized. DNA banks do complement existing ex situ and in situ conservation efforts. However, they need to be developed in conjunction with these other activities. A coordinated effort would aid the development of DNA collections and ensure that the species included represent an accurate snapshot of the genetic diversity at the time of collection. To further increase the value of these collections as research and conservation tools, DNA banks should develop clear aims in relation to the scope of their collections.  (Hansson and Westerberg 2002). This has significantly increased our knowledge about biodiversity, and its conservation and use (Haig 1998). In some cases, molecular information has answered questions that could not be addressed with traditional methods or, in other cases, it has rendered a greater level of resolution. Knowledge about genetic diversity is important for a number of reasons. For example, in the scope of international law, the documentation and molecular characterization of biodiversity is a prerequisite for a country to exercise national sovereignty over its genetic resources. The assessment of biodiversity can contribute to a more coherent application of agreements and policies in relation to the environment. Furthermore, national conservation efforts aiming at the management and use of natural populations may also benefit from molecular studies, since the viability of species depends not only on demographic factors but also on genetic ones (Rhymer and Simberloff 1996;Avise 1994;Lynch 1996).There is thus a need to include the genetic dimension in biodiversity studies. This is usually done by means of the analysis of nucleic acids and proteins. Nucleic acids allow a wider range of applications. They are classified into deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA). Plant DNA, which is the carrier of the genetic information, can be isolated from the cell nucleus, mitochondria or chloroplasts.Advances in molecular applications have increased the interest of researchers in obtaining tissues for DNA extraction. In order to obtain DNA of good quality it is necessary that biological samples be appropriately collected, transported and stored (Prendini et al. 2002). The best way to ensure high-quality biological samples for DNA extraction is to collect them in the field. If this is not a viable option, alternative approaches need to be used (Dessauer et al. 1996). The dependence on field collections every time material is needed implies inconveniences, such as the investment of considerable costs and time, amongst others. Furthermore, considering the increased threats most of our ecosystems are facing, there is no guarantee that on return to a collection site it still remains unchanged.Thanks to developments in forensic medicine, there are now DNA isolation techniques suitable for many different types of organic samples, independent of their age and state of conservation. This has broadened the range of options for obtaining DNA from samples stored in herbaria, botanical museums, zoos and botanical gardens. Nevertheless, in spite of advanced DNA extraction protocols, these options are sub-optimal alternatives. However, if a continuous source of material is needed to provide high-quality DNA, a properly developed biological collection must exist. These circumstances have led to the establishment of tissue and DNA collections (Palacio-Mejía 2003).Traditionally, tissue collections were the tissues left over from research studies after the initial project had finished. Over time, the number of residual tissue samples grew and researchers were forced to identify exclusive locations for the storage of the samples. Often, these small collections were hosted in biological collections already established. Samples were commonly inadequately labelled and preserved without any particular consideration of management and storage conditions, thus generating a series of small and unorganized tissue collections.With increased awareness of the value of these samples, some institutions, such as natural history museums, decided to centralize and organize their tissue collections and give them a proper status, independent from the traditional collections. Other institutes, lacking these legacy collections, established tissue and DNA collections designed to preserve biological material for future use (Palacio-Mejía 2003).Apart from being a reservoir of raw material for DNA extraction, tissue collections provide an opportunity to preserve biodiversity without the need to distinguish between biological groups. They are long term, require little space and are cost-efficient. Tissue collections, therefore, are a conservation strategy complementing traditional ex situ and in situ conservation strategies.When the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute (AvHI) started its activities in 1995, it first conducted an inventory of the state-of-the-art of biodiversity research in Colombia. The aim was to identify gaps and define a strategy to fill them, complementing continuing research efforts in the country. One of the gaps identified was the study of biodiversity from a genetic and evolutionary perspective (Instituto Humboldt 1998).Generally, biodiversity is associated with diversity at the species level. In Colombia, biodiversity studies have traditionally focused on biodiversity at the ecosystem and species levels and, in some detailed studies, on the population level. The genetic level of biodiversity, however, has rarely been investigated in Colombia, with the exception of some isolated karyotype and molecular studies. The reasons are mainly the high costs of molecular techniques, the lack of skilled personnel and the lack of laboratory infrastructure and of biological collections for the provision of tissue samples (Instituto Humboldt 1999).In 1998 the AvHI started a research programme dedicated to the study of the molecular genetics of biodiversity. The goal was two-fold: 1) to fill the gaps mentioned above and 2) to stimulate the acquisition of knowledge from the application of molecular techniques for biodiversity studies. As part of this programme, and with financial support of the Colombian Ministry of Environment and technical assistance of the Laboratory of Molecular Systematics of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, USA, a banking facility was set up to host the national collection of tissues and its associated DNA samples from Colombia (Instituto Humboldt 1999).Because the intention was to build an active working collection, in the same year a laboratory for molecular biology was established with support of the science funding agency of Colombia, Colciencias, and the technical assistance of the Biotechnology Unit of the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). The laboratory was equipped for the extraction and purification of DNA of all biological groups and to perform a number of molecular techniques based on the polymerase chain reaction. With this infrastructure, the tissue collection and the molecular biology laboratory, the AvHI incorporated the genetic dimension into its studies of Colombian biodiversity, to the service of the national and international scientific communities. Now Colombia has the opportunity to contribute to the study of its biodiversity from a genetic perspective.Different options for preserving the tissue samples were evaluated, including storage at room temperature in different types of solutions, in alcohol and dehydrated. These methods only allow short-term conservation and, therefore, the use of low temperatures was considered in order to extend the periods of preservation. Here, too, several alternatives were evaluated, including conventional refrigerators (4ºC) for short-term storage (a few days) and freezers (-20 ºC) for medium-term storage (up to several months). For long-term storage, the options of ultra-cold freezers (-70 to -80 ºC) and cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen (-196 ºC) were evaluated. In the end, given that the objective was long-term storage, cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen was chosen as the most appropriate method.Cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen protects the tissue sample from biological and biochemical degradation. The tissue is deep-frozen from the moment it enters into the liquid nitrogen, entering a state of suspended animation. This system allows the safe storage during long periods of time and does not require electric energy (Sytsma et al. 1993). Tanks are equipped with monitoring and alarm devices, rendering this conservation method perhaps the safest option available at present.Two tanks with a capacity of 76 000 samples each were acquired, one of which was put into operation while the second serves as an emergency back up and for future expansion plans of the collection. Here, the only factor that needs to be monitored is the level of nitrogen, which has to be replenished every 15 days, costing approximately US$ 5000 annually. It has been estimated that there are between 45 000 and 55 000 plant species in Colombia (Instituto Humboldt 1998); thus, one tank could hold a copy of the entire Colombian flora with space left for other biological groups.In the AvHI collection, tissues samples are preserved instead of DNA, although in some cases both are stored. The main interest at present is in DNA samples. This does not preclude prioritization of other types of molecules or metabolic paths in the near future, depending on scientific advances. The aim must be to conserve as much of today's genetic resources as safely as possible so that in the future, when we have access to new technologies, we will still have the biological resources to apply them. Tissue collections thus constitute ex situ collections with a great potential now and for future use; their consolidation is of the utmost importance, particularly in a mega-diverse country such as Colombia (Instituto Humboldt 2001).The objective of the AvHI tissue collection is to establish a reference collection for the conservation of Colombian biodiversity from a genetic and evolutionary perspective. As such, priority was given to interspecific diversity (i.e. as many species as possible), rather than intraspecific diversity (i.e. many individuals per species). This kind of collection is very useful for systematic and phylogenetic studies. However, the need to include samples of various populations within each species was quickly recognized, especially for users interested in studies of population genetics or microevolution. Therefore, the collection has been expanded to contain a wide range of samples from different populations of each species, covering a much of the each species' geographic distribution.At present, the AvHI collection contains approximately 6000 samples, with an average of 1000 new entries per year. Most (90%) of the collection is made up of birds and plants, while the remaining samples correspond to mammals (5%), reptiles (3%), fishes (1%) and DNA soil samples (Figure 1). Most of the samples were collected by AvHI researchers, with only a few samples being gathered by other researchers in Colombia. This might be due to the fact that few researchers in Colombia outside AvHI have been trained in collection, transport and preservation of tissue samples for molecular purposes. Another reason might be the lack of interest in molecular studies among Colombian researchers, caused by a lack of knowledge about the utility of these techniques and the opportunities offered by the country in this field (Palacio-Mejía 2003).In order to correct this, the AvHI has developed a training manual that provides an overview of the different procedures to collect, transport and preserve tissue samples for molecular purposes. The manual gives researchers information to decide which of these procedures will be best to meet their needs, depending on the biological group sampled, logistic and economic resources, and research objectives. The manual aims at encouraging collectors to collect tissue samples for molecular purposes during 'conventional' field trips, and shows how this can be done at low cost and with minimal extra effort.Owing to the costs involved in establishing and maintaining a cryopreserved tissue collection, the AvHI collection has been established as the principal tissue bank in Colombia. The management of the collection, therefore, needs to be flexible and agile, with strategies that permit researchers of other institutions:to deposit their samples in trust, with the possibility of choosing among different models, according to the preferences of the respective researcher or institution, and to solicit samples deposited in the collection for research purposes, when complying with established requirements. Thus, the AvHI provides the following services: reception of tissue samples for conservation in trust, and access to stored samples for research purposes.Policies have been established defining the terms and conditions for the acceptance and safekeeping of samples, and for their access and exchange.Since the storage space at the AvHI is limited and the costs of conservation in liquid nitrogen are high, and considering the immense biological diversity present in Colombia, clear policies regulating the entry of samples in the tissue collection were defined. These were based on the recognition that biological collections need to avoid redundancy and maximize their diversity (Braun 1997). In general, priority is given to samples collected in regions of difficult access, in threatened or strategically important ecosystems, from biological groups threatened by extinction, from taxa unknown to science, as well as from those recorded for the first time at a particular site or not recently recorded at that site (Palacio-Mejía 2000a).Because the value of a tissue sample is directly proportional to the quality and amount of information associated with it, samples are only accepted if they have complete passport data. Correct and complete passport data including the collection date, collection site, species name, morphological characteristics etc., are particularly important because tissue characteristics are not sufficient to allow their identification (as opposed to, for example, herbarium specimens, which are collected for the purpose of facilitating identification). Samples are also rejected if the material was inappropriately collected and transported and arrives in a deteriorated state. Duplicates of samples already in the collection and samples without an associated voucher are also rejected.'Safekeeping' refers to the keeping in trust of samples under safe conditions for a defined period of time and granting the access to samples according to terms of custody previously agreed upon. Palacio-Mejía (2000b) described different models for the safekeeping of samples at AvHI: Donation: the samples are entered into the collection and access to them is regulated according to the general criteria established by AvHI for the exchange of samples (see below).Safekeeping with notification: AvHI may permit access to the samples, notifying the depositors each time one of their samples is requested.Exclusive safekeeping: the depositor has exclusive access to the samples. If a third party requests access to the sample, the depositor decides whether or not access will be given. This model applies for a period of a maximum of five years after samples enter the collection. After five years, the samples become donations (model 1) and belong to the general AvHI collection. This model applies mainly to samples collected for a particular research project that requires the storage of tissues or genetic material while the project is carried out.The tissue collection provides limited access to tissue and genetic samples to researchers for scientific purposes. Access to samples will only be provided if certain requirements are met, to compensate for the investments (i.e. costs and time) made in the collection, documentation, management and storage of tissue and genetic samples by the AvHI and the collectors (Palacio-Mejía 2000c).•In contrast to other strategies of ex situ conservation, such as seed, field or in vitro collections, tissue collection samples cannot be regenerated or replenished and thus are used up over time (Braun 1997). Therefore, based on experiences of other tissue collections, the AvHI has established terms of utilization in the form of a material transfer agreement (MTA; available on request).Requests for access to the collection should be directed to the curator of the tissue collection in written form. Students need to be authorized by their thesis supervisor or laboratory leader, who will assume the responsibility for compliance with the regulations for access and utilization of the tissue samples (Palacio-Mejía 2000c).Tissue collections are useful for the preservation of biological samples for genetic studies, contributing information towards a better understanding of biodiversity and decisions related to its conservation and use. It is, therefore, necessary to identify low-cost long-term options for ex situ storage of biological materials that guarantee optimum quality and integrity of the samples for their future use. In Colombia, this task has been assumed by the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute (AvHI) through the establishment of a tissue collection for the conservation of the biological diversity and for the service of the scientific community.Jinggong Xiangyu 1 and Ya-ping Zhang 21 Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Kunming, China 2 Molecular Biology of Domestic Animals, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Kunming, China Current species' extinction rates are 50-500 times higher now than for the last 65 million years (Woodruff 2001). It is estimated that one million species will be under the threat of extinction by 2050 (Thomas et al. 2004a), including many domestic animal breeds. Real species declines have been documented for British plants, butterflies and birds (Thomas et al. 2004b) and globally for amphibians (Stuart et al. 2004). Often, the reasons for the decline are not fully understood, for example, 48% of the rapidly declining amphibians are threatened due to unknown reasons in addition to habitat loss or over-utilization (Stuart et al. 2004). Genetic studies can help us to better understand the reasons for species decline and guide our efforts to preserve them in the future.The establishment of nature reserves and national parks in as many parts of the world as possible is necessary for the in situ conservation of animal diversity. Ex situ conservation approaches, such as living collections in zoological parks, are additional important alternatives, as well as the collection and documentation of museum specimens. Considering that the extinction rates of animal species and breeds are the highest in the history of the Earth and that our understanding of the underlying reasons is limited, increasing efforts are focusing on preserving DNA samples of animal genetic resources, especially of endangered animals and animal breeds for current and future research. In this chapter, we will discuss the objectives, applications, problems and needs of animal DNA banks.Phylogeny/evolutionary history DNA banks have facilitated the efforts to reconstruct phylogeny and evolutionary history of many animal groups. For example, extensive comparative DNA sequence data identified four primary super-ordinal clades, thereby providing new insight into the pattern of early placental mammal radiation (Murphy et al. 2001). Within the bear family Ursidae, combined mtDNA and nuclear DNA data showed that the spectacled bear was the earliest divergence. The brown and polar bears and Asiatic and American black bears clustered as sister groups respectively (Yu et al. 2004). Within the big cats genus Panthera, analyses of nuclear and mtDNA data revealed that P. tigris diverged first, followed by P. onca, P. leo and the two sister species, P. pardus and P. uncia (Yu and Zhang 2005). Similarly, molecular studies may help to clarify the so far inconsistent phylogeny of modern placental mammals.Knowledge about genetic diversity and population structure is the basis for our understanding of the population history of species, and hence is very helpful for the design of conservation strategies for endangered species. For example, based on allozyme data from populations of the golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana), it was concluded that a bottleneck had occurred within the last 15 000 years, and that the effective population size was about 1000 at that time. In addition, fossil evidence suggests that the species might have undergone another bottleneck during the late Pleistocene. Considering that the golden snub-nosed monkey has relatively large population sizes (10 000-20 000) compared with other snub-nosed monkeys, the present population sizes seem to have recovered after the bottlenecks (Li et al. 2003).Similarly, only 15 polymorphic sites were found when partly sequencing the mitochondrial D-loop region of 32 individuals from four regional giant panda populations. The low genetic diversity suggests that the current panda populations underwent a severe bottleneck about 43 000 years ago. The population sizes of giant panda could increase to some extent if their habitat was well protected (Zhang et al. 2002).Assessment of the genetic diversity of endangered animal species can help to clarify subspecies classification and define evolutionary significant units for conservation (Ryder 1986). Traditionally, based on morphological characters and geographical distribution, the tigers (Panthera tigris) were divided into eight subspecies. Data from mtDNA and nuclear microsatellites showed six clades corresponding to six taxonomic units or subspecies. These findings will be helpful for the improved management and conservation of tiger populations (Luo et al. 2004).Sequence information of the wild relatives can also provide insights about the origin of domestic animal breeds. It is well known that domestic dogs derived from the wolf, but it is still unknown precisely when and where they came from them. Savolainen et al. (2002) examined mtDNA sequences among 654 domestic dogs covering all major dog breeds worldwide. Their results suggest that domestic dogs originated from East Asia about 15 000 years ago.Animal recovery from preserved DNA Fresh animal tissues can be preserved at -80 °C, allowing simple DNA extraction. Animal species can be regenerated from cryopreserved embryos and cell lines, but not from preserved DNA, due to limitations of the technology. Hence, the main objective of animal DNA banks should be the preservation of animal genetic resources as a complementary conservation strategy. In fact, some animal DNA banks preserve germplasm in the form of extracted DNA as well as cell lines. For example, the Conservation Genome Resource Bank for Korean Wildlife (CGRB) preserves tissue, DNA, cells and semen from Korean animal species (CGRB 2005). The Southwest China Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, under construction in Yunnan province, will comprise an animal germplasm bank, a DNA bank and other sections (Kunming Institute of Botany, CAS 2005).Fresh tissues are ideal resources for DNA extraction by common methods. Hairs are another resource for DNA extraction, but the yield of DNA can be very low and quickly degrade after extraction. Museum samples are often not suitable for the extraction of high-molecular-weight DNA due to degradation of the genetic material. It is expected, though, that rapid technological advances will make hairs, faeces and museum samples useful resources for animal DNA banks in the near future. In fact, it is already possible to amplify more than 78% of the whole genome from a single cell using random primers (Zhang et al. 1992) and there is another method that allows the amplification of degraded samples (about 200bp) for whole genome analysis (Wang et al. 2004).Animal DNA banks preserve purified high-molecular-weight DNA and biological samples for DNA extraction, such as fresh blood, muscle, kidney, heart and hairs, among others. Fresh tissues are preserved at -80 °C and DNA at 4 °C, -20 °C or -80 °C. The storage of tissue samples rather than of isolated DNA is considered to be a better preservation means to reduce DNA damage. However, dry purified DNA may be preserved at room temperature for many years (Ryder et al. 2000). Frequent monitoring of the quality of preserved DNA samples is required, and research on the conditions of long-term preserved DNA should be a major goal of DNA banks. Chapter IV presents a detailed review of DNA preservation techniques.Costs for the establishment and maintenance of animal DNA banks vary depending on the geographic location where the DNA bank is established and consequently are difficult to determine with accuracy. Ryder et al. (2000) estimated that the annual costs per site in the United States were about US$ 50 000-80 000 for unprocessed specimens. Saving tissues of all tropical rainforest species in liquid nitrogen would cost about US$ 20 million per year (Benford 1992). Clearly, high expenses involved in these activities hamper the establishment of DNA bank facilities worldwide, but especially in developing countries.Compared with the importation and exportation of animals, transporting DNA samples is far more convenient since often neither quarantine tests nor other time-consuming and costly procedures are required. This is in addition to the transportation fee that is considerably lower for samples. The exchange of DNA samples could thus facilitate genetic and genomic research.Some plant DNA banks share their DNA samples with researchers. For example, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (UK) maintain a Web-based DNA database and provide plant DNA samples for non-commercial purposes after signature of a material transfer agreement (MTA) (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2005). At present, no wild animal DNA bank provides a similar service. Animal scientists generally exchange DNA samples rather by personal communication, not by posting information on dedicated Web sites. This situation certainly restricts the progress on animal conservation and genetic research among teams that have similar interests. It would be highly desirable if a Web-based database, similar to that established by Kew, could be implemented as soon as possible to facilitate the exchange of animal DNA samples.An animal DNA bank should include facilities for the preparation of voucher specimens and for the preservation of tissue and DNA samples, a laboratory for DNA extraction and molecular analyses, and an administrative office. Separate rooms are required for DNA extraction, molecular analyses (e.g. PCR), and the preservation of tissue and DNA samples, respectively, to avoid contamination of the DNA samples. The office should be equipped with at least two computers, one for common use and the other as a server for the DNA database and sample information.Establishing and operating DNA banks need several kinds of professionals, such as a genetic resources manager, taxonomists, molecular biologists, data analysts and Web-managers. It is difficult for DNA banks in developing countries to hire all the necessary expertise and support from developed countries and the international scientific community is needed to adequately train DNA bank personnel.It is also necessary to hold regular international meetings to share information on how to obtain, extract and preserve animal DNA, and to discuss legal issues and intellectual property rights relating to the exchange of DNA samples. In this way, global efforts will benefit the preservation of the world's biodiversity now and in the future.The examples of applications above show how conservation and evolutionary research can benefit from genetic materials stored in DNA banks, and how research projects stimulate sample collection. For example, population genetic studies of endangered species require sampling covering as much of the species' distribution range as possible. Genetic materials collected in the course of such research projects would well represent the genetic diversity of the species. Therefore, the conjunction of sample collection with research projects is a good approach for DNA banking.Although many research groups hold considerable quantities of extracted animal DNA, samples are not always shared with other conservation biologists. They are often considered as 'private belongings' rather than as a public resource. This increases the cost of efforts on conservation biology by individual teams. Establishing a Web-based facility to register animal DNA banks would be a very cost-efficient approach to promote collaborative research and advance the conservation and use of animal genetic resources. The register should include additional information about the DNA samples, for example the taxonomic status, gender, collecting site and other data. Such a register would facilitate the exchange of DNA samples among researchers and greatly benefit and enhance our understanding on conservation and evolutionary biology.Concern over the dramatic loss of agrobiodiversity in farmers' fields and in nature has led to efforts to conserve plant germplasm in several ex situ collections maintained by national and international research centres throughout the world. Apart from conservation, routine operations of genebanks include germplasm collection and acquisition (enrichment), characterization, evaluation, documentation and supply of germplasm to users and other genebanks. Many national and regional genebank collections, however, have deficits in characterization and evaluation data of the accessions. This lack of information drastically reduces the possibility of utilizing the conserved germplasm, by both plant breeders and farmers alike. It also limits the correct judgement of the representativeness of a genebank. Characterization and, where possible, evaluation of accessions is, therefore, central to strategic germplasm conservation. DNA banks might represent an option to speed up the characterization, evaluation and utilization of genetic resources. In fact, molecular characterization programmes pursued by genebanks could become catalysts for the creation of DNA banks since these routinely generate excess DNA samples that are often stored for future reference and research.Opportunities for DNA storage in genebanks, especially in connection with molecular characterization, are becoming more and more apparent. There are a few areas where one could already foresee an impact of DNA banks in the next few years, including its use as: 1) a resource for high throughput germplasm characterization and improved genebank management; 2) a substrate for association genetics and marker-assisted selection (MAS); 3) a promoter of germplasm information exchange, including novel services such as exchanging DNA samples and sequence information; 4) a reference basis for evolutionary and comparative genomic studies; and 5) a complementary preservation procedure aiming at gene and genome conservation. Some of these opportunities are discussed below.High throughput germplasm characterization and improved genebank management Molecular or genetic markers are seen as descriptors that offer reproducible complementary information to the classical morphological descriptors and phenotypic data used in the characterization and agronomic evaluation of genebank accessions (de Vicente et al. 2004). Detailed genetic information of the accessions in a given collection improves genebank management in several aspects as described by Karp et al. (1997): 1) it allows for the detection of gaps in the collection, guiding new collection missions and the exchange of germplasm; 2) it provides valuable knowledge concerning molecular diversity and genetic relationships through systematic genetic fingerprinting, within and between genepools; 3) it allows for the identification of unique genotypes of special importance to the genebank, as well as the identification of dupli-cate accessions by genetic fingerprinting (Duplicate accessions can be bulked to prevent loss of alleles [Sackville-Hamilton et al. 2002]); 4) it also allows for monitoring the genetic stability and integrity of the accessions, detecting genetic drift, natural selection and contamination during regeneration cycles; and 5) it benefits the potential users, allowing them to identify valuable traits and types quickly based on the genetic information on the accessions.Large genebank collections are often poorly characterized, making it difficult for plant breeders to access and exploit such collections. Using marker technologies, the genetic diversity in such collections can be systematically assessed. This information is then used to establish core collections (Hodgkin et al. 1995). These core collections or subsets of large collections contain a limited number of accessions that capture most of the genetic variability present in the entire collection. These core subsets facilitate the management of the collection and contribute to an increased utilization of the germplasm. DNA banks as hubs of molecular marker application could, therefore, play a prominent role in germplasm characterization, facilitating genebank management and germplasm use.The application of molecular tools to identify genes controlling specific traits in accessions of cultivated species and their wild relatives constitutes an important new role of genebanks to enhance germplasm utilization. The introgression of identified genes into genotypes with a more desirable genetic background using marker-assisted selection (MAS) has been a component of this approach (Tanksley and Nelson 1996;Xiao et al. 1996;Ortiz and Engels 2004). The MAS scheme discussed by Causse et al. (2001) for the transfer of the five most important quantitative trait loci (QTLs) involved in the organoleptic fruit quality of tomato is an example of such an approach.The analysis of genetic variation in germplasm collections and the proper documentation of the number and types of useful polymorphisms offer genebank curators the opportunity to estimate the value of the conserved accessions and enable them to offer specific accessions with desired characteristics to plant breeders and users in general. These users can then make an informed choice and select only those genotypes that best fit their objectives (Ortiz and Engels 2004). In a paper discussing the evolving role of genebanks, de Vicente ( 2004) stressed the increasing demand for specific genes and alleles at QTLs.The rate of discovery of nucleotide variation at QTLs contributing to phenotypic variation of complex traits is expected to increase with the adoption of linkage disequilibrium and candidate gene strategies for fine mapping and cloning of QTLs (Rafalski 2002;Morgante and Salamini 2003). This approach would eliminate the requirement for structured segregating populations and genetic studies could be directly performed on the accessions deposited in the genebank (Graner et al. 2004). The feasibility of association mapping between DNA markers and agronomic traits has been successfully demonstrated in a genebank collection of 600 potato varieties. Highly significant association with QTLs for resistance to late blight and plant maturity was detected with PCR markers, specific to a major gene for resistance to late blight (Gebhardt et al. 2004). Thus, in the near future, genebanks might be asked to provide not only seed, but also DNA samples and the corresponding information on both marker and sequence data.The exchange of DNA samples will certainly facilitate genetic or genomic studies on accessions in a given genebank. It will be a lot easier to exchange DNA samples, rather than seed or vegetative propagules. Transboundary movement of seed and other plant material requires seed inspection, phytosanitary certificates and quarantine testing to ensure it is free of undesir-able diseases and pests. Exchanging DNA samples instead of seeds avoids the need for these time-consuming and costly procedures. The risk of pathogen contamination will be simply circumvented. Moreover, transportation costs of DNA samples would be much lower than that of seed or vegetative material.The transfer of genetic material in the form of DNA samples would, therefore, be preferable in programmes focusing on genetic and genomic studies, rather than agronomic performance. Upon the conclusion of a study based on the DNA samples and having identified a specific germplasm accession possessing a gene of interest, the user could request only that accession, thereby reducing risk, cost and time.Reference basis for evolutionary and comparative genomic studies DNA markers can be used for the taxonomic determination of plant genetic resources for any given genus to at least the species level. In some cases, the classical taxonomy had to be revised based on new DNA and sequence data (Graner et al. 2004). Aligned nucleotide sequences can be used to make inferences about the ancestral relations between them in molecular phylogenetics (Hartl 2000). These studies shed light on patterns of species evolution at the molecular level due to natural and artifical selection. In studies with cultivated wheat using microsatellites, Khlestkina et al. (2004) demonstrated that modern wheat breeding caused a qualitative shift in genetic diversity over the past 50 years, rather than a quantitative one. They concluded that it is necessary to maintain the existing ex situ collections and to collect new material, in order to exploit the whole range of allelic variation.Genetic diversity can be utilized beyond the species-boundary of the primary genepool using genomic approaches. The development of new technologies, such as microarrays and libraries of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) facilitate the detection of genes of special interest within germplasm collections (Richards 2004). The information available on one intensively studied species or crop can be used to predict and locate genes in a completely different species. The application of comparative genomics in cereal crops of the Poaceae family has shown that there is a considerable conservation in gene content and gene order over 60 million years of evolution in species such as wheat, maize and rice (Richards 2004). This homeology suggests that the available sequence and linkage data in one species can be useful for mapping orthologous genes in other species. Comparative genomics also offers the possibility of exploiting the potential of wild relatives of crops in genebanks more efficiently.DNA banking could constitute a complementary conservation strategy for safeguarding the genetic diversity of a crop's genepool, especially if combined with in vitro conservation or cryopreservation. DNA banks can also serve as backup or safety duplicates of the physical seed, field or in vitro collections, in case of catastrophic losses. Although it is not (yet) possible to recover a plant from a DNA sample, the storage of entire genomes (total DNA) or genome fragments (genomic libraries) would permit the preservation of its valuable genetic information, thus, contributing to the objective of gene or genome conservation (Andersson 2004). With the impressive advances in molecular genetics, these preserved genes or genomes might be of high relevance in the future.Genome conservation could play a major role for species that are currently under threat of extinction. This applies in particular to those in densely populated tropical regions that are under severe threat. Of the approximately 17 000 vascular plant species reported to exist in India, nearly 15% are under threat (Ahmedullah 1999). This is aggravated by the high level of endemism existing in several ecologically vulnerable regions of the world. In Sikkim state of India, 60% of the plant species are endemic (Myers 1988), while 33% of the total Indian flora is endemic to the country (TERI 2004). In Brazil, only 8% of the original Atlantic Forest, a highly biodiverse tropical biome that covered the coast from north to south, has been preserved. This area has been subjected to intense human pressure for the last 500 years. Central America and Mexico together form one of the Vavilov centres of origin of cultivated crops. According to Zeven and de Wet (1982), 225 domesticated plant species have their origin in this centre of diversity, representing roughly 9% of the total number of 2489 domesticated species worldwide. Alarmingly high deforestation rates in the range of 2.1% per year have been reported for Central America by FAO (1993). This single factor presents a major threat to the wealth of economically important species in this region. It is unlikely that the current in situ or ex situ conservation efforts will be adequate to guarantee the survival of all these vulnerable species. DNA conservation, on the other hand, at least offers the possibility of ensuring the availability of the genome long after the plant has become extinct.Plant recovery from stored DNA A major limitation of DNA banking is the fact that technologies to regenerate plants from stored DNA are not (yet) available. Hence, DNA conservation cannot be considered as a substitute for conventional conservation strategies, but can only be seen as a complementary strategy. In general, the inability to recover living plants from stored DNA may discourage the curators of genetic resources to support investment in DNA conservation. Furthermore, if the national programmes do not envision comprehensive DNA-based research, justification of DNA conservation would not be apparent.Several plant species are recalcitrant to the commonly used DNA extraction protocols. Those with high concentrations of polysaccharides, proteins, tannin and lipids need special treatment. Thus, there is a need to refine and improve existing protocols to overcome these limitations. It is possible that general extraction protocols applied to specific taxonomic groups would be refined to serve as a reference to groups of species.Another limitation of DNA banking is the relatively short life-span of stored DNA, making it necessary to replace the DNA at frequent intervals. However, the life-span can be easily extended if various factors are optimized, such as extraction and purification procedures and the management during storage. A life-span of 9 years has been observed with DNA extracted from coffee germplasm at the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Centre (CATIE) in Costa Rica (C. Astorga, personal communication). The Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, which has in storage over 13 000 samples of DNA from a diverse range of plant species, has been largely successful in terms of long-term storage (Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew 2004). Their extraction protocols and storage procedures could serve as a basis for the standardization and improvement of applied protocols.Long-term conservation could also be achieved using a solid medium, such as paper, instead of a solution for DNA storage. The use of cellulose-based cards has been an efficient method of long-term storage of human blood cells. Its use for the conservation of plant DNA is also an efficient means of inactivating pathogens and protecting plant DNA from degradation. DNA can be stored directly in the treated paper after plant tissue disruption and transference of the substrate to the paper. It could also be stored as extracted DNA, after submitting a plant tissue to an extraction protocol and transferring the nucleic acid to the paper. The DNA maintained in a conservation paper can be stored at room temperature in a silica-gel-dried container. Identification is facilitated with the use of bar-coded tags that allows for a complete recovery of the sample information. DNA stored in paper would greatly facilitate sample exchange among institutions.Besides the above-mentioned technical limitations, there are a number of cost and policy considerations that might limit the application of DNA storage as a genebanking option in some countries. Molecular marker techniques, and also DNA extraction per se, are generally quite expensive, especially in developing countries that depend on imported reagents and materials. Import prices can easily double for DNA extraction kits, enzymes and genetic markers, if all additional costs, such as customs handling and storage fees of goods are considered. In the case of importation of dangerous laboratory reagents to Central American countries, such as acetic acid, ethanol, chloroform, ethidium bromide and silver nitrate, additional costs of US$ 100 per product are levied by the airline carriers in the context of the new Bio-terrorism Act implemented by the United States (C. Astorga, personal communication). Additional problems are the bureaucratic hurdles to get imported perishable items such as enzymes out of customs without interruption of the cooling chain. In general, the costs of establishing a DNA laboratory and operating it may be quite prohibitive for many small, resource-poor developing countries. Though the consumable costs have been declining lately, DNA conservation may not be affordable for most national genebanks located in the tropics.The availability of liquid nitrogen might also be a limitation in some countries and an important additional cost factor. Manufacturers of liquid nitrogen are often based in major cities, thus requiring transportation over long distances, if the genebank or laboratory is located in a remote place. Uninterrupted power supply is another major concern for many developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, because the provision of energy often does not keep pace with the steadily increasing consumption due to rapid economic and population growth. To guarantee the safety of the DNA samples, it will be necessary to install backup power supply sources. A further frequent limitation in several developing countries is the unavailability or restricted availability of molecular geneticists to genebank curators and/or the lack of connection between them (Hamon et al. 2004). Staff members in genebanks are usually specialized in phenotypic characterization of accessions and have difficulties in adopting new genomic technologies due to a lack of training and, sometimes, lack of vision. Limited access to relevant information may also prevent global application of DNA conservation technology on a sustainable basis.It is obvious that the use of marker technologies in genebank management requires significant additional funding. Many genebanks in developing countries are struggling to survive, have insufficient human and financial resources at their disposal to provide adequate germplasm management and simply cannot afford to invest in these new technologies. This might deepen the gap between rich and poor genebanks (Graner et al. 2004). It has to be stressed that the conservation of genetic resources and their proper management continues to be a very important task of genebanks, not only for the provision of basic material for the work of geneticists but also for the provision of phenotypic data, which are essential for the utilization of genetic information in breeding programmes. It is important to stimulate and assure the existence of genebanks in diverse environments and countries for the sake of plant diversity conservation and for the good of humanity.The exchange of seed and other planting materials usually requires the signature of a material transfer agreement (MTA) by the beneficiary prior to the shipment. The MTAs regulate the intellectual property rights (IPR) of the requested material and related information, the conditions of its use and distribution to third parties, as well as benefit sharing. The MTAs usually ask for the submission of information and research results obtained with the genetic material to the dispatching genebank. In most cases, the MTAs are specifically designed for the exchange of seed or vegetative propagules and do not consider IPR issues in the event that DNA samples are exchanged. According to Andersson (2004), the following institutions make explicit reference to the exchange of DNA in their MTA: CATIE, Costa Rica; the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS), Japan, the Missouri Botanical Garden, USA; and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK. However, even if the MTA covers the exchange of DNA samples, there are still different interpretations concerning the question whether this precludes the patenting of specific genes or not. Therefore, legal issues related to DNA exchange and transfer require immediate attention.There are concerns in the developing world about the protection of its intellectual property rights on genetic resources accessed by the developed countries. Despite the provision of benefit-sharing in the Convention on Biological Diversity and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, there are only a few examples of this having been effected. It remains to be seen how effective the MTAs are in enabling benefit-sharing between the genetic resources donor countries and the agencies and companies utilizing them for commercial benefits.A well-lit laboratory with working tables, storage space, running water and assured power supply is required for establishing a DNA bank. For DNA extraction, purification and storage, laboratory equipment should include a fume hood, laminar flow, reverse osmosis-based water purification system, hot air oven, microwave oven, horizontal gel electrophoresis unit with power supply, UV transilluminator, UV spectrophotometer, liquid nitrogen container, refrigerator, -20 °C freezer, -80 °C deep freezer and an autoclave. It is advisable to have access to a herbarium for the storage of reference samples with passport information and, if feasible, for replenishment of DNA stocks.For the integration of fingerprinting data on accessions into the corresponding genebank documentation system and for the exchange of compatible data sets in networks, a computer with a printer and Internet connection and a skilled database administrator are absolute musts. There is, of course, also a need for technical staff trained in DNA extraction and purification and in preparation of herbarium samples.Well-trained personnel in molecular biology and computer applications are necessary to organize and run the DNA bank. Comprehensive short-term (4-6 months) training workshops in well-known laboratories or genebanks applying long-term conservation of DNA and modern genebank management would fill this gap. The training content would comprise principles and applications of molecular biology, modern genetic resources management, genomic sci-ences, bioinformatics, experimental design, data analysis, interpretation and utilization, and intellectual property rights of DNA exchange. Educational and training materials could also be made available through the Internet, although this would not be a substitute for practical experience and laboratory training. A Web-based newsletter covering information on current developments in DNA technologies would be very useful.While some globally reputed laboratories involved in DNA studies would be centres of choice for such training, it would be desirable to develop strategically located regional training centres in developing regions. Selected laboratories in these regions that are already involved in DNA research could be identified for catering to the training needs of neighbouring countries.As these new technologies are very cost-intensive and require a high level of specialization, regional collaboration and networking of countries should be encouraged. The CGIAR Centres are in a good position to promote the appropriate integration of modern biotechnology tools into genebank management. Efforts in this direction, supported by national programmes, will certainly enhance the collection (enrichment), conservation, characterization, documentation and, above all, the utilization of plant genetic resources for the benefit of humanity (de Vicente 2004).DNA banks may evolve as a strategic component of modern genebanks providing the basis for improved genebank management and facilitating high throughput germplasm characterization, association genetics and marker-assisted selection. DNA samples can be exchanged much more easily and at lower costs than can living plant materials, without the inherent risk of spreading diseases and pests. DNA banks serve as reference basis for evolutionary and comparative genomic studies and may offer a complementary conservation strategy for species under threat of extinction. They can also serve as safety duplicates for the physical seed, field or in vitro collections. However, there are also several limitations of a technical and legal nature to DNA storage in genebanks. The major limitations include the lack of technologies to regenerate plants from stored DNA and the relatively short life-span of stored DNA samples. Some limitations apply specifically to genebanks in resource-poor developing countries, which require support to build up and maintain the necessary infrastructure and to train human resources in DNA and molecular techniques. Regional collaboration and networking among countries is imperative, given the costs and the level of specialization required for these new technologies. The application of biotechnologies is advancing rapidly, generating exponentially increasing amounts of DNA resources, including their related information. Standardized strategies and procedures for maintaining DNA of the type already developed for seed, tissue culture samples and field collections are urgently needed to ensure that resources and information are indeed fully used. Issues to be addressed are: how to store DNA, the amount of DNA stored, criteria and minimum standards to assure DNA quality and its maintenance over time, how to document DNA samples and how to exchange them, amongst others.In the previous chapters, DNA banking is considered from different perspectives, such as general considerations about the role of DNA banks as a complementary ex situ conservation strategy, technical aspects and best practices, needs and limitations from the point of view of developing countries, and the role of bioinformatics in coordinating conservation efforts. The role of DNA banks as a complement to conventional ex situ conservation strategies has been demonstrated, highlighting their usefulness for efficient genebank management, conservation research and diversity assessment. The advantages and disadvantages of storing only the isolated DNA or in conjunction with tissue samples for subsequent DNA extraction have been discussed. In this scenario, the missing link is that of proposing a management structure for DNA banking that would take adequate account of conservation and use issues.At the end of the 1980s, attempts were made to create the plant 'DNA Bank-Net' (Adams 1988;Adams and Adams 1992). In its design, plant DNA banks would have acted as reserve (base) and working (dispense) nodes and constituted a coordinated network of standardized plant DNA banking worldwide, facilitating the distribution and exchange of DNA samples. The first organizational meeting of DNA Bank-Net was held at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK in 1991 and was attended by 18 invited scientists. A year later the network already comprised 30 institutions from all continents (Adams and Adams 1992). Unfortunately, the DNA Bank-Net initiative has remained inactive for several years (R.P. Adams, personal communication 2004).Recently, DNA banking attracted publicity as a result of the initiatives of Ryder et al. (2000) and Savolainen and Reeves (2004), who called for a coordinated worldwide attempt to store samples of DNA for endangered species and for the establishment of a Web-based method to register DNA banks. In 2000 and 2001, international scientific meetings were held in San Diego and New York with participants from Australia, China, England, France, Scotland and South Africa that dealt with this subject (Morin 2000;Morin et al. 2000). Some progress has been made since then and the concept is still robust, but the original vision of an openly accessible Webbased list of DNA banks with accompanying information about the holdings, type of samples stored, policies for access etc. has not been realized, largely due to an unfavourable economic climate and scarce funding opportunities (O. Ryder, personal communication 2005).Some stepping-stones are in place, including descriptors for the standardization of molecular marker information (de Vicente et al. 2004) and existing data banks supporting the central stor-age and coordination of DNA sequence information. In this sense, one of the major databases is GenBank®, a genetic sequence database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Institute of Health (NIH-NCBI), Betheda, Maryland, USA (http://www.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/Genbank/index.html) that hosts all publicly available DNA sequences (Benson et al. 2003). It is part of the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration comprised of the DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ), Mishima, Japan (http://www.ddbj.nig.ac.jp/), the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL-EBI) Nucleotide Sequence Database, Hinxton, UK (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/) and GenBank®. These three organizations exchange data on a daily basis.In this chapter, the implementation of a pilot project for a global network linking DNA resources for conservation and research is proposed. This model represents the 'optimum' case, i.e. the framework expected if DNA banking were already well established and fully operational. However, the implementation of such a comprehensive network would not be accomplished easily, and a first step towards the realization of the model could include a Web-based DNA information portal for registering DNA resources and available associated information. For a start, exchange of these resources could be managed on an informal basis, by direct contact between the requesting person/institution and the respective owner institution of the DNA samples. Standards for the documentation, preservation and distribution of the DNA samples could then be agreed upon and implemented in subsequent stages, as well as the formal establishment of the DNA bank consortium.The final model would be based on a small-scale network of DNA banks, linked to the current system of ex situ collections in the international agricultural research centres (IARC) of the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). It should focus on the 35 crops and crop complexes listed in Annex 1 of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (IT) (FAO 2004). Linking such a DNA bank model to the CGIAR system is reasonable, since the CGIAR recognizes that \"there is a need to apply modern and efficient means for the collection, long-term conservation, evaluation and characterization of germplasm\". Moreover, one of the specific goals among the new CGIAR priorities for the next 10 years is the assemblage of DNA banks to conserve and develop new genetic stocks of priority crops and wild relatives and to distribute them to producers and consumers (CGIAR Science Council 2005; Working Document on CGIAR 2005-2015 System Priorities. Preliminary draft. Available from: http://www.sciencecouncil.cgiar.org/publications/pdf/SP5-15.pdf]. p. 20) Furthermore, the DNA bank model network could and should take advantage of other synergies, for example:One of the primary goals of the Generation Challenge Program (http://www.generationcp. org) is enhancing the use of public genetic resources by promoting the application of genetic and genomic tools for crop improvement (GCP 2005). As a result, significant amounts of DNA samples are being generated that could be kept for further public use. Data belonging to these resources are being properly stored together with passport and morphological information.Another important initiative is the Global Conservation Trust (http://www.startwithaseed. org), which aims to provide a permanent source of funding for crop diversity collections around the world. The Global Conservation Trust, a campaign in partnership between IPGRI (for the CGIAR) and the FAO, might thus be interested in supporting the establishment of a DNA bank network.  Adams and Adams (1992)-are proposed below. In all cases, the DNA bank network would consist of the following components (Figure 1):The Documentation Centre (e.g. IPGRI)The role of the Documentation Centre would include the documentation and dissemination of the genetic information held by the DNA banks, capacity building with respect to DNA collection, molecular analysis and documentation, and policy-making in order to facilitate the development of an adequate legal framework for the issues related to DNA storage and exchange. As mentioned earlier, a Web-based service facility readily accessible and searchable using appropriate informatics tools would be crucial for the documentation and coordination of the vast amount of data already generated and expected in the future (see also Chapter V). This Web-based facility would operate in close collaboration with other global initiatives such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF 2005;Edwards et al. 2000), and take advantage of informatics tools that are already at hand (Bisby 2000). We suggest that IPGRI take over the role of the Documentation Centre, similar to its task to safeguard and document the PGR maintained in the other centres of the CGIAR. Various DNA banking nodes, each consisting of a physically separated working and reserve facility The working facilities would assume the acquisition of DNA and biological samples for DNA extraction (plant tissue, seeds, herbarium specimen), either by actively collecting in the field, or through exchange with national agricultural research systems (NARS), universities, herbaria, other institutions and the private sector. The working facilities would also be in charge of DNA extraction and documentation. They would be responsible for the replenishment of DNA samples when finished and would provide DNA samples to users on request for research.The reserve facilities would take charge of the long-term preservation of the DNA as reference samples. Each reserve facility would store a duplicate DNA collection of another working node as back-up reserve in case of catastrophic loss. Associated institutions, e.g. NARS and Genebanks, universities, herbaria and the private sector UsersModel 1In this model, each CGIAR centre would constitute a DNA banking node (A, B, …; Figure 1), establishing a physically separated working and back up facility. Different species out of the 35 crops and crop complexes covered by the IT would be assigned to each DNA banking node, including the centre's respective mandate crops as well as some IT crops outside its mandate. Each IARC would extract DNA from these assigned species and preserve samples of isolated DNA as well as of the associated biological samples from which it was derived. When acquiring biological samples for DNA extraction and/or isolated DNA from third parties, such as NARS, universities, herbaria and the private sector, standards previously agreed upon would need to be followed, with respect to the samples (minimum amount of associated information, DNA quality and quantity). Two possibilities present themselves:The samples (plant tissue, seeds and/or extracted DNA) are consigned to the DNA banking node for their holding in trust.The respective owner institution preserves the samples.If the owner institution preserves the DNA samples, the associated biological samples, or both, it will need to comply with standards concerning the preservation and monitoring of the samples. The availability of samples for distribution to users would need to be ensured, thus this option would also be more demanding in terms of the documentation required.When distributing DNA samples to users, standardized material transfer agreements (MTAs) would bind the user to provide the sender (DNA banking node or associated institution [NARS, universities etc.]) with the research results obtained by utilization of the DNA samples to supplement the existing information. The DNA banking nodes and the associated institutions would permanently provide the Documentation Centre with this information to keep the databases updated.The Model 2 scenario follows Model 1, but only four to five IARCs would be designated to act as DNA banking nodes. The species assigned to each of them would include the respective centre's mandate crops, the mandate crops of one or two other IARCs not designated as DNA banking nodes, as well as some of the IT crops that are non-CGIAR mandate crops. which facilitated access is granted, i.e. \"Recipients shall not claim any intellectual property or other rights that limit the facilitated access to the PGRFA, or their genetic parts or components, in the form received from the Multilateral System\". This gives rise to controversial interpretations. For example, the phrase 'in the form received' is subject to discussions about whether it precludes the patenting of specific genes or not. Some countries claim that the patented gene is the same as that received, while others argue that the isolated and purified DNA molecule for which a function is identified is different from 'the form received'.With respect to patent issues, the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from 1994 specifies that WTO members shall provide patent protection for any inventions, whether products or processes, in all fields of technology (Leskien and Flitner 1997). Koo et al. (2004) give an illustrative overview of the variety of plant-related IP protection systems implemented by the United States, Canada, Europe and the Andean Community for plants and plant parts.The TRIPs Agreement seems to be very clear and precise as to the patentable subject matter, but it, too, leaves numerous crucial questions open. It is, for example, not clear whether members are allowed to exclude only plants and animals as such from patentability or also parts of plants and animals, such as DNA sequences or genes. Also, there is no requirement to involve or consult with local communities or governments nor to provide benefit-sharing, when patenting a compound that is based on a natural product from that country. Many developing countries, therefore, believe that TRIPs is in conflict with the spirit of the CBD (Masood 1998). The relationship between IPR, in particular the TRIPs Agreement, and obligations resulting from other instruments of international law, in particular the CBD and the IT, has been and is still under debate (Feyt 2003), including the controversial question whether DNA should be patentable or not (Doll 1998;Resnik 2001;Beachy 2003;Gepts 2004).Undoubtedly, the availability of DNA resources may initiate a quantum leap in the deployment of genetic resources. It will stimulate not only genome-driven research projects, but provide a basis for the development of improved procedures for the management of collections and a more efficient genome-or gene-based selection of plant genetic resources to be deployed in breeding programmes. In this context, the present paper represents an attempt to define and describe the organizational framework for the establishment of DNA banks and some of the legal issues emerging from such an undertaking. Owing to the complexity of the issue, it is not possible to deliver final guidelines, but we intend to stimulate and intensify further discussion. The successful establishment of DNA banks and their use will critically depend on the development and the sustained curation of adequate information systems as well as on the availability of sufficient amounts of high-quality DNA. Regarding the first, IPGRI could offer its expertise in the field of information management and the establishment of appropriate networks. Given an estimated number of 6 million ex situ PGR worldwide (which will mainly include Annex 1 accessions), the generation of the DNA resource will require major investments, since the extraction of high-quality DNA represents an expensive undertaking and the selection of samples, notably from large and complex DNA banks, may require sophisticated logistics and robotic equipment. Although it would be desirable to have available as soon as possible the DNA samples from as many of the available ex situ PGR as possible, the proposed approach could be easily adapted to an incremental development of the corresponding resources. During an initial phase, this would allow for the implementation of technical improvements and could provide opportunities to join the DNA bank consortium at a later stage."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e9261fc95b98a6607b14bacc44052b12","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://publications.iwmi.org/pdf/H032961.pdf","id":"184982781"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"948af94c-4808-4738-b30e-887c503c13ea","content":"This framework is a working document prepared by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in collaboration with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the Ministries of Water Resources and of Agriculture of the Government of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization (EARO), the Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission (ESTC), Mekelle University (MU), and the Arbaminch Water Research Institute (AWTI).The first working draft was prepared by IWMI. It was revised based on feedback from the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR). The current version has been revised in the light of comments made at the workshop.The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is an international non-profit research institute. It was established in 1984 as an 'International Irrigation Management Institute', but changed its name in 1996 to reflect a broadening of its mandate. Its headquarters is in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In the year 2000, IWMI established a major Africa Regional Office located in Pretoria, South Africa. This reflects the Institute's substantial commitment to Africa.IWMI's goals are: • to generate new knowledge and tools on water and land use in agriculture that can have a real impact on improving the livelihoods of the world's poorest people. IWMI specialises in producing new knowledge on integrated land and water resources management and ensuring that it reaches the intended users.• to complement the efforts of other organisations working on water/poverty issues by providing a multi-disciplinary research perspective covering hydrological, economic, agricultural, health, environmental, sociological and institutional/policy dimensions of water management. All IWMI's work is done in partnership with national, regional and international research organisations and with policy making and management entities that would use the knowledge generated. • to promote professional development and capacity building in developing countries, which will enable these countries and IWMI's partner institutions to better manage their land and water resources. ILRI works to improve the well-being of people in developing countries by enhancing the diverse and essential contributions livestock make to smallholder farming. Two-thirds of the world's domestic animals are kept in developing countries, and rural smallholders own more than 90% of them. Ethiopia contains more livestock than any other African country. Ruminant animals provide poor farmers with some of the resources they need most: high-quality food, animal traction and transport, manure to fertilise croplands, a daily income through dairying, and insurance against disaster. The management of these animals is highly dependent on water but also greatly affects water supply and quality that people require for many purposes.IWMI and ILRI are among the 16 food and environmental research centres, known as the Future Harvest Centres, located around the world. Some 60 governments, private foundations, and international organisations known as the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) support these centres. As Centres supported by the CGIAR, the common mandate of IWMI and ILRI is to produce international public goods that contribute to poverty eradication.Ethiopia has abundant water resources with the annual surface runoff alone estimated to be 122 billion cubic metres (MoWR 1999). However, the spatial and temporal distribution of these resources is very uneven. This is coupled with a wide range of climatic and topographic conditions that create a diversity of agro-ecological and soil conditions across the country. Subsistence agriculture is the dominant activity of the vast majority of the Ethiopian population, providing employment for about 80% of the population and contributing over 75% of the country's exports. The main cereal crops are maize, wheat, sorghum, barley, millet and teff, with a total surface of 6.8 million hectares. Livestock is crucial for rural livelihoods in Ethiopia, with 34.5 million head of cattle and 36 million sheep and goats (FAO 2001). However, agricultural production (including livestock) remains far below expectations, with production systems that lead to considerable degradation of land resources. The generally low rainfall with very high spatial and temporal variability limit production, and makes large parts of the country vulnerable to recurrent droughts; the current drought (2002)(2003) may have a devastating impact on millions of people. Technological innovation has been less than in many other countries over the past few decades. As a result of these factors, rural poverty is endemic.To date, the water sector is at a low state of development and the developed infrastructure is performing below expectations (MoWR 1999). There is evidence that the country has sufficient water and irrigable land resources to meet the nation's domestic food needs and become a major exporter of agricultural produce. However, less than 5% of the irrigable land has been developed, and even this is said to be performing below expectation (MoWR 1999). This creates a critical need for looking at ways of exploiting the irrigation potential of the country. Most of the irrigated area consists of small-scale gravity irrigation using traditional techniques, while in the Awash Valley a few large modern farms can be found. Domestic water use also counts among the world's lowest, with only 31% of the population having access to safe water supply. This factor, combined with widespread malaria and serious malnutrition, underlies the serious health issues faced by the rural poor.In addition to shortages of financial and human resources, Ethiopia needs to strengthen its research base as a foundation for developing its water and agriculture sectors effectively. A strong agricultural and natural resources research programme combined with appropriate extension, training and other support services, is an essential pre-requisite for expanding agricultural production. Similarly, to plan and use its water resources in an optimal way, the country needs a strong research programme in integrated water resources management. This becomes even more imperative as the country engages in a dialogue with its neighbours on the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI). Currently, in both the water and agriculture sectors there is significant capacity in some areas, but serious shortfalls in others.In sum, for Ethiopia to address the wide variety and complexity of water and land management issues it faces, and to fully engage in the management of the Nile Basin waters, the nation must develop a strong indigenous research and water and land management capacity. The major outcome of a recent joint IWMI-ILRI mission to Ethiopia was a recognition by all parties that IWMI and partners like ILRI can make an important contribution to developing a research base, and strengthening local capacity for water and land research. 3 This paper sets out a proposed framework for collaboration with Ethiopian partners to achieve these goals.The overall scope of the collaborative research and capacity building programme is water and land resources management in Ethiopia. Emphasis will be given to sustainable improvement of agricultural productivity, including livestock and fisheries; to its relationship with human health and the environment; and to water resources management.The programme, in accordance with the Ethiopian Water Resources Management Policy (MoWR 1999), will be guided by the principles of integrated water resources management (IWRM). Research will be targeted at different scales, from the crop to field, micro-watershed and river basin levels, including trans-boundary issues.The proposed programme will therefore have four broad objectives: • to provide short-term support to policy makers, planners and senior managers with tools and information that they can use as they define priorities and develop and implement policies and programmes on poverty alleviation through efficient use of water and land resources. This can be achieved through workshops, training courses, study visits etc. • to initiate conceptual and practical research on high priority issues, including at least some issues that would have results and benefits in a relatively short period, in collaboration with Ethiopian partners. This research would seek to develop solutions to problems in particular zones or under particular conditions • to collaborate with local governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to improve their impacts on poverty reduction through practical action-oriented applied research and scaling up of appropriate technologies and management systems and • to plan and implement with Ethiopian institutions a programme of professional development and capacity building that will contribute significantly to meeting Ethiopia's medium and long term requirements in terms of land and water resources research and management.Key facets of the basic strategy for the research programme should include:• development of technologies and approaches to water and land management that are appropriate for Ethiopia. This may include adaptation and dissemination of lessons learned elsewhere for Ethiopian conditions • emphasis on capacity building within existing institutional entities (these are to be defined by the Ethiopian partners, but will include a broad set of institutions including the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), EARO, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Environmental Protection Authority, various universities, NGOs etc.) • in the Nile Basin, work within the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) framework. It is recognised that it is Ethiopia's intent to create the necessary capacity to fully serve the nation's interest with respect to the Nile waters • support for implementation of the national water resources management and agricultural policies • inclusion and integration of Ethiopian scientists, policy makers and other professionals into African regional and global activities that have direct relevance to Ethiopia, including Ethiopian participation in global and regional programmes managed by IWMI and ILRI. Comparing IWMI's and its partners' comparative advantage with the needs of Ethiopia, it is possible to envision a very large programme with many different areas of work.Examples include: • integrated watershed management • river basin management • policies and institutions for land and water management for crop production, livestock and the environment • improved land management, including soil conservation, soil fertility maintenance, drainage and management of soil problems, rainwater harvesting etc. • water reuse/wastewater irrigation and peri-urban agriculture • sustainable use of wetlands • integrated approaches to land, water and livestock management • sustainable groundwater management • health issues related to water, including malaria, bilharzias, nutrition, and drinking water and sanitation • design and management of large-scale irrigation schemes and other major water infrastructure • smallholder irrigation design, management, and viability; adaptation and use of low-cost micro-irrigation technologies • managing tradeoffs between development of water resources for agriculture and environmental impacts such that water resources are developed to their optimal level without incurring unacceptable environmental impacts and • drought and flood forecasting, climate variability, coping strategies and mitigation.At this stage it is proposed to develop the future research and capacity building programme around three focal areas as follows:• Household and farm-level integrated water and land resource management including:water harvesting, domestic water supply, agro-ecological interventions to reduce malaria, livestock husbandry practices, micro-irrigation technologies, land and fertility management; and in peri-urban areas, recycling of waste water in agriculture.• Integrated watershed and natural resource management including: small-scale irrigation, policies and institutional arrangements at district and community levels, livestock and vegetation management, water harvesting, irrigation and drainage scheme design and management, management of soil salinity, conservation of wetlands. • River basin management including: policies and institutional designs at basin, regional and national level; application of decision-support tools for water management; large-scale irrigation, livestock and vegetation management; drought and flood forecasting and mitigation, climate variability and change and its implications for long term productivity. These areas were generally endorsed by the workshop. As the programme evolves, the above areas will be prioritised and key research questions identified to address the most significant water and land management issues in Ethiopia.Achieving the level of water and land management research and management capacity desired by Ethiopia will take a large investment in human resources development and institution-building over at least a decade. IWMI and its partners can make an important contribution to achieving this objective, though of course there will be other initiatives at the same time. Our comparative advantage is in post-graduate research-based education in co-operation with universities, training of trainers in the use of various tools and methodologies, policy and strategic workshops and programmes, and support for institutional reforms in both the agricultural and resources management sectors.This component of the overall programme could therefore include the following:In the short term• Workshops, study tours, and short training programmes for senior policy makers, water managers, and researchers aimed at providing tools, skills, and knowledge that could be used immediately. These would be designed based on interest and demand. • Support for MSc and PhD students' research on topics that are important to Ethiopia and within the comparative advantage of IWMI, ILRI and other CGIAR partners.• Collaboration with NGOs, public and private institutions at district level etc. in field testing and adapting innovations that will have a direct impact on people's livelihoods through better land, livestock and water management. An example is the current co-operation on treadle pump adaptation with the Ministry of Agriculture.In the medium to long term To achieve its targets, the Ethiopian collaborative research programme on water and land resources requires a well-co-ordinated team of partners and participating organisations. To avoid fragmentation, research projects and activities must contribute to the overall framework. The necessary strategic planning is the proposed role of the Ethiopian National Consultative Committee for Water and Land Management Research.The research partners have primary responsibility for the output of the overall programme. Participating organisations will collaborate on specific projects and activities, and will be responsible for the outputs from the project or activity. Participating organisations will be drawn from national and regional government agencies, national and regional research organisations (e.g. EARO, ESTC etc.), universities (e.g. Arbaminch, Addis Ababa, Mekelle etc.) and NGOs. The composition of the group of participating organisations is the responsibility of the National Consultative Committee.The Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission (ESTC) has recently completed a study recommending the establishment of an institutional framework to support water research, somewhat like the arrangements in the agriculture and health sectors. The workshop endorsed the implementation of this institutional framework. It also endorsed the planned research department within the Ministry of Water Resources. However, it is recognised that implementation of these new institutions will take time. Therefore, the proposed Ethiopian National Consultative Committee for Water and Land Research should be established immediately to bridge the gap. The workshop also proposed that a broad Memorandum of Understanding between IWMI and the Government of Ethiopia be prepared as a framework for the collaboration."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"08e6e86d4c09dbda3c1af1e7a8bed04b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/eb8da656-b1a9-4f40-a301-fb30faba4a2a/retrieve","id":"-1635075875"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3234b1cd-9ff1-47ff-b519-f4efeb9043ef","content":"Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) is a project that helps deliver a climate-smart African future driven by science and innovation in agriculture. It is led by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and supported by a grant from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank.The Community-Based Breeding Program (CBBP) was introduced in Ethiopia in 2009 as an innovative sheep and goat breeding approach, departing from traditional methods that relied on exotic breeds and nucleus breeding. This program aims to improve the livelihoods of sheep and goat producers, enhance market supply and food security, and establish a replicable genetic improvement framework within and beyond Ethiopia. The Menz sheep community-based breeding program in North Shewa has been at the forefront of CBBP in Ethiopia, playing a crucial role in sustainable livestock development. As the Menz CBBP expands and accumulates a vast amount of data, the management and analysis of this data becomes increasingly complex, impeding the timely provision of feedback. Hence, a digital database system called DTREO has been developed and implemented to facilitate the data capture and analysis process. To ensure the functionality of the DTREO, a well-trained team of enumerators is essential to collect, maintain, and utilize data efficiently through a digital database. The objective of this training program is thus to equip enumerators working on Menz sheep CBBP with the necessary skills and knowledge to carry out their tasks effectively, thereby contributing to the overall success of the Menz community-based breeding program.The training was focused on:Menz sheep is one of the well-known and recognized for adaptation and disease-resistance breeds in Ethiopia. Importance of data quality for the success of genetic improvement programs.Accurate Breeding Value Estimation: Genetic improvement programs rely on estimating the breeding values of animals to make informed selection and mating decisions. Breeding values predict the genetic merit of individuals for specific traits. High-quality data ensures these estimates are as accurate as possible, leading to better selection decisions and genetic progress.Effective Selection and Mating Decisions: Quality data allows breeders and geneticists to identify animals with desirable genetic traits and characteristics. Accurate information on traits such as productivity, health, and adaptability enables breeders to select animals that will contribute positively to the overall improvement of the population. Reliable data ensures that animals are chosen based on their true genetic potential, leading to more effective selection and mating decisions.Enhanced Genetic Diversity Management: Genetic improvement programs aim to maintain and improve genetic diversity within a population. High-quality data helps identify individuals with unique genetic attributes and potential mating pairs that maximize genetic diversity. Accurate data on pedigree, ancestry, and genetic relationships enables breeders to make informed decisions to prevent inbreeding and maintain a healthy gene pool.Monitoring Progress and Evaluating Program Performance: Data quality is vital for tracking the progress of genetic improvement programs over time. By consistently collecting accurate and reliable data, breeders can assess the success of their selection strategies and evaluate the program's performance. This information helps identify areas for improvement, adjust breeding goals, and implement necessary changes to ensure continued progress.Dtreo Genetic Database is a powerful tool for capturing and analyzing genetic data in breeding programs. To • Introduce enumerators to the Dtreo Genetic Database and its key features.• Train enumerators on data entry/capture procedures within the Dtreo database.• Provide hands-on experience in using Dtreo for data collection in the field.• Familiarize enumerators with data validation and quality control measures within Dtreo.• Demonstrate how to save captured data within Dtreo and ensure proper data storage.• Training on data transfer procedures from Dtreo to the cloud storage platform."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8d8a3f9e9f66982821f2d0cde15c22e4","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8c9342a3-ee57-4df2-8863-e6043fca7d6f/retrieve","id":"-182898806"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"04f69e09-c8ab-4027-a31c-5a45a43a1eb7","content":"This document describes the strategic directions that will guide CIAT's work in the coming years. They have been drawn up at a time when both the Center and the international agricultural research system supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) are going through profound change. These strategic directions are intended to provide a compelling framework for program development on the basis of CIAT's strengths and experience, while allowing sufficient flexibility to shape the Center's future in accordance with the evolution of the CGIAR.The development of this document has involved consultations with many partners and stakeholders, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC); participation in the CGIAR change process; careful consideration of the recommendations of the 2007 External Program and Management Review of CIAT; the commissioning of special studies, including some by external consultants; and a series of planning exercises carried out by CIAT's scientists and Board of Trustees. Further details about the process are available on the Center's Web site (www.ciat.cgiar.org).The strategic directions outlined here provide a compass to guide CIAT towards the future rather than a detailed road map or rigid plan. The specific outputs, resource assignments, and organizational structure of CIAT will emerge over the coming months and years through a process of refinement and adjustment, influenced largely by three forces:(1) the priorities and commitments of partners, (2) the CGIAR change process, and (3) funding commitments. The Center expects to play a constructive role in a revitalized CGIAR, bringing unique strengths and assets to new programs that address major global challenges.CIAT's ultimate goal is to help overcome the challenges of hunger, poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation in the developing world through science and new knowledge. Its strategy derives from a new vision of eco-efficient agriculture, which benefits the poor by delivering sustainable increases in productivity; by better enabling family farms to compete in markets; by limiting damage to natural resources both within and beyond agriculture; and by showing resilience in the face of environmental shocks, particularly climate change.In pursuit of this vision, CIAT will strengthen longstanding partnerships in its home region, LAC, generating international public goods that are relevant to LAC and to the tropical world generally. Through a strategy based on three pillars-(1) improved crops for the poor, (2) improved soil fertility management, and (3) programmatic alliances with Latin America and the Caribbean-the Center and its partners will help create the conditions that are essential for making tropical agriculture more eco-efficient.Improving agriculture is vital for meeting the challenges of hunger, poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation in the developing world. To contribute to improvements that matter for the poor, in a world of rapidly depleting resources, CIAT will pursue a new vision of an agriculture that uses inputs more efficiently to enhance productivity and competitiveness-that is, a more \"eco-efficient\" agriculture.Eco-efficient agriculture uses resources more effectively to generate sustainable increases in productivity and more abundant food supplies. It enables family farms to compete in local and regional economies, thus reducing poverty. It limits the natural resource degradation caused by agriculture, thereby diminishing its negative ecological footprint. Eco-efficient agriculture is resilient in the face of environmental shocks, such as climate change. It also contributes to greater equity in rural areas, for example, by creating new opportunities for women in agriculture.The aims of eco-efficient agriculture are important for the three \"worlds of agriculture\"-urbanized, transforming, and agriculture based-which are described in the World Bank's World Development Report 2008 and are found throughout the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and LAC. The latter encompasses all three: Agriculture in southern Brazil and northern Mexico, for example, is strongly oriented to urban markets, while the Andean and Central American countries present a patchwork of transforming and agriculture-based economies.Because the agriculture of tropical countries shares so much in common-in terms of crops as well as agroecological and socio-economic conditions-South-South scientific exchanges can accelerate agricultural development. Such exchanges are especially important given the growing gap between a few large urbanized countries (like Brazil, China, and Mexico), which have a strong ability to harness advanced science for agricultural innovation, and a large number of poorer, agriculture-based or transforming countries, whose agricultural research capacity is more limited.The global system of international agricultural research supported by the CGIAR facilitates exchanges between those diverse and evolving national agricultural systems. Currently, the CGIAR is implementing farreaching reforms in its governance, funding, and partnerships, which will enhance its effectiveness. These reforms will also shape CIAT's future-both its scientific programs and strategic alliances. This document presents a broad strategy by which CIAT will address major global challenges and contribute to the revitalization of the CGIAR.CIAT's mission is to reduce hunger and poverty and improve human health in the tropics through research aimed at increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture. To speed progress toward an eco-efficient agriculture, CIAT and the CGIAR will work with partners towards achieving the following objectives:1. Boost agricultural productivity to provide the poor with inexpensive and nutritious food. 2. Make agriculture more competitive, offering the poor new opportunities to increase their incomes. 3. Achieve agricultural growth that is sustainable and less harmful to the environment.Over the next decade, these objectives will guide CIAT's research and reinforce its commitment to ensuring that products of research reach their intended end-users: farmers, development practitioners, scientists, and policy makers. CIAT's research will be fully consistent with the CGIAR's three strategic objectives, as defined by its recent Change Management Initiative: food, environment, and policy for the poor.Playing a unique role in the CGIAR system, CIAT will work with partners in LAC and elsewhere to help create conditions that are essential for making agriculture more eco-efficient through a strategy based on three pillars. The first two are global in scope and relevant to LAC, while the third pertains specifically to this region, albeit with the intention of producing globally significant international public goods and promoting South-South linkages between LAC and other regions.1. Improved crops for the poor-Providing affordable and nutritious food as well as pathways out of poverty. 2. Improved soil fertility management -Overcoming one of small farmers' greatest obstacles to sustained increases in agricultural production.with partners to solve problems of high priority for the region, while also generating global public goods.Improved crop and forage production is vital for improving food security, enhancing human nutrition, and raising agricultural incomes. While especially important for agriculture-based countries, this is also a high priority for transforming and urbanized economies. Across much of the tropics, crop and forage yields are depressed by low soil fertility, which is especially acute in Central America but also widespread in sub-Saharan Africa and South America's vast savannas.Crop improvement and soil fertility management are closely related. Improved varieties can be adapted to low soil fertility through more efficient use of soil nutrients, and legumes, such as beans and many tropical forages, can improve soil fertility through biological nitrogen fixation. Crop yields tend to vary greatly according to management, so there is much scope for improving productivity through better agronomic practices. Better management of crop residues and integration of forages into cropping systems can also increase soil organic matter, boosting productivity while helping mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.Research on these topics in LAC has much to offer the rest of the world. Major crops in the region, including beans, cassava, and tropical forages are also important globally, and LAC's main soil constraints occur throughout the tropics. LAC is also favored with strong national agricultural research systems (NARS), a vibrant tradition of community-based development and an active private sector.In its research with partners there and elsewhere, CIAT will operate according to the five principles described below:Achieving impact-CIAT's research delivers impact through products that better enable end-users to make agriculture more eco-efficient. For this purpose, Center scientists characterize the needs and opportunities of the rural poor (with emphasis on food security and stronger market links) and encourage their participation in evaluating new options.Innovations are thus developed with farmers and other actors in value chains as well as with national research systems. The design of effective research delivery systems is itself a subject of CIAT research, as is impact assessment, which contributes importantly to institutional learning and change.To date, nearly 6.5 million households in Africa have adopted improved beans, benefitting over 35 million people-mainly women.be reduced without research that is sharply focused on gender issues in agriculture, especially the feminization of rural poverty, which occurs throughout the tropics, including LAC. This is a result of women's limited access to resources in agriculture, including land, capital, and technical assistance, as well as to education and urban employment. CIAT's research offers marginalized rural women new income-earning opportunities, which can have a major impact on children's nutritional status and development.-Agriculture depends on natural resources, like biodiversity, soil, and water, but all too often impacts them negatively. Better management of those resources is needed to make agriculture more sustainable and prevent major negative environmental impacts beyond agriculture. Toward that end, CIAT research seeks to better understand such impacts and develop mechanisms whereby rural resource managers, especially the poor, can gain tangible incentives to enhance environmental services.Strengthening partnerships-Collaboration with NARS, advanced research institutes, and other CGIAR centers is essential for effective research, while the contributions of farmer organizations, NGOs, and the private sector are key for achieving development impact. To be effective, partnerships must be based on common goals, shared resources and responsibilities, and complementary strengths. CIAT will seek stronger partnerships, in which it plays diverse roles, assuming responsibility and leadership for particular research endeavors, providing overall coordination or offering support to others-for example, by strengthening research capacity or convening research alliances. CIAT partnerships will be globally inclusive, but with a focus on LAC with, for example, a particular commitment to work with regional partners like the Colombian Corporation of Agricultural Research (CORPOICA).Managing and sharing knowledge-The Center has a strong record of making relevant data on agricultural development available to end-users. To enhance the effectiveness of its own work and that of its partners, CIAT aims to enhance its role as a key international knowledge center, promoting development of the institutional capacities and individual skills needed to take advantage of new information and technologies.By 2030, grain production will have to increase by 50 percent and meat production by 85 percent to meet projected global demand. Genetic improvement of crops, involving practical integration of biotechnology with conventional breeding, will continue to be vital for enabling agriculture to keep pace.CIAT and its research partners have an impressive record of impact through crop improvement research in LAC, Africa, and Asia, focusing on crops that originated in LAC. The Center is uniquely placed to study and use the genetic resources of these crops. CIAT will continue to safeguard, enhance, and make freely available the world's largest collections of genetic resources of beans, cassava, and lowland tropical forages, collaborating in particular with Bioversity International, the Center for In this research, CIAT will emphasize adaptation to low soil fertility and climate change, together with enhancement of nutritional quality and traits that increase crop marketability. The importance of improving adaptation to low soil fertility has already been mentioned. As for climate change, CIAT will strengthen its modeling research to better understand and predict likely effects on agriculture. Crop traits that are important for climate change adaptation include tolerance of extreme temperatures (in beans and rice), increased water-use efficiency (in beans, cassava, and rice), flooding tolerance (in forages), and resistance to pests and diseases, whose dynamics will be altered by climate change. CIAT researchers will develop some of those traits with the CGIAR Generation Challenge Programme.There is huge potential for improving crop product quality through genetic improvement. Increasing micronutrient content, or crop biofortification, for example, can help overcome malnutrition. Iron deficiency is a particularly serious problem for women; while lack of vitamin A contributes substantially to vision loss and impaired immune system functioning; and zinc deficiency stunts child growth. Conventional approaches for addressing those problems, such as vitamin supplements, entail significant recurring costs and often do not reach the poor. To complement such approaches, CIAT assigns high priority to nutritional quality-specifically vitamin A in cassava and iron and zinc in beans and rice-in breeding work that forms part of the CGIAR HarvestPlus Challenge Program and the LAC-focused AgroSalud Alliance. In addition, Center researchers improve traits related to crop marketability, such as unique starch qualities in cassava, which can enhance its value for a variety of agro-industrial purposes, including the production of bio-ethanol.CIAT's strategic crop improvement work includes related research on product and information delivery systems and on policies and institutional mechanisms needed to ensure that the work is well targeted and achieves impact.The use of mineral fertilizers is necessary but not sufficient to achieve high and sustainable crop productivity in tropical soils. Long-term experiments show that, when fertilizers are applied without organic inputs, crops gradually lose the ability to efficiently take up soil nutrients. The Four Step of Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) combines fertilizer with the use of adapted germplasm and organic inputs, such as livestock manures and growing legumes. Partnerships for research on ISFM, which is critical for increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture, are needed in LAC and particularly for the creation of a regional platform for CGIAR soils research in Africa, which is the world's most food insecure region, partly because of major soil constraints.In addition to boosting crop productivity and raising the efficiency of mineral fertilizer use, improved management Biofortification of staple crops is a key way to improve diets for the urban and rural poor.of soil organic matter can enhance ecosystem services and mitigate climate change. In pursuit of those possibilities, CIAT researchers will design and test management options that increase soil carbon under diverse land management systems, using new methods that integrate information from the farm to watershed levels. They will also devise systems for monitoring the impacts of improved management on carbon sequestration and other ecosystem services, such as water management. These systems will help analyze productivity-conservation tradeoffs in the management of organic resources, thus providing a stronger technical underpinning for institutional innovations, such as payment for environmental services.Nitrogen deficiency-a common and significant constraint of food production in the tropics-results from continuous cropping, soil erosion, and loss of this nutrient to the atmosphere. To help overcome that constraint, CIAT researchers will enhance the nitrogenfixing capacity of beans and forage legumes; evaluate alternatives for incorporating legumes into tropical cropping systems; and explore practices for better managing the factors that influence nitrogen fixation. This research will help make agriculture more ecoefficient by lessening the need for mineral fertilizers (thus lowering farmers' production costs and making agriculture more competitive) and by reducing emissions of nitrous oxide, a highly potent greenhouse gas.In charting its new strategic directions, CIAT has consulted with a large and diverse group of public and private sector organizations across LAC. From this consultation, a research agenda has emerged that responds to regional priorities in LAC and that complements and underpins the Center's work in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. CIAT will focus its research on issues of special importance for LAC, in addition to the more general work on improved crops and soil fertility discussed above. Through South-South partnerships, CIAT will conduct research and promote the inter-regional transfers of results, linking LAC with the rest of the world in a two-way exchange.The agricultural environments of LAC are highly diverse, varying in their resource endowments, production systems, and market orientation. To some degree, LAC reflects the complete evolution from agriculture-based through transforming to urbanized economies. LAC thus provides fertile ground for generating global public goods that are highly relevant to its own agricultural development but are also likely to be useful in many parts of Africa and Southeast Asia.It is equally important that LAC have means of tapping experience elsewhere in the South, such as Africa's success in devising informal seed systems, its progressive work on gender analysis and Asia's advances in smallholder production of cassava for livestock feed. Flows of technical and institutional innovations between LAC and other regions will not happen automatically but must be deliberately fostered.The ecoregional approach to research offers a proven means of achieving that end and is consistent Integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) is dramatically increasing crop productivity for farmers across Africa by combining improved seeds with fertilizer, organic resource management techniques, and local farming practices.Intensively managed forage plots allow thousands of farmers in the tropics to produce marketable livestock without the use of expensive grain.with the expressed needs and demands of the LAC region. An ecoregional approach is one that integrates the aims of increased agricultural productivity and improved NRM, taking into account both the biophysical and socio-economic perspectives, through inter-institutional partnerships. The agenda of CIAT's ecoregional research will focus on four main topics:1. Improvement of crops that are important in LAC but also globally. 2. Improvement of other crops that receive high priority in LAC. 3. NRM and policy research on issues that receive high priority in LAC. 4. Strengthening research capacity in the region through institutional innovation, knowledge management, and skills enhancement.While appreciating the importance of conserving and improving beans, cassava, rice, and tropical forages, CIAT's partners in LAC are also calling on the Center to extend its crop research to include support for work on a wider array of species, particularly of tropical fruits and other high-value crops including biofuels that are important throughout the region. LAC partners also expressed keen interest in having CIAT make biotechnology tools more accessible in the region and apply them to issues of relevance to small farmers.For this purpose, the Center will work with partners to establish a biotechnology research platform for LAC, in which public-private partnerships figure importantly. CIAT will also respond to the interest of many countries in developing improved bio-energy systems.CIAT's partners in LAC have further requested that the Center expand its research on environmental issues, for example, through efforts such as the Amazon Initiative. Partners similarly assign high priority to soils research and to the conservation of genetic resources. Another area of high interest involves policy research on payment for ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration and improved water management, which are critical for making agriculture more ecoefficient. CIAT will consult with partners in the region (including universities, national research institutes, farmer associations, and the private sector) and within the CGIAR to determine how best to address these challenges through collaborative research. In this work, the Center will give high priority to the Amazon as well as to the acid-soil savannas of South America, working with partners in Brazil and Colombia, especially Embrapa and CORPOICA. Likewise, CIAT will focus on the hillsides of Central America in collaboration with CATIE and on the Andes in partnership with the International Potato Center (CIP).In its ecoregional role, CIAT will help reverse the erosion of research capacity that has occurred in some countries by helping build a new generation of agricultural scientists and renewing the skills of midcareer scientists. The Center will also explore new roles for large NARS and seek to incorporate large and small NARS into ecoregional networks. In addition, CIAT will work on research policy, focusing on impact assessment for research planning. In these efforts, CIAT will seek opportunities to work with a wide array of partners, including the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), CATIE, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Forum for the Americas on Agricultural Research and Technology Development (FORAGRO), the Regional Fund for Agricultural Technology (FONTAGRO), subregional cooperative research programs, national universities, the US Land-Grant System, and European agricultural universities.Under CIAT's new strategy, essentially all of its ecoregional and global research will be conducted through partnerships with a wide array of institutions, including national research institutes, farmer and community organizations, advanced research institutes, the private sector, and development agencies. The Center will particularly emphasize, however, the three keystone partnerships described below.Growing urban incomes and demand for high-value products like these lulo fruits are providing new opportunities for farmers in developing countries to generate income while selling their products close to home.LAC biotechnology research platform-To be established with partners in LAC, the biotechnology platform will exploit the potential of molecular biology and genetic transformation in research on crops for which the center is responsible as well as on other species to which our regional partners assign high priority.National scientists hosted by the platform will form part of a scientific community that consists of CIAT researchers working on the Center's CGIAR mandate crops as well as colleagues from other programs in the region dealing with a wider array of crops and problems. Not all of the research associated with the platform will be conducted at CIAT headquarters but rather at facilities around the region and in advanced research laboratories outside the region, with which the platform will be linked.As members of the global CGIAR network, research partners will gain opportunities for training and scientific exchanges, thus strengthening national research capacity.CIAT has piloted the concept of a biotech platform with partners in Colombia, in particular CORPOICA and with CATIE, and the outcomes have been positive. Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina, among others, can bring much strength to this new kind of partnership, and it is expected that scientists from those countries, some of them hosted at CIAT facilities, will share their expertise with scientists from smaller NARS. In designing the platform, CIAT will benefit from the experience of Biosciences Eastern and Central Africa (BECA) and explore options for collaboration with this initiative.The platform will focus on problem-solving research that yields clear impacts in the field and marketplace.CIAT support for practical applications of biotechnology will focus on valuable plant traits, such as efficiency in water uptake and nitrogen use, acid-soil tolerance, disease and pest resistance, and micronutrient content. The Center will link crop improvement aided by biotechnology with the efforts of public-private partnerships to carve out niches for small farmers in important growth markets, such as those for milk, tropical fruits, and bioenergy. As the regional platform takes shape, Africa and the rest of the developing world will benefit from closer collaboration between the best international and national soil scientists and from improved facilities and funding for their work. A consolidated soils research platform in Africa, linked to similar research in LAC and Asia, is arguably the best hope for making ISFM a prominent feature of agricultural research in Africa and beyond and for bringing this approach within the reach of large numbers of farmers.Public-private partnerships-By bringing together international and national research institutions with community-based organizations as well as private companies, these partnerships help ensure that research results match stakeholder priorities, while guaranteeing that partners share the costs and benefits of joint efforts.CIAT has gained much experience in building such partnerships over the last decade or so. CIAT's pursuit of the three main research directions outlined in this document will mean a significant shift in the content of its work and in the character of its partnerships. The Center will, for example, sharpen the focus of its research on genetic improvement of crops.As partners assume greater responsibility for plant breeding, CIAT will concentrate more on developing source materials with desirable traits, from which partners can assemble final products. Research on crop and agro-ecosystem health, which figured importantly in CIAT's work over the last decade, will be reduced in some areas and redirected in others. Development of biopesticides and research on endophytic fungi and bacteria, for example, will be discontinued, while work on whitefly will be scaled down. Any further research in those areas will take place in collaboration with the CGIAR Systemwide Program on Integrated Pest Management. CIAT will continue to develop genetic resistance to the most important pests and diseases of its mandate crops.The Center's research on NRM will be sharply focused on ISFM, while work on land-use dynamics and decisionsupport for landscape management will be discontinued.Research on remote sensing to monitor land-use changes has already been phased out, along with research on community-level watershed management.In recent years, rural innovation has been a pillar of the Center's research strategy, resulting in new participatory research methods and a territorial approach to agro-enterprise development. Those products are now used in CIAT's own research and are being widely applied by partners as well. While the Center will continue to use and promote participatory approaches as a way of achieving impact, it will no longer conduct research on these methods.CIAT will consult closely with partners in 2009 about the content and collaborative basis of future work. The biotechnology platform, for example, will require new agreements with partners in LAC, while additional public-private partnerships will depend on new commitments from regional stakeholders. Likewise, to advance the idea of a soils research platform in Africa will involve extensive consultation with other CGIAR centers and partners.Improved cassava yields and agronomic practices have generated US$1 billion in additional income for about 1 million households in Southeast Asia.As the CGIAR develops the new strategy and results framework and new research programs called for by the recently approved reform proposal, CIAT will strengthen its current collaboration with other Centers and Challenge Programs.In concentrating its efforts around the three research pillars described above, CIAT will need to make adjustments in its structure and organization. The Center will maintain its world-class capacity in genetics, soils, and geographical information systems, while adding or restoring capacity in bioinformatics and the social sciences. Greater capacity in the latter area is critical for priority setting and for achieving and assessing impact, especially on poverty and gender equity. CIAT will define the focus of its research more specifically in forthcoming medium-term plans, and it will devise business plans describing how specific research outcomes can be delivered.With support from CGIAR Members and the new CGIAR fund to be created in 2009, CIAT will be able to implement the strategic directions set out here. Further significant support will likely come from new public-private partnerships, created in response to regional priorities and market signals. To a growing degree, responsibility for implementing and funding CIAT's research in LAC will be shared with regional stakeholders.The Center will continue substantial parts of its research in Africa and Southeast Asia. Its work in both regions is based on longstanding partnerships with NARS and tackles issues that are important regionally as well as globally and are linked to CIAT's work in LAC. These partnerships have attracted a wide range of strongly committed donors. CIAT and its partners also see great potential for South-South collaboration both in crop improvement and research on soil fertility management.CIAT believes that the time is ripe to focus on ecoefficiency in tropical agriculture, as multiple world crises -in the climate, food, energy, and financial systemsunderscore the need to achieve far more efficient use of scarce resources, so that everyone can enjoy their right to an adequate diet and livelihood.CIAT's long-term breeding strategies are taking into account climate change in order to ensure maximum relevance of our research products in a highly dynamic and changing world.Change in the suitability of bush beans by year 2020"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"faf4cee6afd56848216a41322bd01659","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c98bafde-846c-47a3-9b75-048a529ad1a7/retrieve","id":"1711369887"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d561df4d-8661-4718-8019-8d460e938ec1","content":"On a world scale the position of small ruminant production within the livestock sector as a whole is a relatively modest one. The average number of sheep/goats is 36 per 100 inhabitants, i.e. 6 LU 1 , whereas for cattle it is 29 per 100 inhabitants. Small ruminants primarily consist of sheep, which account for two thirds of the world total and 95% of small ruminants in developed countries. Distribution between developing and developed countries is similar to that for cattle, two thirds being found in the former and one third in the latter. However. there are only two areas in the world where sheep and goat production has any real significance in comparison with the human population or with cattle production. These two areas are the Mediterranean and Australia/ New Zealand. It also plays a fairly important part in non-Mediterranean African countries, but is only a very small sector throughout most of the industrialized world.1. One livestock unit (LU) equals six sheep or goats.The traditional production areas of Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East contain over 42% of the world flock, while the USSR accounts for 10%. The average number of sheep and goats in these areas is 70 per 100 inhabitants or even 76 if Egypt, which possesses only small numbers, is left out. This figure is already double the world average, but it rises to over 130 in most Mediterranean countries: North Africa, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey and Syria, as well as in Iraq and Iran. Australia and New Zealand together with South America (especially Argentina and Uruguay) form a second major sphere of production, more recent in origin and now accounting for 20% of the world flock. Australia and New Zealand contain 192 million sheep, i.e. 13% of the world flock, or 870 sheep per 100 inhabitants. Together they form the largest small ruminant producer in the world. In Europe, the United Kingdom together with Ireland has been, and still is a fairly important producer of sheep, with a flock of 33 million, amounting to 56 sheep per 100 inhabitants. The rest of the world flock is found mostly in India and the Far East. However, in these areas small ruminant production plays a relatively minor role when compared with the size of their human population. Leaving aside the skin trade, sheep and goat production has a threefold purpose: the production of meat, milk and wool. However, these three production aims vary in significance. In Britain and the USA meat products account for 80% of produce from sheep, excluding skins, while the balance consists almost entirely of wool. In Australia and New Zealand, South America, South Africa and the USSR sheep production is also oriented towards meat and wool. However, in these areas wool production tends to dominate. In Australia, where most of the world's Merino sheep are found, wool accounts for some 60% of earnings from sheep production. Although the emphasis on Wool is a little less pronounced in South America and in New Zealand, which has diversified into lamb for export to the United Kingdom 2 , it nonetheless remains an important sector, representing some 40% of overall earnings. In fact, the wool production of Australia, New Zealand and the large-scale South American producers accounts for over 50% of world output. For these various countries it is thus the primary production objective.2. Primarily by developing dual purpose breeds for wool and meat production, such as the Corriedale.By contrast, small ruminant production in tropical Africa and the Far East is almost entirely oriented towards meat and milk. Wool production in tropical Africa is negligible, barely exceeding 1% of world output. In other parts of the world small ruminant production generally has a threefold objective-meat, milk and wool-but in the Mediterranean, which accounts for over 60% of world output of sheep, and goat milk, milk production, which is usually processed into cheese, plays an appreciably greater role than it does elsewhere. Wool, on the other hand, plays a minor part.Meat production, which is globally the most important of the three, is more evenly distributed throughout the various production areas. In most developing countries, including those of Latin America, meat is produced almost entirely for local consumption, giving rise to only a small amount of trade. The sharp rise in consumption in the oil countries of the Middle East has nevertheless in recent years given rise to a considerable flow of imports into this traditional production area.In industrialized countries the consumption of mutton and lamb is negligible in relation to the overall consumption of meat. Nevertheless, the United Kingdom, where sheep production has always played an important part, is an exception. Britain's policy of seeking cheap food supplies meant that she was able to import from Australia and New Zealand at prices very much lower than her own production costs. As a result Britain was for many years the only customer of any real size on the world market, which is almost entirely supplied by Australia and New Zealand. The emergence of Japan as a relatively important customer, although still well behind Britain, and more recently that of the Middle East, have helped to diversify sales.However, supplies on the world market are governed by factors which are largely unconnected with the demand for meat, owing to the importance of wool production in the large-scale exporting countries. The fall in wool prices at the end of the 1960s,, caused by competition from synthetic fibres, led to deteriorating wool/beef and wool/cereals price ratios, enticing producers, especially in Australia, away from sheep towards cattle or cereal production. The shift away from sheep production, which continued in spite of the 1973 recovery of the wool market after the rise in oil prices, largely explains the sharp decline in flocks in the developed countries over the last ten years.Outside Australia and New Zealand, sheep and goat production has also shown a declining trend in other developed countries. Flock numbers, which stood at 185 million animals in 1961-65 (excluding Eastern Europe), were no more than 155 million in 1978. The drop in numbers has been particularly pronounced in the USA, which contained only 12 million sheep in 1978, whereas numbers stood at almost 60 million animals at the end of the second world war.Although there has been no actual decline in real terms in Western Europe, flock numbers have stood still for over 15 years.Various factors explain the declining trend. First, the downward trend of the wool market has deprived producers of a substantial source of income. But the most important factor is that sheep production, in all but the large-scale production areas of Australia, New Zealand and South America, continues to be managed along traditional lines, and is thus no longer compatible with the new forms of employment emerging in rural areas. Efforts to intensify husbandry systems are confronted with financial constraints, since sheep production requires a high labour input and thus faces competition from production alternatives such as pork, poultry or dairy production, where considerable advances have been made in terms of yields and labour productivity. It therefore tends to play an increasingly marginal role in agriculture, while at the same time high production costs act as a disincentive to the consumption of mutton and lamb, which are increasingly becoming luxury commodities. This trend is the reverse of that in developing countries, where sheep and goat flocks continue to show steady growth. Small ruminant production in these countries is sheltered from external influences and still compatible with the prevailing production conditions.World meat and livestock prices in 1977.-in US cents/kg- "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f0372a03c92d4ce110daf40f38ac05d5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3739874c-5bbd-4d50-b0f6-3eb45b72a923/retrieve","id":"-1326030460"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"869d60aa-f8be-4ed2-90bc-844568a8569c","content":"El CIAT propicia la amplia diseminación de sus publicaciones impresas y electrónicas para que el público obtenga de ella el máximo beneficio. Por tanto, en la mayoría de los casos, los colegas que trabajen en investigación y desarrollo no deben sentirse limitados en el uso de los materiales del CIAT para fines no comerciales. Sin embargo, el Centro prohíbe la modificación de estos materiales y espera recibir los créditos merecidos por ellos.NOTA GENERAL: La mención de productos comerciales en este manual no constituye una garantía ni intento de promoción por parte del Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT).Este folleto se elaboró a partir de los resultados de las investigaciones y experiencias obtenidas por el Instituto de Investigaciones de Sanidad Vegetal (INISAV) en Cuba, con el patrocinio del proyecto \"Manejo Integrado Sostenible de Moscas Blancas como Plagas y Vectores de Virus en los Trópicos\", financiado por el Departamento de Desarrollo Internacional del Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña, que es coordinado por el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT).El propósito de esta publicación es lograr la difusión de estos resultados a los diferentes profesionales o técnicos agrícolas especialistas en sanidad vegetal, que trabajan directamente con los agricultores de Cuba y la América Latina.1 Debido a que el control biológico se sustenta en la utilización de organismos vivos que requieren cierto tiempo para multiplicarse antes de que las poblaciones de la mosca blanca se reduzcan significativamente, los agricultores ponen en duda su factibilidad por las razones siguientes:Menor efectividad momentánea de la aplicación y/o liberación del controlador biológico en comparación con los plaguicidas químicos. Conflicto de intereses en costo/beneficio. Esta percepción del agricultor afectado por altas poblaciones de mosca blanca demuestra claramente que es necesario convencerlo de que, si bien los insecticidas actúan más rápidamente, su uso continuado es lo que mantiene altas las poblaciones de moscas blancas. Al enseñarle al agricultor que existen nuevos insecticidas sistémicos de menor impacto ambiental y biológicos, que no requieren aplicaciones frecuentes, se da el primer paso para el uso eficiente de agentes de control biológico. Al reducir el número de insecticidas usados y de aplicaciones, los costos de producción bajan y esto hace más factible convencer al agricultor de que use productos biológicos en vez de insecticidas que solo agravan el problema. La principal ventaja del control biológico es que no daña el medio ambiente o la salud del agricultor o consumidor, al no dejar residuos tóxicos en la cosecha, y que ayuda a reducir las plagas en el tiempo, por lo que es una práctica compatible con la producción y desarrollo agrario sostenible, requerida en las producciones orgánicas.Bioplaguicida a base de Verticillium lecaniiBioproducto (hongo entomopatógeno) en sustrato sólido Bioplaguicida a base de Beauveria bassianaEl objetivo final del control biológico es lograr que los organismos que se emplean se establezcan permanentemente en los sistemas de producción y, de esta forma, puedan continuar su efecto benéfico. Esto supone el conocimiento y la adopción de prácticas agronómicas y de manejo del hábitat, que contribuyan a la conservación de los enemigos naturales y los controladores biológicos aplicados y/o liberados en los sistemas de producción, que en su conjunto tienen efectos acumulativos sobre el control de las poblaciones de mosca blanca.La producción local de controladores biológicos resulta deseable, ya que permite realizar un manejo de cepas de entomopatógenos y ecotipos de entomófagos mejor adaptados a las condiciones agroecológicas locales y, por tanto, con mayores posibilidades de establecerse en los agroecosistemas, a la vez que facilita la producción de controladores biológicos según su demanda.Otra gran limitante del control biológico es la alta eficiencia de la mosca blanca Bemisia tabaci en la transmisión de virus. A menudo basta un solo individuo para infectar 100 % de las plantas susceptibles.Es obvio que en cultivos muy susceptibles a virus transmitidos por mosca blanca, el control biológico no puede ser recomendado como primera estrategia de control. En estos cultivos, ni siquiera los mejores insecticidas pueden evitar pérdidas significativas de producción. Para estos casos se deben adoptar medidas culturales que eviten el contacto de la mosca blanca vectora y el cultivo susceptible, especialmente durante la etapa inicial de crecimiento del cultivo. Sin embargo, la incidencia de virus transmitidos por mosca blanca depende de varios factores: la fuente del virus, la población de la mosca blanca vectora, el medio ambiente, y el nivel de resistencia al virus en la planta. Al afectar o modificar cualquiera de estos factores, se reduce la incidencia de la enfermedad.En un sistema que incluya variedades con alguna resistencia o tolerancia a virus, al utilizar un agente de control biológico que reduzca las poblaciones del insecto vector, se logrará una reducción significativa en la incidencia de la enfermedad. La incidencia del virus puede reducirse aun más si se emplean otras estrategias, como sembrar el cultivo cuando las condiciones ambientales no favorezcan a la mosca blanca (ejemplo: lluvia o baja temperatura), lo cual constituye la esencia del manejo integrado de plagas.Los organismos que se emplean como controladores biológicos de Bemisia tabaci en los sistemas de producción se agrupan, según sus hábitos y relaciones con la mosca blanca, en cuatro tipos a saber:Depredadores: Son insectos y arácnidos que comen o chupan los estados inmaduros (huevos, larvas, pupas) de la mosca blanca. Ejemplos: cotorritas o mariquitas (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), crisopas (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), chinchitas o chinches (Hemiptera: Miridae), arañas (Araneae: Theridulidae).Parasitoides: Son insectos cuyos adultos depositan los huevos debajo o dentro de las larvas de la mosca blanca, desarrollándose en su interior hasta causarles la muerte. Ejemplos: avispitas (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae).Parásitos: Son principalmente nemátodos asociados a bacterias (parásitos-patógenos), que buscan e infestan rápidamente a su hospedero y tienen una alta tasa de reproducción. Los estadios juveniles (J3) penetran el cuerpo de la larva de la mosca blanca por el ano y los espiráculos, y se dirigen al hemocele donde liberan la bacteria Xenorhabdus, la que se multiplica y provoca la muerte del insecto por septicemia en 48-72 horas.El nemátodo actúa preferiblemente sobre los estados inmaduros de la mosca blanca, por lo que el momento de la aplicación debe ser en la etapa desde la puesta de huevos hasta el desarrollo de las larvas. Ejemplos: Heterorhabditis sp. y Steinernema.Patógenos: Los hongos entomopatógenos penetran la superficie del cuerpo de los adultos y las larvas de la mosca blanca, matándolos y colonizando el interior del cuerpo, para luego emerger y esporular en condiciones ambientales favorables (alta humedad relativa) y así completar su desarrollo. Ejemplos:Verticillium, Beauveria, Paecilomyces.De estos organismos, los enemigos naturales de Bemisia tabaci más comunes en los campos de Cuba son especies de: Chrysopa, Nodita (Chrysopidae), Cyrtopeltis (Miridae), Coleomegilla (Coccinellidae), Theridula (Theridulidae), Encarsia, Eretmocerus (Aphelinidae) y Paecilomyces (hongo mitospórico). El control biológico de la mosca blanca se puede sustentar en tres estrategias, cuya adopción por el agricultor depende del sistema de cultivo que realiza, del manejo que haga del sistema de producción, y la factibilidad de adquirir los controladores biológicos.En cambio, para sistemas de cultivo agroecológico, cuya característica principal es la diversificación de plantas, es más factible el empleo de las tres estrategias de control biológico antes mencionadas.Liberaciones de entomófagos Liberaciones inoculativas y/o inundativas de parasitoides y depredadores. Pueden realizarse combinando varios entomófagos.A los alrededores de los campos antes del trasplante para que se establezcan. Durante todo el desarrollo del cultivo.Aplicaciones de bioplaguicidas Aplicaciones inundativas de hongos entomopatógenos y de entomonemátodos. Pueden realizarse mezclas.En los campos cuando comienza la oviposición y durante todo el desarrollo del cultivo.Aplicaciones inoculativas de hongos entomopatógenos En etapas finales del cultivoProteger la actividad reguladora y favorecer el desarrollo de los enemigos naturales que habitan el sistema de producción y los controladores biológicos que se liberan y/o aplican.La conservación se realiza con carácter permanente, al nivel de la finca o sistema de producciónLos entomófagos, sean depredadores o parasitoides, se pueden liberar: 1) de forma inoculativa en pequeñas cantidades para que se establezcan, o 2) inundativa, en mayores cantidades, para lograr control inmediato de la plaga, lo que dependerá de las características del entomófago, de la fase fenológica del cultivo, y de la disponibilidad de individuos para liberar, entre otras.Por ejemplo, crisópidos son depredadores generalistas que se emplean contra varios tipos de plagas, por lo que sus liberaciones en campo pueden tener un efecto diverso. Solamente actúan sobre los estadios inmaduros de la mosca blanca, y es recomendable que se liberen cuando las poblaciones de esta plaga se encuentren en los estados de huevo-larva I-III.El depredador se puede liberar en estado de larva en sus primeros estadios o en estado de huevo, mezclando estos últimos con cascarilla de arroz u otro soporte.Los parasitoides del género Encarsia pueden parasitar todos los estadios de la larva de la mosca blanca; pero esto es raro, ya que tienen su preferencia principalmente por el segundo y tercer instar, todo lo cual está en relación con las posibilidades nutricionales, supervivencia, etc.Una práctica recomendada, es la liberación de varias especies de entomófagos para complementar sus efectos.Liberación de huevos de Chrysopa Entre los microorganismos entomopatógenos, los más utilizados son los hongos Verticillium (Lecanicillium) lecanii, Paecilomyces fumosoroseus y Beauveria bassiana.Con relación al uso de los hongos entomopatógenos contra las moscas blancas, es importante tener en cuenta que para las diferentes especies de hongos no se logran efectividades similares para cada uno de los estados e ínstares de la mosca blanca, lo cual varía según la cepa del microorganismo usado, y las condiciones locales. Para lograr alta eficacia en la aplicación de estos mico-insecticidas es necesario que el producto cumpla con los requerimientos de calidad: Concentración 10 9 conidios/ml Pureza 100% Virulencia 95% Viabilidad 97%.La dosis en campo debe estar en el rango de 10 12 -10 15 conidios/ha, y para ello se debe obtener una concentración no menor de 10 7 en la solución final.Para la aplicación, se debe calibrar el equipo de aspersión con el fin de asegurar una solución final con adecuada cobertura, según el cultivo y su etapa fenológica. Un tratamiento sería eficiente cuando se garantiza 100 o más gotas/cm², con un tamaño de gota entre 10-15 micrómetros.Para que este proceso sea exitoso deben existir condiciones ambientales favorables, con temperaturas medias entre 20-25 °C, humedad relativa de 80-90 %, y velocidad del aire no superior a 3 m/seg.Las aplicaciones de estos bioproductos se deben realizar en horas de la tarde, preferiblemente después de las 4:00 pm, para garantizar que posterior a la aplicación existan condiciones ambientales favorables para la germinación de las esporas.El orden de preparación del caldo es el siguiente:1 o Pre-mezcla: En el caso del producto líquido, se realiza una pre-mezcla en agua (debe encontrarse en pH entre 5.5 -6.5) y se agita bien. Para el producto sólido, debe lograrse una buena separación de las esporas del sustrato de cultivo, lo cual se obtiene agitando bien la pre-mezcla en presencia de un agente con propiedades tensoactivas (surfactantes no iónicos al 0,001-0,01% v/v).2 o Filtrado: El producto sólido, una vez suspendido, debe ser filtrado antes de introducirlo en el depósito del equipo de aspersión.3 o Agitación del caldo: Complete el volumen de agua en el depósito y vierta el adherente. Agite antes de comenzar la aplicación.Pueden mezclarse con Bacillus thuringiensis; nunca con plaguicidas sintéticos. También resulta muy eficaz utilizar mezclas de Verticillium lecanii + Beauveria bassiana, V. lecanii + Paecilomyces fumosoroseus, P. fumosoroseus + B. bassiana. Las aplicaciones con fungicidas se pueden realizar siete días antes, o diez días después de aplicar el entomopatógeno.Para lograr disminuir los efectos de los factores bióticos y abióticos sobre la eficacia de los nemátodos y su persistencia, se recomienda la aplicación inundativa de una concentración alta (de hasta 1-1,5 millones de J3/m²) como estrategia inicial para asegurar que suficientes nemátodos se pongan en contacto con el insecto objetivo.No deben utilizarse filtros en los equipos y las boquillas deben tener como mínimo una abertura de 500 micrones. La presión máxima permisible es de 5 bares.Deben utilizarse altos volúmenes de solución final (1000 L/ha) para que se favorezca la aplicación del nemátodo al insecto objetivo, ya que para el desplazamiento del nemátodo se requiere una lámina de agua. Se recomienda tener equipos específicos para las aplicaciones de nemátodos, pudiendo ser los mismos que se disponen para otros bioplaguicidas.La aplicación debe lograr una cobertura uniforme sobre el área a tratar, manteniendo la suspensión en continuo movimiento para evitar que los nemátodos se depositen en el fondo del tanque del equipo de aplicación. Esta debe realizarse preferentemente en horas de la tarde y después de haber realizado un riego. Se pueden aplicar otros bioplaguicidas sin dificultad e incluso mezclarlos, ya que poseen efecto sinergístico entre los nemátodos y otros agentes entomopatógenos (Beauveria bassiana, Bacillus thuringiensis y otros), pudiendo aumentar la eficiencia y la economía de la aplicación. En muchos casos estas mezclas superan a otros patógenos en los índices de mortalidad que provocan.Una de las principales estrategias del control biológico es la conservación de los enemigos naturales; es decir, de los organismos benéficos que habitan en la finca, por lo que resulta importante que el agricultor los conozca y sepa que son sus aliados; además, que entienda las características y los hábitos de estos organismos.Es importante que el agricultor entienda que cuando se practica la conservación de los enemigos naturales, también se benefician los controladores biológicos que se liberan y/o aplican en los campos.La conservación constituye una estrategia de control biológico que se realiza a nivel de todo el sistema de producción (finca), ya que se sustenta en decisiones, prácticas agronómicas y de manejo del hábitat, entre otras.Reconocimiento por el agricultor de las especies de enemigos naturales (organismos benéficos) que habitan en el sistema de producción, la evaluación de su nivel de actividad reguladora (relación depredador/presa, porcentaje de parasitoidismo global), así como determinación de la etapa fenológica del cultivo en que más actúan.Manejo de plantas que florecen en diferentes épocas, para contribuir a la alimentación de los adultos de entomófagos (depredadores y parasitoides). Es muy recomendado el girasol.Manejo de barreras de plantas para favorecer sitios de refugio y multiplicación de los entomófagos, así como un microclima favorable para la actividad de los entomopatógenos yentomófagos. Son muy efectivas para este objetivo las combinaciones de maíz, sorgo enano y girasol Manejo de la selectividad de las aplicaciones de plaguicidas químicos, bioquímicos y biológicos: Utilizar preferiblemente insecticidas sistémicos en tratamientos a la semilla o aplicaciones al suelo. Si debido a incrementos poblacionales fuese necesaria la aplicación foliar de insecticida, comenzar con plaguicidas bioquímicos (Tabaquina, Nim) y continuar con bioplaguicidas. Si necesariamente se requiere la aplicación de un insecticida sintético, limitarla a una aplicación y continuar posteriormente las aplicaciones de bioplaguicidas.Como ya se ha expresado, el control biológico es viable si forma parte del Manejo Integrado de la Mosca Blanca-Virus, para lo cual debe lograrse un programa que posea como mínimo los siguientes componentes:Saneamiento pre-campaña. Básicamente, no tener sembrados cultivos hospedantes de la mosca blanca y mucho menos de begomovirus durante un mes anterior a la siembra del cultivo de interés. De igual forma, los campos a sembrar deben estar libres de restos de cosecha y malezas hospedantes, lo que se puede lograr en el proceso de preparación del suelo.Seguimiento de las poblaciones de la mosca blanca (monitoreo). Incluye los primeros adultos inmigrantes y las poblaciones establecidas en el campo.Manejo de la fecha y programa de siembra en dirección contraria cuando son diferentes campos, para evitar efectos de los campos cercanos.Uso de variedades mejor adaptadas, así como facilidades para introducir variedades tolerantes.Producción de plántulas mediante tecnología de casas de malla (exclusión de poblaciones de insectos virulíferos, usando sustrato especial para lograr plántulas vigorosas, semilla certificada, y semilla tratada para protección contra patógenos y artrópodos plagas, etc.).Si la tecnología de producción de plántulas es a campo abierto, esto debe realizarse en sitios apartados, protegidos con barreras de maíz y sorgo o, mejor, con cercas de malla, con buenas atenciones culturales y fitosanitarias, pero en este caso se corre el riezgo de que las plántulas sean infectadas por virus transmitidos tanto por mosca blanca como por otros vectores, en especial áfidos.Disponibilidad de buena agrotécnia. Esto supone un manejo correcto del suelo, el riego y la fertilización, así como labores culturales oportunas.Manejo de la diversidad de las plantas cultivadas. Se sugiere que el agricultor emplee la asociación de cultivos como práctica, sean estos de crecimiento vertical (maíz, sorgo) u horizontal (coberturas).En la práctica, lo que se persigue es que el programa de MIP contribuya a disminuir las poblaciones de la mosca blanca, a minimizar el uso de plaguicidas, así como favorecer la actividad de los controladores biológicos (los que existen naturalmente y los que son liberados/aplicados), que actúan de manera más eficiente en bajas poblaciones de esta plaga, y cuando el campo cultivado posee mayor diversidad vegetal y microclima favorable.Actividad tóxica de insecticidas y fungicidas sintéticos sobre los parasitoides, los depredadores y los entomopatógenos, sean estos poblaciones naturales que habitan el agroecosistema o controladores biológicos aplicados o liberados.El efecto tóxico de los plaguicidas sobre los entomófagos es bastante conocido y por ello no se deben realizar aplicaciones foliares de estos productos cuando se liberan controladores biológicos o cuando las tasas de regulación natural son elevadas en momentos en que su contribución al manejo de la plaga es importante (esto último depende del cultivo y su etapa fenológica). Una alternativa viable es el uso de imidacloprid u otro insecticida sistémico de última generación como tratamiento de semillas o incorporado al suelo.La acción de los hongos entomopatógenos se inhibe por los fungicidas sintéticos, aunque hay también efectos de insecticidas. Existen recomendaciones específicas respecto al tiempo que se debe esperar para aplicar un fungicida después de una aplicación con un hongo entomopatógeno, lo que está en dependencia de diversos factores, entre ellos las características del fungicida, el bioproducto y el clima. No obstante, lo mejor es esperar seis días como mínimo.Por supuesto, cuando se trate de poblaciones naturales o cuando se desea el establecimiento del entomófago o se espera la epizootia del entomopatógeno, las aplicaciones posteriores de plaguicidas sintéticos no son recomendables, salvo que estos organismos no logren el nivel de regulación necesario.Sobre el hongo Verticillium (Lecanicillium) lecanii actúan algunos plaguicidas utilizados en la estrategia de control de enfermedades en los diferentes cultivos hospedantes de la mosca blanca. Los plaguicidas benomyl, difenoconazol, dimetoato y propacloro son tóxicos. Zineb, mancozeb y tiram se catalogan como moderadamente tóxicos. Metalaxyl, matamidofos, trifluralin, metribuzin, napropamida y oxicloruro de cobre se consideran ligeramente tóxicos; mientras que endosulfán y difenamida son inofensivos. Esto significa que una vez aplicado el bioplaguicida, no se debe aplicar estos productos hasta después de 6 días.Igualmente el imidacloprid resultó inocuo sobre Paecilomyces fumosoroseus en estudios de laboratorio.Se ha demostrado que aunque los bioplaguicidas son menos tóxicos que los plaguicidas sintéticos, hay efectos sobre algunos enemigos naturales. Antes de aplicar un bioplaguicida, principalmente en agroecosistemas y cultivos donde la actividad de los entomófagos es relativamente eficiente, deben realizarse evaluaciones previas para conocer el instar predominante de la mosca blanca y las tasas de regulación de enemigos naturales existentes. Los efectos secundarios de aplicaciones de bioplaguicidas sobre la actividad de los entomófagos pueden ser negativos, tanto en el orden ecológico como económico. El crisópido Nodita firmini es compatible en campo con la bacteria entomopatógena Bacillus thuringiensis utilizada en la estrategia de control de otras plagas que afectan los cultivos de frijol, tomate y otras hortalizas; así como también con los hongos Verticillium lecanii y Beauveria bassiana.Antes de la parasitación (forrageo del parasitoide)Adulto -El parasitoide no actúa en ninfas de la mosca blanca colonizadas por hongos.-El entomopatógeno o sus toxinas pueden ser patogénicos al adulto del parasitoidePosterior a la parasitación Inmaduro -El entomopatógeno no coloniza en ninfas de la mosca blanca parasitadas (el hongo muere) -El entomopatógeno aplicado no afecta la actividad del parasitoide (ni durante su desarrollo en el interior de la ninfa ni en el momento de emerger de esta), pero puede hacerlo sobre su larva antes de penetrar cuando la hembra del parasitoide oviposita debajo de la ninfa de la mosca blanca.Posterior a la emergencia del parasitoide Adulto -El microorganismo o sus toxinas pueden ser patogénicos al adulto del parasitoide que se encuentra volando en el campoEsto supone que las liberaciones de entomófagos y parasitoides deben estar precedidas de la evaluación del nivel de epizootia existente. Esto se debe a que el entomopatógeno puede afectar directamente al parasitoide u obstaculizar su parasitación (principalmente porque son más específicos). Esto es menos frecuentecon los depredadores (polífagos) y algunos parasitoides (oligófagos).Modificaciones contraindicadas del micro hábitat.Son las labores culturales que eliminan físicamente los enemigos naturales, y los controles biológicos o que contribuyan a su afectación por cambios bruscos en el microclima del campo cultivado. Aquí lo más negativo es cualquier práctica cultural que modifique el microclima del campo cultivado, como por ejemplo la eliminación de las barreras o las cercas vivas. Esto es particularmente importante para los entomófagos, ya que es conocido el efecto depresivo sobre sus poblaciones por la acción de las corrientes superficiales de aire, por el calentamiento de la superficie del suelo, o ambos factores.También cualquier labor que elimine las plantas u órganos que constituyen fuentes de refugio y alimentación de los entomófagos, como por ejemplo las barreras vivas y las plantas florecidas, sean estas de la vegetación natural o las plantas que se siembran con este u otros propósitos como parte del MIP.Respecto a los entomopatógenos, lo que más inhibe su actividad son las modificaciones del microclima del campo cultivado, ya que estos organismos necesitan alta humedad relativa y son muy sensibles a las radiaciones solares directas, o su empleo en ambientes o estaciones secas.Un programa de manejo de la mosca blanca que incorpore el control biológico debe tener un sistema de seguimiento que le permita tomar las decisiones pertinentes en el momento más conveniente. Incidencia de la mosca blanca I Se expresa principalmente mediante los siguientes indicadores:Momento del arribo de los primeros adultos inmigrantes, posterior al trasplante: Ayuda a programar una segunda aplicación de un insecticida sistémico a la raiz de la planta, para complementar la primera aplicación a las plantulas antes del transplante, o la semilla en el momento de la siembra.Inicio de la colonización en el cultivo (primeras puestas de huevos): Es la señal para iniciar las liberaciones de entomófagos o las aplicaciones de bioplaguicidas. La colonización del cultivo no debe ocurrir durante los primeros 30 -45 días del cultivo, cuando las plantas son más susceptibles. Los insecticidas sistémicos deben proteger las plantas durante este periodo crítico.Arribo al campo de adultos inmigrantesProporción de la población de inmaduros en las hojas, que se expresa en la relación de huevo: ninfa1: ninfa 2-3: ninfa 4 o pupa: Permite decidir si existen condiciones para continuar las liberaciones de entomófagos o las aplicaciones de bioplaguicidas, ya que en larva III y pupa la efectividad de estos controladores biológicos no es segura. La evaluación de las poblaciones de huevos y larvas de la mosca blanca se realiza mediante conteos del número de individuos/hoja, para lo cual se toman tres hojas al azar, una de cada nivel de la planta, en 33 plantas/hectáreaHuevo Ninfa 1 Ninfa 2 Ninfa 3 PupaPoblación de adultos por planta: Los niveles de adultos en el campo son un elemento clave en el manejo de la mosca blanca cuando esta causa daño directo al cultivo. Por eso cuando sus poblaciones superan el umbral permisible, se realizan aplicaciones de insecticidas.Por ejemplo, en el programa de MIP en tomate que se emplea en Cuba, las decisiones sobre aplicaciones de insecticidas se basan en tres índices, según la fase tecnológica del cultivo y la manifestación de begomovirus (Como se ve en el cuadro siguiente).Las poblaciones de adultos de la mosca blanca se evalúan mediante el conteo del número de individuos por planta en 33 plantas/hectárea. Los resultados se expresan en adultos/planta.Índice (adultos/planta) Primeros 15 días 0.2 15 días después del trasplante a inicio del desarrollo de frutos, si no ha detectado la infección por virus.Etapa de fructificación 1Planta afectada por el TYLCV Transmisión de virus de plantas enfermas a sanas dentro del mismo campo Cuando la mosca blanca actúa como vectora de virus en un cultivo susceptible, no existe un umbral de acción debido a que una sola mosca blanca puede infectar una planta susceptible. En estos casos, las plantas deben estar protegidas con un insecticida sistémico desde el momento de su siembra o trasplante en el campo.La efectividad técnica de las aplicaciones de bioplaguicidas se determina mediante la evaluación de las poblaciones de la plaga en determinados plazos de tiempo, ya que la efectividad de estos bioproductos no se manifiesta tan rápidamente como en el caso de los plaguicidas químicos.Se realizarán evaluaciones cada 7-10 días de las poblaciones de la mosca blanca (adultos y larvas) y los resultados se presentan en cuadros o se representan en un gráfico, para ir analizando la tendencia de las poblaciones a mantenerse, disminuir o incrementarse, lo cual permite conocer la efectividad del bioproducto que se está aplicando. Es muy importante familiarizarse con las características de los insectos muertos por los diferentes hongos entomopatógenos, con el propósito de contribuir a su evaluación bajo las condiciones de campo, como se resume a continuación:-Las larvas y los adultos muestran su cuerpo endurecido y estos últimos a veces se pueden observar fijos a los órganos de la planta con sus patas rígidas. -Presentan un aspecto polvoriento y/o algodonoso con colores que dependen del hongo en cuestión y sale entre sus articulaciones o sobre todo el cuerpo del insecto, en dependencia del grado de enfermedad. -En otras ocasiones este polvo o algodón no aparece en la superficie hasta que se coloca por 3-5 días en lugar o frasco limpio y húmedo.Blanco -amarilloBlanco -verde claro -verde oscuroBlanco -gris claro -gris oscuroBlanco algodonosoDiversidad y población de depredadores por planta (relación depredador/presa).Los depredadores, sean estos de poblaciones naturales o liberados, contribuyen a la regulación de las poblaciones de la mosca blanca y se pueden incrementar desde la siembra hasta la fructificación-cosecha, por lo que, si los niveles existentes de estos artrópodos benéficos son elevados, no es recomendable realizar aplicaciones de insecticidas que entren en contacto con los depredadores.Al igual que los bioplaguicidas, la efectividad de los depredadores sobre las poblaciones de la mosca blanca se logra conocer cuando se realizan evaluaciones frecuentes de la plaga, ya que la efectividad de los mismos es la resultante de diversas relaciones, las que se expresan en tiempo y dependen de diversos factores. La relación Depredador/Presa, que se determina por unidad de muestreo (planta, hoja) y se expresa como sigue: D RDp =p Donde D es el número de individuos de los estados del depredador y p es el número de individuos de los estados e instares de la presa (huevos, larvas y pupas de la mosca blanca).Parasitismo global o actividad reguladora de los parasitoides, parásitos y patógenos.Se refiere al porcentaje de la población de inmaduros de la mosca blanca que es regulada por parasitoides, patógenos o parásitos, sean estos bioreguladores naturales liberados, o aplicados.Los efectos de estos organismos se pueden también conocer cuando se evalúan las poblaciones de la mosca blanca.El Índice de Parasitismo Global (IPG) se representa en porcentaje, mediante la siguiente expresión:Donde IP= Individuos (larvas+ pupas de mosca blanca) con síntomas de estar afectados por parasitoides, parásitos y/o patógenos, CPP= Capsulas pupales de las cuales han emergido parasitoides, TE= Total de individuos evaluados (larvas + pupas de mosca blanca evaluadas).Si el IPG es bajo y se debe aplicar un insecticida sistémico, se deben registrar los factores ambientales o culturales que pudieron afectar el biocontrol.El síntoma típico que muestran las pupas afectadas por parasitoides (Encarsia, Eretmocerus) es el cambio de coloración y oscurecimiento, característico de la presencia de larvas y pupas del parasitoide.Las cápsulas pupales de las que emergen parasitoides muestran un orificio en forma circular, mientras que cuando ha emergido el adulto de la mosca blanca es irregular o en forma de T.Los entomonemátodos y la bacteria que transmiten ocasionan el oscurecimiento general de la superficie del cuerpo, el que se muestra flácido y el contenido de su interior es lechoso oscuro y puede mostrar las larvas del nemátodoLarva de Galleria mostrando la emergencia del entomonemátodo Heterorhabditis bacteriophora Pupa de mosca blanca parasitada Orificio de emergencia de adultos de mosca blanca Orificio de emergencia del parasitoideEl control biológico por si solo no resuelve el problema de la mosca blanca-begomovirus; sin embargo, hace una importante contribución cuando se realiza como parte del manejo integrado de estas plagas.Los controladores biológicos son organismos vivos que se multiplican y liberan en los campos, donde requieren protección y condiciones favorables para su desarrollo (conservación). Por estas razones es importante considerar las posibles incompatibilidades que pudiesen ocurrir con el resto de las prácticas que se realizan en los cultivos. Cuando hay una alta incidencia de mosca blanca y begomovirus, el agricultor debe apoyarse inicialmente en estrategias de manejo de la mosca blanca/begomovirus, como la época de siembra, el uso de variedades resistentes y el uso de insecticidas sistémicos durante el primer mes de crecimiento de cultivos como el frijol o el tomate, cuando el virus puede hacer el mayor daño. En esta etapa se debe evaluar las poblaciones de mosca blanca, para asegurarse de que no están aumentando, con el fin de evitar que causen daño o transmitan virus en la segunda etapa más crítica del cultivo (formación de frutos).Si la población de mosca blanca es alta en esta etapa, se debe aplicar un insecticida sistémico, preferiblemente al cuello de la planta.Si las poblaciones de mosca blanca han permanecido bajas o han disminuido en la segunda fase, pero hay una alta incidencia de virus, se debe concluir que el cultivo no fue adecuadamente protegido contra el virus en la fase de semillero o primera fase de campo (ejemplo: semillero no protegido o protección química inadecuada u omitida al momento de la siembra directa o trasplante).Por el contrario, si las poblaciones de mosca blanca continúan bajas durante el primer mes del cultivo, se debe aplicar el control biológico seleccionado.Esta estratégia contribuirá a la estabilización del agroecosistema, a una reducción en las poblaciones de mosca blanca, y a una mayor rentabilidad del cultivo al bajar costos de producción asociados al uso frecuente de insecticidas quimicos. Depredadores: Son los artrópodos (insectos, ácaros, arañas) que atacan a otros insectos y ácaros, comiéndolos o chupándoles su contenido (hemolinfa). Generalmente necesitan completar su dieta alimentaria con polen u otras fuentes vitamínicas de las plantas. Muchas veces los depredadores secretan toxinas para matar a sus presas antes de comérselas. Algunas avispitas que son parasitoides, durante su fase adulta pican las larvas u otros estados de la plaga, actuando como depredadores.Enemigos naturales: Es un término que se generaliza al referirse a los enemigos naturales de las plagas. En ocasiones no es recomendable utilizar enemigos naturales, porque en la realidad estos organismos son amigos del agricultor y tiende a confundir. Aquí es necesario entender que los biorreguladores o enemigos naturales pueden ser depredadores, parasitoides, parásitos, patógenos, antagonistas (Trichoderma), herbívoros (insectos que atacan las malas hierbas). También es muy importante saber que cualquier organismo que se manifieste como plaga puede tener enemigos naturales en los campos, lo que sucede que algunos son más difíciles de observar o se presentan en menor cuantía.Epizootia: Es la ocurrencia natural de enfermedades masivas a todos los niveles de intensidad de una población de insectos; aunque, desde luego, este fenómeno puede ocurrir en otros invertebrados. La manifestación de epizootias en poblaciones de insectos es un fenómeno que se propicia por diversos factores, principalmente las características propias del insecto hospedero, del patógeno y del medio ambiente, los cuales interactúan entre si, además del efecto del manejo que se realiza en el sistema de producción.Manejo Integrado de Plagas (MIP): Es la integración de todas las tácticas posibles para prevenir o suprimir afectaciones por plagas, tratando de mantener las mismas a niveles de incidencia por debajo del umbral requerido para evitar pérdidas. El MIP revolucionó la lucha contra las plagas, porque implica utilizar los plaguicidas según el nivel de las poblaciones y daños de las mismas. Además, favoreció integrar las labores culturales, el mejoramiento genético, el asocio de cultivos, entre otras prácticas agronómicas.Parasitoides: Son generalmente insectos que viven parte de su vida dentro del huésped, principalmente los estados de huevo, larva y pupa, pues los adultos vuelan y se alimentan de secreciones azucaradas o el polen de las plantas.Parásitos: El término parásito es muy general, pero en nuestro caso se emplea principalmente para los organismos que viven a expensas de otro organismo, como es el caso de los nemátodos que parasitan las plantas (fitonemátodos) o los nemátodos que parasitan los insectos (entomonemátodos). En este último caso hay que saber que algunos nemátodos parásitos de insectos transportan una bacteria, que es la que mata el hospedero y se conocen como nemátodos entomopatógenos, a pesar de que en este caso el patógeno es la bacteria y no el namátodo. Por ello lo más correcto es nombrarlos entomonemátodos, ya que el efecto de vector significa una asociación del nematodo con la bacteria, por eso son parásitos-patógenos.Patógenos: Son los microorganismos que ocasionan enfermedades. Pueden ser fitopatógenos, cuando afectan a las plantas o entomopatógenos, cuando afectan a los insectos.Plaga: Cualquier organismo, sea un hongo, una bacteria, un virus, un nemátodo, un ácaro, un insecto, un roedor, un ave, una planta, etc., que afecte directa o indirectamente el desarrollo normal de las plantas cultivadas, sea porque le cause lesiones o reduzca la producción de su fruto agrícola. Generalmente el término plaga se asocia a los insectos, pero internacionalmente se ha acordado referirlo a todo lo que dañe a los cultivos o su cosecha de manera significativa para el agricultor o el comercializador de productos del agro."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"0b2cb40fbe88de0dff4d4aa18164caee","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/4184e0ff-ff02-4a54-a16d-5118aeb84cf4/content","id":"605961547"},"keywords":["Striga asiatica","imazapyr","Zea maize (L)","Malawi","acetolactate synthase"],"sieverID":"9c5be64a-6557-4b8f-a3e8-16d38f07efbf","content":"The parasitic weed species Striga asiatica (L.) Kuntze is one of major constraints in maize production in Malawi. Studies were conducted from 1999/2000 to 2001/2002 seasons to evaluate the effects of seed dressing with imazapyr (an acetolactate synthase [ALS] -inhibiting herbicide) at 0 and 45 g ha -1 and two fertilizer rates (0 and 69N:21P 2 O 5 :0+4S kg ha -1) on maize with ALS target site resistance on Striga suppression and grain yield at Chitedze Research Station and farmers' fields. In the first season, imazapyr suppressed Striga emergence across all sites but did not increase yield. In contrast, fertilizer application had no effect on Striga emergence (P>0.05), but significantly increased yield (P<0.05). In the second season results were similar, but in addition the use of herbicide increased yield. In the third season a local hybrid (SC627) was included to compare yield potential of the untreated Imazapyr Resistant (IR) variety. The local check yielded higher than the IR hybrid with or without herbicide treatment, but sustained the highest emergence of witchweeds. The untreated IR hybrid had less Striga than SC627 and more than the treated. Overall, fertilizer use is found to be the single most important factor in increasing maize yield under S. asiatica infection, while herbicide use is important for reducing emergence.Maize is the stable food crop in Malawi. The parasitic weed Striga asiatica (L.)` Kuntze. (witchweeds) is among the major constraints in its production. Recommended approaches in the control of witchweeds include the use of herbicides, high rates of fertilizer, long term trap cropping and hand pulling. These are usually not feasible for most smallholders who grow maize on over 80% of the arable land with sub-optimal inputs and minimal rotations. Also, these measures do not offer complete control and may require several seasons for substantial Striga reduction (Parker, 1984;Kabambe, 1991;Odhiambo and Ransom, 1996;Kabambe et al., 2000). *Corresponding author. Email kabambev@yahoo.comThe damaging effects of Striga sp. on cereals are more pronounced under low fertility conditions (Parker, 1984;Pieterse and Verkleij, 1991). There are only few reports on maize resistance to S. asiatica (Ransom et al., 1990;Berner et al., 1995;Kabambe et al., 2000) reported a 100% yield advantage of a resistant maize variety over a susceptible one under S. hermonthica infection. Delaying Striga attachment by 3 weeks gave over 50 and 100% yield gains with resistant and susceptible maize varieties, respectively. One possible way to suppress parasitic weed emergence and prevent damage to the existing crop is through the use of herbicides which inhibit the activity of acetolactate synthase (ALS) (Garcia-Torres and Lopez-Granados, 1991) on maize varieties with resistance to ALS inhibiting herbicides, examples include Imazapyr (Abayo et al., 1996) Sulfonylureas (Adu-Tutu and Drennan, 1991) or Imazaquin (Berner et al., 1997). The herbicide is applied to maize that has target site  (Newhouse et al., 1995). Since the herbicide is applied to seed, low dosages in the range 10 -30 g ha -1 (Abayo et al., 1996) or 0.01 mg/g seed are possible (Berner et al., 1997). Estimates in Kenya have shown that 30 g a.i. may cost USD 5.00 (Kanampiu, 2005, personal communication,). Studies were therefore conducted with the following main objectives: 1). determine the effect of Imazapyr seed treatment and fertilizer application on Striga asiatica suppression and maize yield and 2) determine interaction or relative importance of the two factors on Striga suppression and maize yield. In 1999/2000 and 2000/'01 seasons, the trial was a 2 x 2 factorial. Levels for the imazapyr factor (H) were no seed treatment (H0, the control) and imazapyr seed coating at 45 gha -1 rate (H1). The maize hybrid IntA/IntB//Pioneer325irMZ98F2, which bears target site resistance to the ALS inhibiting herbicide (IR maize) was used. In the third season the imazapyr factor had the following 3 levels; H0: normal maize (SC627) with no seed treatment; H1: imazapry resistant maize with no seed treatment (the control); and H2: imazapyr seed coating at 45 gha -1 rate. All seeds were coated with insecticide (20% Lindane) and fungicide (26% Thiram dust) by mixing a sticker, insecticide and some water. The fertilizer levels were no fertilizer and 69:21:0+4S. In the fertilizer treatments the basal dressing was of 23:21:0 + 4S kg ha -1 N: P:K:S applied in a band made on the side of the ridge at or before planting day. For top dressing 46 kg ha -1 N from urea was applied using the point placement method.At Chitedze Research Station, each planting station was infested with 0.035 g (approx 3,500) seeds per station. Plots had four rows, each 4.0 m in length and 90 cm between rows. Maize stations were 50 cm apart, with 2 seeds per station (target density of 44,444 plants ha -1 ). The net plot consisted of the two middle rows excluding end-of ridge stations (6.3 m -2 ). Plots were kept free of weeds by hoe weeding at least 2 times within the first 3 weeks. Thereafter weeds (except Striga) were controlled by hand pulling.In 1999/2000 the trials were planted on 17 th December 1999 at Mponela, 14 th December at Chitedze Research Station , 12 th December at Chitedze on-farm, 15 th December at Chitsime and Linthipe, and 31 st December at Mbawa. In 2000/2001 planting dates were 24 th and 30 th November for Chitedze Research Station and Mponela, respectively. In 2001/2002 planting dates were 18 th December for Chitedze Station, 20 th December for Chitedze onfarm, 20 th November for Mulanje, 15 th December for Namitete, and 22 nd December for Mponela.Maize variables included in this report are grain yield ha -1 adjusted to 12.5% moisture content, and plants harvested. Striga emergence data reported is mainly from the second count, which reflected peak emergence. At some sites only the first count was available due to inaccessibility of site later in the season. Dates of Striga counts are reported as days after planting (DAP). The analysis of variance was done on all data. Treatment differences were regarded significant at the 5% level unless otherwise stated. Mean comparisons were between pertinent treatment means using the least significance difference.There were significant Herbicide (H) * Fertilizer (F) and Site (S) * H effects on harvest count. The S*H effects showed a decline in plant stand with imazapyr use at most sites except Chitedze on-farm (data not shown). The H*F interaction indicated that fertilizer use and nonherbicide dressing favored good plant stand (Table 1), however, the maximum average stand achieved was 3.0 plants m -2 only. The expected stand count m -2 was 4.44 plants. Thus in general there was low establishment with the maize genotype.Results on yield showed a significant S, F and S*F effect on yield (Table 2). There were differences in response to fertilizer between sites, and differences in yield between sites, within the same fertilizer level. This is expected due to the differences in yield potential of sites owing to variable inherent fertility status.Results on Striga emergence gave a significant and S*H effects. The S*H effects showed that H significantly suppressed emergence at all sites except at Mbawa, where pressure was very low anyway (Table 2). Striga suppression was quite notable at most sites.For example, at Mponela, Striga was suppressed from 21 plants m-2 to nearly nil. Similar results were obtained at Chitedze on-farm.In summary, the first season results showed that use of herbicides is very important to reduce Striga emergence, while use of fertilizer is very important for higher yields. The results also show poor crop stand due to use of the IR hybrid. There was a significant H*F effect on maize establishment. The interaction was similar to the first season in that good maize establishment was favoured by non-application of herbicide and fertilizer application (Table 3). For yield, there were significant differences recorded between sites. Yields at Chitedze station averaged 3087 kg ha -1 compared 1184 kg ha -1 for Mponela. The use of imazapyr had no effect on yield, while fertilizer application significantly increased yield from 1377 to 1857 kg ha -1 across the sites. There was significant suppression of Striga due to imazapyr seed dressing from 3.17 to 0.9 plants m -2 . However there was a significant S*F (P = 0.09) and S*H effect at P = 0.067 shown in Table 3. The S*F showed that fertilizer application promoted Striga emergence at Mponela, and not Chitedze. The S*H interaction showed that there was no effect of the herbicide at Mponela, but at Chitedze. At Mponela, however, Striga was quite low.Maize establishment was significantly influenced by site and S*F interaction. The site means (Table 4) show satisfactory emergence, ranging from 3.8 to 4.38 plants m -2. It appears therefore that the phytotoxicity declined considerably, compared to other seasons. The S*F interaction came about due a lower establishment of 3.38 plants without fertilizer at Mbawa. At other sites establishment ranged between 4.2 to 4.4 plants m -2 with or without fertilizer (data not shown).Grain yield results were available from 4 of the 6 sites. Yields were significantly influenced by S, H and S*H. The highest yields were recorded at Chitedze Research Station. The herbicide effects showed that the local hybrid SC627 gave the highest yield of 2113 kg while the IR hybrid without herbicide yielded similarly to IR maize with herbicide (1583 vs 1564 kg ha -1). The S*F effect on yield is shown in (Table 5). There was significant response to fertilizer application at all sites. There were differences in yield amongst sites within a fertilizer rate.Striga emergence was influenced by S*H*F interaction (Table 6). The differences came about due to differential site pressure and the very low emergence of herbicide treated treatments compared to untreated. In the treated means, emergence was very low and there were no responses to site or fertilizer factors. However in the untreated plots differences occurred mainly due to site differences. Fertilizer effects were inconsistent.Results in all three years consistently showed significant yield increases with fertilizer and occasionally with herbicide use. This suggests that the most important constraint to productivity even under Striga pressure is the low soil fertility. This is in agreement with the general observations that the damaging effects are more pronounced under low fertility condition (Parker, 1984). In other studies, Kanampiu et al. (2000Kanampiu et al. ( , 2003) ) reported significant yield and Striga suppression due to use of imazapyr. The high suppression of witchweed emergence  (Parker, 1984;Kabambe, 1991;Odhiambo and Ransom, 1996;Kabambe et al., 2000). Therefore ALS-inhibiting herbicides have an important role to improve yields as well reduce amount of seed return to the soil. The reason why the herbicide was not associated with significant yield increases is that the ALS-resistant hybrid used was not locally adapted, and fell prey to grey leafspot (GLS) (Cercospora zeaemaydis) GLS attack at most sites. This was well demonstrated in the third season when we introduced a local hybrid in the trial. The local hybrid had better yield without protection against Striga. There are on-going efforts by CIMMYT to improve the tropical adaptation of these genotypes. The other reason was the negative effect on maize stand associated with the herbicide, especially in the first two seasons. The laboratory germination of the seeds was excellent (95%) before and after the experiment. It is therefore possible that the hybrid was simply not able to germinate and establish well under tropical field conditions. Yield gains from ALS herbicides are expected not only due to Striga suppression, but also due to delay in emergence (Berner et al., 1985;Kanampiu et al., 2000Kanampiu et al., , 2003)). The damaging effects of witchweed are most pronounced before emergence (Parker and Riches, 1993;Kabambe, 1997).The other benefit with reduction Striga emergence is that seed return to soil is reduced hence reducing the drudgery for hand pulling.Fertilizer use has the highest impact on maize yield even under Striga. Therefore avenues to furnish fertilizer by organic or inorganic sources should be encouraged.Imazapyr had the highest impact in suppressing witchweed emergence, and increased yield in two of the three seasons. The two factors are therefore simultaneously critical for integrated management which seeks to enhance yields and manage witchweed dynamics. There is need for further work to increase yield potential of such genotypes."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"69e789f44dd3893787920aa21d5aa0f1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://data.mel.cgiar.org/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=hdl:20.500.11766.1/FK2/TRRYZH/QHYNVM","id":"-1121657667"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"20b0088d-cd56-4af1-bc3e-df06ece2051f","content":"(1: plus fréquent, 2: 2ème plus fréquent, etc., 0: jamais)Autres (préciser): _________________ (si pas de boeuf, questionnaire s'arrête) (1: plus fréquent, 2: 2ème plus fréquent, etc., 0: jamais)(1: plus fréquent, 2: 2ème plus fréquent, etc., 0: jamais) (réponses multiples possibles) (1: plus adaptée, 2: 2ème plus adaptée, etc., 0: jamais) réponses multiples possibles) "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"73b138c8537546792e8d241e8d628da0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b98a51f0-b58c-4341-b19b-f332b9a0e686/retrieve","id":"-573585774"},"keywords":["Cecilia Schubert: pB1","B82","Taylor D. Spicer: pB40","B94","B118","B128","B128","B171","B188","Nafisa Ferdous: pB86","B93","B102","B117","B133","B:148","B:169","B:184","Elizabeth Van De Grift: pB62","Gian Betancourt: pB89","Alternative Futures: pB110","A. Wikman: pB142","Sharmind Neelormi: pB171 Science Officer, Climate Change, Agriculture, Food Security (CCAFS)"],"sieverID":"c3da04d7-8283-4c3f-ba9d-70a8871c039b","content":"This document has been prepared as an output of Theme 4.1 Linking Knowledge to Action under the CCAFS program and has not been peer reviewed. Any opinions stated herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the policies or opinions of CCAFS. The geographic designation employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of CCAFS concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. All images and graphics cmremain the sole property of their source and may not be used for any purpose without written permission of the source. This toolbox was guided by the valuable feedback and recommendations of key practitioners, scientists and subject experts at Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), the CGIAR and many local development partners. We also benefited greatly from the many workshops, co-design events, farmer reflections, and testing sessions during the development of this toolbox. We extend our gratitude to all those individuals who contributed to this collaborative effort.Recent years have witnessed increased frequency and severity of climate extremes -from record high temperatures to severe drought in some regions, with erratic rainfall patterns in other parts of the world. These phenomena have significant implications for production in the developing world where the majority rural actors -men and women, depend on agriculture for their livelihoods and food security. Socially and culturally ascribed gender roles and responsibilities in most rural societies however, largely determine how each category differentially experiences the effects of climate change.It is critical that the different options men and women pursue to reduce vulnerability in the face of a changing climate are understood to inform strategy and policy. This takes robust participatory research skills and effective use of qualitative tools to collect, synthesize and analyze data that throw light on how men and women are adapting to climate change and ensuring food security. This manual introduces a wide range of participatory strategies and tools for research to guide the implementation of climate smart agriculture and efforts to achieve food security in rural communities. It is intended for NGO practitioners and program designers interested in diagnostic and action research for gender sensitive and socially inclusive climate change programs.The manual provides users with an introductory section that defines basic concepts of gender, climate change, vulnerability, adaptive capacity and participatory action research. The following section describes steps in developing a research planning guide, building a research team and sampling procedures. Subsequent sections introduce key participatory tools for context analysis and for gathering a wide variety of information on perceptions of wealth, empowerment and overall socioeconomic dynamics in a community. Users will be able to explore issues of access, use and control over climate services, and how co-benefits of climate interventions are perceived. The final section provides a set of easy to use guides on how to organize and analyze qualitative data from participatory action research. CCAFS, FAO, ICRAF and other partners hope this training manual will be a major contribution to climate change interventions that improve men and women smallholders' adaptive capacity and food security prospects.Margaret Kroma, Ph.D.With social inequalities on the rise almost everywhere, poor and vulnerable population groups are more negatively affected by the current global crises than others. Economic crises, natural disasters, environmental degradation and conflict are inhibiting development in many regions across the world, and climate change threatens to amplify these by creating additional uncertainties and risks for vulnerable populations, increasing the severity and frequency of disasters and jeopardising development gains made to date.It is essential to continue supporting people's productive livelihoods and recovery from shocks and stresses but we must also work with them to try to find more lasting solutions that address the underlying drivers of both risk and vulnerability, strengthen existing adaptive capacity and build long term resilience.The Adaptation Learning Programme (ALP), implemented by CARE International, promotes communitybased adaptation, where addressing social and in particular gender inequalities is key to successful outcomes. We work with people whose lives depend on livestock and crop production in Niger, Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique. We have seen how unequal distribution of resources and power at all levels, including within each of these communities, constrains many people's options to take action on climate change. Part of ALP's response to this challenge has been to improve and promote knowledge on how best to identify the issues at play behind vulnerability and adaptive capacity. In other words, we look at why and how the lives and livelihoods of different social groups are affected by climate change in different ways, and what factors shape the aspirations and strategies women and men in different social situations adopt in response.Everyone engaged in community-based action and research knows what an important and sensitive task it is to gain an understanding early on in the process, of the complex social relations at play in any given context. Gender relations and inequalities affect people and institutions at all levels and in all spheres, but they are always dynamic and personal, always sensitive, always changing. Capacity to engage in a sensitive way is critical but often lacking among development and research practitioners. Our contribution to this manual seeks to help in filling the gap by contributing some of CARE's tried and tested approaches to gender and power analysis across different contexts To ensure the manual is relevant and responsive to realities in marginalized communities, CCAFS and ALP have joined forces to bring research and practical application together to refine the methods we use to improve our understanding of the contexts we work in. We hope to support researchers in testing their work practically and to amplify the value and impact of our collective learning through the combined outreach of our respective programmes. Our contribution to this manual has been one important part of the CCAFS CARE relationship, with testing done in ALP community sites in Northern Ghana. We hope it will provide its users with inspiring guidance and help to produce new insights to inform communities, decision-makers and researchers grappling with the complex relationship between gender and climate change in agricultural settings across the globe.This initiative began several years ago when CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) came together to examine existing gendertargeted participatory research approaches to see which ones would be the most effective for addressing key gender-related questions that the CCAFS programme was grappling with. We soon realized, however, that these key questions needed to be co-defined with local partners working on the ground closely with farmers -both women and men. As these partnerships have evolved, so have the approaches. The result is a range of learning modules that have been tested in the field with NGOs and local researchers in different environments. Ideally, this should make them more useful, not just researchers, but development partners trying to figure out how best to support gender transformative approaches. We hope that these resources will aid research for development teams in shifting away from purely diagnostic and quite 'extractive' research methods towards action research that empowers both women and men.Climate change is a social issue. As the world moves towards climate smart responses that bridge food security, resilience and mitigation of green house gasses (GHGs), practitioners and researchers face the challenge of doing so through socially relevant and gender-sensitive approaches.We know that a gender equity gap exists in agriculture and that this gap shapes how men and women contribute, respond and adapt to climate change. Rural women in particular head one out of five farms and comprise of 40% of agricultural labour across the developing world (FAO, 2011), and yet produce less than their male counterparts because of the persistent inequalities that frame their experiences. Women's insecurity over land access and tenure, lower political representation and decision-making power in rural governance, lack of access to financial capital, level of empowerment, barriers to participation in trainings and extension services and many other challenges exist in the path of promoting gender equitable adaptation and development. Building resilience within this context is a matter of understanding how gender norms and relations, along with other critical factors such as caste, class, age, disability and sexual orientation all affect differences in access, power and decision making in regards to adaptive capacity.In order to support a more inclusive climate smart agenda relevant for both men and women, this Toolbox assumes several key points:• Data should be sex-disaggregated (when relevant) to recognise women as individual farmers rather than counting them as de facto members of a household.• The type and level of social-differentiation used should be based on the objective of the study and the climate change development program that it informs.• Gender and social inclusion should be integrated from the research and programme design phase rather than relying on mainstreaming at a later point.• Building capacity in gender and social analysis is important for both upstream and downstream practitioners in an organisation.• A participatory approach to research can support jointly-produced knowledge that reflects more accurately the different needs, challenges and opportunities for women, men and vulnerable groups.The objective of the Toolbox is to support programme designers and field practitioners in doing gender sensitive and socially inclusive research. The toolbox is divided into four main parts and includes a) An overview of concepts in gender, climate change, participation, qualitative research, and gender and social analysis; b) Team-based learning and reflection activities to support gender and inclusion concepts; c) A logistics and planning guide supporting sampling strategy, sex-disaggregation, and field work best practices; and d) Participatory research tools covering Co-Production of Knowledge, Climate Resilient Agriculture, Climate Information, and Mitigation for socially differentiated data collection and analysis. The Toolbox is in modular format, and each activity can be used on its own or sequentially according to the user's needs.Social inequalities put many poor people on the frontline of harmful climate change impacts while constraining their options for taking action to reduce them through adaptation. Gender is often a defining factor of these barriers to adaptation. Critical awareness of and effective measures to address gender inequalities, therefore, are key for addressing climate change. Empowering women and engaging men in a process whereby women and men work together as equally recognized decision makers and agents of change from the household to the global level, is a crucial pathway toward gender equality, and resilience (Castaneda & Acquah 2012).Social differences relating to gender are \"learned, and though deeply rooted in every culture, are changeable over a lifetime or generations, and have wide variations both within and between cultures. Gender, along with other factors such as wealth and ethnicity, often determines the rights, roles, opportunities, power, access to and control over resources for women and men in any culture.\" Striving for gender equality \"does not mean that women, girls, men and boys are the same but that their enjoyment of these rights, opportunities and life-chances are not governed or limited by whether they were born female or male.\"Inclusive and meaningful participation of all community groups, particularly the most vulnerable, is needed in all the phases of climate change programming -from assessment to implementation, and throughout in monitoring and evaluation. This fosters women's and men's empowerment and ownership which is vital to positive and sustainable adaptation and development (CARE International 2011).? ?\"The variety of methods used to understand the relationships between men and women, their access to resources, their activities, and the constraints they face relative to each other. Gender analysis provides information that recognizes that gender, and its relationship with race, ethnicity, culture, class, age, disability, and/or other status, is important in understanding the different patterns of involvement, behavior and activities that women and men have in economic, social and legal structures.\"The gender analysis process seeks to collect, identify, examine and analyze information on the different roles of women and men. Gender analysis primarily seeks to understand these three questions:1. What are gendered-related rights denials in a given context? How do unequal gender relations, gendered discrimination, subordination and exclusion influence rights denials? How do these rights abuses intersect with other areas of discrimination -based on ethnicity, culture, class, age, disability, etcetera?2. How will gender relations affect the achievement of sustainable results? For example, if the project's sustainable result is increased productivity among female smallholder farmers, then gendered norms in household divisions of labour and workloads may greatly influence production outcomes.3. How will proposed results affect the relative status of men and women? Will it exacerbate or reduce inequalities?Gender analysis examines gender roles and relations from inter-personal, household, community, provincial and national levels. It looks at both the public and private spheres of people's lived experiences. It seeks to understand the differing priorities, needs, activities and responsibilities of men and women, boys and girls across different life stages, and in the various roles they play (as sons and daughters, lovers, mothers and fathers, citizens, neighbors, laborers, etcetera). An analysis of gender issues must also recognize other diversity factors that affect all members of society, such as age, ethnicity, class, caste and other socioeconomic conditions.(CARE International Gender Network 2012) (FAO 2009) Box 1: Classic gender analysis questions How Does Gender Influence Vulnerability to Climate Change?The vulnerability and capacity of a social group to adapt or change depends greatly on their assets according to scholars like Moser and Satterthwaite (2008). Next to their physical location, women's assets such as resources and land, knowledge, technology, power, decision-making potential, education, health care and food have been identified as factors that add to vulnerability and adaptive capacity. In terms of gender, data from around the world indicates that women tend to have less or limited access to assets (physical, financial, human, social and natural capital).The examples below illustrate some of the ways in which gender can shape women and men's vulnerability to climate change: Their ability to migrate in search of economic opportunities makes it easier for men to deal with crisis, and may result in benefits for the family as a whole. However, male migration often increases women's workload, as they are left behind to manage the family and households. It can also increase women's exposure to other risks, such as gender-based violence and HIV infection.Produce marketoriented crops and livestock productsBoth crops and livestock are affected by climate change, and this has profound consequences for household food security.Men often claim safer/more fertile land for growing marketoriented crops, leaving women to grow household-oriented crops on more vulnerable/less fertile land.Are responsible for selling valuable produce and livestockIn addition to the challenges described above, climate change has implications for food preparation and storage (in terms of water for food preparation and the vulnerability of food stores to extreme events, such as cyclones and floods). Harvests may be reduced or even wiped out by floods or droughts. This affects market prices and the availability of surplus to sellplacing pressure on both men and women to identify other sources of income and reduce major expenditures (e.g. school fees). In times of food shortage, women are often expected to feed other members of the family before attending to their own needs.Women Men Link to Climate Change VulnerabilityHave lower incomes and are more likely to be economically dependentHave higher incomes and are more likely to own land and other assetsMen typically have more money and other assets than women. Men's savings provide a \"buffer\" during tough times and, along with other assets, make it easier for them to invest in alternative livelihoods.Have more access to education and informationManaging climate-related risks to agricultural production requires new information, skills and technologies, such as seasonal forecasts, risk analysis and water-saving agricultural practices. Men are more likely to have access to these resources and the power to use them and are therefore, better equipped to adapt. At the same time, women often have traditional knowledge that can inform adaptation efforts. Both new and old information is important in the context of adaptation.Have less power over family finances and other assetsHave more power over family finances and other assetsWithout the power to decide on family resources and finances, women's ability to manage risks by, for example, diversifying crops, storing food or seeds or putting money into savings, is limited.Have greater involvement/ decisionmaking power in community politicsMen are likely to have more influence over local governancepromoting policies and programme that may not support women's rights and priorities.Mobility is a key factor in accessing information and services.It is also critical for escaping the danger posed by extreme weather such as floods. Therefore, women are often at higher risk from these events.(CARE International 2010)There are different ways of counting people in a sex-disaggregated manner. They can be simply disaggregated by sex ('male/ female'), but it often makes sense to refine disaggregation further, by introducing age groups or civil status (single/ married/ divorced/ widowed). It is important to be aware that counting the 'number of women/ men/ boys/ girls with access to/ benefiting from/ participating in etcetera.' is not the same as disaggregating households by male-headed and female-headed households.\" Sex-disaggregated data are data that are collected and analyzed separately on males and females. This typically involves asking the \"who\" questions in an agricultural household survey: who provides labor, who makes the decisions, who owns and controls the land and other resources. Or it may involve asking men and women about their individual roles and responsibilities.When talking about sex-disaggregated data, we are not referring to comparisons of male-and female-headed households. This type of data is already collected as part of common practice. However, limiting analyses to this kind of comparison is problematic because it confounds gender and household structure. Male-and female-headed households are not comparable in most cases due to the way in which they are defined. \"Male-headed\" households generally include all households in which women are married to men while \"female-headed\" households are usually those households lacking adult men. Female-headed households are often more labor and resource constrained than male-headed households, but these disparities cannot necessarily be attributed to the sex of the household head. Unless a survey asks questions about individuals within a household, we'll miss important data on women living in male-headed households -the majority of the world's women.\"-Cheryl Doss and Caitlin Kiera (2014)Quantitative surveys often use the household as their unit of analysis, enabling only a disaggregation of results by head of household. While this is useful, it is important to keep in mind that this type of disaggregation does not tell us more than the differences and commonalities the households headed by a man or by a woman. It does not inform about gender relations more widely, i.e. between women and men more generally and at different stages of their lives-for example between boys and girls, or between married women and men.Both male and female heads of household are a distinct category of man or woman, and when a household is headed by a woman this is often due to specific circumstances such as the seasonal or permanent out-migration, sickness of a husband or polygamy ('de facto' female-headed households) or divorce from or the death of a husband ('legal' female-headed households). Female heads of household often, but not automatically, face exclusion and discrimination in access to resources, but sometimes have more control over resources than, for examples, women living in marriage. Female heads of 'de facto' female headed households often assume tasks and roles their husbands are temporarily or permanently unable to fill, but may then face legal barriers when it comes to making decisions over productive assets, e.g. land, or accessing extension services. (Ayers et al. 2012)Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics of men and women (Mikkola 2012).Gender is not the biological differences between men and women, boys and girls, rather a set if the social attributes associated with being male and female learned through socialization. Gender therefore is a social construct that defines what it means to be a man or woman, boy or girl in a given society -it carries specific roles, status and expectations within households, communities and culture. Individuals may also self-identify as neither male or female, or both male and female (CARE International 2009).Gender roles are shaped by the different social and cultural contexts they exist in. Factors like country/region, ethnic group, age, economic class and religion all affect which roles and responsibilities that men and women, boys and girls are expected to have. (FAO 2012) Gender relations are the ways in which a society defines rights, responsibilities and the identities of men and women in relation to one another. Gender relations are based on power and negotiations, and gender roles are closely linked, influencing the definition and development of one another. (FAO 2012) In addition to the roles ascribed to men and women in relation to each other, men and women each have multiple roles. \"While men typically play their roles sequentially, focusing on a single productive role, women must usually play their roles simultaneously, balancing the demands of each within their limited time constraints. The gender-based division of labor ascribed in a given socio-economic setting determines the roles that men and women actually perform. (FAO 2012) Since men and women play different roles, they often face very different cultural, institutional, physical and economic constraints, many of which are rooted in systematic biases and discrimination. (FAO 2012) Gender roles:• are socially constructed;• determine social and economic activities;• may reflect biological differences;• vary according to regions and cultures; andBox 2: Men's and women's multiple roles at community level Reproductive role: Childbearing and rearing responsibilities, and domestic tasks done by women, are required to guarantee the maintenance and reproduction of the labor force. This includes not only biological reproduction but also the care and maintenance of the work force (male partner, oneself and working children) and the future work force (infants and school-going children). This work is usually unpaid.Productive role: Work done by both men and women for pay in cash or kind. It includes both market production with an exchange-value, and subsistence or home production with actual use-value, and also potential exchange-value. For women in agricultural production, this includes work as independent farmers, peasant wives and wage workers. The work is both paid (but often underpaid) and unpaid.Community managing role: Activities undertaken primarily by women at the community level, as an extension of their reproductive role, to ensure the provision and maintenance of scarce resources of collective consumption, such as water, energy sources, health care and education. This is unpaid work, undertaken in 'free' time.Community politics role: Activities undertaken primarily by men at the community level, organizing at the formal political level, often within the framework of national politics. This is usually paid work, either directly or indirectly, through status or power. (Moser 1998) Gender equity is the process of being fair to women and men. To ensure fairness, strategies and measures must often be available to compensate for women's historical and social disadvantages that prevent women and men from otherwise operating on a level playing field. Equity leads to equality.Gender equality -or equality between women and men -refers to the equal enjoyment by women, girls, boys and men of rights, opportunities, resources and rewards. A critical aspect of promoting gender equality is the empowerment of women, with a focus on identifying and redressing power imbalances.Equality does not mean that women and men are the same but that their enjoyment of rights, opportunities and life changes are not governed or limited by whether they were born female or male.(CARE International 2009)Women's Empowerment involves awareness-raising, building of self-confidence, expansion of choices, increased access to and control over resources and actions to transform the structures and institutions which reinforce and perpetuate gender discrimination and inequality. Empowerment comes from within; women empower themselves. Increase women's power through power to; power with and power from within which focus on utilizing individuals and collective strengths to work towards common goals without coercion or domination. (CARE International 2009)Gender mainstreaming is defined by the United Nations as the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action in all areas and at all levels. That means making both the concerns and experiences of women and men an integral dimension of all agriculture and rural development efforts. (FAO 2012) Gender Transformative Approach refers to program approaches or activities that seek to build equitable social norms and structures in addition to individual gender-equitable behavior by addressing both the fundamental causes and sources of gender inequality For agricultural research for development this approach is crucial as it is hoped that better and more lasting outcomes will result from interventions that combine efforts to enhance access to resources, technologies and markets that understand and challenge the social context that enable inequalities to persist. (CARE International 2011)Box 3: Dimensions of Women's Empowerment According to CARE CARE understands that it takes much more than simply including women in its projects to make progress towards Women's Empowerment and Gender Equity. CARE defines women's empowerment as the combined effect of changes in:• a woman's own knowledge, skills and abilities (agency),• the societal norms, customs, institutions and policies that shape her choices in life (structures), and • the power relationships through which she negotiates her path (relations).This comprehensive understanding of empowerment requires not only to increase women's individual agency but also to change structural barriers in order to shift social and cultural norms, policies and key relationships in ways that allow women and men to step into new roles.(CARE International 2011)A focus on agricultural production tends to prioritize field activities related to staple and marketable crops, obscuring the multiple labor and knowledge-intensive activities women and/or men carry out in forests and home gardens, seed selection and conservation, marketing, healing, food processing, and so on.The reproductive sphere refers to all activities required to maintain the household and its members, such as cooking, cleaning, raising children, and so on. In addition to contributing to agricultural production and natural resource management, women's particularly heavy responsibilities in the reproductive sphere limits their opportunity to pursue other activitiesWomen and men may cultivate different crops or assume specific tasks in the cultivation of the same crops. For instance, men may prepare the land for cultivation, while women sow and weed, and both men and women may harvest crops together, performing distinct tasks in the process. Women may contribute a significant amount of labor in the cultivation of 'male' crops (crops controlled by men), but this contribution often lacks recognition.Women and men's activities vary throughout the year; no snapshot can capture the range of activities pursued annually. Exploring these seasonal variations is important for understanding the labor constraints women and men experience at specific times of the year, among other considerations. Gendered seasonal calendars-a tool for gender analysis-are an effective way of making these visible.Women generally have less access than men to formal institutions and forms of employment, but participate intensely in informal institutions and organizations and in the informal economy.Income from multiple sources may be small but nonetheless significant to women and men, and must be included in livelihood analyses. Income can be monetary or non-monetary. For example, one product may be bartered for another without money exchanging hands.Women tend to grow many crops in small quantities that are nonetheless important to their livelihoods and to their family. These are found not only in women's fields, but also often on the borders of men's fields and in home gardens.Non-timber forest products (NTFPs)Women and men use various forest resources beyond timber, which tends to be controlled by men or by community organizations. NTFPs can be used for both consumption and sale, and the timing at which they become available can correspond with lean periods (before the harvest, when food is in short supply), making them especially important for food security. Women's ability to access many NTFPs and the income from them makes these forest products highly prized by women.Rural women are often involved in the collection of NTFPs and the production of crops for household consumption rather than for sale. This important contribution to household food security is overlooked when studies focus exclusively on income generating activities.Animal husbandry is not exclusively the domain of men. In fact, in some regions women are the main animal managers. Women typically raise fewer large stock than men and focus instead on raising poultry and small stock. Women may also assume complete responsibility for animals kept at the homestead, and may procure fodder for animals as well as processing and marketing livestock products. Yet, their contribution to these activities is often ignored.Informal access to resourcesConsider not only land tenure, which is often tenuous for women, but also other important forms of access to resources, such as access rights to trees and their products, that may differ from rights to the land on which the trees grow.Women and men frequently exploit different spaces. For instance, women tend to collect products (NTFPs, firewood) from commons and uncultivated lands, such as the bush and interstices between fields. These spaces, which are crucial for women's livelihoods, are often ignored in analyses that focus on 'productive' lands.While women may have access to certain resources, they may not have the ability to decide the fate of these resources (how to use them, dispose of their products, transfer them, and so on). Knowing who controls resources is important for understanding resource management processes. Key Ideas• The difference between weather and climate• The difference between coping, adaptation and mitigation• The major gender disparities in climate changeThe scientific community has had evidence for some time that the earth is warming at increasingly rapid rates and that human activity has been one of the driving factors for climate change today. While our atmosphere naturally contains greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides) to produce what is called the greenhouse effect, the level of greenhouse gasses produced since the industrial revolution in the mid-18 th century has altered the composition of our atmosphere leading to an enhanced greenhouse effect.The human activities that lead to greenhouse gas emissions include burning of fossil fuels for transport and energy consumption, as well as agriculture and forestry. In the agriculture sector, emissions of greenhouse gases arise from fertilizer production and use, cattle, rice production, biomass burning and other activities. The agriculture, land use and forestry (AFOLU) sectors combined, contribute 24% of emissions leading to the enhanced greenhouse effect (IPCC 2014).Generally, it is agreed that extreme weather events will increase along with the unpredictability of their occurrence due to climate change. The impact and intensity of these changes will vary from place to place. Some examples of climate change impacts include the following:Increase in temperature• Overall, the mean temperature is increasing and will continue to increase. This suggests that the coldest days will become warmer, and the hottest days will become even hotter.• The frequency of cold days will decrease, and the frequency of hot days will increase.• In some areas the frequency of warm spells and heat waves will increase.• Number and intensity of wildfires will increase.• Over many areas the frequency of heavy rain will increase.• There will be an increase in number and intensity of floods and landslides.• Drought risk will increase in many areas.Sea level rise According to the UNFCCC, mitigating climate change involves reducing the source of greenhouse gas emissions or enhancing the sinks that help remove CO 2 from the atmosphere through human intervention. There are many ways of enhancing sinks in agriculture such as-reforestation, improved cultivation practices, building up peaty soils to retain CO 2 . Enhancing sinks can also be called carbon sequestration.Adaptation to climate change is the larger processes by which communities and systems cope with the consequences of climate change, such as declining livelihoods, food insecurity or degrading farmlands. Many adaptation practices can help build resilience in the face of these challenges, but do not abate (or mitigate) the sources of CO 2 emissions.For many organizations, a pathway forward that integrates building community resilience and adaptation, carbon sequestration and mitigation, as well as achieving national food security and sustainable development goals is called Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA). For farmers in developing countries, the main aim of agriculture is to secure their livelihoods and produce products that can be used directly or sold in markets. Mitigation of climate change and carbon sequestration for its own sake is not necessarily the first activity consciously undertaken by farmers. Mitigation activities can however be integrated into many different every day practices if we see it in the context of farmers' decision making and the various incentives and co-benefits that these practices can deliver. CSA practices and projects that specifically aim to integrate mitigation activities into agricultural practices are termed carbon projects.Reduce Emissions Avoid EmissionsA project aiming to reducing methane emissions from livestock could do so by introducing different types of feeds.A project aiming to avoid emissions could substitute fossil fuels for bioenergy produced from wood, farm residues, algae or fish waste.A project aiming to remove emissions, through agroforestry activities for example, which can sequester carbon from the atmosphere.Mitigation is a co-benefit, which might be remunerated in the future through different payment schemes. The experience today suggests the real economic benefits for farmers will come from increased productivity due to climate-smart practices. Specific payments, including carbon market payments, would not be of great importance for small farmers in developing countries. (adapted FAO-CCAFS 2012)Adaptation is adopting measures to protect against the actual and expected harmful effects of climate change, to exploit any opportunities it may generate, and to ensure the sustainability of investment and development interventions in spite of more difficult conditions; aims to reduce sensitivity of men, women, girls and boys to the effects of climate change (Jost 2011).Adaptive Capacity is the ability of a system to adjust, modify or change its characteristics and actions to moderate potential, future damage; take advantage of opportunities; and to cope with the consequences of shock or stress (Brooks 2003).The process of increasing the carbon content of a reservoir/pool other than the atmosphere. (IPCCC 2014)The average characteristics of meteorological conditions, calculated over a long period (typically 30 years or more).Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO 2014c).[Climate] Mitigation involves reducing green house gas emissions and/or enhancing the capacity of 'sinks' for GHGs, for the ultimate purpose of stabilising their concentration in the atmosphere; aims to reduce global exposure to the effects of climate change (SPC 2011).Climate-Smart Agriculture is agriculture that sustainably increases productivity, resilience (adaptation), reduces or removes greenhouse gases (mitigation), where possible, and enhances achievement of national food security and development goals (FAO 2014a).Climate Information System is the relevant information for adaptation to climate change, long-term planning and early warning systems.Co-Benefit are the benefits of policies that are implemented for various reasons at the same timeincluding climate change mitigation -acknowledging that most policies designed to address reduction of greenhouse gas emissions also have other, often at least equally important, rationales (e.g. related to objectives of climate change adaptation, development, food security, sustainability, and equity). The term co-impact is also used in a more generic sense to cover both the positive and negatives sides of the benefits (FAO 2014b).Resilience The ability to prevent disasters and crises as well as to anticipate, absorb, accommodate or recover from them in a timely, efficient and sustainable manner. This includes protecting, restoring and improving livelihoods systems in the face of threats that impact agriculture, nutrition, food security and food safety. (FAO 2014b).Risk is the combination of: (I) the probability (or frequency) of occurrence of a defined hazard resulting in adverse consequences; and the magnitude of these consequences, given the interaction of the hazard with the properties of the exposed system (SPC 2011).The terms \"adaptation\" and \"coping\" are sometimes used interchangeably, leading to confusion about the similarities and differences between these two important concepts. Carbon Sink Any process, activity or mechanism that removes and accumulates and stores a greenhouse gas, an aerosol, or a precursor of a greenhouse gas or aerosol from the atmosphere (IPCC 2007).Vulnerability to climate change is the extent to which a system, individual or group of people is susceptible to, and unable to cope with, the adverse effects of climate change; vulnerability to climate change depends on exposure to climate change, sensitivity to its effects and adaptive capacity (FAO 2012 p. 133).Exposure to climate variation is primarily a function of geography. For example, coastal communities will have higher exposure to sea level rise and cyclones, while communities in semi-arid areas may be most exposed to drought (Daze/CARE CVCA 2009).Weather: The meteorological conditions (air temperature and pressure, humidity, wind speed, precipitation) that prevail in a given place at a given time.Sensitivity is the degree to which a given community or ecosystem is affected by climatic stresses. For example, a community dependent on rain-fed agriculture is much more sensitive to changing rainfall patterns than one where mining is the dominant livelihood. Likewise, a fragile, arid or semi-arid ecosystem will be more sensitive than a tropical one to a decrease in rainfall, due to the subsequent impact on water flows (Daze/CARE CVCA 2009).Women tend to be more at risk from climate change than are men because they represent the majority of the world's poor. For rural women, three primary factors of gender-based vulnerability to climate change include: unequal access to resources; unequal opportunities to change or improve their livelihoods; and exclusion from decision-making. Through both direct and indirect risks, it can affect their livelihood opportunities, the time they have available to them on a daily basis, and overall life expectancy. The following are supporting facts.• Women appear more vulnerable than men to the effects of natural disasters, with the impacts strongly linked to poverty. A few studies following the cyclone and flood disasters of 1991 in Bangladesh revealed that the death rate was 71 per 1000 among women aged 20-44, compared with 15 per 1000 for men of similar ages (WEDO 2008 p. 51).• More and more agricultural work is being done by women as men move to non-farm jobs. In all parts of the world except Europe, the proportion of women in the total agricultural work force has risen over the past four decades (Doss 2011 p. 6).• Women often have responsibilities, such as fetching water, collecting fuel wood, and looking after children that make them more vulnerable than men to the impacts of climate change (Wright and Chandani 2014).• For example, in many developing countries women are the primary collectors, users and managers of water, so drought and water shortage can increased their workload (UNDP 2010).• Female farmers produce less than their male counterparts because they have less access to or ownership of land, use fewer inputs and have less access to important services such as extension services. In many countries women are only half as likely as men to use fertilizers (FAO 2011 pp. 38, 45).• If women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30%. This could raise total agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5-4%, which could in turn reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12-17% (FAO 2011 p. 5).Men have greater access to information than women. For example, in Kyengeza, Uganda, 80% of the men listen to the radio for daily weather forecasts, compared with only 20% of women (Kyazze et al. 2012 p. 12).In light of the above, interventions related to climate risk reduction and social risk management should pay special attention to the need to enhance the capacity of women to manage climate change risks with a view to reducing their vulnerability and maintaining or increasing their opportunities for development.(CCAFS 2014)• Participation empowers men, women, boys and girls to find solutions to their own development challenges. It is both an attitude and a philosophy that encourages learning, discovery and flexibility' (Hannah & Jost 2011 p. 12).• Participation assumes equality between outside experts and community members.• 'Practitioners of participatory [approaches] should be rigorous in terms of implementation and interpretation, to limit the influence of bias on findings' (Kristjanson et al. 2014 p. 1).• Implementation should take into consideration social-cultural settings, making comparison of results between communities a challenge.• 'A gender-sensitive approach requires understanding of site-level socially differentiated dynamics, and a strategy for achieving genderappropriate targets' (Kristjanson et al. 2014).Participation in research and development is a construct that emerged in the late 1970s, although its conceptual origins stretch back to the 1960s (Chambers 1994). Since then participatory approaches have been endorsed and used by many international organizations, including the World Bank, specialized agencies of United Nations such as FAO, and IFAD the CGIAR, IUCN, CARE International, etcetera.In the research community, participatory approaches are sometimes viewed as less rigorous, because practitioners may use methods that are non-randomized and/or qualitative. Thus, some assume that participatory approaches to research require less skill than other statistically driven approaches.Nothing can be further from the truth. In fact, practitioners of participatory approaches must be highly skilled so as to maintain rigor in implementation, objectivity in analysis, and ability to recognize and manage bias (Kristjanson et al. 2014).In gender research and in development work, participatory approaches are proving particularly useful for understanding gender norms in terms of governance and control of resources, and for identifying opportunities for transformation of these norms (Kristjanson et al. 2014).The unique value of participatory approaches is that they encourage community members and outside experts to work together in gathering and analyzing information, building a community's analytical capacity and empowering them to seek information about and solutions to local problems that lead to sustainable local action (Kristjanson et al. 2014). Ideally, when participatory methods are used to gather information in a community, residents should be equally involved in design, implementation, analysis and reporting of the activity. Pretty et al. (1995) described a typology of participation in which passivity epitomizes the lowest level and self-mobilization the highest level (Pretty et al. 1995). Different types of participation may be necessary at different points of a gender and climate change program. Self-mobilization may not be possible during initial phases when the objective is to gather information on which to base an intervention, while it becomes highly likely at the point of identifying solutions to problems and the codevelopment and implementation of action plans.Types of participation (Pretty et al. 1995 p. 14):• Passive participation: People participate by being told what is going to happen or has already happened. It is a unilateral announcement by an administration or project management without listening to people's responses. The information being shared belongs only to external professionals. This is more often the case for women and youth, especially in rural areas• Participation in information giving: People participate by answering questions posed by extractive researchers using questionnaire surveys or similar approaches. People do not have the opportunity to influence proceedings, as the findings of the research are neither shared nor checked for accuracy.• Participation by consultation: People participate by being consulted, and external people listen to views. These external professionals define both problems and solutions, and may modify these in the light of people's responses. Such a consultative process does not concede any share in decision-making, and professionals are under no obligation to consider people's priorities.• Participation for material incentives: People participate by providing resources, for example labor, in return for food, cash or other material incentives. Much on-farm research falls in this category, as farmers provide the fields but are not involved in the experimentation or the process of learning. It is very common to see this called participation, yet people have no stake in prolonging activities when the incentives end.• Functional participation: People participate by forming groups to meet predetermined project objectives related to the project; which can involve the development or promotion of externally initiated social organizations. Such involvement tends to occur after major decisions have been made rather than in the early stages of project development. These institutions tend to be dependent on external initiators and facilitators, but may become self-dependent.• Interactive participation: People participate in joint analysis, which leads to action plans and the formation of new local institutions or the strengthening of existing ones. It tends to involve interdisciplinary methodologies that seek multiple perspectives and make use of systematic and structured learning processes. These groups take control over local decisions so people have a stake in maintaining structures or practices.• Self-mobilization: People participate by taking initiatives independently of external institutions to change systems. They develop contacts with external institutions for resources and technical advice they need, but retain control over how resources are used. Such self-initiated mobilization and collective action may or may not challenge existing inequitable distributions of wealth and power.Box 7: Obstacles within the community and possible ways to overcome themIn any community there will be obstacles to participation, many of which will be directly tied to gender norms (Hannah & Jost 2011 p. 63). A practitioner of participatory approaches must be aware of dynamics related to gender as well as poverty, organization, communication and institutions that limit the participation of marginalized members of a community and proactively address them in a research or development program so as to ensure that all members of a community are part of the program.Lack of appropriate community organizations By being aware of obstacles to participation and taking steps to manage them, a practitioner of participatory approaches is managing bias. But bias is larger than that, because it is ingrained in all human perceptions and observations, often unintentionally. The recognition and management of bias is essential to effectively using participatory approaches to research and development.Practitioners of participatory approaches must understand bias, because it can be a valuable source of information. Thus we often use techniques other than randomization in designing our research. By delving into and understanding bias, we allow for the analytical process of 'triangulation' (Hannah & Jost 2011). A basic rule is that information gathered from one respondent is an opinion, while if it is repeated and confirmed by multiple respondents it becomes an interesting piece of evidence.We seek to probe and understand the drivers behind a respondent's opinions, and balance them by seeking information from those with different opinions. We recognize marginalization and seek out the opinions and points of view of the marginalized. By balancing the informant pool in this way, the opinion of a biased outlier will be diminished and we can understand the bias and its drivers. This allows us to determine if they will serve as a logjam to progress in solving problems and need to be addressed before addressing the problem.Different types of bias to keep in mind when designing a study are (Chambers 1983 p. 26):The selection of a study area based on convenience and access. Investigators often travel by road, leading to study areas identified by proximity of villages to good roads. The people in more remote communities (often the poorest) remain unrepresented in the study.The selection of a study area based on the presence of other projects, because of the increased level of activities in the village and comfort with outside investigators. Visitors and researchers are often channeled to areas where projects have been active and most of the work will then concentrate on these places.The selection of respondents who are easy to access and interact with. The views of certain types of people (influential, rich, vocal, etcetera.) can be overrepresented in the interviewing process, and those people may be biased against poor people, or ignorant of their needs. The \"rural elite,\" while not at all representative of the crosssection of the community, is often the most vociferous during group interviews, drowning out the voices of others.The investigator must make a special effort to include marginalized members of the community in a study, such as women, approaching them in settings where they feel comfortable enough to express their views.The collection of data during one part of the year, which may not be representative of the activities, roles, benefits, challenges and so on, during other parts of the year. For example, malnutrition, morbidity and mortality may be highest at the end of the dry season. Surveys carried out at other times of the year may miss these phenomena.The reporting of information by informants that hides certain problems, out of respect or embarrassment because the problem may have a negative social stigma. For many communities, poverty is the subject of shame, and the needs of the poorest are sometimes glossed over or even concealed, either by the poor themselves or by officials working with them.The filtering of information through the lens of one's professional training, rather than objectively considering it as reported. Health professionals, for example, may introduce bias because of their prior knowledge of illnesses and treatments, preventing them from really understanding what informants are trying to tell them about their health. In epidemiology, professional bias can cause problems at the technical level, preventing study teams from correctly understanding the traditional knowledge base.Key principles of participatory approaches Based on the information available, most people make rational decisions » The appearance of irrational behavior means that a misunderstanding may have occurred» There is a balance between the need for information and the need for timely decision-making• Action-orientated » Be prepared to take action rather than just collect data (Hannah & Jost 2011 p. 17):What are PRA and PAR? Chambers (1994) defines participatory rural appraisal (PRA) as follows:\"…PRA describes a growing family of approaches and methods to enable local people to share, elucidate and analyze their knowledge of life and conditions, to plan and to act.\" (Chambers 1994) It is one of the most common forms of participatory enquiry used today. It reflects a progression from its antecedent, rapid rural appraisal (RRA) in that the focus has shifted from extraction of information from communities by academic experts for the purpose of project planning and publication, to community empowerment by valuing available knowledge and enhancing analytical capacity for the purpose of achieving sustained institutional change (Chambers 1994). It involves the use of an everevolving set of information visualization tools that enhance detail and understanding for informants and experts alike, and allows the equal participation of literate and non-literate respondents. Baum et al. (2006) defines participatory action research (PAR) as follows:\"PAR seeks to understand and improve the world by changing it. At its heart is collective, self-reflective inquiry that researchers and participants undertake, so they can understand and improve upon the practices in which they participate and the situations in which they find themselves. The reflective process is directly linked to action, influenced by understanding of history, culture, and local context and embedded in social relationships. The process of PAR should be empowering and lead to people having increased control over their lives.\" (Baum et al. 2006).In agriculture, it is a methodology that embraces iterative cycles of co-inquiry by communities and experts to test potential solutions to problems in realistic local settings. It encompasses the principals and elements of PRA in a longitudinal approach to adoption of ever improving solutions to a community's most pressing agricultural problems.This guide represents the first step in a PAR cycle, co-developing the knowledge that is necessary to plan a PAR programme.PAR takes the linearity out of agricultural knowledge production. Instead of scientists identifying problems in their offices and developing and testing solutions in their labs, communities and experts work together to understand local problems and assets and to identify and test potential solutions that hopefully capitalize on the community's existing strengths. Thus empowerment occurs when communities develop skills in analysis and problem solving that will continue long after a 'project'based relationship with outside experts ends.The methodology allows for direct testing of improved practices and technologies on the ground in the local context. This allows for rapid weeding out of unworkable solutions, and timely adoption of those that can work for the community. The traps of classic methods for achieving scale are avoided, as farmer share their new knowledge in their communities and serve as local experts for neighboring communities who can see and rapidly adjust new options for their own contexts. Finally, 'real' evidence from farmers themselves can be more convincing to policy makers than that coming from a lab or research station.Practitioners who use PAR approaches are also facilitators in the research process. Remember that people do not naturally possess good facilitation skills. Skills such as managing conflict, engaged listening and ensuring meaningful participation need to be practiced and developed over time.Improving a facilitator's own gender awareness and being critically conscious about the different social, political and cultural dynamics in the research process is also a skill gained over time. Ideally, building capacity around facilitation for inclusive research should be a key component of your project or programme. The following list illustrates basic competencies that PAR and social inclusion research practitioners should aim to have:\"Inductive\" Reasoning \"..the absence of prescribed sets of rules creates an open-ended field of opportunity for researcher's skills, knowledge, and intuition. Interviewing is a craft that is closer to art than to standardized social science methods\" (Kvale 1996).\"Deductive\" reasoning is often found in the natural sciences. The deductive approach is when research questions and assumptions are informed and developed mainly from academic understandings of the topic. This way, deductive researchers are interested in gathering information that will help test the validity of a pre-established set of research questions.Another approach is called \"inductive\" reasoning, where researchers use their observations and interactions with the community to form their research questions. Inductive research often gives more space for social, political, cultural, environmental contexts to arrive at a research focus. This approach can seem daunting as it requires practitioners to begin with very broad set of questions and trust in the research process itself to narrow down and clarify a research focus.• Qualitative and participatory research has the power to reveal multiple narratives, not objective \"truth\"• Reflection and self-awareness are essential characteristics for facilitators• Researchers can promote safe and open research spaces to improve the quality of data and promote participation of marginalized voicesPossessing strong inductive research skills for gender and PAR teams can be a great asset. Inductive research can allow for more feedback between communities and research teams, also allowing women, men or particular interest groups more decision-making power to define their priorities, needs and beliefs.Facilitators should be aware of their own positionality which can include their personally held beliefs, values, power, and expectations in comparison to the communities they enter. Being self-aware requires the capacity to critically reflect on your own identity and how it may influence the research space, hierarchies, gender and cultural norms and the way in which community members respond to you.Good facilitators for gender and inclusion research should not only be aware of their own position but also be able to adjust and change aspects of their behavior and impact in a way that promotes discussion.All members of the research team should strive to be respectful guests in communities and invest their efforts to build good rapport. What may seem like small \"details\" can often be critical elements that shape the willingness and quality of participation of focus groups. A research team should ideally work together to carefully choose their research location, seating arrangements, adjust their own attitudes and verbal or body language, and broadly speaking, be prepared to navigate the known and unknown social and cultural norms of the communities they work in. Many of these things can be done by researching community norms ahead of time, taking the time to properly seek permission to enter communities, as well as working actively to adjust your own power in a research space.Unlike surveys or questionnaires, collecting high quality qualitative or PAR data can depend on a facilitators ability to listen. Deep listening and being truly engaged requires discipline and practice. Gaining this skill may even require un-learning roles and habits that we have formed over time and being more conscious of ourselves as facilitators.The importance of complex contexts and multiple perceptions is an essential component of gender and inclusion research. The very modes of doing research on climate change such as interviews, focus groups, or PAR activities can elicit many different realities and layers of information. PAR research therefore does not propose any one objective \"truth\" or reality. For this reason, answers to seemingly simple questions about rainfall or farming practices may bring forth multiple, even contradictory statements. The ability of the facilitator to value and evaluate perceptions over seeking \"truth\" is a skill that requires facilitators to be interpreters of meaning.Generally, focus group questions should be clear, simple and conversational. Avoid technical language or phrases that are non-threatening or judgmental. Questions should focus on one issue rather than bring up multiple ideas. In addition, there are several types of questions that facilitators should be mindful of:Focus group discussions are meant to stimulate meaningful answers and narratives. For this reason, open-ended questions are ideal for focus groups over close-ended questions. Open-ended questions are often asking \"Why\" and \"How\" and engaging people on their feelings, expectations or opinions.Close-ended questions are often answered with yes/no or short technical answersWhat crops are you growing this season? How do you decide which crops to grow this season?Facilitators can easily fall into asking questions that direct participants in their answer. The phrases you choose can often tip off participants on what information you are seeking rather than allowing participants to answer from their own perspective.Do you have problems with the agricultural extension officer?How do you feel about the agricultural extension officer?? ??3) Probing Questions Sometimes, well phrased questions are not enough to encourage deep discussion in a focus group. Some facilitators may even have a tendency to offer suggestions to participants and assess whether or not the focus group agrees or disagrees. Good facilitators on the other hand will rely on probing questions, or supportive questions that help draw out ideas and catalyze interaction. As researchers we enter communities having already studied a great deal about the subjects with which we work. There is a danger of assuming that concepts and terminology which come second nature to us are shared by the other research team members and the communities with which we work. As researchers, first, we have to spend time defining terminologies with our research team members. Everyone needs to work with the same definitions and concepts to ensure that relevant and appropriate data is collected. Then, the research team needs to define the tricky terms with the participating community members before launching into focus group discussions. This means avoiding imposing our own vocabulary on our research team and on communities, repeatedly using words that are misunderstood, and instead pursuing vague responses to uncover local terminology and meanings. For agriculture and climate change, the following concepts and terms may cause confusion in the field:• Weather/Climate -Some cultures do not have a term separating these two concepts.• Year -Some cultures do not organize time by years. Perhaps they use different calendars or seasonal indicators.• Drought -The definition of a drought could mean dry spell, dry season, or lack of rain.• Good/bad rains/season -What constitutes a \"good\" or \"bad\" year is highly contextual to the community. The length or timing of seasons may also vary according to the community. Also, in some communities, there may be multiple rainy seasons with different characteristics.• Rain -Some cultures have many terminologies for rain.• Predict (i.e. weather prediction) -Linguistically prediction may be translated deterministically or as \"guess\", 50/50 etc.• Normal, average -This has varying definitions.• Likelihood, probability -Definitions of likelihood depend on linguistics and can lead to misunderstanding.• Accuracy -Accuracy as defined by farmers and scientists may be different.Ethically and practically, it is essential to get consent from your focus group participants as well as the community leaders or \"gatekeepers\". This may mean writing a letter, sending invitations, calling or having a meeting with the village heads and community members. In some cases, women may need permission from others before participating in research activities, making consent an essential part of ensuring their participation.Let participants decide their own ground rules for what they need to feel safe during sessions. Make sure that both men and women can agree on the ground rules and express their expectations. You can refer to these rules during sessions to keep groups accountable. Note that it is better to phrase ground rules positively rather than negatively i.e. -avoid making rules that start with \"don't\" or \"no\".Always communicate the session's goals or purposes. This helps participants focus their ideas and encourages everyone to work towards accomplishing the same goal.When working with communities who are new to the research or development organizations, being transparent about what your research will bring or not bring is essential. Engaging in research because of inflated expectations may ultimately raise tension and break trust.When working with women or social groups who already juggle multiple responsibilities at home, on the farm and in the community, the facilitators should take care to respect time. Choose a time and meeting space that is accessible to your group. Sometimes this means choosing public spaces so as not to raise suspicion. Sometimes this means picking a time when participants are least busy. Be aware of seasonal time constraints too! Farmers are likely to be busiest at the beginning and end of the growing season(s), compared to after a harvest.When arranging a focus group, be aware of the power dynamics you communicate. Are the facilitators at the head of the room like in a classroom? Are the facilitators standing above the participants? In most cases, it is best to arrange seats in a circle so that conversation can flow in multiple directions and lecturing is avoided. According to certain cultural norms, village outsiders may be given a special seat or designation. Try to avoid this and always sit at the level of your participants, without letting technology or other objects indicating a higher status distract or intimidate people. This may also extend to dressing in socially appropriate clothes.Also, be as informed as possible ahead of time on the make-up of your focus group to avoid inappropriate participants. For example, if a village elder will be part of your focus group, it is likely that other participants will be less willing to discuss village politics. You may choose to interview authority figures separately as they can be extremely valuable key-informants. It is also critical to be aware of local power relations between men and women, or between different ethnic groups before coming into the research space. This way you can adjust your facilitation as much as possible to accommodate for marginalized voices.Creating a safe \"research space\" and building rapport between facilitators and community members is an essential part of PAR and gender work. Here are some suggestions for establishing open environments for focus groups:Research teams should be aware of their own verbal and body language during sessions.The facilitators should prioritize eye-contact and engaging with participants. Designate multiple note takers to coordinate notes if possible to avoid interrupting the flow of conversation. Make sure to speak in non-scientific terms or jargon. If working with a cofacilitator, you may choose to remind one another of these tips throughout the session.For many researchers, silence during sessions can seem terrifying. Being silent in most cases, can give participants the time and space to process and formulate ideas. Overcompensating for silence by speaking a lot may also have the opposite effect on your participants-discouraging them from speaking up and relying on you for direction.There are many ways to manage conflict within focus groups without escalating tension. For example, if there is a very active or despondent community member, rather than stop a session to address their disruptive behavior, a co-facilitator can pull them aside while the main session continues.Facilitators must be able to step back and allow participants to drive discussion. This may mean supporting participants who are timid (particularly women or marginalized members of a community) and asking those who are more vocal to step back. If engaging in a PAR game or activity, allow the participants to work out details on their own. Facilitators must also learn how to keep discussions on track, while encouraging reflection and space for unintended information.It is important to finish focus groups logically and smoothly. Make sure to explain your next steps, schedule return visits, and thank the group for their participation. Always allow for more questions after the end of the session.Consider leaving copies or originals of the products of your focus group (maps, charts, pictures) as an appropriate way of wrapping up.(adapted from Ayers et al., 2012) Helpful Frameworks for Gender and Socio-Economic AnalysisThis Toolbox focuses on providing guidelines for gathering data for gender and social inclusion research for climate change programing. The toolkit also promotes PAR activities that supports more equal exchange between communities and researchers, offering options for community-led analysis and validation.The methodologies within this toolkit are designed to complement and plug in to many different analysis frameworks. Each user should purposefully choose which analysis framework(s) suits their research interests best. Broadly speaking some of the existing analysis frameworks that can support climate change and adaptation projects include the following:Gender and Diversity -The success of development initiatives depends on equal relations between women and men and between different social groups. From a climate change perspective, this begins with an understanding of the differences in adaptive capacity between different groups and between men and women, and the design of adaptation strategies that ensure that vulnerable people have equal access to resources, rights and opportunities. It is increasingly recognized that women may be more vulnerable to climate impacts than men for a variety of reasons. On average, women are poorer and they typically lack secure access to the resources needed for adaptation. Women rarely have an equal say in decision making in households, communities or in national politics. At the same time, experience has shown that women are central to permanently improving the lives of their families and communities, and therefore must play a pivotal role in community-based adaptation initiatives.Similarly, marginalized groups tend to have less security in access to and control over resources, and this contributes to their vulnerability to climate change. These underlying causes of vulnerability must be addressed in order to have a sustainable impact in reducing vulnerability to climate shocks.Livelihoods Frameworks -Livelihoods frameworks guide users in a systematic process of understanding how people use diverse assets or resources (both tangible and intangible) to undertake a range of activities, in order to achieve important outcomes in their lives. These outcomes include satisfaction of basic rights, as well as sustainable access to basic needs like water, shelter, and food. Livelihoods analysis involves understanding how people access and control various mixes of resources and activities, and how these differ within and among households in ways that affect their ability to achieve the outcomes they desire in their lives. The analysis also helps us to determine how these are influenced by external factors such as gender and other social norms, policy frameworks, economic trends, and the physical environment.Approaches -A rights-based approach (RBA) deliberately and explicitly focuses on people achieving the minimum conditions for living with dignity (i.e. achieving their human rights). It does so by exposing the roots of vulnerability and marginalization and expanding the range of responses. It empowers people to claim and exercise their rights and fulfill their responsibilities. A rights-based approach recognizes poor, displaced, and war-affected people as having inherent rights essential to livelihood security -rights that are validated by international law.(Adapted from Daze/CARE CVCA 2009)The following profiles of analysis frameworks were helpful in supporting the development of this toolkit and can serve as references for your project to consider:Summary: Developed in 1993, the Socio-Economic and Gender Analysis approach (SEAGA) is an approach to development and the humanitarian context based on the analysis of socio-economic patterns and participatory identification of women's and men's priorities and potentials.The SEAGA approach is a useful framework for integrating gender issues into climate change work in the agriculture and food security sectors because it facilitates the analysis of the social dynamics that may shape how different members of a community and a household experience and respond to climate changes. This approach, by putting people at the center, is one way toward ensuring that climate change related projects, initiatives and policies meet the needs of those who will be most affected.The participatory nature of SEAGA ensures that men and women who are experiencing climatic change in their day-to-day lives are also the very people engaging in the process of implementing climate change solutions.Gender roles and relations are of key importance Disadvantaged persons and groups are a priority in development initiatives.Participation is essential for sustainable development and climate change adaptation.The SEAGA approach uses a variety of PRA tools and checklists to explore the capacities, vulnerabilities, resources, livelihoods and institutions of the target population. The tools can be divided into three broad categories: context analysis, stakeholder analysis and livelihood analysis. These are summarized below.Understanding the context in any particular community -the socio-economic patterns of how women and men from different socio-economic groups earn an income and obtain other resources -is useful in understanding the patterns of vulnerability to multiple risks, including climate risks. Some questions for understanding the context for climate change adaptation and mitigation are:• What are the important environmental, economic, institutional and social patterns in the village? Do men and women have the same views on these?• What were past climate conditions like, what are they like now, and what are future projections? Do men and women report seeing impacts? What are women's/men's perceptions of these?• What are the supports for climate change adaptation or mitigation? The constraints?• What are the impacts of climate change on women and men, boys and girls?Livelihood analysis focuses on how individuals, households and groups of households make their living and the access of men and women to resources and services. It reveals the activities people undertake to meet their basic needs and generate income. Some questions include:• How do people make their living? How do the livelihood systems of women and men, boys and girls compare? How do the livelihood systems of different socio-economic groups compare?• What are the likely climate change impacts on current livelihood strategies? Are certain sectors or groups of people more or less vulnerable? Why? What are perceptions of women and men on these?• How diversified are the livelihood activities of men and women? Describe the activities.• What are the patterns for use and control of key resources? By sex? By age? By socioeconomic group? How will a change in climate affect the use of resources for men and women?• What are the most important sources of income? Expenditures for each socio-economic group, including women and men? Tribal and indigenous groups?Stakeholders are all the different people and institutions, who stand to gain or lose, given a particular activity. For every adaptation and mitigation activity proposed, the different stakeholders are identified, revealing where there is conflict or partnership.• What adaptation activities do different men and women propose? For what?• For each proposed adaptation or mitigation activity, who are the stakeholders? How big is their stake? What is their historical relationship to each other?• Is there conflict between stakeholders? Is there partnership?• How do different stakeholders perceive the risks associated with climate change? How do men and women perceive the benefits of mitigation and adaptation activities?• How can short-and long-term needs of different stakeholders be balanced?• Will men and women benefit equally?• Will men and women differentiated by wealth benefit equally?• Is participation of women ensured? Is participation of other marginal groups ensured? By whom?• Is access to information ensured? By whom?For a more detailed explanation of SEAGA, consult the FAO's website here: http://www. 1. Access and control over assets: The financial, physical, natural, social, political and human capitals necessary to prepare a system to respond best to a changing climate. This category incorporates the importance of different kinds of capital, often informal, non-monetary or reliant on social networks.The ability of system to ensure equitable access and entitlement to key resources and assets is a fundamental characteristic of adaptive capacity.Entitlement to the key resources needed for adaptation can be differentiated according to age, ethnicity, class, religion and gender (among other groups). Representation and participation in key institutions is also essential to enabling an equitable distribution of resources. Access to key resources, participation in decision-making processes and empowerment are key elements of this characteristic.Successful adaptation requires information and understanding of future change, knowledge about adaptation options, the ability to assess them, and the capacity to implement the most suitable interventions. In the context of climate change it is important to ensure that systems are in place to distribute relevant information at both national and regional scales. In addition, forums must be made available for dialogue and discussion among all stakeholders.A key characteristic of adaptive capacity relates to the system's ability to support innovation and risk taking. Innovation can be planned, technically oriented and geared towards large-scale innovations; or it can be autonomous, local-level initiatives that help people adapt to changes to local climate. An enabling environment that promotes and allows for experimentation and the exploration of niche solutions is required to take advantage of new opportunities and to confront challenges presented by climate change. The environment also needs to protect against the risks of failure associated with innovation.Informed decision-making, transparency and prioritization are all key elements of adaptive capacity. Ensuring that local organizations are well-informed of future climate trends enables them to take measures to plan for their impacts. Similarly, flexibility to allow systems − and the institutions that govern them − to evolve and adapt to a changing environment is a crucial characteristic of adaptive capacity.(CARE International 2011)For a more detailed explanation of LAC framework, consult the CARE's website here: http://www. careclimatechange.org/Summary: The Five Capitals Model, developed by Forum for the Future, is a framework understanding wealth, resources and flow in terms of 5 different \"capitals\":1. Natural capital -The natural resources (energy, environment and matter) and processes needed by organizations to produce their products and deliver their services.2. Social capital -Any value added to the activities and economic outputs of an organization by human relationships, partnerships and co-operation.3. Human capital -Incorporates the health, knowledge, skills, intellectual outputs, motivation and capacity for relationships of the individual.4. Manufactured capital -Refers to material goods and infrastructure owned, leased or controlled by an organization such as tools, technology, machines, buildings and all forms of infrastructure.5. Financial capital -Reflects the productive power and value of the other four types of capital and includes those assets of an organization that exist in a form of currency that can be owned or traded.The Five Capitals Model can complement more explicitly gender-analytical tool such as the SEAGA and CARE's Women's Empowerment framework. Similar to LAC, a Five Capitals approach can add additional dimensions for promoting an integrated development approach.While the model has been developed to cater to sustainable businesses and a green economy, applying these Five capitals to climate change research can help us look at development on the community level in a more integrated and long-term way. Five capitals can also enable researcher to identify which capitals are under or over emphasized within climate change and gender research.  Step 1 -Ask participants to think about the first words that come to mind when they hear the words 'man' and 'woman.' Write down responses from the group in two columns on flipchart paper: 'MAN' and 'WOMAN.' Make sure that, at a minimum, some words describing biological traits (such as 'penis' for man and 'breast' or 'menstruation' for woman) come up on the list. Biological components are bolded in the list above.This is an example of the kind of list that participants might come up with: Step 2 -When the lists are complete, pose questions from Checklist 1 to participants to discuss if any roles can be reversed.• Can any of the 'man' words also describe women?• Can any of the 'woman' words also describe men?• What are the things that women or men can do exclusively?• Can a woman be a police officer? A husband? A parent? Powerful? Free? Strong? Humorous? Generous? Bread-winner? Noble? Unfaithful?• Can women drink?• Can a woman have a penis?• If women are capable of being a police officer (for example), why aren't there more women who are police officers?• Can a man cook? Do shopping? Be gentle? Submissive? Beautiful? Have breasts? Gossip? Be warm, kind-hearted? Menstruate? Be sexy? Be a wife? Can a man be fair? Be passive? Tolerant? Obedient?• If men are capable of cooking and shopping, why don't more men do the cooking and shopping for their households?• Why do some men who have jobs as cooks not do the cooking for their families?Explain that these lists illustrate the difference between sex and gender. Refer to the World Health Organization's (WHO) working definitions for sex and gender: Sex refers to the biological characteristics that define humans as female or male. Gender refers to the economic, social and cultural attributes and opportunities associated with being male or female at a particular point in time.Step 3 -Divide participants into single-sex groups of 4-5 people. Ask the groups to work together to illustrate what they understand to be an ideal man and an ideal woman, using large sheets of paper and markers. When they have finished, ask each group to present and explain their drawing(s) to the group.Helpful hints: Initiate a discussion with the group using some or all of the questions from Checklist 2 as a starting point; ask additional probing questions as appropriate. Encourage debate within the group, and be ready to spend some time discussing the issues that arise.Some sample answers are included beneath some of the questions, to give you an idea of where the questions are headed. These are participant responses from a similar exercise that was done in the Republic of Georgia in 2006.• What did you learn about being a boy or girl when you were growing up? How did you learn? From whom?A newborn baby's sex is acknowledged when it is born when its genitals are recognized. Penis and testicles means it is a boy; vagina means it is a girl. On identifying the biological sex of the child, the family knows how to bring her/him up. There are differences in the colors used for boys and girls (blue/pink), types if clothes (trousers/dresses), types of toys etc. Social norms are set by each culture.A person's biological sex dictates the way they will be brought up.Boys are brought up to be independent, aggressive, tough, courageous, physically strong; girls are brought up to be dependent, emotional, sensitive, delicate.» How are images of the ideal man and woman created?Where do they come from?» Who affirms them?Would you like to change the images you describe?The attitudes, values and behavior that as men we consider appropriate for us (our gender identity or masculinity) are learned in society.Men can also be dependent and sensitive; women can be strong and independent. Society puts different values on these attributes for men and women.More social value is placed on a newly born boy child than a girl child.In the Republic of Georgia, the facilitator asked why none of the groups had included a penis and testicles in their models of an ideal man (see models shown on next page). Participants replied that it wasn't necessary since they were underneath the clothing. This pointed to some nervousness and timidity with regards to exposing genital organs. The facilitator explained that in other countries when this exercise was carried out it was quite common for the groups to include penises and testicles and there would be discussion around the size of them; some arguing that the bigger they are the more of a man you are. This was acknowledged by some of the participants as being an issue for Georgian men too. Step Adaptive capacity: The ability of a system to adjust, modify or change its characteristics and actions to moderate potential, future damage; take advantage of opportunities; and to cope with the consequences of shock or stress.Real life example: Real life example:Gender dimension:Definition 8:Resilience: The ability to prevent disasters and crises as well as to anticipate, absorb, accommodate or recover from them in a timely, efficient and sustainable manner. This includes protecting, restoring and improving livelihoods systems in the face of threats that impact agriculture, nutrition, food security and food safety.Real life example:Gender dimension:Definition 9:Risk: The combination of the probability (or frequency) of occurrence of a defined hazard resulting in adverse consequences; and the magnitude of these consequences, given the interaction of the hazard with the properties of the exposed system.Real life example:Gender dimension:Step 2 -Have each group present back. Discuss the scenarios and ask all the participants if the definitions match examples and if the gender dimensions of each scenario make sense. As a facilitator, be ready to assess the level of clarity that your participants have on climate change and gender. Be prepared to clarify the different concepts and draw out examples from the groups as they discuss.Step 1 -Regroup everyone and explain that you want to pull the various definitions you have reviewed to discuss the concept of vulnerability and how it affects men, women, children and different social groups differently.It is important to note that vulnerability and capacity of a social group to adapt or change depends greatly on their assets. Consequently women's assets largely determine how they will be affected by and respond to the impacts of climate change. Through both direct and indirect risks, it can affect their livelihood opportunities, the time they have available to them on a daily basis, and overall life expectancy. In addition to exacerbating existing risks, climate change can reveal new risks that have been hidden.Step 2 -Present the following diagram to the group and take your time going over the concept of vulnerability.Vulnerability to climate change of different social groups or livelihood systems to a climate change hazard depends on how it is exposed to the hazard and how sensitive it is to that hazard. This will influence the impact that that hazard can have on the livelihood system. That potential impact, combined with the capacity of the system to adapt to the hazard, determines the vulnerability of the group or system. Adaptive CapacityStep 1 -To explore how exposure, sensitivity, adaptive capacity and potential impact interact to define vulnerability, use the framework above as a reference to work through each scenario. If the scenario is unfamiliar, create a scenario to present to the group based on your own community contexts or ones you are more familiar with. Learning Exercises: Participation Activity: Reflection ExerciseWe have all taken part in a participatory activity in our lives, usually lots of them. For example, voting is a form of participation in the democratic process! Many of us have likely used participatory approaches in our professional lives, either in the office, while training others, or when working in communities. Break your team into groups of 3 to answer the following questions:Q: What types of participatory projects have you been involved in? List them all for the group, then go back and ask each member to describe the project(s) he or she mentioned.Q: Do you have other examples of participatory projects and activities that you have heard about? List them for the group again before going back and gathering descriptions about them.Q: For each project, what level of participation does the group think was achieved, and why? Use the Pretty et al. (1995) typology. For the purpose of the project, was that level optimal? What could have done to improve the level of participation?Allow the groups to work through all the examples they have listed. Then bring the groups back together in plenary. Each group member should choose one of the examples they worked with, describing the project in plenary, the level of participation achieved and how participation could have been improved.Step 1 -Break your team into the same groups of 3, and give each group a copy of the exercise below to complete. These examples have been adapted from a manual for One Health Practitioners (Hannah & Jost 2011 p. 27).Step 2 -After completing the exercise, ask each group to return to the list of participatory projects they had generated in exercise 1 and discuss the following questions about each project.Q: Upon reflection by the person who mentioned the project, what kind(s) of bias were involved in the project? Use the Chambers (1983)  Time: 1-2 hours A researcher's identity can play a part in shaping the research process. Reflecting on a researcher's own power, privilege, attitudes and behaviors within a research setting can help unpack some of the factors shaping interview or focus group dynamics. This exercise is to help researchers identify different parts of their identity, how they are perceived, and how to negotiate their own power within research settings.Below is an \"identity wheel\" depicting 10 different aspects of a person's identity. These aspects can be adjusted as needed and are meant as a self-reflection tool for understanding someone's position within different communities.Step 1 -Think about a particular research experience you have been in before. It may be a past experience facilitating or simply a time where you were perceived as an 'outsider' in a community you worked in.Each participant should take 10 minutes to mark a point on each identity scale, indicating how each aspect can either enable or disable you in an interview or focus group setting. The closer the mark is to the center, the more 'disabling' you perceive the aspect to be while the farther away it is from the center, the more enabling the aspect is for you as a researcher. Prompt participants with questions form Checklist 1 to assist them with choosing a point. Fill out each of these measurements and connect the dots so you have a personal identity wheel based on your reflection of a specific research situation.Learning Activities: Role of the ResearcherObjective: A learning exercise for researchers building empathy with community members.Self-reflection can be a critical skill for researchers and practitioners. What many practitioners also need is the capacity to have empathy for the people and communities they work with. Empathy is the ability to recognize and understand the thoughts and feelings of another person. By considering the human aspects of programme participants, researchers are able to develop better relationships, to ask more relevant questions, and to better understand the complex perspectives and motivations behind decision-making.Step 1 -Form small groups of 2-3 people.Step 2 -Discuss as a group your 'ideal research participant' or who your program is intended to reach. Is this a young man in a rural community? A mother who provides for her large family? Who are some of the most critical voices you and your team need to hear from?Step 3 -Once you have decided upon a specific person (or persons), complete a point-of-view statement that relates to agriculture, climate change and/or gender. Use the following format to structure this statement. …challenges.Examples:A young woman in this village must travel farther to get water during drought.A married mother in this village is affected by domestic violence.Step 4 -With your ideal person in mind, take time to fill in each of the sections on the empathy map. The following reflection activity can help you understand the need for gender analysis and frameworks for integrated development.1. Identifying strengths and weaknesses in your organization or project in regards to gender and inclusion.2. Identifying which frameworks fit into your current work best.Participants: 10-25 participantsStep 1-Take your time to reflect on how the different frameworks relate to your own work or your organization's work overall. What are gaps that need to be filled, which frameworks can help fill these gaps and why? As a principal investigator or research project coordinator, you are responsible for hiring and building the capacity of your team. Specifically this may require hiring at least two local note takers and two facilitators.Note that involving \"community gatekeepers\" or local leaders in this process may be useful in promoting transparency and participation. You may choose to invite key local leaders who could help facilitate your research activities in this preparatory phase as needed.Pay careful attention to the gender composition of your team. It is highly recommended to have at least one female facilitator and one female note taker. This would allow for maximum flexibility while conducting your focus groups. Team members should anticipate adjusting their roles or opinions to meet the challenges of building trust and gender sensitive research spaces. In some cases, having female facilitators may improve trust with female focus groups. In other cases, having mixed gender facilitators may work better.Practical Skills Needed by facilitators AND note takers:-Some background in participatory action research or field work -Some technical knowledge of development, gender and climate change issues -Familiarity with the local community (if not belonging to the community themselves)-Cultural sensitivity to the community's practices -Local language proficiencyOnce you have staffed your team, you will need to spend time orienting and training them to help every member of your team understand their roles, responsibilities, and enable them to work together toward a common purpose. We suggest communicating the following points in a series of open discussions, brainstorming sessions and conversations:1. The purpose of your research. What is the overall purpose of your research? Is this inductive or deductive research and what does that mean? What are the main research themes or questions that you want to explore? How will the data collection and analysis from this project fit into the project or overall institutional context of your organization?If you are working from an analytical framework, we suggest that you present it early in the process and talk through the challenging terminology and meanings of the research questions, indicators and/or themes to ensure that all of your team members fully understand the purpose. This directs the facilitation and note taking, as well, making it more attentive, relevant and appropriate.Why have you chosen to do gender sensitive and PAR research? What are your expectations for and vision of a \"successful\" gender and socially inclusive research project? How do your team members define it? What are your expectations for and vision of \"successful\" participation? How do your team members define it? Having these discussions early is important to establish team norms and support systems. Not only will the logic of the research be clarified, it may also help teams commit themselves to the project and each other.for example not just translating but also participating in recording data every day, should also be clarified early in the teambuilding process. The team needs to understand all that is expected of them to maintain team unity and transparency.Pre-testing For many teams, participatory approaches may challenge their own sense of comfort and reveal biases. It is important to spend time becoming comfortable with participatory approaches and address the fears your team members• The quality of your study relies upon the data collected from your note taker(s)• During training, the research team needs to decide on the depth of their notessummarizing is not enough for qualitative research. Exact quotes and stories are necessary.• If the burden seems too heavy for just one note taker, consider adding a second to your team.• During the tool review and pre-test, the facilitator and note taker should practice working together to use techniques like echoing -the facilitator repeats what the participant says to both validate the participant's comment and allow the note taker to have more time to record the exact comment made or story told -to ensure better note taking.• Also during the review and pre-test, the team needs to complete the data entry part of the process to both get into the habit and to figure out ways to improve the note taking for actual data collection.• For actual testing, sessions can be recorded but only to provide support to the note takers. The team should always take thorough notes.• For actual testing, the research team should work together at the end of each day to complete the transcript from the notes and recollections of quotes and stories. You cannot hire someone to do qualitative data entry for your project.Only the research team can compile a database, and the note taker is the key to this process. may have. To become more comfortable in PAR, we recommend reviewing each tool with your group, first discussing their purpose and priorities, followed by role-playing the actual activities. Role playing will allow your team to begin to understand how they use the tools, how they work together as a team, and what is confusing or challenging to them as facilitators and note takers.Note taking, especially, should be practiced in these mock sessions because it is just as critical, if not more so, as facilitation in the data collection process. Refer to the box on tips on preparing your note taker(s).This should also lead to pre-testing each activity in a community before starting the testing process. This community pre-test is critical for helping your team become familiar and comfortable with practicing the tools with community members and for deciding how the tools can best be used in your research context to obtain the information you desire. Additionally, your team will learn to work together to collect more data, by the facilitators, translators and note takers further practicing techniques for effective, ethical and thorough data collection.Additionally, if you will be using recorders, audio or video, you team needs to be oriented on how to use the equipment. We suggest using recorders but only if communities consent and only as a supporting source of data. The note taking and data entry in the reporting sheets should provide the majority of the content for your database.Gender & Climate Change. We highly suggest reviewing the basic concepts and learning activities found in this manual with your team before engaging in research. Coming into research with common terminologies and being well informed on the subject and concepts of your research, will enable your team to work cohesively and effectively.Prior to visiting the community or communities to carry out your research work, it is crucial that you conduct background research. The following lists of questions on (1) institutional settings (who are the actors) and ( 2) environmental, economic, and social trends will help you ensure that you identify socioeconomic and gender issues from the beginning of the field visit.Both of these lists of questions should be explored using available information on the area to the extent it exists, including:• Statistics and reports from government departments and ministries;• Program and project documents from agencies and NGOs;• Studies and surveys from universities and research institutions; and• Documentation from service organizations in the local area.Checklist 2 has suggested questions to investigate local trends:Checklist 2• What are the most important environmental trends (e.g. drought, deforestation, erosion or other meteorological trends)?• What are the most important trends in agricultural production and food security?• What are the most important economic trends, e.g. jobs, wages, prices, costs of living, crop yields and livestock population?• What are the most important demographic trends (e.g. birth rates, infant mortality, inmigration, out-migration, increases in female-headed or child-headed households and the role of HIV/AIDS)?• Which other trends are important (e.g. governance, social changes, in for instance the household or change in government policy)?• What are the linkages between the trends?• Are there linkages or causes stemming from intermediate or macro levels?• What is getting better? What is getting worse?• Which trends impact women and men, boys and girls differently? And how?• Which trends impact poor men and women more than richer men and women (e.g. health, access to resources etc.)?• Are there differences in gender roles by ethnicity, class etc.?As you explore these issues, you should keep in mind that the questions are a starting point. When entering the community, you may find that the people you speak with perceive different trends, or prioritize challenges differently to what you found during your background preparations. In addition, it is possible that the community uses different terms or ways to express what they perceive around them. You will need to bridge language, vocabulary and conceptual barriers. In addition, you will need to be careful not to lead the discussion toward trends you have read about, but use this information only to facilitate discussions among community members. (FAO 2012 p. 37-38)Before you enter a village and begin to collect information, you need to develop a plan for exactly how you will carry out your work. Planning ahead ensures that you ask the right questions, use the right tools and speak to the right people. If you don't plan ahead, these things will likely shift to being a matter of convenience, and you will introduce bias into your study.Deciding on where you will work, and who you will speak with is part of your 'sampling strategy'. This strategy should be based on your objectives and those of your organization. To begin, let's work through some simple questions:• What is the mission of your organization? ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________• Why are you carrying out this study? What will your organization do with the information? ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ This is the objective of the study. Now you are ready to identify where you will do the study:• If your organization works in a specific place, like a certain village or district, then you will do your study in that place.• If your organization is looking for a new place to work, you need to consider the mission of the organization and choose a place that corresponds well with that mission.» Is the mission to help farmers mitigate against climate change? Then, you should choose a place that has potential for carbon storage in crop fields and pasture, or by conserving forest.» Is the mission to help farmers adapt to climate change? Then you might choose a village where farmers have already begun to notice the impacts of a changing climate.» Is the mission to help farmers get access to and use information about climate and weather? Then you might consider places that have good access to radio and good support services.In order to facilitate your work, we suggest you select villages that fulfill the following criteria:• Where there is a lot of need for your organization's mission and the organization can have a lot of impact.• The village leaders must be willing and able to provide information related to what you would like to study, and the village should not be very small (less than 50 households).• A village is defined as:» A place where people act as a 'community' in the sense that there is a level of interaction and dependence among them;» A place where it is possible to define who is or is not part of the village;» A place where it is possible to communicate with inhabitants (e.g. through a chairman or a village meeting) (FAO 2012 p. 62).To choose the exact village or villages you will work in, you need to decide if you need to choose them randomly or if you can select them purposefully.Purposeful selection is good in the following circumstances:• When you have one or a few villages that you know you will be working in for the next few years, and you would like to co-develop knowledge with the residents that will provide everyone with a deep understanding of the problems and priorities, and a common understanding of the way forward.• When you know that there is something unique or special about a certain village that will provide you with information and points of view that you will not be able to access elsewhere.Random selection is good in the following circumstances:• When your organization will be working in a large area like a province or a watershed, and it is not possible to study all of the villages, then you can take a sample of villages to represent them all.• When you would like to do a statistical analysis of your findings, then you need to randomize the sample and select enough villages to survey that they will represent the diversity of all the villages.If you would like to select your villages randomly, use the following steps:1. Delineate your working area. This is the entire area that your organization would like to work in the future. You can use a map, and a red marker to draw a line around the area.2. If the area is uniform (a single district, a single watershed, etc.), you can use a single random sampling, which is a good way to involve community leaders so that they can see that there were no biases in the selection:a. Identify all of the villages in the area.b. Write each on a separate slip of paper, fold them, and put them in a hat or basket.c. Draw out one piece of paper at a time and write the name down until you have the number of villages you need to sample.3. For a single random sampling, you can also use Excel to limit possible biases in participant selection:a. Enter the list of villages into an Excel spreadsheet as follows:b. Decide on the number of villages you need to include in your study. For example, in the list of 11 villages from Burkina Faso above, you may need to include four of the villages.c. In Cell C1 enter the header \"Random Function\".d. In Cell C2 enter the formula =rand(), like this:e. When you press <enter>, a random number between 0 and 1 will appear as shown here:A number of websites provide sample size calculators based on these formulae, for example Creative Research Systems at: http://www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm (Creative Research Systems 2012). Note that when using these formulae to determine how many villages you need to include in your study, the number you enter for pop (population) is the total number of villages, not the total number of people.You will notice that if you have a small number of villages, your ideal sample size as a proportion of the total will be quite large. For example, with 70 villages, a confidence interval of +4 and a confidence level of 95%, you should include 63 villages in your study. That may be unrealistic for you. Just remember that the fewer villages in your study, the lower the confidence level in terms of your results being truly representative of your entire area. For example, you may decide that you will include 10% of the villages in the area in your study. That seems like a large proportion of the villages. If you have 70 villages, that would mean surveying seven of them. But your confidence level drops from 95% to 35%. The objective of randomly choosing the villages is:• To prevent biases like road bias to enter into your selection -so even if you choose a small number of villages at least you have been unbiased in your chose.• To evaluate the statistical significance of the results you obtain -if it is important that your results are statistically representative of a larger population, then you should endeavor to survey the recommended number of villages from your sample size calculation.Now you need to decide which people from the village (informants) you will speak with, at least in the beginning. Again, let's begin by answering some simple questions:• Are there specific categories of people that your organization focuses on (for example women)?• Are there types of people that are most implicated in your organization's mission? For example, if your organization seeks to help small farmers adapt to climate change, you may want to focus on the farmers in a village, not non-farmers like brick makers.• Has your background research identified categories of people that may be marginalized in the village (such as single mothers, minority ethnicities, very poor families, landless, etc.)?• Are there people in the village that can serve as key informants, because they have special knowledge about an important topic?Note down your answers. Make a note to yourself about important categories of people that you must make sure are participating in every focus group discussion that you facilitate.You will need to gather informants to form a focus group for every tool that you use from this guide. Thus, for each tool you need a sampling strategy. Everyone that uses this guide will usually start with the Co-production of Knowledge Section, the Village Map.1. Read the objective of the tool, and the suggested participants. Compare them to your notes on the objective of the study and important categories of people for the study.2. Decide on the number of focus groups that you will need for the tool, and the number and types of participants in each of the focus groups.If you are using purposeful selection, discuss the types of people you would like to have for each focus group with the appropriate community leaders and arrange for the leaders to invite the desired number of participants. Refer to the entering communities section for suggestions on working with leadership and invitations. You may find in some communities it is appropriate for a village chief to send a messenger to a household to tell a person that they are invited to a focus group. In other communities it will be necessary to send an invitation letter to each person. In some cases, it is more appropriate to hold an orientation meeting for all members of the village, and ask for volunteers for certain focus groups. If you use this method, remember to pay attention to who is volunteering. If important categories of people are being left out, it may be necessary for you or community leaders to seek them out individually and invite them. Whatever method you use, don't be surprised when additional people show up and passerbys join in. When this happens, be sure that the focus group has an inclusive atmosphere, and that they feel welcome to participate.If you are using random selection for focus group participants, you are going to use a similar method to what you did to select the villages.1. Develop two lists -one containing the names of all the men in the village, and one containing the names of all the women in the village. You may want to include important information, like age group and occupation.2. If you are using the hat method, put the men's names in one hat and the women's in another.a. For your first men's focus group, draw out names and set them aside until you have the number of men you need in the group. Then put all the names back in the hat for the next drawing.b. Do the same for your first women's focus group.c. If it is a mixed sex group, divide the number of participants evenly between men and women and draw an equal number from each hat.d. For every focus group interview you conduct, follow the same procedure.e. Sometimes you will find that you want a specific category of women or men, for example male farmers or young women. In this case empty the hat and find all of the women or men that fit that category, putting their names back in the hat to draw from.3. If you are using Excel make one spreadsheet for men and one for women and follow the steps for 3a through 3m from the village random selection instructions above.e. Each time you make a new selection for a new focus group, start with the name just below the last person you chose and work your way down the list.f. If you would like to have specific types of men or women, like female farmers or older men, first stratify the list based on that characteristic. Cut and paste those names into a new list, then follow the instructions for randomization and choosing your informants.(Adapted from FAO-CCAFS 2012)• Communicate Your Research Goals-You must share not only the purpose of your research but how your data will be used in the future. Who will it be shared with, what impact might the research have?• Ensure Anonymity -You must be explicit about confidentiality and build the confidence of participants that their words will not be misconstrued or used for any purpose outside of those you have listed. Individuals will not be identified or singled out without express permission.• Follow Up -It is highly recommended that researchers follow up with the communities they work with by presenting summaries or preliminary findings to the community at the end of the research period, or returning once the research has been completed and circulating any outputs, publications, or future plans for interventions.• Compensation-You will need to carefully consider what forms of compensation you will be providing participants. In some contexts, no compensation can help reinforce a self-help and rights based approach. In other contexts, communities will expect monetary compensation because of local norms and relations with other development and research organizations. It is important to understand that providing compensation will set the tone and precedent for future work in the community, not only for your team but all other organizations who will be working with the community. It may also cause tension when passersby try to join the session.In some cases, coordinating with community gatekeepers and village leaders on providing lunch to focus groups as a form of compensation can be arranged ahead of time. This can be a cost effective and transparent incentive for participation.If doing longer semi-structured interviews with individuals or households, it may be more appropriate to compensate individuals with small items such as staple crops, sugar, tea etc.If monetary compensation is demanded, as a research team you must be very aware of building expectations or setting unrealistic ones when dealing with money. Researching how much a farm worker would get paid in the village for 1 days work can be a good reference for compensation if necessary.It is very important to establish transparency and good communication with the leadership and members of the community you will be working with. You must make sure to confer with village authorities and gain consent from your participants before proceeding with any activities.As a research team, you must be aware of the social and political dynamics of the community in which you work. There will be \"gatekeepers\" in the village who are strategically important as allies as you embark in your research. These 'gatekeepers' may also represent a particular strata of the village elite that can either enable or hinder your work. This is why it is of utmost importance to be sensitive to the hierarchies that operate within the leadership. Community leaders can lend legitimacy to your work, help you mobilizing participants, and give valuable insight to the research topic.You should strive to involve gatekeepers in different aspects of the research process without letting them dictate or influence the participants. Be sure to discuss with them that you are interested in understanding the perspectives of many different types of people, and that they should help encourage community members to speak up.To keep village gatekeepers engaged in the process, you may want to periodically ask them to evaluate how the research activities are going. If they have feedback or suggestions for improving participation, this may help better define their roles as enabling influences for your work.There are several ways to enter a community. You will have to keep in mind the most culturally appropriate places and forms of communication, how to target women, youth and other specific groups, and who to recruit from the community to help gain you legitimacy and introduce your research project.• Invitation letters -If choosing to write formal letters to individual participants and village leaders, you may need to keep in mind that households may only be listed under the husband's name.Inviting women to focus groups via letters may require physically visiting households or going through the village leaders who can then distribute them to women on your behalf.Remember to specify exactly whether you are inviting a man, woman, girls or boys (indicating age), for the research activity.You may need to be accompanied by a local official or leader while delivering these letters depending on the context. (FAO 2012 p. 65)• Informal oral invitations -Holding a public event with the cooperation of local leaders and gatekeepers may be a good platform for introducing your research. Remember that not all communities have the same literacy rate and that letters are not universally appropriate.If you intend to involve youth, find out when school hours end or choose different venues to target your audience.You must be able to manage expectations when introducing your research project. Be aware that the very word \"project\" may imply the promise of development activity. Here are some guidelines for introducing your work to the village:• Explain who you are and what your organization does• Explain the theme and purpose of your research -where will the data go?• Be transparent about timing and the schedule of your work• Make realistic promises by reinforcing that as researchers, your main purpose is to reflect community voices (not provide services or introduce development interventions)• Ask for input or open up to questionsIt is important to wrap up your research activities with purpose and clarity. As gender and PAR researchers, we suggest sharing your findings with the community in a public event, even if it is providing a snapshot of findings.After the presentation, be open to questions. Support any discussions on participant experiences and try to encourage a sense of closure.If you have concrete plans on returning to the community, share them at the meeting.You should keep an audit trail of all of your activities. It should include information ranging from discussions on training sessions, the applicability of the tools in respective contexts, the quality control process, the challenges or research barriers faced, the interesting data you find and from which tools and actions, as well as the steps taken when analyzing the data and producing written outputs. The audit trail can be accounted for through the reporting sheets and through daily debriefing with the research team.By completing the reporting sheets every day after your sessions, all of the notes from the note takers will be recorded. When possible, direct quotes and stories need to be transcribed. Any interferences or instances of potential bias additionally should be recorded. The outputs of the group work (maps, diagrams, etcetera.) should be photographed or copied into the reporting sheets to keep a complete record of the activities. The reporting sheets and all other outputs from your research can be shared on the online interactive platform for practitioners and researchers around the world.(Adapted from FAO-CCAFS 2012)The Co-Production of Knowledge module seeks to create a more equal platform for creating information and a shared vision of adaptation and resilience. The following tools are meant to create more transparency and trust between the research team and community, supporting a research space that encourages community members and particular marginalized groups to define their priorities.The information in this module can also collect a broad range of data that may add to your \"baseline\" information for your study or project.This module includes a group of tools that when implemented sequentially provides us with the necessary background information for designing an agriculture program that can integrate gender, with special consideration for vulnerable groups.A baseline understanding of the village layout, identifying resources on which people depend for their livelihoods as well as resource gaps and conflicts over resources, according to both men and women.Village Map (Cont.) and The Goal Tree Two sessions -Men and Women Community priorities and visions for the future.One mixed session Social-differentiation along economic lines to identify vulnerable groups and their characteristics.Two sessions -Men and Women Men and women's definitions of \"empowerment\" and how empowered, based upon the local definitions, do they consider women now and in the past.This module can be used independently to prepare for a climate-resilient agriculture programme, or in conjunction with any other module to prepare for a programme with multiple climate change and gender objectives. If used in conjunction with other modules, the research team should take care to plan the sequential roll-out of tools so as to avoid repetition. For example, a baseline village map developed in Module 1 can be added to Module 2 to identify livelihood resources and matched with Module 3 to identify areas of with mitigation potential. The tools in this module are designed to sequentially build on each other. However, if you already have the information generated by one or more of the tools, you can easily drop them and concentrate your time and resources on the other tools.Participants: Separate groups of men and women (6-14) are highly recommended for capturing gender-specific information.The village map is not concerned with cartographic precision, but with getting useful information about local perceptions of resources by men and women. Practitioners should determine the contents of the map by focusing on what is important to them. Perception of what is important and the use of resources will most likely vary between genders and vulnerable groups so make sure to choose and disaggregate your focus group participants well.What resources are you most interested in learning about?_______________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Are there particular ways in which you should disaggregate the groups to get information relevant to your interests?________________________________________________________________________Step 1 -Introduce yourself and the team and then the activity.Step 2 -Ask the participants to introduce themselves, and note the name and any special information for each individual (such as youth, elderly, disabled)Step 3 -Ask someone to suggest a centrally located landmark in the village. Try placing a rock in the centre of the circle and ask participants to mark other important things in the village with chalk or other objects available until they have drawn the entire village.Participants should not be interrupted unless they stop drawing/marking, after which follow-up questions can be asked.Step 4 -After the village according to the group has been drawn, ask follow up questions regarding important features that may relate to your project. Some suggested features are in checklist 1:Maps should be drawn using symbols, pictures and diagrams so that non-literate people can participate.On many occasions, how a focus group chooses to draw a map can reflect the complex social and political groupings in a community. As a facilitator, note how borders are drawn and whether certain ethnic groups, classes or marginalized identities are omitted from the map. You may choose to prompt your group on this, or choose to interpret their omission as valuable data in itself.Checklist Step 5 -Ask participants to describe the map and discuss the features represented. Ask questions about anything that is unclear. You may find that this generates further discussion and changes to the map.Step 6 -Once a basic map has been produced, ask a participant to transfer it to paper. Make sure to write each resource's name, local and official.Step 7 -When the group has finished the map, start a discussion to deepen your understanding about the resources depicted. Some suggested questions are in Checklist 2: Step 8-The village map is also an opportunity to probe specific resources and the gender specific labor roles associated with them. You can refer to Checklist 3 for examples of specific resources that are often gender specific along with probing questions on their gendered access, use and control.Step 5Step 6Checklist 4Why does this happen?Who is most involved?What are some solutions?Ranking based on:Neighboring village does not help water committee• Drunk men attack women near boreholeMobility Map. This variation can be used to understand mobility and access to resources based on social group or gender. You can probe participants on how far, how often and why they travel within or outside the village. You can also probe on the enabling or constraining factors such as permissions needed, expenses, safety and other factors affecting movement all using the basic village map as foundation.This tool can be used to map resources as they were in the past (ex. 30 years ago) and at present. This can be used to facilitate discussion on changes in resources.3. Future Map. You may want to ask participants to indicate things they would like to see in their village that are not currently on the map -in other words to draw a picture of what they would like the future to look like. This allows for some preliminary planning ideas and encourages people to begin contributing their thoughts at an early stage in the participatory process.4. Social-disaggregation. In addition to separate focus groups of men and women, from the results of the Wealth Ranking you may want to add focus groups based on age classifications, wealth status and other vulnerable groups. You may even choose to include a group based on leadership status. Participants: 6-14 separate groups of men and women are highly recommended for capturing genderspecific information.Time: 1-2hrs• Make sure to have your completed village map.• Cut 10-20 circles out of colored paper to be your \"fruits\" for the tree. You want them to be big enough for everyone to be able to be able to read them from where they are seated.• Have your village map in the center of the circle before you begin.• Arrange participants in a circle.• Clear the ground so that a large area can be seen and used by all.Step 1 -Introduce yourself and the team and then the activity.Step 2 -Ask the participants to introduce themselves and note the name and any special information for each individual (youth, elderly, disabled etcetera)Step 3 -Warm up the focus group by asking everyone to think about the future and what is important to them as members of this community. Roughly ask:\"With a lot of effort and hard work, what could your village be like five years from now?\"Step 4 -Refocus the participants on the village map and present the group with 10-20 circle cutouts. This time, you want the group to write down or draw what they have imagined for their future community, placing the improvements on top of the map as they discuss. Invite people to think of physical changes and improvements, but also social, political and personal changes such as-better relationships between men and women, stronger ties to government services etc. These activities are intended to help create a picture of the future the participants see for their community, not the picture someone from outside envisions.As a facilitator, try to emphasize that this activity is about imagining a future that the community can build themselves.Step 5 -Gather all the circles with future goals written or drawn on them, and present it back to the entire group, going through each one if it is unclear. Goals may change shape or become more developed during this discussion.Step 6 -Taking away the village map, now present the group with a large drawing of a tree (we recommend drawing it directly into the ground or using chalk if you are indoors). Ask people to imagine this tree having many fruits that the community wants to eat. Each goal or circle is a \"fruit\".There can be \"low-hanging fruit\" at the bottom of the tree that people in the community can easily eat or achieve. There can also be fruit higher up the tree that people in the community have to work harder to reach. Ask the focus group to arrange the fruits based on how easily they can achieve these goals using their own hard work.Step 7 -As a facilitator, you may choose to focus on specific fruits that relate to your project, or have a general discussion about why the community has arranged the tree as they did. Probe the focus group on which goals are most achievable and why, which ones are most important and why, or even going further and probing the group on steps needed to achieve these goals.Step 8 -Since these goals are intended to be conducted in separate men's and women's groups, you can choose to share the men's tree with the women's group and vice versa. This way men and women can see each other's priorities easily, highlighting opportunities to work together as well competing interests that might hinder cooperation.Go back through each goal at the different levels and ask, \"What is the first step that needs to be taken to make this goal happen?\" Follow-up with questions about relationships, tools and/or skills that are needed, considering how each may be found locally. This approach adds more dimensions to the strategy piece of this activity by laying out what steps the community can start taking and how. Participants: Separate groups of men and women (6-14) are highly recommended for capturing gender-specific information.• Reflect on what important agricultural, socio-economic or gendered information you are interested in for your program goals. Before starting this activity, read through Checklist 2 and select all of the topics that would be helpful for your organization to know about the community, adding your own criteria as you need.• Arrange participants in a circle.• Clear the ground so that a large area can be seen and used by all.• It is important to take your time in explaining the objective of wealth ranking so as not to create conflict. This exercise can help your organization hear from participants on what local definitions of poverty and wealth are rather than imposing outside perceptions. This is also an opportunity to ensure that the most marginalized are included, and to understand better the wealth trends within the community as a whole. Step 1 -Introduce yourself and the team and then the activity.Step 2 -Ask the participants to introduce themselves, and note the name and any special information for each individual (youth, elderly, disabled, etc.)Step 3 -Start with general questions about the village from Checklist 1.Checklist 1• What is a typical household in this community? Who is in it? (Make sure to define what a household is and get clarifications on polygamous, joint families and the diversity of living arrangements.)• How many households are there in this village?• Is the village population changing in general? Why or why not?• What is a \"female headed\" household?• How many of those households are female headed? Child headed?• Is the number of female headed households changing? Why or why not?• Is the number of child headed households changing? Why or why not?Step 4 -Draw a line in the center of the page where one end represents the poorest group while the other end represents the least poor. Draw three circles along the line to represent three basic wealth groups.-+ Note: You should emphasize that wealth is relative to the village, not the country.Assure the informants of confidentiality and do not discuss the ranks of individual families but rather a representative average.Step 5 -Take out 100 counters and explain that these represent the total number of households in the community. Ask participants to discuss on their own and sort the beans into the three different categories based on wealth.Let the participants take time to discuss and move around the beans. Let them complete this without intervening.Step 6 -Once the participants have finished, ask them what they have named the categories. You will find that the community may already have terms to define these groups. Then begin by probing them on what a typical household in the middle category looks like. Allow the participants to use their own criteria to describe the groups, before moving on to the other circles.Step 7 -Once you have understood important markers or characteristics based on community standards of wealth, challenge the participants to think about whether there are any in between wealth categories. Are there a few people in the village who do not fit into these three main categories? If so, add a 3 rd or 4 th circle and define a typical household in these categories.Step 8 -Now that you have created a basic idea of the differences between each wealth category, review each category again, using Checklist 2 to ask specific questions pertinent to your programme goals to create a fuller picture.It is important to be aware of culturally appropriate indicators of wealth before entering the community. For example, asking for the number of livestock in pastoral communities may be highly inappropriate in certain communities.Having communities describe typical households based on their own criteria may be a good starting point for this activity, rather than entering with pre-set questions.Step 9 -Return to your circles and explain to the group that you are interested in understanding how people can move up or down these wealth groups. You can begin by asking some of the following questions:• Based on these groups, which groups are increasing in size? Why?• Which groups are decreasing and why? Why?• Which group is the hardest to get out of? Why?Alternately, you can go through each individual category and ask participants how families move up or down, probing on the different values, assets and factors enabling this mobility.Step 10 -Finally, probe the group on general trends in the community. Ask your group to identify the category with the largest number of:• Female headed households• Girl child headed households / Boy child headed households• Elderly heads or disabled/sicknessAs you identify these trends, be sure to ask the group why one particular category has a concentration of these types of households.• Is the number of female headed households in this category increasing or decreasing?• What factors are making it worse/better? Why? (Repeat for child headed, and other categories).1. Change over time. Add an additional sorting activity after these basic steps, asking the community to think back 10 years. How was the distribution of beans (households) across categories then? Why has it changed or not changed. This additional step can add very rich information and community analysis to the activity.2. Large groups. If the village has been chosen as the site of a project, Participatory Wealth Ranking is a good tool to do in as large a group as possible. This will improve projecttransparency as most villagers will define and help identify potential project beneficiaries through this activity.3. Identifying real households. This activity can also be done using the real households in the village. Instead of using beans or counters, the facilitators can prepare a list of households (adding or eliminating households after cross-checking with the community) and pile sorting the cards based on wealth categories. This version of the activity may generate very rich discussion and reflection on mobility and economic dynamism in the community. It is best to do the activity with the largest number of participants possible to ensure an inclusive product. The facilitators will have to take extra care to mediate conflicts that may arise when using real household names on cards. Participants: Separate groups of men and women [8-10] of mixed socio-economic status and ages.Time: 1 -1 ½ hours• Arrange participants in a circle and clear the ground in the middle.• Consider this question:Are there aspects of \"empowerment,\" for example agency, structure, relations, about which you are most interested in learning?___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ How do you think women's empowerment affects your programme or project goals?Step 1 -Using your own questions or those suggested in Checklist 1, prompt the group to describe empowerment. As people discuss dimensions of empowerment, write them down in your notebook to use as criteria for the next step.Checklist 1• Have you ever heard of the term women empowerment?• How do you define it?• What is an empowered woman? In the house? In the community?• What is a woman who is not empowered? In the house? In the community?• Can an empowered woman and an empowered man live in the same house? Why or why not?Step 2 -Construct a scale of 1 -5 on the floor or on paper. The definition of empowerment is much more complex than what is represented in this scale. The purpose of this step is to assess changes in perception about empowerment and why.Step 3 -Take 100 counters and explain to the group that they represent all of the women in the community. Ask a volunteer to distribute the counters along the scale to reflect how they think the women in the village are today with 1 being least empowered, 5 being most empowered.Step 4 -Ask volunteers to redistribute the counters but this time based on how they think women in the village were 10 years ago.Step 5 -Prompt a discussion about the outcomes. If there is a difference between today and ten years ago, ask the group to explain what has changed. Use your own questions or some of those suggested in Checklist 2.Notetaker: When possible, record the thoughts and stories that are shared and not just the \"dimensions of empowerment.\" This instruction is meant to assist the facilitator for the exercise.Climate resilient agriculture includes a broad set of practices that sustainably increase productivity and resilience, reduce and/or remove greenhouse gas emissions where possible and enhances the achievement of food security and development goals.This module includes a group of tools that when implemented sequentially provides us with the necessary background information for designing an agriculture programme that can integrate gender, with special consideration for vulnerable groups.Village resources and use mapA baseline understanding of the village layout, identifying resources on which people depend for their livelihoods as well as resource gaps and conflicts over resources.One mixed session Social-differentiation along economic lines to identify vulnerable groups.Livelihood systems matrix Two sessions -men and womenList of the most important on-farm and off-farm activities and their relative importance to men and women's income, consumption, food security, and household stability.Two sessions -men and women Annual drivers of agricultural practices, including agricultural labour roles for men and women, climate conditions, food security and resource availability.Two sessions -men and womenThe different types of activities carried out by men and women in a typical day to understand current and past household and agricultural labour roles and responsibilities.This module can be used independently to prepare for a climate-resilient agriculture programme, or in conjunction with any other module to prepare for a programme with multiple climate change and gender objectives. If used in conjunction with other modules, the research team should take care to plan the sequential roll-out of tools so as to avoid repetition. For example, a baseline village map developed in Module 1 can be added to Module 2 to identify livelihood resources and matched with Module 3 to identify areas of with mitigation potential. The tools in this module are designed to sequentially build on each other. However, if you already have the information generated by one or more of the tools, you can easily drop them and concentrate your time and resources on the other tools. This tool can be adapted to provide baseline information about the differences between communitydefined socio-economic groups in the community. The activity in its entirety can be found in the Co-Production of Knowledge module.Participants: Separate groups of men and women [8-10] of mixed socio-economic status and ages.• Note takers should prepare their notes using these columns. • Arrange participants in a circle.• Clear the ground so that a large area can be seen and used by all.Step 1 -Introduce yourself (or team) and then the activity.Step 2 -Ask the participants to introduce themselves and note the name and any special information for each individual (youth, elderly, disabled etcetera)Step 3 -Break the focus group into two. Ask group one to make a list of the most important on-farm income sources for women [or men, if working with men]. Ask group two to make a list of most important off-farm income sources.Have a volunteer from the group or your co-facilitator write or draw on cards what the group comes up with as they discuss.Step 4 -Have the group re-convene and ask a volunteer to help rank which on-farm activities generate the most income for women [or men] by arranging the cards according to most important to least.Step 5 -Ask another volunteer to assist with ranking the off-farm activities.Women On-Farm 1. Proportional piling. When doing ranking exercises, it is often difficult for a group to remember a long list of items to rank. To solve this you can draw a circle on the ground for each item, and label it by writing the name or drawing a picture. Then give the group a pile of 100 beans and ask them to divide the pile to show the relative importance of the items in terms of contributing to a household's food security. After discussing and counting, gather up the beans and repeat the exercise first for household income, and then women's income. • Are there particular crops, livestock, or fishery practices that your project is focusing on? If so, you may want to replace \"most important food crop\" and \"most important crop bringing income\" with your desired agricultural product.• As a note taker, make sure to arrange your notes using the following headings:Steps • Arrange participants in a circle.• Clear the ground so that a large area can be seen and used by all.Step 1 -Introduce yourself (the team) and then the activity.Step 2 -Ask the participants to introduce themselves and note the name and any special information for each individual (youth, elderly, disabled etcetera)Step 3 -Explain to the group that you want to know more about women's [or men's] roles on and off the farm in a typical year. To begin the conversation, ask participants to name the main food crop they grow and consume in the household.Step 4 -Then, ask the participants to describe all of the steps needed to produce this crop -from purchasing seeds to storing after harvest. Make sure to note any special equipment, inputs or management techniques mentioned. Note them down as a flow chart: Step 5 -Referring to the steps mentioned, go through each one probing participants on who in the household is responsible for the work. Their labour roles may be shared or done collectively so be sure to probe on whether the labour is mostly the man or the woman's responsibility. This may also be a good time to ask about land ownership and access. Who owns the land on which this crop is farmed? If it is not the participants, how do they gain access to the land?Repeat this listing for any particular crops in which you are interested.Step 6 -Now that you have your agricultural labour roles listed by crop, shift the conversation to the calendar. Explain to your focus group that you want to discuss broadly how a typical year looks in the village by season.Once you present the calendar to the group, it is usually easiest to start by asking about rainfall patterns and seasons. Ask participants to define which months represent a typical rainy season(s) -colour-in and labelling each month as they decide. Repeat this for other climactic or seasonal events. Refer to the checklist for suggestions.Step 7 -Now refer back to your list of agricultural roles and responsibilities and add each step into the calendar.Step 8 -You may also want to probe for how these various changes in labour roles or in any of the suggested topics in Checklist 1 in the last 5 or 10 years. • Prepare two clocks, one for the day (6:00 AM to 6:0 PM) and one for the night (6:00 PM to 6:00 AM), either on poster paper or on the in the middle of the circle, as shown below. • Review the seasonal calendar to recall the month or time of year in which the workload is heaviest for the men or women.• Consider these questions:Is there a time of year in which you are most interested?_________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Are there certain household or agricultural labor roles about which you want to be sure to ask?___________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Are you interested in recording men and women's perceptions of each other's roles as well? If so, consider making time for the variations provided.Step 1 -Introduce yourself and the team and then the activity.Step 2 -Ask the participants to introduce themselves, and note the name and any special information for each individual (youth, elderly, disabled, for example)Step 3 -Begin by asking the participants to identify the month or period in which their workload is the highest. Explain that you want to learn what participants do in a typical day during that period.Step 4 -Ask the group what time they wake up and the first thing they do.Let them discuss and come up with an 'average'. Draw a line from the central dot to the hour mentioned for the start of that activity, and a second line from the central dot to the hour mentioned for the end of that activity. Write or draw the activity into the pie space created.Step 5 -Ask volunteers from the group to take over the drawing and writing, and continue showing their activities during all 24 hours of the day.Facilitator: Asking about the roles of the other gender, as well as if/how their roles are changing, may be effective for encouraging more discussion.Note taker: It is more important to capture the discussion that happens throughout this exercise, than it is to capture the details from the clock about exact times of activities.Most of the data will not be shown in the visual of the clocks.You may want to divide the focus groups into smaller clusters for this activity. Step 1 -Introduce yourself and the team and then the activity.Step 2 -Ask the participants to introduce themselves, and note the name and any special information for each individual (for example youth, elderly, disabled)Step 3 -Warm up the participants by asking them about disasters and environmental events over the timescale. These events are easier to recall and their details are often agreed upon by most people (for example drought, famine, flood, hurricane).The facilitator or co-facilitator should note these events on the timeline with description, detail, and year and month if possible.Step 4 -Use your knowledge of the baseline or background data to prompt the group to talk about the major changes to the other agricultural practices in which you are interested. Note the year and the change on the timeline.Ongoing -Use your own probing questions that arise during the session or refer to the topics and questions in Checklist 1 for more suggestions.Facilitator: You can also take 2 to 3 minutes to remind people of political parties in power, major global events to help them remember.Note taker: The \"Who Introduced It\" category in your notes can also include information on innovators or early adopters of farm practices. It is very important to note gender or other specific characteristics of people involved.TIP: To capture more information on the \"flatness\" or directionality of relationships between organizations and communities, arrows can be drawn between circles indicating the flow of information.Step 6 -Repeat for the \"Groups\" and \"Individual\" categories as applies.Step 7 -Explain to the group that through discussion you will transfer all of the organizations, groups and individuals on to circles. The participants should decide which list item deserves a small, medium, or large circle to represent its relative importance to your area of focus (e.g. improved agriculture).Step 8 -Ask the participants if the organizations work together or have overlapping memberships. The circles should be placed as follows:= no contact = information passes between organizations = some co-operation in decision-making, planning and/or implementation = a lot of co-operation in decision-making, planning and/or implementationStep 9 -Deepen the discussion with probing questions. Some suggested questions can be found in Checklist 2.Note taker: No need to be as concerned with recording the details of the diagram. Focus on recording the discussions that are had and the stories that are told. The diagram should always be captured with a picture to reduce the burden on the note taker.Elements can be added to Venn Diagrams to represent more information than simply the importance of an organization and the degree of its relationship with other organizations. For example:1. Lines can be added to create a network diagram that shows formal relationships for instance organizations that meet once a month to discuss and plan for food security in the village. Different types of lines (dotted, dashed, solid) or different colors can be used for different networks.2. Arrows can be added to show the direction of information flow about your area of focus within the network. The usefulness of information can be indicated by the strength of the arrow (indicated by its thickness), or the frequency of communication.3. Different colored circles can be used to indicate perceptions regarding groups of organizations. For example, green can be used to indicate organizations that the participants perceive to be friendly and easy to work with, while red is used for those that use too much scientific language or that do not seem to respect farmers.4. Try doing this exercise with key informants from the organizations themselves so that you gain an idea of how the perceptions of research/development workers correspond to the perceptions of community members. • Review any other organizational or institutional profiles that have already been completed in the target region, such as the CCAFS Organizational Baseline Survey.• Make a list of organizations below about which you would like to learn, including community based organizations (CBOs), farmer groups, local women's groups, farmer associations, local NGOs, international organizations, civil society groups, local government, extension services, etc.• Contact the organizations and make appointments for interviews.Step 1 -Welcome the project staff member and introduce the research team and the objective of the exercise.Your introduction can look like this:\"Thank you for participating in this interview. We are interested in learning more about the kinds of new agricultural practices that have been taken up by men and women, and how and why these changes have come about. We would like to hear about your project or the activity in which you are involved, by asking some questions that focus on the approaches, strategies and institutional arrangements you employ to share the benefits of your interventions.\"Climate information is the relevant information for adaptation to climate change, long-term planning and early warning systems. This module hopes to identify and understand available and potential sources of weather and climate-related information in a community, how this information is disseminated, and how beliefs, access and use have changed over time. There are also tools to help evaluate national weather and seasonal forecasts in terms of understanding and use.This module includes a group of tools that when implemented sequentially provides us with the necessary background information for designing an agriculture programme that can integrate gender, with special consideration for vulnerable groups.Two sessions -men and women Assess different sources (both individuals and organizations) of weather and climate-related information and their credibility, legitimacy and salience.Two sessions -men and women Creating profiles of access and control over information channels.This questionnaire assesses levels of understanding and use of existing weather and seasonal forecasts.Understanding institutional strategies and approaches for inclusion and engagement of marginalized groups.This module can be used independently to prepare for a climate-resilient agriculture programme, or in conjunction with any other module to prepare for a programme with multiple climate change and gender objectives. If used in conjunction with other modules, the research team should take care to plan the sequential roll-out of tools so as to avoid repetition. For example, a baseline village map developed in Module 1 can be added to Module 2 to identify livelihood resources and matched with Module 3 to identify areas of with mitigation potential. The tools in this module are designed to sequentially build on each other. However, if you already have the information generated by one or more of the tools, you can easily drop them and concentrate your time and resources on the other tools.Participants: Separate groups of men and women [8-10] of mixed socio-economic status and ages.• Review the concepts of weather, climate and probability.As a facilitator being very clear about the difference between weather and climate is important before discussing forecasting with your focus group. It may also be the case that you ask the focus group to define weather first! Many languages do not have a word for \"weather\" but refer to rains or wet and dry seasons. Weather in general refers to short term conditions such as rainfall, temperature, humidity, wind, floods, hail etcetera. A weather prediction therefore is about rainfall, temperature, humidity, moisture in the next 1 -10 days. Climate generally refers to the average patterns in weather that exists in a region over time.Forecasts issued by the National Weather Service often use a \"PoP\" (probability of precipitation) statement, which is often expressed as the \"chance of rain\". If there is 40% chance of rain predicted in x Province, it means that the forecasters are 40% 'confident' that it will rain. That also means that forecasters are 60% 'confident' that it will not rain.• Be sensitive to local belief systems.Anticipate this activity to bring forth traditional knowledge and practices of anticipating weather.There may include natural signs, myths and beliefs, or stories that have been passed down which may shape local understandings of weather and climate. Interviewers may encounter a lack of response around traditional sources initially for a number of reasons. For example:• The information is exclusive to certain groups/ages• The information is considered sacred/secretive • The information is considered \"backward\"• The information is in conflict with a particular identity Changing attitudes around the validity, value or use of these beliefs should be noted and probed further if appropriate.• Reflect on the specific climate and weather information sources that your project is interested in. What are these? _________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________• If you have identified specific information sources for your project, you may choose to use them in the ranking exercise purposefully to assess perceptions of their \"Credibility\" and \"Salience\" (Step 6-8)• Arrange participants in a circle.• Clear the ground so that a large area can be seen and used by all.Step 1 -Introduce yourself and the team and then the activity.Step 2 -Ask the participants to introduce themselves and note the name and any special information for each individual (youth, elderly, disabled etcetera)Step 3 -What is probability? We recommend warming up the focus group by discussing local concepts of \"probability\". You may find that the local concept challenges scientific forecasting. This opening discussion may prompt rich information on trust, myth, religion and science as well as shifting cultural beliefs due to increased variability of weather from climate change.Checklist 1Is there a local word or concept for probability? (*We suggest using the English term first so as not to pre-define the concept.)Can anyone explain what probability is? (not just in terms of weather)Can anyone think of a time where they made a decision based on high or low probability of something happening?Has anyone made such decisions based on probabilities related to the weather?Step 4 -Now that you have defined probability, begin a discussion on weather information and climate information. Make a list of the different sources of weather information (short-term weather) community members use then probe each source using some of the questions from Checklist 2.Note takers must be very aware of climate versus weather information. Focus group participants may often mix the two types of information together, but be aware to note the differences in your reporting sheets as well as in your notebook. • What sort of information will your project aim to communicate? _____________________________• Who (men, women, youth, most marginalized, landless?) will your project seek to focus on? ______________________________________________________________________________________ • Based on your project's audience and needs, you and your team should prepare 1 or 2 specific scenarios to map with the community.Information type: Long-term seasonal information Scenario statement: \"The national metreological service predicts a very long dry period this season.\"Information type: Information targeting women of child-bearing age.Scenario statement: \"The health clinic will hold a workshop on nutrition, child and maternal health.\"Information type: Specialized, time sensitive information Scenario statement: \"Oh no! A new disease is affecting livestock. Farmers will need to vaccinate livestock.\"Information type: Agricultural extension information Scenario statement: \"There is a new short maturing variety of seed available for farmers.\"Make your own ____________________________________________ Make your own ____________________________________________• Arrange participants in a circle.• Clear the ground so that a large area can be seen and used by all.Step 1 -Introduce yourself (or team) and then the activity.Step 2 -Ask the participants to introduce themselves and note the name and any special information for each individual (for example youth, elderly, disabled)Step 3 -Explain that you will be playing a game to understand how news travels through the village.Begin by reading out your scenario statement, and then, consider prompting a discussion by first asking, \"How does this information enter a community?\" Then, \"From that starting point, how does the information flow between different people?\" and so on.Step 4 -As you are discussing each scenario, draw a map of all the actors, technologies, places and meetings involved.Note takers:There will be a plethora of information gathered during this game outside the parameters of the questions posed. Note down information such as perception, use and access to information specific to different social groups in additional columns as needed.Facilitator Notes: Go through one scenario at a time, starting with one \"starting point\" at a time. If \"radio\" is one starting point, map radios before moving on to \"NGO meeting\" or \"newspaper\".Also, It is very important to understand WHO -men, women, children, wealthy men or poor women, gets information and when. Make sure to show how different actors overlap. If women are contacted first, and then re-occur as information sharers or recipients later, make sure to loop your lines back to women every time they come up.TIP: It is important to capture the information being discussed as a picture of a network. We often think of information flow as being linear, either from a source at the 'top' to recipients at the 'bottom', or up and down in the form of a feedback loop.But in a community, information most often travels through a network of places and people as nodes in that network. By visualizing that network, facilitators and participants can see how rich and complex it is, and who helps spread information and why. Time: 1-2hrsStep 1 -Introduce yourself and the team and then the activity.Step 2 -Ask the participants to introduce themselves and note the name and any special information for each individual (youth, elderly, disabled etcetera)Step 3 -Explain to the group you want to understand if people have ever used weather forecasts. Show the group an example of scientific forecast that is currently used in the community.Ask them the following questions: Participants: Identify one or two people involved in each organization's activities (preferably one man and one women).• Review the Venn Diagram and Changing Farming Practices Timeline results and identify the organizations that intervene with the target community in which you are interested in learning.• Review any other organizational or institutional profiles that have already been completed in the target region, such as the CCAFS Organizational Baseline Survey.• Make a list of organizations below about which you would like to learn, including community based organizations (CBOs), farmer groups, local women's groups, farmer associations, local NGOs, international organizations, civil society groups, local government and extension services ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________• Contact the organizations and make appointments for interviews.Step 1 -Welcome the project staff member and introduce the research team and the objective of the exercise.Your introduction can look like this:\"Thank you for participating in this interview. We are interested in learning more about the kinds of new agricultural practices that have been taken up by men and women, and how and why these changes have come about. We would like to hear about your project or the activity in which you are involved, by asking some questions that focus on the approaches, strategies and institutional arrangements you employ to share the benefits of your interventions.\"Step 2 Organizational Profile -Focus first on the organization itself. You are not trying to get all the details of their projects, but rather to 'tease out' lessons regarding strategies, approaches, rules, etc. that are being employed (or not) to enhance low-income men and women's participation in, and benefits from, such initiatives. Refer to Checklist 1 for some suggested questions.Checklist 1• What kind of organization (e.g. CBO, NGO, public, etc.) is yours and at what level does it work (local, national, regional, international)?• What is the purpose or focus of your organization?• How long has it been working in the target community?• What kinds of people in the community does your organization target? Who has access to the services provided by the organization? Do young and elderly people have access to the services? Does one group in the community rely more on the organization than others?• What is the relative importance of climate change in the portfolio of your organization?• What are your organization's objectives in terms of supporting climate-resilient agriculture?• What has the organization encouraged related to climate change mitigation and/or adaptation?• What is the organization doing well?• What do you do in areas of climate-resilience from which others can learn?• Are there any areas for potential expansion of climate related activities that your organization is not able to currently support?• Considering all the organizations that are working in the target community, what do you see are areas for potential expansion?• Which organizations are linked with yours? How? For what purpose?Step 3 Climate-resilient agriculture activities -Next focus on the organization's activities in your target community that promote climate-resilient agriculture. You can use the following SEAGA (CCAFS-FAO 2012) guiding questions from Checklist 2.Mitigation of climate change involves reducing Green House Gas emissions and/or enhancing the capacity of 'sinks' for GHGs, for the ultimate purpose of stabilising their concentration in the atmosphere; aims to reduce global exposure to the effects of climate change (SPC 2011). Tools in this module can be used to identify existing agricultural practices addressing climate vulnerability in order to improve co-benefits and mitigation impacts. They can also help better understand social cohesion and equity on a community level for implementing mitigation projects and benefits sharing.This module includes a group of tools that when implemented sequentially provides us with the necessary background information for designing an agriculture program that can integrate gender, with special consideration for vulnerable groups.Changing farming practices timeline Two sessions -men and women Identification of mitigation & adaptive practices along with key actors and target beneficiaries.Two sessions -men and women Understand potential community incentives for and challenges to adopting proposed mitigation projects.This module can be used independently to prepare for a climate-resilient agriculture programme, or in conjunction with any other module to prepare for a programme with multiple climate change and gender objectives. If used in conjunction with other modules, the research team should take care to plan the sequential roll-out of tools so as to avoid repetition. For example, a baseline village map developed in Module 1 can be added to Module 2 to identify livelihood resources and matched with Module 3 to identify areas of with mitigation potential. The tools in this module are designed to sequentially build on each other. However, if you already have the information generated by one or more of the tools, you can easily drop them and concentrate your time and resources on the other tools.Participants: Separate groups of men and women [8-10] of mixed socio-economic status and ages.Time: 30 mins -1 hr• Set up your notebook as shown below to make note taking easier:Practice:Benefits (included number from piling!):Burdens (included number from piling!):Discussion Notes:• Arrange participants in a circle and clear the ground in the middle.• Review the list of current agricultural practices that you already know or that you recorded during the Changing Farming Practices Timeline.• Consider these questions: Step 1 -Introduce yourself and the team and then the activity.Step 2 -Ask the participants to introduce themselves, and note the name and any special information for each individual (youth, elderly, disabled, etc.)Step 3 -Begin the discussion by asking about one agricultural or nonagricultural change that is of interest to you. Probe the focus group to understand the different benefits and burdens from each practice.Step 4 -Once lists of benefits and constraints have been noted, ask a volunteer to list or draw them out on many sheets of paper or on a large poster.Step 5 -Take 100 counters or beans and explain that they represent all of the men or women (depending on the disaggregated group). Ask a volunteer to distribute the counters between the benefits from the practice first.Encourage the group to work together to create a distribution upon which they agree.Step 6 -Repeat this step but for the burdens of adopting the practice. Discuss the results as a group to gain more insight about the perceptions of the benefits and burdens.Step 7 -Follow the same process for each practice of interest. Record the benefits, burdens and discussion notes for each practice.Ongoing -Use your own probing questions that arise during the session or refer to the topics and questions in Checklist 1 for more suggestions Identify main themes or topics of interest. Before and during the data collection process, outline specific topics and themes that you specifically want to probe into and learn about. Narrowing your focus early will keep your data collection and analysis manageable and directed.Decide upon a systematic way to analyze. Once you have completed your data collection in the communities, decide upon a strategy for processing your data. You may have a large database that needs to be synthesized into a report. To accomplish this, you may want to consider using techniques such as categorizing, coding and contextualizing (definitions below).Involve many team members in the process! Qualitative research is unique in that those that collected the data can often provide critical perspectives that drive the data analysis process. Consider ways of incorporating your research team into your data analysis process, by perhaps having the team categorize or code together. Your team members may have viewed different comments or situations differently, so talking through them during the data analysis process can lead to incredibly rich insights and to a more comprehensive analysis."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3db5fa1398abedc36f3f96be3e2b3f45","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/116e5d25-d6a4-4882-b0e4-d78a717b5b79/retrieve","id":"1176712082"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"124c263c-3067-46f8-bc9f-075919b9535c","content":"In this example, we can see that these genes are over-expressed in the panicule (rice) and in the silique (arabidopsis) and under drought conditions. For Arabidopsis, we provide also cross-references to a 3D viewer tool called ePlant (Nicholas Provart : http://bar.utoronto.ca/eplant/) containing also gene expression data.   Figure 2: Approximately 8250 gene families can be explored using keywords, various identifiers such as locus tags, InterPro or KEGG. A gene family ontology browser was also developed to display list of genes families associated to Gene Ontology terms. Lists of plant-specific or lineage-specific gene families are also available."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6c0dac924faa2dd51d6e4edb5ad6d7ad","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f57bcaba-7dd2-4992-9b6a-ffac05103d42/retrieve","id":"62833540"},"keywords":["climate security","social media","text mining","sentiment analysis","online issue mapping","digital methods"],"sieverID":"4e785565-e932-421a-8647-264361ba2d4e","content":"Despite increasing awareness of the nexus between climate change and human security, especially in fragile contexts, this complex relationship has yet to be reflected in the policy arena. To investigate this potential policy gap, we apply an online issue mapping approach to assess representations of climate security within the public discourse of policymakers on social media, using Kenya as a case study. Considering Twitter as a proxy for public debate, text mining and network analysis techniques were employed to a corpus of almost 50 thousand tweets from selected national-level state actors, aiming to identify the evolution of thematic trends and actor dynamics. Results show a disassociation between climate, socioeconomic insecurities, and conflict in the public communications of national policymakers. These findings can have useful implications for the policy cycle, indicating where policy attention around climate security-related topics has been and what are the entry points for enhancing sensitivity on the issue.Climate security refers to climate-related threats to societies, communities and individuals that encompass risks directly or indirectly caused by climate change, including the potential for conflict. The relationship between climate and conflict has been receiving increased attention in the past decade, as the climate crisis has been shown to impact social and political stability. However, despite heightened awareness regarding potential linkages between climate, peace and security, such connections have yet to be reflected in the policy arena. Policy cycles for climate adaptation and mitigation, as well as national security concerns, often fail to reflect the complex pathways that link the two dimensions (Brzoska 2012).To explore the potential policy gap related to the climate-security nexus, a data-driven method was developed to assess representations of climate security as a topic of governance within the public discourse of state actors, using Kenya as a case study. While the country is characterised as relatively peaceful compared to some of its neighbours, climate variability and extremes have had adverse impacts on agricultural production. Compounded by external shocks that exacerbate existing inequalities, Kenya faces increased risks of resource-related violence (CGIAR FOCUS Climate Security, 2022). Consequently, though climate may not directly impact localized conflict dynamics, its context-specific interactions with socioeconomic and political factors can shape and increase risks of human insecurity and conflict.While extensive research about climate change discourses on social media have been conducted, focusing on various subjects such as issue polarization, disinformation, activism, and climate communication (see Pearce et al 2019 andFalkenberg et al 2022, among many others), this study investigates this study relies on the foundations of Digital Methods (Rogers 2013;Carneiro et al 2022) to explore climate security narratives and dynamics among policy actors. An online issue mapping approach (Rogers et al. 2015) was applied to investigate two main questions: 1) How salient are climate security issues in national policy agendas? 02) How are linkages between climate, socioeconomic risks and insecurities, and conflict represented in the public narratives of policymakers? Insights emerging from this analysis provide a starting point for the development of evidence-based advocacy and engagement strategies so that effective responses to climate change are sensitive to the interlinkages with the human security context in the country.Twitter has been widely recognized as an important venue for institutional communications; news media increasingly rely on the platform as a primary source of official statements and positiontaking. Its potential as a real-time, topic-driven platform enables rapid detection of trends to uncover discourse dynamics (McDonald 2013). Hence, to frame perceptions around the climate-socioeconomic insecurities-conflict nexus at the national policy level in Kenya, Bia Silveira Carneiro, Giuliano Resce, Giosuè Ruscica, Giulia Tucci an analysis of government communications on Twitter was performed. An algorithm was developed to extract all publicly available Tweets from the official accounts of central government bodies, ministries of agriculture, environment, and natural resources, as well as national security bodies (Table 1), from which the presence of a climate security taxonomy was explored. In total, 49,335 Tweets were collected between 2012-09-13 to 2022-05-26.  Carneiro et al (2022), in which topics were matched to AGROVOC1, the Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) open-source, multilingual vocabulary. For each topic, the corresponding AGROVOC concept was extracted, and a custom algorithm was developed to detect and classify the related terminology within the text of Tweets. Topics were then assessed through correlation measures to identify any interlinkages.In addition, leveraging on the specific affordance of Twitter that enables direct conversations among users, a network analysis assesses the relationships among policy actors through a mentions network (Williams et al 2015), where accounts are the nodes and their relations are the lines connecting pairs of nodes. This means that accounts are connected if they are mentioned by another, with the weight of the connection calculated from the number of mentions by the same account.Drawing on the mechanisms through which climate stressors may interact with socioeconomic, ecological, and political dimensions identified in Kenya, figure 1 shows their overall distribution, as frequency counts. 'Famine' and 'Aid programmes' are the most regularly mentioned topics, followed by resource availability and access pathway variables 'Ethnic groups' and 'Cattle'. The most present topics for climate variables are 'Risk' and 'Weather hazards' and for conflict variables are 'Crime' and 'Sexual violence'. While the overall distribution of variables uncovers the cumulative prominence of topics, a temporal distribution provides a more nuanced perception of topic prevalence over time.Beyond the presence or absence of a topic, the algorithm also quantified their presence2. Figure 2 presents timelines for the prevalence of climate variables (top) and conflict variables (bottom) in the corpus of tweets. The visualisation indicates not only which topics were in focus, but also when they were of most interest. Among climate variables, 'Drought' presents several major peaks. In 2018 and 2022, they reflect consecutive failed seasons that led the Kenyan government to declare a national disaster in several parts of the country in 20213.The conflict timeline shows higher variability among topics, with 'Armed conflict', 'Dispute', 'Theft', and 'Crime' oscillating between peaks and low prevalence. As noted by DuttaGupta et al (2022), 'Theft' is most likely associated to livestock raiding, a significant problem in the country's rural areas, whereas the increase in 'Disputes' in the last five years points to increased attention to conflict over resources. To further unpack the interlinkages between different topics within the Tweets, a measure of correlation was established to identify when terms are present within the same body of text.A strong positive correlation indicates that the terms consistently occur within the same Tweet, whereas a negative correlation denotes they are occurring in separate Tweets. Figure 3 displays the 10 topics most positively correlated to climate variables (right) and to conflict variables (left). In the case of climate, the strongest associations are to livelihood and food security pathway and resource availability and access pathway variables; conflict is not represented in the table. Conversely, conflict-related content is frequently co-occuring with several climate and socioecological variables, namely 'Desertification', 'Risk', 'Climate change, 'Poaching', 'Environmental degradation', and 'Resource management'.Direct associations between climate and conflict are presented in Figure 4, which features the correlations among the six conflict types described in the impact pathways and climate stressors and socioecological variables. The strongest positive associations (in blue) concern 'Disputes' with 'Erosion', 'Theft' with 'Rain', and 'Violence' with 'Environmental degradation'. However, it is notable that most variables present negative associations (in red), meaning that the connection between climate and conflict is largely absent from the official discourse of Kenyan government actors on Twitter. Lastly, the mentions network in figure 6 presents a visualization of the dynamics between the key state bodies representing climate, agriculture, natural resources and security interests. As the focus of this analysis is on the interaction between national security and climate adaptation and mitigation policy narratives, the network was filetered to display only the connections between the 13 government accounts. The spatialization of nodes was estimated with the force-directed algorithm Fruchterman-Reingold (Fruchterman and Reingold 1991) , which moves nodes further or closer from each other in an attempt to find an equilibrium. The sizes of the nodes and the labels are partitioned by degree centrality, a measure of the number of connections to a particular node, whereas the edges are also weighed by the number of times a pair of nodes is connected. The graph points to the strongest connections between the ministries and central government accounts, but to weaker or non-reciprocal linkages between ministries from the different areas.Content analysis and network analysis techniques enable identification of trends in political agendas and actors over time. The machine-driven approach employed to explore the salience of climate security in the Twitter communications of Kenyan policy actors found that the pathways that link climate stressors, socioeconomic risks, and conflict are not well represented in the narratives of government bodies. While Tweets that addressed different types of conflict did show some association to ecological threats, most climate and conflict variables were negatively correlated. Further, the weaker or absent connections in the network analysis point to to potential gaps in dialogue.A limitation of our analysis is that social media narratives may not fully capture the complexity of policy cycles in a country like Kenya, where policy actors interact across multiple scales, and this engagement may not be adequately represented in digital platforms. Moreover, the African continent continues to have the lowest Internet access, with Kenya's internet penetration rate at 32.7 percent of the total population at the start of 2023, and Twitter reaching 3.5 percent of the total population4. However, given the continued trend to integrate digital platforms in policy and governance, especially during times of crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic or natural disaster responses, this study contributes towards mapping policymaker perspectives in public discourse. Our findings can have useful policy implications, indicating where policy attention around climate security-related topics has been, as well as what are the gaps and entry points for enhancing sensitivity on the issue, facilitating the integration of the climate security debate into Kenya's formal policy arena. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5e53dfd3a2bf0c587ab6ff5cb56463c8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/99e2dd29-bfc0-4ba7-9922-659d8937fbf2/retrieve","id":"1723786401"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"98093034-4e84-475f-96bd-427823ee53dd","content":"Evaluation of striga-resistant early maize hybrids and test locations under striga-infested and striga-free environmentsThe usefulness of a test environment is determined by its ability to discriminate sufficiently among genotypes and its genetic correlation with target environments. Yan and Holland (2010) reported that the most appropriate GGE biplot scaling method for simultaneous evaluation of genotype as well as test environment is the heritabilityadjusted (HA) GGE biplot. Badu-Apraku and Akinwale (2011) also employed genotype-by trait biplot analysis to identify superior and maize cultivars based on multiple Striga-adaptive traits. The objectives of the present study were to (i) evaluate selected Striga-resistant hybrids for grain yield performance and stability based on multiple traits and HA-GGE biplot under Striga-infested and Striga-free conditions; and (ii) assess the discriminating ability and representativeness of the test locations used for evaluating genotypes for Striga resistance by the IITA maize program.Thirty Striga-resistant single-cross hybrids plus two checks were evaluated under artificial Striga infestation and Striga-free conditions at 2 locations in Nigeria in 2008 and 2009. The hybrids were selected from 378 diallel crosses among 28 parent inbreds based on superior performance under Striga infestation. The trial was laid out as pair experiment using randomized incomplete block design with two replicates under artificial Striga infestation and Striga-free conditions at Mokwa and Abuja. Data on grain yield and other important agronomic traits were collected and subjected to analysis of variance, genotype-by-trait biplot and HA-GGE biplot analysis.Table 1       • Significant location effects under the two research conditions indicated that the locations were distinct from each other (Table 1).• The HA-GGE biplot revealed that TZEI 11/TZEI 25 (H27) was the best (vertex genotype) under Striga infestation at both Abuja (ABS) and Mokwa (MKS) whereas under Striga-free conditions, TZEI 12/TZEI 25 (H28) was the best at Mokwa (MKN) and TZEI 106/TZEI 87 (H16) at Abuja (ABN) (Fig. 1).• The two test locations possessed high discriminating ability (long vectors), indicating that both were important in the evaluation of the hybrids and that neither of them could be considered as redundant when screening genotypes for Striga resistance and yield potential (Fig. 2).• More promising genotypes (entries that fell inside the innermost concentric circle in Figs 3and 4) were identified using multiple traits under Striga infestation than selection based on yield performance only, suggesting that grain yield alone may not suffice as a precise predictor of Striga resistance (Fig. 3 and 4).• Based on both HA-GGE and GT biplot analyses, TZEI 12/TZEI 25 was identified for its outstanding performance under Striga-infested and Striga-free conditions. Furthermore, TZEI 11/TZEI 127 and TZEI 80/TZEI 2B were identified as promising under Striga-infested conditions and TZEI 60/TZEI 87 under Striga-free environments by the two biplot methods."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"401ffc863eb73ae6bf325eef78683028","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5b2dfeea-dd18-4df2-b81f-31b7bb25ad55/retrieve","id":"1577499138"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4c15d688-42e7-472b-8797-683641621877","content":"Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization established in 1995 to reduce poverty and promote social justice by empowering rural poor and marginalized smallholder farmers, especially women, who depend primarily on agriculture, biodiversity, and natural resources for their livelihoods. To achieve these goals, LI-BIRD is committed to capitalizing on local initiatives, synergy, and partnerships for sustainable management of renewable natural resources. Through development-oriented research in agriculture and natural resource management, LI-BIRD contributes to several innovative methods and approaches, aiming to achieve a positive impact on the livelihoods of rural poor and marginalized farmers through appropriate technological, social, and policy changes. LI-BIRD plays an instrumental role in institutionalizing these approaches in national systems.. Household and community richness and evenness of mandate crops with their average area, productivity, and household richness in Chhipra VDC Table 12. Varieties of amaranth, their area, productivity, and percent households growing them in Chhipra VDC Table 13. Varieties of barley, their area, productivity and percent households growing them in Chhipra VDC Table 14. Varieties of buckwheat, area, productivity and percent households growing them in Chhipra VDC Table 15. Varieties of common beans, their area, productivity, and percent households growing in Chhipra VDC Table 16. Varieties of finger millet, their area, productivity, and percent households growing them in Chhipra VDC Table 17. Varieties of foxtail millet, their area, productivity, and percent households growing them in Chhipra VDC Table 18. Varieties of naked barley, their area, productivity, and percent households growing them in Chhipra VDC Table 19. Varieties of proso millet, their area, productivity, and percent households growing them in Chhipra VDC Table 20. Varieties of rice, their area, productivity, and percent households growing them in Chhipra VDC  The Himalayan ecosystem in Nepal, with its steep rises in elevation, rugged terrains, and patchworks of ethnic and cultural diversity, has imposed unique selection pressures on high mountain agricultural biodiversity. Cold tolerance acts as a severe bottleneck to diversity in this environment. Despite this, farming communities have been maintaining a rich diversity of food crops for generations. For instance, Chomrong Dhan, an indigenous variety of cold tolerant red rice from Nepal has now spread to over 85% of the world's rice growing areas, reaching countries as far as Bhutan (Matsushita et al., 2011;Ghaley et al., 2012;Shrestha, 2004) and Madagascar (Raboin et. al., 2014). This illustrates its immense value, which is largely due to its rare combination of cold tolerance, stable blast resistance, and wide adaptability.In addition to cold tolerant rice, farming communities in this region also rely on the diversity of under-researched but locally adapted crops, such as proso millet, foxtail millet, finger millet, buckwheat, naked barley, barley, amaranth, and the common bean. The Nepali Himalayas are the primary and secondary centres of diversity for rice, amaranths, barley, buckwheat, millets, and bean (Hawkes, 1998).Despite the existence of tens of thousands of edible plants, only 10 cereal grains, legumes, and oilseeds dominate 80% of the world's cropland (Glover et al., 2007). Wheat, rice, and maize by themselves account for two-third of the world's arable lands. This is starkly reflected in the diets we consume, in which 90% of our plant-based calories can be traced back to only 30 or so crops (FAO, 2009). Consequently, about 60% of the world's population is currently malnourished, either due to a lack of calories or because of too much of the wrong kind of calories (Pimentel, 2011).In the context of climate change, over-reliance on a handful of commodity crops puts our global food security at a great risk, as it can expose people to rampant speculation of food prices and even result in food crises and riots like those seen in 2008 in multiple developing as well as developed countries. It can also lead to the loss of crop biodiversity (and the associated genetic diversity), which represents a significant reservoir of potentially useful traits for coping with changing global environments. Because traditional mountain crops are highly under-researched, mountain farming communities have not had the benefit of better yielding varieties and advanced processing technologies. High-mountain districts of Nepal, such as Humla (ranking 73rd out of 75 districts in the Human Development Index), already suffer from limited access to basic infrastructure, education, healthcare, and nutrition.Poor nutrition, especially in early childhood, can have dire repercussions into adulthood, as it compromises cognitive and social development (Ruel and Hoddinott, 2008), which puts these communities at elevated risk of further marginalization.Furthermore, climate change impacts are predicted to be more acute in the Himalayas, where warming has been much greater than the global average. A changing climate in the high mountains is also likely to exacerbate the risk of crop disease damage. For instance, rice blast (fungus Magnaporthe oryzae B. Couch) is a major disease in Nepal that has been increasingly affecting the beloved Marshi variety of rice in Karnali region in recent years. These high mountain areas are also sources of water for over a billion people in the Indian sub-continent, and diversity-based and integrated pest management practices are needed to ensure the area can continue to provide clean, disease-free water for the foreseeable future.Considering the global and local importance of these high mountain crops, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has funded a project titled, Integrating traditional crop genetic diversity into technology: using a biodiversity portfolio approach to buffer against unpredictable environmental change in the Nepal Himalayas. The objective of the project is \"to mainstream the conservation and use of agrobiodiversity in the mountain agricultural production landscapes of Nepal to improve ecosystem resilience, ecosystem services and access and benefits sharing capacity in mountain ecosystems.\" It aims to develop and promote diverse sets of varieties, improve access to diverse sets of planting materials, create and distribute drudgery-reducing processing technologies, and promote an enabling environment for access to the benefit-sharing of seeds and other planting materials. The project focuses on supporting the use of rich and unique intra-specific diversity of crops in mountain agricultural environments to buffer against increasing unpredictability in the amount and occurrence of rainfall, temperature extremes, and the frequency and severity of pest and pathogen occurrence. The project is known as the Local Crop Project (LCP) for short.The project has set a mandate to work on eight neglected and underutilized mountain crops that are nutrient dense, climate resilient, and indigenous to the Nepal Mountains (Table 1). These crops are: buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum and F. tararicum), cold tolerant rice (Oryza sativa), common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), finger millet (Eleusine coracana), foxtail millet (Setaria italica), grain amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus and A. leucocarpus), naked barley (Hordeum vulgare var. nudum), and proso millet (Panicum miliaceum). Amaranthus hypochondriacus L.A. caudatus L.A. cruentus L. The project is being implemented  In the first year of the project, a variety of field visits, participatory rural appraisal exercises, group discussions, diversity fairs, and household surveys were conducted to establish a benchmark for the project sites.The specific objectives of the baseline study are given below:• To understand the socio-economic and demographic context of the farming communities • To document the extent of genetic diversity in the mandate crops (amaranths, bean, buckwheat, naked barley, finger millet, proso millet, foxtail millet, and cold tolerant rice) as well as associated traditional knowledge • To assess the problems with the sustainable use of crop diversity and the factors that play important roles in maintaining diversity within crop species • To understand the traditional knowledge of the area, especially regarding the use of intra-specific diversity, seed, and processing management of these crops • To establish a baseline and provide guidelines for the planning of future programmes in the sites This site baseline report provides a summary of the various facets of the mandate crops' genetic resources, traditional knowledge of the farmers, and socioeconomic contexts of the farming systems present in the project site.•General information about the district and VDC was collected from secondary data sources of district profile and VDC profiles. Additionally, this information was used for sampling design and questionnaire preparation for conducting the baseline survey. It also helped in understanding the farming systems, mandate crop situations, socioeconomic details, and livelihood situations of the farming communities.We conducted group discussions and transect walk to gain a better understanding of the local context of mandate crop diversity and knowledge, paying special attention to special traits, present status, and reasoning for current status and consumption patterns Group discussions were organized in the month of August 2014. These involved 23 women and 15 men farmers. After consulting the project site team, the participants of the PRA were chosen based on their traits of being progressive, knowledgeable, and interested in agricultural activities. Participatory Rural Appraisal was conducted using focus group discussions (FGD), four cell analysis, resource mapping and seasonal calendar. Information on crop diversity, production ecology and seasons, variety details, farmer's knowledge, field practices, processing methods, and issues associated especially with mandate crops were collected. In addition, information on community based organisations, ongoing programmes conducted by different I/NGOs, GOs, other agencies, and their respective working area and present status were also recorded.PRA exercise being conducted in Chhipra, VDCA diversity fair was organized on the premises of the Sita Lower Secondary School in ward number 1 of Chhipra VDC, Humla, on 22 November 2014 with the help of the Karnali Dovan Krishi Cooperative. Fourteen VDCs of Humla took part in this seed fair, where the main objectives were to assess local crop diversity (both mandate and non-mandate) and raise awareness of the value of local crop diversity. Seed of various crops (especially mandate crops) were collected along with passport data and additional associated information. This helped document the status of overall crop diversity and associated mandate crop information (crop name, variety name, distinguishing characteristics, special traits and uses, problems, population status, and source). In addition, it also helped sensitize the community to the availability and importance of crop diversity.A household survey of Chhipra, Humla was conducted during the month of November 2014 to collect detailed information on demographic status, crop diversity status, diversity related problems, mandate crop production, and mandate crop seed sources. Additionally, an understanding of the local perception of promotion and conservation of local crops was gained. The specific steps employed in the baseline household survey are presented below.The questionnaire and survey methodology was developed by the project team, and was refined using the input from various experts within the project team of Bioversity International, NAGRC and LI-BIRD. The responsibility of coordinating and facilitating the consultation process was assigned to project leaders. A stratified sampling method, followed by a random sampling method, were adopted. The detailed baseline survey methodology is presented in Figure 2.The household survey was prepared by reviewing questionnaires of other similar projects, like the Strengthening the Scientific basis for on farm Conservation of Agrobiodiversity (in situ) project (Rana et al., 2000) and the Community Biodiversity Management (CBM) project. It was decided to prepare a brief questionnaire because basic information had already been collected from the PRA exercises and site selection surveys. The drafted questionnaire was shared with a team of experts from Bioversity Nepal, NARC Gene bank, and LI-BIRD for reviewing and commenting. The questionnaire was refined by incorporating the suggestions from the consulted experts, and was pre-tested with a few sample farmers in Arba, Kaski before field administration. The findings of pre-testing were used to finalize the survey questionnaire (Annex 1). A list of all households within the ward, as well as the household's name, was prepared. Using the following formula, sample size was calculated from the total number of households.where, n = size of sample Z = the value of the standard variate at a given confidence level and to be worked out from table showing area under normal curve (give here the value) p = the largest possible proportion (0.5) or sample proportion q = 1-p d = the sampling error (0.05) N = size of population (= 234)A total of 72 households (52 men and 20 women) were selected from the 234 households in Chhipra VDC, Humla. The households were distributed into 4 clusters, each with a different number of wards and population size. To ensure proportional representation of households from each ward, a probability proportional to size sampling technique was adopted. The proportional sample size from each ward was calculated by using the following formula:Number of households to be sampled from the ward (n)After determining the number of households to be surveyed in each ward, households were selected randomly. The total number of households surveyed, along with the HH ID, name, and village name of each is presented in Annex II. Table 2 shows the number of HHs in each ward of Chhipra VDC. In Chhipra, Humla, the baseline survey was conducted from 26-28 November 2014. A team of seven members (six from LI-BIRD, Pokhara and one from NAGRC, Khumaltar), conducted the survey. Mr. Mukunda Bhattarai from NAGRC, who had extensive prior field experience with conducting baseline surveys, gave a short orientation on the content, sampling, and interviewing process to the team members. At the end of each day of interviews, the two project officers' cross-checked data and discussed whether any questions were missing from the questionnaire.Data compilation and entry was done in the standard format prepared with the technical support of data management specialists of LI-BIRD, Pokhara. Data entry was completed by the end of March 2015 in the Pokhara office. Entered data was reviewed and cleaned by the site team following five explorative data analysis (EDA) tests. Cleaned data was converted to standard units before analysis through cross-site sharing and experiences of the team members. The data analysis was done using Microsoft Excel 2013 and SPSS 16. The analysis mainly focused on descriptive statistics such as mean, frequency and standard error of the mean.Results and their interpretation are presented in this report.  , 2000).The total population of the district is 50,858, with 25,025 females (49%) and 25,833 males (51%). The population is distributed across 9479 households, with an average household size of 5.37 people (CBS, 2011). The majority of the population in Humla is Hindu (82%), followed by Buddhist (18%), and the remaining percentage is split among other religions (CBS-NPC, 2011). The district has the following ethnic composition: Chhetri (44.2 %), Thakuri (19.5%), Lama (16.1%), and Brahmin (6.2%), as well as the following occupational castes: Kami (blacksmiths, 5.66 %), Damai (tailors, 2.36%) and Sarki (cobblers, 1.2 %). In 2011, the majority of males (62%) in Humla aged five and above were literate, but only a third of females could read and write (CBS, 2011).  3.2 Agro-ecology of the SiteThe altitude of Chhipra ranges from 2000-4800 masl, and features both warm temperate and cool temperate environments. The temperature of Chhipra varies between 0-20°C and the average annual rainfall is about 50 mm (MFD, 2005).Humla is one of the five districts of the Karnali zone in Nepal's Mid-Western Development Region.Humla is bordered by Mugu district in the east, Bajura and Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the west and north, and Bajhang and Bajura districts in the South. It lies between latitudes the 29° 35' and 30° 10', and longitudes 81° 18' and 82° 10'. The minimum and maximum elevations of Humla are 1,524 and 7,337 meters above sea level (masl) respectively.Most of the land of this VDC is rocky, which makes agricultural activities such as ploughing difficult (VDC Profile, 2010). Arable land is estimated to be less than 1%. There is a deficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus in the soil, but potash is abundant (VDC Profile, 2010).Agriculture, business, herb collection, wood collection, livestock, and trade are the major livelihood options available in the district. Agriculture is the most important source of livelihood in both the district and site; major sources of cash income for farmers are the sale of wood, herbs, livestock, and vegetables. The other important livelihood options are wage labour, and the collection and sale of forest products. Unlike the bordering villages of Bajura and Bajhang, seasonal migration for alternative livelihood options was not prevalent in Chhipra VDC. In contrast to Simkot, the population of Chhipra is not significantly involved in trade from China. Agricultural production in the VDC meets food requirements for only 3-6 months.Agronomical crops, horticulture (e.g., apple, walnut, peach, vegetables, and potato), and livestock (cattle, goat, sheep, and poultry) are important components of the farming system in Chhipra. This farming system is also common in most of the mountain regions of Nepal. The major crops grown are finger millet, barley (both hulled and hull-less), wheat, rice, proso millet, beans, and potato. The type of crop grown varies by altitude. In lower altitudes, the major crops include rice, maize, wheat, barley, naked barley, beans, finger millet and proso millet. In higher altitudes, which the locals refer to as 'Lek', the major crops are buckwheat, finger millet, proso millet, barley, naked barley, wheat, and potato. Land abandonment (fallowing) is not a problem in the lower altitude areas of Chhipra, but does occur at higher altitudes. Specifically, this is an issue in the Lekha village of Chhipra due to poor fertility and distant land locations.Chhipra has limited land suitable for growing rice. Photo: Achyut Raj Adhikari/LI-BIRD 10Chhipra lies at the bank of the perennially flowing Karnali River. Despite this, the majority of the VDC relies on the seasonal monsoon for irrigation. Nalla village has water sources for irrigation that flow throughout the year, but these have been used only for running the improved water mill. Majha village also has seasonal water flow that is used to irrigate fields when cultivating rice. Apart from those, a pump irrigation plant has recently been installed which has the capacity to irrigate 132 ropani (about 6.7 ha) of land in Chhipra village of Chhipra VDC.3.6 Status of use of External Inputs (fertilizers, micronutrients and pesticides) in AgricultureSimkot is the major market of Humla district. However, Simkot has only one Agrovet supplier. Additionally, this supplier has a very limited stock. As all materials have to be brought by air, the cost of external inputs is very high and hence there is no benefit in using them. Farmers do not use micronutrients or pesticides as they are rarely available. Pesticides are sprayed only in apple orchards. The major source of soil nutrients is farmyard manure (FYM) and compost manure that is prepared at the household level. In Chhipra there is no external inputs supplier, and as a result the VDC is organic by default. In recent years the District Agriculture Development Office (DADO) has imported biofertilizers to distribute to farmers, but their accessibility remains very limited.There are a fairly good number of community based institutions and agencies in Chhipra (Table 3). The project site has two community level farmers' institutions. One of these is \"Karnali Agricultural Cooperative,\" which is supported by Humla Development Initiatives (HDI) and LI-BIRD, at Nalla, Chhipra-6. Its focus is agricultural input supply and marketing of local products through collective action. The cooperative has 116 members. The second community farmer institution is \"Dudhkunda Women Cooperative,\" which is supported by the Women Development Office of the district. It has approximately 100 women members and focuses on women's welfare and empowerment through credit and saving schemes, and agricultural marketing of locally produced products. There are two radio stations in Chhipra, Karnali FM and Kailash FM, which are the source of information and news for the people.The national newspaper takes a few days to reach the VDC and is only available in government offices. Televisions are rare in Chhipra and is not a common source of news or entertainment. Homes with television use DISH Home to get channels.Because Chhipra is close to the district headquarter there is no Agricultural Service Centre (ASC) or Livestock Service Centre (LSC) in the VDC. People need to visit the district headquarter to receive any agricultural related services from these organisations. These government agricultural and livestock Centres are located far away from the site, so most people are deprived of their support and facilities.Respondents were between 17 and 65 years in age and 72% of the respondents were male. Our prior knowledge indicated that family members would be out of the homestead during day time grazing animals. Hence, we conducted the survey in the morning or evening hours. At these times we found most women were busy in household work of fetching water, cooking and agricultural activities while men were free to talk to the enumerators.Of the total 72 households surveyed 53% were Chhetri, 25% were Thakuri, 15% were Dalit and 7% were Brahmin. Sixty-nine percent of the families were nuclear and 31% were joint (Figure 4). Above average proportion of Thakuri households were nuclear at 83% while 64% and 61% of Dalit and Chettri households were nuclear respectively. The average family size in Chhipra is 6 people with average nuclear family size at 5.1 and the joint family size at 7.9 (Table 4). Thakuri households had the highest average joint family size (10 people). Migration of families out of the district is not very common in Chhipra. Only three households reported family members migrating outside the VDC for work. All three family members that migrate for work were men, one of them for less than three months a year and two for more than six months a year.Migration is uncommon due to off-farm income opportunities such as collection and sale of forest products and labour jobs in Simkot. Sale of agricultural produce in Simkot contribute to household income, and further lowers family migration. Many youths are employed in district headquarters in government offices. Joint decision making is commonly reported when it comes to agricultural management at the household level (Figure 5). Agriculture, i.e., working on one's own family farm, and agricultural labour, i.e., working on other's farm for pay, are the two important primary sources of income. Working on one's own farm was the primary source of income for most Chhetri (68%) and Thakuri (50%) households, while working on other people's farms was the primary source of income for most Dalit households (45%). Business, jobs and services, collection of medicinal and aromatic plants, and non-agricultural labour other sources of household income (Figure 6). Collection of medicinal and aromatic plants can be a lucrative income source in high mountain districts like Humla, but only 3 of the 72 surveyed households in Chhipra considered it their primary source of income. On average, a family in Chhipra owns 3.64 ropani of land and cultivates 3.26 ropani. Chhetris had the highest average land owned and average total land cultivated. An average household had 1.84 ropani in upland (bari) land and 1.66 ropani in lowland (khet) land. The share in and share out system was not very common in Chhipra. An average household shared in 0.10 ropani khet, and shared out 0.19 ropani bari. Only Chhetri and Thakuri households owned orchard land. This measure includes orchards of apple, walnut, chuli (Prunus spp.) and khamu (Prunus spp.). The average forest area is 0.06 ropani per household, and it was found that only Chhetri and Thakuri households owned forest. Livestock is an integral part of the farming system of the people in Chhipra (Table 6). A transhumance system is still practiced in Humla. In the summer animals are taken to higher altitudes for grazing. In the winter, they are brought back to the village, where they are kept in sheds and fed hay and other available fodder grass. In Chhipra, the number of animals that a household owns indicates their status in the community. Cow and jhuma 1 are reared for milk, while ox and jhopa are reared for draft purposes, including ploughing. Goats are used as pack animals to carry goods. Sampled households had 13.8 goats on average. Chhetri households had the most goats, with an average of 19.15. Dalit households owned only 1 cow and 1.29 oxen on average and did not rear any other animals, which is exacerbating their food sufficiency status (see Table 6 for additional details). During the household survey it was determined that apple, peach, walnut, and orange trees are grown in the community (Table 7). Apple and peach were grown by 34 and 22 households respectively making them the most commonly grown fruits. Chhetri and Thakuri households had more trees in comparison to Brahmin and Dalit households. Of the surveyed Dalit households, only three households had apple trees (yielding an average of one) but no other fruits were grown. Orange was not very common in Chhipra, as the climate does not favour its production. Jhuma is an adult female offspring of a cattle (Bos taurus) sire and yak (nak) (Bos grunnines) dam while Jhopa is male offspring from the same cross. Jhuma are used for milk while Jhopa are used for draught.Members of the household are also generally the providers of agriculture labour. On average, 1.48 females and 1.37 males contribute to agricultural labour (Table 5). While in most communities the average number of men and women involved in agriculture was roughly equal, in the Thakuri community more women were involved in agriculture.Despite similar number of males and females involved in agriculture, the work load on women is heavier. Women are responsible for most of the activities including harvesting, processing, and storage. On any given day in Chhipra, it is typical to find femalesyoung girls to elderly women -involved in agricultural and household work, while boys and men are sitting around playing cards, smoking, and socializing.The burden on women is exacerbated by gender based discrimination, with chhaupadi as a cultural practice that is emblematic of this disparity. In Hindu communities women are considered impure during their menstrual period. They are treated as untouchable and are not allowed to enter kitchens or partake in rituals for three to five days every cycle. Such restrictions are common all over Nepal, even in the cities and in highly educated families. Chhaupadi is simply an extreme form of this practice that is common in the Far-Western region Karnali zone. During chhaupadi, menstruating girls and women are required to spend three to five days outside the house in chaugoth (sheds made for this purpose or simply existing livestock shed). During chhaupadi it is taboo for women to touch flowering crops, fruits or eat nutritious diets like milk. In Chhipra VDC, unmarried girls spend seven to nine days and married women spend three to five days in chaugoth. During the stay in chaugoth women are vulnerable to the attack of wild animals, snakes and insects as well as more exposed to the external elements. Incidents of rape in chaugoth have also been reported.The food sufficiency status of households in Chhipra is very low, which causes the VDC as a whole to commonly suffer from food insufficiency (Table 8). Cereal grains are sufficient for 4.67 months, while pulses, represented by the common bean in this site, are sufficient for 3.49 months. Leafy vegetables and other vegetables are sufficient for 3.33 and 2.96 months, respectively. Brahmins and Chhetris have relatively high food sufficiency in comparison to Thakuris and Dalits. Dalits have the lowest food sufficiency, as their produce is sufficient for merely 2 months of the year.Drought remains a major constraint for crop production in Chhipra and Humla in general. Hence people still rely on food aid supplied by the Nepal Food Corporation or purchase food that is flown in by air thus paying high prices. There are two distinct cropping patterns followed in the site: two crops per year in lower altitudes and three crops per two years in higher altitudes (Table 9). In lower altitude areas, cropping patterns are distinct in khet (lowland) and bari (upland) land. Rice is an important crop in khet land even though the area under paddy cultivation is very small in Chhipra. Upland rice (ghaiya) is also cultivated in some parts of the district through direct seeding in upland conditions. Finger millet is the number one crop in terms of area in both Humla and Chhipra. Finger millet is grown both by transplanting and direct seeding, but the latter is more common. Farmers reported that naked barley matures earlier than hulled barley, and both of these crops mature earlier than wheat. Two distinct seasons can be seen in the cropping calendar of Chhipra VDC (Figure 7). Rainy season crops, referred to as Kartike bali, are sown from April to June and harvested from September to October. Intercropped beans are the only crops harvested early, from July to August. The harvest season of the intercropped bean differs from that of main season beans because intercrop beans are sown in April while main season beans are sown in June. Winter crops (barley and naked barley) are sown in November and then harvested in late May to early June. Harvesting time of the winter cereals depends on the altitude of the land. The higher the altitude, the later the harvesting date. Figure 7 shows the cropping calendar of Chhipra VDC. Information on varietal diversity of the mandate crops in the project sites has been collected using focus group discussions (during the 2012 site selection exercise and during the project inception phase in 2014), diversity fair and household survey. Typically, diversity fairs reveal the greatest diversity because farmers seek out and collect even the rarest of varieties for the sake of competition. However, in Chhipra there was not much difference in varietal richness between methods (Table 11). Chhipra and other high mountain villages have limited number of varietal choices due to cold tolerance bottlenecking and limited research for this region. Hence even methods like group discussion were able to capture almost all of the diversity in the system. In a more diverse and populous system, the effectiveness of diversity fairs in finding rare varieties tends to be better than group discussions or household surveys.Among the mandate crops, only beans show variance in the level of diversity reported based on the methods used. Since beans the crop with the greatest diversity this is not surprising. If a similar exercise was conducted in a location like Begnas in Kaski, where there are over 40 local varieties of rice, we would expect to find great discrepancy in the richness seen at diversity fairs versus in household surveys. However, the same method was not consistently good for all crops (Table 11). 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3   Finger millet had the highest average area under cultivation (1.17 ropani), followed by buckwheat and naked barley (each 0.88 ropani), and rice (0.86 ropani). Amaranth had the least average area under cultivation as many households grew amaranth only as a border crop. Common bean had the highest productivity (5.09 tons/ha), barley (4.5 tons/ha), and foxtail millet (4.47 tons/ha). Finger millet was grown by the highest number of households (93%) followed by proso millet (89%), bean (88%), naked barley (86%), and amaranth (83%). These are the major crops grown in the site. The average richness per household was highest for amaranth (2.03), followed by bean (1.76) and foxtail millet (1.55), as all three crops are grown in a mixture by many households. Rice, bean, finger millet, foxtail millet, and naked barley had the highest community richness with four varieties. Barley had only one landrace documented, which caused it to have the lowest evenness (0), followed by proso millet (0.06), for which the Dudhae variety was dominant over the Rato variety.The varietal evenness by area of cold tolerant rice (0.68), bean (0.55), finger millet (0.58) and naked barley (0.73) is higher than 0.5, which infers that no variety is dominant over another. However, varietal evenness by area of buckwheat (0.149) and proso millet (0.064) signify that one of the varieties in highly dominant over others (Table 12). Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) is commonly referred to as marshe in Humla, and was grown by 83% of the surveyed households in Chhipra (Table 12). Farmers grow amaranth as a border crop to demarcate their land from others. Hence, its average area per household is low compared to other crops. Based on existing cultivation practice perimeter would be a better measure of amaranth population than area. For the survey, respondents were asked to approximate how much area the crop would cover if it was grown in a plot. Hence, the area of amaranth is an approximation, at best. Farmers use grain colour and inflorescence attitude to distinguish between varieties. The varieties, area, productivity, distinguishing traits, and percent of households growing each of them are presented in Table 13. Amaranth is consumed both as a grain and as a vegetable. Traditionally, roasted amaranth grains are consumed for breakfast or as a snack. Black grained amaranth is preferred for consumption as a vegetable. Note: Data for area per HH, productivity, and % HH are from the baseline survey conducted with 72 households in Chhipra. Information on key distinguishing traits and functional traits was gathered from the site selection report, four cell analysis, and diversity fair * Percentage of surveyed household that cultivate Amaranth (n=60) **Amaranth Productivity: While amaranth is grown as a border crop the respondents were asked to estimate the area the seed would cover if grown in a plot. Hence, the area and productivity of amaranth is a crude approximation.Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is locally called jau and is grown for its grain, which is used for bread production. While barley is grown by almost every household in the second project site in Karnali (Hanku in Jumla), it is rather rare in Chhipra. It was found to be grown only by 13% of the surveyed households in Chhipra (Table 12). Although three local landraces of barley were documented from different studies (Table 14), most households grow a single landrace, Seto Jau, which has a good yield. Barley is consumed in the form of roti (flatbread), sattu (roasted flour), and chhyang (traditional beer).  15). Titae buckwheat is very popular in Chhipra as it has high yield potential and high milling recovery. This variety is grown in higher altitudes or lek areas of Chhipra as its taste reportedly gets better when grown at higher elevations. Buckwheat is mainly consumed for dinner as dhindo, which can be made from the flour of Titae or Mithae phapar or a mixture of both varieties. Lakkad (thick pancake) is made from Titae phapar and is eaten with honey as a snack or for lunch. Dhesu, a thick and hard bread made of buckwheat flour, is always carried as food during long travels. Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is a major pulse crop grown by 88% of the households in Chhipra (Table 12) for both household consumption and commercial use. It is primarily cultivated for dry beans, which is consumed as daal -an important source of protein and nutrition in a diet that can be low in diversity. In the summer and rainy season, it is also common to harvest and consume beans as fresh vegetable, locally known as damra (bfd| f). Different varieties of beans were documented during the diversity fair, but at the time of the baseline survey, only four varieties were recorded, for which area and productivity was estimated (Table 16). In Chhipra, common bean is the crop with the highest richness. Kalo Jhal Sarne Simi and Kalo Malae Simi are the most popular varieties and are grown by many households. Since beans are commonly grown as a mixture of multiple varieties a majority of the respondents were not able to estimate the area of cultivation for individual varieties. Farmers have stated that mixed varieties of beans have a better taste. Finger millet (Eleusine coracana), commonly known as kodo, is the major crop grown by 93% of the surveyed households (Table 12). Kalo Kodo is the most popular landrace of finger millet in Chhipra, followed by Rato Kodo and Tyase Kodo (Table 17). The religious importance and diverse culinary use of this crop has ensured the maintenance of landraces. Kalo Kodo is grown by many households for its medicinal value and high yield. Finger millet is mainly consumed as dhindo. Flatbreads made from finger millet flour are commonly carried during long travel because of their long keeping quality. Foxtail millet (Setaria italica), known as kaguno, is grown by 67% of the surveyed households in Chhipra making it more common than rice and buckwheat (Table 12). It is grown for its nutritious grains, which are used to prepare bhaat, chiura and jaand. Kalo Kaguno is the most popular landrace followed by Pahelo Kaguno (Table 18). Both varieties are drought tolerant, but Kalo Kaguno has better yield than Pahelo Kaguno and hence is more preferred.  12) making it the third most commonly grown cereal after finger millet and proso millet. It is hull-less and grown for its grain. Based on awn characteristics, the diversity of naked barley is categorized in to two types. The awned naked barley is referred to as kunale or kun hune while awnless types are referred to as takulle or phul uwa. Awned naked barley can be white or red. The red type is rare and has characteristic deep purple nodes as well as colouring in parts of the internodes, panicle, awns, and grains. Flour is used for making flatbread, thukpa 2 (noodles) and sattu (roasted flour) while grains are used for making chhyang (liquor). Five local landraces of naked barley were documented in the site, and four of these were grown by many households. The Rato variety seems to be the rarest and is only grown by a few (3%) of households in the community (Table 19). The popularity of chhyang and sattu has contributed to the abundance of the multiple varieties of this crop. Proso millet (Panicum milliaceum), known as chino, is grown by 89% of the households making it the second most common cereal after finger millet (Table 12). Proso millet grains are used to prepare bhaat, flatbread, chuila 3 , moori (roasted grain consumed after de-husking) and selroti. The Dudhae Chino is grown by most households (89%) in Chhipra, followed by the Rato Chino (Table 20). The reason behind the preference of this crop seems to be its relative drought tolerance with respect to other crops. Although it is difficult to thresh, Dudhae Chino is still preferred for its early maturity, high yield, and good taste. Investment in threshers or selecting for easy threshing lines may be worthwhile goals.2 Noodle (thukpa) making is more in the Lama community while in the Brahmin, Chettri and Thakuri community, this recipe is called chumphya (r' Dkm\\ of). Dough of naked barley flour is rolled out and then cut into strips to make noodles. This is consumed at household level. Although thukpa (noodle )soup is a staple of many restaurant around the country, use of naked barley noodles is non existant.Chuila is what locals in Chhipra refer to poori, i.e., chapatti fried in oil or ghee. In Chhipra, chuila is also made from wheat, rice, foxtail millet and proso millet. These are prepared during special rites, rituals and festivals. Rice (Oryza sativa) is grown in the lower altitudes of the VDC in both upland fields (by direct seeding) and lowland fields (by transplanting). Rice has the highest richness out of all the surveyed crops, even more than common beans (Table 11). Although Chhipra has limited area suitable for lowland rice cultivation, 56% of households grow rice (Table 12). This clearly shows the social importance given to this crop in Chhipra. For example, pudding made from local rice is mandatory in festivals. Kalo/Jumli Marsi is the most popular landrace in Humla (including Chhipra) because of its cold tolerance (Table 21). However, the area under cultivation of this landrace has decreased in recent years due to its susceptibility to blast. Chandanath-3 is an improved variety that was introduced to Chhipra recently. The area under cultivation of this variety has been increasing, as it has not been affected by blast as much as local Marsi. Jugiya Dhan is an awned variety of rice that is also known as Jau Dhan because of its similarity in appearance to barley. This local landrace is grown in both upland and lowland fields and has good productivity compared to Marsi variety. Farmers access seed through formal and the informal systems. A system is formal if seed in the system can be traced to who produced it and where. This is usually applicable for certified seeds of notified varieties, which require a label that allows for tracing to the source. On the other hand, a system is considered informal if the seeds are difficult to trace to the origin using a paper trail as seeds do not require a label. The seed can get to farmers through a variety of avenues with agro-vets and public breeding programmes being more typical for formal seed system while farm saved seeds and farmer to farmer seed exchanges being more typical of informal seed systems. Local markets such as Haat Bazaar can be seed sources for both formal and informal sector depending on whether the seed is sold with or without labels.The seed system of mandate crops in Chhipra is almost entirely informal. As expected, farm saved seed is the most important seed source. In 2014, all surveyed households relied completely on farm saved seed for barley, beans, foxtail millet and proso millet (Figure 8). A small percentage of households got buckwheat seed from relatives and finger millet seed from neighbours. Neighbours and relatives were both minor sources for amaranth and naked barley seed. NGOs and relatives were the minor seed source for rice, with the NGOs supplying the released variety Chandanath.In Chhipra there are limited options to farm saved seed. When farm saved seeds are not enough, neighbours and relatives become important sources. Farmers also get seeds of improved varieties of some crops (especially rice) from NGOs and DADO. Every year DADO distributes seed of registered rice varieties through agriculture service centres and farmers from Chhipra can collect seed from the agriculture service centre in Kharpunath, Yangchu. Limited to no registered varieties for mandate crops has also restricted the use of this option. At the time of the survey, there was only one agro-vet store in the entire district, located in Simkot, which mostly sells veterinary medicine and vegetable seeds. for 2 days, and seed grains for 1 day. Sun drying for 1 day. Sun drying for 2 days. Stored by hanging panicles with ropes.Plastic vessels, plastic sacks and wooden bhakari.Plastic vessels, plastic sacks and wooden bhakari.Khamu leaves to prevent weevils. Rat traps are used to prevent rats.Rat trapsNo significant pest infestation occurs in storage. In Chhipra, post-harvest handling is traditional and vulnerable to pest infestation. Indigenous knowledge on post-harvest handling and processing is predominant (Table 23). Processing is labourious and a large source of drudgery for women. Milling is done in traditional okhals 8 and grinding is done using stones. Some farmers even carry their grain to Simkot to flour in modern mills.Recently, improved watermills have been set up in the Nalla River, which has somewhat reduced the time required to produce flour. There are currently five improved watermills, set up by the Humla Development Initiative Project, which have significantly reduced the drudgery of women. Apart from these, no modern processing tools are available in the VDC.Table 23. Post harvesting and processing methods of mandate crops 910Post-harvest handling and processing methodsAfter cutting, the crop is dried in the sun for 2-3 days and is then threshed by beating with a stick on rugs called Leeu 9 . Grinding is done using a stone. Improved watermills are presently being used to grind this crop into flour. Proso millet Panicles are cut and then heaped for 1-2 days (except panicles to be used as seed). This allows any unripe and green panicles to ripen and heat up, which makes further processing easier.After the heaping, the panicles are sun dried for 3 days before threshing. The process of heaping before drying and threshing allows the unripe grains to ripen and improves the taste of bhaat prepared from proso millet.Milling is done with okhals. Naked barley and barley Panicles are harvested with two small sticks known as ruinetha 10 and then threshed with an instrument known as a gyabree 11 . This is very time consuming and labour intensive work.Flour is made by grinding in the improved watermills.Panicles are cut with a sickle, and then kept in a heap for a few days. They are threshed by beating with a gyabree. Flour is made by grinding in the improved water mills.Panicles are harvested by hand. For large quantities, threshing is done by beating with a stick/ gyabree. For small quantities, the grain is trampled by feet for threshing.Threshed grains are milled in okhals.Panicles are cut along with the straw, leaving straw just 1 inch above the soil. They are dried for 2-3 days.Threshing is done by beating with gyabree or by trampling. Paddy is milled in an okhal to make rice. An average woman grinds 10-15 kg of a paddy in a day.For the purpose of making sel roti, rice is grinded in improved watermills. Both coarse and fine flour can be made in these mills.Threshing is done by trampling or by beating with sticks. Seto/Thado marse does not easily come off by trampling, and so is beaten with a stick.Mature plants are uprooted and dried in the sun for 1 month and then threshed with a gyabree.Source: Focus Group Discussion, transect walk and key informant interview 2014 8 Mortars used for husking and milling the grains 9Leeu is a home woven carpet. The thread used to weave this carpet is made up of either goat fur or Sheep fur. It is used as a threshing floor among many other uses. 10Ruinetha is a tool made up of two sticks of about 1.5 ft length joined close to one end. This tool is used to harvest the panicle of millets by pluck ing as the sticks are pulled towards the user. 11Gyabree is a tool used for threshing different crops. It is made up of a long handle (long stick about 2.5m long) and a flat head (made of a set of 5-7 small sticks about 1 m length) attached on an axle to allow 360° rotation at the end of the long handle. The small sticks in the flat head are bound together with strips of animal hide and increases the surface area when striking the panicles laid on the floor. Humla is among the most marginalized and economically disadvantaged districts in Nepal. Out of 75 districts, Humla ranks 73rd in terms of adult literacy rates and 75th in terms of human poverty index and undernourishment of children under 5 (Nepal Human Development Report 2014).Khas or Chhetri are the major residents of Chhipra followed by Thakuri, Dalit and Brahmin. In this already marginalized community, Dalits and women face further hardships from social and gender based discrimination. Dalits tend to have lower landholding, fewer livestock and food sufficiency compared to other groups. Gender-based discrimination negatively affects the health, wellbeing and empowerment of women and is epitomized by chhaupadi.The average household size in Chhipra is 6 and migration of family members for work is rare. This is in stark contrast to other project sites like Jungu in Dolakha and Ghanpokhara in Lamjung. Agriculture is the main source of income for most households, while Dalit households rely more on working on other people's farm for income. Food self-sufficiency is low with average selfsufficiency around 3-5 months a year in all food categories.Only 9,708 ha of Humla's 565,500 ha area is arable (Intensive Study and Research Centre, 2013) The average land ownership in Chhipra is 3.64 ropani or 0.18 ha per household, which is far lower than the national average of 0.70 ha per household (CBS 2013).The low average land holding size of the households is due to the partitioning of land in inheritance to sons every generation. The average landholding in Chhetri households is a ropani above the village average, while the average landholding in Thakuri and Brahmin households are a ropani below the village average. The average landholding of Dalit households is two ropani below the village average. Farmers with larger land holding usually maintain more landraces of the mandate crops. This is because the land owned by the farmers are distributed across different altitudes and environments that need different varieties.Livestock is an integral component of livelihoods in Chhipra. Livestock are reared for manure, milk, and draught purposes. In Chhipra and in Humla, livestock are raised in a transhumance system because of the cold temperature during winter. Some of household rear local cattle with very low milk production potentiality. There is a lack of proper care and management of the farm animals. Livestock is more common and multiple species are kept in Chhetri and Thakuri households, while Dalit and Brahmin households tend to have fewer livestock. Similar pattern is seen in terms of fruit tree holdings.Agricultural decisions are made jointly by men and women in most households (83%). Households mostly rely on family members for agriculture labour with 1.48 females and 1.37 males per household contributing on average. The work load is much heavier for women who are also more involved in agricultural activities than men. An in-depth understanding of the role of gender in diversity maintenance and genetic resource conservation is essential for designing local crop conservation strategies.All the families in Chhipra are residing in their place of origin and the residents have been growing the mandate crops for as long as they can remember. Farmers in Chhipra and in Humla value crops like buckwheat, finger millet, proso millet, foxtail millet and Marshi rice as these crops are historically intertwined with their food culture. Crops like finger millet and beans are grown in mixtures, especially by farmers with smaller land parcels. There are certain recipes transferred down to generations which have these mandate crops as their major ingredient. Reliance of farmers on traditional knowledge and practices is another factor that has helped maintain diverse landraces of mandate crops. Beans for an example are traditionally grown in mixtures.Farmers do not produce local crops in marketable scale due to lack of adequate land to grow, post-harvest handling and processing technologies. Farmers rely on informal seed system characterized by exchange of seeds between households during need. Farmers do not have access to good quality and diverse planting materials. Chhipra has no formal seed and inputs supplier. Humla itself has only two agro-vets in the district headquarters at Simkot. Awareness in farmers is very limited in pest and disease management. All of these have resulted in lower production despite of huge labour investment.Local institutions have only recently emerged and lack strong leadership abilities. Policies that favor conservation and promotion of local crop genetic diversity are lacking. These constraints have hindered conservation and promotion of local crops. Local Crop Project can play a vital role in addressing these issues.All mandate crops 11 are grown by majority of households showing that these crops are neglected only from the perspective of research and development. Even preliminary research on these crops could lead to great benefits for these high mountain farming communities.Chhipra has four settlement clusters or villages: Lekha, Nalla, Chhipra and Majha. These clusters differ from each other in terms of elevation and local micro-environment. Farmers have fragmented land parcels scattered at varying altitudes, slope aspect and distances. Farmers tend to grow landraces suitable to the micro-environment of their land parcel and hence, the diversity of crop landraces is encouraging. For instance, Nalla has irrigated lowlands where farmers grow diversity of cold tolerant rice.Household level management by farmers also shape the genetic diversity of local crops. Resource rich farmers have opportunity to select and maintain several landraces in their field. On the contrary, farmers with limited resources do not have such opportunity and put less effort to select and maintain landraces.Abiotic stresses such as chilling temperatures, drought, and infertile soil, are prevalent. Traditional landraces have evolved special characteristics that make them well adapted to these marginal environments. Incorporating these traits and their underlying genetics through breeding programmes and developing and promoting farmer-preferred varieties is one way to contribute to ensuring food security in Humla and other mountain districts. In addition, religious, cultural, and medicinal values of the crops are playing a crucial role in conservation of some landraces of local crops.Richness is a measure of the diversity available in an area. The extent of varietal diversity cannot be assessed only by farmer named varieties because the same variety may have different names depending upon locality (Rana et al, 2000). Hence, the very first step in accessing and characterizing local diversity with tools available such as diversity fairs, diversity block. During the process, farmer involvement is necessary as they can distinguish between varieties based on particular phenotypic characteristics and documenting this can be helpful in identifying the variety.Gene bank collections and studies have revealed that Nepal has a wide range of landraces of finger millet and rice. Rice has higher diversity as it is highly sensitive to climate and field level micro-climate. Joshi (2005) and Gupta et al. (1996) identified nearly 2500 rice landraces in Nepal. Fewer landraces have been identified for other mandate crops like foxtail millet, buckwheat, and barley. In case of Chhipra as well, rice has the highest community richness (14) followed by beans (10), finger millet (7) and naked barley (5). Some of the varieties that we recorded during the diversity fair and PRA activities but missed during the baseline survey indicate most households grow few varieties and rare ones grown by very few households were not captured by the survey.Evenness measures how evenly diversity is distributed in an area (i.e., its distribution pattern). The higher the value of the evenness index on a scale of 0-1, the more uniformly the diversity is distributed, which indicates that no variety or species is dominant over others. Higher evenness signifies greater stability and adaptability of the community. Evenness by area of the mandate crops in Chhipra suggest that in case of crops like cold tolerant rice, naked barley, beans and finger millet, no single variety is dominant over others. Whereas, in case of proso millet and buckwheat, single varieties are dominant over the others resulting low evenness value.Humla only has air transport and narrow foot trails connecting it to the rest of the country. Hence, there has been little influx of outside technology in farming. Farmers in Chhipra have rich traditional knowledge on mandate crop cultivation and management, which is yet to be well documented.All aspects of production, including land preparation, cultivation, harvesting, processing and storage are done in a traditional manner. Cropping in mixtures cereals and legumes is more common than in other parts of the country, while special handheld tools are used for the purposes of threshing rather than livestock. Plastic and glass bottles and as well as traditional vessels are used for storing seed. Mandate crops also have uses and recipes not common elsewhere.11 Hulled barley is one exception as farmers have preferred to grow naked barley over it.Despite its important role, traditional knowledge on the management of pests and diseases has not been sufficient. Anecdotally, appears that the issue of pest and disease damage used to be lower in the past but has been worsening with climate change in recent years. It is important to document the traditional practices and rationales before they become lost, while at the same time augmenting the traditional practices with new approaches.In developing countries, 60-100% of the seed sources are farmer managed, depending on the crop (Almekinders and Louwaars, 2002). Farmer managed seed systems have a significant role in allowing landraces/varieties to evolve in a local environment, thus making them important contributors to the management of global plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (FAO 1996).Among the mandate crops, 97% of mandate crops planted are from farm saved seeds. Dalits households are the only group that get more than 10% of their seed from relatives, neighbours and other sources. Great reliance on farm saved seed is mostly out of necessity as there is limited or no access to formal seed actors.With almost every household making independent seed saving and hence selection decisions on the crops they plant, there is continuing evolution of the crops being grown. However, conscious seed selection and storage is not practiced for all crops by all households. Combined with small land parcels and hence small populations these crops are grown in at the household level, there is the risk of genetic drift and hence the loss of useful traits even in traditional varieties.This highlights the germplasm collection of mandate crops conducted by the project as it will become an important foundation for further work. Approaches like grassroots breeding can identify better materials within the existing diversity. Improving access to these materials to farmers will help improve productivity, while access to breeders will bring greater success in subsequent plant breeding efforts.Apart from rice, the production and use of all other project mandate crops is decreasing. Farmers are increasingly purchasing more of the mandate crops. This is an indication that farmers are less attracted to farming as an occupation in the recent years. The two major factors influencing this trend are: availability of imported rice distributed by the Nepal Food Corporation at a subsidized rate, as well as increased and multiple risks in farming due to changing and unpredictable climate.Despite all these factors, mandate crops are crucial in social and cultural lives of the farmers as they are embedded in their food habit. Furthermore, there are limited alternative income and employment opportunities available locally other than farming. Hence, farmers already spend, even if reluctantly, a lot of time in farming. Access to better varieties and processing technologies would give more return on the efforts they already put in.Major constraints to conserve and use of traditional crop varieties are lack of sufficient crop genetic diversity, inaccessibility of crop genetic diversity to farmers, undervalued and underused traditional crops and inability to derive benefits from use of traditional crops (Jarvis et. al., 2011). In Humla, farmers have limited capacity building opportunities in terms of improving farming practices and principles.Inaccessibility of technology for cultivation, processing and storage and limited awareness on the values and benefits of local crops are other limiting factors. Due to the rugged topography and difficulty in transporting modern equipment, mechanization in agriculture is very difficult. Land preparation is done manually and harvesting is done using simple handheld tools.There are five improved watermills set up along the Nalla River, all of which are supported by the Humla Development Initiative project. Apart from these, no modern processing tools are available in Chhipra. A lack of processing technology is a common constraint on all mandate crops and specifically increases drudgery on women.With only two agro-vet suppliers in the district and none in the VDC, farmers have practically no access to inputs like chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and insecticides. District Agriculture Development Office imports organic fertilizer but the amount is very limited and is difficult to access.In geographically inaccessible places like Humla, improving the understanding of farming principles may be important as this can enable farmers to take a more scientific problem-solving approach rather than adopting technologies that are hard to find or ill-suited for their conditions and scale.Chhipra is drought prone region with very cold winter. It has short season for summer crops as temperature begin to fall soon after September. Early maturity and drought tolerance are the desired traits in the mandate crops. Chhipra lies in a mountain ecosystem and is more vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Changing temperatures and rainfall patterns will inevitably erode the genetic resources of the VDC. Heavy snowfalls, droughts and rising temperatures are the biggest issues the community has faced in recent years. Increasing rates of disease and pest occurrence have already posed a threat to traditional landraces like Kali Marshi rice.Because Chhipra is situated close to the district headquarters, news and information reaches the VDC quickly, thus increasing the awareness of the people compared to other parts of Humla. Various training and awareness campaigns in different sectors are regularly held in Chhipra, thus increasing the level of awareness on various issues. However, the awareness on conservation and use of local crops and social capital building for collective action agricultural biodiversity management remains limited, as there are few organisations that work on this.In general farmers have a favourable view on conservation of local crops of Karnali. Almost a third of respondents think it is necessary to promote local crops being grown in their area. The historical, social, and religious importance may be the reasons behind this sentiment. Among the mandate crops, amaranth and foxtail millet were not considered to be as important for conservation by the respondents.Very few respondents are aware of the government's initiative to buy local crops from Karnali and sell in urban markets as an incentive for continued cultivation of local crops. Hence, the implementation of this initiative has not been successful so far. While, the local government bodies, like the District Agriculture Development Office, Humla, have been involved in the overall improvement of agriculture production in the district, there is no focused programme to promote mandate crops per se.Due to the limited communication and transportation infrastructure, DADO does not have enough human resources to serve all the farmers especially in remote areas of the district. It is also not easy for farmers to visit the DADO and Agriculture Service Centres due to the need for long hikes.Most community members were not aware of Farmers' Field School (FFS) training or the use and importance of community seed banks. Radio is the primary source of information for farmers. There are two FM stations that air programmes from Simkot. Television is not popular in Chhipra. As a result, the awareness level of the community is very low and is limited to the information from radio and organisations working in the VDC.Our surveys found that only four percent of farmers had received training, and in all cases it focused on rice cultivation. This implies that farmers' access to training and technologies in mandate crops is very low. Though the site is not so far from the district headquarter geographically, it is far behind in access to improved tools and technologies that could make harvesting and processing of the mandate crops easier. This is because the only form of transportation is walking down the hills.Chhipra has two cooperatives directly involved in local community welfare. There are also several farmers' groups in different wards. There is a Community Seed Bank supported by the NCCSP (LAPA), but it is not functioning. The NCCSP (LAPA) has also supported processing mills with flouring and oil extraction functions. The mill has not been used to its full potential.Promotion of local crops has tremendous potential in Humla, especially considering the limited work done on these crops so far. Increasing production, improving processing techniques and enhancing marketing through value addition of the local crops creates opportunities for the farmers. Some promising avenues are highlighted below.• Mandate crops have a major role in food security in Chhipra. Improving access to better selections as well as new varieties using simple approaches as grassroots breeding and participatory variety selection can contribute to increasing productivity. • Documentation and dissemination of local recipes and food culture as well as new recipes can demonstrate the potential uses of these crops. Increasing the nutritional awareness of these crops can emphasize their health benefits. Together, these initiatives can contribute to improving the food habit of people which at present is being more inclined to consumption of subsidized rice.• Market outlets of the local products are being prioritized by the government as well. A synergistic approach in developing such outlets can link rural farmers with the market motivating to grow and sell surplus for small income.• Humla is the gateway to Mansarovar pilgrimage. Thousands of tourists from Nepal and India travel to Mansarovar through Humla. Promoting local recipes and products linking with local hotels have a huge potential of increasing benefits to the community.Agriculture is the main source of income for most households in Chhipra, followed by agriculture labour and business. Although agriculture and agricultural labour are the main occupations of the people in Chhipra, the food sufficiency status is very poor, with sufficiency values of cereals, leafy vegetables, other vegetables, and pulses being less than 4 months. Dailt households and women are especially worse off.Chhipra is characterized by rugged topography and a dry climate. The difficult terrain has hindered the technological advancement in crop production, processing, and value addition. Rice, wheat, naked barley, finger millet, proso millet, beans, potato, and buckwheat are the major crops grown in the VDC. The farming system is rain-fed and has low external inputs yielding low production insufficient to meet the food demand of the VDC.The site does harbor reasonable diversity of mandate crops with 55 varieties of 8 mandate crops. Of these, most (52 out of 55) are local landraces, emphasizing the potential of great productivity gains even with preliminary research. Taste, yield, and socioeconomic factors are the major reasons that drive farmers to cultivate and conserve local landraces. The mandate crops have their own social, cultural, economic, and religious importance in the VDC. However, distribution of subsidized white rice by the Nepal Food Corporation in the recent years has reduced the incentive for farmers to grow their own food.Changing climate experienced in terms of increasing temperature and unpredictable weather patterns has been a threat. Drought in recent years has caused crop failure. Occurrence of diseases and pests in recent times has been increasing.Isolation of Humla has led to preservation of traditional knowledge on production and management of mandate crops out of necessity. However, existing traditional knowledge on crop protection is insufficient especially when it comes to disease management. There is a need to complement useful traditional knowledge with new scientific knowledge for improving productivity and reducing drudgery.Seed management is traditional and the seed system is informal. Farmers preserve the mandate crop seeds themselves and exchange with their neighbours and relatives in need. The major constraint in production and marketing of mandate crops is the lack of appropriate post-harvest processing tools. Processing of the mandate crops is a major source of drudgery for women.Although the community awareness is increasing on issues of gender equity, sanitation, health and education, there is still a long way to go.The promotion and conservation of local crops has also been limited due to the absence of agencies working for this purpose. The presence of multiple traditional crop landraces for all mandate crops indicates the potential for promotion and conservation of those crops through the Local Crop Project. The importance given by farmers to these crops due to social, cultural, and religious causes is another positive remark.The village also has local institutions (cooperatives, NGOs, farmers' groups) involved to some extent in agriculture, but they are not adequately trained to undertake conservation and promotion efforts for the traditional mountain crops. Local Crop Project can play significant role in strengthening the capacity of these local institutions and networking with DADO, and other stakeholders in the district. The major areas of intervention will be improving production, processing, and marketing opportunities of the local crops.Understanding the production constraints of traditional crop diversity is the key to developing suitable interventions at the local level (Jarvis et al., 2011). This baseline study has attempted to understand the on-farm diversity of mandate crops, farmers access to information and seeds, traditional management and processing practices and the socioeconomic context. This baseline study has teased out the possible constraints for the production and conservation of local crops and the following areas of interventions are identified:• Documentation and selection within existing diversity: The portfolio of diversity of mandate crops readily available to the farmers in Chhipra is limited. Very few varieties were found for buckwheat, naked barley, foxtail millet and amaranth. Diversity fairs and varietal catalogs with photographs can document traditional knowledge and raise awareness of available diversity. Participatory Seed Exchange (PSE) can also be a low-cost approach to facilitate seed and knowledge exchange for existing rare varieties. Grassroot breeding can help identify and popularize best lines from the existing population and serve as the basis for future plant breeding for the region.• Introduction of new diversity: Promising varieties from outside the local community including accessions from the genebank can be tested in diversity blocks and popularized using diversity kits, informal research, and development (IRD) kits or participatory variety selection.• Addressing agronomic constraints: This baseline study shows that the existing level of traditional knowledge and processing technologies are not adequate to address the needs of the community. Augmentation of scientific principles of agronomic practices and new technologies (varieties, processing, etc.) are needed to improve yield and reduce drudgery. Thus, identifying the agronomic constraints, developing technologies to overcome them and demonstrating them for wider adaptation is a potential area of intervention. Mechanization using small tools and machineries are the need at present in the context of decreasing labour for agriculture.• Using diversity for disease management: Disease pest occurrence is a major problem in Chhipra. For an example, Marshi rice is very popular among the farmers but continuously suffers huge losses to blast. In isolated sites like Humla the economic threshold for farmers accepting pest damage in their crops is higher as the cost of protection techniques is high or not available. Hence use of intraspecific diversity of mandate crops could be a promising and cost-effective way for managing pests and diseases.• Value chain study and capacity building: Availability of subsidized rice has reduced the incentive for farmers to grow crops for self-sufficiency of food. Hence a study on improving market linkages for crops produced in Karnali is needed to restore economic incentives for farming. Value addition processes like cleaning, grading, processing, and branding can help promote the local crops by making them attractive in the market. Nutritional analysis of the local crops which can clearly demonstrate their nutritional importance can be a way forward. Local crop project can enhance the capacity of the farming communities in regard of value chain concept and value addition techniques. Awareness raising and capacity building of farmers and local communities is needed.• Social capital building: Social capital building and mobilization of local institutions through awareness raising, capacity building and community led activity implementation should be a key approach throughout the project. Diversity Field School (DFS) can be the forum to build capacity of the farming communities on importance of biodiversity, techniques of insect pest management and technology for improved production and processing. Community Seed Bank can be another major social capital which can help them conserve their local crops and make income from them as well.• Thank you so much for your valuable time and information."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9cbb2704040b5aa826d779e7b6c876a8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/472bb67e-11e9-4d3c-881f-c2899fb72daf/retrieve","id":"-709194038"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1744a5be-a62c-4ba7-a063-21c33334c207","content":"La aeroponía es una opción en producción de semilla pre básica de papa [2], siendo una alternativa al uso de Bromuro de Metilo [4] desde el año 2005 por parte del CIP. Las papas nativas en la zona de los andes son importantes para la alimentación y sustento económico familiar.i) Determinar el rendimiento de 10 variedades de papas nativas bajo un sistema aeropónico; y ii) Evaluar la rentabilidad de los tratamientos evaluados.El experimento se llevó a cabo en el invernadero de la Dirección Sub Regional Agraria Andahuaylas, Distrito de Kishuará, provincia de Andahuaylas, Región Apurímac, durante el periodo de Octubre 2012 a Junio 2013. Los tratamientos constituyeron las variedades: Puka Aju Suyto, Huayro, Peruanita, Q'eq'orani, Puka duraznillo, Yana Shuito, Camotillo, Wenccos, Q'ompis, Amarilla tumbay. La unidad experimental estuvo formada por 12 plantas. Los tratamientos se organizaron en un diseño de bloques completos al azar con 3 repeticiones. Se trasplantaron plantas acondicionadas y al cabo de un mes de trasplante se realizó la labor de aporque. Desde la primera cosecha se realizaron cosechas secuenciales cada 15 días. La principal variable evaluada fue número de mini tubérculos por planta separados en 2 categorías: menores a 5 g, e iguales o mayores a 5 g. En la evaluación económica se calculó la rentabilidad de la producción total.El número de tubérculos por planta menores a 5 g, obtuvo diferencias altamente significativas (P < 0,01) para variedades. Los resultados de la prueba de diferencia mínima significativa (LSD), mostraron 4 rangos en el primer rango se encuentra la variedad Q'eq'orani la cual obtuvo el mayor promedio (15 tubers<5g/ plt); compartieron el último rango las variedades Camotillo y YanaShuito con 6 y 5 tubers<5g/plt respectivamente. Los resultados de la presente investigación contrasta con [1], que concluyen que la cosecha temprana, con intervalos de tiempo muy cortos, incrementa el número de tubérculos <5 g. El número de tubérculos por planta mayores a 5 g, obtuvo diferencias altamente significativas (P < 0,01) para variedades. Los resultados de la prueba LSD, mostraron 7 rangos, en el primer rango se encuentra la variedad Q'eq'orani la cual obtuvo el mayor promedio (89 tubers>5g/ plt); en el último rango se encuentra la variedad Yana Shuito con 28 tubers>5g/plt. La rentabilidad varió entre 157.74% (variedad Yana Shuito) a 709.48% (variedad Q'eq'orani). Variedades con rentabilidad mayor a 300% son: Q'eq'orani, Huayro Peruanita, Duraznillo y Amarilla Tumbay. Las variedades Wenccos, Q'ompis, Puka Aju Suyto, Camotillo y Yana Shuito tienen rentabilidad menor a 300%.Con los datos de este estudio se concluye que la mejor variedad nativa para producir tubérculos bajo aeroponía es Q'eq'orani, al tener el mejor rendimiento de tubérculos y rentabilidad."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/9299202084.json b/main/part_2/9299202084.json
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"5a628ad1-7b08-44b0-bb9c-486b5bb9a920","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/9313654238.json b/main/part_2/9313654238.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..8e0fb9edba39d7221b6254aa57791456a11b6652
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"56c998571386deb467e975c0cb186643","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d65d6631-0586-4e8c-956c-ff8a262563f0/retrieve","id":"1791595033"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"61be2173-aba5-4372-a5f9-004b68cfe341","content":"Phenotyping Urochloa humidicola genotypes against spittlebug Aeneolamia varia (Hemiptera: Cercopidae): An experimental comparison between digital image analysis and visual evaluation  (Parsa et al. 2011). This method has been successful, as shown by the high and fast genetic gain achieved by the Urochloa breeding program (Miles et al. 2006). » Digital image analysis (DIA), has been used to maximize the accuracy of data collection from quantitative traits like yield and resistance to biotic or abiotic stress (Negrão et al. 2017).Optimize our phenotyping process in Uh to detect spittlebug resistance by comparing two evaluation methods under greenhouse conditions.Plants: 24 genotypes from Urochloa humidicola were infested with spittlebug nymph (Aeneolamia varia).[1] Visual evaluation: Visual damage percent (VDP; 0 to 100% of area affected).[2] Digital image analysis. Yellow area percentage (YAP) and Excees of greenness calculated using ImageJ.Evaluation time: VDP and YAP were conducted at 0, 7, 14, 21, 28 and, 35 DAI and used to calculate respective area under disease progress curve AUDPC1 and AUDPC2.where X i = VDS or YAP at the ith evaluation (X 0 = 0), t i = time in days from infestation to the ith evaluation (t 0 = 0), and n = number of evaluations.[1] Damage growth curve/genotype.[2] Lin's concordance correlation (CCC) calculated between VDP and YAP values using the epi.ccc function in the epiR package (Stevenson 2012).[3] Broad-sense heritability (H 2 ) or repeatability (Piepho and Möhring 2007) for AUDPC1 and AUDPC2 with AsReml 4.1 (Gilmour et al. 2015).[4] In order to corroborate interactions [genotypes, treatments (infested and uninfested plants) and evaluation method] a three-way ANOVA was made at 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 days after infestation for damage percent variable.3) Interactions between genotype (G), evaluation method (M) and treatments (T; consisting on infested and no infested), showed statistically significant differences in G-T interaction at 21 (F = 4.1, p <0.001), 28 (F = 7.6, p <0.001) and 35 (F = 7.7, p <0.001) DAI, meanwhile G-M and G-T-M were not significant, showing that both eval. methods provide similar information. 4) Heritability value from AUDPC1 (visual evaluation) was 0.73, while from AUDPC2 (DIA) was 0.76. This suggests that AUDPC calculated through DIA have more precision and accuracy. 5) ANOVA made only with infested plants data, showed statistically significant differences among genotypes for AUDPC1 (F = 3.8, p <0.001, LSD α = 0.05 = 120.8) and AUDPC2 (F = 4.23, p <0.001, LSD α = 0.05 = 139.1) (Fig 1).This   Digital imagen analysis is an appropriated technique to detect spittlebug resistance in Urochloa humidicola. This methodology has significant advantages over visual evaluation, as: 1) high throughput technique, 2) high precision and accuracy, 3) imagen information is processed by a software which can work from autonomous form, 4) Statistically is similar to visual evaluation method, 5) multiple variables can be obtain in only one evaluation, 6) variables obtained have continuous values and, 7) low cost.  1) The genotypes evaluated exhibited different growth damage curves.2) Lin's concordance correlation coefficient showed that digital image evaluation reproduces it with an accuracy of 0.81 (95% CI 0.79 − 0.82). "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/9313705256.json b/main/part_2/9313705256.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f9b6aad9f1b3e859d36d2fab9b5ea8721fd102e9
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"872360c376d69c72d4b317d9be8a9e65","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/261682cc-5593-4fbb-9806-f1b871d5ecbb/retrieve","id":"-613552193"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b4c7df3f-a65c-4f46-befd-8437cc47d7dd","content":"• Huge heterogeneity+ landless systems! Robinson et al., 2011 Impacts of CC on Livestock• Hazards/stresses:• Δ CO 2 , temperature, precipitation • Variability and extreme events• Direct impact  Need for more livestock specific assessments (IPCC AR5)• Case studies and local/national observations exist but little consolidation in regional and global assessments• Very little information available of CC impact on feed resources at regional level• Climate models are not well suited for pastures and rangelands productivity• Some first tentative analysis exist • Adaptation options will be needed if households are to cope with the multiple (inter-related) changes• Risk and vulnerability:• We're living in coupled socio-ecological systems 13Vulnerability: the predisposition of the system to the burden of CC, considering spatial and temporal differences in exposure, susceptibility and lack of resilience. Vulnerability largely rests within the condition and dynamics of the coupled socio-ecological system exposed to CC.Risk: probability of being negatively affected by climate change. It is a function of the climate change and the SES's vulnerability to it. This is in turn influenced by the exposure, susceptibility and lack of resilience. Where are most poor livestock keepers likely to be affected by CC? heavily reliant on natural resources• It involves individuals' behaviour as well as collective behaviour and the interaction between them.• It comprises activities which intervene either on the hazard or the vulnerability component of risk.• Is successful if it reduces the risks without compromising economic, social and environmental sustainability.• Context-specific:• Genetic improvement (productivity, heat-tolerance, disease-resistance, …)• Animal health • Feeds and forages:• improved forages, conservation, fodder banks, supplementation, land restoration, re-seeding of pastures The impact of SI policies in Rwanda   • Soil aggregates are groups of soil particles that bind to each other more strongly than to adjacent particles.• Aggregate stability refers to the ability of soil aggregates to resist disintegration when disruptive forces associated with tillage and water or wind erosion are applied.• Aggregate stability (e.g., MWD) is an indicator of organic matter content, biological activity, and nutrient cycling in soil.  "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/9320109976.json b/main/part_2/9320109976.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..53456e395273790fedbcd6d15c897118f06cf094
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3f9f69ba647bf79b83270642765b79b7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/de42041c-e2d5-4ca2-8710-01b4588db93e/retrieve","id":"-60631237"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ced44c1f-5fd3-44b7-b441-9b75c2ab8174","content":"The results allow us to extend insight over the whole of the tropics and subtropics far beyond the original project sites. The results express, in map form, where project specialists believe success is likely and, conversely, where it is not. This is done in a transparent way, so that the domain results can be reviewed and revised, if required. At the very least this is a valuable process to help understand the full potential of change deriving from research and the factors that are likely to promote or obstruct adoption. Spatial analysis is part of a process of looking for potential winners."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/9323434321.json b/main/part_2/9323434321.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..93717b461a6b709776cc3130f737a72d4a65a23a
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+++ b/main/part_2/9323434321.json
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"72c8982a-d8be-4425-88cd-35dbd767d7dd","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/9325588966.json b/main/part_2/9325588966.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ae2311c4a78615e825564807d5de58299c964274
--- /dev/null
+++ b/main/part_2/9325588966.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c0966198b2b53fe0e10b5d857e161d51","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/2bebb4f8-65fd-410d-9514-582f5223562d/retrieve","id":"1322404593"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7011ee47-22a3-4e59-b9c2-1da2965d4bd6","content":"» Virtual events are becoming part of what now is called \"new normality\" and, therefore, all lessons and approaches that help improving the experience of the participants are key to increasing the success of such activities. Of highest importance are i) the use of a robust platform for collecting data and reach users; ii) a secure and user-friendly software to manage the meeting and a mainstream subsidiary platform to reach wider audiences; and iii) a multi-disciplinary team dedicated to manage each aspect of the event: registration, attendees, collecting questions and tech support. » When selecting the contents and speakers, not only the level of expertise of the panelist needs to be considered, but also their communication skills and expertise with visual resources. Time management is a critical aspect of webinars, and the proposed schedule should be followed as much as possible. » With these promising results and a big database of people interested in a sustainable cattle sector, the MGS-Col could strengthen its role as facilitator for a regional dialogue, and contribute to the strengthening of the public policy framework and the formulation of high impact projects for sustainable intensification.GANADERIA SOSTENIBLEMayo 12 -Agosto 27 de 2020» The Colombian Roundtable for Sustainable Cattle (MGS-Col in Spanish) is a multi-actor platform currently comprised of more than 60 members, representing institutions at the national and international levels from both the private and the public sector that support the transformation towards a sustainable cattle sector. » Since its inception in 2013, the MGS-Col mainly focused on face-to-face activities, such as meetings for information exchange or capacity building events in the field. » The declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic by the World Health Organization and the subsequent enactment of lockdowns by the Colombian Government obliged the MGS-Col to consider new approaches for reaching its stakeholders, such as a broader use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).Scaling-out knowledge: how the pandemic helped spreading the voice for a more sustainable cattle sector  This Four member institutions of the MGS-Col, namely the FAO, the National University of Colombia, the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) and Alliance Bioversity-CIAT, decided to organize a virtual seminar series on sustainable beef and dairy systems and value chains.The event was comprised by four modules, each with a weekly seminar during four weeks: 1. Greenhouse gases; 2. Biodiversity, landscapes, and ecosystem services; 3. Markets and consumers; and 4. Agricultural extension.Each module invited 2-3 experts per seminar from different institutions to present their (scientific) advances and approaches, and after that, a space was opened for questions from the audience.Social media and networks were critical in the dissemination of the invitations, such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp groups of Communities of Practice, and Newsletters. The joint work between the institutions' communications staff and organizers allowed to reach a broad audience.Initially the seminar series were aimed at the 53 member institutions to keep the exchange active and build capacities, but once the invitation started to spread, it was massively shared amongst different stakeholders from the Colombian cattle sector. More than 200 people connected to the first webinar, exceeding the limit of the platform used. Also, Zoombombing (the unwanted, disruptive intrusion into a video-conference call) was a rising threat, as the invitation was viralized.With the premise of providing the best experience to the interested people, the Steering Committee took action quickly: the webinars were migrated to a platform with more capacity, and the events were broadcasted through a subsidiary platform that allows for more control by the organizers. Also, the technical staff was expanded and specific responsibilities were assigned.The importance of the topics and the viralization of the initiative gathered people from 23 countries. In total 1,962 people registered, and the initiative had an outstanding record of assistance, with more than 23,000 total views (Table 1).The feedback received from the attendees was very positive:• In general, did the presenters use clear and entertaining language? 66% responded \"Pretty much\"• What is the level of knowledge of the presenters regarding the exposed topics? 75% responded \"Very high\"• How was the time management by the presenters? 62% responded \"Very adequate\"• How likely is it that you will participate in a new event with the same presenters? 82% responded \"Very likely\"• Do you think the objectives of the event were met? 79% responded \"Totally\" About 26% of the audience were cattle producers, reaching a key stakeholder group and contributing to strengthening their capacities regarding the implementation of sustainable production technologies (Figure 1). "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7821108a10d61ad76c335a04a8b00dec","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e5cdf8bf-636f-4ff4-934f-40d24e5ecaf3/retrieve","id":"993158811"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5de5baa5-acf0-485c-9049-dbd7ec44a2b3","content":"The CIAT Rice Program, in collaboration with the NARES, has made significant progress in improving the crop's yields, pest tolerance, and nutritional quality. The Program has also contributed 60% of the 400 varieties so far released by LAC NARES.• Materials adapted to various rice-cropping systems (irrigated, low-input, favored, and savanna upland) and breeding nurseries for diverse ecosystems. • Improved crop management has led to higher yields and lower costs, thereby increasing the competitiveness of thousands of farmers in several countries. The CIAT Rice Program has several major areas of activities:• Integrated pest management Contact: g.m.mosquera@cgiar.org; g.prado@cgiar.orgFor pathogens: Genetic and phenotypic characterization of Magnaporthe oryzae and Burkholderia glumae population.For rice: Identification of effective sources of resistance based on the composition of the pathogen population.Contact: mathias.lorieux@ird.fr; j.tohme2@cgiar.orgThese tools include T-DNA and BAC libraries, phenotypic and molecular databases, strategies for bridge-building between rice species, marker technologies and highthroughput genotyping, universal core genetic map, and genetic analysis software.Contact: c.p.martinez@cgiar.org; c.grenier@cgiar.org; e.a.torres@cgiar.orgRice is a major crop for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). 1 The challenges of producing rice in an eco-efficient and sustainable way in a changing environment and for a growing population are enormous.To tackle them, we have adopted a multidisciplinary approach and actively collaborates with strategic partners, both regional and international.With LAC NARES, CIAT is improving rice lines for irrigated and upland conditions, using recurrent selection. Databases of varietal releases and parentage of CIAT crosses are available. • Use of wild and African cultivated rice species as sources of genetic variability Contact: c.p.martinez@cgiar.org; mathias.lorieux@ird.frThe genetic base of LAC rice is being broadened by introgressing wild alleles into cultivated rice and constructing interspecific bridges with the genetically distant Oryza glaberrima.Contact: m.ishitani@cgiar.org; mathias.lorieux@ird.fr; c.grenier@cgiar.org; j.rane@cgiar.org; e.a.torres@cgiar.org Integrating these platforms to study the genetics and transgenesis of rice lines for increased resistance to drought, hoja blanca virus, and sheath blight; and for water and nitrogen-use efficiency.• FLAR-CIAT: a strategic alliance Contact: g.zorrilla@cgiar.org; l.berrio@cgiar.org; e.pulver@cgiar.org This public-private network covers 15 LAC countries. Together with CIAT, it develops the region's rice sector, introducing new technologies, including improved rice varieties, water-harvesting methods, and farmer-tofarmer technology transfer programs.• Rice lines with high iron and zinc contents.• Exploring natural variation in rice.• Developing interspecific bridges to give full access to the African rice allele pool. • Promoting research on stable global food supplies. • Management of the mite-bacterium-fungus complex in Central America and Colombia. • Multi-country capacity-building on biosafety for LAC. • Water and nitrogen use efficiency.• MAS for resistance to hoja blanca and the rice planthopper (Tagosodes orizicolus).• MAS for tolerance to cold temperatures.• Introgression of traits of agronomic importance for developing improved germplasm for Colombian conditions. • Hybrid technologies for heterosis in rice and related cereals."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"14f585c7ea2b58fe845e3dd767cf8bb9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cf03ef26-86c5-4dfb-aadb-dea27d550ac0/retrieve","id":"351277305"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"45f0dd0f-bbe8-4a6f-8b47-20b66bae649d","content":"Though cocoa agroforestry systems (CAF) support cocoa yield, speciesspecific information is limited to advance CAF adoption.• We assessed the impacts of eight common shade tree species on soil fertility and yield compared with unshaded control plots. • The concentration of soil available P varied across the species, while soil acidity was affected by shade tree sizes. • Cedrela odorata, Khaya ivorensis, Terminalia superba, and Millicia excelsa promoted cocoa production than the unshaded plots. • There is the need for careful selection of shade tree species for adoption in CAF towards yield sustainability.Yields and revenues from cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) support some 6 million smallholder farmers who cultivate the crop on about 10.2 million ha in over 60 humid tropical countries (Asante et al., 2021;Somarriba and Lopez-Sampson, 2018). In West Africa, where more than two-thirds of the world's cocoa is produced (Abdulai et al., 2020), current cocoa yields are 80-95% below potential production levels (Asante et al., 2021) estimated at 1000 kg ha − 1 and 1900 kg ha − 1 for on-farm and production on experimental fields, respectively (Bymolt et al., 2018). Major causes for the shortfall include increased temperature and erratic rainfall (Läderach et al., 2013), poor agronomic practices (Asante et al., 2021), pests and diseases, ageing cocoa farms, poor soil conditions, high cost of inputs, and low quality genetic materials (Anim- Kwapong and Frimpong, 2004;Vaast and Somarriba, 2014;Wessel and Quist-Wessel, 2015).The adoption of cocoa agroforestry systems (CAS), thus the deliberate integration of regenerated or planted forest or fruit tree species in cocoa farms for ecological and socio-economic benefits, has been recommended to improve cocoa health and yields (Asare et al., 2014;Asare and David, 2011;Tscharntke et al., 2011;Wessel and Quist-Wessel, 2015). In West Africa for example, cocoa yields were higher in CAS compared to cultivation in full sun under low inputs usage (Asare et al., 2016). CAS is known to enhance soil fertility and nutrient uptake, improve pest and disease control, and provide alternative income source for farmers (Isaac et al., 2007;Vaast and Somarriba, 2014;Vaast et al., 2015). The system further helps to conserve biodiversity, promote carbon sequestration, and increase food security in addition to serving as sources for collecting plant materials for traditional medications (Asare et al., 2014;Tscharntke et al., 2011;Wade et al., 2010).Contrary to the afore-mentioned positive contributions of shade trees, some studies (Armengot et al., 2016;Ahenkorah et al., 1987;Cunningham and Arnold, 1962) have shown higher cocoa yields under low or no-shade conditions but with intense inputs (fertilizers and agrochemicals). Also, hybrid cocoa genotype cultivation on previously forested areas were reported to yield higher but for a shorter life span, and with high input demands under full sun conditions compared with CAS (Asare et al., 2019;Obiri et al., 2007). Babin et al. (2010) and Adjinah and Opoku (2010) identified some shade trees e.g. Cola nitida in CAS as alternative hosts for pest and disease. In addition, Ryan et al. (2009), Ruf (2011) and Smith Dumont et al. (2014) reported physical damages when shade trees or their heavy branches fall on cocoa trees.These contrasting results have led some farmers to remove shade trees on their farms due to perceived competition for light, water, and nutrients. Some authors prescribe the introduction of superior hybrid cocoa genotypes as the measure to improve yields and enhance income generation despite the heavy dependence on external inputs and strong negative environmental footprint (Gockowski and Sonwa, 2011;Ruf, 2011;Vaast and Somarriba, 2014). The argument has been made that, though cocoa cultivation under full-sun systems ensures early yield increases, the practice compromises environmental integrity and yield sustainability. Even though some farmers subscribe to the practice due to the initial yield advantages compared to CAS (Anga, 2014;Carr and Lockwood, 2011;Tondoh et al., 2015), most cocoa farms in West Africa are still cultivated under conditions of relatively low inputs (Bymolt et al., 2018;Asante-Poku and Angelucci, 2013). There may be unexplored advantages associated with combining the right shade tree species with cocoa regarding soil fertility improvement and yield advancement.Shade tree species in cocoa systems vary in diversity due to farmers' preferences and perceived advantages (Graefe et al., 2017). Tree species have different morphology and physiology that affect their interactions with cocoa plants. Several studies including Asare (2005), Graefe et al. (2017) and Abdulai et al. (2018) have assessed farmers' knowledge on shade and the importance of shade tree species in cocoa agroforestry. Nevertheless, comparisons or combination of farmers' knowledge and scientific assessment of the impacts of specific shade tree species is limited. Asare et al. (2016) and Dawoe et al. (2010) identified this gap and recommended such studies to better tackle and explain interactions between shade trees and cocoa. While some species may positively influence yield, longevity of cocoa trees, availability of nutrients, and resilience to climate change (Graefe et al., 2017), others may compete with the crop for light, water and nutrients (Wartenberga et al., 2017;Isaac et al., 2007). To further our understanding of the role of shade trees in cocoa productivity, we hypothesize that shade trees species differ in their influence on soil fertility and yields of cocoa, some having positive impacts and some having negative impacts. Therefore, we examined how eight commonly retained forest tree species (Alstonia boonei, Cedrela odorata, Cola nitida, Khaya ivorensis, Milicia excelsa, Terminalia ivorensis, Terminalia superba and Triplochiton scleroxylon) impacted soil fertility and yield in CAS compared with full-sun cocoa systems in the Western region of Ghana.We conducted the study in three cocoa growing communities in two administrative districts in the Western region of Ghana. The communities were Asankragua (5 • 49.885 ′ N; 2 • 26.525 ′ W) and Nkrankrom (5 • 42.392 ′ N; 2 • 24.203 ′ W) both in the Wassa Amenfi West District, and Achichire (5 • 41.633 ′ N; 2 • 18.341 ′ W) in the Wassa Amenfi Central District (Fig. 1). The districts are located in the Moist Evergreen forest vegetation zone (Hall and Swaine, 1976), characterized by a semiequatorial climate with relatively high annual rainfall (1500 mm -1750 mm), moderate daily temperatures (22-34 • C) and high relative humidity (70-90%). Two rainy periods, the major (April -July), and the minor (September-October) define \"main crop\" and \"light crop\" cocoa seasons experienced in the districts. Both districts contribute a significant proportion of the total regional cocoa beans for export.Soils in the districts developed from the Birimian system (middle Pre-Cambrian) (Adu, 1992), and consist of argillaceous sediments metamorphosed into phyllites (GSS, 2014). They are classified as Forest Ochrosol-Oxysol Intergrades (Brammer, 1962), with high nitrogen, available Ca 2+ and organic matter contents (Asare et al., 2016). Cocoa farming with patches of teak (Tectona grandis), rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) plantations, timber logging and recent illegal gold mining dominate the land uses in the two districts.We collected data from 10 cocoa fields selected as experimental sites during the 2018/2019 to 2020/2021 crop seasons, starting April 2018 and ending February 2021. The seasons comprised three 'main crop' periods (September -January), and three 'light crop' periods (February -August). The fields were established on previous forest lands and purposively selected based on similarity in management practices, age (8-28 years), common source of planting material and willingness of farmers to participate. Cocoa trees on the fields were pruned two times annually with regular removal of mistletoe (Tapinanthus bangwensis), and the application of inorganic fertilizers (125-165 kg ha − 1 yr − 1 of NPK 0-22-18) and between 5.6 and 8.0 L ha − 1 of pesticides (insecticides and fungicides).We selected eight shade tree species (Table 1; Fig. 2) for assessment based on farmers' knowledge and preferences through informal interviews, and a previous study by Graefe et al. (2017). The species included both species considered as \"desirable\" and \"undesirable\" from the view point of enhancing cocoa production (Asare, 2005). Undesirable species from Malvaceae family are believed to be alternative hosts for the cocoa mirid (Sahlbergella singularis Hagl. and Distantiella theobroma Distant) (Babin et al., 2010) that may cause considerable yield losses. Apart from Cedrela odorata which was solely planted or introduced by the farmers, the other species were from either remnants of previous forests or deliberately planted by farmers. Expert knowledge together with farmers' assistance and reference from \"Photo-guide for the forest trees of Ghana\" (Hawthorne and Gyakari, 2006) were used to identify shade tree species. We ensured that each field had four to eight of the selected species which were tagged and used as reference point in the center to demarcate circular plots with radius 10 m from the trunk. Each plot was at least 30 m from other plots to avoid plot overlaps during the study.Both shade trees and cocoa trees within plots were identified with unique codes, and their diameter at breast height (dbh, assessed at 1.3 m) measured in meters using a diameter tape (Table 1). Cocoa density was obtained by counts of cocoa trees per plot (Table 1), and cocoa tree distance to shade tree measured with surveyors' tape. The crown area (CA) of shade trees was determined by measurement of crown diameter (CD) across four different directions of the crown spread, i.e. distances between two drip points of the shade trees through the center (Blozan, 2006). Average CD was calculated and used to determine CA (Asare et al., 2016), which was then used to establish the proportion of plot shaded in relation to the total plot size.For comparison, one to two unshaded circular control plots (radius = 10 m) in open locations within each field were demarcated. On the shaded plots, cocoa density and dbh were measured, and plot area determined using plot radius (Table 1). During the period of study, each field was exempted from fertilizer and pesticide applications. The selected tree species and unshaded plots are hereafter referred to as treatments.Soils were sampled at two random points in each plot with an auger at 0 -30 cm depth at the beginning (April 2018) and end of the field data collection (February 2021). We bulked the samples, labelled them according to plots, and transported them to the Ecological Laboratory, University of Ghana for measurement of acidity (pH), percentage Carbon (%C), percentage total nitrogen (%N), available phosphorus (P), exchangeable potassium (K), calcium (Ca 2+ ), magnesium (Mg 2+ ), and sodium (Na). Soil acidity was determined through a 1:1 soil to distilled water ratio using a Metrohm 691 pH meter (Mclean, 1982), %C content by the wet combustion method of Walkley and Black (1934), %N content by Semi-Micro Kjeldahl Digestion method (Black, 1965), and available P according to Bray and Kurtz (1945). Exchangeable K 2+ , Mg 2+ , and Ca 2+ were estimated through flame photometry (Black, 1965)  Characteristics of treatments and study plots (Values represent mean ± s.e.). CRIG = Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana, D = deciduous, SD = Semi-deciduous, N = Number of sampled plots, P = Shade tree planted by farmers, R = Shade tree from remnants of previous forest, * = status by Graefe et al. (2017).  acetate.Field measurement of air temperature and relative humidity was undertaken by installing two data loggers (iButton DS1923-F5#, Hygrochron Temperature and Humidity data logger, Maxim Integrated Productions, CA, USA) in two randomly selected fields. The loggers were mounted 2 m above ground within cocoa canopy, shielded from direct radiation from the sun and configured to read parameters at 30 min intervals. We downloaded data every three months and determined mean monthly temperature range (24.4-27.0 • C), and relative humidity range (69.7-96.2%). We further measured rainfall with a wireless raingauge device (Rosenborg Exclusive Tradlos Regnmaler, Model 35,980, Carrin Electronics limited, HongKong) installed at 1.5 m above the ground and free from splash from adjacent objects. Daily rainfall (in millimeters) was monitored, recorded, and summed to derived monthly (4.3-279.6 mm) and annual (1258-1345 mm) rainfall.We assessed yield by counting all healthy harvested pods per cocoa trees and pooling at plot levels every two weeks, and by measuring the dry weight of beans after breaking the pooled pods, extracting and fermenting wet beans for 5-7 days, and open air drying for 5-7 days (Asare et al., 2016). Consequently, yields were extrapolated to total number of pods ha − 1 and total dry weight of cocoa beans in kg ha − 1 .Data analysis was conducted in R version 3.6.3 (R Core Team, 2020). For analysis of treatment effects on both soil properties and yield, we used linear mixed-effect models built from the \"lme4\" package (Bates et al., 2015). The models were validated through tests of assumptions of normality and variance homogeneity, including plots of residuals against fitted values in normal Q-Q plots. In the model (1), pH, %C, %N, P, Mg +2 , Ca +2 , K + and Na +2 were analyzed with treatment (Tt) as a fixed effect, shade tree basal area (Ba), cocoa density (Cd) and sampling time (St) as co-variates, and farm (Fm) as a random effect.For the analysis of yields [harvested pods ha − 1 and dry weight of beans ha − 1 ] we further included cocoa tree dbh (Cdbh) as an additional co-variate, and the crop season (Cs), thus 3 main crop and 3 light crop, and year (Yr), thus 2018/2019, 2019/2020, 2020/2021, as additional random effects in the model (2). Inclusion of the ages of cocoa farms as co-variate did not significantly influence cocoa yield, hence age was omitted in the final model.Visual inspection of the residual plots showed deviations from normality for the yield data, hence we performed series of data transformations and selected cubic root transformation as the best fit for the data. We then performed backward reduction procedures on the models, using the Akaike Information Criterium (AIC) to select the best-fitted models (Burnham and Anderson, 2013). Asymptotic chi-square tests (indicated as \"Pr (Chi)\" in Table 3) on the likelihood ratio test (LRT) statistics established on maximum likelihood fits and parameter estimates were used in testing for significance. Where significant differences between treatments were identified, Tukey's post hoc tests for multiple comparisons were used to verify the sources of variabilities. Because we had unbalanced data, we calculated and used the least square means (LSM) of yields for each treatment through the 'emmeans' package in R (Lenth, 2020) and illustrated the outputs in graphs.We observed significantly different concentrations of available soil P among treatments, while the other soil properties showed less variation among treatments (Table 2). Tukey's post hoc tests on available P showed that soils under Alstonia boonei, Cedrela odorata, Milicia excelsa, and Terminalia superba had significantly lower concentrations than the control plots, and below what is usually considered the estimated minimum recommended threshold (20 μg g − 1 ) for cocoa production (Ahenkorah, 1981). Available P concentrations in the soils under Cola nitida, Khaya ivorensis, Terminalia ivorensis and Triplochiton scleroxylon plots were above the minimum recommended thresholds for cocoa production but lower than the control plots (Table 2). The soils were generally acidic and with exchangeable K + and Ca 2+ concentrations lower than minimum recommended thresholds for cocoa production. The concentrations of total nitrogen (%N), organic carbon (%C), and exchangeable Mg 2+ were higher than their respective minimum thresholds (Table 2).We found significant differences in most soil properties between the beginning and after the third year (thus p-value (time) in Table 2) of the study. Soil acidity, %N, %C, and exchangeable K + , Mg 2+ and Ca 2+ increased while the concentrations of available P and exchangeable Na + decreased (Table 2). We observed an overall significant negative effect of the basal area or size of the shade tree species on soil pH (thus, pH = 0.59 x (shade tree basal area) + 4.28; LRT = 4.45, p = 0.035), meaning that larger trees tended to induce lower soil pH.We observed an overall average of 10,891 ± 3007 pods ha − 1 year − 1 in this study. The lowest and highest pod quantities across the treatments were 7749 ± 2889 pods ha − 1 year − 1 and 13,578 ± 3251 pods ha − 1 year − 1 in unshaded (control plots) and Cedrela odorata plots, respectively. The number of harvested pods depended strongly on crop seasons (LRT = 17.99, pvalue = 0.035) (Fig. 3) with average production in main crop seasons (7249 ± 1976 pods ha − 1 ) approximately two times that in the light crop seasons (3642 ± 1030 pods ha − 1 ). A significant effect of the treatments on the total number of harvested pods and in the main crop seasons was observed, while treatments had no effect in the light crop seasons (Table 3, Fig. 3). The density of cocoa had a significant and positive impact on pod production during the light crop seasons (Table 3).All the shade tree plots had a higher total number of pods than the controls. The Tukey post hoc tests showed significantly higher total quantities of pods (for both major and light crop seasons) in the C. odorata, K. ivorensis, T. superba, and M. excelsa plots compared to the control plots. Cocoa trees under Cedrela odorata produced approximately 43% more pods than the control plots, K. ivorensis (39%). T. superba (38%), M. excelsa (34%), T. ivorensis (24%), A. boonei (20%), T. scleroxylon (23%) and C. nitida (20%).The overall average production of dry cocoa beans at plot level was 608 ± 164 kg ha − 1 year − 1 . The lowest mean production of dry beans was observed in the control plots (438 ± 157 kg ha − 1 year − 1 ), while the highest productions were found under C. odorata (701 ± 178 kg ha − 1 year − 1 ) and K. ivorensis (702 ± 161 kg ha − 1 year − 1 ). The seasonal patterns were similar to those observed for number of pods (Fig. 3) but with significant influence of the density of cocoa and marginal effects of the dbh of shade trees (Table 3). The mean dry weight of beans in the main crop periods (391 ± 102 kg ha − 1 ) was almost two times the weight in the light crop periods (217 ± 62 kg ha − 1 ).We observed a significant and positive influence of the co-variate dbh of cocoa trees on the amount of dry beans produced in the light crop season (Table 3). This means that within treatments, cocoa trees with larger dbh tended to have higher dry weight of beans, even in full-sun plots where cocoa trees were large but had low yields compared to shaded plots. Cocoa trees around C. odorata and K. ivorensis produced more dry beans than the control at 38%, T. superba (34%), T. ivorensis (31%), M. excelsa (29%), A. broonei (25%), T. scleroxylon (23%), and C. nitida (20%).The observed similarities in soil characteristics across treatments in this study except for available P were expected and consistent with observations of the limited influence of shade trees on soil fertility in cocoa systems (Andres et al., 2018;Blaser et al., 2017). Some authors (Carr and Lockwood, 2011;Isaac et al., 2007) found nutrient competition between shade trees and cocoa. Although shade trees in cocoa farms can potentially increase total soil C and N concentrations due to higher decomposition rates under shade trees (Blaser et al., 2017;Ofori-Frimpong et al., 2007a, 2007b), the overall effect may be too small to affect the total fertility of cocoa soils. Other factors such as fertilizer (both organic and inorganic) applications, rainfall and nitrogen fixation are major sources of nutrient variations in cocoa systems (van Vliet et al., 2015). It would be interesting to also study the effects of N-fixing species on cocoa productivity in West Africa, given that values of available N are in the low range (Table 2). Under high rainfall conditions, there is rapid vegetative growth of cocoa that is controlled by frequent pruning, providing a source of organic materials that decomposes to advance soil nutrition (Van Noordwijk et al., 1997). The addition from the pruning source may cause rapid nutrient recycling that may nullify added litter from shade trees in cocoa systems.The significant difference in available P between shaded and unshaded areas during the study was contrary to findings of Blaser et al. (2017), Isaac et al. (2007) and Ofori-Frimpong et al. (2007a, 2007b) who found no effects of shade trees on available P. The contrast may be due to variations in agronomic practices (e.g. prior fertilizer application, and shade tree pruning regimes), geographical locations, and climatic conditions in the Western region where this study was conducted against the Ashanti and Eastern region for the other studies. According to Asare et al. (2016) and Ofori-Frimpong et al. (2007a, 2007b), available P is lower than the minimum recommended thresholds across Ghana's cocoa landscape. This was confirmed by half the treatments in this study recording available P concentrations lower than the 20μgg − 1 threshold indicated by Ahenkorah (1981). The Tukey post hoc test showing significantly lower available P for plots with A. boonei, C. odorata, M. excelsa and T. superba compared to unshaded plots indicates relatively higher nutrient competition or immobilization by these species. This confirms that plant species have varied nutrient requirements and nutrient uptake potentials (Cruz et al., 2019;van Vliet et al., 2015). Phosphorus availability in soils depends on complex interactions between plant species, soil organic matter, soil type and pH (Schroth et al., 2003), and more investigations will be needed to clarify why these species have especially low values for soil P.The high soil acidity with pH values below the optimal range of 6-7.5 (Wood and Lass, 1985) in the study confirmed observations by Asare et al. (2016), Blaser et al. (2017) and Ofori-Frimpong et al. (2007a, 2007b) that Ghana's cocoa landscapes contain acidic soils due to geological origin, as well as prolonged cultivation and fertilizer applications. The soils are naturally acidic due to the type and nature of parental materials (Brammer, 1962). According to Snoeck et al. (2010), high rainfall (a characteristic of the study area) induces leaching of exchangeable cations with resultant high acidity and hence lower availability for plant uptake (Baligar et al., 2001). Apart from Mg 2+ which was above the recommended threshold, the other cations (K + and Ca 2+ ) were low, suggesting possible negative implications for pod formation and development of the cocoa trees (van Vliet et al., 2015).Mean yields recorded in this study were considerably below the potential on-farm yield (1000 kg ha − 1 ) indicated by Bymolt et al. (2018), and the experimental yield (2125 kg ha − 1 ) by Abdulai et al. (2020). Cocoa yield has over the past decades been low in most cocoa areas of Ghana with levels around 400 kg ha − 1 (Aneani and Ofori-Frimpong, 2013). Lower yields were expected because of the low levels of input applications in the study area (Abdulai et al., 2020;Asare et al., 2016). Still, the yields are similar to yields recorded in studies conducted in different parts of Ghana (Abdulai et al., 2020;Asare et al., 2019) and Côte d'Ivoire (Koko et al., 2013).The impacts of season on the yield of cocoa as observed in this study affirms the importance of climatic conditions such as total rainfall and distribution for cocoa productivity. The main crop season in Ghana is characterized by high rainfall, high relative humidity and low temperatures, which favors cocoa production as it provides the necessary climatic conditions for cocoa growth and development (Abdulai et al., 2020). On the contrary, the light crop season is characterized by semidrought conditions which affect physiological processes that impact the growth and productivity of the crop (Abdulai et al., 2018). The semidrought nature of the season perhaps causes the selected shade trees (being semi-deciduous and deciduous) (Hawthorne and Gyakari, 2006) to lose their foliage and hence unable to influence yield during the light crop season as observed in this study.The increased yields under C. odorata, T. superba, M. excelsa and K. ivorensis compared to the control unshaded areas may be attributed to the morphological structures of these species. The four species usually develop tall cylindrical boles with relatively small crowns with open canopies (Hawthorne and Gyakari, 2006). This enhances aeration and light penetration and may promote photosynthesis, flowering, fruiting, and yield (Almeida and Valle, 2007;van Vliet and Giller, 2017). The relatively higher aeration potentials of these species may also minimize the likelihood of pest and disease infestations especially black pod disease (caused by Phytophthora megakarya and P. palmivora) that is associated with dense canopies and yield losses (Akrofi et al., 2015). In addition, C. odorata and K. ivorensis belong to the Meliaceae family with characteristic unpleasant smell (Hawthorne and Gyakari, 2006) that repel certain insects (Heads, 2019) and hence may limit infestation by on cocoa.The observation of higher yields in shaded cocoa plots in this study confirms previous observations of higher yields under shade in lowinput cocoa systems (Asare et al., 2016), but contradicts those of Mortimer et al. (2017) finding higher yields in open-sun cocoa systems than in shaded farms. Although cocoa cultivation under full-sun open systems was credited with high yields at early stages through the pioneering works by Ahenkorah et al. (1974Ahenkorah et al. ( , 1987) ) and Cunningham and Arnold (1962), the full sun system has high requirements for inputs in terms of fertilizers and pesticides. This may certainly limit production as most cocoa cultivation in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire is carried out by small holders who cannot afford such investments. In Ghana, the insufficient supply of nutrients required to meet high yield levels, has been the main reason for the low yield over the past decades. In that regard, cocoa agroforestry presents an alternative for cocoa yield enhancement (Abdulai et al., 2018(Abdulai et al., , 2020;;Asare et al., 2016Asare et al., , 2019)).Shade trees in our study positively affected yield under low input systems as compared to full-sun, even though shade trees seemed to have little (or in some cases negative effects with regards to available P) impact on nutrient availability in the soil. Though competition for water, nutrient, space, and light are mentioned as negative attributes of shade trees on cocoa farms, some species (e.g Cedrela odorata, Terminalia superba, Khaya ivorensis and Milicia excelsa) enhanced yield when used in CAS compared to a full-sun cocoa cultivation system. There is a need to selectively plant or/and retain these shade tree species on cocoa farms as these can increase yields. It is however recommended that, further research should be conducted on other commonly used shade tree species in CAS to comprehensively determine additional shade tree species that promote cocoa productivity.Results of the linear mixed-effects models in the assessment of treatments and seasonal effects on the numbers of cocoa pods and production of dry beans in cocoa agroforestry systems in the study. '*' = Significant at p < 0.05; ns = nonsignificant, hence omitted in best fitted model. LRT = Likelihood Ratio Teststatistics, Pr (Chi) = Asymptotic chi-square tests, df = degrees of freedom. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e327672d2f2c0d8e6ccc47b90ee7ae22","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e2baa187-6cf9-4c39-ba50-ef66e95f0bc4/retrieve","id":"539299424"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"91586049-6213-4e0d-a052-4284e577dc1c","content":"• Năm 2017, Viện nghiên cứu Chăn nuôi Quốc tế (ILRI) và các đối tác đã ra mắt báo cáo về quản lý nguy cơ đối với an toàn thực phẩm (ATTP) tại Việt Nam theo yêu cầu của Chính phủ. ILRI là đối tác kỹ thuật chính hỗ trợ việc xây dựng báo cáo. Sau đó, chính phủ Việt Nam và Ngân hàng Thế giới đã sử dụng bằng chứng và khuyến nghị từ báo cáo này để xây dựng một dự án ATTP ở các thành phố lớn như Hà Nội và Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh.• Tiêu chuẩn vàng 'đánh giá nguy cơ có sự tham gia' của ILRI đã được áp dụng tại các chợ truyền thống, giúp tìm ra các mối nguy và cung cấp thông tin cho các nhà hoạch định chính sách và người bán lẻ, giúp cải thiện ATTP ở Việt Nam.• Năm 2019, ILRI và các đối tác đã đưa ra một số bằng chứng đáng tin cậy về tác động kinh tế và dịch tễ học của bệnh dịch tả lợn châu Phi và đưa ra một số khuyến nghị giúp giảm thiểu tác động của bệnh trong tương lai.• Từ năm 2019 đến năm 2021, ILRI và các đối tác đã triển khai gói can thiệp toàn diện nhằm tăng cường sức khỏe vật nuôi, giống di truyền, thức ăn chăn nuôi cho người chăn nuôi quy mô nông hộ dân tộc thiểu số ở khu vực miền núi Tây Bắc.• Các nghiên cứu của ILRI về mối liên hệ giữa hệ thống thực phẩm, ATTP và sức khỏe con người đã và đang góp phần giúp Việt Nam chuyển đổi hệ thống thực phẩm và thực hiện các cam kết tại Hội nghị thượng đỉnh về hệ thống thực phẩm năm 2021.  "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/9347198533.json b/main/part_2/9347198533.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5191a0216ff1fe2e9583334d3f606b263db151f9
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5a2ef41b0d78ff3ffe202d61c19045d7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a9fe5d62-c14b-41c3-9251-8410949cfef8/retrieve","id":"345726768"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7b11b583-ca9c-4ac1-a721-811f3d1f43fa","content":"• A total of 359 vendors received training, and 159 were provided with essential tools across 34 trial markets.• Many vendors showed enthusiasm and engagement during training but reflected a lack of infrastructure to follow the suggested practice.• Markets were randomized into treatment and control groups.• In treatment markets, vendors received intervention packages, including essential equipment, training, and a food safety rating program.• Vendors participating in the voluntary rating program were anonymously assessed by a researcher posing as a customer, who rated their hygiene practices on a 0-5 star scale.• Ratings were displayed on signage, and consumer campaigns were launched to encourage shoppers to choose vendors with higher ratings.• Data was collected before and after the intervention, including microbiological samples (from pork and cutting boards for Salmonella and total bacterial counts), vendor surveys, and observations of food safety practices.• Food-borne diseases from contaminated animal products are a significant One Health concern in low-and middle-income countries, particularly in traditional \"wet\" markets where hygiene and crosscontamination but also regular inspections pose major challenges.• This study evaluates a food safety intervention in 68 traditional \"wet\" markets across five provinces in Vietnam through a randomized controlled trial.• Vendors in treatment markets exhibited small but statistically significant improvements to their food safety practices compared to those in control markets.• Notable improvements included the use of disinfectants and the separation of muscle meat from viscera, although more laborintensive practices, like frequent hand-washing, were harder to implement.• Vendors in treatment markets reported 10% higher sales revenue.• Salmonella prevalence and total bacterial counts remained unchanged between control and trial markets after the intervention.Trang Le ILRI t.le@cgiar.org• This intervention highlights both the potential and limitations of an approach to improving food safety in traditional markets.• While vendor enthusiasm and engagement were evident, infrastructure limitations and effort-intensive behaviors remained challenges.• The findings suggest that incentives and consumer awareness, along with regulatory or third-party oversight, hold potential to drive sustainable improvements in food safety. Trang Le-Thi-Huyen     "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/9357659437.json b/main/part_2/9357659437.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e87a1f473b554b0ba2b88e98f57d053add4f1fb6
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c6a3c3c365e9905ba59dccc2e759f60c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e8ccc56b-ee56-42bc-ab3e-fd05e691f6af/retrieve","id":"-390009406"},"keywords":["Navarro, B.","Li, S.","Gisel, A.","Chiumenti, M.","Minutolo, M.","Alioto, D.","Di Serio, F. A Novel Self-Cleaving Viroid-Like RNA Identified in RNA Preparations from a Citrus Tree Is Not Directly Associated with the circular RNAs","infectious non-coding RNAs","satellite RNAs","viroids","hammerhead ribozyme","self-cleavage","high-throughput sequencing"],"sieverID":"1e9f19ce-6502-4148-a0a8-9824be1a59cf","content":"Viroid and viroid-like satellite RNAs are infectious, circular, non-protein coding RNAs reported in plants only so far. Some viroids (family Avsunviroidae) and viroid-like satellite RNAs share self-cleaving activity mediated by hammerhead ribozymes (HHRzs) endowed in both RNA polarity strands. Using a homology-independent method based on the search for conserved structural motifs of HHRzs in reads and contigs from high-throughput sequenced RNAseq libraries, we identified a novel small (550 nt) viroid-like RNA in a library from a Citrus reticulata tree. Such a viroid-like RNA contains a HHRz in both polarity strands. Northern blot hybridization assays showed that circular forms of both polarity strands of this RNA (tentatively named citrus transiently-associated hammerhead viroid-like RNA1 (CtaHVd-LR1)) exist, supporting its replication through a symmetric pathway of the rolling circle mechanism. CtaHVd-LR1 adopts a rod-like conformation and has the typical features of quasispecies. Its HHRzs were shown to be active during transcription and in the absence of any protein. CtaHVd-LR1 was not graft-transmissible, and after its first identification, it was not found again in the original citrus source when repeatedly searched in the following years, suggesting that it was actually not directly associated with the plant. Therefore, the possibility that this novel self-cleaving viroid-like RNA is actually associated with another organism (e.g., a fungus), in turn, transiently associated with citrus plants, is proposed.Viroids and viroid-like satellite RNAs (Vd-LsatRNAs) are small, infectious, nonprotein-coding and circular RNAs reported in plants only so far [1][2][3][4]. They differ from each other at the biological level, with viroids replicating and infecting their hosts in the absence of any helper virus, and Vd-LsatRNAs relying on a helper virus for their infectivity. Other small, circular, non-coding RNAs containing hammerhead ribozymes, differing from viroids and other infectious viroid-like RNAs, have been reported in plants, such as (i) the retroviroid-like RNA known as carnation stunt-associated viroid-like RNA [5] that is, however, non-infectious and has a DNA counterpart integrated in the genome of a pararetrovirus [5,6] and of the host plant [7], and (ii) retrozymes, which are ribozymecontaining retrotransposons [8].According to structural, biological and functional features, viroids are classified in the families Pospiviroidae and Avsunviroidae. Members of the family Pospiviroidae adopt a rod-like or quasirod-like conformation of minimal free energy, which contains a central conserved region (CCR) involved in their nuclear replication mediated by an asymmetric rolling circle mechanism [9]. This replication pathway contemplates the formation of circular RNAs in only one polarity strand [10]. Viroids of the family Avsunviroidae lack the CCR but contain in both polarity strands the structural elements needed to form hammerhead ribozymes (HHRzs) [11]. These ribozymes are inactive in the rod-like or most stable branched conformations adopted by the circular viroid RNAs, but adopt the active conformation during transcription, thus, providing the self-cleaving activity needed to complete the viroid replication through a symmetric rolling circle mechanism. The hallmark of this replication mechanism is the accumulation in vivo of circular RNAs of both polarity strands [12,13]. HHRzs have also been reported in Vd-LsatRNAs. However, while viroid RNAs contain one HHRz in either polarity strand, VL-satRNAs may also contain the HHRz in only one RNA polarity. The other polarity strand may lack self-cleaving activity or may contain another ribozyme named hairpin [2]. Both viroid and Vd-LsatRNA populations infecting a single host are composed of closely related sequence variants, thus, showing the typical features of quasispecies [14] previously reported for viruses [15]. Sequence variability observed in the populations of these infectious agents generally preserve the most stable conformation of the RNA and some critical structural motifs of major relevance for their infectivity [16].Whether viroids or Vd-LsatRNAs also exist in organisms other than plants is not known. However, indirect evidence was provided for two small circular RNAs containing HHRz in each polarity strand (cscRNA1 and cscRNA2), which have been isolated from cherry leaves [17,18]. They are not able to replicate autonomously in cherry plants and have been proposed to be Vd-LsatRNAs of mycoviruses associated with a fungus (Apiognomonia erythrostomam) infecting cherry leaves [19][20][21][22][23][24]. Recently, two new Vd-LRNAs containing aHHRz in each polarity strand, named fig hammerhead viroid-like RNA 1 and 2 (FHVd-LR1 and FHVd-LR2), have been reported from fig trees grown in Hawaii, but their biological nature remains undetermined [25]. These findings suggest that Vd-LRNAs containing HHRzs may be more common than currently thought and that their hosts may include organisms other than plants.In the last few years, several new viroids of the family Pospiviroidae have been identified in plants by high-throughput sequencing and the following search for de novo assembled contigs with sequence similarity to viroids previously annotated in databases [26][27][28][29][30]. However, this approach is unable to identify novel viroids and viroid-like RNAs not sharing significant identity with those already known and is expected to be less efficient in the identification of HHRz-containing viroids. In fact, members of the family Avsunviroidae share little-to-no sequence identity. Instead, relationships between viroids of this family are based on structural features, such as the quasirod-like or branched secondary structure, tertiary interactions (i.e., kissing-loops) and the type of hammerhead ribozymes embedded in both polarity strands of their circular RNAs [11]. Therefore, it is not surprising that the most recently reported members of the family Avsunviroidae, apple hammerhead viroid, and a potential new viroid of the same family, grapevine hammerhead viroid-like RNA, were identified using HTS-based methods that are sequence homology-independent and identify potential novel viroids and/or viroid-like RNAs by looking for de novo assembled contigs with terminal direct repeats, a hallmark of potential circular RNAs [31,32].In an attempt to identify novel viroids of the family Avsunviroidae and other viroid-like RNAs, we focused our attention on HHRz, a specific hallmark of these infectious agents to develop a homology-independent method to search for HHRzs in reads or de novogenerated contigs from HTS libraries. By searching in the RNA preparations from a citrus tree grown in the field, a novel Vd-LRNA containing one HHRz in either polarity strand was identified. The molecular and biological features of such a novel circular RNA, tentatively named citrus transiently-associated hammerhead viroid-like RNA 1 (CtaHVd-LR1) are presented and discussed here.In the frame of a study aimed to identify the potential causal agent of cristacortis, a virus-like disease of still unknown etiology, a Citrus reticulata plant grown in Southern Italy (isolate 14A) and showing the typical symptoms of this disease was analyzed. Very young green sprouts were collected in spring 2018 and stored at −80 • C. A sample of the collected material (5 g) was extracted with buffer-saturated phenol and the preparation was enriched in double-stranded (ds) RNAs partitioning the nucleic acids by chromatography on non-ionic cellulose CF-11 (Whatman, Maidstone, UK) with STE (50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.2, 100 mM NaCl, 1 mM ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)) containing 16% ethanol [33]. Following digestion with TURBO DNase (Ambion, Foster City, CA, USA) and removing ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) by the Ribo-Zero Plant leaf kit (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA), an RNA-seq cDNA library was generated using the ScriptSeq v2 RNA-Seq Library Preparation Kit (Epicentre) according to the manufacturer's protocol in which an initial denaturation step (95 • C for 5 min) was added. The cDNA library was pairend sequenced (2 × 150) on an Illumina NextSeq500 analyzer (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA). Nucleic acid preparations enriched in highly structured RNAs were obtained with buffer-saturated phenol followed by CF-11 chromatography, as described above [34], using STE buffer containing 35% ethanol instead of 16%. DNA extracts were obtained with the DNeasy Plant mini kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) from 100 mg of tissue following the manufacturer's instructions.Trimmed and high quality filtered reads from the sequenced RNAseq library were assembled de novo using SPAdes [35], and to identify potential infecting viruses, the resulting contigs were searched for similar sequences in the National Center for Technology Information (NCBI) databases by BlastN and BlastX. The same datasets were used for searching for RNAs potentially containing hammerhead ribozymes by using PatSearch [36] and applying a specific pattern syntax developed to find conserved nucleotides and secondary structure motifs conserved in these ribozymes. HTS reads were mapped to a reference sequence using Bowtie [37]. Multiple alignments of nucleotide sequences were performed using Clustal Omega [38]. The secondary structure of minimal free energy of RNAs was predicted by RNAfold software [39]. Pairwise identities were calculated by Clustal Omega multiple alignment [38]. Confidently predicted domains, motifs and features were searched for in SMART [40].dsRNA enriched preparations were reverse transcribed using Superscript IV reverse transcriptase (Invitrogen, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) and random primers following the manufacturer's instructions. PCR amplification of the cDNA was performed using 2 µL of the reverse transcription reaction, specific primers (Table S1) at a final concentration of 0.5 µM, 200 µM of dNTPs, 3% of DMSO, 1× Phusion HF buffer and 0.4 units of Phusion High-Fidelity DNA polymerase (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) in a final volume of 20 µL. The cycling conditions were initial denaturation at 98 • C for 30 s, followed by 33 cycles at 98 • C for 10 s, 63 • C for 15 s, 72 • C for 15 s and a final extension step at 72 • C for 7 min. Amplified cDNAs of the expected sizes were purified on agarose-gel and an adenine-residue overhang was added at their 5 ends by GoTaq DNA polymerase (Promega, Madison, WI, USA), cloned into a pGEM-T Easy vector (Promega, Madison, WI, USA) and sequenced by Sanger Sequencing Custom Service (Macrogen, Amsterdam, the Netherlands).Northern blot hybridization assays were performed as reported previously [41]. Briefly, one µg of nucleic acid preparations enriched in highly structured RNAs were separated on 5% polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) under denaturing conditions (8 M urea and 1× TBE buffer (89 mM Tris, 89 mM boric acid, 2.5 mM EDTA, pH 8.3)). RNA fragments generated by in vitro transcription of a dimeric construct of (-) FHVd-LR [25] and an ss-RNA ladder (New England Biolabs, Ipswich, MA, USA) were used as molecular markers. After ethidium bromide staining of the gel, the nucleic acids were electrotransferred to a nylon membrane (Hybond-N, Amersham, Little Chalfont, UK) in 0.5× TBE buffer and hybridized in DIG easy Hyb (Roche Applied Science, Germany) at 65 • C with DIG-labeled riboprobes complementary to each polarity strand of CtaHVd-LR1. Hybridization signals, revealed with an anti-DIG alkaline phosphatase conjugate (AB fragments) and the chemiluminescence substrate CDP-star (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany) following the manufacturer's instructions, were visualized and recorded with a ChemiDoc Touch Imaging system (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA). The DIG riboprobes were generated by in vitro transcription of the pGEM-T easy vector containing the full-length cDNA of the sequence variant CtaHVd-LR1_3 (accession number OP418121) linearized with the appropriated restriction enzymes using a Dig-RNA labeling mix and quantified through direct detection via spot test following the protocol provided by the manufacturer (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany).Monomeric transcripts of both polarity strands were obtained by in vitro transcription of the pGemT-easy plasmid containing the full-length cDNA sequence of CtaHVd-LR1 (variant 3). The recombinant plasmid was linearized by digestion with SpeI or NcoI and transcribed with T7 (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Wattham, USA) or SP6 RNA polymerase (New England Biolabs) to obtain HVd-VL1 RNA transcripts of plus and minus polarity, respectively. After degradation of the DNA template with RQ DNase (Promega, Madison, Wisconsin, USA), the in vitro transcription reaction was analyzed in a 5% PAGE under denaturing conditions (see above). The full-length monomeric RNAs and the 3 self-cleavage products generated during the in vitro transcription were eluted from the acrylamide gels by excising the band and grinding with one volume of water-saturated phenol and one volume of elution buffer (100 mM Tris-HCl pH 8.9, 1 mM EDTA, 0.5% SDS) [34]. The RNAs were recovered by ethanol precipitation and used for analysis of self-cleavage and the 5 RACE, respectively.For the analysis of RNA self-cleavage, the eluted RNAs were resuspended in 1 mM EDTA pH 6, boiled for 2 min, snap-cooled on ice and then incubated at 40 • C for 1 h in self-cleavage buffer (50 mM Tris•HCl, pH 8, 5 mM MgCl2, 0.5 mM EDTA). The self-cleavage reaction was analyzed in 5% PAGE under denaturing conditions as indicated above. The 5 terminal sequence of the eluted 3 self-cleavage RNA products was determined by 5 RACE as described [25] using the oligonucleotides indicated in Table S1.Viroids of the family Avsunviroidae and most viroid-like RNAs contain one HHRz in either RNA polarity strand. The active conformation of these catalytic motifs assume a conserved secondary structure, with typical loops and stems. By comparing all natural HHRzs known so far, we developed a specific pattern syntax (Figure S1) to look for sequences adopting a similar conformation in the reads and/or in the de novo assembled contigs from RNAseq libraries sequenced by HTS. Since most HHRzs consist of approximately 60 nucleotides, it is expected that some of the 150 nt-long reads generated by HTS may contain the full-length HHRz sequence of an infecting viroid and or viroid-like RNA. When the search was performed using the reads sequenced from an RNAseq library generated in 2018 from young sprouts of the C. reticulata tree isolate 14A, more than 600 redundant reads containing the signatures of HHRzs were found. Most of these reads corresponded to two non-redundant reads that were mapped to a single contig of 651 nt (NODE_11827_length_651_cov_57.163636), which was composed of a sequence fragment of 550 nt followed by a partial direct repeat of 101 nt (Figure S2). As mentioned before, the presence of direct repeats in a contig is generally considered as a possible indication that it could correspond to a multimeric or circular RNA in vivo. In this specific case, the presence of a HHRz in each polarity strand of the same RNA further supported its possible circularity because such a situation is a typical hallmark of viroids of the family Avsunviroidae [11] and of most Vd-LsatRNAs and Vd-LRNAs reported so far [1,2]. However, pairwise identity with these viroids ranged from 37.7 to 55.9% and no significant identity with sequences in GenBank was found by BlastN searches.The identified RNA contained one ORF encoding a potential polypeptide of approximately 100 amino acids (aa) in the plus polarity strand that, however, does not show any significant similarity with proteins in GenBank and does not contain any confidently predicted domain, motif and feature according to a search in SMART [40]. These findings supported the working hypothesis that the monomeric fragment could be a novel viroidlike RNA that, also considering its biological features (see below), has been tentatively named citrus transiently-associated hammerhead viroid-like RNA 1 (CtaHVd-LR1). Blast searches also found contigs with sequences almost identical (99%) to the genomic RNAs of citrus virus A (CiVA), a coguvirus previously reported in citrus [42], and contigs sharing high sequence identity with several mycoviruses (i.e., partitiviruses, chrysoviruses and totiviruses) that were likely only indirectly associated with the citrus isolate 14A, being infectious agents of fungi or other organisms potentially hosted by the field tree.Circular RNAs can be separated from the respective linear forms by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) under denaturing conditions that determine a delayed migration of circular RNAs with respect to the linear ones [43]. To ascertain whether CtaHVd-LR1 exist as a circular RNA, we performed northern blot assays using probes specific for each polarity strand. Two major bands were detected in the nucleic acid preparations enriched in highly structured RNAs extracted from citrus sprouts collected in 2018 using specific probes for either polarity strand of this RNA (Figure 1), with the upper band identified as the circular form and the faster migrating band as the monomeric CtaHVd-LR1 linear form with an expected size of 550 nt. By preliminary northern blot assays using in vitro CtaHVd-LR1 RNA transcripts, we excluded cross-hybridization between CtaHVd-LR1 strands of the same polarity under the experimental conditions adopted in this study (Figure S3). Therefore, since equalized probes and RNA preparations were used, the more intense hybridization signal generated by one polarity strand also indicated that this is the polarity accumulating at higher levels in vivo, to which, as previously conducted for viroids and other viroid-like RNAs [1,2], the (+) polarity was assigned. These findings support the view that CtaHVd-LR1 very likely replicates through the symmetric pathway of the rolling circle replication mechanism previously proposed for viroids of family Avsunviroidae [44] and other viroid-like RNAs containing self-cleaving ribozymes in both polarity strands [2]. Indeed, the detection of circular RNAs of both polarity strands, together with the presence of self-cleaving ribozymes in both polarity strands, are generally considered the hallmark of this replication mode [1]. The existence of CtaHVd-LR1 in the original RNA preparations used for generating the RNAseq library was initially confirmed by RT-PCR using specific primers designed in the contig (Table S1, data not shown). New total RNA preparations, extracted using different aliquots of the original sample of young sprouts (collected in 2018 and stored at −80 °C), were also tested by RT-PCR using three different specific primer pairs, adjacent and of opposite polarity, that were designed to amplify full-length cDNAs of the circular CtaHVd-LR1 (Table S1). With all primer pairs, amplicons of the expected size were obtained (Figure 2), confirming the identification of circular CtaHVd-LR1 RNAs with an alternative method. Cloning of the amplification products and sequencing of a total of 30 clones (Figure S4) showed they corresponded to sequence variants of CtaHVd-LR1 identified in silico and confirmed that their size is from 550 to 551 nt, with a G + C content of 49.5%, which is a value typical of other VL-RNAs. Since the amplicons were generated using three different primer pairs in independent reactions, we had the opportunity of investigating the variability in the regions targeted by each primer pair by sequencing the amplicons generated with the other pairs of primers, finally assessing the sequence variability of the complete CtaHVd-LR1 RNA (Figure S4). The sequenced CtaHVd-LR1 variants were between 99.1 and 99.7% identical to each other and their multiple alignment allowed the identification of sequence variability at several positions in the CtaHVd-LR1, with approximately 90 polymorphic positions identified in the multiple alignment (Figure S4). The consensus sequence of the multiple alignment shared the highest identity with The existence of CtaHVd-LR1 in the original RNA preparations used for generating the RNAseq library was initially confirmed by RT-PCR using specific primers designed in the contig (Table S1, data not shown). New total RNA preparations, extracted using different aliquots of the original sample of young sprouts (collected in 2018 and stored at −80 • C), were also tested by RT-PCR using three different specific primer pairs, adjacent and of opposite polarity, that were designed to amplify full-length cDNAs of the circular CtaHVd-LR1 (Table S1). With all primer pairs, amplicons of the expected size were obtained (Figure 2), confirming the identification of circular CtaHVd-LR1 RNAs with an alternative method. Cloning of the amplification products and sequencing of a total of 30 clones (Figure S4) showed they corresponded to sequence variants of CtaHVd-LR1 identified in silico and confirmed that their size is from 550 to 551 nt, with a G + C content of 49.5%, which is a value typical of other VL-RNAs. Since the amplicons were generated using three different primer pairs in independent reactions, we had the opportunity of investigating the variability in the regions targeted by each primer pair by sequencing the amplicons generated with the other pairs of primers, finally assessing the sequence variability of the complete CtaHVd-LR1 RNA (Figure S4). The sequenced CtaHVd-LR1 variants were between 99.1 and 99.7% identical to each other and their multiple alignment allowed the identification of sequence variability at several positions in the CtaHVd-LR1, with approximately 90 polymorphic positions identified in the multiple alignment (Figure S4). The consensus sequence of the multiple alignment shared the highest identity with the variant CtaHVd-LR1_3 that was, therefore, considered as the reference CtaHVd-LR1 variant (accession number OP418121). The secondary structure of minimum free energy of this variant corresponded to a rod-like conformation in which 73.8% of the residues were paired (Figure 3).the variant CtaHVd-LR1_3 that was, therefore, considered as the reference CtaHVd-L variant (accession number OP418121). The secondary structure of minimum free ener of this variant corresponded to a rod-like conformation in which 73.8% of the residu were paired (Figure 3).   the variant CtaHVd-LR1_3 that was, therefore, considered as the reference CtaHVd-LR1 variant (accession number OP418121). The secondary structure of minimum free energy of this variant corresponded to a rod-like conformation in which 73.8% of the residues were paired (Figure 3).  In the proposed rod-like structure, the central region contains the HHRzs of the two polarity strands that were located one in front of the other. Interestingly, most polymorphic positions did not modify the proposed rod-like secondary structure because they were co-variations, conversions of canonical into wobble base-pairs or were located into loops (Figure 3). It is worthy of note that several polymorphic positions map to the central hammerhead region (see below). Altogether, data on the sequence variability of CtaHVd-LR1 populations preserving the predicted rod-like secondary structure suggest a major role of this structural feature for its survival. In the proposed rod-like structure, the central region contains the HHRzs of the two polarity strands that were located one in front of the other. Interestingly, most polymorphic positions did not modify the proposed rod-like secondary structure because they were co-variations, conversions of canonical into wobble base-pairs or were located into loops (Figure 3). It is worthy of note that several polymorphic positions map to the central hammerhead region (see below). Altogether, data on the sequence variability of CtaHVd-LR1 populations preserving the predicted rod-like secondary structure suggest a major role of this structural feature for its survival. The CtaHVd-LR1 hammerhead ribozymes have a central catalytic core surrounded by three hairpins, two of which (hairpin I and II) are closed by small loops (Figure 4). The self-cleavage site is preceded by atypical GUA and AUA trinucleotides in the (+) and (−) polarity strands, respectively. Such a combination of trinucleotides preceding the self-cleavage site was previously only reported in the (+) and (−) HHRzs of cscRNA1 and cscRNA2, two viroid-like RNAs reported to most likely be satellite RNAs of a mycovirus [24]. The GUA trinucleotide was also present at the same positions of the (+) HHRz of FHVd-LR [25] and in the (−) HHRz of the Vd-LsatRNAs of velvet tobacco mottle virus and lucerne transient streak virus [45,46]. The AUA was previously reported in the (+)-strand RNA of the satellite of barley yellow dwarf virus [47] and two novel viroid-like RNAs likely associated with carrot red leaf virus [48]. The sequence variability observed in the HHRzs always preserved the predicted active ribozyme structure because most changes were mapped at the hammerhead loops, preserving the potential tertiary interactions between some nucleotides, or did not modify base pairing of the stems (Figure 4). In four of the sequenced variants, one change was found in the catalytic core of the (−) HHRz where the U at position 377 was replaced by a C, thus, modifying the conserved CUGA motif into a CCGA motif (Figure 4). The same mutation has been previously reported in one variant of peach latent mosaic viroid (PLMVd), and it has been shown that it did not affect the self-cleaving capability of the mutated HHRz [49]. The CtaHVd-LR1 hammerhead ribozymes have a central catalytic core surrounded by three hairpins, two of which (hairpin I and II) are closed by small loops (Figure 4). The self-cleavage site is preceded by atypical GUA and AUA trinucleotides in the (+) and (−) polarity strands, respectively. Such a combination of trinucleotides preceding the selfcleavage site was previously only reported in the (+) and (−) HHRzs of cscRNA1 and cscRNA2, two viroid-like RNAs reported to most likely be satellite RNAs of a mycovirus [24]. The GUA trinucleotide was also present at the same positions of the (+) HHRz of FHVd-LR [25] and in the (−) HHRz of the Vd-LsatRNAs of velvet tobacco mottle virus and lucerne transient streak virus [45,46]. The AUA was previously reported in the (+)-strand RNA of the satellite of barley yellow dwarf virus [47] and two novel viroid-like RNAs likely associated with carrot red leaf virus [48]. The sequence variability observed in the HHRzs always preserved the predicted active ribozyme structure because most changes were mapped at the hammerhead loops, preserving the potential tertiary interactions between some nucleotides, or did not modify base pairing of the stems (Figure 4). In four of the sequenced variants, one change was found in the catalytic core of the (−) HHRz where the U at position 377 was replaced by a C, thus, modifying the conserved CUGA motif into a CCGA motif (Figure 4). The same mutation has been previously reported in one variant of peach latent mosaic viroid (PLMVd), and it has been shown that it did not affect the self-cleaving capability of the mutated HHRz [49]. The preservation of the hammerhead active structure, regardless of the sequence variability, is indirect evidence that these motifs play a key biological role. We provided experimental evidence that the HHRzs of CtaHVd-LR1 of both polarity strands are active during transcription, generating RNA fragments with sizes consistent with those expected The preservation of the hammerhead active structure, regardless of the sequence variability, is indirect evidence that these motifs play a key biological role. We provided experimental evidence that the HHRzs of CtaHVd-LR1 of both polarity strands are active during transcription, generating RNA fragments with sizes consistent with those expected considering the activity of HHRzs in the nascent RNA transcript (Figure 5). Moreover, when monomeric RNA transcripts were eluted from the gel, denatured and slowly cooled in a self-cleavage buffer containing 5 mM MgCl 2 , most of the transcript self-cleaved, generating the expected RNA fragments (Figure 5). Therefore, the HHRzs of both polarity strands of CtaHVd-LR1 are also active in the absence of any protein, confirming the ribozymatic nature of these catalytic motifs.Viruses 2022, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEW 9 of 14 in a self-cleavage buffer containing 5 mM MgCl2, most of the transcript self-cleaved, generating the expected RNA fragments (Figure 5). Therefore, the HHRzs of both polarity strands of CtaHVd-LR1 are also active in the absence of any protein, confirming the ribozymatic nature of these catalytic motifs. 5′ RACE experiments followed by cloning and sequencing of the amplification products showed that the 3′ fragment resulting from the HHRz activity in the (−) polarity strand had the expected nucleotide at the 5′ terminus. In the (+) polarity strand, an extra nucleotide was observed at the 5′ terminus of the 3′ fragment generated by the (+) HHRz (Figure 5). However, this is a non-template nucleotide added to the 3′ end of the synthesized cDNA by the well-documented terminal nucleotidyl transferase activity of reverse transcriptases [50]. Altogether these data confirmed the predicted self-cleavage sites for the HHRz of both polarity strands of CtaHVd-LR1, thus, supporting their major role in the replication of this RNA. 5 RACE experiments followed by cloning and sequencing of the amplification products showed that the 3 fragment resulting from the HHRz activity in the (−) polarity strand had the expected nucleotide at the 5 terminus. In the (+) polarity strand, an extra nucleotide was observed at the 5 terminus of the 3 fragment generated by the (+) HHRz (Figure 5). However, this is a non-template nucleotide added to the 3 end of the synthesized cDNA by the well-documented terminal nucleotidyl transferase activity of reverse transcriptases [50]. Altogether these data confirmed the predicted self-cleavage sites for the HHRz of both polarity strands of CtaHVd-LR1, thus, supporting their major role in the replication of this RNA.3.5. CtaHVd-LR1 Is Not Associated with a DNA Counterpart Since HHRzs have also been reported in circular RNAs that have a DNA counterpart integrated in the host genome (i.e., retrozymes or retroviroids) [5][6][7][8], we investigated whether this is the case for CtaHVd-LR1. DNA and dsRNAs were extracted from the original young sprouts of isolate 14A (collected in 2018 and stored at −80 • C) and tested by PCR and RT-PCR, respectively, using the primer pair CH2 For/CH5 Rev (Table S1). The expected amplicons were detected only by RT-PCR. In contrast, no amplicon was generated by PCR using the DNA preparation, thus, excluding the presence of a CtaHVd-LR1 DNA counterpart (Figure S5).While RT-PCR assays performed using RNA preparations from the original sample of sprouts collected in 2018 from the isolate 14A were always positive, regardless of the primer pair (Table S1) used, all the attempts to detect CtaHVd-LR1 with the same primers in samples collected in 2019, 2020 and 2021 (early spring) from the same isolate always failed. The RT-PCR assays repeated in all seasons during 2020, including several times in early spring in 2021, always tested negative to CtaHVd-LR1. To exclude that the viroid-like RNA was not detected due to its low concentration, a new RNA library was prepared from sprouts of the isolate 14A collected in 2021 and sequenced by HTS. Contigs of CiVA were easily identified by de novo assembling of the sequenced reads followed by BlastN and BlastX searches. Moreover, when the sequenced reads were mapped on the CiVA reference genomic RNAs by Bowtie, a full coverage of the virus genome (average coverage depth 52 and 121 for RNA1 and RNA2, respectively) was observed, showing that the HTS was deep. Although 2 contigs related to partitiviruses were identified, no contig sharing significant sequence identity with chrysoviruses and totiviruses were identified in this second RNAseq library, suggesting that the mycoviruses detected in 2018 were not associated with the isolate 14A in 2021, likely because their primary host(s) was not infecting the plant when the samples were collected. Importantly, no contig sharing sequence identity with CtaHVd-LR1 was found, and no read was retrieved when the mapping by Bowtie was performed using CtaHVd-LR1 as a reference sequence, confirming the absence of this viroid-like RNA in the isolate 14A in the sample collected in 2021 and tested by HTS.In line with the results reported above, the attempts of transmitting CtaHVd-LR1 to two grapefruit and two sour orange seedlings by grafting bark tissues from stems collected from the isolate 14A in early spring 2018 also failed, as confirmed by the negative results obtained when samples from the inoculated seedlings were tested for the next four years by RT-PCR. In contrast, in all the inoculated seedlings, CiVA was detected by RT-PCR already six months post-inoculation and during the following years, confirming that this virus was effectively graft-transmitted to the indicator plants and that the infection was stably maintained over time.Altogether, these data support the view that CtaHVd-LR1 was only transiently associated with the citrus isolate 14A in 2018 and, possibly, that this circular RNA is not able to infect this host. Instead, considering the results of this study, the alternative possibility that CtaHVd-LR1 was infecting another organism transiently associated to the isolate 14A appears more feasible.The identification of CtaHVd-LR1, by looking for conserved motifs of HHRzs, showed that homology-independent methods based on the identification of structural elements may be an effective method to find new viroid-like RNAs. With respect to the previously reported homology-independent methods, the one used in this study does not rely on the effective de novo assembly of the full genome plus terminal repeats of the viroid or viroid-like RNA for its identification. Indeed, when a HHRz is identified in a read that is not assembled in a contig with terminal repeats, adjacent primers of opposite polarities can be designed in the read of interest to check, by RT-PCR, whether the HHRz is part of a potential circular RNA that can be further characterized by sequencing full-length cDNAs and by northern blot hybridization assays.By showing that CtaHVd-LR1 is a circular RNA endowed of an active HHRz in either polarity strand, we provided solid evidence that it is indeed a novel viroid-like RNA, confirming the reliability of the searching method. The detection of circular RNA forms of both polarity strands strongly support that this RNA replicates through the symmetric pathway of a rolling circle mechanism previously reported for several viroids and viroidlike RNAs [1,2]. The biological nature of CtaHVd-LR1 remains unknown. In this respect, CtaHVd-LR1 resembles cscRNAs and FHVd-LRs reported previously from cherry and fig trees, respectively [17,25]. As in the case of CtaHVd-LR1, these RNAs were also not graft-transmissible and were associated with mycoviruses [24,25]. In the case of cscRNAs, the mycoviruses were characterized as new species in the genera Chrysovirus, Partitivirus and Totivirus [19][20][21][22][23]. Interestingly, CtaHVd-LR1 was also identified in the isolate 14A together with contigs with the highest sequence identity to viruses of the genera Chrysovirus, Partitivirus and Totivirus. The fact that CtaHVd-LR1 was not found in the same isolate in the following years strongly supports the conclusion that it was only transiently, and possibly indirectly, associated with citrus plants. In this respect, the possibility that it could be an infectious agent of an organism other than citrus is quite likely. In conclusion, our study highlights the high sensitivity of HTS approaches associated with homology-independent bioinformatics tools to identify novel viroid-like RNAs. At the same time, we showed that the finding of a novel viroid-like RNA in a plant RNAseq library must not be considered as evidence of a direct association of the former with the latter. As also previously reported for plant viruses [51,52], the possibility that the viroid-like RNAs are only transiently associated with the plant, because actually infecting another organism must be considered, thus, highlights the need for implementing bioinformatics with biological data to clarify the nature of novel viroid-like RNAs.The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https: //www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/v14102265/s1, Table S1: Primers used in this study; Funding: This research was partially funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 734736 (project 'VirFree'). This paper reflects only the authors' views, and the agencies are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d66882a9b0e9dc0079bd225974aa7fb0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/048ea345-2180-47f8-82c0-5add3cc6882b/retrieve","id":"-2069478331"},"keywords":["tropical grasses","legumes","cattle","rumen fermentation","greenhouse gases"],"sieverID":"9ef72335-fffa-4beb-8177-0e554cdf3ba6","content":"Methane (CH 4 ) is a greenhouse gas (GHG) produced and released by eructation to the atmosphere in large volumes by ruminants. Enteric CH 4 contributes significantly to global GHG emissions arising from animal agriculture. It has been contended that tropical grasses produce higher emissions of enteric CH 4 than temperate grasses, when they are fed to ruminants. A number of experiments have been performed in respiration chambers and head-boxes to assess the enteric CH 4 mitigation potential of foliage and pods of tropical plants, as well as nitrates (NO À3 ) and vegetable oils in practical rations for cattle. On the basis of individual determinations of enteric CH 4 carried out in respiration chambers, the average CH 4 yield for cattle fed low-quality tropical grasses (>70% ration DM) was 17.0 g CH 4 /kg DM intake. Results showed that when foliage and ground pods of tropical trees and shrubs were incorporated in cattle rations, methane yield (g CH 4 /kg DM intake) was decreased by 10% to 25%, depending on plant species and level of intake of the ration. Incorporation of nitrates and vegetable oils in the ration decreased enteric CH 4 yield by ∼6% to ∼20%, respectively. Condensed tannins, saponins and starch contained in foliages, pods and seeds of tropical trees and shrubs, as well as nitrates and vegetable oils, can be fed to cattle to mitigate enteric CH 4 emissions under smallholder conditions. Strategies for enteric CH 4 mitigation in cattle grazing low-quality tropical forages can effectively increase productivity while decreasing enteric CH 4 emissions in absolute terms and per unit of product (e.g. meat, milk), thus reducing the contribution of ruminants to GHG emissions and therefore to climate change.Animal agriculture, in developing countries, will face tremendous challenges with respect to mitigation and adaptation to climate change in the following years as an increasing demand for meat and milk by the burgeoning population † E-mail: rafax77@hotmail.com Animal, page 1 of 11 © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Animal Consortium doi:10.1017/S1751731120001780 animal is expected. This increase in demand is projected to result in an increase in livestock numbers in the near future. Considerable research efforts have been invested in accurately predicting enteric methane emissions from cattle (Escobar-Bahamondes et al., 2016;Eugène et al., 2019;van Lingen et al., 2019) as well as in implementing appropriate enteric CH 4 mitigation strategies (Beauchemin et al., 2020) in ruminant production systems.During the dry season, most tropical grasses have a high NDF and low CP contents, resulting in limited fermentation of DM, long retention time of digesta and low absorption of volatile fatty acids (VFA) from the rumen, leading to modest daily weight gains in growing cattle and considerable emissions of enteric methane. More than 200 000 plant secondary compounds such as condensed tannins, saponins, flavonoids, organosulfur compounds and essential oils (EOs) have been identified as having potential to mitigate CH 4 emissions in grazing ruminants (Jafari et al., 2019;Molina-Botero et al., 2019a). Secondary compounds in plants should induce a reduction in CH 4 production (Figure 1) without negatively affecting rumen fermentation or being toxic to the animal, and should ideally improve productive performance, increase economic gains, be easy to handle and be of low cost to farmers. The effectiveness of these plant secondary compounds depends on their type, concentration and ingested amount. In the medium term, it is important to identify cost-effective secondary compounds which could improve rumen fermentation, VFA production and mitigate CH 4 emissions with a lasting effect. One effective methane mitigation strategy is the inclusion of low levels of oils in rations which induce biohydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids, increase energy density and inhibit protozoa (Knapp et al., 2014). A number of comprehensive reviews on methane mitigation in ruminants have been published recently (Berndt and Tomkins, 2013;Knapp et al., 2014;Beauchemin et al., 2020), but relatively few have emphasized the current situation in tropical cattle production systems in developing countries.Ruminant production in developing countries (mostly in the tropics) faces enormous challenges to both increase productivity and decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Ayantunde et al., 2005). The achievement of CH 4 mitigation at the farm level can bring environmental benefits and increase profits for small farmers in tropical regions. Small-scale cattle farmers in the tropical regions of Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa confront formidable obstacles in achieving sustainable intensification of animal production (Ndung'u et al., 2019). Poverty, poor literacy, scarcity of financial resources (credits), limited access to markets, lack of technical support and paradoxically, the ominous impacts of climate change (droughts, floods and fires) are just but a few of the present constraints.The rationale behind this review is to describe and critically discuss the advantages of one of the simplest and most direct options for enteric CH 4 mitigation available to small-scale cattle farmers in the tropics, namely the incorporation of foliages, seeds and pods of widely distributed tropical plants, by-products and additives in practical rations.There are many factors influencing CH 4 yield such as type of grass (C3 v. C4), chemical composition, forage : concentrate ratio, rate of passage of digesta through the rumen, physiological stage, breed, sex and it is assumed that all those are integrated within the single expression of DM intake (Archimède et al., 2011 and2018). Dry matter intake is Figure 1 Metabolic and digestive effects of condensed tannins, essential oils and saponins on methane synthesis and animal production. (−): decrease; (þ): increase. Modified from Valencia Salazar (2017).the result of both grass and cattle interactions which affect rumen fermentation and, as such, represents a convenient basis for estimating enteric methane production. More work is required by research groups in tropical regions on the establishment of robust data sets from which accurate CH 4 yields could be derived for methane inventory purposes (Patra, 2017;Castelán Ortega et al., 2019;Goopy et al., 2020) and for evaluation of effective enteric CH 4 mitigation strategies.A series of experiments involving methane emissions were carried out in Mexico with cattle housed in open-circuit respiration chambers and fed basal rations of low-quality tropical grass (>70% of ration DM) and a supplement (concentrate). Preliminary results showed a methane yield of 17.4 g CH 4 /kg DMI in Nellore (Bos indicus) bulls that were fed chopped Pennisetum purpureum grass (Canul-Solís et al., 2017), a value that compares reasonably well with the predicted methane yield of 18.0 g CH 4 /kg DM intake (n = 66; R 2 = 0.73) in cattle fed low-quality tropical grass (~70% ration DM) reported by Ku-Vera et al. (2018) and with the methane yield reported by Noguera and Posada-Ochoa (2017) who reported 16.1 g CH 4 /kg DMI in lactating cows fed Pennisetum clandestinum in Colombia. The values reported by the cited studies (Noguera and Posada-Ochoa, 2017;Canul-Solís et al., 2017;Ku-Vera et al., 2018) represent an approximation for cattle fed tropical grasses, and they are comparable to some extent to the data from Charmley et al. (2016) who reported a methane yield of 19.3 g CH 4 /kg DMI (n = 133) for Zebu (Brahman) cattle fed tropical grasses (>70% of DM) as a basal ration in Australia. Although it has been claimed that tropical (C4) grasses contribute to enteric methane emissions to a greater extent than temperate (C3) grasses (Archimède et al., 2018), the evidence hereby presented does not support that contention (Benaouda, 2018;Goopy et al., 2018; Table 1). The overall enteric methane yield from experiments carried out in Mexico in respiration chambers is 17.0 g CH 4 /kg DMI (n = 125) for cattle consuming low-quality tropical grasses. This relatively low yield could be partially explained by the low rate and extent of fermentation of DM (~40%) in the rumen of cattle fed tropical grass during the dry season. Strategic grazing management (with a canopy with light interception of 95%) results in reduction in CH 4 emission intensity and greater milk yield in grazing cows, as well as 18% less CH 4 /kg DM intake (Congio et al., 2018). The so-called rotatinuous grazing management (Savian et al., 2018) also results in a decrease in CH 4 emission intensity by carefully controlling grazing behavior of ruminants. Both approaches support the contention that it is through grazing management that CH 4 emission intensity in ruminants can be decreased without any other further intervention. Nonetheless, Berça et al. (2019) found no reductions in enteric methane emissions of crossbred dairy heifers grazing Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu either fertilized or with the inclusion of the legume Arachis pintoi in Brazil. There are several possible strategies to mitigate methane emissions in ruminants that are fed low-quality tropical grasses. The selection criteria for a particular strategy must be based on sound economic grounds, as smallholders are limited economically in their capacity to buy expensive methane mitigating additives (e.g. monensin, 3-nitrooxypropanol). Leucaena leucocephala, a native legume shrub from Mexico and Central America, ranks first among the options available to develop sustainable beef cattle farming systems in tropical regions (Shelton and Dalzell, 2007;Harrison et al., 2015;Ramírez-Avilés et al., 2019). In Colombia, Molina et al. (2016) fed Lucerna heifers with a Cynodon plectostachyus (74% DM) and Leucaena leucocephala (26% DM) ration while cattle were housed in polytunnels for methane measurements and recorded a lower intensity of methane emissions compared to heifers fed only the tropical grass. Also in Colombia, Sierra-Montoya et al. (2017) found a reasonably good milk yield (~10 to 12 l cow/day) in recently Methane mitigation in cattle in tropical regions calved or early lactating Gyr × Holstein cows grazing a silvopastoral system consisting of Cynodon plectostachyus and Leucaena leucocephala, obtaining a good balance of metabolizable protein to metabolizable energy.Enteric methane mitigation strategies in cattle under small-scale farming conditionsBefore adoption or implementation at farm level, an enteric methane mitigation strategy must induce a significant extent of mitigation as demonstrated in various experiments, published equations applicable to various types of ruminants, feasibility of adoption by farmers, cost-effectiveness analysis and repeatability (Eugène et al., 2019), as well as persistency. This review addresses three different options for mitigation: secondary compounds contained in plant species available in tropical regions that can be used in silvopastoral systems, high-energy compounds such as oils and finally a chemical compound exemplified by the feeding of additives such as nitrates. Nitrates require attention, particularly under the conditions of tropical ruminant production, since they supply N, an element which is usually deficient in C4 grasses during the long dry season.Foliages, seeds and pods of tropical trees and shrubs have been considered as important components of ruminant rations long ago (Topps, 1992;Shelton and Dalzell, 2007). Secondary compounds contained in such plant species exert different effects on the rumen microbial population (Patra and Saxena, 2009). Pi ñeiro-Vázquez et al. (2018) reported that foliage of the tropical legume Leucaena leucocephala induced a reduction in methane yield when it was included in ration DM in high proportions (40% to 80%) in crossbred heifers (Bos indicus × Bos taurus) housed in respiration chambers that were fed a basal ration of low-quality tropical grass (Table 2). However, the increase in CP intake from L. leucocephala induced higher N excretion (as urea) in the urine, probably leading to higher nitrous oxide emissions (Montoya-Flores et al., 2020). This agrees with data reported by Harrison et al. (2015) who also found a reduction in enteric methane emissions, although nitrous oxide emissions increased in cattle fed Leucaena leucocephala in Australia.In a set of experiments involving the incorporation of foliages such as Leucaena leucocephala or Gliricidia sepium (Molina-Botero et al., 2019a;Montoya-Flores et al., 2020) or ground pods of Enterolobium cyclocarpum or Samanea saman (Lazos-Balbuena, 2015;Valencia Salazar et al., 2018), a reduction in enteric methane yield of different magnitudes was recorded in cattle housed in respiration chambers (Table 2).Pods of tropical legumes such as Enterolobium cyclocarpum and Acacia pennatula contain either condensed tannins or saponins, and when fed ground at 45% of ration DM, weight gains of up to 240 g/lamb per day were obtained in small-scale sheep farms (Brice ño-Poot et al., 2012). Pods from those legumes can be hand collected by smallholders, stored in bags, ground and directly fed to cattle and sheep up to 50% of ration DM (Brice ño- Poot et al., 2012). Pods are palatable and they are eagerly consumed by cattle and sheep after falling from the trees during the dry season. Rumen DM degradability of ground pods is high: 87% for Enterolobium cyclocarpum (Pi ñeiro-Vázquez et al., 2013) and 80% for Samanea saman (Valencia Salazar et al., 2018); they provide (through anaerobic fermentation) the necessary ATP for the maintenance and growth of bacteria in the rumen. The high level of rumen DM degradation of tropical pods suggests that they contain a high concentration of readily available carbohydrates (i.e. pectins, starch), which may change the pattern of rumen fermentation (Valencia Salazar et al., 2018) and decrease methane production per kg of DM consumed. Table 2 shows the magnitude of reduction in enteric methane yield when cattle were fed foliage or pods from tropical trees. Both options are simple and straightforward strategies for reducing methane emissions in farms under smallholder conditions in the tropics.The proportion of gross energy intake (GEI) lost as methane gas: Y m (Table 2) ranged from 5.0% to 9.5% throughout the experiments, and it generally decreased as the levels of mitigating compounds (i.e. foliage, pods) were incorporated at increasing levels in the rations. Those authors found that Y m fluctuated between 4.8% and 13.7% and that IPCC ( 2006) procedures underestimated Y m by ~26.1%. Therefore, the derivation of precise Y m values remains an important challenge for estimating CH 4 emissions from Bos indicus type of cattle fed low-quality forages in tropical developing countries. In Thailand, Chaokaur et al. (2015) working with Brahman cattle fed Pangola (Digitaria eriantha) grass as basal ration found that Y m ranged between 7.3% and 11.5% (above the IPCC ( 2006) default value of 6.5%) and that enteric methane emissions were linearly increased from the maintenance level of feeding up to ad libitum intake.There are several possible explanations for the reduction of enteric methane emissions as a result of feeding foliage and pods of tropical plant species to cattle and sheep (see Figure 1). Condensed tannins contained in such plants may reduce CH 4 in two different ways, first, by directly inhibiting methanogenic archaea, and second by decreasing H 2 availability in the rumen and the apparent digestibility of DM and protozoal population (Patra et al., 2017;Pi ñeiro-Vázquez et al., 2018), Aboagye (2018 and2019) reported a reduction in fiber digestibility, rather than a decrease in the amount of structural carbohydrates. Nonetheless, Canul-Solís et al. (2014) found no effect of saponins (6 g/day) of Yucca schidigera on methane emissions of hair sheep fed low-quality tropical grass; this could be associated with the lack of effect on methanogenic archaea or the relatively low levels of incorporation of the mitigating commercial compound.Saponins in pods such as those in Samanea saman may form complexes with sterols in the protozoal membrane surface and induce lysis of such membrane (Anantasook et al., 2014), thus reducing the population of methanogenic archaea which are usually associated with protozoa. Incorporation of foliage and pods of plants containing condensed tannins and steroidal saponins in ruminant rations can increase the molar proportion of propionic acid in rumen liquor and decrease the availability of metabolic H which is the specific substrate for carbon dioxide reduction to methane (Valencia-Salazar et al., 2018). Feeding of starch-containing ingredients in the ration such as in the pods of the legume tree Samanea saman (rain tree) may also drive a reduction in methane emissions by changing the pattern of rumen fermentation, increasing the molar proportion of propionic acid and lowering that of acetic acid in the rumen (Valencia-Salazar et al., 2018). Anantasook et al. (2014) similarly reported an increase in propionic acid concentration in the rumen and a reduction in methane production, when they fed pods of Samanea saman to dairy steers fed urea-treated rice straw as basal ration. Ground pods of Samanea saman have been successfully used for feeding dairy cows (Anantasook et al., 2014) in Thailand. Changes in the molar proportions of VFA in the rumen (i.e. increasing Methane mitigation in cattle in tropical regions propionic acid relative to acetic acid) may improve the efficiency of metabolizable energy utilization by decreasing heat increment and increasing energy retention as protein and fat synthesis (weight gain) in the body (NASEM, 2016) or in milk as fat and lactose. Thus, this kind of mitigation strategy may be more acceptable to smallholders, since they would see their effort compensated in both productivity and probably in financial revenues.An increase in animal productivity has been observed under production conditions in cattle and sheep in small farms where both leucaena and pod legume incorporation in practical rations were implemented. Growing crossbred bulls showed a daily weight gain of 770 g, while grazing in a silvopastoral system with Leucaena leucocephala (Mayo-Eusebio, 2013) and confined hair sheep gained 240 g/day when pods of Enterolobium cyclocarpum were incorporated at 50% (DM basis) of their ration (Brice ño-Poot et al., 2012) under smallholder farming conditions. These results agree with those of Harrison et al. (2015) with grazing cows on leucaena pastures in Australia and Moscoso et al. (1995) with confined sheep fed ground pods of Enterolobium cyclocarpum (36% of ration DM) in Honduras (Central America). We do not fully understand the lack of changes in terms of the rumen microbial population when using tropical feedstuffs containing secondary compounds. So far, the work carried out on DNA (qPCR) techniques for counting the rumen microbial population has been inconclusive with regard to changes in the composition of the microbial population. No changes have been observed so far in the structure of the rumen population when cattle were fed either Leucaena leucocephala or Enterolobium cyclocarpum. Nonetheless, the length of time of feeding apparently does not lead to an adaptation of the rumen microbial population to secondary compounds (such as the saponins contained in pods of Enterolobium cyclocarpum) (Molina-Botero et al., 2019b). Disposal of H 2 in the rumen through methanogenesis is aimed at maintaining the partial rumen pressure of H 2 low so that fermentation can proceed efficiently. So far, there is still not a plausible explanation for the fate of the excess metabolic H as a result of methane mitigation in ruminants fed tropical C4 grasses (4 mol H 2 remains unused per mol CH 4 decreased; Hegarty and Gerdes, 1999). No alternative H 2 sink has been proposed as yet, although it is recognized that there may be an excess H 2 in the rumen when methane mitigating compounds are fed (up to 35.9 g/day in heifers; Romero-Perez et al. (2015)). Some of the excess H 2 in the treatments involving incorporation of mitigating compounds may have been incorporated into rumen microbes (Kennedy and Charmley, 2012). Nevertheless, more work has to be done on this subject. Rumen pH of cattle fed foliages and pods of tropical plants where substantial reductions in methane emissions have been recorded showed no apparent changes 4 h after feeding (Valencia-Salazar et al., 2018;Montoya-Flores et al., 2020). Since rumination is normally carried out in such conditions, rumen pH generally remains within the physiological range (6 to 7), as well as the osmotic pressure (i.e. 250 to 300 mosmol/kg).Essential oils are secondary compounds (alcohol, ester or aldehyde derivatives of phenylpropanoids and terpenoids) present in some tropical plants. They are volatile, aromatic substances. Essential oils display antimicrobial actions related to processes in the bacterial cell membrane involving electron transport, ion gradients, phosphorylation and protein translocation (Benchaar et al., 2008). Essential oils exert a high affinity for lipids in cell membranes of bacteria which results from their hydrophobic nature and their antibacterial actions are related to their lipophilic character; thus, they can disrupt the cytoplasmic membrane either directly or by damaging proteins in the membrane, resulting in increased permeability of the membrane and then leakage of cytoplasmic constituents thus affecting the proton motive force (Hart et al., 2008). Scientific evidence on the potential of EOs to reduce enteric methane in ruminants in vivo in tropical regions is still scarce (Wang et al., 2018). Effective doses, mode of action, voluntary intake and the cost-benefit ratio must be assessed. Most of the studies involving EOs have been conducted under in vitro conditions (Ye et al., 2018) and those results must be validated in vivo at the farm level under smallholder conditions. Recent work, carried out at the University of Yucatan in Mexico, with crossbred heifers held in respiration chambers (Jiménez-Ocampo, R. unpublished results) has shown that EO from Citrus sinensis (0.5% DM) reduced methane yield in heifers fed low-quality tropical grasses by up to ~18% (compared to a control ration without oil), which agrees with experiments carried out in Hu sheep supplemented with EO from grapefruit peels (Wu et al., 2018). Figure 1 shows the mechanisms of action of some secondary compounds for mitigation of enteric methane in ruminants. The mechanisms are rather different: condensed tannins may both affect feed digestibility and inhibit archaea, saponins may disrupt protozoa membranes and reduce the population of methanogenic archaea, while EOs may affect protozoa and methanogens, depending on the type and concentration. In the tropics, there is a wide range of plants which may induce such mechanisms in the rumen of cattle under practical feeding conditions.Nitrate supplementation as a methane mitigation strategy Nitrate (NO À3 ) has been proposed as a replacement for urea (non-protein N) as a source of rumen degradable N for the rumen microbes (Lee and Beauchemin, 2014). Therefore, nitrate could work well under dry season cattle farming conditions in the tropics when grasses are characterized by deficient N concentration for optimal microbial growth supplying N essential for adequate bacterial protein synthesis (Leng, 1990). Nitrate is an alternative H sink which competes with methane synthesis; the stoichiometric potential of 1 mol of nitrate can reduce methane synthesis by 1 mol (Leng, 2008) and nitrate can decrease the number of rumen protozoa resulting in CH 4 reduction. Nitrate reduction in the rumen to nitrite and then to NH 3 is energetically more favorable than carbon dioxide reduction for methane synthesis, which implies that 4 mol H 2 is redirected toward nitrate reduction. Therefore, methane production can be mitigated by 1 mol per each mole of nitrate reduced, which is equivalent to a CH 4 emission reduction of 25.8/100 g nitrate fed. However, high levels of nitrate in the rumen may induce toxicity, as nitrate is transformed into nitrite and an excess may induce an increase in methemoglobin (MetHb) in the bloodstream, leading to hypoxia, dyspnea and even death if the animal is not treated immediately (Callaghan et al., 2014). Nitrate toxicity and its potentially hazardous consequences can be avoided by supplying less than 9 g NO À 3 /kg DM intake in cattle, but the concentrations of basal NO À 3 in the consumed grass must also be accounted for.Concentrations of NO À 3 are related to plant species, phenological stage and other plant stressors (e.g. drought, fertilization). According to Callaghan et al. (2014), in Northern Australia they recommended ~15 g/day of NO À 3 in breeding beef cows grazing dry season pastures. Nonetheless, there is a risk in the control of the intake of the supplement and the heterogeneous structure of herds of grazing cattle with different feed intakes. An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of dietary nitrate on enteric methane emissions in dairy cows grazing pastures during the summer and it was found that 8 g NO À 3 /kg DM in grazing dairy cows led to a decrease in CH 4 emissions (van Wyngaard et al., 2018). Hulshof et al. (2012) using sugarcane-based rations reported that 22 g NO À 3 /kg DM reduced enteric methane emission by 32%.In the dry season, tropical grasses usually contain low concentrations of CP and nitrates could supply the N required for improving rumen fermentation of low-quality basal rations. A gradual adaptation period of 15 days and the use of slow-release NO À 3 in the ration are alternative ways of reducing the risk of toxicity (Alemu et al., 2019). El-Zaiat et al. (2014) showed that encapsulated nitrate was not toxic to lambs (4.51% encapsulated nitrate product (60.83% nitrate in the product DM)). At the same time, those authors identified higher risks of toxicity in rations with low levels of readily fermented carbohydrates. For that reason, a practice that reduces feeding problems is to supply non-structural carbohydrates in the ration, as grains (i.e. starch) which appear to exert some prophylactic effect. Nitrates can be offered twice a day or mixed with molasses in roller drums to reduce MetHb synthesis (Benu et al., 2016). However, those practices are complicated in pastoral systems in the tropics, since forage quality varies with season. Villar et al. (2020) found that mature steers fed a basal ration of lucerne chaff and supplemented with a mixture of NO À 3 and canola oil reduced daily methane production by 26%, which suggested a synergistic effect of the two mitigating compounds, when combined.Recent work, conducted at the University of Yucatan-Mexico, with crossbred heifers (Bos indicus × Bos taurus) housed in open-circuit respiration chambers showed that supplementation with increasing levels of NO À 3 (0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3% DM) to a basal ration of low-quality chopped tropical grass (Pennisetum purpureum) resulted in a substantial reduction in enteric CH 4 emissions from 135.5 g/day (0% NO À3 ) to 93.3 g/day (with 0.3% NO À 3 DM), although a reduction in DM intake was also noticed. Nitrate seems to be a viable methane mitigating additive which simultaneously supplies N to the rumen microorganisms during the dry season when N concentration in tropical grasses is deficient for optimal microbial protein synthesis in the rumen.Lipid supplementation as a methane mitigation strategy Lipid sources as a methane mitigation strategy under tropical conditions (rations with high NDF and low digestibility and intake) can play an important role in the improvement of cattle performance and therefore in farm productivity. In their comprehensive review, Grainger and Beauchemin (2011) suggested that the mitigation potential of fats is 1 g CH 4 /kg DM intake for each 10 g fat/kg DM in the ration and this has shown persistent results, although no effect of the chain length of the fatty acids on the magnitude of mitigation has been detected. Feeding sunflower oil can effectively reduce enteric methane emissions of dairy cows (Bayat et al., 2017). Similar effects of vegetable oils on reducing methane emissions have been reported under in vitro conditions (Vargas et al., 2020). Recent work carried out at the University of Yucatan, Mexico (Flores-Santiago, E. unpublished results), has shown that by feeding palm oil (6% of ration DM) to hair Pelibuey sheep housed in respiration chambers, which were fed a low-quality basal ration of tropical C4 grass (Brachiaria brizantha) hay, methane yield was reduced by ~14%, compared to a control treatment without palm oil. Palm oil contains saturated fatty acids (50%; palmitic acid: 44% and stearic acid: 5%) and unsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid: 40% and polyunsaturated linoleic and α-linoleic acid: 10%). Palm oil is available for ruminant feeding in several Latin American and other tropical countries.A number of experiments have been carried out in Brazil with grazing cattle supplemented with diverse sources of lipids. Mata e Silva et al. (2017) found that sunflower oil (383 g/day) given to lactating dairy cows grazing a tropical pasture (Urochloa brizantha) decreased enteric CH 4 by ~23%. Neto et al. (2015) reported that grazing Nellore bulls supplemented with a concentrate containing oil was an effective means for reducing enteric methane emissions as a percentage of GEI by 12.8%. Similarly, Carvalho et al. (2016) supplemented Nellore steers grazing Brachiaria brizantha with linseed oil and found a reduction in enteric methane emissions. In Nellore bulls grazing Brachiaria brizantha supplemented with starch, the use of oil (~198 g soybean grain/kg DM) reduced enteric CH 4 emissions (Neto et al., 2019).There is a shortage of information on enteric methane emissions from dairy and beef cattle production systems in the tropics (Bartl et al., 2011;Niu et al., 2018). Enteric CH 4 mitigation in small-scale cattle farms may be a rather Methane mitigation in cattle in tropical regions straightforward practice, from a purely technical standpoint. For instance, if it is assumed that crossbred (Bos indicus × Bos taurus) dual-purpose cows grazing on silvopastoral systems in the tropics consume ~30% of total daily DM intake (measured with the n-alkane technique) as Leucaena leucocephala (Bottini-Luzardo et al., 2016), and by using the results obtained by Montoya-Flores et al. (2020) who found a reduction in CH 4 yield of ~20% in crossbred cows fed Leucaena leucocephala (36% DM; measured in respiration chambers). If those data are combined and extrapolated as a first approximation, it follows that the actual mitigation of enteric CH 4 emissions in silvopastoral systems with leucaena may possibly range from ~15% to ~20%, compared to an only-grass, monoculture system. In dual-purpose cattle production systems in the tropics, average milk yield per cow usually ranges between 7 and 10 litres/day, and there is an urgent need to increase productivity. Under those conditions, financial feasibility improves in the silvopastoral systems because the farmer relies less on imported (expensive) grains (i.e. concentrates) when using locally available high-quality forages such as leucaena (Bottini-Luzardo et al., 2016;Kumari et al., 2020). Reviewed data clearly show the range of methane yields (16.1 to 34.1 g CH 4 /kg DM intake) which can be expected from cattle fed tropical grasses, with values at the lower end, probably reflecting the slow rate and low extent of fermentation of organic matter in the rumen (i.e. dry season grasses). Suybeng et al. (2019) have advanced the potential of Desmanthus leptophyllus as a promising legume for methane mitigation and improvement of cattle productivity under tropical grazing conditions in Australia.Strategies based on the incorporation of natural resources such as vegetable oils, foliages, pods and seeds of tropical plants in the ration represent an approach for enteric CH 4 mitigation in ruminants in the vast areas of land covered with low-quality tropical grasses. Recently, Ali et al. (2019b) observed that when Holstein × Boran heifers were fed a basal ration of low-quality Rhodes hay and supplemented with sweet potato vine silage or a urea-molasses block, enteric CH 4 emissions were lowered while cattle were kept in respiration chambers in Kenya. In developing countries, it is important to work more intensively on technology transfer (extension) and farmer organization (cooperatives) in order to realize actual changes in cattle production, by introducing technologies with low environmental impact through the mitigation of GHG emissions such as CH 4 and N 2 O. It is likely that in the near future it will be necessary to reach decreases in net methane emissions of cattle (g CH 4 /head per day), to comply with international agreements (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) where commitments towards absolute reductions in national GHG inventories have been signed by governments (Beauchemin et al., 2020).At low levels of nutrition of cattle, a situation which is common in the tropics during the dry season, it has been claimed that the slow rate of passage of solid digesta through the rumen may play a role in methane emissions (Ali et al., 2019a), implying that if solid digesta is retained for a long time in the rumen, methane emissions may increase. These data have obvious implications for methane inventories from tropical, developing countries, if this is substantiated further. In the event of that information being validated by further research, it would be rather easy to increase passage rate of digesta by feeding highly rumen fermentable forages (i.e. Brosimum alicastrum, Leucaena leucocephala, Gliricidia sepium and Desmanthus spp.) which have been proven to stimulate DM intake and thus passage rate in ruminants. In developing tropical countries, reduction of methane emissions in cattle by decreasing retention time of digesta in the rumen seems an achievable goal in the short-term, simply by supplementing highly rumen fermentable forages.Productivity is expected to increase to some extent as a result of rechanneling energy (H 2 ) saved from CH 4 synthesis into protein and fat stored in the body or secreted in milk (van Zijderveld et al., 2011). Indeed, some tropical plants (i.e. pods of Samanea saman; Valencia Salazar et al., 2018) with mitigation potential may be particularly useful for significantly reducing enteric CH 4 production in cattle fed basal rations of low-quality grasses. Greening et al. (2019) have advanced the concept that the increase in animal productivity while mitigating CH 4 emissions relies on the control of H 2 use by methanogenic archaea. It seems then that redirection of H 2 flux by manipulating rumen fermentation can increase animal production by recovering energy that would be otherwise lost through methane synthesis in the rumen. This is a subject which requires further attention by animal scientists in the tropics, along with work on kinetics of digesta passage through the rumen (Ali et al., 2019a), since mean retention time of solid digesta in the rumen is expected to contribute in a given extent to animal variation in feed efficiency (Cantalapiedra-Hijar et al., 2018).Foliages, pods and seeds of tropical trees and shrubs containing either condensed tannins, EOs, saponins or starch, as well as other compounds such as nitrates and by-products such as vegetable oils can be fed to cattle to mitigate enteric methane emissions under smallholder conditions. Methane yields can be reduced by approximately 10% to 25% by adopting those practices in ruminant production systems. Silvopastoral systems with high-quality legumes (i.e. leucaena, desmanthus), intensification of grazing management (i.e. rotatinuous) and supplementation with nutritional blocks containing CH 4 depressors (pods of Enterolobium cyclocarpum or Samanea saman or seeds of Brosimum alicastrum) are practical options available to smallholders for mitigating enteric methane emissions in cattle raised under tropical conditions. Agriculture Conference 2019, held at Iguassu Falls, Brazil. We are indebted to CONACYT-Mexico for granting fellowships to students to carry out MSc and PhD studies, as well as postdoctoral research at the University of Yucatan, Mexico. We thank the State Government of Yucatan (SIIDETEY)-Mexico for financial support to keep the respiration chambers running. We are grateful to CONACYT-Mexico for support (CB: A1-S-23910; Convocatoria 2018-1) to carry out experiments on energy metabolism of cattle. This work was implemented as part of the CGIAR Research Programs on Livestock and Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which are carried out with support from CGIAR Fund Donors and through bilateral funding agreements. For details please visit https://ccafs.cgiar.org/donors. The views expressed in this document cannot be taken to reflect the official opinions of these organizations. We thank all donors that globally support our work through their contributions to the CGIAR system. We are indebted to the anonymous referees of this paper, for their kind suggestions towards its improvement.R. Jiménez-Ocampo 0000-0003-2171-1357"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6317c9434d7cdafc69d2f6ad2e896afc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/b62dc16c-2daa-44a5-a863-ff2f34754565/content","id":"1780414915"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9226b871-e6cf-4f3b-afd3-0c9914661152","content":"KS23-6: yellow grained; introduced from USA CKDHL120918 -White grained CKTI0277 -white grained; Ex-PVP by tropical Responses of inbred lines to MLN under artificial inoculation in 2012 CML442 CML443 CML448 CML395• A total of 6000 lines evaluated under AI. Combined analysis across trials were conducted• Most of the lines were susceptible after 42 days after inoculation, with disease severity great than 3.0• A total of 103 maize lines were identified as sources of resistance to MLN with mean disease severity <2.5Can maize landraces offer resistance to MCMV/MLN? Source: Terry Molnar & Monica Mezzalama (CIMMYT)Pre-breeding for MLN Tolerance   Forward breeding for MLN tolerance   "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dd6d97b89b06873d7eb12fe3b692dcb9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/890b96dc-36c4-4d5f-a27c-6b75b9fee174/retrieve","id":"-702590633"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5c1930ab-4942-4995-a949-57fa39ab9dcf","content":"P1377 -Support breeding programs through provision of timely marker data and develop and validate markers Description of the innovation: A full protocol was developed for semi-automated DNA extraction based on seed powder. A liquid hander is used and extraction is based on 1 single seed. The through-put was increased from 8 (manual extraction) to 18 plates a day. New Innovation: No Innovation type: Genetic (varieties and breeds) Stage of innovation: Stage 3: available/ ready for uptake (AV) Geographic Scope: <Not Defined> Number of individual improved lines/varieties: <Not Defined>• 1. >25 new, more productive, climate resilient, disease resistant varieties released by partner countries for enhancing wheat productivity and resilience. 2. >1000 improved wheat germplasm (varietal candidates) shared to >250 partners through various international trials and nurseries.• "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ebb428be1f7b02a64e1583d819a219f0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5e1eeccb-4649-49c5-8304-bfa52d8c2457/retrieve","id":"407708596"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3436a8ed-b207-41a1-897c-394e10ed3ab2","content":"Multifunctional soil conservation strategies have the capacity to control soil erosion as well as increase its quality, thus leading to sustained yields as long as planners have knowledge on the severity of soil loss. A comprehensive methodology that integrates Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques was adopted to determine the soil erosion vulnerability within Katabuvuga, Nyamyumba and Mukamira watersheds in western part of Rwanda, with the aim of supporting planning of land and water management interventions. The dominant slop class in all watershed was 16-40% covering 50% in Katabuvuga watershed, 43% in Mukamira watershed and 70.6% in Nyamyumba watershed. High erosion risk was recorded in Mukamira (72 %) and it was followed by Nyamyumba (46 %). The average soil loss in selected watersheds was 32t/ha/year. Among the various studied watershed, highest average loss was reported in Nyamyumba watershed (37t/ha/year) while the lowest average was in Mukamira watershed (28t/ha/year). Soil loss was higher in cropland and lower in settlement. The average loss of nutrients was 1705 kg/ha/year of carbon, 155 kg/ha/year of nitrogen, 3 kg/ha/year of phosphurus and 111 kg/ha/year of potassium, the highest nutrient loss occurred in cropland. Based on the cost of NPK the average value of N lost per ha per year is 167507 Rwandan Francs (Rwf) while the value of P and K loss per ha per year is 3309 Rwf and 120189 Rwf respectively.Land degradation especially by water accelerated soil erosion is a serious problem on agricultural land in several regions of developing countries (Anderson & Thampapillai, 1990;Dregne, 1990;Lal, 1993). Soil erosion, an irregular rainfall pattern, poor soils and eroded steep slopes have further aggravated the low productivity levels. Because of its adverse agronomic, environmental, social and economic effects, it has attracted considerable attention from scientists and development agencies around the world (Amsalu, 2006). Soil erosion is often associated with deterioration or loss of water resources and may well be the most serious and least reversible form of land degradation in tropical environments (El-Swaify et al., 1985). Soil erosion is a risk associated with agriculture in tropical areas and is important for its long-term effects on soil productivity and sustainable agriculture. Erosion also leads to environmental damage through sedimentation, pollution and increased flooding. The costs associated with the movement and deposition of sediment in the landscape frequently outweighs those arising from the long-term loss of soil in eroding fields (Morgan & Duzant, 2008).In Rwanda, many parts of the country are mountainous with steep slopes, which allow soil run-off and, hence, contribute to soil erosion. Further, land degradation in Rwanda negatively affects the agriculture sector and consequently, the latter is failing to meet the demands of a rapidly growing population. According to the Stokholm Environment Institute (2009), soil erosion in Rwanda results in a loss of 1.4 million tons of soil per year, equivalent to an economic loss of US $ 34,320,000, or almost 2% of GDP. In fact, land degradation has provided the challenge of achieving economic and sustainable use of natural resource under the pressure of high population density and consequently raising food insecurity for Rwanda (Bidogeza et al., 2015). Indeed, Agriculture sector contributes approximately 31% of the national GDP of Rwanda and more than 80% of the Rwandan population depends on agriculture sector (NISR, 2015). Recently, agriculture sector grew by 4 percent and contributed to 1.3 percentage points to the overall GDP growth (NISR, 2015).Subsistence farming is the dominant agricultural activity where the average farm size is not exceeding than 0.6 ha, on which farmers cultivate only food crops for self-consumption. At the same time, the per capita size of agricultural fields in Rwanda has diminished dramatically in the last 3 decades (Bidogeza et al., 2009). This is one of the densely populated countries in Africa with over 11 million inhabitants at area of 26,338 km 2 and its population is projected to rise around 16 million by 2020. This is likely contributing to an intense pressure on degradation of natural resources especially land and water. Productivity decline resulting from excessive soil loss occurs everywhere (Roose & Ndayizigiye, 1997) and it is particularly more acute in the highlands of Rwanda (Roose & Ndayizigiye, 1997;Steiner & Drechsel, 1998;Kagabo et al., 2013;Nzeyimana et al., 2017).Mitigating these effects and improving soil productivity is required by adopting the erosion control techniques. This is one of the crosscutting factors that are subjected to support productive high value and market oriented agriculture toward national priority in Rwanda's Vision 2020. Experts have addressed the erosion question by arguing for the implementation of soil and water conservation strategies that range from \"biological\" or \"vegetative\" methods to \"physical\" or mechanical methods, such as terraces (De Graaff, 1996;Hurni et al., 2008).However, estimation of the erosion costs is essential since it can be used to prioritize implementation of soil and water conservation, and economic analysis of alternative conservation technologies can be used to identify courses of action that efficiently employ available resources (Clark, 1996). What would it cost to prevent, reduce or mitigate the on-and offsite effects of soil erosion? There are hardly publications available, especially for Rwanda that give a precise answer to this question or an estimate or indication or allow a calculation of the costs involved in preventive action, such as the application of soil erosion control measures by individual farmers.This study aims to estimate and mapping the potential soil erosion risk using RUSLE model for the three erosion hot-spot watersheds of the Western Part of Rwanda and provide valuable, effective and efficient soil and water conservation strategies to mitigate the problems of land degradation.The study shows that soil loss in studied watershed is high therefore compelling the appropriate soil conservation measures in order to make agricultural productivity sustainable. The spatial erosion risk maps generated with RUSLE method and GIS can serve as effective inputs for land use planning and management in the environmentally sensitive mountainous areas such as West Rwanda.Katabuvuga watershed is located in Rusizi district, in the South-Western part of the country. Katabuvuga watershed covers an area of 31,705.11 hectares and extends from 2 o 28\" 56.4\"\" and 2 o 41\" 45.6\"\" south and from 28 o 54\" 12.6\"\" and 29 o 08\" 47.6\"\" East. The altitude ranges from 954 m above sea level down at the outlet and 2059m at the water divide location.Mukamira watershed is located in Nyabihu district in the Western Province and Musanze District of northern Province. It extends from 1 o 31\" 13.5\" and 1 o 42\" 55\" south and from 29 o 25\" 29.3\" and 29 o 33\" 51.6\" East. The North-Western part of the country where this watershed is located is a region known for high topography, very steep hills, and intense rainfall. The watershed includes a part of Volcano Mountains which amasses considerable amount of water from high altitude mountains and volcanoes.Nyamyumba watershed is located in Rubavu District, in the Western Province. It extends from 1 o 38\" 58\"\" and 1 o 52\" 45.5\"\"south and 29 o 15\" 9.35\"\"and 29 o 29\" 14.5\"\"East. Nyamyumba watershed stretches over high slope and steep hills from which run-off water flows down towards Lake Kivu (Figure 1).Slope maps of the study areas were generated from the Digital Representation of Topography (DTM) available at the Rwanda National Resource Authority (RNRA) at a minimum of 10 meter resolution. Slope ranges were calculated as percentage rise by using ArcGIS spatial analysis tools. Slope map classes were created according to FAO slope classification categories 0-6%, 6%-16%, 16%-40%, 40%-60% and >60%.Erosion risk map was created following the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) predicts the long-term average annual rate of erosion on a field slope based on rainfall pattern, soil type, topography, crop system and management practices. USLE only predicts the amount of soil loss that results from sheet or rill erosion on a single slope and does not account for additional soil losses that might occur from gully, wind or tillage erosion. This erosion model was created for use in selected cropping and management systems, but is also applicable to non-agricultural conditions such as construction sites. The USLE can be used to compare soil losses from a Figure 1 Map showing location of study watersheds particular field with a specific crop and management system to \"tolerable soil loss\" rates. Alternative management and crop systems may also be evaluated to determine the adequacy of conservation measures in farm planning. Five major factors are used to calculate the soil loss for a given site. Each factor is the numerical estimate of a specific condition that affects the severity of soil erosion at a particular location. The erosion values reflected by these factors can vary considerably due to varying weather conditions. Therefore, the values obtained from the USLE more accurately represent long-term averages. This equation calculates the average annual soil loss of a point on the earth\"s surface by combining the effects of rainfall-runoff, soil erodibility, the topography, cover-management factor (Figure 2), and the practice factor. The RUSLE equation is defined as follows: Where: A is the average annual soil loss in tn/ha/yr, R is the rainfall-runoff factor (MJ mm ha -1 hr -1 yr -1 ), K is the soil erodibility factor (tn • ha • hr • ha -1 • MJ -1 • mm -1 ), LS is the topographic factor, C is the cover-management factor and P is the support practice factor.R factor was calculated using the following formula: R =47.5+0.38*P Where, R=rain erosivity (joules m -2 ); P=annual rainfall (mm year -1 ).The L and S factors represent the effects of slope length (L) and slope steepness (S) on the erosion of a slope. The combination of the two factors is commonly called the \"topgraphic factor.\" The L factor is the ratio of the actual horizontal slope length to the experimentally measured slope length of 22.1m. The S factor is the ratio of the actual slope to an experimental slope of 9%. The L and S factors are designed such that they are one when the actual slope length is 22.1 and the actual slope is 9%. Accurately calculating the LS factor turns out to be something of an art. It requires that the user pay close attention to gathering good empirical data about the landscape and choosing an appropriate method of calculating LS (of which there are many). Readers might be interested in reading which provides a very high level overview of the common problem of miscalculating the topographic factor from DEMs in GIS software. The topographic factor was calculated using the following formula LS = (Flow accumulation X Cell size/22.13) 0.4 X (sin slope/0.0896) 1.3   K is the soil erodibility factor and it is the average soil loss in tons/hectare (tons/acre) for a particular soil in cultivated, continuous fallow with an arbitrarily selected slope length of 22.13 m (72.6 ft) and slope steepness of 9%. K is a measure of the susceptibility of soil particles to detachment and transport by rainfall and runoff. Texture is the principal factor affecting K, but structure, organic matter and permeability also contribute. K factor was calculated using the following formula:Where SAN is the sand content %, SIL is the silt content %, CLA is the clay content %, C\" is the soil organic carbon content % and SN1=1-SAN/100.C is the crop/vegetation and management factor. It is used to determine the relative effectiveness of soil and crop management systems in terms of preventing soil loss. The C factor is a ratio comparing the soil loss from land under a specific crop and management system to the corresponding loss from continuously fallow and tilled land. The main land use types and respective C values considered in this study are: Cropland (0.5), forestland (0.01), grassland (0.1) and settlement (0.001).P is the support practice factor. It reflects the effects of practices that will reduce the amount and rate of the water runoff and thus reduce the amount of erosion. The P factor represents the ratio of soil loss by a support practice to that of straight-row farming up and down the slope. The most commonly used supporting cropland practices are cross-slope cultivation, contour farming and strip cropping. P values was estimated at 0.6 considering that in the area at least farmer practice contour cropping system. Slope classes considered were i) Low (0-2t/ha/year), ii) Moderate (2-9t/ha/year) and High (>9t/ha/year).The method used to value the effect of erosion was replacement cost as it is described in Clark (1996). This is based on the cost of replacing lost soil nutrients with synthetic fertilizers; it may also include the cost of physically returning eroded sediment to the land. Soil loss valuation was based on the cost of replenishment of soil nutrients washed away according to the N, P and K content in the soil. Rwanda soil map database was used to identify soil profiles and their respective nutrients content which were characterized in the watershed. The average N, P and K content was used to estimate the amount which will be washed away in accordance to the amount of soil loss in the watershed. The summary of nutrients content is in table 1, Nyamyumba watershed has higher nutrients content compared to other watershed while Mukamira has lower nutrients contents. The dominant slop class reported in all watersheds is between 16-40%, covering 50% in Katabuvuga watershed, 43% in Mukamira watershed and 70.6% in Nyamyumba watershed. In Katabuvuga watershed slop classes of 0-6%, 6-16%, 40-60%, and above 60% cover 6.2%, 16.9%, 19.3%, and 8.1%, respectively. In Mukamira and Nyamyumba watersheds, slope class of 40-60% covers 20% and 26% respectively. Spatial distribution of slopes in each watershed is summarized in figure 3.  The erosion risk map (Figure 5) of Katabuvuga demonstrated that the largest part of it lies in low erosion risk and almost equal portion of Moderate and High. Majority of the land at Mukamira is at the high erosion risk level (72%) and it was followed by moderate risk (16%). The majority Nyamyumba watershed has high erosion risk (46%), highlighting the urgency of the erosion issue in the area. The average soil loss (Table 2) in selected watersheds is 32t/ha/year the highest average loss occurring in Nyamyumba watershed (37t/ha/year) and the lowest average being in Mukamira watershed (28t/ha/year). Soil loss is higher in cropland and lower in settlement but the loss in forestland is also minimized. The average loss of nutrients is 1705C kg/ha/year, 155N kg/ha/year, 3P kg/ha/year and 111K kg/ha/year the highest nutrient loss occurring in cropland.Considering that the NPK 17:17:17 cost 555Rwf/kg, the average value of N lost per ha per year (Table 3) is 167507Rwf while the value of P and K loss per ha per year is 3309Rwf and 120189Rwf respectively. Bibliographic studies show that, in Rwanda, an extraordinary effort has been dedicated for erosion control from 1937 though infrastructures were abandoned and some destroyed later in 1962.The Government of Rwanda initiated several national programs of soil erosion control since 1966 however erosion threats are still observed in the farmers\" fields, which may be an evidence of low adoption or/and their capacity to maintain soil erosion control infrastructures.The average of soil loss obtained in this study is 32t/ha/year which is closer to the results of Kagabo et al. (2013) who observed soil loss of 41.5 t/ha/year in his study of soil erosion, soil fertility and crop yield on slow-forming terraces in the highlands of Buberuka in Rwanda. Results of study are also in agreement with Tamene & Le (2015) findings on soil erosion in sub-Saharan Africa, these researchers reported that soil loss ranged from 25-75t/ha/year. However the results are far less than the results obtained by Karamage et al. (2016) who observed the average soil loss of 250 t/ha/year in his study on extent of cropland and related soil erosion risk in Rwanda and 490 t/ha/year in his study of usle-based assessment of soil erosion by water in the Nyabarongo River Catchment, Rwanda. Comparing findings of Karamage et al. (2016), with finding of this study and other soil loss estimation studies in Rwanda and in the region make his results suspected to be overestimated.Soil loss occurred more in cropland in all watershed and less in other form of land use though in Mukamira and Nyamyumba erosion loss in grassland was also high compared to Katabuvuga watershed. Soils of Mukamira and Nyamyumba are volcanic thus fragile in structure and most of the time subjected to landslides reason why in grassland soil loss was higher compared to Katabuvuga watershed. The research conducted by Sun et al. (2014) highlighted that soil loss is correlated to land cover because of provision of canopy cover where forestlands provide 30% canopy cover while grasslands provide 50% thus less vulnerable to soil erosion caused by water. It has been discussed that economic development coupled with increasing population drive land use changes mostly land use conversion into cropland (Wasige et al., 2013). This will increase soil loss as with the results of this study soil loss is higher in cropland than in any other land use settings. Furthermore with the population increase people began settling in marginal areas such as on steep hill slopes, poor soils, high altitude regions and pasture areas making the land more vulnerable to water erosion.The results of this study show that soil erosion is seriously taking place in Rwanda. Although a widespread problem in east and central Africa, soil erosion reaches an extreme in Rwanda due to its steep topography, natural soil susceptibility to erosion and leaching and climatic conditions. This poses a threat to the farm for the future initiatives aiming at promoting the environmental, economic, and social well-being of farms for sustainable food system. The study highlights that the implications of soil erosion extend beyond the removal of topsoil.Like it has been discussed in several studies the impacts of land degradation and the depletion of soil resources have reflective economic implications especially in developing countries. In addition to this, heavily degraded soils are unable to support a large plant biomass because of depleted soil nutrients and soil organic matter the important element for maintaining soil structure and maximizing nutrient retention.The government of Rwanda through ministry of agriculture has launched a crop intensification program (CIP) in September 2007 as a flagship that aims to increase agricultural productivity in high potential food crops and ensure food security and self-sufficiency. The program strategies to boost agricultural productivity include the improvement of productive inputs use, irrigation and rainwater use efficiency and soil quality. With the results of this study the considerable amount of nutrients are washed away by erosion hence challenging the program to achieve the expected potential increase in yield. This study suggests the consideration of soil erosion control measures for all government plans to increase agricultural productivity through intensification and commercialization.There is tendency to give attention to soil erosion only when a visible portion of land is detached or landslides. However even when a smallest particle of soil is washed away it carries the value in it. As it has been discussed by Telles et al. (2013) the impacts of soil erosion can be evaluated either in crop production reduction cost or the soil change in its physical, chemical and biological characteristics which will further results in gradual drop in its potential productivity. From this respect there will be a cost for replenishing soil fertility by application of mineral synthetic fertilizers however the biological point of view will not be taken care off.Major investment is, therefore, needed to improve land management and promote an integrated conservation sustainable agriculture approach to ensure household food security and achieve pro-poor, environmentally support effective poverty reduction and therefore contribute to national sustainable development. Results of Nzeyimana et al. (2017) suggest the use of mulch as one of method to control soil erosion which is a triple win approach. First it increase soil stability through increased resistance to soil detachment as a result of humic acid accumulation from organic matter mineralization, secondly it protect soil from direct raindrops which causes soil detachment and thirdly the improvement of soil fertility through residues decomposition by soil micro organisms. However the effect of mulch on soil properties is site specific depending mainly on temperature and rainfall or soil moisture regimes which are major factors in organic matter decomposition.The study has revealed that erosion is seriously taking place in respective study watersheds of western Rwanda. Nyamyumba watershed had more pixels experiencing loss of soil while Katabuvuga watershed had relatively less. The steep topography and climatic conditions coupled with continuous cultivation magnify soil erosion in Rwanda especially in western part. The average soil loss in selected watersheds is 32t/ha/year the highest average loss occurring in Nyamyumba watershed (37t/ha/year) and the lowest average being in Mukamira watershed (28t/ha/year). The average value of N lost per ha per year is 167507Rwf while the value of P and K loss per ha per year is 3309Rwf and 120189Rwf respectively. This study suggests the consideration of soil erosion control measures for all government plans to increase agricultural productivity through intensification and commercialization."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"722dd43397173313f07046a253918d50","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7d0544d8-3b2e-4913-a8a3-69324b95b6fc/retrieve","id":"748835904"},"keywords":["Author roles: Offornedo Q: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Writing -Original Draft Preparation","Menkir A: Resources","Babalola D: Writing -Review & Editing","Gedil M: Conceptualization, Funding Acquisition, Supervision, Writing -Review & Editing Molecular breeding, KASP, Genotyping workflow, Marker-assisted selection, Quality Control, National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), Developing countries"],"sieverID":"fff200ba-d5db-4f9b-b276-f5a1daa7763f","content":"Background: Molecular breeding is an essential tool for accelerating genetic gain in crop improvement towards meeting the need to feed an ever-growing world population. Establishing low-cost, flexible genotyping platforms in small, public and regional laboratories can stimulate the application of molecular breeding in developing countries. These laboratories can serve plant breeding projects requiring low-to medium-density markers for marker-assisted selection (MAS) and quality control (QC) activities. Methods: We performed two QC and MAS experiments consisting of 637 maize lines, using an optimised genotyping workflow involving an in-house competitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) genotyping system with an optimised sample collection, preparation, and DNA extraction and quantitation process. A smaller volume of leaf-disc size plant samples was collected directly in 96-well plates for DNA extraction, using a slightly modified CTAB-based DArT DNA extraction protocol. DNA quality and quantity analyses were performed using a microplate reader, and the KASP genotyping and data analysis was performed in our laboratory. Results: Applying the optimized genotyping workflow expedited the QC and MAS experiments from over five weeks (when outsourcing) to two weeks and eliminated the shipping cost. Using a set of 28 KASP single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) validated for maize, the QC experiment revealed the genetic identity of four maize varieties taken from five seed sources. Another set of 10 KASP SNPs was sufficient in verifying the parentage of 390 F 1 lines. The KASP-based MAS was successfully applied to a maize pro-vitamin A (PVA) breeding program and for introgressing the aflatoxin resistance gene into elite tropical Open Peer Review Approval Status 1 2 3 4 version 3 (revision)Version 3 has been updated based on the reviewers' comments on the previous version.Agriculture is the mainstay of millions of low-income households in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, productivity is way below the yield potential of significant crops due to several interacting factors contributing to the yield reduction. The paucity of nutritionally improved resilient crop varieties is a crucial constraint. This constraint can be mitigated by the rapid development of cultivars adapted to specific agroecology zones 1 . The current yield gain trend in major food crops has shown that relying on conventional breeding alone is insufficient to meet the food needs of an estimated nine billion people in 2025 2 . There is a need to accelerate genetic gain by deploying new breeding strategies 3,4 . This need has led to the scientific community's massive investment in developing genomic resources and support systems, to provide valuable tools to accelerate breeding processes 5 .Various bottlenecks have hindered the substantial impact of molecular breeding for crop improvement, particularly in developing countries 6,7 . The major limiting factors are a lack of infrastructure and capacity for genomics resources and poor information flow, resulting in reduced access to operational and decision support tools 8 . Private companies in developed countries usually own the proprietary rights to many emerging genomics resources and systems, making it difficult for public research sectors, non-profit research institutes, and small laboratories in developing countries to have direct access. These challenges are being curbed by various international initiatives such as the Excellence in Breeding (EiB) platform, which coordinates its activities with the Genomic and Open-source Breeding Informatics Initiative (GOBii), and High Through-Put Genotyping (HTPG). In addition, the Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP)-hosted Generation Challenge Program (GCP) and the Breeding Management System (BMS) 9 target the development and adoption of molecular breeding in developing countries. These and other consultative group-hosted initiatives and platforms galvanise worldwide partners drawn from public, private, and governmental institutions towards the common goal of increasing agricultural productivity through efficient tools, technologies, and data management systems 6 .Despite the availability of many low-cost genotyping platforms and resources, it is not easy to meet the genotyping needs of many users who work on different crops, different locations, and often fewer samples due to cost implications 7,8 . The current available genotyping platforms have a minimum sample size requirement. For instance, the EiB facilitated genotyping at Intertek offers reduced cost if the user orders genotyping of 1536 samples; fewer samples are acceptable, but the price increases. Intertek's standard cost for routine KASP genotyping is $2.6 per sample per 10 SNPs, excluding shipping costs, compared to our in-house genotyping at $2.95. Even though large volume sizes can be consolidated and shipped for genotyping, there are times when breeders and partners may want to fingerprint a few dozen lines for identity or parentage analysis for quick decision making. In such cases, sending less than the minimum number of samples is not only more priced per datapoint but entails shipping cost and a turn-around time of 2-3 weeks. Using other markers, such as SSR, is more expensive and cumbersome. The use of genotyping systems such as KASP in-house alleviates all these issues. Also, the issue of inefficient courier services in this part of the world, which often results in reduced or damaged perishable specimens, can be circumvented if a reasonably affordable system is available locally. More so, we re-purposed standard laboratory instruments for the genotyping workflow. For instance, the qPCR machine, which is mostly used for expression analysis, was adapted to KASP genotyping with the installation of appropriate software for SNP calling. Likewise, the Fluostar plate reader was used for plate-level DNA quantification in lieu of single sample analysis by Spectrophotometer.For these reasons it is imperative to devise a sustainable strategy for routine, cost-effective, and easily accessible genotyping services to complement these international outsourcing initiatives by providing in-house or local (regional) genotyping platforms, where possible, to accelerate the genotyping workflow. One such regional initiative in Africa is the Integrated Genotyping Support Services (IGSS) genotyping facility at Biosciences eastern and central Africa/International Livestock Research Institute (BeCA/ILRI), Kenya. This strategy will allow breeders to outsource to a regional genotyping service provider or set up a core facility in-house.One factor that influences breeders' choice of genotyping platform is the level of throughput. Other factors considered are the data turn-around time, ease of data analysis (available informatics), reproducibility, flexibility, and cost per datapoint or cost per sample 10,11 . For high and ultra-high throughput markers, breeders outsource to array-and sequenced-based genotyping service providers. These platforms are suitable for discovery applications and approaches requiring hundreds to thousands of samples to be genotyped with tens to thousands of markers, such as genome-wide association studies (GWAS), gene mapping, and large-scale genomic selection 10,12 They are also suitable for genotyping a few samples with many markers (multiplexing), such as genetic diversity analysis or background selection. While multiplex platforms provide higher throughput with lower reagent consumption, it limits scientists to using a multiplexed set of several thousand single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) per assay 13 . They are also demanding in informatics resources and presently produce datasets with a significant percentage of missing data 13 . The high cost per sample and the initial assay development time of highly multiplexed platforms can be problematic for crop improvement applications, usually requiring low-to medium-density markers 11 . For these low-to mid-density genotyping approaches, a uniplex SNP genotyping platform is appropriate 14 .Uniplex genotyping assays are low-throughput genotyping systems that are ideally flexible regarding assay design, ease of running, and cost-effectiveness 15 . These systems provide plant breeders with the flexibility to mix and match different SNPs for a given sample set. They allow breeders to use a smaller subset of informative SNPs such as functional SNPs and trait-specific haplotypes, thereby eliminating the generation of unintended datapoints when using fixed-array SNPs. Even though a range of uniplex SNP genotyping assays exists, the most competitive uniplex systems that have been successfully applied in crop improvement research are TaqMan [16][17][18][19] , competitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) 11,20 , Amplifuor 21 , and rhAmP 22 assays. These uniplex genotyping systems vary in reaction chemistry, detection method, and reaction format. Uniplex systems can either be outsourced or installed in-house.In this study, we utilised the KASP assay, as it is one of the most used assays among plant breeders and biologists 15,19 . KASP is an endpoint PCR-based SNP genotyping method from KBiosciences, now LGC Biosearch Technologies, UK. KASP uses fluorescently-labelled allele-specific primers for the bi-allelic discrimination of SNPs and insertion-deletion mutations (INDELs) 23 . KASP was developed to reduce cost, mainly from probe design, and improve genotyping efficiency, becoming a preferred alternative to TaqMan 11,24 . The KASP genotyping system has been successfully applied in crops such as maize 11,15,25 , wheat 10,20,26 , rice 27 , soybean 28 , peanut 29 , amongst others. KASP has developed into a global benchmark technology for genotyping crop plants 11,23,[29][30][31] following the validation of KASP markers across crops of global importance (such as maize -1250 markers, wheat -1864 markers, and rice -2015 markers) by the Generation Challenge Program of the Integrated Breeding Platform 9 . The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has successfully utilised the 1,250 maize KASP markers for various genetic applications, including quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, marker-assisted recurrent selection (MARS), allele mining, and QC analysis 11 . The Maize Improvement Program of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has generated over 2,000 datapoints using KASP in-house for different genotype analyses, including QC and MAS.However, some bottlenecks in the genotyping workflow slow down the genotyping process, delaying crop improvement:(1) method of sample collection and processing, (2) level of DNA extraction and quantitation, and (3) DNA-based genotyping 8 . Gedil and Menkir (2019) provided a thorough review of the Maize Improvement Program's (MIP) molecular marker-based crop improvement activities. However, reports of research accelerating the entire genotyping process by minimizing these bottlenecks and providing a cost-effective genotyping workflow suitable for small-scale breeders and laboratories in developing countries are lacking. This study aims to develop a genotyping workflow optimized for cost-effective and fast turn-around time which can be deployed by less sophisticated and reasonably equipped laboratories in developing countries, to accelerate maize improvement research.The overall genotyping workflow was applied in some experiments representative of the genotyping activities common in small to medium breeding programs. Table 1 below describes the plant materials used in each experiment. The genetic identity experiment was performed using four well-adapted maize varieties originating from IITA but regenerated at four locations. For the hybrid verification experiment, 60 maize F 1 progenies originating from five bi-parental crosses were used. Lines KS23-3, KS23-5, and KS23-6 are resistant to maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease, while IITATZI1653 and IITATZI1667 are IITA-adopted elite maize lines with high PVA content. Another 330 F 1 plants originating from four sets of bi-parental crosses involving Striga-susceptible (TZdEEI 102, TZdEEI 99, TZdEEI 4, and TZdEEI 13) and Striga-resistant (TZEEI 29, and TZEEI 79) parents were also screened to identify true hybrids. A total of 70 PVA-QPM enriched maize inbred lines were genotyped to select lines harbouring the favourable allele for the crtRB1 gene associated with PVA content in maize. In the fourth breeding cycle of the maize enrichment project using marker-assisted backcrossing to introgress resistance to aflatoxin accumulation in elite tropical maize lines, we genotyped a total of 159 BC 1 S 2 maize lines. We applied a 15% selection intensity to identify lines harbouring the favourable alleles of the QTLs associated with resistance to aflatoxin accumulation. These plants were grown in maize fields at IITA Ibadan, Nigeria.A total of 16 to 20 leaf discs were collected from young leaves of each tagged plant, directly into Corning 96-well Polypropylene 1.2 ml cluster tubes with strip caps (Merck, Germany) using Haris Uni-core 4.0 mm puncher and cutting mat (Merck, Germany). Two 4.0 mm stainless steel grinding balls (SPEX SamplePrep) were placed in each tube. Plant tissues were preserved on ice for transport from the field to the laboratory. They were stored in a -80°C freezer before lyophilising for 48 hours using FreeZone Freeze Dryer (Labconco) following the manufacturer's manual. Lyophilised leaf tissues were ground into powder by shaking at 1,500 strokes per minute for 1.5 min using an automated high-throughput tissue homogeniser, Geno/Grinder 2010 (SPEX SamplePrep).Genomic DNA was extracted from ground leaf tissues using a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-based DNA extraction method as described by Diversity Array Technology (DArT) 32 with minor modifications (Table 2). Dry leaf tissues    were used instead of fresh ones; we included a 30-minute incubation period during the alcohol precipitation step; the DNA pellet was resuspended in a nuclease-free water and RNaseA solution. The DNA quality and quantity were determined by spectrophotometry using the FLUOstar Omega Microplate Reader (BMG LABTECH) following the manufacturer's manual.The isolated genomic DNA was diluted to a working concentration of 30 ng/µl and used as template DNA for the KASP genotyping reaction. A total of 28 KASP SNPs were used to determine the selected maize varieties' genetic identity, while 10 KASP SNPs were used to verify true hybrids among the F 1 maize lines. The SNPs (Table 3) were taken from a maize QC SNP panel 9 recommended by CIMMYT 7,33 and chosen for their high polymorphic information content (PIC) and uniform maize genome coverage. Trait-specific KASP markers (  file were used to calculate the genetic distance using the PowerMaker 3.25 statistical software 34 .The list of KASP SNPs for genotyping maize was obtained freely from the Integrated Breeding Platform website.The trait-specific KASP SNPs (Supplementary Table 1, Underlying data) and QC KASP SNPs (Supplementary Table 2, Underlying data) were purchased as KBDs (KASP-by-Design) from LGC Biosearch Technologies, UK, for use in our laboratory.Optimising in-house genotyping workflow Our laboratory's routine sampling procedure spans seven days, from plant sampling and preparation to DNA extraction and quantitation. We present an expedited workflow (Figure 1) that ensures a good sample tracking system. Firstly, barcoding software, barcode readers, barcode labels, and barcode   printers were introduced to facilitate sample tracking and data management. Waterproof/tear-proof tags and labels designed using BarTender barcoding software (Seagull Scientific) were printed using ZT230 Printer (Zebra, USA) and attached to plants before sample collection. Plate maps created in the BarTender software were linked to the sample location on the field and in the lab storage facility. Next, young plant leaf tissues were collected by punching leaf discs directly into the 96-well 1.2 mL polypropylene cluster tubes in wet-ice cooler bags, which reduced the sampling time and the time required for freeze-drying.The sample DNA was extracted using the DArT DNA extraction protocol, slightly modified to maximise reagent and increase throughput, by using a reduced volume of reagents optimised to extract maize DNA from a smaller amount of leaf tissue (16-20 leaf discs, 4.0 mm). We also used freeze-dried leaf tissue, which allowed grinding using an automated high-throughput tissue homogeniser, Geno/Grinder 2010, with a 384-samples grinding capacity (4 × 96-sample plates) in two minutes.The UV absorbance protocol for the FLUOstar Omega microplate reader (BMG LABTECH) was used to measure the concentration and purity of the DNA samples. By using this method, the 637 DNA samples were quantified in less than 10 minutes.The DNA purity (A260/A280 ratio) ranged from 1.7 to 2.0, with an average concentration of 985 ng/µl.Following the optimized workflow, the total time from sampling and processing to DNA extraction and quantitation of the 637 leaf samples was reduced from seven to five days.In order to optimise and use the KASP system in-house, KASP assays and allele-calling software (KlusterCaller) were purchased from LGC, UK. The amplification parameters on the compatible PCR (GeneAmp 9700) and real-time PCR machines (Roche LightCycler 480 II) were optimised. Microtiter 96-and 384-well plates compatible with the different machines were acquired from Roche, Germany. We also optimised the FLUOstar Omega microplate reader for fluorescence measurement of amplified products following the manufacturer's manual. Then, we ran a KASP trial kit provided freely byLGC Biosearch to test for functionality with the different amplification equipment.Following the KASP set-up, we genotyped plant samples for QC and MAS in-house, with low-density markers. The QC genotyping ensured on-time identification of errors and mislabeling in inbred lines and false hybrids in F 1 maize breeding populations. Using the in-house KASP genotyping platform significantly reduced genotyping cost and time compared to outsourcing.Using a subset of 28 maize QC KASP SNPs, we were able to identify the genetic origin of a set of twenty well-adapted maize varieties originating from IITA, which were regenerated at four other locations. Genetic identification was performed using the original maize varieties' molecular marker profile and the genetic distance approach. Seed sources having <5% genetic distance were considered the same. The genetic distance among the four original maize lines, and between lines from IITA and each of the four seed sources, was calculated using PowerMaker 3.25 statistical software. The genetic distance among the four designation lines from IITA ranged from 0.0563 to 0.1239, indicating that the lines were different.The genetic distance among the different seed sources of the same line designation was: 0.0105-0.0314 (SAMMAZ15), 0.0105-0.0418 (SAMMAZ16), 0.0105-0.0837 (SAMMAZ27), and 0.000-0.0563 (SAMMAZ39). The SNPviewer, a tool that enables viewing genotyping data as a cluster plot, was used to view and generate an image of the genotyping result. The SNPviewer image showed that designated lines from three out of the four seed sources grouped with lines from IITA (Figure 2). The dendrogram image (Figure 3) also showed a grouping of different seed sources of the same line designation except for SAMMAZ39-1, SAMMAZ16-3, and SAMMAZ27-4. This clustering pattern indicates that all seeds from the same line had a common origin. SAMMAZ27-4 appeared to be genetically distant from SAMMAZ27-IITA by 0.0837. However, it grouped with SAMMAZ15 (Figure 3: blue circle), suggesting a possible mislabeling or mix-up of seeds during harvesting and storage. SAMMAZ16-2 and SAMMAZ39-1 grouped on a different tree limb (Figure 3: red circle), indicating possible pollen contamination or seed mix-up during handling.In another QC experiment using our workflow, we screened two groups of F 1 plants for hybrid verification, including their parental inbred lines, with 10 KASP SNP markers. The parental inbred lines were screened with an initial 50 KASP SNP taken from a defined panel of maize QC KASP markers to identify polymorphic markers. Only 10 KASP markers polymorphic between the parental lines were used to screen the F 1 plants to verify their parentage. The KASP genotyping assay was useful in distinguishing between the parental genotypes and identifying the true hybrid lines. Cluster analysis of Group1 F 1 s (Figure 4) grouped the genotypes into three clusters. The heterozygous F 1 progenies were in the middle of the plot, and the homozygous parental inbred lines diverged from each other (along the X-and Y-axis of the plot) for all markers. The genotyping result (Table 5) and the clustering pattern indicate that the F 1 progenies were true hybrids. Similar clustering was observed among F 1 s in Group 2 except in Set 3b, where 38 F 1 s grouped with parental genotypes. The homozygous F 1 s could be due to contamination from foreign pollens during the crossing in the field or seed mix-up during storage or planting.Nonetheless, the KASP genotyping assay suffers some genotyping errors, especially during the automatic calling of genotypes. For instance, one F1 line (SCH-4) developed from the bi-parental cross, KS23-6 and IITATZI1653, appeared to cluster with the parent 2 (IITATZI1653) when genotyped with marker PZB01658_1 (Figure 5). The datapoint representing IITATZI1653 (Figure 5, information in the yellow square) was plotted higher up, away from the X-axis, which brought it closer to the datapoint representing SCH-4 plotted slightly away from the other F1s in the middle. Because genotype calls are generated based on the relative position of datapoints on the plot, SCH-4 was automatically called as the nearby parental genotype, A:A, which was an error seeing that line SCH-4 was heterozygous (true hybrid) for the rest of the markers. The upward positioning of line IITATZI1653 away from the X-axis could be possibly due to trace contamination of line IITATZI1653 sample DNA with line KS23-6 sample DNA during sample preparation. A monomorphic marker is seen in the genotyping of F1 lines developed from the bi-parental crosses KS23-3 x IITATZI1653 using marker PHM5502_31.Marker-assisted backcrossing. We performed multiple field selections annually by applying our workflow in MAS projects, which accelerated the maize breeding process. For instance, in the MABC project, a set of trait-specific KASP SNPs was used to select 24 BC 1 S 2 maize lines potentially introgressed with resistance to aflatoxin accumulation after four selection cycles in less than two years. Potentially introgressed lines are undergoing field evaluation under artificial infestation for resistance to aflatoxin accumulation. The result of the MAS of high PVA lines, on the other hand, identified nine out of 70 inbred maize lines harbouring favourable alleles of the crtRB1 gene, which is associated with high PVA content in maize.There are different methods of plant tissue sampling, including collecting samples in silica gel 35 , NaCl/CTAB 36 , alcohol 37 , blotter paper, gel pack, dry ice, and liquid nitrogen 38 . These methods provide reasonably good quality and quantity of DNA for molecular marker genotyping. However, deciding which method to use is based on the number of samples and distance from the field to the laboratory 38 . We routinely use wet ice in Styrofoam boxes and cooler bags. It is cost-effective and suitable for close-proximity sample collection, and leaf samples are preserved by freeze-drying 39 before DNA extraction. We collected fresh leaf tissues directly into 96-well extraction tubes rather than the traditional jute or tea bags, which means our procedure provides high throughput sampling. This sampling process also ensured that sample DNA was not degraded by prolonged exposure of leaf tissues to moisture as it occurs in post-freeze drying cutting of leaf tissues stored in jute and tea bags.Our protocol aimed to extract high-quality DNA suitable for KASP genotyping from a smaller amount of leaf tissues. The reduced sample volume lowered the cost of reagents and the time for DNA extraction. The automated grinding in 96-well plates increased throughput and minimised the time required for manual grinding. Thus, this method would benefit MAS breeding programs that often screen thousands of plant samples each season 40  Three steps of the original DArT DNA extraction method were slightly modified to achieve our aim. The first modification was made in the sample grinding step, where we used dried leaf tissues instead of fresh ones;-using dried samples enabled high-throughput grinding using a Geno/Grinder, reducing the time used in manual grinding with liquid nitrogen. The second modification was at the alcohol precipitation step: the sample tubes were incubated at -20°C for 30 minutes after adding the ice-cold isopropanol, instead of only mixing by inversion. This incubation is necessary for slow and complete DNA precipitation. The third modification was reconstituting the DNA pellet: we dissolved the DNA in a solution of nuclease-free water and RNaseA instead of using a Tris-EDTA (TE) buffer to prevent the chelating effect of EDTA on Mg 2+ during PCR 43,44 . The success of the KASP genotyping experiment is dependent on the quality and quantity of genomic DNA. Usually, a final minimum DNA concentration of 5 ng/µl is required for maize, to generate clear and consistent allele calls using the KASP assay 45  Some commonly used DNA quality and quantity analysis methods include agarose-gel electrophoresis, fluorescence, and Ultraviolet (UV) absorbance-based measurement 38 . Fluorescence-based measurement using DNA-binding dyes such as PicoGreen is fast, sensitive, and dsDNA-specific; however, it comes with the DNA-binding reagent's added cost 46,47 . Agarose gel electrophoresis is laborious and carries the risk of exposure to hazardous chemicals like ethidium bromide 47 .The UV absorbance measurement is the most common DNA quantitation method. It is based on DNA absorbing UV light       at a specific wavelength; DNA concentration is calculated by measuring the absorbance at 260nm and using the relationship A260 of 1.0 equals 50 µg/ml pure dsDNA 46 . DNA purity is estimated based on two UV absorbance ratios: A260/A280 ≥1.7 and A230/A260 ≥ 1.5 for pure DNA 46 . Our workflow optimized the nucleic acid quantitation method to a high throughput using a microplate reader and 96-and 384-well plates. The FLUOstar microplate reader uses ultrafast UV/Vis spectrometers for absorbance measurements, measuring 96 samples (96-well plate) to 384 samples (384-well plate) simultaneously within one second per well. It combines speed and the acquisition of complete absorbance spectra (220 to 1000 nm), making it ideal for nucleic acid quantification 48 .Although outsourcing KASP offers a lower cost per data point, this lower genotyping cost is usually driven by a high volume of samples, impracticable for most MAS projects genotyping smaller sample volumes with select markers 49 . Our in-house genotyping system provides reduced cost, mainly from logistics, and faster data turn-around times, ultimately accelerating the genotyping workflow.A few studies serve as the benchmark for QC analysis in maize using the KASP genotyping system. Semagn et al. (2012) suggested using a subset of 50 to 100 KASP markers for routine QC; Chen et al. (2016) used a smaller subset of markers (10 markers) to assess mislabeling of entries across a panel of CIMMYT Maize Lines (CMLs) achieving up to 99% detection probability. The latter also proposed using a rapid QC approach, with a smaller subset of markers, to ensure effective QC, lower genotyping costs, and shorten data turn-around time during seed production. Using a subset of markers, we were able to identify seed mix-up and labelling errors. For instance, the grouping of SAMMAZ27-4 with SAMMAZ15 (Figure 3: blue circle) suggests a possible mislabeling or mix-up of seeds during harvesting and storage. Also, the grouping of SAMMAZ16-2 and SAMMAZ39-1 (Figure 3  origin of seed sources irrespective of the genotyping platform used. They concluded that using a small subset of pre-selected high-quality markers was sufficient for performing QC analysis using low-marker density genotyping platforms like KASP. This study showed that the rapid QC method using 28 KASP SNPs efficiently distinguished the four maize varieties taken from five seed sources.Hybrid verification is often performed during seed production or population breeding to confirm that a particular hybrid is derived from the intended parental lines (free from contamination by foreign pollens). Reducing the data turnaround time is essential to ensure that an accurate hybrid is selected to be carried forward in breeding programs or dissemination to farmers in seed production 33 . A reduced turn-around time also saves the cost of inputs applied to undesired genotypes since they can be discarded as soon as they have been identified upon genotyping. Our expedited workflow was able to achieve this. The possibility of contamination by self-pollination or foreign pollen exists; as such, hybrid verification is necessary to enable a seed producer to check whether accurate crosses are made for the production of the hybrid; this increases the confidence of the end-users on the quality and integrity of seeds produced 33 . Our results showed that 10 KASP markers were sufficient in distinguishing between maize parental inbred lines and identified true hybrid lines, residual contaminations, and possible sampling errors. A small subset of KASP markers has also been used to verify hybrids in other plant species. Following our optimised workflow, we were able to identify high-PVA maize lines harbouring the favourable allele of the crtRB1 gene, which could serve as donor lines for the maize PVA breeding program. The KASP-based selection of aflatoxin-resistant maize lines promises to fast-track the development of tropical lines resistant to aflatoxin, which will contribute to genetic gain in maize production. Similar success was achieved by the Biotechnology Center of the University of California, Davis, USA, where KASP SNPs associated with Phytophthoria capsici resistance were used to identify and selectively breed pepper strains 52 . So far, we have generated over 2,000 data points using our in-house genotyping workflow. Applying our optimised workflow to the QC and MAS experiments outlined above reduced the volume of reagents and consumables used, shortened the data turn-around, and ultimately accelerated the crop improvement process.This study describes for the first time an improvement of an entire conventional DNA-based genotyping workflow, including the benchmark KASP genotyping platform in-house in our facility to fast-track molecular marker-based selection for crop improvement. We acknowledge the initial capital investment to procure some of these instruments. However, it is not always necessary to equip each lab or breeding program. The use of shared facilities locally and regionally, and the re-purposing of existing equipment such as the PCR machine and the spectrophotometer, help overcome the high cost of essential instruments. The improved genotyping workflow promises to accelerate the marker-assisted selection process and push crop improvement activities to attain the yield potential over a shorter time period. The result of this work can be readily adopted by national institutions, public and small plant breeding laboratories in developing countries to accelerate molecular marker-based genotyping for crop improvement activities, including QC and MAS. The results will also be helpful to accelerate the QC activities of seed producers and facilitate cultivar identification and adoption-tracking studies.Current Peer Review Status: Plant Science, The Pennsylvania State University -University Park Campus, University Park, PA, USA A nice survey of the options and applications for genotyping in breeding programs with useful details and experience of establishing an in-house KASP genotyping platform. The manuscript is strong on specific details that will be helpful to other researchers attempting similar work.I've included a few general comments/thoughts that might be useful to consider.Other reviewers have commented on the usefulness of a more complete economic breakdown. I'm not sure specific numbers (such as pricing given in the introduction) are necessarily that useful as they will no-doubt change. However, I would agree that more discussion of the relative costs of given approaches and different scales would be helpful. More generally, although services for the same technology are compared, less attention is given to different approaches. Indeed, given the context of extending access to molecular platforms, if would be informative to say more about the costs of using these technologies at all in comparison to conventional methods. For the specific KASP application, more could be said about the costs of primer design -especially if not using a crop well served with existing sequences -and synthesis.The case studies are informative but would benefit from providing more information on the markers (for example, map position) and the sample genotypes. More could be said about the selection of markers, and specifically more discussion of how many markers are actually needed for a given application (based on these empirical examples, as much as prior literature). Results for selected markers are presented visually. Are these \"typical\" examples? Can more of a summary be given as to how many markers \"worked\", and how reproducible and reliable the results were?The results presented clearly separate genotypic classes (except for one highlighted individual). Was this always the case? Was calling of heterozygotes always robust? Was any additional confirmation performed? Would it be possible to estimate the rate of miscalling, either per marker or generally for the platform?The cluster/calling of the KASP signal is most robust when each genotypic class is represented by multiple individuals. In Fig. 2 the sample size is small, and the homozygous T/T class is not represented. In isolation such sampling may complicate \"calibration\" of the heterozygous calls. Similarly, in Fig. 4 only a single sample is typed for each of the two parental homozygotes. The examples presented look nice and clear, but was this always the case for all markers typed on these samples?It wasn't entirely clear what was done in the dendrogram in Fig. 3. How many markers were used? How was this number/set determined? Were they spread throughout the genome? Do these lines show a level of heterozygosity? As above, was there any ambiguity/error in calling?It's a small detail, but at times the use of the term \"line\" was a little confusing. It can help to keep \"line\" to refer to inbred (highly homozygous) stocks. While an F1 is typically a cross between two lines, don't refer the F1 as an \"F1 line\" etc. The expectation with regard to heterozygosity -and the requirement to accurately make het calls -is directly relevant to selection and use of a genotyping platform.Is the description of the method technically sound? YesIf any results are presented, are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility? PartlyAre the conclusions about the method and its performance adequately supported by the findings presented in the article? PartlyCompeting Interests: No competing interests were disclosed. 1 Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India 2 Horticulture, Jeju National University, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, South KoreaThis study demonstrates the improved genotyping workflow for maize improvement in developing countries. I recommend the manuscript for indexing.However, I recommend drawing a better workflow figure instead of Figure 1. And present some data (i.e., Table ) to support the cost-effectiveness. Also, I suggest the authors improve the language.Is the description of the method technically sound? YesIf any results are presented, are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility? YesAre the conclusions about the method and its performance adequately supported by the findings presented in the article? YesCompeting Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.Reviewer Expertise: Plant molecular breeding and plant genomics I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Texcoco, Mexico Dear authors, thank you for sincerely handling the reviews and putting your best effort into addressing those comments and concerns. I do not have further queries. I believe we let readers, the fellow researchers, and the broader scientific community judge the merit of this research.Is the description of the method technically sound? YesIf any results are presented, are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility? YesAre the conclusions about the method and its performance adequately supported by the findings presented in the article? YesCompeting Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.Reviewer Expertise: Plant breeding and genetics, genomics, quantitative genetics, and breeding program optimization.Reviewer Report 08 July 2022 https://doi.org/10.21956/gatesopenres.14950.r32187Introduction section P6L1: \"Here we utilized the KASP assay\" -revise as \"In this study, we utilized...\". Introduction P6L6: reference 27 does not provide any account of soybean -the paper is about maize. Please verify this information and correct it as needed.Methods P1L3: \"Well-adopted\" should be changed to \"well-adapted\". 4.Method P1 Last sentence: The plants were grown, not raised. 5.Table 1: This is a piece of good information. However, I ask you to provide the exact number of genotypes and the samples within each genotype for all the groups (please add additional columns as needed).Use of BC1S2 does not seem to be reliable in this study unless you verify the selection with phenotypic data to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of the marker assessment. However, it doesn't seem to harm the manuscript either.One important analysis I would like to suggest to add to this study is HYBRID VERIFICATION. Please prepare a data table for each sample -identified within each genotype (F1), such as order the column as F1 cross name / no, sample #, Marker gen _P1, Marker gen_P2, Observed F1 gen, True Hyb (Yes or no), if not if the F1 gen is observed as maternal or paternal type, etc. Then please assess the true to hybrid types or % hybridity within each genotype (using samples within cross) and across all samples. Then also revise your results section with a detailed discussion on how this assay is helpful to discriminate true-to-type hybrids and also describe potential bias caused by the assay itself -genotyping error or so using data on samples within each genotype.Did you sample multiple samples within each plant? If so, please revise the results section accordingly.Reviewer 2 comment: Introduction P3L3: \"However, breeders often want to fingerprint a few dozen lines urgently for identity or parentage analysis, for example\". Please rephrase this sentence.Author's response: The sentence has been rephrased: \"Even though large volume sizes can be consolidated and shipped for genotyping, there are times when breeders and partners may want to fingerprint a few dozen lines for identity or parentage analysis for quick decision making.\" Reviewer 2 comment: Please provide well-articulated one or two objectives of this research (towards the end of the Introduction section).Author's response: The objective of the research has been rephrased \"This study aims to develop a genotyping workflow optimized for cost-effective and fast turn-around time that can be deployed by less sophisticated and reasonably equipped laboratories in developing countries, to accelerate maize improvement research.\" Reviewer 2 comment: Introduction section P6L1: \"Here we utilized the KASP assay\" -revise as \"In this study, we utilized...\". Introduction P6L6: reference 27 does not provide any account of soybean -the paper is about maize. Please verify this information and correct it as needed.Author's response: The phrase has been corrected. The misplaced reference has been replaced. A more suitable reference has been attached to the statement. \" Shi, Z., Liu, S., Noe, J. et al. SNP identification and marker assay development for high-throughput selection of soybean cyst nematode resistance. BMC Genomics 16, 314 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-015-1531-3\" Reviewer 2 comment: Methods P1L3: \"Well-adopted\" should be changed to \"well-adapted\".The phrase has been modified accordingly.Reviewer 2 comment: Method P1 Last sentence: The plants were grown, not raised.Author's response: The sentence has been modified as requested.Reviewer 2 comment: Table 1: This is a piece of good information. However, I ask you to provide the exact number of genotypes and the samples within each genotype for all the groups (please add additional columns as needed).Author's response: Table 1 has been modified to accommodate the required information.Reviewer 2 comment: Use of BC1S2 does not seem to be reliable in this study unless you verify the selection with phenotypic data to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of the marker assessment. However, it doesn't seem to harm the manuscript either.Author's response: The project is still ongoing. Phenotyping at different locations is currently underway. Definitely, we will utilize the phenotype data to verify the markers accuracy.Reviewer 2 comment: One important analysis I would like to suggest to add to this study is HYBRID VERIFICATION. Please prepare a data table for each sample -identified within each genotype (F1), such as order the column as F1 cross name / no, sample #, Marker gen _P1, Marker gen_P2, Observed F1 gen, True Hyb (Yes or no), if not if the F1 gen is observed as maternal or paternal type, etc. Then please assess the true to hybrid types or % hybridity within each genotype (using samples within cross) and across all samples. Then also revise your results section with a detailed discussion on how this assay is helpful to discriminate true-to-type hybrids and also describe potential bias caused by the assay itself -genotyping error or so using data on samples within each genotype.Author's response: The genotyping analysis for the hybrid verification experiment is presented in Figure 5 and Table 5, under the Result section. The result section has also been furnished with a detailed discussion on using the KASP assay for hybrid verification and the potential drawback of the technology, as shown below:Hybrid verification. In another QC experiment using our workflow, we screened two groups of F 1 plants for hybrid verification, including their parental inbred lines, with 10 KASP SNP markers. The parental inbred lines were screened with an initial 50 KASP SNP taken from a defined panel of maize QC KASP markers to identify polymorphic markers. Only 10 KASP markers, polymorphic between the parental lines, were used to screen the F 1 plants to verify their parentage. The KASP genotyping assay was useful in distinguishing between the parental genotypes and identifying the true hybrid lines. Cluster analysis of Group1 F 1 s ( Figure 4) grouped the genotypes into three clusters. The heterozygous F 1 progenies were in the middle of the plot, and the homozygous parental inbred lines diverged from each other (along the X-and Y-axis of the plot) for all markers. The genotyping result (Table 5) and the clustering pattern indicate that the F 1 progenies were true hybrids. Similar clustering was observed among F 1 s in Group 2 except in Set 3b, where 38 F 1 s were grouped with parental genotypes. The homozygous F 1 s could be due to contamination from foreign pollens during the crossing in the field or seed mix-up during storage or planting. Nonetheless, the KASP genotyping assay suffers some genotyping errors, especially during the automatic calling of genotypes. For instance, one F1 line (SCH-4) developed from the biparental cross, KS23-6 and IITATZI1653, appeared to cluster with the parent 2 (IITATZI1653) when genotyped with marker PZB01658_1 (Figure 5). The datapoint representing IITATZI1653 (Figure 5, information in the yellow square) was plotted higher up, away from the X-axis, which brought it closer to the datapoint representing SCH-4 plotted slightly away from the other F1s in the middle. Because genotype calls are generated based on the relative position of datapoints on the plot, SCH-4 was automatically called as the nearby parental genotype, A:A, which was an error seeing that line SCH-4 was heterozygous (true hybrid) for the rest of the markers. The upward positioning of line IITATZI1653 away from the X-axis could be possibly due to trace contamination of line IITATZI1653 sample DNA with line KS23-6 sample DNA during sample preparation. A monomorphic marker is seen in the genotyping of F1 lines developed from the bi-parental crosses KS23-3 x IITATZI1653 using marker PHM5502_31.Reviewer 2 comment: Did you sample multiple samples within each plant? If so, please revise the results section accordingly.Author's response: I am hoping that I got your question correct here. If you are referring to whether or not we sampled by bulking, the answer is no, except for the MAS experiment for selecting PVA enriched lines, where we bulked ten leaf tissues from 10 plant stands per row.Reviewer Response 25 Aug 2022 Bhoja R. Basnet 1. Before making the final decision, I am still unsure how you controlled or separated genetic purity and genotyping error in the assay. The markers seem to predict the hybrids almost perfectly, with few exceptions. How was that possible? I am not trying to deny the fact, but being curious as it was not the case in wheat.2. My last question was about 'analyzing multiple samples from the same plant -without bulking.' Normal practice in QC for genetic purity and true-to-type hybrid verification is that multiple F1s samples are used (you have done it), and multiple samples within each plant are also used to control the genotyping or other handling errors that may arise during the genotyping workflow. It also gives confidence about the reproducibility of the same results for the same genetic materials.Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.Reviewer 2 comment: Before making the final decision, I am still unsure how you controlled or separated genetic purity and genotyping error in the assay. The markers seem to predict the hybrids almost perfectly, with few exceptions. How was that possible? I am not trying to deny the fact, but being curious as it was not the case in wheat.We are unsure what the case is when genotyping wheat using the KASP assay. However, the prediction of the maize hybrids could have been aided by the fact that maize is diploid, unlike wheat which is polyploid. The polyploid nature of wheat could make it challenging to distinguish between heterozygous and homozygous hybrid lines using KASP assays. Also, our genotyping is complemented by careful crossing and sample collection in the field and meticulous handling of the samples. The KASP assay genotyping prep is handled by select individuals and carried out in a dimmed light PCR workstation to minimize contamination and avoid activating the light-sensitive fluorophores in the KASP Mastermix. Furthermore, we first selected polymorphic markers that distinguished the parents, and only those were used to identify the hybrid lines. As such, any given F1 line is either a hybrid or not. Given the robustness and accuracy of the KASP assay, the use of multiple markers, and careful handling of the sample analysis, the chance of error is minimal.Reviewer 2 comment: My last question was about 'analyzing multiple samples from the same plant -without bulking. 'Normal practice in QC for genetic purity and true-to-type hybrid verification is that multiple F1s samples are used (you have done it), and multiple samples within each plant are also used to control the genotyping or other handling errors that may arise during the genotyping workflow. It also gives confidence about the reproducibility of the same results for the same genetic materials.\"Author's Response: Thank you for clarifying your question. For this experiment, 12 different F1 plants per cross were sampled, although the number of samples per plant can vary depending on the breeder's request based on the number of seeds required for the subsequent experiment. We, however, did not do a duplicate analysis of the F1 plants. We acknowledge the importance of having technical replicates in an experiment; however, the accuracy of the KASP assay is well established (as cited in our manuscript). The specificity of the KASP assay means that even one validated marker can accurately distinguish between parents and offspring, and using up to 10 markers reduces the chance of genotyping error significantly. Therefore, using technical replicates may not be worth the cost; instead, we could increase the number of markers in case of any doubt or possible errors. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Philippines I thank the authors for taking the time to address the issues raised in the previous review. I do think there are still some outstanding issues that would substantially improve the case for the work presented:Articulation of what use cases are in mind needs to be better. Currently, the articulation is basically \"low-throughput applications that may require fast turnaround time\". This is true to a certain extent, but not the strongest case; it could easily be argued that any \"lowthroughput\" request could either pay the extra up-front fees, as this will be cheaper than maintaining a lab just for this purpose, or samples aggregated with other larger jobs. In the end, this is essentially saying that because certain breeders were not organised in their workflow, we need to maintain an entire lab for them.○ I still don't see any costing of the procedures. This is sorely needed, even if this costing only includes consumables and not salaries of dedicated staff. It should be compared with ○ Reviewer 1 comment: I thank the authors for taking the time to address the issues raised in the previous review. I do think there are still some outstanding issues that would substantially improve the case for the work presented:Articulation of what use cases are in mind needs to be better. Currently, the articulation is basically \"low-throughput applications that may require fast turn-around time\". This is true to a certain extent, but not the strongest case; it could easily be argued that any \"lowthroughput\" request could either pay the extra up-front fees, as this will be cheaper than maintaining a lab just for this purpose, or samples aggregated with other larger jobs. In the end, this is essentially saying that because certain breeders were not organized in their workflow, we need to maintain an entire lab for them. Are the conclusions about the method and its performance adequately supported by the findings presented in the article? This does not seem to be the case. In particular, benchmarking data on the capacity, technical performance, cost etc. are lacking. This makes it impossible to judge the merits of this in-house system compared to outsourcing options.The current manuscript shows ability to technically execute on a relatively small number of samples in a modest timeframe. However to be a substantial contribution in this space, more thought needs to be given to better articulate both the value proposition of the work, and provide some benchmarking data to back this up. For example if the overall purpose is to show the benefit of having an in-house genotyping platform as opposed to (or in addition to) outsourcing options, the following factors and results might be considered: What is the value of an in-house system? Turnaround time and flexibility are mentioned, which I agree with. However why is this particularly important, to justify the expense of setting up, maintaining and operating an in-house system? Are there logistical considerations that prevent the use of outsourced options? Is the in-house system functionally superior to outsourced options? Is there a particular part of the breeding process that does not lend itself to standard outsourced options -and if so, under what circumstances would it be advisable to use the in-house or outsourced options? See below ○ comments on benchmarking.Full cost assessment of the in-house system, including salaries of technical staff, machine maintenance and depreciation. Some description of the staff involved (number of positions executing on various duties) would also be helpful.○ Also an assessment of technology life-cycles; genotyping platforms are evolving rapidly. I have seen many cases of expensive machines being purchased, only to sit idle as the technology has moved on even before they are delivered. KASP is likely to be replaced in the next 5 years. How would the cost of staying up to date and current be factored in?○ Exploration of capacity. The authors mention completing 3 jobs (637 samples) in two weeks. This is plausible based on personal experience, though I have seen in-house systems with far higher throughput. However this is a far cry from handling 20,000 samples at peak operating times. This relates back to the first point.○ Also related to capacity, an exploration of current/anticipated peak demand for the system. In-house genotyping platforms can and do have merit and justification. However until these issues can be addressed, the manuscript in its current form offers no fundamental insights into how such a platform could add value to breeding over outsourcing options.If the authors can better explain why their hub is superior over other options, backed up with benchmarking data such as specified, this would greatly enhance its value.Is the description of the method technically sound? PartlyAre sufficient details provided to allow replication of the method development and its use by others? The required information will be incorporated in the revised manuscript under the subsection \"KASP genotyping and data analysis\", as explained below:The description of the parameters for the LC480 II qPCR machine is outlined in the LC480 manual. To perform the KASP genotyping experiment on the LC480 II machine, we used the Endpoint Genotyping Analysis module within the LightCycler software, adjusting the parameters as outlined in the KASP genotyping protocol provided by LGC Biosearch Technologies. The Endpoint genotyping analysis module is based on the use of dual hydrolysis probes, which are designed for wild-type and mutant target DNA and are labelled with different dyes (FAM and HEX). However, when using a non-qPCR machine (such as the GeneAmp PCR System 9700) for amplification, a third colour probe (ROX) normalizes the fluorescence measurement. The LightCycler software within the LC480 II machine determines the sample genotypes automatically by measuring the intensity distribution of the two probes after a PCR amplification step. The relative dye intensities are then visualized in a scatter (cluster) plot that discriminates them as wild-type, heterozygous mutant, or homozygous mutant samples. The LightCycler software automatically groups similar samples and assigns genotypes based on the intensity distribution of the two dyes. The KASP amplification conditions included one cycle of KASP unique Taq activation at 94°C for 15 min, followed by 36 cycles of denaturation at 94°C for 20 s, and annealing and elongation at 60°C (dropping 0.6°C per cycle) for 1 min. Endpoint detection of the fluorescence signal was acquired for 1 min at 30°C when using the LightCycler 480 II real time-PCR System or read using the FLUOstar Omega Microplate reader (BMG Labtech, SA) when using the GeneAmp PCR System 9700. For fluorescence detection, the filter combination for the Excitation and Emission wavelength of both dyes was set at 465 -533 (FAM) and 523 -568 (HEX), respectively, when using LC480 II, and 485 -520 (FAM), 544 -590 (HEX) and 584 -620 (ROX) when using FLUOstar Omega Microplate reader. The genotype calls were exported from the LightCycler software as fluorescent intensities of each sample in \".txt\" file format and imported for analysis in the KlusterCaller analysis software (LGC Biosearch Technologies). The KlusterCaller software adjusted the cluster plot axes to enable the proper calling of genotypes. The genotype calls were grouped as homozygous for allele X (allele reported by FAM, X-axis), homozygous for allele Y (allele reported by HEX, Y-axis), heterozygous (alleles reported by FAM and HEX, between X-and Y-axis), or uncallable. The result from the KlusterCaller was exported in two file formats (\".csv\" and \".txt\"). The \".csv\" file was imported into the SNPviewer2 version 4.0.0 software (LGC Biosearch Technologies), where the cluster plot image was viewed and downloaded for publication. The genotype calls in the \".txt\" file were used to calculate the genetic distance using the PowerMaker 3.25 statistical software.See the previous comments. Some aspects are adequately described, but some others are sparse on critical technical details.If any results are presented, are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility? Reviewer's comment: Largely not applicable.Are the conclusions about the method and its performance adequately supported by the findings presented in the article? Reviewer's comment: This does not seem to be the case. In particular, benchmarking data on the capacity, technical performance, cost etc. are lacking. This makes it impossible to judge the merits of this in-house system compared to outsourcing options.As mentioned above, the aim of the publication is not to replace outsourcing and we do not envisage competition with outsourcing. We are fully aware of the cost-effectiveness of the highly automated/robotic genotyping services accessible to us. We frequently use these services. The rationale for the workflow is to process fewer samples quickly. The time saved is invaluable. Loss of samples during shipments is a setback, which cannot be monetized easily.The current manuscript shows ability to technically execute on a relatively small number of samples in a modest timeframe. However to be a substantial contribution in this space, more thought needs to be given to better articulate both the value proposition of the work, and provide some benchmarking data to back this up. For example if the overall purpose is to show the benefit of having an in-house genotyping platform as opposed to (or in addition to) outsourcing options, the following factors and results might be considered: Author's response:We do not intend to establish a rival genotyping service to replace outsourcing. As explained above, this workflow is what we are using for a while now for processing a smaller number of samples (smaller than the minimum sample required by service vendors). This gives the flexibility to assay multiple crops with multiple markers in a single plate in a matter of hours. We are a small group dedicated to maize genomics. All we want is to share our methods with partners in the same situation. As can be seen from the stats of the preprint, our manuscript is already making an impact with 20 downloads and 150 views.What is the value of an in-house system? Turn-around time and flexibility are mentioned, which I agree with. However why is this particularly important, to justify the expense of setting up, maintaining and operating an in-house system? Are there logistical considerations that prevent the use of outsourced options? Is the in-house system functionally superior to outsourced options? Is there a particular part of the breeding process that does not lend itself to standard outsourced options -and if so, under what circumstances would it be advisable to use the in-house or outsourced options? See below comments on benchmarking.Author's response: Addressed above and below.Full cost assessment of the in-house system, including salaries of technical staff, machine maintenance and depreciation. Some description of the staff involved (number of positions executing on various duties) would also be helpful.Author's response: Not applicable.Reviewer's comment: Also an assessment of technology life-cycles; genotyping platforms are evolving rapidly. I have seen many cases of expensive machines being purchased, only to sit idle as the technology has moved on even before they are delivered. KASP is likely to be replaced in the next 5 years. How would the cost of staying up to date and current be factored in? Author's response:We agree that the genotyping platforms are evolving rapidly. To make it clear, we have not purchased instruments solely for this technique. We have only re-purposed the existing machines. Both the qPCR machine and the plate reader have high demands for other uses.If we cease to use these machines for the KASP system, the normal utilization of the machines will continue.Exploration of capacity. The authors mention completing 3 jobs (637 samples) in two weeks. This is plausible based on personal experience, though I have seen in-house systems with far higher throughput. However this is a far cry from handling 20,000 samples at peak operating times. This relates back to the first point.Our response here is related to the above explanation. When we have a large volume of samples, we use low-density and mid-density genotyping service providers.Reviewer's comment: Also related to capacity, an exploration of current/anticipated peak demand for the system. Technical performance metrics: Average DNA quality.  In-house genotyping platforms can and do have merit and justification. However until these issues can be addressed, the manuscript in its current form offers no fundamental insights into how such a platform could add value to breeding over outsourcing options.If the authors can better explain why their hub is superior over other options, backed up with benchmarking data such as specified, this would greatly enhance its value."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"966ffc7bfeeda81c41dff4959b2a6c54","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/59b852e6-f72a-4e85-a3d5-9bec201130a8/content","id":"1079466285"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"703aa206-8858-4dfe-854e-915988584775","content":"The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has had a long association with the wheat research institutions in Turkey. In 1971, CIMMYT became directly involved with Turkey's winter wheat improvement program thro~h its association with the Rockefeller Foundation/Government of Turkey (Go-n wheat research program. This association resulted in new gennplasm introductions to Turkey and the initiation of a large scale training program.In December 1980, the GOT and CIMMYT signed an agreement on wheat research activities in Turkey. This was followed by an agreement in March 1984 which posted a CIMMYT staff member in Turkey to assist the National Wheat Research Program.In 1986, the GOT and CIMMYf initiated a joint venture, an \"International Approach to Winter Wheat Research.\" This cooperative international winter wheat research effort was jointly coordinated by the Turkish national wheat research program and CIMMYT and was implemented under the existing bilateral agreement between the GOT and CIMMYf. The purpose was to develop broadly adapted, high-yielding winter wheat gennplasm for the extensive winter and f acultative wheat growing areas of the world.At the onset of this joint international winter wheat research effort, a 5-year review of progress was envisioned. However, several events have prompted an earlier review:• The signing of a bilateral agreement between the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the GOT.• The signing of an agreement between CIMMYf and ICARDA.•The departure of Dr. E.E. Saari, the CIMMYT team leader in Turkey.In a memorandum to the review team, R.A. FtSCher, Director of the CIMMYf Wheat Program, listed the issues for the June 1990 review of CIMMYr' s Winter Wheat Program. He requested the team to review the achievements of the initiative in light of the objective stated above.The review team was also requested to address a series of questions/future issues: These were:• Is the overall objective still valid? From CIMMYT' s view we believe that it is.• Is the breeding/nursery methodology proposed for meeting the needs of winter and facuftative wheat growing areas of developing countries an efficient use of CGIAR resources? What should be the balance of work inside and outside of Turkey? Should China and Chile be excluded as targets because of their unique agroecology?•Does the program have enough resources to mount an efficient initiative, i.e., scientific manpower including disciplinary back-up (pathology, agronomy, etc.}, field sites, field assistance, computing power, etc?• What should be the relationship of the program to the joint CIMMYT IICARDA facultative wheat breeding initiative in Aleppo, Syria? Can common aspects of the two initiatives be rationalized in order to improve efficiency (see also the March 1989 Collaborative Agreement between CIMMYT and ICARDA). Would the facultative wheat breeding work be better based in Turkey?•What linkages should there be with the CIMMYT-Base breedinglrogram and with institutions in the USA (e.g., Oregon, Texas, Kansas) an Europe? (A possible role for the program in managing the International Winter Wheat Performance Nursery has become less urgent as Jim Peterson now feels there will be continuing support for this in USA):•What should be the relationship with the Turkish national program?• What about the role of future activities in the areas of training (Mexico and elsewhere), visiting scientists (to Turkey), traveling workshops, and conferences?• Are there major plant quarantine issues that need to be addressed?The team also reviewed the CIMMYT planning document 'Towards the 21st Century: Strategic Issues and Operational Strategies of CIMMYT''. Much of WANA's higher altitude wheat production falls in the category of marginal lands addressed in that report. Poor soils, low rainfall, cold winter temperatures, and spring frosts predominate in this area. Also considered were the marginal research commitment to these areas and low use of production inputs.The team visited the ICARDA Research Center and interviewed a number of its scientists. We reviewed their past and present involvements with cereal improvements. With each, we discussed the problems of high altitude, rainfed winter wheat and program objectives and sought their advice on how and where research on winter/facultative wheat should be conducted in the WANA region.We also solicited advice on the role of CIMMYT and ICARDA in this region. The scientists interviewed and their current areas of research are listed in Appendix 1.The travel schedule of the review team is in Appendix 2.Before leaving ICARDA, we discussed the ICARDA/CIMMYT Agreement and each center's role in serving the national J:>rograms of the WANA region with Dr. Nasrat R. Fadda, the director general of ICARDA; Dr. Aart van Schoonhoven, associate director of ICARDA-Research; and Dr. Habib Ketata, acting director of the Cereal Program.In Turke_y ~e visited the agricultural research institutes at Adana, &time, Izmir, Konya, Eskisehir, and Ankara. The director or an associate at each institute gave us an overview. We then toured the wheat research ~ots, reviewed staff and facilities, and assessed program needs and progress. Dr. H.~. Braun and Dr. E.E.Saari, CIMMYT Wheat Program staff based in Ankara, Turkey, accompanied us on these visits.At the end of each institutional visit, the team met privately with the institute's director and the director of research. During this meeting, we encouraQed candid discussions regarding the Turkish National Winter Wheat PrQ9!am ancf the CIMMYT Program in Turkey and their views of the CIMMYT/ICARDA Agreement.Finally, the team along with the CIMMYf staff in Turkey met with Mr. Husnu Poyraz, undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Affairs• Dr. Nazmi Demir, assistant undersecretary; and Mr. Alpaslan Pehlivanturk, head of the Research. Planning, and Coordination Council (APK). Our mission was carefully explained by Dr. Saari and the tearn leader. Discussions were frank and positive.The team had access to all requested data and reports and was provided with position papers from both ICARDA and CIMMYr staff members and copies of all agreements. This report is the review team's alone, but we drew upon the expertise and knowledge of CIMMYr, ICARDA, and the Turkish scientists. We gratefully acknowledge this assistance.Cooperative Ventures and Memoranda of Agreements CIMMYr is best known for its broadly adapted germplasm products. The Center's role in facilitating the development and spread of high _yielding wheat varieties in developing countries is well~ocumented. Some 60 million ha of wheat land in the Third World are now sown to varieties that contain CIMMYr germplasm.At CIMMYr' s inception, its mandate was broad and multifaceted:'To promote and cany out, nationally and internationally, programs to improve in all its aspects of maize and wheat production and if advisable, the production of sorghum, rice, and other food crops, in order to obtain greater unit yields and better production and quality of these crops, through research, the distribution of germplasm training, scientific and technical meetings, and dissemination of information.\"CIMMYr' s current mandate is:'To help the poor of developing countries by increasing the productivity of resources committed to maize and wheat whether in research or on the farms; improved germplasm, new knowledge and information, research procedures, training, and consulting services.\"The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) is also an international agricultural research center supported by the CGIAR. Its charter entrusts it with:\"Promotir; improved• and more productive agriculture in developing countries having a dry subtropical or temperate climate through research and training activities conducted primarily in the countries of the Near East, North Africa, and the Mediterranean region, in order to raise the standard of living and promote the social, economic, and nutritional well being of developing countries.\"Within this broad mandate, ICARDA was, at the international level, to conduct research on the improvement of barley, lentil, and faba bean (Vicia faba) to which are added, at the regional level, wheat and chickpea. ICARDA has interpreted its mandate in the context of the physical and social environments of its region and the challenges they pose.ICARDA exists to meet the challenge posed by a harshJ stressful, and variable environment in which the productivity of primarily rainted agricultural systems must be increased to higher sustainable levels; in which soil degradation must be arrested and, possibly, reversed; and in which the quality of the environment is ensured. ICARDA meets this challenge through research, training, and the dissemination of information in a mature partnership with the national agricultural research and development systems.CIMMYT /ICARDA memorandum of understanding on cereal improvement for the WANA region • This new collaborative agreement take._s precedence over all previous agreements between CIMMYf and ICARDA.• A joint CIMMYT /ICARDA breeding effort in the WANA region will be aimed at:1) spring bread wheat for drier rainfed conditions.2) spring durum wheat for drier rainfed conditions.3) facultative bread and durum wheats for high elevation areas. 4) true winter bread wheats, which are presently handled through a joint Turkey/CIMMYT agreement. The two Centers will seek to reach a new agreement with Turkey to incorporate this activity into the overall joint high-elevation cereal research for WANA.• Responsibility of developing wheat germ plasm for irrigated and high rainfall conditions in the WANA region will rest primarily with CIMMYT-Base. Aleppo-derived germplasm will be evaluated under those conditions within the joint key location testing scheme.• CIMMYT will post three wheat breeders at ICARDA (one more than at present) along with mutually agreed funding to support the joint program. One of the scientists will be designated as CIMMYT liaison for the joint program. Additional resources needed for the success of this collaborative program will be provided for by ICARDA.• Both Mexico-and Aleppo-derived germplasm will be introduced to the WANA region through joint key location testing. Based on key location results, joint nurseries will be prepared at Aleppo and distributed to all cooperators in the WANA region. Where possible and appropriate, key locations will also be used for evaluating selected special-purpose nurseries developed at CIMMYT-Base.• Germplasm generated bv thf? j_c>int program for areas outside WANA will be made available through CfMMYT' s global germplasm distribution and testing program with appropriate credit for the source.• ICARDA will continue to post a barley breeder at CIMMYT-Base for breeding requirements nQt covered by Syria/ICARDA.• Triticale breeding will remain the responsibility of CIMMYT. However, in view of NARSs' interest in triticale, particularly in North Africa, some testing in this area may be jointly conducted within the wheat key location testing scheme.• CIMMYT and ICARDA envision collaboration in genetic resources, training, plant physiology, biotechnology, and agroclimatic zoning. Specifically with respect to genetic resources, CIMMYT will take responsibility for the base collection in bread wheat and triticale and ICARDA will take responsibility for durum wheat and wheat wild relatives.• ICARDA will be responsible for all crop management research and support in the W ANA region. In the case of irrigated wheat, CIMMYT will provide backup services.• In general, training at ICARDA will focus on cereal management research and improvement for drier areas. Training at CIMMYT will focus on higher rainfall and irrigated areas.Turkey/CIMMYT agreement on an international approach to winter wheat research This document proposes the establishment of a cooperative international winter wheat research effort to be jointly coordinated by the Turkish national wheat research program and CIMMYT. The purpose of the proPosed cooperative venture, which would be imple!!!ented under the existing bilateral agreement between the GOT and CIMMYT would be to develop broadly adapted, high yielding winter wheat germplasm for the extensive winter and facultative wheat growing areas of the world.The proposed cooperative effort would be international in scope involving selected agricultural research centers of excellence located in Turkey, Mexico, and the United States. The current cooperation with the spring x winter wheat program at Oregon State• University would continue and research lfnkages between Turkey and the national programs of other developing countries that grow winter wheat would be strengthened. Turkey's diverse wheat environments and its active national wheat research program make it an ideal location from which to conduct such joint international efforts. .This document proposes the establishment of a collaborative regional research effort on rainfed agriculture in the highlands of West Asia and North Africa between the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Rural Affairs and ICARD A.The GOT recognized in the 1920s that agriculture was important to the Turkish economy and that it could be improved by research. Therefore, agricultural research was started in Turkey from that period. To date, much valuable information has been gathered as a result of this research effort, particularly for those areas experiencing harsh environmental conditions.The Ministry has a strong interest in putting further emphasis on rainfed agricultural research in order to assist in improving the livelihood of the rural population, especially those with low incomes. In addition, the Ministry has a strong desire for cooperation with international agricultural research centers to share research experiences and to help assist the countries of the WANA, which have agro-ecological conditions similar to Turkey.ICARDA likewise has, as its major objective, research on rainfed agricultural systems, with an international focus on the improvement of barley, lentils, and faba bean; and as a regional center, in cooperation with other international agricultural research centers, for research on other crops of major importance in the region.Research covering the areas of cropping systems, animal husbandry, pastures, and forages is also included. Further major areas of responsibility include the dissemination of improved plant material, agricultural information, etc. and the development of trained manpower in the disciplines of agricultural science.As a result of this common interest, and for their mutual benefit, the Ministry and ICARDA have decided to adopt this framework agreement within which further cooperative activities can be undertaken. Under the auspices of this framework, ICARDA will establish an office in Turkey with the responsibility of coordinating ICARDA research and training assistance to the highland areas of the WANA. Over 110 million people live in the highlands of the WANA area. In general, they still practice traditional farming and support financially disadvantaged segments of the population. The population growth and food requirements in this area are considered above average. Thus, the need for increasing food production in the WANA region is an issue of major proportions. It is estimated that, to meet the increasing demand for wheat in the region, productivity would have to increase 72% by the year 2000.In general, the support to agricultural research, especially in funds and operations, is insufficient in the region. The invesbnent on human resource development is also not adequate.Based on the information provided by Tahir and Hayes (1988) and from elsewhere, five distinct agroecological cereal zones are suggested for the WANA region. These are:• Atlas Mountains of Morocco and Algeria: Mild, cold climate; slow rise and fall of temperature; rainfall > 450 mm.• Central Anatolian Plateau of Turkey: Fairly cold with some continental influence and mild summer; rainfall < 350 mm.• Eastern Turkey and western Iran: Long and very severe winter and dry and warm summer; rainfall between 300 and 400 mm.• Central Iran through Afghanistan and western part of Pakistan: Severe cold winter and severe hot summer with sudden temperature fluctuations. Severe moisture stress in the grain-filling period with less than 400 mm of rainfall.•Thrace region of Turkey: Low altitude location comprising 0.5 million hectares with mild to cold winter and relatively high rainfall.The diversity of agroecological situations in various parts of the WANA region is as follows:• Afghdnistan. Afghanistan is a land-locked country covered by rugged and• high mountain ranges along with narrow valleys and sandy deserts. Only 8 million of its 62.33 million hectares are arable and 5 million are under cultivation; the remainder are permanent pasture. Roughly 2.5 million hectares have irrigation capacity. Average annual precipitation varies from 130 to less than 400 mm, depending l!POn the location. Summers are hot, sometimes reaching temperatures of 45 •c and winters are cold and lengthy;temperatures can drop as low as -35\"C.•Iran. There are five agroclimatic zones based on climate and other characteristics. Seventy percent of the land area of Iran is above 1000 masl and 53% is between 1000 and 2000 masl (Akbari and Zolghadri 1988).Rainfall in the latter levels where winter and facultative wheats are dominantly grown varies from about 100 to 500 mm. Most of the area receives about 300 to 400 mm and is classified as intermediate in moisture supply.•Baluchistan and NWFP of Pakistan. The agroecological information presented by Rees et al. (1988) would indicate that the Baluchistan environment for winter wheat does not differ substantiallv from parts of Afghanistan and Iran. It is an arid to semiarid climate with precipitation ranging from 50 to 400 mm. There are a series of mountain ranges and intervening valleys. The latitude of the province is comparatively low, 25\"N to 32\"N.•Turkey. Turkey is surrounded by seas on three sides. The Central Plateau is separated from the seas by a mountain chain with altitudes between 2000 and 4000 masl. As a consequence of its topography, the climate is diverse.Annual rainfall varies between 250 and 2500 mm. The minimum and maximum monthly average temperature is -12\"C and 32\"C, respectively. There are nine recognized production zones in Turkey (Figure 1) and three basic wheat environments (Figure 2) as illustrated by Durutan (1988). Zones 1, 5, 6, and 9 depicted in Agure 1 represent the winter and facultative wheat areas.• Iraq. Iraq lies along a wide depression running from the Turkish border to the Arabian Gulf and includes an extension of the Syrian desert in the west and the Arabian desert in the south. Ir~. is divided into four main regions: Mountains with 400 to 1000 mm rainfall; foothills with 250 to 450 mm rainfall; alluvial plains with 50 to 200 mm rainfall; and desert plateau with only 50 to 200 mm rainfall. In the mountainous region (500-3600 masl), the land is stony with steep slopes and covered mostly by forest; it contributes to • about 25% of the total rainfed wheat production.• Algeria. The high plateau areas in Algeria are within the ~ of 800 to 1000 masl and these account for up to 85% of -the land used for agriculture. frost, scorching heat, or hot winds. The winter rainfall broadly divides the country from north to south into three distinct zones: with rainfall over 450 mm, between 450 mm to 350 mm, and less than 350 mm. The pH levels vary from 7 .3 to 8.2 in the different soils, which have tendency to crack.• Morocco. The climatic and geograp.hic characteristics of Morocco are •highly diverse, partly due to the presence of high mountains. Although a large part of Morocco has an arid or semi-arid climate, the northwestern part of the country, and some areas in the Atlas Mountains are characterized by high rainfall. The Atlas Mountains cover about 6.5 million hectares. Some areas in the western and central high Atlas receive between 800 and 900 mm of annual rainfall. The monthly rainfall distribution is characterized by two peaks, one in November-December and the other in March-April. The lowest temperatures are usually encountered in December-January and the highest in July-August. Two types of soil are found in the mountains: red, slightly acid and brown calcareous. They are shallow and highly exposed to erosion.Highland wheat in the WANA region covers about 16.5 million hectares and accounts for about 54% of the total area of this crop in the region (Table 1). The highland's contribution to wheat production is somewhat low, being only 39% (18.9 million tons). Yields in the rainfed areas are generally low compared to the irrigated and higher rainfall areas. The irrigated and favorable areas account for the other half of the wheat area and represent the larger contribution to overall production. Much of the latter area is concentrated in the milder Mediterranean coastal areas where spring habit wheats are sown. In the WANA region, Turkey has the lnrgest area followed by Iran. Pakistan. Afghanistan, Algeria, Morocco, and Iraq. The average productivity is the highest in Turkey followed by Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Morocco, and Algeria.The use of high yielding varieties (HYV) in the spring wheat areas has been a major • contributor to yield increases. The irrigated and high rainfall areas now have a high percentage of cultivars either directly derived from or hybridized with Mexican gennplasm. Oram (1988) recently analyzed the status of HYVs in the WANA region and developed some estimates relative to the percent of area sown (Table 2). The area sown to traditional varieties in the higher altitudes and lower rainfall areas remains higb by comparison. There are a number of factors contributing to this situation (ICARDA 1987(ICARDA , 1988;;Tahir and Hayes 1988).The shortage of skilled scientific human capital is still a major impediment to effective agricultural research in the NARSs of the WANA region. There are differences among the NARSs in this respect, but there is a need for enhancing the scientific knowledge of the researchers in most of the cases. Efforts, which are being made to improve the educational qualifications of the scientific staff, need to be continued.The number of scientists actively engaged in wheat breeding and ~thology at various research stations in Turkey include 4 PhDs, 6 MScs, and 10 BScS (Table 3). During the discussions held at various places and levels, the review team was informed that a number of qualified scientists have left the research stations and have joined the private sector because of better financial prospects and opportunities.The insufficient support, especially funds for operations, also impinge on the progress of agricultural research. The investment on human capital development is inadequate and in many cases excessively delayed. The private sector is being encouraged to increase its participation in agricultural research activities in many countries. The investments by the private sector in Turkey are still confined to the more productive areas. The integration and cooperation of the public and private sector institutions have not yet developed into a coherent effort.The team visited the research centers at Adana, Eciime, Izmir, Konya/Cumra, Eskisehir, and Ankara/Haymana to review land resources, buildings, and equipment. Izmir, Eskisehir, Eciime, and Cumra Research Centers have been suitable for the production of seed and hybrid populations and for selection for disease resistance. At these locations, materials can be grown and selected under either irrigated or nonirrigated conditions.The Eskisehir Research Center has an excellent environment for screening for drought or cold stresses. The current research station located at the edge of town adjacent to the research institute has excellent soil, which can be irrigated. Unfortunately, this land has been given to the local fair committee for exhibition purposes.Several kilometers from the citv, the GOT has established a 164-ha research center. The land has been leveled and irrigation has been developed for 60 ha.  germplasm for winter and facultative wheat areas, particularly in the WANA region of the developing world. This includes higher elevation and cold temperature areas.The main objectives of this program are to:• Develop a germplasm pool of winter and facultative wheats with wider adaptation and stability of performance, resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, and desirable quality characteristics. The materials from this pool can be used as a vehicle for transferring desirable characters to more specific environments.• Develop breeding strategies appropriate to the selection criteria established.• Establish a nursery network allowing free exchange of germplasm and data among WW /FVJ programs.• Establish a monitoriJ'lgsystem for diseases and insects in winter wheat areas to complement CIMMYT' s breeding program and global surveillance system.• Establish training opportunities on winter wheat that complement wheat training courses in Mexico.The research stations in Turkey are located in the major agro-ecological zones. The WW /FW program cooperates with 10 stations working on wheat. The wide range of climatic anCl environmental conditions found within the boundaries of Turkey and the wide range of wheat diseases that are present in these environments allow for testing of a full range of winter and facultative wheats. The following is a brief description of each station and its suitability to screen winter and facultative wheats.• Adana. This station represents a spring wheat environment with very high yield potential (10 t/ha). Winter wheats receive enough vemalization to be screened Wheat material sown at Haymana can be screened for drought tolerance and, in some winters, for winter hardiness. There are no diseases present. This environment is too dry for effective artificial rust inoculation. All of the Turkey/CIMMYT cooperative nurseries are received by the Ankara Institute.All quality analyaj_s of wheat germplasm is done in Ankara. Lines from the Turkey/CIMMYT winter wheat program are tested here as well. The laboratory is very well equipped, efficient, and can run large numbers of analyses.• Diyarbakir. This station has a spring to facultative wheat environment with low rainfall and fast rising temperatures from flowering to maturity. Soils on the research station is in need of land leveling. Diyarbakir allows screening for earliness and heat tolerance. Yellow rust is a problem and sometimes tan spot has been present. True winter wheats are too late for this environment. This area is located in the Southeast Anatolian Project (GAP), which will become an extensive irrigated area currently being developed. With irrigation developments, high yield potentials are anticipated as well as numerous • second generation problems with diseases anCl insects. The irrigated area will eventually amount to 1. 5 million hectares and about half of this area will be sown to wheat.• Edirne. This station is located in the European part of Turkey and is the most productive winter wheat area in the country. The highest yielding lines are winter wheats from Bulgaria. Wheat in Eclime matures about 2 weeks earlier than on the Central Plateau. The yield potential is around 9 t/ha in breeders' plots. Wheats from the programs in Eskisehir and Ankara (Central Plateau) are too tall in Eclime. There are no major disease problems, but powdery mildew and root rots can occur sporadically. The major pest is Suni bug which affects wheat quality.Eclirne allows screening for lodging resistance, earliness, and yield potential. Temperatures rise fast during the ripening stage. Test weight and thousand kernel weight are good indicators for !ines that can fill the grain under these • conditions.• The candidates for the IWWSN are multiplied at Eclirne. This is a backup for the multiplication plots in Cumra (see below). Eclirne receives all Turkey/CIMMYT winter wheat nurseries.• Erzurum. This station is located in eastern Turkey at 2000 masl. Winters are extremely cold (down to -40.C) and long. Wheat can not survive here without snow cover. However, this reduces the screening ability for winter hardiness. During the last 5 years, Gerek 79, the dominating variety on the Central Plateau with medium winter hardiness, was among the highest yielding lines in regional trials.• Eskisehir. This station is recognized as having developed many of the important Turkish wheat varieties and besides Cumra the most important testing site for the Turkey/CIMMYT program on the Central Plateau. Eskisehir has received new land and is currently developing a new 300-ha station with irrigation facilities and buildings for all kinds of wheat research activities. Unfortunately, there are some unknown soil problems (most probably boron toxicity and/or other elements), which occurred after land leveling. The soil problem was so severe that during the last 2 years a significant number of nurseries were lost. If this soil problem can not be resolved by means of irrigation and application of organic matter, proper screening of the material will be difficult. Evenso, recognizing the land problems in Ankara and the infrastructure problems in Konya, Eskisehir could be considered as the principal station for winter wheat breeding in Turkey-if the soil problems can be solved.The environment in Eskisehir allows screening for adaptation to the Central Plateau, drought tolerance, and yield potential. Screening for leaf and stem rusts is possible if artificial inoculation is used. Soilborne Wheat mosaic virus is a problem in an irrigated area close to Eskisehir. Eskisehir receives all nurseries from the Turkey/CIMMYT program.•Izmir. This spring wheat area has proved to be an outstanding location in supporting winter Wheat improvement in Turkey and is considered to be absolutely essential for the Turkey/CIMMYT winter wheat program for the following reasons: a) Izmir is a high-yielding environment, ideal for seed multiplication of all classes of Wheats with irrigation facilities. b) Izmir is basically a sprin~ wheat area. However, temperatures are sufficiently low to satisty vernalization of all winter wheats. c) Environmental conditions permit artificial inoculation and good development of epidemics for all three rusts. This is the Only location in Turkey that allOws annual screening for yellow and leaf rust. d) The pathology program at Izmir screens for common bunt and loose smut. e) Crossing in Izmir is mid-~pril to the beginning of May and about 5 to 6 weeks earlier than the Plateau. This early crossing period frees CIMMYT staff during crossing on the Plateau, which occurs at the end of May. This is important since this period can be used for visits to programs outside of Turkey.• Cumra. This substation of Kenya is a high yielding station with relative mild winters situated 40 km south of Kenya. Cumra is the principal breeding site of the Turkey/CIMMYT program. All nurseries and increases are planted there. Cumra allows screening for yield poten'tial and it should be possible to develop rust epidemics by artificial inoculation.The approach from the beginning of the Turkey/CIMMYT Winter Wheat Improvement Program was mainly to test germplasm at several locations in Turkey. Only limited number of crosses were made. F3 or F4 populations from other winter wheat programs were received and selected in Turkey.The National Winter Cereal Research Project (NWCRP) of Turkey makes between 2000 and 2500 winter/facultative wheat crosses a year. These are targeted mostly toward rainf ed environments. The variability within these crosses is primarily targeted for Turkey. The screening of the segregating material is done without disease screening except for the program in Eskisehir. Some germplasm originating from NWCRP is included in Turkey/CIMMYT international nurseries.The role of spring x winter crosses in winter wheats-The potential benefits from the spring x winter crossing program are well established in the CIMMYT spring wheat breeding program. The highest yielding and most widely adapted materials have originated from such crosses.The Turkey/CIMMYT Winter Wheat Program makes extensive use of germplasm from spring x winter wheat crossing programs emanating from the Turkey Cooperative Program and from CIMMYT-Base. Spring wheats are the source of photoperiod insensitivity, wide adaptation, and resistance to several diseases.The fact that cold hardiness and vemalization requirements are genetically independent offers the chance to develop cold hardy facultative wheats. Drought tolerance of Turkish germplasm can be combined with cold hardiness.Segregating Population Handling-FI spring x winter crosses utilizing Turkish winter wheats as one of the parents are made mainly in Mexico. Some simple crosses are made in Turkey.Ft: Ft simple crosses are grown in Izmir to produce F2 and to make top crosses.F2: These are sown in Cumra under irrigation and at Ankara, Eskisehir, Erzurum, and Ec:lime as observation plots. Selected populations are bulked for multi-location testing. IWWSNs 1 through 3 consisted mainly of germp!~~~ originating from the NWCRP of Turkey. The results of the 1st. 2nd, and 3rd IWWSNs revealed that the Turkish germplasm does not off er the genetic variability to justify an international nursery for the long term. The Turkish germplasm is targeted too much toward dryland areas (lacks lodging resistance) and many of the Turkish winter wheat lines are susceptible to some races of rusts.The development of germplasm with wider adaptation and better disease resistance is not possible within a short period. Therefore, other programs outside Turkey were encouraged to participate in the Turkish/CIMMYT program in terms of germplasm exchange. This would assure that cooperators receive a wide range of genetically different germplasm. A proposal was sent to several winter wheat research programs in the USA, eastern Europe, China, and the WANA region which requested submission of advanced lines to be tested under Turkish conditions and eventually to be included in the IWWSN. the 1990 cycle, advanced lines from China were received. However, these lines are to be used for crossing only. Besides these programs, several others sent material to Turkey, including cooperators from France, Switzerland, Sweden, Yugoslavia, the USA (Colorado, Michigan, and Minnesota), and South Africa.The Ttlrkish/CIMMYT WW /FW Program depends heavily on the availability of locations in Turkey (as described earlier) and Turkish scientists engaged in wheat research (Table 3). CIMMYT has based a breeder and pathologist team in Turkey to actively participate and execute this program in conjunction with Turkish national scientists. In addition to these, there are funds available for training, visiting scientists, and equipment.•This project has made good progress in:•Establishment of the International Winter Wheat Screening Nursery.• Exchange of germplasm with most of the important winter wheat programs in the developed and developing world.• Identification of programs whose material could be of direct value for Turkey.• Establishing that winter wheats developed in Toluca have potential in other parts of the world.•Increasing the number of lines with rust resistance in the IWWSN.• Identifying a potential boron toxicity soil problem in Turkey as a factor that needs to be evaluated.• Demonstrating that multilocation testing and wide adaptation approaches are equally valid as breeding methodologies in the winter wheat region.• More than 8000 wheat lines have been received from 34 countries and evaluated. About 3000 of the most promising lines were redistributed for testing throughout Turkey.•Promising lines that were screened in Turkey were included in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th IWWSNs sent to 25 locations in 1985, 51locationsin1986, 65 locations in 1987, and 91 locations in 1988, respectively.• Preliminary disease surveys and screening programs have been initiated for the important diseases. Rust screening has been routinely done by the Turkish National program. In 1987 a program was initiated to screen the winter wheats for resistance to common bunt and loose smut, a serious disease problem in many winter wheat areas.The idea for a high-elevation cereal improvement breeding project at ICARDA was conceived about the time the Center was formed in the mid-1970s. Impetus for the idea was the recognition by ICARDA that, except for Turkey, agricultural improvement in the vast mountainous and sub-mountainous WANA areas of the ICARDA region had been traditionally neglected. Further, the technologies developed for lowland agriculture in various ecological zones were not applicable to the higher elevations where a majority of the population is engaged In agriculture.The crops endure severe cold winters and hot summers in vast areas of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Similar agro-climatic conditions are found in extensive areas of Algeria and Morocco in North Africa. The various constraints encountered in the WANA region are given in Tabl.e 4.  a Uttle yellow rust seen during the last 5 years in Turkey.ICARDA Headquarters, located at Aleppo, Syria (36°ll'N, 37°13'E and 392 masl), is adequate for selection against certain winter wheat constraints, but has a major limitation in regard to selection for winter hardy wheats to fit the region's colder environments. Except for being somewhat colder and having less rainfall, Aleppo's climate more closely fits that of the Mediterranean area than the mountainous areas of the region. Seldom does the lowest temperature at Aleppo drop below -s•c, which is inadequate to distinguish among genotypes for hardier types. For ICARDA breeders, the feasible alternative was to resort to multilocation testing for this trait. Sarghaya (33.5.N and 1445 masl), located in the mountainous area of southern Syria with minimum winter temperatures dropping to -15•c, was chosen as a winter hardiness evaluation site for some segregating populations and advanced lines. Ankara, Turkey (40.N and 898 masl), in collaboration with the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture to evaluate F2 populations was another chosen site.Other winter hardiness data were, of course, collected throughout the region at sites where frost inflicted damage on the ICARDA nurseries.Location of the high-elevation wheat project at the ICARDA base at Aleppo has a number of mostly infrastructural advantages. These include:•Availability of scientific assistance and research facilities of supporting disciplines of plant pathology, plant physiology, entomology, statisticar laboratory, computing center, library, seed stores, equipment, seed stores, and farm shops.•Availability of trained research technicians and secretaries and housing and other living necessities. Availability of well managed land and irrigation facilities.• Good environments for efficient greenhouse operations (necessary for winter and facultative wheat improvement), providing well planned greenhouses are built (existing greenhouses are inadequate).• Any class of wheat (winter, facultative, and spring) can be grown. Winter temperatures are low enough and of such duration to vernalize even the hardiest of wheats.Disadvantages, mostly biological, include:• Lack of opportunity to select for the most winterhardy strains.• The shorter crop season and shorter daylength during spring maturation of crop may reduce the opportunity to select the best adapted germplasm for several areas of the higher latitudes.• Maturity of the wheat crop occurs ahead of most harvest dates at multilocation sites in the high elevations, preventing or reducing utilization, at Aleppo, of useful data arising from those sites during the same crop season.Planting, heading, and harvest time at key sites in various W ANA countries are given in Table 5.Research projects involving segregating populations were initiated at Quetta (Baluchistan) Pakistan, 30.N, and Anneceur, about 33.N, in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco in addition to those at Sarghaya and Tel Hadya in Syria. By 1984, six satellite sites for on-site testing and selection, i.e., Quetta, Pishin, Kan Mehterzai (Pakistan), Sarghaya (Syria), Terbol (Lebanon), and Anneceur had been successfully used. In 1986 Ankara and Eskisehir, Turkey, and Teheran (36.N) and Tabriz  (38.N), Iran, were added selection sites for some segregating populations, generally Fzs. Unfortunately, the lower latitude sites in Pakistan and Morocco are not representative for WW/FVV wheat in the majority of the WANA region.Advanced lines were screened against v~rious stresses at three sites: Quetta (Pakistan), Ar ... 'leceur (Morocco), and Sarghaya (Syria). Supplemental sites in sr.•a provided additional information such as at Latakia, 33.3.N, (disease resistance, • Breda (drought tolerance) and Hagla (salt tolerance). AU material is planted every year at Tel Hadya for evaluation and crossing. The scheme for specific character evaluation at various sites is shown in Figure 4.ICARDA developed close contacts and exchanged germplasm with many other winter wheat programs in the world, and by 1988 had tested more than 10,000 introductions; the best were selected for use in broadening the germplasm base through crossing. The scope of the project in terms of segregating populations at that time was: F2=1112, F3=867, F4=-1208, F5=1845, and F6=541. The crossing block contained 154 entries and 850 crosses were made in 1985 of which about 100 were top, back, or double crossed with the intent to improve the Fis.Selection data gathered from regional evaluation sites by the mid-1980s showed a very low frequency of commonly selected lines across sites. From this, ICARDA breeders concluded that breeding for specific adaptability was important for high altitude areas of the WANA region.Another conclusion was that winter wheats for the high elevation areas should possess cold tolerance, a very.long vegetative phase, and mature early to avoid terminal moisture stress and heat. Further, these should have a high tiller number and medium lax head with bold grain.As many as 118 scientists have participated in various training activities offered through the Turkey/CIMMYT winter wheat improvement project from 1985 to 1990 (Table 6). However, many of these trained scientists left the wheat project to join the private sector. The International Winter Wheat Travelling Seminar was first held in 1985 and again in 1989. One agronomy course was offered in Turkey in 1987.Plant quarantine regulations of Turkey and the shipment of International winter wheat nurseries Turkey has .present within its borders most of the diseases of wheat and barley. Consequently, the regulations on restricting import of wheat seed for research with no commercial value are nominal. If seed sent to Turkey is properly addressed seed clearance is normally a routine procedure. Occasional commercial regulations are confused with experimental seed shipments when improperly addressed.The quarantine law of 1989 cites restriction of wheat seed if they are found to be infected with the diseases flag smut, dwarf bunt, Kamal bunt, Septoria nodorum, ergot, or barley stripe mosaic virus or infested with gall nematode or khapra beetle.There are no restrictions regarding the export of seed from the phytosanita~ standpoint. Receiving countries may place restrictions as does most of the USA because of the presence of flag smut in Turkey. To date, plant quarantine and seed shipments from Turkey have not been a factor. These two programs have similar objectives and the WANA region is their primary target area. Many times, their nurseries are planted at the same locations. We believe there is a high degree of redundancy in this operation both from the strategic and resource points of view.We suggest that the cause and objective of winter/facultative wheats would be best served by mergi!lg all of the breeding operations in Turkey under the Turkey/CIMMYT-ICARDA umbrella. A part of the testing program should be done in other countries of the W ANA region with the strategic support of ICARDA. In this scenario, the winter/facultative wheat breeder based in ICARDA should be transferred to Turkey to join the team of a breeder and a pathologist already in Turkey.The CGIAR requires that the IARCs develop partnerships with selected NARSs to jointly develop certain types of germplasm, technology, or scientific information for the benefit of other NARSs. Turkey offers the environmental variability, a spectrum of wheat diseases, insects,. germplasm resources, scientific human resources to be in partnership with CIMMYT-ICARDA for the enhancement of WW /FW as a cooperative venture. The partnership between CIMMYT and ICARDA for improvement of cereal production in the WANA region has alreadv been accepted by the two IARCs. The reviewers believe a Turkey/CIMMYT-lCARDA partnership • is in the best interest of the entire region.The review team suggests the following points for consideration by both CIMMYT and ICARDA management:• A team of two breeders and one pathologist supported by CIMMYf, based in Turkey. All three positions are recognized as essential.•A cohesive linkage of ICARDA's high altitude coordinator in Turkey with the CIMMYT team to provide access to networking in other areas of the WANA region such as Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan (Quetta), and the Atlas Mountain region of North Africa. ICARDA's representative based in Turkey should facilitate networking with regional programs of ICARDA and NARSs.Turkey/CIMMYr-ICARDA WW/FW Program. Seed multiplication would be the responsibility of WW /FW Program.• The networking and multilocation testing scheme assisted by ICARDA is shown in Figure 5.•In this joint WANA venture, CIMMYr's whe~t team leader in Turkey, the coordinator of the Turkish national program, and the coordinator of ICARDA's highland project in Turkey would act as partners in the area of project definition and priority setting.•We believe that the above strategy is fully congru~nt with the mandates of the two Centers and agreements between CIMMYT /ICARDA, Turkey/CIMMYT, and Turkey/ICARDA. This strategy also recognizes the importance of the diverse locations and scientific resources of Turkey.To maintain a h_!gh level of favorable variability in the WW /FW germplasm, the Turkey/CIMMYT-ICARDA Program needs to promote a viable exchange with the following geographic regions. These are:•Southern European countries: Rumania, Bulgaria, Italy, and Yugoslavia.• Eastern European countries: Hungary and southern USSR.•Western European countries.•Great Plains of the United States: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado.• Pacific Northwest of the United States.•Chile.•China.This germplasm needs to be evaluated for agronomic characters and biotic and abiotic stress resistances. The best lines should be selected and crossed with winter wheats of the WANA region and widely adapted spring wheat varieties. The review team recommends that the central focus of future breeding for WW /FW should be based on wide adaptability due to the high degree of environmental variability in the WANA region. The methodology expressed in Figure 6 should assure this. In addition, networking and the international nursery  Even though China and Chile are two large producers of WW./f\\N in the world, theft agroecological areas are different from the WANA region. China is a large country and has very well established WW .fF\\N breeding programs at Beijing, Zhengzhou (Henan Province), Shi-Jia-Zhuang (Hebei Province), Tai-An and Yen-Tai (Shandong Province), Yang-Ling-Zheng (Shaanxi Province), Ling-Feng (Saanxi Province), and Shu-Zhou (Jiangsu Province). However, there is large variability in Chinese materials which should be exploited by crossing to WANA germplasm. Similarly WANA' s IWWSN should be tested in China to gather information on adaptability. Lateness in non-Chinese materials is the biggest constraint. IWWSN can provide genetic variability to Chinese cooperators in relation to special traits.In regards to Chile and the high plateau of Peru, the IWSWSN of OSU has proven to be the better fit.It is suggested that the Turkey/CIMMYT-ICARDA Program should primarily concentrate on the WANA region, however germplasm in the IWWSN should be made available to cooperators outside of WANA.Even though facultative and winter types account for a significant share of developing country wheat production (29% of the total bread wheat; Table 3.2 in CIMMYT's Five-Year Budget: 1990-94), these have been neglected in the past by CIMMYT. Winter wheats from western Europe or North American do not satisfactorily fulfill developing world varietal requirements, being either too late or disease susceptible. On the other hand, selected CIMMYr W x S progeny show good adaptation to many developing country WW .fF\\N areas. Also, as an international entity, CIMMYT can facilitate seed and information exchange between developing countries. For these reasons, CIMMYT management assigned 2 person years to breeding work and 1 person year to plant pathology focusing on these materials.We recommend that CIMMYT add one breeder from ICARDA to the existing team of one breeder and one pathologist in Turkey. All three positions are considered essential. This is deemed necessary as the program expands in breeding, seed multiplication, IWWSN distribution, and participation in networking. In addition, we recommend that additional support staff be based in Turkey to assist CIMMYT senior scientists.The great progress that has been made in Turkey in institutional development, wheat germplasm enhancement, varietal development, agronomy, and ultimately national wheat production is a direct result of education and training in the preceding decades. The development of national universities and the encouragement of students to pursue higher degrees set the stage for the current progress.The 1971 CIMMYT agreement, which sent many outstanding students to Western universities for advanced degrees and in-service training, has had great impact on agricultural research and development.Education is a continuous process. It is a natural phenomenon that well educated and trained people will often outgrow their positions and move on to higher positions in government and industry, so additional people must be trained. No program that the review team visited in the Turkish Research Institute was without personnel needs. Some programs lacked key scientific personnel. Usually, there were trained breeders, but often the supporting scientists who make up the interdisciplinary team, such as plant pathologists and entomologists, were lacking.Most programs nad a serious deficiency of trained, sub-professional technicians (BS or agricultural engineers) who assist in program e1<ecution. We believe the inservice training in plant breeding, plant pathology, and agronomy should be considered a joint responsibility of CIMMYT and ICARDA. The in-service training should be undertaken at Mexico for the time being and at Turkey if it becomes logistically feasible. Agronomy training should be conducted either at ICARDA or at Turkey. In the beginning, at least five total positions for breedi!!S_ _and agronomy should be made available annually for scientists engaged in WW/FW of the WANA region.The visiting scientist program is a veT\"Y essential component of international germplasm enhancement and networking. The scientist exchange should be made between all partners in the international network and participation in international meetings should be encouraged. At least six positions for visiting scientists should be assigned (i.e., 2 from Turkey, 1 from Iran, 1 from Afghanistan, 1 from Pakistan, and 1 from Atlas Mountain region). Some of these countries may have their own funding, as in case of Iran.Conferences, seminars, and workshops are important components in the coordination of the germplasm enhancement network. These meetings bring a focus on areas of scientific interest and provide a forum for presenting research results, integration of programs, exchange of ideas and coordinated planning. These forums must be held with regularity, well advertised, and open to those scientists committed to a free exchange of ideas, data, and material and must be conducted at a high level of scientific integrity.We recommend that at least one Winter /Facultative Wheat Workshop/travelling seminar be held each year Qnd be attended bv scientists in the Turkish network and selected scientists from the WANA region. This workshop/travelling seminar would be for the purpose of presenting data, exchanging ideas, selecting germplasm, planning, and overall coordination of efforts among scientists. This workshop/travelling seminar could rotate to different institutes each ~ar (where and when feasible) and should be jointly coordinated by the Turkey/CIMMYT-ICARDA Partnership.Every third year, a conference should be held in the WANA region on germplasm perfomlarlCe. This conference should provide germplasm performance data and discuss agronomic experiments and regional problems. It should provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, planning for the next 3 years, and overall coordination of scientific efforts in the WANA region. This conference would be planned and coordinated under the Turkey/CIMMYT-ICARDA Program. Several of the network programs from North America, Europe, and China could be invited to participate.Seminars or workshops on specific subject matter, such as agronomy, yellow rust, etc. should be conducted on a periodic basis.The review committee recommends that significant financial resources be allocated to this effort.All stations visited in Turkey are in need of equipment. The review team was made aware of the• (inancial constraints realized by different research institutes and their inability of buy new equipment.•The team believes that the Turkey/CIMMYr-ICARDA Program on WW /FW ~reedin~ will expan~ to execu~e suggeste~ breeding methodology and to handle international screening nursenes. The review team recommends a substantial increase in resource allocation to this item of joint operation.During the review of the CIMMYr Winter Wheat Program in Turkey, a number of problems surfaced that will become serious if not addressed on an annual or biennial basis by a representative of the office of the Director General of CIMMYr.Most of these deal with interpretation of the agreement as to the role of CIMMYr staff in the administration of the program, allocation of resources, facilitation of training, distribution of seed in the network, and overall coordination.The review team recommends that the director for wheat research or his representative visit the project annually with his Turkish counterpart to review progress and arbitrate problems in project program areas.The review team further recommends annual reports on project progress and coordination.The review team endorses the concept of in~epth project review every 5 years.The review team believes the original overall objectives of the joint venture, \"An International Approach to Winter Wheat Research\" are still valid. Those objectives were to develop broadly adapted, high-yielding winter wheat germplasm for the extensive winter and facultative wheat growing areas of the world.We studied the CIMMYr/ICARDA, Turkey/CIMMYr and Turkey/ICARDA agreements and relationships with great care. We feel there is a great opportunity for cooperative programs to avoid duplication and wisely utilize resources to serve the need of NARSs of high-altitude region of the WANA.We have examined the breeding/nursery methodology for meeting the needs of the winter/facultative wheat growing areas of the developing world and the WANA region in particular and recommend some changes be made to improve the efficient use of CGIAR resources.One area the review team found most troublesome and which it would like to highlight in this summary section is the serious land resource problem at the institutes in Konya, Eskisehir, and Ankara.Eskisehir should be permitted to use their current site adjacent to the institute buildings for the next 5 to 10 years while the new farm is developed.Ankara should be permitted to use 30 ha of the Haymana Farm each year. This farm was developed by the Ankara Crops Research Institute in cooperation with Rockefeller/CIMMYT in the early 1970s and later given to the University of Ankara for seed production.The Konya situation is a difficult one and will require attention. The addition of the Cumra substation has greatly improved the situation, but infrastructure and facilities. at both sites must be strengthened for the management of an international program.The reviewers believe that Izmir, Eskisehir, and Cumra should be the principal stations for the WW /FW breeding program.Other main recommendations of the review team include:• The mandate and mission of CIMMYT and ICARDA and agreements between CIMMYT /ICARDA, Turkey/CIMMYT, and Turkey/ICARDA are con91'!1ent to launch a joint partnership venture for the improvement of the WW /FW program for the WANA region. It is suggested that two existing programs in Turkey and Aleppo be joined to make a Turkey/CIMMYT-ICARDA WW/FW Program for the WANA region.•The winter/facultative wheat breeder currently stationed at ICARDA in Aleppo should be transferred to Turkey. Although the facilities at ICARDA are excellent, the environment was not adequate to cany out the germplasm enhancement and seed multiplication work. Furthermore, the linkage with the Turkish winter /facultative wheat breeders and support scientists enhances the entire germplasm development process.•A team of two breeders and one pathologist should be based in Turkey. These three positions are considered essential.• The major population development and selection must be executed in Turkey where the gre~test array of agroecological climatic zones exist.Testing and networking should be carried out in the W ANA region utilizing ICARDA's regional facilities.•The International Winter Wheat Screening Nursery (IWWSN) should be distributed in the WANA region and internationally, on behalf of the Turkish National Program, CIMMYT, and ICARDA.•Support staff positions are critically needed by the CIMMYT staff in Turkey for nybridization, germplasm management, notetaking, records, seed processing, nursery seed preparation, and shipment. One of the support staff Should be a specialist in computer data processing.•Linkages with external programs in the USA, Europe, and China should be maintained for exchange of technology and germplasm.• High priority is given to training and visiting scientist programs. Additional resources should be devoted to this area-especially in the area of in-service training."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bbb3e1d6833ad0a202d337e74a1a228e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/336d402e-a6aa-4911-8dee-cec8be6923db/retrieve","id":"-59294014"},"keywords":["Livestock production","silvopastoral systems","soil macrofauna","soil quality indicators"],"sieverID":"2e5ac252-6a46-41a2-9b34-a39021caa409","content":"Silvopastoral systems (SPS) are an environmentally and economically beneficial alternative to single grass systems for livestock production. The incorporation of trees, especially legumes, in pastures has been shown to have several positive effects on soil properties and nutrient cycling, while creating a favourable microclimate for the animals and increasing the productivity (i.e. milk and meat). The inclusion of legumes or legume-trees in the pastures systems leads to improved nutrient cycling and increased biological activity creating fertility islands within the SPS. Soil macrofauna has been considered as bioindicator of soil quality because of the direct effect on soil properties and on soil organic matter fragmentation and nutrient dynamics. The present study was performed in an experimental block designed (n=3) (silvo)pastoral trial located at CIAT (Colombia) and aimed to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of the herbaceous legume (Canavalia brasiliensis) and both herbaceous and shrub legume (Leucaena leucocephala) respect to the Brachiaria cv. Cayman monoculture on a set of biological and physical parameters. We measured the abundance and diversity of soil macrofauna, macroaggregate morphology and soil aggregation, as well as their spatial heterogeneity in relation to the trees in the SPS. Soil samples were collected at three different distances from the Leucaena doble-row as follows: i) between the rows, ii) at 1.5 m and iii) 5.5 m from the trees. Results obtained showed that the inclusion of legumes has a positive effect on soil macrofauna with the highest abundance found at 1.5 m distance from Leucaena. On the contrary, reduction of total abundance was found around the trees corresponding to higher soil compaction areas probably due to the animal grazing preference and search for shade. This phenomenon was reflected in higher proportion of physicogenic aggregates and lower amount of large water-stable macroaggregates. In addition to increased productivity of legume-based pastures and the potential to sustain higher densities of animals, our results highlight the importance of an integrated evaluation of spatial heterogeneity within SPS and discuss possible consequences for the management of trade-offs. Multivariate statistics of forthcoming data will reveal possible role of soil macrofauna as a reliable soil quality indicator."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"6481da19b0b91c702eb4ee25a908fb7f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/167a16c2-023e-4dbd-aa02-067504c8bba9/retrieve","id":"-756351413"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1cb6008f-8b11-4d9b-a187-5aa4643694ac","content":"Co-hosted by the governments of Kenya and Ethiopia, with staff and offices in several parts of Africa and Asia, ILRI works to improve food security and reduce poverty in developing countries through research for better and more sustainable use of livestock. More information at: ilri.org CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food secure future dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources. More information at: cgiar.org Bioversity International is dedicated to the conservation and continued use of agricultural biodiversity to improve the economic livelihoods of the rural poor in developing nations. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, the organization is highly decentralized, with more than 300 staff working with partners in more than 90 countries worldwide from 16 offices worldwide. Bioversity does not have any laboratories or field sites of its own. Instead, it works very closely with a wide range of partners to undertake research. More information at: bioversityinternational.orgThe International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) works to reduce hunger and poverty, and improve human nutrition in the tropics through research aimed at increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture. CIAT is headquartered in Colombia. Backed by the Colombian government and Rockefeller, Ford, and Kellogg Foundations, CIAT was formally established in 1967 and began its research in 1969. CIAT develops technologies, methods, and knowledge that better enable farmers, mainly smallholders, to enhance eco-efficiency in agriculture. More information at: ciat.cgiar.orgThe Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) is a non-profit, global facility dedicated to advancing human wellbeing, environmental conservation and equity. Its research activities focus on enhancing the role of forests in climate mitigation and in adapting to climate change, on improving livelihoods through smallholder and community forestry, on managing trade-offs between conservation and development at landscape level, on managing the impacts of globalized trade and investment on forests and forest communities, and on sustainable management of tropical production forests. Research activities in Ethiopia focus mainly on improving livelihoods through community and smallholder forestry. To build national capacity, projects are implemented in partnership with national forestry research and education institutes. More information at: cifor.cgiar.org Established in 1977, the mission of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) is to help fight hunger and poverty through research and training to increase the production, productivity and sustainability of farming systems in the dry areas. ICARDA researches food crops, water and land management, rangelands and small-ruminant production (sheep and goats), and a wide variety of related socio-economic and policy issues. ICARDA's mandate extends over non-tropical arid regions in developing countries; this covers a massive area of the world where poverty and food supply issues are endemic. ICARDA Ethiopia coordinators a wide range of research activities being implemented in collaboration with NARS. More information at: icarda.cgiar.orgThe International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is a nonprofit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. A CGIAR research centre, ICRISAT is headquartered in Hyderabad, India, with two regional hubs in Africa -Nairobi and Bamako. The Ethiopia country office focuses on inc reasing dryland cereal (sorghum and millet) and grain legume (chickpea, pigeonpea and groundnut) productivity, watershed management and research on markets, institutions and policies. The Ethiopia country office focuses on increasing dryland cereal (sorghum and millet) and grain legume (chickpea, pigeonpea and groundnut) productivity, watershed management and research on markets, institutions and policies. ICRISAT seeks to enhance access to input and output markets and enable policy and institutional arrangements to drive the uptake of new technologies. More information at: icrisat.orgThe International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) focuses on reducing poverty and ending hunger and malnutrition through policy research, communications and capacity strengthening. IFPRI's strategic areas include environment and production technology; markets, trade and institutions; poverty, health and nutrition; and development strategy and governance. IFPRI's headquarters are in Washington, DC. Addis Ababa hosts the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office. The regional office contributes to food security, poverty reduction, and improved livelihood for the people of the region by conducting research, capacity strengthening and advocacy activities on knowledge management and agricultural education; health and nutrition; provision and access to inputs and rural services; access to output markets; and social protection and social safety net. More information at: ifpri.orgThe International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (commonly called by its Spanish acronym CIMMYT) is a non-profit research and training institution that develops improved varieties of wheat and maize, and introduces improved agricultural practices to farmers, thereby improving their livelihoods. It works to foster global and local food security, helping farmers meet rapidly rising demand from expanding populations and affluence, while addressing the emerging challenges of global climate change and resource degradation and scarcities. Currently, CIMMYT's outputs and services include improved maize and wheat varieties and cropping systems, the conservation of maize and wheat genetic resources, and capacity building. More information at: cimmyt.orgThe International Potato Center (known worldwide by its Spanish acronym CIP) is a nonprofit international research institute founded in 1971. CIP seeks to reduce poverty and achieve food security on a sustained basis in developing countries through scientific research and related activities on potato, sweet potato, and other root and tuber crops. CIP headquarters are in Lima, Peru; it has offices across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Working closely with our partners, CIP seeks to achieve food security, increased wellbeing, and gender equity for poor people in the developing world. More information at: cipotato.orgThe International Water Management Institute (IWMI) conducts research to improve the management of land and water resources for food, livelihoods and the environment. From its Sri Lanka headquarters, IWMI research is organized around four priority themes: water availability and access; productive water use; water quality, health and environment; and water and society. In Ethiopia and East Africa generally, IWMI seeks solutions to the agricultural water challenges that contribute to the lack of food security faced by the countries in the region. More information at: eastafrica.iwmi.orgThe World Agroforestry Centre (also known as the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry or ICRAF) is an independent research institution which generates sciencebased knowledge about the complex role trees play in agricultural landscapes and rural livelihoods. As part of the Centre's work to bring tree-based solutions to bear on poverty and environmental problems, researchersworking in close collaboration with partners -are developing new technologies, tools and policy recommendations for increased food security and ecosystem health. More information at: worldagroforestrycentre.org Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people-especially those with the fewest resources-have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Ethiopia is an important focus country for the foundation, which currently provides funding to partner organizations that are operating health and development programs across the nation. That includes funding to help small farmers increase food production, as well as grants to expand access to childhood vaccines, maternal and child health programs, financial services for the poor, safe water and sanitation, and other effective, low-cost innovations. More information at: gatesfoundation.orgThe International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) country office has been based on the campus since August 2011. IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations. Its work is focused on poor rural people and their livelihoods and food security and on small-scale agriculture as a crucial source of income and nutrition for many poor rural households, and a driver of rural economic growth. IFAD provides loans to its developing member states on highly concessional, intermediate and ordinary terms for approved projects and programs. IFAD also provides grants to institutions and organizations in support of activities to strengthen technical and institutional capacities linked to agricultural and rural development. More information at: ifad.orgThe International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) is dedicated to help alleviate poverty, ensure food security and improve the overall health status of the people of the tropics by developing and extending management tools and strategies for harmful and useful arthropods, while preserving the natural resource base through research and capacity building. More information at: icipe.orgThe Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is an alliance led by Africans with roots in farming communities across the continent. By understanding that African farmers need uniquely African solutions designed to meet their specific environmental and agricultural needs so that they can sustainability boost production and gain access to rapidly growing agricultural markets. The alliance has built the systems and tools for Africa's agriculture; high quality seeds, better soil health, access to markets and credit, and coupled by stronger farmer organizations and agriculture policies. The World Vegetable Center is an international nonprofit research and development institute, is committed to alleviating poverty and malnutrition in the developing world through the increased production and consumption of nutritious and health-promoting vegetables.The Center mobilizes resources from the public and private sectors to disseminate improved varieties and production methods in developing countries. We help farmers increase vegetable harvests, raise incomes in poor rural and urban households, create jobs, and provide healthier, more nutritious diets for families and communities. More inforamtion at: avrdc.orgThe International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is a non-profit institution helping people in low-and middle-income countries to improve their lives, livelihoods and lands through the animals that remain the backbone of small-scale agriculture and enterprise across the developing world. ILRI belongs to CGIAR, a global research for development partnership working for a food-secure future. ILRI's funders through the CGIAR Trust Fund, and its many partners, make ILRI's work possible and its mission a reality. Australian animal scientist and Nobel Laureate Peter Doherty serves as ILRI's patron.You are free to use and share this material under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence June 2022better lives through livestock ilri.org"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c71779c9871137193cb3d2617bbeb0a3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/21fa47fa-8df9-488e-b74a-e5993777908c/retrieve","id":"1245985345"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"64e53d28-17f7-4d23-91b1-e05a85ff6636","content":"It is often difficult to retain organic matter in tropical soils.Scientists conducting studies in Australia found that adding bentonite, one of the smectite family of clays, could help increase soil productivity by assisting in the retention of water and nutrients. Motivated by this work, IWMI researchers, in cooperation with Khon Kaen University and local farmers, conducted various trials in Northeast Thailand. The aim of one project was to assess the impacts of applying locally sourced bentonite to rice yields. Supplementing the farmer's usual practice with a single application of 200 kg of bentonite per rai (6.26 rai = 1 ha) resulted in an average yield increase of 73%. This was despite the bentonite being of relatively poor quality. Further studies showed that applying locally sourced bentonite to degraded sandy soils also reduced the risk of crop failure during drought years.Taking the results of several such field trials on yields of forage sorghum, scientists recorded a sixfold increase in biomass production after applying bentonite and mixing it with the soil using a rotavator or disc plough. The researchers also demonstrated that the increased soil quality generated by a single application of clay persisted for at least 3 years. By tapping into existing farmer networks, they encouraged wider uptake of bentonite clay as a means of improving the soil condition.In 2008, 3 years after the initial trials, IWMI scientists conducted a survey among 250 farmers in Northeast Thailand, half of whom had conditioned their fields with clay and half who had not. The average output for the farmers using bentonite was 18% higher than for non-clay users. Using the clay had enabled some farmers to switch to growing vegetables, which require more fertile soil. Because the value of vegetable crops is much higher than staples such as cassava, these farmers earned more on-farm income as a result. The researchers estimated that some 200 farmers in Northeast Thailand and 400 in neighboring Cambodia had adopted the use of clays, and that a further 20,000 farmers were introduced to the new technique.Thailand's Land Development Department (LDD) has subsequently developed a product, called LDD10, combining waste bentonite from the vegetable oil industry with organic material. This is cheaper than applying pure clay but equally effective. The LDD is producing around 1,000 tonnes of this material annually. Farmers can obtain it for free but have to cover the costs of transporting it to their land. IWMI's work has also generated interest elsewhere. Bentonite has traditionally been used as an industrial mineral. Now, producers in South Africa are conducting trials with the aim of developing a product to be marketed as a soil improver. Meanwhile, a large bentonite producer in Australia has been conducting trials on the island of Nauru to see if clay can effectively rehabilitate soils following mining for phosphorus."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f65d0aa4f89c7f97d5fb9ccba7b3034b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/bbdbc9db-640e-4a06-b093-3f6980b2002e/content","id":"-892140292"},"keywords":["Wheats","soft wheat","Triticum aestivum","dwarfs","varieties","genera","taxa","land races","ancestry","provenance. AGRIS category codes: F30 Dewey decimal classification: 633.1123 KLRF/4,IB&cAl/IVZBZ CHIRYA CHIRYA CatAG.CUlIGLEW<VALLVPVl'V CIGM87Bl CHIRYA 1992 CIMMYT 4JNINGMAl NO.4t'OLESONl/ ALIVYANGMAl NO.4 CHIRYA.l CHIRI CatAG.CU/IGLEW<VALLVPVl'V4,I CIGM87Bl•110B CHIRYA 1992 CIMMYT NINGMAl NO.4t'OLESONl/ALI¥ YANGMAI NO.4 CHIRYA.2 CHIR2 CatAG.CU/IGLEW<VALLVPVl'V4,I CIGM87Bl•113B CHlRYA 1992 CIMMYT NINGMAI NO.4t'OLESONI/ALI¥ YANGMAl NO.4 CHIRYA.3 CIDR3 CatAG.CU/IGLEW<VALLVPVl'V4,I CIGM97Bl•116B CHIRYA 1992 CIMMYT NINGMAl NO.4t'OLESONl/ALI¥ YANGMAl NO.4 CHIRYA.4 CIDR4 CatAG.CU/IGLEW<VALLVPVl'V4,I CIGM87B1-122B CIDRYA 1992 CIMMYT NINGMAl NO.4t'OLESONl/ALI¥ YANGMAl NO.4 CHIRYA.5 CHIR5 CatAG.CUlIGLEW<VALLVPVl'V4,I CIGM87Bl•l006B CHIRYA 1992 CIMMYT NINGMAI NO.4t'OLESONl/ALI¥ YANGMAl NO.4 CHIRYA.6 CHlH8"],"sieverID":"84cd6910-d850-45a5-855f-1f26fd3ba5ea","content":"CIMMYf is an internationally funded, nonprofit scientific tesearch and ttaining organization. Headquartered in Mexico, the Center works with agricultural research institutions worldwide to improve the productivity and sustainability of maize and wheat systems for poor farmers in developing countries. It is one of 16 similar centers supported by the Consultarive Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The CGIAR comprises over 50 partner countries, intemational and regional organizations, and private foundations. It is co-sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the International Bank for Reconsrruction and Development (World Bank), [he United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).O ne of CIMMYf's primary functions is to produce germplasm for use by cooperating national crop improvement programs. In the development of wheat germplasm, emphasis is given to producing advanced materials that can be readily integrated into national wheat-breeding programs. Early generation segregating materials are also made available to cooperators.Each year, CIMMYT makes thousands of bread wheat crosses and generates hundreds of advanced lines. These materials are distributed annually to national programs by way of our international nursery system; nearly 50 nurseries consisting of advanced yield trials, screening nurseries and F2 segregating populations are distributed annually to over 200 cooperators around the world. National programs are free to use the germplasm in these nurseries in any way that best suits their needs. Options range from crossing with local varieties to placing entries directly into multiplication for eventual release as varieties.The reader should note that CIMMYf does not release or name varieties; that is the right and responsibility of cooperating national programs, and each national program has its own system for naming released cultivars. CIMMYf does name its advanced bread wheat breeding lines, and our system for differentiating among these lines currently utilizes the names of land birds only. At one time, however, the names of mountains, lakes, rivers, islands and certain phonetic combinations were used; some of these earlier names remain in use today. The CIMMYT/ICARDA program continues to use phonetic combinations or combinations of parental names.This revised bulletin contains a compilation of all semidwarf bread wheat cultivars and advanced lines produced by CIMMYT and by the Mexican National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIFAP); it also contains the names and pedigrees of cultivars with CIMMYT parentage that have been released since 1962 by cooperating national programs. Our purpose in publishing this bulletin is to facilitate the exchange of more exact information among wheat researchers working with these materials, and to assist them in their note taking and record-keeping activities.CIMMYT uses the Purdy nomenclature (Purdy et al. 1968) for writing pedigrees. Thus, if parent A is crossed with parent B and the F1 hybrid is crossed with parent C, its pedigree would be designated as N BIIe. Subsequent crosses with parental material D,E,F and G would be indicated as:The female parent is designated by listing it first (to the left side) followed by the pollen parent (placed to the right side of the cross). Thus, A is the female and B is the pollen parent in the first cross.The line AlB is the female and C is the pollen parent in cross two, etc.Backcrosses are designated with an asterisk (*) and a number indicating the dosage of the recurrent parent. The asterisk and the number are placed next to the crossing symbol that divides the recurrent and donor parents. The following are examples involving one backcross (two doses):A is the recurrent parent: B is the recurrent parent:AlB is the recurrent parent: C/D is the recurrent parent:Each pedigree name begins with an alphabetic designation of the cross origin (Table 3), followed by a cross number. After the cross number there is either a letter or number-letter combination. For top and double crosses, a letter is assigned to each plant selected in the F1 generation. In number-letter combinations, the number identifies the individual plant and the letter indicates the location of selection (see Table 4). The zero-letter combinations (OM, OY, etc.) are reserved for populations carried as bulk in that generation. Examples of each are presented at the top of the next page. Because of the large number of crosses made annually at CIMMYT and cooperating institutions, this type of information needs updating continually. Therefore, included in the back of this bulletin is a 3 and 1/2 inch diskette with the most recent update of the information contained in this bulletin.In addition, CIMMYT is contributing to the development of two data management systems that bring pedigree information together: the Genetic Resoutce Information Package (GRIP I) for wheat (Mackay et al. 1996) and the International Wheat Information System (IWlS) (Fox et al. 1996). GRIP I collates pedigree information for more than 100,000 wheats. IWlS is a system that manages and integrates information pertaining to bread wheat, dutum wheat and triticale. The body of data on these crops is large and intricate. By providing a common language to identify individual wheat and triticale germplasm uniquely, IWlS seamlessly joins conservation, utilization and exchange of genetic materials.U na de las funciones primordiales del CIMMYT es la producci6n de germoplasma para los programas nacionales de mejoramiento de cultivos que cooperan con el Centro. AI crear el germoplasma de trigo, se busca producir materiales avanzados que puedan ser integrados sin dificultad a los programas nacionales de mejoramiento de trigo. Ademas, el Centro pone a la disposici6n de cientificos colaboradores materiales segregantes de generaci6n temprana.Cada ano, el CIMMYT lleva a cabo miles de cruzamientos de trigo y produce cientos de lfneas avanzadas. Estos materiales se distribuyen anualmente a los cientificos colaboradores mediante el sistema de viveros internacionales del Centro. Se envian cerca de 50 ensayos de rendimiento avanzados, viveros de selecci6n y poblaciones segregantes F2 a mas de 200 investigadores de todo el mundo. Los programas nacionales estan en libertad de utilizar el germoplasma de estos viveros en la forma que mas les convenga. Sus opciones van desde el cruzamiento con variedades locales hasta el inicio inmediato de la multiplicaci6n de las entradas para liberarlas posteriormente como variedades.Ellector debe tomar nota de que el CIMMYT no libera ni nombra las variedades cultivadas, pues estas funciones son derecho y responsabilidad de los programas nacionales. Cada programa tiene su propio sistema para nombrar las variedades que libera. El CIMMYf si designa los nombres de las lfneas avanzadas de trigo harinero y el sistema que utiliza actualmente para caracterizar estas Hneas se basa en los nombres de aves terrestres. Anteriormente se usaron nombres de montafias, lagos, dos, islas, asi como ciertas combinaciones foneticas, algunas de los cuales se siguen usando hoy dia. El programa CIMMYfIICARDA continua utilizando combinaciones foneticas, 0 combinaciones de nombres de progenitores.Este boletin revisado contiene una recopilacion de todas las variedades cultivadas y lineas avanzadas de trigo harinero semi-enano del CIMMYf y del Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias (INIFAP), asi como tambien los nombres y genealogias de las variedades provenientes del CIMMYT que han sido liberadas desde 1962 por los programas nacionales. El objeto de publicar este boletin es facilitar el intercambio de informacion mas exacta entre los investigadores de trigo que trabajan con estos materiales y ayudarles a realizar sus anotaciones y llevar sus registros.EI CIMMYT utiliza la nomenclatura de Purdy (Purdy et aL 1968) para las genealogias. Por tanto, si el progenitor A se cruza con el progenitor B yel h{brido F1 se cruza con el progenitor C, su genealogia se indicarfa as{: NBI Ie. Los cruzamientos subsecuentes con material progenitor D, E, F y G se manifestarfa como sigue: NBIIC/3/D/4/E/5/F/6/G EI progenitor hembra se indica poniendolo primero (dellado izquierdo) seguido del progenitor polinizador (dellado derecho del cruzamiento). As{ pues, A representa el progenitor hembra y B, el progenitor polinizador en el primer cruzamiento; la Hnea NB representa el progenitor hembra y C, el progenitor polinizador en la segunda cruza, yas{ sucesivamente.Los retrocruzamientos se designan con un asterisco (*) y un numero que indica la dosis del progenitor recurrente. EI asterisco y el numero se colocan junto al simbolo de cruzamiento que separa a los progenitores recurrentes de los progenitores donadores. En seguida aparecen algunos ejemplos de retrocruzamiento (dos dosis):A como progenitor recurrente: B como progenitor recurrente: NB como progenitor recurrente: C/D como progenitor recurrente:Cada genealogfa comienza con la designaci6n alfabetica del origen del cruzamiento (Cuadro 3), seguida por un numero de cruzamiento. Despues del numero de cruzamiento, aparece una letra 0 una combinaci6n de numero y letra. En los cruzamientos dobles y de FIx variedades se asigna una letra a cada planta seleccionada de la generaci6n Fl. En las combinaciones de numero y letra, el numero identifica la planta individual y la letra indica ellugar donde se realiz6 la selecci6n (Cuadro 4). Las combinaciones de cero y letra (OM, OY, etc.) se refieren exclusivamente a las poblaciones que fueron avanzadas en masa en esa generaci6n. A continuaci6n se presentan ejemplos de cada caso. Debido al gran numero de cruzamientos que se hacen anualmente en el CIMMYT y en las instituciones que cooperan con este, es necesario actualizar y revisar el boletfn de manera continua. Por consiguiente, en este boletfn se incluye un diskette de 3 y 1/2 pulgadas con la informaci6n mas reciente.£1 CIMMYf tambien colabora con el desarrollo de dos sistemas de manejo de datos que recopilan informacion sobre genealogias: el Paquete de Informacion de Recursos Geneticos del Trigo (GRIP 1) (Mackay et al. 1996), Y el Sistema Internacional de Informacion sobre el Trigo (IWIS) (Fox et al. 1996). £1 GRIP 1 contiene informacion genealogica de mas de 100,000 trigos.£1 IWIS es un sistema de manejo de datos que integra muchos tipos de informacion sobre el trigo harinero, el trigo duro y el triticale. £1 acervo de informacion sobre estos cultivos es vasto y complicado. AI proporcionar un lenguaje comun para identificar de manera inequivoca los trigos y triticales, el IWIS integra la conservacion, la utilizacion y el intercambio de materiales geneticos.£1 IWIS se compone de software e informacion que:     Aumentan el valor de la semilla relacionandola con extensos datos genealogicos y de comportamiento Proporcionan a los programas nacionales acceso a datos provenientes de muchos paises Reunen datos de instituciones de investigacion de trigo de todo el mundo Integran disciplinas colocando datos de diversas Fuentes en una sola base de datos Suministran datos necesarios para el mejoramiento de trigo.•    !CARDA• Table 1..'\\'aml'.\\hhPnlig\"l\"(-'l' Sl'iedioll                                 "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"828677af19fd904120b1624e0884791b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7487501d-c4b4-4f7a-9c07-a77e31337f09/retrieve","id":"-771775213"},"keywords":["saturated hydraulic conductivity","soil nutrient gradients","Colombian Andes"],"sieverID":"15d386c7-a3a9-4ef8-a749-1c3d47e2e6a5","content":"The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)  believes that open access contributes to its mission of reducing hunger and poverty, and improving human nutrition in the tropics through research aimed at increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture.CIAT is committed to creating and sharing knowledge and information openly and globally. We do this through collaborative research as well as through the open sharing of our data, tools, and publications.The intertwined nature of soil and water dynamics, referred to as hydropedology (Ma et al., 2017), show how each component is important for mapping, monitoring, and modeling in watershed studies. As conservation programs gain awareness and support among downstream users and industries interested in mitigating their impact on natural resources, research on hydropedology and these intertwined ecosystem services is increasing (Naeem et al., 2015), with attention often focused on short-term soil functioning and long-term soil pedogenic processes (Bouwer et al., 2015;de Lima et al., 2019;Hamel et al., 2018;Ma et al., 2017). Two of these main dynamics that conservation programs intend on remediating are related to the soil nutrients and hydraulic properties recharging shallow and deep aquifers (Buytaert et al, 2004). In 2014, a large agreement was reached between an NGO (The Nature Conservancy) and Latin American institutions in order to catalyze partnerships between water users and community stewards that promote conservation projects designed to help enhance watershed ecosystem services (The Nature Conservancy, 2014, Ponette-González et al., 2015). Empirical findings in these projects on the conditions of the soils (main determinant of these watershed ecosystem services) are limited but emerging recently and demonstrating the unique patterns in the humid tropics (Ponnette-González et al., 2014;Wohl et al., 2012;Hoyos-Villada et al., 2016).For mountainous humid tropics, conservation projects must contend with the fact that soil nutrients are known to be spatially heterogeneous and dependent on local climate, land use, topography, and parent material (Guzman et al., 2017b;Tebebu et al., 2017). Additionally, the humid tropics are regions where leaching of nitrate and accompanying plant nutrients quickly increase in a positive feedback loop after shifting from humid forest cover to cultivated land cover (Wong and Rowell, 1994) indicating that empirical findings are static snapshots in dynamic processes changing over time.Soil hydraulic properties similarly are not only highly dependent on soil surface characteristics but also land use. Previous researchers have measured strong influences of land use and topography on the infiltration patterns of tropical soils (Bayabil et al., 2010(Bayabil et al., , 2019;;Buytaert et al., 2004;Hoyos et al., 2005;Brauman et al., 2012;Brauman, 2015;Da Silva et al., 2016a,b;Tilahun et al., 2016;Guzman et al., 2017b;Zimale et al., 2017). Generally, forested land use patterns were found to have conditions of greater infiltration than what is measured on areas with altered anthropological use (Tebebu et al., 2017). Recently, studies have shown the dependence of saturated hydraulic conductivity on the textural heterogeneity of soils (García-Gutiérrez et al., 2018), and others have noted that in mountainous regions, cultivated lands are capable of much lower runoff coefficients than trails, unpaved roads, abandoned or fallow lands (Harden, 2001;Hanson et al., 2004). The susceptibility of these land uses to degradation and subsequent hardpan and runoff are tied to the moisture availability and productivity of the soils (Harden, 2001;Hanson et al., 2004). In order to maximize the ecosystem services provided by the diverse soil qualities, indicators of conditions enhancing soil quality such as vegetation cover (forests) are being studied and promoted among several conservation organizations (Barrios et al., 2006;Bonnesoeur et al., 2019;Bruijnzeel, 2004;de Lima et al., 2019;Ponette-González et al., 2014;Naeem et al., 2015).It is important to better understand these variations and expected impacts on hydrology as hydropedology suggests (Ma et al., 2017). Le Bissonnais et al. (2005) determined the variability of soil surface characteristics to be an important part of understanding where runoff and sediment concentration would increase in loess soils, where Hortonian flow processes (Horton, 1933) are dominant. This variability needs to be considered in climates and soil conditions where saturation excess flow (Beven and Kirkby, 1979;Dunne and Black, 1970;Dunne, 1983;Kirkby, 1997;Steenhuis et al., 2013) may be more important. Humid tropical mountainous watersheds, with volcanic, clay soils and high moisture, are likely regions where soil surface conditions enable various mixtures of Horton and saturation excess flow processes to be occurring, resulting in implications for watershed conservation programs. The Southwest Colombian Andes is a part of the Andean mountain range and produces headwaters for several important rivers in Colombia's economic and municipal sectors. The Rio Bolo, in particular, receives waters from Paramo (high altitude tropical wetlands) and high elevation watersheds that have been changing in land use and in their weather patterns. A sub-watershed of a nested study site within the Rio Bolo drainage network was chosen for work on soil surface characteristics to complement ongoing watershed ecosystem services research (Hoyos-Villada et al., 2016).The objective of this study is to investigate the emergent characteristics of a sub-humid tropical watershed to better understand the changes in soil surface characteristics that will have the most impact on sediment transport, soil quality, and changes in vadose zone hydrological processes. Specifically, the land use and hillslope positions will be used as indicators of expected factors influence hydraulic properties (saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ks; bulk density, ρb; texture) and chemical properties (nutrients, organic matter, pH). At the nascent stage of shifting land use, we ask: are reforestation initiatives likely to promote soil characteristic changes that could have significant impact on increasing recharge and decreasing sediment and solute transport? Some hypotheses we posit are that soil properties (saturated hydraulic conductivity, bulk density, texture) in the tropics enable sufficiently high percolation (high Ks, low ρb) in most zones of the highland watersheds such that water from most storms is able to infiltrate and that soil quality indicators are greatest in (re)forested regions.The 75-ha La Vega is a sub-watershed in the Rio Bolo watershed within the Cauca Valley in the southwestern Colombian Andes located at 76°11'42.687\"W 3°29'55.541\"N (Fig. 1). The five year mean annual rainfall as measured at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (25 km away from La Vega) from 2010 to 2014 was 1005 mm, distributed over two periods (October to January and February to May) with periods of dryness in between. The climate is influenced by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) which can bring significant conditions of drought (negative anomalies of rainfall and discharge) during the warming phase of ENSO (El Niño), and positive anomalies during the cold phase (La Niña) (de Lima et al., 2017;Hoyos et al., 2005;Poveda et al., 2001;). In addition, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation affects the arrival of drought and flooding periods (Mantau and Hare, 2002). High intensity of precipitation can range from 1.0 cm hr -1 to over 2.5 cm hr -1 (Hoyos et al., 2005;Ruppenthal et al., 1996;Sonder, 2004). Around 40 to 49% of the rainfall intensities in this region have been previously measured to exceed 2.5 cm hr -1 (Ruppenthal., 1996), in contrast to the expected 5% of rainfall intensities exceeding this threshold in temperate regions (Hudson, 1971). Soils in this region of Colombia have been mapped by the Geographic Institute Agustín Codazzi (IGAC) and are categorized as Dystrudepts, Udorthents, Eutrudepts, Hapludolls with outcroppings (IGAC Code 47fg2). Due to the coarse resolution of this mapping, the soil unit (Code 47fg2) is a combination of these soil types for the region covering La Vega. The study investigates 16 sites spatially distributed across land use and elevation ranges in the La Vega sub-watershed (Fig. 2). These distributed sites are positioned to inform effects on erosion and hydrologic recharge. Eight study points are located on the western portion of the watershed and eight are located on the eastern portion (two for each elevation range within the two portions).Four of the sampled sites are located in the \"downslope area\" (elevation is ~1450 m; sites 1,2,3,4) very close to a small forested area with grazing land surrounding the stream sides and outlet (Fig. 2). Point 2 and 3 appear to be within the fenced area that is mapped as conserved forest (Fig. 2b), however they are physically slightly outside of the actual forest land use and are in fact in open regions where occasional cattle grazing occurs. In the middle part of the slope, two transects were differentiated (four sampling sites within each elevation range); the first (\"midslope 1 area\") is located at a lower elevation range, closer to the watershed outlet (~1500 m; 5,6,7,8).The western side of this range is located in grazing land and the eastern portion is located in forage and plantain cultivation areas. The second of the midslope ranges (\"midslope 2\") is higher in elevation (~1600 m; 9,10,11,12), and is predominantly covered in forested land with mixed uses for coffee cultivation (arabica), banana (Musa sp., Musaceae) and pine and tropical forests containing various flora (Yarumo, Balsa, Oak, Cedar, Walnut, Fern, Palm, Comino, Gualanday, Alder, Croton, and Epiphytes). The sites at the highest elevations (~1700 m; 13, 14, 15,16) were located in range land with regrowth of natural vegetation and trees.Sixteen pvc-type monitoring wells were installed with manual soil augers to determine depth of soil thickness and water levels (Fig. 3). In the initial baseline water level measurement, water tables were only present at point 15 (in the upper slope) and at point 2 (in the downslope area). Most piezometers were installed to depths of 3 m. There were several locations (for example in the midslope forested region where the parent material was near the soil surface) that were only installed to a depth of 1 m due to difficulty drilling through the rock layer.Three soil sampling periods were established (beginning of February, late February, and late-March of 2015) to measure primary nutrients, total nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus (AP), and potassium (K + ), as well as soil surface properties such as organic matter (OM), pH, and measurement of secondary nutrients magnesium (Mg 2+ ) and calcium (Ca 2+ ). At each of the sixteen sampling points a set of split-core samplers were used to collect composite soil samples (made up of about three combined samples to achieve 1 kg) to a depth of 30 cm below the surface (Fig. 4).Total nitrogen was analyzed using the UV/visible spectrometry technique and available phosphorus was analyzed by the Bray II method, while exchangeable cations where estimated using the atomic absorption method. Organic matter estimation was analyzed by the Walkley-Black method. Finally, particle size analysis was performed to determine soil texture class using the Bouyoucos hydrometer method (Bouyoucos, 1962). Composite disturbed soil samples were analyzed in the Laboratory of Analytical Services in the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Colombia.To determine saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ks, laboratory measurements were conducted on six replicates of undisturbed soil samples (Fig. 5) collected in metallic cylinders of 5 cm diameter and at two depths (three replicates at 0-5 cm and three replicates at 5-10 cm). While a variety of in situ field measurements are available (e.g. double ring infiltrometer, Guelph permeameter, and tension permeameters), each has its own drawback in comparison to benchmark steady deep flow rates (Morbidelli et al., 2017). In the absence of readily available large volumes of water for these or other controlled methods, the undisturbed soil core method (Klute and Dirkson, 1986;Reynolds et al., 2000) was used as an initial starting benchmark for Ks measurements in the catchment. These undisturbed samples were analyzed in the Physical Soil Laboratory in the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) using the constant head method (Klute and Dirkson, 1986) and then oven-dried at 105°C for 24 hours to determine bulk density (ρb). Pedotransfer functions were used to compare methods of estimating Ks from soil texture and bulk density data (Eq. 1, Cosby et al., 1984;Eq. 2, Puckett et al., 1985;Eq. 3, Jabro, 1992;Eq. 4, Saxton and Rawls, 2006;Van Looy et al., 2017) where Sa, Si, and Cl are %Sand, % Silt, and %Clay respectively and ρb is bulk density in g cm -3 .For Eq 4., θs is the saturated moisture content, θ33 is the moisture content at field capacity, and λ is the slope of logarithmic tension vs. moisture plot (Refer to Supplementary materials and Saxton and Rawls, (2006) for full equations describing these variables). Statistical analysis of differences between spatial and temporal samples were conducted with student t-tests for normally distributed data and with non-parametric tests for non-normally distributed data. Bartlett's test was used to determine homogeneity of variances (Bartlett and Fowler, 1937).PVC monitoring wells, intended to measure water table dynamics, captured very little patterns due to the low frequency of visits and apparent deep or dry status of the soil profiles. Only at the nearest points to the stream were water tables present within the depths of the installed wells.This indicates extremely well drained soils within the profile above bedrock and potentially that some of the 3 m depth wells had not reached bedrock. Nevertheless, important information regarding soil profiles was discovered. The western portion of the sub-watershed had deep soil profiles (>3 m deep) as revealed through the augering. Calculated texture averages for this western portion of sampling sitesfound higher percentages of clay in the top 0-5 cm, and 5-10 cm (25% compared to 15% for eastern portion sampling points) west of the stream. The eastern part of the watershed had variable soil profile depths, some areas exceeded 3 m, while others had a high content of stones and rocks (Fig. 4). In both sides of the sub-watershed, the areas with greatest forest cover contained the darkest soils signifying high organic matter content (Table 1). These regions (broadly in the upslope and midslope 2 zones) also contained the highest sand content and the lowest clay content in contrast to the lower regions which had the inverse texture relationship (Table 1). In the upper elevation range , regrowth of natural vegetation was found on deep soils (~3 m) with moderately high Ks (26 cm hr -1 ) and the lowest bulk density (0.92 g cm -3 ). Soil in the lowest elevation range, in mixed land use of grazing and riparian forests with deep profiles, had the lowest Ks (4 cm hr -1 ), and highest bulk density (1.02 g cm -3 ). In the middle elevation ranges, conserved tropical forest vegetation were located on soils of shallow depths with high organic matter and high Ks (86 cm hr -1 ). When compared with regional precipitation (~1005 mm yr -1 ) the lowest infiltration rate is exceeded about 50% of the time, while the average and median infiltration rates were not exceeded. The second depths of measurements (5-10 cm) showed mostly lower Ks than the first depth layer measurement except for at the upslope region (first layer: 26 cm hr -1 , second layer: 28 cm hr -1 ). The coefficient of variation for these soils (CV= 0.68 to 1.8) indicate that there is high variability across all slope positions according to the classification of Wilding for laboratory experiments investigating solute transport and Ks spatial variability (Godoy et al., 2019).Though most of the saturated hydraulic conductivity tests tended to be highest in the upslope forested areas (upslope and midslope 2), within one site of the midslope 1 region (in plantain cultivation landcover) there was an instance where the measured Ks for the first 5 cm was very high (79 cm hr -1 ). High Ks results were similar in areas with high rock content due to the lower bulk density resulting from the larger void spaces caused by the presence of the rocks. These void spaces in the profile provide quick flow paths for water to infiltrate. High biological activity was observed in various parts of the watershed represented by the macro soil fauna (earthworms, beetles, larvae among other observations) in addition to soil profiles with distinctly darker surface soil layers (black) in comparison to deeper soil layers.Soil nutrient properties are varied throughout the watershed with each interacting with the differing fluxes from slope positions and land use (Table 2). The upper elevation zones had the highest TN (0.4%) and organic matter (OM; 6.9%), with soil organic carbon (SOC) approximately 3.5 -4% (Pribyl, 2010). Soils in the lowest elevation zone had the lowest TN (0.26%), OM (4.8%), and SOC (2.4 -2.8 %). Forested areas have greater levels of TN, AP, Ca 2+ , and K + . Forested regions (e.g. TNf) showed higher nutrients and lower acidity than in the actively used altered regions (e.g. TNa). All comparisons except Mg 2+ were significant (p<0.05) (Fig. 6). These land use types corresponded to slope regions as well (i.e. Revegetated and natural forested areas were upslope and at midslope-2 regions, while actively used lands were at midslope-1 and lower slope regions). Calcium concentrations are the greatest (statistically significant, p<0.01) in the midslope-2 position, where the greatest proportion of native forest vegetation is found.Soils tend to be modestly shifting over time and only depleting in certain locations for certain nutrients such as TN and K + . For example, for TN, trends for midslope and downslope regions shift slightly lower from the beginning of February till the end of March however this is only statistically significant for K+ and TN in the midslope 1 zone (p<0.05), and near significant for TN (p =0.053) in the downslope zone. The trend of change overall for the remaining nutrients (AP, Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ ) is less sharp for the upslope regions than for midslope and downslope, but overall the pattern seems to be decreasing, though high variability means that these are not statistically significant (Fig. 7). AP trends decrease in midslope 1 (p=0.53) and downslope regions (p=0.12), while they increase upslope (p=0.19). Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ decrease most notably in the downslope regions (p=0.26 and p=0.55, respectively).Hydropedology considers the feedbacks between water and soil dynamics. As can be seen through these results and in other studies, topography, and land use show controls on the development of soil infiltration, bulk density, and nutrient conditions (Bean et al., 2015;Price et al., 2010;Siltecho et al., 2015;Zimmerman et al., 2006). The soil characteristics that developed in this watershed denote two soil (hydraulic and nutrient) dynamics and some future needs.Soil compaction as measured through bulk density shows an influence of land use and with an additional control being induced by topography. Differences in soil texture class due to elevation has been observed previously in tropical agricultural watersheds (Taye et al., 2018) and elsewhere (Papanicolaou et al., 2015;Riebe et al., 2015). Still, whether these texture difference have occurred as a result of land use change and management or whether this relates to geological and climatic differences may require further investigation. Field studies indicate that the production of fine sediments may be enhanced at lower elevations and inhibited at higher elevations for an alpine catchment in the High Sierra, California, however, these elevation differences are on the scale of kilometers rather than hundreds of meters (Riebe et al., 2015).Studies investigating contrasting textures along a topographic sequence of Thailand rice fields have pointed to the translocation of clays down the soil profile as the primary mechanism for differences (Boivin et al., 2004). In comparison to studies at nearby CIAT research stations, the proportion of clay (between 14 and 26%) was much lower than that found in bare fallow fields of Quilichao (75%) and Mondomo (64%) experimental fields (Ruppenthal., 1996). However, as mapped by the IGAC (IGAC Code 47fg2) for the coarse areal average, this study found similar results, with slightly higher silt and clay fractions than reported for the average of the combination of soils found in this code: Dystrudepts, Udorthents, Eutrudepts, Hapludolls (65% Sand, 20% Silt, 15% Clay). While slightly different proportions of sand, silt, and clay are found for the different regions, organic matter (OM) appears to be higher at the higher elevation ranges in this study (upslope and midslope 2). In addition to its relationship to decreased bulk density, higher OM could lead to soil storage recovery through nutrients provided and establishment of vegetation.Both are effects that can potentially reduce runoff through increased capture and storage of water (Bean et al., 2014).Saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ks, measurements here are determined through laboratory analysis, but do not correspond to other measurements that may be determined in the field that are capable of capturing larger characteristics such as macropores, greater depths, or other soil heterogeneities (Bean et al., 2015;Morbidelli et al., 2017;Reynolds et al., 2000). The Guelph permeameter, for example, is one approach that might provide a more holistic measurement of the subsoil infiltration dynamics, however after several attempts logistical challenges made repeated measurements difficult. Furthermore, tests have sometimes demonstrated that the Guelph permeameter can overestimate laboratory controlled experimental soil infiltration rates and underestimate those in natural soil at study plots (Morbidelli et al., 2017), as it measures the conductivity of the matrix and may have a lower probability of measuring macropore flow (Mohanty et al., 1994). While some modifications to the Guelph permeameter are available to make it more representative of different porous media types (Reynolds and Lewis, 2012), other methods more suited to forested and mountainous conditions may be needed such as single (or double) ring infiltrometers or soil monolith sampling in cylindrical containers (Ilek and Kucza, 2014;Ilek et al, 2019). Hence, the data presented here provide a starting point for estimation of infiltration dynamics that could be assumed to be underestimating hydrological subsurface processes at several of the locations. Brooks et al., (2004) noted that in field experiments and modeling exercises, point estimates of vertical and lateral hydraulic conductivity can be 10 to 100 times smaller than actual hillslope scale Ks due in part to macropores and biological activity. Lateral flow is also shown to be important as it erodes soil structure internally and thereby increases the conductivity (Mendoza and Steenhuis., 2002). In comparison to pedotransfer functions (Cosby et al., 1984;Puckett et al., 1985, Jabro, 1992;Saxton and Rawls, 2006), the data in fact were largely underestimated, indicating that transfer functions may even be assuming lower conductivities than laboratory measurements capture for their estimate of natural conditions in tropical watersheds of the Andes (Fig. 8). The pedotransfer function developed by Jabro (1992)  Cosby et al (1984) note that their database did not originally include particle size distribution but rather had percentage sand, silt, and clay assigned through mid-point of soil texture class. Each of these particular features of the original derived equations show the region-specific nature of the equations. Ramírez et al. (2017) also found that for their study in the Orinoco River Basin (Colombia), the Rosetta pedotransfer function (Schaap et al., 2001) likely underestimated Ks by a factor of 10, as had similarly been the case in studies for Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Jamaica (Hafkenscheid, 2000, Huwe et al., 2008;Tobón et al., 2011). These volcanic soils tend to have much greater conductivity than other soils in similar texture classes upon which pedotransfer functions were developed. Moreover, the value obtained from the reference information for these regional soils mapped by the Geographic Institute Agustín Codazzi (IGAC Code 47fg2) was also much lower (3.3 cm hr -1 ).Another important finding is the demonstration of vertical non-uniformity in saturated hydraulic conductivity. Though previously understood that upper layers of soil may be more permeable than soils beneath the surface, and that a decreasing trend with depth may be observed (Brooks et al., 2004;Morbidelli et al., 2018), this has not been as widely researched in these mountainous soils. Some researchers have found hard pan layers in soils ranging from 0.15 m to 0.6 m from the surface of the soil in degraded mountainous regions (Tebebu et al., 2017). More findings describing these variable depth profiles will help to integrate the tropical dynamics into modeling practices describing runoff from tropical hilly watersheds.The concentration of total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and exchangeable cations demonstrate low availability in non-forested, compacted areas in the lower portions of the watershed (downslope). These areas experience more disruption and have processes that could lead to depletion of the nutrients as has been found in other mountainous regions (Guzman et al., 2017b). Tebebu et al. (2017) furthermore found that the depletion of nutrients and organic matter is indicative of degradation processes that increase the disaggregation of soils and later leads to clogged macropore networks and development of hardpan slowly permeable regions.Temporal nutrient dynamics (Fig. 7) could be influenced by the changing hydraulic structure of the soils due to forest-conversion to agriculture or pasture land uses, however, these dynamics are not always straightforward in the tropics (Ponette-Gonzalez et al., 2014). Studies have found that nitrogen could be leached at higher rates after conversion, yet the effects may be dampened due to different proportions of nitrogen input from wet, fog, and dry deposition (Weathers and Ponette-González, 2011), or the effects could be inverted due to microbial nitrification (Ponette-González et al., 2014). Finally, studies investigating high-altitude vs loweraltitude forest cover show that water reaching the forest floor (which would influence leaching and other processes) may depend on the interception and throughfall differences caused by tree size, crown cover, density, understorey vegetation, and epiphytes coverage (Crockford and Richardson, 2000). Given that these data are only available in a short time period, they currently provide a baseline of conditions in the initial phases of these projects rather than a full study on the majority of the annual climatic/hydrological variability in the site. Interestingly, Bonnesoeur et al. (2019) indicate that forestation in the Andean regions tends to increase infiltration rates by a factor of 8, within 14 -20 years and allows for improved erosion control. Recent laboratory studies on the times scale of weeks have shown that soils leached with varying levels of cations may be behind some of these physical changes. For instance, Mg 2+ leaching through soils in excess can lead to disaggregation of soil structure and reduced Ks (Zhu et al., 2019), while excess K + has been shownto decrease soil hydraulic conductivity through dispersion of clays, and reduced porosity and pore connectivity, thereby increasing bulk density and leading to soil structural degradation (Marchuk and Marchuk, 2018).Soils in tropical Andean watersheds can be quite permeable and may counteract the intensity of precipitation (Ruppenthal et al., 1996;Janeau et al. 2015), leading to a disconnect between theory and evidence of runoff and erosion processes (Dagnew et al., 2016(Dagnew et al., , 2017)). Harden (2000) showed that for plowed fields in the soils of the Rio Paute basin of southern Andean Ecuador, little runoff was observed. All rainfall was absorbed for the frequently observed intensities in the beginning of the season and even later when fields were more compacted, there was rarely evidence for soil washed out of a cultivated field (Harden, 2001). Moreover, endemic vegetation may be able to provide an additional benefit over short-cycle crops of enhanced water transmission to the root zone after rainfall (Janeau et al., 2015), preserving macrostructure and soil moisture. Models must take into account that roads, trails, and compacted lands can contribute a disproportionate amount of runoff and sediment compared to their presence in the landscape (Guzman et al., 2017a;Harden, 2001). Frequently, estimates of erosivity and erodibility in tropical climates are deduced from USLE (Wischmeier and Smith, 1978; or modified versions of the USLE i.e. RUSLE) to map and identify where erosion could be a concern and highlight particular zones or management practices to implement (Guzman et al., 2018;Hoyos et al., 2005;Hoyos, 2006;Quintero et al., 2009;Ochoa-Cueva et al., 2015;Stocking, 1995). However, Ponette-González et al., (2015) argue that rather than relying on this assumed relationship between land cover and hydrological flux, research should be targeted towards accounting for structural and ecological characteristics of the certain land covers and key mediators of the hydrologic flux of concern.Particularly, the infiltration rate changes should be investigated and of primary concern.The data presented in this study has demonstrated an expected link from compacted soils (through land use change) which can influence how infiltration rates can decrease, potentially leading to greater surface runoff and subsequently erosion, nutrient transport, and decreased baseflow (Bean et al., 2014). However, upslope regions do not appear to be as large a concern as typically argued. Whether these hydraulic properties develop geomorphologically, or due to the vegetative changes will need further investigation, however high Ks was measured in most of the higher elevation regions (26 -86 cm hr -1 ) and much lower Ks were found in areas closest to the lower regions near the access road and stream valley (likely experiencing much more disturbance)(1 -14 cm hr -1 ). Ruppenthal et al. (1995) and Sonder (2004) find that regional precipitation tends to have a much higher percentage (40%) of storm events that can be considered erosive precipitation intensities (2.5 cm hr -1 ) than temperate regions (5%) (Hoyos et al., 2005). For the 140 storms measured by Sonder (2004), 62% were lower than 2.5 cm hr -1 , 80% lower than 5 cm hr -1 , roughly 90% lower than 7.5 cm hr -1 , and 94% were less than 10 cm hr -1 . This means that the average Ks for the samples in the downslope region for both depth measurements (2.3 cm hr -1 ) roughly exceeds storm intensities 60% of the time, while midslope 2 and upslope measurements almost always exceed this intensity (Table 1; Fig. 9). The median Ks (10 cm hr -1 ) for all measured samples coincides with the intensity that is 90% greater than all storm intensities (Sonder, 2004).The maximum measured rainfall intensity was 47 cm hr -1 , exceeded mostly by samples in the midslope 2 (forested) region.Investments in watershed services (IWS) have targeted the enhancement of the natural for the benefit of human populations (Ponette-Gonzalez et al., 2015;Vogl et al., 2017). Beyond the difficulty of identifying the most vulnerable areas in watershed or the most critical target areas to invest in, some scholars argue that only tackling gaps in scientific knowledge will not solve the effectiveness issue for Payment for Ecosystem Services (de Lima et al., 2017(de Lima et al., , 2019)). Uncertainties in the assumptions involved in assessing ecosystem services and in the links between land use and ecosystem services present challenges for expectations and assessment of impacts (de Lima et al., 2017).Researchers and community partners are continuing to build databases in these subcatchments (Hoyos-Villada et al., 2016;Rodriguez de Francisco, 2013;de Lima et al 2017de Lima et al , 2019) ) to fill in the knowledge gaps in baseline information and the impacts of new interventions.Complexities that need to be address in ecosystem services research have been described by de Lima et al ( 2017) as falling into three main dimensions: \"(a) the complexity of human-environment systems (HES); (b) the limits of knowledge about these systems; and (c) practical constraints, such as the high cost of measuring and monitoring system variables\". These complexities are described below as opportunities for response time analysis, cross-disciplinary collaborations, and support structures for future research on soil hydraulic properties and watershed hydrological services in tropical climates.The complexity of the human-environment system means that effects can be masked in ongoing unreported or unknown physical or social processes. In addition, addressing the low flow problem and the time lag between upland conservation activities and downslope sediment concentration patterns require further research in tropical forested regions (Bruijnzeel, 2004).Within a short period of time there have been some recent trends emerging. In this watershed, the Water Fund project (Agua por La Vida y Sostenibilidad/ Water for Life and Sustainability) measured flow and total suspended solids from November 2013 to May 2015 (Hoyos-Villada et al., 2016). Starting in April 2014, conservation activities were implemented in about 60% of the watershed, primarily composed of fencing and enclosing areas off from agricultural or grazing use (mostly in midslope-2 and upslope regions). Most of the peaks for these measured dynamics of flow and total suspended solids occur during March to May and between the months of November to December (Hoyos-Villada et al., 2016).Two indicators of flow regulation were reported as having some notable changes in the brief monitoring period of La Vega. The first flow indicator for high flows was set with a threshold of 5% exceedance and resulted in a value of 0.012 m 3 s -1 (1,037 m 3 d -1 ) before conservation activities were enacted. Post-implementation, this 5% exceedance resulted in a value of 0.067 m 3 s -1 (5,789 m 3 d -1 ; Supplementary Materials Fig. S1). Similarly, the low flow indicator (flows equal to or exceeded 95% of the time) had a value of 0.007 m 3 s -1 (605 m 3 d -1 ) before conservation activities and 0.034 m 3 s -1 (2,938 m 3 d -1 ) post-implementation (Hoyos-Villada et al., 2016). For sediment monitoring, the sediment load per day was calculated based on suspended solids measured with automatic sensors (Sonda Solitax). Thresholds for sediment loads equaled or exceeded 5% of the time were found to be 20.5 t y -1 (4,110 kg d -1 ) before conservation activities and 12.9 t y -1 (2,651 kg d -1 ) post-implementation (Supplementary Materials Fig. S2). Both flow and sediment data presented in the graphs are aggregated from 15 min data (Hoyos-Villada et al., 2016). These findings have provided initial evidence for emerging patterns and will offer future opportunities to connect intervention impacts to the patterns in other parts of the Andes concerning reforestation and conservation techniques (Bonnesoeur et al., 2019).As these databases emerge, further linkages will be needed to between hydrologists, ecologists, and biogeochemists to begin synthesizing and making progress towards reducing uncertainties in ecosystem service assessment and impact measurement (Bouwer et al., 2015;Hamel et al., 2018). Ponette-Gonzalez et al., (2014,2015) report a summary of findings from tropical watersheds with expected changes in nutrient fluxes and also unexpected or complex changes resulting from conversion of forest cover to non-forest land uses. These interdisciplinary analyses of vegetation changes, hydrological fluxes, hydraulic impacts, and nutrient fluxes will be increasingly needed to help develop more understanding and build on the important field work and theoretical formulation developed for tropical regions (Bruijnzeel, 2004).A physically-based reasoning behind how some of these presented soil physical and chemical observation may have emerged would be the ultimate goal of successive field campaigns and a sustained research program that could help indicate the mechanisms of change over time.For example, soil moisture dynamics, weathering, water table fluctuations, and acidification are a mixture of hydropedological processes influenced by water fluxes which Bouwer et al. (2015) suggest could be used to construct hydrological response models based on accessible soil data. In their study, Bouwer et al. (2015) offer a soilscape that relates recent soil water regime, flowpaths, and storage mechanics (as indicated by soil chemistry) to ancient soil water regime (as indicated by morphology) and current soil water regime indicated by hydrometric field measurements.Hydrochemical and ecohydrological studies are still only recently uncovering dynamics that have previously been overlooked in the analysis of runoff generation, infiltration, and preferential deep water flow (Bonnesoeur et al., 2019;Bouwer et al., 2015;Hamel et al., 2018;Marchuk and Marchuk, 2018;Tebebu et al., 2017;Zhu et al., 2019). Penna et al. (2018) and Hamel et al. (2018) review a series of opportunities for interdisciplinary work in tracing ecosystem water fluxes that help initiate future agenda in research partnerships in the tropical Andes.Finally, there are practical constraints which have shifted the field of hydrology from field work to modeling (Burt and McDonnell, 2016;Vidon, 2015) leading there to be issues with assumptions and validity in the analysis and compilation of field data and patterns (Stocking, 1995;Boardman, 2006). While pedotransfer functions and hydrological models could help evaluate changes in landscapes without spending the associated costs needed for soil sampling, current estimates may not yet be at the point where soil characteristics can be reliably interpolated or scaled across watersheds due to the variability and differing topographical, soil origin, and climatic impacts. More base-line level field studies providing empirical data, such as that which have gone into developing models (e.g the 10,000 plot years for the Universal Soil Loss Equation and hundreds of samples for various pedotransfer functions) in North America, will be needed to develop this reliability in understanding. In these subwatersheds in particular, further tests on the soil hydraulic properties in deeper soil horizons, in addition to repeating measurements after certain periods of time or regular intervals will be needed to gain a more representative understanding of the hydrological system. Similarly, these studies will need the partnerships and sustained financial resources that have funded previous work in the U.S. (e.g. USGS, USDA, NSF) in order to ensure that these studies on soil and hydrological processes develop into theoretical foundations for sediment transport and watershed landscape changes. Digital soil mapping, for instance, has been developing methods of using terrain attributes to estimate continuous maps of soil types and properties beyond simply using statistical techniques (Da Silva et al., 2016b). Lastly, longer term evaluation and continuing cooperative agreements with stakeholders will be needed to ensure that conservation mechanisms garner local support and obtain the maintenance required to ensure that conditions do not return to pre-conservation levels (Boardman et al., 2003;de Lima et al., 2019;Guzman et al., 2017c).Soils in tropical sub-watersheds have varied soil nutrient and hydraulic properties, resulting from a combination of extreme weather influences (e.g. El Niño Southern Oscillation) and land use changes (e.g. grazing, agroforestry, etc). Recently, payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes and investment in watershed services (IWS) have been developing conservation projects that aim to quantify and enhance the natural capacity of mountainous and forested regions to provide sustainable supplies of water (de Lima et al., 2017). These PES schemes have developed into innovative partnerships that employ \"Water Funds\" to encourage farmers and watershed community stakeholders to participate in conservation techniques (e.g. enclosures near riparian zones, reforestation) to reduce erosion rates and improve soil infiltration in degraded areas. In an effort to provide insights into some of the extant conditions in a watershed as it undergoes ecosystem service management, the estimation of hydraulic properties and soil nutrient conditions were measured in this Southwestern Andean catchment (75 ha). Greater saturated hydraulic conductivity rates (Ks) and lower bulk densities (ρb) are measured throughout the upper parts of the watershed. Lower Ks and greater bulk densities are measured throughout the lower parts of the watershed. Forested and enclosed revegetated regions coincide with these higher hydraulic properties as well as higher soil nutrients for most of the measured parameters. These findings indicate the variability within the watershed across land uses and in different slope positions, revealing patterns that should be considered for hydrological modeling in tropical mountainous watersheds, especially as it pertains to models that strongly assume slope gradient is the greatest determinant of runoff or erosion. Particularly important is that soils are highly permeable in certain forested upslope regions, but there may be converted areas in lower regions of the watershed nearer to streams, where rain and surface water runoff is not infiltrating as readily. Hydropedological feedback cycles may be present in these lower and midslope regions where anthropogenic land use patterns have decreased nutrients, organic matter, and pH that can further alter infiltration and runoff to produce conditions that increase erosion. Greater attention should be given to these biogeochemical changes, especially organic matter and nutrient loss, in an effort to improve ecosystem services related to landscape hydrology. Further field studies assessing the main differences between conserved regions of headwater catchments will be needed for reduction of uncertainties in ecosystem service evaluation and for future research and stakeholder support.       "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f189c0fecd8df186798ed4e3799082f9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/dd427327-d986-43c5-8b3c-2fe34ea39072/retrieve","id":"2077068933"},"keywords":["Bioversity International Via dei Tre Denari","472/a 00054 Maccarese (Fiumicino)","Italy Bioversity International/H. Lamers"],"sieverID":"bd44a923-3c32-4936-9130-7188f738c4eb","content":"Forests worldwide are under tremendous pressure -and so are the 1.6 billion forest dwellers who depend on these for their livelihoods. Forest and tree diversity are essential to sustain forest ecosystems and livelihoods. Yet, forest degradation, evidenced in the rapid and disconcerting loss of forest biodiversity, is propelled by many factors, including persistent poverty, growing international demand for timber and non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and climate change.In parallel, and partly to address this concern, community-based or joint forest management approaches have been adopted in various countries to promote sustainable and inclusive forest management. However, many challenges persist related to poor governance, lack of transparency, gender inequality, social exclusion and lack of tangible livelihood benefits; all of which contribute to unsustainable practices and continued degradation.How can we improve local livelihoods while maintaining forest biodiversity and strengthening sustainable forest management in a socially inclusive and just manner? These guidelines present practical strategies and field examples for the inclusive and sustainable extraction, sale and management of forest products, particularly NTFPs. They build upon the framework of the Community Biodiversity Management approach in which three outcomes are sought; (1) community empowerment and social equity, (2) biodiversity conservation and (3) livelihood development (Sthapit et al. 2016). The guidelines draw upon data from the project: 'Innovations in Ecosystem Management and Conservation' carried out between 2014 and 2017 in districts of two Indian states: Mandla District in Madhya Pradesh and Uttara Kannada District in Karnataka.The tribal communities in Mandla district have an average monthly income of only US$25 (less than $USD 1 per day) and depend heavily on non-timber forest products (NTFP) for their food security, nutrition and income. Alongside farming and wage labour, NTFPs are an important source of cash. On average, households can earn between USD$75-150 annually through the sales of NTFPs, which amounts to about 30-60% of annual income. In addition, NTFP species help to fill the food and nutrition gap in the lean season (rainy season), just before rice and millet harvests. In the 1990s, the State Government introduced community-based forest management by establishing Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs), which mostly did not develop as the strong, representative forest governance institutions originally envisioned.In Mandla district, the most important NTFP is the yellow flower of the mahua tree (Madhuca longifolia), which is widely Understanding the local context is crucial to make informed nontimber forest product management decisions. Hereby, an introduction is provided to the sites located in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.collected and used to make alcohol, as a sweetener and for flavouring traditional dishes. Mahua flowers are sundried at home and sold to local traders at farm gate or the local market. Chakoda (Cassia tora) pods of a small shrub found surrounding farm fields and barren lands are also highly valued and are generally sundried and sold to be used as ingredients for animal feed or as an  Which NTFPs are collected most from the study sites and how does that impact the forests?  What is the impact of commercial sales of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) on local livelihoods?alternative to coffee. Many households also collect, sun-dry and sell the fruit from the char tree (Buchanania lanza). The almondflavoured seeds (chironji, a highvalue product in mainstream markets) obtained by manual decortication, are eaten raw, roasted or ground, and used as an alternative to rice, millet or wheat flour. Additional NTFPs include: ban tulsi or wild basil (Ocimum gratissimum), harra (Terminalia chebula) and bhilwa or wild cashew (Semecarpus anacardium).In Mandla, persistent poverty, natural population growth, and the high dependency of tribal communities on NTFPs and fuel wood, in conjunction with storms, forest fires or extreme drought, has resulted in widespread degradation of the dry deciduous to tropical moist forests located on steep hilltops in the landscape (ghats). As a result, the last two decades have seen a sharp decline in availability of NTFPs and a subsequent increase in the distance travelled to collect them. Mahua trees, protected by ancestral harvesting rights, are some of the only large trees remaining near villages, as most trees in close proximity are heavily harvested for fuel wood and pruned or even cut down to ground level. When the forest is left alone, shoots and small trees re-emerge from the old root system.Sirsi is the major town in Uttara Kannada district, which is located in the middle of the Western Ghats: an evergreen semi-tropical rain forest area with deciduous patches, considered an important biodiversity hotspot. Farmers have a mixed orchard system combined with rice fields. The cash crop areca nut (Areca catechu) is widely grown and intercropped with other crops, such as pepper, banana and cardamom.The larger and more affluent farmers have historical and ancestral harvesting rights to forest areas, locally referred to as 'betta lands', from which they collect green manure for their spice gardens and rice fields and NTFPs for home use. NTFPs are used widely for home consumption and play an important role in traditional food culture. Landless or land-poor households, earning on average $USD 90 per month, tend to be highly dependent on NTFP as a source of cash income (20-50%), while large farmers only receive a minor share of their income (less than 15%) from selling NTFPs.The most collected NTFP is uppage (Garcinia gummigatta), which has substantially increased in price (from 15-30 rupees per kg in the early 90s up to 200-240 rupees in 2013) since its use as an ayurvedic and in weightloss pills in the pharmaceutical industry. However, this year prices decreased to 50-70 rupees due to low quality and competitive prices from Sri Lanka and Malaysia.Traditionally, uppage fruit rinds are dried using fuel wood and consumed as a sourly food ingredient for fish or curries, while the butter from the seeds is widely used as cooking oil.Households also collect kokum www.bioversityinternational.org concessions.The forest is largely still in place but has gradually become degraded and less dense and diverse over the past few decades. However, some villagers have reported a reduction or even reversal of this degradation following the establishment of VFCs. The major drivers of degradation include: immigration, natural population growth, conversion of land to agriculture, and more frequent extraction of timber and NTFPs due to infrastructural improvements linking rural communities to markets. Increased prices and the emergence of international markets for several NTFPs and spices have also put pressure on populations of wild pepper, wild nutmeg and, to a lesser extent, uppage and kokum. Many villagers reported irregularity of yields over the last decade due to heat waves and increased rainfall variability.(Garcinia indica) fruit, which have similar medicinal properties but are consumed as a juice (kokum juice). The butter of kokum seeds derives high value as a skin moisturizer used in ayurvedic medicine and in the cosmetics industry.Aromatic mangoes (Mangifera indica) named 'appe midi', predominantly used to make a popular traditional type of mango pickle, are collected unripe from trees found mostly along streams and rivers. Urbanization and women's greater entry into the labour force have led to the emergence of a market for this pickle, as women have less time to produce it at home. In addition, households collect wild pepper (Piper nigrum), wild nutmeg (Myristica malabarica) and honey (Apis spp. Persistent local poverty, poor forest management institutions and strong commercial interests in NTFPs have often resulted in a 'tragedy of the commons': freerider attitudes reflected in overharvesting and destruction of the NTFP resource base for short-term gains.Value chain development offers the opportunity to improve the economic benefits that local communities derive from NTFPs, thereby providing incentives to limit damage to the resource base that maximize profits and margins at village level in an equitable manner  Individual premiums and benefits for NTFP traders who adopt sustainable practices.The study, conducted in 50 villages across the two districts, provides useful insights into the institutional structures that support a sustainable increase in incomes from NTFPs:Credit: Bioversity International/E. Hermanowicz Why pursue sustainable value chain development and sales of non-timber forest products (NTFP)? How to generate sustainable incomes from NTFPs without damaging the resource base Establish an agreement among FPC members to save a percentage of annual profits, such as 5% or 10% , to finance monitoring and conservation actions. In Mandla, the FPC board agreed to save some of the annual profit to purchase saplings of the most threatened and preferred tree species from the local SHG nursery. All members agreed to plant one tree per year near their houses during the rainy season. In order to improve the NTFP quality and ensure proper use of harvesting hooks and sticks, it was agreed to provide harvesting tools to households for a refundable deposit. A goal of the FPCs was to establish a system to monitor the resource stock of NTFPs in order to provide reliable estimates of yields to buyers to secure advanced agreements, improve the quality of harvest and ensure a viable NTFP tree population is maintained for future business interests.In Mandla, the FPC collectively purchased farm inputs such as fertilizers, as well as engaging in collective sale of NTFPs such as mahua flowers, chakoda, harra and char. The FPC also planned to invest into the decortication of char and chakoda and assisted the two SHGs that established a nursery with the sales of tree saplings and vegetable plants for a fixed fee. Estimates indicated that the FPC in Mandla requires a yearly turnover of approximately USD$ 40,000 and an average profit margin of 10-15% to cover the minimum annual costs of operation (USD$ 4,800 annually).According to the value chain assessments, processing gives higher margins (15-30%) than collective trading of raw materials (5-15%). In Uttara Kannada district, the SHG focused on the collection and sales of kokum, uppage, jackfruit and wild aromatic (appe midi) mangoes, and  Value chain assessment or value chain mapping to understand and identify market channels, bottlenecks, market or price trends and opportunities for 3-4 selected NTFPs. Business plan development to evaluate and understand investment requirements, marketing strategy, profitability and long-term viability of a particular commercial enterprise or activity. Exposure visits for the FPC board, general manager and staff or for SHG members to successful FPCs, NTFP processors, machinery manufacturers and to an NTFP auction and trade fair. Training workshops for FPC or SHG leaders and members on nursery management, FPC governance and financial administration, and sustainable NTFP harvesting practices.developed a business model to install fuel-wood efficient water heaters and driers for a USD$ 10 fixed fee using building materials purchased by households.The FPCs and SHGs received onthe-job guidance from a full-time market development specialist. A sequence of several participatory methods and tools were used to guide FPCs and SHGs in the implementation of sustainable value chain development activities: Score card to evaluate the availability, status (ecological health) and market suitability of a wide range of available NTFP species and identify 10-15 most suitable NTFPs for sale. Street theatre play 'the square mango' to discuss value chain problems and explain the concept of a value chain to FPC and SHG members; to understand the chain from forest to end consumer, to listen to customer demands and to the importance of collaboration to Gender equity and social inclusion refer to all people, regardless of gender, ethnicity or other factors, having equal opportunities to have their voices heard and respected, their opinions counted, and the ability to make important decisions in the community or beyond that affect their lives. In joint forest management (JFM), this can mean having the ability to participate as members in JFM committees (JFMCs), to join JFM boards, and to make decisions within those boards. It can also mean having a say in forest-related groups and initiatives, like Farmer Producer Companies. Equity may require measures that give particular chances to groups that have been historically marginalized, like women or Scheduled Tribes or Castes, to 'catch up' with other groups in this respect; for example, by having reserved seats for them in JFMCs. Having a 'critical mass' of women or marginalized members (at least 1/3 people) makes it easier for them to actively participate.Gender equity and social inclusion are important because it is everyone's human right to participate in decisions that have important effects on their lives. They are also important because different groups in the community (e.g. women, different ethnic, age or socio-economic groups) have different sets of knowledge, perspectives and priorities to bring to the table . Research in Sirsi, Western Ghats, has shown that elder women from the Siddhi (Scheduled Caste) ethnic group held more knowledge than women from other groups Why foster gender equity and social inclusion in Joint Forest Management (JFM)?  What constraints do women and marginalized groups face in JFM?  How can we promote gender equity and social inclusion in JFM? Hermanowicz and men about the tree species found in their forests. Young men who had motorcycles and could visit the city were most knowledgeable about markets for non-timber forest products (Hegde et al. 2017). Specifics can vary across contexts, but differences in knowledge and priorities are usually present. This means that every group can bring something unique to the matter of JFM.In other parts of India, giving women the ability to actively participate in JFMCs has been shown to result in improved forest management outcomes (Agarwal 2010). This is because they bring their knowledge to the table, but also because people tend to respect rules and regulations better when they were involved in their creation, and when these rules reflect their own needs and priorities. Women are often also better able to monitor and sanction other women who break those rules than men are, which means that the rules are enforced and abided by more people.A common theme was that 'women are too busy' as they juggle family responsibilities and domestic work with work in the fields. Those who are landless or dependent on daily wages also face competing work schedules.Meetings are held at inconvenient times for women, who cannot easily leave the house in the evenings when they are busiest with childcare, dinner preparations and milking cows.Limited mobility among women and poorer socio-economic groups that don't have access to motorbikes or that live far from the village centre make it hard to travel to the meetings.linked to limited mobility and poor circulation of information regarding JFM and JFMC meetings, especially among those who do not have cellular phones.participating in public affairs. In Mandla, a male Gondh farmer explains that, \"[women] don't speak a lot, they really don't speak. The women haven't gone to school, they can't read and write, they feel shy to go [to JFMC meetings].\" The same applies to men from ethnic groups who have received less formal education.Culturally, men of specific ethnic groups predominate in public affairs. \"It is traditionally the role of men to attend such meetings\" (female Havik Brahmin VFC member, Sirsi) and \"Women feel like they are in the wrong place in a VFC meeting. If problems are there, then women trust that men will come up with some solutions\" (female NGO staff, Sirsi). Women are often thought not to have important ideas to contribute. For example, \"when the women speak, the men tell the women \"Shut up, you don't know what you are talking about\", and they say \"don't speak in front of everyone\"\" (Pancha woman, Mandla). Speaking out at meetings, when women do attend, can be perceived as a sign of disrespect for their male counterparts. Attending meetings can itself be considered a sign of  The same goes for men from politically marginalized groups that feel uncomfortable speaking in public. Some groups are also blamed by others for cutting down the forest, which makes them uncomfortable to speak up in public about this issue.Achieving a climate of inclusion depends on all people concerned with JFM (community members, JFMC members, forestry officials, NGOs).out logistics to facilitate participation (e.g. arrange transportation for those who live far away).Make an effort to share information and encourage participation, regardless of gender, ethnicity, age or socio-economic status, in JFM meetings and sustainable forest management initiatives.When different groups interact in these meetings and events, listen to each other and respect each other's different experiences and opinions.Actively invite members of different groups to speak and allow those who are intimidated to speak first to have their opinions heard.Maintain reserved seats in JFMCs for women and for marginalized groups.Create rules that encourage their participation: e.g. there must be enough women at a meeting before it begins, or enough women involved in making important decisions.Hold side-meetings for subgroups (e.g. marginalized women and men) to discuss their priorities before and after the community-level JFM meetings. Once those priorities are established, they can be discussed with the larger group. Linking up with existing groups (e.g. women's self-help groups) is a good way to make that happen. Ripe forest fruit are better quality for processing and tend to garner a better price than unripe fruit. But collection of unripe fruit of non-timber forest products (NTFP) is a common practice in rural India.In Mandla, Madhya Pradesh, villagers estimate that traders typically pay 10-50% less for unripe forest fruit than for ripe fruit because of their lower weight, smaller size, poor quality or different colour. In some cases, traders reject fruit lots because of a high proportion of unripe fruit.When collection starts after most fruit are ripe, fruit is available for seed dispersing animals who help the tree species to spread and regenerate. Collecting unripe fruit will reduce the number of new plants in the forest, because less of the fruit develops to yield seed. Over time, it reduces the number of fruit-bearing trees in the forest. In this guideline: In some cases, forestry authorities may have introduced rules on collection times. However, fruiting periods can vary even between nearby sites because of differences in site conditions. If collectors do not perceive existing rules as reasonable, they may ignore them. Changes in weather patterns due to changing climate make it increasingly difficult to fix collection times from year to year. These changes also affect locally set or traditional customs and rules.Even if rules exist, they are not effective unless compliance is monitored, and offenders are systematically sanctioned. However, monitoring requires time and resources that are often not readily available. Even if community members observed their neighbours breaking rules, they might hesitate to address or report them in order not to harm relationships.Unripe fruit are in demand for making specific products, for example mango pickles from young appe midi fruit or kappehuli from unripe fruit rinds of kokum (Garcinia indica) in Sirsi. In Mandla, unripe harra (bel harra) is valued for its medicinal properties and fetches a better price than the ripe fruit, although its collection has been banned.Prices offered by traders for unripe and ripe fruit may not always differ so much that it would be strong enough incentive to postpone harvesting at the risk of losing in harvestable quantity. In Sirsi, many villagers felt that the price for unripe fruit was not significantly lower than for ripe fruit, unless the fruit were clearly of poorer quality. Yet, they considered regulating collection times as a priority action to improve sustainable harvesting because they felt it would benefit both the collectors and the forest.Reducing collection of unripe fruit requires strengthening both rules and market incentives.  Support community-based initiatives to monitor fruiting and set collection times, including through resource mobilization. Encourage village forest committees to set up locally relevant systems of sanctions and implement them fairly and systematically. Collaborate with local traders to persuade them to reject unripe fruit in support of sustainable forest management.Damaging trees while collecting non-timber forest products (NTFP) reduces future yields, forcing collectors to walk longer distances year by year to fill their baskets. Cutting branches or even entire trees to harvest NTFP is not allowed under India's Joint Forest Management rules. Nevertheless, these practices are not uncommon among NTFP collectors.Villagers in Uttara Kannada, Karnataka reported that 30-50% of wild nutmeg, locally known as rampatre (Myristica malabarica), is collected by cutting branches. Cutting branches has long-term impacts on the species productivity. According to the NTFP collectors, it reduces fruit production in rampatre and cinnamon trees for at least two to three years because the tree has to invest in regrowth instead of fruiting.In Mandla, Madhya Pradesh, typically more than 50% -and in some cases more than 90% -of the fruit of valuable species such as chironji (Buchanania lanzan) and aonla (Phyllanthus emblica) are collected by cutting branches, according to villagers themselves.In five of ten focus groups, participants mentioned that entire trees are being cut to collect NTFP. As a result, these species are now disappearing from Mandla's forest landscape.The densities of NTFP species in Mandla, including aonla, jamun (Syzygium cuminii), imli (Tamarindus indica) and bael (Aegle marmelos) have reduced to approximately just one tree per hectare within 3km from the villages. This is less than 5% of the current density of tendu (Diospyros melanoxylon), theIn this guideline: NTFP collectors in Mandla report that they now have to walk 5-7km to collect fruit, compared to 1-2 km previously.In some villages people have stopped collecting chironji because of its low availability.If collection methods are not improved, the disappearance of many valuable NTFP species is imminent which would put even more pressure on the already precarious livelihoods.Collection methods depend on the value of the tree's products, tree tenure, species biology and available technology.Valuable trees with secure ownership are generally well maintained. In Sirsi, many villagers opined that trees on bettaland (district forest where exclusive access rights are given to individual households) produce more fruit than forest trees because their owners are motivated to take care of the trees. In Mandla, the cultural and economic importance of mahua (Madhuca longifolia) has over time resulted in a practice where trees are owned by individual families. However, not all families own mahua trees and ownership rights are not always respected.When NTFPs are highly priced but trees are under collective ownership or common property with open access to anyone, there is often intense competition and NTFP are collected using destructive methods to save time. Collectors perceive that they do not directly benefit from saving the trees because anyone else may still come and cut the tree after them. Destructive collection methods further intensify competition in subsequent seasons as collectors have to continuously expand their collection areas to look for fruiting trees. Villagers both in Uttara Kannada and Mandla commonly opined that destructive harvesting in the village forest was mostly done by outsiders rather than the villagers themselves.Some species are more difficult to collect than others because of their biological characteristics. In particular, very tall trees such as rampatre, chironji or bhelwa (Semecarpus anacardium) are often collected by cutting branches because they are difficult and dangerous to climb and fruit cannot be reached from the ground using sticks. Some species tend to attract ants which makes climbing even more difficult. Fruit of some species such as chironji spoil easily if they fall on the ground, reducing their value.can result in destructive harvesting, especially for trees that are difficult to collect from. Carrying long sticks as harvesting tools in dense forests is difficult. Yet, improved techniques are not always used even when they are available. For example, in Mandla, bamboo sticks are used for collecting mangoes but rarely for NTFPs. In Uttara Kannada, women use shade nets to gather falling fruit only for making value-added products such as jams or juice concentrate. This suggests that the value of the products and tree tenure are more important reasons for choosing collection methods than the availability of technology as such.What can collectors do together? Have a community meeting to agree on collection rules, including a ban on cutting branches and trees, and sanctions for rulebreaking. In Mandla, participants in five of ten focus groups in five villages called for enforcing a complete ban on cutting NTFP trees. Develop a register of collectors of each species and give out harvesting permissions with the condition that collectors commit to existing rules. Training on good practices can be given at the same occasion. Take turns patrolling and monitoring forest in groups. Organize regular meetings during collection season to discuss yields and report any untoward activities. This helps make offences public and createsWhat are some of the key characteristics of forest monitoring?Forest monitoring helps to assess how effectively forests are managed to yield benefits to their users and where there are needs for improvements. Monitoring makes the use of collectively owned or managed forests more transparent by giving detailed information about forest uses and users. Forest monitoring can help demonstrate commitment towards sustainable forest management and negotiate use rights with forest authorities or other stakeholders. Monitoring can also help predict future yields and thereby plan livelihood activities.Ideally, monitoring is a process to assess progress towards a set of goals. It involves gathering information on specific issues or concerns to understand change, and is done through multiple measurements in different locations or at different times. To be effective, the results of monitoring must be communicated to forest users to guide or correct management or enforcement of rules.Forest monitoring should not be seen as a stand-alone activity but as an integral part of forest management. For example, if the goal is to reduce destructive practices in the collection of non-timber forest products (NTFP), it is important to first establish rules to ban poor practices and sanctions for those who break the rules. Monitoring will then help enforce the rules.In this guideline: What are some of the key characteristics of forest monitoring? What types of monitoring do people in rural Indian communities consider relevant and why?  How can we encourage community-based forest monitoring? This guideline is the fifth in a series that explains good practices in community-based forest management. It can be used as a trainer's or facilitator's guide in community meetings to help participants identify non-timber forest products (NTFP) management options for their own contexts. The sub-headings can serve as guiding questions to foster discussion on current and alternative practices and motivating factors, while the text provides some common answers and implementation ideas.Four different aspects of forest condition and use can be monitored:Status of the forest itself -for example, the number of big trees and seedlings of key species 2.  Monitoring NTFP collection practices, for example collection of unripe fruit or cutting of trees or branches, was the second most popular topic for monitoring in both Sirsi (7 villages) and Mandla (9 villages). Villagers called for complete bans and sanctions on specific poor practices, and felt that monitoring was important for enforcing the rules. Such monitoring was already successfully done in some villages in Sirsi.However, people explained how they found it difficult to address or report fellow villagers using poor practices, because it affects their relationships.Having a strong Village Forest Committee through which offences can be addressed helps enforce rules. In Mandla these committees did generally not function as well as in Sirsi and people suggested establishing new committees specifically for monitoring purposes.Villagers showed little interest for direct monitoring of forest condition (mentioned only in 3 villages in Sirsi), possibly because of time demand and lack of concrete benefits. People were mainly interested in monitoring specific, socio-economically valuable species groups, namely medicinal plants and dead timber trees which could be used as construction wood. However, it was obvious that villagers made regular and specific observations about forest and could often quantify impacts on specific species. Although monitoring forest status seems low priority as a community-driven activity, there can be potential to involve villagers as paid workers in forest inventories.What can villagers do together? Set specific monitoring goals and plan ahead how the generated knowledge will be used. Of the 40 tree species found in the vicinity of villages in Mandla, Madhya Predesh, half are completely lacking regeneration within 3-5 km from the villages. This includes important NTFP species such as aonla (Phyllanthus emblica), mahua (Madhuca longfolia) and bael (Aegle marmelos). In the more forested area of Sirsi, Karnataka, 37% of the 126 tree species still lack regeneration within 3-5 km from the villages, including valued species such as dalchini (Cinnamomum malabatricum), antuval (Sapindus laurifolius), hole (Terminalia arjuna) and geru (Anacardium occidentale).Mandla commonly list tree planting as one of their priority activities for improving both forest condition and livelihoods.Forest Department and non-governmental organizations provide tree seedlings for planting, often free of charge or even paying villagers for planted seedlings that survive. As collectors of forest fruit, most villagers routinely handle tree seed, part of which could be used for propagating seedlings.However, despite of the perceived restoration needs and the availability of seed and seedlings, villagers estimatedIn this guideline: What are the trends for forest trees in rural Indian villages? What motivates people to plant and care for trees? How can we encourage more people to plant and care for trees?  Other positive incentives for planting trees may include source of income, market demand for the species, availability of tree products for home consumption, saving time in harvesting when planting trees near housing, reducing pressure on forest resources and conserving them for future generations, and receiving seedlings from the Forest Department. These incentives were mentioned only in individual villages in Sirsi and are probably alone not very strong motivators for tree planting in the area. However, it is worth identifying and encouraging such incentives: they help to reduce pressure on forests before deforestation and degradation advance so far that restoration becomes difficult. In Mandla, water shortage and invasive species associated with deforestation already severely limit opportunities for tree planting and natural regeneration.How can we encourage more people to plant and care for trees? Protect existing trees and seedlings -it is easier and quicker than planting and tending new trees. Do not cut down or otherwise damage trees, collect only ripe fruit, and leave some fruit behind in each tree for natural regeneration to take its course. Protect seedlings from grazing animals, for example by trenching or natural fencing.Allocating harvesting rights of individual trees to individual households is a powerful incentive for them to protect the trees and their seedlings. Select planting areas carefully to reduce effort needed for tending seedlings: for example near homesteads or fields, and with easy access to water sources. Some trees can be cultivated with crops or fodder grasses to yield benefits when the trees are still young. It is better to plant few trees and properly take care of them than to plant many trees but not maintain them after planting.  Encourage the establishment of village nurseries to extend the supply of seedlings, generate livelihood opportunities and foster a culture of tree cultivation. Create incentives for taking care of seedlings (rather than for planting only), such as pay-back arrangements for each year that young seedlings survive. Collaborate with other departments to tap to existing government schemes that can support tree planting and domestication."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d55851ab0080921c658dd1df0a4c7e65","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/34facb87-17ef-4921-a2c3-4230e8fe2826/retrieve","id":"-930263726"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"214a5eea-365e-4845-8745-3e1aa2274ec6","content":"The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nagoya Protocol "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"effe179db8ef0215021f929e66235ce3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/215addbe-408b-46c4-b343-bbde23cb69c4/retrieve","id":"1955320447"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a3654de1-821e-4734-98d4-efa7ed87c035","content":"This work is part of the CGIAR Initiative on Sustainable Animal Productivity. We would like to thank all funders who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund. CGIAR is a global research partnership for a food-secure future dedicated to transforming food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis.About SAPLING: CGIAR's Sustainable Animal Productivity for Livelihoods, Nutrition and Gender inclusion (SAPLING) is working in seven countries focusing on livestock value chains to package and scale out tried-and-tested, as well as new, innovations in livestock health, genetics, feed and market systems. SAPLING aims to demonstrate that improvements in livestock productivity can offer a triple win: generating improved livelihoods and nutritional outcomes; contributing to women's empowerment; and reducing impacts on climate and the environment. Its seven focus countries are Ethiopia,Pig production is crucial for both the economy and food security of Uganda. Demand for pork is increasing rapidly and the annual per capita pork consumption, at 3.4 kg, is the highest in East Africa. Fueled by the rising demand for pork, the number of pigs in Uganda increased from 0.2 to 4.1 million between 1980 and 2018 1 . A significant number of households (over 1 million) are engaged in pig farming 2. This sector has substantial opportunities for reducing poverty and enhancing livelihoods; nevertheless, limitations on productivity persist and impede numerous farmers 3 . In response to the persistent productivity limitations in the pig farming sector, the PigSmart digital extension platform was developed as a beacon of hope. This digital innovation tool is set to revolutionize pig farming in Uganda, forming part of the collective the Sustainable Animal Productivity for Livelihoods, Nutrition and Gender inclusion (SAPLING) integrated pig productivity enhancing package. The package addresses best practices and innovations in feeding, herd health management, improved genetics, manure management and heat stress management. The extension messages from the integrated content have been developed into audio skits in Luganda, the local language for the Central region, to ensure inclusivity and enhance farmer comprehension.PigSmart is not just a platform; it is a comprehensive digital ecosystem of solution providers strategically tailored to address the unique challenges faced by small-scale pig farmers. With a mission to enhance production and increase income among pig farming communities, PigSmart brings together a diverse range of digital solutions, each meticulously crafted to tackle specific issues identified by stakeholders in the pig value chain. This comprehensive approach is designed to reassure stakeholders about the potential impact of the platform.At its core, PigSmart aims to revolutionize the small-scale pig farming industry by providing timely, relevant, and actionable information to farmers. This digital platform offers a bundled suite of solutions, including extension-facing services that employ multimedia-supported extension sessions. By leveraging cutting-edge technology, PigSmart facilitates farmer-facing interventions, delivering multimedia solutions directly to the farmer's fingertips. These solutions are designed to empower farmers with the knowledge and tools they need to optimize their pig farming operations.To unlock the full potential of the PigSmart digital extension platform, a crucial workshop led by the innovation owner Emily Ouma brought together a diverse group of experts. This group included representatives from veterinary services, the Ministry of Agriculture, extension agents, digital platform service providers, and most importantly, the heart of the industry-the farmers themselves. This collaborative gathering explored how to refine PigSmart, making it a potent tool for increased productivity and enhanced economic opportunities for Uganda's pig farmers. The workshop was facilitated by Ijudai Jasada and Ronnie Ahumuza using the Innovation Packages and Scaling Readiness Tool. 4 This report delves into the insights gained from the workshop, identifying user needs and challenges, and ultimately, designing an innovation package to propel PigSmart towards successful scaling to ensure that by the end of 2024, SAPLING and partners will work together with PNR farms Africa Ltd and the national district local governments, to accomplish the use of PigSmart digital extension platform by 100 livestock extensionists, and a total of 120, 000 pig farmers of which 50% are women, in Central and Eastern regions of Uganda, contributing to enhanced resilience and adoption of integrated technologies and best practices and improved pig productivity by 20-30%Objectives of the workshop o Identify user needs and challenges faced by farmers and agents in platform adoption.o Design an innovation package to complement the core platform and optimize its effectiveness.o Assess the platform's readiness for scaling and develop a roadmap for expansion.The PigSmart innovation was introduced by the innovation owner, Emily Ouma after which the SAPLING scaling ambition, which refers to the initiative's goal of expanding the reach and impact of the PigSmart platform, was discussed with the experts to get their views on the reach targets. Experts deliberated and discussed before targets were agreed upon based on time, resources, the current state of pig production, and the feasibility of the delivery model. Participants were grouped in their areas of expertise, where detailed discussions were made to unearth the various bottlenecks and challenges that will impede the scaling of the innovations. The groups also discussed on multiple solutions and enablers that can complement the core innovation to improve its viability and feasibility to achieve scale in Central and Eastern Uganda.  The PigSmart Platform holds significant potential to empower pig farmers and improve their productivity. This workshop identified opportunities for optimization and scaling through an innovative package encompassing improved content, agent support, and user-centricity. The team will use the various recommendations suggested by the experts to prioritize the enablers based on their readiness and use levels as realized in Uganda. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"90978ef7bf789cc94c8edc266930b591","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://dataverse.harvard.edu/api/access/datafile/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/EFGLUB/BWZHIL","id":"-1501108369"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d4477edd-8a94-4d25-ac3e-8c8919dfd622","content":"This document presents the features of the 1997 SAM for Colombia. The Matrix has an activities-commodities structure, characterized by 60 sectors and commodities; ten households; seven types of labor factors; 26 types of taxes and subsidies on production, 22 tax ranges and subsidies on products; one category for direct income taxes and another category entitled other taxes. In particular, this document contains a full description of the Micro SAM for Colombia explaining the procedure implemented for the dissagregation of taxes, the dissagregation of the production and commodity accounts and the dissagregation of employment.The Table 1. Structure of the 1997 Macro SAM in Colombia ………………………...9Table 2. Macro SAM for Colombia…...…………………………………………….11Table 3. Indirect taxes on production by activity.…………………………………13In Colombia, since the end of the decade of the eighties several Social Accounting Matrices (SAM) have been made for different purposes. Amongst the most outstanding ones we find: Cordi (1987Cordi ( , 1988Cordi ( , 1989)), Valderrama and Gutiérrez (1995) and Arrieta and Guzmán (2001), accomplished with the purpose of carrying out Leontief's multipliers exercises. The building of multiplier matrices intends to examine and analyze the interrelationship between exogenous and endogenous accounts within the economic system and to study the multiplier effects in certain variables as a result of an exogenous insertion of money. 1Additionally, we find matrices that have been built with the purpose of developing projection models; amongst the latter we find the studies of Gutiérrez andValderrama (1996), Bussolo Correa (1998), Prada and Ramírez (2001) and Prada (2002).Finally, other matrices, with a particular analysis objective, have been builtbased on the data for the construction of Computable General Equilibrium Models; this is the case of the one constructed by Hernández, Prada, and Ramirez (2000) which is composed of 67 sectors, six types of labor, five taxes, a classification of households in ten urban and five rural households, as well as a differentiation between public and private investment. Additionally, it contains a high degree of disaggregation of the agricultural sector (13 sectors).The matrix constructed by Guzmán and Prada (2002) as the basis for a CGEM used to analyze fiscal incidence and the matrix made by Hernández (2003) to incorporate the structure of the IMMPA (Integrated Macroeconomic Model for Poverty Analysis), the latter used as reference for the matrix constructed by Hernández, Prada and Ramírez (2000).In general, there is a great variation in the specifications of each of the SAMs for Colombia in terms of economic activities, types of employment considered, household classification, etc. This variety arises from the fact that each matrix was constructed with a specific and particular objective and according to this criterion the level of aggregation of the different accounts is chosen.The purpose of this document is to describe the 1997 Social Accounting Matrix that is founded on the work by Guzmán and Prada (2002). This matrix was constructed as the basis for an incidence analysis of taxes and hence contains an extensive disaggregation of the latter. This means: 26 types of taxes and subsidies on production; 22 tax ranges and subsidies on products; one category for direct income taxes and another category entitled other taxes. 2 Of the group of matrices for Colombia for this year 3 , this one has been chosen because it is a general matrix that allows most of the desirable aggregations to be done. Since it is well known that the aggregation process is always less complicated that the disaggregation process, it is natural to prefer a more disaggregated matrix.This document has two sections, of which this first one is the introduction. In the second part, the macro and micro SAM are described. In other words, we first explain the matrix that represents the economy's aggregated structure and subsequently present a detailed description of its disaggregation into the different activities, goods, factors, accounts and institutions that make up the micro SAM.Both macro and micro SAM were constructed from original data sources such The General Economic Equilibrium or integrated economic accounts matrix presents and summarizes current accounts, accumulation accounts, and balance accounts. The columns contain the sectors and the rows the different operations. 4 The calculations are made in current million COP 5 and all the accounts are at consumer prices.The Colombian SAM is a square matrix that represents flows of payments between the various economic agents. Each column contains expenditures and payments while income or receipts are listed in the rows of the matrix. As expected, the value obtained after the sum of receipts (rows), must be exactly equal to the sum of expenditures (columns), following accounting equilibrium.The SAM contains six main types of accounts 6 : a) Goods and Services, b)Activities, c) Primary and Secondary Income Generation Account, d)Institutions, e) Rest of the World and f) Capital AccountThis account contains the composition of the supply of the economy; it is straightforward that the addition by column is the supply by product. In addition, it is classified by 60 types of commodities and services.On one hand, these accounts correspond -by columns-to the purchases of raw On the other hand, receipts are placed in the rows, containing domestic sales, exports, export subsidies and investment; i.e. the total demand by product.This account includes factor payments (wages, rent, remittances and international capital transfers) made by the productive sectors. These receipts are in turn distributed among households in the form of labor income, and among firms in the form of profits after taxes. For the first institution, income is made up of factor payments, inter-institutional transfers and international transfers. In addition, households spend resources on consumption and taxes; the difference is household savings, which is included in the capital account. For the firms, income is made up of benefits and transfers; their expenditure is on tax payments, consumption and transfers. The resulting savings are also transferred to the capital account. Finally, in the case of the Government, it receives international transfers and taxes from households and firms, and spends on consumption and transfers.This account includes the interaction between the domestic economy and the rest of the world. Receipts are constituted by imports, factor payments and transfers; expenditures are exports, factor payments and transfers by the domestic economy.It contains institutions' savings and net capital transfers from overseas (called external saving). Savings serve to finance domestic fixed capital formation.Table 1 shows the structure of the 1997 macro SAM for Colombia. It also contains a graphic representation of the interactions described above showing the intersections between accounts. It is important to note that taxes and subsidies are specified in an independent account for two reasons: first, because they represent a special expenditure and second, because this SAM was constructed to analyze fiscal incidence using a General Equilibrium Model.In addition, Table 4    This SAM was built essentially to analyze fiscal incidence in a Computable General Equilibrium context, hence the most interesting breakdown, and the one explained first, is the one related to taxes. The one related to employment and households is also very important when analyzing inequality or the impact of certain policies on income distribution. Finally, the breakdown of production presented in the 1997 Social Accountability Matrix for Colombia is explained.The information needed to disaggregate this account comes from a matrix built the participation of each activity in the total revenue from taxes is the following:8 Appendix 1 presents a complete list of the taxes that taken into consideration in each tax category. Subsidies on production:It is presented as a single category; the value corresponds to the subsidies on wages paid by the government to industries or the transfers the latter receive for reducing pollution.Non-deductible VAT:The VAT taxes the different stages of the productive and commercialization processes. In the case of firms who can deduce from some of its taxed raw materials, the non-deductible VAT is the difference between the registered VAT and the deductible one; in the case of households, the non-deductible VAT corresponds to the total amount paid of this tax.Taxes on goods and services:This classification is done according to the new baseline of DANE's NationalAccounts. Each tax is directly related to the nature of the product; there are a total of 20 specific taxes (see Annex 1)Subsidies on goods and services:They are basically mechanisms of export promotion which are divided into the following two categories: CERT (Tributary Repayment Certificate) and Contribution to the National Coffee Fund (FNC).According to the classification of the National Accounts, these taxes have two subdivisions. The first one, revenue taxes, encompasses taxes such as income and withholding taxes while the second subdivision, other current taxes, comprises special taxes such as the real estate tax and the circulation and transit tax, among others.Activities and commodities are classified into 59 categories. This follows the breakdown available in the National Accounts. The main source of information is the DANE's \"Insumo Producto\" matrix which follows the guidelines of the NAS 93 (National Accounts System of 1993). This matrix is a input-output matrix by activity. This means that, the columns comprise the activities with their secondary productions while the rows contain the commodities or groups of commodities partially homogeneous.To transform this matrix into a Leontief Matrix the rows and columns must be defined in the same manner. For this purpose, we used the methodology recommended by United Nations which consists of a simultaneous transfer of products and raw materials between the different sectors assuming that, each product uses the same raw material structure no matter which productive sector produces it. This is represented in the following equation: Informal urban wage worker: Comprises construction workers, employees, employers and domestic workers of the informal sector.Traditional urban independent worker: Encompasses non-professional family workers with no remuneration and self-employed. 11Modern urban independent worker: Self-employed professionals.Wage rural workers: Domestic workers, construction workers, employees, and employers.Non wage rural workers: Family workers with no remuneration and self employed.This division is done according to the data of the 1997 National HouseholdsSurvey for September and of the Revenue and Expenditures Survey."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"285d445968db7c395b595db115c8275f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f28bf4d8-a9a8-424b-8263-24f9eca3fcb6/retrieve","id":"-304560757"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"686825ec-4bc4-447b-9e3b-d92a007f51c8","content":"A proliferation of irrigation infrastructure throughout the Mekong River has impacted the ability of certain fish species to migrate to fulfil their lifecycle. In response, fishways, a type of fish-friendly irrigation structure, have been developed to provide passage for these fish. In recent years, several guidelines documents providing guidance on fish-friendly irrigation structures and their construction have been published. The development process from guideline inception to publication is unclear, while their purpose, audience, and contribution to fishway practice are vague. This study is the first to review the development of three fish-friendly guideline documents, using structural criteria analysis, combined with qualitative data from 27 key informant interviews. It aimed to understand document elements such as purpose, audience, scope, and framing. The results showed reviewed guideline utility and impact could be improved by attention to five key aspects, namely: definition of target audience; engagement of target audience in guideline design; definition of guideline scope; specificity of recommendations; and evaluation. Attention to these 5 aspects may result in guidelines that are perceived as more useful by their target audience and have greater impact on water management practice.The Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) is the world's most productive inland fishery (Baran et al. 2007) and fish are a dietary staple throughout the region, defined as parts of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam (Lynch et al. 2019). Indeed fish often represent the most available and accessible animal protein source for approximately 60 million people, or 60% of LMB residents (Vu et al. 2021).Aquatic habitat connectivity shapes Mekong fishery production by influencing water quality, fish habitat and fish migration (Conallin et al. 2019;McCartney et al. 2019;Vu et al. 2021). Thousands of water control structures such as dams, weirs, and barrages, fragment the LMB riverfloodplain ecosystem, mainly to support rice agriculture (Lynch et al. 2019). Declines in LMB fisheries have been observed due to habitat fragmentation (Baran and Myschowoda 2009;Yoshida et al. 2020;Vu et al. 2021), amongst other factors. Addressing habitat connectivity can support LMB government, regional and global health and livelihood improvement goals by maintaining or enhancing fisheries as a food resource (Dubois et al. 2019;McCartney et al. 2019). To recentre positive development outcomes for Mekong communities, actors such as the United Nations in their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs -United Nations 2015) call for holistic management of water resources via Integrated Water Management (IWM - Bouwer 2000), underpinned by adaptive management (Baumgartner et al. 2021a;Newson 2008).Fish-friendly irrigation structures sit within IWM and refer to a suite of innovations which, through water infrastructure design and operation, support fisheries. These include adaptations to traditional water control infrastructure as well as recognising opportunities for fish habitat provision within agricultural landscapes. Fishways are one such innovation which has been tested in the LMB to provide passage for fish through or around water control infrastructure (Baumgartner et al. 2014). Fishways function by reducing into increments the height that migrating fish must climb over weirs, through creation of a series of stepped pools which mimic naturally graduated upstream migratory routes. Fishways can be more or less naturalistic, on a spectrum between specifically constructed rock ramps to cast concrete vertical slot and cone designs, as well as fish locks and lifts (ADB 2020).Applied experience of fishways has been mixed (Baumann and Stevanella 2012; Baumgartner et al. 2016;Silva et al. 2018;Theparoonrat 2021), generally due to incompatibility between fishway design and the swimming abilities of local fish species (Mallen- Cooper and Brand 2007). To guide water managers in implementation, fish-friendly irrigation guidelines (FFIGs) have been developed by influential LMB stakeholders, namely: the Asian Development Bank's Diversion weirs and fish passages for smallscale irrigation: Lao People's Democratic Republic (ADB 2020); the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) An ecosystem approach to promote the integration and coexistence of fisheries within irrigation systems (Gregory et al. 2018); and FAO in collaboration with WorldFish and International Water Management Institute's Increasing the benefits and sustainability of irrigation through the integration of fisheries: A guide for water planners, managers and engineers (FAO et al. 2020). Further, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) is anticipated to publish a revision of their guideline (Marsden et al. 2014) in 2023, representing the fourth FFIG published for the LMB in five years.The current study aims to compare and review Gregory et al. (2018), ADB (2020), andFAO et al. (2020) to establish similarities, dissonances, and areas for improvement, by engaging a recently published framework for guideline development (Nieuwlaat et al. 2021). The current study also aims to illuminate the development process that conceived these three guidelines and comment on their role from LMB irrigation and water management practitioners' perspectives.Holistic water management and fishway implementation requires water managers to navigate complex and evolving best practise advice (Thorncraft et al. 2006;Baumgartner et al. 2018). Guidelines have a long history in water management, commonly focussing on singular management aspects such as IWM (e.g. Besseling 2006); participatory management (Krywkow 2007); and irrigation efficiency improvements (Phengphaengsy and Hiroshi 2006). It is worthwhile interrogating how the documents could be improved for greater impact and utility (Karppinen and Moe 2012).GLs are a ubiquitous communication tool (Kaiser et al. 2022;Valentine 2017), often constituted of expert consensus reports of best practise (Shaneyfelt and Centor 2009). They aim to provide standardised, evidence-based advice by which decision-makers can determine the course and nature of action (Shen et al. 2021). Various guideline attributes including recency (del Mar Seguí et al. 2011) and scope (O'Connell et al. 2016) can influence guideline impact on practice. Shaneyfelt and Centor (2009) lament that often guidelines represent strongly biased opinionbased marketing tools. Whether or not it's intentional, interpretive differences and assumptions likely contribute to framing guideline content (O'Connell et al. 2016). Shekelle et al. (1999) categorise the process of creating a guideline into five main tasks, namely: 1. Defining the subject area and scope; 2. Convening development workshops; 3. Systematically reviewing the evidence; 4. Translating evidence into recommendations; and 5. External review. Employing such a structured approach has benefits such as reducing strategic drift (Sammut-Bonnici 2014), helping to guard against bias (Shaneyfelt and Centor 2009) and ensuring guideline rigor through robust discussion and review (Tsopra et al. 2018).Development rigour and presentation clarity (Cluzeau et al. 1999) have been found to be useful indicators of guideline utility (Callender, 2018) however guidelines are frequently criticised for lacking structural clarity (Cochrane et al. 2007;Salbach et al. 2020). Many organisations lack formal procedures to review or update their guidelines (Shaneyfelt and Centor 2009). For water management, a lack of evaluation is problematic on two fronts. Firstly, published guidelines may be underutilised due to low compatibility with the operational reality into which they are deployed. Misalignment between guideline recommendations and practical reality was found to be a primary cause of underutilisation, even for prominent water management guidelines such as the World Commission on Dams Report (Nakayama and Fujikura 2006). Secondly, without evaluation, lessons from users' experience with published guidelines may not be incorporated into an adaptive management processes which may improve them. Underpinning this are findings by Shiffman et al. (2005) that show recommendations that fail executability criteria (i.e. do not clearly communicate what to do) or decidability criteria (i.e. when to do it), are not ready for implementation. The perceived strength of recommendations (i.e. are guidelines necessitating or suggesting action - Lomotan et al. 2010) is another variable which may influence the extent to which guideline advice is acted upon. Finally, externalities such as time, and knowledge, human, economic and technical resources can also influence guideline impact (Fulcher and Gosselin-Acomb 2007). Nieuwlaat et al. (2021) developed a framework to assess guideline structure, aiming to support development of guidelines complete with components that allow users to locate critical information easily. Most examples of other guideline evaluation tools in the literature are overwhelmingly from the health sector, focusing on guideline structure (e.g. Cluzeau et al. 1997;Cluzeau 2003;Brouwers et al. 2010) and recommendations (e.g. Shiffman et al. 2005). Methods range from algorithmic coding of guideline language for statistical analysis, noted as being time consuming and dependent on the guideline's original sentence structure (Tsopra et al. 2018), to expert elicitation and interviews (Cluzeau et al. 1999).To date, little research has appraised water management guidelines. Some exceptions are Bennett (2009), who noted that apart from select recommendations within it, Australia's National Water Quality Management Strategy guidelines (NWQMSG) had not been systematically reviewed since they were published in 1992. Bennett (2009) reviewed the history and objective of each recommendation in the NWQMSG, consulting over 100 stakeholders (Bennett 2009). Speaking to the value of participation in adaptive, integrated water management, they concluded that to \"more accurately gauge the utility of the current suite of guidelines, and to inform any future guideline development, the perspectives of key stakeholder groups including the jurisdictions, water industry and local government would need to be better understood\" (Bennett 2009, pg. 6). Higgins (2010) agrees calling for collaboration between authorities and actioning institutions to create standardised and relevant water management guidelines. Courtney et al. (2019) developed an assessment framework for FAO's (2019) voluntary Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF) guidelines. Their framework organised that guideline's 90 recommendations into 10 themes. Each recommendation was reworded to enable study respondents, made up of staff of USAID-funded fisheries project staff in the Phillippines and Indonesia, to rate the extent to which they felt each recommendation had been enacted in their respective working contexts (Courtney et al. 2019). Their assessment asked participants to rate guideline implementation status from 1 (low) to 5 (high), however provided little explanation as to the cause of success or failure of implementation (Courtney et al. 2019). A literature search for evaluations of guideline implementation showed these studies are again dominated by health sector examples. Fishway guidelines or guidelines relating to the motivations for fishway development such as food/nutrition security, poverty reduction, or fish species passing efficiency are rare or non-existent.In summary, guidelines are published to guide a wide array of actions however there is no agreed standard form or quality assessment method. Literature regarding guideline creation processes and user assessments is mostly from the health sector and generally lacking. The current study aims to address this gap by evaluating three FFIGs, which represent a type of guideline that is currently proliferating and not well represented in the literature. Given the substantial resource investment that guideline production represents, this study contributes to guideline production and evaluation literature and fish-friendly irrigation system practice.This study has two components: document analysis of ADB (2020), Gregory et al. (2018), andFAO et al. (2020) Guidelines by Gregory et al. (2018); ADB (2020) and FAO et al. (2020) were selected due to their recency and the content similarity suggested by their titles. Understanding the unique value of each was of interest as the fourth FFIG published in five years is expected from MRC in 2023.Thematic analysis (Weber 1990) of document content was conducted in MAXQDA qualitative data coding software (VERBI Software 2020). Document content analysis was used for systematic review of guideline content (Downe-Wamboldt 1992). Guideline structure was compared with criteria developed by Nieuwlaat et al. (2021). First round thematic codes included: Challenge to be addressed; Role of fisheries; Recommendations; and guideline attributes. A second reading and in vivo (verbatim) coding was then conducted (Saldaña 2021). Coded text was sorted and consolidated. Coded segments were reviewed to confirm appropriate assignment to thematic headings and re-allocated as necessary. Themes were then compared across the three documents for consensus or dissonance.Key informant interviews were conducted for insight into guideline formulation processes and perceptions of FFIG utility. Perception studies investigate individuals' relative (Bernstein 1983) interpretations of social and physical contexts (Edwards et al. 2018). This lens was employed to illuminate how author and user experiences influence guideline utility and impact on practise.Two rounds of semi-structured interviews were conducted. First round respondents were recruited by email and interviews took place between November 2021-January 2022. These included the 10 FFIG authors who agreed to be interviewed (of 14 total), 5 FFIG users (employed as irrigation engineers, fisheries, and rural development specialists) and one key informant (an author on Marsden et al. 2014) (Table 1). Two of the authors sampled had authored two reviewed guidelines. Of those two, one co-authored the present study. They were removed from the data analysis process to address that potential conflict of interest, contributing instead to this study's conceptualisation, and editing. Users were recruited via snowball sampling (Handcock and Gile 2011), wherein authors recommended user respondents: either someone to whom they had given their FFIG; whom they knew had read it; or a target audience member they hoped was reading it. Participants were interviewed at a negotiated time via Zoom (Yuan 2011), for 30 min -1 h.Second round interviews were conducted with an additional 11 participants in person between November -December 2022 in Vang Vieng, Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), and Siem Reap, Cambodia at two fish passage master classes. Respondents were purposively sampled as FFIG end users. Respondents were irrigation engineers, fisheries biologists, irrigation department managers and representatives from local stakeholder organisations (Table 1). Second round interviews focused on addressing knowledge gaps emerging from the first round, and were conducted with assistance from local translators, for approximately 20 min each.The interviews were recorded using Zoom or phone app and transcribed. These transcripts were reviewed for accuracy and then uploaded to MAXQDA and coded. Descriptive code headings were established in line with research questions. Content coded to each heading was reviewed, additional headings were created for emergent themes, then coded data was reviewed a third time and reallocated as appropriate.Comparison with Nieuwlaat et al.'s (2021) guideline structure criteria showed Gregory et al. (2018) and ADB FFIGs displayed different approaches to fish-friendly irrigation, demonstrated in the characterisation of challenges facing Mekong fisheries and solutions offered (Table 3). Gregory et al. (2018) took an ecological approach at irrigation system command area scale, explaining links between fisheries and irrigation in the introduction and briefly noting related social impacts and governance challenges. The guideline promoted watershed management that expands characterisation of water infrastructure impacts to include connected aquatic environments, and highlighted opportunities for fish in irrigated landscapes (Gregory et al. 2018). FAO et al. (2020) brought the extended command area proposed by Gregory et al. (2018) forward, but in contrast focused strongly on social, participatory and governance aspects in its introduction and outline of opportunities for integrating fisheries into irrigated landscapes, noting this as a gap in other guidelines on this topic. More than the other guidelines reviewed, ADB (2020) focussed on economic factors. Fish friendly irrigation was contextualised through ADB's Strategy 2030 and a novel cost-benefit analysis tool was presented aid decision-making. The stated target audience for each of the guidelines was FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department; ADB irrigation development staff; and water planners, water managers and civil engineers in general (Gregory et al. 2018;ADB, 2020;FAO et al. 2020 respectively).FFIGs were presented in English only. All FFIGs contained advice for on-ground infrastructure engineers and high-level decision-makers but represented a complete guide for neither. Shiffman et al.'s (2004) executability and decidability criteria were not met; for example, FAO et al. (2020), Section 2, Step 1 -Part 2: Engaging Stakeholders, relates that late stakeholder engagement can hinder project success, but the optimal engagement timing is unspecified and not linked to water infrastructure project development timelines. Despite this, each guideline made useful and unique contributions fish-friendly irrigation practice, namely the spatial unit of analysis (extended command area approach -Gregory et al. 2018), a cost-benefit analysis tool (ADB 2020) and a stakeholder engagement framework (FAO et al. 2020).Author responses reflected guideline content. Author perceptions were more aligned across publishing organisations than reflected in guideline content. Guidelines were perceived as useful conceptual tools to introduce fish-friendly concepts to guideline users. In contrast to document analysis results, recommendations were convergent.Author responses revealed an emergent narrative. A breakthrough occurred in 2018 after an observable increase in fish passage was demonstrated at Houay Peung wetland (managed by villagers at Pak Peung) in Lao PDR following fishway installation (KI 5). This generated interest in fishfriendly irrigation, notably from the Lao government (KI 2),  but also the authors of Gregory et (2018), who invited a Houay Peung fishway project leader to contribute to their guideline, which was already being prepared (KI 12). Interest from ADB was simultaneously strengthened by the proof of concept demonstrated at Houay Peung. A rural development specialist at ADB, increasingly conscious irrigation's negative impact on fisheries acknowledged a paradigm shift in ADB's approach to multifunctional irrigation in the LMB through the production of ADB (2020). (2020) authors, while none was mentioned in relation to Gregory et al. (2018). For all FFIGs, authors were chosen via professional networks (KI 6; KI 9; KI 12). Some had never met each other in person (KI 2).Irrigation engineers and water managers were the most reported audience (KI 7; KI 8; KI 9; KI 14; KI 16). Others reported that development donors (KI 1; KI 2; KI 4; KI 6); universities (KI 4); or LMB national governments and departments (KI 1; KI 7; KI 8) were the target. All FAO et al. (2020) authors interviewed reported the same target audience, (irrigation engineers and water managers), which may reflect alignment fostered in that guideline's inception workshop. In the absence of participation in the design and planning stages of ADB (2020) and Gregory et al. (2018), the lesser agreement between authors of those guidelines about target audience could be attributed to their contribution focused participation in the later stages of guideline production (Section 4.2.2).Interview data showed the target audience was not involved in production of ADB (2020) or Gregory et al. These responses imply development organisations were collaborating on this same topic of fish-friendly irrigation, however explicit input from the target audience (e.g. irrigation planners and managers from the target countries) is not described.FFIGs aimed to bridge experiences between ecological, engineering and donor/investor sector operators (benefactors) and beneficiaries; with the goal of providing multifunctional, ecologically and socially sustainable irrigation development (KI 2; KI 6; KI 9; KI 14). As mentioned, for some authors guidelines signposted a paradigm shift in their approach to development (KI 5; KI 6). For another:[We were trying to] basically show the value of the fisheries within irrigation. So that you demonstrate that the, the fisheries bring value, add value to the system, increase water productivity. (KI 7) GL user perceptions differed slightly, reflecting a need for practical advice (KI 8; KI 10; KI 15; KI 18; KI 20):The thing that we wanted to do was not argue the principle but say okay, how do you influence the design process and […] sit with them and say okay well, if you want to do this, we need to do it properly, what is the process to use to inform design? (KI 8) Interviews revealed none of the reviewed guidelines were yet widely known or utilised by respondents. Specific guidance on fishway implementation was an assumed function of FFIGs (KI 11; KI 13; KI 15), however reviewed guidelines introduced fish-friendly irrigation and provided only general advice (KI 7) demonstrating dissonance in expectations of guideline function and utility. Users expressed demand for locally adapted guidelines (KI 11;KI 18;KI 19) and reported difficulty actualising recommendations (KI 10;KI 11;KI 15;KI 20). One user stated:Most talk about the introduction of fish-friendly but it's not enough. […] It doesn't give enough information for evaluation. Needs more detail. (KI 20) Authors reported awareness of guideline user demand for more specific, operational guidelines, however the disconnect between user expectations and guideline content resulted in the perception that FFIGs were incomplete. Despite this, most respondents agreed FFIGs represented a useful tool to initiate communication between disparate resource management sectors and governance levels (KI 1; KI 3; KI 5; KI 7; KI 11). This was noted as important due to the perception that resource managers: They don't really think beyond their remit or beyond their ministries remit. I mean it's hard to get agriculture and fisheries people to talk together. (KI 12) However, authors reported never having used their guidelines, or not for the purpose for which they were designed (KI 3;KI 5;KI 6).Speaking more to the specificity of advice contained within the reviewed guidelines, challenges of writing to the appropriate scale were described by multiple authors (KI 3;KI 6;KI 14). The shortfall between FFIG content and specific measurements for detailed fishway design was recognised (KI 6), as was the destructive potential of inappropriately applying a blanket solution to diverse water management contexts (KI 10; KI 13). A solution was offered by one guideline user:One of the challenges I see with guidelines when they're produced at a sort of higher-level international space […] they're very good at providing information […] but it doesn't necessarily translate into outcomes on the ground without further work.So the most successful way that we have found to actually produce on ground and in country outcomes is that we take those as broad scale large visionary type guidelines and then we use those almost as a teaching aid to introduce fish passage. And then we narrow that down into site specific. […] We do that in a way that it is experts supporting in-country partners to produce their own guidelines, so as opposed to an expert writing it from an international space. (KI 3)The participatory, collaborative approach described by KI 3 somewhat addresses partitioned FFIG benefactorbeneficiary relationships and underlines that guidelines are not solutions in and of themselves, instead requiring further distillation with local experts into site specific operating procedures (Bennett 2009;Higgins No evaluation mechanisms for any level (guideline, organisational, national regional) were reported by authors (KI 9; KI 14) leading to uncertainty about FFIG impact on practise (KI 5;KI 12;KI 14;KI 16). One author explained:We kind of envisaged what we've currently done with the guidelines. But what we haven't done is maybe more significant, which is actually road-testing the guidelines. (KI 9) Many authors didn't know if their guidelines were being used (KI 4;KI 7;KI 12;KI 16). Authors reflected on a muted reaction, stating \"it's slower than we would have liked\" (KI 12). It was observed that important networking opportunities had been hindered by COVID-19, significant as guideline authors reported conferences and conversations with key individuals were main dissemination strategies (KI 2; KI 6; KI 7; KI 9; KI 12; KI 16). Interview respondents demonstrated little awareness of reviewed FFIGs, with few exceptions (KI 3; KI 17). Some were aware of MRC guidelines not reviewed here (KI 11;KI 15;KI 21).Speaking to factors that influence guideline impact on practice, authors reflected that foundational knowledge about fish passage is scarce (KI 7; KI 12; KI 13; KI 14). Factors inhibiting implementation of fish-friendly irrigation were that varied. First, FFIGs were only published in English language (KI 11; KI 15; KI 18). Although intentions to address this were reported (KI 16), or recognised (KI 6) by authors, no guideline users reported experience of translated guidelines. Others contended the approach and training of resource managers can make communication between sectors difficult (KI 1; KI 10; KI 14). The attitudes and experience of key stakeholders (KI 3; KI 8; KI 12), in particular irrigation engineers (KI 14) was discussed, as was succession after retirement of fish-friendly irrigation advocates (KI 5; KI 16; KI 22) and overcoming the legacy of development approaches that emphasise only irrigation productivity over environmental trade-offs and stakeholder consultation (KI 12; KI 15).Social factors added complexity to fish-friendly irrigation uptake (KI 7; KI 22). Some authors noted power differentials between better resourced irrigation and the much smaller fisheries departments in LMB countries (KI 9). The same imbalance is reflected at local scales in the relative resource decision-making power or influence of fishers (often representing landless and other marginalised peoples) in relation to land-owners, and larger commercial agriculture businesses (KI 12; KI 14). Additionally, and difficulty quantifying socio-cultural values and benefits of fisheries was a challenge (KI 1). Fishway performance indicators such as economic and other evaluative measures are fledgling in the fish-friendly irrigation field (KI 1).Political will and the role of law were underlined (KI 11; KI 14; KI 15; KI 18). Cross-sectoral collaboration was noted as vital and lacking (KI 1; KI 3; KI 12; KI 14), while the legal framework in which fish-friendly irrigation was nested was insufficiently detailed to ensure effective policy (KI 15). Users reported that FFIGs could be improved by the inclusion of local knowledge (KI 15) and recommended the inclusion of fish passage training in irrigation engineer training curricula, to pre-expose engineers to fish-friendly irrigation concepts (KI 11;KI 15;KI 18;KI 19;KI 20;KI 21).This assessment documents that presently, water management stakeholders in the LMB are examining fish-friendly irrigation. They are investing in determining best practises, attempting to set practical standards for irrigated landscape multifunctionality by way of guidelines and exploring how to do this at the country (Lao PDR) and regional scales. This represents a paradigm shift to irrigation development in the LMB wherein diverse stakeholders are increasingly sensitive to fisheries and their benefits in irrigation systems, and are adopting approaches that reflect holistic development such as proposed by the SDGs. The unique contribution of each guideline (spatial analysis unit, cost-benefit tool, stakeholder participation framework - Gregory et al. 2018;ADB 2020 andFAO et al. 2020 respectively) may be strengthened by concerted application as part of an integrated management framework (Bouwer 2000).This study demonstrated that FFIGs published by Gregory et al. (2018), ADB (2020) and FAO et al. (2020) shared similarities but also had fundamental differences. All three guidelines poorly reflected the structure and content criteria developed by Nieuwlaat et al. (2021). Although unsurprising as Nieuwlaat et al. ( 2021) was published after the reviewed guidelines, no alternative structural framework was reported by authors. All critically lacked a summary of clear and easily accessible recommendations (Table 2).Similarly, the production process varied between reviewed guidelines. Perhaps due to select individuals within the author group driving design and planning, authors involved in the later stages of Gregory et al. (2018) and ADB (2020) were unclear about those guidelines' stated target audience identity. For FAO et al. (2020), a design and planning workshop convened at the outset of that guideline's production improved its authors' ability to identify the stated target audience, however interviews revealed the breadth of this audience group (water planners, water managers and civil engineers) brought its own challenges in trying to address audience needs.This was substantiated by user respondents who expressed vague advice as a hinderance to applying No guideline structure or content evaluation mechanisms were detailed in the documents selves or by interviewees which might have captured this.Contrasts between guidelines were found in their content. Gregory et al. (2018) was a conceptual think piece showing how fish could be reincorporated into irrigated landscapes for ecological benefit. It was strengthened by the Houay Peung fishway case study, which was also foundational for ADB (2020). ADB (2020) sought to demonstrate fish-friendly irrigation in the LMB was economically viable, reflecting their organisational focus as a development donor/investor. FAO et al. (2020) drew on Gregory et al.'s (2018) extended command area conceptual framework and responded to the social challenges of fish-friendly irrigation, reflecting its' publishing organisational foci. These differences demonstrate the positionality (Bourke 2014) of guideline producers (Table 3).Five aspects emerged as limitations to the guidelines' current form that improve utility and impact. These are: definition of target audience; engagement of target audience in guideline design; definition of guideline scope; specificity of recommendations; and evaluation. Interestingly these closely correspond with the five quality domains identified in a health sector guideline evaluation by Cluzeau (2003): scope and purpose; stakeholder involvement; development rigour; guideline clarity and presentation; and applicability.By way of explanation, the stated goal of the reviewed guidelines was improving nutrition and livelihoods through fish-friendly irrigation in the LMB, however their intended audiences were vague, raising uncertainty about the professional representativeness of users sampled. Eccles et al. (2012) advise that although guidelines may be widely read, specifically defining the primary audience is useful to ensuring recommendations are fit for purpose. Due to the need for stakeholder inclusion to be balanced against production efficiency (Cleaver 1999), the reviewed FFIGs can be interpreted as starting points (Nakayam and Fujikura 2006) from which local practises can be derived and developed with local stakeholders and knowledge. For example in their current form, the reviewed guidelines could function as conceptual introductions to fish-friendly irrigation or to inform water resource managers: firstly to increase conceptual awareness of multifunctional irrigation that considers fish in water infrastructure design, and secondly to integrate positional (Bourke 2014) differences between successive landscape management regimes (Bouwer 2000).In the current study, despite the diverse disciplinary training of interviewed authors, irrigation experts were poorly represented, social and communication scientists were not engaged, and fish-friendly irrigation beneficiaries -local and national government departments, irrigation managers, fish and water resource users were reportedly absent from the guideline production process (excepting country-based irrigation officials present in the FAO et al. [2020] design workshop). As with organisations, author experience and expertise informs individual positionality (Bourke 2014) which needs to be acknowledged to enable appropriately inclusive stakeholder engagement (Anggraeni et al. 2019) and combat bias (Shaneyfelt and Centor 2009). Siloed thinking was described by multiple guideline authors as a challenge to fisheries in the LMB. Literature sources such as Jackson (2012) extend siloes to include lacking dialogue between development organisations and beneficiaries, despite their observation that, although often separate, these two groups' goals ultimately align. Authors interviewed agreed with literature sources (Markowska et al. 2020;Von Korff et al. 2012) that the meaningful engagement of diverse stakeholders at various hierarchical scales were required to create sustainable, mixed-use irrigation landscapes, however this did not occur in the production of the reviewed guidelines.Related to questions of target audience identity and engagement are questions of scope. The tension between providing universal versus specific guidance revealed in interviews is discussed by Refsgaard et al. (2005), who state that as no universal water management context exists, designing effective and widely applicable guidelines is challenging. The reviewed guidelines presented general and more specific conceptual information about fishfriendly irrigation, for example various fishway types were illustrated in ADB (2020), and a step-by-step stakeholder engagement process is described in FAO et al. (2020). However all guidelines stop short of prescribing fishway designs, acknowledging that these are decisions that should be made by (or with extensive involvement of) local stakeholders, and that are highly dependent on local environmental, technical and social contexts. Clearly defining what functions a guideline does and does not perform may reduce user perceptions that guidelines are incomplete, and logically the opportunity to match target audience needs is greatest if the target audience is well defined and engaged. Key Informant 3's assertion that the reviewed FFIGs need further distillation is supported in the literature. A study by Gagliardi and Brouwers (2015) found guideline impact was increased when accompanied with an implementation support tool, defined as a partner document that provides the specific operational information required to translate high-level guideline recommendations into practical action. This could be useful in the present context as locally specific partner manuals to the reviewed FFIGs as findings suggest that uptake of even poorly structured guidelines can be improved by implementation support tools as a feasible and widely applicable resource (Gagliardi and Brouwers 2015).In the current study the questions of scope and detail underpin user perceptions FFIGs are useful conceptually but insufficiently detailed to implement. of the influence of user perceptions of utility on guideline impact, user requirements should be central to FFIG production . Shiffman et al. (2005) and Refsgaard et al. (2005) agree that ambiguity in the suggested standard, amount, or strength of recommended actions can negatively impact implementation outcomes. To remedy this Refsgaard, Henriksen (2004), Bennett (2009) and Higgins (2010) underline that iterative discussions between guideline users and authors are needed to ensure guideline documents are congruent with user needs. Participatory approaches are supported in water management guideline literature (Bennett 2009) and can facilitate improved understanding of behavioural motivations and drivers of change (Nyam et al. 2020).Finally, although importantly, none of the reviewed guidelines planned evaluation of their utility or impact. Evaluation is important to validate guideline quality (Azizi, 2020), while monitoring impact can aid in justifying investments in guideline production. One possible reason for a lack of evaluative measures is that guidelines are viewed as \"end-of-pipe\" solutions (Krywkow 2007), rather than blueprints or starting points (Nakayama and Fujikura 2006) for implementing practical change. Another likely reason is the difficulty in measuring benefits of fish-friendly irrigation and fishways, although various methods have been explored (e.g. Baumgartner et al. 2021b;Cooper et al. 2019;Dodd et al. 2018;O'Connor et al. 2022;Marsden and Stuart 2019). Due to their recency, it may be too early to accurately assess impacts of reviewed FFIGs, especially as dissemination was hindered by COVID-19. However, although optimal strategies for integrating guidelines into practise are not well understood (Shah et al. 2021), Nakayama and Fujikura (2006) support suggestions from key informants that guidance should be field-tested. Fieldtesting may facilitate FFIG improvement by revealing gaps in executability or decidability aspects of recommendations (Shiffman et al. 2005), or aspects that contribute to underimplementation (Callender 2018;Nakayama and Fujikura 2006).By reviewing three FFIGs published between 2018-2020, this study showed that while perceived as useful, attention to five key areas of guideline design could improve FFIGs to the benefit of authors and users. Specifically, these are: define guideline target audience; engage the target audience; define guideline scope; ensure recommendations are specific and actionable; and build guideline review and evaluation measures into guideline project lifecycles. Moreover, FFIGs should be available in local languages, although it is recognised that this is a costly and timeconsuming process.However, guidelines are not 'end-of-pipe' solutions (Krywkow 2007) in and of themselves. Instead their production reflects individual author attributes and training, those of the organisations they work for and the local, regional or global developmental context in which they operate. It is worthwhile acknowledging and interrogating these influences and in exploring how guidelines could be improved for greater impact and utility (Karppinen and Moe 2012). This study revealed social factors, such as prevailing governance structures, resource management department power disparities and practitioner training also impact uptake of fish-friendly irrigation. Including relevant training in water manager curricula may address this.The interview respondent sample was modest and likely did not capture the full range of user perceptions or working contexts. Another limitation of this study was that it did not assess guideline impacts on the operational processes of the publishing organisations, noting only that the guidelines mark a paradigm shift in the development approach of those organisations. This could be an avenue for future research. Through the application of guideline structural criteria developed for the health sector, and qualitative attention to perceptions of guideline production and application by users, the present study contributes to water management, fish-friendly irrigation system development, scarce water management guideline evaluations and guideline evaluation literature more generally. Improving knowledge on guideline formulation may aid future authors construct clear and complete guidelines for enhanced utility and impact, ultimately supporting the incorporation of fish-friendly infrastructure into irrigated landscapes."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f228d7ad649d74def064481d16c00cfc","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/edb93b6e-5939-48e9-bdc0-3896c21388d0/retrieve","id":"-1150707219"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9cb75d4c-c27b-41e8-bab3-abbe3d1e3be3","content":"e) The ability of the indicators to reflect regional, national and local circumstances;f) The applicability of the indicators across different contexts;g) The ease of interpretation of the indicators;h) The clarity of methodologies associated with the indicators;i) The ability of the indicators to be aggregated across levels and disaggregated by demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, such as vulnerability, gender, age, disability, race, socioeconomic status, and status as Indigenous Peoples, as appropriate and depending on national circumstances; More Indicators can be disaggregated by demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, such as vulnerability, gender, age, disability, race, socioeconomic status, and status as Indigenous Peoples. Indicators specific to gender issues. "}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/9496283199.json b/main/part_2/9496283199.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fdccd1f61d94132d78629b37dbea5fc06e0b78bf
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1038930b01b85d1e3ba1903e84e9a0b0","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b9c7f584-66a9-472e-8f56-7b79e606a7c5/retrieve","id":"-251989810"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"11ec8873-ba7b-4833-ab14-8cb1376aed4a","content":"Geographic Scope: Global Number of individual improved lines/varieties: <Not Applicable> Description of Stage reached: ICRAF with Probability Management developed the MS Excel-based Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Plan Cost-Benefit Tool. This tool uses probabilistic approaches and modern portfolio theory to predict the performance of agriculture investments in the face of climate and social risks. It has been used in developing plans for Ghana and Burkina. Name of lead organization/entity to take innovation to this stage: ICRAF -World Agroforestry Centre Names of top five contributing organizations/entities to this stage: • Government of Ghana • Government of Burkina Faso • The World Bank"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/9500827218.json b/main/part_2/9500827218.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e24304e4ff309902e9b65a3a8d236fd8","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/Factsheet/MSP-Infosheet01.pdf","id":"-29029690"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b56b3888-4e2d-4630-95bf-121f48da0157","content":"Multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) are participatory processes that include a wide range of actors in a topic or a landscape, to engage in dialogue, decision making, and/or the implementation of activities for common (landscape) goals.MSPs -also known as multi-stakeholder forums, processes, and initiatives -have received a lot of attention recently as a way for diverse groups and organizations to come together to address landscape challenges. It makes sense: why wouldn't we try to bring people together to collaborate, negotiate through our differences, and agree on goals and actions for change?MSPs are an attractive -if somewhat romanticized -idea for problem solving. If done well, these platforms offer potential for truly transformational change in the ways that actors interact with each other and make decisions about the future of landscapes and territories.But if they're not designed and implemented carefully, MSPs can easily miss the mark, and end up entrenching existing inequalities and/or becoming irrelevant to local priorities and decisionmaking processes.Designing meaningful, inclusive spaces for transformative So you want to host a multi-stakeholder platform?Box 1. What is a stakeholder?In this context, stakeholders can broadly be defined as actors (individuals, organizations) who are impacted by and/or can impact decisions made over the land/resource use practices in the landscape of action. However, not all stakeholders have the same interests, concerns, needs, and privileges, so it's important to think contextually about how you will approach and address issues such as:• stakeholders vs rights-holders (such as Indigenous Peoples) in the landscape • stakeholders that sit at different levels -e.g. local, regional, and national • differing impacts from what is being discussed.A rights-based approach can help to tease out these challenges, by repositioning participants as rights-holders and dutybearers (see Evans et al., 2021).That's why -based on a global comparative research project that started in 2017, which has led us to collaborate with a wide range of policy makers, practitioners, researchers, and community and civil society organization representatives -we've put together six 'howto' guides on different elements of MSP design and implementation, complete with case studies. Box What do we mean by transformational change?The concept of 'transformational change' is subject to multiple but is a central goal in the global climate, and environmental governance arenas. Compiling a variety of definitions in these arenas (see Larson et al., 2021), it is referred to as \"fundamental, strategic, disruptive, catalytic and complex change that promotes large-scale and sustainable shifts in systems, institutions, markets (and power relations) towards a carbon-neutral, climate resilient… future\"; notably, \"just and equitable\" is not included (see also Atmadja et al., 2021).Our understanding, however, puts the commitment to equality and justice at the center, drawing from definitions of gender transformative approaches (GTAs). Hence, transformation seeks to \"actively examine, challenge, and transform the underlying causes of (…) inequalities rooted in discriminatory social structures and institutions,\" including unequal power relations, \"discriminatory norms, attitudes, behaviours and practices, [and] discriminatory laws and policies that create and perpetuate [inequalities]\" (FAO et al., 2022) Members of the Alto Mayo Protected Forest MSP (San Martin, Peru) at the first implementation of How are we doing? Photo by Marlon del Aguila/CIFOR"}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/9503145106.json b/main/part_2/9503145106.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2c92a9509624ce868f6ca161292455be0de37ff4
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"327c1aca1b02220fd1e46a17235c2369","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/55bc0cbe-3dde-4c5a-85f9-bd14078fc1a5/retrieve","id":"-362319885"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0fdfb5e5-9ecd-4ade-9c6c-2a2d41231925","content":"The ILRI Accelerated Value Chain Development (AVCD) program nutrition component collaborated with the Kenya government to develop agri-nutrition community dialogue cards as part of a social behaviour change communication activity aimed at improving nutrition practices for children below 2 years of age and Women of Reproductive Age (WRA). By 2021, over 99,000 children 0-23 months were reached with nutrition messaging using the cards, which are now being rolled out by the Ministry and used outside of AVCD sites.The AVCD nutrition social behavior change communication (SBCC) strategy was informed by a formative assessment which informed on barriers and enablers of improved diet consumption, and provided nuance on materials needed, target audience, and communications approaches to improve nutrition behaviour of the program beneficiaries. Lack of appropriate materials addressing and linking agriculture and nutrition in one module was a major gap identified. To meet this gap, hybrid Community Agri-nutrition Dialogue cards, covering fourteen topics borrowed from various existing materials, were developed through a national consultation forum with government and non-state actors to approve the content. They were pretested across the country to ensure representativeness and contextualization to various communities, and enhance ownership and use of the materials, then validated.Implementation of the SBCC was through a two-day agri-nutrition Training of Trainers (TOT) for over 20,000 people covering all the 14 topics in the cards. The trainees were typically Community Health Volunteers, Ward Agricultural Officers, women group leaders or lead farmers, who were subsequently given copies of the materials and mapped to households to pass on the training, targeting households with children below 2 years of age. Each training session lasted for about 1 hour, covered 2 topics of the dialogue cards, and was held at an convenient time and location for the learners. The training was done in three forms; 1) house to house visits ii) group trainings/dialogues iii) group cooking demonstrations. The training targeted mothers and caregivers of children below 2 years of age, and WRA because of their increased nutritional vulnerability, but also fathers and grandmothers of the children due to their influential role in decisions on childcare and feeding.At the end of the AVCD program in 2021, through their mothers/caregivers, a total of 99,201 children (50,103 Females; 49,098 Males) below 2 years of age had been reached with nutrition messages using the Community Agri-nutrition Dialogue cards. Diet consumption improved for WRA, with minimum dietary diversity for women improved from 4.17 food groups in 2018 to 5.15 food groups in 2019. Improvements in dietary and care practices for women and children have been reported in the AVCD intervention sites, attributed to the nutrition messaging. The dialogue cards are now hosted at the website of the Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and fisheries and continue to be used by other new partners supporting agriculture-nutrition interventions in Kenya [2].• https://tinyurl.com/yhqkp6n5Part II: CGIAR system level reporting The AVCD nutrition social behavior change communication (SBCC) strategy was informed by a formative assessment which informed on barriers and enablers of improved diet consumption, and provided nuance on materials needed, target audience, and communications approaches to improve nutrition behaviour of the program beneficiaries. Lack of appropriate materials addressing and linking agriculture and nutrition in one module was a major gap identified. To meet this gap, hybrid Community Agri-nutrition Dialogue cards, covering fourteen topics borrowed from various existing materials, were developed through a national consultation forum with government and non-state actors to approve the content. They were pretested across the country to ensure representativeness and contextualization to various communities, and enhance ownership and use of the materials, then validated.Implementation of the SBCC was through a two-day agri-nutrition Training of Trainers (TOT) for over 20,000 people covering all the 14 topics in the cards. The trainees were typically Community Health Volunteers, Ward Agricultural Officers, women group leaders or lead farmers, who were subsequently given copies of the materials and mapped to households to pass on the training, targeting households with children below 2 years of age. Each training session lasted for about 1 hour, covered 2 topics of the dialogue cards, and was held at an convenient time and location for the learners. The training was done in three forms; 1) house to house visits ii) group trainings/dialogues iii) group cooking demonstrations. The training targeted mothers and caregivers of children below 2 years of age, and WRA because of their increased nutritional vulnerability, but also fathers and grandmothers of the children due to their influential role in decisions on childcare and feeding.At the end of the AVCD program in 2021, through their mothers/caregivers, a total of 99,201 children (50,103 Females; 49,098 Males) below 2 years of age had been reached with nutrition messages using the Community Agri-nutrition Dialogue cards. Diet consumption improved for WRA, with minimum dietary diversity for women improved from 4.17 food groups in 2018 to 5.15 food groups in 2019. Improvements in dietary and care practices for women and children have been reported in the AVCD intervention sites, attributed to the nutrition messaging [1]. The dialogue cards are now hosted at the website of the Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and fisheries and continue to be used by other new partners supporting agriculture-nutrition interventions in Kenya [2]."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/9515649870.json b/main/part_2/9515649870.json
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index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..cee1a068c11508265d8a21a3c035894e5ecf4332
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@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b147584f5d9aeeac934f1d58fbb13eed","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0601fa28-3d75-4e97-826f-92aa8f160556/retrieve","id":"-1639814001"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"560fccba-c724-4bb7-b37b-d3c7655ff02e","content":"Climate change and variability is affecting livestock production system in Senegal. The use of relevant climate information services (CIS) in livestock production value chain has the potential to build the resilience and productivity of transhumant pastoralists. The demand for CIS has increased today at a stage where several pastoral communities are willing to contribute to the cost of CIS production. Attempts to promote and scale up access to and use of CIS have been successful for the farming and fishing sectors in Senegal but this has not been the case for livestock sector due various reasons including failure to produce needed CIS and to set up dedicated CIS dissemination channels. The ONECGIAR Initiative on Livestock and Climate (LAC), under its work package 2 is taking stock of achievements from previous projects to deliver salient CIS to pastoral communities in the Ferlo zone of Senegal. To this end, fine tuning the need assessment in terms of CIS (types, resolution, frequency etc.), dissemination channels and capacity building is a prerequisite. Therefore, stakeholders' consultations meetings and review of existing literature were used to assess the needs. In total, 15 CIS have been identified by the various stakeholders of which seven are already available; several CIS dissemination channels have been identified of which, community radio and mobile network operators' platforms such as SMS and IVIR are the most preferred ones. There is also a need to translate CIS into advisories suitable for each agro-ecological zone. This will require some capacity building of the multidisciplinary working groups (MWG) for each target district.Senegal's economy heavily depends on agriculture, livestock and fisheries which represent about 17% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and employ 70% of the population. These sectors are currently affected by climate change and prevailing climate variability. Shrinking biomass growing period, unreliable rainfall distribution in time and space, increasing land degradation and the increasing frequency of climate extremes such as dry spells and floods have all contributed to decreased agricultural and livestock productivities. The occurrence of intensified weather events such as rising sea surface temperature, swells, tides, winds and fogs have led to northbound fish migration and to increased risk events for the fisherfolks (loss of life and equipment). The overall consequences of these events have translated into country-wide emergence of food insecurity.. Addressing the negative impacts of climate change on agriculture requires adaptation and mitigation efforts in line with the Malabo Declaration regarding the commitment to enhance the resilience of livelihoods and production systems to climate variability and related risks. These efforts will also contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals on climate action and on achieving zero hunger. The uptake of adaptive measures to tackle climate change effects has therefore become prominent for the GOS and the country's development and research partners. In Senegal, WP2 envisions to strengthen the resilience of pastoralists through production, dissemination and use of salient climate information services. To this end, stakeholders' consultation workshops and meetings with key partners took place in Dakar and in the pastoral zones (Dahra, Thiargny, Linguere, etc.) to identify and fine-tune the needs in terms of CIS, CIS dissemination platforms and tools to capacitate pastoralists to understand and effectively use CIS to guide their day-to-day decision-making. This report provides detailed information on CIS need and relevant dissemination channels needed to timely reach out to pastoralists.This Initiative aims to address the \"double burden\" that climate change poses for livestock production across Africa and Latin America. Researchers are working with public and private actors to identify existing solutions, to co-create and deliver innovations that quantifiably help producers, businesses and governments adapt livestock agrifood systems to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This objective will be achieved through five ( 5) main activities:• Improving local capacities and inclusion in livestock production through biometric and socioeconomic analysis of proposed on-farm technology packages to support inclusive scaling of resilient low-emission practices (WP1).Developing digital services to manage climate risk and inform decision-making in livestock agrifood systems by co-designing, testing and scaling digitally enabled services that bundle tailored climate information, risk transfer and credit strategies (WP2).Undertaking system-level research and interventions for climate-resilient and low-emission livestock production systems, focusing on understanding, measuring and rebuilding climate resilience within pastoral systems, with research-to-development partnerships that optimize scaling a priority (WP3).Helping finance the transition to low-emission and resilient livestock agrifood systems by creating a research program that builds investor awareness of and confidence in livestock investments with stated resilience and emission goals (WP4).Improving the enabling policy environment by generating data and developing systems to improve the design and implementation of policies and investment proposals at national and global level and supporting governments to monitor and quantify livestock contributions to climate commitments (WP5).The LAC initiative targets 8 countries namely, Colombia, Guatemala, Senegal, Mali, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Tunisia and expects to achieve the following outcomes:• At least 80,000 households implement climate-smart practices and technologies that enable them to withstand climate shocks, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and generate benefits for women, as well as men.At least 320,000 livestock producers (50% women and youth) and 13 public and private organizations access climate risk management strategies.Pastoralists and farmers adopt improved governance, management and restoration practices on 500,000 hectares of land used for livestock production.Impact investors, private-sector entities and international finance institutions mobilize US$25 million for socially inclusive resilience-building and/or low-emission livestock agrifood systems interventions.International agencies and policymakers use the Initiative's products to shape at least four policies or investments to strengthen socially inclusive low-emissions livestock production system resilience, including at least three aimed at realizing climate change-related adaptation or mitigation progress.of Senegal (ANACIM) to produce and validate potential lightning zones during the rainy seasons and the potential animal diseases occurrence areas. These missing CIS will be produced and disseminated in 2023. Community radios and mobile network operators (MNO) are presented as the best communication platforms for the livestock sector given the mobility nature of the pastoralism in northern Senegal. Currently, there are 130 community radios in Senegal, of which, 25% are located in the pastoral zone (Fig. 3). The role of the community radios is to provide producers with relevant information needed to improve crop and livestock productivities.Various CIS dissemination platforms have been developed in the past in Senegal to communicate CIS to farmers and few pastoralists (Fig. 4). These platforms need to be strengthened to scale up access to CIS in the pastoral zone. An SMS platform was developed in 2016 by ANACIM to communicate CIS to various users. In 2018, a new SMS platform called Meteo-Mbay (meteo market) was developed by MLouma (start-up on mobile market) to scale up access to CIS through USSD system. In 2017, feedback collected from CIS users revealed that the SMS platform was not reliable in many zones given the high percentage of illiterate among farmers, pastoralists and fishermen. Therefore, in 2018, Jokalante introduced the voice messaging system (VMS) in local language. The VMS was well appreciated by CIS users and regional and local leaders (governors and district prefects). In 2020, Jokalante set up the Nafoore platform to scale up access to CIS and agro-advisories through the VMS system. In 2018, ANACIM set-up a mobile application called \"Meteo-Senegal-Officiel\" to scale up timely access to CIS. A facebook account dedicated to CIS (https://www.facebook.com/www.anaciml.sn) has been created by ANACIM to communicate CIS. In Senegal in general, CIS is communicated to farmers and pastoralists without any advisory that goes with it. As a result, users must make personal decisions based on CIS they receive. Very often, users end up making wrong decisions that are harmful to their activities. To help pastoralists make appropriate decisions to increase their resilience and productivities, it is crucial to: (i) build pastoralists' capacity to understand CIS and (ii) create/strengthen existing multidisciplinary working groups (MWG) to produce and disseminate district-specific advisories for farmers and pastoralists.• Building the capacity of pastoralists consists of training various pastoralists on the usefulness of CIS and how it can be used to inform their decision-making. Such training must cover various topics including -climate change, climate information services, seasonal forecast, etc. The met service (ANACIM) and CSE are committed to providing such training and a partnership agreement is being signed between the Alliance and ANACIM/CSE. • About 32 MWG (Fig. 5) have been created since 2016 in 32 districts (out of 46). These MWGs have been instrumental in the translation of CIS into locally actionable agro-advisory decisions for the communities within the districts (Fig. 6). Members of the MWG meet three-time per month during the growing seasons to discuss issues in relation with agriculture, environment, livestock, etc. and produce bulletins that are communicated through the community radios. Members of the MWGs have been trained and dedicated equipment (computers, software, etc.) was provided to facilitate their operations. Unfortunately, the MWG are operational during rainy seasons while livestock activities are permanent. Therefore, LAC has targeted districts with important livestock activities (in the north) where MWGs will be capacitated to cover livestock related activities during dry seasons as well. Target districts are Dagana, Podor, Matam, Kanel, Ranerou, Linguere, Louga and Saint Louis. Past initiatives led by the Government of Senegal and international institutions and donors (CCAFS, USAID, CINSERE project, etc.) have contributed to a large-scale production, dissemination and adoption of CIS use by farming and fishing communities. In the livestock sector however, expected CIS have not been fully met and the dissemination aspect has been very challenging due to the mobility nature of livestock production system in the pastoral zone. Overcoming these challenges is very critical to building the resilience of the transhumant pastoralists. Therefore, the Livestock and Climate Initiative should focus on:• Production of CIS that meet the expectations of the pastoralists: this will be achieved through partnerships with relevant national institutions such as ANACIM and CSE. It would also be important to understand and define the scope of CIS in relation to livestock, specifically pastoralism due to the difference in production systems from crops.Dissemination of livestock CIS: this requires strengthening the capacity of existing dissemination platforms such the community radios, the SMS and IVR led by ANACIM, MLouma and Jokalante. Moreover, there is a scope for testing innovative methods of information gathering and dissemination, based on citizen science, as a compliment to existing dissemination platforms.Translation of CIS into advisories: the advisories add values to the CIS and help CIS users to make immediate decisions and actions. The MWG are essential platforms for producing advisories that are suitable to specific districts. Therefore, MWG within the pastoral zones must be technically capacitated to operate permanently, while also identify partnerships with other information providing institutions such as ACF • Evaluation of decisions being made and usefulness of CIS for livestock activities: feedback from CIS users necessary to understand the perception on CIS being produced (accuracy, preference, utility, etc.) and to improve the quality of the products and the delivery system. Specifically, it would be good to understand a gendered need of information (both climate as well as non-climate) in the pastoral areas, as studies often suggest that information needs differ between men and women.Sustainability of CIS use: to avoid discontinuity of CIS delivery when the initiative phases out, it is essential to think of an exit strategy at the earliest stage of the implementation phase. This exit strategy could consist of developing CIS business models or bundling mechanisms that will scale up access and adoption of livestock CIS and sustain the system."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"72b05ac98681a4d4c08a275bc89cb80f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8a5bd033-e420-4349-b775-ea4317490e58/retrieve","id":"970550523"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4f47df35-cb65-4171-9a83-fd3003434a37","content":"The Mekong River is the blood supply to the heart of mainland Southeast Asia. The river is vital to the people of the region, supporting one of the world's largest fisheries as well as much of the agricultural production. The Mekong fishery is estimated to constitute approximately 2 percent of the world's annual fish catch. Most of it is conducted by subsistence fishers who eat their harvest or trade it for other food requirements. The extraordinarily productive fishery of the Mekong river is thought to be related to the nature of its flood pulse. While the size of the Mekong flood, in relation to the dry season flows, is not extraordinary, a vast area of the floodplain is inundated. Many of the Mekong fish breed in the dry season, when the river is shallow and slow flowing. The successive wet seasons (with warm water rich in nutrients and organic material) are thought to provide the environment in which fish larvae can grow rapidly. Fish are a source of proteins, minerals and vitamins for many of the basin's poorest people. The major agricultural product in the Mekong basin is rice. Much of the rice produced in the poorer parts of the basin is flood recession rice, which as the name suggests, depends on the Mekong flood water. Water receding slowly, together with direct rainfall, provides many of the poorer farmers an alternative to irrigated rice. Both the people and the biodiversity of the Mekong River depend on the cycle of dry season low flows and wet season floods. The Mekong has one of the largest fish diversities of any river, and it is also a recognized biodiversity \"hot spot\" for freshwater mollusks. The diversity of birds, amphibians and reptiles present here is also high. The Mekong countries are poor, and regard their water resources as one of the key resources for development and income generation. In areas with extensive floodplains, irrigation is seen as providing opportunities for agricultural intensification. In the mountainous areas, hydropower is seen as an important development opportunity, both to improve security of supply within countries of the region, and potentially as an export product that can produce foreign exchange. The challenge for the Mekong countries is to achieve the right balance in the trade-off between developing the water resource and maintaining the existing benefits from the river. Increasing dry season flows while decreasing flood flows, is likely to result in hydropower development, which will deleteriously affect the fisheries. National governments need to know the real costs as well as the real benefits of development proposals in order to make informed decisions. The four lower Mekong countries: Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam signed an agreement in 1995 to cooperate in the sustainable development of the lower Mekong Basin. The agreement identified the need to develop the basin for the benefit of all four participating countries while protecting the environment and ecological balance. Specifically the agreement identified the need to utilize the waters reasonably and equitably, and to develop guidelines to manage the flows in the river. The focus of the flow management guidelines specified in the agreement signed in 1995 was on maintaining dry season flows, not increasing wet season flows, and providing sufficient flows to the Tonle Sap Great Lake. While this agreement was far more advanced than Mekong at Xieng Kok-northern Laos.most of the other similar international agreements of that time, it is clear that managing these aspects of flow would not be sufficient to ensure the ecological balance of the Mekong Basin. For example, excessive dry season flows could be just as damaging for the fishery as insufficient dry season flows. The Mekong River Commission (MRC) received support from the World Bank for a Water Utilization Project (WUP) to address some of the issues of water sharing in the basin. The project included development of hydrological modeling capability to allow predictions of the consequences of various development proposals on downstream flows. It also supported a process to develop procedures on data sharing, and proposed to support the development of guidelines on flows. The WUP developed an Integrated Basin Flow Management (IBFM) component to address development of flow guidelines. The WUP has also suggested some guidelines on flows based on an analysis of the existing hydrology of the river. This approach is based primarily on a simple hydrological statistical analysis. In a second phase, a broader approach is being taken, using an expert team and existing data to evaluate the potential impacts of possible changes to the flow regime of the river. The Netherlands Government is funding the Environment Program of the MRC to conduct field-based studies to provide a stronger knowledge platform from which to predict the social and ecological consequences of the flow regime changes. The Orumiyeh Lake is located in the north-west part of Iran at an elevation of 1,276 m asl, covering an area of 5,100 km 2 and draining a \"closed\" catchment of over 50,000 km 2 . It is a hyper saline water body with an average depth of 5 m and volume of some 18 billion cubic meters (BCM). The salinity of the lake (about 260 g/l) is too high to support the diversity of aquatic fauna, except for algae and microscopic shrimps that are called Artemia. The microscopic shrimps are, however, the main reason of bird Location of the Orumiyeh Lake approach which combines hydrological analysis with detailed multidisciplinary research of various aspects of river and floodplain ecology. The method was developed by the South African-based company-Southern Waters. A team of international mentors working with national experts will work with Dr. Jackie King, from the University of Cape Town/Southern Waters, collecting flow-related information at several sites within the basin. Information on geomorphology, hydrodynamics, water quality, fish, invertebrates, vegetation, birds, and human uses of riverine resources are among the disciplines to be incorporated in the study. It is envisaged that the study will continue for a further 4 years. Each year there will be a period of field work and data collection, complemented by a data interpretation workshop where specialists from the various disciplines will come together to exchange information, discuss their findings and provide data which may be valuable to other specialists. The findings from these workshops can be progressively used by the MRC and the four national governments in their decision-making processes.A key issue in this work, as with all other environmental flows studies, is ensuring that the decision makers have access to, and understand, the information generated. Using the existing network developed within the MRC structure, and a combination of international and local specialists, it is -increasing salinity and crystallization of salt on the shores, and a significant decrease in Artemia and Flamingo populations in the lake and the surrounding wetlands. In the end of 2002 the salinity exceeded the tolerance level of the Artemia in the water, and it almost completely destroyed the shrimps, but fortunately some managed to survive in small pockets around the inlets of the largest rivers. The Orumiyeh Lake Basin is relatively \"rich\" in water resources compared to many other semi-arid regions of Iran, but even here local and temporal water shortages occurred in all the key water user sectors, especially in the dry years, threatening both the unique ecosystem and the agricultural production. In the valleys, irrigated agricultural production provides an income to a large part of the population, producing mostly fruits and vegetables for the market. In the last decade, the irrigation needs could not be met in many cases at several locations. And with damages to orchards and agricultural lands, a serious depletion of groundwater resources occurred, including saltwater intrusion from Lake Orumiyeh.The total annual gross water demand in the basin at present is estimated to be 4.4 BCM, of which agricultural demand is about 4.2 BCM and the balance is due to domestic requirements and industry. The projected total future demand for these sectors is about 6.4 BCM. The difference of 2 BCM between the present and the future water demand is mostly due to the increase in agricultural demand, which directly reduces the inflow to the lake. In the case of the Orumiyeh Lake, environmental water demand may be perceived as the amount of water necessary to maintain it within such limits as to ensure minimal exposure to salty shores and keep salinity at a level that Artemia shrimps could tolerate. Both aspects need to be carefully quantified, which has not yet been done. To maintain the lake in the current state (which is already not diversity and, particularly, the migration of Flamingos to this area. The lake area has been the national park since 1971, and the second Ramsar site since 1975. The lake is also surrounded by a number of saline and freshwater wetlands. The total estimated surface water resources in the entire basin equate to 9 BCM (7 BCM surface water and 2 BCM groundwater). The average annual precipitation rate over the lake is approximately 250 mm, which corresponds to about 1.2 BCM. The annual average rate of water inflow to the lake is about 4.6 BCM. The average annual rate of evaporation from the lake surface is about 5.8 BCM, which is equal to the total input to the lake from rain and inflow. The existence of the lake is, therefore, dependent on the equivalent freshwater inflow. Reduced water inflow may lead to declining water levels and increasing the salinity concentration to levels exceeding the tolerance limits of Artemia. The loss of Artemia shrimp in turn may cause a decline in the number of birds which migrate to the lake. It also could lead to the loss of economical income of the local people selling Artemia. The decline of water level may expose the salty land, which leads to salty winds that are extremely damaging to the environment, and the 380,000 ha irrigated as well as the 420,000 ha rainfed land. All this will have an adverse impact on the 4.4 million people living in the basin.The past two decades have seen an intensification of water resource and agricultural development in the basin. Future development may lead to the extension of irrigation by 235,000 ha, brining the total irrigated area in the basin to 615,000 ha. Due to the already existing development, the Orumiyeh Basin has suffered intensive and increasing water stress, which revealed itself through irrigation water deficit, rapid drawdown in some aquifers, a 3.5 m water level drop in the lake and a 7.3 km retreat of the shoreline during the recent droughts of 1988-2001, exceptionally healthy), it is necessary to ensure a long-term mean annual inflow of 4.6 BCM. The variability of inflow between years and seasons will lead to Artemia losses and salt deposition at times (as has already occurred in the dry spells of [1998][1999][2000][2001][2002], but the damage may not be irreversible. In other words, the present condition shows that there is a fragile balance between the inflow and evaporation from the lake. But with future irrigation developments the inflow to the lake will be reduced by about one-third (future increase in water abstractions by 2 BCM). In such conditions, the inflow to the lake will be below the required threshold, which is up to (estimated) 70 percent of the time throughout the year on average. This will lead to frequent drops of lake salinity levels below the acceptable range of salt content (about 150-280 g/l for Artemia).The adverse environmental consequences of this are clear from the above, and the associated economic losses have to be quantified in order to ensure what decisions on future water resources development need to be taken. The challenge is to make a trade-off between water potential and the demands of different sectors in order to preserve the environmental sustainability in the region. Improvement of irrigation efficiency in order to reach a more sustainable coexistence between agricultural and environmental demands seems to be the major task of water and demand management in this basin. The present irrigation efficiency is 30-35 percent, which leaves a lot of room for improvement and saving water that may ensure future irrigation development and satisfy environmental water demand of the Orumiyeh Lake.Abdolrahim Salavitabar, Water Resources Engineer, Yekom Consulting Engineers, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: a.salavitabar@gmail.com Colorado, USA. An international workshop was convened in June under the auspices of the Global River Sustainability Project (GRSP), a new initiative with the main objective of characterizing and modeling the freshwater needs of riverine ecosystems in the face of growing human consumptive uses on regional to global scales. The workshop was convened in connection with the Global Water Systems Project (GWSP), which was created in 2001 under the Fresh Water Program of the Earth Systems Science Partnership, a coalition of four major scientific organizations in the International Council for Science (http://131.220.78.1/gwsp/index.html). The workshop brought together an international group of over 20 riverine ecologists and hydrologists. The workshop participants identified promising research opportunities in hydro-ecology and established a framework for conducting hydroecological assessments and evaluating ecological vulnerability from water resources for river basins around the world. The outputs of the workshop are summarized in a research paper, which was drafted by the workshop participants and is currently being finalized. More information is available from Prof. LeRoy Poff (Colorado State University), poff@lamar.colostate.edu. Indonesia. The second southeast asia water forum held in Bali (August 29-September 3) had as its objective \"to build a regional commitment toward enhancement of integrated water"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c558c22b319b96e2977286a4509c0892","source":"gardian_index","url":"http://gisweb.ciat.cgiar.org/povertymapping/download/Ecuador.pdf","id":"1559839109"},"keywords":["Food security","Agricultural productivity","Market access","Rural income generation","Indigenous communities","Ecuador"],"sieverID":"f7b27635-2892-449a-b42f-2d1ac7c9e313","content":"We examine the geographic dimensions of food consumption in Ecuador, which has one of the highest rates of chronic infant undernutrition in Latin America. We use statistical and spatial analyses to examine the distribution of * Corresponding Author.2 food consumption and food poverty and to test and generate hypotheses of food poverty estimates at the district level. Results show that the food poor are concentrated in certain locations with a significant cluster identified in the central Andean region. Geographically weighted regression shows that the processes underlying food poverty in Ecuador are also spatially variable. While our results lend support for nationwide land tenure reforms, in the central Andes these must take into account productivity constraints and communal ownership.Improvements in transport infrastructure will likely decrease levels of food poverty country-wide but could be most beneficial in the extreme south and in the province of Esmeraldas. Investment in rural enterprise development should be encouraged in all regions.Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras and Haiti are among the countries in Latin America with the highest rates of chronic infant undernutrition (FAO, 2003).Figures for Ecuador show undernutrition rates of 34% in 1986Ecuador show undernutrition rates of 34% in , 26.5% in 1998 been well documented (Steckel, 1995, Grantham-McGregor et al., 2000, Fogel, 2001, Semba and Bloem, 2001). In Ecuador, a country with high social inequality 3  (Larrea and Kawachi, 2005) and 62% of the population falling below the poverty line in 1998, pronounced social, regional and ethnic disparities in the distribution and consumption of food are to be expected.Policies aimed at reducing inequality and improving nutrition must be based on detailed studies documenting these disparities and identifying their causes.Information for policy formulation and targeting is needed to optimally deploy direct aid, development or research resources. Hentschel et al. (2000) demonstrated a theoretical reduction in resource leakage and greater coverage using a geographically targeted implementation of a pro-poor energy subsidy.Reductions in food poverty are likely to be achieved by the implementation of a range of interventions, rather than a direct cash transfer to recipients. Targeting the range of possible interventions that are not direct aid is inherently more difficult because the benefits are often limited to certain locations, sectors of the economy or demographic groups. The utility of information that improves targeting of public goods is therefore more difficult to quantify.Analyses based on household surveys, which are representative for a few regions (e.g. Datt and Jolliffe, 1999), often fail to reveal the location of the population affected. On the other hand, qualitative assessments of limited geographical extent (e.g. Hentschel et al., 1996) do not allow a country-wide investigation of the causes of inadequate food consumption and undernutrition.Other studies addressing these problems by combining survey and census data (Larrea et al., 1996, Hentschel et al, 2000) lack consideration of geographic and environmental factors. Our experience in Ecuador suggests that poor accessibility to markets and services and environmental constraints to agriculture have negative impacts on wealth and food security outcomes. Petrucci et al. (2003) deal with some of these issues for Ecuador but use data aggregated to county level, potentially hiding interactions at the household level.A spatial analysis framework offers advantages over tabular analysis. The visualization of the estimates in map form is an efficient medium for planning responses to food poverty. Spatial statistics can quantify and clarify patterns seen in maps. A spatial framework allows for incorporating spatially continuous environmental variables in the analysis. Explicit spatial analyses take into account the local nature of relationships between food poverty and its determinants.We calculated food consumption at the household level using small area estimation (SAE) techniques (Larrea, 2005) 4. We created models of food consumption using data from the 1998 Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) survey (INEC and World Bank, 1998) and the 2001 Ecuadorian national population census (INEC, 2001). These data were aggregated and food poverty indicators constructed for 990 districts (parroquias), a far finer resolution than currently published statistics 5 . Poverty indicators are measures of district-level household food consumption with respect to a specific poverty line (Lanjouw, 1998). Two studies give differing monetary values of the food poverty line in Ecuador. One study estimates the cost of a basic basket of food goods as 173,050 sucres per fortnight, which in 1998 represented US$2.2 per day (World Bank, 1996). An alternative study (Parandekar and Brborich, 1999), gives a value of 132,150 sucres per fortnight for the basic basket of goods (US$1.7 per day). We calculated the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) family of poverty indicators, including the headcount ratio, the poverty gap and poverty severity (Foster et al., 1984) for both the higher and lower food poverty lines.Together with a panel of food security experts in Ecuador, we developed a list of potential determinants of food poverty (Farrow et al., 2002). The panel identified key factors that have a hypothetical association with food poverty. These include social capital, agricultural productivity (climate, soil, management and tenure), labour market structure and access to markets.A study resulting in a nutritional profile of Ecuador (ODEPLAN-FAO, 2001) suggests that social capital and the culture of a locality influence the access to a diversity of food products and a diverse diet. Indicators of social capital have not been formally defined for Ecuador. While limited local studies investigate the role of social capital (Bebbington and Perreault, 1999), nationwide data on density of voluntary organizations (Putnam, 1993) or of social networks (e.g. Paldam, 2000) are lacking. Our analysis used a proxy variable for social cohesiveness-the percentage of each district's population classified as indigenous. Historic discrimination and social exclusion has limited the livelihood opportunities of indigenous people in Ecuador. Indigenous communities, however, have maintained a strong sense of identity. In recent decades a conversion has been made to full political participation (Larrea and Montenegro, 2005).Access to water is potentially an important determinant of rural food poverty (Rosegrant et al., 2002, GWP, 2003) since improved agricultural productivity can increase farm incomes and lower prices for consumers (de Janvry and Sadoulet, 2000). We hypothesize that areas suffering regionally from drought and locally from water stress will be unable to support sufficient production to ensure adequate food consumption. For rainfed agriculture we have developed an index of water availability calculating the number of consecutive dry months (Fig. 1) where monthly precipitation less than 60 mm is considered dry due to crop growth limitations (Peter Jones, personal communication, 2003). The number of farms with irrigation and the total amount of land irrigated were recorded in the 2000 agricultural census (INEC, 2000). We acknowledge, however, that farms with irrigation may face restriction on their use of water resources (Cremens et al., 2005). Irrigation data have been published for most counties in Ecuador.Given the lack of data at the district level, we assume that each district has the same value as the county to which it belongs.Elevation and slope are proxies for temperature and management constraints on agricultural productivity. In some very high zones (paramos), we encounter particularly fragile agro-ecosystems associated with elevated concentrations of poverty. In Ecuador, the resolution of altitude data is currently far finer than for temperature. Slope is generally expected to have a greater impact on food poverty than altitude. We calculated summary statistics of altitude and slope for each district from the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) data set modified by CIAT (Jarvis et al., 2004).Soil quality is another constraint on agricultural productivity and presents significant spatial variation within districts and even within plots (Dercon et al., 2003). We use maps of potential for agriculture, whose classes explicitly incorporate soil quality information and limitations (BID-CONADE, in Alianza Jatun Sacha- CDC Ecuador, 2003). Potential agriculture classes are classified into suitability for pasture, crops, productive forest and natural areas (default). Actual land use, compiled from various sources from the 1990s (Alianza Jatun Sacha- CDC Ecuador, 2003), is also categorized in terms of percentage crop, pasture, productive forest, natural areas and non-vegetative land use.Deteriorating soil quality and land degradation is often the result of inappropriate land use decisions. These short-term decisions may be forced upon land managers in order to escape poverty. For each class of actual land use, we determine if it was cultivated in an appropriate location given the potential of the soil. We conclude by producing summary statistics of productive land use suitability for each district.Land tenure inequality, and as a consequence the large number of farmers without land or with less than 5 ha, is potentially related to low levels of food consumption. Data on legal status of agricultural land were made available at the county level for much of the country (INEC, 2000). Equality indicators, such as the GINI coefficient of farm size, are not formally published for sub-national administrative levels. 6 But these have been calculated for counties using data available on farm sizes (Manuel Chiriboga, personal communication, 2005) 7. As with data on irrigation, we assume that districts will have the same values for these variables as the counties.The agricultural sector is often characterized by lower incomes relative to other components of the national workforce (Elbers and Lanjouw, 2001). Districts with high proportions of agricultural workers are likely to have higher levels of food poverty. Agricultural workers receiving a regular wage may be less vulnerable than informal day labourers. Salaried workers may receive ancillary benefits such as limited health insurance that will improve welfare levels. We therefore expect districts with greater proportions of salaried agricultural workers to have lower levels of food poverty than those with non-salaried agricultural workers. The employment characteristics of household members were explanatory variables in the original SAE models (Larrea, 2005), raising concerns about the potential for endogeneity in subsequent modelling. Elbers et al. (2005) suggest, however, that the use of estimates aggregated to community level as the dependent variable does not preclude subsequent regression analyses.Access to markets is an important prerequisite for rural income generation and can improve nutrition by providing access to a wider variety of foodstuffs than would be possible from on-farm consumption alone. Jacoby (2000) showed that an improvement in access generally benefits the whole population. We would therefore expect districts with better access to markets to have higher mean food consumption and lower levels of food poverty. We produced indices of accessibility to four market types. National markets are the three biggest cities-Guayaquil, Quito and Cuenca. Regional markets are based on traditional markets in the Andes with others selected for the coastal and Amazon regions (Patricio Martinez, personal communication, 2003). Provincial markets are the capital city of each province (Fig. 2). Local markets are the major populated place in each district 8 .Spatial structure of food poverty Tobler (1970) proposes the first law of geography as \"everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things\". While this \"law\" is not universally true 9 , an assumption of association between neighbouring observations can guide our investigation of the spatial structure of food poverty.Measures of spatial association can help us discover patterns in food consumption that are hidden or difficult to discern from raw data. Our method addresses whether food poverty is distributed randomly throughout the country, whether it exhibits a high degree of spatial autocorrelation and whether it is spatially clustered.The spatial representation of districts we used in this analysis is the polygon centroid (Jenness, 2001). To analyse the distribution of food poverty in Ecuador we first utilized semi-variograms choosing intervals of 5 km. Semi-variograms are used extensively in geo-statistics and present a graphical representation of variance that can aid the analysis of patterns of food consumption 10 . The interpretation of the semi-variogram for mean consumption per person per district (Fig. 3) shows spatial dependence up to 100 km. The intercept of the variogram (nugget variance) is moderately high and approximately one-third of variation is not accounted for between districts. We discover similar levels of spatial association for all our indicators of food poverty. The semi-variograms suggest that food consumption and food poverty values are geographically clustered as opposed to randomly distributed.We measured spatial autocorrelation in our food poverty indicators using Moran's I statistic (Moran, 1950, Sawada, 1999). Values of Moran's I varied between 0.354 and 0.447 (Table 1) for all districts. Positive spatial autocorrelation was significant although not always large on account of skewness. Local Indicators of Spatial Autocorrelation 11 (LISA)-in this case Moran's I-showed outliers of significant negative spatial autocorrelation located in clusters of significant positive spatial autocorrelation. Many of these outliers represent the principal (often urban) district in each county. When these districts are excluded from the data set, we see increases in spatial autocorrelation and food poverty (Table 1).Given that food poverty in Ecuador is non-random, we used the Geographical Analysis Machine (GAM; Openshaw, 1987) to seek and visualize significant clusters of people below the food consumption poverty line. GAM searches for cases that are significantly different from the expected (global) incidence of food poverty using a Monte Carlo simulation in a multi-scale moving window to measure the persistence of clusters at different scales. One cluster of districts is easily identified (Fig. 4). This cluster has at least three foci, one in central Chimborazo, a second in western Tungurahua and the third in central Cotopaxi.These clusters correspond with those identified using LISA statistics.The existence of spatial autocorrelation in our dependent variable, and the possibility of non-stationarity in the processes that cause food poverty (Brunsdon et al., 1996), limit the inferential power of ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. Geographically weighted regression (GWR) is an alternative and is commonly used to overcome the limitations caused by spatial dependency (Miron, 1984, cited in Fotheringham et al., 2002).We ran models using available data at the district scale, even though variables for land tenure and irrigation were only available at the county scale. We acknowledge the potential introduction of artificial spatial auto-correlation in some of our independent variables, as well as possible problems of ecological fallacy (Robinson, 1950). Nevertheless, by running the models using district-level information we were able to distinguish between urban and rural areas and take full advantage of the fine resolution of the micro-scale food poverty data. The models were developed using all independent variables for seven dependent variables (see Table 2). We analysed the correlation between our independent variables to eliminate those that showed collinearity (Table 2). In the case of the accessibility indices for district, provincial, regional and national markets, we tested each index individually in all regression models, selecting the index that explained most variance. We calibrated all models using version 3 of the GWR software (Fotheringham et al., 2004). We weighted valid data points aspatially according to the natural logarithm of population of each district and rescaled so that the sum of the weight variable is equal to the sample size (670).The adjusted R 2 increases and ANOVA F-tests confirm that the GWR models explain significantly more variance than the global models (Tables 3-5). The food poverty gap (FGTI, Table 4) and food poverty severity (FGT2, Table 5) models appear to be better defined than the food poverty headcount ratio (FGT0) and mean consumption (MEANY) models (Table 3). An analysis of the local pseudo R 2 shows that despite small differences between models all areas except the northern Amazon are better explained using local rather than global models. In When we examine the coefficients of the \"independent\" variables, we can take into account both the global and the local model results. Variables that are significant in explaining variance in the global models but show little spatial variability are likely to be significant in most locations. Variables that are both significant in the global regression model and display significant spatial variation are likely to be significant in most locations but the strength of the relationship is less strong in some specific regions. Variables that are insignificant in the global models but which show significant spatial variation are likely to be positively significant in some areas but negatively significant in others. These cases merit special attention.The percentage of the population who class themselves as indigenous (INDIG) has a significant positive association with all the food poverty indicators and a negative association with MEANY. The variable also displays significant spatial variability in nearly all models. Mapping the local values of significance of this parameter confirms that all areas reflect the global model except the southern provinces of El Oro and Loja and a few remote Amazonian districts.Our climatic variable (MN_DRY) shows significant spatial variability in all seven models. The significance of determination of dry months on food poverty is strongest in the central Andean region (Fig. 6). Semi-arid coastal areas benefit from alternatives to agriculture such as fishing and tourism but even with the inclusion of a coastal dummy variable (COASTAL) the effect of climate in these areas is either insignificant or negatively significant. The proportion of farms that have irrigation equipment (PR_RIE1) is not significant for either FGT0 or MEANY. Irrigation is moderately significant in the global models of FGT1 and FGT2 as well as displaying considerable spatial variability. This variable shows a negative association with inequality in the central Andes and a positive association in the southern coast and highlands and much of the central Amazon region.Mean slope per district (MN_SLP) shows a significant positive association with FGT1 and FGT2 in all Ecuador but the relationship with FGT0 or MEANY is insignificant. There is no significant spatial variability in any of the models.Land use suitability (MN_SUIT) shows significant spatial variability in four of the seven models. As expected, we see a negative relationship between suitability and poverty in the central Andes, coast and Amazon; however, this association is reversed in the northern Andes and Amazon (Fig. 7).global models but shows some spatial variability. Fig. 8 shows two areas where the proportion of land owned by individuals is negatively associated with food poverty. The GINI coefficient of farm size is highly significant in the global regression but shows little spatial variability. A reduction in GINI is related to a reduction in food poverty; this relationship is strongest with FGT0 but weakens in the FGT2 models.Our two agricultural employment variables are highly significant in all the global models and show significant spatial variation. We find a cluster of districts in the provinces of Azuay and Cañar, southern Chimborazo, eastern Guayas and parts of Morona Santiago that do not show a strong association between the percentage of the workforce (AGR_WF) in agriculture and food poverty. In the case of the percentage of salaried agricultural workers (SAL_AGR), the relationship between salaried workers and food poverty is strong in two areasthe northern Andes and northern Amazon (from Cotopaxi northwards), and the southern Andes and southern coast (from Cañar southwards). In all other areas, the association is ambiguous.Accessibility to a provincial capital (MN_AP) is a significant global determinant in all our models. It also displays significant spatial variability in six of the seven models. This suggests that access to markets and services is universally important as a determinant of food poverty in Ecuador but that local variations occur in the strength of this relationship. Districts with significant positive t-values are encountered in the provinces of Loja, El Oro, Imbabura and Esmeraldas. Meanwhile a few districts in the provinces of Los Rios and Cotopaxi display an inverse relationship (Fig. 9).Results show that community levels of food consumption and food poverty are not distributed randomly throughout Ecuador. Clusters of food poverty may require collective or structural interventions that benefit communities rather than individuals, such as improvements in transport infrastructure or the creation of special development zones. Our results could benefit organizations wishing to apply successful interventions to places with similar food poverty conditions. We have used these results directly within CIAT to highlight the uneven distribution of some of CIAT's research efforts in Ecuador. A survey of local committees of agricultural research (CIALs) 12 showed that food poverty was not a major determinant in their location despite CIAT's mandate to reduce poverty through agricultural research.A number of studies (e.g. Bigman et al., 2000;Petrucci et al., 2003) have used community level data to improve the estimation of the absolute value and the distribution of food poverty indicators, especially when household-level data are not available. Here we were more interested in how community and broad-scale (large area) variables are related to levels of food poverty, with the ultimate aim of identifying driving forces and subsequent opportunities for interventions to reduce food poverty. We were particularly interested in testing a number of hypotheses, defined a priori by local experts outside a formal conceptual framework. Our analysis sought to generate new hypotheses guided by the results of our GWR models. We ran models for two different food poverty lines. The spatial patterns of significant parameters are fairly insensitive to the poverty line chosen. We found greater differences in spatial patterns between welfare indicators. The outputs of these models, visible in map form, show that the processes that determine food poverty are spatially non-stationary. This has implications for the design of policies to reduce food poverty and suggests that each cluster of food poverty will require different classes of interventions. We see that generally the models appear better defined for the southern and central coastal region than for districts in the Amazon. This implies that we could have chosen a different set of potential factors, or that the data were not reliable or entirely representative for those latter remote areas.The proportion of the population classified as \"indigenous\" is universally associated with higher levels of food poverty and lower levels of food consumption. Higher levels of food poverty are found in places with greater concentrations of indigenous compared to non-indigenous people. An exception is some Amazonian districts, characterized by high proportions of indigenous people that were poorly surveyed in the 1998 expenditure survey. District data on consumption and poverty may not reflect well their food security situation. Our analysis confirms other studies, which suggest that, despite high levels of social capital, being of indigenous descent limits opportunities for improving livelihood.The experience of food security experts in Ecuador and the findings of past research suggest that poor access to water will result in higher levels of food poverty. This is broadly the case in Ecuador but some areas show results contrary to our hypotheses-areas where we observe a negative association between drought and food poverty but where the effect of irrigation and coastal income sources are insignificant. These particular variables are interesting in the context of the location of clusters of food poverty (see under Methods) in the central Andes. Targeted investment in drought-tolerant varieties of crops such as maize, rather than irrigation development, might be worth considering in this region.Our panel of food security experts in Ecuador expected the appropriate use of land to be universally associated with lower levels of food poverty. But this factor varied across the country. We expected that, ceteris paribus, districts with a greater area used appropriately would have higher food consumption, lower food poverty rates and greater equality. In some areas, this is the case but for many parts of northern Ecuador we find large areas supposedly used inappropriately but with low levels of food poverty (such as the province of Sucumbios). These areas are largely dedicated to the cultivation of crops and pasture despite severe limitations. The patterns we observe may be because the exploitation of soil resources has yet to have negative impacts on productivity. These areas in the northern Amazon were colonized relatively recently. Plots are larger than in other parts of Ecuador (Murphy et al., 1997) enabling settlers to engage in extensive forms of agriculture, notably cattle ranching. Alternatively, the influence of oil production in these provinces may be enhancing district levels of food consumption and reducing food poverty.The influence of the cut-flower industry may partly explain the negative association with the proportion of land owned individually and food poverty in the north of Ecuador. The county of Cayambe has the lowest proportion of land owned by individuals and contains the districts with the highest food poverty rates in the province of Pichincha. Information on land ownership at the district levelrather than assuming the county value is representative for all districts-would improve this analysis. A more general indicator of land tenure structure is the GINI coefficient of land ownership. This is a significant factor in all the models and the association is as we expected given previous research, which found productivity to be lower on smallholdings (World Bank, 1996). Our results concur with those of Hentschel and Waters (2002), suggesting that land reform might be an appropriate policy route for reducing food poverty. However, the ownership of land by individuals, as opposed to corporate or communal ownership, may not deliver lower levels of food poverty. Land reform therefore must take into account the minimum amount and quality of land in each holding, economies of scale and the marketing power of cooperatives or informal groups of producers.The results of the regression analysis suggest that employment in agriculture is associated with higher levels of food poverty. Poverty rates are lower in communities where many agricultural workers receive salaries compared to localities where informal agricultural employment predominates. Districts with high proportions of salaried workers are found predominantly in the banana growing province of El Oro, sugar cane plantations in eastern Guayas Province and the cut-flower districts north-east of Quito. Our analysis supports the idea (de Janvry and Sadoulet, 2000) that the promotion of agro-enterprises may be a more successful route out of food poverty than dependence on smallholder farming.Policies that aim to improve transport infrastructure, to increase appropriate investment in inputs and to lend financial and technical assistance will likely promote the creation of small agro-enterprises (ODEPLAN -FAO, 2001).Our analysis confirms that greater access to markets is associated with lower levels of food poverty. Access to local district-level markets is not a significant variable. Access to provincial capitals proved to be significant. Provincial capitals and local markets have different functions. More significant commerce and income-producing activity occurs at provincial markets. Spatial patterns of coefficients that suggest that policies focused on improving access to provincial markets, for instance by investing in the transport infrastructure, would benefit all areas of Ecuador. But these policies could have greater influence in the southern Andes and north-western Ecuador. The negative relationship between time to provincial capitals and food poverty in central Ecuador may be because large towns that are important regional markets but not provincial capitals were not accessibility target locations.Our results suggest that the processes associated with food poverty do not reflect the traditional Andes, Coast and Amazon regions of Ecuador. The provincial level is a more appropriate scale of analysis than the region. Our ability to assess different policy options at the provincial level is relevant given the trend towards decentralization in Ecuador. The food poverty maps also serve as a baseline against which future interventions can be judged for evidence of impact.This study demonstrates that explicit consideration of geographic and environmental factors helps us better understand the patterns and processes linked to food poverty. A spatial analysis framework both allows the incorporation of environmental variables and helps reveal patterns from socio-economic data. As a consequence, policies and interventions can be targeted to specific areas and can be tailored to the specific combination of factors that are linked to food poverty.    6. Significance of mean number of consecutive dry months per district (MN_DRY) using geographically weighted regression where FGT2_H is the dependent variable Fig. 7. Significance of mean area of land that is being used appropriately (MN_SUIT) using geographically weighted regression where FGT_0L is the dependent variable Fig. 8. Significance of individual ownership of land per district (PR_IND2) using geographically weighted regression where FGT0_L is the dependent variable. Fig. 9. Significance of access to provincial capitals (MN_AP) using geographically weighted regression where FGT1_L is the dependent variable.       "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"08069b876eae377421ab98f523036529","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/106862ce-ec9f-4136-be52-cbd2ece1d553/retrieve","id":"-1575464123"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"8e97e72f-848e-4c4c-b07f-9c9f8b2bc434","content":"La subscripción es gratuita para los países en vías de desarrollo. Se agradecen contribuciones en forma de artículos y cartas al editor. La redacción se reserva el derecho de editar los artículos. INFOMUSA no se responsabiliza por el material no solicitado. Sin embargo, trataremos de responder a cada una de las peticiones. Los artículos pueden ser citados o reproducidos sin cargos, con la mención de la fuente. También se publican ediciones de INFOMUSA en francés y en inglés. Una versión electrónica esta disponible a la dirección siguiente: http://www.inibap.org/ publications/infomusa/infomusa_spa.htm Cambio de dirección: Para evitar la perdida de sus ejemplares de INFOMUSA, notifique a INIBAP con seis semanas de antelación si cambia de dirección postal.Editorial D e vez en cuando nos plantean considerar la idea de hacer de INFOMUSA una revista académica arbitrada. En los últimos tiempos, este planteamiento surgía más a menudo ya que el avance de la carrera de un científico está ligado a la cantidad de artículos publicados en las revistas académicas reconocidas. Nuestra posición siempre ha sido la de resistir a este cambio. Sentimos que el papel de INFOMUSA es el de informar a los miembros de la comunidad de investigación y desarrollo de lo que está pasando en el mundo de los bananos, aún si la investigación de la que se informa no es necesariamente 'vanguardista' desde el punto de vista científico o no rindió los resultados esperados. Sin una publicación como INFOMUSA, creemos que los investigadores bananeros perderían mucha información valiosa que permanecería enterrada en la llamada literatura gris. Los bananos se cultivan en diversos ambientes y el sentido de déjà vu es inevitable, igual que muchas variaciones sobre el mismo tema, como por ejemplo el cribado de germoplasma para la resistencia a las plagas y enfermedades comunes, las cuales se desarrollan por diferentes investigadores en sus propias situaciones. Los resultados negativos son las especies aún más olvidadas y raramente encuentran su salida en las revistas académicas respetadas. Sin embargo, los resultados negativos son extremadamente útiles para descartar las hipótesis erróneas. Informando sobre ellos prevenimos la duplicación de los esfuerzos innecesarios y la pérdida de recursos que en los países en vías de desarrollo, donde se realiza la mayor parte de las investigaciones de Musa, son particularmente escasos.Aunque queremos mantener a INFOMUSA amigable con los autores, también sentimos que el hecho de brindar la información a nuestros lectores no debe ser a expensas de la integridad científica. La información es de poco uso si los lectores no entienden de donde proviene o si no se realizaron análisis estadísticos de los datos. No obstante las reglas de la investigación científica y su presentación, de las cuales depende nuestra confianza de utilizar los resultados publicados, no son obvios intuitivamente. La mayoría de los autores, aún los que hablan en uno de los tres idiomas en las cuales se publica la revista, necesitan ayuda para presentar su trabajo, especialmente los relacionados al análisis de los datos. Tratamos de asegurar que los artículos que publicamos cumplan con los requisitos básicos de informes científicos, pasando los manuscritos a los miembros de nuestro comité editorial para una revisión informal, en base de lo cual los textos a menudo se regresan a los autores para que los mejoren. La cuestión con la cual nos enfrentamos ahora es cuan lejos podemos ir para mejorar la calidad de INFOMUSA sin sacrificar lo que ustedes, los lectores, aprecian en ella. Anteriormente hemos discutido en contra una INFOMUSA académica formalmente arbitrada, ¿pero, puede ser que ustedes sienten de manera diferente?Por favor, hágannos saber que piensan ustedes al contestar el cuestionario adjunto, el cual ha sido diseñado para descubrir su opinión sobre los cambios que hemos hecho recientemente a INFOMUSA y qué podemos hacer para producir una revista que cumpla mejor con sus necesidades. También pueden escribirnos. En este número, estamos inaugurando la sección Forum, que está abierta a todos nuestros lectores. Esperamos que ustedes la utilicen para comentar sobre los artículos publicados o inicien debates sobre los tópicos relevantes.El sitio de Internet de INIBAP también esta cambiando. Fue expandido para incluir una sección sobre los usos de los bananos y sus productos, información general sobre los bananos dirigida al público en general y un sitio sobre genómica para informar sobre el progreso hecho en la decodificación de los genomas del banano y de Mycosphaerella.InfoMusa -Vol. 13 -No.1 2 Suspensiones celulares L a multiplicación de los bananos in vitro se realiza principalmente a través de la proliferación de los meristemas vegetativos. El desarrollo reciente de suspensiones de células embriogénicas abre la posibilidad para la producción masiva de plantas de banano a bajo costo (Haicour et al. 1998). Varios estudios sobre las suspensiones celulares se han realizado en la Universidad Nacional de Vietnam en la ciudad de Ho Chi Minh (Bui Trang Viet et al. 2000, Tran Thanh Huong y Bui Trang Viet 2000, Cung Hoang Phi Phuong y Bui Trang Viet 2000, Tran Thanh Huong y Bui Trang Viet 2003). En este trabajo informamos sobre el crecimiento de una suspensión celular a partir de las flores masculinas inmaduras de un cultivar cultivado ampliamente en Vietnam, el 'Cau man'.Se recolectaron flores masculinas inmaduras y luego se colocaron en el medio MA1 (Escalant et al. 1994, Shii et al. 1992). La suspensión celular fue iniciada colocando el callo de 4 meses de edad en el medio MA2 líquido (Escalant et al. 1994, Shii et al. 1992) complementado con 35 g/L de sacarosa, 1 mg/L de 2,4-D, y 15 mg/L de ácido ascórbico. Los cultivos se mantuvieron en frascos de Erlenmeyer de 100 ml que fueron colocados en un temblador giratorio a 80 rpm y cultivados a 28°C bajo 1000 lux (fotoperíodo de 12 h). El medio viejo de cultivo fue reemplazado con un medio fresco cada dos semanas. Después de dos meses, la suspensión contenía una mezcla de manojos de células y células individuales. Después de dos semanas de subcultivo, la suspensión celular fue filtrada a través de filtros de metal de 0.8 mm. El crecimiento de las células fue evaluado midiendo el volumen de células establecidas (SCV) después de 5 minutos de sedimentación (Gómez et al. 2000, Schoofs 1997).Durante el crecimiento de las suspensiones celulares se midió la tasa de respiración. También se midieron cada semana los cambios en el pH y las concentraciones de oxígeno y las sales totales en el medio de crecimiento. El medio de crecimiento fue separado de la suspensión celular rotando a 1000 rpm durante 5 minutos.La presencia del ácido indoleacético (AIA), una auxina, y del ácido abscísico (ABA) se detectó utilizando cromatografía en capa fina en gel de sílice (60 F254, 105554, Merk). Los cromatogramas fueron revelados en cloroformo:metanol:ácido acético (80:15:5 v/v). Las sustancias reguladoras del crecimiento fueron visualizadas bajo la luz UV, de acuerdo a Yokota et al. 1980. La identificación se realizó comparando con los estándares de referencia conocidos de AIA y zeatina. Para medir el nivel de AIA se utilizó la prueba de crecimiento recto coléoptilos Oryza. Esta prueba está basada en la habilidad de la auxina de estimular la elongación de las secciones de coléoptilos que flotan en el medio líquido. La actividad de zeatina fue detectada utilizando una prueba basada en la expansión dependiente de la citoquinina de los cotiledones de pepino (Meidner 1984).Alícuotas de 5 ml de suspensión celular fueron filtradas a través de un tamiz de 800 µm y inoculadas en 5 ml del medio MA3 sólido complementado con 0.2 mg/L de NAA, 0.1 mg/L de quinetina y 0.05 mg/L de zeatina (Escalant et al. 1994, Shii et al. 1992).El crecimiento de la suspensión celular en el tiempo siguió una curva sigmoidea. Un período de crecimiento lento, hasta el séptimo día, fue seguido por un período de crecimiento rápido entre el 7 o y 21 r días. Este crecimiento rápido fue seguido por una fase estacionaria. La respiración aumentó durante el período de crecimiento rápido y disminuyó antes de la fase estacionaria (Figura 1).La influencia de la densidad de inoculación inicial sobre el crecimiento de la suspensión celular se estudió examinando tres volúmenes de células establecidas: 50, 75 y 100 µl/ml del medio. El mejor porcentaje de células embriogénicas con un citoplasma denso y núcleo grande (Figura 2) se observó a 75 µl/ml. Después de reemplazar el viejo medio de cultivo con un medio fresco, la suspensión resultó ser heterogénea y contenía una mezcla de manojos celulares y células individuales. Los manojos de células se dividieron en dos grupos basándose en su diámetro: pequeño (menor de 200 µm), medio (200-800 µm) y grande (mayor de 800 µm). El crecimiento de la suspensión celular fue evaluado midiendo el número de estas células y manojos. El número máximo de manojos pequeños y medianos (48 000±147 y 1820±120, respectivamente) se observaron al 14° día, mientras que el número máximo de células individuales (77 280±2219) y manojos grandes de células (338±18) se observaron al 21 r día.Durante la fase de crecimiento rápido, un gran número de pequeños manojos se formó de los manojos grandes. El SCV total fue muy bajo cuando el cultivo se establecía a partir de manojos pequeños (Tabla 1).El pH y las concentraciones de oxígeno y sales totales en el medio de crecimiento disminuyeron durante el crecimiento de la suspensión celular (Figura 3).Utilizando cromatografía monodimensional en capa fina, la actividad de las auxinas correspondiente al AIA se identificó a Rf 0.84-0.89, y la actividad de la citoquinina correspondiente a la zeatina se observó a Rf 0.67-0.74. Los niveles de estas hormonas de crecimiento durante el crecimiento de la embriogénica de las células del 'Cau man' pero las condiciones actuales de cultivo deben ser mejoradas con el fin de obtener embriones somáticos bien formados.Este estudio recibió apoyo de una subvención del Consejo Nacional de Viet Nam sobre los problemas fundamentales en ciencias naturales.   suspensión celular se muestran en la Figura 4. Los resultados muestran que el crecimiento de la suspensión celular aumentó con una concentración aumentada de zeatina pero los altos niveles de AIA inhibieron este crecimiento.Con 0.2 mg/L de ácido naftaleneacético (ANA), 0.1 mg/L de quinetina y 0.05 mg/L de zeatina, los embriones somáticos se desarrollaron normalmente hasta llegar a la etapa globular (después de 8 días de cultivo, lo más temprano) pero su desarrollo subsiguiente fue suprimido. La ausencia de la biopolaridad de los embriones fue causada por una pobre individualización de los brotes y meristemas radicales. Se encontraba presente una epidermis pero no hubo una organización interna clara. Los resultados proporcionan evidencia de la capacidad Tabla 1. Volumen de células establecidas (µl/ml del medio) de las suspensiones celulares después de 14 días de cultivo.Tamaño final de los manojos de célula los manojos de celulas Menos de 200 µm 200-800 µm Más de 800 µm Total Menos de 200 µm 22.7 ±1.4 27.4 ±2.4 3.9 ±3.2 54.0 ± 5.1 200-800 µm 19.6 ±2.0 20.2 ±2.0 58.1 ± 5.9 97.9 ± 8.6 Menos de 800 µm 7.5 ± 0.6 42.9 ± 1.7 50.4 ±1.2 100.8 ±10.0 Más de 800 µm 57.4 ± 4.3 25.4 ±2.8 67.2 ± 5.0 150.1 ±12.0 L a baja tasa de multiplicación, ocurrencia de alta oxidación de los explantes y crecimiento lento son algunos problemas que encontrados en la micropropagación de los plátanos y en particular del híbrido FHIA-21 (AAAB). El Biobras-6, un análogo de brasinoesteroide pudiera sustituir a algunos reguladores del crecimiento empleados en el cultivo de tejidos (Gómez et al. 2000). Se realizó el presente trabajo con el objetivo de evaluar el efecto de Biobras-6 sobre la micropropagación in vitro de FHIA-21.Los ensayos se realizaron en el Instituto de Biotecnología de las Plantas (IBP) con plantas in vitro procedentes de tres subcultivos del clon de plátano híbrido FHIA-21. El instrumental utilizado se esterilizó en un horno de calor seco a 180ºC y los medios de cultivo en autoclaves a una temperatura de 121ºC y 1.2 kg/cm² de presión durante 20 minutos. El material vegetal se colocó en cámaras de luz natural con valor promedio de 4500 lux y temperatura de 28±2ºC.El medio basal de multiplicación fue el compuesto por las sales propuestas por Murashige y Skoog (sales MS), 1.0 mg/L de tiamina, 3% sacarosa y 8% de agar. Cada frasco contenía 30 ml del medio de cultivo y 10 explantes. Se realizaron 10 réplicas por tratamiento. En las variantes de medios líquidos se redujeron las sales MS al 70% y se aplicó 15 ml de medio por frasco de 250 ml de capacidad. Se realizaron tres subcultivos cada 21 días. Los brotes axilares fueron separados y los tejidos con oxidación fenólica extraídos y el cormo de las plantas completamente formadas cortados transversalmente. . Se realizaron dos experimentos para los estados físicos semisólido y líquido en la fase de multiplicación. Se evaluaron diferentes combinaciones de dos concentraciones de citokinina 6-BAP (2.0 y 4.0 mg/L) y de Biobras-6 (0.01 y 0.05 mg/L) (Tabla 1). La tasa de multiplicación, el número de brotes por explante, el número de raíces por explante y la longitud de las plantas fueron registrados después de 21 días.En la fase de enraizamiento se incrementó de 4% la concentración de sacarosa el medio basal. Las diferentes concentraciones de Biobras-6 evaluadas en la fase de enraizamiento se presentan en la Tabla 2. La tasa de multiplicación, el número de brotes por explante, el número de raíces por explante y la longitud de las plantas fueron registrados a los 28 días.En la fase de aclimatización, se aplicó la inmersión de las raíces de las plantas in vitro en varias soluciones de Biobras-6 y el acido naftalenacetico (ANA), durante 10 minutos antes de la plantación (Tabla 3) Las vitroplantas se colocaron en cajas de polieturano de 70 alvéolos y dimensiones de 69 cm x 45 cm. A los 45 días del ciclo de aclimatización, los datos registrados fueron el número de hojas y raíces por explante, el peso fresco y el peso seco de la planta.Todos los datos de los experimentos fueron procesados a través del paquete estadístico Statistical Program Scientific System (SPSS) versión 9.0 para Windows. Con el mismo se efectuó la previa comparación de los supuestos de homogeneidad de varianzas y normalidad de los datos, y posteriormente los análisis multifactorial de varianza con prueba de rango múltiple de Duncan.Como se puede observar en la Tabla 4, el número de brotes por explante y tasa de multiplicación en el medio semisólido fueron significativamente mas altos en los tratamientos 5 y 6 que contenían 4 mg/L 6-BAP + 0.01 mg/L y 0.05 mg/L Biobras-6 respectivamente. Sin embargo, el número de brotes por explante en el testigo, que contenía 4 mg/L 6-BAP pero no Tabla 1. Concentraciones de biobras-6, 6-BAP y ácido indoleacético (AIA) en la fase de multiplicación. Biobras, no fue significativamente diferente del valor obtenido en los tratamientos 5 y 6. La mayor longitud del tallo de las plantas se observó en los tratamientos 1 y 2 con Biobras-6 pero sin la citoquinina 6-BAP lo que sugiere un efecto auxínico. Los explantes de estos tratamientos también presentaron los valores los más bajos en cuanto a la tasa de multiplicación y los mas altos en cuanto al número de raíces. Los resultados obtenidos sugieren que el Biobras-6 se puede utilizar como sustituto del AIA en el medio de cultivo de multiplicación del plátano FHIA-21. Los resultados con el medio de cultivo liquido Tabla 4. Efecto en FHIA-21 de varias concentraciones de reguladores de crecimiento en un medio semisólido para la fase de multiplicación (ver Tabla 1 para los detalles de los tratamientos).  (Tabla 5) siguen el mismo patrón que con el medio semisólido. Se observaron efectos de los brasinoesteroides en la elongación, la división celular, el desarrollo vascular y reproductivo (Núñez 2000). La utilización del Biobras-6 durante el cultivo in vitro del banano FHIA-18 tuvo un efecto en la germinación de embriones somáticos (Gómez et al. 2000).Un medio de cultivo conteniendo ambos Biobras-6 y 6-BAP es más favorable a la división celular y la formación de brotes y permite incrementar la tasa de multiplicación sin el aspecto negativo de la formación de raíces observado cuanto el Biobras-6 esta utilizado solo.Los mejores valores para el numero de raíces por explante, longitud del tallo, peso fresco y Tabla 6. Efecto en FHIA-21 de varias concentraciones de reguladores de crecimiento en un medio para la fase de enraízamiento (Ver Tabla 2 para los detalles de los tratamientos). Tabla 5. Efecto en FHIA-21 de varias concentraciones de reguladores de crecimiento en un medio líquido para la fase de multilicación (Ver Tabla 1 para los detalles de los tratamientos). peso seco de la planta se observaron en los tratamientos combinando el Biobras-6 y el AIA, y los valores de longitud del tallo y peso fresco de la planta no fueron significativamente diferentes de aquellas obtenidas con el AIA solo (Tabla 6). Resultados anteriores relativos al proceso de micropropagación masiva de plátanos y bananos demostraron que el Biobras-6 es capaz de sustituir al 6-BAP en la fase de establecimiento (Barranco 2001) y al AIA en la fase de enraizamiento (Nuñez 2000).Los resultados nos muestran que las variables altura de las plantas y peso fresco de las plantas en la fase de aclimatización son superiores en el tratamientos 4 (0.05 mg/L Biobras-6 + 10 mg/L ANA). l hecho de que los cultivares triploides no tienen semillas los hace comestibles pero también representa una limitación cuando se trata de mejorar su rendimiento y resistencia a los estrés bióticos. Los mejoradores siempre tratan de obtener híbridos partenocárpicos con resistencia mejorada. Simmonds (1952Simmonds ( , 1953Simmonds ( y 1959) ) reportó que la partenocarpia es controlada por tres genes dominantes complementarios. El presente estudio se realizó para investigar la germinación de las semillas y la partenocarpia en la progenie resultante de los cruzamientos entre los diploides, triploides y diploides con triploides.El trabajo se llevó a cabo en el Colegio Hortícola e Instituto de Investigaciones, Universidad Agropecuaria de Tamil Nadu en Coimbatore. Los triploides y diploides utilizados en el estudio se presentan en la Tabla 1, y los híbridos diploides sintéticos en la Tabla 2.Con excepción de 'Rasthali', 'Nendran' y 'Ney poovan', que son cultivares masculinos estériles, todos los otros cultivares fueron utilizados como progenitores femeninos y masculinos. 'Robusta' fue utilizado como progenitor masculino.Se realizó un total de 7830 cruzamientos, representando 71 combinaciones.Los cruzamientos se realizaron entre las 7.30 am y 10.30 am. Las anteras sin abrirse de los progenitores masculinos fueron recolectadas de las flores abiertas el día de cruzamiento. Las anteras fueron retorcidas y forzadas a abrirse. El polen se recolectó y se untó sobre el estigma de las flores femeninas utilizando un cepillo No. 2. El estigma receptor era pegajoso al tacto, mientras que el estigma que perdió la receptividad era de color azuloso o marrón. Las flores fueron cubiertas con una bolsa de papel perforada y marcadas con la información sobre la fecha del cruzamiento, la combinación parental y el número de dedos cruzados. Las bolsas fueron removidas cinco días más tarde. Los racimos fueron cosechados después de que uno o dos dedos maduraron in situ.Las semillas se extrajeron manualmente de la pulpa y se clasificaron como 'buenas' o 'malas' después de una inmersión en agua. Las semillas flotantes se consideraron malas y se descartaron. Las semillas fueron remojadas en agua por ocho días y sembradas en una mezcla de tierra esterilizada (Rowe y Richardson 1975). Ellas se mantuvieron en una cámara de neblina y su germinación fue vigilada de cerca. Sólo 312 plantones híbridos fueron obtenidos de 18 de las 71 combinaciones intentadas. Los híbridos fueron sembrados en el campo y al momento de la floración las flores femeninas fueron cubiertas con una bolsa de papel para prevenir la polinización natural. Un mes después de la floración, se observó el desarrollo de la pulpa en una sección transversal en las flores femeninas.La ploidia de los híbridos fue evaluada en dos momentos diferentes. La densidad de los estomas y el tamaño y la cantidad de cloroplastos por un par de células de guarda fueron medidas en la etapa de plántulas. Los híbridos que tenían de 62.6 a 109.6, de 50.4 a 56.9 y de 19.7 a 35.1 estomas por milímetro cuadrado fueron clasificados respectivamente como diploides, triploides y tetraploides (Sathiamoorthy 1973). Se contó el número de cloroplastos en el par de células de guarda utilizando el método sugerido por Tenkouano et al. (1998). Las plantas con una densidad de cloroplastos entre 10.1 y 10.3, 13.1 y 13.3 y entre 15.5 y 15.8 fueron clasificadas respectivamente como diploides, triploides y tetraploides.  Frutas del híbrido tetraploide resultando de un cruzamiento entre 'Karpooravalli' y 'Red banana.'Posteriormente, se contó el número de cromosomas en las puntas de las raíces. El número de cromosomas se determinó utilizando una versión ligeramente modificada del método descrito en Dolezel et al. (1997).La composición genómica de los nuevos híbridos fue evaluada utilizando un método de anotación morfológica (Simmonds y Shepherd 1955). Se observaron un pobre establecimiento de semillas y una alta ocurrencia de semillas vacías o parcialmente llenas. Simmonds (1952Simmonds ( , 1959) ) sugirió que la ocurrencia de las semillas parcialmente llenas, germinación fracasada y la mortandad prematura de las plántulas podría atribuirse a los eventos genéticos y citológicos que tienen lugar inmediatamente después de la fertilización del banano. La tasa de germinación relativamente buena podría deberse al hecho de que esta tuvo lugar en los meses de febrero y marzo, durante los cuales prevalecen días soleados y noches frescas. La experiencia de este departamento dice que se debe evitar los meses más fríos (de noviembre a enero) y los meses más calurosos (mayo y junio). Sathiamoorthy (1987) reportó que la germinación fue muy baja y errática en invierno.La ploidia fue estimada mediante la apariencia fenotípica y confirmada por la densidad de estomas o por el número de cloroplastos por el par de células de guarda y conteo de cromosomas en las puntas de las raíces. En el presente estudio, la densidad de estomas no concurrió con los niveles de ploidia en informes anteriores (Sathiamoorthy 1987) así que, para la evaluación de la ploidia se utilizaron las Los conteos de los cromosomas en las puntas de las raíces se realizaron en 48 híbridos y los 15 híbridos que no pudieron ser clasificados ni como diploides, ni triploides ni tetraploides. El nivel de la ploidia de 33 híbridos concordó con los resultados de la densidad de estomas y 13 de los 15 híbridos tuvieron 55 cromosomas.De los 312 híbridos obtenidos, 36 fueron partenocárpicos. De los 6 híbridos obtenidos de los cruzamientos AA × AA, 5 fueron partenocárpicos (Tabla 3). La hibridación de un AB con un AA rindió 8 híbridos partenocárpicos de los 214 híbridos. Los cruzamientos triploide × diploide dieron 13 híbridos, de los cuales solo 4 fueron partenocárpicos, mientras que los cruzamientos triploide × triploide produjeron 41 híbridos, de los cuales 17 fueron partenocárpicos.En el caso de los cruzamientos entre el H-201 con los diploides AA, muchos híbridos demostraron ser no partenocárpicos, sugiriendo la influencia del progenitor femenino altamente fértil. Viendo el pedigrí del híbrido H-201, parece que 'Bareli chinia', que fue utilizado como progenitor femenino, podría explicar la no partenocarpia observada en este estudio. Los híbridos partenocárpicos obtenidos en los cruzamientos entre el H-201 y un progenitor diploide, o progenitores diploides, podrían deberse a que la partenocarpia estaba condicionada por los genes dominantes complementarios derivados de los diploides naturales comestibles, que son diversamente heterocigotos en su composición genética para estos genes. Desde el punto de vista del mejoramiento, esta es una consideración importante ya que las plantas partenocárpicas pueden ser detectadas sin esfuerzo en los cruzamientos que involucran estos progenitores diploides.En los cruzamientos AA × AA, se obtuvieron 5 híbridos diploides partenocárpicos pero no triploides o tetraploides partenocárpicos. Sin embargo, esto no puede ser aseverado como una regla, ya que en un estudio anterior con los mismos progenitores se obtuvieron híbridos triploides (Sathiamoorthy 1987), aunque la proporción fue baja. Los híbridos partenocárpicos obtenidos de los cruzamientos AB × AA merecen una evaluación para ser utilizados como progenitores potenciales en los futuros programas de mejoramiento.n Colombia la comercialización del plátano se realiza por racimos, pero últimamente los mercados especializados lo presentan en manos y dedos (Arcila et al. 2000a). En este caso, el tamaño de estos determina el precio de venta (Giraldo 1998). La comercialización por racimos aumenta la vida en anaquel pero su manejo es difícil y origina grandes pérdidas comerciales, al contrario de la comercialización en unidades o manos (Arcila et al. 2000a). En general, las últimas manos son de menor tamaño y se desechan o se venden a menor precio ya que no cumplen los estándares de calidad de los mercados especializados.El desmane consiste en eliminar varias manos distales (Rodríguez et al. 1988), para que la materia seca no utilizable comercialmente se distribuya entre las manos que permanecen en el racimo, que deben aumentar su tamaño. No se conoce si dicha respuesta puede ser alterada por la distancia de siembra.Como el tamaño del fruto es una característica importante para los mercados especializados, el objetivo de este estudio fue Efectos del desmane y la distancia de siembra sobre las características productivas del plátano 'FHIA-20' determinar el efecto de la eliminación selectiva de las manos sobre parámetros de producción y la calidad de los frutos del plátano FHIA-20, en función de la distancia de siembra.El estudio se llevó a cabo en la granja Montelindo (propiedad de la Universidad de Caldas), ubicada en la región Santágueda, municipio de Palestina (Caldas), a 5º05' N y 75º40' W, a 1050 msnm, con temperatura media de 22.5ºC, humedad relativa del 76%, precipitación anual de 2100 mm y brillo solar anual de 2010 horas.En hoyos de 40 cm x 40 cm se sembraron agujas recortadas (500 g, aproximadamente) de plátano FHIA-20, provenientes de la misma granja. Se emplearon distancias de 3 m y 4 m entre surcos por 3 m entre plantas. El manejo agronómico se efectuó oportunamente e incluyó fertilización, deshije, descalcete, deshoje, embolse y manejo de arvenses.Los tratamientos de desmane se efectuaron 15 días después de la emergencia de la bellota. La intensidad de desmane se expresa por el número de manos dejadas en el racimo: seis, siete u ocho manos. No hubo desmane en las plantas testigo pero se les eliminó la bellota.En cosecha se evaluó: peso del racimo, peso promedio del dedo, peso promedio de mano, peso de cada mano, peso promedio del dedo en cada mano y rendimiento. Los datos fueron sometidos a análisis de varianza para un diseño de bloques completamente al azar, en un arreglo factorial de 2x4, con cuatro repeticiones y siete plantas útiles por repetición. La separación de medias de tratamientos se efectuó mediante la prueba de Tukey. Para todos los análisis se empleó el programa SAS (Statistical Analysis System).Se obtuvieron diferencias altamente significativas para todas las variables, entre los niveles de desmane. El efecto de la distancia de siembra sólo fue altamente significativo para el rendimiento, mientras que el efecto de la interacción entre distancia de siembra y desmane siempre fue significativo (Tabla 1).En ambas distancias, los testigos tuvieron los mayores pesos de racimo, pero los valores más bajos de pesos promedios de dedo y mano, debido a que, en promedio, el número de manos por racimo fue de 11. En racimos desmanados, el peso de racimo aumentó si se dejaban más manos, debido al mayor número de dedos, ya que los pesos promedios de dedo y mano mostraron relación inversa con el numero de manos por racimo (Tabla 2). En racimos con seis manos, el peso de racimo fue el más bajo, pero los pesos promedios de dedo y mano fueron los más altos (Tabla 2). El peso promedio de mano fue 48.7%, 29.3% y 14.6% superior en racimos con seis, siete y ocho manos, respectivamente, en comparación con el testigo a 3 m x 3 m; los valores correspondientes para 4 m x 3 m Tabla 1. Cuadrados medios y niveles de significancia del desmane y de la distancia de siembra sobre los parámetros agronómicos de FHIA-20. El rendimiento fue significativamente mayor en la menor distancia, debido a las diferencias de población: 1111 y 833 plantas/ha, para 3 m x 3 m y 4 m x 3 m, respectivamente; no obstante, en la distancia menor las diferencias entre tratamientos de desmane no fueron significativas (Tabla 2).Los promedios para tratamientos de desmane a través de las distancias de siembra indican que, en comparación con el testigo, el peso de racimo se reduce significativamente en 19.4%, 13.4% y 11.5% en racimos con seis, siete y ocho manos, respectivamente. Esta situación también se refleja en el rendimiento, cuyas reducciones fueron de 19.2%, 14.0% y 12.3% respectivamente. Así, en volumen de producción, el desmane resultaría desventajoso para el productor, en especial si los racimos se dejan con seis manos. El peso inferior de racimo se debe más al efecto del número de dedos, cuyos totales fueron 78, 97 y 111 cuando los racimos se dejaron con seis, siete y ocho manos respectivamente, que al tamaño de los mismos, ya que el peso promedio de dedo fue superior en racimos con menos manos. En comparación con el testigo, el peso promedio de dedo se incrementó significativamente en 42.9%, 22.1% y 11.9% cuando los racimos se dejaron con seis, siete y ocho manos, respectivamente, mientras que peso promedio de mano lo hizo, también significativamente, en 48.7%, 35.9% y 23.1%. Así, para la calidad del producto, la mejor respuesta se obtiene con racimos de seis manos.En ambas distancias de siembra, el peso promedio de dedo en cada mano presentó los valores más bajos en el testigo. A 3 m x 3 m, el peso promedio de dedo de la primera mano, en racimos con ocho, siete y seis manos, superó en 21.9%, 48.3% y 52.0%, respectivamente, el valor correspondiente en el testigo; a 4 m x 3 m, los valores fueron 14.8%, 42.6% y 29.5%, respectivamente (Tabla 3). A 3 m x 3 m, el peso promedio de dedo aumentó a medida que los racimos tenían menor número de manos; a 4 m x 3 m dicho comportamiento fue errático.En general, los racimos de plátano tienden a tener forma triangular ya que las manos ubicadas en la zona proximal son de mayor tamaño que las localizadas en la parte distal (Aristizábal 1995). En este estudio, el peso de la última mano equivalió al 28.3% del peso de la primera en racimos testigo en la distancia de 3 m x 3 m, mientras que en la distancia deEn el plátano FHIA-20, el desmane reduce el peso del racimo pero mejora la calidad comercial de la producción, ya que aumenta el peso de las manos y los dedos, especialmente cuando el racimo se deja con seis manos.El incremento en el peso de manos y frutos a causa del desmane ha sido reportado por Arcila et al. (2000b) en FHIA-21, Rodríguez et al. (1988) en 'Superplátano', 'Laknau' y 'Maricongo' y por Quintero y Aristizábal (2003) en 'Dominico hartón'. Pero este efecto no compensó la pérdida de peso del racimo, lo cual coincide con lo reportado por Irizarry et al. (1994).Con el desmane se pretende que la materia seca destinada para el llenado de las manos eliminadas se distribuya en las que quedan en el racimo, lo cual es teóricamente válido si se tiene en cuenta que no hay modificación en el área foliar funcional para el llenado del racimo. De acuerdo con la teoría sobre la relación fuente -receptáculo, el desmane implica disminución del tamaño del receptáculo y reducción en la Tabla 3. Peso promedio (g) de los dedos en racimos de FHIA-20 sometidos a tratamiento de desmane en dos distancias de siembra. actividad de la fuente, es decir, en la actividad fotosintética de la hoja (Shibles 1984). Esto explica por qué en plantas con similar número de hojas funcionales en floración (12 en promedio, en el presente estudio), el peso de racimo en racimos desmanados es menor que en racimos intactos. El efecto benéfico del desmane está en que mejora el tamaño comercial de los frutos, especialmente cuando el producto se comercializa en manos o en dedos, o se destina para la venta en mercados especializados, como es la tendencia actual (CCI 2000). En éstos casos, el peso de las manos o de los dedos es un factor determinante para establecer el precio de venta del producto y, en consecuencia, los ingresos del productor.Belalcázar y Cayón (1998), observaron en 'Dominico hartón' que el aumento en la distancia de siembra incrementa el peso de racimo. En éste estudio, las mejores respuestas se obtuvieron a 3 x 3 m, lo cual sugiere que las condiciones microclimáticas imperantes en el ambiente formado en tal distanciamiento, particularmente la radiación solar, no ofrecieron limitación para el crecimiento y producción de la planta.Efecto de la profundidad de plantación sobre la duración del ciclo de cultivo y rendimientoxisten dos principales métodos para la siembra de plantas de banano, a saber, en hoyos y en surcos (Simmonds 1966). La profundidad de plantación varía con el tipo de suelo y el tipo de material de plantación (Robinson 1995). Ya que el crecimiento de los retoños usualmente tiene lugar desde las partes centrales y superiores del cormo, existe una tendencia para que los retoños sucesivos nazcan cerca de la superficie del suelo e incluso sobre la superficie del suelo (Simmonds 1966). En las plantas establecidas a partir de retoños, el sistema radical es adventicio y las condiciones desfavorables aumentan la sensibilidad de la planta al estrés hídrico. La reducción de la extensión del sistema radical resulta en un menor y menos seguro anclaje de las plantas. Estas plantas están propensas a volcarse bajo el peso de un racimo prematuro, especialmente durante las estaciones con fuertes vientos o lluviosas. La mata entera puede desarraigarse, dejando el área improductiva para la vida de la plantación.En la región de Kassala, Sudan, las plantas de banano usualmente son sembradas a una profundidad de 30 a 40 cm. Una alta proporción de las plantaciones de banano se convierte en plantaciones improductivas después del cuarto ciclo de cultivo. La reducción en el rendimiento se podría atribuir a profundidades de siembra relativamente superficiales. Varios trabajadores investigaron la disminución en la producción de los bananos después de unos pocos ciclos de cultivo. Turner (1970) postuló que los cultivos procedentes de los retoños son potencialmente más productivos, ya que se benefician de los residuos de los cultivos anteriores y que laEl autor es Profesor Titular, Departamento de Fitotecnia, Universidad de Caldas, PO Box 275,Manizales,Colombia. disminución del rendimiento está asociada con la infección por plagas y enfermedades, particularmente nematodos. Robinson (1995) reportó que los hoyos poco profundos podrían causar una sequía de la planta e inducir un sistema radical superficial en las plantas madre y retoños. Este estudio fue iniciado para examinar el efecto de la profundidad de plantación sobre la duración del ciclo de cultivo y el rendimiento de los bananos.El material de plantación utilizado en esta investigación fueron retoños de espada. Estos fueron sembrados en hoyos 30 cm x 30 cm de diferentes profundidades: 30, 40, 50 y 60 cm. Luego, los hoyos fueron llenados con la tierra extraída. El suelo en esta región es un profundo depósito de limo del área del río Gash. Este tipo de suelo, con una textura de franco limosa a franco limoso arcillosa, tiene la capacidad más alta de humedad disponible del suelo del delta del río Gash (Dijkshoorn 1994).No es ni suelto ni compacto y su perfil típico cubre desde los 40 cm a más de 2 m. Se utilizó un diseño aleatorio de bloques completos con cuatro réplicas y cuatro plantas por parcela. El espaciado de las plantas fue 3 m dentro y entre las filas. La plantación se realizó el 31 de marzo de 1997 en la Kassala Experimental Research Station. Las prácticas culturales, exceptuando la fertilización, se realizaron a medida que se requirieron durante todo el período experimental.Se registró la cantidad de días que se necesitaron para que el cormo empezara a germinar. Cuatro meses después de la siembra se contó la cantidad de retoños nuevos por mata. Se registró la cantidad de días desde la plantación hasta la emisión de la inflorescencia (floración), desde la floración hasta la cosecha y desde cosecha a cosecha durante cuatro ciclos de cultivo. La maduración del racimo fue determinada midiendo el diámetro de la fruta central exterior de la segunda mano durante la cosecha. Los racimos cosechados fueron pesados utilizando una balanza de resortes. Se contó la cantidad de manos por racimo y de dedos por mano. Los promedios fueron comparados utilizando la Prueba de rangos múltiples de Duncan con una probabilidad de 0.05.Como se muestra en la Tabla 1, el período para la germinación del cormo y la cantidad de retoños por mata no diferían estadísticamente con las profundidades de plantación. Esto podría ser el resultado de utilizar materiales de plantación de retoños espada uniformes. Bakhiet et al. (2003) han observado diferencias en el período de germinación del cormo cuando el tipo de material de plantación difería entre sí. La cantidad de días desde la plantación hasta la brotación y desde la plantación hasta la cosecha en el primer ciclo de cultivo disminuyó significativamente con el aumento de la profundidad de plantación, pero el período desde la brotación hasta la cosecha no difería estadísticamente. Los resultados muestran que una profundidad de plantación de 60 cm redujo significativamente la cantidad de días desde la plantación hasta la brotación y hasta la cosecha, pero no desde la brotación hasta la cosecha. El intervalo entre las cosechas durante los cuatro ciclos de cultivo difería significativamente con la profundidad de plantación. Una profundidad de plantación de 60 cm dio como resultado un intervalo entre las cosechas significativamente más corto. La única excepción fue el cultivo del 4º ciclo a una profundidad de plantación de 50 cm, que difirió significativamente del cultivo del 4º ciclo plantado a 60 cm (Tabla 1).La excavación de hoyos profundos parece apresurar la floración, mientras que la maduración parece ser controlada por la temperatura durante el desarrollo de los racimos, como lo observó Robinson (1981), entre tanto Fraser y Eckstein (1998) reportaron una tendencia hacia un ciclo más largo como resultado de la plantación profunda utilizando plántulas de banano provenientes del cultivo de tejidos. Esta discrepancia podría ser una consecuencia de la utilización de diferentes materiales de plantación.Los resultados también muestran que el peso del racimo aumentó con la profundidad de plantación, y los racimos más grandes se observaron a 60 cm, con excepción del segundo ciclo de cultivo, donde el peso del racimo a profundidades de plantación de 50 y 60 cm no difirieron significativamente (Tabla 2). Estos descubrimientos están en concordancia con los reportados por Manica (1976), Obiefuna (1983)  observaron que la plantación poco profunda estaba asociada con racimos más pequeños. Los resultados también muestran, que a una profundidad de plantación de 60 cm, el peso de los racimos aumentó hasta el tercer ciclo de cultivo antes de nivelarse (Tabla 2). Esto no fue observado con otros tratamientos en los cuales el peso de los racimos disminuyó después del segundo ciclo de cultivo. Usualmente, el peso del racimo aumenta hasta el cuarto ciclo de cultivo y luego se nivela, con la excepción de cuando existen problemas con el crecimiento de las raíces debido al pobre drenaje o a nematodos (Stover y Simmonds 1987).Los resultados también muestran un efecto significativo de la profundidad de plantación sobre el número de manos por racimo en los cuatro ciclos de cultivo (Tabla 2). La cantidad de manos por racimo de las plantas sembradas en los hoyos de 60 cm difería significativamente de la cantidad de manos en todos los otros tratamientos, con excepción del segundo y cuarto ciclos de cultivo de aquellos plantados en los hoyos de 50 cm. La tendencia fue similar a la observada con el peso de los racimos, dadas las relaciones entre el peso del racimo y la cantidad de manos por racimo. Sin embargo, la cantidad de dedos por mano no varió con la profundidad de plantación (Tabla 2).Aunque una profundidad de plantación de 60 cm parece reducir la duración del ciclo de cultivo y aumentar el peso de los racimos, es necesario realizar más investigaciones para determinar las relaciones entre la profundidad de la plantación, contenido de humedad en el suelo, absorción de nutrientes e infección con los nematodos. 18.2 a 22.3 a 25.5 a 25.1 a 9.5 a 9.9 a 10.8 a 10.9 a 18.0 a 19.7 a 18.4 a 18.9 a * Los promedios dentro de la misma columna que tienen la misma letra no difieren significativamente a p= 0.05 de acuerdo a la Prueba de Rangos Múltiples de Duncan. PM = Primero ciclo de cultivo (Planta madre) ; R1 = Segundo ciclo de cultivo; R2 = Tercer ciclo de cultivo; R3 = Cuarto ciclo de cultivo.ada la importancia de las raíces en la absorción de nutrientes y agua, y la estabilidad de la planta, se han realizado muchos esfuerzos en los últimos años para investigar el sistema radical de Musa. Sin embargo, la excavación de las plantas enteras no sólo requiere mucho trabajo, consume tiempo y es destructivo, las características estimadas del sistema radical son válidas solo para un período específico.Tomar muestras representativas de las raíces es una opción (Blomme 2000). Alternativamente, múltiples ecuaciones de regresión pueden tomar ventaja de las fuertes relaciones entre las características de los retoños y las características del sistema radical (Blomme 2000, Blomme et al. 2001). Sin embargo, este método puede ser utilizado en las plantas que se encuentran en la etapa vegetativa.Un método de evaluación rápido y no destructivo que ha sido probado en otras especies de plantas (por ejemplo, zanahorias, maíz, avena, cebolla, girasol y tomate) es la utilización de capacitancia eléctrica (Chloupek 1972, Chloupek 1977, Dalton 1995, Van Beem et al. 1998).Un condensador consiste de dos placas planas paralelas separadas por el vacío o cualquier otro aislador. Una de las placas está conectada a una batería y la otra, a la tierra. Cuando se aplica el voltaje a la primera placa, a la segunda se induce una carga simultánea. Cualquier diferencia en el potencial entre las dos placas es una medición de la capacitancia, C. La capacitancia es dependiente de la constante dieléctrica ε r del material no conductor entre las dos placas: C=[ε r x A]/d (A=área de la superficie y d=distancia entre las placas).En las plantas, se asume que una corriente eléctrica aplicada a la planta pasará a través de los tejidos vasculares que transportan los nutrientes y agua, y a través del suelo e interface suelo-raíces, sin mayor resistencia. En una planta de banano, el suelo y el tejido vascular de las raíces están separados por una zona de resistencia significativamente más alta, es decir, la corteza da la raíz. Cada segmento de raíz puede representado esquemáticamente como un condensador cilíndrico simétrico que consiste del tejido vascular rodeado por la corteza de la raíz (Figura 1). El borde exterior de la corteza está en contacto con la solución electrolítica del suelo. Las capas central y exterior están separadas por el tejido de corteza menos conductivo.La capacitancia nunca ha sido utilizado antes con los bananos y plátanos, que es sorprendente dado que los tejidos de banano contienen mucha agua. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la posibilidad de utilizar las mediciones de la capacitancia para proporcionar la información sobre el sistema radical del banano.Los experimentos se realizaron entre agosto y finales de septiembre de 1999 en la estación High Rainfall del Instituto Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (IITA) en Onne, Nigeria. Los campos experimentales se establecieron utilizando plantas derivadas de los retoños. Antes de la siembra, el suelo fue arado superficialmente. El diseño experimental fue un diseño de parcela dividida dentro de un diseño de bloque completamente al azar con dos réplicas de dos plantas derivadas de los retoños por genotipo. El principal tratamiento de la parcela fue el tiempo de observación (24, 29 y 33 semanas después de la plantación). El segundo tratamiento fue el genotipo: 'Mbi egome' (AAB) y 'Fougamou' (ABB). El espaciado fue de 3.5 m x 3.5 m para prevenir la superposición de los sistemas radicales adyacentes.Todas las medidas de la capacitancia se realizaron con un medidor de capacitancia portátil, tipo ISO-TECH 9023 RS 205-7496. Basándose en las pruebas preliminares, la escala fue fijada en 2µF (10 -6 F) a una frecuencia de 800 Hz. Ambos polos fueron unidos a los electrodos de aguja de cobre utilizando pinzas de cocodrilo.Un electrodo positivo de 45 cm de largo fue insertado en el suelo. La corriente pasaba a través del tejido de la corteza, llegaba al cilindro central, es decir, el tejido vascular de la raíz, continuaba a través del tejido vascular del cormo y llegaba al electrodo negativo de 15 cm de largo insertado en el pseudotallo. El circuito se cerraba con un medidor de capacitancia (Figura 2).El electrodo negativo se colocó a dos alturas en el pseudotallo (0 y 10 cm) y a dos profundidades en el pseudotallo (1.5 y 8 cm), y el electrodo positivo se posicionó a diferentes distancias desde el pseudotallo (40, 80 y 120 cm) y profundidades en el suelo (10, 20, 30 y 40 cm). Las mediciones se realizaron en cada uno de los cuatro cuadrantes alrededor de la planta madre. La línea 0º se trazó desde la planta madre hasta el retoño más alto. Los cuadrantes se evaluaron en el sentido de las agujas del reloj, donde el primer cuadrante representaba el área de 90° a la izquierda de la línea 0°. El valor de la capacitancia, que varía con el tiempo, fue observado 60 segundos después de encender el medidor. Todas las mediciones de capacitancia se realizaban dos horas después de la lluvia o riego. Basándose en un experimento realizado por Chloupek (1977), se investigó un método alternativo para medir la capacitancia. Cuatro electrodos se posicionaron en un cuadrado alrededor de la planta madre e interconectados por un alambre de cobre fino. La pinza de cocodrilo se sujetó al electrodo en la posición de 0º, es decir, la posición del retoño más alto. Las mediciones se realizaron a las distancias de 40 y 80 cm desde la planta madre. La profundidad del suelo permaneció constante a 40 cm. Las posiciones para el electrodo negativo fueron las mismas que en el método estándar. Las mediciones se realizaron en todas las plantas en ambos campos experimentales.Debido a la presencia de un cormo subterráneo, se llevó a cabo un experimento adicional para determinar el efecto del tamaño del cormo sobre las mediciones de capacitancia. Se excavaron diez cormos de tres genotipos (FHIA-03, TMPx548-9 y TMPx1658-4). Se seleccionaron los cormos con dimensiones diferentes. Se cortaron todas las raíces y el pseudotallo. La capacitancia de cada cormo fue medida mientras el cormo estaba parcialmente sumergido en un tanque con agua. Un electrodo fue insertado a una profundidad de 1 cm en el cormo, sin que hiciera el contacto con el agua. El otro electrodo fue mantenido en el agua, a una distancia constante de 20 cm desde el cormo flotante. Después de realizar las mediciones de capacitancia, cada cormo fue cortado por la mitad y se evaluaron la altura y el ancho del cormo.En cuanto se completaron las mediciones de capacitancia, cada planta fue excavada cuidadosamente y se evaluaron las siguientes características del retoño y de las raíces: altura de la planta, circunferencia de la planta, cantidad de retoños, altura del retoño más alto, área foliar de la planta madre, peso del cormo de la planta madre, peso del cormo de los retoños, cantidad de raíces adventicias de la mata, peso seco de las raíces de la mata, largo de las raíces adventicias de la mata y el diámetro promedio de 40 raíces adventicias seleccionadas al azar. El área foliar fue calculada de la siguiente manera: largo de la hoja x el ancho más grande de la hoja x 0.8 (Obiefuna y Ndubizu 1979). El largo de las raíces adventicias fue medido utilizando el método de cruzamiento de las líneas (Tennant 1975). El método de cruzamiento de las líneas consiste en esparcir las raíces adventicias en una rejilla y contar la cantidad de puntos de cruzamiento, que luego se multiplican por el factor de conversión 2.3571, apropiado para una rejilla de 3 cm x 3 cm. El diámetro basal de las raíces adventicias se midió utilizando un calibrador Vernier.Se realizó un análisis de varianza utilizando el paquete estadístico SAS. Tomando en cuenta todos los datos, se realizaron los análisis de diagrama de dispersión y correlación lineal (Proc CORR en SAS), pero también tomando en cuenta la edad de las plantas.Se descubrieron correlaciones poco significativas entre los valores de capacitancia y características del sistema radical para todas las combinaciones de las posiciones de los electrodos y etapas de desarrollo de las plantas (no se presentan los datos). Solo el 12.5%, 8% y 5.7% de las correlaciones entre la capacitancia y la cantidad de las raíces adventicias, peso seco de las raíces y el largo de las raíces adventicias, respectivamente, fueron significativos. Ninguna posición puntual dio correlaciones más significativas y las correlaciones poco significativas entre las características del sistema radical y los valores de capacitancia no estaban consistentemente positivos. Finalmente, ninguno de los cuatro cuadrantes evaluados dio un mayor número de correlaciones positivas.Aunque la capacitancia no estaba correlacionada significativamente con ninguna característica del sistema radical, la posición del electrodo afectó las lecturas de capacitancia. La distancia del electrodo desde el pseudotallo no tuvo efecto significativo sobre los valores de capacitancia, resultado que concuerda con las observaciones realizadas en el maíz por Van Beem et al. (1998), pero su altura y la profundidad en el pseudotallo y su profundidad en el suelo si tuvieron efecto (Tabla 1). El aumento de la altura a la cual el electrodo estaba insertado causó una caída en la capacitancia ya que una mayor cantidad del tejido de la planta en el circuito eléctrico aumentó la resistencia en este circuito. Por otro lado, el aumento de la profundidad a la cual se insertó el electrodo en el pseudotallo aumentó la capacitancia. Los valores más altos de la capacitancia se obtuvieron cuando el electrodo estaba insertado a mayores profundidades en el suelo. El cuadrante también tuvo un efecto significativo sobre los valores de capacitancia (Tabla 2).El efecto significativo del cuadrante puede indicar una influencia de la distribución desigual de las raíces y tejido del cormo alrededor de la planta madre. Ya que el lado en el cual se desarrolla el retoño tendría una mayor densidad de las raíces, se esperaba que los valores de capacitancia en este lado serían más altos que en el lado donde no crecían retoños, o sólo crecía uno pequeño. Sin embargo, los resultados muestran que el tamaño del retoño estaba correlacionado negativamente con la capacitancia. El cormo del retoño y, lo que es más importante, los cambios fisiológicos en tiempo en la conexión orgánica entre el retoño y la planta madre, pueden ser importantes para influenciar los valores de capacitancia.Los valores de capacitancia obtenidos a través del método de cuatro electrodos del suelo interconectados fueron muy correlacionados con los valores obtenidos utilizando el método estándar (R 2 = 0.87, p<0.0001), en concordancia con las observaciones realizadas por Chloupek (1977) en Helianthus annuus L. cv. 'Maják'.No se encontraron correlaciones significativas entre la altura y el ancho del cormo y los valores de capacitancia (Tabla 3). Contrario a los cultivos evaluados en investigaciones anteriores con respecto a la capacitancia, las plantas de banano forman numerosos cormos al nivel del suelo. Estos cormos pueden impedir que el circuito eléctrico de un cuadro correcto del sistema radical.Nuestros resultados muestran que la medición de la capacitancia no puede ser utilizada para estimar las características de las raíces de las plantas jóvenes y adultas de Musa en el campo. La falta de correlación entre los valores de capacitancia y las características de las raíces puede estar relacionada con la morfología de la planta de banano. Por ejemplo, la posición de los haces vasculares puede ser significativa. El electrodo no estaba conectado con el tallo real de la planta (que es el cormo) pero en cambio estaba insertado en el pseudotallo, que consiste de vainas foliares. Este tejido contiene cavidades de aire, que pueden afectar la conductividad, pero no se conoce la magnitud hasta la cual estos factores afecten los resultados. Otra característica de la planta de banano es la presencia del cormo subterráneo y la formación de los retoños. La presencia, posición y dimensiones de los retoños, en particular, parecen ser significativas.Aunque las evaluaciones en el campo se realizaron bajo condiciones de riego y la copa foliar atenuó las fluctuaciones extremas de la temperatura del suelo, pudieron haber ocurrido cambios en la temperatura del suelo que podrían influir sobre las mediciones de capacitancia. En adición, aunque el suelo fue arado antes de la plantación, aún pudieran existir en el suelo cambios estructurales abruptos y cavidades que podrían haber influenciado el circuito eléctrico.Las investigaciones anteriores (Van Beem et al. 1998, Dalton 1995, Kendall et al. 1982, Chloupek 1977) identificaron la humedad y la temperatura del suelo como factores clave que influyen sobre la capacitancia del sistema radical. La humedad del suelo es importante no solo para la conductividad del suelo pero también para el contacto entre las raíces y el suelo. La capacitancia es solo el reflejo de las características del sistema radical donde existe un buen contacto eléctrico entre la superficie de las raíces y el suelo. De este modo, una escasez de agua llevará a un bajo valor de capacitancia. Este valor podría ser interpretado falsamente como un indicio de una baja masa radical, mientras que en realidad esto podría ser el reflejo de la baja humedad del suelo. El fuerte efecto de la temperatura del suelo sobre la capacitancia desempeña un papel importante para la interpretación de los resultados y por lo tanto puede considerarse como un disturbio importante para la medición de la capacitancia en el campo. Se asume que un aumento en la temperatura del suelo aumenta la resistencia del suelo, dando como resultado un valor de capacitancia más bajo.Finalmente, la concentración de los electrolitos en el suelo también afecta a la conductividad. A medida que crece la planta, los nutrientes se absorben del suelo, resultando en cambios espaciales en condición nutricional del suelo que también podrían afectar las mediciones de la capacitancia.Se agradece profundamente el apoyo financiero de la Asociación Flamenca para la Cooperación en Desarrollo y Asistencia Técnica (VVOB) y de la Dirección General Belga para el Desarrollo y Cooperación (DGCD). han observado que el cultivo intercalado es practicado usualmente por familias con bajos ingresos para maximizar el uso de la tierra y proporcionarse comida y dinero adicionales. En los trópicos húmedos, especialmente en el sudeste de Nigeria, los plátanos se intercalan frecuentemente con cultivos alimentarios como el maíz, la colocasia y vegetales (Francis et al. 1976). El cultivo intercalado de plátano por parte de los agricultores con escasos recursos también ha sido reportado por Karikari (1972) y Obiefuna (1984). Pero el cultivo de plátano usualmente es rentable por uno o dos años después de los cuales la fertilidad del suelo declina resultando en rendimientos anuales bajos de 4 a 8 toneladas por hectárea (Nweke et al. 1988), en comparación con 30 a 50 toneladas por hectárea observadas en los jardines traseros, donde el suelo puede sostener rendimientos altos durante muchos años (Wilson 1987).A pesar de la popularidad del cultivo intercalado de plátano, pocos estudios experimentales de este sistema de cultivo se han realizado en Nigeria. En consecuencia, poco se conoce sobre las interacciones entre las plantas, el rendimiento y la productividad total de los sistemas de cultivo intercalado en los cuales el plátano es el componente principal, probablemente debido a la dificultad de evaluar los rendimientos de los sistemas de cultivo tradicionales. Este ensayo fue diseñado para determinar el efecto sobre la productividad del plátano intercalado con el fríjol de vaca o el maíz.El experimento fue conducido durante las estaciones de cultivo en 1998 y 1999 en la finca de enseñanza e investigaciones de la Universidad de Calabar en el cinturón de bosques húmedos en el sudeste de Nigeria. El clima del área es húmedo y soporta una vegetación de bosque húmedo tropical de tierras bajas. La precipitación anual es de alrededor de 2000 a 3000 mm, la mayoría de ella cae entre los meses de marzo y noviembre. La precipitación muestra una distribución bimodal característica, con el máximo en julio y septiembre. Las temperaturas máxima y mínima son de 33°C y 23°C, respectivamente, mientras que la humedad relativa promedio es de 80%. El sitio experimental se encuentra en un suelo franco arenoso (Cobbina et al 1990) con un pH de 5.8, contenido de carbón orgánico de 2%, contenido de N total de 0.17%, índice de fósforo (Bray P1) de 55.7 ppm, acidez intercambiable de 1.28, capacidad de intercambio de cationes (CEC) de 4.14 meq/100g y contenido de magnesio de 0.6 meq/100g.Un plátano Falso Cuerno (False horn), conocido comúnmente en Africa Occidental como 'Agbagba' fue intercalado con una variedad de fríjol de vaca (Vigna unguiculata WaIp.) (1T82D-719), recomendada para la zona agroecológica de bosque húmedo de Nigeria (Enwezor et al. 1989), y una variedad local de maíz de maduración media (Zea mays, L.) conocida popularmente como 'Jkom white'. El experimento fue dispuesto en un diseño de bloques completamente al azar con cuatro réplicas. Los tratamientos fueron: solo plátano; solo fríjol de vaca; solo maíz; plátano y fríjol de vaca; plátano y maíz; plátano, fríjol de vaca y maíz. Los retoños se obtuvieron de fincas viejas del área. Estos fueron plantados a 2 m de distancia en hoyos de 40 cm de profundidad y 30 cm de ancho llenados con tierra. Los cultivos intercalados fueron sembrados entre las filas, inmediatamente después de que el plátano fue sembrado. Las densidades de plantación fueron 1666 plantas/ha para el plátano, 20 000 plantas/ ha para el maíz y 55 000 plantas/ha para el fríjol de vaca. El tamaño de una unidad de parcela fue de 10 m x 3 m y consistió de una fila de seis matas de plátano 2 m aparte en el centro de la parcela y los cultivos intercalados fueron plantados a ambos lados de la fila de plátano.Cada planta de plátano recibió 400 g de N:P:K (20:10:10) tres meses después de la siembra y 300 g seis y nueve meses después de la siembra para un total de 250 kg/ha (Swennen y Wilson 1985). El maíz y el fríjol de vaca recibieron respectivamente una aplicación total de 120 kg/ha y 20 kg/ha de N:P:K (20: 10:10) (Enwezor et aI. 1989). Las parcelas fueron mantenidas libres de malezas mediante deshierbe con azadón cuando era necesario.El maíz fue cosechado después de 112 días, secado en un horno a 60°C durante 24 horas y descascarado manualmente, mientras que las vainas maduras del fríjol de vaca fueron cosechadas, secadas al sol y descascaradas manualmente. Los racimos de plátano fueron cosechados 90 días después de la floración y el rendimiento por hectárea se basó en el peso promedio de los racimos. Se registraron los datos sobre la altura de la planta 7 y 12 meses después de la siembra, circunferencia del pseudotallo 1 y 12 meses después de la siembra, cantidad de hojas 12 meses después de la siembra, cantidad de días hasta la floración, cantidad de manos por racimo, cantidad de dedos por mano y el peso del racimo, que luego fueron analizados utilizando Tabla 1. Datos agronómicos registrados para los plátanos después de un ciclo de producción bajo diferentes sistemas de cultivo. ANOVA y una prueba de rangos múltiples de Duncan.Inicialmente el cultivo intercalado redujo la altura del plátano. Este efecto fue el más severo en el tratamiento del plátano intercalado con maíz y fríjol de vaca (Tabla 1). Sin embargo, al momento de la floración, la altura de la planta no difería significativamente. Tampoco hubo diferencias significativas entre los tratamientos con respecto a la circunferencia del pseudotallo y la cantidad de hojas. Los plátanos en monocultivo e intercalados con el fríjol de vaca fructificaron significativamente más temprano que aquellos intercalados con el maíz y con el maíz y fríjol de vaca (Tabla 1). Igualmente, la cantidad promedio de dedos por mano, el peso del racimo y el rendimiento fueron similares en los monocultivos de plátano y en los campos de plátano con fríjol de vaca, pero significativamente más altos que en otros tipos de sistemas intercalados (Tabla 1).El cultivo intercalado redujo significa-tivamente los rendimientos del fríjol de vaca y del maíz en 1998 y 1999 (Tabla 2). Los rendimientos fueron más altos en los monocultivos, seguidos por los sistemas intercalados de dos especies y luego por los de tres especies.El rendimiento en los campos de plátano/fríjol de vaca se comparó favorablemente con el rendimiento del plátano en los monocultivos debido a la pequeña estatura del fríjol de vaca y su habilidad de fijar el nitrógeno. Estas características minimizan la competencia por la luz y el nitrógeno. En contraste, los rendimientos reducidos del plátano observados en los sistemas intercalados que contenían maíz se deben probablemente a los altos requerimientos InfoMusa -Vol. 13 -No.1 20 de nutrientes del maíz. La competencia por los nutrientes debe haber sido especialmente alta en el segundo año, cuando el plátano entró en su fase reproductora, durante la cual el desarrollo de los racimos demanda gran cantidad de nutrientes (Stover y Simmonds 1987, Oko et al. 2000).La reducción inicial en la altura observada en los plátanos se debió probablemente a la competencia con los cultivos asociados. Las diferencias en los períodos de maduración entre el plátano y otros cultivos puede haber ayudado al plátano a recuperarse del estrés inicial. Esta observación es consistente con la de Andrews (1970).Los rendimientos del fríjol de vaca disminuyeron en todos los sistemas intercalados. De acuerdo a Oko et al. (2000), el fríjol de vaca se desempeña mejor bajo poca o ninguna sombra. La reducción en los rendimientos podría atribuirse a la sombra producida por el plátano y el maíz. Hubo más sombra en 1999 que en 1998. En 1998, el rendimiento promedio se redujo en 109 kg/ha en el sistema intercalado de tres especies, en comparación con el monocultivo, y en 433 kg/ha en 1999.Los rendimientos del maíz también se redujeron y la reducción aumentó con la cantidad de especies en el sistema intercalado y con el tiempo. En 1998, el rendimiento promedio se redujo en 1739 kg/ha en el sistema intercalado de tres especies comparado con el monocultivo, y en 1983 kg/ha en 1999. Oko et al. (2000) reportaron que el maíz a menudo sufre más de la competencia por los nutrientes que de otro factor. También es posible que un aumento en las plagas y enfermedades pueda haber contribuido a la reducción del rendimiento en las especies intercaladas. InfoMusa -Vol. 13 -No.1 21 SH-3436-9 produce también satisfactoriamente (Alvarez 1997), sus frutos son de buen sabor, tiene resistencia parcial a la Sigatoka negra (Orjeda et al. 1999) y bajo índice reproductivo de Radopholus similis (J. González 1997, INVIT, com. personal).Existe una considerable cantidad de información de diferentes partes del mundo respecto a la reacción a enfermedades en los híbridos de banano desarrollados por la FHIA, pero es muy escasa la información disponible sobre la respuesta de estos a prácticas de manejo de gran relevancia para una óptima producción, como el deshije y su efecto sobre el comportamiento de los híbridos ante enfermedades como la Sigatoka negra. Con un sistema de deshije orientado, por ejemplo, la línea de siembra, así como la densidad original de población, se mantienen durante un mayor lapso de tiempo con poca alteración, contrario a lo que ocurre con el deshije tradicional (Pérez 2000) Tanto FHIA-23 como SH-3436-9 podrían convertirse en un valioso complemento a la producción de bananos provenientes del subgrupo Cavendish cuyos cultivares son más susceptibles a la Sigatoka negra (Guzmán y Romero 1996, Marín et al. 2003). Por ello, el objetivo del presente trabajo consistió en evaluar el potencial agronómico y la reacción a la Sigatoka negra, a los nemátodos y al picudo negro de ambos híbridos cultivados bajo dos sistemas de deshije (orientada vs. tradicional).El trabajo experimental se realizó en el Centro de Investigaciones Agrícolas 28 Millas, propiedad de la Corporación Bananera Nacional (CORBANA, S.A.), entre mayo de 1998 y noviembre de 2001, período que contempló tres ciclos de cultivo. El sitio experimental se ubica a 40 msnm, en el cantón de Matina, provincia de Limón, Costa Rica. Durante el período del estudio la precipitación acumulada fue de 3480, 3652, 3847 y 3857 mm, la temperatura promedio mensual de 24.4, 24.2, 22.5 y 24.2°C y la humedad relativa promedio mensual 87, 88, 89 y 89%, durante los años 1998, 1999, 2000 y 2001 respectivamente. El suelo en donde se implementó la prueba estuvo anteriormente sembrado por cuatro años con los híbridos de banano FHIA-01 y FHIA-02 (Musa AAAB).Por textura, el suelo fue clasificado como Franco arcilloso (arena 34%, arcilla 30%, limo 36%), con pH 6.3; acidez extractable 0.1; materia orgánica 2.8%; Ca 26.4.; Mg 10.1; K 0.7 cmol/L y una capacidad de intercambio catiónico efectiva (CICE) de 37.2 cmol/L. Es considerado taxonómicamente como un Aquertic Eutrudept (inceptisol arcilloso, con limitaciones de drenaje y características vérticas) (E. Serrano 2002, CORBANA, com. personal).Se utilizaron plantas in vitro como material de siembra. Cada híbrido se evaluó bajo dos sistemas de deshije: direccional u orientado y tradicional, constituyéndose un experimento factorial en un diseño experimental de bloques completos al azar con cuatro repeticiones. Cada parcela experimental constó de 70 plantas y la parcela útil de 40 plantas.Las plantas fueron sembradas en el campo a una distancia de 2.75 m en triángulo para una densidad de 1371 plantas/ha.A las 24 semanas se removieron todos los brotes considerados como provenientes de yemas inferiores del cormo. Posteriormente, se seleccionó, en las parcelas con deshije orientado, un hijo de espada sucesor que mantuviera apropiadamente la orientación de la línea de siembra original y se eliminaron los restantes. En las parcelas con deshije tradicional se seleccionó a la floración aquel hijo de sucesión más desarrollado y con mejor posición.En la segunda y tercera generación, en el deshije orientado, se retuvo aquel primer brote emergido que garantizara con mayor fidelidad el mantenimiento de la línea de siembra original. En el deshije tradicional la selección del hijo de sucesión se realizó a la floración y se retuvo el hijo más vigoroso y mejor ubicado con respecto a las unidades de producción vecinas.La fertilización se realizó mediante aplicaciones mensuales de 15:3:31 (N:P 2 0 5 :K 2 O) a razón de 83 g por planta. Como medida preventiva contra el volcamiento, las plantas fueron aseguradas mediante la utilización de tensores dobles de polipropileno.El embolse de la fruta se llevó a cabo 15 días después de la emisión de la inflorescencia. Dicha labor se realizó en conjunto con la remoción de las dos últimas manos verdaderas. La cosecha se realizó a las 11 semanas después de la floración.Las evaluaciones a la floración y a la cosecha de las variables correspondientes a la severidad de Sigatoka negra, se efectuaron en 10 plantas por parcela utilizando la escala de Stover modificada por Gauhl (1989). Dichas evaluaciones fueron hechas en las mismas plantas durante los tres ciclos de cultivo.Se midieron las siguientes variables: días a la floración, altura del pseudotallo a la floración, grosor del pseudotallo a la floración medido a una altura equivalente al 25% de la altura del pseudotallo, número total de hojas funcionales a la floración y a la cosecha, peso del racimo, número de manos, diámetro y longitud del fruto central de la segunda mano, número de frutos en la segunda mano, diámetro y longitud del fruto central de la última mano, número de frutos en la última mano, hoja más joven con mancha; es la hoja más joven en presentar el primer estadío de mancha de la Sigatoka negra y se caracteriza por ser una mancha negra visible en ambas superficies de la hoja sin presentar halo clorótico (Fouré 1985) y el índice de infección; es una estimación porcentual del área afectada (necrosada) por la Sigatoka negra en la planta (Romero 1994).No se efectuó combate de nemátodos. Las poblaciones de nemátodos y el estado de las raíces se determinaron en el tercer ciclo mediante el muestreo en hijos de sucesión de plantas recién florecidas, según la metodología propuesta por Araya y Cheves (1998).Tampoco se realizó combate de picudos. El coeficiente de infestación y el grado de pudrición en el cormo se determinaron a la cosecha de las plantas del tercer ciclo mediante el método de Villardebo (1973).No se realizó combate químico de la Sigatoka negra. El tejido foliar necrótico o senescente se eliminó mediante labores fitosanitarias como la deshoja o despunte.El análisis estadístico se hizo para cada ciclo por aparte considerando la estructura factorial de híbridos x sistemas de deshije. Con los datos de las 10 plantas evaluadas por parcela se obtuvo un promedio simple y luego se efectuó un análisis de varianza y separación de medias para cada variable.En ambos híbridos, no hubo diferencias (P>0.10) entre los sistemas de deshije para la totalidad de las variables que se evaluaron a la floración y a la cosecha en ninguno de los tres ciclos de cultivo. La ausencia (P>0.07) de la interacción híbrido x sistema de deshije permitió, para cada ciclo de cultivo, ignorar el sistema de deshije al comparar los híbridos.FHIA-23 llegó a la floración con mayor altura y diámetro del pseudotallo que SH-3436-9, así como con más cantidad de manos y de días a la floración en cada ciclo de cultivo (Tabla 1).FHIA-23 presentó mayor peso de racimo en los dos primeros ciclos, sin embargo no difirió de SH-3436-9 en el tercero. Con excepción del grosor del fruto de la segunda mano en el segundo ciclo, no hubo diferencias entre ambos híbridos en las dimensiones del fruto ni en su cantidad (número de frutos) en la segunda y última mano (Tabla 1).FHIA-23 mostró a la floración mayor cantidad de hojas totales en los dos primeros ciclos de cultivo, sin diferir con SH-3436-9 en el tercer ciclo. A la cosecha, FHIA-23 mantuvo una similar cantidad de hojas que SH-3436-9 en el primer ciclo y mayor número de ellas en los dos ciclos subsiguientes. No hubo diferencias entre ambos híbridos en el índice de severidad de la Sigatoka negra ni en la ubicación de la hoja más joven con mancha, tanto a la floración como a la cosecha (Tabla 2).Independientemente del híbrido y a excepción de las variables hoja más joven con mancha a la cosecha e intervalo entre floración, donde no se encontraron diferencias entre ciclos de producción, se determinaron diferencias entre ciclos para el resto de las variables estudiadas.En forma general, las variables altura de la planta, grosor del pseudotallo, número de manos, número de frutos en la segunda mano y hoja más joven con mancha a la floración, aumentaron con cada ciclo de cultivo. Por el contrario, el índice de infección de la Sigatoka negra disminuyó.Solamente hubo interacción ciclo x híbrido en las variables: peso del racimo, grosor del Tabla 1. Características de los híbridos FHIA-23 y SH-3436-9 durante tres ciclos de cultivo ( n= 8 parcelas con 40 plantas por parcela útil). fruto central de la segunda y última mano y número de frutos de la última mano (Tabla 1). Ambos híbridos mostraron un alto porcentaje de raíz funcional, ausencia de R. similis y bajas poblaciones de Helicotylenchus spp. y Pratylenchus spp. La población de Meloydogine fue media en FHIA-23 y baja en SH-3436-9 (Tabla 3).Ambos híbridos presentaron en promedio, un bajo coeficiente de infestación de picudos en el cormo (2.3% en FHIA-23 y 1.8% en SH-3436-9). Adicionalmente, no hubo presencia de pudriciones bacterianas asociadas. Un 66% de los cormos de FHIA-23 y un 75% de los cormos de SH-3436-9 estuvieron completamente libres de daños por picudos.Dado que el experimento consideró solo tres ciclos de cultivo, es probable que dicha cantidad de generaciones no fuera lo suficientemente amplia como para determinar diferencias entre los dos sistemas de deshije y variaciones en la composición y distribución de la población de plantas en el tiempo. No obstante, este resultado indica que hasta un tercer ciclo de cultivo, independientemente del sistema de deshije, el desempeño vegetativo y productivo y la reacción a la Sigatoka negra del hijo de sucesión en ambos híbridos es muy similar.Al igual que lo encontrado por Orellana et al. (1999), Alvarez (1977) y Orjeda (2000), FHIA-23 y SH-3436-9 presentan plantas robustas, muy altas y con un prolongado ciclo vegetativo comparado con los bananos tipo Cavendish. Lo anterior y particularmente la altura, reducen la facilidad de manejo de estos híbridos (Daniells y Bryde 1993), condición que se asocia, de acuerdo con dichos autores, a la gran pérdida de plantas por viento en la segunda generación. No obstante, Orellana et al. (1999) indican que los nuevos híbridos soportan mejor, sin necesidad de tensores, los efectos del viento. En el presente trabajo no se observó tendencia al volcamiento de estos híbridos. Sin embargo, el área de estudio no se caracteriza por presentar vientos fuertes y además las plantas fueron apuntaladas poco después de la floración.La mayor productividad de FHIA-23 estuvo fundamentalmente dada, en concordancia con Orellana et al. (1999), por una mayor cantidad de manos por racimo.La reducida cantidad de hojas a la floración en ambos híbridos se debió al efecto nocivo causado por la Sigatoka negra y a una tendencia al doblamiento prematuro de las hojas. Observaciones similares fueron hechas por Guzmán y Romero (1996) en los híbridos FHIA-01 y FHIA-02. Esta debilidad en los pecíolos, de acuerdo con Simmonds (1952) y Stover y Buddenhagen (1986), es una característica desventajosa de los tetraploides mejorados.En estudios previos desarrollados en Costa Rica por Guzmán (2000aGuzmán ( y 2000b)), ambos híbridos se mostraron medianamente resistentes a la Sigatoka negra. No obstante dada la alta severidad de la enfermedad Tabla 2. Respuesta de los híbridos FHIA-23 y SH-3436-9 a la Sigatoka negra a la floración y a la cosecha durante tres ciclos de cultivo (n=8 parcelas con 10 plantas por parcela útil). Esta condición ya había sido anticipada por Guzmán et al. (2000), quienes encontraron, bajo condiciones de campo en parcelas de más de 100 plantas, que una alta proporción de infecciones en las hojas de estos híbridos lograban completar su ciclo y liberar inóculo secundario. Dichos autores señalaron el riesgo y la posibilidad de que la frecuencia de aislamientos capaces de romper la resistencia aumentara con el tiempo y, como consecuencia, la severidad de la enfermedad se incrementara.Lo anterior reviste particular importancia para los sistemas de manejo intensivo del cultivo (monocultivo y áreas grandes de siembra). Bajo esta perspectiva y de acuerdo a la baja cantidad de área foliar efectiva de ambos híbridos, tanto a la floración como a la cosecha, sería imprescindible considerar una estrategia de combate químico de la Sigatoka negra, aunque probablemente menos intensiva que lo comúnmente realizado en los bananos del subgrupo Cavendish, los cuales bajo estas mismas condiciones llegan a la cosecha prácticamente sin hojas (Guzmán y Romero 1998).Considerando las menores características de calidad de fruta de los híbridos tetraploides con respecto a los bananos Cavendish de exportación (Shepherd et al. 1986, Stover y Buddenhagen 1986), el potencial de ambos materiales estaría orientado dentro de un sistema de manejo para consumo local. Dada la resistencia de FHIA-23 a Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense así como las bajas o ausentes poblaciones de nematodos y el bajo coeficiente de infestación de picudos encontrados en este trabajo para ambos híbridos, su cultivo para este fin mediante un uso restringido de agroquímicos sería posible, cuya factibilidad en última instancia dependería de la aceptación por parte del consumidor local. a enfermedad de la raya negra de la hoja o Sigatoka negra, causada por Mycosphaerella fijiensis Morelet, es una de las enfermedades fungosas más serias que afecta la producción de banano y plátano (Stover y Buddenhagen 1986). El desarrollo de variedades resistentes se considera como la tecnología más apropiada para controlar esta enfermedad de la mancha foliar. La Universidad Agropecuaria de Tamil Nadu inició un programa de mejoramiento genético para incorporar resistencia duradera a la Sigatoka negra en bananos, utilizando bananos diploides altamente resistentes e híbridos sintéticos. El estudio actual se realizó para evaluar las respuestas de los nuevos híbridos a la enfermedad de Sigatoka negra.El estudio fue conducido en el Departamento de cultivos frutícolas de la Universidad Agropecuaria de Tamil Nadu en Coimbatore, India, entre junio de 2000 y febrero de 2002. Coimbatore esta localizado a 11 o N y 77 o E y a una altitud de 427 msnm. Las temperaturas máxima y mínima son 31°C y 21°C, respectivamente, la humedad relativa es 85% en la mañana y 49% en la tarde, y la precipitación anual durante el experimento fue de 698 mm. La textura del suelo es franco arenosa arcillosa.Los híbridos evaluados en este estudio se presentan en la Tabla 1. Estos híbridos fueron cribados bajo condiciones naturales de campo y sembrados en el campo como se describe en Orjeda et al. (1998).Se seleccionaron retoños con tamaño uniforme, los cuales fueron sembrados en hoyos de un pie cúbico con un espaciado de 1.8 m x 1.8 m. Las plantas fueron regadas diariamente con 20 litros de agua a través de un sistema de goteo y se aplicaron 110:35:330 g de N:P:K. El nitrógeno y potasio fueron aplicados a través de un sistema de goteo con una unidad de fertigación a intervalos semanales en 36 raciones iguales empezando desde la 9 a semana. No se aplicaron medidas de control químico, biológico o cultural contra la Sigatoka negra. El deshije se realizó a intervalos mensuales para fomentar el crecimiento de la planta madre. El diseño experimental fue un diseño de bloques completamente al azar con cinco réplicas para cada híbrido y clon parental.La severidad de la enfermedad o la cantidad de área foliar afectada fue expresada como grados (de 0 a 6) utilizando la modificación de Gauhl de la escala de Stover (Gauhl 1994). Se registraron los siguientes parámetros: la cantidad de hojas funcionales y la hoja más joven manchada, es decir el numero de hoja de la hoja más joven manchada con 10 o más lesiones maduras (Vakili 1968).V. Krishnamoorthy, N. Kumar, K. Angappan y K. SoorianathasundaramTabla 1. Parentesco, ploidia y genoma de los híbridos de banano evaluados. (N -1)T El índice de infección (I.I.) fue calculado como sigue: I. I. = donde n: número de hojas en cada grado b: grado N: número de grados utilizados en la escala T: total número de hojas anotada La resistencia fue evaluada midiendo el desarrollo de la enfermedad (en este caso el índice de infección). La resistencia total (inmunidad) ocurría cuando la enfermedad no fue capaz (índice de infección = 0) de desarrollarse en el tejido de la planta. La resistencia parcial ocurría cuando el desarrollo de la infección y de la enfermedad era limitado, en comparación con las plantas susceptibles.El índice de la hoja más joven manchada fue calculado como sigue: donde HMJM: hoja más joven manchada T: número total de hojas.El índice de área foliar no manchada fue calculado como sigue: donde NHE: número de hojas erectas. El índice de infección, el índice de la hoja más joven manchada y el índice del área foliar no manchada fueron transformados mediante el arcoseno y los datos fueron sujetos a un análisis de varianza. Los promedios se compararon utilizando la prueba de proporción K de Waller Duncan a p<0.05.En las hojas en el período de floración se midieron varios componentes bioquímicos y actividades enzimáticas utilizando los métodos descritos en la literatura: contenido clorofílico (Yoshida et al. 1971), proteína soluble total (Lowry et al. 1951), pralina (Bates et al. 1973), fenoles totales (Spies 1957), fenol OD (Arnow 1937), fenol ligado (Chattopadhyay y Samadar, 1980), ácido clorogénico y taninos (Sadasivam y Manickam 1997), lignina (Chesson 1978), cera epicuticular (Ebercon et al. 1977), actividad de la peroxidasa (Hartec 1955), actividad de la polifenol oxidasa (Mayer et al. 1965), actividad de la fenilalanina amoníaco liasa (Ross y Sederoff 1992), actividad de la catalasa (Luck 1974) y la actividad de la oxidasa de ácido ascórbico (Sadasivam y Manickam 1997).En los bananos, el desarrollo de los racimos depende del potencial fotosintético de las hojas. Las plantas de banano requieren más de 70% de follaje activo y un mínimo de 8 hojas funcionales para el desarrollo adecuado de las frutas (Orjeda 1998).En el presente estudio, no se observó resistencia total en los híbridos y cultivares parentales investigados (Tabla 2). Se descubrió que H-209 y H-210 y los clones parentales H-66 y H-110 fueron resistentes a la Sigatoka negra como resultado de su bajo índice de infección y alto índice de área foliar no manchada. 'Anaikomban' y 'Ambalakadali' fueron clasificados como susceptibles debido a su alto índice de infección y valor relativamente bajo de la hoja más joven manchada, mientras que H-02-01 fue clasificado como altamente susceptible debido a su índice de infección muy alto y pequeña proporción de área foliar libre de rayas y manchas.Se estudió la relación entre el índice de infección y varias sustancias bioquímicas. Los niveles de clorofila, azúcares reductores y azúcares totales, y la actividad de la oxidasa de ácido ascórbico estaban positivamente correlacionados con el índice de infección, mientras que los niveles de prolina y lignina, y la actividad de la peroxidasa estaban negativamente correlacionados con el índice de infección (Tabla 3). Los niveles de los azúcares reductores, azúcar total y lignina, yHMJM -1 x 100 NHE IHMJM = T-HMJM -1 x 100 T la actividad de la fenilalanina amoníaco liasa, oxidasa de ácido ascórbico y catalasa estaban negativamente correlacionados con el valor para la hoja más joven manchada. El área foliar sin rayas foliares estaba positivamente correlacionada con las concentraciones de los azúcares totales, cera, fenoles y lignina, así como con la actividad de la fenilalanina amoníaco liasa, oxidasa de ácido ascórbico, catalasa y fenol oxidasa.n Côte d'Ivoire, el programa de investigación de frutos y cítricos del Centre national de recherche agronomique (CNRA) lleva a cabo actualmente un estudio sobre el comportamiento varietal del híbrido SH-3640 (AAAA), banano de postre procedente del programa de creación varietal de la Fundación Hondureña de Investigación Agrícola (FHIA) en Honduras, y del CRBP-39 (AAAB), plátano híbrido procedente del programa de creación varietal del Centre Africain de Recherches sur Bananiers et Plantains (CARBAP) en Camerún.Estos híbridos mostraron una resistencia parcial a la Sigatoka negra. Complementando dicho estudio, el centro de investigación tecnológica del CNRA dirigió un estudio sobre la evaluación sensorial de estos híbridos para determinar su aceptabilidad por los consumidores marfileños. La evaluación sensorial de nuevos híbridos y de nuevos cultivares es una etapa decisiva en el proceso de selección y creación varietal. Esta etapa, situada entre la producción de los bananos en la estación experimental y la difusión en el medio campesino de las nuevas plántulasTabla 3. Coeficientes de correlación de los parámetros de la enfermedad con los niveles de las sustancias bioquímicas y la actividad enzimática. Las pruebas se efectuaron en los híbridos SH-3640 y CRBP-39 puestos a nuestra disposición por el centro de investigación de frutos y cítricos del CNRA de Anguédédou, cerca de Abidjan. Se cosecharon 338 días después de establecer el ensayo y en su estado de máxima maduración, es decir, a partir de la aparición de un dedo amarillo en el racimo (Mitra 1997). Como muestras de referencia (Watts et al. 1991), se emplearon bananos de postre ('Poyo', AAA) y plátanos (de tipo False horn, AAB) comprados en el mercado y con el mismo grado de madurez que los híbridos con los que se compararon (IPGRI-INIBAP/CIRAD 1996). Para la comparación de los bananos de postre, los bananos se pelaron a mano y se cortaron en rodajas de 1 cm de grosor con un cuchillo de acero inoxidable.Todas las pruebas de evaluación se efectuaron en los 10 minutos que siguieron al corte. Una evaluación preliminar hecha por dos investigadores del centro había permitido determinar las distintas preparaciones culinarias posibles: el foutou o plátano machacado, el foufou o plátano triturado, el aloco o plátano frito, y los chips. Estos platos se hacen del siguiente modo:Los dedos de banano se lavan, se pelan y se parten en dos, con un cuchillo de acero inoxidable, para extraer los puntos negros (semillas atrofiadas). Seguidamente, se cortan en rodajas homogéneas de 3 cm de grosor y se cuecen 20 mn en agua hirviendo. Una vez frías, se machacan las rodajas en un mortero tradicional de madera hasta obtener una pasta blanda de consistencia pegajosa, llamada foutou (Mosso et al. 1996).El método de preparación es idéntico al del foutou con la diferencia de que, en vez de machacarse, las rodajas cocidas se desmenuzan en el mortero y se mezclan luego con aceite de palma (aprox. 0,25 L para 1 kg de banano cocido). Se obtiene así un puré llamado foufou.Tras su lavado y pelado como en los casos anteriores, la pulpa del banano se corta en rodajas homogéneas de 1 cm de grosor. A continuación, se fríen las rodajas en aceite vegetal a 160-180°C durante 5 minutos (Tchango Tchango y Ngalani 1998). Las rodajas deben quedar blanditas.Para preparar los chips, se procede de la misma manera que para el aloco. La diferencia estriba en que las rodajas son más finas (unos 0.3 cm solamente) y en que se fríen durante menos tiempo (2 a 3 minutos) (Tchango Tchango y Ngalani 1998). Los chips deben quedar crujientes.Se compararon los chips preparados a partir del híbrido SH-3640, en estado de maduración \"amarillo\", y del híbrido CRBP-39, en estado de maduración \"verde claro\", con chips hechos con plátanos de tipo False horn en los mismos estados de maduración y comprados en el mercado. En lo que respecta a otros métodos de cocción, solamente se evaluaron las calidades culinarias del híbrido CRBP-39.Para platos como los chips y el aloco, de fácil preparación, se formó un panel de degustadores a partir de una selección de empleados del CNRA de Abidjan, compuesta por una decena de personas de ambos sexos, de distintas clases sociales y con una edad comprendida entre 35 y 50 años. Éstos respondieron a un cuestionario adaptado a las particularidades de los platos que debían evaluarse. La mitad de los panelistas ya había participado en pruebas de degustación.Para los demás platos (foutou y foufou), se eligieron cinco hogares. La elección de los hogares se efectuó según los siguientes criterios: 1°) consumir plátanos frecuente y regularmente, 2°) poseer un nivel y una calidad de vida correctos para la Côte d'Ivoire, 3°) no superar las cinco personas en el hogar.Los hogares realizaron sus comentarios por escrito, una vez informados de los criterios que debían tenerse en cuenta, en particular, la elasticidad, el carácter pegajoso, la apetencia y la firmeza de la pasta.Las muestras, identificadas por un código de tres cifras, fueron presentadas en orden aleatorio a los degustadores (Watts et al. 1991). Se trataba de pruebas de medidas de intensidad de seis niveles, en las que todas las muestras se presentaron al mismo tiempo a los degustadores para poder evaluar de nuevo algunas, si fuera necesario.Las características escogidas fueron: el gusto, el color, la consistencia, la textura, el aroma y el regusto. Las notas que debían asignarse iban de 1 a 5 y correspondían a las siguientes valoraciones: 1=malo; 2=mediocre; 3=medio; 4=bueno; 5=muy bueno. La única excepción fue la evaluación del regusto, en donde una nota baja era positiva porque significaba poco regusto. En las demás características, cuanto más alta era la nota elevada, más se valoraba el banano. Se realizó un análisis de varianza (ANOVA) para determinar si existían diferencias significativas entre los tipos de bananos evaluados (Watts et al. 1991).Comparación entre bananos de postre Los valores promedio de las notas asignadas por el panel de degustación estaban muy próximos entre ellos (Tabla 1). Según estos resultados, y en los criterios de gusto, color, consistencia y textura, se prefirió el banano híbrido SH-3640 al banano de postre 'Poyo' comprado en el mercado. Además de su aroma, considerado inferior al de 'Poyo', en SH-3640 se valoró negativamente un regusto ligeramente más acentuado. Es posible que las notas correspondientes al regusto, con una escala inversa a las demás características, no fueran bien comprendidas.Del análisis de varianza (Tabla 2) de los resultados de esta prueba se desprende que, en el gusto y la consistencia, las diferencias en las calificaciones no son significativas al nivel del 5%, tanto para los tratamientos como para los degustadores. Los coeficientes F calculados son, en efecto, inferiores a los valores críticos de Snedecor. En color, textura y regusto no aparece ninguna diferencia significativa en los tratamientos. Por el contrario, se observan diferencias en los degustadores, pero siguen siendo despreciables, ya que las desviaciones entre los valores calculados de los coeficientes F y las de la tabla de Snedecor son muy bajas. Sólo el aroma, con una diferencia de 3 puntos entre los valores de F, presenta una ligera diferencia significativa para los tratamientos al nivel del 5%.El gusto y el aroma de chips de plátanos de tipo False horn comprados en el mercado en estado de maduración \"amarillo\" se consideraron superiores a los de los híbridos y obtuvieron notas altas (Tabla 3). Los chips preparados a partir de bananos híbridos de CRBP-39 (estado verde) fueron los menos apreciados.Los resultados del análisis de varianza muestran que las diferencias registradas en el color, la textura y el regusto no son significativas al nivel del 5% (Tabla 4). Se observan, por el contrario, diferencias significativas al nivel del 5% en el gusto, la consistencia y el aroma. Por otra parte, ninguna diferencia significativa al nivel del 5% puede atribuirse a los degustadores.Las distintas valoraciones de los hogares concuerdan completamente. Se pueden resumir del siguiente modo: Tabla 1. Promedio y desviación típica de las notas (de 1 a 5) asignadas por un panel de degustadores al banano híbrido SH-3640 y Poyo, un banano de postre comprado en el mercado. • La maduración de los dedos en el racimo de bananos se efectúa de manera progresiva.Por ejemplo, en dos dedos contiguos de la misma hilera de una misma mano, uno puede estar en el estado de maduración \"verde claro\" y otro en el \"amarillo\". Ahora bien, entre estos dos estados existen el \"verde agua\" y \"verde amarillo\", según la tabla de colores de los \"Descriptores para el banano\" (IPGRI-INIBAP/ CIRAD 1996). También se observó un estado \"verde medio\" que precedía al \"verde claro\". • El pelado de los frutos es fácil pero éstos no tienen mucha pulpa, en comparación con los otros cultivares. • La parte central no contiene o tiene muy pocos puntos negros (semillas atrofiadas), lo que es una ventaja considerable durante el pelado, ya que la extracción de esta parte central es indispensable para la obtención de bolitas homogéneas de foutou que tengan buen aspecto. En lo relativo a las cualidades culinarias, los hogares señalaron, tras cocción de dedos en distintos estados de maduración en agua durante 20 minutos y en el mismo recipiente, que:• los dedos en estado de maduración \"amarillo\" están muy blandos y son fáciles de machacar. Desgraciadamente, la pasta se pega al mortero lo que complica la elaboración de las bolitas, • los dedos en estados de maduración \"verde medio\" y \"verde claro\" son difíciles de machacar porque están muy duros, • los dedos en estado de maduración \"verde amarillo\" son de fácil machacado y la pasta puede trabajarse fácilmente para elaborar las bolas de foutou. Los hogares otorgaron una calificación muy buena al gusto del CRBP-39, tanto hervido como en foutou.En conclusión, estos dos híbridos presentan cualidades organolépticas indudables: el SH-3640 como banano de postre y el CRBP-39 como plátano de cocción. El híbrido CRBP-39 no fue apreciado en forma de chips pero, tras hervirlo en agua, se presta bien para la preparación del foutou, sobre todo cuando está en estado de maduración \"verde amarillo\". Este híbrido tiene la ventaja de la maduración progresiva de los dedos de un mismo racimo. Esto hace que se puedan consumir estos bananos durante un período de tiempo más largo sin pérdidas de importancia. La continuación de estos trabajos nos permitirá determinar sus cualidades nutritivas.Queremos expresar nuestro sincero agradecimiento al Dr Kobena Kouman, investigador en la Estación de Bimbresso del CNRA, por su decisiva contribución en el marco de este estudio. Se analizó la información contenida en una selección de artículos científicos dedicados a la descripción de bananos silvestres y a su distribución para desarrollar una base de datos bibliográficos sobre los bananos silvestres. Se consultaron diferentes bases de datos (MusaLit, CAB-Abstract, Current Contents, etc.) para elaborar esta lista. Algunos expertos en taxonomía del banano, especialmente el Dr Edmond de Langhe y el Sr Markkü Häkkinen, aportaron la información complementaria que habían reunido en las distintas misiones efectuadas en Indonesia y Tailandia. Esta acción tenía como objetivo final la integración de dicha información en el Sitema de información sobre el germoplasma de Musa (Musa Germplasm Información System, MGIS), una base de datos desarrollada y administrada por INIBAP. Esta base de datos contiene las descripciones de más de 5000 accesiones conservadas en bancos de genes de todo el mundo http://mgis.grinfo.net) con una presencia mayoritaria de variedades cultivadas localmente. Las especies silvestres se encuentran subrepresentadas, de ahí la elaboración de este proyecto destinado a analizar documentos científicos referentes a las especies silvestres reportadas u observadas por botánicos en misiones de recolección o encuestas con el fin de, entre otras cosas, determinar su distribución. No obstante, la información geográfica contenida en estos documentos suele ser imprecisa. Por lo tanto, sólo se añadieron unos 15 artículosAnálisis preliminar de la literatura científica sobre las especies silvestres de Musa al MGIS. Este estudio preliminar deberá completarse para ampliar el ámbito de literatura científica que sirve de base a la integración de datos publicados en la base de datos.Dado que el MGIS fue concebido para incorporar datos científicos relativos al material vegetal conservado en colecciones, y no los tomados de la literatura, se elaboró una lista de recomendaciones para que esta herramienta pudiera admitir la información procedente de la literatura científica.Los datos incorporados al MGIS (coordenadas geográficas, información sobre las poblaciones de bananos, etc.) se transfirieron seguidamente al software de información geográfica DIVA-GIS. Dicho programa, concebido por Robert Hijmans en el marco de su trabajo en el CIP (Centro Internacional de la Papa), es de distribución gratuita (http://www.diva-gis.org/) y permite la elaboración de mapas geográficos centrados especialmente en la biodiversidad. Se elaboraron mapas de la distribución y la diversidad genética del banano en distintos países de Asia y del Pacífico. Este trabajo permitió mejorar nuestros conocimientos, puesto que el último mapa que reflejaba la distribución del género Musa, fechado en 1967, se lo debemos a Jean Champion (Figura 1). Desde entonces, se han observado especies pertenecientes a la sección Callimusa en China (Liu et al. 2002) y especies pertenecientes a la sección Australimusa en Borneo (Hotta 1967).Este trabajo nos permitió comprobar que algunos países como Birmania, Camboya y Laos -a pesar de encontrarse en el centro de diversidad del género Musa -poseen escasos datos sobre sus especies de bananos indígenas. Además, parece que el hábitat de algunas especies se reduce con el paso del tiempo. Por ejemplo, una misión dirigida por Argent (1976) a mediados de los setenta en Papúa Nueva Guinea reveló la presencia de Musa balbisiana en la provincia de Morobe; Sharrock (1989), al frente de otra misión de recolección en 1988-89, no detectó su presencia. Durante esta misión, sólo se pudo muestrear Musa balbisiana en la isla de Nueva Bretaña, lo que indica una reducción de su distribución con relación a los años anteriores. La presencia de Musa coccinea en China se vuelve cada vez más escasa debido a la actividad humana. Esta especie se distribuía ampliamente en los bosques de la provincia de Yunnan pero, en una reciente misión de recolección, los científicos chinos tuvieron dificultades para localizarla (Pollefeys et al. 2004).La elaboración de mapas con el programa DIVA permitió también visualizar el esquema de distribución de la sección Australimusa en Papuá Nueva Guinea. Por ejemplo, se observa que Musa boman y Musa lolodensis se encuentran en la parte noroeste de la isla, que Musa peekelii ssp. angustigemma se limita a la provincia de Madang y de Eastern Highlands, mientras que M. peekelii ssp. peekelii parece hallarse sólo en la isla de Nueva Irlanda (Argent 1976, Sharrock 1989). Este tipo de información puede servir de guía a futuras misiones de recolección para orientar sus investigaciones hacia regiones en las que la distribución de Musa es menos conocida y, eventualmente, para desarrollar estrategias de conservación en su hábitat natural. En 1997, en el valle del Chira, Perú, se registró la menor superficie cultivada de banano durante los últimos 20 años principalmente debido la baja rentabilidad del cultivo, bajo precio de mercado, que alcanzó el nivel de 0.23 dólares por caja de 18 kg, sistema de comercialización en monopolio, bajos rendimientos derivados de la falta de apoyo en asistencia técnica y falta de créditos, pérdida de producción causada por los efectos del fenómeno El Niño y carencia de otras alternativas para la comercialización. En 1998, mediante un acuerdo entre el Ministerio de Agricultura (MINAG) del Perú y INIBAP, se implementó en el departamento de Piura el proyecto de banano orgánico del valle del Chira con características de tipo participativo, enmarcado a la conservación del medio ambiente y la sostenibilidad.El objetivo del proyecto fue caracterizar la problemática bananera e implementar con el apoyo coordinado entre las dos organizaciones actividades de transferencia de tecnología, apoyo crediticio y logístico, investigación y organización de productores de banano para mejorar el nivel de ingresos de los pequeños productores adoptando el cultivo de banano orgánico como forma de producción con fines de diversificar la oferta, mejorando el sistema de producción y apoyo en la comercialización.El valle del Chira se caracteriza por tener suelos sedimentarios, profundos, de baja pendiente y textura franco arcillosa de clase I aptos para el cultivo de banano. El clima de la región es óptimo para el desarrollo del banano orgánico con temperaturas promedio máxima y mínima de 32°C y 17°C en el verano e invierno respectivamente, heliofanía con 7.2 horas por día que favorecen el desarrollo del banano. La humedad relativa menor a 65% y la baja precipitación (menor a 500 mm por año) no favorecen el desarrollo de la Sigatoka negra. La zona de producción está estratégicamente ubicada a 60 km del puerto de embarque y Focus sobre banano orgánico Evaluación de impacto del proyecto de banano orgánico en el valle del Chira, Perú cuenta con sistemas viales asfaltados con acceso directo. El 98% de los productores del valle del Chira tiene en promedio 0.72 hectáreas.El objetivo del presente estudio fue evaluar ex post el impacto económico de la implementación del proyecto. El estudio de campo se realizó entre octubre del 2002 y marzo del 2003, utilizándose las metodologías de aplicación de 175 encuestas directas a productores, trabajo en grupos de enfoque, reuniones individuales con comerciantes, obtención directa en campo de información de datos técnicos, productivos y de comercio, y recopilación bibliográfica y estadística de información referente a la actividad bananera en la región. El muestreo realizado fue al azar considerando productores orgánicos y convencionales.A través del proyecto se capacitó a los pequeños productores, técnicos locales tanto de organizaciones e instituciones del estado como del sector privado. La adopción de la producción de banano orgánico redujo el uso de fertilizantes de origen sintético en 18 018 TM, los cuales fueron reemplazados por fuentes nutritivas de origen orgánico como el guano de las islas, estiércol de ganado, humus de lombriz, sulfato de potasio y magnesio mineralizado y otras fuentes (Figura 1).Los beneficiarios del proyecto fueron 1672 pequeños productores capacitados, los cuales representaron el 38% de la totalidad de productores de banano en el valle del Chira. A finales de 1999 se adoptó la tecnología en 1603 hectáreas, lográndose certificar con la agencia OCIA-USA las primeras 210 hectáreas de banano que cumplieron con los más exigentes estándares de la regulación de productos orgánicos. En el 2000 se exportó la producción de 115 hectáreas en forma efectiva. En el 2002, se adoptó la tecnología de producción orgánica en cerca de 3100 hectáreas de las cuales 1600 fueron certificadas por las agencias BSC, Skal y SGS. De esta cifra, la producción de 823 hectáreas fueron para la exportación efectiva a través de las empresas nacionales Gronsa, Exbanor y Biorgánika, y la transnacional Dole.El cambio de tecnología produjo modificaciones importantes en el nivel de ingreso tanto de los pequeños productores de banano orgánico como de los productores convencionales quienes se han favorecido de la derrama económica generada por el proyecto. El precio real que recibió el productor por el banano orgánico de exportación en el 2002 fue 32% superior al precio real que recibió en 1999 por la venta en el mercado nacional (Figura 2).El costo de producción del banano orgánico por hectárea fue mayor en 92% al costo de producción convencional (Figura 3). Los componentes que determinaron el elevado costo de la producción orgánica fueron la mano de obra y fertilizantes.En 1998, antes de iniciar el proyecto de banano orgánico, el ingreso neto promedio por la venta de banano fue US$963/ha (Figura 4). En el 2002, el ingreso neto promedio del productor fue US$2770. El pequeño productor incrementó su nivel de ingresos en 187% por adoptar la tecnología de producción orgánica y diversificar su oferta al mercado interno y externo.El ingreso neto real promedio por hectárea disminuyó en 65% en el proceso de transición de convencional a orgánico. Este efecto se debió al incremento del costo de producción y a que los precios del banano en transición en el mercado interno no cambiaron con relación al banano convencional. Esta situación se revertió a partir del 2000, en donde la producción orgánica fue exportada a precios diferenciales y el precio real en el mercado nacional subió considerablemente. El efecto  InfoMusa -Vol. 13 -No.1 34 de la transición a la producción orgánica puede ser más prolongado y de mayor perjuicio para el productor con relación a las condiciones iniciales con las que cuenta el productor involucrado en la conversión del proceso de producción. En el caso de los productores del valle del Chira, la recuperación del ingreso neto real se produjo a los 15 meses de haber iniciado el proceso de conversión, toda vez que los productores, antes de entrar a este proceso de tres años adoptado por la reglamentación de productos orgánicos, ya tenían un período de dos años utilizando prácticas ecológicas o no contaminantes y, en algunos caso, más de tres años sin uso de productos químicos prohibidos.La reducción de la oferta de banano para el mercado nacional causado por la exportación provocó incrementos del precio recibido por el productor, sin que represente necesariamente un incremento del precio al consumidor. Asimismo, los productores convencionales se beneficiaron del cambio de la dinámica de comercialización del banano y la apertura del mercado exterior. En tal sentido, el productor convencional elevó su ingreso neto real en el año 2002 en 107% en comparación a los ingresos registrados en 1998 debido principalmente al mejor precio en campo.  El Dr Georges F. Wilson, pionero de la investigación moderna de plátanos en Africa, falleció el 7 de marzo en Kingston, Jamaica, después de una prolongada enfermedad. El Dr Wilson desempeñó un papel importante en la creación del programa de banano y plátano en el IITA y de INIBAP. Lanzó sus primeros ensayos con el plátano en Nigeria a principios de la década de los 70, cuando se desempeñaba como Oficial Principal del Programa de Investigación de los Sistemas de Cultivo del IITA. Percibió la importancia vital del cultivo en Africa mucho antes de que este fuera reconocido como tal por el IITA y trabajó incansablemente para que los científicos africanos unieran sus esfuerzos de investigación.En el 2002, los productores orgánicos certificados no pudieron exportar el 24% de la producción orgánica obtenida para la exportación por dificultades en el sistema de comercialización de las empresas exportadoras (incumplimiento de compras según fechas acordadas). El 61% de la cantidad no exportada cumplió con los requisitos mínimos para la exportación y se destinó al mercado nacional por el cual el productor recibió precios reales inferiores del orden del 74% del precio que hubieran recibido de haber exportado.El cambio de sistema de producción y el apoyo a la comercialización promovido por el convenio MINAG-INIBAP contribuyó a que el banano, de ser el 17 o frutal más exportado en 1999, pasara a ocupar, en el 2002, el tercer lugar con un valor de exportación de 6.1 millones de dólares seguido del mango y mandarina. El banano registró el mayor crecimiento tanto en el valor como en volumen de exportación.La producción de banano orgánico en el valle del Chira seguirá creciendo en la medida que la demanda por productos orgánicos certificados en el exterior aumente y las empresas nacionales o extranjeras mejoren el sistema de producción, de operación y seguimiento a fin de garantizar un precio justo al productor y la integridad orgánica de la producción. Del mismo modo, las perspectivas pueden mejorar de haber una participación del Gobierno en sectores estratégicos como son la investigación en campo y de mercados, liberalización de la producción y comercio del guano de las islas, fomento para reducir los costos en el transporte marítimo, mejoramiento de vías de acceso y establecimiento de normas claras para estimular la inversión y la distribución de los beneficios generados.Estuvo detrás de la Primera Conferencia Internacional sobre el Banano y el Plátano celebrada en 1976 en la sede del IITA con el apoyo de la Agencia Belga para la Cooperación en Desarrollo. Participaron más de 50 investigadores y especialistas africanos, de todo el mundo. Se estableció una Asociación Internacional para la Investigación del Plátano y otros Bananos de Cocción (IARPCB), con el difunto Jean Champion como primer Presidente, el difunto Harry Stover como Vicepresidente y Georges como secretario.Gracias a Georges, el concepto de una red de investigación bananera se convirtió en realidad. La Corporación para la Investigación de Plátanos de Africa Occidental (WARCORP) fue creada con el apoyo del IFAD y reunió a científicos desde Congo hasta Guinea. La Subestación High Rainfall del IITA en Onne desempeñó un papel esencial en esta red. Sólo unas pocas personas sabían que Georges puede ser considerado como uno de los padres fundadores de esta estación. Durante la 2 a conferencia de IARPCB celebrada en Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, la llegada de la Sigatoka negra al Africa generó muchas discusiones, que llevaron a la idea de crear una red global para manejar esta nueva y muy seria amenaza. La idea fue apoyada por el Centro Internacional de Investigación para el Desarrollo y Barry Nestel como su consejero principal, y llevó a la creación de INIBAP.Georges tenía una personalidad única, una fuerza silenciosa que lograba sus metas con una gran sabiduría y modestia. Su oficina siempre estaba abierta para todos a cualquier hora del día. Compartía generosamente sus vastos conocimientos en agricultura con las generaciones más jóvenes. En colaboración con su amigo Edmond De Langhe, continuó el desarrollo de la investigación africana en Musa. Nombró a Rony Swennen como primer científico en plátanos en la estación de Onne y le solicitó recolectar los bananos y plátanos de todos los lugares. Esta actividad condujo a la creación del Centro de Tránsito de INIBAP. Con el nombramiento del difunto Dirk Vuylsteke, se trajo al primer biotecnólogo de banano al IITA. Dirk y Georges crearon los primeros centros de multiplicación de plátano in vitro en el IITA, con la asistencia del Banco Mundial. Georges ayudó a estos jóvenes científicos a convertirse en expertos en banano y plátano, quienes compartieron su amor por Africa. Les enseñó que no existen problemas, sólo soluciones. Lo que es más admirable, permaneció siendo un optimista y nunca se rindió. También disfrutó completamente la vida con su esposa Peju e hijo Suen.Siempre le recordaremos sobre todo como El Jamaiquino con el bigote de Clark Gable, como lo describió el Washington Post destacando sus logros en la investigación de plátanos en 1984.Tesis de Doctorado (PhD) presentado ante l'Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Montpellier, Montpellier, Francia, marzo de 2004 Frecuentemente en el banano se observan irregularidades durante la meiosis. En Musa acuminata, la especie principal en el origen de los cultivares de banano, se han identificado siete grupos de translocación (Estándar, Norte de Malasia, Montañas de Malasia, Norte A, Norte B, Indonesia, y Africa Oriental). Dentro de cada grupo las accesiones tenían la misma estructura cromosómica. En general, las translocaciones crean un problema para el mapeo genético, el estudio genético de los caracteres agronómicos y el mejoramiento del banano. El objetivo de esta tesis consistía en establecer una herramienta basada en la hibridación fluorescente in situ de los clones de BAC (BAC-FISH) para caracterizar las translocaciones en el banano y utilizar esta herramienta para caracterizar las translocaciones en 'Calcutta 4' (2n=2x=22, grupo de translocación Norte A group) y en 'Madang' (2n=2x=22, grupo de translocación Estándar). Para lograr este objetivo, se desarrolló una biblioteca de los BAC de banano, se adaptó la metodología de hibridación in situ de BAC para ser utilizada con los cromosomas de banano y se empezó el desarrollo de un mapa citogenético de banano.La biblioteca de BAC tiene 55 152 clones, con un tamaño de inserción promedio de 100 Kb. Alrededor de 1.5% de estosclones tienen inserciones de cloroplastos y mitocondrias. Esta biblioteca cubre de 9 a 10 veces el genoma del banano. Se construyó un mapa genético del cruzamiento 'Calcutta 4' x 'Madang' utilizando 120 marcadores (20 marcadores de RFLP, 81 marcadores de AFLP y 19 marcadores SSR) distribuidos a través de 14 grupos de enlace. El grupo de enlace II fue seleccionado para buscar los puntos de quiebre para las translocaciones. Algunas características de este grupo (como el alto número de marcadores distorsionados, el tamaño del grupo y la comparación con otros mapas de banano) sugieren la presencia de las translocaciones. Cuatro clones de BAC distribuidos en el grupo de enlace II y seleccionados de tres loci de RFLP y un locus de SSR fueron localizados en los cromosomas de 'Calcutta 4' y 'Madang', utilizando BAC-FISH. Los resultados sugieren que los marcadores del grupo de enlace II están localizados en tres pares de cromosomas homólogos que se diferencian por la presencia de dos translocaciones enlazadas en 'Calcutta 4'. De acuerdo a nuestra hipótesis, los marcadores mMaCIR161-rMaCIR 560, rMaCIR 1125 y rMaCIR 36 están localizados en tres cromosomas (cromosomas A, B y C) en 'Madang'. En 'Calcutta 4' estos marcadores están localizados sólo en dos cromosomas (cromosomas A y B). El marcador rMaCIR 1125 localizado en el cromosoma C en 'Madang', está localizado en la posición proximal del cromosoma B en 'Calcutta 4'.Paralelamente, se ha empezado un mapa global citogenético de la accesión 'Calcutta 4'. Este mapa citogenético es parcial e incluye solo 16 loci (14 clones BAC seleccionados por los marcadores RFLP y SSR y las sondas ribosomáticas 45S y 5S). Se han anclado seis de los 14 grupos de enlace del mapa genético del 'Calcutta 4'.Tesis de Doctorado (Ph.D) presentado en 2002 ante la Universidad de Kerala, Thiruvananathapuram, Kerala, India Para cumplir con la creciente demanda por los bananos, se debe incrementar la productividad. Tecnologías modernas, como el uso de las plantas in vitro dieron como resultado una productividad síncrona, rápida y mejorada. Los retoños de espada de los bananos 'Red banana' fueron recolectados en los campos bien mantenidos en Vellayani y Kaliyilkkavila en el Distrito de Thiruvananthapuram. Los explantes de las puntas apicales fueron esterilizados dos veces e inoculados en el medio basal MS con carbón activado al 0.2%. Después de 4 semanas, se seleccionaron los cultivos estériles, y las vainas foliares y las puntas apicales fueron aisladas e inoculadas en el medio MS y en el medio MT de varias concentraciones y en varias combinaciones de auxinas y citoquininas.Callos friables de color rojo pálido fueron iniciados a partir de los explantes de puntas apicales en el medio MT con 0.5 mg/L de TDZ y se obtuvieron callos compactos de color rojo en el medio MT con 1 mg/L de NAA, 2 mg/L de BA y 1 mg/L de TDZ. Los explantes de las puntas apicales en el medio MS con 2 mg/L de 2,4-D produjeron callos friables de color blanco. Los explantes de vainas foliares en el medio MT con 1 mg/L de NAA y 2 mg/1 de BA y 1 mg/L de TDZ produjeron callos friables de color rojo. El medio MS con 1mg/L de NAA y 2 mg/L de BA produjo callos de color verde pálido menos compactos.La rizogénesis fue observada en los callos iniciados a partir de los explantes de puntas apicales en el medio MT con 1 mg/L de NAA y 2 mg/L de BA. Los callos iniciados a partir de los explantes de vainas foliares en el medio MT con 1 mg/L de NAA y 1 mg/L de BA o 0.1 mg/L de TDZ también mostraron rizogénesis. Los explantes de vainas foliares en el medio MT con 2 mg/L de 2,4-D y de BA produjeron callos de color negro con embriones somáticos en diferentes etapas de desarrollo como los embriones globulares, de torpedo y bipolares. En el cultivo de suspensión, el medio MT líquido con 1 mg/L de 2,4-D y 2 mg/L de BA produjo el mayor número de embriones somáticos después de 45 días. Los embriones somáticos fueron transferidos al medio basal MT para la siguiente etapa de crecimiento.Los brotes florales masculinos terminales fueron recolectados para otro cultivo de plantas con racimos. De las anteras se iniciaron callos esponjosos blancos después de 60 días en el medio MT con 2 mg/L de 2,4-D y de BA; de 2 mg/L de 2,4-D y 1 mg/L de TDZ se iniciaron callos esponjosos de color amarillo pálido y en 2 mg/L de NAA y 1 mg/L de BA, fueron producidos callos negros con raíces.Los explantes de las puntas apicales fueron inoculados en el medio MS para la regeneración directa y multiplicación. Los brotes primarios emergieron de los explantes dentro de una Cultivo de tejidos de Musa acuminata Colla R. Vidhya semana, independientemente de la concentración de hormonas. Múltiples brotes fueron producidos 60 días después de la inoculación, y 78 y 72 inicios de brotes, con un largo promedio de 6.95cm y 6.13 cm respectivamente, se obtuvieron en el medio MS complementado con 8mg/L de BA solo o con 0.1 mg/L de ANA y 8 mg/L de BA. Las plántulas in vitro de los frascos de cultivo fueron aclimatadas y transferidas del cuarto de cultivo a temperatura ambiente. Las plantas regeneradas mostraron un 100% de supervivencia. Todas las plántulas estaban verdes durante la fase inicial de aclimatación. Pero 10 días después, la mayoría de los pseudotallos se tornaron rojos, con excepción de 36 plántulas provenientes de 8 mg/L de BA solo o con 0.1 mg/L de ANA, las cuales permanecieron verdes.Caracteres morfológicos como la altura y la circunferencia de la planta, la cantidad de hojas, largo y ancho de las hojas, fueron registrados al comienzo y después de 30, 90, 180 y 270 días. Las plantas rojas produjeron un promedio de 80 a 90 frutas y las plantas verdes produjeron frutas de tamaño similar y se tornaron amarillas durante la maduración. Se registraron el largo y la circunferencia de la fruta, el peso de la fruta, el peso del racimo, la cantidad de manos, la cantidad de dedos por mano y el número total de frutas de las plantas regeneradas obtenidas de diferentes concentraciones de hormonas y establecidas en cuatro ecotipos bajo 15 tratamientos, y luego se realizó un análisis estadístico.Las muestras de hojas de las plantas obtenidas del medio complementado con 8 mg/L de BA o Kin y establecidas en el campo y las variantes rojas y verdes obtenidas de las plantas in vitro fueron utilizadas para el SDS-PAGE con el fin de separar las proteínas. Se analizaron isozimas como la esterasa, la fosfotasa ácida y la peroxidasa, y los patrones de las isozimas en las plantas regeneradas. El electroforograma de la esterasa y peroxidasa fueron diferentes para las muestras de las hojas de las plantas derivadas de BA y Kin. El electroforograma de la peroxidasa mostró 5 bandas principales para las muestras foliares de Kin, pero solo 3 bandas se obtuvieron para las plantas derivadas de BA. Todas las proteínas en el experimento en gel mostraron variabilidad en el patrón de las bandas de la proteína total.El banano, una fruta tropical importante, proporciona una buena fuente de carbohidratos, vitaminas y minerales. Por mucho tiempo esta fruta fue considerada como el alimento infantil ideal. El contenido de carbohidratos fue más bajo en las variantes rojas y verdes (22.98 y 23.12 mg/g) que en los cultivares locales 'Robusta', 'Nendran' y 'Rasthali'. El contenido de vitamina C fue ligeramente más alto en la variante roja. Los niveles más bajos de azúcares reductores fueron obtenidos de las variantes rojas. No hubo diferencias en el contenido nutritivo de las frutas de las variantes rojas y verdes y en el contenido de fibra en el pseudotallo de las muestras derivadas de BA o Kin. Las variantes roja y verde fueron ricas en NDF, ADF, contenido de hemicelulosas y lignina.Se realizó un análisis RAPD con 20 iniciadores aleatorios de Operon Technologies. De estos, 10 iniciadores dieron productos de amplificación. Se anotó un total de 96 bandas, de las cuales 79 bandas eran polimórficas (83%). Después de tres semanas en vermiculita, las variantes roja y verde mostraron polimorfismo marcado en las bandas principales. El OPB-13 puede ser utilizado como un marcador para identificar variantes rojas y verdes obtenidas durante el cultivo in vitro de Musa acuminata. El OPAB-13 puede ser utilizado para distinguir las variantes rojas y verdes. El OPB-3 mostró un patrón de bandas monomórfico para todas las muestras rojas y verdes. De acuerdo al dendrograma UPGMA, las variantes rojas y verdes estaban concentradas en grupos separados.Tesis de Doctorado (PhD) presentada ante la Universidad de North Maharashtra, India, febrero de 2002El principal objetivo de este trabajo fue desarrollar un régimen de bajo costo para el mejoramiento cualitativo y cuantitativo de un sistema de producción de bananos que no comprometiera la fertilidad del suelo, los intereses de los agricultores y consumidores de banano y la salud del ecosistema.En los sitios de ensayo de la Universidad de North Maharashtra y de la finca agrotecnológica de Bajirao se estableció un diseño de bloques aleatorios con el fin de evaluar el efecto de varios insumos biotecnológicos, como la aplicación del acondicionador del suelo derivado del pseudotallo, fitoreguladores de crecimiento,Niteen V. Phirke biofertilizantes, cenizas volátiles, riego por goteo y una menor cantidad de fertilizantes químicos, sobre el crecimiento y rendimiento del 'Shrimanti' (AAA).Los principales resultados de los cinco años de experimentos en el laboratorio y en el campo fueron los siguientes: 1. Aproximadamente 4 millones de toneladas métricas de biomasa de pseudotallo y de hojas por año fueron utilizados para producir un acondicionador de suelo, utilizando fermentación en estado sólido para el carbón orgánico y reciclaje de nutrientes. 2. Los fitoreguladores de crecimiento, basados en aminoácidos producidos hidrolizando subproductos ricos en proteínas disponibles localmente, aumentaron la tasa supervivencia de las plantas transplantadas y la productividad del banano. 3. Microbios eficientes fueron aislados de la rizosfera de las plantas de banano élites y conservados para la explotación comercial en un consorcio de biofertilizantes.4. Las cenizas volátiles mostraron potencial como un sustituto parcial para los fertilizantes fosfatados y potásicos y los micronutrientes importados, conjuntamente con los hongos y micorrizas que solubilizan fosfatos. 5. El riego por goteo redujo la cantidad de agua utilizada, consumo de electricidad y, como resultado, salinización del suelo. 6. Utilizando estos insumos biotecnológicos, la utilización de los fertilizantes químicos se redujo en un 50%, lo que hizo posible la conversión del terreno muy erosionado, árido y sin utilización, en un terreno agrícola cultivable. 7. Los ensayos en dos condiciones geoclimáticas en la Universidad de North Maharashtra y en la finca agrotecnológica de Bajirao han mostrado ampliamente la misma tendencia en las observaciones y productividad, indicando la confiabilidad de la tecnología de manejo integrado de la nutrición de las plantas.La conocida punta de cigarro (tabaco) es una enfermedad que se caracteriza por la aparición de una zona negruzca en el perianto que se disemina hacia abajo, tornándose corrugado y cubierto de conidióforos y conidios pulverulentos del patógeno, de donde toma el nombre el nombre. En Cuba, esta enfermedad es más frecuente en los llamados plátanos de cocción o viandas, siendo los clones 'Macho 3⁄4' y 'CEMSA 3⁄4' los más afectados. En áreas del Instituto de Investigaciones en Viandas Tropicales, ubicado en Santo Domingo en la provincia de Villa Clara, se observaron en racimos del clon FHIA-01 (AAAB) un manchado de los frutos que se manifestaba por la aparición de lesiones negruzcas hundidas con bordes sinuosos o irregulares, deprimidos en el centro, de aspecto o consistencia acuosa (Figura 1). La fusión de estas lesiones producen áreas continuas que abarcan hasta las dos terceras partes del dedo. Las lesiones se circunscriben a la corteza, pues la pulpa debajo de ésta no se afecta. Se aprecia decoloraciones pardo rojizas en el pedúnculo de los dedos que pueden llegar a extenderse hasta la inserción con el tallo principal. No se producen pudriciones ni deterioro en los dedos, ya que estos permanecen firmes hasta la maduración que retarda más allá de lo habitual. La parte cóncava del dedo se ve más afectada que la convexa, debido presumiblemente a la difusión que realiza el rocío o las lluvias de las estructuras del patógeno.Se colocaron varias secciones del tejido afectado en cámaras húmedas para favorecer la emisión de estructuras fungosas y se incubaron a 28°C, luego de cuatro días de incubación se detectaron sobre las lesiones un micelio escaso pardo claro, que al observarse al microscopio compuesto, se pudo identificar dichas estructuras como pertenecientes a Verticillium (Stachylidium) theobromae (Turc.).Este hongo se caracteriza por producir conidióforos solitarios, erectos de 100-400 nm x 4-6 nm, septados, cilíndricos, amarillos claro con ramas verticiladas en cuyos extremos se forman masas de conidios embebidos en un mucílago, hialino, oblongos o cilíndricos de 4-6 nm x 2 nm. Fuente: Lilián Morales Romero, Instituto de Investigaciones en Viandas Tropicales. (INIVIT) and Lidcay Herrera Isla, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, UCLV, Cuba. Plantas de plátano dañadas y desarraigadas fueron apuntaladas en una finca en Ipaja Lagos, Nigeria. Puntales en forma de Y fueron utilizados en varios puntos a lo largo del pseudotallo.En 1997, una planta apuntalada a la altura de 90 cm sobre el nivel de la tierra a 45° produjo retoños, pero las raíces fueron comidas por las termitas después de una sequía y la planta se cayó bajo su peso. Otra planta apuntalada resbaló de su soporte después de ocho semanas y cayó sobre una cerca con un ángulo de 65°. El pseudotallo se marchitó en la semana 12 y produjo 10 dedos en la semana 18.En 1998, una planta de plátano fue apuntalada verticalmente, a 80°. Ella empezó a crecer 18 meses después. El largo del pseudotallo aumentó de 165 cm a 180 cm y casi un mes después la planta produjo 3 dedos. La circunferencia del pseudotallo permaneció sin cambios en 37.5 cm.En 2001, dos plantas se cayeron sobre una cerca con inclinaciones de 40° y 60°. La planta apuntalada a 60° produjo un retoño mientras que la otra se marchitó como todas otras plantas que no fueron apuntaladas. Para más información, Godwin Norense Osarumwense Asemota, Windhoek, Namibia asemotagno@hotmail.com Una planta caída apoyada por luna cerca (Goodwin Asemota).El Dr Jean Champion, de cuyo fallecimiento hemos informado en la edición de diciembre de 2003 de INFOMUSA, desempeñó un papel poco conocido pero significativo en la creación de INIBAP. Formó parte de un pequeño grupo sin cuya experiencia y entusiasmo la red nunca podría haber llegado a existir.A principios de la década de los 80, los miembros del Grupo Consultivo para la Investigación Agrícola Internacional (CGIAR) estaban discutiendo la creación de varios nuevos Centros de Investigación Agrícola Internacional (IARC). Varios países productores de bananos y plátanos sugirieron que Musa representaba el cultivo alimentario más importante y el cual no recibía atención del CGIAR. En este tiempo, la mayoría de los países donantes pensaban que los bananos constituían principalmente un producto de exportación comercializado por las compañías multinacionales, y la importancia de los bananos y plátanos como un producto alimentario en los países en vías de desarrollo no estaba reconocida completamente. Esta situación empezó a cambiar cuando la enfermedad de la Sigatoka negra, que tuvo un impacto devastador sobre los pequeños productores, se propagó rápidamente por todo el mundo.A finales de 1982, un grupo de los principales donantes en una reunión en Washington solicitó al Centro Internacional para la Investigación y Desarrollo de Canadá (CIID) realizar un estudio sobre el alcance y factibilidad de desarrollar alguna forma de apoyo a la investigación de los bananos y plátanos bajo el paraguas del CGIAR. El CIID contrató a un consultor para discutir las posibles opciones con los países productores y donantes potenciales y su informe fue presentado por el CIID en una reunión asistida por 16 donantes en Washington en noviembre de 1983. La reunión llegó a un consenso de que sería apropiado crear alguna forma de iniciativa internacional para apoyar el mejoramiento de los bananos y plátanos y que esta iniciativa debería ser implementada más bien a través de un enfoque de trabajo en una red, que creando un gran instituto multidisciplinario en cualquier lugar. Se le solicitó al CIID realizar más consultas con los programas nacionales de investigación bananera, especialistas y agencias donantes y presentar una propuesta formal al CGIAR en su siguiente reunión en mayo de 1984.Uno de los principales elementos en este proceso de consulta fue una reunión que se celebró en el Aeropuerto de Gatwick, en diciembre de 1983, cuando un grupo de cuatro expertos en Musa a nivel mundial se reunió con el consultor del CIID para ofrecer sus puntos de vista sobre algunas cuestiones clave que habían surgido en los países durante el proceso de consultas regionales. Los tópicos destacados cubiertos identificaban los vacíos más importantes en el conocimiento técnico con respecto a la producción de los bananos como alimentos, sugiriendo prioridades globales y regionales para la investigación, desarrollando una estrategia internacional para el mejoramiento y discutiendo las necesidades de la tecnología de información del nuevo instituto, necesidades de capacitación y la estructura óptima de una red internacional. El Dr Champion desempeñó un papel clave en esta consulta, ya que sus descubrimientos establecieron el marco tanto para la aprobación de la creación de INIBAP por el CGIAR en mayo de 1984, como para la definición de las políticas y programas aprobados por la primera Junta directiva de INIBAP.Antes de la creación formal de INIBAP, fue necesario identificar un país anfitrión para su sede. Esta fue una decisión difícil ya que la producción de Musa estaba dividida casi igualmente entre las regiones de Africa, Asia y América Latina y el Caribe, pero ninguna de las regiones tenía un fuerte programa de Musa, aparte del grupo de América Central perteneciente a una corporación multinacional. El centro nacional de excelencia más fuerte fue el CIRAD (Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement), con su personal en Montpellier y en otros países. Algunos donantes estaban preocupados sobre la ubicación del instituto líder para un cultivo tropical en Europa y tenían dudas sobre el modelo propuesto de trabajo en red.Esta situación llevó a más diálogos y consultas. Tomando en cuenta al CIRAD, donde Jean Champion fue uno de los principales y más respetados científicos, y varios países productores que apoyaban la candidatura de Montpellier, el Gobierno Francés ofreció esta ciudad para la sede de INIBAP. El resto, como se dice, es historia.La llegada de los primeros bananos cultivados al Africa ha sido una cuestión de conjeturas por más de un siglo. Mientras se acepta comúnmente que ellos se originaron en \"algún lugar del Este\", no se ha determinado con seguridad cuando ellos fueron introducidos y quien fue responsable.Había tres teorías para explicar la introducción de los bananos al Africa. Los bananos fueron introducidos por los portugueses al final del siglo 16, por los comerciantes árabes o persas alrededor del siglo 8 o o antes, o por las personas que hablaban el idioma austronesio, quienes se habían establecido en Madagascar a principios del primer milenio, haciendo posible una introducción posterior al continente. La tercera teoría, desarrollada por el difunto Norman Simmonds, una autoridad en bananos, ha estado ganando terreno firmemente. Común a todas las teorías, es la creencia de que los bananos no llegaron al continente africano antes de la era cristiana, hace 2000 años.Recientemente, hemos recuperado fitolitos de los pozos de deshechos excavados en Camerún central e identificado como provenientes de un banano cultivado, después de un estudio comparativo del género Musa y Ensete (Mbida et al. 2001). Estos fitolitos databan de antes de 2500 años antes de Cristo. Si se confirma, este descubrimiento arrojaría una luz diferente sobre la evolución temprana de la agricultura en los trópicos húmedos de Africa. Por ejemplo, la agricultura en los bosques húmedos contaría no solo con el ñame, el cual generalmente no es muy productivo en ausencia de una estación seca, sino que el mismo podría haberse desarrollado alrededor de los plátanos, los cuales prefieren este ambiente.La determinación del primer cultivo de bananos en Africa es muy relevante para la genética de los bananos comestibles. Los plátanos AAB y los bananos de cocción AAA de Africa Oriental comprenden grupos de cultivares estrictamente definidos, que están clasificados morfológicamente en el mismo nivel que el AAA Gros Michel, el AAB Silk y el ABB Pisang awak, por ejemplo. Incluso ellos, como el grupo AAB Maia maoli del Pacífico, despliegan una diversidad que excede la de cualquier grupo comparable de triploides, con más de 50 AAA de Africa Oriental y más de 100 cultivares de plátano. ¿Fue tal diversidad generada a través de las mutaciones somáticas durante largos períodos de tiempo o son estos triploides más susceptibles al tipo de estrés que generan estas mutaciones? El hecho de que las tasas de mutación en el laboratorio son mucho más altas que las mutaciones en el campo (Vuylsteke et al. 1991), destaca la presencia y cultivo prolongados de plátanos en Africa.Es inevitable que los datos que apoyan la idea revolucionaria de un antiguo cultivo de bananos en Africa serán examinados críticamente. En una nota publicada en la edición de 2004 de Azania, la revista del Instituto Británico en Africa Oriental, Jan Vansina, una bien conocida autoridad en historia africana, expresa serias reservas sobre estos descubrimientos (Vansina 2004). El escribe que \"sólo se puede aceptar que la evidencia más temprana en Africa del cultivo de bananos comestibles sin semillas se remonta a finales del siglo sexto de la era cristiana y posiblemente hasta más tarde, al siglo noveno de la era cristiana.\"Vansina sostiene que los bananos podrían no haber sido cultivados en Africa Occidental 2500 años antes de Cristo, basándose en la hipótesis de que los plátanos AAB se originaron en el subcontinente de la India. Sin embargo, la investigación quimiotaxonómica y el análisis de ADN citoplásmico demuestran que los plátanos AAB (así como los bananos de cocción AAA de Africa Oriental) se originaron en Nueva Guinea y en las islas circundantes (Horry 1989, Lebot et al. 1993, Carreel 1994, Carreel et al. 2002). Además, la presencia en Asia de sólo unas pocas variedades de plátano y la ausencia de los bananos de cocción AAA de Africa Oriental, hace claro que el subcontinente de la India no puede estar en el origen de la diversidad única encontrada en los trópicos húmedos de Africa.Vansina parece no conocer otro camino para la introducción (De Langhe y de Maret 1999), lo que hace que el área más probable para la introducción de los bananos sea el Africa en la zona ecuatorial, como la actual Tanzania. Desde allí los bananos podrían haber sido dispersados a través del continente desde el oriente hasta el occidente, llegando eventualmente al Camerún actual. Las conjeturas sobre el cultivo temprano de bananos en la parte más al norte del continente se vuelven irrelevantes.Vansina considera que los fitolitos encontrados en Camerún pertenecen más bien al género Ensete, el llamado banano africano falso, que a Musa. En su artículo, manifiesta que \"no se hizo ninguna comparación directa en el laboratorio con los fitolitos utilizados en los estudios anteriores especialmente en el Sudeste de Asia\" (Vansina 2004). Cuando presentamos nuestro trabajo (Mbida et al. 2001), sabíamos sólo de dos estudios de relevancia general para las Musaceae (Tomlinson 1959, Tomlinson 1969) y un estudio específico sobre Nueva Guinea (Wilson 1985). Referimos a estos trabajos, así como a las colecciones de referencia publicadas para los continentes americano (Piperno 1988), asiático (Kealhoffer y Piperno 1998) y africano (Runge 1996, Runge 1997).El trabajo de Wilson no apoya la afirmación de Vansina que \"es prácticamente imposible distinguir entre los fitolitos de Musa (bananos) y otras Musáceas (en este caso Musa ingens)\" (Vansina 2004). Aún si Wilson encontró difícil de discriminar entre M. ingens y otras secciones de Musa, él aparentemente no introdujo el género Ensete en el estudio 1 . Más aún, la diferenciación de los fitolitos de Ensete de cualquier fitolito de Musa fue el punto de nuestro estudio (Mbida et al. 2001). Incidentalmente, las indicaciones de Wilson sobre el cultivo temprano de los bananos fueron confirmadas recientemente por Denham et al. (2003), y la domesticación de los bananos puede haber sido iniciada en Kuk (Papua Nueva Guinea) 10 000 años antes de Cristo.La crítica de Vansina que \"el material comparativo utilizado es muy limitado\", parece reflejar una interpretación equivocada de los requerimientos metodológicos para este tipo de estudio específico. Ya que los fitolitos encontrados en Nkang podrían haber pertenecido a las especies africanas nativas de Ensete, se emprendió un extenso estudio comparativo para investigar si la morfología de los fitolitos de Ensete podría ser distinguida de la morfología de los fitolitos del género Musa. Se examinaron varias muestras de Ensete gilletii y Ensete ventricosum, las únicas especies africanas 2 . Ya que el E. gilletii es típico del paisaje camerunense, un espécimen de una planta que crece allí fue introducida en la colección de referencia, en adición al espécimen de la Colección Internacional de Germoplasma de Musa. No se observó variación notable en la forma del fitolito entre las muestras de Ensete examinadas.Por otro lado, los fitolitos de Musa, si estuvieron presentes en Africa en tiempos antiguos, señalarían necesariamente una introducción de las plantas de banano desde afuera del continente. Los cultivares introducidos podrían haber pertenecido a cualquiera de los genomas de los cultivares de banano, es decir, AA, AAA, AAB y ABB. Los cultivares representativos de estos grupos genómicos fueron examinados con respecto a sus fitolitos. Rechazamos la discrepancia de que el material de referencia fue limitado.Un examen cuidadoso de la morfología de los fitolitos nos llevó a concluir (1) que la variación en la forma de los fitolitos difícilmente se nota dentro de cada género y (2) que la forma ampliamente difiere entre los dos géneros (Mbida et al. 2001). Todas menos una de las características observadas fueron mutuamente excluyentes. Consecuentemente, las dos poblaciones de fitolitos para el Ensete y Musa, respectivamente, son tan distintas que ni siquiera se necesitó un análisis estadístico.Además, la metodología aplicada de observación de los fitolitos no fue criticada por los especialistas o en botánica arqueológica en general, aunque el tópico fue presentado en numerosas conferencias y reuniones desde la publicación de nuestro artículo (Vrydaghs et al. 2003).Resumiendo, mantenemos nuestra conclusión anterior de que los fitolitos del sitio Nkang, que datan de 2500 años antes de Cristo, pertenecen al género Musa y señalan el cultivo de los bananos en esta parte de Africa. Sin embargo, aceptamos que los descubrimientos de los fitolitos en Nkang necesitan ser comprobados por más La prospección de una nueva Musella (Valmayor y Danh 2002) es excitante para los entusiastas de las Musáceas alrededor del mundo, pero mi emoción inicial ha sido apagada. Mi preocupación se centra en el hecho de que los autores basan su separación de Musella splendida en la descripción de Musella lasiocarpa, que ellos asumen cubre toda la especie en todas las situaciones. Ellos se refieren a especimenes de M. lasiocarpa no vivientes o de herbarios e ignoran la posible influencia de los factores edáficos, climáticos y bióticos sobre el crecimiento de M. lasiocarpa. Ellos también ignoran la posibilidad de la variación intraespecífica en M. lasiocarpa y que su material podría caer dentro de este rango.Aunque los autores confían mucho en la altura de la planta para diferenciar una nueva especie, ellos no presentan la base para sus mediciones y ninguna de las fotografías contiene una escala. Los descriptores para el banano de INIBAP especifican que la altura debe medirse desde la base del pseudotallo hasta la punta emergente del pedúnculo. La precisión en materia de la estatura es especialmente importante con Musella, en la cual las hojas están más bien dirigidas hacia arriba y contribuyen así a la altura total de la planta en la fase vegetativa. Sólo alrededor del 30% de la altura pertenece al pseudotallo, el resto son hojas.Tratando con un carácter tan flexible como la altura de la planta, la influencia de las condiciones de crecimiento es crucial. El conocimiento de Valmayor y Danh's de M. lasiocarpa parece derivar exclusivamente de C.Y. Wu, quien describe una planta \"menor de 60 cm de altura\". Valmayor y Danh mencionan, pero no se refieren específicamente a la descripción del tipo de M. lasiocarpa de Franchet (1889) quien también asevera que M. lasiocarpa raramente excede 60 cm de altura. El trabajo de Franchet incluye una ilustración de M. lasiocarpa que posiblemente puede ser una reproducción fiel de la planta descubierta por Abbé Delavay en 1885. Pero el dibujo de Franchet carece de una escala y no se parece a ninguna de las plantas de M. lasiocarpa que yo he visto. De acuerdo al dibujo de Franchet, parece que la altura de la planta, que casi no tiene un pseudotallo, es de 60 cm desde la tierra hasta la punta de la hoja. Baker (1893) estuvo de acuerdo con este hecho y si las mediciones de la altura de Wu derivan, como yo sospecho, de Franchet, entonces en la literatura realmente se indica que M. lasiocarpa es un banano muy pequeño. ¿Pero es esto generalmente verídico para la planta in vivo? Una planta de M. lasiocarpa que crece \"sur les rochers de Loko-chan\" a 1200 m (Franchet 1889) se verá diferente de una planta que crece en \"suelo forestal fértil con humedad abundante\" a 118 m en el norte de Vietnam.Al momento de escribir este artículo, la altura desde la base del pseudotallo hasta la punta emergente del pedúnculo de una M. lasiocarpa en fase masculina en mi invernadero (en el sudoeste de RU) fue de 45 cm y la inflorescencia fue de 25 cm por encima. Con hoja totalmente abierta, justamente antes de la floración, mi planta tenía una altura total de 1.3 m, es decir, desde la base del pseudotallo hasta la punta de la hoja más alta en su ángulo natural. M. lasiocarpa puede llegar a ser más alta que esto. Yo envié dos plantas de M. lasiocarpa al Sr Wim Kea de Amstelveen, Holanda. Ellas crecen hasta 2.5 m o más (Figura 1). Yo planteo que M. lasiocarpa es una planta mucho más grande de lo que Valmayor y Danh suponen.  En la fase femenina, las puntas puntiagudas de las brácteas individuales de M. lasiocarpa pueden realmente estar \"separadas precozmente, antes de plegarse hacia la base\" (Figura 2a), una característica mediante la cual Valmayor y Danh (2002) diferencian a M. splendida. Pero la característica de las brácteas cambia a medida que la inflorescencia madura, un proceso que en M. lasiocarpa toma meses. En la fase masculina (Figura 2b), las brácteas de M. lasiocarpa son mucho más pequeñas, delgadas y \"marcadamente imbricadas\". Este cambio en la característica de las brácteas puede observarse en las propias fotografías de Valmayor y Danh (Figuras 2, 3, 5 y 6 en Valmayor y Danh 2002). Creo que la característica de las brácteas en la fase femenina en M. lasiocarpa puede ser variable y depender de si la planta tiene todas sus hojas o no al momento de empezar la floración.\"Los especimenes interesantes de Musella\" de Valmayor y Danh (Figura 9, Valmayor y Danh 2002) son, yo planteo, fotografías al azar de M. lasiocarpa. Es prematuro sugerir que la figura 9 representa una evidencia de una posiblemente nueva especie de Musella. Se puede encontrar rápidamente muchas fotografías de M. lasiocarpa en la Internet que muestran aún una mayor variación entre las plantas de la especie. Esta variación principalmente es ambiental o relacionada con la edad de la inflorescencia al momento de fotografiarla.Tampoco estoy seguro que la fruta mostrada en la figura 8 (Valmayor y Danh 2002) pueda ser descrita como partenocárpica. Uno inmediatamente comienza a preguntar mediante que mecanismos esta \"especie\" se disemina en los \"vastos bosques\" en el norte de Vietnam. Grandes espacios aéreos visibles en el corte transversal parecen indicar que la fruta no está desarrollada. M. lasiocarpa produce el mismo tipo de fruta como si no fuera polinizada.Valmayor y Danh ( 2002) manifiestan que M. splendida tiene flores basales hermafroditas y comparan este hecho con M. lasiocarpa que se dice tener flores basales femeninas. Valmayor y Danh no describen propiamente las flores hermafroditas de M. splendida, ni tampoco Wu describe propiamente las flores femeninas de M. lasiocarpa. \"Las flores femeninas nacen en la base de la inflorescencia\" escribe Wu citado por Valmayor y Danh (2002). Este difícilmente es un diagnóstico. De hecho, la escasez de la publicación de Wu sobre Musella lasiocarpa es una de las razones del porqué la Sociedad Hortícola Real (Royal Horticultural Society) (2003) persiste en referirse a la planta como Musa lasiocarpa, siguiendo a Simmonds (1960). Incidentalmente, Simmonds, quien obviamente no conocía la planta muy bien, basó su inclusión de la planta en Musa en los caracteres del periantio y no en que ella es rizomatosa y policárpica. En mi M. lasiocarpa las flores femeninas tienen filamentos rudimentarios y las flores masculinas, estilos rudimentarios. Es necesario describir propiamente las flores hermafroditas de M. splendida ya que las flores de las Musáceas pueden ser no solo estructuralmente hermafroditas sino también funcionalmente hermafroditas, femeninas, masculinas y hasta estériles. Se puede argumentar que el término debería ser restringido a las flores que son funcionalmente hermafroditas, es decir, que pueden ser autosuficientes para producir semillas viables, como en Musa velutina. Si Valmayor y Danh están utilizando el término en este preciso sentido entonces cual es la explicación para que las flores hermafroditas de M. splendida no produzcan las semillas? Valmayor y Danh no hacen ningún comentario sobre esto o sobre la presencia o viabilidad de cualquier polen producido por estas flores hermafroditas.En conclusión, creo que es prematuro afirmar el descubrimiento de una nueva especie de Musella de Vietnam cuando las poblaciones de Musella en China, Laos, Myanmar y Vietnam están caracterizadas de manera tan inadecuada. Es posible que existan otras especies de Musella esperando ser descubiertas, pero sobre la evidencia que ellos presentan, Valmayor y Danh no me convencen que M. splendida es una de ellas.Tengo una M. lasiocarpa de Kunming, Yunnan, cortesía del Prof. Hu Zhihao, y he depositado cultivos de ápices in vitro de la misma en el Centro de Tránsito de INIBAP en Lovaina. Con mucho gusto intercambiaré material in vivo con cualquier persona interesada en comparar el material uno al lado del otro en el mismo ambiente. Estoy seguro que es interesante desde el punto de vista botánico y posiblemente hortícola la variación útil en M. lasiocarpa. David Constantine 2 High Street Ashcott, Somerset, TA7 9PL, RU e-mail: drc@globalnet.co.uk INFOMUSA es una revista internacional que se publica dos veces al año en los idiomas inglés, francés y español. Nuestro objetivo es dar a conocer los resultados de investigaciones e informes de interés a toda la comunidad bananera. Ya que INFOMUSA publica artículos sobre cualquier tema relacionado con Musa, los autores deben emplear frases sencillas y cortas para evitar la jerga innecesaria y hacer su trabajo accesible para los lectores, especialistas en otras disciplinas. Los textos mecanografiados deberán ser preparados en inglés, francés o español y no exceder 2500 palabras, incluyendo la bibliografía. El texto debe ser mecanografiado a doble espacio. Todas las páginas (incluyendo las tablas, figuras, leyendas y referencias) deberán estar enumeradas consecutivamente. Incluya el nombre completo de todos los autores y sus direcciones completas al momento de realizar el estudio. También indique la persona quien recibirá la correspondencia respecto al trabajo. El manuscrito debe ser enviado como un adjunto al correo electrónico o en un disquete de 3.5 pulgadas para las computadoras compatibles con PC. Por favor, indique el nombre y la versión del procesador de palabras utilizado y la dirección electrónica del autor. En cualquier caso, necesitaremos recibir por correo dos copias impresas del manuscrito. Título: El título debe ser lo más corto posible y no contener números, siglas, abreviaturas o signos de puntuación. Resúmenes: Es necesario adjuntar un resumen que no exceda de 200-250 palabras. El resumen debe recapitular de manera concisa el contenido básico y enviado en el mismo idioma del manuscrito. Si es posible, se debe enviar las traducciones (incluyendo el título) en los otros dos idiomas. Palabras clave: Facilite un máximo de seis palabras clave, en orden alfabético, debajo del resumen en el idioma del autor. Introducción: La introducción debe proporcionar una razón para la investigación y cualquier información de fondo. Ya que esta introducción no pretende representar una amplia reseña del tópico, la cantidad de referencias bibliográficas debe mantenerse al mínimo. Se debe evitar las introducciones sobre la importancia de los bananos como un producto básico o producto comercial, al menos que sean absolutamente necesarias para el entendimiento del artículo. Materiales y métodos: Los autores deben proporcionar suficientes detalles de su diseño experimental para permitir al lector evaluar la validez de la investigación. Para los materiales y métodos utilizados comúnmente, será suficiente una simple referencia. Resultados: La unidad debe ser separada de la cantidad por un espacio sencillo y seguir la nomenclatura SI, o la nomenclatura común a un campo particular. Las unidades o abreviaturas inusuales deben ser definidas. Presente los datos en el texto o como una figura o una tabla, pero nunca los duplique. Evite el uso extenso de los gráficos para presentar los datos que podrían ser presentados más concisamente en el texto o en una tabla. Limite las fotografías a aquellas que son absolutamente necesarias para mostrar los descubrimientos del experimento. Discusión: La discusión no debe contener repetición extensa de la sección de los resultados, ni reiterar la introducción. Esta parte debe combinarse con la sección de los resultados.Bibliografía: Todas las referencias bibliográficas mencionadas en el texto deberán ser presentadas por el nombre del autor o autores y el año de publicación (por ejemplo: Sarah et al. 1992, Rowe 1995). Se debe evitar referencias a los documentos que circulan ampliamente, como informes anuales, y las citas de las comunicaciones personales y de los datos no publicados. Al final del texto, se debe presentar una lista de la bibliografía en orden alfabético. Por favor, siga el estilo de los siguientes ejemplos: Artículos de ediciones periódicas: Sarah J.L., C. Blavignac & M. Boisseau. 1992. Une méthode de laboratoire pour le criblage variétal des bananiers vis-à-vis de la résistance aux nématodes. Fruits 47(5): 559-564. Libros: Stover R.H. & N.W. Simmonds. 1987. Bananas (3 rd edition). Longman, London, United Kingdom. Artículos (o capítulos) en libros: Bakry F. & J.P. Horry. 1994. Musa breeding at CIRAD-FLHOR. Pp. 168-175 in The Improvement and Testing of Musa: a Global Partnership (D.R. Jones, ed.). INIBAP, Montpellier, Francia. Ilustraciones y tablas: Las ilustraciones y tablas deberán estar enumeradas consecuentemente y las referencias en el texto se harán de acuerdo a esta numeración. Cada ilustración o tabla debe incluir un título sencillo y claro. Las figuras y tablas deben insertarse después de la sección de bibliografía o en archivos separados. Gráficos: suministrar los datos correspondientes junto con los gráficos. Dibujos: si es posible, suministrar dibujos originales. Fotografías: Preferimos fotografías de buena calidad (papel brillante con un buen contraste para las películas en blanco y negro, pruebas de buena calidad y películas o diapositivas originales para las fotografías a colores), pero por favor, recuerde que no las devolveremos. Publicaremos las imágenes digitalizadas o tomadas con una cámara digital si su resolución es suficientemente alta (1 millón de píxeles o un mínimo de 300 dpi de una fotografía de tamaño real). Son aceptables los archivos con extensiones JPEG, TIFF y EPS. Evite enviar fotografías insertadas en un documento de Word o Power Point, a menos que estas están acompañadas de una mejor alternativa de calidad. Siglas: Las siglas deberán ser transcritas completamente la primera vez que éstas aparezcan en el texto, seguido por las siglas entre paréntesis. Nombres de cultivares: El nombre del cultivar debe ser colocado entre comillas sencillas. Si el nombre es compuesto, solo la primera palabra empieza con la letra mayúscula, a menos que se refiera a un lugar o nombre de persona. Utilice los nombres comúnmente acordados, como 'Grande naine' y evite las variaciones locales o traducciones, como 'Gran Enano'. Nota: Si el material de plantación utilizado para los experimentos descritos proviene o está registrado en el banco de germoplasma de INIBAP, debe indicarse su número de accesión (código ITC) dentro del texto o en forma tabular.Gracias por seguir nuestras recomendaciones. Esto facilitará y acelerará el trabajo de edición."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"effdfc8e0a100816a275fc4c1bca9e13","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/d32ce393-3398-4471-b79f-5a3891654087/retrieve","id":"149854715"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f0697798-1d30-4c9f-8445-53e5d02c5ae3","content":"Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) calculation is more effective in identifying the drought condition irrespective of the ecological region. The range of VCI values varies between 0-100 and the value 0 reveals extreme stress while 100 expresses healthy vegetation. The VCI index indicates that stress on agricultural crops has significantly increased in India as well as in many parts of Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in August 2023 compared to 2022 August.• Although the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted a normal 2023 southwest monsoon, the onset of the monsoon with a delay of about a week has resulted in a 10 per cent rainfall deficit for the month of June. However, as per the latest long-term forecast for August 2023, the monthly rainfall in August over India as a whole fell below 94% of the long-term average (LPA) for the month.• The sub-seasonal forecast for the end of November 2023 has predicted below-normal rainfall over a significant area of southern central and western Indian states. Also, above-normal rainfall is expected in Afghanistan and normal rainfall is expected for all other areas in South Asia.• Comparing August 2022 with August 2023 shows a significant rainfall deficit over a large area of South Asia. This is further confirmed by the fact that more than 80% of South Asia's total land area is represented by negative values od SPI.• There is a high probability that the existing vegetation will not improve further in the coming months as many parts of the South Asia region will record significantly below-normal rainfall according to the probable rainfall forecast.• Drought conditions in Sri Lanka more likely to continue as probable rainfall forecasts provide bellow-normal rainfall and all meteorological and agricultural drought indices represent severe drought conditions.• In Bangladesh, an increase in dryness in August is indicated in the SPI index, but the agricultural drought indices do not indicate a drought condition. However according to the forecasts, as the rainfall is less than the season, there is a higher possibility of affecting the crop health in the coming months. Together, the current SPI status and sub-seasonal precipitation forecasts provide a better understanding of future drought events.In contrast to the SPI index recorded in August 2022, there is a significant reduction in the SPI index throughout South Asia for August 2023. This confirms the occurrence of meteorological drought in the region.The dry spell is a good indicator of the likelihood of a drought as well as the presence of a prolonged period of drought. Similarly, this indicator reflects the tendency of rainfall over a period of time (short-term, medium-term or long-term).A dry spell is defined as the number of consecutive days with a daily precipitation amount below a certain threshold, such as 2.5, 5, or 10 mm, preceded and followed by at least one day with rainfall exceeding the threshold. The maps use rainfall product from GPM to calculate the dry spell for July at 2.5 and 10 mmThe sub-seasonal forecast and the dry spells can help users develop an agriculture contingency plan depending on the crop type and its condition.• IDSI explains areas of drought severity by considering precipitation (input to the system), soil moisture (storage of the system), actual ET (loss to the system) and VCI (vegetative response of the system). IDSI being a composite indicator would help determine the drought condition more reliably. The IDSI developed by IWMI incorporates multisource satellite data from MODIS to define Vegetation and evapotranspiration, precipitation data from CHIRPS, and soil moisture conditions derived from FLDAS and SMAP.• The IDSI of the zoomed areas Maharashtra and Gujarat clearly indicate an increase in drought in August.• IDSI can be used impact indicators to alert relevant agencies to develop timely early warning to early action to promote drought response strategies e.g. agriculture contingency plans at the district level to mitigate drought risks; • IDSI explains areas of drought severity by considering precipitation (input to the system), soil moisture (storage of the system), actual ET (loss to the system) and VCI (vegetative response of the system).• The drought severity map (IDSI for August 2023) in reference to last year shows wider spread agricultural drought impact leading to food prices inflation and disturb crop exports.• The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) the measure of the number of standard deviations of observed cumulative precipitation deviates from the climatological average.• SPI for August 2023 shows severe dry conditions across Gujarat due to deficit rainfall and it also reflects soil moisture leading to decreased sown area for a particular location.• IDSI explains areas of drought severity by considering precipitation (input to the system), soil moisture (storage of the system), actual ET (loss to the system) and VCI (vegetative response of the system).• The drought severity map (IDSI for August 2023) in reference to last year shows wider spread agricultural drought impact leading to food prices inflation and disturb crop exports.• The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) the measure of the number of standard deviations of observed cumulative precipitation deviates from the climatological average.• SPI for August 2023 shows severe dry conditions across Gujarat due to deficit rainfall and it also reflects soil moisture leading to decreased sown area for a particular location.Meteorological Drought using SPI (August 2023 vs 2022) Drought Severity Map using IDSI (August 2023 vs 2022)"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4c73c3f62dff4b6c50d94491b6bf2296","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/5481d429-ca04-411a-97de-b16cfee3a84c/retrieve","id":"-1021799691"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cc0fefbc-24bd-4fee-b42c-96922f1065c3","content":"El Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) ha liberado tres nuevas variedades de papa destinadas al procesamiento en el Perú. Estas variedades ofrecen resistencia a enfermedades, mayor rendimiento y calidad para freír, contribuyendo así a la industria de procesamiento de papas. El plan estratégico se enfoca producir y diseminar la semilla de estas variedades con lo que se espera impulsar la industria, diversificar y mejorar la producción, aumentar la rentabilidad de los agricultores, promover la sostenibilidad y concientizar a los consumidores sobre las ventajas de estas nuevas variedades. Se espera que este enfoque integral beneficie a los agricultores, la industria y el medio ambiente, estableciendo una base sólida para el desarrollo sostenible del sector de procesamiento de papas en el país.The International Potato Center (CIP) has released three new potato varieties bred specifically for the processing industry in Peru. These new varieties bring a host of advantages, including enhanced disease resistance, increased yield, and superior frying quality, thereby significantly elevating the standards of the potato processing industry. The strategic plan outlined by CIP is focused on seed production and dissemination of these varieties, which is expected to promote industry growth, diversify, and optimize production methods, increase farmers' profitability, promote sustainability practices, and heighten consumer awareness of the remarkable benefits offered by these new potato varieties. This holistic approach is poised to create positive outcomes for farmers, industry stakeholders, and the environment, establishing a robust foundation for the sustainable development of Peru's potato processing sector.El Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) se enfoca en el desarrollo de variedades de papa que son disponibles de forma gratuita para productores, investigadores y obtentores en todo el mundo. El proceso posterior a la liberación de las variedades de papa por parte de las autoridades de semilla de cada país se inicia con la producción de plántulas de cultivo de tejidos libres de patógenos y la multiplicación de tubérculos semillas certificadas se realiza localmente en cada país, siguiendo las normas legales vigentes (Lindqvist-Kreuze et al., 2023).En muchos países en desarrollo, el interés del sector privado por la producción de semillas certificadas es limitado, por lo que la producción y difusión de los tubérculos semilla de las nuevas variedades requieren de un extenso periodo posterior a la liberación, usualmente subsidiado a través de proyectos manejados por instituciones de investigación y desarrollo como el CIP. El proceso de difusión y promoción de estas variedades exige la participación de los productores individuales o de asociaciones de semilleristas, la implementación de parcelas demostrativas y campañas informativas dirigidas a todos los actores de la cadena productiva y de procesamiento, entre otras metodologías que pueden ser aplicadas (Domínguez, 2023).La papa desempeña un papel crucial en la economía peruana, destacando su relevancia para la agricultura familiar. Se estima que más de 700 mil familias de 19 regiones participan activamente en el cultivo de este tubérculo, con especial énfasis en las regiones de Puno, Huánuco, Cusco, Cajamarca, Huancavelica y Junín, que son reconocidas por su alta productividad (INEI, 2023).La promoción de la actividad de procesamiento no solo añade valor a la producción de papa, sino que también contribuye significativamente a la sostenibilidad y resiliencia del sector agrario. En su conjunto, este enfoque respalda a las comunidades agrícolas, fomenta la estabilidad económica y potencia el desarrollo integral de las regiones involucradas en la producción de papa en el Perú.El comercio de papa procesada congelada creció de alrededor de 4 millones de toneladas métricas a más de 7 millones de toneladas métricas en los últimos diez años, impulsado por un aumento en el consumo en Asia, Medio Oriente y América Latina (Sierra y Selva Exportadora & Ministerio de Desarrollo Agrario y Riego, 2020).Esto sugiere que es probable que el abastecimiento interno de papas destinado a las industrias procesadoras y de alimentos preparados experimente un incremento en aquellos países donde el cultivo se constituye actualmente como un alimento esencial en la alimentación de los pobladores (De Haan & Rodriguez, 2016). De acuerdo con documentos del MINAGRI y de la FAO, hacia 2008 en el Perú menos del 3 por ciento de la producción total de papa se orientaba al procesamiento, nivel reducido en comparación incluso con el entorno de Latinoamérica donde, según la FAO, Perú con 2,2 por ciento sólo superaba a Bolivia en una estadística que lideraba Argentina con 15 por ciento (CITE Papa & ADERS Peru, 2019).Siendo el procesamiento en el Perú (y proporcionalmente más en Lima Metropolitana) dedicado principalmente a la producción de snacks y papa en tiras, se ha incrementado dramáticamente la demanda por variedades de papa con aptitud para la fritura con contenido de sólidos totales mayores al 22 por ciento y azúcares reductores en un porcentaje menor a 0,25 (CITE Papa & ADERS Perú, 2019).En Perú a inicios del 2023, el CIP liberό tres nuevas variedades de papa: CIP-PODEROSA CROCANTE, CIP-PODEROSA POLLERA y CIP-PODEROSA WATIA, las cuales se generaron a través del mejoramiento tradicional como variedades de papa saludables y sostenibles. CIP-PODEROSA CROCANTE tiene alta resistencia horizontal al tizón tardío (LB), alto rendimiento de tubérculos, excelente calidad para freír en papas fritas, piel roja, forma ovalada de tubérculo, pulpa crema y ojos superficiales, con textura crujiente, adaptada de 0 a 3700 metros sobre el nivel del mar (m.s.n.m.). CIP-PODEROSA POLLERA tiene alta resistencia horizontal a LB, piel amarilla con azul alrededor de los ojos superficiales, forma de tubérculo ovalado alargado, pulpa amarilla, es adecuada para acompañar \"Pollo a la brasa\", un plato típico en Perú, adaptada de 2000 a 3700 m.s.n.m. CIP-PODEROSA WATIA, tiene excelente aptitud para hornear, ojos superficiales, piel roja clara, pulpa crema, además de resistencia a LB y calidad para freír, y está adaptada de a 3700 m.s.n.m. Estas variedades tienen bajo contenido de glicoalcaloides y acrilamidas, requieren un menor uso de fungicidas y, por lo tanto, presentan una mayor rentabilidad económica (Gastelo et al., 2023).El presente plan estratégico promueve un enfoque integral y colaborativo para la producción de semilla y promoción de variedades de papa orientadas al procesamiento, beneficiando a toda la cadena de valor, desde los agricultores hasta los consumidores.Mediante la diseminación de nuevas variedades de para aptas para procesamiento se busca lo siguiente:1. Impulsar la Industria: Fomentar el desarrollo y crecimiento de la industria de procesamiento de papas, ya sea en la producción de papas fritas, hojuelas, u otros productos derivados.2. Diversificación y mejora de la producción: Buscar la diversificación de las variedades de papa para procesamiento, con la introducción de las variedades de papa liberadas por el CIP asegurando que su adaptación a diferentes condiciones climáticas.3. Incrementar la rentabilidad de los agricultores: Asegurar que los agricultores que cultivan las variedades de papa para procesamiento liberadas por CIP obtengan beneficios económicos justos y estables. Esto puede incluir estrategias para mejorar la eficiencia en la cadena de suministro y producción de semilla certificada.4. Promoción de la sostenibilidad: Integrar prácticas sostenibles en la producción y procesamiento de papas para reducir el impacto ambiental y fomentar la responsabilidad social. 5. Crear conciencia y fomentar el consumo: Promover el conocimiento y la preferencia del consumidor de las variedades de papa liberadas por CIP principalmente por su menor uso de plaguicidas y menor contenido de acrilamidas.1. Productores agrícolas: Proporcionar información a los agricultores sobre las variedades de papa adecuadas para el procesamiento liberadas por el CIP, técnicas de cultivo y mejores prácticas agrícolas.2. Empresas de procesamiento: Ofrecer información sobre las variedades de papa liberadas por el CIP, sus características y disponibilidad, para que las empresas de procesamiento puedan tomar decisiones informadas sobre la adquisición de materias primas.3. Instituciones de investigación: Proporcionar información y facilitar plántulas in vitro y semilla certificada a entidades de investigación y desarrollo para la promoción e investigación relacionada a las variedades de papa ideales para procesamiento.4. Gobierno y Organismos Reguladores: Proporcionar una guía estratégica para la formulación de regulaciones que respalden la producción de semilla certificada de estas variedades y se logre la producción sostenible y expansión de la industria de procesamiento de papas. 5. Consumidores: Informar a los consumidores sobre las ventajas de los productos derivados de las variedades liberadas por el CIP para procesamiento, fomentando así la demanda y el consumo.Según los informes recientes del Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática correspondientes al mes de julio de 2023, se observó un notable incremento en la producción de papa en diversos departamentos del país. Destacan especialmente los aumentos significativos registrados en La Libertad (147,7%), Ica (48,7%), Huancavelica (35,5%), Junín (34,5%) y Huánuco (32,2%). Estos departamentos, en conjunto, contribuyeron con más del 50,0% a la producción total a nivel nacional. Asimismo, se evidenciaron incrementos notables en Pasco (99,0%), Ayacucho (98,2%) y Piura (68,8%).En la región de la sierra sur, Puno, Cusco y Apurímac se destacan como proveedores clave de papa para el sur del país. En la sierra central, Huánuco y Junín desempeñan un papel esencial al abastecer durante todo el año al importante mercado de Lima. Por otro lado, en la sierra norte, La Libertad y Cajamarca son fundamentales como proveedores de papa para las regiones del norte.Considerando estos aspectos y con el objetivo de impulsar la producción de semillas de las variedades liberadas por el CIP, se ha tomado la decisión estratégica de seleccionar los departamentos de Huánuco, Junín, Apurímac y La Libertad como centros piloto para la diseminación de las nuevas variedades. Estos departamentos se han identificado como ubicaciones propicias para iniciar la producción de semillas, aprovechando su destacada contribución a la producción total y su relevancia en la cadena de suministro de papa a nivel nacional.De acuerdo con el Reglamento Especifico de Semillas de papa en el Perú, el CIP puede producir plántulas in vitro y semilla prebásica, es decir aquellos tubérculos procedentes de plántulas in vitro. Las plántulas in vitro y la semilla prebásica equivalen a la semilla Clase genética por su alta calidad sanitaria. A efectos de cumplir con el Reglamento vigente en el Perú, el CIP debe inscribirse como productor de acuerdo con el artículo 16, del Título V del D. S. No. 010-2018-MINAGRI.La producción de plantas in vitro se hará a través del banco de germoplasma del CIP en Lima utilizando técnicas de cultivo de tejido. Para futuras variedades, se prevé que esta actividad pueda ser realizada por laboratorios de producción de semilla privados registrados por la autoridad de semilla del Perú (Servicio Nacional de Sanidad Agraria, SENASA).En la producción de tubérculos prebásicos se promoverá la técnica de esquejes apicales enraizados (International Potato Center, 2021) los cuáles serán posteriormente trasplantados en camas con sustrato en cobertores en CIP-Lima. Adicionalmente, la producción de tubérculos prebásicos se hará subcontratando el servicio de viveros privados y registrados por el SENASA. CIP entrega plantas in vitro las cuales serán multiplicadas usando las mismas técnicas empleadas por CIP. En ambos casos, ya sea la producción de tubérculos prebásicos por el CIP o mediante viveros privados, es indispensable asegurar la calidad sanitaria del producto lo cual se lo hará mediante la prueba cualitativa de DAS-ELISA para los virus: APLV, PVY, PVA, PVX, PVS, APMV, PYV, AVB-O y la prueba cualitativa de RT (transcripción reversa)-PCR para el virus PVT y el viroide PSTVd (Kumar et al., 2021) y mediante visitas de inspección del SENASA.La identificación de semilleristas registrados ante la autoridad en semillas del Perú es importante pues estos semilleristas son lo que producirán la semilla certificada a ser distribuida para diseminar las variedades. Para ello se gestionará ante el -SENASA, autoridad en semillas del Perú, la obtención de la lista actualizada de productores individuales y asociaciones de semilleristas que mantengan registros activos como productores. Asimismo, se requerirá información constante sobre sus solicitudes de certificación para los campos semilleros.Adicionalmente, se realizará una solicitud para obtener datos acerca de productores individuales o empresas que operen laboratorios dedicados a la producción de plantas in vitro, así como información relativa a invernaderos.En paralelo a la producción de semilla para la diseminación de las nuevas variedades, el CIP realizará actividades de capacitación en producción de semilla para asegurar que empresas privadas y productores de semilla estén al tanto de las últimas tecnologías. Adicionalmente, estos espacios de capacitación son una oportunidad para promover las nuevas variedades e incentivar a que empresarios privados se involucren activamente en la producción de semilla y en la diseminación de nuevas variedades. Las actividades de capacitación son las siguientes: a) Manejo de plántulas in vitro: infraestructura necesaria y protocolos de buenas prácticas de laboratorio Con el objetivo de fomentar la producción de semilla genética por parte de empresas privadas y productores individuales, el CIP llevará a cabo capacitaciones integrales que abarcarán tanto aspectos teóricos como prácticos. Estas sesiones incluirán formación en la producción de plántulas in vitro, diagnóstico de fitopatógenos y la implementación de estándares de calidad. b) Manejo de invernaderos y técnicas de multiplicación de tubérculo semilla Las técnicas de producción de tubérculos de papa, como aeroponía, arenoponía, hidroponía en macetas y la propagación a través de esquejes apicales, laterales y de brotes, serán presentadas de manera integral, combinando teoría y práctica. Estas sesiones estarán dirigidas a empresas privadas y productores individuales, ofreciendo una visión completa y aplicada de las metodologías mencionadas. c) Producción de semilla básica, registrada y certificada.El principal objetivo del semillerista es generar ingresos mediante la producción y venta de semillas, lo cual requiere una planificación minuciosa de todas las actividades involucradas en el proceso, como la elección del terreno, la temporada de producción y el manejo de plagas y enfermedades, entre otras labores agronómicas. Es esencial elaborar un presupuesto de inversión adecuado para garantizar la obtención de semillas con excelente calidad fitosanitaria y rendimientos óptimos.Los profesionales y técnicos a cargo de la producción de semillas deben tener un conocimiento exhaustivo de la normativa actual sobre la producción de semillas de papa. Las instituciones como el CIP u otras entidades académicas y de investigación agraria suelen ofrecer cursos de capacitación que abarcan tanto técnicas modernas de producción de semillas como diagnóstico de plagas y enfermedades. Esto asegura que el personal esté actualizado y preparado para enfrentar los desafíos de la producción de semillas con eficacia y cumpliendo con los estándares regulatorios.La principal metodología para promocionar las variedades será la de parcelas demostrativas (Sseguya et al., 2021). El establecimiento de parcelas demostrativas permite mostrar al productor de semilla las ventajas comparativas de las variedades liberadas por el CIP en comparación a las variedades populares en la zona, lo cual servirá para cambiar la perspectiva del productor en cuanto al uso de plaguicidas y su requerimiento por las empresas de procesamiento de papa. La metodología de parcelas demostrativas ha sido utilizada con éxito para diseminar variedades de papa (Instituto Nacional de Innovación Agraria & Red LatinPapa, 2012). Otras metodologías, por ejemplo, aquellas descritas por Dominguez (2023), pueden ser adaptadas al contexto local, idealmente utilizando modelos experimentales o cuasi experimentales para asegurar la eficacia de estas.Se implementarán parcelas demostrativas en cada uno de los departamentos seleccionados, en colaboración con agricultores individuales, asociaciones de productores, universidades y entidades gubernamentales o no gubernamentales. Para ello, se facilitarán tubérculos semilla de cada variedad liberada por el CIP, y se proporcionarán insumos agrícolas de acuerdo con los acuerdos establecidos con cada entidad asociada. Las parcelas demostrativas se complementarán con días de campo durante la fase de cultivo para resaltar las ventajas, por ejemplo, la resistencia al tizón tardío, amplio rango de adaptación, etc. Además, durante la cosecha, se llevarán a cabo degustaciones de tubérculos sancochados o fritos en forma de bastones.El CIP asumirá la responsabilidad de suministrar los insumos necesarios para estas actividades, así como facilitar la movilidad para los productores. Es esencial enfocarse en destacar que estas variedades no solo tienen un bajo contenido de glicoalcaloides y acrilamidas, sino que también requieren un menor uso de fungicidas, lo que se traduce en una mayor rentabilidad económica.La producción de semilla de papa en el Perú está sujeta a la regulación establecida por el Reglamento Especifico de Semillas de papa en el Perú (D. S. No. 010-2018-MINAGRI). Hasta la fecha, no se han establecido especificaciones que los productores de semilla genética (plantas in vitro y tubérculos prebásicos) deban cumplir con respecto a la infraestructura de los laboratorios e invernaderos destinados a la producción de semilla certificada. Además, el SENASA no ha definido la entidad responsable de llevar a cabo los diagnósticos de fitopatógenos en muestras procedentes de laboratorios, invernaderos o campos de productores semilleristas. No está claro si el propio SENASA se encargará de realizar estos análisis.La acreditación de los laboratorios de diagnóstico de fitopatógenos es un tema que requiere discusión.La presencia de nuevas plagas cuarentenarias, como el psílido de la papa (Bactericera cockerelli), el manchado de la papa o \"Zebra Chip\" (Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum) y la polilla guatemalteca (Tecia solanivora), hace necesario reevaluar los límites de tolerancia especificados para las diferentes clases de semilla certificada.En este contexto, es fundamental determinar si el SENASA asumirá la responsabilidad de los análisis de fitopatógenos o si se designará otra entidad para llevar a cabo esta tarea. La acreditación de los laboratorios especializados en diagnóstico fitopatológico también debe abordarse en el marco regulatorio.Dada la urgencia de la situación, especialmente en relación con la diseminación de nuevas plagas, se propone que el CIP desempeñe un papel protagónico en la organización de reuniones técnicas y académicas. Estas reuniones deberían tener como objetivo proponer nuevos niveles de tolerancia para las plagas de la papa presentes en el Perú. Esto permitirá una gestión más efectiva de las amenazas fitosanitarias y contribuirá al fortalecimiento del sector de producción de semillas de papa en el paísEl monitoreo y la evaluación del plan estratégico son procesos clave para asegurar que los objetivos establecidos se estén cumpliendo de manera efectiva.1. Indicadores de desempeño:o Producción de plántulas in vitro por productores registrados en SENASA (Anexo 1).o Producción de tubérculo semilla de calidad básica, certificada y registrada por productores registrados en SENASA (Anexo 1).o Solicitudes de plántulas in vitro de las variedades al Banco In Vitro del CIP.o Número de eventos de promoción de las variedades (días de campo o participación en ferias agrícolas) (Anexo 2).o Número de parcelas demostrativas.o El monitoreo se realizará en forma trimestral o de acuerdo con el desarrollo de las actividades específicas del plan. La responsabilidad del monitoreo estará a cargo de personal del CIP.o Se colectará datos relevantes de los productores a quienes se donó material vegetal, informes de parcelas demostrativas, asistencia a eventos de promoción y capacitación y cualquier otra fuente de información que sea necesaria para evaluar el desempeño.o Se solicitará retroalimentación continua de todos los participantes del plan estratégico para realizar los ajustes necesarios.1. Identificar lecciones aprendidas:o Se identificará lecciones aprendidas durante la implementación del plan.o Se obtendrá retroalimentación de los productores semilleristas y otras partes interesadas. Sus percepciones y experiencias pueden proporcionar información valiosa sobre la efectividad del plan.o Se preparará un informe detallado de las actividades realizadas las que incluirán recomendaciones para futuras acciones y ajustes.o Se debe preparar la siguiente fase del plan estratégico, teniendo en cuenta las lecciones aprendidas y los resultados de la evaluación.o Esto se lo hará idealmente en un periodo de 5 a 7 años cuando se espera que las variedades hayan sido adoptadas por un número significativo de agricultores, Se analizará la adopción y el impacto de estas variedades en los medios de vida de los agricultores y en la productividad de las empresas de procesamiento.Anexo 1. Formato para el monitoreo de producción de semilla certificada de variedades de papa Anexo 2. Formato para el registro de eventos de capacitación o de promoción de las variedades de papa liberadas por CIP."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"86e16e029b4bbf155fd702b50751f999","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/95e4f35c-5cbc-4378-9745-3f1b377a2c5a/retrieve","id":"2050506200"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"a8a03ad6-76dd-424d-8e77-1c9c32a55e00","content":"Promote legislation to make open data readily available for agriculture and smallholder farmers Facilitate the development of key infrastructure to support availability of data for smallholder farmers at all levels Promote Electronic Membership Management Systems (EMMS) for farmers' organisations and cooperatives Promote legal and capacity frameworks that ensures timely release of usable agricultural data for smallholder farmers 13 CTA Policy Brief SEPTEMBER 2017 In recent years, the use of data for agriculture has increased with the development of new information and communication technologies (ICT). However, these new technologies have been insufficiently applied to fulfil the agricultural potential of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. More actions are needed to strengthen the use of data to fight poverty and hunger in ACP regions.The role of farmers' organisations in promoting and protecting the interests of farmers is also expanding. Nevertheless, many farmers' organisations have limited information on their membership in digital forms which can be a basis for more efficient delivery of information. Meanwhile, there is a need to provide technical assistance to government agencies and policy-makers for the creation and adoption of open agriculture data policies.Open data for agriculture and nutritionThe smallholder ecosystem consists of many value-chain actors: smallholders, cooperatives, input providers, traders, processors, exporters, wholesalers and global businesses. Each of these actors is interested in information about production, the functioning of the value chain, the availability of services and governance.The more information that is available about the ecosystem and its functioning, the better the different actors can fulfil their role, ultimately strengthening the food and nutrition security of smallholder farmers. The potential impacts of open data on government, services, agricultural production and value chains are enormous.Accessing information on agriculture will help smallholder farmers to become more knowledgeable, and as a result to make more informed decisions. When smallholder farmers access reliable data this can lead to higher productivity, greater access to markets and better nutrition. Precision farming is one successful example of data use in agriculture.Satellites or drones can be used to generate high-resolution data that can be transformed into agricultural information for smallholder farmers. With data-based farming, farmers can better leverage agricultural production to avert poverty and hunger.In just the last few years, many projects have been developed in ACP countries using satellite-and drone-based data to deliver extension and advisory services to smallholder farmers through mobile phones.Policy-makers should address the need to establish structures that will ensure the availability of the data demanded by smallholder farmers in formats and platforms that are accessible to them.Capacity development will be the key action to strengthen the use of data in agriculture in order to boost production and marketing of farm products. Policies must address the need for developing states' and organisations' capabilities to have and use data in the agricultural sector.In East Africa, the Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU) is facilitating the construction of SMS-based membership data systems for farmers' organisations. As consequence, farmers can benefit from better service delivery and communication through their organisations. Policy-makers should address the use of data in the agri-business sector through legislation, and should invest in research to scale up existing agricultural knowledge and develop new knowledge to face the challenges of climate change through widespread ICT.The impacts of data for agriculture in developing countries are revealing possibilities to boost agricultural production in ACP regions. By combining ready data with connections to smallholder farmers and better policy support, agriculture can become more productive for smallholders. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"46a06e7bfd785f85445bc22bc9853772","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/Other/PDF/proceedings_of_the_workshop_on_expert_multistakeholder_consultation-historical_evolution_of_the_agrifood_system_in_odisha_india.pdf","id":"-91061511"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"89ec8928-0dd3-423c-bd3e-2af6ef71a2eb","content":"As a part of the Transforming Agrifood Systems in South Asia (TAFSSA) initiative, IWMI commissioned a study to trace the evolution of food systems. The diverse political influences and agrarian histories in South Asia have played a significant role in determining the region's heterogeneous regional contexts of agricultural development. The roots of many current agrarian and environmental issues and policies lie in historical processes and developments. Learning from these historical policies and development pathways thus offers a critical perspective to inform and contribute to future agrifood systems transformation and policy.In this context the state of Odisha has been taken up as a case to analyze the historical trajectory of agrarian policies. Odisha is a state of India which is situated in the eastern coast along Bay of Bengal. More than 83 per cent of its total population lives in rural areas and depends primarily on agriculture for livelihood. Despite having a strong natural resource base it is reported as one of the backward states in India. The incidence of poverty is a major concern of the state. Overall, the history and geography of the region plays a vital role in agrifood systems which is intrinsically linked to the overall livelihood dynamics of the state.• Tracing the historical trajectory of agricultural policies to inform and frame policy experiments towards equitable solutions aligning production systems with local ecological resource endowments • Assessing gaps and developing policy relevance for historical evolution analysis through region-specific expert multi-stakeholder consultationsThe workshop was designed for a small group of expert participants representing different stakeholder groups, including -government policymakers, policy implementers, international and grassroots civil society, research and academics, and user groups. The workshop was designed in a hybrid mode to enable broader participation. The workshop was attended by about 25 participants, including both in-person and online modes. .Dr. Alok Sikka, International Water Management Institute(IWMI) country representative-India, welcomed all the participants and explained the role of CGIAR-IWMI through the various thematic works undertaken by IWMI India.Presenting the objective of the study and project: Dr. Aditi Mukherji Dr. Aditi Mukherjee, Director of Climate Change Impact Area Platform at CGIAR and co-lead for TAFSSA work package 5, introduced the TAFSSA project and vision of policy contribution through historical evolution research. Dr, Mukherjee described TAFSSA as a gateway to the rest of CGIAR's global research efforts. She explained the initiative aims to support actions that improve equitable access to sustainable healthy diets, improve farmers' livelihoods and resilience, and conserve land, air, and water resources in South Asia. In addition, the initiative focuses on strengthening impact through engagement with public and private partners across the production-to-consumption continuum to achieve productive, environmentallysound South Asian agrifood systems. With this aim, the project aimed to study the historical trajectory of agricultural policies to understand the reasons for the current agrarian challenges.Presentation by the research team on the Odisha study: Dr. Anindita Sarkar Dr. Anindita Sarkar, Consultant (IWMI), presented the study on tracing the historical trajectory of agricultural policies to inform and frame policy experiments towards equitable solutions aligning production systems with local ecological resource endowments. Dr. Sarkar explained the agrarian transformation from pre-to post-independence through a policy lens emphasizing the historical reasons for the current agricultural challenges and opportunities, such as land distribution, climate risks, low investments in irrigation, liberalization, and its impact. The study aimed to answer the following questions 1. What are the significant political, economic, and social developments in Odisha that have taken place from 1850 to recent times that have determined agrarian relations and outcomes for the state? 2. What are the major climatic events in historical and current times (e.g. droughts and floods) that have influenced the evolution of food systems? 3. What are the temporal continuities and discontinuities in agrarian relations and outcomes between 1850 and current contexts?Stakeholder discussions, feedback and takeaways Stakeholder critical engagement was facilitated and structured around three key questions, and the attendees were into groups to discuss these questions and provide feedback:1. List some of the critical events and turning points in the past that are influencing current outcomes on agrifood systems in Odisha 2. What source of information (e.g. Archival databases) can we use to document and study these periods and historical turning points? 3. Are there any current initiatives and policy priorities in the agrifood sector that you feel we should study from this historical lens?Experts were asked to delve into the above-listed questions to map out the lacunas of the initial review and provide a pathway for the future course of action in the context of various developmental processes in Odisha. The brainstorming session yielded several points as a way forward (for the three questions). Several ideas were presented in the context of Odisha's agrifood systemImportant events and turning points in the past that are influencing current outcomes of agrifood systems 1) Mapping and restoring traditional waterbodies & resource distribution systemstraditional water harvesting systems like tenda, paliya, chua, etc., need to be studied and incorporated into current policy frameworks such as schemes like MGNEREG. Owing to dependence on rainfed systems, water capturing and harvesting of structures need to be strengthened. Watershed structures and planning need to be supported, which has slowed down post-PMKSY (Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana). Thus, it was suggested to study the policy implication with respect to these traditional structures.2) Critical analysis of Odisha millets mission -the millets mission has been attributed as one of the major policy moves in recent years. Moreover, 2023 is already being celebrated as the year of millets, here the learnings of Odisha can be showcased to understand the historical practices and the best possible method of implementation.3) Food cultures -Mapping agricultural and dietary practices in the tribal-dominated areas would provide a valuable reference to the indigenous methods because these pockets remained relatively unaffected by British agrarian interventions.4) Food Loss -Food loss is a major challenge, and it was suggested to cover aspects of food loss and wastage levels, during the historical coverage of various policies. This would allow the small and marginal farm holders to not only create a buffer against shocks and stress situations but also contribute to stabilizing the agricultural income. Along with this conservation of indigenous crops on a cluster basis was also suggested. It was also proposed to examine existing policies such as the PDS system and investigate the impacts with respect to the current subsidized rice schemes for the community, will this be useful in the long run, Or will it paralyze our productivity systems? Recommendations were also made regards to Mid-day meal schemes, focusing on quality by introducing the indigenous fish component. Decentralized planning-based extension systems were also given as a pathway for future development.Food loss is an important component of SDG 12. In the case of Odisha, the maximum food loss occurs during the production phase e.g., the milling process of paddy. Therefore, it was suggested to examine and incorporate this aspect. In order to address this storage particularly in-situ cold (solar-based) was discussed as an option.The experts also discussed the requirement for the promotion and marketing of Organic and natural farming which should essentially incorporate traditional food products."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"baf9eb304fc2d4b2f9deb27b143793ea","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/IWMI_Research_Reports/PDF/pub003/REPORT03.PDF","id":"-81386735"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"06236ac8-40e8-45e5-959a-f7fa8938b741","content":"Those, who are strongly wedded to what I shall call the classical theory, will fluctuate, I expect, between a belief that I am quite wrong and a belief that I am saying nothing new.IIMI's mission is to foster and support sustainable increases in the productivity of irrigated agriculture within the overall context of the water basin. In serving this mission, IIMI concentrates on the integration of policies, technologies and management systems to achieve workable solutions to real problems-practical, relevant results in the field of irrigation and water resources.We expect and hope that publications in this series will cover a wide range of subjects-from computer modeling to experience with water users associations-and will vary in content from directly applicable research to more basic studies, on which applied work ultimately depends. Some research papers will be narrowly focused, analytical, and detailed empirical studies; others will be wide-ranging and synthetic overviews of generic problems.While we expect that most of the papers will be published by IIMI staff and their collaborators, we welcome contributions from others. Each paper is reviewed internally, by IIMI's own staff, by IIMI's senior research associates and by other external reviewers. The papers are published and distributed both in hard copy and electronically. They may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgement.Over the past several years we have been developing a concept of integrated water resource systems (IWS) that has substantially changed our own views on this subject. IWS is a \"composition\" of already familiar parts. The interesting thing about compositions is that they can lead to highly counterintuitive results. For example, we show that attempts to increase irrigation efficiency at the micro level often lead to reduced irrigation efficiency at the macro level.This particular paper was stimulated by a public debate, which pitted the growing call for demand management against advocates of supply augmentation. Two of the present authors presented the opposition view, largely on grounds of IWS. While we naturally felt we won the debate, it was apparent that even those of the audience who agreed with our conclusions were not entirely clear how we got there. This paper is an attempt to present the concept of IWS as clearly and simply as possible so that our supporters can more readily defend, while our opponents can more sharply criticize, our position.The paper focuses on the irrigation sector, which is by far the largest and most complex user of water in the world. We show how the classical concept of irrigation efficiency can lead to erroneous conclusions and serious mismanagement of scarce water resources. This is because the classical approach ignores the potential reuse of irrigation return flows; in other words, it fails to consider the integrated nature of water resource systems.We introduce the concept of effective efficiency, which, by accounting for the amount of freshwater effectively consumed, overcomes the limitations of the classical approach. Freshwater is effectively consumed when it is lost by evapotranspiration, flows to a sink, or is degraded in quality. Reductions in effective consumption result in real water savings and higher effective efficiencies. A water resource system is \"closed\" when there is no usable water leaving the system. Conversely, a water resource system is \"open\" when usable water Summary does leave the system. Most of the important policy questions in the water resources field depend on the degree of closure of these systems, and on a thorough understanding of the integrated nature of these systems.As an IWS begins to close, it becomes increasingly more difficult to save water, and tradeoffs emerge among the different opportunities for water conservation. There are important policy implications for systems that are nearing closure as well:1. In a closing system all users become increasingly interdependent. Each use cycle reduces the relative supply for someone downstream by reducing the quantity and/or quality of the water that is discharged. Management of the interdependence becomes a public function. Ultimately, a closing system requires much more management than an open system.2. Strategies to improve and manage efficiency differ from one part of the system to another and at different levels within the system. Such differences must be factored into the analysis, planning, and management of water resources.3. Water management in closing systems requires increasingly efficient and effective management (conjunctive use) of both surface water and groundwater.4. Managing closing systems requires flexibility to be able to move water where and when it is needed to maximize the water multiplier and to increase its aggregate value.The key to effective management of water resources in closing systems is the ability to allocate and reallocate water to accommodate changing demands and priorities.This paper deals with physical efficiency-not with the much broader concepts of economic and environmental efficiency. For example, even if a closed irrigation IWS were operating at nearly 100 percent overall physical efficiency, substantial eco-nomic gains could be made by reallocating water from lower-to higher-valued uses. Furthermore, both physical and economic efficiencies must be estimated on the basis of true consumptive use and not on di-versions, which is why the concepts of integrated water resource systems and effective efficiency are so important.Over the past several years we have been developing a concept of integrated water resource systems (IWS) that has substantially changed our own views on this subject. This concept was first explicitly outlined in the proceedings of the Water Resources Roundtable held in Alexandria, Egypt in April 1992.The response of many to IWS has been similar to the reactions to Keynes' great work, which he so presciently stated in his preface. We believe that this common response stems from a common cause. Both Keynes' General Theory and our, much more modest, efforts in water resource systems are not so much analytical as they are a synthesis of already known facts into an integrated whole. Both, in other words, are \"compositions\" of already familiar parts. But the interesting thing about compositions is that they can lead to highly counterintuitive results. These are described as \"composition phenomena,\" \"emergent properties,\" or \"scale effects.\"For example, in his famous \"savings paradox,\" Keynes showed that efforts by individuals to increase savings are likely to Introduction lead to a decrease in the total amount of savings in the economy as a whole. Similarly, we show that attempts to increase irrigation efficiency at the micro level often lead to reduced irrigation efficiency at the macro level. These paradoxical and counterintuitive aspects of composition problems make them difficult to understand and use, especially for those well trained in other perspectives and modes of thought. (The economist Paul Samuelson said that there are two kinds of economists in the world: those who were older than 28 years in 1936, when Keynes published the General Theory, and those who were younger. The former never did really get it.)We have found that as the IWS concept has gradually taken root, we have had to dramatically change our thinking about water resource systems and policy. Indeed, some of our previous pronouncements and publications on the subject are rather embarrassing. Similarly, many of the pronouncements and publications of some of our most respected colleagues now seem to be patently mistaken. We have also experi-enced considerable frustration in attempting to explain the IWS theory to others and to train them in its use. This is especially true of people who are well trained in the standard paradigm of water resource engineering and economics. Interestingly, however, this is not true of people (rather like Samuelson's less than 28 year-olds) who are not well trained. It appears to them, as it now appears to us, rather obvious and commonsensical.This particular paper was stimulated by a public debate 1 in December 1994 on water resource policies, that was sponsored by the USAID through its ISPAN Project. The debate pitted the growing call for demand management against advocates of supply augmentation. Two of the present authors presented the opposition view, largely on grounds of IWS. While we naturally felt we won the debate, it was apparent that even those of the audience who agreed with our conclusions were not entirely clear how we got there. This prompted an offer from the USAID-Winrock Environmental Policy and Training (EPAT) Project to write out the concept of IWS as clearly and simply as possible so that our supporters can more readily defend, while our opponents can more sharply criticize, our position. That is what this paper attempts to do.This paper focuses on the irrigation sector, by far the largest and most complex user of water in the world. We begin with an idealized basic irrigation module (see figure 1) that can be replicated to form an irrigation system. Example of an idealized basic irrigation water flow module in which net crop ET plus drainage equal the inflow.voir, or aquifer and applied to an irrigated field.2. Because of evaporation from the soil surface and transpiration of plants, or crop evapotranspiration (ET), some of this water, say 50 HM, passes to the atmosphere as a vapor and is lost from the system. This is evaporative depletion.3. The balance of the water, W 0 = 50 HM, then flows out as surface and subsurface drainage.In the classical model of irrigation efficiency, drainage water is treated as though it flows to an ultimate \"sink.\" It simply drops out of the system, or \"disappears.\" The part that vaporizes as crop ET is beneficial evaporation. Thus the classical irrigation efficiency, E C , for the above case is:  In practically all IWS, however, the drainage water stays in the system and is incorporated into the initial water supply for additional irrigation applications. To illustrate this important fact, a series of irrigation modules 2 for an \"idealized\" IWS is shown in figure 2. The first module of figure 2 is the same as that in figure 1. The second module receives only the 50 HM of drainage outflow water as its initial supply. Assuming the classical irrigation efficiency, E C = 50 percent, for all the modules, the crop ET in the second cycle consumes 25 HM, leaving 25 HM of drainage. Again, this 25 HM of drainage from the second module flows to a third module and is divided into crop ET and drainage, which flows to a fourth module, and so on.We are starting with an idealized model in which the water is pure (salt-and pollu-tion-free) and there is no rainfall. Furthermore, the only water \"lost\" from the system is to the atmosphere, which results from crop ET, there being no other evaporation. In the next section we will discuss the nonidealized, or real, case in which there are salts and pollution in the water supply and non-beneficial evaporation losses from the system.The IWS of figure 2 represents what we call a \"closed\" water system. In a perfectly closed system, all of the drainage water from one use cycle (module) returns to the initial system and becomes available for reuse. In such a perfectly closed IWS, the iterative process will continue until the initial water supply is totally consumed by crop ET.  Example of a series of irrigation cycles (like in figure 1) showing the water flow sequence when net crop ET and drainage are both 50 percent of the inflow to each use cycle.Table 1a shows the amounts of water supplied or diverted, net crop ET, the classical efficiency for each use cycle in figure 2, and their totals. By the end of the fourth cycle, only 6.3 HM of water are left, and by the end of the tenth cycle, essentially all the water has been consumed by crop ET. Furthermore, it is interesting to see that the sum of water diversions for the 10 use cycles, 199.8 HM, is twice as much as the initial 100 HM freshwater supply available to the system.If the diversions to all the uses of water in a closed system are added, the total water supply of the system will be greater than the initial volume of freshwater supplied to the system. We call this the \"water multiplier\" effect (which was directly inspired by the Keynesian income multiplier). In principle, if the classical irrigation efficiency, E C , is a Because of the water multiplier, every use of water in a system can be inefficient in the classical sense (in this case only 50% efficient), but the system as a whole can be highly efficient-indeed, in the idealized IWS case, 100 percent efficient. We have included table 1b   The consumption by crop ET of a 100-HM freshwater supply as it passes through 10 irrigation use cycles, each with an E C = 50% and an E E = 100%, (as depicted in figure 2). constant for all users, say 50 percent as in the above example, then in an idealized IWS that is perfectly closed, the water multiplier is 1/E C = 1/(0.5) = 2. For the above example, the sum of the diversions thus approaches 200 HM.Obviously, from a resource management standpoint, using the classical concept of irrigation efficiency as the basis for determining IWS allocations can lead to faulty policy decisions. Table 1b shows that in the classical sense, the efficiency of the system depends on the amount of reuse involved within the region or reach being considered. The larger the region or longer the reach, the greater the opportunity for reuse and thus, higher the efficiency. By the end of the second cycle, for example, (50 + 25) HM of the initial 100 HM of freshwater supply to the IWS have been consumed by crop ET, and the global E C is 75 percent. The efficiency increases as we go from the microto the macro (or global) view.To overcome the inconsistencies associated with classical efficiencies, the concept of effective efficiency was developed by Keller and Keller (1995) for use in water resource planning and for making IWS policy recommendations.The effective irrigation efficiency, E E , is the beneficially used water divided by the amount of freshwater consumed during the process of conveying and applying the water. For the first cycle in our idealized IWS case depicted in figure 2, it is computed as:Figure 3 shows the generic model of the idealized IWS case in which the inflow water (W I ) is pure, there is no rainfall, and the only evaporation is beneficial crop ET. Furthermore, the outflow (W 0 ) 1 from the first irrigated area, or use cycle, returns to become the inflow (W I ) 2 to the second use cycle. Model configuration for an idealized set of basic irrigation flow modules (like in figure 1) where the drainage from Irrigated Area #1 is the inflow for Irrigated Area #2.Volume of beneficial evaporation Volume of water diverted Net crop ET Volume of (inflow -outflow) 50 HM (100 -50) HMThe Composition of a Real IWS lakes and flats. (Note that it is not the quantity of salt but the concentration of salt in the water supply that determines the suitability of the water for irrigation.) Figure 4 is similar to figure 3, but it shows the generic model for a real IWS. The initial water supply (W I ) of a real IWS contains salts (S I ), has some non-beneficial evaporation (E N-B ) in addition to crop ET, and has the potential for some losses to sinks. The parallel arrows are used to represent the dual flows of both W and S and the dual evaporative depletions by E N-B and crop ET.For an actual IWS, in addition to the estimated net crop ET, some water should be applied for leaching purposes to maintain a favorable soil salinity level for crop production. The volume of leaching water required to maintain optimum crop production is a function of the specific crop mix and the water quality. The portion of the diverted water that is required for leaching The idealized IWS case discussed up to this point explicitly ignored salts (and pollutants), evaporation other than crop ET, rainfall, and sinks in the system. But every real IWS must have salts, 3 evaporative depletions 4 other than crop ET, and at least one sink.Sinks are defined here simply as destinations for water that does not enter another module (or get reused). There are different kinds of sinks in a water system but the most certain, and typically the most important, are salt sinks. The initial supply of water to the system contains salts and, likely, other pollutants. As the water cycles through the modules and is depleted by evaporation and crop ET, these salts and pollutants are concentrated in the drainage water. Also, of course, as the subsurface drainage water percolates through the soil, there is potential for considerable \"pick-up\" of salts and other pollutants. Eventually, the concentration of salts and other pollutants becomes so high that the drainage water is unusable for irrigation purposes and is allocated to a sink, such as the sea or saline 3 All irrigation water contains a mixture of naturally occurring salts. The irrigated soil, consequentially, contains a similar mix but at a higher concentration because the salts remain as the water is consumed by crop ET. The extent to which the salts accumulate depends on the irrigation water quality, management practices, and adequacy of drainage. Crop yields will be reduced if the soil salinity becomes excessive. To prevent this, additional water must be applied periodically to leach the accumulated salts from the crop root zone. 4 Other evaporative depletions include evaporation from open water surfaces such as reservoirs, canals, and drains and the ET from all vegetation except crops. These depletions are usually considered to be non-beneficial. Model configuration for a set of basic irrigation water flow modules (like in figure 3) with the addition of parallel salt flows and unrecoverable losses.(S + S) = (S) = (S) + (S)is called the leaching requirement. Providing the \"required\" leaching water is equivalent to reducing the volume of inflow available for depletion by crop ET.The cropping system's leaching requirement (LR) is typically presented as a ratio that can be used to indicate the portion of the diverted water that must percolate below the crop root zone for leaching purposes. The remaining, or \"effective\", diversion available for depletion by crop ET is (1 -LR) times the actual volume of water diverted. Thus, to accommodate the leaching requirements of an actual IWS, the classical irrigation efficiency becomes:The LR values are dependent on the irri-Figure 5 shows the water and salt flows through a series of irrigation cycles (see figure 4) beginning with a water supply 6 of 100 HM containing 100 metric tons (T) of salt. The total loss of water to the atmosphere or evaporative depletion during each use cycle is 50 percent of its inflow volume, of which 5 percent is non-beneficial evaporation (E N-B ), and the remaining 45 percent is the net crop ET. Thus the drainage from each cycle is also 50 percent of its inflow.The beginning salinity level of the irrigation water is 100 parts per million (ppm). Since only water, not salt, is lost to the atmosphere, the salt load of 100 T remains in the drainage (or outflow water) from the first use cycle so that the salinity level doubles to 200 ppm. In our example, we show an additional 50 T of salt pick-up or loading as the flows pass through cycle #2. As a result of this salt loading and the evaporative depletion that reduces the outflow to half of the inflow volume, the salinity level jumps to 600 ppm. In cycle #3, it doubles to 1,200 ppm and then doubles again to 2,400 ppm in cycle #4 as the flow continues to decrease by 50 percent as it passes through each use cycle in our example (see figure 5).By the end of cycle #4, the total evaporative depletion (E N-B and crop ET) for our model IWS is 93.75 HM, and only 6.25 HM of the initial water supply remain. Thus the salt concentration of the initial water supply would have been increased by a factor of 100/6.25 = 16 to 1,600 ppm, even without the additional 50 T of salt picked up during cycle #2. However, as shown in figure 5, this added salt increases the salinity of the residual flow of water to 2,400 ppm, which is quite high. We assumed that no user wanted this water, so we relegated it to a sink allowing the water multiplier to end. It can be concluded from this that the Here we refer to depletion in terms of the effective loss of freshwater as the result of salinization. For example, if the inflow, LR I , is 0.1 and the outflow, LR 0 , is 0.2, the equivalent freshwater depletion for the module would be 10 percent even if there was no depletion by evaporation.6 This still represents a simplified case since in reality diversions rarely equal the total supply of the source. In a real case, there would be a river or other source, with some flow past the points of diversion. To compute the effective irrigation efficiency for an IWS, the LR of both the inflow water and the outflow water must be considered. This is necessary because the outflow from one cycle becomes the inflow to the next cycle as depicted in figure 4. The equivalent volume of freshwater depletion 5 is the difference between the effective inflow and effective outflow. Thus:Example of a series of irrigation cycles (like in figure 4) showing the water and salt flow sequence when (net crop ET + non-beneficial evaporation) and drainage are both 50 percent of the inflow to each use cycle.total water supply in a system is highly regulated by the water quality aspects of the system.Table 2a shows the values associated with our example for the IWS presented in figure 5. It is similar in form to table 1a for our idealized IWS, but besides the addition of a column for the effective initial fresh-water diversions, the multiplier effect stops after cycle #4 because its outflow is lost to a sink. The relative differences between the actual and effective volumes of water diverted for each cycle increase from cycle #1 to cycle #4 because the salt concentration of the inflow water, and consequently its LR values, are increasing.  It is interesting to note that in table 2a the classical efficiency increased between cycles #2 and #3, and increased even more between cycles #3 and #4. This is an artifact of the design of our example. The increases result from the fact that the net crop ET was kept at 45 percent of the actual diversions, while the effective diversions were decreasing because of the increasing salinity.What is most interesting about the data in table 2a is that the effective efficiency remains practically constant for use cycles #1, #2 and #3. However, the E E of cycle #4 drops to 54 percent, which is the same as the E C . This is the result of loosing the outflow from cycle #4 to a sink. Thus the \"effective out-flow\" (term in the E E equation) is zero so that E E and E C are the same.Table 2b is based on the data presented in table 2a. It is also similar in form to table 1b for the case of the idealized IWS. Table 2b shows that the difference between the actual and effective initial freshwater supply is quite small. The main reason why the classical efficiencies for the cumulative areas are less in table 2b than in table 1b is because crop ET (E N-B = 0) was the only evaporative depletion for the idealized IWS. Furthermore, since the multiplier effect stops after cycle #4 because its outflow is lost to a sink, the global efficiency only reaches 85 percent. Early attempts in the western United States to stretch water supplies by increasing irrigation application and conveyance efficiencies were unsuccessful and led to the coining of the term \"paper water.\" The term stems from the fact that the classical irrigation efficiency equations used in paper calculations appeared to result in water savings. But in fact, when farmers improved their application efficiency and extended the area irrigated using the apparent water savings, they increased their depletion at the expense of return flows relied upon by downstream users. In many cases, the total area irrigated from the available supply re-mained about the same. Upstream users expanded their irrigated area while users downstream suffered. In other words, there was no real water saving. As a result of these experiences, state engineers (who are responsible for water rights allocations in their respective states) now refer to water rights in terms of allowed depletion instead of allowable diversion. Because of this line of reasoning, extensive efforts are made, especially where major water transfers are involved, to separate real water savings, or \"wet water,\" from \"paper water,\" or \"dry water.\"From an inspection of figure 2 and table 1a for our idealized IWS, it can be seen that for each use cycle E C is 50 percent and the average systemwide E C is also 50 percent. But table 1b shows that the global E C is 100 percent. Thus, improving the effective efficiency of any one use cycle can only produce paper water savings, not real water savings. An inspection of figure 5 and table 2a for our IWS shows that, except for use cycle #4, the effective efficiency is already about 90 percent. The only place where there is significant opportunity for real water savings thus is in cycle #4 where the E E is 54 percent.A careful study of figure 5 and tables 2a and 2b reveals that real water savings from our IWS can be obtained by any or all of the following water conservation opportunities (WCOs):1. Reduce the amount of salt picked up in use cycle #2.2. Improve the E C , which is the same as the E E of cycle #4, and increase its irrigated area proportionally.3. Reuse the outflow from cycle #4 by employing a fifth cycle before loosing it to the sink.As an IWS begins to close, it becomes increasingly more difficult to conserve water, and tradeoffs emerge among the different WCOs. We call the selection and implementation of WCOs on a closing IWS, \"managing the closure.\" Eliminating the salt loading in cycle #2 (the first opportunity in the above list) has the potential of conserving about 1.3 percent of the freshwater inflow. The next two opportunities, taken either separately or together, 7 have the potential of conserving 45 percent of the outflow losses from cycle #4, or about 2.8 percent of the initial supply.Cutting the E N-B losses by 25 percent would reduce them from 9.4 percent to 7.1 percent and conserve 2.3 percent of the initial freshwater supply. However, this would probably be a very expensive undertaking since it would require a conservation program across the entire IWS. Taking full advantage of all four of these WCOs would result in a total conservation savings of roughly 6.4 percent of the initial supply and increasing the global E E to about 91 percent.It should not be surprising that the second and third WCOs in the above list provide the greatest savings potential. This is apparent from the fact that E E is 54 percent for cycle #4; it could potentially be increased to roughly 85 percent by providing a 5th use cycle and minimizing the losses to the sink.The question arises as to who should be responsible for water conservation: system managers or farmers. The answer of course is that it takes team work to achieve high efficiency irrigation. Main system managers should be responsible for providing reliable and timely water supplies to farmers while minimizing evaporative depletions and losses to sinks from canal seepage and operational spills. The farmers' responsibility is to use the resources efficiently in those areas of the system where excess seepage and spills from their field operations would be lost to sinks. Since it is costly to achieve high classical irrigation efficiencies, we want to emphasize that increasing the E C will only produce real water savings where the effective efficiency (E E ) is low, as we have demonstrated for use cycle #4 in our IWS example. 7 The second WCO has an advantage over the third in that the water quality is higher (1,200 ppm versus 2,400 ppm, see figure 5). This allows more flexibility in the cropping pattern and higher yield potential for an expanded area within the fourth module as opposed to that for an added fifth module. In either case, both WCOs depend on the availability of additional land for irrigation. manage water systems fully, as system boundaries rarely coincide with other administrative boundaries, and the range of authority required for effective system management is seldom vested on a single administrative unit. The difficulty also can be compounded if competing interests are entrenched and powerful, or the river basin is shared by two or more countries or among political jurisdictions.Thus, efficiency of water use in closing systems increasingly becomes a public rather than a private issue as users must become accountable to each other for the efficiency of use and the quality of discharges. Population growth and increased and diversified demand continually put stress on water supplies. The efficiency of use and/or misuse affects the amount of water needed for any purpose, and thus affects the amount available for competing or for downstream uses.Second, if we take efficiency to mean the most productive output per unit of water, whether for agricultural production or habitat maintenance, then we can see that strategies to improve and manage efficiency differ from one part of the system to another and at different levels within the system. Such differences must be factored into the analysis, planning, and management of water resources. For example, the drainage water and groundwater in much of northern Egypt's Nile Delta have salinity levels above 3,000 ppm. Thus, excess water applied in irrigation is lost to deep percolation but becomes saline drainage water that, in turn, becomes saline groundwater. From a system perspective, this drainage water is of limited value for reuse by irrigation and industry. Increasing the effective efficiency of this system requires reducing percolation losses and drainage. In contrast, along most of Egypt's Nile Valley and in much of the rest of the Nile Delta, deep percolation either returns to the river or re-In sum, a water resource system is \"closed\" when there is no usable water leaving the system. Either all of the initial water supply has been lost to non-beneficial evaporation and crop ET, or it has such high concentrations of salt and other pollutants that it is unusable. Conversely, a water resource system is \"open\" when usable water does leave the system. Most of the important policy questions in the water resources field depend on the degree of closure of these systems, and on a thorough understanding of the concepts and differences between efficiencies in the classical and effective sense.There are important policy implications for systems that are nearing closure, the situation facing most river and groundwater basins in the world's arid regions. First, in a closing system all users obviously become increasingly interdependent. Each use cycle reduces the relative supply for someone downstream by reducing the quantity and/or quality of the water that is discharged. Management of the interdependence becomes a public function. Ultimately, a closing water system requires much more management than an open system. If adequate data are available about the nature and source of both surface water and groundwater resources and the dynamics of the system, it is possible to establish realistic and reliable parameters for analyzing and projecting supply and demand patterns.A difficult part of managing a closing system is developing mechanisms to entice all users to acknowledge their interdependence and to engage them in a negotiation process that binds them to the agreements reached. Without some mechanism to allocate water reasonably among competing interests and to set, monitor, and enforce discharge standards, downstream users are increasingly put at risk. It is usually difficult to develop institutional mechanisms to charges aquifers of good quality water that can be tapped as needed. In this case, basin-wide system efficiency objectives can be met even where local irrigation efficiencies are low. In fact, it may even be beneficial to overwater crops or have high seepage losses from the distribution canals to recharge the aquifers.Along the northern rim of the Nile Delta, excess water acquires a negative value because of its degraded quality. However, along Egypt's Nile Valley and the rest of the Delta, excess water is stored underground, thus increasing its value by making it available for reuse downstream and in other seasons. These examples illustrate how the amount of water that is lost to deep percolation at one point in the system, but which reenters the system downstream as usable return flow, is an important determinant for assessing irrigation efficiency. This is captured in the effective efficiency concepts presented here.Third, water management in closing systems requires increasingly efficient and effective management (conjunctive use) of both surface water and groundwater. This may include transporting and storing surface water and groundwater in different quantities and qualities, mixing and blending water to improve quality, establishing groundwater recharge programs, regulating groundwater extraction, and perhaps alternating surface application and pumping on a seasonal basis. Such programs present both technical and policy challenges and may require institutional realignments to be successful.Fourth, managing closing water systems requires flexibility to be able to move water where and when it is needed to maximize the water multiplier and to increase its aggregate value. This \"plumbing\" issue, closely related to policy issues, is dependent upon the existence of adequate and appropriate institutional mechanisms and the necessary physical infrastructure.Fifth, water demands change over time, reflecting changes in population and economic structure as well as the changing values of the population. Changes in demand can easily put new stress on water systems as the quantity, quality and location of water use change. Consequently, the key to effective management of water resources in closing water systems is the ability to allocate and reallocate water to accommodate changing demands and priorities. Whether the reallocation function is centralized or decentralized, it needs to be responsive and fluid, able to challenge and modify existing water rights and established water use traditions. The principal opportunities and problems in arid regions with regard to water are virtually defined by two factors: the reallocation of water among beneficial uses to achieve the highest overall benefit in a closing system, and increasing the efficiency per unit of freshwater effectively used for any purpose, especially agriculture.Finally, we have only dealt with physical efficiency-not with the much broader concepts of economic and environmental efficiency. For example, even if a closed irrigation IWS were operating at nearly a 100 percent overall physical efficiency, substantial economic gains could be made by reallocating water from lower-to highervalued uses. Furthermore, both physical and economic efficiency must be estimated on the basis of true consumptive use and not on diversions, which is why understanding our concept of effective efficiency and understanding how it differs from the classical concept are so important. Some readers will claim that the IWS concepts presented here are already well known, and they will ask, \"what is new?\" We will answer with the question, \"if these concepts are so well known, why are we working so hard to increase classical efficiencies at such great cost?\""}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c873e516c344fdaaf0f4a9647e4185c5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/d72e30bd-d814-4779-a083-edc1d91d159b/content","id":"1559257004"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4e1caa5f-25f8-45e0-9c94-e20900f24f4f","content":"The Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems Initiative aims to provide equitable, transformative pathways for improved livelihoods of actors in mixed farming systems through sustainable intensification within target agroecologies and socio-economic settings. Through action research and development partnerships, the Initiative will improve smallholder farmers' resilience to weatherinduced shocks, provide a more stable income and significant benefits in welfare, and enhance social justice and inclusion for 13 million people by 2030.Activities will be implemented in six focus countries globally representing diverse mixed farming systems as follows: Ghana (cereal-root crop mixed), Ethiopia (highland mixed), Malawi: (maize mixed), Bangladesh (rice mixed), Nepal (highland mixed), and Lao People's Democratic Republic (upland intensive mixed/ highland extensive mixed).Transforming Agrifood Systems in South Asia (TAFSSA) is a CGIAR Regional Integrated Initiative that supports actions improving equitable access to sustainable healthy diets, that boosts farmers' livelihoods and resilience, and that conserves land, air, and water resources in a climate crisis.As the global population continues to grow, the urgency of addressing food sovereignty challenges becomes increasingly apparent. Bangladesh, being a densely populated country, encounters significant hurdles in livestock production sectors the high population density leads to a substantial demand for food, resulting in increased resource requirements. This study aimed to explore and analyse new pathways and practices to improve resource use efficiency of smallholder crop-livestock farms in northwest Bangladesh. Specifically, options to improve manure management and green fodder crop technologies were assessed. The study employed a combination of farming systems characterization, detailed surveys, and model-based methods to assess trade-offs and options for improved livestock management practices. Three study sites were selected based on land size and characteristics with the use of new fodder crops and the production of milk as a key aspect of farming systems. The FarmDESIGN model was utilized for analysis, incorporating a comprehensive database to generate outcomes for each farm.A total of 32 decision variables were established for the multi-objective optimization of three farms, enabling the visualization and analysis of trade-offs and synergies. Trade-offs between improving soil organic matter balances and reducing soil nitrogen (N) loss, as well as between maximizing operating profit and improving soil OM balance were identified. Synergies were also identified, primarily between increasing operating profit and reducing soil N loss, and between reducing feed costs and mitigating GHG emissions. Also, the model results provided alternatives with maximum operating profit and lower animal feed costs by incorporating more on-farm grown fodder area, and specifically an opportunity to increase the area of Jara-1 hybrid grass by 67%. Furthermore, new pathways and practices were proposed to enhance the use of green fodder crops and improve manure management. The adoption of Jara hybrid-1 grass as a new hybrid green fodder crop, in combination with 60% chopped rice straw, was recommended for feeding cows in the study locations. These results demonstrate that smallholder farmers in northwest Bangladesh have the potential to enhance sustainability and resource use efficiency in their crop-livestock farm systems by focusing on improved manure management methods and cultivation and utilization of green fodder crops.The study was conducted in Rangpur district, which is in north-west Bangladesh (Figure 1.1). Most farmers in this region are smallholder farmers, with farm sizes between 0.2-1 ha (Anowar et al., 2015). Rangpur has eight Upazilas (an administrative region in Bangladesh, functioning as a sub-unit of a district), including Badarganj, Mithapukur, Gangachara, Kaunia, Rangpur Sadar, Pirgacha, Pirganj, and Taraganj. Three villages were selected within these Upazilas: Badarganj, Mithapukur, and Kaunia (Figure 1). The main cropping patterns observed this area of Bangladesh are winter Boro rice-Fallow-Transplanted (T.) summer rice ('Aman'), Boro-Fallow-Fallow, and Fallow-Fallow-T. Aman (the order of seasons is the main monsoon Kharif-2, rabi, and early monsoon Kharif-1). T. Aman rice is mainly rainfed (Roy et al., 2022), and contributes around 39% of total rice production in Bangladesh. Boro rice is the dry season rice crop (BBS, 2019). Some of the additional crops of interest in Rangpur district are T. Aman, Boro, and also potato, country bean, and a range of species of gourd (Table 1). The most popular cropping pattern in Rangpur district is Boro-Fallow-T. Aman.Bangladesh is confronted with a significant challenge in enhancing its livestock sector. Field observations reveal the prevalence of malnourished cows as a common phenomenon attributed to low-nutrient feedstuff and the economic burden of high feed costs (Figure 2). The widespread practice burning of manure for cooking purposes in Bangladesh (Khanam et al., 2019) contributes to loss of carbon and nutrients and to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Furthermore, a main factor contributing GHG emission in Bangladesh is rice cultivation (Sapkota et al., 2021). While Napier grass serves as the preferred green fodder crop for most households, only a few farmers cultivate it. The majority purchase Napier grass from the local market and mix it with rice straw to feed their livestock (Figure 3).During other seasons without Napier grass, they mainly use rice straw, and some households purchase wheat bran from the local market. . The high cost of  In addition to insufficient manure management and limited utilization of green fodder crops, improper application of synthetic fertilizer by farmers leads to nutrient losses, yielding a scenario of high input and low output, indicative of suboptimal nutrient cycling efficiency (Sapkota et al., 2019).This study employed a four-step methodology. In step 1, an exploratory field visit was conducted in November 2022 to obtain general information for farm characterization in eight Upazilas. Three villages were selected (from three Upazilas) with more diversified cropping systems (shown in Table 1.2). In step 2, 20 farmers were interviewed with a general investigation in each village and categorized them into three land sizes. Then, nine farms from each village were chosen with the feature of having livestock, producing milk and using green fodder crops. In step 3, the selected farms were parameterized in the Farm DESIGN model. Decision variables, constraints, and objectives were set up for multi-objective optimization in Farm DESIGN. Focus groups were used to generate and evaluate new farm system configurations. Lastly, in step 4, an analysis was performed to identify trade-offs resulting from the multi-objective optimization based on data collection and variables observed during field work.Step 1: Farm characterization and village selection A pre-visit was arranged to characterize the farming systems in eight Upazilas.During this phase, we visited one village in each Upazila for a focus group discussion with 8-10households to learn about their farm layout and operations. After this pre-visit investigation, we selected Badarganj, Kaunia, and MithapukurUpazilas as our study sites (Table 2). Farmers in Badarganj Upazila often Jara hybrid-1 grass as their green fodder crop. This crop, as observed in the field and based on farmers' perceptions, tended to produce more biomass than the traditionally used Napier grass (Figure 4).   Step 2: Farm selection Basic farm characterization data were collected from 20 farm households in each of the selected villages, comprising both men and women. The survey encompassed various aspects of the household and farming system, including basic information of household members, cropping patterns, feedstuff utilization, livestock status, and general economic details. We sought to include farms based on two key criteria:1. Level of specialization: specialized systems, focused solely on cultivating major economic crops like rice, and diversified crop-livestock mixed farming systems.Farm size: farms were categorized based on land size into three categories, including small (<0.4 ha), medium (0.4-0.8 ha), and large (>0.8 ha).For each village, nine households that represented the three size categories were selected from the general survey for a further detailed survey. After collecting detailed information on 27 households on their farming systems based on land size, an overview of their data was summarized in Excel. Based on this overview of data, we calculated each parameter's average value. Then, three crop-livestock mixed farms were selected that represented the three size categories, used fodder crops and produced milk. The three farms were selected to further parameterization of Farm DESIGN and assessment of farm sustainability indicators from the model.The Farm DESIGN model can be used to quantify farming system production, nutrient cycles and flows, economic profit, and environmental indicators (Groot et al., 2012;Ditzler et al., 2019). The model requires information about cropping patterns, soil conditions, local factors, costs, profits, labour availability, as well as social and economic aspects. This information was obtained through the detailed survey.The FarmM3 model is capable of conducting simulations and assessments pertaining to the utilization of animal manure We utilized an interface between the FarmM3 model and the Farm DESIGN model, thereby furnishing a comprehensive portrayal of the manure management practices specific to identified farms.FarmM3 was thus used to parameterize manure use, degradation rates, and manure nutrient flows (Qu et al., 2022;2023).Resource use efficiency (RUE) within agricultural systems pertains to the degree to which an agricultural system derives benefits from both internal and external resources. The overarching objective is to enhance the output benefits while simultaneously minimizing the input requirements within the farming system (de Wit, 1992). RUE can be quantified using fertilizer, purchase of input (feedstuff), nitrogen use efficiency, and a range of other parameters (de Wit, 1992, Kansiime et al., 2018). We conducted a comparative analysis between the initial feed cost and enhanced feed cost alternatives, along with a comparison between the original nitrogen use efficiency (NUE, Equation 1) and the improved reconfigured NUE following modeling and nitrogen (N) balance (Equation 2) under conditions aimed at maximizing operating profit. This examination was undertaken to assess the enhancements in RUE in the farming systems of interest. For the formulation of NUE and N balance, we employed the following equations:Step 4: Analysis of trade-offs and synergiesThe were imposed on factors such as land size, feed balance, and feed quantity. We also defined specific objectives, which include maximizing operating profit, maintaining soil organic matter (OM) balance, achieving feed self-sufficiency, and optimizing dietary energy yield. Furthermore, the objectives encompassed minimizing feed costs, soil N losses, and GHG emissions. (Table 3). With the DE algorithm, we generated 1,000 solutions from the optimization, with parameters amplitude of F=0.15 and CR=0.85 cross-over probability. The number of iterations was 500 to stabilize outcomes from the Farm Design model.  The Large farm type demonstrated a greater utilization of manure in comparison to the other two types studied. Interestingly, despite the Medium-sized farm having a cow distribution similar to that of the large farm, has relatively lower manure use (Figure 5). It is worth noting that the majority of farmers opted for a composting practice that spanned approximately six months, with the notable absence of stirring treatment that would likely aerate and increase the processing time of compost. However, a minority of farmers did integrate stirring treatment for a period of roughly one month prior to the manure harvest. We also observed that it is a common practice among households to utilize cattle manure as a fuel source for cooking purposes. In Figure 6, the flows of carbon (C) and organic nitrogen (Norg) in Small, Medium, and Large farms are depicted. The amount of manure was collected from the survey, and other values were simulated by FarmM3 model. After the composting process, model explorations suggested a large amount of carbon lost in the form of CO2 due to manure burning . On the other hand, Norg was predominantly applied to soil, partly distributed to cooking fuel, and some was lost in the form of inorganic nitrogen. Two farms were chosen from the South Ramnathpur Pathan Pata village, representing small and large household sizes, as outlined in Table 4. The Small farm had a smaller land area, yet these farmers dedicated a substantial portion of land to the cultivation of green fodder. Conversely, despite a larger expanse being allocated to green fodder, this farm type exhibited elevated feed costs for a single cow. Moreover, this farm experienced notably high soil nitrogen (N) losses and a diminished organic matter (OM) balance within its farming system.The additional large farm in this village possessed a greater expanse of land, yet it allocated only a small percentage of it to the cultivation of green fodder crops. Furthermore, the farm engaged in the cultivation of Jara hybrid-1 grass. Despite its larger landholding, the large farm type exhibited a lower capacity for self-reliance when compared to the small farm. Notably, farmers applied a higher quantity of animal manure for cultivation purposes, but paradoxically, the model suggested that this resulted in a lower modelled organic matter balance within its farming system. This clearly requires additional analysis and exploration to confirm and identify why lower OM balances are generated in the model. On the other hand, the Medium-sized farm located in the village of Madarpur Balapara featured a larger land size but cultivated fewer green fodder crops compared to the small farm type. This farm type recorded very low operating profits and a diminished dietary energy yield in our modelling outputs. Furthermore, model explorations suggested that it experienced high soil N losses, although it did maintain a high OM balance within its farming system.The exploration of alternative farm reconfigurations for the large farm was a key focus of our analysis. In this report, we present the results obtained from the large farm's evaluation. The selection of alternative optimal options was based on the principles of Pareto ranking theory, where ideal options were chosen from among all the alternative solutions generated through multi-objective optimization in the FarmDESIGN model. An overview of the relationships between various objectives specific to the large farm is depicted in Figure 7. Within this framework, we observed both trade-offs and synergies, underscoring the complex interplay of factors affecting the large farm's performance and sustainability. Compared to the original configuration of the large farm, evident linear relationships were observed, indicating potential synergies between (1) enhancing operating profit and reducing soil N loss, mitigating feed costs, and increasing dietary energy yield (Figure 7 E&C&H), (2) reducing feed costs and mitigating GHG emissions and soil N loss (Figure 7 M&F), (3) minimizing soil N loss and improving dietary energy yield (Figure 7 J). Out model outputs also showed that there were distinct trade-offs between (4) improving soil OM balance and increasing both operating profit and dietary energy yield (Figure 7 A&G), ( 5) enhancing soil OM balance and reducing both GHG emissions and soil N loss (Figure 7 K&D), ( 6) decreasing feed costs and improving both self-supply and dietary energy yield (Figure 7 R&I).The configuration and performance of the improved Large farm involved selecting and analysing the top 10 solutions generated through multi-objective optimization in the modelling environment, which exhibited the best results in terms of operating profit and feed self-reliance, as detailed in Table 2.2.Among these topperforming solutions, those optimized for operating profit (which recorded a 7% increase compared to the original) also demonstrated enhanced feed self-reliance, with an improvement of 9%. These solutions notably featured a larger area allocated to the T. aman-chili-potato cropping pattern, while reducing area under the T. aman-fallow-boro rotation and decreasing the country bean area in the home garden by 0.05 hectares. However, it's important to note that for achieving further improvements in feed self-reliance, with potential gains of up to 40% in the top 10 solutions (Table 5), the operating profit on this farm could experience a decline of 15%. This shift would involve a transition from cash crops to feed crops, and requires additional analysis to confirm the utility of this suggestion among farmers of this typology in Rangpur. Moreover, the utilization of Jara hybrid-1 grass was found to be significantly higher in this optimization analysis, with a 65% increase compared to the original, in both sets of the top 10 solutions, as indicated in Table 5.During the farmer interviews and focus groups conducted in this preliminary study, it became evident that most farmers prioritized the reduction of their feed costs as a key objective. The redesign exploration conducted using the Farm DESIGN model has provisionally opened up numerous possibilities for farmers to achieve significant reductions in feed costs, with potential savings of up to 22%, while simultaneously increasing their profit by 7%. In the context of the Large farm, the multi-objective optimization yielded options that allowed for an increase in the area allocated to Jara hybrid-1 grass and the home garden. These modifications resulted in reduced feed costs and an enhanced ability to self-supply feed resources. However, it is noteworthy that the Large farm did not exhibit any significant change in NUE as a result of these reconfigurations.Why are these results relevant? Firstly, they have economic implications. The reduction in feed costs and the concurrent increase in profits can improve the financial sustainability of farmers, ultimately enhancing livelihoods. Furthermore, the findings are particularly pertinent to milk production. Improved feed quality can directly enhance the health and productivity of dairy animals, leading to increased milk production and overall improved animal well-being. The choice of Jara-1 hybrid grass over Napier grass is a noteworthy aspect. Jara-1 hybrid is associated with substantial greater biomass production, making it a good feed resource for livestock, especially dairy cows. This implies that farmers could potentially benefit from selecting and cultivating this and other superior forage varieties. In the regional context of northwest Bangladesh, where Napier grass is commonly used for livestock feed, the introduction and expansion of Jara-1 hybrid offers an alternative and potentially more beneficial option.According to the modeled farm reconfigurations, there is potential for an increase in the cultivation of green fodder crops, particularly for the Large farm observed in our study. In options emphasizing profitability, the total area allocated to green fodder crops could expand by 37%, and for those prioritizing feed self-reliance, this expansion could be as much as 66%. Additionally, a promising strategy involves integrating legumes with green fodder crops to enhance nitrogen input through symbiotic fixation, as proposed by Orodho (2006). In selecting a suitable legume, local species like country beans could be considered, and these legumes could be effectively cultivated as alley crops, a practice involving planting them in narrow rows between other tall trees or crops, as documented in studies by Wolz and DeLucia (2018) and Garrett et al. (2021).In addition, while rice straw is commonly used as a feed in Bangladesh, it is not ideal from an animal health standpoint. It boasts a high biomass content, a substantial silica content, and an adequate C/N ratio, although it does have a relatively low crude protein content, typically around 3% to 4% (Devendra, 1997;Drake et al., 2002). Elevated crude protein levels can enhance the bacterial digestive process during forage utilization. However, excessively high crude protein levels may result in increased emissions of waste N (Kalscheur et al., 1999). Consequently, a blend consisting of approximately 60% chopped rice straw combined with 40% chopped Jara-1 hybrid grass may be a promising feedstuff combination (Gummert et al., 2020). This composite has the potential to mitigate animal feed costs while concurrently improving milk production (Figure 8). Manure management presents an inherent challenge in dairy farming systems (Chadwick et al., 2011), including in Bangladesh. The prevailing method of manure management in northwest Bangladesh is associated with elevated greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient loss, and adverse effects on human health (Bruce et al., 2015). An alternative approach to using animal manure as cooking fuel is to utilize it as a soil amendment (Snijders et al., 2009). Previous research on manure management has shown that vermicomposting offers advantages over traditional composting techniques for manure. Vermicompost typically exhibits a lower C/N ratio, resulting in a more stable and mature fertilizer (with a C/N ratio <15) and a higher nitrogen content (Font-Palma, 2019). Moreover, research by Duan et al. (2020) suggests that the addition of 0.5% Bacillus subtilis can expedite compost maturation and enhance the quality of compost fertilizer. While previous recommendations have included employing a single deep pit with appropriate coverage and infrequent stirring treatment for six months to effectively implement vermicomposting (Eghball and Lesoing, 2000;Parkinson et al., 2004;Getahun et al., 2012), it is important, however, to consider the labor costs associated with this approach, which can and should be explored in additional modeling simulations. We also explored the use of Farm DESIGN model to quantify human nutrition using the dietary energy yield indicator, which measures the energy content in fresh food. The model's outputs revealed that the original household diets are predominantly composed of cereals, with limited inclusion of fruits and vegetables. Livestock products also constitute a significant portion of their food intake. Notably, the optimized dietary energy yield for the Large farm is sufficient to meet the household's energy needs. However, despite meeting their energy requirements, diet diversity remains unbalanced. In-person observations however indicate that the households under investigation in this study face challenges in accessing a diverse range of foods, as food access is linked to household economic and also cultural circumstances, as discussed by Jia et al. (2023).This study underscores the potential of implementing novel manure management approaches and integrating green fodder crops to enhance resource use efficiency within smallholder crop-livestock mixed farming systems in northwest Bangladesh. Farmers in our study expressed substantial concerns regarding the costs associated with animal feed. The Farm DESIGN model provided a means to explore alternative strategies aimed at reducing feed expenses and concurrently increasing profitability for farmers. Notably, the utilization of Jara hybrid-1 grass, characterized by higher nutrient content, suggests that a 3:2 combination of Napier grass and Jara hybrid-1 grass is a potential approach. However, further research should be conducted to compare various species of green fodder crops with Napier grass and explore the incorporation of leguminous fodder crops.Despite their challenges, this study indicates that smallholder farmers within croplivestock mixed farming systems still have untapped options to enhance resource use efficiency, improve manure management, and expand the utilization of green fodder crops. The Farm DESIGN model can serve as a valuable tool for researchers, farmers, and policymakers, offering optimization strategies to promote sustainable intensification within crop-livestock mixed farming systems."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a9414692b784630ed261799dbece7201","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/21c8d60f-6513-4570-9476-4937312ff74a/retrieve","id":"1514544267"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4249b82f-fc5a-46c0-ba37-b21376881310","content":"RTB's organizes research around five flagship projects (FP) which mutual interact and reinforce in a continuum from discovery through to impact at scale.Tapping into underutilized RTB genetic diversity, FP1collaborates with advanced research institutes (ARIs), universities, national agricultural research systems (NARS), and other CRPs. FP2 supports gender-responsive breeding pipelines to obtain high-yielding and nutrient-rich varieties in line with consumer demand and adapted to future climates and resistant to biotic and abiotic threats. FP2 collaborates closely with national breeding, genetics, and phenotyping programs, ARIs, and universities. It is informed by FP3-FP5 in regards to the needs of next users of varieties and particular constraints such as di-sease resistance. FP2 includes a crosscutting component on seed and approaches for demand creation. Scaling occurs with national seed agencies, private companies, service providers, and development partners.FP3 develops products for pest and disease characterization and management and improved agronomic practices for more resilient cropping systems. Pest/disease risks models related to climate change and pest risks analyses are developed with strategic research partners. Results are used to devise policy and technical advice for national plant protection organizations and regional and sub-regional organizations. Optimized land, crop, and water management techniques are developed in collaboration with NARS and universities and promoted through well-trained extension services and other service providers. FP4 promotes collaborations among public and private partners. The objective is to develop and disseminate improved and more efficient processing and post-harvest technologies and protocols for RTB-based food products that help to reduce waste and losses and make healthy and nutritious food available. Moreover, FP4 provides technical evidence and policy advice to national authorities, development partners, and donors for designing and implementing agriculture for nutrition initiatives and education/communication programs. Particular attention is paid to generating more equitable employment and income opportunities for women and youth.FP5 has a dual role as a space for systems research and for providing capacity development and backstopping in support of innovation and scaling in FP1-FP4. It provides a livelihood systems-related guiding framework for all FPs to steer them toward promising scaling of innovations, opportunities for advancing gender and intergenerational equity, expected and proven areas of greatest return, and scientific evidence on impactful partnership and scaling models.RTB's research on sweetpotato falls in to two dedicated clusters of activity (clusters): (1) User preferred sweetpotato varieties and seed technologies which is part of FP2 and (2) Nutritious sweetpotato for expanding markets and improving nutrition, part of FP4.Housed under FP2, this cluster investigates, develops, and disseminates better sweetpotato varieties and ensures that they meet farmer and consumer preferences. This will improve the availability of sweetpotato varieties that are rich in beta-carotene and high in anti-oxidants, to meet diverse user preferences and needs with gender-responsive seed systems. Hence this cluster has strong linkages to the second cluster on sweetpotato under FP4. In 2016, one area of work by the cluster included predicting genetic gains under breeding scenarios in advanced selection states. The objectives of this research were to use variance components to determine breeding efficiency in advanced breeding stages, using data from breeding efforts aimed at developing dry and starchy orange fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) for the humid tropics. A large set of trials comprising 42 genotypes, nine locations and three years of field testing was conducted in the Peruvian Amazon. The analysis of variance showed that years/seasons of field testing can be partially substituted by spatial variation of field locations in sweetpotato. The smallest magnitude variance component was Genotype X Season. Further, a two-stage selection can accelerate variety release. Moreover, this research shows that searching for optimal allocations of field testing efforts leads to significantly higher genetic gains even under limited field testing resources than when field resources are not a limiting factor. Hence, the analysis of diverse breeding scenarios to identify those enabling higher genetic gains is recommended, particularly for NARS partners since they oftentimes operate under very limited resources.The cluster on 'Nutritious sweetpotato for expanding markets and improving nutrition' , which is under FP4, aims to improve nutrition and diets and provide income opportunities through more diversified and intensified utilization of nutritious sweetpotato. Highlights from the past year including the development of nutrition education materials to support end-users of OFSP. These were disseminated in Rwanda (73,238), Kenya (32,071), Malawi (43,631),Tanzania (26,777) "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e1c6b685d1ae99cadc5797b646c60bb1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/dc2649b9-8f45-40cb-9935-3758d6cbfdac/retrieve","id":"-1184436482"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b90736ad-16fa-4574-b483-f13c3db88168","content":"The CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) is a partnership collaboration led by the International Potato Center implemented jointly with the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and the Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), that includes a growing number of research and development partners. RTB brings together research on its mandate crops: bananas and plantains, cassava, potato, sweetpotato, yams, and minor roots and tubers, to improve nutrition and food security and foster greater gender equity especially among some of the world's poorest and most vulnerable populations.The RTB Triple S Scaling project (3S+) is a 27-month project funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) and was operational in Ghana and Ethiopia. The aim of the project was to scale out the Triple S technology -a root-based vine production technology suitable for arid and semi-arid areas.Amongst the scaling strategies developed and implemented, was an outreach strategy based on three types of treatment:• Core communities• Spillover communities Subsequently, various communication tools and approaches were used for the three types of communities.Following use of these strategies, there was a need to assess their effectiveness in aiding technology dissemination, uptake and scaling.A study was designed to assess which communication methods were best suited to the needs of women and men in transmission and delivery of the Triple S innovation scaling package.The study research questions included:• How gender responsive are our different communication materials and channels and what are we learning?• How do men and women beneficiaries perceive the training materials? Is their preference related to gender?• Is access to information affected by gender? Are we accidentally excluding certain people in communities to access information?Findings from the study indicate that the face to face communication channels was the most preferred by both men and women in Ghana and Ethiopia. Radio was not perceived to be a channel of choice for women given challenges related to access to radio sets and accessories and timing of the programs. Video was considered to be a new and educative channel especially by men who likened it to being in a classroom but was mostly appreciated by women in Upper West region, Ghana.Nonetheless, a digital divide was evident between men and women in Ethiopia where women perceived radio and video to be inaccessible, the information delivered was deemed to be difficult to comprehend, apply and share. Future interventions will need to obtain a deeper understanding of the intrahousehold dynamics related to communication equipment as well as existing gender norms within communities before designing communication strategies. This could enable better reach and utilization of technology information by women and men farmers.Gender responsive communication tools and approaches for scaling the Triple S Technology in Ethiopia and GhanaThe CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) Triple S Scaling project (3S+) was a 27month project operational in Ghana and Ethiopia. In Ghana, the project was implemented in the North and Upper West regions while in Ethiopia the implementation areas were in six woredas (districts) in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region (SNNPR). The aim of the project was to scale out the Triple S technology -a root-based vine conservation and multiplication technology suitable for arid and semi-arid areas. Amongst the scaling strategies developed and implemented, was an outreach strategy based on three levels of intensity:• Core intervention• Spillover intervention Subsequently, different communication tools and approaches were used for the three levels of intensity. In Ghana, core communities received the full package of communication, being face-to-face training (with demonstrations), video and radio messages on the Triple S; spillover communities received only video and radio messages and informed communities only received radio messages on Triple S. In Ethiopia, the core community package included face to face and radio, the informed communities package comprised of video and radio while spillover communities were reached only with radio.A study was designed to assess which communication methods were best suited to the needs of women and men in knowledge transfer and delivery of the Triple S innovation scaling package.The study research questions included:• How gender-responsive are our different communication materials and channels and what are we learning?• How do men and women beneficiaries perceive the training materials? Is their preference related to gender?• Is access to information affected by gender? Are we accidentally excluding certain people in communities to access information?The study was conducted in October and November 2019 in the project countries. This report provides findings from the study as well recommendations aimed at assisting future similar interventions.Information and knowledge management play a crucial role in technology dissemination and uptake (McCormack, 2018). According to Vaughan et. al. (2019); farmer's access to information is determined by the type of information product, demand and the channel of delivery; hence the importance of understanding and defining such channels.In Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), women farmers have been found to face more difficulty than men in accessing resources such as information which ultimately influences the types of crop they grow and markets they participate in (Doss, 1999). Limited access has also been attributed to women's limited mobility, restrictive social norms, limited access to extension agents and equipment (such as radio); among others (Gumucio et. al 2019). For example, Isaya et. el. (2018) found that 68% of female headed households in Tanzania had been in contact with an agricultural extension agent within 12 months as compared to 90% male headed households.For some respondents, access was once in a year. Yet, radio and agricultural extension agents were the primary source of information for women in the study (ibid). Buehren et.al, (2019) found that female headed households in SNNPR, Ethiopia received less farming advice because either the content was not suited to their needs, or the mode of delivery did not enable them to utilize the information as much as men. Even where information has been relayed, women sometimes lack the ability to convert theoretical knowledge into practice (Ragasa, 2014). Thus, as reiterated by Ogato (2013), there is a need to identify information channels that are cognizant of women's conditions, needs, roles in the community, and match their mode of thinking. Indeed, as opined by Misuraca 2007(in Ogato, 2013), research in this arena would assist in identifying strategies to minimize socio-cultural barriers that limit women's access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).Efforts to reduce disparity in access to and uptake of technology have come with concerted efforts to address women and men's needs. For example, by using female extension agents, women farmers have noted improved information delivery and use of the knowledge so attained (Meinzen-Dick et. al, 2012). However, information delivery needs to be augmented with other services e.g. fostering social learning. This is because though high initial adoption rates could be registered, this may quickly wear off if not supported, hence the need for holistic intervention packages, not single services (Patnam, 2014).Agricultural technology uptake needs to ride on existing technologies that have successfully been introduced e.g. the mobile phone. However, studies have shown that while women may have access to mobile phones, they are not using them to access agricultural information and still largely depend on their spouses. Yet again; such information may not be relevant to their agricultural enterprises as their choice of crops may differ from the men (Isaya et. al. 2018).Limited access to information limits women's options and chances to make decisions on whether or not to try out a new technology such as the Triple S. This limits their agency (capacity to make purposeful actions and pursue goals) to develop and grow their agricultural enterprises which greatly support food, and increasingly income security in their homes (Gates, 2014).This section explains how the study was conducted. It gives detailed information about the study design that was used, the sampling procedure and sample size. It further shows how data was collected, analyzed and reported.A descriptive cross-sectional design was used to collect qualitative and some quantitative data. A cross-sectional design is one that explains and measures phenomena at a point in time. Russell (2000) recommends this approach because data is collected on many variables from a large number of dispersed subjects and questions on who, what, when and where can easily be answered at the same time. This design was appropriate because a wide diversity of respondents was covered through sex disaggregated Focus Group Discussions (FGD).The approaches and methodology that guided the study hinged on the following phases: Core intervention: these are communities where all the planned project activities were conducted and beneficiaries were reached out to using several communication methods such as radio, video and demonstrations.In Ethiopia, farmers were exposed to face to face training through step-down training and radio dissemination. Under this approach, one ToT was conducted at regional level and attended by experts from the region, zone and woreda by CIP specialists.The knowledge so obtained was cascaded down to Kebele and woreda level to champion farmers, kebele managers and security official. In turn, each champion farmer trained 50 farmers at village level.Additionally, face to face trainings were conducted at Healthy Living Clubs (HLC) in Gedeo zone in Ethiopia. Trainings focused on nutrition, sweetpotato agronomic and Triple S. This was complemented with radio programs.In Ghana, farmers attended demonstrations that were facilitated by experts. Radio and video were used to relay information about the Triple S. In Ghana, videos and radio scripts were translated into local languages. Videos were screened to the farmers at suitable locations within the community.Informed intervention: the communication channels used to scale out the technology in such locations were radio and word of mouth. The hypothesis was that people in these communities would 'informally' learn about the technology through tacit methods.In the case of Ethiopia, scripts translated in the local language were broadcast three times a week for three consecutive weeks. Each radio program ran for 20 minutes.Similarly, in Ghana, radio scripts were translated in local languages and broadcasted for close to a month.Two communities were selected in each of the project treatment locations as detailed in Table 1 below: The study areas in Ghana are further elaborated in Figure 1. The study districts in Ethiopia (Misrak Badewacho Hawassa Zuria and Dilla Zuria) are also shown in Figure 2. The communities were purposively selected, but respondents were selected using stratified sampling method with the aid of contact persons such as extension workers and group leaders.Sex disaggregated focus group discussions were held in 12 communities in Ghana and six communities in Ethiopia (Table 2). In each community, two FGDs were held i.e. one for men, and one for women so that a total of 36 FGDs (24 in Ghana and 12 in Ethiopia) were conducted. A total of 359 respondents (174M, 185W) participated in the study of which 124 respondents (64M, 60W) were included in Ethiopia. In the Northern Region of Ghana, 120 respondents (55M, 65W) participated in the study while 115 respondents (55M 60W) did so in the Upper West Region. In the course of the discussions care was taken to explore the perceptions of each sex on the communication approaches and channels in a bid to ascertain whether there was significant genderbased differences pertaining to their effectiveness in relaying Triple S information. Qualitative data collected in the focus groups was subjected to content analysis. Simple descriptive statistics (mean, percentage and frequencies) were used to analyze respondents' perception of various communication methods that they had been exposed to in the quest to scale the Triple S technology.All the respondents were farmers were sweetpotato farmers. In Ghana, men were slightly younger and more educated than the women (Table 3). This could imply that men had a better chance of technology uptake given that they were more literate than women. Individual data for women from the Upper West region for example indicates that many of them had not been to school. All respondents reported large family sizes which could augur well for labour but also imply more mouths to feed. This could be a positive factor for the adoption of Triple S. Women from the northern region had not established Triple S beds and they mentioned that they had just started farming; as this activity was previously designated for men only.In Ethiopia, men and women respondents were in the same range. Men were slightly more educated than women, while household sizes were the same. Having youthful head of families could be advantageous for Triple S adoption as youth have been noted to be more responsive to uptake of new technologies. Other sources cited included face to face and through meetings. In the Northern Region, women mentioned agricultural officers, radio and other organizations to be the most common sources of agricultural information. However, for Triple S, video and neighbors from other communities (on market days) were mentioned as additional and important channels by respondents from the core community.In Tugbang, a core treatment community in Northern region of Ghana, men indicated that their most important source of agricultural information was the radio followed by agricultural officers, video/TV and friends. The men were of the view that they had similar access to information as women; though women could be better exposed since they dealt in shea.Generally, men and women respondents in Ghana did not perceive differences in access to information by sex.The exception was in Chogsia, Wa West where women mentioned that they have better access to information than their spouses; and actually, shared information obtained from NGOs with them. The women further noted that while extension officers were their most important source of information and radio the least; the reverse was true for men.In Ethiopia, agricultural officials were ranked to be the most important source of information followed by radio and family and fellow farmers. Women from Tika Kokele, Hadiya zone revealed that their major source of information was from agricultural officers at Kebele and Woreda levels. Some women respondents also mentioned family members, radio and video as sources of information; which corresponds to the communication channels used in spillover communities.and sister in law because they both are agricultural experts. (Participant, Women FGD, Tika Kokele, Misrak Badewacho)In addition to extension officers, radio and video, women from Weyra Bushera, Hadiya zone (a core community for HLC) also mentioned model farmers, health facilities NGOs, trainings and meetings as sources of agricultural information.When asked to assess information access between men and women, only female respondents in Tika KokeleHadiya zone were of the view that men had better access to information than women, though no explanation was offered.Men in Ethiopia mentioned similar information channels as the women; but also shared that the most important source of information was the farmer himself. They further indicated most of their information was passed down from their great grandfathers, a channel which they considered to be important. Aside from this, men mentioned channels which women did not such as 8028 Farmers' hotline service and magazines; as elaborated below:We also get information from magazines: the magazine has a bimonthly news column about rural agendas and agriculture. We, farmers gather together, and the newspapers are read to us after which we then discuss the issues. Magazines are better than radio and television because there are discussions held on the issues raised after reading. Respondent, Men FGD, Andida, Dilla Zuria (Core, HLC).Again, just like the women, the most important source of information for men was agricultural experts followed by experience sharing from various fora such as meetings; and radio. The general perception from most men was that women and men had the same access to information.Both women and men have equal access to information in our area. For example, widowed women`s are invited exceptionally to trainings and meetings, in order to fill information gaps. Therefore, in our area men's and women's do have equal chance and access to agricultural information. Respondent, Men FGD, Chichu, Dilla Zuria (Core, HLC).Only one community in Ethiopia thought otherwise, mentioning that women mostly got information from men and radio. Respondents in this community further mentioned that women did not actively participate in trainings and meetings and so did not have equal access as compared to men.Agricultural experts are the most common sources of information for men, while men are the main sources of information for women. They don`t hear radio because they are busy on different housework. Sometimes when they attended trainings if they (women) are invited they can get information from the meeting and trainings they participate in. These are the only sources of information that women get. In most case women don`t have chance to go other places like men.Respondent, Men FGD, Jara Gelelcha (Informed community).Both women and men respondents mentioned that they shared information with family members, friends and group members who may have missed out on a knowledge event. They further indicated that they did not modify the information and shared it as is. Participant's in one men's FGD however mentioned that they sometimes forgot some of the information and being illiterate, they did not take notes. A woman participant indicated that she simplified the information from agricultural experts so as to make it easy for her recipients to understand.The challenges highlighted by participants across the two countries were very similar and are discussed together below.Men respondents from Ethiopia shared that untimely information and lack of immediate responses were the major problem they faced. Another challenge was cancellation of training programs especially where extension agents were urgently summoned to attend other meetings. Yet another challenge cited was scheduling of trainings at inappropriate times for farmers which led to low attendance.In Sajagban, Northern Ghana (an informed community), women respondents mentioned that because of the bad roads, agricultural officers are not able to visit them frequently and when they do, they don't arrive on time.Security problems in Ethiopia were seen to limit the movement of agriculture experts from place to place which affected timely dissemination of important agricultural information to the farmers.Respondents in both countries noted that at times they received incomplete information especially about agricultural inputs. This forced them to depend on input traders for information because at times agricultural experts did not provide advice. Information on the control of pests and diseases was noted to be generally lacking.Power outages were highlighted as a cause to limited access to information relayed on radios. This is further exacerbated by the fact that radio programs are transmitted on a given schedule and they are rarely repeated.In Ethiopia, women explained that they experienced difficulties in accessing information disseminated via radio due to power outage. In addition, most farmers did not have access to radio. A similar observation was made in Nangunkpang, Northern Ghana, by women respondents. Further, they noted that while radio was the second most popular channel, women also could not afford batteries, yet most communities do not have electricity; thus, constraining accessing to information. Where farmers are able to access radio, radio programs are interrupted when there is a power outage.Respondents shared that farmers had a problem of negligence in accessing information. Farmers did not want to attend trainings where per diems were not paid and would miss the information relayed. Farmers also habitually turned up late for trainings and did not want to take notes.Most women farmers in core communities shared that they were not educated and found problems in understanding information relayed during training and experience sharing visits. At times, information transmitted through radio programs on Triple S was not clear and farmers found it hard to put such information into practice. This challenge was noted in both countries.Men in both countries were noted to have better access information sources as they could go to town and meet different people. Men also had better chances to see or be exposed to different new technologies unlike women.Women shared that they had greater burdens than the men working at home. This made them busy and deprived them from getting adequate agricultural information. As such women often depended on men for agricultural information. In Ethiopia, even where women had mobile phones, they did not use them to obtain agricultural information due to low levels of literacy and lack of phone credit. In northern Ghana, women shared that men had been engaged in farming much longer than them; and so, the men had better access to advance agricultural information. Besides, men were also perceived to have more mobility which enhanced their access to information.Women and men reported similar types of sweetpotato related information in Ethiopia and Ghana. The information is further elaborated under various themes below:Planting materialsInformation was noted to be on how to plant sweet potato and conserve sweetpotato roots for planting materials. This information was mostly relayed during field training and video shows; and was reported by core and spillover treatment communities.Respondents shared that they had obtained information on how to cultivate the crop and also about the different varieties of sweetpotato that exist. In addition, they learnt how to plant in rows, appropriate spacing and benefits thereof. Other information received was on preparation of disease-free planting materials and how to protect crops from disease.In addition, respondents shared that they had obtained information on the nutritional and health benefits of OFSP and how food is prepared from OFSP by mixing it together with other foods. For example, they learnt that leaves of OFSP can been cooked and consumed. In Ethiopia, this was majorly reported by respondents in HLC communities.Postharvest/value addition Women farmers mentioned that they had been exposed to different food recipes which could be prepared from sweetpotato. This improved the dishes they prepared as formerly they would only consume boiled sweetpotato.Men respondents in Vieri, Upper west region in Ghana (a core community) shared that they had received training on income generation and cost benefit analysis for sweetpotato based products. However, the respondents did not mention the source of this information.In Ethiopia, respondents in three out of the eight male FGDs (two from spillover, one from core community) mentioned that they primarily conserved planting materials using the Triple S technology. Other methods of conservation included planting vines in wet areas like swamps, lakeshores, coffee and enset gardens and around the homestead. Other methods included intentionally leaving some roots in the soil (ground keeper roots) especially during piece-meal harvesting. Women did not mention Triple S at all but indicated that they used other conservation methods as highlighted by the men.In Northern Ghana, respondents in three out of the six women FGDs used Triple S to conserve planting materials. Other methods mentioned include vine multiplication and leaving roots in the garden after harvest.These roots sprouts during the first rains and the vines are used for planting. In Upper West, two informed communities, one spillover and one core community men respondents mentioned that they were using the Triple S method to conserve planting materials.Majority of the men respondents in Ethiopia indicated that they stored roots for food and planting material.For food, the methods highlighted included leaving the roots in the soil -by cutting off the vines; by storing roots in a dry place on a wooden shelf/bed on a layer of tef straw; and also, in sand. These three methods were used for storing roots for food for a period of one to three months. Men respondents also shared that they stored roots with the aim of obtaining planting materials using the Triple S technology, burying roots in Enset farms, burying small roots in cold areas and also cutting off foliage of plants and storing the roots. In such cases, roots were stored from three to 12 months.Six out of the eight women FGDs in Ethiopia mentioned that they mostly stored roots for food using ground keeper roots but also for planting materials. 'We just leave the sweetpotato in the farm' mentioned women from Weyra Bushera. Two women groups indicated that they also stored roots using the Triple S technologythough they had not mentioned this in the earlier question on the methods used to conserve planting material. They nonetheless indicated that by using this method they were able to store the roots for three to four months. Two women groups indicated they did not conserve roots.Women in Nyensung, a core community in Northern Ghana mentioned that men were the ones who mostly stored sweetpotato roots in sandpits. This was because the women did not have space to store the roots and when they tried to do so, the children would take them out of storage and eat them. Roots were stored for food, market and for planting materials, with women focusing on food and men on planting materials. Roots were sold off between three and six months after harvest.In Namongbani, women explained that the major methods of storing roots were sandpit, storage barn, sandbox, and in barns raised on interspaced sticks during the dry season. The roots were planted at the onset of the rains to multiply vines. In Suke, Lambusie district; women elaborated the pit method as below:'We use the pit method, the one with the steps. We dig the pit in steps and put sand inside, and then place well-selected sweetpotato insider the first step, that is the deeper one, and cover with sand, we continue this way until we fill the whole pit.'Roots were also stored for food and market for a period ranging from six to eight months, but some respondents were of the view that roots do not get spoiled for as long as they are monitored regularly.Below we define the communication channels used to relay Triple S knowledge:1. Face-to-Face: Direct training or exchange of information with demonstrations by an expert such as Agricultural Extension Agent, an NGO Technical person, Lead/Model farmer.2. Video: Projection of farmer training videos and facilitated discussions in the local languages.3. Radio: Broadcasting of radio programs in Agriculture via rural radio stations.4. Neighbor: Exchange of information between farmers by word of mouth at social events or through casual contacts.5. Phone services: these include specially designated farmer lines for voice or text messages 6. Healthy Living Clubs: these are special clubs for promotion of healthy living styles (Ethiopia).Respondents were asked if they had heard of the Triple S technology, and the channels through which the information had been relayed. Nearly all the men groups regardless of the treatment in Ethiopia had heard about the technology and indeed explained the process very well as elaborated below:The first thing is selecting the right OFSP roots that have medium size, free from disease, free from damage by tools. The next step is preparing a container in which newspaper(papers) are laid at the bottom then selected dry sand is placed. Finally, the selected roots are place carefully placed in the sand allowing space between the tubers to avoid contact. The container containing the seed then will be put in a dry and dark place throughout the dry season till the rainy season starts. Respondent, Men FGD, Chichu, Dilla Zuria (HLC treatment community).Amongst the channels mentioned were (i) face to face training (ii) video shows (iii) radio (iv) flip chartsthrough model farmers and development agents (v) booklets on OFSP (vi) posters and (vii) photos. Some five communities which received core and spillover treatments reported a combination of three or more channels while one community mentioned only one channel. Information was relayed at churches, model farmers homes and at FTCs mainly by agricultural experts and model farmers.Practical training on farm and Video were used. We saw on video at one farmer home all the steps of \"3S\" method and face to face training. Also, we heard from radio which is broadcasted from Dilla area. Respondent, Men FGD, Tikare Kokere, Misrak Badewacho (spillover community)Only one women's FGD in Weyra Bushera had not heard of Triple S. This was quite surprising given that it was a core treatment community. Fewer channels were mentioned though including (i) face to face trainingsusing flipcharts (ii) video, and (iii) other farmers or word of mouth. Respondents from Jara Gelelcha (informed treatment) only mentioned word of mouth and further mentioned that they knew very little about the Triple S.In Ghana, women from Upper West region i.e. Suke; Lambussie district and Chogsia; Wa West district ably demonstrated the Triple S (Figure 3). They mentioned that they obtained the knowledge from video shows and from demonstrations conducted by PRUDA (an NGO) and CIP. How the information has been used:Respondents were asked to share how they had used the information obtained from the various information channels. Men in Ethiopia highlighted three information channels (in order of importance): (i) face to face (ii)video and (iii) radio. The most detailed explanations were provided on face to face with testimonies of implementation of the Triple S; as exemplified below:Testimonies for face to face:Using the information from the training about Triple S we planted OFSP at our backyards and we stored the roots and planted again when the planting season came. We used the roots and the leaves for food and for planting. The leaves are eaten like a cabbage and have health benefits. We use sweetpotato to prepare porridge and breads and you can even see it if you come to our homes now (Men, Ethiopia).Based on the training received, we prepared Triple S and we stored 40 to 50 selected roots in the container carefully to avoid contact between the roots…then checking the roots every 3 to 4 days for sprouting and to avoid attack from livestock and rats. In this way the roots can be stored from October through February, till the rainy season starts. By the end of the dry season, the roots were planted the prepared plot for seedling production (Men Ethiopia).Testimonies for video:We saw some success stories and practices of sweet potato conservation on video. But we were not able to disseminate the information to others. Still the idea is in our mind and it needs further time to internalize the overall concept. Participants, Women FGD, Northern region GhanaWe tried to implement the new technology being in collaboration with DA that we saw in the videoTestimonies for Radio:To improve our food security problem and become more productive we use the information we gain from radio.Women provided very few testimonies for face to face and word of mouth:In Ghana, women from Nyesung a core community mentioned as below (for face to face and video):There is knowledge on how to produce planting material. But multiplication of the material is still not enough to meet the needs of the community.At first, we only know the white SP; where the first rain sprouts the left-over roots in the soil. But with this new method, we know how to keep the roots and multiply the vines for our farm Face to face -this one has helped us to prepare delicious and nutritious meals for our family (Women, Naawie, Upper West region Ghana)In Ethiopia, both men and women farmers indicated that they shared Triple S information with other farmers, however they did not modify the information. One male respondent did mention that they may not be able to transmit 100% of the information due to lack of pre-recorded radio while another respondent mentioned that at first, he did not want to share considering the fact that the information was too 'precious'.In this section we elaborate on farmers perceptions of the various communications channels that were used to relay information on the Triple S. Respondents were asked to review each channel and highlight their perceived advantages, disadvantages as well as ways in which the channel could be improved. Where respondents had not been exposed or heard of a channel, they did not discuss the channel.Advantages of Video:Among the advantages cited for video were the fact that video shows all the steps in a practical way which makes it easy to apply to the technology. Respondents also noted that messages communicated via video were easy to understand and inspirational given that they could see other farmer's experiences, and one can see everything aired and cannot forget. In this way, the message remained in their minds for a long time. In Ghana, women in Viera, Upper west region (a core community) noted that video was 'pleasant' to the eyes.Two major disadvantages were cited by men and women in both countries: (i) limited access by farmers and(ii) lack of electricity/generator fuel to operate the machines. Aside from this, women farmers also noted that the program was short, and it was not available as and when they needed it. Also, the time videos were shown was not favorable to women because of house chores.In Ghana, women from Upper West region noted that sometimes the video was not clear which made it difficult to absorb. In three FGD's the comment was that they could not ask questions on issues that required clarity. Women in Vieri also mentioned that 'we do not get it when we need it'; while in Naawie; the comment was 'this is once -the one time you finish watching; that is all'. This could have been due to the fact that this was an informed community which was not targeted to receive video communication.Farmers suggested improved access to video shows as well as solving the electricity problem as major ways of improving this channel. Women suggested that copies of the videos should be availed to the community; which could aid more access for women.Amongst the advantages mentioned by men and women in the two countries were the fact that agricultural information can be transmitted quickly using this channel. It was also noted that information can be accessed by many households at the same time, wherever people happened to be. Another point noted was the possibility to call in which enabled one to clarify issues that had not been understood, while the possibility of receiving of up to date information was also noted.Women in particular noted that radio motivates them because they are able to learn a lot from other farmers while also obtaining information on sweetpotato in general, Triple S and prevention of pests. Further, they appreciated information from other towns and countries related to different planting methods and use of improved seed. Another advantage highlighted was using their phones to listen to radio especially where the broadcast was in local language and at a suitable time. This made radio very versatile since it could be used anywhere at anytime. Women also noted that people found it easier to share information from the radio which benefited women without radios.Among the disadvantages of radio were the fact that farmers do no see the practical sections and hence don't have a clue how to implement the technology. Also, the language used was difficult to understand. For some respondents who could not call in, some of the messages remain ambiguous as they are not able to askquestions. Yet to others, radio was not accessible due to lack of the sets. Men actually mentioned that women don't even have radio to listen, they listen to ours. Further, women mentioned that they had to wait for men to tune into the program for them to obtain information about sweetpotato. For those that had access, the challenge was power outage which led to missing the sessions. Respondents also noted that the programs were transmitted at an unsuitable time.Men respondents suggested repeat airing of programs to enable listeners who may have missed information in the first transmission to catch up. They also advocated for programs to be aired in local language but during the night as it is when the farmers get time to rest. Further, women respondents suggested that programs should be adjourned at a suitable time; with more time spent on agricultural information as opposed to songs.Advantages of F2FThis method was highly rated by the farmers who mentioned a number of advantages including ability to merge both practical and theoretical facets of the technology which made it easy to understand. Another advantage was the possibility to ask questions for clarity in case of ambiguity especially during trainings, which were usually provided in line with the cropping calendar.Women respondents were appreciative of the fact that the training was provided in the local language which made the technology easier to understand and apply. The timing was also further appreciated and so was the fact that one could ask the same question over and over again, which drove respondent's perception that it was better than radio in this sense.Some of the disadvantages mentioned were connected to unavailability of training materials which made the training lean more to the theoretical side. For women in Ethiopia, this meant that it was even much harder to implement the technology as they left without sufficient knowledge to apply the Triple S on their own. Lack of continuity and follow up was also cited as a weakness of this method, while cancellation of training sessions due to conflicting meetings further exacerbated the lack of flow. An important issue mentioned by men in Pulima, Upper west region in Ghana (a core community) was the lack of trainer capacity to provide sufficient knowledge and to respond to queries raised by the farmers. Training sessions were also noted to spill into prayer time, which was uncomfortable for the farmers as they lost concentration.For women in Ethiopia, a key weakness was the fact that the channel targeted mostly male farmers, and the experts were hardly ever on time. Women also felt that the trainings were mostly theoretical in nature and yet the experts did not follow up to support the trainees.Trainers should be equipped with the necessary skills materials so that sessions are more practical in nature.Trainers should plan an appropriate time to deliver the training and respect the time agreed upon, and also ensure that the training is provided in a continuous manner. Priority should be given to women farmers and ensure equal participation of women and men. Also, women should be consulted for an appropriate training time e.g. 8 -10 am instead of 6 pm. Another suggestion was change from oral to note taking sessions where farmers would be provided notebooks and pens; or trainers write notes on the blackboard. This would enable trainees to review and consult their notes when they are implementing the technology.Advantages of HLC:Facilitators use guiding documents to discuss various topics which farmers contribute to and in so doing, learning occurs. Participating farmers are availed the guiding documents to take home and can always refer to them as and when need arise. Facilitators were also noted to provide follow-up and support e.g. on how to plant, how to prepare various OFSP based dishes and also check on farmer's progress in implementation. For women, the advantages highlighted were on obtaining information and training on preparation of healthy food using OFSP.Some facilitators lack skills: they don't follow all the steps as stated in the guides; and also don't included all the recommended ingredients. Others were not easily available.Skilling the facilitators and encouraging them to follow the guide was a priority suggestion, as was improving their availability in office.  In the Upper West Region, the most preferred communication channel was face to face as exhibited by the fact that it was prioritized in eight the ten FGD. All four communities except Suke Lambusie and Chogsia west (women); which were spillover community selected it as the most preferred option. In Suke Lambusie, video was voted first by both men and women, as did women in Chogsia west.In Naawie Lambusie, a spillover community, men and women converged on the first option but prioritization for the second and third channels differed. The women voted video second; despite the fact that the community had not been gazette for this channel. This indicates an overflow amongst treatments which in this case was a good output. In Chogsia West, a spillover community, there was complete divergence in prioritization for all the three choices amongst women and men. Communities in Lillixsie did not participate in the voting exercise because they only had one communication channel (radio).From the Northern region of Ghana, results revealed that the most preferred channel in the region for men and women was the face to face (in seven out of twelve groups) in particular; as exemplified by results from Nyensung (core), Tugbang (core) and Nangunkpang (spillover) (Figure 4). Video was voted as the second most preferred channel for women, while for men; radio was the second most preferred channel. After voting, respondents shared their views about their preferred channels of communication. For example, men mentioned that watching video was akin to being in classroom since you will learn all that is being taught.The graphic images of people making money from the sale of vines and roots as shown in the video were also motivational.In Shebo, a spillover community, men explained why radio was the most preferred channel:It is the radio that we would like to receive more information from. Because for the agricultural officers, they come at their own time but for the radio, any time you tune it, you will get information.If you are at home on Sunday around 6 pm you get to hear a lot information about sweetpotato. I learnt all about sweetpotato and triple S from the radio. It was aired from the community that was cultivating it. But though I heard about it at that time, I had no access to planting material and so I lost interest.Respondents, Men FGD, Shebo, Northern Region, Ghana However, for women, radio was not easily accessible as shared below:The radios are for our husbands. Sometimes you want to listen to a program, but he might have gone out and locked his door. That means you can't have access to the radio. Respondents, Women FGD, Shebo, Northern Region, GhanaIn Ethiopia, 12 out of the 16 FGDs voted for Face to face (with agricultural officers) as the most preferred form of communication. The prioritization for face to face was equally split amongst men and women i.e. six FGDs for each category. All the core and spillover communities voted for this channel except for women in Tenkaka Umbulo who voted for HLC. This was followed by HLC (three out of 16) and radio (one out of 16) which tied with face to face channel in Jara Dado (women). Though few communities were exposed to HLC, in the three communities that had this channel (i.e. Tenkaka Umbulo, Andida and Chichu) women selected it as the most preferred.To compare women and men's perception of efficacy of the communication channels used to relay Triple S information, an aggregative index was constructed based on six indicators. The indicators were defined by the study team. They included (i) ease of access to the channel; (ii)ease to understand the information so relayed (iii) suitability of the time when the information was relayed; (iv) ease to share and (v) to ease to apply the information so obtained (Table 4). Using a five-point Likert Scale (5=Very easy or suitable; 1= Very difficult or unsuitable), respondents reflected on each of the channel, discussed and agreed on a score for each indicator.Facilitators ensured that communities only assessed communication channels they had been exposed to.Reasons advanced for each score were captured to further assist in assessment of each indicator. Indicators were weighted as shown in Table 2 below. Weighted scores of 0.80 and above were deemed adequate for each indicator. Access to the information channels This was the indicator women scored lowest especially for IT based channels i.e. radio and video. Women shared that many of them do not have radio's and depended on their spouses for access.We don't have access to radio. It is when you are at home that when the radio is on that you listen to it, but if you are not at home, you will not be able to listen to it ( referring to a radio program on agriculture).If you have a radio, you will be able to hear information from across the world. But if you don't have one, every information will pass you by and it is only when you go out of the house that you will hear others say they hear this or that from the radio Women, Nagunpkang (spillover community)Similarly, while many of them indicated that they were able to watch the video shows, they noted that repeated access was difficult as they depended on the agricultural officers to schedule the shows. Men on the other hand indicated full access to radio (twice as much as women) and slightly higher access to video.Both men and women had adequate access to the face to face channel, and women fell a little short for the personal communication channel.Information related via face to face was deemed to be adequately understood by both men and women.Scores for video were adequate for women and just slightly below adequate for men and the reverse is true for personal communication. Surprisingly, men found information transmitted via radio much harder to understand than women did -with women attaining an adequate score. The time at which information was relayed for personal communication was deemed inadequate by women and very adequate by men. Women mentioned that people who relay information using personal communication did so when the season had gone, and the information was not useful. On the other hand, men scored timing for face to face as inadequate while women considered it to be very adequate. Men and women's perceptions converged on timing for radio as elaborated below:Yes, the time they air agricultural programmes is always good. Ease of access Easy to understand Timing (day, year) Easy to share with others Easy to apply Timing for video was scored slightly below adequate with similar scores for both men and women.Easy to Share:Women rated information received radio and face to face channels as easy to share, while video and personal communication were nearly adequate. Men scored all channels adequate save for face to face.Easy to Apply:Information obtained from video and face to face was deemed to be easy to apply by women. Men on the other hand scored video and personal communication as adequate with respect to ease of application. For women, the channel whose information was the most difficult to apply was personal communication.Generally, personal communication was the most efficient channel for men while face to face was the most efficient for women. All five indicators for the respective channels were deemed adequate.Ease of Access:Men did not perceive adequacy for any of the five communication channels in relation to ease of adequacy, though personal communication and face to face nearly made the mark (Figure 7). Women found face to face and radio easy to access. Video was the channel that was considered least easy to access by both women and men, followed by radio.  Ease of access Easy to understand Timing (day, year) Easy to share with others Easy to apply Easy to Understand:Both women and men perceived information relayed from face to face and personal communication as adequate with respect to ease of comprehension. Video and radio for both sexes nearly made the mark but talking books did not. This could imply a preference for information relayed by people in this region.Timing:Men did perceive any channel to have been adequate with regards to the time in which information was relayed. Women only perceived personal communication to have been adequate.Easy to Share:For women, only information received via face to face was deemed easy to share, though video and radio were close to adequacy. Men did not perceive any channel as adequate in this perspective but face to face, talking books and radio were close to being adequate.Easy to apply:Personal communication and face to face were seen to relay information that was easy to apply by women.Men converged with women on face to face; which was the only channel perceived to be adequate in this regard.From a broad perspective, personal communication was the most effective channel for women followed by face to face; while for men face to face was the best followed by personal communication.Women assessed four channels i.e. face to face, video, radio and HLC. Men on the other hand assessed six channels -all the ones women assessed plus meetings and Radio 8028. Men mentioned that some meetings (e.g. those with partners outside the project) were different from face to face; but they were important as they received useful agricultural information.Ease of access Women deemed only the face to face channel as adequate with respect to ease of access. Video was the worst rated by women who had been exposed to the channel scoring 0.48 (Figure 8). For men a number of channels were deemed adequate including face to face, video, and meetings -which made the topmost score for this indicator.Easy to Understand:Information from HLC and face to face channels was deemed to be easy to understand. Again, video scored the lowest in this perspective. Men perceived information relayed via face to face, meetings and radio 8028 to be easy to understand, while information from HLC was deemed to be the least easy to comprehend.For women, no channel was adequate with respect to delivering information at the desired time be it during the day or in the year. Men scored face to face, video, meetings and radio 8028 as adequate with respect to the time information was relayed.Easy to Share:Similar to the previous indicator, women did not perceive any of the channels to be adequate in this respect.All information received was deemed to be difficult to share -though face to face was close to making the mark. On the other hand, men again scored face to face, video, meetings, radio 8028 plus HLC as relaying information that was easy to share. Infact, HLC and radio 8028 were rated at 1.0. (topmost marks).Easy to Apply:Women perceived information received from face to face channel to be easy to apply. The rest of the channels fell way below the mark. Men rated all channels positively with regards to ease of application except for video and radio.The most effective channel for women was face to face; while for men meeting and face to face were deemed effective given that all five indicators were adequate. Among the changes farmers cited included the ability to solve problems related to access to sweetpotato planting materials especially after the long dry season. They mentioned advantages related to storing the planting materials in a different form (root form) in addition to existing methods such as planting on lakeshores which included having excess to sell. Further, they mentioned that the information so availed has averted the threat of not having sweetpotato.Women respondents shared that apart from easing access to seed, their production and yield have also increased; while also solving malnutrition problems.Respondents also shared averting the challenges they previously experienced by loss of planting material to wild animals or damaged by cattle since the roots are stored at home in a safe place. One farmer from a core community in Ethiopia shared as below: Yes, there is change. We can produce abundant amount of planting materials now and there is no problem in accessing the planting materials like we had previously. We are even sharing the planting materials beyond ourselves. Some farmers are even selling the planting materials/cuttings, which is prepared by cutting the vines in 30 cm. Participant, Men FGD, Vieri, Upper West region, Ghana (core)Difficulties associated with sweetpotato planting materials solved particularly in dry season in this area there is problem of conserving planting materials the only method used were vine conservation but the three ''3S'' method helped us as an option to conserve roots for planting materials. We also started selling planting materials.Women FGD, Tugbang, Northern region, Ghana (core)We started getting high yield and it also solved the sweetpotato planting material shortage problem.Participant, Men FGD Chogsia;(a spillover community) Upper West region, GhanaIn this section, we aim to synthesize our findings keeping in mind our research questions.From the study findings, we note that women and men in both countries preferred communication channels which involved face to face contact. In addition, they mostly rated their effectiveness (with respect to the five indicators) as adequate. For women, what was important in this channel was comprehension, and the ability to learn by 'seeing' or doing, and; importantly, the ability to obtain clarity on unclear issues. Demystifying a technology from the class to the field may still need sessions of face to face for women (Mudege et. al;2016).This stresses the importance of information being a two-way street where receivers can directly communicate to those relaying the knowledge. Given the lower levels of literacy for women, such channels will still be preferred and relevant for them.Aside from obtaining technical information from interventions such as demonstrations; women also consider them to be importance social networking events where they catch up on a plethora of happenings in the community. Such gatherings also act as safety nets where women share, mentor and encourage one another to address challenges related to farming and personal wellbeing (Jones et.al, 2017).For men, video and radio were appreciated as alternate channels of information. The fact that men in Ghana likened video to being in class shows how powerful this channel was in relaying practical information on the technology. Riding on the powerful testimonies of other users of the technology was absolutely beneficial especially for men who project beyond food to cash. This further confirms the importance of digital platforms as a means of strengthening delivery and uptake of technology (Aker, 2011). Whether video could assist in reducing the high costs associated to face to face information transmission however will depend on how associated challenges can be addressed.The presence of a digital gender divide between women and men with regards to access to ICTs as evidenced in Ethiopia conforms to findings by Ogato (2013). Women perceptions for radio and video were below adequate, and much lower than that of men in Ethiopia. Generally, women in both countries noted lack of ownership of radio sets as a limiting factor to use of this channel. These findings conform to Kyazze et. al. (2012) who affirmed that lack of resources to procure radios and batteries limited women's access to climate related information services. McCormack (2018) further affirmed gender disparity in access to agricultural services; and the causal factors are mostly rooted in societal gender norms. affects women's ability to use these services. It is thus important to understand household dynamics that govern access to communication equipment such as radio before designing radio information packages. Strategies such as community radios or talking books could be explored as an add-on to household sets.Where radio and video were accessible to women, respondents in both countries mentioned a challenge related to timing of the programs which at times conflicted with their domestic chores. This restricted their ability to understand the technology in its entirety given that they only received partial information. Similar findings were documented in Tanzania where women were forced to restrict time for listening to educative programs to attend to household and childcare related work (Poulsen, Sakho, McKune, Russo, & Ndiaye, 2015). Planning for repeat sessions could help alleviate this challenge.In some communities, we noted that men and women did not access the same communication channels. For example, in Ethiopia women did not mention meetings as a source of information. Also, in communities where the farmer's radio was mentioned (and rated as a highly effective communications channel), only men appeared to have used this channel. Aside from limited access to radio, women could have been constrainedto attend meetings especially those held outside the community.In a meta study conducted in 2019, Gumucio et. al. found that socio-cultural norms which define women and men's roles and responsibilities; can inherently restrict women's access to events (such as meetings) where information is relayed. The authors further noted that women's capacity to access information increases when services are located within the village where their childcare and household responsibilities are.Thus, in designing communication channels it is important to be aware of existing social norms as this would require lobbying and advocacy to influence behavior change for the benefit of women.This study has highlighted the importance of understanding the gender needs of communities before designing communication channels for technology uptake. While communities may appear to be similar, intrinsic gender dynamics may affect how women and men access and utilize information from various channels. This is especially so in ICT related channels such as radio and video, which would appear to be gender responsive but in reality, may not be fully utilized by women due to gender related constraints pertaining to access to resources, time poverty and restrictive social norms. Nonetheless, efforts have to be made to design strategies that will ensure increased subscription of women to ICTs as they are the future of communication."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d7b03ca7dcb8ecca1d3a1c255351025e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/86b60c96-e0d5-48bd-af2d-8c814e22473a/retrieve","id":"-133283932"},"keywords":["P653 -Activity 3","4","1","-Business models seed supply, feed transaction and processing"],"sieverID":"c75612d4-f436-4678-abd9-33a94c74dc0f","content":"This report presents the advances towards cost-benefit analyses for forage technologies in Colombia and Nicaragua made in 2018. Initially, it was planned to conduct one cost-benefit analysis in each country but due to the political unrests in Nicaragua we were unable to start our work there. Instead we focused more on Colombia and conducted cost-benefit analyses for three different new forage technologies in Colombia: Megathyrsus maximus cv. Agrosavia sabanera in the Caribbean region, Brachiaria brizantha cv. Orinoquia in the Eastern Plains region and Cayman+Leucaena diversifolia in the Valle del Cauca Department. Part of the results were presented at different international conferences, and are currently in the process of being published in peer-reviewed journals. First, we presented a poster on \"Ex-Ante evaluation of the economic impact of adopting improved forages in the Colombian eastern plains\" at the Tropentag 2018 international conference: International Research on Food Security, Natural Resource Management and Rural Development, in September in Ghent, Belgium. This poster shows the results of the ex-ante impact and financial evaluation for the variety Brachiaria brizantha 26124 cv. Orinoquia. Second, the results of the economic evaluation for the Cayman+Leucaena diversifolia arrangement were presented as a poster and oral presentation at the International Leucaena Conference 2018 in Brisbane, Australia in October. The results of this study were prepared as a scientific journal article which was submitted to and accepted for publication by the international journal Tropical Grasslands-Forrajes Tropicales in the first edition of 2019. In the detailed report below, we explain some of the most important results of the different studies.Información productiva variedad Brachiaria brizantha CIAT 26124 Los datos de productividad de la variedad B. brizantha CIAT 26124 cv. Orinoquia se obtuvieron de evaluaciones en campo llevados a cabo por AGROSAVIA en conjunto con CIAT en la zona de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. Específicamente las evaluaciones se realizaron en la estación experimental Taluma y el Centro de Investigaciones Carimagua, bajo condiciones de la Altillanura bien drenada con temperaturas medias y precipitación anual de 26°C y 2500 mm respectivamente. La productividad del tratamiento fue calculada como el promedio de la ganancia acumulada de peso a lo largo de un año, bajo un sistema de levante y ceba de ganado bovino. Estas mediciones se realizaron de forma mensual entre 2011 y 2015 a seis grupos de novillos de ganado mestizo en pastoreo. Los animales pastorearon bajo un diseño rotacional con 14 días de ocupación y 28 días de descanso.La información asociada con la tecnología tradicional se obtuvo por medio de fuentes secundarias, como lo fueron documentos y artículos de investigación de AGROSAVIA con información sobre evaluaciones en campo de la zona de estudio. Para este caso, el escenario base consiste en el uso de la pastura en monocultivo B. decumbens, la cual fue introducida y usada masivamente en el país hacia 1970 (Rincón et al., 2010). El estudio supone prácticas de manejo adecuadas en términos de fertilización y rotación, con el fin de no sobreestimar los beneficios asociados a la adopción de la nueva variedad. Los datos productivos fueron validados con expertos de CIAT y AGROSAVIA.Información productiva variedad Megathyrsus maximus Cv. Agrosavia sabanera Los datos productivos de la variedad Megathyrsus maximus Cv. Agrosavia sabanera se obtuvieron de evaluaciones de campo llevados a cabo por AGROSAVIA en la zona del Caribe húmedo de Colombia. Específicamente las evaluaciones se realizaron en el Centro de Investigaciones Turipaná durante cuatro ciclos de ceba (2013-2017). Adicionalmente, se obtuvieron datos de AGROSAVIA en ensayos de fincas localizadas en zonas de sabanas del departamento de Córdoba (Chinú) del 2014 al 2015.Como tecnología tradicional a modo de comparación se usó la gramínea naturalizada Colosuana (Bothriochloa pertusa (L.) A. Camus). Esta pastura se ha difundido ampliamente en suelos de la Región Caribe, dada su abundante producción de semilla y rusticidad, desplazando a especies introducidas como angletón, puntero y guinea (Uribe, 1998). Los datos de productividad para dicha especie se obtuvieron por medio de un estudio realizado por AGROSAVIA durante 2010-2011, en el cual se evaluaron diferentes alternativas de manejo para las pasturas de Colosuana en sistemas ganaderos del trópico bajo (Corpoica, 2011). Los datos de Colosuana se suponen bajo prácticas de manejo adecuadas en términos de fertilización (50 kg de N/ ha año) y rotación (Corpoica, 2011), con el fin de no sobreestimar los beneficios asociados a la adopción de la nueva variedad.Los datos usados en este estudio se obtuvieron de la evaluación en campo de la pastura cayman (Brachiaria híbrido BR 02/1752) y del arreglo cayman + leucaena, realizadas por el programa de forrajes tropicales en las instalaciones del Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) en Palmira -Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Su clasificación ecológica según Holdridge corresponde zona de bosque húmedo pre montano (bh-P), ubicado a 1001 m sobre el nivel del mar y su temperatura media, humedad relativa y la precipitación anual es de 23.8°C, 75% y 1045 mm, respectivamente. La productividad de los tratamientos fue calculada como el promedio de la ganancia acumulada de peso a lo largo de un año, bajo un sistema de levante y ceba de ganado bovino. Estas mediciones se realizaron de forma mensual entre agosto del 2014 y agosto del 2015 a 10 novillos de ganado mestizo en pastoreo, con una edad de 12 meses y un peso promedio de 210 kg por animal (SD±25) al inicio y de 416 kg /animal (SD±28) al finalizar el año de evaluación.Los costos de establecimiento y manejo de las tecnologías a evaluar se calcularon usando la información económica recopilada durante el establecimiento de los ensayos, la cual fue ajustada con la ayuda de expertos de forrajes y ganadería según las condiciones de producción en una finca típica ganadera. Los precios se actualizaron a 2018 de acuerdo a los boletines de precios del Sistema de Información de Precios del Sector Agropecuario (SIPSA) y bases de datos de la Federación Colombiana de Ganaderos (FEDEGAN).El cultivar Orinoquia es una nueva alternativa forrajera proveniente directamente de la accesión Brachiaria brizantha CIAT 26124, la cual fue recolectada en Karuzi (África) en 1985. La recolección de este material fue realizada por investigadores del CIAT en colaboración con técnicos de ISABU, la institución nacional de investigación de Burundi (África) (Peters et al., s.f.). La evaluación agronómica y de respuesta animal fue realizada bajo el convenio interinstitucional AGROSAVIA-CIAT (2011-2015). Los resultados de dichas evaluaciones permitieron identificar al cultivar Orinoquia como material promisorio para la producción ganadera en la región de los Llanos Orientales, dado su amplio rango de adaptación a suelos ácidos, alta producción de biomasa y palatabilidad (M. Sotelo, comunicación personal, 17 de mayo, 2018). No obstante, esta nueva variedad puede ser ampliamente adoptada en otras regiones de Colombia dado su gran rango de adaptación a climas y suelos, esto es, a condiciones de trópico húmedo y subhúmedo, así como en localidades con suelos de mediana a buena fertilidad (Peters et al., s.f.). A continuación, se presenta el resumen de los principales indicadores productivos de la nueva especie a liberar, así como los asociados al escenario base en la región a modo de comparación: Tabla 1. Producción de materia seca, calidad nutricional y respuesta animal de las pasturas evaluadas.Escenario base  Estas mediciones muestran que el cultivar Agrosavia sabanera mejora el contenido de proteína cruda respecto al escenario base. Lo anterior se refleja en los resultados de respuesta animal, donde la mayor ganancia de peso fue para el cultivar Agrosavia sabanera con un promedio de 892. 8 kg/ha/año, mientras que en el escenario base fue de 583 kg/ha/año. Adicionalmente, la nueva variedad, según Mejia et al. (2018) presenta tolerancia al sombrío, lo cual permite que pueda ser utilizada en sistemas silvopastoriiles, en comparación a la pastura del escenario base (Piñeros, Tobar, & Delgado, 2011) -Arreglo Cayman+ leucaena diversifolia Las dietas evaluadas fueron 100% Cayman (T1) y la asociación Cayman + leucaena en una proporción 70%-30% respectivamente (T2). Para T2 se establecieron 2.000 plantas de leucaena por hectárea, las cuales fueron distribuidas en franjas dobles separadas entre sí por una distancia de 8 metros. Cada franja consta de dos surcos separados a una distancia de 1.5 metros, y entre plantas de un metro. Cada tratamiento consto de tres repeticiones con un área de 3.300 m 2 cada una, las cuales fueron subdivididas mediante cinta eléctrica en parcelas de 1.100 m 2 . Los animales pastorearon bajo un diseño rotacional con 18 días de ocupación y 36 días de descanso por repetición. Los dos tratamientos iniciaron con una carga animal de 2.3 UGG (UGG=450 kg) y finalizaron el primer año de evaluación con 3.36 UGG para T1 y 4.04 UGG para T2. Las mediciones realizadas en el año uno se presentan a continuación:Tabla 3. Producción de materia seca, calidad nutricional y respuesta animal de los tratamientos evaluados. Digestibilidad in Vitro de la materia seca (DIVMS); UGG: Animal de 450 kg; C.V: Coeficiente de variación; *diferencias estadísticamente significativas p<0.01. 1 Se determinó aplicando el método de aforo aleatorio para estimación de forraje verde y materia seca; 2 La determinación de PC y DIVMS se realiza aplicando la norma AOAC 984.13; 3 Periodo de tiempo requerido para llevar un ternero con peso promedio de 200 kg a un peso de venta de 450 kg.El análisis costo-beneficio se basó en un modelo de flujo de caja libre descontado para la estimación de los indicadores de rentabilidad financiera capaces de medir la viabilidad de los diferentes modelos: tasa interna de retorno (TIR), valor presente neto (VPN), relación beneficio/costo (B/C) y período de recuperación de la inversión (PRI). Dicha evaluación se realizó con base en los principios establecidos por Park (2007) para cada indicador. Este análisis tiene sentido cuando la comparación se hace entre una tecnología tradicional y una novedosa. De esta forma es posible determinar cuáles son los cambios en costos e ingresos asociados a la nueva tecnología.El modelo incluye una categorización sistemática de los costos variables y los beneficios asociados con los dos tratamientos evaluados en un suelo típico de la región particular de estudio. Específicamente, las siguientes categorías de costos por hectárea han sido consideradas: costos totales de establecimiento, renovación y mantenimiento de cada tratamiento, costos de oportunidad del capital durante el periodo de establecimiento de los tratamientos y costos de operación (compra de animales, sanidad animal, suplementación, personal fijo y ocasional). Por otro lado, los beneficios se derivan de la producción de carne en un sistema de levante y ceba de ganado, según los indicadores de respuesta animal obtenidos (Tabla 1, 2 y 3). Adicionalmente, para la construcción del flujo de caja se supone un horizonte de evaluación de 10 años de acuerdo a la vida útil de las pasturas (Holmann & Estrada, 1997), precios constantes, flujos ajustados al ciclo de levante y ceba de cada tratamiento y una tasa de descuento del 10% anual ajustada a dichos ciclos.Hampton (1982) define el riesgo como: \"la posibilidad de que el retorno real de una inversión sea menor que el retorno esperado\" (p. 104). Por ello, el riesgo se asocia a la variabilidad de los flujos de beneficios y costos del proyecto, y por tanto de los rendimientos (por ejemplo de un cultivo, una cosecha, etc. ) (Roura & Cepeda, 1999). A medida que aumenta la variabilidad el grado de riesgo aumenta, lo cual se ve reflejado en la aleatoriedad de las principales variables proyecto, de manera tal, que cada acción tiene un conjunto de resultados posibles estimados en función de su probabilidad de ocurrencia (Roura & Cepeda, 1999). Por otro lado, la incertidumbre se puede definir como la falta de conocimiento acerca del valor de un parámetro, o de los factores que determinan el comportamiento de un proceso (Ordoñez, 2015). Por lo cual no es posible calcular la probabilidad de ocurrencia de un fenómeno. Se identifican fuentes básicas de Incertidumbre la información incompleta inexacta, sesgada, falsa o contradictoria. Los factores de riesgo e incertidumbre se ven reflejados en la aleatoriedad de los flujos de cada periodo, y como los indicadores de evaluación de proyectos, por ejemplo el VPN y la TIR, se calculan a partir de estos flujos, entonces estos indicadores serán también variables aleatorias. Por tanto, en el modelo de flujo de caja construido con los valores esperados y con los cuales se obtienen los indicadores de rentabilidad tradicionales no es suficiente, ya que bajo incertidumbre este indicador es una variable aleatoria.Para incluir por tanto niveles de riesgo e incertidumbre y considerar diferentes escenarios, se realizó un análisis cuantitativo de riesgos mediante simulación Montecarlo en el software @Risk (Paladise Corporation). El modelo implica identificar las variables de entrada aleatorias y definir una distribución de probabilidad para cada una, las cuales se ajustaron según su comportamiento empírico, literatura o basado en entrevistas de expertos En la simulación se asignan aleatoriamente valores de las variables identificadas como críticas, de acuerdo a sus funciones de distribución de probabilidad, para posteriormente calcular los indicadores de rentabilidad determinados (salidas del modelo). Este proceso se repite numerosas veces para obtener las distribuciones de probabilidad de dichas salidas y nivel de riesgo (Gráfico 4) (Park, 2007).Gráfico 4. Secuencia lógica de una simulación Monte Carlo para obtener la distribución de probabilidad de VPN para un proyecto de inversión. Fuente: Adaptado de Park, (2007) Se realizaron 5.000 simulaciones o iteraciones, donde se combinaron aleatoriamente las variables de: ganancia de PV por animal día, costos de inversión, costos de mantenimiento, y precio por kg de PV a la venta. La simulación utilizó un nivel de confianza del 95%. Las distribuciones de probabilidad para las variables de entrada se presentan en la Tabla 4.Tabla 4. Distribuciones de probabilidad y valores de los parámetros de las variables de entrada y factores de riesgo. Juicio del investigador de acuerdo a la disponibilidad de datos y comportamiento de la variable según literatura (Gutiérrez, et al., 2009) Como criterios de decisión se utilizan los valores medios y las variaciones de los indicadores de rentabilidad resultado de la simulación, así como la probabilidad de éxito (VPN > 0). El uso del criterio de valor medio se basa en la ley de los grandes números, la cual establece que si se realizan muchas repeticiones de un experimento, el resultado promedio tenderá hacia el valor esperado (Park, 2007). Adicionalmente, se realizó un análisis de sensibilidad mediante un diagrama de tornado, el cual perturba cada variable para medir el impacto de cada una sobre la varianza en el resultado del modelo, con el fin de identificar dentro de las variables definidas como críticas, aquellas con mayores efectos sobre los indicadores de rentabilidad.En la Tabla 6 se presentan los principales resultados asociados a los costos e ingresos por hectárea para la pastura B. brizantha CIAT 26124 cv. Orinoquia en la región de los Llanos Orientales, así como del escenario base. Los costos de inversión para ambos tratamientos incluyen el establecimiento de la pastura, la instalación de cercas y la compra de animales. Dentro de los costos directamente relacionados al establecimiento de la pastura, el monto total fue en promedio de $1.434.180 para ambos tratamientos, siendo un 1% mayor en la nueva variedad asociado a la mayor densidad de siembra. Respecto a la participación de los rubros en el costo de establecimiento, el mayor peso lo tienen la compra de insumos (73.8%), seguido del uso de maquinaria (21.5%), y por último mano de obra (4.7%). Dentro de los insumos, los fertilizantes y correctivos tienen la mayor participación con el 68%, dada la necesidad de aplicar grandes cantidades de estos para acondicionar las propiedades químicas del suelo, a causa de la baja fertilidad, alta saturación de aluminio y acidez característicos de la región. Para mantener los niveles de productividad de las pasturas, se supone un mantenimiento adecuado en términos de fertilización, control de arvenses y rotación para ambos tratamientos. El mantenimiento se realiza cada dos años con un costo por hectárea de $497.800. Por otra parte, los ingresos estuvieron dados por la venta de animales para carne con un peso promedio de 450 kg. Como resultado de los mejores indicadores de respuesta animal de la B. brizantha CIAT 26124, el ingreso bruto promedio año se incrementó en un 42%, la utilidad neta en un 197% y el costo de producción por kg de carne se redujo en un 19%, respecto al escenario base. Con respecto a la probabilidad de no obtener factibilidad financiera de las pasturas evaluadas, la Gráfico 5 muestra las distribuciones para el indicador de VPN, las cuales reflejan la amplitud de la variación para el indicador de VPN. Para las pasturas evaluadas en el escenario base, el indicador puede tomar valores negativos cercanos a $2.457.567 y valores positivos cercanos a $1.459.638, con una probabilidad de obtener valores negativos de 83%. Para la nueva variedad, la mejora en la productividad permite un desplazamiento hacia la derecha de la curva de distribución, reduciendo la probabilidad de pérdidas al 8.6%, con un rango que varía entre -$1.972.102 y $3.588.033.Gráfico 5. Distribución de probabilidad y densidad acumulada para el indicador VPN para los tratamientos evaluados.La contribución de las variables de entrada a la varianza del VPN se muestra en los gráficos de tornados de la Gráfico 6. Los coeficientes de correlación calculados entre los valores de entrada y la varianza del VPN muestran que la rentabilidad se vio afectada principalmente por dos variables: la productividad animal y el precio de venta por kg de peso vivo. Los aumentos de dichas variables tienen un efecto positivo en la variabilidad del pronóstico del indicador de la siguiente manera: cambios en la variable de productividad animal modifican la varianza del indicador en 51,24% y 59,43% para nueva variedad y el escenario base, respectivamente. Del mismo modo, los cambios en el precio de venta por kg de peso vivo conducen a cambios en la varianza de 46,86% y 39%.Gráfico 6. Distribución de probabilidad y densidad acumulada para el indicador VPN para los tratamientos evaluados.Las dos variables identificadas en el anterior análisis se estudian de  Gráfico 7. Mapa de calor de sensibilidad del VPN (Escenario base) con respecto a cambios en el precio de venta y el nivel de productividadEn la Tabla 8 se presenta el resumen de los principales costos e ingresos asociados a las pasturas evaluadas. Los costos de inversión para ambos tratamientos incluyen el establecimiento de la pastura, la instalación de cercas y la compra de animales. Dentro de los costos directamente relacionados al establecimiento de la pastura, el monto total fue de $1.180.960 para la variedad Agrosavia sabanera y de 415.500 para la Colosuana. El establecimiento de la Colosuana se refiere a un pase de arado y cincel para acondicionar las propiedades físicas del suelo, y una fertilización con N a razón de 50 kg /ha. Para la variedad Agrosavia sabanera, el mayor peso dentro de los costos de establecimiento lo tienen la compra de insumos (47%), seguido del uso de maquinaria (44%), y por último mano de obra (8.5%). Dentro de los insumos, la compra de semilla botánica tiene la mayor participación con el 99%. Para mantener los niveles de productividad de las pasturas, se supone un mantenimiento adecuado en términos de control de arvenses y rotación para ambos tratamientos.Por otra parte, los ingresos estuvieron dados por la venta de animales para carne con un peso promedio de 450 kg. Como resultado de los mejores indicadores de respuesta animal de la variedad Agrosavia sabanera, el ingreso bruto promedio año se incrementó en un 200% y el costo de producción por kg de carne se redujo en un 18%, respecto al escenario base con Colosuana. 1 Cerca eléctrica para un sistema de pastoreo rotacional; 2 Estimados: 2.5 empleos permanentes requeridos por cada 100 animales en un sistema de levante y ceba de ganado, y un salario mínimo legal vigente más prestaciones a 2018 de COP $1.313.605; 3 Suplementación con sal mineralizada a una tasa de 100 gr / animal / día para ambos tratamientos; 4 se obtiene al dividir el costo total del producto entre la producción total; 5 Ingreso total (precio de venta x rendimiento) menos los costos totales de producción.El resumen de los principales resultados financieros de la simulación para las dos pasturas evaluadas se presenta en la Tabla 9. Bajo los supuestos usados en este modelo, el uso de M. maximus cv. Agrosavia sabanera demuestra ser financieramente rentable y permite mejorar todos los indicadores de riesgo y desempeño respecto al escenario base con Colosuana. Para la nueva variedad, el modelo arroja un VPN medio de COP 1.657.256, con una tasa interna de retorno a los recursos propios del 14%.Tabla 8. Indicadores de rentabilidad modelo de simulación. Con respecto a la probabilidad de no obtener factibilidad financiera de las pasturas evaluadas, la Gráfico 8 muestra las distribuciones para el indicador de VPN. Para la pastura Colosuana, el indicador puede tomar valores negativos que fluctúan entre -5.814.382 y 479.986, con un 100% de probabilidades de obtener perdidas. Para la nueva variedad, la mejora en la productividad permite un desplazamiento hacia la derecha de la curva de distribución, reduciendo la probabilidad de pérdidas al 26%, con un rango que varía entre -$5.344.332 y $10.427.801. Otro factor con gran impacto en los resultados económicos es la persistencia de la pastura. Esto es, cuando se supone un factor de reducción de la carga animal del 1% y 3% anual para la nueva variedad, la probabilidad de tener pérdidas económicas asociadas se incrementa en un 17 % y 34% respectivamente.Gráfico 8. Distribución de probabilidad y densidad acumulada para el indicador VPN para los tratamientos evaluados La contribución de las variables de entrada a la varianza del VPN se muestra en los gráficos de tornados de la Gráfico 9. Los coeficientes de correlación calculados entre los valores de entrada y la varianza del VPN muestran que la rentabilidad se vio afectada principalmente por dos variables: la productividad animal y el precio de venta por kg de peso vivo. Los aumentos de dichas variables tienen un efecto positivo en la variabilidad del pronóstico del indicador de la siguiente manera: cambios en la variable de productividad animal modifican la varianza del indicador en 73,17% y 63,85% para nueva variedad y el escenario base, respectivamente. Del mismo modo, los cambios en el precio de venta por kg de peso vivo conducen a cambios en la varianza de 26.69% y 35.99% para la nueva variedad y escenario base, respectivamente.Tabla 4. Resumen de indicadores de rentabilidad del modelo de simulación.  Gráfico 11. Distribuciones de probabilidad y densidad acumulada de la simulación para VPN de la pastura Cayman (T1) y la asociación Cayman +L. diversofolia (T2).La contribución de las variables de entrada a la varianza del VPN se muestra en los gráficos de tornados de la Gráfica 12. Los coeficientes de correlación calculados muestran que la rentabilidad se ve afectada principalmente por la variable de productividad animal y el precio de venta del kg de PV. Esto es, incrementos en dichas variables tiene un efecto positivo sobre la variabilidad en el pronóstico del indicador de la siguiente manera: cambios en la variable de productividad animal modifica la varianza del indicador en un 29.7% y 39.6% para T1 y T2 respectivamente. Del mismo modo, cambios en el precio de venta del kg de carne lleva a cambios en la varianza del 64.2% para T1 y del 55.2% para T2 en el precio de venta. Cuando se realiza en análisis de estrés en el percentile 10 ○ para las anteriores dos variables, se producen cambios negativos respecto al valor medio del indicador VPN en un 335% para T1 y 57% para T2.Gráfica 12. Densidad de probabilidad acumulada para VPN en la pastura Cayman (T1) y el arreglo Cayman + L. diversifolia (T2)A nivel de productor primario, las opciones forrajeras B. brizantha 26124 cv. Orinoquia para los Llanos Orientales y la M. maximus cv Agrosavia sabanera en el Caribe húmedo en los sistemas de pastoreo para la producción de carne, permitirá mejorar los indicadores técnicos y económicos bajo diferentes escenarios de rendimientos y condiciones de mercado. En términos productivos, las nuevas variedades incrementan la productividad animal en un rango del 24% al 34% respecto al escenario base, como resultado de las mejores características en términos de calidad nutricional y producción de biomasa. Estas mejoras en productividad permitieron, además, reducir el tiempo necesario para alcanzar el peso de venta del animal y, por tanto, se obtuvieron flujos más continuos en los ingresos. Todo lo anterior se tradujo en mejores indicadores financieros respecto a la tecnología tradicional, esto significa incrementos en promedio del VPN en once veces y la TIR en un 27%. Los resultados indican que la inversión en el establecimiento de la nueva variedad es rentable, con un VPN medio que varió alrededor de COP$ 675.570 y una TIR alrededor del 19% para el cultivar Orinoquia, y un VPN medio de COP 1.641.066 y una TIR del 14% para el cultivar Agrosavia sabanera, siendo así, una alternativa viable para mejorar la eficiencia en la producción y rentabilidad de las fincas ganaderas en dichas regiones. Los mejores indicadores de desempeño del cultivar Orinoquia y Agrosavia sabanera también estuvieron asociados a una reducción en la probabilidad de tener pérdidas económicas (83% frente a 8.6% y 100% frente a 26%, respectivamente).La inclusión de Leucaena diversifolia en un sistema de pastoreo con Cayman en el Valle del Cauca-Colombia, demostró incrementar en un 49% la ganancia de peso día y en un 20% la capacidad de carga por hectárea, logrando de esta manera reducir el periodo de levante y ceba de 18 a 12 meses, y aumentar la productividad animal al pasar de 711 a 1.078 kg/ha/año. Los mejores indicadores de respuesta animal en T2, produjeron mayores ganancias en términos de desempeño financiero en los tres escenarios evaluados, respecto a T1. Los resultados de la simulación arrojaron indicadores positivos que mejoraron la rentabilidad de la pastura en monocultivo. Indicadores de T2 que también estuvieron asociados a una disminución del riesgo de pérdida económica, ante contingencias en las variables definidas como aleatorias en el modelo. En particular los resultados del análisis de sensibilidad mostraron como cambios en el precio de venta de la carne tiene mayores impactos en los indicadores de rentabilidad para el tratamiento T1, lo que sugiere un mayor riesgo respecto a condiciones de mercado que causen disminuciones en el precio.Como es sabido, los procesos de adopción de tecnologías de pasturas son decisiones a largo plazo, durante el cual pueden ocurrir cambios sustanciales en las condiciones económicas o ambientales (p.ej. efectos del cambio climático). Considerando que los productores son particularmente adversos al riesgo (Feder 1980;Marra et al. 2003), las tecnologías con un menor riesgo y varianza ofrecen un incentivo adicional para su adopción. Por otro lado, aunque los cultivares Orinoquia y Agrosavia sabanera demuestran mejorar la productividad y reducir los indicadores de riesgo, los sistemas de pastoreo basados en pasturas en monocultivo se encuentran expuestas a cambios importantes en la producción de forraje y calidad durante el año, a causa de las variaciones en las condiciones climáticas y de fertilidad del suelo (Tedonkeng et al., 2007). Por lo tanto, alternativas de asociaciones de estas nuevas pasturas con árboles o leguminosas, como el caso de la asociación Cayman +L. diversofolia evaluada en el presente documento, permitirían incrementar la persistencia del material a causa de la fijación de nitrógeno del medio ambiente al suelo, el aporte de materia orgánica a las pasturas, el aumento de la retención de agua en el suelo, y la mejoría en la regulación de la temperatura (Harrison et al. 2015;Navas, 2010), reduciendo de esta manera las fluctuaciones en los rendimientos reales esperados en un sistema de pasturas en monocultivo."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c713dc4496d8ad94eaf537510434a5fd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6545d1e4-dc51-4d73-979d-6041519aeea9/retrieve","id":"-177820856"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1834db74-3466-45cf-806c-7f840da3a63b","content":"Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is one of the most important grain legume crops in the world. The beans grown in north-western Himalayas possess huge diversity for seed color, shape and size but are mostly susceptible to Anthracnose disease caused by seed born fungus Colletotrichum lindemuthianum. Dozens of QTLs/genes have been already identified for this disease in common bean world-wide. However, this is the first report of gene/QTL discovery for Anthracnose using bean germplasm from north-western Himalayas of state Jammu & Kashmir, India. A core set of 96 bean lines comprising 54 indigenous local landraces from 11 hot-spots and 42 exotic lines from 10 different countries were phenotyped at two locations (SKUAST-Jammu and Bhaderwah, Jammu) for Anthracnose resistance. The core set was also genotyped with genome-wide (91) random and trait linked SSR markers. The study of marker-trait associations (MTAs) led to the identification of 10 QTLs/genes for Anthracnose resistance. Among the 10 QTLs/genes identified, two MTAs are stable (BM45 & BM211), two MTAs (PVctt1 & BM211) are major explaining more than 20% phenotypic variation for Anthracnose and one MTA (BM211) is both stable and major. Six (06) genomic regions are reported for the first time, while as four (04) genomic regions validated the already known QTL/gene regions/clusters for Anthracnose. The major, stable and validated markers reported during the present study associated with Anthracnose resistance will prove useful in common bean molecular breeding programs aimed at enhancing Anthracnose resistance of local bean landraces grown in north-western Himalayas of state Jammu and Kashmir.Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.; 2n = 2x = 22) also known as kidney bean, French bean, dry bean, field bean etc. is one of the most precious and highly relished pulse crop used for direct human consumption globally. It belongs to family leguminosae and sub-family papilionaceae [1,2,3]. It is major source of calories (15%) and proteins (22%) in many developing countries throughout the world (FAO: http://faostat.fao.org/). It is also a potential source of carbohydrates (57%), minerals (0.5g/100g of edible portion), vitamin A (221 I.U.) and calcium (50 mg/100g of edible portion) [4,5]. Common bean is grown in different parts of the world mostly for its mature dry seeds and immature tender green pods [6].Globally, ~18 million metric tons of common beans are produced annually [7]. The world leader in production of dry bean is India, followed by Brazil and Myanmar [7]. It's cultivation in India is mainly confined to northern hilly and plain tracts of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh as a Kharif crop and also as winter crop in some parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Western and Eastern Ghats and North eastern plain zone, where winters are mild and frost free. In J&K, common bean is cultivated over an area of about 2000 hectares with production of about 1600 tones and yield of about 0.8 tons/ha. The beans grown in this Himalayan region of India holds greatest diversity of bean germplasm in India [8]. A preliminary study involving collection, evaluation and characterization of bean germplasm (428 lines) from this region and constitution of a core set of 96 lines was completed by us recently [8]. The study of gene pools and origin of beans from this region indicated both Mesoamerican and Andean gene pool landraces are being cultivated together in this Himalayan region. The Jammu region of the state possesses largely Mesoamerican beans, while Kashmir region possess both types of beans (Mesoamerican and Andean beans) [8].The beans produced for this Himalayan region are preferred in the local markets across India primarily due to their taste and quality. However, yield potential of beans in this region is low compared to yield of beans in other parts of India/world. One of the main reasons for this low production/productivity is the attack by Anthracnose disease. Local landraces grown by farmers in this Himalayan region are mostly susceptible to anthracnose disease. Anthracnose is a seed-borne disease in common bean caused by Collectotricum lindemuthianum. This pathogen possesses high degree of pathogenic variability throughout the world including India. More than 100 races of C. lindemuthianum have been identified worldwide and number is still increasing [9,10,11]. Economically, anthracnose is one of the most important disease in common bean [12], since it causes huge devastation, resulting in yield losses of up to 100% in susceptible bean genotypes [13,14,11].The prevalence of anthracnose disease has posed a serious threat for bean production in common bean growing areas of Himalayan state of Jammu & Kashmir, India. The most efficient way to tackle this problem is to deploy major/stable genes/QTLs through marker-assisted selection (MAS) into local common bean landraces that are mostly susceptible to anthracnose disease. Although QTLs/genes are known for this disease but there is hardly any report available about the identification of QTLs/genes for anthracnose identified from Himalayan beans genetic background. Therefore, for tackling this disease efficiently in this Himalayan region, we have collected/procured a set of 428 common bean lines from different hot-spots in state Jammu and Kashmir and from National Gene bank (NBPGR, New Delhi, India). Based on preliminary trait evaluations, qualitative trait data analysis and by keeping in view their collection sites, a set of most diverse 96 lines were selected for further studies. More details about the constitution of core set of 96 lines is available elsewhere [8]. During the present study, the core set of 96 lines was evaluated at two locations/hot-spots for anthracnose disease. The core set was also genotyped with genome-wide simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The data generated was used for the identification of marker-trait associations (MTAs) for anthracnose resistance. The major and stable MTAs identified during the present study will prove useful for marker-assisted breeding (MAB) programs aimed at enhancing anthracnose resistance of Himalayan beans.The germplasm used in the present study comprised a diverse core set of 96 common bean landraces. The core set was constituted from a set of 428 lines/landraces based on morphological diversity of qualitative traits [8]. The 96 lines comprised of 54 local landraces from different hot-spots in state Jammu & Kashmir (8 districts of Kashmir and 3 districts of Jammu) and 42 exotic lines collected from different countries (10 different bean growing countries; S1 Table ). Out of 96 lines, 45 lines belong to Meso-american gene pool while, 51 lines belongs to Andean gene pool.The core set of 96 common bean lines was evaluated in augmented design at two locations; Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Chatha, Jammu (SKUAST-Jammu) and at its sub-station \"Bhaderwah, Jammu\". Each genotype was grown in two rows of 3 m in length and spaced 60 cm apart. Standard agronomic practices were followed for normal crop growth at both locations. Five plants were selected in each plot for recording the disease severity data. Anthracnose disease scoring was done in field conditions at both the locations (SKUAST-Jammu and at its sub-station Bhaderwah, Jammu) after inoculation with most prevalent race of Colletotrichum lindemuthianum at hot-spot region \"Bhaderwah\" of state Jammu & Kashmir. The monosporic culture of C. lindemuthianum collected at its hot-spot \"Bhaderwah\" were grown on PDA media and conidia were collected in water suspension. The plants were sprayed with spore suspension and disease scoring was done at three stages of growth viz. seedling, flowering and physiological maturity. The genotypes were evaluated for anthracnose disease severity on a scale of 0-5 [15] viz 0-No disease symptoms, 1-very few small lesions covering 15% of plant surface, 2-small lesions covering 25% of plant surface, 3-enlarged lesions covering approximately 50% of plant surface, 4-severe necrosis on more than 75% of plant surface, 5-severe necrosis on more than 90% of plant surface and plant killed by pathogen (S1 Table ).The DNA extraction was done from each accession at three leaf stage using Qiagen DNeasy DNA extraction Kit (69104) using standard protocols. The concentration of DNA samples was determined using a spectrophotometer from the absorbance data of DNA sample at 260 nm (1 OD (A260) = 50 μg of doubled stranded DNA/ml). The purity of the DNA sample was determined by A260:A280 ratio (1.6-1.8 for pure DNA).A set of 91 SSR markers were selected from earlier published reports [16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23]. The criteria followed for selection of SSR included: (i) High PIC values (>0.6) in earlier published reports; (ii) Maximum number of alleles detected in earlier studies; (iii) coverage i.e., SSRs uniformly distributed on all the 11 linkage groups. Out of these 91 markers used during the present study, 59 were random genomic SSRs and 32 were carefully selected and are either EST-derived SSRs, or SSR linked to genes/QTLs for anthracnose, or other traits like Zn, Fe, yield contributing traits. The primers for SSR were synthesized on contract from Sigma Aldrich, Bangalore, India.Genotyping of 91 SSR markers was done in two phases. A set of 49 markers were genotyped in Molecular Breeding Laboratory of Div. of Genetics and Plant Breeding, SKUAST-Jammu on 10% PAGE and another set of 42 markers were genotyped in Genotyping Centre at Center of Excellence in Genomics (CEG), ICRISAT-Hyderabad. At SKUAST-Jammu, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was done on thermal cycler (96 universal gradient, Peqlab, Germany) in 10 μl final volume containing 10-20 ng DNA template, 5.0 pmol forward and reverse primers, 1X PCR buffer, 2.5 mM of each dNTPs, 1.5mM MgCl 2 and 0.5 U of Taq DNA polymerase (Himedia). The amplification conditions for PCR profile were: 95˚C for 5 min, 40 cycles of 95˚C for 1 min, specific annealing temperature for each SSR for 1 min, extension at 72˚C for 1 min and final extension at 72˚C for 10 min. The PCR products were visualized on 2% agarose gels for confirming amplification before being resolved on 10% Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) using Dual Gel Vertical Electrophoresis System (Peqlab) followed by silver staining [24]. The scoring of marker alleles of SSRs was done manually using the stained gels.The SSR genotyping at ICRISAT Hyderabad was done using capillary gel electrophoresis using ABI3700 automatic DNA sequencer. PCR for amplification of SSR loci were performed using thermal cycler GeneAmp PCR System 9700 (Applied Biosystems). The PCR reaction volume was 10 μl containing 5 ng DNA template, 10.0 pmol reverse and forward primers, 1X PCR buffer, 2.0mM of each dNTPs, 1.5mM MgCl 2 and 0.3 U of Taq DNA polymerase. PCR amplification was done by touchdown profile with 3 min of initial denaturation cycle, followed by first five cycles of 94˚C for 20 s, 60˚C for 20 s and 72˚C for 30 s, with 1˚C decrease in annealing temperature per cycle, then 30 cycles of 94˚C for 20 s with constant annealing temperature (56˚C) and 72˚C for 30 s followed by a final extension for 20 min at 72˚C. The quality of amplified products was checked on 1.2% agarose gel. PCR amplified products were size fractioned using capillary electrophoresis on an ABI3700 automatic DNA sequencer (Applied Biosystems, USA). Allele sizing of the electrophoretic data was done using software Gene Mapper version 4 [25].The descriptive statistics from the trait data which includes range, mean, variance and frequency distribution was calculated using Microsoft Excel for both the field trial locations viz. SKUAST-Jammu and Bhaderwah, Jammu.The identification of population structure and number of clusters in the 96 common bean lines was done using STRUCTURE software version 2.3.4 [26] which is a model-based clustering. The information obtained through model-based clustering (Q-matrix) was used to avoid false associations while working out marker-trait associations (MTAs).Association mapping for identification of significant marker-trait associations for anthracnose was done using trait data on anthracnose from both locations and SSR marker data (91 SSRs) using software program TASSEL 3.0 (http://www.maizegenetics.net). Two different models were employed to calculate MTAs; general linear model (GLM) based on the Q-matrix derived from STRUCTURE software and mixed linear model (MLM) based on both the Qmatrix and the kinship matrix (K-matrix) derived from the marker data using TASSEL software.Significance of marker-trait associations were described as P-value (P = 0.05 for significant markers).The P-values plots like −log10(P) genome-wide association plots (Manhattan plots) and quantile-quantile (QQ) have been used to for presentation of GWAS results using software program TASSEL. Manhattan plots represent the P values (y-axis) of all the markers used in genomic order by chromosome (x-axis).The QQ plot presents the graphical representation of the deviation of the observed P values from the null hypothesis: the observed P values for each SSR marker are sorted from largest to smallest and plotted against expected values from a theoretical χ 2 -distribution.North-western Himalayan region that includes state Jammu and Kashmir possess huge diversity for common bean landraces [8]. Among various biotic stresses, Anthracnose is the most prevalent and devastating disease affecting bean production and productivity in this region. Therefore, developing common bean cultivars with resistance to anthracnose is considered one of the most effective ways of controlling this important disease [27]. Efforts have been made during the present study to characterize a set of 96 diverse bean lines selected from 428 lines for anthracnose resistance (for constitution of core set of 96 lines see [8]). Identification of sources of resistance as well as genetic dissection for anthracnose using genome-wide markers is considered one of the best approaches to discover useful marker-trait associations (MTAs) for this devastating disease. The major and stable MTAs once identified will prove useful for improvement of anthracnose resistance of local landraces of bean grown in this region through marker-assisted breeding programs.A set of 96 diverse bean lines comprising 45 Mesoamerican and 51 Andean were tested during the present study for anthracnose resistance at two locations. The analysis revealed that disease resistance of bean lines varied from 0 (anthracnose resistant) to 5 (anthracnose susceptible) across different locations (Fig 1). The mean value of anthracnose disease score was 1.65 at Jammu and 1.81 at Bhaderwah location. The sample variance recorded for Jammu location was 1.09 and 1.25 for Bhaderwah location. The 96 common bean lines in the present study were mainly categorized into three classes i.e., resistant (disease score 0 and 1), moderately susceptible (disease score 2 and 3) and susceptible lines (disease score 4 and 5). At SKUAST-Jammu location, 44 lines were declared resistant (19 Mesoamerican lines, 25 Andean), 49 moderately susceptible (26 Mesoamerican and 23 Andean) and 03 susceptible (Andean), while as at Bhaderwah location, 39 lines were found resistant (19 Mesoamerican and 20 Andean), 52 moderately susceptible (24 Mesoamerican and 28 Andean) and 05 susceptible (2 Mesoamerican and 3 Andean) to anthracnose. The distribution of disease score among 96 lines at both locations was skewed towards moderate susceptibility with around 50% of genotypes at both locations showing disease score of 2 and 3. The availability of different disease score for different lines in 96 core set for anthracnose resistance indicated its suitability for study of markertrait associations for anthracnose resistance.A set of 91 SSR markers used during the present study belongs to all the 11 common bean chromosomes/linkage groups. The number of markers in an individual linkage group varied from 5 (LG10) to 14 (LG-02) with an average of 8.3 markers/chromosome. The 91 SSRs was judiciously selected based on earlier published reports (details in material and methods).Among 91 SSR markers, 90 SSRs were found polymorphic detecting more than 1 alleles/locus. The total number of alleles detected in core set was 691.The number of alleles varied from two (02) for SSR marker Bmr205 to 21 for SSR marker BM187 with an average of 7.59 alleles/locus. The allelic data was used for population structural analysis and working out marker-trait association (MTAs). The allelic diversity based on 91 SSR markers distributed throughout the bean genome indicated high diversity of core set and therefore suitability of germplasm for working out marker-trait associations for anthracnose.The MTAs were identified by using both mixed linear model and general linear model of software program TASSEL. The MLM is considered better than GLM in controlling false positives but sometimes more stringent controls of MLM introduce false negatives and introduce missed heritability. So both models were employed to avoid any missed chance of heritability and identification of significant MTAs. The study of MTAs during the present study led to the identification of novel 10 MTAs (on chromosome number 1, 2, 4 and 8): 7 were identified by both GLM and MLM approaches, while as three (03) MTAs were identified by GLM approach only (Table 1; Fig 2). Among 10 MTAs, 7 were identified in Jammu environment, 5 in Bhaderwah environment and 5 in data pooled over environments (Fig 2). One MTA (Bmd45) was identified in all the three data sets and other MTAs were identified in either one or two environments (Table 1).The phenotypic variation explained (PVE%) by these MTAs varied from 10.3 (Bmd02) to 25.45 (BM211). Two MTAs (PVctt1 and BM211) are major explaining >20% phenotypic variation for anthracnose resistance and two MTAs (BM45 and BM211) are stable identified from both locations trait data. The major and stable MTAs are considered important and will be recommended for common bean molecular breeding programs aimed at enhancing anthracnose resistance of local bean landraces for north-western Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir.A dozens of genes (Co-1 to Co-14) have been already mapped for Anthracnose in common bean on different linkage groups. Genes specific for Mesoamerican gene pool and Andean gene pool have been also identified in earlier studies [28,29,30,31]. For instance, three genes including Co-1, Co-x and Co-w have been mapped on Pv01 [32,33], one gene Co-u g have been mapped on Pv02 [34] and six genes including Co-3, Co-9, Co-y, Co-z, Co-10 and Co-15 have been mapped on Pv04 for anthracnose resistance [33,35,36].Among the 10 markers found associated with Anthracnose during the present study, a set of four markers (Bmd02, Pvctt1, BM165 and Bmd25) were found associated with the already identified QTLs/genes identified for Anthracnose [29,30,31] (Fig 3). The SSR marker Bmd02 was found in the vicinity of Anthracnose QTL demarcated on LG02 [31]. Therefore, the associated marker (Bmd02) identified during the present study for Anthracnose resistance may represent the same QTL regions as identified by Garzon and Blair [31]. Similarly, the associated marker Bmd25 represent the same genomic region harboring Anthracnose gene \"Co-4\" [31] and QTL for Anthracnose ANT08.1 [30]. The other associated marker BM165 on the chromosome PV08 represents the QTL region (ANT08.2) already identified for Anthracnose resistance [30]. The major MTA identified for Anthracnose during the present study (PVctt1) on PV04 lies in the same genomic region where a cluster of genes for Anthracnose (Co-9, Co-3, Co-y, Co-z, Co-10) have been placed in an earlier study [31]. Keeping this in view it is believed that these four markers found associated during the present study validated several genes/QTL identified in earlier studies. Therefore, these validated markers may provide good opportunity and are recommended for common bean molecular breeding programs for enhancing Anthracnose resistance of beans grown in north-western Himalayan region of state J&K, India. The validity of four MTA out of 10 MTAs identified during the present study confirmed the reliability of our results and therefore the new MTA that are identified for the first time (to the best of our knowledge) may prove useful for common bean breeding programs through MAS.  PBG-90) were local landraces. These genotypes can be utilized for future molecular breeding programs to improve anthracnose resistance in local landraces and cultivars of Jammu and Kashmir which are anthracnose susceptible but otherwise have good market value due to their colour, texture, taste and palatability. These lines can be also used in the development of biparental mapping populations, multi-parental populations and for differential gene expression studies."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e333e0d117cffa4c5639e79546d674d9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e16ef417-5e28-4d47-9961-96a6f33cf6c8/retrieve","id":"-729311846"},"keywords":["WHEAT","CGIAR Big Data Platform","MasAgro","IWYP"],"sieverID":"2253f75b-16f3-4e37-a08e-48cfc2ceae52","content":"Links to the Strategic Results Framework: Sub-IDOs:• Reduced smallholders production risk • Enhanced capacity to deal with climatic risks and extremes (Mitigation and adaptation achieved) Wheat breeding with new traits is a promising climate change adaptation option, but its effect will vary among regions and could be especially limited under rainfed conditions, where water and N stress limit any traits-based benefits (e.g. for heat tolerance, early vigor, and delayed flowering adaptations). Increased N availability will often be required for new traits to express a higher yield potential. Region-specific adaptations to increasing temperatures and drought will be needed."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f7af795f09662da1d3a34c9831b839ef","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fcbaced2-a24c-43de-9d7d-d759ad206c73/retrieve","id":"1817264810"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5a349743-ae81-4ba1-8af3-f42a38f97002","content":"uild it and they will come!\" Sadly, that is only rarely the case. Even if you have developed the perfect market information service, customers will not come flocking. You have to tell them that your service exists, get them to try it out, train them on how to use it, and persuade them to subscribe. That is the domain of marketing.Marketing is not something you do after you have finished developing the service you want to sell. It is an integral part of developing your service: it starts with the initial concept and will influence every stage in the process.Work out precisely what you are trying to sell. Daily updates of a few prices in local markets for farmers? Advice on production and marketing tailored for specific areas? A service to help traders and processors source their inputs? An early warning service for the government and donors on food shortages and price rises? A comprehensive analysis of market data for a broad spectrum of commodities nationwide? A set of software that users can use to develop their own market information service?You may decide to concentrate on one service or set of clients first, then expand into others later.Decide what you want to achieve with your marketing effort. Do you want to introduce a new service, or promote one that already exists? Do you want to gain visibility for your service? Expand an existing service into new geographical areas, commodities Marketing your market information service 10 or client groups? Get new users to start using your service, or persuade people to switch away from a competitor's service? Set yourself measurable targets so you can tell how successful you have been. For example, you may decide you want to attract 20,000 new paying farmer subscribers. If you reach the target, you know you are on the right track (and can expand the campaign); if you fail to reach it, you can adjust your strategy accordingly.Gather information about your intended market. How many potential clients do you have? How much are they willing and able to pay for your service? What are their information needs? How is the market changing over time? See the separate sheet in this series on Identifying clients and planning services for more details.Do any other organisations -private, government or nongovernment -offer similar market information services in your country? What kinds of services do they offer? Do they provide information for free, or do clients have to pay (and if so, how much)? What areas, markets, clients and commodities do they cover? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How do they promote their service? Even if yours is the first market information service in your country, you will still have competition. Your clients still get information about markets from other sources -by word of mouth, by calling their friends, by bargaining with traders, by visiting the market in person. In your original research, you identified how your service could be better than existing sources of information. In the marketing stage you need to persuade the users of that fact.Do not forget your potential competitors -other market information services that may move into your area. Many countries in Africa produce a sim-This is one of a series of information sheets for people designing and implementing agricultural market information systems in Africa.ilar range of commodities under similar conditions, so it may be relatively easy to expand a market information service from one country to another. Who else might be about to muscle in on your patch?In your initial research, you will have worked out how much you can charge your clients. Given this, ask yourself how you can best compete with them. By charging lower fees? By providing a more frequent or reliable service? By covering a larger range of commodities and more markets? By providing information in the local language? The answers will be your competitive advantage.You may have decided you cannot compete directly with another service. For example, if another service already provides prices on coffee, tea and cocoa, you might avoid these commodities and instead focus on staple grains and vegetables. Rather than directly offering the same as the competition, look out for services that offer you a unique entry into the market.You cover all the markets in a particular area You give information in six local languages You cover a bigger range of commodities than anyone else Your information is reliable and up-to-date You don't just offer price information: you also do weather, trade volumes and production tips You have a call-in service where farmers can get advice.These \"unique selling propositions\" are what you should focus on in your marketing effort.Do not try to be all things to all people. It may be better to excel in a particular niche than try to compete across all markets, commodities and clients.Your marketing efforts will depend on the budget you have available. Make sure that you have enough money to generate the sales you will need to cover your costs, attract new clients and generate a profit.How much is enough? That depends. For a small start-up, you may want to spend up to 20 to 30% of your total revenue on marketing: you want to attract a lot of clients quickly. Later on, when more people are aware of your services, you may be able to reduce the percentage.Different promotion channels cost different amounts. A nationwide television advertising blitz can raise a lot of awareness quickly (though not necessarily among the people you want to reach), but will cost a fortune. Social media and word of mouth cost little, or perhaps nothing at all. But if you rely on such \"free\" channels, you will find you spend a lot of time attending events, writing tweets and talking to individuals. And because in business, time = money, the marketing effort will cost you anyway.Try to estimate the cost of gaining each new subscriber. For example, imagine a farmers' organisation agrees to recommend your service to its members. You can estimate how much training and information materials for the organisation will cost you, and divide that by the number of farmers who you expect to sign up.Here is a useful checklist to use when planning your marketing strategy.What product or service are you offering? What are its key features? How can it benefit your clients? Can you tailor the service to suit different groups of clients? Can you change aspects of it to make it more useful or attractive? For example, can you add features, make it simpler to use, emphasise quality or reliability, or improve your customer service? See the sections in the main text on Define your products or services and Define your unique selling propositions for more.What price are you going to charge for the service? Consider giving some services (such as weekly prices of a few commodities at major markets) away for free, but charging for more commodities, more frequent updates, more markets, or historical data.This is how you make clients aware of your service. It includes branding, advertising, promotion on your website and through social media and events.Even if you are offering a service that clients will get on their mobile phone, place is still important. Can your clients actually get a phone signal in their villages? Where will they see advertisements for your service? Where do they have to go to attend an introductory meeting, learn how to use it, sign up to the service, or ask a question? And do the locations the service reports prices from match the markets your clients are interested in?This refers to your staff, salespeople and customer service advisors, including yourself. If you have good staff and excellent service, word will spread and you will win referrals from happy customers. If you do not, the opposite will happen.Work out how best to reach your intended clientele. Select those channels that will reach them best, within the constraints of your budget. See Box 1 for ideas.Here are some possible strategies to consider: Give away some services for free, but charge for others (see Box 1).Offer a free trial for 3 months, then start charging.Target a small number of valuable customers.Target a large number of lower-value customers.Get development organisations to promote your service among their clientele.The 80/20 rule states that 80% of your revenue will come from 20% of your clients. Focus your marketing effort on getting the 20% to sign up to your service, and to stay signed up.You want to convince certain people of the value of your service who are not actually among your target clientele. For example, if you are targeting your service at farmers, you might want to persuade development agents, extension workers and the managers of farmers' organisations about your service. They can then recommend it to the farmers they work with.The media (both mainstream and web-based) are another important intermediary. Create a favourable buzz among journalists and bloggers and in Facebook and Twitter, and at least some of your publicity work is done.When you first launch your service, you don't know whether your marketing approach will work. So start small. Try it out first with focus groups: what do they think? Test it in a limited area, and monitor the results carefully. Adjust the approach if necessary before going to scale.Continue monitoring your marketing effort regularly. Clients' needs and expectations, technologies and the economic situation all change, and your competitors will not be idle. Evaluate your approach and modify it if necessary.Your brand distinguishes your service from your competitors. It helps your clients remember your service and associate it with positive feelings. Various things contribute to a brand: The name of your service. Think of something short and memorable, that gives a positive image and that can be portable across languages and cultures.Logo: A clear, simple logo will help your visual materials stand out.A tagline, slogan or catchphrase that reinforces or explains your message. mFarms has \"Agribusiness solutions\"; Infotrade has \"Market information services\", while RATIN spells out its full name, \"Regional Agricultural Trade Intelligence Network\" (Figure 1). The tagline may or may not be part of the logo.Colours. Select a colour (or colours) and use it consistently in all your publicity material.Design. Develop standard design guidelines for all your visual materials. This includes the placement and size of your name and logo, the colours and fonts you use, the style of graphics (photographs, drawings, illustrations), etc.Unless you are a talented graphic designer, get a professional designer or marketing specialist to design a logo and visual style for you.Aim for as much visibility for your brand as possible. Put your logo on everything: business cards, letterheads, email templates, brochures, posters, advertisements, noticeboards, T-shirts, your vehi-cles…You will need text and graphics to carry your message in your visual publicity materials (and voice and music for your audio publicity). Get someone who is good with words to write the text, and use professional-quality photographs. Pre-test your publicity materials with a sample of your intended clients. Do they understand them? What do they think of them? Double-check the drafts before they go out for errors: mistakes are expensive and can give you a reputation for shoddy work.You can choose among many channels to promote your service: display, print, mobile, internet, face-toface, and audio-visual. See the separate sheet on Disseminating information to your clients for details. Do not rely exclusively on one channel. Rather, use several channels simultaneously to support each other. At an event, put up a display, give a demonstration and distribute brochures to attendees. Have posters and handouts printed with the same design to reinforce your message. Have the same slogans on your visual and audio publicity materials.You may have to train farmers to use your service. This can take a lot of time, effort and money. You have to arrange training sessions and bring the farmers together in one place (ask the local farmers' organisation for time during one of its regular meetings). Before you can demonstrate your service, you may first have to show some of them how to do use simple features on their mobile phone, such as sending an SMS or downloading an app. Training is an excellent opportunity to get to know your clients better, and to understand their needs and any difficulties they have in using your service. So make sure you feed insights from the training staff back to your design team so you can further improve the service you are offering."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bca6e2e7e36697a6e16ee38f58dd1d0e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/42f66d84-74ec-4a0d-b56e-692e1e2e439e/retrieve","id":"-139248869"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"18827134-5726-497a-bc8f-147dd3cc1031","content":"TENDANCES 4 | Villes secondaires : des pôles d'activité et de croissance PRODUCTION AGRICOLE 8 | L'agrobusiness au service du sésame 9 | Semences à hauts revenus et communautés agricoles ENVIRONNEMENT 10 | L'emprise des agropasteurs sur l'environnement 11 | Résilience consolidée au Malawi RECHERCHE 12 | Innover pour la sécurité alimentaire 13 | Éthiopie : du malt local pour l'industrie de la bière NUTRITION ET SANTÉ 14 | La patate douce, mieux que la farine de blé 15 | Couscous d'igname express ÉCONOMIE BLEUE 16 | Les pêcheurs caribéens s'organisent 17 | Au Bénin, le surgelé prend la vague 18 | INTERVIEW Dr James Mwangi : aider les agriculteurs à gérer leur argent N°186 34 | CHAÎNES DE VALEUR Océan Indien : les petits pêcheurs se font entendre 36 | COMMERCE L'export de condiments caribéens à la hausse 38 | BUSINESS Des produits de niche à base de poisson, pour moins de gâchis 39 | FINANCE Soutenir l'agrobusiness pour le développement durable 40 | PUBLICATIONS 33 | Économie 21 | Dossier Big data et assurance climatique : moins de risques, plus de revenus PHOTO DE COUVERTURE : © GEORGINA SMITH/CIAT SOMMAIRE © CLAUDE BIAOFenou Foods produit chaque semaine 3 000 sachets de 200 g de couscous d'igname précuit, appelé Wassa-Wassa Tchigan.Les investissements responsables dans l'économie rurale et agricole, les chaînes de valeur et les marchés intégrés jouent un rôle essentiel dans la promotion de la croissance économique, la création d'emplois et le développement des pays africains. Ces questions cruciales ont été au coeur de réunions organisées récemment à Rome et constitueront un élément clé du prochain sommet UE-Afrique qui se tiendra à Abidjan, en Côte d'Ivoire, en novembre 2017.En juillet, j'ai assisté au forum des investisseurs de l'agro-industrie pour l'Afrique, organisé par la Direction générale de la coopération internationale et du développement de la Commission européenne, qui a réuni environ 80 participants. L'événement était principalement axé sur la présentation du plan d'investissement extérieur européen (PIE). Elle a été suivie par une table ronde de haut niveau sur les nouvelles opportunités offertes par le PIE en matière d'investissements durables dans l'agriculture et l'agro-industrie. L'objectif principal est d'utiliser les fonds publics pour mobiliser les investissements du secteur privé (financement mixte), une approche de plus en plus utilisée par les donateurs. Le PIE ambitionne de mobiliser jusqu'à 44 milliards d'euros de sources privées. Il se déclinera autour de trois piliers : des financements innovants (avec des systèmes de garantie, des fonds propres, etc.), une assistance technique (par exemple la préparation de propositions d'investissement) et un dialogue politique (pour améliorer le climat d'investissement). Il sera aussi doté d'un guichet unique et d'un portail web, améliorant ainsi la transparence, l'accessibilité et l'efficacité. L'agriculture et l'agro-industrie seront les principaux bénéficiaires du plan.Les investissements du secteur privé étaient aussi l'objet de la conférence des ministres de l'agriculture de l'UE et de l'Union africaine, qui s'est déroulée le 2 juillet au siège de la FAO, à Rome. Parmi les conclusions de la conférence, qui seront présentées au sommet UE-Afrique en novembre, figurent la nécessité d'harmoniser les investissements publics et privés pour l'agriculture/l'agro-industrie et le fait que ces investissements doivent avoir un impact local sur les emplois et les revenus, mais aussi le rôle essentiel des gouvernements dans la création d'un climat propice aux investissements.Dans ce numéro de Spore ainsi que sur notre site web, vous trouverez de nombreux articles portant sur ces sujets clés. Nous reviendrons sur ces questions et ces événements sur nos réseaux sociaux et nous espérons que vous suivrez les discussions menant au sommet UE-Afrique en novembre.L'agrobusiness demeure primordial E n Afrique, la part des citadins est passée de 14 % en 1950 à 40 % actuellement et elle atteindra 50 % d'ici 2030, d'après le rapport Perspectives économiques en Afrique 2016. Au cours des vingt dernières années, la population urbaine a presque doublé en Afrique, de 237 millions en 1995 à 472 millions en 2015, et pourrait être de nouveau multipliée par deux d'ici 2035. \"À l'instar de l'Asie, l'Afrique s'urbanise à un rythme deux fois plus élevé que celui de l'Europe\", notent les auteurs.Or, contrairement à certaines idées reçues, ce sont les petites villes secondaires et non les capitales qui sont le moteur de cette urbanisation galopante. \"Entre 2000 et 2010, les agglomérations urbaines de moins de 300 000 habitants ont représenté 58 % de la croissance urbaine de l'Afrique\", lit-on dans les Perspectives économiques. La frontière entre zones rurales et urbaines devient floue. L'intrusion des villes dans l'espace rural représente actuellement 60 % de l'urbanisation, d'après le rapport de l'institut de recherche IIED (International Institute for Environment and Development) et l'agence onusienne FIDA (Fonds international de développement agricole) intitulé Urbanisation, Rural Transformations and Food Systems: The Role of Small Towns. Environ 75 % des Africains vivent dans cette \"zone grise\", entre zone rurale et ville secondaire.Pourtant, on ne s'intéresse que depuis peu à ces villes secondaires et, a fortiori, aux villes secondaires. \"Vous avez un nombre croissant de gouvernements qui commencent à s'intéresser davantage à ces villes secondaires et aux bourgs. Et nous n'en sommes qu'au début\", souligne l'économiste de la Banque mondiale Luc Christiaensen.Pour preuve : le succès du Forum régional d'Afrique des villes intermédiaires, organisé en mai 2017 en Côte d'Ivoire sous l'égide des Cités et gouvernements locaux unis d'Afrique (CGLUA), en présence de plus de 100 maires. Il en va de même pour la réunion sur le chômage des jeunes Africains, fin juin 2017, entre l'Union européenne et l'Union africaine à la FAO. Parmi les cinq mesures préconisées figure l'importance de renforcer \"les liens physiques, économiques, sociaux et politiques entre les petits centres urbains et les zones rurales environnantes\".Force est de constater que ces villes secondaires sont plus accessibles aux jeunes ruraux et leur offrent une opportunité répondant à leur soif d'urbanité. En effet, près de 60 % des 230 millions de jeunes de 15 à 24 ans en Afrique subsaharienne vivent en milieu rural, selon l'ONU. Pour nombre de ces jeunes, le secteur agricole ne présente que très peu d'opportunités, des revenus bas et aléatoires, ainsi qu'un accès restreint à la terre, aux services financiers et à Internet. Ils partent donc, rarement très loin, dans la plus proche petite ville,Longtemps ignorées, les villes secondaires servent pourtant de levier au développement des campagnes. Avec leur propre dynamique génératrice de croissance, ces centres pourraient modifier les mutations de leurs pays.Bénédicte Châtel TENDANCES SPORE 186 | 5 et reviennent souvent au village, rapportant avec eux de l'argent, des idées neuves et du dynamisme. Parfois, en période de crise, ils reviennent pour de bon. \"Sans les villes secondaires, l'espace de l'action ou le spectre de destinations probables seraient inexistants pour nombre de personnes\", observe Luc Christiaensen.Si les grandes villes génèrent davantage de croissance purement économique car elles permettent, entre autres, des économies d'échelle, ce sont les petites villes qui sont le mieux à même de lutter contre la pauvreté. Bien souvent, une ville rurale est avant tout un vaste carrefour commercial, très dynamique, où les agriculteurs des alentours viennent vendre leurs produits, achetant à leur tour des produits manufacturés, soulignent Hélène Mainet et Ephantus Kihonge, chercheurs à l'Université de Clermont-Ferrand. Ainsi, à 200 km de Nairobi, la bourgade de Karatina (8 000 habitants) accueille sur son marché, trois fois par semaine, pas moins de 1 400 vendeurs. Sagana (10 000 habitants), à 100 km de Nairobi, sert de pôle pour toute la zone méridionale du Mont Kenya, avec l'implantation de nombreuses entreprises majeures comme un dépôt céréalier du National Cereals Board, une brasserie des Kenya © MARK FISCHER/FLICKR › Les villes secondaires créent des centres d'activités dynamiques qui profitent aux petits agriculteurs et aux consommateurs.Signe du nouvel intérêt porté aux villes secondaires en Afrique, le projet d'études African Rural-City Connections (RurbanAfrica), développé par l'Université de Copenhague, a été conduit entre 2012 et 2016 au Cameroun, au Ghana, en Tanzanie et au Rwanda. Il s'agissait de comprendre les liens entre les zones secondaires et les villes afin de mieux planifier les futurs besoins des citadins de ces petites villes. Quatre axes de travail ont été retenus : la transformation agricole, la vie rurale, les dynamiques de la ville et l'accès aux services. Bilan : ceux qui migrent des campagnes vers les villes forment un groupe très hétérogène en termes d'âge, de sexe, de revenus et de motivations. Pour les auteurs, cela oblige à nuancer le raisonnement selon lequel les migrations secondaires accentuent la pauvreté des villes. D'autre part, ces migrants seraient prêts à investir pour rester et réussir en ville. Ceci est d'autant plus vrai lorsque leur terre à la campagne a relativement peu de valeur. Enfin, l'étude insiste sur le besoin d'une \"nouvelle architecture de gouvernance\" afin de répondre de façon adéquate aux dynamiques d'urbanisation et de transformations secondaires.Breweries, un dépôt pétrolier, des hangars agricoles de la Kenya Planters Cooperative Union, etc.Ces carrefours deviennent des lieux d'investissement. En Afrique de l'Ouest, le marché de Doufelgou (73 000 habitants) au nord du Togo a été entièrement refait et agrandi. Au Sénégal, Kaolack, une ville de 200 000 habitants et capitale du bassin arachidier, vient d'obtenir le feu vert pour la reconstruction de son marché central pour 45 milliards FCFA (68,5 millions d'euros). En Côte d'Ivoire, le maire d'Agboville lance un appel pour la rénovation du sien.Les cantines scolaires s'approvisionnant localement sont un des meilleurs exemples de l'interaction de la ville secondaire et de la campagne. Des initiatives existent et se multiplient partout en Afrique : à Kédougou (environ 20 000 habitants) au Sénégal, dans le cadre du Programme décennal de formation et éducation initié dès 2012, un millier d'agriculteurs distribuent 60 % de leur production de riz à plus de 170 cantines, créant ainsi toute une chaîne de distribution.Les agriculteurs sont de plus en plus friands de ces marchés dans leur petite ville voisine, car cette proximité en fait un débouché idéal et rémunérateur pour leurs produits : le coût du transport est plus limité, leur permettant de capter une part plus grande du prix final. Au Mont Méru, en Tanzanie, les caféiculteurs ont cessé leur activité classique pour se tourner vers la culture de légumes pour les marchés urbains de proximité, les marges brutes pouvant atteindre 5 000 dollars US par récolte.En outre, le contact plus direct avec le consommateur urbain, souvent pressé et demandeur d'aliments préparés, incite le rural à y commercialiser des produits à plus grande valeur ajoutée. \"Les citadins, avec leur mode de vie, ont besoin de produits transformés, facilement consommables\", explique Mamadou Cissokho, président d'honneur du Réseau des organisations paysannes et de producteurs d'Afrique de l'Ouest (ROPPA) dans le rapport Nourrir les villes, défi de l'agriculture familiale. \"Tout le monde est conscient de la nécessité de transformer, parce que même à la campagne, si une femme trouve du couscous prêt à être consommé, elle préférera l'acheter que devoir prendre le pilon et le mortier. Ce sont justement les femmes rurales qui ont engagé un grand changement à ce niveau ; en s'équipant et en créant de la valeur ajoutée, elles font avancer la transformation des produits agricoles. Il existe aujourd'hui un grand nombre de petites unités de transformation en milieu rural et en périphérie des villes. On trouve désormais du fonio prêt à l'emploi, du couscous, de la bouillie, autant de produits qui demandent beaucoup de travail et que l'on peut désormais acheter prêts à être consommés.\"Ces chaînes d'approvisionnement sont souvent informelles et très compétitives face au développement des grandes surfaces du secteur formel, aux cahiers des charges plus difficiles à honorer.En ville, les régimes alimentaires se transforment, avec davantage de fruits et légumes, de viandes et de poissons, mais aussi de produits transformés. De jeunes urbains créent de nouveaux plats s'appuyant sur des productions agricoles locales, épousant \"une modernité alimentaire\", selon Nicolas Bricas, chercheur au Cirad. Mais, souligne-t-il, il faut veiller à ce que la relation soit équilibrée entre la ville et la campagne, au risque que la première impose à la seconde ses critères et ses prix. Au Vietnam, par exemple, Hanoï tente d'organiser des contrats de solidarité avec des zones rurales pour garantir un approvisionnement en produits de qualité tout en investissant dans le développement rural et agricole des zones qui la ravitaillent.Le développement d'une ville secondaire conduit l'État à décentraliser ou à créer des branches de grosses entreprises publiques, les sociétés privées déployant, de leur côté, leurs agences.Des liens plus étroits entre les villes et les campagnes offrent aux agriculteurs de nouveaux marchés.Les villes secondaires sont des carrefours commerciaux très dynamiques où les agriculteurs viennent vendre leurs produits et acheter des biens manufacturés. La situation évolue. Au Ghana, par exemple, avec le soutien de l'Allemagne, la réforme de la décentralisation vise davantage de connaissance et de maîtrise de la planification locale, à générer des recettes financières et à organiser des services publics dans 40 districts dont 25 villes. Des rues sont nommées afin d'identifier les habitants et les commerces, socle de la fiscalité locale. Un logiciel -\"Ntobua\" -a été développé pour gérer ces nouveaux revenus. Des méthodologies participatives innovantes sont développées afin que la planification soit plus inclusive et tienne davantage compte des spécificités du quotidien des femmes, notamment.En opérant leur propre révolution, les villes secondaires pourraient modifier les mutations de leurs pays. Mbale, ville d'une centaine de milliers d'habitants dans l'est de l'Ouganda, doit son dynamisme économique à la proximité du Mont Elgon, où vivent quelque 2 millions de personnes, essentiellement des agriculteurs et éleveurs, et à la frontière très proche du Kenya. Une \"ville marché\" traditionnelle qui, en 2011, a fait partie des 26 marchés ougandais qui ont été entièrement rénovés et modernisés. Au total, 4 316 vendeurs ont été évacués du vieux marché mais ont retrouvé leur place dans la nouvelle structure modernisée, dotée d'un centre médical, d'un poste de police, d'un parking, d'une aire de chargement, de kiosques… Le projet a été financé par la Banque africaine de développement dans le cadre de son programme pour les infrastructures de marché et de commerce, reflétant, sans aucun doute, le regain d'intérêt porté aux villes secondaires. Sophie Reeve E n Tanzanie, un projet de production et de commercialisation de graines de sésame aide les petits producteurs à en améliorer durablement la culture et à accroître leur sécurité alimentaire et leurs revenus. Une formation combinant agronomie, commerce et vente, dispensée dans le cadre d'ateliers et de fermes pilotes, a bénéficié à plus de 8 240 producteurs du district de Babati, dans le nord du pays. Au sein de ce groupe, 5 470 producteurs ont également été formés aux bonnes pratiques agricoles. Ils ont ainsi acquis les compétences nécessaires pour accéder aux marchés d'exportation à forte valeur. L'initiative, soutenue par l'organisation à but non lucratif Farm Africa, offre aussi des formations via une application mobile.Avec l'adoption de meilleures pratiques, la production de sésame a augmenté de façon substantielle depuis 2011, passant de 0,25 tonne à 0,98 tonne par hectare en 2014. Des fermiers \"modèles\" ou producteurs \"pilotes\", formés de façon intensive et soutenus par le projet pour former d'autres producteurs, ont constaté un bond de leurs revenus (de 258 à 530 euros par an), résultant de meilleurs rendements et de plus grandes compétences en marketing. Les pertes postrécolte sont passées de 40 % à 20 % par hectare. \"Lorsque vous cultivez en adoptant de bonnes pratiques, vous avez davantage de rendement qu'avec les techniques locales\", explique Ndemulikiwa Mbise, une productrice de sésame. \"J'ai été formée à la commercialisation, et désormais j'agis en tant qu'entrepreneuse communautaire.\"Entre novembre 2013 et avril 2014, l'utilisation de tablettes pour dispenser des modules de formation a été testée comme une alternative aux visites de fermes pilotes. Dix producteurs ont été équipés de ces véritables \"parcelles de démonstration mobiles\" pour former des producteurs de sésame dans leurs © FARM AFRICA/HILARY DUFF En Tanzanie, les producteurs de sésame bénéficient de formations en agronomie et en commerce afin de vendre des produits de meilleure qualité à des prix plus élevés. Les téléphones portables sont utilisés pour leur fournir des informations utiles en temps opportun. n Zambie, près de 5 200 producteurs reçoivent un ensemble de services personnalisés leur permettant d'accéder au marché lucratif des semences de légumineuses. Leurs semences de qualité sont vendues sous la marque \"Good Nature Seeds\".Les semences étant traditionnellement difficiles à produire et coûteuses à l'achat, les petits producteurs ont longtemps été exclus de l'industrie semencière, dominée par les intérêts des multinationales.L'entreprise sociale Good Nature Agro a offert aux producteurs trois services clés, en général peu accessibles : des financements personnalisés pour les intrants, une information fiable et un marché rentable. L'entreprise coordonne l'accès à un agent de vulgarisation pour 40 producteurs, des conseils personnalisés sur les engrais et le financement, ainsi qu'un marché garanti (Good Nature Pro achète la production).\"Les producteurs ont besoin de partenaires qui soutiennent leurs objectifs personnels et qui acceptent de les aider à tracer le chemin qui les y conduit\", explique Carl Jensen, cofondateur et PDG de Good Nature Agro. Mieux formés, les petits semenciers se font une place dans la filière communautés. Cette approche a concerné près de 500 producteurs. À l'issue de la formation, 71 % des stagiaires pouvaient reconnaître différentes variétés de sésame et savaient que celles-ci résistent différemment aux maladies ; 86 % pouvaient identifier les bonnes méthodes de culture.Actuellement, Farm Africa et Esoko, un service d'information sur les marchés agricoles africains, proposent une formation pour aider les cultivateurs à partager leurs connaissances avec d'autres producteurs à l'aide d'applications pour téléphones mobiles. Fin 2016, 100 entrepreneurs communautaires et producteurs pilotes de groupements commerciaux d'agriculteurs ont été équipés de smartphones et formés à cette application. L'outil de formation mobile compte cinq modules de 10 minutes : préparation du sol, plantation, soin des cultures, récolte, postrécolte et commercialisation. La majorité des contenus est produite localement en kiswahili, la langue nationale. \"Le smartphone me permet de former d'autres producteurs et m'aide à mieux communiquer pour vendre, ce qui facilite les relations avec les acheteurs\", témoigne Ndemulikiwa Mbise.Une fonction vidéo de l'application permet aux producteurs de regarder sur leur téléphone les formations dispensées sur les parcelles de démonstration, dans la mesure où de nombreux producteurs, surtout les femmes, ne peuvent visiter les fermes pilotes.\"Passer des tablettes aux téléphones mobiles a permis de fournir aux petits producteurs des informations plus pertinentes et en temps opportun sur les dernières techniques agricoles\", explique Nicolas Mounard, PDG de Farm Africa. \"Lors de la phase précédente, entre 2011 et 2014, les producteurs pilotes de sésame ont doublé leurs revenus. Nous souhaitons nous appuyer sur ce succès pour élargir le programme à davantage de producteurs tanzaniens.\" Prochaine étape : connecter les producteurs à des acheteurs par le biais de leurs smartphones. ans la mosquée du village de Tokobinkani, à une trentaine de kilomètres de Niamey, les habitants écoutent les explications du formateur de l'Association pour la redynamisation de l'élevage au Niger (AREN) sur les prévisions saisonnières de l'année.\"En raison des incertitudes qui caractérisent les saisons, nous avons toujours pratiqué l'agriculture et l'élevage dans l'ignorance\", explique Boubé Amadou, un agropasteur. \"Nous ne savons pas si l'hivernage sera précoce ou tardif, si les pluies seront abondantes et bien réparties ou s'il y aura suffisamment de pâturage et d'eau pour la survie du bétail.\" Cette incertitude a pu, dans le passé, créer des difficultés de gestion des ressources avec les populations sédentaires en raison des fréquentes sécheresses qui frappent le pays.Depuis le démarrage, en avril 2015, des activités de BRACED-PRESENCES -Projet de résilience face aux chocs environnementaux et sociaux au Niger -au profit de 304 000 personnes vulnérables de la région de Tillabéri, les agropasteurs ont les moyens de mieux s'adapter aux variations climatiques. Étalé sur trois ans, ce programme financé par le département britannique en charge du développement international (DFID) couvre 13 pays en Asie, au Sahel et en Afrique de l'Est. Au Niger, le projet vise, entre autres, à améliorer la qualité des données climatiques et leur accès pour les populations agropastorales.Manzo Issoufou, expert en pastoralisme à AREN, explique : \"Les informations climatiques sont collectées auprès de la Direction nationale de la météorologie et l'Agrhymet (NDLR : une branche du Comité permanent inter-États de lutte contre la sécheresse dans le Sahel -CILSS), puis agencées dans un format compréhensible par les agropasteurs qui s'en servent pour prendre des décisions utiles et à temps.\"Dans chaque village, des kits composés de radios, de téléphones mobiles solaires et de pluviomètres sont mis à disposition d'un comité qui peut accéder quotidiennement aux prévisions pluviométriques et informer les communautés. Manzo Issoufou précise : \"L'introduction de ces technologies, innovation majeure du projet, a contribué à améliorer la production agricole, le bien-être du bétail, et à l'atténuation des conflits autour de la gestion des ressources naturelles dans les zones ciblées.\" Pour Mme Issoufou Ouma Kaltoume, gestionnaire de connaissances et apprentissages à l'ONG CARE International Niger, \"ce système d'information climatique permet de diffuser des données sur les aléas météorologiques afin de contribuer à l'adoption de telle ou telle autre stratégie par les producteurs ruraux dans un contexte de variabilité climatique\". Les agropasteurs savent désormais à quel moment amener le bétail en transhumance, quand semer et quel type de semences utiliser en fonction de la tendance de l'hivernage. Abdourahamane Salifou, un autre agropasteur, confirme le changement : \"Avant, la transhumance se faisait sur la base de connaissances empiriques avec de gros risques sur le parcours\". Comme d'autres, il a reçu des formations dans les domaines de l'agriculture, de l'élevage et de la gestion durable des ressources naturelles. Il poursuit : \"Grâce aux informations sur les tendances saisonnières mises à notre disposition, nous avons aujourd'hui une certaine emprise sur notre environnement.\"Beaucoup de ces agropasteurs réclament désormais l'extension du projet aux pays voisins où il leur arrive de se rendre avec leur bétail. La culture de potagers à faibles coûts aide les ménages malawites à réduire leur dépendance au maïs et à améliorer leur résilience face au changement climatique.En pratiquant la permaculture, Susan Manuel a accès à une source durable de légumes frais.Agriculture communautaire EN OUGANDA, le tourisme et des techniques de conservation génèrent un revenu annuel brut de plus de 31 000 euros à une communauté marginalisée. Le groupe d'environ 400 femmes, jeunes et pygmées Batwa vivant près de la forêt de Bwindi pratique l'apiculture, l'agriculture et l'élevage. L'essentiel de leur production est vendu à des établissements touristiques. Une formation de l'ONG Initiatives communautaires pour la conservation de la biodiversité les a aidés à pratiquer l'agriculture biologique, à intégrer agriculture et élevage, et à utiliser des méthodes de culture résistantes à la sécheresse. Cette approche, combinée avec une formation à l'agrobusiness, a permis à 40 % des membres de faire passer leur revenu quotidien de moins de 1 € à 2,25 €.En Afrique, des technologies à bas coût permettent désormais de mesurer la teneur en humidité des aliments séchés. Les petits exploitants peuvent ainsi mieux contrôler la qualité de leur production et la vendre à meilleur prix. En 2017, le laboratoire a distribué 950 cartes à des cultivateurs de riz et de maïs dans les six régions de Tanzanie, au prix de 0,80 € la carte. De plus, 100 000 cartes ont été commandées par le ministère de l'Agriculture du Kenya et par l'USAID en Sierra Leone.Au Cameroun, plus de 8 000 cultivateurs de cacao appartenant à la coopérative de Konye (KONACOOP) obtiennent de meilleurs prix pour leurs produits depuis qu'ils ont reçu des machines pour contrôler la teneur en humidité de la part du bureau camerounais de l'Institut international d'agriculture tropicale (IITA), en août 2014. Avant cela, les membres étaient souvent floués par des courtiers qui profitaient de l'absence de machines de contrôle pour acheter aux agriculteurs leurs produits à bas prix. Désormais, en connaissant la teneur exacte en humidité de leurs fèves de cacao, les petits exploitants peuvent exiger un meilleur prix. Les membres de KONACOOP affirment vendre une partie du cacao séché entre 1,2 et 1,5 €/kg, contre moins de 0,90 € auparavant. D'après des représentants de l'IITA, une telle assistance sera étendue à d'autres cultivateurs de cacao confrontés aux mêmes difficultés.La DryCard peut être utilisée pour contrôler la teneur en humidité de produits tels que le riz, le maïs et les légumes séchés. L'orge est cultivée par environ un million de petits exploitants sur près d'un million d'hectares, sur les plateaux d'Éthiopie. Résistantes à la sécheresse et aux températures extrêmes, les variétés traditionnelles ont un faible rendement et sont sensibles aux nuisibles et aux maladies. La demande nationale de malt pour l'industrie brassicole s'élève à 118 000 tonnes. En 2015, le pays a dépensé plus de 33 millions d'euros pour l'importation de 63 000 tonnes de malt pour son industrie brassicole, bien plus que les 52 000 tonnes que les deux malteries d'Éthiopie sont capables de produire.\"Le pays pourrait produire suffisamment d'orge brassicole pour nos brasseries et ainsi accroître les revenus des agriculteurs, mais tous les intervenants doivent collaborer\", observe le Dr Berhane Lakew, chercheur à l'Institut de recherche agricole éthiopien (EIAR).Depuis 2011, l'EIAR collabore avec quatre brasseries et l'Assela Malt Factory dans le cadre d'un partenariat public-privé visant à améliorer les variétés de semences d'orge brassicole. Une nouvelle variété mise sur le marché fin 2016 -Singitan -est résistante à la mouche des pousses, qui peut causer des pertes totales lors des courtes saisons des pluies. La variété améliorée a aussi un meilleur rendement (jusqu'à 4,1 tonnes par hectare) et présente de bonnes qualités pour la fabrication du malt. Parmi les variétés déjà mises sur le marché, HB 1963 et HB 1964, dont le rendement peut aller jusqu'à 6 tonnes par hectare, sont également excellentes pour la fabrication du malt. Elles ont une valeur ajoutée démontrée pour les agriculteurs locaux.\"En finançant la fourniture de variétés de semences améliorées, nous travaillons avec 46 000 petits exploitants de la région Amhara, qui livrent leurs récoltes à la Gondar Malt Factory\", indique Abreham Zerihun, de Dashen Breweries. \"Nous avons ainsi réduit la quantité de malt à importer et améliorons les revenus des agriculteurs.\"Dans le cadre d'un partenariat public-privé, des variétés améliorées d'orge brassicole contribuent à réduire les importations de malt et accroître les revenus des agriculteurs.Matériel de terrain sur le légionnaire d'automne DES DÉPLIANTS et des affiches conçus par des chercheurs ont été distribués à 70 000 agriculteurs et agents de vulgarisation d'Éthiopie, du Ghana, du Kenya, du Malawi, d'Ouganda et de Zambie pour les aider à identifier le légionnaire d'automne (Spodoptera frugiperda). Ce nuisible originaire d'Amérique du Sud, observé pour la première fois en Afrique au début de 2016, au Ghana, ravage les cultures de maïs sur une grande partie du continent. Le matériel de Plantwise est utilisé lors de réunions sur la santé des plantes, dans des campagnes radiophoniques et sur les médias sociaux. Objectif : conseiller l'adoption de mesures de prévention, la surveillance des cultures, le retrait des larves à la main et, si possible, la pulvérisation des pesticides.LA MACROPROPAGATION permet aux agriculteurs du Rwanda de multiplier rapidement et en grandes quantités leurs plants de bananes sains : des drageons sont sélectionnés à partir de plantesmères et les gaines foliaires sont retirées afin d'exposer le méristème (partie de la plante qui grandit), lequel est coupé en morceaux et placé dans des chambres stériles pendant 15 jours jusqu'à ce que des plantules germent. Ainsi, un drageon peut produire jusqu'à 20 plantules -au lieu d'une -qui peuvent être plantées dans le sol après deux à trois mois. Cette technique permet aux agriculteurs de cultiver des variétés améliorées, comme Injagi et Fhia 25, et compense les mauvais rendements dus à la sécheresse et aux maladies.Des variétés améliorées d'orge brassicole ont un impact positif sur les récoltes et les revenus des petits exploitants en Éthiopie.La demande croissante de pain à base de purée de patate douce à chair orange (PDCO), bénéfique pour la nutrition, aide à combattre la carence en vitamine A en Afrique.u Ghana, au Kenya et au Nigeria, les boulangers ajoutent de la purée de patate douce à chair orange (PDCO) au pain à base de blé pour améliorer sa valeur nutritionnelle. Ceci réduit également de 15 % les coûts de production grâce à une moindre utilisation des autres ingrédients importés, tels que la farine de blé et le sucre. Avec une hausse de la demande en PDCO et les prix plus élevés offerts par les boulangers et les transformateurs, les agriculteurs voient leurs revenus augmenter. Enfin, l'adoption de la PDCO, qui contient plus de bêta-carotène que les variétés à chair blanche ou jaune majoritairement cultivées en Afrique, contribue donc à renforcer la consommation de vitamine A sur une partie du continent.Avant que la patate douce ne soit utilisée en purée, en farine et en édulcorants, moins de 20 % de la production était commercialisée en Afrique subsaharienne. Au cours des trois dernières années, le Centre international de la pomme de terre (CIP) s'est employé à promouvoir la PDCO en proposant, entre autres, des formations aux boulangers du Ghana et du Nigeria. Ceux-ci ont appris à fabriquer du pain en remplaçant 40 % de la farine par de la purée de PDCO cuite à la vapeur. Fatai Ganiyu, boulanger nigérian, qui a suivi cette formation, fournit désormais du pain à base de PDCO à 20 écoles et les enfants semblent l'apprécier. Pour préparer suffisamment de pain, Ganiyu a besoin de 60 kg de PDCO toutes les deux semaines. Il s'approvisionne dans une petite exploitation près de sa boulangerie.Selon le CIP, seulement 125 g de PDCO sont requis pour répondre aux besoins quotidiens en vitamine A. Ainsi, une tranche de pain contenant 40 % de PDCO fournit 5 à 10 % de l'apport nécessaire. Le docteur Tawanda Muzhingi, spécialiste en nutrition au CIP, souligne que la patate douce offre un meilleur apport énergétique par hectare que le blé, le riz ou le manioc. Elle est également riche en fibres alimentaires (2,5-3,3 g/100 g), potassium, vitamines C et E, et elle a un indice glycémique faible.La purée de PDCO est préférable à la farine non seulement parce que sa transformation en farine réduit sa teneur en vitamine A, mais aussi parce qu'elle est plus rentable : il faut seulement 1,5 kg de PDCO pour obtenir un 1 kg de purée, contre 5 à 7 kg de patates douces fraîches pour 1 kg de farine. En 2014, des recettes de pain contenant au moins 40 % de purée de PDCO à la place de la farine de blé ont été développées à travers des partenariats entre le CIP et des chaînes de supermarchés au Kenya.Ces recettes ont stimulé la demande de PDCO et la plus grande chaîne de supermarchés d'Afrique de l'Est -Organi Limited -achète désormais des PDCO fraîches aux agriculteurs pour un prix supérieur de 10 % au prix du marché local. La chaîne transforme les tubercules et fournit chaque semaine 2 à 3 tonnes de purée à 30 boulangeries du Kenya. Celles-ci produisent plus de 2 000 pains et petits pains (400 g) à base de PDCO par semaine.L'engouement est aussi perceptible au Ghana et au Nigeria. L'augmentation de la demande de pain à base de PDCO crée ainsi un marché lucratif pour les agriculteurs, les consommateurs étant prêts à payer plus pour ses bienfaits nutritionnels et son goût. Le CIP prévoit d'élargir ce marché au Burkina Faso, à l'Éthiopie, au Malawi, au Mozambique, au Rwanda et à la Tanzanie. \"Il faut compter une demi-journée, et encore, la recette n'est pas du tout évidente puisqu'il faut toujours veiller à ce que les grains ne collent pas\", précise Dina Monra, qui tient un mini-restaurant dans la ville de Parakou, à 415 km au nord de Cotonou.Premier objectif donc, pour Fenou Foods : réduire le temps de cuisson. Leur recette comprend un procédé de précuisson à la vapeur, puis un séchage au four. La dizaine d'agents de la petite entreprise obtient ainsi des grains parfaitement détachés. En bout de chaîne, le consommateur n'aura à cuire le wassa-wassa que 15 minutes.Conditionné dans des emballages semi-transparents de 200 g, le Wassa-Wassa Tchigan est tellement aisé d'usage que les jeunes entrepreneurs ont vite conquis le marché béninois. Après un peu plus d'un an, les sachets de Wassa-Wassa Tchigan sont distribués par une dizaine de supermarchés de Cotonou et exportés dans les pays frontaliers au prix de 1 500 francs CFA (2 €). Résultat, Fenou Foods a dû faire passer sa production de 150 sachets par mois en 2016 à plus de 3 000 sachets aujourd'hui.Sur le plan nutritif, le Wassa-Wassa Tchigan n'innove pas, mais il reste un produit qui \"respecte les normes et l'hygiène alimentaire\" de l'Agence béninoise de la sécurité sanitaire des aliments, assure Azarath Ogbon, nutritionniste et directrice de production à Fenou Foods. En avril 2017, le produit a remporté le deuxième prix de la qualité décerné par l'ONG Act for Development, au Salon agroalimentaire du Bénin. Une récompense qui suffit à satisfaire les consommateurs, pas mécontents de ne plus passer des heures en cuisine. \"Mon époux et mes enfants en raffolent, mais je ne pouvais en faire que certains weekends\", explique Audrey Dossoukpè, une mère de deux filles de 7 et 12 ans. \"Maintenant je peux le leur offrir autant de fois qu'ils en ont envie et sans trop d'effort. Imaginez ! Près de 5 heures de travail avant, réduites à seulement 15 minutes mainte-nant… pour moi c'est une aubaine.\"En plus du Wassa-Wassa Tchigan, Fenou Foods produit de la farine de cossette d'igname, Telibd'or, et des épices mouluesDES RACES DE VOLAILLE dont la croissance est 150 % plus importante lors des trois premiers mois de vie et qui produisent quatre fois plus d'oeufs que les espèces locales ont été introduites en Éthiopie. Un partenariat entre l'initiative Feed the Future de l'USAID et le fournisseur de volaille EthioChicken améliore l'accès à cette source de protéines abordable et offre aux agriculteurs des opportunités de revenus. Les races améliorées sont vendues aux petits exploitants à 0,9-1,3 euro par tête, via un réseau rural d'agents de vulgarisation. Ceux-ci reçoivent d'EthioChicken des poussins âgés de quelques jours et vaccinés, qu'ils élèvent pendant 45 jours avant de les vendre aux agriculteurs. Plus de 3 millions de poussins ont été vendus à près de 330 000 petits exploitants depuis 2010, contribuant ainsi à améliorer la nutrition des familles et les revenus de la vente de poulets et d'oeufs.Le couscous séché et précuit Wassa-Wassa Tchigan, produit par l'entreprise Fenou Foods, réduit le temps de préparation du plat traditionnel de 5 heures à 15 minutes.AU NIGERIA, petits exploitants, détaillants et grossistes sont formés au traitement, au stockage, à la réfrigération et au conditionnement après récolte des fruits et légumes frais en vue de réduire les pertes postrécolte et d'améliorer la sécurité alimentaire. Les journées d'\"éducation ludique\" de ColdHubs, organisées avec des comédiens, des DJ locaux et des danseurs, sont l'occasion pour les petits exploitants d'en apprendre plus sur la qualité et la sécurité alimentaire à travers des concours, de la danse, des démonstrations sur l'altération des aliments et une courte série de conférences sur la nutrition. Ce modèle est utilisé pour démontrer l'efficacité de l'entreposage frigorifique dans la réduction des pertes nutritionnelles des aliments au fil du temps, contrairement aux denrées exposées à la lumière directe du soleil. D'après ColdHubs, ce modèle d'éducation ludique a déjà bénéficié à 3 000 personnes, dont 70 % se sont engagées à réduire les pertes après récolte.Dans les Caraïbes, la pêche artisanale joue un rôle vital en matière de sécurité alimentaire, mais est menacée par les industries maritimes. Une initiative financée par l'UE aide les pêcheurs à se faire entendre auprès des élus. ans le port de Cotonou, au Bénin, Awa Fish est incontournable sur le marché des produits de la mer congelés. L'entreprise doit son succès à sa fondatrice, Awa Codjo, et son business model innovant. L'une des clés de sa réussite : un lien étroit avec plus de 400 familles de pêcheurs, au contraire de ses concurrents qui importent leurs produits.\"Lors d'une visite au port de pêche, je me suis rendue compte que les pêcheurs étaient obligés de jeter les invendus de leur prise journalière pendant la haute saison. Cela m'a donné l'idée de stocker ces invendus, d'où la construction des chambres froides\", explique Awa Codjo. De 170 tonnes de poisson congelé par an dans les années 1990, l'entreprise a atteint aujourd'hui une capacité de 700 tonnes. Ainsi, beaucoup des 4000 pêcheurs de la côte béninoise ne sont plus obligés de vendre leurs produits au détail, parfois à perte, ni de jeter leurs invendus.En 2009, Awa Fish a reçu un prêt de 350 000 dollars dans le cadre d'un accord sur cinq ans entre le gouvernement du Bénin et la Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)une agende américaine d'aide au développement -pour l'achat de nouvelles chambres froides et le financement d'une formation à la comptabilité pour son personnel. Mieux équipé, Awa Fish s'est trouvé en position de négocier les prix auprès des détaillants. Devenue plus crédible auprès des institutions financières, l'entreprise a doublé sa ligne de crédit.Reste à faire face à l'un des principaux défis des entrepreneurs du secteur : la fourniture en électricité, peu fiable. En 2015, la MCC et le gouvernement béninois ont signé un accord -Benin Power Compact -de 375 millions de dollars afin d'augmenter la production d'électricité, en améliorer la distribution et mettre en place des réformes pour les investissements public-privé du secteur de l'énergie. Évoquant Awa Fish, le PDG de la MCC de l'époque Dana J. Hyde a déclaré : \"Une fourniture fiable en électricité signifie qu'elle ne dépendra plus de générateurs très chers pour garder ses poissons congelés lors des coupures de courant.\"L'entreprise Awa Fish figure parmi les plus importantes sur le marché des produits de la mer congelés grâce à sa proximité avec ses fournisseurs : les pêcheurs artisans. la communication et le plaidoyer des pêcheurs. Enfin, ceux-ci sont sensibilisés à l'utilité des organisations professionnelles.Parmi les bénéficiaires des subventions, l'organisation des Pêcheurs unis de Trinité-et-Tobago (TTUF) a reçu 10 000 euros. D'après son président Joslyn Lee Quay, la subvention a servi à renforcer la structure organisationnelle et développer un plan de communication pour améliorer sa gouvernance. \"Nous avons mis en oeuvre une approche orientée par un comité et divisé le pays en segments, avec des représentants locaux responsables de la mobilisation des pêcheurs. Nous avons également engagé une organisation locale pour revoir notre structure exécutive et faire des recommandations, que nous mettons en oeuvre actuellement. Parmi celles-ci, des élections régulières et l'introduction de 'sang neuf' dans l'association.\" Néanmoins, reconnaît Joslyn Lee Quay, \"l'un des défis auxquels nous avons été confrontés est la participation aux ateliers : les pêcheurs étant à leur compte, ils ont de lourdes contraintes en termes d'emploi du temps\". Près de 100 personnes de 22 organisations de pêcheurs ont participé à la formation de TTUF.TTUF a aussi pu développer ses positions de façon à influencer la prise de décision lors des réunions annuelles des ministres de l'Agriculture des Caraïbes. À Trinité-et-Tobago, TTUF utilise désormais les nouveaux médias et les réseaux sociaux pour mieux communiquer avec les décideurs politiques. \"Nous devons nous affirmer et dire aux gouvernements qu'ils leur faut agir ensemble en matière de pêche au chalut, de piraterie, d'études sismiques et de prévention des marées noires qui détruisent la vie marine et nos sources de revenus\", affirme M. Lee Quay. \"TTUF continuera à travailler avec les pêcheurs au sein de notre réseau national pour partager l'information et forger du consensus sur ces questions de gouvernance.\"Awa Fish doit son succès à sa fondatrice, Awa Codjo, et son business model innovant. L'EGF offre aux agriculteurs des formations pour améliorer leurs connaissances, leurs compétences, leurs attitudes et leurs comportements en matière de gestion financière. L'objectif est de permettre aux jeunes agriculteurs de mieux gérer les revenus générés par leurs activités agricoles.Le programme d'éducation financière comporte quatre modules -planification budgétaire, épargne, gestion des dettes et services financiers. Pour toucher un plus large public, et particulièrement les jeunes, la teneur du programme a été adaptée au format des téléphones portables, sur lesquels les agriculteurs peuvent maintenant accéder aux formations. Le contenu du programme est présenté sous forme de conseils, de questions, de réponses et d'enseignements financiers.La formation financière des femmes et des jeunes a favorisé une transition de l'agriculture de subsistance vers l'agriculture commerciale. Le domaine d'intervention de l'EGF, axé sur l'agriculture, forme les agents de terrain aux disciplines agronomiques, pour qu'ils enseignent les bonnes pratiques agricoles aux exploitants. Cela se traduit par un meilleur rendement des cultures et un accroissement des revenus, ce qui a aussi contribué à améliorer le remboursement des prêts, car les agriculteurs ont déjà été formés à la gestion des dettes.Les TIC et les services bancaires mobiles ont révolutionné les transferts de fonds et les paiements en accordant aux clients une plus grande liberté et un meilleur contrôle dans la gestion de leurs comptes. La clientèle d'Equity Bank adopte maintenant la nouvelle doctrine qui veut que \"la banque soit quelque chose que l'on fait, pas un endroit où l'on va\". C'est un phénomène intéressant pour les agriculteurs ruraux qui, jusqu'à récemment, devaient aller loin pour accéder aux services financiers. Le Dr James Mwangi, PDG de la banque kényane Equity Bank, souligne l'importance des mécanismes de financement innovants bénéficiant aux agriculteurs, y compris les services bancaires mobiles et la formation des femmes et des jeunes à la finance.La banque a encouragé les femmes entrepreneurs à s'engager dans l'agrobusiness en collaborant étroitement avec d'autres partenaires pour créer des liens avec les marchés. Elle a par exemple travaillé avec l'initiative Achats pour le progrès du Programme alimentaire mondial, avec East Africa Breweries Ltd (pour intégrer les cultivateurs de sorgho), et avec Frigoken Ltd (pour intégrer les producteurs horticoles).Equity Bank a également noué des partenariats innovants de financement pour lancer des projets axés sur l'autonomisation des femmes. Nous nous sommes par exemple associés avec GROOTS Kenya pour financer les femmes rurales qui s'engagent dans des activités d'agrobusiness. La principale composante du projet vise à renforcer la capacité commerciale de ces femmes et à faciliter leurs liens avec les marchés. Le programme cible 3 400 emmes rurales des comtés de Nakuru et Kitui. Le remboursement des prêts s'est avéré excellent dans ce projet, qui a aussi réussi à transformer les vies et moyens d'existence de ces femmes rurales, si bien que la Banque mondiale a classé GROOTS en tête des projets ayant un impact majeur.Equity Bank met aussi actuellement en oeuvre un projet appelé Programme de renforcement de la production céréalière au Kenya (KCEP), un partenariat stratégique public-privé entre le gouvernement du Kenya, l'Union européenne, le Fonds international de développement agricole et Equity Bank. Le rôle d'Equity est de fournir une plateforme de bons électroniques permettant aux agriculteurs d'acquérir des intrants auprès d'agrodistributeurs sélectionnés. Les agriculteurs reçoivent des cartes GAB constituant un portemonnaie électronique à fonctions multiples (par exemple, un portemonnaie pour les semences, les engrais, les équipements). De leur côté, les agrodistributeurs reçoivent des terminaux de points de vente (TPV) adaptés. Les agriculteurs n'ont qu'à glisser leurs cartes dans ces TPV pour acquérir divers intrants agricoles ; une fois leurs cartes introduites, toutes les transactions sont traitées en ligne et en temps réel. Près d'un demi-milliard de shillings (4,3 millions d'euros) ont été jusqu'à présent déboursés pour plus de 27 000 bénéficiaires de projets (58 % des agriculteurs bénéficiaires sont des femmes). Les agriculteurs enrôlés dans le KCEP ont aussi reçu une formation financière ; 63 % de tous les agriculteurs formés jusqu'à maintenant sont des femmes.La grande majorité des agriculteurs africains est depuis toujours exclue de l'accès aux services financiers. Les principaux financiers ont tendance à éviter de prêter au secteur agricole à cause des risques inhérents, dont la dépendance à l'agriculture pluviale, la faible utilisation des technologies modernes, les fluctuations du prix des denrées agricoles et les difficultés d'accès aux marchés. Equity Bank, en collaboration avec d'autres acteurs animés du même esprit, est à l'avant-garde de la lutte contre ces problèmes par la mise en place de produits financiers innovants réduisant les risques dans le secteur. La banque a adopté un concept de financement de la chaîne de valeur qui a réduit coûts et risques et augmenté l'efficacité globale des chaînes de valeur agricoles.La banque aide aussi les agriculteurs à atténuer les risques liés aux prix en proposant un financement sur récépissé d'entrepôt. C'est la première institution financière à appliquer ce système au Kenya. Elle propose aussi, avec l'Equity Insurance Agency, un régime d'assurance agricole abordable permettant aux agriculteurs de diminuer divers risques agricoles. Les produits tels que les assurances bétail ou récolte indexées peuvent réduire les risques du secteur par la gestion en commun des chocs systémiques touchant tous les agriculteurs à un moment donné.Les gouvernements pourraient aussi minimiser les risques agricoles en augmentant l'investissement et les mesures incitatives encourageant les petits agriculteurs à investir dans l'irrigation, les équipements et d'autres technologies de mécanisation et de modernisation de l'agriculture, et réduire la dépendanceexcessive à l'agriculture pluviale, qui rend le secteur imprévisible et risqué pour les financiers. Un investissement dans l'infrastructure rurale, par exemple dans des routes de desserte et des structures locales d'entreposage, minimiserait également les pertes subies à cause du gaspillage ou de l'altération des aliments. De nombreux gouvernements africains ont toutefois encore du mal à respecter l'objectif de la Déclaration de Maputo visant à allouer annuellement au moins 10 % de leurs budgets nationaux à l'agriculture.Dans l'esprit de ses modestes débuts dans les succursales rurales, Equity est restée fidèle à son objectif de soutenir les agriculteurs par l'intermédiation financière. Elle a, à cet effet, développé des interventions financières et des programmes de formation novateurs qui aident les petits agriculteurs à devenir des acteurs à part entière dans un système financier inclusif.L'offre des services financiers de la banque passe par un réseau régional de  La disponibilité accrue des données agricoles a, entre autres, permis la mise en place de l'assurance indexée, une solution viable aux problèmes de la gestion des risques dans un environnement évolutif. Contrairement aux assurances-indemnités traditionnelles, ce type d'assurance n'estime pas les dédommagements en fonction des pertes de rendement individuelles ou du coût des dommages et de la santé dans les élevages. Les indemnités sont calculées selon un indice de valeurs lié aux variables qui affectent la productivité agricole, telles que les précipitations sur une certaine durée ou l'état de la végétation dans une région.Pour créer ces indices, les assureurs doivent avoir accès à des données agricoles précises en temps opportun. Et c'est là qu'interviennent les entreprises comme aWhere qui, chaque jour, collecte plus de sept milliards de données dans le monde entier, y compris des informations météorologiques localisées en temps réel et des données agronomiques de terrain pour toute la chaîne de valeur agricole. Grâce à un partenariat avec le projet de Services d'information ICT4Ag axés vers le marché et appartenant aux utilisateurs (MUIIS) du CTA, les données d'aWhere sont utilisées pour offrir aux petits agriculteurs ougandais des assurances-récoltes intégrant alertes météorologiques et conseils agronomiques. Pour John Corbett, cofondateur d'aWhere, \"la clé, pour mettre en place des services d'information durables, est de résoudre les problèmes en offrant › Les données agricoles pertinentes sont utilisées pour créer des index météorologiques pour les remboursements d'assurance.› simultanément des services utiles\".Toutefois, souligne-t-il, la réussite du projet dépend de l'investissement engagé pour former le marché aux avantages de l'assurance. Une initiative axée sur l'amélioration de l'accessibilité et de l'utilisation de l'information climatique au niveau local et national, Enhancing National Climate Services (ENACTS), fournit les données nécessaires à la mise en place d'assurances indexées pour les petits agriculteurs éthiopiens. Les experts d'ENACTS améliorent l'accessibilité des données climatiques en associant les données issues des réseaux pluviométriques nationaux et des estimations satellitaires des précipitations, des cartes altimétriques et des produits de réanalyse des températures. Ces données sont ensuite proposées en ligne sur le site d'ENACTS sous forme de séries de cartes (Maproom). Les assureurs les utilisent pour comparer les mesures relevées par les agriculteurs sur des pluviomètres manuels avec les données de surveillance des précipitations d'ENACTS afin d'évaluer la justesse des indemnités d'assurance. Cette comparaison a été utilisée dans des centaines de villages d'Éthiopie par le système d'assurance R4 Rural Resilience.En Zambie, un partenariat collaboratif entre secteur privé, organismes gouvernementaux et organisations à but non lucratif, encadré par la société sans but lucratif Musika, a réussi à assurer plus de 60 000 ménages agricoles contre la sécheresse et les événements météorologiques défavorables durant la saison 2015/16. Selon Agrotosh Mookerjee, un actuaire-conseil en micro-assurance engagé dans le projet, \"nous avons atteint le moment décisif et passionnant où nous avons réussi à élargir durablement l'assurance agricole à des dizaines de milliers d'agriculteurs et à offrir un produit novateur pour gérer les risques de base et maximiser le service à la clientèle, tout en restant commercialement viable pour les assureurs et réassureurs\".Le cas des petits agriculteurs ghanéens recevant de WorldCover des indemnités activées automatiquement par les satellites surveillant les précipitations est un autre exemple de réussite. L'entreprise privée promet aux investisseurs un modèle transparent qui limite les risques de dégradation et offre les rendements attendus. Ce niveau de protection contre les catastrophes naturelles et phénomènes climatiques réduit les risques du crédit aux agriculteurs, ce qui encourage Pour encourager les agriculteurs d'Afrique orientale à adopter les services d'assurance sécheresse et les semences tolérantes à la sécheresse, un projet géré par le CGIAR associe en une seule offre deux outils intelligents sur le plan climatique. Bien que les germoplasmes adaptés au changement climatique soient de plus en plus disponibles, Jon Hellin, chercheur au Centre international d'amélioration du maïs et du blé (CIMMYT), regrette que \"les menaces comme la sécheresse -la raison même pour laquelle il faut adopter des variétés de cultures adaptées au changement climatique -représentent un énorme risque qui fait hésiter les agriculteurs à investir dans de nouvelles technologies, telles que les semences tolérantes à la sécheresse\". Toutefois, ajoute-t-il, \"l'association des semences avec un outil d'atténuation des risques tel que l'assurance indexée ouvre de fantastiques opportunités d'augmenter le nombre d'agriculteurs utilisant les technologies et pratiques d'agriculture intelligente face au climat\". Automatiquement indemnisés par les assureurs si les précipitations n'atteignent pas un seuil convenu, les petits agriculteurs investissent plus volontiers pour améliorer leur résilience face au changement climatique. Le projet associe donc agriculteurs, assureurs, réassureurs et semenciers pour développer des produits appropriés d'assurance indexée à combiner avec des germoplasmes adaptés au changement climatique. Le CIMMYT, par le biais d'un partenariat avec le projet d'élargissement de l'utilisation des semences améliorées Maïs pour l'Afrique résistant à la sécheresse et avec ACRE (Agriculture and Climate Risk Enterprise), étudie les possibilités d'incorporation de semences de maïs tolérantes à la sécheresse à une garantie de replantation offerte par ACRE aux agriculteurs. Pour déclencher l'application de la garantie de replantation, les agriculteurs doivent, au moment de la plantation, envoyer par SMS un code indiqué dans chaque sac de semences de maïs. Leur exploitation sera alors surveillée par imagerie satellite pendant 21 jours. Si l'indice de sécheresse est déclenché pendant cette période, les agriculteurs seront indemnisés afin de pouvoir acheter un nouveau sac de semences. La prime d'assurance pour cette couverture est intégrée au prix des semences de maïs, ce qui évite des frais supplémentaires aux petits agriculteurs. ACRE propose aussi des services d'assurance pour les intrants, les récoltes et les animaux d'élevage à 800 000 petits agriculteurs d'Afrique orientale. Ils devraient être trois millions d'ici 2018. En collaborant avec le plus important fournisseur d'assurance indexée du monde en développement, le CIMMYT vise à fournir, d'ici 2019, des services regroupés à 400 000 agriculteurs des zones d'Afrique orientale sujettes à la sécheresse. Tout commence avec l'agriculteur. Des petits exploitants aux producteurs commerciaux, l'éducation et la sensibilisation des agriculteurs à l'utilisation des services d'information sont la clé. Lorsque les agriculteurs comprendront comment la \"science agricole\" améliorera leurs profits, ils tireront parti des technologies pour résoudre réellement leurs problèmes. Il faut renforcer la chaîne de valeur agricole afin que les agriculteurs puissent disposer des intrants nécessaires au moment où ils en ont besoin, mais aussi pour informer les marchés de la disponibilité des produits avec des précisions sur le lieu et la date de leur récolte. Seule une information améliorée peut atténuer l'impact des variations météorologiques dans l'ensemble de la chaîne de valeur agricole.Je pense qu'il y a deux obstacles majeurs à l'utilisation efficace et durable des programmes d'assurances indexées. D'abord, le client (cultivateur ou éleveur) doit comprendre et être convaincu que les données utilisées par l'assureur reflètent équitablement les risques et coûts. C'est un problème majeur de communication et d'éducation. Deuxièmement, l'assureur est confronté à la tâche quasi impossible de calculer ce risque parce que le réchauffement de l'atmosphère entraîne une variabilité climatique qui s'est révélée beaucoup plus percutante dans le passé proche (à peu près ces cinq dernières années) qu'au cours du passé \"statistique\" (ces derniers 30 ans). Ma crainte est que les assureurs soient beaucoup plus exposés à des pertes qu'ils ne le pensent parce que la fréquence des impacts météorologiques sur l'agriculture semble certainement beaucoup plus élevée maintenant qu'il y a seulement dix ans. Ces pertes poseront problème lorsque les assureurs ne généreront pas suffisamment de bénéfices pour assurer leur durabilité. Néanmoins, cette assurance pourrait constituer un modèle commercialement viable si elle était regroupée de manière cohérente avec d'autres services financiers, tels que des crédits et des services d'information, pour équilibrer risques et coûts. La difficulté consiste à bien estimer toute l'étendue des risques.Pour toutes les techniques de collecte et diffusion des données et informations dans les zones éloignées, il faut appréhender les chaînes de valeur agricoles avec une solution globale qui s'adresse à tous les principaux acteurs d'une chaîne de valeur spécifique. Autrement dit, c'est très bien de fournir aux agriculteurs des informations sur la production -cela améliorera leurs rendements et profits -mais cette approche ne sera pas durable si les fournisseurs d'intrants et les marchés ne reçoivent pas les mêmes données agrégées. Par exemple, il est possible grâce à la science appliquée d'augmenter les rendements du manioc, mais il doit y avoir un marché pour que cette production augmentée devienne durable, faute de quoi la récolte pourrira ! Les marchés et les responsables des chaînes d'approvisionnement, comme les fournisseurs d'intrants, doivent savoir comment la production évolue dans les exploitations afin de pouvoir répondre aux besoins des agriculteurs. Il faut donc renforcer les chaînes de valeur de concert -sinon elles se briseront !Stephanie Lynch John Corbett (PhD) est cofondateur et responsable des sciences de l'entreprise aWhere.es dernières années, la plus grosse entreprise de services de télécommunications du Zimbabwe, Econet Wireless, a révolutionné les services de téléphonie mobile dans le pays en parvenant à plus de 97 % de pénétration du téléphone portable. Mais la révolution ne s'arrête pas là. Pour les agriculteurs, en plus de l'accès à Internet et à des solutions de paiement mobile, l'entreprise propose des abonnements à la plateforme mobile EcoFarmer, qui leur offre divers services, dont une assurance contre les intempéries, par le biais de SMS et de messages vocaux envoyés sur leur portable. La plateforme est spécifiquement conçue pour être accessible par les téléphones portables les plus simples afin que les clients les moins aisés puissent accéder aux services et les recevoir.La plateforme EcoFarmer, créée il y a plus de trois ans, propose des micro-assurances innovantes permettant aux agriculteurs d'assurer cultures et intrants contre les intempéries comme les sécheresses ou les précipitations excessives. Par exemple, Econet s'est associé avec l'Union des agriculteurs du Zimbabwe (ZFU) -qui représente plus d'un million de ménages agricoles -pour offrir \"ZFU-EcoFarmer Combo\". Pour un abonnement mensuel de 0,89 €, les agriculteurs membres de la ZFU reçoivent une formation aux bonnes pratiques agricoles, une assurance obsèques individuelle EcoSure (les personnes à charge peuvent être ajoutées moyennant un coût supplémentaire), des conseils pour la production de maïs ou l'élevage du bétail et une assurance indexée contre les intempéries qui couvre une mauvaise récolte de maïs pour une saison.Busani BafanaElizabeth Tshuma, une productrice horticole et éleveuse de 67 ans basée près de la ville de Bulawayo, est abonnée à ZFU-EcoFarmer Combo. \"J'ai par le passé eu des soucis avec la perte d'un membre de ma famille et le coût de ses obsèques. Mon abonnement à ZFU-EcoFarmer Combo a résolu ce problème\", déclare-t-elle. \"L'assurance pour mes cultures est idéale, surtout avec la sécheresse de 2016 et l'excès de précipitations cette année\", ajoute-t-elle. Cette agricultrice -qui élève aussi des bovins et des chèvres, ainsi que des poules autochtones -explique que grâce au service d'EcoFarmer \"Dial-a-Mudhumeni\" (agent de vulgarisation), fourni en collaboration avec le ministère de l'Agriculture, elle peut appeler gratuitement pour obtenir en temps opportun des informations et conseils pour ses cultures et animaux.  Le projet Climate Risk Adaptation and Insurance in the Caribbean (Assurance et adaptation au risque climatique dans les Caraïbes), lancé en 2011 par l'Initiative de Munich sur l'assurance climatique (MCII), cible les personnes à faibles revenus exposées à des risques liés à la météorologie. Financé à hauteur de 4,6 millions d'euros, dans le cadre de l'Initiative internationale pour le climat, par le ministère fédéral allemand de l'Environnement, de la Protection de la nature, de la Construction et de la Sûreté nucléaire, le projet a permis la création de deux produits d'assurance contre les risques climatiques : l'un pour la protection des moyens d'existence (LPP), à portée individuelle, et l'autre pour la couverture des portefeuilles de prêts (LPC), destiné aux institutions financières.La LPP est une police d'assurance paramétrique basée sur un indice climatique, qui garantit le versement rapide d'indemnités aux assurés lorsque certains seuils sont dépassés pour les vents et/ou les précipitations. Ceci aide les personnes vulnérables à reconstruire leurs vies au lendemain des catastrophes naturelles. En outre, la couverture d'assurance réduit le risque de crédit des assurés, ce qui améliore leurs possibilités d'accès à des services financiers. Pour convaincre les personnes les plus menacées de souscrire ces polices, le projet vise à susciter l'engagement des communautés vulnérables par ses activités de sensibilisation et vulgarisation.La LPC est conçue pour contribuer à stabiliser les institutions financières après les événements climatiques extrêmes en protégeant leurs fonds propres contre les chocs financiers qu'ils déclenchent. Le niveau de sécurité apporté par cette couverture des risques aide à prévenir tout recul à long terme de l'activité économique. La LPC peut par conséquent améliorer l'accès des personnes à faibles revenus à des prêts et services financiers abordables. Avec un meilleur accès au crédit, associé à la garantie d'une indemnité d'assurance en cas d'événement météorologique grave, les assurés peuvent investir dans des actifs qui augmenteront leur productivité.La protection contre les risques offerte par ces deux produits d'assurance contribue donc à stimuler la croissance économique, malgré la fréquence accrue des catastrophes naturelles, en créant des emplois et en développant les marchés et les chaînes de valeur des Caraïbes.En stimulant le développement économique dans les secteurs sensibles au changement climatique, le projet Climate Risk Adaptation and Insurance in the Caribbean de la MCII -mis en oeuvre par le biais de la Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) et d'autres partenaires -a pour ultime objectif d'améliorer la résilience des communautés touchées par le changement climatique dans les Caraïbes.En mai 2017, 10 des 14 paroisses jamaïcaines ont été inondées suite à de très fortes précipitations et d'énormes glissements de terrain. D'après les services météorologiques de la Jamaïque, les précipitations sur l'île ont atteint un niveau sans précédent. L'Organisation météorologique mondiale a enregistré 63 mm de pluie à l'aéroport international Norman Manley de Kingston les 15 et 16 mai et 92,6 mm à Des évènements météorologiques extrêmes de plus en plus intenses, comme les ouragans, provoquent des inondations et des dévastations dans les Caraïbes.Les remboursements de l'assurance, dans le cas d'un événement météorologique extrême, varient entre 67 € et 3 337 € › l'aéroport international Sangster de Montego Bay les 17 et 18 mai -contre généralement 100 mm sur douze jours en mai. Le secteur agricole de l'île a été gravement frappé par ces fortes pluies, avec des dommages estimés à 5,3 millions d'euros. Environ 10 000 agriculteurs ont été touchés. \"Il y a eu des pluies très, très fortes et soutenues pendant des jours, qui ont sursaturé les sols\", explique Bobby Pottinger, qui cultive depuis 50 ans des bananes et des noix de coco sur sa ferme de 44 hectares à Highgate, paroisse Sainte-Marie, dans le nord-est du pays. \"Quand les sols sont sursaturés et que les vents soufflent, cela renverse les bananiers, et j'ai perdu beaucoup de fruits qui étaient presque prêts à récolter.\" Avec les indemnités de la LPP, M. Pottinger a pu rapidement surmonter les dommages causés par les fortes précipitations. Auparavant, explique-t-il, les agriculteurs comme lui dépendaient de la caisse d'assurance de l'industrie bananière pour se protéger de tels phénomènes météorologiques. Mais les fonds ont été épuisés après environ huit gros ouragans et de nombreuses tempêtes. M. Pottinger voit donc d'un oeil positif le projet Climate Risk Adaptation and Insurance in the Caribbean \"parce qu'il n'y a rien eu pendant longtemps pour combler cette absence de solutions\". Il ajoute : \"Je siège aussi au conseil de l'industrie de la noix de coco et je pousse également ses membres à souscrire ce type d'assurance.\"Sainte-Lucie est de même exposée aux événements météorologiques extrêmes liés au changement climatique. En 2016, l'agriculture de l'île a souffert des inondations et des glissements de terrain déclenchés par l'ouragan Matthew. Dans le sud de Sainte-Lucie, Cutis Fontenelle, producteur et exportateur de bananes et de plantains, a ainsi perdu 100 % de ses récoltes. C'était la troisième fois depuis qu'il a commencé à cultiver. \"Il peut être très difficile de rebondir après les catastrophes naturelles\", dit-il. \"En général nous sommes anéantis.\" Évoquant le projet Climate Risk Adaptation and Insurance, M. Fontenelle, qui a été indemnisé pour ses pertes agricoles, explique : \"C'est l'une des meilleures choses qui soient arrivées, en particulier pour les agriculteurs. Sans hésiter, je recommande à tout le monde de profiter de cette assurance.\"Le projet Climate Risk Adaptation and Insurance s'efforce, avec plusieurs organismes nationaux de gestion des catastrophes, d'harmoniser au mieux les flux d'informations qui parviennent aux assureurs locaux, pour que les assurés puissent recevoir des alertes précoces à l'approche d'événements climatiques extrêmes. Informés à temps, les assurés peuvent ainsi gérer et atténuer les risques de manière proactive en mettant en oeuvre les mesures nécessaires de protection de leurs moyens de subsistance. À cet effet, le projet a organisé des ateliers facilitant le dialogue entre les assureurs locaux, les organismes nationaux de gestion des catastrophes et les organisations régionales de gestion des urgences et catastrophes.Ces ateliers avaient pour objectif de renforcer la transparence et la confiance entre les différentes organisations participant au projet, afin de favoriser la prestation des services nécessaires aux assurés. Les institutions et les individus seront ainsi plus enclins à investir en nombre dans les produits d'assurance -de 300 clients payants en Jamaïque, on devrait passer à 3 000 d'ici un an. Les ateliers visaient aussi à favoriser la participation des ministères caribéens en charge du changement climatique et du développement durable, ainsi que des autorités locales, afin qu'ils parviennent à un consensus soutenant l'assurance climatique indicielle et qu'ils aident le projet Climate Risk Adaptation and Insurance à se développer dans la région.Les agriculteurs et les individus à faibles revenus couverts par la LPP sont assurés pour toutes les pertes de revenus dues aux pluies abondantes ou aux vents forts. Les primes sont fixées selon la couverture souhaitée par les assurés et peuvent être réglées de façon hebdomadaire, mensuelle ou annuelle. Un indice de déclenchement, correspondant au volume de précipitations ou à la vitesse du vent qui doivent être atteints pour que les assurés reçoivent une indemnisation, est défini à l'avance. Les quatre niveaux indiciels sont déterminés par une analyse rigoureuse des données historiques de vents et précipitations dans la région. Le projet Climate Risk Adaptation and Insurance in the Caribbean collabore avec une organisation, DHI, pour surveiller les événements météorologiques extrêmes via les données satellitaires communiquées en permanence aux assureurs locaux. Lorsqu'un seuil d'événement météorologique extrême est dépassé, les assurés reçoivent un SMS des assureurs, qui leur précise le niveau de seuil atteint et le montant de leur indemnité -de 67 à 3 337 euros. Avec ce système, les assurés n'ont pas besoin de remplir une déclaration pour être indemnisés. Les remboursements d'assurance sont automatiquement déposés sur leurs comptes dans les 30 jours suivant l'événement climatique. Ce processus évite aussi aux assureurs les longues et coûteuses visites de vérification des réclamations. Les assurés reçoivent simplement un SMS les prévenant quand la transaction a été effectuée. La simplicité et la rapidité des paiements contribuent aussi à soulager la pression financière exercée par les conséquences des événements climatiques graves sur les agriculteurs et les individus à faibles revenus. Les montants versés par les assureurs sont calculés en pourcentage de la valeur de couverture achetée par l'assuré. Dans tous les cas, plus l'événement climatique est extrême, plus les versements sont élevés.Il y a actuellement 300 assurés payant leurs cotisations en Jamaïque. D'ici un an, ils devraient être 3 000. Économie \" Les petits pêcheurs de l'océan Indien retrouvent lentement mais sûrement leur place au soleil\", affirme Dorothée Ravomanana, représentante régionale de Smartfish, un programme de la Commission de l'océan Indien (COI) financé par l'Union européenne, visant à développer la pêche en Afrique. Une déclaration rassurante à propos d'acteurs longtemps marginalisés. La pêche est pourtant l'une des ressources renouvelables les plus importantes dont disposent les pays de l'océan Indien. Le secteur constitue aussi un important apport de protéines animales pour les populations de la région.D'après la FAO, en 2010, la production cumulée de la pêche pour les pays membres de la COI atteignait 280 000 tonnes. De plus, le secteur génère plus de 130 000 emplois directs dans l'océan Indien et contribue à la subsistance de millions de personnes. En 2016, d'après les données nationales de Smartfish, il représentait 6,7 % du PIB à Madagascar, 10 % aux Comores, plus de 9 % aux Seychelles et 1 % à Maurice.Les petits pêcheurs assurent une importante partie de la production halieutique de l'océan Indien. À Madagascar, 60 % de la valeur ajoutée du secteur (pêche, transport, transformation…) provient de la petite pêche, qui comprendLes petits pêcheurs se font entendre Les petits pêcheurs connaissent en effet des conditions de vie et de travail précaires. Ils produisent beaucoup avec peu de moyens. Par exemple, parmi les 85 000 pêcheurs malgaches, seule une dizaine d'entre eux dispose d'une vedette motorisée. La sécurité en mer et les moyens de conservation des produits de la pêche sont quasi inexistants.Enfin, les petits pêcheurs n'ont pas accès au financement, pour renouveler leur matériel. \"Les bailleurs de fonds éprouvent des difficultés à prendre des décisions convenables, car la voix des petits pêcheurs n'est pas suffisamment représentée\", regrette Andriamanana Hajaniaina, chef du service de la statistique au ministère de la Pêche.Conscients de leur rôle prépondérant dans l'économie et de la nécessité de se rassembler, les petits pêcheurs de l'océan Indien ont créé, en octobre 2015, la Fédération des pêcheurs artisans de l'océan Indien (FPAOI) avec l'appui du programme Smartfish de la COI. À travers la FPAOI, les pêcheurs ont été formés au séchage et fumage du poisson, à la gouvernance des zones de pêche. Ils ont aussi pu partager leur expérience avec des artisans d'autres régions de l'océan Indien.En 2016, la Fédération a intégré, en tant qu'observateur, la CTOI (Commission thonière de l'océan Indien), une organisation intergouvernementale en charge du suivi et de la gestion des activités thonières dans le Sud-Ouest de l'océan Indien. \"Cela justifie sa légitimité et, du coup, leur voix est entendue par les partenaires\", fait valoir l'ancien secrétaire général de la FPAOI, Lala Ranaivomanana.Sur le terrain, le groupement des armateurs TAZARA, membre malgache de la FPAOI, adhère à l'esprit collaboratif de la Fédération en travaillant de près avec les pêcheurs traditionnels locaux. En effet, afin de préserver la qualité des prises, TAZARA partage son unité de chambre froide avec les pêcheurs traditionnels, ces derniers ne disposant d'aucune infrastructure de conservation.Aux Seychelles, des pêcheurs artisans ont obtenu que les différents acteurs de la chaîne de valeur collaborent afin de promouvoir une pêche durable. Cette coopération avec l'Autorité des pêches des Seychelles, le bureau des normes, les hôtels et les consommateurs a débouché sur le lancement du programme \"Label Seychelles\". Grâce à ce label, les consommateurs ont davantage confiance en la qualité des produits et les pêcheurs obtiennent de meilleurs prix de vente.\"Ce label permet d'augmenter la valeur ajoutée de la filière. La technique de pêche est sélective et vise des espèces spécifiques\", explique Beatty Hoarau, ancien président de l'Association des pêcheurs et armateurs des Seychelles (FBOA). Tous les acteurs sont soumis à un code de conduite respectant la qualité et la fraîcheur, la traçabilité, la durabilité des ressources et le respect de l'environnement.À Madagascar, les petits pêcheurs deviennent des acteurs majeurs du secteur depuis que le code de la pêche leur a donné, en février 2016, plein pouvoir pour la gestion des ressources halieutiques, laquelle n'est plus l'apanage de l'État. Par ailleurs, le code de la pêche ainsi amendé et le plan d'aménagement de la pêche encouragent l'implication des organismes non gouvernementaux. Le mode d'exploitation des aires marines et les disciplines y afférentes sont confiés aux VOI (Vondrona lona Ifotony), des communautés locales de pêcheurs qui se sont associées en groupement formel pour prendre en main la gestion des ressources halieutiques. Résultat, le stock de poissons est bien géré, l'environnement protégé, la production augmentée. De leur côté, des ONG forment les pêcheurs et les aident à accéder à des financements pour le renouvellement de leur matériel, tandis que l'État est en charge du suivi et du contrôle des activités.À Maurice, il fut un temps où les relations entre pêcheurs et autorités n'étaient pas au beau fixe : en 2012, une coalition constituée autour du syndicat de pêcheurs à la palangrotte et de l'association Rezistans ek Alternativ avait protesté contre un accord bilatéral entre le gouvernement et l'UE, autorisant 86 navires thoniers senneurs à draguer les eaux territoriales mauriciennes.Reste que la majeure partie des petits pêcheurs est encore peu armée pour se défendre : à Madagascar, plus de 75 % d'entre eux ont à peine un niveau scolaire primaire. Le directeur général de la pêche de Madagascar, Roginah Rafidison, nuance : \"Outre la volonté politique, le problème est plus d'ordre économique que technique. Mais une fois la petite pêcherie consolidée, il conviendra de renforcer les collecteurs exportateurs professionnels en vue de booster la filière.\"Formée en 1993, la Commission des thons de l'océan Indien (CTOI) encourage ses 32 membres, dont une majorité d'États, à coopérer pour une utilisation optimale des stocks de thons dans la partie Sud-Ouest de l'océan Indien. Environ 740 000 tonnes de thon océanique, d'une valeur de 2 à 3 milliards d'euros, sont exploitées tous les ans dans cette zone. Sur les 16 motions présentées lors de la 21 e session de la CTOI, en Indonésie en mai 2016, huit \"mesures de conservation et de gestion\" ont été approuvées, y compris deux soumises par les Seychelles. \"Nous avons demandé d'interdire le rejet des produits de la pêche dans l'océan, suggérant que ces poissons soient apportés sur la côte et utilisés pour l'export ou la transformation\", a expliqué le ministre de l'Agriculture et de la Pêche des Seychelles, Michael Benstrong. La CTOI a approuvé la réduction des permis de pêche du thon jaune de 15 % pour lutter contre la surpêche. Parmi les mesures présentées : un accord pour établir une liste des bateaux supposés avoir effectué des pêches illégales, non signalées ou non régulées, et la suppression de l'usage de filets dérivants. Depuis les pickles jusqu'aux sauces épicées, les industries agroalimentaires régionales de condiments investissent dans la certification et la normalisation pour pénétrer durablement les marchés internationaux de produits ethniques et gastronomiques en plein développement.© BARON FOODS LTD.Baron Foods transforme plus de 150 produits, y compris des épices, des sauces gourmet, des vinaigrettes et des assaisonnements. Kati Farms, une entreprise ougandaise, transforme et commercialise des produits de niche à valeur ajoutée à base de poisson d'élevage fourni par plus de 1 000 pisciculteurs.James Karuga 7 00 euros. C'est avec cette mise de départ que Lovin Kobusingye a créé, en 2011, Kati Farms, dans la banlieue de Kampala, en Ouganda. Son objectif : réduire le gaspillage en transformant le poisson d'élevage en des produits à valeur ajoutée. Six ans plus tard, la valeur de l'entreprise est estimée à 350 000 €.Le produit phare de Kati Farms est la saucisse de poisson. Son catalogue propose aussi de la poudre de poisson, des filets, des longes, de l'huile, des samossas, du poisson séché et du poisson salé séché au soleil, ainsi que de la farine de poisson pour animaux. \"Tout le poisson est utilisé dans la production\", explique Mme Kobusingye. \"Rien ne se perd, pas même les nageoires.\"Le premier lot de poissons transformés par Kati Farms a été fourni à crédit par des pisciculteurs. La production initiale était de 100 kg de saucisses par jour.Actuellement, plus de 1 000 pisciculteurs de tout l'Ouganda fournissent à l'entreprise 15 000 kg de poisson par mois, du tilapia et du poisson-chat. Kati Farms vend ensuite 7 à 10 tonnes de produits à valeur ajoutée à base de poisson à environ 60 à 80 clients, dont des supermarchés, des restaurants et des vendeurs de rue.Kati Farms transforme du poisson d'élevage en une série de produits à valeur ajoutée, dont des saucisses de poisson. Kati Farms emploie 38 personnes, dont 28 femmes, mais 500 autres bénéficient indirectement d'un emploi, comme les livreurs et les vendeurs de rue. Pour élargir sa distribution, Kati Farms prévoit d'ouvrir davantage de points de vente en Afrique de l'Est pour un accès direct aux consommateurs. Une première filiale ouvrira ses portes en septembre 2017 à Nairobi, au Kenya. Avec une demande pour de tels produits en hausse dans la région, Kati Farms envisage de collaborer avec 2 000 pisciculteurs.Selon Mme Kobusingye, le meilleur moyen d'avoir une entreprise florissante en Afrique est de travailler avec les ressources disponibles localement. \"J'ai exploité de manière innovante ce qui existait déjà afin de trouver des solutions pour les Ougandais, avec au départ des produits ougandais.\" En mars 2017, le Malawi a vu l'ouverture de sa première usine de transformation de margarine et graisse de cuisson à Kanengo (Lilongwe), qui produira une margarine à longue durée de conservation -Sunspread -ne devant pas être stockée au frigo. Les propriétaires de l'usine -Sunseed Oil Limited -ont bénéficié d'une subvention du MICF. Le projet devrait permettre de valoriser la production de tournesol (14 000 tonnes de graines seront nécessaires chaque année), élargissant ainsi l'accès au marché pour plus de 10 000 petits exploitants ruraux. AACE Food Processing and Distribution Ltd (AACE Foods) est une entreprise privée à but lucratif qui a obtenu un financement de 408 000 euros de l'AECF en janvier 2013. Fondée en 2009, l'entreprise sociale s'approvisionne en céréales, aromates et légumes auprès de petits exploitants nigérians en vue de produire des épices, produits à tartiner et sauces. Avec le financement de l'AECF, AACE Foods a pu couvrir une partie des coûts liés au développement de la start-up et du groupe d'agriculteurs, à la formation et à l'innovation de nouveaux produits. \"Il n'a pas été aisé de développer une chaîne d'approvisionnement locale et de changer les mentalités en ce qui concerne les produits fabriqués localement. Nous sommes néanmoins parvenus à surmonter nombre de ces défis grâce au soutien de partenaires de développement comme l'AECF\", explique Juliet Fejiro, d'AACE Foods.En Afrique, les fonds d'appui aux entreprises offrent des subventions aux entreprises agroalimentaires innovantes ayant un impact positif sur la pauvreté en milieu rural.La margarine à longue durée de conservation Sunspread, qui n'a pas besoin d'être placée au froid, est produite au Malawi par Sunseed Oil Limited -un bénéficiaire du Malawi Innovation Challenge Fund.Le poids des métropoles dans tous les pays africains est considérable, mais, depuis quelques décennies, on assiste à l'essor d'une urbanisation par le bas, avec la multiplication du nombre de petites villes. Celles-ci sont souvent très proches des campagnes : les populations rurales peuvent s'y rendre assez facilement et faire un aller-retour dans la journée, ce qui facilite la commercialisation des produits agricoles, permet d'acheter des biens issus de la mondialisation ou de recharger son téléphone portable. Les mentalités sont peu à peu profondément transformées.Depuis En Afrique, il y a très peu de grandes enquêtes budget-consommation qui permettent de répondre à la question. Mais on a des indicateurs.Lors de la grave crise du cacao dans les années 1987 à 1990, les revenus des producteurs ont chuté et les agriculteurs, notamment les femmes, ont été sauvés par la vente de produits vivriers. Plus récemment, lors de la grande crise alimentaire en 2007-2008, vous avez eu des mouvements contre la vie chère à Abidjan. Mais dans certaines petites villes du Sud, la crise a été résolue par la consommation de produits locaux, comme la banane plantain développée par les agriculteurs proches des villes.Au Sénégal où il ne pleut pas assez pour la banane, des agriculteurs dans l'Est et le Sud, deux régions plutôt marginales, ont développé la culture irriguée de la banane dessert et en retirent des revenus, bouleversant de ce fait les systèmes de culture. Quand le vivrier devient culture commercialeJean-Louis Chaléard, professeur émérite à l'Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, s'intéresse au milieu rural, en Afrique de l'Ouest et en Amérique andine, dans les contextes actuels de métropolisation et de mondialisation.Autour de Dakar et d'Abidjan, mais aussi de Nairobi, c'est plutôt bien vécu, contrairement à ce qu'on pourrait penser. Les agriculteurs sont assez contents de voir arriver la ville qui leur apporte l'eau, l'électricité, des routes… Un certain confort. Dans la famille, certains pourront avoir des emplois urbains permettant de diversifier les ressources des ménages.Des agriculteurs développent aussi des cultures intensives en périphérie des villes pour profiter des marchés urbains et rentabiliser l'hectare devenu cher. Il s'agit de cultures maraîchères, d'éle-vages de porc, de volaille, entre autres. Mais le périurbain grignote la terre… Effectivement, en périphérie des villes, les agriculteurs sont plus ou moins exclus de la production agricole par la transformation de leurs champs en terre à bâtir. Mais dans certains cas, des autochtones se transforment en véritables promoteurs immobiliers. Ils vendent la terre car, s'ils ne la vendent pas, ils risquent de la perdre face à l'avancée de la ville et, en plus, cela leur rapporte de l'argent. Souvent, ce sont des chefs de terre coutumiers ou des chefs de lignage qui contrôlent le foncier et en tirent bénéfice. Le problème est que tous les villageois n'en profitent pas également.La décentralisation à la hauteur des enjeux ? En Afrique, face à l'importance que revêt aujourd'hui l'essor des villes secondaires pour le monde agricole rural ou périurbain, il convient de s'intéresser aux processus de décentralisation per se. Dans son ouvrage, Brice Arsène Mankou dénonce des incohérences. Au Gabon, pour réaliser un projet d'intérêt commun comme un marché, un maire doit en faire la demande au ministre de l'Habitat comme le ferait un simple particulier. Au Cameroun, on note l'inertie des autorités locales face au développement de \"constructions irrégulières\" de poulaillers ou de porcheries en ville. Et pour cause : les nouvelles configurations sont multiples. Ainsi, en Afrique, on ne constate guère de relation entre taux d'urbanisation et dépendance alimentaire car les migrants en ville modifient leurs habitudes alimentaires, souvent à partir de produits locaux, opérant des \"recompositions culinaires\". De même, la croissance urbaine permet de développer le \"vivrier marchand\" en périphérie urbaine alors que, plus loin, on associe les cultures d'exportation aux cultures vivrières, avec une nouvelle répartition des activités entre l'homme et la femme. L'agriculteur africain s'adapte bien aux nouvelles demandes du citadin en fruits, légumes frais, viande, produits bio, car on assiste souvent à une \"urbanisation par le bas, avec la transformation progressive des villages en petites villes\". Dans L'électrification rurale de l'Afrique sub saharienne, Bernard Duhamel explique comment, en 2009, des panneaux solaires ont fait leur apparition près de Nselo, dans le district de Lukaya au sudouest de Kinshasa, la capitale de la RDC, révolutionnant la vie des paysans. Des kits solaires ont été achetés et, en moins d'un an, 52 villages se sont équipés. De petits moulins ont été installés, facilitant le travail du manioc et du maïs ; des cuisinières électriques ont remplacé le bois de chauffe. Grâce à l'accès à l'électricité, \"les jeunes souvent attirés par la ville ont à présent de quoi se divertir\", note l'auteur.Comment développer ces énergies renouvelables ? \"Si la microfinance peut venir en appui au déploiement de kits solaires individuels, les solutions solaires à plus large échelle sont freinées par l'importance du financement initial des installations, bien que les coûts d'exploitation soient par la suite réduits\", estiment Jean-Michel Huet et Aurélien Boiteau, de BearingPoint, dans le numéro hors-série de Proparco. Catherine Boone, professeure de politique comparée à la London School of Economics and Political Science, s'appuie sur cinq scénarios de conflits fonciers entre petits exploitants en Afrique qui se distinguent par une forte immigration, une forte concurrence pour la terre, l'exercice d'arbitrages fonciers par les chefs coutumiers ou par l'État, l'exercice au sein des familles du contrôle sur la terre (\"au sein des familles et des lignages, il n'existe pas d'arène publique pour protester contre un préjudice ou exprimer une plainte\"), l'allocation de droits fonciers dans les zones périurbaines ou irrigables, ou encore le rôle de l'État comme distributeur de terres.Au plan local, la façon de définir la propriété, l'autorité politique et la citoyenneté est souvent non libérale, d'où les contestations fréquentes lorsqu'il y a \"marchandisation des droits fonciers\". Ceci dit, \"nombre de ces conflits ont un caractère redistributif car l'accroissement de la concurrence pour la terre -associé à la rareté croissante, à l'augmentation de la valeur commerciale de la terre et/ ou à une marchandisation accrue des transactions -conduit souvent les détenteurs de droits à rechercher des droits fonciers plus exclusifs\". La REDD+ est-elle efficace pour lutter contre la pauvreté ? REDD+ (Réduction des émissions liées à la déforestation et la dégradation des forêts dans les pays en développement) est un mécanisme international qui vise à rémunérer des pays, des programmes ou projets pour la baisse des émissions de CO 2 liées à la déforestation. Les rémunérations peuvent consister en l'achat, par des pays tiers ou des entreprises, de \"crédits carbone\", qui serviront aux acheteurs à remplir leurs objectifs de réduction d'émissions. Les rémunérations peuvent également provenir du Fonds vert pour le climat, pour des \"paiements au résultat\". REDD+ est un mécanisme contesté par de nombreux acteurs qui y voient un risque d'accaparement des terres boisées. Leur crainte est que les initiateurs des programmes REDD+ soient tentés de réprimer les droits coutumiers d'accès et d'usage des communautés dont les pratiques (agriculture sur brûlis, fabrication de charbon, exploitation artisanale de bois d'oeuvre, etc.) contribuent à la déforestation. D'autres, au contraire, pensent que REDD+ peut être un moyen de lutte contre la pauvreté en rémunérant les populations pour qu'elles conservent les forêts.Pour trancher ce débat, il faut revenir sur le principe du paiement au résultat, supposé garantir l'efficacité de REDD+. La réduction de la déforestation n'est pas, bien souvent, une baisse absolue, mais une réduction par rapport à une \"référence\", c'est-à-dire un scénario du type \"que se passera-t-il si l'on ne fait rien ?\", invérifiable par définition (si le projet est réalisé, le scénario \"sans projet\" ne peut être observé) et donc aisément manipulable. Si le scénario prévoit un doublement (+ 100 %) de la déforestation sur les prochaines années, et que le résultat est que celle-ci ne s'accroît \"que\" de 60 %, alors le programme pourra se targuer d'avoir évité 40 % de déforestation. Par ailleurs, tant les projets REDD+ portés par des ONG que les programmes juridictionnels REDD+ (territoires plus vastes) soutenus par la Banque mondiale sont soumis à des obligations de respect des droits des communautés et des populations autochtones. Pour les projets REDD+, ce sont des certifications privées, et pour les autres ce sont les règles de la Banque mondiale.Ces projets utilisent au maximum la principale faille conceptuelle de REDD+ (\"prévoir le pire pour pouvoir ensuite prétendre l'avoir évité\") et jouent sur l'amplitude des scénarios de déforestation, lesquels permettent souvent un accroissement réel de la déforestation mais néanmoins \"inférieur à la prévision\", ouvrant droit à des rémunérations. Cette \"économie virtuelle\" des réductions a aussi l'avantage d'éviter de devoir risquer des confrontations avec les populations locales en quête de terres ou de bois, pouvant entraîner des conflits qui rendraient impossible la certification ou seraient contraires aux règles sociales de grands bailleurs internationaux. De fait, ces projets ressemblent aux très classiques projets intégrés de conservation et de développement qu'ils étaient censés remplacer, et ils ne changent souvent pas grand-chose dans les pratiques quotidiennes des ruraux. Quant à la réduction de la pauvreté, nos études à Madagascar ont montré que, si une partie des communautés bénéficie d'avantages socio-économiques, les populations marginalisées, celles qui sont pourtant les plus dépendantes des ressources naturelles, ont moins de capacité d'accéder à ces avantages.Enfin, REDD+ étant un instrument d'une complexité qui fait d'abord le bonheur des consultants, les coûts de l'expertise absorbent une bonne partie des rémunérations, et il est fréquent qu'il ne reste plus grand-chose pour les populations. À cet égard, ce n'est certainement pas l'instrument idéal pour transformer les pratiques agraires et réduire la pauvreté.Seyller C., Desbureaux S., Ongolo S., Karsenty A., Simonet G., Faure J., Brimont L., 2016. The \"virtual economy\" of REDD+ projects: does   Visitez les pages Opinion du site de Spore : https://tinyurl.com/n23oejqChaque mois, un nouveau débat est mis en ligne sur un sujet différent."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1439fb15903232fb2575bf9810c4ceda","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/88f1966c-9442-4b1e-9553-75519e503fc8/retrieve","id":"1572738162"},"keywords":["Tribal fanners","particípatory researeh","rice","landraces","participatory plant breeding","India"],"sieverID":"b76139f5-e796-4004-b860-249872a573c7","content":"Participatory researcb, including participatory plant breedíng (PPB), is now a recognized optíon for improvíng Ibe Iivelibood security ofunreached fanners. Tribal fanners in Indía provide an ideal group for testing the potential of participalory inlerventions. They live in remate areas, are intensively bound by tradition, and continue lo cultivate crops using tradilional practices. For instance, the sowing time of crops is often based on a particularmonth, wilh an almanac date lo harvestthe erop in time for ils use during festive oeeasioos. Although these traditional cultivation praetices are often poorly matched with the weather, Ibey continue because Ihey are consonant wilb the habitat, soíl, agroocology, and available infraslructure. Soils are relatively free from the problems of contínuous ehemical fertílizatíon. Most euhivated varieties are specific landrace. lbat carry special traits for cooking qua]ity and laste, catering lO the tribal fanners' metllods ofproeessing foad. Tribal fanners live in small villages, inconveniently distan! from one another, and do not have readily accessible mean. of produeíng .nd exchangíng cornrnunity seed. Traditíonal varietiesllondraces are olso not commercially competitive. Driven by poverty, the tribal Canners yíeld to eornmerci.] exploitation where the cultivation of landraees, local varieties, and other valuable genetic material is replaced by Ibe cultivation of modem varieties despite Ibe faet that they are no! peeferred by the tribal cornrnunity. Tho result is a gradual erosíon of precious genetíe diversity, most of whieh is .lso síte-specific. This situation c.ns utgently for preventive measures.Jeypore traet in Orissa State is a seeondary center of riee origin. Yet fanners do not realize the potential yield of Ibe riee landraces growing Ihere. One reason is tb.t the tradítional practices developed essenti.lIy for avoiding risks are out of tune with Ibose nceded for realizing hígh yields. Partícipatory initiatives, setting appropriate mothads of cultivation based on a realístíc evaluation should províde the right corrective step. This paper describes and discusses sueh initiatives in the Jeypore tract ofOrissa,There are differen! ways of conducting diversity fairs. The in silu project aims at strengthening CBOs tha! conduct on-farm conservation actívities with little input from outside. Initially, when CBOs were unfamiliar with the project's activities, project staff managed the fairs in partnership with them. Over time, as they have become better oriented, they organize the fair as an annual event. Sthapit and Jarvis (1999) have documented the concept and methods used, and the steps of the fair have been described by Rijal et al. (1999). There have already been five such fairs organized in Nepal, and as a result, the process has been refined over time. The fairs organized in Nepal have been successful in terms of the following:• documenting locallandraces and associated knowledge, as well as strengthening the farmerto-farmer seed supply system• linking outputs with research and development work• locating the status of diversity and the custodians• sensitizing farmers, along with the research and policy eornmunities, on the importance of agrobiodiversity• strengthening CBOs in on-farm conservation processesThe fairs organized through CBOs have documented equalIy good information, as well as increasing sample size and the number of crops. The information includes the special characteristics associated with the landraees, Le., huliya, sociocultural values, ecology, and status at the cornmunity leve!. These sets of information can be very useful for a number of stakeholders, including breeders, eeologists, socioeconomists, arid locál promoters for their varied interests. The informatíon may be shared among the farm cornmunities and other interested partíes. A very important aspeet of the fair, observed in a recent fair ín Begnas, Nepal, is the development of the sense of ownership in the cornmunity for the resourees they have eonserved for generations. Every CBO took back sampies with the knowledge that they had to maintain them for future use.The diversity block. A diversíty block is a participatory research technique designed to characterize locallandraees under farmers' management conditíons. Landraces to be grown ín the diversity block may be selected Hom materials from either the diversity faír or farmers' seed stoeks. The crops are monitored by both farmers and scientist-promoters, and agromorphologícal characteristies are recorded. The diversíty block has the value of enhancing public awareness at the grassroots level and máking germplasm more accessible o the local cornmunity. In Nepal, the diversity block has been used to acquire farmers' indigenous knowledge about local varieties, to identify parents for breeding, and to study the population structure.The cornmunity biodiversity register. A cornmuníty biodiversíty register ís a record, kept on paper or in eleetronic form by cornmunity members. It is a register ofloeal crop biodiversity and assocíated knowledge. The information maintaíned in the register inc1udes landrace names, the fimners who store the seed, associated local knowledge and uses, and traditional and nontraditíonal passport data like agromorphological and agroecological characteristies and cultural signíficanee. The register functions as a decentralized cornmunity gene bank (Sthapit and Jarvis 2000). CBRs have no implications for local seed exchange and storage systerns; rather, it helps lo improve aceess to information and seeds.Updated over time, the CBR allows cornmunitÍes to monitor Ihe level of genetíc díversíty and prevent the extínction of rare varieties, whieh may then be preserved ex siro. eBRs can be a practical tool to monitor genetic diversity at the village level, and ifthe capacity oflhe farming eommunity is strengthened with institutional support, it could be a good way of developing various options lo add benefits on a local or regional scale.Strengthening seed and information networks was one of the eoncerns in Ihis project, for which different strategic lools were explored. The cornmunity gene bank adopled by a few institutions, such as UBINIG in 8angladesh, was reviewed for its strengths and límitations. It was found lo re-quiTe additional structures to serve communities under situations of stress and risk, and may replace the local farmer-to-farmer seed-supply systems. C8R strenglhens local systems was developed through review of functions complementary 10 in situ conservation.Since eBR has only recentIy been developed, it still requires further refinement. However, it has multiple funclions and is worth the effort because of ils effectiveness al the grassroots leve!. This was discussed wilh farmers and e80 representatives, and Iheif responses are summarized below:o e8R provides an invenlory ofboth valuable and worst crop resourees.o It strengthens sharing of information and crop seeds by improving access.• It is useful for strengthening market and seed networks.• It lists Ihe slatus of a11 known crop resourees, with reasons for decrease, ¡nerease, or loss.o It is useful to R&D workers .. o lt enhances the process of developing a sense of ownership for Ihe resources held by eBOs.• 11 provides deseriptions of ecology and diversity with area-speeific identities.The reeords maintained in Ihe eBR assists in understanding the farmer' s decision-making processes as well. Thus, Ihe C8R implemenled in Nepal has guided eornmunities in developing a sense of ownership for their resources. Whatever significance it has depends on Ihe way it is developed and executed locally. Therefore, tbe potential benefils from eBR can onIy be reaJized when it is adopted with full consideration of the importance of (1) partnership witb farmers, (2) periodic up-dating, (3) local control, (4) sharing information among Ihe users/slakeholders, and (5) caution aboul providing access lo tbe informatíon to oulsiders.80th the eBR and diversity fajr can be llSed for a number of purposes, from developing R&D bases to strengtheníng at Ihe grassroots level in terms of improving access lo seeds, using informatíon in an effective manner, and assessing diversity. eBR records could provide a very useful basis for developing conservation strategies. Endangered species or Iandraces, for example, may be conserved ex situ. However, we are also equally concerned with the possible misuse of informatíon, such as intellectual and farmers' rights. The community must be made aware ofthis kind of danger as wel!.The demand for materials or processed products may be inereased by market melhods (box 1). Source: Sth.pit and larvis (1999).IdentifYing local promoters and then linking them with local producers and markets are crucial processes. In Begnas, Nepal, a series of consultations was camed out to identifY major local products that have market potential, assessing total production, price negotiations, qualíty control, and marketing outlets. In Nepal, the project identified local promoters Iike Gunilo and Bandobasta who played a catalytic role in establishíng línkages between promoters and consumers with the farming community. NGOs have been ínvolved in the project to facilitate networking. Associations ofhotel and tourlsm, Pokhara chambers of commerce, hostels, and hospital networks have also been sensitized to use more domestic products. The impact of such networks is yet to be seen.The project is keen to develop markets to enhance the value of local crop diversity through direct sales. Rice landraces, Jethobudho, aromatic sponge gourd, Khari in taro, and Samdi kodo in finger millet, are a few examples. To succeed, this initiative must also be supported by policy reforms. The role oflocal crop varieties in securing food at the household level is apparent, but diversity has also been enhanced for socioeconomic reasons (Rana el al. 1999). Nepali farmers use local rice landraces for al least six specific purposes (Rija! et al. 1997). On the one hand, these deserve special va!ue and there is Iess competítion, so a nonbreeding strategy is appropríate. On Ihe olher hand, breeding strategies are employed to make local crops competitive with other options, particularly those lhat have value and benefits in terms of ecology or physical indices Iike yield, disease resislance, etc. For example, Ihe bes! quality of Jethobudho is grown wílh cold water, as is Phewa and Kundahar of Ihe Pokhara valley, and always fetches a higher market price lhan when grown in an irrigated field. The strategies employed for adding values are presented in table 3.In niche-or ecology-specific areas where food security is Ihe main concem, as in Jumla, farmers always go for increased yield. Low yield is associated with rice blasts, poor response, and cold injury, for which the only way of addressing the problem is through breeding melhods. In silu slralegles employed for on-farm conservalion Breeding Markel Awareness Improved accessDeveloping an in-depth understanding oflhe value oflandraces through appropriate methods is Ihe prime need prior to deciding on any conservation strategies. Local crop diversity can be desegregated into broad categories by value-genetic, sociocultural, medicinal, or religious--to strengthen conservation of crops in situ by the farm community. Three broader categoríes inelude market, non-market, and polícy perspectives for improving direct and indirect benefits. No single strategy is perfect for addressing Ihe goal of conservation; a combination is required.Ofthe many innovative tools available, the diversity fair and community biodiversíty register have been most effective in terms of documentation and sensitizing communities of famlers, researchers, promoters, and policymakers. Furthermore, these two tools are very useful in monitoring diversity along with status. Valnes documented through these tools can be used for R&D purposes, where researchers, promoters, and planners may benefit. They also provide a basís for breeding work in Ihe short term as weIl as Ihe longer term.For local crop diversity witb socioreligious, cultural, or economic value, strategies that strengthen ínformation, seed, and market networks are particularly important if CGR and Iheir prodncts are to be promotedper se. The diversity ofthese sets of crops wíll be maintained as long as the local culture associated wilh them continues. On Ihe other hand, for crop diversíty associated with ecological and genetic traíts, the breeding strategy is Ihe right choice. Thus, for effective conservation of Usually lands situated aboye 900 feet are classified as upland; around 600 feet and below is lowland, and the rest is medium land.Agricultural practices are more primitive in Jeypore than in the neighboring states. Irrigation is rarely possible, alllands are completely rain fed, and rainfall is erratíc. Farmers occasionally apply farrnyard manure. Rice is the most cornmon food crop of the region. Landraces and local varietíes are mostly preferred because they cater to the cooking quality and taste of the tribal people. High-yielding varieties (HYVs) are not preferred and only cornmercial incentives compel some farmers to grow them. Government agencies and some private organizations are the ones that encourage trus. The planting and maturation of tradítional varieties are timed so tha! their harvest coincides with the time offestivals and family rituals (table 1). The varieties are usually photosensitive and of longer duration than high-yielding varieties. A large number of farmers still practice monoeropping. Thus we have the following basic realities in which PPB options have to be optimized: 128• Tribal farmers live in villages rich in genetic diversity and occupied by one or two tribes. They are situated far away from the reach of government extension agencies.• Farmers are highly tradition-bound socially and religiously, and would have reservatíons about switcrung to new options.• The enhanced yields ofHYVs do not attract them as much as the quality and taste oftheÍr lower-yielding landraces and local varieties, which they prefer.• They have rich indigenous knowledge of their crop diversity but poor knowledge of modero agriculture.• Their habitats are poorly connected by roads and are typified by poor or absent marketing facilities.• Against this backdrop, they are vulnerable to cornmercial exploitation of their natural resources.• They are ready to learn and practice profitable methods of cultivation, provided such methods can produce perceptible returns.• Currently there is neither a feeling of strong ownership of natural resources nor any awareness of intellectual property righrs.New PPB paradigms need, therefore, to be simple and productive to promote voluntary participation. They should be cost-effective and, al best, attempt to optimize practices under existing sÍle constraínts. They should respect farmers' tastes and be consonant with their strong preferences.They should be risk-insulated and entai! a low cost-benefit ratio. Complex PPB options can only be a long-tenn goal and should be based on short-tenn benefits.A number of years of work and association with farm families of several villages in the Jeypore district by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), based al Chennai, India, has prepared the ground for cooperative and participatory work to improve the productivity of farmer-preferred local varieties/landraces. The work plan envisaged a three-year activity module.The first year was eannarked to survey local varieties sown by fanners and to introduce organízed planting ofpreferred varieties. The seeds ofthose varieties would then be distríbuted by MSSRF. A few farmers would be eneouraged to raise the erop in their plots by their own methods. The yíeld data would be analyzed and a few varieties seleeted for further evaluation.In the seeond year, the seleeted varieties would be grown by PPB farrners in a field design in which farmers and formal practiees would be the two treatments. Data on grain yield and its components would be statistíeally evaluated to select the top two varieties for upland, medium land, and lowland conditions. In the third year, the selected varieties would be grown in large plots under fonnal technology, provided it proved superior to farmers' practices in the second year of evaluation. Varietíes to be evaluated, the sites for testíng their perfonnance, and the farmers who would participate in the program would all be selected by lhe farmen themselves. Periodíc checks on the progress of the experiments, the problems that cropped up in lhe execution of experiments, and related issues would be discussed in periodic PRAs wilh farrners, and acceptable solutions found.During the runy season of 1998, three districts and two blocks per district were selected for upland (U), medíum land (M), and lowland (L) eultivation in the Jeypore traet ofOrissa State. Fourteen farrners were ehosen to raise 10 upland, six medium land, and 10 lowland local raees/varieties in theír own plots of approximately of80 m 2 • The erop was raísed using farmers' practices eornmon in the respective areas. However, asevere cyclone at the time of erop maturity affected erop yields; the data could only be used for a relatíve evaluation. We devised a fonn lo record various field activities, with which data on cost-benefits were gathered not only on the PPB plots but also on farmers' own holdings. The overall performance and characteristics of varieties were discussed in a PRA wilh a large number of farmers from the sites.Only 3 U, I M, and 5 L varieties were selected in the PRA from the original 10 U, 6 M, and lO L varieties tested in 1998. In consultation with the fanners, 3 U, 7 M, and 3 L varieties were added to get a total of 6 U, 8 M, and 8 L varieties for experimentation in the crop season of 1999.To facilitate periodic visits to plots, ít was decíded to confine the experiment to two blocks and five víllages in the Koraput district, near the MSSRF site office at Jeypore. Nine PPB farmers agreed toPanicipatory Irnprovernent a( Rice Cr\",op\",s:..:w:.:' i\",th:..:Tr=ib\"' 0.:.c1 P' ,' -.é0\"' nn=e\"' rs:..:i::.ll-' .:In.:.:d:::io=-_____________ _ test the selected varieties in two test plots of 90 m 2 each. One of the test plots was divided into tbree replications ono m 2 and the selected varieties were grown in a randomized block designo The other was divided equally between varieties to be tested. They were planted unreplicated by fanncrs using their own traditional practices. In the replicated plots, fonnal methods of cultivatíon were introduced (box 1).Box 1. Formal Metbods Illtroduced lo Cultivale Local Varieties and Landraces in Jeypore, India o Preparing land and applying farmyard manute in residual moisture when the previous crop has been harvestedo Raising nursery stock in well-prepared land in rows spaced 20 cm apart with optimal moísture o Pre-soaking seeds in water for 12 hours and selecting only those seeds that sink o Direct seeding (in U and some M), or transplanting (in some M and L) of about 25-day-old seedlings, in rows spaced 20 cm apart, with plants at lO-cm intervals withín a row o Setting rows north-south to maximíze sunlight on growíng plants.Those fonnal methods were developed as a result of a survey of fanner' s plots grown to rice in the first year, where a number of problems were predominant (hox 2).Box 2. Problems with Rice Crops Raised under Fanners' Traditional Practices 1. Erratic rainfall, leading to the tradition of high seeding rate of about 4ü-60 kgjha 2. Consequent dense plant populations that lead to yellowing and poor plant growth , 3. III-or unprepared lands due to la(k of moisture prior to the planting sea50n, resulting in poor germi-! natíon ' 4. Poor seedling growth. leading to severe disease and high pest incidence 5. Farmyard manure occasionally applied in smaU quantities during 5Owing, resulting in no benefit to the crop 6. Nursery plants raísed in poor, mos! often unprepared lands with f100ded rain water 7, Transplantíng most often with very old seedlings, sometimes even 60 days old Crop growth on fonnal and fanners' plots was evaluated in periodic PRAs with farmers. Scientists recorded data on days to flowering, number of tillers, number of panicles, number of grains per panicle, and graín and fodder yield with the help of farmers in each plot. The data were used to compute graín filling and harvest índices. Based on multivariate statistical analysis ofyield and its component characteristics, the varieties were ranked on their joint perfonnance across al! traits.The results were striking. Theyare surnmarized and shown only for the varieties coromon in 1998 and 1999 ín table 2. The advantages of changing over to scientific methods of cultivation are obvious.The following inferences stand out: a. Fluctuations in the yield of varieties occurred even under traditional (fanners') methods of cultivatíon. For instance, tbe variety, machchakanta, was the top yielder in 1998-a year characterized by cyclonic weather and heavy rainfall. It gave low yíelds in 1999 under farmers' practices despite consístently good weather. In general, however, varíeties responded by giving good yields under the better climatic conditions in 1999, b. Yíelds under formal methods were consístently and sígnificantly superior than those under farmers' methods. Lowland varietíes, whích gave fairly good under farmers' practíces, responded 10 formal methods by gíving up 10 60% hígher yíelds (table 2). One popular upland variety, paradhan, preferred by a11 farmers, had a yield advanlage of 70% under formal methods. The trend of improvement was about the same for the olher 13 varieties (data not shown).c. Yield improvement usíng formal methods was achieved at no extra cosl. Initially farmers found it difficult and time-consuming to space-plant in rows, but quite soon they saw that they could achieve higher efficiency (see d.l, below).l d. Preliminary data show that the cost-benefit ratio is substantially more favorable under formal methods for the following reasons:l. The seeding rate is about one-fifth oftbat used in traditional methods (12 versus 60--65 kg/ha). Hence even row planting with uniform space between plants could become les s time-consuming. 2. Nursery seedlings produced under formal methods grew vigorously and were free from weeds, insects, and diseases. 3. Seedlings were well and quickly established in plots because of initial seed selection and healthy nursery plants. 4. The healthy initial stand discouraged weed competition and helped healthy crop growth without being affected by biotic stresses. 5. Row and space planting made interculturing operations easy, where needed, and harvesting of the crop took significantly less time. 6. The 20-cm spacing between rows proved ideal for the harvested plants 10 be stacked in a slanted, reinforcing standing position for the produce to dry in the sun in the field before transfer to threshing yards.These smalI but significant henefits added up to a cumulative advantage, reduced the drudgery of field operatíons, including weeding and harvest, and resulted in a more favorable cost-benefit ratio.In conclusion, we leamed a number of lessons, and the experiments evoked the desired response among farming families in hoth the experimental sites and surrounding areas,L Situations exist which do not exactly fit a !ypical case for PPR Any participatory ínitiative, including PPB, is a function of the target site, environment, site farmers and their tradítions, practices, and social and cultural norms, 2. Participatory programs must recognize this circumscribing frame, most often rigid, within which actions must be confined.3. Initial action plans mustproduce perceptible benefits in orderto ensure voluntary participation.4. When the basic constraints and opportunities for initiating participatory actions are recogWzed, respected, and acted upon, even farmers in difficult economic conditions wiIl willíngly participate wíthout incentives. .1. Farmers were c1early convinced•that the traditíonal high seeding rate and dense planting are not the way to counter theír dífficult environment, harsh c1ímate, and unpredíctable yields. They have realized by their own experience the logic of the formal methods they were shown.2. The message of formal methods of cultivation has spread so far and fast that a number of surrounding villages have started adopting the same practices, not onIy in rice but also in other crops, Iike red gram and finger millet.3. There is a high demand from the tribal farmers for training programs in various sites te ensure proper adoption offormal methods of cultivating traditional rice varieties.4. Farmers are willíng to extend their participation to breeding productive pure hnes, initiating from parents chosen fromtheir site-specífic local races and cultivars.Thus, the experience of participatory rice ímprovement has been exhílarating and productive, and efforts are under way to replicate the benefits of formal methods of cultivation by initiating site-specific PPB paradigms.There CONSERVE conducts both approaches-researcher-managed (or on-station) and farmer-managed trials-at the same time.The researcher-managed trials are conducted in the center's production farm, facilitated by program staff and later conducted by farmer-partners. Farmer-partners are invited to visit the station and identifY materials that are acceptable to them, usually before harvest season.There were 22 single crosses done by the center and coded as CONSERVE crosses (CC). Varieties crossed were mostly materials from the uplands, which were crossed with lowland rice in order to determine ifthe product ofthe cross will adapt or not. Out ofthese crosses, only 10 crosses survived at the first filial generation. These were planted in on-station (lowland) fields by plot, where program staff observed and evaluated the seeds. Records of the crosses and the number of selections have been kept. Distinct characteristics of the materials selected were noted, such as resistance to pests and diseases, yield (panicle length), number oftillers, height, and other agronomic characteristics. No back-up of the crossed materials has been made. After two cropping seasons, various selections were obtained and planted in the production area. Bulk selection was practiced. Program staffmade the decisions involving rejecting seeds not adaptable to the center's conditions and did the selection. Before the selection at harvest time, farmers were invited to the station and took part in the evaluation of the segregating materials. Group discussions were held and criteria were obtained to provide the basis for selection. Farmer-partners also took part in the selection; they freely selected what they wanted from the segregating material s on-field. This material was simultaneously distributed to 89 ｦ ｡ ｲ ｭ ｾ ｲ Ｍ ｰ ｡ ｲ ｴ ｮ ･ ｲ ｳ ＠ starting in May 1995.Breeding material s were continuously segregated and diverse characteristics were obtained. The center had difficulty managing all the materials, and the focus of the program staff was limited to keeping records of significant developments in the materials; thus, it was decided to distribute to farmer-partners. AH in all, CONSERVE was able to produce 100 lines from 10 single crosses. These were distributed to increase the number of selections and to enhance participatory research by exploring the process of selection until farmers can produce a stable selection for mass production.Lessons learned and recornrnendations:• It was interesting to note thatthe center did notkeep a back-up ofthose 10 crosses that might have served as good material for selection in the future. The center is maintaining short-term back-up storage ofthe seeds collected in the beginning ofthe project.• The crosses made also provided a good learning experience-an upland variety crossed with the lowland but with the experimental plots in the lowland area. The center should have tried conducting the same experiment in the upland area to know the performance ofthe offspring.• The involvement of funner-partners in the activity was very Iimited since they were only involved in the later part of the research and mos! of the selections were done by program staff. Farmers should have been involved not only in the later part but also in the whole process so that they could leam how the research is conducted.Farmer-managed trials are actually conducted on an individual farmer's field. Farmers have their own way of designing the experiment, either within the farm or across farmers. The evaluation ís usually informal, with their eriteria províding the basis for selection.After the segregated materials were given to the farmer-partners in the Arakan Valley Complex, project staff monítored their progress and provided assistance to them. The majority of farmers received a mínimum of five breeding lines in smalI amounts (around 5-10 grams) to try in their respective fields. Sorne planted the seeds in separate plots and others planted them in a portion oftheir rice field. Most ofthe farmers who received the segregating materials were graduates ofthe Ecological Pest Management-Farmers' Field School (training given to farmers on a weekly basis for one cropping season of about four to five months, to give them an understanding of rice production activities using the seven dimensions of sustainable agriculture).Farmers selected plants according to their own individual criteria. They practiced two types of selection methods: buIk and pedigree. Sorne farmers discarded materials, while olhers maS8 produced. As these materials expressed their characteristics under the conditions of different farmers' fields, materials were exchanged among farmers, nol just within the village but to other municipalities. Selection continued even when the materials reached the mass-production stage. Farmer-breeders continuously bree!, selectee!, and distributed their stable lines lo other farmers. It happened, too, that rejected materials were passed on to other farmers, still undergoing the proeess of selection according to individual preference. Whi1e the flow of materials continuously moved, the process ended when the breeding lines reaehed the mass-production stage. The flow of genetic materials from one farmer to another is extremely fasto The farmers' efforts to explore and expcriment through se1eetion were a very good example of participatory research and how farmers can be empowered by giving them control ofthe seeds and the resulting exchange of seeds withín the arca and to other víllages.From the survey conducted by' CONSERVE in 1998, a total of 191ines out of the 57 lines originally distributed from six single crosses (CCl, CC2, CC5, CC7, CC13, and CC20) were still maintained by farmer-partners. At present, the breeding lines are widely used for mass production not only by farmer-eurators but also by other farmers. CONSERVE Crosses 5 and 13 are commonly used. Seleetions by farmer-partners are eontinuously enhanced in farmers' fields, which has led to an increase in stable lines. On the other hand, ít was observed lhat over the years, although stable lines had been identified, the number of lines has decreased as farmers continue to select and adapt the materials given lo them. Their se1ection eriteria and the adaptability of the breeding lines are based on the conditions present in their respective fields. Moreover, only a few farmers keep many seleetions. Usually, they on1y keep two to three lines, on average. Farmers who keep many selections have the eapacity to manage them and lack storage facilities, leading to a diffusion of selections.Lessons learned and recommendations:• It was noted that farmers did not keep the original Iines given lo them, as the center also neglected to do. Like CONSERVE, they have lost the opportunity to go back to the mother"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7a807adde681d0102f43276bbed9646d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0330146e-4a21-4ba6-abee-f733dc27da49/retrieve","id":"1859450176"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"65c35b78-a0ff-4172-8476-79309cf398fd","content":"Description of the innovation: The IRRI Rice Quality Assessment Kit consists of a set of various tools that help measuring one or several paddy, milled rice or seed quality traits. It is intended to be used in postharvest and other quality related training courses but several of the kits have already been purchased by millers and other value chain actors to help them in their daily tasks too. It is used globally by millers, extension workers, etc. New Innovation: No Innovation type: Production systems and Management practices Stage of innovation: Stage 4: uptake by next user (USE) Geographic Scope: Global Number of individual improved lines/varieties: <Not Applicable> Outcome Impact Case Report: <Not Defined> Description of Stage reached:The IRRI Rice Quality Assessment Kit is available in the second half of 2019 from GrainPro Inc.; several of the kits have already been purchased by millers and other value chain actors to help them in their daily tasks too. There is a continuous flow of inquiries for the kit."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/9692265716.json b/main/part_2/9692265716.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5f5a76ba12981c14f1e8b6543cc2911f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e856ddba-48ec-4e14-8b18-5e9757f6a7a5/retrieve","id":"-331756735"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"aafe0ea6-c31d-4cc6-aa87-aa947888fd46","content":"Survey findings indicate a steady rise in householdlevel cell-phone ownership in Nigeria, from 54 percent in 2013 to 62 percent in 2015, with only a further 1 percent increase by 2019. Only 40 percent of all respondents reported using cell phones in 2019: 52 percent were male and 36 percent were female, confirming the gender gap in digital access in rural Nigeria (Figure 1). In rural areas where access to infrastructure and services is limited, the veryThe analysis reported in this policy note is based on data from three rounds of the General Household Survey Panel (GHS-Panel) in 2013, 2015, and 2019, implemented in collaboration with the World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) team as part of the Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (ISA) program. The GHS-Panel is a nationally representative survey of approximately 5,000 households, which are also representative of the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. GHS-Panel households were visited twice: first after the planting season (post-planting) between July and September, and second after the harvest season (postharvest) between January and February. Note that the analysis reported focuses on individual cell-phone use and household-level cell-phone ownership as proxies for digital connectivity and use of information and communications technologies (ICT). Farha Sufian, Gianluigi Nico, and Carlo Azzarri slow growth in ownership and use of cell phones very likely limits people's access to communication channels and information, thereby also limiting their opportunities for economic advancement.Although the value of production per hectare fell dramatically between 2013 and 2019, households that reported owning cell phones attained higher values compared with households that did not (Figure 2a). Better access to market information regarding prices, demand trends, and market opportunities; higher exposure to agricultural extension services; and farmer-to-farmer knowledge-sharing are some crucial ways that owning and using cell phones may have benefited farmers in their efforts to augment the value of their production. In contrast, survey findings do not suggest significant differences in the yields of Nigeria's key crops, such as cassava and maize,  between households that owned cell phones and those that did not (Figure 2b). This suggests that farmers who owned cell phones likely benefited from increased market access and comparatively higher production values rather than from higher crop yields.The results also suggest gendered differences in the value of crop production per hectare, which was found to be higher across time for plots managed either by women only or by men and women jointly compared with plots managed solely by men (Figure 3a). Although cassava yields from plots managed solely by men were higher in 2013, over time higher yields were generated from plots managed by women only or by men and women jointly. Results are less clear for maize.The study also examined the key determinants of farmers' decisions to engage in agriculture (whether on their own or another's farm) and at what level of intensity under two different thresholds of labor participation: (1) for at least one hour in the week prior to the interview, which is the international standard definition of employment, and (2) for at least 20 hours per week, which excludes underemployment (defined as working at least one hour but fewer than 20 hours per week).Results suggest that Nigeria's rural women were less likely to be employed in agriculture than were the country's rural men (Figure 4). The study also found that both married women and women with a greater number of dependents were less likely to enter the agricultural labor market based on cultural norms that determine gender roles in rural societies. As a result, caregiving at home is prioritized for women, and men's income levels are generally higher than women's. Furthermore, cell-phone use, particularly by women, was found to be associated with a higher likelihood of engagement in agriculture, providing evidence of the crucial role technology plays in securing employment opportunities-especially in rural areas.At both levels of intensity, results indicate that higher levels of education were associated with reduced likelihood of engagement in agriculture, reflecting respondents' decision to engage in nonagricultural labor, which in general offers higher income levels. Interestingly, higher access to finance was found to be inversely correlated with the decision to engage in agriculture, suggesting a preference for selfemployment or entrepreneurship in sectors outside agriculture, where available financial products support this choice.Cell-phone use was associated with an increased likelihood of working longer hours in agriculture, regardless of whether or not underemployed individuals were included (Figure 5). Importantly, this finding held true for women, indicating The  an enabling environment that values gender equality, to promote inclusive and sustainable development, and-importantly-to unlock the considerable untapped potential of its female rural population."}
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diff --git a/main/part_2/9706649433.json b/main/part_2/9706649433.json
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c564796557926da749aea78d4df0edba","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c8760de6-0284-406d-9614-62e37131356e/retrieve","id":"-381661241"},"keywords":["Below-ground production","genotypic variability","grazing management","Paspalum notatum. Resumen Manejo del pastoreo","Paspalum notatum","producción subterránea","variabilidad genotípica Agroforestry","anatomical tissues","chemical composition","Panicum maximum","shading","tropical grasses Agroforestería","composición química","Panicum maximum","pastos tropicales","sombreado","tejidos anatómicos Familial selection","heritability","individual selection","phenotypic and genetic variability Maintenance fertilizer","Megathyrsus maximus","nitrogen fertilizer","root mass","tiller density","tropical pastures","Urochloa brizantha Densidad de rebrotes","fertilización de mantenimiento","fertilización nitrogenada","masa radicular","Megathyrsus maximus","Urochloa brizantha Brachiaria decumbens","Centrosema molle","composición botánica","ganancia de peso","persistencia Botanical composition","Brachiaria decumbens","Centrosema molle","liveweight gain","persistence Bodyweight gain","Brachiaria","carcass yield","digestibility","fattening sheep","tropical grasses. Resumen Cropping system","forage biomass","forage cropping","farmers' perceptions Cactus forage","Nopalea cochenillifera","Opuntia ficus-indica","root","salinity damage. Resumen Daño por salinidad","Nopalea cochenillifera","Nopal forrajero","Opuntia ficus-indica","raíz"],"sieverID":"e0071dc3-4cd9-473f-9fee-a30898592bd9","content":"This is the last issue edited by Rainer Schultze-Kraft and Lyle Winks and we would like to give all our gratitude, admiration and respect to them for their outstanding work as editors of the journal. Their committed work to publish excellence in all aspects of tropical forages research is reflected in the quality of the papers published, both in shape and substance, and the steady increase of the rankings and metrics of the journal: • During their role as editors, Tropical Grasslands-Forrajes Tropicales has published 332 papers, 179 in special issues (119 contributions to the International Grassland Congress 2013 and 60 contributions to the International Leucaena Conference 2018), and 153 in regular issues. • The Journal is indexed in the core collection of Science Citation Index Expanded and two additional indexes of Clarivate Web of Science, which provides the best-known impact factor indicator (formerly: ISI Journal Impact Factor). The Impact Factor of the Journal for 2019 was 0.703 (for 2018 was 0.441 and for 2017 was 0.389, showing a constant increase). The Impact Factor 2020 will be available in mid-2021. • TGFT is also indexed in Scopus, and the CiteScore for 2020 is currently 1.60, making a considerable progress since 2017 (0.44), 2018 (0.69) and 2019 (1.30). CiteScore is the way how Scopus measures the impact of its indexed journals. • The SCImago Journal & Country Rank is a portal that includes the journals and country scientific indicators developed from the information contained in the Scopus® database (Elsevier B.V.). These indicators can be used to assess and analyze scientific domains. For 2019, the Journal had a score of 0.37 (in 2018 was 0.28), and ranked in the second highest value amongst the set of journals ranked by SJR (Q2). The journal is in a transition period to the new editors, Dr. Jean Hanson, English and Managing Editor and Dr. Danilo Pezo, Spanish Editor. Both have worked with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) for many years and have long and broad experience in tropical forages. Jean is an Emeritus fellow with ILRI in Ethiopia and Danilo is currently working with CATIE in Costa Rica. Jean and Danilo bring complimentary expertise to their roles as editors.Jean is a forage scientist working with forage germplasm and seed production, while Danilo is a livestock scientist working with animal nutrition, pastures and silvopastoral options in tropical livestock systems. The new editorial team will continue to be well supported by Jose Luis Urrea Communications Specialist at The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Colombia.During the transition period, there have been some delays in the publication process and the journal has been unable to accept submissions in Spanish. The new editors are working hard to deal with the pending submissions, but we do apologise for the delays and aim to be back on schedule by the next issue in September 2021.Esta es la última edición a cargo de Rainer Schultze-Kraft y Lyle Winks como editores y queremos expresarles todo nuestro agradecimiento, admiración y respeto por su destacada labor como editores de la revista. Su trabajo comprometido con la excelencia en todos los aspectos de la investigación de forrajes tropicales se refleja en la calidad de los artículos publicados, tanto de forma como de fondo, y el incremento constante de las clasificaciones y métricas de la revista:• Durante su rol como editores, Tropical Grasslands-Forrajes Tropicales ha publicado 332 artículos, 179 en ediciones especiales (119 contribuciones al Congreso Internacional de Pasturas 2013 y 60 contribuciones a la Conferencia Internacional Leucaena 2018) y 153 en ediciones regulares. • La revista está indexada en la colección principal de Science Citation Index Expanded y dos índices adicionales de Clarivate Web of Science, que proporciona el indicador de factor de impacto más conocido (anteriormente: ISI Journal Impact Factor). El Factor de Impacto de la Revista para 2019 fue 0.703 (para 2018 fue 0.441 y para 2017 fue 0.389, mostrando un aumento constante). El Factor de impacto 2020 estará disponible a mediados de 2021. • TGFT también está indexado en Scopus, y el CiteScore para 2020 es actualmente de 1.60, con un progreso considerable desde 2017 (0.44), 2018 (0.69) y 2019 (1.30). CiteScore es la forma en que Scopus mide el impacto de sus revistas indexadas.desarrollado a partir de la información contenida en la base de datos Scopus® (Elsevier B.V.). Estos indicadores se pueden utilizar para evaluar y analizar dominios científicos. Para 2019, la Revista tuvo una puntuación de 0.37 (en 2018 fue 0.28) y se ubicó en el segundo valor más alto entre el conjunto de revistas clasificadas por SJR (Q2).La revista se encuentra en un período de transición a los nuevos editores. La Dra. Jean Hanson, directora y editora en inglés y el Dr. Danilo Pezo, editor en español. Ambos trabajaron con el International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) durante años y tienen una amplia experiencia en forrajes tropicales. Jean es miembro emérito del ILRI en Etiopía y Danilo trabaja actualmente con CATIE en Costa Rica. Jean y Danilo aportan su experiencia complementaria a sus funciones como editores. El trabajo de investigación de Jean se ha centrado en germoplasma de forrajes y producción de semillas, mientras que el de Danilo se ha enfocado en nutrición animal, pasturas y opciones silvopastoriles en sistemas ganaderos tropicales. El nuevo equipo editorial seguirá contando con el apoyo de José Luis Urrea, Especialista en Comunicaciones de la Alianza de Bioversity International y CIAT, Colombia.Durante el período de transición, se han presentado algunos retrasos en el proceso de publicación y la revista no está aceptando contribuciones en español. Los nuevos editores están trabajando arduamente para lidiar con las presentaciones pendientes, pero nos disculpamos por las demoras y nuestro objetivo es volver a lo programado para el próximo número en septiembre de 2021.Los pastizales ocupan una superficie considerable de tierra y representan una gran proporción de las reservas mundiales de carbono del suelo, pero los efectos directos del pastoreo y la composición genotípica sobre las relaciones entre la producción de brotes y raíces no están bien resueltos. Esta falta de comprensión dificulta el desarrollo de modelos para predecir la producción de raíces en pastizales gestionados, una variable crítica para determinar las reservas de carbono del suelo. Cuantificamos los efectos de los tratamientos de defoliación durante toda la temporada en la producción de brotes y raíces en 4 cultivares de una especie de gramínea ampliamente plantada (Paspalum notatum Flüggé) en un jardín común en el sur de Florida, EE.UU. Encontramos que la defoliación severa (hasta 5 cm) aplicada con poca frecuencia (4 semanas) mejoró sustancialmente la producción de brotes para todos los cultivares, mientras que la defoliación severa redujo la producción de raíces entre los cultivares, independientemente de la frecuencia. En general, no hubo una relación significativa entre la producción de brotes y raíces. Nuestros resultados mostraron que la productividad por encima y por debajo del suelo están débilmente acopladas, lo que sugiere precaución contra el uso de simples sustitutos por encima del suelo para predecir variaciones en la producción de raíces en los pastizales. En términos más generales, nuestros resultados demostraron que el modelado y la gestión mejorados de los pastizales para los servicios ecosistémicosGrassland ecosystems occupy more than a fifth of earth's land area and account for a large proportion of the global soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks (Scurlock and Hall 1998;Lal 2010). However, there is considerable uncertainty in predictions of net ecosystem exchange, and hence carbon sequestration services from grasslands (Gilmanov et al. 2007;Nicholas et al. 2009). One significant source of uncertainty is that, while large herbivore grazing is known to mediate patterns of plant species composition, diversity and above-ground primary productivity (McNaughton 1985;Knapp et al. 1999;Fuhlendorf and Engle 2001), the effects of grazing on below-ground processes and soil carbon are less clear (McNaughton et al. 1998;Hamilton and Frank 2001;McSherry and Ritchie 2013;Balogianni et al. 2014). In particular, there are limited field studies where the impact of grazing on root production in grassland systems has been directly measured (e.g. via root ingrowth cores or minirhizotron technology; see Ziter and MacDougall 2012; Balogianni et al. 2014;Cooley et al. 2019). Since below-ground production may be the largest component of total net primary productivity (NPP) for many grasslands (Gill et al. 2002;Hui and Jackson 2006), determining how grazing affects root production will help to predict when grassland ecosystems will behave as carbon sinks, and whether grazing is likely to promote or inhibit carbon sequestration services. Root carbon inputs may constitute a disproportionate amount of the total SOC stock compared with shoot carbon (Rasse et al. 2005;Poirier et al. 2018;Sokol et al. 2019), and are especially critical in grassland ecosystems where above-ground tissue is susceptible to frequent removal by fire and grazing (Johnson and Matchett 2001). Current understanding of how grazing affects root production is ambiguous. For example, one temperate mesocosm study showed that intense defoliation inhibited root production and accelerated the loss of SOC (Klumpp et al. 2009), whereas some field studies have documented greater below-ground allocation and root production under grazing in the Tibetan plateau (Hafner et al. 2012) and in subtropical pasture (Wilson et al. 2018). Augustine et al. (2011) found that defoliation reduced below-ground carbon allocation in one grazing-adapted North American grass species (Pascopyrum smithii, western wheatgrass) but not in another (Bouteloua gracilis, blue grama), highlighting interspecific variations in response to a given defoliation regime. In general, laboratory and mesocosm studies have found that frequent grazing/defoliation leads to declines in standing root biomass over the long term (Bardgett et al. 1998), whereas a global synthesis of data comparing grazed and ungrazed grasslands found a mix of positive and negative effects on standing root biomass (Milchunas and Lauenroth 1993). Overall, this discordance suggests that variations in plant composition, underlying environmental factors, grazing severity or some combination of these factors significantly mediates the effects of grazing on root production.Grazing effects on below-ground production may vary based on not only plant species but also the genotypic composition of a grazed stand, given the increasing evidence of the importance of intraspecific variation in driving ecosystem structure and function (Madritch and Hunter 2002;Whitham et al. 2006). In general, some literature suggests that reduced allocation of photosynthates to roots (and increased allocation to shoots) following grazing may represent an evolutionarily adaptive trait for grazing tolerance (Briske and Richards 1995). For instance, Carman (1985) noted that shortleaved genotypes of Schizachyrium scoparium, selected from a long-term grazed site, exhibited lower rates of root elongation post-grazing than longer-leaved genotypes from a site where grazing was excluded for a long period. Planted pasture grasses have been shown also to exhibit genotypic variability in shoot and root production in response to grazing (e.g. Dawson et al. 2000). For example, Interrante et al. (2009) observed significantly less plant cover in recently-selected, upright-growing Paspalum notatum (bahiagrass) cultivars in response to severe, frequent defoliation, but cover was not reduced with the same defoliation treatments on widelynaturalized cultivars, suggesting significant intraspecific variability in grazing tolerance and below-ground biomass allocation.Although root production is a critical component in predicting the carbon cycle in grassland ecosystems, it is difficult to monitor or predict over large spatial scales. Thus, regional-scale grassland models have been developed that predict total NPP and/or greenhouse gas exchange on the basis of above-ground canopy characteristics estimated from remote sensing (Houborg and Soegaard 2004;Zhao et al. 2014;Gu et al. 2013). Similarly, some previous work has sought to predict below-ground net primary productivity (BNPP) on the basis of readily obtained above-ground measurements in both grasslands (Gill et al. 2002) and forests (Chen et al. 2004). Recently, concerted efforts have been made to link fine root traits with other plant traits, across species and environments, by compiling and analyzing global-scale large datasets (Iversen et al. 2017). The goal is to have reliable above-ground proxies for predicting critical below-ground root processes (Malhotra et al. 2018). However, given the evidence for potentially significant genotypic and defoliation effects on below-ground carbon allocation, it is unclear whether above-ground proxies can ever reliably approximate root production. Given the central importance of root system carbon inputs to maintaining SOC, especially in grasslands, we need more data from experimental systems where genotypic composition and defoliation management have been manipulated, and the relationships between above-and below-ground biomass allocation have been quantified.In this study, we tested the independent and combined effects of defoliation severity and frequency, and cultivar on root production of a widely utilized pasture grass species of the southeastern United States, Paspalum notatum Flüggé (bahiagrass). Bahiagrass is a perennial C4 pasture grass that was introduced to Florida in the 1920s from South America and constitutes the primary forage for the Florida cow-calf industry (Silveira et al. 2011). 'Argentine' and 'Pensacola' are widely-distributed, naturalized cultivars in the US Gulf Coast region with a prostrate growth habit, whereas 'Tifton-9' and 'UF-Riata' are recently-released cultivars selected for improved agronomic characteristics, including more upright growth habit and less sensitivity to photoperiod (Interrante et al. 2009;Vendramini et al. 2013). Bahiagrass cultivars can be broadly delineated on the basis of growth habit, as historically older, widely-naturalized cultivars tend to be prostrate, whereas modern cultivars tend to be upright, reflecting selection for improved forage growth characteristics (Vendramini et al. 2013). Previous work and considerable producer experience suggest that bahiagrass has a remarkable resilience to severe grazing, wherein forage growth and quality are maximized with severe defoliation (close to ground level) so long as regrowth intervals are adequate (Beaty et al. 1968;Stanley et al. 1977). However, impacts of defoliation severity on root production across cultivars, and their associated growth habits, have not been studied directly, reflecting a general lack of information on below-ground growth responses in subtropical pasture during the warm season (Cooley et al. 2019). To redress this gap in knowledge, we conducted an experiment in a common garden setting under realistic conditions of limited soil fertility in an endeavor to: 1) isolate the effects of defoliation severity and frequency plus cultivar on belowground production; and 2) evaluate the relationships between above-ground and below-ground growth.Consistent with the literature on compensatory growth responses by natural and planted pastures (Stanley et al. 1977;McNaughton 1983;Zhao et al. 2008), and also with the literature on genotypic variability (e.g. Dawson et al. 2000), we hypothesized that: 1) Severe defoliation, applied infrequently, would stimulate increases in above-ground primary productivity (via compensatory response mechanisms), but would have neutral effects on root productivity across all cultivars; 2) Severe defoliation, applied frequently, would significantly suppress root production across all cultivars as a consequence of plant requirements to prioritize photosynthate allocation to regrowing shoots. Shoot production would either be unaffected or decrease somewhat, as the high level of stress over-rides compensatory growth mechanisms; 3) Widely-naturalized, prostrate cultivars would show proportionally greater reductions in root production under severe defoliation than the more upright cultivars, reflecting a beneficial adaptation for increased allocation to shoots following severe defoliation events; and 4) Despite alterations to below-ground biomass, allocation on the basis of cultivar and defoliation treatment, shoot production and root production would positively correlate at the plot level, reflecting variations in underlying soil factors determining total production.To evaluate the independent and potential interactive effects of defoliation severity and plant cultivar on root production, we established thirty-two 3  7 m experimental plots at the University of Florida Range Cattle Research and Education Center, Ona, FL (27°26' N, 82°55' W) in 2009. The soils were uniform and classified as Pomona fine sand (sandy, siliceous, hyperthermic Ultic Alaquod). First, we seeded plots with 1 of 4 bahiagrass cultivars (Argentine, Pensacola, Tifton-9 and UF-Riata). Plots were fully established by the onset of the 2010 summer growing season with complete, uniform plant cover. More details, including soil fertility characteristics can be found in Vendramini et al. (2013).Weather data for the experimental site are presented in Table 1; all fell within normal ranges. We initiated defoliation treatments on 13 June 2013 and concluded field sampling 16 weeks later on 5 October 2013. Although we did not measure soil moisture, all soils were visibly waterlogged from July until the end of the experiment, as is typical in Florida Spodosol soils (Silveira et al. 2011). We therefore assumed that plant growth was not limited by low water availability during the sampling period; it may even have been slightly limited by anaerobiosis. However, these production conditions are totally normal during the growing season in south Florida, and at the very least water availability was essentially constant across plots. Each plot (n = 32) was randomly assigned to either a frequent (2 weekly) or an infrequent (4 weekly) defoliation treatment to simulate grazing stress and was halved to receive 2 defoliation severities (severe at 5 cm residual height, and mild at 15 cm residual height) resulting in n = 64 experimental units (Figure 1). Residual heights were chosen based on personal observation (C.H. Wilson, L.E. Sollenberger and J.M. Vendramini) to represent the extremes of pasture defoliation under grazing by beef cattle in Florida. Thus, our design was effectively split-plot with 2 main-plot treatments (cultivar and defoliation frequency), while our subplot factor was defoliation severity. Overall, each cultivar  defoliation severity  defoliation frequency treatment was replicated 4 times.We harvested forage from a 0.92 m 2 quadrat within each subplot during each defoliation treatment using a rotary mower (Sensation Mow-Blo Model 11F4-0) at the target cutting heights. To quantify above-ground production, harvested material was oven-dried at 60 °C to constant mass and weighed on an analytical scale. At the final harvest, all subplots were harvested at 5 cm. Total above-ground production was determined by summing values for each subplot across all dates, including the final harvest. To quantify root primary production in response to the defoliation treatments, we installed 2 mm mesh root ingrowth cores (Makkonen and Helmisaari 1999) on 7 June 2013, prior to imposing the defoliation treatments. Cores were 7.5 cm diameter  25 cm deep and constructed of fiberglass mesh. They were installed by first excavating soil with a soil auger to target 25 cm depth, placing the mesh cores into the holes produced so that the upper edge of the core was just below the soil surface, and then re-filling the cores with sieved, root-free soil from the same plot. We retrieved the cores at the end of the growing season on 5 October 2013, 16 weeks after installation. The final volume of soil contained in each core was quantified prior to washing the roots free of soil on a 250 m sieve. Roots were then oven-dried at 60 °C to constant mass and weighed. To correct for variation in core volume, root biomass was multiplied by a correction factor determined as the inverse of the ratio of each core volume to a reference core (a cylinder of 7.5 cm diameter and 25 cm depth). Finally, we visually verified that almost all root biomass was contained within the depth we evaluated (i.e. 25 cm depth) by digging several test pits around our study area. We noted from personal observation that wet pastures tended to result in shallower root distribution, consistent with early literature (Doss et al. 1960). Therefore, we multiplied root biomass by a constant 10,000 \uD835\uDF0B × 3.75 2 ⁄ to convert our measurements to g/m 2 , putting them on an easily interpretable scale.Response variables for analyses were shoot and root production, and a measure of allocation of photosynthate to root biomass defined as:To analyze 'among-cultivar' variability in response to our treatments, we parameterized a varying-intercept/ varying-slope Bayesian hierarchical model that we applied to both response variables. In this model, we estimated intercept and slope (i.e. treatment effects) coefficients for each cultivar, where each batch of coefficients was modeled as a draw from a normal distribution with an estimated variance component (Gelman and Hill 2007). We included binary predictor variables using a -0.5/0.5 'effect coding' for our experimentally imposed treatments: lenient (15 cm) and infrequent (4 weekly) defoliations were assigned -0.5 values, while frequent (2 weekly) and severe (5 cm) defoliations were assigned 0.5 values. Under this coding, the model intercept represents the grand mean, and the coefficients for defoliation severity and frequency represent the main effects of severe and/or frequent defoliation across both levels of the other treatment (see e.g. Schabenberger et al. 2000). We also included a term for the interaction of severe and frequent defoliation treatments and a random effect of plot to allow for correlation in observations from the same plot. Our varying-intercept/varying-slope model therefore included 4 separate estimates of grand means (1 for each cultivar), each of which represented an estimate of performance for that cultivar across all defoliation treatment conditions, and 4 treatment effect estimates (1 for each cultivar) for frequent defoliation, severe defoliation and their interaction. Since these coefficients were drawn from distributions with estimated variance components, the separate estimates were partially pooled towards their common mean, which also was estimated from the data, a property that built in an automatic correction for multiple comparisons among cultivars and obviated the need for arbitrary post-hoc adjustments such as the Bonferonni correction (Gelman et al. 2012). Finally, because growth data are naturally constrained to be positive only and because we observed a pattern of variance increasing with the mean, we used a Gamma distribution to model our data, which naturally accounts for this nearly universal pattern in biomass data. We used the standard log-link in our parameterization of the Gamma regression model, and thus our model coefficients represent multiplicative effects, and are reported on the loglink scale (Gelman and Hill 2007). Values greater than zero indicate positive effects on the response variable, whereas values less than zero indicate negative effects. As applies in all cases where the log-link is used, exponentiation of these regression coefficients returns the multiplicative effect, which can be naturally interpreted as a % effect.We display treatment effects graphically by first plotting estimated fixed effect coefficients (i.e. frequency, severity and frequency  severity) centered on the median, and include both 50% (thick) and 95% (thin line) uncertainty (credible) intervals. These coefficients represent the overall average effects of treatment or the interaction effect across all cultivars. In addition, we graphically present the varying intercepts portion of our model, which represents the overall average deviation of each cultivar from the grand mean across all cultivars, and is thus naturally centered at zero. Here again, we include both 50% (thick) and 95% (thin line) credible intervals. The proportion of the credible interval above or below zero can be interpreted as the Bayesian probability of that cultivar differing in response from the average across all cultivars. In the case of root allocation, we further analyzed all the pair-wise contrasts among cultivars (n = 6 contrasts), by taking the difference for each coefficient at each iteration of the Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampler, the computational algorithm by which Bayesian models are fitted (Gelman et al. 2013). These pairwise contrasts thus represented the differences between each pair of cultivars in their overall root allocation, averaged across all treatment conditions.We estimated these models in a Bayesian framework via Hamiltonian Monte Carlo in the packaged 'rstanarm' (v 2.18.2) called from R (v 3.5.3) via R-studio (v 1.1.463). Prior to analysis, shoot and root production responses were standardized by dividing by their mean, resulting in this case with response variables with scale ~O (1) to facilitate faster sampling, and to help specify weakly-regularizing Normal (0,1) priors for all treatment effects. For all models, we sampled the target (posterior) distribution with 4 chains of 2,000 iterations each. Model convergence was assessed via use of the R-hat <1.01 criterion (Gelman and Hill 2007) as well as by visual inspection for chain blending and stability, and monitoring of the powerful diagnostics built into 'rstanarm' (i.e. divergent transitions and the Energy Bayesian Fraction of Missing Information, or E-BFMI, Carpenter et al. 2017).In addition to the log-linear Gamma regression models, we performed a standard split-plot analysis of variance on the root production response variable, being careful to assign the cultivar, frequency and cultivar × frequency terms to the plot-level error term, while residual cutting height, and its various interaction terms were assigned to the residual error term. The results of this ANOVA complement our analysis of the treatment effects from the log-linear regression models, but in common with all strictly ANOVA analyses do not provide quantitative insight beyond the P-value significance. For readers who are interested, we have provided these results in supplemental form (Appendix).To understand the relative importance of defoliation treatment and cultivar compared with shoot production for predicting root production, we first fitted a simple univariate regression model using only above-ground biomass from each subplot (n = 64) as a continuous covariate. We then refitted our varying-intercepts/varying-slopes model, while including shoot production as a continuous covariate alongside treatment and cultivar effects. We compared a Bayesian R 2 metric between the models (Gelman et al. 2018). Since the visual and R 2 comparisons were so clear, there was no need to evaluate additional metrics of model predictive performance.Average shoot DM production across all cultivars and treatment combinations in our study was 290 g/m 2 , with the highest values observed in the infrequent, severe defoliation treatment, which averaged 384 g/m 2 (Figure 2). The fixed main effect estimate (on log-link scale, and reported as posterior median  posterior standard error) for severe defoliation was positive (0.28  0.07; Figure 3a), while the estimate for frequent defoliation was negative (-0.18  0.08; Figure 3a); however, the interaction was negative as well (-0.25  0.15; Figure 3a), consistent with a readily observable pattern (Figure 2) that the combination of severe + infrequent (4 weekly) defoliation leads to over-yielding. Overall, we did not estimate substantial variability in shoot production among cultivars across all treatments, although the upright cultivars (UF-Riata and Tifton-9) had slightly higher production than the prostrate cultivars Argentine and Pensacola (Figure 4a).We observed an average root DM production of 224 g/m 2 , where mild defoliation treatments were the highest with 262 g/m 2 averaged across 2 and 4 weekly defoliation frequencies, compared with severe defoliation with an average of 186 g/m 2 (Figure 2). The fixed main effect estimate for severe defoliation was negative (-0.33  0.12; Figure 3b), with >97.5% of posterior probability below 0, while the main effects of frequent defoliation and the interaction of frequent × severe defoliation were highly uncertain, with 95% credible intervals spanning a similar range above and below zero. Average root production across all treatment groups varied by cultivar more substantially than shoot production (Figure 4b), with the prostrate cultivars Argentine and Pensacola having greater root production than the upright cultivars UF-Riata and Tifton-9 (Figure 4b; Figure 5). The greatest contrast was between Argentine and UF-Riata, which had a median posterior difference of -0.36 on the log-link scale (Figure 5), which represents a 30% lower root production.The fixed main effect estimate for severe defoliation on root biomass allocation proportion was -0.34  0.09 (Figure 3c), a very similar median estimate to that for root production, although with a smaller uncertainty (s.e. = 0.09 vs. 0.12). This result represents a median estimate of 29% reduced allocation proportion to roots overall among cultivars and across both frequencies of defoliation with severe defoliation. Variation among cultivars was similar to that observed for root production (Figure 4c vs. Figure 4b), so we did not repeat the pairwise analysis since it would convey redundant information.The univariate regression between shoot and root production revealed a very weak (R 2 = 0.09) relationship (Figure 6a). The full model that included treatment indicators and cultivar identity (as in the analyses above) yielded a median R 2 of 0.45 (Figure 6b). After removing the varying intercepts/slopes by cultivar, this R 2 value declined to 0.21, indicating that accounting for cultivar identity doubles model fit. Close examination of Figure 6b reveals that the full model accounted for observed variations in root production quite well in the range of 100−300 g DM/m 2 but severely under-predicted root production when >300 g DM/m 2 .   Coefficients represent deviations of each cultivar from the overall mean (fixed effect coefficient), and are thus naturally centered at 0, where negative values represent lower than average performance and positive values higher than average performance. Plots include a median (point) plus 50% (thick line) and 95% (thin line) credible intervals. Where the entire 95% credible interval falls above or below zero, we can interpret that as a 97.5+% Bayesian probability of the cultivar having a higher or lower overall root production than the mean among all cultivars.  Severe defoliation resulted in substantially greater shoot production when applied infrequently, but reduced root production among the bahiagrass cultivars. Averaged across all defoliation treatments, root production was also more strongly variable among cultivars than was shoot production. Thus, our results suggest that severe defoliation can trigger a trade-off between above-ground and below-ground allocation of photosynthate in managed subtropical pastures, and that the extent of this trade-off depends in part on cultivar identity. Contrary to Georgiadis et al. (1989) and Briske and Richards (1995), who suggested that over-compensation was likely to occur only under water-limitation, or given concomitant fertilizer application, we found significantly greater shoot production in response to severe defoliation under limited fertility and abundant soil water. Compared with mild defoliation, all cultivars exhibited this compensatory above-ground growth response following severe defoliation, but only when defoliation was applied infrequently [similar to Gates et al. (1999)]. However, the severe but infrequent defoliation treatment that led to above-ground compensatory growth also suppressed root production. Thus, under low-input conditions, manipulating defoliation severity and frequency to enhance forage production could evoke a trade-off between shoot and root production. Given the substantial literature demonstrating the importance of root carbon for maintenance of soil carbon pools (Rasse et al. 2005;Wilson et al. 2018;Sokol et al. 2019), these altered patterns of allocation of photosynthate may have significant consequences for carbon cycling, and hence soil carbon sequestration services, in managed subtropical pastures. Moreover, use of simple above-ground proxies, such as leaf area/biomass, is unlikely to yield accurate predictions of root production over large spatial scales.In terms of our Hypothesis 1, we found support for the existence of a compensatory growth response mechanism in bahiagrass, but rather than an indifferent effect on root production, we observed a somewhat reduced production (~28% reduction on average) of roots. Our results differ from the short-term responses measured by Ziter andMacDougall (2012) andHamilton et al. (2008), where a single defoliation event stimulated root production and root exudation, respectively. Additionally, the results reported here appear to conflict with measurements of standing root biomass, root exudation rates and their connections to microbial biomass and soil carbon, across a system of longterm grazing exclosures on a similar pasture site, as reported in Wilson et al. (2018). These discrepancies suggest that root responses to short-term grazing/ defoliation events can differ strongly from season-long responses to grazing regimens, where both severity and frequency of defoliation are expected to mediate plant regrowth strategies (Briske and Richards 1995). Moreover, longer-term impacts of grazing exclusion (over many years) in bahiagrass-dominated subtropical pasture appear to involve pronounced phenotypic shifts in root:shoot ratios, whereby absence of grazing favors lower root:shoot ratios, even when holding species composition constant (Wilson et al. 2018). On the other hand, Thornton and Millard (1996) found that greater severity of defoliation resulted in lower root mass (but greater N uptake per unit of root mass), which is consistent with our findings. Dawson et al. (2000) reported that weekly defoliation over a growing season reduced root biomass compared with no defoliation, but infrequent defoliation (every 8 weeks) had no effect. Our ambivalent findings on the role of frequency of defoliation were thus somewhat surprising. Although we observed marked suppression of variability of production under our severe + frequent treatment (see e.g. Figure 2), root production was not markedly lower than in our severe + infrequent treatment. However, our second hypothesis was upheld, in that the decrease in root production we observed was less variable across cultivars under severe + frequent defoliation. Despite this result, it appears that in our system, severity of grazing is a more important determinant of root production of grass than frequency of grazing.We observed substantial overall variability in root production among the grass cultivars. However, it does not appear possible to predict cultivar-level below-ground responses to specific grazing regimens based on observations of above-ground compensatory growth responses. As we hypothesized (Hypothesis 3), the cultivars selected for enhanced upright growth habit [Tifton 9, UF-Riata; Interrante et al. ( 2009)], especially Tifton-9, exhibited less overall root production than the widely-naturalized prostrate types (Argentine, Pensacola), especially Argentine. On the other hand, all cultivars responded negatively to severe defoliation per se, and we observed similar total root production among all cultivars in the severe + frequent defoliation treatment, a scenario reasonably representative of overstocked pastures. These results contradict the hypothesis that more grazing-tolerant genotypes, in our case Argentine and Pensacola, will have lower root production as a consequence of greater post-grazing allocation of resources to shoot regrowth (Briske and Richards 1995;Dawson et al. 2000). Instead, it appears that cultivars simply vary in root growth potential, but that severe defoliation, especially when applied frequently, overwhelms this variability.Contrary to our Hypothesis 4, our study revealed that shoot and root production are decoupled at fine spatial scales, at least in our experimental plots, with shoot production explaining only 8% of the in-sample variation in root production. By contrast, defoliation treatment and especially cultivar identity appeared to be very important for predicting root production in this system, together accounting for roughly half the observed variance in root production. Gill et al. (2002) reported some success in predicting below-ground NPP using an algorithm based only on above-ground biomass and climate, but their model consistently under-predicted root production in more productive sites. Interestingly, we observed a similar severe underprediction of root production in our more productive plots. Thus, we caution against using above-ground proxies to predict below-ground production, even within uniform and homogeneous ecosystems, such as the planted pasture system where we worked. Our results suggest that knowledge of grazing management and cultivar identity, in addition to species-level variations in composition (Steinbeiss et al. 2008;Tilman et al. 2012), are critical for generating accurate predictions of BNPP. Moreover, half of the variance in below-ground production was unexplained, even in our best model, suggesting significant spatial heterogeneity in root system productivity that should be investigated further. Given recent calls highlighting the importance of plant roots and their production in achieving future progress in biogeochemical modeling and the quest to find reliable, scalable above-ground proxies to infer root processes indirectly (Iversen et al. 2017;Malhotra et al. 2018), our results are a sobering reminder of the challenges inherent to linking above-and belowground production. Accordingly, we suggest that a high priority for future research is to study below-ground root-rhizosphere processes using spatially explicit sampling protocols designed to maximize insight into heterogeneity at various spatial and temporal scales.On a large scale, McNaughton et al. (1998) found that grazing severity was uncorrelated with standing root biomass or productivity in the Serengeti. However, in speciose natural grasslands plant diversity may confer a stabilizing influence on root production (Fornara et al. 2009;Tilman et al. 2012). By contrast, monoculture pasture systems may respond more like mesocosm systems, where high defoliation severity is associated with reduced root biomass (Bardgett et al. 1998). Moreover, since a large proportion of planted pastures (particularly in the subtropics) are dominated by single species, variation in root production among cultivars may represent an especially important component of diversity. Grazing management may need to be matched to cultivarlevel characteristics to optimize both forage and root production, and establishment of planted pastures with multiple cultivars or genotypes may be a viable, yet under-appreciated, strategy for enhancing functional diversity. For instance, combining upright and prostrate cultivars may introduce beneficial genotypic diversity that could maximize utilization of both above-and belowground resources via niche complementarity (Avolio et al. 2011;Chang and Smith 2014). Additionally, cultivarlevel variability suggests the potential for ecologists, agronomists and physiologists to collaborate with plant breeders to improve the sustainability of grassland agroecosystems by development of improved forage cultivars selected for superior below-ground traits.Overall, our results suggest that intermittent severe defoliation can elicit much greater shoot growth but have neutral or negative effects on root production. It is possible that a more moderate defoliation severity than we tested would have led to similar stimulation of aboveground compensation without the negative consequences for root production, a possibility our study was not designed to test. Neither did our study consider impacts of defoliation on rhizome biomass, but we stress that our intent was to focus on root production, since it appears to be of greater relevance for soil carbon sequestration than other compartments of plant biomass (Rasse et al. 2005). Likewise, it is also possible that the lower levels of fine root production we measured under severe defoliation may have been compensated for by greater root exudation, or rhizodeposition more generally. However, this possibility seems unlikely given that rates of root exudation generally correlate closely with fine root surface area (Jones et al. 2009;Wilson et al. 2018).The main limitation of our work is that realistic animal grazing management can differ from experimentally imposed defoliation in 2 major ways: 1) grazing impacts will fall along a spectrum of timing and severity with more intermediate values than can be tested in a randomized factorial experiment; and 2) grazers will return a certain fraction of consumed carbon and nutrients in the form of manure and urine, creating heterogeneous patches of varying nutrient availability. Moreover, we also caution that year-to-year variability in growing conditions can induce variability in experimental effects. Ideally, we recommend that medium-term (3+ years) field studies of controlled grazing (or defoliation) be conducted to properly estimate the random effects of such year-to-year environmental fluctuations. In addition to recommending greater future consideration of intraspecific variations in below-ground responses to grazing, our work supports the need to perform season-long measures of below-ground production to obtain reliable estimates of below-ground production that can be used to parameterize soil carbon models.Across the 4 cultivars we tested, severe defoliation, regardless of frequency, suppressed root production, while infrequently applied severe defoliation increased shoot production. Thus, it appears that manipulating timing and severity of grazing to optimize forage production might evoke a negative trade-off with root production. Unfortunately, our data suggest that reliance on aboveground proxies to predict below-ground processes is not justified, at least for subtropical pastures.We suggest that longer-term field manipulations are necessary to evaluate a suite of defoliation management scenarios across plant composition treatments to improve our ability to design management strategies for grassland agroecosystems to meet above-ground (forage) production goals while optimizing below-ground production, so as to improve soil carbon sequestration, nutrient retention and water cycling. Nuestro objetivo fue medir la composición química y la anatomía de 5 genotipos de Megathyrsus maximus (syn. Panicum maximum), cuando se cultivan en combinación con eucaliptos en un sistema silvopastoril. Los cultivares Massai, Mombaça, BRS Tamani, Tanzânia y la accesión híbrida intraespecífica PM44 se evaluaron a pleno sol y en un sistema silvopastoril a 5 distancias diferentes de las hileras de eucaliptos. El diseño experimental fue un bloque al azar en parcela dividida con 2 repeticiones. Las parcelas se correspondieron con genotipos y subparcelas con puntos de muestreo dentro del sistema. Se evaluó la biomasa total de forrajes y hojas, así como el valor nutritivo y las proporciones de tejido. Nuestros resultados mostraron una disminución en la biomasa a medida que disminuyó la incidencia de radiación. La biomasa del forraje fue mayor en BRS Tamani y Mombaça y menor en PM44. Hubo una interacción significativa entre los puntos de muestreo y el genotipo para las variables de valor nutritivo, como proteína cruda, digestibilidad in vitro de materia orgánica, celulosa, hemicelulosa y lignina-S, mientras que las proporciones de los tejidos no se vieron afectadas por la interacción entre los puntos de muestreo y los genotipos. El genotipo tuvo efectos más pronunciados sobre la composición química y las características anatómicas que los puntos de muestreo. Las hojas de Mombaça fueron las más largas y tuvieron mayor área de corte transversal total, y este genotipo mostró mayores proporciones de esclerénquima y tejidos vasculares que otros cultivares y la menor proporción de mesófilo. La mayor proporción de vainas de haces de parénquima también se encontró en las hojas de Mombaça. Los genotipos PM44 y Tanzânia tenían las proporciones más bajas de esclerénquima, y PM44 y BRS Tamani tenían las proporciones más bajas de tejidos vasculares. Por otro lado, PM44 y Tanzânia tuvieron las mayores proporciones de mesófilo. BRS Tamani fue comparable con los cultivares más utilizados, Mombaça y Tanzânia, y tuvo una calidad de forraje ligeramente superior a la de Mombaça. Los pastos tropicales que crecen bajo sombra pueden producir potencialmente menos forraje pero con mejor valor nutritivo, en términos de composición química y proporciones de tejido, que los pastos cultivados a pleno sol. Sin embargo, como el grado de sombreado en los sistemas silvopastoriles no ocurre de manera uniforme en toda el área, el valor nutritivo mejorado no sería uniforme y podría no ser muy prominente en general.In the tropics, Guinea grass [Megathyrsus maximus (syn. Panicum maximum)] is one of the major grasses used as forage for cattle feeding, characterized by both high forage biomass and high nutritive quality, which favors weight gain of bovines in grazing systems (Euclides et al. 2015). Although 24 cultivars are registered in the official site of the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (http://sistemas.agricultura.gov.br/ snpc/cultivarweb/cultivares_registradas.php), the most used M. maximus cultivars in Brazil are Tanzânia and Mombaça, comprising about 90% of the seed of this species being sold (Fernandes et al. 2014). This lack of diversity carries the risk that traditional cultivars might succumb to a disease or pest, such as Bipolaris maydis fungus, which has caused significant losses in cv. Tanzânia (Braz et al. 2015). Therefore, there is an ongoing need for research to develop and evaluate new cultivars, in a range of different environmental conditions, in order to promote pasture diversification in livestock production systems.Aiming at achieving resource-efficient and sustainable animal production in the tropics, integrated crop-livestock and integrated livestock-forestry and crop-livestockforestry systems have been studied by Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa). The standard silvopastoral systems combine livestock and forestry in the same location, providing benefits in terms of soil quality (Sousa Neto et al. 2014), forage quality (Gamarra et al. 2017), greenhouse gas balance (Alves et al. 2015) and animal welfare (Karvatte Junior et al. 2016).The presence of trees in the systems modifies the environment for forage grass development and, consequently, its growth patterns. When exposed to shade, some forage grasses can modify their leaf anatomy, in order to increase light absorption efficiency and continue growing under tree canopies (Gobbi et al. 2011). Further factors like gaseous exchanges and, consequently, the forage primary production process and nutritive value are also affected (Batistoti et al. 2012).An increase in the specific leaf area of plants growing under shade has been reported widely in the literature (Gomes et al. 2019;Pezzopane et al. 2019). This greater specific leaf area under shade than in full sun may affect the leaf blade proportion of tissues, such as lower mesophyll proportion, decrease in sclerenchyma and vascular tissues plus thinner cell walls and bulliform cells (Lambers et al. 1998). Quantifying the proportion of various tissues in leaf blades should indicate the potential digestibility of forage, although some leaves are highly digestible, while others are poorly digestible or even indigestible (Batistoti et al. 2012). In addition, leaf anatomy consists of morphologically and functionally distinct types of photosynthetic cells (Berry and Patel 2008). For instance, C4 leaf anatomy was identified with lower proportions of mesophyll and greater lessdigestible epidermis, bundle sheath, sclerenchyma and vascular tissues than C3 leaf anatomy, which negatively affects pasture digestibility of C4 species (Wilson and Hattersley 1989).Several studies have been conducted with tropical grasses under different shading levels, focusing on responses in biomass yield, nutritive value, physiology and morphology of forage (Gobbi et al. 2011;Baldissera et al. 2016;Geremia et al. 2018). For these parameters, M. maximus cultivars have shown medium tolerance of shaded environments (Santiago-Hernández et al. 2016), which indicates that they have potential for use in silvopastoral systems (Paciullo et al. 2016). However, those studies are more focused on cv. Tanzânia and Mombaça, although cv. BRS Tamani, launched in 2014, has shown high performance under shading (Pereira et al. 2015).The increased interest in silvopastoral systems has boosted research into forage grasses suitable for use in shaded environments. We aimed at investigating the leaf anatomy of different M. maximus genotypes under shaded conditions in a silvopastoral system, and the relationship between anatomical and nutritional characteristics of leaf blades of these genotypes and different degrees of shade.The field experiment was conducted at Embrapa Beef Cattle, located in the municipality of Campo Grande -MS (20º24'54.9 S, 54º42'25.8 W; 530 masl). The climate corresponds to the humid tropical type, sub-type Aw (Köppen classification), with hot and rainy summers. Soil is classified as clayey Oxisol. The evaluations were carried out in full sun and in a silvopastoral system, both established in 2008, and briefly described as follows:• Full sun, representing the Control (CON), with soybean (Glycine max) planted every 4 years in a notillage system in rotation with tropical grass pasture for 3 consecutive years. A detailed description of the establishment and design for both the silvopastoral system and CON is given by Oliveira et al. (2014) and Gamarra et al. (2017). The management of the systems was similar throughout. The soybean was harvested in April 2013, and in October of the same year, 5 Megathyrsus maximus genotypes, i.e. cvv. Massai, Mombaça, BRS Tamani, Tanzânia and hybrid accession PM44 were sown in plots of 20 × 1.5 m, at a row spacing of 0.25 m, as an understory for eucalyptus trees. There was an application of 109 kg urea∕ha and 300 kg N:P:K/ha (0:20:20) at seeding. Grass seeding rates were adjusted to apply 200 pure viable seeds∕m 2 . Grasses were first harvested at 70 days after sowing and 30 cm above ground level, and then 35 days after the first cut, in order to evaluate regrowth potential. The average height of the cultivars at harvest was 60 cm. Evaluation of the anatomical and chemical characteristics of the genotypes was conducted during the rainy season at the beginning of February 2014.The experimental design was a randomized block in split plot with 2 replications/ paddock. Plots corresponded with M. maximus genotypes and the subplots with sampling points within each plot. Five sampling points were defined: 1 m from the northern tree rows (P1N); 1 m from the southern tree rows (P1S); 6 m from the northern tree rows (P6N); 6 m from the southern tree rows (P6S); and midway between the tree rows, i.e. 11 m from each (P11). For the CON system 2 sampling points were randomly collected in the system. The photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was recorded at grass canopy height at each sampling point by a portable ceptometer (model AccuPAR-LP 80, Decagon Devices Inc., Pullman, WA, USA), in the morning and afternoon on sunny days (Figure 1), and at random points under full-sun conditions. The leaf greenness index was measured with a Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD) optical chlorophyll meter (SPAD-502 Plus, Minolta, Japan) on 3 leaves of randomly selected plants at each sampling point.Field plots were mechanically defoliated 70 days after establishment and 35 days later at a cutting height of 30 cm above ground to determine forage biomass (total dry matter, TDM) within a metallic frame of 1 × 1 m. All forage samples collected were individually weighed after harvesting. A subsample from each sampling point was taken, placed in a paper bag and dried in a forced-air oven at 65 ºC until constant mass for determination of DM. Another subsample from each sampling point was selected and separated into its morphological components -leaf blade, stem with sheath and senescent material, which were weighed and subsequently dried in a forcedair oven at 65 ºC for DM determination. Leaf biomass (LDM) was then estimated for the purpose of this study. The penultimate expanded leaf blade, with exposed ligules, cut from the basal region of the main vegetative shoot of 5 tillers randomly selected from each cultivar, was taken at each sampling point. Leaf blades were identified and width at the central point and length (from the apex of the blade to the base of the ligule insertion) were measured. Sample fragments of 1 cm were taken from the central area of 5 blades and stored in bottles filled with formalin aceto-alcohol solution. The 1 cm leaf blade fragments were stored in a tertiary butyl ethanol series (Daykin and Hussey 1985).After dehydration, fragments were processed with paraplast. Fragments were sectioned with a thickness of 10 µm, using a manual rotary microtome, followed by triarch quadruple staining of tissues before permanent blade mounting, following the methodology proposed by Hagquist (1974). The image analyzing system (AxioVision version 3.1) was coupled to the binocular optical microscope to estimate proportions of each tissue in the leaf blades. Total cross-sectional area projected in the video was measured first (TA), followed by determination of the area occupied by abaxial (ABAep) and adaxial (ADAep) epidermal tissues from the parenchyma bundle sheath (PBS), the sclerenchyma (SCL) and the vascular (VT) system. The mesophyll (MES) area was calculated as the difference between total anatomical area and the area of other tissues.Leaf samples from the respective sampling points (P1N, P1S, P6N, P6S, P11 and CON) as for anatomical parameters were weighed and dried in a forced-air oven at 65 ºC until constant weight was reached. After grinding to pass a 1-mm sieve, samples were analyzed for crude protein (CP), in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and cellulose, while hemicellulose was calculated by subtracting acid detergent fiber values from neutral detergent fiber values, and lignin-S values determined for the predictive equation by the method of solubilization of cellulose with sulfuric acid, using near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (FOSS NIR System 5000), according to Marten et al. (1985), at the Embrapa Beef Cattle facilities.Shapiro-Wilk test was used to assess the normality of the residual data. No transformation was required. Pearson correlation was used to evaluate the relationship between anatomical and chemical characteristics of data, and was also applied for the PAR, SPAD index, forage biomass, and leaf biomass of the genotypes. These data were also subjected to an analysis of variance using the General Linear Model (GLM) procedure of SAS with genotype, sampling point and their interaction as main effects. Statistical significances were defined for P<0.05, and mean differences were analyzed by the Tukey test.The anatomy of the penultimate expanded leaf blade of the 5 Urochloa maximus genotypes evaluated is depicted in Table 1 and Figure 2. A distinguishing feature of C4 pathways of photosynthesis, which occurs in tropical grasses, is the Kranz anatomy, i.e. 2 morphologically and functionally different types of photosynthetic cells, PBS and MES, with numerous well-developed chloroplasts. The bundle sheath of specialized cells, with normally thick walls, surrounds the VT and MES cells, surrounding the bundle sheath beneath the epidermis (Epi). The carbon dioxide-assimilation C4 pathway utilizes 2 different sets of biochemical reactions, and the compartmentalization and functional separation of those structural frameworks are provided by this wreath-like arrangement (Berry and Patel 2008). M. maximus (biochemical characterization of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, PEP-CK subtype of C4) has an undifferentiated MES with few intercellular spaces and a single layer of concentric bundle sheath cells around VT. The chloroplasts in the bundle sheath cell are centrifugal and the leaves contain stomata in both surfaces (amphistomatic). The epidermis contains a single layer of juxtaposed cells with bulliform cells placed between the vascular bundles in the ADAep (Habermann et al. 2019).While their leaves are relatively resistant to degradation by rumen microorganisms, they afford great photosynthetic carbon conversion efficiency and hence above-ground biomass production (Wilson et al. 1983).In our study the level of PAR that reached the forage canopy varied greatly according to the distance from the trees, with pasture close to the tree lines receiving only 10% as much radiation as open pasture received. While points P6N, P11 and P6S in the silvopastoral system received levels of PAR above 1,100 µmol/m 2 /s, or the amount required for tropical forage grass development, [for instance, 800 µmol/m 2 /s for the genus Brachiaria (Gifford 1974;Sousa et al. 2010)], points P1N and P1S received only 22% of this requirement (Figure 1). The PAR of full sun conditions was on average 1,697 µmol/m 2 /s. As expected, forage growth decreased as level of PAR reaching the grass canopy also decreased, so leaf biomass was lower in the silvopastoral than the full-sun environment.Total forage biomass (TDM) and leaf biomass (LDM) were greater (P<0.05) in CON (means of 6,249 kg DM/ha and 2,408 kg DM/ha, respectively) than at the silvopastoral sampling points, where TDM and LDM decreased as distance from tree lines decreased (Pereira et al. 2021). Means for TDM were 4, 915, 4,211, 5,699, 4,656 and 5,613 kg DM/ha and for LDM were 1,511,1,339,1,694,1,192  There were significant interactions (P<0.05) between sampling point and genotype for all chemical parameters measured, so data are presented for all combinations in Table 2. The CP concentration for BRS Tamani for P1N exceeded that for P6S (P<0.05). Similarly, IVOMD for PM44 at P1N exceeded that at P6S (P<0.05) and hemicellulose concentration of BRS Tamani at P1N exceeded those for P1S, P6S and CON (P<0.05).Effects of genotype were much more pronounced, although genotype had no significant effect on CP concentration or IVOMD (P>0.05). At P6S, cellulose concentration of BRS Tamani exceeded those for PM44 and Tanzania and that of Mombaça exceeded that of PM44 (P<0.05). At P1N hemicellulose concentration of BRS Tamani exceeded that of PM44 and at P6N concentration of Tanzania exceeded that of PM44 (P<0.05). Lignin concentration of PM44 at P1N and P6S exceeded that of Tanzania and lignin concentration of BRS Tamani at P1S and P6N exceeded that of Tanzania (P<0.05).Regarding anatomical characteristics, effects of genotype were much more pronounced than effects of sampling points. Mombaça showed the highest total cross-sectional area (TA), which was significantly greater (P<0.01) than that of BRS Tamani, and leaves of Mombaca were longer than those of PM44 (Table 1). In general, Mombaca showed higher proportions of poorly digestible or even indigestible tissues, e.g. SCL and VT, than other cultivars and lower proportion of mesophyll. Genotypes PM44 and Tanzânia had the lowest proportions of sclerenchyma, while PM44 and BRS Tamani had the lowest proportions of vascular tissues. On the other hand, PM44 and Tanzânia had higher proportions of MES, a rapidly and completely digested tissue, than Mombaça (P<0.01). In relation to partially degradable tissues, BRS Tamani showed higher ABAep than Mombaça and Tanzânia, while Mombaça had higher PBS than Massai, PM44 and BRS Tamani. Total cross-sectional area of leaf blades in the full-sun system (CON) was greater than for the sampling points near trees (P1N, P1S and P6S) (Table 3). Effects of sampling points on the remaining anatomical parameters were not significant (P>0.05).Overall, weak correlations were found between anatomical and nutritional parameters (P≤0.49; Table 4). CP was positively related to IVOMD, hemicellulose and MES, but negatively related to cellulose, Epi, ADAep and SCL. These final 3 tissues were positively related to cellulose, whereas lignin-S was positively correlated with Epi and ADAep. As expected, IVOMD showed positive correlation with hemicellulose, and negative correlation with cellulose and lignin-S. SPAD index was positively related to CP, IVOMD, TA and MES, and negatively related to cellulose and Epi (Table 4).PAR was positively related to LDM and TA, and negatively related to CP, IVOMD, hemicellulose and ABAep. In addition, LDM showed positive correlation with SCL, and negative with MES. Sampling points: P1N, 1 m from the northern tree rows; P1S, 1 m from the southern tree rows; P6N, 6 m from the northern tree rows; P6S, 6 m from the southern tree rows; P11, midway between the tree rows; CP, crude protein; IVOMD, in vitro organic matter digestibility. Within parameters and columns means without a common upper-case letter and within rows means without a common lower-case letter are significantly different by Tukey test (P<0.05).Tropical Grasslands-Forrajes Tropicales (ISSN: 2346-3775) photosynthetically active radiation; TDM, total dry matter; SPAD, Soil Plant Analysis Development; IVOMD, in vitro organic matter digestibility; Cel, cellulose; Hemi, hemicellulose; LigS, lignin determined by solubilization of cellulose with sulfuric acid; Epi, epidermis; ADAep, adaxial epidermis; ABAep, abaxial epidermis; PBS, parenchyma bundle sheath; VT, vascular tissue; SCL, sclerenchyma; MES, mesophyll; LDM, leaf dry matter; CP, crude protein; TA, total anatomical area of the leaves. Values are shown when P<0.05 and are highlighted when correlations are negative.The complex adjustments in plant physiology and the structure of leaf tissues provide the mechanism for plants to survive in a limited or impaired environment. Despite neglecting leaf anatomy in the studies evaluating plant responses to different conditions (Xu et al. 2012), plant physiology, productivity and animal performance are closely related to leaf anatomy (Habermann et al. 2019). Mesophyll characteristics influence carbon assimilation rates and leaf function, while leaf tissue thickness plays a vital role in thermal regulation, light interception and CO2 and water vapor diffusion (Terashima et al. 2011;Habermann et al. 2019) and different proportions of leaf tissues are important in the digestibility and nutritional value of forage for animals (Batistoti et al. 2012).There was a positive correlation between forage biomass and leaf biomass plus indigestible tissues, such as SCL and VT and a negative correlation between leaf biomass and MES. In agreement with our findings, Britto de Assis Prado et al. ( 2016) reported that large biomass for expanded leaves tended to result in thinner MES. Even though those authors assessed the effects of temperature and CO2 concentrations on foliage development, our findings of leaf biomass being negatively correlated with MES suggest further studies are warranted to measure differences in ambient air temperature between full-sun and silvopastoral systems, which are likely to favor full sun (Karvatte Junior et al. 2016). Although some genotypes had a greater quantity of highly digestible tissues, their forage biomass, leaf:stem ratio and tiller density, as the case of PM44 in contrast to Mombaça, should be considered for use in systems with a forest component, to support grazing.The negative correlation between level of radiation and CP was expected due to the increase of nitrogen concentration of forage in shaded environments, already widely reported in the literature (Lin et al. 2001;Soares et al. 2009;Gobbi et al. 2010;Paciullo et al. 2016), but still undefined for IVOMD (Lima et al. 2018). In addition, the negative correlation between radiation and hemicellulose is indicative of increase of primary wall in forage developing with light restriction due to changes in the partitioning of photosynthate. Light restriction decreases the availability of photosynthate, resulting in the partitioning of photosynthate to priority areas to improve the efficiency of the photosynthesis, instead of developing secondary walls. In addition, leaves grown in full sun tend to be thicker than shaded leaves (Deinum et al. 1996).The positive correlations between SPAD index, CP and MES result from high amounts of photosynthesisrelated enzymes in MES tissues, because most of the nitrogen in MES is present in the chloroplasts and involved in photosynthesis, which can be measured by SPAD (Yamamoto et al. 2002;Batistoti et al. 2012). Moreover, the positive relationships between cellulose and lignin-S and Epi, ADAep, SCL and VT were also expected, because these tissues are cell types with thickened secondary walls, and are highly lignified, contributing to poor quality of forage (Wilson 1994). Positive correlation between PBS and VT is the reason for thickened secondary walls and the lignification of parenchyma bundle sheath tissues (Batistoti et al. 2012).Although shaded plants displayed changes in anatomical development relative to plants grown in full sun, such as lower mesophyll proportion, decrease of sclerenchyma and vascular tissues, thinner cell walls and bulliform cells (Lambers et al. 1998), in silvopastoral systems the light environment in the understory of trees is dynamic, varying according to the incline of the earth's axis in relation to the sun, as well as the growth of the trees. Consequently, the amount of light reaching plants under trees could have varied with time (Geremia et al. 2018). However, most of the chemical and anatomical differences between locations and cultivars were likely due to genetic variability. Some interaction was found between genotype and sampling points, meaning an interaction between the genotype and the PAR reaching the canopy or degree of competition for nutrients and water. Presumably, effects of soil moisture competition between trees and forage grasses would be minimal since the measurements occurred in the rainy season. Nevertheless, we propose that research should be undertaken in the areas of soil moisture and nutrient uptake in silvopastoral systems, especially since eucalypts have a very large root system.Depending on the plant's response, shading will not necessarily result in improvements in the forage nutritive value. While we failed to record any significant effects of degree of shading on CP% (except for cv. BRS Tamani), according to Paciullo et al. (2016), there was an increase in both CP and acid detergent insoluble protein in leaves of cv. Massai under intense shading. The nitrogen fraction accounting for the unavailable protein contained in the cell walls is undegraded in the rumen and is nondigestible in ruminant intestines, Sniffen et al. (1992) suggested that shading may compromise forage nutritive value. Our study failed to clarify this hypothesis.The high proportion of tissues with thickened cell walls and increased lignification for Mombaça is related to the greater length of leaves. Lengthy leaf blades require strong structural support to maintain their erect configuration, and this support is provided by xylem and SCL (Paciullo et al. 2002). Mombaça presents visually erect leaf configuration and cespitose growth habit. Gomes et al. (2011) found greater structural tissues, such as SCL and VT, in genotypes with lengthy leaf blades and lower MES, in agreement with our finding as MES of Mombaça leaf blade was the lowest reported in this study.Regarding cv. Massai, the high SCL is associated with the Girder structure present in its leaves. This structure has an arrangement of SCL cells among Epi and PBS (Brâncio et al. 2002), reducing the nutritive value of forage produced (Lempp 2007). BRS Tamani showed results similar to those of Massai, being slightly superior to Mombaça, but slightly inferior to Tanzânia and PM44. According to Martuscello et al. (2015), BRS Tamani was clustered together with Massai based on graphic dispersion of canonical variables, indicating also a similarity among them for low plant height, but high leaf:stem ratio and leaf proportion. However, our study did not evaluate the presence of Girder structure in the genotypes, as those authors evaluated genotypes of M. maximus for productive characteristics.This study has shown that the tropical forages evaluated had similar nutritive value in both full sun and shade in contrast to other published findings of better nutritive value in terms of chemical composition and tissue proportions in grasses grown in shade. Since the degree of sunlight reaching the grass canopy under trees can vary dramatically depending on time of day and distance from the tree lines, differences in nutritive value may not be very prominent. This issue seems to warrant more studies. genética luego de un ciclo de selección fueron calculadas usando dos unidades de recombinación: individual y media fenotípica familiar (PFM en inglés). Las estimaciones de heredabilidad fueron bajas para todos los caracteres tanto en condiciones salinas como no salinas sugiriendo un complejo control genético de la tolerancia a salinidad con alta proporción de efectos genéticos no aditivos. Las estimaciones fueron superiores usando la selección individual en comparación con la media fenotípica familiar. La ganancia genética esperada fue mayor para la selección individual. Tanto en condiciones salinas como en no salinas, la media predicha fue superior al cv. Klein, el cultivar más común de la variedad. El germoplasma analizado sería un buen recurso para ser incluido en programas de mejoramiento para incrementar la tolerancia a salinidad en Panicum coloratum.Palabras clave: Heredabilidad, selección familiar, selección individual, variabilidad fenotípica y genotípica.Nearly one billion hectares of the earth's land surface (13.2 × 10 9 ha) are made up of saline and/or sodic soils, and between 25 and 30% of irrigated lands are saltaffected, making them essentially commercially unproductive or lowly productive (Shahid et al. 2018). In recent decades, due to the expansion of cropping, cattleraising activities have moved to less-productive areas, many of which are affected to some degree by salinity, sodicity or a combination of both (Kraemer et al. 2013). These areas are covered by native species adapted to harsh conditions, which generally produce poor quality forage. Sowing of a warm-season grass like Panicum coloratum, tolerant of halomorphic conditions, could represent a potential option for increasing the productivity of such areas (Rossi 2005).Panicum coloratum is a cross-pollinated, perennial C4 grass, native to South Africa (Tischler and Ocumpaugh 2004) and P. coloratum var. coloratum has been grown in Africa, Australia and Southern USA to improve pasture lands and for erosion control and re-vegetation (Conrad 1976;Lodge et al. 2009). It exhibits above-average forage quality compared with other warm-season grasses (Rouquette et al. 1974, Ricci 2007) and has high resistance to drought, frost (Petruzzi et al. 2003) and salinity stress (Taleisnik et al. 2002;Pittaro et al. 2015), along with tolerance of waterlogging (Imaz et al. 2013;2015) and alkaline soils as well (Otondo 2011;Luna et al. 2016).As in other allogamous forage grasses, P. coloratum cultivars are highly heterozygous and represent panmictic populations, where internal genotypic variability offers the possibility of selecting individuals with improved performance in specific traits (Vogel and Burson 2004). Breeding efforts allowed the development of experimental lines displaying the following attributes: improved seed retention (Young 1991); reduced postharvest dormancy (Tischler and Young 1987); differences in the length of the subcoleoptilar node (Tischler and Voigt 1995); and increased seed weight (Hussey and Holt 1986;Giordano et al. 2013). In P. coloratum var. makarikariense genetic variation in tolerance of abiotic stresses such as drought (Giordano et al. 2019) and salinity has been reported recently (Cardamone et al. 2018). However, breeding efforts to increase salinity tolerance in P. coloratum var. coloratum have still not been made.Panicum coloratum var. coloratum is widely known as Klein grass and Verde is the most popular cultivar used extensively in Texas and Central Argentina (Ruiz et al. 2004;Tischler and Ocumpaugh 2004). This material has been introduced to Argentina as cultivar Klein and has been sown in different soil and climatic conditions during the 20th century, resulting in long-lasting pastures given its wide adaptation to various environments (Burgos et al. 2018). Severe selection pressures like extreme droughts or frosts have produced races or local populations that are common in central Argentina. These local populations may become the starting point to initiate a breeding program aimed at generating germplasm tolerant of different stressful conditions, if they have retained enough genetic variation.The breeding method most commonly used to improve quantitatively inherited characters in populations of outcrossing plants is recurrent phenotypic selection (Vogel and Burson 2004). However, whether selection is exerted on individual plants or in families depends on the structure of the population and the source of genetic variation (Nguyen and Sleper 1983). Then, estimates of variance components and their distribution in the traits of interest of the germplasm source provide priceless information to decide on selection strategy in any breeding program. In addition, estimating additive genetic effects and heritability may allow prediction of genetic gain as a result of applying selection at a given intensity (Casler et al. 2002).In a previous study, plants from an old pasture of P. coloratum cv. Klein, which had survived in a saline site during periods of severe droughts and frosts were collected, cloned, multiplied and evaluated in a greenhouse setting (Pittaro et al. 2015). The collected plants were found to be more tolerant (33%) of salinity than plants produced from commercial seeds of the same cultivar (Pittaro et al. 2015), supporting the hypothesis that strong selection pressure had been exerted by the stressful environment. Although the number of plants collected at this stressful site was relatively low, analysis with random genetic markers (ISSRs) revealed significant genetic variability (Pittaro et al. 2015). Tolerance of salinity combined with genetic variation suggests that this material may be a valuable source of germplasm to start a breeding program to further increase salinity tolerance. Nonetheless, it is necessary to confirm that genetic variation for specific traits related to salinity tolerance exists, as there is a possibility that the intense selection pressure exerted by drought and frost might have substantially reduced it.In any breeding program, quantitative genetic information regarding the base population or the source of germplasm is required to effectively design the breeding strategy (Vogel and Burson 2004). Then, it is necessary to acquire information on the extent, nature and distribution of genetic variation and heritability of the traits of interest in order to make predictions of the possible genetic progress to be achieved (Dudley and Moll 1969). Estimates of variance components may be achieved by analyzing the performance of half-sib (HS) families as has been reported in other forage grasses, e.g. wheatgrass, ochardgrass (Casler and Brummer 2008) and tall fescue (Majidi et al. 2009). However, whether selection is performed on an individual plant basis or based on means for families depends on the structure of genetic variation and its distribution in the available germplasm (Fehr 1987). In addition, flowering synchronicity should be evaluated before pursuing any breeding strategy to ensure that estimates are made on the actual mating population (Majidi et al. 2009).Prior to launching a breeding program to increase salt tolerance in P. coloratum var. coloratum, we were interested in characterizing the germplasm that survived extreme environments in terms of flowering time, biomass accumulation and plant structure under field conditions. The objectives were: 1. to characterize genotypes according to flowering synchronicity, biomass production and plant structure to narrow down the population that would be actually breeding; 2. to estimate narrow-sense heritability and genetic gain per cycle of traits associated with salinity tolerance in saline and non-saline conditions in a prospective breeding population; 3. to compare attainable genetic progress towards increasing productivity in saline conditions from individual and familial selection; and 4. to compare the calculated probable means with the performance of a widely used cultivar.The plants used for the trials were initially collected from an established pasture on a typical Natracualf soil (35°25ʹ0ʺ S, 57°43ʹ0ʺ W), which survived saline conditions and severe droughts (Pittaro et al. 2015). Then, these plants, identified here as genotypes, were grown in a greenhouse and propagated to obtain clonal groups as described by Pittaro et al. (2015).Twelve replicates of each of 15 genotypes were planted in December 2013 in the experimental field at 'Chacra Experimental Integrada Chascomús, INTA-MAA', Buenos Aires Province. The historical annual precipitation at the site is 1,038 mm, while soil is characterized by an electrical conductivity (EC) of 4.7 dS/m and a pH of 9.5. The genotypes were planted at random at 1 m spacing in a plot of 200 m 2 . In the first year (accumulated precipitation 661 mm), height and diameter of each individual plant were registered. Height was measured from the base of the plant to the ligula of the flag leaf and diameter as the length of the longitudinal projection of the plant canopy on the soil surface at the widest part. Fresh biomass accumulation of the plants was recorded, and subsamples were taken to the laboratory, weighed and dried to calculate moisture content of each sample. In the second year (mean annual precipitation 788 mm), the first growth was cut in early October and discarded, then flowering synchrony was evaluated at the end of November, using an arbitrary scale based on the number of open spikelets per panicle at the time of evaluation, when all genotypes presented panicles. All plants were evaluated and were categorized with the following taxonomy: 'late' -fewer than 50% open spikelets per panicle; 'intermediate' -50% open spikelets per panicle; and 'early' -more than 50% open spikelets per panicle plus older anthers.Ten genotypes previously classified as early-and intermediate-flowering were clonally propagated in a greenhouse and transferred to an isolated polycross nursery in the experimental 'Chacra Experimental Sinsacate' situated in Córdoba (30°56' S, 64°05' W), 1,000 km from the collection site. The historical annual precipitation at the site is 780 mm, with mean temperature 15.8 ºC; soil is an Udic Argiustoll, developed on silty loess in a rolling landscape, poorly drained with neutral pH. Twelve replicates of each genotype were planted in a crossing block at a spacing of 1 m to facilitate pollen exchange throughout. In January 2015, after anthesis had completed, several inflorescences on each plant were enclosed in seed traps to facilitate harvest of seeds from each genotype to produce half-sib families (HS fam). The collected seeds were manually threshed and blown to remove glumes and other residuals in a laboratory. Seeds from all replicates of each genotype were bulked to constitute one HS fam. Fifty seeds of each HS fam were germinated in a petri box containing vermiculite.The aim of this assay was to evaluate the performance of seedlings from 10 HS fam in saline and non-saline conditions, and compare them with commercial cv. Klein. Two-leaved seedlings were transplanted into forest tube pots (55 cm diameter and 20 cm height), containing a mixture of perlite and washed river sand (2:1), and placed in plastic trays. The experimental design was a split-plot completely randomized with 3 blocks and 12 seedlings per HS fam in total. Salinity treatments consisted of non-saline (EC 0.0 dS/m) and saline conditions (with the addition of 0.2 M NaCl to get EC 20.0 dS/m). Pots were irrigated twice a week with Hoagland solution (Hoagland and Arnon 1950) and gradually salinized with increasing NaCl concentrations (0.05, 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2 M) during a 2week period. Once 0.2 M NaCl was reached, the trays were placed in a system with automatic irrigation. Concentration of the solutions in each tray was controlled once a week by measuring EC of the drained water, using a digital conductivity meter (Altronix CTX-II, Buenos Aires, Argentina). Leaf number (LN) and tiller number (TN) per plant were counted twice a week. Leaf emergence rate (LR) and tillering rate (TR) were calculated as a function of time, i.e. x/day, where x is either number of leaves or tillers. Plants were harvested 45 days after transplanting to collect aboveground biomass, which was then dried in an oven until constant weight to obtain shoot dry weight (SDW). Numbers of leaves (L) and tillers (T) per plant were also counted at harvest. For all variables, the values in saline and non-saline conditions were calculated (saline/non-saline) on a per cent basis and were named as %SDW, %TR, %TN, %LR and %LN.A general mixed linear model was used to estimate variance components in HS fam of P. coloratum var. coloratum seedlings growing in both saline and nonsaline conditions with Infostat software with R interface (Di Rienzo et al. 2008). The model used was: X\uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC57 = µ + B\uD835\uDC56 + F\uD835\uDC57 + (BF)\uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC57 + E\uD835\uDC56\uD835\uDC57, where: Xij is the ijth observation of the ith block and the jth family;µ is the general mean; Bi is the fixed ith block effect; Fj is the random jth family effect; BFij is the random jth family by ith block interaction effect; and Eij is the error term. Narrow-sense heritability on an individual plant basis was estimated as follows:where:plus the family by block interaction of both (σ 2 w) (Nguyen and Sleper 1983).Genetic gain per cycle (AG) of individual plant selection (mass selection in one year at one location) was predicted as follows: AG = c k h 2 σP, where: c = parental control factor (Sprague and Eberhart 1977); k = standardized selection differential; h 2 = narrow-sense heritability on an individual basis; and σP = phenotypic standard deviation among individual plants.Parental control factor c = 1 if selected plants are planted together in the field and both maternal and paternal selections are in place.Heritability estimates were also calculated on a phenotypic family mean (PFM) basis as follows:where: σ 2 F is the family variance; σ 2 E is the ambient variation plus the within block variance σ 2 W; r and n are the number of blocks and plants per block, respectively.Genetic gain per cycle of familial selection with 30% intensity was calculated in the same way as AG = c k h 2 PFM σPFM. Genetic progress was calculated under the assumption that superior parents were selected on the basis of the mean performance of their HS progenies, then replicated parents inter-mated in an isolated polycross (c = 2).Standard error of heritability was calculated with Dickerson approximation (Dickerson 1969).Two selection methods were used to calculate prospective means after the selected individuals were allowed to intermate: for individual selection, individuals were chosen according to their performance both in saline and nonsaline conditions; for familial selection, parents were chosen according to the performance of their progeny. To select individuals or families a principal component analysis (PCA) based on the Euclidean distance matrix (Cardamone et al. 2018) was calculated from 5 variables: SDW, LN, TN, LR and TR and individuals were ranked considering all variables.The predicted values derived after selection both on individual and phenotypic family mean (PFM) bases were compared with the mean values in the base population to calculate the progress made. In addition, predicted values were compared with the mean values registered by seedlings of cv. Klein growing in saline and non-saline conditions.Variability in biomass accumulation, plant structure and flowering synchronicity in clones of P. coloratum grown in field plots Biomass accumulation showed significant differences among genotypes growing in the field (P<0.05) as indicated in Figure 1. Genotype 2 had the highest biomass accumulation, while Genotypes 11, 6 and 10 showed the lowest values. When evaluating plant structure by the ratio of plant diameter:height (D:H), all genotypes ranged from 1 to 1.5 (Figure 1). Genotypes 1, 16, 6 and 10 showed a compact structure (ratio close to 1), while Genotypes 12 and 9 had the highest D:H, indicating a prostrate habit.It was possible to classify genotypes on the basis of flowering time into 3 groups (early, intermediate and late) (Figure 1), with 5 genotypes identified as late-flowering, while the other 10 were grouped as early-and intermediate-flowering. The early-plus intermediateflowering group retained much of the phenotypic variation as it congregated genotypes differing in biomass production and plant structure. Half-sib families from a crossing block of replicated genotypes belonging to the late-and intermediateflowering groups were evaluated in the greenhouse in saline and non-saline conditions. No interaction between salinity condition and HS-family was evident for any of the evaluated traits. The parameters SDW and TN were negatively affected by salinity (P = 0.0001 and P = 0.01, respectively), while LN and LR were similar in both saline and non-saline conditions (P = 0.029 and P = 0.140, respectively). Only TR was higher in saline than non-saline conditions (P = 0.0001). Differences among families were evident in SDW (P = 0.0194), while no differences were observed for TN, TR, LR and LN. The most productive family regarding shoot biomass both in saline and non-saline conditions was HS 3 (data not shown). In addition, this family showed the highest salinity tolerance (saline/non-saline) for %SDW, %TN, %LR and %TR (P = 0.0145; P = 0.0161; P = 0.0019; P = 0.0021, respectively).Variance components were estimated from HS family values in both saline and non-saline conditions. Estimates of heritabilities were calculated for all evaluated variables on both individual plant and phenotypic family mean (PFM) bases. Given that the base population was already proven tolerant of salinity, estimations of heritability were calculated in saline and non-saline conditions (Table 1). Estimates of heritabilities were low in non-saline and saline conditions for SDW, TN, TR and LN (h 2 <0.25), on both individual plant and PMF bases. For LR, heritability estimate was higher than the variables mentioned before (h 2 = 0.521) but only in non-saline conditions and on an individual plant basis, while it was close to null in saline conditions. Heritability estimates calculated on an individual plant basis were always higher than on a PFM basis in both saline and non-saline conditions (Table 1).Regarding expected genetic gains, progress was greater when calculated on an individual plant basis (Figure 2), by selecting individual plants in both saline and non-saline conditions for all variables measured. Progress in SDW, TN and LR is expected to be greater when selected in nonsaline conditions, while higher expectations would occur in variables such as LN and TR when selected under saline conditions. However, genetic gains were negligible for all variables in saline conditions for both individual and familial selection procedures (Figure 2). To visualize the prospective increase in performance through selection, we compared the predicted means from individual selection with the values obtained when growing seedlings of cv. Klein under the same conditions as described before, in saline and non-saline conditions. Means were plotted as radar graphs, where values for cv. Klein seedlings represent 100%. In both saline and nonsaline conditions (Figure 3A; Figure 3B), the means predicted after selection were higher than the means of cultivar Klein in the same condition. Means after selection would be higher for TN (43.6%), TR (53.1%) and SDW (23.0%) than for cv. Klein seedlings under saline conditions. A more remarkable advance would be observed when selection was performed on plants growing in nonsaline conditions. That is, the predicted population showed a better performance than cv. Klein (86.4% for TN, 82.2% for TR and 65.3% for SDW; Figure 3B). In many forage species, progress in breeding has been accomplished by means of phenotypic recurrent selection (Vogel and Pedersen 1993;Marcón et al. 2020). This approach has been used to increase forage biomass (Dhaliwal 2009) and other traits such as seedling vigor (Tischler et al. 1989) and seed weight (Giordano et al. 2013). Relocation of cattle-raising activities into lessproductive environments, frequently subjected to restrictions in growth by salinity, heavy soils, frequent droughts or flooding, has moved breeding objectives to plant survival and forage production under restrictive conditions (Griffa et al. 2010). In this study, we explored the possibility of initiating a breeding program involving the subtropical forage grass Panicum coloratum var. coloratum to increase forage production when growing in saline conditions. We considered using a set of plants collected in a very restricted environment as a source germplasm, assuming the selected individuals were already adapted to these conditions. The collected plants were analyzed and proved to be variable with neutral molecular markers (Pittaro et al. 2015). To analyze the possible outcome of the breeding program, we studied the base germplasm to choose mating genotypes according to phenology, estimated the variability related to additive effects and estimated the progress to be expected after selection. Finally, we evaluated the chance that the prospective germplasm we would obtain through selection might surpass the performance of the most common and widely known cultivar of P. coloratum var. coloratum (cv. Klein).Variability among genotypes under field conditions.Genotypes of P. coloratum transplanted to the field in a saline soil were highly variable for traits such as biomass production and plant structure (Figure 1). Phenotypic variation confirmed that P. coloratum is an allogamous species, quite variable in morphology and molecular markers (Burgos et al. 2018). As with other subtropical forage grasses, e.g. Chloris gayana (Ortega and Taleisnik 2003) and Cenchrus ciliaris (Tommasino et al. 2012), P. coloratum is adapted to thrive under stressful conditions. Even though individuals studied here were collected in a very stressful environment and had been exposed to quite strong selection pressure that might have been expected to reduce genetic variation, differences in phenology, plant structure and biomass production were apparent even in the reduced number of genotypes. The synchrony in reproductive structures is of fundamental importance for the reproductive success of the plant and a point to consider when selecting genotypes to cross in a breeding program (Oleques et al. 2017). In the genotypes analyzed here, we identified 3 groups for flower synchrony (early, medium and late) when growing in the field (Figure 1). Then, individuals grouped as earlyand intermediate-flowering were crossed and their progeny tested for salinity tolerance under controlled conditions. To pursue our breeding objective, i.e. to increase salinity tolerance, we then evaluated the extent of additive genetic variance among individuals and estimated the possible gain to be achieved after selection. To do that, we analyzed half-sib families from the individuals resulting from crosses.Agronomic aspect of salinity tolerance. Both growth and biomass yield were adversely affected by salinity, a common feature in most plant species (Ashraf 2004), although not all traits were equally affected in P. coloratum. In our study, seedlings showed a higher tillering rate in saline conditions than in a non-saline situation. Tiller outgrowth may be related to a high appearance rate of low rank tillers associated with stressful conditions determined by several morphogenetic components (Gastal and Lemaire 2015). Regarding genetic variation related to these traits, heritability estimates were in general very low. Contrary to other studies that showed estimates of heritability and additive genetic component estimates increased as stress conditions increased (Kacser and Burns 1981;Blum 1988), in this study, estimates were higher in non-saline than in saline conditions. However, Mohammadi et al. (2014) showed that narrow-sense heritability estimates were higher in saline than in non-saline conditions for traits related to salinity tolerance in rice. In addition, P. coloratum var. makarikariense, a botanical variety of the same species, displayed high values for heritability of morphological traits in saline (Cardamone 2020) and drought conditions (Giordano 2018). On the contrary, our results suggested that additive variation for salinity tolerance had already been exploited in this source of germplasm as the population had been subjected to strong selection pressure in a very harsh environment; as a result, heritability estimates under saline conditions were very low. It is well accepted that estimates of heritability of any given character refer only to the germplasm evaluated under the particular experimental conditions (Falconer and Mackay 1996). Low heritability may be caused by low additive effects and/or high dominant gene action (Falconer and Mackay 1996). Salinity tolerance was suggested to have a complex pattern of inheritance related to a high non-additive component, associated with low heritabilities in highly saline concentrations in sorghum (Azhar and McNeilly 1988) and pearl millet (Kebebew and McNeilly 1996) adjudged to non-additive components. It was suggested that changes in genetic variation related to increases or decreases in salt concentrations might be driven by the action of different genes that contribute to the same trait in different environments (Rao and McNeilly 1999).Selection methods and growth conditions. Phenotypic recurrent selection is the most efficient and commonly used form of plant breeding in perennial forage grasses (Vogel and Burson 2004). Estimates of heritable genetic variation and the degree of genetic progress within breeding populations are helpful to breeders in determining the probable effectiveness of pursuing selection strategies over time. In characters exhibiting high heritability, selection is more likely to be effective (Degefa et al. 2014). However, the outcome may differ depending on the recombination unit on which selection is performed. Depending on whether selection is based on values expressed by individual members of the population (Mariotti and Collavino 2014) or on the family mean, recombination would involve different sets of alleles. In PFM selection, the parents of the best families are polycrossed in isolation. Nguyen and Sleper (1983) recommend family selection over individual selection, when estimates of heritability are low because of large environmental effects. We compared the outcomes from these 2 selection methods estimating heritability on both individual plant and PFM bases and calculating genetic gain after 30% selection intensity. These methods have been used in breeding P. coloratum and other forage grasses (Giordano et al. 2013;Simeão et al. 2013;Cardamone et al. 2018). Both methods showed low narrow-sense heritability values for almost all parameters evaluated, but, in general, individual-based values were higher than family-based with minor differences. Accordingly, genetic gain per cycle was low for all parameters using both selection methods, although the standardized selection differential was higher in individual selection (data not shown).Phenotypic family mean selection is recommended over individual selection for characters with low heritability (Basigalup 2007). When environmental deviations of individuals within the family tend to cancel each other out in determining the mean value of the family, the mean phenotypic value of the family approaches the genotypic mean (Falconer and Mackay1996). In this study, the experimental system allowed control of growth conditions and reduction in environmental variance (Broman and Sen 2009;Quero et al. 2013). Therefore, the low heritability values found here are due to limited genetic variability explained by the narrow genetic base in the population and not to environmental variation. Extreme conditions of drought, frosts and salinity at the site where the plants were collected might have exerted a strong selection pressure and reduced genetic variation among surviving individuals. As a result, heritability estimates were low for all characters, and minor differences were found depending on the method for calculating them (PFM or individual basis) (Table 1). In this situation, the recommendation for pursuing selection in this germplasm would be to perform individual selection, since it is more practical, easier and more straightforward than the PFM-based one (Falconer and Mackay 1996;Rose et al. 2008).One interesting feature of this germplasm was that, while genetic gain was low for all characters and considering 2 selection methods, predicted means after selection were higher than the means observed in plants of cv. Klein for all parameters evaluated, in both nonsaline and saline growth conditions (Figure 3). This constitutes further evidence that, in the collected germplasm which had been exposed to extreme conditions, only tolerant genotypes with limited variation survived, making them promising germplasm not only to be introduced in a breeding program to improve salinity tolerance, but also to study mechanisms and genes involved in salinity tolerance in forage grasses.Although germplasm of Panicum coloratum var. coloratum studied here showed variability in morphology and phenology as well as molecular markers, variation in salinity tolerance was limited and estimates of narrow-sense heritability were low, even when calculated on a PFM basis. Estimates of genetic advance were also low, indicating that no further progress could be made in salinity tolerance by recurrent selection in this material. However, the predicted population of P. coloratum showed higher dry weight, tiller number, tillering rate and leaf production rate than cv. Klein under saline conditions. We consider the collected germplasm represents a source of salinity-tolerance genes in establishing a breeding program for this species. This material might also be valuable in studies to understand mechanisms of salinity tolerance in this and other species.Grasslands are among the most abundant ecosystems in the world (Hewins et al. 2018), where livestock production occurs in areas with native or exotic grasses. As a result, pastures are the main forage source in animal production systems in most tropical countries (Jank et al. 2014), with wide diversity in grazing systems, species and grazing management.Periodic soil nutrient replacement is important, especially in intensified systems with high stocking rate, (Bourscheidt et al. 2019) which is commonly a combination of intermittent stocking management and a grass with high potential production. Thus, fertilizer application becomes an essential practice, especially when pastures have been established in infertile soils, such as the Oxisols (Chaves et al. 2017).In grasslands, nitrogen (N) is the most limiting nutrient for plant growth, because it is one of the most extracted nutrients by grasses (Costa et al. 2016) and is a constituent of many cell components associated with the photosynthetic process (Taiz et al. 2017). The N requirement of grass is greater than that of other nutrients, so applying N fertilizer should be given priority to maintain pasture productivity and persistence (Rosado et al. 2017).Timing of application of N fertilizer can be an important factor affecting grass regrowth (Marques et al. 2016), especially in highly productive systems. Immediately after harvesting, there is a period during which the grass is less responsive to N fertilizer due to the reduction in leaf area and root mass, where tillers need to rely on organic reserves (Faria et al. 2019). Each cultivar has a genetic characteristic driving the recovery potential after harvest and the timing of fertilizer application can contribute to enhancing regrowth (Gomide et al. 2019) and productivity, especially in systems where plants have high demand for N.The most efficient usage of N has been reported in pastures under intermittent stocking, where adequate N results in rapid regrowth. Faster regrowth after N fertilizer application is attributed to the increased leaf appearance rate (LAR) and, therefore, reduction in phyllochron (Soares Filho et al. 2015;Paciullo et al. 2017). Although there are many studies in the literature on the optimal rates of N to apply to pastures, there is limited information regarding optimal timing of N application.Approximately 85% of Brazil's pasture lands are cultivated with Urochloa (formerly: Brachiaria) species (Valle et al. 2014). The second most important genus is Megathyrsus, which is recommended for systems with medium to high fertility soils (Muir and Jank 2004). 'Xaraés' palisade grass (Urochloa brizantha syn Brachiaria brizantha cv. Xaraés), 'Marandu' (Urochloa brizantha syn Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu) and 'Tanzânia' guinea grass (Megathyrsus maximus syn Panicum maximum cv. Tanzânia) are widely used in forage-livestock systems in Central Brazil (Jank et al. 2011;2014).With the overall goal of increasing efficiency of N fertilizer usage in forage-livestock systems, we hypothesized that timing of applying N fertilizer can affect regrowth and, consequently, productivity of pastures. Therefore, our objective was to identify the effects of different timing of N fertilizer application after harvesting on the productive, morphogenic and structural characteristics of 3 tropical grasses (Xaraés, Marandu and Tanzânia).Three experiments were carried out in a greenhouse at Federal University of Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso State, in a completely randomized design with 5 treatments and 12 replicates. The experiments were conducted from April to December 2016, where each experiment studied the effects in one grass: Experiment I -Xaraés palisade grass; Experiment II -Marandu palisade grass; and Experiment III -Tanzânia guinea grass. In all experiments, treatments were 5 times postharvest for applying N fertilizer (0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 days), where zero represented application immediately after harvest, i.e. on the same day. The same procedure was followed for each experiment.The soil was an Oxisol (Santos et al. 2018) and was collected from the 0-20 cm layer and chemical and granulometric analyses were performed according to Teixeira et al. ( 2017): pH (H2O): 6.5; P: 7.9 mg/dm³; K: 25.3 mg/dm³; Ca: 1.7 cmolc/dm³; Mg: 0.6 cmolc/dm³; H+Al: 1.2 cmolc/dm³; CEC: 3.5 cmolc/dm³; base saturation: 66%; organic matter: 9.7 mg/dm³; sand: 790 g/kg; silt: 41 g/kg; and clay: 169 g/kg.The soil was sieved in a 4 mm mesh and used to fill plastic pots (5 dm 3 experimental units). Phosphorus was applied at sowing at the rate of 87 mg P/dm 3 in the form of simple superphosphate. Twenty seeds of each grass were planted in each pot, and 10 days after sowing, the plants were thinned to leave 5 plants per pot, using plant uniformity as the criterion. Fifteen days after thinning, 30 mg K2O/dm³ (25 mg K/dm 3 ) in form of potassium chloride and 50 mg N/dm³ in form of urea was applied to all treatments.Thirty-five days after thinning, plants in all pots were clipped at 15-cm stubble height for Marandu and Xaraés and 30 cm for Tanzânia. This was considered day 0 for each experiment, when 100 mg N/dm 3 (as urea) was applied to the Control and, following the chronogram, the same N fertilizer regime (dose and source) was applied at 3, 6, 9 and 12 days after clipping for the various treatments.Four regrowth cycles (27-d) were evaluated for Xaraés palisade grass (April 22, May 18, June 14 and July 11), and 3 regrowth cycles for Marandu palisade grass (June 13, July 10 and August 6) and Tanzânia guinea grass (September 18, October 15 and November 11). For the third regrowth cycle of all experiments, 25 mg K/dm 3 was applied to reduce the incidence of foliage necrosis at leaf edges attributed to K deficiency.The gravimetric method was used for irrigation, maintaining soil moisture near field capacity, as described by Cabral et al (2018).Every 27 days (last day of the regrowth cycle), Xaraés and Marandu were clipped at 15 cm and Tanzânia at 30 cm. Prior to clipping, in each pot, canopy height was measured with a graduated rule, and number of tillers and number of leaves (exposed ligule) above the clipping height were counted.The number of leaves per tiller (NLT) was obtained by dividing number of leaves (NL) by number of tillers in each pot. Leaf appearance rate (LAR) was estimated by the ratio between NLT and the interval between harvests. Phyllochron (PHY) was the inverse of LAR.Forage mass (FM) was separated into morphological components, i.e. leaf (LM), stem (sheath + pseudostem; SM) and dead material (Dead). No dead material was observed in Marandu and Tanzânia in any regrowth cycle. Morphological components were dried at 55 °C in a forcedair dryer for 72 hours and weighed. Forage accumulation rate (FAR) was calculated by dividing FM by the length of the rest period. The mean weight of a leaf (individual leaf mass; ILM) was estimated by dividing leaf dry mass by NL. Individual tiller mass (ITM) was obtained by dividing FM by the number of tillers.In the last regrowth period for each experiment (the third for Marandu and Tanzânia and the fourth for Xaraés), after harvesting the forage mass, the residue and root masses were collected. The soil was washed away on 4-mm sieves and the roots were dried following the same drying procedure and root mass (RM) was estimated.Data were analyzed using general linear mixed model method, using the PROC MIXED command (SAS ® Institute Inc., Cary, NC). Timing of N fertilizer application was considered a fixed effect. Regrowth cycle and replication (blocks) were considered random effects. Degrees of freedom were corrected using the Satterthwaite method and the variance and covariance structures were chosen based on Akaike Information Criterion. An orthogonal polynomial contrast (P<0.05) was used to evaluate the effects (linear or quadratic) of timing of N fertilizer application.The model used was as follows: yijk = μ + Ti + eij + Ck + ɛijk; where: yijk = expected response; µ = average/constant, associated with the experiment; Ti = treatment effect (fertilizer timing) i; eij = treatment error i, in replicate j, normally and independently distributed; Ck = random effect associated with regrowth cycle k, normally distributed; and ɛijk = experimental error associated with treatment i, in replicate j, in cycle k, normally distributed.When significant for the quadratic effect, the nonlinear regression procedure (PROC NLIN) of the SAS ® software was used to identify whether a plateau (P<0.05) was reached for timing of N fertilizer application.Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed and clusters were constructed using R software, v 4.0.2 (R Development Core Team 2015) and 'Cluster', 'FactoMiner' and 'Factoextra' packages, in order to characterize the response variables for the grasses and the N fertilizer timing. The biplots resulting from PCA are interpreted by visualizing inversely correlated quadrants (vectors in opposite directions). The larger the size of the arrows (vectors), the greater the variation in the data, and the closer the vectors, the greater the relationship between them. With the same database used for PCA analysis, one cluster analysis was run for Xaraés (X), Marandu (M) and Tanzânia (T), at different timing of N application (0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 days) being shown in the factor map. A heatmap ('heatmap.2' command, 'gplots' package) was constructed, and to facilitate the reading of the heatmap, cluster analyses were performed using Euclidean distance.Timing of N fertilizer application did not affect (P>0.05) FM, LM, SM, plant height and NL for Xaraés and Marandu (Tables 1 and 2).There was a linear effect of N application timing on Dead, LAR and PHY for Xaraés (Table 1) and Marandu (Table 2). With increase in time elapsed following harvesting before N was applied, PHY increased but LAR decreased.Individual tiller mass and TPD were affected by the length of delay in applying N for both Xaraés and Marandu (Tables 1 and 2). While ITM in Xaraés showed a quadratic effect, with a lesser value for the 9 days delay in applying N after harvest, linear effects were observed with TPD for Xaraés and Marandu and NLT and ITM for Marandu.Delaying N application after harvest did not affect (P>0.05) SM, ILM, RM and LAR for Tanzânia (Table 3). However, delaying N application had linear effects on FM, LM, NL, FAR and PHY with the relationship being positive for PHY but negative for FM, LM, NL and FAR (Table 3). Plant height and length of delay followed a quadratic relationship, with the lowest point reached between 6 and 9 days delay after harvest (Table 3).ITM and NLT for Tanzânia guinea grass were negatively and linearly related to length of delay in applying N after harvest (Table 3) but TPD was not affected (mean 25.2 tillers/pot).The only variables affected similarly by timing of N fertilizer application after harvest in all 3 grasses were ITM and PHY. The latest fertilizer application (12 days after harvest) caused a reduction in NLT and an enhancement in PHY.  The PCA explained 90.6% of the data variance in PC1 and PC2 (Figure 1). PC1 expressed 79.7% of the data's variability, suggesting that this axis was sufficient to explain all variability (Figure 1). In this PCA, LM, FM and FAR were more correlated (0.96, 0.92 and 0.92, respectively).The factor map indicates a solution of 2 clusters (Figure 2). The combinations identified in Cluster 1 included Tanzânia guinea grass at different N application timings. The combinations that were grouped in Cluster 2 included Marandu and Xaraés palisade grass at different N application timings. Cluster 1 is characterized by greater values for height, LM, ILM, FM, FAR, ITM, LAR, NLT and LN (variables classified among the strongest, Figure 1) and lesser values for the variables SM and PHY (variables classified among the weakest, Figure 1). Cluster 2 is characterized by greater values for SM and PHY (variables classified among the strongest, Figure 1) and lesser values for height, LM, ILM, FM, FAR, ITM, LAR, NLT and LN (variables classified as the weakest, Figure 1). Two-way dendrograms generated from hierarchical cluster analysis are illustrated as a heatmap (Figure 3).   This study has provided interesting data on the differing responses of grasses from different genera, when N application after harvest is delayed. The results suggest that these different grasses need to be treated differently following harvesting, or at least will be affected differently by different post-harvest management, especially N application. As there was no effect of delayed application of N on forage mass for Xaraés and Marandu, it is likely shoot carbohydrate synthesis was not reduced (mainly leaf blades), which maintained root mass at similar levels among treatments (Tables 1 and 2). Roots are responsible for absorption of water and nutrients, as well as accumulating reserve carbohydrates during stress (Xiao and Jespersen 2019), including periods of low photosynthetic activity (after defoliation, water deficit and shading).The increase in tillering without change in ITM, NLT and TPD highlights the phenotypic plasticity (Lopes et al. 2018) of Xaraés and Marandu, because even with modification in tillering, FM was maintained, reflecting a tiller size/density compensation (Sbrissia and Silva 2008).Fertilizing Xaraés and Marandu with N shortly after harvesting provided fewer tillers with more leaves per tiller and therefore, heavier tillers. In contrast, when fertilizer application was delayed, there was an increase in TPD, with fewer leaves per tiller, resulting in lighter tillers. Higher TPD increases soil cover, which reduces the opportunity for weeds to appear and can increase the longevity of perennial pasture. Overall, weeds appear in areas with low tiller density and heavier tillers (Carvalho et al. 2016).Marques et al. ( 2016) also observed a greater TPD in 'Massai' guinea grass (Megathyrsus maximus × M. infestus syn Panicum maximum × P. infestum cv. Massai) pastures when fertilized 7 days after harvesting. This phenomenon is known as tiller size/density compensation (Matthew et al. 1995), and has been reported in several forage species, such as: 'Mombaça' guinea grass (Megathyrsus maximus cv. Mombaça) (Alexandrino et al. 2011), oats (Avena sativa) and annual ryegrass (Lolium perenne) (Duchini et al. 2014), tifton 68 bermuda grass (Cynodon nlemfuensis) (Sbrissia et al. 2003) and Marandu palisade grass (Sbrissia and Silva 2008).Besides tiller size/density compensation, delaying N fertilizer application influenced the growth pattern of Xaraés, as NLT declined as N application was delayed. This showed that although FAR and FM were not influenced by the timing of fertilizer application, as the delay increased, the emission of leaves was slower, but there was compensation with the larger TPD.Tanzânia guinea grass forage mass, LM and plant height reduced as N application was delayed, along with number of leaves per pot and per tiller, but individual leaf mass did not alter. The reduction in leaf numbers was due to the increased PHY, which delayed leaf emission and resulted in fewer leaves per tiller and therefore reduced mass of individual tillers. Thus, Tanzânia was strongly influenced by N fertilizer application in the early days after harvest, which is different from the situation with Xaraés and Marandu. This suggested that fertilizer application for Tanzania must be carried out as soon as possible after harvesting. Grasses vary in their need for early application of N after harvest because of variation in organic reserve levels, which include N and carbohydrates accumulated in the base of the stem and roots (Pedreira et al. 2017).Although these grasses were not strictly compared in the same experiment, this was a pot experiment in a glasshouse, which should minimize environmental differences. In addition, there is existing evidence that Tanzânia guinea grass has lower non-structural carbohydrate concentration (Soares Filho et al 2013) than Xaraés (Rodrigues et al. 2007) and Marandu (Alexandrino et al. 2008). Faria et al (2019) also suggested grasses with greater root starch concentration (non-structural total carbohydrate) are not disadvantaged by delaying N fertilizer application after harvesting as opposed to those with lower root starch concentration.Although there was a 13% reduction in FM in Tanzânia with delay in N application, there was no effect on root mass (Table 3). Maintaining adequate root and residue masses improves the response potential of a grass under stress conditions (harvest, water stress, shading), because these organs are responsible for accumulation of reserve carbohydrates, which drives the regrowth under reduced photosynthetic activity (White 1973).While delaying application of N fertilizer after harvest did not affect TPD of Tanzania, it did reduce individual tiller mass. In addition, there was a reduction in number of leaves per pot and per tiller as N fertilizer application was performed later, without altering individual leaf mass. Other studies reported a slight effect of the timing of fertilizer application on forage mass of Tanzânia guinea grass (Marques et al. 2016;Faria et al. 2019;Gomide et al. 2019).While the longest delay (12 days after harvest) caused a reduction in number of leaves per tiller, it did increase the PHY. Increased PHY has been reported as being associated with N stress (Teixeira et al. 2014;Paciullo et al. 2017), which shows that delay in applying N after harvest may result in a short-term N deficiency. It is known that N reserves can influence the regrowth process (Schnyder and Viser 1999;Lehmeier et al. 2013); however, the physiological processes are still not well understood (Silva et al. 2015).Forage accumulation rate, height, FM, ILM and ITM were grouped for Tanzânia, while PHY, TPD and SM were grouped for Xaraés and Marandu. For Xaraés and Marandu, individual tiller mass was inversely correlated with tiller population density, which was a reflection of an increase in PHY and reduction in LAR as application of N after harvest was delayed. The heatmap complemented the PCA and Cluster analysis results, in the differentiation between the forages and the timing of N application. There was an indication that tiller population density and PHY were greater for Xaraés and Marandu palisade grass if application of N after harvest was delayed by more than 6 days. In the case of Tanzânia guinea grass LAR, NLT, FAR, FM, ITM and LN were greatest if N was applied within 3 d after harvest.Thus, grasses with low organic reserves or rapid growth potential demand rapid nutrient supply after harvest. Another hypothesis is that the reduction in forage production due to delayed fertilizer application will result in greater accumulation of nonstructural carbohydrates in the roots and stem base. This is a response reported when grasses are under flooding stress conditions (Ramos et al. 2011). In this case, the longer interval before N fertilizer application would promote nutritional stress due to the deficit of N reserves. Studies on N reserves in tropical grasses are scarce compared with studies in temperate forages (Avice et al. 1996;1997).This flexible response to fertilizer application several days after harvest in pastures like Xaraés and Marandu enables flexibility in management of grazing systems, mainly in intermittent stocking. A reduction in FM is avoided if a delay in fertilization is required, such as delay in fertilizer delivery, machinery breakdowns and/or maintenance and several other limitations that occur regularly on a farm.In all grasses, there is an increase in PHY and reduction in NLT as N fertilizer application is delayed after harvest. While growth of Tanzânia guinea grass was reduced as fertilizer application was delayed, there was no effect on yield of Marandu and Xaraés palisade grass, since an increase in tillering compensated for any reduction in growth per tiller. Based on our results, N fertilizer application to Tanzânia guinea grass should be carried out as soon as possible after harvest, and certainly within 3 days, while fertilizing of U. brizantha cultivars may be carried out as late as 6-12 days after harvest without any negative impact. These findings should be tested in a field study before being recommended widely. El aporte de las leguminosas es de especial importancia si se tiene en cuenta que el nitrógeno es el nutriente más deficitario no solo en los forrajes tropicales, sino también en los suelos Oxisoles como los de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. Su deficiencia se manifiesta en una clorosis y baja concentración de proteína en las hojas, y, en general, limitada producción de forraje y lenta recuperación después de realizado un pastoreo.En la Orinoquia colombiana (Llanos Orientales) se han liberado cuatro leguminosas forrajeras para pastoreo: Stylosanthes capitata cv. Capica, Centrosema acutifolium cv. Vichada, Arachis pintoi cv. Maní Forrajero y Desmodium ovalifolium (nuevo nombre: Grona heterocarpa subsp. ovalifolia) cv. Maquenque. Estas leguminosas, entregadas a los productores hace más de 20 años, han tenido limitantes en disponibilidad de semilla comercial y en su mayoría han tenido baja persistencia bajo pastoreo en asociación con gramíneas, afectando su uso por parte de los productores. En los últimos 10 años se han retomado esfuerzos en investigación orientada al desarrollo de nuevas opciones de germoplasma de leguminosas forrajeras adaptadas a las condiciones de los suelos de baja fertilidad de los Llanos Orientales de Colombia. Estas investigaciones se retomaron considerando: la baja disponibilidad de leguminosas comerciales; el actual interés por parte de los ganaderos en pasturas de asociaciones gramíneas-leguminosas; el alto costo de los fertilizantes nitrogenados; y la necesidad del desarrollo de sistemas de producción sostenibles y amigables con el ambiente.En etapas anteriores de evaluación agronómica de leguminosas herbáceas para asociarlas con gramíneas en condiciones de la Altillanura plana, fueron seleccionadas Centrosema molle (sin. Centrosema pubescens) accesión CIAT 15160 y Centrosema macrocarpum accesión CIAT 15799. Estos materiales sobresalieron por su adaptación a las condiciones de suelos ácidos, buena producción y calidad de forraje, tolerancia a plagas y enfermedades y producción de semilla. Posteriormente presentaron buena respuesta en asociación con gramíneas bajo pastoreo con ganado bovino, en términos de rendimiento de forraje y persistencia (A. Rincón, datos sin publicar).En este trabajo se presenta la continuación del proceso de investigación que tuvo como objetivo determinar el efecto de las leguminosas seleccionadas, en asociación con una gramínea comercial, en la producción de peso vivo bovino, durante tres años de pastoreo. La hipótesis del trabajo fue que, en un sitio representativo para la Altillanura colombiana, Centrosema molle CIAT 15160 y C. macrocarpum CIAT 15799, en asociación con Urochloa decumbens (sin. Brachiaria decumbens), producen mayores ganancias de peso vivo bovino que la gramínea sola o asociada con una leguminosa testigo, Grona heterocarpa subsp. ovalifolia (sin. Desmodium ovalifolium) cv. Maquenque.El experimento se realizó entre 2017 y 2019 en el Centro de Investigaciones Carimagua de Agrosavia localizado en la Altillanura colombiana a 300 km de la ciudad de Villavicencio, Departamento del Meta (4º03.500' N, 73º28.152' O; 150 msnm).El suelo del área experimental es de textura francoarcillosa y clasificado como Oxisol de baja fertilidad natural (Cuadro 1).Las lluvias ocurridas durante los tres años del experimento y, para comparación, el promedio de los tres años anteriores, se presentan en la Figura 1. Mientras que en 2017 la precipitación total fue de 2,277 mm, algo inferior al promedio anterior (2,416 mm), en los años 2018 y 2019 se presentó un incremento importante especialmente durante junio, julio y agosto que ocasionó inundaciones en el área experimental.La temperatura anual promedio en el C.I. Carimagua es de 26 °C. En la época seca, la temperatura máxima fue de 32-33 °C, mientras que en el periodo de lluvias estuvo entre 29 y 31 °C. La temperatura mínima ocurrida en la noche fue de 22.5 y 21.8 °C en las épocas seca y lluviosa, respectivamente. Los tratamientos se distribuyeron en bloques completos al azar con tres repeticiones. El área de la unidad experimental fue de 0.56 ha (70 × 80 m) y el área de cada tratamiento con las tres repeticiones fue de 1.68 ha para un total de 6.72 ha.La preparación del suelo se realizó con dos pases de rastra y un pase pulidor. La densidad de siembra se ajustó al tamaño y la germinación de la semilla. Las leguminosas tuvieron una germinación de 70% (con una pureza de 90%) y se sembraron: C. macrocarpum -12 kg de semilla/ha; C. molle -8 kg/ha; cv. Maquenque -0.5 kg/ha. La tasa de siembra de Decumbens (germinación y pureza de la semilla: 40 y 90%, respectivamente) fue de 4 kg/ha. La fertilización para la siembra estuvo constituida por (kg/ha): 620 Ca, 93 Mg, 51 P, 89 S, 45 N y 50 K. Las fuentes fueron cal dolomítica, escorias Thomas, yeso agrícola, fosfato diamónico (19% P, 18% N), cloruro de potasio (50% K), sulcamag (18% Ca, 9% Mg, 9% S) y kieserita (14% Mg, 20% S). Para la siembra se mezclaron la semilla y los fertilizantes y las mezclas se distribuyeron en sus respectivos lotes con una encaladora. Durante las dos primeras semanas se realizó control de hormiga cortadora de hoja (Atta sp. y Acromyrmex landolti), insuflando los hormigueros con un insecticida en polvo. En el periodo de establecimiento de las pasturas se construyó la cerca perimetral con alambre de púas; la cerca divisoria interna de los potreros se hizo con cerca eléctrica. Se construyó la red hídrica para los bebederos en cada tratamiento, utilizando agua subterránea a partir de un pozo profundo accionado por un molino de viento.Anualmente se aplicó una fertilización de mantenimiento compuesta por (kg/ha): 19 P, 18 K, 18 N, 22 S y 11 Mg, utilizando como fuentes fosfato diamónico y sulpomag (11% Mg, 22% S, 18% K).Para la evaluación de la producción animal, se utilizó inicialmente un grupo de cinco bovinos macho cebú Brahman con edades (aproximadamente 1 año y medio) y pesos similares en cada tratamiento. Por consiguiente, se tuvieron cuatro grupos de animales. Cada animal se tomó como una repetición. El pastoreo se realizó en forma rotacional en las tres repeticiones de cada tratamiento con un periodo de ocupación de 14 días y un periodo de descanso de 28 días. El pastoreo tuvo una duración total de 36 meses, tiempo durante el cual se realizó la ceba a dos grupos de animales. El primer grupo inició el pastoreo en enero de 2017 con un peso promedio inicial de 288 kg/animal y terminó en noviembre de 2018 para un total de 22 meses, con un peso final promedio de 509 kg/animal. Los cinco animales que iniciaron el pastoreo se ajustaron a tres cabezas en marzo de 2018 por baja disponibilidad de forraje (época seca). El segundo grupo (Grupo 2), compuesto también por cinco bovinos machos en cada tratamiento, inició el pastoreo en diciembre de 2018 con un peso inicial promedio de 240 kg/animal y finalizó en febrero de 2020 con un peso final promedio de 495 kg/animal, después de 14 meses de pastoreo. A los animales se le suministró sal mineralizada a voluntad y se cumplieron con los controles sanitarios y vacunas exigidos por el Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (ICA).Para determinar el aumento de peso de los animales y calcular las ganancias de peso vivo (PV) diarias, la carga animal y la productividad anual de las pasturas en términos de PV por hectárea, se pesaron los animales en lo posible cada 56 días utilizando una báscula Tru-Test EC 2000 (Tru-Test Ltd, Auckland, Nueva Zelanda).Las cargas animales que se usaron fueron calculadas con base en: un consumo diario de forraje de 3.5 kg materia seca (MS)/100 kg de PV de bovinos de un peso aproximado de 300 kg/animal; una disponibilidad de forraje promedia de 806 kg MS/ha al inicio del pastoreo; y una pérdida de forraje de 12% por pisoteo. Por consiguiente, las cargas animales estuvieron en el rango de 753-1,117 kg PV/ha en el primer grupo (incluyendo un ajuste que resultó necesario en Marzo de 2018 por baja disponibilidad de forraje), y en el segundo grupo en el rango de 643 y 1,350 kg PV/ha (sin ajuste) (Anexos 3 y 4).Durante el experimento se realizaron varias evaluaciones complementarias a nivel de suelo y pastura. Suelo. Para determinar los efectos de los forrajes y la fertilización sobre la concentración de nutrientes en el suelo, se ejecutaron dos muestreos de suelo en el área experimental: antes de la labranza (10 submuestras) y a los dos años de realizada la siembra (10 submuestras). Los análisis se efectuaron en el laboratorio de suelos de Agrosavia y se determinaron: acidez intercambiable por extracción con KCl 1N, titulación con HCl y NaOH 0.01N; materia orgánica por el método de Walkley-Black; P por Bray II; Ca, Mg y K con extracción con acetato de amonio (NTC 5349 2008) y absorción atómica; y Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu y B con extracción con doble ácido (H2S04, HCl) (NTC 5526 2007).Pasturas. Para describir algunas características clave de las pasturas que pudieran ser útiles en la interpretación de los resultados de producción animal, se determinaron: la cobertura (%) y altura del pasto (cm); su composición botánica (%); y la disponibilidad de forraje (kg MS/ha). Estas evaluaciones fueron realizadas en transectos, con 20 observaciones en cada potrero con un marco de 0.50 × 0.50 m, al finalizar el periodo de descanso y antes de entrar los animales al pastoreo. En total se hicieron seis evaluaciones durante la época lluviosa y tres evaluaciones durante la época seca. La cobertura se estimó visualmente en cada marco y la altura del pasto se midió con una regla, sin estirar las hojas de las plantas. Debido a limitaciones logísticas y de disponibilidad de personal, también la composición botánica (proporción de gramínea, leguminosa, malezas, leguminosas nativas y material muerto) se estimó visualmente. Estas estimaciones fueron ejecutadas por la misma persona quien recibió un entrenamiento especial en esta técnica, obteniéndose en un ejercicio previo de validación con 50 muestras un coeficiente de determinación R 2 = 0.79 al comparar, mediante una regresión, los porcentajes estimados visualmente con los porcentajes basados en el peso verde de los diferentes componentes. Para determinar disponibilidad de forraje (kg de MS/ha al final del periodo de 28 días de descanso), se cortó el material presente en el marco a una altura de 20-25 cm sobre el suelo o sea a la altura aproximada al final del pastoreo anterior. Se determinó el peso verde del forraje mediante una balanza electrónica y se secó en un horno secador de forraje a una temperatura de 70 ºC durante 3 días, para obtener el contenido de humedad y calcular materia seca de las muestras.Una de las muestras de forraje enteras (0.50 × 0.50 m), tomada en las tres repeticiones de cada tratamiento en la época lluviosa de 2018, se utilizó para determinar las concentraciones de proteína cruda (PC) mediante el método micro-Kjeldahl (AOAC 1995); fibra en detergente ácido (FDA) ( Van Soest 1963); fibra en detergente neutro (FDN) (Van Soest y Wine 1967); y degradabilidad in situ de la materia seca mediante el método descrito por Nocek y English (1986), utilizando bolsas de nylon con 5 g de forraje incubado por triplicado durante 48 horas en el rumen de un bovino cebú comercial de 680 kg fistulado que pastoreaba en una pradera de U. decumbens con acceso a sal mineralizada y agua a voluntad.La información obtenida fue analizada mediante el paquete estadístico SAS 8.3. Los datos se sometieron a análisis de varianza y para la comparación de medias y para determinar la significancia se aplicó la prueba de Duncan con una probabilidad P<0.05.Con excepción de la disminución de la concentración y saturación de aluminio, las características químicas del suelo cambiaron poco después de dos años como consecuencia de la fertilización y los tratamientos. Entre estos últimos no se observaron diferencias ni tendencias claras (Anexo 1).Los resultados de las evaluaciones de cobertura, altura y disponibilidad de forraje (Anexo 2) tampoco mostraron diferencias claras ni tendencias entre los tratamientos, tanto respecto a estos parámetros como a años. Las únicas diferencias claras se presentaron, como era de esperar, para la disponibilidad de forraje entre las épocas lluviosa y seca de cada año, sin que las diferencias entre los tratamientos fueran mayores. No obstante, se observó una leve ventaja de la pastura C. molle + Decumbens para la época seca (Figura 2).La proporción de la respectiva leguminosa en las pasturas asociadas varió significativamente entre los tratamientos (Cuadro 2). En todas las evaluaciones, C. molle en su asociación con Decumbens presentó los valores más altos, los cuales variaron de alrededor de 40% en la pastura durante la primera mitad del experimento (las primeras tres evaluaciones) hasta una estabilización alrededor de 25% en la segunda mitad (Figura 3). Esta disminución en la segunda parte del experimento se observó también en las pasturas de las otras dos leguminosas y se debió a las inundaciones que se presentaron en el experimento como consecuencia de las fuertes lluvias en el sitio (junio-agosto 2018). La participación de C. macrocarpum en su asociación fue muy baja, independiente de la época, y la leguminosa prácticamente desapareció. Respecto a la participación de los otros componentes [gramínea, material muerto, leguminosas nativas (Aeschynomene sp. y Desmodium sp.) y malezas], a pesar de algunas diferencias significativas en algunas evaluaciones, no se observaron tendencias claras (Cuadro 2). En la época lluviosa del segundo año de pastoreo, se analizó la calidad nutritiva del forraje (Cuadro 3), destacándose la asociación de C. molle con Decumbens por la mayor (P<0.05) concentración de proteína cruda, lo cual era de esperar por la mayor presencia de la leguminosa en la mezcla. La fibra en detergente neutro (FDN) también fue superior en esta asociación, mientras que la fibra en detergente ácido (FDA) fue menor. La digestibilidad también fue más alta en esta misma asociación y en la pastura de Decumbens solo.Ganancia de peso vivo diaria. En el Cuadro 4 se presentan las ganancias diarias de peso vivo (PV) del primer grupo de novillos con base en siete pesajes entre enero 2017 y noviembre 2018. En el primer periodo (enero a junio) de pastoreo no se presentaron diferencias significativas (P>0.05), pero en los pesajes posteriores los animales de la asociación de C. molle + Decumbens ganaron significativamente más peso. El efecto de las inundaciones presentadas entre junio y agosto 2018 por la alta precipitación es reflejado en las pérdidas de PV en casi todos los animales, con excepción de los que pastorearon la asociación C. molle + Decumbens.En el Cuadro 5 se presentan las ganancias diarias de PV del segundo grupo de novillos con base en seis pesajes entre diciembre 2018 y febrero 2020. Se observa la misma tendencia que la del primer grupo pues en la mayor parte de los pesajes se pudo evidenciar más ganancia diaria de PV en la asociación de C. molle + Decumbens que en los otros tratamientos. Las diferencias, sin embargo, no fueron significativas. De igual forma al año 2018, en el periodo de mayo a septiembre de 2019, cuando ocurrieron inundaciones por alta precipitación y además se presentó fuerte ataque del insecto plaga 'salivazo' (Aeneolamia spp.), se observan ganancias de peso muy bajas (Cuadro 5).En la época lluviosa, las ganancias de PV de los novillos en la asociación de C. molle con Decumbens fueron superiores (P<0.05) a las obtenidas en los otros tratamientos (Figura 4). Durante la época seca no se presentaron diferencias significativas entre los tratamientos.Calculando la productividad por hectárea, con base en la ganancia diaria de peso y la carga animal expresada en kg peso vivo/ha, sobresale la asociación de C. molle con Decumbens, con una productividad de 611 y 595 kg/ha/ año en el primer y segundo grupo, respectivamente (Figura 5). Las respectivas diferencias con el promedio de los otros tratamientos ascienden a 278 kg (80%) y 168 kg (39%) a favor de la pastura C. molle con Decumbens.  Cuadro 4. Ganancia de peso vivo (kg/animal/día) del primer grupo de novillos durante 22 meses de pastoreo en pasturas de tres leguminosas asociadas con Urochloa decumbens y en la gramínea sola (enero 2017-noviembre 2018 25.6 Promedios con letras iguales en la misma columna no presentaron diferencias significativas (Duncan P>0.05). Por problemas de logística no se reportan datos para el período diciembre 2017-marzo 2018.Cuadro 5. Ganancia de peso vivo (kg/animal/día) del segundo grupo de novillos durante 14 meses de pastoreo en pasturas de tres leguminosas asociadas con Urochloa decumbens y en la gramínea sola (diciembre 2018-febrero 2020 Figura 4. Ganancia de peso (kg/animal/día) de los novillos en pasturas de tres leguminosas asociadas con Urochloa decumbens y la gramínea sola durante las épocas lluviosa y seca (promedios de tres años). C.I. Carimagua, Altillanura colombiana. Columnas con el mismo color y letras iguales no difieren significativamente (Duncan P>0.05).Figura 5. Productividad de peso vivo (PV) por hectárea y año en dos grupos de novillos en pasturas de tres leguminosas asociadas con Urochloa decumbens y gramínea sola durante tres años (2017-2019). C.I. Carimagua, Altillanura colombiana.Aunque no se presentó diferencia alguna entre los tratamientos, la disponibilidad promedia de forraje después del periodo de descanso cada 28 días, durante los tres años de evaluación fue de 1,500 kg MS/ha en época lluviosa, coincidiendo con lo encontrado por Rincón (2004) en asociaciones de Brachiaria decumbens (ahora: Urochloa decumbens) con Pueraria phaseoloides (kudzu; ahora: Neustanthus phaseoloides) y Arachis pintoi (maní forrajero) en la Altillanura, pero superior a lo encontrado por Pérez y Pérez (2006) en praderas de Brachiaria brizantha (ahora: Urochloa brizantha) solas y asociadas con kudzu, también en la Altillanura, con producción de forraje de 1,024 kg MS/ha con periodo de descanso de 28 días.La alta proporción de C. molle en la asociación, desde el primer año de pastoreo, permite ver a este material como promisorio para los sistemas ganaderos de la región. Su capacidad de supervivencia después de más de dos meses bajo alta saturación de agua, ocurrida durante los periodos lluviosos de los años 2018 y 2019, permitió mantener un 24% de leguminosa en la composición botánica, demostrando la tolerancia de esta accesión de C. molle a los cambios del clima que se vienen percibiendo en la región en los últimos años. Humphreys et al. (1997) en Asia tropical, en la asociación de C. pubescens (ahora: C. molle) con B. decumbens (ahora: U. decumbens) reportaron una proporción de la leguminosa entre 21 y 24% que consideraron como adecuada frente a un mínimo deseable de 15%.El C. macrocarpum asociado con Decumbens no alcanzó el 10% en la composición botánica en el primer año de pastoreo y después del segundo año disminuyó hasta casi desaparecer, mientras que el cv. Maquenque en el tercer año conservó una proporción de 14%. El factor que probablemente fue decisivo para la baja producción y persistencia de C. macrocarpum, en comparación con la buena producción y persistencia de C. molle, fue la falta de cepas efectivas de Rhizobium nativas en el área experimental con las que C. macrocarpum hubiera podido asociarse. Diferente a las evaluaciones agronómicas anteriores, en las que se identificó a C. macrocarpum como especie promisoria, las pasturas para producción animal se establecieron en sabana virgen donde no ha habido oportunidad de colonización por cepas específicas que C. macrocarpum parece requerir para una efectiva nodulación. Esta falta de asociación con rizobios aparentemente no pudo ser compensada por los 18 kg de N incluida en la fertilización de mantenimiento de todos los tratamientos. En contraste, C. molle sí noduló con rizobios nativos. Además, C. molle fue favorecido por dos características de la gramínea asociada: el hábito de crecimiento semierecto del Decumbens que permite el desarrollo de leguminosas de crecimiento voluble, y el debilitamiento de su vigor y capacidad de competencia con la leguminosa, debido al ataque del insecto plaga 'salivazo' (Aeneolamia spp.).Al respecto, Kretschmer (1988) y Arcos Álvarez et al. ( 2018) hacen referencia a la falta de persistencia de las leguminosas forrajeras tropicales como el mayor obstáculo para su utilización en mezclas con gramíneas. Esta situación aún se mantiene y se agrava, por la falta de investigación que permita una mayor oferta de materiales e información sobre el adecuado manejo para asegurar la estabilidad de la leguminosa en las asociaciones. Sin embargo, Shelton et al. (2005) reportan un número considerable de casos de asociaciones estables a nivel del trópico y subtrópico. Similarmente, Lok Mejias et al. ( 2017), analizando una comparación de un sistema silvopastoril con una asociación gramíneas-múltiples leguminosas de 15 años en Cuba, concluyeron que asociaciones leguminosas-gramíneas pueden persistir durante largos periodos de tiempo con adecuada producción de biomasa e incremento de la fertilidad del suelo, siempre que se manejen con la correcta disciplina tecnológica.El aporte de la leguminosa a la concentración de proteína cruda (PC) contribuyó al mejoramiento de la calidad del forraje disponible, especialmente en el caso de la pastura con C. molle (13.7% de PC en la mezcla). Esta especie es reconocida por su alta concentración de PC (17-25%; Lascano et al. 1997). También se pudo evidenciar buena concentración de PC en la pastura Decumbens solo con más de 9% y una digestibilidad de 67%, lo cual contrasta con la concentración de PC que con el manejo tradicional en la región y sin fertilización no alcanza 7% (Rincón 2004). Atribuimos la buena calidad del Decumbens a la edad del forraje disponible (28 días) y a la mayor concentración de materia orgánica en el suelo (2.9%) la cual, según los datos presentados por Rodríguez Borray y Bautista Cubillos (2019), debe considerarse como media a alta para la Altillanura. Esto indica que la fertilización aplicada en el establecimiento de las pasturas y la fertilización anual de mantenimiento, permitieron un buen desempeño de la gramínea (Rincón 2010;Pérez et al. 2018).La mayor proporción de leguminosa se reflejó en las ganancias de PV en la asociación con C. molle, llegando a más de 700 g/animal/día en época lluviosa en comparación con las otras pasturas (algo más de 500 g/animal/día). Estas ganancias resultan ser superiores a las reportadas por Garza Treviño y Portugal (1978( , citados por Argel et al. 1997)), con aumentos diarios de 524 g/animal en una asociación de C. pubescens (ahora: C. molle) con pasto Pangola [Digitaria decumbens (ahora: D. eriantha)] frente a 385 g/animal en Pangola sola.Las ganancias obtenidas en la época seca en todas las asociaciones, con un promedio de 448 g/animal/día, demuestran un impacto importante en la producción de peso vivo, si se tiene en cuenta que en la Altillanura se presentan en esta época, por lo general, pérdidas en la productividad de ganado de carne o leche (Castro et al. 2018). La mayor ganancia de peso animal en la asociación C. molle + Decumbens significó 222 kg/ha/año más PV con respecto a las demás pasturas estudiadas. La productividad en peso vivo por hectárea en esta asociación coincide con la producción de 500-600 kg PV/ha/ año reportado por Lascano et al. (1997) para regiones tropicales húmedas con suelos de fertilidad natural intermedia siempre que las pasturas se manejan de forma adecuada y se les aplica la fertilización necesaria.En el suelo franco arcilloso de la Altillanura colombiana, la accesión C. molle CIAT 15160 se destacó por su buena proporción en asociación con U. decumbens cv. Decumbens. Con una productividad de 600 kg PV/ha/año frente a 390 kg/ha/año producido por la gramínea sola, se demostró el beneficio de esta leguminosa en la alimentación de bovinos. Se recomienda revalidar su productividad y persistencia a nivel de productor, también en asociaciones con otras gramíneas. C. molle CIAT 15160 puede ser una buena opción para la deseada intensificación sostenible de las ganaderías en la Altillanura colombiana.A la Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria -Agrosavia por el apoyo técnico y administrativo; al Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural de Colombia por la financiación del proyecto; a Jorge Lozano (q.e.p.d.), Investigador de Agrosavia, por su apoyo en el manejo animal; y a Luis Alberto Ciprián, Asistente de Agrosavia, por el apoyo en labores de campo y evaluaciones.  El estudio se realizó para evaluar la ingesta de alimento, la digestibilidad, el cambio de peso corporal y las características de la canal de los corderos Farta alimentados con Brachiaria (ahora: Urochloa) híbrido Mulato II y heno de pasto natural en diversas proporciones como dieta basal suplementada con una mezcla de concentrado local (CM). Se utilizaron veinticinco corderos Farta añojos con un peso corporal inicial medio de 19.6 ± 0.29 kg (media ± s.e.) en las pruebas de alimentación (90 días) y digestibilidad (7 días). Los corderos se asignaron aleatoriamente a los siguientes 5 tratamientos dietarios sobre la base del peso corporal estratificado: 100% heno de pasto natural (NPH) (T1); 75% de NPH + 25% de heno de Mulato II Urochloa híbrido (MH) (T2); 50% NPH + 50% MH (T3); 25% NPH + 75% MH (T4); y 100% MH (T5). Se alimentó a todos los animales con una mezcla de concentrado local [300 g de materia seca (DM)/hd/d]. La concentración de proteína cruda (CP) de la dieta basal aumentó a medida que aumentó la proporción de MH en la ración (P <0.05). La ingesta de DM y nutrientes, y los coeficientes de digestibilidad de los nutrientes aumentaron significativamente (P <0.05) a medida que aumentaba la proporción de MH en el componente forrajero de la ración. El peso corporal final, la ganancia de peso corporal diaria promedio, la eficiencia de conversión alimenticia y la mayoría de los parámetros de la canal medidos fueron significativamente (P <0.05) mayores a medida que la proporción de MH aumentó de 0 a 100% en la dieta basal. Basándose en el desempeño biológico de los corderos experimentales, el desempeño de los ovinos en la región podría mejorarse significativamente incorporando MH con heno de pasto nativo y suplemento concentrado en las raciones de alimentación. Las evaluaciones económicas revelarían las combinaciones óptimas de pastos nativos y MH para la alimentación para lograr resultados particulares. Otras especies mejoradas de gramíneas y leguminosas pueden desempeñar el mismo papel y deben investigarse en diferentes entornos.Palabras clave: Aumento de peso corporal, Brachiaria, digestibilidad, engorde de ovejas, pastos tropicales, rendimiento en canal.Ethiopia has the largest livestock population among African countries (CSA 2017) and livestock production is an important component of farming systems in all parts of the country, playing a vital role in the livelihood of many people (Tekliye et al. 2018). Sheep production is a major component of the livestock sector in Ethiopia owing to the large population of 30.7 million head (CSA 2017). However, the productivity of livestock in general and sheep in particular is below the African average, mainly due to inadequate supply of feed and poor feeding practices (Mekuriaw and Asmare 2018). To combat the livestock feed shortage, use of improved forage plants as a feed source is recommended (Shapiro et al. 2015;FAO 2016).Cultivars of Urochloa (new generic name of Brachiaria species that have provided grass cultivars) are possible candidates to alleviate ruminant feed shortage and thereby enable the country to exploit the potential of livestock resources. Cultivars of this genus are the most extensively grown tropical forages in Latin America, Asia, South Pacific and Australia, with an estimated 99 million hectares in Brazil alone (Jank et al. 2014). Recently, there has been considerable interest in Urochloa grasses in Africa, and several initiatives are ongoing to promote the genus to support the emerging livestock industry in the region, especially during the dry season (Maass et al. 2015). Some Urochloa species are reported to have several advantages over other tropical grasses including: adaptation to drought and infertile soils; ability to sequester carbon; increased efficiency of nitrogen use through biological nitrification inhibition; and arresting emissions of greenhouse gas, such as methane (Njarui et al. 2016). Currently, Urochloa hybrid cv. Mulato II (MH) grass is being used in dual-purpose 'push-pull' technologies (Khan et al. 2014) and as livestock feed in Ethiopia (Adnew et al. 2018). However, there is limited information on performance of animals consuming Urochloa grasses, particularly cv. Mulato II, in Ethiopia. Our research hypothesis was that feed value of Mulato II hay would be at least equal to that of natural pasture hay and feed intake, DM digestibility and resultant bodyweight change and carcass characteristics of Farta sheep would be superior for Mulato II hay. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate feed intake, digestibility, bodyweight change and carcass characteristics of Farta sheep fed cv. Mulato II and natural pasture hays in different proportions as a basal diet supplemented with a local concentrate mixture.The experiment was conducted at the Woreta Agricultural College in Ethiopia (11°58ʹ N, 37°41ʹ E; 1,774 masl). The experimental area has an annual average temperature of 29°C and annual rainfall ranges from 1,103 to 1,336 mm.Twenty-five yearling intact male Farta sheep with mean body weight (BW) of 19.6±0.29 kg (mean±s.e.) were housed in individual pens equipped with feed and water troughs. Before the commencement of the experiment, sheep were quarantined for 21 days and treated with Ivermectin to control internal parasites and Diazanon to control external parasites. They were also vaccinated against anthrax and pasteurellosis, which are the most common sheep diseases of the area.The experimental design employed in this study was a randomized complete block design with 5 treatments and 5 replications. Sheep were allocated to treatments by stratified randomization on the basis of initial BW. The treatments used in the study were: 100% native pasture hay (NPH; T1); 75% NPH+25% Mulato II hay (MH; T2); 50% NPH+50% MH (T3); 25% NPH+75% MH (T4); and 100% MH (T5) with equal amounts of concentrate supplement throughout [300 g dry matter (DM)/hd/d]. The concentrate mixture consisted of noug (Guizotia abissynica) seed cake and wheat bran in equal proportions. The sheep were offered the basal diet adlibitum with amount fed adjusted weekly to allow a 25% refusal. All sheep were fed in individual feed troughs. The natural pasture hay was obtained from farmers and consisted of a mixture of mainly Andropogon and Cynodon grasses with some contribution by native legumes (Trifolium and Medicago) (Yalew et al. 2020). The natural pasture was harvested at about 50% heading of the grass according to smallholder farmers' usage. Mulato II grass had been fertilized with diammonium phosphate (DAP) and nitrogen during establishment and was harvested at 4 months of age where it was fully mature and dried under shade.Daily feed offered and refusals were recorded for each lamb throughout the study and daily feed intake was calculated as the difference between the amounts offered and refused. Subsamples of feed offered and refusals were taken from each treatment and prepared for chemical analysis. The BW of each animal was measured every 10 days after overnight fasting (without feed only). Initial BW of experimental lambs was measured at the end of the quarantine/adaptation period, while final BW was measured at the end of the feeding trial. Daily BW gain was calculated as the difference between final BW and initial BW divided by the number of feeding days. Feed conversion efficiency (FCE) of experimental animals was determined by dividing the average daily feed consumed by daily BW gain of animals to give amount of feed consumed per unit of weight gained.The digestibility trial was conducted at the end of the feeding trial. Each sheep was fitted with a fecal collection bag and a 4-day acclimatization period was followed by total collection of feces for 7 consecutive days. The parameters studied were: dry matter intake; dry matter digestibility; organic matter digestibility; and digestibility of individual nutrients. Feces voided were weighed and recorded each morning and thoroughly mixed, before a 20% representative sample was taken, frozen at -10°C and pooled over the collection period for each animal. At the end of the collection period, samples were pooled and mixed thoroughly for each sheep before drying at 60°C for 72 h. The digestibility of individual nutrients was determined as the difference between intake of the nutrient and that recovered in the feces expressed as a proportion of intake of the nutrient.Nutrient intake -Nutrient in feces Nutrient intake × 100At the end of the digestibility trial, all experimental lambs were slaughtered after overnight fasting for evaluation of carcass parameters using a standard slaughtering method. Pre-slaughter weight (PSW) of each lamb was recorded immediately before slaughtering. Hot carcass weight (HCW) was measured after removal of blood, skin, head, feet (legs below the hock and knee joints), gastrointestinal tract and internal organs. Based on feeding habits of people in the area, edible and non-edible offals were categorized and recorded. Blood, heart, liver, kidney, tongue, reticulorumen, omasum-abomasum, hind-gut, tail fat, kidney fat, pelvic fat, omental and mesenteric fat, testicles and pancreas were weighed and recorded as total edible offals (TEO), while head without tongue, skin, penis, feet, lungs with trachea, spleen, gall bladder with bile, oesophagus, bladder and gut contents were weighed and recorded as total nonedible offals. Total usable product was taken as the sum of HCW, skin and TEO. Empty body weight (EBW) was calculated as the difference between PSW and gut contents. Dressing percentage (DP) was calculated as HCW as a proportion of both PSW and EBW. To measure rib eye-area (REA) of the carcass, the loin part was partitioned into foreand hindquarters between the 11th and 12th ribs. The cut ribs were chilled for 12 hours and the rib-eye area was measured at the 11-12th rib site (O'Rourke et al. 2005) by tracing first on transparent plastic paper before the traced paper was positioned on graph paper with 1×1mm squares. The number of squares included within the traced area was counted for left and right sides and rib-eye area was computed as the average of the two.Samples of feed, refusals and feces were dried and ground using a laboratory mill to pass through a 1 mm sieve. The DM content was determined by oven-drying samples at 105 °C and organic matter (OM) percentage as the difference between DM percentage and ash percentage. Total nitrogen (N) was determined by the Kjeldahl method (AOAC 1990). Neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL) concentrations were determined by the method of Van Soest and Robertson (1985).The data obtained from the experiment were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the general linear model procedure of SAS version 9.2 for least square ANOVA. Mean separations were done using polynomial contrasts for variables whose F-values declared a significant difference. Differences were considered statistically significant at P<0.05. The statistical model for data analysis was: Yij= μ+ti+bj+eijk, where:Yij is the response variable; μ is the overall mean; ti is the treatment effect; bj is the block effect; and eijk is the random error.The chemical composition of feeds used in the experiment is presented in Table 1. The natural pasture hay had crude protein (CP) concentration of 6.7%, while the Mulato II hay contained 12.1% CP. As percentage of Mulato II hay in the roughage increased, CP% increased progressively.With fiber and lignin concentrations, the opposite was the case with highest levels in 100% NPH and lowest in 100% MH. The concentrate mixture was a conventional supplement with 22.1% CP.The daily DM and nutrient intakes of sheep in the various treatments are presented in Table 2. Total DM and CP intakes increased progressively as proportion of Mulato II in the diet increased (P<0.001).Bodyweight changes, average daily gain and FCE are presented in Table 3. Average daily gain (ADG) during the feeding period increased from 39.6 g/d for the 100% NPH ration to 82.7 g/d for the 100% MH ration (P<0.001). Correspondingly, FCE improved progressively from 18.5 g dry matter intake (DMI)/g gain for the NPH ration to 10.3 g DMI/g gain for the MH ration (P<0.05), indicating a marked improvement in efficiency of utilization of the rations as proportion of Mulato II in the ration increased. Total edible offal (TEO) also increased progressively from 3.70 kg for 100% NPH to 4.42 kg for 100% MH (P<0.05), as did total non-edible offal (9.22 to 10.04 kg) but differences between treatments were not significant (P>0.05). In this study, blood, heart, kidney, tongue, omasum-abomasum, hind-gut, tail fat, kidney fat, pelvic fat, omental and mesenteric fat, testicles, pancreas, skin, spleen, gall bladder with bile, bladder and gut contents showed increasing trends as proportion of MH in the ration increased but differences between treatments failed to reach significance (P>0.05; Table 6). However, increases in weight of liver and reticulo-rumen were significant (P<0.05). For non-edible offals, penis, feet and lungs with trachea increased linearly (P<0.05) with increasing proportion of Mulato II hay in the ration.         This study has shown the potential benefits of incorporating Mulato II hay with natural pasture hay in preparing rations fed to sheep in Ethiopia, in company with a concentrate supplement. Inclusion of MH in the ration increased performance from moderate weight gains (about 40 g/hd/d) to gains in excess of 80 g/hd/d. The increase in weight gains resulted in heavier sheep at slaughter with higher carcass and offal weights as well as higher levels of fatness of the sheep.The CP concentration of natural pasture hay alone was higher than the CP concentration (3.5% CP) in natural pasture hay reported by Asmare et al. (2016) in northwestern Ethiopia. This disparity in CP concentration could be a function of many factors, e.g., location, soil type, species composition, time of harvesting and postharvest handling. Nevertheless, CP concentration in the natural pasture hay used in the current study was lower than the 7-7.5% required satisfying the maintenance requirement of ruminants ( Van Soest 1982); thus, protein supplement is needed if weight gains are to be achieved. In contrast, CP concentration in the Mulato II hay could be considered adequate to support weight gains in sheep, even in the absence of the concentrate supplement, as demonstrated by the increase in daily weight gains as proportion of MH in the ration increased. CP concentrations in the diet in excess of 7% ensure a sufficient supply of N for proper functioning of rumen microbes and to meet maintenance requirements of animals and support weight gains ( Van Soest 1994), provided other factors such as lignification do not limit feed digestibility and nutrient utilization. The high NDF concentration in native pasture hay (80%) places it as a low-quality feed, since roughage with NDF concentration greater than 65% is categorized in that way (Van Saun 2006). According to McDonald et al. (2010), the NDF portion of feed is only partially digestible by any species of animals, but can be used to a greater extent by ruminants, which depend on microbial digestion for utilization of most fibrous plant components.Intakes of natural pasture hay and Mulato II hay obtained in the current study were higher than the values reported for natural pasture hay (Ephrem et al. 2015) plus concentrate supplement, natural pasture hay supplemented with graded levels of Ficus thonningii (local name: Chibha) leaves and a concentrate supplement (Mekuriaw and Asmare 2018) and Rhodes grass plus a concentrate supplement consumed by Washera sheep (Tefera et al. 2015). Higher intakes of natural pasture hay and Mulato II observed in the current study are probably related to the better overall quality of the roughage component of the ration. The increase in DM intake with increasing level of Mulato II hay in the rations would be a consequence of the higher DM digestibility of the Mulato II hay. As digestibility of DM increases, the rate of passage of ingesta through the digestive tract increases, allowing the animal to consume more feed. Hence mean total DM intake increased significantly (P<0.05) from T1 to T5 as the proportion of the more digestible forage, Mulato II hay, in the roughage component of the ration increased. The higher CP concentration of the Mulato II hay would ensure adequate N supply for the microbial population. As Negesse et al. ( 2001) confirmed, DM intake of sheep increases as the level of CP in the diet increases. The total DM intake expressed as percent of BW obtained from the current study agrees with the results of different authors (Mekuriaw and Asmare 2018;Asmare et al. 2016;Tekliye et al. 2018) and fell within the range of recommended DM intakes of ruminants (2 to 6%) (ARC 1980;Devendra and Burns 1983). DM intake is an important factor in the utilization of roughage by ruminant livestock and is a critical determinant of nutrient and energy intake and performance in small ruminants (ARC 1980). Intake of available energy is a vital factor determining performance of livestock and high DM intakes are essential to achieve high rates of weight gain.The significant increase in apparent digestibility of DM and of nutrients as level of Mulato II hay increased from 0 to 100% would be related to the higher CP concentration in Mulato II hay relative to natural pasture hay as well as the lower levels of fiber in the Mulato II hay. The CP digestibility of the various rations in the current study increased significantly as the proportion of Mulato II hay in the ration increased as a reflection of the superior quality of the Mulato II hay and the more active rumen microflora in the presence of additional nutrients, especially N. McDonald et al. (2010) andNegesse et al. (2001) reported that feed which is rich in protein promotes high microbial population, which in turn facilitates rumen fermentation. The increase in digestibility of nutrients with increasing levels of Mulato II in the current study agrees with the findings of Asmare et al. (2016) for Washera sheep fed increasing proportions of desho grass in a native pasture basal diet supplemented with local concentrate mixtures, where digestibility of nutrients increased as proportion of desho grass hay in the basal diet increased.Better performance of sheep in terms of higher average daily gain as the proportion of Mulato II in the ration increased is a function of a higher intake of a betterquality ration, hence greater nutrient intake. The results of this study agree with the report of Asmare et al. (2016) in which sheep fed on a high protein (208 g/kg DM) diet showed high liveweight gain (36.6 g/d), whereas those fed on a low protein (106 g/kg DM) diet gained only 10.7 g/d. The improvement in FCE as proportion of Mulato II in the ration increased in the current study merely reflects the increasing nutrient concentration in the diet, the higher feed intakes and the consequent increase in bodyweight gains which result. The poor FCE of sheep in the Control treatment (T1) was probably the result of low protein intake and high fiber concentration of the native pasture hay diet, resulting in a greater proportion of feed consumed being required for maintenance, leaving fewer nutrients to support weight gains.In the current study, increases in bodyweight change as proportion of Mulato II in the ration increased were reflected in increases in carcass weight as well. highest pre-slaughter body weight was recorded in T5 (28.83kg) as was the highest carcass weight (12.42 kg). Dressing percentage also increased as the level of Mulato II in the ration increased despite the weight of some offal components also being directly related to the proportion of Mulato II in the ration. One contributing factor was the absence of any significant difference in weight of gut contents between the different treatments despite animals in T5 eating 16% more dry matter daily than the 100% native pasture hay group and being 28% heavier preslaughter. The absence of a greater quantity of gut contents despite greater intake would be a function of faster rate of passage of ingesta in treatments with higher levels of MH. The increase in rib-eye area with increase in level of Mulato II in the ration in the present study (from 6.06 to 8.28 cm 2 ) was not unexpected as rib-eye area is affected by the weight and muscularity of the live animal (O'Rourke et al. 2005) and increases with carcass weight (Park et al. 2002).In different parts of the country, different proportions of the internal offal including blood are both edible and saleable and are a source of additional income that could add value to the carcass. Due to differences in the eating habits of people in different areas, edible and saleable portions of the offal scan vary depending on the location (Legesse 2001). In the current study, among the offal components classed as edible, the weights of liver and reticulo-rumen increased with increase in Mulato II inclusion in the ration. Similarly, Alemu et al. (2014) and Gebreyohannes et al. ( 2003) observed significant increase in liver weight with concentrate supplementation. In addition, Lawrence and Fowler (1998) reported an increase in liver weight following supplementation, which they attributed to the storage of reserve substances such as glycogen in the liver in supplemented sheep.The high CP and relatively lower fiber fractions of Mulato II as produced for this study make it a valuable source of nutrients for feeding to local sheep in Ethiopia. Incorporating it with native pasture hay in conjunction with a concentrate supplement can allow a given amount of this valuable feed to be used to improve the performance of many more sheep than if fed as the sole diet. Other improved species of grass and legumes could provide a similar result and should be evaluated in this and other regions to ensure a wide range of potential sources of fodder. Van Soest PJ. 1994 In Ethiopia, the dominant farming system is a croplivestock system (Assefa et al. 2016), in which both crop and livestock production are economically important. In the country, natural pasture is the primary feed source, which has low biomass yield and nutritional value because of mismanagement (CSA 2018). In addition, grazing land is being converted to crop production to provide food for the rapidly increasing human population in the nation. Consequently, the major feed resource for livestock during the dry season is crop residues (CSA 2018), which have low nutritive value, resulting in poor animal performance unless concentrates or conserved hay is fed (Tolera 2008). The average land holding of households is less than a hectare in different areas of Ethiopia (Gedefaw et al. 2019), so integrated usage of land by inter-cropping of food and forage crops would provide efficient resource utilization (Tarekegn and Zelalem 2014). Inter-cropping legumes with cereal crops has multiple advantages in terms of improving biomass yield, nutritive value and land equivalent ratio (Jensen et al. 2020). In an investigation of the diverse potential of a multi-purpose legume, lablab [Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet], for smallholder production systems, increased biomass yield and nutritive value of forage were recorded (Nord et al. 2020). Shehu et al. (2001) reported that intercropping of sorghum with lablab improved the protein concentration in cereal stem as well as leaf yield.Lablab is adapted to most tropical environments (Grotelüschen 2014), producing high yields of fodder with crude protein (CP) in whole plants of 15-21% (Murphy and Colucci 1999). It is resistant to drought, diseases and pests and improves soil fertility; shade tolerance allows it to be grown successfully with tall cereal crops, including maize (Grotelüschen 2014).However, the local sorghum varieties are becoming less relevant because of unprecedented climatic variability. Moreover, these local varieties are not highly productive and are failing to meet the alarmingly increasing human population´s food demand. The improved early-maturing sorghum varieties, Teshale, Girana-1 and Misikir, are adapted to the study area as reported by several authors (Tesfaye 2013) and are commonly grown in farming systems.This early-maturing feature of sorghum leads to the possibility of sustainable production in moisture-deficient areas. To the best of our knowledge, no studies have been conducted where these sorghum varieties have been inter-cropped with lablab. Among the commonly available improved lablab accessions is cultivar Highworth (lablab accession ILRI 147). A report by Grotelüschen (2014) showed that ILRI 147 had higher protein concentration than 3 other lablab accessions. The growth habit of ILRI 147 is shorter and more horizontally spreading than cultivar Rongai Noir (ILRI 11609) and cultivar Jhansi (ILRI 6529) (Hunegnaw et al. 2016). This growth habit may makes ILRI 147 more compatible than other accessions for inter-cropping with Teshale, Girana-1 and Misikir sorghum varieties, which have shorter plant height than local sorghum landraces. Hence, we initiated this study to determine the outcomes from inter-cropping these sorghum varieties with lablab to improve productivity of cropping land on farms in the area.The field experiment was conducted in Kalu district of South Wollo Zone at Harbu Agricultural TVET (Technical Vocational Education and Training) College (10°55 ' N, 39°46 ' E; 1,484 masl). The daily mean minimum and maximum temperatures are 8.1 and 23.2 °C, respectively, and average annual rainfall is 1,091 mm (National Meteorology Agency, Kombolcha Branch 2018). The average monthly minimum and maximum temperatures and monthly rainfall for the experimental site during the study are presented in Figure 1.To evaluate the physico-chemical properties of the soil, a Vertisol, at the experimental site, soil samples were taken randomly before planting from 5 spots diagonally across the site to a depth of 20 cm and mixed to make a composite sample. The composite soil sample was airdried, lightly crushed with a wooden pestle and mortar and screened through a 2 mm sieve for analysis of physical and chemical properties, i.e. soil texture, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, soil pH, cation exchange capacity, total nitrogen and available phosphorus (Olsen) at Sirinka Agricultural Research Centre Soil Laboratory (Table 1).A randomized complete block design was used to conduct the field experiment with 3 replications. Each plot measured 3.75 m long and 3 m wide (11.25 m 2 ) and the gross area used in the experiment was 370.5 m 2 . Each plot of inter-cropping consisted of 5 rows of sorghum and 4 rows of lablab.  Spacing between plots and blocks were 1 and 1.5 m, respectively. Three sorghum varieties (Teshale, Girana-1 and Misikir) were inter-cropped with lablab accession ILRI 147 (which was adapted to and recommended for the area), while pure stands of the sorghum varieties and lablab were also grown. This provided 7 treatment combinations consisting of: lablab (LL) only (T1); Teshale + lablab (TL) (T2); Girana-1 + lablab (GL) (T3); Misikir + lablab (ML) (T4); Teshale (TT) only (T5); Girana-1 (GG) only (T6); and Misikir (MM) only (T7).The land was ploughed 3 times to provide a good seedbed and divided into plots. Sorghum varieties were sown into holes within rows with 75 cm between rows and 25 cm between plants within rows; pure lablab was also sown at the same spacing (Mpairwe et al. 2002). Fifteen days after emergence sorghum plants were thinned to a single healthy plant per hole. Inter-cropped lablab was sown down the center of the sorghum inter-row spaces, i.e. 37.5 cm from the rows of sorghum; with 20 cm between plants, at 18 days after sorghum was sown. All plots of sorghum received a basal application of 100 kg N:P:S fertilizer (19:38:7) per ha at sowing and were topdressed with 50 kg urea/ha when knee-high (40 days after sowing), while all plots were weeded at 45 days after sowing. Sole lablab plots received a basal application of N:P:S (19:38:7) at 46 kg/ha at sowing according to FAO (2012) recommendations.Plant height, leaf area and number of leaves, branches and nodules of lablab were assessed on 10 randomly selected plants from the middle 2 rows of each plot at 50% flowering stage (at about 3 months after sowing) (ILRI 2013). Plant height, leaf area and number of leaves of sorghum varieties were taken from 10 randomly selected plants from the middle 3 rows of each plot at milk stage (about 15 days after flowering). Leaf area was calculated as Leaf area = leaf length × maximum width × 0.75 using the method described by Stickler et al. (1961).When sorghum seed-heads were mature, 10 plants were selected at random from the middle rows. Seedheads were harvested by hand using sickles, were sundried and threshed and the grain was weighed to estimate grain yields. After grain harvesting sorghum stove was harvested by cutting at 10 cm above ground level. Similarly, the whole plot of lablab was harvested at 5 cm above ground level for biomass yield determination. Harvested material was weighed fresh using a balance with sensitivity of 0.1 g. Sub-samples (500 g) were taken from each plot, chopped into small pieces and air-dried until constant weight was recorded.Dried forage samples from each plot were ground and subjected to chemical analyses at Debre Birhan Agricultural Research Center, Animal Nutrition Laboratory to determine: ash concentration by combusting in a muffle furnace at 500 °C for 6 hours; N concentration by Kjeldahl method; and neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL) by the procedures of Van Soest et al. (1991).The land equivalent ratio (LER) for inter-cropping was calculated, using the formula: LER = (IYS/SYS) + (IYL/SYL) (Mead and Willey1980),where: SYS = yield of pure sorghum; IYS = inter-cropped yield of sorghum; IYL = inter-cropped yield of lablab; and SYL = yield of pure lablab.Farmers were invited to visit the experimental area during the vegetative stage to form their views and perceptions about the forages when inter-cropped. The perceptions of 8 male and 4 female farmers were recorded through participation using 6 evaluation criteria set by farmers themselves. The criteria were: biomass yield; speed of growth; compatibility of sorghum with lablab; drought tolerance; grain yield; and ability to stay green.Analysis of variance was used to analyze data on morphological characteristics, forage dry matter yield and chemical composition, grain yield and LER. Fisher's LSD test (P<0.05) was employed for separation of means carried out using the procedure of SAS (2002).The model used for data analysis was: Yij = µ + Bi + Tj +eij, where: Yij = all dependent variables; µ = overall mean; Bi = effect of i th block; Tj = effect of j th treatment; and eij = the random error.With the exception of Girana-1, sorghum varieties and lablab were affected morphologically by inter-cropping (Table 2).Girana-1 outperformed Teshale and Misikir in terms of plant height, number of leaves/plant and total leaf area, whether grown as a pure stand or when inter-cropped with lablab (P<0.01; Table 2). Similarly, height and number of leaves per plant for Girana-1 were not affected by intercropping with lablab (P>0.05), while both parameters for Teshale and Misikir were reduced by growing in association with lablab (P<0.01). Surprisingly leaf area of Girana-1 was not affected when grown with lablab (P>0.05), while leaf area was reduced in the case of Teshale and Misikir (P<0.01). For lablab, inter-cropping with Teshale or Misikir reduced plant height and total leaf area per plant (P<0.01). Number of branches per plant and number of nodules per plant for lablab were reduced when lablab was grown with any of the sorghum cultivars (P<0.01).Both grain and stover yields of Teshale and Misikir were reduced (P<0.001) by inter-cropping with lablab (Table 3; P<0.001). Sowing lablab with sorghum reduced forage yields of lablab but differences were significant (P<0.05) only for Teshale and Misikir.Inter-cropping of sorghum varieties with lablab increased both ash and CP concentrations in sorghum stover but lowered NDF, ADF and ADL concentrations (P<0.001; Table 4). Crude protein levels in stover of Girana-1 reached 7% when grown with lablab.Inter-cropping lablab with sorghum varieties significantly (P<0.001) increased ash concentration but reduced CP, NDF, ADF and ADL concentrations of lablab (Table 5).While land equivalent ratios (LERs) for biomass yield (non-grain component) for inter-cropping lablab with sorghum varieties were less than unity for each species, the combined LERs were significantly (P<0.001) greater than unity, with increases of 54-87% (Table 6). Girana-1 + lablab produced the greatest yield advantage over pure stands.Farmers' perception of the inter-cropping technology was assessed during a field day. Farmers preferred intercropping to planting pure stands of sorghum and lablab and ranked Girana-1+ lablab as the preferred option (data not presented). They said that: Girana-1 inter-cropped with lablab had largest heads and seed size; its superior plant height provided physical support for climbing lablab; and it was more suitable for lablab growth and development as compared with Teshale and Misikir.     ). CP = crude protein; NDF = neutral detergent fiber; ADF = acid detergent fiber; ADL = acid detergent lignin; SL = sole lablab (T1); TL =Teshale + lablab (T2); GL = Girana-1 + lablab (T3); ML = Misikir + lablab (T4); ST = sole Teshale (T5); SG =sole Girana-1 (T6); SM = sole Misikir (T7).   *** * ** -Means within columns with different superscripts differ significantly (P<0.05). TL = Teshale + lablab; GL = Girana-1 + lablab; ML = Misikir + lablab; SL = sole lablab (T1); TL =Teshale + lablab (T2); GL = Girana-1 + lablab (T3); ML = Misikir + lablab (T4); ST = sole Teshale (T5); SG = sole Girana-1 (T6); SM = sole Misikir (T7).This study has shown the substantial benefits in terms of total yields of forage to be obtained from inter-cropping lablab and sorghum in comparison with sowing the 2 crops as pure stands. Not only was total DM yield of forage increased but also the CP concentration in the sorghum stover was increased. It was of interest that growth of Girana-1 was not significantly affected by being grown in association with lablab, while both Teshale and Misikir suffered depression in yields of both stover and grain. This finding was in spite of the fact that Girana-1 was the tallest sorghum accession but did not significantly suppress the growth of lablab in terms of plant height or total leaf area, although it did reduce the number of branches per plant. Musa et al. (2012) reported that dry forage and grain yields of sorghum varieties (S1007, Pioneer and local Shahlaa) varied between varieties when inter-cropped with cowpea.This finding of an overall lack of response of Girana-1 to inter-cropping with lablab is in contrast to the results with Teshale and Misikir, which behaved according to results from other published studies. Shehu et al. (2001) found that inter-cropping of lablab with sorghum caused a marked reduction in yields of sorghum stem, leaves and grain, while Isaacs et al. (2018) found a reduction in height of maize following inter-cropping with lablab. Similarly, significant reduction of number of leaves and leaf area of sorghum was shown when inter-cropped with legumes (Arshad et al. 2014). This suppresion in growth would normally be expected when two crops are interplanted because of increased competition for light, nutrients and moisture.The increased CP concentration in sorghum stover when inter-cropped with lablab is in agreement with the findings of Akhtar et al. (2013) andMbahi et al. (2017), who reported increases in CP concentration in sorghum when inter-cropped with lablab and groundnut, respectively. This response is probably due to increased soil N availability resulting from atmospheric N fixation by rhizobia on lablab root nodules. Significantly higher CP concentration in Girana-1 than in Teshale and Misikir, regardless of whether pure stands or inter-cropped with lablab, suggests that Girana-1 had better ability to extract nitrogen from soil than the other varieties, as it also presented higher grain and stover yields.The lower NDF, ADF and ADL concentrations in intercropped sorghum stover were in line with reports that showed inter-cropping sorghum with lablab significantly reduced NDF concentration in forage produced (Mpairwe et al. 2002;Amole et al. 2015), while ADF concentration in sorghum was lower when inter-cropped with groundnut and lablab than when sorghum was grown as pure stands (Zhang et al. 2015). Zhang et al (2015) and Amole et al. (2015) reported lower fiber levels in sorghum inter-cropped with legumes than in pure sorghum.The consistently lower concentrations of NDF and ADF in Girana-1 than in Teshale and Misikir, regardless of whether grown as pure stands or inter-cropped with lablab, is further evidence of the superiority of this variety over Teshale and Misikir. The reduction in number of leaves per plant and number of branches per plant for lablab when intercropped with sorghum conforms with the findings of Redfearn et al. (1999) and Iqbal et al. (2018) that intercropping sorghum with soybean reduces the number of leaves and branches of soybean, respectively. Similarly, Ngongoni (2007) found that inter-cropping maize with lablab and cowpea significantly reduced number of nodules per plant of both legumes.The reduction in biomass yield of inter-cropped lablab relative to pure lablab might be a function of competition for light, soil moisture and nutrients. Growth of lablab was depressed more by competition with sorghum than sorghum growth was depressed by competition with lablab, indicating that sorghum was more competitive than lablab under the conditions of the study. Since sorghum was much taller than lablab, one might suspect that competition for light played a significant role in differences which occurred.Inter-cropping lablab with the 3 sorghum varieties was more advantageous than sole cropping, since 54-87% more land would be required with sole cropping to produce a similar quantity of dry forage as obtained with inter-cropping. This finding is in line with reports that LER values greater than 1 occurred when sorghum was inter-cropped with cowpea and rice bean (Singh Pal et al. 2014). The highest LER value obtained with intercropped Girana-1 + lablab is further evidence of the benefits of planting sorghum and lablab under an intercropping system in this environment. In a study of intercropping of maize with vetch, berseem clover and beans, LER exceeded 1 in combinations of both maize hybrids studied (704 and 301) and vetch (Ozpinar 2009).Girana-1 was so superior to other sorghum varieties, in terms of greater height, larger seed heads, largest seed size and compatibility with lablab, that it was not surprising that most participating farmers identified Girana-1 + lablab as the preferred combination.The findings showed that of the 3 sorghum varieties intercropped with lablab, Girana-1 was superior to Teshale and Misikir in overall performance. Even when planted as a pure crop Girana-1 was superior to the other 2 varieties and continued to produce at the same level when intercropped with sorghum, while Teshale and Misikir had reduced performance relative to their performance as pure stands. It is obvious that farmers in the area can improve productivity of their land by inter-cropping Girana-1 with lablab. Further studies should be conducted to test findings with other legume species and to quantify any improvements in soil N produced by the legume. The demand for animal proteins in China is rapidly growing with the improvement of living standards and the change of food consumption habits. However, the development of animal husbandry is usually restricted by shortage of herbage supply (Liu et al. 2012). Therefore, there is increasing need to develop and utilize new herbage resources or find new lands to grow herbage crops. Whole-crop wheat (Triticum aestivum) (WCW) has relatively high nutritional value (Sprague et al. 2015) and total DM intake of WCW diets exceeded that of grass diets (Günal et al. 2018).In order to improve the economic returns from farms, more and more WCW is being planted instead of grass (Huuskonen et al. 2017), often as a specialized forage wheat or as an addition within forage production systems. For example, WCW is processed into hay and silage to feed beef cattle in Finland (Huuskonen et al. 2017), while in Australia, dual-purpose wheat is often planted and used for grazing to alleviate winter feed shortages (Sprague et al. 2015). In Oklahoma, USA, in response to the lack of forage in winter, large areas are used to grow wheat for animal forage in the form of whole plants at maturity (Kim and Anderson 2015).Although wheat has been widely used as forage, few studies have focused on optimal planting techniques. Previous studies on forage wheat have concentrated on variety screening (Li 2015), nitrogen (N) application rate, harvest time (Xie 2012) and silage utilization (Filya 2003;Shaani et al. 2017). Among cultivation measures, the factors that have the greatest impact on forage yield and nutritive value are seeding rate and N fertilizer management (Guo et al. 2017). Li (2015) found that, at a seeding rate of 260 kg/ha, there was still potential for dry matter yield (DMY) of forage wheat to increase if seeding rate was increased. However, the number of wheat spikes tended to decrease with increases in seeding rate (Yang 2011). In order to obtain data on optimal seeding rates to achieve a desirable balance between yield and quality of forage wheat, further research is needed. While Pan et al. (1999) found that, in terms of DMY, the Law of Diminishing Returns operated with increase in N application rate and yield even declined past a certain application rate, application of N increased crude protein (CP) concentration, in vitro dry matter digestibility and silage fermentation quality of forage wheat (Li et al. 2016).Not only is amount of N applied important but also timing of the application is critical. Accumulation of DM in wheat occurs mainly during the period from jointing to maturity, accounting for 70% of the total DM yield (Wu and Cui 2000). Applying N fertilizer at the jointing stage increases the leaf area index of wheat, accumulates more DM during the vegetative period and increases the number of tillers (Ravier et al. 2017). However, little is known of the efficiency of fertilizer use when applied to wheat close to flowering (heading stage).In winter, fields are fallowed after the harvest of late rice in Southern China, which would allow the planting of a winter-forage crop (Cinar et al. 2020). However, frequent cultivation leads to low nutrient levels in the soil, so producers often use compound fertilizer to meet the needs of winter-forage crops. The effects of seeding rate, fertilizing time and fertilizer type on yield, nutritive value and silage quality of WCW have not been explored. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to compare the effects of different seeding rates and timing of fertilizer application on yield and nutritive value of forage produced. We hypothesized that: (i) high seeding rate would increase both yield and nutritive value of forage; (ii) applying part of the fertilizer at jointing stage is better than applying all at heading stage; and (iii) applying urea with compound fertilizer would increase yield and nutritive value of WCW to higher levels than urea or compound fertilizer alone.Experiment 1 was carried out at Meitan Experimental Field of Agricultural Science Institute of Qingyuan (23°42′ N, 115°50′ E), Guangdong Province, China. The site is located within a subtropical monsoon humid climate zone with an annual average temperature of 22.3 °C. The hottest month is July with a monthly average temperature of 31.4 °C, while the coldest month is January with a monthly average temperature of 14.0 °C. The annual average rainfall and sunshine time are 1,842 mm and 2,245 hours, respectively.Experiment 2 was carried out at Ningxi Experimental Field of South China Agricultural University (23°14′ N, 113°38′ E), Zengcheng, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. This site is also located within a subtropical monsoon humid climate zone with an annual average temperature of 21.6 °C. The hottest month is July with a monthly average temperature of 29.4 °C, while the coldest month is January with a monthly average temperature of 13.3 °C. The annual average rainfall and sunshine time are 1,968 mm and 2,107 hours, respectively.Meteorological data for the 2 sites during the study plus the medium-term mean data are presented in Table 1.For the experimental sites, the general cropping systems are early rice in spring (summer harvest) and late rice in summer (autumn harvest), then either fallowing or planting winter forage crops (to be harvested in spring of the following year). Soil types are cinnamon soil for Meitan Experimental Field and paddy soil for Ningxi Experimental Field (Zhang et al. 2014). Before sowing the forage wheat, 5 soil cores (each 2.5 cm diameter) were randomly excavated and mixed to give a composite sample for determining soil chemical properties. The soil chemical composition was similar at both sites (Table 2).Wheat phenology was regularly monitored based upon the Decimal Code (DC) (Zadoks et al. 1974). In Experiment 1, a factorial arrangement of timing of N application (jointing vs. heading) × seeding rate was utilized. A compound fertilizer (N:P:K, 15:6:8) was applied at 150 kg/ha with 60% at the seedling stage (DC13) and 40% at the jointing (DC31)or heading stage (DC41), with 3 seeding rates, i.e. the recommended rate of 320 kg/ha (S100) (Li 2015) and increased rates of +20% (384 kg/ha; S120) and +40% (448 kg/ha; S140) (Table 3). In Experiment 2, urea, compound fertilizer (N:P:K, 15:6:8) and a combination of urea and compound fertilizer (5:5) were compared. All treatments were designed to apply 150 kg N/ha in total. A standard seeding rate of 385 kg/ha was used. Sixty percent of the fertilizer was applied at the seedling stage (DC13) and the remaining 40% at the jointing stage (DC31).In Experiment 1, the planting and harvesting dates of wheat were 8 November 2014 and 10 March 2015, respectively, while in Experiment 2, the planting and harvesting dates were 10 November 2014 and 25 March 2015, respectively. The wheat variety was Shimai No.1 (seed germination rate 98%, 53 mg per seed). In both experiments there were 3 replicates of the above treatments, arranged as a randomized block, and each plot was 12 m 2 (3 × 4 m). In Experiment 1, wheat was harvested at the milk stage (DC77), while in Experiment 2 harvesting was at the soft dough stage (DC87). Fifteen wheat plants per plot were randomly selected to determine plant height and tiller number, and the average value was calculated. In each plot a 1 m 2 (1 × 1 m) site was selected at random and forage was harvested at 5 cm from ground level to measure yield. All harvested material was taken back to the laboratory and cut into 2-3 cm pieces by a forage chopper. Fresh material was used to determine microorganisms present and to make silage.After being cut into pieces, fresh material from each plot was mixed uniformly and a 200 g sample was packed into a 30 × 20 cm polyethylene silage bag, air was removed and the bag was sealed with a vacuum packer (Sinbo Vacuum Sealer, Hong Tai Home Electrical Appliance Co. Ltd, Hong Kong, China) (Xie et al. 2012). Silage packs were stored in the dark at room temperature for 60 d, before being analyzed for silage fermentation quality.Crop material was dried at 70 °C for 48 hours in an oven with forced-air circulation for determination of DM concentration. N concentration was determined by the Kjeldahl method (Nitrogen analyzer KN680, Shandong Jinan Alva Instrument Co. Ltd, Jinan, China), and ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) was directly distilled by an automatic Kjeldahl nitrogen analyzer. Determination of ether extract concentration was by the ether extraction method (AOAC 2011). Crude ash concentration was determined by burning at 550 °C for 3 h and water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) concentration by the anthronesulfuric acid method (Murphy 1958). Buffering capacity was determined by hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide titration (Playne and McDonald 2010), while crude fiber, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) were determined by the filter bag method ( Van Soest et al. 1991). Nitrogen free extract was calculated based upon the concentrations of CP, crude fiber, ether extract and crude ash. Relative feed value (RFV) was calculated based on concentrations of ADF and NDF (Rohweder et al. 1978).The numbers of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), aerobic bacteria, yeasts and molds were counted by culturing on de Man Rogosa Sharpe agar, nutrient agar and potato dextrose agar, respectively. The lactic acid bacteria were cultured for 2-3 d at 37 °C under anaerobic conditions (YQX II anaerobics box, Shanghai Xinmiao Medical Device Manufacturing Co. Ltd, Shanghai, China). Aerobic bacteria, yeasts and molds were cultured under aerobic conditions at 37 °C for 3-4 days (Liu et al. 2013).After the silage bags were opened, 20 g of the mixed silage was placed in a polyethylene plastic bag, to which 80 mL of distilled water was added before sealing. After soaking at 4 °C for 18 h, the contents were filtered and the pH of the extract was determined using a pH meter. The concentrations of lactic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid and butyric acid were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (column: Sodex RS Pak KC-811, Showa Denko KK, Kawasaki, Japan), and the operating conditions were the same as in the study by Xie et al. (2012).Data from Experiment 1 were analyzed by 2-way analysis of variance to evaluate the effects of seeding rate, fertilizing time and their interaction on the yield, nutrient composition and silage fermentation characteristics of WCW. In Experiment 2, data were analyzed by a one-way analysis of variance. The means were compared for significance by Duncan's multiple range method (SPSS 17.0 for Windows; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).Plant height, tiller number, yield and relative feed value. Seeding rate, fertilizing time and their interaction had no significant effects on plant height or tiller number per plant (P>0.05) (Table 4). However, increasing seeding rate significantly (P<0.01) increased DM and CP yields of wheat forage but reduced relative feed value (P<0.05). Timing of the second application of fertilizer significantly (P<0.05) affected only CP yield with yields from application at jointing stage exceeding that at heading. Chemical composition. Mean DM concentration in fresh wheat forage was 235 g/kg fresh material. There was no significant interaction between time of fertilizer application and seeding rate for concentrations of CP, crude fiber, ether extract, crude ash, nitrogen-free extract, NDF and ADF (P>0.05), but there was significant interaction for WSC concentration and buffering capacity (P<0.05) (Table 5). In general, WSC concentration and buffering capacity were higher (P<0.05) when the second fertilizer application was made at jointing rather than at heading. With the increase in seeding rate, NDF and ADF concentrations in WCW tended to increase, but CP concentration tended to decrease. Regardless of whether the second fertilizer application was made at the jointing or heading stage, seeding rate had no significant effect on CP (range 88.4-97.4 g/kg DM), ether extract and NDF (range 608-660 g/kg DM) concentrations (P>0.05). While populations of yeast, molds and aerobic bacteria were unaffected by treatment, LAB populations were consistently higher at the intermediate fertilizer level (P<0.05) (Table 5). Silage fermentation characteristics. All silages had pH between 3.64 and 3.94 with no consistent pattern between the treatments (Table 6). Concentrations of organic acids in the silages had the following ranges: lactic acid -14.1-21.4 g/kg DM; acetic acid -1.08-1.56 g/kg DM; butyric acid -0.88-2.14 g/kg DM; and propionic acid -1.04-2.68 g/kg DM, with significant differences between treatments but no consistent pattern over the various treatments. NH3-N concentration ranged from 141 to 172 g N/kg total N, again with differences between treatments but no consistent pattern.Plant height, tiller number, yield and relative feed value. Plant height was significantly (P<0.05) affected fertilizer type urea>compound fertilizer>urea + compound fertilizer (Table 7). However, tiller number/plant (mean 1.75), DM yield (mean 9.25 t/ha) and CP yield (mean 1.0 t/ha) were not affected by fertilizer type (P>0.05). Relative feed value varied with fertilizer type, being higher with compound fertilizer alone than with the other fertilizers (113 vs. 103; Table 7) (P<0.05). Chemical and microbial composition. DM concentration of fresh forage was affected by fertilizer type, being highest for urea (391 g/kg FM) and lowest for compound fertilizer alone (338 g/kg FM) (P<0.05) (Table 8). However, fertilizer type had no effect (P>0.05) on concentrations of CP (mean 108 g/kg DM), ADF (mean 313 g/kg DM) and WSC (mean 105 g/kg DM) in forage or pH (mean 5.55). On the other hand, fertilizer type affected NDF concentration (urea and urea + compound fertilizer>compound fertilizer) and buffering capacity (compound fertilizer>urea>urea + compound fertilizer). Fertilizer type had no effect on numbers of lactic acid bacteria, aerobic bacteria, yeasts or molds in fresh forage (P>0.05). Silage fermentation characteristics. Fertilizer type had significant effects on the pH value and concentrations of organic acids (except propionic acid) and NH3-N in WCW silage (P<0.05) (Table 9). The pH value for silages from both urea and compound fertilizer alone exceeded that from the combined fertilizer (4.21 vs. 4.05; Table 9). While lactic acid concentration for silage from the urea + compound fertilizer treatment was greater than that from the other treatments, acetic acid concentration was higher for silage from the urea treatment than from the 2 treatments containing compound fertilizer (P<0.05). Propionic acid concentration in the various silages did not differ (P>0.05), while butyric acid concentration in silages followed the order: urea>compound fertilizer>urea + compound fertilizer (P<0.05). NH3-N concentration was greater for silage from the urea treatment than from the other 2 treatments (P<0.05).   Both seeding rate and timing of fertilizer application are considered important management strategies affecting crop production, and an optimal seeding rate can achieve a balance between yield of wheat forage and cost of seed. In general, increasing seeding rates results in higher yield (Counce et al. 1992;Jia et al. 2018).In this study, both DM and CP yields of forage planted at 450 kg seed/ha (S450) were significantly higher than that of S320 (P<0.05), which supports the statement above. In general, high seeding rate of crops exacerbates the competition among plants for critical resources such as water, nutrients and light (Xue et al. 2016), so accumulation of DM per plant can be reduced, but the higher plant population more than makes up for the reduction in DM yield per plant, thus increasing yield (Liu et al. 2011). Plants at the higher seeding rate in our study possibly intercepted more incident light, thus resulting in greater DM accumulation, which is consistent with the results of Arduini et al. (2006).Tran and Tremblay (2000) found that applying fertilizer at the heading stage promoted the growth of wheat during the reproductive period, reduced the effects of inefficient tillering and increased the nitrogen concentration in grain. In our study, time of applying the second application of fertilizer had no significant effect on most of the parameters measured, suggesting that timing of fertilizer application in this case was not critical.With the increase in seeding rate, concentrations of crude fiber, NDF and ADF in wheat forage tended to increase in this study but differences failed to reach significance. This suggests that the nutritive value of WCW would tend to decrease at higher seeding rates as was shown by a trend of lowering relative feed value as seeding rate increased.When wheat was fertilized at the heading stage, the WSC concentration in the forage tended to decrease, compared with wheat fertilized at the jointing stage. From the perspective of silage production, higher WSC concentration can promote lactic acid fermentation and improve silage fermentation quality. Lactic acid and acetic acid production in silages in Experiment 1 showed no consistent pattern across treatments but pH of all silages was in the range 3.64-3.94, indicating good quality silage, which was reinforced by the low concentrations of butyric acid (0.88-2.14 g/kg DM). When fertilizer application occurred at the jointing stage, the NH3-N concentration in the silage decreased significantly with increase of seeding rate, indicating that protein decomposition of silage was low under high seeding rate. However, when fertilizer was applied at the heading stage, the silage fermentation quality of wheat forage decreased with increasing seeding rate. Generally, the production of acetic acid is dominated by Enterobacter, Enterococcus and Clostridium, which are also the bacteria that decompose amino acids to produce NH3-N. Enterobacter also dominates the production of NPN, degrading protein by secreting carboxypeptidase (Li 2018).Nitrogen from urea is released rapidly in the early stages after application to the soil when the release rate can exceed the crop demand, which can result in insufficient N supply in the later stages of crop growth. In this study, substituting compound fertilizer for urea or combining urea and compound fertilizer, resulted in no significant change in DM yield of WCW, indicating that the N component was the over-riding factor determining growth of the wheat and losses of N from volatilization of urea were not a significant issue. Increased quantities of phosphate (P) and potassium (K) obviously had no effect on growth of the wheat. Beauregard et al. (2010) suggested that applying P2O5 could directly or indirectly change the chemical, physical and biological characteristics of soil, increase soil P availability and increase the CP concentration of forage without having any significant effect on forage yield. Given the available P and K levels in the soil where the study was conducted, it is not surprising that there were no DM yield responses to compound fertilizer over that with urea application. The application of compound fertilizer improved the relative feed value of wheat, which was a function of a significant increase in ether extract and a significant reduction in NDF concentration in forage from this treatment. Berg et al. (2007) found that application of phosphate fertilizer reduced NDF and ADF concentrations in forage.NH3-N, acetic acid and butyric acid concentrations in silage from the urea treatment were higher than those in silages from compound fertilizer and urea + compound fertilizer treatments, which supported the results reported by Namihira et al. (2011). The wheat silage from the urea + compound fertilizer treatment had the highest lactic acid concentration and the lowest butyric acid concentration in the 3 fertilizer treatments, possibly because the lower buffering capacity accelerated the decrease in pH and promoted the fermentation of lactic acid.This study has shown that WCW has the propensity for high yields of forage of high feeding value. Under the conditions of this study, considering DM yield, nutrient composition and silage fermentation quality, a seeding rate of wheat for forage of 385 kg/ha would seem appropriate. If fertilizer application to wheat is to be split, applying a part at jointing stage would be more beneficial than that at heading stage. Compared with urea and compound fertilizer alone, applying urea with compound fertilizer did not affect the yield and nutritive value of WCW, but did improve the silage fermentation quality. These results need verification on different soil types.  El nopal es una fuente importante de forraje para los herbívoros, aunque su producción se ve afectada por la salinidad del suelo. Este trabajo tuvo como objetivo evaluar el desarrollo de clones de nopal sometidos a estrés salino como medida de su tolerancia a la salinidad. El diseño experimental fue en bloques al azar con 6 repeticiones. Se utilizaron veinte genotipos de nopal del Banco de Germoplasma Activo, con variabilidad en la resistencia a la cochinilla silvestre [Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell)], ya que esta especie de insecto destruye gran cantidad de plantaciones de nopal en áreas agrícolas. Se plantó un cladodio por maceta que contenía 12 kg de suelo arenoso. Se aplicó agua con una salinidad de 3.6 dS/m a intervalos de 14 días. Cada 28 días, puntajes fueron otorgados a los clones en relación al grado de daño a los cladodios (1-5) y se cosecharon cuando alcanzaron una puntuación de 5, mostrando un 100% de daño (clorosis y deshidratación) en toda la planta. El clon Liso Forrageiro tardó 419 días en alcanzar el puntaje 5, lo que indica su mayor tolerancia a la salinidad. Los clones Orelha de Elefante Mexicana y Orelha de Elefante Africana obtuvieron los mayores rendimientos de materia seca con 51.5 y 50.8 g/planta, respectivamente, mientras que Liso Forrageiro rindió solo 36.1 g/planta, a pesar de tener una superficie y peso de raíces similares a estos 2 clones. Estudios adicionales en campo queThe cactus pear (Opuntia spp. and Nopalea spp.) is an important fodder in semi-arid regions due to its adaptation to rainfall irregularities. According to Fonseca et al. (2019), cactus pear is considered a xerophilic plant, so it is adapted to harsh semi-arid conditions and is an important forage resource for animal production in regions that are subject to feed shortage and long dry periods. The growth rate and lowinput requirements of prickly pear cactus [Opuntia ficusindica (L.) Mill.] make it an excellent forage or fodder supplement/replacement semi-arid and arid regions (Mayer and Cushman 2019). It is regarded as a good and inexpensive source of energy, which may reduce the use of concentrate feeds and expensive fodder crops in dry areas (Rodrigues et al. 2016). Saline water is used in agriculture in arid and semi-arid zones because potable water is scarce, especially in the dry season, but its application contributes to soil salinization (Katerji et al. 2003). To obtain economically viable and environmentally sustainable production, farmers are compelled to substitute salt-tolerant species for more sensitive crops in agricultural areas affected by salinity (Oliveira et al. 2005).According to Inglese et al. (2017), Opuntia spp. are relatively tolerant of water stress, but sensitive to salinity. These authors also mention that the variation in salinity tolerance between cactus pear accessions is not well known. According to Jacobo and Chessa (2017), genetic variability in cacti must be documented if their full potential is to be exploited. Lallouche et al. (2017) completed a Biplot-based species analysis which revealed that O. engelmannii was the most salt-tolerant and O. amyclaea and O. robusta were the most sensitive ones. Freire et al. (2018) observed that water salinity of 3.6 dS/m and an irrigation frequency of 7 days resulted in significant damage to and reduced productivity of cactus pear cv. Miúda relative to other salinity levels and irrigation frequencies, suggesting high sensitivity of this clone to salt stress.The carmine cochineal insect [Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell)] (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) has affected large areas of cactus pear in northeastern Brazil, so evaluation of cactus pear clones resistant to carmine cochineal under different environmental conditions is extremely important if cactus is to be used commercially as a fodder.In the literature, information on the effect of salinity on the development of cactus pear clones with different levels of resistance to carmine cochineal is rare. This strengthens the need for these evaluations to improve the understanding of the morphological and productive responses of the clones to saline conditions.The hypothesis was that cactus pear species and clones differ in sensitivity to abiotic factors, which may affect their development. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the development of 20 cactus pear clones with different levels of resistance to carmine cochineal when submitted to saline stress.The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse, with a maximum temperature of 45 ºC, a minimum of 30 ºC, maximum relative humidity of 85% and a minimum of 75%.Fresh cladodes were used as planting material, weighing between 175 and 1,950 g (fresh weight). One cladode was planted in each polyethylene pot containing 12 kg of soil with a sandy texture, collected in São Bento do Una, a semi-arid region of Pernambuco, Brazil. Chemical attributes of the soil were as follows: pH -5.80; phosphorus (Mehlich I) -41 g/dm 3 ; sodium -0.03 cmolc/dm 3 ; potassium -0.17 cmolc/dm 3 ; calcium (1 mol/L KCl) -0.95 cmolc/dm 3 ; magnesium -0.75 cmolc/dm 3 ; aluminum (1 mol/L KCl) -0.10 cmolc/dm 3 ; hydrogen + aluminum (0.5 mol/L calcium acetate) -0.49 cmolc/dm 3 ; and organic matter 8.52 g/kg; and physical attributes, determined by hydrometer method (error =  5%), were: 88% sand; 2.14% silt; and 9.86% clay with a silt:clay ratio of 0.21:1.Twenty clones of cactus pear (Table 1) were used from the Active Germplasm Bank -BAG, with variability in their resistance to carmine cochineal. The resistance level was classified according to Vasconcelos et al. (2009), as well as previous evaluations carried out at the Germplasm Bank (Table 1).From 35 days after planting, each pot was irrigated with saline water with an electrical conductivity (EC) of 3.6 dS/m at 14-day intervals. The criteria for irrigation frequency and salinity level of irrigation water were chosen according to Freire et al (2018). Those authors indicated that this salinity level caused the greatest damage to cactus pear. Each pot received 8 mL/pot of micronutrient solution as described by Epstein and Bloom (2006). Nitrogen fertilizer was applied at 3 g N/pot in the form of 33% ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3). The amount of irrigation water applied per pot on each occasion was quantified, and irrigation ceased as soon as drainage began. At the end of the experiment, the total volume of water applied per treatment during the experimental period was calculated.The experimental design was a randomized block, adopting the initial weight of the cladodes as the blocking criterion, with 6 replications.The EC of drainage water from each pot was determined each 28 days, and then the drained pot was returned to its position. The EC of the soil saturation extract at the beginning of the experiment was 0.34 dS/m.A scale ranging from 1 to 5 was used to assess the damage to the plants, and the entire plant and cladodes were individually evaluated each 14 days. Cladodes showing dehydration and yellowish coloration were considered to be damaged. Scores of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively, were allocated where 0, 1-25, 26-50, 51-75 and 76-100% of plant damage was visible. Plants that obtained a maximum score for damage (5) at 3 consecutive evaluations were harvested by removing the shoots and roots. As the plants were harvested, the soil was collected, and EC of the saturation extract was determined. The whole root system was washed in a tray separating the roots aggregated to the soil, washing them with the aid of a sieve and a water jet until the whole root system was free of soil particles. After the washing procedure, a morphological analysis of the root system was performed using the WinRHIZO Pro 2009 system (Regent Instrument Inc., Québec, Canada) coupled to an Epson XL 10000 professional scanner. For this purpose, the roots were placed in acrylic trays (20 cm wide × 30 cm long) containing water. Use of this accessory allowed 3-dimensional images to be obtained as well as length, surface area and average diameter of roots, avoiding them from overlapping.Samples of cladodes and roots were taken to determine the chemical composition, analyzing dry matter (DM) content and sodium (Na) concentration according to the methodology described by AOAC (2005) and chlorophyll concentration according to Bezerra Neto and Barreto (2011).Analysis of variance was performed using the Proc mixed procedure of the SAS Software, and the experimental treatment means were compared using Scott Knott at 5% probability, when significant.There were significant (P<0.05) differences between cactus pear clones in terms of the total water supplied (Table 2). The Liso Forrageiro clone (25.8 L/plant) and F-13 (22.0 L/plant) received the greatest amounts of water, while F-8 (14.0 L) and Chile Fruit (15.2 L) received the least (Table 2).Significant (P<0.05) differences between clones emerged in the number of days required to reach Scores 2, 3, 4 and 5, which represent the different damage levels sustained by the plants (Table 2). Chile Fruit incurred 25% damage (Score 2) in the shortest time (41.5 days), while Liso Forrageiro (137.4 days), F-21 (125.3 days), and Algerian (118.5 days) took the longest time (P<0.05) (Table 3). Damage scores had increased to 3 for Chile Fruit, Gigante, Copena V1, V-16 and F-8 in 43.3-75.4 days, while Ipa Sertânia, Ipa 90-156, F-21, Orelha de Elefante Mexicana, Orelha de Onça, Algerian and Liso Forrageiro clones took 135-172 days to do so (P<0.05). The same pattern continued with Chile Fruit, F-8 and Gigante reaching Score 4 in 111-121 days, while Liso Forrageiro took 265 days (P<0.05). The gap between clones increased with time with F-8 reaching Score 5 in 131 days and Liso Forrageiro in 419 days (P<0.05) (Table 2).Electrical conductivity of drainage water from the pots increased with time with significant differences between clones throughout (Table 2). At Score 2, lowest EC levels occurred for F-24, F-8, Copena V1 and Ipa Clone 20 (31.7-33.0 dS/m) and the highest EC levels for Algerian, Liso Forrageiro, F-21, and Ipa Sertânia (62.7-69.9 dS/m) (P<0.05). By Score 3, EC levels had increased, with lowest values for Copena V1, 3 dS/m) and the highest for Ipa Sertânia, Liso Forrageiro, Algerian, F-21, Ipa 90-111 and Redonda (69.0-75.0 dS/m) (P<0.05). By Score 4 values had increased further with the lowest values for F-8 (52.7 dS/m) and highest for Ipa Sertânia, Ipa 90-156, Algerian, Liso Forrageiro, V16 and Orelha de Elefante Africana (80.8-88.9 dS/m) (P<0.05). Electrical conductivity of soil at harvest time varied from 66.5 dS/m for F-8 to 91.0-95.8 dS/m for Liso Forrageiro, Ipa Sertânia, Ipa 90-156, F-13, Algerian and V-16 (P<0.05).There were significant differences (P<0.05) in DM production of cactus pear clones (Table 3).The yields were observed in F-8, F-21 and Algerian clones (19.2-28.2 g/plant), while highest yields occurred for Orelha de Elefante Africana, Ipa Clone 20, Orelha de Elefante Mexicana, Ipa 90-156 and F-13 (41.3-50.8 g/plant) (P<0.05).Sodium concentration in plants ranged from 5.7 to 10.7 g/kg, being greater (P<0.05) for Chile Fruit, Ipa Sertânia, F-24, F-21, Orelha de Elefante Mexicana, Redonda, Algerian, Gigante and V-16 clones than for the remainder (Table 3). The lowest values occurred in Liso Forrageiro, Copena V1 and Ipa 90-156 (5.7-6.6 g/kg DM).Similarly, there were significant differences (P<0.05) in chlorophyll concentrations in the various clones with values varying between 0.54 (Copena V1) and 0.82 mg/g (Liso Forrageiro). Significant differences (P<0.05) in length, mean diameter, surface area and dry weight of roots were recorded (Table 4). The longest roots were recorded for Miúda, Orelha de Elefante Africana, Ipa Clone 20, Orelha de Elefante Mexicana, Redonda, Gigante and Liso Forrageiro (32.76-45.89 cm), while shortest roots occurred in Chile Fruit, F-8, Orelha de Onça, Algerian, V-16 and Copena V1 (1.60-3.26 cm) (P<0.05). Similarly, roots of the various clones had differing diameters with thickest roots for F-8, Miúda, Ipa Clone 20, Orelha de Elefante Mexicana, Redonda, Algerian, Gigante and Liso Forrageiro (0.619-0.939 mm), and thinnest roots for Ipa 90-156, Ipa 90-111, Orelha de Onça, V-16 and Copena V1 (0.216-0.297 mm) (P<0.05). Consequently, surface area of roots varied widely among the clones with greatest areas for Miúda, Orelha de Elefante Africana, Redonda, Gigante and Liso Forrageiro (3.04-4.10 cm 2 ) and smallest areas for F-8, Orelha de Onça, Chile Fruit, V-16 and Copena V1 (0.76-1.03 cm 2 ) (Table 4; P<0.05).The greatest values for root biomass were reached by Liso Forrageiro, Gigante, Redonda, Orelha de Elefante Mexicana and IPA Clone 20 (20.2-34.7 g/plant), while lowest yields were for Chile Fruit, F-8, Orelha de Onça, Algerian, V-16 and Copena V1 (3.0-5.2 g/plant) (P<0.05).This study has shown that cactus pear clones display marked variation in adaptation to salinity under greenhouse conditions, indicating that there are options for selecting more productive clones to grow on saline soils.The amount of water supplied to the cactus pear clones directly influenced the accumulation of Na in the soil and the EC of the soil saturation extract (Table 2). Consequently, chlorosis and wilting symptoms appeared in the clones at different ages due to the accumulation of Na in the soil or inside the plants, making the water or nutrients required unavailable.While Liso Forrageiro took far longer than other species to reach Score 5 for harvest, this clone has low resistance to carmine cochineal, which is an undesirable characteristic for cactus pear in areas where this insect pest occurs. In addition, this clone was not as productive as some other clones studied.The clone that reached Score 5 most quickly was F-8 which did so in 130 days (Table 2), possibly indicating lower tolerance to saline stress. The soil, in which this clone was grown, had lower EC (66.5 dS/m) at harvest, probably influenced by the smaller amount of water received. Freire et al. (2018) observed that irrigating cv. Miúda every 7 days with saline water (3.6 dS/m) resulted in an increase in soil EC and a high percentage of damage to cladodes, suggesting high sensitivity of this clone to salt stress.Franco-Salazar and Veliz (2008) demonstrated that O. fícus-indica could survive 10 weeks of treatment with 100 mM NaCl, but the shoot showed symptoms of chlorosis and dehydration at harvest. In our study, most clones had barely reached Score 2 after 70 days of irrigation with saline water. Values for soil EC we recorded are considered high because, according to Bor et al. (2003), most plants can develop when the EC of soil is less than 8 dS/m, while some species grow only in soils with EC ≤3 dS/m. Osmotic or ionic stress occurs above this value, causing the plants to die. According to Dias et al. (2016), good quality water for irrigation should have EC <0.75 dS/m, while plant growth generally is not affected below 2.0 dS/m, although differences can be found between species and cultivars. EC values in soil at the end of the study were much higher than these levels.Accumulation of soluble salts in the root zone in saline environments causes a decrease in cellular expansion, thus reducing the overall development of the plant (Khalid and Silva 2010). Franco-Salazar and Véliz (2008) observed that, when NaCl concentration in the root medium is increased, there is a reduction in the formation of new organs, which causes negative effects in the development of Opuntia spp. According to Munns and Tester (2008), the survival of plants subjected to saline stress depends on the ability to restrict ion absorption. It is probable that the Liso Forrageiro clone used tolerance mechanisms to survive for 419 days in a saline environment.The highest dry matter yields observed in Ipa 90-156, Orelha de Elefante Africana, Ipa Clone 20, F-13 and Orelha de Elefante Mexicana clones (Table 3) may result from the storage of ions in large vacuoles of the cactus pear as well as the accumulation of organic solutes in these vacuoles (Fonseca et al. 2019). Although they were harvested after a shorter growing period than Liso Forrageiro, they showed greater production, and are considered to possess some resistance to carmine cochineal (low, high, low, high and high, respectively). Amador et al. (2001) observed a productivity of 46 g DM/plant for the Copena V1 clone after 147 days of growth in salinity of 2 dS/m, which was considered low productivity, even though the clone is cultivated and considered adapted to the conditions of the region of Mexico, where mean soil salinity is 2-5 dS/m. Fonseca et al. (2019) irrigated Gigante with saline (3.6 dS/m) water and 33% reference evapotranspiration every 3 days and it grew, increasing in height, number of cladodes, cladode area index, green mass and DM yield. The tolerance of crops to salinity is generally displayed as phytomass production, plant growth, plant number/unit area and ability to survive in saline environments (Dias et al. 2016).The low yields for F-8, F-21 and Algerian clones (Table 3) indicated that these clones did not grow well in saline soils. Gajender et al. (2014) observed that O. ficus-indica was moderately tolerant of salinity (52 mM NaCl), but sensitive to pH, with negligible growth at pH 9.8. Liso Forrageiro was the last clone to be harvested and contained 5.7 g Na/kg DM (Table 3). Thus, it is probable that Na exclusion and/or ion absorption restriction are more efficient in this clone than in the others, indicating its greater adaptation to salt stress, since the soil of this clone presented greater EC. According to Lastiri-Hernández et al. (2018), due to transpiration Na + is deposited and accumulates in leaves rather than in roots. In perennial species, Na + accumulation in leaves results mainly from their longer lifespan and thus longer duration of transpiration. Silva et al. (2014) observed that Orelha de Elefante Mexicana presented greater water use efficiency, followed by IPA Sertânia. Miúda was the least efficient clone for the Brazilian semi-arid region. Orelha de Elefante Mexicana and Miúda presented greater Na use efficiency.In a study assessing Nopalea cochenillifera, Freire et al. (2018) observed that increasing the salinity level of irrigation water increased Na concentration in the cactus, and there was a significant interaction between irrigation frequency and irrigation water salinity. Amador et al. (2001) observed that Na concentration in shoot DM of Copena F1 increased from 0.51 to 1.51% when grown for 21 weeks in a greenhouse and salinity level of irrigation water was increased from 2 to 21 dS/m. At the salinity level of 5 dS/m, Na concentration in shoots was 0.62%. Schuch and Kelly (2008) irrigated species of cacti (Echinocactus grusonii, Carnegiea gigantea, Fouquieria splendens and Agave parryi var. truncata) for 5 months and observed that Na concentration in plants varied from 15.52 to 18.30 g/kg DM, as the EC of the irrigation water rose from 0.6 to 15 dS/m.Franco-Salazar and Veliz (2008) grew O. fícusindica hydroponically for 10 weeks with concentrations of 0, 50 and 150 mM NaCl and showed that chlorophyll concentration ranged from 0.5 to 1.0 mg/g fresh tissue weight. As salinity increased, titratable acidity in apical cladodes also increased, while no significant effect was detected for either the number of apical or basal cladodes or for chlorophyll concentration in either type of cladodes, suggesting some kind of osmotic adjustment or osmoprotection. The significant differences in lengths of roots in the various cacti (Table 4) may indicate differences in tolerance to salinity of the various clones. Amador et al. (2001) showed that the length of roots of O. ficus-indica cv. Copena V1 was 10 cm when grown for 21 weeks and irrigated with saline water, while roots of the Control plants were 21.7 cm long. Corresponding DM yields of plants were 2.7 and 13 g/plant, respectively. In that study, the salinity of water applied increased gradually from 2 to 21 dS/m, and the authors concluded that inhibition of root growth in treated plants was due to Na toxicity and that the clone under study was not tolerant of salinity.In cultivating O. ficus-indica and O. robusta in South Africa, Snyman (2004) found that root growth decreased significantly under water stress. According to the author, cactus pear roots do not develop well in saline environments since they produce little dry mass and tend to die under dry or ionic stress. Working with O. ficusindica in hydroponic culture with different concentrations of NaCl, Franco-Salazar and Veliz (2007) observed that increased salinity reduced growth of both shoots and roots.As expected, the largest surface areas of roots occurred in clones with greater root length and larger mean root diameter (Table 4); mean diameter and root surface area are directly related to nutrient uptake. The genotype Liso Forrageiro was harvested at the oldest age and presented the largest mean diameter and largest root surface area but surprisingly did not produce the highest DM yield.Since highest yields occurred for Orelha de Elefante Africana, Ipa Clone 20, Orelha de Elefante Mexicana, Ipa 90-156 and F-13, it would seem that these clones would be the most promising candidates for further study to identify most appropriate cacti for growing as a source of fodder. As 3 of the clones (Africana, Mexicana and F-13) are regarded as highly resistant to carmine cochineal insect, while Clone 20 and Ipa 90-156 are only lowly resistant, further evaluations should be carried out in the field where these insects are prevalent. Feeding of high quality grass is critical to ensure breeding cows remain healthy with high reproductive rates and growing and fattening cattle achieve good growth rates. The Brazilian grass cultivar, Urochloa brizantha cv. MG5 Vitória, is highly nutritious and is known for its drought tolerance. In view of its low seed production potential in subtropical Japan and of phytosanitary problems (contamination with soil particles) of imported seed, a study was conducted in Okinawa to assess 2 methods of propagating this cultivar vegetatively. Cutting stems (culms) at about 10 cm from ground level and inserting them 3 cm into a 50:50 compost:soil mixture produced a 77% success rate in terms of rooted plantlets in a glasshouse compared with 67% for cutting the culm at 3 nodes from the base, subsequently allowing 2 weeks for adventitious roots to form on the lowest node, then cutting below the node where roots emerged and planting the rooted propagule in the same mixture. It seems that the simple process of cutting stems at about 10 cm from ground level and inserting them into a suitable mixture of soil and compost should result in an acceptable yield of plantlets for establishment of an MG5 forage crop. However, locating a source of high-quality seed free of phytosanitary problems seed would seem to be a better solution to increase the areas in Okinawa planted to MG5.In the tractor tyre stress trial conducted over 2 years, an MG5 forage crop established from seed showed depressed yields on the treatment subjected to tractor tyre pressure but performed as well as Chloris gayana, a much-used forage grass in Okinawa.Keywords: Urochloa brizantha, dry matter yield, pasture establishment, plantlet production, tropical pasture.La alimentación con pasto de alta calidad es fundamental para garantizar que las vacas reproductoras se mantengan sanas con altas tasas de reproducción y que el ganado en crecimiento y engorde alcance buenas tasas de crecimiento. El cultivar de pasto brasileño, Urochloa brizantha cv. MG5 Vitória, es muy nutritivo y es conocido por su tolerancia a la sequía. En vista de su bajo potencial de producción de semillas en el Japón subtropical y de los problemas fitosanitarios (contaminación con partículas del suelo) de las semillas importadas, se realizó un estudio en Okinawa para evaluar 2 métodos de propagación vegetativa de este cultivar. Cortar tallos (culmos) a unos 10 cm del nivel del suelo e insertarlos 3 cm en una mezcla 50:50 de compost y suelo produjo una tasa de éxito del 77% en términos de plántulas enraizadas en un invernadero en comparación con el 67% al cortar el culmo a 3 nudos de la base, luego dejando 2 semanas para que se formen raíces adventicias en el nudo más bajo, luego cortando debajo del nudo donde emergieron las raíces y plantando el propágulo enraizado en la misma mezcla. Parece que el simple proceso de cortar los tallos a unos 10 cm del nivel del suelo e insertarlos en una mezcla adecuada de tierra y compost debería dar como resultado un rendimiento aceptable de plántulas para el establecimiento de un cultivo forrajero MG5. Sin embargo, localizar una fuente de semillaIn Okinawa, the southernmost part of Japan, rate of increase in gross agricultural production between 2011 and 2016 was the highest in Japan. In particular, the beef industry accounted for 22.3% of gross agricultural production in 2017 and sales of calves during the past 10 years ranked fourth throughout Japan. In addition, more than 3 million foreign tourists, mainly from Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and China, visited Okinawa in 2018, which was the highest number recorded in any year. In view of the resulting increased demand for livestock products, there is an urgent need to boost the production of Okinawa's famous unique beef brands such as 'Ishigaki Gyu', 'Yamashiro Gyu' and 'Miyako Gyu'. Feeding high quality grass is necessary for breeding cows to be healthy with high reproductive rates and for growing and fattening animals to achieve high levels of production. Okinawa has a subtropical climate and warm season perennial grasses can be grown successfully. The many small islands comprising the Prefecture of Okinawa where cattle are raised often suffer from drought, so introduced forage species should be drought-tolerant.Some species of the genus Brachiaria, which are now recognized as species of the genus Urochloa, introduced from Africa, are of considerable economic importance in the tropics due to their adaptation to low-fertility soils (Rao et al. 1996), their drought-tolerance (Gayalin et al. 1994;Guenni et al. 2002) and good nutritive value (Lascano et al. 1996). In Brazil, Urochloa pastures extend over almost 100 million hectares (Jank et al. 2014).A cultivar of one species, Urochloa brizantha (syn. Brachiaria brizantha) cv. MG5 Vitória (referred to subsequently as MG5), in tropical America also known under the cultivar names 'Toledo' and 'Xaraés' (Cook et al. 2020), has been shown to have high nutritive value in studies with growing cattle in Okinawa and has performed comparably with Chloris gayana cv. Katambora and Digitaria eriantha cv. Transvala (Nakanishi et al. 2006(Nakanishi et al. , 2008)). This cultivar also proved to be more tolerant of drought than all other Urochloa species and cultivars tested (Kudaka et al. 2010). Based on these and other regional 1 Granular clay-like mineral of volcanic origin. research results, MG5 was recommended for use in Okinawa Prefecture in 2016.However, seed production and seed viability of this species in Okinawa are low (Kouki et al. 2007;2009) and due to phytosanitary considerations (contamination of commercial seed lots with soil particles), it is difficult to import seeds of MG5 from other countries such as Brazil (Kouki and Ebina 2009). As a result, MG5 is still uncommon in Okinawa and mechanisms and strategies for increased usage should be developed.While cattle are grazed in some areas of the Prefecture, forage is usually used for hay production which involves mowing, aerating and baling using heavy tractors, 5 or 6 times per year. Consequently, a forage cultivar such as MG5 must be resistant to tractor tyre stress and produce acceptable growth under this regime.To address these issues we investigated methods of vegetative propagation of MG5 and production of MG5 for 2 years, while being harvested by tractors. Some of the data reported here have also been reported in Japanese language in the Okinawa Livestock Research Center´s bulletin series.The research was conducted at Okinawa Livestock Research Center (Nakijin, Okinawa, Japan) (26º41' N, 127º56' E; 90 masl).Raising plantlets. A tray comprising 55 cells, each 4.5 × 4.5 × 4.5 cm, was filled with a 50:50 mixture of potting compost (TAKII & Co. Ltd, Kyoto, Japan) and red ball earth 1 (TAKII & Co. Ltd). For raising plantlets, soil in the trays was kept moist by sprinkling with 3.7 mm water per day in a glass-house.Cuttings were taken from a mature pasture stand of MG5 of 70-90 cm height. Two methods were compared to obtain material for planting. For the first method (Method 1: higher cutting and root formation), grass stems (culms) were cut above the third joint (node) from the base. While the cut plant portion was removed and discarded, the uncut stem portion stayed in the field for two weeks (Figure 1). During this time adventitious roots start to develop from the lowest node. The stem was then cut to retain 2 nodes above the rooting node and was inserted to a depth of 3 cm into soil in the trays. For the second method (Method 2: lower cutting and direct planting), MG5 stems were cut at about 10 cm from ground level (Figure 1) and the lowest joint was inserted immediately into the soil in the trays to a depth of 3 cm.Acceptably formed plantlets were identified about 2 months later by counting those rooted cuttings where, if lifted by the stem, soil did not fall away from the stem as roots were completely attached to the soil. Transplanting plantlets into the ground. Plantlets obtained by vegetative propagation and about 21 weeks of age, were transplanted into the field of Kunigami merge 2 . Two transplanting methods were compared in terms of time necessary for planting a given area: using a vegetable transplanter machine (Yanmer, Osaka, Japan); and by means of a manual planting tool with 2 handles (Figure 2). In the former, plantlets were fed into a hopper on the machine and were drawn down into the ground while in the latter, a plantlet was placed in the bottom of the tool, the jaws at the bottom were inserted into the soil, and the soil was opened by forcing the levers at the top apart. While press wheels compacted the soil around the plantlet for the vegetable planter, soil was pressed down with the foot for the planting tool method. Both methods involved 3 people and their working time was recorded. For each method, 110 plantlets were planted 18 cm apart in 8 furrows 36 cm apart, giving an area of about 50 m 2 for each method.    Statistical treatment of the tyre stress test was by two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with a Fisher's least significant difference test for the 2 factors, grass species and tractor tyre stress, dry matter yield for each date and total yield.The standard method for vegetative propagation of grasses in Okinawa is to cut stems (culms) to retain 2 joints (nodes), the cuttings then being inserted into a mixture of soil and potting mix (Mochizuki et al. 2005).With MG5 this method normally results in a success rate of about 10% of plantlets being produced (T. Hanagasaki unpublished data). Results have been similar when a commercial rooting accelerator (TGG010S or TGG020S, both from the auxin group; Tokai Global Greening Co. Ltd, Gifu, Japan) was used, indicating that treatment with that plant hormone had no effect on rooting of MG5 cuttings. In a comparison trial, success rate for MG5 (18%) has been lower than those for other Urochloa species and cultivars (U. brizantha cv. Marandu at 31%, U. decumbens at 28%, U. ruziziensis at 52% and U. humidicola at 56%) (T. Hanagasaki unpublished data). However, in the current study both methods to produce rooted cuttings resulted in a satisfactory percentage of plantlets (Table 1). With about 77% of plantlets produced, the lower cutting of stems followed by direct insertion into soil is a successful and practical method for vegetative propagation of MG5.In a complementary study, time involved in transplanting plantlets showed that machine planting took 107 seconds per 20 m and 39 seconds for a change of direction. In contrast, manual planting took 287 seconds per 20 m. Thus, manual planting of 1,000 m 2 took twice as much time as machine planting (Table 1). MG5 generally grew rapidly with both methods of transplanting.There was no major difference between the 2 grasses regarding Grand total DMY over 2 years (Table 2). However, tyre stress depressed (P<0.05) Total DMY in 2007 and Grand total DMY over 2 years in MG5, while Katambora was generally unaffected by tyre stress. Considering that MG 5 is a fairly erect-growing tussock grass with short rhizomes and Katambora is stoloniferous (although it can attain an erect growth habit in a dense pasture), this finding is in general agreement with the observations of Honda and Yamanobe (1958), who reported that tractor tyre stress generally markedly suppressed growth of erect grasses but could have favorable impact on sod-forming grasses, if subjected to stress on only few occasions separated by reasonable intervals. Hosono et al. (1965) reported that forage yield of Italian ryegrass decreased as the number of transits increased (0, 1, 3 and 5 times).  In conclusion, it appears that under the conditions of Okinawa, cutting stems of MG5 low to the ground and inserting them immediately into a soil-compost mixture in a glass-house will result in successful production of plantlets. While this methodology is acceptable for small areas, for planting large areas there is a need to locate a source of commercial seed free of contamination by soil particles and thus can be safely imported.While tractor tyre stress did not influence DM yields of Katambora severely, impact of tractor tyres markedly lowered yields of MG5, especially in the second year. However, total DM yield of MG5 under tractor tyre stress for the 2 years was not significantly different from that of Katambora, which indicates the production capacity of MG5. Tractor tyre stress could be a concern where material is harvested as hay using heavy tractors and balers but it would not be a significant issue under cutand-carry or grazing systems. Furthermore, in a practical situation the impact would probably be reduced as the total area of pasture is not normally affected by each operation in the haymaking process. However, soil compaction, which was not considered in this study, should also be taken into account."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9fd0f0f7cd6ff00213db2da0e718568e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/652f9f60-9092-4c8b-8e75-819d51223f35/retrieve","id":"-1447623566"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ae888c87-a597-437f-893a-03eae54b09e6","content":"• Expansion of the approach in the Amhara, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray regions, some of the worst droughtaffected areas-targeting a further 100,000+ men and women farmers.• Incorporation of the approach into Amhara and SNNP farmer training modules and potentially into national training and nutrition guidelines.• Gender-responsive upscaling to help communities in Tigray recover from environmental and other crises to build more inclusive resilient, healthy and prosperous value chains.The International Potato Center works closely with regional and local agricultural and health authorities to implement gender-responsive approaches to enhancing food and nutrition security in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP) and Tigray regions.• Dissemination of high-quality potato seed of improved varieties to men and women farmers and cooperatives. • Chronic drought seriously undermines food security in Ethiopia.• Potato in Ethiopia is an extremely valuable crop, worth about USD700 million a year.• Orange-fleshed sweetpotato is extremely nutritious, proven in reducing malnutrition.• Women's role in food production is significant, but largely undervalued.• Households lack knowledge to improve productivity and nutritional outcomes; exacerbated by societal gender norms.• Both crops are suitable for difficult climates and harvested during the hunger months.CIP thanks all donors and organizations which globally support its work through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust FundCollaboration with public and NGO partners aided the:• Incorporation of gender-responsive training materials into modules developed by regional agriculture and health authorities, potentially reaching millions of farmers.Agronomic training and quality materials improved food production and incomes for 126,000 people through:• Increased potato yields, up to 50 t/ha.• Increased crop sales at higher prices.Intentional engagement with women farmers:• Helped sustain their involvement in production and marketing activities as income opportunities grew. • Enhanced nutritional outcomes for 70,000+ people.• Increased decision-making role of women in households.Increased incomes enabled greater household spending on health, education and farm investment. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"08f6b1e55c9c2bbf68bdbde56372070f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a27f26d3-87e6-4688-aa06-0f95365dea13/retrieve","id":"-2071080962"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"75be295f-29db-4f85-88af-ddb3ccfb732a","content":" Colombia desarrolló una política de crecimiento verde, como un nuevo motor para el desarrollo agrícola y de los territorios en el marco de un contexto internacional favorable (Acuerdos de Paris, OCDE). El enfoque de crecimiento verde permite integrar objetivos múltiples en relación a lo productivo, lo ambiental, y lo social en una visión renovada del sector agropecuario y del mundo rural. Las políticas de crecimiento verde integran los retos del cambio climático, en una visión proactiva que busca transcender las tensiones entre desarrollo agrícola y objetivos ambientales. El crecimiento verde integra 5 pilares que son la productividad, la eficiencia en el uso de los recursos naturales, el balance y flujo de nutrientes, la incidencia en el capital natural y las oportunidades sectoriales. La implementación de una metodología que alterna recopilación y análisis de datos con retroalimentación y validación de los resultados permitió producir información relevante y de interés para la toma de decisiones de los actores. El contexto político institucional y acuerdos internacionales facilitaron la formulación y la adopción de una política de crecimiento verde en Colombia.El Departamento Nacional de Planeación (DNP), a través de un proceso técnico denominado \"Misión de Crecimiento Verde\" (MCV) lideró la formulación del CONPES 3934 Política de Crecimiento Verde de Colombia, el cual fue aprobado el 10 de julio de 2018 (DNP, 2018).La formulación de esta política constituye un compromiso del DNP dentro del Plan Nacional de Desarrollo (PND) 2014-2018 (Capitulo X \"Crecimiento Verde\") cuyos objetivos eran \"avanzar hacia un crecimiento sostenible y bajo en carbono\", \"proteger y asegurar el uso sostenible del capital natural y mejorar la calidad y la gobernanza ambiental\" y \"lograr un crecimiento resiliente y reducir la vulnerabilidad frente a los riesgos de desastres y al cambio climático\". La formulación de la Política de Crecimiento Verde se enmarca también en el proceso del ingreso de Colombia a la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos (OCDE).La dirección de la MCV definió cinco ejes de análisis para formular la política: 1) Uso eficiente de recursos (agua, suelo, energía, materiales y residuos); 2) Nuevas oportunidades económicas (bioeconomía, economía forestal y transición energética); 3) Oferta y demanda de fuerza laboral (productividad laboral y capital humano y formalización empresarial); 4) Ciencia tecnología e innovación y; 5) Instrumentos económicos.El Programa de Investigación del CGIAR en Cambio Climático, Agricultura y Seguridad Alimentaria (CCAFS), el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) y el Centro de Estudio Regionales Cafeteros y Empresariales (CRECE) fueron contratados por el Instituto Global de Crecimiento Verde (GGGI), de octubre 2017 a mayo de 2018, para apoyar a DNP en la realización del estudio sobre productividad en el uso del suelo y crecimiento verde como insumo para la formulación de la política de crecimiento verde.Con base en estos insumos, y los de otros entes contratados para los otros temas, el DNP formuló el CONPES 3934 aprobado el 10 de julio de 2018, el cual definió la Política de Crecimiento Verde de Colombia (DNP, 2018).Los objetivos planteados en el estudio sobre productividad del suelo: \"Productividad de la tierra y desarrollo del sector agropecuario medido a través de los indicadores de crecimiento verde\" fueron tres: 1) Identificar los factores que afectan la productividad de la tierra en el sector agrícola de Colombia en 5 sistemas productivos priorizados; 2) Analizar el rendimiento de los 5 sistemas priorizados del sector agrícola en relación con los indicadores de CV; y 3) Definir las recomendaciones de políticas públicas y una ruta crítica para implementarlas.En efecto, en este estudio se dan a conocer el estado actual de los indicadores de crecimiento verde (CV) para algunos sistemas productivos agropecuarios priorizados en Colombia y se identifican las opciones tecnológicas que permitirían mejorar dichos indicadores, con el fin de incrementar la productividad de la tierra sin afectar los demás indicadores de CV. Para lograr este objetivo, se implementó una metodología en cinco fases (Ilustración 1) incluyendo la fase de colecta de datos, la fase de análisis y la fase de consulta y validación de resultados. Para las fases de consulta y validación se conformaron comités consultivos de expertos de los sistemas productivos priorizados a nivel nacional y departamental.Cincos sistemas productivos fueron priorizados usando un análisis multi-criterio: café, aguacate Hass, cacao, ganadería y papa. Los criterios considerados contemplaban la representatividad de la producción en el país (área sembrada), la disponibilidad de información, la diversidad de tipos de cultivos (transitorios o permanentes), y su distribución en el territorio (diversidad de pisos térmicos y ubicación geográfica). En el caso de ganadería, se realizó una subdivisión por tres tipos de orientación productiva (carne, lechería y doble propósito).Para cada sistema productivo priorizado, se conformaron comités consultivos de expertos nacionales. Estos incluyeron representantes de gremios (Fedecacao, Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia, Fedegan, Fedepapa, Asohofrucol), MinAmbiente y MinAgricultura, ICA, Agrosavia, UPRA, DANE, CRECE, CIAT, CCAFS, y DNP y algunas ONGs.El análisis general consistió en la construcción de una línea base a nivel nacional para los 5 sistemas productivos priorizados en términos de productividad del sector (tonelada de producto por hectárea al año), eficiencia ambiental y productividad de los recursos naturales (emisiones de CO2, consumo de energía y uso de sistema de riego), balance y flujo de nutrientes (porcentaje de productores que fertilizan y tipos de fertilización y enmienda), incidencia en el capital natural (conflicto por uso del suelo, y erosión) y oportunidades sectoriales de crecimiento verde (certificación en Buenas Practicas Agricolas -BPA, acceso a asistencia técnica, y créditos). Estas categorías corresponden a los 5 pilares del crecimiento verde.Adicional a la línea base, se construyó una meta de referencia a lograr con un horizonte 2030. En la Ilustración 2, se presenta el ejemplo para el sistema productivo del café.Ilustración 1: Una metodología en 5 fases Ilustración 2: Línea base y meta para el sistema productivo café Este análisis de línea base para los 5 de los sistemas priorizados muestra que, en términos de productividad, Colombia tiene un gran margen para mejorar (bajo nivel de mecanización, poco mejoramiento, manejo de plagas y enfermedades y de pastos/ animales). Sin embargo, en cuanto a los rendimientos de café, Colombia presenta un buen desempeño a nivel mundial comparado con otros países que producen cafés suaves.Los cultivos como cacao, aguacate y café tienen un balance favorable de captura de carbono y, por lo tanto, podrían contribuir con objetivos de mitigación del cambio climático, mientras que cultivos como papa y ganadería requieren de la adopción de tecnologías que contribuyan a reducir su huella de carbono. Adicionalmente, la cobertura de riego en los cultivos priorizados (café, cacao y papa), con la excepción de aguacate Hass, es baja. Sin embargo, este resultado no necesariamente representa algo negativo ya que estos cultivos no requieren riego en todas las regiones.Los paperos y cafeteros sobresalen por el uso de fertilización química, mientras que el uso de fertilización orgánica ya es común en todos los cultivos.La asistencia técnica es muy baja en general para todos los cultivos, exceptuando el caso del café, que presenta un buen indicador de cubertura en asistencia técnica.El acceso a crédito es bajo en general, y puede ser una gran barrera para implementar tecnologías que demanden inversiones.Finalmente, los resultados evidenciaron existencia de conflictos de uso del suelo, lo cual constituye uno de los grandes retos que tendrá que enfrentar la política de crecimiento verde.Además de la línea base, se elaboró una lista larga de tecnologías para cada sistema productivo las cuales fueron presentadas a los comités, con el fin de evaluarlas y priorizarlas. Estas opciones fueron evaluadas por su potencial contribución a la mejora del desempeño de los indicadores seleccionados para la línea base. De esta manera, se pudo establecer una lista corta de tecnologías y de departamentos relevantes para los sistemas productivos y tecnologías priorizados.En la fase de análisis detallado se calcularon indicadores (los mismos que los usados para el nivel nacional) a nivel departamental. Se realizó una comparación de los indicadores departamentales de cada sistema para identificar regiones con valores sobresalientes y rezagados. También se calculó el impacto de las tecnologías que apuntan a mejorar los indicadores de crecimiento verde priorizadas por los comités consultivos (ver Ilustración ).Con base en el análisis de los indicadores de CV a nivel departamental y consultas a los miembros de los comités consultivos de cada sistema productivo, se determinó un departamento estratégico para realizar talleres participativos con el fin de identificar las barreras de adopción de tecnologías y medidas para promover la implementación a escala de una de las tecnologías priorizadas.En la primera fase de estos talleres, los participantes (instituciones de gobierno, sector privado, academia, gremios y productores) priorizaron una tecnología con alto potencial para CV (ver Tabla 1). En una segunda fase de los talleres, se identificaron las principales barreras para la adopción de estas tecnologías (ilustración 5). Tres barreras principales fueron mencionadas para todos los sistemas productivos: aquellas relacionadas con aspectos financieros (acceso a crédito, incentivos a una producción más verde), asistencia técnica (calidad y confianza), conocimiento y cultura (\"miedo al cambio\"). Seguidas de barreras como los arreglos institucionales (desarticulación entre instituciones relacionadas con BPA) y el acceso a mercado.Dependiendo de la naturaleza de la tecnología priorizada y también del contexto específico de los sistemas productivos en las regiones, distintas categorías de barreras fueron identificadas. Para ganadería de doble propósito se mencionaron barreras relacionadas con capital social, maquinaría, condiciones agroecológicas y tenencia a la tierra. Para la ganadería de leche, se evidenciaron como barreras prioritarias, aquellas financieras y de asistencia técnica (AT). Para ganadería de carne, se enfatizó la poca consideración de los conocimientos locales en los procesos de AT. Para aguacate Hass, cultivo reciente en Colombia, se subrayó la necesidad de investigar para poder acompañar adecuadamente a los productores. Para cacao, las barreras son aquellas vinculadas con arreglos institucionales (desarticulación entre instituciones relacionadas con BPA), infraestructura de agua, disponibilidad de tiempo (trámites de certificación) y tenencia de la tierra. En el caso del café, las barreras fueron identificadas en relación con la disponibilidad y calidad del servicio de laboratorios de análisis de suelo. Las barreras relacionadas con el sistema productivo de la papa, fueron de carácter financiero (falta de recursos económicos por parte de los productores), de AT (falta de continuidad) e institucional (falta de políticas claras y ajustadas para la promoción de la agricultura de conservación). Para café, ganadería de carne y cacao se mencionaron barreras relacionadas con el mercado.Una vez consideradas las barreras más importantes y más fáciles de superar, los participantes reflexionaron sobre las medidas o acciones necesarias para superar dichas barreras, teniendo en mente alcanzar una implementación a escala de las tecnologías promisorias para el crecimiento verde. Estas medidas fueron priorizadas según su nivel de eficiencia para superar la barrera y su facilidad de implementación (Ilustración 6). Las medidas específicas identificadas para superar las barreras fueron:Con base en una síntesis de los insumos de los talleres departamentales y de un análisis del marco institucional colombiano vinculante con los objetivos de CV, se formularon recomendaciones de política que contemplan 5 ejes principales para la productividad del suelo y desarrollo agropecuario: 1) la apuesta al financiamiento verde, 2) la promoción de una agricultura joven, 3) el desarrollo de una nueva era para la ciencia agropecuaria, 4) el apoyo a instituciones facilitadoras del crecimiento verde y 5) la participación activa de los consumidores para el cambio (Ilustración 7). Estos ejes fueron validados por en un taller de síntesis con el DNP y en un taller nacional con los actores de los comités nacionales.El análisis sobre la productividad de la tierra y desarrollo del sector agropecuario contribuyó a la elaboración de la Política de Crecimiento Verde Colombiana. Este análisis Este análisis fue guiado por una metodología que alternó momentos de colecta y análisis de datos con momentos de validación/ discusión y ajustes a los resultados preliminares. La inclusión y participación en el estudio de actores tales como representantes de gremios, productores, expertos en cambio climático/cultivos/crecimiento verde, y funcionarios públicos permitió obtener retroalimentación a lo largo del estudio, y plantear ajustes para producir resultados legítimos, relevantes y de interés.Los resultados muestran que Colombia tiene margen para mejorar en los 5 pilares del crecimiento verde para cada uno de los sistemas productivos priorizados (café, aguacate Hass, cacao, ganadería y papa). Se identificaron tecnologías promisorias que permitirían alcanzar esta meta por su potencial de contribución al CV para cada sistema productivo. Las barreras más importantes para implementar estas tecnologías fueron identificadas en talleres a nivel departamental; al igual que medidas concretas y factibles para superar las barreras más críticas. Las barreras más mencionadas fueron relacionadas con extensión agropecuaria, aspectos financieros y conocimiento y cultura. También fueron consideradas importantes barreras a nivel de capacidades institucionales y de mercado.El costeo de estas medidas promisorias representó un insumo práctico para el gobierno para poder conocer el costo de escalar prácticas agropecuarias que apoyen el crecimiento verde en el país. Finalmente, las distintas etapas de este estudio permitieron formular recomendaciones de políticas para alcanzar los objetivos propuesto al horizonte 2030, las cuales fueron utilizadas como insumo para la elaboración del documento CONPES 3934 \"política de crecimiento verde\" aprobado en julio del 2018.Este proceso permite resaltar unas lecciones aprendidas con respecto a la contribución de la ciencia a la formulación de política. Se pueden resaltar los siguientes factores favorables: i) una demanda clara y formal de insumos científicos por parte del gobierno (DNP) con mandato y potestad de formular una política según un calendario claramente definido por la MCV tomando en cuenta la temporalidad y voluntad política del gobierno de turno; ii) una metodología consensuada basada en síntesis de datos existentes provenientes de trabajos previos y un fuerte componente de consulta a diferentes niveles para enriquecer y legitimar el proceso de investigación y sus resultados; y, iii) un diálogo constante entre los investigadores y los funcionarios públicos a cargo de la formulación de esta política, el cual fue facilitado por relaciones de confianza establecidas previamente en trabajos anteriores.Una lección aprendida del proceso es la dificultad de lograr una visión integral del sector agropecuario, a partir del estudio de 5 sistemas productivos, para formular recomendaciones relevantes para la globalidad del sector agropecuario colombiano dado la diversidad de sistemas productivos, de condiciones agro-ecológicas, de actores y de tecnologías que apuntan al crecimiento verde.Ilustración 7: Ejes de recomendaciones de políticas para la productividad de la tierra en un contexto de crecimiento verde y su articulación con políticas, planes y programas vigentesLos resultados de los análisis realizados en este estudio, esperan no sólo contribuir a la implementación de la Política de Crecimiento Verde sino también a los compromisos de Colombia tomados en marco del Acuerdo de París (Contribución Determinada a Nivel Nacional), los cuales incluyen metas de adaptación y mitigación, y hacen necesaria la participación del sector agropecuario, bajo un enfoque de crecimiento verde."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"78dec23142da3040eea37fb21bf7d8b2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f4de3530-1020-4654-a723-698bdf3bd709/retrieve","id":"-2064101174"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"cafb3e47-e08b-4fdd-8b20-6e9b8eb0ef08","content":"Our primary objective is to understand and present the nuances of the global conversation on climate security. By spotlighting themes, contributors and dynamics, we empower researchers, policy makers, journalists, and other stakeholders with data-driven knowledge.Welcome to the user guide for the Climate Security Dialogues dashboard, a pioneering interactive tool dedicated to tracking and analyzing the pulse of climate security conversations in digital spaces. With climate security being an increasingly crucial issue in global discussions, our dashboard provides insights into prevalent topics, key actors, significant events, and notable locations that are framing these online debates.The Climate Security Dialogues dashboard has been developed with Power BI, an interactive data visualization and reporting platform for business intelligence developed by Microsoft. While users familiar with Power BI might have an easier time navigating the functionalities of the dashboard, each feature is described in detail below.The Climate Security Dialogues dashboard is accessible to the public through the Global Tools section of the Climate Security Observatory .The landing page is the starting point for the different modules. Currently, only the social media module is available, by clicking on the network icon. The newspaper icon is under development for the news media module. The information icon presents an overview of the dashboard and the user guide can be accessed by clicking the notebook icon.Web Browser Compatibility: The dashboard is designed to be compatible with all modern web browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge, and others.Hardware & Network Performance: While the dashboard is optimized for a broad range of hardware, performance can vary. For an optimal experience: Use a device with updated hardware. Modern laptops, desktops, or tablets will likely provide a smoother experience. Ensure stable and robust network connectivity. Faster internet speeds will lead to quicker loading times and a more responsive dashboard.Clear your browser cache periodically to ensure you're viewing the most up-to-date version of the dashboard.If you experience any lag or slow performance, try refreshing your browser or accessing the dashboard from a different browser to see if the issue persists. Make sure no other heavy applications are running in the background, especially those that might be using significant internet bandwidth. The module displays public tweets that contain hashtags related to climate security. A query strategy was developed using a snowball scraping technique. The starting point were the terms and hashtags for climate security in English, French, and Spanish: \"climate security\", \"sécurité climatique\", \"seguridad climática\", #climatesecurity, #securiteclimatique, and #seguridadclimatica. Following a first round of data extraction, the initial dataset was qualitatively assessed for other relevant climate security hashtags that appeared more than twice in the corpus, which resulted in a list of 54 hashtags. In October 2022, the query was updated to include 38 additional hashtags, resulting in 92 hashtags (full list of hashtags available in the main Social Media page).The top bar is a central navigational hub of the Climate Security Dialogues dashboard. It hosts several buttons with specific functions, and exploring each element is crucial, as they aim to enhance your navigation experience and make data analysis more accessible and efficient.Home Icon: By clicking on this icon, users will be directed back to the dashboard's landing page, providing a quick way to reset and start fresh.Target Icon: This button directs users to the Impacts page, which contains analysis on engagement and reach of climate security content.Hashtag Icon: This button directs users to the Hashtags page, offering a detailed analysis of the various hashtags associated with climate security.Network Icon: Depending on the active page, the sidebar may display the Network icon. Clicking on this icon will guide users to the main page hosting the Twitter analysis, which serves as the starting point for most users' investigations into the data.Magnifying Glass Icon: Activating this icon will reveal a search box. Users can input specific terms here, which will act as a filter across the data presented in the dashboard's visualizations.Information Icon: When clicked, an information box appears, giving further details and context about the current page the user is on. This feature aids in understanding the purpose and content of each page.The date input fields allows users to select their desired period of analysis, allowing for a custom timeframe to narrow down or expand the data insights.Every component of the dashboard is designed to be interactive, ensuring a dynamic and customizable user experience. Here are some of the main interactive functionalities:Visualization Filters: Filtering data in one visualization will dynamically update the associated results across other visualizations.Search Terms: Users can refine their focus by utilizing the search functionality. By clicking on the magnifying glass icon located on the left sidebar, you can input a specific search term. This action filters all the visualizations on the page according to the entered term.View Posts: If you want a closer look at the conversations driving the visualizations, simply click on the \"View Tweets\" button. This feature displays a table of the filtered tweets, giving detailed data about each tweet, including a direct link to the original content on Twitter.Drill-through Capability: Power BI's drill-through feature provides an extra layer of depth to your exploration. By right-clicking on an Author or Hashtag, a contextual menu will pop up. Within this menu, one of the options will allow you to drill-through to a more detailed page-either \"Author details\" or \"Hashtag details\" depending on your selection. This additional page offers a comprehensive breakdown and insights about the selected Author or Hashtag, enabling you to dive deeper into specific data points.Post Timeline: Depicts the chronological progression of climate security tweets, measured by the number of original posts.Sentiment timeline: Illustrates the temporal evolution of sentiments in posts about climate security.Top Hashtags: Highlights the most frequent hashtags, determined by the number of original posts containing the hashtag. When right-clicking on any hashtag, a menu appears, offering users the Power BI feature to drill-through to another page. This subsequent page presents a deeper dive into metrics and insights related to the chosen hashtag.Countries Mentioned: Illustrates countries referenced within the text body of the tweet. Each country is colour-graded by the frequency of mentions. A hover-over feature provides details like tweet counts, retweet numbers, and average sentiment associated with the country.Top Mentions: This treemap visualization showcases profiles by their mention frequency.Top Shared Links: Displayed in a table format, this visualization lists the most shared URLs about climate security. For each link, the domain and share count are provided, and users can click to view the content of the linked webpage.The image grid exhibits the most popular images shared on tweets, determined by the sum of original posts.Hashtag Cloud: Features the 50 most used hashtags for the chosen analysis period. The size of the text indicates the frequency of the hashtag.Accessed by clicking the target icon in the top bar. At a glance, the user can view aggregated engagement metrics, including number of posts, reposts, likes, quotes and total interaction. These metrics provide a snapshot of the volume and reach of the discussions.Top Original Posts: Showcases original posts with the highest engagement based on the sum of interactions (reposts, likes, quotes, and replies). By default, posts are sorted by the number of reposts but can be rearranged based on a preferred metric. The compact bar chart beside the author's name indicates engagement intensity, reflecting potential interactions.Top Authors: Highlights profiles ranked by the frequency of their original posts. Users can rearrange the table based on their preferred metric. A small bar chart adjacent to the author's name represents engagement intensity derived from possible interactions. Right-clicking an author allows for a \"drill-through\" to the \"Author Analysis\" page, which presents key metrics for that specific author.For top-ranking hashtags, this visual represents their sentiment (Y-axis) against interactions (Xaxis). It provides insights into moments when specific hashtags garnered significant engagement and their prevailing sentiment. A right-click on a hashtag offers a \"drill-through\" option to the \"Hashtag Details\" page, which details key metrics for the selected hashtag.Accessed by clicking the hashtag icon in the top bar, this page dives deeper into hashtag analytics.Hashtag Cloud: Showcases the 50 most commonly used hashtags from exclusively original posts within the chosen analysis period. Text size correlates with the frequency of the hashtag.Hashtag Sentiment: Presents the collective sentiment of hashtags, sorted by their frequency in original posts. The sentiment associated with a hashtag is based on the sentiment of the posts where it appears.Hashtag Co-occurrence Network: Features a network derived from exclusively original posts. In this visualization, nodes symbolize hashtags from the post corpus ranked by the number of posts they appear in. Source nodes are restricted to the top 50 hashtags of the entire analysis, while target hashtags are confined to the top 100. Edges represent instances where two hashtags are mentioned together in a single post. This graphic assists in discerning the connections between hashtags and offers deeper insights into the shifting topic dynamics of original content.The news media module is a collaboration with Media Cloud, an opensource platform for media analysis. The tool displays analyses regarding news stories about climate security published since January 2017.The dashboard monitors news stories within a set of global Englishlanguage news sources that meet the criteria of the following query:(\"climate change\" AND (security OR conflict OR peace)) OR (\"climate security\")Users can specify dates or time periods through the date filter in the top bar. As an interactive dashboard, filtering the various visualizations updates the results displayed. The visualizations are connected by the date of publications. The analytics are aggregated and presented at the daily level, not by individual news items.The top bar is a central navigational hub of the Climate Security Dialogues dashboard. It hosts several buttons with specific functions, and exploring each element is crucial, as they aim to enhance your navigation experience and make data analysis more accessible and efficient.Home Icon: By clicking on this icon, users will be directed back to the dashboard's landing page, providing a quick way to reset and start fresh.Information Icon: When clicked, an information box appears, giving further details and context about the current page the user is on. This feature aids in understanding the purpose and content of each page.The date input fields allows users to select their desired period of analysis, allowing for a custom timeframe to narrow down or expand the data insights.Every component of the dashboard is designed to be interactive, ensuring a dynamic and customizable user experience. Here are some of the main interactive functionalities:Visualization Filters: Filtering data in one visualization will dynamically update the associated results across other visualizations.View Stories: If you want a closer look at the news stories driving the visualizations, click the \"View Stories\" button. This feature displays a table of the filtered news stories, giving detailed data about each, including a direct link to the original content. Answer: Each visualization has an information icon in its upper-left corner. Hover over this icon, and a tooltip will provide additional details about the visualization's purpose and content.Q5: I have analyzed the overall trends. How can I delve deeper into specific details or timeframes?Answer: Analyzing a vast timeframe can make the dashboard respond more slowly due to the processing of extensive data. Once you have identified a specific event or shorter period of interest, it is recommended to filter out unnecessary dates and focus on a more concise timeframe. This not only enhances performance but also provides a clearer view of smaller, specific events.Q6: Some visualizations seem too compact or challenging to read. Is there a way to view them more clearly?Answer: Yes, you can utilize the \"Focus Mode.\" Hover over the visualization you are interested in and click on the icon that appears in the top-right corner. This will enlarge the visualization for a clearer view.If you have any questions, suggestions, or need further clarification on any aspect of the dashboard, please feel free to reach out at climatesecurity@cgiar.org."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bdc3e543790a29cde9a4dc56889a9b2d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/2af8a9dd-617d-4ae9-ae7b-3d75e7b1aab7/content","id":"-2086123479"},"keywords":["Zimbabwe","Food production","Production factors","Soil fertility","Soil management","Soil conservation","Soil classification","Site factors","Research projects","Research networks","Small farms","Rapid rural appraisal","On farm research","Technology transfer","Innovation adoption Participatory research","CIMMYT AGRIS category codes: E14 Development Economics and Policies F01 Crop Husbandry Dewey decimal classification: 338.1406891 participatory methods, soil fertility, local taxonomies, smallholders, Zimbabwe v"],"sieverID":"ae1feef4-b5f6-433e-baed-74cdd89d91c9","content":"CIMMYT (www.cimmyt.mx or www.cimmyt.cgiar.org) is an internationally funded, nonprofit scientific research and training organization. Headquartered in Mexico, the Center works with agricultural research institutions worldwide to improve the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of maize and wheat systems for poor farmers in developing countries. It is one of 16 similar centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The CGIAR comprises about 60 partner countries, international and regional organizations, and private foundations. It is co-sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Financial support for CIMMYT's research agenda also comes from many other sources, including foundations, development banks, and public and private agencies.CIMMYT supports Future Harvest, a public awareness campaign that builds understanding about the importance of agricultural issues and international agricultural research. Future Harvest links respected research institutions, influential public figures, and leading agricultural scientists to underscore the wider social benefits of improved agriculture-peace, prosperity, environmental renewal, health, and the alleviation of human suffering (www.futureharvest.org). International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) 1999. Responsibility for this publication rests solely with CIMMYT. The designations employed in the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expressions of any opinion whatsoever on the part of CIMMYT or contributory organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.Soil infertility is a major constraint to food production in Southern Africa (see Kumwenda et al. 1996). Soils can be very poor, and inorganic fertilizers have become expensive. Furthermore, the low fertility of the soils diminishes the effectiveness of these inputs. The development and adoption of new technologies to enhance soil fertility are important components of improving food security in the region, particularly among smallholders.Smallholders in the region recognize the problems of low soil fertility and have devised ways of coping with them (for Zimbabwe see Huchu and Sithole 1993;Carter and Murwira 1995;Scoones et al. 1996). The new technologies would either improve on those practices or substitute them. Therefore, it is important to understand what those practices are and what are their advantages and disadvantages in order to assess the appropriateness of these new technologies, their adoptability, and, if necessary, to modify them to better suit farmers' needs. Farmers' current practices do not exist in a vacuum. Associated with them is a knowledge system that provides a framework for their application and evaluation. Furthermore, farmers' socioeconomic conditions also heavily influence the use of these practices.An important contribution of farmer participatory research has been the recognition of the value of farmers' knowledge systems in general, and in particular, their potential role in the development, evaluation, and diffusion of new agricultural technologies (Ashby et al. 1995;Bentley 1994). Farmers' taxonomies are a well-documented part of their knowledge systems. The taxonomies include soils and productive environments (Bellon and Taylor 1993;Carter and Murwira 1995;Sandor and Furbee 1996), insects and pests (Bentley et al. 1994), crops and crop varieties (Richards 1986), and soil and water management practices (Lamers and Feil 1995).This study describes the use of farmers' taxonomies of themselves and their soils to identify and understand the options available to them and the constraints they face in managing poor soil fertility in Chihota, a sub-humid (650-800 mm rainfall, Natural Region IIb) communal area in northern Zimbabwe. Soil infertility is the major biophysical constraint to agricultural production in this area.The Soil Fertility Network for Maize-Based Cropping Systems in Malawi and Zimbabwe (Soil Fert Net) began in 1994 with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation. It is a grouping of agricultural researchers and extensionists from government research institutions and universities in Malawi and Zimbabwe, together with their colleagues in international research institutes. It is coordinated from CIMMYT-Zimbabwe. The Network aims to help smallholder farmers in Malawi and Zimbabwe produce higher, more sustainable, and profitable yields from their dominant maize-based cropping systems through improved soil fertility technology and better management of scarce organic and inorganic fertilizer inputs. In recent years, Network members have become more confident that some of the technologies they are working on will provide benefits to smallholder farmers. The Network is now moving toward fully integrating farmers through initiatives that expose many farmers to promising soil fertility technologies. In addition, this move toward integrating farmers allows researchers to get feedback on the merits and feasibility of the various technologies and to help farmers experiment with them. Network members decided to establish one such major initiative in Chihota during 1998. The participatory work described in this paper was the first step in that initiative and was aimed at learning more about farmers' current knowledge, concerns and opportunities with soil fertility in that communal area.Chihota communal area is located in Marondera district, Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe. It has nine wards, each with five to six villages. Chihota is relatively close (50-80 km) to Harare, and therefore farmers have important farm and off-farm opportunities. Maize continues to be the most important crop in the region, however, the production of vegetables in gardens, off-farm labor, and migration are important sources of income. From a strategic perspective, these conditions make this area an interesting place to conduct research because it is an area where soil fertility problems and their management options interact with the nonagricultural sector of the economy. If we assume that in the future more farmers in Zimbabwe will have access to these opportunities as the economy develops, our results will illuminate the potentials and constraints of these technologies under changing conditions.Most of the soils in this area are sands of granite origin and many show a catenary 1 association. Under the US Soil Taxonomy system, upper and midslopes are classified as Arenic or Plinthic Paleustalfs or Typic Kandiustalfs and lower slopes as Aquic or Typic Ustipsamments (Anderson et al. 1993). They vary in texture from sands to sandy loams on upper and midslopes to sandy clay loams in the lowest dambo or vlei areas. Soil depth ranges from moderately shallow (>50 cm) to moderately deep. Average crop yields in the area are well below the potential. Low pH is an important constraint in these soils (Dhliwayo et al. 1998:217). Furthermore, considerable research on soil improvement methods including liming, use of inorganic NPK, legume rotations, and green manures has been carried out in the area (Waddington et al. 1998a) .Four wards were selected based on whether or not soil fertility research work had been conducted there, two and two, respectively. In each of the wards, 14 to 23 farmers took part in group discussions; in all, 69 farmers participated, 46% of which were female. Discussions took place during the dry season during a two-week period in September 1998. In an effort to capture the different views of gender groups, the participating farmers in each ward were divided into three groups: male, female, and mixed. The farmers were invited to participate in this exercise by a local officer from the Department of Agricultural, Technical and Extension Services (Agritex). Members of the Department of Research and Specialist Services (DR&SS) and CIMMYT also participated. The discussions were led and recorded by members of Agritex and DR&SS.Group discussions were used to elicit three types of farmers' taxonomies: (1) of farmers, (2) of soils, and (3) of climate. In this paper, we report only on farmers and soils. With those taxonomies as a framework, a discussion followed on management practices to improve soil fertility. The aim was to use farmers' knowledge and perceptions in an open but systematic way to illuminate the problems and opportunities they have with improving soil fertility.Under farmer taxonomy, participating farmers came up with a list of farmer categories, category descriptions, and category strengths and weaknesses. On soil taxonomy, various soil types were listed and described. Strengths and weaknesses of each soil type were explored. Farmers then suggested how each soil type could be improved and discussed their constraints regarding such improvements.Following each group discussion, a short questionnaire was administered to all participants. It solicited information on personal characteristics of the respondent, such as age, education, marital status, as well as household characteristics, which included identifying the head of the household, family size, landholdings, crops grown and area planted to each for the previous season (1997/98), ownership of livestock, and agricultural implements.Participants were asked to rate six different sources of income in terms of their importance to the household during the past five years (e.g., very important, regular importance, not important): cited sources were (1) maize production, (2) production of other crops, (3) animal production, (4) off-farm labor in agricultural activities, (5) off-farm labor in nonagricultural activities, and (6) remittances. Farmers were also asked about their use of six soil fertility improvement practices during the previous season: (1) application of manure, (2) application of chemical fertilizers, (3) application of lime, (4) planting of a leguminous crop in rotation with maize, (5) intercropping of a leguminous crop with maize, (6) planting of green manures. Finally, they were asked whether they had previously worked with the Agritex extension worker in their area or with DR&SS.Knowing who your participants are is a central issue in any type of participatory research.The content and quality of the information elicited and the joint outputs obtained depend on with whom one works. In this exercise, farmers were invited to participate by their ward's Agritex extension worker. As is often the case in participatory research, this was clearly a self-selected and therefore biased sample (involving principally farmers that work in groups with Agritex). Nevertheless, it is important to identify the characteristics of the farmers we work with, and the extent of their similarities and differences. We were able to achieve this through the short questionnaire.To assess the degree of heterogeneity among the informants, we applied a two-stage modified location model (Franco et al. 1998) to generate groups or clusters of farmers that share the same socioeconomic characteristics. The information used to form those clusters included only part of the data set that we had collected, specifically, family size, landholdings, area planted, number of livestock (oxen, cattle and goats) owned, ratings of six sources of income, and ownership and use of agricultural implements. The results of applying the clustering method are shown in Table 1. Five groups of farmers emerged. The group characteristics suggest a gradient of wealth and access to resources. Group A appears to be the wealthiest. Its members have the largest average landholdings, area planted, and number of oxen and cattle. As a source of income, animal production was viewed by the highest percentage of farmers as being \"very important,\" remittances by the lowest percentage, and off-farm agricultural labor by the next to lowest percentage. All of the members of this group own a plough, and most own a cultivator and a cart. This group also has the highest average family size, and therefore the highest potential for family labor availability.Group B appears to be the second wealthiest, in terms of average landholdings and number of oxen and cattle. A high proportion of its members rated maize and animal production as \"very important,\" followed by remittances and nonagricultural off-farm labor. This group seems to have the most diversified sources of income. Most own a plough, and all own a cultivator and a cart. They also have the second largest average family size.Group C appears to be the third wealthiest, following the patterns of the previous two in terms of assets, but with a substantially smaller average number of cattle. The two sources of income that received a high proportion of the \"very important\" rating are maize and animal production. In contrast to group B, other sources of income received substantially fewer votes for \"very important,\" which suggests a higher degree of specialization in agriculture. In this group, the ownership of ploughs, cultivators, and carts decreases substantially, and farmers depend more on either renting these implements or simply do not use them at all.Group D ranks fourth, with less than half the average landholdings and area planted of Group A. Few farmers in this group own oxen, as the average for the group is one head of cattle per farmer. As with groups C and B, the two sources of income that received a high proportion of the \"very important\" rating are maize and animal production; remittances, however, also got a relatively high proportion. No one in this group owned a plough, and only a few own a cultivator or a cart. Most of the Group D farmers either rent these implements or do not use them.Group E, apparently those with the least wealth, was the smallest group with only five members. On average, its members have the fewest agricultural assets of all groups, in terms of landholdings, oxen, cattle, and implements. Maize and other agricultural activities were rated as a \"very important\" source of income by the lowest proportion of group members. On the other hand, off-farm labor, both agricultural and nonagricultural, seem to be important income sources among its members. This group could be viewed as the poorest. Alternatively, given off-farm sources of income, this group may simply be the least involved in agriculture. However, considering that agricultural off-farm labor is usually poorly paid and that ownership of animals is a good indicator of wealth and savings in Shona rural society, it is likely that indeed this group may be the poorest.Table 2 presents other characteristics of these farmer groups that were not taken into consideration in their formation. Female-headed households were found in all groups, except group A; and although their proportional representation varied, they are not necessarily associated with the groups classified as poorer. Not surprisingly, most of the farmers have worked with Agritex or DR&SS in the past; of the groups, Group D had the lowest percentage of farmers who had such contacts.Table 2 also presents the extent of adoption of practices to enhance soil fertility. The application of manure and chemical fertilizer is by far the most commonly adopted practice, both overall and within the groups. The use of legumes in rotation or intercropping with maize shows intermediate levels of adoption, except for group A, in which adoption is high. Finally, lime and green manure are the least commonly adopted practices.In general, the adoption patterns are similar among the groups, however, a few groups display some unique and interesting characteristics. For instance, Group A shows the highest adoption of all the practices, except for legume intercropping. For lime and green manure, adoption is as high as 25% and 20% of its members, respectively. Group D has the lowest proportion of adoption of manure and fertilizer, though this does not hold for the other practices. Group E has a high proportion of members using manure, which is surprising given that few group members have animals. This suggests that they are purchasing this input, probably with part of the income derived from off-farm labor.Although this is a biased sample, the information presented above indicates variation among the participants. There is a gradient of assets and sources of income among them, however even the \"best-off\" farmers in our groups could be considered resource poor by most measures, as average landholdings and number of cattle are not very large. The composition of Group A-better-off male farmers, who have adopted some practices at higher rates than the other groups-suggests that this group is made up of \"master farmers,\" i.e., farmers who have completed a comprehensive training course managed by Agritex and who afterwards agree to undertake \"good\" farming practices. The farmers in these groups classified themselves in many ways. The classifications are based on the presence or absence of an attribute, and therefore are dichotomous. Some of these attributes refer to personal characteristics, such as age and sex, though most involve the ownership or lack of an asset, such as cattle, or access to income or knowledge. Not surprisingly, inherent in most of these classifications are common socioeconomic categories such as age, gender, wealth, and access to inputs and knowledge. However, some of the attributes associated with these \"types\" include value judgments such as laziness and industriousness.The different types of farmers identified by the groups are presented in Table 3.Recognizing that the participants' classification of farmer types reflect common socioeconomic categories, we grouped them by age, gender, ownership of assets, labor allocation and organization, access to cash, knowledge, linkages to the market, and synthetic, (i.e., a type that incorporates attributes from several other types).Age is associated with the ownership of assets, access to family labor, and knowledge. In general, younger farmers are considered worse off than older farmers. Gender is associated with control over labor, assets, and income. Male farmers are in control and, not surprisingly, there seems to be tension between male and female farmers. For example, females believe that they are not rewarded for their labor and that their fields are prepared last.The ownership of assets in general is linked with the timing of farming operations, the ease of performing them, and the crop yield achieved. It is thought that owners perform operations on time and easily, and therefore get higher yields than nonowners. A particularly important asset is the ownership of gardens. Six different groups mentioned gardens in very positive terms. Gardens provide a stable income and are less subject to drought than dry lands, on which income is more seasonal, less stable, and production is more vulnerable to drought. The size of a landholding is another interesting variable. Survey participants thought that farmers owning larger fields tended to spread inputs thinly, while those with smaller fields concentrated them. Agritex advocates farming smaller areas and concentrating inputs in them, even if one has a larger landholding. The authors do not understand why farmers with larger landholdings do not concentrate inputs in smaller areas. On the other hand, maximization of the area under cultivation has been observed in marginal environments in Africa and it may, in fact, be a risk management strategy (Carter and Murwira 1995:82).Labor allocation refers to the ability of farmers working outside the area to hire local labor. This is a process by which those with skills to work elsewhere substitute their own labor with hired local labor, indicating an increased integration of these farmers into the market economy. Another dynamic in these circumstances is labor organization, whereby farmers working in a group cooperate by sharing labor, knowledge and the purchase of inputs.Working in a group may be more common among farmers who work closely with extension, because extension officers promote such group arrangements. One particularly puzzling taxonomy is based on classifying farmers as lazy or industrious. It is not clear whether lazy farmers are actually lazy or rather, poor or sick. The farmer participants recognized such \"lazy\" farmers as a good source of labor. But, if these farmers are indeed lazy, why are they working for others?Access to cash was associated with the timely performance of farm operations, and the ability to purchase inputs and hire labor. Not surprisingly, those with access to cash were considered to be in a better position that those without it.Farmers who possess knowledge are viewed very positively. The groups provided a long list of advantages for those who have knowledge and a long list of disadvantages for those who do not. Knowledge was associated with timely operations, high yield, and crop rotations. The emphasis on knowledge may also be related to the fact that almost all participants work with Agritex, and therefore value access to knowledge-they have been exposed to the message that knowledge is important. One group of farmers also classified farmers into those with and without a Master Farmer Certificate, which, in effect, recognizes the technical training that Agritex provides.Linkage to the market captures the differences between those who sell their produce and those who are subsistence farmers. However, this distinction may not be so rigid, because most likely many farmers are both.Finally, three farmer types recurrently appear, frequently together, as attributes in the other taxonomies: timely performance of farming operations, high crop yields, and planning of operations. These attributes are highly correlated. In the view of farmers, ownership of assets, access to cash, and possession of knowledge lead to good planning and timely operations, which in turn lead to high yields.Farmers in Chihota have a broad and sophisticated soil taxonomy. They recognize ten different soil classes, although not all classes were described by all groups (Table 4). The most widely recognized soil classes with an agricultural use are Shapa, Jecha, Rukangarahwe, and Churu. Rebani (also known as Doro) and Rondo (also known as Chidakha) were mentioned by less than half of the groups, Mhukutu (also known as Bukutu) by two groups and Chinamwe by only one. Two soil classes without agricultural uses were also mentioned: Gokoro and Chibandati.As Table 4 shows, the male groups mentioned slightly more soil classes than the female groups. The mixed groups reported the largest number of soil classes, in many cases twice as many as those reported by the other two groups.Table 5 presents a description of the soil classes and their respective advantages and disadvantages according to the farmers. The descriptions and assessments given by the different groups were very similar. These descriptions are based on texture (i.e., particle size), fertility status, and color (the latter is used to distinguish subclasses). The advantages/disadvantages mentioned by the farmers refer particularly to the water holding capacity of the soil class, the ease of working it, inherent fertility, response to fertilizers and manure, proneness to waterlogging, particular uses (e.g., use in gardens and appropriateness as a building material).The soil classes described by these farmers can be segregated into two classes based on their texture:• Lighter texture soils with high sand content, found in areas where dryland agriculture is practiced and maize is the primary crop. • Heavier texture soils, with high clay content, found where gardens are located, near the bottom of the catena, and usually close to water sources.Based on local perceptions, the two most important soil classes for maize production are the lighter texture soils Jecha and Shapa. Jecha is a sandy soil of low fertility and poor water-holding capacity. It can be easily waterlogged, is easy to work, and is good for building. Shapa is a sandy loam soil, with low to average fertility (yields may be low unless additional inputs are applied), but better water-holding capacity than Jecha. It can also be waterlogged and is easy to work, but it is not good for growing groundnut. The subclasses of Shapa depend • can be used for • difficult to work when too wet capacity, very rice and vegetable hard when dry, production also used in pottery • can be cultivated all year on the position of the soil in the toposequence; they include • the darker soil, which is considered more fertile, located at the lower areas close to the dambo (vlei) areas; • the whitish soil, located in the intermediate areas, in the margins of dambo areas;• and the grayish soil, the least fertile, located at the top of the toposequence.The soil taxonomy elicited from the farmer groups is consistent with findings from other studies in local soil taxonomies. As in other parts of the world, soil texture and color are the most important characteristics recognized by the smallholder farmers. Other characteristics that farmers refer to and that have also been found by others include appropriateness for agricultural use, ease of cultivation, water-holding capacity, and fertility (e.g., Bellon and Taylor 1993:772 for Mexico; Sandor and Furbee 1996:1507 for the Andes). Farmers' distinction between upland and riverbank soils has also been reported for Zambia (Edwards 1987:7) and Zimbabwe (Carter and Murwira 1995:78).Table 6 presents a list of the practices that farmer groups identified as improving soil fertility and the number of farmer groups that cited each practice. These practices may or may not actually be used by farmers, but, nevertheless, are recognized by them. The most common practices include the addition of termite mound soil, cattle manure, and inorganic fertilizer to the soil. Lime was also widely mentioned, however, this may be because the farmers have been exposed to this knowledge through past work with extension, and so it may not be an indicator of widespread use. As Table 2 shows, the adoption of lime is relatively low.  * The churu or termite mound soil can be used to improve other soils, but also can be planted. Therefore there are a few specialized practices for this soil type, which includes: potholing to trap water, add sand, plow when moist.Only one group mentioned the rotation of maize with a leguminous crop as a soil improvement practice. Most of the groups did not recognize it as a soil improvement practice, even though rotations are widely practiced by the participating farmers (Table 2). This may be because of the dominance of the maize cereal crop and the low fertility of the soils where rotations take place, which restrict the production of legume biomass and N fixation, and therefore their beneficial effect on the soils.Similarly, no farmers identified intercropping of maize and a leguminous crop as a soil improvement practice, although it is widely used. Clearly, farmers do not perceive a benefit to soil fertility associated with the use of legumes. This indicates a knowledge gap that must be addressed if research and extension want to promote the use of leguminous crops for soil improvement. It also indicates that this gap may be because current rotations have little effect over the soil fertility in local conditions.Several of the practices the farmers referred to could not be considered as enhancing soil fertility per se, such as early or dry planting, early or deep plowing, draining excess water, raising beds, or timeliness of operations. These practices may be perceived as improving soil fertility because they can interact with more conventional practices, such as the addition of fertilizers or manure, and thereby enhance their effectiveness. For example, early planting may lead to a larger production of crop biomass, particularly if cattle manure or fertilizers are added, which, if incorporated back into the soil will improve soil fertility. The identification by the farmers of practices such as soil analysis and conservation works may result from interactions these farmers have had with extension workers, who in the past promoted, or at least referred to, these practices.There does not appear to be a clear association between the soil improvement practices cited by the farmers and the soil types they recognize, as most they would prescribe most of the practices for all of the soils (or at least Jecha and Shapa, the most important ones). However, there were a few exceptions, specifically the use of deep plowing for Rukangarahwe, raised beds for Rebani/Doro (heavier soils in gardens), and fallow, mostly associated with Jecha.Overall, this would seem to suggest that we should not be overly concerned with trying to tailor practices to farmers' soil classes, at least when dealing with dryland farming. However, such an assumption may be premature because new practices or technologies may not respond equally well to the various soil types and/or the lack of specificity exhibited by the farmers may result from a lack of knowledge. Whether matching soil improvement technologies, current or future, to farmers' soil classes generates additional net benefits, and therefore is merited, requires further thought and research.When farmers were queried about the soil fertility management practices we've been discussing, they were also asked to provide constraints to their use. Table 7 lists these constraints together with their associated practice(s), and notes the number of groups that mentioned it. The constraints reflect a number of underlying themes or issues. The two most common themes are • scarcity of and access to inputs-both local, such as manure and termite mound soil, and purchased, such as fertilizers and lime; and • labor scarcity for the application of inputs, due to the labor intensiveness of the operations or simply the lack of available labor or cash to hire it.A similar theme that emerged was that of priorities given to alternative uses for the input; for instance, the preference for applying manure to gardens rather than field plots, or the low priority given to improving some classes of soil (in this case, Rukangarahwe). The lack of implements and power were also cited as limitations, although these relate to the specific practices of deep plowing and the application of termite mound soil. Also mentioned was lack of land, which limits the frequency and duration of fallows. Several farmer groups mentioned lack of knowledge about application rates for fertilizer and the use of lime as constraints. This was surprising given that, in general, these farmers work closely with extension agents. This suggests that there may be a need for better communication between them. Finally, one group also mentioned soil erosion as a constraint.The overriding theme regarding constraints to employing better soil fertility practices center on the scarcity of the factors of production-labor and capital, and to a much lesser extent land, and also knowledge. Although the sample may include better-off farmers, they are still resource poor. If anything, these constraints may be even more acute in the rest of the farming population.The list of elicited constraints can be incorporated into a scheme for the assessment of new soil fertility improvement technologies. Farmers and researchers would want to assess how a new soil fertility management technology performs with respect to • access to the inputs;• labor intensity, including timing of the labor used;• additional knowledge required to successfully apply the new technology;• requirements for the effective use of implements, in terms of the types of implements, access to them, and timing of their use; • assessments of the new technology as it relates to farmers' current priorities and resource allocation.This assessment involves not only the technology per se, but the infrastructure and institutional setting in which it may be deployed, as well as the changes that would be required for increasing its possibility of adoption.The analysis of the farmers' taxonomies shows that the systems are consistent and logical. There are no glaring contradictions, and the surprises can be explained; for example, the fact that nearly all groups failed to consider crop rotation to be a soil improvement practice. The information contained within these taxonomies provides a framework for understanding the farmers' soil fertility practices.There is great consistency between the themes that emerged from the taxonomy of farmers and the constraints they face in applying soil fertility improvement practices. The ownership of assets (such as cattle and draught power), access to cash to pay for labor and inputs, and possession of knowledge are important categories in the taxonomies of farmers. Indeed, these factors allow or constrain the use of most of the soil fertility improvement practices recognized by farmers. Those with cattle, draught power, and financial resources, i.e., wealthier farmers, should be better able to use soil fertility improvement technologies than those without them, i.e., poorer farmers. Young or female farmers, considered to have less access than others to these resources, are probably in a poorer position to apply these practices. Not surprisingly, the cluster of participants found in Group A, which could be considered the wealthiest, reported the highest rate of adoption of all soil fertility practices. Although this should not be interpreted as definitive evidence, it certainly is consistent.The most recurrent theme cited by the participants is the timing of farm operations, typically a major concern for farmers in areas characterized by unimodal rainfall area. Delays imply decreased productivity. Ignorance of the correct scheduling of fertilizer and/ or lime applications was mentioned as a constraint to using these inputs. Delays are also associated with a lack of assets and access to resources, consequently, such delays should be a greater issue for poorer farmers. Undoubtedly, the factor of timing in the use of soil fertility improvement practices, and the potential for conflict and complementarity between the practices and other farm activities, must be an important consideration in their improvement, design, and assessment.Many of the practices, relationships, and themes identified here have been reported in previous studies, which used different methodologies, in the communal areas of Zimbabwe. Carter and Murwira (1995:78) observed most of the same soil fertility management practices and crops for the Mutoko communal area in northeast Zimbabwe. They also found that gardens are very important for farmers. Huchu and Sithole (1993:45-48) also reported many of the same soil fertility practices for communal areas in other natural regions of Zimbabwe. Crop management and productivity levels among smallholders in the adjacent areas of Mangwende and Mutoko were found to be closely related to cattle ownership (Shumba et al. 1989:446;Carter and Murwira 1995:77). In Mangwende, ownership of cattle was used to identify target groups for potential technologies (Shumba et al. 1989:444). It was found that farmers with cattle had larger arable landholdings. In addition, they applied manure, had better and more timely seedbed preparation, more timely weed control, winter-ploughed and consequently planted earlier, achieved larger crop yields, and earned higher incomes.Another study showed that for maize and groundnut, increased quantities and earlier application of inputs increased grain or seed yield and economic return (Shumba et al. 1990:112). Another study in the same agroecological region showed that late planting of maize is a major contributor to low yields (Waddington et al. 1991:28). Because our results are consistent with other studies in the region and with what \"common sense\" would tell us, we are comfortable generalizing our results, despite the fact that they are based on a self-selected sample of farmers.Given these results, what is the way forward? Many of the factors that constrain the use of soil fertility improvement practices cannot be eliminated through the efforts of Agritex or the Soil Fert Net, for example, those practices that require greater access to draught animals or farming implements. Nevertheless, these constraints should be taken into account in the identification, design, assessment, and promotion of \"best bet\" soil fertility technologies (Huchu and Sithole 1993: 49;Waddington et al. 1998b: 246). The technologies must be compatible with farmer circumstances and interests and where possible should improve the efficiency of resource use. One constraint that Agritex and Soil Fert Net can greatly impact is the knowledge gap. By providing better information on the time of application, quantity, and long-term management of lime and fertilizers, Agritex and Soil Fert Net can help farmers glean the full benefits offered by these inputs.One practice that deserves special attention in future research efforts is the application of termite mound soil. It is one of the most widely mentioned practices, but it carries with it many constraints. Farmers seem to appreciate this practice, despite its high cost in terms of labor, implements, and management. In conversations among farmers, experiments with termite mound soil are frequently mentioned. Clearly, the practice is a very important option for farmers, and they appear willing to invest resources in it. Supply, however, is limited. This suggests the need for further research in the use and management of termite mound soil, particularly in conjunction with farmers, who are already experimenting with it. Furthermore, the application of termite mound soil could be a useful basis for comparison in the assessment of new soil fertility improvement technologies.The farmers in our study area have relatively sophisticated taxonomies, which provide a good picture of the resources, constraints, concerns, and opportunities they have regarding soil infertility and ways to manage it. The farmers' taxonomy of themselves provides a good picture of their socioeconomic environment, while the farmers' soil taxonomies provide important insights into the fertility and management of their soils. The taxonomies provide an important framework for the integration of technical interventions with farmers' requirements, systems, and circumstances. They also provide valuable feedback to researchers on gaps and opportunities for new participatory research on soil fertility technologies.Soil infertility and practices to reduce it are very prominent issues in the minds of farmers. Effectively addressing the issue will require a partnership that brings the best that outside research and extension have to offer together with the time-proven knowledge and practices of the local farmers."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"00a1749cb34f3dc6d33d66e769bac54a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/118a51f8-4354-4685-961d-7481c6509261/retrieve","id":"574607487"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"aac0c7e2-fcf6-4546-99a1-8817451a1094","content":"Efforts to ensure the use of CCAFS climate science and sitespecific climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices in the Rainforest Alliance voluntary certification scheme and in impact investment approaches implemented by Root Capital began in 2015. The project leverages existing smallholder value chain interventions to translate climate science into actionable strategies for farmers and supporting actors, including agricultural businesses, voluntary certification schemes, and investors, across a number of geographies using smallholder coffee and cocoa systems in Africa and Latin America as model cases.Initial outcomes include a clear demand from private sector partners for improved information on climate change and cocoa in Ghana expressed by the widespread use of exposure maps at the recent global World Cocoa Foundation partnership meeting. Companies such as Hershey's, Mars, Lindt, Tom's, Guittard and Tcho as well as key trading houses like ECOM, Olam and ADM have shown interest, and some have offered to provide additional data to further improve the models. The World Cocoa Foundation has also requested further engagement to mainstream results at the sector level.The long-term objective is defined as adoption of recommended CSA practices by 15% of global cocoa producers and 7% of global coffee producers, as well as the provision of USD 350 million of tailored financial products to producer organizations, traders, exporters, and other key value chain actors by 2019.• Ghana is the world's second largest exporter of cocoa, climate change and variability is projected to impact the sector significantly • About 70% of the global cocoa supply is from West Africa, produced by smallholder farmers on less than 5 ha of land.• Partnership between various actors including agricultural/climate scientists, voluntary certification bodies, and impact investors "}
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+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"e50c1b34-a7f8-4e71-973a-c4fcc5544936","content":" \n"}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"55d64d0fba857358bb4c7c811c8a6715","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/43f8926e-123c-4023-ab5a-8c34f922b293/retrieve","id":"-2043445186"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"af0e585e-09ba-4caa-a542-0cdefe79e0ea","content":"Collecting or Funding proposal detailing the justification, aims and objectives of the mission. …technical planning (addresses the scientific issues involved, i.e. selection of target species, sampling strategies, etc.)…logistic planning (concerns how the mission is organized, i.e. partners, collecting team, itinerary, equipment, etc.International Legal Framework ➢ International Treaty (IT) on PGRFA ✓ Adopted in 2001 and came to replace the former IU ✓ Legally binding character aiming at exploration, conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources.✓ Deals with the establishment of Multilateral System (MLS) of Access and Benefit Sharing.✓ MLS includes major but not all crops that are under the management of the contracting parties and in the public domain.➢ Nagoya Protocol (CBD)✓ Adopted in 2010 and came to complement the CBD.✓ \"Access to Genetic Resources\" and the \"Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization\" between donors and users.✓ Emphasis on bilateral negotiations and agreements as mutually agreed terms (MAT)✓ Benefits may be monetary (such as royalties) or non-monetary (such as sharing research results or technology transfer)Preparatory Phase (continue…)✓ Knowledge if target-country has ratified international agreements on plant genetic resources (CBD, ITPGRFA, NP)✓ Knowledge of national legislation of the country where the mission is targeting (protected germplasm, areas under specific protection regimes, benefit sharing, etc.).✓ Elaboration of appropriate material transfer agreement (SMTA) according to the national regulations or Material Acquisition Agreement (MAA) for crops/species that are not under MLS.Obtaining the permission for collectingDesk survey -Collection of data and related information ✓ Crop seeds can be collected either directly from the field (view and assessment of diversity) or from areas of temporary maintenance (e.g. threshing floors) or from farmers storehouse and local markets.✓ Wild species are collected from their natural habitats (grasslands, forests, woodland, roadsides, disturbed habitats, etc.).✓ Containers used for collecting seeds and fruits should be chosen carefully (usually paper bags and cloth bags allow also air circulation).✓ Each accession is given a unique collection number.✓ Seed for each accession is collected as bulk sample from different plants (except if need to be collected as individuals plants, e.g. genetic studies).✓ A tag with the site number and collection number placed inside and outside of the collecting bag ✓ All accessions collected at a particular site are placed inside one larger bag/container with the site number prominently marked on the outside of the bag.✓ Seeds collected in humid environments may require threshing and drying to avoid the growth of moulds (keep with silica gel or using artificial heat).Passport data Voucher specimens (Herbarium)✓ Good quality voucher specimens should be collected, especially when collecting wild species, because it facilitates identification and records features of the particular accession.✓ Representative flowering and fruiting specimens should be pressed.✓ Good specimens representative of the population, containing all parts of the plant and accompanied by detail passport data.✓ Collect more than one set of material (extra sets can be sent to specialists or sent for exchange).➢ Fundamental objective… capture the maximum amount of genetic variation in the smallest number of samples ✓ Generally accepted benchmark criterion is to ensure that at least one copy of 95% of the alleles at a frequency greater than 0.05 is included in the sample (sample of ~50 individuals from each population (Marshall and Brown, 1975)).✓ Additional biased sampling is implemented to capture rare alleles.✓ Self-pollinated species… small samples from many locations.✓ Cross-pollinated species… larger samples from fewer locations.✓ Specific measures necessary for clonal material (e.g. stratified sampling, systemic sampling)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b802647418725dc6ef82ee1bda00d833","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/1fd97be1-890c-4076-b9d4-946f7b46da46/content","id":"-702229095"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2feddcf0-ddbf-4aa3-bb7d-fcef5900a271","content":"The first occurrence of wheat blast in Bangladesh was confirmed in wheat (Triticum aestivum) fields in February 2016 and re-occurred in the subsequent years. This study explores the potential of alternative use of current wheat land as a strategy to combat the disease. Economically feasible alternative crops would need to be cultivated in the current wheat area by implementing a potential 'wheat holiday'that is discontinuing wheat cultivation for a few yearsbe it in the 10 blast affected districts, in blast vulnerable districts or the entire country. An ex-ante economic assessment procedure is applied to examine the potential economic gains (losses) of alternative wheat land use. Results indicate maize, lentils, onions and garlic show potential as feasible alternatives if done as a portfolio combination and with adequate support to ameliorate and ease the transition; whereas boro rice, gram and potato do not appear feasible. Still, considering market volatility, overall food security and logistic challenges, the findings do not support a potentially comprehensive, strict and permanent 'wheat holiday' across the entire country. Instead, the study calls for research funding for disease epidemiology and forecasting, as well as the development and dissemination of blast-tolerant wheat varieties and complementary practices targeted at Bangladesh and the broader South Asian setting as a more sustainable and feasible solution to combat and manage wheat blast.Wheat blast caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype triticum (MoT) is one of the most devastating wheat diseases with near complete yield losses (Urashima et al., 2009). The disease was first officially reported in Parana State, Brazil in 1985 (Igarashi et al., 1986). In 2005, it reduced grain yield by 14-32% in Brazil, even after two applications of fungicides (Urashima et al., 2009). The disease mainly emerged in the humid and warmer zones of Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina, covering up to 3 million ha (Duveiller et al., 2011(Duveiller et al., , 2016)).In February 2016, wheat blast was confirmed in Bangladesh, South Asia (Malaker et al., 2016;Callaway, 2016;Islam et al., 2016). In that year, wheat blast affected nearly 15,000 ha of wheat land in eight districts of Bangladesh: Barishal, Bhola, Chuadanga, Jashore, Jhenaidah, Kusthia, Meherpur and Pabna (3.5% of its total wheat area of 437,000 ha). The blast reduced wheat yield by 5-51% in the affected fields (Islam et al., 2016). In 2016-17 wheat season, despite unfavorable weather for the disease's development (less humid and less rain), the wheat blast was again reported in Bangladesh in the original districts, as well as in two new districts, Rajshahi and Faridpur. It indicates that wheat blast is now an established disease in Bangladesh with no immediate prospects for its eradication. In a recent study, Mottaleb et al., (2018a), applying the climate-analog analysis procedure, demonstrate that, out of 0.43 million ha wheat land in Bangladesh, 0.28 million ha (65%) is vulnerable to wheat blast, spread over 45 districts of Bangladesh. 1 In fact out of a regional total 40.85 million ha of wheat area in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, 6.99 million ha (17.1%) is vulnerable to wheat blast (Mottaleb et al., 2018a), including parts of the Gangetic plains, a densely populated and intensively cultivated area (Timsina et al., 2010;Erenstein and Thorpe, 2011). A 5% reduction in wheat production due to a potential spread of wheat blast in the vulnerable area can reduce wheat production by 886 thousand metric ton worth USD 132 million (Mottaleb et al., 2018a).Bangladesh and India share a long international border. The West Bengal State of India borders Bangladesh and has a similar agro-climatic and cropping pattern, particularly in the border districts. As a preventive measure, the West Bengal state government has banned wheat cultivation within five kilometers from the Bangladesh border (Government of India (GoI), 2017). In addition, the government has recently implemented a preventive 'wheat holiday' by banning wheat cultivation in Murshidabad and Nadia districts for three years (Government of India (GoI, 2017).In Bangladesh, the government discourages farmers from cultivating wheat in the blast-affected districts (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS, 2018). In the absence of commercially available blast-tolerant/ resistant wheat varieties for farmers, a potential control measure could be to suspend wheat production in selected areas (e.g., across Bangladesh, or at least in the blast vulnerable or currently blast-affected districts), i.e., a nominal 'wheat holiday'. However, before implementing a wheat holiday policy, it is imperative to suggest economically feasible alternative crops to the resource-poor smallholder farmers. In India, the government has suggested cultivating legumes and oilseeds instead of wheat in the border districts of West Bengal (Government of India (GoI, 2017). In Bangladesh, there is no such guidance or rigorous study to examine economically viable alternative crops that can be suggested to the farmers.The present study examines the economic feasibility of cultivating alternative crops to potentially substitute wheat in entire Bangladesh or only in the blast vulnerable and blast affected districts, in the context of a possible 'wheat holiday' policy to combat wheat blast. Wheat occupies 2.9% of the total cropped area and contributes 3.7% to the total output of major cereals in Bangladesh (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics -BBS, 2018). In 2016-17 wheat season, 1.31 million tons of wheat was harvested from 415.3 thousand ha of land (BBS, 2018). The current consumption of wheat in Bangladesh is 7.5 million metric tons in total with an annual consumption increase of more than 26% from 1961 to 2018 (USDA, 2018), with Bangladesh already heavily reliant on imports. A 'wheat holiday' policy in Bangladesh could ostensibly prohibit domestic wheat production for a few years, encourage the cultivation of alternative crops to curtail (and possibly eradicate) the wheat-blast inoculum. It would increase the reliance on imports, and any such policy should closely consider its viability, including the various dimensions for food security and well-being of affected, generally resource-poor, farmers. This study primarily assesses the expected net returns of the major alternate winter crops to wheat in Bangladesh applying an exante impact assessment procedure. The study is an exercise to raise awareness of the possible implications to policymakers and stakeholders.The study is organized as follows: Section 2 explains the wheatblast-host-pathogen system; Section 3 explains the ex-ante economic estimation procedure; Section 4 examines the current wheat sector (area, production and consumption) in Bangladesh and the economic viability of the alternative crops; and Section 5 concludes with a discussion and policy implications.2. Wheat-blast-host-pathogen system Ceresini et al. (2018) linked the blast outbreak in Bangladesh in 2016 with a series of wheat imports from Brazil. The introduction of MoT from South America to Bangladesh thereby appears associated with the seed borne nature of the disease (Urashima et al., 2009) and the failure of quarantine measures (Islam et al., 2016). As, MoT can survive for up to 22 months in seeds (Reis et al., 1995), strict transport and quarantine measures are needed to prevent wheat grains and seed moving from the infected regions to non-infected areas, even as a grain because farmers may use it as seed.In addition to being seed borne, MoT can also be airborne. Urashima et al., (2007) noticed that MoT spores could be blown by the wind to at least one kilometer away, although their study focused on the asexual spores (conidia) of MoT, which are heavier than the sexual spores (ascospores) (Urashima et al., 2005). The lighter ascospores may thus contribute to the long-distance dispersal of MoT (Maciel et al., 2014). Most farmers in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India are smallholders, and wheat is the second major staple food crop after rice, potentially facilitating the within-country spread, and the long border and similar agro-ecology could facilitate cross-border spreading to West Bengal and beyond.Potential wheat-blast control measures need to take into account the various survival mechanisms of MoT, including on non-wheat host plants and plant debris. Earlier studies in South America have shown that MoT has a wide range of alternate hosts, including various crops (e.g. barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), rye (Secale cereale L.), triticale (X. triticosecale Wittmack), common millet (Panicum mileaceum L.), oats (Avena sativa L.), maize (Zea mays L.), and sorghum (Sorghum vulgare L.)) (Urashima et al., 2005), and various weeds (e.g., Cenchrus echinatus, Eleusine indica,Digitaria sanguinalis, Brachiaria plantaginea, Echinochloa crus-galli, Pennisetum setosum, Setaria geniculata, Hyparrhenia rufa, and Rhynchelytrum roseum) (Kohli et al., 2011). The alternate hosts in South Asia still need confirmation, but could well include many South Asian weed species, as well as some common crop species, such as maize. Thus, any consideration of a wheat holiday would also need to consider the possible suspension of other susceptible crop species. Also, surveillance of blast-like symptoms on weed species is needed, with the timely control of any weed species that infected by MoT. Furthermore, MoT appears to survive on crop residues (Islam et al., 2016;Cruz and Valent, 2017), calling for appropriate crop-residue management and undermining practices such as conservation agriculture that advocate the retention of crop debris in the field.To control the wheat blast after the 2015-16 epidemic, the Bangladesh government started discouraging wheat production in the blast-affected districts (BBS, 2018). Farmers may also be discouraged from cultivating wheat due to the potential financial losses associated with wheat blast occurrence. Consequently, wheat areas in Faridpur, Kushtia, Chuadanga, Meherpur, Pabna and Rajshahi districts were reduced from 143,226 ha in 2014-15 to 102,790 ha in 2015-16 (BBS, 2016, 2018)). The national average wheat yield in the 2015-16 season was reduced by 1.78% compared to the 2014-15 season (BBS, 2016), although it rebounded in 2016-17 (increasing by 4.19% compared to 2015-16 wheat season, BBS, 2018)). Despite the discouragement of wheat cultivation in the blast affected regions, and unfavorable weather conditions for blast (less humidity and rain), wheat blast still reemerged in 2016-17 in all eight previously-affected districts (Islam et al., 2016), as well as extended into two new districts Rajshahi and Faridpur (Fig. 1).The pathogen now appears endemic in the country with demonstrated persistence and rapid dispersal even under unfavorable climatic conditions. For successfully combating wheat blast, further research on disease epidemiology and forecasting, resistance screening, and effective management strategies are needed, particularly in the context of Bangladesh and South Asia.  Mottaleb et al., (2018a). Source: Authors' based on Islam et al., (2016); CIMMYT (2017) and Mottaleb et al., (2018a).As, MoT can survive on seeds for up to 22 months (Reis et al., 1995), a possible wheat blast control measure would be to introduce a 'wheat holiday' policy for at least two years. In India, the state government of West Bengal has banned wheat cultivation in Murshidabad and Nadia districts for three years (Government of India (GoI, 2017). This study estimates the expected gross and net margins of seven alternative crops to wheat to examine the economic viability of each crop as a replacement of wheat during any eventual 'wheat holiday' period in Bangladesh. Wheat is only grown in the Rabi (dry, relatively cool winter season) season in Bangladesh. As alternate crops, we consider only crops that can realistically be grown in this cooler season based on agronomic characteristics. We particularly include crops that are currently already being grown in the winter season: boro rice (Oryza sativa L.), maize (Zea mays L.), lentils (Lens culinaris L.), gram (Cicer arietinum L.), onions (Allium cepa L.), garlic (Allium sativum L.) and potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.). In the case of rice, there are three rice seasons in Bangladesh, and we have only considered the boro rice season, which falls within the wheat season.We applied a simple ex-ante estimation process to examine the economically feasible alternative crops. In the process, we first compile the production economics data for the triennium ending (TE) 2016-17. Among the production economics data, yield (ton/ha), area (ha), and production (metric ton) at the district level are collected from BBS (2016,2018). We also computed the average prices of the sampled crops (TE2016-17, from BBS, 2016, 2018). The per hectare production costs (single year) information is collected from various sources. Currently, out of 64 districts in Bangladesh, wheat is cultivated in 60 districts in 2015-16, except the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, and hilly districts of Bandarban, Khagrachari and Rangamati (BBS, 2018). For the substitution scenarios, we assume a complete replacement of the current wheat area at the district level by the sampled alternate crops. For each alternate crop, the current average district level yield (t ha −1 ) of the crop is multiplied with the current wheat area at the sampled district and with the current market price of the sampled crop to calculate the expected gross return (GR c ) under the substitution scenario. Thus, the expected gross return (GR c ) from each crop under the alternative scenario, assuming a complete replacement of the current wheat area by the alternate crop in a sample district (d), is calculated as follows:where GR c is the expected gross return of an alternate crop c ( = 1-7),Cyield TE 2016 17 is the district level average yield (metric ton/ha, TE 2016-17) of the alternate crop c and Pc is the domestic market price (TE 2016-17) of the alternate crop c (USD/ton). In this calculation, it is thus implicitly assumed that (1) the alternative crops (boro rice, maize, lentils, gram, onions, garlic and potato) can completely replace the current wheat area in the sampled districts in entire Bangladesh; and (2) that the yields and returns of the alternative crops on the entire wheat area in each district would be comparable to those achieved on the actual current areas of the alternate crop in the same district. Based on the assumptions, the expected Gross Margin (GM) for each alternative crop c, is calculated as follows:where CPH c is the per hectare production cost of crop c (USD/ha). The production costs are based on national averages, and we assume the costs are similar across the districts lacking district specific production cost information. Finally, the expected margin net of wheat (ENM c ) of each alternate crop in the substitution scenario is calculated as follows:where, ENM c is the expected net margin from crop c, GM c is the gross margin of crop c, and GM w is the wheat gross margin.To our knowledge, this is the first attempt of examining the economic feasibility of the alternative crops in Bangladesh applying an exante assessment method to combat wheat blast by implementing wheat holiday. To clarify our method, we have developed a concrete example as follows. Chuadanga (Fig. 1) is a wheat blast affected district with current wheat area 4,948 ha and production 14,954 metric ton. At a market price USD 273.3/ton the Gross Return from wheat (GR w ) USD 4.09 million (total product X price). Wheat production cost in Bangladesh is USD 663/ha. It indicates that the current wheat production cost in Chuadanga district is USD 3.28 million (4,948 ha X USD 663). Based on the calculated gross return (GR w ) and total wheat production cost, we calculate the Gross Margin (GM w ) from wheat cultivation in Chuadanga as Gross return-Production cost = USD 4.09 million -USD3.28 million = USD 0.81million.As Chuadanga is a wheat blast affected district, we now examine the economic feasibility of producing boro rice as a replacement of wheat. The current boro rice yield in Chuadanga district is 3.73 ton/ha. If boro rice is produced on the current wheat area of Chuadanga district, the additional boro production would be 18,461 metric ton (4948 ha current wheat area in Chuadanga X 3.73 -boro yield in Chuadanga). With a market price of boro rice USD 229.9 /ton, the gross return (GR boro ) from boro production would be USD 4.24 million. With boro production cost USD 1,319/ha the total boro production cost under the alternative scenario would be 4948 (current wheat area in Chuadanga) X 1319 (per ha boro production cost) = USD 6.52 million. It indicates that the gross margin (GM boro ) from replacing wheat by boro rice in Chuadanga will be GM boro = 4.24 (GR boro )-6.52 (total product cost PC boro ) = -2.28The Expected Net Margin ENM boro net of wheat from cultivating boro instead of wheat will be ENM boro = GM boro -GM w =-2.28-0.81= -3.09 million USD.It demonstrates that a replacement of the current wheat area in Chuadanga district by boro rice would incur a net loss of USD 3.09 million under the current yield, production cost, and market price scenario. In our estimation process, we have done this exercise for all 60 wheat-producing districts in Bangladesh in assessing the economically feasible alternative crops to wheat.In the estimation process, scenario 1 considers a wheat holiday for the entire wheat area of Bangladesh. However, considering the administrative and logistics burden of implementing wheat holiday in entire Bangladesh, we developed two more scenarios. Under scenario 2, the economic feasibility of alternative crops is examined assuming a wheat holiday only in 42 blast vulnerable districts identified by Mottaleb et al. (2018a). In scenario 3, a wheat holiday is assumed only in the ten currently wheat blast affected districts. The present analysis otherwise assumes ceteris paribus. This includes the assumption of constant prices. The Bangladesh agricultural sector is relatively integrated into the global commodity markets and, for instance, relies on imports to compensate for shortfalls in wheat, maize, lentils, onions and garlic; whereas it is largely self-sufficient in rice and is a net exporter of potatoes. In a more closed economy or with less tradable commodities, the price effects of crop substitution would play an important role. The present study assumes that the current wheat area in Bangladesh is equally suitable for all seven alternative crops compared to the alternative crops current area, which is a strong assumption. Also, the present study did not consider the financial and learning costs of the agronomic practices that farmers need to incur to switch from wheat to other crops, nor the market and value chain costs associated with increased production and potential reversal of trade-flows (net importer to net exporter).Similar to many other emerging economies in Asia and Africa (Mason et al., 2015;Mottaleb et al., 2018b), the yearly per capita wheat consumption in Bangladesh has increased by 103% from 8.6 to 17.5 kg from 1961 to 2013 (FAO, 2017a). Wheat area increased in Bangladesh to meet growing wheat demand. For a recent comparison, in 2008-09, the total land allocated to wheat was 394.5 thousand ha, and total wheat production in the country was 849 thousand metric tons (BBS, 2011). In 2016-17, the total land allocation to wheat was 415 thousand ha, which was 5% higher than the 2008-09 season, and total production was 1.3 million metric tons, which was 45% higher than the 2008-09 season (BBS, 2011(BBS, , 2018)). The total wheat area in 42 blast vulnerable districts is 261.4 thousand ha (triennium average ending 2016-17), whereas wheat area in the 10 blast affected districts is 141.6 thousand ha (Table 1). The domestic production of wheat in Bangladesh, however, only meets nearly 32% of the total consumption. Hence, to meet the increasing consumer demand, Bangladesh imported 3.5 million metric tons (MMT) of wheat worth USD 870 million (triennium average ending 2016, Table 1).The Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) categorizes land areas as very suitable (> 80% of the Maximum Attainable Yield -MAY), suitable (60-80% MAY), moderately (40-60% MAY) and marginally suitable (20-40% MAY) and not suitable (< 20% MAY) for the major crops (BARC, 2017). It shows that in Bangladesh, nearly half of the crop area is (very) suitable for wheat cultivation (Table 2), and geographically concentrated in the north-west of the country (Fig. 2).Rice is the major staple crop of Bangladesh and is cultivated yearround across the country. Nearly 75% of the total 7.93 million ha of total cropland 2 (BBS, 2018) is solely allocated to rice production. There are three rice seasons: aus (rain-fed summer rice), aman (mostly rainfed, wet season rice) and boro (mostly irrigated dry winter (Rabi) season). The boro rice is the most productive and market-oriented in Bangladesh (Hossain and da Silva, 2013). Boro rice is also the main winter crop in Bangladesh, cultivated from mid-November to June (Table 1). More than 63% of the total crop area of Bangladesh is (very) suitable for boro rice cultivation (Table 2). In 2016-17, 11.0 million ha of land was under all types of rice crop, of which the land under boro rice was on 4.5 million ha (BBS, 2018). In the same year, the total rice production was 33.8 million tons, of which, 53% (18.0 million tons) was boro rice. The average production of boro rice was 3.96 million metric ton worth of USD 3.5 billion (TE 2016-17, Table 1).Among all three rice seasons in Bangladesh, the boro rice season is dominated by modern high-yielding (HYV) rice cultivars In 1971-72, the national average rate of the adoption of HYV rice was less than 6%; but more than 37% in the boro season (BRRI, 2017). In 2015-16, the national average rate of adoption of HYV rice exceeded 85% (across all three rice seasons); and even was 98.6% in the boro season (BRRI, 2017). The remarkable achievement of Bangladesh in ensuring rice production self-sufficiency is mainly attributed to the rapid adoption and expansion of HYV in the boro rice season (Dorosh et al., 2000;Hossain, 2009;Rahman and Parvin, 2009;Ahmed et al., 2000;Mishra et al., 2015).Although Bangladesh is highly successful in achieving self-sufficiency in rice production, intensive irrigated boro rice's water needs are a major concern and its cultivation associated with negative impacts on the agro-ecology and environment of Bangladesh (Alauddin and Quiggin, 2008). The per hectare irrigation costs for boro rice cultivation are estimated at USD178, whereas it is USD76 for wheat and USD109 for maize (Lagos and Hossain, 2016, Table 3). Consequently, the overall production costs of boro rice are relatively high (USD 1,319 /ha) compared to wheat (USD 663/ha). (Lagos and Hossain, 2016). Due to the heavy extraction of groundwater mainly for irrigating boro rice, the groundwater levels in Bangladesh have been reportedly declining between 0.01-0.05 m yearly (Shamsudduha et al., 2009;Dey et al., 2013). Over-extraction of groundwater for boro rice irrigation is now considered a policy failure (Alauddin and Quiggin, 2008).Intensively irrigated boro rice yields averaged nearly 4 tons/ha, but based on relatively high production costs, compared to the other winter crops (Table 3), the unit returns to boro rice do not look favorable compared to the returns of wheat in the wheat growing districts (Table 4). This is under the current scenario and prices (ceteris paribus). Assuming a complete replacement of wheat area in entire Bangladesh (432 thousand ha) by boro rice with a national average yield of 3.8 t ha −1 , the simulation exercise shows that, the total boro rice production would increase 1,727 thousand metric tons; but given lower gross margins of boro rice compared to wheat, the substitution would imply a net negative expected return worth USD 252 million (Table 4). Under scenario 2, assuming the replacement of current wheat area in 42 blast vulnerable and affected districts (261.4 thousand ha wheat area), and under scenario 3; only in 10 wheat blast affected districts (142 thousand ha wheat area) by boro rice also would imply net loss worth of USD 147 million (Table 5) and USD 84 million (Table 6), respectively. In addition, the replacement of the current wheat crop with boro rice could aggravate the negative consequences on the underground water reservoir and the overall ecology. Boro rice cultivation is also more labor-intensive than wheat (Table 3), which may aggravate seasonal labor shortages due to the rapid migration of the rural labor force to the urban areas of Bangladesh (Mottaleb et al., 2016). Overall, replacing wheat in any sampled region of Bangladesh with boro rice to implement a 'wheat-holiday' policy may not be a feasible option.With the highest yield potential in South Asia (Timsina et al., 2010), maize is the third-most important cereal in Bangladesh. The dry-season winter (Rabi) maize in Bangladesh is cultivated from mid-October to May (BBS, 2018), and the summer maize (Kharif) is cultivated from March to June (Karim, 1992). In Bangladesh, nearly 45% of the total crop area is (very) suitable for maize cultivation (Table 3).Mainly due to the growing demand from the poultry, livestock and aquaculture sectors, maize demand and production in Bangladesh have increased drastically since the 1990s (Mottaleb et al., 2018c). In 1983-84, 4,000 ha of land in Bangladesh were allocated to maize, and the total production was 3,000 metric tons. In 2016-17, 389,713 ha of land were allocated to maize, and the total production was more than 3.0 MMT (BBS, 2018). The triennium average value of maize production was USD 559 million (Table 1). Still, to meet the increasing demand for maize, Bangladesh relies heavily on imports. From 2014-16, on average, Bangladesh imported 652,000 metric tons of maize worth USD 153 million (Table1).Assuming a complete replacement of wheat area by maize, the simulation exercise shows that, with a national-level maize yield (5.2 t ha −1 ), total additional maize production will be 2.81 million metric tons, resulting in a positive net margin of USD 203 million (Table 4). Similarly, assuming a replacement of wheat area of 42 blast vulnerable and affected districts and only in 10 blast affected districts by maize, the simulation exercise shows a positive net margin of USD 105 million (Table 5) and USD 75 million (Table 6), respectively. Still, MoT reportedly survives in maize undermining its effectiveness for wheat blast eradication (Urashima et al., 2005). Therefore, even though maize can be an economically feasible alternative crop to wheat, suggesting maize as an alternative to wheat to combat wheat blast may not be a viable option in Bangladesh.Among all types of pulses, lentils (masur) and gram (chickpeas) are considered important minor crops in Bangladesh, which are grown from mid-October to early March (BBS, 2016). In 2016-17, out of the total 389,700 hectares of land allocated to pulse cultivation in Bangladesh, nearly 42% was allocated to lentils and 1.5% to gram (BBS, 2018). The land suitability assessment of BARC (2017) indicates that lentils and gram are the same types of crops, for which less than 40% of the total crop area of Bangladesh is (very) suitable (Table Despite pulses such as lentils and gram being common food items in Bangladesh's cuisine and their increasing demand, the total land area allocated to these crops has been continuously declining in Bangladesh. For example, in 1986-87, 716,000 ha of land were under pulses, with a total production of 510,000 metric tons; whereas, in 2013-14 the area was reduced to 345,448 ha with a production of 320,443 metric tons (BBS, 2016). In the case of lentils and gram, on triennium average ending 2016-17, areas amounted to 151,500 and 6,400 ha (BBS, 2018) with a total production worth USD160 million and USD 4.3 million, respectively (Table 1). To meet the growing demand for lentils, gram and other pulses, Bangladesh heavily depends on imports. For example, from 2014-16, the triennium average shows that Bangladesh imported 207,600 MT of lentils and 233,200 MT of gram, worth USD175 million and USD 135 million, respectively (Table 1).Assuming a complete replacement of wheat by lentils in entire Bangladesh, the simulation exercise shows that, with a national average lentil yield (0.94 t ha −1 ), total additional lentil production will be 446,200 metric tons for a positive net return of USD 77 million. However, presently the yearly total lentil consumption (import and domestic production) is 372,000 tons, so a replacement of wheat area by lentils in entire Bangladesh would make Bangladesh a potential net exporter of lentils. Alternatively, assuming replacement of wheat by lentils in 42 blast vulnerable and blast affected districts and only in 10 blast affected districts, the simulation exercise shows that, total additional lentil production will be 291 (Table 5) and 161 thousand metric tons (Table 6) for positive net returns of USD 70 million (Table 5) USD 38.3 million (Table 6), respectively. It indicates that lentil cultivation can be expanded in the suitable areas of blast affected and blast vulnerable districts of Bangladesh. Assuming a complete replacement of wheat area by the gram, the simulation exercise shows that with a national-level gram yield (0.80 t ha −1 ), total additional gram production will be 442,000 metric tons; but given already unattractive per-hectare returns, the substitution would yield a negative net margin worth USD 65 million (Table 4). Simulation exercise also shows that a replacement of wheat area by the gram in blast vulnerable and affected districts and separately in 10 blast affected districts would yield losses of USD 17 million (Table 5) and USD 7 million (Table 6), respectively. Thus, gram does not seem a feasible alternative crop.Onions and garlic are two major crops in the spices and condiments crop group of Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, onions are cultivated from October to mid-June and garlic is cultivated from mid-October to mid-March. Nearly 34% of the total crop area is (very) suitable (Table 2). Being widely used in daily food preparation, consumption, land allocation and the production of onions and garlic have been increasing rapidly over the years. For example, the total land allocation and the domestic production of spices and condiments (including onions and garlic) in 1988-89 were 143,000 ha and production was 295,000 metric tons (BBS, 2016), but in 2016-17, it was 412,000 ha with a total production of 2,674 thousand metric tons (BBS, 2018). In 2016-17, onions and garlic occupied 177,600 and 61,400 ha for a total value of USD 787 million and USD 329 million, respectively (Table 1). Despite the increased land allocation and production of onions and garlic, Bangladesh depends on imports to meet growing demands (Table 1).Assuming a complete replacement of the current wheat area by onions, the simulation exercise shows that, with a national-level onion yield (6.98 t ha −1 ), total additional onion production will be 3.92 million metric tons resulting in a positive net return net of USD 931 million (Table 4). Onion cultivation is extremely input intensive and requires relatively high labor, fertilizer and seed costs compared to the other sampled crop (Table 3). Also, the total onion consumption (domestic production and imports) is 2.2 million tons (Table 1), so a replacement of wheat in entire Bangladesh by onions would make Bangladesh a potential net exporter of onions. Assuming the replacement of the current wheat area in 42 blast vulnerable and affected districts and only in 10 blast affected districts by onions, the simulation exercise shows the expected positive net margin of USD 726 million (Table 5) and USD 517 million (Table 6) respectively. It indicates that onion cultivation can be expanded in the suitable areas at least in the blast affected and blast vulnerable districts of Bangladesh.Similar to onions, assuming a complete replacement of wheat by garlic, the simulation exercise shows that with a national level yield (4.8 t ha −1 ), total additional garlic production will be 2.52 million metric tons, yielding an additional USD 1.7 billion (Table 4). With a total garlic consumption of 440,000 tons, replacement of the current wheat area with garlic in entire Bangladesh would make Bangladesh, a potential net exporter. Assuming replacement of wheat area by garlic only in blast vulnerable and affected districts and separately in 10 blast vulnerable districts will yield a net gain of USD 1.1 billion (Table 5) and USD 573 million (Table 6), respectively. It indicates that suitability of Table 3 Production costs (USD/ha) of the sampled crops in Bangladesh. Sources: 1 Lagos and Hossain (2016), 2 Rahman and Hasan (2011); 3 Sabina et al.,  2017; 4 BBS (2015a, 2015b); 5 Rahman et al., 2012; 6 Haque et al., 2013; 7 Sujan  et al., 2017; 8 For lack of data assumed same as lentil. Notes: GR c = gross return, PC c = production cost, GM c = gross margin, ENM c = Expected net margin (net of wheat). garlic as an alternative crop to wheat.Potatoes are one of the major competing crops with wheat in Bangladesh; they are cultivated during the winter season from mid-September to March (BBS, 2018). With an average yield 16.7 t ha −1 (Table 1), Bangladesh is the seventh-largest potato producer in the world (FAO, 2017b). Currently, Bangladesh exports potatoes to Brunei, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Oman. In the 2014-15 fiscal year, Bangladesh exported USD 19.4 million worth of potatoes, but recently potato exports plunged due to export restrictions by Russia (Wardad, 2016). In the 2014-15-2016-17 crop season, on triennium average of 9.6 million metric tons of potatoes were produced from 482,100 ha of land worth USD 1.56 billion (Table 1). In Bangladesh, more than 45% of the total crop area is (very) suitable for potato cultivation (Table 2).Assuming a complete replacement of wheat by potatoes, the simulation exercise shows that, with a national-level potato yield (16.7 t ha −1 ), total additional potato production will be 7.91 million metric tons and a negative net margin of USD 70 million (Table 4). Alternatively, assuming replacement of wheat by potatoes in 42 blast vulnerable and affected districts and only in 10 blast affected districts, the simulation exercise shows a negative net margin of USD 30 million (Table 5), but the positive net margin of USD 1.17 million (Table 6), respectively. Potato cultivation is highly laborious, and fertilizer-and Table 6 Base line crop production information (triennium average ending 2016-17) in 10-wheat blast affected districts and alternative scenarios assuming replacing wheat area by alternative crops (scenario 3). Sources: Authors calculation, 1 BBS (2018).  seed-intensive in Bangladesh, with the highest production costs among the considered crops (Table 3). Bangladesh is already a net exporter of potatoes, so the substitution for wheat implies the need for new markets for potato export. However, potato cultivation can be suggested in currently blast-affected districts, as a net return from replacing wheat area by potato is positive (Table 6).Tables 4-6 present the overall benefits of the sampled crops relative to wheat at the aggregated level. Fig. 3 considers the district-specific heterogeneity in suggesting a specific crop in a particular district based on district level gross margin of a crop in USD per hectarewhich is summarized in Table 7. Table 7 shows that based on positive expected net margin (USD/ha) maize can be suggested as an alternative crop to wheat in 34 districts; lentil in 39 districts; onion in 36 districts; and garlic in all 42 blast vulnerable districts (Table 7). Interestingly gram and potatoes, which are economically infeasible alternatives at the aggregate level (Table 4-5), can be suggested at least in 13 and 18 districts, respectively (Table 7).Bangladesh is a relatively small wheat producer already heavily reliant on wheat imports. For Bangladesh, a 'wheat holiday', foregoing domestic wheat production to combat wheat blast, could be potentially possible as it 'only' allocates 432,300 ha land to wheat and domestically produces 32% of its total wheat demand. In fact, the government of Bangladesh is already discouraging farmers from growing wheat in the wheat-blast-affected districts. Not growing wheat, however, seems outright near impossible for bigger traditional wheat producers and consumers, such as India and Pakistan, where wheat is a major staple and a substantially large number of farmers depend on wheat cultivation for their food and livelihood.Still, to realistically implement a potential 'wheat holiday' in any wheat-producing country, it is imperative to suggest economically viable alternative crops to wheat. This study examined the gross and net margins of alternative crops firstly in entire Bangladesh, secondly in 42 blast vulnerable districts and finally in 10 initially wheat blast affected districts, applying a simple ex-ante economic estimation framework. At face value, cultivation of onions, garlic, maize and lentils instead of wheat could be profitable, whereas boro rice, gram, and potato were not due to their negative net margins in the replacement area. Replacing with boro rice is also ecologically not feasible, due to intensive irrigation requirement. We also have suggested district level alternative crops, in which we have shown that a few crops such as gram may not be a feasible alternative for entire Bangladesh, but can be a feasible alternative to wheat in some specific districts. On the other hand, MoT can reportedly survive on maize (Urashima et al., 2005), so although an economically feasible alternative to wheat, caution must be taken in promoting maize if wheat blast control is the main driver.Caution also must be taken when promoting the non-cereal crops due to the potential implications for making Bangladesh a net exporter (or further increasing exports for commodities such as potatoes) and the associated investments needed in inter alia value chains (including cold storage), credit facilities, and market search costs. For simplicity, the study assumes complete wheat substitution by a specific alternate crop in each scenario, but in reality, combinations may be more realistic and profitable. Furthermore, the simple model assumes constant prices in Bangladesh's open agricultural economy (with agricultural imports and exports)which may need reconsideration if the substitution causes major market shifts in supply and demand for specific commodities.A potential 'wheat holiday' would increase import reliance in the face of rapidly increasing per capita wheat consumption in Bangladesh linked to rapid increases in income, demographic change and urbanization. Considering the overall food security and volatile commodity prices in the international markets, the implementation of a potential 'wheat holiday' and complete dependence on wheat imports may not be an attractive nor politically feasible option to combat wheat blast in Bangladesh. Furthermore, the implementation of a national 'wheat holiday' would be logistically challenging in the current setting. The wheat-blast host-pathogen system also affects the feasibility of a potential 'wheat holiday.'The present study thereby strongly suggests the national government and international stakeholders to adequately and urgently fund and research potentially viable alternatives to combat wheat blast in South Asia. This includes a need to look into the disease epidemiology and forecasting and the development and dissemination of new wheatblast-tolerant/resistant varieties and complementary management practices in the South Asia setting. In the short run, reliance on the application of effective generic fungicides and seed treatment with fungicides is needed to combat wheat blast in South Asia and calls for fungicides being made widely and easily available to farmers at  Notes: Y indicates the crop is an economically feasible alternative to wheat, N indicates it is not.Y1, Y2 and Y3 indicates that the crop is economically feasible and can generate the highest, second highest and the third highest positive expected net margin in the sampled district.affordable prices. The provision of an early warning system and adequate information on disease management must be ensured to help farmers to effectively combat and minimize the consequences of the wheat blast in South Asia. In this interim period, the government of Bangladesh may need to rely on various measures, including potential implementation of a 'wheat holiday' at least in the severely blast-affected districts and encouraging farmers to cultivate lentils, onions and garlic. However, for a long-term structural solution, investments are needed in wheat-blast-related research and the development and dissemination of blast-resistant wheat varieties and complementary management practices in Bangladesh and South Asia. Promisingly, a blast resistant (and zinc-enriched) wheat variety BARI Gom 33 has recently been released (October 2017) by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) with support from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). However, it will take at least three to five years before such a variety will be widely available to farmers throughout Bangladesh, given seed scaling challenges of a new introduction. This study strongly urges for international financial and technical support to speed up the seed multiplication and dissemination process. Finally, our methods could be replicated elsewhere as relevant, for instance in the case of other geographies and/or other diseases requiring a crop holiday. A case in point is West Bengal, India, where climate and agronomic practices are similar to Bangladesh, particularly in its border districts, and thereby particularly vulnerable to wheat blast. The West Bengal state government has already banned wheat cultivation in two districts and border areas, and there is thus a similar need to help identify profitable alternatives supported by empirically grounded studies."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f69a5c276d325f88e03ff0001d9b5623","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e2533a14-f0ea-4e7b-b35c-a1520b619a7c/retrieve","id":"-2110364898"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9be407aa-63c6-44f5-a4a1-a6dbb29b8f28","content":"Is this OICR linked to some SRF 2022/2030 target?: Yes SRF 2022/2030 targets:• # of more people, of which 50% are women, meeting minimum dietary energy requirements Description of activity / study: 2018-2019; FS2231 CANDASA This project will conduct the first large-scale research analysis of nutrition-sensitive food price indexes that measure variation in the relative cost of meeting international nutrition standards. The project builds on indexes developed and piloted through a project on Indicators of Access to Nutritious Diets in Africa (IANDA) funded by UKAid from 2015 into 2017. These new measures add up and compare food costs in terms of their nutritional value, so as to quantify changes in the relative affordability of benchmark standards of diet quality."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3e284fa4f862c6b9eff8ce615dd3f13f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/Books/PDF/resource_recovery_from_waste-478-486.pdf","id":"786748888"},"keywords":["Model name Nutrient recovery from own agro-industrial waste Waste stream Vegetative waste","livestock waste Value-Added Waste Products 'Regular' compost","enriched vermi-compost Geography Regions with significant livestock production","agro-processing enterprises Scale of production Medium: 5-40 tons/day; Large: 1","000-2","000 tons/day"],"sieverID":"6730acc2-c8a4-44b2-a8dc-5ba8a94f7f20","content":"USD 45,000-USD 2.5 million, depending on scale and technologyprimarily to its parent company (usually if it is an agricultural producer) and local farmers. Investment in innovative technologies (e.g. inclusion of biologically active compounds that promote plant growth and health) can allow them to self-brand their compost product and invariably capture a share of the local fertilizer market. The agro-waste processing unit sources its waste input primarily from the parent company and its affiliates (contract farmers) thus ensuring a consistent supply of resources, oftentimes free of charge or at a lower cost. Quality monitoring activities can be performed by a local university/R&D institute at a fee or their own laboratory. The business concept involves a simple value chain schematic as depicted in Figure 179.The business model is hinged on two value propositions: a) provision of sustainable waste management (collection and treatment) services and options (nutrient recovery) for 'primary' agroindustrial (parent company) business; and b) provision of affordable, high nutrient organic fertilizer for agricultural production (Figure 180). Key success drivers of this business model are based on: a) mutually-beneficial partnership with its parent company -which ensures a consistent supply of waste input (vegetative and livestock waste) free of charge or at low cost and provision of capital investment which mitigates capital start-up risk; b) option of a diversified portfolio through the sale of biological control organisms and different grades of compost tailored to different markets; c) price differential gains from market segmentation for its compost product. Waste input used for compost production is sourced from the parent company. This is a win-win partnership as the latter has a reliable waste management system to ensure sustainability of its business and the former -a reliable source of waste input for production at a fee and start-up capital investment. The business model's main revenue generation streams are from: a) organic fertilizer sales to segmented markets; b) fees received from parent company for waste management.The business typically sells its compost products primarily to its parent company (if it is an agricultural producer) and directly to local farmers often implementing a segmented-pricing approach with bulk sales to parent company and large-scale farmers at a lower price and a higher price to retailers and smallholder farmers. It is important to note however that depending on the contractual agreement between the parent company and the subsidiary (agro-waste processing) entity, the compost price may be adjusted to account for the cost of collecting and transporting the waste to the waste processing facilities. A competitive marketing strategy such as the provision of free samples of compost to first time users can help build the business' product brand and customer base. Also, by adopting a commodity-value (and using value-addition technologies) the agro-waste processing entity can produce high quality compost tailored to specific clients and agricultural purposes. The success of this approach is dependent on the partnership the business has with key research institutes that can provide support for the development of innovative technologies to produce high-quality products, and also provide product quality analysis services for certification. Third party product certification can help garner significant market demand and mitigate market competition effects from the often subsidized chemical fertilizer. Field demonstrations and semi-commercial tests (farmers, particularly crop farmers are able to initially try the product and observe actual benefits prior to payment) can be instrumental in creating greater market access.The business can take advantage of economies of scale, depending on the scale of operations of the parent company, and focus on low cost, yet efficient technologies for compost production. Largescale operations will permit the business to reduce its production costs and charge a lower price of its compost and help capture a larger share of the fertilizer market. The overall investment required for this type of business is relatively modest depending on the scale of operations and investments required at the start-up for R&D (development of innovative technologies), technologies and related equipment. This business model has the potential to generate significant socio-economic and environmental benefits including: job creation and reduced C0 2 emissions. Additionally, monetary gains to farmers are represented by increased crop yields and related incomes. This model has a high replication potential especially in developing countries with an increasing number of agro-processing businesses and related limited waste management options.The business model presented here was designed and optimized based on the analysis of different case studies (see previous sections). In designing this optimized business model, risks related to safety, local acceptance by the community, and business attractiveness for investors were assessed.The main market risk is related to the business' strong focus and dependence on the launching customer (parent). This can induce the business to lose touch with the market and limit its opportunities for growth. Traditionally, farmers have a high acceptability of agro-waste based compost -especially given its high nutrient content. It is however important to consider quality testing by a third party to minimize market risks associated with consumers' negative perceptions. Whilst this approach can in turn allow the businesses to charge a higher price (from the 'branded' product), it may entail additional costs for which the compost producers have to take in account.Competition risks: One of the key competition risks to be considered is supportive policies for chemical fertilizer use which may create a non-competitive market environment that negatively affects the sustainability of compost producers. This effect can be mitigated based on the scale of operation and targeted (assured) clientele -bulk purchases from government-owned agricultural department services and the parent firm. Innovative marketing strategies related to free samples and demonstration trials can be adopted to mitigate some of these effects. Resource/input (waste) supply risks are considered to be relatively low due to the assured supply of waste from the parent company.The composting technologies (traditional windrow-composting and vermi-composting) considered under this model are relatively mature and freely available in the market. However, depending on the waste input and technology used, some residual risk may remain. For example, livestock waste-related diseases such as mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth infections need particular attention and quality monitoring and testing programs by a third party should be considered to reduce such risks.Policies and regulations related to waste-based compost sectors differ by country. The oftentimes stronger political support for chemical fertilizer use (slow phasingout of fertilizer subsidies) and lack of specific government guidelines for the certification of compost and internationally accredited third-party certification entities can represent a significant risk to the sustainability of the business model.There are no distinctive social inequity risks anticipated for this business model in terms of poverty and gender. Smallholders could potentially benefit from improved agricultural productivity from increased access to comparatively inexpensive organic fertilizer, if the compost producers choose to sell the excess.There are potential environmental and health risks that need to be considered under this model. Workers involved in all activities along the compost production value chain (waste collection, separation, compost production, etc.) can be potentially exposed to livestock waste-related diseases if technology performance is not up to par. To safeguard the health of workers, it is imperative that businesses provide and ensure the use of safety gear -hand gloves and rubber boots; conducts an annual medical check up. To address the safety and health risks to workers, standard protection measures are also required as elaborated below (Table 44).This model ranks high on scalability and replicability due to the increase in agro-industrial businesses and related limited waste management options especially in developing countries (Figure 181). Significant environmental benefits can be realized through nutrient recovery and improved waste management options, as the reduced release of nitrates and GHG emissions results in decreased environmental pollution. This business model however ranks low on social impacts, as aside from employment generation (and oftentimes labor is obtained from the parent company and used internally) and increased access to alternative fertilizers, leaner social benefits accrue to other economic actors along the value chain (e.g. waste collectors, compost retailers). It is noted that most entities either use  Improved access to sanitation is one of the major policy goals throughout developing countries. An emphasis so far has been on the eradication of open defecation, hygiene and improved toilet facilities, ideally connected to sewer systems where urban centres are exploding. Global movements have to date increased access to basic sanitation products which has resulted in a significant percentage of rural and urban populations been connected to household-based latrines and septic tanks (CSE, 2011), however the majority of the population in developing countries still lack access to toilet facilities and substantial efforts are continuously being needed to close this gap. An increasing number of private businesses are setting up public toilet facilities to cater particularly to migratory populations and slum inhabitants who still have marginal access to sanitation products and services, however limited septage collection and treatment can undermine the sustainability of these services.An effective and sustainable sanitation service delivery is one that provides products and services across the entire sanitation value chain, interlinks with the agricultural or other sectors to generate benefits to all economic actors in the respective value chains, and creates connectivity of resources among physical, and biological systems (Figure 182). Resource recovery and reuse of urban septage as peri-urban fertilizer has so far been largely an informal sector activity (Kvarnström et. al., 2012). But with the increasing interest in a green economy, and new technical innovations for fertilizer generation, there is scope for resource recovery to play an increasingly significant role (EAI, 2011). The business model on sustainable sanitation service delivery via nutrient recovery from fecal sludge presented here generates the double value proposition of: Provision of sanitation systems/ products (such as urine diversion dry toilets (UDDTs)), and reliable waste management (collection and treatment) services to poorer segments of society in greatest need of these services; Provision of an affordable, sanitized and nutrient-rich compost product for farmers.The crux of the business model is hinged on the desirable social impact of providing hygienic sanitary facilities to society, particularly the masses at public places, whilst also providing an effective way to meet agricultural input needs of the farming community via compost production from human excreta. The business approach works because it is built around harnessing economic value from human waste whilst providing sanitation services to the poorer segments of society which represents the greatest percentage of population in need of such services, particularly in developing countries. By re-branding human waste as a needed input instead of a waste output, sanitation/waste reuse-based businesses can create both a physical and financial demand for waste, completely reinventing the economics of sanitation (Murray, Waste Enterprisers, pers. comm., 2014).In this chapter, we describe a case from Rwanda which recognized the opportunities in human waste and is gradually playing an important role in leveraging private capital to help provide sustainable sanitation services and realize commercial the value in waste by shifting the focus from treatment for waste disposal to treatment of waste as a resource for reuse for the ultimate benefit of poor farmers and households (EAI, 2011;Murray and Buckley, 2010)."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"39b88b74a995242e0219bad35e4cdc46","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/30cbed31-8099-409a-abab-ce1594aa8b97/retrieve","id":"-62647373"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"918c41ce-4e84-4b95-bf07-97ecd8ffe9f4","content":"Thc Resource and Crop Management Research Monograph series is designed for the wide dissemination of results of research a b u t the resource and crop management problcms of smallholder fanners in sub-Saharan Africa, including socioeconomic and policy-re!ated issues. The range of subject matter is intended to contribute to existing knowledge on improved agricultural principles and policies and the effect they have on the sustainability of small-scale food production systems. These monographs summarize results of studies by IITA researchers and their collaborators; they are generally more subslantial in content than journal articles.The potential of the inland valleys for agricultural production IITA is concemed with cropping systems research in inland valleys (IVs) which, it is believed, will have a substantial impact on African food production. This is because 20 to 40 million ha of valleys with relatively favorable moisture availability are evenly distributed throughout the humid and sub-humid zones of West Africa alone (Andriesse 1986).According to West African Rice Development Association (WARDA) 1978 figures from the mid-70s. rice production was dominated by upIand rice (60% of total land devoted to rice) and lowland rice was divided into IVs, floodplains, and mangrove swamps with varying levels of water conlrol (WARDA 1978). Moormann (1973) recommended hydromorphic soil areas for the expansion of rice cultivation, giving first priority to inland hydromorphic soils (IVs and river floodplains), and second priority to coastal swamps.IVs are small valleys which are not located near the coast and do not have a large floodplain. Coastal valleys are distinguished from IVs by their substantial salinity and possibly by excess sulfur problems. An IV, according to Andriesse (1986). stare: at a water source as a stream flow valley which further downstream becomes a river overflow valley. Major hydrological processes and valley dimensions change from upper to lower sections of IVs. Runoff and seepage in the upper section are replaced by river overtlow in the lower p a t as the major source of water. The width of valley bottoms increases from tens of meters across in the stream flow sections to hundreds of melers in the river overflow sections. The major river with its large floodplain (greater than 200m width) signals the lower end of an IV.Although IVs are small, relative to other wetlands, their total arca is considerable. According to Andriesse (1986), the IVs make up 8 to 18% of the land area of West Africa south of the sndan savanna, while the estimate for the floodplains, coastal, and other inland wetlands is 4 to 9%. lITA (1988a) in irs strategic planning study estimaled that the greatest increases in rice production in the region would come from the IV bottoms and associaled hydromorphic uplands.A substantial amount of research has been conducted on rice in West Africa while there has been less study of rice production in IVs. Before a program to develop technologies for improved rice-based cropping system design for the IVs is initiated, an effort must be made to synthesize past research. This, it is hoped, will help to identify major constraint$ to rice production in IVs, and to propose possible approaches to alleviate them. Gaps must be identified in our knowledge of the IVs related to sustainable rice-based cropping. The goal of future research will be to fill gaps in our basic knowledge of the IVs, and to quantify critical processes which will determine the feasibility of proposed management systems.The rice-based cropping system in IVs consists of dry season crops in rotation with rainy season rice. Rice is planted near the middle of the rainy season after the planting and weeding of upland crops. This is because IV farmers also have upland fields which depend completely on rainfall for their crop water requirement. Rice harvest in IVs occurs well after the rains have stopped, because water seeps from the uplands some time after the end of the rains.A high seasonal labor requirement occurs when farmers must harvest rice and prepare the land for dry season crops. As a result of this and other factors (insufficient moisture in some valleys, other non-farm activities by some farmers, etc.), many farmers leave their fields fallow during the dry season. Other IV farmers take advantage of shallow water tables and residual soil moisture to grow a dry season crop. Thus the potential of the IVs for intensive food production is clear, as well as the risks inherent in intensive cultivation.Until very recently, work with rice dealt mainly with germplasm and chemical input components of rice production systems. As an example, WARDA (1978) reports that out of hundreds of their trials conducted in the five years before the report, all involved rice varieties, fertilizers, herbicides, or insecticides.The earliest effort$ in rice research focused on breeding. In general, yields of rice on research stations have increased in all of the rice growing environments since the introduction of Asian (lowland) and Latin American (upland) germplasm. The availability of germplasm is not a major constraint to increased rice production in West Africa (Winslow and Buddenhagen 1989). Meanwhile, yields in farmers' fields have stagnated at levels which are quoted, for example in the IITA (1988a) Strategic Plan, as 0.5 to 1 tfha upland: 1 .S to 2 tfha lowland: and 3 #a irrigated. A WARDA (1977) report on the use of high-yielding varieties in West Africa makes it clear that the Asian varieties were mainly being used in large irrigation schemes.More recent WARDA Technical Bulletins reflect a slight broadening in research in rice production systems. For example, Raymundo (1984) reported on mditional methods of fighting termites, rodents, and birds. Studies were initiated on birds (Abifarin 1984, Bashu 1984) and crabs (Agyen-Sampong 1985) as rice pests.The IITA (1988a) Strategic Planning Study notes that the greatest constraints to rice production in most of the rice-growing environments are in the area of resource and crop management. The following were judged to he important, serious, or very serious constraints to rice production in IVs and hydromorphic uplands: weeds, soil erosion, soil fertility, and vertebrate pests. Other critical but constrained operations are tillage, stand establishment, weed control, and water management.A serious constraint to developing technology with an impact on rice production in IVs is their heterogeneity. Decisions must be made about the type or types of IV on which to focus research resources for technology development. Then representative sites must be chosen on which to develop and test improved technologies. This can only be possible after a thorough characteri~ation of the West African IVs. Thus, past research will fust be examined to aid in the development of procedures for the characterization and classification of IVs.IVs pose a great problem for technology development because they are ecologically heterogeneous, and because they exist in many different economic environments. IVs are found in all of the agroecological zones of West Africa where climate, soils, and topography differ substantially. Consequently, IVs display extreme differences in soil properties and major hydrologic processes. Even within a given zone, differences in valley shape or catchment size can result in large differences in water movement or retention among valleys. Within the valley itself, tremendous changes in soil properties and water availability occur in length and in cross-section. Klinkenberg (1967) mentions that diversity within hydromorphic soils is too great to allow a detailed classification to be attempted.A complete description of N s must be undenaken to allow research to be targeted to a few of the most important classes of IV, and to allow technology development and testing to be conducted in sites representative of those classes. From an agronomic viewpoint, the primary properties to be described relate to water and nutrient availability.Thus, the pimary properties of N s to be characterized are soils and hydrology.The soils of the [inland] valley bottoms vary widely in their characteristics, both within and between valleys, because of morphogenesis, location, hydrologic regimes, lithologic origins, and climatic conditions. Chemically, they can be rich or very poor. Their texture ranges from sandy to clay; in cool climates at high elevations, peaty topsoils may develop ... Drainage ranges from moderate to very poor, and floods differ widely in depth, duration, and velocity. In general, however, the textures of the soils as well as their chemical characteristics reflect the soils of the surrounding uplands and the parent material from which they are derived.Though the task of characterizing IV soils looks daunting, we are given some hope by Andriesse's final statement. Soil characterization at the regional level has already been done. Soil maps of regional or national coverage, however, are so small-scale that only the predominant upland soils are shown. Only when the mapping scale increases to 1:100 000 will some of the larger IVs become visible. Precise mapping of IV soils can only be done for a very small fraction of West Africa at a scale of 150 000 or larger.Since the small-scale soils maps (15 000 000 to 1:250 000) are already available, an attempt should be made to take advantage of these data. This would depend on established relationships between IV bottom and fringe soils and predominant upland soils. Thus a systematic survey should be conducted to allow a test of the hypothesis that IV soil properties reflect those of the surrwnding uplands. The survey would consist of the sampling and analysis of upland, valley fringe, and valley bottom soils from representative valleys. Soil samples from a limited number of valleys (3 to 5) in each agroecological zone should be sufficient to test the hypothesis. Soil texture would be the main property to be analyzed. Delimitation of agroecological zones based on climate, geomorphology, and soils, is an initial task of great priority. Climate, topography, and soils interact to dclermine major hydrologic proccsscs which in turn dclcm~ine the availahility of surface or groundwawr (Fig. 1). Water frnm thc uplands flows toward the valley bottom along the soil surface (runofr), just helow the w i l surface (inlerflow), or well bclow lhe soil surface (groundwater flow). The amount of water going to the valley depends on rainfall and cauhment sire. Thc path of the walcr dcpcnds on the properties of h e soil surface and profilc, and on vegclation.Water is the major physical factor in IV utilization because of its role in plant (crop and weed) growth, and because of its interaction wilh other important agronomic Pdctors. For cxample, soil fertility is greatly influenced by the balance of erosion and deposition on I V slopes and bottom. Thesc processes are, in turn, determine~l hy the vcloc'ily of runoff walcr. The efllcicncy of applied fcnilizcr is, to a large degree, convollcd hy water movement. Weed growth is encouraged by waler availahilily, hut suppreswd hy lltmling of sullicient depth and dwation. Excess or insufficient water can preclude cultivation in I V fields. Therefore. the major hydrologic processes must be quantified and understood, so that IV fields can be matched with different mops during different times of the year.A major characteristic to be determined is the depLh of flood or depth of groundwater.Dircct measurement of surface a groundwater depth is not difficult but may require a long time period (i.e.. at least one entire annual cycle). Kilian (1972) attempted to dedwe from the presence o l reduced snil layers the aptilude in m s o l groundwater availability (depth and duration) of a given plot for rice culture. However. Veldkamp (1979) notes that prediction of a groundwater regime from soil characteristics i s inaccurate hecause of variations hctween years, and hecause oxidation by incoming groundwater may ohscure ,soil morphological features indicative of long-term saturation. He therefore argues for mea%urement of actual groundwater depth to delermine suitability for crops.Dcscription of I V surface and groundwater hydrology has been done by lpinmidun (1973) in northern Nigeria, and by WakaL~uki (1989) in central Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Wakatsuki (1989) devised an ingenious way to depict changing groundwater depth over time for a single iran.wt (Fig. 2). Utilization of pan' of the transoct for diffcrcnt crops is depicted on the same graph. I t is clear from the figure that the farmers know when and where lo grow their crops and that groundwater depth is a major determinant. A rainfall histogram could also be plotted on the samc figure to show the relationship between groundwater dcpth and rainfall. Veldkamp (1979) proposed the classification of 1V land according lo annual maximum and minimum depth to groundwater or depth of flood. The resulting claws could easily be shown on maps. Technology development would then be targeted to different classes of1V land.Measurement of surface and groundwater dcpth is useful since depth i s correlated to suitability for crop growth. However, prediction of surface or groundwater depth from climate, topography, and soils dam would be much more efficient. The data for all three parameters already exist in map form, but at a low level of resolution. Thus, the first goal of modeling would be lo help focus on what experimentation i s necessary to gain knowledge of the way these factors interact to determine water movement and retention.Soils in the watershed are variable spatially and in profile, and the presence of layen of varying permeability is known to influence watcr movemenl and smragc.Preliminary knowledge required i s the degree of precision and spatial resolution of input data which is needed to give useful output in terms of surface and groundwater depth. If intensive soil profile sampling is required to predict surface and groundwater depth with a reasnnahle degree of confidence, then thc effort needed to model hydrology might not be a priority. I t i s important to first determine the accuracy of the output (prediction of groundwater depth) which would be required to make it useful. This can be learned from trials of cmp growth conducted along valley slopes to vary the depth to groundwater table . Gunneweg et al. (1986) andHuizing (1988)  cocificient called a 'reaction factor'. This is a characteristic d each catchment (depending on soils, topography, and vegetation) relating stream discharge lo rainfall. The procedure may hc useiul i i the 'reaction factor' ran he estimated from easily obtained catchment charackri.*cs.Progress in classification of inland valleys Kilian and Teissier (1973) classified IVs for rice production using two classification scheme-for cultivation without water control and another for irrigated cultivation. For rice culture without water wnml, gmundwater uhle depth and dwation were the most imponant fxlors. followed by snil texture hecause of its effect on moisture retention.For rice culture with water control, a major f x m r is valley morphology. Kilian and Teissier (1973) specify the s i x of catchment beyond which the water capwe will be too small (minimum 4 km2) or too great (maximum 70 km2). The hydromorphic parl of the valley must be at leaqt 2km long and l(W)m wide with a lransverse slope less lhan 2%. Interestingly, the authors found few valley hottoms with these spxiiicaticms in C6te d'lvoire. Furthermore, they concluded that IV developmenl for irrigation must be underlaken only if two rice crops per year are possiblc, and on an adequate area. This requirement will depend, of course, on l t u l economic circumslancec.In classifying the IVs for cropping, a few useful generalizations are possible. DuPreez and Barber (1965) reawned that basement complex soils are poor sources of groundwater because the bedrock is generally shallow and h a u s e fine textured soils form pmr aquifers. This waq born ot~t by measurement or hnrchnle water output in Nigeria. On lhe other hand, soils formed from most sedimentary rocks are assccialed with g o d aquifers.Generally, soils in the valley bottom are finer than on the fringes Wlinkenberg 1967). where seepage water has moved clay sized particles downslope (Raunet 1985). Scientists with the lnstitut de Recherches Agronomiques Tropicales el des Cullures Vivrikres (IRAT) have paid considerable attention to the fringe snils4alled solc gris hydromorphes (Bertrand 1973 &because they have favorable moisture availahility, respond well to fertilizers. and occur over a large area of Africa (Bertrand el al. 1978).Most o i the IRAT work with sols gris hydromorphes was wnducled in the Casamance region of Senegal. It was noted that results might be difficult to extrapolate, ev n texture, and especially hydrology (Bermand 1973).locally, due to variability in geomorphology resulting in differences in soil fertil ty. Bertrand (1973) suggested that the suitability of sites might be estimated by prospecting after the end of the rains when the groundwater is receding slowly at a rate known with some degree of confidence. This would allow extrapolation throughout the dry season to the maximum de& of the groundwater table at lhe end of the dry season, and possibly the depth at the end of the rainy season. A simple technique of this kind must be developed to help match environments with available techndogy. Raunet (1985) described typical valleys found on basement complex soils in semiarid, sub-humid, and humid zones of West Africa Valleys are further subdivided in length from source I O large river floodplain into upper, middle, and lower sections. 7he upper section starts at the water wee. The middle section starts with a well-dehed stream bed. and the lower section stam at the level where the stream ove&lows. In this respect.the upper or stream flow portion of Andriesse (1986) has been divided into two distinct parr~, w~th and without a distinct streambed. In Raunet's system, each section of the valley has distinct soil and hydrologic characteristics which should be fairly similar among different valleys within the same agroecological zone. This is a uselul classification scheme which needs to be validated in other areas of basement complex geology and expanded U, include 1Vs in areas of sedimentary geology. NRE = Fertilizer N recovery efficiency (i.e.. N found in the above ground plant as a fraction of N applied) calculated assuming 20kg N in the above ground rice crop per ton of rice grain produced (Sanchez 1976, Yoshida 1981).Deep placement of N is very useful for continuous flooding (Savant and Stangel 1985). Continuously flooded soil has an anaerobic layer just below the soil surface. Ammonium-N placed in this layer will not be mobile enough to be leached but will be absorbed by rice roots. Deep placement of urea or ammonium-N gives a good response in continuously flooded soils, so that the effort has been made to develop appropriate techniques such as a modified lance for the injection of urea solution (Jones and Dixon   1979), and an applicator for the deep placement of solid urea (O'Brien et al. 1985).For fluctuating moisture conditions, typical of IVs with minimum to moderate levels of water control, deep placement of urea has little effect. The best chemical fertilizer management practice for fluctuating moisture conditions is simply to delay application of N and K until the plant is at the stage when it will absorb nutrients efficiently (active tillering in the case of rice). Frequent broadcast applications of small doses constitute the most efficient use of fertilizer but may be economically prohibitive, depending on the opportunity cost of repeated passes on the field.Interaction ofwater control and weed management Weeds are a major constraint to rice production in IVs with low levels of water control.Growth of non-aquatic weeds is suppressed by continuous flooding, so water control can result in decreased weed competition. This is clearly shown by the results reported by Ahmed (1982) in which flooding made weeding unnecessary (Fig. 4). Weed control in rainfcd lowland rice has rarely been studicd under minimum water control. C h a i n herbicides which perform well in irrigated lowland rice performed poorly when used in hydromorphic soils (IITA 1974 and1976 Annual Reports, cited by Akobundu 1981).Mafir mtrienr deficiencies Intensive crop pduction requires an adequate supply of nutrients. The main nutrients limiting the yield of rice in West Africa are N and phosphorus (P) and, to a limitcd extent, potassium (K) and zinc (Zn) depending on soil parent material (Kang 1973). Results from on-farm &nionstrations in IVs of Sierra Leone (Das Gupta and Will 1973) give a g d idea of the effect of fertilizer in this envimnmcnt (Table 3). ?he average yield increase over 88 trials fmm 45 kg P205ha was almost 500 kg grainha and an additional 45 kg N/ha gave another 700 kg grainha.One of the most useful results of the All Sierra Leone Coordinated Agronomic Trials was to generate data for response of rice in the upland, boliland, and IV environments to N, P, and K on farmers' fields OlTA 1980). Examination of the results, summarized in Table 4 reveals that rice responded to N, P, and K in all three environments. In the IVs, cpplication of 50 kg N/ha, 120 kg P;?05/ha, and 60 kg K20ha gave about 90% of maximum yield (which might be expected to be an economic optimum in a competitive economic system). These trials covered enough sites and years to provide national response functions for economic analyses of fertilizer use in IVs. Upland (-84)a Re-pons.= curves fit lhrough origin.x = 20 kg Nha, 40 kg P20+a. or 40 kg K20/haThe heterogeneity of IV conditions is evident in the variability in rice yields among districts, whose means ranged from 1.2 Vha in the northeast to 3.6 i/ha in the south (averaging 2.7 ma). In Lhe same subset, upland rice yields were uniformly disuihuted between 1.7 and 1.9 i/ha.Little work has been reported on the use of soil improving legumes specifically for h y h o r p h i c soils compared with upland5 and irrigaied lowland^. Seshmia roslrafa &wen manure showed promise as a contributor to the N needs of an irrigated rice crop in Scncgal (Rinaudo el al. 1988) and a rainfed lowland rice cmp at IITA (Mulongoy 1986). It seems that, in the absence of walcr control, soil-improving legumes could be used to sustain rice yields in lowlands and should be a topic of agronomic research of moderate priority.Although P availability increases under waterlogged conditions (Ponnamperuma 1985). this does not appear to contribute enough under nalive soil conditions in Africa with low levels of w a w control. As noted above, there was a frequent and substantial response to P in IVs of Sierra Leone. Phosphorus is a much simpler nutrient to study than N because it is more likely to slay in the soil systcm. Soil erosion is the only important loss mechanism besides crop uptake. Applied phosphorus has a residual effect in years subsequent Io its application. The major researchable issues with P are not specific to 1Vs.The major soil problem in IVs after nitrogen and phosphorus deficiency is iron (Fe) toxicity. The proportion of the IV land area estimated to be affected is 5 to 10% in eastern Nigeria (Kosaki and Juo 1986). 32% in Liberia (94 farms surveyed by Mulbah et  al. 1987). and 40 to 50% in Sierra Leone (Abu et al. 1987). In a study of yield reduction due to iron toxicity. Abifarin (1988) reports a range of 0 to 60% reduction for 23 varieties by comparing yields at two sites--one with excessive levels of available Fe and another with low levels.It is known that ferric ion (Fe3+) is reduced to plant-available ferrous ion (Fe2+) under anaembic conditions which are favored by the presence of easily decomposable organic matter and available acidity. However, the spatial determinants of high Fe2+ are not clearly known.It is not clear whether the ~e ~+ is bmught in with seepage water or whether Fe3+ is reduced in sim. Van Breeman and Moormann (1978) could not detect high levels of Fe2+ in seepage water. Thus, they hypothesized that seepage water maintains the soil in the seepage m e almost permanently anaerobic, and therefore reduction may occur in situ. Kosaki and Juo (1986) monitored Fe levels in groundwater and found Fe2+ levels greater than 20 ppm and almost permanently saturated soil to be typical of an Fe toxic soil zone. Non-toxic areas above and below the seepage zone had lower Fe2+ in solution and deeper groundwater during the dry season which could encourage surface soil oxidation. This indicates that the remedy for Fe toxicity should be drainage during either the rainy or dry season.There have been three different thrusts to combat iron toxicity. In some areas, farmers plant on ridges to aerate the root zone with consequent loss in plantable area but net gain in yields (Winslow el al. 1989). A second thrust has been lo combine tolerance to iron toxicity with other desirable characteristics in the rice plant (Winslow et al. 1989, IITA 1980). Germplasm adapted to iron toxicity was developed by IITA staff in an Fe toxic swamp in Liberia (Virmani 1978) and has been used as a source of this trail for further varietal development. Finally, scientists in Sierra Leone and Senegal have been testing certain amendments (burned straw, lime, and basic slag) which reduce soil acidity and available Fe (Beye 1973, IITA 1980). The most dramatic increases in the Sierra Leone experiments have come from drainage, although the different treatments were never compared in one trial. Some combination of variety, drainage, and amendment will probably be used in the future to alleviate the constraint imposed by iron toxicity.It might be worthwhile to characterize the distribution of Fe toxic soils in West Africa. Van Breeman and Moormann (1978) state that Fe toxicity occurs on poorly drained colluvial and alluvial soils in valleys receiving interflow (subsurface flow) water from adjacent higher land with plinthite or weathering igneous or sedimentary rocks. This broad statement is a worthwhile starting point which must be validated and made more precise. For example, the same authors state that in Sri Lanka, valleys in areas dominated by Plinthudults and Tropudults have toxicity problems.Weed competition is an important source of yield loss in IV rice. In an on-farm trial in which 19 farmers determined their own weeding regime, the yield loss due to weed competition was estimated roughly by grouping farmers by number and quality of weedings (Palada et al. 1989). The mean yield for farms with only one weeding was 1.2 r/ha compared to 2.9 r/ha with two or three weed control operations. Weed control was associated with the highest yield increase, compared with several treatment and nontreatment factors including variety, fertilizer, seedling age, and duration of flood (Table 1).Planting method has an important effect on weed competition in rice. Compared with direct seeding, uansplanting healthy rice seedlings into a weedless seedbed gives rice plants a growth advantage over weeds. Some farmers broadcast pre-germinated seed, which gives rice. a few days advantage over the dircct seeding of dry rice seed.Direct seeding of rice saves considerable labor compared with transplanting, but weed pressure is greater. Akobundu (1981) tested herbicides for direct-seeded rice under poor water control (2cm water depth) and fwnd several herbicides to be effective under the conditions of the study. The best herbicides were subsequently examined to determine the appropriate application time and rate (Akobundu 1990). Thus, the technology is ready to be used, if economic conditions become favorable.Tillage has an important influence on the efficacy of herbicides. Carson (1980) evaluated herbicides and their interaction with tillage in an IV without water control in Ghana. Weed control with the herbicides studied was much less effective with minimum tillage than with conventional tillage, Realizing the difficulties involved with chemical weed control, Akobundu and Ahissou (1985) conducted work on hand weeding, and its interaction with plant density and varietal heighL Compared with a weed-free control, the yield of a tall rice variety, OS 6, was reduced by 40% when weeded only once., while that of a semidwarf variety, ADNY 11. was reduced 60% at the same spacing. Variety / spacing interaction was strong.With one weeding, the semidwarf variety gave the lowijt &Sn yield of the varieties tested when planted at 45cm spacing, and the highest grain yield when planted at 30 and 15cm spacing. A second weeding boosted yield substantially for all varieties at low density and for the shorter varieties at moderate density.Research on crop management has focused on planting density and method, and age of seedlings at transplanting, Traditional planting density is often low, and optimum density has been shown to be much higher in all trials (Williams 1979, IITA 1980, Vodouhe et al. 1981, and Souare 1988). Figure 5, adapted from Souare (1988), shows the interaction of plant density with variety, fertilizer, and water control. With poor water control, yield is hardly affected by plant density, but with good water control, yield is increased substantially by increasing plant density. Planting method influences weed competition in the simple manner discussed in h e previous section, but the factors which influence a farmer' s planting method are complex. They include, among others, the presence of floodwater, the previous crop, and labor availability for planting and subsequent weeding. Planting in straight rows, advocated by agronomists, increases labor input to an already laborious process but allows faster weeding with small mechanical weeders. The appropriateness of the practice depends on seasonal labor availability and access to the mechanical weeder.The age of seedlings at the time of transplanting is a factor which has been shown to be important in determining grain yield. A young rice seedling has the capacity to form a variable number of tillers to make maximum use of available resowccs (soil, water, and light). Old seedlings lose this capacity, and so internal and external inputs to plant growth are wasted if old seedlings are transplanted. Palada et al. (1989) found that farmers who transplanted seedlings more than 30 days old suffered an average yield loss of 40% from 3.5 to 2.2 !/ha (Table 1). Farmers are forced into utilizing old seedlings if the field is not ready for transplanting. Delays on the lowland farms are related to activities on the upland farms, household activities, and social obligations.Researchers can learn how to address better the problems of farmers by observing their planting practices. It can be hypothesized that planting method and density, rice varietal characteristics (height and tillering), and labor available for weed control are interrelated. An agronomic survey is recommended tn gain insight in how management is influenced by weed pressure.. . . u! pauaax u q aneq amod laams pue ( &; . j e la l l a! ; sea) ueaqios j o saqawn vLI; '(3(%61 're la epepd) a u q e u a ! ~ ienum u! sagayen enesse3 pus o~mod w m s pue (6x61 epqnd pue q8u1~) uepeql ie s a p m n e x i ~o 3 jo @g e papll+ a s a u .uoseas h p a q ~ u! a3uanbsodot a q ~ Buole sdon p q d n p a u m x os@ VUI ~e dnoa smash paseq-a3!~ a q ~,'mwq e n a ! ~ u! s u o ~~~s o d amantosoda I@ ie Ifam psuuoj~ad 'P-E-Z-L-ZPIE XOJ, 'Aia!re~ mau v u o n o q Aallen a q c: ;lam Llamanxa pue ~%U!JJ 341 uo r(1~00d pauuojiad s~aq10 uo1loq Aallen a q u! Jailaq L[1q8!ls Aluo pue a%uuj a q uo [lam pam~oj~ad (ZIE VJ,~ aldurexa JOJ) sanauen amos .(9 .%A) p.J3!13e~d iou sem lonu03 Jqem aJaqm a u a q wa!S '!uaTw le iue3!j!ul71s sem (A x 1) uo!i!sod a3uanbasodol pue Alayn rnamlaq uon3emu! aqL 'Al!l!qe[!ene iualnnu pue Jnem pjsea~3u1 jo uoqeu!qmo3 e jo asnew 'sa8u1~j a q uo ueq .(allen a q jo sued lam01 a q u! lallaq ~~U I J O J -' ~ sa!iayn a q j o 1 1 ~ 'suoq~sod .amantrJsodm e Buop n m r p lsefq mj Bu!ua;~x jo anlsh a q pmoys g e sa~plls q o a ,muanbasodo~ e Xuole s m s m m muamjjrp q lwqd a3u a q JO asucdsa 3!8olo!sAqd a q p p n i s os@ aneq ( ~8 6 1 ) 1881 E nsnua!3S .sans alms!om Jajjns quqd q ~~q m puoLaq lanq ams!ow l!os a q L ~! i m b a manbasodm a q Bu!sn ' VJ,II ie al!qm w l o q Aallen O I pueldn u o ~j a3uanbasodol a q uo sa!pns pneg!u! pue s!ql ~L ! U ~O J ~J ( ~~6 1 ) 'p )a u u e u ~o o ~ .sassam a a3!J jo asuodsa~ aql lsal a suoq!puo~ 3!SolarpXq pus (pas) ~! q d e p ~ p mnnuquo3 e sluasad amanbasaim Xalpn, a u a w 'L~!pqepwne m m pue sapladad pas 01 p w a sassamxi a q Kpn~s a JO 'suo~rpuos alqtyrn a sagayen da3 jo asuodsa~ a q Aprils a sa~uanbasodo~ Aq p a p ~o j ~e quaipar% p ~n i e u a q ~ m a j l y o d os@ ue3 slaq3leasaX ' ( ~8 6 1 spreqs!~) saq!A!ne J I ~~I 1110 S u p d s r(q spo!lad am%-mqel P!OAB a p w sdo~s J!aw L J ! s J ~A ! ~ ol a%muenpu ~~a q a s w g ~u o 3 alqepn r(l@neds az~lgn uqjo slaturej 'q3mJsaJ 01 Cowpea grain yields ranged from 200 to 700 kg/ha in a wet portion of an IV a~ Ibadan (Table 5). Yield of the same varieties ranged from 900 to 1300 kgha in a relatively dry part of the same valley. The wisdom of selecting for different IV slope positions is indicated by the important T x V interactions observed. For example, ITWE-124 had the lowest yield at the upper position and one of the highest at the lower position. IT85F-867-5 had the highest yield at the upper position and one of the lowest at the we1 position.A trial to screen soybean varieties in an IV near Bida revealed tremendous variability in response to wet conditions, grain yicld ranging from 70 to 780 kg/ha (Dashiell et al. 1990).In Sierra Leone, improved varieties of cassava and sweet potato were tested at IV fringe and bottom positions. Cassava tuber yield was reduced in the valley bottom compared with the fringe by 40% for Rocass and by 10% for Nucass (Table 6). Leaf yields were uniform regardless of variety or toposcqucnce position.The yields of sweet potato varieties wcre similar at the two positions whether defoliated or not (Table 7). The yield of tubcrs and leaves of a local variety were slightly higher in the valley bottom than at the fringe. Yield suppression in the valley bottom for cassava but not for sweet potam is probably related to the length of growing season of the two crops. Cassava stays in the ground an additional two months into the early rainy season when excess water stress becomes severe.Tahle 5 . Mean grain )ield (kgtba) of promlslng cowpea varieties in the upper and lower parts of an IV toposequeoce at Ibadan, Nigeria. 1986.87. Prom Singh andPalada 1989 Trials along the toposequence are most valuable if moisture and nutrient availability are determined. Only in this manner will extrapolation of results to other IVs be possible. Recommendation of varieties must be based on knowledge of groundwater regime which cannot always be known from the toposequence position. For example, the fringe area of one valley may be much drier than that of its neighbor. A valley bouom may be flooded longer and deeper than another nearby. Thus, the trials of upland crops reported above can only be considered as preliminary. Additional Uials must be conducted, accompanied by adequate data collection to allow extrapolation of results to other IVs.Depth of flood or depth to subsurface groundwater tablc is a very useful indicator of the availability of water to a crop, the degree of potential weed control by water, thc risk of soil erosion, and the risk of applied nutrient losses. It is relatively easy to mcasure, requiring simple equipment Methodology development must focus on determinadon of the frequency of measurement and the density of measurement points required for useful mults. The most useful soil properties to measure must also be determined.From an agronomic perspective, irrigation or full water control is the ideal crop production system. Imgation technology itself is well known but it is rarely known where irrigation will work in West Africa from a socioeconomic perspective. Therefore, some thought has gone into systems of improved resource and crop management with minimum water control. Systems are proposed which, it is hoped, will have relatively small increases in additional labor requirement. One system is green manuring and the other is the system of alternating raised beds known in Indonesia as sorjan (Zandstra 1978).Green manuring has several potential advantages in IVs including nutrient recycling, nitrogen fixation, soil protection, and weed suppression. A way must be found to grow leguminous green manures in a space or time which would not be used for growing crops. A spatial niche presents itself in the gaps between mounds or ridges on which dry season crops are grown. It must be kept in mind that the lcgume would be growing in the poor soii of the furrow, and therefore a small amount of P fertilizer would usually promote growth and N fixation. Since P is not always available, candidate legumes should be screened by being grown in the fwrows without added P. An important characteristic of the legume would be tolerance to waterlogging since the furrows will collect and retain water, starting with the first rains, and remain wet until land preparation for rice. t a b r and propagation methods and costs will be important issues in determining Ihe adoprabiity of this technology. Since many farmers grow upland crops on mounds or ridges in the dry season. the legumes will be incorporated into the soil with little additional effort as the sttuctures a~ broken down to plant rice. Seed production may be a problem and the green manure species could itself become a weed if it propagates readily and competes with the food crop. Grain legumes should be considered as well as indigenous and exotic species. Sorj'jon system 11 would k worthwhile to examine the possibility of extending the sorjan system into the IVs of West Africa. This is a flexible soil management system, used in the lowland areas of Indonesia, which consists of raised beds for dryland crops alternating with rice in the furrows (Zandstra 1978). Bed height and breadth can be manipulated to grow a range of diverse crops. If the economic and ecological environment is favorable to rice production, then the distance between the ridges can be increased, resulting in paddies. If upland crop pduction is favored, then the bed size might be increased and the area of furrows planted to rice reduced Fig. 7).The sorjan system combines erosion control and some degree of water control, and encourages diversified cropping. A multitude of upland crops might be grown with rice during the rainy season. There is considerable variability in crop response to saturated soil and substantial variability within crop species. Breeding of upland crops should consider the shallow water table conditions of the IVs. The goal of research should be to make available to f m e r s a broad range of crop varieties with variable response to saturated soil. Sorjan is a flexible system which allows upland crops lo be grown i n any part of the valley i n any season, depending on the height of mounds or ridges. To define the height of these suuctum, the process of capillary rise must be quantified and the response of various crops to shallow groundwater table must be known. atp Suop punoj i a e m p u n d a qdap u! nuaped a q ruoy igoid plnoqs s w ~ .sagaqn q!m uogeu!qwm y Li!sia~!p do13 ionej q q m padolanap aq isnu s a n m d mudorddv .amls!om ssa3xa a L~p!~adsa 'asuodsai dm3 Bu!Lpn)s ioj pun suog!puo:, AI iapun sdo13 jo sappen Su!uaaix ioj padola~ap aq plnoqs LSo[opoqam ' s n q ~ .slauuej paseq -agi jo pooq!laA![ a q az!l!qms ol p a z y a q d q aq osp um Su!ddoIa pagpian!a.[oquo3 mam u! IuawsaAu! pgmsqns inoq!m ~n d y lazgpaj Su!3npal a[!qm m a s h paseq-a3u a q jo Ll!np3npoJd a q an[!qms a pz!saqodLq aq ue3 Supuem uaad a3ys 'saseqd uoqe~asqo pue uonmlIo3 msqduuaa a q q8noq iseal 1e 'pansmd aq plnoqs luamdo~a~ap amueru u& ioj LSolouq3a~ 1uama~oIdm! masLs Syddoi3 ioj s a s a q d q Su!qiom uo paseq padolanap aq plnoqs sa!%olouqza maN .pa~muenb aq lsnw q y m slgauaq pue nso3 reln3pled q!m q m 'alq!ssod am l w u m iaem 30 slanal p a n a s 'slu!ensuo3  8. Development of simple models to predict IV surface and groundwater depth. 9. Development of an expen system to match different levels of water control to different ecological and economic conditions and quantification of the various agronomic benefits of water control systems."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"700831d6a4189a8fa6f987112050212b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/92210e11-f387-4d52-8f3c-cb0ba999051f/retrieve","id":"-2048735732"},"keywords":["1. Models. 2. Small enterprises. 3. Small scale farming. 4. Trade. 5. Markets. 6. Agricultural sector. 7. Sustainable livelihoods. 8. Stakeholders. 9. Farmers. 10. Participatory research. 11. Innovation adoption. 12. Networks. 13. Developing countries Own Channels: -Sales Team (direct) -Web site","offices","phone (direct) -Own stores (indirect) Partner Channels: -Partner stores (indirect) -Wholesalers (indirect)"],"sieverID":"71f58069-6d65-4c62-a02f-94bb4585dc4c","content":"CIAT encourages wide dissemination of its printed and electronic publications for maximum public benefit. Thus, in most cases colleagues working in research and development should feel free to use CIAT materials for noncommercial purposes. However, the Center prohibits modification of these materials, and we expect to receive due credit. Though CIAT prepares its publications with considerable care, the Center does not guarantee their accuracy and completeness.linking small-scale producers to modern marketsThe LINK methodology will help you understand the current functioning of the market chain and key business models, design innovations that empower producer groups to engage more effectively and buyers to act in ways more amenable to small holder farmers. At the end of the day, this method seeks to build bridges between the often disparate worlds of small holder farming in the developing world and emerging market opportunities both in the global south as well as developed economies.Inclusive trading relationships are the result of business models that do not leave behind small holder farmers and in which the voices and needs of those actors in rural areas in developing countries are recognized.A profitable core business activity that also tangibly expands opportunities for the poor and disadvantaged in developing countries. (BIF 2011) An economically profitable, environmentally and socially responsible entrepreneurial initiative. (WBCSD, SNV 2011) Engage the poor as employees, suppliers, distributors, or consumers and expand their economic opportunities in a wide variety of ways. (BIF 2011) Inclusive Business models include the poor on the demand side as clients and customers, and on the supply side as employees, producers and business owners at various points in the value chain. (UNDP 2008) Linking smallholders to dynamic markets provides an opportunity for more rapid poverty reduction but ensuring that investment delivers both commercially viable products and value to smallholder presents structural challenges. Decades of underinvestment mean that small-scale producers in low-and middle-income countries often operate in areas with INADEQUATE INFRASTRUCTURE (roads, electricity, irrigation and wholesale markets). They LACK ACCESS TO SERVICES (training, credit, inputs) and are highly dependent on favorable weather. HIGH PROCUREMENT COSTS associated with collecting, grading and bulking products from DISPERSED SUPPLIERS, along with problems of farmers 'side selling' to traders, require creative solutions to aggregating production and supplying the consistent QUALITY THAT FORMAL MARKETS REQUIRE. Due to these challenges, buyers have been biased towards the reliability and consistency of large farmers and suppliers.Our goal is NOT to link the poorest farmers to the most demanding markets but to invest in moving farmers up and make markets more accessible 40-50% are subsistence farmer (e.g. maize), buy in food, and get most cash from off farm work. This toolkit will walk you through an innovation process based on a set of participatory tools adapted from value chain analysis, business model assessment, prototyping and related fields. The methodology is grounded in a set of emergent principles that have shown to be effective in supporting long-term sustainable trading relationships between small-holder farmers and formal markets. At the end of the process you will have succeeded in understanding the relationships between specific business models and the overall value chain; identified critical areas for improvement; designed, implemented, evaluated and improved innovation prototypes; built an improved business model; and, evaluated the effects of these changes on smallholder farm families and the business itself. It can improve the inclusion and livelihood of small-holder producers.This guide is based on participatory methods adapted from the school of Participative Learning and Action (PLA). These methods, which include focus groups, mapping, visualizations, and other forms of facilitated reflection, seek to prioritize not only documented results, but also the process of application. Although a concrete result is generated at each stage in the process, i.e. A map, a matrix, a table etc., these products are not the central purpose of the exercise. Of equal importance and benefit to the participants is the time and space they have invested in analysis and reflection around the methodological tool. The discussion and agreements reached are generally more important than the final tangible results of the method.The use of participatory methods in this guide encourages members to air their views and we aim to hear many voices speaking about a single market chain or business model. These points of view will be quite different -what a rural producers thinks is very different to what a city buyer thinks -but all the viewpoints have important information regarding the reality of the market chain or business model. To understand the market chain and the individual business models, their strengths and weaknesses, and the design of a shared strategy to build stable, durable and profitable trading relationships, requires listening to all voices equally. The role of the facilitator in this process is to systematize and document the information and present it back to the participants so that they can use this information to make more informed decisions on what to do together to improve their economic activity.An additional objective is the identification and development of synergies among actors involved in the business model. The organization facilitating the process should involve representatives of all relevant actors to highlight their interdependence and the possibilities of improving their business activities. This does not mean that all actors participate at all times in the activities outlined in this guide. Most private sector representatives will not attend long workshops and therefore the process facilitator may need to interview some actors to capture their opinions and relay these ideas to the group in the analysis or design phases. In all cases, private sector representatives should review the analysis of the market chain and be key participants in the final design of the business model prototypes. Despite being less participative due to time constraints, these actors can often help (or hinder) any proposed change in the market chain, and therefore must be included.Guidelines for adapting the process toRESPECTING PEOPLE'S TIME, NEEDS, AND DIFFERENCES Participant's time is valuable and should not be wasted. In certain parts of this guide, it is better to separate actors so that their time is used most effectively. Traders for example are busy people and do not appreciate time spent discussing other peoples business that is not relevant to their area of activity. The facilitator should therefore evaluate whether certain actors are best interviewed within a mixed group, or interviewed separately.As the method moves from more general themes at the level of the market chain to focus on the specific business model to be assessed and improved, it is critical to maintain the interest and momentum of the process with the participants. In some cases it may be necessary to gather additional information to assess the feasibility of proposed changes to the business model. Rather than stopping the entire group to conduct this assessment, the facilitation team may opt to identify one or two members of team (or external support actors) who can assist in this process.Each working session for this workshop should be clearly structured with objectives, proposed activities and expected results. The use of participatory methods, noted for their flexibility, should not be seen as an excuse for inadequate workshop preparation or organization. At the end of each session, participants should feel that they have gained understanding and insight into their market chain and business model and are better able to communicate that information to peers and others. An indicator of a good workshop is when all participants can clearly explain the current status of the business model as well as concrete ways that it might be improved.Finally, the process facilitation team should pay close attention to documenting and sharing results from this method early and often with participants and any other key stakeholders identified. These results need not be professionally designed but they should be complete, clear and readily understandable to all involved. For example, the analysis of the market chain might be communicated to all through a picture of the chain map with a short description of the key discussion points.The responsibility for setting and keeping a good rhythm, level of participation and documentation process lies with the facilitation team. This team, while not a direct participant in the business model, is a critical element for the successful implementation of this method and should not be overlooked.All the proposed tools aim to enhance inclusiveness for small holder farmers by strengthening trading relationships and performance of the market chain as a interdependent system.According to the specific context, needs, budget and possible entry points, every tool kit \"user\" should apply their own best judgment when selecting, using and combining those tools in the way that results most beneficial to your purpose.4 key tools: They are called 'key' because they form the basic framework through which to start an innovation process from scratch and end with an iterative functioning action cycle that contributes to greater performance and benefit for small holder farmers in the business system.2 add-on tools: Add-on's are designed to offer additional support or information to use when difficulties arise related to the innovation process as such.Neither the 4 key tools nor the 2 add-on tools are obligatory or have to be implemented in the suggested manner. Our experience has shown this to be one way to achieve the desired outcome but please feel free to recombine, add or skip over tools.How to use the TOOL KIT?This method is a prototype based on our best understanding of how to facilitate inclusive and sustained trading relationships between small holder farmers and their commercial partners. As such, users are invited to innovate around these approaches, adapt and improve them to their ends and add additional tools as needed.The following page shows a visual overview of the LINK Methodology.• Key questions: The critical questions that this guide aims to help you answer • Purpose: The intended result of each key tool • Add-on's: Complementary information that might be useful, in addition to the key tools, to gain a deeper understanding of market dynamics and the type of business model under study.highlights the flow from one key tool to the next key tool highlights possible direct entry points suggests the use of the Add-onsPurpose:(  \"We want to initiate an innovation process with the goal to enhance small holder inclusiveness\" \"We are looking to identify critical entry points to improve the position of smallholder producers in the market system\" \"There is no relevant information available and we start from scratch\" \"We are looking for a tool that can be used both by producer organizations and by companies\"I represent a company... \"We want to start sourcing from small holder producers\" \"We want to find out if it is possible to source from small holder farmers\" \"We are sourcing from small-holder producers already and want to improve our trading relationships\" \"We don´t really know who are the people behind the products that we buy\" How is the chain organized?Who are the key actors?How do products, payments, services and information flow through the chain?Who are key partners?What are the external influences that affect the performance of the chain? Identify and assess the relationship, leverage points, capacities and resources of partners including support services and stakeholdersMapping the Value Chain is one possible starting point for the inclusion of smallholder producers. It is especially helpful when starting from scratch and when participants do not share the same level of information about market chain and the context in which it is embedded.A visual map of the Value Chain facilitates an understanding of the system's dynamics and has the capacity to reveal:• Key actors involved in the chain, boundaries of the system, inter-relationships and functional roles.• Flow of goods, services, payments and information along the chain.• Linkage points, gaps or blockages between actors.Common stages in the context of agricultural small holder producers include activities of preproduction, production, post harvest, processing, selling and retailing, but can be subdivided further if required.A.  Map the value chain's core processes exercise # 1The PARTNER NETWORK is included in the market chain's wider vision and its purpose is to support, intervene or assist the different links of the chain and facilitate the development of the business. Partners are external actors or organizations (public or private) that are not included in the value chain's core stages but occupy a critical role in the functioning of the business and enable the chain to operate efficiently. Usually a value chain is supported by public or private sector partners that deliver a number of business support services at critical points of the core stages (production, post-harvest and marketing). In chains that do not function efficiently, it is probable that partners are missing or not working in an effective fashion.Including support services and stakeholders Map the value chain's partner network TIP Start a group discussion by introducing the following key questions. Capture the key discussion outcomes on paper cards and stick them to the functional stages of the core process where they belong to.Who, in each link of the market chain supports the business? How do they support the chain? What services do they offer? Are services missing? Who could provide the missing services? Who is an ally, neutral or a blocker?What are each stakeholder's domains of influence, interests, strengths and relative power to either support or block change? What is each stakeholders relative power and how is it being used? What are the key relationships in the system? Are they working well or not?What are each stakeholder's capacities and resources? What incentives could motivate a change process? Options or tactics to maximize incentives and enable change? Are additional partners needed to address challenges?Identify existing partners who are ready to commit to action and potential partners who have the capacity to be engaged in the change processThe sources of primary information on the value chain are the actors themselves.Access to this information may be limited as partners will not be able to fully participate in the workshops because of their business activities or interests. This is where market information gathered through a market survey becomes critical.  • How do laws, regulations, standards or taxes influence the value chain and the selected market?• How do private sector standards and business practices influence the value chain and the selected market?• How do other policies influence the value chain? (Pricing policies, consumer policies, etc.)• What are the cultural, religious, demographic, educational and ethnic circumstances of the value chain actors and partners? • How do values, beliefs, attitudes and lifestyle influence consumer preferences, business practices and producer organizations?• How does climate change and variability influence the value chain?• How does the chain relate to key environmental functions (e.g. water access, soil health) and do these support or inhibit the development of the chain.• Is technology available for the value chain actors and its partners?• Is the use of technology desired or possible?• How do the costs and availability of technology affect the value chain?• Is technology developed and available locally for the chain or does it come from external sources?  Or like this...• Between 12 to 50 acres of land • Between 5 to 10 acres of land comprises the set of activities, mechanisms and relationships for selling that good or service, or in other words for capturing value. Broadly speaking, the production side is associated with costs while the marketing side generates revenues, though marketing also entails costs.Customers are at the core of the business model because, without them, no business can survive. It is important to understand the needs of the customers or customer segments to determine how to best satisfy those needs. For small holder producers the customers are often unknown which makes it even more important to invest time to understand their needs and preferences. In the case of farmer organizations, customer segments can be different types of buyers. (A customer segment can be the focus of inclusive businesses but this toolkit rather focuses on the inclusion of small holders as a supplier base.)Typical Customer Segments are:• Mass market (i.e. wholesale markets)• Segmented market (i.e. distribution to a range of clients based on different quality standards) • Niche market (i.e. clients focused on a specific quality) • Diversified market (i.e. diverse products for different clients) What value do we offer to the customer? What bundles of products and services are we offering to each customer segment? Which customer need is this satisfying? What value does do we offer to upstream links e.g. supplier base? What social and environmental value do we offer? Which one of the customer's problems are we helping to solve? Does the company deliver additional value towards suppliers?The value proposition and cost management structures underpin the success of any business model. The value proposition is the reason why customers choose your product or service over another. To identify the value proposition for each customer or customer segment, consider the problem or need that your product or service satisfies. In the context of small holder inclusion, business models beyond a mere economic value are needed. The value proposition should offer a solid combination of economic, social and environmental value to both downstream (whom you sell to) and upstream (whom you buy from) actors.In the case of inclusive business models, it is important to look at the value proposition from at least two perspectives, (1) from the producer's point of view and (2) from the customer's perspective. Inclusive business models should be responsive to the realities of smallholder production as well as to market demands. For modern agri-food chains, almost all value propositions for buyers are built on high standards for food quality and safety, year-round availability, and, sometimes, lower prices, communicated to consumers through brands. BLOCK #4: CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS A business model must also describe the type of relationship it wants to establish with each customer segment in order to deliver the product or value proposition. Relationships can range from personal to automated. Consider the following aspects:• The channel of communication For what value are our customers really willing to pay?How do we create income? For what do they currently pay?How are they currently paying?How would they prefer to pay?How much does each stream contribute to overall revenues?How stable is our income stream?There are different kinds of pricing mechanisms that may be employed in a business model. These can be divided into fixed pricing and dynamic pricing mechanisms. Social inclusion and poverty reduction requires business models beyond profit with a social and environmental dimension.Adapted from: www.businessmodelgeneracion.comThe term triple bottom line was first coined by John Elkington in 1994, to highlight the fact that companies not only create economic but also social and environmental impacts and therefore carry responsibility \"not just on the economic value they add but also on the environmental and social value they add\" (Elkington 1994).There are a wide range of social and environmental impacts to measure. The most popular global sustainability frameworks outlining social category indicators and guidelines (Miller, 2007) include the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the United Nation Commission on Sustainable Development Framework (UNCSD) and the Wuppertal Sustainability Indicators.We do not attempt to introduce general social and environmental measuring tools but highlight: (1) the need for companies to measure beyond the business' profitability;(2) the space where those measurement can be included in the business model; and, (3) the need to incorporate specific indicators on small holder inclusion into any social measurement framework used by a company.The New Business Model Principles (Key tool 3) will help you identify whether the business model generates benefits beyond profit in the context of small holder inclusion and if so in which areas the benefits occur. Based on this understanding, a reasonable monitoring framework can be developed.56 CUSTOMER SEGMENTS In-depth analysis to understand the current functioning of the business and to discover opportunities to improve small holder inclusionPresent the theory of each block using the suggested key questions to guide the discussion Make sure you have prepared the canvas framework on the wall or on the floor before you start explaining the exercise as this will help the participants follow your explanations.Introduce the general framework of the business model canvas by briefly describing the nine blocks of the business model.Dive into each of the blocks using the suggested key questions to facilitate a group discussion. Keep the group discussion focused on the current state of the business model as participants tend to jump into what they would like to see rather than what is actually happening. Gather the information on paper cards and place them in the respective blocks on the business model canvas.Ask one or several participants to sum up the business canvas in their own words. Open the floor for discussion with other participants to see if there is agreement with the business model canvas as developed.Check the general performance of your business model.Some basic financial key figures:The Gross Profit Margin is an indicator for the financial health of a business and shows how much of each $ of sales, the business retains. This means, the higher the percentage, the more money is left of expenses or profit.Gross profit margin (%)* 100Break-even point = number of produced units at which income and expenses are exactly equal, thus where an organization neither profits nor looses money. The break even analysis is critical for any business owner, because you will know exactly when you begin to make a profit.Fixed costs are paid whether or not you make any sales . Fixed costs do not vary in proportion to sales or production. E.g. Rent, salaries, accountancy costs, most marketing costs.Variable costs vary directly with the volume of sales or production. E.g. Raw materials, Shipping charges,.STEP 1: REVIEW THE BUSINESS MODEL Ask one or several participants to sum-up the information from the business model canvas.The simplest way to get an idea about the health of the business model is to review the balance between revenue stream and cost structure: Do revenue streams exceed costs? Is sufficient profit generated to consider the business to be \"attractive\"?A closer look at some key figures will tell you in more detail how the business model is performing in terms of profitability and efficiency: Gross Profit margin: How profitable is the business model? What is the ratio between profit and \"sunk\" costs (=cost efficiency) ? What is the ratio of profit to revenue? How many products have to be sold to make a profit?Brainstorm in small groups about the strengths and weaknesses of the business model. For this you can either look at the business model as a whole or at each of the nine business model blocks. Highlight strengths and weaknesses by usingplus and minus signs, different colored paper cards or other signs that can be easily associated with positive and negative aspects. Locate strengths and weaknesses originating from the business' environment around the canvas, and indicate the cause or driver of the mentioned effect. ( Add-on #1 can be a helpful to identify Drivers, Trends and key implications). Discuss the results in plenary and note the results of the discussion. The Business Model Canvas can be further evaluated applying a standard SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity and Threats) 59 exercise # 5Set a vision, motivate the team and canalize action to reach the target.There is no need to arrive at one future business model. Rather the exercise can be used to explore different possible business models.Invite the participants to explore both minor changes in the existing business model as well as radical changes. In a multi stakeholder process, especially with long trading chains, it is likely that an analysis of one individual business model does not sufficiently represent trading partners located up and downstream in the chain.Depending on the focus of the analysis, two different options of business model integration can be considered:The logic of this method is that, in a value chain, your customer is another's supplier. Understanding these linkages is critical for the quality of trade relationships and are the focus of this exercise. Here we aim to highlight the individual needs of each actor and how the interlinked trade partners are responding to those needs.A system-wide business model integrates the value chain into one business model canvas with a slightly adapted layout. This exercise is only useful if the supply chain can be considered a \"value\" chain, in the sense that there is significant cohesion and collaboration between chain actors. A system-wide business model implies that one specific value chain has been selected (even though the same organizations offers different products) and that all actors share a common vision.Customer or supplier? -A question of perspective.Incorporate the multi actor view of the value chain into the Business Model Canvas concept.Its useful to have previously finished a Value chain analysis as described in Key tool 1.After building the individual Business Model Canvas for each relevant (group of) actor(s), the individual business models can be stitched together to form a chain.Recall the order of the Value chain's core processes and make sure that the relevant information about all the business models is available in their individual form. If the business models are not available in a handy format from former exercises, ask each (group) of actors to copy their business model on a large piece of paper, leaving in blank the block of customers and partners.In a trading relation, two independent organizations intersect on the outside blocks of the business model canvas. The relevant blocks are the \"customers\" (including B2B activities) and the \"partners\" (including suppliers). In this exercise it is important to focus on the specific links that are established between two or more consecutive actors in the chain.This exercise focuses on the \"double value proposition\" where a business model offers distinct forms of value when facing customers (downstream) or when facing suppliers (upstream).Identify and highlight the individual needs (social and commercial) of each actor and how the respective trading partner responds to those needs. Gaps between existing needs and the value proposition causes instability along the chain and may present a potential area for change.67 exercise # 7 The innovative business proposal of the social intermediary Alianza Hortofruticola ALSUR aims to connect producer organizations with a portfolio of 25 products of fresh fruits and vegetables to customers (mainly urban supermarket in Cali region) lead by a shared goal to develop stable and lucrative business processes and specialized channels that contribute to an improvement of livelihood.In order to respond better to both stakeholder groups, Alianza Hortofruticola ALSUR, developed a specific value proposition for supplier and for customers taking into account their individual needs.• Establish direct partnerships between rural producers groups and customers in different market channels Cuatro Pinos manages its purchasing from small holders through formal contracts, specifying quantity, quality and a production schedule as well as providing a fixed price for the product. This fixed price contract has been shown to consistently return 7-10 per cent above the spot price market. Additionally Cuatro Pinos provides in-kind credit for seeds and inputs, technical assistance, insurance and marketing services. Recently the Cooperative has also accessed government supported weather insurance to help cover crop-related risks.To ensure supply, scalability, and product quality, Cuatro Pinos identifies existing farmer groups in favorable environmental niches, works with them to test production schemes and then contracts those that show an ability to meet quantity and quality targets. The cooperative is the only farmer organization in Guatemala that has had both farm and processing level GlobalGAP certification as well as an on-site pesticide residue lab.Case Example -Chiyangua, ColombiaChiyangua was founded in 1994 in Guapi, a small village on Colombian's pacific coast line and is the result of the local effort of a group of men and women, concerned with conservation of traditional ethnical aspects of afro Colombian culture. Chiyangua put farmer women in the centre of their activities.Aromatic plants and condiments have always been a traditional part of afro Colombian culture but with the time Chiyangua observed that the traditional plants such as long leaved coriander more and more disappeared from local dishes and were replaced by artificial food enhancers that were introduced to the remote village by the city people.This concerning development was the beginning of a countermovement of the local promotion to enhance the consumption and use of traditional herbs and spices in food and beverages. In addition, Chiyangua initiated their aromatic plant production program for female farmers in the region. Supported by national and international grants, Chiyangua introduced to farmers an innovative production system adapted to the flood afflicted region. Women in the Guapi region started the production of aromatic plants in elevated beets (2x10m) made of wood. This production system has an initial cost of US$ 100 and can deliver a monthly income of up to US$ 200 with the advantage that aromatic plants are relatively low time consuming and allow the women to dedicate themselves to other income activates.Chiyangua is locally well known and a very respected organization in the community mainly providing inputs (seeds, know-how) and technical assistance to currently 84 female farmers.APROCA is a small holder cocoa producer organization with 100 direct members and four sister organizations (total 400 cocoa growers) located in the north-west of Ecuador's Pacific coast.The association buys the finely selected national variety of cocoa from its members in form of mucilaginous pulp (called \"baba\") which is then fermented, dried and selected on-site with quality standards to meet the high customer requirements. The traditional production procedures (on farm and post harvest) guaranty chemical free high quality cocoa. APROCA's work aims to strengthen the cocoa chain and the associated cocoa farmers by promoting community work, gender equality and the use of traditional afro-Ecuadorian knowledge and practices. APROCA and its 4 sister associations offer a gourmet Cacao that is certified by FAIR TRADE and the USDA Organic label.The association manages to pay prices higher than the regional market prices to the associated farmers and additionally provides technical assistance embedded in a continuous quality improvement process.APROCA has a yearly sales volume of about 900 quintals of dried cocoa, whereof 40% goes to the export market.Case Example -APROCA, Ecuador • Focus the business model analysis on areas that are critical to the sustained inclusion of small holder farmers.• Assess the performance of the business model in themes that are critical to the sustained inclusion of small holder farmers.• Help identify possible areas of innovation and improvement in the selected business model.• Provide inputs for the design of an improved business model for the engagement of small holder famers.The New Business Model principles are not a magic bullet to achieve smallholder inclusion.These principles should not be taken as a check-list but rather as guideposts to assess and improve business models. The application of these principles is designed to be flexible. As a result we ask that practitioners apply their best judgment to these principles. This means you are required to think about what each principle means inns in your context and not merely copy other models.WHY NBM PRINCIPLES AND HOW TO USE THEM? 82The Business Model Principles are designed to be used as critical success factors to guide the process of assessing a business model and selecting areas of change. In the business model analysis, these principles act as lenses to help us review critical aspects of our business model, prioritize among them and select promising areas for innovation and improvement. These principles are not normative but should be used to deepen the analysis and discussion about how to improve the business model under review or design. These principles are emergent in the sense that they are drawn from a range of case studies conducted on successful examples of inclusive business in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The studies did not examine failed attempts at linkages nor did they seek to develop a series of normative check-lists that must be achieved in order to develop an inclusive business model. Rather these principles should be taken as sign posts that indicate issues and/or topics where care should be exercised when constructing an inclusive business model that links small holder farmers with modern markets. Not all principles will be present in all cases and quite often one or several will be of critical importance while others may be of lesser importance or missing entirely. We suggest that these ideas be applied as design principles accompanied with a large dose of common sense, innovation and adaptation to make them useful to local conditions. Source: B. Vorley, \"Linking Worlds: New Business Models for Sustainable Trading Relations between smallholders and Formalized Markets. 2009.Small-scale producers and farmers face a number of limiting factors which make them less attractive to work with in a modern agri-food system. These include low and inconsistent production volumes, limited planning skills and opportunities, dispersed production, incipient business organization, limited capacity to upgrade and meet formal market requirements, poor access to information, technology and finance, and high transaction costs. For farmers and their organizations, market linkages should provide a STABLE MARKET with clear quality, volume and price signals as well as access to key services (Principle 4). These linkages must contribution to improved livelihoods. For buyers, solutions must provide A CONSISTENT SUPPLY of safe, quality products at a competitive price.The achievement of both producer and buyer goals in practice requires the delivering social and commercial value up and down the chain.Fair and transparent governance refers to the establishment and enforcement of CLEAR AND CONSISTENT GRADES AND STANDARDS, CLEAR COMMITMENTS to buy and sell certain volumes of certain grade products at certain times, and equitable processes of RISK MANAGEMENT.between chain actors is a key criteria. Shared commercial risk and insurance against failure are frequently cited as the cement of successful relationships.One of the special challenges faced by small-scale producers is access to services such as finance, market information, and best agronomic practices that could improve quality, yields, food safety, and environment performance.Successful solutions enable smallholders to ACCESS CREDIT, KNOWLEDGE, TECHNOLOGY, and develop incentives that encourage producers to invest in their own production based on market needs.New business models PROMOTE INNOVATION by multiple actors along the chain in PRODUCTS and SERVICES as well as the PROCESSES that underpin both.Innovations should be done 'WITH' SMALLHOLDER FARMERS, rather than 'for' them. Inclusive access to innovation provides a means to remain competitive in dynamic markets; build the commercial value of goods and services; and, share innovation gains among partners all of which builds business durability.The business axiom states that you cannot manage what you do not measure. Our sixth principle is to incorporate TAILORED INDICATORS AND MONITORING PLANS to assess the health of the on-going trading relationship as a forprofit business and also its effectiveness as a vehicle for community development.Constant monitoring of the health of the trading relationship reduces the risk the minor problems will destroy the business.THE NBM PRINCIPLES -KEY QUESTIONSAre the goals to clear to all actors in the chain?Is there opportunity for co-investment or shared decision making in the chain? Are there structures in place for collaboration or shared problem solving?Are there one or more champions who will lead the process of coinnovation?How easy or difficult is it to buy (find product) and sell (find buyer) in this chain?How are sellers linked to buyers? Are linkages stable or constantly changing? Do buyers know where their product comes from? Do farmers know where their product is consumed? Is there evidence of product or process innovation?If so, who participates and why?If innovation is evident, who gains from the results? Are there profit-sharing mechanisms in place?Is innovation encouraged among all actors in the chain?What are the incentives? Is there opportunity for co-investment and shared decision making in the chain? Are there structures in place for collaboration or shared problem solving?Are there one or more champions who will lead or facilitate the process of coinnovation?SHARED GOALS Do actors in the system pull the same way?The development of a systemic view of the chain stretches the usual boundaries of the business model, which has focused on the individual firm and its internal processes, to one of chain-wide processes involving multiple actors. A collaborative partner network is vital for perishable commodities such as fresh vegetables, dairy and meat, which require traceability and have higher food safety risk profiles. But collaboration is also key to upgrading a commodity chain in terms of quality, sustainability or small holder inclusion. This is increasingly visible in the growing number of certified products, such as organics, Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade and other certification-based systems. Where critical elements of the supply chain add strong incentives for articulation, such as food safety or quality, this creates an even stronger collaboration vehicle for identification and resolution of problems.Who is leading the process of collaboration?The term 'collaboration' should not be used to gloss over the fact that chain stakeholders may not have an interest in increasing transparency and collaboration, or that the interests of smallholders differ from those of intermediaries and lead firms. Reaching and implementing agreement often involves identifying one or more champions to lead the process. These champions may be from the lead firm, from a dedicated wholesaler, from a facilitating NGO, or a motivated farmer, or co-operative manager and might be a single individual or a group of people. Effective facilitation often requires building a group of champions drawn from different groups along the chain.• How easy or difficult is it to buy (find products) and sell (find buyer) products in this chain?• How are sellers linked to buyers? Are linkages stable or constantly changing?• Do buyers know where their product comes from?• Do farmers know where their product is consumed?How can small-scale suppliers compete?Partner networks, with co-investment and knowledge-sharing between producers, suppliers, processors and retailers, are usually built around a small number of largescale preferred suppliers. Inclusive business models must therefore build on market linkages that put small-scale suppliers on par with, or above, the competitiveness of large-scale suppliers. In practice this means that the buyer interacts with the small farmer organizations in the same way as he would interact with large suppliers.For farmers and their organizations, these linkages should provide a stable market with clear quality, volume and price signals as well as access to production support (link to Principle 4) and contribute to improved livelihoods. For buyers, these linkages must provide a consistent supply of safe, quality products at a competitive price and with low transaction costs.At its simplest, chain linkage can achieve direct trade between end customer and primary producer, but the high level of transaction costs in direct market linkages can be justified only for the most exclusive 'boutique' products and brands.Where direct collaboration is not feasible or scalable, adapted business models are called for. From the producer side, group organization increases farmers' incentives to cooperate to compete as one single supplier, by restricting their opportunistic behavior and by mutual control. This type of collective action saves costs for quality and quantity verification and testing.Business models can take many forms and be led by different members of the chain. At the level of food manufacturers and retailers, this principle could include a commitment to seek out these organizations of small-scale producers in order to incorporate them into the supplier base -or for market-oriented NGOs, a commitment to assist in facilitating farmers to develop organizations where none currently exist.At the level of trading the principle could comprise the establishment of new trading organizations as 'double specialized business intermediaries' with an integrated development mission, in addition to a clear business objective such as Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar (see case example in Principle 4), or even a 'franchisable' social trader model.Farmers of the Northern Mindanao Vegetable Producers' Association, NorminVeggies, are able to successfully participate in dynamic vegetable chains primarily because of the organizational structure they chose in order to respond to the market challenges. The association formed marketing clusters, based on farmer's capability, interest and capitalization. They follow a quality assurance plan for each product, have training for good agricultural practices, and designated lead farmers to act as quality managers and coaches. Small farmers are clustered with independent farmers who help jumpstart quality production. Benefits and accountability for quality are shared with all the cluster members. Products are traceable to the farm and farmer who supplied each pack or crate of produce. Farmers maintain ownership of their own products up to the institutional market and therefore have a greater participation in the chain. NormiVeggies supplies multiple market outlets -exports, supermarkets, hotels, wholesale and local markets -spreading risks and ensuring an outlet for all products. For these services, NorminVeggies earns a market facilitation fee based on the value of the sale and uses the income to cover the marketing management overhead. • Are standards, processes, and prices clear and consistent across the chain?• Are production, financial and commercial risks understood and shared proportionately along the chain?• Is there evidence of formal or informal contract adherence? If so, why? If not, under what conditions do contracts break down?TRANSPARENT AND CONSISTENT RULES Does everyone understand the rules of the game?Governance refers to the setting, monitoring and enforcement of formal and informal rules along the chain. Rules pertain to terms of trade, including price setting, payment terms, grades and standards and regularity of delivery, often referred to as buying conditions. Specifically, fair and transparent governance refers to the establishment and enforcement of clear and consistent grades and standards, clear commitments to buy and sell certain volumes of certain grade products at certain times, and equitable processes of risk management.Mutually recognized interdependency between chain actors appears key. Shared commercial risk and insurance against failure are frequently cited as the cement of successful relationships. This can be achieved formally or informally, but the guarantees must be transparent in ways that enable the chain to be regularly monitored and rules enforced through an agreed facilitator, chain self-regulation or other mechanisms down and up the chain.Accountability can be achieved through mechanisms such as co-development, management and consistent application of standards, use of contracts to enhance predictability and transparency for producers, improved forecasting and planning, clear, consistent and known guidelines for pricing, quality grades, among others.New business models also seek to make incentives transparent and assist in their accrual to the actors responsible for positive change.Examples from different models include incentives for meeting or exceeding quality and quantity goals, contracts that leverage access to credit, access to reasonably priced inputs, etc. The key issue here is the need to align incentives with outcomes.While it is not constructive to over-regulate chain activities and/or governance, it is important to have a minimum level of common understanding on which to base decision making.The business of exporting vegetables is inherently risky. Losses due to damaged products from shipping or other factors are commonplace and often the result of difficulties beyond the control of chain members. In recognition of this fact, the exporter (Cuatro Pinos cooperative) and wholesaler (LA Salad) for a smallholder French bean chain developed a novel way to manage this risk. Through an informal agreement, 10% of the value of each box of French beans sold is placed into a settlement account. This account is jointly managed by the cooperative and the wholesaler in the US. Funds in this account are used to write off damaged product, invest in technical assistance on food safety and new product development, and for unforeseen circumstances. Both parties have agreed that first use of these funds is to guarantee payment to farmers, with other expenses taking secondary consideration. In the 2005-2006 production season, nearly US $230,000 were used to write off loans issued to farmers who lost their crops in Hurricane Stan. This fund is a novel way to plan for, and respond to, risks inherent to the export of fresh produce and is a good example of shared risk management. The double specialized intermediary The need for service providers that can meet the rigorous food safety demands of formal buyers and also meet the service needs of farmers has led to the development of a new generation of private sector intermediaries that can bridge the two worlds of smallholder farmers and formal companies. These double specialized intermediaries can use their skills to improve or build supply chains that enable smallholders to access credit, knowledge, technology, and develop incentives that encourage producers to invest in their own production based on market needs.Finance, information and technology can be provided by the 'downstream' buyer, or by an agent of the buyer, by an NGO or NGObusiness partnership, or by a commercial arm of a producer organization, or by the producer organization itself. Due to the combination of commercial and social goals, new business models that seek sustainable development frequently require additional inputs of non-chain actors such as NGOs. To support the position of less endowed chain actors, the NGO often plays a catalytic or convening role, identifying opportunities for smallholders and making investments in bringing chain actors together to discuss and agree on common commercial and social goals. . Normally, this role is temporary and should be designed with clear exist strategies to avoid shocks to the system when development funding dries up.New business models seek configurations in which intermediaries provide access to additional technical and financial services and share risks with smallholder farmers. For farmers with small landholdings, a contract can be used as a guarantee for loans; there are a growing number of finance providers, who are prepared to provide cash flow credit to smallholders who have secure contracts in place.A new generation of commercial intermediary in India is demonstrating that service provision can itself be a profitable part of a business model focused on inclusive growth. The rural retailer, Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar, which is part of the DSCL conglomerate, sells agri-inputs and consumer goods through its chain of centres, which also serve as a common platform for providers of financial services, health services, etc. The Haryali centres are procurement hubs for farm outputs, providing buyback and warehousing, and thus creating multiple revenue streams based on transparent and effective participation in input as well as output value chains. Each Hariyali store has a catchment radius of 20 to 25 km, comprising about 15-20,000 farming families. They aim to provide producers with 'urban amenities in rural areas,' easy availability of quality products at 'city-like' fair prices and, through IT, provide commodity prices and commodity futures, as well as ATM access and weather forecasts. On the procurement side, they create linkages between producers and processors, exporters and retailers. • Is there evidence of product or process innovation? If so, who participates and why?• If innovation is evident, who gains from the results? Are there profit-sharing mechanisms in place?• Is innovation encouraged among all actors in the chain?• What are the incentives or disincentives for innovation?How can we grow the value of goods and services from the chain?Effective new business models promote collaborative innovation by multiple actors along the chain in products and services as well as the processes that underpin both. Important innovations in supply chains range from new products, development of best practices, development of standards, to development of new supply chain organizational structures to entering new markets or servicing more efficiently existing clients. Too many development interventions are done 'for' smallholder farmers, rather than 'with' them, failing to consult and incorporate perspectives and needs throughout the chain. By way of example, it is one of the enduring ironies of sustainable development that compliance with some certification schemes introduced into the market in the name of 'sustainability' are proportionately much more costly for smallholders, thus magnifying existing inequalities in the rural economy.Innovation is important because it links directly to differentiation in the marketplace which is a prime driver for maintaining a competitive position by retail firms and, indirectly, the business model. Traditionally, product and process innovation has occurred in-house with the lead firm dominating the process and reaping the benefits. However, the entire chain can be engaged to achieve even greater gains in product and process innovation than those available to the lead firm in the chain. This is especially critical when the innovation goals include complex demands such as triple bottom line People-Planet-Profit gains or are based on product life-cycle analysis.A systemic approach to innovation allows greater understanding of the interdependencies between actors as well as shared access to the potential returns on coordination and joint activities. The end result is an improvement in the competitive position of the chain as a whole rather than the accruement of additional value to one member or subset of members in the chain.A chain that can grow the value of the goods and services it provides, is capable of having more constructive discussions about how to adequately share those values among participants than one whose goods and services are static or declining in the market. Effective business models fully engage all actors in the system to improve performance and are willing to share gains in a proportional way.In Colombia, the Centro Internacional de Agriculture Tropical, (CIAT) has worked to develop chain-wide innovation methods that work with representatives along a chain. The process entitled GIAR, Gestores de Innovación en Agroindustria Rural or 'Leaders in Rural Agro-Industrial Innovation,' is a toolbox designed to build a team of partners who focus on unmet market opportunities in a specific chain and then work to identify and provide solutions to critical bottlenecks in the market chain to take advantage of the identified opportunities. The team is responsible for providing innovation and solutions that market chain partners can use to upgrade their position in the market. Success in this area is critical where market forces tend to favor procurement towards those who can afford to innovate.Unilever has been developing a commercial supply chain for seeds from the Allanblackia tree in West Africa since 2001. One of the major limitations to scaling up the supply base had been the time needed for seed germination. As the Financial Times reported in September 2008, a surprising source of innovation helped resolve this problem. Scientists from Ghana's Forestry Research Institute had been working to find a faster method of germination for the seeds of the Allanblackia tree. But it was not until the team met a farmer who was using plastic bags for seed germination that part of the solution emerged. Meanwhile, another farmer had found that removing the husks of the seeds also hastened germination. \"We combined the two and, within three weeks, the roots were growing,\" says Samuel Henneh, operations manager at Novel Development, which is developing the new oil supply chain. \"That success story was caused by two farmers. So now we don't joke with the farmers -we behave as if we know nothing and we ask them to tell us their stories.\" The source of this breakthrough reveals the importance of learning from all partners including the beneficiaries for companies involved in pro-poor commercial initiatives. Incorporating tailored indicators and monitoring plans helps to assess the health of the trading relationship as a for-profit business and also its effects as a vehicle for community development. The 6 th principle proposes measuring the effectiveness of the business model for all involved in a continuous fashion. This has not to be complex -regular communications, meetings and visits are valid mechanisms -but should clearly focus on identifying and responding early to issues and problems before they threaten the trading relationship. On the flip side, these tools can also help to identify and take advantage of emerging opportunities either in chain upgrading, new product development or new market engagement.• Are commercial and developmental goals and indicators known and shared along the chain?• What systems are in place to effectively measure or analyze indicators?• How does the chain deal with difficulties and crisis management?• Do improvements to chain activities benefit all members of the chain? Why or why not?The inclusive process measurements that involves chain actors can itself become a driver of much closer collaboration (Principle 1) and a chain wide learning experience. Examples of inclusive process include regular, joint review of market trends and strategies to maintain or improve market position and joint development of plans to upgrade product quality and quantities based on market conditions. Once the trading relationship is functioning in a stable manner, we can begin to assess the effects of this relationship on broader development issues such as smallholder livelihoods or even community development.The simplest measure, the number of farmers linked to a new market, is only one part of the story. Linking small-scale producers to markets does not automatically lead to development and improved livelihoods, although many claims in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and business development reports would suggest otherwise. A slightly more complete level of measurement is a simple cost-benefit analysis to assure that participation in the chain is profitable for all, including small-scale producers. But measurement of 'sustainable trading relationships' would most effectively probe a step further. Improvements in producer income from specialization for high-value markets may be obtained at the expense of the resilience of the household economy, long-term food security, the position of women in the household, or environmental resilience. So, measures of food security, gender relations and environmental aspects are additional dimensions for measurement in areas where these are important issues. This information, especially well-documented evidence that shows developmental impact, has a market value for the buyers (i.e. CSR reports).It is insufficient however to only measure what is happening in the chain. Rather, a new business model requires both measurement and action on what is found by those measurements. Actions may be positive -i.e. scaling up good experiences -or more focused on problem solving -how can practices improve -but the critical factor is that the effects of the chain are measured, the results shared openly with chain actors and decisions on how to improve taken in a collective fashion.The brewery company SABMiller has made a commitment to supporting local farming communities in a number of countries where it operates: South Africa, India, Uganda, Zambia and Tanzania, using insourcing and out-sourcing models and hybrid 'partnership' models. A hybrid partnership is defined as specific activities outsourced to suppliers under close control and supervision. SABMiller also appreciated the need to evaluate socio-economic benefits of its smallholder programmes, if scaling up was to be successful. Through external reviews it could measure the income benefits to farmers producing sorghum in Eagle Lager's value chain and measure the number of farming families and dependents. Participating farmers reported more stable prices and a more stable, long-term market compared to other local crops. But external evaluation also could show where SABMiller could improve performance; where payments to farmers were delayed, or there were mismatches in supply and demand leading to stockpiling and big variations in orders from year to year (especially where lack of irrigation leads to big variation in harvests), or where the outsourcing company was reverting to supply from large commercial farms.Sources: Business Linkages: Lessons, Opportunities, and Challenges. IFC PRINCIPLE #6: Measurement of outcomesBeyond the specific decisions made to-date regarding the French bean chain in Guatemala, the process of working with supply chain actors to assess the sustainability of their systems shows promise on several fronts. First, increasing the visibility to all actors of their interdependence and need for collective action has been a positive outcome. Greater knowledge of the reach of each actor's decisions, while not in itself a guarantee of better decisions, helps generate more informed dialogue about options and highlights the tradeoffs between short-term pressures and long-term business sustainability. Second, increased access to shared information supports more creative problem solving. Again while not a cure for all ills, this information permits actors to better understand the causes of difficulties and work together to identify solutions. Finally, a process through which actors are shown their own system but not provided with ready made solutions -of which few exist -seems effective in promoting generative learning at the individual and collective level and thus not only better solutions but better relationships and, finally, a stronger supply chain.  Assess the inclusivity of your business model STEP 1: Introduce the concept of the New Business Model Principles These principles point to innovations that improve the efficiency of the chain in a way that is inclusive, durable, equitable, effective, adaptive and credible.Start this exercise by discussing key questions, practical guidelines and case examples that are presented in this section. You can add on other principles that rise from the context of you organization.The evaluation of your organization or value chain under inclusivity aspects, will help to identify innovation areas.The New Business Model Principles Scorecard is designed to (1) facilitate the measure an organizations (or chain of organization) inclusivity (2) to show precise activities that can have the potential to enhance the inclusivity process.Through six different ranking levels from 0-5 you are invited to evaluate your organization's performance. There exist different ranking options: Plenary ranking: Make the scorecard visible to all and agree on a group score for each criteria through a plenary discussion. Calculate the score for each principle by calculating the average of all criteria. Visualize the group's result in a spider diagram.Individual ranking: Hand out a scorecard to each participant. Every participant completes the form individually. Participants then calculate their individual score for each principle. This score is later added up with the other participants scores and an average is calculated which is visualized in a spider diagram.Free ranking: Another option to measure performance is a free ranking only guided by the indicated key questions. This method requires a high understanding of the concept of the New Business Model Principles. It is recommended to include a brief explanation for the motives behind the taken decision which will help to avoid misunderstandings and delivers important insights in how to improve performance.The new business model principles are not a magic bullet nor a check-list for effective small holder inclusion.You need to apply your own best judgment when using the principles considering your situation and wider context.Not all principles will be applicable in all situations and some may be much more or less important depending on your context.Discuss the results in plenary and brainstorm about the reasons behind the group's ranking result.STEP 4: Prioritize and prepare for action Discuss with the group where to focus immediate action. Especially in the beginning, try not to focus on too many areas but rather choose one as a pilot and then repeat the innovation process in other areas after progress is observed and participants gain confidence in how to improve the business model. If a consensus cannot be reached in a plenary discussion or through direct voting, you can use a decision matrix including criteria such as: implementation costs, expenditure of time for implementation, dependence on external actors for implementation, etc..Where we want to start the innovation process? Do key actors agree on this innovation area? Who is missing out and why? What incentives are needed to guarantee the participation of key actors in the innovation process?When selecting areas for business model innovation, keep in mind:• Time and funding constraints: we need to be realistic about what it is feasible to accomplish within given time / budget limits.• Power relationships are a key constraint for new business models. Sometimes it is easier to start with a relatively small innovation to dispel distrust and/or fear prior to moving towards more transformative change. • Alignment around a key, shared market goal or objective or, on the flip side, common threat can help promote collaboration.• Trading relationships will always, by necessity, be a site of tension even when strongly collaborative. That's where innovation comes from. • More important than designing a perfect solution is to start moving forward and learning together. A simple table can capture the scores and is especially handy when each participant ranks individuallyAssess the inclusivity of your business model 102 exercise # 8Check how the existing business model performs under the criteria of inclusivity.The Spider diagram is a useful form of presentation for a group's result after an individual ranking through the scorecard, or a direct ranking in plenary. Two Producer organizations Coffee roasting company with own coffee shops in three citiesBuying philosophy is driven by intrinsic quality. They believes that to get such coffees they need to work closely with producers, Farmers that don't get paid well for their work don't change management, and those who don't respect their land and the people who work on the farm face a constant uphill battle to produce quality.\"A direct trade model\"The principal mechanism is direct travel by Intelligentsia staff for face to face strategy meetings two or three months before the harvest to outline the business goals with all partners. Besides the pre-harvest strategy meeting, Intelligentsia staff attempts to also visit source during the harvest to monitor quality, and post-harvest to review, evaluate and celebrate successA new mechanism that is being implemented is the annual \"Extraordinary Coffee Workshop\" in which Intelligentsia brings together farmers from different coffee origins to discuss issues related to quality, market trends and other relevant issues.Intelligentsia provides direct links to the final customer and directly identifies high quality producers. The quality based business model requires Intelligentsia to make considerable up front investment to identify marketable products Intelligentsia's quality based business model requires consumer integration for its success. Consumer education about coffee production and sourcing processes and about coffee quality has a high priority for the firm.Principle # 2: Effective market linkagesTransparency contract that defines and documents pricing, responsibilities, costs and profit across the chain of custody. All the trade participants must agree to transparent disclosure of financial deliveries back to the individual farmers Long term contracts: Contracts in the first and second year of the business relationship are for one year. In the third year, given measurable success and tangible confidence, multiple year contracts (up to 3 years) are designed.Pricing premium and clear pricing structure: The verifiable price in the Direct Trade Model to the grower or the local coop, not simply the exporter, must be at least 25% above the Fairtrade price. The Intelligentsia Tiered Pricing System establishes a sustainable base price and ensures there is a clear, tangible link between cup quality and coffee value.  Intelligentsia has implemented an interesting way to ensure that the premiums paid are actually reaching producers. Individual growers are deploying a peer control system: during the pre-harvest meetings it is clarified what individual farmers will receive. Then, communication channels between Intelligentsia and individual farmers are set up. Producers use these channels in case that their cooperative or the intermediary is not disbursing premiums as agreed upon I the contract.In some cases where coops are much larger, Intelligentsia also makes use of certification schemes such as Rainforest Alliance and UTZ to track payments. Interestingly these certifications are not communicated to the final clients.  Sustainable Harvest is a specialty coffee importer that uses the Relationship Coffee model to bring partners together in a sustainable supply chain that serves everyone involved -from the farmer to the final consumer. This approach builds direct, transparent market linkages for coffee growers while investing in training and management systems to improve their ability to produce high quality coffee.CASE EXAMPLE: Sustainable Harvest, US Let's Talk Coffee is an annual event hold by Sustainable harvest and its partners along the value chain that brings together hundreds of coffee roasters and growers for direct conversations in an innovative and transparent forum.In an industry where it is often difficult for partners to meet face-to-face, Let's Talk Coffee provides a unique platform for business partners to create and maintain open lines of communication, humanizing their business relationships and bringing the Relationship Coffee model to life.Participants gather to gain an understanding of collective, practical actions that can be taken to ensure a future of specialty coffee. This years program focused on price risk management, quality calibration, and farmer income diversification.In 2012 the event counted 379 participants including producer organizations, coffee roasters, non-profit organizations and financial institutions from 22 countries.A direct result and benefit of the Let's talk coffee forum are 11 million pounds of coffee sales that were negotiated during meetings at the event. Provide a framework to move from the analysis of the current business model to a process of iterative designtesting-evaluation to improve specific areas of the business model.Facilitate practical, learn-by-doing cycles that permit rapid testing and learning to achieve faster results.Identify ways to measure progress towards an improved business model, highlight what is working well and what is not working well and assist in reaching scalable improvements.Encourage the engagement of all members of the business model in dialog and testing of improvements.Design a perfect solution to improve your business model right awayThe prototype cycle is designed as an iterative learning process. Learning will occur as we move forward towards our goals. Trying new things is inherently risky with failure as possible. This tool does not guarantee success but rather a process in which to 'fail forward'.Where is our business model today?Where do we want our business model to be in the future? STEP 2: Prioritize Once the key areas of intervention have been identified and defined, the working group needs to rank them by importance, feasibility, impact potential and/or required resources. Often all the issues seems to be important and, as a result, we don't know where to begin.• When \"Importance\" is the prioritizing criteria, a pair wise ranking matrix can be helpful. Each areas of change is placed both on the vertical and horizontal axis. Each pair of ideas is compare only once, so the bottom half of the matrix is not used. Each pair of option is then compared to decide which is more important to develop first. Keep track of the number of times each idea ends up as best. • When \"Required resources\" is the main prioritizing criteria, try a matrix placing all the areas of change on the vertical axis and locate next to each area the required resources. Then tag if those resources are available or not.This exercise is not necessary if you have already identified one or more areas of innovation through the New Business Model Principle Radar Diagram in KEY TOOL #3.Outline the strategy of change on a macro level.Define a change strategy STEP 1: Baseline diagnostic Where are we today? Where do we start?What key elements do we wish to improve?For each innovation area, formulate a brief diagnostic statement that summarizes the essence of the current situation. Write out each statement on a separate piece of paper and locate it on the left side of a wall. The baseline statement is underlined by the current state of the business model canvas.What is the desired outcome? What will success look like? What do we plan to achieve? How will the key elements identified above change? What will be different in terms of knowledge, attitudes and practices?For each area of change, formulate a brief vision for a desired future state using the guiding questions above. Write out the vision statement on a piece of paper that you locate on the right hand side of a wall in line with its respective baseline diagnosis.Be sure to note the resulting discussion including any comments, questions, suggestions or conflicts as they occur through out this process. EXPECT TO SEE Refers to the minimal change that the innovation pathway should bring about. \"Expect to see\" changes are relatively easy to achieve and often represent initial changes in the behavior, actions, activities, or relationships of the value chain actors. After having identified areas of innovation and having built a specific action plan for each innovation area, we are now moving on to the implementation phase and need assessment that helps to reveal if we are on the right track or not.OUTCOME MONITORING measures how an intervention influences behavior, relationships and activities of the key actors involved in the intervention through a set a graduated indicators. The collected information is reported in an outcome journal.  How can we know when we are moving towards the desired outcome? What milestones will mark the transformation process?Next, select the cards that require minimal changes (expect to see), the ones that require a more complex changes (like to see) and the ones that deep transformational changes (love to see). Ideas that are mention double are eliminated and complimentary ideas can be grouped together.Ideally there should be no more than 15 progress markers in the list, otherwise the data collection will be to difficult.In the end the groups reviews each innovation pathway and the selected progress markers in order to make sure that all participants agree and that there are no elements missing. It is important that the progress markers capture the change of the major milestones.At this stage in the process the diagnose and planning is complete and the groups need to take the plunge into their new business ventures. As with all planning, implementation often leads to the arrival of unexpected challenges that need to be dealt with by the group and the facilitator as they arise. Success at this stage will depend in the leadership of the group and the commitment of the team to take on these new challenges and deal with them pragmatically. Together with the Kenyan non profit organization SMS Limited (Sustainable Management Services), Hivos developed the Leverage Quality Improvement (LQI) model. It is a bottom-up approach that heavily relies on the farmers to improve their situation by empowering them to do so. Few smallholder farmers manage to be significant more productive average with higher grade crops. Those farmers can act as examples to others.Farmers are organized in groups of 50. They select a male and a female \"promoter farmer\" on criteria such as being an opinion leader, being a native farmer, being available for training and being able to read and write in English.The promoter farmers are trained on agricultural practices and record keeping and supported to train their group. This train-to-trainer element makes the model highly effective and cost efficient, requiring limited resources for training and support and scales to tens of thousands of smallholder farmers. The promoter farmers are integrated in a continuous improvement process with actors in the value chain. Based on ISO quality approach the actors go through a plan-do-check-act cycle with regular meetings, reporting, and prices assurance with independent auditing. This process ensures that realistic, attainable goals are set that lifts the chain up to a higher quality level in every cycle. Farmers witness benefits in the short term and stay committed to the process over time. By starting with 11.768 farmers in 4 cooperatives, the project reached a total of 58.435 farmer family members and the results were convincing. After 3 years, average yield per tree had more than tripled from 1kg to 3,5 kg and the average share of premium grades increased by 26% to 85% resulting in increased income by 69%Other results are an increased level of trust, information and efficiency in the value chain as well as additional income for promoter farmers, creation of stable farmer groups, autonomous problem solving and improvement in the value chain through the plan-do-checkact cycle.145The Leveraged Quality Improvement (LQI) model benefits all actors in the value chain. The most direct benefit are seen by the farmers. These benefits include:• INCREASED YIELD: The application of farming best practices leads to an increase of yield per starting directly after implementation. To understand TYPICAL ORGANIZATION and TRADING RELATIONSHIPS within inclusive business models, we discuss various business TYPOLOGIES, their key implications, challenges, and innovation opportunities within each type.This section highlights some of the characteristics of inclusive business models that are typical for small-holder producers depending on the structure of the chain and entry point of negotiation.Where market linkages are initiated by existing actors, they tend to build on informal structures in which traders or farmer-traders play a critical role not only to connect farmers to markets but also as de facto service providers. In many cases the trader is a member of the rural community and has specialized knowledge, information, assets and contacts to facilitate not only commercial ties but also social support in times of crisis. Informal linkage models are common throughout the world but little understood.A more traditional approach is small-farmer organization induced by external agents or a combination of external actors and small farmers. Processes of induced organizations start from the assumption that existing market linkages are not effective either in terms of their functioning or in terms of equity and that new skills and knowledge need to be developed to facilitate favourable market linkages for smallholder farmers. These interventions are often led by development organizations and supported by donors, although examples of private sectors initiatives of induced organization, such as contract farming and outgrower schemes, also exist. Of critical importance is a clear and consistent focus on the business case for the intervention as well as a timeline after which external support will cease.BM TYPOLOGIES: OVERVIEW 155Regardless or not the model selected is based on existing actors and skills or is induces, these module can be grouped depending the entry point of negotiation.Existing models tend to fall into four general categories:• Those that are driven by producer • Those that are driven by buyers • Those that are driven by intermediation • Those driven by an ethical agent Implications of a traditional dominated market chainLead-firmIn an intermediary dominated supply chain, actors such as, processors, transporters, or wholesalers tend to have a great power over decision and implementation and governance and hold critical information about both upstream and downstream activities. Despite the attractions of \"cutting out the middleman\" organizing direct procurement can have high transaction costs for private players, and have mixed outcomes. Given these costs, a business model that works with chain intermediaries, either traditional or new, can offer the opportunity to be profitable in highly competitive, price sensitive markets.The lead firm usually seeks a stable supply base of large volumes, standardized procedures and minimal management requirements and, because many business models have low flexibility, interventions must have low transaction costs that do not compromise on quality, safety and legality. The main leverage point for change is at the level of the buyer or first tier supplier or category managers, therefore workable solutions should be at low cost and risk neutral. In view of lower transaction costs, and the possibility of more effective capacity transfer, private companies often prefer to work with organized farmers rather than individuals, despite the increased bargaining power that groups can enjoy.The agri-food sector is traditionally built on an exclusively consumer facing value proposition, high standards in food quality and safety, low prices and reliability of supply. This value proposition is often achieved despite the typical challenges faced by small holders such as numerous and widely dispersed production units with diversified livelihoods, low access to services, limited finance and information and operating in an informal economy. What are the implications of these typical market chains dominated by buyers and traders?156How does the power structure of different models affect the innovation process?• Decision makingTowards more inclusive business alternativesIntegrating small holder producers into value chains can have different entry points and the drivers of the chosen model depend on the structure of the supply chain.WHO? Farmer owned businesses (cooperatives, associations, corporations, etc.)Market participation Stable market position Generate sustained income flows HOW?(1) Professionalize as an autonomous organization (2) Economically associate with your buyer, trader or processor. Towards smallholder inclusion Hortifruti is the specialized wholesaler for fresh fruit and vegetable for Wal-Mart in Central America.Hortifruti works with a variety of suppliers for vegetables in Honduras and Nicaragua and often purchases product from existing farmer cooperatives. However they have experienced significant difficulties with these RPOs in terms of lengthy decision-making processes.As a result, Hortifruti Honduras has developed and promoted a 'lead farmer' model of organization through which they identify and build the capacity of farmers who can meet its quality needs in a consistent fashion. After demonstrating such capacity, lead farmers receive larger orders for product or new products and are invited to work with neighboring farmers to meet this demand.The lead farmer provides access to technology, technical assistance and market access as embedded services. The cost of these services is then recouped via the sales margin. The expansion of this model is organic and depends on the identification of new lead farmers. It is low-cost, easily scalable and sustainable. Cuatro Pinos is a successful cooperative with nearly 30 years of experience in the vegetable export business. Recently the cooperative has succeeded in opening large markets for several fresh vegetable products in the US through an alliance with a specialised wholesaler and several retailers. Existing demand significantly outstrips the capacity of cooperative members, requiring the integration of new producers, organisations and geographies. To achieve this, Cuatro Pinos identifies existing farmer groups, including associations, cooperatives and lead farmer networks, in favourable environmental niches. It works with them to test production schemes and then contracts those that show an ability to meet quantity and quality targets. The cooperative signs a legally binding contract with the producer group, which specifies quantity, quality and a production schedule as well as providing a fixed annual price for the product. Credit in the form of inputs and technical assistance is provided. This is later discounted from the first few product deliveries. Cuatro Pinos provides business and organisational support to its partner organizations to increase their efficiency and access additional funding from diverse sources for development activities. In 2006, Cuatro Pinos partners successfully raised US$ 1.7 million for investments in irrigation, packing sheds, education and housing. Through this model Cuatro Pinos has achieved an annual growth rate of 50 per cent in vegetable exports over the past three years and expanded from 560 member producers to a network of more than 2,000 families. Nearly all the new producers in the network are from regions with higher than national-average poverty levels and with limited access to land. Lundy, 2007 165 CASE EXAMPLE: Ethical Agent-drivenWilmar Agro Limited, is a Kenyan company which aggregates flowers from 2500 contracted smallholder growers for the Dutch flower auctions, using a highly inclusive out grower scheme. Although a profit-driven business, the business owner had a strong social mission and was investing in his growers' wellbeing with a network of dedicated extension agents, bank accounts for each grower, and monthly producer group meetings.Flower growing is relatively high value and, by comparison with flowers grown under cover on an industrial scale, the \"summer\" flowers grown within a smallholder farmers system are relatively low risk and low cost. Smallholder growers need to dedicate just a quarter on an acre of their farm to flower growing in order to reap the equivalent of more than two acres of tea, the next most profitable cash crop. For these reasons, an increasing number of farmers had been keen to start growing flowers.Wilmar's development was, however, limited by their market. The Dutch auctions established prices based on supply and demand -more growers and more volumes inevitably meant lower prices for all. Wilmar needed new markets. At this time ASDA, a UK supermarket chain, became interested in a trading relationship with Wilmar.This relationship was supported by three ethical agents: One retail expert, one flower value chain expert, and IIED, responsible for ensuring that commercial decisions also considered the grower's livelihood. To make the shift from supplying wholesale to supplying retail, an SME aggregator/supplier like Wilmar must decide to innovate in both products and processes. Although Wilmar had built a strong capability to supply auction markets, the company did not have the full capabilities needed to supply the retail market. This became evident in the 15-week pilot in 2010 . While very successful in getting products into the stores and getting a consumer response, supply was hampered by a lack of systems and processes to properly manage volume, quality and communication. With no product calendars, availability checks or full quality control, products did not always arrive on time, in the right volume, or with consistent quality and maturity.At each stage of the project, the ethical agents intervened to help align business models. Their main points of intervention were:• Developing a unique product offer that was commercially viable and compatible with the smallholder-based business model of SME fairly sharing risks and rewards and reflecting the business models of each.• Increasing the capacities of the SME to respond to the business model of the retailer, with a long-term view towards exit of the ethical agents.• Managing transparency in communication• Engaging in trust-building and relationship-building activities between buyer and supplier• Providing access to market information that would otherwise be out of reach or prohibitively expensive• Development of systems and logistics• Identifying skills gaps and working to solve them internally Wilmar set up another company called Africa Flowers to supply retail clients directly. This was an important way of ensuring staff and systems were dedicated to this new market. In essence, this is the same business -with many staff drawn from Wilmar, and initially with the same business model. With the support of 'ethical agents', Wilmar and the huge US cash-and-carry retailer Sam's Club have succeeded in aligning their business models to the extent that Wilmar supplied innovative flower products to over 100 US Sam's Club stores starting in July 2011."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b0d491338d9c24f2975c32d14209bc92","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e6eab41b-d08a-4a07-84e5-480e5ef8f5a3/retrieve","id":"2079452544"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"903fe779-9d9a-49bb-8a06-62517265f28d","content":"Titles in this series aim to disseminate interim climate change, agriculture, and food security research and practices and stimulate feedback from the scientific community.Ethiopian Meteorological Institute has been generating seasonal climate outlooks three times a year and provided to socio-economic sectors. Those forecast information are vital inputs to ensure and sustain the development of Ethiopia as the information is used to minimize risks due to weather and climate hazards and maximize positive impacts. Recently, the institute has implemented NFCS-E and started co-designing climate services with key socio-economic sectors expected to strengthen the production, availability, delivery, and application of science-based climate prediction and services in Ethiopia.In collaboration with AICCRA, EMI held a workshop to present the assessment of the Belg 2023 climate and the outlook of the upcoming Kiremt 2023. It was held within the NFCS-E framework, mainstreaming climate into key socio-economic sectors for resilience and sustainable development. It was convened on May 16, 2022, at Haile Resort, Adama, Ethiopia, and brought together 300 government officials of WoWE, EDRMC, EMI, representatives from socio-economic sectors, international partners, civic societies, and media.Three important sessions took place at the workshop. In the opening session, the opening remark was delivered by Mr. Fetene Teshome, Director General of EMI; Dr. Teferi Dejene from AICCRA and Dr. Mariane from WMO RA1 delivered keynote speeches; finally, opening remarks were delivered by H.E Dr. Eng. Habtamu Etefa Minster of MoWE. Presentations on AICCRA, Belg 2023 assessment, and the climate outlook of Kiremt 2023 were entertained during the second session. In the last session (parallel breakout session), participants were divided into two groups to discuss and present the socio-economic impact assessments of Belg 2023 and the potential impacts of Kiremt 2023 on health, water, energy, environment, and disaster risk reduction.The objectives of the workshop were to present and discuss the following.o The Belg (Feb-May) 2023 climate performance assessment at the national level.o Impact assessments of Belg 2023 on key socio-economic sectors (health, water, energy, environment, and disaster risk reduction.o To predict Ethiopia's coming Kiremt (June-September) 2023 climate outlook.o To identify the potential impact of the upcoming Kiremt on key socio-economic sectors (health, water, energy, environment, and disaster risk reduction.In his welcoming speech, Mr. Fetene Teshome, Director General of the Ethiopian Meteorological Institute, stated that climate variability has been and is projected to increase under the changing climate. This may indicate even more irregular onset and cessation of a rainy season, perhaps more prolonged dry spells, and too much rain at times. Hence, the farming system and other sectors of the economy become more vulnerable to climate variability and climate change. The increasing pressure will require developing and implementing appropriate methods to address the vulnerability of various economic sectors to weather and climate impact and to further develop their adaptive capacity with improved planning and better management decisions. Finally, the official opening of the workshop was declared.   Guest 1 said we have a flood task force from the higher (Federal) to regional task force to follow up on the conditions on the ground. The forecast released by EMI and the observation on the ground are similar. Minister Dr. Eng. Haptamu mentions, \"Our country faces two things, first drought, and second flood.\" He added we must be ready for the coming season and do what we can do.Guest 2 stated that EMI enhanced its capacity and technology, which is essential for all sectors.And he added EMI must use federal and regional Mass Media to broadcast forecasts. In the coming Kiremt season, we need to plan according to the information released by EMI.Guest 3 (ቋሚ ኮሚቴ ሰብሳቢ): -I appreciate the institute and EMI giving more accurate and timely information. The information provided by the institute is clear and not questionable. And he asked What happens if the coming season is above-normal or below normal, and he needs more clarification and some advisory for the pastoral area.Mesele Mekonen (MoA): -EMI is improving daily but needs to improve and upgrade the output quality. EMI needs airtime on different media to create awareness and distribute information.We used the Belg season information provided by EMI efficiently and shared the info with regional offices.Meaza (South Gonder) said using the forecast by EMI, we saved many people from floods and helped us do different works. I must emphasize that the information released by EMI will help governmental and non-governmental organizations develop work plans and reduce negative impacts.Tamru Kejela (MoWE) asked if the Outlook forum is the only way EMI distributes information to end users. And he pinpointed for EMI to plan more media communication to spread the EMI output.Tesfaye Weldeyes (Ph.D.) said that EMI gives a climate outlook and different questions on how to implement this information. I worry about integrating all sectors to provide end-user information and prepare an action plan after this meeting. After preparing the Action plan for the coming three months, develop a way to monitor every month. According that we identify what we face and improve on the next time.Antene Shitaye (Federal Police) asked how information is provided to the end users and the language, format, and understandability of the info by the end users.Getahun stated agriculture was the only sector that developed an action plan for implementation last year based on the EMI forecast and suggested other sectors do the same.Finally, Mr. Fetene gave feedback to participants and answered raised questions.Mr. Antene Shitaye said EMI uses different platforms to distribute our information. One of our biggest communication platforms is the NCOF forum. However, he reiterated that EMI must use all communication media to communicate with society. We have ten regional offices that also produce downscaled forecast information for their area and communicate with the local language, but it needs more work to translate the information to the local community.This Kiremt 2023 forecast information is released, so what? We need to plan according to the information released. Then we must develop Action plan for those three months and monitor our implementation.Over Ethiopia repeatedly happened two extremes that flood and drought. What we can do? How to change the impact to good opportunity? From the funder we got budget to support government, we plan to construct small dam to harvest water and to improve water scarcity.We need work integrated. It is possible flood is good opportunity for those area by, harvesting the water and implement at the dry season. We all participant on the meeting, now the forecast is released. So what? What is the next. According to most of partners suggested to create committee to prepare plan and to follow the institutional coordination. o The expected normal rainfall over North Somali, Central, North, South and Eastern Oromia, and Northern parts of SNNPR.• Selecting proper crop and pastures varieties;• Determine the date of planting;• Proper application of agricultural inputs to increase productivity;o The expected Normal to below-normal rainfall in South Tigray, Afar, Eastern Amhara, and the eastern parts of the country negatively impact food security and nutrition and might trigger resource-based conflicts, atypical pastoral migration and may lead to scarcity of animal products such as milk, meat, and butter in northeastern pastoral communities.o The expected erratic temporal distribution with prolonged dry spells during June and September is expected to cause moisture stress, increased risk of crop failure, poor germination, and water shortages in pastoral areas.o The expected early cessations of rain in Central, Eastern, and Northeastern parts of the country would negatively be affected to fulfill the water need of crops and pasture.o The occasional heavy fall in July and August may lead to floods, landslides, and soil erosion.o Proper input should be utilized to take advantage of the relatively better condition in areas of expecting normal to above-normal moisture.o Farmers and concerned bodies should pay attention to crop selection and implement soil water conservation structures in areas where the rainfall is normal and below-normal and erratic distribution.o Closely monitor pasture and water conditions in agro-pastoral areas.o Implement proper moisture conservation and water harvesting structures in areas where the rainfall is expected to be below normal.o Users should interpret the weather outlook in terms of their area of interest and the existing condition of their specific areas;o Immediately disseminate this (early warning) information to decision-makers. o In areas where the rainfall forecast is above-normal and normal, river basins will have high water availability and recharged water bodies.o Areas with normal and below-normal rainfall might face a shortage of water availability.o Above-normal and normal rainfall river basin areas might face o flash floods, floods, and landslides. So preparing action plans and disseminating this (early warning) information to decision-makers and communities is recommended.June: Abay, Omo Gibe, Baro Akobo, rift valley, lower and middle parts of Tekeze, upper Wabishebele, upper Awash, and upper Genale Dawa catchments will be wet.The wet weather condition over the Central, south, Western, North, and Northwestern catchments of the country.August: Abay, Tekeze, most parts of Omo Gibe, Rift Valley, upper and middle Awash, Genale Dawa, and Wabishebele catchments will be wet. The Aridity was expanded more to the South and South Eastern catchments.September: the spatial coverage of wet conditions will increase towards the Southern, Western, Eastern, and Southeastern catchments of the country. The normal condition for dams/reservoirs level coupled with the current good condition.In the end, a discussion forum led by the deputy director general of our institute, Mr. Kenfe Haile Maryam, and the executive of the Integrated Meteorological Advisory Service, Mr. Tarekegn Abera, various comments, and questions were raised and explained.Mr. Geda Yayitu provided some background information on common characteristics observed and global systems affecting the season over the region. o Erratic temporal distribution with prolonged dry spells will occur during June and September.o Early cessations of rainfall in central Oromia region.o Occasional heavy rain will occur during July and August.o The expected El Nino and positive IOD will benefit the south and southeastern part of the country.Finally, she concluded and recommended the following o 1997 analog year indicated that the June moisture is expected to be good, while the remaining analog years show moderately dry moisture.o Belg growers are recommended to harvest early and prepare for the Meher production season.o North Shewa, Hararge, Central and South Oromia, Arsi, and Bale lowland areas' pocket areas showed normal to below normal.o Farmers are encouraged to select drought-tolerant varieties and harvest supplementary water from rain or irrigation.o Occasional heavy fall in July and August may lead to floods, landslides, and soil erosion.o The selected analog years' moisture status indicated that the bega rain-benefiting areas' onset might start early (August and September). Thus, pastoral and agro-pastoral areas are recommended to take action (water harvest, land preparation, and sowing activities).The presenter provided background information on common characteristics observed, global systems affecting the season, Belg 2023 season climate performance, and its impacts during each dekad, month, and season. o The daytime air temperature was slightly higher than usual in the season.o Generally, normal to above-normal rainfall was observed over the region.In the Amhara region, the Kiremt season rainfall is forecasted to start from May 24 to July 3 and ends between September 11 to November 6 over different parts of the region.The onset and cessation for Kiremt 2023 season will be typical over the region. Places like Awi, West Gojjam, East Gojjam, North Gondar, south Gonder, and some parts of East Amhara will experience dominantly normal rainfall. However, most of Eastern Amhara will receive belownormal to normal rainfall. In drought-prone areas, erratic and dry spells will be observed.The rainfall distribution of 'Kiremt' 2023 will be erratic and variable in July and August over Eastern  o During the identified analog years, the global condition is ENSO neutral to El Nino and IOD neutral, but the current projection of IOD will be positive.o All parts of SNNPR and Sidama regions will receive near-normal rainfall.o Southern & eastern parts of Southwest Ethiopia Region, Most part of SNNPR and all part of Sidama region will be expected Normal and Below Norma Rainfall o Southern tip parts of SNNPR will be climatologically dry based on the current global and regional weather driving system, but the areas will expect rainfall if IOD-positive dominants.o Dry days and erratic rainfall will be recorded in the Southwest, SNNPR, and Sidama regions.o Continuous follow-up of updated meteorological, agro-meteorological forecasts and early warning information is recommended.The presenter compared Belg 2023 forecast with the observed on the ground. o The amount and distribution of seasonal rainfall were good in the region.o Generally, wet weather conditions prevailed in the region.The presenter outlined the upcoming coming 2023 Kiremt forecast as follows o ENSO neutral to El Nino conditions will be expected.o Positive Indian Ocean dipole will be observed.o Daytime maximum temperatures are expected to increase.o Normal to below-normal seasonal rainfall is expected.o The expected seasonal rain will have erratic distribution and amount over the region. o In April, most areas in the region received above-normal rainfall. In some stations, heavy rain was recorded.o In general, the region received normal to above-normal rainfall.Mr. Shimelis summarized the Kirmet outlook as follows;o Selected analog years show below-normal rainfall except 1997, showing normal rainfall observed.o Equatorial sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are near-to-above average across most of the Pacific Ocean.o ENSO-neutral conditions will continue through the Northern Hemisphere spring, with a 62% chance of El Niño developing during May and July 2023.o In general normal to below-normal rainfall is expected.o Users should follow climate and weather forecast provided by the GRMSC and EMI.After the breakout session, all the groups presented the output from their discussion. Mr. Fetene and Dr. Teferi Dejene led the final session. Participants raised some questions about the tailored weather and climate information at the grass root level. Moreover, they mentioned the need for more research for the accuracy and reliability of the weather and climate services. Mr. Fetene described that the institute is working closely with various sectors to enhance its services at national and regional levels. Dr. Teferi said they would continue supporting EMI to improve Ethiopia's weather and climate services."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5590b0be71a45920d9e849e198ea27e7","source":"gardian_index","url":"http://ciat-library.ciat.cgiar.org/ciat_digital/CIAT/books/historical/028.1.pdf","id":"-1911442183"},"keywords":[". ...•.•. (:-:l,i(","--'~U I . -\", :.. -\"' -,::-' :1:. ,","~n.J COO-,24C:\"l <00-","¿404 COD-24C5 COO-,2.06 <00-2401"],"sieverID":"ff2013e9-5bae-4f24-9de8-ec89cc52f3ef","content":"El ClAT es una institución sin ánimo de lucro, dedicada al desaITOllo agricola y económico de las zonas tropicales bajas. Su sede principal se encuentra en un terreno de 522 hectáreas\" cercano a Cali, Colombia. Dícho terreno es propiedad del gobierno colombiano, el cual, en su calidad de anfitrión, brinda apoyo a las actívídades del elATo Este dispone, igualmente, de dos subestaciones propiedad de la Fundación para la Educación SuperioríFESI: QuHichao, con una extensión de 184 hectáreas, y Popayán, con 73 hectáreas, y de una subestación de 30 hectáreas-CIAT -Santa Rosa~ ubicada en terrenos cedidos por la FederaCÍón de Arroceros de Colombia IFEDEARROZl, cerca a ViHavicencio. Junto con el Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario IICAI, el CIAT administra el Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias Carimagua, de 22,000 hectáreas, en los Llanos Orientales y colabora con el mismo JeA en varias de sus otras estaciones experimentales en Colombia. El CIAT también lleva a cabo investigaciones en varias sedes de instituciones agrícolas nacionales en otros países de América Latina. Los programas del CIAT son financiados por un grupo de donantes que en su mayoría pertenecen al Grupo Consultivo para la Investigación Agrícola Internacional (CGIAR). Durante 1984 tales donantes son los gobiernos de Australia,Dentro del sistema de Centros Internacionales, CIAT tiene la responsabilidad mundial para la colección y preservación del germoplasma de frijoles del género Phaseolus. Siete años después de haber asumido esta responsabilidad, la colección de germoplasma del CIAT tiene más de 33000 accesiones (ver tabla), la cual abarca las cuatro especies cultivadas, sus ancestros silvestres, así como las especies silvestres no cul ti vadas.Este germoplasma se ha obtenido a través de donaciones de los bancos de germoplasma de Programas Nacionales y de expediciones a los centros de origen y de dispersión. También se incluyen los materiales más prornisorios de las progenies resultantes de los esfuerzos de hibridación del Programa de Mejoramiento de Frijol.El rango de adaptación de f. vulgaris como cultivo va desde O hasta 3000 m.s. n.m. y desde O a 42 0 latitud N y S, lo cual ha generado una gran variabilidad genética. Hallazgos arqueológicos en Mesoamérica así como la disponibilidad de un gran número de formas silvestres ancestrales y de formas silvestres no cultivadas del género en esta región, sugieren al área de México/Guatemala como el centro de origen del frijol común.Sin embargo, desde las expediciones de Colón, el frijol común se ha dispersado geográficamente y eventualmente ha sido adaptado a muchas nuevas áreas fuera de América, dando como resultado la creación de centros secundarios de dispersión, los cuales en muchos casos tienen cerca de 400 años. El CIAT continua asignando alta prioridad a los esfuerzos de colección en estas áreas, en estrecha colaboración con el Consejo Internacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos (CIRF), dando especial énfasis en aquellas áreas con avanzada erosión genética y con alta probabilidad de encontrar razas nativas y formas silvestres de la especie.Este catálogo incluye más de 16000 accesiones de formas cultivadas de f. vulgaris que han sido incrementadas por la Unidad de Recursos Genéticos del CIAT. Debido al tamaño de esta colección sólo se ha incluído información pasaporte clave, así como características de semilla y del hábito de crecimiento. Hay tres secciones principales: a) Breve descripción de la colección y definición de descriptores; b) Listado secuencial de los número G, que dan la clave de tipo de semilla; c) Listado de las accesiones agrupadas por color y tamaño de semilla. high príority by CIAT in clase collaboratíon with the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) with special emphasís being placed on areas wíth advanced genetíc erosion and wíth a hígh probabilíty of finding land races and wild forms of the cultivar.This catalog includes more than 16000 accessions of cultivated forms of f. vulgaris, which have been increased by the Genetic Resources Unit of CIAT. Due to the síze of this collection only key passport information as well as seed type descriptíon and growth habit are included.There are three main sections: a) brief description of the collectíon and definitíon of descriptors¡ b) Sequential G numbering which addresses to the seed type¡ c) list of accessíons grouped by seed color and seed size. l.No. CIAT = Número CIAT Número CIAT o número de germoplasma es el número asignado a la accesión original en el banco de germoplasma de la Unidad de Recursos Genéticos del CIAT, cuando la semilla ha sido incrementada~ Este número consta de la letra G seguida de cinco dígitos.En algunos casos hay una letra después de los dígitos CA, B, C, etc.). Esta letra corresponde a separaciones justificadas de la accesión original.Es el nombre local o varietal de la accesión o el número de registro del donante de la semilla. Este nombre se registra tal como se recibe de la fuente donadora y sólo se hacen correcciones en nombres de materiales muy conocidos. Tanto el color primario como el secundario se toma de semilla recientemente cosechada y seca.Bl = Blanco semillas.Sin embargo, como forma práctica de clasificación se han formado 3 grupos principales de la siguiente manera: HABT = Hábito de Crecimiento Es un concepto morfoagronómico definido como el resultado de la interacción de varios caracteres de la planta que determinan su arquitectura final. Estos caracteres son: Tipo de desarrollo de la parte terminal del tallo (determinado o indeterminado), número de nudos en el tallo, longi tud de entrenudos, aptitud para trepar y patrón de ramificación.Se han definido 4 prototipos principales de hábito así:1 = Arbustivo determinooo 2 = Arbustivo indeterminado 3 = Indeterminado postrado con una o varias guías largas, pero con ninguna o muy poca aptitud para trepar l.No. CIAT = CIAT's NumberCIAT's number or germplasm number is the number assigned to the original accession in the Genetic Resources Unit when the seed has been increased. This number has five digits preceded by the letter G. In sorne cases a letter (A, B, C, etc.) follows the five digits; this letter corresponds to justified separations from the original accession.It is the local or varietal name of the accession, or the local register used by the seed donor. It is recorded as originally received, and corrections are made only on names of very well known materials.It corresponds to the register number used by the national institution, scientists or collector donating the seeds.This local register can be either numerical or alpha-numerical.In some cases it could be used as ider.tification when the latter does not exist or is unknown.In most instances it is the country from which the accession was obtained before it was donated to CIAT. However, if it is known where the material was bred or collected, su eh country is recorded as \"origin\" ignoring the different previous sources.When the information available is not enough to determine the \"origin'! it is not included.The codes for countries are the same ones used for the source. As with the color grouping, the criteria for seed shape is also to conform groups with close in shape similarity:   CF ~ I I GO 33 1 ::.' i\".                  A).¡I ' -1 t 1(,;;7.332                          1   CP ~             ,-               Pe:R PER..-----------------------------------------------------------------I \"fG.   .------+-------------------------~.---------. ___ +---+--+-+-+--+--1-------+--------------------------+---------+---+---+--+-+-+--+--+ I I I I I..le: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7aaf71138cc8fa40f5783ffbb3b3984b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6988f6c9-82cc-4460-b320-4629f279ea94/retrieve","id":"-442431497"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d51e5165-4380-4281-8a61-a2198363edc0","content":"is sc cl la ai im me er r n no ot te e: The geographical designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IPGRI, the CGIAR, ICUC or DFID concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Similarly, the views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations.Mention of a proprietary name does not constitute endorsement of the product and is given only for information.A Ac ck kn no ow wl le ed dg ge em me en nt t: This publication was funded in part by the Department for International Development. The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of DFID.C Ci it ta at ti io on n: Williams, J.T. and Haq, N. 2002. Global research on underutilized crops. An assessment of current activities and proposals for enhanced cooperation. ICUC,Mankind depends on a very limited number of crops to meet the needs of staple diets and on a very limited number of major non-food crops to meet associated needs. In general, a small number of varieties occupy large areas for these cultivated species. Nevertheless in the past human societies depended on a much wider range of species for food, fibre, health security and other needs.Only about 30 crop species provide 95% of the world's food energy whereas over 7000 species have been known to be used for food and are either partly or fully domesticated. This large array of plant species spans those recognized to be underutilized to those that are recognized as important minor crops. However, with modernization of agricultural practices many have become neglected due to their being held in low esteem and some have been so neglected that genetic erosion of their genepools has become so severe that they are often regarded as lost crops.Underutilized crops are found in numerous agricultural ecosystems and often survive mainly in marginal areas. It is timely to review their status because, in recent decades, a number of scientific and economic interests have emerged which focus on lesser-known cultivated species. We identify such interests below.1. There has been a resurgence in attention being paid to industrial crops and products. In the period of decolonialization and the efforts which led to the Green Revolution, scientific and development interests moved away from major support to plantation-type agriculture -especially since industrial R & D had led to production of synthesates which could replace many natural plant products. Serious attention shifted towards a wider range of non-food crops and some food crops grown or developed to produce raw materials for a variety of industrial applications. Examples have included kenaf and fibre hemp for fibres; buffalo gourd, crambe, shea-butter, safflower, for oils; guar and guayule for gum, starch, resin and rubber; vernonia for film coatings, and many others. 2. In addition to these industrial applications major developments have occurred in novel applications of traditional crops, especially for animal feed. The latter is of particular importance in Africa where demand for meat in the diet has been increasing very significantly. 3. Other interests in underutilized species have come from developed countries with over-production of staple crops and felt-needs of such countries to put a percentage of lands out of production and/or grow novel crops instead of staples.In the main these interests are led by attention to high value products. This attention has not been mirrored by poorer countries (often over-reliant on a very limited number of food or plantation crops) developing adequate policies for crop diversification. 4. The major impetus to consider underutilized crops, however, has come not from the interests mentioned above but from a wider recognition that these crops collectively play vital roles in farming systems and in human well-being. This recognition has been slow, but swelling in strength since the Earth Summit of UNCED in 1992, and supported by trends to make agriculture more environmentally sensitive, and sustainable. Other trends include an appreciation of economic development, requiring the involvement of social and ethical dimensions, the rights of indigenous peoples, appreciation by the genetic resources community of the input of farmers in selection, enhancement and conservation of agrodiversity, and by recognition of the need for much more sustainable production systems, especially for fragile ecosystems threatened by drought, desertification or salinization.In parallel with these trends has been an important paradigm shift in rural development. The integrated rural development approach failed due to it being 'top-down' and it evolved logically into a community-driven approach. By the time of the World Food Summit in 1996 the involvement of local communities -as well as focus on the interconnection between agriculture and the environment -had become widely accepted.This acceptance however is fraught by a lack of policy frameworks, especially government policies on such matters as food pricing or farm subsidies that are often negative to underutilized crops. Additionally trade and market policies rarely reflect ecological values. Nonetheless, at the international level, significant events have fostered underutilized crops. These include the establishment of the International Centre for Underutilized Crops at the urging of 189 scientists from 33 countries in 1987; international symposia on new crops in 1992, and 1996; the FAO Global Plan of Action for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (1996) emphasising the importance of underutilized crops; the Genetic Resources Policy Committee of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) exploring opportunities following a recommendation of the CGIAR System Review that such species be considered in development of an Integrated Gene Management initiative of the international agricultural research centres because of the importance of underutilized crops in household food security. Underutilized crops are also given high priority in the Commodity Chain agenda of the Global Forum for Agricultural Research. 5. Despite the various interests already mentioned, the scientific community has always researched and promoted underutilized crops. Threats of global food shortages prompted the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to issue a report on 'Underutilized Tropical Plants with Promising Economic Value' (1975). Scientists, as individual champions, continued R & D on the species promoted by NAS and on many others. In recent times NAS issued further reports (e.g. NAS 1989;1996), and FAO issued several (e.g. FAO 1988;Hernandez Bermejo and Leon 1996). IPGRI issued 24 monographs on individual species in the mid to late 1990s, and ICUC issued two volumes on specific species covering a range of crops (Williams 1993(Williams , 1995) ) and is preparing a further 8 monographs on individual species.A very important regional initiative of countries of the Andres Bello Convention (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Spain and Venezuela) was to assess indigenous minor cultivated species which appear to have economic potential in the short, medium or long-term and over 1000 species are listed: to date more than 10 individual monographs have been published (SECAB 1989). Another important regional approach has been that of the Plant Resources of South-East Asia programme which, following a preparatory phase, started the compilation of handbooks on useful plants from 1991 (the selection of species is listed in Jansen et al. 1991). Handbooks have covered pulses, edible fruits and nuts, vegetables, carbohydrate plants and cereals among food crops as well as forages, auxiliary plants in agriculture and forestry, dyes and tannins and others. In essence all the reports highlight the value of strategic public goods research opportunities. Despite this, R & D, in general, is lacking on underutilized crops due to government policies barely funding the research and its applications. 6. Lastly, interest has stemmed from concerns over the volume and rate of deforestation and the identification of activities to use all available land to better contribute to rural income, in order to alleviate shortages of fuelwood, small-timber and fodder, especially for income-poor rural communities. A major research thrust worldwide is now focused on multipurpose trees and shrubs for shade, food, fodder and other uses and their incorporation into farming systems such as alley cropping or other attempts such as new rotations to manage decreasing soil fertility and sustainability of production. Numerous innovative applied research projects have used underutilized crops ranging from wider use of underutilized fruits such as Zizyphus sp. in dry tropical agricultural systems in India or other fruits in new cropping patterns in hilly land in the Philippines, to the use of underutilized crops in crop-livestock polycultures in many tropical areas that integrate livestock and crops in terms of land, labour, capital and the products. Nonetheless new levels of management of traditional crops in more modern agricultural systems alter the traditional models on which they are based: selfsustainability and the integration of component elements in time and space. This principle applies whether to agroforestry systems or to the innovative uses of underutilized crops in mixed cropping. Some successful examples of the latter e.g. use of Mucuna (velvet bean) in Benin maize production, should not obscure the fact that major research efforts are needed to transfer traditional agroecosystems into more productive systems. Caryodendron orinocensis, an oily nut in the Amazon, illustrates this well: in traditional ecosystems it grows well but in more dense plantings it becomes vigorously attacked by a leaf caterpillar. Multidisciplinary research on the indigenous exploitation systems has to be carried out with new agroforestry production development as well as selection and genetic improvement of the species.Underutilized crops are usually considered in relation to their end-use and end-uses are usually grouped into categories: beverage, cereal, oil, spice and flavouring, fruit, vegetable etc. However, the majority of underutilized crops are multipurpose. Probably most underutilized crops for gums, resins, oils and beverages tend to have less than 5-6% of the species with a single use; those for cereals and medicinals somewhat higher, up to 10-11% with predominately a single use; vegetables and tubers up to 16-17% with a single use; and spices and fruits being special categories with about 25% single use.Uses also vary from place to place. The legume Lathyrus is largely used for fodder in Turkey but in South Asia is mostly used as a food legume and such traditional uses are finding application as a new crop for forage, feed and green manure in Australia. Some species have a range of uses related to a product: for instance, Sesamum indicum, an edible oilseed, is used for salad oil and roasted oil but paste is made from milled seeds. However, seeds are used as flavourings; vegetative parts are used for fodder -and sesame products are used in medicines and cosmetics.In developing strategic approaches there has been the tendency to build on successful experiences with underutilized crops. Successful action mostly resulted from identifying a specific and important single end-use, assembling a substantial germplasm collection followed by selection, breeding and multilocational trials and commercialization. This was the case for Triticale, Amaranthus, buckwheat and sesame (vide Williams 1995;Ashri 1996). In all these cases the need for the product persisted throughout the decades of research and development. Other cases can be cited where collection of and use of landraces in breeding occurred e.g. the fibre ramie (Boehmeria nivea) where the Japanese took the lead in the period 1915-1950, or the fibre roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) where Indians took the lead particularly in the period 1950-1965. Often commercial production was most successful elsewhere e.g. ramie in Brazil or roselle in the Congo and Thailand; but both have reverted to minor status due to competition with synthetics especially long-chained polymer fibres which has since 1950 helped to curtail soft vegetable fibre crops. It is interesting to note that against this background ramie was still being proposed as a plant with promising economic value (NAS 1975) even though major research was needed on harvesting and degumming. Breeding efforts were less on the sisal crops (Agave sp.), largely interspecific crosses, and sisals, ancient domesticates of the Americas, have a bleak future. Sisal, ramie and roselle contrast with kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) where breeding, particularly in USSR (1920)(1921)(1922)(1923)(1924)(1925)(1926)(1927)(1928)(1929)(1930)(1931)(1932)(1933)(1934)(1935); the Dutch in Indonesia in the 1940s; USA linked to Cuba, Guatemala andHonduras (1942-1965); and India (JARI, Barrackpore especially 1955Barrackpore especially -1970)), led to a wide range of adapted varieties which aroused interest as a source of pulp fibre in more recent years or as use for animal food.It was natural that a commodity approach emerged. Approaches have variously developed into those dealing with one crop or those dealing with several crops of a category (e.g. fruits or vegetables). It is noted that many approaches, in their planning, did not give due cognizance to the need for extension services, which in the main are not concerned with underutilized crops.The more recent interest of the CGIAR evolved from growing support for sustainable international development strategies; the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) with emphasis on conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits; the FAO International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources and its concept of Farmers' Rights; and the 1996 FAO International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture which incorporated Activity 12 in its Global Plan of Action (GPAFA): 'Promoting Development and Commercialization of Underutilised Crops and Species'. The Genetic Resources Policy Committee of CGIAR convened a workshop in February 1999 to examine priority issues in the conservation and use of underutilized species and the potential contributions of the CGIAR in this important area.Much has been discussed about sustainability and not all people agree on the means to accomplish the tasks. However, CGIAR has in recent years given more emphasis to components of sustainable agriculture and to the complicated interdisciplinary aspects of agroecosystems and natural resources management. In terms of underutilized crops it means assessing indigenous techniques, making conscious efforts to preserve genetic diversity, yet allowing for more efficient cropping. Unfortunately the title of Article 12 of GPAFA with its emphasis on commercialization is somewhat misleading.The CBD is also of strategic importance in understanding sustainability issues because, even prior to GPAFA, the wide diversity in traditional farming systems and practices was well recognized. Not only this but there was recognition that useful plants harvested from the wild will contribute to food security and life support in times of stress. Discussions associated with CBD emphasized the need to inventory, assess and understand traditional farming systems and extractivism from the wild and placed heavy emphasis on the capture of traditional knowledge.A further strategic input in recent years has been the trend to adopt a broad landscape approach, particularly by conservationists who recognize that significant elements of diversity now often remain only in agricultural environments which contain fragments of original wildlands.A number of these themes were summarized by experts considering the implementation of a number of the Articles of CBD (DIVERSITAS 1998). It is apparent that from a strategic planning point of view there are diverse opinions on priorities for action depending on whether the opinion-makers are concerned primarily with agricultural production or with conservation. This diversity of opinion does not provide a clear framework for those associated with underutilized crops. Nor do existing basic studies on traditional agroecosystems deal adequately with inequitable income distribution. There are too many naive statements that promotion of certain crops/products will create employment opportunities through increased demand for goods and services by the agricultural sector. All too frequently writings on growth and equity are ideological. In terms of underutilized crops being part of the strategy for diversified agroecosystems in marginal areas, greater labour has to be applied per unit of land and the cost of food production can rise along with food prices meaning perpetuation of subsistence living rather than alleviation. Alleviation can only come from national policies to achieve technologically sound agricultural progress matched to growth of population and attention to poverty alleviation. Such policies also need rapid diffusion to impact on equity. Strategically, promoters of diversified traditional agriculture and underutilized crops must recognize that nations, in setting policy, have a prime responsibility for effective development which includes growth in rural incomes and growth in non agricultural employment which is related. The key input will be the clear recognition of the percentage contribution to the nation's food security of the traditional cropping systems -collectively estimated to account for 20% of the world's food supply. Local studies, however valuable, rarely seem to take this broader approach and the promotion of diversified smallholder systems as a result of such studies are often viewed as esoteric and not very practicable.There remains, in relation to strategy, differences between agriculturists who are relatively unconcerned about traditional agroecosystems because they do not appear to be necessary for highly productive agriculture, conservationists who do not consider such ecosystems in their remit and those who wish to promote traditional agriculture. The divergent opinions in part, explain the slow implementation of practicable on-farm conservation of genetic diversity, the implementation of Farmers' Rights and slow progress under the CBD on equity issues. The lack of widespread understanding among development agencies of links between agriculture and biodiversity is also legion (Srivastava et al. 1996;Heywood 1999).Many development projects and networked efforts on particular crops have attempted to promote underutilized species because markets are foreseen for the produce. If marketing is important it cannot succeed in a developing country without a wellarticulated market system. This must be able to reflect accurately the changes in supply, demand and production; and frequently such marketing intelligence is not in place.When the Genetic Resources Policy Committee of CGIAR held a workshop in 1999 it was evident that a global overview of activities on underutilized crops did not exist. Also priorities had been determined in diverse contexts and no objective assessment existed. ICUC and IPGRI agreed to produce an overview and develop proposals for further action which might be considered by policy makers, research administrators as well as the scientific community. This report is the result of that agreement.The analyses and discussions which follow are based mostly on underutilized food crops, or those underutilized crops that produce products used in the food industry. Emphasis, at this time, was placed on these particular cops because of the predicted growth in human population and the prospects of food insecurity. Although improving food security and alleviating malnutrition are international imperatives, attention also has to be paid to those plant resources related to the diversification of agriculture and these include non food crops. This wider range of diversity, very often underutilized, is essential to protect agriculture and the environment in the face of global change in environmental conditions.With reference to the wider range of underutilized cultigens, the literature showed that forages and species of value in environmental stabilization and also medicinal plants present a number of challenges unique to those groups. Including them in the present survey would have changed the relatively sharp focus which emerges for underutilized food crops. Essentially these other underutilized crops/species require analyses and reports of their own.In many cases forages and medicinal plants relate to species harvested from the wild for a range of purposes; and most represent truly wild, or at best semi-domesticated species. Especially for medicinals, attempts to cultivate them are in varying stages of development and priorities contrast between those which will produce compounds for the pharmaceutical industry and those which can be used as standardized preparations of raw material for use in primary health care.In conducting the survey, ICUC has not become involved in categorising species into groups such as minor crops, neglected crops or alternative crops. In the main, the species considered are domesticated rather than wild, or in some cases so associated with man and his environment that they have undergone some selection.The starting point for the analysis was basic information on a country basis provided to FAO as preparatory input to the 1998 report 'The State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'. In that report a table of selected underutilized crops included a summary of their uses, state of breeding and priorities for research based on data from FAO, ICUC and IPGRI, but this was indicative rather than definitive.Following the abstracting from FAO data, the analysis was broadened using a wide range of published research in the ICUC library and also the large amount of grey literature of reports which have had limited distribution.This permitted ICUC to summarize the existing activities, list valid defined priorities for species, assess the state of networking arrangements and propose a strategic approach for the future.Interest in diversifying crops around the world has derived from a long history of plant introduction, in which crops have been tested out far from their original areas of diversity. Many species diversified further in new areas and formed the basis of much of the staple food production as well as new agricultural production systems (such as oilpalm in SE Asia, cocoa in West Africa, kiwi fruit, pineapple and other major fruits in many parts of the world). However, agriculture in the tropical world, with few exceptions, suffered from lack of mechanisms to introduce, test and understand less important species; and where a number of such less important species were tested the germplasm base was often so limited and narrow that they were not successful. At the same time the institutional framework in less developed countries was such that the research and experimentation did not have the capacity to extend to such crops.In the past 30 years there have been major efforts to make the national agricultural research systems (NARS) more productive through the build-up of national capabilities for the generation of technology. Any examination of data available over this time, from FAO or ISNAR, shows that human capacity building in the developing countries was largely a phenomenon of the 1970s and 1980s onwards, that in terms of finance many NARS were poorly funded, and that many NARS were relatively weak. It is not surprising therefore that when the scientific community started to promote the need to apply knowledge on underutilized crops (from the mid 1970s) that the very research systems suited to do the applied research were unable to consider such things: rather they were faced with providing adequate research and extension related to domestic food production and tropical plantation crops, although even the latter suffered during decolonialization.Experience has shown that investments in public institutions (and reform of these when necessary) have increased the capacity of the agricultural sector to respond to economic forces. NARS still have many problems to cope with -population, underdeveloped market systems, distorted incentives and pricing (indicating what is recognised as 'perverse subsidies'), and others -but there are marked signs of technical and institutional changes. The question that has to be asked is, 'Can the NARS cope adequately with underutilized crops?' In the majority of cases the answer is 'No.' The second question to ask than is 'When will they be ready to do so?', and this is not so readily answerable.Having pointed this out, it will not be surprising that the number of national programmes involved with underutilized crops is small. Added to the weakness factor of the NARS are constraints in expanding R & D on underutilized crops. From the table in the FAO's State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (1998) the following are frequent constraints:• limited germplasm available;• lack of technical information;• lack of national policy;• lack of interest by researchers, agriculturists and extension workers;• lack of producer interest.It was recognition of such constraints that led to the creation of ICUC in 1988 which has, over 12 years, promoted interest in and provided technical information on a wide range of species. When the preparatory process for the FAO (1996) International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture held regional meetings, all identified the need for more attention to minor and underutilized crops in conservation and utilization programmes.Information gathered by FAO in the above-mentioned preparatory process noted the great value of underutilized crops to small farmers (and especially in multicropping agricultural systems) and also that women are often the ones with prime responsibility for the production of subsistence crops that are essential to household food security.Many countries, in providing information to FAO, stated their interests in underutilized crops. Those developing countries with nationally approved coordinated programmes are listed in Table 2.1. They are all part of NARS structure, but are very limited in number.The developing countries are served to a degree through a number of externally funded projects or networks (Table 2.2).  Table 2.3 illustrates a selection of developing countries that have some action on specific underutilized crops. It will be noted a major interest appears to be diversifying the diet through sustainable use of fruits and vegetables.Other than countries listed in Table 2.1, only 8 others have a stated aim to develop a national programme on underutilized crops: Angola, Ghana; Cuba, Guatemala, Costa Rica; Vietnam, Pakistan and Turkey.Almost certainly the justifications for any further development of underutilized crops in developing countries are primarily:1. to ensure sustainable livelihood and food security, and 2. to adapt to changing environments and to satisfy environmental demands in difficult areas. There is virtually no continuing research interest in developing countries on industrial crops, although a number of these countries have been linked to such research in developed countries from time to time. Other than attempts to satisfy export markets by enhanced production of particular products, in the main, industrial applications need a great deal of planning, research investment and secure markets. There will always be cases where economies dictate a single focus. For example Gnetum is collected from the wild in Cameroon and there are huge exports to Nigeria. An urgent domestication process as been expressed for this species.Numerous developed countries have major research interests on underutilized species. This research can be categorized as follows:1. Development of new industrial products through agro-industrial research producing non-food use products, especially oils, fibres and starches, other bioactive compounds. 5. Description and use of heritage varieties as part of the human culture. 6. Expansion of an underutilized species to improve production for food in difficult environments. Most of the research input focuses on 1-3 above. Developed countries vary in their approaches. The approach may be through a coordinated national programme on underutilized crops as in the case of Australia, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, UK and USA; or it may be through particular project focus as in many of the other developed countries, especially Canada, Chile, Japan; or New Zealand, Cyprus, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain. There is a degree of competitive public funding for much of the research e.g. through USDA in USA, or through the European Community and/or Government sources in Europe. In nearly all cases the private sector is involved in the research and to a degree in the funding. Some industrial programmes are carried out wholly by the private sector.Examples of the six categories above are: 1. EU-VOICI: Vegetable oils in chemical industries; USDA research on a wide range of oil and latex species; kenaf fibre in Australia. 2. Trials in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Russia for fructose syrup from underutilized root crops. 3. Trends throughout for perceived-healthy foods, and commercialization of products from underutilized crops. 4. Trials of exotic fruits in New Zealand. 5. EU-RESGEN: Underutilized fruit species in France, Greece, Italy and Spain. 6. Chile-FONDEF with USA, Greece, Spain and Turkey, for development of drought tolerant species for arid and semi-arid zones e.g. pomegrante.A number of the developed countries have acted as donors for enhancing R & D of underutilized crops in developing countries. Noteworthy have been US-AID, GTZ-Germany, Italy, SDC-Switzerland, DFID-UK, NLCB-UK, the Leverhulme Trust and ACIAR-Australia, as well as the European Community. In some cases national programmes of developed countries have joined forces with the projects e.g. France-CIRAD project on Passiflora in the Andes or the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University of Denmark on Pachyrhizus research. However, there is no clear picture of bilateral aid nor any consortium to ensure continued support. The multilateral agencies are also involved, especially FAO, and more recently ADB and IFAD. Current support from CSC and SPC, as intergovernmental agencies, is noteworthy as was that of IDRC in the past.The Overseas Development Institute, UK noted that recent research on underutilized species suggests that a major gap exists between the priorities of development agencies and the way smallholder farmers view such species elsewhere in the world. It is suggested also that this leads to the major promoters of such research remaining individual enthusiasts rather than them being considered seriously by aid agencies (ODI 1997).It is well known that determination of priorities for underutilized crops depends upon opinions, especially those of scientists who have been researching particular ones. In some cases groups of national experts have been involved and consensus reached on those species which merit national research input. The data gathering by FAO for the State of the World Report on Plant Genetic Resources (1998) also includes a limited number of priorities.It should be noted that even participatory prioritization leads to widely divergent results, especially in terms of how many species require research attention. Table 3.1 shows the results from exercises conducted in Africa in the past 2 decades.Assessment of a wide range of the major published and unpublished reports leads the authors to summarize a list of priorities for food crops (Table 3.2.1-4)In Table 3.2 the crops are grouped according to major use as cereals/pseudocereals, fruits and nuts, vegetables and pulses and roots and tubers. It was not possible to produce a meaningful list of priorities for industrial applications for the majority of the less developed regions, although where a listed priority underutilized food crop has industrial applications, this is so annotated. However, this is discussed further after the listings of food crops.It will be immediately apparent from Table 3.2 that a large number of species justify priority research. To accord priorities within these listings as high, medium or low would be impossible without a major exercise involving scores of scientists and development officers. However, the listings provide a basis on which further strategy can be formulated.It should also be noted that in any cases where exotic species are underutilized e.g. Caria papaya in E. Asia or even where diversified species are underutilized e.g. walnut, CHAPTER 3   There are a number of reasons why a clear list of industrial priorities cannot be made at this time. They are:1. Without a recognised national programme on underutilized crops any focus on an individual one for industrial purposes is unlikely unless there is an overwhelming need due to loss of major export earnings and the need for a replacement product. Such a decision is rarely made in the agricultural research planning sector. 2. There are a number of cases where underutilized crops have been promoted by donors or bilateral aid and the aid package includes the industrial development.Examples would be: support by UNIDO to explore oil extraction and refinement from Balanites aegyptiaca, in the Sudan; or USAID support to new crop work in NW Argentina to test a range of fibre, and oilseed species. 3. In many cases the industrial applications depend on very specific postharvest technology, usually processing, and many research programmes have not developed the strategic planning for developing a crop in which production, processing and marketing are integrally linked. This was the case with early work on Triticale (Johnson 1990). Certainly in developing countries complex processing of a product, or a range of processing options (as for amaranth grain: Williams and Brenner 1995), will determine the success of the R & D on the crop and its acceptance. 4. Where a developing country has a nationally recognised programme on underutilized crops, there is more likelihood of progress in incorporating a number of species for industrial applications.  Vernonia as a source of exopy acid as a solvent in epoxy coatings and resins) or production of an existing established commercial product from a different crop species, usually a recognised underutilized one. These research programmes in developed countries are thus backed by good knowledge of current and potential market demands, opportunities for developing markets in relation to profitability and technological enhancements in production and quality of products. 6. In relation to underutilized crops in the less developed countries, it is clear that interests in pursuing new research in this area is largely a result of sentiments expressed in international fora over the past two decades for such research to be part of the overall goal of food security. This focus should continue to guide any international support to underutilized crops which might be forthcoming. However, it should not negate any effort on an industrial crop in a developing country when national policy has been defined, and support is mobilized, in view of the employment opportunities and the benefits to the particular economy. But it must be clear at the policy level what are the diverse needs and levels of sophistication required in processing and postharvest technology. Some recognized priorities are shown in Table 3.5.What is apparent from the listings of priorities is the wish to enhance production of a number of crops in specific regions where the production technology is known or at least more advanced in another part of the world.This has important implications on developing any global strategic approach. Strategy can therefore include technology transfer in such cases, using a variety of mechanisms from South-South cooperation to expanding networking arrangements or through focused aid inputs. However, there are many crops where existing technology is non-existent other than traditional production. Strategy development in these cases will have to be based on sharply focused goals, a time-frame for expected research products, and a clear policy framework at the government and research levels.In reveiwing existing documentation the criteria used to define priority species varied widely. However, there were sufficient commonalities to conclude that the species listed in Tables 3.1 (1-5) are largely valid.The major international promoters have somewhat different approaches. IPGRI's concern is on 'Neglected and Underutilized Species' and to develop priority action plans for their sustainable genetic conservation and making suitable genetic diversity available for use. ICUC's concern is to widen the range of useful plants used in farming systems and promote appropriate technology in order to raise and sustain overall productivity and contribute to food security and poverty alleviation -and to impact in a positive way on the conservation of biological diversity. Both organizations act in a partnership way whilst carrying out project-based research and promotion.Hence criteria used in regional and other meetings have reflected these approaches and included items associated with the germplasm/genepool base as well as current production constraints, germplasm enhancement needs, agro-ecological constraints, and postharvest processing and marketing.A consensus of the criteria for priority setting is shown in Table 3.3, and this will be a useful summary as strategy development proceeds.For a government official, priority setting is likely to fall within the framework of: • enhancing supplies of deficit products in specific areas such as vegetable oils or other food purposes, • addressing stressed ecosystems, • enhancing national input to international trade, • increasing the innovative products with a market potential, and • using crops for new purposes to enhance the well-being of communities. In view of concerns about sustainability and the environment the public sector remains a major and logical focus (Smith 1988); this needs to be recognized at the outset. Furthermore government officials need to recognize that when a priority is accorded to an underutilized crop for industrial purposes the commitment is needed at the beginning for the suitable postharvest handling including processing mechanisms. If priority is accorded for complex and new industrial products then almost certainly a strategy for commercialization has to be developed at the beginning and this involves commitments as in Table 3.4. It is important that due cognizance is given to this to avoid failures due to inadequate market analysis or products costing more than anticipated.These items relate to the industry and the market place. Meadley (1989) stressed the need for monitoring change at the farm level during the process. In recent decades much has been written about the value of networks, particularly when related to a specific crop commodity. In fact, many of the successes of international agricultural research through the CGIAR have been developed and promoted through networks. Essentially networks comprise a group of partners which set a research agenda, mobilize support, and build a cooperative inter-disciplinary, critical mass of researchers, thus filling gaps where individual partners may not have adequate strength.Networks also pool limited resources and share the workload amongst members, and network members share the outputs and benefits.Networking for underutilized crops needs a great deal of clarification since a major current international goal is widely recognised as using such crops to broaden the base of agriculture and incorporating them into sustainable utilization to meet the nutritional and income needs of local people or even needs at the national level. Nonetheless many nations would like to see as a goal the enhancement of a particular underutilized commodity in order to produce export earnings from particular products, such as a specific vegetable oil, or a focused market-niche product.Any historical survey of diverse networking mechanisms for individual underutilized crops shows that it takes a minimum of 20 years to lead to really productive results, and this includes the internationalization of the research. Williams (1995) cited the cases of triticale and grain amaranth but these two examples also had major infusion of funding, particularly for the testing network and the germplasm enhancement. It remains to be seen if crop networks of more recent origin will generate the same external inputs, and lead to similar major impacts in similar time frames.It is pertinent to review the existing networking arrangements to identify constraints and to make proposals for possibly more effective arrangements.Existing networks can be categorised in 3 ways:1. Crop coverage The basic aim of the network may be characterised in one of three ways:• Largely for information sharing -e.g. international conferences dealing with lupin, yam bean or persimmon; or other information sharing e.g. bambara groundnut, cucurbits, underutilized wild Mediterranean species, • Mostly for cooperation between national programmes -e.g. the regional networks, or • Mostly for inputs of interested individual scientists -e.g. the Working Group of the EUCARPIA Gene Bank Committee.The networks may be:• Well coordinated, or the • Coordination is ad hoc, or totally voluntaryThe diversity of the 30 or so networks is a reflection of how they have come into being. Others have been created in the recent past and become inactive. Key institutional leaders have been IPGRI, especially for the multicrop genetic resources networks; ICUC and FAO especially for multicrop networks in specific geographic regions, but also CIP for the Andean roots and tubers and AVRDC for some Asian vegetables; and intercountry organizations, such as IICA in Latin America, the Pacific Community or the Commonwealth Science Council. In total, these promoters cover about half of the nongenetic resources based networks.Leaving aside networks mostly dedicated to information exchange, an analysis was carried out of the documented tasks of 21 others.A number of existing networks, without modification, cannot promote the sustainable development ideals of Agenda 21, the stated needs of the FAO Global Plan of Action nor fully the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity due to them not being involved in agricultural systems/practices work, due to the lack of socio-economic input to the networks and also due to lack of partnerships with NGOs which can best promote community development.A more worrying constraint is that a number of networks, and particularly single crop ones, are not very active in policy dialogues with national organizations. This is in part because the participants are often independent scientists rather than government researchers.New policy dialogues have to be aware that agricultural diversification, as well as the needs for increased breeding and research on priority underutilized species remain the responsibilities of the public sector. The trends towards increasing privatization of plant breeding will not take great care of underutilized crops because there is little commercial incentive for plant breeding and seed companies.Much as useful activities have resulted from numerous policy discussions on genetic resources it would be a mistake to mislead national governments that policies for underutilized crops fall mostly within that remit. Already many national programmes on genetic resources are underfunded. Underutilized crops require due attention in national strategic planning, additional to genetic resources strategies, and not necessarily in the  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Active participation with NGOs 10 5 Policy dialogues with national/regional organizations 35 100 same institutional frameworks except for the genetic conservation of the species genepools. Many of the underutilized crops fit policies for sustainable development and policies for commercialization especially when research on processing leads to added value in markets.Only one of the networks relates to information on potential domestication of the numerous useful wild (and often 'protected' by communities) or semi-domesticated food and other useful plants. In such cases research is needed on propagation and screening of populations for desirable genotypes, activities which have long been part of the comparative advantage of botanic gardens rather than agricultural research centres. This illustrates the need for broad inter-disciplinary policy dialogues at government levels. As is the case for numerous underutilized crops, the useful wild species may well be overexploited and undergoing genetic erosion due to population pressures, lack of sustainable management plans and less than ideal systems of in situ conservation. When nations have clear strategies for land use including food production, agricultural diversification, forestry, rehabilitation of degraded lands etc., many of the wild species will be needed particularly for pasture and forage use, rehabilitation of dry and other stressed environments, and for other purposes such as intercrops, nurse crops, shade plants, windbreaks and many other purposes including protection of watersheds. There are good reasons to focus environmental policy in this direction rather than overpromotion of agricultural production on marginalised and often fragile areas.For networks to be successful there needs to be strategic focus at the national partner level. Here there are often conflicting views at the decision-making level stemming from lack of synergies between the NARS and the national systems dealing with environment, export promotion, sustainable development and poverty alleviation, indigenous peoples etc. The data gathering for FAO's State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture did not address this particular constraint. Future efforts could pay attention to this need.Without strategic and integrated policies at the national level, the strategic agenda of any network may not address the needs of the poorest who cannot take responsibility for the natural resources they use if they are insecure tenants, if water rights are not clear or where informal seed sectors do not exist.Thus many national inputs to current networks are indeed based on individual rather than on integrated policy decisions. As an example, sesame became a priority for Thailand, Nepal, China and Sri Lanka to increase exports, for India and Bangladesh due to shortages of vegetable oil, for Japan to reduce imports and for Republic of Korea to decrease domestic production costs. As a result, countries may join a network for different reasons and the goals of the network must be articulated to encompass many diverse needs. It is also clear that with so many diverse networks on underutilized crops any government decisions at different times on different species will not lead to coherence across numerous underutilized crops.In reviewing stated priority species of a number of countries and regions, attempts to match them with existing networking arrangements leave huge gaps. One outstanding one is where species are underutilized in a particular country but well utilized elsewhere. The country wishing to use it further often has no critical mass to initiate new research. Technology transfer, rather than networking, would be more logical. Examples would include garlic or apricot in Pakistan, or walnut in Central Asian Republics.It is also noticeable that few international agricultural research centre efforts include underutilized crops. Apart from IPGRI, with emphasis on genetic resources, ICARDA and ICRISAT participate in a Lathyrus network, ICRAF in a food tree network in Sub-Saharan Africa, and IITA in a bambara groundnut network. CIP organises the Andean root and tuber network and participates with CIAT and IPGRI in an Andean genetic resources network. Other centres work on specific underutilized crops e.g. ICRISAT on finger millet and AVRDC on okra and cucurbits in Asia.A final constraint which has become apparent is that even within networking arrangements, exchange of germplasm, even for research, is often very limited, and when network participants express the need and the wish to use nationally-approved procedures. This is because of the provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity that requires access through prior informed consent on mutual terms. There has been a marked decrease in germplasm exchanges South-South in recent years. From October 1998, the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources has been discussing the possibilities of listing underutilized crops as part of a multilateral system of availability and this is an ongoing discussion.Current international policy related to agricultural research is in general favourable to networking e.g. to implement the FAO Global Plan of Action, to foster innovative research partnerships, and overall to mobilize the various stakeholders comprising the global agricultural research community in efforts to increase food security, alleviate poverty and promote sustainable use of natural resources. The Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) which brings together NARS, CGIAR, advanced research institutes, the private sector and NGOs as well as other stakeholders has stated in a recent shared vision that global/regional research networks on important crops (based on commodity-chain approach) and new institutional/organizational approaches to research are ways ahead. This strengthens the concept of networking for underutilized crops.In reviewing the current networks it is apparent that the global commodity approach is only viable when there are sufficient specialists on the particular crop. Comparisons or criticisms would be invidious; but it is sufficient to note that some can be successful, others not; and the less known the underutilized crop is and the fewer the researchers involved the less likely it is for a network to succeed.This means there is a strong case for regional or sub-regional networks that can take on the responsibilities for one or more underutilized commodity groups such as fruits, vegetables, or whatever priorities the partners set. These would be of moderate size, thus being conducive to developing the scope of work, the practical workplans and agreement on sharing research responsibilities. Nonetheless for regional or sub-regional networks to have a sure foundation the national participants need clearly formulated national interest, and policy to back their partnerships. Since the regional or sub-regional network will deal with a mix of species the danger that one member, where one crop is of secondary importance, may lose interest is overcome because the mix of species will be determined so that all partner activities are strengthened. The structure and governance has to be such that the network can collectively change its priorities and workplans depending on successes or failures and this should in no way detract from the overall goals of enhancing NARS and the effectiveness of shared research. With this type of objective such a network will more readily attract funding.Comments made above, and analysis of the current situation, would strongly support the suggestion that a number of existing networks need to be re-organized. For instance, where a regional network exists, activities on an underutilized crop based on a commodity approach and underfunded, could be taken on as a priority of the regional network.Where regional networks do not exist, and where there are total gaps in developing priority underutilized crops, dialogue should be initiated to plan future action. International organizations can be helpful in identifying the major gaps and initiating dialogue with the stakeholders in this respect.Strategy development and appropriate policies are limited to a large extent by a lack of documentation on underutilized crops. In particular there is a limited knowledge on onfarm conservation and use of particular species especially in relation to what is considered traditional. Frequently this is only viewed in relation to poor or subsistence farmers. Yet government strategies and policies for food security should take into account the diversity in homestead gardens, mixed crop smallholdings and small plots adjacent to fields. Local systems for plant supplies, or seed flows, keep these agroecosystems dynamic and even permit sophisticated actions by farmers such as the small plots cultivated for drought years and the food gathered from semidomesticated plants.Taking into account agroecosystem diversity the NARS needs to take a dual approach: considering some underutilized crops as commodities and at the same time considering an agroecosystem approach. It is well to recall lessons of the past where agricultural modernization and increased production was often through changed agricultural practices long before the input from plant breeding. In any particular case, a logical framework needs to be defined for research input otherwise the research effort will be spread too thinly. For instance the strategy might define the adaptive potentialities of local varieties and research be put in place to use these to the maximum. This requires a participatory approach because breeding for target agroecosystems requires knowledge of the physical variables and also the socio-economic background.Decisions to introduce new crops into the traditional agricultural areas also require adaptive research and assessment of suitable agricultural practices. The oft-quoted example of the failure of the introduction of new crops to southern France in the eighteenth century provides a lesson. The crops were introduced into an agriculture that had hardly changed from Roman times and low yields resulted with decades of poor harvests.Changes over time in the patterns of traditional agriculture are obvious and any current documentation of agroecosystems with rich diversity is only meaningful in relation to managing traditional agriculture better and assuring the continued well-being of the communities it supports. Substitution of one crop by another of identical or equivalent use e.g. small millets replaced by maize or Lagenaria siceraria replaced by Cucurbita pepo is normal and is guided by farmer preference. Changes which cannot be guided by farmer preferences are those caused by economic or practical factors. For instance in the Mediterranean, fenugreek, Vicia ervilia and V. monanthas, part of the traditional agriculture, have fallen to very low levels over the past 60 years. They were largely used for animal feed but two factors caused their decline: first they cannot easily be harvested mechanically, and second, wheat was easier to use in place of them.Understanding and using to positive advantage these patterns of change is a complex issue. Rightfully, international attention has focused on the need to conserve and better use the genetic diversity in traditional agroecosystems, but support at the national, regional and even local level has rarely been carefully thought out; support in terms of seed supplies, plant conservation, availability of new germplasm etc. For instance it is logical that smallholders in Latin America can have available good planting stock of walnut (Juglans regia), but this can accelerate the severe genetic erosion of the genepool of indigenous Juglans species, especially J. nigra and even Carya illinoensis. Such genetic erosion will continue until practices are well-articulated and take into account the socio-economic well being of farmers and communities, and agricultural policy linked to forestry and export policy which currently provides huge incentives to local people to fell indigenous trees since there is great demand for veneer for the furniture industry.Information alone on the species being used, on the people involved in the management and use and on their ecological and human contexts is insufficient. Policies have to address adaptive management in response to change and to adjust incentives and regulations including impact on social harmony; a large agenda with numerous variations in land/resource rights and ownership, and in the human system ranging from producers, consumers to entrepreneurs and local and government controllers/managers.These comments illustrate why it has proved difficult to wed needs for plant genetic resources collecting, evaluation and conservation with planting material supply systems and research on production in the areas of traditional agriculture. Strategy urgently needs to be developed in this area, and not least by international organizations. In practice, what is happening at present is the continuation of the ethnobotanical listings, whichvaluable as they are -are limited in application. Table 5.1 shows a summary of such listings from two very diverse areas. The sheer number of species can be bewildering to planners let alone scientists.The value of ethnobotanical data cannot be overstressed. It is more how such data can be gathered and used by researchers that poses problems. For instance, Pearce (1996) points out that frequently the data are gathered without a full understanding and study of the community concerned. In many cases botanists are overly concerned with collecting and identifying the plants, in other cases data gathering is based on attempts to justify traditional life-styles or cultural identity and data can lack the objectivesness necessary in planning research.A further consideration relating to traditional agroecosystems is that frequently they are inadequate for current needs. This has great implications on the need to conserve diversity in situ in many of these agroecosystems and the urgent needs to change them. For instance in Bangladesh per capita availability of fruits from homestead gardens is low and there is a high prevalence of malnutrition in the country. Also due to limited supply of cultivated land field orchards face serious competition for land from crops such as rice and wheat and urbanization, making it unlikely that the field orchard area will grow substantially to meet increased demand for fruits. The clear policy has to be to upgrade and change the homestead production (Karim and Rahman 1993). In listing constraints in homestead farming 72% of farmers recorded lack of planting material and 82% lack of knowledge as well as other constraints such as lack of capital. Governments assess situations and develop policies and these vary from country to country. For instance the example of Bangladesh homestead gardens is not applicable to other tropical countries in S and SE Asia. Malaysian policy is to develop commercial fruit production through the development of nuclear fruit estates and rehabilitation of unorganized and dispersed smallholders through group farming projects and mini-estates (Tamin 1993). Both policies will lead to major changes in the traditional agroecosystems.Focus on priority underutilized crops in traditional agricultural areas and development of procedures for assessing the sustainability of their use -tied to focused research to evaluate the potential and ecological requirements -could go a long way in advancing knowledge and avoid the limited and piecemeal research. In order to help strategy development at the national level it is recommended that a small methodology workshop be convened by ICUC, FAO and IPGRI to develop guidelines in this area and that funding should be sought to test the guidelines in the context of already-agreed priority underutilized crops. This testing could be within the framework of the active coordinated networks and with participation from suitable experts who have developed the thinking in this area e.g. through the EU Project T53+CT920121 (Life Sciences and Technologies for Developing Countries); see EU, 1998. Methodology will include assessment of local know-how, socio-economic background, policy framework, development of a scientific and analytical framework to establish the agro-ecological potential (Fig. 5.1). It should be noted that a 4-year time frame is minimum and for long-lived perennials may be much longer. Even so trials will take a number of years so the time frame in Fig. 5.1 is less important than the methodology.  Slow progress in developing underutilized crops results from a number of constraints outlined by Haq (1995) and summarized below. They include lack of:• available information on production, consumption and utilization,• available genetic materials for testing,• coordination of stakeholders from producers to researchers and users,• coordination of project formulation at national, regional and international levels,• prioritization for genetic resources and sustainable utilization,• marketing and transport facilities,• improved genetic materials,• improved agronomic practices,• training,• promotion of specific underutilized crops, and • government policies, initiatives and incentives to producers.At one time it was felt that compendia of information crop by crop would provide useful starting points for institutions taking up underutilized crop research. The efforts in recent years have produced a number of valuable compendia but there is no evidence to show that they have stimulated major new research efforts. In the future, almost certainly, information will need to be in computerised documentation systems, and constantly adding to these will be a major responsibility for the global community. It has been largely ignored to the present, and has not attracted funding.It is recommended that in the context of the Global Plan of Action, FAO in collaboration with ICUC, initiates such a documentation system and mobilizes funding for it.It should be noted that many misunderstandings are apparent in terms of recent discussions on sovereign property of plant resources. Better information would go a long way in dispelling some misconceptions, and also inactivity stemming from them.It is often widely misundertood that traditional agriculture and production of underutilized crops to mitigate emergency situations is based on rich indigenous diversity. In fact when national priorities are defined to enhance research on underutilized crops many individual crops are exotic introductions. Mal (1995) in listing such priorities for India includes 8 first priority crops, 10 second priority crops and 4 third priority crops. Of these, 3, 3 and 4 respectively are introductions.Similarly, the MESFIN Network on fruits of the Mediterranean focuses on 16 crops or crop groups (Galan-Sauco 1998) of which only 2 are indigenous to the region, although many have shown secondary diversity in the area. Most of these fruits are of major interest but several are underutilized.Research planning and priority setting are closely linked and determined by government policies. Earlier sections of this report have shown that clear government policies in relation to underutilized crops are rare.In effect what is needed is appropriate policies in association with supportive institutions of the NARS to produce targeted improved technology which aims at sustainability, adequate recognition of women and poverty alleviation. Reaching decisions at the government level on priorities and modalities for action is only logical using mechanisms that are participatory:(i) assessment of knowledge on resource use systems developed by farming communities (ii) recognition of urgent social and economic needs (iii) matching existing resources to enhanced production of commodities and products, and (iv) recognizing there are often eco-regional complementarities with neighbouring countries.In recent years it has become far more widely recognized that research priority setting and strategy development at the national level needs to involve all actors within diverse Ministries. This means that priority setting for underutilized crops requires not only the broad NARS (research institutes, universities, NGOs, user groups, private sector etc.) but also input from agencies involved with environment, Agenda 21, and others.There is a need for international organizations to facilitate national policy development. This would also greatly enhance regional and subregional cooperation. The Asia Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutes (APAARI) met in 1996 and discussed subregional priorities. Discussions on underutilized crops led to different focuses: need to prioritize and integrate research on non conventional or underutilized species (S. Asia), diversification of agriculture and low input sustainable development (E. Asia), or specific focus on enhanced production and commercialization of fruits and other underutilized crops (S.E. Asia).Since subgroupings for research recognize traditional linkages and common and diverse national, economic, social and political differences the research groupings will only be successful when these have been built on a series of the national policies.Due to the lack of critical mass of researchers on underutilized crops, intercountry cooperation is likely to be needed for quite some time.It is recommended that in the next 2-3 years, ICUC, GFAR, FAO and CGIAR should promote national policy development and regional cooperation for underutilized crops. This could be done through the subregional discussions of GFAR.When discussing networks it was apparent that there are major gaps -especially in how to cope with the generally agreed priority species -and the networks are very diverse in structure.A degree of re-organization of networks would be logical in the next few years. This will become more apparent as national policy formulation becomes clearer. Mobilization of funding for network support appear to be favouring a regional, multi-species approach. Some crops currently dealt with by a commodity network might well have to be joined to other networks. This will also take care of some specific commodities, the networking for which has never attracted funding.International organizations, and indeed this report, highlight the continuing need for project funding for strategic action to support the emergence of a global system for enhanced production of underutilized crops.1. that bilateral donors should consider twinning arrangements for R & D of high priority species; 2. that better South-South collaboration be considered especially using those few countries with strong national programmes on underutilized crops; 3. that to build capacity, a major training programme should be developed and implemented internationally; and 4. that a consortium approach be considered for the support of the networks."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7315a2b87073afc9555d42a3b2af8be5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/66a42726-da9c-4e3a-9ac3-14e57f2935a0/content","id":"271360215"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d1c8ba4c-a1ee-4a21-9f3c-d5484e2498da","content":"2003. Derechos reservados. El CIMMYT es el único responsable de esta publicación. Las designaciones empleadas en la presentación de los materiales incluidos en esta publicación de ninguna manera expresan la opinión del CIMMYT o de sus patrocinadores respecto al estado legal de cualquier país, territorio, ciudad o zona, o de las autoridades de éstos, o respecto a la delimitación de sus fronteras. El CIMMYT autoriza el uso de este material, siempre y cuando se cite la fuente.El Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT®) (www.cimmyt.mx) es una organización internacional, sin fines de lucro, que se dedica a la investigación científica y la capacitación. Tiene su sede en México y colabora con instituciones de investigación agrícola de todo el mundo para mejorar la productividad y la sostenibilidad de los sistemas de maíz y trigo para los agricultores de escasos recursos en los países en desarrollo. El CIMMYT forma parte de los 16 centros de Future Harvest dedicados a la investigación sobre cultivos alimentarios y el medio ambiente. Con oficinas en todo el mundo, los centros de Future Harvest llevan a cabo investigación colaborativa con agricultores, científicos y formuladores de políticas para combatir la pobreza y aumentar la seguridad alimentaria, al tiempo que protegen los recursos naturales. Son financiados por el Grupo Consultivo sobre la Investigación Agrícola Internacional (CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org), entre cuyos miembros se cuentan cerca de 60 países, organizaciones tanto internacionales como regionales y fundaciones privadas. El CIMMYT recibe fondos para su agenda de investigación de varias fuentes, entre las que se encuentran fundaciones, bancos de desarrollo e instituciones públicas y privadas. Figura 2. Distribución porcentual del valor de la producción de los cultivos agrícolas. Figura 3. Producción de los principales cultivos básicos en México. Figura 4. Gasto federal en ciencia y tecnología, en millones de pesos a precios de 1994, y su porcentaje con respecto al PBI. Figura 5. Distribución del gasto federal en ciencia y tecnología en agricultura, ganadería y desarrollo rural en 1997 (por institución).En la década del 90, el sector agropecuario mexicano generó alrededor del 5% del PBI y el 2.5% de las exportaciones. A pesar de su reducida contribución al PBI, el sector agropecuario tiene una gran importancia económica y social como generador de empleos (un 25% del empleo total), por su influencia sobre el costo de vida, la prevalencia de la pobreza rural (más del 75% de la población pobre y más del 50% de los que viven en pobreza extrema habitan en zonas rurales) y porque las exportaciones agropecuarias constituyen una fuente de ingreso importante para varias regiones, especialmente las zonas irrigadas del norte y centro del país.Desde la década del 70, algunos productores agropecuarios mexicanos, especialmente los que se integraron a cadenas exportadoras, pudieron incorporar tecnologías de punta que han sido la base de su competitividad. Pero, en general, estas tecnologías no fueron desarrolladas por las instituciones públicas de investigación sino que fueron importadas o desarrolladas por empresas privadas mexicanas.Las instituciones públicas de investigación fueron creadas para proporcionar apoyo técnico a las políticas de desarrollo agropecuario.Por esta razón, las autoridades de estas instituciones mantenían contactos fluidos con las dependencias gubernamentales de las que dependían, pero sus interacciones con agricultores y empresas ligadas al sector eran débiles. En general, esta estructura jerárquica se reproducía dentro de las instituciones y en sus relaciones con los agricultores.A partir de la década del 90, México ha hecho un esfuerzo importante para reformar su sistema público de investigación. Los cambios incluyeron nuevos incentivos para los investigadores establecidos por las principales instituciones financiadoras. Sin embargo, las reformas dentro de las propias instituciones han avanzado a paso lento, especialmente los incentivos para incrementar las interacciones con otros agentes dentro del sistema de innovación agropecuario aún no se han adecuado a las necesidades de un sector integrado a la economía mundial.En la década del 90, el sector agropecuario mexicano generó alrededor del 5% del PBI (OCDE, 1997) y el 2.5% de las exportaciones (Banco Mundial, 2001). A pesar de su reducida contribución al PBI, el sector agropecuario tiene una gran importancia económica y social como generador de empleos (un 25% del empleo total), por su influencia sobre el costo de vida, la prevalencia de la pobreza rural (más del 75% de la población pobre y más del 50% de los que viven en pobreza extrema habitan en zonas rurales) (FAO y SAGARPA, 2000), y porque las exportaciones agropecuarias constituyen una fuente de ingreso importante para varias regiones, especialmente las zonas irrigadas del norte y centro del país.La importancia económica del sector agropecuario mexicano disminuyó en las últimas décadas dado su lento crecimiento relativo. Entre 1988 y el 2000, el PBI agrícola creció a una tasa promedio anual del 1.9% mientras que el PBI total creció a una tasa del 3.5%. Las causas de este comportamiento son varias, entre ellas, la prevalencia de campesinos minifundistas, políticas económicas que no favorecían la adopción de tecnologías más productivas, regímenes de propiedad de la tierra poco flexibles, precios reales decrecientes para cereales y carnes, un fuerte ajuste de las estructuras productivas en respuesta a la apertura de los mercados agropecuarios, y sistemas de investigación y extensión rígidos y débilmente articulados con otros agentes del sistema de innovación agropecuario.Hasta la década del 80, el sector agropecuario mexicano operó en medio de una compleja estructura de subsidios directos e indirectos (incluyendo control de precios de productos e insumos), control estatal de la comercialización e importación de ciertos bienes, fuertes inversiones en infraestructura de riego e investigación agropecuaria. Los dos objetivos principales de las políticas agrícolas, incluidas las de investigación, eran la autosuficiencia alimentaria y el apoyo a los pequeños productores de subsistencia. Sin embargo, ni la competitividad ni la sostenibilidad de la agricultura figuraban entre las metas públicas. Estos objetivos se plasmaron en la concentración de los apoyos a productos pecuarios y granos básicos destinados a mercados domésticos aislados de los mercados internacionales. En forma paralela, respondiendo a oportunidades de mercado y sin apoyo público, se desarrolló una industria de exportación de hortalizas y frutas (Calvin y Barrios, 1999).La evolución de estos dos subsectores (producción para consumo interno y exportación) respondió, entre otras influencias, a oportunidades tecnológicas y comerciales específicas. La producción dirigida al mercado interno y las actividades de investigación relacionadas con ésta se organizaron en lo que Kash y Rycoft (2000) llamaron el patrón normal de evolución: redes de agentes relativamente estables que generan innovaciones a lo largo de trayectorias tecnológicas conocidas. Puesto que cada agente \"entiende\" el funcionamiento del sistema y las necesidades y capacidades de otros agentes, las relaciones entre éstos son relativamente impersonales y formales, en muchos casos, terciadas por mercados.El sistema público de investigación agropecuaria mexicano se formó antes de la década del 80 como parte de esta red relativamente estática. Lo integraron dos grupos de agentes bien diferenciados: las instituciones públicas (especialmente el INIFAP y las instituciones que lo precedieron) y las universidades. Estos agentes se organizaron como dependencias públicas tradicionales, lo que impuso serias limitaciones a su capacidad operativa. Internamente, estas instituciones se estructuraron por disciplinas científicas o por cultivos, con pocas interacciones con otros agentes del sistema de innovación (incluidos los usuarios de tecnologías), con el propósito de apoyar la producción de productos con poco valor agregado pero gran importancia política (granos básicos y ganadería), y se concentraron en aspectos puramente productivos dentro de las explotaciones agropecuarias (mejoramiento genético, plagas y enfermedades, manejo de agroquímicos y algunos aspectos de manejo de cultivos). Las universidades, además, se organizaron siguiendo los modelos tradicionales de las universidades europeas, donde los profesores no tenían obligación de investigar ni de interactuar con el resto de la sociedad.conformación de nuevas redes de interacción y el desarrollo de nuevas líneas de investigación. Además, la nueva trayectoria se caracterizó por una mayor incertidumbre tecnológica y comercial. Dados los limitados conocimientos sobre el sistema, los agentes tuvieron que establecer contactos más directos y estrechos entre sí. Ante la débil respuesta de las instituciones públicas de investigación, fue necesario importar las primeras tecnologías de producción y comercialización, si bien más tarde agentes mexicanos influyeron también en el desarrollo del sistema (Calvin y Barrios, 1999).La crisis de 1982 puso en evidencia la necesidad de replantear el modelo de sustitución de importaciones. Después de la implementación de los programas de ajuste estructural en 1984, las políticas agrarias se transformaron radicalmente. Se desregularon los mercados nacional e internacional y se liberalizó el mercado de tierras. El sector agropecuario tuvo que ajustarse rápidamente a las nuevas reglas del juego y respondió con fuertes ajustes en su estructura de producción: se expandieron considerablemente las exportaciones de frutas y hortalizas y se redujo la producción de granos básicos (con excepción del maíz para el que se mantuvieron fuertes subsidios en algunos estados).El nuevo entorno político y económico transformó las necesidades tecnológicas de los productores agropecuarios. De pronto, la competitividad y la sostenibilidad pasaron a ser objetivos fundamentales. La atención de estos objetivos requería nuevas rutinas de investigación, basadas en una visión sistémica del proceso productivo y la interacción con otros agentes dentro del sistema de innovación. Sin embargo, las instituciones públicas no tenían ni los medios ni los incentivos para apoyar el desarrollo tecnológico de estos productos.Al reconocer la necesidad de reestructurar el sistema público de investigación, en la segunda mitad de la década del 90 el gobierno mexicano modificó el régimen que regula estas actividades. El objetivo de las reformas era vincular las instituciones públicas de investigación con agentes públicos y privados. Las instituciones respondieron cambiando sus rutinas de operación, incluidos sus sistemas de incentivos. Sin embargo, como sucede con todos los cambios fundamentales, la transición ha sido lenta y su avance desigual debido a la inercia creada por culturas institucionales que no favorecen la interacción entre instituciones, valoran la disciplina (y por ende la uniformidad) dentro de los equipos de investigación, desincentivan la creatividad de investigadores individuales y no crean espacios para la integración y desarrollo de investigadores jóvenes.En la sección 2 se describen aspectos esenciales de la evolución y organización actual de la agricultura mexicana. El Sistema Nacional de Investigación se analiza en la sección 3, mientras que el Subsistema Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria se analiza en la sección 4. Las conclusiones se presentan en la sección 5.El territorio mexicano tiene una superficie aproximada de 197 millones de hectáreas. De esta superficie, las tierras cultivables ocupan cerca del 16%, las praderas naturales 41%, los bosques 25% y las malezas 16% (OCDE, 1997). Desde el punto de vista agroecológico, el país se divide en tres grandes regiones: Árida (norte del país), Templada (centro) y Trópico (sur), las cuales a su vez tienen varios microclimas. Esta gran variedad agroecológica permite cultivar una gran diversidad de productos agropecuarios.A pesar de esta diversidad ecológica y productiva, los productores agropecuarios pueden dividirse en tres grandes grupos: los que producen para la exportación, ubicados mayormente en el noroeste y centro del país; los productores comerciales que abastecen el mercado interno y los productores de subsistencia. Cada uno de estos grupos tiene necesidades sociales y tecnológicas diferentes. Los dos primeros necesitan mantener su competitividad en los mercados interno y de exportación. Para los productores de subsistencia, en cambio, la prioridad es desarrollar nuevas fuentes de ingreso para romper el círculo vicioso de la pobreza. No obstante estas diferentes necesidades tecnológicas, todos los grupos enfrentan un mismo problema que condiciona su supervivencia: integrarse a mercados cada vez más competitivos y complejos que los fuerza a innovar con más frecuencia y a modificar tanto aspectos productivos como de comercialización.Una segunda división importante se encuentra entre productores ejidatarios y productores dueños de sus explotaciones. Los miembros del ejido disponían del derecho de uso en forma colectiva pero no individual. El sistema ejidal se caracterizaba por derechos de propiedad mal definidos e imponía fuertes restricciones al desarrollo de un mercado de tierras (OCDE, 1997). Como resultado de estas restricciones se consolidó un sector campesino con poca capacidad de invertir en tecnologías agropecuarias más productivas.La reforma constitucional de 1992 autorizó a los ejidatarios a vender (previa autorización de la asamblea ejidal), rentar o hipotecar sus parcelas. El objetivo de la reforma era reforzar los derechos de propiedad para inducir un aumento de las inversiones y la consolidación de las parcelas pequeñas en explotaciones viables. A pesar de estos cambios en la legislación de tierras, el proceso de consolidación de explotaciones ejidales ha sido lento. En cambio, el mercado de renta de tierras ejidales se expandió considerablemente y aumentó el uso de tierras comunales para pastura (Deininger y Bresciani, 2001). Pese a la lentitud del proceso, se observa un aumento de la concentración de la propiedad de la tierra en manos privadas. Los ejidatarios que han vendido sus tierras se han transformado en asalariados rurales o han emigrado a las ciudades para emplearse como obreros. Sin embargo, no se observan incrementos de inversión privada en el campo.Los productores privados (incluidos los pequeños productores) en general tienen mayores ingresos y son más productivos que los productores ejidatarios (Deininger y Bresciani, 2001). Si bien las pequeñas propiedades bajo diferentes formas de tenencia predominan en el campo mexicano, las grandes explotaciones generan una proporción importante de la producción agrícola (OCDE, 1997).Uno de los mayores problemas del campo mexicano es la prevalencia de la pobreza rural, ya que ésta se encuentra más concentrada en el campo y los pobres rurales viven en condiciones más precarias que los pobres urbanos. Entre 1985 y 1999 la proporción de la población rural disminuyó del 31.4% al 25.6% de la población total, pero la población rural concentró más de la tercera parte de la población pobre y más de la mitad de los que viven en pobreza extrema. En 1998 se estimaba que el 59% de la población rural era pobre y el 31% vivía en pobreza extrema. La reducción en los índices de pobreza rural en la década del 90 no se asocia tanto a mejoras en la productividad de la agricultura como a fuertes procesos migratorios hacia las ciudades y los Estados Unidos (FAO y SAGARPA, 2000).Desde la década del 50 hasta mediados de la del 80, México mantuvo políticas de sustitución de importaciones y de autosuficiencia alimentaria junto con un sistema político sumamente centralizado (OCDE, 1977). Los objetivos principales de estas políticas eran garantizar una oferta estable de alimentos baratos a los consumidores urbanos y la reducción de la pobreza rural. Los instrumentos más importantes fueron el apoyo a productores que abastecían al mercado interno, en especial, los pequeños productores de granos básicos (maíz, trigo, frijol, cebada, arroz, sorgo y cinco oleaginosas), una fuerte intervención estatal en las cadenas de comercialización (incluido el comercio exterior) y la desprotección de actividades ligadas a la exportación de bienes y servicios (FAO y SAGARPA, 2000).En las décadas del 40 y 50, el PBI agropecuario creció a una tasa media anual del 5.8% y el subsector agrícola casi al 7%, como resultado de una expansión de la superficie cosechada del 4% y un aumento de los rendimientos del 3%. Este fuerte crecimiento fue posible gracias a importantes inversiones en obras de irrigación y al comportamiento relativamente favorable de los precios agropecuarios. En 1939 México tenía 15 millones de hectáreas cultivables; para 1949 éstas aumentaron a 20 millones y a 24 millones en 1960. A partir de entonces la superficie de tierra cultivable ha permanecido estable. Adicionalmente, 80 millones de hectáreas se destinan a la ganadería, de las cuales dos terceras partes se localizan en las zonas semiáridas con baja capacidad de carga animal (Fernández-Cornejo y Shumway, 1997).Gracias a los grandes proyectos públicos de irrigación, las tierras de riego pasaron de 1.7 millones de hectáreas en 1939 a 2.4 millones en 1949, 3 millones en 1960 y 5 millones en 1980, y desde esa fecha se han mantenido sin cambios importantes. La superficie cosechada aumentó de 6.7 millones de hectáreas en 1939 a 8.6 millones en 1949, 11.4 millones en 1960 y 17.4 millones de hectáreas en 1980, manteniéndose estable en las dos décadas siguientes (FAO, 1999).A partir de la década del 70, el gobierno federal utilizó los ingresos petroleros para aumentar los subsidios al campo, los cuales alcanzaron en 1981 el 22% del PBI agropecuario. Muchos de los programas de desarrollo agrícola, así como de inversión pública, extensión, investigación, controles sanitarios y apoyos directos a la producción y la comercialización eran ejecutados directamente por el gobierno federal. Las políticas agrícolas y de desarrollo emplearon diversos incentivos para promover tecnologías seleccionadas por los técnicos que diseñaban los programas. 2 En general, las políticas agropecuarias fueron organizadas desde el gobierno federal hacia abajo, con escasa participación de productores y gobiernos estatales y municipales. Esta organización de arriba hacia abajo contribuyó a la generación de un fuerte déficit fiscal, distorsiones de mercado, corrupción, clientelismo político y costos de transacción muy altos (FAO y SAGARPA, 2000;Kondo, 1999;Triomphe et al., 2001). Sin embargo, estas políticas tuvieron impactos contradictorios sobre el sector privado. Por un lado, elevaron la rentabilidad por medio de subsidios y la creación de infraestructura en irrigación, electrificación, comunicaciones y provisión de servicios esenciales (FAO y SAGARPA, 2000). Por otro lado, disminuyeron la capacidad de innovación de los productores agropecuarios, reduciendo la inversión privada neta.En la década del 80, México comenzó un profundo proceso de transformación económica basado en la desregulación de la economía interna y del comercio exterior; en cambio, la transformación política se retrasó diez años. El efecto combinado de las nuevas políticas resultó en la transferencia de responsabilidades del gobierno a los productores privados y ejidales, de las autoridades federales a los gobiernos estatales y la eliminación de la regulación de precios por parte del gobierno permitiendo el accionar de los mercados (Naylor et al., 2001).Las nuevas políticas redujeron la inversión pública en el sector agropecuario, los subsidios y los gastos en fomento agrícola y desregularon parcialmente el comercio internacional de productos agropecuarios. La proporción del gasto público orientado a la agricultura en el gasto total cayó del 12% en 1980 a menos del 6% en 1989. Este último porcentaje se calculó sobre un total notablemente inferior al del comienzo de la década. Habiéndose desarrollado con una protección fuerte, la agricultura se vio repentinamente obligada a competir en mercados más abiertos.A pesar de los cambios de políticas, la superficie cosechada, los rendimientos por hectárea y la composición del producto agropecuario, se mantuvieron estables durante la década del 80. En la década del 90 el sector creció a tasas moderadas, impulsado por un aumento en los rendimientos unitarios y cambios en la estructura de cultivos. Este mayor dinamismo reflejó los cambios estructurales que se habían producido en la década anterior: mientras que la producción de la mayoría de los granos y oleaginosas cayó, aumentó la de frutas, verduras, forrajes y cultivos industriales (FAO y SAGARPA, 2000).En el periodo analizado, dos tipos de políticas influyeron fuertemente sobre el agro mexicano: las de precios de productos e insumos agropecuarios, incluidos los subsidios a la producción, y las de comercio exterior.Hasta la primera mitad de la década del 80 las políticas de precios incluían precios de garantía para determinados productos, control del comercio exterior e intervención en el tipo de cambio. Los apoyos a la producción incluían subsidios a los insumos (particularmente al agua de riego, electricidad, fertilizantes y semillas), tasas de interés preferenciales, seguro agrícola e inversiones en infraestructura agrícola (Mielke, 1992). Las políticas de precios incentivaron un uso excesivo de ciertos insumos; por ejemplo, existen evidencias claras de que los acuíferos en las principales áreas de riego se están agotando porque las extracciones superan la recarga (Triomphe et al., 2001).Luego de la incorporación de México al Tratado de Libre Comercio entre Canadá, Estados Unidos y México (TLC), se establecieron apoyos que compensaban a los compradores de productos agropecuarios por pagar un precio interno superior al de productos similares importados. Estos apoyos son operados por Apoyos y Servicios a la Comercialización Agropecuaria (ASERCA). Esta institución también otorga cobertura de precios a los productores de ciertos productos en regiones específicos. El monto de subsidios otorgado por ASERCA en el 2000 fue de aproximadamente 320 millones de dólares (FAO y SAGARPA, 2000).Un objetivo importante de las políticas agropecuarias recientes fue la consolidación de los mecanismos de mercado como elemento director de las decisiones productivas. La transición de un mercado protegido a uno integrado a la economía internacional forzó a los productores a transformarse para aumentar su eficiencia productiva y de comercialización. Pero esta transformación se ha demorado por falta de crédito (Rosenzweig, 2001) y los crecientes riesgos asociados con el inicio de nuevas actividades. Los productores utilizaron los programas de apoyo a la agricultura, como Alianza para el Campo, para capitalizarse y continuar produciendo granos. Como la mayoría de los beneficiarios del programa Alianza eran productores de zonas irrigadas, los pequeños productores de zonas de temporal dejaron de recibir apoyo (FAO y SAGARPA, 2000). La razón es que los productores participantes tenían que contribuir con un tercio de los costos, y esto limitaba los apoyos a productores con una mínima capacidad financiera.alrededor de 8.7 millones de trabajadores (FAO y SAGARPA, 2000;Zedillo, 2000). En el período 1990-1999 la producción agrícola representó en promedio el 70% del PBI agropecuario, la producción pecuaria el 23%, la silvícola el 4% y la pesquera el 3%. En el mismo período, la producción agrícola creció a una tasa media anual del 1.9%, la producción pecuaria a una tasa del 1.3%, la silvícola al 1.0% y la pesca al 1.1% (INEGI, varios años) (Figura 1).Los rubros agrícolas más importantes son hortalizas, frutales, cereales y forrajes. Entre 1980 y 1999 la participación de los cereales en el valor total de la producción agrícola cayó de 31% a 20% y la de los cultivos industriales de 19% a 15% (Figura 2). Esta caída fue causada por el mayor dinamismo tecnológico y comercial de las producciones para exportación, cambios en las políticas agrícolas y la caída de los precios reales de cereales y oleaginosas.Si bien las exportaciones de hortalizas ya eran importantes a fines de la década del 80, los cambios tecnológicos en la producción y comercialización se aceleraron en la década del 90. Las principales innovaciones tecnológicas de producción introducidas fueron los sistemas de riego presurizados y por goteo, los sistemas de ferti-irrigación, el uso de la plasticultura o acolchado (que permite esterilizar el suelo por las altas temperaturas que genera, retener humedad e inhibir el crecimiento de malezas) y la introducción de semillas mejoradas.En general, estas tecnologías fueron importadas. En el caso del tomate, la principal hortaliza de exportación, se introdujo una variedad de larga vida en anaquel, desarrollada en Israel. Esta variedad aumentó la competitividad de los productores mexicanos en el mercado estadounidense, ya que dicha variedad no ha podido ser adaptada a las principales zonas productoras de Estados Unidos. La adopción de sistemas de fertiirrigación fue subsidiada por los gobiernos federal y estatales (Salcedo, 1999). Las tecnologías de comercialización introducidas incluyeron una consolidación de las empresas comercializadoras para ofrecer hortalizas todo el año y mayor eficiencia en los trámites aduaneros, en las comunicaciones con los compradores y en los procesos de distribución en Estados Unidos (Calvin y Barrios, 1999).La producción de frutas para la exportación también aumentó considerablemente. Por ejemplo, las exportaciones de plátano crecieron 4.870% durante el periodo 1982-1997. Las tecnologías de producción fueron importadas de Centroamérica; de hecho algunos gerentes de las principales fincas bananeras eran originarios de esta región (Salcedo, 1999). Si bien el crecimiento de las exportaciones de frutas y hortalizas se ha concentrado en productores mexicanos que ya exportaban antes del TLC, existe un gran potencial de crecimiento para productores medianos que todavía no participan en estos mercados (Yúnez-Naude, 2001).El desarrollo de cuencas lecheras intensivas en varias regiones del país ha estimulado la demanda de varios cultivos forrajeros, entre los que destacan la alfalfa, el maíz y el sorgo. Los granos básicos desempeñan un papel fundamental en la agricultura mexicana ya que constituyen la base de la alimentación de una gran parte de la población de bajos recursos, en particular de campesinos que producen para el autoconsumo. En los años previos a la entrada en vigencia del TLC, la mayoría de los estudios indicaban que la producción de granos básicos caería como consecuencia de la competencia de importaciones. A pesar de las predicciones, la producción se mantuvo estancada en la década del 90, salvo la de maíz, que se expandió (Figura 3), y la de trigo y de soya que se contrajeron; esta última principalmente a causa de los ataques de la mosca blanca.Existen tres explicaciones alternativas de la estabilidad de la producción de granos básicos. La primera es que el nivel de protección efectiva que se le otorga es aún relativamente alto. PROCAMPO y ASERCA, en particular, han apoyado a los productores de granos básicos, y principalmente a los comerciales 4 (Rosenzweig, 2001, Yúnez-Naude, 2001). En el caso del maíz, los fuertes subsidios estuvieron complementados con un considerable aumento de los rendimientos y la expansión del cultivo en zonas con condiciones favorables.La segunda explicación es que una gran parte de la oferta de granos básicos Figura 3. Producción de los principales cultivos básicos en México.Fuente: SAGARPA.Trigo granoFrijol (sobre todo maíz y frijol) es generada por pequeños productores. Estos productores enfrentan altos costos de transacción en algunos mercados, lo que explica, al menos parcialmente, que produzcan para el autoconsumo. 5 Por esta razón, fueron menos afectados por la liberalización de las políticas de precios y de comercio exterior (Taylor et al., 1999).La tercera explicación es que las demandas de los productores de autoconsumo se basan en características específicas (ej., gusto, color, facilidad de cocción, etc.), que no pueden encontrarse fácilmente en los mercados. Al mismo tiempo, las familias de estos productores tienen estrategias de ingresos diversificadas, entre ellas, la producción para el autoconsumo, producción para el mercado e ingresos no agropecuarios (especialmente transferencias de migrantes) (Yúnez-Naude et al., 2000). Apenas entre el 20% y el 35% del ingreso de los productores con 5 ha o menos se genera en la finca, más del 50% del ingreso proviene de actividades no agrícolas y entre el 16 y el 20% de transferencias de migrantes a los Estados Unidos (Rosenzweig, 2001). Por esta razón, su producción de granos básicos no está dirigida al mercado sino a satisfacer una demanda personal.Durante los últimos 20 años, la competitividad de la agricultura mexicana estuvo afectada por tres grandes variables: 1) la inestabilidad de la década del 80 y primera mitad de la del 90, seguida por la apertura comercial y la apreciación del tipo de cambio; 2) el peso de las deudas bancarias del sector, agravada por las altas tasas de interés real; y 3) la rápida reducción de los subsidios por parte del gobierno federal en la década del 90 (FAO y SAGARPA, 2000). Las exportaciones de productos agroalimentarios que más crecieron en el periodo de 1985-1997 fueron legumbres, hortalizas y frutas frescas, cerveza, tequila y otros aguardientes, jugo de naranja, extractos de café y carne bovina. Las exportaciones de frutas y verduras frescas crecieron gracias a las ventajas estacionales con que cuenta México, a la importación de tecnologías avanzadas (ver la pág. 10), al crecimiento de la demanda en Estados Unidos, y en menor medida al TLC dado que los aranceles aplicados a las frutas y verduras mexicanas eran en promedio bajos antes de la entrada en vigor del Tratado. Las importaciones que más crecieron en ese periodo fueron alimentos para ganado, carnes frescas o refrigeradas, aceites y grasas animales y vegetales, preparados alimenticios especiales y conservas vegetales.En la agricultura mexicana conviven diferentes sistemas de producción. Los tres más importantes son la agricultura comercial, los pequeños productores en transición y los productores de subsistencia (Del Valle y Sánchez, 1996). Los agricultores comerciales se caracterizan por su inserción en mercados nacionales e internacionales; cuentan con extensiones de tierra relativamente importantes y utilizan sistemas de riego e insumos comerciales; en la región Noroeste producen hortalizas, granos y frutales; en la región del Noreste predomina la producción de forrajes y granos, y en el Bajío (centro) destacan los granos y hortalizas.Los productores en transición agrupan a ejidatarios y productores privados que producen alimentos básicos para el mercado interno; poseen extensiones de tierra de medianas a grandes, generalmente de buen temporal y emplean insumos modernos (ej. semillas mejoradas y fertilizantes).Los productores tradicionales o de subsistencia se encuentran en todo el territorio mexicano, sobre todo en terrenos de temporal, utilizan semillas criollas que generalmente guardan de cosechas anteriores y pocos insumos comerciales. En este tipo de agricultura predomina la producción de granos básicos para autoconsumo. Por esta razón, su demanda de tecnologías de alta productividad es muy baja (Taylor et al., 1999).El sistema nacional de investigación puede dividirse en un subsistema institucionalizado y uno no institucionalizado. En el nivel superior del sistema institucionalizado está el Poder Ejecutivo Federal, responsable de regular las actividades de investigación y de asignar recursos para investigación en la propuesta de presupuesto elevado al Congreso. El Presidente de la República es asesorado en temas científicos por el Consejo Consultivo de Ciencias, formado por investigadores a los que se les ha otorgado el Premio Nacional de Ciencias. En 1999 se creó el Gabinete Especializado en Ciencia y Tecnología, el cual realizó su primera reunión de trabajo en mayo del 2000.El Congreso de la Unión participa en el proceso de elaboración y aprobación del presupuesto de la nación y de las leyes que regulan las actividades de investigación. En ambas cámaras del Congreso existen comités de ciencia y tecnología, encargados de la preparación y análisis de las iniciativas legislativas relacionadas con la investigación científica y la difusión de tecnologías.Por debajo del poder ejecutivo, los principales organismos dentro del sistema de ciencia y tecnología son (RICYT, 2001):• La Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP).• El Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT).• El sistema CINVESTAV.• Otras secretarías de estado.Hasta el 2001 la SEP era el máximo organismo responsable de la política científica y tecnológica mexicana y de la coordinación de las actividades de las instituciones que participan del sistema institucional de investigación. La SEP era también responsable del funcionamiento y evaluación del CONACYT, así como de su programación y decisiones presupuestarias. En el 2002 el CONACYT se convirtió en un organismo dependiente directamente de la Presidencia de la República y dejó de depender de la SEP.El CONACYT es un organismo público federal con estatuto jurídico propio. Cumple un papel fundamental en el sistema de ciencia y tecnología mexicano, ya que colabora con la administración federal en la definición de las políticas científicas y tecnológicas, participa de la coordinación del sistema institucionalizado, define normas de funcionamiento, administra fondos públicos para ciencia y tecnología, apoya la innovación en el sector productivo y contribuye a la vinculación de las actividades de ciencia y técnica con otros agentes dentro del país y con instituciones extranjeras. Además, es responsable del sistema de estudios de postgrado más importante del país, mantiene varios centros de investigación en el sistema SEP-CONACYT y administra el Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (SNI).El sistema SEP-CONACYT, creado en 1992, puede dividirse en tres subsistemas: el de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, cuya misión principal es el desarrollo de ciencia básica y aplicada, el de Desarrollo e Innovación Tecnológica y Servicios, orientado a satisfacer las necesidades de las industrias y favorecer el desarrollo económico de las regiones en las que actúan, y el de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades. En 1996 el sistema recibió cerca del 19% del gasto del gobierno federal en ciencia y tecnología (Casas et al., 2000).El SNI fue creado en 1994 por decreto presidencial como un mecanismo de estímulo económico a los investigadores, con el propósito de arraigarlos en sus centros e institutos de docencia e investigación. El SNI está diseñado principalmente para investigadores con nivel de doctorado y con una alta producción científica. Inicialmente, los requisitos de entrada y permanencia en el SNI daban prioridad a las publicaciones en revistas científicas incluidas en un padrón de excelencia del CONACYT. De esta manera, se incentivaba a los investigadores a realizar estudios de doctorado y se fomentaba la investigación académica, pero no la interacción con otros agentes del sistema de innovación. Además, el sistema discriminaba las actividades de investigación más aplicadas o de sistemas, ya que éstas raramente permiten escribir artículos que se puedan publicar en revistas científicas de primer nivel. Los investigadores ligados al sector agropecuario fueron particularmente afectados por estas reglamentaciones (ver más adelante). Una reforma al sistema en 1999 permitió a los investigadores participar en el SNI, no sólo con base en publicaciones sino también por desarrollos tecnológicos y actividades de innovación.Los recursos destinados al SNI en el 2000 fueron de aproximadamente 70 millones de dólares (CONACYT, 2001). El número de investigadores aumentó de 5,879 en 1995 a cerca de 7,800 en el 2000. Además del crecimiento absoluto, el sistema se descentralizó. En 1995, el 33% de los investigadores del SNI se encontraban en los estados mientras que en el 2000 esta proporción aumentó al 48%.El CONACYT ha dedicado una proporción significativa de su presupuesto al Programa de Becas-Crédito, y a partir de 1993 se manifestó un crecimiento sustantivo en los recursos destinados a este rubro. En 1996 los fondos destinados a becas representaron el 40% del gasto total del CONACYT, contra el 29% en 1994. El destino de los recursos de las becas también ha registrado cambios. En 1994 el 55% del gasto en este rubro se destinaba a financiar estudios en el país y el 45% en el extranjero. En el 2000 estas proporciones fueron de 65% y 35%, respectivamente, lo cual reflejó los menores costos obtenidos por medio de convenios con instituciones educativas extranjeras (CONACYT, 2001).Uno de los mecanismos más importantes que utiliza el CONACYT para distribuir recursos financieros son los concursos de proyectos de investigación abiertos a todas las instituciones de investigación y docencia. Existen dos tipos de convocatorias: nacionales y regionales. En las convocatorias nacionales se concursa principalmente por proyectos de investigación básica y/o estratégica, a cargo de investigadores con doctorado de amplia trayectoria. Las convocatorias regionales operan a través de nueve delegaciones regionales, y los recursos se orientan principalmente a proyectos de investigación aplicada de impacto regional, a cargo de investigadores que con frecuencia tienen menores calificaciones académicas. En ambos casos, los criterios de aprobación de los proyectos son: calidad académica, pertinencia y cobertura regional, aportación de fondos complementarios, trabajo interinstitucional e interdisciplinario y formación de recursos humanos.En 1998 se estableció el Programa de Modernización Tecnológica, el cual brinda apoyo económico al sector privado para adquirir servicios de consultoría a fin de diagnosticar la problemática tecnológica de empresas individuales y realizar proyectos tecnológicos que mejoren tanto los productos como los procesos productivos (CONACYT, 2001).El sistema CINVESTAV (Centro de Investigaciones y de Estudios Avanzados) fue creado en 1961 con el propósito de formar investigadores especializados y de desarrollar investigaciones originales en diferentes áreas científicas y tecnológicas. Inicialmente ubicado en la Ciudad de México, posteriormente abrió otras unidades en los estados de Guanajuato, Yucatán, Coahuila, Jalisco y Querétaro. En 1996 el CINVESTAV recibió el 7% de los gastos federales en ciencia y técnica y empleaba al 7% de los investigadores del SNI (Casas et al., 2000).Diversas secretarías de estado (ej. SAGARPA, SEMARNAT, de Energía, de Economía y de Desarrollo Social) también realizan investigación científica y desarrollo tecnológico en áreas de su competencia en institutos especializados, como los de Ecología y de Tecnología del Agua, dependientes de la SEMARNAT. Otras instituciones que realizan tareas de investigación y desarrollo tecnológico en México son:• Instituciones de educación superior (públicas y privadas). Las principales universidades públicas que realizan investigación son la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, la Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana y el Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Tres universidades (dependientes de la SAGARPA) se dedican especialmente al sector agropecuario: el Colegio de Postgraduados (CP), la Universidad Autónoma Chapingo (UACh) y la Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro (UAAAN). En años recientes, algunas universidades localizadas en los estados han comenzado programas de investigación, a menudo en asociación con universidades estadounidenses. Entre las instituciones privadas que realizan investigación agropecuaria se destaca el Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, orientado principalmente a los agronegocios. • Sector industrial, donde unas pocas empresas han desarrollado importantes capacidades de investigación y desarrollo, como por ejemplo, en biotecnología aplicada a frutas y verduras.Igual que en la mayoría de los países latinoamericanos, las instituciones públicas de investigación en México fueron creadas con la misión de generar tecnologías para el sector público mientras que las instituciones de educación realizaban \"ciencia pura\" (Casas et al., 2000;Katz, 2001). Además, las instituciones se organizaron según la concepción lineal de la ciencia. El resultado fue un sistema fragmentado en el que las instituciones de investigación acumularon una considerable capacidad de trabajo pero interactuaban débilmente con otras instituciones de investigación y el sector productivo.En la década del 90, México comenzó a transformar su sistema de investigación, que era dominado casi con exclusividad por el sector público. En 1998 se promovió un amplio debate sobre cuál debería ser el marco regulatorio de la investigación en México. A partir de dicho debate, la SEP, el Consejo Consultivo de Ciencias de la Presidencia de la República, la Academia Mexicana de Ciencias y el CONACYT elaboraron la propuesta de ley para el Fomento de la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, cuyo objetivo era crear un nuevo marco regulatorio para estas actividades y para los apoyos otorgados por el gobierno federal. La ley, aprobada a comienzos de 1999, establece que el Estado debe fomentar la descentralización -territorial e institucional-de las actividades de investigación, así como fomentar la vinculación de las instituciones públicas de investigación con empresas. 6 También establece que los apoyos públicos deben distribuirse mediante concursos y que las instituciones que reciban recursos públicos deben someterse a evaluaciones externas periódicas.Antes de la sanción de la ley, las instituciones públicas de investigación estaban obligadas a cumplir con la normatividad establecida por la Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público y de la Contraloría y Desarrollo Administrativo. Estas normas eran demasiado rígidas para la realización de tareas de investigación y limitaban la capacidad operativa de los institutos públicos. Para subsanar esta deficiencia, la ley creó la figura jurídica de los Centros Públicos de Investigación, otorgándoles una mayor autonomía técnica, operativa y administrativa. La mayor autonomía implica que los Centros Públicos pueden disponer de la totalidad de los recursos que generen y con ello incentivar la captación de recursos y la interacción con agentes que puedan proveer recursos.En 1999 se autorizó la desgravación impositiva de los incrementos en gastos de innovación en empresas y se permitió a las instituciones científicas y tecnológicas importar insumos libres de gravámenes. El CONACYT, junto con las Secretarías de Hacienda y Crédito Público, Educación Pública y Comercio y Fomento Industrial, integra el comité interinstitucional que evalúa las propuestas que presentan las empresas a fin de hacerse acreedoras a dicho estímulo. Si bien aún no ha pasado suficiente tiempo como para evaluar este programa, los primeros resultados muestran que su impacto es débil. Además, la experiencia de otros países indica que estos estímulos no son adecuados para las pequeñas empresas porque los montos que éstas pagan en impuestos son reducidos; en cambio, estos programas pueden ser importantes para las grandes empresas, incluidas las agroindustriales.A fin de corregir la falta de interacción entre agentes, en la década del 90 se crearon una serie de programas y centros de vinculación tecnológica y de transferencia de tecnología. Estos programas regulan las interacciones entre instituciones, pero como los cambios dentro de las instituciones (en especial los incentivos a los investigadores) han sido mucho menores, el impacto ha sido reducido. Por ejemplo, las instituciones de investigación tienen una fuerte tradición de mecanismos de decisión centralizados y de poca colaboración entre ellas (Triomphe et al., 2001a). A pesar de que las decisiones sobre las actividades a emprender emanan en general de las autoridades de las instituciones, éstas tienen poca capacidad para imponerlas a los investigadores individuales pues no existen mecanismos de control eficientes (por ejemplo, los investigadores tienen la estabilidad de los empleados públicos y no existen mecanismos de control de calidad de las investigaciones).Las nuevas políticas científicas y tecnológicas han dado preferencia a las demandas tecnológicas para la definición de prioridades de investigación y han propiciado una creciente participación del sector privado, otorgando apoyos específicos para promover la vinculación con centros de investigación y desarrollo (Casas et al., 2000;Tapia, 1997).El financiamiento público de la investigación se ha reducido desde los años 80 como parte de las políticas de transformación del Estado. El incremento observado a partir de 1991 se debe a que desde ese año se reportan como gasto de ciencia y tecnología los recursos asignados a fondos para el fortalecimiento de la infraestructura y capacidades científicas y para repatriar a científicos mexicanos (Figura 4).En 2001 los recursos destinados a todas las actividades de ciencia y tecnología representaron apenas el 0.44% del PBI. En 1997, últimos datos disponibles, el gobierno constituía la principal fuente de financiamiento de las actividades científicas (71% del total), seguido por el sector privado (17%) y las instituciones de educación superior (9%); y, por último, el 2.5% de los fondos provinieron de fuentes extranjeras (RICYT, 2001).En 1997 el 23% de los recursos se destinó a investigación básica, el 48% a investigación aplicada y el 29% a desarrollo experimental. La distribución de estas actividades por sector En México no existe un sistema formal que coordine las actividades de las diferentes instituciones de investigación agropecuaria. En la segunda mitad de la década del 90 el INIFAP impulsó la creación de dicho sistema pero esos esfuerzos no cristalizaron (Kondo, 1999). Sin embargo, existe un sistema nacional de facto en el cual interactúan agentes públicos y privados que llevan a cabo investigación y extensión agropecuaria. Las principales instituciones dentro del sistema de investigación agropecuario son:• La Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación (SAGARPA), a través de sus instituciones de investigación y docencia: INIFAP, el CP, la UACh y la UAAAN; • Los Institutos Tecnológicos Agropecuarios dependientes de la SEP; • Las Facultades de Agronomía y Veterinaria de las universidades estatales; • Los Consejos Estatales de Ciencia y Tecnología; y • Los Patronatos de Apoyo a la Investigación y las fundaciones estatales PRODUCE para fomento y apoyo a proyectos con orientación hacia la transferencia de tecnología.Los patronatos y las fundaciones fueron creados para diversificar el financiamiento de la investigación agropecuaria y permitir una mayor participación de los productores en la definición de las prioridades de investigación. Pero como en general estas instituciones fueron creadas desde el gobierno y no por los agentes activos en cada estado, la participación real de los productores en las mismas es muy variable.Al igual que el resto del sistema nacional de investigación, los sistemas de investigación y extensión agropecuaria en México se organizaron a partir de la visión lineal de la ciencia. A pesar de los cambios introducidos en años recientes (ver más adelante), esta concepción todavía predomina en el sistema público de investigación. A menudo los mecanismos de comunicación entre los diferentes agentes dentro del sistema de innovación (investigadores, extensionistas y usuarios de tecnologías) no funcionaban con la intensidad necesaria y, en consecuencia, las tecnologías generadas no resultaban adecuadas a los requerimientos de los usuarios (Casas et al., 2000). En general, las interacciones entre instituciones de investigación y entre éstas y las de extensión se concentraban en los estratos directivos, con poca interacción a nivel de investigadores y técnicos. A su vez, los productores no tenían ninguna capacidad de influir sobre la organización de las instituciones de investigación.Como respuesta a esta falta de interacción, diversos agentes comenzaron a buscar fuentes alternativas de tecnologías. Así, algunos productores desarrollaron técnicas propias (ej., la siembra de trigo en camas 7 ) o empresas proveedoras de insumos o comercializadoras de productos las importaron del exterior (p. ejemplo, frutas y hortalizas para exportación).En algunos casos, las instituciones de investigación y extensión también funcionaron como soporte técnico de las políticas públicas sociales y de fomento a la producción agropecuaria que subsidiaban el uso o compra de determinados paquetes tecnológicos. Estos programas adolecían básicamente de cuatro problemas. Primero, las tecnologías promovidas eran elegidas a nivel del gobierno federal, con poca interacción con los usuarios y sin atender a diferencias regionales (Kondo, 1999). Segundo, los programas enfatizaban la transferencia de maquinaria e insumos físicos, con poca atención a la capacitación de los productores en el uso de los mismos (Triomphe et al., 2001). Tercero, el servicio de extensión agrícola se consideraba como un eslabón que vinculaba los resultados de la investigación con los programas de fomento pero no transfería información de los productores a los investigadores. Cuarto, se fijaban metas que se podían cuantificar fácilmente (ej., cantidad de subsidios entregados o sembradoras compradas) desatendiendo componentes menos obvios pero cruciales para el éxito de los programas (ej., entrenamiento en el uso de las maquinarias entregadas).A pesar de que las zonas de temporal y tropicales representan casi tres cuartas partes de la superficie agrícola mexicana, la investigación pública ha dado prioridad a las tierras de riego, en las que se concentran los productores comerciales. Las investigaciones dirigidas a este grupo en general se realizan en el campo experimental y se especializan por cultivos, partiendo de la premisa de que el productor dispone de medios para incorporar innovaciones tecnológicas (Jiménez, 1996). Esta visión parcial de la producción agropecuaria y de los procesos de innovación ha disminuido la efectividad de las instituciones de investigación.El financiamiento público de la investigación dedicada al sector agropecuario cayó considerablemente desde 1981, tanto en términos absolutos como relativos al total del gasto público en ciencia y tecnología. La caída de las inversiones públicas en investigación agropecuaria afectó fuertemente a todas las instituciones (Cuadro 4) y las forzó a buscar nuevas fuentes de financiamiento. mientras que las universidades agrarias dedican una gran parte de sus recursos a la docencia (Figura 5). Las reformas a las políticas científicas y tecnológicas introducidas en la década del 90 también afectaron a las instituciones ligadas al sector agropecuario. Las características fundamentales de la reforma en el sector fueron una mayor descentralización de las definiciones de prioridades y de los mecanismos de asignación de recursos. En síntesis, la filosofía de la transformación consistió en el cambio de un sistema científico centralizado a un sistema de innovación dirigido por la demanda de tecnologías (Paredes y Moncada, 2000). No obstante, el impacto de estas reformas aún es reducido, fundamentalmente por la dificultad de cambiar la mentalidad de los empleados públicos encargados de planear y ejecutar las políticas y actividades de investigación.El grueso de los recursos para investigación agropecuaria provienen del gobierno federal. Sin embargo, los gobiernos estatales destinan cada vez más recursos para solucionar problemas en sus comunidades y municipios, generalmente como complemento de los programas federales (como PROCAMPO) o financiando organismos estatales de investigación. Los recursos estatales se canalizan a través de los Consejos Estatales de Ciencia y Tecnología y complementan las acciones del CONACYT y de las Fundaciones Produce. Los Consejos estatales apoyan proyectos de investigación, difusión científica y tecnológica y formación de recursos humanos. Actualmente existen 13 Consejos Estatales integrados en una red.Las inversiones privadas, en particular las de origen mexicano, están adquiriendo cada vez mayor importancia. Las empresas utilizan tres estrategias diferentes. Algunas financian proyectos de su interés en centros de investigación que no pertenecen a la empresa; otras invierten en la formación de equipos internos de investigación. Finalmente, algunas empresas combinan las dos estrategias anteriores. Algunos ejemplos dentro de esta categoría son el Grupo MASECA, Nestlé, Novartis, Monsanto, el Grupo Bimbo, la industria maltera, la industria harinera y la industria aceitera.Otra modalidad de financiamiento privado para la investigación son los patronatos de apoyo a la investigación, formados con el propósito de solucionar problemas que afectan directamente a sus agremiados. Los primeros patronatos se crearon por decretos estatales para funcionar como entidades de sanidad vegetal y combatir plagas agrícolas. Dependiendo de si fueron promovidos por los antiguos institutos de investigación agrícola o pecuaria, los patronatos se dividen en agrícolas o pecuarios y tienen diferentes esquemas de dirección, de recaudación de fondos y de provisión de servicios.Los patronatos agrícolas obtienen recursos mediante cuotas directas de sus miembros, cuotas por uso de agua e impuestos a la producción y/o venta de insumos votados por los propios productores. Por ejemplo, el Patronato de Sonora había fijado en 1995 un impuesto del 0.5% sobre el valor de cada tonelada de trigo producida y de 2 dólares por tonelada exportada. Los patronatos pecuarios se financiaron inicialmente con la donación de terrenos para instalaciones, tierras para experimentación y aportaciones financieras iniciales. Estos patronatos recaudan fondos por medio de diversos esquemas, por ejemplo, \"medianías\" entre la SAGARPA y las organizaciones para la cría y engorda de ganado. En general, los patronatos pecuarios tienen mayores dificultades para recaudar recursos de sus asociados (Polanco Jaime, 1996).Siguiendo el ejemplo del Patronato para la Investigación y Experimentación Agrícola del Estado de Sonora (el primero en crearse en 1969 y hoy el más importante), el INIFAP fomentó la réplica del modelo en otros estados. En 1995 había 56 patronatos, pero sólo 31 se mantenían activos (Polanco Jaime, 1996). Algunos patronatos pueden movilizar más recursos que las Fundaciones Produce de sus respectivos estados (ej. en los estados de México y Sonora).Los Fideicomisos Instituidos en Relación con la Agricultura (FIRA) del Banco de México financian fundamentalmente actividades de extensión y destinan algunos recursos a la investigación. FIRA cuenta con centros de demostración, sobre todo en temas de ganadería y de labranza de conservación. Los fondos provienen de organismos internacionales y de recursos fiscales. A fines de la década del 90, FIRA inició un proceso de revisión de sus actividades para incrementar las interacciones con institutos de investigación y universidades. Las transferencias del gobierno a FIRA pasaron de US$13 millones en 1979 a US$70 millones en 1995. Las actividades de FIRA se caracterizan por el mismo enfoque no participativo de los otros programas de difusión tecnológica.Los recursos públicos para investigación son complementados con financiamientos externos. Dos de las fuentes extranjeras más importantes son el BID y el Banco Mundial. Estos bancos no financian directamente las actividades de investigación, sino que otorgan créditos a los gobiernos nacionales o estatales, los cuales deben aportar una contraparte. La importancia de estos préstamos no es tanto el monto de los mismos, sino que comprometen por varios años a los gobiernos a dedicar un volumen específico de recursos a la investigación, disminuyendo la variabilidad del financiamiento público.Algunos gobiernos extranjeros, principalmente de países industrializados, han contribuido con recursos para investigación cuando existen problemas de interés mutuo, por ejemplo, en campañas fitosanitarias y zoosanitarias o de conservación del ambiente y de recursos forestales. Otras fuentes de fondos externos son las fundaciones (ej. las Fundaciones McNight, Kellogg, Ford y Rockefeller) y las universidades extranjeras (ej. el programa Mexus de la Universidad de California, o los fondos que el Servicio de Investigación Agrícola del Departamento Estadounidense de Agricultura (USDA) asigna a universidades del Midamerica International Agricultural Consortium de la Universidad Estatal de Oklahoma, Universidad Estatal de Iowa, la Universidad de Missouri, la Universidad de Nebraska y la Universidad Estatal de Kansas). Estos últimos programas son importantes no sólo por los fondos que aportan sino por los contactos que se establecen entre centros de investigación mexicanos e instituciones de excelencia americanas.Si bien los organismos responsables de la administración del financiamiento de la investigación son, principalmente, instituciones públicas, la iniciativa privada, y los productores agropecuarios en particular, desempeñan un papel cada vez más preponderante. Las instituciones federales más importantes son la SAGARPA, la SEP y la SEMARNAT. La SAGARPA, como cabeza del sector, administra la mayoría de los recursos públicos para investigación agropecuaria y forestal y para actividades de transferencia de tecnología.Las Fundaciones Produce, creadas en 1995 como parte del programa Alianza para el Campo, son asociaciones de productores constituidas como asociaciones civiles sin fines de lucro (Paredes y Moncada, 2000). Las Fundaciones financian proyectos de investigación y de transferencia de tecnología en respuesta a las demandas de los productores agropecuarios y de otros usuarios. Las Fundaciones Produce tienen una instancia nacional de coordinación, la COFUPRO. Las estrategias de las Fundaciones y de COFUPRO fueron desarrolladas en colaboración con el IICA y el ISNAR.Las Fundaciones Produce interactúan activamente con el CONACYT, otras instituciones públicas de financiamiento dirigido al sector agropecuario (ej., FIRA y el Fondo de Capacitación e Inversión del Sector Rural) y otras fundaciones (ej. Fundación Mexicana para el Desarrollo Rural). Las interacciones a nivel internacional incluyen el Consorcio de Universidades Agrícolas del Medio-Oeste Norteamericano, el sistema de la Universidad de Texas A&M, la FAO, el IICA y varios centros del CGIAR, en especial el CIMMYT, el CIAT, el IWMI y el ISNAR.La característica principal de las Fundaciones Produce es la descentralización de las decisiones y de la administración, que fueron delegadas a los niveles estatales. Las prioridades son establecidas por los agentes interesados en las actividades de las Fundaciones, especialmente los productores agropecuarios. Desde su creación, las Fundaciones Produce han realizado una serie de foros regionales en colaboración con los Sistemas Regionales del CONACYT para detectar los problemas de los sistemas o productos agropecuarios predominantes y para definir prioridades en la asignación de los recursos destinados a la investigación. En estos foros participan productores, investigadores y funcionarios públicos. El grado de participación de los productores en las decisiones de las Fundaciones varía entre los diferentes estados.Las Fundaciones son responsables de administrar y asignar los fondos del programa Alianza para el Campo. Otra innovación institucional es la creación de un fideicomiso con un mecanismo mediante el que los aportes privados (incluidos los de los productores agropecuarios) son complementados con aportes equivalentes de los gobiernos federal y estatal. En algunos estados, los productores agropecuarios y empresas privadas complementan los recursos públicos (Paredes y Moncada, 2000).Las Fundaciones Produce buscan fomentar la interacción entre agentes del sistema de innovación agropecuario y diversificar las fuentes de financiamiento de la investigación. El mayor problema de este esquema es que el financiamiento que otorgan las Fundaciones no es complemento sino sustituto del financiamiento público. De esta manera, la demanda de tecnologías tiene un peso excesivo en la determinación de la cartera de proyectos de investigación, se favorecen proyectos que requieren menor plazo de ejecución frente a desarrollos de más largo plazo y se discrimina en contra de las líneas de investigación más innovadoras. Además, aumenta el número de investigadores asignados a tareas de validación, difusión y capacitación, en detrimento de actividades de investigación de mediano y largo plazo.Si bien México tiene una masa de investigadores en ciencias agropecuarias importante y de alta calidad, el sistema de investigación está fragmentado y ofrece pocas oportunidades para la colaboración interinstitucional y con otros agentes del sistema de innovación.Internamente, las instituciones de investigación agropecuaria tienen mecanismos muy centralizados de definición de prioridades y de administración de los proyectos de investigación. En general, las interacciones entre instituciones se establecen en el ámbito de los niveles decisorios, pero hay pocas actividades conjuntas entre los investigadores. Estas características también se aplican, en gran medida, a las empresas privadas que realizan tareas de investigación.Además, estas instituciones tienen pocos mecanismos de control de la calidad de los programas de investigación. Los salarios de los investigadores son bajos (comparados con los pagados en instituciones similares extranjeras y con el costo de vida en México), lo cual los obliga a buscar otras fuentes para complementar sus ingresos. Los tres mecanismos más comunes son el SNI, la docencia y los trabajos de consultoría. Si bien el ingreso al SNI introduce un mecanismo de control de calidad, éste induce a los investigadores a trabajar en proyectos que permitan publicar en revistas con arbitraje. Este mecanismo desincentiva los trabajos interdisciplinarios y las interacciones con otros agentes dentro del sistema de innovación. Por su parte, los trabajos de consultoría no permiten realizar actividades de investigación de envergadura dado que requieren respuestas rápidas.El número de instituciones públicas que realizan investigación agropecuaria en México aumentó en los últimos 20 años. En 1973 se habían identificado 76 instituciones públicas de investigación (González et al., 1976), mientras que en un censo elaborado por el INIFAP en 1998 se registraron 122 instituciones. Varias de las nuevas instituciones eran universidades que fortalecieron sus actividades de investigación, como la Universidad de Tamaulipas, o institutos estatales de investigación, como los de Tabasco, Guanajuato y Sonora. La mayoría de estas instituciones tienen programas de investigación muy débiles.El INIFAP es la principal institución mexicana de investigación agropecuaria. En el año 2000 tuvo un presupuesto de US$70 millones y una plantilla de 1,300 investigadores distribuidos en 81 estaciones experimentales y 6 Centros Nacionales de Investigación Disciplinaria. En 1998 el INIFAP mantenía 100 programas agrícolas, 20 pecuarios y 60 forestales.El mandato inicial del INIFAP enfatizaba las tareas de investigación en tecnologías agropecuarias y forestales y la formación de recursos humanos. En 1996 este mandato se amplió para incluir el estudio del manejo de los recursos naturales. Si bien el mandato institucional excluye la extensión agrícola, la mayor parte de los proyectos se vinculaban con las prioridades del programa Alianza para el Campo, es decir, investigación adaptativa y apoyo a procesos de transferencia.A partir de 1995, el esquema de financiamiento del INIFAP cambió substancialmente. El gobierno federal pasó a financiar únicamente los gastos de estructura (salarios y mantenimiento) y los recursos destinados a gastos operativos se canalizaron a través de las Fundaciones Produce. Actualmente, los investigadores tienen que buscar fondos operativos negociando proyectos con las Fundaciones y otras fuentes de financiamiento.El método principal para definir las prioridades de investigación del INIFAP es la integración de cuerpos colegiados de expertos por sistema-producto. Sin embargo, los nuevos esquemas de financiamiento están generando un sistema paralelo de definición de prioridades más descentralizado y dirigido por las demandas tecnológicas.El INIFAP estaba regulado por el régimen de la administración pública, que le imponía normas estrictas de manejo de fondos y de personal. Hasta septiembre del 2001 estuvo constituido como un organismo público desconcentrado. Mediante decreto presidencial, a partir del 2 de octubre de 2001 se transformó en un organismo público descentralizado, lo que le permite contar con patrimonio propio, disponer de los recursos que genera, poner en marcha programas de estímulos económicos a sus investigadores y tener su propio órgano de gobierno. Cuando se escribió este documento, se estaba elaborando un Convenio de Desempeño, uno de los requisitos para convertirse en Centro Público de Investigación.A partir de abril de 2002, el INIFAP introdujo un programa de estímulos económicos a los investigadores basado en su productividad (publicaciones, generación de tecnologías, actividades de transferencia, etc). Se estimaba que este programa beneficiaría a la tercera parte de los investigadores del Instituto con mayor puntuación en sus evaluaciones. Igual que otras instituciones públicas de investigación de América Latina, el INIFAP creó la Fundación Mexicana para la Investigación Agropecuaria y Forestal, A.C. (FUMIAF), con el propósito de manejar recursos externos al margen de las regulaciones formales impuestas por el régimen de administración del sector público. A pesar de haber establecido convenios con varias empresas agroalimentarias, el impacto de esta fundación en la generación de recursos adicionales ha sido limitado.El INIFAP ha hecho un esfuerzo importante para capacitar a sus investigadores; en 1999 un 80% de ellos tenía estudios de postgrado y más de 15 años de experiencia (Kondo, 1999). Sin embargo, este esfuerzo no tuvo correlato en las políticas de personal, ya que el INIFAP ha afrontado problemas para retener a sus investigadores más capaces, especialmente cuando han obtenido títulos de postgrado en universidades extranjeras. Los datos anteriores, además indican dos problemas importantes en las políticas de personal profesional. El primero es el envejecimiento de sus investigadores. 8 El segundo es la falta de personal de apoyo a los profesionales más capacitados. El resultado es que doctores y maestros terminan haciendo trabajos que requieren menor capacitación o no trabajan por falta de personal de apoyo.El CP, la UACh y la UAAAN realizan fundamentalmente docencia complementada con investigación. La investigación que se realiza en estos centros de docencia en general constituye parte de la formación de recursos humanos. En los últimos 10 años estas instituciones se han transformado, dando mayor espacio para las actividades de investigación de sus profesores y a la interacción con usuarios de tecnología. Esto se ha derivado de las presiones externas para incrementar la vinculación con el sector productivo, de las exigencias requeridas para mantener la categoría de Centro Público de Investigación y de la necesidad de generar recursos adicionales a las transferencias del gobierno federal.El CP tiene una presencia importante en diferentes regiones. En los últimos años ha hecho un gran esfuerzo para mejorar la formación de su plantel docente. En el 2000 el CP tenía 614 profesores, de los cuales el 41% tenía el grado de doctor. En ese mismo año, 31 de los 39 programas de postgrado del CP figuraban en el padrón de excelencia del CONACYT. Su presupuesto era de aproximadamente de 38 millones de dólares. En el 2001 el CP se constituyó en un Centro Público de Investigación (Colegio de Postgraduados, 2001).Las universidades no agrícolas también realizan investigación relacionada con el sector agropecuario. En 1973 el CP identificó 6 universidades que realizaban investigación agropecuaria (González et al., 1976), mientras que en 1998 el INIFAP reportó 88 universidades. La gran mayoría de las universidades (sobre todo aquellas ubicadas en los estados) reportan como actividades de investigación las tesis de sus estudiantes, pero no tienen programas encabezados por académicos con reconocimiento nacional. Las universidades con programas de investigación propiamente dichos son aquellas que cuentan con programas de postgrado, tales como la UNAM, la UAM, la Universidad de Chihuahua, la de Tamaulipas, la de Yucatán y algunos Institutos Tecnológicos Agropecuarios.Las escuelas de agronomía y veterinaria de las instituciones de educación superior también realizan actividades de investigación agropecuaria. En algunas de estas instituciones se han creado centros especiales como el Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV) del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, el Centro para la Innovación Tecnológica (CIT) de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, los centros regionales del CP y la Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo. Finalmente, se ha fortalecido el sistema de educación tecnológica agropecuaria (DGETA) de la Secretaría de Educación Pública (Morales y Gómez, 1996).Además de financiar investigación a través de sus programas de subsidios, el CONACYT opera directamente centros de excelencia en investigación agropecuaria, entre los que se encuentran el Centro de Investigaciones Científicas de Yucatán, especializado en agricultura tropical, y el Centro de Investigaciones en Alimentación y Desarrollo, con sede en Sonora, especializado en manejo de poscosecha de hortalizas, granos y frutales.Los cambios en la reglamentación y financiamiento de las instituciones de investigación favorecieron el surgimiento de nuevas asociaciones de agentes interesados en encontrar soluciones técnicas a problemas comunes. Un ejemplo es el Consorcio Técnico del Noreste de México, constituido como una Sociedad Civil, que tiene como socios a la Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, la Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, el INIFAP y organizaciones de productores de Tamaulipas, Nuevo León y Coahuila. Este consorcio estableció una alianza estratégica con la Universidad de Texas A&M (Tewolde et al., 2001).El CGIAR tiene una presencia importante en México. En virtud de que su sede está ubicada en México, el CIMMYT es el centro más activo en el país en cuanto a mejoramiento genético y desarrollo de tecnologías de manejo de cultivos. El CIMMYT interactúa con las principales instituciones de investigación agropecuaria, varias Fundaciones Produce, gobiernos estatales y el Gobierno Federal. Otros centros activos en México son el CIAT, el ICARDA, el ICRAF y el IWMI.El sector privado también ha comenzado a realizar investigaciones agropecuarias. En 1973 el CP había identificado sólo una institución privada que realizaba investigación, mientras que en el censo elaborado por el INIFAP se identificaron 20. La mayor parte de las empresas identificadas son empresas de semillas. Otro rubro importante desarrollado por el sector privado es la biotecnología; en particular el Grupo Pulsar se ha convertido en uno de los mayores productores mundiales de variedades transgénicas de hortalizas.La agroindustria ha desempeñado un papel importante en la generación y transferencia de tecnologías. En general, a mayor grado de concentración del subsector, mayor ha sido la participación de la industria en el proceso de cambio tecnológico. Por ejemplo, las industrias tabacaleras y cerveceras forman dos duopolios. En el caso del tabaco, las empresas han establecido contratos con productores en los que se estipulan las tecnologías de producción, los montos a producir y los precios de compra. En el caso de la industria cervecera, ambas empresas se asociaron con el INIFAP en una nueva empresa que desarrolla nuevas variedades y paquetes tecnológicos que después se ofrecen a los productores. Las dos principales empresas productoras de harina de maíz también han buscado una mayor interacción con los productores y con el INIFAP a fin de desarrollar materiales genéticos que respondan a las necesidades de la industria harinera (Salcedo, 1999). Las hortalizas para exportación han sido otro rubro en que el sector privado ha desempeñado un papel fundamental en el desarrollo de tecnologías de producción y comercialización (Calvin y Barrios, 1999).Los productores agropecuarios también han desarrollado tecnologías propias. Por ejemplo, en ciertas zonas del estado de Chiapas, los pequeños agricultores tradicionalmente sembraban granos tierras comunales dentro de un sistema con largos periodos de barbecho. Estas tierras tienen pendientes muy pronunciadas y no pueden cultivarse con técnicas convencionales. La titulación de tierras a principios de la década del 90 indujo una intensificación de las prácticas agrícolas y el abandono de los barbechos. Los productores desarrollaron una técnica de labranza cero basada en el uso de herbicidas y siembra manual (Mauricio Bellon, comunicación personal, 2001). Se desconoce el origen de este paquete tecnológico y ninguna institución ha reivindicado el crédito por su desarrollo.También se han identificado importantes tecnologías desarrolladas por los productores en áreas irrigadas del Bajío y del Valle del Yaqui (Triomphe et al., 2001;Sayre y Moreno Ramos, 1997). En ambos casos, los productores experimentaron diferentes técnicas de irrigación, labranza y rotaciones de cultivos con el fin de reducir el uso de agua. En toda esta labor los productores interactuaron con investigadores individuales de instituciones públicas, centros internacionales y empresas privadas.De 1942 a 1950 la organización y el enfoque de la extensión agrícola sufrieron múltiples cambios y los recursos para operar con que contaba eran escasos. En contraste, la red de estaciones experimentales se desarrolló considerablemente. Hacia 1954 la extensión se concentró en las zonas de riego, y por primera vez participaron en su programación productores organizados. Con el apoyo de las fundaciones Rockefeller y Ford, se realizaron importantes programas para apoyar los cultivos de maíz y trigo en los recién creados distritos de riego marginándose a los pequeños productores de las zonas de temporal. En 1966 se trató de reducir la brecha entre los servicios de investigación y extensión, asignándole a la última mayores recursos humanos y financieros. Sin embargo, recién en 1971 se creó la Dirección General de Extensión en la Secretaría de Agricultura. El número de extensionistas pasó de 268 en 1962 a 1,583 en 1971 (Zuloaga y Pérez ,1996).En 1981 se canceló esa Dirección y sus actividades se transfirieron al Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrícolas y a los distritos de riego y temporal. Entre 1977 y 1979, el servicio de extensión llegó a contar con 21,500 técnicos, de los cuales el 57% estaba asignado a zonas de temporal.A partir de 1990, el gobierno promovió la asistencia técnica privada impulsando la repartición de costos entre el gobierno y los productores. El mecanismo para lograrlo ha sido la celebración de contratos directos entre productores y consejeros privados. Un antecedente de este proceso es el Programa de Reembolso de Asistencia Técnica del FIRA, que apoya a los productores de bajos ingresos financiando en forma decreciente y por cinco años los servicios de asesoría proporcionados por empresas privadas. Los agricultores más pobres continuaron recibieron asesoría técnica gratuita de acuerdo con el Programa Nacional de Solidaridad (PRONASOL).A continuación se mencionan algunas características actuales de la extensión agrícola (Zuloaga y Pérez, 1996):• Su organización es inadecuada porque las áreas administrativas y normativas predominan sobre el área operativa. • Carece de presupuesto suficiente y oportuno, cuenta con poca diversificación de fuentes de financiamiento y existe una virtual ausencia de productores en la planeación y evaluación de actividades. • Insuficiencia de recursos humanos. En 1996 se tenían cubiertas sólo 372 de 2,000 plazas de extensión agrícola. • Utiliza sólo el método de extensión \"capacitación y visita\" para atender una diversidad de condiciones agronómicas y socioculturales y minimiza el vínculo con el INIFAP.A pesar de los cambios introducidos en los sistemas de investigación y extensión, las interacciones entre ambos sistemas continúan siendo escasas, lo mismo que las interacciones con los productores. El sistema público de extensión aún se estructura de arriba hacia abajo. Estas características se han mantenido en algunos programas de apoyo que, si bien privilegian el abastecimiento de insumos por canales comerciales, han mantenido la provisión de servicios de asesoramiento tecnológico en manos de los administradores de los programas (FAO y SAGARPA, 2000). El desarrollo de servicios privados de extensión ha sido escaso, aunque en algunos estados como Sonora y Sinaloa se han dado cambios importantes.En una evaluación reciente de la Alianza para el Campo se menciona que un poco más de la tercera parte de los beneficiarios de este programa recibió asesoría técnica junto con el subsidio. En la mayoría de los casos, estos servicios fueron proporcionados por extensionistas públicos, proveedores y técnicos independientes. Al mismo tiempo, se señala que el 63% de los beneficiarios opinaron que requerían asesoría técnica y/o capacitación, especialmente para emprender nuevas actividades. Por último, sólo el 50% se mostró dispuesto a pagar por el servicio (FAO y SAGARPA, 2000). Las discrepancias entre estas cifras indican que los productores no encuentran fácilmente un asesoramiento que satisfaga sus necesidades.Desde hace varias décadas, el sector agropecuario ha sido el menos dinámico del país. Las causas de su estancamiento relativo son varias: políticas económicas que no favorecían la adopción de tecnologías más productivas, la prevalencia de campesinos minifundistas, regímenes de propiedad de la tierra poco flexibles, y sistemas de investigación y extensión rígidos y débilmente articulados con otros agentes que participaban en el sistema de innovación agropecuario.La desregulación de la economía a partir de la década del 80 y la puesta en marcha del TLC han forzado un fuerte ajuste en el funcionamiento del sector público y de los productores agropecuarios. Entre las medidas más importantes que afectaron al sector agropecuario se destacan la eliminación de los precios de garantía, la eliminación de subsidios a insumos clave (ej., semillas mejoradas, fertilizantes y electricidad) y la apertura de la importación de varios productos, principalmente granos y carnes. Como resultado de este ajuste, los ingresos de productores de artículos tradicionalmente protegidos y dirigidos al mercado interno han disminuido y los de aquellos que han podido transformarse para exportar han aumentado considerablemente.En general, las instituciones públicas de investigación se concentraron en llevar a cabo investigación relacionada con productos dirigidos al mercado interno (granos básicos y ganadería) y ofrecer apoyo técnico a programas federales de apoyo al sector agropecuario. Las tecnologías utilizadas por los productores que han podido insertarse en los mercados internacionales han sido en su mayoría importadas y adaptadas a las condiciones locales por los propios productores o proveedores de insumos.La investigación agropecuaria no ha sido ajena a los cambios que siguieron a los procesos de ajuste estructural. Los mayores cambios ocurrieron en los mecanismos de financiamiento y en las leyes que norman el funcionamiento de las instituciones públicas de investigación.En la última década se han llevado a cabo una diversificación de las fuentes de financiamiento y un cambio en los mecanismos de distribución de los recursos. La participación del gasto federal en ciencia y tecnología relacionada con agricultura y ganadería en el gasto total en ciencia y tecnología disminuyó de alrededor del 32% en 1990 a poco más del 22% en 1997. Esta disminución en la disponibilidad de recursos fiscales ha forzado a las instituciones de investigación del sector a buscar fuentes alternativas de financiamiento, entre las que se destacan el sector privado y los fondos competitivos financiados con recursos públicos.Al tiempo que disminuía el financiamiento público, se modificaron los mecanismos de asignación de fondos. Actualmente, las transferencias del gobierno central sólo cubren salarios y parte de los costos de mantenimiento. Los fondos públicos para pagar gastos operativos de investigación se canalizan a través de las Fundaciones Produce, que también movilizan fondos estatales y, en algunos casos, del sector privado. El objetivo de introducir el nuevo sistema de financiamiento fue permitir a los productores agropecuarios ejercer influencia sobre la asignación de recursos públicos de investigación. Sin embargo, los resultados varían según los estados y el grado de participación de los productores locales en la fundación local.La caída en los salarios reales ha forzado a los investigadores a buscar fuentes alternativas para complementar sus ingresos. Una de las fuentes más importantes es el SNI, administrado por el CONACYT. Tanto acceder al SIN como permanecer en él depende fundamentalmente de la producción académica medida por publicaciones en revistas con referato, hecho que desincentiva los trabajos interdisciplinarios y la interacción con agentes innovadores fuera del ámbito académico.En general, los cambios en el funcionamiento de investigación pública se han centrado en los mecanismos de financiamiento, pero no se han hecho modificaciones substanciales a los sistemas de incentivos que las instituciones ofrecen a sus investigadores y administradores de investigación. De esta manera, el financiamiento de los programas de investigación se vuelve más inestable y conspira contra las líneas de investigación que requieren mayores plazos para su ejecución o que son más novedosas (Huffman y Just, 2000).El cambio de legislación relacionada con la investigación más importante fue la creación en 1999 de la figura jurídica de centros públicos de investigación. Las instituciones que adopten esta modalidad obtienen mayor independencia en el uso de los recursos y en la fijación de incentivos para sus investigadores. Si bien las instituciones públicas hacen un importante esfuerzo por adaptarse a la nueva normativa, el corto plazo en que esta ley ha estado vigente impide evaluar sus efectos.México lleva a cabo un importante esfuerzo para adaptar su sistema de investigación agropecuaria a las necesidades creadas por la globalización y los cambios en las políticas económicas y sociales. Si bien estos cambios se han efectuado en las reglas que afectan al sistema en conjunto, también están promoviendo adaptaciones dentro de las propias instituciones de investigación. Sin embargo, el ritmo de cambio de este tipo de instituciones ha sido lento ya que se requiere un cambio paralelo en las culturas institucionales desarrolladas a lo largo de varias décadas. Un esfuerzo paralelo para acelerar los cambios dentro de las instituciones de investigación permitirá obtener los beneficios de la transformación más rápidamente."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fab2d2ace4583948ec5ca19e68a16b7d","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e1c38bda-339b-4ed6-b61c-7c032ed6f270/retrieve","id":"1280588879"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"65004794-e403-44aa-b573-a4d612471fc3","content":"Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites mainly produced by fungi known as Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus, and A. nomius. They are particularly important because of their effects on human health and agricultural trade. Aflatoxins cause liver cancer, suppress the immune system, and retard growth and development of children. Aflatoxincontaminated feed and food causes a decrease in productivity in humans and animals and sometimes death. Maize and groundnut are particularly susceptible to aflatoxin accumulation, but other crops such as oilseeds, cassava, yam, rice, among others, can be affected as well. Aflatoxin accumulation in crops can lower income of farmers as they may not sell or negotiate better prices for their produce. Because of the high occurrence of aflatoxin in crops, many countries have set standards for acceptable aflatoxin limits in products that are meant for human and animal consumption.Natural populations of A. flavus consist of toxigenic strains that produce variable amounts of aflatoxin and atoxigenic strains that lack the capability   strains is usually quantified to determine the most toxigenic strains that will be useful for competition with atoxigenic strains.The genetic diversity of the atoxigenic strains is also determined molecularly by examining the presence or absence of the genes responsible for aflatoxin production in each strain. The absence of these genes explains why potential biocontrol isolates would not produce aflatoxin after release into the environment. Amplification of any given marker is taken to mean that the area around that marker is relatively intact, although substitutions and small indels outside the primer binding site may not be detected. Nonamplification could result from deletion of that area, an insertion between the primers that would result in a product too long to amplify by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), or mutations in the priming sites. Nonamplification of adjacent markers is probably best explained by very large deletions.Vegetative compatible group (VCG) is a technique used to determine whether the highly competitive atoxigenic isolates are genetically related to each other. In nature A. flavus species that are genetically related belong to the same VCG or family; those that do not exchange genetic material belong to different VCGs. This is an important criterion for selecting a good biocontrol agent to ensure that the selected biocontrol strains do not \"intermate\" with aflatoxin-producing strains after field application. With this technique, the distribution of a particular VCG within a country or region is also determined.  A VCG that is widely distributed is likely to be a good biocontrol agent because it has the innate ability to survive over years and across different agroecologies. On the contrary, atoxigenic VCGs that have aflatoxin-producing members within the VCG are rejected; atoxigenic VCGs that are restricted to a few locations may also not be selected.The in vitro test determines the competitive ability of the atoxigenic isolate to exclude the toxigenic isolate on the same substrate. The competition test is conducted in the laboratory by coinoculating the most toxigenic isolate with atoxigenic strains on aflatoxin-free maize grains or groundnut kernels. Grains/kernels inoculated with the toxigenic strain or not inoculated at all serve as controls.After incubation and aflatoxin analysis, atoxigenic isolates that reduce aflatoxin by more than 80% in the co-inoculated treatments are selected for unique vegetative compatible grouping. Strain selection criteria followed in developing competitive aflatoxin biocontrol agents.• Collect ~500 maize/groundnut samples from farmers' fields/stores from diverse agroecologies in the field • Isolate Aspergillus species (about 10 per sample) from the crop samples in the labIn the laboratory evaluate ~5,000 strains to select those that: "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"89f6487a72428ab80f5f70c6208e638e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/448c3267-be76-4c19-8efa-d01b4f52a897/retrieve","id":"-93384986"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"71c81b28-0c7a-453b-8401-ba17c931d814","content":"For millennia, humans have used plants and fungi, as foods, fuels, fibers, and medicines; and have developed techniques for improving their usefulness to our species, mostly through selection of desirable traits. With human populations forecast to rise, the availability of arable land likely to fall amid climate change and increasing urbanization, and modern communications technologies accelerating the dispersal of pathogens, further improvement is urgently needed. However, ensuring long-term resilience involves conservation of existing genetic diversity in addition to selection.New technologies, particularly those based on molecular biology, are increasingly driving conservation and improvement strategies.Humans use plants and fungi for a wide range of purposes and, over millennia, have improved wild species by selecting for and combining genetic variation.Improvements in DNA sequencing technologies have enhanced our capacity to identify and manipulate genetic diversity, increasing the range of variation that can be utilized, and accelerating the breeding cycle to reduce the time taken to develop and put new varieties to use. Most recently, the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology has greatly increased our capacity to directly introduce novel genetic variants without unwanted associated material. Moreover, increased knowledge of metabolic pathways resulting from genomic analysis can be used to design new varieties with desired properties with increased precision. Selecting for, or engineering, desirable variants has increased the usefulness of plants and fungi to humans, but at the cost of reducing their genetic diversity, decreasing their resilience and reducing the stock of variation available for future use. Conservation of genetic biodiversity is thus an essential counterpart of crop improvement and is essential to ensure that crop species retain resilience to emerging threats. Conservation efforts are focused on orphan crops, wild relatives of crop species, and landraces; in and exsitu efforts are complementary. Informatic approaches can inform use of these materials in breeding programmes even in the absence of genomic information. The application of some ofFor millennia, humans have used plants and fungi as foods, fuels, fibers, and medicines. Early humans gathered plant and fungal materials from the wild, but agriculture has been practiced for at least 11,500 years (Fernie & Yan, 2019;Meyer & Purugganan, 2013).Humans have not only cultivated these species, but also sought, by casual selection and deliberate breeding, to improve yield, resilience to biotic and abiotic stress, and the properties of varieties under cultivation (Schlegel, 2018). Established plant breeding practices helped inform the experiments that first elucidated the genetic basis of inheritance, and this understanding has underpinned the development of modern scientific breeding programmes, in which the recorded characteristics of individuals and lines are used to develop new varieties with desirable combinations of traits (Voss-Fels, Stahl, & Hickey, 2019). More recently developed approaches exploit low-cost techniques for DNA sequencing and molecular modification tools to increase the precision with which new varieties can be created, and speeding their delivery to market (Chen, Wang, Zhang, Zhang, & Gao, 2019;Hickey et al., 2019;Lenaerts, Collard, & Demont, 2019). With human populations forecast to rise, the availability of arable land likely to fall amid climate change and increasing urbanization, and modern communications technologies accelerating the dispersal of plant pathogens, these developments are decidedly timely (FAO, 2017;Jorasch, 2019;Roell & Zurbriggen, 2020).Although short-term improvement strategies are focused on engineering specific genotypes, maintaining biodiversity is essential to provide the genetic reservoir from which future crops will be developed (Govindaraj, Vetriventhan, & Srinivasan, 2014;Tester & Langridge, 2010). Most crop species have undergone just a few domestication events, and while repeated rounds of subsequent selection have optimized their properties, these have significantly reduced the residual genetic diversity present in current populations (Smýkal, Nelson, Berger, & Von Wettberg, 2018). Today's crops thus bear little resemblance to their wild ancestors, and their genetic homogeneity threatens our ability to breed for resilience in the face of novel threats (Dulloo et al., 2017). There is therefore increasing interest in exploring new sources of genetic variation (Castañeda-Álvarez et al., 2016;Smýkal et al., 2018). For example, there may be the potential for significant gains in yield and quality in under-utilized species that have not yet been subject to scientific breeding or genetic analysis, and which might mitigate the pressures on existing major crops (Castañeda-Álvarez et al., 2016;Pironon et al., 2019;Zhang, Li, & Zhu, 2018) if the sociological barriers to their use can be overcome (Morel, Revoyron, San Cristobal, & Baret, 2020).There is also potential for increased use of fungi. For example, the combination of genomics, DNA synthesis and biotechnological tools available for fermentable fungal species is opening a new era for the production of enzymes and bioactive compounds, and may also help reduce pressure on wild biodiversity (Cairns, Nai, & Meyer, 2018;Deng, Gao, Liao, & Cai, 2017).Since the dawn of plant domestication, humans have selected for plants that are well-adapted to growth in the agricultural environment. More recently, farmers and plant breeders have deliberately bred from individuals with desirable traits, leading to the development of elite lines, whose improvement continues to this day. This can be a lengthy process, requiring an initial cross, followed by several cycles of growth, phenotyping, and selection. If an existing elite line is crossed to a less generally well-adapted variety that nonetheless contains certain beneficial genes, the offspring must be repeatedly backcrossed to the elite parent to remove unwanted genetic material derived from the other parent (Lenaerts et al., 2019). Thus, the time taken to introduce a new rice variety to the field is currently 10 years (Acquaah, 2007), and 6-8 generations of inbreeding are required to achieve genetic stability. For slow growing tree species, the time taken to develop a new variety is considerably longer.Genomics, the study of the complete genetic composition of an organism, has impacted plant breeding in various ways (Figure 1).An understanding of the molecular basis of biological processes can enable the reengineering of metabolic pathways, to allow for the production of new bioproducts (e.g. synthesis of omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids Napier, Olsen, & Tocher, 2019;Ruiz-Lopez, Haslam, Napier, & Sayanova, 2014). Even without mechanistic understanding, the identification of genetic variants (markers) that are statistically associated with desirable traits (due to their close physical proximity in the genome and hence these approaches may be restricted by ethical, legal, or organizational obstacles.If these can be overcome, there is great potential to unlock previously untapped reservoirs of biodiversity for human benefit.breeding, conservation, crops, fungi, genetic diversity, genetic modification, metabolic engineering, plants likelihood of being co-inherited) allows the prediction of phenotype from genotype. This approach, which is referred to as Marker Assisted Selection (MAS), has been used by breeders since the 1990s (Heffner, Sorrells, & Jannink, 2009) to enable rapid and precise screening for traits of interest at reduced cost (Davey et al. 2011), thereby increasing the speed and precision of the breeding process. Tracking the presence of specific genetic variants also allows for gene stacking, that is, the incorporation of multiple genes independently conferring a single trait, such as disease resistance.For example, plant pathogens often evolve the ability to overcome resistance conferred by a single gene following the widespread planting of resistant crops. Stacking multiple resistance genes within the genome increases the durability of the trait (e.g. wheat resistant to rust fungi has been bred using this approach, Ellis, Lagudah, Spielmeyer, & Dodds, 2014). Another potential use is the development of more efficient biofuels: research has shown the potential of using gene stacking to incorporate several biosynthetic genes which increase the percentage of easily fermentable biosugars while reducing the lignin content of plants without restricting overall growth (Aznar et al., 2018), although yield in the field remains difficult to predict.Genomic Selection (GS) utilizes a high-density of markers from across the whole genome to statistically predict polygenic traits such as yield, reducing the reliance on finding significant associations with genes of large effect (Meuwissen, Hayes, & Goddard, 2001;Wang, Xu, Hu, & Xu, 2018). As with MAS, it is not necessary to understand the molecular mechanisms behind a complex trait to carry out genomic selection, as long as the phenotypic variation is highly heritable, and samples are adequately genotyped and phenotyped. Models are developed using a training population in which the genotype and phenotype for the trait is known for each individual, using the combined effects of all markers to predict the genomic breeding value (i.e. the heritable component of the trait) in individuals outside the training set. Improvements to the trait are obtained by increasing the frequency of favorable alleles in the population or line over many generations. Genomic selection methods have been less widely adopted for plant than animal breeding (Hickey et al., 2017), but nonetheless they are increasingly being used in some major crops (e.g. soya, maize, wheat and cotton) to increase yields and disease resistance, and hence improve crop quality (Crossa et al., 2017;González-Camacho et al., 2018;Michel et al., 2018;Rutkoski et al., 2015), while proof of concept has also been demonstrated for quality traits, such as the baking qualities of bread wheat (Michel et al., 2018). In the staple food crop cassava, in which phenotypic selection alone is inefficient and heritability of desired traits is low, genomic selection has been shown to accurately predict yield traits in multiple trials (de Andrade, Sousa, Oliveira, Resende, & Azevedo, 2019). Nevertheless, the presence of polyploidy and high heterozygosity in many crop genomes is currently limiting the widespread application of genomic selection (Friedmann et al., 2018).Resources for Improving the Useful Properties of Crops. Plant Genetic Resources (plant genetic materials of current or potential value) comprise crop landraces-genetically diverse crop varieties that are the product of traditional seed saving systems not modern plant breeding, commonly associated with local adaptation, and traditional agricultural practices in more marginal agricultural environments (Maxted et al., 2020); Crop Wild Relatives (CWR)-wild species that are relatively closely related to a crop and may be crossed with the crop either using conventional or genetic engineering techniques to introduce desirable traits from the wild species to the crop; and underutilized crops. Traditionally, wild plants have been domesticated and improved through casual selection and pedigree breeding. Modern techniques used to characterize breeding lines include genome size association studies (GWAS) and automated phenotyping. Approaches to accelerate breeding cycles include marker assisted breeding-the identification and use of genetic markers, linked to alleles promoting favorable traits, to identify suitable progeny from crosses at a younger age and lower cost than phenotypically screening mature plants; genomic selection-the statistical prediction of quantitative from a genome-wide scan of genetic variants; and genetic modification-increasingly performed using the CRISPR/Cas technology In long-lived species such as forest trees, the potential advantages of genomic selection are perhaps even greater, especially in combination with speed breeding approaches that can considerably shorten the generation time of a crop (Hickey et al., 2019). However, its use has been limited by the prohibitive costs of obtaining the necessary training datasets (Hickey et al., 2017).Recently, methods such as the sequencing of pools of individuals with similar phenotypes (e.g. ash trees (Fraxinus excelsior) resistant to ash dieback, Stocks et al., 2019) have been shown to reduce costs and hence may enable the extension of genomic selection to such species.A more radical way to decrease breeding times is through the direct genetic modification (GM) of an individual, enabling the introduction of a desired gene (potentially sourced from an unrelated species) into an elite line without introducing unwanted genetic material. A typical approach is to use a plant pathogen, Agrobacterium, to carry the desired genetic material into a plant (Alok, Sharma, Kumar, Verma, & Sood, 2017). A common application of this approach has been to enrich the nutrient content of edible crops. For example, transgenes have been used to increase the uptake or synthesis of vitamin A, iron, and zinc in crops including rice, wheat, maize, and cassava (Kumar, Palve, Joshi, Srivastava, & Rukhsar., 2019); folate in rice; Omega-3 in oil seed rape (canola), and ascorbate in maize (Chen & Lin, 2013). Toxin-encoding genes from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have also been inserted to generate resistance to insect pests in multiple crop species including cotton, maize, and aubergine (Abbas, 2018;Prodhan et al., 2018); and multiple Bt proteins have been stacked with no new evident risks to non-target insects (Romeis & Meissle, 2020). As of 2016, 185.1 million hectares or about 12% of global cropland (54% in low-income countries) have been planted with GM crops (Pellegrino, Bedini, Nuti, & Ercoli, 2018).Consumption of GM foods is generally considered safe (Nicolia, Manzo, Veronesi, & Rosellini, 2014;Ronald, 2011)  The merits of transgenic technology, however, are partially overshadowed by its perceived harm to the environment. One issue is the possible transfer of the transgene to crop wild relatives by natural pollination (transgene escape) (Ahmad & Mukhtar, 2017;Arias & Rieseberg, 1994;Gilbert, 2013), or through the intermixing of GM and non-GM seeds via seed sharing between farmers (van Heerwaarden, Ortega Del Vecchyo, Alvarez-Buylla, & Bellon, 2012).Long-term monitoring of transgenes to study their impact on local ecology is currently limited, although recent studies highlight how the risks associated with any transgene need to be assessed separately for each GM modified species since the ecological impact is likely to be influenced by the biology of the crop, wild species, and transgene (Ellstrand, 2018).An alternative to conventional transgenic methods is the use of sequence-specific nucleases to perform targeted manipulation of precise locations within the genome to create desirable genetic variants in situ (Chen, Wang, et al., 2019;Hua et al., 2019). Zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) have been applied to various crops to modify traits such as herbicide tolerance or disease resistance (Zhang, Massel, Godwin, & Gao, 2018), but currently the most efficient, flexible, and cheapest approach is the use of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) to guide editing by CRISPR-associated (Cas) enzymes (Zhang, Malzahn, Sretenovic, & Qi, 2019;Zhang, Massel, et al., 2018). CRISPR/Cas has been used to generate a range of modifications within the genome, including knockouts (to disrupt gene function), insertions/replacements (to introduce new alleles or alter gene expression patterns), and base editing (to modify traits controlled by single nucleotide variants or to alter RNA splicing) (Chen, Wang, et al., 2019;Zhang, Massel, et al., 2018). The precision and speed of these approaches has transformational promise for crop improvement (Jaganathan, Ramasamy, Sellamuthu, Jayabalan, & Venkataraman, 2018). They have already been applied to food and other crops to improve a range of different traits, including yield, quality (e.g. nutritional composition, digestibility, shelf-life), disease, insect and herbicide resistance, cold and drought tolerance, andA modified version of Cas9, an enzyme involved in bacterial immune responses (Deltcheva et al., 2011), can be used to directly alter genomic DNA to match an RNA template carrying a desirable alteration with high fidelity and efficiency (Komor, Kim, Packer, Zuris, & Liu, 2016). Acetolactate synthase (ALS) is an enzyme involved in plant amino acid biosynthesis and is commonly targeted by herbicides, which inhibit its active site (Lonhienne et al., 2018). Mutated forms of the ALS gene encoding this enzyme confer resistance to herbicides but it was difficult to breed into some crops by conventional means. By using a modified version of Cas9, researchers have been able to introduce single nucleotide changes into the ALS genes of tomato (Shimatani et al., 2017) and watermelon (Tian et al., 2018), conferring heritable herbicide tolerance with no evidence that any off-target modifications have been introduced. The speed and precision of this approach has revolutionary potential for future crop improvement.nitrogen use efficiency (Chen, Wang, et al., 2019;Hu et al., 2015;Shimatani et al., 2017;Zhang, Massel, et al., 2018); a specific example in watermelon and tomato is discussed in Box 1. Moreover, the ability to alter multiple genes simultaneously via multiplex editing and gene stacking (see above) is contributing to efforts to improve complex quantitative traits such as durable disease resistance (Nelson, Wiesner-Hanks, Wisser, & Balint-Kurti, 2018) and yield (Chen, Wang, et al., 2019;Hua et al., 2019).While initially this technology was mainly used in major crops, it is now being applied to minor crops as well. For example, orthologues of genes known to be involved in tomato domestication and improvement have been modified to enhance productivity traits in groundcherry (Physalis pruinosa) (Lemmon et al., 2018). Meanwhile, a vigorous public debate between different countries is occurring about the correct regulatory approach for CRISPR-modified crops.European Union legislation treats single nucleotide edits comparably to the introduction of foreign DNA (Eriksson et al., 2020), resulting in reduced levels of patent filing compared with other parts of the world (Martin-Laffon, Kuntz, & Ricroch, 2019).Fungi are used by humans for their intrinsic properties (e.g. as food, medicines), as chassis for the production of endogenous and exogenous biomolecules, and as transformational agents in processes such as bread, alcohol, and cheese production (Prescott et al., 2018).Fungi with useful traits were initially stochastically selected from wild diversity, as the complex fungal life cycles and sexual incompatibilities were obstacles to deliberate breeding. For example, breeding the widely cultivated edible mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, was impossible before the discovery of new strains with compatible breeding types in the late 1970s (Fritsche, 1983). Since then many hybrids have been bred and are being tested for their ability to make new forms of beer and biofuels (Alexander et al., 2016;Savoie, Foulongne-Oriol, Barroso, & Callac, 2013;Singh, Shwet, & Sharma, 2017).In the last 15 years sequencing of fungal genomes and the development of bioinformatics tools to predict biosynthetic pathways has improved our understanding of how the production of fungal secondary metabolites is regulated. This has increased our ability to produce fungal bioactive compounds (Nielsen et al., 2017), and driven new approaches for screening fungi for new useful products.For example, molecules that modify chromatin confirmation are now commonly used to induce expression of otherwise \"silent\" biosynthetic pathways leading to the production of previously unknown secondary metabolites (Collemare & Seidl, 2019;Henrikson, Hoover, Joyner, & Cichewicz, 2009;Pfannenstiel & Keller, 2019). Alternatively, the OSMAC (one strain many compounds) framework uses multiple growth conditions to yield new compounds (Romano, Jackson, Patry, & Dobson, 2018). The ecological roles of fungal secondary metabolites in microbial communities are also increasingly used to induce production of novel compounds (Knowles et al., 2019;Nielsen et al., 2017). For example, bacteria-fungi and fungi-fungi co-cultivation often yields new compounds with important antimicrobial properties, as recently shown for lagopodin B produced by Coprinopsis cinerea in the presence of bacteria (Stöckli et al., 2019), and for berkeleylactones produced when two extremophile Penicillium species were grown together (Stierle et al., 2017). However, such interactions may be restricted to specific bacterial and fungal species (e.g. Schroeckh et al., 2009), and hence this approach may prove difficult to implement in high-throughput platforms.The approaches discussed above have improved the usefulness of plants and fungi to humans, but often at the price of narrowing their genetic diversity, making them more vulnerable to pests, diseases, and unpredictable climates. This recognition has led to the search for additional sources of genetic diversity that have the potential to enhance productivity, sustainability, and resilience of crops. Such genetically diverse materials may be directly bred into commercial lines or used for information and inspiration when designing custom genetic modifications.For plants, much work has focused on the identification, conservation, and curation of plant genetic resources (PGR, defined as \"genetic material of current and potential value\", CBD, 1992). Of the diversity of PGRs that have been recognized (Maxted, Hunter, & Ortiz Rios, 2020), the ones that contain the greatest wealth of genetic diversity for breeding are the crop landraces and crop wild relatives (CWR). Many CWR already possess potentially useful traits, such as resilience to disease, drought, or salinity (Zhang, Li, et al., 2018). There are two broad conservation strategies, each comprising a range of techniques to conserve plant genetic diversity (and defined by the CBD ( 2002): (1) in situ conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats and the maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings, and, in the case of domesticated or cultivated species, in the surroundings where they have developed their distinctive properties; and (2) ex situ conservation of components of biological diversity outside their natural habitats -especially in seed banks, such as those maintained by CGIAR (Byerlee & Dubin, 2009), the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (Westengen, Jeppson, & Guarino, 2013), and Kew's Millennium Seed Bank for wild plant species (Liu, Breman, Cossu, & Kenney, 2018).In the long-term, maintaining diversity in situ is fundamental to supporting food security (Dulloo, 2019). Conserving landraces and CWRs on-farm or in the wild allows the plants to adapt and evolve in their own niche environments and develop unique properties that make them major providers of genetic materials for use by breeders and farmers. Although CWR diversity is found in numerous protected areas, CWRs per se are rarely actively conserved (i.e. the populations are not actively managed to maximize the maintenance of genetic diversity) or made available to users. A more systematic, complementary approach to PGR conservation that includes active in situ/on-farm conservation has the potential to more than double the genetic diversity available to breeders and farmers for crop improvement (Dulloo, 2011;Maxted et al., 2020).Initiatives such as \"Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change\" (Dempewolf et al., 2014) have helped plug gaps in ex situ CWR collections, and ensure that seed material is curated and stored appropriately to safeguard its long-term viability. However, it is estimated that 8%-20% of angiosperm species produce desiccation-sensitive seeds that are recalcitrant to \"standard\" seed banking methods (Wyse & Dickie, 2017), hence alternative approaches such as cryopreservation (Li & Pritchard, 2009) and pollen storage are being developed. Overall, it is recommended that a combination of in situ and ex situ techniques are applied to each species to provide backup if one method fails (Dulloo et al., 2017).CWRs and landraces often lack the necessary characterization and evaluation (C&E) data needed for their systematic utilization in breeding programs (Dempewolf et al., 2017;FAO, 2017).Nevertheless, predictive characterization approaches that combine geospatial analyses together with environmental and agro-ecological data can support the selection of candidate accessions that are suitable for investigating a specific trait from uncharacterized germplasm (Thormann et al., 2016). They build on the hypothesis that different environments exert divergent selective pressures on plant populations, and thus populations growing in a specific environment will possess a suite of adaptive traits shaped by selection pressures unique to these environments. The potential for a trait to be present is enhanced by (1) matching of biotic and abiotic characteristics associated with a collection site; (2) ecogeographical information associated with a collection site; and (3) previously records of trait occurrence associated with a set of locations different from those where the germplasm being examined has been collected or observed. In each case a predictor is used to build a hypothesis that germplasm from a particular location will be genetically differentiated. One of the first systematic applications of this approach, the Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS) (Mackay & Street, 2004;Street et al., 2008), applied the biotic and abiotic matching techniques mainly to major crops. Building on this, more recent studies using ecogeographical information or previously recorded C&E data have been developed and tested for their applicability to CWR (Thormann, 2012), exploring the so-called ecogeographical filtering and calibration methods (Thormann et al., 2014;Thormann et al., 2016). Although predictive characterization does not replace actual field trials, it considerably reduces the size of the trial required by reducing the set of candidate accessions which need to be screened before finding novel alleles for target traits; it has been used successfully in several species including barley (Endresen, 2010) and white clover (García Sánchez, Parra-Quijano, Greene, & Iriondo, 2019).Many of the technologies discussed above are still relatively new but have the potential for further development. For example, advances in DNA synthesis and heterologous expression systems (Skellam, 2019) are providing new opportunities to explore fungal biodiversity for novel bioactive compounds and use fungi to produce them. The number of known fungal pathways remains limited with only 277 biosynthetic pathways characterized compared to 1,611 bacterial ones (Kautsar et al., 2019). There is a clear need to further characterize fungal biosynthetic genes and link them to the fungal chemical landscape. In particular, bioinformatics tools dedicated to fungal genomes are needed to efficiently and accurately mine genomes.Large-scale genomic studies are also needed to prioritize functional studies and avoid studying already characterized biosynthetic pathways (Bushley & Turgeon, 2010;Chooi & Tang, 2012;Navarro-Muñoz & Collemare, 2020). With increased numbers of characterized pathways, we may be able to produce new-to-nature natural products, such as biosynthetic enzymes engineered to perform chemical reactions that are difficult to obtain synthetically due to their specificity (Fürtges, Obermaier, Thiele, Foegen, & Müller, 2019), or produce higher yields of potentially useful compounds (Rebets, Brötz, Tokovenko, & Luzhetskyy, 2014). For example, the combination of biosynthetic genes from the autinoid pathway in Aspergillus nidulans and A. calidoustus (Valiante et al., 2017) has redirected the pathway toward the production of the insecticide calidodehydroaustin in the fermentable A. nidulans strain (Mattern, Valiante, Horn, Petzke, & Brakhage, 2017). Chimeric enzymes and combinatorial expression of biosynthetic genes can also result in novel derivatives of known compounds as shown for fungal macrolide lactones with potential anti-tumor, anti-malarial, and anti-bacterial activities (Xu, Jiang, Zhang, Ma, & Guo, 2014a;Xu, Zhou, et al., 2014) and fungal cyclodepsipeptides with novel antiparasitic activity to treat, for example, the potentially fatal Chagas disease and Leishmaniasis (Steiniger et al., 2017). Indeed, combining genes from different pathways is a very promising approach to increase the diversity of chemicals produced by fungi (Frandsen et al., 2018;Li et al., 2018). Yet although scalable platforms for heterologous expression in fungal strains are becoming available (Harvey et al., 2018), optimization is needed to consistently reach high production levels. This will require not only improvement of the primary metabolism as already performed but also better coordination of the expression of biosynthetic genes and improved metabolic fluxes through better compartmentalization of biosynthetic steps.While the use of genome editing tools such as the CRISPR/ Cas systems have great promise for improving traits in plants and fungi, there are still challenges arising, for example, from the low frequency of successful gene editing in somatic cells and the precision with which the desired modifications in the DNA sequences are achieved. Nevertheless, advances are continually being made, improving precision and efficiency (Bharat, Li, Li, Yan, & Xia, 2019;Hu et al., 2015;Hua et al., 2019;Kang et al., 2018;Shan & Voytas, 2018;Shimatani et al., 2017). Recent developments in the genome editing repertoire include (1) the development of novel RNA editing systems (Anzalone et al., 2019;Bharat et al., 2019) (although the application of these in plants has yet to be realized); (2) the genetic engineering of the Cas9 enzyme to extend the range of target sites that can be edited (Niu et al., 2020); and (3) novel approaches that can achieve spatial (e.g. cell-, tissue-or organ-specific) and/or temporally localized modified genes by including tissue-or cell-specific promoters (e.g. CRISPR/TSKO (Tissue Specific Knock Out), Decaestecker et al., 2019;Ali, Mahfouz, & Mansoor, 2020). Examples of potential applications being pursued include the development of more efficient biofuel crops. To achieve this the aim is to restrict the expression of genes involved in lignin production to xylem vessels where it is essential, while reducing lignin content in fibre cells (Liang et al., 2019) where it can decrease the efficiency of converting plant mass into energy.The recent identification of unique genomic characteristics of the way that CRISPR/Cas9 operates in filamentous fungi (Yamato et al., 2019), which are widely used in the bioprocessing, food, and fermentation industries, is likely to facilitate more flexible genome editing in these organisms as well.In addition to breeding techniques that focus directly on genetic material, other approaches currently in development include selection for stable epigenetic modifications (Gallusci et al., 2017), utilizing the microbiome of plants to increase their resilience (Carrión et al., 2019), and the production of hybrids at commercial scale for self-pollinating species (such as wheat) through the genetic modification of genes controlling fertility (Gupta et al., 2019).There is the further potential to combine genome editing techniques with synthetic biology approaches to introduce traits that are entirely novel to a given species. For example, nitrogen-fixing capabilities could be extended to new plant species by using CRISPR/Cas systems to insert synthetic DNA sequences (genes or regulatory elements) into their genomes (Chen, Wang, et al., 2019), reducing the need for artificially fixed nitrogen (Wurtzel et al., 2019), while the efficiency of the photosynthetic cycle could be increased in common cereal crops by changing the pathway for carbon fixation (Ermakova, Danila, Furbank, & von Caemmerer, 2020). However, there are broad biological constraints upon these processes beyond the enzymatic repertoire, and these goals are unlikely to be realized in the near future. The use of genome editing for the de novo domestication of wild plants as potential novel crops has also been highlighted, and species that might be good candidates for such an approach have been proposed (Fernie & Yan, 2019).A recent report from the World Resources Institute concluded that \"the case for using [genetic engineering] is compelling when the full range of potential gains and costs is taken into consideration\" (Searchinger et al., 2019). Nonetheless, public perception of GM crops remains poor in many countries, with limited scientific understanding amongst many of the public and the perception that GM crops are \"unnatural\" and therefore unsafe (Babar et al., 2020;McFadden & Smyth, 2019;McPhetres, Rutjens, Weinstein, & Brisson, 2019). Interestingly, conventional breeding in sweet potato has selected for genes introduced to the species by Agrobacterium in the wild (Kyndt et al., 2015), similarly to the way GM is performed in the laboratory, and overall, the evidence clearly suggests that the risk to the environment of a new variety should be considered primarily in light of its phenotype and not in the methodological approach used to produce it (National Academies of Sciences Engineering Medicine, 2016). However, in some jurisdictions, the regulatory environment does not reflect the scientific consensus.For example, European Community law is heavily process-focused and is much more restrictive of the use of genetic modification than of untargeted mutagenesis (Anzalone et al., 2019;Callaway, 2018).An evidence-based regulatory approach is essential if the potential benefits of these technologies are to be realized.Even with the use of genomic approaches, phenotyping is still necessary when exploring biological mechanisms, identifying marker loci, and confirming that the desired phenotype is achieved at the end of the process. Recent advances in automated phenotyping (which enable rapid and accurate screening of large numbers of plants) include remote sensing (at various scales), and the development of automated greenhouses and large growth chambers with sophisticated climate control (Zhao et al., 2019). A common characteristic of these novel approaches is that they are extremely data-generative, leading to a growing interest in machine-learning techniques to assess and interpret their outputs (Mochida et al., 2018;Taghavi Namin, Esmaeilzadeh, Najafi, Brown, & Borevitz, 2018;Ziamtsov & Navlakha, 2019). One example is the phenotyping of root traits (e.g. quantifying root growth), which have historically been difficult to observe under realistic conditions (Chen, Palta, Wu, & Siddique, 2019). Until recently this had been achieved by \"shovelomics\", i.e. digging root systems out of the soil and visually assessing them (Trachsel, Kaeppler, Brown, & Lynch, 2011). The novel methods of phenotyping plant roots now being developed are likely to accelerate the improvement of root traits and their inclusion in plant breeding programmes (Tracy et al., 2020).We can also expect a continued fall in the cost of genome sequencing, leading to the increased availability of high-quality reference genomes (e.g. of currently utilized plants and fungi, and their relatives), and large scale low coverage sequencing of, for example, progeny in breeding programmes, cultivars, landraces, CWRs, and wild populations. In seed and fungal biobanks, it is likely that an increasing proportion of all material will be sequenced, establishing the relatedness between individuals (Singh et al., 2019) and the completeness of collections (Milner et al., 2019). This will enable the most appropriate material to be selected for novel phenotypic screening programmes and breeding schemes. DivSeek (https://divse ekintl. org/), a global initiative bringing together most of the world's largest seed banks, aims to develop standards for the generation and curation of genotypic and phenotypic information and provide the link between plant breeders and public germplasm collections. The obstacles to delivering this vision are as much sociological as they are technical, including the linkage of access to genetic material (and derived information) to benefit sharing, and are being discussed in the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), amongst other forums (Williams et al., 2020). The failure to deliver expected direct economic benefits from the use of biodiversity to date may be due to defects in the model explicit in the CBD (whereby biodiversity conservation is effectively expected to pay for itself) (Laird et al., 2020) as well as in its implementation. Nonetheless, if these difficulties can be overcome, there is great potential for further utilizing the global genetic diversity to advance the common good."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3b4ca79869cdaecdccb2be02665b6f22","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/cb37ed68-6948-43fc-b32c-fee51654f2b7/retrieve","id":"222020276"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"896c675e-aae4-4ab1-ab2e-1ba88119534e","content":"Lessos Farmers' cooperative Society is one of the dairy producer organization (PO) situated in Nandi County, Nandi hills Constituency; Ol'lessos Division Koilot Location located N 00'10.713, E 035'18.544 and Elevation of 2171meters above sea level. It was started in the year 1962, flourished in the 1980s and declined in the 1990s when liberalization was introduced and Cooperatives no longer had monopoly over farmers' produce during this period, the government also reduced support its' to cooperatives. In 2008, Lessoss dairy Farmers cooperative (LDFC) started registering farmers afresh and currently has 2,750 members spread across the following locations; Koilot, Lessos, Sochoi, Chuyiat, Tulwet, Oll'ainguse and Terige. Currently, the cooperative has three collection centers; Lessos, Oll'ainguse and Tulwet. The cooperative collects about 8,000lt of milk per day. Apart from challenges of stiff competition from hawkers and other milk marketers, LDFC, also experience a decline in milk volumes during the dry season and an increase during the rainy season.The Feed Assessment Tool (FEAST) was used to characterize the feed-related aspects of the livestock production system in Lessos Dairy Farmers' Cooperative catchment area. This was done to help design feeding system interventions that are specific to Lessos Dairy Farmers' Cooperative catchment area. The exercise was done in November 2014 by East Africa Dairy Development project (EADD-P) in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries and the Lessos Dairies Extension Department.The main objectives of this study were to get;(i) an overview of the farming systems (ii)Identify major feeds and feeding related production problems, existing opportunities and potential interventions that would inform estimation of the feed gaps in the area.This will enable the management develop an implementation plan that will address dry season feed gaps and improve livestock production and productivity of Lesoss Farmers Cooperative's members.Farmer representatives both male and female were randomly selected from each of the seven locations to participate in the participatory rural appraisal (PRA) focused group discussions. The selection was done based on the size of land holding. Two FGDs were undertaken; one in Koilot with 22(Female 9: Male 13) farmers and another one in Sochoi having 20 (Female 8: Male 12) farmers. From each category of land holding size in the discussion groups, key informant farmers were purposively selected and individually interviewed in the seven Locations. These were 6 farmers, 2 from each category of land holding small scale, medium scale and large scale.The assessment was carried out using qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. Focused group discussions (FGDs) were used to gather qualitative information on farmers perceptions about; farm sizes, household sizes, farm labour availability, annual rainfall pattern, irrigation availability, types of animals raised, general animal husbandry, access to credit, access to farm inputs, problems issues and opportunities within the livestock system. An interview using a structured questionnaire was used to collect quantitative information. The structured questionnaire was administered to nine key farmer representatives owning small, medium and large scale farms. The issues covered in the questionnaire were; dominant breeds, types of food and cash crops grown, how the crop residues are utilized, types of fodder crops grown and how much each feed resource contributes to the diet.The qualitative information gathered during the (FGDs) was analyzed and reported. The quantitative data collected from individual key informant farmers were entered into the FEAST excel template (www.ilri.org/feast) and analyzed.The following are the findings of the assessment, and existing opportunities in the area.The farming system is mixed crop-livestock with maize dominating in both areas; Koilot and Chemngetuny. Land holding varies across households with the majority falling under medium land holding with acreage ranging from 5 to 10 acres of land (2 to 4 hectares). None of the members is landless (Figure 1). The average family size is 6 per house hold. The area experiences two rainy seasons favorable for crop production (Table 2). The long rains season occur from March to June while the short rains begin from August to October. Maize, beans and tea are planted during the onset of the long rains with beans being planted again in the short rains.  As shown in figure 2, maize is the dominant crop with majority of the farmers intercropping it with beans. The maize is grown both for income and as a food crop with crop residues from both maize and beans being used as livestock feed. However, some of the famers leave the crop residues in the field as mulch whereas a few burn the residues.Irrigation is not practiced and on the rains. Labor availability is diminishing with majority of the casual workers opting for the neighboring tea growing areas. This has led to use of herbicides for weeding by some farmers. Land preparation is mechanized and labor is mostly required during the planting season, weeding and harvesting of maize in the months of March to May, August and October respectively. The cost of labor is Ksh1200 (13 USD) per acre for weeding maize, Ksh 1000 (11 USD) per acre for staking maize and Ksh50 (0.55 USD) for harvesting one 90kg gunny bag of maize on cobs. Dairy production is the main source of income contributing 52% of the household income followed by crop (maize and tea) production at 25% (Figure 3). Horticultural crops; passion fruits, vegetables and tomatoes are also a contributing source to house hold income at 15%. Off farm business like shops and trading contributes 8% to the household income. Livestock production system is semi intensive with improved dairy cattle being the most important livestock (Figure 4). Farmers reported an approximate of 90% household having improved dairy cattle with an average milk yield of 4.5 (EADD2 baseline report 2014). Cattle are mainly kept for milk, income from sale of culls and heifers, manure and dowry. Draught cattle are kept for plowing as well as income and dowry while donkeys are kept for transportation. Small ruminants (Sheep) are kept for meat, income, manure and also dowry. Farmers reported that 0.1% of the households have zero grazing units and majority do not house their livestock. Farmers reported that 75% practiced mainly grazing on natural pastures with a little supplementation. The supplementary feeds offered include; dry maize Stover, Napier grass, bean haulms, Rhodes grass, and green maize Stover. About 10% practice roadside grazing. Similarly, farmers reported 50% of household practiced feed processing by chopping and mixing at least two types of forages: Napier mixed with Rhodes grass hay. The common processing equipment includes pangas (machetes), chuff cutters and pulverizer.Veterinary and Artificial insemination (AI) services are available to households who are registered members of Lessos Dairy Farmers' Cooperative who access the services either by paying cash or through a check off system. The prices of A.I range from Khs1000 (11USD) to Ksh 6000 (65.9USD) depending on the breed, company that is distributing the semen and whether it is sexed or not. A few farmers use their own improved bulls while those who do not have bulls access bull services from their neighbors. The cost of veterinary services varies depending on the diagnosis. Farmers highly depend on grazing, collection of naturally occurring fodders (weed) and a small percentage of cultivated fodder (figure 7). Crop residues become accessible once the farmers start harvesting beans in August Dry maize Stover is available during the maize harvesting season in October .This is an indication that feed availability in the study site is a function of land use and rainfall pattern. Major feed resources include, natural pasture, crop residue from maize and beans, naturally occurring collected grass and cultivated fodder crops are a main source of livestock feed. Majority of cultivated land is utilized for crop production, hence grazing on naturally occurring pasture contributes a highest percentage of 49% dry Matter (DM) of the total diet. Naturally occurring and collected fodder also contributes 27% DM to the total diet, metabolizable energy of 29% and crude protein of 28%. This is mainly weeds collected along soil and water conservation terraces, in maize farm lands during the rainy season Purchased concentrates contribute less (4%) to the total diet as a feed resource. Farmers feed concentrates mainly from October to March. From figure 5 above, farmers specified that feed shortage is critical from the months of January to July where they mainly rely on crop residues, which have low nutritive value. Crop residue from maize ( Dry maize Stover) and bean haulms ( from common beans) is collected from the crop land and piled in stacks near the homestead where by it is chopped or pulverized and given to animals in small quantities. From figure 7 below it only contributes 3% of the total dietary DM. This implies that a lot of crop residue is wasted by not being collected from the crop land since it is either burned or left in the farm. Cultivated fodder contributes 17% dry matter content to the total diet (figure 7). Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) is the leading cultivated fodder with an average 0.035 acres, followed by Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum), maize (Zea mays) and Lucerne (Medicago sativa) in a descending order.  "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"c3e7cb5769a08cbee4be2e4fe0d7769f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fe05ae43-e98f-4b84-864b-53e6cd3cbbed/retrieve","id":"-137282435"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"0cd0f42c-ac57-49ba-981c-3a356b0c1252","content":"[iii]                      Table 1:    Over 700 million people depend on aquatic agricultural systems (AAS), and some 250 million live on less than US$1.25 a day. Living in coastal zones and along river floodplains, these communities are not only poor, they are also vulnerable to multiple drivers of change, notably demographic trends, climate change, sea level rise, and increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather events. They live there despite their vulnerability because these are highly productive systems that provide multiple opportunities for growing or harvesting food and generating income.AAS have long been on the agenda of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), with investments made to improve crop yields, sustain wild fisheries, develop aquaculture and increase benefits from livestock. Yet only rarely has this research been well integrated to reflect the multiple choices faced by the women and men who live in these systems. Too often our investment has been targeted solely at component crops, fisheries, or other single dimensions of each system and so has failed to deliver its full benefits to the poor. As a result, stakeholders' integrated livelihoods have been marginalized by our agricultural research investments, and the opportunities they offer for reducing poverty have been missed. CRP 1.3 is designed to confront this weakness and change how the CGIAR engages with AAS. We will pursue a program of integrated research to identify key constraints faced by smallholder households, seek ways to overcome them, and pursue a research agenda to guide development investment along pathways to impact. We will bring together the combined knowledge of AAS users, governments and civil society organizations, integrating it with the capacities of the CGIAR and its partners. Together we will pursue improvements in system productivity, markets, resilience, gender equity, policies, and knowledge sharing.A demand-driven and participatory gender approach lies at the core of the program. We will identify gender-equitable options to improve the lives of smallholder households. These options will embrace both old and new technologies that combine permutations of farming, fishing, aquaculture, livestock rearing and forestry with processing and trading of agricultural commodities, and with nonagricultural livelihoods. Our demand driven focus will help tailor these solutions to the specific needs of different households living in different environmental and socio-cultural conditions. CRP 1.3 will focus initially on three AAS: (i) Asia's mega deltas, targeting Bangladesh and Cambodia; (ii) Asia-Pacific islands, targeting the Philippines and Solomons; and (iii) African freshwater systems, targeting first Zambia, then Uganda and Mali. In each of these systems, national consultations have identified focal hubs for our actions. In these hubs we will develop a commitment to -place‖ and build partnerships among fishers, farmers, traders, women's groups, private firms, local governments and other agents of change.Through our partnerships approach and targeted investment, CRP 1.3 seeks to improve the lives of 15 million poor and vulnerable people over the next 6 years. By further expanding and disseminating the learning derived from this effort, we expect to increase that number to 50 million by 2022. We will achieve these impacts at scale by focusing the CGIAR's combined strengths, and by building upon best practices in effective partnerships to engage the skills and capacities of national agricultural research systems, nongovernmental organizations, advanced research institutes, producer groups, the private sector and others. We will scale out more widely by building on cross-program learning to develop and disseminate a suite of international public goods. The budget for CRP 1.3 is US$59.4 million over the first 3 years, $27.1 million of which has been identified in existing restricted grants together with projected increases, and $12.3 million of which comes from existing core resources. A gap of $20.0 million remains to be met. It is estimated that the investment of $59.4 million in CRP 1.3 will leverage impact through partner funding of approximately $300 million over the 3-year period.[1]For the poor and vulnerable rural communities who live along the world's major rivers and coasts, pathways out of poverty depend heavily on the productivity of aquatic agricultural systems (AAS). a These integrated agricultural systems combine activities that harness the natural productivity of freshwater and coastal ecosystems to more intensive farming. An often complex and seasonally dynamic mix of annual and perennial crops, of livestock rearing and fisheries, supports the livelihoods of millions of people. Despite this productivity, however, the farming, fishing and herding communities who live in AAS are among the poorest and most vulnerable in their countries and regions. In these communities, women constitute a disproportionate share of the poor due to unequal gender relations and differential access to and control of resources.The mandate of CRP 1.3 is to confront this paradox of high ecological productivity mingled with high prevalence of poverty, vulnerability and inequity among social groups. Its goal is to transform AAS into systems that realize their full development potential while remaining resilient as societies and environments change. We propose to do this by harnessing the strengths of the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) in agricultural research and combining them with the skills and capacities of national agricultural research systems (NARS), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the private sector, advanced research institutes (ARIs) and other partners, to pursue an innovative program of integrated agricultural research.As in other integrated agricultural systems, effective engagement with poverty and vulnerability in AAS requires us to put the poor and vulnerable at the core of our work. This requires our research to be rooted firmly in the development agenda and responsive to context-specific differences in threats and opportunities. The complexity and diversity of AAS mean there can be no single technical fix or blueprint solution to the challenges they face. Our research must therefore operate at many scales and across sectors and be informed by diagnoses of constraints and opportunities at multiple scales. It must pay particular attention to the household level, where socio-cultural norms, beliefs and attitudes underlie the persistence of gender inequity. Only by doing so will we achieve the transformational change the poor deserve.Pursuing our work in this way will challenge the CGIAR to move beyond traditional circles and change the way we do much of our research. By emphasizing approaches that call for research in developmentrather than research and development or research for developmentwe will pursue a conscious change in emphasis and mind set, one that can help the CGIAR to conceive and deliver our research differently. We therefore envisage CRP 1.3 as an exemplary vehicle for implementing the fundamental changes in ways of working that the CGIAR reform process foreshadowed and the Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD) has endorsed.The overall goal of CRP 1.3 is to improve the well-being of AAS-dependent peoples. We will do so by bringing to bear the strengths of the CGIAR in agricultural research together with those of our partners in research and development. The overarching objectives of the program are:1. Increased benefits to AAS-dependent households from environmentally sustainable increases in productivity.a We define AAS as agricultural systems in which the annual production dynamics of freshwater and/or saline or brackish coastal systems contribute significantly to total household income.[2]2. Improved markets and services available to poor and vulnerable AAS households.3. Strengthened resilience and adaptive capacity in poor, vulnerable and marginalized groups and households.4. Reduced gender disparities in access to and control of resources and decision making through beneficial changes in gender norms and roles.5. Improved policy and formal and informal institutional structures and processes implemented to support pro-poor, gender-equitable and sustainable development.6. Productive relationships, partnerships and networks capable of achieving research and development outcomes sustained through effective knowledge sharing and learning.We will pursue these objectives by putting the poor and vulnerable at the center of the program. To achieve our objectives, we will use an approach that empowers communities and individuals to engage more effectively in their own development. The relationship between the program goal and objectives and the CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework (SRF) is summarized in Figure 1.To reduce poverty and hunger, improve human health and nutrition, and enhance ecosystem resilience through highquality international agricultural research, partnership, and leadershipCreate and accelerate sustainable increases in the productivity and production of healthy food by and for the poor.Conserve, enhance and sustainably use natural resources, including biodiversity, to improve the livelihoods of the poor in response to climate change and other factors.Promote policy and institutional change that will stimulate agricultural growth and equity to benefit the poor, especially rural women and other disadvantaged groups.Increasing food securitySustainable management of natural resources CRP 1.3 Goal:Improve the well-being of AAS-dependent people.1. Increase benefits to AAS-dependent households from environmentally sustainable increases in productivity.2. Improve markets and services available to poor and vulnerable AAS households.3. Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity in poor, vulnerable and marginalized groups and households.4. Reduce gender disparities in access to and control of resources and decision making through beneficial changes in gender norms and roles.5. Improve policy and formal and informal institutional structures and processes implemented to support propoor, gender-equitable and sustainable development.6. Create productive relationships, partnerships and networks capable of achieving research and development outcomes sustained through effective knowledge sharing and learning. Harnessing the Potential of Aquatic Agricultural Systems for the Poor and Vulnerable [3] 3 JustificationMany of the world's poor rural households depend on AAS for all or part of their livelihoods. Asia's mega deltas are densely populated and support a mix of predominantly family-based farming and fishing. The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Megna system supports 160 million people in Bangladesh alone, 40% of whom live below the poverty line of US$1.25 per day. In contrast, the islands of the Pacific and East Asia support much smaller populations, but a large portion of them are poor and depend on coastal resources as their primary sources of income. Solomon Islands, for example, has only 510,000 inhabitants, but with 75% of them relying on subsistence farming (mostly by women) and fishing (mostly by men), political and social stability depends on the well-being of the rural sector and the AAS that predominate there. AAS are also important in Africa, where large floodplains and lakes, together with dispersed wetlands, play central roles in supporting diversified rural livelihood strategies, based on a mix of male, female and family-based farming and fishing systems. In Zambia, for example, aquatic systems cover 20% of the land surface and support 3 million people, or 25% of the population.Taken together, Asia's mega deltas, the small island systems of the Pacific and East Asia, and Africa's inland waters, are home to 250 million of the world's poor (Figure 2), and provide important opportunities for international efforts to reduce poverty and hunger. To realize this potential, development efforts will need to better at helping the people who live there meet the challenges they face. Population growth, urban expansion, increased demand for resources, and climate change are but four common challenges across these AAS that combine with profound issues of economic, social and institutional marginalization to drive poverty and vulnerability. Together these constraints have made AAS profoundly challenging development arenas (Welcomme et al. 2010, Small & Nicholls 2003), and enhancing their contribution to rural development will require carefully designed investments.Well targeted research, coupled with much stronger linkages with development practice and policy, can help achieve this, and accelerate pathways out of poverty.CRP 1.3 will take up this challenge through a program of research in development that addresses key constraints faced by smallholder households. Specifically, we will work with smallholders and small-Box 1: Measuring and addressing povertyThree key overlapping and reinforcing dimensions of povertyTo identify the poor in AAS and support them with the right types of development interventions, we must understand and take into account the complex multiple dimensions of poverty and their interrelationships, both causal and correlative. The figure above simplifies them, highlighting three key dimensions of poverty, for all of which the program will seek measurable improvements.Income and asset poverty is when individuals and households do not have sufficient means to sustain a decent standard of living, as defined by national poverty lines, human development indices or their own metrics. Standardized measures are used in economic planning and targeting in social protection schemes, but local development activities may use more qualitative techniques to identify the poor, such as wealth ranking.Vulnerability is the result of people's exposure to natural disasters and economic shocks, the sensitivity of their livelihood systems to these risks, and their capacity to use their assets and capabilities to cope and adapt. Two commonly used applications of this concept are in World Food Programme famine vulnerability mapping (World Food Programme 2007) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) mapping of vulnerability to climate change.Marginalization, or social exclusion, sees certain groups systematically disadvantaged because they are discriminated against on the basis of their ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, caste, gender, age, education, class disability, HIV status, migrant status or where they live (Atkinson 1998, DFID 2005).These conditions and processes, which are often strongly gendered, overlap and may reinforce one another, so that people who are socially excluded or marginalized may become income and asset poor, and asset poverty reduces capacity to adapt, making its victims more vulnerable to external shocks and adverse trends (Allison et al. in press).[5] scale producers and traders of AAS products to identify why they have been unable to rise out of poverty and work with them to design interventions that assist them in doing so. We will adopt an approach that reflects the multidimensional and strongly gendered nature of poverty and vulnerability in AAS (Box 1).In pursuing a research-in-development program to address these challenges, the diversity of AAS gives rise to opportunities for learning and impact across a range of contexts, from seasonally-flooded plains in western Zambia and sparsely inhabited islands in the Solomon Archipelago to some of the most urbanized and intensively cultivated systems on the planet, such as the Mekong Delta and parts of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Megna Delta. These AAS also exhibit a range of social relations and gender roles and disparities, with relatively fewer gender inequities in development outcomes in the Philippines and Solomon Islands and wider disparities in Zambia and Bangladesh. CRP 1.3 will learn from these diverse environments and distil a set of common principles and practices to address commonalities (see section 6.5 for a discussion of international public goods).AAS have long been on the agenda of the CGIAR, and there is a substantial record of achievement (Box 2). Of particular importance has been the attention given to improving crop yields (especially of rice), sustaining wild fisheries and increasing production from aquaculture, and improving the development benefits from livestock production. Yet, only rarely have these efforts, or those of the wider agricultural research and development community, been effectively integrated to reflect both the multiple opportunities and choices, and the multidimensional nature of poverty, faced by the women and men who live in these systems and the diversified livelihoods strategies they adopt. Too often these investments have been targeted solely at component crops, fisheries, or other single dimensions of each system and so have failed to deliver their full benefits to the people who depend on them. As a result, these integrated livelihoods have been marginalized by our agricultural research investments, and the opportunities they offer for reducing poverty have been missed.The challenge of CRP 1.3 is to pursue a research-in-development agenda that accelerates learning and brings together the combined knowledge of AAS users, government and civil society organizations working for development. CRP 1.3 must integrate this knowledge with the capacities of the CGIAR and partner research organizations to harness the full development potential of AAS. To do so, we will move beyond the inadequate and often conflicting sectoral approaches that have limited the impacts of agricultural research in the past. In their place, we will pursue integrated approaches that recognize the full complexity of these systems and so harness their multiple contributions to reducing poverty. We will link three strands of thinking in agricultural development: (i) farmer first and farmer participatory research and innovation systems; (ii) rural livelihoods approaches and related concepts such as farming systems research, agro-ecosystem analysis, institutional analysis and development; and (iii) resilience-based management.We will learn from past investments in integrated natural resource management and innovation in other integrated systems, while targeting the current and emerging challenges faced by the poor and vulnerable in AAS. For example integrated approaches to assessing options for farm improvement have been developed in other agricultural systems e.g. Giller et. al. 2010, and the ‗best-fit' approach (Birner et al. 2006) to applying technology and advice provides important insights that the program will draw upon. Similarly CRP 1.3 will forge links with CRP 2 (policies, institutions and markets) and CRPs working in other agricultural systems, to draw on emerging lessons concerning macro-level policy reforms and innovations in institutions and governance for agricultural development that may be adapted for AAS. Working in this way we will bring to bear the CGIAR's unique strengths in agricultural research with those of multiple partners to exploit synergies across systems and sectors.By taking this direction, CRP 1.3 will address not only the specific challenges of AAS, but also the wider challenge of integrating research into development. A common criticism of agricultural [6] research for development is that it has too often been supply-driven, focused on ‗singular approaches' (Giller et al. 2010) and dissociated from a real understanding of the integrated lives and difficult choices that the poor have to make. To address this, CRP 1.3 seeks to change the way that the CGIAR engages with these poor rural communities and the development processes that are designed to improve their livelihoods.Broadly, our approach entails a change in primary focus from research that generates global public goods, followed by investment in dissemination and extension to help these technologies reach users, toward research that is embedded within ongoing processes of development and change. We call this research in development, rather than research for development. At present, much of the information generated by international research Centers can be used only by those actors that have the capability to absorb and utilize it. In other words, the information is free, but its use is not, making it unavailable to marginalized people. CRP 1.3 will seek to change this.If we are to do this successfully, we will need to embrace and apply concepts such as farmer first, strengthening civil society, empowerment, and transformative development, as well as change the way we research agriculture and natural resource management. With partners ranging from development practitioners to development-studies research institutes, from crop, fisheries, and environmental scientists to human rights advocates, the research-in-development consortium we are developing encompasses some of the leading individuals and institutions in their field. We aim to draw on this breadth and depth of experience to work through ongoing processes of innovation, both Political economy analysis of policy processes in aquaculture, fisheries, coastal and wetland landuse, and biodiversity conservation [7] autonomous and externally driven, to help secure productivity gains for the benefit of AAS users living in poverty.Essentially, the comprehensive, diagnosis-based and transformative approach proposed for CRP 1.3 responds to a need to address, in AAS, what have been termed -fractal poverty traps‖ (Barrett & Swallow 2006). These are situations in which people are trapped in an unfavorable dynamic equilibrium by processes that exist simultaneously at multiple scales (micro, meso and/or macro) and are self-reinforcing through feedback effects. Our schematic diagram of the multiple dimensions of poverty (Box 1) provides a simplified view of such traps, seen from a household perspective and looking upward to larger scales of governance, production system and geography. Barrett and Swallow (2006) contend that small adjustments at any one of these levelssuch as building some aspect of household assets (e.g. by improving access to education or health care), introducing new technologies, or investing in incremental improvements in democratic decentralizationare unlikely to move the system away from its dominant, stable dynamic equilibrium. In the case of many AAS, that stable dynamic equilibrium is one where many poor and disenfranchised people living in highly productive environments produce (and often trade) goods of high value in global markets but are still unable to climb out of poverty. Governments, markets and communities are simultaneously weak in places characterized by fractal poverty traps. This is why we emphasize addressing the broad context at multiple scales, following a diagnosis of which parts of the trap are most difficult to escape, and which can best respond to intervention, to enable poor people to use the production technologies and other innovations that the CGIAR and its partners generate to transform their lives. We recognize that achieving these transformations at scale requires partnership with agencies and agents that are able to implement innovations that reach beyond local scales to influence governance at all levels.Implementing research in development requires a distinctive commitment to people and place based on a holistic vision of the complex, iterative nature of the development process. Having the tools to sustain a prolonged effort to achieve results in this complex, challenging process is essential. In this section, we present selected innovative elements of our approach. We believe this approach is key to the overarching purpose of linking CGIAR research to users and accelerating its uptake and the achievement of impact.The central hypothesis driving the approach of CRP 1.3 is that the CGIAR can have greater impact on AAS by moving beyond the linear production model that has dominated much agricultural research and embracing a more integrated, innovative view of how to achieve development in agricultural systems. We will do this through an action research and partnership-driven approach to development that moves far beyond the view of development as a purely technical process, as well as the persistent views of development as charity. We will embrace development as a human right, whose goal is to achieve improved well-being for those currently living in poverty and with hunger. Moving toward these goals and approaches, and building a CGIAR that is -fit for purpose‖ in the 21st century, is a core rationale of CGIAR reform and a central theme of the GCARD held in France in March 2010.[8]The action research approach (Box 3) we will take provides a platform upon which more traditional agricultural research for development still has an important contribution to make but will do so much more effectively because of stronger engagement with the development context that CRP 1.3 will foster. We will achieve our goal by serving as a successful catalyst for innovation in AAS that will build networks of information and influence. Examples of successful change brought about by action research include the following:Partnership among farmers, NARS and ARIs to promote conservation farming strategies in semi-arid East Africa over the past 8 years were successful when farmers shifted the objectives of the research from a focus on minimum tillage (the researchers' interest) to improved rainwater harvesting, which was their primary concern (Rockstrom et al. 2009).Community-led initiatives to identify ways of reducing alcohol abuse among Maori communities in New Zealand identified strategies that were based on people's own incentives and norms and generated social benefits beyond those intended, including improved attitudes and interaction with police (Moewaka Barnes 2000).Decentralization through -empowered deliberative democracy‖ in the Indian states of West Bengal and Kerala in the 1990s tied discussion to action; achieved the participation of subordinated groups of women, the landless, sharecroppers and smallholder farmers; and were linked with redistributive policies that had pro-poor outcomes. The reforms helped to reduce landed elites' abuse of political power while widening the political space within which the poor could participate, both within and beyond the formal institutions of state power (Hickey & Mohan 2005).To enable the innovation system to build resilience and improve development benefits from AAS, we will explicitly commit to an action research approach that seeks to learn by doing. In our case, our coresearchers will be farmers, women fish traders, youth groups, local government officials, aid workers and others. Our action research aims to go beyond finding useful information to guide action. It aims to place the capacity for generating and using that knowledge in the hands of people who are trying to improve their lives. We will seek to use action research as a tool for emancipation and social change.If this approach works, it will have more lasting and transformative impact, as it works within local structures and processes and finds ways to challenge them, based on knowledge of what the real obstacles to change are in any given situation. This sharply contrasts with many project-based approaches, which provide temporary means to overcome or bypass constraints that reassert themselves when the external resources and structures of the project withdraw.We recognize that full immersion into action research will require a major change in the way most CGIAR scientists work. It may also pose challenges to some of the ways in which program partners implement their projects. Accordingly, we will invest substantially in building capacity. We recognize that some activities may not need such a radical change in research approach. For example, developing and distributing an improved crop variety may not require emancipatory action research, but transforming gender relations probably will.[9]By focusing on the needs of farmers, fishers, local government officials, NGO workers, marginalized ethnic groups, and women, we will work to provide them with greater opportunities to innovate, thereby improving their means and incentives to increase agricultural productivity, sustain natural resources, access markets for goods and labor, and realize their rights and freedoms. Building the relationships, structure, capitals, capabilities and freedoms to allow this innovation system to flourish will be the key development activities of the program. Importantly, research will include documenting and analyzing the lessons learned from this new way of engaging research with development.While our approach focuses on people and place we also recognize that external drivers, or macrolevel processes, often determine the fate of these systems. We will analyze this broader vulnerability and its variability amongst systems. Our diagnoses will consider a full range of these macro processes including economic, environmental and political. Particular emphasis will be given to understanding how to reduce the vulnerability of AAS to these factors, and build resilience of the poor who are most exposed to them.To focus our approach on pathways of action that are likely to have impact, the program builds on our analysis of key constraints driving poverty and vulnerability in AAS, and identifies a set of six corresponding hypotheses of change to frame our research agenda (Figure 3). These hypotheses comprise our preliminary theory of change (North 1996, Keystone Accountability 2009). This theory of change argues that releasing the productive potential of AAS to benefit the poor will require AAS users and their partners in development to generate innovations in farming, natural resource management, marketing, livelihood strategies and social institutions. The capacity and confidence to innovate will be greater if people are less poor and vulnerable, better fed, and better integrated into economic, social and political processes. The program recognizes a set of six broad constraints driving poverty and vulnerability in AAS. Looking at these constraints through the lens provided by our analysis of multi-dimensional poverty (income and asset poverty, vulnerability, marginalization), we identify six hypotheses describing possible pathways to remove these constraints. Each of these hypotheses in turn corresponds to one of the program's six objectives.[10]Our hypotheses suggest that productivity gains, improved natural resource management, improved access to markets, transformed gender relations, improved policies, impact at scale, and flourishing knowledge exchange and innovation systems will collectively effect significant poverty reductions in AAS. By pursuing actions that address these hypotheses and achieve the corresponding program objectives we will achieve outcomes and impacts on the three dimensions of poverty through income and asset building, social, political and economic rights, and resilience and adaptive capacity (see also Table 1 for more detailed presentation of this pathway). However the relative importance of these processes in any given context can be determined only through careful diagnosis, and some contexts may not require addressing all of them. Diagnosis and sequenced interventions are therefore critical underlying principles of this program, as they are in much contemporary development practice at both micro and macro scales (Rodrik 2006, Ostrom 2007, Collier 2008). We will focus in each location on the appropriate combination of research activities that best addresses the key constraints and opportunities faced by AAS households. In some the primary focus will be on developing new technologies to better harness the productive potential of the AAS, while in others the focus may be on strengthened community participation as a means to assert rights and reduce exposure to risk.To test our hypothesized theory of change that will bring about improved wellbeing for the poor and vulnerable, we need baseline data that move away from amorphous notions of poverty and vulnerability. Poverty is a condition of deprivation while vulnerability is a predictive chance of being affected by risks, shocks and hazards. In our baseline assessments, we will therefore use a framework (Hulme et al. 2001;Moore 2001) that differentiates groups and households into categories of the chronic and transient poor, as well as the non-poor. These categories will be delineated by generating sets of indicators defining income and asset poverty, marginalization and vulnerability. Chronic poverty, for example, is associated with low income and assets, as well as marginalization from institutional structures and processes. Transient poverty, on the other hand, is linked more with vulnerability to risk and capacity for resilience. Interventions then can be targeted to meet the specific needs of different households. A set of multi-dimensional indicators will be formulated and used to analyze whether project interventions have moved participants over the thresholds of poverty and vulnerability. Moreover, the extent to which improvements in assets, capabilities and quality of life meet the aspirations for change by participants will be analyzed by using a wellbeing framework (McGregor 2007, McGregor et al. forthcoming), which focuses equally on the material (basic needs and economic aspects), social (relations among people, networks) and psychological/cultural (perceptions of satisfaction and aspirations) dimensions of benefits.Improving agricultural productivity or strengthening fishing rights can provide a route out of poverty if AAS users' poverty and vulnerability are caused mainly by material constraints, such as low resource productivity. Increasing crop and fishery productivity cannot, however, inoculate a fishing or farming family against high incidence of malaria and HIV/AIDS, the depredations of rent-seeking officials, theft of livestock or fishing gear, unsafe working conditions, or forced eviction from their home. Yet this is the vulnerability context faced by many who live in AAS (Allison 2005, Mills et al. 2009). People may also lack the power, education and cohesive social institutions to be aware of their rights, able to self-organize and articulate their demands, to negotiate with government officials, or carry out their responsibilities (Allison et al. 2011). CRP 1.3 recognizes this wider context of development and rights, in which agricultural research seeks to have impact, and will build program linkages with other development actors to address it. Similarly, AAS users are vulnerable to macro environmental drivers such as floodplain modification, the damming of rivers, displacement by largescale commercial aquaculture, tourism and other coastal development, and pollution (Welcomme et al. 2010, Hall, 2011). Local systems allocating land and water rights can confront and prevent some of these threats, but not all, notably pollution and upstream modifications in river basins.Where smallholder farmers' and fishers' interests are historically unrepresented or overridden by competing claims, smallholders have no incentive to invest in managing their local land and water [11] resources to optimize future yields. Effective approaches to poverty reduction thus often require investments in social protection and infrastructure that mitigate constraints on poor members of households engaging in production. The program will therefore embrace a holistic approach to poverty reduction, informed by the effective diagnosis of target households, including the understanding that households are gendered and do not necessarily act in a unitary manner. It will build real partnerships with governments, NGOs and other agencies that engage in social protection schemes and other interventions that mitigate constraints faced by different categories of the poor. This will significantly increase the chances that CGIAR investments in agriculture development will yield the impacts intended.This approach to reducing vulnerability will require the program to consider the effects of other macro factors, such as economic changes and policies, on AAS users. The diagnostic approach of the program will identify these issues, and the research agenda developed will, where appropriate, be designed to identify and understand ways through which vulnerability to macro trends can be mitigated. This may include some of the social protection measures discussed above but may also include investments that strengthen household capacity to diversify their livelihoods away from vulnerability to these external factors. One of the strengths that the CGIAR brings to this work is the ability to pursue this locally focused diagnosis while also drawing on the broader perspective that wider CGIAR analysis of policy and economic issues provides. CRP 1.3 will develop close linkages with CRP 2 to ensure that we can draw upon this work to best effect, including through annual program review.We will pursue a gender approach that is demand-driven and participatory. It will be centered on identifying gender-equitable options to maintain or change current household livelihood portfolios, based on an integrated approach to increasing productivity while maintaining the sustainability of aquatic agricultural systems. This approach will encompass new methods and technologies that combine permutations of farming, fishing, aquaculture, livestock rearing and forestry with nonagricultural livelihoods. It will offer a demand-driven suite of options best suited for women and men according to their category of household, and adapted to local environmental and socio-cultural conditions. The approach aspires to effectively combine productivity increases with actions that redress gender disparity in asset poverty, social exclusion and vulnerability. It focuses on such outcomes as the improved distribution of food and quality nutrition within households, heightened capacity and skills, changes in workload and greater political representation, as much as it does on improved incomes.The program will incorporate rigorous gender analysis to understand the relationships among changes in aquatic systems; their impacts on agricultural and fishery production; and persistent poverty, social exclusion and vulnerability. This analysis will be based on consultations with both female and male stakeholders from different social groups, and the collection of gender and age-disaggregated data. Household and community data collection and analysis will attempt to bridge the gap between global indicators of poverty, social exclusion and vulnerability based on outsiders' perspectives and locally relevant indicators based on insiders' perspectives. We will use a comprehensive Gender Analytical Matrix (Annex 2a) developed by the WorldFish Center and that is appropriate to AAS. This builds on the social relations approach (Kabeer 1996(Kabeer , 2001) ) to generate a gendered well-being framework (informed by McGregor 2007) that encompasses a multidimensional, dynamic perspective of poverty, as well as an often-overlooked cognitive dimension that incorporates differential aspirations of men, women and their younger counterparts.[12]The CGIAR has begun to explore the value of using resilience perspectives to guide its own research aims and processes (Walker et al. 2010). b CRP 1.3 will build on recent work by some partners that seeks to put resilience concepts into practice (Box 4). Important components of resilience theory that guide the practical emphasis in this program are as follows:Self-organization. The capacity of people and institutions to organize and reorganize as they adapt to change and surprises is critical to building resilience (Berkes & Seixas 2005, Mahon et al. 2008) and parallels strongly the set of ideas around recognizing rights and empowerment as means to achieve development outcomes (Hickey & Mohan 2004). CRP 1.3 will improve the self-organizing capacity of AAS users and their governing institutions through processes that characterize the program's approach (e.g., participatory diagnosis, action research, capacity development and knowledge sharing) and through its thematic activities (e.g., building capacity to adapt to climate variability and change, improving access to health services to combat waterborne disease in AAS communities, increasing adoption of improved feeding and care practices in women and children, strengthening communitybased market cooperatives and organizations that manage natural resources, and gender mainstreaming).Transformation. Resilience thinking recognizes that maintaining desired system functions such as food production in the face of change may require transforming other elements of linked socioecological systems. In AAS, the ecological system is sometimes transformed to maintain social resilience (e.g., flood control civil engineering alters the ecology of floodplains but can enhance the security of people who live and work on them). Likewise, greater benefits from AAS can be achieved in some circumstances through social transformationfor example, through transformational change in gender relations in places where men exclude women from economic, social and political opportunities. Another example is where reforming property rights can address long-standing conflict or injustice over access to land and water. In both cases, major shifts in social norms and policies can transform the lives of marginalized and vulnerable groups of people.Transformation poses both practical and ethical questions. Practically, transformation often requires confrontation or negotiation with entrenched structures of power (e.g., Cornwall 2004). Ethically, trade-offs are often needed among competing values (Olsson et al. 2008, Van der Brugge & Van Raak 2007, Kristjanson et al. 2009). To paraphrase Walker et al. (2010): (i) Who decides when to enhance resilience by incremental change and when to transform? (ii) If a AAS is to be transformed, who decides what the changes will be? (iii) As transformation will favor some people over others, who will lose and who will win? (iv) Do research organizations have a legitimate role in this process? (v) The transformation process may be chaotic and unpredictable, throwing up new actors and causing unexpected ecological phase shifts. CRP 1.3 will foster dialogue on these issues to initiate transformations toward more productive, equitable and resilient AAS.[13]Box 4: Beyond the rhetoric; resilience thinking shaping management reformFor resilience thinking to have impact on the ground it must catalyze the development of innovative management paradigms that meet the challenges of transforming and sustaining complex systems characterized by uncertainty and nonlinear change. In the data-poor context of ASS in developing countries, it is equally critical that new methods abandon the heavy data requirements that characterize classical natural resource management and look instead for ways to feed existing, often local, knowledge into management systems that are primed to learn.Resilience thinking promotes a broad conceptualization of the system being managed, one that incorporates the natural system, people and livelihoods, institutions and governance, and external drivers. This fosters engaging a broader set of stakeholders, recognizing influences from outside the system that may overrun internal management actions, and developing socially relevant indicators for monitoring the state and trajectory of the system.Shared learning from pilot trials is unveiling a set of tools and processes to support implementation. One such tool, the indicator dashboard (figure below), provides a simple visual aid for moving from community-based diagnosis to the development of management indicators that are based on the ability of the system to meet community needs. It specifies monitoring at a resolution that is appropriate for community-based systems and can feed directly into the learning processes.The indicator dashboard shows the possible states (meets needs, does not meet needs, crisis), trajectories (better, worse, unknown, same) and thresholds (good to bad, bad to crisis) that characterize indicators identified by stakeholders.This diagnostic tool was used to develop a management plan for the bêche-de-mer (sea cucumber) fishery in the village of Kia on Santa Isabel Island in Solomon Islands. The participatory diagnosis identified the provision of cash to pay boarding school fees as a critical social outcome of a healthy bêche-de-mer fishery. Along with classical resource indicators (e.g., the number of sea cucumbers encountered on a standard transect) a selected indicator of management effectiveness was the number of students being sent home from boarding school for nonpayment of fees. The diagnosis recognized that cash from the bêche-de-mer fishery had caused villagers to abandon their vegetable gardens in favor of purchasing basic food requirements. When the government enforced the closure of the fishery in response to resource depletion, the lack of functional gardens and gardening skills compounded the impact of reduced income on households. A management intervention of promoting garden cultivation and an indicator based on the number of productive gardens in the village were included in the management plan. At the instigation of villagers, this management plan was later expanded to cover all marine resources, showing the community's strong buy-in and ownership of the plan.[14]At the global scale, CRP 1.3 will focus on three contrasting AAS: (i) Asian mega deltas, with initial focus on the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Megna and lower Mekong; (ii) Asia-Pacific islands, with initial focus on coastal systems in Solomon Islands and the Philippines; and (iii) African freshwater systems, with initial focus on the Zambezi Basin in Zambia, Lake Victoria waters in Uganda, and the Niger Basin in Mali. Within each of these systems, focal countries have been identified, and national consultations have agreed on focal hubs for our actions. In focusing on these systems, we have sought to respond to the priorities of regional bodiesnotably the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) coordinated by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), c the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the Asia Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) dand target our efforts where large numbers of the poor, or a large proportion of the poor, depend on AAS, and where our work in the selected systems and countries provides substantial opportunity to scale out regionally and globally.Our overall approach is to develop a commitment to -place.‖ Long-term commitment to places and relationships helps to establish the trust and cooperation necessary to implement an action-research approach. In these places, we develop partnerships among fishers, farmers, traders, women's groups, private firms, local governments, and other agents of change. We will work with them through our global research themes of sustainable increases in system productivity, equitable access to markets, socio-ecological resilience and adaptive capacity, gender equity, and policies and institutions to empower AAS users, and knowledge sharing and learning, with the emphasis varying according to local needs. Our aim is to build a community network of learners in each AAS that will share knowledge and scale out practices by developing its own capacity for accessing resources, its own marketable expertise in effecting change and its own links to higher-level policy. The CGIAR and our partners in government and civil society will work together to build the necessary capabilities and networks, reflecting the strengthening role of the CGIAR as a bridging organization (Ekbior 2009).Focal countries and hubs face a great range of development challenges and opportunities. CRP 1.3 will therefore seek to recognize and embrace this diversity in its work. We will explicitly identify target communities along a continuum, from areas of severe and endemic poverty, high vulnerability, and limited options, to those with less acute poverty, reduced vulnerability and a clearer set of development options. By working in these areas with differing development challenges, CRP 1.3 will guide investments across a wide spectrum of contexts. We will, however, focus our greatest effort in those areas where first analysis suggests that the potential for alleviating poverty is highest. Section 6.3 provides more details of our approach to identifying research priorities.In pursuing our focus on place, we will put people's social and economic activities at the center of our analysis and development planning. We acknowledge that attempts to increase agricultural productivity or improve natural resource governance in support of the poor require us to understand people's circumstances and work fundamentally with women and men, rather than using entry points related to particular technologies or sectors. This allows us to take a view of the options for management and development intervention that transcend traditional sectoral boundaries such as fisheries, agriculture, pastoralism, wage labor or small enterprise, and that incorporate overarching issues that affect all people, irrespective of occupation, such as good nutrition and health, access to social services (e.g. health care, education and social security), financial services (savings, loans and insurance), political representation and judicial services. In applying this approach, we will conduct early participatory diagnoses or situation analyses in each hub (Rodrik 2006, Andrew et al. 2007, Ostrom 2007).c As articulated in the CAADP companion document Integrating livestock, forestry and fisheries subsectors into CAADP (FAO 2006).  d As articulated in the GCARD consultation.[15]By developing our engagement in each country and hub through dialogue with other development partners, CRP 1.3 will pioneer new ways of working with, and adding value to, investments made through others. This explicit engagement with the complex institutional environment within which rural development takes place will greatly improve the targeting of CGIAR research, expand opportunities for scaling out and strengthen impact.CRP 1.3 recognizes that many other development actors are engaged in the areas where we will focus, and that they together will invest substantially larger sums on reducing poverty there. In this context, the CGIAR needs to focus explicitly on where its own investments can complement and add value to these larger programs and so leverage greater impact for the poor. Involving partners with gender sensitivity and commitment, and linking up with organizations with gender expertise, will be integral to this partnership strategy. To achieve this, we propose establishing coalitions of partners working in these areas in each country, allowing the specific development context in each to determine the precise form and operating arrangements there. First steps toward establishing such a coalition have been taken in focal countries as part of scoping the current proposal. The program's partnership strategy is detailed in section 9, as are governance and management arrangements in section 15.We believe that CRP 1.3 is an ambitious but realistic program. Achieving its ambitions will, however, require high-quality management delivering high-quality performance. To this end, we will adopt results-based project management. This focuses on four key components:  appropriate strategic planning that defines clear and measureable results and indicators; effective monitoring and evaluation (M&E) that measures and assesses progress toward results using agreed indicators; reporting internally and externally on this progress; and  using information from M&E to learn lessons and make decisions.In pursuing this approach, we will work not only to improve efficiency and effectiveness through organizational learning, but also fulfill our obligations to the CGIAR and other stakeholders through performance reporting. As part of this work, we will focus on effectively involving stakeholders throughout the management lifecycle, including in defining realistic expected results, assessing risk, monitoring progress, reporting on performance and integrating lessons learned into management decisions. An effective system of results-based M&E is fundamental to results-based management. We describe the program's approach to M&E and impact assessment in section 13.5 Impact pathwaysThe CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework highlights the need for a shift in emphasis from understanding the impact of particular technologies on the incomes of the rural poor to understanding the complex of factors required to significantly reduce rural poverty rates. This requires a shift in focus from ex-post impact assessment to understanding the pathways out of poverty. CRP 1.3 has been developed with this holistic focus, establishing six research themes that provide a framework for research. Our recognition of the multiple dimensions of poverty and our commitment to people and place gives space to tailor these generic themes to the specific countries and hubs in which we will work. We will do this through gendered participatory diagnoses and ex-ante assessments that will be used to initiate the program in each country and hub. As described in detail in section 6.3, participatory diagnoses and ex-ante assessments will be used to identify key development challenges in each hub and agree on a theory of change and a research agenda. This process will help identify indicators of impact that will be used to assess program performance.[16]Figure 3 summarize the logical pathway from our key hypotheses (focused on constraints) to our program objectives and our research activities and the possible solutions they provide. Taking information from those figures, we show in Table 1 how these constraints and their theory of change have driven our selection of program objectives. We describe some impact indicators for each objective link to CGIAR system-level objectives as set out in the CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework. In the following section, we describe how the program will work to achieve the impacts we seek.5.2 How we will achieve impact and do so at scale CRP 1.3 will achieve impact at multiple scales. It will do so through three related pathways that reflect distinct strategies of partnership and knowledge sharing and learning. The first pathway will be the significant but localized benefits achieved through our direct engagement with partners in specific research sites in selected program hubs. The second is the more extensive achievement of benefits through the learning alliances and impact networks that the program will develop in these hubs. We will link closely with partners working in these hubs with the express intention of expanding the program's learning and impact through their own projects and networks. The third pathway is the more widespread and larger reduction in poverty that can be achieved by expanding the program networks nationally, regionally and globally, as well as by working through these networks to foster the dissemination and wider adoption of the learning, methods and technologies harnessed through CRP 1.3. To achieve this, we will foster the development of national learning alliances for AAS in focal countries, and work with partners internationally to build a global coalition for knowledge sharing and learning in AAS. These pathways and the hubs are the cornerstones of our strategy for scaling up.Achieving impact at scale along these three pathways will require careful investment in a range of research, partnerships, and knowledge-sharing and learning activities designed to facilitate the processes required to translate outputs into outcomes and outcomes into impacts. Each pathway will use specifically tailored knowledge-sharing and learning strategies to foster ownership and inclusion and raise awareness and understanding of program outcomes, encouraging positive perceptions of them and their adoption and institutionalization. In pursuing these pathways, the program recognizes the importance of both vertical scaling (institutionalization through policy, political, legal and other types of system change) and horizontal scaling (achieved through expansion, replication and collaboration). Our research is designed to build on evidence to stimulate the policy and other systematic changes required for vertical scaling, and our partnership strategy provides the means to do this through replication and collaboration.[17] The intent of this table is to illustrate the connections of CRP 1.3 objectives and impacts to CGIAR system-level objectives. Moving down the impact pathways toward system-level objectives, each CRP 1.3 objective has the potential to contribute to every system-level objective. We present selected indicators on selected pathways in this table [22] Figure 4 presents a simplified model of an impact pathway. Capturing the intent of the program goal, impact for CRP 1.3 will be measured ultimately as reduced poverty and vulnerability. To use CGIAR terminology, the outputs and outcomes, or steps along the impact pathway, describe our vision of how we plan to move toward this impact. These steps from output to impact are presented in the four boxes on the left. Research outputs are the typical products of research, including new knowledge, technologies, processes and materials, which CRP 1.3 researchers produce. Outcomes are defined as users using outputs. In the research-for-development paradigmand especially in the more radical research-indevelopment approach we aspire to in this programusers are a broad range of actors, from partner research institutions to development professionals and intended beneficiaries such as producers, traders and consumers. Though the figure depicts a linear concept, research in development is very much a circular process with many feedback loops. With such a wide range of users, it is important to distinguish outcomes at different points along the impact pathway. [23]The sample lists in Figure 4 can be thought of as indicators that reflect different steps on the impact pathway and are thus the bases for designing our M&E and impact assessment system (section 13). These generic statements will be converted into concrete, specific indicators in each country and hub through participatory diagnoses and consultations during program start up. These indicators will be multidimensional, based on the overall framework of asset and income poverty, marginalization and vulnerability, and will be used to monitor and analyze whether differentiated categories of the poor (chronic and transient) and vulnerable were able to move out of baseline poverty and vulnerability conditions. The approach and ethos of the program is that it will be AAS users and their development partners that set the detailed agenda based on multi-stakeholder diagnosis or situational analysis, followed by prioritization and feasibility studies. In some cases, we will conduct formal ex-ante impact assessments to compare potential rates of return on different kinds of responses to the problems identified. In taking this approach, we will use the program start up to help instill the principles of results-based management at the heart of the program. This will involve taking program participants through a process that articulates the theory of change they believe their work can influence and the outcomes expected toward this, then it agrees on the indicators of those outcomes. More details on program inception are found in section 6.3.The arrows in Figure 4 illustrate the different levels of commitment required for CRP 1.3 to achieve outputs, outcomes and impacts. Where the CRP is accountable, we have the resources and skills to undertake the activities required to deliver research outputs, translate outputs into outcomes and translate (with our partners) research outcomes into development outcomes. Where we are responsible, we seek to facilitate the uptake of the output by an intermediate user that will use its own resources and skills to pass the output product or knowledge to another user. This requires a distinct strategy for making research outputs available. The program's strategy for knowledge sharing and learning and Research Theme 6 address this with products, services and activities tailored to this need.Any model represents a simplification of the real world, and the model in Figure 4 is no exception. Participatory research, innovation platforms and other demand-led methods fully involve the complete range of users in an iterative cycle of diagnosis, research and learning, feedback, evaluation, and so on, repeating the cycle as often as required. This is the case in impact pathway 1, in which the accountability arrow reaches deep into the development outcomes box. With the research-in-development paradigm, program partners will typically be the full range of users, including AAS households, and with this level of involvement the program can be held accountable for achieving a broad range of outcomes, including the expected changes in beneficiaries' behavior, attitude, knowledge and aspirations.Impact pathway 2 captures the first step in scaling out. The partnership strategy of the program is to embed our research within the larger development context in the focal areas, adding value to existing investments by research, development and beneficiary partners. In many cases, these investments cover AAS communities where CRP 1.3 will not be physically present. In this case, the program partners will fully commit to assuring that the first users are well prepared with the knowledge and research products and processes of the program for their encounters with the intended beneficiaries. Hence, there is a distinction between accountability and responsibility. With outcomes depending on the actions of program partners outside of areas of direct action, the program will seek to provide products and support knowledge sharing and learning with partners to effectively reach those beneficiaries.Impact pathway 3 exploits the nature of the research outputs as regional and international public goods. Here the program is accountable for the outputs andthrough effective communication, knowledge sharing and other partnering strategiesresponsible for raising awareness in the broader regional and global community. The conceptual framework of key research issues that the program will focus on for this work is further specified in section 6.[24]6 Research Framework and ThemesThree general principles guide the design of CRP 1.3. First, our research is tightly structured around the major AAS constraints and opportunities. Second, we seek quick payoffs through productivity improvements at the system level, but with careful attention to the sustainable use of natural resources and resilience under trends and shocks related to climate change. Third, we employ a gendered and nutrition-sensitive value chain perspective that includes agro-enterprises. We apply these principles through an action-research approach that responds to the call expressed at GCARD and in regional consultations for the CGIAR to engage more effectively with development processes and build more effective partnerships with the full range of organizations required to deliver development impacts. To do so, we will implement the program in close partnership with these stakeholders in a way that helps poor and vulnerable women and men to benefit from an improved environment for innovation and strengthening livelihoods (please refer to section 9 for details of our partnership strategy).The research proposed under CRP 1.3 has been designed to meet the program goal of improving the wellbeing of AAS-dependent people. Working toward this overarching strategic goal, we have used the key hypotheses and theory of change described in Figure 3 to narrow our research focus to the six objectives and research themes described in Figure 5.Theme 1: Sustainable increases in system productivity Figure 5 illustrates how action research activities under each theme addresses the three dimensions of poverty. Each of the themes is described below, including a set of key research questions and summary of research approach and methods we will use to pursue these. Taken together with the framework provided in Figures 3 and 5, these six themes provide the broad conceptual framework for the program's research agenda. However, this framework cannot by itself identify the research activities that the program needs to pursue in each country and hub. Rather, these activities need to be tailored to the specific needs and opportunities of each location, as identified through analysis of their development challenges and the role of agricultural research in addressing them. For example, in Zambia's Western Province the dominant development challenge is improving livelihood opportunities in locations where they are severely limited by the lack of farming technologies adapted to their floodplain environment and by major barriers to markets. In Bangladesh's Khulna hub the dominant development challenge is improving productivity and incomes in households coping with large fluctuations in salinity over the course of the annual farming cycle. CRP 1.3 will need to tailor its research to meet these specific challenges. In view of the highly location-specific nature of the challenges faced by the poor and vulnerable, the detailed hub-specific research priorities of CRP 1.3 will be agreed only through the participatory inception and priority setting process that the program will pursue. This is detailed in the following section.[25] CRP 1.3 will work with partners to pursue action research in these six areas. The outputs generated will support, inform and guide further investments in each of these.[Note: The activities indicated do not map directly to individual dimensions of poverty reduction because these overlap. For example, to reduce the vulnerability of landless AAS users, it may be necessary to adopt new livelihood activities such as smallcage aquaculture and floating gardens to supplement the use of wild common pool resources (Theme 1). This may entail developing new markets (Theme 2), investing in reducing disaster risk and early warning systems that reach mobile and itinerant populations (Theme 3), addressing gender inequity through gender-awareness activities and gender mainstreaming (Theme 4), and ensuring that the landless poor are not exploited in labor markets by promoting the application of the human right to decent work (Theme 5). Thus, vulnerability reduction activities are not confined to Theme 3.]The focal country and hub approach is designed to provide CRP 1.3 with the capacity to understand the complexity of AAS and the ways through which research in development can support the poor and vulnerable in these areas to improve their lives. However, the countries and hubs reflect distinct differences in development contexts, AAS, the vulnerability of communities dependent on them, and opportunities for improvement, among other things. The details of the program and the research we pursue therefore need to be tailored to the specific conditions and needs of each location. To do so, CRP 1.3 will pursue the same broad process to identify our research priorities in each country and hub, building on learning developed through the implementation of other CGIAR and partner programs, notably the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) in Bangladesh and the basin focus of the Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF). This process will have three main steps:[26]National inception workshop. This will bring together key stakeholders with a view to preparing the detailed scoping and design of CRP 1.3 in each country. The workshop will be preceded by preliminary participatory scoping with key stakeholders in each hub that will provide the basis for informed discussion during the workshop. The workshop will then build on this to target CRP 1.3 toward the specific development challenges that it can address in each of the hubs.The workshops will (i) describe the resources and farming systems in each hub; (iv) describe the communities who live there and the main drivers of poverty, with an emphasis on gender disparities; (iii) assess how possible interventions will contribute to reducing poverty and improving food and nutrition security; (iv) identify targets and indicators for these interventions to further focus the program on research investments that have the greatest scope for significantly reducing poverty and food and nutrition insecurity; and (v) inventory the existing information and gaps. Participatory tools to analyze impact pathways will, at this early stage, guide workshop participants toward research priorities, partnerships and the overall organization of the hub and country programs in ways that can better realize positive development outcomes and impacts. This will include agreeing on the districts and communities where CRP 1.3 will focus its research in each hub, identifying the core teams for developing the program in each hub, and drawing up the terms of reference for participatory diagnoses in each hub.Participatory diagnoses and ex-ante impact assessment. Building on the inception workshop, participatory diagnoses will be conducted in each of the hubs with female and male stakeholders representing different social groups. These will be designed to confirm the specific localities where CRP 1.3 will focus research, identify the key development challenges confronting poor and vulnerable people in these communities, specify the challenges upon which CRP 1.3 will focus, describe the initial hypotheses of change that the program will focus upon in addressing each challenge, and agree on the research priorities that the program will pursue to help bring about that change. As part of this diagnosis, the program will conduct a stakeholder and institutional analysis in each hub, map out high-level outcome pathways, assess stakeholders' and target groups' capability, and identify indicators for monitoring significant change in poverty and food security. As part of this process, scoping will identify existing research and development projects already contributing to addressing the development challenges identified in the hub and work with partners engaged in these projects to identify how the research pursued in CRP 1.3 can best leverage their contribution to meeting the development challenge. The scoping work will also identify gaps in existing and past research and development investments and work with partners to bring program research to new development projects that address these gaps. Finally, this phase of the work will confirm key partners operating in each hub and specify the roles of each in CRP 1.3. Several of these steps correspond to activities in the design and implementation strategy of resultsbased planning, M&E and impact assessment. This is discussed in more detail in section 13.Program design. Participatory diagnoses and ex-ante impact assessments will provide the bases for program design in each hub and at the country level. The precise process by which this is done will be tailored to the specific conditions and capacities of each country and hub, with national workshops in some cases and more tailored hub workshops in others. For each hub, the design process will confirm the development challenges that CRP 1.3 will focus on, refine them as needed and agree on the hypotheses of change that the program will pursue. Building on this, design workshops will confirm how ongoing research and development projects contribute to this process of change, with CRP 1.3 adding value to ongoing work with new research, and confirm what partnerships should be developed to do so. In this way, the analysis will confirm research priorities for the program in each hub, and workshop participants will develop research plans to pursue them. For illustrative purposes, examples of the development challenges, hypotheses of change and research questions that we expect to pursue in some of the hubs in Bangladesh are provided in Table 2. A fuller but still preliminary analysis of these issues for all eight hubs in Bangladesh is summarized in Annex 3. Table 3 further illustrates the commonalities and [27] differences in our research agenda across focal countries using the example of Theme 1. Further analysis across all six research themes and five countries is provided in Annex 4.The process described is designed to focus the program's research efforts on the most important issues in each country and hub. However this focus on place brings with it the risk that the program may miss the importance of changes in external drivers that may have an overwhelming impact at the local level. To guard against this the program will seek the expertise of CRP 2, and ARI partners to review and critique the research program's developed in each hub and country. The Program Oversight Panel will also have an important role in this regard as will the Program Forum both of which will seek wider perspectives on the research being pursued by the program, and allow for adjustment as needed.6.4.1 Theme 1: Sustainable increases in system productivity Approach and methods. Many AAS households have productivity or yield gap that can be narrowed by better inputs and adopting new, innovative production and postharvest technologies or practices. Theme 1 will develop and/or secure these inputs and technologies and work with partners to foster their adoption.Where appropriate, we will use existing technologies from other locations and countries but will also develop new technologies where necessary. Sustaining productivity improvements depends critically on maintaining ecosystem services and biodiversity, as well as on economic and social well-being. Theme 1 will attend to resource efficiency (e.g. in the use of water, land, energy, nutrients and other inputs) and avoiding adverse environmental impacts from increasing crop and animal productivity, taking into account economic and social factors as well as external drivers such as climate change. There will be clear linkage in this regard to Theme 3.Research priorities for program focus will be determined through the gendered participatory diagnosis of constraints and opportunities in each of the program's focal countries and hubs. Guided by these diagnoses, CRP 1.3 will first draw upon the combined strengths of the CGIAR and international partners to identify existing research outputs, including those from other countries and regions that may be suitable for adoption in targeted AAS communities. We will then take an action research approach to working with communities to adapt technologies to meet their specific needs, support them in taking ownership of the technologies, and gain confidence in continuing to develop technologies to meet changing circumstances such as market demands. We will assess uptake and impact of technologies, identify constraints and, where necessary, test alternative combinations. As this work proceeds, additional technology needs will be identified and, depending on needs and expertise, other CGIAR research programs will be tapped, or research will be conducted within CRP 1.3 specifically to develop appropriate responses. Productivity-enhancing solutions may be genetically superior crops, livestock, trees and fish; integrated management to avoid losses, improve quality or improve yield or production efficiency; the provision of timely access to better production inputs; or reduced postharvest losses. The program will address opportunities for improved access to benefits for the poor and the more sustainable use of common resources such as fisheries, wild plants and animals. In pursuing these solutions we will also develop tools to assess (both ex ante and ex post) ecological resource use, efficiencies and services at the farm, household and landscape scale, and use these to assess the environmental sustainability of changes in system productivity. The technologies that combine productivity gains with sustainability will be used for scaling out. Research in this theme will link closely with CRP 3.1 through CRP 3.7 (commodity crops), as detailed in Table 8.Gender mainstreaming will focus on closing the productivity gap between men and women by engaging both groups in priority setting, research, field trials, dissemination and monitoring. Emphasis will be on [28] production areas that have traditionally excluded or burdened women to create better understanding of gendered preferences for traits, species and other technological innovations, taking into account taste, nutrition, food safety and postharvest processing that increase social and economic returns while reducing the time liability and drudgery inflicted on women. Participatory breeding of crops, livestock and fish will be pursued with greater attention to preferences, quality and needs that will reduce gender gaps in poverty and vulnerability.Research questions. These will include:1. Which technologies can effect sustainable crop, fish and livestock productivity increases, in terms of both quantity and quality, in different AAS, and for which social groups in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, caste, and the chronic poverty of transient populations?2. What gains can be realized from better integrating or linking crops, fish and livestock production at appropriate levels, taking into account efficiencies of water, feed and fertilizer use and the need to secure resource access for the poor?3. How can the use of resources (e.g., water, land, energy, nutrients and other inputs) and ecosystem services from AAS be optimized, while increasing crop and animal productivity and taking climate change into account?4. How can these technologies and management practices be developed and disseminated most effectively for the benefit of smallholder producers, differentiated by social group and gender?5. What are effective governance approaches and practices to safeguard and enhance the natural productivity and socio-ecological resilience of small-scale fisheries and other common property resources in AAS that benefit the poor and vulnerable, including women?6. How can an explicit focus on gender heighten the development benefits from these activities?Outputs and outcomes. These will include improved varieties and species with high nutritional quality, improved disease-and crop-management practices, and technologies and processes to assure higherquality inputs, especially seed. Knowledge-sharing tools and materials may be provided through community innovation platforms, extension bulletins and farmer field schools. Outcomes will include improved availability of these practices, varieties and species through quality seed, breeding or hatchery programs and farm families' adoption of these improved varieties, species and practices.These outputs and outcomes are similar to those of traditional productivity-enhancing research-fordevelopment programs. However, two important differences take this work beyond business as usual. First, by integrating Theme 1 research explicitly with our research under Themes 2-6, we will ensure that traditional constraints are addressed comprehensively by linking productivity improvement with other dimensions of the systems approach we are taking. Second, by developing and using tools to assess ecological resource use and efficiencies, we will explicitly assess environmental sustainability and foster the application of those practices that are most sustainable.[29] Greater MymensinghAdivasi communities can be successfully integrated into development efforts by carefully designed interventions that introduce appropriate forms of aquaculture. This can bring higher incomes, shorten annual food deficits for project participants and enhance their ability to interact with ethnic majority Bengalis.Can some of the most successful intervention strategies developed for Adivasi communities (e.g., establishing netting teams and fish processing and trading activities) have similarly positive impacts elsewhere for Bengali project participants? Are the benefits equitable for women and men?Haor Basin (Sylhet)Community based management initiatives to create dry season refuges for breeding populations of fish can enhance the productivity of fisheries in remaining wetland areas.How can proven management strategies (i.e. fish sanctuaries) best be scaled out to ensure wider uptake? What are the differential costs, benefits and trade-offs for women and men?Greater KhulnaAdopting continuous rotational cropping cycles spreads risk and returns throughout the year, making households more resilient under the impacts of climatic shocks than they would be if reliant on a single annual crop.To what extent does extending or modifying the cropping cycle reduce or create greater exposure to risk from extreme weather events for farm households? How these outcomes are socially differentiated?Greater BarisalDeveloping culture or enhanced management and capture techniques for small, nutrient-dense indigenous fish species in waterlogged polders can contribute to improved nutrition among producing households and, if produced in sufficiently large quantities, make these fish more accessible to low-income consumers by reducing their cost.What is the reproductive biology of small, nutrient-dense indigenous species? Which management strategies can be adopted to increase productivity from natural water bodies and intensify culture? Will such systems be commercially viable? Will increased small fish availability result in gender-equitable consumption and nutrition within households?Greater Noakhali/Adaptive strategies already deployed by farmers in the more saline districts of southwest Bangladesh (e.g., integrated rotational rice-fish cropping) can be model coping strategies for inhabitants in the southern districts of the Greater Noakhali/Comilla hub.To what extent are the strategies deployed by farming households in Greater Khulna hub transferrable to Greater Noakhali/Comilla hub, given differences in, for example, market infrastructure? What adaptations or innovations will be necessary within and beyond the immediate farming system to enable the successful application of these approaches? What are the differential costs, benefits and trade-offs for women and men?[30] What technologies need to be developed and adopted to ensure that increased productivity takes into account both quantity and nutritional quality of foods and food products?Approach and methods. Research under Theme 2 will focus on understanding how to improve market access for crop, livestock and aquatic products produced by poor and vulnerable households in AAS. We will take a gendered approach to this research that focuses on the actors in value chains for market products from AAS. The approach will recognize that the poor and vulnerable may be engaged along value chains for AAS products such as fish seed nursing and trading, services such as pond cleaning and harvesting, and postharvest activities. Research will help identify more broadly opportunities for improvements that benefit the poor in value chains. Better understanding of markets will underpin our approach, and opportunities will be pursued in local, national and regional markets depending on commodities; market demand and access; and other constraints, risks and benefits.[32]Research will be guided by appropriate, participatory market chain analysis (PMCA). As illustrated in Figure 6, PMCA is a process in which researchers and market chain actors join together to identify products for equitable value chain development and jointly seek improved product technology, market innovation and institutional change. The pyramids in the figure, one inverted, illustrate changes in degree of participant commitment to implementing the value chain. Work starts with extensive leadership and commitment from researchers, but down the chain other actors progressively take on more leadership, reducing the role of research. Though PMCA is designed as a 1-year process, successfully sustainable cases have typically required research backstopping for longer periods. Gender interventions will assess and address gender gaps along value chains, using a gendered value chain approach. e This action research-based approach will reveal currently invisible, undervalued and under-remunerated work by women along value chains originating in AAS; identify barriers to market entry and expansion; and test best options, processes and practices that bring about gender-equitable social and economic returns from market chains. It will integrate key dimensions of extra-market factors, power relations and motivations into the currently incomplete understanding of economic growth. Special emphasis will be placed on gender-responsive capacity and asset building such as entrepreneurship training, technological innovation, and financial and business services that ameliorate social exclusion and enable women to invest in pathways beyond microenterprise. Value chain research under this theme will include a nutritional dimension, considering the nutritional quality of the products and ways to minimize harmful practices and loss in nutritional quality, as well as how value chain arrangements can best deliver positive nutritional outcomes, particularly among women, children and other vulnerable groups.[33]Research questions. These will include:1. What are the opportunities for increased employment for the poor and vulnerable in crop, fish, and livestock value chains in AAS?2. How can input markets deliver to smallholder producers high-quality inputs more consistently, efficiently and affordably?3. What technologies and practices must be developed and implemented along the value chain to ensure high quality products from AAS, in terms of nutrition and food safety?4. How do market drivers affect producers' methods and technologies, and what value chain interventions support production practices that are more economically, environmentally and socially sustainable?5. What business-support arrangements work effectively for smallholder producers and traders, in particular microenterprises, in different environments? How can these services be delivered effectively and with due regard to such stakeholder constraints and limitations as labor, limited education and access to technology? What are the specific constraints for women and how can they be overcome?6. How can small operators become and remain more competitive as market chains become increasingly integrated, notably for fish and livestock products? How do knowledge and skills among the poor and vulnerable need to be improved, and how can this be achieved? What are the special constraints on women moving up the value chain? What is the role of collective action by producers, processors and trader organizations?7. What wider services and support are required to build healthier and more prosperous communities in AAS that are marked by remoteness, high mobility, high variability in production and incomes, and heightened uncertainty about the future?Outputs and outcomes. PMCA naturally creates demand for technological, commercial and institutional innovations. Outputs for this theme will result from the research stimulated by PMCA and include improved and new marketable products from AAS households, households' and communities' adding value to them, new postharvest practices, new agribusiness arrangements, and better market information.Outcomes will include the adoption of technologies and practices that add value to products; private and public investment in value chains; the creation or strengthening of producer, trader and marketing organizations; the creation and utilization of new market information systems; and the provision of valueadded products to consumers.Approach and methods. People living in AAS are vulnerable to a range of shocks and have limited capacity or resources to respond to them. Many of these people, such as those living in the Ganges Delta, are among the most vulnerable to macro level drivers such as climatic change and natural disasters that can overwhelm the gains in income and well-being achieved through improvements in productivity, access to markets or other areas. Compounding their physical vulnerability, unequal power relations and discrimination condemn many AAS communities to marginalization in development processes that hinders their access to assets, knowledge and support. The insecuritybrought about through the vicious combination of vulnerability, discrimination and marginalizationdiscourages innovation, dampens willingness to take the long view on resource stewardship, and helps undermine the long-term [34] sustainability of the natural resources that these people depend on. Building capacity to adapt to irreducible risks, and strengthening rights that foster more equitable access to resources and services, are therefore key steps to building socio-cultural resilience and improved well-being in AAS communities.Research Theme 3 focuses on understanding how to achieve this.We will combine environmental and social systems research with action for social change. Environmental systems research will examine the questions of ecosystem resilience that a sustainable food production system depends upon, as maintaining ecosystem services and preserving biodiversity help ensure healthy soils, nutrients, water supply, pollination services, and fish, among other needs. There are links with agroforestry and aquatic resource management, as the presence of coastal mangroves and healthy seagrass and coral reefs, for example, provide important services for human livelihoods and well-being. Research in this theme will encompass fisheries governance questions and seek to expand existing WorldFish research on grounding resilience theory in the practice of AAS governance (see Box). Work in this theme will draw upon advances achieved through CRP 5 (water scarcity and land degradation) and CRP 7 (climate change), while providing focused opportunities for integration across most of the CGIAR research programs (Table 8). Social systems research will feature action research as defined in section 4. Work in this topic will draw on global analyses and key learning developed through CRP 2 (policies, institutions and markets). The diverse ecological and social contexts of focal countries and hubs within CRP1.3 offer a unique opportunity learn from many different pathways can AAS take. There are currently few examples of resilience-based interventions in the developing world, and CRP1.3 will draw on our work in these hubs to make important contributions to resilience theory and practice. Lessons learned across these systems will also contribute to other CRPs concerned with the governance of production systems.The interdependence of ecosystems and societies is no more apparent than in AAS. Insights from resilience research show that: (i) attempts to simplify AAS to increase efficiency and production reduce the diversity of system responses and makes the system more vulnerable to stresses and shocks; (ii) addressing only the social or ecosystem dimensions of resilience will not be sufficient to promote sustainable outcomesultimately social and economic development depends on the ability of AAS to supply ecosystem services; (iii) many AAS are in highly resilient but undesirable states and enhancing the transformability of these systems is a major need in the developing world. Opportunities to transform systems to new states are poorly understood yet critical to achieving the transformational development sought; (iv) flexible, dynamic governance arrangements that can operate at several scales are more likely to reduce vulnerability to macro-drivers and to promote effective self-organization. We will draw on these insights to guide our program of research in AAS.Gender mainstreaming will address gendered differences in vulnerability and risk in the face of seasonal and lifecycle events, natural hazards and climate change. Emphasis will be placed on food security, nutrition, health and survival disparities. A participatory approach to risk and vulnerability assessment based on public-private partnership will assess current gendered responses to risk and determine the best mitigation and adaptation options for reducing risk through public mechanisms such as social protection and/or private mechanisms such as micro-insurance, depending on the gendered capacity and preferences of individuals, households and poverty groups.Research questions. These will include:1. What are the likely future scenarios for hubs and research sites in focal countries, and what are the key constraints and opportunities for social and ecological resilience that can be addressed through multi-stakeholder research?[35]2. How do the main drivers of change and their gendered impacts affect the productivity and povertyreduction potential of AAS?3. How do women and men perceive and respond to risks differently, and how is this taken into account in designing gender-equitable adaptation options and policies?4. What processes predispose AAS systems to transformation to new states? In the case of resilient but ‗bad' states how can those processes be recognized and nurtured, or minimized if the system is to be made more resilient?5. What are the relationships between ecosystem function (including biodiversity attributes) and the capacity of social-ecological systems to persist or transform?6. How do the main drivers of change and their gendered impacts affect the productivity and poverty reduction potential of AAS?7. How do innovations spread among local and larger scale networks? What are the success factors that determine the spread of local innovations in governance? And how can that understanding be used to influence formal and informal social networks to accelerate poverty reduction?8. What coping and adapting technologies, services and institutions may be appropriate to enable people to adapt to change and recover from shocks?Outputs and outcomes. We will identify new practices, tools, technologies, knowledge products and organizational models, as well as provide dialogue, facilitation and advocacy. These will be used to generate outcomes including property rights consistent with policy objectives, the improved management of land and water resources, improved preparedness for and response to changing circumstances, disaster preparedness and response, effective compliance with management interventions to support natural resource management objectives, improved understanding of rights and strengthened ability to gain institutional and judicial support to address violations of rights (including gender rights), and appropriate constituencies empowered and effective at articulating their needs and aspirations.Approach and methods. CRP 1.3 recognizes that there are significant gender disparities in access to and control of assets and decision-making within AAS, and that they greatly reduce our ability to harness the benefits of these systems for human well-being. Accordingly, the program seeks not only to integrate gender with other research themes but to pursue research that will help fundamentally transform underlying gender norms and roles. CRP 1.3 thus pursues a two-pronged gender strategy (section 7) that recognizes the need to explicitly address critical constraints on and opportunities for reaching genderequitable outcomes, which cannot be fully achieved by gender mainstreaming across the other five themes alone. In doing so CRP 1.3 responds to the CGIAR Gender Scoping Study and its analysis of mechanisms to incorporate a gender-research approach throughout the new portfolio of CGIAR research programs.This theme adds to the gender-mainstreaming approach by focusing on three action areas. The first is to change norms, attitudes, beliefs and practices relating to gender roles that constrain equity by educating both women and men. Next is to strengthen the role of women in decision making in many contexts, ranging from households to local government; community organizations; producer, processor and entrepreneur associations; and regional and national governance bodies for fisheries, agriculture and[36]forestry. The final action area emphasizes increasing women's access to, ownership of and control over productive resources, especially land, water, technology, finances and services.The research and intervention strategy will follow the program's overall participatory action research approach, emphasizing gender mapping, gender-disaggregated vulnerability and risk assessment, value chain analysis and decision-making analysis, as well as interactive social media, along the five stages of the research-development cycle, as outlined in section 7. The program will be implemented with the involvement of partners aware of the importance of gender sensitivity and by linking with research and advocacy groups with gender expertise (see Annex 2a for a summary of partnerships for gender).Building implementing partners' capacity in gender-analysis methods and tools is integral to this theme, as is delivering gender-equitable outcomes and impacts. This theme responds to recommendations of the Research questions. These will include:1. What socio-cultural factors underlie gender roles in livelihoods in AAS, and what are the corresponding constraints and opportunities for change?2. What are the informal and formal institutional constraints on and opportunities for achieving gender equity in access to, ownership of and control over resources and the best practices that can be exchanged among program countries?3. Do factors for gender equity in decision making differ between the household and public spheres, and do they change over time?4. What are the options and models that can be tested for fundamental change toward achieving gender equity in decision making and the control of assets?Outputs and outcomes. Outputs include tools f mapping gender and gender-specific livelihood trajectories and decision making, training modules on gender equity, a gender and assets action network, and the documentation of best options for gender-responsive interactive social media. Outcomes include genderequity awareness creation and training accessed by female and male beneficiaries, researchers, implementers and decision-makers; gender sensitivity increased through innovative social marketing and media (forum theater, television, information and communication technology, and radio) responsive to female and male beneficiaries, researchers, implementers and decision-makers; women's role in decision making in households and public bodies increased; and greater involvement of local women's groups and other groups in advocating gender-equitable access to and control of resources.Approach and methods. While the focus of CRP 1.3 is on the household, the program recognizes that the wider policy environment has a powerful influence on people's lives and that, in the absence of favorable policies and supporting institutions, improved technologies at the field level are generally of little longterm benefit. Accordingly Research Theme 5 focuses on understanding how policies and institutions at both national and international levels impact on AAS and the people who use them. We will build on this understanding to (i) support AAS communities to, where possible, adapt to the policies that will not f See Annex 2b for details of participatory gender tools to be developed and tested.[37] change; and (ii) encourage the emergence and effective implementation of policies and institutional innovations that help maintain the resilience of AAS and their communities.The basic assumption here is that a constraining policy context stifles innovation and is a major barrier to reducing poverty and vulnerability and maintaining or strengthening the resilience of AAS. On the other hand, enabling, coherent policies and good governance, together with investments that help buffer the poor and knowledge from negative effects of macro level policies, can galvanize innovation and change.We define policy as both implicitly and explicitly coordinated action undertaken over the long term by those able to exert influence over others. The focal groups for work in this theme therefore include policymakers and their advisors at multiple levels. We will work with traditional authorities such as village heads; local, district and national government officials; regional organizations; and influential civil society groups that deliver services or advocate policy. The focal groups beyond the direct intervention sites in the hubs reflect our goal of institutionalizing change or vertical scaling up, and awareness of the need to understand and take account of macro level drivers. Several of the research questions below are seeking to institutionalize changes in the policy, legal and budgetary environment of AAS.Our research in development approach will involve working with government and civil society organizations to articulate and address citizen's concerns about policies and institutions that are identified as critically blocking the emergence of resilient, pro-poor AAS. These may include commodity-based taxation that discourages enterprise diversification, taxes and controls on movement that stifle trade and labor mobility, ineffective health service delivery for mobile people, and weak or inappropriate property rights. We will complement this bottom up approach with consideration of macro drivers, including those that local communities may be less aware of, such as infrastructure, energy, water resource management, or trade and investment policies that could significantly impact the resilience of AAS in the future. In doing so we will work with CRP 2 (policies, institutions and markets), drawing on analysis in such areas as the political economy of agricultural sector reform, integration of multiple resource sectors in national strategies for food security and asset building, and policies to promote local collective action and placespecific property rights regimes.We will also work with government and civil society organizations to identify ways to strengthen the implementation of good policy where it exists. The program will engage with change agents in government, those individuals or departments that attempt to develop new policy instruments to support development and sustainable environmental governance in AAS. We will also partner with community organizations and civil society networks that foster creative institutional innovation within the frame of existing policies, or that demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of new approaches that can be applied and adapted elsewhere. Examples include locally-driven efforts to identify and resolve disputes over resource access, forming collectives to increase poor households' access to input and output markets, or combining the legitimacy of traditional authorities and state institutions in enforcing community-based management regimes. Research in this theme will be closely aligned with our work on impact pathways in each hub/country location, where we will seek and facilitate opportunities for policy change and intervention toward positive development outcomes and impacts for AAS users. Learning from such experiences will be shared using video, policy briefs, and practitioner guidance notes that carefully specify the contextual factors that make a given approach suitable for adaptation in similar environments.Gender-specific interventions will focus on policy and institutional processes that currently exclude women in agriculture, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture, and in natural resource management that contributes to the sustainable productivity of AAS. They will address legal frameworks and organizing processes upholding the rights of women and children. We will pursue opportunities to improve gender equity outcomes through better mainstreaming in sectoral policies and by highlighting gender disparities [38] in AAS when engaging in broader policy processes on poverty reduction, market development, disaster reduction, and climate change adaptation plans at local, regional and national levels.Research questions. These will include:1. What are the specific sectoral and cross-sectoral policy requirements for fostering pro-poor, genderequitable growth in AAS, building on their productive potential and addressing the socially differentiated vulnerabilities of target populations?2. What macro-level policies constrain national and local-level efforts to reduce poverty and improve livelihoods in AAS?3. What approaches best enable the poor and vulnerable to contribute in developing economic and social policies that foster increased benefits derived from AAS?4. What institutional innovations are most effective at reducing conflict over environmental resources in AAS and enabling adaptive resource management regimes that accommodate the interests of users across multiple scales?5. How can policies on enterprise development, poverty reduction, trade, and border security be aligned effectively to facilitate the development of cross-border markets for AAS products-and an equitable share in the value chain for poor producers?6. What are the constraints and opportunities for strengthening local governments' regulatory and service-provision functions in AAS, and strengthening their accountability towards local communities?7. How can neglected sectors such as fisheries and groups such as fisherfolk and women traders in AAS be appropriately included in national policy and funding instruments that support climate change adaptation, export promotion schemes, disaster preparedness and response frameworks, and poverty reduction strategies?Research outputs and outcomes. The outputs and products that we must produce to help deliver outcomes that contribute to the goal of CRP 1.3 will include the identification of new practices and tools, products supporting change in knowledge, attitude and skills (KAS) among policy makers, and new organizational models, as well as dialogue, facilitation and advocacy and lessons learned for the wider sharing and scaling up and out of the outputs from other themes. The outcomes include more secure and equitable access to land and water; an improved policy and regulatory environment; improved access to financial services; improved access to social services, including health and education, for hard-to-reach mobile populations; clear, agreed and robust management objectives that are consistent with policy objectives; improved public services for communities in AAS; increased accountability of government agencies serving these communities; and reductions in resource conflict.Approach and methods. For CRP 1.3 to be successful, it must embrace a culture of knowledge sharing and learning that sustains productive relationships, partnerships and networks. To support this, strengthen the performance of program participants, and better achieve program outcomes, we will design and adapt innovative knowledge-sharing and learning practices. This will support the delivery of outcomes of other themes by catalyzing knowledge sharing and learning by and among partners and stakeholders. This theme is a major contributor to our strategy for scaling up. Horizontal scaling up consists of dissemination and advocacy. Effective communication products and tools are key investments to support these [39] objectives. We will provide a framework for this as a component of research and development activities; partnership and capacity-development strategies; and program M&E and impact assessment. This requires strong, ethically guided engagement with stakeholders toward developing knowledge, sharing and learning, and a communication system that supports adaptive management across the program, allowing for continuous learning and improvement.The program is committed to learning by doing and demonstrating that program activities will contribute to significant and lasting changes in the well-being of beneficiaries. The M&E system will be designed to provide information on the performance of the program at various levels that will become the basis for reflection and learning, supporting the goal of knowledge sharing and learning.The change process we envision will align with the current best practice of innovative approaches to social change. In particular, we will pursue cyclical, relational communication that allows outcomes of mutual change rather than one-sided, individual change (Figueroa et al. 2002). Advocating participatory knowledge sharing and joint learning will be supplemented with interventions that invite, rather than require, participation and that catalyze dialogue within a community in pursuit of collective action.Gender mainstreaming in this theme will focus on gender-responsive communication and dissemination strategies, particularly interactive social marketing and media, such as forum theater and information and communication technology, which enable the participatory generation of options and aspirations and can be differentially mobilized for adults and youths. Learning networks will link the exchange of options and best practices across communities, regions and countries by building partnerships with women's and gender-advocacy groups and policymakers, to enhance the commitment of program partners to gender equity. Learning and exchange will be further supported by tailor-made capacity-building modules for stakeholders on gender analysis and mainstreaming.Research questions. These will include:1. Selected outcomes are understanding and comparisons of the relationships of power, information flows and governance in managing shared resources, the adoption of new technologies or governance for value chains, and improved efficiency and effectiveness resulting from greater knowledge sharing.While the program has been designed to focus operationally on focal countries and the hubs within them, it will build on this geographically focused research with steps to harness global learning from this work in the form of international public goods (IPGs). We will reflect on the commonalities and differences in development challenges to be addressed in the focal countries and hubs, together with their hypotheses of change and research questions. For example, poor communication has been identified as a barrier to market access and a challenge in four hubs in Bangladesh, one in the Philippines and two in Zambia; similarly, access rights have been identified as a challenge in four hubs in Bangladesh, all three hubs in Cambodia, two in the Philippines, one in the Solomons and two in Zambia. Hypotheses of change will be developed for these challenges in each hub, and research will be conducted to test them. From this program of diagnosis and research, we will distill a body of comparative learning and general principles that can be drawn upon to pursue development interventions elsewhere in focal hubs and countries, other AAS, and, indeed, in other agricultural systems with similar challenges. An initial assessment of the key commonalities that will be the focus of IPG generation across AAS, focal countries and focal hubs is summarized in Table 4.In addition to the body of IPGs that the program will develop regarding specific challenges and their research questions, CRP 1.3 research on development approaches is designed to generate an important body of learning on processes for delivering development outcomes and impacts in AAS. We will distill general principles to contribute to establishing best practices for scaling up from this learning and make them available to development practitioners working in AAS and other agricultural systems. Our research themes 5 and 6 will contribute IPGs offering comparative experience in scaling out. Program level investment in communications for sharing and distilling lessons will support the preparation and dissemination of our IPGs.It is important to note that the current areas for IPG development were assessed by proponents of CRP 1.3 in the initial scoping conducted during the program design. As the program moves toward implementation, IPG identification will be refined through participatory diagnoses conducted at inception in each country and hub. As implementation progresses, further adjustments will be made, reflecting the findings of annual program review and planning overseen by the Program Oversight Panel. The Program Forum will provide important opportunities for learning across the program and adjusting the focus of IPG development as needed.[41] Globalized market processes, population growth, migration and urbanization that rapidly change AAS are all gendered. Rural-urban migration, a predominantly male phenomenon in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Zambia, has feminized agriculture. Cambodian women are estimated to provide 80% of the labor in food production (MAFF 2005), while Zambian women contribute 70% of labor inputs to agricultural production (World Bank 2004). Women constitute 57% of the labor force in smallscale fisheries in Cambodia (FAO et al 2008) not counting gleaning or aquaculture, in which women's involvement is likely to be higher. In the Philippines, women predominate among rural-urban migrants, while men remain in agricultural livelihoods, and women equal men in pursuing overseas migration (PCW 2010).Male and female members of households pursue different livelihood strategies, supporting or complementing one another's activities in the pursuit of well-being. However, women and men within households do not necessarily have the same preferences, motivations or aspirations. A preliminary gender analysis of the five proposed program countries reveals differences in the extent and nature of men's and women's participation along agricultural value chains and their use and maintenance of aquatic ecosystem services. Overall, women predominate in processing and trading activities while men's roles are more pronounced in farming and fishing, with some exceptions.In the Zambesi-Niger freshwater system of Zambia, women and men tended to have separate -purses‖ based on complementary male farming systems concentrated on commercial crops and female farming systems focused on subsistence food crops, but this is changing with market processes and urbanization. Farming and small-scale trading are dominated by women, while mining and large-scale trading are male activities. In the floodplain systems of the Ganges in Bangladesh and the Mekong in Cambodia, male and female household members pool resources, pursuing supporting and complementary activities within the same farming system. In Bangladesh, women's productive roles in farming, fisheries and aquaculture are restricted mostly to caring for seedlings, fish and other animals; small-scale processing; and making and mending nets, while men engage in a wide range of production tasks and commercial processing, entirely dominating trade. In Cambodia, women provide labor for most farm tasks, caring for livestock and fish, engaging in small-scale fishing and a wide range of processing and small-scale trading activities, with women constituting 85% of fish traders in Tonle Sap (ADB 2007). Men prepare land for planting and engage in medium-and large-scale fishing and large-scale trading.In Pacific coastal systems, women and men complement each other's activities, with women more responsible for gardening and men more focused on fishing, with some separation of purses. In Solomon Islands, 71% of women and 53% of men are estimated to be engaged in farming; conversely, 50% of women and 90% of men are estimated to be engaged in fishing (JICA 2010). Thus, both women and men participate in a range of livelihood activities, from production to the sale of goods, with local trading mostly done by women. In the Philippines, women support, complement or subsidize men's farming and fishing, as farming, fishing and aquaculture are predominantly male while processing and trading are predominantly female. Women form the majority in the service, industrial and professional sectors (NSCB 2010). Women's engagement in producing, processing and selling tubers, other root crops, bananas, vegetables and other homestead garden crops in all focal countries is generally higher than men's but often invisible or underestimated. In all five countries, men provide labor for logging and harvesting poles and timber for agriculture and construction, and [43] women primarily engage in fetching water and firewood; women also tap mangroves and other forests for food, handicraft materials and medicinal ingredients.These differences in the gender division of labor have implications for the nature of poverty, marginalization and vulnerability, all of which are gendered as well. Women's disproportionate suffering of asset poverty arises from socio-cultural norms that restrict access to, ownership of and control over natural, physical and financial resources. This is pronounced in Bangladesh, where rural women own only 8% of all productive assets (Quisumbing and Maluccio 2000). In Zambia, women have medium access to oxen, agricultural tools and inputs, and technical skills (World Bank 2004).Cultural beliefs and taboos restrict women's access to the sea in these countries other than Solomon Islands.Equally significantly, women's poverty is characterized by social exclusion and marginalization from social welfare services and safety nets, and from decision making in household, institutional and governance structures that relate to livelihoods, resource management and the functioning of markets.Women's involvement in community-based aquatic resource management is often minimal because of customary power relations and time and mobility constraints related to domestic tasks and maintaining a reputation for decency. However, where poor women were granted conditions enabling them to claim long-term rights over public water bodies, as in the Oxbow Lakes Project in Bangladesh through the formation of fish-farming groups, the engagement of and benefits to women have been sustained (Nathan and Apu 1998). When development interventions increase market potential for traditional -women's crops‖ such as groundnuts in Zambia, men appropriate them, to the disadvantage of women farmers (World Bank 2004). Where productivity and income increases from fishponds occurred at the household level in Bangladesh, this did not necessarily translate into nutrition gains for women and girls (Kumar and Quisumbing 2010). Thus, despite differences in the extent of social exclusion in these countries, significant decision making on the allocation of resources remains primarily in the hands of men.Women's vulnerability to risks and shocks are not merely exposure to seasonal and lifecycle events, natural disasters, and climate change. Women are more vulnerable to gender-based violence than men, both in private and in public. In Bangladesh, Solomon Islands and Zambia, over 50% of women experience physical or sexual violence at the hands of an intimate partner (NIPORT 2009, MWYCA & NSO 2009, World Bank 2004). Women have been especially vulnerable to gender-based violence during armed ethnic conflict in Solomon Islands (MWYCA & NSO 2009).In all five focal countries, women's income from agriculture, livestock and fishing are lower than men's. Education and nutrition outcomes are lower for girls than boys in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Zambia (NIPORT 2009, JICA 2007, World Bank 2004). This is worst in Zambia, where the proportion of girls completing grade 10 or higher is half that of boys (World Bank 2004). In Solomon Islands, there are no disparities in education and nutrition outcomes between male and female children. In the Philippines, gender disparities in education and nutrition disadvantage boys, and literacy is more prevalent in women than menpositive social outcomes that are reflected in a higher level of happiness indicated by women relative to men in the Philippines (NSCB 2010). Thus, development interventions need to redress costs to men as much as to women.In gender analysis and designing development interventions in aquatic agricultural systems, it is important to take into account that women are not a monolithic group but differentiated by poverty level, class, ethnicity, caste and other social categories, which further compound variations in costs, benefits, preferences, motivations and aspirations. A dynamic framework that analyses linkages among agricultural production, poverty, social exclusion, vulnerability, food and nutrition security, health and ecosystem services within aquatic systems will provide in-depth understanding of these [44] complex social relations, differentiation in the pursuit of livelihoods, and structural constraints that cause differential outcomes in well-being.Decades of development activity have recognized the critical role of women's participation and empowerment in increasing the productivity of agricultural systems and the sustainability of the natural resource base upon which this productivity depends, ensuring household members' livelihoods, food security and nutritional needsall of which contribute to poverty reduction. As a result, much of the development community today recognizes that achieving gender equity h in agricultural research and development is not only an issue of social justice or rights affecting women but also critical to achieving development outcomes for society as a whole. Despite this greater awareness, moving beyond rhetoric and well-intentioned efforts to target and empower women in development interventions remains a critical challenge. This is equally true for AAS, where wide gender disparities in well-being outcomes persist. The Gender Strategy of CRP 1.3 is designed to address these challenges.The 1970s and 1980s saw many attempts to address gender disparity through separate programs or project components targeting women's participation and empowerment. However these initiatives generally remained localized and marginalized from the mainstream of development activities, therefore having limited potential for scaling out. The consequently limited effectiveness of these efforts led in the 1990s to the promotion of gender mainstreaming as an approach for integrating gender perspectives and the goal of gender equality into research, policy and legislative interventions at all stages and levels. Yet it is now recognized that mainstreaming often scatters gender concerns across a multitude of project component and interventions, depriving it of critical mass and diluting the resources invested on gender, thereby making implementation at the ground difficult, as well as M&E and impact assessment.Current evidence reveals that one of the primary reasons for the slow progress in mainstreaming as a strategy, and its limited effectiveness in addressing gender disparities, is that gender analysis and interventions have been embryonic, partial, shallow or unsystematic in many projects that have attempted mainstreaming (OECD 2004). Similarly, a wide gap remains between policy commitment and resource allocation for gender mainstreaming (ESCAP 2003), despite recognition of the need to complement mainstreaming with specific targeted interventions to promote gender equality (UNDP 2005), which is not always adopted. Recognizing these causes, the first GCARD in Montpellier endorsed a mandate for a -transformative‖ gender agenda in agricultural research and development that creates -opportunities, commodities, relationships and services that ultimately change the way people do things‖ (Meinzen-Dick et al. 2010). This recognition also forms the basis for the scoping study currently being carried out to design an appropriate mechanism for incorporating a gender research approach throughout the new portfolio of CGIAR research programs commissioned by the Consortium Board.Consistent with this mandate, CRP 1.3 proposes a two-pronged strategy to ensure that gender-related program activities are effective, adequately resourced and able to deliver outcomes. We will pursue gender mainstreaming across the program and develop a targeted gender-transformative theme.h Gender equity is fairness to women and men. To ensure fairness, measures must often compensate for historical and social disadvantage that prevents women and men from otherwise operating on a level playing field. Equity leads to equality (Status of Women Canada 1996).[45]We will draw upon CGIAR best practice and recent analyses to ensure that our gender approach is crosscutting and does not remain marginalized by mainstreaming, doing this by grounding it and its activities within the program's five thematic areas. The main thrust of gender-explicit interventions for each thematic area is described in section 6, and a more detailed list of gender mainstreaming activities is provided in Annex 2c.Our process for gender mainstreaming will follow the five stages of the research and development cycle outlined by Meinzen-Dick et al. ( 2010):Priority setting. The differential needs, interests and priorities of women and men are reflected.Female and male stakeholders representing different social groups participate in making decisions regarding the kinds of research and development that will receive investment, and mechanisms exist to take into account the needs of women and men as both producers and consumers.Researchers are attuned to gender issues and consult female and male users in research and development, including involving them in the participatory breeding of crops, livestock and fish.Extension. Female and male extension workers deliver extension services; female and male producers receive extension services; women are recognized as farmers, fishers, processors, traders and clients of extension services; and gender-responsive extension services are delivered.The enabling conditions for adoption such as cash, credit, labor, skills and property rights will be taken into account.Evaluation and impact assessment. Gender differences are taken into account in deciding on criteria or indicators that assess the costs and benefits of agricultural innovation and their related distribution. Gender differences discovered in evaluations and impact assessments are taken into account in feedback loops and in setting priorities for future research and interventions. An integral dimension of our gender strategy is documenting and monitoring the process, learning from mistakes and best practices, and steering the program toward improving the gender equity of outcomes based on feedback loops.This will explicitly address critical constraints on and opportunities for reaching gender-equitable outcomes, supporting and adding value to the development effectiveness of interventions under the other five themes. By investing in an additional crosscutting thematic area that focuses specifically on gender, we envision that CRP 1.3 will achieve transformative outcomes that cannot be achieved through gender mainstreaming alone. This approach will be based on rigorous gender analysis to identify critical constraints (especially underlying socio-cultural causal factors that are difficult to change in the lifetime of projects) and salient opportunities to fast-track strategic interventions that can close gender gaps. We will pursue three action areas that explicitly address the critical dimensions of gender roles and relations, based on underlying norms and attitudes, gendered decision making at all levels, and access to and control of assets constituting the core of the transformative potential of the gender strategy.Action area 1. Gender gap mapping and interactive social media are complementary mechanisms proposed for changing attitudes and behavior relating to gender roles and relations. Gender gap mapping is a participatory process that reveals the extent of gender disparities at all levels, the willingness of participants to address these gaps and participants generation of pragmatic solutions to overcome them. Interactive social media such as forum theater for adults and computer simulation games for youths can be used to unravel gender roles and relations discursively, understand social [46] justice and rights through empathetic engagement, and propose alternative ways of working toward gender equity based on new understanding of feminine and masculine natures.Action area 2. The program proposes a livelihood-trajectory and decision-making tool to enhance the decision-making capacity of women in their communities, linking it to decision making regionally and nationally. This diagnostic tool helps women to understand their current roles and constraints in decision making and the importance of transforming capacities and using opportunities for decision making. The program will support the strengthening of structures, mechanisms and processes to increase women's participation, voice and decision making at all levels of governance. This includes understanding informal and formal mechanisms of customary, regional and national governance, as well as the relative effectiveness and legitimacy of competing governance systems.A gender and assets action network is proposed as a mechanism for pursing an integrated approach to assessing the current status of policies and processes for gender-equitable access to a wide range of productive assets in AAS and fast-tracking the implementation of gender mainstreaming in these policies and processes. Building partnerships with agencies responsible for policymaking and implementation related to productive assets such as land, water, technology and finances will be critical.The highly networked and dispersed nature of this program demands skills and relationships outside the conventional domain of the CGIAR. The center of gravity of learning in CRP 1.3 will be in the management and governance networks of aquatic production systems and in the M&E feedback loops therein, not in the laboratories of scientists. Within the CGIAR, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and its partners (including CARE USA and Catholic Relief Services) have pioneered thinking in this area, using the phrase -learning alliance‖ to capture the nonlinear, iterative nature of learning and the relationships and networks needed to support it. The approach melds thinking in social learning and innovation systems to solve problems in development. In this approach, there are many modes of learning, different knowledge systems, and different capacities to engage and share knowledge. In short, there are multiple pathways to development impact.Recognizing the central importance of skilled and empowered participants ranging from farmers to scientists, CRP 1.3 will be systematic about its investments in people, communities and organizations. Demand and modes of meeting it will be as diverse as the program itself. [47]As partner universities, NARS and NGOs play critical roles in development at the hubs, they will be central in assessing capacity-development needs, prioritizing them, identifying approaches, and planning and implementing capacity development. This will involve formal and informal approaches, including mentoring schemes and creating forums for peer-to-peer learning. Mechanisms will be developed for disseminating information and knowledge locally to men's and women's groups, gender advocacy organizations, and policymakers.Capacity development is embedded in all aspects of the program's research themes. In addition, specific technical areas highlighted in other sections of the proposal (on impact assessment, knowledge sharing and learning, and gender) will provide foci for technical training. More broadly, for the program to be successful, individual and organizational capacity in the following areas will need to be developed:Technical skills in integrated natural resource management and resilience. The drivers of ecosystems and the AAS in them need to be understood to ensure sustainability and guide management and governance responses. The multi-sectoral and multi-scale nature of the program will require training at a range of scales, from individuals and communities to national agencies and regional forums. Resilience theory will be used to organize thinking about complex socio-ecological systems, but a lot of work is required to allow this literature to have a greater impression on development practice. Specific examples of training topics include ecosystem approaches to community-based resource management, participatory diagnosis and situation analysis, participatory impact pathway analysis, outcome mapping, stakeholder analysis, group facilitation, policy analysis, and resource and socioeconomic M&E.Creating and strengthening learning networks. Because CRP 1.3 will operate across contrasting systems, there will be a unique opportunity for learning within and among its modules. Scaling out from local to national and international scales is an enduring challenge that must be met if the program is to achieve its ambitions. Examples of training needs include creating and maintaining multi-stakeholder innovation platforms, social network analysis, and methods of analyzing innovation systems.Organizational capacity of NARS partners to address AAS challenges. Strengthening the capacity of NARS partners will remain a core function of the CGIAR, and the program's engagement in this process will be linked to appropriate System-wide initiatives. Strong relationships with NARS in all program hubs provide a good foundation for improving organizational capacity. Capacity development in decision making, resource mobilization and management, communication, coordination, and conflict resolution will be considered.Adaptive management of production systems (the business of \"doing management\"). Improving the ability of target communities to adopt, adapt and sustain innovation is of paramount importance for the program. This will involve developing individual and collective capability to produce and refine new innovations in resource management and the downstream management of household and community resources. At a larger scale, whereas most CGIAR Centers and NARS partners work within their mandated crops or disciplines, CRP 1.3 will require a multidisciplinary and multicommodity approach, as well as alliances with other sectors of society. The approach is, in essence, an action research agenda. There are many field-tested participatory methods for the adaptive management of natural systems. Refining and implementing them across the diversity of systems will require training across disciplines and organizations.Action research. CRP 1.3 explicit commits itself to adopting an action research approach that seeks to learn by doing and to engage people in an explicit process of diagnosis and action. Our action research aims to go beyond finding useful information to guide action. It aims to place the capacity [48] generate and use that knowledge in the hands of people who are trying to improve their lives. We recognize that full immersion into action research will require significant investment in skills and capabilities such as facilitation, co-learning, fostering dialogue, participatory diagnosis and planning, collaboration, observation, reflective learning, and ethics. We undertake to build this capacity.Effective partnerships are central to the success of CRP 1.3, and section 5 highlights the importance of partners in achieving the program's outcomes and impacts. This is reflected in intensive discussions held with multiple partners to develop this proposal, in partners' engagement in country consultations and national workshops, and in their letters of support and commitment. The program's partnership strategy builds on this engagement to strengthen and expand partnerships as platforms for program implementation. To this end, our strategy is built on three core premises:The CGIAR is only one of many organizations engaged in AAS. Other research, development and policy players together spend many hundreds of millions of dollars annually to improve the lives of people who depend upon AAS. For CRP 1.3 to add value in this complex institutional environmental, we need to identify where and how the science insights we provide can strengthen the focus and delivery of other partners and where the convening and catalytic roles we play can foster more effective coalitions of partners around our research-in-development approach. Partners will devote the time and effort required to work effectively together only if the value of doing so is clear to them, which requires that, together, we identify mutual needs and expectations and satisfy them.The program's partnership strategy addresses these concerns locally, nationally, regionally and globally, tailoring our approach to the specific needs of the partnerships operating in each.We recognize that, while all program partners need to be engaged with respect and careful understanding of mutual interests, strengths and constraints, not all partners will be equally involved in the program. To assist in understanding and managing these differences, we envisage three main types of partner engagement:  demonstrated commitment to gender, knowledge sharing and learning, and capacity development. Annex 5 details contributions made by selected partners, including co-funding and leveraging expectations.General partners will contribute additional expertise, skills and experience that are important for the success of the program but can be secured from alternative sources. These partners bring a wide spectrum of constituencies and skills to the program, but their engagement will be less intensive than that of key partners, and they will not have a role in planning globally or, generally, nationally. They may, however, play important roles in planning and implementation at the hub and project level. Criteria used to identify general partners include: a clear expression of willingness to engage in the program and in the research-in-development approach; capacity and willingness to align their work in AAS with the program's goals; commitment and engagement to improved rural development policy and/or practice, including in subsectors of interest; demonstrated appreciation of the wider context within which agricultural development takes place and the need to engage effectively with it to achieve long-term change; demonstrated commitment to gender, knowledge sharing and learning, and capacity development.The proponents of CRP 1.3 have already drawn heavily on this approach to partnership in the design of the program proposal, adapting it to the specific needs of the program locally, nationally, regionally and globally. We continue to develop these partnerships through ongoing discussions with a range of institutions, and these discussions will be intensified when the program is launched. To implement our transformative gender strategy, we have outlined a gender partnership network with expertise and experience in this area in Annex 2b.CRP 1.3 will identify core, key and general partners at different geographical scales. We recognize that there will be differences among partners in the breadth of their engagement in the program. Most core partners will be engaged only in one country, or even one hub, while some of the key implementing partners will be engaged in multiple hubs and several countries, playing critical roles in [50] scaling out the results of the program through their wider presence in other countries and AAS. The approach to working with these partners at these different scales is described below.Local and national. We will work through local and national partners to deliver the program in each country and hub, including field research, scaling and capacity development. We have worked with stakeholders already in identifying whose mandates and interests align strongly with those of CRP 1.3. These discussions are well advanced but will continue as program implementation proceeds. Key partners have made commitments in principle to engage in the program (Annex 5), and these commitments will be converted into formal agreements when the program moves toward implementation. In discussions with these partners, we have focused on identifying mutual needs and expectations, i.e., how the partners expect to benefit from the program and what the program expects from the partners in return. The generic roles of partners in achieving outputs, outcomes and impacts is detailed in the sections of this report on the research framework and themes (section 6) and impact pathways (section 5). Some will partner actively in research, others will manage development projects through which the program will scale out, and still others will build links in the wider development policy arena. The contribution of different partners in Bangladesh is summarized in Table 5 to illustrate how the program will work with partners nationally. WorldFish has established partnerships with SAVE, CARE and ACDI/VOCA (all key partners) and will pursue action research with each in specific hubs and scale out the learning for CRP 1.3. We will expand this partnership to other international NGOs as funding permits.National NGOsSeveral of the world's largest NGOs engage directly with rural communities in Bangladesh. Because of their capacity, all international NGOs work with and often through national NGOs, and CRP 1.3 will also do so, building on our existing collaboration with the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) and the Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service as key partners and with many others. This will include supporting the agricultural technology capacity of these agencies. As CRP 1.3 develops, we will expand CGIAR collaboration with national NGOs, working in the same fashion as with international NGO partners.Bangladesh has a rich university community, and CRP 1.3 will work closely with it on selected research issues. Initially, we will conduct research individually with Bangladesh Agriculture University, Khulna University and Rajshahi University, as well as through the Krishi Foundation and the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Forum, which coordinate agriculture and fisheries research, respectively, on behalf of a consortium of agricultural universities. In addition, we will work with the Bangladesh training and planned graduate program in Dhaka of the International Institute for Environment and Development.The program will monitor the success of our partnerships by tracking partnership performance indicators. These will include: the inclusion of CRP 1.3 components in country investment plans and priorities; the subsequent adjustment of CRP 1.3 engagement in light of these plans and priorities; partners' expression of how their program role helps them achieve their mandates and objectives; the capacity of partners to deliver to stakeholders goods and services consistent with CRP 1.3; the number of successful technologies, processes and approaches jointly developed; and the number of publications coauthored by partners from focal countries.Regional. Strong partnerships with regional bodies are important for disseminating the program's lessons, to inform and influence their policies and practices, and for scaling out to other countries with similar AAS. To this end, regional organizations have been engaged in designing and writing the program proposal and will play important roles in scaling out. [52]Similarly, the program will develop collaboration on research themes and issues with a range of advanced research institutes (ARIs). Discussions with a limited number of ARIs were held during the initial development phase of the program, and the strengths that some of these institutes will bring to our work are summarized in Table 6. The program will, however, seek to work with a wider range of ARIs and appropriate partnerships will be developed with them as the program moves toward implementation. Annex 6 summarizes where we see these ARIs contributing to the research themes of the program and shows where we expect these partnerships to build on existing collaboration and where new partnerships will need to be developed. It is relatively easy to identify partners, and even to enlist their support in developing programs that show promise. The more difficult challenge is to nurture this collaboration in ways that make partnerships mutually productive. To help achieve this, CRP 1.3 focuses on identifying the shared agendas and mutual needs that are the foundation of successful partnerships. We recognize that partnerships will deliver on shared agendas and meet mutual needs only if they are sustained by mutual trust built on transparency, communication and a record of quality performance. Achieving this will require substantial investment as the program moves to implementation. This will include a sustained focus on coordination together with investment in relationship building, communication, performance management, and the effective use of explicit agreements between the program and our partners. The importance of coordination across the program is reflected in the governance and management structure proposed for the program (section 15), with substantial focus on management and coordination mechanisms both globally and nationally.At this stage, it is impossible to identify all details of partnership arrangements for CRP 1.3, but we can say that the agreements between the program and its partners will have the following key elements:  The role of each partner will be clearly specified at the hub, country or other geographic level, including research, development, capacity building and funding contribution. The mechanisms for pursuing this role will be identified, including funding sources and budgets, and the resource and budgetary contributions of CRP 1.3 and the partner will be itemized. Outputs and outcomes required from the partner will be specified together with specific contributions required from the program. The timeframe for delivering outputs and outcomes will be specified, as will review mechanisms. Indicators of performance will be specified, building on those set out earlier in this section.These formal agreements provide an important administrative architecture for the program. However, the highly networked nature of the program's approach requires an investment in partnerships that goes well beyond them. They will need to be accompanied by substantial investment in a range of communication and capacity-development efforts. Significant numbers of staffers from a great diversity of organizations, research disciplines, and national and regional cultures will need to be supported in working toward the common objectives of the program, albeit normally at dispersed locations and doing different research. The program has provided for the investment in communication and capacity development that this will require both to improve program implementation and to help build the community of practice required for scaling out the program's approach. In addition, we recognize that partnerships and networks are dynamicforming, growing and changing as required to address particular needs. CRP 1.3 will work with its partners to manage this complexity.[54]The program's commitment to working through partnership is reflected in the program budget, as 21% of the total budget managed by CRP 1.3 has been earmarked for expenditure through partners. As shown in Annex 5, however, expenditures through partners is modest in comparison with the funds that we seek to leverage through the partnership approach. In view of this still modest volume of funding, and in line with the program's focus on leveraging development impact through carefully targeted research in development, the focus of CRP 1.3 expenditure through partners will be on research they carry out, training to facilitate this research and the use of the outputs, and participation in program-level activities such as participatory assessments, M&E and knowledge sharing. Programmanaged funds will not be used for development activities, as partners will pursue these activities using other funding, including that leveraged by program activities but managed directly by partners.The three CGIAR research programs (CRPs) focusing on integrated agricultural systems share the core premise that the CGIAR can deliver greater benefits to the poor and vulnerable living in specific zones if it adopts a more effective approach to integrating the resources, skills and energy of its 15 Centers and the other 14 CRPs. Considerable efforts have been made to pursue such integration through the design of the CRPs, and substantial progress has resulted. However, this progress is variable and likely to remain so until the practical challenges of achieving integration are addressed in the first years of CRP implementation. This is especially so for CRPs such as CRP1.3 that address issues or systems that have generally not been the focus of previous CGIAR attempts at integration and/or pursue especially innovative approaches to engagement in these systems. We have sought to take account for this in the timeframe for program implementation (Section 14).The current status of Center and CRP integration in CRP1.3 is summarized in Tables 6 and 7 and can best be described as work in progress. Substantial investment has been made by individual scientists from several Centers through engagement in national consultations and in design and writing workshops. Our current assessment is that this will translate into the effective integration sought through the subsequent engagement of appropriate Centers and Challenge Programs in the design and implementation of detailed program activities in focal countries and hubs. Accordingly, program design and budget set out specific activities to achieve this, including in particular the engagement of appropriate CGIAR Centers and Challenge Programs for participatory diagnosis at the national and hub level. Table 6 provides an initial indication of the science that each Center and Challenge Program will bring to CRP 1.3, together with the current status of mechanisms to achieve this integration. Annex 7 expands on this for four Centers.For some areas of CGIAR work, Centers believe that meaningful integration can best be achieved through collaboration between CRPs. We agree with this in principle but will test this hypothesis during program implementation by carefully defining and monitoring performance indicators. Table 7 details our current assessment of the scope for collaboration between CRP 1.3 and other CRPs and the contribution that each can make and proposes mechanisms for achieving integration. First indications are that integration will be strongest between CRP 1.3 and CRP 3 (commodities) where there is clear synergy between these programs at nationally. This is especially so in Bangladesh, where intensive collaboration pursued there in 2010 by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT by its Spanish abbreviation) and WorldFish has spawned the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), described in Box 7. In effect, this initiative brings together CRPs 1.3, 3.1 (wheat) and 3.3 (rice) and the Centers engaged in them, as well as the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) through another project funded by the same donor, the United States Agency for International Development. Similar integration will be needed in other focal countries where cereals are an important component of AAS. We anticipate [55] close collaboration between CRPs 1.3 and 3.7 (livestock and fish), especially in Uganda, which will be the focus for fish value chain research in CRP 3.7 and be developed as a focal country for CRP 1.3 from 2012. Discussions to pursue this have already been held with stakeholders in Uganda. There will be strong synergies between CRP 1.3 and CRP 7 (climate change), again especially in Bangladesh, where the Indo-Gangetic plain is a focus for CRP 7. Frameworks and methodologies will be exchanged in the areas of vulnerability analysis and climate change adaptation technologies, institutions and processes, both in Bangladesh and in CRP 7 regional programs in Africa (which do not currently overlap geographically with CRP1.3), as well as regarding the IPGs expected in the areas of vulnerability and adaptation. CRP 1.3 will pursue a number of mechanisms to build on this initial progress in developing synergies with other CRPs and integrating the capacities of Centers. These are referred to in Tables 7 and 8 and include the following: Engaging other CRPs and Centers in participatory diagnoses in focal countries and program hubs will build on the commitment of Bioversity, CIAT, the International Livestock Research Institute and IWMI to participate in these diagnoses. An excellent example of collaboration with other CRPs in designing and implementing grantfunded projects is the participation of the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP), CRP 3.2 (maize) and CRP 1.3 in the CSISA project in Bangladesh. CRPs and Centers will participate in annual program forums and other scientific events held under the auspices of CRP 1.3. CRP 1.3 scientists and partners will participate in events organized by other CRPs.  To achieve impact at these multiple scales, effective knowledge sharing and learning are essential. Specifically, we need to build upon existing knowledge, create new knowledge, and find effective ways of linking that knowledge to action that achieves impact.Recognizing the importance of this work, the program has developed a research theme dedicated to knowledge sharing and learning. Building on this research the present section describes how we will work to share the knowledge and learning that the program generates. Delivering this commitment will take significant financial and human resources, as well as shared engagement by all partners. Without this investment, the program will not achieve the innovation and transformational impacts we seek.Knowledge sharing and learning are critical aspects of the planning, design and implementation of research in development. Program partners will work according to the following principles:  Communication products must be relevant, accurate, clear, concise, consistent and timely. Knowledge sharing and learning processes must be participatory and inclusive, with an iterative process of dialogue providing options for engagement. Our work must respect the different values, gender, opinions and technological limitations of stakeholders. We must complement, inform and support other communication, knowledge sharing and learning activities, as well as encourage stakeholders to bring additional voices into program dialogue. We must build on a diversity of existing social networks and communication, knowledge sharing and learning channels.The program's theory of change highlights the complexity of the environments the program will work in and the diverse audiences that need to be engaged in program implementation. Reflecting this complexity, the program will recognize primary, secondary and tertiary audiences from among the large number of actors we will engage. These target audiences cannot be specified at this stage, but an important step in the participatory diagnoses in focal countries and hubs will be identifying target audiences from among our multiple program partners; beneficiaries; local, regional and national governments; and other policymakers in the wider development arena, the private sector, media, and the NGO community.The program will work at the system level, taking into account the range of actors who have a stake in developing these AAS systems. We will be guided by learning from recent efforts to improve the planning and implementation of knowledge sharing and learning in research and development. A great deal of learning has arisen from these initiatives, including  emphasizing knowledge sharing and learning aimed at enhancing the capacity of all the actors so that they can bring about innovation;[67] bringing together the partners required to integrate knowledge from technology, social mobilization, dissemination and training strategies, business, credit delivery, marketing, and policy; integrating learning as a management tool in all projects; and  engaging pro-actively with the policy systems to enhance the chances that improved knowledge will lead to policy change. No single approach is promoted by these initiatives. Rather, they highlight the importance of promoting a diverse set of knowledge-sharing approaches.Our investment in participatory knowledge sharing and joint learning will be supplemented with interventions that invite, rather than require, participation and that catalyze dialogue within communities in pursuit of collective action. This builds on the program approach described in section 4, in which we explicitly look to blur the line between the researcher and the researched.From the outset, we will design an evaluation system for the knowledge-sharing and learning component of the program. This will use both quantitative and qualitative indicators, including measuring early-stage awareness of challenges and opportunities, stakeholder involvement, the development of sustained and effective leadership, information equity, a sense of ownership, social cohesion, and social norms. This M&E will be developed and implemented jointly with program partners and the end-users of the knowledge-sharing and learning efforts.The partners implementing the program will use both traditional and innovative communication processes and products that are inclusive, relevant, accurate, consistent and timely. This will help to ensure that the program's knowledge flows freely both within the domains of the program and in the wider development context. In this way, knowledge sharing and learning will be dynamic and ongoing.Table 9 outlines very broad categories of key target audiences and some indicative processes and products from an array of information and communication technologies and social media that partners have identified during project design as potentially relevant and useful. However, it is understood that, to be truly effective and stimulate social change, the final identification of appropriate knowledgesharing and learning tools and tactics must be part of the participatory diagnostics planned for each focal country and hub in the early stages of implementation. Doing this can better cater for the different needs of target audiences in their social, educational and cultural contexts.[68] The program will focus in the first instance on the major AAS of the Asian mega deltas, the Asia-Pacific islands of the Coral Triangle and African freshwater systems. In each of these systems, we will work directly in only a few countries where the needs and opportunities to deliver the program are high. Our choice of countries has considered the extent of AAS in each, their importance to the rural economy, the degree of commitment to implementing the program and the quality of partnerships for scaling out (Table 10). In addition, we have sought to start the program by working in countries where implementation can move ahead rapidly and where we already have strong capacity to work with partners to this end. For this reason, the program will begin in five countries where there is already strong operational capacity in place in the offices of the lead Center.In the Asian mega deltas we will work in Bangladesh and Cambodia and, in 2012, extend to India and Vietnam. In Bangladesh, fertile alluvial floodplains cover some 80% of the country and the AAS they support dominate the rural economy. Most of Bangladesh's 16 million rural farm households rely on [69] these agricultural systems for a combination of rice farming, fishing, and rearing household livestock or vegetable cultivation. Over 60% of farming families are poor or vulnerable to poverty (Annex 5, Figures A1 and A2), and large parts of the delta are exposed to cyclones and sea level rise.About 30% of Cambodia is covered by permanent water bodies or areas that are inundated during the flood season. Rice production and fisheries predominate in these areas, with rice grown by 70% of the rural population and fisheries providing income for 46% of the total population of 14.5 million people. Many of these rural households are poor (Annex 5, Figure A3), and stunting is common. Many farming households are unable to grow enough rice and seek income from fishing, poultry, livestock, other crops and wage labor to increase their income and ensure their food security.Regarding the Asia-Pacific islands, we will work first in the Philippines and Solomon Islands, extending subsequently into Indonesia and the countries of the Pacific through partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Nationally, the Philippines has a more diverse economy and less poverty than any of the other focal countries, but many of the provinces remain poor and vulnerable (Annex 5, Figure A4). With their extensive coastlines and heavy reliance on agriculture and fisheries in rural areas, these provinces find AAS central to their economies. As a small island state, Solomon Islands consist largely of coastal and aquatic ecosystems, with AAS dominating the rural economy. Three-quarters of Solomon islanders are subsistence smallholders and fishers, with 71% of women and 53% of men engaged in subsistence agriculture, and 50% of women and 90% of men engaged in fishing. In this subsistence economy, 23% of the population lives below the poverty line, and there is substantial interisland migration in search of employment (Annex 5).[70] Regarding Africa's inland systems, the program will start in Zambia but seek to extend to Uganda and Mali by 2012. Zambia's rivers and lakes cover 20% of the country; support extensive agriculture, fisheries and livestock production; and provide livelihoods for 3 million people, or 25% of the country's population. Poverty remains persistently high in the provinces dominated by AAS, with 83% living below the poverty line in Western Province, 79% in Luapula District and 73% in Kafue District. Similarly, vulnerability to malnutrition, poor access to social services and disease are particularly high there (Annex 5, Figure A6).A broad range of AAS is represented in the program countries. The mix of fish, livestock, crops and off-farm activities is distinctive in each case. Fish enter the systems through salt and freshwater capture fisheries and aquaculture. Aquaculture encompasses a variety of production systems, from fish to shrimp. Livestock are present in Asia mainly as smaller animals such as poultry and pigs, while cows and goats are much more important in the African systems. Farming is variable, ranging from subsistence staple crop production to market-oriented vegetable production. Cropping systems range from very humid irrigated to drought-prone rainfed. Depending on infrastructure and other support services, households offer labor and other services off the farm. This variability provides important opportunities for the comparative analysis of the needs, opportunities and achievements at the different sites. As described in section 6 the AAS we will work in present a variety of challenges and opportunities. The program will learn from these commonalities and differences across the focal countries and hubs and thereby develop an important body of IPGs (section 6.5; table 5).The program's emphasis on research in development brings with it the commitment to places and relationships that is required to establish the trust and cooperation essential for implementing an action research approach. To this end, the program's engagement in program countries will be focused through research in development hubs. We define a hub as -a geographic location providing a focus for innovation, learning and impact through action research.‖ A hub typically has fairly homogenous biophysical characteristics and production systems and presents a set of common challenges, opportunities and intervention points. It generally aligns with administrative units, either provinces or districts. Our choice of hubs in each country focuses the program in those areas where dependence on AAS and poverty are both high. Figure 7 shows the location of hubs in Zambia. The locations of the hubs in other focal countries and summary descriptions of each are shown in Annex 5.In each hub, the program will work with partners to identify communities and sites to be the foci of our direct research investment. At each of these sites, we will conduct participatory diagnoses with selected communities and households, and our work will build upon this to provide a basis for longterm learning with the communities in each area. We will develop learning alliances with all key stakeholders in the hubs and use participatory impact mapping to guide our investments in partnerships, capacity building and knowledge management and learning.In some hubs there are currently no CGIAR activities, but in others there is a strong CGIAR presence.Where current CGIAR projects contribute directly to addressing the development challenges in the hub and meeting the objectives of CRP 1.3, we will engage with them closely. The precise modalities will need to be determined as the program moves forward. In some cases, projects may be fully integrated into CRP 1.3; in other cases, integration may be limited to using the technologies developed. The focus of CRP 1.3 in these hubs will be to build linkages between projects and add new projects where possible, seeking to target and link them more effectively and emphasize learning at the systems level.This approach will benefit from the ongoing work of CIMMYT, IRRI and WorldFish to strengthen integrated cereal systems in Bangladesh under the CSISA, the CPWF for the Ganges Delta, and WorldFish work on the Greater Harvest and Economic Returns from Shrimp (GHERS) component of the program Poverty Reduction by Increasing the Competitiveness of Enterprises. These programs are [71] already testing the hub approach, but CRP 1.3 will further test the approach in other regions of Bangladesh and other focal countries, while expanding the approach to place greater emphasis on action research and embrace a wider set of development partners, perspectives and crops. Box 5 describes how we are already working to bring together a several CGIAR projects in the Khulna hub of Bangladesh and how we envisage CRP 1.3 expanding and adding value to this. In hubs where there is currently no CGIAR research, we will develop it by exploring various partnership modalities, in all cases looking for cost-effective ways of working and considering the sustainability of any institutional arrangements and development outcomes and impacts. [72] provision and facilitate the delivery of embedded extension services and advice as part of commercial transactions. This latter approach is similar to that adopted by the GHERS project, which works with the owners of shrimp collection depots, hatcheries and testing laboratories to improve the science they draw upon and trains their staff. This work reaches 22,580 shrimp and prawn producers with extension messages that can improve productivity, increase on-farm integration, and deliver high-quality shrimp post-larvae and improved management practices that reduce the incidence of shrimp disease.The CPWF GBDC is centered on the Khulna hub, where it focuses on reducing poverty and strengthening food security and livelihood resilience in coastal areas through improved water governance and management and more productive and diversified farming systems. This program provides an important platform upon which CRP 1.3 will build. In particular, two GBDC projects will develop resilient agriculture-aquaculture production systems and improved water governance and management in polders. The applied participatory research carried out in these projects will complement and inform training and extension carried out under CSISA. Similarly, two other GBDC projects will enhance stakeholders' ability to predict and plan around future hydrological changes in the coastal zone that will frame the future form of agriculture there. As the lead Center for CRP 1.3, WorldFish has been tasked by the CPWF with coordinating the integration of these four projects with other research and development investments in Khulna. This is now being done in close alignment with CRP 1.3 impact pathways, seeking to enhance impacts through communication, stakeholder participation, policy dialogue and effective coordination among the government, NGOs, and CGIAR-and donor-sponsored projects and programs, ensuring that gender and diversity are mainstreamed at all stages of implementation.As we move toward implementation, CRP 1.3 will add value to these existing efforts and contribute to further impacts in the Khulna hub. We will establish space for knowledge sharing among these programs through engagement with program implementers and beneficiaries. We will do this by using participatory diagnosis and ex-ante impact assessment to identify where additional research and expanded development partnerships can strengthen and/or complement existing research programs. Each of these programs has an M&E system, so where feasible CRP 1.3 will develop its M&E system to compliment the others and to identify areas for future research investment as the results of the CSISA, CPWF and GHERS programs are analyzed and gaps and future directions are examined.[73]CRP 1.3 has been designed to achieve greater impact at scale by working effectively in partnership with governments, national and international NGOs, and other stakeholders. To this end, our partnership strategy provides an overall framework that we have applied during proposal development to engage partners and reflect their interests, perspectives and capacities in program design (section 9).Our approach to scaling up to the national level depends heavily on the success of this partnership approach. In each focal country, we have identified a first set of core partners, including the government and large NGOs, with whom the program will work. All of these partners manage major agriculture and rural development programs that have the capacity to benefit large numbers of people. By aligning the investments of CRP 1.3 with these partners, we will achieve impact at multiple levels.We will do so through four steps:1. Pursuing action research in selected communities where partners are working will inform the development approach taken in these areas and improve the choice and use of technologies and methodologies.2. Fostering linkages between partner projects that we work with in the same hub will allow them to share the learning achieved in each.3. We will expand from these projects to develop learning networks combining all projects and partners in each hub.4. Harnessing the learning from networks in all hubs and distilling recommendations and other guidance will support the emergence of national policy and practice.The four stages in this process are summarized in Figure 8. ), (ii) fostering linkages between projects, (iii) building learning networks and (iv) harnessing learning for impact on national policy 13 Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact Assessment CRP 1.3 aspires to deliver development outcomes and impacts through a research-in-development process driven by a learning culture. In taking this approach, we will place strong emphasis on M&E and impact assessment within the program and adopt a suite of best practice tools. We will apply the principles of results-based management (Meier 2003) (Annex 8 has more details). We anticipate that the CGIAR will require certain monitoring information for performance evaluation and will tailor our plans to gather that information as well.[74]The program's M&E and impact assessment will be rooted in the impact pathways developed during the inception phase in each country and hub (section 6.3). As described there and in section 5, the program seeks to understand the pathways out of poverty for poor and vulnerable women and men in each hub, and our partnerships are tailored to help them move along these pathways. As described in detail in section 7 and Annex 2, we will use gendered participatory diagnoses and ex-ante assessments to identify key constraints in each hub and agree on a theory of change and a research agenda. This process will also be used to identify the process, output, outcome and impact indicators for monitoring the performance of the program in achieving research and development outcomes, the success of our partnerships, and ultimately our success in achieving impact.The distribution of benefits by project interventions need to be analyzed by elaborating the overall framework of asset and income poverty, marginalization and vulnerability to formulate indicators which can measure changes in differentiated and dynamic categories of poor (such as the chronic and transient) and non-poor. Gender-disaggregated baseline data will be collected for these social categories in each hub. Our indicators which take into account the material dimension of wellbeing will include measures of poverty, food security, nutritional health, health, food consumption, diet diversity, and ecosystem health. Indicators which asses the social and institutional dimensions will include education, health, social capital and policy. The psychological and cultural dimension will be explored through indicators on perceptions of satisfaction and aspirations for change. Gender and age-disaggregated baseline data for these indicators collected in each hub. Follow-up data will be collected during the course of the program to monitor progress and assess ex-post impact. Many of the indicators will give prominence to gender equity (see table 1 and Annex 2). Wherever possible, the program will build on existing surveys carried out through projects already working in the location. In most cases, however, new surveys will have to be conducted.The program's M&E team will use baseline and monitoring data to prepare annual program reports and other analyses as required. Special focus will be placed on providing these materials for annual program reviews at the hub and country level and at the biennial Program Forum. These reviews and other information on program management will help refine the program and adjust implementation as required. The reviews will form an important part of the program's annual reporting to the Program Oversight Panel and the Boards of both the Lead Center and the Consortium.The program will build on the monitoring process to conduct periodic evaluations at the hub and country levels. We anticipate that some of these evaluations and assessments will be conducted through the CGIAR's independent procedures, or by those mandated by granting bodies. These external evaluations and assessments will be able to draw on those conducted internally by the program's M&E team. We will build upon our research-in-development focus to pursue innovative quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods with beneficiaries and development partners. The participatory approach that we propose seeks to foster the sustainability of community-based initiatives by fostering upward commitment from participants and, through this, develop an enabling environment (Mansuri and Rao 2003). The techniques we use to pursue participatory impact evaluation will be adapted to the specific needs of each hub.14 Timeframe CRP 1.3 will be implemented through a staged process of engagement in each of the focal AAS and countries. The proposal development period has already seen this process start with intensive dialogue with partners in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Philippines, Solomons and Zambia. This has allowed the identification of first priorities, specification of partners' roles, and generation of enthusiasm and commitment. As the program begins, the highest priority will be placed on delivery in these focal countries and so build on the momentum established. Steps in this process will include convening an inception workshop in each country, confirming agreements with project partners, establishing a[75]program management committee and management unit, and commencing participatory diagnosis in each hub; ongoing research projects will continue and new projects will be started.Establishing the program in the first focal countries will be the primary focus of year 1. This will be followed in years 2 and 3 with roll out to other focal countries as indicated in Table 11. The precise timing of expansion to these focal countries will, of course, depend on the final budget approved for the programwith the expectation that, by the end of year 3, the program will be fully functioning in the first five focal countries and the initial stages of implementation will be completed in the other five. The precise modalities of this will vary from country to country, with the greatest emphasis placed on Uganda and Mali. In parallel with the program's launch nationally, the first year will require substantial investment to establish governance and management arrangements and procedures. Establishing the Program Management Committee and management unit will be a priority for all participating Centers and the lead Center in particular. A detailed work plan for the first year will be prepared in the first 2 months following program approval.In launching the program, careful attention will be paid to ensuring a smooth transition from the existing portfolio of Center research projects, which are largely managed independently and across a wider range of countries than the program's focused approach proposes. Similarly, the program begins with a rich set of existing partnerships that will need to evolve as the work develops.We will build on this foundation by converting existing projects, partnerships, management arrangements and modes of operating to a more networked, cross-sectoral approach to addressing AAS research and governance. Progress will proceed in a number of steps as existing projects run their course and contractual obligations are met. As the program evolves, we will increasingly move to collaborative and interlocked projects that jump the disciplinary boundaries that have slowed rural development. This transition will proceed in different ways in different countries and production systems. In some systems and places, the legacies of entrenched ways of working in governments and research providers will take time to unwind. Others are primed to transform and will progress more quickly. We will use the participatory diagnosis process outlined above to prioritize CRP 1.3 investment in convening new partnerships and collaborations at the national and project level.[76]The governance and management arrangements for CRP 1.3 are designed to provide the necessary clarity and quality of oversight and management required to effectively implement the program and achieve the outcomes and impacts described. The intent is to provide an environment where the resources of the program are focused on achieving the programs objectives, rather than being diverted by complex administrative arrangements. We have sought to avoid a bureaucratic, top down management structure to facilitate efficiency and reflect the collaborative intent of the program. To assist in this we have used the following criteria as a guide:  Clarity of governance roles and accountabilities, including roles of the Consortium Board and Lead Center;  Strong program leadership;  Simplest possible management architecture to minimize transaction costs;  Clarity on role of partners;  Effective integration of other CRPs and CGIAR Centers;  Clarity on procedures for managing conflicts of interest.The Governance and Management structure for the program is presented in Figure 10 and described below.Consortium Board. The Consortium Board will establish a performance contract with the Lead Center, and will monitor progress against this. The Board will also support participating Centers in fund raising for the program where appropriate.Lead Center. The Lead Center is responsible for managing the program and will serve as the primary interlocutor between the program and the Consortium Board and Fund. The WorldFish Center is the Lead Center for CRP 1.3. and will be accountable to the Consortium Board for program implementation as set out in the performance contract between the Board and the Lead Center. The WorldFish Board of Trustees will be fully accountable for the successful implementation of the program and for performance against contractual obligations. Under this arrangement the WorldFish Board will oversee execution of the program performance contract and account to the Consortium Board on financial and management issues. In doing so the WorldFish Board will, in line with standards set out by the Consortium Board, establish a monitoring and evaluation framework for the management of the program. This will establish milestones and quality indicators against which the management of the program can be judged and adapted.Program Oversight Panel. To keep governance structures as simple as possible and reduce transaction costs, the program will combine the roles of a program oversight (more traditionally allocated to a Steering Committee) and scientific review (more traditionally allocated to Science Advisory Panel). The Program Oversight Panel (POP) will be appointed by the Lead Center to play this role. Membership of the POP will be established through a nomination process that seeks input from all CGIAR Centers and core and key partners. The POP will have a Chair, and seven members. Membership will consist of internationally recognized scientists and practitioners with particular strengths in science in development approaches and in the integrated management of agricultural systems. Membership will be balanced in terms of disciplinary mix, gender and diversity, and will include one seat for a representative of the Lead Center (normally the Director General or Board member), and one representative of other CGIAR Centers. The Chair will be appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Lead Center but will not be a member of staff or member of the Board of Trustees of any Center. POP members will normally be appointed for 3 years, but terms of 2-4 years will be used in the first instance to establish a staggered turnover in membership. The Chair will serve for two years. The members of the POP may be renewed once based on a recommendation from the Chair of [77] the POP. The POP will normally meet twice each year with one of these meetings virtual where possible. More frequent meetings may however be needed in the first years of the program. The POP will report to the WorldFish Board after each meeting. The Chair of the Panel will attend one meeting of the WorldFish Board each year and provide an annual report to the Board at that meeting. The POP will be responsible for providing oversight of the approach and implementation of the program. This will include review of annual and medium term program plans, together with review of annual reports and other major documents prepared by the program. These reviews will be conducted through robust interactions with the Program Management Team and (after revision as necessary) will be forwarded to the Board of Trustees of the Lead Center with recommendations for approval or amendment. The POP will also oversee the monitoring and evaluation process for the program on behalf of the Board of Trustees and recommend external reviews and course correction when necessary. The POP will also advise on where to build linkages and synergies with ongoing learning from related fields and activities of partner networks.Program Leader. The Lead Center will appoint a Program Leader (PL) who will be responsible for day to day implementation of the overall program and serve as the primary spokesperson for CRP 1.3. The PL will have decision-making authority with respect to day-to-day operations of the program. They will report to the POP and be under the day to day supervision of the Director General of the Lead Center. The annual performance review of the PL will be conducted jointly by the Director General of the Lead Center and the Chair of the POP. In fulfilling their role the PL will work with and through a Program Leadership Team and a Program Support Unit described below.Program Leadership Team. The purpose of the Program Leadership Team (PLT) is to assist the PL and POP in ensuring scientific and operational coherence across the program as it is implemented. To this end the PLT will consist of one representative of each participating CGIAR Center, an equal number of representatives from partners, and Country Program Managers (see below). The PL will chair the PLT. The PLT will meet four times a year with at least two of these being face to face meetings, one of which will be in conjunction with the meeting of the POP. The PLT will develop appropriate reporting processes for the program and will review and approve annual and medium term workplans for submission to the POP and WorldFish Board of Trustees. They will also propose allocation of resources to countries, research themes and other program activities and oversee development and implementation of the program's fundraising plans. Finally the Committee will work with the POP in planning the meetings of the Panel, in convening the bi-annual Program Forum, and in organizing other events as appropriate.Program Support Unit. The Program Support Unit (PSU) will consist of 3-5 program staff with responsibilities for coordination of activities across Center and other partners, and preparation of proposals, workplans, and reports. Where possible PMU staff will be drawn from across the participating Centers and partners, but collocated at the Lead Center. The PSU will work with the Consortium Office (unit to be developed to support the Board and Consortium CEO in CRP portfolio performance management) in the management of the program.A CPC will be established in each focal country and will oversee and coordinate implementation of program there. The CPC will consist of representatives of NARS partners, all participating CGIAR Centers and partner CRPs, and core NGO partners. The CPC will be chaired by a representative from the NARS partners.A CMT will be established in each focal country and will be responsible for managing program implementation there. The CPT will consist of 4-6 program staff with responsibilities for implementation of activities in each country, including preparation of proposals, workplans, and reports. Where possible, CPT staff will be drawn from across the participating Centers and partners. They will be supported by a Country Program Support Unit (CPSU).[78]. A CPM will be appointed from amongst participating Centers to lead the CPT, manage the CPSU and oversee program implementation at country level. The CPM will forge close links with the PMU and overall management of the program through participation in the PLT.The Program Forum will be convened every two years to review program implementation together partners from focal countries. This will serve to review progress in each country and globally, agree priority science issues and identify common challenges and seek solutions. Most important the Forum will also serve as critical mechanism for cross program learning that is a central part of the program's approach. Other CRPs will be invited to engage in the Forum in order to foster learning and synergies across the CRPs. The Forum will be held to coincide with a meeting of the POP and will rotate between focal countries. In addition the program will organize a number of thematic workshops each year to pursue specific science or operational issues such as gender mainstreaming, capacity development, partnership engagement, and impact assessment.Where appropriate these will be designed to inter-alia foster cross learning between CRP 1.3, 1.2, and 1.1 and with other CRPs.As the program progresses conflicts amongst partners will be referred to the Program Management Committee in the first instance. When they cannot be resolved at that level the issue will then be referred to the Chair of the POP if they concern programmatic issues and to the Director General of the Lead Center if they concern fiduciary, legal or reputational issues. If necessary the Board of Trustees of the Lead Center will be consulted, and the issue may, where appropriate, be referred to them. Only when the conflict cannot be resolved at these levels will it be referred to the Consortium Board. 16 Managing Risk CRP 1.3 has been designed to embrace the spirit and purpose of the CGIAR reform process. To this end, it seeks to work in new ways and target some of the world's poorest people in agricultural systems that have received only fragmented attention from the CGIAR and the wider agricultural research community. For these and other reasons, CRP 1.3 faces substantial risks: partnership, management, political, governance, physical and financial.To help manage these risks, the program will develop a comprehensive risk inventory in which risks are defined and classified by their likelihood and potential adverse impact (see Table 12). This inventory will identify the key factors driving each risk, suggest potential mitigating factors, define warning indicators and designate risk owners whose job it is to manage that risk. The risk inventory will be reviewed annually in a joint process between CRP 1.3 and host center governance and management.Several of the risks are generic to the new Consortium program and funding mechanism. Others reflect the particular complexity of the CRP 1.3 focus on integrated agricultural systems. Nine particularly significant risks have already been identified and are described below. They will receive particular attention in the first stages of the program.1. CRP 1.3 seeks to raise CGIAR Center collaboration to a new level in a system in which many Centers have worked together only sporadically and superficially. Given the demand placed on all Centers by the CGIAR change-management process, the path of least resistance for all Centers will be to revert to more traditional forms of cooperation in systems where they have greater experience. The risk of inadequate engagement in CRP 1.3 from Centers with appropriate expertise but conflicting demands is therefore high.2. For its first few years, the program will be required to transition through a phase in which Centers continue to implement their portfolios of research under previously signed research, much of which is in countries that have not been identified as focal countries for CRP 1.3. This will unavoidably disperse effort in the first stages of the program but needs to be kept within manageable limits.3. CRP 1.3 is a complex program that will require strong management capacity and a quantum increase in the culture of collaboration across CGIAR Centers. In the absence of this capacity and collaboration, the program cannot succeed.4. Partners need to engage in integrated approaches to managing AAS. Should they choose to pursue sectoral approaches, this will restrict the areas where the program can work.5. CRP 1.3 needs to be able to build coalitions with other development agents in the locations where it works to link its investments in research with the wider development context. Should this not happen, a core premise of CRP 1.3 will be undermined.6. We also need to be able to build effective partnerships at larger scale with the international development community so that the results of the program can be scaled out effectively. If this is not possible, the impacts of the CRP will be constrained.7. AAS are frequently affected by extreme weather events. The program has the risk of significant setbacks to implementation should disaster occur, requiring the program collaborators to focus elsewhere.8. The funding required for AAS is modest relative to other areas of investment in agricultural research but will nevertheless require significant increases in resources directed towards AAS. If [80] these resources are not forthcomingand insufficient investment is made in participatory processes, gender mainstreaming, capacity building, and knowledge management and learning that are at the core of the programthen it cannot succeed. 9. The program development process has generated great enthusiasm and energy for its work.Building on this effectively will be greatly facilitated by rapid implementation during 2011. If implementation is delayed, enthusiasm will dissipate, and the credibility of the program and its sponsors will be brought into question.These risks are significant and reflect the challenge the CGIAR faces in working in the new ways required to have greater impact. Managing these risks will require careful investment as the program is implemented, including steps to support the changes in behavior required. Our current assessment of the actions to be taken to manage the risks currently identified is provided in Table 12. The proposed three year budget (2011-2013) for CRP 1.3 is estimated at US$ 59 million. The annual budget figures presented are based on current best assessment of the activities required to implement the program according to the timeline specified in the proposal. These figures will need to be adjusted on a pro rata basis according to the precise start date of the program.Projected expenditure is shown according to major cost categories for each research theme, together with coordination and governance & management (Table 13 a, b, c). Table 14 a, b, c shows this expenditure according to major cost categories for each country, also together with coordination and governance & management. Expenditures according to cost categories, research themes, geography and CGIAR Centers and partners are summarized in Figures 11,12,13,14.[82]       In constructing the detailed budget for the first three years of the program we have also used our discussions with partners at country and hub level to construct a first budget for 2014-2016. At this stage we expect that this second three year phase of the program will expand our work in current focal countries by increasing the number of sites where we will operate, and expand to other countries most notably Uganda and Mali. The projected costs over this three year period are $85.5m, with $26.8m in 2014, $28.6m in 2015, and $30.1m in 2016. A summary breakdown of these costs is provided in Table 15. The main cost categories used in preparing the budget are described below.Personnel includes all CGIAR personnel that will be involved directly in the delivering the program. The figures provided therefore group together different categories of staff. The number of scientist years required for each research theme in the first three years of the program is summarized in Table 16. Travel includes all international and local travel for CGIAR staff.Operating expenses include non-equipment items or services purchased specifically to carry out the projects. It includes the costs of websites & publications.Training/Workshops include major workshops and training events, including those to be used for scoping, planning and review of program implementation. It includes costs (travel, per diems, etc) of participants and presenters. It excludes costs of time of CGIAR and partner personnel. The key events included in the country activity budgets, and country and hub coordination budgets, presented in Figure 14, are summarized in Table 17. Partners/collaborators includes all of the costs of engagement by institutional partners in the research dimensions of the program for which funding will be channeled through the program's management structure. This will include costs of partner's staff, their travel, and other operating costs. It does not include these costs in those instances where they are covered by matching funds that the partners bring to our partnership. It also does not include any consultancy costs.Consultancy includes the costs of hiring short-term expertise to support the program in specific areas of work where the CGIAR Centers and partners cannot provide this.[88]Capital and other equipment includes large specific capital items including cars, motorbikes, boats, and other equipment required for research. The key items included in the country activity budgets, and country and hub coordination budgets, presented in Figure 14, are summarized in Table 18.Computer equipment is included in operating expenses. The basic funding for the program (Table 19) is based on the following estimates: Basic unrestricted funding (from the Fund) equivalent to 2010 unrestricted funding received by the Centre and a 5% increase in 2012 and 2013;  Projected growth in grant funding according to best information available to participating Centers (including confirmed grants and growth projected using existing fund-raising processes at country and regional levels);  A funding gap that needs to be filled.It is understood that the Fund will be unable to contribute to filling the funding gap in 2011, and these funds will need to be found from restricted grants. The capacity to do this is limited given the timing, and the activities in 2011 will therefore need to be tailored to the funding that is available.For 2012 and 2013 the participating Centers will work with partners to also help meet the funding gap using additional restricted funding. However unrestricted funding from the Fund will play a critical role in supporting the work on gender, capacity building and knowledge management that lies at the [89] core of innovation in CRP 1.3. We therefore hope that the Fund will be able to allocate significant unrestricted funding to closing the gap in 2012 and 2013. We look to the Consortium Board and Fund Council for guidance on this. We also look forward to working with the Consortium Board to secure increased bilateral funding at national and regional level.In this reduced funding scenario (Table 20) the budget has been reduced by 20% overall. In the event that income does not meet the targeted levels in this scenario, we will proceed to reduce costs as follows: Delay roll out of the program in Uganda, Mali, India, Vietnam and Indonesia. With significantly reduced funding the program will have significantly fewer staff and other resources available to work with partners in scoping, designing and implementing the program's research. In view of this we will give priority to targeting these more limited resources are ensuring best possible start up of the program in the five focal countries. The program will only consider modifying this approach if there is an, as yet unidentified, increase in restricted funding for one of these countries that would allow increasing staff resources. Reduce scale of role out in first focal countries by engaging with a smaller number of hubs.Because of the reduced staff and resources described above we will also need to reduce the number of hubs that the program will engage with, and the number of sites in each. The specific hubs that will be given priority will be identified by the program team in each country. Priority will be given to covering a balanced set of development challenges and geographies, although the availability of restricted funding will also play a key role in these decisions. To give an idea of scale, a 20% cut is equivalent to halving our proposed program in Bangladesh or abandoning the program in Zambia in its entirety. In practice the program's flexibility in making these decisions will be influenced heavily by the mix of restricted and unrestricted funding, the former often tied to specific countries, and the latter allowing more strategic choices. Reduce investments in program coordination, including by appointing existing staff to lead and manage the program. Many current CGIAR staff will play a central role in the implementation of the program. However it is envisaged that additional staff will be hired. The scope to make these additional hires will be reduced in a -20% scenario, and a greater proportion of program tasks will be performed by existing staff. This will of course be subject to the skills required being available from amongst existing staff. Reduce investments in overall science coordination, including knowledge management, capacity building, gender mainstreaming and the distillation of IPGs. With a reduced research budget, reduced staff, and reduced activity, there will be a reduced requirement for these core areas of the program. This will however have to be handled especially carefully as the knowledge management, capacity development, and gender mainstreaming activities are essential for much of the innovation that the program seeks to bring. Special priority will therefore be given to fundraising for this work to ensure that all research conducted by the program is adequately resourced in these key areas.[91]Annex 1: Proposal DevelopmentThe proposal for CRP 1.3 was developed through an extensive process of consultation and engagement with partners at global, regional and country levels. Two global workshops were held in Penang, Malaysia from 19-21 July and 23-25 August, and focused first on design of the program and at the second workshop on writing the proposal. These workshops brought together regional and international partners, as well as representatives from participating Centers and national partners.Country consultation processes took place in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Philippines, Solomons and Zambia during the course of June-August (and from April in Bangladesh). These involved national workshops in each to discuss the program and agree priority issues and areas for focus. Table A1 summarizes participation in these processes.Following feedback from the Consortium Board early in 2011 the proposal was revised drawing upon inputs from the same group of partners that developed the proposal.  Forging strategic partnerships at community, national, regional and global levels is critical for working towards the objective of gender equity under this program. In preparing this proposal, consultations were conducted and the potential for partnerships explored with gender specialists and representatives of regional organizations including the Mekong River Commission and Secretariat of the Pacific Community, ARIs such as the Asian Institute of Technology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, and University of Manitoba, and national agencies such as the Cambodian Department of Fisheries, the International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh (ICDDRB), Philippine Commission on Women, National Network on Women in Fisheries and University of Philippines in Visayas.Criteria that will be considered for effective partnerships during the planning and implementation stages of the program are: Involving partners with proven track record in gender sensitivity and commitment  Identifying potential role and contribution of partners to implementing gender strategy  Strengthening capacity of implementing partners for gender analysis and mainstreaming in interventions using participatory approaches  Linking and networking with organizations which have gender expertise and have influence over policy-making on gender issues and rightsWe will build on current partnerships and synergies with on-going and planned projects with a strong gender focus at the regional and national levels for implementation of the gender strategy and outscaling.Mekong River Commission (MRC). This regional organization implements a gender mainstreaming project. We will collaborate with the Regional Network for promoting Gender in Fisheries Development (NGF) comprising coordinators from each MRC member country to address gender gaps in national policies and action plans to ensure equitable benefits for both women and men engaged in aquatic livelihoods. This will include sharing gender disaggregated socio-economic data, knowledge of currently used frameworks and tools, and best practices.The corporate policy of this regional organization representing 22 Pacific island countries and territories is committed to gender mainstreaming in all technical areas of its work. Under its Human Development Program, SPC has a major focus on gender equality in fisheries, agriculture, climate change, technology, transportation and energy amongst other areas. The SciCOFish (Scientific Support for Management of Coastal and Oceanic Fisheries in the Pacific Islands region) project, funded by the EU and implemented by SPC for the conservation and sustainable use of coastal and oceanic fisheries resources has a strong gender component, focused on community-based interventions that address poverty and vulnerability. We will collaborate with this project on gender equitable technology development and dissemination, asset-building and decisionmaking. The Land Resources Division of SPC which focuses on land use issues related to agriculture and forestry has an emphasis on gender, value addition in agriculture and climate issues in rural [94] communities in the Pacific and also provides opportunities for partnership in sharing genderdisaggregated data and knowledge, disseminating best practices and building capacity in gender analysis and mainstreaming.The African Center for Gender and Social Development (ACGD) within UNECA supports capacity-building for gender mainstreaming into sector-related policies at national and sub-regional levels, as well as monitors compliance with international conventions and agreements on gender equality. We will explore collaboration with ACGD to incorporate gender issues in aquatic agricultural systems into their on-going initiatives in gender mainstreaming in relevant national policies, as well as share best practices.Bangladesh. We will work with the researchers, implementers, and policy makers working on gender and aquatic agricultural systems in Bangladesh to improve gender analysis and mainstreaming. Thus, important members of the network will be gender focal points in agencies responsible for aquatic livelihoods such as Fisheries, Agriculture, Livestock and Forestry; research organizations and academic institutions such as, ICDDR,B, Bangladesh Development Institute, Bangladesh Institute for Development Studies; and NGOs such as D.Net, Engender Health and Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC). ICDDR,B and BIDS offer gender expertise that can enhance our interventions. We will collaborate with these and other organizations on advocacy initiatives for policy change, as well as share data, knowledge and best practices.Cambodia. The program will work with the network of gender focal points in agencies responsible for aquatic livelihoods such as Fisheries, Agriculture, Livestock and Forestry. Cambodia has comprehensive gender mainstreaming policies in all of these natural resource-dependent sectors. The program will collaborate to strengthen policy implementation that is currently constrained due to lack of resources and capacity. We will also support capacity-building to improve gender analysis and mainstreaming, share gender-disaggregated data and best practices, and collaborate on on-going advocacy initiatives for policy change.Philippines. We will work with the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), a network of 120 research, advocacy and policy organizations committed to improving the lives of women and girls, to support the implementation of the Philippines Magna Carta of Women, which has special provisions for improving economic and social benefits to marginalized rural women. The program will also collaborate with the University of Philippines in Visayas with expertise in gender, aquatic farming, fisheries and coastal resource management, as well as the National Network on Women in Fisheries (WINFISH). We will also support capacity-building to improve gender analysis and mainstreaming, share gender-disaggregated data and best practices, and collaborate on on-going advocacy initiatives for policy change.Solomon Islands. The program will collaborate with the Ministry of Women, Youth and Children's Affairs which coordinates the National Policy on Gender Equality and Women's Development focusing on health, education, economic status, decision-making and leadership, violence against women, gender mainstreaming, and monitoring and evaluation. The policy has provisions for full and meaningful participation of women in training and development in agriculture and fisheries, enabling a link with our capacity-building objectives. The program will also collaborate with the New Zealand supported project on -Strengthening community-based fisheries towards gender equity in rural Solomon Islands communities‖ focusing on improving food security by creating an enabling environment for women and youth to engage in livelihood diversification activities and decisionmaking in adaptive management of aquatic resources. We will support gender equitable technology adoption, asset-building and decision-making in aquatic communities, share knowledge and best practices.[95]Zambia. The program will work with the Gender in Development Division (GIDD) of the Cabinet Office in Zambia. GIDD, one of the four professional and technical Divisions, facilitates mainstreaming of gender into macro and sectoral policies, as well as institutional capacity building, and ensures provision and dissemination of information to increase gender awareness and knowledge in Zambia. GIDD networks with other government, non-governmental organizations and donors to ensure gender equality in the development processes at all levels, and is responsible for coordination, monitoring and evaluation of all gender activities and programs. Through its decentralized structure this high level national institution will provide policy guidance and oversight on gender issues at different levels of the program, at national, provincial and district level. The program will draw upon the insights and expertise of the Gender Focal Persons established by GIDD at each line ministry and Provincial Administration. The program will also work with gender experts of the key partner, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), at both regional and national level, as well as with local organizations working to advance women's rights and gender issues in development.Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok. The Asian Institute of Technology is a regional academic institute for graduate education. The program will collaborate with the Gender & Development Studies (GDS) of the School of Environment, Resources & Development in research and capacitybuilding. Since the mid 1990s, GDS has engaged in teaching and research on natural resource management, offering 10 graduate level courses, as well as research and outreach programs, with a robust network of alumni and partners globally. GDS has been actively involved in Mekong-wide networks for democratizing water governance in fisheries, irrigation and hydropower development, as well as gender issues relating to livelihoods and cross-border fish trade. The program will collaborate with AIT to enhance the quality of gender analysis tools and capacity-building modules, as well as external monitoring and evaluation.International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington D.C. We will collaborate with the gender research and interventions that IFPRI will be leading in CRP2 on policy, institutions and markets and contributing to in CRP4 on nutrition and health to maximize synergies and outcomes. IFPRI will contribute its long term expertise in gender analysis and mainstreaming in agricultural research to improve the quality of our overall interventions toward gender equity.Memorial University of Newfoundland. The Memorial University of Newfoundland has strong expertise in issues of globalization, gender, fisheries and interactive governance of aquatic resources in the Sociology and Geography departments. We already collaborate with MUN on a CIDAsupported project on governing small-scale fisheries for wellbeing and resilience and would build on this to enhance the quality of gender analysis and capacity-building modules for this program, as well as external monitoring and evaluation.We are also engaged in collaborative research with UOM's Anthropology department on the CIDA-supported project on governing small-scale fisheries for wellbeing and resilience. The department offers expertise in linking interactive governance, wellbeing and resilience in fisheries, with an emphasis on integrating gender. We will build on this partnership to generate innovations in our conceptual frameworks and tools for gender analysis in aquatic agricultural systems.Where possible the program will collaborate with the gender teams of other CRPs and through these the gender expertise in other CGIAR Centers. Of these IFPRI is especially important given their leadership of CRP2 on policy, institutions and markets and CRP4 on nutrition and health. We will work with them to maximize synergies and outcomes. IFPRI will contribute its long term expertise in [96] gender analysis and mainstreaming in agricultural research to improve the quality of our overall interventions toward gender equity.A range of participatory gender tools for action research will be tested and used, based on demand. Proposed tools include gendered value chain analysis (GEVCAL), Gender Gap Mapping, Gendered Vulnerability and Risk Assessment, and Gendered Livelihood Trajectory and Decision-making.The GEVCAL approach (Mayoux and Mackie 2007 9 ) developed by the ILO is based on action research and focuses on the often invisible dimensions of value chains where women's livelihoods are located. It highlights the critical nature of gender inequalities encompassing the -weakest links‖ within value chains and the most vital areas for upgrading quality and growth, as well as reducing poverty. This approach emphasizes that many of the complex issues highlighted by gender analysis are often not confined to gender itself, but reflect other inherent inadequacies in the types of economic analysis which commonly dominate value chain analyses and development. Thus, gender analysis provides a starting point for integration of key dimensions of extra-market factors, power relations and motivations into the currently incomplete understanding of economic growth. Understanding and incorporating these dimensions are essential not only for gender, but to designing effective and sustainable pro-poor growth and development strategies that can respond to global drivers such as changing markets, price fluctuations and climate change.Gender Gap Mapping. This tool will be adapted for aquatic agricultural systems from gender mapping initiatives conducted by a number of organizations such as IWMI, CARE and PROFOUND to make visible differentiated gender roles and relations in farming systems, gender gaps in access to and control of resources, as well as vulnerability and social exclusion, and in achieving wellbeing outcomes. Mapping can be based on GIS at regional and national levels.Gendered Vulnerability and Risk Assessment. This will be designed as a gender-sensitive financial instrument to examine gender variations in risk perceptions, aversion and adaptation, focusing on motivational factors (economic, social, cultural and psychological), which contribute to risk-averse behavior and coping/adaptation strategies. Existing local knowledge and best practices that support adaptation strategies and resilience will be assessed. This analysis will contribute to exploring the viability of a range of social protection options ranging from market (e.g. microinsurance) to social safety net (e.g. transfer) approaches to enable vulnerable and currently excluded categories of households to reduce potential production threats/losses, consumption volatility, health and survival risks. Promising approaches will be tested through public-private partnerships (PPP) and ways to spread financial risks between the public and private sector explored.Gendered Livelihood Trajectories and Decision-making. Gendered livelihood strategies and pathways, perceptions of well-being that motivate these trajectories, current constraints and opportunities in decision-making and aspirations for change will be assessed. This will enable an understanding of future trajectories, towards which women and men within different categories of households are working and the internal and external factors influencing these decisions. In addition to standard global economic and human development indicators, social relations, personal security and peace of mind emerge repeatedly as important criteria of subjective well-being by people; these perceptions are often gendered and insights are relevant to understand socio-cultural factors [97] underlying decision-making of women and men, and why some types of development interventions work, while others do not.Gender mainstreaming activities will be country and location-specific, as well as demand driven, but can include the following:Theme 1: Conduct participatory assessments of gendered preferences for species, traits and technological innovations along aquatic agricultural value chains This program has a strong emphasis on monitoring and evaluation of gender-responsive outcome and impact indicators, which are already mainstreamed in the impact pathways and M&E matrix. However, when the workplan is completed at inception in a participatory process with stakeholders, relevant process and output indicators to monitor the implementation of the gender strategy, [99] appropriate to the context of each country will be generated. The broad framework proposed for M&E of the Gender Strategy is summarized in the following Box. A gender-sensitive monitoring and evaluation system in operation  Mechanisms in place for consultation and participation of both female and male stakeholders/beneficiaries in the design, implementation, dissemination of findings, and lessons learnt  Equitable participation of both male and female researchers How can institutional support for these initiatives be marshaled, in which locations will they deliver the greatest impacts, and what will the scale of these impacts be?Which wetland areas should be prioritized for protection and by which mechanisms can protection be implemented or enforced?Which of these approaches are most attractive to farming households and most effective in reducing impacts on aquatic biodiversity?Poor infrastructure Improving transport infrastructure will enhance the capacity of producers to deliver perishable goods to market in a timely fashion and improve their access to a larger range of marketing intermediaries, thereby reducing transaction costs and spoilage and increasing the price received for primary products (e.g. by increasing the ease and rapidity with which high value fish from beel fisheries in remote areas of Sunamganj district can be delivered to Dhaka Would opening up the haor basin accelerate extraction of natural resources (particularly fish), or result in undesirable social outcomes? If so, what steps could be taken to improve market access but ensure that such eventualities might be avoided?[102]Hub # Hub name Development challengesExtremely high incidence of poverty and stuntingEnhancing the productivity and cropping intensity of agricultural systems (e.g. through dissemination and uptake of saline tolerant rice varieties, greater integration between on-farm enterprises, etc) will increase both subsistence and market-oriented household production thereby improving direct and indirect (income dependent) availability of and access to foodIntroducing new components or activities to the farming system which are complementary with women's space for agency (e.g. pond or gher dyke cropping; production of farm-made feeds) will lead to more favourable allocative decision making and consumption strategies within the household which support improved female and infant nutrition.Increasing the productivity and international competitiveness of shrimp production through improved sectoral governance (e.g. by improving product safety and traceability to prevent rejections of product by foreign buyers and development of improved brood and seedstock) will create additional employment throughout the value chain for landless labourers, including women, and reduce vulnerability of existing employment to trade related shocks.What constraints presently prevent more complete onfarm integration and the uptake of more productive technologies, and how can these be overcome? What are the tradeoffs between subsistence and market oriented production strategies in terms of food security, nutrition and poverty reduction? Are complementary strategies (e.g. educational initiatives to promote better sanitation) required for nutritional gains to be realized?Which components or activities have the greatest scope for contributing to these outcomes? Which approaches to dissemination are likely to result in their adoption? Does their adoption lead to demonstrably improved female agency and female and infant nutrition? Are there any unforeseen negative consequences of promoting these activities and how can they best be avoided?Can Bangladeshi shrimp producers obtain third party certification and is this a necessary or desirable competitive strategy? If so, how can obstacles to certification of small producers be overcome? Would attaining certification significantly reduce the incidence of trade related shocks? What other steps can be taken improve quality and value of Bangladeshi shrimp and prawn? Will gains in productivity or export price be transmitted backwards along value chains to producers and labour providing ancillary services? What are the tradeoffs between the cultivation of saline tolerant varieties and those currently used? In the event that there are negative as well as positive outcomes how can these be managed or mitigated?Which governance arrangements allow for the most inclusive and equitable outcomes regarding water management in polders?What are the constraints to wider adoption of highly integrated rotational cropping systems? How can these be overcome? What adaptations can be made to improve productivity further?Extremely high incidence of poverty and stuntingDevelopment of culture or enhanced capture techniques for small nutrient dense indigenous fish species in waterlogged polders could contribute to improved nutrition among producing households and (if produced in sufficiently large quantities) could make these fish more accessible to low income consumers by reducing their market value What is the reproductive biology of nutrient dense SIS? Which management strategies can be adopted to increase productivity from natural water bodies and intensify culture? Will such systems be commercially viable?Adoption of pond-based aquaculture contributes to household resilience in the face of major shocks (e.g. cyclones) since any fish remaining following such events can be harvested as a readily fungible asset that can be converted to cash to cover the cost of housing repairs, etc and thus increase the speed with which disaster affected households are able to recover How can ponds be better protected to prevent losses of fish in the event of extreme events? How can aquaculture be rapidly re-established following cyclones etc?  Fisheries Project (2006-2010) this can lead to higher incomes and reduce the duration of annual food deficits for project participants, and enhance their agency in interactions with ethnic majority Bengalis.How to replicate the successes of the Adivasi Fisheries Project with a larger client group and at lower cost per participant?Can some of the most successful intervention strategies developed for Adivasi communities (e.g. establishment of netting teams and fish processing and trading activities) produce similar positive impacts elsewhere for Bengali project participants?High prevalence of stunting/infant malnutrition Supporting women's engagement in and ownership of economically productive agrarian activities will increase the equity of intra-household food distributionEnhancing farm profitability and productivity via the introduction of improved varieties and management Which on and off-farm activities and approaches to facilitating women's engagement in them are most appropriate for this location, and how exactly does women's participation in them translate into improved nutritional outcomes?[110] In a normal year monsoon flooding routinely extends over 30-40% of the landscape while in high flood events over 60% can be covered.Most of Bangladesh's 20 million rural farm households are heavily dependent on the AAS that characterize these flooded areas. For example the north-east Haor Basin is flooded over 500,000 ha during the monsoon season. Fishing is the key livelihood opportunity here, but the Basin is also one of the country's most important sources of winter rice (boro). The south and southwest coastal regions are also dominated by AAS, but are amongst the most disaster-prone areas of the country (with two major cyclones in the past 3 years (Sidr and Aela)). These regions are flooded due to drainage congestion and tidal surges, yet also experience seasonal drought and with acute seasonal freshwater shortage. For the more than 8 million people living in these coastal floodplain areas, rice cultivation is the principal source of agricultural employment and income, with capture fisheries and aquaculture second.Despite the numerical importance of the rice and fish sub-sectors, Bangladesh's AAS offer opportunities for a variety of farm household strategies that can strengthen household resilience and increase cropping intensity. For example while 75-80% of agriculture land is used for rice cultivation, Bangladesh farm families engage in subsistence and commercial agricultural activities ranging from household livestock or vegetable cultivation to highly commercial vegetable, maize, poultry or fish/shrimp production. A central challenge of AAS in Bangladesh is to harness the potential these systems provide for more integrated and more resilient farming livelihoods.With GDP growth of 5-6% since the mid 1990's Bangladesh has made great strides in almost all HDI indicators. Yet in spite of these achievements inequality is growing, almost 50% of the population remains poor and more than 60% of those engaged in agriculture are reported to be vulnerable to poverty; disproportionate numbers of these poor and vulnerable people are women and children j .The Government of Bangladesh, the international development and research communities, and other partners, recognize that business as usual in Bangladesh will not achieve significant reductions in persistent rural poverty, food insecurity or malnutrition. To do so, future investments in agriculture need to focus on improvements in a number of areas, chief among them smallholder productivity and resilience for a population that will grow by almost 100 million by 2050 and do so in a context of increasing rural underemployment, rapid urbanization and continuing losses of agricultural land, declining access to fresh water, increasing salinities and the expected impacts of climate change.To meet this challenge, the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) has developed a new Country Investment Plan (CIP) with a focus on achieving significant improvements in food security, agriculture, and nutrition. The CIP identifies priority areas for investment in agriculture, including crops, fisheries and livestock, as well as addressing national needs in terms of income growth, social safety nets, marketing and trade, nutrition, and cross-cutting issues such as gender and governance. In support of this effort and in line with GOB policies (the PRSP, MDGs, etc..); Bangladesh's international partners (World Bank, ADB, USAID, DFID, EC, SDC, DANIDA, various UN agencies and others), are now targeting increased investments as laid out in the CIP and elsewhere. j Food Security Investment Forum, governance and gender, May 2010. [114] One of the investments is the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project. This project is a major focus of existing collaboration of CIMMYT, IRRI, IFPRI and WorldFish in Bangladesh. The centers are working to ensure that development investments transcend simple monetary measures to embrace a more diversified and interconnected approach to agriculture focused on the needs of the poor and vulnerable. This approach recognizes that there have been many recent successes in AR4D in Bangladesh, and we will build on these. However past investments have generally impacted limited populations; to have wider impact our efforts need to be integrated across sectors, targeted more tightly to address gender inequities, and scaled out with a wider group of private and NGO sector partners. In addition, further innovation is needed in technologies and practices that are tailored to the needs and assets of male and female smallholders and landless, and are resilient to environmental and climate changes.The program has identified 48 districts in 8 hubs (Figure A1) with the highest proportions of poverty and populations dependent on AAS systems. We will work initially in the 31 districts in 6 hubs where existing CSISA and IFAD projects have been designed to work closely with programs seeking large scale development impacts. The hubs are distinctive in their environment, poverty and agricultural contexts (Table A2).   The coalition brought together for the CRP will develop a shared implementation strategy and by 2016, will have delivered (i) productivity improvements for over 2 million households (10 million people, including 5 million women); (ii) working with IFPRI and others, practices and policies for poverty reduction through aquatic agriculture that are embedded in government and donor investments; and (iii) institutions and private sector that are better servicing poor farmers.From 2017-2022 the CRP will seek wider impacts on poverty in Bangladesh, through catalyzing government and donor investments that allow a further scaling up and out. The optimal position and strategy for CGIAR engagement within this wider scale up period will be determined based on best practices learned through the first 6 years. By sustaining the activities started in 2011 and expanding our impacts through scaling out, the CRP coalition will, by 2022, have delivered productivity improvements for a minimum additional 3 million households (15 million people, including 7.5 million women).The Context AAS are central to Cambodia's rural economy. Some 30% of the country is covered by permanent water bodies or areas that are inundated during the flood season. The floodplains of the Mekong River and Tonle Sap lake are the most extensive systems and support the largest number of people.The economy of these AAS is dominated by rice production and fisheries. Rice is grown by more than 70% of the rural population, occupies 80% of the total cropping area, and accounts for 70% of overall crop production; while some of this production is in upland rainfed areas, much of it is in AAS. In the past decade, rice production per capita has grown by 8.7% per year increasing from 339kg in 2000 to 535kg in 2008. However, paddy yields per hectare remain the lowest in Asia. The fisheries sector provides income and livelihood to 46% of the total population, or about 6.7 million people, and [119] represents over 10% of GDP. Fish and other aquatic animals contribute 80% of animal protein in the typical Cambodian diet.Given this national picture it is not surprising that household economies in AAS depend heavily on rice farming and fishing. However other resources are also important. For example, the typical livelihood portfolio of households in the Tonle Sap floodplain involves some combination of fishing, crop farming, fish culture, livestock, firewood collection, small businesses, and wage labor, regardless of their primary occupation. In -farming villages l ‖ in provinces around Tonle Sap, 80% of households are also involved in fishing and 28% are involved in livestock raising (Hap et al. 2006). While rice farming is the core activity for many of these households, the average plot size of 1.4 hectares and yields between 0.5 -0.8 tons/ha mean that farmers cannot produce enough rice for a full year's consumption. As a result 75% of households in farming villages also fish in order to generate cash income and purchase rice to cover the shortage. Income from poultry/livestock, other crops, and wage labor also contribute where income from fishery is also not enough (Hori et al. 2006 and2007).The development of the agriculture sector has been an important element of the Royal Government's strategy to reduce poverty in rural communities, achieve food security and foster equitable and sustainable economic growth.  A5 below). The added value from CRP 1.3 to these projects, as identified by the NGOs themselves, will be the combined cross-sectoral technical expertise provided by the consortium of CGIAR centers, bridging institutions for improved knowledge sharing and services, and working together to provide enhanced potential to influence change at the highest levels.The program will focus initially in three hubs (Table A4) where improvements in AAS can make significant contribution to improving the livelihoods of poor and vulnerable households. We will build on our existing projects in these hubs and develop new partnerships with NGOs and other stakeholders already working in specific locations. The program will target the poor and vulnerable in each of these hubs, and adapt our approach to the social, economic and agro-ecological conditions in each. For example whereas income poverty is high in Tonle Sap floodplains and Lowland Plains, chronic malnutrition is more prevalent in the Mekong River floodplains (Figure A4). CRP 1.3 will use the participatory diagnoses in each hub to deepen our understanding of these issues and differences and target our efforts appropriately. Opportunities to improve river and floodplain management, sustainable riparian vegetation production, crops and river bank gardens.Table A5 shows the on-going and projected research projects that together offer greater potential for scale up and impact for the poor and vulnerable through development partner engagement. Across the three hubs there are groups of projects clustered around outcome priorities characterized by the type of intervention and approaches to achieve the same overall goal of livelihood improvement within different agro-ecological settings.[122] CRP 1.3 will help improve the lives of over 2 million poor and vulnerable in Cambodia. We will achieve this impact at scale by working at three levels. First we will work with partners to conduct participatory research in three hubs and through this improve the lives of the communities we will work with directly there. In doing so we will mobilize a coalition of development partners from government, national and international NGOs, and the private sector. Second we will work with these development partners to scale out the learning from our research sites to the other parts of the hub. Third we will expand our work with this coalition of partners, and link with other focal countries, to translate the learning from the CRP into national and regional development policy and so reach to other parts of Cambodia and other countries where AAS can make a greater contribution to the rural economy.In pursuing this approach CRP 1.3 will seek to build on existing research projects and partnerships to leverage outcomes and impact through new investments managed by our development partners.Working closely with our key partners (government agencies -FiA, IFReDI DoE, CARDI and MAFF) and program partners (e.g. CARE, Concern, Oxfam) we will build on their successes delivering multi-disciplinary programmes by enhancing technical skill sets, advancing our collective knowledge on how to manage AAS for improved livelihoods at scale and ensure a project legacy of improved knowledge capital for these agencies. One new opportunity of this type in Cambodia is HARVEST (Helping Address Rural Vulnerabilities and Ecosystem Stability) which is a large multicomponent project led by US private sector firm. HARVEST will work across all three hubs impacting upon over 2 million people. The CGIAR, led by WorldFish in Cambodia will engage with HARVEST to pursue a research agenda in support of the project goals of increased food availability, improved food access through rural income diversification, improved natural resource management, and resilience to climate change. One very important research area for us to build synergies will be USAID's Feed the Future Initiative, with particular emphasis on nutritional benefits from fisheries and agriculture. This will be implemented through the HARVEST programme.An existing project that we will build on is the Wetlands Alliance. This long term capacity building project will scale out impact and broaden partner engagement across larger areas of wetland environments. The Wetlands Alliance works with communities largely dependent directly on AAS, with local authorities and NGOs to deliver demand driven poverty focused initiatives across scale and geographical focal areas. The Alliance, by design, is a network of partners and facilitates interagency cooperation and provides a mechanism for rapid community level uptake and a broad platform [123] for brokering and expanding relationships between development partners such as SENSA's and UNDP's interest to expand the community based adaptation initiative underway in north-east Cambodia.At a regional level the program will continue to expand engagement with MRC and FAO on transboundary issues related to fisheries, ecosystems services, land and water management and community led initiatives. Coalitions formed through the CRP 1.3 will build further on the current regional partner base of Wetland Alliance project, MRC commissioned linkages, and existing work under the Challenge Program on Water and Food to usher in a new innovative participation and improve coordination for the ultimate benefit of the poor and vulnerable in the region.In macroeconomic terms the importance of agriculture, forestry and fisheries has declined in the Philippines in recent years, and contributed only 16% of the country's GNP in 2009. However these sectors still employ 7 out of 10 Filipinos and play critically important roles in selected provinces and communities. In most of these places dependence on AAS is very high, with for example 50% of the population of the Visayas dependent on AAS.Similarly in Northern Mindanao and Zamboanga Peninsula which together account for over 45% of total fisheries production of the country, more than 65% of the total population depend on AAS as major sources of employment and income.The communities who depend on these AAS face a growing series of challenges. Fish resources are depleted and there is an urgent need to improve management while also developing alternative livelihood options. Many upland areas have already been degraded and most of the original forest cover has been converted to agriculture, settlements, and industrial zones. With this expansion has come pollution, and widespread erosion.In addition to these direct effects of human land resource use, the Philippines is highly vulnerable to climate variability and change and to natural disasters, with 20 climate events in 2008 alone affecting 10% of the population. More recently flooding in Northern Mindanao and the Visayas has caused considerable damage to agriculture production as well as properties and infrastructure affecting not only the supply of staple crops such as rice and fish but also supply to urban markets in Luzon and other areas.. In the face of these challenges growing attention is being given by government, and by the aid community in the Philippines, to strengthening efforts to harnessing the full value of the benefits of these AAS. Legislative reforms since the 1990s have improved agricultural production and fisheries and coastal resource management, and provincial government units have developed Agriculture and Fisheries Development Plans that identify and prioritize development programs at the provincial and municipal levels. Working in this policy context, international development investments have included a USAID-funded project on Fisheries Improved for Sustainable Harvest (FISH); a FAO Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Program; World Bank support to several agriculture and fisheries programs in Mindanao, an ADB-funded program on Integrated Coastal Resources Management Program, a GTZ-funded project on Environment and Rural Development and two USAID projects on biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation and mitigation measures. CRP 1.3 will directly engage with these and other ongoing and pipeline investment to develop strategic partnerships and impacts.CRP1.3 will work in three hubs in the Philippines covering varied coastal ecological zones in the Visayas Island Group, Northern Mindanao including the indigenous people's region of CARAGA and [124] the Zamboanga Peninsula (See A5). These sites were selected in view of the number of people dependent on AAS, poverty incidence and vulnerability to climate change, as well as the current and future plans of government and the international development community. Table A6 summarizes key features of the hubs including development challenges and selected AAS based opportunities.  In each of these hubs, CRP 1.3 will establish and maintain partnerships with stakeholders to implement priority activities. Important partners in the sites include agencies from the national R&D and innovation system and international development partners.[126]The CRP 1.3 will work with a consortium of academic, national government, local government and non-government institutions geographically clustered at the Philippines regional level for development planning and program implementation. Each consortium will share a common set of priorities and provide a pool of human and financial resources for technical interventions and an administrative set-up that provides for linkages at the regional level with local stakeholders, including local government units, civil society organizations, as well as international development agencies. The Philippines agencies PCAMRD, PCARRD and DA-BAR are expected to coordinate these networks, enabling CRP 1.3 to support and build competencies in the Philippine research and development system to address poor and vulnerable AAS-dependant people. Linkage shall likewise be established with the Zonal Research Centers of the Commission on Higher Education.CRP 1.3 will help improve the lives of about 1.7 million poor and vulnerable people in the Philippines. We will do so by working at three levels. First we will work with partners to conduct participatory research in three hubs and through this improve the lives of the communities we will work with directly there. In doing so we will mobilize a coalition of development partners from government, national and international NGOs, and the private sector. Second we will work with these development partners to scale out the learning from our research sites to the other parts of the hub. Third we will expand our work with this coalition of partners, and link with other focal countries, to translate the learning from the CRP into national and regional development policy agenda to reach out to other parts of the Philippines and other countries especially in the Coral Triangle where AAS can make greater contribution to the rural economy.To pursue this approach in the Philippines CRP 1.3 will work with a consortium of academic, national government and non-government institutions for program planning and implementation. The focus of these partnerships will be directed towards the three hubs and specific partnership networks developed in each. The Philippines agencies PCAMRD, PCARRD and DA-BAR have agreed in principle to coordinate these networks, enabling CRP 1.3 to support and build competencies in the Philippines R&D systems to address poor and vulnerable AAS dependent people. The member agencies of the PCARRD, PCAMRD and BAR networks will also provide expertise, funding and modalities for technology transfer, policy advocacy and capacity building needed to expand interventions and impact.Finally, to scale out at the regional level in the coral triangle region, the Program will work regional bodies in South East Asia such as the ASEAN-Committee on Science and Technology (ASEAN-COST) for the development and transfer of science and technology based interventions, and APAARI to reach out to other NARS for expanded research in development efforts. It will also contribute learning to the development and implementation of the Regional and National Plans of Action (RPOA/NPOA) for the Coral Triangle.Government and development NGO partners consulted on this approach as of March 2011 and who will deliver CRP 1.3 outputs and outcomes are listed in Table A7.[128] income and expenditure survey indicated that fish accounted for 73% of total expenditures on animal protein.Real per capita income for Solomon Islanders has declined since independence because population growth has outpaced economic growth (3.1% and 2.5% respectively per annum from 1980 to 2007). These trends have left Solomon Islands with the second-lowest average income in the Pacific region. Further, job creation has not kept pace with increases in the labor supply. The unemployment rate rose to 11% in 1999 with youth unemployment rising to 45% in 2010 (ADB, 2010). Almost 23% of the population lives below the national basic needs poverty line (JICA 2010). The densely populated provinces such as Malaita and Temotu with their combination of a shortage of agricultural land, declining fisheries and insufficient employment opportunities, experience high rates of out migration.Since the 1970's inter-provincial migration has steadily increased and at the time of the 1999 census 17% of Solomon Islanders were living outside their province of birth.One of the main characteristics of the Solomon Islands economy is the predominance of subsistence activities. The 1999 census reported that 45% of the population was involved in unpaid activities, largely subsistence farming, fishing within coral reef-related artisanal fisheries, and household-related craft work. The census showed 71% of women and 53% of men are engaged in subsistence agriculture in the Solomon Islands, while 50% of women and 90% of men are engaged in fishing activities. In this context AAS provide an essential source of income, food and well being for a large part of the Solomon Islands' population.Despite the importance of AAS, research and development initiatives in agriculture and fisheries remain disconnected. Agricultural market chain development initiatives are underway in some parts of Solomon Islands (e.g. cocoa, coconut products, rice farming) and effective community based management of coastal fisheries is slowly gaining traction. Marine coastal capture fisheries are the dominant component in AAS in Solomon Islands and are expected to remain so for some time.Opportunities for economic development of value added marine products remain in a nascent stage, and more promising opportunities for alternative livelihoods to complement marine resource management regimes are often identified as lying within the agricultural sector. AAS provide a strategically important resource for food security and socio-economic development in Solomon Islands and CRP 1.3 provides an unprecedented opportunity to foster sectoral integration. Implementation of marine resource management regimes is expected to provide the necessary basis for improved opportunities for sustainable economic development of marine resources, and improved access to agricultural livelihood opportunities for rural fishers and gardeners can broaden the livelihood base to incentivize implementation of such regimes. The challenge is to effectively integrate development efforts in these systems and develop a learning approach that can have national and regional impacts.The rural economy has been based upon the production and marketing of a small number of commodities-food crops and fresh fruit, coconut, cocoa, timber, fish and marine products, oil palm, plus livestock. Investment in fish production to date has been almost exclusively focused on marine capture fisheries. emphasizes -development through a bottom up and holistic approach that encompasses the empowerment of the people through rural advancement strategies, the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals, the revitalization of the economy, improved law and order, effective service delivery and the devolution of powers and functions and decision-making authority to the periphery‖. CRP 1.3 will contribute to implementing these policies through its Research in Development approach to harnessing the value of AAS.[129]The ARDS identifies potential for growth in AAS through coconut and cocoa production, garden food, livestock -including the revival of the dormant cattle industry, pigs and poultry, and commercial and artisanal fishing. In 2008 the ARDS began implementation through the Rural Development Project (RDP). The RDP is coordinated by the Ministry of Development Planning and Aid Coordination and addresses agriculture, forestry and to a lesser extent, fisheries. The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) are tasked with the conservation, management and development of fisheries to ensure their long-term sustainable use under the national Fisheries Act. MFMR believes that coastal communities are the best managers of their fisheries and marine resources and seeks to work as a partner in securing the potential of these resources. The Inshore Fisheries Strategy (IFS) (2010-2012) is intended to provide guidance for a sustainable and secure inshore fisheries sector.The ARDS, the RDP and the IFS are framework within which activities of CRP 1.3 will be embedded. While agriculture will continue to play a major role in terms of income generation and employment opportunities for rural Solomon Islanders, CRP 1.3 presents a unique opportunity to integrate existing and new development actors to transform aquatic production systems through reinvigorating traditional marine management regimes to secure coastal fish production and in developing new, integrated freshwater production systems. Through those investments, markets and value chains relying on smallholder production can be diversified to extend beyond fish and fish products.The CRP will focus initially on three geographically distinct hubs encompassing six of the nine national provinces (Western and Isabel; Central, Malaita and Guadalcanal, and Makira and Temotu) of Solomon Islands where the population pressure is highest (Figure A6 and Table A8), and / or remoteness means that livelihood options are particularly limited, and where there is a presence of partners to facilitate implementation in these difficult to access isolated island groups. It is expected that learning from action research in these provinces will enable extension to the remaining three provinces by years 5-6. Within each hub we will focus on rural community clusters for participatory research in development in these systems. We will pursue participatory diagnosis of the current situation, future prospects and risks/vulnerabilities being faced by communities dependent upon AAS.Opportunities for implementing aquatic agricultural solutions in concert with other development priorities will be identified and resources sought for implementation. Achieving the program goals will also require significant capacity development of partners. Lessons learned will feed back into the wider Solomon Islands development planning through Solomon Islands Government partners.We will operate through a network of partnerships operating at different scales. In addition to the existing strong relationship between WorldFish and The Ministry for Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR), the CRP will partner with the Ministry for Environment, Climate and Meteorology (MECM), the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL), the Ministry for Women, Children and Youth Affairs (MWCYA), and with development NGOs Save the Children and World Vision. At a regional scale, the regional intergovernmental agency Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) will be a key regional partner. Through these partnerships we will align programs and utilize the relative strengths of the partner organizations to achieve program goals. Other partners will be engaged as their programs and funding permit, including OXFAM, UNDP, Kastom Gaden, a national NGO that works to promote self-reliance, strengthened food security and sustainable livelihood development for rural farmers. Developing and nurturing new cross-sectoral partnerships will be a primary focus throughout the life of the program but will be given particular emphasis in 2011-2012.[131] [132]Solomon Islands are typical of Melanesian culture in having a complex social structure of mutual interdependencies bound by history, culture and language. There are at least 70 distinct languages in the country. Individual communities, language groups, and provincial governments provide natural nodes in a multi-scale network. Innovation spreads quickly among communities and ‗wontoks' (people who share language), but new ways of spreading impact will be required to jump the barriers of language and remoteness. Administratively, the provincial governments within the three hubs will be used to organize activities and partnerships.By pursuing this approach CRP1.3 will reach >100,000 poor and vulnerable people in Solomon Islands. We will achieve this impact at scale by building on CGIAR investments to mobilize a coalition of development partners from government, national and international NGOs, and the private sector. Government and NGO partners committed to this approach as of August 2010 will deliver CRP1.3 outcomes to 2000 households. We expect this coalition to expand to reach a minimum of 20,000 households by 2016. By doing so, the CGIAR's limited investment through the CRP will influence over USD $3,000,000 in other development investment in the first three years (Table A9). The outcomes delivered by 2014 will lay the foundation for expanded impacts. From 2015-2016 the CRP will consolidate these outcomes, while working to expand the areas of impact where possible.[134]There is an on-going transformation of the Zambian economy from heavy dependence on mining to greater diversification and the potential for agricultural growth is increasingly recognized by Government of Zambia as a main pillar for overall growth and for addressing the country's persistent food and nutrition security crisis. In many years, agricultural production in Zambia is insufficient to ensure national food security. The traditional ‗hunger season' during December to March, however, is becoming more difficult due to the increasing impacts of climate variability and climate change r . There is a 75% to 80% likelihood of flooding or drought affecting some of the major food production zones in the country s .At national level, the emphasis for food security has been on maize production, storage and marketing, and while growth has been achieved this has not translated into deep inroads against malnutrition and seasonal hunger. A variety of crops, including cassava, sorghum and millet, that are of local importance for food and nutrition security have been marginalized in policy and support services. These crops are particularly important in AAS environments that are on the whole unsuitable for maize production. Greater attention to productivity, sustainability and market chains of these crops can help alleviate the ‗hunger season' that is inherent in a maize-dominated sector as well as improve nutritional quality of staple food intake nationwide. To this end, the Program will strengthen links with CRP 1.2 in Luapula Province to improve cassava production in AAS and related market chains, as well as work with the Golden Valley Agricultural Research Trust (GART) in Western Province to strengthen seed supply, production and marketing for sorghum and millet.To spearhead the move towards diversification, Government of Zambia has strengthened the policy and legal environment in the agricultural sectors. The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development, have spearheaded the development of new agriculture and livestock policies, new legislation and policies governing the fisheries sector, and renewed support to the National Food and Nutrition Commission. The Agriculture Consultative Forum (ACF), comprising key civil society, private sector and government stakeholders, has emerged as the main societal forum for information exchange, policy dialogue and advocacy for change.CRP1.3 will add value to these government initiatives by working through ACF to establish wide stakeholder dialogue on development of AAS. This will involve integrating the perspectives of the agriculture research sector, including the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI), and the research units of the Departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock, the environmental sector (Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources, Environmental Council of Zambia, and Zambia Climate Change Network), and the social development sectors (JCTR, Zambia Land Alliance, Women for Change). This dialogue will foster a shared understanding of the development potential of AAS among national stakeholders and build on this to develop integrated technical and policy approaches.CRP 1.3 will focus on three hubs in Zambia, the Upper Zambezi (Western Province and Southern Province), Luapula Province, and the Kafue Flats (Southern and Central Province) (see Figure A7). These locations were identified through stakeholder consultations as representing most of the strategic challenges and opportunities of AAS development in Zambia and the wider SADC region. Table A9 gives an overview of the characteristics, challenges and opportunities of the three hubs in Zambia.r IFPRI (2009). The Impact of Climate Variability and Change on Economic Growth and Poverty in Zambia. IFPRI discussion paper no.890. s USAID (2010) Feed the Future. Zambia FY 2010 Implementation Plan.[135]  A10).[138] and plans on utilizing and scaling-out opportunities demonstrated by the Program (see letters of support in Annex 9). The Program will build on this opportunity and the initial collaboration with NARS institutions (Zambia Agricultural Research Institute, University of Zambia, Copperbelt University) to develop targeted research and training support strategies and plans which, with additional support, will position the NARS more effectively as research and training partners for scaling-out these knowledge-intensive integrated research-for-development approaches throughout the country. The Zambia National Farmers Union and several private sector companies engaged in AAS commodity chains in the Upper Zambezi, Luapula and Kafue will participate in the participatory diagnostics in these areas with a view of identifying specific opportunities for market-based interventions and improving their linkages with wider development investments for scaling-out viable options.For scaling-out at regional level the Program will link with the programs of SADC on the management of Zambezi basin trans-boundary fisheries and natural resources (seven countries), and of COMESA on climate change adaptation through agricultural innovations including in the Zambezi basin and the Great Lakes region. As CRP 1.3 expands to engage in Uganda and Mali our investment there will build explicitly on learning from Zambia.[ these project activities will also provide relevant synergies in the success of the project activity in the AAS site in the country.Bioversity works closely with national partners on coconut through COGENT, the global coconut genetic resources network. Bioversity and Philippine Coconut Authority had extensive livelihood projects in the Philippines that can be adapted in the AAS site in the Philippines. For banana, in Asia we work through the Bioversity-coordinated Banana Asia Pacific Network, (BAPNET), and in Africa through the Banana Research Network for Eastern and Southern Africa(BARNESA), which are platforms for priority-setting and collaborative, technical support and information sharing. These partners are also important impact pathway players. In the Philippines, Bioversity works with PCARRD and its national research networks, DA-BAR and its research networks, as well as Bioversity's partners in the private industry. Bioversity partners closely with the National Agricultural Research Organization of Uganda and the local private sector.Bioversity International initially will focus its participation in CRP 1.3 in Asia particularly in the Philippines, with potential engagement in other sites as opportunities are identified. Bioversity's expertise contribution will be drawn from in-house technical scientists based in the regions, drawing knowledge-base from global programs and regional partners, and integrating expertise and facilities of national and regional partners.CIAT will participate in this CRP through the intervention of the Tropical Fruits Program.While CIAT is not at present conducting specific activities in any of the focal countries they can provide upstream (methodologies, processes, expert knowledge) research in CIAT headquarters that could be deployed to any of the selected countries as demanded based on participatory diagnostics to be conducted in the early months of the CRP.As one of the issues to be considered in the CRP is the diversification of the existing production systems to tackle micronutrient deficiencies, the choice of introducing edible fruits could be considered. Species and cultivars to be introduced as alternatives to diversify the production systems will be selected considering consumer preferences (will have strong role due to diverse cultural differences), ecological adaption (important to consider easiness of flowering under targeted sites) and potential to produce a surplus that could generate marketing alternatives under a collective scheme.CIAT will: Work with local partners to implement work related to aspects of fruit production in selected ecosystems and will be responsible for species and cultivar selection. CIAT could also support strategies and approaches to developed linkages with markets when volume of fruit production justifies the intervention. CIAT could provide training to local communities in tree crop production alternatives and pests and disease identification and management approaches. Develop mass propagation alternatives and methodologies for assessing selected germplasm for pests and disease resistance.The ongoing work in tree crops suitable for coastal areas is focused on tree palms that produce edible fruits. Work on Bactris gasipaes (peach palm) a species native to Americas, and coconut (Cocos nucifera), a globally distributed species, is being conducted to respond to demands of the coastal communities in the tropics of Latin America, and is ongoing work in Colombia. CIAT is supporting [143] the coconut industry in LAC in response to the crisis induced by the pest and disease problem responsible for the devastation of more than 80% of the plantations in the pacific coast of Colombia and Ecuador.The coconut work is focused on developing germplasm evaluation methodologies to select accessions with resistance to the nematode responsible for red ring disease. In addition, working in cooperation with CICY, from Mexico, we are testing and adapting the tissue culture propagation methodology to multiply locally adapted coconut germplasm. Having an optimized mass multiplication method, will allow the introduction of selected germplasm from other regions with desirable characteristics (i.e resistance to lethal yellowing disease). Once introduced to a particular country or region, by using the traditional method of planting, fruiting and using botanical seeds as source of planting material it will take too many years before it become available to growers. However, by having a mass propagation method, this period will be considerable shortened and will reduce the risk of introducing unwanted diseases through the imported germplasm.Livestock is an integral component of smallholder livelihood enterprises in many aquatic agricultural systems. Livestock contributes to the functioning of the system in myriad ways under various contexts of AAS, for example, as a source of inputs to fish production and crop production, as a source of raw materials for generating power from biogas digesters, as a risk diversification option to cushion the household from effects of systematic shocks and also to enhance livelihood opportunities from AAS, and as an important source of protein to improve food and nutrition security of smallholders in these systems. Certain parts of AAS can also contribute to improving livestock productivity, for example, by utilizing surplus fish production as ingredients in feed ration for pigs and poultry during times when other feed sources are in low supply or have rising market prices. Thus, in specific contexts and where appropriate, livestock-related improvements and interventions may potentially redound to an enhanced performance of the AAS, thereby ensuring its viability and sustainability. Livestock can also be a potential destabilizing component of AAS, for example, when livestock production is constrained by livestock diseases and other production shocks that can compromise the viability of the entire AAS. In such instances, addressing the livestock-related constraints through appropriate interventions may be a more effective and efficient response to sustain the viability and performance of the AAS.ILRI has the expertise and experience in livestock research for development and is thus wellpositioned to address the livestock-related constraints to productivity improvements in AAS. This can be achieved through a number of pathways. At the global scale, ILRI can provide the scientific expertise for basic research that could lead to solutions for livestock-related productivity constraints, e.g., identifying appropriate animal breeds that could thrive in an optimal manner and are suitable to smallholder conditions in specific AAS and working with partners to deliver those through effective breeding strategies, providing appropriate technical solutions to livestock production constraints in animal health and in developing optimal feeding strategies and working with partners to effectively disseminate and/or deliver those through effective institutional arrangements and policy advocacies, and supporting the capacity strengthening of partners in basic research for livestock through access to ILRI's laboratory facilities at headquarters in Africa and working with ILRI scientists during this process.At the regional and country level, where ILRI has a presence, the CRP can tap existing scientific expertise for specific research areas where available. ILRI also has a network of partners working in close collaboration with ILRI scientists on specific areas of livestock research for development, and these partners could also be tapped as collaborators, providing their technical and logistical support to specific CRP activities where appropriate and feasible. ILRI has a presence in the Mekong, specifically in Vietnam and in Laos and in Mozambique for its South Africa hub, in addition to those located in headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya and principal site in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In Vietnam, [144] current work with Vietnamese and international collaborators involve identifying technical, institutional and policy solutions to enhancing competitiveness of smallholder pig producers, collaboration with Vietnamese partners in identifying appropriate strategies for animal genetic resources (specifically pigs and chicken) conservation through utilization, and collaboration with CIAT and Vietnamese partners in identifying suitable forage-based feeding strategies to improve smallholder incomes from beef value chains. In Laos, current work involves developing in-country capacity to implement ecosystem approaches to address zoonotic infectious diseases through a combination of action research and capacity-building initiatives. In Bangladesh, current work involves identifying appropriate strategies for animal genetic resources (specifically chicken and goat) conservation through utilization. Previous work in Cambodia involved collaboration with Cambodian collaborators in diagnostic activities to characterize pork value chains, identify constraints to smallholder linkages in pigs and pork markets and the appropriate technical, institutional, and policy options to address these. Relevant work on feed technology development from previous ILRI projects in the region could also provide potential sources of intervention options where appropriate in specific contexts of AAS target sites, for example, the research outputs from CASREN feed technology testing and validation in Southeast Asia, specifically in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, and the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan in China, and also research outputs from collaborative work on sustainable parasite control in the same countries. Recently concluded work on Avian influenza control and surveillance in Indonesia could also be tapped for lessons as appropriate in specific AAS context in the target countries. Previous and ongoing work on smallholder dairy in East Africa will also have available lessons for dairy-development related constraints in appropriate AAS sites. ILRI's global work on livestock value chain analysis and livelihoods can also inform appropriate tools and approaches for context specific diagnostics at the target countries of the focus AAS.In the target AAS in the proposed country sites of CRP1.3, ILRI does not have in-country staff nor ongoing projects, so would not be able to commit either staff time or other resources to the CRP at this time. Instead, ILRI can identify appropriate partners in these countries where such expertise may be required to address livestock-related productivity and other issues in the target AAS as articulated in the description and discussions of country-level AAS issues and opportunities. In the near future, with ILRI's involvement in other CRPs that may have overlapping country sites with CRP1.3, such as in CRP1.2 (e.g., Cambodia, Laos), opportunities for more direct involvement by ILRI may emerge depending on specific activities that will be implemented.IWMI has expertise on water management for integrated AAS in floodplains, deltas and coastal zones, including wetland management, hydrodynamic and water quality modeling, water management options and livelihoods assessments and impacts at farm and irrigation system levels as well as institutional and policy analysis at site and larger basin scales. Since water is one of the key factors in improving and applying new production systems, IWMI's contribution is essential for the feasibility and sustainability of innovative AAS at the study sites of CRP1.3. As an International Partner Organisation of the Ramsar Convention, IWMI also brings a linkage between the results of CRP1.3 and global and national policy making on wetland systems.In Bangladesh, with experiences in water management for shrimp-fish-rice systems in Khulna under the project CPWF PN10 on Managing Water and Land Resources for Sustainable Livelihoods at the Interface Between Fresh and Saline Water Environments in Vietnam and Bangladesh in collaboration with IRRI, WorldFish, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI), Bangladesh Rural Advance Committee (BRAC), Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) of Bangladesh, Education and Economic Development of Bangladesh, SocioConsult Limited of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development, IWMI will contribute to land and water zoning suitable for different integrated AAS, and impacts on water quantity and quality of these systems at both inside and outside of the study sites.[146]Annex 8: Using Results Based Framework for Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact AssessmentThe program's approach to monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment is based on the principles of results based management (RBM) (Meier 2003). As shown in Figure A8 RBM adopts a life-cycle approach working through planning and program definition, to monitoring and evaluation, which in turn inform adjustments in program planning and so on. At the heart of an effective learning cycle lies substantive stakeholder participation and good communication.CRP 1.3 has drawn on this approach already in the design of the program, notably through effective consultation with stakeholders in focal countries. We will build on this during program inception to design the details of our monitoring and evaluation and impact assessment. The main stages of this are summarized below.Planning. One of the key features of CRP 1.3 is the participatory nature of our approach, from planning through implementation. Program inception will continue the planning process by conducting a participatory appraisal and ex ante analysis in each country and hub. These analyses will include consideration of: i) the poverty situation, development challenges, and AAS opportunities in each hub and how these relate to national priorities, strategies and plans; ii) identification of hypotheses of change and research questions to support this change; iii) stakeholder and institutional analysis, including assessment of stakeholders' and target groups' capabilities; iv) assessment of results on CGIAR System-Level Objectives (SLO); and v) a quantitative ex-ante impact analysis of possible scenarios of impact.Harnessing the Potential of Aquatic Agricultural Systems for the Poor and Vulnerable[147]Monitoring. As the program proceeds to implementation we will use monitoring to review progress, inform decisions on program direction and management, and in doing do enhance overall accountability and learning. Specific steps in our monitoring will include: i) periodic analysis of the extent to which outcomes have been or are being achieved; ii) identification and analysis of factors contributing to or impeding achievement of outcomes, iii) review of the extent to which individual partners are achieving outputs as planned, iv) review of partnership strategies to ensure partners have a common appreciation of problems and needs and v) document lessons learned and supply information for the creation of knowledge products for wider sharing. In pursuing this work the program will take a participatory approach design to build stakeholder engagement and accountability.Evaluation. The program will build upon the monitoring system to conduct periodic evaluations of program progress. The precise form and intensity of these evaluations will vary depending on purpose ranging from rapid appraisals, and analyses of case studies, to full scale project evaluations. The evaluations will normally be undertaken at the end of specific projects or program phases, and a formal evaluation will be done of work in each hub on a three yearly basis. The evaluations will use data from the monitoring system but may also need to collect additional data. As for monitoring, the program's evaluations will favour participatory approaches where appropriate.Impact Assessment. The program's approach to impact assessment will use the skills of the monitoring and evaluation team to build on the monitoring and evaluation framework described above. This approach will include planning for impact assessment during project start up. We will use outcome mapping and participatory impact pathway analysis to identify rigorous indicators of impact (Walker et al. 2008), and our assessments will use a range of methods including both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Conventional adoption studies and related cost-benefit analyses are a mainstay of impact assessment and these will be used where appropriate. However the systems approach of CRP 1.3 requires that our impact analysis reach further down the impact pathway to measure indicators such as nutritional, health, environmental and social consequences of our work.[178] "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"16bf5159d92c619a5d89c5c95c0dc679","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7c4ace4d-ee3a-4e4a-b7d1-b1218898ebf4/retrieve","id":"1028313358"},"keywords":["Plant descriptors 9","Abiotic stress susceptibility 10","Biotic stress susceptibility 11","Biochemical markers 12","Molecular markers 13","Cytological characters 14","Identified genes"],"sieverID":"e0776733-b4e2-436a-b5c3-80d74621bfe9","content":"Descriptors for Citrus is a revision of the original IBPGR publication Descriptors for Citrus (1988). The descriptor numbers of the original list are given in parentheses beside the present descriptors for cross-referencing purposes. This descriptor list has been devised to cover members of the tribe Citreae of the Family Rutaceae and subfamily Aurantioideae, all of which have a type of fruit-bearing, juice-filled vesicle known as a hesperidium. Of about 13 genera involved, the most important are Citrus (16 species including 10 cultivated, according to Swingle's classification), Fortunella and Poncirus and their hybrids. This revised descriptor list is based on the work of a team of SRA INRA-CIRAD 1 in Corsica, France and inputs from the EGID 1 -Citrus Network coordinated by Roland Cottin. It also covers Asian crop diversity through contributions provided by UTFANET 1 (coordinated by Dr Nazmul Haq). The UPOV 1 Technical Guidelines for Citrus have been examined and where possible a standardized approach has been considered. A draft version prepared in the internationally accepted IPGRI format for descriptor lists was subsequently sent to a number of experts for their comments and amendments. A full list of the names and addresses of those involved is given in 'Contributors'.IPGRI encourages the collecting of data for all five types of descriptors (see Definitions and Use of Descriptors), whereby data from the first four categories -Passport, Management, Environment and Site, and Characterization -should be available for any accession. The number of descriptors selected in each of the categories will depend on the crop and their importance to the crop's description. Descriptors listed under Evaluation allow for a more extensive description of the accession, but generally require replicated trials over a period of time.Although the suggested coding should not be regarded as the definitive scheme, this format represents an important tool for a standardized characterization system and it is promoted by IPGRI throughout the world.This descriptor list provides an international format and thereby produces a universally understood 'language' for plant genetic resources data. The adoption of this scheme for data encoding, or at least the production of a transformation method to convert other schemes into the IPGRI format, will produce a rapid, reliable and efficient means for information storage, retrieval and communication, and will assist with the utilization of germplasm. It is recommended, therefore, that information should be produced by closely following the descriptor list with regard to ordering and numbering descriptors, using the descriptors specified, and using the descriptor states recommended.This descriptor list is intended to be comprehensive for the descriptors that it contains. This approach assists with the standardization of descriptor definitions. IPGRI does not, however, assume that curators will characterize accessions of their collection utilizing all descriptors given. Descriptors should be used when they are useful to the curator for themanagement and maintenance of the collection and/or to the users of the plant genetic resources. However, highly discriminating descriptors are marked as highlighted text to facilitate selection of descriptors.Multicrop passport descriptors (see Annex I) were developed jointly by IPGRI and FAO, to provide consistent coding schemes for common passport descriptors across crops. They are marked in the text as [MCPD]. Please note that owing to the genetic nature of the multicrop passport descriptors, not all descriptor states for a particular descriptor will be relevant to a specific crop. In Annex II, the reader will find a Collecting form for citrus that will facilitate data collecting.Any suggestions for improvement on the Descriptors for Citrus will be highly appreciated by IPGRI.IPGRI uses the following definitions in genetic resources documentation:Passport descriptors: These provide the basic information used for the general management of the accession (including registration at the genebank and other identification information) and describe parameters that should be observed when the accession is originally collected.Management descriptors: These provide the basis for the management of accessions in the genebank and assist with their multiplication and regeneration.Environment and site descriptors: These describe the environmental and site-specific parameters that are important when characterization and evaluation trials are held. They can be important for the interpretation of the results of those trials. Site descriptors for germplasm collecting are also included here.Characterization descriptors: These enable an easy and quick discrimination between phenotypes. They are generally highly heritable, can be easily seen by the eye and are equally expressed in all environments. In addition, these may include a limited number of additional traits thought desirable by a consensus of users of the particular crop.The expression of many of the descriptors in this category will depend on the environment and, consequently, special experimental designs and techniques are needed to assess them. Their assessment may also require complex biochemical or molecular characterization methods. These types of descriptors include characters such as yield, agronomic performance, stress susceptibilities and biochemical and cytological traits. They are generally the most interesting traits in crop improvement Characterization will normally be the responsibility of genebank curators, while evaluation will typically be carried out elsewhere (possibly by a multidisciplinary team of scientists). The evaluation data should be fed back to the genebank which will maintain a data file.Highly discriminating descriptors are marked with highlighted text.The following internationally accepted norms for the scoring, coding and recording of descriptor states should be followed:(a) the Système International d'Unités (SI) is used;(b) the units to be applied are given in square brackets following the descriptor name;Definitions and use of the descriptors 1 (c) standard colour charts, e.g. Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart, Methuen Handbook of Colour, or Munsell Color Chart for Plant Tissues, are strongly recommended for all ungraded colour characters (the precise chart used should be specified in the section where it is used);(d) the three-letter abbreviations from the International Standard (ISO) Codes for the representation of names of countries is used;(e) many quantitative characters which are continuously variable are recorded on a 1-9 scale, where:1 Very low 6 Intermediate to high 2 Very low to low 7 High 3 Low 8 High to very high 4 Low to intermediate 9 Very high 5 Intermediate is the expression of a character. The authors of this list have sometimes described only a selection of the states, e.g. 3, 5 and 7 for such descriptors. Where this has occurred, the full range of codes is available for use by extension of the codes given or by interpolation between them, e.g. in Section 10 (Biotic stress susceptibility), 1 = very low susceptibility and 9 = very high susceptibility;(f) when a descriptor is scored using a 1-9 scale, such as in (e), '0' would be scored when (i) the character is not expressed; (ii) a descriptor is inapplicable. In the following example, '0' will be recorded if an accession does not have a central leaf lobe: (i) for accessions which are not generally uniform for a descriptor (e.g. mixed collection, genetic segregation), the mean and standard deviation could be reported where the descriptor is continuous. Where the descriptor is discontinuous, several codes in the order of frequency could be recorded; or other publicized methods can be utilized, such as Rana et al. (1991) or van Hintum (1993), that clearly state a method for scoring heterogeneous accessions;(j) dates should be expressed numerically in the format YYYYMMDD, where YYYY -digits to represent the year MM -digits to represent the month DD -digits to represent the day.Definitions and use of the descriptors 3 PASSPORT 1. Accession descriptors 1.1 Accession number (1.1) [MCPD] This number serves as a unique identifier for accessions and is assigned when an accession is entered into the collection. Once assigned this number should never be reassigned to another accession in the collection. Even if an accession is lost, its assigned number should never be re-used. Letters should be used before the number to identify the genebank or national system (e.g. IDG indicates an accession that comes from the genebank at Bari, Italy; CGN indicates an accession from the genebank at Wageningen, The Netherlands; PI indicates an accession within the USA system).Donor name (1.2) [MCPD] Name of institution or individual responsible for donating the germplasmDonor number (1.3) [MCPD] Number assigned to an accession by the donorOther number(s) associated with the accession (1.4) [MCPD] Any other identification number known to exist in other collections for this accession, e.g. USDA Plant Inventory number (not Collecting number, see descriptor 2.2). Other numbers can be added as 1.4.3, etc. Either a registered or other formal designation given to the accessionInclude here any previous identification other than the current name. Collecting number or newly assigned station names are frequently used as identifiers.(1.7) Date on which the accession entered the collection Latitude of collecting site (2.7) [MCPD] Degrees and minutes followed by N (North) or S (South) (e.g. 1030S). Missing data (minutes) should be indicated with hyphen (e.g. 10-S).Longitude of collecting site (2.8) [MCPD] Degrees and minutes followed by E (East) or W (West) (e.g. 07625W). Missing data (minutes) should be indicated with hyphen (e.g. 076-W).(2.9) [MCPD]2.11 Collecting source (2.10) [MCPD] The coding scheme proposed can be used at two different levels of detail: either by using the global codes such as 1, 2, 3, 4, or by using the more detailed coding such as 1. Site (research institute) (3.2)Degrees and minutes followed by N (North) or S (South) (e.g. 1030S). Missing data (minutes) should be indicated with hyphen (e.g. 10-S).Degrees and minutes followed by E (East) or W (West) (e.g. 07625 W). Missing data (minutes) should be indicated with hyphen (e.g. 076-W). Laboratory 99 Other (specify in descriptor 5.12 Notes)Field establishment [%] Percentage of plants establishedUse descriptors as for 3.7Specify number of days from planting after which establishment is measuredPlanting site in the field Give block, strip and/or row/plot numbers as applicable, plants/plot, replicationEnvironmental characteristics of site Use descriptors 6.1.1 to 6.1.22 in section 6 5.10 Fertilizer Specify types, doses, frequency of each and method of applicationSpecify pesticides used, doses, frequency of each and method of applicationAny other site-specific information 6. Collecting and/or characterization/evaluation site environment descriptors 6.1 Site environmentThis refers to the profile in elevation of the land surface on a broad scale. (From FAO 1990) The landform refers to the shape of the land surface in the area in which the site is located (adapted from FAO 1990) Estimated slope of the site 6.1.5The direction that the slope on which the accession was collected faces. Describe the direction with symbols N, S, E, W (e.g. a slope that faces a southwestern direction has an aspect of SW)  As detailed a classification as possible should be given. This may be taken from a soil survey map. State class (e.g. Alfisols, Spodosols, Vertisols, etc.).Water availability   Length of petiole relative to length of leaf lamina. See Fig. 4 1 Sessile (petiole absent) 2 Brevipetiolate (petiole shorter than leaf lamina) 3 Longipetiolate (petiole longer than or same length as leaf lamina) Recorded from petiole base to lamina tip. Average of 10 fully developed leaves taken from three different adult trees (not taken from suckers). Use apical leaflet in the case of compound leaf.Leaf lamina width [mm] (4.2.9)Recorded at the widest point. Average of 10 fully developed leaves taken from three different adult trees. Use apical leaflet in the case of compound leaf.Calculated as a mean of 10 fully developed leaves taken from three different adult trees.Characterization 31 1 2 3Leaf thickness [mm] Recorded at the thickest point. Average of 10 fully developed leaves taken from three different adult trees. Use apical leaflet in the case of compound leaf.    Degrees and minutes followed by N (North) or S (South) (e.g. 1030S).Missing data (minutes) should be indicated with hyphen (e.g. 10-S).7.3.12.3 End date of flowering season [YYYYMMDD] 7.4 Fruit All observations on the fruit should be made at the stage of optimum ripeness (ratio total soluble solids/acid content of juice). Data observed on 10 typical fruits per tree replicated three times Average of 50 microspore mother cells, observed during metaphase 1Record the average of 50 tetrads 13.5 Other cytological charactersDescribe any known specific mutant present in the accessionThis list of multicrop passport descriptors has been developed jointly by IPGRI and FAO to provide consistent coding schemes for common passport descriptors across crops. These descriptors aim to be compatible with future IPGRI crop descriptor lists and with the descriptors to be used for the FAO World Information and Early Warning System (WIEWS) on plant genetic resources.The list should NOT be regarded as a minimum descriptor list, since many additional passport descriptors are essential for the description of crops and need to be recorded. This document lists an initial set of common passport descriptors at the multicrop level. At a later stage the list could be expanded with additional multicrop descriptors. For example, descriptors dealing with the use of germplasm are currently not included, but their suitability for inclusion at the multicrop level will be investigated. Future expansion could even result in the development of more specialized lists of common descriptors at the crop group level.Printed here is the latest version of the list (1997) which contains two sections. The latter one (FAO WIEWS DESCRIPTORS) lists a number of optional descriptors used in the FAO WIEWS. The list provides descriptions of content and coding schemes, but also provides suggested fieldnames (in parentheses) that can assist in the computerized exchange of this type of data. Code of the institute where the accession is maintained. The codes consist of the 3-letter ISO 3166 country code of the country where the institute is located plus number or an acronym as specified in the Institute database that will be made available by FAO. Preliminary codes (i.e. codes not yet incorporated in the FAO Institute database) start with an asterisk followed by a 3-letter ISO 3166 country code and an acronym.This number serves as a unique identifier for accessions and is assigned when an accession is entered into the collection. Once assigned this number should never be reassigned to another accession in the collection. Even if an accession is lost, its assigned number should never be reused. Letters should be used before the number to identify the genebank or national system (e.g. IDG indicates an accession that comes from the genebank at Bari, Italy; CGN indicates an accession from the genebank at Wageningen, The Netherlands; PI indicates an accession within the USA system).Collecting number (COLLNUMB) Original number assigned by the collector(s) of the sample, normally composed of the name or initials of the collector(s) followed by a number. This item is essential for identify-ing duplicates held in different collections. It should be unique and always accompany subsamples wherever they are sent.Genus (GENUS) Genus name for taxon. Initial uppercase letter required.Species (SPECIES) Specific epithet portion of the scientific name in lowercase letters plus authority 1 . Following abbreviation is allowed: \"sp.\" 6. Subtaxa (SUBTAXA) Subtaxa can be used to store any additional taxonomic identifier plus authority 1 . Following abbreviations are allowed: \"ssp.\" (for subspecies); \"var.\" (for variety); \"convar.\" (for convariety); \"f.\" (for form).Accession name (ACCNAME) Either a registered or other formal designation given to the accession. First letter uppercase. Multiple names separated with semicolon.Country of origin (ORIGCTY) Name of the country in which the sample was originally collected or derived. Use the ISO 3166 extended codes, (i.e. current and old 3 letter ISO 3166 country codes) 9.Location of collecting site (COLLSITE) Location information below the country level that describes where the accession was collected starting with the most detailed information. Might include the distance in kilometers and direction from the nearest town, village or map grid reference point, (e.g. CURITIBA 7S, PARANA means 7 km south of Curitiba in the state of Parana) 10. Latitude of collecting site (LATITUDE) Degrees and minutes followed by N (North) or S (South) (e.g. 1030S). Missing data (minutes) should be indicated with hyphen (e.g. 10-S). (DONORCODE) Code for the donor institute. The codes consist of the 3-letter ISO 3166 country code of the country where the institute is located plus number or an acronym as specified in the Institute database that will be made available by FAO. Preliminary codes (i.e. codes not yet incorporated in the FAO Institute database) start with an asterisk followed by a 3-letter ISO 3166 country code and an acronym. 17. Donor number (DONORNUMB) Number assigned to an accession by the donor. Letters should be used before the number to identify the genebank or national system (e.g. IDG indicates an accession that comes from the genebank at Bari, Italy; CGN indicates an accession from the genebank at Wageningen, The Netherlands; PI indicates an accession within the USA system) 18. Other number(s) associated with the accession (OTHERNUMB) Any other identification number known to exist in other collections for this accession. Letters should be used before the number to identify the genebank or national system (e.g. IDG indicates an accession that comes from the genebank at Bari, Italy; CGN indicates an accession from the genebank at Wageningen, The Netherlands; PI indicates an accession within the USA system). Multiple numbers can be added and should be separated with a semicolon 19. Remarks (REMARKS) The remarks field is used to add notes or to elaborate on descriptors with value \"99\" (=Other). Prefix remarks with the field name they refer to and a colon (e.g. COLLSRC: roadside). Separate remarks referring to different fields are separated by semicolons.Location of safety duplicates (DUPLSITE) Code of the institute where a safety duplicate of the accession is maintained. The codes consist of 3-letter ISO 3166 country code of the country where the institute is located plus number or an acronym as specified in the Institute database that will be made available by FAO. Preliminary codes (i.e. codes not yet incorporated in the FAO Institute database) start with an asterisk followed by a 3-letter ISO 3166 country code and an acronym. Multiple numbers can be added and should be separated with a semicolon.Availability "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"154fed3519bfcd5a365bee0f83a97935","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/19950630-d337-4f29-9b85-f47648ae6136/retrieve","id":"565299493"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"75f0cb06-9676-4956-96c8-7cc3e3680b46","content":"Summary: A4NH is a young program in a complex area, still in the process of establishing where it can best add value. The ISPC recognizes that the CRP has had to develop a strategy without the foundation of an existing major CGIAR centre strategy and it is potentially more challenging than the development of commodity-or sector-specific programs in which the CGIAR has prior experience.CRP4 has been funded for two and a half years and shows evidence of progress. The two key achievements highlighted by A4NH in the 2013 Annual Report are first, are two papers led by IFPRI-A4NH researchers published in The Lancet's second seminal series on maternal and child nutrition. Secondly, there were significant advances in aflatoxin control in Africa through the completion of a pilot production facility for Aflasafe™ that can produce 5 tons per hour to stimulate commercial use and the establishment of partnerships for aflatoxin biocontrol in eight other African countries.The delivery pathways are an interesting innovation in impact pathways, although further thinking is still needed to describe their role in implementing change. The program has established a wide range of partnerships (for example with AVRDC and vegetable seed companies for vegetable value chains) and is beginning to deliver research outputs from the current program. Four types of strategic partners are used as the framework for the partnership strategy and they seem logical though their relationship to the three delivery pathways is not clear. The extension proposal provides a thoughtful discussion on metrics and problems of measurement and indicates where other programs will be contributing to the same IDOs. The proposal shows progress in terms of clearer use of nutrition and health-related terminology, however, the ISPC finds that the CRP is expanding too rapidly without evidence of proof-of-concept in key areas and not delivering on the promise of a cohesive program.The ISPC has serious concerns about the following 4 key areas which are highlighted below and elaborated on in the subsequent commentary.1. The Theories of Change (ToCs) for each Flagship Project need to be developed and clear links to the overall coherence of the program (i.e. what is the value of all four Flagships being in this one program) described before further expansion of the program (in terms of more funding or partnerships). This is necessary to provide a convincing case that the ToCs are driving the prioritization of the research questions. 2. Greater emphasis on prioritization of research activities, focusing on areas where plausibility of impact is highest, is required. Priority setting would also enable A4NH to present a more coherent and compelling program. At present, the justification for a cluster on nutrition-sensitive landscapes, for example, is not apparent. 3. The overarching research questions and researchable hypotheses for the flagships should be clearly articulated and these should include gender dimensions. At this point in time, the impact of knowledge about the importance of women's empowerment on nutrition outcomes is not evident in the framing of research questions. 4. A full description in terms of what has been done with regards to implementation of the M&E system and the process by which feedback and learning are incorporated into program planning should be included.Agriculture for Nutrition and Health is a new initiative for the CGIAR developed in response to global demand for more nutrition-and health-sensitive development (reflected in the CGIAR's addition of SLO3 on improved nutrition and health). It builds on a major effort derived from the prior HarvestPlus program but has few other \"legacy\" projects. With the advantage of learning from the successful HarvestPlus program and new partnerships, the program has been able to draw together innovative teams from across the CGIAR working on biofortification, nutrition and food safety. It is led by IFPRI in partnership with Bioversity, CIAT, CIMMYT, CIP, ICARDA, ICRISAT, IITA, ILRI, IRRI, World Agroforestry and WorldFish. CRP A4NH has an umbrella strategy that aims to enhance the nutrition-sensitivity of agriculture to maximize impact on nutrition and health (particularly for young women, mothers and children) by exploiting and enhancing the synergies between agriculture, nutrition, and health through four key research components: value chains, biofortification, control of agriculture -associated diseases, and integrated agriculture, nutrition, and health development programs and policies. The program is working towards four IDOs: diet quality, reduced exposure to agriculture-related diseases, women's empowerment and cross-sector policies. Through its three main \"delivery pathways\"value chains, integrated programs, and policies and investments, A4NH research outputs are expected to translate into outcomes towards achieving IDO targets, either individually or, usually, in some combination.A4NH was approved by the Fund Council subject to further revisions to be addressed during the implementation phase taking into account the recommendations of the ISPC and Fund Council 1 . These included: the need for more emphasis on the research generating International Public Goods (IPGs); clearer distinction of its research hypotheses for addressing nutrition and health; prioritization of research activities; clarification of its comparative advantage to address agriculture-associated diseases (AAD); and, clarification of linkages with other CRPs.The ISPC had asked 'Is there a clearly proven link between intensification and greater… nutritional risks for the poor?' Still lacking in the extension proposal is the clarity on whether this is being tested and if so, what do the results suggest regarding prioritization. There is no reference to how the research is generating IPGs and clarification of the CGIAR's niche with respect to AAD is still not clear. There is, even now, a very strong emphasis on developing methods and tools, while the actual research to be undertaken is not explicitly spelled out. The ISPC had urged the proponents to articulate more clearly the researchable hypotheses that could be tested by good science. This aspect has not been satisfactorily addressed. Additional details on the extent to which CRP 4 has addressed these comments are also provided below as part of the commentary. Overall the feeling is that the program is expanding too rapidly without first testing some of the underlying assumptions.The following text gives the detail behind the overall analysis on the stated criteria.The A4NH Results Framework links the research portfolio through three impact pathways to the four CRP IDOs. Four assumptions underlying the results framework are stated in the extension proposal:• Agriculture improves diet quality (IDO1) by increasing the supply and demand and reducing the cost of nutritious foods among the poor.• Agriculture can also reduce exposure to disease (IDO 2) by improving food safety and the management of agricultural intensification processes.• Gender discrimination is a fundamental driver of poor nutritional outcomes. Agriculture has the potential, to date largely untapped, to empower women and poor communities (IDO 3).• Finally, nutrition-sensitive development by definition requires an enabling environment characterized by effective, evidence-based cross-sector programs, policies, and investments (IDO 4).These are very broad assumptions that justify the program strategy and they are to be tested during the extension phase using an evidence base built by the program. In particular, it is not straightforward to understand how agriculture increases the demand for nutritious food among the poor. Assumption 2 states that \"Agriculture can also reduce exposure to disease…….\", but it can also increase exposure; therefore it is presumed that these first 2 sentences should start with \"Agricultural interventions underpinned by agricultural research can...\".In 2013, A4NH began investing in developing more detailed ToCs to guide how research is planned, implemented and evaluated. A4NH plans to co-develop ToCs with partners for each Flagship Project (FP) taking into consideration the relative stage of activities of the FP; for example the ToC for discovery research in value chains differs from the ToC for pilot testing phase and the ToC for research on \"proof-of-concept\" or scaling-up. As the A4NH portfolio evolves, new ToCs will be developed and existing ToCs will be updated to reflect new experience and evidence. The CRP has an interest in understanding the \"science of delivery\" through working with development partners, to systematically learn how pilots can go to scale. This approach of tailoring the ToC to the life cycle of the FP, and the inherent learning built into the ongoing ToC, should maintain a welcomed focus of effort.Since the ToCs are still in development and not yet finalized, it is not possible to assess plausibility at that level. However the ISPC does have serious concerns -the CRP has not even shown that the elements of the ToCs have been driving the selection of research topics (for example, gender issues discussed later). It is hoped that A4NH will be able to better articulate its ToCs, IDOs and their potential contribution to SLOs by the end of the Extension period.The program funding proposal (October 2011) states that there will be an M&E system and that it will be simple and pragmatic. It mentions that the system will monitor performance in achieving milestones and outputs as well as monitoring performance against indicators, and will be tailored to the three impact pathways. This is a sensible approach but subsequent reports have not shown any evidence of the implementation of this system. The ISPC therefore recommends that a full description of what has been done and what is planned is included in the CRP response. The ISPC will then provide feedback on what more needs to be done for an acceptable M&E system to be in place by the time of applying for the full proposal.Three of the four IDOs (1, 3 and 4) contribute to the common IDOs on nutrition, gender and policies, while IDO 2 contributes directly to SLO3; this is an added complexity for A4NH that needs to be recognized at the SRF level. The CRP has developed appropriate indicators and aspirational targets for each of the IDOs. Baseline information is available; metrics and how to go about measurement are outlined, and doable.The ISPC welcomes the CRP's attention to foresight analyses. As IDO indicators are better defined, the CRP plans to increase investment in compiling data and developing methods that will help track key indicators, individually and in combination, at scale.As the CRP is still developing its ToCs, IDOs and indicators, it is likely that the impact pathways are also still under development. Again, it is worrying that forward workplans are being developed without being driven by the ToCs. The existing descriptions of impact pathways lack an assessment of assumptions and risks. These are needed to assess the feasibility of delivery through the pathways and it is recommended that over the next year the descriptions of the three impact pathways are expanded to include assumptions and risks that may affect program delivery.That said, the 2013 annual report (Pgs. 3-7) documents progress towards outputs, achievement of outcomes and IDOs, and impact. On the basis of the available information, the impact pathways appear feasible provided further effort is given to focus and prioritization.The Flagship Projects (FPs) map exactly on to the original structure of the program. The rationale for the activities within the four FPs -Value Chains for Enhanced Nutrition (VCN), Biofortification, Agriculture-Associated Diseases (AAD) and Integrated Programs and Policies (IPP)is not clearly articulated and the ISPC has concerns about how some of these are evolving (details below). The ToCs for the FPs will be important for the selection of priorities within the FPs and the ISPC expects to see fully developed ToCs in the pre-proposal to be submitted next year.Value chains are an obvious area of focus but this FP is still in early stages of evolution. The ISPC would encourage the identification of technical research beyond frameworks and assessments. For example, how can gender equity in value chains be enhanced? What kind of value chain interventions ensure that women benefit and how to design and select such value chains (for example focusing on food preparation mechanisms and the ways in which women's time constraints and social norms might affect the mapping from household food supply to nutrition delivery; the ways in which demands on women's time keep them from providing their families with fresh fruit and vegetables/eggs and dairy products, etc.)? It is not clear how many vegetable and fruit value chains are being targeted or how much is being invested; however, the CRP's partnership with AVRDC and vegetable seed companies is definitely a step in the right direction and to be lauded. On the other hand, the concept of nutrition-sensitive landscapes is promoted without clear conceptual underpinnings. Given the lack of specific details and justification, the ISPC would recommend that this is not pursued.Biofortification is a more mature FP which builds on earlier research and has a good mix of pipeline \"discovery\" through to delivery. In 2015-16 there will be a rapid expansion of delivery-at-scale research and development and inclusion of Ethiopia as the ninth target country. This FP would also do well to include gender sensitive traits. For example on the breeding side, developing root and tuber varieties that could be eaten after shorter cooking times (and thus require less fuel wood gathering) and at the same time lose fewer nutrients in the cooking process, would significantly reduce time and drudgery burdens for women to put nutritious food on the table.For FPs 1 and 2, the CRP seems to be following a somewhat \"scatter-gun\" approach working with all relevant CGIAR centres and/or CRPs. For example, under Value Chains, A4NH works in vegetable, fruit, pulse, milk, meat and fish value chains in different sites with different CGIAR partners while under Biofortification, A4NH works on Vitamin A, iron and zinc in maize, wheat, sorghum, pearl millet, potato, sweet potato, lentil and cowpea in different sites with different CGIAR partners. It is not clear if any of these sites are common for commodities or traits. Without a well-articulated, clear sub-strategy, A4NH cannot focus its efforts and it cannot prioritize research activities. It is therefore likely to produce mainly local public goods. The ISPC would suggest prioritizing a few of the value chains, commodities and traits across both Value Chains and Biofortification in common pilot sites and following these through to proof-of-concept first before trying to expand into further partnerships.The FP on Agriculture-Associated Diseases (AAD) has a mix of IPGs through to delivery and breaks new ground in bringing together agriculture, epidemiology and economics, although this nexus requires expertise outside of the CGIAR experience (more scope for partnerships here, as other actors such as those in public health might be far ahead of the CGIAR on some of these topics). The food safety research builds on some good quality long-term research in dairy value chains, particularly for informal markets, and in control of aflatoxin risks.In 2015-16, A4NH plans to expand food safety research, particularly in aflatoxin control and safety of perishable food products, informed by a CRP-commissioned external evaluation in 2014. The ISPC believes it would be prudent to achieve proof of concept for food safety in dairy value chains and in control of aflatoxin risks before expanding food safety research to other perishable food products. The problems associated with meat, fish, fruits and vegetables are likely to be different and it is not clear that research-based solutions are available as they are for example aflatoxin with Aflasafe™. This technology represents at least 20 years of research effort. Furthermore, in 2015-16, A4NH will expand its focus to emerging disease risks associated with the intensification of systems (for example, ecosystem interfaces, urbanization, irrigation and grey water) and on agriculturally important neglected diseases, linked to larger community development efforts. The ISPC questions whether these choices add to the coherence of this programme or whether there are other priorities which would add more value? This is difficult to assess without seeing the ToCs.There is now a clearer distinction in the CRP for addressing nutrition and health and the activities are addressed in different FPs. Be that as it may, nutrition and health problems are inter-related, for example malnutrition may increase the susceptibility of the poor to problems caused by unsafe food. A4NH must explain how the choices made in the FPs can add value in terms of delivery of the CRP as a whole. In terms of the CGIAR having a comparative advantage to address agriculture-associated diseases, it seems that it does for specific technologies for which it has lead the development and promotion e.g. Aflasafe™. But other areas have to be assessed on their own merits.The fourth FP Integrated Programs and Policies (IPP) evaluates and strengthens different models of nutrition-sensitive agriculture programs and of other integrated, multi-sectoral development programs aimed at improving nutritional outcomes during the first 1000 days. It is difficult to understand exactly what technical research this FP is planning. The evaluations of multi-country programmes sound like they have the potential to generate IPGs but the impact pathway is not clear.Gender has to be a high priority for a program working on nutrition. A4NH has defined women's empowerment as one of its four IDOs and proposes two gender-related indicators for the IDO on diet quality. Approximately 11% of the CRP's budget is allocated to gender activities, with eight of the work \"clusters\" in the FPs specifically targeting gender, women and/or children. New research is being carried out with the PIM CRP and the CGIAR Gender and Agriculture Research Network. An inventory of gender research is currently being developed. The program plans to work within the framework of the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index, to look for multiple entry points and to find and disseminate stories of success and failure. A4NH is also supporting research on genderagriculture-nutrition linkages in other CRPs with nutrition IDOs. In 2013, A4NH convened a workshop with the gender and evaluation focal points of CRPs with nutrition IDOs that proposed common approaches to evaluating nutrition across CRPs and a common framework for considering gender in agriculture-nutrition impact pathways and theories of change.Although the need to empower women to ensure good household nutrition is well recognized in this CRP, there is quite a way to go in thinking strategically about the ways in which gender might effectively influence research questions. The program is focused on production side activities; there is very little discussion about understanding the role that women play and their time allocation.The ISPC suggests that more attention be given to incorporating gender into substantive research issues, for example research on the ways in which nutrition delivery is altered by the constraints that women face (see section 2).The CRP recognizes that it needs to work with a far wider array of partner institutions (health researchers and implementers, public health specialists, nutrition people, and the academic and policy communities that deal with these issues) than most of the more traditional CRPs. What is not clearly stated, however, is where the CGIAR has a strong comparative advantage and where it has a strong collaborative advantage, through strong partnerships with key stakeholders along relevant impact pathways, and indeed where the system may not have an advantage in this landscape of potential partners. What can/should the CGIAR do in a space that is crowded with a lot of other actors, many of whom bring far more funding and have very different modes of delivery? Is the CGIAR the logical actor to look at \"evaluations of integrated multi-sectoral programs including social protection, health, education, WASH and nutrition in partnership with program implementers\" and is it the right entity to be involved in piloting and testing nutrition education programs for adolescent girls? The CRP needs to provide evidence of what advantage A4NH has for delivering in this space.There are tantalizing references to strategic decisions on how partners were selected, but selection of them in advance of developing the ToCs makes it challenging to judge their strategic relevance. Furthermore, there seems to be an expanding network of partners in planning but it is not apparent if the process for identifying partners feeds back into the ToCs and FP selection. Therefore, the ISPC recommends that further outreach should await resolution of the ToCs. Better articulated ToCs would clearly lay out the comparative advantage of the CGIAR.The ISPC acknowledges that A4NH is primarily a CGIAR partnership CRP for nutrition and health. It relies on outputs from other programs such as Vitamin A, iron and zinc enriched crop varieties and aflatoxin testing methods as inputs to its research on improving the nutrition and health of poor people. It currently works in partnership with 11 CGIAR centres and with 12 CRPs, with proposed links with two other CRPs. While this mode of working clearly integrates nutritional and health activities across the CGIAR, the division of labour between how A4NH works in partnership with CGIAR centres and links with other CRPs is not clear. It is critical that A4NH clearly defines its linkages with other CRPs as distinct from its partnerships with other CGIAR centres within A4NH through impact pathway schematics. Currently, contributions from the different sources are somewhat blurred and lack of clarity in apportioning impact/CRP may cause conflicts.4.1. Relevance of main changes in CRP governance, structure, partnerships that will be implemented between 2015 and 2016: The recognition of the need for greater regional partnerships has influenced adjustments in the program governance and management of A4NH. The Independent Advisory Committee will be increased by two for better representation of Africa and Asia. This seems to be a good move but no indication of the technical capacity of the proposed additions is provided. The management structure remains the same.The regional partnerships appear to be chosen strategically, with good use of existing institutional/program structures. In particular, the CRP's partnerships with African countries (through PACA and the SUN movement) and with cross-disciplinary programs in South Asia (through LANSA, Transform Nutrition, POSHAN) are to be commended. The ISPC has a generic concern about too many individual CRPs contacting CAADP and regional partners such as FARA independently and will raise this issue at the system level.During 2015--16, A4NH proposes to maintain its current structure and overall strategy to continue to strengthen the program as launched in 2012. The workplan for these two years is made up of ongoing and new activities in each Cluster in each FP. The information provided highlights one further geographical expansion, to Ethiopia. A4NH is already spread too widely geographically working in SE Asia, South Asia, Turkey, East Africa, Central Africa, West Africa, South America, Central America and the Caribbean in 50 different locations and needs to prioritize. There is also no mention of what has come to an end. The new activities in each cluster are dependent on securing additional funding.There is a proposed large increase in the FP, Value Change for Enhanced Nutrition (VCN). The logic for developing a new research cluster in nutrition-sensitive landscapes is not convincing and the ISPC would recommend NOT moving forward with this for now. Expansion on delivery of micronutrient-enhanced staples seems acceptable but the ISPC would recommend holding off on more county partnerships for now. A good way forward would also be to leave room for expansion until after ICN2.The regular budget for 2015-2016 assumes 1/3 funding from Window 1/Window 2 and 2/3 from bilateral (including Window 3). From 2012 to 2014, the budget of A4NH grew by about 30% to USD 78 million. The regular budget estimated for both 2015 and 2016 is approximately USD 90 million per year, about 50% more than the original budget. More than 75% is from bilateral and W3 sourcesthis represents a risk if donor interest in nutrition changes post-ICN2. Some thought needs to be put into how the program would be sustainable if this funding falls back.The partnerships for IPP seem very expensive in terms of what the FP is proposing to do (USD 8.8 million for five impact evaluations; presumably these are RCTs, but it's not really clear that this is what A4NH should be doing). The budget for the IPP cluster on \"Developing tools, methods and approaches for understanding, influencing and evaluating cross-sectoral processes (IPP-cross sectoral policies)\" also seems excessive (USD 10 million) for something that is very vague. The outputs from this investment will need to be revisited at the time of the full proposal evaluation, even though that would be early in terms of delivery.There is a proposed large expansion in the 2015-2016 budget to support new activities, mainly in the FP -VCN (an additional USD 14.4 million over the regular budget of USD 14 million). This is an enormous increase, which requires a fuller explanation and justification; moreover as noted before, the ISPC would not recommend moving ahead with the research cluster in nutrition-sensitive landscapes (USD 3 million of the requested USD 14.4 million in the expansion budget). The budget also indicates that the planned work on nutrition-sensitive landscapes has a regular budget of USD 0.6 million for 2015-2016 (the CRP states that this amount is either confirmed or the program is confident of getting restricted funding linked to maintaining a small growth in W1/W2 funding)it is not obvious what this means and how/when this allocation was made and approved.The distribution of the budget among the FPs indicates that FP Biofortification receives well over 50% of the budget. This work builds on earlier work and is having impact. A significant portion of this funding is bilateral/W3 funding. The budget has been growing steadily and a further increase of approximately USD 12 million is requested for 2015. Unless this has already been committed, the ISPC would recommend consolidation before further expansion, at least until the ToCs have been finalized and the new partnerships proposed can be assessed for relevance to the ToCs."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"e709436cb37126e72b937c4bffeccb20","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9ddaab8a-5d4a-4fef-9875-45e053a95b24/retrieve","id":"-96508062"},"keywords":["Border Carbon Adjustment","Carbon tax","Consumption tax","Greenhouse gas","Global warming","VAT","WTO"],"sieverID":"5609b4cc-cafe-4913-847c-ed4547c2ebeb","content":"Border Carbon Adjustments (BCAs) may play an important role in lowering the economic costs of greenhouse gas mitigation and in overcoming political-economy constraints on use of carbon taxes or equivalent measures. A carbon tax plus a full BCA could deal with the competitiveness challenges arising from carbon taxes by using the WTO's National Treatment principle to apply equal levies on domestic production and on imports, and by symmetrically rebating the carbon tax on exports in the manner of a value-added tax (VAT) export rebate. This approach would shift the base for carbon taxation from production to demand and potentially achieve substantial reductions in the cost of cutting emissions. It would avoid the massive measurement and compliance problems associated with BCAs based on foreign emission intensities. By contrast, import-only BCAs distort prices of importables relative to exportables; create divisive trade conflicts and deterioration in the terms of trade for developing countries; and likely require development of complex sets of import preferences.Now that current European Commission proposals are being implemented, the world is on the verge of introducing a new trade measure of border carbon adjustments (BCAs) on a large scale (European Commission (EC) 2020, 2021). These measures, which combine environmental and trade policies by levying border adjustments based on the estimated social costs of greenhouse gas emissions, could have enormous implications for both economic and environmental outcomes in both developed and developing countries. The tax rates involved would likely dwarf current tariffs.An extensive literature has examined potential proposals for BCAs to accompany carbon taxes, or equivalents such as emission trading schemes (ETS), in Energy Intensive and Trade Exposed (EITE) industries (see, for example, Böhringer, Balistreri and Rutherford 2012) in a situation where some countries introduce carbon taxes but others are unwilling to do so. This literature has generated important insights into the potential impacts of these measures. In particular, it suggests that BCAs frequently can reduce the cost of cutting emissions relative to use of carbon taxes (or emission trading systems) alone, although the reasons why this might be so do not seem to have been spelled out.Interpretations based on this literature tend to suggest that import barrier mechanisms are much more important than export rebate mechanisms although, as noted by Cosbey et al (2019), this is partly because the industries on which attention has focused are import competing in the richer countries for which they have been analyzed most intensively. Given that a system of carbon taxes would likely need to be expanded, and the rates applied to increase over time if sufficient abatement is to be achieved, it seems dangerous to rely on insights from a subset of products in today's industrial countries. As the coverage of carbon taxes is expanded either geographically or by commodity, they must increasingly include cases in which emission-intensive products are export oriented.The extensive literature on BCAs includes important discussions of implementation issues (see, for example, Cosbey et al 2019); analyses of the compatibility, or otherwise, of BCAs with WTO rules (eg Hillman 2013); and model-based studies of the potential impacts of BCAs on global emissions. This paper builds on this literature in several ways including: (i) providing a simple explanation of how a BCA can fundamentally change the incentives created by a system of carbon taxes from taxing the supply of emission-intensive goods to taxing demand for these goods; (ii) showing how simple differences between elasticities of supply and of demand can make such a demand-based system a more efficient and perhaps more politically acceptable approach to reducing global emissions. (iii) providing some insights into when a system of BCAs might have a better chance of being found compatible with WTO rules. Section 2 of this paper considers the goals leading policy makers to introduce BCA systems and their potential implications. Section 3 provides a graphical explanation of the relationship between carbon taxes (CTs) and BCAs, and particularly the way a complete system of BCAs converts a carbon tax from a tax on production of emissions to one on demand. Section 4 uses a simple, global general equilibrium model to identify differences between demand and supply elasticities as a potential reason to prefer taxing demand over taxing supply. Section 5 deals with key policy choices such as the choice between taxing goods and taxing carbon; dealing with indirect emissions; implications of import only CTBAs; carbon clubs; and compatibility with trade rules. Section 6 concludes.It is vitally important to spell out the goals of any BCA proposal because these goals may dramatically affect the nature of the desired measures. Hillman (2013) offers three long term motivations for BCAs: (i) competitiveness concerns following introduction of carbon taxes or equivalent measures (CTs), (ii) to reduce \"leakage\" where production in the country imposing such a CT is replaced by production from countries not imposing a CT, and (iii) to create incentives for other countries to adopt CTs. The first two of these are applicable in both small and large countries, while the third is relevant only for large countries or groups of countries.The competitiveness goal clearly has both an equity/fairness and an efficiency dimension. Producers are likely to feel that it is unfair that competitors who do not face a carbon tax are able to undercut them and take away market share. The efficiency concern arises when domestic output is replaced by imported goods of equal or greater emission intensity that have not faced a carbon tax, or when exports lose market share to more emission-intensive competitors who do not pay a carbon tax. It is vitally important to separate the fairness and efficiency aspects of any competitiveness goal as they can have very different policy implications. The equity/fairness argument may help generate strong political resistance to carbon taxes.The \"leakage\" goal might appear to be more of an economic efficiency argument. If a carbon tax reduces output and domestic firms lose market share to more carbon-intensive firms not facing a carbon tax, the resulting economic outcome may be less efficient (considering both costs internal and external to the firm) than in the absence of trade. However, as pointed out by Kortum and Weisbach (2017), simply reducing leakage is not an economically coherent goal. What matters is the extent to which policies increase economic welfare, considering both the costs resulting from emissions and the costs associated with reducing those emissions. A goal of reducing leakage that takes no account of the costs when determining the optimal level of intervention, or whether any given reduction in emissions is achieved at the lowest possible cost, is an inadequate guide to policy.The third goal of creating incentives for other countries to join, is relevant only for countries or groups of countries that are collectively large. One approach to this is \"carbon club\" proposals where a group of countries agrees on a set of standards and imposes substantial barriers against imports from non-member countries (Nordhaus 2019).For any industry, a carbon abatement policy such as a carbon tax or an emissions trading system on emissions from fuel combustion in producing a product affects emissions through two channels: (i) changes in technique, and (ii) changes in output. This distinction is important because BCAs on output operate only through the output effect. As shown in the Working Paper version of this study, the effect of a carbon tax, at any given output price, on emissions is given by:where \uD835\uDC52\uD835\uDC52̂ is the proportional change in use of a fuel and the associated emissions; \uD835\uDF02\uD835\uDF02 \uD835\uDC53\uD835\uDC53 is the elasticity of demand for fuel at constant output of the product; \uD835\uDF02\uD835\uDF02 \uD835\uDC60\uD835\uDC60 is the elasticity of output supply for the product ; \uD835\uDC60\uD835\uDC60 is the share of fuel in production costs; and \uD835\uDF0F\uD835\uDF0F \uD835\uDC53\uD835\uDC53 is the proportional change in the power of the tax (equal to one plus the proportional tax on fuel) on fuel use.If the elasticity parameters from the CGE models widely used to assess the impacts of BCAS provide any guide, the output effect is likely larger than the change of technique effect. This is because, for individual non-resource-based commodities, the partial equilibrium supply elasticities used in most of the general equilibrium models used to analyze this question are almost infinite. By contrast, the opportunities to reduce emissions by changing the input mix captured in the \uD835\uDF02\uD835\uDF02 \uD835\uDC53\uD835\uDC53 elasticity are likely much smaller.Consistent with this, Bellora and Fontagé (2020) and many other studies using the GTAP-E model use an elasticity of substitution of 0.5 between energy and capital, which accommodates some, limited substitution between energy (assumed to be the primary source of GHG emissions) and other inputs. McKibbin et al (2018), by contrast, use elasticities of substitution between energy and other inputs, and between different energy sources, that are strongly differentiated by sector and, in some cases, considerably above 0.5. The meta-analysis by Stern (2012) finds many elasticities of substitution between different fuels as high as two, but even this yields elasticities that are likely small relative to the output effects.Figure 1 uses a very simple diagram to show the effect of a carbon tax that raises marginal costs of production for a commodity, and hence its supply curve, from S0 to S1. The resulting reduction in output, from Q0 to Q1, is larger the greater is the supply elasticity.Adding an import BCA at the same rate as the cost increase created by a carbon tax, ie at a rate \uD835\uDF0F\uD835\uDF0F \uD835\uDC54\uD835\uDC54 = \uD835\uDC60\uD835\uDC60\uD835\uDF0F\uD835\uDF0F \uD835\uDC53\uD835\uDC53 for the finished good, raises the domestic price of the good. This case is shown, for an importable good, in A BCA can also be applied on exports. Following the example of a VAT, this would likely take the form of an export rebate at the common rate of the CTBA. The effects on output and demand are similar to those for an importable. Because export sales yield pw plus a rebate of (p2 -pw), the domestic consumer price of the good is increased from pw to p2 as producers equate their net returns from both markets. Producers are compensated for the increase in their costs associated with the carbon tax and so maintain their original level of output. Consumers face the higher price p2 and so reduce their consumption from its pre-carbon tax level, D0 to D1. The competitiveness concerns of producers have been dealt with, while the reduction in consumer demand for the emission-intensive good contributes to global emission reduction. A full CTBA (ie one with an import levy and an export rebate) is thus a tax on demand for emission intensive goods, while a CT alone is a tax on their production. This parallels the distinction between destination-based taxes such as a Value-Added Tax and origin-based taxes such income taxes. An important feature of the change from a CT to a CTBA is that the CT element of the CTBA continues to create incentives to move to less emission-intensive approaches to production.For simplicity, the discussion of Figures 1 to 3 has considered a specific commodity-such as fertilizercovered by a BCA applied at the same rate per unit of the commodity as the domestic carbon tax. If, however, policy makers should choose to base the BCA on the emissions actually generated in production of goods crossing the border, then the same diagrams could be used for a \"virtual\" commodity, the carbon embodied in the domestic and imported goods. While the emission intensity of imported goods might differ from that for domestic goods, the BCA rate on the embodied carbon would be the same for the carbon embodied in domestic and foreign goods. An export BCA based on the emission intensity of domestic goods would likewise eliminate the impacts of the CT on exports of embodied carbon.pw A CTBA on an imported good generates two sources of government revenue-one from the carbon tax and one from the BCA on imports. The export rebate requires governments to pay out some of their revenue from the carbon tax and the import BCA. With balanced trade, there would be no net revenue from a full BCA. Governments would, however, still receive full revenues from the carbon tax.A central question for this paper is whether conventional carbon taxes should be accompanied by full BCAs that convert them into taxes on demand for emission-intensive products. If all countries adopt a uniform CT without a BCA, the global impact comes about because the tax reduces the prices received by producers relative to consumers. If all countries introduce CTBAs, the global impacts come about because the tax raises prices to users (not just final consumers but users of intermediate inputs as well) relative to producer prices. In this situation, it does not matter whether the tax is on demand or on supply making the choice of a CT or a CTBA irrelevant (Gruber 2019). But the central problem under consideration arises only when some countries are willing to impose a CT while others are not.The CT and the CTBA bring about their global impacts quite differently. A carbon tax directly reduces supply in the countries that impose it. If the set of countries is collectively large, this effect is offset by an increase in the world market price of the good which, in turn, results in higher output in non-participating countries-and leakage from the CT countries to their trading partners. By contrast, a full CTBA on a good in a collectively large set of countries reduces its world price and the incentive to produce in both taxing and non-taxing countries. In this case, leakage arises because the lower world price stimulates demand in non-participating countries.The vast array of work examining the impacts of potential BCAs using CGE models has incorporated a great deal of important and useful detail on key parameters such as elasticities and emission intensities.However, the large number of parameters involved makes it very difficult to examine the sensitivity of the results to key, simple parameter differences such as those between the slopes of the supply and demand curves in Figures 2 and 3.In the rest of this section, a very simple general equilibrium model is used to examine the importance of these elasticities in a model where market shares can change. This model, presented in the Appendix, includes two countries (Home and Foreign), two commodities (emission-intensive (E) and a clean numeraire). Initially both allocate 50 percent of their resources to production of E and spend 50 percent of their income on that good. Under the policy experiments, only the Home country imposes a tax-whether on production or consumption. In the base case, demand elasticities are determined using a Constant-elasticity of substitution model with an elasticity of substitution of 0.3, while supply elasticities are determined using a Constant Elasticity of Transformation function with an elasticity of transformation of 2.Because these key parameters are readily changed in this model, it is very easy to assess the sensitivity of the results to changing them.Because the fundamental hypothesis tested using this model is that differences between elasticities of supply and demand are critical for determining whether taxing production or consumption of emissions is more efficient, it is important to examine the evidence on differences between these parameters. As noted earlier, the partial elasticities of supply of manufacturing and services in CGE models are close to infinite because they have no fixed factors and can draw in capital and labor from the rest of the economy. By contrast, elasticities of final demand are invariably below unity in absolute value (Hertel 1997). Elasticities of demand for intermediate inputs are generally also low because, in default mode, intermediate inputs are assumed to be demanded in fixed proportion to output.Empirical estimates of supply elasticities for manufactures and services are scarce because they are challenging to estimate given that major, sustained changes in their prices are rarely observed. One study that addresses this problem by examining output responses to price booms (Edgerton 2010) finds average elasticities of supply for machinery of 5. Roberts andSchlenker (2013, p2278) find even short run supply elasticities for food between two and three times as high in absolute value as demand elasticities. The hypothesis that supply elasticities exceed the absolute values of demand elasticities appears to be well supported in the literature.The results in Table 1 highlight the importance of the elasticity of supply relative to demand. Under the assumptions of the base case, the full CTBA is much more cost effective in reducing output of the emission intensive good than a carbon tax on production. At a 10 percent tax rate, the CTBA is almost 4 times as cost effective as the carbon tax. The cost effectiveness of both measures declines slowly as the tax rates go up, because the costs of these distortions rise as the square of their rate. But the cost effectiveness of the CTBA is still over three times greater with a CTBA than with a CT at a tax rate of 50 percent.These findings appear to be quite sensitive to the difference between the demand and supply elasticities.With the standard (0.3, 2.0) assumptions, the CTBA is almost four times as cost-effective as the CT. But if we reduce supply elasticities by specifying an elasticity of transformation of 0.9 instead of 2.0, that ratio drops to just over two.In the carbon tax case, the taxing country generally suffers real income losses that are more than twice as large as those suffered by the world as a whole. It goes from being self-sufficient in the emission intensive good to an importer and drives up the price substantially, compounding its losses from the deadweight cost of the tax and making the partner country slightly better off through its terms of trade. With a CTBA, the home country's loss as a share of GDP is generally closer to half the global loss. It becomes an exporter of the taxed good but faces a much smaller decline in the price of that good. σ=0.9, σT =0.9 20 -4.9 -0.55 -1.2 5.1 9.0 -4.0 -0.41 -0.9 -4.5 9.8Note: Reported emission changes reflect only output changes, ignoring incentives to change production methods resulting from the Carbon Tax.The analysis to this point has used simple, stylized models with a uniform carbon tax and BCA to generate some key insights. Formulating practical BCAs requires considering several key issues: (i) taxing goods vs taxing carbon, (ii) indirect emissions, (iii) challenges with import only BCAs, (iv) carbon clubs, and (v) likely WTO compatibility.Many proposals for CTBAs involve differentiated rates depending on the emission intensity of production in the exporting country, or whether CTs have been applied to that production. Clearly, the rate at which a carbon tax based on, say, fuel use is applied on domestic industries will differ depending on the efficiency of the individual firm, with low fuel use and low emission firms facing a lighter burden from the carbon tax.Ideally, this type of differentiation would be carried over into BCAs, with BCAs taxing demand for emissions, rather than production. As previously noted, Figures 1 to 3 remain relevant, but with embodied emissions, rather than goods, on the horizontal axis and the same tax rate applied on domestic and imported carbon. More emission-intensive goods would be subject to higher BCAs than domestic goods, and vice versa.Lower emission firms, facing lower costs from the carbon tax, would receive smaller rebates on their exports, which might reduce their incentive to invest in reducing their emissions. There would be a tendency for imports to shift from high-intensity suppliers to low intensity suppliers, which would be helpful, although highemission intensity suppliers might respond by shuffling their exports between markets without necessarily reducing overall emissions.A major practical problem with BCAs based on emission intensities of production by supplier, is the enormous information costs and risk for malfeasance in estimating these rates. How would authorities in the importing markets assess the emission intensity of production in foreign markets? How accurate would the resulting measures be? Would the process become captured by domestic lobbies and result in disproportionately high barriers? To avoid this risk, perhaps estimation of these intensities might be put in the hands of a neutral certification body. But that way lies a potential risk of a different form of capture, where foreign producers might convince the assessment body that their CT regime is strict when it is in fact toothless 1 .These problems become even more intense once the need to deal with indirect emissions is recognized.Given all these problems, there might well be a case for using BCAs based on the average emission intensity of domestic firms. This would require only information from domestic sources, avoiding the near impossible challenging of setting different rates by product and firm. It would need updating as the average emission intensity of domestic production declined but firms' export rebates would not decline with reductions in their emission intensities.Another key question is whether a BCA should be based only on direct emissions from production of a good or should account for indirect emissions from production of intermediate inputs? If BCAs are calculated based on domestic emission intensities, the cost of inputs covered by an import or export BCA is increased, and this cost increase should be included in calculating the BCA along with the increase in costs associated with the CT on direct emissions.When BCAs are based on the emission content of imported goods, accounting for indirect emissions is even more challenging than for direct emissions. Where emissions generated by individual firms supplying inputs to foreign producers are covered by a CT in the importing country, the BCA should include a tax as though at the rate applied by the importing country. The need to incorporate estimates of emissions from input suppliers as well as from the firms directly supplying exports will greatly increase the tasks involved in calculating the BCA rates to be applied.Import only BCAs without export rebates are frequently recommended (eg EC 2021). This approach clearly reduces concerns about competitiveness among import-oriented producers. Some also advocate this approach because an export rebate system is seen as \"subsidizing\" exports of emission-intensive goods (eg BlandfordThere are several concerns with these arguments. First, an export BCA would only be applied on industries where a carbon tax has been levied to reduce emissions so there is no subsidy to emission-intensive goods, only relief from the burden of the carbon tax. Second, the absence of a BCA on these commodities removes the incentive to reduce domestic demand for this product. Third, import only CTBAs appear to be very costly.Import only CTBAs raise the cost of producing exports both through input-output linkages and through increases in the prices of nontraded goods, shrinking exports and reducing the range of products that can profitably be exported just as traditional protectionist policies did (Dornbusch et al 1977). Both production and consumption decisions are distorted because importable commodities receive support from BCAs while exportables do not. Model based analysis suggests that import only BCAs would be an inefficient approach to reducing emissions (Mattoo et al 2009). If imposed primarily by developed countries, import-only BCAs would have very adverse implications for the exports of developing countries, damage that would be undone by moving to full CTBAs (Mattoo et al 2012).Where BCAs are based on the costs imposed on domestic producers by the carbon tax, any adjustments for indirect emissions depend on whether the input is exportable or importable. Prices of importable inputs rise and this cost increase should be included in the BCAs for goods in which they are incorporated. Prices of exportable inputs do not rise and so should not enter the calculation of the BCA. This further complicates calculation of BCA rates.Import only CTBAs also create a potentially serious problem of double taxation, with exports subject to a carbon tax at home and a BCA on entry into the partner markets. Many proposals for import only BCAs seem to envisage reducing or waiving the BCA on products that have been produced subject to a carbon tax or equivalent measure. But this raises many questions, like what constitutes an emission regime comparable enough to the domestic CT for the duty to be waived? And is an ETS with free allocations of emission quotas comparable to a carbon tax? Relying on partners for relief from the burden of your own carbon taxes seems likely to be a formula for serious trade conflicts. Countries wanting to avoid their exports being double taxed can do this unilaterally by implementing their own export BCAs.In terms of political economy, there are also important questions about import only BCAs. Exporters are worse off under import only BCAs than under CTs alone. Not only do they have to pay carbon taxes on their own emissions, but they also face higher prices for inputs produced by import-competing firms. Opposition from organized exporter interests may block adoption of import only CTBAs. Perhaps for this reason theEuropean Commission now appears to be examining options for adding export rebates to its proposed BCA system (Blanchard et al 2022).Carbon clubs are an extension of the import only CTBA approach, where a set of countries set a common standard of carbon abatement, waive BCAs on club members and impose them on countries outside the club (Nordhaus 2019;Meyer and Tucker 2021). If imposed by a group of large countries, it would certainly create incentives for some countries to join. But this approach is only one, uncooperative, approach to dealing with the international externalities associated with climate change.If the rules of the trading system allow one group of countries to introduce BCAs that discriminate against non-members of their club, then presumably other countries could similarly impose barriers against them. The result of such a system might involve some non-members adopting carbon taxes and joining the club but would likely result in others imposing retaliatory BCAs. As shown by Staiger (2022 p148), the resulting competitive equilibrium would result in carbon taxes that are too low and tariffs that are too high relative to an efficient outcome.Identifying a common standard for a carbon club seems likely to be difficult. Such proposals also seem likely to result in very serious political conflicts with developing countries unable or unwilling to be included when, as noted by Lester (2021), it is today's industrial countries that are responsible for most of the stock of greenhouse gases driving the world's worsening climate crisis. These conflicts could become very serious if the implications for developing countries' opportunities for industrial development are as dire as depicted by Mattoo et al (2012).Much of the support for carbon club proposals seems to arise from concerns that CTs are not politically feasible. But are full CTBAs really infeasible? Have they ever been tried? Surely it would be worth considering approaches like full CTBAs that can be implemented by individual countries without requiring international destination-based rebates have withstood concerns about consistency with WTO rules, it seems reasonably likely that WTO compatibility would not be a binding constraint for inclusion of an export rebate in a BCA.Most import-only BCA proposals seek to avoid double taxation of goods produced subject to CTs in other countries by providing some concessional treatment for those goods on the import side. This feature of these schemes seems likely to create serious WTO challenges. Important questions will certainly arise about the nature of this concessional treatment. Should commodities produced subject to environmentally-friendly regulations be given concessional treatment, along with imports from countries imposing a carbon tax? What rate of carbon tax must be applied in order to trigger these concessions, and should it be applied to all emissions or only those generated directly in production of the good?Many current proposals for Border Carbon Adjustments (BCAs) would focus only on import measures, would involve sharply different border adjustments by country and by product and could generate serious economic costs and risks of conflict between countries. Does this mean that the idea of using BCAs as a complement to carbon taxes or similar measures should be rejected? Not necessarily.To see how BCAs might be designed in ways that avoid these problems, it is important to begin with a clear goal. Are they designed to deal with the competitiveness concerns of producers or to deal with \"leakage\"? It is clear that producers' concerns about competitiveness-and unequal treatment where they must pay a carbon tax not paid by foreign competitors-are a serious obstacle to implementation of carbon taxes and other measures to mitigate emissions. By contrast, as argued by Kortum and Weisbach (2017), leakage reduction is only very weakly related to fundamental economic concerns such as the cost of achieving mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. There seems to be a strong case for focusing instead on the contributions of BCAs to reducing the costs of lowering emissions and lowering the political-economy barriers to reform.This paper compares traditional production-based carbon taxes with carbon taxes buttressed by BCAs. It shows that, while the former are clearly taxes on production, the latter are taxes on demand for carbon-intensive commodities. There are clear parallels with comparisons of origin-based taxes, such as income taxes, and destination-based taxes such as traditional VATs, with the important differences that CTBAs would involve different rates between commodities based on carbon intensity and would tax intermediate use as well as final demand. The approach would involve using full BCAs, applied through import charges and export rebates, to complement carbon taxes without requiring discrimination between trading partners. It would minimize both carbon leakage and the cost of reducing emissions by shifting the burden of the tax from supply to demand.This paper uses simple diagrams to show that a combination of a carbon tax and a BCA, or a CTBA for short, increases the cost to users of products purchased domestically while allaying producers' concerns about competitiveness by relieving them of the cost burden imposed by the tax, and leaving in place the incentives for producers to change their production techniques in ways that reduce emission intensities. While productionbased carbon taxes have proved extremely difficult to implement because of concerns about competitiveness, a CTBA may be able to solve those problems at national level and allow introduction of CTs with measures that deal with these direct competitiveness concerns. This approach would deal with the competitiveness concerns of producers in both importable and exportable sectors by setting BCAs based on the WTO's NationalTreatment principle of securing equal treatment for domestic and foreign goods.A simple modeling exercise suggests that a full CTBA could substantially lower the cost of achieving any given level of reduction in greenhouse gas emissions when only some countries impose carbon taxes. This is because elasticities of demand for individual goods are generally lower than their elasticities of supply. In this situation, a consumption-based tax is being imposed on the less elastic side of the market that is less vulnerable to \"slippage\" where the impact of the tax in one market on global demand declines because the share of that market shrinks as the tax rate rises.While, in principle, CTBAMs could be based on carbon content of products by firm, this would involve likely prohibitive problems of obtaining enormous volumes of reliable firm and process specific data. This challenge would be compounded if information on indirect emissions from inputs into the production process were also included.Import only BCAs are frequently advocated but create major economic distortions. Because they disadvantage exporters more than a carbon tax alone, they are likely to encounter strong resistance from organized exporters. Attempts to reduce double taxation of imports by providing concessional import access are likely to create conflicts both with trading partners and with international law.An approach focused on taxing consumption rather than production of carbon could potentially avoid having to deal with the acute economic and international law challenges associated with having different border tax rates by country. With a competitiveness-focused approach any BCAs are based on the cost of compliance with domestic measures, there is no risk of discriminating between suppliers, and the measures are likely to comply with existing WTO rules (Hillman 2013).Much uncertainty-and many important questions for future research-remain in this area, with three particular areas standing out. Better estimates of elasticities of supply and demand for products to be subjected to border carbon adjustments are needed to more accurately assess the relative costs of traditional carbon taxes and carbon taxes plus border adjustments. Another key question is whether the power of organized export interests will be enough to compel governments to adopt lower cost policies that apply border adjustments symmetrically on both imports and exports, rather than solely on imports. The questions related to compatibility with WTO rules will also generate an enormous literature, with the questions changing as policies change and jurisprudence accumulates."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7f6f14ebd8287be2b50447717721076c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/79315e95-73f6-4e0a-a2a4-72697d6b7c09/retrieve","id":"-1493277579"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"35fb4e84-a1a6-4382-a9c5-b746ddd60d14","content":"Ce rapport a été commandité par le CTA afin d'affiner sa connaissance des besoins en information agricole des pays ACP. Le CTA ne peut en aucun cas se porter garant de la fiabilité des données incluses dans le rapport, ni prendre la responsabilité des usages qui pourrait en être faits. Les opinions exprimées ici sont celles de leurs auteurs et ne reflètent pas nécessairement le point de vue du CTA. Ce dernier se réserve le droit de sélectionner des projets de recommandations issus de ce rapport.(ACP-UE) centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale (CTA)   Depuis 2003, le centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale (CTA) a entrepris systématiquement des études d'évaluation de besoins dans l'ensemble dans régions ACP (Afrique -Caraïbe -Pacifique). La présente étude au Burundi vient à point nommé pour l'extension du champ d'application de ses activités.Cette étude permettra d'évaluer les besoins réels en information agricole au regard des produits et services du CTA à satisfaire au Burundi et de proposer des stratégies adaptées à son contexte.L'étude s'attachera à : passer en revue les principaux services et les acteurs du secteur de l'agriculture (en matière d'offre d'informations), en mettant l'accent sur leurs atouts, leurs points faibles et les opportunités de collaboration avec le CTA ; identifier les besoins des acteurs clés / des principaux partenaires stratégiques pour les produits et services du CTA, en termes d'informations agricoles et de renforcement des capacités de GIC ; identifier de potentiels partenaires stratégiques pour les activités et services du CTA (en accordant une attention particulière à des entités telles que les organes de presse, les maisons d'édition, les stations radiophoniques, les chaînes de télévision et les réseaux de journalistes) ; élaborer des données de référence sur l'état de la GIC et des TIC dans le pays concerné pour faciliter les activités ultérieures de suivi et de mise à niveau.L'étude est menée dans des conditions particulières. Après la mort inattendue du premier consultant feu Sixte RUTAYISIRE, le travail nous est confié. Toutes les explications concernant la conduite de l'étude ont été fournies par le Coordinateur général et régional via le courrier électronique; ce qui a permis la bonne compréhension et l'exécution des termes de référence. Après avoir consulté tous les documents préparés par feu Sixte RUTAYISIRE (la liste générale des institutions, la liste des institutions à interviewer, la référence bibliographique et le profil du Burundi), 19 institutions ont été interviewées. Ainsi, au Burundi, 25 personnes représentant le secteur agricole ont été interrogées. Toutes les personnes rencontrées occupent des postes clés dans le domaine agricole (Directeurs Généraux, Directeurs des départements, chef de services, etc.). Avant de faire la descente sur le terrain, une lettre, contenant le questionnaire et les directives du celui-ci, émanant du Ministre de l'Agriculture et de l'Élevage a été adressée aux institutions concernées. Les interviews ont été réalisées au Bureau de l'enquêté par un seul enquêteur ''le consultant''. Le remplissage du questionnaire se faisait durant l'interview. Le dépouillement du questionnaire s'est effectué tout au long de l'enquête; le traitement, l'interprétation des résultats et les graphiques ont été faits par le tableur Excel.La coordination des services chargés de la gestion de l'information et de la communication pour le développement agricole et rural n'est pas efficace. Toutes les institutions interviewées n'ont pas des bases de données et des sites web fonctionnels et accessibles aux utilisateurs. Suite à l'inexistence d'une stratégie nationale d'information agricole et rurale et d'une politique de gestion des connaissances du personnel en GIC et TIC. Il y a l'impossibilité d'échanger en permanence de l'information agricole. Des actions sporadiques de faible performance sont observées très couramment. On signale aussi la faible performance du personnel et les connexions internet fonctionnant de façon irrégulière.La population rurale du Burundi étant majoritairement analphabète, les radios publiques et privées et la télévision nationale constituent ses principaux canaux d'informations. La téléphonie mobile se généralise de plus en plus en milieu rural ce qui pourrait permettre la diffusion massive et individualisée des informations sur les marchés via les alertes téléphoniques et SMS, etc. L'Office national des télécommunications (ONATEL) serait privilégié pour disséminer l'information agricole en milieu rural en vue de stabilisation des prix sur les marchés.Les différentes institutions qui ont été contactées ont manifesté un désir de renforcer leur capacité pour les services et produits d'information nécessaires à la réalisation de leurs objectifs. Les besoins en termes de renforcement des capacités sont regroupés en trois volets :Le renforcement des compétences en ressources humaines ; Cette étude a révélé que les institutions disposent de différentes catégories d'information mais que cette information n'est pas gérée de façon qu'elle permette l'accès facile aux utilisateurs. Cela montre qu'il y a une faible capacité de gestion de l'information et de la communication en matière de l'agriculture. Des systèmes d'information doivent être mis en place pour fournir une information agricole à jour et pertinente au Burundi.Le Gouvernement du Burundi et les autres acteurs sont concernés par la mise en oeuvre de ces recommandations. Le CTA apportera son appui pour les activités de perfectionnement du personnel, d'assistance documentaire, d'assistance techniques et d'équipement divers (surtout en informatique). Le Gouvernement veillera à la disponibilité des ressources humaines, à l'affectation des ressources financières au niveau des unités ou divisions de la GIC et des TIC nouvellement créées.Dans le but d'améliorer l'accès à l'information et à la communication agricole et rural, sur la base des résultats de cette étude sur le Burundi, la satisfaction des principales institutions repose sur les recommandations suivantes : Sensibiliser l'administration publique, le secteur privé et les ONG sur les effets de l'accessibilité et la dissémination de l'information en vue de comprendre l'environnement politique en GIC/TIC ; Faire comprendre à tout le public le rôle de l'information agricole à des fins de développement agricole et rural ; Aider les institutions partenaires à se procurer des sources d'information comme journaux actualisés, les archives, les livres, les articles, les catalogues, le matériel didactique, le matériel de vulgarisation, les bases de données électroniques, les diapositives et les cassettes vidéos ; Établir des plates formes ou des mécanismes de partage de l'information aux niveaux national, régional et international ; Des efforts doivent être entrepris par les institutions nationales pour améliorer leurs capacités de gestion de l'information en vue de satisfaire d'abord leurs besoins et ensuite faciliter l'accès des utilisateurs à l'information disponible.Les recommandations à l'intention du Gouvernement du Burundi, du CTA et des partenaires du Burundi au Développement :Organisation des ateliers nationaux entre les producteurs et les utilisateurs pour échanger sur les voies et moyens à mettre en place pour développer l'information et la communication agricole et rurale. La tenue de l'atelier contribuera à la définition des priorités et de la plate forme nationale de concertation entre les institutions intervenant dans le secteur de l'information et de la communication pour le développement agricole et rural ; Couvrir les besoins en production de l'information agricole et rurale ; Appuyer la création des réseaux d'échanges par le biais des sites web, de base de données et la gestion de l'information et la communication agricole et rurale ; La création d'une radio rurale.Les recommandations à l'intention du Gouvernement du Burundi :xii Améliorer le réseau national d'information agricole et rurale. Ce réseau permettra la circulation de l'information agricole et rurale en vue de briser certaines attitudes de rétention de l'information ; Favoriser une coordination efficace entre les structures de production et d'utilisation de l'information et les structures de recherches et de vulgarisation en vue d'asseoir un échange permanente d'information ; Instaurer les instruments juridiques et des structures organisationnels adéquats.Les recommandations à l'intension du CTA : En termes de renforcement des capacités, les recommandations sont faites à l'intention du Gouvernement du Burundi et du CTA.A l' intention du Gouvernement du Burundi : L'instauration des unités ou divisions chargées de la gestion de l'information et de communication fonctionnelle dans tous les secteurs de la vie nationale ; L'appui à la coordination des institutions en charge de la gestion de l'information et de la communication pour le développement agricole et rurale ; Recrutement du personnel qualifié en GIC et TIC ; Réaliser le recensement général de l'agriculture ; Collaboration effective avec le CTA à travers un partenariat accru ; Inciter les radios, télévisions et les compagnies publiques et privées à intégrer les activités liées à la gestion de l'information et de la communication agricole et rurale. La prise des dispositions nécessaires et suffisantes pour permettre l'accès à toutes les couches de la population burundaise à un réseau de communication de haut débit.A l' intention du CTA : Recyclage et perfectionnement du personnel en charge des TIC et de la GIC dans toutes les institutions potentielles identifiées ; Assistance en fonds documentaires des institutions publiques et privées en vue d'accéder aux sources d'information agricole et rurale ;xiii Appui à l'élaboration de la stratégie d'information et de la communication pour le développement agricole et rurale ainsi que la politique nationale de gestion des connaissances des ressources humaines ; Appui au financement des programmes des TIC et GIC identifiés par les institutions partenaires ; Appui au Ministère de l'Agriculture et de l'Élevage pour réaliser l'étude de faisabilité du réseau national d'information agricole et rurale ; Appui à l'abonnement à Internet et à l'acquisition des logiciels et des outils informatiques au niveau des institutions potentielles identifiées ; Appui à la décentralisation des cybercafés, des télé centres en milieu rural pour faciliter l'accès au site du CTA en vue d'une meilleure connaissance des produits et services du CTA ; Coordination d'une étude détaillée des besoins des institutions sélectionnées potentielles et des utilisateurs pour faciliter l'élaboration de la stratégie nationale d'information et de la communication pour le développement agricole et rurale ainsi que celle relative à la gestion des connaissances du personnel.A l' intention du Gouvernement du Burundi, du CTA et de tous les partenaires traditionnelles au Développement : La mise en place d'un système d'information sur les marchés basé sur l'utilisation des téléphones portables et sur la plate forme électronique Réhabilitation et informatisation des bibliothèques ou les centres de documentation des institutions publiques et privées.Étant donné que le CTA est peu connu par les institutions en charge du développement de l'information et de la communication agricole et rurale, le CTA pourra étendre la fourniture de ses produits et services suivants: L'extension de la diffusion des produits et services du CTA à tous les institutions rencontrées : le magazine Spore, publications du CTA, les services questions réponses (SQR) et les programmes DORA et DSI. La désignation d'un point focal qui aura la charge de cordonner les activités nationales et celles du CTA, de faciliter les abonnements, de recueillir les avis et les considérations des utilisateurs en vue de répondre aux préoccupations en matière de la recherche d'information sur les produits et services du CTA. L'organisation des ateliers et des séminaires de formation des agents en charge de la GIC et des TIC des neuf institutions sélectionnées. Appui à la mise en place d'un système d'information sur les marchés (SIM) au Burundi pour résoudre le problème de flambée des prix et accroitre le niveau d'accès à l'information en milieu rural. Le SIM sera un projet conjoint entre les producteurs et les utilisations de l'information en vue d'une meilleure circulation de l'information agricole et rurale. Appui au Gouvernement du Burundi pour l'implantation progressive des cybercafés et télé centres communautaires polyvalents en milieu rural, pour un meilleur accès au site du CTA. .Les partenaires identifiés sont incontournables pour promouvoir le secteur de l'information et la communication en matière de l'agriculture et le développement rural. En nouant des relations de partenariat stratégique avec les institutions potentielles et en leur apportant une expertise technique en plus du soutien financier dans le cadre du contrat, le CTA va contribuer à provoquer des changements attendus en termes de disponibilité, d'accessibilité de l'information aux producteurs et à toutes les parties prenantes nationales.  Il n'y a pas de système de crédit ni de subventions proprement dit dans le secteur de développement agricole.11. Les sols étant de fertilité médiocre, plus de 46 % sont acides et présentent une toxicité aluminique, donc nécessitant des amendements organiques et calcaires. Le relief étant généralement accidenté, les pertes de terres par érosions s'évaluent à 4 T/Ha/an à l'Est du pays et à 18 T/ha/an au Centre-Est. Une des conséquences de la crise socio politique que vient de traverser le Burundi se reflète dans le morcellement des terres cultivables suite au mouvement massif des rapatriés et de réinsertion des déplacés de guerre, ce qui a poussé la population d'entamer l'exploitation anarchique des marais (SAN 2008et MINIPLAN, 2006).12. Au Burundi, l'agriculture dans son organisation est scindée en deux parties, il y a : Le développement des cultures vivrières:Les racines et tubercules (manioc, patate douce, pomme de terre, igname, colocase); Les céréales (blé, riz, sorgho, maïs) ; Les légumineuses (arachide, haricot, petit pois, soja) et les bananes et plantains (bananes).Le développement des cultures d'exportation : le coton, le thé et le café.13. Le haricot constitue l'aliment principal dans la composition de la ration alimentaire des populations rurales burundaises. Néanmoins, le développement de nouvelles cultures ou l'amélioration de celles déjà existantes au Burundi font relais à la culture de haricot tels que le niébé, le pois ca jan et l'arachide, de même les cultures de soja et de tournesol prennent de plus en plus de l'importance. En 2002, l'agriculture a occupé 93% de la population active et ce secteur reste cependant soumis à plusieurs contraintes qui réduisent significativement ses performances (contraintes agro techniques, socioéconomiques).14. Des contraintes agro techniques et socioéconomiques ont freiné le relèvement réel de la production agricole. Il s'agit de la faible intensification des productions, de l'atomisation des terres cultivables, des techniques culturales traditionnelles, de la faible maîtrise de la gestion de l'eau ainsi que les problèmes de conservation et de transformation post récolte. 66. Les résultats de ce tableau montrent que le Collectif des Associations et ONGs féminines (CAFOB) utilise une partie importante du budget aux activités de la GIC. Cela est dû à ce que la CAFOB réalise des programmes liés avec les activités de gestion de l'information et de la communication. On peut citer les activités suivantes : Le dialogue entre les femmes élus et les autres groupes de femmes sur les violences faites aux femmes ; L'action des médias nationaux sur les droits de la femme ; L'action de plaidoyer pour l'adoption du code pénal et la ratification des protocoles et des conventions signées par le Gouvernement du Burundi ; Le programme de la promotion de la gouvernance démocratique et la consolidation de la paix.67. Les technologies de l'information et de la communication (TIC) sont en train d'être développées par les entreprises privées sous l'autorisation des institutions publiques. Des équipements informatiques existent dans les institutions interrogées mais leur entretien est insuffisant. Il n'y a pas d'unités de maintenance des outils informatiques, ce qui entraine des pertes énormes d'informations stockées dans les ordinateurs. Par exemple, la Radio Télévision Nationale du Burundi (RTNB) dispose d'un équipement numérique pour la production des émissions et de la diffusion mais elle a besoin de la formation de ses cadres et agents. Elle a plus de 25 ingénieurs informaticiens et un parc informatique de 120 ordinateurs. Aujourd'hui, la RTNB compte rentabiliser les connaissances et les équipements disponibles tout en mettant à jour les logiciels. Il y a aussi des institutions qui n'ont pas d'outils informatiques suffisants. On peut citer la direction général de la mobilisation pour l'auto développement et la vulgarisation agricole (DGMAVA), la direction générale de l'élevage (DGE), l'institut supérieur agricole (ISA), la faculté des sciences agronomiques (FACAGRO) et la confédération des associations des producteurs agricoles pour le développement (CAPAD). 68. Dans les différents services du Ministère de l'Agriculture et de l'Élevage, il est impossible de trouver un agent qui s'occupe uniquement de la gestion de la GIC. Il y a deux structures, le CMM et le DSIA qui disposent respectivement de 7 et 13 personnes. Par exemple, le centre de documentation du DSIA n'a que deux agents de formation du niveau humanités générales (BAC) et le CMM dispose d'un seul agent qui a fait le journalisme et les autres sont des techniciens agronomes et vétérinaires; très souvent, là où il n'y a pas de personnel chargé de la documentation, on n'y affecte un secrétaire. Et, si le service dispose de ce personnel, il est difficile d'avoir un responsable ayant un diplôme en sciences de l'information et de la communication. Les Universités publiques ou privées du Burundi ne forment ni des bibliothécaires, ni des archivistes ou documentalistes, d'où leur rareté sur le marché de travail. Ceux qui existent sont formés à l'étranger. Ils sont très sollicités par la bibliothèque centrale de l'université du Burundi plus offrant en rémunération.69. La capacité de multiplication des rapports et les diffuser à grande échelle est faible. On observe un manque d'une division chargée de la gestion de la GIC dans la plupart des services ayant les activités agricoles dans leurs attributions. 70. Les médias, les services de télécommunications, les services radios et les services des journaux utilisent des agents ayant des compétences en sciences de l'information et de la communication. Ils ont aussi des divisions chargées de la GIC. L'espace médiatique agricole est peu développé tout en ouvrant la porte à la vie politique, spirituelle et culturelle.Interventions 86. Les besoins en termes de renforcement des capacités compilés dans le tableau 5 ne varient pas beaucoup du fait que peu de structures interviewées ne disposent pas d'entité, à part entière, qui s'occupe de la gestion de l'information et de la communication. Le personnel de certains institutions interviewées n'ont pas suivi une formation scolaire dans le domaine de l'information et la communication. Il y a eu une acquisition des compétences par l'expérience. La plupart des structures souhaite l'assistance technique et financière en matière de la GIC et TIC. Aussi, la mise en place d'un réseau d'information sur les marchés dans la région des grands lacs, basé sur l'utilisation des médias, radio, journaux et surtout les téléphones mobiles s'avère indispensable pour juguler la problématique de l'information agricole dans nos pays respectifs. 87. L'analyse des résultats de terrain en ce qui concerne les besoins en termes de renforcement des capacités, exprimés par les institutions interviewées, montrent qu'aucun document sur la stratégique de l'information et de la communication n'est pas disponible pour la plupart des institutions. Donc, une stratégie nationale de communication et d''information agricole s'impose. C'est l'un des principaux besoins prioritaires en matière de renforcement des capacités. Les décideurs pourront suivre les orientations et programmes de ce plan pour promouvoir le développement agricole. Manque de logiciels de gestion des bases de données. Inexistence d'une politique de gestion des connaissances du personnel en charge des GIC/TIC Problème d'accès aux pièces de rechange pour les équipements des multimédias Insuffisance de collaboration avec les centres internationaux de transfert de technologies agroalimentaires. 90. L'analyse de ces faiblesses permet de dégager un problème global qui est l'absence d'un mécanisme de gestion et de coordination des activités d'un réseau national opérationnel en matière de l'information agricole et rurale. Les causes majeures à l'origine de ce problème sont :Insuffisance des moyens matériels et financiers dans les services en charge des TIC/GIC due aux couts exorbitants de communication, à l'absence des ouvrages techniques nouvellement édités, insuffisance des matériels informatiques, aux manques de partenariat accru avec le CTA et les autres organismes internationaux en matière d'information agricole et rurale ;.Absence des programmes de développement du secteur de l'information et la communication agricole et rurale due au manque d'une stratégie nationale de développement de l'information agricole et à l'insuffisance d'échange d'information entre les acteurs ;Insuffisance des ressources humaines compétentes due au manque de perfectionnement du personnel en TIC/GIC, à l'absence des unités ou des divisions en charge des GIC et TIC et à l'absence d'une politique de gestion des connaissances du personnel.  94. Le Burundi a enregistré des retards remarquables dans le développement du secteur de l'information et de la communication en général et en particulier en matière de l'information agricole et de développement rural. Les violences conflictuelles répétitives de 1972 à 2000 n'ont pas permis un développement harmonieux de ce secteur. C'est durant cette période post crise de 1993 que le Gouvernement du Burundi a relancé le développement du secteur privé concurrentiel en matière de l'information et la communication. Depuis lors, on observe une tendance concurrentielle du développement dudit secteur. A titre d'exemple, des radios et télévisions privées, les compagnies privées de la téléphonie mobile ont vu le jour, mais avant 1993 l'usage de la téléphonie était une chasse gardée pour certaines personnes privilégiées. Des efforts restent à fournir dans le secteur de l'information et la communication en matière de l'agriculture.95. L'analyse des besoins en information agricole des institutions contactées montre que tous les types d'informations sont nécessaires pour la réalisation des projets et programmes initiés pour satisfaire leurs attributions.96. En vue de résoudre les contraintes liées à l'insuffisance de l'information et de la communication dans le domaine agricole, deux types de besoins ont été définis. Il s'agit des besoins principaux et des besoins secondaires. Les besoins principaux ont été définis comme étant les besoins qui ont été sollicités par plus de trois types d'institutions interviewées. Les besoins secondaires sont des besoins spécifiques sollicités par une ou deux types d'institutions interrogées. 99. La coordination des services chargés de la gestion de l'information et de la communication pour le développement agricole et rural n'est pas efficace. Toutes les institutions interviewées n'ont pas des bases de données et des sites web fonctionnels et accessibles aux utilisateurs. Suite à l'inexistence d'une stratégie nationale d'information agricole et rurale et d'une politique de gestion des connaissances du personnel en GIC et TIC. Il y a l'impossibilité d'échanger en permanence de l'information agricole. Des actions sporadiques de faible performance sont observées très couramment. On signale aussi la faible performance du personnel et les connexions internet fonctionnant de façon irrégulière.100. La population rurale du Burundi étant majoritairement analphabète, les radios publiques et privées et la télévision nationale constituent ses principaux canaux d'informations. La téléphonie mobile se généralise de plus en plus en milieu rural ce qui pourrait permettre la diffusion massive et individualisée des informations sur les marchés via les alertes téléphoniques et SMS, etc. L'Office national des télécommunications (ONATEL) serait privilégié pour disséminer l'information agricole en milieu rural en vue de stabilisation des prix sur les marchés.101. Les différentes institutions qui ont été contactées ont manifesté un désir de renforcer leur capacité pour les services et produits d'information nécessaires à la réalisation de leurs objectifs. Les besoins en termes de renforcement des capacités sont regroupés en trois volets :Le 104. Cette étude a révélé que les institutions disposent de différentes catégories d'information mais que cette information n'est pas gérée de façon qu'elle permette l'accès facile aux utilisateurs. Cela montre qu'il y a une faible capacité de gestion de l'information et de la communication en matière de l'agriculture. Des systèmes d'information doivent être mis en place pour fournir une information agricole à jour et pertinente au Burundi.105. Le Gouvernement du Burundi et les autres acteurs sont concernés par la mise en oeuvre de ces recommandations. Le CTA apportera son appui pour les activités de perfectionnement du personnel, d'assistance documentaire, d'assistance techniques et d'équipement divers (surtout en informatique). Le Gouvernement veillera à la disponibilité des ressources humaines, à l'affectation des ressources financières au niveau des unités ou divisions de la GIC et des TIC nouvellement créées.106. Dans le but d'améliorer l'accès à l'information et à la communication agricole et rural, sur la base des résultats de cette étude sur le Burundi, la satisfaction des principales institutions repose sur les recommandations suivantes : Sensibiliser l'administration publique, le secteur privé et les ONG sur les effets de l'accessibilité et la dissémination de l'information en vue de comprendre l'environnement politique en GIC/TIC ; Faire comprendre à tout le public le rôle de l'information agricole à des fins de développement agricole et rural ; Aider les institutions partenaires à se procurer des sources d'information comme journaux actualisés, les archives, les livres, les articles, les catalogues, le matériel didactique, le matériel de vulgarisation, les bases de données électroniques, les diapositives et les cassettes vidéos ; Établir des plates formes ou des mécanismes de partage de l'information aux niveaux national, régional et international ; Des efforts doivent être entrepris par les institutions nationales pour améliorer leurs capacités de gestion de l'information en vue de satisfaire d'abord leurs besoins et ensuite faciliter l'accès des utilisateurs à l'information disponible.   Améliorer les stratégies de collaboration avec les organisations ACP actives dans l'agriculture et la pertinence de l'appui du CTA aux pays africains ACP. Les résultats attendus de cette étude sont les suivants :Une description et une analyse de l'état des infrastructures, des services d'information et des capacités de GIC des institutions impliquées dans l'agriculture et le développement rural ; Une identification des besoins en termes d'information et de renforcement des capacités de GIC pour les principales institutions et les potentiels partenaires clés du CTA présents dans le secteur du développement agricole et rural ; Une compilation de données de référence sur l'état de la GIC et des TIC dans l'agriculture et le développement rural pour un meilleur suivi de la situation.Le profil de chaque pays étudié sera ainsi actualisé, avec des données fiables sur l'état des services d'information agricole, de la GIC et des TIC. Le CTA pourra alors décider, en connaissance de cause, des actions à mettre en oeuvre et des partenaires qu'elle aura à choisir. Ces données seront résumées dans un ( 1) rapport principal sur chaque pays étudié ne dépassant pas 30 pages hors annexes (voir la section 8 ci-dessous).Le consultant utilisera des méthodes d'évaluation rapide, à la fois qualitative et quantitative :passage en revue de la littérature et des sources d'information disponibles, y compris les conclusions des évaluations de programmes ; entretiens avec les acteurs clés et les parties prenantes concernés ; usage limité des questionnaires.La méthode d'évaluation rapide permettra d'avoir un aperçu des principaux problèmes et de connaître les profils des entreprises / organisations dans chaque pays, informations qui pourraient, à l'avenir, servir de base à des études approfondies si nécessaire.Les rapports élaborés sur chacun des pays étudié ne dépasseront pas 30 pages (hors annexes) et seront structurés comme suit :Rapport principal  Termes de référence 2.Profil des pays concernés3. Une liste des personnes/institutions interrogées, avec leurs adresses, leurs numéros de téléphone et fax, leurs adresses mél (le cas échéant).Bibliographie.Délais La version provisoire du rapport et de ses annexes devra être remise dans un délai de trois mois à compter de la signature du contrat par le CTA. La version finale du rapport et de ses annexes devra être remise dans un délai de deux semaines après réception des commentaires et observations du CTA.Les consultants nationaux doivent être titulaires d'un diplôme universitaire ou équivalent, et avoir au moins 10 ans d'expérience dans les domaines de l'agriculture, du développement rural ou des sciences sociales / économiques. Ils doivent avoir une parfaite connaissance du secteur agricole de leur pays, ainsi que des principales parties prenantes et institutions / organisations actives dans ce domaine. Des connaissances en sciences de l'information seront un atout supplémentaire. La capacité à communiquer et à rédiger en anglais ou en français est indispensable. La maîtrise d'au moins une des langues locales pour les besoins des échanges et des interviews sera également un avantage. En plus de disposer des compétences ci-dessus citées, le coordonnateur régional devra parler couramment l'anglais et le français, connaître les pays faisant l'objet de cette étude d'évaluation et avoir une expérience avérée dans la coordination d'études menées par plusieurs consultants à la fois, ainsi que dans la production de rapports de synthèse.La coordination globale de cette étude sera assurée par Melle Christine Webster, responsable adjointe de l'unité Planification et services communs du CTA.Respecter le calendrier concernant la remise des rapports ainsi que les délais fixés. Le Burundi est un pays de 27 834 km 2 de superficies. Il est caractérisé par une des densités les plus fortes d'Afrique. Sur 2 350 000 hectares (ha) considérés comme aptes à l'agriculture, environ 1400 000 hectares sont exploités : 87% sont occupés par les cultures vivrières, 7% par les cultures industrielles (café, thé, canne à sucre et coton), 6% par les cultures de marais. La superficie totale des marais est estimée à 117 993 hectares tandis que celle des forêts et des boisements privés est estimée à 365 000 hectares (NTAHOMPAGAZE, P., 2008). A l'heure actuelle, les superficies des exploitations agricoles sont à la limite de l'exploitabilité. Le pays compte environ 1 200 000 exploitations dont 700 000 pratiquent l'élevage. Parmi les exploitations pratiquant l'élevage, 20% possèdent des bovins, 45% des petits ruminants et 5% des porcs. Le reste des exploitants pratique un élevage mixte (SAN, 2008) Tableau n° 2 : Répartition de la superficie par différentes occupations du solSuperficies en (ha) Fréquence (%) Le système de production agricole est de type traditionnel. Il est caractérisé par de multitudes d'exploitations agricoles familiales de faible superficie de 0,60 ha en moyenne nationale (SNVAB, 1999). On observe l'usage d'outils rudimentaires (houe, machette, serpette, hache, etc.). La main d'oeuvre est familiale et la production est destinée à l'autoconsommation. Lorsqu'il y a un peu de surplus, il est vendu au marché, sous l'oeil spéculateur des commerçants, pour subvenir aux besoins de première nécessité. Pour ce type de système, les engrais et les produits phytosanitaires sont d'usage rare pour les cultures vivrières (MINIPLAN, 2006). Le type traditionnel est un système extensif et le mode de culture prédominant est l'association de culture.Des cas isolés de système intensif s'observent au niveau des groupements de paysans progressistes qui pratiquent la monoculture de pomme de terre sur une superficie avoisinant 2 hectares (MINIPLAN, 2006). Le type extensif et intensif, coexistant se montrent par deux catégories de producteurs qui se distinguent par les producteurs individuels et d'autres qui se sont regroupés en organisation de producteurs ; mais chacun des producteurs en association entretient son propre lopin de terre familial. Individuellement, les exploitants agricoles pratiquent la culture extensive sur les lopins de terre familiale et en association, on pratique le type intensif. Les organisations de producteurs sont constitués par de multitude d'associations sur les collines ou dans les marais avec près de 23000 associations en 2006 (SAN, 2008) Elles ont un niveau d'organisation et de gestion encore bas ou inexistant.Les associations autour des filières agricoles ne se regroupent que pour pouvoir défendre un intérêt commun. Ces organisations à l'intérieur d'une filière n'ont pas encore compris le souci de prévoir les formations de renforcement de capacité interne.Il existe un autre groupe d'exploitants isolés soutenus par la chaîne de solidarité communautaire intégrant l'élevage dans leur exploitation. C'est une sorte d'exploitation moderne qui a été initiée dans les régions densément peuplées par la FAO en 1990. Selon NTAKIRUTIMANA, L. ( 2006), l'intégration de l'agroforesterie et l'élevage en stabulation permanente dans l'agriculture a permis aux exploitants de bénéficier du fumier (engrais organique) nécessaire pour les champs protégés de l'érosion par des courbes de niveaux dont on a installé des haies antiérosives au coté supérieur du tranché. C'est un système modèle applicable dans tout le pays.La faible production agricole due à l'exiguïté des terres est un problème majeur de sorte que des systèmes d'exploitation agricoles hors sols commencent à être envisagés dans les provinces plus densément peuplées. Dans la province Kayanza et Ruyigi, de la terre mélangée avec du fumier organique et minéral sont mis dans des grands sacs perforés de trous dans lesquels on plante soit des oignons ou autres légumes et ces sacs sont arrosés régulièrement. A la récolte, on obtient des rendements impressionnants.La culture des champignons comestibles se fait en hors sols. Elle permet la valorisation des résidus des cultures comme les sons de riz, les fanes de haricots ou les brisures de bois, etc. Les résidus, traités par la chaleur (stérilisés) dans de sachets, sont ensemencés par les germes de champignons. Avec l'arrosage régulier, la récolte est bonne. Le problème est lié à l'habitude alimentaire des burundais qui ne sont pas habitués à ce type d'aliments.Les principales productions végétales au Burundi sont regroupées entre les cultures vivrières (légumineuses, céréales, tubercules et racines, bananes) et les cultures de rente traditionnelles (café, thé, sucre, quinquina).En bref, les systèmes de production agricole au Burundi se caractérisent par :de petites exploitations agricoles familiales d'une superficie moyenne d'environ 0,5 hectare, pratiquant la polyculture -élevage. Les techniques culturales sont exclusivement manuelles ce qui demande une disponibilité en main d'oeuvre importante. Ceci dénote la très forte pression sur la terre et l'implication en termes de pauvreté dans laquelle se trouvent ces ménages qui doivent tirer leur subsistance sur des terrains si petits.des systèmes de culture complexes, basés sur la diversification des productions et l'association des cultures. Ils se caractérisent par : o une base commune à l'ensemble des régions composée de 7 cultures principales (banane, haricots, maïs, patate douce, manioc, sorgho, pommes de terre); o des spécificités régionales liées aux conditions agro écologiques (altitude, sol) et socio-économiques (voies de communication, marchés, organisation des producteurs, ...).des systèmes d'élevage qui jouent un rôle essentiel dans l'économie familiale, et dans la gestion de la fertilité à proximité de l'habitation familiale (disponibilité de fumier). L'élevage est aussi traditionnel mais le système intensif commence à s'installer sous l'effet de la pression démographique. Puisque le pâturage s'est réduit sous la conquête des terres cultivables, des populations environnant les aires protégées du Burundi et les marais qui étaient source principale de fourrage pour le bétail ont été envahis.Le secteur agricole reste le secteur le plus important de l'économie du Burundi. Il contribue à plus de 50 % du Produit Intérieur Brut (PIB) en termes réels, fournit 90% des emplois et représente plus de 95% des exportations (SAN, 2008). Selon le Rapport du PNUD en 2003, 67 % de la population burundaise survivent avec moins de US $1 par jour ; ce chiffre était estimé à 33 % avant le déclenchement de la guerre.De même, le taux d'investissement a fortement diminué, passant de près de 18 % du PIB en 1992 à moins de 9 % en 2002. Le secteur primaire (agriculture vivrière, agriculture d'exploitation, élevage, pêche, etc.) a été soutenu par l'agriculture d'exportation qui a bénéficié d'une récolte caféière abondante tandis que les résultats de l'agriculture vivrière ont été mitigés. Pour les cultures agro-industrielles, le café représente une production nationale qui oscille depuis 1982 entre 5.600 et 44.000 tonnes de café marchand en deçà de la capacité des usines de déparchage.Par ailleurs le thé dont l'importance des revenus distribués en milieu rural (plus de 4 milliards de francs burundais (fbu) soit 2 693 603 euros correspondant à la fois au règlement des produits au producteur (2,4 milliards (fbu) soit 1 616 162 euros et à la couverture de la masse salariale des unités de transformation (1,8 milliards de fbu) 1 212 121 euros représente une spéculation stratégique en matière de redistribution de revenu.Pour le coton, les recettes à l'exportation se sont élevées à 1 137 497,6 US dollar (Dollar Américain), et les ventes locales ont quant à elles, rapporté 214,5 MBIF (milliard de francs burundais) pour un tonnage de 187 T (tonnes). Le palmier à huile permet actuellement la distribution de 8 milliards de fbu aux palméiculteurs, une économie de devises de l'ordre de 25 millions de US Dollar et représente 2,7% du PIB.  Ces deux tableaux montrent que la monnaie burundaise s'est beaucoup dépréciée durant ces dernières années. Depuis 2002, la monnaie burundaise a subi des dépréciations relativement limitées par rapport au dollar américain (-13,9%) mais de façon remarquable par rapport à l'euro (-40,7%). Par exemple, le taux de change moyen annuel du dollar américain et de l'euro a passé respectivement de 930,75 FBU et 870,92 FBU en 2002à 1028,97 FBU et 1293,95 FBU en 2006(Ntahompagaze, P., 2008).Les cultures vivrières comprennent, par ordre d'importance en volume produit, les bananes et plantains, les tubercules et racines (patate douce, manioc, colocase, pomme de terre), les légumineuses (haricot, petit pois), les céréales (maïs, riz, blé, sorgho, orge), les légumes et fruits ainsi que les oléagineux (arachide, soja, tournesol).Les productions vivrières de l'année 2007 sont évaluées à 3 779 000 tonnes contre 3 641 000 tonnes en 2006, soit une augmentation de 4%. Toute augmentation des productions vivrières brutes surtout celle de l'année 2007 est très faible par rapport aux niveaux des productions d'avant la crise, si on se réfère à l'augmentation de la population de 4 398 800 habitants en 1982 à 8 062 413 d'habitants en 2007. La production globale a augmenté de 24% contre 45% pour la population. Il apparaît donc que, de 1982 à 2007, et malgré les investissements réalisés dans le secteur agricole et l'extension des superficies vivrières de 39%, les rendements des cultures vivrières déjà bas en 1982 ont encore baissé (SAN, 2008).Tableau n°7 : Evolution de la production vivrière par groupe de cultures (en milliers de tonnes) 2. 1.5.1. L'agriculture Les cultures vivrières sont constitué par les bananes, les tubercules, les céréales et les fruits et légumes. Les bananes sont cultivées dans tout le pays et sont plus produites au Burundi. Les tubercules et racines sont des cultures de soudure pendant la saison sèche. Elles sont consommé et constitue l'aliment de base des burundais.Le volume produit par les légumineuses qui fournissent l'essentiel des protéines consommées a connu une baisse de 43% et 34% respectivement par rapport à l'année 1982 et à la période 1988-1993. Le riz est cultivé dans les marais des plateaux centraux et dans les plaines. Les rendements du riz varient entre 3 et 5 T/ha (tonnes par hectares).Les cultures fruitières et les légumes sont entrain d'être promus dans tout le pays surtout la plantation des avocatiers, les orangers citronniers et mandariniers. Les cultures légumes (choux, tomates, oignons, aubergines, etc.) sont des cultures de la saison sèche dans les marais.Le secteur horto-fructicole du Burundi représentait en 1994 près de 0,4% du PIB, soit le double de la filière coton actuellement et affichait un poids économique relatif équivalent à celui de la filière du Zimbabwe. S'agissant de la seule filière rose, un programme d'extension sur 200 hectares aurait permis, toute chose égale par ailleurs de présenter un montant de recettes en devises de 60 millions de $ ou l'équivalent de 60% des ressources en devises procurées par le café.Les cultures d'oléagineux (le tournesol, le soja et l'arachide), à part le palmier à huile, poussent dans beaucoup de zones écologiques du pays mais entrent très peu dans la constitution de la ration alimentaire des populations rurales à cause de l'insuffisance ou de l'absence des infrastructures de transformation post-récolte et de programmes cohérents de promotion. Cependant, elles peuvent contribuer à réduire le déficit en lipides alimentaires estimé à 78%, à améliorer l'alimentation animale et à sauvegarder les devises actuellement utilisées pour importer l'huile comestible.Tableau n°8 : Evolution de la production du café (parche et vert) par campagne en tonnes La production est passée de 4 040 tonnes en 1990 à 6 858 tonnes en 2007 après avoir franchi un pic de 9.010 tonnes en 2001 du fait de conditions climatiques particulièrement favorables. Ces 5 dernières années, la production a évolué en dents de scies, avec parfois des baisses dues aux aléas climatiques et au manque d'engrais. La culture du thé, comme celle du palmier procure des revenus réguliers toute l'année, ce qui en fait une culture commerciale tout à fait appréciée. La récolte de thé en feuilles vertes a chuté de 21,4 p.c. par rapport à celle de l'exercice précédent, revenant de 39 251 à 30 837 T. Ce recul est principalement lié à la non fertilisation, à la sécheresse prolongée et à la vétusté des équipements de transformation qui a contraint à la réduction de la cueillette. La baisse de la production a touché toutes les régions théicoles.La production a chuté depuis 1993 de 8 813 tonnes à 2 869 tonnes en 2007, et cela malgré le programme de relance des activités mis en place en 1999. Des phénomènes de sécheresse ayant touché certaines zones productrices en 1996, 1999 et en 2000 pourraient être à l'origine de cette baisse. Les superficies, après avoir atteint des sommets de 9.900 hectares au cours des années 60 oscillent actuellement autour de 4.000 hectares et les rendements autour de 900 kg/ha. Mais la raison principale de cette diminution des emblavements résulte du faible intérêt des agriculteurs pour la culture du coton du fait de la très grande exigence de la culture en travaux et intrants.Cette culture demande un très grand investissement en travail, mais aussi en argent pour acquérir les intrants nécessaires. La production de coton graines a enregistré un recul plus prononcé qu'en 2005 (-32,6 contre -6,1 p.c.), la récolte revenant de 4.442 à 2.995 T en liaison avec la diminution des emblavures (3.658 contre 5.058 ha). Cette baisse est en rapport avec la sécheresse prolongée qui a retardé le semis et le gel du prix au producteur qui a pesé sur l'engouement des planteurs pour cette culture. La quantité de coton-fibre produite a régressé de 29,9 p.c. (1.347 contre 1.921 T) suite à la diminution de la production de coton-graine. Le rendement à l'égrainage s'est, par contre, légèrement amélioré, passant de 43,3 à 44,4 p.c.La production du quinquina s'est accrue de 139,8 p.c. (247 contre 103 T) en rapport avec l'extension des superficies récoltées. Les superficies en production ont été estimées à 188 contre 85 ha, soit une progression de 121,2 p.c. suite au retour de la sécurité et au prolongement de la saison sèche, propice à la récolte. L'accroissement de la production a entraîné la progression des exportations du quinquina. Cependant, les réalisations ont reculé de 30,8 p.c., s'établissant à 45,2 contre 65,3 MBIF en rapport avec le faible rythme d'encaissement. Les superficies plantées en quinquina n'ont pas évolué ces dernières années. Durant la crise, la production d'écorces de quinquina a été pratiquement arrêtée, à cause essentiellement de l'insécurité qui a régné dans les zones de production. Elle a également souffert de la baisse continue des prix de vente de ce produit sur les marchés d'écoulement.Tableau n° 10: Evolution de la production de l'huile de palme par type d'unité de trituration La filière peut être considérée comme marginale comparée aux autres filières de rente comme le café et le thé, mais elle demeure cependant très importante sinon stratégique, pour l'approvisionnement du marché national en huile végétale avec ses 9 000 hectares de palmiers sélectionnés de souche « tenera » et ses 3 000 hectares de palmeraie naturelle.La production de sucre La canne à sucre est gérée par la Société Sucrière du Moso (SOSUMO) sous régime d'économie mixte. Celle-ci exploite en régie 3.000 ha de plantations avec des variétés améliorées importées de l'Île Maurice. Le rendement en champ est de 70 tonnes/ha de cannes fraîches tandis que celui à l'usinage est de 11,5%. L'unité d'usinage a une capacité de 22.000 tonnes/an du produit final.La production moyenne annuelle est de 20.000 tonnes/an avec un chiffre d'affaire de 25 milliards de fbu. Sur base d'une production estimée à 20.000 Mt dont 5.000 Mt destinée à l'exportation. Cette filière permet une économie de devises de l'ordre de 22,5 millions de Dollars et une participation au PIB de 3,0%. Les possibilités d'extension des superficies de cannes et des capacités d'usinage offre par ailleurs de réelles chances d'amélioration substantielle des résultats de la filière. Ledit Département créé pendant la crise socioéconomique, qui a débuté en 1993, n'a pas pu avoir des assises solides pour remplir correctement ses missions. On remarque la faiblesse des centres de responsabilités fournisseur des données et aux moyens humains et financiers mis à la disposition du Département. Cependant, le DSIA dispose des opportunités axées sur un système d'information sur les prix (SIP) en cours qui est basé sur l'utilisation de la technologie de l'information et la communication (TIC). Les DPAEs seront en communication régulière avec le DSIA via Internet.Les DPAEs fournissent des données agricoles au service national de statistique agricole (DSIA). La direction de commerce intérieur fait une activité administrative simple de relevés des prix des produits de première nécessité. La direction du commerce extérieur fait des relevés hebdomadaires des quantités et des quantités et de valeurs des produits d'importexport.L'économie burundaise est en grande partie dominée par le secteur primaire qui constitue la principale source de revenus du pays avec plus de 90% des recettes d'exportation. Si l'on considère les principales composantes de ce secteur, l'agriculture vivrière se taille une part importante dans l'économie nationale (MINIPLAN, 2008).Les effets de la guerre déclenchée en 1993 se sont traduits par un ralentissement significatif des performances de l'économie nationale et par un appauvrissement généralisé de la population. Cet impact qui était omniprésent et se lisait à travers la régression sensible des investissements et une récession durable à la base d'une importante érosion du pouvoir d'achat de la population et, partant, de son accessibilité financière aux soins et services de santé. Dès 2005, le Gouvernement du Burundi a pris des mesures pour que les soins de santé pour les femmes enceintes et les enfants de moins de 5 ans soient gratuits. La scolarisation au niveau du primaire est gratuite. A partir du 1 er mai 2009, certains médicaments qui luttent contre la malaria (l'aritésinate et l'amodia quine) sont gratuits à la population.Le tableau n°14 montre que le niveau de l'IDH a augmenté de 2000 à 2003 passant de 0,325 à 0,375. Le niveau de l'IDH montre l'état des lieux de ses composantes, à savoir l'indice de l'espérance de vie, l'indice de niveau de l'éducation, l'indice du PIB et indice de développement humain (%). Quand les niveaux de ses composantes augmentent, l'IDH augmente. Cette augmentation a commencé à se manifester après les accords d'Arusha de paix et de réconciliation en 2000. Le Kirundi est la langue nationale parlée sur tout le territoire, la langue officielle est le français, utilisée dans l'administration, mais l'anglais et le Swahili figurent, depuis 2006, dans les programmes d'enseignement du primaire. Il n' y a que trois ethnies (hutu, tutsi et twa) qui parlent la même langue qui diffèrent par l'histoire de leur participation aux activités politiques, sociales et économiques.Les langues étrangères ne sont parlées que par une minorité de la population et essentiellement en milieu urbain, surtout à Bujumbura. A cause de la proximité avec l'Est de la RDC, le swahili est parlé par une proportion relativement élevée le long de la frontière avec ce pays, mais proximité de la Tanzanie. Par contre, elles vont se développer à cause de l'adhésion récente du pays à la Communauté des Etats d'Afrique de l'Est, dont les pays membres sont anglophones et les populations utilisent largement le swahili comme langue vernaculaire. La mortalité des enfants de moins de 5 ans dépend de plusieurs facteurs comme la pauvreté monétaire, l'éducation des femmes, la santé maternelle, etc. Comme les chiffres ci-dessus le montre, l'état sanitaire des enfants de moins de 5 ans s'est détérioré, éloignant davantage l'OMD de réduction de deux tiers le taux de mortalité de ces enfants, entre 1990 et 2015.La couverture vaccinale des moins de 1 an évolue en dents de scie sur la période 2000-2004, tantôt elle augmente, tantôt elle diminue. Le constat est qu'elle a sensiblement augmenté au cours des années 2003 et 2004, avec des taux de plus de 80%, alors qu'ils tournent autour de 60% pour les années 2000-2002(ISTEEBU, 2005)). Selon l'étude sur le diagnostic du secteur de santé effectué par Kengne Tsimpo, C. en 2008, l'incidence du paludisme est plus forte en milieu rural qu'en milieu urbain. Cela s'explique par le niveau d'éducation du chef de ménage. L'impact du niveau d'éducation sur l'incidence du paludisme a deux principales explications : (i) le niveau d'étude élevé garantie un emploi décent et de bon niveau de revenu qui permet au ménage de vivre avec des moustiquaires et des insecticides pour lutter efficacement contre les moustiques ; (ii) et l'éducation qui permet de mieux comprendre certaines règles de vie.Que ce soit pour le paludisme ou la diarrhée, les femmes sont plus vulnérables que les hommes. L'accès à l'eau potable, la maîtrise des règles d'hygiène, la possession des réfrigérateurs et des sanitaires appropriés sont des déterminants clés de certaines maladies de mains sales comme le diarrhée. Le milieu rural est plus affecté par les maladies de mains sales car c'est un milieu où la population est moins instruite, plus pauvres, plus vulnérables ; l'éducation et les revenus entraînent le traitement d'eau avant de la boire et d'avoir les moyens d'acheter les produits nécessaires à ce traitement.Les enfants de 3 à 6 ans sont admis dans l'enseignement préscolaire qui comprend trois structures : les écoles maternelles, les garderies communautaires et scolaires  (1)  26593873 24445087 20703292 25777429 Région Est (2)  17065053 On ne peut pas vraiment parler d'exode rural au Burundi, puisqu'il s'agissait d'un pays en guerre où la population était obligée de quitter leur propre domicile soit pour se réfugier dans des localités sécurisées soit pour chercher du travail rémunéré à cause de l'insécurité alimentaire. Les mouvements de la population qui s'observe aujourd'hui sont le retour des réfugiés (rapatriement) et la réinsertion des déplacés internes; ces rapatriés et déplacés retournent soit sur leur colline d'origine soit dans des zones aménagées à cet effet. Il est alors difficile de distinguer les mouvements de populations suite à l'insécurité dans leurs villages et des départs volontaires des campagnes vers les villes à la recherche d'un emploi.En temps de guerre, les populations déplacées s'élevaient en effet à quelque 280 000 personnes auxquelles s'ajoutaient environ 60 000 déplacés temporaires chaque mois. Aujourd'hui, la situation n'est pas encore assez claire pour avoir une information fiable sur l'exode rural.  Ce tableau montre que la capacité des réseaux reste constante mais le nombre des abonnées augmente. Chaque année, de nouveaux abonnés sont enregistrés.Le Kenya, le Madagascar et le Burundi vont tous les trois bénéficier d'un déblocage de fonds de la part de la Banque Mondiale pour développer un réseau Internet à haut débit. L'investissement monte à 164,5 millions de dollars, la Banque Mondiale affirme qu'il permettra d'inciter la concurrence dans la région, et surtout de connecter l'Est et le Sud de l'Afrique, deux régions qui restent encore très loin de l'infrastructure de la grande Toile. «Les étudiants dans les universités souffrent de ne pas pouvoir accéder à l'Internet, et les gouvernements ne peuvent pas communiquer efficacement entre eux ou avec leurs citoyens, parce qu'ils ne sont pas connectés» explique la Banque Mondiale.Pour l'instant, ces trois pays utilisent difficilement une connexion satellite au Net, rare et lente, en payant le forfait le plus cher au monde. Le Kenya se taille la part du lion, en bénéficiant de 114,4 millions de dollars sur les 164,5 millions investis au total. Madagascar devrait recevoir 30 millions de dollars, le Burundi 20,1 millions. Trois principales institutions fournissent l'accès à Internet dont CBINET le pionnier, ONATEL la compagnie publique et USAN l'américaine. "}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"4fed41a509ef43bdfa2d9b6397f608e2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3e4ac6e9-82ef-4041-a049-46c92ef01e7c/retrieve","id":"-2033089734"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2c0e16b5-29f9-49b5-bb9b-67b7ee65ef7c","content":"Considering that the Indonesian irrigation management policy has just been shifting towards the human-centered development by promoting new values, concepts, strategies and implementation frameworks, the Center does believe that the study is very timely. It is expected that findings and recommendations of the study would be meaningful lessons that could be learned as part of experiences in the early years of that new policy implementation.Several research approaches were adopted in completing this study covering, among others, the Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and public consultation in the form of National Workshops. In validating the findings, several irrigation resource persons comprising knowledgeable bureaucrats, NGOs and academia were invited to join a peer group formed by the Center to review the final report of this study. It is fair to conclude that through such approaches, the findings would be better publicly legitimated. Based on this, the Center optimistically believes that the findings of this study would inspire any institutions concerned in irrigation development towards achieving a more effective move.On behalf of the Center, I would like to take this opportunity to express the greatest gratitude and deepest appreciation in acknowledging with thanks the trust and financial support of IWMI that have made this study possible. In addition to that, I would like to convey the highest appreciation of the Center to Dr. Intizar Hussain, IWMI Project Manager, for his patience, his smile and intensive project reviews that must be done to bring any activity connected with this study in compliance with the right path as has been well documented in the Work Plan of this study.The same acknowledgement and the highest appreciation also go to the members of the peer group that dedicated their time in reviewing, criticizing and improving the outputs of the study. Otherwise, it would never be considered as a legitimate base for policymakers to refer to. This study could be considered as an emerging model adoptable by others, as far as policy studies are concerned.On behalf of the Center, I would like to dedicate the significant indebtedness of the Center to the study team, without whom the completion of this study would not have been realized. The Center is very proud of the team, chaired by Dr. Sigit Supadmo Arif, in finding out a necessary policy platform for the future of irrigation development of the republic wherein the livelihoods of the nation's majority would be dependent upon. Without nullifying the participation of other parties, again, to them the deepest sense of gratitude and respect of the Center would always be devoted.The completion of this study has also been made possible by the support and participation of many parties involved since the preparatory stage and data collection activities until the vii completion of this report. The Center also acknowledges with many thanks their sincere participation resulting in this report coming into being.Finally, I would also like to take this opportunity to confirm the team availability to accommodate any response and criticism of the readers to this report. Constructive criticisms are always welcome. We do believe that significant enrichment of this report in favor of our people at the grass-roots level and the citizen majority could always be done by the team, based on such a constructive criticism.. 1.4. The Number of agricultural laborers' households ('000). Table 1.1.5. Sajogyo's criterion of poverty lines. Table 1.1.6. The percentages of poor population based on Sajogyo's Three Poverty Lines in 1976, 14 Table 1. 1.7. Poverty line and number of population below the poverty line. Table 1. 1.8. Poverty gap index by grouping area 1996-1999. Table 1.1.9. Population below the poverty line in rural and urban areas by groups of islands, 1999. Table 1. 1.10.The percentages of poor family and non-poor family, based on the main income Table 1. 1.11.The Percentages of the poverty level based on regions, [1984][1985][1986][1987][1988][1989][1990]. Table 1.1.12.Number of families by the prosperity stages in 2000. Table 1.2.1. Distribution of the harvested area of paddy according to water management ('000 hectares). Table 1.2.2. The development of irrigated area, planted area, yield of rice, and rice production in Indonesia, 1968Indonesia, -1988. Table 1.2.3. The development of irrigated area in Java and outer Java (ha). Table 1.2.4. Paddy productivity based on the type of irrigated area. Table 1.2.5. Implementation of the development policy program on water sector during the rule of new-order government Table 1.2.6. Area irrigated, area of province, proportion of poor people and productivity p e r h e c t a r e . 3 Table 2.2.1. Various government regulations for water-resources management. Table 2. 3.1. Differences of characteristics between GR No. 23/1982 andGR No. 77/2001. Table 2.3.2. Characteristics of productive and protective irrigation (Pusposutardjo 1999). Table 3.2.1. Socioeconomic aspect in selected regency. Table 3.2.2. Land use in Yogyakarta Special Region and Central Java Provinces. Table 3.2.3. Monthly climate of the Yogyakarta weather station. Table 3.2.4. Monthly climate of the Borobudur weather station. Table 3.2.5. Monthly climate of the Semarang weather station. Table 3.2.6. Main soil characteristics in the study area. Table 3.2.7. Percentage of owners, owner-cum tenants, tenants. Table 3.3.1. Characteristics of selected irrigation systems. Table 3.3.2. Indicators to performance assessment of the irrigation system. Table 3.4.1. Number of respondent, age of farmer and number of family member. Table 3.4.2. Size of owned and operated land (ha). Table 3.4.3. Cropping pattern and area planted (ha). Table 3.4.4. Labor use and labor cost. Table 3.4.5. Costs of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and others. Table 3.4.6. Productivity of food crops in DS II (tons/ha). Table 3.4.7. Productivity of food crops in the rainy season (tons/ha). Table 3.4.8. Productivity of food crops in DS (tons/ha). Table 3.4.9. Production of perennial crop per year (kg/farm). Table 3.4.10. Average number of livestock (unit/farm). Table 3.4.11. Average size of fishpond (M2). Table 3.4.12. Total food crop income per ha per year ('000 Rp). Table 3.4.13. Percentage of crop income (%). Table 3.4.14. Total farm income per year. Table 3.4.15. Percentage of sale of farm product (%). Table 3.4.16. Farm and off-farm income per household per year. Table 3.4.17. Food and non food expenditure per year.  3.4.23. Gini ratio by system and location. Table 3.5.1. Factors affecting poverty for Glapan system using logit model. Table 3.5.2. Factors affecting poverty for Glapan system using probit model. Table 3.5.3. Factors affecting poverty for the Kalibawang system using the logit model. Table 3.5.4. Factors affecting poverty for Kalibawang system using the probit model. Table 3.5.5. Factors affecting poverty for the Klambu Kiri system using the logit model. Table 3.5.6. Factors affecting poverty for Klambu Kiri system using the probit model. Table 3.5.7 Factors affecting poverty for Krogowanan system using the logit model. Table 3.5.8. Factors affecting poverty for Krogowanan system using the probit model. Table 3.6.1. Water supply indicators of selected schemes. Table 3.6.2. Respondent opinion on the performance of the Krogowanan system. Table 3.6.3. Productivity indicators of selected irrigation systems. Table 3.6.4. Environment indicators of selected irrigation system. Table 3.6.5. Infrastructural indicators of selected irrigation systems. Table 3.6.6. Water availability, food crop production and income per capita. Table 3.7.1. Respondent opinion on the performance of the organization of irrigation m a n a g e m e n t . 1 3 Table 3.7.2. The profile of wua in four irrigation areas under study Table 3.7.3. The realization of stimulant donation (Rp). Table 3.7.4. Average of real irrigation expenditure expended by farmers per hectare p e r a n n u m ( R p / h a / y e a r ) . 1 4 Table 3.7.5. Target and realization of ISF in the Kulonprogo regency. Table 3.7.6. Articles that have not been enclosed yet in GR No. 77 and regulation   Poor attention to various dimensions of agricultural development, combined with decreasing purchasing power of the nation due to the crisis, has drastically downgraded Indonesia into a country group classified as the Low Income Food Deficit Countries (LIFDCs). 4  A total crisis had invited a nationwide political movement. At the culmination of a nationwide public movement, Soeharto who had been the ruler for more than three decades, responded by stepping down as President of the country, and allowed his Vice President, Habibie to replace him on May 21,1998. The period of Habibie Presidency was considered by many as a transitional government until the election of Abdurrahman Wahid as being the fourth President, based on a legitimate electoral process, a year later.One political problem has been solved. The fourth President is considered as the product of a very legitimate democratization. However, many development problems are still persisting. The nation is still adjusting from being a very authoritarian government for many decades towards another political equilibrium developed under more democratic measures and towards the supremacy of civilians. The agriculture sector is also adjusting as well as irrigation development policies towards the supremacy of farmers, through a more comprehensive development paradigm.As a consequence of the industry-biased authoritarian orientation, the former irrigation policies, programs and implementations have been extremely dominated by the government to attain the country's self-sufficiency in rice. In turn, irrigation system design and development, which have been significantly concentrated on rice volumetric-production, have never been very sensitive to poverty alleviation, income generation, commercial agricultural development and welfare attainment programs. The growth-equity-sustainability objectives of agricultural development were very poorly attained.Irrigation reform policy has been formulated to accommodate more comprehensive agricultural development objectives summarized as the critical triangle of agricultural development, 5 covering growth, equity and sustainability objectives. However, moving from being centralized and rice-based irrigation development that had left the farmers at or below the poverty line, towards the supremacy of the farmers to be above the poverty line in the near future, is not an easy task to attain during this transitional era.Aside from physical constraints in shifting from being rice-based towards multicommodity based agriculture the implementation of irrigation reform policy is facing serious economic as well as sociocultural constraints. Comprehensive reorientation, which is nonnegotiable needs to be assessed, formulated and implemented to come up with sound pro-poor irrigation system interventions.National Irrigation Policy has been newly reformed from being rice-based irrigation towards welfare-based irrigation development. As the most important stakeholders, farmers have to be considered as the central orientation of irrigation development. Persisting characteristics of the irrigation strategic environments have been functioning as potential problems constraining system improvement in attaining policy's full impact on overall irrigation stakeholders during earlier years of implementation.Existing bureaucratic capacity has not been very appropriate and positively responding to the newly reformed irrigation policy. Very poor accommodation to farmers' participation, among many other examples, could be taken as a strong indication of very poor bureaucratic response. At the farmer's level, limited land size and ownership status and institutional structure are not appropriate enough to the newly developed irrigation paradigm. Agricultural supporting systems, such as market environment, condition of irrigation infrastructure, rural finance and extension services, could also be mentioned as some of the many problems faced during this reformation period. Due to these constraints, we have to admit that the capacity of irrigation development and management in contributing to the nation's poverty alleviation efforts could be significantly improved through necessary improvements.In addition to the general problems constraining irrigation contribution to poverty alleviation as mentioned earlier, at the scheme level, the existence of the inter-scheme characteristic variability could be easily observed. They include, among others, landownership status, land size, unclear water rights, available farming technology, limited efficiency awareness, participatory variability, institutional capacity, market accessibility, policy bias, system governance and bureaucratic capacity. Poor irrigation management leads to inequitable distribution of benefits from irrigation. Consequently, the nationwide effectiveness and efficiency performance of the irrigation system could be reported very poor, as far as distributive, welfare and commercial issues are concerned.The national irrigation policy has recently been reformed. Welfare-based irrigation is being chosen as primary orientation of irrigation system development and management. Since the abovementioned development and management constraints are multidimensional in characters, early implementation period of such reform policy has not demonstrated a remarkable progress. At the bottom level, any adjustments (technical, economic and the sociocultural) or interventions must be perceived as locale-specific and must be in line with regional development interests and capacity within the context of regional autonomy which is being implemented by the Government of Indonesia.Based on the statement of the problems, therefore, the study attempted to answer a set of question as follows:1. What are the implications of new agricultural and irrigation policy reforms related to the poor?2. What is the capacity of the irrigation bureaucracy to support the implementation of the newly developed irrigation policies? To what extent are farmers and other stakeholder programs derived from the new irrigation policies? 3. What are the opportunities and constraints in shifting the irrigation systems from ricebased to a more welfare-based one? What are necessary pro-poor measurements to facilitate such a shift? 4. What is the distributive performance of the irrigation system in terms of equitable distribution of benefits of irrigation at system level? 5. What interventions might be required to develop a pro-poor irrigation policy?The general objective of the study is to analyze and promote policies as well as strategies at all levels for alleviating poverty through pro-poor interventions in rural areas of Indonesia. It is also to analyze, prioritize, and recommend necessary technical and non-technical pro-poor interventions for improving performance of an established irrigation system.The study is focused on some various characteristics of irrigated areas and their peripheries with a large number of people under persistent poverty in Indonesia. The emphasis is on identifying and assessing a set of appropriate economic, financial, institutional, governance and technical intervention at field as well as system levels and change in overall policy and institution framework to facilitate better access of the poor to irrigation water resources. The study covered:1. A thorough assessment of the poverty situations in selected irrigation systems. 2. Analysis and field research on the impact of underlying physical, economic and sociocultural conditions of selected study areas in particular and on the overall irrigation system at large, including the assessment of opportunities and constraints on improving productivity in less-productive areas through improved access to irrigation water. 3. Identification and in-depth evaluation of a range of potential pro-poor economic, financial, institutional, governance, and technical intervention at field and system levels against set criteria. 4. Formulation of a set of an appropriate intervention and policy as well as an institutional framework, including an adequate support system required ensuring large-scale uptake, replicability and higher impacts in Indonesia. Furthermore, this culminated in the formulation of the Indonesian version of action agendas for the pro-poor irrigation intervention in the selected areas.This report consists of eight chapters. Chapter 2 deals with a description of the study area. All aspects of irrigation management including the legal aspect and existing institutions at all levels started from the highest level, i.e., national level down to irrigated sample area, are discussed. Chapter 3 deals with methodology of the study, starting from the premise to the method of data collection and analysis. Chapter 4 discusses the assessment of poverty in irrigated areas and analysis of linkages between poverty and irrigation. Chapter 5 discusses the performance of irrigation system and its associated impact on poverty. Chapter 6 deals with the assessment of institutional intervention and innovation. The report is summarized in chapter 7. Finally, in chapter 8 this report is closed by an action agenda to develop pro-poor national interventions.Poverty and Irrigation in Indonesia: An Overview Before the financial crisis in 1997, Indonesian economy performed well, and the country had been able to improve the economic conditions of the people. Macro economic indicators such as economic growth, inflation rate, income per capita and Gross National Product (GNP) as well as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) indicate that the Indonesian economy was stable and the overall macroeconomic performance was reasonable. From 1987 to 1996, the Indonesian economy grew at an average annual rate of over 6 percent, the inflation rate was below 10 percent, and balance of payment deficit was about 2-2.3 percent of the GDP. Per capita income in early 1997 was US$1,200.During the pre-crisis period, agricultural development of the country had been promising. The agriculture sector played an important role in providing employment opportunities to over 50 percent of the population, which depended directly or indirectly on this sector. While the contribution of agriculture to GDP has been declining (from 60% in the mid-1960s to 16% in the mid-1990s), the sector still makes a significant contribution in absolute terms. Its relative growth has also been reported decreasing as a consequence of the country's industrialization, but its role in assuring the national food security and in providing raw material to the secondary sector has been important.The most powerful indicator of the success of the Indonesian development strategy is the degree of absolute and relative poverty reduction. During 1976During -1996, the numbers of poor people had drastically decreased, from 54.2 million (40.1%) and 40.6 million (26.9%) in 1981(26.9%) in and 1984(26.9%) in , to 27.2 million in 1990(26.9%) in and 22.5 (11.3%) in 1996(26.9%) in . In 1997, during , during the economic crisis era, the number of poor people increased to 47.97 million (15.64 million in urban areas and 32.33 million in rural areas). The proportion of poor people in 1999 was similar to that in 1981 and 1984. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), 2002, the poor people numbered 37.3 million (9.1 million in urban areas and 28.2 million in rural areas). CBS data show that poverty incidence had decreased from 24 percent in February 1999 to 17 percent in February 2002. Regional distribution of the poor shows that more than 59 percent are located in Java-Bali, 16 percent in Sumatera and 25 percent in Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and Papua.In Indonesia, the family size makes a lot of difference. Large-size families tend to be poorer. In rural areas, the average family size of the poor households is 4.7 persons compared to 3.8 persons for the nonpoor households. However, in urban areas, family size of the poor is 4.9 compared to 4.0 persons for the nonpoor family. Generally, poor people are characterized by a low level of education and are highly dependent on agricultural income (table 1.1.1).The initiative for the development and prosperity of families began with the launching of the first long-term Development Plan. The program development culminated with the establishment of the Act No. 10/1992 on Population Development and the Development of Prosperous Family followed by the enforcement of Government Regulation No. 21/1994 on Population Development. This showed recognition and commitment of the Government of Indonesia for the important role of population in national development.Since 1994, the Government of Indonesia has been registering the families on regular a basis. The purpose of this registration is to monitor the progress on the family's prosperity and development and to evaluate the programs. Indicators of prosperity also include those related to religious, social and cultural aspects. In order to monitor the progress of a prosperous family, indicators are translated into the various stages of welfare of Indonesian families, namely Pre-Prosperous level, Prosperous Stage-I, Stage-II, Stage-III, and Stages-III plus. 6 Data on family welfare stages are then transferred to a 'working chart' developed to assist families to become self-reliant. In order to accelerate transition of prosperity stages, development support or interventions, deriving from government and private sectors, are needed. For example, to accelerate the number of families from Pre-Prosperous to Prosperous Stage-I, it is necessary to assist the families to improve their living standards on a wider spectrum. The assistance could be 6 Pre-Stage prosperous families are those unable to fulfill the minimum basic needs, such as spiritual needs (cannot perform the religious prayers according to their own respective religion), food (minimum two meals per day), clothing (more than one pair of clothes) and housing (the greater portion of the floor is not earthen), health and family planning (brought to the health center in case of illness). Meanwhile the Prosperous Stage-I family is a family that has met its minimum physical needs but has not fulfilled the social and psychological needs, such as family interactions, neighborhood interactions and jobs, which determine a good living standard.in the form of encouraging families in practicing the religious aspects, encouraging a person to make use of health facilities, or convincing them to join family planning programs and other reproductive health care programs.Besides the family development program, the government has implemented other poverty alleviation programs before and with the above program, such as IDT program or the presidential decree program on poverty alleviation for rural areas, implemented at the village level.In addition, to accelerate the transition of prosperity stages, the government decided to link the development of prosperous family to poverty alleviation schemes not only in the IDT program but also in less-remote places. Although the proportion of poor people in less-remote areas is smaller than that of the IDT villages, in absolute terms, the number of poor people in lessremote areas is significant.The \"Prosperous Family Savings\" or Takesra was created as one of the ways to create awareness and educate Indonesian families on savings and on being development agents in their villages. Besides encouraging people to save, Takesra also functions as the collateral of Kukesra (Prosperous Family loans). The Takesra and Kukesra are carried out through group schemes.Literature on poverty in Indonesia mostly focuses on rural poverty especially in Java. Clifford Geertz stated that involution farming caused poverty in rural Java. An unbalanced landownership structure means an inequality in incomes of the rural society. Geertz also investigated the history of colonial domination by describing that the colonizer power through new technology and capital had caused poverty among rural people in Java. In that process, Java farming society became static. While their land became smaller, the population rose and they had no other occupation but farming.Data from the agricultural census of 1993 indicate that the number of small farmers (with less than 0.5 ha) has been increasing over time. This phenomenon is more pronounced in outer Java than in Java (tables 1.1.2 and 1.1.3). The number of small farmers in the outer Java Island increased from 2.2 million in 1983 to 2.8 million in 1993 (27.3%). Also, rapid industrialization in urban and peri-urban areas has resulted in a significant amount of agricultural land converted to industrial uses. Overall, while marginal small farmers and small farmers (holding less than 0.5 ha) constituted 57 percent, they occupy only 26.8 percent of the total agricultural lands. Table 1. 1.4. The Number of agricultural laborers' households ('000). Malassis developed a vicious circle of poverty, which describes the factors that cause poverty. In the diagram, items linked by bold lines show the core of the poverty circle, which is low productivity that caused low income, low saving and low investment. The circle will go on unless an action cuts the link. Another factor that determines the poverty in a region is an unfortunate natural condition, even with the existence of technology and capital that is provided (Hadi Prayitno and Lincoln Arsyad 1987).There are many ways to measure poverty with a variety of standards. Thus, the illustration of poverty also varies. There are two types of poverty: absolute poverty and relative poverty. First, absolute poverty is a condition where one's absolute income cannot fulfill his basic needs like food, clothing, housing, health care and education. The real consumption is shown quantitatively and/or in monetary terms according to prices in a certain base year. Second, relative poverty is quantified based on income distribution proportion in a certain region. This type of poverty is said to be relative since it is more related with an income distribution among the social classes. For instance, it compares national income proportion that is enjoyed by a certain social class with other social classes. However, the main poverty-measuring tool nowadays is the first type. Some poverty line measurements that have been conducted in Indonesia will be explained in the next section. In Indonesia, Sajogyo is the founder of an idea about poverty line that was developed through a Study on Efforts of Family Nutrition Improvement (Studi Usaha Peningkatan Gizi Keluarga -UPGK) in 1973. He used a kilogram unit of rice equivalent to determine the poverty limit criterion. The method multiplies consumption quantity in kilograms of rice per capita at current rice prices and average number of family members (assumed to be five persons). Based on this criterion, Sajogyo classified the community into four groups as shown in table 1.1.5. Source: Gunawan Sumodiningrat 1999.By using the criterion, Sajogyo predicted that about 46 percent of the Indonesian population lived below the poverty line in 1969, with 40 percent poor in urban areas and 46 percent in rural areas.After some adjustments, Sajogyo suggested that the Indonesian poor population was 42.54 million in 1970, which decreased to 46.60 million in 1976 (Sajogyo 1994). Changes in poverty in Java and other regions over time are shown in table 1.1.6 below.Table 1. 1.6. The percentages of poor population based on Sajogyo's Three Poverty Lines in 1976, 1981and 1984. No The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) defines an alternative measure of poverty line in terms of minimum calorie requirement per day. The Bureau calculates population below the poverty line based on the Susenas data that are updated every 3 years to capture the changes in society's consumption patterns. The poverty line is calculated for rural and urban areas separately. The poverty line used by BPS has been changing periodically. The habit of consuming rice as one's main food influences the minimum expenditure to fulfill a certain amount of calorie requirement (Darmin Nasution 1995). The limit of expenditure value is based on the food requirement of 2,100 calories per capita per day as determined by Widya Karya Nasional Pangan dan Gizi 1978(BPS 1999). The expenditure required to meet this calorie requirement is added with expenditure on nonfood needs, such as housing, clothing and other things and services. Besides using the above criterion, BPS also uses the composite index, based on other characteristics of the poor, such as living places, land owned and occupied, education level and household head's working hours. Table 1.1.7 shows the population below the poverty line (as per BPS criterion) from 1976 to 1999. As per BPS poverty line, population below poverty line has decreased drastically from 54.2 million or around 40.1 percent of the total population in 1976 to only 27.2 million or 15.1 percent in 1990. Out of the number in 1990, 17.8 million of the poor lived in rural areas. The number of poor people further reduced to 22.4 million in 1996. However, because of the economics crisis that overwhelmed Indonesia at the end of 1997, poverty figures increased sharply, and millions of people became poor again. In 1998, the number of poor people increased to 49.50 million. In 1999, the economic and political situation improved, resulting in some reduction in poverty again.Based on the 1998 figure, the number of poor people decreased by about 1.6 million. Depth of poverty, as measured by the poverty gap index, is given table 1.1.8 during pre-and post-crisis periods. As can be seen, depth of poverty increased significantly in 1998, and decreased during the post-crises period. Since the Indonesian population is mainly concentrated in Java, the majority of the poor people live in Java and Bali (estimated at 28.9 million). Sumatra being the second largest in population it is home to 8.6 million poor people (table 1.1.9). In all regions, poverty is more in rural areas than in urban areas. Almost 80 percent of the household heads of the rural poor families work mainly in the agriculture sector (table 1.1.10).  The World Bank uses two types of poverty lines, that is, poverty line of US$75 and US$ 50 of income per capita per year. The poverty rate is determined by multiplying these income levels with Rp 420 (dollar rate in the free market in 1976) and the average number of family members (5 persons). Using these poverty lines, Sumitro reported that in Java and Madura, poverty decreased from 94 percent (or 63.9 million) in 1967 to 79 percent in 1970 (or 57.4 million), and to 32 percent (or 25.3 million) in the early 1990s. Poverty decreased from 21.4 percent in 1984 to 17.2 percent in 1987, and further decreased to 15.3 percent in 1990. Table 1.1.11 shows the dynamics of poverty for these years.  BKKBN (1993) divides the family prosperity stages into five levels:1. Pre-Prosperous Family: the families that have not yet fulfilled their minimum basic needs, such as food, clothing, housing and health care.2. Prosperous I Family (first stage): the families that could fulfill their minimum basic needs buthave not yet fulfilled all of their social and psychological needs, such as education, family planning, social interactions and transportation.3. Prosperous II Family (second stage): the families that could fulfill their basic needs and their social and psychological needs, but have not been able to fulfill all of their developmental needs, such as those related to savings and information access.4. Prosperous III Family (third stage): the families that could fulfill their basic needs, social and psychological needs, and developmental needs, but are unable to provide a maximum contribution to the community, such as regularly giving material and fund contributions for social interests, and actively participating in social institutions or social, religious, sports, educational organizations and other related matters.5. Prosperous III Family (third stage) plus, the families that could fulfill their basic needs, social and psychological needs, and developmental needs and, furthermore, they could make contributions to the society on a regular basis.Table 1.1.12 provides data on number of families, based on the above categories. In Indonesia, irrigation was basically developed for increasing paddy production through expansion in irrigated areas, which constituted 69 percent of the total area in 1985. Between 1989 and 1993, average area harvested of paddy is estimated at 12.27 million hectares (table 1.2.1).Over 28 percent of the paddy area comes under technical irrigation systems, followed by around 22 percent under simple irrigation. Over one-fifth of the total paddy area is classified as rain-fed area. Technical irrigation grew rapidly during earlier decades. Semi-technical irrigation decreased during the 1970s, and remained more or less stable afterwards.  Technical irrigation grew at the rate of 1.5 percent per year between 1969 and 1987, with the growth rate of around 3.7 percent per year in areas outside Java and 0.5 percent per year in Java. Even though the growth of technical irrigation was faster in areas outside Java, the overall technical irrigation in Java was more than in other regions (75% of the total technical irrigation in 1987). Generally, the efficiency of irrigation in areas outside Java was still low because it required time to stabilize the paddy field layer and the improved management of water distribution. As a result, the outcome was far from satisfactory. In contrast, performance of irrigation systems in Java is relatively better. This condition enables to apply production technology with the better response. Table 1.2.3. provides data on the development of irrigated area in Java and outer Java. Productivity varies across different types of areas and irrigation systems (table 1.2.4). Productivity differences are caused not only by per hectare yield differences but also by differences in cropping intensity. Generally, cropping intensity of paddy in irrigated areas is more than 150 percent, with the highest intensity in technical irrigation systems (of 181%). The average cropping intensity in other areas was 100 percent with the highest intensity in rain-fed area of 111 percent per year. Cropping intensity has, thus, a strong relationship with the availability of water and its improved control and management. Productivity is lowest in the tidal swamp area, i.e., 1.75 tons of dry paddy per hectare, while productivity is highest in areas with technical irrigation systems estimated at 5.15 tons of dry paddy per hectare. The interesting phenomenon is that the productivity of rain-fed areas is relatively high at 3.11 tons per hectare. It was higher than the productivity of upland paddy, estimated at 1.8 tons per hectare. Overall, irrigation has made a significant contribution to total paddy production in the country.Since 1945, just after the end of the Second World War, many Asian and African countries gained their independence. One common problem that these countries faced was shortage of food for the growing population. To overcome this problem, most of those countries focused their development policy on the agriculture sector with the main objective of increasing food production and farmers' income. In this policy setting, development of the irrigation sub-sector played an important role.As in other countries, Indonesia also focused its development policy on the agriculture sector to attain self-sufficiency in rice. Under this policy, the role of development of irrigation infrastructure in the country seemed very significant. From the late 1960s to early 1990s, 5.5 million hectares of technical irrigated area were developed and rehabilitated in the country. In addition, another 1.5 million hectares were irrigated through village irrigation systems. Most of the area under technical irrigation systems is located in the island of Java.Indonesia is located in the monsoonal climate region and is blessed with abundant rainfall. Approximately 21 percent of the Asia Pacific region's freshwater resources or 6 percent of the world's resources is available in the country throughout the year. Due to the nature of the climate, most Indonesian farmers grow paddy during the wet season. Paddy cultivation is in fact an ancient practice in Indonesia. 7 While the country has attained self-sufficiency in rice, it has been importing rice since the late 1980s.Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, covering a land area of 1.92 million km 2 with a coastline exceeding 84,000 kilometers. There are many different cultures in the country. The population (200 million at present) is unevenly distributed across different regions. Java, which is a relatively smaller island covering about one-sixth of the country's total area, is home of around 60 percent of the total population. Java has been the center for development in Indonesia. Several inscriptions indicate that developed agrarian villages had existed since the early part of the second millennia. 8 Lombard (2000) and Van Setten van der Meer (1979) have stated that some irrigation systems have existed in Central Java and East Java since eighth century and ninth century, respectively.According to Adams in Van Setten van der Meer (1979) the growth of irrigation societies followed two stages. The first is the formation to the florescent, from the beginning of irrigation and sedentary farming to a rapid growth wherein the surplus is largely in the hands of the priestly hierarchy, with consequent building of monumental religious structures in urban centers and the beginning of warfare. The second is the dynasty, with a separation and institutionalization of secular-politics and religious-economics, which controlled the true urban centers. 9  Collier divided the development of irrigation societies into four categories as: a) early formative, a period of expansion of existing irrigation; b) late formative, a period of expanding irrigation systems; c) regional florescence, full exploitation of the technology, which was developed during the formative period, with intensive agriculture based on elaborate irrigation systems and an increasing importance of the warrior class; and d) empire, with land controlled by the state, taxation in the form of labor on state agricultural lands and on public works, as well as service in the army, personal service to the ruler and the nobility. 10  In the early stages of development, irrigation systems were developed on a smaller scale, consistent with theory of development of Adams and Collier. The nuclear village settlements, administered by a head and council of elders, would over a long period, have developed into irrigation centers administered by a central authority. This was mostly in Java and Bali.7 See Lombard 1996, vol. 3. Nusa Jawa: Silang budaya. Warisan kerajaan-kerajaan konsentris. (The Island of Java: A cross of culture. The heritage of concentric kingdoms). Kartodirdjo and Suryo 1994, Sejarah Perkebunan di Indonesia. (The history of plantation estate in Indonesia) and Van Setten van der Meer 1979. Sawah cultivation in ancient Java. Aspects of development during the Indo-Javanese period, 5 th to 15 th century. According to them a. hydraulic society had already existed in Java since a couple centuries before Christ. The society had been capable of establishing and managing the irrigation system in the area appropriately since the early second millennium. 8 See Lombard, D. 2000, vol.3; Van Setten van der Meer 1979.  9 Adams. R. Developmental stages in ancient Mesopotamian. In Van setten van der Meer 1979, 6-7.  10 Collier. D. Development of civilization on the coast of Peru. In Van setten van der Meer 1979, 6-7. In Bali, a specific irrigated-agro-religion society called Subak has developed and managed its own irrigation system independently through government at the village or higher level. According to history, Subak has already existed since ninth century (Hutapea 1996;Windia 1993;Van Setten van der Meer 1979). Similar irrigation societies may have existed in Java during the Hindu and Islamic kingdom hundreds of years before the colonial period. One inscription tells us that a Great King Hayam Wuruk of Majapahit kingdom and his government employees had to pay all they spent for food during their visit in the autonomous village area near Mojokerto, East Java, which was headed by a Hindus priest 11 and the rulers assisted the development of the area including irrigation systems.There was independency of a specific irrigation society from the government interventions. Farmers, in groups, managed irrigation democratically. Irrigation development used to be part of the village development. During the early stage in the eighth and ninth centuries, Javanese village development process followed a similar model. An individual family or some families headed by the eldest started to develop a community as a village nucleus in a specific location. The eldest was then regarded as head of village. In an old Javanese word, he is called as rama or raka, which means father.As competition among ramas emerged in the nearby areas, the strongest became the leader in the larger area. It seems that most Javanese kingdoms were established through this process. This process of village development occurred in Central Java and East Java from the eighth to the thirteenth centuries. This was quite different from the development of a village in West Java during later periods, seventeenth to eighteenth centuries, under the Dutch colonialists. 12 In the later case, the colonial government strongly influenced the development of the villages, which led to the dependency on the government.The village development was usually associated with the development of irrigated paddy fields surrounding the village in a very simple way. People built a headworks just after they found an appropriate location in the river course and constructed distribution channels to irrigate their own land evenly. Most of the systems used semipermanent structures. Headworks were made from local material such as bamboo, wood and stones, so farmers could maintain and repair the structures when floods or other natural calamities caused damage to the infrastructures. Arif (1999) in his study about Subak traditional irrigation society in Bali suggests that farmers adopted this method as one of the ways implementing the sustainable development concept. In this way they practiced the Hindu's harmony concept, called Tri Hita Karana or three components in harmony, i.e., harmony among God, nature and human beings. 13 Very old irrigation systems that used this concept still exist, with good performance. Besides Bali, this system is also found in West Java and other parts of Indonesia. 14  In East Java, a unique inscription was found, which was written twice on the same stone. The first was in the tenth century by King Airlangga and tells us that a strong weir was built in the Konto river course. The second was rewritten by one of the Kings of Majapahit in the 11 See Lombard 2000. 12 Ibid. 13 Arif 1999, Implementation of concept of Tri Hita Karana for sustainability of Subak irrigation system infrastructures.14 Kurnia, 1998. fourteenth century. The last inscription tells us about the rehabilitation and reconstruction of a simple weir in the Konto river in a better and stronger way to secure the irrigated area from threats of routine floods, which may come frequently every year. 15 This inscription also tells us about the natural problems faced by East Javanese, including volcanic eruption, sedimentation due to volcanic material, floods, water shortages and drainage problems in the estuary of several main rivers. These same problems are also faced in modern times and they have adverse impacts on the lives of the people.In the development of an irrigation system, the specific irrigation water rights were established. Most Indonesian farmers practiced the riparian water right and to some extent it is mixed with common property right or appropriation right. All people who participate in development of irrigation system's infrastructure get some more privileges in water allocation and management. The privilege varies from place to place. 16 In Subak, Bali, the pioneer had the right to get more irrigation water compared to the ordinary farmers who did not actively participate in the development of the systems. This right was transferable as a heritage to their children or other families who cultivate their lands or even to other people when the land is sold. In some cases, water rights were tradable.Another variation of water rights is found in places such as Yogyakarta and Situbondo, East Java. Farmers who had land closer to water sources (usually those who initiated and participated in the early stages of irrigation development or construction works of the irrigation system) got the privilege to use irrigation water first. After the distribution of water in the upstream area is completed, then, if the water is still abundant, it would be shared downstream to the tail ends. In this system, people who came later usually developed the tail-end areas, after the originally designed irrigation system was completed and the irrigation water was considered enough for irrigated land enlargement. These types of water rights are also practiced in India and the Philippines. 17 18  In the early stages of development, irrigation systems were developed for subsistence production. Gradually the role of irrigation in agribusiness became important. During the period of the Majapahit kingdom, trading emerged as an important sector and Java was known as an important rice-producing region. The Government of the Majapahit kingdom that governed Nusantara (old name for Indonesia), placed Java Island as the center of its government and developed a complex and sophisticated bureaucracy of agricultural production system by establishing hierarchical jobs for agricultural development for more effective agribusiness. There were strong linkages between the villages and the central government. The bureaucrtic system of the Majapahit kingship is one of the models that was followed by other Javanese kingdoms that emerged later.The emerging trading sector in the region was very attractive for people to come over, not only from other regions of Indonesia but from other parts of the world. In the middle of the 15 Lombard 2000 and van Setten van der Merr 1979. 16  Arif, S.S. et al. 1998. Keberlanjutan sistem irigasi pada masa jangka panjang II: Studi kasus di Jawa dan Bali. (Sustainability of irrigation system in the Second long-term development stage: Case study in Java and Bali.). Riset Unggulan terpadu VI. LIPI. (Unpublished report, in Indonesian). 17 Wade. 1999. Village republic. 18 Angeles, H. L. 1989. Irrigation water management. Lecture Note. CLSU. The Philippines (unpublished). fifteenth century, Malaya was one of the important seaports in the region. It attracted the western people who were eager to establish their power in the region. The colonial rule started in the Asian region during this period. People from west came and established their power. The Portuguese, Dutch, British and Spanish competed not only in the trading sector but also in establishing political power in the region.At the end of the seventeenth century, the Dutch came to the country and started their colonial rule for three and half centuries. At the beginning, the Dutch colonial government paid little attention to irrigated agriculture. They were more interested in spices, which had a high tradable value in the European market at that time.However, due to increased demand for several plantation commodities, the Dutch colonial government launched a new policy called \"forced plantation program,\" which forced Indonesian farmers to cultivate high-value tradable plantation commodities, such as sugarcane, tobacco, tea and coffee on their lands.Under this policy, the colonial government adopted several strategies, including the development of modern irrigation systems in the country to support sugarcane and tobacco plantations. Most of the areas where irrigation was developed were located in the northern coastal plain area of Java and in the southern part of Java, i.e., Madiun area and Pekalen Sampean irrigation system in East Java, and in the kingdoms of Yogyakarta and Surakarta (both are located in Central Java). Even now these areas are famous for special varieties of cigarette tobacco.According to the National Research Council (1994) the development of water resources management in the country, during the colonial period, has had specific characteristics as follows:a)The status of water resources was changed from common pool resources to economic resources, based on the colonial government objectives -to raise land tax and increase colonial government revenues. b)Technical irrigation systems were developed in relatively fertile land areas and were mainly designed and constructed to satisfy the agronomic criteria of sugarcane and tobacco cultivation. The development of technical systems was separated from village irrigation systems that had existed since long ago. c)In technical irrigation systems, farmers were no longer owners of the system but worked as laborers for plantation estates companies. However, in village irrigation systems their status as owners remained unchanged; d)Land tax, roddi (kerja paksa) and forced-payment fee (pemungutan) from farmers to the water master at the tertiary levels were disadvantageous to farmers. e)As a basic rule in the water-resources development sector the colonial government issued the water law in 1936. Based on this law, all provinces in the country issued the provincial and local-level water rules.In real terms, the development of a huge irrigated area in the country made no significant contribution to farmers' welfare. More ironically, the most sufferers were those who lived in rural areas of Java, which used to have excellent irrigation systems in the country since ancient times. Java started to import rice from Thailand, Burma (Myanmar) and Vietnam since the early twentieth century. 19  These problems were the outcome of unfair agricultural policies and strategies adopted by the colonial government. The colonial government financially gained, and Indonesian farmers suffered. This issue triggered several waves of protests from the parliament of the Netherlandskingdom to the colonial Netherlands-India at the end of nineteenth century.During the early twentieth century, the colonial government issued a new policy called the ethic policy. Under this policy, the Government of the Netherlands implemented three strategies, namely a) irrigation, b) education, and (c) transmigration. Under this strategy, the colonial government built some irrigation systems. One of the famous projects was the development of an irrigation system in the Demak district. The Glapan irrigation system was one of them. The main objective of the irrigation development was to alleviate poverty in the region. However, after several years of implementation the policy failed to achieve the stated objective. As a result, Java was still deficient in rice to meet its food requirements. 20From the Japanese colonial government in the early 1940s to the old-order government under the former President Soekarno, irrigation did not contribute significantly to the development in the country. This was due to several reasons including: a) the Second World War, followed by several civilian wars in the country, and b) insufficient budgets from the government for development, in general, in the country. As a result, most of irrigated systems were not maintained properly. Shortage of an O&M budget and inappropriate institutional arrangements were the main reasons for this insignificant contribution. At the end of the old-order government period, Indonesia became one of the poorest countries in the world. The GNP was much less than US$400 per capita and most people suffered from food shortages.In 1965, after the fall of the Old Order Government under former President Soekarno, the New Order Government led by former President Suharto emerged with strong support from the military regime. However, seemingly, the new-order government got the unhealthy country and inherited several hard problems from the previous government. In 1967, Indonesia was desperately poor and the economy was teetering on the brink of collapse. The agriculture sector, the major source of employment and income for two-thirds of the labor force, grew by only 1.4 percent per annum during 1960 and 1967. With the rural population rising to almost double, the incomes per capita and the living standards of the poor were on a downward trajectory. By 1967, the average per capita calorie intake was only about 1,800 calories a day, which was below the level of physical nutritional needs. About two-thirds of the population lived in poverty, with incomes too low to meet basic needs. 21 Problems of food shortage, monetary and economic crises, unemployment, poor conditions of the limited infrastructure and limited resources created insecurity and vulnerability to the sociopolitical life in the country.In the mid-1960s, production and yield of rice were very low in Indonesia compared to those in other Asian countries. Since rice is the staple food of the vast majority of Indonesians (rice contributes about 70% of total calorie intake, while in Pakistan and India, rice contributes only about 30% [IRRI 1985]), the deficit in rice production emerged as one of the major problems for the Government of Indonesia (GOI). Initially, GOI had to import rice up to about 2 million tons a year. To increase availability of food and to enhance food security Indonesia became one of the biggest rice importers in the world.Therefore, breaking the vicious circle of food insecurity and agricultural stagnation was one of the first priorities of the new-order government. In large part, this was accomplished through an emphasis on agriculture and rural development to increase rural output and farm income and improved nutritional standards.To achieve this objective, the GOI launched a new policy on rice self-sufficiency. The policy was implemented through a three-pronged strategy: infrastructural construction, provision of production incentives and institutional development. Incentives were provided in part by supporting the price of rice and by subsidizing fertilizer and pesticides. Institutions were established, in particular, the agricultural extension services for many million of farmers. 22  These three strategies were implemented consistently until rice self-sufficiency was achieved in 1984. However, the GOI spent a lot of money to implement this policy. From 1969 to 1984, more or less US$ 2.5 million had already been spent by the GOI in water the sector development (see annex 2). A large part of this amount was a loan from both multilateral and bilateral donors. In the mid-1960s, high-yielding varieties of the green revolution contributed substantially to increasing rice production in the country The HYRV was grown in Indonesia for the first time in 1969 with a total area of 482,000 hectares. 23 This was started little bit late compared to other Asian countries, India initiated to plant the HYRV in 1966, Bangladesh in  1967, Pakistan in 1968, Malaysia in 1966 and Philippines in 1966, respectively. 24 The planted area then increased fast in line with the increasing rate of irrigated land area until rice selfsufficiency was attained in 1984. Following the achievement of self-sufficiency in rice, this policy was not consistently followed any more. Provision of the subsidy policy was withdrawn gradually in the mid-1980s. Now, this policy is no longer implemented.In implementing agricultural policy, they followed a top-down approach. By this approach the central government played a dominant role as the development agency. Almost all policies were developed and planned, funded and implemented by the central government in Jakarta. All ministries had their own representative offices in each province. In addition, the development programs were implemented on a project basis. These representative offices would act as project coordinators in the provinces. After the project had been completed, the central government would transfer the management processes to either provincial or regency governments. The organizational structures were established based on Law no 5/1974 about basic principles for administration in the region. 25  Irrigation management in the area became the responsibility of Provincial and District governments. To fulfill the responsibilities, irrigation committees were established at both provincial and district levels. The committees were responsible for developing irrigation plans in their respective responsibility area including determination of cropping plans and irrigation schedules.In general, the development program launched by the new-order government is planned and implemented periodically every 5 years, which is called the \"Five Years Development Plan\" (Perencanaan Pembangunan Lima Tahun, PELITA). Moreover, every 25 years, the global developments are evaluated, with longer-term perspectives. The first stage of development was initiated in 1973. The GOI needed about 5 years to consolidate all security, political and economic systems in the country prior to the implementation of the first stage of development. In the early part of the first development stage, irrigation the subsector was selected as the first priority to be developed in water-sector development. Implementation of the development policy program on the water-resources sector during the rule of the new-order government from Pelita I to Pelita V is given in table 1.2.5.the rule of new-order government. 26  Introduction of the construction of a rubber dam in estuary and estuary-dam technique.Even though these programs had been prepared and planned properly, some constraints and new problems have emerged. In the second and third PELITA, it was noticed that some programs were implemented inappropriately. For example, rice area development done by the Department of Agriculture did not match with the extension of irrigation system done by DGWRD. This was corrected and synchronized in the third and fourth PELITA. In this period, it was also recognized that demand for water for domestic and industrial uses had increased. Therefore, the new approach of integrated water-resources management was introduced in the following PELITA.In the fourth PELITA, the need for participation of all stakeholders in water-resources development was emphasized; so the GOI issued a new government policy on O&M for irrigation management in 1987. Several programs to attract private-sector investment in water resources development are also recognized.The relationship between production inputs, particularly, capital and labor, and productivity is well known. The role of irrigation in increasing productivity is well recognized. World Bank (1982) and Asnawi (1995) argued that the contribution of irrigation to rice production in fully irrigated areas in Java was only 5 percent of increased paddy production, while the contribution of High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) and chemical fertilizers was 9 percent and 24 percent, respectively. The situation is, however, different outside Java. With low to middle levels of irrigation, the contribution of irrigation to productivity was 27 percent, while HYVS and chemical and fertilizer had almost no influence on productivity. In the country as a whole, contribution of irrigation to productivity is estimated at 16 percent, while that of HYVs and chemical fertilizer are estimated at 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively. Regional distribution of irrigated area, productivity, landownership and incidence of poverty are presented in table 1.2.6. In 1999, the highest area irrigated was in East Java (922,000 ha) followed by West Java (906,700 ha) and Central Java (722,200 ha). Productivity of paddy was highest in Bali (5.437 tons/ha), followed by East Java (5.199 tons/ha), Yogyakarta (5.175 tons/ha), Central Java (5.014 tons/ha), Jakarta (4.864 tons/ha) and West Java ( 4.864 tons/ha). Poverty was the highest in Papua (54.74% of the provincial population), followed by East Nusa Tenggara (46.73%), Maluku (46.14%). These data suggest that, in general, provinces with a higher proportion of area irrigated have a lower incidence of poverty. In the estimated equation below, while the relationship is not statistically significant, the sign of the estimated coefficient indicates an inverse relationship between irrigation and poverty. The new-order government in Indonesia  established new laws and regulations for managing various sectors in the country. For the water sector, water resources development law was launched in 1974 (known as law no 11/1974), which was used as a basic legal instrument for development and management of water resources in the country until recently. 28 This law is based on article 33 of the national constitution of 1945 which considers water as a gift of the Almighty God that must be used for the welfare of the people. Also, water should be controlled and administered by the state since it is the only body that has the power. 29  Based on this law, the government is empowered to administer all water resources. The government may authorize its agencies, in the central, regional (provincial and district level), and corporate agencies to implement the government's power in the administration of all water resources. The authority has been given to several agencies, i.e., the Ministry of Mining and Energy for groundwater administration and development of hydropower; the Ministry of Public 27 Subak is a traditional form of irrigation institution in Bali. 28 According to Secretary for Water Sector Adjustment Program (in personal communication) this law is one of the legal aspect in water resources sector that is being tried to be reformed. The draft of the new law has already been endorsed to Parliament. But it has not been discussed until July 2002. 29 See Soenarno. 1992 Through GR no 22/1982, the administration of surface water resources has been divided into the following functions:-Concept of water-resources administration -Coordination of water-resources administration -Priority of water-resources utilization -Licensing of water-resources utilization -O&M of water-resources structures -Water-resources financing system -Supervision for water-resources management By Presidential Decree no. 84, the government has given the Ministry of Public Works (DPW) the duty to implement the government administration related to public utilities and their development including water resources. By Ministerial Decree no 211/ 1984, the DPW delegates the water-resources administration and development to Directorate General of Water Resource Development (DGWRD). Initially, involvement of the community in water-resources development and management was principally regulated through Law No. 11/1974 andGR No. 22/1982. The philosophy of community involvement was to generate a sense of belonging and responsibility of the community, especially beneficiaries of water resources. The participation was mostly directed at O&M in order to sustain the function of the infrastructure.GR No. 23/1982 deals with the irrigation sector as it is the largest user of water. Specifically, GR No. 23/1983 focuses on a) irrigation use, b) drainage, c) construction of irrigation system, d) exploitation and maintenance of the irrigation system, and e) irrigation management. As per this GR, the regional government is responsible for the management of technical irrigation systems at primary and secondary levels. This GR also contains provisions for the participation of WUA in management and financing of their tertiaries for technical irrigation systems. For small-scale irrigation systems, the management is the responsibility of WUA or village under the supervision of the regional government.With GR No. 14/1987, some of the duties and responsibilities have been given to the regional government, i.e., provincial agencies, for example, Provincial Irrigation Services. These include planning for irrigation water distribution, irrigation water distribution, irrigation water licensing, irrigation period, determination of irrigation priorities, construction and maintenance of the main system and its appurtenant work, O&M for the irrigation and drainage system, guarding and guaranteeing the function of the irrigation system and its appurtenant work, issuing permits for demolition and adjustment of the irrigation canals and their appurtenant works, and issuing of permits for construction, adjustment or demolition of other structures located in the area of irrigation system. The structure of the organization within the regional government is determined by the Ministry of Home Affairs through consultation with the Ministry of Public Works.With MPWR No. 48/1989, the management of water resources is given to the regional government as 73 River Basin Unit for co-management. This means that the Lower Regional Government executes services as planned by the Central Government or the Upper Regional Government with the responsibility to advising the government. Two River Basin Units, namely Brantas and Citarum, are managed by corporation and fifteen River Basin Units are still managed by the Central Government because they cover more than one province or they play a strategic role in the national economy.The Directorate General of Water Resources Development is the central-level agency responsible for water resources. Other central-level agencies related to water resources are the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Forestry and Ministry of Mining and Energy. In each province, a kanwil office has been set up as the representative of MPW for regulatory duties and guidance. Other bodies that deal with water resource are the corporate bodies owned by the Department of Finance under the guidance of MPW. In West Java, Perum Otorita Jatiluhur manages the Citarum river basin and Perum Jasa Tirta in East Java manages the Brantas river basin. At the regional level, the Ministry of Home Affairs through several Dinas or provincial agencies has set up the structure of regional organization, which consists of provinces and districts. One of these is the provincial agency for public works as Sub-Dinas Pengairan for 20 provinces and Dinas Pengairan for 7 provinces. Water projects are implemented through project implementation units. These are directed by the Central Government, and usually only O&M projects are directed by Dinas.There are several uses of freshwater. In Indonesia, the priority for freshwater use is regulated in Law No. 11/1974 based on engineering planning to fulfill people's need. The priorities are: a) drinking water, domestic water, and municipal water; b) agriculture, livestock, plantation and fisheries, and c) energy, industry, mining, transportation and recreation. Water use for agriculture or irrigation is given second priority. However, agricultural water being the major water-using sector, management of irrigation water is considered an important part of water-resources management.Prior to the launching of irrigation management policy reform in the country, irrigation management procedure applied in Indonesia is an O&M-form system, which consists of 16 Oform for operation procedure and 18 P-form for maintenance procedures. The O&M procedures are given in figures 2.1.1 and 2.1.2.The O-form procedure, as shown in figure 2.1.1. consists of three stages i.e. determination of crop planting area, determination of irrigation service discharge, and monitoring and data gathering. O-form procedure starts with determination of cropping pattern by WUA (O-01 form). The input from WUA is then given to the water master (O-02 form) and then to the higher-level officer (O-03 form and O-04 form) to determine an overall or global planting pattern. The global planting pattern becomes a basic tool to determine cropping pattern in the area. In the implementation procedure, the actual planting area of each crop (O-04 and O-05 forms) is used to calculate the irrigation water requirement. The K-factor or ratio between actual river discharge and irrigation water requirement shows whether river discharge (O-06 form) is adequate to fulfill irrigation requirement. In case K equals unity or more, water is allocated to tertiary blocks according to irrigation requirements. If the K factor is less then 1, water is allocated in proportion of irrigation requirement. Additionally, monitoring activities such as collection of rainfall data and discharge data are also included in the procedure.In O-form procedures, farmers only participate in the determination of cropping pattern by providing information about their crops and planned planting area for the next planting year. On the contrary, government officials conduct other activities including determination of the amount of water delivered to tertiary off takes.The maintenance procedure using the P-form, as shown in figure 2.1.2. consists of incidental maintenance, routine maintenance and heavy maintenance. Incidental maintenance takes place when a structure in irrigation system is destroyed due to natural disaster or human error. The report on incidental maintenance (O3-P form) goes directly from system level to provincial level and is considered as an emergency report. T he routine maintenance, including activities such as lubrication of gates and canal cleaning, follows the procedure of planning and implemented by the Irrigation Department at district level to provincial level (04-P form).The heavy maintenance consists of two types of work, namely self-managed and contracted work. District officials in the Irrigation Department conduct the self-managed works. The plan (07-P form) is formulated at the district irrigation department and reported to provincial level. A private contractor conducts the contracted works planned by the district irrigation department (08-P form) and reported to the provincial level (10-P form).  During the initial period of the new-order government, irrigation development was carried out to solve the problem of food shortages and to achieve self-sufficiency in rice. Therefore, the government applied three strategies in irrigation development, i.e., infrastructural development, incentive to farmers and institutional development (Affif 1992). Approaches to irrigation development were a) target-oriented physical development, b) engineering approach based on engineering economy basis, c) centralist approach, and d) uniform method throughout the country. Through these approaches, irrigated areas were expanded significantly. For example, expansion in irrigated rice areas had reached 4 million hectares by 1990, with half of this area located in Java. The above approach helped achieve self-sufficiency in rice, but was not necessarily successful in improving the welfare of farmers. It was realized that the engineering and centralistic approaches were not appropriate. In the middle of the 1980s, the participatory development model, which emphasized community involvement and learning process, was emphasized (Soedjatmoko 1987;Korten 1987;Chambers 1987). Also, the government faced difficulty in providing funds for system O&M. In 1987, the Government of Indonesia set out a policy statement on the management of irrigation systems. This policy relates to efficiency in O&M and recovery of O&M cost from the beneficiaries.  GR 23/1982and GR 77/2001. Table 2.3.1. Differences of characteristics between GR No. 23/1982and GR No. 77/2001 The transformation of the role and responsibility of irrigation management institutions is regulated in Law No. 22/1999, Government Regulation No. 25/2000, and Government Regulation No. 77/2001. However, there are some problems in implementation of this policy principle. First, dynamics in society demands institutions for irrigation management as rules in use. This is based on the reality that irrigation management is actually a management of common pool resource, which follows polycentrism. Second, the demand for water rights has emerged. The water right is sometimes misinterpreted as right of water allocation that water belongs to the government as the responsible faction. The responsibility consists of provision and management. In the past, both of them were carried out by one department. Third, the present institution may be incompatible with the new regulation, namely GR No. 77/2001. The present institution was developed based on GR No. 23/1982 with the aim of rice self-sufficiency. Fourth, the reorganization should be done by a participatory approach. Only a few people understand that irrigation is a sociocultural system while the principle is essential for present irrigation management. Last, it is required to formulate local regulation at regional level to regulate the implementation of national-level laws. The local regulation is important to guide irrigation management in each region. The formulation of local regulation should consider democratization and involves all stakeholders. It should also refer to diversity of local characteristics and socioculture of the people.Empowerment should be defined as a process to develop and strengthen the peoples' ability to provide benefit continually in a dynamic process in a responsible way (Fetterman 1996;Rees 1991;Brown 1994). In this policy, the government realizes the importance of the WUAs in irrigation management and, therefore, considers WUAs as an important socioeconomic institution with an authority to manage irrigation systems. Furthermore, the government considers that Irrigation Management Transfer (IMT) is basically implementation of the above two policy principles. IMT is an approach to empower people by transferring the management of an irrigation system at all levels. IMT should be implemented democratically and transparently, so that people realize benefits from managing their own systems. The IMT program under this policy is different from the previous turnover programs for small-scale irrigation system (PIK).The PIK considered participation as mobilization efforts while IMT under this policy considers participation as an empowerment effort. PIK was implemented to reduce O&M budget of the government whereas the objectives of IMT are manyfold, with the core being empowerment of people. Last, under PIK, irrigation assets were turned over to WUAs while for IMT under the new policy still belongs to the government. Consequently, IMT implementation does not mean that the government terminates its responsibility in O&M of an irrigation system. The government has responsibility to facilitate people so that they are capable of managing their irrigation systems. By empowering with IMT implementation, it is expected that the O&M budget will decrease gradually. In order to be successful, IMT should be implemented gradually as a learning process. Implementation of IMT with a big bang should be avoided. This is important in view of farmers' capacity to take over management responsibilities.The policy on ISF aims to provide funding for O&M of an irrigation system. It does not aim to burden farmers with additional fees but aims to empower farmer institutions so that they have the capacity to manage irrigation systems independently. The keys to success of this policy are simple procedures on fee collection, transparency and accountability of fund management, as well as transparency in ISF payments. In accordance with the diversity principle, the procedure of ISF collection and management is developed by each district.The policy on sustainability of irrigation systems clearly indicates prevention of land conversion from agriculture to other uses and sustainable use of water resources. The unsustainability of an irrigation system is caused not only by land conversion but also by other factors including social, economic and environmental factors (Arif et al. 1998(Arif et al. , 1999(Arif et al. , 2000)). The physical sustainability of the irrigation system is important as it is related to its functions in the hydrologic cycle. In some cases, the district government ignores this function. Because unsustainability in social and economic factors may lead to physical unsustainability of the system, empowerment of society to manage their irrigation systems becomes important. The empowerment is expected to generate independent WUAs with comparative and competitive advantage to improve sustainability of the systems.Understanding the meaning of the reform on irrigation management policy is expected to give a basis to develop a comprehensive strategy to implement it. An irrigation system functions not only as a food provider but also as a support for tradable commodities. Therefore, the characteristic of irrigation shifts from protective irrigation to productive irrigation (Pusposutardjo 1999). The difference between protective irrigation and productive irrigation is shown in table 2.3.2. As explained in part one of the report, the overall goal of the study is to promote and catalyze equitable economic growth in rural areas through pro-poor irrigation interventions. The immediate objective is to determine what could realistically be done to improve the returns to poor farm households in the low-productivity irrigated areas. The study focused on selected representative irrigation systems in Central Java and Yogyakarta province with a large number of people under persistent poverty. The emphasis is on identifying and assessing a set of appropriate economic, financial, institutional and technical interventions at field and system levels, and changes in overall policy and institutional framework as far as they affect access of the poor to water resources and their productivity levels. The study is based on primary data collected at the system and household levels, supplemented with secondary data where necessary. This part of the report provides details on selected study areas, data, analysis, results, findings and conclusions of the study. This part is divided into eight sections. Section 1 presents details on study settings, data collection procedures, and characteristics of selected systems and sample households. Sections 2 and 3 provide analyses of poverty, including spatial dimensions of poverty, characteristics of the poor and key determinants of poverty in irrigated areas. Section 4 assesses performance of selected irrigation systems and associated impacts on poverty. Section 5 identifies key constraints to enhancing crop productivity in the studied systems. Productivity and poverty impacts of recent institutional interventions are assessed in section 6. Based on the above, section 7 presents a detailed analysis of constraints and opportunities for reducing poverty in irrigated agriculture. The last section provides a summary of key study findings, main conclusions and recommendations.Irrigated areas of selected irrigation systems are parts of Demak, Grobogan, Magelang, and Kulonprogo regencies. Based on secondary data in 1999, socioeconomic conditions of the regencies are presented in table 3.2.1. Poverty exists in irrigated agriculture, and is influenced by the following major factors. 1. Landownership: Land size is generally small (less than 0.5 hectare) and landlessness is common and increasing. Land fragmentation due to inheritance system results in reducing the landholding per household, with small pieces of land generally uneconomical and farmers losing interest in farming. Farmers are gradually moving towards nonagricultural activities. 2. Access to production factors: Farmers have limited access to information, water, capital and technology. Mostly rich farmers take advantage of the modern agricultural technology. Extension services and access to credit, especially from the public-sector institutions, are also limited and not favorable to the poor. 3. Marketing: Information on input and product market alternatives is limited. Normally, traders do not buy rice from farmers at the floor price set by the government. As a result, market intermediaries make money and farmers lose profits.4. Uncertain income in the agriculture sector: Uncertainty occurs when the crops get pests and diseases or there is overproduction.Central Java and Yogyakarta Special Region lie in Java, a very populous island. Java Island is the center of the Government of Indonesia. In Java, the development of infrastructure, education and population is fast. Many impacts arise from its fast development. One of those is land conversion as shown in table 3.2.2, which indicates that during the 10 year period cultivated area in Yogyakarta had been reduced by 2.9 percent and forest cover in Central Java by 5.3 percent. The additional cultivated and irrigated area in Central Java suggests that Central Java government has made efforts to boost agricultural production. However, primary water supply is only about 40 percent of potentially utilizable water (National Research Council 1994), constraining agricultural development. The addition of irrigated agricultural land area, urban land area, and cultivated area in Central Java must be actuated in a proper way. Improving agricultural production by means of extension and settlement construction would, hopefully, not destroy the environment. The forest cover reduction as catchment area in Central Java in the long term, however, will have some impacts on water supply. Overall primary water supply is far from sufficient.Since Yogyakarta and Central Java are located in the same territory, their primary water supplies are fairly similar. According to National Research Council (1994), in Yogyakarta, primary water supply is about 31.17 percent of potentially utilizable water. The irrigated cropping areas of the two provinces are also similar, i.e., 41.08 percent and 31.76 percent of total cropping area for Central Java and Yogyakarta, respectively. There is competition for agricultural water use, and sometime conflict is inevitable.As per the new laws and GRs, irrigation management is under the administration of Provincial and District Governments. Except for cross border irrigation system management that is still under Provincial Government, almost all the assets of irrigation infrastructures and their management are under District Government administration. The centralistic power no longer exists, and there is a decentralization and participatory approach. According to this approach, Provincial Governments have three other authorities and responsibilities, i.e. a) deciding agricultural policy and irrigation water requirement, b) standardizing implementation of O&M procedure, c) facilitating O&M implementation in the province, and d) providing technical assistance and financial support if necessary. The law at provincial and regency level is for implementation of higher-level law at the national level. Some provinces and regencies have developed regulations on irrigation with the implementation of GR No 77/2001. The Province of Central Java and Yogyakarta Special Region are still under discussion in the parliament for Provincial Regulation (PR) on Irrigation. Drafts of the PR for both provinces are already through and are being discussed in the parliament. The situation is the same for District Demak and Grobogan Regencies where regulation is still under preparation. However, in Kulonprogo and Magelang Regencies, the Regency Regulation on irrigation has already been issued. This Regency Regulation is being used to implement a new concept of irrigation management. Participatory Irrigation Management through IMT has already been implemented in these regencies. All irrigation systems in Kulonprogo have been transferred to farmers starting from year 2000. In Magelang more than 3,000 hectares of irrigated area that cover five irrigation systems have already been transferred to farmers. The Krogowanan irrigation system has been transferred since the year 2000, which is a pilot project of IMT with World Bank Project funds.A detailed study was conducted in four irrigation systems in Java, namely Kalibawang, Krogowanan, Klambu Kiri and Glapan. The location of Java Island in Indonesia is shown in figure 3.2.1 while figure 3.2.2 shows the location of selected irrigation systems in Java. Administratively, Kalibawang system is located in Yogyakarta Special Province while Krogowanan, Klambu Kiri and Glapan are situated in Central Java Province.  Central Java has an important role in producing food to the country since it has a relatively large area under irrigation, estimated at 1,002,306 hectares (30.84%). Although Yogyakarta is a small province in Java, irrigation management in this province is unique because it operates based on a reuse water system. In this system, drainage water from the irrigation system is then used in another downstream irrigation system. Yogyakarta is also unique in the sense that it is a kingdom that is still governed by a Sultan as the emperor of the province. This has effects on the local government and the socioculture of the people in the province. These two provinces have a relatively large number of people dispersed in several districts under the poverty line. In terms of poverty, Kulonprogo is one of the poorest districts in Yogyakarta Special Province with a relatively large area under irrigation. In Central Java, Demak is one of the poorest districts in the province, despite which it has a relatively large area of irrigated agriculture.Krogowanan SystemGlapan SystemThe Kalibawang system is the largest irrigation system in Kulonprogo Regency. The system consists of five irrigation schemes namely Kalibawang, Penjalin, Papah, Pengasih and Pekik Jamal. IMT program, under the new irrigation management policy, has been implemented in Papah and Pengasih irrigation schemes in 1999 and later in Kalibawang and Pekik Jamal in 2002. Three out of five irrigation schemes in Kalibawang system are selected as sample sites for this study, namely, Kalibawang, Pengasih and Pekik Jamal schemes to represent head, middle, and tail reaches of the systems, respectively. Two major rivers dominate the hydrology of Yogyakarta Special Province, Progo river to the West and Opak river, which flow below the escarpment of the Wonosari Plateau to the East. Most of the irrigated area in Yogyakarta Special Province lies to the South of Mataram canal that transfers flow eastward from the Progo river, via the northern suburb of Yogyakarta, eventually draining to the Opak river. This canal, which is about 30 km long, supplies the Van der Wijck scheme (5,000 ha) and allows the flow in 12 smaller rivers to be supplemented. These in turn supply a large number of small irrigation systems amounting to a total of about 24,300 ha.While Mataram canal serves the left bank of the Progo river, the right bank is served by the Kalibawang canal. Along the Kalibawang Primary canal water is diverted into several tertiary blocks under the Kalibawang Irrigation Scheme (1,525 ha). At the end of the Kalibawang primary canal, water is diverted into two directions. To the left it supplies the Donomulyo secondary canal as well as the Papah river and to the right it supplies the Serang river. Furthermore, Penjalin (652 ha) and Papah (983 ha) irrigation schemes divert water from the Papah river while Pengasih (2075 ha) and Pekik Jamal (739 ha) divert water from the Serang river.In Central Java the IMT program was implemented in two schemes, i.e., Krogowanan (832 ha) irrigation scheme in Magelang Regency and Beton irrigation scheme in Wonogiri Regency. For the following phase, Pasekan (847 ha), Kojor Semendi (810 ha), Sidandang (612 ha), and Balong Kaliaji (522 ha) systems were transferred through an IMT program in 2001.The Magelang Regency in Central Java lies among three mountains, i.e., Mount Merapi and Merbabu to the East and Mount Sindoro to the West. The Progo river flows from North to South in the middle of the regency. Among several Progo tributaries are the Pabelan, Kunjang and Klesem rivers. They become the main water source of the Krogowanan system. Krogowanan (832 ha) is an interconnected irrigation system diverting water from several weirs and springs. It diverts water from the Pabelan river through 3 weirs, i.e., Krogowanan, Banyusumurup, and Surodadi weirs. Water from the Klesem river is diverted through Guwo, Kamal, Kendil Wesi, Karang Winong and Bangkong weirs while water from the Kunjang river is diverted through Kunjang and Pace weirs. The Krogowanan system receives water from four springs, i.e., Udal, Mudal, Semaren and Gung springs.Almost all irrigated areas in Demak Regency are located in the Jratunseluna river basin. Jratunseluna consists of five main rivers namely Jragung, Tuntang, Serang, Lusi, and Juana. In the upper part of the Serang river, Kedung Ombo reservoir was developed in 1987.The Klambu weir is situated in the Serang river, where water is supplied from the Kedung Ombo reservoir. It was constructed at the time when Kedung Ombo reservoir was developed. Klambu has a command area of 48,715 hectares divided into two irrigation schemes namely Klambu Kiri (Left Klambu: 21,457 ha) and Klambu Kanan (Right Klambu: 27,258 ha). The Wulan and Jajar rivers are confined to command area of Klambu Kiri, which is selected as the sample scheme for this study.The Glapan weir diverts water from the Tuntang river, which originates from the Rawa Pening lake. The weir is located in the Glapan village, Grobogan Regency. The command area of Glapan scheme is divided into Glapan Timur (East Glapan: 8,671 ha) and Glapan Barat (West Glapan: 10,113 ha).The general climatic condition in Central Java and Yogyakarta falls under the category of the tropical monsoonal climate. It is influenced primarily by the seasonal monsoons, namely the Southeast (SE) and Northwest (NW) monsoons. The SE monsoon creates the dry season, normally from the middle of May to October. The characteristics of this period are a less amount of rainfall, lower humidity and less cloudiness. The NW monsoon creates the rainy season, generally taking place from November to April. It is the period of frequent and heavy rainfall, high relative humidity and cloudiness. More than 80 percent of annual rainfall falls in this period. Climatic parameters were taken from the record of the closest weather station to the system. Yogyakarta and Borobudur weather stations represent the climatic condition of Kalibawang system and Krogowanan system, respectively. The climatic condition of Klambu Kiri and Glapan is represented by the Semarang weather station. The average monthly value of climatic element of the study area is presented in tables 3.2.3 to 3.2.5.   Rainfall is distributed unevenly throughout the year. The records of mean annual rainfall in Yogyakarta, Borobudur and Semarang weather stations are 2,330 mm, 2,147 mm, and 2,234 mm, respectively. The average monthly rainfall pattern at the three selected rainfall stations is shown in figure 3.2.3. This figure shows that the rainfall in the three selected stations follows the same pattern with only small differences. The pattern follows the general SE-NW monsoonal pattern.The climatic parameters recorded at the three weather stations vary insignificantly. The average of maximum temperature compiled at the Yogyakarta weather station varies from 30.4 o C in December to 32.5 o C in September while the average minimum temperature varies from 19.6 o C in September to 24.2 o C in November. The mean monthly relative humidity varies from a minimum of 69 percent in September to a maximum 87 percent in February. The mean monthly wind speed at the Yogyakarta weather station varies from 158 km/day in June to 223 km/day in December. The wind generally follows the monsoonal wind direction. In addition, the sunshine duration ranges from 38 percent in November to 58 percent in July.The average maximum temperature compiled at the Borobudur weather station varies from 30.4 o C in December to 33.2 o C in March while the average minimum temperature varies from 14.6 o C in August to 20.6 o C in March. The mean monthly relative humidity varies from a minimum of 67 percent in September to a maximum of 84 percent in January. The mean monthly wind speed ranges from 50 km/day in April to 112 km/day in September. In addition, the sunshine duration ranges from 37 percent in January to 75 percent in July.The climatic parameters recorded at the Semarang weather station are similar to those recorded at the other weather station. The average maximum temperature compiled in this station varies from 29.9 o C in October to 32.9 o C in May while the average minimum temperature varies from 21.1 o C in September to 24.6 o C May. The mean monthly relative humidity varies from minimum of 61 percent in September to a maximum of 83 percent in January. The mean monthly wind speed at the Semarang weather station varies from 215 km/day in August to 286 km/day in January. The sunshine duration ranges from 46 percent in December to 98 percent in August.Because rainfall is an important source of water for agriculture, its distribution throughout the year is the main factor that affects cropping patterns. At the beginning of the rainy season, generally in October/November farmers start the first planting season called the rainy season (RS). During RS, rice becomes the dominant crop because it can adapt to the excessive water in the rainy season.Following harvesting time of RS crops the rainy season comes to an end. At the time when rainfall is getting less in February or March, farmers start growing the second crop. This season is called Dry Season 1 (DS 1). In the area where irrigation supply is ensured to fulfill deficiency of crop water requirement when rainfall is inadequate, farmers generally grow rice; otherwise, they grow other crops that need less water.Dry Season 2 (DS 2) starts in June or July following DS 1. In this season, generally, farmers grow upland crops (palawija), for example maize, mungbean, or soybean that is more tolerable to the condition of less water. When soil, temperature, elevation and other factors are suitable vegetables are grown. These are the most common cropping patterns practiced in Java.Discharge measured at the main intake of the selected systems is depicted in figure 3.2.4. Generally, the main intake discharge follows the fluctuation of rainfall with some adjustment to the irrigation water requirement. The discharge at Klambu Kiri varies widely from 1,000 lps to 17,000 lps. Likewise in the Glapan system, the discharge varies from 4,000 lps to 17,000 lps. In the two systems, peak discharge occurs at the beginning of the first planting season because of high water demand for land preparation. At the end of the first planting season, the discharge is lower to anticipate harvesting of rice crops requiring less water. The lowest discharge occurs in the third planting season when upland crops become dominant and river discharge is also low.In Kalibawang and Krogowanan systems, discharge varies from 5,000 lps to 7,000 lps and 1,000 lps to 2,000 lps, respectively. The fluctuation of the discharge mainly follows rainfall fluctuation. The highest discharge of Kalibawang takes place in May or in the second planting season when irrigation requirement is high and water is available in the river. In Krogowanan, the highest discharge takes place in January or February at the peak of the rainy season. On the other hand, the lowest discharge of Kalibawang and Krogowanan occurs at the peak of the dry season in July and August.Soil is classified according to the USDA/Soil Taxonomy classification of 1994. Based on the soil survey, soil in the Kalibawang system is classified into two orders, namely, inceptisols and vertisols and three subgroups, namely, typic epiaquepts, aquic haplustepts and udic halpuderts. In the Kalibawang scheme, the soil falls under category typic epiaquents and typic epiaquepts while Pengasih and Pekik Jamal soils are classified as typic epiaquepts and udic hapluderts.The soils in the Krogowanan system are classified as typic epiaquents and typic epiaquepts. The Glapan system soil falls under the category of typic haplusterts and the Klambu system soils are classified into two orders, namely, vertisols and inceptisols and two suborders, namely, typic haplusters and vertic epiaquepts.Characteristics of soils in the selected area are presented in table 3.2.6. Due to the soil characteristics, the selected areas have several limiting factors to develop as agricultural areas.Generally, the Kalibawang system suffers from most frequent limitations of low nutrient availability of macronutrients N, P and K. Farmers have to apply nonorganic fertilizers such as urea, TSP and NPK. Other common problems are limited organic matter and limited soil moisture availability.In Krogowanan, soil texture is coarse and the structure is single grain or structureless; hence its infiltration rate is rapid and its water-holding capacity is low. This condition requires continuous water application for crops. The nutrient availability is also low for paddy, upland crops and vegetables.In Glapan and Klambu Kiri, the soil has a high clay content and its structure is massive so that it is difficult to till the earth, especially in the dry season. Moreover, the soil is also sensitive to swelling and shrinkage. When soil moisture is very low, the soil shrinks and this condition is dangerous because this can make crop root cut. In addition, organic matter content and nutrient availability are low.  Primary data analysis shows clearly that all selected systems were characterized by a very limited size of landownership. An average landownership ranging between 0.2 and 0.3 hectare per household was reported to be the most serious constraint to agricultural production. The size of landownership was reported to be a more significant factor in causing poverty incidence at the micro level, though irrigation is also an important factor especially in the Glapan and Klambu Kiri systems, where there is a significant difference in agricultural performance at the head and the tail parts of irrigation systems. The cultural inheritance system has made fragmentation of landownership and operation unavoidable.Significant consequences of limited landownership are, among others:• Limited capacity of farmers in providing working capital.• Limited access to farm credit.• Un-bankable farming.• Limited technology adoption.• Subsistence-oriented farming.• Being more-deeply trapped by rice farming.• Limited capacity in adopting high-cost agricultural diversification.• Limited market access of farmers.• Getting more voiceless farmers.The excellent environmental condition in Krogowanan was very conducive for crop diversification, while in the Kalibawang system, local institutions related to irrigation management were proved to be supportive in irrigated agricultural development. Effective improvement of the other systems, Klambu Kiri and Glapan, was constrained mainly by poor environmental conditions and limited capacity of local institutions in irrigation management.Most of farmer respondent is land owner. It is more than number of sharecropper or rented land's farmer as shown in table 3.2.7. In 1960, the Law 5/1960 on Agrarian Reform (Undang-undang Pokok Agraria, UUPA) was set to regulate farmland. The law specifies a maximum limit of individual land held by territorial category. Some areas in Yogyakarta are classified as highly dense, and some areas in the suburbs of Central Java are classified as fairly dense. The maximum limit of individual landholding in the highly dense area is 15 hectares of rice field and 20 hectares of dryland, whereas in the fairly dense area the limit is 7.5 hectares of rice fields and 9 hectares of dryland.In line with the changing human lifestyle, the size of agricultural land has been getting narrower. Agricultural land has been conversed for housing, industrial and infrastructural purposes. However, up to now no new law/institution has been set to regulate the size of agricultural landownership.Although up to now the formal water-rights system has not been set up as yet, Law No. 5/1960 on Agrarian Reform states that the landowners have the right to the water sources over their own land. They also have the right to get water from a river, canal, or other water source outside their own land to irrigate their land for domestic and other uses.In relation to water allocation within irrigation systems, two types of water rights, namely, riparian right and appropriation right are used (Arif et al. 1999;Roorda 2002). The riparian right gives more right to users closer to the water source. In irrigation systems, which apply the riparian right, farmers in the head reach have a higher priority in water allocation than farmers at the tail reach. Farmers at the tail reach generally have no objection when they get less water as long as it is adequate to prevent their crops from failure. Appropriation right means the first gets first service. In an irrigation system, people who initially developed the system had more right to water than others.Most of the irrigation systems in Java applied riparian right in the past. During their development, water right in some irrigation systems has shifted. The biggest influence came from the change of cropping pattern in the system. Systems with uniform planting pattern, especially which are dominated by rice, keep on applying the riparian right. Examples of such systems are Glapan and Klambu Kiri. On the other hand, systems with diversified planting pattern shifted the water right to utilitarian right. In this system, farmers valued water based on its function as an input to agricultural production.The main principle of transferring authority in irrigation management is getting farmers as decision makers in irrigation management. The management surely involves a financial element. National-level rules on financing have been established. Some of the items in relation to regional conditions have been accommodated in regional rules on irrigation. The regional rule on irrigation in Yogyakarta Special Province and Central Java cites that the regional government is in charge of financing the main network and the structure, while WUF and WUAs are responsible for secondary and tertiary levels, respectively. Donation for financing the main network derives from each regional income and expenditure plan. WUAs and WUF get some amount from ISF. The amount of ISF in sample areas is area-based and paid once a year. The amount of ISF of each hectare is approximately Rp 15,000 to Rp 50,000 and is decided at a WUA member meeting. The fee is not different for head, middle or tail area or for any crop. The fee in most sample areas is collected door to door by WUA managers or rural officials. This withdrawal in general is inefficient because: WUA managers do not get a salary so that ISF is not strictly collected. Society supposes that water has been provided by nature. Consequently, there is no need to spend money to get water. Farmers in the upstream area feel there is sufficient water, while those downstream feel water is in short supply. Both have reasons for not paying the ISF.Prior to 1999, joint management was conducted in all technical irrigation systems in Indonesia. In this system, the government managed primary and secondary levels while WUAs managed their tertiary blocks. Water is allocated, based on the crop water requirement of all tertiary blocks in the whole system. WUAs in each tertiary block proposed their types of crop, varieties and planting area of each variety. The water master, who was a government official, then developed a water balance, determined a global planting pattern and decided water allocation for each tertiary block. The actual water distribution was determined periodically (half a month) for the next period based on the global planting pattern and actual river discharge at the period. At secondary level, water was conveyed from primary to tertiary offtakes. At the tertiary level, water diverted from tertiary offtakes was distributed throughout the whole block. Members of the WUA engineering staff were responsible for distributing it equally.After the launching of Irrigation Management Policy Reform in 1999, the GOI gradually transferred the management of some irrigation systems to WUAa. The management was transferred to the WUA that was ready, either at the secondary or primary level. This resulted in the variation of management in the selected systems.Among six schemes in the Kalibawang system, Papah and Pengasih schemes were transferred in 1999 while the other schemes were transferred in 2002. In Papah and Pengasih schemes WUAF managed the secondary level starting from the main diversion structure while government officials managed the main intake. In the Kalibawang scheme, two WUAFs shared the management of the Kalibawang Primary Canal. In Pekik Jamal, WUAF manages the system from the main intake to the primary and secondary canals.The Krogowanan system was transferred in 1999. Currently, the WUAF of Krogowanan system manages the system up to the primary canal. However, a government official is still responsible for managing water diversion from the main intake in the Pabelan river.In Klambu Kiri and Glapan systems, Irrigation Management Transfer has not been implemented. Therefore, the two systems still keep the joint management where WUA manages tertiary levels and the government manages the rest of it. Preparation for the transfer is still in the process of WUAF establishment, which is prepared to manage secondary and primary levels.The selected rain-fed site is in the Tuksono village in the Sentolo district of Kulonprogo Regency. The site is located in a hilly area between the Papah scheme of the Kalibawang system to the west and the Progo river to the east. Because of its location in the hilly area, it is not irrigated from the technical irrigation system. Generally, the soil condition is clayey and it contents are poor nutrients. Main crops cultivated in the rain-fed area are rice, maize, soybean and kacang tolo (cowpea). The proportions of the area of rice, maize, soybean and kacang tolo are 46.57 percent, 42.31percent, 10.42 percent, and 0.69 percent, respectively. Most of rice fields in the area are rain-fed. However, some pieces of land surrounding mushroom cultivation received some water. Based on its topography, the area is divided into three parts: high, medium and low.Rainfall is the main water source of the area, and cropping patterns is rice-maize. In case there is no rainfall, some farmers depend on seepage from adjacent springs or shallow wells. If water is not available from any source, farmers let their lands fallow. Rice productivity ranges from 2 to 3 tons/ha. Employment opportunities in agriculture are very limited and most laborer farmers seek work in nearby irrigated areas.Besides farming, most people of the area rely for their livelihoods on raising cattle. Home gardening is common, and people grow gebang, a kind of crop that produces agel fiber for handicrafts. Some people grow teak wood but they need a long time to harvest the wood. Since 1988 people in the area have been producing agel handicrafts in the area. As a worker a person receives Rp 5,000 to 8,000 for 2 to 3 days' work. Off-farm activities contribute 25-30 percent of their household income.Cropping pattern of the area is generally maize-rice-maize, especially in the locations close to springs or shallow wells. Some farmers use liquid waste from the mushroom cultivation industry to irrigate their lands. The liquid waste contains organic matter and nutrients required by crops. Some farmers are able to practice a cropping pattern of rice-rice-maize by utilizing the waste. In other subvillages cropping the pattern practiced is rice-maize. If soil moisture is available, they will also grow soybean. Most of the people in the area have tamarind and melinjo trees in their home gardens. However, they do not grow well because of inadequate water. Off-farm activities include working as laborers in the mushroom industry and in bag and nylon industries. These activities contribute around 60 percent of their household income. Most farmers work within the village.The agricultural activities in the area depend on rainfall. In dry season, most of the farmers irrigate their lands from shallow wells manually. A few farmers use diesel pumps to abstract water from shallow wells or irrigation canals to irrigate their lands. The effort to use dug wells became unpopular because landholding size is small. The cropping pattern practiced in the area is rice-maize-maize or rice-kacang benguk (mucuna prurient). Kacang benguk is a type of bean that can improve soil fertility by producing nitrogen in plant roots. It also needs a simple maintenance and a few inputs but gives good returns. Perennial crops in home garden are tamarind and sawo. The perennial crops are harvested twice a year. Most of the people work as daily workers in irrigated areas close to their village. Off-farm opportunities include making agel handicraft. Agel handicraft contributes about 15 percent to household income.As mentioned earlier, the government has recently undertaken an irrigation policy reform. Therefore, it focuses all activities of irrigation development in the country into the implementation framework of the policy reform. All programs and activities should be done in the context of the new policy. According to Walter and Huppert (1989), irrigation system management can be considered as sociotechnical system. It means that irrigation management consists of two aspects, i.e., a technical subsystem and a social subsystem. Pusposutardjo (1996) developed Walter and Huppert's definition by applying the sociocultural concept in the irrigation management. This concept is developed based on the nature of irrigation development and management as a process of human-being development. In that case farmers are central to irrigation development and management. As a sociocultural system focusing on human-being development, there are four subsystems that form the entire irrigation management as a sociocultural system: a). cultural, b) socioeconomic, c) artifact (with technology belonging to the subsystem), and d) nonhuman subsystem. Seemingly, as a sociocultural system, irrigation management would vary spatially and among subcultural systems of farmers.Irrigation management as a sociocultural system has eight strategic environments. These are policies, social, cultural, technical, physical, institutional and ecological environments. Changing of paradigm and policy reform in irrigation management and development, as recently happened in Indonesia, could be considered as change in policy environment, and thus would create some responses of all subsystems in the whole irrigation management as a sociocultural system.From a sociocultural point of view, the study would focus on developing understanding of responses that would be made by each subsystem and how the system works to make a new equilibrium process with changes in its environments. Small and Svendsen (1992) introduced another system approach in irrigation management and called irrigation management as a nested system. This approach was based on a management process in a hierarchy of irrigation system management levels. The nested system consists of five subsystems, namely: a) irrigation network, b) irrigated agriculture, c) rural socioeconomic, d) rural development, and e) national politico-subsystem. Based on the nested system, analysis of irrigation management policy should cover analysis at several levels of management, including analysis at micro, mezzo and macro levels. Irrigation management as the nested system is shown in figure 3.3.2. Theoretically, based on the nested system, the irrigation management in the new concept of policy reform has shifted from the second nest (irrigation as an input to production of irrigated agriculture) to the third or fourth nests (irrigation as an input to rural socioeconomic and rural development process).Rural development system Rural socio economic system Irrigated agriculture systemOther inputs Other input O&M of irrigation system Figure 3.3.2. Irrigation as a nested system (modified from Small and Svendsen 1992).Based on system approach, there are three aspects that are very basic to be analyzed in the study on irrigation development and management and its relationship with poverty. These are a) institutional aspect that includes study on rule-in-use, organizations and other social and cultural aspects, b) socioeconomic aspect, and c) irrigation performance as an effect and impact of irrigation management. To do so, in-depth studies were undertaken in specific areas, some of which have significant poverty.Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), one of the participatory methods for gathering data and information was implemented. In addition, quantitative information was obtained through household level questionnaire surveys. At macro and meso levels, the study analyzed irrigation and agricultural development policies, strategies and implementation programs. At the micro level, the study focused on analysis of performance of irrigation and impact of the policies. Analysis also covered identification of factors affecting implementation programs as shown in figure 3.3.3.Four systems had been selected for in-depth study representing large-and medium-scale irrigation systems in Indonesia. They are Kalibawang, Krogowanan, Klambu Kiri and Glapan. These systems vary in terms of size of the system, water availability, IMT experience, incidence of poverty and number of regencies in irrigated area. The general characteristics of selected irrigation system are presented in table 3.3.1. The selected systems are clustered based on the area and position related to the main river. The Kalibawang system's three schemes, Kalibawang, Pngasih and Pekik Jamal, were chosen for gathering information through household surveys as well as for analyzing the physical performance based on historical secondary data. Since Kalibawang schemes have only one primary canal with tertiary offtakes along it, the canal was divided into three sections to represent head, middle and tail. Pengasih and Pekik Jamal have two secondary canals each. All of them were selected as samples in this study.The Krogowanan system (primary canal) was divided into three parts: head, middle and tail to collect primary data and information. From Klambu Kiri, three secondary canals, namely Mlekang, Wulan 1 and Wulan 4 were selected to represent head, middle and tail, respectively. In the Glapan system, seven secondary canals were chosen as samples. Jeketro, Rogol and Kauman are secondary canals in Glapan Timur, which are located at the head, middle and tail parts, respectively. In Glapan Barat, the selected canals are Kuniran and Kunjeng at the head of the scheme, Baturan at the middle and Bantengan at the tail.Primary household-level data were collected through questionnaire surveys. The questionnaire consisted of several parts to gather information on irrigation, agriculture, income and expenditure, marketing, housing and irrigation institutions. All primary data were collected with the help of 15 enumerators who were given intensive training prior to administration of surveys. The questionnaire was pretested.Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was conducted to obtain information from farmers and irrigation officials (bureaucracy). The checklists of questions for both PRAs were developed through many discussions and meetings among study team members. PRAs were conducted with the help of four facilitators. Altogether 30 PRA sessions were conducted in four irrigation systems. PRA exercise for farmers was completed in one month. PRA for officials was conducted in two locations, namely, Wates (capital city of Kulonprogo Regency) and Demak (capital city of Demak Regency).Data and information were also gathered from secondary sources. These included:1. Previous studies of selected irrigation systems. 2. Historical data on climate and discharge.3. Data on climate were collected for 5-10 years from three meteorological stations, namely Yogyakarta, Borobudur and Semarang. Data on river and main intake discharges were collected from regency offices of water-resources development. 4. Past research studies about socioeconomic condition of the farmers 5. Statistical data collected from Central Bureuau of Statistics for Demak Regency, Grobogan Regency, Magelang Regency and Kulonprogo Regency. 6. Legislation, such as Provincial Regulation, Regency Regulation, ministerial decision.Irrigation is one of agricultural inputs and therefore its relation to poverty is generally indirect (figure 3.3.4). Availability of irrigation facilities makes crops more responsive to agricultural inputs. Performance of agricultural facilities at farm level is measured in terms of distance to water gate, availability of water supply in each season, time accuracy of water supply in each season, sufficiency of water supply in each season and farm location in the system. Irrigation facilities accompanied by other factors, i.e., farm household resources (land, labor, capital, management), other infrastructure (road, agricultural extension) and market (labor, agricultural inputs, agricultural outputs) determine cropping pattern, cropping intensity, farm productivity and farm production. All of these actors then determine farm income. Total household income is summation of farm income and nonfarm income. Finally, farm household income determines per capita income and then farm household poverty. Under this logical framework, poverty is analyzed using headcount and poverty gap indices. Determinants of poverty are analyzed using the logit and probit model.Headcount is the share of the population that is poor, that is, the proportion of the population for which consumption or income is less than poverty line.  Poverty gap represents the depth of poverty, which is the mean distance separating the population from the poverty line, with the not poor being given a distance of zero. There are two measures: (a) Poverty Gap (PG) and (b) Squared Poverty Gap (P2).Gini ratio measures inequality in income distribution.( )where, Y = poor = 1, not poor =0 X 1 = size of irrigated area (ha)X 2 = farm labor use (man-days) X 3 = non-farm labor use (man-days) X 4 = distance to water gate (m) X 5 = availability of water supply (enough=1, not enough=0) X 6 = time accuracy of water supply (accurate=1, not accurate=0) X 7 = sufficiency of water supply (enough=1, not enough=0) X 8 = farm income (000Rp/ha) X 9 =farm production (000Rp/ha) X 10 = dummy for middle (middle=1, otherwise = 0)Irrigation performance assessment comprises of two subcomponents, namely characterization of irrigation system and assessment of performance using a specified set of indicators. Characterization of irrigation systems helped understand the context and the present situation of the system, including its resource base. Systems are characterized in terms of physical characteristics, agricultural characteristics, social and economic characteristics, as well as institutional characteristics. Performance is assessed in terms of two broad criteria: productivity, equity and water supply, and sustainability (table 3.3.2). 11. Head-tail equity in water supply (HTERW) is defined as the ratio of the average WDP of the upper 25 percent of the system to the average WDP of the tail 25 percent of the system.Crop evapotranspiration (ET) is equal to reference evapotranspiration (ETo) multiplied by crop coefficient (Kc).ETo is reference evapotranspiration computed from climatic data by using the Penman-Monteith approach as follows. In this study, the term institution is defined as the set of rules actually used (the working rules or rules-in-use) by a group of people to organize repetitive activities that produce outcomes affecting those individuals and potentially affecting others (Ostrom 1992). Based on this definition, the study focused on two important aspects of institutions, i.e., organizational and legal aspects, respectively. Considering the concepts of Saleth and Dinar (1999) and Hussain and Biltonen ( 2001) such as shown in the Term of References of the study as well as Cheema and Rondinelli (1983) as shown in figure 2, an analytical framework of this report is given as follows:Laws/regulations on irrigation and related policies Organization/departments in irrigation sector and related organizationsImplementation/ PerformanceLaws/regulations on irrigation and related policies in this model are based on the GR number 77/2001 and its organic or related regulations. Organizations/departments in irrigation sector in this model cover those at macro, meso, as well as at system level. Coordination among the organizations/departments in this model also covers those three levels, both vertically and horizontally. Implementation/performance in the model deals with the performance of institutions at these three levels as stated in the GR 77/2001. Study on organizational aspects covered three levels of irrigation management organizations, i.e., a) irrigation system level, b) meso level that consists of both district and provincial levels, and c) macro or national level, respectively. At all these levels, the study analyzed various factors that influence performance or organization.The total sample sizes in the selected systems, Klambu Kiri, Glapan, Krogowanan and Kalibawang, are 300, 250, 100 and 250, respectively. The proportion of sample sizes in head, middle and tail reaches of the selected systems are shown in table 3.4.1. The average ages of farmers are 40-55 years, which is the typical age for farmers in Java or in the outer islands.Farmers in all systems are in the productive age. The family size is between 4 and 5 members, which is also typical for Java and Indonesia as a whole. Table 3.4.2 shows that the average size of landholding per household in Klambu Kiri (0.56 -1.14 ha) and Glapan (0.62-1.09 ha) is higher than that in Krogowanan (0.28-0.40 ha) and Kalibawang (0.21-0.27 ha). In Klambu Kiri and Glapan, the average size of landownership at the middle reach is higher than that at the head and tail reaches. In Krogowanan and Kalibawang, the average size of landownership at the tail reach is higher than that at the head and the middle reaches. Overall, average land size is relatively higher in Klambu Kiri and Glapan compared to a typical land size in Java as a whole while in Krogowanan and Kalibawang the land size is representative of the island as a whole.Renting of agricultural land is generally small. Similar to the size of the owned land, the size of operated land in each system in Klambu Kiri and Glapan is higher than that in Krogowanan and Kalibawang. Due to shortage of irrigation water during DS II in some parts of the systems, the average size of operated land per farmer is smaller than that in the rainy season (RS) and DS I. This is quite common in the middle and tail reaches of Klambu Kiri and in the head of the Glapan system. In all systems, rice is the dominant crop in the rainy season and DS I (table 3.4.3). Other crops planted during these seasons are onion and chili (Klambu Kiri), eggplant and watermelon (Glapan), tomato and cabbage (Krogowanan), chili and onion (Kalibawang). In DS II, farmers grow several crops, i.e., palawija (maize, peanut, soybean, mungbean, and so on) and vegetables (chili, onion, tomato, cabbage and so on). In Klambu Kiri and Glapan, mungbean is the dominant crop during DS II while in Krogowanan and Kalibawang, palawija and vegetables dominate the copping patterns.Cropping patterns in Kalibawang and Krogowanan systems are more complex than those in Klambu Kiri and Glapan systems. In Kalibawang and Krogowanan, palawija and vegetables are planted not only during DS II but also in the rainy season and DS I. In Klambu Kiri and Glapan, palawija and vegetables are merely planted during DS II. In Kalibawang and Krogowanan, there is strong cooperation among farmers in using irrigation water. In these systems, farming has been shifting from rice to non-rice crops. Farm labor use per ha is related to cropping patterns and season. Kalibawang has complex cropping patterns, and the labor use per ha in this area much higher compared to other three systems. Labor use per ha is more during rainy season and dry season I compared to that during dry season II. This is because of availability of more water and more intensive farming operations during these seasons. In Klambu Kiri, labor use per ha is the lowest, but the cost of labor use is the highest due to higher wages in the area (table 3.4.4). Farmers in Klambu Kiri employ more hired labor than family labor and also pay them higher than that in other areas. Comparing the use and cost of labor per hectare across systems, it is found that there is no significant difference in labor use and cost across head, middle and tail reaches of the systems. Cost of production per ha (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and other inputs) is highest in Klambu Kiri, followed by Glapan, Kalibawang, and Krogowanan system (table 3.4.5). Differences in cost of production are due to types of inputs and tenurial status of farmers (i.e. owner or tenant farmer). Cost of fertilizers and pesticides constitute major components of total cost of production.Other cost components are cost of seed, land rent, share crop, land tax, irrigation fee, and food for hired labor. Food crops, i.e., rice, palawija and vegetables, are planted in irrigated areas while perennial crops are planted in upland areas and home gardens. Perennial crops include coconut, cocoa, breadfruit, papaya and banana. Depending on the size of landholdings, production of perennial crops varies from system to system and location to location. Coconut is the dominant perennial crop in all systems. In general, Krogowanan and Kalibawang have more crop varieties compared to Klambu Kiri and Glapan (table 3.4.6).In Klambu Kiri, rice productivity is higher in the head reach compared to that at the middle and tail reaches. In Glapan, Krogowanan and Kalibawang the highest productivity of rice was found in the middle areas of the systems (table 3.4.7). For other food crops, there is a general trend that the middle area of the system has higher productivity than that at the head and tail areas. Table 3.4.8 shows productivity of food crops, while table 3.4.9 shows production of perennial crops per year.       Farm household income is derived from several sources, i.e., food crop, perennial crop, livestock, fishpond, and off-farm jobs. Food-crop income has a direct relationship to irrigation while other sources of farm household income have no direct relationship with irrigation. This section presents food crop income, total farm income and off-farm income. Table 3.4.12 shows that the relationship between irrigation and farm income differs across four systems. In Klambu Kiri, the highest farm income is estimated for the head reach while in Glapan it is for the tail area. In Krogowanan and Kalibawang, the highest farm income is estimated for the middle reach of the system.The data show that the farm income is not only dependent on the size of landholding, but also on access to irrigation, cropping intensity and the tye of crop sown. For example, Kalibawang is characterized by small size of landholdings but land is used intensively with diversified cropping patterns. Farmers in this area have a higher farm income compared to those in Klambu Kiri, Glapan and Krogowanan systems.In Klambu Kiri and Glapan, rice is the most important source of farm income while in Krogowanan and Kalibawang the important crops are soybean, peanut and chili (table 3.4.13). Soybean and peanut are grown during DS I and II when irrigation water is limited. Chili is also grown during DS I and II. These are cash crops and significantly contribute to the farm income.  For all systems, food crop is the main source of household farm income (table 3.4.14). In Klambu Kiri, Glapan and Krogowanan, food crop income contributes more than 70 percent of the total household farm income. In Kalibawang where size of landholding is smaller, food crop income contributes less than 60 percent of the total farm income. Exceptionally in Glapan, income from food crops is higher at the middle area than at the tail and head reaches.Perennial crops are generally planted in upland areas and backyards or home gardens. Contribution of these crops varies across the systems and locations, i.e., head, middle, and tail reaches. The highest contribution of perennial crop is found in Kalibawang system, i.e., 13.4 percent at the head reach, 4.5 percent at the middle reach and 10.94 percent at the tail reach.In Kalibawang, livestock, especially cows and buffaloes, contribute 22.6 percent, 12.9 percent, and 33.5 percent at the head, middle tail reaches, respectively. In other systems, contribution of livestock is relatively low. For all systems, contribution of fish farming to total farm income is very small. Sale of farm products is an important source of cash for the farmers in all systems. Rice is still the main source of cash for farmers in four systems (table 3.4.15). In Klambu Kiri, Glapan and Krogowanan, more than 50 percent of the total rice produced is sold while in Kalibawang where size of landholding is smaller the proportion is less than 50 percent. Proportion of other farm products sold is small except vegetables at the head reach of Krogowanan.  Farm and off-farm jobs are available for farm households in all systems. Common offfarm jobs available in all systems are farm laborer, off-farm laborer, trading and services. Wives usually work as farm laborers and small traders while husbands work as off-farm laborers and service providers. Sometimes, adult children also work in farm and off-farm jobs. The opportunities in farm and off-farm jobs in all system are fairly similar.Table 3.4.16 shows that farm income is generally the main source of income for the farmers in four systems. It contributes more than 50 percent to the total income, except for head of the Glapan system, tail of the Krogowanan system and middle of the Kalibawang system. In these locations contributions of farm income are 38.6 percent, 35.8 percent and 49.4 percent, respectively.In Klambu Kiri, Krogowanan and Kalibawang systems, the highest farm income is estimated for the middle reach of the system while in Glapan, the highest farm income is estimated for the tail reach of the systems. The highest off-farm income received by farmers is estimated for the middle reach of the Klambu Kiri system while the lowest is estimated for the head reach of the same system. Similar to farm income, the highest total household income is estimated for the middle reaches of Klambu Kiri, Krogowanan and Kalibawang systems, and at the tail reach of the Glapan system. In the head reach of Klambu Kiri and the head as well as the middle reaches of Krogowanan, the proportion of food expenditure is still high, i.e., more than 50 percent, indicating that farm households in these reaches spend a significant part of their total expenditure on food consumption (table 3.4.17). In other areas, the proportion is about 40 percent or even 20 percent as in the tail reach of Glapan. In these areas, expenditures on education, health and housing are important components of the total household expenditures. In Klambu Kiri and Kalibawang, the highest income per capita was estimated for the middle reach of the system, while in Glapan and Krogowanan, the highest income per capita is estimated for the tail of the system (table 3.4.18). Except for the tail of Krogowanan, income per capita is mainly influenced by the total income, not by family size. In the tail of Krogowanan, the average family size is only 3.71 persons. Therefore, even though the total income of this area is second in ranking, income per capita is still the highest in the system. Compared to the poverty line set up by the Center Bureau of Statistic (table 3.4.19) and suggested by Sayogyo (table 3.4.20), the income per capita in all systems is still much higher. However, it should be noticed that a large part of income received by farm households is in kind rather than in cash.   Although the average income per capita is much higher than the poverty line, the number of poor farm households is still high in all systems and locations (table 3.4.21). At least 30 percent of the farm households in each system and location are poor. Comparison across locations shows that in Klambu Kiri and Kalibawang systems the highest number of poor farmer is found at the tail reach, while in Glapan and Krogowanan the highest number is at the head reach. According to Sayogyo's criterion, the poor farm households in all systems are categorized as poor or almost poor. No farm households are characterized as very poor households.Poverty is closely related to the size of the landholdings. The number of poor farm households increases with decrease in ownership of landholdings. More than 60 percent of the total farm households that own land less than 0.5 hectare each are considered poor, except in the tail area of Glapan. For the size of landholding between 0.5-1 hectare, the number of poor farm households is more than 18 percent, except in the tail area of Krogowanan and all locations of the Kalibawang system. In Klabu Kiri and Glapan systems, there are poor farm households that own more than 1 hectare of land. Table 3.4.22 shows that the poverty gap in the tail reach of the Klambu Kiri system is higher than that of the daily worker/landless and farmers in the rain-fed area. This indicates that the income of poor farm households in this area is far below the poverty line compared to the poor daily workers or poor farmers in the rain-fed area. Therefore, to lift poor farm households out of poverty in this area needs more resources compared to the same effort for poor daily workers and poor farmers in the rain-fed area. The situation for poor farm households in the middle of Glapan system and poor farmers in all areas of Krogowanan system is similar. The performance of the Kalibawang system is relatively better. Squared poverty gap in the tail reach of Klambu Kiri is also higher than that of the daily workers and farmers in the rain-fed area. This means that income inequality among poor in this area is more serious than that among poor daily workers and poor farmers in the rain-fed area. A similar situation prevails in reaches of Glapan and Krogowanan systems. Table 3.4.23 shows that income Gini ratio for households in all the four irrigation systems is higher than that for daily workers and farmers in the rain-fed area. This means that income distribution among farmers, both the poor and the nonpoor, in the irrigated area is more inequitable than that for daily workers and farmers in the rain-fed area. The values indicate that the income gap between the poor and the nonpoor farm households in the irrigated area is still wide.Tables 3.5.1 and 3.5.2 show the results of logit and probit models for the Glapan system. The results show that there is a close relationship between size of irrigated area and farm labor use as important factors influencing poverty. In both logit and probit models, a significant effect of size of irrigated area is found only in the middle area. This is shown by the negative and significant coefficient of this variable in the model. In contrast, the significant effect of farm labor use is found in all areas except in the middle area as indicated by the negative and significant coefficient of this variable in the model. This indicates that the two factors actually have significant effects in reducing poverty. In the middle area, the size of irrigated area is the dominant factor while at the head and middle areas farm labor use is the dominant factor.Although there are some differences in results between logit and probit models, in general, it can be said that nonfarm labor use such as small trader, motor cycle driver, construction laborer and so on has a significant effect on poverty. The effect of this variable is indicated by the negative and significant coefficient of nonfarm labor use in both logit and probit models. This result shows that the larger the nonfarm labor use the smaller the probability of farmers falling under poverty line. This also suggests that the proportion of nonfarm income in the total income is increasing over timeThe distance of land area to source of water/water gate has no significant effect on poverty. However, the availability and sufficiency of irrigation water supply in every season especially at the tail reach is a more important factor affecting poverty. This is shown by the negative and significant coefficient of availability and sufficiency of irrigation water supply in both logit and probit models. This indicates that the greater the availability and sufficiency of irrigation water supply the smaller the probability of farmers falling under the poverty line.The farm household income earned from the irrigated area has a substantial effect in reducing poverty as indicated by the negative and significant coefficient in both logit and probit models. The dummy coefficient for the middle area has significant and negative signs. This indicates that the probability of farmers in the middle area falling under the poverty line is smaller than that for farmers in the head area. However, comparison between head and tail areas as indicated by the coefficient of dummy variable for the tail area does not indicate the effect of location on poverty. This indicates that the effect of irrigation system performance on poverty is not only determined by location in the system but also by other factors, such as availability and sufficiency of irrigation water supply as mentioned earlier.  Tables 3.5.3 and 3.5.4 show results of logit and probit models for the Kalibawang system. In all areas of the system, the size of irrigated land area significantly affects poverty. The negative and significant coefficient of this variable in the model indicates that the larger the size of irrigated area the smaller the probability of farmers falling under the poverty line. Actually, the average size of landholding in all locations of the Kalibawang system is relatively smaller compared to that in other systems. With high cropping intensity and high economic value of crops planted, accompanied by a good irrigation system, the small size of land could generate a higher income for the farmers to escape poverty. In contrast to the Glapan case, the effect of size of irrigated area on poverty in the Kalibawang system is more dominant than farm-labor use. This is indicated by the negative and significant coefficient of farm labor use only for the head area and the negative and significant coefficient of size of irrigated area for all areas.Like the Glapan case, the effect of nonfarm labor use on poverty is found in all areas. The effect of this variable is indicated by the negative and significant coefficient of nonfarm labor use in both logit and probit models. This relationship shows that the larger the nonfarm labor use the smaller the probability of farmers falling under poverty line. With the relatively small size of landholding farmers in the Kalibawang system have adequate opportunities to work in the nonfarm sector. Small trading, carpentry, construction labor and so on are nonfarm occupations that are common in the Kalibawang system.Distance of land area to source of water/water gate has no significant effect on poverty. Sufficiency of irrigation water supply in every season especially in the middle reach is a more important variable affecting poverty. This is shown by the negative and significant coefficient of this variable in both logit and probit models. This indicates that the probability of farmers falling under the poverty line is reduced with sufficiency of irrigation water supplies.Farmer income derived from irrigated area has a substantial effect in reducing poverty as indicated by the negative and significant coefficient of farm income in both logit and probit models. This is easy to understand since a large part of income of farmers in the Kalibawang system is still dominated by income generated by irrigated land area.Coefficients for dummy variables for middle and tail areas have significant and negative signs. This indicates that the probability of farmers in the middle area falling under the poverty line is smaller than that of farmers in the head area. However, the comparison between head and tail area as indicated by the coefficient of dummy variable for the tail does not indicate any different effect on poverty due to different locations. This indicates that the effect of irrigation system performance on poverty is not only determined by area in the system but also by other factors, mainly sufficiency of irrigation water supply as mentioned earlier.  Tables 3.5.5 and 3.5.6 show the results of logit and probit models for the Klambu Kiri system. In all areas of the system, the size of irrigated land area significantly affects poverty. The negative and significant coefficient of this variable in the model indicates that the larger the size of the irrigated area the smaller the probability of farmers falling under the poverty line. The effect of farm labor use on poverty is only found in the tail area. This is indicated by the negative and significant coefficient of farm labor use in the model. As in the Kalibawang case, the effect of the size of irrigated area on poverty in Klambu Kiri is more dominant than that of farm labor use. This is indicated by the negative and significant coefficient of farm labor use only for the tail area and the negative and significant coefficient of size of irrigated area in all areas.The effect of non-farm labor use on poverty is found only in the middle area. The effect of this variable is indicated by the negative and significant coefficient of non-farm labor use in both logit and probit models. This relationship shows that the larger the non-farm labor use the smaller the probability of farmers falling under the poverty line. The same effect is found for Klambu Kiri system as a whole as indicated by the negative and significant coefficient of nonfarm labor use in the model. Rural nonfarm job opportunities, such as small trader, carpenter, construction laborer and so on are taken up by farmers in the Klambu Kiri system. The availability of water at the tail reach and timeliness of supplies also have effects on poverty.As in the Glapan and Kalibawang systems, farm household income derived from irrigated area has a substantial effect in reducing poverty as indicated by the negative and significant coefficient of farm income in both legit and probity models. As in the Glapan and Kalibawang case, a large part of farm household income in the Klambu Kiri system is still dominated by income generated by the irrigated area.The coefficient of the dummy variable for the middle area is found negative and significant indicating that the probability of farmers in the middle area falling under the poverty line is lower than that of farmers in the head area. The coefficient of the dummy variable for the tail area is found positive and significant, which indicates that the probability of farmers in the tail area falling under the poverty line is higher than that of farmers in the head area.  Tables 3.5.7 and 3.5.8 show the results of the logit and probit model for the Krogowanan system. The significant effect of size of irrigated area is found only in the head area while in other areas this variable does not have a significant effect. Except for the Krogowanan system as a whole, farm labor use has an insignificant effect on poverty. Nonfarm labor use and farm income significantly affects poverty in the head area. The coefficient for the dummy for the middle area is significant, indicating that the probability of farmers in the middle areas falling under the poverty line is higher than that of farmers in the head area. Other factors have an insignificant effect on poverty.  The results of the study suggest that poverty is a serious problem in the studied irrigation systems.The headcount measure shows that more than 30 percent of farm households in the irrigation systems live below the poverty line or are poor. The income gap measure shows that the gap between income of poor farm households and the poverty line is still wide and squared poverty gap measure shows that inequality in income distribution among poor farmers is high. Moreover, inequality in income distribution between both poor and not poor farmers is wide.Poverty in irrigated area is not only determined by an irrigation factor, which is measured in terms distance to water gate, availability of water supply, timeliness and sufficiency of water supply, and farm location in the system but also by other factors. Results of the study show that the size of landholding, employment opportunities both in farm and nonfarm sectors, farm income and farm productivity are more dominant in affecting poverty than irrigation. This means that improving irrigation performance alone is not sufficient to lift the poor in the irrigated area.Efforts to lift poor farm households out of poverty should focus on both irrigation and nonirrigation factors. The efforts related to irrigation can be in the form of crop diversification and crop intensification supported by improving irrigation water distribution. Crop diversification is performed through the introduction of high economic value crops, which are suitable for the area. Intensification can be done by increasing cropping intensity and productivity and applying appropriate amounts of other inputs. Efforts should also be made to expand the nonfarm sector, which depends on agriculture, such as promoting small-scale agro-industry.Performance of an irrigation system affects the benefits received by farmers. Low level of performance leads to reducing farmers' income, which affects their welfare. On the other hand, farmers with low income and low level of welfare have limited capacity to manage their irrigation system so that the level of performance of the system declines. This creates a vicious circle of low performance and poverty. In an irrigation system with a low level of performance, the poor farmers may suffer more than nonpoor farmers because they have less access to resources, pushing the poor into deeper poverty. This chapter is aimed at assessing irrigation system peformance, relating the system performance to poverty, and examining poverty reduction impacts of system performance improvement.An irrigation system with a certain level of O&M interacts with its environment and produces a certain quantity of water supply. This level is measured by using water supply indicators. The values of the indicators for selected systems are presented in table 3.6.1.Because of the deterioration of the ecosystem in its catchment area, erosion occurs in the upper part of the Jratunseluna river basin, which consists of five main rivers, namely Jragung, Tuntang, Serang, Lusi and Juana. Serang is the main water resource of the Klambu Kiri system while Tuntang is the main water source of the Glapan system. The erosion results in the sedimentation within the Klambu Kiri and Glapan system that, in turn, affects water allocation and distribution at the field level.In Klambu Kiri, the values of RWS and RIS show that water is inadequate in the system. It is also shown in figures 3.6.1 and 3.6.2 that RWS and RIS of Klambu Kiri are inadequate. In the third planting season, which coincides with the dry season, available water is less than 20 percent of the requirement. The higher value of RWS compared to RIS shows that rainfall plays an important role in providing water to fulfill the crop water requirement. Likewise in Glapan, the value of RIS and RWS indicate that water is generally inadequate. In the first planting season when land preparation starts, rainfall is still low and irrigation requirement is high. Nevertheless, water supply, which is also fluctuating, is still inadequate to fulfill the requirements. In the third planting season, when rainfall stops and water availability in the Tuntang river falls down, farmers experience water shortage. .In general, West Glapan is more responsive to rainfall than East Glapan as shown in the value of RIS and RWS. Although RIS of both schemes is similar, the value of RWS in West Glapan can reach unity unlike RWS of East Glapan. This means that members of the O&M staff in West Glapan account for rainfall in their operational practice.An additional problem in the Glapan system is garbage disposal along its canal network because the canal flows through the urban area and the big market. Even though such efforts as construction of garbage control and canal cover have been undertaken, they still fail to overcome the problem.Glapan was developed during the Dutch Colonial Era in the 1930s. To improve the performance of the Glapan irrigation system, a major rehabilitation took place in 1976. The Glapan weir is situated in the Grobogan district and its irrigated area is spread throughout the Grobogan and Demak districts.The irrigated area across two different districts becomes a problem in the Glapan system in this political reform era. The reform in Indonesia, which leads to local autonomy, allows the district government to manage its own business. However, the reform resulted in declining of O&M in the Glapan system. In the Grobogan district, housing and infrastructural office does not assign staff based on their capability and experience. For example, O&M of the Glapan system now become the responsibility of staff that have no background in O&M of the irrigation system. In the Demak district, which is located in the tail, farmers receive less water of late. Farmers argue that the management by BPSDA (water resources management body in a river-basin level), an autonomous board accountable to the national government provides more satisfaction. The reduction in water received by Demak farmers recently may happen due to: a) reduction in overall irrigation water availability, b) disappointed management by staff at district level, and c) inequity in water allocation and distribution.In fact, members of the O&M staff of the Klambu Kiri system have made efforts to fulfill crop water requirements in the system. The value of WDP shows that water is delivered twice higher than its target, especially in the rainy season. In this case, members of the O&M staff anticipate losses along the canal. Hence, they deliver more water than its calculated target.Although the WDP value shows that the Klambu Kiri system is able to fulfill its target demand, farmers still experience an inadequate water supply. According to the survey, in RS, 2.0 percent, 18.18 percent, and 14.57 percent respondents in the head, middle and tail reaches, respectively, receive inadequate water. The number is even higher for DS 1, at 18.36 percent, 31.07 percent, and 27.36 percent for head, middle and tail reaches, respectively.Efforts to improve the performance in the Klambu Kiri and Glapan systems may face a constraint in that canal capacity is inadequate. The design capacity of the Klambu Kiri and Glapan main canal is inadequate to supply water for peak consumptive demand, which takes place in the third planting season as indicated by the WDC value. Unfortunately, the sedimentation in the canal reduces canal capacity. The value of WDP shows that canal capacity is limited to fulfill even a half of peak consumptive demand. This may be because of inappropriate design. If the canal is forced to flow more, it will be damaged and spill water out. However, in the third planting season, water is unavailable in the river to supply crops in the system. Therefore, canal capacity will have less serious problem in the system.The percentage of farmers who suffer from inadequate water supplies is increasing at the tail end. Supply to tail end is decreasing because of illegal pumping along the main canal in the head reach of the system. Head-Tail Equity Ratio (HTERW), which is more than 1, indicated inequity in the distribution of water.Besides inadequacy, another problem faced by farmers in the Glapan system is the unreliability of irrigation supplies. In the RS, 2.38 percent, 13.25 percent, and 48.17 percent of respondents at the head, middle and tail reaches, respectively, complain that irrigation supply is untimely. The situation is even worse in DS1 and DS2.The value of HTERW of the Glapan system is more than 2, which shows significant head-to-tail inequity in water distribution. Factors that affect inequity are losses along the main canal, water theft, sedimentation and potential conflicts in management between BPSDA and the district-level government. In addition, coordination between the governments of Grobogan and Demak districts is weak.The value of OPE for Glapan and Klambu Kiri systems, which is more than one, does not mean that the systems are very efficient. It just shows that water is inadequate indicating that total inflow into the canal system is less than the crop water requirement. Actually, some tertiary blocks in the tail end receive no water or very little water. Because OPE illustrates the overall efficiency, it does not indicate what happens within the systems. However, HTERW clearly shows that the tail part receives less water than the head, as discussed earlier.Another problem faced in the Glapan system is that there are no tertiary canals in some tertiary blocks. Consequently, irrigation water does not reach some agricultural fields.The Krogowanan system is located in the slope of Mount Merapi with such characteristics as porous soils, sloppy area and abundant water. Plentiful water availability is shown in the values of RIS and RWS. The high value of RIS and RWS and the low value of OPE do not mean inefficiency although they show that the water supply is more than the irrigation requirement. Surplus water is drained to tributaries to supply downstream systems. From the wider perspective, outflow from the Krogowanan system becomes inflow to other systems.The actual volume of water supply is even higher than that recorded to calculate water supply indicators because several springs continuously supply unmeasured volume of water to the Krogowanan system. However, as a result of abundant supplies, farmers do not follow the specified cropping patterns. Farmers choose their own crops and planting date as they wish although they register different crops at the beginning of the first planting season. This causes differences in the target amount of water and the actual delivered amount as indicated in WDP value.The Krogowanan system has an adequate canal capacity to fulfill the crop water requirement as shown in the WDC value that is equal to 1, indicating appropriateness of system design.Although at the system level, water is abundant in Krogowanan, some farmers experience inadequacy of water supplies. Also, due to topographic conditions in the system, which is undulating in some areas, water distribution is not uniform. Moreover, in the Krogowanan system, the operational procedure works improperly. As a responsible party to irrigation operation after the IMT, WUAF let water be distributed without proper operational procedures.Irrigation water in the Kalibawang system is considered adequate as illustrated in RIS and RWS indicators as shown in figures 3.6.1 and 3.6.2. These figures show that RIS and RWS are above 1, indicating adequacy of water supplies. In the three selected schemes, RIS and RWS are more or less equal to unity. In general, water availability is higher in the Kalibawang scheme than that of the Pengasih and Pekik Jamal schemes. Table 3.6.2 shows the respondent opinion on the performance of the Krogowana system. Although water supply is adequate, it is not equally distributed, especially in the third planting season. In the scheme, head-area farmers sometimes break the planting pattern by growing rice, when upland crop is planned. As a result, they divert much more water than the requirement for the upland crop. This can also explain the value of WDP. WDP is higher in the third planting season since the target is calculated based on water requirement of upland crops.Efficiency of the Kalibawang system ranges between 40 percent and 95 percent. However, available data do not help trace the source of losses because it is insufficient to compute distribution, conveyance and application efficiency. OPE of the Kalibawang schemes is low because farmers are accustomed to take much water as their location at the head of the system and drainage is no problem. In Pekik Jamal, because the reliability is low, farmers try to hoard water to their field, and the efficiency is low.Drainage problems occur in some parts of the Kalibawang system, especially during the first planting season. Respondents in the head, middle and tail suffering from drainage problem in RS are as many as 60.78 percent, 54.55 percent, and 41.18 percent, respectively. Additionally, canal capacity is inadequate to pass the peak consumptive demand.Productivity indicators for selected irrigation systems are presented in table 3.6.3. Compared to the other systems, Klambu Kiri has the lowest cropping intensity (CI) and irrigation intensity (II). In each planting season, a few parts are not cultivated and irrigated. Even in the third planting season, only 70 percent of the design command area is irrigated. Due to limited irrigated area, cultivated area is also limited.As in Klambu Kiri, CI and II of the Glapan system is lower than 3. There are parts of command area that are not cultivated and irrigated. Generally, the East Glapan scheme shows better performance in terms of productivity than West Glapan although its water supply performance is not quite good. Additionally, CI of East Glapan is higher than that of West Glapan; II equals to CI means that the whole cultivated area of East Glapan is irrigated.In Krogowanan, CI and II do not show an optimum value. Actually, all rice fields in the Krogowanan system are cultivated but its area is less than the design command area. Land conversion from agriculture to other purposes, especially at the tail end that is located along the provincial road, has reduced the command area. In addition, the low II does not mean inadequacy of water to irrigate agriculture because II does not show irrigation water from unmeasured springs within the Krogowanan system.CI and II values for the Kalibawang system show an optimum performance of the system. Almost the whole command area is cultivated three times a year and almost all of them are irrigated. The Pekik Jamal Scheme, which is located at the tail of the system, shows the best performance with highest CI and II.The values of OCW and ODW indicate productivity of water in the system. Water productivity has a correlation with irrigation adequacy, which is indicated by RIS and RWS. In such a system where water is inadequate as the Klambu Kiri and Glapan systems, ODW is higher than OCW. This shows that diverted water is less than the consumed water to produce the output. On the contrary, in such systems as the Krogowanan and Kalibawang systems, where water is adequate, OCW is higher than OCW. This reveals that additional water diverted, which is not consumed, cannot be used to increase productivity. Water productivity in one system differs from another as a result of interaction among several inputs in the agriculture system as well as interaction between a system and its environment. Water productivity is the lowest in the Kalibawang and Pekik Jamal schemes while it is the highest in the Glapan system. Therefore, it is difficult to compare water productivity across systems. However, it is possible to compare water productivity between the RS and DS 1 for the same crop, which is rice, with the assumption that within the system similar inputs are used in the two planting seasons.In the Kalibawang and Krogowanan systems, more available water can increase production per unit water. In the systems where water is adequate, more water can stimulate the use of other inputs to produce more output. In the Glapan system, less water in the RS produces more output per unit of water compared to DS 1. In the systems where water is inadequate, it is utilized more efficiently with other agricultural inputs.Environmental indicators indicate how the physical environment interacts with irrigation systems so the system performs at a certain level. In general, performance of irrigation systems in terms of environmental indicators is good. Problems of physical environment occur in a few parts of the systems. The environmental indicators of selected irrigation systems are presented in table 3.6.4. There is no natural environmental problem in Krogowanan. Conditions related to water, soils and topography are conducive for agriculture. Soil texture allows good drainage, with no problem of waterlogging. Salinity also appears nowhere in the Krogowanan system. The only environmental problem in this system is chemical pollution at the tail area where a pulp factory is located. Farmers informed that the pollution started more or less 10 years ago when the factory changed its main activities from producing paper from rice straw to recycling waste paper. In the Kalibawang system, the upper scheme (Kalibawang), has the most accommodating physical environment. There is no problem of salinity or waterlogging. The middle scheme, Pengasih, experiences waterlogging in a few parts of its command area, especially at its tail end during the rainy season. Some parts experience salinity in the command area nearby the coastline during the dry season. Likewise in Pekik Jamal, the tail scheme, some parts of the command area suffer from salinity during the dry season and waterlogging during the rainy season. The waterlogging problem in Pekik Jamal is severer than that in Pengasih. To overcome the waterlogging problem, farmers make use of the surjan system. In the field with surjan, a part of the land is higher than the other part. Rice, which is more resistant to waterlogging, is grown in the lower part while vegetables or upland crops are grown in the upper part.  In Klambu Kiri and Glapan, there is no problem of salinity. Waterlogging is found in a few parts of the systems. Some farmers also use the surjan system, but the intensity is lower than that of the Pekik Jamal and Pengasih schemes. Basically, groundwater in the selected systems comes from shallow aquifer or unconfined aquifer.The depth varies from place to place as shown in the table 6.4. From the rainy season to the dry season, the change in groundwater depth can be considered negligible. Groundwater is utilized for agriculture in Pekik Jamal as well as in the tail of Pengasih and Glapan. In Kalibawang and Klambu Kiri, no groundwater is used. Groundwater is drawn for domestic use. In the Krogowanan system, no wells are needed to abstract groundwater because springs already provide abundant water. Also surface water is available from the Pabelan river.Infrastructure directly affects the distribution and allocation of water in an irrigation system. Infrastructural indicators show density of infrastructure in a system. Additional indicators on condition and function of infrastructure are added. The infrastructural indicators of selected irrigation systems are presented in table 3.6.5. Among the selected systems, Klambu Kiri has the densest infrastructure as well as control structures. This allows a better performance of water supply, especially in relation to head-tail equity. The Kalibawang scheme has the densest infrastructural and control structures in the system. In addition, its infrastructural condition and function are generally better than those of other scheme. The Kalibawang scheme is located at the head of the Kalibawang system and it affects other schemes in the system. It has more control structures to regulate discharges to other schemes and within the scheme.The impact of irrigation system performance on poverty is indirect. Considering irrigation as a nested system, irrigation provides water as an input to agriculture, which then produces output in the form of crop production, generating incomes for farm households. Klambu Kiri is characterized by inadequacy of water, and low cropping intensity. Although Klambu Kiri is supplied by the Kedung Ombo reservoir, its water supply fluctuates widely. This may be because of the high sedimentation along its canal. Due to uncertain water supplies and the soil condition, choice of crops is limited. Rice is a dominant crop in RS and DS 1 while mungbean is dominant in DS 2. Soybean, onion, and chili are cultivated in a few drainage areas.IMT has not been implemented in the Klambu Kiri system. Therefore, the government in one respect is still responsible for the management of the main network. Farmers are only responsible for the management of their tertiary blocks. However, they have limited understanding of how a system as a whole works. Farmers at the head reach take water more than the planned without considering the needs of downstream farmers. Some of them divert water directly from the primary canal by using pumps. Consequently, inequity occurs between head and tail areas as well as between farmers who have and have no access to pumping technology.In the Glapan system, water is relatively inadequate and there is a problem of sedimentation. The cropping pattern is limited to rice in the rainy season and mungbean in the dry season. Mungbean is the most tolerant crop to the soil and water conditions in the system. In this system, the management consists of three levels, i.e., the central government at primary level, regency government at secondary level, and WUA at tertiary level. This contributes to inequity in water distribution so that the tail area receives less water. However, productivity of rice is higher at the tail end.Krogowanan is blessed with abundant water availability. Also, the system has much better markets for agricultural products. Therefore, farmers diversify their crops based on market demand. Due to abundant water availability, farmers pay less attention to the O&M of the system although the system has been transferred from the government to farmers. The overall efficiency is low and routine maintenance is absent. However, farmers are generally willing to contribute to the system rehabilitation whenever necessary.IMT has also been implemented in the Kalibawang system. WUA manages the system properly and water is adequate in the system. Crop diversification is also practiced in Pengasih and Pekik Jamal schemes as well as in some parts of the Papah scheme in order to reduce the uncertainty due to crop failure. Supported by good infrastructural condition and good institutions, productivity in the system is fairly high.Water is an important factor in agricultural production but it is not the only one. Agricultural production is influenced by many factors. Therefore, the impact of irrigation performance on production depends on the interaction among water and other factors.Discussions on productivity indicators suggest that, in the case of rice, higher water availability does not always lead to higher production in a particular system. Because of very varied planting patterns, it is difficult to compare productivity across systems in terms of their weight. Table 3.6.6 provides the values of water availability in term of Relative Irrigation Supply (RIS) and Relative Water Supply (RWS), total food crop value, and income per capita for the selected systems. Water availability is one of the factors affecting agriculture production. Table 6.6 shows that the Klambu Kiri and Glapan systems have less water availability and produce less value of crops in comparison with other systems. However, in the system with adequate water, other factors become the driving force. One of them is the soil condition. The Kalibawang scheme and the Krogowanan system have such similar physical conditions as hilly topography and abundant water availability. Rice productivity of the Kalibawang system is higher than that of the Krogowanan system. On the other hand, the value of food crop production in the Kalibawang system is lower than that of the Krogowanan system. The soil condition in the two systems is considered as the influencing factors. The soil of the Krogowanan system was formed from young volcanic materials, which is porous and rich of minerals needed by crops. On the other hand, soil in the Kalibawang scheme was formed from old volcanic materials, which is less porous and has a poor mineral content. As a result, the Kalibawang scheme is more suitable for rice because its less porosity can conserve more water in the pounding system of irrigation of the rice field. In the Krogowanan system, the mineral content and good internal drainage make its soil suitable for vegetables and upland crops so the cropping pattern is more diverse. This, in turn, produces more value of food crops. In addition, better market prospects give more support to the agricultural production of the Krogowanan system.In a system with similar soil and water conditions, other factors may determine the value of food crop production. Within the Kalibawang system, where water availability among schemes is similar, crop diversification becomes the influencing factors. The Kalibawang scheme produces less value of food crops while the Pengasih and Pekik Jamal schemes have more diverse cropping patterns and grow such high-value crops as chili. Although the Pekik Jamal scheme has the lowest rice productivity, it produces more value of food crops during a year. To overcome problems of flood as the scheme is located at the tail end of the Kalibawang system as well as to conserve water, farmers in the Pekik Jamal scheme and some parts of Pengasih scheme apply the surjan system. It consists of the higher part of the land called the tabukan and the lower part called the ledokan. In the ledokan, rice is grown during the rainy season while in the tabukan various upland crops and vegetables are grown in strip cropping and transplanted at different planting dates. This ensures continuity of farmers' income and reduces the risk due to the failure of a certain crop.Food crop production is one of the sources of family income. However, as shown in table 3.6.6, the relationship between the value of food crop and income per capita is not always straightforward. In the Kalibawang system, values of the food crop in Pengasih and Pekik Jamal schemes are higher than those of the Kalibawang scheme. Despite this, the Pekik Jamal scheme has the lowest income per capita while the Pengasih scheme has the highest. Although in the Klambu Kiri system, income from food crops is higher than that of the Glapan system, income per capita in the two systems is similar. This is because total income is composed of income from non-crop farm sources, and nonfarm sources.In the Pekik Jamal scheme where the food crop value is high, farmers have to spend more time to take care of their high-value crops so they have less time to take up nonfarm jobs. On the other hand, farmers in the Kalibawang scheme grow more rice, which need less attention. Therefore, they have more time available to go for nonfarm jobs. Besides the nonfarm job opportunity, there are such factors to consider as income earned from livestock and animal husbandry and the market system, which influence the price of agricultural products and other source of income.Following are some of the major constraints to improving systems performance: Because irrigation is one of the factors that influences productivity and farmers' welfare, improvement of irrigation system performance is one way to achieve it. Currently, the process to enhance the irrigation system performance deals with such constraint as:The local government has limited ability to identify the local conditions and to implement its decision. Long-time experiences as the national program executor restricted the development of an initiative for local government officials. Likewise farmers who previously acted as the netrecipient of the government program became apathetic in managing their irrigation system. In addition, farmers, who used to manage tertiary blocks, have a limited knowledge about the whole irrigation system. Consequently, they find difficulties in managing secondary or higher levels.The sociocultural diversity in each region has not been fully recognized. This is important to improve performance of the irrigation system because the best O&M of the irrigation system is the one that is compatible with the local conditions.Nowadays, appropriate database and information related to water resources is unavailable. Additionally, the condition of measuring devices is poor, and data collection and analysis are not standardized. Therefore, it is difficult to continuously monitor the irrigation system performance and provide accurate information for the O&M planning.The management functions are under-performed as indicated by weak coordination among related parties in water-resources development and management. Since the performance of the irrigation system depends on interactions among many factors and actors, unqualified management functions result in poor performance of the irrigation system.The research result suggests that crop diversification provides more income to farmers. However, the existing irrigation systems were designed to support rice self-sufficiency.While there are several constraints, there are also opportunities for improving system performance. These include:Local autonomy as stated in Law No. 22/1999 gives flexibility to accommodate local potential, which varies from place to place. By the local autonomy, the local government may be able to develop a management system suitable to its region.The irrigation management policy reform, stated in GR No. 77/2001, has an objective to improve farmers' welfare. The policy provides a legal basis for better irrigation management to improve irrigation system performance and farmers' welfare.The natural condition in Indonesia is favorable for agriculture. Located along the equatorial line with sunshine throughout the year, abundant rainfall and volcanic soil there are many opportunities to improve irrigation system performance.Agriculture has been a tradition since centuries in Indonesia. Many indigenous techniques related to cultivation have been developed. For example, pranata mangsa is a Javanese method to determine time for cultivation based on the position of the sun and climate, and it is proven accurate in Java and Bali. It is necessary to improve this type of knowledge to develop the most appropriate action to improve irrigation system performance.Considering the constraints and opportunities, some strategies can be suggested to improve irrigation system performance so that it is advantageous to poor farmers:The existing irrigation systems were designed to support rice self-sufficiency. In addition, their management system was developed to support a uniform planting pattern with rice as the dominant crop. Studies on productivity performance show that crop diversification generates more incomes for farmers. Therefore, the design and management of the irrigation system should be modified to support crop diversification and eventually provide more benefit to farmers. This requires comprehensive research to discover the most appropriate irrigation system design and management.Before the implementation of the irrigation management policy reform, the water-management procedure applied in Indonesia is the O&M-form system. After IMT has been implemented, O&M is conducted based on local conditions of each system including the capability of the WUA. Therefore, each system needs an O&M manual that is developed by WUA members in a participatory way. This participatory O&M manual is expected to produce better performance than the previous nationally uniform O&M system.Capacity building for local government officials is important because, with policy reforms, they have different roles and face different challenges. Training need assessment is important to develop the most suitable program of capacity building.Similarly, farmers in WUAs, who become the managers of their own irrigation systems, need capacity building as well. The training needs assessment should cover all aspects related to irrigation, agriculture, organization and management.The condition of the irrigation system network affects water delivery performance. The asset management plan provides farmers and the government with a tool of maintenance of irrigation structures and determines contributions in irrigation system maintenance.The development of agribusiness in the irrigation system to improve farmers' welfare requires an information system. The information system includes information about climate, real-time water availability, markets and so on. 123The succession of Orba (New Order) has resulted in the change of status in irrigation management organization. Normatively, such a status change is inherent with the differences between GR (government regulation) or PP (peraturan pemerintah) No. 23/ 1982 andGR No. 77/ 2001. The differences between these two government regulations are basically the reflection of different paradigms of Orba and the new regime. The Orba regime is characterized by centralization and tends to put the government interest as its main priority, while the new regime is characterized by decentralization and puts people's interest as its main priority. Therefore, there is a change in the organization of irrigation management from the one which is dominated by the government (monocentricity) to the one that is oriented to the people's interest (polycentricity).At system level, irrigation was originally managed by peasants, called \"farmer-managed irrigation system.\" This kind of organization of irrigation management has its formal status since it is attached to the structure of rural government. During the Orba era, the government dominated the organization of irrigation management by implementing joint management in which the government managed the primary and secondary levels while the peasants (i.e., WUA) managed water at the tertiary level.Presently, in line with the new paradigm of the recent government, the management of irrigation is being gradually transferred to WUAs. However, there are several problems emerging during the transition period, including those related institutional arrangements at the system level. One of the problems relates to the exercise of authority by WUAs as stipulated in GR 77/2001. Field research shows that some WUAs still operate under power structures of village officials/government. Comparison of functions of WUAs in Kulonprogo with those in Klambu Kiri and Glapan illustrates the case.In the Kulonprogo region, there is a single WUA in a tertiary block. It is located in one village, but it is not under the domain of village government. The WUA has its own domain based on hydrological territory. Irrigation management is done based on WUA authority and statute/regulation under the agreement of members at the meeting. In Klambu Kiri and Glapan, the organization of WUA is more complex. A WUA consists of several subunits of WUA located in different villages. The establishment of a WUA was based on SK (Letter of Decision) of Regent of the Orba era. This background has led the village officials to interfere with the irrigation management. Irrigation management is conducted based on the coordination among subunits of WUA under the intervention of village officials. In this situation, a WUA cannot exercise its authority as stipulated by GR No. 77/2001.According to GR No. 77/2001, a WUA is established on the principle of one system, one management, based on local conditions. Normatively, a WUA has its own authority, and it is autonomous and self-supporting. A WUA represents farmers and provides a forum for them. The procedures and related rules of WUA establishment are regulated by Kepmendagri (Decision of Minister of Home Affairs) No. 50/2001. In principle, a WUA is established from, by, and for farmers democratically, for either the staffs or members who come from among farmers/water users. There are some differences in procedures for establishment of a WUA (P3A) and a WUAF (GP3A). The procedure for a WUA establishment can be described as follows:1. Farmers /water users organize themselves to come up with the agreement to form a WUA and WUA's staffing, and then draft the design of statute/regulations (AD/ART). 2. WUA establishment, WUA staffing, WUA statute/regulations are decided in the member meeting and reported by staff/head of WUA to Regent/Mayor. 3. WUA registers statute/regulations to the Courts or notary to obtain the status as a corporate body. 4. In case the establishment of WUA is not democratic, the regional government facilitates the farmers to develop an agreement in line with their request in the context of improving the institutional establishment of the WUA. 5. In case the institutional establishment is not agreed upon, the regional government facilitates the farmers to achieve a second agreement in line with the request in the context of improving the institutional establishment of the WUA.The establishment of a WUA Federation can be described as follows:1. Some WUAs located in an irrigation area or at WUAF/primary level organize themselves to come up with an agreement of WUAF establishment, staffing of WUAF, and then draft the design of statute/regulations of WUAF. 2. The establishment of a WUAF, staffing of WUAF, and statute/regulations are decided in member meeting and reported by staff/head of WUAF to Regent/ Mayor. 3. Regarding the IMT, the WUAF has to register statutes/regulations of WUAF to the Courts or notary to get the status as a corporate body.According to Kepmen Kimpraswil (Decision of Minister of Settlement and Infrastructure) No. 529/KPTS/M/2001 on Directive for IMT to WUA can be described as follows:1. The establishment of WUAs/WUAF is an effort by farmers, democratically, as an institutional instrument of a WUA/some WUAs that utilize irrigation facilities, in agreement to cooperate with management at one irrigation area or at the secondary or primary level. 2. Activities at secondary level (WUAs): WUAs are established democratically. After the establishment of WUAs at each tertiary block of an irrigation system, the established WUAs evaluate problems facing each WUA which are discussed at the secondary network of management. Due to the common interest of WUAs at head, middle, and tail areas, WUAs that will manage the network and solve problems of irrigation management at secondary level need to be established. 3. Activities at the irrigation system level (WUAF): WUAFs are established democratically.After the establishment of WUAF at each secondary level or each part of an irrigation system, WUAF evaluates problems at each WUA, which are discussed at the management level. In medium irrigation systems with a few WUAs, those WUAs establish a WUAF. Especially for small-scale irrigation systems that consist of one WUA, that WUA automatically functions as WUAF.Based Based on the principle of one system, one management of irrigation, the IMT covers O&M, security, rehabilitation and upgrading for an irrigation system. Regarding the development of the network, the WUA has authority in developing a tertiary irrigation network and also developing an irrigation network for expansion of the irrigated area in its operational territory. In relation to O&M, the WUA has authority on O&M in its operational territory.According to article 13 of Kepmendagri (Decision of Minister of Home Affairs) No. 50/2001, the authority of an FO from the tertiary up to the WUAF covers the following: • To set up planning and consensus on irrigation management in line with services as needed by WUA, WUAs, and WUAF at operational area under their responsibility.• To perform the irrigation management at operational area under their responsibility, including the integrated management of groundwater and surface water.• To accomplish monitoring and evaluation of activities of irrigation management in operational territory under their responsibility.• To manage funds for irrigation management for sustainability of irrigation systems.After the launching of Irrigation Management Policy Reform in 1999, the government gradually transferred the management of some irrigation systems to WUAs. In its realization, the transfer is dependent upon the readiness of a WUA to manage irrigation in line with the new system of irrigation management. This results in differences in management in the selected systems. Among six schemes in the Kalibawang system, Papah and Pengasih scheme were transferred in 1999 while the others were transferred in 2002. In Papah and Pengasih schemes, the WUAF manages the secondary level starting from the main diversion structure while government officials manage the main intake. In the Kalibawang scheme, two WUAFs shared the management of the Kalibawang primary canal. In Pekik Jamal, the WUAF manages the system from the main intake to the primary-and secondary-canal levels. The Krogowanan system was transferred in 1999. Currently, the WUAF of the Krogowanan system manages the system up to the primary canal. However, government officials are still responsible for managing water diversion from the main intake in the Pabelan river.Prior to the launching of policy reform in the country, GR No. 23/1982 was the legal basis to conduct O&M of an irrigation system. The O&M procedure was applied at the farmer level to the province level. The O&M procedure was standardized into the O&M-form system, which consists of 16 O-form for operational procedure and 18 P-form for the maintenance procedure. Basically, the operational procedure consists of three main activities, namely, determination of planting pattern, water distribution and monitoring. The maintenance procedure consists of activities of physical maintenance, recordkeeping, planning as well as implementation and monitoring.The O-form procedure, as shown in figure 3.7.1, consists of three stages, i.e., determination of global crop planting area, determination of irrigation service discharge, and monitoring and data gathering. The O-form procedure starts with the determination of the cropping pattern by WUA (O-01 form). The input from WUA is then submitted to the water master (O-02 form) and then to the higher-level officers (O-03 form and O-04 form) to determine a global planting pattern. The global planting pattern becomes a basic tool to determine cropping pattern allowed in the area. In the implementation procedure, the actual planting area of each crop (O-04 and O-05 forms) is used to calculate the irrigation water requirement. The K-factor or ratio between actual river discharge and irrigation water requirement shows whether river discharge (O-06 form) is adequate to fulfill the irrigation requirement. In case K-factor equals unity or more, water is allocated to tertiary blocks according to the irrigation requirement. If K-factor is less than 1, water is allocated as big as the K-proportion to the irrigation requirement. The determination of the K-factor requires river discharge data (O-08). Monitoring activities consist of collection of rainfall data (O-11 and O-12), discharge data (O-10 and O-13) and actual cropping area (O-15 and O-16).The maintenance procedure using the P-form, as shown in figure 3.7.2, consists of incidental maintenance, routine maintenance and heavy maintenance. Incidental maintenance takes place when a structure in irrigation systems is destroyed due to natural disaster or human error, which may be dangerous. The reports on incidental maintenance (O3-P form) go directly from system level to provincial level as an emergency report. The deteriorated structure, which is not considered to be repaired in an emergency, is reported from the water master (01-P form) to higher level (02-P form).The routine maintenance, with such activities as lubrication of gates and canal cleaning, follows the procedure of planning and implementation by irrigation section at district level to provincial level (04-P form). The routine maintenance is implemented by the labor of the irrigation section at the district level.The heavy maintenance consists of two types of works, namely self-managed and contracted work. Officials of the irrigation section at the district level conduct the self-managed works. The plan (07-P form) is formulated in the irrigation section and reported to the provincial level. The implementation (11-P form) is reported from the irrigation section to provincial level (12-P form). A private contractor conducts the contracted works planned in the irrigation section at district level (08-P form) and reports from the irrigation section to the provincial level (10-P form). In case of water allocation procedures, the two systems still use the O&M-form system. From the management point of view, the O&M-form system is an accurate and efficient system. However, it requires a) availability of hydraulically accurate measuring devices and b) supporting data and information on water availability.In O-form procedures, farmers only participate in the determination of the cropping pattern by providing information on their crops and planting area for the next planting year. On the contrary, government officials conduct other activities including determination of the amount of water delivered to tertiary offtakes. As the local government is responsible for water allocation at primary and secondary levels and farmers are responsible for water distribution at the tertiary level only, the system does not ensure transparency and accountability in implementation.In addition, the O&M-form system is incapable of responding to economic changes. The system was developed with the assumption of a uniform planting pattern to support the rice selfsufficiency program. As a consequence, the system became rigid and cannot support a flexible planting pattern driven by market, water availability and other related factors. Farmers need a participatory O&M, which is flexible and more suitable for local conditions.In case of an O&M system, the Klambu Kiri and Glapan still use an O&M-form system. Because of the difficulty in fulfilling the requirement of the O&M-form system, implementation of the operational system in Klambu Kiri and Glapan works inappropriately, especially in the second and third planting seasons when water availability is very limited. Besides the limited water availability, inappropriateness also occurs because of other factors. First, the provincial government, the district government and farmers show no coordination in ensuring transparency and accountability in irrigation water management. Second, the rate of sedimentation is high, reducing canal capacity. Third, the process of rearrangement of the authority structure at the district level works unfavorably. In accordance with the policy on Regional Autonomy, the district government has authority to set up its government district offices. In Grobogan, water management has become the responsibility of the District Office of the water resource, structure and sanitary, while in Demak it became the responsibility of the District Office of Public Works. The new government officials do not have the required experience and educational background in irrigation management.The situation is different in the Kalibawang and Krogowanan systems where IMT has been implemented. The Kalibawang and Krogowanan system do not use the O&M-form system anymore. The government official allocates water among schemes and secondary canals, WUAF distributes water among tertiary blocks and WUA distributes water within tertiary blocks. The method of water allocation is discussed at the system level or secondary level before the first planting season.In Krogowanan, water is abundant so that water allocation and distribution are not problems for the WUAF. They pay less attention to the procedures and provide no written O&M procedure. In the Kalibawang system, the WUA with assistance from the Government of Kulonprogo and the Gadjah Mada University developed a written participatory O&M procedure for every scheme. The procedure consists of planting the pattern plan, and water distribution and maintenance procedures. The planting pattern is decided at the beginning of every planting season. An example of the participatory O&M procedure is shown in figure 3.7.3 Finally, the maintenance of the Kalibawang scheme is scheduled through discussions among WUAs from all schemes in the Kalibawang system. Maintenance of other schemes is scheduled in accordance with the maintenance schedule of the Kalibawang scheme. Generally, farmers emphasize on equity on the period of discharge rather than on equity on the volume of water. Therefore, farmers let all tertiary offtake gates open and allow water to flow to all tertiary blocks. If a tertiary block receives adequate water, its gate should be closed to allow more water flowing to other blocks. According to Kepmendagri (Decision of the Minister of Home Affairs) No. 50/2001, the character of the work relation among WUA, WUAs and WUAF is cooperative, coordinative and consultative and, furthermore, regulated in each statute/regulations according to its operational territory. The WUA, WUAs and WUAF are able to carry out mutual work with regional government agency, institution/body or other parties for equity and mutual benefit. According to GR No. 77/2001, the WUA can have relations and links with other organizations such as cooperatives, small enterprises, etc. According to Kepmen Kimpraswil 529/2001, the WUA, WUAs and WUAF have rights to invite other parties to cooperate with, including their province or regency area.Compared to the performance of the new system of irrigation management at meso level, the performance at system level provides more information about how far the new system of irrigation management has worked. It can be stated that the performance at the system level is representing the actual performance of the new system of irrigation management. This is because, operationally, the new system of irrigation management is handled by, and under the responsibility of, the WUA. However, WUAs still face many problems and handicaps. Based on the primary data provided by field-research as shown in table 6.1, some aspects of the performance of WUA can be described as follows:• Most of the respondents in four selected irrigation systems stated that the establishment of WUA was by agreement in the meeting (musyawarah). It seems that this information will bring us to the conclusion that the existence of WUA is agreed to by farmers/water users. In other words, it seems that the existence of WUA has been well socialized among the farmers/water users.• On the other side, the data have also shown the majority of respondents to have stated the idea of the establishment of a WUA as coming up from village officials. In interpreting these information/data, some characteristics of rural people/farmers should be taken into account in the analysis, e.g. a) in general, village officials in Java tend to be intimated with dominant and deterministic characters, b) rural people/farmers on the other side tend to be passive (the silent mass). The passiveness of the farmers is reflected from the fact that a) the majority of members of WUA do not know or do not have any knowledge about statute/regulations (AD/ART) of the WUA, besides the fact that they were not involved in the process of its establishment, b) there are some members (in significant numbers) who do not know or do not have any knowledge about the fact that the WUA is having regulations to deal with. From these observations, it can be concluded that although the establishment of the WUA was the product of agreement, village officials were actively playing the role during the process of its establishment. It means that the establishment of the WUA is not well socialized and institutionalized as yet.• Available information suggests that a) many respondents knew that the WUA was registered formally as an organization in their territory, b) many respondents also knew that the statute/regulations of the WUA were ratified by the Regent of the region. It means that the farmers organized in the WUA are aware of the fact that the WUA is a part of the governmental structure of power to which the people/farmers have to submit. It means that from the other side of viewing the institutional process the WUA is not coming from the people/farmers/water users.• The institutional process of WUA through socialization among its members has also not worked yet. This conclusion is based on the data which show that a) meeting among members of the WUA is rarely held, mostly just once in a season, b) the presence of members in the meeting, either at the block level, plot level or WUA level is, in general, rare.• The dominant groups of farmers that take care of ISF are the sharecroppers as compared to the owner farmers. It means that a) the poor get a heavier burden than the richer farmers (with the assumption that the owner farmer is richer than the sharecropper), b) the regular amount of ISF tends to be unstable compared to the situation in which the ISF is under the responsibility of the owner farmers.• During the dry season, the farmers in all irrigation systems are under study but in the tail part of the Glapan experience there are no major problem of irrigation. It means that a) the system of irrigation management of those areas, including water distribution, has been running well, or b) all selected irrigation systems, in essence, have no problem with irrigation but in Glapan. If the second conclusion holds, it means that the existence of the WUA is not important for farmers' livelihoods.• Available information also suggests that KPL (official who is doing guidance and counseling in irrigation matters) plays an active role. However, how far is the effectiveness of what had been done by the KPL in increasing the performance of the WUA is still in question. The results of observations through the PRA method and field visits have indicated some problems in the performance of the new system of irrigation management (table 3.7.1.). Some of the identified problems are given below.• The four selected irrigation systems showed the following tendencies: a) there are clashes of interests among various departments dealing with irrigation (Agricultural Department, Settlement Department and Regional Department); b) irrigation management at the system level is potentially centralistic; c) politicizing and bureaucratizing on farmers'/social organizations; d) the mechanism of giving authority to farmers as in law No. 22/1999 is not enclosed. Instead, the authority is biased towards village officials (village head and BPD-board of village representative).• Some WUA had not been established through a process as ought to be. Instead, it was still established through a top-down approach. As an example, in the Krogowanan and Papah, the WUA was established just to enable socialization activities of IMT.• In the Klambu Kiri and Glapan systems, irrigation management transfer has not been implemented as yet. Therefore, the two systems still keep the joint management where WUA manages tertiary levels and the government manages the rest of it. Preparation for the transfer is still in the process of establishment of WUAF, which is prepared to manage secondary and primary levels. For better understanding, it should be noted that during the period of recent government, as stipulated in GR No. 25/2000, there are three levels of irrigation management, i.e. the province, regency and system level. In the context of regional autonomy the province and the regency are often seen as one unit, i.e., the regional government. In fact, those two levels of regional governments are having their own authorities in the irrigation sector.• The results of the Participatory Approach Study in Klambu Kiri and Glapan have uncovered the fact that the process of the WUA establishment in those irrigation systems was done by village officials in cooperation with the Department of Irrigation without prior socialization among its members. As shown in table 3.7.2, the IMT has not been implemented in Klambu Kiri and Glapan systems, while in the Kalibawang and Krogowanan systems the IMT has been implemented. However, in fact, the IMT is not the main factor that split those two irrigation areas into extremely dichotomical types of irrigation management that is relevant to poverty alleviation. In relation to the poverty problem, the Krogowanan system has different characteristics compared with the Kalibawang system. In general, long before the implementation of IMT, farmers in Krogowanan had access to a good market for their agricultural products. On the whole, it is still too early to judge whether the IMT implementation will or will not have impacts in terms of increasing farmers' prosperity. Some differences across systems in relation to IMT include:• As compared to Krogowanan and Kalibawang, Klambu Kiri and Glapan are still much under intervention of village officials. • The program of enforcement of irrigation management in Krogowanan and Kalibawang systems has been performed well compared to those in Klambu Kiri and Glapan systems.• The organization rules of WUA in Krogowanan and Kalibawang have been working, while this is not the case in the Klambu Kiri and Glapan systems.According to Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy, there are two levels of regional government, i.e., the province and regency/city level. Each of them has its own authority in the irrigation sector as stipulated in GR No 25/2000. Hierarchically, the province is to be the first while the regency is the second level of the regional government.Formerly, under the Orba regime, the regional government had no autonomous status as in the new era. In the new era, Law No. 22/ 1999, gives a broad autonomous status to the regional government to manage almost all affairs except for religion, external affairs, politics, monetary and fiscal, defense and security and justice. However, it does not mean that the regional government with such a broader autonomous status has a dominant role than it had during the Orba era. In fact, the role of the regional government is even less dominant than it had during the Orba era.According to the transitional decree of GR No 77/2001, the irrigation management, including its organizational aspect, which was based on GR No. 23/1982 has to be adjusted to GR No. 77/2001 during one year. In fact, this is not always the case. In the Grobogan regency, the organizational structure of the Department of Irrigation has not changed yet. It still keeps the old structure (of the Orba era) as follows: Subdepartment section of technical planning and program, information and permission, rural irrigation, maintenance operation, rehabilitation and development.The province/regency level has its own procedures for the establishment of institutions. According to Regional Regulation of Central Java No. 1/ 2002, the procedures and its related steps can be described as follows:1. The establishment of an action unit of departmental and nondepartmental government institutions, and working units that will be transferred to province, is regulated further by Regional Regulation. 2. In case this Regional Regulation is effectively prevailing, then, all regulations that are not in line with this regulation will be drawn and stated as no more valid. 3. Matters that have not been regulated yet by this Regional Regulation, as long as dealing with its implementation, will be regulated further by the Governor. This Regional Regulation can be reviewed at the latest after 2 years since its enactment.At the regency level, there is an irrigation commission responsible for assisting the Regent/Mayor for increasing the performance of irrigation management. The irrigation commission consists of representation of government authority that is in charge of irrigation activity, representation of WUA, NGO, University and others concerned with irrigation matters. There are some authorities that are given to the government of regency, such as: offering assistance and facilitation of O&M of irrigation system under WUA management, financing the development of the main irrigation network, and offering assistance and facilitation in network rehabilitation and upgrading.Working relations with the regional government agency to improve organizational aspects, agriculture, irrigation and enterpreneurship are realized in agreement of irrigation management.The performance of new system of irrigation management at the meso level can be seen at two levels, i.e., the province and regency. It seems not to show a remarkable contribution to the progress or development of the new system of irrigation management. One factors that is responsible for such a tendency is the decreasing authority of the regional government in irrigation management. During the Orba era, based on Inpres (Presidential Instruction) No. 2/1984, the regional government (province and regency) had monitoring functions for WUA performance. Under the authoritarian character of the Orba regime, the regional government still has strong grips in controlling and managing irrigation management from meso (province and regency) level down to the system level. Recently, the regional government, mainly at provincial level, has no more such a strong grip to control the system of irrigation management. In line with the principle of empowering people (c.q. farmers) as in GR No. 77/2001, the authority to manage irrigation is now in the hand of farmers represented through WUAs.The defective performance of the new system of irrigation management at meso level has also resulted from the existence of \"sectoral ego\" that tends to blockade cooperation among sectors horizontally. In this context, the sectoral ego is meant as egocentrism and/or fanatism of several sectors/departments such as agriculture, public works, government (local and regional), etc.As described in some parts of this report, the succession of the regime from Orba (New Regime) is not an ordinary change. It has brought a new paradigm into existence. In the form of regulations, the new paradigm is reflected in Inpres (Instruction of President) No. 3/1999, GR No. 77/2001, Kepmen Kimpraswil (Decision of Minister of Settlement and Infrastructure of Territory) No. 529/2001 and Kepmendagri (Decision of Minister of Home Affairs) No. 50/2001. In the form of policy, one of the fundamental changes as a consequence of the new paradigm is the transfer of irrigation management from government-dominated type of management (monocentricity) to a type of management under farmers/water users (polycentricity).All regulations/laws and policies for irrigation management do not promptly change the condition of former irrigation management to be one that is in line with the new paradigm. Along with its performance, many problems and constraints have to be faced at macro, meso, or system (micro) levels.At macro level, the case can be shown through the implementation of Inpres No. 3/1999. This Inpres consisting of five policies has not been finalized as yet with its rules of implementation. The implementation rule of the last two policies (policy IV and V) has not been done yet. Another examples of such performance problems as revealed by Arif (2002) 60 are: a) not all involved sides/parties are willing to accept GR No. 77/2001 as a basis for new irrigation management; b) acceptance is mainly for coordinative and polycentric character of GR No. 77/2001; c) many among the stakeholders have only a limited understanding of GR No. 77/200. Such an understanding is a necessity for all sides/parties to be involved proportionally in the new irrigation management. Another problem related to the performance of new irrigation management at macro level is related to bureaucracy in Indonesia. In general, the existing bureaucratic system and its apparatus in Indonesia are not ready to adjust themselves to the new paradigm with their regulations/laws on irrigation management.Before the reformation era, irrigation financing in Indonesia was under the government's responsibility. As stipulated in GR No. 23/1982, the responsibility of the local government covered exploitation and maintenance cost of the irrigation network and supporting structure from the intake up to the 50-m long tertiary canal after the offtake. The farmers' responsibility is limited to the tertiary level. This situation leads to farmers' dependence upon the government.Through the government policy on O&M in August 1987, farmers' participation in irrigation financing by enforcing ISF program from the General Directorate of PUOD (Common Government and Regional Autonomy) was initiated. ISF was collected by DIPENDA (Department of Regional Income) through the WUA to deposit it to the treasurer of the region. At that time, the O&M fund allocation used to be obtained through DIPDA (Regional Budget Proposal for a Project), which was proposed every budgeting year and recommended by DPRD (House of Representative at Regional Level). This mechanism was too slow and lacked transparency. Consequently, most of farmers were reluctant to pay ISF.In line with the reform spirit, there was a change in the authority of government for irrigation financing. In accordance with the General Directorate of PUOD's circular letter No. 611/3002/PUOD, September 14 th , 1998, ISF is collected from, by, and for WUA. Such a decision is addressed to empower farmers so that they develop the capacity for irrigation management and find the resources for funding the O&M cost. Furthermore, irrigation financing is regulated in GR No. 77/2001.Article 41 of GR No. 77/2001 on irrigation states that the authority in irrigation financing deals with the development of the main irrigation network and financing of irrigation management, constituted by O&M, rehabilitation and upgrading. In line with the article, the government is in charge of financing the main irrigation network while farmers are responsible for providing funds for irrigation management of their authorized network. Apart from this, the government should provide any assistance for funding of irrigation management as agreed by the government and the WUA.The financial source of the mentioned activities is from revenue and expenditure in the national and regional budget. The WUA sources of irrigation financing management are member development fee, the government aid as well as other sources. The contribution from WUA members may be in the form of routine ISF and development fee or occasional fee and material. Besides, farmers also contribute to the manpower as farmer's participation in irrigation management.The GR, unfortunately, has not coped with the mechanism of contribution of the central government in the irrigation management fund to the regional government. It will be regulated latter. The irrigation management fund, in accordance with GR No. 77/2001, for efficiency and effectiveness, is given out in the form of the regency's irrigation management fund (DPIK). So far, the governmental fund taken from the national revenue and expenditure budget is aided in the form of a provincial irrigation project.If the fund is insufficient, WUA, in tune with regional autonomy, is able to propose fund to irrigation commission. In the proposal, the WUA staff should also enclose needed budget, which is composed by members and KPL based on the result of walk through surveys (Decision of Minister of Home Affair No. 50/2001). Later, the irrigation commission will define priority for fund allocation. The complete mechanism of irrigation financing is shown in figure 3.7.4. Nevertheless, to date, the mechanism of irrigation financing has not been done as shown at figure 3.7.4. It is indicated by the fact that the irrigation commission has not been functional as yet. Of the four selected regencies, policy on IMT has been effectively taking place in Kulonprogo and Magelang. Consequently, the transfer has an effect on the mechanism of irrigation financing according to GR No. 77/2001. Field observations suggest that some farmers in Magelang and Kulonprogo regencies cannot afford the irrigation management fee. So far, WUA has only financed such minor O&M works as sediment dredging, garbage cleaning, grass cutting, leakage fixing and similar other works. Rehabilitation project and heavy network upgrading, for the time being, are handled by the regional government due to farmer's lack of engineering capacity and financial ability. WUAs are unable to handle big projects requiring high technical skills. Considering the WUA's limited capacity, the Kulonprogo and Magelang regencies still provide stimulant donation for irrigation management for financing of irrigation management after it is transferred. Agreement on stimulant donation in Kulonprogo is laid in the agenda of IMT. Item 1, article 9 of the agenda of IMT states that the regional government provides stimulant donation for O&M with a ratio of 1:4. This means that for every unit of ISF collected, the regional government should provide a 4-unit fund. In the Magelang regency, this ratio is 1:1. The realization of stimulant donation in the Kulonprogo and Magelang regencies is shown in table 3.7.3. Research findings show that the amount of farmer's real irrigation expenditure varies from one system to another. The components of real irrigation expenditure are ISF, development fee, and manpower and material. Table 3.7.4 displays farmer's real irrigation expenditure per hectare per annum for each irrigation system studied. The survey shows that farmers of the Kalibawang system in Kulonprogo incur the highest expenditure for irrigation. In the sense of an organization, WUA in this area has been running well so that its mechanism of social control is strongly influential. Organizational activities, such as irrigation fee levying, has been routinely carried out. Real irrigation expenditure covers ISF as much as Rp 15,000/ha/annum, WUA retribution of value of 35,000 61 and incidental retribution of value as much as Rp 60,000 up to Rp 125,000. More than 50 percent of ISF is collected. Table 3.7.5 below shows the collected ISF in the regency from 1994/95 to 2001/02. A participatory financing system has been prevailing in the Kalibawang system for sometime. Farmers in six irrigation schemes contribute to rehabilitation of any deterioration in the Kalibawang primary canal where the damage value is less than Rp 20 million. If the damage value is more than 20 million, farmers will propose a donation to the government. Unfortunately, the participatory system is not popular in other areas.On average, real irrigation expenditure in the Krogowanan system is the lowest in comparison to other systems due to abundant water supplies throughout the year. As a result of abundant water supplies, head-end farmers feel reluctant to pay ISF. Farmers in the middle part incur the highest amount of real irrigation expenditure because they have good human resources and the highest crop income. The ISF share to WUAF is Rp 10,000/ha/year. The development fee of WUA, so far, is temporarily collected to rehabilitate any deterioration in the irrigation network.There is a big difference in real irrigation expenditure between tail end and other reaches in the Klambu Kiri system. The tail farmers pay less irrigation fee compared to those in other parts because they generally receive less water. The household survey in DS II shows over 70 percent of tail farmers to have reported that about 0-24 percent of their field was irrigated while about 57 percent of tail farmers got no water at all.The middle-area farmers of the Glapan system incur the highest real irrigation expenditure compared to those at the head-tail parts. Last year, the middle-area farmers conducted maintenance and rehabilitation activities more frequently, for example leakage reparation, rehabilitation of embankment, rehabilitation of masonry or concrete structure, rehabilitation of supportive structure and gates.It can be concluded from household surveys that farmers have contributed to financing irrigation management in all the selected systems. The average real expenditure on irrigation is reported in table 3.7.4.  112,000 per hectare per annum. 62 Based on figure 3.7.5, farmers' expenditure in the Kalibawang system has exceeded the O&M requirement. In other systems, there existed a gap to be bridged. Therefore, the dialogue between the government and farmers on the allocation of the contribution should be held. The government should consider actual expenditure, as it seems unfair to burden farmers with expenditures that are twice the actual expenditures.Irrigation can be thought of as a process to abstract water from its source, convey it through a canal network, distribute it to fields, apply it to crops, and drain the excess water. The process has 62   Real Irrigation Expenditure its objective: to increase the harvest and to reduce the risk of failure due to climatic uncertainty to fulfill food requirement. To meet the objective, the system can be categorized into three subsystems: a) humans as individuals or institutions, which means organization or rules-in-use; b) management system including the capability to provide funds, and c) technology including hardware, software and information that is important to achieve the system objective.In relation to national reform on irrigation management policy, in the form of GR No. 77/2001 and other related laws, it is necessary to analyze a) whether the laws are pro-poor, and b) how the laws can be implemented in pro-poor ways.As a policy reform, GR No. 77/2001 has a different objective from the previous national policy. Table 2.4 in chapter 2 briefly describes the differences. The previous policy states that the objective of irrigation is to provide an input to an irrigated agricultural system to enhance crop productivity. The current policy, GR No. 77/2001 in article 2, states that the objective of IMPR is:\"To benefit water comprehensively, in an integrated way, and with environment consideration as well as to improve farmers' welfare\".To achieve the goal, principles of irrigation management has shifted to a) farmers as the main actors, b) farmers' necessity as the highest priority, c) management with efficient, effective, polycentric, equity, and sustainable characteristics, d) ultimately to improve farmers' income through farm modernization and diversification. The principles are mentioned in article 4, 5 and 6. The explanation of GR No. 77/2001 states that the principles of irrigation management should be implemented with consideration of the new value in the community, namely, a) consideration to farmers' necessity, b) promotion of crop diversification, c) decentralization, debureaucratization, and devolution, d) democracy, participation and farmers' empowerment, e) accountability and transparency, f) sustainability and consideration on environment and local culture, g) holistic approach, and h) one irrigation system, one management.The new principles of irrigation management imply a shift in thinking of farming community to be democratic, transparent, accountable, open-minded, and appreciative to technology including irrigation technology. In line with the new paradigm expressed in the new principles of irrigation management, irrigation bureaucracy's authority, role, and responsibility have also shifted from a dominant single authority to be a regulator and a facilitator agency.The new principle of irrigation management obviously refers to the Dublin Convention, which is pro-poor. The principle also refers to the good irrigation governance.In line with the laws applied in Indonesia, the study on policy has also been done to analyze GR No. 77/2001 as well as policies of provincial and regency level in selected areas. The provincial and regency policies are drafts of Regional Regulation of Province of Yogyakarta Special Region, Regional Regulation of Kulonprogo Regency No. 17/2002 on irrigation, and Regional Regulation of Magelang Regency No. 7/2002 on irrigation. Regional Regulation of Kulonprogo Regency on irrigation was produced after launching GR No. 77/2001. Regional Regulation of Magelang Regency on irrigation was produced before launching GR No. 77/2001, at the time when IMPR was still in the form of Presidential Instruction No. 3/1999. In addition, two legal products have also been analyzed; they are Ministerial Decree of KIMPRSWIL No. 529/KPTS/M/2001 on method of Irrigation Management Transfer and Ministerial Decree of Home Affairs on the Empowerment of WUAs.In line with the principles of irrigation management, the government is responsible for empowering and facilitating the WUAs (article 13). However, the form of empowerment and facilitation are not regulated in the GR. Article 13 (4) expresses that the autonomous region (regency, municipality or province) should provide a local regulation on the empowerment of WUA.The formulation of a local regulation should consider diversity of indigenous people. However, the WUA empowerment, as a new characteristic of WUA organization, should consider a) independence in organization, economic and financial, b) ability to access information, c) ability to implement technology, and d) ability to sustain in a dynamic strategic environment, which is progressive. During this transition era, it is difficult for the bureaucracy to recognize the diversity of the area. There are limited statements giving emphasis on the diversity of each region. Therefore, the lower-level legal products should emphasize on the diversity as well as the bureaucracy empowerment besides WUA empowerment.System of irrigation management. In GR No. 77/2001, the aspect of irrigation management is stated from article 14 to article 40. Water rights are explained from article 14 to article 16. These articles are interrelated with article 27 on the use of water directly from water source.From the articles, it is clear that the water right, which is a right of a society to utilize water, is weakened by asking permission to utilize water or even permission to allocate water. This is assigned by the government to the owner of water resources and has a powerful authority (article 14, 15 and 27). The Regent/Mayor or the Governor is supposed to issue the permission in consideration of user dialog within river basins based on the policentricity principle.Article 27 regulates the permission on the utilization of water directly from the source as a spring, lake and groundwater. There is a risk that the government or assigned faction may use the article to endorse its power over the local community. It is contradictory to the policentricity principle stated in other articles. Moreover, it is also contradictory to the efforts of the policymaker to put respect to the local culture, be democratic, and be participatory, based on dialog and equality.The operation of the irrigation system, which consists of planning, supply provision and regulation, and application of water to crops, should consider how the articles can be implemented to achieve the objective of irrigation. As stated earlier, the objective is to improve people's welfare, specifically that of farmers, through agricultural business modernization and diversification.A change in the objective means that irrigation management should also shift from protective to productive irrigation system management. Protective irrigation aims to protect failure in agriculture due to climatic deviation, while productive irrigation aims to create a production market as a driving force.A study on the articles discussed on the operation of an irrigation system found that the articles do not relate to the principles of productive irrigation including the implementation of crop diversification. The crop diversification with market orientation requires a flexible irrigation operation. Articles 18 and 19, however, regulate annual planning of water provision and allocation. This is contradictory to the principle of flexible irrigation with market orientation, which requires seasonal planning based on market demand. Annual planning can be determined as a global planting pattern at a regency level. However, the seasonal planning at system level should be regulated to ensure the flexible irrigation management.An important clause stated in article 17 (3) assigns the government and local government to ensure the availability of water. This statement assigns the government to conduct the Integrated Water resource Management (IWRM) in their related area. This clause gives a hinge to the lower-level legal product to conduct sustainable IWRM. In addition, the principle of conjunctive use is introduced in article 18 (4) but it requires a detailed implementation regulation to enable sustainable irrigation management.The subsequent articles on the development of new systems, O&M, rehabilitation and upgrading show the characteristics of democratic irrigation management. Basic regulations on O&M, rehabilitation and upgrading take farmers' needs as priority and place the government and local government as facilitators. Because the principle of irrigation management as well as O&M procedure and mechanism has been transformed, the government facilitation should also be changed. The change is not clearly stated in GR No. 77/2001 so that the lower-level legislation should state the type of facilitation in more detail.Article 26 on drainage discusses only the drainage network at the main system level, in spite of which, drainage at the tertiary level is essential for comprehensive O&M of irrigation system for crop diversification. Therefore, it is necessary to regulate the drainage system at the lower level of irrigation systems.Controlling. Controlling of irrigation management after transfer is regulated from articles 36 to 40. They regulate important items, e.g., inventory of the irrigation system, irrigation management audit and asset management plan. The inventory of the irrigation system should be done before IMT implementation and it contains an agreement between WUA and the government on IMT. This inventory provides basic data for a further irrigation management audit. After the IMT, the inventory should be done annually as monitoring activity as a part of controlling.After the IMT, WUA and the local government have an obligation, as stated in article 37, to conduct irrigation management audit annually. In article 1, an irrigation management audit is defined as activities to assess performance of irrigation systems. The performance consists of aspects of organization, engineering and financing.In relation to the business aspect of irrigation, the decision should consider cost and benefit. However, this consideration is not explicitly stated in GR No. 77/2001 and only implicitly stated in articles on controlling.Financing. In GR No. 77/2001, articles related to irrigation financing are articles 41 and 42. The main contents of these articles are a) the national and local government are responsible for financing of the main irrigation network, a) WUA is responsible for financing of its working area, and c) WUA can propose funding aid through the irrigation commission.The governmental fund for irrigation management is APBN and APBD from national and local governments, respectively. From the local government, APBD is funded through DPIK (regency irrigation management fund). From the national government, APBN goes to the provincial irrigation project. However, the mechanism of each source is not clearly regulated in the GR.To date, there is no certain institution to manage the DPIK. As a consequence, difficulties arise in the allocation of funds. Furthermore, its affects the efficiency and effectiveness of the use of government funds.As stated in GR No. 77/2001, the WUA has authority to manage their systems independently. The main funding sources at farmer level are ISF and government subsidy for funding beyond farmers' capability. The government subsidy does not go directly to farmers. The WUA should make a written proposal to the irrigation commission. The irrigation commission gives recommendation to the regent for allocation of funds. GR No. 77/2001 provides no mechanism and criteria for funding allocation. This should be regulated in the lower-level legal product.Items that are necessary to regulate at the lower-level regulation are a) procedures to propose subsidy for irrigation management under decisions of the Ministry of Finance, b) procedures for government subsidy allocation under decisions of the Regent, c) prioritization in decisions of the irrigation committee, and d) institution of irrigation funding management at the regency level.Sustainability. GR No. 77/2001 regulates the effort to maintain the sustainability of irrigation systems in article nos. 6, 18, 38, 39, 43 and 44. Efforts to sustain irrigation systems are limiting land conversion from agriculture to other uses and sustaining water resources (articles 43). With support from reliable irrigation water and good irrigation infrastructure, sustainability of the irrigation system is maintained to achieve higher farmers' income (articles 6 and 38).The articles contain efforts to maintain irrigation system sustainability in relation to physical and environmental aspects. Sustainability is focused on efforts to increase crop production to improve farmers' income. However, irrigation is transformation of the social engineering system. As a transformation of the social-engineering system, the environmental aspects of the irrigation system consists of physical, social and economic, cultural, financial, and political (Arif 1999(Arif , 2000)). GR No. 77/2001 mentions the relationship among physical, social, cultural, economic and environmental aspects. However, the sustainability of each aspect has not been explained. This requires further regulation from the lower level of legal products.Explanation of the legal aspects of GR No. 77/2001 shows that irrigation policy reform has already accommodated the requirement of irrigation management. However, some points need further explanation and regulation as far as its implementation is concerned as presented in table 3.7.6. Reform in irrigation regulations has not got any support from other sectors. As a unit of complexities, the reform is expected to be able to achieve the goal of national policy. Therefore, there is an urgent need for support of such other regulations as agricultural policy and poverty alleviation policy. So far, each sector has independently defined its own policy without any coordination with others. Hence, achieving the goal as laid down in articles 2 and 6, it is absolutely necessary to run coordination among institutions and national policies.There are a lot of government regulations that have already been set and issued by the Government of Indonesia to solve the problems related to improving the quality of life of the people (i.e., farmers). However, based on a critical analysis of these regulations, it seems that not many of those regulations are sensitive to poverty alleviation, as shown by some indications as follows:One crucial problem the irrigation institutions face is the lack of socialization, dissemination, as well as public consultation of the new regulation on irrigation management (GR No. 77/2001 and related organic regulations/rules). At the system level, many problems arise in irrigation management. The establishment of WUAs is not always a democratic process. It results from a lack of transparency in irrigation management, lack of controlling mechanisms from members, members not participating in the decision-making process, no accountability report from staff to members, and limited financial capability of farmers and the government. The government pays less attention to O&M financing. On the other hand, farmers have a limited capacity due to decrease in landownership, resulting in reduced incomes.Dealing with such constraints, it seems that a long period of time is still needed for the process of socialization and dissemination as well as for public consultation of the new system of irrigation management. A controlling mechanism attached to farmers' criticism during and outside the WUA meetings is needed, besides the presence of agents of change (an NGO, a university, etc.) that creates a supporting atmosphere for the existence of transparency and accountability of irrigation management. Dealing with the limitation of the financial capability, participation of farmers in raising funds should be developed besides the efforts to make the government policy more effective in fund allocation.It is globally understood that the multidimensional crisis in Indonesia was precipitated by the economic crisis, which Indonesia has been experiencing since 1997, following the depreciation of the Thai bath. However, it is also believed that the origin of the crisis was significantly affected by the economic development model adopted by the authoritarian government, which was very fragile and had no strong economic foundation. 1 The reformation movement following the economic crisis has been sociopolitically anticipated by the newly established democratic governments under Habibie, Wahid and Megawati as the third, the fourth and the fifth Presidents, respectively, to review overall national development policies and conduct necessary policy reformation at all levels. The country's irrigation development policy was not an exception. During the last few decades, irrigation development was strongly positioned to support the rice-biased agricultural development for the sake of rice self-sufficiency at an extremely low rice price in favor of consumers. Radical reformation of the national irrigation policy that has been well drafted and socialized through the issuance of several legal documents strongly indicated the need for having more socially sensitive development policies. It seems that such a policy reform is a formal prerequisite; otherwise the agriculture sector would be dampened deeper into its sectoral and structural poverty 2 trap in the next crisis.In anticipating the need for considering and understanding the principle of people-based irrigation development, in a formal Cabinet meeting in October 1999, the Government of Indonesia formally recommended the application of the participative approach at any stage of irrigation development. In addition, the government established a Working Committee to intensively review existing policies for necessary reform in water-resources development policies. For the case of irrigation, the committee was then formalized on April 26, 1999 with the issuance of the Presidential Decree No. 3/1999 on Pembaharuan Kebijakan Pengelolaan Irigasi, PKPI (Irrigation Management Policy Reform-IMPR) covering five strategic components. In 2001, such a policy guideline was then strengthened by the issuance of the Government Regulation (Peraturan Pemerintah) No. 77/2001. 3  Those reform components have been immediately socialized, executed and implemented right after the issuance of the IMPR-1999, to both the district and the provincial governments. Some progress with the implementation of the new pro-welfare irrigation policy package has been well made through that irrigation policy shift in the form of social development covering, among others, empowerment of WUAs and better people participation in irrigation O&M, as well as physical development in the form of the increase in land irrigated acreage and cropping intensity.However, without nullifying the progress of such a policy shift at the ground level, we have to admit that it is too early to expect that total achievement of the pro-poor irrigation development alone could be materialized in a few years. A total development impact is still being awaited through very long processes. Several lessons have simultaneously accompanied such progress by providing meaningful implementation constraints and opportunities to be considered.Without disaggregating into detailed components, i.e., the technical, economic and socioinstitutional components, selective implementation constraints and opportunities are presented in the following sections before being summarized into the agenda for action.Institutionally, in the context of the structural dimension of irrigation management, the change from Orba to the recent regime means the change from the domination of the central power structure over irrigation management to the people's (society's) power structure. However, time dimension of that change did not allow an enough period for the irrigation system at large, covering the technical, economic and socio-institutional dimensions, to well adjust to the prowelfare policy implementation as an emerging model.Such a rapid change and the absence of a transitional period from the old to the new policy system has resulted in: a) the lack of socialization process of the new legislation and policy in the irrigation sector; b) the lack of institutionalization process of the irrigation system, either at macro, meso or system level; c) time lag of the physical and social infrastructure at the system level to adjust themselves to the new policy; d) limited bureaucratic synergy among departments or development sectors which used to work on sectoral approaches in the development for many decades during the Orba regime.In addition to those, based on the fact that irrigation is one among agricultural production factors influencing farmers' welfare, which is strongly dictated by a higher policy system; therefore, the improvement need of irrigation system performance must be generally considered as part of the agricultural development system at the micro, the meso and the macro levels.Among many problems constraining the effectiveness of the new irrigation development policy in attaining welfare improvement of the farmers are the followingsThe primary consequences of having a centralistic irrigation development are the human resources of the local government, which have limited ability to identify the local condition and to initiate their decision. Any person attached to the local government used to function as full implementers of the development program. The previous governance structure had never invited the participation of the local government in the planning and decision-making processes.Likewise, farmers who previously acted as net recipients of any government program at the grass-root level had been very apathetic in managing their irrigation system. In addition, farmers, who used to manage the tertiary block, have a very limited knowledge about the whole irrigation system. As a consequence, necessary measures need to be formulated towards strengthening institutional capacity of both the local government and the farmer institution in the newly defined irrigation management.The centralistic government model formerly adopted by the country has been proven as having very limited accommodation to the locality. There was a tendency for adopting a heterogeneous development program among localities all over the country. The diversity of socioculture in each region has never been taken into consideration in local development. It is not very surprising to find the fact that the majority of irrigation development has limited achievement due to sociocultural constraints.Under the newly reformed irrigation development policy, locality consideration is very well accommodated to improve overall performance of irrigation systems. A people-based O&M of an irrigation system is started to be created by recognizing the local condition and capacity. However, during these early years of IMPR implementation, technical skills need to be improved in accompanying the shift from having very homogeneous development models towards localitybased irrigation-development models.When water-resources management was fully centralized, public awareness on the need for safeguarding field equipments and measuring devices was very poor, while data availability connected with water-resources development is still very poor. Due to this fact, coupled with the fact that information system management in water resources was not being prioritized, appropriate basic data and information related to water-resources management are not standardized and insufficiently available. Consequently, it is difficult to continuously monitor the irrigation system performance and provide accurate information for O&M planning.The former development management in the country was strongly dictated by sectoral development approaches. After several decades of experience in adopting such sectoral approaches, it was found out that water-resource management in Indonesia, which was supposed to be built under integrated management, was proven to be strongly constrained by significant weaknesses in management coordination among sectoral institutions concerned. Since the performance of the irrigation system is a product of interaction among many factors, weak management functions resulted in poor performance of the irrigation system.The irrigation management policy reform (IMPR) has been taking effect since it was formulated in 1999 and strengthened through the issuance of GR No. 77/2001. However, the shift in the paradigm and orientation from the very centralistic nature to the decentralized one without proper preparation has created various responses to that rapid change at all levels.At the grass-root level, the readiness of the overall irrigation system in accommodating such paradigmatic changes needs several measures to smoothen the system in attaining its effectiveness in providing people's welfare, whereas, at the meso level, the readiness of the district government to accelerate local development connected with decentralization and regional autonomy is still a serious problem in understanding any newly shifted development model including IMPR.It is also not very surprising to find that, at the macro level, government consistency and political commitment to the implementation of IMPR and GR No. 77/2001 are still in a serious disarray. Although IMPR has been formally proclaimed as the new irrigation policy guideline through the issuance of GR No. 77/2001, interdepartmental coordination at the national level is poor.Without nullifying the fact that IMPR implementation at the ground has been facing various constraints, strong resistance of the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure against irrigation management transfer to the farmers and district irrigation financing (DPIK), visà-vis the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Development Planning Agency, could be considered as a serious disarray and poor government commitment, as far as IMPR is concerned.The Indonesian irrigation system development has been strongly focused to support the rice selfsufficiency policy for decades. As far as the self-sufficiency objective is concerned, irrigation contribution has been very remarkable. It was characterized by the attainment of the country's self-sufficiency in rice in 1984. However, when the irrigation policy was changed from the ricebased towards the welfare-based policy, such remarkable contribution was found to be the most constraining factor in the welfare perspective. Irrigation infrastructure was not very flexible in accommodating the crop and cropping selection of farmers in reflecting their welfare-based objective of farming through crop diversification.Although it is very well accepted that irrigation is considered as a critical production factor in irrigated agriculture, irrigation is merely one among many agricultural production inputs. Due to this condition, therefore, the effectiveness of any pro-poor irrigation intervention will always be determined by agricultural economic performance. Based on the fact that agriculture and rural sectors of the country have been significantly marginalized in the national economic development of Indonesia, especially by the former regime, socioeconomic performance of irrigation needs to be enhanced.In addition to such agriculture marginalization, it could be noticed that the most crucial limitation of agricultural economic performance is the poor inter-linkage synergy among development sectors connected with agriculture. Under the new-order government, sectoral approaches strongly characterized national development. This resulted in partial development of agriculture which has been very successful in providing food supply without being accompanied by meaningful welfare improvement of the farmers.Agricultural support system still needs to be improved for increasing socio-economic performance of agriculture. Pricing policy, input price, agricultural subsidy, farm credit, village cooperative and extension services, are among support systems which are reported as increasingly poorer from the view of the farmers. Consequently, those significantly resulted in the everdecreasing terms of trade of irrigated agriculture.Only a few research sites performed excellent diversification practices at the farm level, while, more such sites experienced a poor diversification performance. Extremely poor diversification performance could be easily observed in the Glapan and Klambu Kiri systems due to limited availability of irrigation water and land suitability condition. In those sites diversification was practiced poorly and provided poor production performance. It must be realized that the availability of diversification technology is still limited, especially in the areas characterized by seasonal drought.Employment in the country's modern sector has been successfully developed by the state during the former regime. However, industrial bias in economic development of the country has resulted in serious backwardness of rural development. When urban employment was significantly enlarged, there was no alternative source of income in rural areas. Both non-farm and off-farm employment were getting more limited. In turn, agricultural activities could be said as the only source of income in rural areas.Consequently, population increase has made the agriculture sector to become more overburdened. At the same time, the limited availability of rural employment resulted in the decrease in the land-man ratio all over the country, wherein a more significant decrease was shouldered by irrigated area in Java. Fragmentation of landownership due to the inheritance system has resulted in the size of landownership becoming smaller and less-effective in any agricultural development and innovation.Without disregarding other factors determining agricultural productivity, including irrigated water availability, technology adoption, relative position to the source of water, market accessibility, etc., the study found that the size of landownership dominated by those having an average land size of around one-fourth of a hectare was proven to be the most significant variable determining agricultural income and poverty.Besides the constraints accompanying the shift in the irrigation-development paradigm, optimism in attaining a remarkable improvement of irrigation system is guaranteed and supported by several development opportunities recently provided in the country. Major changes precipitated by the change in irrigation management policy reform (IMPR), which was initiated right after the change in the Indonesian governance system after the turning over of the country's leadership to President Habibie in 1998, could be considered as the most significant opportunity for enhancing irrigation development for poverty alleviation.Although many problems were found to be important in constraining the pro-poor policy effectiveness during the early years of implementation, formulation of several legal documents was believed to be a strong development foundation and opportunity for overall system components to adjust in materializing the welfare objective of irrigated-area development.Among many other opportunities, they are:Paradigmatic changes from an extremely centralistic governance to decentralization and regional autonomy, accompanying sociopolitical reformation right after Soeharto stepped down as the second President, was considered by many as the remarkable basis for the country to move into democratized governance accommodating a better role of the private and community-sector participation in development.Moreover, decentralization and regional autonomy, as nationally proclaimed by the country through the issuance of the Law No. 22/1999, allows to accommodate local potential and participation in development. Law No. 22/1999 has provided a greater role and opportunity to local governments to initiate and decide in developing specific management systems suitable to their respective localities.Development decision making and public financing have been brought down to the level of District Government and local stakeholders at large. Though it must be understood that the policy shift effectiveness is still in the form of a \"learning process\" and strongly influenced by public euphoria, development dynamics at the bottom level has been transmitted towards better conditions in favor of the locals.At any condition, since the shift was closely connected with the right of the local people to claim in relation to the country's democratization, it seems less likely that decentralization and regional autonomy will be reshuffled and brought back into recentralized governance. As a sociopolitical choice of the country, they must go on regardless of the fact that early implementation of them was characterized by euphoric power adjustment among district governments and between the district and central governments.As far as irrigation development is concerned, policy packages formulated by the irrigation management policy reform were very remarkable in initiating the necessary foundation for the pro-poor irrigation development. Such a policy package, which was drafted by irrigation management specialists from several universities since 2001, has been getting public legitimacy through intensive public consultations for months before being proclaimed as an acceptably stronger policy measure.That irrigation management policy reform, which was finally strengthened through the formalization of GR No. 77/2001, has a clear objective to improve farmers' welfare. This policy provides a legal basis for better irrigation management, which leads to the performance improvement and farmers' welfare. However, several efforts still need to be done to strengthen the effectiveness of IMPR implementation because there are several groups still resistant against IMPR and GR No. 77/2001.In addition, the future of IMPR and GR No. 77/2001 is expected to be intensified by the forthcoming issuance of the Law on Water Resources which is currently being intensively discussed in the parliament. Otherwise, IMPR and GR No. 77/2001 would never be effective and the irrigation development would be recentralized without any certainty of future development.A serious problem is currently observed in the legal discourse and political movement during the discussion of the legal draft of the law on water resources. Without nullifying the need to review and strengthen GR No. 77/2001, it must be kept in mind that the new values as have been mandated by that regulation have been relevant with the spirit of, among others, bottom-up development, public participation, transparency and decentralized governance as being clearly instructed by Law 22/1999.Based on that reason, supported by the fact that several district governments have started to initiate the issuance of district regulations connected with IMPR, the Indonesian Parliament should take serious consideration on the existence of the real need to effectively protect GR No. 77/2001 as an ongoing public aspiration down there at the grass-root level. Otherwise, irrigation development will be trapped in a more serious disarray.The natural conditions in Indonesia are favorable for agriculture. Situated along the equator with sunshine throughout the year, abundant rainfall and volcanic soil, there are many opportunities to improve irrigation system performance. However, it is important to maintain the sustainability of the natural environment so that it can support human life for a long time.One interesting issue that needs to be raised in connection with the natural capacity to shoulder the responsibility for irrigated agricultural development in Indonesia is closely related with river-basin management. The ever-decreasing capacity of the river-basin system has been raised by many as influenced by the lack in interinstitutional coordination in water resources management. Under an integrated management approach, it could be expected that the natural condition of the basin could be improved to shoulder the responsibility for the nationwide irrigated agricultural development.Agriculture has been practiced as a tradition for centuries in Indonesia. Indigenous knowledge related to cultivation has been developed over time. As an illustration, pranata mangsa, a Javanese method to determine time for cultivation based on the sun position and climate, is proven to be a very accurate cropping management tool for Java and Bali. It is necessary to improve this type of local knowledge to develop the most appropriate action to improve irrigation system performance.In addition, local knowledge and technological capacity directly show the willingness of local people to participate in their local irrigation development. Irrigation management has been part of their life for decades. However, such potential has been marginalized by the government by taking over and monopolizing irrigation development.Based on that fact, therefore, turning over irrigation management to farmers could be considered as a must. It is just giving back the right and responsibility of the farmers. While, the function of the government has to be shifted towards supporting, facilitating and enabling the farmers or farmers' associations in regaining their capacity to manage local resources in their respective villages.Agricultural diversification has been part of the tradition of our tropical farmers since the ancient times in actualizing their survival strategy. The potential has been there at the grass-root level since centuries. However, in facing global movement for agricultural competitiveness, such a potential needs to be strengthened by providing an alternative diversification technology adoptable by the farmers to face the global arena.For Indonesia, diversification technology research and development (R&D) are very important to be promoted because it had minimum progress during the industry-and rice-based national development over the last three decades.Supporting policy measures for irrigated area development have been provided excellently. Socioeconomic infrastructure has been well installed and made effective. This covers, among others, the village unit cooperative, pricing policy, international trade policy, credit distribution in favor of the smallholders, rural banking development and market development. However, their existence is still far from being effective in favor of the poor farmers.The problem of effectiveness has been raised by many as getting more serious. To take a concrete example, pricing policy has been formulated for several agricultural products. However, it has never been very effective in protecting the welfare of the people at the grass-root level. The implementation of such a policy was not being accompanied properly by local price assurance to the farmers and without being protected from illegal import.Considering the constraints and opportunities, some pro-poor intervention strategies can be suggested as an agenda for action in improving irrigation system performance in favor of poor farmers. After priority selection, the study strongly recommended the following agenda:The existing irrigation system and its management were designed to strongly support only rice self-sufficiency without being adjusted to accommodate the adoption of the non-rice commodities. When IMPR is made effective, design suitability of the system is poor to support technological choices of the farmers in agricultural production. Consequently, a free commodity choice is hardly possible due to the irrigation-system constraints.To accommodate agricultural diversification, which is strongly believed to be an effective way in actualizing the pro-poor agricultural practice, a serious design study needs to be conducted towards a standardized system design adjustable for agricultural diversification. Redesign of the water resources system is considered as a must for poverty alleviation purposes at the farmer level.Before the implementation of irrigation management policy reform, the water management procedure applied in Indonesia was the centralized O&M system. After IMT implementation, O&M are conducted based on the local condition of each system including the capability of the WUA. Therefore, each system needs an O&M manual that is participatorily developed by the WUA members. This participatory O&M manual is expected to produce better performance than the previous nationally uniform O&M system.Capacity building for local government officials is considered as urgent because presently they have a different role and face different challenges. A training needs assessment is important to develop the most suitable program of capacity building, especially because current observation has found a very diverse interpretation of IMPR and its implementation among bureaucrats.Similarly, farmers in WUA, who become managers in their own irrigation system, need capacity building as well. The training needs assessment should cover aspects related to irrigation, agriculture, organization and management.It is a proven fact that the condition of irrigation system network affects the water delivery performance. The asset management plan provides farmers and the government with a tool for maintenance of irrigation structures.Development of agribusiness in the irrigation system to improve benefits for farmers requires an information system. This system includes the information on climate, real-time water availability, market and so on.Institutional aspects, including administrative, organizational, sociocultural and technical aspects of the strengthening effort of WUAs is required to bring move them forward in accordance with the quality suitable to the newly shifted position of WUAs in irrigation management. The same strengthening effort is also required for building the capacity of other local institutions connected with agribusiness development including farmer groups, local cooperatives, micro-credit system, etc.This is concerned with the need to bring government institutions to be capable of formulating the necessary implementation of regulations connected with the newly reformed irrigation management. Such a strengthening effort must also cover the ability to promote local partnership towards balanced participation of the state, private sector and civil society organizations (CSOs) including NGOs, universities and CBOs in supporting the pro-poor irrigation and agribusiness system development.Pro-poor institutional strengthening of the socioeconomic infrastructural institutions include, among others, village unit cooperatives (KUDs), extension workers, rural banking, agricultural market and storage systems.Functional strengthening of the research and development (R&D) institutions in technological development connected with the newly formulated irrigation and agribusiness development unnegotiably needs to be promoted. Above all, the consistency of the pro-poor development policy related to the irrigation, agricultural production, industrial and trading subsystems, needs to be strengthened and effectively implemented. Otherwise, IMPR implementation would never be very effective in promoting people awareness and participation in promoting socioeconomic protection, human security enhancement and self-alleviating poverty in rural areas.Needless to say, the shift from a very centralistic to a very decentralized governance in irrigation is not an easy task to realize. The shift from the former to the new paradigm in irrigation development unnegotiably needs many prerequisites. Those needs were rationally based on the fact that mobilizing people participation in development at the grass-root level is not an easy task after being domesticated as net recipients of any state-centered development. Without fulfilling such prerequisites, IMPR implementation would never be very effective in attaining its objective in irrigation development, but rice production. The average rice consumption per day per family is less than one kilogram, except for head part of Kalibawang system, where the consumption is 1.08 kilogram per day (table 2). The rice substitutions for the farmer respondent in Krogowanan system and Kalibawang system are maize and cassava. The sugar consumption is the highest in Krogowanan system, and so are coffee, tea and sugar consumption. The average cost of meals per day per family of the farmers in the Klambu Kiri and Glapan systems are higher than that of the Krogowanan and Kalibawang systems (table 3). The farmer family in the Klambu Kiri system and the Glapan system spend Rp 7,405 per day and Rp 6,786 per day, respectively. At the same time, in Krogowanan and Kalibawang systems, the expenditure of meals per day is less than Rp 4,000; they are Rp 3,879 and Rp 3,553, respectively. The cost of basic needs material in the Glapan and Klambu Kiri systems is more expensive than that of the Krogowanan and Kalibawang systems.The difference in the cost between consumption of food and the meal is the expenditure for rice, sugar, tea and so on. It amount to Rp 5,418 in Klambu Kiri. In Glapan, Krogowanan and Kalibawang it amounts to Rp 5,746, Rp 4,752 and Rp 4,571, respectively. Unlike the meal cost, the range of food expenditure is not wide, which indicates that the difference in the cost among them is not high. Table 4 shows the total consumption of food costs. The farmers in Krogowanan system spend the highest of agriculture cost. It is then followed by farmers of Kalibawang system, Glapan system and Klambu Kiri system. Total cost of agriculture is shown in the table 6. The farmers in the Krogowanan system, especially in the head and middle areas, spend the highest cost for mulching, besides land rent. In the Kalibawang system, the highest cost is sharecropped cost. The farmers in the Klambu Kiri system must pay for pump operation especially in the middle area. The percentage of the cost allocation differs from one system to another. Nevertheless, from these data it can be concluded that the farmer respondent spends the highest cost for the educational sector. It is more than 20 percent of the total expenditure, except in the head of Klambu Kiri system and the middle of the Kalibawang system. Educational expenditure of the tail area of the Krogowanan system is 36.70 percent, which is the highest compared to other places. Such social activities as the wedding contribution also cost much. In the Krogowanan and Kalibawang systems it is more than 18 percent (except at the tail of the Krogowanan system). The average of the social activity cost at Klambu Kiri and Glapan is 12 percent, except at the head area of Glapan where it is just 6.60 percent. The middle area of Kalibawang and the head area of Krogowanan have the highest social activity cost, which is more than 22 percent.  Off-farm jobs are an important source of income for farm households in the rain-fed area. Titles of some common off-farm jobs available in the rain-fed area are farm laborer, trading, home industry, driver and services. Wife usually works as home industry laborer and small trader. It is difficult to get off-farm jobs in the rain-fed area.Unlikely in the irrigation area, off-farm income is more than farm income, i.e., Rp 2,370,291 or 52,04 percent of the total income. The total income from both farm and off-farm is Rp 4,554,386.The farmers in the rain-fed area have not met their daily needs. According to the survey on expenses, they spend Rp 3,003,552 and Rp 4,119,130 on food expenditure and non-food expenditure, respectively. On average, a household farmer must spend Rp 2,568,296 extra every year. Based on the data of the field research, it was found that the WUA membership consisted of landowners, farm laborers and other water users (table 14). Those included in the last category were fishpond owners, sugar plantation owners, industrial owners and the like. Most respondents of the four systems said that the status of the majority of members was landowners or farm laborers. It was because of the limited area ownership that the farmers who have a status as landowners were still able to work other lands. In general, all of the members have the same rights and obligations without differentiation on their social and economic status.The existing data also showed that the WUA membership was dominated by men. This indicated that women's involvement in farming is still low. The same phenomenon could also be seen on the respondent opinion on women's participation in the WUA activities. In general, the respondents of the four systems stated that women did not involve actively in the WUA activities. On this aspect, respondents of the Krogowanan system gave the lowest value. Of the respondents, 53.52 percent said that women in the Krogowanan system were active in the WUA activities. This means that women in the Krogowanan participated more actively in the WUA activities than those in other systems. This was made possible for them since there was an IMT in 2000, and farmer women in the Krogowanan system got established through the Woman Study Center of Diponegoro University.In order to run the activities the WUA had staff. The majority of the respondents said that members of the WUA staff were elected through WUA discussion. On this aspect, respondents in the Krogowanan system gave the lowest values for answers. This is because the WUA was a relatively new organization and, at first, it was aimed to fulfill the project demands.From the side of being active, the Kalibawang respondents gave the highest answers. The WUA in the Kalibawang system was run better and was more organized than those in the other three other systems. Even so, it has not been able to definitely measure how much effective the WUA staff efforts were to make progress on the WUA as a farmer institution.So far, most of the respondents have stated that the WUA has benefited its members. Through the WUA, the water was more evenly distributed so that it could reduce the possibility of the occurrence of water conflicts. From the data above, it can be seen that the respondents in the Kalibawang system have answered with the highest value, i.e., 95.11 percent. This indicates that the WUA in the Kalibawang system had been run better than those in other systems. Some respondents have stated that the WUA neither benefited its members nor guarantee the maintenance of the waterworks. One WUA activity is a meeting held in order to support its smoothness, but its implementation time is different for each WUA. Most of the respondents in the Kalibawang system stated that the meeting was held once every 35 days (selapan), in the Glapan system, that in the Klambu Kiri system it was held once for each period or season and that in the Krogowanan it was not held for a certain time. From the above results, it can be seen that in the Kalibawang system the meeting was held relatively more often than those in other systems (table 15).Based on the results of research, water distribution, O&M, interblock relationship, sanction, profit sharing, and the like were the most often talked topic in the meeting. In the Krogowanan system, 16.48 percent respondents said that water division was the discussion topic. This is because farmers in the Krogowanan never had water distribution problems for, during the year, most farmers in the Krogowanan area always got water. Table 16 shows respondent opinion in the O&M activity. In general, O&M activities done by the WUA were minor works, which aimed to smooth the waterworks. Based on the fieldresearch findings, it was seen that respondents in the Kalibawang and Krogowanan systems answered with the highest value in waterworks maintenance, especially in the tertiary and secondary waterworks. This means that the farmers from these two systems had a higher involvement than those in the other two systems. It was the same where contribution for the mutual cooperativeness (gotong royong) was concerned; the respondents of both systems contributed much more, such as in money, goods, and even power or energy. However, close attention should be paid to the data since there was a striking difference between the systems, where the Kalibawang and Krogowanan systems had an IMT program while the Glapan and Klambu Kiri systems had no such program.The member contribution was one of the sources for irrigation funding. Most of the WUAs were not able yet to meet all the irrigation funding that had become their authority. Therefore, WUAs could propose financial assistance from the government. So far, the local government of Kulon Progo and Magelang regency had provided funds to the WUAs for such a necessity. However, based on the research finding, it was found that not all the farmers had known about the government financial assistance to the WUAs. In the Glapan and Klambu Kiri systems, the government had not provided such a fund so that all respondents stated that they did not receive government assistance. using a price that is higher than their selling capability. Farmer losses are getting bigger because the availability of seed, fertilizer and pesticide is limited and their price is high.Crop failure due to pests and diseases worsens the farmer condition. Some farmers blame the geographic location of their rice fields as having infertile soil, limited irrigation and limited access to the market because it is located far from road access. They will all affect the nominal production value accepted by farmers.Farmers, who have very small pieces of land or no land at all, generally work as farm laborers or sharecroppers. Farm labor works seasonally at the beginning of the planting season and at the harvesting period. Types of work at the beginning of the planting season are land preparation, transplanting and maintenance. Wages for farm labor varies from place to place. In the Kalibawang system it ranges from Rp 7,500 to Rp 10,000 per day while in the Krogowanan system it ranges from Rp 10,000 to Rp 15,000 per day. Labor wages in the Glapan and Klambu Kiri systems vary from Rp 9,000 to Rp 15,000 per day. The wage difference between male and female labor is more or less 20 percent. In the Klambu Kiri system, the alternative job available is labor in the cigarette industry, which provides higher wages, that is Rp 20,000 per day. Because wages of off-farm jobs are higher, many farmers are more interested in working in off-farm jobs so that the agriculture sector found difficulty in getting labor.The relationship between landowner and laborer is a traditional relation without any commitment. Farm laborers have no guarantee that the landowner will employ them in the future. It means that the landowner can employ farm laborers as they wish without any commitment. As a consequence, a farm laborer has a weak bargaining position and cannot request anything except accepting employment from the landowner. It is also possible for a landowner to employ laborers from outside the area if there is no agreement between the landowner and laborer.For sharecropping activities, the share between the landowner and sharecropper differs from one crop to another and from one place to another. For rice in all selected areas, the share is 1: 1 or 1: 2. It means that from the total production one part belongs to the landowner and 2 parts to the sharecropper. All costs of production become the responsibility of the sharecropper. The variation of share for other crops is shown in table 18. Besides becoming sharecroppers, some of them also practice bawon, which is applied in harvesting. In the bawon system, wages are taken as a share of yield they can collect. As in sharecropping, the share depends on crops and location.The relationship between the landowner and sharecropper is imbalanced. The sharecropper gives more efforts and is responsible for the uncertainty due to crop failure. All labor use and production costs paid by sharecropper become a risk in case of crop failure. On the other hand, in the case of successful harvesting, the landowner receives the same benefit or even more.Based on a framework that poverty of farmers is different from other type of poverty, it is clear that poor farmers consist of small farmers (sharecroppers and laborers). To date, the farmer poverty remains unsolved. Farmers still face such problems as insufficient water, land conversion, transfer of landownership, improper credit procedure, limited access to information and an imbalance in economic relationship.Efforts made for poverty alleviation of the farmer have a strong relationship with the success of rural development. Therefore, of late the government seems to be making an effort to solve the poverty problem. Some of the indications are choice of poverty alleviation as an official program of a five-year development plan, establishment of the position of an assistant to the National Planning Agency division of poverty alleviation, as well as the launching of some poverty alleviation programs.However, the problem of poverty is not that simple. It is related to the determination of the poverty line. Although the government stated that the number of poor people had reduced from 60 percent in 1970 to 15 percent in 1990, this only shows the number of population that consumed less than 260 kg of rice per year. The number of people below the minimum calorie consumption line cannot reflect the measure of the poverty problem.Efforts made for poverty alleviation are giving charity; they are partial in nature and are dependent on budget availability. Therefore, it seems difficult to effectively solve the poverty problem. Farmers of other poor groups in rural areas cannot be empowered by charity programs or operational techniques alone. This is because their poverty is structural poverty caused by human factors, such as unequal distribution of productive assets, discriminative economic policy, corruption, collusion and economic arrangement that benefit certain groups onlyWater resource. The Pengasih schemes diverts water from the Serang river, which is supplied by the Kalibawang system and the Sermo reservoir.Management. The Pengasih irrigation management has already been transferred to WUAF Pengasih Barat and Pengasih Timur. Water is distributed by a water master (government official) from the dam, primary canal to the main diversion structure. From the diversion structure it is divided into two secondary canals. In each secondary canal, ulu-ulu of WUAF distributes water to each tertiary block. Regular maintenance activities become the responsibility of WUAF. So far, maintenance has been inadequate; consequently, weed and sediment disturb the water conveyance in some part of the network.Infrastructural condition. The infrastructural condition is generally good. Some canal sections suffer from leakage, weed or sediment.Environment. The upper part of the scheme is located in a relatively hilly area and the slope is decreasing towards the tail end. Drainage is generally good, except for some parts in the tail area. To overcome waterlogging in the ill-drained area, farmers use the system. Water quality is good without any pollution. The scheme experiences annual floods in the peak of the rainy season from December to January.Irrigation performance. Water availability in the scheme is adequate. Groundwater abstraction for agriculture exists in the tail part of the system, especially in the dry season. Generally, water losses along the main system are very small except for canal sections with leakage. Water supply equity between head and tail parts is generally good.Agriculture. The planting pattern applied in the scheme is generally rice-rice-upland crops. Upland crops grown in the dry season are generally soybean and maize. In the lower part of the surjan, the planting pattern applied is rice-rice-upland crop while in the upper part, vegetables and upland crops are planted in strip cropping. Production rate of rice in the scheme ranges between 4 and 6 tons/ha in the rainy season and lower in the dry season.Water resource. The Pekik Jamal scheme diverts water from the Papah river, which is supplied from the Kalibawang scheme. Besides the Pekik Jamal scheme, the Papah scheme also diverts water from the upper part of the Papah river. In some part of the command area, especially the tail end, farmers draw groundwater to irrigate their rice fields in the dry season.Management. IMT has been implemented in the scheme. WUAF Pekik Jamal Timur and Pekik Jamal Barat manage the scheme from the dam down to the secondary canals. Water is distributed by ulu-ulu of WUAF to the secondary canal and each tertiary block. Regular maintenance activities become the responsibility of WUAF. So far maintenance is inadequate; consequently, sediments disturb water conveyance in most of the network.Infrastructural condition. The infrastructural condition is generally good. Some canal sections in Pekik Jamal Timur suffer from leakage.Environment. The scheme is located in the downstream part of the Kalibawang system. Its topography is flat and its elevation is low. Waterlogging occurs in some areas. To overcome waterlogging farmers use the surjan system where a part of the field is higher than the other fields. In the lower part, rice is grown with a ponding system while in upper part farmers grow vegetable and upland crops. Flood occurs annually from December to January. Drought occurs in the dry season although it never destroys all crops.Irrigation performance. Water availability in the scheme is generally adequate with seasonal fluctuation. Two tertiary blocks suffer from water inadequacy almost every time. Groundwater abstraction for agriculture exists almost in the whole of the scheme, especially in dry season. Generally water losses along the main system are very small except for canal sections with leakage. Water supply equity between head and tail parts is generally good.Agriculture. Due to its environment that is mostly ill-drained, most farmers applied the surjan system. In the lower part of the surjan, the planting pattern applied is rice-rice-upland crops while in upper part vegetables and upland crops are planted in strip cropping.Water resource. The Krogowanan system diverts water from the Pabelan river. Kunjang and Klesem rivers; some natural springs supply some parts of the system.Management. The Krogowanan irrigation management has already been transferred to WUAF. The Krogowanan dam is operated by a water master (government official) while the WUAF distributes water from the primary canal to tertiary blocks. Regular maintenance activities become the responsibility of WUAF. Due to abundant water availability, water allocation and distribution as well as regular maintenance become a low priority in the WUA activities. However, if a rehabilitation of a structure or canal is required, farmers are willing to contribute to that activity.Infrastructural condition. The infrastructural condition is generally good.The system is located in a relatively hilly area with a relatively high elevation. Drainage is generally good due to its sandy soil texture. Mountain spring water gives the system a very good quality of irrigation water without sediment. Only a few parts in the tail end suffer from pollution from a paper factory.Irrigation performance. The Krogowanan system has abundant water availability. Outflow from the system is utilized by other systems downstream. No groundwater abstraction for agriculture exists in the system. Generally, water losses along the main system are very small and water supply equity between head and tail parts is generally good.Agriculture. The planting pattern applied in the scheme is generally rice-rice-upland crops, ricevegetables, and rice-upland crops. Upland crops and vegetables grown in the Krogowanan system are mostly high-value crops, which are in demand from the surrounding market. Klambu Kiri System (21,475 ha) Water resource. The Klambu Kiri system diverts water from the Serang river, which is supplied by the Kedung Ombo reservoir. The Klambu dam has a command area of 48,715 hectares divided into two irrigation systems namely Klambu Kiri or Left Klambu (21,475 ha) and Klambu Kanan or Right Klambu (27,258 ha).Management. The Klambu Kiri system has not been transferred yet so that the government official i.e., Office of Ministry of Settlement and Infrastructure Development allocates and distributes water from the dam down to the tertiary offtake. Farmers distribute their allocated water among themselves in the tertiary block. The same office also conducts maintenance activities.Infrastructural condition. The infrastructural condition is generally good, except for high sedimentation along the system. Wulan 1 and Wulan 2 secondary canals are not well designed so that the slope is elevating towards downstream.Environment. The system is located in a relatively flat area. The upper part of its river basin is highly eroded so that water contains sediment, which is deposited along the irrigation system network. Soil condition in its irrigated area is mostly clayey and, therefore, its drainage is poor.Irrigation performance. Water availability in the scheme is inadequate and timelines is low due to sedimentation along its canal network, which reduces canal capacity. Water losses happen because of leakage along secondary canals and pumping from canals to rice fields out of the Klambu Kiri command area. Groundwater abstraction for agriculture does not exist. Water supply equity between head and tail parts is generally poor.Agriculture. The planting pattern generally applied in the scheme is rice-rice-upland crops and rice-upland crops. A few parts of the head grows rice throughout the year. Upland crops grown in the dry season are generally mungbean. The time difference between the head and tail to start the rainy season planting (first planting season) is 3 months. This shows the poor timeliness and poor equity between head and tail.Glapan System (18,284 ha) Water resource. The Glapan system diverts water from the Tuntang river, which originates from the Rawa Pening lake. The command area of the Glapan system is divided into Glapan Timur or East Glapan (8,671 ha) and Glapan Barat or West Glapan (10,113 ha).Management. The Glapan system has not been transferred yet so that the government official, i.e., the Office of Ministry of Settlement and Infrastructure Development manages the system. The provincial-level office allocates and distributes water from dam to secondary canals while regency level office allocates and distributes water from the secondary canal to tertiary offtakes. The same office also conducts maintenance activities. Farmers distribute their allocated water among themselves in the tertiary block. In the Glapan system there are three levels of management, i.e., the provincial government manages the head works and the primary canal; two regencies (Grobogan and Demak) manage the secondary canal, and the WUA manages the tertiary blocks.Infrastructure condition. Glapan infrastructure is generally old. Although some rehabilitation has already taken place, this insufficiently helps improve infrastructural conditions. Some canal sections suffer from leakage and sediment.Environment. The system is located in a relatively flat area. The upper part of its river basin is highly eroded so that water contains sediments, deposited along the irrigation system network. Soil condition in its irrigated area is mostly clayey and, therefore, its drainage is poor. A canal section that passes the Demak City suffers from domestic trash.Irrigation performance. Water availability in the scheme is inadequate and timeliness is low due to sedimentation along its canal network, which reduces canal capacity. Water losses occur because of leakage along secondary canals. Groundwater abstraction for agriculture does not exist. Water supply equity between head and tail parts is generally poor.Agriculture. The planting pattern generally applied in the scheme is generally rice-rice-upland crop, rice-vegetables and rice-upland crops. A few parts of the head grows rice throughout the year. The upland crops grown in the dry season are generally mungbean. The time difference between the head and tail to start the rainy season (first planting season) is 3 months. This shows the poor timeliness and poor equity between head and tail. taken from the permanent budget of the local government and the village budget at the Regent's instructions.The inferiority of the farmers at the head end in accessing the market information is a result of the middle trader dominance of the market distribution line. The middle traders have dominated the traditional market by absorbing the current of modern communication technology. Against this situation, the WUA and the rural cooperation act only passively. The poor farmers' inferiority becomes intense, especially in their bargaining position. Ultimately, their trading monopoly is held only by some people who have access to the information. The local government has not been capable of following up on this matter seriously, for it is still occupied with the local autonomy question.Very few of the rural young generation participate in the WUA. They pay more interest in joining the labor union or working in the industrial sector so that their villages are left far behind the growing progress of the urban areas. Through the WUA empowerment it is hoped that the development in rural areas, especially those which are isolated, can constrict the poverty line. However, the irrigation and agricultural services realize that after the local autonomy, the impact of the rural technology program by the training transformation for skill improvement is very low. It is rare to see the field officials at the rice fields for, after the local autonomy, they receive no honoraria. The latest breakthrough is organizing a routine meeting with the WUA, the field guiding group and the farmer group every month.The ration of the poor farmers in this area is 45 percent, the majority of whom are WUA members. Although field officials of the agricultural and irrigation services have empowered the farmers in order to improve their prosperity, still there is no significant improvement. About 80 percent of the farmers in this area are WUA members, most of whom are farm laborers. With less than 400 m 2 of cultivated land, it is ordinary that only 10 percent the farmers do not belong to the WUA. The WUA has not played the role as the farmers' supporter in the determination of crop prices, indicating the weakness of the institution before the usurers. The farmers' bargaining position is as weak as the WUA's support. Possibly, it has resulted from the WUA's lack of its own cooperation that accommodates the farmers' crops. Establishing cooperation is not easy because it requires a corporate body.From the 80 percent members, the collected ISF is only 30 percent. The main problem is the ISF collectors' lack of effectiveness in performing their duties, though they received 20 percent of the collected fund. Thus, it is understandable that there is no increase in the levy. Actually, there is already a plan for revitalizing the ISF levy in order to revive its controlling mechanism function. As a solution, the administrators and members agree with the ISF collected since the first planting period. For example, they agree with the direct collection of the ISF from the farmers after two rice harvests.Although the implementation of the irrigation programs financed by the stimulant fund has offered benefits to the rural community as a whole, its influence on the poor farmer level is not equal as yet. Perhaps, it is useful to introduce the IMT-like programs, as has been done by the government so far, but the benefit does not reach the projected target. Against this, the irrigation service has socialized the PP 77/2001 to the WUA level and it has responded positively.The institution in the head area can be categorized as good enough, based on the WUA staff's activity and work program. The WUA staffs run their activity well although they should cover a wider area. As long as three working years, the board of manager has successfully performed six activities consisting of a) the development of the diversion structure, b) canal rehabilitation, c) tertiary canal upgrading, d) water gate rehabilitation, e) sedimentation dredging and grass cutting, and e) the group's working area mapping. The condition is similarly found in the tail, middle and head where social work has been well performed. The meeting of the tail, middle, and head cluster is usually held at 19:30. However, there is also a weakness in the manager's capability in getting the members to attend the meeting.In the items of clause of rules of association and its platform, there is a weakness requiring attention and improvement. The platform and rules of association were originally carried out in 1990 collectively by several WUAs in the head. It is possible that at that point of time they did not anticipate there could be any clause that was not suitable for the area development. Fortunately, they make use of PP 77/ 2001 as a handout for reforming to reorganize the performance of WUA. PP 77/ 2001 is socialized by the officer of the irrigation office in each WUA. Irrigational and agricultural coordination can be categorized as good. It cannot be separated from the irrigational and agricultural officer's role in WUA guidance.ISF is levied through farmer groups in each village. Then, it is ceded to the unit of WUAs and later to the union of WUAs. Farmer's awareness in the head to pay ISF can be categorized as very low, especially that of the poor ones. The target only reaches 30 percent. The rules say that farmers should pay Rp 15,000 per hectare per year. This is too much for the poor farmers to pay.The WUA in the head has performed democratically through a meeting and a voting system. The WUA has held many meeting although not routinely. The meetings are usually held on Sundays. Since IMT is applied, there is transparency in the annual report such as the work plan achievement and expenditure. The work plan, such as the canal rehabilitation in the early rainy season, is outstanding. Farmers have realized the significance of being a member of WUA after getting the required water. It means the members can improve their prosperity.Although ISF has reached 98 percent, paying Rp15,000 per hectare per year is felt as a burden, especially, if it is levied after the planting season. Therefore, farmers in the middle and head propose to the WUAF that ISF should be paid at harvest time. For the farmers in the tail feel that their need of water is sufficiently satisfied. The Rp 20,000 per hectare per year levied and the 15 kilogram of rice per hectare/year collected have reached 95 percent of the total targeted. The WUA in the tail can be categorized as better as the landownership is, in average, around 3,000 m 2 . The direct impact of the WUA begins to be felt by the farmer after being able to have two harvests in a year.The price of dried rice at harvest time highly decreases to Rp 1,300 per kilogram, which is such a bad impact on the farmers. The price is set as the absolute price obligatorily accepted by farmers. The unwillingness of the traders and the cooperation to accept the farmers' rice is the cause of the price decrease. The market information accepted by the farmers is in one direction, meaning that the government policy concerning the rice price is known only by the traders. A few people run rice domination. It is normal if the farmers change their jobs to creators of handicraft.After IMT, the spirit of traditional meeting has been transformed into the WUA context to eliminate the domination of the irrigation officer and the rural apparatus. The effort to revitalize the performance of WUA is only to positively prompt the agricultural production and to pursue economic growth of the members, for example, scheduling the meeting of irrigational block manager. Since IMT is established, WUA has been playing a significant role in a cognitive and normative system. In fact, before the IMT is established, sometimes there is managerial vacancy. It is different from the tail WUA where the managerial position has never been vacant. The change is due to the retirement of the manager. This complicated problem emerges as a consequence of the slow succession and regeneration so that disharmony generates among the managers. Unfortunately, meetings held every Tuesday do not result in any solution.Although the WUAs in the tail can be categorized as good, the poor farmer constitutes 40 to 50 percent of the total rural people. This does not include the 20 percent of the outside laborers of the agriculture sector for the youth prefer to work in urban areas. The trend is worsened by the action of not giving ISF levied to the WUA. ISF is levied based on the area of the terrain viz. Rp 2,000 /1,000 per m 2 . Rp 1,000 is given to WUAF and the rest is managed by the WUA. On average, the ISF levied is as much as Rp 1,000. ISF is meant to reduce the gap and eradicates poverty but it still exists and tends to polarize in certain area than in others.Formerly, the amount of collected ISF reached 100 percent but now it decreases up to 80 percent. Before IMT was established the ISF was collected at the same time as the traditional ceremony \"Perty Deso,\" similar to the social work held annually to rehabilitate the canal. Farmers propose that the collection should be done seasonally after harvest time. However, the absence of an officer to levy ISF results in poor ISF collection. So far, the head of the village occupies the post of collecting ISF. To strengthen the aspect of the socioeconomy, some decisions are made at the intern meeting. Details are as follow: 50 percent of ISF is used for maintenance, 20 percent for operation, 20 percent for collecting expenses, and 10 percent is ceded to the WUAF.The ISF in the tail area is stagnant for the person in charge does not do the job. The Rural government plans to go down to handle the problem and assign a person to collect both the ISF and the data on the area width of the farmer's terrain. However, this plan is not easy to perform as farmer's income is still below Rp 250,000 per month. Moreover, the problem of the tail farmer gets complicated as the ISF is a burden to the cultivating farmer and fishpond owner. This burden has no influence on the rural people's prosperity as they earn an income not only from the agriculture sector but also from off-farm jobs.Third, the period from 1997 to date was characterized by a) an economic crisis, and b) the decentralization of the government to the district level. These fundamental changes certainly have a significant influence on the local-specific policies that will likely to be put in place by the local government, which then will lead to different agricultural development paths.The impact of the policy reforms to irrigated agriculture can be traced through the impact of the changes in the macro-economic environment to the agriculture sector as a whole including that of irrigated agriculture and the impact of the decentralization process on the management of irrigation system. The impact on both irrigated agriculture and irrigation system management has to be placed within the framework of river-basin management. For example, the impact on water allocation in an irrigation system may be determined not only by factors such as the changes in rules in water allocation as a consequence of the changes in jurisdictional boundaries and the key actors in irrigation management but also by the changes in the line uses in the upstream part of the river basin, which may consequently influence the stream flow on the irrigation system that is also influenced by the sediment load of the stream flow that, in turn, may influence the decision on water allocation.As a further consequence of the changes in rules, and decision-making process and continually increasing pressure on resources, the conflict might occur between upstream and downstream communities competing for scarce water resources or between local communities or large-scale private companies vying for the allocation of forestland. Competition might also occur in each hierarchical level of the system. The challenge ahead is to define the acceptable management rules and allocation criteria to manage the conflicts and, at the same time, to improve performance of water allocation and efficiency of the system operation.The management of irrigation during the first policy chronicle (1970)(1971)(1972)(1973)(1974)(1975)(1976)(1977)(1978)(1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984) was heavily centralized because, during this period, the government was in great pressure to pursue the target of self-sufficiency in rice production. During the second period of the policy chronicle (1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997), the tension for rice self-sufficiency reduced and the support on irrigation investment gradually declined. The first period can be considered as the stage of structural approach where the marginal investment continually increased. The second period can be considered as stage of management approach with a relatively low marginal investment cost (figure 1).  During this period, the concept to improve O&M was introduced. It included the concept of irrigation fee for the tertiary-level irrigation management, and the tryout of the transfer of irrigation management to the water user association (WUA).The problems associated with the second stage was essentially the consequence of the approach used in the first stage that caused high dependency of the local communities on the public investment, which was then followed by the cooptation of the management by the government on the irrigation system initially developed by the local communities. As a further consequence, the irrigation area managed by the local communities was reduced but the area served was increased by the public agency. The adoption of the standard design and implementation procedures has weakened the internal dynamics of the WUA and, hence, it has reduced the participation in O&M of the irrigation systems that they used to manage.The recent policy issues that have important links with irrigated agriculture are the watersector reforms. First, as a further consequence of decentralization of the government tasks is the transfer of the management responsibility of water resources to the district level, which include the management of irrigation. The management of the small-scale irrigation has to be gradually transferred to the WUA. The second is the need to develop a concept of Integrated Water Resource Management, the policy issue launched in the second \"World Water Forum\" in The Hague, Netherlands, in the year 2000.The abovementioned policy issues have to be placed within the frame of the long-term direction of irrigation development in Indonesia. In the long term, food insecurity, malnutrition and unsustainable use of natural resource remain major problems and, therefore, the support for the further development of irrigated agriculture needs to be continued together with the development of the sectors to foster economic growth, to reduce poverty, and the water-resources management, to enable the implementation of inter-sectoral transfer of water.In this respect there are two policy dimensions, which have to be taken into account. The first is the vertical dimension, to enhance a further stage of irrigation development. The process of decentralization can be considered as a momentum to further reform water resources management in Indonesia. The objective of the reform at the third stage of development is to strengthen the capacity of the local community to develop and manage water resources in general and irrigation in particular. As the competition for scare water increases there is a need for capacity building at the local level to accelerate the process of diversification of the irrigated ricebased farming systems.Even though at the second stage, the management approach has been introduced and, within the process of decentralization, the legal framework has been prepared to enable the transfer of management to the WUAs these reforms are only a necessary but not a sufficient condition. Further policy reforms and investment decisions are needed to revitalize the local-level institutions and to strengthen the social capital for development of a responsive irrigation management (Pasandaran et al. 2002). At this stage of development, the local communities are responsive to translate the market signals into water management practices required to support a market-driven irrigated rice-based farming system. Second, a horizontal dimension is related to the effort to increase production capacity through expansion of irrigated area and the increase of cropping intensity. It is very likely that the capacity for expansion is already limited. During the last five decades, irrigated rice in Indonesia only increased from 3.5 million hectares in the early 1950s to 5.0 million hectares, an increase of about 50 percent. In 1955, the total irrigated area in the world was about 80.0 million hectares while in the year 2000 it increased to 240 million hectares, an increase of about 200 percent (FAO 2000). During the same period, the population of Indonesia increased from 60 million people to about 200 million people. In other words, the speed of irrigation development in Indonesia during the last decades was far below that of the global level. Despite this development, the expansion of irrigated area or other possible alternatives, such as a tidal swamp-based and dryland area for food crop need to be undertaken because of a continuous conversion of irrigated lands in Java to other uses. Data in table 1 show the potential for irrigation expansion in major islands based on the potential of water availability and land suitability. Although there is a potential for expansion it has to be viewed from an economic feasibility perspective. It is estimated that there is a need to increase about 20-25 percent of the existing irrigated area to maintain the requirement of the food security in the year 2020.  1994 1998 1994 1998 1994 1998 Lampung  1994,1998(In CASER 2000).The data on the landholding structure show a declining trend in almost all the provinces observed. In Central Java, for example, the wetland ownership declined from 0.39 hectares in 1994 to 0.35 hectares in 1998. The ownership of other types of land, such as dryland farming and estate crops has generally increased. The number of landline laborers in the rural area is also on the increase; in some villages dominated by irrigated land the share of the laborers reached 50 percent of the total of household. (CASER and World Bank 2000).In recent years, the productivity and area harvested of major food crops in both irrigated and drylands, especially in Java tended to decline. The cropping intensity of rice in both Java and other islands has also stagnated (Pasandaran 2001). In such a situation, it would be difficult to expect the reverse of the poverty rate on the development of the agriculture sector.The database on a sample survey of the rural poor who owned only a small landholding of irrigated area (less than 0.2 hectare) is presented in table 4. The sample village farmer survey was undertaken, based on their location in the river basin both in the downstream and upstream part of the river basin and also based on the accessibility or bad accessibility.The data show that in the downstream villages both the one with a good accessibility and the other with a poor accessibility the share of the household income in irrigated agriculture is much lower than that of agriculture. In the downstream village and therefore in this localespecific situation the local communities are able to operate and maintain the irrigated sector to subsidize the irrigated agriculture sector.On the other hand, in the upstream village, the local communities have to rely on irrigated agriculture to operate and maintain the irrigation system. Data in table 5 consistently indicate the labor uses by the household. The labor uses are much large in the downstream villages compared to those of the upstream villages.During the last three decades the government policies were initially characterized by substantial support to the agriculture sector (1970)(1971)(1972)(1973)(1974)(1975)(1976)(1977)(1978)(1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984) and then followed by a period of decline after the achievement of rice self-sufficiency in 1984 since the last few years of the economic crisis have brought about fundamental changes in economic development in general and in agricultural development in particular.During the first period, the approach used in irrigation investment was dominated by a structural approach with the tendency of increasing investment per unit area. During the second period, the management approach was introduced to ease the burden of the government on investment and on O&M of irrigation systems; this approach, however, is constrained by weakened capacity of the rural communities because of the heavily centralized approach used in the past.A further policy reform is suggested to revitalize the social capital of the local communities so that the management of the irrigation system can be shifted to a more responsive institutional approach. In doing this, assessment has to be done particularly on the possible sources of income of the rural poor, and the ways to improve their capacity within a localespecific context."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"323faf9fdfb82413baf2ba8ae9323d99","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/fe4f01a5-cda8-49f8-a57c-f5fe1e5dd3f3/retrieve","id":"814183469"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"71d9b7e8-2b6b-4c1d-a43c-0aba2fdd0c9c","content":"Cassava is produced by more than 80% of farming households and is an important contributor to gross domestic product (GDP) in Liberia. It is therefore important to assess the status of cassava processing into food and other products. A total of one hundred and sixty (160) well-structured questionnaires were used for the collection of information from eight counties, with twenty respondents from each county. It was found out that all the counties lack adequate modern cassava processing machines, with almost all cassava processing operations being done with rudimentary equipment. Gari and wet fufu are common products in Liberian markets, with no high-quality cassava flour (HQCF) or derivatives. Consequently, user and gender friendly processing machines were installed in six established modern cassava processing centres, and new cassava products, such as fufu powder, tapioca, and HQCF with its value-added products (10% bread and pastries), were introduced. This upscaling will enhance the cassava value chain in Liberia with improvement in livelihoods, especially for vulnerable women and unemployed youth.Cassava is produced by over 80% of farming households and is an important contributor to the GDP in Liberia, with about 53, 4810 tons produced in 2014 (Coulibaly et al., 2014). Fresh cassava root has a high moisture content (75-80 %) Thus, it undergoes rapid spoilage within 2 to 3 days if not immediately processed (Oyewole and Asagbra, 2003;Oluwole et al., 2004;Ashaye et al., 2005). Processing cassava root makes it palatable, decreases toxicity, and prolongs shelf-life (Sanni, 1991). Almost all cassava root harvested in Liberia is processed into various forms for human consumption. This includes gari, depah, fufu, attieke, starch, and dumbo (Awoyale et al., 2018). Besides the root, the leaves are consumed extensively as a vegetable, and as the source of proteins.Cassava roots are mainly processed using traditional methods and processing is usually done by women in Liberia. Traditional cassava processing does not require sophisticated equipment. For instance, the traditional cassava grater for gari processing in Liberia is made of flattened kerosene tin or iron sheet perforated with nails and fastened to a wooden board with handles. The grating operation is done by rubbing the peeled roots against the rough perforated surface of the iron sheet that crushes the peeled cassava root into mash (Coulibaly et al., 2014), and at times cuts the hand of the processor, resulting in a mixture of human blood with the cassava mash, which has health and safety implications for consumers of gari. However, various attempts have been made by different programs and projects to improve graters in Liberia. Big stones are used to press water out from the grated mash, and tied wooden frames are used in places where big stones are not available. The roasting of the fermented cassava mash is done using pans made from iron or earthen pots, using fuelwood as a source of energy. However, fuelwood may not be easily or cheaply obtained in the future because of rapid deforestation. Drying of the dewatered cassava mash for depah production is done on flat rocks, tarred roads, and even on the bare floor, with or without the use of polyethylene sheets, exposing the product to environmental contamination. The milling operation of the dried cassava mash is done using the local pestle and mortar and sieved into powder with a locally made sieve. Most of these processing operations take place under a locally constructed building with little or no professional contribution. Consequently, slight changes in the cassava processing equipment housed in a professionally constructed building can help to save fuel and lessen the discomfort, health hazard, and drudgery for the women who carry out these operations.As the urban population expands, the demand for more convenience and shelf-stable foods increases. Some cassava foods, such as different types of value-added and branded gari from different processors are highly valued by urban population, and these have managed to retain their markets in Liberia. Imported food products are important urban foods but there is still a high demand for traditional foods, although they are often considered less acceptable because of the concerns of quality and safety (Sanni et al., 2007, Awoyale et al., 2018). Consequently, to increase food security, improve the livelihoods of vulnerable women, and adequately develop the postharvest and marketing systems for cassava in Liberia, the SAPEC project through the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) deemed it fit to upscale the cassava processing machines and products in Liberia.A survey of cassava processing machines and products in Liberia using Rivercess, Grand Bassa, Bomi, Margibi, Sinoe, Gbarpolu, Montserrado, and Grand Capemount counties, was conducted, as a case study, by means of a well-structured questionnaire, administered through a participatory learning technique. A total of 160 questionnaires were administered in markets and available processing centres in eight counties, with twenty respondents from each county. Some of the major questions directed to the respondents included/considered the demographic information of cassava actors, the available cassava processing machines and value added products in Liberia, prior to the project implementation. The data generated was subjected to quantitative statistical analyses using SPSS version 21.0. The outcome of this survey was used for the training of cassava processors on different valueadded products, procurement of modernized processing machines/equipment, and the construction of a modern cassava processing hubs, which were initiated, implemented, and supervised by IITA.The result of the demographic information of the cassava actors in Liberia (Table 1) showed that over 50% are involved in cassava production in all the counties except for Montserrado and Grand Capemount, where more people are involved in marketing (50%) and consumption (30%). This was contrary to the observation of Coulibaly et al. (2014) that Montserrado County is one of the main areas of cassava production regardless of their total output and the number of farming families involved. This implied that 70% of the respondents in Grade Capemount County may be consuming more of the major staple (rice) than cassava products. Most of the cassava actors are married with a primary school certificate and are between 41 and 50 years old except for Montserrado and Grand Capemount where the age ranged from 31 to 40 years. This implied that younger people are not interested in cassava production in counties such as Montserrado and Grand Capemount. This may be attributed to the fact that most young people are engaged in activities where they can make money fast , instead of planting cassava and waiting for eleven or twelve months before harvesting. More than 60% of the people do not belong to any cooperative society, which may be the result of mismanagement of funds or self-centeredness on the part of the leaders of the cooperatives. However/ on the contrary, Coulibaly et al. (2014) reported that 60% of cassava processors belong to an organization where they have access to credits, inputs, and information. Men were the main actors in counties such as Rivercess (70%), Bomi (70%), and Margibi (67%), while women dominate in Grand Bassa (59%), Sinoe (78%), and Montserrado (80%). Gbarpolu and Grand Capemount counties have equal participation of both sexes. The survey carried out by Coulibaly et al. (2014) revealed that most of the cassava enterprises are directed by women within an average age of 48.  The increase in the participation of men in the cassava enterprises in counties such as Rivercess, Bomi, and Margibi, in contrary to the findings of Coulibaly et al. (2014), may be linked to the possibilities of getting money to take care of their families from any aspect of the cassava value chain, since cassava root is normally left in the soil until it is required for sale.Traditional cassava processing does not require sophisticated equipment. Thus, there is an absence of modern cassava processing equipment in Liberia (Table 2). The survey depicts that most of the cassava processing operations are done locally. The most common equipment found in all counties was the roasting pan. The peeling machine combined with a chipper, which is not currently being used is available only in Montserrado (10%). Less than 45% of the cassava processors in Liberia have a grating machine, with Margibi having the highest percentage (43%) while Bomi and Montserrado had the lowest (5%). However, local graters made from zinc sheets are available in all the counties. The highest percentage of pressers was found in Rivercess County (24%) and Gbarpolu County processors have no press apart from the local pressing method that uses tied wooden frames, and which was common in all the counties. These findings agreed with the outcome of the survey done by Coulibaly et al. (2014). The cabinet dryer is available only in Montserrado County (10%). The mechanical roaster (10%) is available in Montserrado County but is not working. To this end, the SAPEC project through IITA initiated and supervised the construction of six modern cassava processing centres in Montserrado (1), Grand Bassa (1), Sinoe (1), and Bomi (2) counties, as well as in CARI based in Bong County. These processing centres were fully equipped with modern cassava processing machines such as a mechanical peeler, wet and dry hammer mill, pressers, weighing machines, and flash dryer (Table 3). The mechanical peeler is to replace the use of manual peeling with a knife, the wet hammer mill for crushing cassava into mash in place of the locally made manual graters, the dry hammer mill for milling to replace the use of the pestle and mortar, and weighing machines for weighing fresh roots during procurement and final products during packaging, which were not done prior to the project intervention. The flash dryer will replace the use of flat rocks, tarred roads, and bare floors with or without the use of polyethylene sheets for drying cassava products (Fig. 1).  (Wiakanty, 2017). A sister project (Liberia Agricultural Development Activity) is planning to replace the roasting pan with a mechanical roaster in some of the modern processing centres. In addition to the technology transfer from IITA to Liberia, was the construction of a septic tank (2 m × 2 m × 2 m) and a soakaway (4 m × 4 m × 5 m) for the proper disposal of liquid effluent from the processing centers. Furthermore, this intervention was complemented by many trainings for cassava farmers on cassava production through improved varieties, demonstration farms, and the introduction of good agricultural practices. These interventions may contribute to the growth of the Liberian economy if properly managed and sustained by the beneficiaries, thus, a need for the impact assessment study at the end of the project.In Liberia, cassava is normally left in the soil until it is required for sale, consumed by the farmer, or processed into a more palatable product. Table 4 shows the available cassava products in Liberia. Gari and wet fufu are the common cassava products, with Sinoe County having the highest (100%) and Montserrado the lowest (20% and 25%, respectively). This does not support the result of Coulibaly et al. (2014), who reported that Grand Bassa County was among the highest producers of gari in Liberia. Less than 6% of fried chips and 30% of starch are available in Liberia. \"GB\" is another cassava product common in Gbarpolu (80%), with less than 30% availability in other counties. The HQCF (0%) is not available in Liberia, while depah is available, with Gbarpolu (80%) and Margibi (62%) having the highest percentage. Thus, the availability of each of the cassava products in Liberia depends on their level of consumption in each county. Due to the low level of cassava value addition in Liberia, IITA trained a total of 500 cassava processors (351 women and 149 men) on the production of fufu powder, powdered starch, tapioca, and HQCF. The HQCF produced was used for the training on production of 10% cassava bread, cake, doughnut, meat and fish pies, puff-puff and chin-chin among others (Fig. 2). This is because prior to the introduction of HQCF to Liberians, depah was used for baking, which gives the baked products a sour taste. Most of these value-added products are presently being sold in an open and in supermarkets in Liberia, thus creating jobs and contributing to the country's GDP. Additionally, standard operating procedures for consistency in product quality wereshared with the processors. (Awoyale, 2018).The introduction of the modernized cassava processing machines such as the peeling machine, wet and dry hammer mill, pressers, the pulverizer, and the flash dryer, as well as the training on the production of fufu powder, starch/tapioca grits, and high quality cassava flour with its value-added products (10% cassava bread and pastries) will increase food security, create jobs, improve the livelihoods of vulnerable women, and increase cassava's popularity and its use as a cash crop to boost the country's GDP. The participation of more educated youth and women, with proper backstopping from the Liberia government, in all the areas of the cassava value chain will contribute to the sustainability of the project output."}
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+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7a28e47cf6ead4be448ad2f8f512e1ee","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7e748a25-9821-4f27-a713-718185831c29/retrieve","id":"-931533533"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"4f232d04-64f6-44eb-836b-1816606e2941","content":"Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author's moral rights. Fair dealing and other rights are in no way affected by the above. The parts used must not misrepresent the meaning of the publication. ILRI would appreciate being sent a copy of any materials in which text, photos etc. have been used.i | P a g eThe One Health approach can help achieve progress and promotes synergies on national and global priorities by generating synergies at the human-animal-environmental interface. While evidence is still scare, it is likely that the approach is highly cost-effective and improves effectiveness of core public health systems, through reducing morbidity, mortality, and economic costs of disease outbreaks. It also contributes to economic development through strengthening public health systems at the human-animal-environment interface protects health, agricultural production, and ecosystem services (World Bank, 2020). It has also been stipulated that One health enhances the resilience of local communities (Ruscio et al., 2015) through better disease prevention (Heymann et al., 2017).Operationalizing One Health on the ground through integrated human and veterinary health services delivery is particularly well suited to pastoralist systems which are characterized through mobility and remoteness, and has the potential to address inequalities that are linked to social structures (Gammino et al., 2020). It is also recognized that population health, for cultural and economic reasons, can be a higher priority to the community than an individual human (Schelling et al., 2005). Multidisciplinary efforts to optimize the health of humans, animals, and the environment (through \"One Health\" initiatives) have also demonstrated that pastoralists may systematically be missed by formal health care systems, owing to their mobility and systemic factors (Schelling and Bonfoh, 2008;Diaz, 2017). Through collaboration, the communication between public health and veterinary services will be strengthened and lead to making better use of existing resources and to identify appropriate control strategies for zoonotic diseases (Zinsstag et al., 2005). Public service delivery amongst pastoralists in the east Africa is often limited by programmes ill-suited to remote, mobile populations and logistical, organizational, and financial constraints (Schelling et al. 2015;Zinsstag et al. 2016), whereas One Health can be an ideal solution for these challenges.Pastoralism is one of the predominant livelihoods for many communities in East Africa and the Horn of Africa and contributes significantly to national economies. Livestock-focused occupations converge with people and the environment resulting in a dynamic setting in which the health of each, humans, animals, and the environment are inextricably interconnected. Also important in pastoralist systems are gender-based inequalities. For example, women likely struggle more to access land, which may need to be negotiated through their husband or other male relative/clan. This may compromise women's individual rights with limited individual control over productive resources including land. In such situations, the clan can offer many benefits including social protection for women, but their position may be viewed as subservient, marginalized and disempowered (Flintan et al., 2019). The same is true for access to services and thus looking at One Health from a gender perspective is needed. One Health recognizes the interdependencies of human, animal, and environmental/ ecosystem health, and professionals working in a One Health approach would aim to generate an added value by jointly serving the population and to better understand all the factors involved in disease transmission, ecosystem health, monitor the emergence of novel pathogens, including zoonoses, as well mitigating risks from environmental contaminants and toxins that are capable of causing substantial morbidity and mortality, and impacting on socioeconomic growth (Lerner & Berg, 2015;One Health Global Network, 2015). This context is interesting from a gender perspective in two ways. Firstly, given the wide scope of One Health and the fact that One Health interventions are systemic, it is likely that gender relations are affected in one way or another by these interventions. And secondly, ensuring that interventions are gender sensitive can have a positive impact on the implementation of One Health as possible barriers and inequalities are addressed early on. Thus, when working in pastoral areas it is important to undertake a gender analysis to understand related dynamics. Gender research disaggregated by sex is a first step in gender analysis, but a fully realized gender analysis goes further by ensuring that gender-sensitive indicators, like measure aspects of life where gender disparities are experienced and gives voice to women and men about gender roles and disparities (Friedson-Ridenour et al., 2019).To better understand gender dynamics in pastoralist areas from a One Health perspective, a context analysis based on literature review and using insights from the HEAL vulnerability assessment was conducted to cover the following topics:-Gender dynamics in pastoral areas -Gender in rangeland health -Gender in animal health management -Gender in human health management -Existing frameworks that embed gender in One Health -The way forward and recommendations to mainstream gender in HEAL This review was undertaken using documents of peer-reviewed published papers, reports, project documents and data collected for the HEAL vulnerability assessment during the project inception phase. This includes data collected through focus group discussion and key informant interviews. The received data were carefully screened to collate gender relevant information on the topics outlined above.Pastoralism is based on three pillars: rangeland (resp. natural resources at large), livestock, and humans that are interconnected for the health of the complete systemwith the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Living in a dynamic system, pastoralists all over the world are under severe pressure and an alarming number are forced to withdraw from pastoralism for a variety of reasons, including loss of communal rangelands, on which pastoralists' livelihood and existence are dependent.These situations strongly affect the roles of men and women. There is a difference between men and women with respect to ownership and management of livestock and rangeland management. The gender differences in roles and activities arise mainly from customary rules that tend to view certain tasks or activities as \"male\" or \"female\", which historically can be related to the physical capacities of men and women or on the traditional care giving role of women. For example, in much of sub-Saharan Africa, milking dairy animals has traditionally been women's responsibility, whilst the slaughter of dairy animals has traditionally been undertaken mainly by men (Beck, 2001).Often underestimated, pastoral women are key economic actors in the community and share equal responsibility with men for households, like managing livestock, and rangeland resources-water and grazing land and also herding and grazing in near or far rangelands (Dhikra, 2018). Differential gendered rights to access, produce, maintain, and use livestock resources often means that women have access to, and responsibility for, caring for livestock, but not necessarily ownership or control over decision making in relation to livestock consumption, sale, and exchange (Flintan, 2007 andKristjanson et al, 2010). Thus, women are likely to be less involved in decision-making processes, particularly those of a public nature and at community level decisions are taken without fully address women's needs. Further women can have less control over 'household' assets such as livestock. Usually decisions to sell livestock are taken as husband and wife but this might not always be the case. This results in documented income and expenditure difference between members of household, different capacity to participate in the decision on household activities (selling and buying animals, and mobility decisions). These gaps are more pronounced for women where they have lower household-and community-level decision power; own less amount of wealth, with less of household expenditure devoted to them compared to men. These can be also the result of traditional subordination of women which also compromises the health and wellbeing of women.The study of Selam et al., (2018) indicated that most household tasks are taken care of by women. This large domestic burden creates pressure on the time women spend on their personal needs such as attending to their personal sanitation, health, and other intellectual needs, creating health challenges to women (Balehegn and Kelemework 2013).In few areas, increasing the decision-making power of women over assets and income has proven to benefit the overall household food security and wellbeing (Badejo, 2017). This has for example been facilitated through women's cooperatives in pastoral areas (Badejo et al., 2017b). Other promising examples are interventions where women have been actively engaged in livelihood diversification and markets of livestock and livestock products and which resulted in significant improvement in socio-economic wellbeing and decision-making ability.In the pastoral areas of Borana, the roles are structured based on gender and age groups. However, changes in pastoral production due to factors like climate change and natural disaster risks, seem to have been transforming the gender roles so that women's workload, areas of decision-making, and income-earning opportunities have increased (Abiyot and Darley, 2019). Similarly, study of Flintan et al. (2011) indicted that differential changes in women's and men's workloads following pastoral transition and livelihood changes. These examples show that the systems adapt comparably fast to new situation. Though pastoral communities can be described as patriarchal, pastoralist women play key roles in the livestock production like milking, the processing, marketing and sale of milk and milk products, and distribution within the household (Lai, 2007), and pastoral women often work longer hours than men (Flintan, 2008), where this can add more workload on women. The decline of income from livestock products, particularly affects women, where they traditionally are engaged in selling milk products to use for household expenditure (Oxfam GB, 2016).It has been documented that access to livelihood resources, the functioning of institutions and outcomes in relation to both poverty and environmental indicators are highly gendered, with men and women negotiating livelihoods in different ways. And perhaps, especially in patriarchal pastoral societies, attention to gender dynamics, alongside generational gaps, class, and ethnic difference, cannot be ignored (Ian et al., 2020). Pastoral systems are dynamic and continue to change, for example through increased commoditization and privatization of rangeland resources, and reduced areas governed by common property regimes (Ian et al., 2020).With many resources held communally, women and men need to have access rights to those resources through the clan or other decision-making authority. Though in general women's rights to do this are protected, it is often easier for men to do this resulting in non-equitable distributions. In particular in changing systems, traditionally protected rights of women might not be defended properly. Though women are involved in and contribute to livestock and rangeland management, they tend to have limited access to and control over resources compared to men, and customary rules and traditions can also limit women's mobility and freedom that result in women facing challenges in participating in extension meetings or group training activities on subjects such as husbandry and veterinary practices (IFAD, 2003). However, in general a 'household' or family/social grouping works as a unit with men and women having different and mutually supporting roles and responsibilities, and with access to resources that they require for maintaining these.The nature of the work women and men perform within the livestock sector may expose them to various health and safety related concerns, such as heightened exposure to zoonotic diseases (WHO, 2009). This can be more pronounced for women given their roles in tending for sick or new-born animals. Gender disparities can also have negative consequences on women's ability to acquire or use knowledge effectively. Insecure land tenure limits the land user's ability to develop, manage and upgrade livestock activities, since it often translates into lack of land for grazing and lack of collateral for investment (FAO, 2011): often both pastoral men and women lack access to land and resources and secure tenure. The securing of individual tenure in a context of communal access, management and 'ownership' can damage this communal tenure, weakening it and the related governance structures, which in turn can have a negative impact on the pastoral society as a whole.Both pastoral men and women have limited access to financial services, but where they do exist women are likely to have less access than men. This may result from different factors. For example, women may face legal restrictions to access credits (the need for a male's signature), customary rules, lack of credit schemes designed specifically for rural women and lack of collateral (Fletschner, 2006) and these difficulties in accessing credit may also narrow the scope of paying for health services.There seems thus to be a mismatch between policy interventions and local conditions and understandings, and influencing policymaking at national and international level is imperative. For example, social norms and local-level politics affect market access for young people, both as producers and traders. There is still a gap in social and cultural norms and practices that influence both generational and gendered market engagement (Ian et al., 2020).Given the limited literature available, the dynamics of gender is under-represented in research on pastoralism in the past decade compared to other areas, like pastoral livelihoods, climate change and natural resource management (Ian et al., 2020).Guiding questions for HEAL -How will One Health interventions in the form of intersectoral access to services affect gender dynamics? -How are gender dynamics change in response to adaptive system changesThe example of rangelands of eastern Africa shows how privatization of rangelands at a local level, often as a result of processes of land and green grabbing as external investors appropriate resources, affects rangeland health (Catley et al. 2013).Rangeland management is based on rich and diverse traditions of indigenous knowledge of local communities, and tenure systems can contribute to the social and economic well-being of the area. Rangeland health and management require mobility that allows rotation and recovery periods, conserves biodiversity and reduces the need for expensive and energy intensive external inputs such as prepared fodder (Wesche et.al, 2010).Looking at rangeland health and natural resources at large from a gender perspective, it is important to note that men and women have different roles and responsibilities in relation to rangelands. For instance men often are engaged more in physically laborious and heavy work such as felling trees and cutting bigger branches, whereas women are engaged in collecting and fetching fodder and fuelwood. This difference also leads to a difference in knowledge about natural resources (Basudha et al., 2000).Some studies indicate that the workload of women has increased under land fragmentation processes (like increase of enclosures) due to increased responsibilities in cattle herding and related income generation activities, and this increased rangeland degradation leading to differential changes in gender workload (Karmebäck et al., 2015). Improving rangeland health through One Health may thus have positive impacts to counteract these developments.Women access land and natural resources as part of the collective group, resp. community. In patriarchal societies decision-making power over use and management of land and resources is more likely to be in the hands of men than in women with customary practices excluding women either implicitly or explicitly (Flintan, 2008). As a result most of women cannot easily own assets and access key resources and information. In pastoral settings based on common property management, people do not \"own\" the land as individuals, but rather hold collective use rights, but animals, however, are privately owned. Even when it comes to animal ownership, it remains unusual for pastoral women in East Africa to own or trade larger, higher-value livestock such as cattle or camels, although they more commonly own sheep or goats (Coppock et al., 2013). This raises the question why women cannot own large animals. From a One Health perspective, a pertinent question to be addressed would be to clarify how empowering women affect the lives of others in pastoral communities, as well as the health of the land.Coppock et al. ( 2013) indicated that lack of data, combined with evidence that the leadership and management capacities of women pastoralists worldwide remains underappreciated and underused. Thus attention to gender issues remains a necessary and important topic in rangeland research, development, governance, and education (Coppock et al., 2013).From the HEAL vulnerability assessment it emerged that interestingly, women seem to have better knowledge of infections that can be transmitted by the environmentfor example airborne or waterborne diseases, cholera, and diarrhea (Borana), which is another argument to involve women in rangeland management planning to improve rangeland health.-Can both women and men use rangelands, water points, other landmarks (?), is there a difference by season or livestock species? -Who makes decisions on rangelands, water points, in terms of their access, management, charge fees, improvement, etc ? How, and are both women and men involved? -Are both men and women able to attend capacity building events? In case of costs, who decides on who will attend? Who pays for it? -What constraints do women and men face when using rangelands, water points?Gender in animal health management Household health security, pastoralism, and gender are examples of important social factors in the transmission, prevention, and control of animal diseases, but is and area which to date has been largely neglected (Badejo, 2017). Women are as familiar and knowledgeable as men about the different livestock diseases affecting their livestock and prioritized them similarly (Alemu et al., 2019), despite differences in access to knowledge. The study by Alemu et al. found that in pastoralist areas in Borana men and women similarly prioritized respiratory diseases and diseases resulting in neurological clinical signs (p.e. Coenurosis, which is a consequence of infection with the tapeworm parasite Taenia multiceps), but reasons for prioritizing differed. A study which focused on division of labour in animal health management documented that both men and women contribute significantly to animal health management, but in different roles. Women often were the ones taking care of sick animals, while men were taking animals to pasture (Kinati et al, 2018). Despite their care giver role, women can be helpless when it comes to source veterinary drug, as responsibility for this often is in the hands of men. This is despite the fact that women often are the ones administering drugs to the livestock (Badejo, 2017). Further women manage most of the livestock on a daily basis, but technical training and inputs like vaccines are usually targeted to men only, thus preventing women from accessing animal health care products and services (Miller, 2011). Similarly, women's power of decision on livestock veterinary services are limited (Kamala et al., 2005). And also, the study of Galiè et al., (2017) showed that both women and men involved in managing animal health and had similar knowledge of diseases, but in terms of accessing vet services, information on diseases, and animal medicines, women are more constrained. For example, there are some misperceptions about the cause of udder diseases (acute udder inflammation) and hence these needs understanding of the culture aspects for proper treatment and management of udder diseases being accepted (Amenu et al., 2017). This raises the question how these types of misperceptions differ between women and men, and also for different disease. Such challenges need to be taken into consideration when designing and implementing One Health interventions if women are to be effectively supported in increasing productivity and welfare of livestock and the household.There are few studies of in the field of animal health that included social issues, including gender, social exclusion and vulnerability involving animal and human health despite their relevance (Badejo, 2017).On the other hand, given that some zoonoses are transmitted to humans through animal source foods, it is important to note that pastoralists have poor awareness of pathogens and how they are transmitted. Similarly, awareness of prevention is low, for example, milking of mastitis affected animals can lead to infection of healthy animals if milked without washing hands between milking animals (Amenu et al., 2017). Milking is a typical activity taken care of by women, thus they the key actors for the implementation of disease mitigation strategies and need to be given information about the ways in which these diseases are transmitted and be trained in safe food processing practices (Galvmed, 2011). As women have the main responsibility for household meals, training in food hygiene will only have the desired impact if mainly women are targeted.It is also noted that zoonotic diseases do not affect all people, all the time and everywhere, but the exposure is highly differentiated, for example, focused on herders (often children) and wild food collectors (mostly women) (Cunningham et al., 2017). This was confirmed by Sendalo ( 2009) who described the roles and responsibilities in pastoral communities in East Africa in relation to livestock management, with young boys oversee herding, while women are responsible for livestock health and milk production.Activities related to small livestock production (poultry, sheep, goats), milking and processing of milk and produce subsistence food, are carried out mainly by women (FAO, 2011, WHO, 2007), while men are more likely to be involved in hunting and large livestock production (Bagnol et al., 2015). And also, in North Africa women are responsible for cleaning barns of livestock, watering and feed livestock, milking, weaning, care of weaned animals and care of new-born animals, caring for small and sick animals and traditional animal health care (Dhikra, 2018).Effective management of animal health is one of the main challenges pastoralists face, particularly the control of animal diseases and zoonotic diseases. For the pastoralists in remote areas, access veterinary services and inputs is difficult and can lead to poor handling or wrong use of drugs and to loss of animals or low productivity because of lack of appropriate care. While this is true for men and women, the situation is particularly dire for women as on top of weaknesses of the systems, they also face cultural challenges. Surveillance is essential in disease control and women can play an important role in this. Women are very well-informed about symptoms of disease and often they are first ones to differentiate the diseased animal, for example when they are in close contact with both cow and calf, and can observe any sudden drop in milk production early on, which could indicate illness. So, it is important to include women in animal health interventions and surveillance systems in pastoral areas (PANORAMA, 2018).The HEAL vulnerability assessment found that women could identify major diseases and challenges affecting animal production and explained well the severity of the disease during the dry seasons (melbana). Women seem to struggle to access animal health education, but they showed knowledge of disease that have a transmission cycle involving the environmentpneumonia, flu, diarrhea, malaria. Both women and men had knowledge on zoonotic disease e.g. brucellosis, and women indicated that prevention is possible through boiling milk before use. In most of the area we found lack of awareness and access to veterinary drugs by women (Moyale). Women did not have much understanding of the quality of services and drugs offered by different animal health service providers. However, they explained that the drugs they buy from private clinics/pharmacies have better effects on animal health, both for the disease prevention and treatments. Distance and transportation access for getting health services is the main problem for both men and women. Some decisions are reported to be made through representatives, though women's needs are not prioritized in some cases.Women from Filtu of Somali region reported to have some animal health education from MSP members and women had information about zoonotic disease like TB, anthrax and leant about diseases with environmental transmission cycles.According to the Borana culture of work division, except for divorced couples or the widowed women, men are responsible for animal health, while women are responsible for the human (family) health.-What is the division of animal management tasks between women and men, by species, animal type (young/ mature; pregnant and lactating) in HEAL sites and what are the drivers for this division of labour? -Do women or men recognize and report symptoms in case of illness? -How are decisions made for preventive and curative care, i.e. who decides whether, which and where to get the services, who seeks or get services; and who pays for it? -Are both men and women able to attend capacity building events? In case of costs, who decides who attends, who pays for it -Are there gender specific constraints (e.g. lower mobility for women) or opportunities (e.g. higher access to info in women groups?) to access animal health services -What constraints do women and men face when looking, accessing, and paying for animal health services?Gender in human health managementThe health of pastoralists is influenced by factors specific to their way of life. In pastoral areas men dominate society and as outlined above, are largely in control of the resources, which can impact control over women's access to healthcare, making it difficult for women to obtain prevention and treatment services, even though caring for the health of family members is mainly the responsibility of women.Pastoralists depend on their livestock for subsistence, especially on the livestock's milk and meat.Women and men's proximity to animals expose them to various health risks, including, salmonellosis, brucellosis, Q fever, or leptospirosis to name a few. Particularly, handling of raw animal products leads to higher risk of exposure to zoonotic diseases. Women are traditionally the household members responsible for handling food for both family consumption and sale (milking animals, processing the milk, and preparing meals). As a result, women tend to have greater exposure and over a longer time than men. However, the causes of morbidity of pastoralists in most of Africa is in general poorly documented.The non-inclusion of pastoral women in health programming to improve livelihoods of pastoralists has been exacerbated by cultural practices that reduce women's mobility, respectively their ability to travel (Badejo, 2017).The HEAL vulnerability assessment found that in Borana both, men, and women, did not have any health education as such. They had however trainings on WASH and hygiene. Women had knowledge on how to prevent infections using simple method like washing hands with soap and using mosquito nets. Most vulnerable to health risks were children, elders, and women. There were no special initiatives to promote women's control over income and use of health facilities.In Filtu, the husband was reported to have control over the incomes of the household. There were geographical and socio-cultural barriers to access the health facilities, especially to the main vulnerable groups in the community (women, children, elderly and people with disabilities). The direct cost of health care and possible exemption for specific groups in the community (children, pregnant women, elderly and poor) were additional challenges. Women had some education on human health services.In Somalia both men and women had access to health education talks in the past years, for example to hygiene promotion activities, WASH etc. There were trainings on hygiene, but still a high number of the population did not receive the training. The training including hand washing and environmental hygiene. Women were aware of prevention measure like staying clean to be free from germs and use of mosquito net to prevent from malaria.-What is the division of labour for household chores? -Who looks after children, sick members, and the elderly? Who decides who does what and how does that affect workload and ability to engage in other activities (income generation, religious and social groups, training, and capacity building; other) -How are decisions made for preventive and curative care, i.e. who decides whether, which and where to get the services and who pays for it? by type of services, e.g. ante and postnatal care, kids vaccination; in case of illness. -What constraints do women and men face when looking, accessing, and paying for human health services? -What are specific health service needs of women and how can access to these been facilitated?Existing frameworks that embed gender in One HealthThe importance and relevance of gender in One Health seems obvious, but so far has sparsely been documented around the world (Friedson-Ridenour et al., 2019), in pastoral areas the available information are even more scarce. Surprisingly, gender tends to be a marginal topic in discussions on One Health (Badejo, 2017), likely because the approach originally has mainly been driven by veterinary and health sector and social disciplines got involved later. In addition, gender analyses in distribution of neglected tropical diseases especially those zoonotic in nature are found to be missed in most One Health discourses and literature. However, gender inequality is embedded in many institutions in society, including human and animal health institutions (Carnes et al., 2014) and often gender based inequalities are at the origin of many risk factors for zoonoses (Alders and McConchie, 2015). The gender differential poses unique health risks for men and women during their life cycle. The diverse roles played by men and women create different exposure mechanisms to domestic animals, wildlife, and the environment. In zoonotic diseases such as tuberculosis and brucellosis, gender roles play an important role in the control and prevention. Other areas where gender is important are biosecurity, response to infectious diseases and emerging pandemics, delivery of veterinary services, and improvement in animal production and these factors have a great influence on causes, consequences and management of diseases and eco-health and on the efficacy of health promotion policies and programs (Amuguni et al., 2018) But there are also health risks other than infectious disease. Many households use solid fuels, such as wood smoke, where women are more likely to be at home, inhaling the smoke, and this can have serious health effects. Therefore, gender issues need to be addressed by first understanding the risks and then develop adequate prevention strategies in which women play a central role as part of the solution to achieve a better impact.Joint human and animal vaccination campaigns have been appreciated because nomadic pastoralists want vaccination for their animals but also for their children, especially against measles (Esther Schelling, 2002). Pastoralists welcome a 'One Health' approach as it has benefits of real added value of the cooperation between human and animal health services (Greter et al., 2014).Hence, incorporating a One Health approach into public health policy is widely expected to increase efficiency and cost effectiveness of services by reducing overlap among public health c, veterinary and ecosystem sectors (Baum et al., 2017). One Health is important to adequately measure the extent the livelihoods of a population are affected by health crises, as was evident for the Covid-19 pandemic. Another example is how avian influenza outbreak increased vulnerability where livestock was used as a risk-coping mechanism and influenced savings, food security, and gender equality (Birol et al., 2010). Also, local perceptions on disease transmission from livestock and wildlife is very much understudied in pastoral areas, as was shown for Tanzania (Baum et al., 2017). A study of Badejo, (2017) in pastoral areas of Nigeria highlights the knowledge gap at the animal-human-environment interface, which is further widened because of exclusion of women and non-participation of women in One Health initiatives. This is because of their vulnerability, weak political status, geographical location and being of a disadvantaged group. They are thus directly and indirectly affected by environmental factors that prevent them from achieving sustainable livelihoods (Marmot, 2007).Gender-based differences cause wide-ranging, often disproportionate impacts on women during natural disasters, environmental degradation, and other One Health challenges (WHO, 2007). A healthy or unhealthy environment has an impact on gender roles, for example an important coping strategy adopted by pastoralist women is the foraging for wild foods to supplement their families' diets but if the environment (rangelands) is degraded their occurrence is lessened. Women's knowledge of the environment is crucial and yet this knowledge, along with the specific difficulty women face, often is ignored in emergency drought mitigation strategies. Hence additional efforts are needed to better understand how to increase the leadership and capacity of women to recognize and manage the gendered dimensions of risks at the intersection of human, animal, and environmental health to achieve improved well-being. It was noted that transdisciplinary efforts are needed to develop a more robust understanding of how ''economic, cultural, religious, legal, and political aspects influence the ability of women to fully exercise control over their environmental health, and the health of their children, animals and plants'' (Bagnol et al. 2015).Future work should include discussions about what is meant, for example, by women's empowerment in One Health strategies versus gender-defined roles in One Health. Benefits of women and women's contribution to overall benefits in eco-health challenges like from infectious diseases need defined approaches for future policy to optimize health as a whole. This is used to evaluate the impact of gender policies on health at the human-animal-environment interface; understand and analyze implementation of existing policies in pastoral areas. In general the human-animal-environment/rangeland interface is not divergent, but rather intimately connected, and well placed to address inequality and foster empowerment for women. Indeed, ensuring gender sensitive implementation of One Health can work synergistically toward the health and wellbeing of all (Friedson-Ridenour et al., 2019).Incorporation of gender in One Health education and training programs and addressing the persistent obstacles faced by women in accessing and thriving in educational and training opportunities is very important (Friedson-Ridenour et al., 2019). But there is also a need of identification and analysis of the gender differences in asset accumulation and livelihood strategies in resource-limited areas for proper planning and implementation of pastoralist development programmes like One Health (Badejo, 2017).Another consideration is that gender integration in One Health is important because of men and women impacting the environment differently and are impacted differently by it. The way human, animal and plant diseases impact men and women differ (Bagnol et al., 2015). And as outlined above, patterns of activities resulting from socially defined gender roles influence risks of infection differently between women and men (Bagnol et al., 2015). In turn, gender roles, distribution of labour and resources play an important role in the control and prevention of diseases, and therefore gender issues need to be addressed to appreciate the risks and develop adequate prevention strategies (Bagnol et al., 2015).Although there is an increasing awareness of the importance of addressing gender in relation to health, livestock and environment in research, and interventions, and clear arguments to do so, these issues are not yet fully and adequately integrated in most programs (Bagnol et al., 2015). Putting knowledge into action through policy change, interventions and improvement of practices seems critical as was advocated for in Eco health discussions (Charron, 2012).The relations between drivers, operations, supporting infrastructure and outcomes of OH were explored in the study by Ruegg et al., (2017). Of the drivers, social, economic and environments were indicated as the base to work from. The social drivers include lack of participation, as well as the presence of ignorance, poverty, poor governance, mental and physical illness, and gender issues on top of these can compound the impact of these social drivers. Most of the time there are disparities of drivers across the sectors/disciplines and context, for example, gender inequality is embedded in many institutions in society, including human and animal health institutions (Sheridan, 2014), and so how these variations can be addressed with the integration of gender in a One Health approach needs to be better explored.The evaluation framework proposed by the Network for Evaluation of One Health (NEOH), builds on the assumption of an added value arising from integration across disciplines and sectors (i.e. transdisciplinary) and includes aspects of operations and supporting infrastructure (i.e. OH thinking, OH planning and OH working). Organizing implementation of One Health interventions taking a systems approach that allows for systematic organization, learning and sharing (Ruegg et al., 2017), provides an ideal entry point for better integration of gender in One Health, also for the HEAL project.Snow, (2008) reviewed critical points to consider in the planning stage and implementation. These variations in health seeking behaviours, and responsibilities in household care and managementboth areas highly relevant from a gender perspective.Learning and sharing as cornerstones of the NEOH framework call for participatory methods, which can be used to allow beneficiaries to integrate their experience and knowledge with the skills obtained through different learnings during working in the health of human, animal and environment (Bagnol et al., 2015). HEAL indeed follows a very bottom up approach with the community level Multi-stakeholder platforms and thus is well placed to include gender specific questions in the planning of the One Health services provided and the associated learning.When looking at past attempts to improve access to services, experiences from efforts building on sedentarization are essential. In some cases these efforts have empowered pastoralist women economically through better market integration and in turn advanced their social status. However, in some instances, sedentarization has also resulted more in acute poverty and severe environmental degradation, jeopardizing sustainability. It was indicted that the negative long-term social, economic, and environmental consequences of a more sedentary lifestyles far outweigh the gains. It is thus important that One Health solutions in these systems address the mobile nature of pastoralists.From these points, some guidance for data collections and recommendations for HEAL emerge:-It is important to incorporate pastoral dynamics in One Health interventions to ensure the health of all always consider the culture and social practices that influence gender dynamics, especially in the planning of interventions to ensure at least a 'no harm' scenario -Existing gender differences in ownership, responsibility, resource management, decision making and power over resources need to be carefully addressed to allow better integration of gender in One Health. -There is a needed to address access financial limitation in gender differences for optimum health services. -Bottom up participatory approaches are well placed to ensure women's needs are properly reflectedThe way forward to mainstream gender in HEAL Pastoralism is the one of the predominant livelihoods for many communities where livestockfocused occupations converge with people and the environment resulting in a dynamic setting in which the health of each, humans, animals, and the environment are inextricably linked.In the dynamic pastoral system, factors like loss of communal rangeland, impacts women and men differently as there is gender differences of role and activities. Both women and men contribute to rangeland management and livestock production, but most of the time men control and make decision making on resources uses.The nature of work of women and men related to livestock exposes them to different zoonotic diseases, with a tendency that overall exposure to zoonoses is more pronounced in women. While most of the time, both men and women are familiar with the different livestock diseases affecting their livestock, women can be helpless when it comes to accessing drugs. Further, women manage most of the livestock on a daily basis, but technical training and inputs like vaccines, accessing animal health care products and services, power of decision on livestock veterinary services and accessing information on diseases are constrained for women. Though women contribute to rangeland health and management, decision-making power over use and management of land and resources is more likely to be in the hands of men. A healthy or unhealthy environment has an impact on gender roles. Where this resulted that most of women cannot easily own assets and access key resources and information across the world's rangelands.Ongoing gender analysis that improves understanding of the constraints faced by women with emphasis on health, social and economic factors is needed in achieving sustainable livelihood as household sustainability largely depends on women. For One Health to achieve its purpose of building sustainable livelihoods, especially in areas highly predisposed to zoonotic diseases, the planning and implementation of its programmes must capture the culture, gender relations, factors to disease occurrence and the knowledge, attitudes and practices of both genders on prevention and control. Furthermore, interdisciplinary interventions following a One Health approach require assessment of the impact and variability of all individual factors, like identification of social, gender, behavioural and health system dependent differentials (Tugwell et al., 2006), rather than focusing on the control of diseases only. For example, services delivery can improve pastoralists access to services of human and animal health, such as joint vaccination campaigns for people and animals. To ensure gender implications are captured, different indicators need to be monitored to capture changes of level of participation and satisfaction, and involvement of women in planning and decision-making process at community level. The recommendations for data capture proposed in the different sections of this report will allow the HEAL project to monitor impact of One Health on gender. Another area to address is to ensure that service providers and HEAL field staff have thorough gender training as this will directly affect implementation and recognition of gender issues. As per planned activities, this is indeed an important issue in the HEAL Phase 1.In conclusion, the intersection of gender and One Health is obvious, but so far sparsely documented around the world and where in pastoral areas the limitation is more pronounced. Developing a more detailed Theory of Change on how One Health impact on gender, or how addressing gender inequalities affects One Health outcomes is needed. This is an important area where HEAL will be able to make significant contributions."}
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